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Quick Draft HBG 23 July 2022

23 July 09:04 - AtOn 7 Wins - 2 Losses
Maindeck
Creature (16)
1 Shadowheart, Sharran Cleric image
2 Guildsworn Prowler image
1 Viconia, Nightsinger's Disciple image
1 Hoard Robber image
1 Manticore image
1 Juvenile Mist Dragon image
1 Alora, Rogue Companion image
1 Nefarious Imp image
1 Krydle of Baldur's Gate image
2 Vampire Spawn image
1 Soulknife Spy image
2 Grim Wanderer image
1 Drider image
Instant, Sorcery, Enchantment, Artifact (7)
1 Sewer Plague image
1 Charmed Sleep image
1 Mind Spike image
1 Grim Bounty image
1 Cast Down image
1 Eldritch Pact image
1 Seek New Knowledge image
Land (17)
9 Swamp image
8 Island image
Sideboard
1 Clever Conjurer image
1 Chain Devil image
1 Wizened Githzerai image
1 Circle of the Moon Druid image
1 Hook Horror image
1 Baleful Beholder image
1 Grim Wanderer image
1 Kobold Warcaller image
1 Earth-Cult Elemental image
3 You Find the Villains' Lair image
1 Poison the Blade image
1 Summon Undead image
1 Hypnotic Pattern image
1 Jade Orb of Dragonkind image
1 Armor of Shadows image
1 Shocking Grasp image
1 Eyes of the Beholder image

Pack 1 Pick 1: Shadowheart, Sharran Cleric
Shadowheart, Sharran Cleric image 4.0 This creature is all about aggression! A two mana 2/2 with death touch and the 1 damage every end step effect is a pretty solid card. You can trade it for anything, and in the mean time it can really pick away at your opponent. Of course, the effect is symmetrical, and sometimes you’ll have to be careful, but if you play this in an aggro deck, that’s mostly going to benefit you. Especially because, once your opponent has low enough life, you can specialize this into a pretty scary creature that now gives you a bonus for losing life on your turn, in addition to various other powerful effects.
Owlbear Shepherd image 3.0 This is a pretty nice Green value engine, provided you can get enough power on the board. There is a lot of high power out there, so it is actually fairly doable. I also like that it is a 3-mana ¼, which means it can do a decent job of blocking on the ground. I think this will be easy enough to set up that it looks quite powerful.
You Meet in a Tavern image 2.0 This was way too clunky in Forgotten Realms, but I imagine it will be a little better here. Each of the modes is definitely appealing, since the first option will regularly draw you 2+ cards, and if you already have a developed board, the +2/+2 can do some serious work.
Guild Thief image 1.5 This is a Forgotten Realms reprint – and not a super impressive one. Starting out as a 1/1 is Brutal, and sure it can get bigger, but it just won’t be very good at attacking, even after coming down on turn two. In the late game you can make it unblockable, but only for a pretty huge cost, and making this into a tapped 2/2 at that stage of the game just isn’t good enough.
A-Sepulcher Ghoul image
Eyes of the Beholder image 2.0 This was a mediocre removal spell in Forgotten Realms, and that’s probably what it will be here, too. Six mana is a ton, and while this can kill a whole lot of things, you’ll usually be spending more mana than your opponent spent to cast the creature that you kill. It is something you end up playing when you need the removal, but you basically never want more than one – it just isn’t anywhere close to premium.
Gnoll Hunter image 3.0 This was a great two drop in Forgotten Realms, and it will be here too.
Kobold Warcaller image 2.0 We have seen a lot of one mana 1/1s that can tap and give haste to things, and they tend to be pretty decent. This is obviously an upgrade, because you don’t actually have to cast your creature for it to get the Haste – you can use this during your opponents end step and then cast the Haste creature on your turn, for example. Plus, the creature will keep haste no matter where it goes! It still isn’t amazing or anything, but seems like a fine one drop for aggressive Red decks.
Young Red Dragon image 3.0 This is a pretty nice Common. It makes you a treasure early, which can actually allow you to play this very Dragon on turn three, which is pretty nice! It can also be used for other purposes too of course. The creature you get can’t block, which is a liability sometimes, but it looks like an effective enough attacker that I’m not too concerned about that.
Arcane Archery image 2.0 I don’t normally like 3 mana tricks, even if they give sizable boosts and trample like this. One and two mana tricks are usually where its at. Three mana is a ton, and it means that you have less opening to use a trick, and it means you are taking a greater risk if things go sideways. However, this trick definitely gives back for the risk that you take, since it substantially upgrades your next creature spell.
