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Quick Draft BRO 24 January 2024

24 January 07:56 - eippo 7 Wins - 2 Losses
Maindeck
Instant, Sorcery, Enchantment, Artifact (13)
3 Excavation Explosion image
1 Disenchant image
4 Bitter Reunion image
1 Static Net image
1 Mishra's Bauble image
1 Kayla's Command image
1 Unleash Shell image
1 Mishra's Research Desk image
Creature (12)
4 Dwarven Forge-Chanter image
1 Mishra's Juggernaut image
1 Tyrant of Kher Ridges image
1 Aeronaut Cavalry image
1 Conscripted Infantry image
1 Penregon Strongbull image
1 Tocasia's Onulet image
1 Survivor of Korlis image
1 Goblin Blast-Runner image
Land (17)
8 Plains image
9 Mountain image
Sideboard
1 Gixian Infiltrator image
2 Dwarven Forge-Chanter image
1 Sardian Cliffstomper image
1 Conscripted Infantry image
1 Fallaji Chaindancer image
1 Tocasia's Onulet image
1 Burrowing Razormaw image
2 Powerstone Fracture image
1 Whirling Strike image
1 Recommission image
1 Dredging Claw image
1 Emergency Weld image
1 Mishra's Onslaught image
2 Raze to the Ground image
1 Union of the Third Path image
1 Elsewhere Flask image
1 Levitating Statue image

Pack 1 Pick 1: Excavation Explosion
Inspiring Statuary image 1.0 This is kind of cool, as it sort of makes it so your powerstones can tap to cast nonartifact spells. However, this is another instance where you use up a card for a mana discount, and cards are a massively important resource in Limited – using one just to help you cast spells is suboptimal, and this is a little too particular for me to like it very much
The Temporal Anchor image 4.5 You have to pay six for this and not add to the board – and you even have to wait a whole turn to get it going. However, it effectively draws you two extra cards every single turn, which is of course absolutely absurd. You’ll just Scry 2 cards to the bottom of the library with this basically every time since you effectively draw 2 when you do that. It can even get sillier with more Scry! It is going to be pretty hard for you to lose the game if you make it to your next turn after casting this. Having to wait for that whole turn definitely hurts the Anchor’s stock, as does the fact it costs three blue mana – but I still feel like this sneaks into the lower bomb range. It just generates so much card advantage. You can even use powerstones to cast it, though obviously they aren’t going to help you with that triple Blue.
Gaea's Courser image 3.5 This is a great payoff for loading the graveyard. In Black/Green decks especially, it will generate some 2-for-1s or better.
Haywire Mite image 2.0 This has plenty of targets in this format, so it is certainly a main deck card. Doesn’t hurt that it is a cheap artifact in a format that really cares about such things
Ashnod's Harvester image 3.0 A two mana 3/1 that hates on the graveyard will pretty much always make the cut, especially one that’s an artifact! Unearth and other graveyard action is a very real presence in the format, and being able to take one of those away from your opponent will feel pretty nice! It can even Unearth on its own to take a card out of it has to, and a 3/1 is an effective attacker on many boards
Tomakul Honor Guard image 2.0 This has solid stats, and cheap removal will cost extra to destroy it! The format does have a bunch of 1/1 tokens, though, and that always makes a 3/1 sad
Mishra's Juggernaut image 2.0 Boy, this is pretty disappointing for referencing an old card that was a powerhouse during Magic’s early days! 5 mana for a 5/3 with Trample that always has to attack is just a 1.5. Adding Unearth to the mix is nice for a Trampler, though
Recommission image 1.5 If you can consistently get back a 3 mana creature with this, it is going to feel pretty dang good, as your creature will easily be worth more than 2 mana. The problem is that you have to set this up and have the right deck make up. And while those things are doable, there will certainly be times where this is stuck in your hand.
Dredging Claw image 1.5 +1/+0 and Menace is a decent – but not great – boost for a two mana Equipment that costs two to equip. The cool thing here is that if you have Unearth creatures, it equips for free, drastically increasing the chance that creature can crack in for some damage. While Unearth is definitely prevalent in the format, I don’t really feel like it is so prevalent that I’ll regularly be running this in my Black decks
Fallaji Archaeologist image 2.5 This is a cool design. It will either be a two mana ¼ – which is passable – or a two mana 0/3 that gets you something from the graveyard. Now, keep in mind you only get the card back if it is among those that are milled – and this only hits noncreature nonlands, so you may wiff sometimes. But if you’re a spell heavy deck in the format – which generally means UR – it seems like this will do what you want it to do most of the time, and at least you get a consolation prize if you do wiff.
Sibling Rivalry image 0.5 // 3.0 This format has a very real Sacrifice deck in it, meaning that Sibling Rivalry is going to be pretty well-positioned, as the best thing to do with these is to steal an opposing creature or artifact and sacrifice it to one of your sacrifice outlets – like the Minotaur we saw earlier. This also gives you a powerstone, which gives you something else to sacrifice in many cases! This is definitely a build around, as it isn’t very good in just any deck in the format
Warlord's Elite image 1.5 A three mana 4/4 is nice and all, but not incredible, and this makes you jump through some significant hoops to actually get it into play. Tapping lands or creatures to play this feels like it will be a pretty big pain most of the time, and overall it feels like this will effectively be a 5-mana 4/4 pretty often
Moment of Defiance image 2.0 This is a bit expensive for a trick that only boosts toughness by 1, which means that oftentimes your creature will also die, but it definitely makes up for that by drawing you a card. In situations where you creature does survive, you get a 2-for-1, and in situations where it doesn’t, you break even while gaining some life. It also draws you a card, checking the box for the Blue-Black deck. That seems fine to me
Excavation Explosion image 4.0 This looks pretty great, even as a Sorcery! Three mana to do three to anything is always nice – you can usually break even or better on the mana you spend, and this actually gives you some mana back in the form of a powerstone
Epic Confrontation image 3.5 This is a reprint, and it was a premium removal spell last time. The stats boost is surprisingly effective at helping your creature win the fight. You do have to be careful with this kind of removal spell, because if your opponent can respond by removing your creature you get blown out, and that does matter – but you can often find a good window to cast this
Pack 1 Pick 2: Powerstone Fracture
Bone Saw image 0.0 0 mana artifacts are exciting for constructed, but they aren’t nearly as good in Limited because what you get is usually a card that isn’t worth an entire card – and that’s definitely what Bone Saw is. Especially in a set without any real equipment theme. Playing this will feel like you took a mulligan
Gnawing Vermin image 2.0 This gives you a bunch of little stuff, but getting all of it for one mana is a pretty decent deal! One mana 1/1s that can give -1/-1 to something when they die are usually pretty nice, as they can trade up for X/2s or even get a 2-for-1 if your opponent has two X/1s. The fact it mills sets up a couple of different Black decks in the format too
Spotter Thopter image 3.0 A 4-mana ⅔ that scries 2 is a 2.5 at very worst. Scrying 2 isn’t that far off from drawing a card! So, the fact it has late-game upside as an 8-mana ⅘ that Scries 4 is pretty nice.
Mask of the Jadecrafter image 2.0 This is a pretty nice thing to spend powerstone mana on. It will basically never be that efficient, whether you’re using it the first time or after unearthing it, but it does give you 2 bodies in the end, and that always plays well
Overwhelming Remorse image 3.5 A card that was always 5 for this effect is probably a 3.0, and this will often cost significantly less, especially in graveyard decks. Just getting it down to 4 is pretty much getting you to the premium level, and it will often be even cheaper
Dredging Claw image 1.5 +1/+0 and Menace is a decent – but not great – boost for a two mana Equipment that costs two to equip. The cool thing here is that if you have Unearth creatures, it equips for free, drastically increasing the chance that creature can crack in for some damage. While Unearth is definitely prevalent in the format, I don’t really feel like it is so prevalent that I’ll regularly be running this in my Black decks
Tocasia's Onulet image 2.0 A 5-mana 4/4 that gains you 2 life when it dies is probably a 1.5. This has a pretty reasonable Unearth cost too, though, and you get to gain 2 more life!
Aeronaut's Wings image 2.0 +1/+0 and Flying is enough to make a creature a problem for your opponent, even if two to play and two to equip will feel a little clunky.
Coastal Bulwark image 2.0 Obviously, if you’re playing Blue, this is going to be a 3/3 – and a wall that can Surveil 1 is going to be a solid thing to have in more defensive decks.
Burrowing Razormaw image 2.0 This has some reasonable stats and does a good job of loading your graveyard
Curate image 2.5 This lets you see up to three cards and can let you put advantageous cards in the graveyard, and that’s pretty nice – especially in a format with a spell deck and a card draw deck!
Ambush Paratrooper image 2.5 This has passable Flying stats, and in the late game it can buff the whole board. Keep in mind, too, that activated abilities in this format are all going to be easier than normal to activate thanks to power stones.
Bitter Reunion image 1.5 This is a neat take on a Tormented Voice-type effect. While the UR deck in this format cares about spells, it actually cares about all non-creature spells, so this will still trigger them like Tormented Voice would. The ability to give haste to your whole board will come up sometimes too. I think you probably cut this most of the time in any deck that doesn’t care about spells, and even in the spell deck it probably isn’t the card you’re happily shoving in your deck
Powerstone Fracture image 2.5 In case you didn’t get it from the card’s name, the ideal thing to do here is going to be to sacrifice a powerstone. In that case, you aren’t using up a real card – and that’s good, because giving up a real card to cast this is pretty bad. It is basically a wore bone splinters, and it isn’t like bone splinters is an incredible card. I still think this falls below premium removal because of the set up needed to make it decent
Pack 1 Pick 3: Gixian Infiltrator
Foundry Inspector image 3.5 This looks amazing in this format, because most decks are going to have 7+ artifacts, and some will have even more! This makes your artifacts easy to cast while adding a very real body to the board – that makes it a heck of a lot better than something like Cloud Key.
Yotian Dissident image 3.5 This counts artifacts that come into play in any way at all, and that includes making powerstone tokens. This looks like it will be capable of stacking up a whole lot of counters! It does start very small and vulnerable, though.
Thopter Mechanic image 3.5 I am already in on a two mana 2/1 that makes a Thopter token when it dies, so adding the card draw upside here is just gravy!
Mass Production image 2.5 Six mana is a bit more than I would want to pay for four tokens at Sorcery speed, but the fact that these tokens are Artifacts makes it significantly more impressive that it might look at first. It helps you go wide and triggers your artifact things.
Gixian Infiltrator image 2.0 This is a solid, if unexciting sacrifice payoff that will work especially well in the Black/Red deck. It starts with decent stats and a few counters are enough to make it a threat
Whirling Strike image 1.5 This is a solid trick, as it will usually keep your creature alive, kill the opposing creature, and even do some trample damage! It gets better in a set with Prowess and other spell payoffs
Gnarlroot Pallbearer image 2.0 This doesn’t have a great stat-line – but a 5/5 trampler is passable -- and the ETB trigger will be pretty effective in most Green decks, allowing you to attack with something that just couldn’t before. Still, it is rather expensive and dependent on your graveyard
Air Marshal image 2.5 Three mana is kind of a lot for giving Flying only to creatures with a particular type, but the good news is that it is easier than normal to produce mana to pay for abilities in this set thanks to powerstones and there are lots of soldiers. It can also target itself.
Lat-Nam Adept image 2.5 4-mana 3/3s have felt pretty awful lately, but this one can grow throughout the game as you draw more cards – and that’s one of the format’s main archetypes, so this will certainly have a home in the format.
Loran's Escape image 2.0 These effects have been playing pretty well lately, and I think that’s probably the case here too. Blanking removal and various other effects while also improving a creature’s ability to win combat is pretty solid.
Evolving Wilds image 3.0 We see this all the time, and its always a pretty nice land. It does an excellent job of fixing for you. If you’re splashing something, just a single Wilds and a basic land in that splash color is enough, and that’s pretty great! Its at pretty much the same level as the Rare dual lands we just saw.
Combat Courier image 2.0 It is nice that you can cash this in for a card – twice, thanks to Unearth – and that does give you a 2-for-1, albeit an expensive one. But if you can get some extra value out of this being around, it is definitely worth it.
Goblin Blast-Runner image 2.0 This seems like a pretty nice sacrifice payoff at Common. A 3/2 with Menace can swing effectively for a long time, and sometimes it will be bigger! At the same time, it will also be a ½ a decent chunk of the time, and that’s not so good
Pack 1 Pick 4: Excavation Explosion
Chromatic Star image 2.0 Because this is a noncreature spell and an artifact that replaces itself, it is going to be very playable, as multiple decks in this format care about that stuff. It also fixes your mana of course, though it is a bit clunky if you’re just using it for those purposes
Great Desert Prospector image 3.5 It is a bit of a bummer that this guy doesn’t count himself, so the floor on the card is a pretty ugly 5-mana 3/2. However, the ceiling can be pretty silly, as he can really enable you to ramp into artifact stuff or sink mana into activated abilities. Generally speaking, there are lots of ways to make use of power stones in the set!
