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Quick Draft SNC 13 June 2022

13 June 09:42 - Sphinks 7 Wins - 2 Losses
Maindeck
Creature (12)
1 Metropolis Angel image
1 Venom Connoisseur image
1 Illuminator Virtuoso image
2 Spara's Adjudicators image
1 Echo Inspector image
1 Sky Crier image
1 Freelance Muscle image
1 Jewel Thief image
1 Civil Servant image
1 Obscura Initiate image
1 Expendable Lackey image
Instant, Sorcery, Enchantment, Artifact (11)
1 Majestic Metamorphosis image
1 Ceremonial Groundbreaker image
1 Fight Rigging image
2 Prizefight image
1 Citizen's Crowbar image
1 Buy Your Silence image
1 Rooftop Nuisance image
1 Courier's Briefcase image
1 Revelation of Power image
1 Make Disappear image
Land (17)
1 Botanical Plaza image
2 Brokers Hideout image
1 Skybridge Towers image
5 Forest image
4 Island image
4 Plains image
Sideboard
1 High-Rise Sawjack image
2 Brokers Initiate image
1 Attended Socialite image
1 Glittermonger image
1 Suspicious Bookcase image
1 Mr. Orfeo, the Boulder image
1 Civic Gardener image
1 Psionic Snoop image
1 Capenna Express image
1 Extract the Truth image
1 Run Out of Town image
1 Security Bypass image
1 Make Disappear image
1 Boon of Safety image

Pack 1 Pick 1: Metropolis Angel
Hoard Hauler image 2.5 A 4-mana 5/5 Trampling vehicle with Crew 3 is kind of okay, but certainly nothing special. Sometimes you may also get some treasure, but it isn’t going to do that with regularity.
Nimble Larcenist image 2.5 This is a bit disappointing. A 3-mana 2/1 Flyer that costs three different colors isn’t great, and its ETB ability won’t always hit something. It probably will in the early game, but after that sometimes you’ll just be getting information. And while information isn’t bad, it isn’t really a return on your investment either.
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!
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.
Inspiring Overseer image 4.0 This is a pretty incredible Common. It gives you a passable flying body while replacing itself and even gaining you a life! We saw a Blue version of this once without the life gain and it was really good – and we’ve seen a non-flying version of this card in the recent past that was also quite good. That trend will continue here. This is probably just White’s best Common.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Murder image 4.0 Murder at Common! As usual, it is premium removal you always want. It can’t be splashed, which is a bit of a bummer, but it is still worth a high pick. I’m giving it a 4
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.
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.
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.
Pack 1 Pick 2: 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.
Ceremonial Groundbreaker image 3.0 The GW color pair in this format is Citizen tribal, and this card pushes you pretty hard in that direction. +2/+1 and Trample are a decent boost, and enough of one to make many creatures into a threat, but paying 3 to equip this is not ideal. Equipping it to a citizen is a great deal though. Some of them are 1/1 tokens of course, but there are many of nontoken citizens in GW too that you’ll be able to equip this to very efficiently.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Pack 1 Pick 3: Illuminator Virtuoso
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.
Illuminator Virtuoso image 3.0 A two mana 1/1 with Double Strike is already pretty decent, so adding Connive to the mix is pretty sweet. Now, actually trigger the Connive on this card isn’t the easiest thing in the world, since your typical deck doesn’t really run that many ways to target its own stuff, but this is obviously a pretty nice payoff for playing some tricks.
Pugnacious Pugilist image 3.0 Either way you play this, it looks like it is going to be pretty decent. If you Blitz it, you get a permanent Devil token in addition to sending a 4/4 at your opponents face, and then you of course get to draw a card when the Pugilist goes away. Just casting it is nice too sometimes, even if a 5-mana 4/4 feels pretty clunky these days. You still have a sizable creature who spits out tokens.
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.
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.
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.
