This is a pretty intriguing legendary for the
Jeskai clan. First strike means she won't be
killed in combat by anything SHE can kill, and
hexproof means you can pump her up, but your
opponent can't aim anything at her. More to the
point, she's an outlet for psuedo-draw on every
attack, with the caveat that you can only play
noncreature spells from her ability--anything
else is exiled. The fact that this happens when
she attacks and then lasts for the rest of the
turn helps ameliorate the usual drawback of
these sorts of abilites; you don't have to worry
about the spells you get being combat tricks
flipped during a main phase, and that's the
biggest reason you might not have wanted to play
the spell in question just yet. Further, it
meshes well with her first strike, since any
combat tricks she does flip can be safely aimed
right at her to improve her ability to kill the
things she's blocked by.
In 60-card constructed, I have my doubts. She is
six mana for a 3/2, and while she'd be a decent
win condition in a color combination that
usually gravitates towards spell-heavy control
decks, she's a bit too random for a deck that
seeks to impose control. In casual? I can
already see a laundry list of all the massive
spells people will stuff their Narset Commander
decks with. Obliterate, Time Stretch, Disaster
Radius, the list goes on...
Can I just register how much I love the
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon / Legend of Korra
vibe that the Jeskai clan has? I also like that
Wizards didn't limit itself to Mongolian imagery
for this set's flavor elements - often, settings
that combine various real-world inspirations end
up stronger than ones that limit themselves to
one region or mythology. Look at the Elder
Scrolls universe and the way it weaves Roman,
Viking, Anglo-Celtic, French, and Arabic
influences into a world that turns out very
unique.
Narset here has a lot of the qualities that I
understand are prized in Commander, including
being a legendary creature, giving you a way to
cast huge splashy spells, and costing six mana.
I joke, but she certainly has abilities that
practically beg to be exploited in some way.
While the more conventional type of control
decks may not want to risk being forced to
permanently exile cards for which there may not
be a current target, her colors have plenty of
things that are strong when cast normally and
devastating when cast for free, and which a more
aggressive style can take advantage of.
Today's card of the day is Narset, Enlightened
Master which is a Legendary six mana Blue, Red,
and White 3/2 with First Strike, Hexproof, and
whenever it attacks you exile the top four cards
of your library and until end of turn you may
cast non-creature cards exiledwith Narset that
turn without paying their mana cost. While
the effect is impressive in a deck loaded with
non-creatures, particularly if the library can
be stacked with Scry or similar effects, the six
mana with three color cost will keep this from
seeing much play outside of Commander. In
that format this will be one of the few choices
for a Blue, Red, and White build and is quite
solid in a support role or as the Commander
where it having Hexproof is a nearly unique
benefit.
In Limited the mana cost can be managed with a
splash of the third color and the combat effects
along with the potential free spells can be very
difficult for an opponent to deal with.
The risk is more in exiling away your library
with repeated attacks, though that can be
managed and at worst a 3/2 with First Strike is
a useful defense. The triple color and
relatively erratic effect make this a difficult
first pick in Booster, though it can work well,
while Sealed will depend entirely on the pool of
matching colors.
There's a lot to evaluate on Narset. First, 6
mana in 3 colors is an awful lot for a 3/2.
Hexproof will keep Narset from being the target
of a random burn or kill spell, so that's a
plus, but, this 2 toughness creature has to
attack to get its special ability. First strike
will help some, but with all the big fatties out
there these days, there's a pretty good chance
your opponent has something that can survive 3
damage, so it's questionable if she will
survive.
BUT, she gets to exile her 4 cards before
blockers are declared, meaning that she could
easily find something that pumps her up or
incapacitates a potential blocker.
She is best going to fit in a control deck,
where you can clear the way for her to attack
safely, knock three life off your opponent at a
time, all while finding more controlling cards
to further keep your opponent at bay. Four cards
to potentially play this turn is a big deal, and
if you've built up to 6 mana, you can probably
play any non-creatures you find with this - even
a planeswalker! Be careful about what other
creatures you play in this deck, as they could
get exiled forever by Narset!
There is a lot of raw power here, a lot of
protection, and a lot of potential. I'm starting
to think that she could be the key part of a big
deck, but I'll have to try it out to be more
sure.
In limited, it's going to be tough to build the
kind of deck she needs to shine, so I wouldn't
necessarily first pick her. Draft and sealed are
usually more about big creatures and powerful
spells than finely tuned interactions.
