Pro Rating: 1.5
Pro Comment: I really want this to be good, because I am probably the most excited about Lorehold in this set -- but I just don’t think it will be that great. Early, it could be a nice way to both load up your graveyard for various synergies and improve your card quality, but there will be situations where you just can’t really make use of this, either because you don’t want to give up cards or you flat out can’t.

Pro Rating: 2.5
Pro Comment: Obviously enough, this can make a creature pretty dang huge -- but it is also really freaking clunky. You need your creature to already have evasion of some kind for this to even matter most of the time, and your opponent can easily just take down the thing you target, so you have to be extra cautious about casting it.

Pro Rating: 4.5
Pro Comment: This is obviously hugely powerful if you play it late, but at 8 mana a card like this can be a liability in some games, just stuck in your hand forever. If that’s how things are going, you can always cash it in for some Treasure, and oftentimes if you get it early, that will just be the right thing to do. Making sure to have a way to get it back later will really make that sweet, but either way this card has the flexibility to provide mana and fixing early, and then in the late game it has an effect that will win a significant number of games. I have to say that, for eight mana, it isn’t actually quite as powerful as you might expect, but it probably had to be balanced a little bit since it wasn’t useless sin the early game like most hugely powerful expensive spells.

Pro Rating: 3.0
Pro Comment: So this seems pretty underwhelming to me. Sure, getting a bonus when you play spells is great but...like, +1/+0 just seems like such a spell bonus. It will matter to be sure, but it just isn’t enough for me to really get excited about. BW is all about aggressive spell stuff though, so it fits in just fine.

Pro Rating: 4.0
Pro Comment: This is most likely Red’s best common. 3 mana for 4 damage at Instant speed is always great in Limited, and this also can’t be countered, which actually matters in this format as Blue seems to have several playable counter spells in this format.

Pro Rating: 4.5
Pro Comment: Both sides of this have a nice static ability and loyalty abilities, but I definitely think that the Will, Scholar of Frost side will be better in Limited. His +1 helps protect him from your opponent’s best creature, you can his -3 right away to draw cards, and his ultimate can turn your lands into 4/4 creatures, which can be pretty great. Rowan is a lot cheaper, but also far more fragile. Her +1 loyalty ability will just do 1 damage to an opponent most of the time, and she has no way to protect herself or draw you cards. He ultimate kind of helps you draw in the sense you copy a spell, but I just don’t see her coming down on turn three and getting to do her thing real often. Will is definitely more powerful, and the side that will be able to take over games like a bomb.

Pro Rating: 4.0
Pro Comment: This is one of the best win conditions for both the UG and UR ramp decks. If it comes down, it is hard to beat, since it brings a huge body, gains you some life and gives you an extra card. And it doesn’t end there! Even if your opponent gets rid of it, it will be coming back.

Pro Rating: 1.5
Pro Comment: If this card only did one of these two things, it would be terrible. One mana just isn’t a good rate for either of those things, even if they can help you out sometimes, what it does often won’t be worth a card. Making this modal make it better of course, and so does the fact that this set loves cheap spells as a result of Magecraft and other spell payoffs.

Pro Rating: 0.5
Pro Comment: I mostly don’t think you’ll play this. It has mediocre stats and an unexciting ability. The ability might be a little more useful in the RW deck, which likes it when things leave the graveyard, but mostly using this ability is super underwhelming. Now, if games in this format go long and you are out of cards and you can legit use this to draw the best card in your graveyard every turn, then it will be better than that -- but that won’t happen very often.

Pro Rating: 4.0
Pro Comment: This is a good card, albeit a kind of weird one. A 5-mana ⅖ with Flying and Double Strike is already pretty nice -- those are just great stats on an evasive creature! Then, he gives you a powerful effect every combat...though he also gives your opponent a pretty powerful one too. Now, you are the one who gets to decide which one they get and which one you get, and you can always pick the option that most benefits you and the one that least benefits them, but no matter what you’re giving them, they’re going to be getting something reasonably nice. Most of the time, I would imagine if you’re wide enough you’ll give yourself the counters and let them draw a card, for example. Giving them the Flyer seems particularly bad since it gives them a free way to block Shadrix -- but sometimes giving them counters will be fine too, because sometimes those aren’t a big help. Shadrix will normally take over games, but there will be some times where you can’t find a good option to give your opponent, which will be rough.

