Back to the Hive Part 1

Wizards has made a few changes to the Magic 2014 Slivers both artistically and functionally. The functional change is that the new Slivers only benefit Slivers that are under the control of the same player. This change essentially only affects Sliver mirror matches. By only benefiting the Slivers on your team, the newly introduced Slivers can be used to break a stalemate, potentially allowing one player to overcome the other in a mirror match. I welcome this new change as it adds some surprise elements to a Sliver mirror match, however other than serving as a “mirror breaker" the new modification to the Sliver's ability does not seem to be very significant.

In total 14 new Slivers (Plus a Sliver related Sorcery) are introduced in Magic 2014, let us take a look each one of them and discuss the overall usefulness and contributions these newcomers can bring to the Hive:

Sentinel Sliver: A well rounded creature that not only provides vigilance but also comes with a solid 2/2 body. Sentinel Sliver is a functional replacement for the rather unplayable Synchronous Sliver. 

Steelform Sliver: Plated Sliver simply outclasses this Sliver. The mana cost and the toughness bonus provided by Steelform Sliver is just not cost effective.

Hive Stirrings: An extremely efficient Sliver token generating spell. Hive Stirrings immediately adds two Slivers into your already established Sliver army. This spell can be very devastating if used at the right time.

Bonescythe Sliver: This Sliver is a much cheaper version of Fury Sliver. It enables all of your Slivers to deal a massive amount of damage and may potentially end the game as soon as it enters the battlefield.

Predatory Sliver: This is another Sliver that grants +1/+1 to all Slivers. Together with Muscle Sliver and Sinew Sliver, Predatory Sliver further increases the versatility of an Aggro based Sliver deck.

Manaweft Sliver: This Sliver may be used in combination with Gemhide Sliver if the deck requires more than four copies of Slivers that grant mana producing ability.

Groundshaker Sliver: Despite the fact that this Sliver has a very high power/toughness, the 7 mana cost makes it practically unplayable in any deck. Horned Sliver is a much better option if you are looking to add Trample to your deck.

Megantic Sliver: The combination of three Predatory Slivers!!! Although it can be a great Sliver mirror match breaker, the mana cost is still a bit too high to make this card efficient.

Galerider Sliver: This is the most powerful Magic 2014 Sliver. With merely one mana it allows your Sliver army to gain Flying. Galerider Sliver can be used as a great win condition in an Aggro based Sliver deck. 

Syphon Sliver:  Unlike Essence Sliver, Syphon Sliver’s Life Link ability of does not stack.  However, Syphon Sliver’s low mana cost has an advantage over Essence Sliver, increasing the overall efficiency of your deck.

Battle Sliver: With all the different types of "Muscle Slivers" around I really don't see the point of using this Sliver Evolutionary Dead End. I would much rather add 1 more mana to play Megantic Sliver over Battle Sliver.

Blur Sliver: The extra power/toughness that Blur Sliver has over Heart Sliver does not seem to be worth the one extra mana cost. I would still choose Heart Sliver as my Haste enabler in a Sliver deck.

Striking Sliver: There aren't that many 1 mana cost Slivers around, thus Striking Sliver as a one mana cost First Strike enabler is definitely a powerful addition to the Hive.

Thorncaster Sliver: This "walking cannon" allows your alpha strike to become extremely deadly. Not only does it allow you to get rid of potential blockers it may also give you enough damage to crush your opponent's life total.

Sliver Construct: This Sliver provides no benefit to your Sliver army other than the fact that it uses colorless mana. It is much better to find a "real" Sliver that fits your deck’s color scheme. Adaptive Automaton is a much better choice than Sliver Construct for the same amount of mana cost.

Now we have looked at all the new Slivers introduced in the Magic 2014 core set. Next time we will be constructing a few decks with these new comers.

Until next time keep exploring the Hive!!