We are now a few days into the release of Jumpstart: Historic Horizons on Magic Arena. The set aimed to bring some powerful new cards to Historic, taking cards from Modern Horizons, Modern Horizons 2 and other sets. It also introduced some brand new Arena only cards that have unique digital only mechanics. After a few days of testing and a tournament over the weekend, we now have a clearer picture of which cards are making waves in the format.
Honorable Mention – Cordial Vampire
Our Honorable mention goes to Cordial Vampire. It’s help bring the vampires deck into prominence, essentially giving them a lord. When you couple this with various removal spells, you can put together a very powerful board very quickly.
10. Svyelun of Sea and Sky + Master of the Pearl Trident
Svyelun of Sea and Sky
Svyelun of Sea and Sky
Svyelun has indestructible as long as you control at least two other Merfolk.
Whenever Svyelun attacks, draw a card.
Other Merfolk you control have ward {1}. (Whenever another Merfolk you control becomes the target of a spell or ability an opponent controls, counter it unless that player pays {1}.)
and Master of the Pearl Trident share the number 10 spot. With the addition of this powerful mythic from Modern Horizons 2 and powerful lord, Merfolk has become a very viable aggro deck. With 12 lords and a powerful boss monster, this deck can get off the ground quick and can be very difficult to race.
9. Freyalise, Skyshroud Partisan + Skyshroud Lookout
Our first pair of digital only cards is Freyalise, Skyshroud Partisan and Skyshroud Lookout. Elves is definitely the best tribal deck in the format that the moment, and these two cards have given Elves the needed consistency and tempo to help propel them to competitiveness.
8. Scurry Oak
Next up we have
Scurry Oak
Scurry Oak
Evolve (Whenever a creature you control enters, if that creature has greater power or toughness than this creature, put a +1/+1 counter on this creature.)
Whenever one or more +1/+1 counters are put on this creature, you may create a 1/1 green Squirrel creature token.
. This may seem pretty unassuming as an uncommon, but this card is a key piece to one of the combo decks in the format. When comboed with
Heliod, Sun-Crowned
Heliod, Sun-Crowned
Indestructible
As long as your devotion to white is less than five, Heliod isn't a creature.
Whenever you gain life, put a +1/+1 counter on target creature or enchantment you control.
{1}{W}: Another target creature gains lifelink until end of turn.
and
Prosperous Innkeeper
Prosperous Innkeeper
When this creature enters, create a Treasure token. (It's an artifact with "{T}, Sacrifice this token: Add one mana of any color.")
Whenever another creature you control enters, you gain 1 life.
or
Soul Warden
Soul Warden
Whenever another creature enters, you gain 1 life.
, you can create an endless loop of creating a massive Scurry Oak and a massive amount of squirrels all while gaining an equally massive amount of life. To top it off, we can get our combo out with
Collected Company
Collected Company
Look at the top six cards of your library. Put up to two creature cards with mana value 3 or less from among them onto the battlefield. Put the rest on the bottom of your library in any order.
.
7. Hardened Scales
Hardened Scales
Hardened Scales
If one or more +1/+1 counters would be put on a creature you control, that many plus one +1/+1 counters are put on it instead.
is a modern staple, and finds a home in Historic as well. This card helped spawn a Selesnya counters aggro deck. It’s a very low to the ground deck that aims to build a board full creatures with +1/+1 counters. This card was definitely one where it was unclear how this deck would be built, or if it’d be viable, but it’s definitely a good one.
6. Davriel’s Withering + Vesperlark
The next digital only card is Davriel’s Withering, paired with Vesperlark. These two cards form another infinite combo, and when you combo it with something like
Blood Artist
Blood Artist
Whenever this creature or another creature dies, target player loses 1 life and you gain 1 life.
, you can drain your opponent out of the game. You can find this combo with Collected Company, and while it’s soft to graveyard removal, the sideboards brings in artifact and enchantment destruction to play around it.
5. Seasoned Pyromancer
One of the more powerful creatures that Wizards put into the set was
Seasoned Pyromancer
Seasoned Pyromancer
When this creature enters, discard two cards, then draw two cards. For each nonland card discarded this way, create a 1/1 red Elemental creature token.
{3}{R}{R}, Exile this card from your graveyard: Create two 1/1 red Elemental creature tokens.
. One of the most impactful cards in Modern has made a good splash in Historic. Finding homes in various Rakdos or Izzet decks, this creature provides some much needed card draw, and can put some bodies on the board. This is definitely one of the premier crafts of the set.
4. Esper Sentinel
What was our pick for the best card in the set, Esper Sentinel comes in at number 4 on our list. While this card has seen play in many different decks, and it definitely performs as well as we thought, there’s a few other cards that did more. Still, this card is a fantastic include in multiple decks, taxing your opponent’s spells, or drawing you 2-3 cards a game.
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3. Serra’s Emissary
Serra’s Emissary
Serra’s Emissary
Flying
As this creature enters, choose a card type.
You and creatures you control have protection from the chosen card type.
is one of the sleeper hits of the set. This card single handedly brought the Jeskai
Indomitable Creativity
Indomitable Creativity
Destroy X target artifacts and/or creatures. For each permanent destroyed this way, its controller reveals cards from the top of their library until an artifact or creature card is revealed and exiles that card. Those players put the exiled cards onto the battlefield, then shuffle.
deck to the top of the format. Giving you and your creatures protection from the most relevant card type in your opponent’s deck can often be a death sentence for them, and many decks lack the diversity in spells to deal with this massive 7/7 flying body.
READ MORE: The 3 Best Tribal Decks In Historic on MTG Arena
2. Unholy Heat
Unholy Heat
Unholy Heat
Unholy Heat deals 2 damage to target creature or planeswalker.
Delirium — Unholy Heat deals 6 damage instead if there are four or more card types among cards in your graveyard.
is one of the top removal spells in the format. Being able to deal 6 damage for 1 mana is incredibly powerful. Hitting Delirium isn’t very difficult to do. While right now, the format is anticipating the delirium strategy so graveyard hate is pretty plentiful, but you definitely refill it at a reasonable pace to make this full powered.
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1. Dragon’s Rage Channeler
The most impactful card in the format has to be
Dragon’s Rage Channeler
Dragon’s Rage Channeler
Whenever you cast a noncreature spell, surveil 1. (Look at the top card of your library. You may put that card into your graveyard.)
Delirium — As long as there are four or more card types among cards in your graveyard, this creature gets +2/+2, has flying, and attacks each combat if able.
. The entirety of the format has warped around this card, causing many decks to play main deck graveyard hate. This is a power house card in the modern format and so the hype for this in Historic caused a HUGE shift in the meta. As the format ages and we get more cards, expect that this will continue to be a player in the game.