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Premier Draft SNC 22 May 2022

22 May 02:37 - AlistairK 7 Wins - 2 Losses
Maindeck
Creature (14)
1 Ziatora's Envoy image
1 Girder Goons image
1 Mayhem Patrol image
2 Glittermonger image
3 Corrupt Court Official image
1 Jewel Thief image
1 Body Dropper image
1 Extraction Specialist image
1 Freelance Muscle image
1 Witty Roastmaster image
1 Pyre-Sledge Arsonist image
Instant, Sorcery, Enchantment, Artifact (10)
3 Call In a Professional image
2 Luxurious Libation image
1 Fake Your Own Death image
1 Riveteers Charm image
1 Arcane Bombardment image
1 Ominous Parcel image
1 Demon's Due image
Land (17)
1 Xander's Lounge image
1 Maestros Theater image
5 Swamp image
5 Mountain image
5 Forest image
Sideboard
1 Extraction Specialist image
1 Witty Roastmaster image
2 Venom Connoisseur image
1 Maestros Initiate image
1 Halo Scarab image
1 Cutthroat Contender image
1 Wrecking Crew image
2 Chrome Cat image
1 Masked Bandits image
1 Exhibition Magician image
1 High-Rise Sawjack image
1 Ready to Rumble image
1 Rogues' Gallery image
1 Extract the Truth image
1 For the Family image

Pack 1 Pick 1: Ziatora's Envoy
Ziatora's Envoy image 4.5 This is really good. It has above rate stats and at worst will draw you a card when it damages the opponent. It can also let you put a land directly into play or – best of all, cast something for free! And sure, a 4 toughness creature isn’t often going to survive attacking by the time it comes down, but it doesn’t really need to – it is going to get you a 2-for-1 in most cases. The fact it has Blitz is nice too, because sometimes you’ll just really want to send this in and get the free card, and your opponents shields are way more likely to be down when you Blitz this in. You end up getting a card from the top in one way or another, getting in for some damage, and drawing a card when the Envoy dies. Obviously if it can attack more than once, you’re just going to win.
Maestros Charm image 3.5 Modality is great, and the three options you have here are all pretty nice. In Limited, you’ll most frequently choose to do 5 damage to something, and that’s a pretty great deal for three mana! Being able to Lightning Helix your opponent is nice when it gives you lethal, and being able to go 5 deep in your library while loading up your graveyard will sometimes be the right choice. This is premium removal with big upside.
Cement Shoes image 1.5 They are trying pretty hard to make Enormous Energy Blade-like cards good. And…that’s pretty tough to do! Obviously, the casting cost and the equip cost are really reasonable for a +3/+3 boost, and at least you can take advantage of it immediately by attacking with the creature you put it on, but the fact that creature gets locked down is rough. Now, its cheap enough you could move it around so it goes on to a creature that you don’t care about being locked down – like maybe one shut down by an Aura – but that end sup being a lot of mana! You can also attack with something you know will result in a trade, so you don’t have to worry about moving it. Basically, this isn’t a bad mana sink to have around in the right situations – and it will definitely make just about any creature into a much better attacker – but the fact that you can’t take advantage of the Equipment on defense is definitely a bummer, as is the downside. I think this is definitely better than Enormous Energy Blade was, but it still isn’t great.
Dusk Mangler image 4.0 This is a pretty neat design, and it reminds me of Daemogoth Woe-Eater from Strixhaven, and that’s pretty good company to keep! The body you get isn’t nearly as efficient, but this really delivers a gut-punch to the opponent when it comes down. You might have to do something extra to cast it, but your opponent has to do all of those things when you cast it. Note, by the way that the extra cost is part of casting it, so if you reanimate it or flicker it, your opponent gets punished by the ETB trigger again and you don’t have to do anything! The additional cost being flexible is great too, as you can find a way to cast it in most situations.
Expendable Lackey image 2.5 True to his name, this Lackey is a pretty nice creature to sacrifice to a card with Casualty, since he can then make a Fish token from the graveyard – which you can also sacrifice. He also works well with Connive, because you still get value out of discarding him. They’ve been making a lot of one drops lately that overlap into multiple decks, and I think that’s what this is. This doesn’t exactly feel like the premium card you want to really abuse those two mechanics, but it does seem pretty decent there.
Majestic Metamorphosis image 2.0 As we learned in Kamigawa Neon Dynasty, slapping “draw a card” on this type of spell is a big upgrade. Just temporary altering your creature’s stats is a bit too narrow of a use to be something you want to use a card on all the time, but this makes up for that with the cantrip. The times where you use this as a trick that wrecks your opponent is pretty sweet. It probably won’t be quite as good as Suit Up was, since Ninjutsu made for an interesting environment in terms of how opponents would block, but this definitely seems solid.
Incriminate image 2.0 Black often has cards that let the opponent make a decision about something, and they pretty much always underperform, since there are too many situations where your opponent can minimize the damage. However, I think this might make your opponent make a narrow enough decision that it will be decent. Sure, you’ll have situations where your opponent hasl ike a 1/1 and some bomb creature and it isn’t going to feel too good in those scenarios – and I’m certainly not saying this is premium removal ro anything – but I do think there will be enough board states where this kills something you want dead for two mana. Don’t go into it thinking it is Doom Blade, and I think you’ll feel okay about what you’re getting.
Ready to Rumble image 2.5 No matter which mode you choose, you aren’t getting a great deal for the mana, but hey – 5 damage does kill most stuff! Just… paying 5 to kill something that costs a lot less is pretty rough. You probably play one copy of this in most Red decks though, as it gives you some removal that does the job and comes with some artifact-hate upside.
Strangle image 4.0 This is a strictly worse Lightning Bolt – since it is a Sorcery and can’t hit players – but it is still incredible value for only a single Red mana, and its certainly premium removal. You’ll trade up with this a ton.
Sky Crier image 1.5 Flying and Lifelink make this a nice place to put counters, but apart from that, this card just isn’t all that efficient. And the draw effect also isn’t great since its symmetrical – and in some ways it is worse than symmetrical since you’re the one paying mana for the card and your opponent doesn’t pay anything! If you time it right, you can take advantage of the card before they do, but I still don’t like the idea of doing that. If this set didn’t have a decent +1/+1 counter theme, this would probably be a 1.0, but I think it will be a little bit better than that.
Echo Inspector image 3.0 This looks like a quality common. A 4-mana ⅔ Flyer that looted on ETB would be pretty alright to begin with, but Connive is looting with some pretty legit upside. You either get a 4-mana ¾ and discard a nonland, or its a ⅔ that gives you that loot. Either outcome is nice.
Maestros Initiate image 2.0 This doesn't have the best stats, but trading with it and then using the ability from the graveyard seems nice, and it also seems like a card that works nicely with Connive or Casualty thanks to the graveyard value.
High-Rise Sawjack image 2.0 We’ve seen this card in Spider-form before, and it was fine. 4 power is enough to take down most flyers and it is a nice thing to trade for those types of creatures.
Fake Your Own Death image 1.5 I guess we get a trick like this every set now! And, most versions of it tend to be pretty decent, and I think this one certainly is. +2/+0 is a boost that can allow your creature to win a whole lot of combats, and while it stands a good chance of dying too, Fake Your Own Death makes it not really matter, since the creature comes back! This gets especially spicy with ETB abilities, and there are also some potential Casualty and sacrifice shenanigans that this can enable.
Pack 1 Pick 2: Call In a Professional
Call In a Professional image 4.0 3 mana to do 3 to any target at Instant speed is usually premium removal, and this has some real upside in the format, since it will allow you to ignore those pesky shield counters. That has the potential to generate 2-for-1s for you.
Refuse to Yield image 1.5 +2 power for two mana doesn’t make for a great trick, even with a huge toughness boost. We usually get +2/+2 for a single mana, so paying twice that for the toughness boost isn’t the best thing ever. This is because it doesn’t help actually take down the opposing creature as much. Your creature has to have higher power on average to win the combat. Now, the upside is you can use Refuse to Yield to save a creature from damage-based removal, and I think as a whole that makes this a trick you’ll play sometimes, but it will get cut a decent chunk of the time too.
Brazen Upstart image 3.5 This looks really good. It is going to be a 3-mana 4/2 with Vigilance that draws you a card most of the time, and that’s going to be a pretty easy 2-for-1. It will be hard to miss a creature in that top 5 - especially in Cabaretti - but it will happen sometimes. Even when that goes down, you get a solid creature.
Civil Servant image 3.0 This has above rate stats, and it looks like there are enough Citizens in this set to make those stats even more impressive for a fairly low cost. This isn’t really the Citizen payoff you’re hoping for, but it does seem like a pretty nice Common for that deck.
Brokers Hideout image 2.5 This is some more very nice fixing for the format, which isn’t a huge surprise since three colors is what this format is all about. This is basically a more narrow Evolving Wilds, but one that also gains you a life – and it doesn’t have to tap either, though that isn’t coming up much in Limited. You definitely will play these in a lot of your decks, as they’ll be nice for mana. They don’t have the late game upside of the dual land cycle, so I think I would rank them a little lower.
Sky Crier image 1.5 Flying and Lifelink make this a nice place to put counters, but apart from that, this card just isn’t all that efficient. And the draw effect also isn’t great since its symmetrical – and in some ways it is worse than symmetrical since you’re the one paying mana for the card and your opponent doesn’t pay anything! If you time it right, you can take advantage of the card before they do, but I still don’t like the idea of doing that. If this set didn’t have a decent +1/+1 counter theme, this would probably be a 1.0, but I think it will be a little bit better than that.
Demon's Due image 2.5 This is a pretty solid draw spell. You see up to 4 cards, giving you a good chance to draw something you want, and paying 2 life for it is perfectly reasonable. It isn’t really the kind of thing you want to go after early, or that you want to run more than one of – after all, it has no impact on the board -- but it seems like the first copy is going to make the cut in your Black decks most of the time.
Body Dropper image 3.5 This is a pretty nice payoff for Sacrificing stuff, which is going to be very doable in Black-Red in this format as a result of both Alliance and Blitz, and it of course comes with its own way to sacrifice things and gain Menace. This seems like it could become a real problem for your opponent in many Black-Red decks!
Backstreet Bruiser image 2.0 A two mana 3/3 makes for a pretty good blocker, and it is certainly doable to take defender off of this thing, especially in Blue-White.
Raffine's Informant image 3.0 This is a nice White common. It is either a two mana 2/1 that lets you throw a land away for a fresh card, or a two mana 3/2 that makes you discard a real card, but the card you discard will often be able to give you some sort of value! Both options are pretty appealing.
Mayhem Patrol image 2.5 This looks like a solid Common. On its own, it is basically a two mana 2/2 with Menace, but the fact it can lend that power boost to other creatures is pretty nice, and the Blitz upside is fine too. It won’t generally be too long before it can’t attack any more, so just Blitzing it when you draw it in that situation is nice.
Rhox Pummeler image 2.5 The shield counter is pretty nice on a creature with high power and trample, as it really can put your opponent in a bind when it comes to blocking it. For some of these shield creatures, you can just throw one of your tokens in front of it to get the shield to go away – and you can still do that here, but you’re probably taking 5 in the process! This seems like a decent top curve.
Quick-Draw Dagger image 2.0 This is kind of like a combat trick that offers +1/+1 and First Strike for three mana which is…pretty bad for the cost on the face of it, but it is a boost that is pretty good at helping your creature win combat, and the fact it leaves behind an Equipment that can move around pretty cheaply and offer +1/+1 to stuff is pretty nice.
Pack 1 Pick 3: Venom Connoisseur
Faerie Vandal image 3.0 This is a reprint, and a pretty nice one. You only need one counter on it to feel like you are getting there, and that's very doable with Connive in the set.
Venom Connoisseur image 2.5 This will have death touch pretty often, though not usually on your opponent’s turn, which is a bit of a bummer. Giving the whole board death touch isn’t out of the question either, since you can make two bodies with one card with several different cards in the format.
Cutthroat Contender image 1.5 A vanilla one mana 2/1 already isn’t a great card in Limited, since it really tends to get outclassed in a hurry – and this is basically a one mana 2/1 that is conditional. A 2/1 is only marginally better than a 1/1 in most games. It doesn’t really seem worth it to me, even in an aggro deck. I guess the idea is that you can buff it so that your one drop can be sacrificed to a Casualty 2 spell, but that doesn’t make it that much better.
Riveteers Initiate image 2.5 Like most of this cycle, this is solid. It has okay base stats, and it can gain a useful keyword! Deathtouch does mean it can trade with anything, and that’s nice.
Gilded Pinions image 1.5 This gives you fixing and Flying for a relatively fair cost. But, typically, Equipment that only grants flying isn’t great, because it isn’t very impressive on smaller creatures. In other words, your creature already has to be pretty nice for this to be worth it.
Social Climber image 2.0 This has passable stats and a decent Alliance trigger. Gaining a bit of life here and there can add up sometimes, and that’s especially true with the tokens you’ll be making in Cabaretti!