Revelation of Power image 1.5 The boost isn’t amazing, but the counter upside will definitely come up. It can let you win combat and gain life as well as help you get in for a bunch in the air. You’ll play this in aggressive decks with lots of counters.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Celebrity Fencer image 3.0 This has the potential to get really massive, but I don’t love that it starts out as a 3/2. You’re going to get really blown out sometimes when you play this and your opponent destroys it for one or two mana. But in a lot of White decks in this format, especially the Cabaretti, like putting a ton of creature tokens into play, and that will allow the Fencer to do some serious work.
Pack 1 Pick 4: Spara's Adjudicators
Torch Breath image 3.5 This is great. Even without the Blue upside, it would be an excellent removal spell. Sure, it is never super efficient, but it can scale as the game goes on, and being an Instant speed version of this is a pretty big deal too, because you can end up getting a 2-for-1 in some situations. Once you add in the anti-Blue upside, you definitely have a premium removal spell. It is good against non-Blue decks, and crazy good against Blue ones.
Sizzling Soloist image 2.5 The bad stats here are going to bite you sometimes, since it can die to really cheap removal despite costing 4 mana, but hey – at least you’re trading 1-for-1, and the Alliance effect this has is a pretty big deal. Stopping a creature from blocking tends to drastically alter a turn, although your opponent will know this is coming, so it isn’t quite as impressive as versions of it that come out of nowhere. But still, your opponent has to alter their game plan once you play something like this, because they just may be unable to block! If you get alliance twice with it, not only are two things not blocking, but you can also force an attack – which will mean that thing won’t be blocking on the next turn either!
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.
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.
Light 'Em Up image 3.0 Two mana to do 2 at Sorcery speed is usually a solid card, so having the Casualty upside of doubling the spell is pretty sweet. That means you can take down X/4s with it sometimes, or even better – kill two creatures!
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.
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.
Celebrity Fencer image 3.0 This has the potential to get really massive, but I don’t love that it starts out as a 3/2. You’re going to get really blown out sometimes when you play this and your opponent destroys it for one or two mana. But in a lot of White decks in this format, especially the Cabaretti, like putting a ton of creature tokens into play, and that will allow the Fencer to do some serious work.
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.
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.
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.
Pack 1 Pick 5: Botanical Plaza
Sizzling Soloist image 2.5 The bad stats here are going to bite you sometimes, since it can die to really cheap removal despite costing 4 mana, but hey – at least you’re trading 1-for-1, and the Alliance effect this has is a pretty big deal. Stopping a creature from blocking tends to drastically alter a turn, although your opponent will know this is coming, so it isn’t quite as impressive as versions of it that come out of nowhere. But still, your opponent has to alter their game plan once you play something like this, because they just may be unable to block! If you get alliance twice with it, not only are two things not blocking, but you can also force an attack – which will mean that thing won’t be blocking on the next turn either!
Mr. Orfeo, the Boulder image 3.5 This looks pretty nice. What I like the most is that the turn you play it it will often already have some impact, as it will make one of your creatures into a much more formidable attacker. It can of course pump its own power too, so when it attacks its a 4/4, but you’re usually hoping for something spicier than that. It also pairs well with Blitz, as your opponent often won’t want to block a Blitzed creature, since you’ll be getting a card anyway when it dies and the creature isn’t sticking around for good, but Mr. Orfeo complicates that, since the creatures will be hitting harder.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Warm Welcome image 2.0 This type of effect is usually kind of rough since you spend some significant mana and don’t add to the board, but this type around it actually does, albeit with just a 1/1 Citizen. But that’s pretty important – not only does it add something to th eboard, but with both Citizen tribal and Alliance being a thing in the format, there is extra value placed on something like this. So, you end up getting the best creature in your top 5 and a 1/1. Don’t get me wrong, it still isn’t amazing or anything, but far more playable than this effect usually is at three mana.
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.
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.
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.
Pack 1 Pick 6: Spara's Adjudicators
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 1 Pick 7: Brokers Hideout
Vampire Scrivener image 2.0 This obviously has the potential to get absolutely massive, but it has some pretty awful starting stats that will allow your opponent to pay 1 to 2 mana to kill your five drop, and that’s always pretty rough. What’s more is, losing life on your turn won’t be super easy – so you’re mostly going to be leaning on the life gain angle, which will happen, but it also isn’t a massive theme in this format.