Demolition Field image 0.0 This card is basically Field of Ruin, and that’s a card that just isn’t worth running in Limited. Sure, it can sort of fix your mana, but this format won’t have so many basic lands that you can count on that consistently, and your opponent gets some help too! It isn’t good for your mana base and it has an ability that isn’t good in Limited.
Dwarven Forge-Chanter image 3.0 Back in Khans of Tarkir there was a White two mana 1/3 with Prowess and it was a really nice common – so, adding Ward – Pay 2 life to that also makes for a pretty sweet common! A creature with Prowess is always really obnoxious to block or attack into, since you never know what your opponent might be able to do. The threat of activation is very real! This is a great two drop for Blue-Red decks, and lots of other Red decks will have enough non-creature spells to have a pretty good time with this
Coastal Bulwark image 2.0 Obviously, if you’re playing Blue, this is going to be a 3/3 – and a wall that can Surveil 1 is going to be a solid thing to have in more defensive decks.
Third Path Savant image 2.0 This has a very powerful ability that draws you cards late, and if you’re flooding out or have a bunch of powerstones, that’s a nice ability to help get you out of it. It has a pretty bad stat-line until you get to that point, though.
Gixian Skullflayer image 2.0 This is a nice little payoff for getting creatures in your graveyard, a strategy that looks to be well supported in the format. I do wish this enabled itself a little bit, like by milling a single card or something – but it will be able to grow with relative ease in Black/Green decks especially
Gaea's Gift image 2.0 This is a nice trick. In addition to doing a good job of helping a creature win combat, the slew of keywords it gets makes it so you can blank most removal when you cast it. We’ve seen a lot o tricks like this of late, and they’ve all ended up being a card you always want one or two of in aggressive decks, and I think that’s what we have here
Excavation Explosion image 4.0 This looks pretty great, even as a Sorcery! Three mana to do three to anything is always nice – you can usually break even or better on the mana you spend, and this actually gives you some mana back in the form of a powerstone
Conscripted Infantry image 2.5 A three mana 3/1 is far from ideal, but this does leave behind a 1/1 when it dies, meaning it is good sacrifice fodder
Prison Sentence image 3.5 Arrest is always nice, and this comes with Scry 2 upside, so it is certainly premium. The format does have a sacrifice deck, which weakens a card like this, but it still looks pretty darn good.
Koilos Roc image 3.0 A 5-mana 3/3 with Flash and Flying is usually playable, as it not only allows you to leave mana up for other stuff, you can flash it in to ambush something – so I’m pretty happy that this also adds a powerstone to the mix. Because of Flash, you’ll also be able to use that powerstone most of the time when you untap.
Pack 1 Pick 5: Dwarven Forge-Chanter
Fallaji Excavation image 3.0 As there are plenty of sweet artifacts to ramp into in the format, so this will often precede you slamming a scary 8 drop on to the battlefield! Of course, it doesn’t really impact the board immediately, and that can be a problem – but gaining 3 life when you cast this makes it more likely you can endure a hard hit on your opponent’s turn, which makes it more likely you untap and slam an 8/8 on the table.
Ashnod's Harvester image 3.0 A two mana 3/1 that hates on the graveyard will pretty much always make the cut, especially one that’s an artifact! Unearth and other graveyard action is a very real presence in the format, and being able to take one of those away from your opponent will feel pretty nice! It can even Unearth on its own to take a card out of it has to, and a 3/1 is an effective attacker on many boards
Recommission image 1.5 If you can consistently get back a 3 mana creature with this, it is going to feel pretty dang good, as your creature will easily be worth more than 2 mana. The problem is that you have to set this up and have the right deck make up. And while those things are doable, there will certainly be times where this is stuck in your hand.
Citanul Stalwart image 2.0 Even with powerstones, it can be a little tricky finding a way to consistently use this to fix and ramp your mana. There will be times where you just can’t do it, and its an ability that isn’t that great in the late game. That said, this format does have many payoffs for doing such a thing, and the powerstones certainly make this better.
Gnarlroot Pallbearer image 2.0 This doesn’t have a great stat-line – but a 5/5 trampler is passable -- and the ETB trigger will be pretty effective in most Green decks, allowing you to attack with something that just couldn’t before. Still, it is rather expensive and dependent on your graveyard
Veteran's Powerblade image 1.5 One mana to equip this is pretty nice, but three to cast is always going to feel pretty ugly. Still, it makes your solder tokens into 3/1s, which means they can swing in most cases! Obviously works with other soldiers too, but I don’t really feel like this is the soldier payoff you’re really hoping for when you draft the UW deck.
Phalanx Vanguard image 2.5 A two mana 2/2 with Vigilance is right around a 2.0, so the fact that the power on this thing will go up pretty often makes it a solid two drop.
Ashnod's Intervention image 1.0 Returning the creature to your hand instead of to the battlefield is obviously a big downgrade from other versions of this effect we have seen before, but it does mean that you can use this to trade one-for-one for something while holding on to your creature. It can be especially nice if your creature has an ETB ability or something, but I kind of feel like the tempo hit you take in casting this to win combat is a little bit too much. This seems like it is efficient, but it really isn’t when you consider having to recast your creature. You can also use this with an Unearthed creature of course, but I still don’t feel like that’s enough upside.
Depth Charge Colossus image 1.0 I don’t love this. Both modes are pretty inefficient for a creature you have to pay extra mana for to untap. Even with powerstones I don’t think I’m playing this.
Dwarven Forge-Chanter image 3.0 Back in Khans of Tarkir there was a White two mana 1/3 with Prowess and it was a really nice common – so, adding Ward – Pay 2 life to that also makes for a pretty sweet common! A creature with Prowess is always really obnoxious to block or attack into, since you never know what your opponent might be able to do. The threat of activation is very real! This is a great two drop for Blue-Red decks, and lots of other Red decks will have enough non-creature spells to have a pretty good time with this
Power Plant Worker image 2.0 This is a fun cycle, since they all reference the original Urza lands. I think the card seems pretty decent too. The stats aren’t great, but +2/+2 for three mana isn’t the worst rate in a set with power stones everywhere. I wouldn’t count on getting all three of these in play, but you might achieve it on occasion.
Pack 1 Pick 6: Disenchant
Soul-Guide Lantern image 2.0 This is another artifact that replaces itself, making it useful in the format. It also hates on the graveyard – something else of value in a format with Unearth and a couple of graveyard decks. You can main deck this pretty happily
Audacity image 3.0 I like this Aura. It is basically a fixed Rancor, which is pretty fun. +2/+0 and Trample is enough to make a whole lot of creatures problematic, and the fact you get to draw a card when Audacity goes to the graveyard means you don’t have to worry about getting 2-for-1’d
Gnawing Vermin image 2.0 This gives you a bunch of little stuff, but getting all of it for one mana is a pretty decent deal! One mana 1/1s that can give -1/-1 to something when they die are usually pretty nice, as they can trade up for X/2s or even get a 2-for-1 if your opponent has two X/1s. The fact it mills sets up a couple of different Black decks in the format too
Gixian Infiltrator image 2.0 This is a solid, if unexciting sacrifice payoff that will work especially well in the Black/Red deck. It starts with decent stats and a few counters are enough to make it a threat
Goblin Firebomb image 1.5 We’ve seen cards like this before, and they are always pretty mediocre. It isn’t efficient, even for destroying any permanent type. Now, the format does have an artifact theme, and if you can find ways to recur this, it can get interesting! You’ll run it if you’re really desperate for removal
Gixian Skullflayer image 2.0 This is a nice little payoff for getting creatures in your graveyard, a strategy that looks to be well supported in the format. I do wish this enabled itself a little bit, like by milling a single card or something – but it will be able to grow with relative ease in Black/Green decks especially
Powerstone Engineer image 2.0 Trading this off and getting a powerstone in the process seems fine.
Bitter Reunion image 1.5 This is a neat take on a Tormented Voice-type effect. While the UR deck in this format cares about spells, it actually cares about all non-creature spells, so this will still trigger them like Tormented Voice would. The ability to give haste to your whole board will come up sometimes too. I think you probably cut this most of the time in any deck that doesn’t care about spells, and even in the spell deck it probably isn’t the card you’re happily shoving in your deck
Disenchant image 2.5 This is a solid main deck card in this format. There are lots of artifacts and a decent number of Enchantments. It is efficient and Instant speed too, which is always nice.
Military Discipline image 1.5 The turn you cast this, it will definitely help your creature win combat, and then you get a permanent +1/+0 effect to stick around. This will definitely generate some serious tempo sometimes, allowing your creature to survive against something that costs a lot more mana! It does have the inherent risks auras have, and you have to be careful about playing this, but I think this seems solid.
Pack 1 Pick 7: Sardian Cliffstomper
Sardian Cliffstomper image 1.0 // 2.5 This isn’t especially impressive to me, even if you end up in mono-red – and it is pretty much unplayable if you’re not in mono-red. Sure, it can get some high power, but without evasion to take advantage of it, I’m not that excited about it. And yeah, it only costs two mana, but the fact it only starts doing its thing once you have four mountains is a pretty big hurdle
Defabricate image 0.5 This set might have a lot of artifacts and enchantments in it, but I’m still thinking this is a bit too narrow to be good in your main deck. It can counter activated or triggered abilities, which gives it some additional uses – but it is often hard to get a full card back when you counter one of those. Yeah, this still feels like sideboard material.
Mass Production image 2.5 Six mana is a bit more than I would want to pay for four tokens at Sorcery speed, but the fact that these tokens are Artifacts makes it significantly more impressive that it might look at first. It helps you go wide and triggers your artifact things.
Dredging Claw image 1.5 +1/+0 and Menace is a decent – but not great – boost for a two mana Equipment that costs two to equip. The cool thing here is that if you have Unearth creatures, it equips for free, drastically increasing the chance that creature can crack in for some damage. While Unearth is definitely prevalent in the format, I don’t really feel like it is so prevalent that I’ll regularly be running this in my Black decks
Conscripted Infantry image 2.5 A three mana 3/1 is far from ideal, but this does leave behind a 1/1 when it dies, meaning it is good sacrifice fodder
Recommission image 1.5 If you can consistently get back a 3 mana creature with this, it is going to feel pretty dang good, as your creature will easily be worth more than 2 mana. The problem is that you have to set this up and have the right deck make up. And while those things are doable, there will certainly be times where this is stuck in your hand.
Mishra's Juggernaut image 2.0 Boy, this is pretty disappointing for referencing an old card that was a powerhouse during Magic’s early days! 5 mana for a 5/3 with Trample that always has to attack is just a 1.5. Adding Unearth to the mix is nice for a Trampler, though
Tocasia's Dig Site image 1.5 This isn’t great for your mana, but having a repeatable source of Surveil is going to be worth it in some decks, because it can both laid your graveyard and improve your card quality. Three mana is a lot for sure, and that’s an ability you’ll only be using when you have nothing better to do – but hey, it will find you something to do eventually!
Energy Refractor image 1.5 It is a good thing this replaces itself, because it is pretty bad at filtering mana! Two mana for one mana of any color just isn’t a very good rate, though it can do it multiple times a turn because it doesn’t tap. The format does care about artifacts and noncreature spells, and one that replaces itself has some inhererent value, with the filtering part just some minor upside. It does let you make your powerstones produce colored mana, but still not efficient at all.
Pack 1 Pick 8: Dwarven Forge-Chanter
Burnished Hart image 4.0 This is a great source of ramp and fixing, and it has a baseline as a gray ogre with a useful card type.
Disciples of Gix image 2.0 The idea here is that you can search up stuff that you can get value out of while it is in the graveyard, and there are certainly Artifacts with Unearth in this set – but the fact it doesn’t let you search up creatures more broadly is a little frustrating, especially because the Black-Green deck in the format demands creatures be in the graveyard in particular. Still, lots of Artifacts in the set are creatures, so it will be able to help out that kind of deck a decent chunk of the time. The stats are bad, but I feel like this ETB will feel like you’re drawing a card
Hoarding Recluse image 2.0 This can trade for anything, and while that’s not the most exciting at 4 mana, a 2/3 Reach can also block lots of small stuff in addition to making your opponent hesitant to attack with big stuff. The death ability here actually matters a bit too, as Green-Black decks will be milling themselves a significant chunk of the time, and sometimes you end up milling things you didn’t really want to mill, and this can help you get that card back
Kill-Zone Acrobat image 2.0 There are plenty of expendable things to give up to give this flying when it needs it to get in for damage – whether you’re giving up powerstones or creatures with unearth
Depth Charge Colossus image 1.0 I don’t love this. Both modes are pretty inefficient for a creature you have to pay extra mana for to untap. Even with powerstones I don’t think I’m playing this.