Crooked Custodian image 2.0 This has above rate stats, but coming into play tapped kind of cancels that out – it isn’t like its stats are CRAZY good anyway. Still, seems like a nice two drop for an aggro deck, and its one of the more efficient ways to get 3 power in play for the spells that have higher Casualty costs.
Run Out of Town image 3.0 This is decent Blue removal – and it is removal, because bouncing a card to the deck makes it a 1-for-1, even if your opponent can just draw the thing again. It is definitely a bit costly, but its flexibility makes it a pretty nice card.
Speakeasy Server image 2.5 A passable Flyer with an ETB that gains you life always tends to perform reasonably well in Limited. It can really help you stabilize. The downside here is that you need a board in place to gain any life – it doesn’t even gain you 1 life on its own, which is a little sad. Still, in White you’ll be able to go wide, and gaining 3+ with this should be pretty decent.
Halo Scarab image 1.5 This has okay stats, and gives you some value out of the graveyard. That will be nice whether you mill it, discard it, or just have it die from being in play. Two mana to make a treasure is obviously not a great rate, but it does give you the potential to have fixing in just about any deck. I think this is going to be pretty easy to cut as decks will usually have good enough fixing without it, but it isn’t a disaster to play it either.
Maestros Theater image 2.5 This is some more very nice fixing for the format, which isn’t a huge surprise since three colors is what this format is all about. This is basically a more narrow Evolving Wilds, but one that also gains you a life – and it doesn’t have to tap either, though that isn’t coming up much in Limited. You definitely will play these in a lot of your decks, as they’ll be nice for mana. They don’t have the late game upside of the dual land cycle, so I think I would rank them a little lower.
Obscura Initiate image 2.5 This is a Wind Drake with some solid upside – life link is no joke on an evasive creature, and can really alter races!
Pack 1 Pick 4: Luxurious Libation
Refuse to Yield image 1.5 +2 power for two mana doesn’t make for a great trick, even with a huge toughness boost. We usually get +2/+2 for a single mana, so paying twice that for the toughness boost isn’t the best thing ever. This is because it doesn’t help actually take down the opposing creature as much. Your creature has to have higher power on average to win the combat. Now, the upside is you can use Refuse to Yield to save a creature from damage-based removal, and I think as a whole that makes this a trick you’ll play sometimes, but it will get cut a decent chunk of the time too.
Luxurious Libation image 2.0 This looks like a solid trick. The bonus it gives you will never be the most efficient, but the fact it scales is nice, and getting a token is some nice added value, especially if you have some Alliance going on. It is still a trick, and has all the risks they always have - situational, risky, and so forth - but I think the first copy of this seems decent.
Prizefight image 2.0 Cards that just fight and don’t offer a stats boost of any kind tend to be pretty medium. Buffing the creature makes it so that a wider variety of creatures can do something useful with them, and you just don’t get that here at all. It does combo interestingly with shield tokens, since it can enable you to fight with a shielded creature without losing it, and that does kind of expand the range of creatures that can fight with this and survive.
Raffine's Guidance image 1.5 Auras that can come back from the graveyard always tend to be kind of decent, since your opponent has a hard time ever truly getting rid of them. However, this one offers a pretty small boost. Still, with Connive being a thing, discarding this to get a +1/+1 counter and then having the opportunity to slap it on a creature late seem okay.
Dig Up the Body image 2.5 This is a pretty clunky version of this effect – three mana to get one thing back is not especially good, even with the mill thrown in. Basically, for this to feel like its worth it, you’ll need to be doubling the spell, and that’s easy enough since it only needs one power, but I still think this is the kind of card you’re really only going to want one of in Black decks. You really don’t want this showing up in your opening hand, you want it late.
Rooftop Nuisance image 2.5 We usually see this effect as an Instant, and being a Sorcery instead is definitely a downgrade. If it is an instant, you get to stop two rounds of attacks and blocks when you cast it. As a Sorcery, you only stop one attack – though you still make your opponent unable to block with that creature for two turns, which is usually the best part about this card anyway. So, adding a very cheap Casualty option to the card is pretty appealing – locking down two creatures and drawing two cards for only three mana is pretty great, even if you lose a token. This is going to end up closing out a lot of games in this format.
Obscura Storefront image 2.5 This is some more very nice fixing for the format, which isn’t a huge surprise since three colors is what this format is all about. This is basically a more narrow Evolving Wilds, but one that also gains you a life – and it doesn’t have to tap either, though that isn’t coming up much in Limited. You definitely will play these in a lot of your decks, as they’ll be nice for mana. They don’t have the late game upside of the dual land cycle, so I think I would rank them a little lower.
Majestic Metamorphosis image 2.0 As we learned in Kamigawa Neon Dynasty, slapping “draw a card” on this type of spell is a big upgrade. Just temporary altering your creature’s stats is a bit too narrow of a use to be something you want to use a card on all the time, but this makes up for that with the cantrip. The times where you use this as a trick that wrecks your opponent is pretty sweet. It probably won’t be quite as good as Suit Up was, since Ninjutsu made for an interesting environment in terms of how opponents would block, but this definitely seems solid.
Daring Escape image 1.5 +1/+0 and First Strike makes for a decent trick for one mana. The power boost isn’t ultra impressive, but First Strike obviously makes combat go much more favorably for your creature. I still think Antagonize is probably the trick you’re after if you’re playing Red aggro, but this can fill the role.
Ready to Rumble image 2.5 No matter which mode you choose, you aren’t getting a great deal for the mana, but hey – 5 damage does kill most stuff! Just… paying 5 to kill something that costs a lot less is pretty rough. You probably play one copy of this in most Red decks though, as it gives you some removal that does the job and comes with some artifact-hate upside.
Brokers Veteran image 2.5 This has medium stats, but giving a shield counter to one of your creatures is some nice upside to have on a two drop. The times when you don’t have a creature in play to put the counter on will be rough – and that can happen early, but this seems like a solid playable.
Pack 1 Pick 5: Fake Your Own Death
Brass Knuckles image 1.0 This is a really roundabout way to give one of your creatures double strike! You basically pay 4 mana and then 1 to equip the original one as well as the copy. That’s..not a great rate. And yeah, it gets better in situations where you can buff the creature, but the Knuckles don’t buff the thing at all, so it had better already be a pretty good attacker. It gets especially ugly in situations where your opponent can deal with one of the copies, and then your creature just loses double strike on the spot – and there isn’t really enough good Equipment around for this to work that often without its copy.
Rumor Gatherer image 3.0 A 3-mana 2/1 – and one that costs double white – is just really bad. Scrying any time a creature enters the battlefield is nice upside though, and if you can make enough tokens or double spell with creatures, it will end up netting you a card. I think this will net you a card often enough that I want to start the format valuing this card pretty highly, bad stats and all.
Cabaretti Courtyard image 2.5 This is some more very nice fixing for the format, which isn’t a huge surprise since three colors is what this format is all about. This is basically a more narrow Evolving Wilds, but one that also gains you a life – and it doesn’t have to tap either, though that isn’t coming up much in Limited. You definitely will play these in a lot of your decks, as they’ll be nice for mana. They don’t have the late game upside of the dual land cycle, so I think I would rank them a little lower.
Fake Your Own Death image 1.5 I guess we get a trick like this every set now! And, most versions of it tend to be pretty decent, and I think this one certainly is. +2/+0 is a boost that can allow your creature to win a whole lot of combats, and while it stands a good chance of dying too, Fake Your Own Death makes it not really matter, since the creature comes back! This gets especially spicy with ETB abilities, and there are also some potential Casualty and sacrifice shenanigans that this can enable.
Caldaia Strongarm image 2.5 This looks like a solid Common. Cast the normal way, it gives you a 5-mana ⅘ – which isn’t great, but that’s the fail case of the card. It can do a lot more than that! You can of course put the counters on another creature, and that can add some significant additional damage to the board immediately. And if adding as much damage to the board as quickly as possible is your thing, you can Blitz this, which lets you ad ⅘ worth of stats to the board for only 4 mana, and then you get to draw a card to replace it! You’ll often be able to get close to a card of value out of it when you do Blitz it, so that’s not a bad deal, especially because it makes sure to leave something on the board even once it sacrifices itself.
Ready to Rumble image 2.5 No matter which mode you choose, you aren’t getting a great deal for the mana, but hey – 5 damage does kill most stuff! Just… paying 5 to kill something that costs a lot less is pretty rough. You probably play one copy of this in most Red decks though, as it gives you some removal that does the job and comes with some artifact-hate upside.
Glittermonger image 2.0 This is a decent source of fixing and mana, especially if you’re in a deck that has some Treasure payoffs – but its base stats aren’t especially good.
Cabaretti Initiate image 1.5 If you can put counters on this, it can get interesting – and you certainly have access to some of those in this format. But overall, this is probably the worst of this cycle. A one mana ½ just gets outclassed way too quickly, and giving a creature that size double strike isn’t exactly a big deal. You’ll play it of course in aggressive decks, but I can see it getting cut a good chunk of the time too, even in Cabaretti.
Social Climber image 2.0 This has passable stats and a decent Alliance trigger. Gaining a bit of life here and there can add up sometimes, and that’s especially true with the tokens you’ll be making in Cabaretti!
Security Bypass image 1.0 Unblockable when attacking alone + the ability to Connive every time you hit the opponent is kind of decent for the cost, but I don’t feel like its worth the inherent risk of playing an Aura. Connive isn’t quite worth a card after you do it once, though, and that means if your opponent can deal with whatever you put this on before you do it a second time, you’re ending up way behind. So, in the end, this feels like an Aura that won’t quite do enough to be worth the risk. Even if you’re discarding things for value, I’m skeptical.
Pack 1 Pick 6: Girder Goons
Scuttling Butler image 1.0 // 3.0 This is definitely a build around, because a 3-mana 4/1 just isn’t worth it in your typical deck. It is probably a D at best. However, the upside here is actually kind of nuts, as giving a 4/1 double strike is pretty amazing. Your deck needs to be able to give this double strike a significant chunk of the time, and the good news is that looks like it can happen in many decks in this format, though it is perhaps the easiest in Green-White or Cabaretti more broadly, because of Citizen tokens which are both colors
Luxurious Libation image 2.0 This looks like a solid trick. The bonus it gives you will never be the most efficient, but the fact it scales is nice, and getting a token is some nice added value, especially if you have some Alliance going on. It is still a trick, and has all the risks they always have - situational, risky, and so forth - but I think the first copy of this seems decent.
Raffine's Guidance image 1.5 Auras that can come back from the graveyard always tend to be kind of decent, since your opponent has a hard time ever truly getting rid of them. However, this one offers a pretty small boost. Still, with Connive being a thing, discarding this to get a +1/+1 counter and then having the opportunity to slap it on a creature late seem okay.
Plasma Jockey image 3.0 This reminds me a lot of Goblin Heelcutter or Clamor Shaman, both of which were great cards in aggressive decks in their respective formats. It probably isn’t quite as good as either of them, but it will have a similar impact. You will Blitz this on a turn where it really makes an immediate impact, but its nice you can also just cast it normally if you’re more interested in adding permanently to the board – like if you’re not the beat down when you play it.
Cutthroat Contender image 1.5 A vanilla one mana 2/1 already isn’t a great card in Limited, since it really tends to get outclassed in a hurry – and this is basically a one mana 2/1 that is conditional. A 2/1 is only marginally better than a 1/1 in most games. It doesn’t really seem worth it to me, even in an aggro deck. I guess the idea is that you can buff it so that your one drop can be sacrificed to a Casualty 2 spell, but that doesn’t make it that much better.
Shattered Seraph image 2.5 The initial card you get isn’t great – a 7-mana 4/4 Flyer that gains you 3 life would probably be something like a D+. It is a real body and the life gain is nice, but by that stage of the game the size may not be enough. And..the other side of the card isn’t great either, as paying 2 mana to fix your mana hurts pretty bad. However, what saves this card from being awful is the fact that you can still cast it from exile, so eventually you can get both parts of the card going. Sometimes it won’t be worth doing the exile part of course, but this looks solid overall.
Prizefight image 2.0 Cards that just fight and don’t offer a stats boost of any kind tend to be pretty medium. Buffing the creature makes it so that a wider variety of creatures can do something useful with them, and you just don’t get that here at all. It does combo interestingly with shield tokens, since it can enable you to fight with a shielded creature without losing it, and that does kind of expand the range of creatures that can fight with this and survive.
Maestros Initiate image 2.0 This doesn't have the best stats, but trading with it and then using the ability from the graveyard seems nice, and it also seems like a card that works nicely with Connive or Casualty thanks to the graveyard value.
Girder Goons image 2.5 Neither mode with this is great, but both are fine. A 5-mana 4/4 that leaves behind a 2/2 can definitely generate a 2-for-1, and if you Blitz this you not only get to draw a card when it dies, you also add to the board.
