Hi all
On the 13th August 2020, an update was put forth for the Magic: The Gathering Arena video game. The main focus in the update was the release of Amonkhet Remastered. However, a set for beginner player constructed decks was also added – “the Arena Base Set: A new set of non-rotating cards that can be used in Arena’s best-of-one standard formats.” This set is referred to as the “Arena Beginner Set”. It is a mixture of existing “reprinted” cards and a few original new cards.
This isn’t the first time an online-only set has been on Magic: The Gathering Arena. On the 14th July 2018, the “Arena New Player Experience” was released, a collection of cards mainly for use in the game’s tutorial. Some of these cards were also available to players to use in best-of-one constructed, others were only featured in the tutorial. It was also a mixture of existing “reprinted” cards and original new cards.
Our current UnCommander policy for online-only cards is to add card entries for any original “printings” of cards. This means that we don’t make UnCommander card entries for any of these cards that are reprints from earlier sets. Cards without a paper printing go in the UnOrthodox supplement rather than UnCommander Core. See the Rules Overview page for details.
You can see the original cards from Arena New Player Experience here.
You can see the original cards from Arena Beginner Set here.
However, this update also comes with official Magic: The Gathering Arena errata to one of the cards originally from the Arena New Player Experience tutorial-only cards, Soulhunter Rakshasa. When the Arena New Player Experience was released, its text was the following-
Creature — Cat Demon
Soulhunter Rakshasa can’t block.
When Soulhunter Rakshasa enters the battlefield, it deals 5 damage to target opponent.
5/5
Illus. Caio Monteiro
Soulhunter Rakshasa was reprinted in the Arena Beginner Set, and is now available to use in best-of-one constructed. At the same time, it was given this errata-
Creature — Cat Demon
Soulhunter Rakshasa can’t block.
When Soulhunter Rakshasa enters the battlefield, if you cast it from your hand, it deals 1 damage to target opponent for each swamp you control.
5/5
Illus. Caio Monteiro
As you can see, this changes the card significantly, becoming a powerhouse in mono-black, but making it much less viable in multicolor decks. Especially as flicker-style effects cannot trigger its ability with the new errata. I have not been able to find an official statement on the errata to explain the change. If you’ve found one, please get in touch on our Discord server or by email. As all printings of a card show the latest errata on Magic: The Gathering Arena, the image on Soulhunter Rakshasa’s UnCommander card entry has also been changed to show the changes.
That’s all for now folks. I’ll see you for the next one.
-Hamster
