As the next set for Magic the Gathering is close to release, it is a good idea to look into one of the key components of the set; the Gods. These powerful beings all have their own unique abilities that can assist with your ideal deck in the standard format as well as others. Some do seem to be more worthwhile than others, so this may just help you seal your pre-order single or help you in deciding what to look out for. Let the battle of the gods commence!
The White God: Heliod, God of the Sun.
It is key to note now that every god is Indestructible and is not considered a creature unless your devotion to said colour is over five. This is crucial to remember if you plan to add any of these mythic rare creatures into your decks.
Heliod has the power to make your creatures have Vigilance as well as create 2/1 tokens. The token ability is very nice as it gives you an option for using up your mana as well as not adding anything onto your devotion to white. Many people may look at Vigilance and think ‘Why not have Lifelink?’ and to an extent you’re right. It would have been interesting to have your creatures with Lifelink so that you can trigger some of the cards from the MTG14 cores set. With Vigilance however you can now place Heliod into your White/Black control decks. With this ability at your side, you can be confident in attacking your opponent without leaving yourself wide open. This gives you the chance to use this with low cost defenders or even huge creatures with enough toughness to survive most attacks. Don’t underestimate the white god, you may just see it more than others.
The Black God: Erebos, God of the Dead.
Talk about going from underestimated to just plain disappointed. Erebos has the power to……really just let you draw cards. I understand that Lifelink and life gain decks are something to be reckoned with in the game, but this means that Erebos is more of a side deck choice rather than a main deck one. There are better cards that can help with card draw and, even though you can just use this god as a 5/7 attacker, Erebos just doesn’t seem to sit well with me. He would not be a big pick in a draft, I wouldn’t build a deck around him and I would just side him in if I was facing against a life gain deck. It is a shame as I would have preferred to see Erebos with an ability like ‘Add BBBB to your mana pool’ or ‘All of your creatures now have the ability ‘B: This creature has regenerate until End of Turn”.
The Green God: Nylea, God of the Hunt.
With Nylea on the field, you can benefit from having your creatures equipped with Trample. Unless you have someone big enough to take a creature out and deal damage to your opponent, then this ability would normally be little to no use with most creatures. Luckily however, this god also gives you the power boost you need to make Trample all worthwhile. Yes it is only for a target creature on your side of the field, but think of it out like this. You have a 6/6 creature on the field with Trample, thanks to Nylea’s ability. Using the god’s other ability, you can now pump up a different creature to make Trample worth using, such as turning a 3/2 into a 5/4.
The Blue God: Thassa, God of the Sea.
My personal favourite god of the collection, Thassa is great at helping you keep control on the field. First off is a great ability during your upkeep, Scry 1. Scry allows you to draw extra cards and either add them to the top or bottom of your library in any order in preparation for your next turn. As well as controlling what your next turn would be like, you can also help protect your creatures by making them unblockable. This does mean that your opponent can still defeat that creature with an instant spell, but it would require mana on your opponent’s part and forces them to possibly lose a card that will be more valuable later. On top of all this, you also have a 5/5 creature for three mana that only counts as one to your devotion to blue. With all of these added together, this could be a key card for anyone playing with a Scry control deck in standard.
The Red God: Purphoros, God of the Forge.
Out of all the gods available in the set, if this one comes up in your draft TAKE IT. As a perfect addition to any red burn deck, Purphoros gives you the chance to damage your opponent by simply summoning a creature to your field. Combine this ability with an engine to easily summon 1/1 tokens and you can see your enemies life total fall to zero very quickly. As well as this we also get a fire breathing ability that adds +1/+0 to all your creatures. This adds even more value to the card simply because it affects everyone on your side, encouraging your swarm tactics. Even without swarming your opponent, this ability can just help you win the game faster.
So which one is the best in my eyes? Although Thassa is my favourite, Purphoros is the best all-round card out of the five. A solid ability that helps burn your opposition as well as buffing your entire team does nothing but good for your deck. This is the number one god to look out for once Theros comes into play. Whether you are going to run him or not, it is valuable to at least know of his potential to ready yourself for the coming storm.
So those were my thoughts on the Theros gods, but what do you think about them? Who would you run with in your decks? Let us know your impressions in the comment below and share what decks your building in Theros on the VGU forums.