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Quick Draft KHM 20.februar 2021

20 February 01:16 - TheMadMek 7 Wins - 1 Losses
Maindeck
Creature (14)
1 Jaspera Sentinel image
1 Littjara Kinseekers image
1 Inga Rune-Eyes image
2 Mistwalker image
1 Koma, Cosmos Serpent image
1 Old-Growth Troll image
2 Guardian Gladewalker image
1 Brinebarrow Intruder image
1 Augury Raven image
1 Draugr Thought-Thief image
1 Masked Vandal image
1 Grizzled Outrider image
Instant, Sorcery, Enchantment, Artifact (9)
1 The Bears of Littjara image
1 Maskwood Nexus image
2 Depart the Realm image
2 Mammoth Growth image
1 Run Ashore image
1 Ravenform image
1 Struggle for Skemfar image
Land (17)
8 Forest image
9 Island image
Sideboard
1 Berg Strider image
1 Frostpyre Arcanist image
1 Cinderheart Giant image
1 Harald, King of Skemfar image
1 Axgard Cavalry image
1 Undersea Invader image
1 Koll, the Forgemaster image
1 Tuskeri Firewalker image
1 The Three Seasons image
1 Behold the Multiverse image
2 Disdainful Stroke image
1 Ravenform image
1 Mists of Littjara image
1 Arachnoform image
1 Invoke the Divine image
1 Harald Unites the Elves image
1 Waking the Trolls image
1 Open the Omenpaths image
2 Squash image
1 Annul image

Pack 1 Pick 1: The Bears of Littjara
The Bears of Littjara image 4.0 This will normally give you a ton of value for three mana. Even if your board is otherwise empty, this makes a 2/2 when you play it, then turns it into a 4/4 on the next turn, and then lets you do damage equal to that creature’s power on the following turn. And, yeah, things could go really wrong there, but most of the time you will have a board with a few more shapeshifters around to really abuse this card. But the fact that this is pretty good even on its own certainly makes it attractive. You get a 4/4 token and removal in the end, all for only three mana.
Aegar, the Freezing Flame image 4.5 With Aegar in play, if you do more damage to a creature than it has toughness, you get to draw a card -- provided the source of that damage is a Giant, Wizard, or spell. And, of course, that includes Aegar -- which means that if a 2/2 blocks it for example, you get to draw a card. That’s pretty sweet, and this kind of card will really warp games where your opponent might have to choose between blocking more effectively, or allowing you to draw a card -- and that’s never a good choice. Obviously, the UR color pair is about spells and Giants too, so you should have at least a handful of cards in your deck that can trigger this. It isn’t difficult to draw 2-3 cards with Aegar, and I think that makes him a bomb, even if he does require a bit of work to build around.
Littjara Glade-Warden image 3.0 It is definitely a bit of a bummer that you can only use this ability at sorcery speed, but turning creatures in the graveyard into value in the late game is pretty nice. Two +1/+1 counters can make a significant difference on many board states. And in addition to that, it is also a changeling, so tribal synergies will make it better too. It does start out as a Hill Giant, but the ability is good enough to overcome that mediocre performance on the vanilla test.
Boreal Outrider image 4.0 This seems like a really good snow payoff. On a base level, you have a 3-mana 3/2 that is a snow permanent, which isn’t a bad place to start -- but the fact that this will pump all of your creatures equal to the number of snow mana spent on them is no joke. Even if you only have one way to produce snow mana, having a couple creatures enter the battlefield with an additional counter each is a great return on the 3 mana that you spent. Keep in mind, that the Outrider triggers when the creature is cast, and that means that it won’t do its thing for itself -- just other creature spells. Over all, this seems really strong to me, as you will usually end up with more than one snow land lying around -- if you have two, it will really well...snowball.
Shackles of Treachery image 0.5 Even in the most aggressive of decks, this card tends to be too situational to be worthwhile, and there isn’t enough of a sacrifice theme in this set to really abuse it.
Demonic Gifts image 1.5 This type of trick is usually alright. The stats boost is enough to make your creature take down larger creatures in combat, and it doesn’t really have to “win” the combat, since the Gifts will bring your creature right back if it dies. This can get especially nasty if your creature has an ETB ability. It also doesn’t hurt that it does something against most removal too. It is still a trick, and the situational nature of them keeps most of them from ever being especially good.
Depart the Realm image 2.0 Two mana to bounce nonland permanents at Instant speed is usually fine. Bounce spells won’t always straight up trade for a card, but the tempo they give you can be worth it – and, sometimes you can get one of your opponent’s cards with this, if you bounce something that they are using a trick on or putting an Aura on. This has Foretell too, but I still don’t think it is much more than “fine”.
Fearless Pup image 2.0 A one mana 1/1 with first strike is not that impressive, those are just stats that quickly become irrelevant, and in some games it will feel like you should have just played a four drop that is more impactful. Adding Boast to the mix obviously matters, though, and often just the threat of activation will mean that your opponent just takes hits from this thing. This is also another great creature to enhance with equipment, counters, and Auras.
Karfell Kennel-Master image 2.5 This has been solid top-curve in Black decks. It often comes down and enables 1-2 attacks that you just couldn’t have done before, and a 4/4 body is pretty good in this format.
Weigh Down image 3.0 -3/-3 for one Black mana is super efficient. Having to have a creature in the graveyard does mean this will often be dead in the early game, and sometimes even later than that -- but, all you have to do to make it work is trade with something, and if you’re doing that and getting the additional value out of that creature by exiling it to pay for this, it will feel pretty good. I think the first copy of this tends to really feel like premium removal, but you generally don’t want to run too many of them, as there is only so much fuel in your graveyard.
Codespell Cleric image 1.0 // 2.5 So, since this is one mana, casting it as your second spell in a turn won’t be super challenging, especially in a format with Foretell. I mean, in the late game it will be a little harder, like if you’re in top deck mode, but in the early and mid-game it will just happen. For this to be worth it, it does need to be making that +1/+1 counter a significant chunk of the time, and it can do that in aggro decks. Like Battlefield Raptor, it is much better in aggressive decks than it is elsewhere.
Jaspera Sentinel image 2.0 The fixing this offers is a big deal for the decks trying to play 3+ colors. It doesn’t have the greatest stats, and Reach isn’t very exciting, but the mana production here is nice.
Battlefield Raptor image 1.5 // 3.5 This is a key card for aggressive decks. It wears the cheap Equipment and Auras it he format well, and suiting it up early can often win games. If you’re an aggro deck, you’re never cutting this, and it will be one of the best things you can do on turn one. Obviously, it isn’t very good anywhere else, so keep that in mind.
King Harald's Revenge image 1.0 I don’t like this type of card. Sure, lure-type effects are nice, but they only really get powerful if they force EVERYTHING to block something, allowing the rest of your board to get through. This will just require one block. And yeah, sometimes this will make your creature absolutely massive, and adding Trample to that is nice -- but it still seems so clunky to me. You have to wait for the absolute right window for this to work out for you -- one where you have enough creatures for it to matter -- one where forcing the block makes a difference -- and one where your opponent doesn’t have cards in hand and mana up, since if they do, you have a good chance at getting completely blown out.
Volatile Fjord image 3.5 This is a Snow land to value fairly highly. It gives you snow mana and fixing, and it is in colors that have some nice snow payoffs at lower rarities.
Pack 1 Pick 2: Maskwood Nexus
Maskwood Nexus image 2.0 Paying 7 total mana to make one token is ugly, even if it is a changeling. It just isn’t that great at making tokens, though it isn’t a bad mana sink in the late game. My feeling, though, is that most of the time when you play this it won’t have much of an immediate impact. If the game goes long, it can really help you, though.
Vega, the Watcher image 3.5 Even if you only draw one card with Vega you are going to feel pretty good about your investment, since it has such reasonable stats to begin with. Drawing that one card isn’t too challenging, either!
Arni Slays the Troll image 3.5 This Saga seems pretty nice to me. It starts out with a Fight effect, which is effectively a removal spell -- even if it is a somewhat restrictive one. You won’t always have a good Fight to make happen, but you will often enough in a Red Green deck. Chapter II gives you some counters and some mana too, and chapter III gains you some life. None of these chapters individually are that impressive, but if you think about the amount of mana you’re paying, you’re going to be pretty happy.
The Trickster-God's Heist image 2.0 This is another situational Saga that doesn’t always do something. When you can play it and take full advantage it is strong, but it will be stuck in your hand doing nothing more often than you’d think.
Beskir Shieldmate image 3.0 This is a solid two-drop. A two mana 2/1 is far from ideal, but if you can trade with this and then get a token, you’re going to feel pretty good. Overall, this is a nice two drop that will pretty much always make the cut
Tuskeri Firewalker image 3.0 A 3-mana 3/2 isn’t great, but its Boast effect is pretty nice. You really need to only be able to play somethin off of it once to feel good about the situation, since at that point, you’re getting a 2-for-1 in most cases. It even lets you pay lands if you exile one of them. The downside with this type of effect is often that you are unable to cast the spell you exile, and that’ll happen, but I think it’ll work out often enough that this seems pretty nice to me. Even if you just attack with it and it dies in combat, if you get a card out of the Boast, you’re doing just fine. I think this is a pretty good Red common.
Grim Draugr image 2.0 This is fine. It has alright stats and it can gain some evasion in the later part of the game, giving it continued relevance.
Dogged Pursuit image 1.0 Draining one life gives you inevitability, and because it is also gaining you life, it helps you to survive longer -- which in turn helps you drain more life. If you are a control deck, this seems like a decent win condition to me. Now, tapping out to play this on turn four will not always be smart, because you need to be building your board in the early game to not die, and that is a pretty significant downside. You’ll be cutting this a lot, it really takes the right deck for it to be worth it.
Mistwalker image 3.5 This card will overperform for you. 3-mana 1/4s are usually already playable, but the Changeling status and the ability to pump power makes it so that Mistwalker can do a whole lot of stuff for a three drop. It counts for your Giant payoffs, blocks effectively, and can even attack pretty hard.
Squash image 3.5 This is a very powerful removal spell if you’re in a Giant deck. 1R for 6 damage at instant speed is pretty incredibly efficient.. What’s nice is, 5 mana for 6 damage at instant speed isn’t completely horrendous either -- it isn’t great, mind you -- but it is the kind of removal that you’ll end up running one of a decent amount of the time. The goods news is, most Red decks will have at least a few Giants without even trying to take them, but the better news is, Giants is a very well-supported tribe in this set, and in those decks, this costing 1R won’t be that hard to achieve.
Icehide Troll image 3.0 This is a key common for Snow decks, as if you are able to pump this it becomes a pretty powerful threat. Because it asks for two snow that won’t work in every deck, but in the decks where the troll DOES work, it will be one of your best Commons.
Master Skald image 2.0 5-mana for a 4/4 that returns an artifact or enchantment is not a bad deal. And sure, you also need a creature in your graveyard to make it happen, but by turn 5 that won’t normally be an issue. There are lots of good Artifacts and Enchantments in this set, but the Skald is at his best with Sagas, since they are designed to eventually go to your graveyard in the first place. If you have at least one Saga, playing a Master Skald is usually a pretty good idea.
Withercrown image 1.0 So, I have a hard time ever calling removal “premium” if it still allows whatever you put it on to block, and this does have that problem. This is also weakened by the presence of Good Auras, +1/+1 Counters, and Equipment, since those all mean that the creature still won’t have 0 power. It doesn’t hurt that this makes your opponent lose life every turn or sacrifice the creature, at which point, you do actually get the blocker out of the way. That said, most of the time, you’ll probably play this and your opponent will just use the creature to block and die, as it allows them to get something out of the weakened creature. You generally only play this if you didn’t get better removal spells.
Guardian Gladewalker image 2.5 So, we see versions of this card all the time -- and they are always pretty nice commons for Green. The +1/+1 counter ETB trigger makes it so that it is relevant all game long -- often times a single counter is enough to enable attacks you just didn’t have before. And, you know, sometimes, this is just a two-mana 2/2, like in the early game. Adding changeling to the mix is significant upside on an already pretty good Green common.
Pack 1 Pick 3: Squash
Frostpyre Arcanist image 1.0 // 3.5 This type of design always interests me -- and by “this type” I mean cards that pay you off for having multiple copies of some card in your deck. The Giant deck -- which is UR -- is a spells deck, so this fits in very nicely -- it costing 4 won’t be that far-fetched, and a ⅖ isn’t too shabby for that kind of mana. You probably need at least two sets of duplicate spells, and ideally, cheap ones, so that is more likely when you play this that one of them is in your graveyard. If you can get this to draw a card for you even like half the time, you’re going to be pretty happy with this card. But yeah, if you don’t have any duplicates, it is probably best to steer clear.
Draugr's Helm image 3.0 Two to play and four to equip for +2/+2 and Menace is just too much mana -- especially the Equip part. The good news, though, is that this normally won’t just be the equipment. If you pay 5 for it, you get a 2/2 zombie token that is equipped with it -- which means 5 for a 4/4 with Menace. That’s a decent rate, especially because if the token does die, you still have the Equipment. And, yeah, that Equip cost is pretty steep, but it also makes most creature into a threat. And, it is really just upside on a 5-mana 4/4 with Menace, and that’s not too shabby.
Tormentor's Helm image 2.5 Like Run Amok, this is a great card for aggressive decks, as it gives an efficient stats boost and can even help you close out a game because of the inevitable damage every time you attack, but it isn’t really very good anywhere else.
Undersea Invader image 1.0 One of the great things about flash is being able to ambush block, and you won't be doing that here because it enters tapped. It might be a giant, but it is mostly just an inefficient creature. If it wasn't a Giant you probably wouldn't play it all.
Gnottvold Recluse image 2.0 Most spiders we see come with low power and high toughness. This makes them good at repeatedly blocking smaller flyers, but not so good at actually killing them. Gnottvold Recluse is different, in that it has higher power and lower toughness. This means it is going to be better at blocking and killing larger flyers, but a lot worse at repeatedly blocking flyers. 3-mana for a 4/2 line is often a borderline playable card even without Reach, and I think adding Reach to the mix here means you will feel fine about playing the first copy of this. Though, it would be nice if it were a snow permanent or something.
Depart the Realm image 2.0 Two mana to bounce nonland permanents at Instant speed is usually fine. Bounce spells won’t always straight up trade for a card, but the tempo they give you can be worth it – and, sometimes you can get one of your opponent’s cards with this, if you bounce something that they are using a trick on or putting an Aura on. This has Foretell too, but I still don’t think it is much more than “fine”.
Axgard Braggart image 2.0 So, this card will never really be efficient. I mean, it starts as a 4-mana 3/3, and even if you boast with it, you’ll have spent 6 mana on a 4/4. However, efficiency isn’t everything. The fact is that this creature can grow throughout the game, and just the threat of using the ability will be enough for people not to block it when it attacks. Boast creatures a lot of the time will just end up feeling like situational mana sinks, and that’s not necessarily bad. The pseudo-vigilance it gains when it Boasts isn’t bad either.
Withercrown image 1.0 So, I have a hard time ever calling removal “premium” if it still allows whatever you put it on to block, and this does have that problem. This is also weakened by the presence of Good Auras, +1/+1 Counters, and Equipment, since those all mean that the creature still won’t have 0 power. It doesn’t hurt that this makes your opponent lose life every turn or sacrifice the creature, at which point, you do actually get the blocker out of the way. That said, most of the time, you’ll probably play this and your opponent will just use the creature to block and die, as it allows them to get something out of the weakened creature. You generally only play this if you didn’t get better removal spells.
Fearless Pup image 2.0 A one mana 1/1 with first strike is not that impressive, those are just stats that quickly become irrelevant, and in some games it will feel like you should have just played a four drop that is more impactful. Adding Boast to the mix obviously matters, though, and often just the threat of activation will mean that your opponent just takes hits from this thing. This is also another great creature to enhance with equipment, counters, and Auras.
Master Skald image 2.0 5-mana for a 4/4 that returns an artifact or enchantment is not a bad deal. And sure, you also need a creature in your graveyard to make it happen, but by turn 5 that won’t normally be an issue. There are lots of good Artifacts and Enchantments in this set, but the Skald is at his best with Sagas, since they are designed to eventually go to your graveyard in the first place. If you have at least one Saga, playing a Master Skald is usually a pretty good idea.
Arachnoform image 1.0 This set has a lot of nice Auras, but Arachnoform isn’t one of them. It doesn’t mitigate agains the 2-for-1, and the bonus it grants is not significant enough for me to be interested in taking a risk. +2/+2, reach, and changeling status just doesn’t do it for me.