Dwarven Forge-Chanter image 3.0 Back in Khans of Tarkir there was a White two mana 1/3 with Prowess and it was a really nice common – so, adding Ward – Pay 2 life to that also makes for a pretty sweet common! A creature with Prowess is always really obnoxious to block or attack into, since you never know what your opponent might be able to do. The threat of activation is very real! This is a great two drop for Blue-Red decks, and lots of other Red decks will have enough non-creature spells to have a pretty good time with this
Fallaji Chaindancer image 2.0 This is going to be tough to block on a lot of boards, as a 2/4 double strike can deal with a whole lot of creatures without going down itself. The threat of activation will let this get in for 2 a decent chunk of the time, and if you have other ways to augment it – it can get even sillier! Powerstones will make this ability easier to activate than you might think, too
Argothian Sprite image 2.5 This is better than it looks. There are lots of Artifact creatures in the set, including most of the format’s creature tokens, so this will be a nice attacker on many boards. Then, in the mid-to-late game you can buff it to make sure it stays relevant. As I’ve been saying, power stones make an ability like this easier to use than it looks! This looks like a quality two-drop for Green decks int he format
Pack 1 Pick 9: Mishra's Juggernaut
Haywire Mite image 2.0 This has plenty of targets in this format, so it is certainly a main deck card. Doesn’t hurt that it is a cheap artifact in a format that really cares about such things
Ashnod's Harvester image 3.0 A two mana 3/1 that hates on the graveyard will pretty much always make the cut, especially one that’s an artifact! Unearth and other graveyard action is a very real presence in the format, and being able to take one of those away from your opponent will feel pretty nice! It can even Unearth on its own to take a card out of it has to, and a 3/1 is an effective attacker on many boards
Tomakul Honor Guard image 2.0 This has solid stats, and cheap removal will cost extra to destroy it! The format does have a bunch of 1/1 tokens, though, and that always makes a 3/1 sad
Mishra's Juggernaut image 2.0 Boy, this is pretty disappointing for referencing an old card that was a powerhouse during Magic’s early days! 5 mana for a 5/3 with Trample that always has to attack is just a 1.5. Adding Unearth to the mix is nice for a Trampler, though
Recommission image 1.5 If you can consistently get back a 3 mana creature with this, it is going to feel pretty dang good, as your creature will easily be worth more than 2 mana. The problem is that you have to set this up and have the right deck make up. And while those things are doable, there will certainly be times where this is stuck in your hand.
Dredging Claw image 1.5 +1/+0 and Menace is a decent – but not great – boost for a two mana Equipment that costs two to equip. The cool thing here is that if you have Unearth creatures, it equips for free, drastically increasing the chance that creature can crack in for some damage. While Unearth is definitely prevalent in the format, I don’t really feel like it is so prevalent that I’ll regularly be running this in my Black decks
Sibling Rivalry image 0.5 // 3.0 This format has a very real Sacrifice deck in it, meaning that Sibling Rivalry is going to be pretty well-positioned, as the best thing to do with these is to steal an opposing creature or artifact and sacrifice it to one of your sacrifice outlets – like the Minotaur we saw earlier. This also gives you a powerstone, which gives you something else to sacrifice in many cases! This is definitely a build around, as it isn’t very good in just any deck in the format
Pack 1 Pick 10: Bitter Reunion
Bone Saw image 0.0 0 mana artifacts are exciting for constructed, but they aren’t nearly as good in Limited because what you get is usually a card that isn’t worth an entire card – and that’s definitely what Bone Saw is. Especially in a set without any real equipment theme. Playing this will feel like you took a mulligan
Mask of the Jadecrafter image 2.0 This is a pretty nice thing to spend powerstone mana on. It will basically never be that efficient, whether you’re using it the first time or after unearthing it, but it does give you 2 bodies in the end, and that always plays well
Dredging Claw image 1.5 +1/+0 and Menace is a decent – but not great – boost for a two mana Equipment that costs two to equip. The cool thing here is that if you have Unearth creatures, it equips for free, drastically increasing the chance that creature can crack in for some damage. While Unearth is definitely prevalent in the format, I don’t really feel like it is so prevalent that I’ll regularly be running this in my Black decks
Aeronaut's Wings image 2.0 +1/+0 and Flying is enough to make a creature a problem for your opponent, even if two to play and two to equip will feel a little clunky.
Coastal Bulwark image 2.0 Obviously, if you’re playing Blue, this is going to be a 3/3 – and a wall that can Surveil 1 is going to be a solid thing to have in more defensive decks.
Bitter Reunion image 1.5 This is a neat take on a Tormented Voice-type effect. While the UR deck in this format cares about spells, it actually cares about all non-creature spells, so this will still trigger them like Tormented Voice would. The ability to give haste to your whole board will come up sometimes too. I think you probably cut this most of the time in any deck that doesn’t care about spells, and even in the spell deck it probably isn’t the card you’re happily shoving in your deck
Pack 1 Pick 11: Whirling Strike
Mass Production image 2.5 Six mana is a bit more than I would want to pay for four tokens at Sorcery speed, but the fact that these tokens are Artifacts makes it significantly more impressive that it might look at first. It helps you go wide and triggers your artifact things.
Whirling Strike image 1.5 This is a solid trick, as it will usually keep your creature alive, kill the opposing creature, and even do some trample damage! It gets better in a set with Prowess and other spell payoffs
Loran's Escape image 2.0 These effects have been playing pretty well lately, and I think that’s probably the case here too. Blanking removal and various other effects while also improving a creature’s ability to win combat is pretty solid.
Combat Courier image 2.0 It is nice that you can cash this in for a card – twice, thanks to Unearth – and that does give you a 2-for-1, albeit an expensive one. But if you can get some extra value out of this being around, it is definitely worth it.
Goblin Blast-Runner image 2.0 This seems like a pretty nice sacrifice payoff at Common. A 3/2 with Menace can swing effectively for a long time, and sometimes it will be bigger! At the same time, it will also be a ½ a decent chunk of the time, and that’s not so good
Pack 1 Pick 12: Dwarven Forge-Chanter
Demolition Field image 0.0 This card is basically Field of Ruin, and that’s a card that just isn’t worth running in Limited. Sure, it can sort of fix your mana, but this format won’t have so many basic lands that you can count on that consistently, and your opponent gets some help too! It isn’t good for your mana base and it has an ability that isn’t good in Limited.
Dwarven Forge-Chanter image 3.0 Back in Khans of Tarkir there was a White two mana 1/3 with Prowess and it was a really nice common – so, adding Ward – Pay 2 life to that also makes for a pretty sweet common! A creature with Prowess is always really obnoxious to block or attack into, since you never know what your opponent might be able to do. The threat of activation is very real! This is a great two drop for Blue-Red decks, and lots of other Red decks will have enough non-creature spells to have a pretty good time with this
Coastal Bulwark image 2.0 Obviously, if you’re playing Blue, this is going to be a 3/3 – and a wall that can Surveil 1 is going to be a solid thing to have in more defensive decks.
Conscripted Infantry image 2.5 A three mana 3/1 is far from ideal, but this does leave behind a 1/1 when it dies, meaning it is good sacrifice fodder
Pack 1 Pick 13: Recommission
Fallaji Excavation image 3.0 As there are plenty of sweet artifacts to ramp into in the format, so this will often precede you slamming a scary 8 drop on to the battlefield! Of course, it doesn’t really impact the board immediately, and that can be a problem – but gaining 3 life when you cast this makes it more likely you can endure a hard hit on your opponent’s turn, which makes it more likely you untap and slam an 8/8 on the table.
Recommission image 1.5 If you can consistently get back a 3 mana creature with this, it is going to feel pretty dang good, as your creature will easily be worth more than 2 mana. The problem is that you have to set this up and have the right deck make up. And while those things are doable, there will certainly be times where this is stuck in your hand.
Depth Charge Colossus image 1.0 I don’t love this. Both modes are pretty inefficient for a creature you have to pay extra mana for to untap. Even with powerstones I don’t think I’m playing this.
Pack 1 Pick 14: Bitter Reunion
Bitter Reunion image 1.5 This is a neat take on a Tormented Voice-type effect. While the UR deck in this format cares about spells, it actually cares about all non-creature spells, so this will still trigger them like Tormented Voice would. The ability to give haste to your whole board will come up sometimes too. I think you probably cut this most of the time in any deck that doesn’t care about spells, and even in the spell deck it probably isn’t the card you’re happily shoving in your deck
Military Discipline image 1.5 The turn you cast this, it will definitely help your creature win combat, and then you get a permanent +1/+0 effect to stick around. This will definitely generate some serious tempo sometimes, allowing your creature to survive against something that costs a lot more mana! It does have the inherent risks auras have, and you have to be careful about playing this, but I think this seems solid.
Pack 1 Pick 15: Dredging Claw
Dredging Claw image 1.5 +1/+0 and Menace is a decent – but not great – boost for a two mana Equipment that costs two to equip. The cool thing here is that if you have Unearth creatures, it equips for free, drastically increasing the chance that creature can crack in for some damage. While Unearth is definitely prevalent in the format, I don’t really feel like it is so prevalent that I’ll regularly be running this in my Black decks
Pack 2 Pick 1: Tyrant of Kher Ridges
Swiftfoot Boots image 3.0 The Boots are pretty nice on the right creature, though the downside they always have is that the creature you put it on already has to be pretty impressive, otherwise it makes very little difference! That said, once you have a creature worth protecting, the Boots are a nightmare for your opponent! It doesn’t hurt that they can also give haste, something that can really change your attacks.
Tyrant of Kher Ridges image 5.0 Take away the enter the Battlefield ability, and the card is a B. Decent flying stats and firebreathing make it a formidable finisher. That ETB is an incredible one though. It will either kill a creature or finish off the opponent, and both are awesome options! This is a 2-for-1 that has a massive impact on the board right away, and then can easily close out games
Thopter Architect image 3.5 This is a pretty nice artifact payoff, as sending your best creature into the air can result in combat shifting much more in your favor! It even counts powerstones and the like, which is nice
Forging the Anchor image 1.5 It seems like most of the time this is just going to be a Divination – and one that you had to do some work with in order to actually draw two cards. Hitting three things with this will start to feel significantly better, and it is certainly a possibility in an artifact-heavy set, but the flip side of that is hitting 0-1 things. On average, this probably ends up worse than Divination, but it also has a higher ceiling.
Bushwhack image 3.5 This is quite nice! If this were two separate cards, you would end up playing either of them and they would be around a 2.5. Neither of them is incredible of course, but fixing your mana or using it as a one mana removal spell is good, even if the removal option does take you a bit of work, since you need a creature that is big enough to survive fighting – and you have to be careful about interaction. Still, giving me a card with an option between these two modes for only one mana is sweet.
Argothian Sprite image 2.5 This is better than it looks. There are lots of Artifact creatures in the set, including most of the format’s creature tokens, so this will be a nice attacker on many boards. Then, in the mid-to-late game you can buff it to make sure it stays relevant. As I’ve been saying, power stones make an ability like this easier to use than it looks! This looks like a quality two-drop for Green decks int he format
Stone Retrieval Unit image 2.5 The rate here isn’t amazing, but it is one card that adds two artifacts to the board, and ramps you. Seems solid to me
Gix's Caress image 1.5 Coercion is basically never good in Limited, and that’s what the first part of this card is. Paying three to trade one-for-one and not do anything on the board is a real problem, even if you do get to disrupt your opponent. This gives you a little thing back in the form of a powerstone, which certainly makes it better – but I still don’t like this.
Aeronaut Cavalry image 3.0 You often end up paying 5 mana for 4/5 worth of stats here, and ¾ of it has flying! That’s a pretty good deal, and the format has plenty of soldiers for this to do its thing, especially in Blue-White.
Retrieval Agent image 1.5 This has somewhat passable defensive stats and a nice creature type, but the ability is expensive and underwhelming – even with powerstones around.
Fog of War image 0.0 Fogs are unplayable in Limited. You spend a card to delay the inevitable in most cases.
Mishra's Domination image 1.5 This has some nice flexibility, as it can be a decent removal spell for an aggro deck or a way to buff a creature. It doesn’t do either thing well, though
Disfigure image 3.5 As usual, this is premium removal. It can kill a pretty wide spectrum of things for only one mana, giving you a great deal
Argothian Opportunist image 3.0 This seems like a bread-and-butter Common for Green decks. It has passable stats and gets you some power stone ramp going.
Moment of Defiance image 2.0 This is a bit expensive for a trick that only boosts toughness by 1, which means that oftentimes your creature will also die, but it definitely makes up for that by drawing you a card. In situations where you creature does survive, you get a 2-for-1, and in situations where it doesn’t, you break even while gaining some life. It also draws you a card, checking the box for the Blue-Black deck. That seems fine to me
Pack 2 Pick 2: Static Net
Jalum Tome image 0.5 // 2.0 This is a pretty clunky way to loot, but the Blue-Black deck in the format is probably interested in this, as it gives you a way to consistently trigger all of your payoffs for drawing a second card in a turn.
