Uncommon-ly Strong: Powerful New Legends in Reality Fracture

Hello, dear readers, and welcome to Reality Fracture spoiler coverage in earnest. I began writing this article before the full set spoilers had even been released; I was already convinced that the set has the best uncommons that I’ve seen all year. These uncommons are not only super powerful and versatile, they’re also fun, flavorful, and great cameos of iconic characters from throughout Magic’s history.

Of course, these cards are also very pushed as well, possibly even the most pushed uncommons on average in several years. That’s not to say that powerful uncommons are some new anomaly; the quality of cards at the uncommon rarity has been going up a lot lately. Just last year, we got a ton of highlights. Restoration Magic is a fantastic and flexible protection spell from Final Fantasy, which also gave us PuPu UFO and Relm’s Sketching. Umbral Collar Zealot and Weftstalker Ardent are in the top 10 most-played cards from Edge of Eternities with Tannuk, Memorial Ensign not far behind, and Starfield Shepherd is another great card from the set. Even the maligned Spider-Man set produced Chameleon, Master of Disguise, one of the better clones to come out in the last few years.

Based on what we’ve seen so far, though, I think Reality Fracture has them all beat. Let’s take a look at some of the hits.

This is The Way

Let’s just get these out of the way now. Good lord, I know people like Superfriends decks but did they really need this much love? I don’t even want to think about the state standalone planeswalkers are going to be in after this set, much less entire decks focused on them. Way of the Pyromancer is a two-mana ramp spell for Planeswalkers that also increases loyalty, which turns every single planeswalker into a ramp spell that sustains itself. Way of the Necromancer turns creatures into loyalty counter printers, incrementing a loyalty counter on each planeswalker you control every time a creature you control dies. Given how often planeswalker decks have overlap with dorky token generation, chump blockers get even more valuable with this enchantment. Then there’s Way of the Cryomancer, which gives all planeswalkers a cheap way to burn some loyalty counters by allowing them to copy the next instant or sorcery you cast that turn. Some of your walkers won’t have great loyalty abilities to spend in small amounts, so why not just give all of them a free, super-valuable outlet? 

Way of the Paradox and Way of the Mentor round out each color with at least one viable enchantment to strengthen planeswalker decks. Paradox makes all of your loyalty abilities ramp even better than Way of the Pyromancer, as long as you can keep drawing lands, since each loyalty ability is an additional land drop (and one life for good measure). Mentor turns all of your planeswalkers into Ajani’s Pridemate-walkers, ticking up loyalty counters whenever you gain life. Lifegain decks are all about numerous, incremental triggers, and we literally just covered Paradox. You’ll be amassing counters in no time at all. 

If you hate playing against Superfriends as much as I do, now’s the time to pick up a few truckloads of copies of Flame Blitz and The Elderspell, because planeswalker decks are going to get so much more obnoxious.

Ghalta, the Immovable

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Ghalta, the Immovable, or “Ghalt-ass,” as someone in my LGS Discord so aptly put it. The reimagined iconic legendary creatures in this set are awesome for both flavor and mechanical strength; this new Ghalta does everything that a toughness-matters deck wants. It has a respectable seven toughness that can be ramped out for cheap with a sufficiently well-endowed creature on board, it allows creatures with defender to attack freely, and it grants the single best Scryfall tag of all time: buttstrike. Need I say more?

Koth of the Homestead

Another what-if rendition of a famous Magic character, Koth of the Homestead not only pays homage to the OG Koth of the Hammer by spelling out his own name in the card title (Koth Of The Homestead), but he also brings two solid Landfall payoff abilities. Incremental lifegain is very powerful with triggered abilities that can go off multiple times, and having the ability to gain two life and trigger your payoffs with just a single fetchland is satisfying. On top of that, Koth hands out +1/+1 counters to creatures when he sees a Plains entering the battlefield, and there are numerous enablers and payoffs for +1/+1 counters in white, not to mention those in its popular pairings with blue and green.

Teyo, Lightshield Expert

If there’s one thing that’s better than a protection spell, it’s a protection spell that can be reused multiple times. If there’s one thing that’s better than a reusable protection spell, it’s one that puts loyalty counters on planeswalkers as gravy on top. Teyo, Lightshield Expert is a protection spell on a stick that does just that; he grants hexproof to any type of permanent, not to mention he puts a +1/+1 counter on that permanent if it’s a creature and a loyalty counter if it’s a planeswalker. As if they weren’t hard enough to hit with targeted removal, now Teyo can help keep them safe and squeeze some extra loyalty in.

Yoshimaru, Beloved Companion

Putting a dog on a best-cards list is basically a cheat code, especially when that dog is Yoshimaru. Yoshimaru, Beloved Companion isn’t just any dog, though; he increases the effectiveness of +1/+1 counter generation in the classic style of Hardened Scales, and if you happen to be in a jam with a ton of mana to spend, he can even dish out some of those counters himself with his activated ability. What a good boy.

Fblthp, Impossibly Lost

Homunculus fans, rejoice with me! Our beloved Fblthp is back once again as Fblthp, Impossibly Lost, and this time he doesn’t have a stupid cowboy hat on. If you’re a fan of goofy and unorthodox commanders, or you just really like Proteus Staff and Polymorph, then Fblthp, Impossibly Lost is perfect for you.

Geist of Saint Thalia

What an awesome inversion of such an impactful and well-loved creature. Geist of Saint Thalia is a beautiful reflection of Thalia, Guardian of Thraben in every aspect. Inverted power and toughness stats, blue’s old-reliable flying ability replacing white’s standard-issue first strike, and the main event: a boilerplate cost reduction on every noncreature spell. This static ability is not only the main throughline from the Guardian of Thraben, it’s also a powerful blanket discount that can fit into a variety of different archetypes and strategies.

