Eldritch Moon First Thoughts

As I mentioned in an earlier tweet, I am currently on the road on vacation, which is certainly an inconvenient time for the full set of Eldritch Moon to be revealed. Finding time to blog, much less work on my set review, is going to be a challenge, but I will do my best to get the content out as fast as I can. But for today, I wanted to offer my first thoughts on Eldritch Moon after going over all of the Commons a few times.

1. The power level of the Commons is significantly above average. By my count, there are at least two dozen cards that I expect to see regular play in Standard Pauper, and several of those seem good enough to be make a major impact on the format.
   
2. Although they are only present at Common in a handful of cards, all three of the new mechanics should see play in the format. Escalate is the most represented of the three, but Meld's representative Midnight Scavengers is quite strong, as are It of the Horrid Swarm and Wretched Gryff, our two Common Emerge cards.
   
3. Of the returning mechanics, Madness got a nice boost from the handful of new cards, while even Delirium and Skulk have some potential new playables.
   
4. The "Graveyard matters" theme seems stronger in Eldritch Moon than in Shadows Over Innistrad, at least at Common.
   
5.  Not only are the Commons more powerful, but they seem to be unusually complex as well. Thraben Standard Bearer, Ingenious Skaab, Make Mischief, and Crossroads Consecrator are all examples of Commons that would be red-flagged for one reason or another, yet still saw print despite also not being tied to the new set mechanics. While these cards are not necessarily amazing, the level of complexity is remarkable in this post New World Order era.

Anyway, that's enough from me for now to at least whet your appetite for my full set review. No promises on when that will be published, but I will do what I can while I am traveling. At the very least, it will be available prior to the release of Eldritch Moon on Magic Online. I'm definitely looking forward to it!