Illicit Shipment image 1.0 This is an interesting take on a tutor. Most tutors, especially those that cost FIVE mana are pretty terrible in Limited. You have to play this thing on your turn and not add to the board at all in most cases, and even if you have something awesome to search up, you severely decrease your chances of winning as soon as you choose to do that. Basically, you end up breaking even on cards and not doing so well on mana when you cast this. Now, once you throw Casualty into the mix, you’re paying 5 to draw TWO of the best cards in your deck, and that’s certainly better. But the Casualty here is a little steep at 3, and you’re still spending a lot of mana and just spinning your wheels until your next turn. I’m tempted to just give this a 0.0, but I think if you can do Casualty often enough with it, its probably a 1.0 or 1.5.
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.
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.
Revelation of Power image 1.5 The boost isn’t amazing, but the counter upside will definitely come up. It can let you win combat and gain life as well as help you get in for a bunch in the air. You’ll play this in aggressive decks with lots of counters.
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.
Tramway Station 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.
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.
Pack 1 Pick 8: Brokers Hideout
Rob the Archives image 3.5 In the early game, this is often going to be a dead card, but in the late game being able to copy this with a bunch of mana untapped is just going to happen sometimes. And when this feels like a two mana card that draws you 3 or 4 cards, it is going to be incredible. Having more than one copy of this seems a bit dangerous because of how bad it is early, but its power in the late game is pretty serious, so the first copy should be valued pretty highly.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Pack 1 Pick 9: Majestic Metamorphosis
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Pack 1 Pick 10: Ceremonial Groundbreaker
Ceremonial Groundbreaker image 3.0 The GW color pair in this format is Citizen tribal, and this card pushes you pretty hard in that direction. +2/+1 and Trample are a decent boost, and enough of one to make many creatures into a threat, but paying 3 to equip this is not ideal. Equipping it to a citizen is a great deal though. Some of them are 1/1 tokens of course, but there are many of nontoken citizens in GW too that you’ll be able to equip this to very efficiently.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Pack 1 Pick 11: High-Rise Sawjack
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.
Revelation of Power image 1.5 The boost isn’t amazing, but the counter upside will definitely come up. It can let you win combat and gain life as well as help you get in for a bunch in the air. You’ll play this in aggressive decks with lots of counters.
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.
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.
Pack 1 Pick 12: Brokers Initiate
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.
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.
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.
Pack 1 Pick 13: Capenna Express
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.
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 1 Pick 14: Extract the Truth
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 1: Fight Rigging
Fight Rigging image 4.0 An Enchantment that gives you a counter every turn is already a pretty good card, and the hideaway upside here isn't completely inaccessible either.
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.
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.
Glittering Stockpile image 2.0 This goes well in the RG treasure deck. It helps you ramp your mana, and slowly builds up stash counters which you can eventually cash in for a ton of mana – and can even fix for you. It is still a 3 mana Artifact that has no immediate impact on the board, though, and that’s the kind of card that can be a real liability in most formats. That downside does seem worth it, but only if you have outlets for all the mana this can give you. Most three mana mana rocks that tap for a single mana just aren’t especially good in Limited, but I think the extra upside here at least makes it 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.
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.
Celebrity Fencer image 3.0 This has the potential to get really massive, but I don’t love that it starts out as a 3/2. You’re going to get really blown out sometimes when you play this and your opponent destroys it for one or two mana. But in a lot of White decks in this format, especially the Cabaretti, like putting a ton of creature tokens into play, and that will allow the Fencer to do some serious work.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 2 Pick 2: Echo Inspector
Vampire Scrivener image 2.0 This obviously has the potential to get absolutely massive, but it has some pretty awful starting stats that will allow your opponent to pay 1 to 2 mana to kill your five drop, and that’s always pretty rough. What’s more is, losing life on your turn won’t be super easy – so you’re mostly going to be leaning on the life gain angle, which will happen, but it also isn’t a massive theme in this format.
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.
