AER High Impact Cards: Fen Hauler

As we get ready to begin a new season of Standard Pauper events with Aether Revolt added to the cardpool, I want to spend the next couple weeks looking at cards that I think will have a big impact on the format. Today I want to take a look at Fen Hauler

Like Bastion Inventor (which I looked at earlier this week), this card is a big creature in a color that doesn't normally get them. At first glance, this doesn't seem to be that good. However, this card is nearly identical to Gurmag Angler from Fate Reforged. It has the same casting cost, the same Power and Toughness, a cost-reducing keyword mechanic, and even has the additional bonus of sidestepping Artifact creatures in combat. While Improvise is never going to be as mana-efficient as Delve was, in the right deck you should be able to get at least a couple mana discount, which makes this a pretty good deal. The fact that it is so large almost means your opponent may find themselves in a situation where they have to chump-block each turn. In that case, the fact that it can't be blocked by Artifact creatures may actually become relevant.

The Simic Emerge decks that were so strong a couple seasons back proved that a deck that can quickly power out big creatures can be quite a potent threat. Between Fen Hauler and Bastion Inventor, Dimir looks like it may be able to pull off a similar archetype, backing it up with potent removal, permission, and card-advantage spells. I for one can't wait to see what surprised Aether Revolt has in store for us.

See you next week for the start of MPDC Season 36!

AER High Impact Cards: Bastion Inventor

Wait, yesterday was Tuesday? For the first time in a long time, I honestly completely forgot I needed to write a blogpost. Sigh.

 As we get ready to begin a new season of Standard Pauper events with Aether Revolt added to the cardpool, I want to spend the next couple weeks looking at cards that I think will have a big impact on the format. Today I want to take a look at Bastion Inventor.

Right off the bat, this is a pretty big creature for Blue. While it looks expensive at 5U, even if you only have a single Artifact in play, a 4/4 for 4U is perfectly reasonable. With almost 60 difference Artifacts at Common in Standard right now, you should have no problem finding options for almost any Blue-based archetype. However, what makes this card so good is the fact that it also has Hexproof. In the current metagame, creatures are much less important due to how many good options there are for removal. Bastion Inventor sidesteps all of that. Even better, Hexproof takes most of the risk out of creature Auras or Equipment. Give it Flying with Ghostly Wings, or attach Inventor's Goggles on it for free when it enters the battlefield, and you have quite the potent threat.

Generally speaking, Hexproof is one of the better evergreen abilities in Standard Pauper, and in this particular case you're getting it on a creature that is already pretty strong. Bastion Inventor is a great threat for any Blue-based midrange deck or a superb finisher for a Blue-based Control deck. I have no doubt this is going to make a big impact on the format.

Want to know more about what I think of the cards in Aether Revolt? Check out Part One of my Standard Pauper review over at PureMTGO.