Pack 1 Pick 7: Call In a Professional
A Little Chat image 3.0 The base level of this card would probably be a 1.5 or 2.0. It doesn’t do much, but it gives you some okay card selection. However, I think the Casualty upside here is pretty big, because once this turn into a 4 mana card that draws you two of the top four cards of your library, we’re talking about something pretty powerful! And you can sacrifice almost any creature to get that copy. You won’t always be able to do that of course, but the sort of acceptable baseline and the big upside makes this a card that I don’t think you’ll cut from most Blue decks.
Call In a Professional image 4.0 3 mana to do 3 to any target at Instant speed is usually premium removal, and this has some real upside in the format, since it will allow you to ignore those pesky shield counters. That has the potential to generate 2-for-1s for you.
Jetmir's Fixer image 3.0 This is a two mana 2/2 with some very nice upside. Even if it didn’t have the Treasure bonus, being able to pump this creature’s stats for a single red and a single green would be a pretty nice card. Obviously though, Red-Green is very into Treasure in this format, so you’re going to be able to trigger the bonus if you want to.
Exhibition Magician image 3.0 This is a good Common. A three mana 2/1 that makes a 1/1 – in a color that has lots of pay offs for going wide – is a pretty nice card – probably a C+. So, also having the Treasure option is nice upside – sometimes you’ll want it to help you ramp, and sometimes you’ll be in a deck that cares about Treasure than it does going wide, especially if you’re in Red/Green.
Cutthroat Contender image 1.5 A vanilla one mana 2/1 already isn’t a great card in Limited, since it really tends to get outclassed in a hurry – and this is basically a one mana 2/1 that is conditional. A 2/1 is only marginally better than a 1/1 in most games. It doesn’t really seem worth it to me, even in an aggro deck. I guess the idea is that you can buff it so that your one drop can be sacrificed to a Casualty 2 spell, but that doesn’t make it that much better.
Make Disappear image 1.5 Without Casualty, this kind of counter spell isn't great, since your opponent is likely to have the spare mana the longer the game goes on. With casualty…I still don't think it is great, but obviously it will allow you to counter more spells more often.
Social Climber image 2.0 This has passable stats and a decent Alliance trigger. Gaining a bit of life here and there can add up sometimes, and that’s especially true with the tokens you’ll be making in Cabaretti!
Plasma Jockey image 3.0 This reminds me a lot of Goblin Heelcutter or Clamor Shaman, both of which were great cards in aggressive decks in their respective formats. It probably isn’t quite as good as either of them, but it will have a similar impact. You will Blitz this on a turn where it really makes an immediate impact, but its nice you can also just cast it normally if you’re more interested in adding permanently to the board – like if you’re not the beat down when you play it.
Pack 1 Pick 8: Riveteers Charm
Riveteers Charm image 3.5 You’re mostly going to want to choose the first mode on this one – and that’s fine, because its pretty good! Most of the time your opponent’s best creature will be the one that they are forced to sacrifice, and its great that if you’re in a situation where that mode doesn’t do enough, you can choose the second mode. Casting this at the end of your opponents turn in the later game will often basically just draw you three cards. In the earlier game that mode isn’t great, though. Exiling graveyards not as big of a deal, but its upside on a card with two pretty nice modes.
Cabaretti Initiate image 1.5 If you can put counters on this, it can get interesting – and you certainly have access to some of those in this format. But overall, this is probably the worst of this cycle. A one mana ½ just gets outclassed way too quickly, and giving a creature that size double strike isn’t exactly a big deal. You’ll play it of course in aggressive decks, but I can see it getting cut a good chunk of the time too, even in Cabaretti.
Riveteers Overlook image 2.5 This is some more very nice fixing for the format, which isn’t a huge surprise since three colors is what this format is all about. This is basically a more narrow Evolving Wilds, but one that also gains you a life – and it doesn’t have to tap either, though that isn’t coming up much in Limited. You definitely will play these in a lot of your decks, as they’ll be nice for mana. They don’t have the late game upside of the dual land cycle, so I think I would rank them a little lower.
Revel Ruiner image 2.0 This seems solid. A 4-mana 4/2 with Menace is a decent enough card, and this can be that if you want it to be most of the time. The alternative of this helping you throw away an unwanted land for a fresh card, and giving you a 3/1 menace seems solid too.
Mayhem Patrol image 2.5 This looks like a solid Common. On its own, it is basically a two mana 2/2 with Menace, but the fact it can lend that power boost to other creatures is pretty nice, and the Blitz upside is fine too. It won’t generally be too long before it can’t attack any more, so just Blitzing it when you draw it in that situation is nice.
Majestic Metamorphosis image 2.0 As we learned in Kamigawa Neon Dynasty, slapping “draw a card” on this type of spell is a big upgrade. Just temporary altering your creature’s stats is a bit too narrow of a use to be something you want to use a card on all the time, but this makes up for that with the cantrip. The times where you use this as a trick that wrecks your opponent is pretty sweet. It probably won’t be quite as good as Suit Up was, since Ninjutsu made for an interesting environment in terms of how opponents would block, but this definitely seems solid.
Plasma Jockey image 3.0 This reminds me a lot of Goblin Heelcutter or Clamor Shaman, both of which were great cards in aggressive decks in their respective formats. It probably isn’t quite as good as either of them, but it will have a similar impact. You will Blitz this on a turn where it really makes an immediate impact, but its nice you can also just cast it normally if you’re more interested in adding permanently to the board – like if you’re not the beat down when you play it.
Pack 1 Pick 9: Maestros Initiate
Cement Shoes image 1.5 They are trying pretty hard to make Enormous Energy Blade-like cards good. And…that’s pretty tough to do! Obviously, the casting cost and the equip cost are really reasonable for a +3/+3 boost, and at least you can take advantage of it immediately by attacking with the creature you put it on, but the fact that creature gets locked down is rough. Now, its cheap enough you could move it around so it goes on to a creature that you don’t care about being locked down – like maybe one shut down by an Aura – but that end sup being a lot of mana! You can also attack with something you know will result in a trade, so you don’t have to worry about moving it. Basically, this isn’t a bad mana sink to have around in the right situations – and it will definitely make just about any creature into a much better attacker – but the fact that you can’t take advantage of the Equipment on defense is definitely a bummer, as is the downside. I think this is definitely better than Enormous Energy Blade was, but it still isn’t great.
Majestic Metamorphosis image 2.0 As we learned in Kamigawa Neon Dynasty, slapping “draw a card” on this type of spell is a big upgrade. Just temporary altering your creature’s stats is a bit too narrow of a use to be something you want to use a card on all the time, but this makes up for that with the cantrip. The times where you use this as a trick that wrecks your opponent is pretty sweet. It probably won’t be quite as good as Suit Up was, since Ninjutsu made for an interesting environment in terms of how opponents would block, but this definitely seems solid.
Incriminate image 2.0 Black often has cards that let the opponent make a decision about something, and they pretty much always underperform, since there are too many situations where your opponent can minimize the damage. However, I think this might make your opponent make a narrow enough decision that it will be decent. Sure, you’ll have situations where your opponent hasl ike a 1/1 and some bomb creature and it isn’t going to feel too good in those scenarios – and I’m certainly not saying this is premium removal ro anything – but I do think there will be enough board states where this kills something you want dead for two mana. Don’t go into it thinking it is Doom Blade, and I think you’ll feel okay about what you’re getting.
Ready to Rumble image 2.5 No matter which mode you choose, you aren’t getting a great deal for the mana, but hey – 5 damage does kill most stuff! Just… paying 5 to kill something that costs a lot less is pretty rough. You probably play one copy of this in most Red decks though, as it gives you some removal that does the job and comes with some artifact-hate upside.
Maestros Initiate image 2.0 This doesn't have the best stats, but trading with it and then using the ability from the graveyard seems nice, and it also seems like a card that works nicely with Connive or Casualty thanks to the graveyard value.
Fake Your Own Death image 1.5 I guess we get a trick like this every set now! And, most versions of it tend to be pretty decent, and I think this one certainly is. +2/+0 is a boost that can allow your creature to win a whole lot of combats, and while it stands a good chance of dying too, Fake Your Own Death makes it not really matter, since the creature comes back! This gets especially spicy with ETB abilities, and there are also some potential Casualty and sacrifice shenanigans that this can enable.
Pack 1 Pick 10: Mayhem Patrol
Refuse to Yield image 1.5 +2 power for two mana doesn’t make for a great trick, even with a huge toughness boost. We usually get +2/+2 for a single mana, so paying twice that for the toughness boost isn’t the best thing ever. This is because it doesn’t help actually take down the opposing creature as much. Your creature has to have higher power on average to win the combat. Now, the upside is you can use Refuse to Yield to save a creature from damage-based removal, and I think as a whole that makes this a trick you’ll play sometimes, but it will get cut a decent chunk of the time too.
Brazen Upstart image 3.5 This looks really good. It is going to be a 3-mana 4/2 with Vigilance that draws you a card most of the time, and that’s going to be a pretty easy 2-for-1. It will be hard to miss a creature in that top 5 - especially in Cabaretti - but it will happen sometimes. Even when that goes down, you get a solid creature.
Demon's Due image 2.5 This is a pretty solid draw spell. You see up to 4 cards, giving you a good chance to draw something you want, and paying 2 life for it is perfectly reasonable. It isn’t really the kind of thing you want to go after early, or that you want to run more than one of – after all, it has no impact on the board -- but it seems like the first copy is going to make the cut in your Black decks most of the time.
Mayhem Patrol image 2.5 This looks like a solid Common. On its own, it is basically a two mana 2/2 with Menace, but the fact it can lend that power boost to other creatures is pretty nice, and the Blitz upside is fine too. It won’t generally be too long before it can’t attack any more, so just Blitzing it when you draw it in that situation is nice.
Rhox Pummeler image 2.5 The shield counter is pretty nice on a creature with high power and trample, as it really can put your opponent in a bind when it comes to blocking it. For some of these shield creatures, you can just throw one of your tokens in front of it to get the shield to go away – and you can still do that here, but you’re probably taking 5 in the process! This seems like a decent top curve.
Pack 1 Pick 11: Halo Scarab
Cutthroat Contender image 1.5 A vanilla one mana 2/1 already isn’t a great card in Limited, since it really tends to get outclassed in a hurry – and this is basically a one mana 2/1 that is conditional. A 2/1 is only marginally better than a 1/1 in most games. It doesn’t really seem worth it to me, even in an aggro deck. I guess the idea is that you can buff it so that your one drop can be sacrificed to a Casualty 2 spell, but that doesn’t make it that much better.
Social Climber image 2.0 This has passable stats and a decent Alliance trigger. Gaining a bit of life here and there can add up sometimes, and that’s especially true with the tokens you’ll be making in Cabaretti!
Run Out of Town image 3.0 This is decent Blue removal – and it is removal, because bouncing a card to the deck makes it a 1-for-1, even if your opponent can just draw the thing again. It is definitely a bit costly, but its flexibility makes it a pretty nice card.
Halo Scarab image 1.5 This has okay stats, and gives you some value out of the graveyard. That will be nice whether you mill it, discard it, or just have it die from being in play. Two mana to make a treasure is obviously not a great rate, but it does give you the potential to have fixing in just about any deck. I think this is going to be pretty easy to cut as decks will usually have good enough fixing without it, but it isn’t a disaster to play it either.
Pack 1 Pick 12: Ready to Rumble
Majestic Metamorphosis image 2.0 As we learned in Kamigawa Neon Dynasty, slapping “draw a card” on this type of spell is a big upgrade. Just temporary altering your creature’s stats is a bit too narrow of a use to be something you want to use a card on all the time, but this makes up for that with the cantrip. The times where you use this as a trick that wrecks your opponent is pretty sweet. It probably won’t be quite as good as Suit Up was, since Ninjutsu made for an interesting environment in terms of how opponents would block, but this definitely seems solid.
Ready to Rumble image 2.5 No matter which mode you choose, you aren’t getting a great deal for the mana, but hey – 5 damage does kill most stuff! Just… paying 5 to kill something that costs a lot less is pretty rough. You probably play one copy of this in most Red decks though, as it gives you some removal that does the job and comes with some artifact-hate upside.
Brokers Veteran image 2.5 This has medium stats, but giving a shield counter to one of your creatures is some nice upside to have on a two drop. The times when you don’t have a creature in play to put the counter on will be rough – and that can happen early, but this seems like a solid playable.
Pack 1 Pick 13: Glittermonger
Glittermonger image 2.0 This is a decent source of fixing and mana, especially if you’re in a deck that has some Treasure payoffs – but its base stats aren’t especially good.
Cabaretti Initiate image 1.5 If you can put counters on this, it can get interesting – and you certainly have access to some of those in this format. But overall, this is probably the worst of this cycle. A one mana ½ just gets outclassed way too quickly, and giving a creature that size double strike isn’t exactly a big deal. You’ll play it of course in aggressive decks, but I can see it getting cut a good chunk of the time too, even in Cabaretti.
Pack 1 Pick 14: Cutthroat Contender
Cutthroat Contender image 1.5 A vanilla one mana 2/1 already isn’t a great card in Limited, since it really tends to get outclassed in a hurry – and this is basically a one mana 2/1 that is conditional. A 2/1 is only marginally better than a 1/1 in most games. It doesn’t really seem worth it to me, even in an aggro deck. I guess the idea is that you can buff it so that your one drop can be sacrificed to a Casualty 2 spell, but that doesn’t make it that much better.
