Untapped Thoughts is a feature that simply presents one nerd’s rambling thoughts on the latest set of cards and the enjoyment I got out of them. Do not expect a deep dive, cost analysis, or breakdown of the value you may find; instead, expect more of what I did and didn’t like about the cards, with perhaps a dose of side tangents mixed in.
Cowboys and Wizards are a pairing that you don’t see very often in the usual discourse among nerds, which really is a shame. Luckily, though, Wizards of the Coast’s latest release, Outlaws of Thunder Junction, sends man fan-favorite Planeswalkers and creatures into the Wild West, complete with a host of new faces as well. What has resulted is one of the most fun and silly sets I’ve cracked packs for in a long time. It’s a real bonanza of a good time.
As someone who enjoys a good ol’ mill deck, Thunder Junction’s smorgasbord of offerings speaks to my soul with options that not only exile or mill cards from opponents but also then let me go ahead and play them. Sometimes, even for free! There are few things I take as much pleasure in while playing a game of Magic as using an opponent’s deck against them, and Thunder Junction gives me all sorts of new ways to do so. As I sat there, cracking packs and taking a look through the aptly named “Grand Larceny” Commander Deck, my head swam with all sorts of ideas on new decks to build or older cards to splice into the premade one to really kick the milling opportunities into high gear. This all may turn me into a lightning rod, but man-oh-man, will it be fun when I get to bring my friend’s big creatures or gnarliest spells out against them? Some personal favorites of mine came from Cipering Arcane Heist onto my Smikering Spelljacker to get a lot more utility and exiled spells to take advantage of, along with Mind’s Dilation that sticks around due to being an enchantment and the fact that it will trigger when someone plays a spell even when it isn’t their turn.
Jumping off from the “Grand Larceny” deck being thematically appropriately named, I have to really commend Thunder Junction for the creative new mechanics the team has come up with that channel that Wild West vibe. I am a particular fan of “Spree,” “Plot,” and “Saddle,” the former giving you a spell that is rather cheap to cast, but for additional mana amounts, you can add new effects – almost like you are going from one heist to another. Plot, on the other hand, is all about setting up a dastardly plan that you can unleash on a later turn by paying a lower mana cost but having the card sit out in exile land for a while. With the fact that the card is exiled, it has the added benefit being that it can’t be removed in the meantime, and paying the mana cost prior means you can, in theory, play a metric crapton (an amount that’s more than “some” and less than “all the cards in your deck”) all at once. The “Plot” mechanic is a great option for other enchantments or creatures that have an effect that triggers after the first type of spell used in a turn, giving you the option to hold on to it and have it pop into play as a sort of trap sprung on your opponents.
When it comes to “Saddle,” which, to be fair, is, in essence, just “Crew,” but with animals, means that I can, in theory, make a tower of mounted animals! I don’t believe there is anything that says a saddled creature can’t then be used to saddle another one, either. I admit, the strategic value in having a saddled creature saddle another one doesn’t hold much value, seeing as you are required to tap a creature to saddle them on another but from purely an imagery standpoint, it’s totally worth it. What’s not to love about the idea of a goat riding a bear, which is riding a flaming horse?
On a more quality control side of things, one area I’ve been impressed with is the foiling on the cards in Thunder Junction – more specifically, the lack of curling the cards have gone through so far. This issue, which even the recent Universes Beyond: Fallout set suffered from, appears far less pronounced here and is a welcome sight. Hopefully, in the sets to come, this issue remains a thing of the past, and I don’t have to anymore worry about having to smash my pretty foils under my stack of Dungeons & Dragons books to make them playable.
Outlaws of Thunder Junction is some of the most fun I have had with a set in a while, with its fresh new plane and Western aesthetic. Many of the designs and new characters (I am a big fan of Doc Aurlock, Grizzled Genius, the bear doctor) landed for me, and I hope this isn’t the last time we visit this Western-inspired world. The new mechanics are fun and Wizard’s nailed making them feel appropriate, hopefully they will stick around for a while and don’t get thrown into the pile of other quickly forgotten mechanics”.
Outlaws of Thunder Junction is a rootin-tootin good time and an interesting melding of the magical characters of Magic: The Gathering, and the folks have a bit of time yet to enjoy it before the upcoming premium Modern Horizons 3 set comes out, so get out there and crack some packs, buckaroo!
Thanks to Wizards of the Coast for providing us with some cards from the Outlaws of Thunder Junction set to check out and play with.
