One Magic: The Gathering Edge of Eternities Commander Deck…

Magic: The Gathering is already preparing for the release of both its Spider-Man set in September and the Avatar: The Last Airbender set in November, with less than a month since the launch of Edge of Eternities on August 1. MTG's Edge of Eternities set ended up being more popular than some fans gave it credit for, with its space setting turning a few players away, but it proved to be a solid release with a great story to boot. Between alien races, planets acting as land cards, and the new spacecraft subtype for artifact creatures, Edge of Eternities has a lot going on - including a new card from one Commander precon that finally addresses fans' issues with one strategy and makes it tolerable.

Magic: The Gathering's unwritten rules for Commander include a variety of things one should discuss at the table or simply not do, especially when playing with strangers. From the pre-game discussion about power levels or possible strategies to acclimatize everyone to each other's decks to making sure one's deck doesn't monopolize time at the table, these "rules" are in place to make sure everyone has a good time. Mass land destruction is almost always the opposite of this, but a new card in one EoE precon changes things for the better, and that's Planetary Annihilation.

All Magic: The Gathering New Edge of Eternities Mechanics Explained

The upcoming Edge of Eternities set is adding some new mechanics to Magic: The Gathering, and some could be game changers.

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By Chris Nicholls

Magic: The Gathering's World Shaper Commander Deck Makes Mass Land Destruction Fair

With its art perfectly encapsulating the themes of the Edge of Eternities set, Planetary Annihilation may seem like a relatively mediocre card. It costs 3 generic and 2 Red mana for a sorcery that makes each player choose six lands under their control and sacrifice the rest while also dealing 6 damage to all creatures. It's a soft board wipe, and it comes in the perfect deck for it - MTG's World Shaper Commander deck for Edge of Eternities, which is all about sacrificing permanents and playing extra lands.

Planetary Annihilation can also be found in collector boosters for Edge of Eternities, and it also has a borderless version.

Planetary Annihilation can be a sort of catch-up ramp card for Red, whereas this gimmick is normally found on White cards like Space Marine Scout or Knight of the White Orchid, which allow players to search their decks for land cards and put them in play if opponents control more lands than they do. Planetary Annihilation is not too different, as it can be a good counter to those decks that like to ramp a lot while still allowing each player to choose which lands to keep. On top of that, controlling six land cards in Magic: The Gathering is not bad and allows players to cast most spells anyway.

Planetary Annihilation in MTG is Mass Land Destruction Done Right

Mass land destruction is typically hated because cards like MTG's Armageddon, which destroys all lands for all players, no matter what, take a given game back to square one and slow the whole process down, while also making it impossible to cast most spells. Especially in Commander, which often comes with rather long games, destroying all lands can be seen as the ultimate disrespectful act. Instead, Planetary Annihilation is a fair card that aims at partly wiping the board and being a situational spell, rather than a be-all, end-all, regardless of one's strategy.

As such, even if mass land destruction is normally hated or at least disliked by most players, Planetary Annihilation fills this niche in a way that is not really too problematic for everyone at the table. At the same time, the World Shaper precon can be upgraded with cards like MTG's Icetill Explorer, which allows players to play an extra land per turn and also play lands from the graveyard. Land recursion and the ability to play multiple lands can be great to mitigate the effect of Planetary Annihilation, while putting the other players behind in a not-too-aggressive or frustrating manner.

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