Squash image 3.5 This is a very powerful removal spell if you’re in a Giant deck. 1R for 6 damage at instant speed is pretty incredibly efficient.. What’s nice is, 5 mana for 6 damage at instant speed isn’t completely horrendous either -- it isn’t great, mind you -- but it is the kind of removal that you’ll end up running one of a decent amount of the time. The goods news is, most Red decks will have at least a few Giants without even trying to take them, but the better news is, Giants is a very well-supported tribe in this set, and in those decks, this costing 1R won’t be that hard to achieve.
Glacial Floodplain image 3.0 Like most of the snow dual lands that have White in them, this one isn’t quite as good as the others. Still, it provides fixing and snow mana, and that’s useful in this format.
Pack 1 Pick 4: Harald, King of Skemfar
Harald, King of Skemfar image 3.0 In many BG decks Harald is a 3-mana 3/2 with Menace that draws you a card, and that’s pretty nice. Unfortunately, BG is one of the weaker color pairs in the format, and that holds him back significantly. The other Elf payoffs are pretty disappointing.
Gates of Istfell image 3.5 It is great having a land that can draw you some cards and gain you some life in the late game – most lands become useless at that point! But not this one.
Ravenous Lindwurm image 2.5 This is this format’s premier Common finisher. The efficient stats and life gain it grants you can turn around a lot of games, and if you’re in a mid-range or slow Green deck, you’ll be pretty happy with the Lindwurm.
Immersturm Raider image 1.5 We see this card a lot -- I mean, Fissure Wizard in Zendikar Rising is basically the same. It is a solid card, gives you some card selection -- which can even make it matter in the late game, and all of that makes it so that it can overcome the downside of its mediocre stats.
Weigh Down image 3.0 -3/-3 for one Black mana is super efficient. Having to have a creature in the graveyard does mean this will often be dead in the early game, and sometimes even later than that -- but, all you have to do to make it work is trade with something, and if you’re doing that and getting the additional value out of that creature by exiling it to pay for this, it will feel pretty good. I think the first copy of this tends to really feel like premium removal, but you generally don’t want to run too many of them, as there is only so much fuel in your graveyard.
Mammoth Growth image 1.5 This is a decent trick. Paying the three mana up front isn’t the greatest deal, but the stats boost it gives is enough that it can help almost any creature win combat. The downside is the massive tempo hit you can take if your opponent can do something in response, so like with all tricks, be as careful as you can with this. Adding foretell to the mix does help reduce the downside a little bit -- since you only pay one Green mana the turn you actually use it, and you probably decided to Foretell it on a turn when you couldn’t do anything with your mana anyway, so if you do get blown out the tempo won’t be so bad.
Frostpeak Yeti image 1.5 So, this is a Hill Giant that can become unblockable if you have some Snow mana. That certainly isn’t a good card, but if you are in a controlling Snow deck and you need a win condition well...you probably hope this isn’t it, but it can do the job if you need it to.
Stalwart Valkyrie image 3.0 So, a 4-mana 3/2 with Flying is already a kind of ok card in Limited. So, if you’re paying two for this consistently, that’s going to be pretty nice. Especially because as we’ve seen, BW is interested in casting multiple spells in a turn, and this also helps on that front. Now, using the alternate cost won’t come up a ton in the early game, but it is worth noting that if you trade your 2/2 for theirs, you’re probably going to get more value out of that trade than they will thanks to your Valkyrie. But yeah, from the mid-game on, the alternate casting cost here will become increasingly easy to accomplish, and on a lot of boards a 3/2 with Flying is always relevant.
Shackles of Treachery image 0.5 Even in the most aggressive of decks, this card tends to be too situational to be worthwhile, and there isn’t enough of a sacrifice theme in this set to really abuse it.
Sculptor of Winter image 3.0 A two-mana 2/2 is passable. Additionally, the fact it can untap snow lands is pretty nice too, since it will allow you to ramp, and produce two snow mana off of one snow land, which matters for many cards in this set.
Berg Strider image 3.5 I always like this kind of creature that taps something down when it comes into play, but they are usually only at their best if they can lock the creature down for a turn too. Berg Strider won’t always do that, but it will do it often enough, and hey, at least it does something even if you don’t have the snow mana. It is also another snow payoff that doesn’t demand 10+ snow lands, you can run it with just a few. Tapping something down even without snow mana can often enable an attack you didn’t have otherwise, and tapping something down for a turn can really swing a race in your favor, since that creature won’t be blocking or attacking. This is certainly beefier than most of these tap-down creatures are too -- it has good enough stats to be imposing on some board states.
Snow-Covered Forest image 2.5 Green has some nice snow payoffs, and that means you should be valuing this Snow land over most average cards.
Pack 1 Pick 5: Squash
Gnottvold Slumbermound image 3.5 Blowing up lands in this format is bigger than normal because of snow lands and this cycle, and being able to make a 4/4 at instant speed is pretty nice too.
Frost Augur image 1.0 // 3.5 Drawing more cards than your opponent is a good way to win in Limited, and this little one drop can definitely enable that. You do need to have a decent chunk of Snow permanents to make it do its thing consistently, but I think 5-7 is probably enough that you run this -- even drawing once with it is great. It will certainly be possible in this set to end up with 10+ snow cards though, and when you do, that’s when you’ll be in business. It is pretty bad in a deck without that critical mass though, so keep that in mind.
Invoke the Divine image 1.5 This set has enough good artifacts and Enchantments that this ends up having a reasonable number of targets, making it an okay thing to run in your main deck.
Skull Raid image 2.0 Mind Rot effects are often not great in Limited. In the early game, you can get a 2-for-1 with them -- but it comes at the great sacrifice of not adding to the board at all on turn 3. Then, in the late game, it tends to get worse as the game goes on, and will be a terrible draw way too often. This card gets around those problems by becoming a draw spell if your opponent odeon’t have two cards to discard, so that means that this Mind Rot has all the upside of most of them -- it can get you a 2-for-1 -- but it can still do it if your opponent has one or no cards in the hand. Now, it isn’t exactly an efficient draw spell, but that’s ok with me overall. Foretell, of course, also makes it easier to cast because you get to pay in installments.
Squash image 3.5 This is a very powerful removal spell if you’re in a Giant deck. 1R for 6 damage at instant speed is pretty incredibly efficient.. What’s nice is, 5 mana for 6 damage at instant speed isn’t completely horrendous either -- it isn’t great, mind you -- but it is the kind of removal that you’ll end up running one of a decent amount of the time. The goods news is, most Red decks will have at least a few Giants without even trying to take them, but the better news is, Giants is a very well-supported tribe in this set, and in those decks, this costing 1R won’t be that hard to achieve.
Glittering Frost image 2.5 This card is pretty important in the 4 and 5 color Snow decks, as it helps enable your mana while also giving you two snow permanents with a single card. It is pretty much useless in aggro decks, though.
Withercrown image 1.0 So, I have a hard time ever calling removal “premium” if it still allows whatever you put it on to block, and this does have that problem. This is also weakened by the presence of Good Auras, +1/+1 Counters, and Equipment, since those all mean that the creature still won’t have 0 power. It doesn’t hurt that this makes your opponent lose life every turn or sacrifice the creature, at which point, you do actually get the blocker out of the way. That said, most of the time, you’ll probably play this and your opponent will just use the creature to block and die, as it allows them to get something out of the weakened creature. You generally only play this if you didn’t get better removal spells.
Strategic Planning image 1.0 For two mana you get some card selection and some help loading your graveyard. These type of spells that just let you go 1-for-1 are always easy to cut, as their effects are so minimal. They aren’t bad, but you’d probably rather have a two-drop creature most of the time.
Roots of Wisdom image 1.0 So, this card helps you mill yourself, and then gets an elf or land back from the graveyard most of the time – but not always, especially early. I do like that you get to draw a card if you can’t get a land or elf, which means that you don’t have to have a huge number of elves for it to be super okay. I do kind of wish that it would let you make the choice -- like, if you have an elf and/or land in your graveyard, you could still choose to draw, but it doesn’t work that way -- you only draw if there is nothing to get back. But yeah, like Anticipate, and Tormenting Voice and other cards like this, I imagine you’ll cut this more than you’ll play it. Frankly, it just doesn’t do a whole lot. It doesn’t help that the Elf deck isn’t very impressive.
Depart the Realm image 2.0 Two mana to bounce nonland permanents at Instant speed is usually fine. Bounce spells won’t always straight up trade for a card, but the tempo they give you can be worth it – and, sometimes you can get one of your opponent’s cards with this, if you bounce something that they are using a trick on or putting an Aura on. This has Foretell too, but I still don’t think it is much more than “fine”.
Behold the Multiverse image 3.5 4-mana for instant speed Scry 2 and draw 2 cards is usually pretty close to being a first pickable card when we’ve seen it in the past. It just does a great job of letting you see tons of cards, and is the kind of thing you’ll want one of in basically every Blue deck. Adding Foretell to the mix makes it even better, especially because, in this case, you’re not paying extra mana -- you pay the same amount, just in two installments, and that’s just great. Fortell is a lot like Morph or Suspend, in that it adds nice flexibility to a card, and lets you do something with any excess mana you might have -- like if you don’t have a two drop in the early game, you can just Fortell this, and that feels really good.
Pack 1 Pick 6: Berg Strider
Story Seeker image 2.0 Two mana 2/2s with Lifelink are always solid. Just being able to trade for another two drop and gaining you 2 life is a decent fail case, and if they are allowed to stick around they will end up gaining you significant life. Auras and Equipment are also your friend with a creature like this.
Arachnoform image 1.0 This set has a lot of nice Auras, but Arachnoform isn’t one of them. It doesn’t mitigate agains the 2-for-1, and the bonus it grants is not significant enough for me to be interested in taking a risk. +2/+2, reach, and changeling status just doesn’t do it for me.
Cinderheart Giant image 1.5 So, this is a big ol’ giant with Trample, something that normally wouldn’t be so good -- but its death trigger is pretty interesting. It basically means it will kill something at random when it dies -- not much can stand up to 7 damage -- and that’s pretty nice. It is random unfortunately, so you may kill an Elf token instead of a real card, but by having a death trigger, it does help mitigate against some of the danger of running a 7-drop in your deck, because now if it gets removed, at least it will impact the board one way or another. Now, I still don’t really think you’ll play thi sin most decks, even Giant decks, but it seems like a reasonable top curve if you’re in need of that.
Berg Strider image 3.5 I always like this kind of creature that taps something down when it comes into play, but they are usually only at their best if they can lock the creature down for a turn too. Berg Strider won’t always do that, but it will do it often enough, and hey, at least it does something even if you don’t have the snow mana. It is also another snow payoff that doesn’t demand 10+ snow lands, you can run it with just a few. Tapping something down even without snow mana can often enable an attack you didn’t have otherwise, and tapping something down for a turn can really swing a race in your favor, since that creature won’t be blocking or attacking. This is certainly beefier than most of these tap-down creatures are too -- it has good enough stats to be imposing on some board states.
Disdainful Stroke image 1.0 This is a card we’ve seen a lot of, and generally I don’t like running it. It is super weird in this format too, because you’ll go up against aggro decks who have 0-2 targets for this, and against snow decks who will have like 7+. I think that really means you have to start it in your sideboard, since it will be so bad against a big part of the metagame.
Smashing Success image 0.0 Land destruction spells are almost never worth it in Limited. This is because it often has a negligible effect on the game -- if you get it late it basically does nothing, if you get it early it might do something, but even then there is about a 50% chance that your opponent still won’t be bothered by it. And yeah, this one is an instant, can hit artifacts, and makes a treasure when it destroys artifacts, but you still shouldn’t play it.
Grim Draugr image 2.0 This is fine. It has alright stats and it can gain some evasion in the later part of the game, giving it continued relevance.
Infernal Pet image 2.0 You probably need to trigger this at least once to make it worth it, and since it starts out as an inefficient 3-mana 2/2, you may even want to trigger it twice before you feel okay about stuff. While that is certainly doable, I don’t really think this is going to be one of the key double spell payoffs that you need for the deck.
Jaspera Sentinel image 2.0 The fixing this offers is a big deal for the decks trying to play 3+ colors. It doesn’t have the greatest stats, and Reach isn’t very exciting, but the mana production here is nice.
Snow-Covered Plains image 2.0 This is the least valuable snow land because White doesn’t care much about Snow.
Pack 1 Pick 7: Littjara Kinseekers
Harald, King of Skemfar image 3.0 In many BG decks Harald is a 3-mana 3/2 with Menace that draws you a card, and that’s pretty nice. Unfortunately, BG is one of the weaker color pairs in the format, and that holds him back significantly. The other Elf payoffs are pretty disappointing.
Gnottvold Slumbermound image 3.5 Blowing up lands in this format is bigger than normal because of snow lands and this cycle, and being able to make a 4/4 at instant speed is pretty nice too.
Tuskeri Firewalker image 3.0 A 3-mana 3/2 isn’t great, but its Boast effect is pretty nice. You really need to only be able to play somethin off of it once to feel good about the situation, since at that point, you’re getting a 2-for-1 in most cases. It even lets you pay lands if you exile one of them. The downside with this type of effect is often that you are unable to cast the spell you exile, and that’ll happen, but I think it’ll work out often enough that this seems pretty nice to me. Even if you just attack with it and it dies in combat, if you get a card out of the Boast, you’re doing just fine. I think this is a pretty good Red common.
Goldvein Pick image 3.0 This card is super good in this format. There are lots of good creatures to equip and the fixing it gives is great. While it is definitely better in more aggressive decks, it can work in any deck with a reasonable number of creatures, and that means you can value it pretty highly.
Story Seeker image 2.0 Two mana 2/2s with Lifelink are always solid. Just being able to trade for another two drop and gaining you 2 life is a decent fail case, and if they are allowed to stick around they will end up gaining you significant life. Auras and Equipment are also your friend with a creature like this.
Codespell Cleric image 1.0 // 2.5 So, since this is one mana, casting it as your second spell in a turn won’t be super challenging, especially in a format with Foretell. I mean, in the late game it will be a little harder, like if you’re in top deck mode, but in the early and mid-game it will just happen. For this to be worth it, it does need to be making that +1/+1 counter a significant chunk of the time, and it can do that in aggro decks. Like Battlefield Raptor, it is much better in aggressive decks than it is elsewhere.
Littjara Kinseekers image 1.5 A 4-mana 2/4 isn’t very good. But, if you can trigger its ETB ability, you’re going to be pretty happy -- as a 4-mana ⅗ that scries one is a pretty good deal. Now, because it has Changeling, you will just need two other creatures with matching creature types to trigger it, and while that isn’t always going to be what your board looks like, I imagine that in the late game it won’t be that hard to trigger. The ideal thing to do would be to curve out with creatures with the same types, but that won’t always be doable. Still, this being a reasonable 4-mana 2/4 changeling in the early game, and a much more impressive card in the later part of the game makes me think this is a pretty solid common for Blue.
Axgard Cavalry image 2.5 This is a nice two drop. Having a bear that can give haste to stuff is really nice. If the board is such that it can’t attack itself, there’s a good chance you can play a creature that has a nice attack on the board if you can make it attack right away, and that’s what the Cavalry does. These creatures who can give haste to other creatures always seem to overperform, and I think this looks like a nice Common for Red.
Withercrown image 1.0 So, I have a hard time ever calling removal “premium” if it still allows whatever you put it on to block, and this does have that problem. This is also weakened by the presence of Good Auras, +1/+1 Counters, and Equipment, since those all mean that the creature still won’t have 0 power. It doesn’t hurt that this makes your opponent lose life every turn or sacrifice the creature, at which point, you do actually get the blocker out of the way. That said, most of the time, you’ll probably play this and your opponent will just use the creature to block and die, as it allows them to get something out of the weakened creature. You generally only play this if you didn’t get better removal spells.
Pack 1 Pick 8: Inga Rune-Eyes
Inga Rune-Eyes image 3.0 So, I was pretty much sold on this card after the ETB ability. A 4-mana 3/3 that Scries 3 is very nice. Never underestimate how good scrying is, especially higher scry values like 3 -- that is going to have a very real impact on how good your next few draws are, and that can often determine a game. She then has an ability that will be a little bit harder to make work -- if you jump through some hoops though, her drawing you three cards is pretty much insane, and if you can pull it off, it will be hard for your opponent to win. But, temper your expectations, pulling that off will be difficult. The most likely outcome is that she has an impact on how your opponent attacks and blocks, since they will be trying to avoid letting you draw those cards, but that is definitely not a bad thing.
Broken Wings image 1.5 This card is very mainboardable in this format because it has lots of good targets. It still isn’t great or anything, though.
Starnheim Courser image 2.5 This has the always-okay Wind Drake stats and reasonable upside. Good Equipment and Auras are plentiful in the set, so that upside does come up!
