Draft Trainer

Zendikar Rising Limited Quiz

Answered: 0/20
Accuracy: 0
Expedition Champion
Average Picked At: 6.98
Total Times Picked: 884
Average Last Seen At: 6.24
Total Times Seen 7240
Pro Rating: 2.5
Pro Comment: A 4/3 for three mana is a decent creature for sure, though it isn’t really going to be taking over the game or anything like that, and it will still be a ⅔ some of the time. Seems like a solid card for Red Warrior decks, but not much more than that.
Grakmaw, Skyclave Ravager
Average Picked At: 1.01
Total Times Picked: 80
Average Last Seen At: 1.03
Total Times Seen 137
Pro Rating: 4.5
Pro Comment: Even if you have 0 other +1/+1 counter synergies and your opponent kills Grakmaw immediately, it will leave behind a 3/3 – in addition to being a 3-mana 3/3 itself! Then, you factor in getting larger when other creatures with counters on them die, and other synergy you can get out of Grakmaw’s counters, and you’re looking at what I think is probably a bomb. Once this starts leaving behind 5/5s and stuff, it will just get silly
Scute Swarm
Pro Rating: 4.5
Pro Comment: This thing starts with a very unimpressive body, but the army of insects it can make you is no joke. Generally, I would advise waiting to play this until you can also play a land on a turn, because that way you ensure you get at least some value out of it before it eats a removal spell. Even better is waiting until you have 6+ lands, because then you will get exponentially more insects, and spot removal won’t do a thing.
Veteran Adventurer
Average Picked At: 3.44
Total Times Picked: 274
Average Last Seen At: 2.87
Total Times Seen 1327
Pro Rating: 3.5
Pro Comment: As a 6-mana 5/5 with Vigilance that can fill whichever party role you need, this would probably be a C, perhaps even a C+ -- but it of course can also reduce its cost, and it isn’t crazy to imagine playing this for 5 mana, and playing it for 4 won’t be super rare either, and in those cases this is going to feel really good. A creature this size with Vigilance is always really nice in Limited, as it really makes it harder for opponents to effectively race you if you have a big creature who can play both offense and defense.
Thundering Rebuke
Average Picked At: 2.18
Total Times Picked: 354
Average Last Seen At: 2.02
Total Times Seen 925
Pro Rating: 4.0
Pro Comment: This is premium removal. Two mana to do 4 is always a great rate – it is efficient enough that you can pretty much always trade up with it.
Beyeen Veil
Average Picked At: 6.29
Total Times Picked: 153
Average Last Seen At: 3.79
Total Times Seen 2172
Pro Rating: 2.5
Pro Comment: The reason this type of effect isn’t great is because it doesn’t do anything, or does far too little way more often than it actually does do something. However, when that window does open, it can do some nasty stuff, like completely wreck combat for your opponent. But, if it is clear it isn’t going to be much use, you can play it as a land to get more mana, and maybe even trigger landfall.
Inscription of Abundance
Average Picked At: 1.66
Total Times Picked: 179
Average Last Seen At: 1.66
Total Times Seen 245
Pro Rating: 4.5
Pro Comment: Casting it without Kicker is honestly not a bad deal at all -- sometimes the counters will make for a nice trick or save a creature, and being able to Fight something at Instant speed for two mana is usually a playable card all on its own. If it was just a modal card without Kicker, it would already be good. But, adding Kicker to the mix makes this really good. It becomes a 5-mana spell that pumps your creature, which is going to make the fight part better, and it will also gain you more life potentially since you make a creature better. While 5 mana IS kind of a lot, and this has the downside of all fight cards -- playing it into open mana is very dangerous because of the risk of getting 2-for-1’d -- I think the upside here makes it worth the risk, especially as an Instant. You just have to carefully pick your spots with it, and if you do, kicking it will have a big impact on the outcome of many games.
Highborn Vampire
Average Picked At: 11.31
Total Times Picked: 1436
Average Last Seen At: 10.51
Total Times Seen 12179
Pro Rating: 1.5
Pro Comment: So yeah, this is a vanilla creature, who comes with some upside because he has a creature type that fits into a “party.” A 4-mana 4/3 isn’t the worst rate for Limited, and I think the Warrior upside does enough to make this a card you’ll play a little more than you won’t.
Merfolk Windrobber
Average Picked At: 4.98
Total Times Picked: 377
Average Last Seen At: 4.24
Total Times Seen 2015
Pro Rating: 3.0
Pro Comment: This is a nice one drop, especially for the Rogue deck, because it lets you get in some damage early and start stocking up the graveyard. Then, in the late game, you can cash it in to draw a card, which gives it utility even when it can no longer attack.
