Streets of New Capenna
Charm Rankings
Esporter Streets of New Capenna Charm Rankings
In the past week, Wizards of the Coast has been releasing spoilers for its new MTG set: Streets of New Capenna! Today we want to highlight the latest tricolor charms. Each charm can be used as an instant with three unique effects. These cards are one of the first glimpses into what we can expect to see out of SNC, but how strong are they for Limited players?
“Cabaretti Charm deals damage equal to the number of creatures you control to target creature or planeswalker.”
The biggest problem we see with trying to use this effect is that it requires a player to have creatures on the board. It seems like WOTC is hinting that the Naya color wedge will have a “go wide” strategy but an effect like this will be completely useless with an empty board.
Also, against an opponent with instant speed interaction, this can be easily disrupted if your opponent changes the calculus and removes a creature from your board. Dealing damage to finish off a creature after a fight or outright destroying a creature makes it flexible but still underpowered.
“Creatures you control get +1/+1 and gain trample until end of turn.”
This is likely going to be the most useful effect on this card. Giving one creature trample at instant speed can help you overcome tokens and weak creatures that were put out just as blockers. Giving every creature trample will create an unstoppable army that makes your opponent regret underestimating you. In the right situation, this effect will help you create a game winning play.
“Create two 1/1 green and white Citizen creature tokens.”
Creating two tokens for three mana isn’t bad but it is just a little too expensive for the effect. Unless you can take advantage of “enter the battlefield” effects this may be too low-impact for the cost.
“Target creature you control gets +1/+0 until end of turn. It deals damage equal to its power to target creature or planeswalker an opponent controls.”
Punch spells are always going to hit hard in Limited. This pairs great with Deathtouch and big fatties and can potentially eliminate crucial creatures or planeswalkers. The +1/+0 doesn’t seem like much but could be just enough of a power boost to get the job done.
It’s free damage.
The biggest concern with this effect, is that at instant speed it can be easily countered if your opponent destroys your creature in response. Timing will be key in making the most use of this mode.
“Destroy target enchantment.”
This is one of those “very nice to have” effects that can be situationally powerful depending on the rest of the set. It will always be good against White/Blue but we will have to wait and see its broader applicability…
It’s hard to say how useful this effect will be until we see more of Capenna.
“Draw two cards.”
“Return target multicolored permanent card with mana value 3 or less from your graveyard to the battlefield tapped.”
This effect has a few unique restrictions that make it challenging for us to estimate whether it will be useful or not. The first difficult restriction is that it only works on multicolored permanents. You’ll need to draft a deck with several multicolored permanents to get the most from this effect.
The second unique restriction is that it only returns cards with mana value 3 or less. It will be interesting to see how many valid targets this card even gets once the set is out.
Lastly, whatever you bring back, will come back tapped. This means even if you summon something at instant speed on an opponent’s turn, your permanent won’t help you until your next turn.
Assuming you draft the right cards though, this effect can have a lot of power. It even has the potential to loop if you have a cheap multicolored permanent that returns an instant to your hand.
“Counter target instant or sorcery spell.”
In Limited, the condition to use this only on instants and sorceries may cause it to be nearly unplayable. Although it can’t counter any spell, it can blow out your opponent’s late game play.
Could it come in clutch? Absolutely. Will it come in clutch? We’ll see…
“Destroy target creature or planeswalker with mana value 3 or less.”
The versatility of creatures or planeswalkers here is very strong. We’ve historically seen some powerful creatures and planeswalkers at three mana and this will be a fair trade.
What excites us the most about this though, is that if an opponent decides to Voltron a creature we can just delete all that hard work without a second thought!
“Target opponent sacrifices a creature of planeswalker they control with the highest mana value among creatures and planeswalkers they control.”
Really sit and think about how devastating this can be for your opponent. They drop their Lord Xander, the Collector ,a high value card with a ridiculously overpowered ability. A sly smile crosses their face as they look at you, “Your Go.” they say, positive victory is imminent.
Then we take that satisfaction away from them, at a fraction of the cost! You can revel in the fact that you not only foiled their plans, but you made them “choose” to sacrifice that creature.
However, the biggest concern here isn’t with having this effect in your deck. We’re worried about your opponent drafting this card before you have a chance to.
“Exile the top three cards of your library. Until your next end step, you may play those cards.”
This effect is a sort of gray area. This would be really terrible in the early stages of the game, because you wouldn’t have the mana to cast all of your cards before they were permanently exiled.
In the late stage of a game though, this is enough to push for victory. Even if you can only use one this can be a game ending effect.
“Exile target player’s graveyard.”
We’ve already seen from the Obscura Charm that this set has the intent to let players return cards to the battlefield from their graveyard. This effect, although situational, is a good effect to have.
We certainly wouldn’t suggest drafting Riveteers Charm just for this, but it’s makes your deck more versatile in a potentially really powerful way.
“Look at the top five cards of your library. Put one of those cards into your hand, and the rest into your graveyard.”
We like to play draft here at Esporter, and one of the most frustrating things in draft is not being able to access your best cards. If you’re lucky enough to get a viable Mythic or one or two game changing rares, this card is right up your alley.
The only problem is, there’s no guarantee that you draw them during any given game.
Digging five cards deep into your deck lets you see upwards of 16%+ of your deck if cast on turn 3. This only increases as the game progresses. Not only is searching for the right card a huge advantage but we expect the ability to get cards back from the graveyard in Capenna; meaning those four cards in the yard won’t be going to waste.
In the right decks this mode will be both low risk and high reward.
“Each opponent loses 3 life and you gain 3 life.”
Gain and Drain three can be a game ender. It’s common to see players forgo trading their early board state, and rather take early damage, in hopes of getting to the late game and playing their best cards. An effect like this allows you to punish a late game strategy. Even if they can stall the board, you get to go straight for the win! This will win you more games than you realize.
“Maestros Charm deals 5 damage to target creature or planeswalker.”
We suspect this will likely destroy the majority of creatures/planeswalkers in the set. Really think about how often we see a creature with more than five toughness. It happens, but only on a few creatures each set.
This card’s text could just read: “Destroy target creature or planeswalker.”
In the rare situation that this isn’t enough though, it definitely will be enough to destroy that creature if you block carefully, or if your opponent blocks carelessly.
We're excited to see what comes next!
It’s hard to say exactly how much these new charms are going to improve your decks, but regardless, we can definitely help you improve your game if you join one of Esporter’s Splits!
