The Littlest Dragon with the Biggest Heart

2020-06-19

Ikoria, Episode 11: Sprite Dragon The brewers have spoken! Two weeks ago, we unveiled the ten nominees for our Brewers' Choice episode. Now, the ballots have been cast, the votes have been tallied, and the winning card is... Sprite Dragon! Narrowly edging out Sundial of the Infinite, Sprite Dragon could not be more different from the goofy artifacts we have busied ourselves with in past editions of Brewers' Choice. Sprite Dragon is, by many accounts, a "good card," even a format staple in certain metas. And yet, if i...

Ikoria, Episode 11: Sprite Dragon

The brewers have spoken! Two weeks ago, we unveiled the ten nominees for our Brewers' Choice episode. Now, the ballots have been cast, the votes have been tallied, and the winning card is... Sprite Dragon!

Narrowly edging out Sundial of the Infinite, Sprite Dragon could not be more different from the goofy artifacts we have busied ourselves with in past editions of Brewers' Choice. Sprite Dragon is, by many accounts, a "good card," even a format staple in certain metas. And yet, if it's true that a card is only as good as the decks it engenders, we must also admit that there is not currently an established "Sprite Dragon deck." The reign of Lurrus Grixis Delver in Modern was short-lived. Izzet Prowess in Pioneer has seen some recent success in the 5-0s, but beyond that it seems that the adorable hellkite is still searching for its forever home.

In other Magic news, we have the full set reveal for Core Set 2021, which means it is time for Part 2 of our Brewers' Guide to M21! The set looks stacked with intriguing build-around options. It also seems much more balanced than previous sets, with a noticeable lack of outlier cards likely to upend Magic's tournament formats. In short, it is a true brewer's paradise. We talk through the cards we are most excited to start building decks with, as well as our testing results with Sea-Dasher Octopus from last week.

Finally, if you haven't done so already, be sure to check out our sixth and final episode of Rogue Refinery! We gave the series a proper send-off with some truly awesome decks with Rielle, the Everwise (and multiple 5-win events to show for it). WotC is eager for feedback on this pilot series, so if you liked this style of content and would like to see more of it in the future, be sure to leave a comment on the video and show some love! Watch the series finale of Rogue Refinery here: https://youtu.be/e_74lZDfYps

Roundup: M21 Previews, Week 2

Timestamps

10:42 Speaker of the Heavens -- 14:21 Thieves' Guild Enforcer -- 18:03 Miscast -- 20:00 Conspicuous Snoop -- 25:34 Heartfire Immolator -- 28:45 Conclave Mentor -- 30:58 Track Down -- 32:56 Ghostly Pilferer -- 35:33 Shacklegeist -- 37:57 Lofty Denial -- 39:00 Frantic Inventory -- 41:59 Barrin, Tolarian Archmage -- 44:30 Demonic Embrace -- 47:44 Silversmote Ghoul -- 50:58 Nine Lives -- 52:54 Radha, Heart of Keld -- 55:11 Sporeweb Weaver -- 56:30 Garruk's Uprising -- 58:03 Garruk, Unleashed -- 1:00:23 Transmogrify -- 1:02:55 Terror of the Peaks -- 1:05:46 Discontinuity -- 1:07:48 Sublime Epiphany

Flashback: Sea-Dasher Octopus

Pioneer

1:14:10 Mono-Blue Octopus Flash: 4-1 league

1:22:14 Emry Octopus: 3-2 league, 3-2 league

Modern

1:29:33 Bant Octoform: 0-2 league, 0-3 league

Brew Session: Sprite Dragon

1:36:49 Theorycraft: Finding a Home for Sprite Dragon

Modern

1:42:48 Sketch 1: Stormwing Prowess

1:46:35 Sketch 2: Jeskai Dragons

Reference lists (pre-Companion nerf)