Jaspera Sentinel image 2.0 The fixing this offers is a big deal for the decks trying to play 3+ colors. It doesn’t have the greatest stats, and Reach isn’t very exciting, but the mana production here is nice.
Berg Strider image 3.5 I always like this kind of creature that taps something down when it comes into play, but they are usually only at their best if they can lock the creature down for a turn too. Berg Strider won’t always do that, but it will do it often enough, and hey, at least it does something even if you don’t have the snow mana. It is also another snow payoff that doesn’t demand 10+ snow lands, you can run it with just a few. Tapping something down even without snow mana can often enable an attack you didn’t have otherwise, and tapping something down for a turn can really swing a race in your favor, since that creature won’t be blocking or attacking. This is certainly beefier than most of these tap-down creatures are too -- it has good enough stats to be imposing on some board states.
Axgard Cavalry image 2.5 This is a nice two drop. Having a bear that can give haste to stuff is really nice. If the board is such that it can’t attack itself, there’s a good chance you can play a creature that has a nice attack on the board if you can make it attack right away, and that’s what the Cavalry does. These creatures who can give haste to other creatures always seem to overperform, and I think this looks like a nice Common for Red.
Gnottvold Recluse image 2.0 Most spiders we see come with low power and high toughness. This makes them good at repeatedly blocking smaller flyers, but not so good at actually killing them. Gnottvold Recluse is different, in that it has higher power and lower toughness. This means it is going to be better at blocking and killing larger flyers, but a lot worse at repeatedly blocking flyers. 3-mana for a 4/2 line is often a borderline playable card even without Reach, and I think adding Reach to the mix here means you will feel fine about playing the first copy of this. Though, it would be nice if it were a snow permanent or something.
Revitalize image 0.5 This is an underwhelming reprint. A cantrip that gains you life isn’t bad, it is just one of those cards that will be the last card cut from your deck most of the time. Especially because this set doesn’t seem to have a strong life gain theme.
Pack 1 Pick 9: Depart the Realm
Shackles of Treachery image 0.5 Even in the most aggressive of decks, this card tends to be too situational to be worthwhile, and there isn’t enough of a sacrifice theme in this set to really abuse it.
Demonic Gifts image 1.5 This type of trick is usually alright. The stats boost is enough to make your creature take down larger creatures in combat, and it doesn’t really have to “win” the combat, since the Gifts will bring your creature right back if it dies. This can get especially nasty if your creature has an ETB ability. It also doesn’t hurt that it does something against most removal too. It is still a trick, and the situational nature of them keeps most of them from ever being especially good.
Depart the Realm image 2.0 Two mana to bounce nonland permanents at Instant speed is usually fine. Bounce spells won’t always straight up trade for a card, but the tempo they give you can be worth it – and, sometimes you can get one of your opponent’s cards with this, if you bounce something that they are using a trick on or putting an Aura on. This has Foretell too, but I still don’t think it is much more than “fine”.
Fearless Pup image 2.0 A one mana 1/1 with first strike is not that impressive, those are just stats that quickly become irrelevant, and in some games it will feel like you should have just played a four drop that is more impactful. Adding Boast to the mix obviously matters, though, and often just the threat of activation will mean that your opponent just takes hits from this thing. This is also another great creature to enhance with equipment, counters, and Auras.
Karfell Kennel-Master image 2.5 This has been solid top-curve in Black decks. It often comes down and enables 1-2 attacks that you just couldn’t have done before, and a 4/4 body is pretty good in this format.
Codespell Cleric image 1.0 // 2.5 So, since this is one mana, casting it as your second spell in a turn won’t be super challenging, especially in a format with Foretell. I mean, in the late game it will be a little harder, like if you’re in top deck mode, but in the early and mid-game it will just happen. For this to be worth it, it does need to be making that +1/+1 counter a significant chunk of the time, and it can do that in aggro decks. Like Battlefield Raptor, it is much better in aggressive decks than it is elsewhere.
Jaspera Sentinel image 2.0 The fixing this offers is a big deal for the decks trying to play 3+ colors. It doesn’t have the greatest stats, and Reach isn’t very exciting, but the mana production here is nice.
Pack 1 Pick 10: Mistwalker
The Trickster-God's Heist image 2.0 This is another situational Saga that doesn’t always do something. When you can play it and take full advantage it is strong, but it will be stuck in your hand doing nothing more often than you’d think.
Tuskeri Firewalker image 3.0 A 3-mana 3/2 isn’t great, but its Boast effect is pretty nice. You really need to only be able to play somethin off of it once to feel good about the situation, since at that point, you’re getting a 2-for-1 in most cases. It even lets you pay lands if you exile one of them. The downside with this type of effect is often that you are unable to cast the spell you exile, and that’ll happen, but I think it’ll work out often enough that this seems pretty nice to me. Even if you just attack with it and it dies in combat, if you get a card out of the Boast, you’re doing just fine. I think this is a pretty good Red common.
Grim Draugr image 2.0 This is fine. It has alright stats and it can gain some evasion in the later part of the game, giving it continued relevance.
Dogged Pursuit image 1.0 Draining one life gives you inevitability, and because it is also gaining you life, it helps you to survive longer -- which in turn helps you drain more life. If you are a control deck, this seems like a decent win condition to me. Now, tapping out to play this on turn four will not always be smart, because you need to be building your board in the early game to not die, and that is a pretty significant downside. You’ll be cutting this a lot, it really takes the right deck for it to be worth it.
Mistwalker image 3.5 This card will overperform for you. 3-mana 1/4s are usually already playable, but the Changeling status and the ability to pump power makes it so that Mistwalker can do a whole lot of stuff for a three drop. It counts for your Giant payoffs, blocks effectively, and can even attack pretty hard.
Master Skald image 2.0 5-mana for a 4/4 that returns an artifact or enchantment is not a bad deal. And sure, you also need a creature in your graveyard to make it happen, but by turn 5 that won’t normally be an issue. There are lots of good Artifacts and Enchantments in this set, but the Skald is at his best with Sagas, since they are designed to eventually go to your graveyard in the first place. If you have at least one Saga, playing a Master Skald is usually a pretty good idea.
Pack 1 Pick 11: Frostpyre Arcanist
Frostpyre Arcanist image 1.0 // 3.5 This type of design always interests me -- and by “this type” I mean cards that pay you off for having multiple copies of some card in your deck. The Giant deck -- which is UR -- is a spells deck, so this fits in very nicely -- it costing 4 won’t be that far-fetched, and a ⅖ isn’t too shabby for that kind of mana. You probably need at least two sets of duplicate spells, and ideally, cheap ones, so that is more likely when you play this that one of them is in your graveyard. If you can get this to draw a card for you even like half the time, you’re going to be pretty happy with this card. But yeah, if you don’t have any duplicates, it is probably best to steer clear.
Undersea Invader image 1.0 One of the great things about flash is being able to ambush block, and you won't be doing that here because it enters tapped. It might be a giant, but it is mostly just an inefficient creature. If it wasn't a Giant you probably wouldn't play it all.
Fearless Pup image 2.0 A one mana 1/1 with first strike is not that impressive, those are just stats that quickly become irrelevant, and in some games it will feel like you should have just played a four drop that is more impactful. Adding Boast to the mix obviously matters, though, and often just the threat of activation will mean that your opponent just takes hits from this thing. This is also another great creature to enhance with equipment, counters, and Auras.
Master Skald image 2.0 5-mana for a 4/4 that returns an artifact or enchantment is not a bad deal. And sure, you also need a creature in your graveyard to make it happen, but by turn 5 that won’t normally be an issue. There are lots of good Artifacts and Enchantments in this set, but the Skald is at his best with Sagas, since they are designed to eventually go to your graveyard in the first place. If you have at least one Saga, playing a Master Skald is usually a pretty good idea.
Arachnoform image 1.0 This set has a lot of nice Auras, but Arachnoform isn’t one of them. It doesn’t mitigate agains the 2-for-1, and the bonus it grants is not significant enough for me to be interested in taking a risk. +2/+2, reach, and changeling status just doesn’t do it for me.
Pack 1 Pick 12: Mammoth Growth
Gates of Istfell image 3.5 It is great having a land that can draw you some cards and gain you some life in the late game – most lands become useless at that point! But not this one.
Ravenous Lindwurm image 2.5 This is this format’s premier Common finisher. The efficient stats and life gain it grants you can turn around a lot of games, and if you’re in a mid-range or slow Green deck, you’ll be pretty happy with the Lindwurm.
Mammoth Growth image 1.5 This is a decent trick. Paying the three mana up front isn’t the greatest deal, but the stats boost it gives is enough that it can help almost any creature win combat. The downside is the massive tempo hit you can take if your opponent can do something in response, so like with all tricks, be as careful as you can with this. Adding foretell to the mix does help reduce the downside a little bit -- since you only pay one Green mana the turn you actually use it, and you probably decided to Foretell it on a turn when you couldn’t do anything with your mana anyway, so if you do get blown out the tempo won’t be so bad.
Shackles of Treachery image 0.5 Even in the most aggressive of decks, this card tends to be too situational to be worthwhile, and there isn’t enough of a sacrifice theme in this set to really abuse it.
Pack 1 Pick 13: Invoke the Divine
Invoke the Divine image 1.5 This set has enough good artifacts and Enchantments that this ends up having a reasonable number of targets, making it an okay thing to run in your main deck.
Strategic Planning image 1.0 For two mana you get some card selection and some help loading your graveyard. These type of spells that just let you go 1-for-1 are always easy to cut, as their effects are so minimal. They aren’t bad, but you’d probably rather have a two-drop creature most of the time.
Roots of Wisdom image 1.0 So, this card helps you mill yourself, and then gets an elf or land back from the graveyard most of the time – but not always, especially early. I do like that you get to draw a card if you can’t get a land or elf, which means that you don’t have to have a huge number of elves for it to be super okay. I do kind of wish that it would let you make the choice -- like, if you have an elf and/or land in your graveyard, you could still choose to draw, but it doesn’t work that way -- you only draw if there is nothing to get back. But yeah, like Anticipate, and Tormenting Voice and other cards like this, I imagine you’ll cut this more than you’ll play it. Frankly, it just doesn’t do a whole lot. It doesn’t help that the Elf deck isn’t very impressive.
Pack 1 Pick 14: Cinderheart Giant
Cinderheart Giant image 1.5 So, this is a big ol’ giant with Trample, something that normally wouldn’t be so good -- but its death trigger is pretty interesting. It basically means it will kill something at random when it dies -- not much can stand up to 7 damage -- and that’s pretty nice. It is random unfortunately, so you may kill an Elf token instead of a real card, but by having a death trigger, it does help mitigate against some of the danger of running a 7-drop in your deck, because now if it gets removed, at least it will impact the board one way or another. Now, I still don’t really think you’ll play thi sin most decks, even Giant decks, but it seems like a reasonable top curve if you’re in need of that.
Disdainful Stroke image 1.0 This is a card we’ve seen a lot of, and generally I don’t like running it. It is super weird in this format too, because you’ll go up against aggro decks who have 0-2 targets for this, and against snow decks who will have like 7+. I think that really means you have to start it in your sideboard, since it will be so bad against a big part of the metagame.
Pack 1 Pick 15: Axgard Cavalry
Axgard Cavalry image 2.5 This is a nice two drop. Having a bear that can give haste to stuff is really nice. If the board is such that it can’t attack itself, there’s a good chance you can play a creature that has a nice attack on the board if you can make it attack right away, and that’s what the Cavalry does. These creatures who can give haste to other creatures always seem to overperform, and I think this looks like a nice Common for Red.
Pack 2 Pick 1: Koma, Cosmos Serpent
Koma, Cosmos Serpent image 5.0 Well, this is pretty obviously a bomb. Note that you get a serpent token every upkeep, which includes your opponents, and that’s important, because Koma can turn those Serpent tokens into powerful effects. Your opponent will basically never be able to untap and kill Koma, because by the time it gets to their main phase you will have a serpent you can sacrifice to make him indestructible, and the Serpent fuel will only keep on coming. Making things tapped and turning off activated abilities isn’t quite as powerful in Limited, but it is a nice bonus effect. Basically, Koma generates Serpetn tokens like crazy and is very difficult to kill.
Weathered Runestone image 0.0 This isn’t really here for Limited, it is a hate card for constructed sideboards, and one that won’t have much of an impact on most of your games in Limited, so you should never play it.
Frost Augur image 1.0 // 3.5 Drawing more cards than your opponent is a good way to win in Limited, and this little one drop can definitely enable that. You do need to have a decent chunk of Snow permanents to make it do its thing consistently, but I think 5-7 is probably enough that you run this -- even drawing once with it is great. It will certainly be possible in this set to end up with 10+ snow cards though, and when you do, that’s when you’ll be in business. It is pretty bad in a deck without that critical mass though, so keep that in mind.
Battershield Warrior image 3.0 That is a very nice boast effect. Obviously, a 3-mana 2/2 isn’t so good, but being able to give your whole board +1/+1 -- including itself -- is pretty nice. A lot of these Boast creatures have some serious threat of activation, and that is certainly an issue here if you are trying to block when someone attacks with this and some other creatures. There’s a good chance it will die after that first swing, but it and all of its friends will be much harder to block, so you’re probably coming out ahead in that exchange.
Craven Hulk image 2.0 This coward may not be good at blocking, but a 4-mana 4/4 is a good enough deal in Limited that I’m okay with that. Its also a Giant, and that is probably the creature type that matters the most in this set, as it is the most tribal of the color pairs.
Disdainful Stroke image 1.0 This is a card we’ve seen a lot of, and generally I don’t like running it. It is super weird in this format too, because you’ll go up against aggro decks who have 0-2 targets for this, and against snow decks who will have like 7+. I think that really means you have to start it in your sideboard, since it will be so bad against a big part of the metagame.
Broken Wings image 1.5 This card is very mainboardable in this format because it has lots of good targets. It still isn’t great or anything, though.
Sarulf's Packmate image 4.0 This is a great common. A 4-mana 3/3 that draws you a card is already a good card. It is going to give you a two-for-one almost every time, especially because the stats it has are actually passable for the mana cost. Then, you add foretold to the mix, which in this case lets you pay for the card in two separate installments, and you have a card that is super powerful for a common.
Arachnoform image 1.0 This set has a lot of nice Auras, but Arachnoform isn’t one of them. It doesn’t mitigate agains the 2-for-1, and the bonus it grants is not significant enough for me to be interested in taking a risk. +2/+2, reach, and changeling status just doesn’t do it for me.
Bind the Monster image 2.5 Blue does not often get super efficient Auras that are capable of getting a blocker out of the way with no problem, and in general it doesn’t usually get removal that can just straight up shut down most creatures – but that’s what this is. For one mana, this can deal entirely with most creatures, and sure – you’re going to take some damage, but I think it is worth it for the efficiency. Playing more than one of these can get a bit risky, since you only have so much life you can pay for an effect like this, but I think you pretty much always play the first copy, especially if you’re light on other removal.
Warhorn Blast image 1.0 // 3.0 So, mass pump spells always have some decks they will be good in -- obviously, the ones that are going wide -- but they are pretty bad in less aggressive decks. This one does add Foretell to the mix -- this is one of the foretell cards where the total investment is the same whether you Foretell it or not, so if you have the extra mana it will definitely be worth doing, since only paying three for this the turn you play it is no small thing. Still, this kind of card is always kind of a build around. If you’re an aggro deck that is good at going wide, you’re going to want one copy of this pretty often. Even in those decks it is situational, but the situation is much more likely to arise in those decks.
Valor of the Worthy image 2.0 I often complain about Auras that don’t give a good boost for the mana cost, as well as auras that don’t give you value to help a 2-for-1 not feel so bad. This does kind of okay on both of those fronts, but not super well on either. The efficiency here is pretty nice when you look at the whole package - one mana for a +1/+1 Aura and a 1/1 flyer if things go wrong, but I’m still not sure I like the risk of putting this on something. +1/+1 can have an impact, but it isn’t ultra likely to be game changing, and while you only spend a single White mana, you still have some risk here, as the 1/1 you get is probably worse than whatever you put it on.
Dogged Pursuit image 1.0 Draining one life gives you inevitability, and because it is also gaining you life, it helps you to survive longer -- which in turn helps you drain more life. If you are a control deck, this seems like a decent win condition to me. Now, tapping out to play this on turn four will not always be smart, because you need to be building your board in the early game to not die, and that is a pretty significant downside. You’ll be cutting this a lot, it really takes the right deck for it to be worth it.
Funeral Longboat image 1.5 This is a decent vehicle. Crew 1 is just so easy to do, that this is going to just feel like a two mana 3/3 with Vigilance some of the time. And, the fact it is so easy to crew AND has vigilance, means your opponent also has to take into account while attacking you.
