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Quick Draft SNC 21 June 2022

21 June 06:36 - bichel 7 Wins - 1 Losses
Maindeck
Creature (17)
1 Fleetfoot Dancer image
1 Attended Socialite image
1 Voice of the Vermin image
1 Wrecking Crew image
1 Jetmir's Fixer image
1 Riveteers Initiate image
1 Inspiring Overseer image
2 Jewel Thief image
1 Riveteers Requisitioner image
1 Elegant Entourage image
1 Goldhound image
2 Caldaia Strongarm image
1 Glittermonger image
1 Jinnie Fay, Jetmir's Second image
1 Rakish Revelers image
Instant, Sorcery, Enchantment, Artifact (7)
1 Stimulus Package image
2 Antagonize image
1 Most Wanted image
1 Bouncer's Beatdown image
1 Courier's Briefcase image
1 Sticky Fingers image
Land (17)
1 Maestros Theater image
1 Cabaretti Courtyard image
1 Riveteers Overlook image
3 Plains image
5 Mountain image
6 Forest image
Sideboard
2 Cabaretti Initiate image
1 Attended Socialite image
1 Celebrity Fencer image
1 Revel Ruiner image
2 Halo Scarab image
1 High-Rise Sawjack image
1 Rhox Pummeler image
1 Involuntary Employment image
2 Capenna Express image
1 Gilded Pinions image
1 For the Family image
1 Cement Shoes image
1 Maestros Theater image

Pack 1 Pick 1: Fleetfoot Dancer
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.
Ballroom Brawlers image 3.5 A 5 mana ⅗ isn't great, but it gets lifelink or first strike when it attacks and gives the keyword to another creature, and that's definitely the kind of creature that drastically upgrades your board, at least on offense.
Rogues' Gallery image 2.5 I think most Black decks in the format will have enough creatures of different colors to be interested in the first copy of this. Getting two things back with it is solid, and if you can get 3+ it will be downright insane! The format has plenty of graveyard action to enable it to. I think I like valuing the first copy of this at a 2.5, though you don’t really want more than that first copy.
Scuttling Butler image 1.0 // 3.0 This is definitely a build around, because a 3-mana 4/1 just isn’t worth it in your typical deck. It is probably a D at best. However, the upside here is actually kind of nuts, as giving a 4/1 double strike is pretty amazing. Your deck needs to be able to give this double strike a significant chunk of the time, and the good news is that looks like it can happen in many decks in this format, though it is perhaps the easiest in Green-White or Cabaretti more broadly, because of Citizen tokens which are both colors
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.
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.
Wrecking Crew image 2.5 This has decent French Vanilla stats. Not much more to say about it.
Rakish Revelers image 2.5 A 5-mana 5/3 that makes a 1/1 is something I would already sign up for, so the fact that it can fix your mana earlier in the game is some upside on a card that’s already quite playable.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 1 Pick 2: Stimulus Package
Structural Assault image 0.0 This isn’t really here for Limited. Even with Treasure tokens around, there just aren’t enough artifacts in this set for this to ever matter.
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.
Grisly Sigil image 3.5 This has a really neat design for a card with casualty. Basically, without Casualty this can kill an X/1 and with Casualty it can kill an X/4, and that is a pretty amazing deal for the mana! The Casualty certainly takes some setup, but it feels like there are enough nice 1 power things to sacrifice to this that it won’t really feel like you’re paying that much extra for a super efficient removal spell.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Glamorous Outlaw image 2.5 Like the rest of this cycle, exiling this gives you some fixing that isn’t great, but because you can also just cast it the normal way and get passable value – or you can play it from exile in the later game.
Jetmir's Fixer image 3.0 This is a two mana 2/2 with some very nice upside. Even if it didn’t have the Treasure bonus, being able to pump this creature’s stats for a single red and a single green would be a pretty nice card. Obviously though, Red-Green is very into Treasure in this format, so you’re going to be able to trigger the bonus if you want to.
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.
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.
Kill Shot image 2.0 Is decent removal, but it is situational enough that it is nowhere near premium. An aggressive deck isn’t super interested in a card like this, because you really want cards that let you kill blockers, and your opponent can also play around a card like this pretty effectively.
Pack 1 Pick 3: Antagonize
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.
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.