Pack 2 Pick 1: Rogues' Gallery
Structural Assault image 0.0 This isn’t really here for Limited. Even with Treasure tokens around, there just aren’t enough artifacts in this set for this to ever matter.
Tavern Swindler image 1.5 This is a reprint, and not an especially good one. Last time we saw it there was a significant life gain theme, but that’s not really the case here, so gaining life with this isn’t that great. There are a few cards in the format that check for life loss and life gain, and this could do some work in such a deck, but a lot of the time this is just a Bear.
Rogues' Gallery image 2.5 I think most Black decks in the format will have enough creatures of different colors to be interested in the first copy of this. Getting two things back with it is solid, and if you can get 3+ it will be downright insane! The format has plenty of graveyard action to enable it to. I think I like valuing the first copy of this at a 2.5, though you don’t really want more than that first copy.
Faerie Vandal image 3.0 This is a reprint, and a pretty nice one. You only need one counter on it to feel like you are getting there, and that's very doable with Connive in the set.
Masked Bandits image 2.5 A six-mana 5/5 is actually kind of reasonable, and this one comes with the upside of helping you fix your mana early.
Exhibition Magician image 3.0 This is a good Common. A three mana 2/1 that makes a 1/1 – in a color that has lots of pay offs for going wide – is a pretty nice card – probably a C+. So, also having the Treasure option is nice upside – sometimes you’ll want it to help you ramp, and sometimes you’ll be in a deck that cares about Treasure than it does going wide, especially if you’re in Red/Green.
Most Wanted image 1.5 Flash Auras can be nice, since they are sort of like combat tricks that leave some permanent value behind, but only giving +1 to toughness does mean this won’t save your creature as often as you’d probably like. Getting two Treasure when the creature dies does soften the blow if you get 2-for-1’d, but probably not by enough for me to excited about this.
Backup Agent image 2.5 We see the Green version of this all the time, and it’s always solid. It can be a 2/2 for 2 if its alone, and the ability to put the counter somewhere else stays surprisingly relevant all game long. It has the Citizen creature type and there are some counter synergies in the set too.
Expendable Lackey image 2.5 True to his name, this Lackey is a pretty nice creature to sacrifice to a card with Casualty, since he can then make a Fish token from the graveyard – which you can also sacrifice. He also works well with Connive, because you still get value out of discarding him. They’ve been making a lot of one drops lately that overlap into multiple decks, and I think that’s what this is. This doesn’t exactly feel like the premium card you want to really abuse those two mechanics, but it does seem pretty decent there.
Girder Goons image 2.5 Neither mode with this is great, but both are fine. A 5-mana 4/4 that leaves behind a 2/2 can definitely generate a 2-for-1, and if you Blitz this you not only get to draw a card when it dies, you also add to the board.
Speakeasy Server image 2.5 A passable Flyer with an ETB that gains you life always tends to perform reasonably well in Limited. It can really help you stabilize. The downside here is that you need a board in place to gain any life – it doesn’t even gain you 1 life on its own, which is a little sad. Still, in White you’ll be able to go wide, and gaining 3+ with this should be pretty decent.
For the Family image 2.0 This seems like a solid trick. One for +2/+2 usually plays reasonably well, and the multiple creature upside is pretty legit.
Extract the Truth image 1.5 The first mode will often be able to hit something, even in the middle part of the game, and having some enchantment hate in your main deck is nice. Now, there will be times where neither mode does anything, and that’s rough – but most of the time you’ll do something with it, even if it isn’t anything big.
Riveteers Initiate image 2.5 Like most of this cycle, this is solid. It has okay base stats, and it can gain a useful keyword! Deathtouch does mean it can trade with anything, and that’s nice.
Pack 2 Pick 2: Xander's Lounge
Xander's Lounge image 3.0 These all offer really great fixing for a set with three color factions, and adding Cycling to the mix is actually a pretty big deal, because it means if you’re flooding late, this is a land you can just throw away. The fact they all have three land types also provides for some additional upside.
Rocco, Cabaretti Caterer image 3.5 This is a neat design. The main idea here is that you get to trigger Alliance twice when you cast Rocco, but being able to search up some stuff is pretty sweet. I mean, if you pay 4 and get a 3/1 and a 1/1, you’re doing pretty well, and things pretty much scale from there. Paying almost anything for X is going to feel good, though make sure you have something to search up. You won’t always at one, for example. The rest of the mana values are probably going to be easier to make work.
A Little Chat image 3.0 The base level of this card would probably be a 1.5 or 2.0. It doesn’t do much, but it gives you some okay card selection. However, I think the Casualty upside here is pretty big, because once this turn into a 4 mana card that draws you two of the top four cards of your library, we’re talking about something pretty powerful! And you can sacrifice almost any creature to get that copy. You won’t always be able to do that of course, but the sort of acceptable baseline and the big upside makes this a card that I don’t think you’ll cut from most Blue decks.
Venom Connoisseur image 2.5 This will have death touch pretty often, though not usually on your opponent’s turn, which is a bit of a bummer. Giving the whole board death touch isn’t out of the question either, since you can make two bodies with one card with several different cards in the format.
Boon of Safety image 2.0 A shield counter will allow your creature to survive a whole lot of stuff, whether its a removal spell or damage in combat. In combat, your creature will still get to damage the thing that it is blocking or being blocked by, and if its big enough it can just kill it. It feels like there are enough situations where you can generate some sweet tempo with this that I can definitely see running a copy of it in aggressive White decks.
Rhox Pummeler image 2.5 The shield counter is pretty nice on a creature with high power and trample, as it really can put your opponent in a bind when it comes to blocking it. For some of these shield creatures, you can just throw one of your tokens in front of it to get the shield to go away – and you can still do that here, but you’re probably taking 5 in the process! This seems like a decent top curve.
Fake Your Own Death image 1.5 I guess we get a trick like this every set now! And, most versions of it tend to be pretty decent, and I think this one certainly is. +2/+0 is a boost that can allow your creature to win a whole lot of combats, and while it stands a good chance of dying too, Fake Your Own Death makes it not really matter, since the creature comes back! This gets especially spicy with ETB abilities, and there are also some potential Casualty and sacrifice shenanigans that this can enable.
Cutthroat Contender image 1.5 A vanilla one mana 2/1 already isn’t a great card in Limited, since it really tends to get outclassed in a hurry – and this is basically a one mana 2/1 that is conditional. A 2/1 is only marginally better than a 1/1 in most games. It doesn’t really seem worth it to me, even in an aggro deck. I guess the idea is that you can buff it so that your one drop can be sacrificed to a Casualty 2 spell, but that doesn’t make it that much better.
Jetmir's Fixer image 3.0 This is a two mana 2/2 with some very nice upside. Even if it didn’t have the Treasure bonus, being able to pump this creature’s stats for a single red and a single green would be a pretty nice card. Obviously though, Red-Green is very into Treasure in this format, so you’re going to be able to trigger the bonus if you want to.
Ominous Parcel image 1.5 This can help you fix your mana, or it can be a removal spell. Its pretty bad at both of those things when you look at the total mana you spend for each, but the fact it can do both definitely makes it a decent enough playable.
Paragon of Modernity image 2.0 This looks solid. It starts out as an inefficient creature, but most decks will be three colors in this format, so putting counters on this as a mana sink in the mid to late game seems like a legitimate strategy. If your deck doesn’t have good enough fixing to consistently get three colors this is much worse, but I think most decks will be able to do it, so it isn’t a build around or anything.
Big Score image 2.5 This is an easier-to-cast Unexpected Windfall. While that card has been great in constructed, it wasn’t that great in Limited. It isn’t a bad card to have around though, as it helps you find some fresh cards while also providing you with some ramping and fixing, and the extra treasure it gives you might even enable you to cast something! But it doesn’t really do anything to immediately impact the game, and that makes it a card that you can cut sometimes.
Brokers Veteran image 2.5 This has medium stats, but giving a shield counter to one of your creatures is some nice upside to have on a two drop. The times when you don’t have a creature in play to put the counter on will be rough – and that can happen early, but this seems like a solid playable.
Pack 2 Pick 3: Corrupt Court Official
Metropolis Angel image 3.5 This looks pretty good. Its fragile, but it seems like it will be drawing you cards pretty often in both of the families it overlaps into it, thanks to Obscuara’s Connive and the Brokers’ Shield counters. It also hits pretty hard if the air is clear!
Crew Captain image 2.5 This is going to be pretty scary the turn it comes down, as the combination of Haste, indestructibility, and 4 power means there won’t always be a good way to stop this. That said, there are a lot of tokens in the format that can just chump this, and there will be plenty of times where just taking 4 isn’t going to hurt your opponent that much. It does stick around as a 4/2 – and that’s nice – but I’m not super impressed with this. If you play it on turn three it will feel pretty good, but the more developed your opponents board is, the less impressive it becomes. You’ll play it when you’re all three of these colors of course, but it definitely isn’t the kind of thing that really pulls you in that direction.
Exhibition Magician image 3.0 This is a good Common. A three mana 2/1 that makes a 1/1 – in a color that has lots of pay offs for going wide – is a pretty nice card – probably a C+. So, also having the Treasure option is nice upside – sometimes you’ll want it to help you ramp, and sometimes you’ll be in a deck that cares about Treasure than it does going wide, especially if you’re in Red/Green.
Majestic Metamorphosis image 2.0 As we learned in Kamigawa Neon Dynasty, slapping “draw a card” on this type of spell is a big upgrade. Just temporary altering your creature’s stats is a bit too narrow of a use to be something you want to use a card on all the time, but this makes up for that with the cantrip. The times where you use this as a trick that wrecks your opponent is pretty sweet. It probably won’t be quite as good as Suit Up was, since Ninjutsu made for an interesting environment in terms of how opponents would block, but this definitely seems solid.
Disdainful Stroke image 1.0 // 2.5 This is mostly a sideboard card to bring in against an opponent with many expensive spells. Most of the time, it just doesn’t have enough targets. If this format turns out to lean pretty hard on spells with a mana value of 4 or greater that could change.
Glittermonger image 2.0 This is a decent source of fixing and mana, especially if you’re in a deck that has some Treasure payoffs – but its base stats aren’t especially good.
Antagonize image 2.0 That’s a pretty nice boost for the cost – enough of one that it will make most creatures survive combat and take down whatever is blocking it. +4 is enough that this can let you sneak in lethal sometimes too. I think you’ll feel pretty good about the first one of these in most of your aggressive Red decks. It is still a trick of course, and comes with the inherent downsides they always have: they are situational and risky. But as far as tricks go, this is pretty good quality.
Dig Up the Body image 2.5 This is a pretty clunky version of this effect – three mana to get one thing back is not especially good, even with the mill thrown in. Basically, for this to feel like its worth it, you’ll need to be doubling the spell, and that’s easy enough since it only needs one power, but I still think this is the kind of card you’re really only going to want one of in Black decks. You really don’t want this showing up in your opening hand, you want it late.
Ominous Parcel image 1.5 This can help you fix your mana, or it can be a removal spell. Its pretty bad at both of those things when you look at the total mana you spend for each, but the fact it can do both definitely makes it a decent enough playable.
Corrupt Court Official image 2.0 I think people will be tempted to compare this to Virus Beetle, but I think the Official will feel more like a Ravenous Rats than a Beetle. The Beetle had the advantage of being an artifact, and in a set with ninjutsu that could rebuy ETB abilities – so it isn’t going to overperform quite like that card did. However, this is still pretty well placed in this format, mostly because you can take a card away from your opponent and then sacrifice this to something with Casualty and you end up with pretty decent value. In the late game, sometimes it won’t have anything to hit of course, but at least it adds something to the board.
Spara's Adjudicators image 2.5 The ETB trigger here can be nice in a lot of situations, where it buys you more time or makes it so you can attack more effectively on your turn. Like with all of these, you get a pretty decent creature that has the upside of helping you fix early.
Backstreet Bruiser image 2.0 A two mana 3/3 makes for a pretty good blocker, and it is certainly doable to take defender off of this thing, especially in Blue-White.
Pack 2 Pick 4: Jewel Thief
Cleanup Crew image 3.5 I always love modal cards, and this is a sweet one! You’ll always be able to get something pretty nice out of it. At worst, you get a Honey Mammoth-type creature – in other words, a 6-mana 6/6 that gains you 4 life, and that kind of creature is usually great top-curve in many decks, allowing them to stabilize. But then it comes with options that let it Naturalize something or hate on the graveyard. You’ll get the most value if you have an Enchantment or Artifact to blow up, but the fail case of Honey Mammoth is a great floor, and there’s a nice ceiling here.
Venom Connoisseur image 2.5 This will have death touch pretty often, though not usually on your opponent’s turn, which is a bit of a bummer. Giving the whole board death touch isn’t out of the question either, since you can make two bodies with one card with several different cards in the format.