Sulfurous Mire image 3.5 This is a Snow land to value fairly highly. It gives you snow mana and fixing, and it is in colors that have some nice snow payoffs at lower rarities.
Pack 2 Pick 2: Old-Growth Troll
Old-Growth Troll image 4.0 So, this is sort of hard to cast on curve in Limited, but I think that’s ok -- 4/4 trampler is relevant for the entirety of most games, especially one that gives you some value when it dies. A lot of the time you probably won’t be particularly intereste din the ramp aspect of this troll, but you will absolutely be interested in basically turning one of your lands into a 4/4 with Trample. It isn’t exactly a 2-for-1, because you do end up giving up a land, but a 4/4 trampler is a huge upgrade over a land by the mid to late game especially.
Immersturm Skullcairn image 3.0 I think this is weaker that the others in this cycle because one of its effects often has diminished returns by the late game - in particular, the discard a card part of the card. Mostly, this will give you some reach, and maybe you end up getting some useful card out of your opponent’s hand, but it won’t line up that way very often. It is still a land that does something useful in the later game, and I’m always on board for that.
Ascent of the Worthy image 0.5 This card is way too difficult to set up effectively, and you should mostly not play it.
Kardur, Doomscourge image 4.0 Kardur is strong, so it is kind of unfortunate that BR collectively isn’t really. You’ll mostly play him off a splash in other decks. Forcing all of your opponent’s creatures to attack you can make a big impact, not only because you can set up blocks to kill their creatures -- which, with Kardur in play, also means you’ll drain them 1 life -- but also because it opens your opponent up for a crack back that might just be lethal. In other words, Your opponent will have to attack in what is likely a less-than-optimal situation, while you’ll be able to attack in a pretty good one. Now, if your opponent’s board is significantly better than yours, things might not go so well, but if that’s true, well -- they were probably going to attack you with everything anyway! Note, by the way, that it doesn’t matter who controls an attacking creature for the drain life trigger, so it matters when you attack and when your opponent attacks.
Grim Draugr image 2.0 This is fine. It has alright stats and it can gain some evasion in the later part of the game, giving it continued relevance.
Guardian Gladewalker image 2.5 So, we see versions of this card all the time -- and they are always pretty nice commons for Green. The +1/+1 counter ETB trigger makes it so that it is relevant all game long -- often times a single counter is enough to enable attacks you just didn’t have before. And, you know, sometimes, this is just a two-mana 2/2, like in the early game. Adding changeling to the mix is significant upside on an already pretty good Green common.
Village Rites image 1.0 This is a reprint, and not one that I thought was particularly good in Limited. For this type of card to really be something special, you need for there to be a significant sacrifice or token sub-theme, and neither seems to be an overwhelming focus of this set, though the Elf deck might do the best of taking advantage of this. It is nice that it is an instant, so you can sacrifice something after you declare a block, or in response to an opponent’s removal, but you’re basically still just doing the same sort of thing that Tormenting Voice does. Giving up two cards to get two back. And that’s not bad it just isn’t the kind of thing you will always have roomf or in your deck. Mostly, I think you’ll only play this if you’re short on playables.
Starnheim Courser image 2.5 This has the always-okay Wind Drake stats and reasonable upside. Good Equipment and Auras are plentiful in the set, so that upside does come up!
Tuskeri Firewalker image 3.0 A 3-mana 3/2 isn’t great, but its Boast effect is pretty nice. You really need to only be able to play somethin off of it once to feel good about the situation, since at that point, you’re getting a 2-for-1 in most cases. It even lets you pay lands if you exile one of them. The downside with this type of effect is often that you are unable to cast the spell you exile, and that’ll happen, but I think it’ll work out often enough that this seems pretty nice to me. Even if you just attack with it and it dies in combat, if you get a card out of the Boast, you’re doing just fine. I think this is a pretty good Red common.
Behold the Multiverse image 3.5 4-mana for instant speed Scry 2 and draw 2 cards is usually pretty close to being a first pickable card when we’ve seen it in the past. It just does a great job of letting you see tons of cards, and is the kind of thing you’ll want one of in basically every Blue deck. Adding Foretell to the mix makes it even better, especially because, in this case, you’re not paying extra mana -- you pay the same amount, just in two installments, and that’s just great. Fortell is a lot like Morph or Suspend, in that it adds nice flexibility to a card, and lets you do something with any excess mana you might have -- like if you don’t have a two drop in the early game, you can just Fortell this, and that feels really good.
Struggle for Skemfar image 3.5 So, this is a strictly better Hunt the Weak. And, while I think Hunt the Weak seems a bit weaker these days thani t used to, it was always a solid card. The +1/+1 counter makes it so more of your creatures are capable of killing opposing creatures, and yeah -- you do have to be super cautious with this, since if your opponent interacts in response it will be a blow out -- but it still does a pretty good job at getting creatures out of the way for Green decks. Adding Foretell to this is great -- because in this case, you actually end up paying less total mana. Additionally, by only costing Green the turn you cast it, it means you can play a new creature and have it fight right away, and in general, it will mean that it is easier for you to find a safe window to cast it, since you don’t need a whole bunch of mana to make it do its thing. This is premium removal for Green.
Draugr Recruiter image 1.5 So, this is definitely a Boast ability that is all about the late game. The boast is expensive, and also asks for cards in the graveyard, but if you do get to use this late, and attack with this Recruiter in a situation where the best your opponent can do is trade with it or chump block it, it is going to be pretty nice. That said, by the late game, a 4-mana 3/3 won’t always be capable of making that situation happen. Sometimes, if you have something good enough in your graveyard, it will be worth the bad attack, but it is still kind of a rough deal. I think I will probably cut this a little more than I play it.
Craven Hulk image 2.0 This coward may not be good at blocking, but a 4-mana 4/4 is a good enough deal in Limited that I’m okay with that. Its also a Giant, and that is probably the creature type that matters the most in this set, as it is the most tribal of the color pairs.
Snow-Covered Plains image 2.0 This is the least valuable snow land because White doesn’t care much about Snow.
Pack 2 Pick 3: The Three Seasons
The Three Seasons image 1.0 This has not been very good. It seems like it might be an okay snow payoff, but it turns out that getting the most out of Chapter II is difficult, and that’s not great news when Chapter I has no immediate impact on the board. Then, Chapter III is kind of a bummer, because you have to give your opponent back some cards. Now, you can choose their worst ones and all that, but I’ve seen that side of the card backfire a lot.
Doomskar Titan image 3.5 He might cost 6 mana, but he’s going to add a whole lot of damage to the board often enough that he is well worth it! And, if you foretell him on an earlier turn where you have mana around to do it, he’ll come down a turn earlier! Now, the downside here, is that on his own, he can’t do a ton, but keep in mind, his ability affects him too -- he becomes a 5/4 with Haste, and that isn’t the worst fail case ever -- and how often will your board be empty anyway? He does need you to be really going at least somewhat wide to do his best work, but he will have an impact even if you just have a couple of creatures.
Open the Omenpaths image 0.0 This is a card a lot of people will play when they are desperate for fixing – but don’t do it. Ritual effects like this aren’t good in Limited, you two for one yourself for some fixing and a small mana boost, and that card disadvantage is likely to cause you to lose the game. The alternate mode this has doesn’t help make any more playable either.
Koma's Faithful image 2.0 This seems solid. A 3-mana 3/1 with lifelink isn’t a terrible rate -- trading for an X/3 and gaining 3 life in the process isn’t bad, and it comes with some additional upside. Now, the graveyard isn’t a huge theme in this set, but there is some synergy to be had there.
Skull Raid image 2.0 Mind Rot effects are often not great in Limited. In the early game, you can get a 2-for-1 with them -- but it comes at the great sacrifice of not adding to the board at all on turn 3. Then, in the late game, it tends to get worse as the game goes on, and will be a terrible draw way too often. This card gets around those problems by becoming a draw spell if your opponent odeon’t have two cards to discard, so that means that this Mind Rot has all the upside of most of them -- it can get you a 2-for-1 -- but it can still do it if your opponent has one or no cards in the hand. Now, it isn’t exactly an efficient draw spell, but that’s ok with me overall. Foretell, of course, also makes it easier to cast because you get to pay in installments.
Shackles of Treachery image 0.5 Even in the most aggressive of decks, this card tends to be too situational to be worthwhile, and there isn’t enough of a sacrifice theme in this set to really abuse it.
Jaspera Sentinel image 2.0 The fixing this offers is a big deal for the decks trying to play 3+ colors. It doesn’t have the greatest stats, and Reach isn’t very exciting, but the mana production here is nice.
Village Rites image 1.0 This is a reprint, and not one that I thought was particularly good in Limited. For this type of card to really be something special, you need for there to be a significant sacrifice or token sub-theme, and neither seems to be an overwhelming focus of this set, though the Elf deck might do the best of taking advantage of this. It is nice that it is an instant, so you can sacrifice something after you declare a block, or in response to an opponent’s removal, but you’re basically still just doing the same sort of thing that Tormenting Voice does. Giving up two cards to get two back. And that’s not bad it just isn’t the kind of thing you will always have roomf or in your deck. Mostly, I think you’ll only play this if you’re short on playables.
Dwarven Reinforcements image 2.0 Normally when you pay 4 mana for a couple of tokens, you expect a couple of 2/2s -- and that isn’t what you get here. However, Foretell does mean you can pay for this in two separate installments, which does help overcome that downside.
Draugr Thought-Thief image 1.5 If you’re going to be a 3-mana 3/2, you probably need to have something going on that makes those inefficient stats worth it -- and I don’t really see that here. You get some very minor card selection, and an effect that might help you put something in your graveyard. Or, alternatively, something that lets you control your opponent’s next draw a little bit, but neither of those things is that great. It is kind of equivalent to Scry 1, but in most ways, it isn’t as good as Scry 1. You will certainly play this sometimes, but you’ll also cut it a fair bit.
Dread Rider image 1.0 This has some nice defensive stats and an activated ability that can close out games, but it tends to be too expensive and not powerful enough for even control decks to be interested in it.
Iron Verdict image 2.5 This is another “Trap card” with foretell. So, in the past, 3-mana cards that do 5-damage to attacking creatures have been solid -- and this can actually work on any tapped creature, not just attacking ones. This is better than most of the other cards like that we’ve seen because of Foretell too. Being able to put this aside and use it for a single white mana later on in the game is great -- and this type of effect is situational, so putting it aside for awhile until you need it is going to work out pretty well. Now, I still don’t think this is quite “premium” removal -- you still are paying a total of 3 mana for the effect, and it is still pretty situational. But it is a nice White common.
Alpine Meadow image 3.0 This isn’t one of the more important snow lands around, because White and Red are the colors that care the least about Snow. Still, it does provide fixing and a snow permanent, and those are things that are pretty valuable in this set.
Pack 2 Pick 4: Struggle for Skemfar
Frenzied Raider image 2.5 This is a nice Boast payoff, and will give you another bonus to get while you’re attacking that could further complicate combat. There is a lot of Boast in Red, so it isn’t too hard to make him work in most Red decks.
The Three Seasons image 1.0 This has not been very good. It seems like it might be an okay snow payoff, but it turns out that getting the most out of Chapter II is difficult, and that’s not great news when Chapter I has no immediate impact on the board. Then, Chapter III is kind of a bummer, because you have to give your opponent back some cards. Now, you can choose their worst ones and all that, but I’ve seen that side of the card backfire a lot.
Struggle for Skemfar image 3.5 So, this is a strictly better Hunt the Weak. And, while I think Hunt the Weak seems a bit weaker these days thani t used to, it was always a solid card. The +1/+1 counter makes it so more of your creatures are capable of killing opposing creatures, and yeah -- you do have to be super cautious with this, since if your opponent interacts in response it will be a blow out -- but it still does a pretty good job at getting creatures out of the way for Green decks. Adding Foretell to this is great -- because in this case, you actually end up paying less total mana. Additionally, by only costing Green the turn you cast it, it means you can play a new creature and have it fight right away, and in general, it will mean that it is easier for you to find a safe window to cast it, since you don’t need a whole bunch of mana to make it do its thing. This is premium removal for Green.
Doomskar Oracle image 2.5 BW and UW are both color pairs interested in Foretell, and Doomskar Oracle fits well into both of those decks. It has Foretell itself, AND it is a Foretell payoff. And, the payoff it gives you isn’t the most powerful thing ever, but incidental life gain can go a long way towards helping you survive in Limited, and since it is attached to a 3-mana 3/2 with foretell, I think you’ll find yourself playing this pretty regularly in White, even if you aren’t in one of the foretell decks. The Foretell here adds up to the same amount of mana you would normally pay, you just get to do it in two installments, which could allow for more flexible turns in the future. Like with a lot of these, I think you should only be foretelling it if you have extra mana lying around, -- or if you have a bunch of foretell payoffs - since just casting it is going to be reasonable a lot of the time too.
Run Amok image 2.5 This is a key card for aggro decks in this format. If you’re going hard in that direction, this becomes a pretty high pick. It often lets you run over an opposing creature and do opposing damage, and can result in lethal out of nowhere. It isn’t especially good in other decks, though.
Tuskeri Firewalker image 3.0 A 3-mana 3/2 isn’t great, but its Boast effect is pretty nice. You really need to only be able to play somethin off of it once to feel good about the situation, since at that point, you’re getting a 2-for-1 in most cases. It even lets you pay lands if you exile one of them. The downside with this type of effect is often that you are unable to cast the spell you exile, and that’ll happen, but I think it’ll work out often enough that this seems pretty nice to me. Even if you just attack with it and it dies in combat, if you get a card out of the Boast, you’re doing just fine. I think this is a pretty good Red common.
Master Skald image 2.0 5-mana for a 4/4 that returns an artifact or enchantment is not a bad deal. And sure, you also need a creature in your graveyard to make it happen, but by turn 5 that won’t normally be an issue. There are lots of good Artifacts and Enchantments in this set, but the Skald is at his best with Sagas, since they are designed to eventually go to your graveyard in the first place. If you have at least one Saga, playing a Master Skald is usually a pretty good idea.
Mistwalker image 3.5 This card will overperform for you. 3-mana 1/4s are usually already playable, but the Changeling status and the ability to pump power makes it so that Mistwalker can do a whole lot of stuff for a three drop. It counts for your Giant payoffs, blocks effectively, and can even attack pretty hard.
Pilfering Hawk image 2.0 This is a snow creature that can loot for a single snow mana, and that seems pretty alright to me! Looting is always a solid effect in Limited, as it lets you drastically improve your card quality over the course of the game. On top of that, It is evasive, which means it can chip in some damage early, and it of course will be well-positioned in any deck that cares about Snow. I think this is a solid card.
Village Rites image 1.0 This is a reprint, and not one that I thought was particularly good in Limited. For this type of card to really be something special, you need for there to be a significant sacrifice or token sub-theme, and neither seems to be an overwhelming focus of this set, though the Elf deck might do the best of taking advantage of this. It is nice that it is an instant, so you can sacrifice something after you declare a block, or in response to an opponent’s removal, but you’re basically still just doing the same sort of thing that Tormenting Voice does. Giving up two cards to get two back. And that’s not bad it just isn’t the kind of thing you will always have roomf or in your deck. Mostly, I think you’ll only play this if you’re short on playables.
Breakneck Berserker image 2.0 Three mana 3/2s with Haste are just fine in aggressive decks. It also has a couple of useful creature types, so that’s nice.
Karfell Kennel-Master image 2.5 This has been solid top-curve in Black decks. It often comes down and enables 1-2 attacks that you just couldn’t have done before, and a 4/4 body is pretty good in this format.
Pack 2 Pick 5: Guardian Gladewalker
Weathered Runestone image 0.0 This isn’t really here for Limited, it is a hate card for constructed sideboards, and one that won’t have much of an impact on most of your games in Limited, so you should never play it.
Revitalize image 0.5 This is an underwhelming reprint. A cantrip that gains you life isn’t bad, it is just one of those cards that will be the last card cut from your deck most of the time. Especially because this set doesn’t seem to have a strong life gain theme.
Guardian Gladewalker image 2.5 So, we see versions of this card all the time -- and they are always pretty nice commons for Green. The +1/+1 counter ETB trigger makes it so that it is relevant all game long -- often times a single counter is enough to enable attacks you just didn’t have before. And, you know, sometimes, this is just a two-mana 2/2, like in the early game. Adding changeling to the mix is significant upside on an already pretty good Green common.
