Zendikar Rising Spotlight: Valakut Awakening

The plane of Zendikar and double-faced cards, two of the most popular fan-favorite things in all of Magic, are coming together this September in the all-new set: Zendikar Rising. Today I want to take a quick look at a card that showcases the power, flexibility, and flavor-driven focus we can expect from the upcoming release. I present .

The first thing to notice about this brand-new type of card is that it's a spell on one side and a land on the other, something never done before. When you play it, you can pick either half. Now, the latter is a source of monocolored mana that enters the battlefield tapped, so it's strictly worse than a Mountain, but the option is there just in case you find yourself a little short on lands. Reducing variance like this is most likely an extension of Wizards of the Coast's recent focus on MTG Arena's best-of-one mode.

The first half is the spell Valakut Awakening, the latest entry in a long line of red discard-for-draw effects dating all the way back to . However, unlike many of its predecessors, it lets you select which cards to get rid of and which cards to keep. Then, it even draws you an additional card, replacing the initial investment of the card itself.

So Valakut Awakening offers instant-speed hand sculpting and card-drawing power while also being a tapped land in a pinch. The former helps combat mana screw, whereas the latter combats mana flood. This flexibility is almost unheard of. Expect to see it in Standard and maybe even in larger formats like Pioneer or Modern, as well as in Commander.

Example Decks

It wouldn't be preview season if people didn't theorycraft crazy decks starting on day one of spoilers! I've brewed up a new take on an old-ish combo using to find the pieces and to work as a backup.

This deck is looking to use the card filtering and hand sculpting of , , and Valakut Awakening to find the cards it needs to stay alive and to assemble the combination of plus . Valakut Awakening really shines here because not only does it help us find the combo pieces — altenatively it can be an extra land to get us to the seven mana we need to cast Peer. What's more, if the Peer-Tutelage combo won't happen, Valakut's Awakening can act as a mini-version of Peer for smaller wheels that mill our opponents lots of cards throughout the game.

In this list we also get to see the power of the new rare lands and as well as the new removal spell . Both of these additions have multiple play-patterns baked in so we can adapt as the game progresses.

Speaking of Tutelage and the ability to trigger the enchantment in several bursts, there is another possible deck out there …

The following doesn't need at all. Instead it ends the game via , which can go surprisingly fast. Several combinations, all involving the of Teferi as well as his , exist that are able to kill on turn six. The dream scenario only works if you're on the draw with no mulligan: drop the two enchantments, then play a fifth land, cast , and play Valakut Awakening for the full amount. This comes out at a total of 50 milled cards — by turn five.

Conclusion

While Valakut's Awakening will most likely find its home in some Uro pile — it's a draw spell than can also be a land … what more does Uro want? — it has a lot of versatility and loads of potential to be seen all over Standard. Presumably we'll have more spell-land cards like this in the coming days of spoilers, so keep an eye out!

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