With the next Magic expansion Oath of the Gatewatch being released in a few short weeks, Ars Technica UK has another exclusive card to share, this time from the main set. Say hello to Sifter of Skulls.

Everything’s a Blisterpod! The Eldrazi are back, continuing to ravage Zendikar—and in classic Black mana style, taking advantage of their own troops dying as well. Sifter of Skulls produces a steady stream of minions for the low price of “creatures killing each other," whilst also beating down as a 4/3 for four.

If you aren’t ready to attack, you have double the speed bumps to help your defence—your opponent has to break through your original creatures and the Scions left behind. Or going deeper, you can use sacrificial cards to produce Scions on demand, or other “when creatures die…” cards to get more bonuses. And with the mana your minions can be turned into, you can power out giant threats, including the new Oath cards that will specifically need colourless mana.

We’re expecting these sacrifice/Scion cards to be a key part of Limited (as in Battle for Zendikar), but Sifter of Skulls may not have the raw efficiency in stats to break into Constructed formats. Last year’s Standard saw Aristocrats-style decks doing well, and time will tell if the cards in Oath will offer enough for these decks to start adopting a more midrange strategy.

Oath of the Gatewatch (OGW) is the next expansion and follow-up to Battle for Zendikar (BFZ), which we reviewed back in October. OGW's worldwide release is on January 22, with prerelease events the weekend before, on January 16-17. As always, if you're looking for a prerelease event to attend, use the official Event Locator. We’ll be reviewing the full OGW set next week.