Recruitment Officer image 3.0 This has nice base stats that can allow it to do some significant damage early, and a mana sink ability that can do some pretty serious work in the late game. It is definitely the least useful in the middle part of the game, when it isn’t big enough to matter and you don’t really have the mana to spend on the ability.
Yotian Tactician image 3.5 As I’ve said, there are lots of soldiers in this set, with UW being the color pair that is the most interested in them. This is a nice lord that will buff much of your board when you’re in the color pair.
Static Net image 4.0 Paying one more mana for Oblivion Ring is already a pretty good deal, but you actually get a return on your investment in the form of life and a powerstone! That’s obviously amazing, and allows this easily to reach premium removal status.
Scatter Ray image 2.5 This looks like a very nice counterspell for the format, as creatures and artifacts are going to make up the bulk of spells in most decks. It isn’t a hard counter, but 4 mana is enough that it will be relevant all game long. One downside in this format: powerstones can be used to help pay for costs like this.
Perimeter Patrol image 2.5 A three mana 3/3 is solid, and this has some real upside that will let it attack a lot more effectively
Goblin Firebomb image 1.5 We’ve seen cards like this before, and they are always pretty mediocre. It isn’t efficient, even for destroying any permanent type. Now, the format does have an artifact theme, and if you can find ways to recur this, it can get interesting! You’ll run it if you’re really desperate for removal
Boulderbranch Golem image 3.5 A 4-mana 3/3 that gains you 3 life when it enters is a 2.5, and the upside here is going to be the kind of card that really allows you to stabilize, as a 6/5 that gains you 6 is going to make any opponent having a fast start very sad. This is one of Green’s best Commons
Whirling Strike image 1.5 This is a solid trick, as it will usually keep your creature alive, kill the opposing creature, and even do some trample damage! It gets better in a set with Prowess and other spell payoffs
Union of the Third Path image 1.0 Three mana to draw one card is abysmal. Adding life gain to the mix certainly improves things, although the fact this format doesn’t have a life gain deck makes that matter a lot less. I think you’ll cut this more than you play it, it just doesn’t seem impactful enough overall
Deadly Riposte image 2.5 This is a solid removal spell for non-aggressive decks, as removing something and gaining life goes a long way towards helping you stabilize. Meanwhile, it is pretty bad in a deck that wants to be aggressive, as you’d rather have removal that can deal with blockers, and this just doesn’t! It demands a tapped creature and the creature has to be small for this to do its job, so it certainly isn’t premium.
Tomakul Honor Guard image 2.0 This has solid stats, and cheap removal will cost extra to destroy it! The format does have a bunch of 1/1 tokens, though, and that always makes a 3/1 sad
Kill-Zone Acrobat image 2.0 There are plenty of expendable things to give up to give this flying when it needs it to get in for damage – whether you’re giving up powerstones or creatures with unearth
Phalanx Vanguard image 2.5 A two mana 2/2 with Vigilance is right around a 2.0, so the fact that the power on this thing will go up pretty often makes it a solid two drop.
Pack 2 Pick 3: Mishra's Bauble
Mishra's Bauble image 1.5 This is a free artifact that replaces itself, though it does take a whole turn to actually replace itself, so the UR deck won’t be quite as excited about this one
Slagstone Refinery image 1.0 Even in a set with a sacrifice theme going on, this doesn’t feel very good. 4 mana is a ton for something that won’t do much for at least a turn, and while the format does have a sacrifice deck, it just feels like you’re spending too much mana for minimal upside
Sarinth Steelseeker image 4.0 This looks really good. Format has a ton of artifacts, and this even counts power stones. The trigger also isn’t limited to once per turn, unlike lots of these effects! Basically, every time you put an artifact in play you either draw a card or Surveil 1, and that’s a trigger that will generate some pretty amazing value. This looks like quite the engine
Blitz Automaton image 3.0 A three mana 3/2 with Haste is right around a 2.5, so adding the more expensive upside of this being a 6/4 with Haste sometimes is nice. Yes, 7 mana for a 6/4 with Haste is an awful rate, but the modality of all of these prototype cards is great in Limited!
Gixian Infiltrator image 2.0 This is a solid, if unexciting sacrifice payoff that will work especially well in the Black/Red deck. It starts with decent stats and a few counters are enough to make it a threat
Survivor of Korlis image 2.5 Soldier is a creature type that matters here, and that’s nice. This is also a good place to put counters and the like thanks to First Strike! And getting a bit of value out of the graveyard is nice too. This seems like it might be one of those one mana 1/1s we’ve seen lately that does lots of little things and the whole package turns out to be a pretty nice card
Conscripted Infantry image 2.5 A three mana 3/1 is far from ideal, but this does leave behind a 1/1 when it dies, meaning it is good sacrifice fodder
Clay Revenant image 1.5 This kind of creature almost always seems to underperform, and I think this version is worse than most cheap creatures who make you pay mana to get them back from the graveyard. The idea here is that this is something you can sacrifice over and over again, or that you can get value out of if you discard or mill it, but it is just so clunky. You have to pay 4 mana every time to get it back in play, and that’s pretty dismal, even with powerstones. What’s more is, a one mana ½ isn’t that relevant for that long anyway
Air Marshal image 2.5 Three mana is kind of a lot for giving Flying only to creatures with a particular type, but the good news is that it is easier than normal to produce mana to pay for abilities in this set thanks to powerstones and there are lots of soldiers. It can also target itself.
Urza's Rebuff image 1.5 Adding a second mode to Cancel is definitely an upgrade, but Cancel is usually a D+. Three mana counter spells that cost two blue ask a little too much of you – that’s a lot of mana to leave up - but its nice you can use this to tap some stuff down too.
Argothian Opportunist image 3.0 This seems like a bread-and-butter Common for Green decks. It has passable stats and gets you some power stone ramp going.
Tomakul Honor Guard image 2.0 This has solid stats, and cheap removal will cost extra to destroy it! The format does have a bunch of 1/1 tokens, though, and that always makes a 3/1 sad
Wasteful Harvest image 1.5 This format does have a deck that really wants to mill cards, but I’m still not super into this. Three mana to get a single permanent back from the graveyard is pretty underwhelming, even with mill attached. I’d much rather impact the board and mill myself at the same time, and there are ways to do that in the format
Pack 2 Pick 4: Powerstone Fracture
Millstone image 1.0 Now we’ve got the original mill card, which is where the mechanic gets its name! And…it also isn’t great in Limited, though the fact that you actually can control who this hurts more makes it better than something like the Orb. This can actually win you some games if you’re a control deck, but most of the time you’d rather just have something that actually adds to the board.
No One Left Behind image 3.5 This is a really cool design for a reanimation spell. We see 5 mana reanimation spells all the time, and most of them are duds because the set up of having something worth reanimating in your graveyard is surprisingly challenging in formats without a dedicated reanimator-type deck. This makes up for that in a big way, since you can reanimate 3 mana things for only two mana. In other words, setting this up so it is actually worth using is way, way easier than most versions of this effect we have seen before, and it still has the same super powerful top end of being able to reanimate a massive bomb or something. Black decks look well-positioned to take advantage of this. I’m pretty high on this
Koilos Roc image 3.0 A 5-mana 3/3 with Flash and Flying is usually playable, as it not only allows you to leave mana up for other stuff, you can flash it in to ambush something – so I’m pretty happy that this also adds a powerstone to the mix. Because of Flash, you’ll also be able to use that powerstone most of the time when you untap.
Fallaji Chaindancer image 2.0 This is going to be tough to block on a lot of boards, as a 2/4 double strike can deal with a whole lot of creatures without going down itself. The threat of activation will let this get in for 2 a decent chunk of the time, and if you have other ways to augment it – it can get even sillier! Powerstones will make this ability easier to activate than you might think, too
Scrapwork Cohort image 2.5 A 4-mana 3/1 that makes a 1/1 token is a playable card, especially in a format where one card making multiple artifacts matters. So, the fact it can Unearth and leave behind some permanent value in the form of that 1/1 is some nice late game upside to have.
Coastal Bulwark image 2.0 Obviously, if you’re playing Blue, this is going to be a 3/3 – and a wall that can Surveil 1 is going to be a solid thing to have in more defensive decks.
Ambush Paratrooper image 2.5 This has passable Flying stats, and in the late game it can buff the whole board. Keep in mind, too, that activated abilities in this format are all going to be easier than normal to activate thanks to power stones.
Desynchronize image 2.0 5 mana is a lot, and while this does let you trade 1-for-1, since it doesn’t just bounce the permanent – it puts it on top or bottom of your opponent’s library – it also doesn’t do a great job of dealing with some really problematic permanents, which your opponent can just draw again.
Dredging Claw image 1.5 +1/+0 and Menace is a decent – but not great – boost for a two mana Equipment that costs two to equip. The cool thing here is that if you have Unearth creatures, it equips for free, drastically increasing the chance that creature can crack in for some damage. While Unearth is definitely prevalent in the format, I don’t really feel like it is so prevalent that I’ll regularly be running this in my Black decks
Tawnos's Tinkering image 1.0 I feel like actually generating a card of value with this is going to be a little bit challenging, and it is a pretty big investment for a card that won’t always be able to do enough
Powerstone Fracture image 2.5 In case you didn’t get it from the card’s name, the ideal thing to do here is going to be to sacrifice a powerstone. In that case, you aren’t using up a real card – and that’s good, because giving up a real card to cast this is pretty bad. It is basically a wore bone splinters, and it isn’t like bone splinters is an incredible card. I still think this falls below premium removal because of the set up needed to make it decent
Weakstone's Subjugation image 3.0 I really like this design, and think it actually makes for a really good Blue removal spell. Only paying one mana when the creature is tapped is perfectly reasonable, and sort of “kicking it” to tap the creature down for 4 mana is fine too. The creature can still do all kinds of stuff, unfortunately – like use abilities, be sacrificed, and so on – so it isn’t really premium.
Pack 2 Pick 5: Dwarven Forge-Chanter
Calamity's Wake image 0.0 This isn’t here for Limited. You don’t really want to use up a card to hate on the graveyard and stop noncreature spells for the turn most of the time. It is kind of reasonable as a sideboard card in situations where your opponent has lots of graveyard action I guess, but even then I’m not ultra impressed with such a narrow hate effect that doesn’t really give you a card back.
Mass Production image 2.5 Six mana is a bit more than I would want to pay for four tokens at Sorcery speed, but the fact that these tokens are Artifacts makes it significantly more impressive that it might look at first. It helps you go wide and triggers your artifact things.
Aeronaut's Wings image 2.0 +1/+0 and Flying is enough to make a creature a problem for your opponent, even if two to play and two to equip will feel a little clunky.
Wasteful Harvest image 1.5 This format does have a deck that really wants to mill cards, but I’m still not super into this. Three mana to get a single permanent back from the graveyard is pretty underwhelming, even with mill attached. I’d much rather impact the board and mill myself at the same time, and there are ways to do that in the format
Tower Worker image 2.0 Ramp is a real thing in this format, so this will certainly be seeing some play. Getting the other two Assembly-Workers in play at the same time is a fun goal, but don’t count on it
Lat-Nam Adept image 2.5 4-mana 3/3s have felt pretty awful lately, but this one can grow throughout the game as you draw more cards – and that’s one of the format’s main archetypes, so this will certainly have a home in the format.
Air Marshal image 2.5 Three mana is kind of a lot for giving Flying only to creatures with a particular type, but the good news is that it is easier than normal to produce mana to pay for abilities in this set thanks to powerstones and there are lots of soldiers. It can also target itself.
Mishra's Onslaught image 1.5 You are overpaying for both modes on this card – usually each of these effects costs three. You do get some modality here, but the token effect is generally underpowered while the mass pump effect is narrow, so I think this will get cut a fair bit
Dwarven Forge-Chanter image 3.0 Back in Khans of Tarkir there was a White two mana 1/3 with Prowess and it was a really nice common – so, adding Ward – Pay 2 life to that also makes for a pretty sweet common! A creature with Prowess is always really obnoxious to block or attack into, since you never know what your opponent might be able to do. The threat of activation is very real! This is a great two drop for Blue-Red decks, and lots of other Red decks will have enough non-creature spells to have a pretty good time with this
Penregon Strongbull image 3.0 This looks pretty sweet. There are plenty of artifacts to sacrifice, including the powerstones that can help pay for the ability, which effectively makes this say “Sacrifice a powerstone: It gets +1/+1 and deals 1 damage to an opponent.” The ability is just very affordable, and this creature attacking with a few artifacts in play is going to be a pretty sizable problem. Love that it also damages the opponent, giving it the capability of doing some very significant damage if it goes unblocked
Recommission image 1.5 If you can consistently get back a 3 mana creature with this, it is going to feel pretty dang good, as your creature will easily be worth more than 2 mana. The problem is that you have to set this up and have the right deck make up. And while those things are doable, there will certainly be times where this is stuck in your hand.