Scuttling Butler image 1.0 // 3.0 This is definitely a build around, because a 3-mana 4/1 just isn’t worth it in your typical deck. It is probably a D at best. However, the upside here is actually kind of nuts, as giving a 4/1 double strike is pretty amazing. Your deck needs to be able to give this double strike a significant chunk of the time, and the good news is that looks like it can happen in many decks in this format, though it is perhaps the easiest in Green-White or Cabaretti more broadly, because of Citizen tokens which are both colors
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
Pack 1 Pick 4: Attended Socialite
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.
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.
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.
Gathering Throng image 0.0 // 3.0 Collect ‘em all cards are always pretty fun in Limited. A 3-mana 3/1 is bad, but as long as you have two of these, this is very playable, since a 3-mana 3/1 that draws another one is a pretty good deal. It makes sure you will continue to have stuff to play, and getting these also guarantees you can go wide and keep triggering Alliance. They are also Citizens! So yeah, Basically, if you have only one copy of this, its pretty much unplayable – if you have two, it’s a 2.5, and it probably maxes out around a 3.0.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Pack 1 Pick 5: Celebrity Fencer
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Pack 1 Pick 6: Involuntary Employment
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.
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.
Glamorous Outlaw image 2.5 Like the rest of this cycle, exiling this gives you some fixing that isn’t great, but because you can also just cast it the normal way and get passable value – or you can play it from exile in the later game.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Pack 1 Pick 7: Most Wanted
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 8: Voice of the Vermin
Voice of the Vermin image 3.5 The stat-line is ugly, like on many cards with Shield counters, but that’s cause those counters are really good! And its bad stats also don’t matter as much when it attacks, because it can make itself into a 4/4, and a 4/4 with a shield counter for four is pretty nasty. Obviously, making another creature into a 4/4 is an option too!
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.
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.
Gilded Pinions image 1.5 This gives you fixing and Flying for a relatively fair cost. But, typically, Equipment that only grants flying isn’t great, because it isn’t very impressive on smaller creatures. In other words, your creature already has to be pretty nice for this to be worth it.
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.
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.
Pack 1 Pick 9: Wrecking Crew
Scuttling Butler image 1.0 // 3.0 This is definitely a build around, because a 3-mana 4/1 just isn’t worth it in your typical deck. It is probably a D at best. However, the upside here is actually kind of nuts, as giving a 4/1 double strike is pretty amazing. Your deck needs to be able to give this double strike a significant chunk of the time, and the good news is that looks like it can happen in many decks in this format, though it is perhaps the easiest in Green-White or Cabaretti more broadly, because of Citizen tokens which are both colors
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.
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.
Wrecking Crew image 2.5 This has decent French Vanilla stats. Not much more to say about it.
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.
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.
Pack 1 Pick 10: Jetmir's Fixer
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.
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.
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.
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.
Jetmir's Fixer image 3.0 This is a two mana 2/2 with some very nice upside. Even if it didn’t have the Treasure bonus, being able to pump this creature’s stats for a single red and a single green would be a pretty nice card. Obviously though, Red-Green is very into Treasure in this format, so you’re going to be able to trigger the bonus if you want to.
Pack 1 Pick 11: Cabaretti Initiate
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.
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.
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.
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 1 Pick 13: Antagonize
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.
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.
Pack 1 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 2 Pick 1: Inspiring Overseer
Unlicensed Hearse image 4.0 This format seems like it will have many well-stocked graveyards, and this simultaneously hates on them while also becoming absolutely massive as the game goes on, at which point Crew 2 is going to be a very reasonable cost. Now, the problem is there won’t always be things to exile, even in this format, but it still feels like it is going to be pretty good – kind of like Lion Sash in Kamigawa – or the more famous Scavenging Ooze – though not quite as good, since it is a Vehicle. The trade off is that it can exile stuff for no mana at all, and it doesn’t care what kind of cards get exiled – it grows either way and that seems sweet. There will be times where it just can’t grow that hold it back, but this is going to take over a lot of games when it comes down
Exotic Pets image 3.5 This looks pretty good to me. Even without the effect that gives the Pets counters, this would be like a 2.5 – two unblockable 1/1s for three mana – on an instant – is perfectly fine. Then, you add the counter upside and this looks like it could be pretty amazing. Getting a +1/+1 counter and a shield counter seems very doable.
