New MTG Big Score Cards Hose Tier One Standard Strategies!

Outlaws of Thunder Junction is a rather strange set with regards to how its bonus sheets are handled. The Breaking News bonus sheet functions quite similarly to other bonus sheets, such as the Enchanting Tales subset of cards from Wilds of Eldraine. These cards are exclusively reprints that, despite showing up in the Limited environment, only remain tournament legal in formats they already were allowed in. So don’t worry, no one will be casting Oko, Thief of Crowns Oko, Thief of Crowns +2: Create a Food token. (It's an artifact with "{2}, {T}, Sacrifice this token: You gain 3 life.")
+1: Target artifact or creature loses all abilities and becomes a green Elk creature with base power and toughness 3/3.
−5: Exchange control of target artifact or creature you control and target creature an opponent controls with power 3 or less. or Mana Drain Mana Drain Counter target spell. At the beginning of your next main phase, add an amount of {C} equal to that spell's mana value. against you in Standard.

However, the Big Score cards from Outlaws of Thunder Junction will be Standard legal. Even though these cards feature an alternate expansion symbol, they will be introduced to the format. This group of cards are somewhat reminiscent of March of the Machine: the Aftermath but can be found in play boosters of Outlaws of Thunder Junction, nonetheless. Today, a bunch more of these cards were spoiled. There’s a nice mix of reprints and strong new cards to talk about, so let’s get to it.

Pest Control

First up, we have an extremely efficient “board wipe” of sorts. Destroying only non-Land permanents with mana value one or less is a narrow effect, but there are a handful of strategies that may get completely blown out. Convoke shells in Standard and Pioneer are certainly at the top of that list. These decks rely on a high volume of one-drop Creatures that produce Artifact tokens, such as Thraben Inspector Thraben Inspector When this creature enters, investigate. (Create a Clue token. It's an artifact with "{2}, Sacrifice this token: Draw a card.") , to work alongside Gleeful Demolition Gleeful Demolition Destroy target artifact. If you controlled that artifact, create three 1/1 red Phyrexian Goblin creature tokens. in helping Convoke out Venerated Loxodon Venerated Loxodon Convoke (Your creatures can help cast this spell. Each creature you tap while casting this spell pays for {1} or one mana of that creature's color.)
When this creature enters, put a +1/+1 counter on each creature that convoked it. or Knight-Errant of Eos Knight-Errant of Eos Convoke
When this creature enters, look at the top six cards of your library. You may reveal up to two creature cards with mana value X or less from among them, where X is the number of creatures that convoked this creature. Put the revealed cards into your hand, then shuffle. .

Much like Temporary Lockdown Temporary Lockdown When this enchantment enters, exile each nonland permanent with mana value 2 or less until this enchantment leaves the battlefield. , Pest Control cleans up all of these small Creatures and tokens. Missing out on two-drops can be a big deal in some matchups, but so can utilizing this effect turn two on the draw against Convoke. You don’t even have to worry about Enchantment removal ruining your day, and you can always Cycle away Pest Control in situations where you don’t need it.

Omenpath Journey

Next, we have a unique source of ramp that seems well-suited for Commander. There are a few different ways to utilize this card. The first is to simply use it as a source of ramp. Every turn for five turns, you get to put a Land onto the battlefield tapped. This alone is strong, even if you are simply grabbing various dual Lands. Where things get interesting is when you factor in utility Lands.

Omenpath Journey may be random in the sense that you may not get the Land you want put on the battlefield right away if you search for multiple Lands, but you have all the agency outside of this. If you want, you can use Omenpath Journey to search for only Dark Depths Dark Depths Dark Depths enters with ten ice counters on it.
{3}: Remove an ice counter from Dark Depths.
When Dark Depths has no ice counters on it, sacrifice it. If you do, create Marit Lage, a legendary 20/20 black Avatar creature token with flying and indestructible. and Thespian’s Stage Thespian’s Stage {T}: Add {C}.
{2}, {T}: This land becomes a copy of target land, except it has this ability. , guaranteeing an elite set-up in two turns. Even searching for Glacial Chasm Glacial Chasm Cumulative upkeep—Pay 2 life. (At the beginning of your upkeep, put an age counter on this permanent, then sacrifice it unless you pay its upkeep cost for each age counter on it.)
When this land enters, sacrifice a land.
Creatures you control can't attack.
Prevent all damage that would be dealt to you. and nothing else can be a strong play in certain circumstances.

What makes Omenpath Journey powerful is its flexibility. If you need Lands, grab a bunch. Otherwise, you can use it as a tutor of sorts. In some decks, you may even be able to blink Omenpath Journey and keep the Lands flowing. The world truly is your oyster.

Lotus Ring

Lotus Ring is a very funky card that clearly references the power of Black Lotus Black Lotus {T}, Sacrifice this artifact: Add three mana of any one color. . In this case, you do have to jump through some hoops to get your mana, though. You have to pay for the Equipment and pay three mana to Equip it to a Creature, then sacrifice the Creature to get three mana. This is a huge cost, of course, unless you are able to abuse it.

Fortunately, cards like Puresteel Paladin Puresteel Paladin Whenever an Equipment you control enters, you may draw a card.
Metalcraft — Equipment you control have equip {0} as long as you control three or more artifacts. can lend a hand. If you have a large board of Creature tokens and a couple other Artifacts lying around, you can use Lotus Ring in conjunction with Puresteel Paladin as a mega ritual of sorts. Even cards like Forensic Gadgeteer Forensic Gadgeteer Whenever you cast an artifact spell, investigate. (Create a Clue token. It's an artifact with "{2}, Sacrifice this token: Draw a card.")
Activated abilities of artifacts you control cost {1} less to activate. This effect can't reduce the mana in that cost to less than one mana. that can reduce the Equip cost of Lotus Ring can do the trick. You just need a sizeable board and some big stuff to cast.