You Find the Villains' Lair image 1.5 This wasn’t especially good in Forgotten Realms. Sure, it has two modes and everything, but neither of them is especially good, and both are fairly situational. This can be Cancel, or a three mana Faithless Looting, and that just isn’t something you’re always in the market for.
Soldiers of the Watch image 2.5 It feels pretty hard to give Double Team cards anything lower than a 2.5. This is because they all have serious 2-for-1 potential, and even this fairly underwhelming Double Team creature seems solid.
Hobgoblin Captain image 3.0 This was one of the great two drops in Forgotten Realms, and it will probably be quite good here too! It gets you half way to Pack Tactics on its own, and getting to attack with First Strike is surprisingly easy. This is going to be one of Red’s best commons.
Valor Singer image 2.5 This looks like it will be a nice common here, just as it was in Forgotten Realms. +1/+0 doesn’t sound like a lot, but you’d be surprised how often that boost can alter your attacks. It can even pump itself, so it is basically a 3-mana 3/3 if that’s what you need.
Pack 1 Pick 2: Sewer Plague
Mind Spike image 1.5 This is a neat take on Duress – and that’s what this is for the most part. You do get less info about your opponents hand, because they only reveal cards you can hit. Normally Duress isn’t really playable in your main deck in limited, however this adds the bonus of just turning into a one mana draw one when you don’t hit something. That gets around the main problem with Duress, which is that it does stone nothing way too often. Still, you do pay 2 life, and this isn’t exactly a hugely impactful card regardless of which thing happens, so you’re going to cut it a lot. But you’ll play it more than Duress!
Meteor Golem image 2.5 7 is definitely a lot, but the fact it can come down and kill any nonland permanent is a big deal. Not all decks will really want a 7 drop, but it does seem like ramping is a pretty legit strategy in this format, in which case this will be pretty sweet. It also benefits from lots of cards that let you abuse enter the battlefield abilities.
Gate to Seatower image 2.5 So, these five gates don’t fix mana for you at all, and coming into play tapped can be a liability, but they mostly make up for that by being capable of drawing you a card in the late game – and the card you draw is always a nonland, and that’s a big deal. There is only one Gate payoff in the set, and it isn’t good.
Young Red Dragon image 3.0 This is a pretty nice Common. It makes you a treasure early, which can actually allow you to play this very Dragon on turn three, which is pretty nice! It can also be used for other purposes too of course. The creature you get can’t block, which is a liability sometimes, but it looks like an effective enough attacker that I’m not too concerned about that.
Sewer Plague image 3.0 This is premium removal. Sure, -2/-2 for three mana isn’t great, but the fact that the creature keeps getting -1/-1 every turn means that it will often set things in motion for a larger creature to die. It basically can kill things as big of a 3/3 before your opponent gets a chance to do anything, too.
Follow the Tracks image 3.0 This is an interesting take on ramp and fixing. You get to choose one of the Uncommon gates, meaning you can effectively get a land that produces whatever color you need, while also ramping – and the Gate lands all can draw you a card in the late game too. This is certainly a little clunky, but the ramp and fixing it offers is a pretty big deal.
Soldiers of the Watch image 2.5 It feels pretty hard to give Double Team cards anything lower than a 2.5. This is because they all have serious 2-for-1 potential, and even this fairly underwhelming Double Team creature seems solid.
You Come to the Gnoll Camp image 1.5 Neither option here is great. Individually, they would probably both be a 1.0. +3/+1 for two mana just isn’t a big enough boost, and making a couple of things unable to block doesn’t always matter either. It isn’t the worst thing in the world to run in your deck, but you probably do cut it more than you play it.
Air-Cult Elemental image 2.0 This is a Forgotten Realms reprint, and it was a fairly disappointing card in that format. In fact, Blue in general was very underpowered in that set! I mean, I normally love a creature that enters the battlefield and bounces something, and if this format is slow enough this will probably be better than it was in Forgotten Realms – but it is hard to get away from my skepticism.
Flaming Fist Duskguard image 2.0 The boon you get here isn’t that exciting, but yeah – it is staples to a two mana 3/1, and that’s a decent aggressive stat-line. This is probably a bread and butter type two drop for White decks.