Pack 2 Pick 6: Raze to the Ground
Ornithopter image 1.0 This is another 0 mana artifact that doesn’t really give you a full card of value. You just don’t get enough out of playing a 0/2 Flyer to make it worth the card, and that matters a ton in Limited. This can basically come down and chump block something – and sometimes you can equip it or give it some counters, which makes things more interesting – but that’s a lot of work to make a terrible card passable
Urza, Powerstone Prodigy image 3.0 A three mana 1/3 with Vigilance that can loot is a card you’ll always play, so I love the upside you get when you discard artifacts. You won’t always want to do that of course, so I mostly see the ability as sort of softening the blow of having to discard a real card instead of a land – though you will go for the powerstone when you have something amazing to ramp into.
Involuntary Cooldown image 2.0 This makes the creatures you target with it tapped for three different attacks on your part, and that’s certainly pretty potent. The downside is that this doesn’t fully remove the cards, only temporarily getting them out of the way, and sometimes you’ll still have static and activated abilities to worry about. Still, with a Prowess deck in this format, this seems like a nice play in that type of deck.
Heavyweight Demolisher image 2.0 A 7-mana 8/6 with Menace is no joke..but it isn’t so good that I like the fact that it punishes you by making you pay three mana just to untap it. The Unearth upside is sweet of course, as your opponent has to account for it or end up dying in the late game, but the untap tax is enough for me to really feel like I won’t always be happy about playing this
Perimeter Patrol image 2.5 A three mana 3/3 is solid, and this has some real upside that will let it attack a lot more effectively
Raze to the Ground image 2.5 This format does have a ton of Artifacts, so this will usually have a target, many of which will be creatures. And its also nice that it can draw you a card when it hits a cheap artifact. In a pinch you could even go after your own powerstone! However…it is a little overcosted and clunky to be that good. Three mana to kill only one permanent type, even one that is relatively plentiful in the set, just isn’t a great rate. The uncounterable clause only matters a tiny bit here too. I mean, I don’t think this is bad at all – but I think some people will see this and think it is premium, but it just won’t be
Evolving Wilds image 3.0 We see this all the time, and its always a pretty nice land. It does an excellent job of fixing for you. If you’re splashing something, just a single Wilds and a basic land in that splash color is enough, and that’s pretty great! Its at pretty much the same level as the Rare dual lands we just saw.
Conscripted Infantry image 2.5 A three mana 3/1 is far from ideal, but this does leave behind a 1/1 when it dies, meaning it is good sacrifice fodder
Tocasia's Onulet image 2.0 A 5-mana 4/4 that gains you 2 life when it dies is probably a 1.5. This has a pretty reasonable Unearth cost too, though, and you get to gain 2 more life!
Curate image 2.5 This lets you see up to three cards and can let you put advantageous cards in the graveyard, and that’s pretty nice – especially in a format with a spell deck and a card draw deck!
Pack 2 Pick 7: Emergency Weld
Gruesome Realization image 2.5 Paying three mana to draw 2 and pay 2 life is a solid card in most Limited formats, so having the option of using this to sweep away some small creatures is a nice addition
Thran Power Suit image 1.5 On its own, this is a two mana to play and two to equip equipment that grants +1/+1 and Ward 2. The Ward 2 is a pretty nice thing to have, as it makes your investment in equipping it feel a little less painful.
Mishra's Onslaught image 1.5 You are overpaying for both modes on this card – usually each of these effects costs three. You do get some modality here, but the token effect is generally underpowered while the mass pump effect is narrow, so I think this will get cut a fair bit
Hoarding Recluse image 2.0 This can trade for anything, and while that’s not the most exciting at 4 mana, a 2/3 Reach can also block lots of small stuff in addition to making your opponent hesitant to attack with big stuff. The death ability here actually matters a bit too, as Green-Black decks will be milling themselves a significant chunk of the time, and sometimes you end up milling things you didn’t really want to mill, and this can help you get that card back
Retrieval Agent image 1.5 This has somewhat passable defensive stats and a nice creature type, but the ability is expensive and underwhelming – even with powerstones around.
Emergency Weld image 3.0 Gravedigger is always a nice card in Limited, this costs half as much for a creature half the size, and still returns something from your graveyard to your hand. Getting a 2-for-1 is harder with a 1/1, but a two mana 1/1 with this effect seems pretty nice
Tocasia's Dig Site image 1.5 This isn’t great for your mana, but having a repeatable source of Surveil is going to be worth it in some decks, because it can both laid your graveyard and improve your card quality. Three mana is a lot for sure, and that’s an ability you’ll only be using when you have nothing better to do – but hey, it will find you something to do eventually!
Depth Charge Colossus image 1.0 I don’t love this. Both modes are pretty inefficient for a creature you have to pay extra mana for to untap. Even with powerstones I don’t think I’m playing this.
Rust Goliath image 3.0 A 5-mana ⅗ with Reach and Trample isn’t great, neither is a 10-mana 10/10 with Reach and Trample. However, the fact you can cast this as an okayish creature for five or cast it in the late game as a big monster is pretty nice, and I feel like powerstone decks will love this card, since it can become a pretty real win condition for them
Pack 2 Pick 8: Bitter Reunion
Levitating Statue image 2.5 We’ve seen some spell payoffs like this in the past, and they have always been kind of underwhelming. This is because for much of the game, casting this seems like it didn’t accomplish much. After all, it is just a hunk of metal on the battlefield until you pay mana to animate it, and that’s a pretty big bummer, even in a world of powerstones. Then you jump through hoops to make it grow too. It is nice that it can sort of sit around and accumulate counters before starting to threaten your opponent, and there are certainly games where things will work out that way, but I think there will enough situations where it really lets you down
Perimeter Patrol image 2.5 A three mana 3/3 is solid, and this has some real upside that will let it attack a lot more effectively
Scatter Ray image 2.5 This looks like a very nice counterspell for the format, as creatures and artifacts are going to make up the bulk of spells in most decks. It isn’t a hard counter, but 4 mana is enough that it will be relevant all game long. One downside in this format: powerstones can be used to help pay for costs like this.
Argothian Sprite image 2.5 This is better than it looks. There are lots of Artifact creatures in the set, including most of the format’s creature tokens, so this will be a nice attacker on many boards. Then, in the mid-to-late game you can buff it to make sure it stays relevant. As I’ve been saying, power stones make an ability like this easier to use than it looks! This looks like a quality two-drop for Green decks int he format
Dwarven Forge-Chanter image 3.0 Back in Khans of Tarkir there was a White two mana 1/3 with Prowess and it was a really nice common – so, adding Ward – Pay 2 life to that also makes for a pretty sweet common! A creature with Prowess is always really obnoxious to block or attack into, since you never know what your opponent might be able to do. The threat of activation is very real! This is a great two drop for Blue-Red decks, and lots of other Red decks will have enough non-creature spells to have a pretty good time with this
Dredging Claw image 1.5 +1/+0 and Menace is a decent – but not great – boost for a two mana Equipment that costs two to equip. The cool thing here is that if you have Unearth creatures, it equips for free, drastically increasing the chance that creature can crack in for some damage. While Unearth is definitely prevalent in the format, I don’t really feel like it is so prevalent that I’ll regularly be running this in my Black decks
Tocasia's Dig Site image 1.5 This isn’t great for your mana, but having a repeatable source of Surveil is going to be worth it in some decks, because it can both laid your graveyard and improve your card quality. Three mana is a lot for sure, and that’s an ability you’ll only be using when you have nothing better to do – but hey, it will find you something to do eventually!
Bitter Reunion image 1.5 This is a neat take on a Tormented Voice-type effect. While the UR deck in this format cares about spells, it actually cares about all non-creature spells, so this will still trigger them like Tormented Voice would. The ability to give haste to your whole board will come up sometimes too. I think you probably cut this most of the time in any deck that doesn’t care about spells, and even in the spell deck it probably isn’t the card you’re happily shoving in your deck
Pack 2 Pick 9: Aeronaut Cavalry
Forging the Anchor image 1.5 It seems like most of the time this is just going to be a Divination – and one that you had to do some work with in order to actually draw two cards. Hitting three things with this will start to feel significantly better, and it is certainly a possibility in an artifact-heavy set, but the flip side of that is hitting 0-1 things. On average, this probably ends up worse than Divination, but it also has a higher ceiling.
Argothian Sprite image 2.5 This is better than it looks. There are lots of Artifact creatures in the set, including most of the format’s creature tokens, so this will be a nice attacker on many boards. Then, in the mid-to-late game you can buff it to make sure it stays relevant. As I’ve been saying, power stones make an ability like this easier to use than it looks! This looks like a quality two-drop for Green decks int he format
Stone Retrieval Unit image 2.5 The rate here isn’t amazing, but it is one card that adds two artifacts to the board, and ramps you. Seems solid to me
Gix's Caress image 1.5 Coercion is basically never good in Limited, and that’s what the first part of this card is. Paying three to trade one-for-one and not do anything on the board is a real problem, even if you do get to disrupt your opponent. This gives you a little thing back in the form of a powerstone, which certainly makes it better – but I still don’t like this.
Aeronaut Cavalry image 3.0 You often end up paying 5 mana for 4/5 worth of stats here, and ¾ of it has flying! That’s a pretty good deal, and the format has plenty of soldiers for this to do its thing, especially in Blue-White.
Fog of War image 0.0 Fogs are unplayable in Limited. You spend a card to delay the inevitable in most cases.
Mishra's Domination image 1.5 This has some nice flexibility, as it can be a decent removal spell for an aggro deck or a way to buff a creature. It doesn’t do either thing well, though
Pack 2 Pick 10: Union of the Third Path
Jalum Tome image 0.5 // 2.0 This is a pretty clunky way to loot, but the Blue-Black deck in the format is probably interested in this, as it gives you a way to consistently trigger all of your payoffs for drawing a second card in a turn.
Yotian Tactician image 3.5 As I’ve said, there are lots of soldiers in this set, with UW being the color pair that is the most interested in them. This is a nice lord that will buff much of your board when you’re in the color pair.
Perimeter Patrol image 2.5 A three mana 3/3 is solid, and this has some real upside that will let it attack a lot more effectively
Goblin Firebomb image 1.5 We’ve seen cards like this before, and they are always pretty mediocre. It isn’t efficient, even for destroying any permanent type. Now, the format does have an artifact theme, and if you can find ways to recur this, it can get interesting! You’ll run it if you’re really desperate for removal
Whirling Strike image 1.5 This is a solid trick, as it will usually keep your creature alive, kill the opposing creature, and even do some trample damage! It gets better in a set with Prowess and other spell payoffs
Union of the Third Path image 1.0 Three mana to draw one card is abysmal. Adding life gain to the mix certainly improves things, although the fact this format doesn’t have a life gain deck makes that matter a lot less. I think you’ll cut this more than you play it, it just doesn’t seem impactful enough overall
Pack 2 Pick 11: Conscripted Infantry
Slagstone Refinery image 1.0 Even in a set with a sacrifice theme going on, this doesn’t feel very good. 4 mana is a ton for something that won’t do much for at least a turn, and while the format does have a sacrifice deck, it just feels like you’re spending too much mana for minimal upside
Gixian Infiltrator image 2.0 This is a solid, if unexciting sacrifice payoff that will work especially well in the Black/Red deck. It starts with decent stats and a few counters are enough to make it a threat
Conscripted Infantry image 2.5 A three mana 3/1 is far from ideal, but this does leave behind a 1/1 when it dies, meaning it is good sacrifice fodder
Clay Revenant image 1.5 This kind of creature almost always seems to underperform, and I think this version is worse than most cheap creatures who make you pay mana to get them back from the graveyard. The idea here is that this is something you can sacrifice over and over again, or that you can get value out of if you discard or mill it, but it is just so clunky. You have to pay 4 mana every time to get it back in play, and that’s pretty dismal, even with powerstones. What’s more is, a one mana ½ isn’t that relevant for that long anyway
Urza's Rebuff image 1.5 Adding a second mode to Cancel is definitely an upgrade, but Cancel is usually a D+. Three mana counter spells that cost two blue ask a little too much of you – that’s a lot of mana to leave up - but its nice you can use this to tap some stuff down too.
Pack 2 Pick 12: Fallaji Chaindancer
Koilos Roc image 3.0 A 5-mana 3/3 with Flash and Flying is usually playable, as it not only allows you to leave mana up for other stuff, you can flash it in to ambush something – so I’m pretty happy that this also adds a powerstone to the mix. Because of Flash, you’ll also be able to use that powerstone most of the time when you untap.