Suspicious Bookcase image 1.5 This is a reprint, and a pretty uninteresting one! It wasn’t particularly good last time we saw it, but it wasn’t a disaster either. It has okayish defensive stats and can send things in unblocked late. You’ll play it in some more controlling decks.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Deal Gone Bad image 2.5 This isn’t the most efficient removal spell, but at least its an Instant, and it comes with some extra value with the mill effect. The way this format is looking, you probably want to mill yourself more often than your opponent since you can get a lot of value going in that direction. This isn’t premium removal, but it seems like a solid Common.
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.
Tramway Station 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 2 Pick 3: Prizefight
Ceremonial Groundbreaker image 3.0 The GW color pair in this format is Citizen tribal, and this card pushes you pretty hard in that direction. +2/+1 and Trample are a decent boost, and enough of one to make many creatures into a threat, but paying 3 to equip this is not ideal. Equipping it to a citizen is a great deal though. Some of them are 1/1 tokens of course, but there are many of nontoken citizens in GW too that you’ll be able to equip this to very efficiently.
Riveteers Decoy image 3.0 A two mana 3/1 with decent upside is basically always playable, and this comes with two! First, it has to be blocked, which means it can create problems for your opponent in combat. Second, it has Blitz, which means it can come out of nowhere and force your opponent to block it instead of something they want to block more, and sometimes it will feel a bit like a removal spell.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Pack 2 Pick 4: Make Disappear
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.
Security Rhox image 3.5 This looks pretty good. A 4 mana 5/4 is already above rate, and there are enough treasures in the set that you can power it out for 2. You shouldn't expect to do it early, but playing this and a three drop on turn 5 sounds pretty good.
Dapper Shieldmate image 2.5 If you take the shield counter out of the equation here, this card would be a 1.0. A 4-mana 2/2 that’s only a 4/2 on your turn just isn’t good. However, the shield counter definitely matters here. Your opponent is going to have to give up something in most cases just to get rid of the counter. And sure, they could just chump it with a token or something, but they still have to put in some work, and they can’t just ignore this since it can hit for 4 damage at a time.
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.
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.
Civic Gardener image 1.5 This type of effect is often not especially impactful. Sure, it sort of has Vigilance, and can lend it to other creatures, and help you have more mana in your second main phase, but all of those things are just not a big deal most of the time. And it isn’t like it can really attack and make use of that trigger for very long.
Midnight Assassin image 2.5 As a deathtoucher, this can trade with anything – and Flying makes it so it can trade for even more than most death touchers! And, in the meantime, it can attack away in the air for a bit of damage.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Pack 2 Pick 5: Citizen's Crowbar
Citizen's Crowbar image 3.0 I always like Equipment that makes a creature for it to equip to automatically. Basically, this is a two mana 2/2 that leaves behind a reasonable piece of Equipment – or you can give up the Equipment to Disenchant something while you keep the creature token. Both of those outcomes are quite good for the investment.
Illicit Shipment image 1.0 This is an interesting take on a tutor. Most tutors, especially those that cost FIVE mana are pretty terrible in Limited. You have to play this thing on your turn and not add to the board at all in most cases, and even if you have something awesome to search up, you severely decrease your chances of winning as soon as you choose to do that. Basically, you end up breaking even on cards and not doing so well on mana when you cast this. Now, once you throw Casualty into the mix, you’re paying 5 to draw TWO of the best cards in your deck, and that’s certainly better. But the Casualty here is a little steep at 3, and you’re still spending a lot of mana and just spinning your wheels until your next turn. I’m tempted to just give this a 0.0, but I think if you can do Casualty often enough with it, its probably a 1.0 or 1.5.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Pack 2 Pick 6: Buy Your Silence
Rob the Archives image 3.5 In the early game, this is often going to be a dead card, but in the late game being able to copy this with a bunch of mana untapped is just going to happen sometimes. And when this feels like a two mana card that draws you 3 or 4 cards, it is going to be incredible. Having more than one copy of this seems a bit dangerous because of how bad it is early, but its power in the late game is pretty serious, so the first copy should be valued pretty highly.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 2 Pick 7: Sky Crier
Glittering Stockpile image 2.0 This goes well in the RG treasure deck. It helps you ramp your mana, and slowly builds up stash counters which you can eventually cash in for a ton of mana – and can even fix for you. It is still a 3 mana Artifact that has no immediate impact on the board, though, and that’s the kind of card that can be a real liability in most formats. That downside does seem worth it, but only if you have outlets for all the mana this can give you. Most three mana mana rocks that tap for a single mana just aren’t especially good in Limited, but I think the extra upside here at least makes it playable.
