Most of us here at WellPlayed have a fondness for cats, the mice-slaying warriors of our homes. In anticipation of the next major Magic: The Gathering set to be released on November 17, we have been given an exclusive first look at a noble cat legendary creature from The Lost Caverns of Ixalan.
Returning to the plane of Ixalan, this upcoming set will feature treasures, pirates, merfolk, dinosaurs and more with wild adventures raiding tombs, scouring jungles, and hunting for lost artifacts. Oh, and there’s going to be a smattering of Jurrasic Park cards making their debut in this set. Now, let’s have a look at this card preview.
Enter, Sovereign Okinec Ahau.
Sovereign Okinec Ahau is a four mana cost, green-white legendary creature that players can expect to see leading decks filled with other cat noble creatures. Though not a pushover at three power and four toughness, this creature is likely to stand its ground once summoned to the table, due to its ward ability. Should an opponent play a spell that would otherwise eliminate Sovereign Okinec Ahau, that player must also spend an additional two mana or else have their spell countered.
Victor Adame Minguez’s art for the Sovereign Okinec Ahau shows the large, sword and shield-wielding cat leading a pack of feline warriors. Appropriately thematic for the card ability text, when declaring this creature for an attack, a creature may be boosted with +1/+1 counters to compensate for the difference in its base power if the creature’s power is less than the rest of your army marching into battle. This implies that the Sovereign Okinec Ahau will be leading an army of creatures with power parity, a potential force to be reckoned with.
The flavour text accompanying Minguez’s card reads:
As surface empires send their explorers down, his hungry eyes look upward.
The second and third card treatments from artist Pig Hands further illustrate the fearsome capacity of the Sovereign Okinec Ahau in a style that appears to riff on the imagery of Mesoamerican warriors.
Players looking to journey deep down into these lost caverns will be able to find out more information over at the official Magic website. If you’re heading over there, perhaps you might also be interested in attending a local pre-release event to check out the upcoming set in all its glory, play a few games, and take home a nice stack of cards for yourself. You can find your local games store hosting a Lost Caverns Of Ixalan pre-release event here.
If you need no further convincing or find yourself fiending for the Jurrasic Park crossover, EB Games and JB Hi-Fi are currently offering pre-orders on this upcoming set, launching on November 17.