Gray Slaad image 1.0 // 3.0 So, the Black-Green deck in this format is pretty interested in milling itself, and this looks like a nice enabler and payoff for that deck. A 4/1 with Menace and Deathtouch is pretty hard to interact with! However, you pretty much have to be in that deck, or the Adventure on this isn’t very good, and the creature won’t be that good either. Only counting creature cards for it to get the bonus is pretty rough too. This probably means this needs a build around grade. It will be a really good Common for Black/Green decks, but pretty mediocre for everyone else.
Manticore image 2.0 This wasn’t very impressive in forgotten Realms, and it probably won’t be that good here either. This sort of “kill a damaged creature” effect ends up being pretty narrow, and even when you give the creature Flash, you’ll have a harder time than you might think getting it to do its thing. When you can kill something with this it feels pretty amazing. When you end up having to cast it without triggering the ability, it feels pretty bad.
Charmed Sleep image 3.0 This is a reprint, and last time we saw it was a pretty good removal spell. In a format with lots of blink effects and some sacrifice stuff this probably gets a little worse, but it still costs three mana to deal with pretty much any threat. Not turning off all its activated or static abilities can be a bummer, but this still looks pretty good for a Blue deck.
Pack 1 Pick 3: Guildsworn Prowler
Emerald Dragon image 2.0 Neither half of this card is super exciting. Only countering activated or triggered abilities from noncreatures just won’t come up very much, so you’re mostly paying for a clunky Dragon that will occasionally be able to use its adventure.
Gate to Manorborn image 2.5 So, these five gates don’t fix mana for you at all, and coming into play tapped can be a liability, but they mostly make up for that by being capable of drawing you a card in the late game – and the card you draw is always a nonland, and that’s a big deal. There is only one Gate payoff in the set, and it isn’t good.
Guildsworn Prowler image 3.0 I think this is a good Common. A two mana 2/1 with death touch is generally going to be a 2.5, since it is fairly cheap and can trade for anything. When you can draw a card off of this, it will feel particularly absurd. Obviously, if it would draw you a card even if it was blocking, it would probably be a B because it would always be a 2-for-1. But if you do find a way to draw that card, it will feel pretty nice! It can be a nice sacrifice outlet, in addition to being a nice attacker and blocker.
Valiant Farewell image 2.0 This doesn’t seem like an amazing combat trick. That’s because it costs two mana and only offers +2/+0 to your creature, and without a toughness boost, that means your creature’s chances of surviving combat are significantly lower. Now, it does replace itself, and it also offers a permanent boost to your next creature. And that value certainly helps this card out, but it still means that in a lot of situations you’ll use up this trick and a creature, and end up not really gaining anything on the board. So the tempo doesn’t seem awesome. The times where you can use this and keep your creature alive will feel absurd, though!
Flaming Fist Officer image 2.5 This starts as a Gray Ogre, and that’s always a pretty awful statline – mostly because plenty of one mana cards can deal with it. However, it likes it when creatures go away, whether they die or get blinked, and that means it will be useful in both BW and UW. Still, it probably isn’t the payoff that really makes those decks good, it is just sort of a decent card.
Sylvan Shepherd image 2.0 This has passable stats and it is a repeatable source of life gain, which GW is especially interested in.
Priest of Ancient Lore image 4.0 This is a Forgotten Realms Reprint, and it was White’s best Common in that set, and I think that will be true here too. It will give you a lot of 2-for-1s, and it gains you life which the GW deck is extra interested in. Sure, it doesn’t have Flying like inspiring Overseer, but that card was absurd – this one is merely a very very good Common, instead of a format-warping one.
Young Blue Dragon image 3.5 This is a really good Common for Blue. Again, I know neither side looks that impressive, but being able to use this early as a draw spell, and then playing a meaningful Flyer with a good creature type in the later game is really sweet. After all, it is a 2-for-1!
Soldiers of the Watch image 2.5 It feels pretty hard to give Double Team cards anything lower than a 2.5. This is because they all have serious 2-for-1 potential, and even this fairly underwhelming Double Team creature seems solid.
You Find the Villains' Lair image 1.5 This wasn’t especially good in Forgotten Realms. Sure, it has two modes and everything, but neither of them is especially good, and both are fairly situational. This can be Cancel, or a three mana Faithless Looting, and that just isn’t something you’re always in the market for.
Kobold Warcaller image 2.0 We have seen a lot of one mana 1/1s that can tap and give haste to things, and they tend to be pretty decent. This is obviously an upgrade, because you don’t actually have to cast your creature for it to get the Haste – you can use this during your opponents end step and then cast the Haste creature on your turn, for example. Plus, the creature will keep haste no matter where it goes! It still isn’t amazing or anything, but seems like a fine one drop for aggressive Red decks.