Fallaji Chaindancer image 2.0 This is going to be tough to block on a lot of boards, as a 2/4 double strike can deal with a whole lot of creatures without going down itself. The threat of activation will let this get in for 2 a decent chunk of the time, and if you have other ways to augment it – it can get even sillier! Powerstones will make this ability easier to activate than you might think, too
Dredging Claw image 1.5 +1/+0 and Menace is a decent – but not great – boost for a two mana Equipment that costs two to equip. The cool thing here is that if you have Unearth creatures, it equips for free, drastically increasing the chance that creature can crack in for some damage. While Unearth is definitely prevalent in the format, I don’t really feel like it is so prevalent that I’ll regularly be running this in my Black decks
Tawnos's Tinkering image 1.0 I feel like actually generating a card of value with this is going to be a little bit challenging, and it is a pretty big investment for a card that won’t always be able to do enough
Pack 2 Pick 13: Penregon Strongbull
Calamity's Wake image 0.0 This isn’t here for Limited. You don’t really want to use up a card to hate on the graveyard and stop noncreature spells for the turn most of the time. It is kind of reasonable as a sideboard card in situations where your opponent has lots of graveyard action I guess, but even then I’m not ultra impressed with such a narrow hate effect that doesn’t really give you a card back.
Mishra's Onslaught image 1.5 You are overpaying for both modes on this card – usually each of these effects costs three. You do get some modality here, but the token effect is generally underpowered while the mass pump effect is narrow, so I think this will get cut a fair bit
Penregon Strongbull image 3.0 This looks pretty sweet. There are plenty of artifacts to sacrifice, including the powerstones that can help pay for the ability, which effectively makes this say “Sacrifice a powerstone: It gets +1/+1 and deals 1 damage to an opponent.” The ability is just very affordable, and this creature attacking with a few artifacts in play is going to be a pretty sizable problem. Love that it also damages the opponent, giving it the capability of doing some very significant damage if it goes unblocked
Pack 2 Pick 14: Conscripted Infantry
Perimeter Patrol image 2.5 A three mana 3/3 is solid, and this has some real upside that will let it attack a lot more effectively
Conscripted Infantry image 2.5 A three mana 3/1 is far from ideal, but this does leave behind a 1/1 when it dies, meaning it is good sacrifice fodder
Pack 2 Pick 15: Mishra's Onslaught
Mishra's Onslaught image 1.5 You are overpaying for both modes on this card – usually each of these effects costs three. You do get some modality here, but the token effect is generally underpowered while the mass pump effect is narrow, so I think this will get cut a fair bit
Pack 3 Pick 1: Kayla's Command
Soul-Guide Lantern image 2.0 This is another artifact that replaces itself, making it useful in the format. It also hates on the graveyard – something else of value in a format with Unearth and a couple of graveyard decks. You can main deck this pretty happily
Kayla's Command image 4.5 When you break down the various things you get when you pay three mana for this, you feel pretty good! I think you will amost always want to make the 2/2 and then choose another option. A three mana 2/2 that draws me a Plains? Yep, that’s good. A three mana 2/2 that puts a counter on something and gives it double strike until end of turn? Yep, that’s good. A three mana 2/2 that gains you 2 and scries 2? That’s good too! This is just a great turn on your mana investment. Nothing it does is gamebreaking of course, but you will often feel like you’re getting 2 cards worth of value when you cast this.
Evangel of Synthesis image 3.5 A two mana ⅔ that loots on ETB is a nice card. It is also nice that this is both an enabler and a payoff for the draw extra cards deck, though it is a little sad that it will technically trigger the turn you play it, it just won’t matter
Repair and Recharge image 1.0 5 mana to reanimate something is usually a pretty disappointing card in most Limited formats, and this can’t even get back creatures if they aren’t Artifacts. While it is nice it can get both Enchantments and Artifacts, leaving creatures out is a pretty big problem, as it makes the card even more limited. If you have a lot of artifact creatures, it definitely gets better – and it can be kind of fun to use it reanimate a creature with Prototype, since they will come into play in their biggest form – and milling something like Su-Chi and reanimating with this on turn five seems pretty cool, but unfortunately I think those things will be far too challenging.
Loran, Disciple of History image 3.0 This will usually be a 4-mana 3/3 that gets an artifact back from the graveyard, and that’s pretty good! White is unusually good at loading the graveyard, especially if you’re going with the Black-White deck, and the format has lots of artifacts, so it seems very doable. There aren’t a lot of legendary creatures in the set, so triggering it more than once isn’t going to happen very often.
Airlift Chaplain image 3.0 Chances are decent you’ll hit something you can get back with the mill trigger, and if you don’t or choose not to get something back, you get a three mana 2/2 with Flying that loaded your graveyard some, which is pretty nice.
Air Marshal image 2.5 Three mana is kind of a lot for giving Flying only to creatures with a particular type, but the good news is that it is easier than normal to produce mana to pay for abilities in this set thanks to powerstones and there are lots of soldiers. It can also target itself.
Combat Courier image 2.0 It is nice that you can cash this in for a card – twice, thanks to Unearth – and that does give you a 2-for-1, albeit an expensive one. But if you can get some extra value out of this being around, it is definitely worth it.
Dwarven Forge-Chanter image 3.0 Back in Khans of Tarkir there was a White two mana 1/3 with Prowess and it was a really nice common – so, adding Ward – Pay 2 life to that also makes for a pretty sweet common! A creature with Prowess is always really obnoxious to block or attack into, since you never know what your opponent might be able to do. The threat of activation is very real! This is a great two drop for Blue-Red decks, and lots of other Red decks will have enough non-creature spells to have a pretty good time with this
Scrapwork Rager image 3.0 This is a fun reference to Phyrexian Rager. When you cast it, it is a little bit worse, since you pay one more mana for the same effect – but the Unearth side of things means this bad boy gives you a 2-for-1, and that’s pretty nice.
Tower Worker image 2.0 Ramp is a real thing in this format, so this will certainly be seeing some play. Getting the other two Assembly-Workers in play at the same time is a fun goal, but don’t count on it
Ravenous Gigamole image 2.5 This loads your graveyard, and will frequently also get you something back – when it doesn’t, it is a 4-mana ¾ -- which isn’t great, but because you’re interested in graveyard stuff, putting those cards in the graveyard definitely matters.
Goblin Blast-Runner image 2.0 This seems like a pretty nice sacrifice payoff at Common. A 3/2 with Menace can swing effectively for a long time, and sometimes it will be bigger! At the same time, it will also be a ½ a decent chunk of the time, and that’s not so good
Tawnos's Tinkering image 1.0 I feel like actually generating a card of value with this is going to be a little bit challenging, and it is a pretty big investment for a card that won’t always be able to do enough
Power Plant Worker image 2.0 This is a fun cycle, since they all reference the original Urza lands. I think the card seems pretty decent too. The stats aren’t great, but +2/+2 for three mana isn’t the worst rate in a set with power stones everywhere. I wouldn’t count on getting all three of these in play, but you might achieve it on occasion.
Pack 3 Pick 2: Unleash Shell
Elsewhere Flask image 1.5 This replaces itself, and that is enough in this format for it to be decent enough, since the UR deck likes casting nocnreature spells and several decks like artifacts. It can also fix your mana a bit, but that’s a small part of what this card does.
Diabolic Intent image 0.5 Tutors don’t tend to perform very well in Limited, and I don’t think there’s an exception here – even at two mana. This is mostly because you have 2-for-1 yourself to make it do its thing, and while some decks in Limited have powerful enough cards to make that worth doing, you won’t usually have such a card. If you can find a way to sacrifice something worth less than a card – like a creature token, it gets more interesting – but still not good
Arbalest Engineers image 3.5 You’ll probably choose to make this a three mana 3/3 with Trample and Haste most of the time, but having the option of picking off a small creature or ramping your mana is great. Any of those cards individually would be pretty good, so having the option between all three is great.
Demolition Field image 0.0 This card is basically Field of Ruin, and that’s a card that just isn’t worth running in Limited. Sure, it can sort of fix your mana, but this format won’t have so many basic lands that you can count on that consistently, and your opponent gets some help too! It isn’t good for your mana base and it has an ability that isn’t good in Limited.
Yotian Frontliner image 2.0 This will be pretty sweet to play on turn one, because it is likely to get in and buff other creatures in the process. However, even with Unearth, it has diminishing turns as the game goes on, because it just won’t survive attacking on very many boards. Basically, you end up paying a couple of mana to buff a creature twice, and I’m not super impressed by that. It is both an artifact and a soldier, which this format cares about, and that helps some.
Powerstone Fracture image 2.5 In case you didn’t get it from the card’s name, the ideal thing to do here is going to be to sacrifice a powerstone. In that case, you aren’t using up a real card – and that’s good, because giving up a real card to cast this is pretty bad. It is basically a wore bone splinters, and it isn’t like bone splinters is an incredible card. I still think this falls below premium removal because of the set up needed to make it decent
Desynchronize image 2.0 5 mana is a lot, and while this does let you trade 1-for-1, since it doesn’t just bounce the permanent – it puts it on top or bottom of your opponent’s library – it also doesn’t do a great job of dealing with some really problematic permanents, which your opponent can just draw again.
Scrapwork Rager image 3.0 This is a fun reference to Phyrexian Rager. When you cast it, it is a little bit worse, since you pay one more mana for the same effect – but the Unearth side of things means this bad boy gives you a 2-for-1, and that’s pretty nice.
Goring Warplow image 2.5 Two mana for a 1/1 death touch is okay – that card is probably a 1.5. Having the option between the two makes this a 2.5
Unleash Shell image 3.0 5 mana is a lot, but at least its an Instant! It can deal with most creatures in the format too, and Shocking your opponent in the face when you use it is definitely some decent additional upside. The problem with paying 5 for this effect is you’’ll often have to use it on a creature that costs less, and you’re losing some serious tempo when you do that – and sometimes you just can’t get the mana to deal with a cheap creature and that’s a problem too. You don’t really want more than one of these most of the time, because they are so expensive, but I do think the first copy should be valued reasonably highly
Energy Refractor image 1.5 It is a good thing this replaces itself, because it is pretty bad at filtering mana! Two mana for one mana of any color just isn’t a very good rate, though it can do it multiple times a turn because it doesn’t tap. The format does care about artifacts and noncreature spells, and one that replaces itself has some inhererent value, with the filtering part just some minor upside. It does let you make your powerstones produce colored mana, but still not efficient at all.
Scrapwork Cohort image 2.5 A 4-mana 3/1 that makes a 1/1 token is a playable card, especially in a format where one card making multiple artifacts matters. So, the fact it can Unearth and leave behind some permanent value in the form of that 1/1 is some nice late game upside to have.
Curate image 2.5 This lets you see up to three cards and can let you put advantageous cards in the graveyard, and that’s pretty nice – especially in a format with a spell deck and a card draw deck!
Perimeter Patrol image 2.5 A three mana 3/3 is solid, and this has some real upside that will let it attack a lot more effectively
Pack 3 Pick 3: Tocasia's Onulet
Springleaf Drum image 1.0 It is surprisingly hard to set up this kind of mana ramp in Limited. This can get your mana going incredibly fast provided you have some early creatures, but that’s far from guaranteed, and then by the mid-to-late game it has waning usefulness
The Stone Brain image 0.0 As usual, this kind of card is unplayable in Limited. You generally don’t have the necessary knowledge of your opponent’s deck to take full advantage of a card like this, and even when you do it still isn’t very good most of the time, especially because this version lets your opponent draw a card if you hit a card in their hand! Even if you do hit a card in your opponent’s deck, you are basically going to feel like you have mulliganed, since hitting one card in your opponent’s deck just doesn’t do enough in Limited. Basically, you go down a card for no real effect on the game, and you never want that in Limited. This is a card that makes sense in constructed, where it can rip apart a combo deck – but that’s just not a thing here
The Fall of Kroog image 0.5 As usual, land destruction tends to be pretty bad in Limited. There aren’t enough powerful nonbasics around, so you find yourself just destroying regular lands, and doing that for six mana isn’t really where you want to be. Land destruction at that stage often has a minimal impact on the game. And sure, this adds a bolt to the face and can kill some X/1s, but I still don’t feel like its enough to play this thing
Take Flight image 3.5 This is quite the Aura! +1/+0 and Flying is going to make a lot of creatures problematic, and because you get to draw a card when your creature attacks, it helps get around the dangerous 2-for-1 downside that is inherent with an Aura. If the creature you put this on is allowed to continue unchecked, you’re just going to win.
Meticulous Excavation image 0.0 I don’t think this is very good. It does give you ways to rebuy ETB abilities and the like, but it asks for a ton of mana that you’re only going to have available in the extreme late game. And yes, with powerstones around this will be easier to use, but I don’t think that makes enough of a difference. The whole Unearth part of the card is kind of silly too, because to take advantage of it, you’re going to need to pay to Unearth a creature and then pay three more to return it to your hand so you get to keep it around. That’s just not a reasonable expectation.