King Harald's Revenge image 1.0 I don’t like this type of card. Sure, lure-type effects are nice, but they only really get powerful if they force EVERYTHING to block something, allowing the rest of your board to get through. This will just require one block. And yeah, sometimes this will make your creature absolutely massive, and adding Trample to that is nice -- but it still seems so clunky to me. You have to wait for the absolute right window for this to work out for you -- one where you have enough creatures for it to matter -- one where forcing the block makes a difference -- and one where your opponent doesn’t have cards in hand and mana up, since if they do, you have a good chance at getting completely blown out.
Run Amok image 2.5 This is a key card for aggro decks in this format. If you’re going hard in that direction, this becomes a pretty high pick. It often lets you run over an opposing creature and do opposing damage, and can result in lethal out of nowhere. It isn’t especially good in other decks, though.
Infernal Pet image 2.0 You probably need to trigger this at least once to make it worth it, and since it starts out as an inefficient 3-mana 2/2, you may even want to trigger it twice before you feel okay about stuff. While that is certainly doable, I don’t really think this is going to be one of the key double spell payoffs that you need for the deck.
Battlefield Raptor image 1.5 // 3.5 This is a key card for aggressive decks. It wears the cheap Equipment and Auras it he format well, and suiting it up early can often win games. If you’re an aggro deck, you’re never cutting this, and it will be one of the best things you can do on turn one. Obviously, it isn’t very good anywhere else, so keep that in mind.
Hagi Mob image 1.5 This seems alright. A 5-mana 5/4 isn’t great, but it isn’t abysmal either -- and its Boast ability is fine. Doing 1 damage to a creature is the ideal scenario, but if you can use it to make blocking harder for your opponent, or to ping your opponent because they are close to dead, that works too. It isn’t super efficient at any of the stuff it does, and it isn’t very exciting, but it seems like an alright top curve card for Red decks.
Berg Strider image 3.5 I always like this kind of creature that taps something down when it comes into play, but they are usually only at their best if they can lock the creature down for a turn too. Berg Strider won’t always do that, but it will do it often enough, and hey, at least it does something even if you don’t have the snow mana. It is also another snow payoff that doesn’t demand 10+ snow lands, you can run it with just a few. Tapping something down even without snow mana can often enable an attack you didn’t have otherwise, and tapping something down for a turn can really swing a race in your favor, since that creature won’t be blocking or attacking. This is certainly beefier than most of these tap-down creatures are too -- it has good enough stats to be imposing on some board states.
Run Ashore image 1.5 Blue often gets an expensive spell that lets you bounce a couple of things, and it is always a decent card, and I think that’s what we’re looking at here. One nice thing here is that one of the permanents will go back to the top of an opponent’s library, which means that you are actually trading one-for-one with Run Ashore, instead of just getting some tempo. Speaking of tempo, you can often find situations where paying 6 mana results in bouncing more than 6 mana worth of stuff for your opponent, and that’s nice too. You can, of course, also use it on your own stuff if you can get benefits out of it, and that sometimes is the case. This can really help a Blue deck stabilize, or potentially end the game. Take note also that it is an instant -- lots of previous similar cards have been sorceries -- and that does open up the chance for some more significant blowouts. That said, it is super expensive and fairly situational, and not really something you can ever afford to play more than one of.
Highland Forest image 3.5 This is a Snow land to value fairly highly. It gives you snow mana and fixing, and it is in colors that have some nice snow payoffs at lower rarities.
Pack 2 Pick 6: Brinebarrow Intruder
Frost Augur image 1.0 // 3.5 Drawing more cards than your opponent is a good way to win in Limited, and this little one drop can definitely enable that. You do need to have a decent chunk of Snow permanents to make it do its thing consistently, but I think 5-7 is probably enough that you run this -- even drawing once with it is great. It will certainly be possible in this set to end up with 10+ snow cards though, and when you do, that’s when you’ll be in business. It is pretty bad in a deck without that critical mass though, so keep that in mind.
Cinderheart Giant image 1.5 So, this is a big ol’ giant with Trample, something that normally wouldn’t be so good -- but its death trigger is pretty interesting. It basically means it will kill something at random when it dies -- not much can stand up to 7 damage -- and that’s pretty nice. It is random unfortunately, so you may kill an Elf token instead of a real card, but by having a death trigger, it does help mitigate against some of the danger of running a 7-drop in your deck, because now if it gets removed, at least it will impact the board one way or another. Now, I still don’t really think you’ll play thi sin most decks, even Giant decks, but it seems like a reasonable top curve if you’re in need of that.
Ravenous Lindwurm image 2.5 This is this format’s premier Common finisher. The efficient stats and life gain it grants you can turn around a lot of games, and if you’re in a mid-range or slow Green deck, you’ll be pretty happy with the Lindwurm.
Gnottvold Recluse image 2.0 Most spiders we see come with low power and high toughness. This makes them good at repeatedly blocking smaller flyers, but not so good at actually killing them. Gnottvold Recluse is different, in that it has higher power and lower toughness. This means it is going to be better at blocking and killing larger flyers, but a lot worse at repeatedly blocking flyers. 3-mana for a 4/2 line is often a borderline playable card even without Reach, and I think adding Reach to the mix here means you will feel fine about playing the first copy of this. Though, it would be nice if it were a snow permanent or something.
Deathknell Berserker image 2.0 There are a decent number of ways in this format to get the Berserker to 3 power, so he makes that 2/2 Zombie way more often than you might think! And when he does that, he feels quite good. That’s nice upside to have on an already okay creature stats-wise.
Brinebarrow Intruder image 1.0 This doesn’t seem especially good. It is easy to imagine situations where you flash it in and killed a 3/1 or something, but it is mostly too situational to be worth playing. That decrease to power just doesn’t do enough often enough. You mostly won’t play this.
Warhorn Blast image 1.0 // 3.0 So, mass pump spells always have some decks they will be good in -- obviously, the ones that are going wide -- but they are pretty bad in less aggressive decks. This one does add Foretell to the mix -- this is one of the foretell cards where the total investment is the same whether you Foretell it or not, so if you have the extra mana it will definitely be worth doing, since only paying three for this the turn you play it is no small thing. Still, this kind of card is always kind of a build around. If you’re an aggro deck that is good at going wide, you’re going to want one copy of this pretty often. Even in those decks it is situational, but the situation is much more likely to arise in those decks.
Goldvein Pick image 3.0 This card is super good in this format. There are lots of good creatures to equip and the fixing it gives is great. While it is definitely better in more aggressive decks, it can work in any deck with a reasonable number of creatures, and that means you can value it pretty highly.
Breakneck Berserker image 2.0 Three mana 3/2s with Haste are just fine in aggressive decks. It also has a couple of useful creature types, so that’s nice.
Undersea Invader image 1.0 One of the great things about flash is being able to ambush block, and you won't be doing that here because it enters tapped. It might be a giant, but it is mostly just an inefficient creature. If it wasn't a Giant you probably wouldn't play it all.
Pack 2 Pick 7: Behold the Multiverse
Rune of Sustenance image 2.5 I think the whole Rune cycle is pretty solid. The problem is often that Auras are risky because they 2-for-1 you -- but by adding a cantrip to all the cards in the Rune cycle, they made sure you won’t normally get 2-for-1’d. Now, you do have to be concerned about an opponent killing what you target in response, but as long as it resolves, you’ll be in the clear. It is also interesting you can put this on any permanent, so in a pinch -- like stuck on two lands in the early game, you can effectively cycle these by putting them on a land or something. Now, that isn’t ideal -- but having that in a moment of desperation is definitely upside. It only does something more than draw you a card if it is on a creature or an Equipment though, and lifelink is pretty nice on either of those things. It isn’t quite an evasive ability, but it is one that can really wreak havoc on races. It is also worth noting there are lots of Aura and Enchantment payoffs in this set, which is going to make it a bit better. I think this is a card you’ll play the first copy of in most White decks.
Bretagard Stronghold image 3.5 Making two creatures bigger and giving them vigilance and lifelink is pretty awesome, especially because one of your lands id doing the job. Those two keywords combined can really help you win a race, since you gain life and allow your creatures to hang back as blockers.
Tormentor's Helm image 2.5 Like Run Amok, this is a great card for aggressive decks, as it gives an efficient stats boost and can even help you close out a game because of the inevitable damage every time you attack, but it isn’t really very good anywhere else.
Undersea Invader image 1.0 One of the great things about flash is being able to ambush block, and you won't be doing that here because it enters tapped. It might be a giant, but it is mostly just an inefficient creature. If it wasn't a Giant you probably wouldn't play it all.
Gods' Hall Guardian image 2.0 This is a Foretell card that doesn’t end up costing you extra mana in the end.. You still pay a total of six mana, but having the flexibility to pay that mana in installments -- two on one turn, 4 on another -- is nice. Plus, like most foretell cards, it lets you play something ahead of curve -- getting this down on turn 4 is pretty legit. Now, 6-mana for a 3/6 with Vigilance is far from impressive – but it is already borderline playable. It is a good defensive body that can also pressure the opponent a little bit.
Disdainful Stroke image 1.0 This is a card we’ve seen a lot of, and generally I don’t like running it. It is super weird in this format too, because you’ll go up against aggro decks who have 0-2 targets for this, and against snow decks who will have like 7+. I think that really means you have to start it in your sideboard, since it will be so bad against a big part of the metagame.
Behold the Multiverse image 3.5 4-mana for instant speed Scry 2 and draw 2 cards is usually pretty close to being a first pickable card when we’ve seen it in the past. It just does a great job of letting you see tons of cards, and is the kind of thing you’ll want one of in basically every Blue deck. Adding Foretell to the mix makes it even better, especially because, in this case, you’re not paying extra mana -- you pay the same amount, just in two installments, and that’s just great. Fortell is a lot like Morph or Suspend, in that it adds nice flexibility to a card, and lets you do something with any excess mana you might have -- like if you don’t have a two drop in the early game, you can just Fortell this, and that feels really good.
Fearless Pup image 2.0 A one mana 1/1 with first strike is not that impressive, those are just stats that quickly become irrelevant, and in some games it will feel like you should have just played a four drop that is more impactful. Adding Boast to the mix obviously matters, though, and often just the threat of activation will mean that your opponent just takes hits from this thing. This is also another great creature to enhance with equipment, counters, and Auras.
Withercrown image 1.0 So, I have a hard time ever calling removal “premium” if it still allows whatever you put it on to block, and this does have that problem. This is also weakened by the presence of Good Auras, +1/+1 Counters, and Equipment, since those all mean that the creature still won’t have 0 power. It doesn’t hurt that this makes your opponent lose life every turn or sacrifice the creature, at which point, you do actually get the blocker out of the way. That said, most of the time, you’ll probably play this and your opponent will just use the creature to block and die, as it allows them to get something out of the weakened creature. You generally only play this if you didn’t get better removal spells.
Pack 2 Pick 8: Augury Raven
Replicating Ring image 3.0 This provides great fixing, and it actually ends up making a bunch of copies more often than you might think! And all of that extra mana is also pretty good, because there are several creatures at lower rarities with snow mana activated abilities, and if you can sink that much snow mana into them, they become quite formidable.
Priest of the Haunted Edge image 1.0 // 3.0 This is a snow payoff that DEMANDS you have a bunch of snow lands, and you won’t always have enough to make the Priest work. You probably need 7+ snow lands to do it. However, once you do, this becomes a reasonable early blocker than is a removal spell later on, and it is something you can get back from your graveyard fairly easily. It is not very good in other decks in the format, though.
Augury Raven image 3.0 A 4-mana 3/3 flyer is a great rate in Limited, and this little Common has more upside than that! Because of Foretell, you can spread the cost of the card across two different payments, and while it won’t always make sense to do that -- there will be times where it helps you be really efficient with your mana, like if you want to play a 3-drop and foretell this instead of casting it that turn, or if you have nothing to do on turn two or three, foretelling this lets you pay less mana for it on a later turn.
Warhorn Blast image 1.0 // 3.0 So, mass pump spells always have some decks they will be good in -- obviously, the ones that are going wide -- but they are pretty bad in less aggressive decks. This one does add Foretell to the mix -- this is one of the foretell cards where the total investment is the same whether you Foretell it or not, so if you have the extra mana it will definitely be worth doing, since only paying three for this the turn you play it is no small thing. Still, this kind of card is always kind of a build around. If you’re an aggro deck that is good at going wide, you’re going to want one copy of this pretty often. Even in those decks it is situational, but the situation is much more likely to arise in those decks.
Annul image 0.0 This is a reprint, and it isn’t really one that is here to be played in Limited -- it is for constructed sideboards. It will be a rare thing in this format for people to have enough targets for this for it to be worth running, you might bring it out of your sideboard on occasion, but even then it doesn’t seem that likely to me. It is way better to have cards that destroy this type of permanent rather than counter them, because you can draw the removal after the fact and be okay. You have to have this in your hand at the exact right time for it to do something.
Jaspera Sentinel image 2.0 The fixing this offers is a big deal for the decks trying to play 3+ colors. It doesn’t have the greatest stats, and Reach isn’t very exciting, but the mana production here is nice.
Battlefield Raptor image 1.5 // 3.5 This is a key card for aggressive decks. It wears the cheap Equipment and Auras it he format well, and suiting it up early can often win games. If you’re an aggro deck, you’re never cutting this, and it will be one of the best things you can do on turn one. Obviously, it isn’t very good anywhere else, so keep that in mind.
Karfell Harbinger image 1.5 So, we see two mana 1/3s who can tap for spells relatively often, and this is a more flexible version of those, since it can also use it to foretell a card. It won’t always make a difference, but it will often enough that you’ll probably play the first copy of this in decks that are interested in spells and/or foretell, which will be lots of Blue decks.
Pack 2 Pick 9: Disdainful Stroke
Weathered Runestone image 0.0 This isn’t really here for Limited, it is a hate card for constructed sideboards, and one that won’t have much of an impact on most of your games in Limited, so you should never play it.
Disdainful Stroke image 1.0 This is a card we’ve seen a lot of, and generally I don’t like running it. It is super weird in this format too, because you’ll go up against aggro decks who have 0-2 targets for this, and against snow decks who will have like 7+. I think that really means you have to start it in your sideboard, since it will be so bad against a big part of the metagame.
Broken Wings image 1.5 This card is very mainboardable in this format because it has lots of good targets. It still isn’t great or anything, though.
Arachnoform image 1.0 This set has a lot of nice Auras, but Arachnoform isn’t one of them. It doesn’t mitigate agains the 2-for-1, and the bonus it grants is not significant enough for me to be interested in taking a risk. +2/+2, reach, and changeling status just doesn’t do it for me.
Warhorn Blast image 1.0 // 3.0 So, mass pump spells always have some decks they will be good in -- obviously, the ones that are going wide -- but they are pretty bad in less aggressive decks. This one does add Foretell to the mix -- this is one of the foretell cards where the total investment is the same whether you Foretell it or not, so if you have the extra mana it will definitely be worth doing, since only paying three for this the turn you play it is no small thing. Still, this kind of card is always kind of a build around. If you’re an aggro deck that is good at going wide, you’re going to want one copy of this pretty often. Even in those decks it is situational, but the situation is much more likely to arise in those decks.
Dogged Pursuit image 1.0 Draining one life gives you inevitability, and because it is also gaining you life, it helps you to survive longer -- which in turn helps you drain more life. If you are a control deck, this seems like a decent win condition to me. Now, tapping out to play this on turn four will not always be smart, because you need to be building your board in the early game to not die, and that is a pretty significant downside. You’ll be cutting this a lot, it really takes the right deck for it to be worth it.
Funeral Longboat image 1.5 This is a decent vehicle. Crew 1 is just so easy to do, that this is going to just feel like a two mana 3/3 with Vigilance some of the time. And, the fact it is so easy to crew AND has vigilance, means your opponent also has to take into account while attacking you.
Pack 2 Pick 10: Guardian Gladewalker
Immersturm Skullcairn image 3.0 I think this is weaker that the others in this cycle because one of its effects often has diminished returns by the late game - in particular, the discard a card part of the card. Mostly, this will give you some reach, and maybe you end up getting some useful card out of your opponent’s hand, but it won’t line up that way very often. It is still a land that does something useful in the later game, and I’m always on board for that.
Grim Draugr image 2.0 This is fine. It has alright stats and it can gain some evasion in the later part of the game, giving it continued relevance.
Guardian Gladewalker image 2.5 So, we see versions of this card all the time -- and they are always pretty nice commons for Green. The +1/+1 counter ETB trigger makes it so that it is relevant all game long -- often times a single counter is enough to enable attacks you just didn’t have before. And, you know, sometimes, this is just a two-mana 2/2, like in the early game. Adding changeling to the mix is significant upside on an already pretty good Green common.