You Come to a River image 2.0 This was a fine card in Forgotten Realms, and it probably will be here. Neither mode is anything special. The bounce mode will come up the most, and the times where you can use it in response to a combat trick and blow your opponent out will feel nice, as will the times where you can generate some tempo, but keep in mind bouncing things is always card disadvantage. The second mode this has also doesn’t generally net you a card – but sometimes it can close out a game. You’ll end up playing one of these in Blue decks and you’ll feel fine about it.
Pack 1 Pick 4: Viconia, Nightsinger's Disciple
Lapis Orb of Dragonkind image 1.0 Three mana rocks usually aren’t that good in Limited, even if they can add mana of any color! And this one can only add Blue. The upside, of course, is you get to scry when you cast a Dragon with it. But that isn’t the most exciting payoff. Sure, Scry 2 is nice, but it isn’t something that pays you off for playing this three mana card that doesn’t add to the board in any real way. I guess if you have some really big dragons to ramp into this gets a little more interesting, but there are better ways to ramp in the format.
Viconia, Nightsinger's Disciple image 4.0 This looks pretty nuts for an Uncommon. It starts out with good base stats and a graveyard hate effect, and then with Specialize it can become one of five other creatures depending on the color of the card or the type of land you discard. The fact you can discard lands and get this to turn into one of those other creatures is what really makes them seem awesome. Once it becomes the other form of Viconia, you end up getting back the card of value back that you discarded to specialize anyway, especially if you discarded a land!
Oji, the Exquisite Blade image 3.0 This signpost Uncommon tells us UW is all about abusing ETB abilities. I’m already pretty happy with a 4-mana 2/3 that gains me 2 life and scries 2, so the fact that double spelling lets you blink something is some nice additional value. It can target itself with that effect, which is pretty nice – but it can also help you abuse those abilities on other creatures. Now…double-spelling isn’t always super easy in Limited, but even if you just get that value going once you’re going to feel pretty happy with this.
Sewer Plague image 3.0 This is premium removal. Sure, -2/-2 for three mana isn’t great, but the fact that the creature keeps getting -1/-1 every turn means that it will often set things in motion for a larger creature to die. It basically can kill things as big of a 3/3 before your opponent gets a chance to do anything, too.
Ambitious Dragonborn image 1.5 It is a pretty big deal that this checks the graveyard, because if it didn’t, it would be pretty challenging to make this big enough. That said, even with it checking the graveyard, there are going to be times where this is a Hill Giant or worse, and that’s brutal – and the big payoff in the end is just a big vanilla creature – which is fine, but it isn’t the most impressive ceiling either.
You Line Up the Shot image 1.5 So, this is the usual “Crushing Canopy” type effect we see, but it is actually a little bit better. This is because instead of paying three up front, you can choose to pay in installments. It is also better because it can also just be cycled away for one mana. This card does suffer a bit from the fact there are some adventures in this set that let you deal with the same sorts of things, and they turn into creatures, so those are probably just better than You Line Up the Shot. But still, any time you add Cycling to a card that can be situationally useful, it tends to be playable, and I think that’s what we have here.
You Find the Villains' Lair image 1.5 This wasn’t especially good in Forgotten Realms. Sure, it has two modes and everything, but neither of them is especially good, and both are fairly situational. This can be Cancel, or a three mana Faithless Looting, and that just isn’t something you’re always in the market for.
You Find Some Prisoners image 1.5 So, this either lets you Shatter something, or it lets you take the best card from your opponents top three. While that latter option is definitely sweet, it isn’t actually that powerful, because you’re still just getting back one card with it, and you still have to cast the card you choose. There are enough Artifacts in this set that I think this is actually a pretty reasonable main deck card, where you can just use the “Interrogate” option against an opponent who doesn’t have a target.
Unexpected Allies image 1.0 I’m not a huge fan of this, mostly because at Sorcery speed, it is very easy to disrupt. Your opponent need only respond in any number of ways to get a 2-for-1. Now, if you wait until your opponent’s shields are down, this can do some work, since it makes your creature hit harder, and gives double team to whatever you want – and sometimes there will be spicy options. The +2/+0 means that it will be easier for you to at least get a trade with the attack, and the fact you get First Strike sometimes is a nice bonus that makes the creature very hard to block. However, this set seems to have a high power level, and I’m not sure how much value I see in playing something that is easy to mess up.
