Spoilers for Streets of New Capenna have officially started! Whether you’re excited about the mafia theme, the art deco aesthetic, or a new three-color set, there’s plenty to look forward to. Each day, we’ll update this article with the most exciting spoilers, so check back as previews continue to roll out.
Mechanics
Before we get into the spoilers, let’s see what new and old mechanics New Capenna has for us.
If you make a deal with the Brokers, you can be sure that they’ll protect you. This family can create shield counters, which can go onto any permanent. Whenever that permanent would be dealt damaged or destroyed, you just remove the shield counter instead.
The Obscura are known for scheming in the shadows, so it only makes sense that their new mechanic is called connive. Whenever a creature connives X, you’ll draw X cards, then discard X cards. Then, put a +1/+1 counter on that creature for each nonland card you discarded.
Whenever there’s a casualty on New Capenna, there’s a good chance the elite assassins of the Maestros are behind it. If a spell has casualty X, you may sacrifice a creature with X or more power as you cast the spell. If you do, you copy that spell.
When the Riveteers get into a fight, they strike fast and hard. You can cast some of their creatures for their blitz cost, which gives them haste and “when this creature dies, draw a card.” However, you have to sacrifice the creature at the beginning of your end step.
The Cabaretti believe in ‘the more the merrier,’ and their mechanic rewards you for adding more creatures to the party. Alliance is a new keyword that triggers whenever a creature enters the battlefield under your control.
No matter which family you belong to, there’s no reason to do all your business in public. If you want to be discrete, you’re in luck: Hideaway is back! When a card with hideaway X enters the battlefield, you’ll look at the top X cards of your library. Exile one of those cards face down, and the hideaway card will let you cast it for free if you meet certain conditions.
4/15/2022 Spoilers
On Friday, the full card image gallery became available. We mostly saw a bunch of commons, but there was one last rare that piqued my interest.
Giada, Font of Hope is a pretty narrow card. It only works when you have a critical mass of angels, but that’s a fairly popular tribe. There also aren’t too many angels with a low mana value, so seeing a solid two-drop for the deck is nice.
Lastly, it’s a ramp card (in mono-white!) that also helps you pressure your opponents in the late game. Giada might be niche, but she’s a great tool for the decks that want her.
4/14/2022 Spoilers
Thursday was the last day of real spoilers, so let’s take a look at what else New Capenna has to offer.
If you want inevitability, Tenacious Underdog might be the card for you. You can use its blitz ability from the graveyard, giving you an extra attacker and an extra card whenever you want. Paying two life means you can’t use this turn after turn, but just a couple of activations should give you a ton of value.
Soul of Emancipation is a cheaper Terastodon, and that’s never a bad starting point. Of course, the comparison isn’t that simple: Soul of Emancipation has worse stats, it can destroy creatures, and it makes tokens with flying. You can destroy your opponents’ best cards with this, but I’m more interested in blowing up your own stuff. Turning 1/1 citizens or treasure tokens into 3/3 fliers seems like a good way to close out the game.
Recently, we’ve seen lots of card advantage from white, and Sanctuary Warden is the latest entry. Plenty of white decks use counters, so this angel could work in a variety of decks. It also comes with two shield counters, so it’ll be difficult for your opponents to stop your engine.
4/13/2022 Spoilers
WOTC has been introducing more keywords-matter cards, and Ognis, the Dragon’s Lash is the latest in that space. Ramping you for attacking with haste creatures is a nice payoff, though it’s unfortunate that the treasure comes into play tapped.
Regardless, this should give aggressive decks the ability to explode in the mid-game. If you build around Ognar, your biggest question should be how you draw enough cards to use all that treasure.
In the right decks, Corpse Explosion can be a very flexible
Reservoir Kraken puts your opponent in a tricky spot. They can either take a big hit or give you an unblockable creature. They can’t give you too many of the 1/1s, but they also can’t take too many hits form a 6/6 with trample. Ward 2 also makes it difficult to remove. It’s got inevitability, staying power, and it’s a huge sea monster. What more could you ask for?
If you’re looking for cards that can build your battlefield from the (under)ground up, then Riveteers Ascendancy might just be for you. Once per turn, this lets you recur a creature from your graveyard.
Returning some of your key creatures, like Blood Artist, can make a big difference in a game. Even just getting more sacrifice fodder can keep your engine going. Either way, the Riveteers can give you value turn after turn.
4/12/2022 Spoilers
Perhaps the strongest commander of the day is actually an uncommon! Rocco, Cabaretti Caterer might be more expensive than something like Green Sun’s Zenith, but having a tutor in the command zone is so strong. Rocco would make an excellent commander for a naya token strategy, and it can grab your Craterhoof Behemoth whenever you need it.
Unlicensed Hearse is graveyard-hate with upside, and that’s never a bad thing to have. Late into the game, this could easily become a must-answer threat from your opponents. This might not be one of the flashiest spoilers but, but graveyard hate can be a silver bullet.
I don’t think Park Heights Pegasus is super strong, but I love to see any pegasus that’s reasonably good. Plus, a two-mana, two-power flier is pretty solid on its own. The ability to draw cards occasionally can also help keep aggressive token decks going in the mid-game.
Sigh… if there’s one thing we can learn from New Capenna spoilers, it’s that WOTC really likes trasure tokens. Bootlegger’s Stash is expensive, but it can lead to some busted turns if it sticks around. Making treasure tokens instead of mana lets you stockpile mana for a huge, explosive turn later in the game.