Tocasia's Onulet image 2.0 A 5-mana 4/4 that gains you 2 life when it dies is probably a 1.5. This has a pretty reasonable Unearth cost too, though, and you get to gain 2 more life!
Energy Refractor image 1.5 It is a good thing this replaces itself, because it is pretty bad at filtering mana! Two mana for one mana of any color just isn’t a very good rate, though it can do it multiple times a turn because it doesn’t tap. The format does care about artifacts and noncreature spells, and one that replaces itself has some inhererent value, with the filtering part just some minor upside. It does let you make your powerstones produce colored mana, but still not efficient at all.
Mine Worker image 1.5 If this format had a life gain deck, it would be way better. As is, it is fairly mediocre, as it has poor stats and an ability that doesn’t really do enough. Obviously if you can get the Tron going here you’re going to be happier, but even with all three at Common, I wouldn’t count on that
Retrieval Agent image 1.5 This has somewhat passable defensive stats and a nice creature type, but the ability is expensive and underwhelming – even with powerstones around.
Raze to the Ground image 2.5 This format does have a ton of Artifacts, so this will usually have a target, many of which will be creatures. And its also nice that it can draw you a card when it hits a cheap artifact. In a pinch you could even go after your own powerstone! However…it is a little overcosted and clunky to be that good. Three mana to kill only one permanent type, even one that is relatively plentiful in the set, just isn’t a great rate. The uncounterable clause only matters a tiny bit here too. I mean, I don’t think this is bad at all – but I think some people will see this and think it is premium, but it just won’t be
Argothian Opportunist image 3.0 This seems like a bread-and-butter Common for Green decks. It has passable stats and gets you some power stone ramp going.
Coastal Bulwark image 2.0 Obviously, if you’re playing Blue, this is going to be a 3/3 – and a wall that can Surveil 1 is going to be a solid thing to have in more defensive decks.
Scrapwork Rager image 3.0 This is a fun reference to Phyrexian Rager. When you cast it, it is a little bit worse, since you pay one more mana for the same effect – but the Unearth side of things means this bad boy gives you a 2-for-1, and that’s pretty nice.
Pack 3 Pick 4: Levitating Statue
Swiftfoot Boots image 3.0 The Boots are pretty nice on the right creature, though the downside they always have is that the creature you put it on already has to be pretty impressive, otherwise it makes very little difference! That said, once you have a creature worth protecting, the Boots are a nightmare for your opponent! It doesn’t hurt that they can also give haste, something that can really change your attacks.
Levitating Statue image 2.5 We’ve seen some spell payoffs like this in the past, and they have always been kind of underwhelming. This is because for much of the game, casting this seems like it didn’t accomplish much. After all, it is just a hunk of metal on the battlefield until you pay mana to animate it, and that’s a pretty big bummer, even in a world of powerstones. Then you jump through hoops to make it grow too. It is nice that it can sort of sit around and accumulate counters before starting to threaten your opponent, and there are certainly games where things will work out that way, but I think there will enough situations where it really lets you down
Pyrrhic Blast image 2.5 We see these sacrifice effects a lot and they are usually kind of a pain to use, since you 2-for-1 yourself! But this gets around that by replacing itself with a draw a card effect. You can also hit any player with it, so it can finish someone off which is cool. Now, it still does require some set up that is surprisingly awkward sometimes – like you need a creature with high enough power or some sacrifice synergy or this can fall pretty flat. It is an Instant, so you can use it in response to removal and stuff which helps
Sarinth Steelseeker image 4.0 This looks really good. Format has a ton of artifacts, and this even counts power stones. The trigger also isn’t limited to once per turn, unlike lots of these effects! Basically, every time you put an artifact in play you either draw a card or Surveil 1, and that’s a trigger that will generate some pretty amazing value. This looks like quite the engine
Argothian Sprite image 2.5 This is better than it looks. There are lots of Artifact creatures in the set, including most of the format’s creature tokens, so this will be a nice attacker on many boards. Then, in the mid-to-late game you can buff it to make sure it stays relevant. As I’ve been saying, power stones make an ability like this easier to use than it looks! This looks like a quality two-drop for Green decks int he format
Dwarven Forge-Chanter image 3.0 Back in Khans of Tarkir there was a White two mana 1/3 with Prowess and it was a really nice common – so, adding Ward – Pay 2 life to that also makes for a pretty sweet common! A creature with Prowess is always really obnoxious to block or attack into, since you never know what your opponent might be able to do. The threat of activation is very real! This is a great two drop for Blue-Red decks, and lots of other Red decks will have enough non-creature spells to have a pretty good time with this
Scrapwork Cohort image 2.5 A 4-mana 3/1 that makes a 1/1 token is a playable card, especially in a format where one card making multiple artifacts matters. So, the fact it can Unearth and leave behind some permanent value in the form of that 1/1 is some nice late game upside to have.
Depth Charge Colossus image 1.0 I don’t love this. Both modes are pretty inefficient for a creature you have to pay extra mana for to untap. Even with powerstones I don’t think I’m playing this.
Machine Over Matter image 2.0 This seems pretty solid, as it will often only cost a single Blue mana, and the fact it can hit any nonland permanent makes it nicely flexible. Even if you pay 2 for this, we’ve seen that card be fine in the past. The downside about bounce, of course, is you use up a card and generally you don’t deal with one of your opponent’s – you just make them cast it again. But, if you can time this right, you can sometimes get a 1-for-1 in addition to the tempo – like if you use it in response to a trick or something.
Stone Retrieval Unit image 2.5 The rate here isn’t amazing, but it is one card that adds two artifacts to the board, and ramps you. Seems solid to me
Mine Worker image 1.5 If this format had a life gain deck, it would be way better. As is, it is fairly mediocre, as it has poor stats and an ability that doesn’t really do enough. Obviously if you can get the Tron going here you’re going to be happier, but even with all three at Common, I wouldn’t count on that
Kill-Zone Acrobat image 2.0 There are plenty of expendable things to give up to give this flying when it needs it to get in for damage – whether you’re giving up powerstones or creatures with unearth
Pack 3 Pick 5: Tocasia's Onulet
Mask of the Jadecrafter image 2.0 This is a pretty nice thing to spend powerstone mana on. It will basically never be that efficient, whether you’re using it the first time or after unearthing it, but it does give you 2 bodies in the end, and that always plays well
Gaea's Courser image 3.5 This is a great payoff for loading the graveyard. In Black/Green decks especially, it will generate some 2-for-1s or better.
The Fall of Kroog image 0.5 As usual, land destruction tends to be pretty bad in Limited. There aren’t enough powerful nonbasics around, so you find yourself just destroying regular lands, and doing that for six mana isn’t really where you want to be. Land destruction at that stage often has a minimal impact on the game. And sure, this adds a bolt to the face and can kill some X/1s, but I still don’t feel like its enough to play this thing
Gixian Infiltrator image 2.0 This is a solid, if unexciting sacrifice payoff that will work especially well in the Black/Red deck. It starts with decent stats and a few counters are enough to make it a threat
Tocasia's Onulet image 2.0 A 5-mana 4/4 that gains you 2 life when it dies is probably a 1.5. This has a pretty reasonable Unearth cost too, though, and you get to gain 2 more life!
Scatter Ray image 2.5 This looks like a very nice counterspell for the format, as creatures and artifacts are going to make up the bulk of spells in most decks. It isn’t a hard counter, but 4 mana is enough that it will be relevant all game long. One downside in this format: powerstones can be used to help pay for costs like this.
Power Plant Worker image 2.0 This is a fun cycle, since they all reference the original Urza lands. I think the card seems pretty decent too. The stats aren’t great, but +2/+2 for three mana isn’t the worst rate in a set with power stones everywhere. I wouldn’t count on getting all three of these in play, but you might achieve it on occasion.
Lat-Nam Adept image 2.5 4-mana 3/3s have felt pretty awful lately, but this one can grow throughout the game as you draw more cards – and that’s one of the format’s main archetypes, so this will certainly have a home in the format.
Powerstone Fracture image 2.5 In case you didn’t get it from the card’s name, the ideal thing to do here is going to be to sacrifice a powerstone. In that case, you aren’t using up a real card – and that’s good, because giving up a real card to cast this is pretty bad. It is basically a wore bone splinters, and it isn’t like bone splinters is an incredible card. I still think this falls below premium removal because of the set up needed to make it decent
Tawnos's Tinkering image 1.0 I feel like actually generating a card of value with this is going to be a little bit challenging, and it is a pretty big investment for a card that won’t always be able to do enough
Bitter Reunion image 1.5 This is a neat take on a Tormented Voice-type effect. While the UR deck in this format cares about spells, it actually cares about all non-creature spells, so this will still trigger them like Tormented Voice would. The ability to give haste to your whole board will come up sometimes too. I think you probably cut this most of the time in any deck that doesn’t care about spells, and even in the spell deck it probably isn’t the card you’re happily shoving in your deck
Pack 3 Pick 6: Survivor of Korlis
Disciples of Gix image 2.0 The idea here is that you can search up stuff that you can get value out of while it is in the graveyard, and there are certainly Artifacts with Unearth in this set – but the fact it doesn’t let you search up creatures more broadly is a little frustrating, especially because the Black-Green deck in the format demands creatures be in the graveyard in particular. Still, lots of Artifacts in the set are creatures, so it will be able to help out that kind of deck a decent chunk of the time. The stats are bad, but I feel like this ETB will feel like you’re drawing a card
Survivor of Korlis image 2.5 Soldier is a creature type that matters here, and that’s nice. This is also a good place to put counters and the like thanks to First Strike! And getting a bit of value out of the graveyard is nice too. This seems like it might be one of those one mana 1/1s we’ve seen lately that does lots of little things and the whole package turns out to be a pretty nice card
Gixian Infiltrator image 2.0 This is a solid, if unexciting sacrifice payoff that will work especially well in the Black/Red deck. It starts with decent stats and a few counters are enough to make it a threat
Military Discipline image 1.5 The turn you cast this, it will definitely help your creature win combat, and then you get a permanent +1/+0 effect to stick around. This will definitely generate some serious tempo sometimes, allowing your creature to survive against something that costs a lot more mana! It does have the inherent risks auras have, and you have to be careful about playing this, but I think this seems solid.
Union of the Third Path image 1.0 Three mana to draw one card is abysmal. Adding life gain to the mix certainly improves things, although the fact this format doesn’t have a life gain deck makes that matter a lot less. I think you’ll cut this more than you play it, it just doesn’t seem impactful enough overall
Goblin Blast-Runner image 2.0 This seems like a pretty nice sacrifice payoff at Common. A 3/2 with Menace can swing effectively for a long time, and sometimes it will be bigger! At the same time, it will also be a ½ a decent chunk of the time, and that’s not so good
Dwarven Forge-Chanter image 3.0 Back in Khans of Tarkir there was a White two mana 1/3 with Prowess and it was a really nice common – so, adding Ward – Pay 2 life to that also makes for a pretty sweet common! A creature with Prowess is always really obnoxious to block or attack into, since you never know what your opponent might be able to do. The threat of activation is very real! This is a great two drop for Blue-Red decks, and lots of other Red decks will have enough non-creature spells to have a pretty good time with this
Tocasia's Onulet image 2.0 A 5-mana 4/4 that gains you 2 life when it dies is probably a 1.5. This has a pretty reasonable Unearth cost too, though, and you get to gain 2 more life!
Perimeter Patrol image 2.5 A three mana 3/3 is solid, and this has some real upside that will let it attack a lot more effectively
Fallaji Archaeologist image 2.5 This is a cool design. It will either be a two mana ¼ – which is passable – or a two mana 0/3 that gets you something from the graveyard. Now, keep in mind you only get the card back if it is among those that are milled – and this only hits noncreature nonlands, so you may wiff sometimes. But if you’re a spell heavy deck in the format – which generally means UR – it seems like this will do what you want it to do most of the time, and at least you get a consolation prize if you do wiff.
Pack 3 Pick 7: Mishra's Research Desk
Mishra's Research Desk image 1.5 This is kind of cool, as it gives you an artifact that can draw you two cards – which yeah, that’s a 2-for-1. Problem is, when you Unearth it and sacrifice it you have to pay three mana upfront, which reduces the number of things you can actually play with the card, but at least you can play lands off of it! Sometimes you’ll also be able to treat it as sacrifice fodder, which seems fine
Blanchwood Armor image 0.0 // 2.5 This is a reprint, and it is not especially good in Limited. It can offer a huge boost, especially if you’re heavy Green, but it doesn’t do enough to mitigate against the downside of getting 2-for-1’d. There are some good targets for it in the format for sure, but having one of those targets in play is additional set up in addition to needing a bunch of Forests!