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.
Dapper Shieldmate image 2.5 If you take the shield counter out of the equation here, this card would be a 1.0. A 4-mana 2/2 that’s only a 4/2 on your turn just isn’t good. However, the shield counter definitely matters here. Your opponent is going to have to give up something in most cases just to get rid of the counter. And sure, they could just chump it with a token or something, but they still have to put in some work, and they can’t just ignore this since it can hit for 4 damage at a time.
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.
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.
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.
Revelation of Power image 1.5 The boost isn’t amazing, but the counter upside will definitely come up. It can let you win combat and gain life as well as help you get in for a bunch in the air. You’ll play this in aggressive decks with lots of counters.
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.
Pack 2 Pick 8: Run Out of Town
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.
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.
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.
Midnight Assassin image 2.5 As a deathtoucher, this can trade with anything – and Flying makes it so it can trade for even more than most death touchers! And, in the meantime, it can attack away in the air for a bit of damage.
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.
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.
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 9: Rooftop Nuisance
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.
Glittering Stockpile image 2.0 This goes well in the RG treasure deck. It helps you ramp your mana, and slowly builds up stash counters which you can eventually cash in for a ton of mana – and can even fix for you. It is still a 3 mana Artifact that has no immediate impact on the board, though, and that’s the kind of card that can be a real liability in most formats. That downside does seem worth it, but only if you have outlets for all the mana this can give you. Most three mana mana rocks that tap for a single mana just aren’t especially good in Limited, but I think the extra upside here at least makes it playable.
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.
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.
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.
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 2 Pick 10: Suspicious Bookcase
Vampire Scrivener image 2.0 This obviously has the potential to get absolutely massive, but it has some pretty awful starting stats that will allow your opponent to pay 1 to 2 mana to kill your five drop, and that’s always pretty rough. What’s more is, losing life on your turn won’t be super easy – so you’re mostly going to be leaning on the life gain angle, which will happen, but it also isn’t a massive theme in this format.
Suspicious Bookcase image 1.5 This is a reprint, and a pretty uninteresting one! It wasn’t particularly good last time we saw it, but it wasn’t a disaster either. It has okayish defensive stats and can send things in unblocked late. You’ll play it in some more controlling decks.
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.
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 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.
Pack 2 Pick 11: Make Disappear
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.
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.
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.
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.
Pack 2 Pick 12: Glittermonger
Dapper Shieldmate image 2.5 If you take the shield counter out of the equation here, this card would be a 1.0. A 4-mana 2/2 that’s only a 4/2 on your turn just isn’t good. However, the shield counter definitely matters here. Your opponent is going to have to give up something in most cases just to get rid of the counter. And sure, they could just chump it with a token or something, but they still have to put in some work, and they can’t just ignore this since it can hit for 4 damage at a time.
Civic Gardener image 1.5 This type of effect is often not especially impactful. Sure, it sort of has Vigilance, and can lend it to other creatures, and help you have more mana in your second main phase, but all of those things are just not a big deal most of the time. And it isn’t like it can really attack and make use of that trigger for very long.
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.
Pack 2 Pick 13: Security Bypass
Illicit Shipment image 1.0 This is an interesting take on a tutor. Most tutors, especially those that cost FIVE mana are pretty terrible in Limited. You have to play this thing on your turn and not add to the board at all in most cases, and even if you have something awesome to search up, you severely decrease your chances of winning as soon as you choose to do that. Basically, you end up breaking even on cards and not doing so well on mana when you cast this. Now, once you throw Casualty into the mix, you’re paying 5 to draw TWO of the best cards in your deck, and that’s certainly better. But the Casualty here is a little steep at 3, and you’re still spending a lot of mana and just spinning your wheels until your next turn. I’m tempted to just give this a 0.0, but I think if you can do Casualty often enough with it, its probably a 1.0 or 1.5.