Skybridge Towers image 2.5 These offer good fixing, and being able to pitch them for a whole card in the late game is really nice, as it offers you some flood insurance and gives you somethign to do with all your mana. Like most duals, this is something you should value as a C+. It will really help your mana, and that’s more important than normal in a set with a big 3-color focus.
Sticky Fingers image 3.0 If you get this on a creature early, it is going to allow you to really run away with the game. Your creature won’t be easily blocked and you’ll generate treasure that allows you to pull further ahead. It does have diminishing returns as the game goes on, but this is capable of effectively ending games very early.
Revel Ruiner image 2.0 This seems solid. A 4-mana 4/2 with Menace is a decent enough card, and this can be that if you want it to be most of the time. The alternative of this helping you throw away an unwanted land for a fresh card, and giving you a 3/1 menace seems solid too.
Jewel Thief image 3.5 This is an excellent Common. A 3-mana 3/3 with Vigilance and Trample is probably close to a C+, and adding treasure to the mix is a pretty big deal – not only does it ramp and fix for you – there is also treasure synergy throughout the set.
Buy Your Silence image 2.5 This can deal with any nonland permanent, but its also a pretty clunky sorcery that gives your opponent back a treasure. It definitely falls short of being Premium removal, but I do think the first copy is going to be something you want in most White decks, since it is sort of a catch-all removal spell. Running more than one probably isn’t great, though.
Masked Bandits image 2.5 A six-mana 5/5 is actually kind of reasonable, and this one comes with the upside of helping you fix your mana early.
Fake Your Own Death image 1.5 I guess we get a trick like this every set now! And, most versions of it tend to be pretty decent, and I think this one certainly is. +2/+0 is a boost that can allow your creature to win a whole lot of combats, and while it stands a good chance of dying too, Fake Your Own Death makes it not really matter, since the creature comes back! This gets especially spicy with ETB abilities, and there are also some potential Casualty and sacrifice shenanigans that this can enable.
Raffine's Informant image 3.0 This is a nice White common. It is either a two mana 2/1 that lets you throw a land away for a fresh card, or a two mana 3/2 that makes you discard a real card, but the card you discard will often be able to give you some sort of value! Both options are pretty appealing.
Daring Escape image 1.5 +1/+0 and First Strike makes for a decent trick for one mana. The power boost isn’t ultra impressive, but First Strike obviously makes combat go much more favorably for your creature. I still think Antagonize is probably the trick you’re after if you’re playing Red aggro, but this can fill the role.
Pack 2 Pick 5: Corrupt Court Official
Knockout Blow image 3.0 3-mana to do 4 to an attacker while you gain 2 life is alrighty very playable, so the fact this will cost only a single mana sometimes is a nice upgrade. It is still situational removal, and that’s going to hurt it some.
Hypnotic Grifter image 2.5 This seems like a nice manasink that can load your graveyard and potentially grow the Grifter. It definitely won’t be doing a whole lot early, but in the late game this is the kind of effect that can really help you get there. Still, it does take awhile to get going.
Corrupt Court Official image 2.0 I think people will be tempted to compare this to Virus Beetle, but I think the Official will feel more like a Ravenous Rats than a Beetle. The Beetle had the advantage of being an artifact, and in a set with ninjutsu that could rebuy ETB abilities – so it isn’t going to overperform quite like that card did. However, this is still pretty well placed in this format, mostly because you can take a card away from your opponent and then sacrifice this to something with Casualty and you end up with pretty decent value. In the late game, sometimes it won’t have anything to hit of course, but at least it adds something to the board.
Chrome Cat image 1.5 This is a 3-mana 3/2 with some tiny upside. Its probably something that won’t normally make the cut, but it isn’t a disaster to run either.
Jetmir's Fixer image 3.0 This is a two mana 2/2 with some very nice upside. Even if it didn’t have the Treasure bonus, being able to pump this creature’s stats for a single red and a single green would be a pretty nice card. Obviously though, Red-Green is very into Treasure in this format, so you’re going to be able to trigger the bonus if you want to.
Rakish Revelers image 2.5 A 5-mana 5/3 that makes a 1/1 is something I would already sign up for, so the fact that it can fix your mana earlier in the game is some upside on a card that’s already quite playable.
Case the Joint image 1.5 4 mana to draw 2 at instant speed is kind of passable. This has additional minor upside in that it gives you a bit of information, but that doesn’t really do enough for this to be something that consistently makes the cut in your deck.
Brokers Hideout image 2.5 This is some more very nice fixing for the format, which isn’t a huge surprise since three colors is what this format is all about. This is basically a more narrow Evolving Wilds, but one that also gains you a life – and it doesn’t have to tap either, though that isn’t coming up much in Limited. You definitely will play these in a lot of your decks, as they’ll be nice for mana. They don’t have the late game upside of the dual land cycle, so I think I would rank them a little lower.
Brokers Veteran image 2.5 This has medium stats, but giving a shield counter to one of your creatures is some nice upside to have on a two drop. The times when you don’t have a creature in play to put the counter on will be rough – and that can happen early, but this seems like a solid playable.
Witty Roastmaster image 2.5 This has passable stats and a solid if unexciting ability. It can definitely chip in for a decent chunk of damage over the course of the game, especially if you’re making tokens!
Pack 2 Pick 6: Arcane Bombardment
Arcane Bombardment image 0.0 // 4.5 This has some pretty impressive potential in a really spell heavy deck – which generally means Maestros in this format. Now, it is a six mana Enchantment that does nothing at all at first, and that definitely makes this card worse – but if your deck has enough instants and sorceries, this thing is going to go off and give you insane value. And yes, it randomly picks the instant or sorcery, but if they are in your deck they are probably worth copying and playing for free! And the more you cast instants and sorceries the more copies you get. So uh..yeah, you probably need about 10+ instants and sorceries in your deck to run this, and even then it comes with a substantial downside because its so clunky – but I think there will be decks that win games with this powerful Enchantment. I think it is probably an F in your typical Limited deck, but probably a straight up bomb – An A - in a deck that can get there on instants and sorceries in their graveyard.
Goldhound image 3.0 This looks pretty nice. A one mana 1/1 with Menace and First Strike is kind of a pain to interact with early, and it’s a great place to put counters and stuff. Then, once it becomes irrelevant, it can also just ramp and fix for you. This provides a lot for only one Red mana.
Majestic Metamorphosis image 2.0 As we learned in Kamigawa Neon Dynasty, slapping “draw a card” on this type of spell is a big upgrade. Just temporary altering your creature’s stats is a bit too narrow of a use to be something you want to use a card on all the time, but this makes up for that with the cantrip. The times where you use this as a trick that wrecks your opponent is pretty sweet. It probably won’t be quite as good as Suit Up was, since Ninjutsu made for an interesting environment in terms of how opponents would block, but this definitely seems solid.
Chrome Cat image 1.5 This is a 3-mana 3/2 with some tiny upside. Its probably something that won’t normally make the cut, but it isn’t a disaster to run either.
Extract the Truth image 1.5 The first mode will often be able to hit something, even in the middle part of the game, and having some enchantment hate in your main deck is nice. Now, there will be times where neither mode does anything, and that’s rough – but most of the time you’ll do something with it, even if it isn’t anything big.
Obscura Storefront image 2.5 This is some more very nice fixing for the format, which isn’t a huge surprise since three colors is what this format is all about. This is basically a more narrow Evolving Wilds, but one that also gains you a life – and it doesn’t have to tap either, though that isn’t coming up much in Limited. You definitely will play these in a lot of your decks, as they’ll be nice for mana. They don’t have the late game upside of the dual land cycle, so I think I would rank them a little lower.
Riveteers Initiate image 2.5 Like most of this cycle, this is solid. It has okay base stats, and it can gain a useful keyword! Deathtouch does mean it can trade with anything, and that’s nice.
Brokers Hideout image 2.5 This is some more very nice fixing for the format, which isn’t a huge surprise since three colors is what this format is all about. This is basically a more narrow Evolving Wilds, but one that also gains you a life – and it doesn’t have to tap either, though that isn’t coming up much in Limited. You definitely will play these in a lot of your decks, as they’ll be nice for mana. They don’t have the late game upside of the dual land cycle, so I think I would rank them a little lower.
Glamorous Outlaw image 2.5 Like the rest of this cycle, exiling this gives you some fixing that isn’t great, but because you can also just cast it the normal way and get passable value – or you can play it from exile in the later game.
Pack 2 Pick 7: Body Dropper
Ominous Parcel image 1.5 This can help you fix your mana, or it can be a removal spell. Its pretty bad at both of those things when you look at the total mana you spend for each, but the fact it can do both definitely makes it a decent enough playable.
Exhibition Magician image 3.0 This is a good Common. A three mana 2/1 that makes a 1/1 – in a color that has lots of pay offs for going wide – is a pretty nice card – probably a C+. So, also having the Treasure option is nice upside – sometimes you’ll want it to help you ramp, and sometimes you’ll be in a deck that cares about Treasure than it does going wide, especially if you’re in Red/Green.
Jackhammer image 1.5 We’ve seen a purely colorless version of this before, and I wasn’t particular impressed with that, so one that requires Red mana to cast isn’t exactly something I’m looking to play. Sticking this on a token is the most appealing thing, as a 3/1 token can’t be ignored, but the two mana to equip this is a pretty steep rate on a card that doesn’t do anything else.
Witness Protection image 1.5 I have a hard time ever getting behind this type of removal. The big problem is that you aren’t entirely dealing with the creature you put it on! It can still attack and block, and +1/+1 and shield counters are a problem too, as is the Casualty mechanic and other sacrifice effects. You’ll play this if you’re desperate for removal, but that’s about it.
Witty Roastmaster image 2.5 This has passable stats and a solid if unexciting ability. It can definitely chip in for a decent chunk of damage over the course of the game, especially if you’re making tokens!
Body Dropper image 3.5 This is a pretty nice payoff for Sacrificing stuff, which is going to be very doable in Black-Red in this format as a result of both Alliance and Blitz, and it of course comes with its own way to sacrifice things and gain Menace. This seems like it could become a real problem for your opponent in many Black-Red decks!
Speakeasy Server image 2.5 A passable Flyer with an ETB that gains you life always tends to perform reasonably well in Limited. It can really help you stabilize. The downside here is that you need a board in place to gain any life – it doesn’t even gain you 1 life on its own, which is a little sad. Still, in White you’ll be able to go wide, and gaining 3+ with this should be pretty decent.
Kill Shot image 2.0 Is decent removal, but it is situational enough that it is nowhere near premium. An aggressive deck isn’t super interested in a card like this, because you really want cards that let you kill blockers, and your opponent can also play around a card like this pretty effectively.
Pack 2 Pick 8: Wrecking Crew
Wrecking Crew image 2.5 This has decent French Vanilla stats. Not much more to say about it.
Cabaretti Initiate image 1.5 If you can put counters on this, it can get interesting – and you certainly have access to some of those in this format. But overall, this is probably the worst of this cycle. A one mana ½ just gets outclassed way too quickly, and giving a creature that size double strike isn’t exactly a big deal. You’ll play it of course in aggressive decks, but I can see it getting cut a good chunk of the time too, even in Cabaretti.
Incriminate image 2.0 Black often has cards that let the opponent make a decision about something, and they pretty much always underperform, since there are too many situations where your opponent can minimize the damage. However, I think this might make your opponent make a narrow enough decision that it will be decent. Sure, you’ll have situations where your opponent hasl ike a 1/1 and some bomb creature and it isn’t going to feel too good in those scenarios – and I’m certainly not saying this is premium removal ro anything – but I do think there will be enough board states where this kills something you want dead for two mana. Don’t go into it thinking it is Doom Blade, and I think you’ll feel okay about what you’re getting.
Run Out of Town image 3.0 This is decent Blue removal – and it is removal, because bouncing a card to the deck makes it a 1-for-1, even if your opponent can just draw the thing again. It is definitely a bit costly, but its flexibility makes it a pretty nice card.
Quick-Draw Dagger image 2.0 This is kind of like a combat trick that offers +1/+1 and First Strike for three mana which is…pretty bad for the cost on the face of it, but it is a boost that is pretty good at helping your creature win combat, and the fact it leaves behind an Equipment that can move around pretty cheaply and offer +1/+1 to stuff is pretty nice.
For the Family image 2.0 This seems like a solid trick. One for +2/+2 usually plays reasonably well, and the multiple creature upside is pretty legit.
Spara's Adjudicators image 2.5 The ETB trigger here can be nice in a lot of situations, where it buys you more time or makes it so you can attack more effectively on your turn. Like with all of these, you get a pretty decent creature that has the upside of helping you fix early.
Pack 2 Pick 9: Extract the Truth
Tavern Swindler image 1.5 This is a reprint, and not an especially good one. Last time we saw it there was a significant life gain theme, but that’s not really the case here, so gaining life with this isn’t that great. There are a few cards in the format that check for life loss and life gain, and this could do some work in such a deck, but a lot of the time this is just a Bear.
Masked Bandits image 2.5 A six-mana 5/5 is actually kind of reasonable, and this one comes with the upside of helping you fix your mana early.