There are also some cool combos to be had with Lotus Ring. For instance, if you control Fervent Champion Fervent Champion First strike, haste
Whenever this creature attacks, another target attacking Knight you control gets +1/+0 until end of turn.
Equip abilities you activate that target this creature cost {3} less to activate. and Koll, the Forgemaster Koll, the Forgemaster Whenever another nontoken creature you control dies, if it was enchanted or equipped, return it to its owner's hand.
Creature tokens you control that are enchanted or equipped get +1/+1. , you can generate infinite mana rather easily. Start by Equipping Lotus Ring to Fervent Champion (this costs zero mana, thanks to Fervent Champion’s final ability). Then, sacrifice it for three mana, triggering Koll to return Fervent Champion to your hand. Now, cast it again using one of the three floating mana, Equip once more, and repeat! It’ll be cool to see what other combos players come up with in the coming weeks.

Simulacrum Synthesizer

Simulacrum Synthesizer is definitely one of the new Big Score cards with the most Constructed potential. In Standard, we’ve seen Artifact decks succeed in the past, utilizing cards like Thran Spider Thran Spider Reach
When this creature enters, you and target opponent each create a tapped Powerstone token.
{7}: Look at the top four cards of your library. You may reveal an artifact card from among them and put it into your hand. Put the rest on the bottom of your library in a random order. and The Mightstone and Weakstone The Mightstone and Weakstone When The Mightstone and Weakstone enters, choose one —
• Draw two cards.
• Target creature gets -5/-5 until end of turn.
{T}: Add {C}{C}. This mana can't be spent to cast nonartifact spells.
(Melds with Urza, Lord Protector.) to pull ahead and grow your Artifact count. Simulacrum Synthesizer is a great win condition in conjunction with these cards. It’s incredible with Skitterbeam Battalion Skitterbeam Battalion Prototype {3}{R}{R} — 2/2 (You may cast this spell with different mana cost, color, and size. It keeps its abilities and types.)
Trample, haste
When this creature enters, if you cast it, create two tokens that are copies of it. , too, netting you three huge Construct tokens from Simulacrum Synthesizer.

In older formats like Modern, this card works very well in conjunction with Affinity payoffs. Getting to play Simulacrum Synthesizer, then follow up with Frogmite Frogmite Affinity for artifacts (This spell costs {1} less to cast for each artifact you control.) , Sojourner’s Companion Sojourner’s Companion Affinity for artifacts
Artifact landcycling {2} ({2}, Discard this card: Search your library for an artifact land card, reveal it, put it into your hand, then shuffle.) , or Myr Enforcer Myr Enforcer Affinity for artifacts (This spell costs {1} less to cast for each artifact you control.) without investing any additional mana can let you build a big board out of nowhere. Simulacrum Synthesizer will surely be a Commander staple on top of this, rocking right alongside Urza, Lord High Artificer Urza, Lord High Artificer When Urza enters, create a 0/0 colorless Construct artifact creature token with "This token gets +1/+1 for each artifact you control."
Tap an untapped artifact you control: Add {U}.
{5}: Shuffle your library, then exile the top card. Until end of turn, you may play that card without paying its mana cost. .

Rest in Peace

Finally, we have a top tier reprint that may finally help shake things up in Standard. In the latest Magic Online Standard Challenge this past weekend, Temur Worldsoul’s Rage Worldsoul’s Rage Worldsoul's Rage deals X damage to any target. Put up to X land cards from your hand and/or graveyard onto the battlefield tapped. decks made up the entire top four! The power of Aftermath Analyst Aftermath Analyst When this creature enters, mill three cards. (Put the top three cards of your library into your graveyard.)
{3}{G}, Sacrifice this creature: Return all land cards from your graveyard to the battlefield tapped. has been on full display. The idea behind the deck is to maximize Lands from Streets of New Capenna like Brokers Hideout Brokers Hideout When this land enters, sacrifice it. When you do, search your library for a basic Forest, Plains, or Island card, put it onto the battlefield tapped, then shuffle and you gain 1 life. that go to the graveyard.

From there, Aftermath Analyst and Worldsoul’s Rage can bring a bunch of these Lands back from your graveyard at once, gaining you extra life and ramping you in the process. Eventually, Worldsoul’s Rage can be used as a Fireball Fireball This spell costs {1} more to cast for each target beyond the first.
Fireball deals X damage divided evenly, rounded down, among any number of targets. effect and end the game in one hit.

As strong as this deck is, it is quite reliant on the graveyard. Aftermath Analyst, Worldsoul’s Rage, and even Memory Deluge Memory Deluge Look at the top X cards of your library, where X is the amount of mana spent to cast this spell. Put two of them into your hand and the rest on the bottom of your library in a random order.
Flashback {5}{U}{U} (You may cast this card from your graveyard for its flashback cost. Then exile it.) become a lot worse in the face of Rest in Peace. Rest in Peace can also help keep Reenact the Crime Reenact the Crime Exile target nonland card in a graveyard that was put there from anywhere this turn. Copy it. You may cast the copy without paying its mana cost. and 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. decks in check.

In this sense, while Rest in Peace isn’t a super pricy reprint by any means, it should have major Standard implications for the foreseeable future. The design team definitely didn’t mess around when it comes to these Big Score cards. Expect them to play big roles across multiple formats going forward.

Tagged Commander, magic: the gathering, Modern, MTG, Outlaws of Thunder Junction, Pioneer, Standard