Jumpstart was introduced to Magic: The Gathering in 2020 as a way to quickly build new decks: two packs of 20 cards, mostly mono-colored, each with a theme. That theme can be a specific creature type, such as a cat or goblin, or a concept, such as smashing, tree hugging, or reading man. The two packs are shuffled together to make a 40-card deck. This is a quicker way to build a deck than drafting or building a deck from scratch and is useful for seated events.

The original Jumpstart set was mostly reprints, with only a handful of new cards. Several of the recent Magic expansions are now available in Jumpstart boosters in addition to the other types of booster packs you can buy these days, so I was able to play The Dominaria Coalition and The Brothers War at a local Jumpstart event.

Jumpstart 2022 (opens in new tab) is a similar set to the original Jumpstart, meaning that each pack is guaranteed to contain one new card, but mostly reprints. One card with anime art is also guaranteed, and several artists have already shown off their work, like "Baran the Wandering Knight" (opens in new tab) and "Spectral Sailor" (opens in new tab), who has gone from a bearded pirate to a sailor's uniform. Good for them.

Jumpstart 2022 has 46 themes, some of which have multiple variant versions, so two booster packs of the same theme do not necessarily mean all the same cards. The themes released so far include "Detective," "Snow," "Speedy," "Primate," "Multi-headed Creature," and many others, providing a wide variety. We are pleased to present to you a theme called "Gigantic", which is a pre-release version of a theme we have been working on for some time now. It is composed of green cards and plays on the traditional archetype of this color: growth. You start small, survive the arrows and arrows of ridiculous luck (usually in the form of decks with faster aggro), and ramp up with cards that accelerate mana production so you can play Fatty (open in new tab) as soon as possible.

Making this win condition even more crushing is a new card in the Gigantic theme pack, the legendary Lunadi, Caller of Behemoth, which empowers your most expensive summons. creatures cast after Runadi cost 4 or more Gain one +1/+1 counter for each mana, and any creature with three or more +1/+1 counters gains haste. Colossal Dreadmaw, Havenwood Wurm, Mammoth Spider, Woodborn Behemoth, Engulfing Slagwurm, and other creatures costing 5 or more are reprinted. The last one is a seven mana 7/7, a beast that destroys blocked and blocked creatures and gives you life equal to the toughness of the destroyed creature. Yikes.

As a way to accelerate mana production and help the game, Gigantic reprinted "The Lush One," which enchants lands and adds two green mana, and "Paradise Druid," which can be tapped for one mana.

One of JumpStart 2022's other green monochromatic themes got a new card thanks to distribution at a pre-release promo event. There are several reasons for his attention. Banana is an artifact that can be sacrificed to gain 2 life and 1 green or 1 red mana. Whenever he attacks, he can throw his opponent's artifact straight into the graveyard.

Monkey to monkey is strong.

Aside from the ridiculous banana mechanism, what I like about "Keebo, Prince of Uktavi" is that it continues a gag that dates back to 1997, when the "Uktavi Orangutan" (open in new tab) card was released. Wizards of the Coast also used the gag in the 2004 release of "Uktabi Kong" (opens in new tab) in Unhinged, which featured the same two monkeys (one pregnant). Kibo, is Uktabi Prince the child of these two monkeys? If you have been waiting for 18 years to find out what happened to those baby monkeys, now you know.

The Jumpstart 2022 (open in new tab) pack will be available December 2.