Out of the Way image 3.0 Even without the Green discount, Out of the Way would be a pretty solid card. 4 to bounce a nonland permanent and draw a card is a card we’ve seen several times and its always nice. It might be a bit harder to get a tempo advantage when paying 4 for a bounce, but the fact it replaces itself makes up for that, and the times where this only costs two it will feel completely absurd. And the good news is that lots of opponents will have Green permanents in a set that is so focused on three color shards.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
Caldaia Strongarm image 2.5 This looks like a solid Common. Cast the normal way, it gives you a 5-mana ⅘ – which isn’t great, but that’s the fail case of the card. It can do a lot more than that! You can of course put the counters on another creature, and that can add some significant additional damage to the board immediately. And if adding as much damage to the board as quickly as possible is your thing, you can Blitz this, which lets you ad ⅘ worth of stats to the board for only 4 mana, and then you get to draw a card to replace it! You’ll often be able to get close to a card of value out of it when you do Blitz it, so that’s not a bad deal, especially because it makes sure to leave something on the board even once it sacrifices itself.
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.
Pack 2 Pick 2: Jewel Thief
Even the Score image 3.0 An Instant speed X draw spell is pretty decent. You’ll basically never get to avoid paying the triple Blue for it in Limited, but that’s okay – this is a nice card to begin with. Sure, paying 5 to draw three isn’t a great rate or anything, but it scales all game long, and can definitely help you get there in the end.
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.
Scuttling Butler image 1.0 // 3.0 This is definitely a build around, because a 3-mana 4/1 just isn’t worth it in your typical deck. It is probably a D at best. However, the upside here is actually kind of nuts, as giving a 4/1 double strike is pretty amazing. Your deck needs to be able to give this double strike a significant chunk of the time, and the good news is that looks like it can happen in many decks in this format, though it is perhaps the easiest in Green-White or Cabaretti more broadly, because of Citizen tokens which are both colors
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Caldaia Strongarm image 2.5 This looks like a solid Common. Cast the normal way, it gives you a 5-mana ⅘ – which isn’t great, but that’s the fail case of the card. It can do a lot more than that! You can of course put the counters on another creature, and that can add some significant additional damage to the board immediately. And if adding as much damage to the board as quickly as possible is your thing, you can Blitz this, which lets you ad ⅘ worth of stats to the board for only 4 mana, and then you get to draw a card to replace it! You’ll often be able to get close to a card of value out of it when you do Blitz it, so that’s not a bad deal, especially because it makes sure to leave something on the board even once it sacrifices itself.
Corrupt Court Official image 2.0 I think people will be tempted to compare this to Virus Beetle, but I think the Official will feel more like a Ravenous Rats than a Beetle. The Beetle had the advantage of being an artifact, and in a set with ninjutsu that could rebuy ETB abilities – so it isn’t going to overperform quite like that card did. However, this is still pretty well placed in this format, mostly because you can take a card away from your opponent and then sacrifice this to something with Casualty and you end up with pretty decent value. In the late game, sometimes it won’t have anything to hit of course, but at least it adds something to the board.
Witty Roastmaster image 2.5 This has passable stats and a solid if unexciting ability. It can definitely chip in for a decent chunk of damage over the course of the game, especially if you’re making tokens!
Pack 2 Pick 3: Riveteers Requisitioner
Riveteers Requisitioner image 3.0 It is easy enough to get a decent trade with your 3/1, and that will feel pretty good when you get a Treasure when it dies. The Blitz option is also really appealing, since you pay 3 mana, get a 3/1 that dies at the end of the turn, get a treasure, and draw a card when that creature dies. So yeah, both sides of this seem like a quality 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Celestial Regulator image 3.0 I always love Frost Lynx type creatures because of the amazing tempo they generate by freezing something down while you add to the board. Now, freezing something down takes a little bit of setup with the Regulator, but if yo’ure in Blue White you’ll have access to lots of +1/+1 and Shield counters, so I think this will do its thing a big chunk of the time – and on top of that it has efficient flying stats.
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.
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.
Pack 2 Pick 4: Halo Scarab
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 2 Pick 5: Maestros Theater
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Pack 2 Pick 6: Jewel Thief
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.
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.
