I know the War of the Spark spoilers are heating up, but I made a bucket lists of cards I wanted to explore once the new set came out. I was just able to get a trophy with the final one, Kaya, Orzhov Usurper. Of course, at this time she's no longer the apparently underpowered planeswalker from Ravnica Allegiance but now the most expensive card in the set on MTGO thanks to growing Standard and Modern play. I'll admit, I didn't think she was that good when I first saw her. Her abilities marked her out as more of a fringe metagame card. However, I now think she's a much stronger card in Vintage (and Legacy and clearly Modern). Here's why:
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The major factor is that her ultimate is very quick and deceptively lethal. Especially with the Delve spells in the format and in conjunction with deckbuilding synergies like Nihil Spellbomb and Deathrite Shaman. She is a non-pyroblastable threat that requires an immediate answer against Blue decks.
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The format has become more graveyard dependent in Blue (Delve Spells, Snapcaster, JVP), Survival, and Dredge. I've won game 1s against Dredge by Wastelanding Bazaar and using the +1 to exile multiple Dredgers. DRS tends to be too slow, but two cards is much more effective. Against Survival it has obvious utility as well, keeping the graveyard clear of Vengevines, Wonder, and Squees.
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The -1 has been surprising relevant against PO as a multi-turn Rack-Ruin effect. Exiling DRS against Surival, BUG. Hitting Rodded Walking Ballistas/Hangarback Walkers against Shops, or trying to mana screw Eldrazi by hitting Moxen. It doesn't sound exciting but it's a surprising amount of utility for a card that doubles as graveyard hate and a win condition.
My 5-0 list is here
I will definitely be experimenting more with the card as the London mulligan takes effect on MTGO next week.