Chris Taylor
Contributor
If you're like me, Kaldheim/Strixhaven may have soured you on dual faced cards. However, as I've said elsewhere I definitely let that bleed over into other cards that don't necessarily deserve it, so I've done some scryfall diving to see what I might have missed.
I'm also not posting about any of the Innistrad: Midnight Hunt cards since we're more famaliar with those given they're what started this discussion in the first place. For future reference, here's the scryfall query for that, as I haven't played with any of those yet.
Obviously these may be a miss for your format for other reasons (power, archetype mismatch, rarity, don't run planeswalkers etc) but here's a few that I found interesting, divided by broad category rather than color:
Actual Modal Dual Faced Cards:
While I'm still not done reading Cosima, God of the Voyage (I'm on chapter 2, the language is a bit dense) these cards are ones I do like both sides of. Esika specifically as a ramp spell/5 color payoff is nice, and the amount of times the 5 color card comes up are so few and far between that it adds to complexity less.
The bar here is higher, I'll admit, but I want to acknowledge that these cards can be interesting.
Land Modal Dual Faced Cards:
These are not terrible complexity wise. Lands specifically being so simple is a big reduction in mental load, and while there are technically differences between the back (Plain ETB tapped vs ETB tapped unless you pay 3 life), it's not enough that I would (for eg) only run one of those kinds if the front faces both felt right.
Shoutout to Spikefield Hazard for hitting players and exiling, both relevant lines of text, Song-Mad Treachery in general (It mostly doesn't matter how much a given threaten effect costs, as on a good day it'll be the last spell you cast), and Malakir Rebirth/Sejiri Shelter for being great at the low threat count decks (prowess) that I love encouraging.
Traditional Flip Cards:
Obviously the distinction here is somewhat arbitrary but I had too many cards to dump in at once. This category I'm delineating as cards that either flip using the old werewolf tech, using mana, or mostly instantly (Skin Invasion, Garruk Relentless etc).
Town Gossipmonger is a surprisingly solid aggro beater, Lambholt Pacifist offers a nice workaround for the 3/3 defender in addition to the usual lines, Duskwatch Recruiter is just a solid all round card, and Journey to Eternity has all of the sweet inevitability of volrath's stronghold, with more work for a bit higher (?) of a payoff.
Quests:
As above, some of these cards might technically belong in the traditional category, but hey.
This is also the category with my favorites, so prepare for some (more) text
Thing in the ice is a joy, it's juuuust hard enough to flip to feel great. Also you get points if you proliferate your opponent's copy.
Hadana's Climb remains one of my favorite cards of all time and just isn't in the right colors for my current +1/+1 counters archetype
Treasure Map is a solid all round magic card and a really evocative story as well.
Vance's Blasting Cannons is perhaps the most aspirational card on this list but is almost perfectly serviceable as just a red howling mine (do we have a good name for "effect that draws you another card each turn"?)
It notably doesn't let you play lands, but cards like Outpost Siege don't give you the story equity this card does.
Nissa, Vastwood Seer is great for having a ramp card that's good on turn 3 and 7, as well as being one of the most fair walkers on her backside, avoiding token spam while still doing something useful but not overbearing.
Westvale Abbey is a lot more fair than other cards with indestructible as needing to sacrifice 5 creatures is a big ask against control and a big risk against aggro. If a board stalls out in some midrange mirror, I honestly consider it ending with a card like this often preferable to the game going on for another 30 minutes. Your mileage may vary.
Delver of Secrets is a contentious card. The power delta is too wide here for me to include personally, and I've never loved the specific odds on this card.
If you think I missed any, obviously my judgement is perfect and I've missed nothing. Share stories below.
I'm also not posting about any of the Innistrad: Midnight Hunt cards since we're more famaliar with those given they're what started this discussion in the first place. For future reference, here's the scryfall query for that, as I haven't played with any of those yet.
Obviously these may be a miss for your format for other reasons (power, archetype mismatch, rarity, don't run planeswalkers etc) but here's a few that I found interesting, divided by broad category rather than color:
Actual Modal Dual Faced Cards:
While I'm still not done reading Cosima, God of the Voyage (I'm on chapter 2, the language is a bit dense) these cards are ones I do like both sides of. Esika specifically as a ramp spell/5 color payoff is nice, and the amount of times the 5 color card comes up are so few and far between that it adds to complexity less.
The bar here is higher, I'll admit, but I want to acknowledge that these cards can be interesting.
Land Modal Dual Faced Cards:
These are not terrible complexity wise. Lands specifically being so simple is a big reduction in mental load, and while there are technically differences between the back (Plain ETB tapped vs ETB tapped unless you pay 3 life), it's not enough that I would (for eg) only run one of those kinds if the front faces both felt right.
Shoutout to Spikefield Hazard for hitting players and exiling, both relevant lines of text, Song-Mad Treachery in general (It mostly doesn't matter how much a given threaten effect costs, as on a good day it'll be the last spell you cast), and Malakir Rebirth/Sejiri Shelter for being great at the low threat count decks (prowess) that I love encouraging.
Traditional Flip Cards:
Obviously the distinction here is somewhat arbitrary but I had too many cards to dump in at once. This category I'm delineating as cards that either flip using the old werewolf tech, using mana, or mostly instantly (Skin Invasion, Garruk Relentless etc).
Town Gossipmonger is a surprisingly solid aggro beater, Lambholt Pacifist offers a nice workaround for the 3/3 defender in addition to the usual lines, Duskwatch Recruiter is just a solid all round card, and Journey to Eternity has all of the sweet inevitability of volrath's stronghold, with more work for a bit higher (?) of a payoff.
Quests:
As above, some of these cards might technically belong in the traditional category, but hey.
This is also the category with my favorites, so prepare for some (more) text
Thing in the ice is a joy, it's juuuust hard enough to flip to feel great. Also you get points if you proliferate your opponent's copy.
Hadana's Climb remains one of my favorite cards of all time and just isn't in the right colors for my current +1/+1 counters archetype
Treasure Map is a solid all round magic card and a really evocative story as well.
Vance's Blasting Cannons is perhaps the most aspirational card on this list but is almost perfectly serviceable as just a red howling mine (do we have a good name for "effect that draws you another card each turn"?)
It notably doesn't let you play lands, but cards like Outpost Siege don't give you the story equity this card does.
Nissa, Vastwood Seer is great for having a ramp card that's good on turn 3 and 7, as well as being one of the most fair walkers on her backside, avoiding token spam while still doing something useful but not overbearing.
Westvale Abbey is a lot more fair than other cards with indestructible as needing to sacrifice 5 creatures is a big ask against control and a big risk against aggro. If a board stalls out in some midrange mirror, I honestly consider it ending with a card like this often preferable to the game going on for another 30 minutes. Your mileage may vary.
Delver of Secrets is a contentious card. The power delta is too wide here for me to include personally, and I've never loved the specific odds on this card.
If you think I missed any, obviously my judgement is perfect and I've missed nothing. Share stories below.
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