Space: the final frontier. These are the continuing voyages of the starship Dawnsire. Magic takes off to the stars in Edge of Eternities, and we’re along for the ride. There are a lot of cards in this set that have triggers that might upgrade, but worry not! We’re here to moonwalk you through it.
Ready? Prepare for Warp and set phasers to fun!
One mechanic involves a trigger that upgrades to a Warning when missed:
1. The Warp mechanic as a whole, as seen on Nova Hellkite
“[Cast this card from your hand for its warp cost]. Exile this creature at the beginning of the next end step.”
It wouldn’t be a space set without weird warp shenanigans, right? Wormholes can lead to Warnings, though, if a player forgets to exile a creature they cast for its warp cost. Since this trigger undoes a zone change, it never expires. We can just exile the creature now no matter how long it’s been.
There are 32 cards with Warp to be on the lookout for.
Seven cards have one or more triggers that upgrade to a Warning when missed:
“At the beginning of your end step, sacrifice this Aura unless a nonland permanent left the battlefield this turn or a spell was warped this turn.”
This Aura, like most Auras, is much better when it’s on the battlefield than when it’s in the graveyard. A player forgetting to sacrifice it when required to will earn a Warning.
“Whenever this creature attacks, put a +1/+1 counter on target creature an opponent controls.”
Sunset Saboteur is a pretty beefy boy, coming in with 4 power for only 2 mana. Of course, all that power has a significant cost: if you want to attack with it, you have to make your opponent’s creatures better.
“[Create tokens]. Sacrifice them at the beginning of the next end step.”
“[Create a Lander token]. At the beginning of the end step on your next turn, sacrifice that token.”
“[Create a token that’s tapped and attacking]. Sacrifice that token at the end of combat.”
“[You may put an artifact or creature card from your hand onto the battlefield]. At the beginning of your end step, sacrifice this permanent.”
Devastating Onslaught, Kav Landseeker, Kavaron Harrier, and Terminal Velocity are fairly similar: “Put something on the battlefield, get rid of it later.” Forgetting to get rid of the thing later will earn a Warning. For all of these triggers, the remedy never expires.
7. Tractor Beam
“When this Aura enters, tap enchanted permanent.”
This one’s a little weird. Basically, if I cast this on my opponent’s Grizzly Bears, I control the permanent that must be tapped when this trigger resolves. Forgetting to tap the permanent could lead to advantages (like having an extra blocker, maybe), so missing this trigger will earn a player a Warning. Since this trigger only affects the enchanted permanent, the fix for missing it never expires. Tap the permanent whenever the error is discovered.
Three Stellar Sights cards have one or more triggers that upgrade to a Warning when missed:
We opted to break these cards out into their own section because they’ll only show up in Limited – these cards are not legal in Standard.
“Whenever a creature deals combat damage to you, that creature’s controller gains control of this land.”
Giving an opponent lands is not something players want to be doing. Forgetting to forfeit Contested War Zone to an opponent when necessary will earn a Warning if Contested War Zone’s current controller is the player who owns it.
2. Lotus Field
“When this land enters, sacrifice two lands.”
Sacrificing two lands is a steep cost, and Lotus Field would be much better if it didn’t make you do that. Forgetting to sacrifice lands will earn a Warning.
“[Exile an attacking creature]. At the beginning of the next end step, return it to the battlefield tapped under its owner’s control.”
Mystifying Maze would be much more powerful if its second ability were just “{4}, {T}: Exile target attacking creature an opponent controls.” Unfortunately, we have to remember to return the creature at the next end step, and forgetting to do so will earn the Maze’s controller a Warning. Since this undoes a zone change, the remedy never expires.
That’s it for Edge of Eternities. Be sure to join us again in a couple months. I hear a friendly neighborhood wallcrawler is making his way into Magic.
Putting the best exiled creature into play with some extra toughness should offset the downside of sacrificing an enchantment that no longer does anything else if either player in the game controls no creatures.
What about Sothera? The sacrifice trigger is likely a balance consideration to prevent it from locking an opponent out of creatures like Grave Pact would.