Yargle, Goliath of Otaria

I don’t often like to go for low-hanging fruit, but I think I can present this one without comment.

Gallia, the Merrymaker

Haste anthems in red might not be groundbreaking technology, but it’s always nice to get additional options, particularly those that are especially synergistic with a given strategy. Gallia, the Merrymaker is a haste anthem in red for +1/+1 counter strategies, a rapidly-expanding archetype in red that has gotten some serious support in the past year or two — Raphael, the Muscle, Iroh, Dragon of the West, and War Machine, Avenging Arsenal are all good examples.

Koth, the Geomancer

It isn’t often that I get to name the same character twice in one best-of list for set spoilers, and Koth, the Geomancer definitely warrants the inclusion. This one brings another powerful Landfall trigger; Koth pings each opponent for a damage on each landfall, but also generates additional mana if the entering land is a Mountain. With cards like Nahiri’s Lithoforming or Zell Dincht in conjunction with fetchlands, it’s feasible to eke out several extra red mana pips per turn with Koth’s triggered ability.

Tomik, Izzet Sparkmage

Pinger-enhancing drugs are a hell of a drug. Cards like Tomik, Izzet Sparkmage make every single Syr Kondrad, the Grim, Impact Tremors, and Reckless Fireweaver ping — to name just a few — twice as effective. Tomik even has prowess to boot, giving you another potential payoff just for casting spells.

Hunter’s Axe

Green doesn’t often get particularly strong Equipment cards, and I wouldn’t consider Hunter’s Axe a huge homerun in this category. It is a very flexible card, however, as deathtouch and trample have very different applications depending on the situation. I would say that this card could be used in plenty of green-inclusive Equipment-heavy decks, or in conjunction with cards that care about modified creatures, of which there are several options.

Jiang Yanggu, Never Alone

Unless you’re a fan of Commander Clash and Richard Cao, this may be something of a hot take; less-powerful versions of cards can sometimes be more valuable to play with because they don’t look as scary. Some cards like Doubling Season, Bolas’s Citadel, and Aetherflux Reservoir have such a low floor for combo wins and such a terrifying reputation that casting these cards without winning is tantamount to conceding the game in some situations. Jiang Yanggu, Never Alone is an interesting expression of this concept as a significantly-depowered Seedborn Muse or less-combo-focused Great Oak Guardian. There are still plenty of tokens with powerful tap abilities, though, particularly the Heartwood token that’s introduced in this set as well, so be on the lookout for scary token setups.

Loot, the Nexus

While statlines are an essential component of determining appropriate mana values, it’s supremely difficult not to look at Loot, the Nexus as significantly more powerful than Selvala, Eager Trailblazer. Selvala might have a larger body and come with her own creatures to help fuel her ability, but Loot comes with something that you just can’t buy with extra mana: speed. Loot comes out a full turn earlier, and assuming you can play two creatures before you cast him, it’s entirely possible to untap on turn 4 with seven mana available after you play your land for the turn. Christmas land? Maybe, but this is green, after all; you’re probably hard-pressed not to have multiple creatures with several different power statlines.

Marwyn, the Preserver

Marwyn, the Preserver is the embodiment of an archetype that is sneakily super powerful. Plenty of lands-focused decks get away with murder in pods across the globe given the Bracket-based restrictions around mass land denial, not to mention the general community stigma against messing with lands to begin with. Some players still run targeted removal like Wasteland or Strip Mine, though, and Marwyn shuts those options out entirely. To rub salt in the wound, she even has an activated ability to recur a land from graveyard to hand, which probably goes infinite with half a dozen setups in Lands Matter decks as well.

Pia, Aether Ascetic

On the completely opposite side of the spectrum, Pia, Aether Ascetic may be one of, if not the most powerful card yet previewed. Both aspects of her enters ability are powerful. The enchantment-tutoring effect is an enters trigger rather than a cast trigger, so you can easily abuse it by blinking or reanimating Pia. The trigger has you discard a card as part of the ability, so you can put fodder in your graveyard to reanimate with a spell or get a combo piece like Worldgorger Dragon out of your hand as you tutor up an Animate Dead. Several competitive win conditions and combo pieces are enchantments as well — Food Chain, Underworld Breach, Earthcraft, and so on. There are a million different applications for Pia, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see her as the most-played card from this set in a few months.

Vigorbloom Charm

I may not be the biggest fan of the new Hexhaven school names, but their charms put in quite a bit of work, and Vigorbloom Charm may be a contender for the new best charm. All too often, charm spells have a mode that’s much more niche than the other two abilities and doesn’t get used as often. This charm, though, has three reliable and useful modes in a variety of situations — blanket protection, emergency card draw, and pseudo-removal in the form of a fight spell are all effects that are broadly usable.

Saheeli, Jewel of Avishkar

Several multicolored uncommons in this set are worth looking into for particular deck archetypes or strategies, but Saheeli, Jewel of Avishkar takes the cake as the most impactful one. Though she costs four mana, she creates a 1/1 Thopter with flying every time you cast a noncreature spell of any variety, not just instant or sorcery, and she also gives all Thopters haste. Blue-red-inclusive color combinations often like to cast a lot of noncreature spells, and Saheeli not only provides plenty of chump blockers or sacrifice fodder for those decks, but she also creates a bevy of potential combat damage triggers as well.

The Poorer Multiverse

And that covers all of the most powerful uncommon cards from Reality Fracture! Did I miss any cards that you were sure you’d see on this list? Join our Discord server and let me know! I look forward to reviewing the rest of this set with you all soon!

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