Caldaia Strongarm image 2.5 This looks like a solid Common. Cast the normal way, it gives you a 5-mana ⅘ – which isn’t great, but that’s the fail case of the card. It can do a lot more than that! You can of course put the counters on another creature, and that can add some significant additional damage to the board immediately. And if adding as much damage to the board as quickly as possible is your thing, you can Blitz this, which lets you ad ⅘ worth of stats to the board for only 4 mana, and then you get to draw a card to replace it! You’ll often be able to get close to a card of value out of it when you do Blitz it, so that’s not a bad deal, especially because it makes sure to leave something on the board even once it sacrifices itself.
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.
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.
Gilded Pinions image 1.5 This gives you fixing and Flying for a relatively fair cost. But, typically, Equipment that only grants flying isn’t great, because it isn’t very impressive on smaller creatures. In other words, your creature already has to be pretty nice for this to be worth it.
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.
Fake Your Own Death image 1.5 I guess we get a trick like this every set now! And, most versions of it tend to be pretty decent, and I think this one certainly is. +2/+0 is a boost that can allow your creature to win a whole lot of combats, and while it stands a good chance of dying too, Fake Your Own Death makes it not really matter, since the creature comes back! This gets especially spicy with ETB abilities, and there are also some potential Casualty and sacrifice shenanigans that this can enable.
Pack 2 Pick 7: Elegant Entourage
Elegant Entourage image 3.0 A 5-mana 5/5 tends to be pretty solid, even these days where creatures seem to keep getting better. Then, this has a pretty nice alliance trigger, as +1/+1 and Trample is going to be enough to really improve your attacks on a given turn. IT is a bit of a bummer that the Entourage can’t pump itself, but it still feels like this will create problems for your opponent most of the time when you trigger Alliance.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Broken Wings image 1.5 As is usually the case with this card -- it will have enough targets that main decking it isn’t the worst thing in the world, though it is much safer to keep it in your sideboard.
Pack 2 Pick 8: Goldhound
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Pack 2 Pick 9: Caldaia Strongarm
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.
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 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.
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.
Caldaia Strongarm image 2.5 This looks like a solid Common. Cast the normal way, it gives you a 5-mana ⅘ – which isn’t great, but that’s the fail case of the card. It can do a lot more than that! You can of course put the counters on another creature, and that can add some significant additional damage to the board immediately. And if adding as much damage to the board as quickly as possible is your thing, you can Blitz this, which lets you ad ⅘ worth of stats to the board for only 4 mana, and then you get to draw a card to replace it! You’ll often be able to get close to a card of value out of it when you do Blitz it, so that’s not a bad deal, especially because it makes sure to leave something on the board even once it sacrifices itself.
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.
Pack 2 Pick 10: Caldaia Strongarm
Scuttling Butler image 1.0 // 3.0 This is definitely a build around, because a 3-mana 4/1 just isn’t worth it in your typical deck. It is probably a D at best. However, the upside here is actually kind of nuts, as giving a 4/1 double strike is pretty amazing. Your deck needs to be able to give this double strike a significant chunk of the time, and the good news is that looks like it can happen in many decks in this format, though it is perhaps the easiest in Green-White or Cabaretti more broadly, because of Citizen tokens which are both colors
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.
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.
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.
Caldaia Strongarm image 2.5 This looks like a solid Common. Cast the normal way, it gives you a 5-mana ⅘ – which isn’t great, but that’s the fail case of the card. It can do a lot more than that! You can of course put the counters on another creature, and that can add some significant additional damage to the board immediately. And if adding as much damage to the board as quickly as possible is your thing, you can Blitz this, which lets you ad ⅘ worth of stats to the board for only 4 mana, and then you get to draw a card to replace it! You’ll often be able to get close to a card of value out of it when you do Blitz it, so that’s not a bad deal, especially because it makes sure to leave something on the board even once it sacrifices itself.
Pack 2 Pick 11: Halo Scarab
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.
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.
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.
Halo Scarab image 1.5 This has okay stats, and gives you some value out of the graveyard. That will be nice whether you mill it, discard it, or just have it die from being in play. Two mana to make a treasure is obviously not a great rate, but it does give you the potential to have fixing in just about any deck. I think this is going to be pretty easy to cut as decks will usually have good enough fixing without it, but it isn’t a disaster to play it either.
Pack 2 Pick 12: Cabaretti Initiate
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.
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.
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.
Pack 2 Pick 13: Glittermonger
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.