Valor Singer image 2.5 This looks like it will be a nice common here, just as it was in Forgotten Realms. +1/+0 doesn’t sound like a lot, but you’d be surprised how often that boost can alter your attacks. It can even pump itself, so it is basically a 3-mana 3/3 if that’s what you need.
Clever Conjurer image 2.0 This is another Forgotten Realms reprint, and it was fairly unimpressive in that format. It can help you ramp, which is cool, but the fact you can’t use the ability at instant speed is a huge bummer, as it makes the card wayyy worse. It can’t be used to threaten to untap things when your opponent attacks you and things like that.
Pack 1 Pick 5: Chain Devil
Craving of Yeenoghu image 2.0 This seems like a decent aura, especially once you get in the graveyard. The fact it can keep coming back is nice, although after the second time you bring it back you are getting negative stats to go with the Haste, which is far less good – those first two activations will be a pretty nice way to add stats and Haste to a creature you play for only one Red mana though. It is probably at its best if you find a way to discard it early, and you never actually cast it the traditional way.
Ranger Squadron image 2.5 Without Double Team, this is not a very good card – the stats just don’t look good. But, this is a Double Team creature with Flying, and that means yo’ure pretty likely to get that second copy. And yeah, it is two copies of an inefficient creature, but we’ve seen in many Limited formats that any sort of effect that gives you card advantage tends to be good, even if what you’re getting isn’t efficient.
Wizened Githzerai image 1.5 This doesn’t seem that good to me. Sure, it can chump block or trade and make a creature worse, but chumping is not something you want to be doing a whole lot. And yeah, the -2/-0 sticks around no matter what happens to the creature, but I still feel like this is a two drop you will cut pretty often.
You Come to the Gnoll Camp image 1.5 Neither option here is great. Individually, they would probably both be a 1.0. +3/+1 for two mana just isn’t a big enough boost, and making a couple of things unable to block doesn’t always matter either. It isn’t the worst thing in the world to run in your deck, but you probably do cut it more than you play it.
Underdark Basilisk image 2.5 This was solid in Forgotten Realms. It gets extra good alongside effects that let it damage things – like Band Together – because the Death touch allows it to take down anything. Outside of that, it does a decent job of deterring attacks early, since it can trade for any of your opponents attacks. It also stays relevant all game long.
Manticore image 2.0 This wasn’t very impressive in forgotten Realms, and it probably won’t be that good here either. This sort of “kill a damaged creature” effect ends up being pretty narrow, and even when you give the creature Flash, you’ll have a harder time than you might think getting it to do its thing. When you can kill something with this it feels pretty amazing. When you end up having to cast it without triggering the ability, it feels pretty bad.
Flaming Fist Officer image 2.5 This starts as a Gray Ogre, and that’s always a pretty awful statline – mostly because plenty of one mana cards can deal with it. However, it likes it when creatures go away, whether they die or get blinked, and that means it will be useful in both BW and UW. Still, it probably isn’t the payoff that really makes those decks good, it is just sort of a decent card.
Guardian Naga image 2.5 Another Adventure where neither half is especially good. The ADventure is an expensive Disenchant, and the creature has underwhelming stats for 7, even with Vigilance and its ability to not take damage during your turn. You won’t always have something to use the Adventure side on, but it is pretty nice that you can run this in your main deck without a huge cost. After all, you do still get a creature eventually, even if it is overcosted.
Lantern of Revealing image 2.0 This is another pretty nice source of fixing. A three mana mana rock can definitely be clunky, but this turns into a pretty nice mana sink in the later game, since it can effectively draw you lands and put them into play, or at least let you Scry 1. It will certainly improve your draws in the late game, while helping you fix and ramp early.
Chain Devil image 2.0 We see these creatures that ETB and make both players sacrifice something a lot, and they are usually pretty medium. It is nice that this one says “nontoken,” as your opponent having a token when you play an effect like this is pretty brutal. Of course, it also means that you can’t sacrifice a token to it either! There are decks in this format that will have good sacrifice fodder and stuff, and I think this will slot in as a decent card in most Black decks.
Pack 1 Pick 6: Charmed Sleep
Emerald Dragon image 2.0 Neither half of this card is super exciting. Only countering activated or triggered abilities from noncreatures just won’t come up very much, so you’re mostly paying for a clunky Dragon that will occasionally be able to use its adventure.