It can also create an absurd amount of artifacts, tokens, or sacrifice triggers, which plenty of decks care about. If this lasts for even a turn, it might snowball out of control.
Lastly, Angel of Suffering is a really interesting enabler for graveyard decks. Your opponents are unlikely to attack you while this is out, unless they think they can mill you out in one shot. As a result, this angel should take a ton of pressure off of you.
4/11/2022 Spoilers
Spoilers came back in full force after the weekend, and a variety of strategies got some interesting new tools.
First, Unleash the Inferno looks like a great new removal option for Jund. It’ll often be a two-for-one, which is never a bad thing to have lying around. In EDH, you also only need this to deal one excess damage to take out a Sol Ring!
Graveyard decks got a new enabler in Cemetery Tampering. Admittedly, it doesn’t do anything to affect the
Any creature with flash that can stop an opponent’s spell is dangerous, and Obscura Interceptor is no exception. Returning a spell to hand might not be as good as countering it, but this is still a great tempo play.
With all the treasure running around these days, Stimulus Package might be dangerous in the right deck. Of course, having all that extra mana will usually be better than 1/1s, but it’s never bad to convert extra resources into damage if you need to. The fact that its ability is at instant speed also means you can make all the chump blockers you need to stay in the game.
Lastly, Depopulate is yet another four-mana sweeper in white. We already know those are strong, but this one could also let you draw. Most commanders are multicolored, so keep in mind that you might be letting everyone draw an extra card.
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4/10/2022 Spoilers
Evolving Door might not be as powerful as Birthing Pod, but it’s an interesting take on that kind of effect. Instead of sacrificing a creature to get one with a higher mana value, you get a creature with one more color than what you sacrificed. Even with just a few multicolored creatures, this could be a solid tutor effect if you built around it. With enough colorless creatures, you could also go and find any monocolored creature in your deck.
The biggest downside to this card is that you still have to cast the creature you tutor for, which includes paying its mana cost. This drawback definitely makes it much worse than Birthing Pod, but a card doesn’t need to be that strong to make an impact in the right deck.
I also have to mention Witness Protection, which is my early pick for one of the most flavorful cards in New Capenna.
4/9/2022 Spoilers
There are always fewer spoilers over a weekend, but we still got to see a new commander from New Capenna. Errant, Street Artist lets you copy spells you control as long as you didn’t cast them. That’s a very odd restriction, but it’s also one that could lead to a very unique deck.
If you already control a copy of a spell, Errant lets you copy it again. For EDH, this card might work better in the 99 of an izzet deck than as the commander. Red would give you access to more copy spells like Reverberate or Dualcaster Mage in addition to [/c]Twincast[/c] and Narset’s Reversal.
4/8/2022 Spoilers
The standout color for Friday was red, without a doubt. First, Professional Face-Breaker is yet another red card that makes use of treasures and impulsive draw. It generates a treasure whenever your creatures deal combat damage to a player, and it can even turn those treasures into cards. Considering all of the treasure support we’ve seen recently, this seems like it will be an excellent card in EDH and potentially even see constructed play.
Rob the Archives is another hyper-efficient piece of red card advantage. Getting access to two cards for two mana is already solid on its own, but the casualty trigger could let you double that. Four cards for two mana is ridiculous, but the downside is that you can only play them during the same turn you cast Rob the Archives. Still, in the mid to late game, this card can give you tons of card advantage.
Lastly, I don’t think Arcane Bombardment will be as consistently good as the previous two, but it just seems like a ton of fun. Besides that, casting spells for free is a powerful effect, and it gets even better if you can make sure you only have good spells in your graveyard. My biggest issue with this card is that spells decks often have lots of cantrips, and getting those back with your six mana card isn’t too impressive. Still, I think this card will win plenty of games.
4/7/2022 Spoilers
First, the main character of the set has a great new look and a great new card. Elspeth Resplendant may not be Elspeth, Sun’s Champion, but it’s still quite strong. The main draw for me is the second ability. Getting a permanent directly into play and protecting it with a shield counter is incredible.
Ob Nixilis, the Adversary is an excellent, aggressive three-mana planeswalker. If you can get a copy of it, you can start threatening four life or two cards every turn. That can force your opponent to make tough decisions, and they might not be able to answer the pressure you put on them.
Vivien on the Hunt is a bit expensive, but it still has some great utility. Of course, the key ability here is the first one. Birthing Pod is a ridiculous card, and having access to that effect and ways to get creatures is a powerful combo.
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If you want to make your opponents flip the table, try playing Urabrask, Heretic Praetor. Doubling your own draw is nice, but it also lets you hamper your opponent’s card draw. Not only do you get to see the card they exile, but they also can’t save it for future turns.
Lastly, Halo Fountain is a weird yet exciting card for white decks. It can give you consistent card draw, and it also gives you an alternate win condition (if you have fifteen creatures, though, there are lots of cards that win you the game).
What excites me is that it also lets you untap creatures. Imagine getting another use from Mother of Runes, Oswald Fiddlebender, or Faeburrow Elder. There are plenty of strong tap abilities that this lets you double up on.
End Step
Those are all of the coolest New Capenna cards! Whether you’re excited for these or have other cards you want to try, this set has lots to offer.