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 14: Revel Ruiner
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 3 Pick 1: Jinnie Fay, Jetmir's Second
Jinnie Fay, Jetmir's Second image 3.5 There are enough ways to make tokens in the Cabaretti that this is going to be pretty nice, and either of these options is definitely going to be an upgrade, since most of the tokens in this set are just vanilla 1/1s. The haste option seems particularly spicy, since it can add a ton of damage out of nowhere, but sometimes you’ll want the 3/1s too. Since the base-line here is a 3-mana 3/3 and it is a Cabaretti card, I don’t really think this needs a build around. It just seems like it will do what its supposed to in most version of that deck.
Cleanup Crew image 3.5 I always love modal cards, and this is a sweet one! You’ll always be able to get something pretty nice out of it. At worst, you get a Honey Mammoth-type creature – in other words, a 6-mana 6/6 that gains you 4 life, and that kind of creature is usually great top-curve in many decks, allowing them to stabilize. But then it comes with options that let it Naturalize something or hate on the graveyard. You’ll get the most value if you have an Enchantment or Artifact to blow up, but the fail case of Honey Mammoth is a great floor, and there’s a nice ceiling here.
Cement Shoes image 1.5 They are trying pretty hard to make Enormous Energy Blade-like cards good. And…that’s pretty tough to do! Obviously, the casting cost and the equip cost are really reasonable for a +3/+3 boost, and at least you can take advantage of it immediately by attacking with the creature you put it on, but the fact that creature gets locked down is rough. Now, its cheap enough you could move it around so it goes on to a creature that you don’t care about being locked down – like maybe one shut down by an Aura – but that end sup being a lot of mana! You can also attack with something you know will result in a trade, so you don’t have to worry about moving it. Basically, this isn’t a bad mana sink to have around in the right situations – and it will definitely make just about any creature into a much better attacker – but the fact that you can’t take advantage of the Equipment on defense is definitely a bummer, as is the downside. I think this is definitely better than Enormous Energy Blade was, but it still isn’t great.
Dusk Mangler image 4.0 This is a pretty neat design, and it reminds me of Daemogoth Woe-Eater from Strixhaven, and that’s pretty good company to keep! The body you get isn’t nearly as efficient, but this really delivers a gut-punch to the opponent when it comes down. You might have to do something extra to cast it, but your opponent has to do all of those things when you cast it. Note, by the way that the extra cost is part of casting it, so if you reanimate it or flicker it, your opponent gets punished by the ETB trigger again and you don’t have to do anything! The additional cost being flexible is great too, as you can find a way to cast it in most situations.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Cutthroat Contender image 1.5 A vanilla one mana 2/1 already isn’t a great card in Limited, since it really tends to get outclassed in a hurry – and this is basically a one mana 2/1 that is conditional. A 2/1 is only marginally better than a 1/1 in most games. It doesn’t really seem worth it to me, even in an aggro deck. I guess the idea is that you can buff it so that your one drop can be sacrificed to a Casualty 2 spell, but that doesn’t make it that much better.
Make Disappear image 1.5 Without Casualty, this kind of counter spell isn't great, since your opponent is likely to have the spare mana the longer the game goes on. With casualty…I still don't think it is great, but obviously it will allow you to counter more spells more often.
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.
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.
Pack 3 Pick 2: Bouncer's Beatdown
Bouncer's Beatdown image 3.5 This looks like premium removal, even if you aren’t targeting a Black permanent. Sure, you need to have a creature with enough power to make it do its thing, but that is never a huge hurdle for Green decks in Limited. When you only pay one Green for this it will feel particularly absurd!
Unlucky Witness image 2.5 This is pretty close to having a "draw a card" trigger when it dies, though in the very early game you won't always be able to take advantage. It feels like the main purpose for this card is to be sacrificed to Casualty effects, and that's going to be nice.
Obscura Charm image 3.5 This is another very nice charm. You’ll most frequently choose the removal option, but if you happen to have the mana up for this at the right time the fact it can be a counterspell is pretty nice too, especially because you can leave the mana up and choose any of these three effects, so you won’t ever get burned if your opponent plays around it. The reanimation effect is fairly restrictive, but this set has enough multicolored cards that it will work reasonably often.
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.
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!
Speakeasy Server image 2.5 A passable Flyer with an ETB that gains you life always tends to perform reasonably well in Limited. It can really help you stabilize. The downside here is that you need a board in place to gain any life – it doesn’t even gain you 1 life on its own, which is a little sad. Still, in White you’ll be able to go wide, and gaining 3+ with this should be pretty decent.
