Streets of New Capenna has some new and powerful cards that are sure to shake up Constructed formats. Even aside from Standard, there’s been plenty of brewing in Historic, Pioneer and even Modern, and today we’ll be breaking down the top 10 essential New Capenna cards to grab, guilt free, day one. One way or another, these cards should see play, whether it’s helping form a Constructed format or eventually sliding into the staples for Commander.
This list is formed from the opinions of MTG pros and content from here at ChannelFireball.com, and we suggest checking out the associated articles to get a good idea of what decks you can try these powerful new cards in.
10. Fight Rigging
Fight Rigging is a perfect mixture between two cards – Mosswort Bridge and Luminarch Aspirant. Even without hideaway, it will continually grow your creatures and turn even small threats into real problems. Reid recently brewed a deck based around this card for Standard, and noted that it could even have some Modern applications with cheating in large creatures like Emrakul, the Aeons Torn or Griselbrand.
9. Riveteers Charm
Riveteers Charm was one of the first spoilers that caught Reid Duke’s eye, and he’s been brewing with it in Standard and thinks it could even see play in his beloved Modern Jund. It provides a suite of powerful options to assure it’s never dead in a matchup; there’s removal for creatures, card advantage for control decks and graveyard hate for (graveyard-based) combo decks. All-in-all, this makes a great main deck option to stay flexible during sideboarding.
8. Giada, Font of Hope
Angels may seem like a casual tribe, but they’ve gotten a ton of support recently. Kaldheim in particularly brought us aggressively-costed Angels instead of the usual fare of large, pricey beaters. Giada is the cherry on top of this trend, as the most aggressively costed Angel at only two mana with the ability to merge the gap to larger Angels with a mana ability. On top of that, she’s above rate for her stats as a 2/2 with two keywords and the anthem effect is nothing to be scoffed at. We’ve seen Historic and Standard Angels decks fly around occasionally, but Giada may be the catalyst needed to bring them soaring to new heights.
7. Jinnie Fay/Jetmir, Nexus of Revels
Tokens as a theme got some huge upgrades in New Capenna, in particular with the help of the Cabaretti. Their leader, Jetmir, Nexus of Revels and his lieutenant, Jinnie Fay, both offer a lot to go-wide strategies for aggressive costs. Jetmir may be expensive at five mana, but he can top a curve of token makers and work as an incredibly effective overrun. Jinnie Fay helps facilitate that by replacing easily produced tokens like Treasures and Clues with Cats and Dogs or just upgrading your middling 1/1s.
Reid Duke named Jetmir and Jinnie Fay number one and two respectively in his Constructed Set Review, and while Jinnie may not be as flashy as Jetmir, she has a lot of room to grow in other formats as well.
6. Void Rend
Void Rend is a tad expensive, mana-wise, but it offers sizeable upside. Being able to answer any threat without fearing a counterspell is great insurance to have, and Esper is a natural fit for it as well. Arne Huschenbeth expects it to be a two-of in Standard Esper decks (including the top-tier Esper Planeswalkers), while Andrea Mengucci’s considering it for a new take on his beloved Esperone.
5. Elspeth Resplendent
Elspeth is a bit on the expensive side but has the trademarks of a powerful planeswalker. She can grow your creatures into offensive and defensive threats and even grab a permanent to defend herself with if needed. Additionally, she starts at high loyalty and ults in only a few turns, which made Martin Juza start brewing a Bant Superfriends deck with her and Brokers Ascendancy.
4. Vivien on the Hunt
Birthing Pod is a powerful effect, and having it return on a planeswalker enables tons of shenanigans. In Standard, Reid brewed a deck aiming to turn some of your smaller Treasure-producing dorks into strong threats, while other players have experimented with a Kiki-Pod-style Modern deck that can turbo her out with Planebound Accomplice and win on turn four (or earlier, with some more mana). She also just provides a lot of powerful options, such as self milling and gaining card advantage to making a sizeable 4/4 Rhino for only one loyalty.
3. Luxior, Giada’s Gift
Luxior has been the center of a lot of Modern brewing, namely combining it with Devoted Druid to generate infinite mana. This package could function as its own deck, or could be slotted into an established archetype like Hammer Time. Most entertaining though is the prospect of just using Luxior with a cheap, high loyalty planeswalker to beat down early and often. Whether it’s casual or competitive play, expect to see Luxior generate a lot of discussion.
2. Ob Nixilis, the Adversary
When Reid says a card gives him “Oko vibes,” you better take note. Three-mana planeswalkers are always worth looking at, and the ability to make two of them for one card is serious. Ob also is able to protect himself with his minus and can generate a serious resource differential when you’re able to uptick two of them a turn. With Lurrus banned from Modern and the floodgates on three-mana cards swinging open, Ob Nixilis is perfectly positioned to impact Modern and more.
1. Triomes
While there’s been plenty of discourse for every other card on this list, everyone’s universally agreed that the new “Triomes” are the most impactful cards in New Capenna. The original Ikoria cycle helped bring decks like Modern Omnath together and reshaped the idea of mana bases. Did you ever think you’d see Indomitable Creativity and Archmage’s Charm in the same deck? You can thank Triomes for that. Expect these to be played in Modern, Standard, Historic, Pioneer and more, and if you’re looking to pick up a playset of any cards in New Capenna, these Triomes are a surefire pick.
What do you think? Are there any hidden gems or sleeper hits waiting to break a format? Let us know in the comments and check out ChannelFireball.com for all your MTG single needs.
