By: Jaren White
It seems like we are going back in time again. Except this time it’s to a world where gods ruled over and under. Hazoret’s favorite pet dragon is back to run the tables again like it did for two years straight. The Scarab God is back to make mid-range mirrors a nightmare again. Yes, we are back in Amonkhet for Historic, but something seems different this time. Maybe it’s the fact that WotC has decided to put some of the most well known cards into this remastered set and I am ready to dive in. First let us start with the usual suspects.
The Scarab God
To be honest this card gave me headaches in Standard when we had 4-color Temur energy and mid-range mirrors. I expect the same thing to happen again with mid-range mirrors. This card is definitely a finisher in control decks as you can use your opponent’s graveyard against them and start reanimating creatures from the grave as zombies for you to control.
Thoughtseize
Plain and simple this is an iconic modern card in Historic! I definitely see this card ending up in just about every deck that can play black. If it’s not in your mainboard then it’s definitely in your sideboard and it’s usually a playset. With that being said, this is probably one of the first sets of cards you should be crafting.
Sphinx’s Revelation
I remember the days of watching people cast this card back to back burying their opponent in card advantage and life total as well. Just putting the game out of reach and having all the answers in the world. Fortunately for blue mages the program will continue as such.
Hazoret the Fervent
This particular card has won me so much store credit and helped me top so many qualifiers. It also defined the mono red archetype for the time it was in standard and this time around I see nothing changing. It will still continue to do just that. Being four mana with indestructible and haste is definitely a beating no player wants to take.
Glorybringer
I have some very hard personal feelings about this card. It won me three consecutive store championships and took me to the finals of a fourth. It helped me hit the top 8 of multiple qualifiers. I traveled all across the state of Michigan with my set in German. I won more store credit than I could remember with this card and for that I am forever grateful.
Coming down for five mana with flying and haste, it very easily takes out non-dragon creatures while dealing four combat damage in the process. This is an amazing addition to red-based aggro and mid-range decks alike. Crafting a playset of this card should be a priority if you plan on playing any aggressive style decks.
Collected Company
This particular card is very interesting and fun especially in a low casting cost deck where creature anthems and enter the battlefield triggers matter. Collected Company is also very useful during combat if you want to attempt to find an anthem or find a creature that removes something from the board or to add extra blockers. I expect this card to see heavy play in the Historic meta all around and to make more cards playable that have not seen play as of yet.
Hour of Promise
I’m going to get straight to the point on this card: it allows you to find lands for Field of the Dead. If you just so happen to have at least three Deserts out then you get to make more zombies. To be honest I really do believe that Field of the Dead will be the gatekeeper of Historic and this may be the card that pushes the deck over the top.
In Closing
There are a host of cards I wanted to include and discuss but I believe this article only scratches the surface of this remastered set. Also, it has been brought to my attention that some people think of me as “the Kethis guy” for Historic. With that being said, I leave you with this thought as something I am looking to try that possibly has legs.
