Up to this point, it’s clear that The Lost Caverns of Ixalan has had a massive impact on Constructed gameplay. With how impactful Wilds of Eldraine was as a whole, it seemed unlikely that many cards from The Lost Caverns of Ixalan would deliver in a similar manner. After all,
Up the Beanstalk
Up the Beanstalk
When this enchantment enters and whenever you cast a spell with mana value 5 or greater, draw a card.
was deemed a banworthy card as just an uncommon. As it turns out, The Lost Caverns of Ixalan has made similar massive metagame shifts from Standard down to Modern.
Of course, no mechanic was more impactful than Discover, at least in Pioneer. This easily abusable mechanic resulted in
Geological Appraiser
Geological Appraiser
When this creature enters, if you cast it, discover 3. (Exile cards from the top of your library until you exile a nonland card with mana value 3 or less. Cast it without paying its mana cost or put it into your hand. Put the rest on the bottom in a random order.)
getting banned less than a month after its release. What’s interesting, though, is that similar to Wilds of Eldraine, The Lost Caverns of Ixalan has a multitude of elite Constructed cards for Standard, Pioneer, and Modern. Cards like
Deep-Cavern Bat
Deep-Cavern Bat
Flying, lifelink
When this creature enters, look at target opponent's hand. You may exile a nonland card from it until this creature leaves the battlefield.
in Standard,
Bitter Triumph
Bitter Triumph
As an additional cost to cast this spell, discard a card or pay 3 life.
Destroy target creature or planeswalker.
in Pioneer, and
Tishana’s Tidebinder
Tishana’s Tidebinder
Flash
When this creature enters, counter up to one target activated or triggered ability. If an ability of an artifact, creature, or planeswalker is countered this way, that permanent loses all abilities for as long as this creature remains on the battlefield. (Mana abilities can't be targeted.)
in Modern have all helped shift each format’s metagames in specific ways.
Still, it’s not always the case that a card, especially one that largely flew under the radar during spoiler season, delivers in all three of these formats.
Inti, Seneschal of the Sun
Inti, Seneschal of the Sun
Whenever you attack, you may discard a card. When you do, put a +1/+1 counter on target attacking creature. It gains trample until end of turn.
Whenever you discard one or more cards, exile the top card of your library. You may play that card until your next end step.
fits this bill and seems to be garnering more attention as of late. Inti is a very underrated two-drop that is solid in aggressive, midrange, and combo strategies alike. Unlike many two-drops, whether you draw Inti early or late in the game, the card is solid at any point on the curve. In this sense, the card is highly versatile and is starting to see play in a ton of different strategies. Today, we’re going to take a deep dive and go over exactly what makes this legend so special.
Adding Pressure
As a two-drop that has the ability to buff your attacking Creatures and give them Trample, it’s not too surprising that Inti is a solid option for aggressive decks. Decks like Boros aggro in Standard, for instance, make great use of Inti as an aggressive card. Assuming you get to untap with Inti, it’s very common to simply attack with some Creatures, discard an extra Land or other unnecessary card, and put a +1/+1 counter on one of your bigger attackers with the intention of playing whatever card you exile.
This alone is a solid play pattern. However, even in Boros aggro, there are a couple nice pieces of synergy here. First, getting to put +1/+1 counters on
Warden of the Inner Sky
Warden of the Inner Sky
As long as this creature has three or more counters on it, it has flying and vigilance.
Tap three untapped artifacts and/or creatures you control: Put a +1/+1 counter on this creature. Scry 1. Activate only as a sorcery.
helps get you closer to the threshold necessary to give it Flying and Vigilance. Perhaps Inti’s most important role in this deck, though, is to help maximize
Regal Bunnicorn
Regal Bunnicorn
Regal Bunnicorn's power and toughness are each equal to the number of nonland permanents you control.
. Regal Bunnicorn is bound to be quite large in a deck with tons of cheap Creatures and
Gleeful Demolition
Gleeful Demolition
Destroy target artifact. If you controlled that artifact, create three 1/1 red Phyrexian Goblin creature tokens.
. Getting to give Regal Bunnicorn Trample can help end the game in Creature board stalls.
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Inti in Midrange Shells
As good as Inti can be at adding to your clock, where the card really shines is with its second ability. In typical aggressive decks, triggering Inti’s second ability usually requires discarding a card to Inti’s first ability when you attack. This adds pressure to the board and provides some card selection but doesn’t actually pull you ahead on cards. The thing is, Inti’s second ability triggers whenever you discard a card, which doesn’t have to be done with Inti’s first ability.
The unbanning of
Smuggler’s Copter
Smuggler’s Copter
Flying
Whenever this Vehicle attacks or blocks, you may draw a card. If you do, discard a card.
Crew 1 (Tap any number of creatures you control with total power 1 or more: This Vehicle becomes an artifact creature until end of turn.)
really helped make Inti shine brighter in Pioneer. Some Rakdos midrange lists in Pioneer have adopted this cool combination of cards. With Copter in play, you simply play Inti, Crew Copter, and attack. This will trigger Copter’s ability to loot. By looting, Inti will now trigger and allow you to exile the top card of your library and play it until the end of the turn. You could still choose to use Inti’s first ability to discard a card and give Copter +1/+1 and Trample too, of course, but either way, you are starting to generate card advantage.