Village Rites image 1.0 This is a reprint, and not one that I thought was particularly good in Limited. For this type of card to really be something special, you need for there to be a significant sacrifice or token sub-theme, and neither seems to be an overwhelming focus of this set, though the Elf deck might do the best of taking advantage of this. It is nice that it is an instant, so you can sacrifice something after you declare a block, or in response to an opponent’s removal, but you’re basically still just doing the same sort of thing that Tormenting Voice does. Giving up two cards to get two back. And that’s not bad it just isn’t the kind of thing you will always have roomf or in your deck. Mostly, I think you’ll only play this if you’re short on playables.
Craven Hulk image 2.0 This coward may not be good at blocking, but a 4-mana 4/4 is a good enough deal in Limited that I’m okay with that. Its also a Giant, and that is probably the creature type that matters the most in this set, as it is the most tribal of the color pairs.
Snow-Covered Plains image 2.0 This is the least valuable snow land because White doesn’t care much about Snow.
Pack 2 Pick 11: Draugr Thought-Thief
Open the Omenpaths image 0.0 This is a card a lot of people will play when they are desperate for fixing – but don’t do it. Ritual effects like this aren’t good in Limited, you two for one yourself for some fixing and a small mana boost, and that card disadvantage is likely to cause you to lose the game. The alternate mode this has doesn’t help make any more playable either.
Skull Raid image 2.0 Mind Rot effects are often not great in Limited. In the early game, you can get a 2-for-1 with them -- but it comes at the great sacrifice of not adding to the board at all on turn 3. Then, in the late game, it tends to get worse as the game goes on, and will be a terrible draw way too often. This card gets around those problems by becoming a draw spell if your opponent odeon’t have two cards to discard, so that means that this Mind Rot has all the upside of most of them -- it can get you a 2-for-1 -- but it can still do it if your opponent has one or no cards in the hand. Now, it isn’t exactly an efficient draw spell, but that’s ok with me overall. Foretell, of course, also makes it easier to cast because you get to pay in installments.
Shackles of Treachery image 0.5 Even in the most aggressive of decks, this card tends to be too situational to be worthwhile, and there isn’t enough of a sacrifice theme in this set to really abuse it.
Dwarven Reinforcements image 2.0 Normally when you pay 4 mana for a couple of tokens, you expect a couple of 2/2s -- and that isn’t what you get here. However, Foretell does mean you can pay for this in two separate installments, which does help overcome that downside.
Draugr Thought-Thief image 1.5 If you’re going to be a 3-mana 3/2, you probably need to have something going on that makes those inefficient stats worth it -- and I don’t really see that here. You get some very minor card selection, and an effect that might help you put something in your graveyard. Or, alternatively, something that lets you control your opponent’s next draw a little bit, but neither of those things is that great. It is kind of equivalent to Scry 1, but in most ways, it isn’t as good as Scry 1. You will certainly play this sometimes, but you’ll also cut it a fair bit.
Pack 2 Pick 12: Mistwalker
Run Amok image 2.5 This is a key card for aggro decks in this format. If you’re going hard in that direction, this becomes a pretty high pick. It often lets you run over an opposing creature and do opposing damage, and can result in lethal out of nowhere. It isn’t especially good in other decks, though.
Master Skald image 2.0 5-mana for a 4/4 that returns an artifact or enchantment is not a bad deal. And sure, you also need a creature in your graveyard to make it happen, but by turn 5 that won’t normally be an issue. There are lots of good Artifacts and Enchantments in this set, but the Skald is at his best with Sagas, since they are designed to eventually go to your graveyard in the first place. If you have at least one Saga, playing a Master Skald is usually a pretty good idea.
Mistwalker image 3.5 This card will overperform for you. 3-mana 1/4s are usually already playable, but the Changeling status and the ability to pump power makes it so that Mistwalker can do a whole lot of stuff for a three drop. It counts for your Giant payoffs, blocks effectively, and can even attack pretty hard.
Breakneck Berserker image 2.0 Three mana 3/2s with Haste are just fine in aggressive decks. It also has a couple of useful creature types, so that’s nice.
Pack 2 Pick 13: Run Ashore
Revitalize image 0.5 This is an underwhelming reprint. A cantrip that gains you life isn’t bad, it is just one of those cards that will be the last card cut from your deck most of the time. Especially because this set doesn’t seem to have a strong life gain theme.
Hagi Mob image 1.5 This seems alright. A 5-mana 5/4 isn’t great, but it isn’t abysmal either -- and its Boast ability is fine. Doing 1 damage to a creature is the ideal scenario, but if you can use it to make blocking harder for your opponent, or to ping your opponent because they are close to dead, that works too. It isn’t super efficient at any of the stuff it does, and it isn’t very exciting, but it seems like an alright top curve card for Red decks.
Run Ashore image 1.5 Blue often gets an expensive spell that lets you bounce a couple of things, and it is always a decent card, and I think that’s what we’re looking at here. One nice thing here is that one of the permanents will go back to the top of an opponent’s library, which means that you are actually trading one-for-one with Run Ashore, instead of just getting some tempo. Speaking of tempo, you can often find situations where paying 6 mana results in bouncing more than 6 mana worth of stuff for your opponent, and that’s nice too. You can, of course, also use it on your own stuff if you can get benefits out of it, and that sometimes is the case. This can really help a Blue deck stabilize, or potentially end the game. Take note also that it is an instant -- lots of previous similar cards have been sorceries -- and that does open up the chance for some more significant blowouts. That said, it is super expensive and fairly situational, and not really something you can ever afford to play more than one of.
Pack 2 Pick 14: Undersea Invader
Cinderheart Giant image 1.5 So, this is a big ol’ giant with Trample, something that normally wouldn’t be so good -- but its death trigger is pretty interesting. It basically means it will kill something at random when it dies -- not much can stand up to 7 damage -- and that’s pretty nice. It is random unfortunately, so you may kill an Elf token instead of a real card, but by having a death trigger, it does help mitigate against some of the danger of running a 7-drop in your deck, because now if it gets removed, at least it will impact the board one way or another. Now, I still don’t really think you’ll play thi sin most decks, even Giant decks, but it seems like a reasonable top curve if you’re in need of that.
Undersea Invader image 1.0 One of the great things about flash is being able to ambush block, and you won't be doing that here because it enters tapped. It might be a giant, but it is mostly just an inefficient creature. If it wasn't a Giant you probably wouldn't play it all.
Pack 2 Pick 15: Disdainful Stroke
Disdainful Stroke image 1.0 This is a card we’ve seen a lot of, and generally I don’t like running it. It is super weird in this format too, because you’ll go up against aggro decks who have 0-2 targets for this, and against snow decks who will have like 7+. I think that really means you have to start it in your sideboard, since it will be so bad against a big part of the metagame.
Pack 3 Pick 1: Harald Unites the Elves
Harald Unites the Elves image 3.0 Like Harald himself, this is a pretty strong Elf payoff, but it is really held back by how mediocre the Elf decks in this format usually are. The common and uncommon payoffs just aren’t there.
Draugr's Helm image 3.0 Two to play and four to equip for +2/+2 and Menace is just too much mana -- especially the Equip part. The good news, though, is that this normally won’t just be the equipment. If you pay 5 for it, you get a 2/2 zombie token that is equipped with it -- which means 5 for a 4/4 with Menace. That’s a decent rate, especially because if the token does die, you still have the Equipment. And, yeah, that Equip cost is pretty steep, but it also makes most creature into a threat. And, it is really just upside on a 5-mana 4/4 with Menace, and that’s not too shabby.
Svella, Ice Shaper image 4.5 Svella comes with reasonable stats for the cost, and the ability to make snow artifacts that provide fixing and snow mana. The late game ability to choose a card from the top four cards of your library to cast is nice additional upside, and Svella can get there surprisingly quickly thanks to the Icy Manaliths. It is definitely an amazing late-game mana sink. Svella is a bomb that, if she isn’t killed, will simply win you the game.
Vega, the Watcher image 3.5 Even if you only draw one card with Vega you are going to feel pretty good about your investment, since it has such reasonable stats to begin with. Drawing that one card isn’t too challenging, either!
Behold the Multiverse image 3.5 4-mana for instant speed Scry 2 and draw 2 cards is usually pretty close to being a first pickable card when we’ve seen it in the past. It just does a great job of letting you see tons of cards, and is the kind of thing you’ll want one of in basically every Blue deck. Adding Foretell to the mix makes it even better, especially because, in this case, you’re not paying extra mana -- you pay the same amount, just in two installments, and that’s just great. Fortell is a lot like Morph or Suspend, in that it adds nice flexibility to a card, and lets you do something with any excess mana you might have -- like if you don’t have a two drop in the early game, you can just Fortell this, and that feels really good.
Draugr Recruiter image 1.5 So, this is definitely a Boast ability that is all about the late game. The boast is expensive, and also asks for cards in the graveyard, but if you do get to use this late, and attack with this Recruiter in a situation where the best your opponent can do is trade with it or chump block it, it is going to be pretty nice. That said, by the late game, a 4-mana 3/3 won’t always be capable of making that situation happen. Sometimes, if you have something good enough in your graveyard, it will be worth the bad attack, but it is still kind of a rough deal. I think I will probably cut this a little more than I play it.
Tuskeri Firewalker image 3.0 A 3-mana 3/2 isn’t great, but its Boast effect is pretty nice. You really need to only be able to play somethin off of it once to feel good about the situation, since at that point, you’re getting a 2-for-1 in most cases. It even lets you pay lands if you exile one of them. The downside with this type of effect is often that you are unable to cast the spell you exile, and that’ll happen, but I think it’ll work out often enough that this seems pretty nice to me. Even if you just attack with it and it dies in combat, if you get a card out of the Boast, you’re doing just fine. I think this is a pretty good Red common.
Warhorn Blast image 1.0 // 3.0 So, mass pump spells always have some decks they will be good in -- obviously, the ones that are going wide -- but they are pretty bad in less aggressive decks. This one does add Foretell to the mix -- this is one of the foretell cards where the total investment is the same whether you Foretell it or not, so if you have the extra mana it will definitely be worth doing, since only paying three for this the turn you play it is no small thing. Still, this kind of card is always kind of a build around. If you’re an aggro deck that is good at going wide, you’re going to want one copy of this pretty often. Even in those decks it is situational, but the situation is much more likely to arise in those decks.
Withercrown image 1.0 So, I have a hard time ever calling removal “premium” if it still allows whatever you put it on to block, and this does have that problem. This is also weakened by the presence of Good Auras, +1/+1 Counters, and Equipment, since those all mean that the creature still won’t have 0 power. It doesn’t hurt that this makes your opponent lose life every turn or sacrifice the creature, at which point, you do actually get the blocker out of the way. That said, most of the time, you’ll probably play this and your opponent will just use the creature to block and die, as it allows them to get something out of the weakened creature. You generally only play this if you didn’t get better removal spells.
Story Seeker image 2.0 Two mana 2/2s with Lifelink are always solid. Just being able to trade for another two drop and gaining you 2 life is a decent fail case, and if they are allowed to stick around they will end up gaining you significant life. Auras and Equipment are also your friend with a creature like this.
Struggle for Skemfar image 3.5 So, this is a strictly better Hunt the Weak. And, while I think Hunt the Weak seems a bit weaker these days thani t used to, it was always a solid card. The +1/+1 counter makes it so more of your creatures are capable of killing opposing creatures, and yeah -- you do have to be super cautious with this, since if your opponent interacts in response it will be a blow out -- but it still does a pretty good job at getting creatures out of the way for Green decks. Adding Foretell to this is great -- because in this case, you actually end up paying less total mana. Additionally, by only costing Green the turn you cast it, it means you can play a new creature and have it fight right away, and in general, it will mean that it is easier for you to find a safe window to cast it, since you don’t need a whole bunch of mana to make it do its thing. This is premium removal for Green.
Arachnoform image 1.0 This set has a lot of nice Auras, but Arachnoform isn’t one of them. It doesn’t mitigate agains the 2-for-1, and the bonus it grants is not significant enough for me to be interested in taking a risk. +2/+2, reach, and changeling status just doesn’t do it for me.
Codespell Cleric image 1.0 // 2.5 So, since this is one mana, casting it as your second spell in a turn won’t be super challenging, especially in a format with Foretell. I mean, in the late game it will be a little harder, like if you’re in top deck mode, but in the early and mid-game it will just happen. For this to be worth it, it does need to be making that +1/+1 counter a significant chunk of the time, and it can do that in aggro decks. Like Battlefield Raptor, it is much better in aggressive decks than it is elsewhere.
Grizzled Outrider image 1.5 5-mana for a 5/5 is kind of alright. And that’s all there is to say about that.
Arctic Treeline image 3.0 This is another snow land that isn’t super important because the colors it is in aren’t completely focused in on snow. However, it does provide fixing and a snow permanent, and those are valuable things
Pack 3 Pick 2: Depart the Realm
Draugr Necromancer image 4.0 A vanilla 4-mana 4/4 is already playable, and this is far from vanilla! Just making your opponent’s creatures that die go to exile is a somewhat relevant ability. Most decks have at least 1-2 cards that care about the graveyard, so hey, that’s upside. But where you really get the value is out of the ability to cast the creatures that are exiled by the Necromancer. Now, you do have to have snow mana to cast creatures that aren’t in a color that lands you control could produce, but that isn’t a huge ask -- you generally will just need one snow land to make that work in most cases, and then of course there’s the fact that a decent chunk of opponents will have creatures you can cast with your mana anyway! Now, the snow limitation is definitely relevant, and there will be times where this guy is just too slow to help you out, but he’s still pretty great.
Binding the Old Gods image 4.0 I would already sign up for a Sorcery that was 4 mana to destroy a nonland permanent -- more than sign up, I would take it with a first pick a decent chunk of the time, even if it was multi-colored! But because this is a Saga, it does some other stuff too -- and while most of the power is in Chapter 1, Chapter 2 and 3 aren’t nothing -- getting an extra land can help you ramp, and giving your whole board death touch can make your attacks a little more of a problem for your opponent.
Ascent of the Worthy image 0.5 This card is way too difficult to set up effectively, and you should mostly not play it.
Frostpyre Arcanist image 1.0 // 3.5 This type of design always interests me -- and by “this type” I mean cards that pay you off for having multiple copies of some card in your deck. The Giant deck -- which is UR -- is a spells deck, so this fits in very nicely -- it costing 4 won’t be that far-fetched, and a ⅖ isn’t too shabby for that kind of mana. You probably need at least two sets of duplicate spells, and ideally, cheap ones, so that is more likely when you play this that one of them is in your graveyard. If you can get this to draw a card for you even like half the time, you’re going to be pretty happy with this card. But yeah, if you don’t have any duplicates, it is probably best to steer clear.
Smashing Success image 0.0 Land destruction spells are almost never worth it in Limited. This is because it often has a negligible effect on the game -- if you get it late it basically does nothing, if you get it early it might do something, but even then there is about a 50% chance that your opponent still won’t be bothered by it. And yeah, this one is an instant, can hit artifacts, and makes a treasure when it destroys artifacts, but you still shouldn’t play it.
Infernal Pet image 2.0 You probably need to trigger this at least once to make it worth it, and since it starts out as an inefficient 3-mana 2/2, you may even want to trigger it twice before you feel okay about stuff. While that is certainly doable, I don’t really think this is going to be one of the key double spell payoffs that you need for the deck.
Snakeskin Veil image 1.5 This is a decent combat trick. It doesn’t give the biggest boost ever, even for one mana. Basically with tricks, you’re looking for the ones that can do the best job of helping your creature win combat, and you want to do it as efficiently as possible. One usually expects at least a +2/+2 boost from a one mana trick, and this doesn’t deliver there. However, it does grant a creature hexproof, and that means that it also has utility outside of combat -- plus, the boost it gives is permanent, so it isn’t SUPER far away from +2/+2.
Depart the Realm image 2.0 Two mana to bounce nonland permanents at Instant speed is usually fine. Bounce spells won’t always straight up trade for a card, but the tempo they give you can be worth it – and, sometimes you can get one of your opponent’s cards with this, if you bounce something that they are using a trick on or putting an Aura on. This has Foretell too, but I still don’t think it is much more than “fine”.
Dwarven Reinforcements image 2.0 Normally when you pay 4 mana for a couple of tokens, you expect a couple of 2/2s -- and that isn’t what you get here. However, Foretell does mean you can pay for this in two separate installments, which does help overcome that downside.
Jaspera Sentinel image 2.0 The fixing this offers is a big deal for the decks trying to play 3+ colors. It doesn’t have the greatest stats, and Reach isn’t very exciting, but the mana production here is nice.