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 2 Pick 14: Attended Socialite
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 1: Prizefight
Fleetfoot Dancer image 3.5 This is reminiscent of Mantis Rider, and that’s a pretty good comparison! Obviously this comes with good stats and keywords, with the only real downside being the mana, which won’t always come easy on turn 4. But hey, this kind of creature is good all game long.
Vampire Scrivener image 2.0 This obviously has the potential to get absolutely massive, but it has some pretty awful starting stats that will allow your opponent to pay 1 to 2 mana to kill your five drop, and that’s always pretty rough. What’s more is, losing life on your turn won’t be super easy – so you’re mostly going to be leaning on the life gain angle, which will happen, but it also isn’t a massive theme in this format.
Mr. Orfeo, the Boulder image 3.5 This looks pretty nice. What I like the most is that the turn you play it it will often already have some impact, as it will make one of your creatures into a much more formidable attacker. It can of course pump its own power too, so when it attacks its a 4/4, but you’re usually hoping for something spicier than that. It also pairs well with Blitz, as your opponent often won’t want to block a Blitzed creature, since you’ll be getting a card anyway when it dies and the creature isn’t sticking around for good, but Mr. Orfeo complicates that, since the creatures will be hitting harder.
Slip Out the Back image 1.0 This doesn’t seem great to me. Sure, it can save your creature and it gets a permanent buff, but good effects like this can actually allow you to take down the creature that you’re blocking. That’s part of what made Tamiyo’s Safekeeping so good – it had an effect that was good against removal, but it could also make your creature win combat when it would have been a trade. And…you can’t do that with Phasing. Basically, this can only save your creature and buff it – and that’s not really worth a card. It is just too narrow.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Murder image 4.0 Murder at Common! As usual, it is premium removal you always want. It can’t be splashed, which is a bit of a bummer, but it is still worth a high pick. I’m giving it a 4
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.
Pack 3 Pick 2: Freelance Muscle
Vampire Scrivener image 2.0 This obviously has the potential to get absolutely massive, but it has some pretty awful starting stats that will allow your opponent to pay 1 to 2 mana to kill your five drop, and that’s always pretty rough. What’s more is, losing life on your turn won’t be super easy – so you’re mostly going to be leaning on the life gain angle, which will happen, but it also isn’t a massive theme in this format.
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.
Tainted Indulgence image 3.0 In the early game, this is two mana to draw two and discard one, and if you do a good job of loading up your graveyard with different mana values, it becomes a two mana draw two. Like I’ve said about all of these cards that check for five mana values in the graveyard – it will be doable, but not super easy to get them going early.
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!
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!
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!
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.
Revelation of Power image 1.5 The boost isn’t amazing, but the counter upside will definitely come up. It can let you win combat and gain life as well as help you get in for a bunch in the air. You’ll play this in aggressive decks with lots of counters.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Pack 3 Pick 3: Jewel Thief
Wingshield Agent image 3.5 You can attack with this once without worrying that it will die, and that goes pretty well with its ability to give another creature Flying. You also just put your opponent in a really ugly spot if they are in a situation where the best they can do is trade with the Agent, because that means you get to attack twice and force them to use a resource each time to kill the Agent, and in the meantime it gets to attack twice and give something else Flying both times.
Arc Spitter image 2.0 This is an interesting piece of Equipment. My first instinct is that this is probably not very good, since it doesn’t augment the stats of the creature you put it on, but this is a card where threat of activation is going to be very real, as it is relatively cheap to take down a blocking creature with the effect. Now, it does absolutely nothing when you’re on the back foot, and is only good if you’re the beat down, but I think this might be a little better than it looks. It is cheap to cast, cheap to equip, and its ability is also reasonably costed, so much so that it will make people really think about whether they want to block. Also, if you combine this with death touch it can be particularly nasty! I think in aggressive decks this is actually a decent playable.