Rakdos midrange decks naturally have a lot more ways to loot or rummage cards away, adding further synergy with Inti. Chapter II of
Fable of the Mirror-Breaker
Fable of the Mirror-Breaker
(As this Saga enters and after your draw step, add a lore counter.)
I — Create a 2/2 red Goblin Shaman creature token with "Whenever this token attacks, create a Treasure token."
II — You may discard up to two cards. If you do, draw that many cards.
III — Exile this Saga, then return it to the battlefield transformed under your control.
will trigger Inti, as will using the Blood token produced by
Bloodtithe Harvester
Bloodtithe Harvester
When this creature enters, create a Blood token. (It's an artifact with "{1}, {T}, Discard a card, Sacrifice this token: Draw a card.")
{T}, Sacrifice this creature: Target creature gets -X/-X until end of turn, where X is twice the number of Blood tokens you control. Activate only as a sorcery.
. Notably, Inti allows you to play cards until your next end step, meaning if you crack a Blood token on your opponent’s end step, you will still get to play the card you exile during your turn with all of your mana available.
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Inti in Combo Shells
As you can see, Inti is a solid two-drop for midrange decks that naturally discard cards. For some combo strategies, though, discarding cards is extremely important. With the addition of Copter and Inti in Pioneer, some players have moved away from the traditional Abzan
Greasefang, Okiba Boss
Greasefang, Okiba Boss
At the beginning of combat on your turn, return target Vehicle card from your graveyard to the battlefield. It gains haste. Return it to its owner's hand at the beginning of your next end step.
builds to Mardu Greasefang shells. Mardu Greasefang uses Copter, Bloodtithe Harvester and Fable of the Mirror-Breaker just like Rakdos midrange, while even adding
Voldaren Epicure
Voldaren Epicure
When this creature enters, it deals 1 damage to each opponent. Create a Blood token. (It's an artifact with "{1}, {T}, Discard a card, Sacrifice this token: Draw a card.")
into the mix.
The difference is that, in this deck, the goal is to discard Vehicles like
Parhelion II
Parhelion II
Flying, first strike, vigilance
Whenever Parhelion II attacks, create two 4/4 white Angel creature tokens with flying and vigilance that are attacking.
Crew 4 (Tap any number of creatures you control with total power 4 or more: This Vehicle becomes an artifact creature until end of turn.)
to set up Greasefang. Inti allows you to generate tons of value in the process, all while digging for copies of Greasefang to lead the charge. If Inti goes unchecked, this deck can easily win by curving out even without ever finding Parhelion II.
Yesterday, we went over a deck that goes even deeper on the discard theme with the goal of abusing Inti even further. This deck is none other than Jeskai Ascendancy in Modern. The goal of the deck is to use
Jeskai Ascendancy
Jeskai Ascendancy
Whenever you cast a noncreature spell, creatures you control get +1/+1 until end of turn. Untap those creatures.
Whenever you cast a noncreature spell, you may draw a card. If you do, discard a card.
in conjunction with
Emry, Lurker of the Loch
Emry, Lurker of the Loch
Affinity for artifacts (This spell costs {1} less to cast for each artifact you control.)
When Emry enters, mill four cards.
{T}: Choose target artifact card in your graveyard. You may cast that card this turn. (You still pay its costs. Timing rules still apply.)
and either
Mishra’s Bauble
Mishra’s Bauble
{T}, Sacrifice this artifact: Look at the top card of target player's library. Draw a card at the beginning of the next turn's upkeep.
or two copies of Mox Amber[/tooltip] to generate infinite mana, infinitely large attackers, and churn through your library.
As shown in the tweet above, with Jeskai Ascendancy and [tooltips]Rona, Herald of Invasion available, Inti is bound to provide a slew of extra cards for you to play over time. This immense value helps you beat graveyard hate that can be quite disruptive to your combo.
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Brewing Potential
Inti’s potential to generate absurd amounts of card advantage has even led players to brew unique strategies around it. Take the various
Seismic Assault
Seismic Assault
Discard a land card: This enchantment deals 2 damage to any target.
lists above. Seismic Assault, much like Jeskai Ascendancy, has largely fallen short in Modern over the years. With Assault and Inti on the battlefield together, though, things start to get out of hand.
Every Land you discard now comes with the bonus of being able to play cards from the top of your library. This can help you dig for copies of
Life from the Loam
Life from the Loam
Return up to three target land cards from your graveyard to your hand.
Dredge 3 (If you would draw a card, you may mill three cards instead. If you do, return this card from your graveyard to your hand.)
or
Slogurk, the Overslime
Slogurk, the Overslime
Trample
Whenever a land card is put into your graveyard from anywhere, put a +1/+1 counter on Slogurk.
Remove three +1/+1 counters from Slogurk: Return it to its owner's hand.
When Slogurk leaves the battlefield, return up to three target land cards from your graveyard to your hand.
to get your engine rolling.
The reality is, there’s plenty of room to improvise with Inti. It’s unusual for a cheap Creature to have this much versatility. It’ll be cool to see how players continue to maximize the powerful legend in the coming weeks.
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