Berg Strider image 3.5 I always like this kind of creature that taps something down when it comes into play, but they are usually only at their best if they can lock the creature down for a turn too. Berg Strider won’t always do that, but it will do it often enough, and hey, at least it does something even if you don’t have the snow mana. It is also another snow payoff that doesn’t demand 10+ snow lands, you can run it with just a few. Tapping something down even without snow mana can often enable an attack you didn’t have otherwise, and tapping something down for a turn can really swing a race in your favor, since that creature won’t be blocking or attacking. This is certainly beefier than most of these tap-down creatures are too -- it has good enough stats to be imposing on some board states.
Ravenous Lindwurm image 2.5 This is this format’s premier Common finisher. The efficient stats and life gain it grants you can turn around a lot of games, and if you’re in a mid-range or slow Green deck, you’ll be pretty happy with the Lindwurm.
Beskir Shieldmate image 3.0 This is a solid two-drop. A two mana 2/1 is far from ideal, but if you can trade with this and then get a token, you’re going to feel pretty good. Overall, this is a nice two drop that will pretty much always make the cut
Snowfield Sinkhole image 3.0 Like most of the snow dual lands that have White in them, this one isn’t quite as good as the others. Still, it provides fixing and snow mana, and that’s useful in this format.
Pack 3 Pick 3: Ravenform
Narfi, Betrayer King image 4.0 In most UB decks, Narfi will likely be able to pump at least half of your creatures, and that’s more than enough for Narfi to be pretty powerful. His recursion ability won’t always be something you can use, but the good news is that he is going to be nice to bring back even in the late game, and you can do it over and over. Note, by the way, that you can do it at instant speed, and you may be able to take advantage of that to really surprise your opponent with the additional stats boost for your creatures.
Shepherd of the Cosmos image 3.5 This seems pretty good to me. So, even without Foretell, a 6-mana 3/3 with Flying that reanimates a 2-drop would be a pretty nice card. It is generally going to give you that 6 manas worth of value no problem. By adding Foretell, we get an upgrade here, since having the option to pay for it in installments is definite upside. It doesn’t hurt that there are foretell payoffs in the set too!
Clarion Spirit image 4.0 This is a really strong engine. Since it starts out as a 2-mana 2/2, you don’t have to get that much out of it for it to feel like you’re doing a good job -- even one 1/1 flying token will get you there, and this will sometimes produce far more than that. Double-spelling in this set is easier than it usually is, largely because of the Foretell mechanic, which typically allows you to pay less mana in a single turn for spells. But, even in a normal set, I would really be inclined to think of this as a really good card, so with foretell it is likely even better. If you can get 2+ tokens out of this, you’re going to be in great shape. It fits incredibly well into aggro decks especially.
Priest of the Haunted Edge image 1.0 // 3.0 This is a snow payoff that DEMANDS you have a bunch of snow lands, and you won’t always have enough to make the Priest work. You probably need 7+ snow lands to do it. However, once you do, this becomes a reasonable early blocker than is a removal spell later on, and it is something you can get back from your graveyard fairly easily. It is not very good in other decks in the format, though.
Tormentor's Helm image 2.5 Like Run Amok, this is a great card for aggressive decks, as it gives an efficient stats boost and can even help you close out a game because of the inevitable damage every time you attack, but it isn’t really very good anywhere else.
Feed the Serpent image 3.5 This has been surprisingly disappointing in this set. Black is a weak color overall and it isn’t easy to splash, and it is too slow to combat aggro decks. That doesn’t mean it isn’t still quite good, mind you, just that it would normally be even better. It is still easily Black’s best commons and can deal with a whole lot of stuff!
Duskwielder image 1.0 You’ll play this in really aggressive Black decks, but even then you’re kind of hoping you’ll get a better one drop than this! Overall, this is quickly outclassed on the board, and the Boast effect doesn’t do enough to help that.
Ravenform image 2.0 Cards that remove a creature but then give your opponent a token tend to be really unimpressive in Limited. The efficiency is nice, and it can deal with artifacts AND creatures, but don’t underestimate the downside of giving them a 1/1 flyer. That makes it so you aren’t exactly getting a straight up 1-for-1 with the card, and aggressive decks will be especially annoyed that their removal spell still leaves a blocker around. I’m not saying this card is bad. It isn’t. It is cheap and can deal with lots of things. It also comes with Foretell upside which is nice, but this isn’t close to being premium removal.
Open the Omenpaths image 0.0 This is a card a lot of people will play when they are desperate for fixing – but don’t do it. Ritual effects like this aren’t good in Limited, you two for one yourself for some fixing and a small mana boost, and that card disadvantage is likely to cause you to lose the game. The alternate mode this has doesn’t help make any more playable either.
Seize the Spoils image 1.0 This is not an efficient way to dig deeper into your library, and while it also gives you a Treasure, you mostly should avoid playing this.
Beskir Shieldmate image 3.0 This is a solid two-drop. A two mana 2/1 is far from ideal, but if you can trade with this and then get a token, you’re going to feel pretty good. Overall, this is a nice two drop that will pretty much always make the cut
Glittering Frost image 2.5 This card is pretty important in the 4 and 5 color Snow decks, as it helps enable your mana while also giving you two snow permanents with a single card. It is pretty much useless in aggro decks, though.
Snow-Covered Forest image 2.5 Green has some nice snow payoffs, and that means you should be valuing this Snow land over most average cards.
Pack 3 Pick 4: Waking the Trolls
Waking the Trolls image 4.0 This is definitely slow, but if you can get to Chapter III, it is pretty difficult to lose most of the time, since the first two Chapters likely mean you have at least two more lands than your opponent, and oftentimes it will amount to even more than that.
Bretagard Stronghold image 3.5 Making two creatures bigger and giving them vigilance and lifelink is pretty awesome, especially because one of your lands id doing the job. Those two keywords combined can really help you win a race, since you gain life and allow your creatures to hang back as blockers.
Fall of the Impostor image 3.5 Three mana for a +1/+1 counter won’t make it feel like the greatest investment ever at first, and really -- even after you get the second counter it won’t feel great either -- but hey, it does impact the board a little bit at least! The most value the card gives you is with chapter three, which will typically take down your opponent’s best creature -- and that means you spent three mana for two +1/+1 counters and a removal spell, which is actually crazy efficient! It is, of course, slow -- and sometimes you’ll really wish you could just kill their creature first, but this is still really efficient.
Valor of the Worthy image 2.0 I often complain about Auras that don’t give a good boost for the mana cost, as well as auras that don’t give you value to help a 2-for-1 not feel so bad. This does kind of okay on both of those fronts, but not super well on either. The efficiency here is pretty nice when you look at the whole package - one mana for a +1/+1 Aura and a 1/1 flyer if things go wrong, but I’m still not sure I like the risk of putting this on something. +1/+1 can have an impact, but it isn’t ultra likely to be game changing, and while you only spend a single White mana, you still have some risk here, as the 1/1 you get is probably worse than whatever you put it on.
Jarl of the Forsaken image 2.0 This type of removal effect is often underwhelming. Sure, when you do manage to trigger the effect it feels pretty good, but most of the time you had to give up a card to make that effect work in the first place, so it isn’t quite as good of a deal as it might seem at first. Now, adding Foretell here does matter -- because it means it will be easier to find a window where you can actually cast and use this, as spending 2 mana on the turn you actually cast the card is significantly better.
Deathknell Berserker image 2.0 There are a decent number of ways in this format to get the Berserker to 3 power, so he makes that 2/2 Zombie way more often than you might think! And when he does that, he feels quite good. That’s nice upside to have on an already okay creature stats-wise.
Axgard Cavalry image 2.5 This is a nice two drop. Having a bear that can give haste to stuff is really nice. If the board is such that it can’t attack itself, there’s a good chance you can play a creature that has a nice attack on the board if you can make it attack right away, and that’s what the Cavalry does. These creatures who can give haste to other creatures always seem to overperform, and I think this looks like a nice Common for Red.
King Harald's Revenge image 1.0 I don’t like this type of card. Sure, lure-type effects are nice, but they only really get powerful if they force EVERYTHING to block something, allowing the rest of your board to get through. This will just require one block. And yeah, sometimes this will make your creature absolutely massive, and adding Trample to that is nice -- but it still seems so clunky to me. You have to wait for the absolute right window for this to work out for you -- one where you have enough creatures for it to matter -- one where forcing the block makes a difference -- and one where your opponent doesn’t have cards in hand and mana up, since if they do, you have a good chance at getting completely blown out.
Arachnoform image 1.0 This set has a lot of nice Auras, but Arachnoform isn’t one of them. It doesn’t mitigate agains the 2-for-1, and the bonus it grants is not significant enough for me to be interested in taking a risk. +2/+2, reach, and changeling status just doesn’t do it for me.
Pilfering Hawk image 2.0 This is a snow creature that can loot for a single snow mana, and that seems pretty alright to me! Looting is always a solid effect in Limited, as it lets you drastically improve your card quality over the course of the game. On top of that, It is evasive, which means it can chip in some damage early, and it of course will be well-positioned in any deck that cares about Snow. I think this is a solid card.
Ravenform image 2.0 Cards that remove a creature but then give your opponent a token tend to be really unimpressive in Limited. The efficiency is nice, and it can deal with artifacts AND creatures, but don’t underestimate the downside of giving them a 1/1 flyer. That makes it so you aren’t exactly getting a straight up 1-for-1 with the card, and aggressive decks will be especially annoyed that their removal spell still leaves a blocker around. I’m not saying this card is bad. It isn’t. It is cheap and can deal with lots of things. It also comes with Foretell upside which is nice, but this isn’t close to being premium removal.
Snow-Covered Swamp image 2.5 Black has some nice snow payoffs, so you should value this over most average cards.
Pack 3 Pick 5: Mists of Littjara
Arni Slays the Troll image 3.5 This Saga seems pretty nice to me. It starts out with a Fight effect, which is effectively a removal spell -- even if it is a somewhat restrictive one. You won’t always have a good Fight to make happen, but you will often enough in a Red Green deck. Chapter II gives you some counters and some mana too, and chapter III gains you some life. None of these chapters individually are that impressive, but if you think about the amount of mana you’re paying, you’re going to be pretty happy.
Koll, the Forgemaster image 3.5 This guy is pretty scary in RW decks, as making all of your Equipped and Enchanted creatures come back to your hand is a really big deal. The token pumping part comes up less often, but he’s still pretty good overall.
Open the Omenpaths image 0.0 This is a card a lot of people will play when they are desperate for fixing – but don’t do it. Ritual effects like this aren’t good in Limited, you two for one yourself for some fixing and a small mana boost, and that card disadvantage is likely to cause you to lose the game. The alternate mode this has doesn’t help make any more playable either.
Berg Strider image 3.5 I always like this kind of creature that taps something down when it comes into play, but they are usually only at their best if they can lock the creature down for a turn too. Berg Strider won’t always do that, but it will do it often enough, and hey, at least it does something even if you don’t have the snow mana. It is also another snow payoff that doesn’t demand 10+ snow lands, you can run it with just a few. Tapping something down even without snow mana can often enable an attack you didn’t have otherwise, and tapping something down for a turn can really swing a race in your favor, since that creature won’t be blocking or attacking. This is certainly beefier than most of these tap-down creatures are too -- it has good enough stats to be imposing on some board states.
Mists of Littjara image 1.5 This type of Blue removal spell is always pretty alright. The fact you can’t use it to keep a creature from still being a good blocker can be annoying sometimes, but the fact it can also shut down vehicles and has Flash do make up for that a little bit. The Flash side of it will sometimes allow you to double block and kill something, while keeping both of your creatures, and when you can make this trade 1-for-1 it is going to feel good. That won’t be the regular occurrence, I don’t think – but it will happen often enough that you’ll play this if you need removal.
Story Seeker image 2.0 Two mana 2/2s with Lifelink are always solid. Just being able to trade for another two drop and gaining you 2 life is a decent fail case, and if they are allowed to stick around they will end up gaining you significant life. Auras and Equipment are also your friend with a creature like this.
Warhorn Blast image 1.0 // 3.0 So, mass pump spells always have some decks they will be good in -- obviously, the ones that are going wide -- but they are pretty bad in less aggressive decks. This one does add Foretell to the mix -- this is one of the foretell cards where the total investment is the same whether you Foretell it or not, so if you have the extra mana it will definitely be worth doing, since only paying three for this the turn you play it is no small thing. Still, this kind of card is always kind of a build around. If you’re an aggro deck that is good at going wide, you’re going to want one copy of this pretty often. Even in those decks it is situational, but the situation is much more likely to arise in those decks.
Jaspera Sentinel image 2.0 The fixing this offers is a big deal for the decks trying to play 3+ colors. It doesn’t have the greatest stats, and Reach isn’t very exciting, but the mana production here is nice.
Beskir Shieldmate image 3.0 This is a solid two-drop. A two mana 2/1 is far from ideal, but if you can trade with this and then get a token, you’re going to feel pretty good. Overall, this is a nice two drop that will pretty much always make the cut
King Harald's Revenge image 1.0 I don’t like this type of card. Sure, lure-type effects are nice, but they only really get powerful if they force EVERYTHING to block something, allowing the rest of your board to get through. This will just require one block. And yeah, sometimes this will make your creature absolutely massive, and adding Trample to that is nice -- but it still seems so clunky to me. You have to wait for the absolute right window for this to work out for you -- one where you have enough creatures for it to matter -- one where forcing the block makes a difference -- and one where your opponent doesn’t have cards in hand and mana up, since if they do, you have a good chance at getting completely blown out.
Duskwielder image 1.0 You’ll play this in really aggressive Black decks, but even then you’re kind of hoping you’ll get a better one drop than this! Overall, this is quickly outclassed on the board, and the Boast effect doesn’t do enough to help that.
Pack 3 Pick 6: Masked Vandal
The Three Seasons image 1.0 This has not been very good. It seems like it might be an okay snow payoff, but it turns out that getting the most out of Chapter II is difficult, and that’s not great news when Chapter I has no immediate impact on the board. Then, Chapter III is kind of a bummer, because you have to give your opponent back some cards. Now, you can choose their worst ones and all that, but I’ve seen that side of the card backfire a lot.
Arachnoform image 1.0 This set has a lot of nice Auras, but Arachnoform isn’t one of them. It doesn’t mitigate agains the 2-for-1, and the bonus it grants is not significant enough for me to be interested in taking a risk. +2/+2, reach, and changeling status just doesn’t do it for me.
Frostpeak Yeti image 1.5 So, this is a Hill Giant that can become unblockable if you have some Snow mana. That certainly isn’t a good card, but if you are in a controlling Snow deck and you need a win condition well...you probably hope this isn’t it, but it can do the job if you need it to.
Doomskar Oracle image 2.5 BW and UW are both color pairs interested in Foretell, and Doomskar Oracle fits well into both of those decks. It has Foretell itself, AND it is a Foretell payoff. And, the payoff it gives you isn’t the most powerful thing ever, but incidental life gain can go a long way towards helping you survive in Limited, and since it is attached to a 3-mana 3/2 with foretell, I think you’ll find yourself playing this pretty regularly in White, even if you aren’t in one of the foretell decks. The Foretell here adds up to the same amount of mana you would normally pay, you just get to do it in two installments, which could allow for more flexible turns in the future. Like with a lot of these, I think you should only be foretelling it if you have extra mana lying around, -- or if you have a bunch of foretell payoffs - since just casting it is going to be reasonable a lot of the time too.
Tuskeri Firewalker image 3.0 A 3-mana 3/2 isn’t great, but its Boast effect is pretty nice. You really need to only be able to play somethin off of it once to feel good about the situation, since at that point, you’re getting a 2-for-1 in most cases. It even lets you pay lands if you exile one of them. The downside with this type of effect is often that you are unable to cast the spell you exile, and that’ll happen, but I think it’ll work out often enough that this seems pretty nice to me. Even if you just attack with it and it dies in combat, if you get a card out of the Boast, you’re doing just fine. I think this is a pretty good Red common.
Masked Vandal image 2.5 This format has lots of things the Vandal can blow up, and that makes it a pretty nice card for your main deck. Having all creature types is nice too.
Duskwielder image 1.0 You’ll play this in really aggressive Black decks, but even then you’re kind of hoping you’ll get a better one drop than this! Overall, this is quickly outclassed on the board, and the Boast effect doesn’t do enough to help that.
Berg Strider image 3.5 I always like this kind of creature that taps something down when it comes into play, but they are usually only at their best if they can lock the creature down for a turn too. Berg Strider won’t always do that, but it will do it often enough, and hey, at least it does something even if you don’t have the snow mana. It is also another snow payoff that doesn’t demand 10+ snow lands, you can run it with just a few. Tapping something down even without snow mana can often enable an attack you didn’t have otherwise, and tapping something down for a turn can really swing a race in your favor, since that creature won’t be blocking or attacking. This is certainly beefier than most of these tap-down creatures are too -- it has good enough stats to be imposing on some board states.