Ravager's Mace
Average Picked At: 8.16
Total Times Picked: 378
Average Last Seen At: 6.42
Total Times Seen 3054
Pro Rating: 3.0
Pro Comment: This gives a nice bonus for the cost when you first play it. It will usually at least be giving +1/+0 and Menace, and giving more than that isn’t far-fetched. Three mana for that boost isn’t too shabby. Now, having to pay four to equip it after that is a bit steep, but the free equip to start things off helps make up for that, as does the fact that it will frequently give a larger boost.
Smite the Monstrous
Average Picked At: 9.28
Total Times Picked: 1032
Average Last Seen At: 8.50
Total Times Seen 9795
Pro Rating: 2.0
Pro Comment: We see this a lot. It is always an ok removal spell. It is conditional, but at least it is an instant, and it can kill some big stuff.
Territorial Scythecat
Pro Rating: 3.0
Pro Comment: This will get large without a whole lot of effort, and that is really nice because it also happens to have Trample! It does die to just about everything initially, and sometimes it will be better to play it and then a land in the same turn to make it so fewer spells can take it down.
Expedition Healer
Average Picked At: 5.56
Total Times Picked: 740
Average Last Seen At: 4.88
Total Times Seen 5565
Pro Rating: 3.0
Pro Comment: This just turns out to have lifelink a significant chunk of the time, and with the powerful lifegain payoffs around, that feels pretty good.
Kazuul's Fury
Average Picked At: 5.80
Total Times Picked: 607
Average Last Seen At: 4.80
Total Times Seen 2778
Pro Rating: 3.0
Pro Comment: So the spell side of this is an overcosted Fling. It is highly situational, but it can feel especially nice to sacrifice something your opponent is trying to kill, and it feels even nicer when it just happens to give you the lethal you need. But you just don’t always have something relevant to sacrifice. But this can be a land where the other side doesn’t help you, and that’s nice.
Mesa Lynx
Average Picked At: 10.58
Total Times Picked: 1007
Average Last Seen At: 9.35
Total Times Seen 10810
Pro Rating: 1.5
Pro Comment: This is a 2-mana 2/1 as an attacker, and a two-mana ⅔ as a blocker. In this day and age, even a vanilla two-mana ⅔ would probably not be much more than a C, so a card that is only one half of the time is considerably worse. I would actually prefer it was a ⅔ during your turn than the other way around, since White is more often than not a color that wants to be attacking well early.
Subtle Strike
Average Picked At: 6.37
Total Times Picked: 748
Average Last Seen At: 5.24
Total Times Seen 5976
Pro Rating: 2.5
Pro Comment: Because you can both weaken a creature and make yours bigger, it has two-for-one potential, and that can’t be overlooked. That situation won’t always be how it works out -- but sometimes, you’ll be able to kill an X/1 and pump your creature to win combat against something else, and it is great that the boost is permanent. Even if that doesn’t line up, the flexibility of this card does usually mean it will help your creatures win combat one way or another.
Tajuru Blightblade
Average Picked At: 7.06
Total Times Picked: 873
Average Last Seen At: 6.32
Total Times Seen 7264
Pro Rating: 2.5
Pro Comment: We see this card in lots of sets, and it is always fine. It can trade for anything, giving it relevance all game long, but it is never particularly impactful.
Felidar Retreat
Pro Rating: 5.0
Pro Comment: This is really good. Sure, it is an Enchantment that, at least initially, doesn’t actually do anything, but the landfall triggers it offers are both very, very powerful. If you wait until a turn where you can play it AND play a land, it will be adding to the board immediately. If you have a nice board already, great – make it bigger and give it Vigilance until end of turn! If you’re lacking in board presence, that’s fine too – make a Cat token. This just gives you too much value for you to lose.
Stonework Packbeast
Average Picked At: 5.30
Total Times Picked: 1326
Average Last Seen At: 4.87
Total Times Seen 5678
Pro Rating: 3.5
Pro Comment: This is a huge overachiever. It helps tie together Tribal or Party decks, and even the fixing it offers can be quite helpful.
Valakut Awakening
Average Picked At: 1.76
Total Times Picked: 59
Average Last Seen At: 1.61
Total Times Seen 218
Pro Rating: 3.5
Pro Comment: If you get this early and you need a land, it does the job. Sure, it comes into play tapped, but having that option is inherently powerful. The other side here, at worst, is 3-mana to draw one card, and sometimes you’ll get to pitch two lands with it and draw three at Instant speed, which isn’t too shabby -- and obviously, sometimes it will do more than that. Overall, I think the flexibility of this card makes it very strong.
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