Legacy: Lost Caverns of Ixalan Review

Hello, my dear Legacy friends! We all already know how Magic is; look away for a second, and we already have a new set being released. Well, we left Eldraine and went straight to Ixalan! This time, the story brings us to the depths of The Lost Caverns of Ixalan looking for Chimil, the Inner Sun.

In this adventure, we have new mechanics coming along and some old ones coming back, besides the introduction of new types of Tokens, Creatures and Lands. Let's take a look at what this set brings us!

Descend

To sum up, Descend means to place a permanent card - instant and sorcery spells don't count - in your graveyard from anywhere - board, hand, deck. There are a few ways in which certain cards interact with the fact one card went to your graveyard:

Some cards check if you Descended during that turn and create a triggered ability at some point in that turn if this goal was met (placing a permanent card in your graveyard). These abilities don't care about the number of permanents nor their type - as long as at least one permanent has been placed there.

Other cards have their Descend abilities attached to a numerical value and get abilities (static or triggered) as you hit this numerical value of permanent cards in your graveyard. For instance, Didact Echo gets Flying if you have 4 or more permanent cards in your graveyard (Descend 4).

Finally, we have the Fathomless Descent variation, which are abilities which become more powerful the bigger the number of permanent cards in your graveyard. The Core, for instance, creates more mana according to the number of cards that meet the Descend ability requirements increases.

Craft

Artifacts with this ability can be transformed when you pay for their Craft cost, exile this card with the ability and exile from the graveyard and/or the battlefield a card with the types listed in their cost. With that done, the card is returned to the game with its face transformed.

Some transformed cards refer to the cards used to pay for its cost, so, if Tokens are used in this process, the ability won't have an effect regarding these Tokens.

Discover

This is the "new version" of Cascade. It comes with a numerical value X, and, when the ability happens, - usually tied to a triggered ability - the player exiles cards from the top of their deck until they have exiled a non-land card with a cost equal or lower than the Discover cost. They can, then, play the spell, or, if they choose not to, place that card in their hand. The rest of the exiled cards are shuffled back into the bottom of the deck.

Compared to the original version, it avoids the issue of revealing cards such as counterspells or targetless removals that wouldn't be useful with Cascade. On the other side, as it isn't a "casting trigger", countering the card with Discover ends up countering the ability as well.

Map Tokens

Joining its brothers Treasure, Food and Clue, now we also have the Map Tokens. These are artifact creatures created through various effects, similar to the tokens listed above, and have the following ability: "1, T, Sacrifice this artifact: Target creature you control Explores. Activate only as a sorcery."

For those who don't remember, Explore is a mechanic that is returning in this set and states the following: "when this creature Explores, reveal the top card of your library. If it's a land, place it in your hand. Otherwise, place a +1/+1 counter on this card and place the revealed card back to the top of your library or into your graveyard."

White

Dauntless Dismantler

I talked about this creature in my last article. It is the format's newest Hatebear, and there are many decks that are vulnerable to its 2 abilities; I believe it will probably show up in a few sideboards and even in main decks that can tutor it.

Get Lost

Even though White can access the best creature removal in the format, Swords to Plowshares, it's usually other color combinations that get these versatile cards that deal not only with creatures, but a huge variety of problematic permanents.

Among the most usual non-creatures that Get Lost deals with, I can list Urza’s Saga, Blood Moon, Up the Beanstalk, Teferi, Time Raveler, Comet, Stellar Pup, Touch the Spirit Realm, Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes, among many, many others.

Having support variety for this cost is always something that stands out in this format. But be careful, because it creates 2 artifacts for free for decks that can use this synergy well.

Helping Hand

This is a White Unearth. There are countless low-cost creatures that could use this extra health, as Death & Taxes can confirm: Stoneforge Mystic, Flickerwisp, Mother of Runes, Recruiter of the Guard, Skyclave Apparition... the list is long and the cost is cheap. I believe this deck will be interested in this spell.

Blue

Deeproot Pilgrimage

Merfolk is a deck as old as Legacy, but it's been needing new blood for some time now. This enchantment provides a new source of Merfolk and opens space to possibly revive an old friend from Standard: Opposition.

Resolving this 4-mana enchantment is an arduous task, but this deck has tools to force this spell into play, and offers a simple and efficient way to tap the non-token Merfolk to create Merfolk tokens that can be tapped to lock down your opponent's game... I'm sure you can see that the game will be over by then, right?

The Everflowing Well

3 Mana at sorcery speed to draw 2 cards isn't exactly what players are looking for in Legacy, but what this card offers us is the possibility of being transformed into a very strong land. Just imagine bringing a Phyrexian Dreadnought with The Myriad Pools' mana and transforming an unassuming Island into a 12/12 monster with no summoning sickness?

