Top Commons and Uncommons from Edge of Eternities

After a one-set hiatus, I have returned with my top commons and uncommons of the latest Magic set, this time Edge of Eternities. And without turning this whole thing into a commentary on Universes Beyond that I’ve already written several times, it is nice to have in-universe cards back. I really did miss them, as I took the entirety of the Final Fantasy season off due to a lack of interest and a slight protest. 

Edge of Eternities was in a weird spot for me because it is pretty out there for a Magic set. They’ve been pushing boundaries for universes within sets in terms of theme, from Outlaws of Thunder Junction to even Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty, and at first, I did not like the direction of Edge of Eternities at all. 

But after all the cards were released, I did almost an immediate 180. This set rules, both stylistically and power level. Stylistically, the space theme plays out much better than I anticipated, and power-wise wise I think it’s potentially equivalent to Duskmourn, which is the current strongest Standard set. This, as always, made cutting my initial list down to 10 a challenge, but we did indeed get there as we always do. 

Reprints

But first, let me get to a couple of somewhat notable reprints. Neither of these are world beaters by any means, but both are cards to just be aware of. 

Annul

Annul is a cool sideboard tool to have for standard, especially in a format where the Overlords are set to dominate. It will never be anything more than a sideboard option, but who doesn’t love a good sideboard option? 

Virus Beetle

I don’t know how many people have cast cards like this in constructed formats, but I am one of them. They can be some nice filler in discard strategies, and with Charming Prince lega,l it at least deserves a mention. It is also an artifact if you want to play it in a Beseech the Mirror deck. It probably won’t be anything, but I wanted to make a note of it. 

Now, let’s get on to the new cards. 

New Cards

Cryoshatter

We have seen various iterations of this type of card, but this is a contender for the best one. While it doesn’t nullify abilities like some of these types of cards do, it does make it so the creature can’t block, in addition to taking away the ability to attack. You can also turn this into a straight-up removal spell if you have a way to tap creatures. Maybe this isn’t really something to keep an eye on until Duskmourn rotates, but it caught my eye at the very least.

All-Fate Stalker

All-Fate Stalker is one of my favorite cards in the set overall, and Warp is one of my favorite mechanics they’ve made in a long time. There are so many use cases for this card, with both the warp ability and the creature version. A four mana banisher priest doesn’t seem good, but the Warp makes this either a blink spell for your own creature, a permanent removal for a token or creature like a Stonecoil Serpent, or a card to get a blocker out of the way for a turn to push damage through. It’s incredibly versatile, and versatility is usually something that lets cards find a home somewhere. 

Starfield Shepherd

Starfield Shepherd is one I am very intrigued by. Once again, it makes pretty good use of the Warp mechanic, allowing you to either help hit your land drop or grab a creature, both of which are good plays on turn two or three, and then you can just run it back later with a 3/2 flyer attached. This could be a pretty good fit for a white weenie deck, or even a blink-style deck that utilizes one-drop creatures well. 

Reroute Systems

I am a sucker for versatility, and a protection spell that’s also a removal spell is a good amount of versatility. The biggest factor here for me is that this lets you target a tapped creature instead of an attacking one, which is a really important difference in timing. Two damage isn’t a ton, but it’s enough to pick off small creatures while also protecting your creatures (or artifacts, speaking of upside) or letting you block or attack confidently knowing this can cause a little blowout. I like this a lot as a sideboard card because it does fill multiple roles pretty well. 

Honor

Honor is one of the safest cards in the set to see play because there are a few decks that are interested in this kind of card. I know Heartfire Hero was banned in Standard, but it’s a card that might be really interesting for Pioneer, similar to how Favored Hoplite is also interested in Honor. The inherent cantrip of this card is what makes it particularly interesting, and I expect this will see its fair share of play. 

Honored Knight Captain

While we have seen a lot of variants of the two mana make two 1/1s, this one is particularly compelling because it actually makes two humans, which Raise the Alarm and Resolute Reinforcements both do not do. That is very relevant for cards like Thalia’s Lieutenant in Pioneer, and the fact that this is on a creature that can be fetched with something like Recruitment Officer is an upside as well. The activated ability here is effectively flavor text, but if you want to build around that part of it, go nuts. 

Meltstrider’s Resolve

This is one hell of a one mana aura. It gives you a pretty significant toughness boost, a form of evasion, and lets you fight a creature. That’s quite powerful. Auras don’t see a ton of play outside of dedicated Auras decks, which this will fit quite nicely into as well, but enough is going on here that this one could be pushed over the edge. This card will increase your win probability for a game for one mana quite regularly, even despite the restrictions that inherently come with auras. 

Umbral Collar Zealot

Free sacrifice outlets are always something to keep an eye on, and we haven’t seen one for two mana in a while now. The upside of sacrificing artifacts is also pretty important here for decks that incidentally make a lot of Food tokens. This is also a pretty good beater as a two-mana 3/2, though maybe a bit fragile. Decks that want this are going to want it, though, and I will not be surprised to see this show up in Standard or even Pioneer, as that format is lacking good two-mana sacrifice outlets. 

Timeline Culler

Timeline Culler is one of the better recursive Black creatures we’ve seen in quite some time. Always having haste is quite strong to even play on turn two, and always being a threat to recur makes it a very aggressive creature. It also works really well in Insidious Roots lists, which is something I will always find a way to mention. I think Culler will be a nice role player in multiple formats, and as long as you have a deck that cares about graveyard synergy, even light graveyard synergy, you will be happy including Culler.

Seam Rip

Look, we know how good Portable Hole is. It became a true Pioneer staple and a great Standard card as well, even seeing some Modern play in some formats. So what if the printed Portable Hold again, but arguably better? Well, that’s what we have here. While being an enchantment over an artifact is not inherently better, the reason I think it’s an improvement is because of how good Red is. Red in multiple formats is trying to play cheap creatures and kill you quickly, meaning you want all the one mana removal you can get against Red decks. But Red decks can deal with artifacts, often having access to cards like Abrade that will let them get your threat back. Red does not, however, have a good way of getting rid of Seam Rip, making it more permanent removal. While being an enchantment technically allows Black better access to get rid of it, that’s not more relevant than Red’s ability to get rid of artifacts. This is a really easy one to call because we practically know how good it is already, but Standard getting access to this and Pioneer now having access to eight of these effects will both be interesting things to watch. 

Honorable Mentions

My favorite card in the set

This is a three-way tie that’ll give me a nice excuse to talk about art. Listeners of Fireside Magic will know how much I love cards that invoke a kind of cosmic horror via showing an impossibly large creature, which is why Progenitus and Abhorrent Oculus are among my favorite Magic arts. This set offers that archetype in droves, but the three I like most are Starwinder, Quantum Riddler, and Nova Hellkite. Each of these cards does an excellent job of showing the raw size of each of these creatures, and they are all truly horrifying in a mystifying way. 

Edge of Eternities is a really interesting set to help welcome in Standard rotation, as I think it is the second strongest set currently in Standard, with potential to maybe eclipse Duskmourn. It has Shock Lands, an awesome new mechanic that makes for some really interesting gameplay decisions, and several powerful cards in general. I am going to savor Edge of Eternities as well, as the next two sets are Universes Beyond, with Spiderman previews already trickling in. But even with that happening right alongside the release of Edge of Eternities, my focus will remain on the vast expanse of both space and the post-rotation meta game. 

And remember if you need any of these cards or Magic Cards in general, make sure to check out Mana Box to pick them up.