I’m starting to think that a conspiracy is afoot, as some of the cards in Conspiracy: Take the Crown are pulling double-duty. Not only will they add to the draft and multiplayer formats Conspiracy is designed for, but they will have a real impact on Eternal formats as well. I’m not one to complain about 2-for-1s, and it’s no accident that the card I’m going to show you today fits into this category.

In fact, it’s reminiscent of a recently-restricted Vintage staple, Chalice of the Void:

Chalice sees Vintage, Legacy, and Modern play because of how effective it is against low-curve decks. It has some strangeness going on with how it interacts with cards like Cavern of Souls (which gets around Chalice), it requires the controlling player to remember their Chalice triggers, and can punish creature-heavy aggressive decks that rely on 1-drops.

Imagine a card that taps into the same power as Chalice, but with some key differences. Imagine quickly, because I’m about to show you the card:

Sanctum Prelate skips all the shenanigans and forbids cards of the chosen cost from being played, so counters, triggers, and the like never become an issue. It also only hits noncreature spells, which greatly changes which decks this card is good against. You even get to choose any number, so no longer are you reduced to choosing 0, 1, or 2, which is all that Chalice really does, and you can pick any number your heart desires. Worried about Supreme Verdict or Jace? Name 4. Worried about Terminus? Nothing is stopping you from naming 6. Lastly, Sanctum Prelate has a body, which is surprisingly relevant. We’ve seen this with Containment Priest as well, where adding a 2/2 to a hoser effect puts a real clock on combo, and means your disruption card is a win condition as well.

All told, this is an interesting and powerful package. What implications does Sanctum Prelate have across various formats?

In Conspiracy Draft

This is a fine card in draft, but I’d start it in your sideboard. It can be relevant game 1 if the opponent has an agenda that wants them to play all the same spell, but where you really get value is when you play Sanctum Prelate to stop specific cards you saw in game 1. Remember that it affects you as well, so don’t name a number that will end up hosing your own cards.

In Multiplayer

I suspect this is an unwise card to play in multiplayer (both Draft and Commander). It has more cards to hit, but surely someone will kill it if it’s annoying, and singleton decks tend to have a lot of varied costs.

In Vintage

At 3 mana, Sanctum Prelate is pretty expensive for Vintage. I could see this in a heavy-white Mentor deck, or potentially Mono-White Hate Bears, but I doubt White Eldrazi can reliably cast this.

In Legacy

Given that Death and Taxes is a viable and heavily-played deck, this has to be worth trying. It is a flexible hate slot, and really rewards you for knowing the dangerous cards in the opposing deck.

Sanctum Prelate is a powerful card, and one that has the potential to lock the opponent out. Choose your number wisely.