Black

Bitter Triumph

Just like Get Lost, listed above, this card offers a versatile removal for a low cost, and one that has no target restrictions. The possibility of alternating the extra cost between health or a card in hand helps avoid a future in which it becomes a risk and prevents cards like Vendetta from seeing play.

The fact you can place a card in the graveyard ends up being useful to some decks. It reminds me of Abrade.

Souls of the Lost

This Spirit can grow tremendously for just a bit of mana, but that is a point that before wasn't enough to make it see play in the format. Today, this is enough for Death's Shadow, but it hasn't been enough for the previously omnipresent Tarmogoyf.

It can be considered an enabler for graveyard synergies, but it puts on pressure by itself, forcing your opponent to divide their attention when considering which threat to deal with.

Tarrian’s Journal

I see some cool interactions with this card and decks that want to dump their hand all at once in the graveyard and can still use its first ability, like Dredge, for instance.

Red

Broadside Bombardiers

These Goblins from Ixalan's Commander set seem to have been custom-made for Red (Moon) Stompy: they have the right cost to be played from a Sol land and another mana source, get down attacking with a pseudo-evasion, use Chrome Mox, Chalice of the Void and obsolete Goblin tokens to push out more damage, and can potentially send an Evoked Fury to deal a delicate 7 damage to your opponent's face.

I think the debate between Legion Warboss, Laelia, the Blade Reforged and Squee, Dubious Monarch as the partner choice for Goblin Rabblemaster might be finally reaching a conclusion.

Inti, Seneschal of the Sun

Inti offers a way to cycle cards without decreasing the pressure imposed on your opponent. Keep in mind that this card on its own doesn't need to be the attacker, so you can play it and attack with other creatures already in play to activate its ability.

Ojer Axonil, Deepest Might

With this God in play, each instance of Grapeshot hits for 4 damage, so a Storm count with only 4 copies is already lethal. I'll leave this idea hanging in the air.

Trumpeting Carnosaur

Mississippi River (a Creative Technique combo deck) seems to be the home for this Dinosaur: from one side, Discover works with Cascade in this archetype, always hitting its key-card; on the other, it provides access to a removal that doesn't interfere with your chain of cards. The downside, like I said, is that, if you counter Dino, you'll counter Discover too.

Green

Basking Capybara

I'll leave here an honorable mention to the first Capybara in Magic! Always remember: now, when a Mutavault attacks, it is also a Capybara!

Ghalta, Stampede Tyrant

Usually, Show and Tell is the most efficient way to cheat out a monster directly into play, but Ghalta cheats out all monsters! 8 mana is too much, but certainly some insane player is already building a combo centered around this effect.

Spelunking

This enchantment has the word Cloudpost tattooed everywhere on its, uh, body?

Multicolored

The Ancient One

At a first glance, this God might seem the perfect card for Dimir Scam or Dimir Shadow. But then you remember that Ponder, Daze and Brainstorm don't count for Descend, and this card's charm turns to dust.

Kutzil, Malamet Exemplar

It seems a cool option for the toolbox that Green Sun's Zenith offers Maverick: it avoids surprises in your turn and creates resources from Noble Hierarch's Exalted ability, or even from a Knight of the Reliquary attack.

Molten Collapse

This is a more versatile option, this time in Rakdos colors. Its Descend is easy to activate with a simple Fetch Land or a Mishra's Bauble, and it hits various things, such as Carpet of Flowers, Chalice of the Void, or Aether Vial. It can potentially wreak havoc against the format's Stompys.

Artifact

Chimil, the Inner Sun

This is another card that should interest Mississipi River because it is completely colorless, considering many times getting the colored mana to bring cards like Sakashima's Protege or Sweet-Gum Recluse is a real problem.

Unfortunately, Discover only happens at the end of the turn, which gives your opponent a window to answer the giant board you can create. Unless Creative Technique hits an Emrakul, the Aeons Torn, then everything will be dandy for you.

Land

Echoing Deeps

This new version of Vesuva doesn't need the original one in play, but rather in the graveyard. It can act as copies of your Cloudposts destroyed by Wasteland or to refill part of your land combos in Lands deck - "did you destroy my Dark Depths? Haha, you've activated my trap card!"

We've reached the depths of the Lost Caverns of Ixalan. As most sets focused on Standard, a lot of what we got ends up not usable in Legacy, but I see a few interesting additions to already existing decks, such as Red Stompy, Cloudpost and Mississipi River, besides useful cards for White.

It doesn't seem like a new archetype might come around with this set, but we have had some surprises before, so, we'll see. Greetings directly from below, and see you next time!