Unexpected Allies image 1.0 I’m not a huge fan of this, mostly because at Sorcery speed, it is very easy to disrupt. Your opponent need only respond in any number of ways to get a 2-for-1. Now, if you wait until your opponent’s shields are down, this can do some work, since it makes your creature hit harder, and gives double team to whatever you want – and sometimes there will be spicy options. The +2/+0 means that it will be easier for you to at least get a trade with the attack, and the fact you get First Strike sometimes is a nice bonus that makes the creature very hard to block. However, this set seems to have a high power level, and I’m not sure how much value I see in playing something that is easy to mess up.
Lantern of Revealing image 2.0 This is another pretty nice source of fixing. A three mana mana rock can definitely be clunky, but this turns into a pretty nice mana sink in the later game, since it can effectively draw you lands and put them into play, or at least let you Scry 1. It will certainly improve your draws in the late game, while helping you fix and ramp early.
Circle of the Moon Druid image 2.5 This was alright last time around. The 4/2 side was nice for getting pack tactics on line, and being a 2/4 when on defense is pretty good too. It basically gives you two nice, but unexciting stat-lines, and you get the optimal one for whether you’re attacking or blocking.
Flaming Fist Officer image 2.5 This starts as a Gray Ogre, and that’s always a pretty awful statline – mostly because plenty of one mana cards can deal with it. However, it likes it when creatures go away, whether they die or get blinked, and that means it will be useful in both BW and UW. Still, it probably isn’t the payoff that really makes those decks good, it is just sort of a decent card.
Scaled Nurturer image 2.5 Even without the Dragon upside, this would probably be a 2.5. Mana dorks are just really nice, since you get to add to the board and pull ahead of your opponent in mana at the same time.
Charmed Sleep image 3.0 This is a reprint, and last time we saw it was a pretty good removal spell. In a format with lots of blink effects and some sacrifice stuff this probably gets a little worse, but it still costs three mana to deal with pretty much any threat. Not turning off all its activated or static abilities can be a bummer, but this still looks pretty good for a Blue deck.
Soldiers of the Watch image 2.5 It feels pretty hard to give Double Team cards anything lower than a 2.5. This is because they all have serious 2-for-1 potential, and even this fairly underwhelming Double Team creature seems solid.
Air-Cult Elemental image 2.0 This is a Forgotten Realms reprint, and it was a fairly disappointing card in that format. In fact, Blue in general was very underpowered in that set! I mean, I normally love a creature that enters the battlefield and bounces something, and if this format is slow enough this will probably be better than it was in Forgotten Realms – but it is hard to get away from my skepticism.
Pack 1 Pick 7: Hoard Robber
Craving of Yeenoghu image 2.0 This seems like a decent aura, especially once you get in the graveyard. The fact it can keep coming back is nice, although after the second time you bring it back you are getting negative stats to go with the Haste, which is far less good – those first two activations will be a pretty nice way to add stats and Haste to a creature you play for only one Red mana though. It is probably at its best if you find a way to discard it early, and you never actually cast it the traditional way.
Gate to Manorborn image 2.5 So, these five gates don’t fix mana for you at all, and coming into play tapped can be a liability, but they mostly make up for that by being capable of drawing you a card in the late game – and the card you draw is always a nonland, and that’s a big deal. There is only one Gate payoff in the set, and it isn’t good.
Monk of the Open Hand image 2.0 Another Forgotten Realms reprint. This was a decent one drop in that format, as getting the counters on it came a little easier than I expected it to. Getting it in play late doesn’t feel very good, though.
Hoard Robber image 2.5 This was a big overperformer in Forgotten Realms, where its stat-line really lined up in such a way that actually blocking it early was a challenge in a sea of 2/1 creatures, so it would generate a fair bit of treasure. It will probably be a little less good here, as part of what made it great was fairly format specific, but it is still a pretty nice Common.
Unexpected Allies image 1.0 I’m not a huge fan of this, mostly because at Sorcery speed, it is very easy to disrupt. Your opponent need only respond in any number of ways to get a 2-for-1. Now, if you wait until your opponent’s shields are down, this can do some work, since it makes your creature hit harder, and gives double team to whatever you want – and sometimes there will be spicy options. The +2/+0 means that it will be easier for you to at least get a trade with the attack, and the fact you get First Strike sometimes is a nice bonus that makes the creature very hard to block. However, this set seems to have a high power level, and I’m not sure how much value I see in playing something that is easy to mess up.
Water Weird image 3.0 When you hit your opponent with this, you get a pretty good trigger. You either get to grow the Weird, or Surveil 1, and both are pretty nice options.
