Junji, the Midnight Sky – Kamigawa: Neon Destiny
Date Reviewed: March 2, 2022
Ratings:
Constructed: 4.50
Casual: 5.00
Limited: 5.00
Multiplayer: 4.33
Commander [EDH]: 4.38
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 is bad. 3 is average. 5 is great.
Reviews Below:
That’s a lot of text that adds up to: “you’re in trouble”. Much like in his previous life as Kokusho, Junji leaves opponents with few good options once he hits the table. There are many decks for whom the need to come up with two flying creatures to block him is all but impossible, yet hitting him with any spell that sends him to the graveyard is often counterproductive. Disruptive triggers like his first ability are great on big creatures, much less the specter of taking the best creature in their graveyard. That ability also scales very well to the power level of your metagame or playgroup (not to mention how hilarious it gets if you steal something that can bring him back from the graveyard).
Constructed: 4/5
Casual: 5/5
Limited: 5/5
Multiplayer: 4/5
Commander [EDH]: 4/5
The beloved Spirit Dragon cycle from Champions of Kamigawa got its successors, this time in the form of the Sky cycle, so to speak. Junji, the Midnight Sky may be no Kokusho, but it’s quite a potent Dragon for 5 mana. It’s notoriously hard to block, and even if it does die, you stand to benefit, either by hitting opponents with a Mind Rot and some life loss or by reanimating something else at the cost of your own life. The “non-Dragon” rider prevents you from looping Junji triggers…but note that this hits any graveyard, not just yours, and this suddenly becomes the kind of bomb your opponents need to tread very carefully around. It’s vicious once it hits play and punishing if it meets with death, and I think that’s quite a nice place to be; I’d be surprised if the Spirit Dragons didn’t see play, and Junji might be the second-best of the cycle.
Constructed: 4.5 (menace and flying make this very hard to block, and it can just swoop gratuitously in the meantime while opponents try to dig out an exiling removal spell…or just bite the bullet)
Casual: 5
Limited: 5
Multiplayer: 4
Commander [EDH]: 4.25 (nowhere near Kokusho’s level of power, but this’ll more than get the job done)
A game winning card that should be feared (or countered) as soon as it hits the battlefield. The successors to the original dragons, Junji, the Midnight Sky is a fantastic card with just it’s basic stats alone. Five mana for a 5/5 flying and menace is massive benefit for whomever is casting it but then when it dies you get an added bonus effect is huge! The first effect is okay, opponent discards two cards and loses two life isn’t game winning but it can put a huge dent in your opponent’s strategy. If it was discard at random I think it would be a bit better since they don’t get a choice on what to remove. The second ability though is the icing on the cake! You get a free non-Dragon creature from ANY graveyard and get to put it on the battlefield under your control for just two life. A big threat that you or your opponent had earlier in the game? Yours now! Did your opponent discard their Craterhoof? Yours now! A fantastic card and one of the best in the set! Pick up your copies while they’re cheap!
Constructed: 5/5
Casual: 5/5
Limited: 5/5
Multiplayer: 5/5
Commander [EDH]: 5/5
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