Most Wanted image 1.5 Flash Auras can be nice, since they are sort of like combat tricks that leave some permanent value behind, but only giving +1 to toughness does mean this won’t save your creature as often as you’d probably like. Getting two Treasure when the creature dies does soften the blow if you get 2-for-1’d, but probably not by enough for me to excited about this.
Speakeasy Server image 2.5 A passable Flyer with an ETB that gains you life always tends to perform reasonably well in Limited. It can really help you stabilize. The downside here is that you need a board in place to gain any life – it doesn’t even gain you 1 life on its own, which is a little sad. Still, in White you’ll be able to go wide, and gaining 3+ with this should be pretty decent.
For the Family image 2.0 This seems like a solid trick. One for +2/+2 usually plays reasonably well, and the multiple creature upside is pretty legit.
Extract the Truth image 1.5 The first mode will often be able to hit something, even in the middle part of the game, and having some enchantment hate in your main deck is nice. Now, there will be times where neither mode does anything, and that’s rough – but most of the time you’ll do something with it, even if it isn’t anything big.
Pack 2 Pick 10: Ominous Parcel
Boon of Safety image 2.0 A shield counter will allow your creature to survive a whole lot of stuff, whether its a removal spell or damage in combat. In combat, your creature will still get to damage the thing that it is blocking or being blocked by, and if its big enough it can just kill it. It feels like there are enough situations where you can generate some sweet tempo with this that I can definitely see running a copy of it in aggressive White decks.
Cutthroat Contender image 1.5 A vanilla one mana 2/1 already isn’t a great card in Limited, since it really tends to get outclassed in a hurry – and this is basically a one mana 2/1 that is conditional. A 2/1 is only marginally better than a 1/1 in most games. It doesn’t really seem worth it to me, even in an aggro deck. I guess the idea is that you can buff it so that your one drop can be sacrificed to a Casualty 2 spell, but that doesn’t make it that much better.
Ominous Parcel image 1.5 This can help you fix your mana, or it can be a removal spell. Its pretty bad at both of those things when you look at the total mana you spend for each, but the fact it can do both definitely makes it a decent enough playable.
Paragon of Modernity image 2.0 This looks solid. It starts out as an inefficient creature, but most decks will be three colors in this format, so putting counters on this as a mana sink in the mid to late game seems like a legitimate strategy. If your deck doesn’t have good enough fixing to consistently get three colors this is much worse, but I think most decks will be able to do it, so it isn’t a build around or anything.
Big Score image 2.5 This is an easier-to-cast Unexpected Windfall. While that card has been great in constructed, it wasn’t that great in Limited. It isn’t a bad card to have around though, as it helps you find some fresh cards while also providing you with some ramping and fixing, and the extra treasure it gives you might even enable you to cast something! But it doesn’t really do anything to immediately impact the game, and that makes it a card that you can cut sometimes.
Pack 2 Pick 11: Glittermonger
Majestic Metamorphosis image 2.0 As we learned in Kamigawa Neon Dynasty, slapping “draw a card” on this type of spell is a big upgrade. Just temporary altering your creature’s stats is a bit too narrow of a use to be something you want to use a card on all the time, but this makes up for that with the cantrip. The times where you use this as a trick that wrecks your opponent is pretty sweet. It probably won’t be quite as good as Suit Up was, since Ninjutsu made for an interesting environment in terms of how opponents would block, but this definitely seems solid.
Glittermonger image 2.0 This is a decent source of fixing and mana, especially if you’re in a deck that has some Treasure payoffs – but its base stats aren’t especially good.
Antagonize image 2.0 That’s a pretty nice boost for the cost – enough of one that it will make most creatures survive combat and take down whatever is blocking it. +4 is enough that this can let you sneak in lethal sometimes too. I think you’ll feel pretty good about the first one of these in most of your aggressive Red decks. It is still a trick of course, and comes with the inherent downsides they always have: they are situational and risky. But as far as tricks go, this is pretty good quality.
Dig Up the Body image 2.5 This is a pretty clunky version of this effect – three mana to get one thing back is not especially good, even with the mill thrown in. Basically, for this to feel like its worth it, you’ll need to be doubling the spell, and that’s easy enough since it only needs one power, but I still think this is the kind of card you’re really only going to want one of in Black decks. You really don’t want this showing up in your opening hand, you want it late.
Pack 2 Pick 12: Venom Connoisseur
Venom Connoisseur image 2.5 This will have death touch pretty often, though not usually on your opponent’s turn, which is a bit of a bummer. Giving the whole board death touch isn’t out of the question either, since you can make two bodies with one card with several different cards in the format.
Masked Bandits image 2.5 A six-mana 5/5 is actually kind of reasonable, and this one comes with the upside of helping you fix your mana early.
Daring Escape image 1.5 +1/+0 and First Strike makes for a decent trick for one mana. The power boost isn’t ultra impressive, but First Strike obviously makes combat go much more favorably for your creature. I still think Antagonize is probably the trick you’re after if you’re playing Red aggro, but this can fill the role.
Pack 2 Pick 13: Chrome Cat
Chrome Cat image 1.5 This is a 3-mana 3/2 with some tiny upside. Its probably something that won’t normally make the cut, but it isn’t a disaster to run either.
Case the Joint image 1.5 4 mana to draw 2 at instant speed is kind of passable. This has additional minor upside in that it gives you a bit of information, but that doesn’t really do enough for this to be something that consistently makes the cut in your deck.
Pack 2 Pick 14: Chrome Cat
Chrome Cat image 1.5 This is a 3-mana 3/2 with some tiny upside. Its probably something that won’t normally make the cut, but it isn’t a disaster to run either.
Pack 3 Pick 1: Extraction Specialist
Extraction Specialist image 3.5 This is a 3-mana 3/2 Lifelinker with upside, and that’s the kind of thing you pretty much always play. On turn three you won’t always have something to get back, but you can trade aggressively on turn two and maybe get some value when you cast the Rescuer. Obviously, the creature can’t attack or block and that’s a bummer, but once the Rescuer goes down – and it probably will – that creature becomes whole again. It is also nice that if it has any abilities, those still matter when the Rescuer brings it back – even while its in play.
Knockout Blow image 3.0 3-mana to do 4 to an attacker while you gain 2 life is alrighty very playable, so the fact this will cost only a single mana sometimes is a nice upgrade. It is still situational removal, and that’s going to hurt it some.
Obscura Charm image 3.5 This is another very nice charm. You’ll most frequently choose the removal option, but if you happen to have the mana up for this at the right time the fact it can be a counterspell is pretty nice too, especially because you can leave the mana up and choose any of these three effects, so you won’t ever get burned if your opponent plays around it. The reanimation effect is fairly restrictive, but this set has enough multicolored cards that it will work reasonably often.
Refuse to Yield image 1.5 +2 power for two mana doesn’t make for a great trick, even with a huge toughness boost. We usually get +2/+2 for a single mana, so paying twice that for the toughness boost isn’t the best thing ever. This is because it doesn’t help actually take down the opposing creature as much. Your creature has to have higher power on average to win the combat. Now, the upside is you can use Refuse to Yield to save a creature from damage-based removal, and I think as a whole that makes this a trick you’ll play sometimes, but it will get cut a decent chunk of the time too.
Speakeasy Server image 2.5 A passable Flyer with an ETB that gains you life always tends to perform reasonably well in Limited. It can really help you stabilize. The downside here is that you need a board in place to gain any life – it doesn’t even gain you 1 life on its own, which is a little sad. Still, in White you’ll be able to go wide, and gaining 3+ with this should be pretty decent.
Sewer Crocodile image 1.5 // 2.5 If you can get the ability on this down to a single Blue, it represent a pretty reasonable win condition, since you can crack in with your unblockable Crocodile and still have plenty of mana left over to add to the board too. That’s usually the problem with this big inefficient creatures who ask for a lot of mana to become unblockable – you can’t really do more than use the ability, but with the Crocodile, sometimes you’ll be able to get it going pretty cheaply. In a Blue deck that isn’t good at loading the graveyard you probably don’t end up playing this – so this probably deserves a build around.
Civil Servant image 3.0 This has above rate stats, and it looks like there are enough Citizens in this set to make those stats even more impressive for a fairly low cost. This isn’t really the Citizen payoff you’re hoping for, but it does seem like a pretty nice Common for that deck.
Incriminate image 2.0 Black often has cards that let the opponent make a decision about something, and they pretty much always underperform, since there are too many situations where your opponent can minimize the damage. However, I think this might make your opponent make a narrow enough decision that it will be decent. Sure, you’ll have situations where your opponent hasl ike a 1/1 and some bomb creature and it isn’t going to feel too good in those scenarios – and I’m certainly not saying this is premium removal ro anything – but I do think there will be enough board states where this kills something you want dead for two mana. Don’t go into it thinking it is Doom Blade, and I think you’ll feel okay about what you’re getting.
Raffine's Informant image 3.0 This is a nice White common. It is either a two mana 2/1 that lets you throw a land away for a fresh card, or a two mana 3/2 that makes you discard a real card, but the card you discard will often be able to give you some sort of value! Both options are pretty appealing.
Ominous Parcel image 1.5 This can help you fix your mana, or it can be a removal spell. Its pretty bad at both of those things when you look at the total mana you spend for each, but the fact it can do both definitely makes it a decent enough playable.
Daring Escape image 1.5 +1/+0 and First Strike makes for a decent trick for one mana. The power boost isn’t ultra impressive, but First Strike obviously makes combat go much more favorably for your creature. I still think Antagonize is probably the trick you’re after if you’re playing Red aggro, but this can fill the role.
Psionic Snoop image 1.5 This isn’t especially good. It is either a 3-mana ¼ that you discard a nonland card to, or a 3-mana 0/3 that lets you throw a land away for - hopefully - a real card. Neither of those things are bad, but it is far from impressive. If you can flash it in to kill an X/1 it will feel a lot better, and that will happen sometimes, but there will be enough times where it is just a glorified blocker that I’m not super interested in this.
For the Family image 2.0 This seems like a solid trick. One for +2/+2 usually plays reasonably well, and the multiple creature upside is pretty legit.
Racers' Ring image 2.5 These offer good fixing, and being able to pitch them for a whole card in the late game is really nice, as it offers you some flood insurance and gives you somethign to do with all your mana. Like most duals, this is something you should value as a C+. It will really help your mana, and that’s more important than normal in a set with a big 3-color focus.
Pack 3 Pick 2: Freelance Muscle
Disciplined Duelist image 3.5 A 3-mana 2/1 with Double Strike and a shield counter sounds like a pretty darn good deal. Double Strike pairs particularly well with the Shield, because it means the Duelist can keep itself from getting hit at all in combat against smaller creatures, so it will hold on to the shield. Meanwhile, it is capable of taking down 4 toughness creatures and surviving to tell the tale, since it will just lose the shield counter. It will get spicier if you can increase its stats of course, like most double strikers.
Freelance Muscle image 3.0 This will often get a boost when it attacks or blocks, but it has some pretty bad base-stats and it doesn’t have any evasion or anything else. It will get huge sometimes, but there will certainly be times where you play this and it just doesn’t get enough of a boost to be relevant.
Stimulus Package image 3.5 This seems pretty nice. It can ramp and fix for you, and the ability to turn all your tokens into creatures is pretty nice, especially because of the Alliance and Casualty mechanics. It is definitely a little slow, but you can add to the board right away with it if you want to by giving up those treasures. Red-Green seems to have a lot of treasure nonsense going on, so I don’t think this needs a buildaround grade.
For the Family image 2.0 This seems like a solid trick. One for +2/+2 usually plays reasonably well, and the multiple creature upside is pretty legit.
Brokers Initiate image 1.5 A one mana 0/4 isn’t really what you want to be doing in Limited most of the time. Sure, it can block some things, but that’s just not enough these days. It has a minimal impact on the board – up until you can pump mana into it to make it a 5/5 – but it is a lot of mana. It isn’t unplayable or anything, but I don’t see it making the cut even in every deck that can pay for the ability.
Rooftop Nuisance image 2.5 We usually see this effect as an Instant, and being a Sorcery instead is definitely a downgrade. If it is an instant, you get to stop two rounds of attacks and blocks when you cast it. As a Sorcery, you only stop one attack – though you still make your opponent unable to block with that creature for two turns, which is usually the best part about this card anyway. So, adding a very cheap Casualty option to the card is pretty appealing – locking down two creatures and drawing two cards for only three mana is pretty great, even if you lose a token. This is going to end up closing out a lot of games in this format.
Witty Roastmaster image 2.5 This has passable stats and a solid if unexciting ability. It can definitely chip in for a decent chunk of damage over the course of the game, especially if you’re making tokens!
Daring Escape image 1.5 +1/+0 and First Strike makes for a decent trick for one mana. The power boost isn’t ultra impressive, but First Strike obviously makes combat go much more favorably for your creature. I still think Antagonize is probably the trick you’re after if you’re playing Red aggro, but this can fill the role.
