It’s that time! Fate Reforged is right around the corner and LR has got some sweet preview cards this time around. LSV and I will talk about them on the show this week, but we wanted to get get them in front of your eyeballs as soon as we were allowed.

We have four cards this time (!) and one additional that was already previewed, but is part of this cycle so I thought I’d throw it in here as well.

First up, War Flare:

Token strategies rejoice! This plays like a Trumpet Blast that is super flexible and can be used defensively. Sometimes you’ll just kill your opponent with a swarm of tokens and War Flare. Other times you’ll untap them and get some savage (and unexpected) blocks going. Don’t overlook the +1 toughness boost either, it’s *always* more relevant than it seems like it would be.

Also note: these are all commons. You’ll be seeing these in your Fate Reforged booster packs, meaning that they can be part of a bigger strategy somewhat reliably.

Next up, Harsh Sustenance:



Wow! Instant speed, can go to the face, can kill creatures, *and* gains me life? Sign me up! I’m not willing to ignore the whole “creatures you control” thing, but given that we are talking about Limited—where creatures rule the game—it’s usually safe to assume you’ll at least have some of them running around. This card has a high upside for sure.

The next one is a new “fight” card. Sort of?

Weird! Grim Contest reads just like a normal fight card… until the end. Toughness?? It’s hard to figure out how to even rate this card. Wait. You are saying that my Archer’s Parapet can now just beat up on an Efreet Weaponmaster? We’ll talk more about this one on the show.

Cunning Strike is next:

It’s hard to imagine this card being bad. You get to kill a creature (a smallish one), do two damage to an opponent (not a huge thing, but adds up quicker than you think), *and* draw a card? And it’s an instant? Ultimately this is like getting three smallish effects, but on one card. The big question is whether the five converted mana cost will prove prohibitive or not (it very well may).

This one was already previewed, but for completeness sake, here’s Ethereal Ambush:

This card looks nuts to me. Effectively a 4/4 for 5 mana with flash, but spread out over two bodies. With the random upside of being able to “unmanifest” any creatures you happen to turn over. Seems good.

So there they are, the exclusive Fate Reforged preview card for Limited Resources. Be sure to tune in this week as LSV and I go deep on these cards and figure out how good each one really is.

– Marshall