Pro Rating: 3.0
Pro Comment: Using this in response to removal and stuff like that will feel especially good, but it won’t feel as bad to use in other situations either. Besides, there are a lot of Sacrifice outlets and the like in BG in this set, so all those Pests can really come in handy. The life they gain you matters too! You do need a creature large enough to make it worth it, but that’s not too difficult.

Pro Rating: 4.5
Pro Comment: Both sides give you nice baseline creatures with powerful text boxes. Valentin can come down on turn one and really start the race out in your favor thanks to Menace and lifelink, and then the ability to pay mana to get a 1/1 every time an opposing creature dies is nice upside! Meanwhile, Lisette requires a little more building around, but she certainly has the more powerful effect -- as granting your whole board +1/+1 counters and trample is going to be impactful on just about any board state -- especially because it includes her! Lisette seems pretty close to a bomb in this format, and she has the upside of being Valentin in the early game, which is pretty great.

Pro Rating: 2.5
Pro Comment: We have seen a lot of creatures like this over the last few years -- A two mana 3/3 with Defender that can gain the ability to attack one way or another. The initial body is actually pretty good at helping you block on the ground, and once you can get it to attack it will feel pretty good. Now, you do have to find a way to trigger Magecraft most turns for this to really be at its best, and that won’t always be easy.

Pro Rating: 0.0
Pro Comment: So, even with the RW deck liking stuff in the graveyard, I don’t think this is very good. First, 5 to search up 3 cards and then discard 3 randomly is pretty bad in Limited. You spin your wheels to search up some stuff, and then you don’t even know if you’ll keep them! Now, if you cast this for 4 that’s obviously better, and sometimes your opponent won’t actually be able to do the benefit you offer them there, so that’s a thing I guess? But mostly this is a really bad, expensive tutor, that just won’t do what you want it to way too often.

Pro Rating: 2.5
Pro Comment: So, the boost here isn’t going to always allow your creature to outright win combat, but that’s okay, because if your creature doesn’t win combat, you still get something back – a 3/2 Spirit. Obviously, this will feel best when you use it to help you kill a creature in combat, AND get the spirit, but even just getting the Spirit isn’t too bad.

Pro Rating: 4.5
Pro Comment: This is really good. A two mana 2/2 with Prowess is usually pretty nice, and in most ways, this is an upgrade. Getting a permanent boost is big, and then in the late game it will become too big for most boards thanks to the ability to double counters.

Pro Rating: 3.5
Pro Comment: This is cheap enough that I think I can get behind playing it all the time in UG decks. Sure, copying your 2/2 with it won’t feel amazing, but it is perfectly fine, and if you can copy your 4 drop with it you’ll be in pretty good shape in terms of what you get in return for your mana. UG is a ramp color pair too, so having the extra mana to do this is reasonably likely. Overall, I don’t think this it is amazing -- after all, you need to pair it with something else for it to even do anything.

Pro Rating: 3.0
Pro Comment: These are good fixing, and they’ll help you splash. Don’t underestimate how nice it is, even in a two-color deck, to have one land that can produce either color, it is really great for your mana base. You should never be first picking these, but I think you should value them over most medium cards in packs if you’re in one or both of the colors it produces.

Pro Rating: 4.5
Pro Comment: I think this is the best of this set’s Command cycle. This is partly because unlike the other card we’ll see in it, it has four options that will frequently be useful. I mean, 5-mana for the Lightning Helix effect itself isn’t terrible – and would probably be borderline playable. Then, you add all these other options and you really have something sweet. I mean, you can really look at this as a 5-mana 3/2 creature with Flash and an ETB ability that Lightning Helixes something. Once you look it at it that way, it becomes clear that this is very powerful! And it even has two other options that are nice! Giving up a permanent to draw some cards is sometimes nice in the late game, and obviously the board pump + indestructibility effect will be backbreaking for your opponent too in the right situation.