Eyes of the Beholder image 2.0 This was a mediocre removal spell in Forgotten Realms, and that’s probably what it will be here, too. Six mana is a ton, and while this can kill a whole lot of things, you’ll usually be spending more mana than your opponent spent to cast the creature that you kill. It is something you end up playing when you need the removal, but you basically never want more than one – it just isn’t anywhere close to premium.
Circle of the Moon Druid image 2.5 This was alright last time around. The 4/2 side was nice for getting pack tactics on line, and being a 2/4 when on defense is pretty good too. It basically gives you two nice, but unexciting stat-lines, and you get the optimal one for whether you’re attacking or blocking.
Pack 1 Pick 8: Manticore
Prophetic Prism image 2.0 Mana filters don’t tend to be great in Limited, but adding a cantrip to a card like this definitely makes me interested. We’ve seen this card in some really artifact-centric sets actually be quite good, but this format doesn’t have any big Artifact theme, so it doesn’t have that benefit here. It is probably mostly just solid.
Manticore image 2.0 This wasn’t very impressive in forgotten Realms, and it probably won’t be that good here either. This sort of “kill a damaged creature” effect ends up being pretty narrow, and even when you give the creature Flash, you’ll have a harder time than you might think getting it to do its thing. When you can kill something with this it feels pretty amazing. When you end up having to cast it without triggering the ability, it feels pretty bad.
You Come to a River image 2.0 This was a fine card in Forgotten Realms, and it probably will be here. Neither mode is anything special. The bounce mode will come up the most, and the times where you can use it in response to a combat trick and blow your opponent out will feel nice, as will the times where you can generate some tempo, but keep in mind bouncing things is always card disadvantage. The second mode this has also doesn’t generally net you a card – but sometimes it can close out a game. You’ll end up playing one of these in Blue decks and you’ll feel fine about it.
Hypnotic Pattern image 0.0 These Blue cards that just lower power don’t tend to be very good, and I think that’s true here, even with the perpetual -2/-0. Sure, it costs one, but most of the time you don’t get a card worth of value out of a card like this. Looking at it as “removal” is pretty dangerous, because the creature you use it on will still be able to do pretty much everything a creature can do. Sure, maybe it doesn’t attack or block as well – but it can do both of them. And, using this as a trick isn’t great either, because your creature still needs enough power to kill the thing you use it on.
Circle of the Land Druid image 1.0 // 2.5 So, this really enables the Black/Green decks in the format, and that’s good – because a two mana 1/1 that returns a land from the graveyard to your hand just…does not seem that good to me. It does mean it is nice to sacrifice and stuff, but this probably needs a build around grade. If you’re in Black/Green this is a solid Common – in the other decks? You don’t want to be playing it.
Hobgoblin Captain image 3.0 This was one of the great two drops in Forgotten Realms, and it will probably be quite good here too! It gets you half way to Pack Tactics on its own, and getting to attack with First Strike is surprisingly easy. This is going to be one of Red’s best commons.
Unexpected Windfall image 1.5 This is a card that is great in constructed, but much less impressive in Limited. Spending 4 mana and giving up two cards to get back two cards and a couple of treasure just isn’t as impactful. That doesn’t mean this is bad – but it definitely isn’t something you run in all of your Red decks.
Pack 1 Pick 9: You Find the Villains' Lair
You Meet in a Tavern image 2.0 This was way too clunky in Forgotten Realms, but I imagine it will be a little better here. Each of the modes is definitely appealing, since the first option will regularly draw you 2+ cards, and if you already have a developed board, the +2/+2 can do some serious work.
Gnoll Hunter image 3.0 This was a great two drop in Forgotten Realms, and it will be here too.
Kobold Warcaller image 2.0 We have seen a lot of one mana 1/1s that can tap and give haste to things, and they tend to be pretty decent. This is obviously an upgrade, because you don’t actually have to cast your creature for it to get the Haste – you can use this during your opponents end step and then cast the Haste creature on your turn, for example. Plus, the creature will keep haste no matter where it goes! It still isn’t amazing or anything, but seems like a fine one drop for aggressive Red decks.
Arcane Archery image 2.0 I don’t normally like 3 mana tricks, even if they give sizable boosts and trample like this. One and two mana tricks are usually where its at. Three mana is a ton, and it means that you have less opening to use a trick, and it means you are taking a greater risk if things go sideways. However, this trick definitely gives back for the risk that you take, since it substantially upgrades your next creature spell.