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.
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.
Backup Agent image 2.5 We see the Green version of this all the time, and it’s always solid. It can be a 2/2 for 2 if its alone, and the ability to put the counter somewhere else stays surprisingly relevant all game long. It has the Citizen creature type and there are some counter synergies in the set too.
Wrecking Crew image 2.5 This has decent French Vanilla stats. Not much more to say about it.
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.
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.
Gilded Pinions image 1.5 This gives you fixing and Flying for a relatively fair cost. But, typically, Equipment that only grants flying isn’t great, because it isn’t very impressive on smaller creatures. In other words, your creature already has to be pretty nice for this to be worth it.
Pack 3 Pick 3: Rakish Revelers
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.
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!
Cabaretti Charm image 3.5 This might be the least exciting of the Charms in this set, but its pretty good. It is a little worse than the others because all three of its modes are kind of situational, and there isn’t really one that is going to feel good as the fall back plan. However, situations where one of those modes are useful will come up often enough that I still like it. If you can kill your opponent or a planeswalker with the first mode, obviously you choose that. +1/+1 and trample to the whole board will be nice if you’re going wide, and sometimes it can basically function as a removal spell. And, paying three mana for two 1/1 tokens is also fine. The Cabaretti are into going wide, and it is nice that this can enable that and pay you off for that.
Glamorous Outlaw image 2.5 Like the rest of this cycle, exiling this gives you some fixing that isn’t great, but because you can also just cast it the normal way and get passable value – or you can play it from exile in the later game.
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.
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.
Rakish Revelers image 2.5 A 5-mana 5/3 that makes a 1/1 is something I would already sign up for, so the fact that it can fix your mana earlier in the game is some upside on a card that’s already quite playable.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Pack 3 Pick 4: 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.
Out of the Way image 3.0 Even without the Green discount, Out of the Way would be a pretty solid card. 4 to bounce a nonland permanent and draw a card is a card we’ve seen several times and its always nice. It might be a bit harder to get a tempo advantage when paying 4 for a bounce, but the fact it replaces itself makes up for that, and the times where this only costs two it will feel completely absurd. And the good news is that lots of opponents will have Green permanents in a set that is so focused on three color shards.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Hold for Ransom image 3.0 This is a Pacifism that your opponent can pay 7 mana to get rid of. We’ve seen removal auras in the past that let your opponent pay mana to get rid of the Aura, and most of them haven’t been great. I think this one has enough going on, though, that it looks better than previous cards like that we’ve seen. For one thing, 7 mana is a ton – so much that your opponent may just never get there. For another, your opponent also lets you draw a card off of it, and they can only pay for it at Sorcery speed. Your opponent may finally get rid of it, but they will spend their whole turn doing it most of the time, and then it replaces itself! Now, like all Aura removal, this is at a bit of a disadvantage in this format because of the presence of the Casualty mechanic and other sacrifice stuff more broadly.
Gilded Pinions image 1.5 This gives you fixing and Flying for a relatively fair cost. But, typically, Equipment that only grants flying isn’t great, because it isn’t very impressive on smaller creatures. In other words, your creature already has to be pretty nice for this to be worth it.
Pack 3 Pick 5: Cabaretti Courtyard
Voice of the Vermin image 3.5 The stat-line is ugly, like on many cards with Shield counters, but that’s cause those counters are really good! And its bad stats also don’t matter as much when it attacks, because it can make itself into a 4/4, and a 4/4 with a shield counter for four is pretty nasty. Obviously, making another creature into a 4/4 is an option too!
Wrecking Crew image 2.5 This has decent French Vanilla stats. Not much more to say about it.
Expendable Lackey image 2.5 True to his name, this Lackey is a pretty nice creature to sacrifice to a card with Casualty, since he can then make a Fish token from the graveyard – which you can also sacrifice. He also works well with Connive, because you still get value out of discarding him. They’ve been making a lot of one drops lately that overlap into multiple decks, and I think that’s what this is. This doesn’t exactly feel like the premium card you want to really abuse those two mechanics, but it does seem pretty decent there.
