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It’s a well-established rule of the adventure genre that the more treasures a cave or temple holds, the more perils must lie in wait within to ensnare any who seek to claim them. The Lost Caverns of Ixalan,Magic: The Gathering’slatest foray into the bombastic and the swashbuckling, understands this idea better than most.
In the darkness of the titular Caverns players can encounter all manner of horrors, from tortured souls to the cruel Demons that shackle them, represented chiefly across the black cards in the set. While you may shudder to behold them, some of these cards hold the keys to your victory in their grasping, skeletal hands. Reach out and claim them for yourself.
10Aclazotz, Deepest Betrayal///Temple Of The Dead
I’m Beginning To Feel Like A Bat God, Bat God
The five new Ixalan Gods are worthy additions to Magic’sever-growing polytheistic pantheon, and Aclazotz may just be the best of them. While he doesn’t have as much explosive potential as the Ojer Taqs or Ojer Axonils of the world, he does provide more grindy value than any of his siblings.
By gaining you life, forcing your opponent to discard, and creating Bat tokens, Aclazotoz can drag out a game like nobody’s business. This is doubly true thanks to the trivial flip-back condition on his land side, which makes it easy for him to stay active.
9Souls Of The Lost
The Lost Souls Of Ixalan
It seems like every Standard set these days comes with a card that’s “Like Tarmogoyf, but…”, and Souls of the Lost is Ixalan’s take on the concept. While it does demand a discard or sacrifice to even grace you with its presence, after that initial hurdle is cleared it scales better than many of its peers.
Since it counts all the permanent cards in your graveyard, Souls can get out of hand fast with just a self-mill effect or two. Throw in some discard synergies and reanimation effects, and your opponent will join these tortured Souls in short order.
8Stalactite Stalker
A Goblin With A Gift For Growth
There must be something in the water over atMagic’s one-drop ranch, because in recent times its cheapest creatures have also been some of its most powerful. Stalactite Stalker proudly continues this trend, presenting a self-scaling evasive threat that can also double as an instant-speed removal spell in a pinch.
While likely powerful in Standard, the Stalker will truly shine in the likes of Modern, where regular Fetchland activations can guarantee he beefs up quickly, He also plays nicely with instant-speed tricks, since you can use his activated ability even if he attacked last turn: a nice tip to remember for all formats.
7Tarrian’s Journal//The Tomb Of Aclazotz
If his Journal is anything to go by, Tarrian clearly has a lot going on in his life. Despite costing just two mana, this card is one of the more complex creations that Caverns brings to the table, providing a sacrifice outlet, One With Nothing effect, mana ramp, and repeatable Reanimation all in one tight package.
While flipping the Journal into its Tomb form and grinding out your opponent with a constant stream of creatures from your graveyard is a tempting use case here, many decks will have great results just sticking with the front side and using it to trade tokens for card advantage every turn.
6Bringer Of The Last Gift
Saving The Best For Last
Anyone who’s been playing Magic for a while has likely heard of Living End, a Modern staple with a game-changing effect, conveniently castable via cascade thanks to its lack of a real mana cost. Bringer of the Last Gift brings that effect back from the dead for another round, this time attached to a 6/6 flying body.
While this card likely won’t be making waves in constructed formats, thanks to its high mana cost and cast clause preventing easy triggers of the graveyard-swap effect, it has a huge amount of potential in Commander, where you may easily assemble a game-ending board with this dastardly Demon.
5Tithing Blade//Consuming Sepulcher
A Hidden Gem In A Set Full Of Treasures
There are usually one or two hidden gems nestled among the cards revealed during any given set’s final reveals dump, and Tithing Blade shines brighter than most in Lost Caverns of Ixalan. Despite its Common rarity, this is one of the best grindy value cards in the set for both Standard and Commander.
Two mana for an Edict effect is more than fair, particularly in a Midrange meta, and the back side gives you inevitability and plays superbly in multiples. With solid applications in anything that isn’t pure Aggro, and excellent scaling in multiplayer, this is a card that will surprise many players come release.
4Fanatical Offering
Buy Two Cards, Get A Map Free
Any card that courts comparisons to multi-format all-star Deadly Dispute is worth a second look, and Fanatical Offering has more than earned its spot in that conversation. The card is identical to its Forgotten Realms sibling, albeit with one crucial change: it makes a Map instead of a Treasure.
While this is worse in many cases, a Map can do things that a Treasure simply can’t, such as provide surprise lethal damage and dig you out of a mana drought early on. Even discounting the token entirely, drawing two cards for two mana is a stellar deal, and one that makes Offering well worth playing.
3Terror Tide
Tide Is High But I’m Holding On
Board wipes are among the most divisive cards in Magic,in the Commander format especially, so it’s nice to see one that actually demands a specific playstyle in order to be useful. Terror Tide can be extremely powerful, but it can’t reach that point until late in the game, at least without some investment into self-mill.
This puts the card in an interesting position where it actually isn’t amazing early, when board wipes are at their most crucial. On the flip side, it’s incredible later, dealing with even huge threats and getting around indestructible to boot.
2Corpses Of The Lost
A Two-Tone Typal Treat
Now this is a truly interesting piece of cardboard: an Anthem effect which, thanks to a built-in self-bounce effect, can also double as a token generation engine for both Skeletons and Pirates. Not only is this a delicious flavor win, but it may also provide a legitimate win condition for some offbeat Aggro decks in both Standard and Commander.
Skeleton is one of the more barebones creature types in terms of overall support, but there are still some great options out there, even in Standard. The fact that Corpses of the Lost provides haste, and that the tokens come with an incidental Pirate tag, doesn’t hurt either.
1Greedy Freebooter
An Unwilling Martyr For The Aristocrats Cause
The Lost Caverns of Ixalan has a higher density of cards that reward you for trading in your unsuspecting followers than usual, and all of those cards desperately need good, cheap fuel in order to function. That fuel typically comes in the form of low-cost creatures, and Greedy Freebooter is about as good as it gets in that arena.
For just one mana, Freebooter gives you a body with two relevant creature types that provides both mana and card selection on death. While it’s at its best in anAristocrats-style sacrifice deck, it’s efficient enough that it should see play in Pirate typal decks, and even just black decks in general, as well.