Attended Socialite image 2.0 This looks like a fine, if unexciting, two drop for creature-heavy Green decks. It will often attack as a 3/2, which isn’t the biggest upgrade ever since most two drops can still trade with it.
Backstreet Bruiser image 2.0 A two mana 3/3 makes for a pretty good blocker, and it is certainly doable to take defender off of this thing, especially in Blue-White.
Dig Up the Body image 2.5 This is a pretty clunky version of this effect – three mana to get one thing back is not especially good, even with the mill thrown in. Basically, for this to feel like its worth it, you’ll need to be doubling the spell, and that’s easy enough since it only needs one power, but I still think this is the kind of card you’re really only going to want one of in Black decks. You really don’t want this showing up in your opening hand, you want it late.
Botanical Plaza image 2.5 These offer good fixing, and being able to pitch them for a whole card in the late game is really nice, as it offers you some flood insurance and gives you somethign to do with all your mana. Like most duals, this is something you should value as a C+. It will really help your mana, and that’s more important than normal in a set with a big 3-color focus.
Shattered Seraph image 2.5 The initial card you get isn’t great – a 7-mana 4/4 Flyer that gains you 3 life would probably be something like a D+. It is a real body and the life gain is nice, but by that stage of the game the size may not be enough. And..the other side of the card isn’t great either, as paying 2 mana to fix your mana hurts pretty bad. However, what saves this card from being awful is the fact that you can still cast it from exile, so eventually you can get both parts of the card going. Sometimes it won’t be worth doing the exile part of course, but this looks solid overall.
Pack 3 Pick 3: Corrupt Court Official
Public Enemy image 0.0 This doesn’t look very good to me. The idea is that you put this on your creature and force your opponent to attack you. Sometimes that will actually do something, but it won’t do anything real far too often. If your opponent already wants to attack it doesn’t really matter, and if they don’t have something you can actually kill in combat it is also useless. It does eventually replace itself, but there’s just too much that can go wrong with this card.
Forge Boss image 3.0 You are going to be sacrificing enough creatures in BR for this to chip in for at least 2 damage most games, and sometimes it will get way more out of hand than that. It has passable stats too.
Capenna Express image 2.0 A 4-mana 6/6 vehicle with Crew 3 is generally not something you end up playing, but the upside of crewing this with Treasure is very real, as Green – and especially Red-Green, looks like it will be pretty good at generating treasure.
Brokers Hideout image 2.5 This is some more very nice fixing for the format, which isn’t a huge surprise since three colors is what this format is all about. This is basically a more narrow Evolving Wilds, but one that also gains you a life – and it doesn’t have to tap either, though that isn’t coming up much in Limited. You definitely will play these in a lot of your decks, as they’ll be nice for mana. They don’t have the late game upside of the dual land cycle, so I think I would rank them a little lower.
Gathering Throng image 0.0 // 3.0 Collect ‘em all cards are always pretty fun in Limited. A 3-mana 3/1 is bad, but as long as you have two of these, this is very playable, since a 3-mana 3/1 that draws another one is a pretty good deal. It makes sure you will continue to have stuff to play, and getting these also guarantees you can go wide and keep triggering Alliance. They are also Citizens! So yeah, Basically, if you have only one copy of this, its pretty much unplayable – if you have two, it’s a 2.5, and it probably maxes out around a 3.0.
Exhibition Magician image 3.0 This is a good Common. A three mana 2/1 that makes a 1/1 – in a color that has lots of pay offs for going wide – is a pretty nice card – probably a C+. So, also having the Treasure option is nice upside – sometimes you’ll want it to help you ramp, and sometimes you’ll be in a deck that cares about Treasure than it does going wide, especially if you’re in Red/Green.
Big Score image 2.5 This is an easier-to-cast Unexpected Windfall. While that card has been great in constructed, it wasn’t that great in Limited. It isn’t a bad card to have around though, as it helps you find some fresh cards while also providing you with some ramping and fixing, and the extra treasure it gives you might even enable you to cast something! But it doesn’t really do anything to immediately impact the game, and that makes it a card that you can cut sometimes.
Glamorous Outlaw image 2.5 Like the rest of this cycle, exiling this gives you some fixing that isn’t great, but because you can also just cast it the normal way and get passable value – or you can play it from exile in the later game.
Obscura Initiate image 2.5 This is a Wind Drake with some solid upside – life link is no joke on an evasive creature, and can really alter races!
Corrupt Court Official image 2.0 I think people will be tempted to compare this to Virus Beetle, but I think the Official will feel more like a Ravenous Rats than a Beetle. The Beetle had the advantage of being an artifact, and in a set with ninjutsu that could rebuy ETB abilities – so it isn’t going to overperform quite like that card did. However, this is still pretty well placed in this format, mostly because you can take a card away from your opponent and then sacrifice this to something with Casualty and you end up with pretty decent value. In the late game, sometimes it won’t have anything to hit of course, but at least it adds something to the board.
Witty Roastmaster image 2.5 This has passable stats and a solid if unexciting ability. It can definitely chip in for a decent chunk of damage over the course of the game, especially if you’re making tokens!
Speakeasy Server image 2.5 A passable Flyer with an ETB that gains you life always tends to perform reasonably well in Limited. It can really help you stabilize. The downside here is that you need a board in place to gain any life – it doesn’t even gain you 1 life on its own, which is a little sad. Still, in White you’ll be able to go wide, and gaining 3+ with this should be pretty decent.
Pack 3 Pick 4: Luxurious Libation
Luxurious Libation image 2.0 This looks like a solid trick. The bonus it gives you will never be the most efficient, but the fact it scales is nice, and getting a token is some nice added value, especially if you have some Alliance going on. It is still a trick, and has all the risks they always have - situational, risky, and so forth - but I think the first copy of this seems decent.
Cabaretti Charm image 3.5 This might be the least exciting of the Charms in this set, but its pretty good. It is a little worse than the others because all three of its modes are kind of situational, and there isn’t really one that is going to feel good as the fall back plan. However, situations where one of those modes are useful will come up often enough that I still like it. If you can kill your opponent or a planeswalker with the first mode, obviously you choose that. +1/+1 and trample to the whole board will be nice if you’re going wide, and sometimes it can basically function as a removal spell. And, paying three mana for two 1/1 tokens is also fine. The Cabaretti are into going wide, and it is nice that this can enable that and pay you off for that.
Snooping Newsie image 3.0 This seems solid. Early it is a decent creature that loads your graveyard, and in the later game it becomes a 3/3 lifelinker, something that has an impact on most boards. I do think it will be a little challenging to get it going, but the set seems to have enough ways to load the graveyard that it will be doable.
Brokers Initiate image 1.5 A one mana 0/4 isn’t really what you want to be doing in Limited most of the time. Sure, it can block some things, but that’s just not enough these days. It has a minimal impact on the board – up until you can pump mana into it to make it a 5/5 – but it is a lot of mana. It isn’t unplayable or anything, but I don’t see it making the cut even in every deck that can pay for the ability.
Expendable Lackey image 2.5 True to his name, this Lackey is a pretty nice creature to sacrifice to a card with Casualty, since he can then make a Fish token from the graveyard – which you can also sacrifice. He also works well with Connive, because you still get value out of discarding him. They’ve been making a lot of one drops lately that overlap into multiple decks, and I think that’s what this is. This doesn’t exactly feel like the premium card you want to really abuse those two mechanics, but it does seem pretty decent there.
Psionic Snoop image 1.5 This isn’t especially good. It is either a 3-mana ¼ that you discard a nonland card to, or a 3-mana 0/3 that lets you throw a land away for - hopefully - a real card. Neither of those things are bad, but it is far from impressive. If you can flash it in to kill an X/1 it will feel a lot better, and that will happen sometimes, but there will be enough times where it is just a glorified blocker that I’m not super interested in this.
Glamorous Outlaw image 2.5 Like the rest of this cycle, exiling this gives you some fixing that isn’t great, but because you can also just cast it the normal way and get passable value – or you can play it from exile in the later game.
Sticky Fingers image 3.0 If you get this on a creature early, it is going to allow you to really run away with the game. Your creature won’t be easily blocked and you’ll generate treasure that allows you to pull further ahead. It does have diminishing returns as the game goes on, but this is capable of effectively ending games very early.
Fake Your Own Death image 1.5 I guess we get a trick like this every set now! And, most versions of it tend to be pretty decent, and I think this one certainly is. +2/+0 is a boost that can allow your creature to win a whole lot of combats, and while it stands a good chance of dying too, Fake Your Own Death makes it not really matter, since the creature comes back! This gets especially spicy with ETB abilities, and there are also some potential Casualty and sacrifice shenanigans that this can enable.
Speakeasy Server image 2.5 A passable Flyer with an ETB that gains you life always tends to perform reasonably well in Limited. It can really help you stabilize. The downside here is that you need a board in place to gain any life – it doesn’t even gain you 1 life on its own, which is a little sad. Still, in White you’ll be able to go wide, and gaining 3+ with this should be pretty decent.
High-Rise Sawjack image 2.0 We’ve seen this card in Spider-form before, and it was fine. 4 power is enough to take down most flyers and it is a nice thing to trade for those types of creatures.
Pack 3 Pick 5: Call In a Professional
Pyre-Sledge Arsonist image 1.0 // 4.0 This is definitely a buildaround. If you can get it going, it can do some pretty absurd stuff – and it works well with two mechanics that are in guilds that have Red in them – both Maestros and Riveteers. Treasure tokens are also all over the place. But still, it seems like your typical deck probably won’t be able to consistently get the Arsonist going. There’s enough sacrifice that it isn’t a straight up F in your typical deck, but it is probably just a 1.0. It has a ceiling at 4.0 though. Even if you are only using the ability to do one damage at a time, that’s not a bad effect. And if you are able to do 2+ with it, it will feel pretty insane.
Call In a Professional image 4.0 3 mana to do 3 to any target at Instant speed is usually premium removal, and this has some real upside in the format, since it will allow you to ignore those pesky shield counters. That has the potential to generate 2-for-1s for you.
Kill Shot image 2.0 Is decent removal, but it is situational enough that it is nowhere near premium. An aggressive deck isn’t super interested in a card like this, because you really want cards that let you kill blockers, and your opponent can also play around a card like this pretty effectively.
Exhibition Magician image 3.0 This is a good Common. A three mana 2/1 that makes a 1/1 – in a color that has lots of pay offs for going wide – is a pretty nice card – probably a C+. So, also having the Treasure option is nice upside – sometimes you’ll want it to help you ramp, and sometimes you’ll be in a deck that cares about Treasure than it does going wide, especially if you’re in Red/Green.
Fake Your Own Death image 1.5 I guess we get a trick like this every set now! And, most versions of it tend to be pretty decent, and I think this one certainly is. +2/+0 is a boost that can allow your creature to win a whole lot of combats, and while it stands a good chance of dying too, Fake Your Own Death makes it not really matter, since the creature comes back! This gets especially spicy with ETB abilities, and there are also some potential Casualty and sacrifice shenanigans that this can enable.
Paragon of Modernity image 2.0 This looks solid. It starts out as an inefficient creature, but most decks will be three colors in this format, so putting counters on this as a mana sink in the mid to late game seems like a legitimate strategy. If your deck doesn’t have good enough fixing to consistently get three colors this is much worse, but I think most decks will be able to do it, so it isn’t a build around or anything.
Halo Scarab image 1.5 This has okay stats, and gives you some value out of the graveyard. That will be nice whether you mill it, discard it, or just have it die from being in play. Two mana to make a treasure is obviously not a great rate, but it does give you the potential to have fixing in just about any deck. I think this is going to be pretty easy to cut as decks will usually have good enough fixing without it, but it isn’t a disaster to play it either.
Raffine's Guidance image 1.5 Auras that can come back from the graveyard always tend to be kind of decent, since your opponent has a hard time ever truly getting rid of them. However, this one offers a pretty small boost. Still, with Connive being a thing, discarding this to get a +1/+1 counter and then having the opportunity to slap it on a creature late seem okay.
Waterfront District image 2.5 These offer good fixing, and being able to pitch them for a whole card in the late game is really nice, as it offers you some flood insurance and gives you somethign to do with all your mana. Like most duals, this is something you should value as a C+. It will really help your mana, and that’s more important than normal in a set with a big 3-color focus.
Attended Socialite image 2.0 This looks like a fine, if unexciting, two drop for creature-heavy Green decks. It will often attack as a 3/2, which isn’t the biggest upgrade ever since most two drops can still trade with it.
Pack 3 Pick 6: Maestros Theater
Brass Knuckles image 1.0 This is a really roundabout way to give one of your creatures double strike! You basically pay 4 mana and then 1 to equip the original one as well as the copy. That’s..not a great rate. And yeah, it gets better in situations where you can buff the creature, but the Knuckles don’t buff the thing at all, so it had better already be a pretty good attacker. It gets especially ugly in situations where your opponent can deal with one of the copies, and then your creature just loses double strike on the spot – and there isn’t really enough good Equipment around for this to work that often without its copy.
