Draftsim Exclusive: Outlaws of Thunder Junction Preview Cards

Last updated on March 28, 2024

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! That’s right, it’s preview season! And to make it even more exciting, we here at Draftsim have our very own preview cards for Outlaws of Thunder Junction.

Yes, you read that correctly, not card. Cards. Plural. What’s more we have a (magnificent) SEVEN cards for your viewing pleasure today.

We’ll be going through the cards in batches, then take a look at them as a group towards the end of the article. They’re all commons and uncommons, but that doesn’t stop some sick inclusions from sliding in there, especially if you’re a limited fan (and why wouldn’t you be?)

The only thing left to say before diving into this lovely little posse is a huge thanks to Wizards of the Coast to allowing us to preview them for you all!

Undead Creatures: Forsaken Miner and Boneyard Desecrator

First up we have a couple of undead creatures in Forsaken Miner and Boneyard Desecrator.

Being a Skeleton and a Zombie, respectively, these two black cards raise some questions for me from a flavor perspective. Thunder Junction is meant to be a plane that was uninhabited prior to the Omenpaths opening, so how do we have a Zombie and a Skeleton just hanging out there? Are they recently deceased newcomers to the plane? Did they arrive undead recently? Or are they just an unexplained mystery that as we find out more about Magic Cowboy World will become clear? I’m intrigued.

From a mechanical point of view, we have two quite different creatures. Desecrator, the common, is a fairly typical black four-drop that cares about sacrificing. It does show off the latest “batch” of creature types, Outlaws, which is cool.

Forsaken Miner, on the other hand, could definitely see some constructed play. One mana 2/2 in black is something we’ve seen a few times in the past, as well as a recursive one mana creature, but we’ve never seen the two combined before. Recursive 2/1s, like Gravecrawler and Gutterbones have seen play before, so this definitely could, too.

Spree Cards: Dance of the Tumbleweeds and Rustler Rampage

Spree is the latest “it’s just kicker” mechanic. Or is it a modal mechanic? Well, it’s kinda both really.

The interesting thing about the Spree cards is that they don’t do anything unless you actually kick them. I don’t think you can cast them without paying an additional cost, as the reminder text says choose one or more, but it’s a neat way to make a modal spell.

Also, there’s a small addition to the frame of the cards here, with a + symbol in the top right corner, which I think indicates it’s a spell you can pay additional costs for.

Both of the spells we’ve been given to look at seem quite nice in limited. Dance of the Tumbleweeds is possibly my favorite. If you choose the first option, it’s a three mana Rampant Growth, which usually doesn’t cut it in limited these days, never mind other formats.

Notably, it can search for Deserts, which could be useful for committing crimes in Thunder Junction with the common dual land cycle of pinging Deserts.

If you pay three more mana (either 5 or 6 mana total) you will get a big fatty to go with it, though, which is pretty nice late game. You’re not going to feel great casting one side of this, but you will be happy casting both halves together for six mana.

Also, look at that art. You might have missed that tumbleweed has arms. And lots of them. Stuff of nightmares.

Rustler Rampage is a pair of effects I don’t remember seeing on the same card.

Two mana untap your creatures will catch an opponent off guard occasionally, and two mana a creature gets double strike is also a pretty nice trick. Three mana to do both, with the option of the two mana modes, is a pretty nice deal, and shows off the flexibility of the new mechanic.

I’m looking forward to seeing how this is included on more designs! One small gripe with the card, though. How is that not my man Bruse Tarl, Boorish Herder on the art?

Plot and Plot-Adjacent Cards: Djinn of Fool’s Fall, Irascible Wolverine and Slick Sequence

Plot is a pretty interesting mechanic. You can pay the plot cost up front, but can’t then cast the spell until a later turn, although you can cast it for free when you do (and, notably, only at sorcery speed).

It reminds me a bit of Suspend, but a key difference between Suspend and Plot is plotted creatures don’t come in with haste. So, what’s the benefit of Plot? Why would you want to delay the resolution of your spells?

First of all, some cards like Djinn of Fool's Fall may have a different Plot cost than the casting cost. This means if you don’t have anything else you can do on turn four, you can plot the Djinn, which is a nice option in a pinch.

Irascible Wolverine gives us a different benefit. When it enters, you can exile a card from your library, and you can play it that turn. If you Plot the Wolverine, you can cast it for free later, which makes it much more likely you can use your leftover mana to play the exiled card.

In the right circumstances this could be a three mana 3/2 which draws a card, which is a great rate and would potentially give it “best common” status if it comes off.

There are even more benefits, though! Slick Sequence looks like a signpost card for Izzet to me, so we’re looking at a nice UR plot deck.

The idea is you plot a card, cast it for free later, and then cast Slick Sequence to let you remove something and draw a card. It’s giving me Electrolyze vibes, although clearly not quite that good, it still has a lot of potential!

Deciding when to plot a card and when to cast it straight up will hopefully add a lot of depth to the strategy of the format, as I don’t think you’re always going to do one of the other.

What’s the Pick?

We’ve almost got enough cards to make a pack. Well, maybe half a pack, but we’ve got enough to make some comparisons on power levels. Probably the best way to do this with our selection is try to rank them.

C-/D+ Rank – Playable

So initially, none of the cards look completely unplayable, which is good and fits with the ethos of what Play Boosters are meant to bring. That said, I think that Djinn of Fool's Fall and Boneyard Desecrator don’t seem much more than a playable card without the right support to go around them. The rest of the cards are much more exciting.

C+ Rank – Never cut them

I don’t think I’d ever cut my first Dance of the Tumbleweeds, Rustler Rampage or Forsaken Miner from a deck that could play them. Maybe you’d start cutting multiples, but there would have to be something funny going on if I were to put one of these in the sideboard. They’re all solid, which is honestly great for commons and uncommons.

B/B- Rank – Actively taking them

Irasible Wolverine does seem pretty great, especially for a common. I’m not going to rank it up there with great rares and mythics, but it’s certainly a step up from the other cards we’re looking at. It enables set mechanics, ‘draws’ a card and is a solid body, too. Really good.

Slick Sequence is in a bit of a different place to Wolverine. It’s really powerful, but is a payoff/build around. That said, if you have an Izzet deck, you’re probably going to want as many of these as you can get your hands on.

Closing Thoughts

Outlaws of Thunder Junction is certainly looking like a set with a lot of flavor. Expect to hear a few yee-haws at your prereleases, and if your local scene is really cool, maybe even see a few Stetsons! Mechanically, there are some interesting new takes on mechanics, that provide a lot of room for interesting strategic decisions, which has my hyped to see more spoilers. Again, huge thanks to Wizards for giving Draftsim this free preview.

What’s your favorite card from those we’ve seen here? Are you as excited for silly Izzet double spell decks as I am? Be sure to check out some of our other articles looking at Outlaws of Thunder Junction, in particular our limited set review the Monday before release. Also, remember that the set will be coming to our draft simulator on April 4, and make sure you have our tracker Arena Tutor installed to hit the ground running when it comes out on MTGA. Catch you later partners!