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.
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.
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.
Deal Gone Bad image 2.5 This isn’t the most efficient removal spell, but at least its an Instant, and it comes with some extra value with the mill effect. The way this format is looking, you probably want to mill yourself more often than your opponent since you can get a lot of value going in that direction. This isn’t premium removal, but it seems like a solid Common.
Tramway Station 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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
Pack 3 Pick 4: Skybridge Towers
Involuntary Employment image 1.0 // 3.5 This looks really well positioned in this format. Usually, Threaten effects aren’t something you’re that into, because they only have a temporary effect on the board that your opponent can often just ignore. They basically only do something if they let you do lethal the turn you cast it. However, in formats where there is a sacrifice theme, Threaten effects get a big upgrade, and that’s certainly the case here. The Maestros have a Sacrifice mechanic as their thing, and Black-Red in particular is very into sacrificing stuff. Once you have that going on, you can steal a thing, attack your opponent with it, and then sacrifice it for value, and that can be utterly backbreaking. This does cost 4 upfront, which is a bit steep – but it gives you a treasure back, which should help you do whatever you need to to sacrifice the creature that you steal. So yeah, this is definitely a build around – it is a 1.0 in your typical Red deck, but its probably at least a 3.5 in Cabaretti and Black-Red, and I wouldn’t be super surprised to see it overperform here. The fact they put this effect at Uncommon kind of tells me they knew it would be a little too good at Common, where we often see this type of card.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Midnight Assassin image 2.5 As a deathtoucher, this can trade with anything – and Flying makes it so it can trade for even more than most death touchers! And, in the meantime, it can attack away in the air for a bit of damage.
Civic Gardener image 1.5 This type of effect is often not especially impactful. Sure, it sort of has Vigilance, and can lend it to other creatures, and help you have more mana in your second main phase, but all of those things are just not a big deal most of the time. And it isn’t like it can really attack and make use of that trigger for very long.
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.
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.
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.
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 3 Pick 5: Courier's Briefcase
Courier's Briefcase image 2.5 Two mana for a 1/1 and a Treasure is a pretty good deal, and this set should have enough fixing that you manage to produce 5 colors on occasion, especially in the Red-Green treasure deck.
Light 'Em Up image 3.0 Two mana to do 2 at Sorcery speed is usually a solid card, so having the Casualty upside of doubling the spell is pretty sweet. That means you can take down X/4s with it sometimes, or even better – kill two creatures!
Celebrity Fencer image 3.0 This has the potential to get really massive, but I don’t love that it starts out as a 3/2. You’re going to get really blown out sometimes when you play this and your opponent destroys it for one or two mana. But in a lot of White decks in this format, especially the Cabaretti, like putting a ton of creature tokens into play, and that will allow the Fencer to do some serious work.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Civic Gardener image 1.5 This type of effect is often not especially impactful. Sure, it sort of has Vigilance, and can lend it to other creatures, and help you have more mana in your second main phase, but all of those things are just not a big deal most of the time. And it isn’t like it can really attack and make use of that trigger for very long.
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 6: Revelation of Power
Graveyard Shift image 2.5 I am not normally super into 5 mana reanimation spells in Limited. It is just too hard to actually get a full five mana of value out of your graveyard on a consistent basis. However, this format looks like it might have what this kind of card needs. The Connive mechanic means you can discard things to reanimate pretty easily, so I think this might be one of those formats where this is a nice card.
Involuntary Employment image 1.0 // 3.5 This looks really well positioned in this format. Usually, Threaten effects aren’t something you’re that into, because they only have a temporary effect on the board that your opponent can often just ignore. They basically only do something if they let you do lethal the turn you cast it. However, in formats where there is a sacrifice theme, Threaten effects get a big upgrade, and that’s certainly the case here. The Maestros have a Sacrifice mechanic as their thing, and Black-Red in particular is very into sacrificing stuff. Once you have that going on, you can steal a thing, attack your opponent with it, and then sacrifice it for value, and that can be utterly backbreaking. This does cost 4 upfront, which is a bit steep – but it gives you a treasure back, which should help you do whatever you need to to sacrifice the creature that you steal. So yeah, this is definitely a build around – it is a 1.0 in your typical Red deck, but its probably at least a 3.5 in Cabaretti and Black-Red, and I wouldn’t be super surprised to see it overperform here. The fact they put this effect at Uncommon kind of tells me they knew it would be a little too good at Common, where we often see this type of card.