Cutthroat Contender image 1.5 A vanilla one mana 2/1 already isn’t a great card in Limited, since it really tends to get outclassed in a hurry – and this is basically a one mana 2/1 that is conditional. A 2/1 is only marginally better than a 1/1 in most games. It doesn’t really seem worth it to me, even in an aggro deck. I guess the idea is that you can buff it so that your one drop can be sacrificed to a Casualty 2 spell, but that doesn’t make it that much better.
Antagonize image 2.0 That’s a pretty nice boost for the cost – enough of one that it will make most creatures survive combat and take down whatever is blocking it. +4 is enough that this can let you sneak in lethal sometimes too. I think you’ll feel pretty good about the first one of these in most of your aggressive Red decks. It is still a trick of course, and comes with the inherent downsides they always have: they are situational and risky. But as far as tricks go, this is pretty good quality.
Maestros Theater image 2.5 This is some more very nice fixing for the format, which isn’t a huge surprise since three colors is what this format is all about. This is basically a more narrow Evolving Wilds, but one that also gains you a life – and it doesn’t have to tap either, though that isn’t coming up much in Limited. You definitely will play these in a lot of your decks, as they’ll be nice for mana. They don’t have the late game upside of the dual land cycle, so I think I would rank them a little lower.
Obscura Initiate image 2.5 This is a Wind Drake with some solid upside – life link is no joke on an evasive creature, and can really alter races!
Gilded Pinions image 1.5 This gives you fixing and Flying for a relatively fair cost. But, typically, Equipment that only grants flying isn’t great, because it isn’t very impressive on smaller creatures. In other words, your creature already has to be pretty nice for this to be worth it.
Join the Maestros image 2.5 This seems like a solid Common. Without Casualty it is pretty ugly, but if you have some decent fodder to sacrifice, getting two 4/3 bodies is pretty good for the cost.
Chrome Cat image 1.5 This is a 3-mana 3/2 with some tiny upside. Its probably something that won’t normally make the cut, but it isn’t a disaster to run either.
Demon's Due image 2.5 This is a pretty solid draw spell. You see up to 4 cards, giving you a good chance to draw something you want, and paying 2 life for it is perfectly reasonable. It isn’t really the kind of thing you want to go after early, or that you want to run more than one of – after all, it has no impact on the board -- but it seems like the first copy is going to make the cut in your Black decks most of the time.
Pack 3 Pick 7: Masked Bandits
Luxurious Libation image 2.0 This looks like a solid trick. The bonus it gives you will never be the most efficient, but the fact it scales is nice, and getting a token is some nice added value, especially if you have some Alliance going on. It is still a trick, and has all the risks they always have - situational, risky, and so forth - but I think the first copy of this seems decent.
Riveteers Initiate image 2.5 Like most of this cycle, this is solid. It has okay base stats, and it can gain a useful keyword! Deathtouch does mean it can trade with anything, and that’s nice.
Incriminate image 2.0 Black often has cards that let the opponent make a decision about something, and they pretty much always underperform, since there are too many situations where your opponent can minimize the damage. However, I think this might make your opponent make a narrow enough decision that it will be decent. Sure, you’ll have situations where your opponent hasl ike a 1/1 and some bomb creature and it isn’t going to feel too good in those scenarios – and I’m certainly not saying this is premium removal ro anything – but I do think there will be enough board states where this kills something you want dead for two mana. Don’t go into it thinking it is Doom Blade, and I think you’ll feel okay about what you’re getting.
Masked Bandits image 2.5 A six-mana 5/5 is actually kind of reasonable, and this one comes with the upside of helping you fix your mana early.
Extract the Truth image 1.5 The first mode will often be able to hit something, even in the middle part of the game, and having some enchantment hate in your main deck is nice. Now, there will be times where neither mode does anything, and that’s rough – but most of the time you’ll do something with it, even if it isn’t anything big.
Most Wanted image 1.5 Flash Auras can be nice, since they are sort of like combat tricks that leave some permanent value behind, but only giving +1 to toughness does mean this won’t save your creature as often as you’d probably like. Getting two Treasure when the creature dies does soften the blow if you get 2-for-1’d, but probably not by enough for me to excited about this.
Psionic Snoop image 1.5 This isn’t especially good. It is either a 3-mana ¼ that you discard a nonland card to, or a 3-mana 0/3 that lets you throw a land away for - hopefully - a real card. Neither of those things are bad, but it is far from impressive. If you can flash it in to kill an X/1 it will feel a lot better, and that will happen sometimes, but there will be enough times where it is just a glorified blocker that I’m not super interested in this.
Daring Escape image 1.5 +1/+0 and First Strike makes for a decent trick for one mana. The power boost isn’t ultra impressive, but First Strike obviously makes combat go much more favorably for your creature. I still think Antagonize is probably the trick you’re after if you’re playing Red aggro, but this can fill the role.
Pack 3 Pick 8: Witty Roastmaster
Angelic Observer image 3.0 Most of the tokens in this format are Citizens, especially within White and more broadly within the Cabaretti colors, and there are also a decent number of non-token citizens around. Getting this to 5 mana seems eminently doable, and while that’s not great, it is certainly passable, and sometimes you’ll cast it for a lot less. 4 mana is probably going to be a pretty common occurrence.
Wrecking Crew image 2.5 This has decent French Vanilla stats. Not much more to say about it.
Majestic Metamorphosis image 2.0 As we learned in Kamigawa Neon Dynasty, slapping “draw a card” on this type of spell is a big upgrade. Just temporary altering your creature’s stats is a bit too narrow of a use to be something you want to use a card on all the time, but this makes up for that with the cantrip. The times where you use this as a trick that wrecks your opponent is pretty sweet. It probably won’t be quite as good as Suit Up was, since Ninjutsu made for an interesting environment in terms of how opponents would block, but this definitely seems solid.
Rakish Revelers image 2.5 A 5-mana 5/3 that makes a 1/1 is something I would already sign up for, so the fact that it can fix your mana earlier in the game is some upside on a card that’s already quite playable.
High-Rise Sawjack image 2.0 We’ve seen this card in Spider-form before, and it was fine. 4 power is enough to take down most flyers and it is a nice thing to trade for those types of creatures.
Witty Roastmaster image 2.5 This has passable stats and a solid if unexciting ability. It can definitely chip in for a decent chunk of damage over the course of the game, especially if you’re making tokens!
Make Disappear image 1.5 Without Casualty, this kind of counter spell isn't great, since your opponent is likely to have the spare mana the longer the game goes on. With casualty…I still don't think it is great, but obviously it will allow you to counter more spells more often.
Pack 3 Pick 9: For the Family
Sewer Crocodile image 1.5 // 2.5 If you can get the ability on this down to a single Blue, it represent a pretty reasonable win condition, since you can crack in with your unblockable Crocodile and still have plenty of mana left over to add to the board too. That’s usually the problem with this big inefficient creatures who ask for a lot of mana to become unblockable – you can’t really do more than use the ability, but with the Crocodile, sometimes you’ll be able to get it going pretty cheaply. In a Blue deck that isn’t good at loading the graveyard you probably don’t end up playing this – so this probably deserves a build around.
Incriminate image 2.0 Black often has cards that let the opponent make a decision about something, and they pretty much always underperform, since there are too many situations where your opponent can minimize the damage. However, I think this might make your opponent make a narrow enough decision that it will be decent. Sure, you’ll have situations where your opponent hasl ike a 1/1 and some bomb creature and it isn’t going to feel too good in those scenarios – and I’m certainly not saying this is premium removal ro anything – but I do think there will be enough board states where this kills something you want dead for two mana. Don’t go into it thinking it is Doom Blade, and I think you’ll feel okay about what you’re getting.
Ominous Parcel image 1.5 This can help you fix your mana, or it can be a removal spell. Its pretty bad at both of those things when you look at the total mana you spend for each, but the fact it can do both definitely makes it a decent enough playable.
Daring Escape image 1.5 +1/+0 and First Strike makes for a decent trick for one mana. The power boost isn’t ultra impressive, but First Strike obviously makes combat go much more favorably for your creature. I still think Antagonize is probably the trick you’re after if you’re playing Red aggro, but this can fill the role.
Psionic Snoop image 1.5 This isn’t especially good. It is either a 3-mana ¼ that you discard a nonland card to, or a 3-mana 0/3 that lets you throw a land away for - hopefully - a real card. Neither of those things are bad, but it is far from impressive. If you can flash it in to kill an X/1 it will feel a lot better, and that will happen sometimes, but there will be enough times where it is just a glorified blocker that I’m not super interested in this.
For the Family image 2.0 This seems like a solid trick. One for +2/+2 usually plays reasonably well, and the multiple creature upside is pretty legit.
Pack 3 Pick 10: Witty Roastmaster
For the Family image 2.0 This seems like a solid trick. One for +2/+2 usually plays reasonably well, and the multiple creature upside is pretty legit.
Witty Roastmaster image 2.5 This has passable stats and a solid if unexciting ability. It can definitely chip in for a decent chunk of damage over the course of the game, especially if you’re making tokens!
Daring Escape image 1.5 +1/+0 and First Strike makes for a decent trick for one mana. The power boost isn’t ultra impressive, but First Strike obviously makes combat go much more favorably for your creature. I still think Antagonize is probably the trick you’re after if you’re playing Red aggro, but this can fill the role.
Attended Socialite image 2.0 This looks like a fine, if unexciting, two drop for creature-heavy Green decks. It will often attack as a 3/2, which isn’t the biggest upgrade ever since most two drops can still trade with it.
Backstreet Bruiser image 2.0 A two mana 3/3 makes for a pretty good blocker, and it is certainly doable to take defender off of this thing, especially in Blue-White.
Pack 3 Pick 11: Exhibition Magician
Capenna Express image 2.0 A 4-mana 6/6 vehicle with Crew 3 is generally not something you end up playing, but the upside of crewing this with Treasure is very real, as Green – and especially Red-Green, looks like it will be pretty good at generating treasure.
Exhibition Magician image 3.0 This is a good Common. A three mana 2/1 that makes a 1/1 – in a color that has lots of pay offs for going wide – is a pretty nice card – probably a C+. So, also having the Treasure option is nice upside – sometimes you’ll want it to help you ramp, and sometimes you’ll be in a deck that cares about Treasure than it does going wide, especially if you’re in Red/Green.
Glamorous Outlaw image 2.5 Like the rest of this cycle, exiling this gives you some fixing that isn’t great, but because you can also just cast it the normal way and get passable value – or you can play it from exile in the later game.
Witty Roastmaster image 2.5 This has passable stats and a solid if unexciting ability. It can definitely chip in for a decent chunk of damage over the course of the game, especially if you’re making tokens!
Pack 3 Pick 12: High-Rise Sawjack
Fake Your Own Death image 1.5 I guess we get a trick like this every set now! And, most versions of it tend to be pretty decent, and I think this one certainly is. +2/+0 is a boost that can allow your creature to win a whole lot of combats, and while it stands a good chance of dying too, Fake Your Own Death makes it not really matter, since the creature comes back! This gets especially spicy with ETB abilities, and there are also some potential Casualty and sacrifice shenanigans that this can enable.
Speakeasy Server image 2.5 A passable Flyer with an ETB that gains you life always tends to perform reasonably well in Limited. It can really help you stabilize. The downside here is that you need a board in place to gain any life – it doesn’t even gain you 1 life on its own, which is a little sad. Still, in White you’ll be able to go wide, and gaining 3+ with this should be pretty decent.
High-Rise Sawjack image 2.0 We’ve seen this card in Spider-form before, and it was fine. 4 power is enough to take down most flyers and it is a nice thing to trade for those types of creatures.
Pack 3 Pick 13: Pyre-Sledge Arsonist
Pyre-Sledge Arsonist image 1.0 // 4.0 This is definitely a buildaround. If you can get it going, it can do some pretty absurd stuff – and it works well with two mechanics that are in guilds that have Red in them – both Maestros and Riveteers. Treasure tokens are also all over the place. But still, it seems like your typical deck probably won’t be able to consistently get the Arsonist going. There’s enough sacrifice that it isn’t a straight up F in your typical deck, but it is probably just a 1.0. It has a ceiling at 4.0 though. Even if you are only using the ability to do one damage at a time, that’s not a bad effect. And if you are able to do 2+ with it, it will feel pretty insane.
Fake Your Own Death image 1.5 I guess we get a trick like this every set now! And, most versions of it tend to be pretty decent, and I think this one certainly is. +2/+0 is a boost that can allow your creature to win a whole lot of combats, and while it stands a good chance of dying too, Fake Your Own Death makes it not really matter, since the creature comes back! This gets especially spicy with ETB abilities, and there are also some potential Casualty and sacrifice shenanigans that this can enable.
Pack 3 Pick 14: Demon's Due
Demon's Due image 2.5 This is a pretty solid draw spell. You see up to 4 cards, giving you a good chance to draw something you want, and paying 2 life for it is perfectly reasonable. It isn’t really the kind of thing you want to go after early, or that you want to run more than one of – after all, it has no impact on the board -- but it seems like the first copy is going to make the cut in your Black decks most of the time.
Draft Pick Overview