First, let's dispense with the bad news... yes, someone at salvation decided to be a _______ and spoil this last week, which hurts our ability to build up a drumroll for the Commander release. Oh well, stuff happens. The good news is that none of other other previews have been spoiled yet... hopefully that'll hold up for a while

The better news is that this guy is gonna be more fun than a camera at a cosplay convention: people tripping over themselves to do what you ask, and all the while you're building up a kung-fu grip of awesome.

First off, Edric is a non-combo-oriented Commander for UG, which is great. Kraj and Momir Vig can both be fun, but more often than not lend themselves to combo/lock decks. For a 2/2 old man, Edric stirs up a whole lot of beatdown.

When I first saw him, I went through a funny thought process that I suspect others may share: "Cool, Ophidians... Enh, wait I don't like my opponents drawing cards... wait.. hrm... free cards are the kind of incentive that *actually works* in multiplayer. This guy is gonna be sweet. "

Arcane Denial is one of the best counterspells in Commander, and I think Edric has a little of that same feel to him: Efficient, and on the surface disadvantageous, but he helps your opponents hurt each other. I also think he'll stick around longer than his two-bit stats might indicate: it may be correct for opponents to kill him off, but they'd rather draw some cards first.

ObDeck: I think this guy might go really well with a partial Infect theme. Guys like Blight Mamba, Rot Wolf, and Viridian Corrupter will do quadruple-duty with Edric around, and Ravnica has a battery of U/G guys with Graft which go well with A) Ophidians and B) Propagate. (See also: Helium Squirter, Cytoplast Manipulator and Plaxcaster Frogling). Bolt on some Shroud (Plaxmanta) and permission for protection and you're ready for beat-town.

Schemes abound! What do you think?

G

Oh good, I was going to ask whether that had spoiled any more of your previews. Normally scoops are good, but upstaging you guys just feels awkward.

In a similar vein, although it didn't matter much today, uploading the card image to a publicly viewable index 45 minutes in advance is asking for it to happen again.

I think this guy will replace Kraj as my general. Kraj and Vig do indeed lend to odd card choices, and I'd like to shift my deck a bit, as my Kraj deck has become dull and hard to come up with card choices. This general is prefect for my style, friendly but competitive!

Yay, tolerable general for an U/G elf deck. Vig's worldly tutor is fine, but every elf drawing a card for damage is exactly what I wish my Radha deck could do.

Eh, so be it... I'm just glad I vented in private first and then posted later

For the index, fair point. I didn't expect it to happen but forgot I hadn't put a blank index file in that directory... since this one was already spoiled I put the time into presentation rather than security. For Wednesday I'll be a little more careful... cheers.

Oh, FWIW, the Damia teaser I was aware might happen... enjoy

You can't blame that spoil on anyone but Wizards. It's a forgone conclusion that all promos mailed out will be spoiled asap.

I have to say that I'm very in impressed with the design so far. In really interested to see the Join Force mechanic an the command tower(s).

Thanks for the hard work!

I love the little automated telescope on his shoulder. It must come in handy a lot.

Hadouken Frog is pleased.

Will this card be in the BUG or RUG deck?

Card # 196/318, I guess I should keep the cardlists that come with the boxes, as putting these into a binder as-is with current card number would be quite tricky to re-sort.

I was going to put mathies here, but I'm sure it's all insane in the membrane.

This card is so freak'n cool
you make lots of little dudes and in the mean time,don't get attacked so your opp's can draw cards off each other
sweet

Still can't believe how ridiculous this card is with Notorious Throng.

I hope the preview cards aren't all going to be legends, as fitting as that would be for this site's previews. I'm actually more interested in whatever other cool mechanics they've designed for this release. Some info about the reprints would also be cool (come on, give us an Onslaught fetchland in each deck, this is as good a chance as you'll get to reprint those).

"If I attack our Mutual Enemy, I get to draw cards? DEAL!" This guy will let you bide your time until you can win in 1 or 2 turn cycles from nowhere (read: Tooth and Nail out Prime-Time and Consecrated Sphinx)

Poop. Upon proper spoilage, the higher rez image reveals this guy to look nothing like David Bowie. Premature nickname fail. Oh well.

Anyway, I'm digging this guy. As Geomancer points out, he is suitable for a variety of decks that look NOTHING like the typical Momic Vig list.