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.
Revelation of Power image 1.5 The boost isn’t amazing, but the counter upside will definitely come up. It can let you win combat and gain life as well as help you get in for a bunch in the air. You’ll play this in aggressive decks with lots of counters.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Pack 3 Pick 7: Civil Servant
Corpse Appraiser image 4.0 This looks really good, since it will very frequently be a 3-mana 3/3 that cast Anticipate, and that’s not just a 2-for-1 it is also really good card selection. There will be times that you don’t have something to exile from a yard, but most of the time it won’t be a big ask, and sometimes you might even hate on something in the opposing graveyard!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 8: Boon of Safety
An Offer You Can't Refuse image 0.0 I think I WILL be refusing this offer. This mostly seems like it was printed for constructed. Most Limited decks don’t have enough non-creature spells for this sort of thing to be good, and giving them treasure seems like way too much downside on an already narrow counterspell, even if it is efficient. It is probably a sideboard card at best.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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 3 Pick 9: Mr. Orfeo, the Boulder
Vampire Scrivener image 2.0 This obviously has the potential to get absolutely massive, but it has some pretty awful starting stats that will allow your opponent to pay 1 to 2 mana to kill your five drop, and that’s always pretty rough. What’s more is, losing life on your turn won’t be super easy – so you’re mostly going to be leaning on the life gain angle, which will happen, but it also isn’t a massive theme in this format.
Mr. Orfeo, the Boulder image 3.5 This looks pretty nice. What I like the most is that the turn you play it it will often already have some impact, as it will make one of your creatures into a much more formidable attacker. It can of course pump its own power too, so when it attacks its a 4/4, but you’re usually hoping for something spicier than that. It also pairs well with Blitz, as your opponent often won’t want to block a Blitzed creature, since you’ll be getting a card anyway when it dies and the creature isn’t sticking around for good, but Mr. Orfeo complicates that, since the creatures will be hitting harder.
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 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.
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.
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.
Pack 3 Pick 10: Obscura Initiate
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!
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!
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.
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.
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.
Pack 3 Pick 11: Expendable Lackey
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.
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!
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.
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.
Pack 3 Pick 12: Civic Gardener
Involuntary Employment image 1.0 // 3.5 This looks really well positioned in this format. Usually, Threaten effects aren’t something you’re that into, because they only have a temporary effect on the board that your opponent can often just ignore. They basically only do something if they let you do lethal the turn you cast it. However, in formats where there is a sacrifice theme, Threaten effects get a big upgrade, and that’s certainly the case here. The Maestros have a Sacrifice mechanic as their thing, and Black-Red in particular is very into sacrificing stuff. Once you have that going on, you can steal a thing, attack your opponent with it, and then sacrifice it for value, and that can be utterly backbreaking. This does cost 4 upfront, which is a bit steep – but it gives you a treasure back, which should help you do whatever you need to to sacrifice the creature that you steal. So yeah, this is definitely a build around – it is a 1.0 in your typical Red deck, but its probably at least a 3.5 in Cabaretti and Black-Red, and I wouldn’t be super surprised to see it overperform here. The fact they put this effect at Uncommon kind of tells me they knew it would be a little too good at Common, where we often see this type of card.
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.
Civic Gardener image 1.5 This type of effect is often not especially impactful. Sure, it sort of has Vigilance, and can lend it to other creatures, and help you have more mana in your second main phase, but all of those things are just not a big deal most of the time. And it isn’t like it can really attack and make use of that trigger for very long.
Pack 3 Pick 13: Psionic Snoop
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.
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 3 Pick 14: Brokers Initiate
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.
Draft Pick Overview