Girder Goons image 2.5 Neither mode with this is great, but both are fine. A 5-mana 4/4 that leaves behind a 2/2 can definitely generate a 2-for-1, and if you Blitz this you not only get to draw a card when it dies, you also add to the board.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 3 Pick 6: For the Family
Cement Shoes image 1.5 They are trying pretty hard to make Enormous Energy Blade-like cards good. And…that’s pretty tough to do! Obviously, the casting cost and the equip cost are really reasonable for a +3/+3 boost, and at least you can take advantage of it immediately by attacking with the creature you put it on, but the fact that creature gets locked down is rough. Now, its cheap enough you could move it around so it goes on to a creature that you don’t care about being locked down – like maybe one shut down by an Aura – but that end sup being a lot of mana! You can also attack with something you know will result in a trade, so you don’t have to worry about moving it. Basically, this isn’t a bad mana sink to have around in the right situations – and it will definitely make just about any creature into a much better attacker – but the fact that you can’t take advantage of the Equipment on defense is definitely a bummer, as is the downside. I think this is definitely better than Enormous Energy Blade was, but it still isn’t great.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 7: High-Rise Sawjack
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Broken Wings image 1.5 As is usually the case with this card -- it will have enough targets that main decking it isn’t the worst thing in the world, though it is much safer to keep it in your sideboard.
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.
Pack 3 Pick 8: Rhox Pummeler
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Make Disappear image 1.5 Without Casualty, this kind of counter spell isn't great, since your opponent is likely to have the spare mana the longer the game goes on. With casualty…I still don't think it is great, but obviously it will allow you to counter more spells more often.
Pack 3 Pick 9: Sticky Fingers
Cement Shoes image 1.5 They are trying pretty hard to make Enormous Energy Blade-like cards good. And…that’s pretty tough to do! Obviously, the casting cost and the equip cost are really reasonable for a +3/+3 boost, and at least you can take advantage of it immediately by attacking with the creature you put it on, but the fact that creature gets locked down is rough. Now, its cheap enough you could move it around so it goes on to a creature that you don’t care about being locked down – like maybe one shut down by an Aura – but that end sup being a lot of mana! You can also attack with something you know will result in a trade, so you don’t have to worry about moving it. Basically, this isn’t a bad mana sink to have around in the right situations – and it will definitely make just about any creature into a much better attacker – but the fact that you can’t take advantage of the Equipment on defense is definitely a bummer, as is the downside. I think this is definitely better than Enormous Energy Blade was, but it still isn’t great.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 10: Capenna Express
Unlucky Witness image 2.5 This is pretty close to having a "draw a card" trigger when it dies, though in the very early game you won't always be able to take advantage. It feels like the main purpose for this card is to be sacrificed to Casualty effects, and that's going to be nice.
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.
Wrecking Crew image 2.5 This has decent French Vanilla stats. Not much more to say about it.
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.
Gilded Pinions image 1.5 This gives you fixing and Flying for a relatively fair cost. But, typically, Equipment that only grants flying isn’t great, because it isn’t very impressive on smaller creatures. In other words, your creature already has to be pretty nice for this to be worth it.
Pack 3 Pick 11: Riveteers Overlook
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.
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.
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.
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.
Pack 3 Pick 12: Gilded Pinions
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.
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.
Gilded Pinions image 1.5 This gives you fixing and Flying for a relatively fair cost. But, typically, Equipment that only grants flying isn’t great, because it isn’t very impressive on smaller creatures. In other words, your creature already has to be pretty nice for this to be worth it.
Pack 3 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.
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 14: Cement Shoes
Cement Shoes image 1.5 They are trying pretty hard to make Enormous Energy Blade-like cards good. And…that’s pretty tough to do! Obviously, the casting cost and the equip cost are really reasonable for a +3/+3 boost, and at least you can take advantage of it immediately by attacking with the creature you put it on, but the fact that creature gets locked down is rough. Now, its cheap enough you could move it around so it goes on to a creature that you don’t care about being locked down – like maybe one shut down by an Aura – but that end sup being a lot of mana! You can also attack with something you know will result in a trade, so you don’t have to worry about moving it. Basically, this isn’t a bad mana sink to have around in the right situations – and it will definitely make just about any creature into a much better attacker – but the fact that you can’t take advantage of the Equipment on defense is definitely a bummer, as is the downside. I think this is definitely better than Enormous Energy Blade was, but it still isn’t great.
Draft Pick Overview