Supply Drop image 2.0 This is a pretty interesting design! Three mana for +2/+2 isn’t a great rate for a trick, but you can cash it in for a card later, giving it some real 2-for-1 potential in a format that has a fair bit of Artifact synergy too.
Giant Growth image 2.0 Giant Growth is back! As always, it is a very nice trick. One mana for this stats boost lets your creature win a whole lot of combats, and you can do it for a very, very low investment, giving you a nice advantage
Dwarven Forge-Chanter image 3.0 Back in Khans of Tarkir there was a White two mana 1/3 with Prowess and it was a really nice common – so, adding Ward – Pay 2 life to that also makes for a pretty sweet common! A creature with Prowess is always really obnoxious to block or attack into, since you never know what your opponent might be able to do. The threat of activation is very real! This is a great two drop for Blue-Red decks, and lots of other Red decks will have enough non-creature spells to have a pretty good time with this
Recommission image 1.5 If you can consistently get back a 3 mana creature with this, it is going to feel pretty dang good, as your creature will easily be worth more than 2 mana. The problem is that you have to set this up and have the right deck make up. And while those things are doable, there will certainly be times where this is stuck in your hand.
Disfigure image 3.5 As usual, this is premium removal. It can kill a pretty wide spectrum of things for only one mana, giving you a great deal
Burrowing Razormaw image 2.0 This has some reasonable stats and does a good job of loading your graveyard
Tower Worker image 2.0 Ramp is a real thing in this format, so this will certainly be seeing some play. Getting the other two Assembly-Workers in play at the same time is a fun goal, but don’t count on it
Pack 3 Pick 8: Excavation Explosion
Evangel of Synthesis image 3.5 A two mana ⅔ that loots on ETB is a nice card. It is also nice that this is both an enabler and a payoff for the draw extra cards deck, though it is a little sad that it will technically trigger the turn you play it, it just won’t matter
Swiftgear Drake image 1.5 5-mana for a 2/4 with Flying and Haste isn’t amazing, but it isn’t a completely terrible rate either – probably something like a D+, so the ETB upside here is kind of nice. You can get rid of some graveyard action your opponent is utilizing, or you can put a card back on the bottom of your library that you want to draw later
Tomakul Scrapsmith image 2.5 You either get a three mana 3/2, or a three mana 2/1 that draws you an Artifact. Obviously the latter option is the better one, and this would be at least a 3.5 if that’s what it was – but it will only do that half the time, and the 3/2 option is less exciting. It also takes a bit of a hti because Red is not very interested in the graveyard in this set, so loading it up a little bit is unlikely to give you any extra value
Shoot Down image 2.5 This has a whole lot of targets in this format. It is a bit clunky as a 4 mana Sorcery, but it just feels like this will be able to deal with enough permanents in this format that I like the first copy in most Green decks
Excavation Explosion image 4.0 This looks pretty great, even as a Sorcery! Three mana to do three to anything is always nice – you can usually break even or better on the mana you spend, and this actually gives you some mana back in the form of a powerstone
Coastal Bulwark image 2.0 Obviously, if you’re playing Blue, this is going to be a 3/3 – and a wall that can Surveil 1 is going to be a solid thing to have in more defensive decks.
Loran's Escape image 2.0 These effects have been playing pretty well lately, and I think that’s probably the case here too. Blanking removal and various other effects while also improving a creature’s ability to win combat is pretty solid.
Powerstone Fracture image 2.5 In case you didn’t get it from the card’s name, the ideal thing to do here is going to be to sacrifice a powerstone. In that case, you aren’t using up a real card – and that’s good, because giving up a real card to cast this is pretty bad. It is basically a wore bone splinters, and it isn’t like bone splinters is an incredible card. I still think this falls below premium removal because of the set up needed to make it decent
Pack 3 Pick 9: Goblin Blast-Runner
Evangel of Synthesis image 3.5 A two mana ⅔ that loots on ETB is a nice card. It is also nice that this is both an enabler and a payoff for the draw extra cards deck, though it is a little sad that it will technically trigger the turn you play it, it just won’t matter
Air Marshal image 2.5 Three mana is kind of a lot for giving Flying only to creatures with a particular type, but the good news is that it is easier than normal to produce mana to pay for abilities in this set thanks to powerstones and there are lots of soldiers. It can also target itself.
Dwarven Forge-Chanter image 3.0 Back in Khans of Tarkir there was a White two mana 1/3 with Prowess and it was a really nice common – so, adding Ward – Pay 2 life to that also makes for a pretty sweet common! A creature with Prowess is always really obnoxious to block or attack into, since you never know what your opponent might be able to do. The threat of activation is very real! This is a great two drop for Blue-Red decks, and lots of other Red decks will have enough non-creature spells to have a pretty good time with this
Tower Worker image 2.0 Ramp is a real thing in this format, so this will certainly be seeing some play. Getting the other two Assembly-Workers in play at the same time is a fun goal, but don’t count on it
Goblin Blast-Runner image 2.0 This seems like a pretty nice sacrifice payoff at Common. A 3/2 with Menace can swing effectively for a long time, and sometimes it will be bigger! At the same time, it will also be a ½ a decent chunk of the time, and that’s not so good
Tawnos's Tinkering image 1.0 I feel like actually generating a card of value with this is going to be a little bit challenging, and it is a pretty big investment for a card that won’t always be able to do enough
Power Plant Worker image 2.0 This is a fun cycle, since they all reference the original Urza lands. I think the card seems pretty decent too. The stats aren’t great, but +2/+2 for three mana isn’t the worst rate in a set with power stones everywhere. I wouldn’t count on getting all three of these in play, but you might achieve it on occasion.
Pack 3 Pick 10: Elsewhere Flask
Elsewhere Flask image 1.5 This replaces itself, and that is enough in this format for it to be decent enough, since the UR deck likes casting nocnreature spells and several decks like artifacts. It can also fix your mana a bit, but that’s a small part of what this card does.
Demolition Field image 0.0 This card is basically Field of Ruin, and that’s a card that just isn’t worth running in Limited. Sure, it can sort of fix your mana, but this format won’t have so many basic lands that you can count on that consistently, and your opponent gets some help too! It isn’t good for your mana base and it has an ability that isn’t good in Limited.
Powerstone Fracture image 2.5 In case you didn’t get it from the card’s name, the ideal thing to do here is going to be to sacrifice a powerstone. In that case, you aren’t using up a real card – and that’s good, because giving up a real card to cast this is pretty bad. It is basically a wore bone splinters, and it isn’t like bone splinters is an incredible card. I still think this falls below premium removal because of the set up needed to make it decent
Desynchronize image 2.0 5 mana is a lot, and while this does let you trade 1-for-1, since it doesn’t just bounce the permanent – it puts it on top or bottom of your opponent’s library – it also doesn’t do a great job of dealing with some really problematic permanents, which your opponent can just draw again.
Energy Refractor image 1.5 It is a good thing this replaces itself, because it is pretty bad at filtering mana! Two mana for one mana of any color just isn’t a very good rate, though it can do it multiple times a turn because it doesn’t tap. The format does care about artifacts and noncreature spells, and one that replaces itself has some inhererent value, with the filtering part just some minor upside. It does let you make your powerstones produce colored mana, but still not efficient at all.
Perimeter Patrol image 2.5 A three mana 3/3 is solid, and this has some real upside that will let it attack a lot more effectively
Pack 3 Pick 11: Raze to the Ground
The Fall of Kroog image 0.5 As usual, land destruction tends to be pretty bad in Limited. There aren’t enough powerful nonbasics around, so you find yourself just destroying regular lands, and doing that for six mana isn’t really where you want to be. Land destruction at that stage often has a minimal impact on the game. And sure, this adds a bolt to the face and can kill some X/1s, but I still don’t feel like its enough to play this thing
Meticulous Excavation image 0.0 I don’t think this is very good. It does give you ways to rebuy ETB abilities and the like, but it asks for a ton of mana that you’re only going to have available in the extreme late game. And yes, with powerstones around this will be easier to use, but I don’t think that makes enough of a difference. The whole Unearth part of the card is kind of silly too, because to take advantage of it, you’re going to need to pay to Unearth a creature and then pay three more to return it to your hand so you get to keep it around. That’s just not a reasonable expectation.
Mine Worker image 1.5 If this format had a life gain deck, it would be way better. As is, it is fairly mediocre, as it has poor stats and an ability that doesn’t really do enough. Obviously if you can get the Tron going here you’re going to be happier, but even with all three at Common, I wouldn’t count on that
Retrieval Agent image 1.5 This has somewhat passable defensive stats and a nice creature type, but the ability is expensive and underwhelming – even with powerstones around.
Raze to the Ground image 2.5 This format does have a ton of Artifacts, so this will usually have a target, many of which will be creatures. And its also nice that it can draw you a card when it hits a cheap artifact. In a pinch you could even go after your own powerstone! However…it is a little overcosted and clunky to be that good. Three mana to kill only one permanent type, even one that is relatively plentiful in the set, just isn’t a great rate. The uncounterable clause only matters a tiny bit here too. I mean, I don’t think this is bad at all – but I think some people will see this and think it is premium, but it just won’t be
Pack 3 Pick 12: Dwarven Forge-Chanter
Pyrrhic Blast image 2.5 We see these sacrifice effects a lot and they are usually kind of a pain to use, since you 2-for-1 yourself! But this gets around that by replacing itself with a draw a card effect. You can also hit any player with it, so it can finish someone off which is cool. Now, it still does require some set up that is surprisingly awkward sometimes – like you need a creature with high enough power or some sacrifice synergy or this can fall pretty flat. It is an Instant, so you can use it in response to removal and stuff which helps
Argothian Sprite image 2.5 This is better than it looks. There are lots of Artifact creatures in the set, including most of the format’s creature tokens, so this will be a nice attacker on many boards. Then, in the mid-to-late game you can buff it to make sure it stays relevant. As I’ve been saying, power stones make an ability like this easier to use than it looks! This looks like a quality two-drop for Green decks int he format
Dwarven Forge-Chanter image 3.0 Back in Khans of Tarkir there was a White two mana 1/3 with Prowess and it was a really nice common – so, adding Ward – Pay 2 life to that also makes for a pretty sweet common! A creature with Prowess is always really obnoxious to block or attack into, since you never know what your opponent might be able to do. The threat of activation is very real! This is a great two drop for Blue-Red decks, and lots of other Red decks will have enough non-creature spells to have a pretty good time with this
Mine Worker image 1.5 If this format had a life gain deck, it would be way better. As is, it is fairly mediocre, as it has poor stats and an ability that doesn’t really do enough. Obviously if you can get the Tron going here you’re going to be happier, but even with all three at Common, I wouldn’t count on that
Pack 3 Pick 13: Bitter Reunion
The Fall of Kroog image 0.5 As usual, land destruction tends to be pretty bad in Limited. There aren’t enough powerful nonbasics around, so you find yourself just destroying regular lands, and doing that for six mana isn’t really where you want to be. Land destruction at that stage often has a minimal impact on the game. And sure, this adds a bolt to the face and can kill some X/1s, but I still don’t feel like its enough to play this thing
Powerstone Fracture image 2.5 In case you didn’t get it from the card’s name, the ideal thing to do here is going to be to sacrifice a powerstone. In that case, you aren’t using up a real card – and that’s good, because giving up a real card to cast this is pretty bad. It is basically a wore bone splinters, and it isn’t like bone splinters is an incredible card. I still think this falls below premium removal because of the set up needed to make it decent
Bitter Reunion image 1.5 This is a neat take on a Tormented Voice-type effect. While the UR deck in this format cares about spells, it actually cares about all non-creature spells, so this will still trigger them like Tormented Voice would. The ability to give haste to your whole board will come up sometimes too. I think you probably cut this most of the time in any deck that doesn’t care about spells, and even in the spell deck it probably isn’t the card you’re happily shoving in your deck
Pack 3 Pick 14: Dwarven Forge-Chanter
Goblin Blast-Runner image 2.0 This seems like a pretty nice sacrifice payoff at Common. A 3/2 with Menace can swing effectively for a long time, and sometimes it will be bigger! At the same time, it will also be a ½ a decent chunk of the time, and that’s not so good
Dwarven Forge-Chanter image 3.0 Back in Khans of Tarkir there was a White two mana 1/3 with Prowess and it was a really nice common – so, adding Ward – Pay 2 life to that also makes for a pretty sweet common! A creature with Prowess is always really obnoxious to block or attack into, since you never know what your opponent might be able to do. The threat of activation is very real! This is a great two drop for Blue-Red decks, and lots of other Red decks will have enough non-creature spells to have a pretty good time with this
Pack 3 Pick 15: Burrowing Razormaw
Burrowing Razormaw image 2.0 This has some reasonable stats and does a good job of loading your graveyard
Draft Pick Overview