Whispers from the Maze pre-releases begin today! I just finished prepping for my pre-release weekend, and I thought it would be worth sharing my first impressions of the limited format. Disclaimer: I haven’t played with the cards outside of a game each with the Axiom and Ordis demo decks on BGA. This is all purely my speculation. Check back next week to see what I got right and what I missed!...

I’m thrilled to be able to reveal X Marks the Spot, an exciting Lyra spell from the upcoming set, Whispers from the Maze. TL;DR: I expect this to be a mid-to-high pick in draft/sealed, especially for Fen. About as strong as character removal gets at common. Pros: pseudo-discard; synergy with dice-roll payoffs; attacks opponent’s resources; the common is sufficient Cons: 3-cost removal; sometimes lets a threat be replayed; fights for slots with Cloth Cocoon (C); rare’s rebate is somewhat late and unreliable Design A die roll determining how far into the deck a card goes is a really fun piece of design....

The Altered booth at opening hours I flew into Boston from 5/8 to 5/11 for PAX East, primarily for Altered. The event was an absolute blast - thanks to Equinox and the PAX team for going all-out to make this a special weekend! Highlights Getting to play Altered for four days straight. Winning the oversized The Stage (R) Lyra card from Whispers from the Maze in a draft finals that went to double tiebreakers....

Amahle, Asgarthan Outcast (R) can cash in on Fen’s reserve, commonly drawing between 2-4 cards and setting Fen up for the rest of the game. Fen innovator ElWiwi was the first player I saw slotting him in, and once I tried him myself, there was no going back. What’s fascinating is that Amahle has been available since Altered was released. There’s not much in Trial by Frost that makes the rare more compelling than it already was, yet it’s only halfway through the second set’s release that the card has started to see regular play....

I brought an updated Atsadi list to the AQZ championship on 2025-04-17 where the deck went 4-2 (with a bye) for 29th of 95. Changes The last time I played Atsadi & Surge. Expensive characters I swapped in expensive characters that play better with Eat Me Energy Bars (C). I’m no longer interested in characters that naturally have gigantic like Valemon (R) and Atlas (R) since they turn off Energy Bars....

If you like anchored characters, look no further! This Sneezer Shroom (U) can (1) anchor on boost (2) with an arrow ability to self-anchor (3) and a support ability to anchor a character. Truly the anchoriest mushroom! The “anchor on boost” line rightfully puts it on the watchlist alongside other mass-anchorers. I’m glad I got the chance to play with this one, but I look forward to these uniques being rebalanced in the next season patch....

I’ve made a couple of tweaks since the last time I played Basira, but the biggest change comes with my approach to unique selection. There’s something to be said for demanding an immediate power spike from your uniques when you draw them. Previously, I was running a Bravos Pathfinder (U) and Dracaena (U) that smoothed my deck’s function with persistent stats and resupplies. I still think they’re very strong, but their full value is spread over several days, and they’re best with some additional investment....

Issitoq (F) can often result in a 1-0 but can’t be played until at least 6 mana or, realistically, later. Sleight of Hand (F) can trigger The Nilam, Withered Tree (C) for 1 mana, pass priority, and bounce valuable cards, but without good swap targets, it’ll put you behind on resources. Together, however, they shore up each other’s weaknesses. If you draw them early, you can swap Issitoq into reserve, then trigger its support ability to go up on cards....

The draft I started with a P1p1 Icebound Peak (F) out of a pretty underwhelming pack. P1p2 was a Haven Seiringar (C), generically strong for its low cost and card draw. The first card to set me down the Auraq path. I branched into Lyra with Will-o’-the-Wisp (R) as the strongest rare in the pack, an effective 4/4/4 on D1 with some mid-game awkwardnesses. I wasn’t thrilled with anything I was seeing, so I grabbed another Lyra card, then a Heimdall (R)....