Starnheim Courser image 2.5 This has the always-okay Wind Drake stats and reasonable upside. Good Equipment and Auras are plentiful in the set, so that upside does come up!
Arctic Treeline image 3.0 This is another snow land that isn’t super important because the colors it is in aren’t completely focused in on snow. However, it does provide fixing and a snow permanent, and those are valuable things
Pack 3 Pick 7: Mammoth Growth
Colossal Plow image 1.0 I know people like Ox and Plow shenanigans, but mostly you shouldn’t do that if you want to win. Crew 6 is a TON, and gaining some mana and life back when it attacks just isn’t going to be enough for me to overcome it. It will die on its first attack most of the time too.
Mammoth Growth image 1.5 This is a decent trick. Paying the three mana up front isn’t the greatest deal, but the stats boost it gives is enough that it can help almost any creature win combat. The downside is the massive tempo hit you can take if your opponent can do something in response, so like with all tricks, be as careful as you can with this. Adding foretell to the mix does help reduce the downside a little bit -- since you only pay one Green mana the turn you actually use it, and you probably decided to Foretell it on a turn when you couldn’t do anything with your mana anyway, so if you do get blown out the tempo won’t be so bad.
Craven Hulk image 2.0 This coward may not be good at blocking, but a 4-mana 4/4 is a good enough deal in Limited that I’m okay with that. Its also a Giant, and that is probably the creature type that matters the most in this set, as it is the most tribal of the color pairs.
Karfell Harbinger image 1.5 So, we see two mana 1/3s who can tap for spells relatively often, and this is a more flexible version of those, since it can also use it to foretell a card. It won’t always make a difference, but it will often enough that you’ll probably play the first copy of this in decks that are interested in spells and/or foretell, which will be lots of Blue decks.
Annul image 0.0 This is a reprint, and it isn’t really one that is here to be played in Limited -- it is for constructed sideboards. It will be a rare thing in this format for people to have enough targets for this for it to be worth running, you might bring it out of your sideboard on occasion, but even then it doesn’t seem that likely to me. It is way better to have cards that destroy this type of permanent rather than counter them, because you can draw the removal after the fact and be okay. You have to have this in your hand at the exact right time for it to do something.
Beskir Shieldmate image 3.0 This is a solid two-drop. A two mana 2/1 is far from ideal, but if you can trade with this and then get a token, you’re going to feel pretty good. Overall, this is a nice two drop that will pretty much always make the cut
Seize the Spoils image 1.0 This is not an efficient way to dig deeper into your library, and while it also gives you a Treasure, you mostly should avoid playing this.
Jarl of the Forsaken image 2.0 This type of removal effect is often underwhelming. Sure, when you do manage to trigger the effect it feels pretty good, but most of the time you had to give up a card to make that effect work in the first place, so it isn’t quite as good of a deal as it might seem at first. Now, adding Foretell here does matter -- because it means it will be easier to find a window where you can actually cast and use this, as spending 2 mana on the turn you actually cast the card is significantly better.
Alpine Meadow image 3.0 This isn’t one of the more important snow lands around, because White and Red are the colors that care the least about Snow. Still, it does provide fixing and a snow permanent, and those are things that are pretty valuable in this set.
Pack 3 Pick 8: Grizzled Outrider
Draugr Thought-Thief image 1.5 If you’re going to be a 3-mana 3/2, you probably need to have something going on that makes those inefficient stats worth it -- and I don’t really see that here. You get some very minor card selection, and an effect that might help you put something in your graveyard. Or, alternatively, something that lets you control your opponent’s next draw a little bit, but neither of those things is that great. It is kind of equivalent to Scry 1, but in most ways, it isn’t as good as Scry 1. You will certainly play this sometimes, but you’ll also cut it a fair bit.
Elderfang Disciple image 1.5 A two mana 1/1 that makes an opponent discard a card is nice, and because it does that, you’re at least starting out with a 1-for-1 in most cases. Then, if it can trade for an X/1, you’re getting some serious 2-for-1 value out of this card. Now, it won’t always line up that way, and in the late game the discard thing might not matter too much, and those are serious limitations, but this seems decent enough.
Vault Robber image 1.0 This is something you mostly won’t play. You could do worse if you are desperate for fixing, but the fact he is reliant on stuff in the graveyard to make Treasure can be rough, and his stats aren’t very good.
Frost Bite image 3.5 So, at the base level, this is a shock that can’t hit players. 2 damage for one mana is pretty nice, as it is very likely to allow you to trade up, and because it is an instant, you can occasionally get some pretty amazing blowouts for a very low cost. Then, it is a Snow spell that is a Snow payoff, and if you have enough Snow going on and this does 3 damage, you’re really in business.
Priest of the Haunted Edge image 1.0 // 3.0 This is a snow payoff that DEMANDS you have a bunch of snow lands, and you won’t always have enough to make the Priest work. You probably need 7+ snow lands to do it. However, once you do, this becomes a reasonable early blocker than is a removal spell later on, and it is something you can get back from your graveyard fairly easily. It is not very good in other decks in the format, though.
Grizzled Outrider image 1.5 5-mana for a 5/5 is kind of alright. And that’s all there is to say about that.
Craven Hulk image 2.0 This coward may not be good at blocking, but a 4-mana 4/4 is a good enough deal in Limited that I’m okay with that. Its also a Giant, and that is probably the creature type that matters the most in this set, as it is the most tribal of the color pairs.
Doomskar Oracle image 2.5 BW and UW are both color pairs interested in Foretell, and Doomskar Oracle fits well into both of those decks. It has Foretell itself, AND it is a Foretell payoff. And, the payoff it gives you isn’t the most powerful thing ever, but incidental life gain can go a long way towards helping you survive in Limited, and since it is attached to a 3-mana 3/2 with foretell, I think you’ll find yourself playing this pretty regularly in White, even if you aren’t in one of the foretell decks. The Foretell here adds up to the same amount of mana you would normally pay, you just get to do it in two installments, which could allow for more flexible turns in the future. Like with a lot of these, I think you should only be foretelling it if you have extra mana lying around, -- or if you have a bunch of foretell payoffs - since just casting it is going to be reasonable a lot of the time too.
Pack 3 Pick 9: Arachnoform
Draugr Recruiter image 1.5 So, this is definitely a Boast ability that is all about the late game. The boast is expensive, and also asks for cards in the graveyard, but if you do get to use this late, and attack with this Recruiter in a situation where the best your opponent can do is trade with it or chump block it, it is going to be pretty nice. That said, by the late game, a 4-mana 3/3 won’t always be capable of making that situation happen. Sometimes, if you have something good enough in your graveyard, it will be worth the bad attack, but it is still kind of a rough deal. I think I will probably cut this a little more than I play it.
Tuskeri Firewalker image 3.0 A 3-mana 3/2 isn’t great, but its Boast effect is pretty nice. You really need to only be able to play somethin off of it once to feel good about the situation, since at that point, you’re getting a 2-for-1 in most cases. It even lets you pay lands if you exile one of them. The downside with this type of effect is often that you are unable to cast the spell you exile, and that’ll happen, but I think it’ll work out often enough that this seems pretty nice to me. Even if you just attack with it and it dies in combat, if you get a card out of the Boast, you’re doing just fine. I think this is a pretty good Red common.
Warhorn Blast image 1.0 // 3.0 So, mass pump spells always have some decks they will be good in -- obviously, the ones that are going wide -- but they are pretty bad in less aggressive decks. This one does add Foretell to the mix -- this is one of the foretell cards where the total investment is the same whether you Foretell it or not, so if you have the extra mana it will definitely be worth doing, since only paying three for this the turn you play it is no small thing. Still, this kind of card is always kind of a build around. If you’re an aggro deck that is good at going wide, you’re going to want one copy of this pretty often. Even in those decks it is situational, but the situation is much more likely to arise in those decks.
Story Seeker image 2.0 Two mana 2/2s with Lifelink are always solid. Just being able to trade for another two drop and gaining you 2 life is a decent fail case, and if they are allowed to stick around they will end up gaining you significant life. Auras and Equipment are also your friend with a creature like this.
Arachnoform image 1.0 This set has a lot of nice Auras, but Arachnoform isn’t one of them. It doesn’t mitigate agains the 2-for-1, and the bonus it grants is not significant enough for me to be interested in taking a risk. +2/+2, reach, and changeling status just doesn’t do it for me.
Codespell Cleric image 1.0 // 2.5 So, since this is one mana, casting it as your second spell in a turn won’t be super challenging, especially in a format with Foretell. I mean, in the late game it will be a little harder, like if you’re in top deck mode, but in the early and mid-game it will just happen. For this to be worth it, it does need to be making that +1/+1 counter a significant chunk of the time, and it can do that in aggro decks. Like Battlefield Raptor, it is much better in aggressive decks than it is elsewhere.
Grizzled Outrider image 1.5 5-mana for a 5/5 is kind of alright. And that’s all there is to say about that.
Pack 3 Pick 10: Jaspera Sentinel
Ascent of the Worthy image 0.5 This card is way too difficult to set up effectively, and you should mostly not play it.
Frostpyre Arcanist image 1.0 // 3.5 This type of design always interests me -- and by “this type” I mean cards that pay you off for having multiple copies of some card in your deck. The Giant deck -- which is UR -- is a spells deck, so this fits in very nicely -- it costing 4 won’t be that far-fetched, and a ⅖ isn’t too shabby for that kind of mana. You probably need at least two sets of duplicate spells, and ideally, cheap ones, so that is more likely when you play this that one of them is in your graveyard. If you can get this to draw a card for you even like half the time, you’re going to be pretty happy with this card. But yeah, if you don’t have any duplicates, it is probably best to steer clear.
Smashing Success image 0.0 Land destruction spells are almost never worth it in Limited. This is because it often has a negligible effect on the game -- if you get it late it basically does nothing, if you get it early it might do something, but even then there is about a 50% chance that your opponent still won’t be bothered by it. And yeah, this one is an instant, can hit artifacts, and makes a treasure when it destroys artifacts, but you still shouldn’t play it.
Infernal Pet image 2.0 You probably need to trigger this at least once to make it worth it, and since it starts out as an inefficient 3-mana 2/2, you may even want to trigger it twice before you feel okay about stuff. While that is certainly doable, I don’t really think this is going to be one of the key double spell payoffs that you need for the deck.
Dwarven Reinforcements image 2.0 Normally when you pay 4 mana for a couple of tokens, you expect a couple of 2/2s -- and that isn’t what you get here. However, Foretell does mean you can pay for this in two separate installments, which does help overcome that downside.
Jaspera Sentinel image 2.0 The fixing this offers is a big deal for the decks trying to play 3+ colors. It doesn’t have the greatest stats, and Reach isn’t very exciting, but the mana production here is nice.
Pack 3 Pick 11: Open the Omenpaths
Priest of the Haunted Edge image 1.0 // 3.0 This is a snow payoff that DEMANDS you have a bunch of snow lands, and you won’t always have enough to make the Priest work. You probably need 7+ snow lands to do it. However, once you do, this becomes a reasonable early blocker than is a removal spell later on, and it is something you can get back from your graveyard fairly easily. It is not very good in other decks in the format, though.
Tormentor's Helm image 2.5 Like Run Amok, this is a great card for aggressive decks, as it gives an efficient stats boost and can even help you close out a game because of the inevitable damage every time you attack, but it isn’t really very good anywhere else.
Duskwielder image 1.0 You’ll play this in really aggressive Black decks, but even then you’re kind of hoping you’ll get a better one drop than this! Overall, this is quickly outclassed on the board, and the Boast effect doesn’t do enough to help that.
Open the Omenpaths image 0.0 This is a card a lot of people will play when they are desperate for fixing – but don’t do it. Ritual effects like this aren’t good in Limited, you two for one yourself for some fixing and a small mana boost, and that card disadvantage is likely to cause you to lose the game. The alternate mode this has doesn’t help make any more playable either.
Seize the Spoils image 1.0 This is not an efficient way to dig deeper into your library, and while it also gives you a Treasure, you mostly should avoid playing this.
Pack 3 Pick 12: Ravenform
Valor of the Worthy image 2.0 I often complain about Auras that don’t give a good boost for the mana cost, as well as auras that don’t give you value to help a 2-for-1 not feel so bad. This does kind of okay on both of those fronts, but not super well on either. The efficiency here is pretty nice when you look at the whole package - one mana for a +1/+1 Aura and a 1/1 flyer if things go wrong, but I’m still not sure I like the risk of putting this on something. +1/+1 can have an impact, but it isn’t ultra likely to be game changing, and while you only spend a single White mana, you still have some risk here, as the 1/1 you get is probably worse than whatever you put it on.
King Harald's Revenge image 1.0 I don’t like this type of card. Sure, lure-type effects are nice, but they only really get powerful if they force EVERYTHING to block something, allowing the rest of your board to get through. This will just require one block. And yeah, sometimes this will make your creature absolutely massive, and adding Trample to that is nice -- but it still seems so clunky to me. You have to wait for the absolute right window for this to work out for you -- one where you have enough creatures for it to matter -- one where forcing the block makes a difference -- and one where your opponent doesn’t have cards in hand and mana up, since if they do, you have a good chance at getting completely blown out.
Arachnoform image 1.0 This set has a lot of nice Auras, but Arachnoform isn’t one of them. It doesn’t mitigate agains the 2-for-1, and the bonus it grants is not significant enough for me to be interested in taking a risk. +2/+2, reach, and changeling status just doesn’t do it for me.
Ravenform image 2.0 Cards that remove a creature but then give your opponent a token tend to be really unimpressive in Limited. The efficiency is nice, and it can deal with artifacts AND creatures, but don’t underestimate the downside of giving them a 1/1 flyer. That makes it so you aren’t exactly getting a straight up 1-for-1 with the card, and aggressive decks will be especially annoyed that their removal spell still leaves a blocker around. I’m not saying this card is bad. It isn’t. It is cheap and can deal with lots of things. It also comes with Foretell upside which is nice, but this isn’t close to being premium removal.
Pack 3 Pick 13: Koll, the Forgemaster
Koll, the Forgemaster image 3.5 This guy is pretty scary in RW decks, as making all of your Equipped and Enchanted creatures come back to your hand is a really big deal. The token pumping part comes up less often, but he’s still pretty good overall.
Open the Omenpaths image 0.0 This is a card a lot of people will play when they are desperate for fixing – but don’t do it. Ritual effects like this aren’t good in Limited, you two for one yourself for some fixing and a small mana boost, and that card disadvantage is likely to cause you to lose the game. The alternate mode this has doesn’t help make any more playable either.
Warhorn Blast image 1.0 // 3.0 So, mass pump spells always have some decks they will be good in -- obviously, the ones that are going wide -- but they are pretty bad in less aggressive decks. This one does add Foretell to the mix -- this is one of the foretell cards where the total investment is the same whether you Foretell it or not, so if you have the extra mana it will definitely be worth doing, since only paying three for this the turn you play it is no small thing. Still, this kind of card is always kind of a build around. If you’re an aggro deck that is good at going wide, you’re going to want one copy of this pretty often. Even in those decks it is situational, but the situation is much more likely to arise in those decks.
Pack 3 Pick 14: Tuskeri Firewalker
Arachnoform image 1.0 This set has a lot of nice Auras, but Arachnoform isn’t one of them. It doesn’t mitigate agains the 2-for-1, and the bonus it grants is not significant enough for me to be interested in taking a risk. +2/+2, reach, and changeling status just doesn’t do it for me.
Tuskeri Firewalker image 3.0 A 3-mana 3/2 isn’t great, but its Boast effect is pretty nice. You really need to only be able to play somethin off of it once to feel good about the situation, since at that point, you’re getting a 2-for-1 in most cases. It even lets you pay lands if you exile one of them. The downside with this type of effect is often that you are unable to cast the spell you exile, and that’ll happen, but I think it’ll work out often enough that this seems pretty nice to me. Even if you just attack with it and it dies in combat, if you get a card out of the Boast, you’re doing just fine. I think this is a pretty good Red common.
Pack 3 Pick 15: Annul
Annul image 0.0 This is a reprint, and it isn’t really one that is here to be played in Limited -- it is for constructed sideboards. It will be a rare thing in this format for people to have enough targets for this for it to be worth running, you might bring it out of your sideboard on occasion, but even then it doesn’t seem that likely to me. It is way better to have cards that destroy this type of permanent rather than counter them, because you can draw the removal after the fact and be okay. You have to have this in your hand at the exact right time for it to do something.
Draft Pick Overview