You Find the Villains' Lair image 1.5 This wasn’t especially good in Forgotten Realms. Sure, it has two modes and everything, but neither of them is especially good, and both are fairly situational. This can be Cancel, or a three mana Faithless Looting, and that just isn’t something you’re always in the market for.
Hobgoblin Captain image 3.0 This was one of the great two drops in Forgotten Realms, and it will probably be quite good here too! It gets you half way to Pack Tactics on its own, and getting to attack with First Strike is surprisingly easy. This is going to be one of Red’s best commons.
Pack 1 Pick 10: Mind Spike
Mind Spike image 1.5 This is a neat take on Duress – and that’s what this is for the most part. You do get less info about your opponents hand, because they only reveal cards you can hit. Normally Duress isn’t really playable in your main deck in limited, however this adds the bonus of just turning into a one mana draw one when you don’t hit something. That gets around the main problem with Duress, which is that it does stone nothing way too often. Still, you do pay 2 life, and this isn’t exactly a hugely impactful card regardless of which thing happens, so you’re going to cut it a lot. But you’ll play it more than Duress!
Gate to Seatower image 2.5 So, these five gates don’t fix mana for you at all, and coming into play tapped can be a liability, but they mostly make up for that by being capable of drawing you a card in the late game – and the card you draw is always a nonland, and that’s a big deal. There is only one Gate payoff in the set, and it isn’t good.
Follow the Tracks image 3.0 This is an interesting take on ramp and fixing. You get to choose one of the Uncommon gates, meaning you can effectively get a land that produces whatever color you need, while also ramping – and the Gate lands all can draw you a card in the late game too. This is certainly a little clunky, but the ramp and fixing it offers is a pretty big deal.
You Come to the Gnoll Camp image 1.5 Neither option here is great. Individually, they would probably both be a 1.0. +3/+1 for two mana just isn’t a big enough boost, and making a couple of things unable to block doesn’t always matter either. It isn’t the worst thing in the world to run in your deck, but you probably do cut it more than you play it.
Air-Cult Elemental image 2.0 This is a Forgotten Realms reprint, and it was a fairly disappointing card in that format. In fact, Blue in general was very underpowered in that set! I mean, I normally love a creature that enters the battlefield and bounces something, and if this format is slow enough this will probably be better than it was in Forgotten Realms – but it is hard to get away from my skepticism.
Pack 1 Pick 11: You Find the Villains' Lair
Valiant Farewell image 2.0 This doesn’t seem like an amazing combat trick. That’s because it costs two mana and only offers +2/+0 to your creature, and without a toughness boost, that means your creature’s chances of surviving combat are significantly lower. Now, it does replace itself, and it also offers a permanent boost to your next creature. And that value certainly helps this card out, but it still means that in a lot of situations you’ll use up this trick and a creature, and end up not really gaining anything on the board. So the tempo doesn’t seem awesome. The times where you can use this and keep your creature alive will feel absurd, though!
Sylvan Shepherd image 2.0 This has passable stats and it is a repeatable source of life gain, which GW is especially interested in.
You Find the Villains' Lair image 1.5 This wasn’t especially good in Forgotten Realms. Sure, it has two modes and everything, but neither of them is especially good, and both are fairly situational. This can be Cancel, or a three mana Faithless Looting, and that just isn’t something you’re always in the market for.
Kobold Warcaller image 2.0 We have seen a lot of one mana 1/1s that can tap and give haste to things, and they tend to be pretty decent. This is obviously an upgrade, because you don’t actually have to cast your creature for it to get the Haste – you can use this during your opponents end step and then cast the Haste creature on your turn, for example. Plus, the creature will keep haste no matter where it goes! It still isn’t amazing or anything, but seems like a fine one drop for aggressive Red decks.
Pack 1 Pick 12: Clever Conjurer
Lapis Orb of Dragonkind image 1.0 Three mana rocks usually aren’t that good in Limited, even if they can add mana of any color! And this one can only add Blue. The upside, of course, is you get to scry when you cast a Dragon with it. But that isn’t the most exciting payoff. Sure, Scry 2 is nice, but it isn’t something that pays you off for playing this three mana card that doesn’t add to the board in any real way. I guess if you have some really big dragons to ramp into this gets a little more interesting, but there are better ways to ramp in the format.
You Find the Villains' Lair image 1.5 This wasn’t especially good in Forgotten Realms. Sure, it has two modes and everything, but neither of them is especially good, and both are fairly situational. This can be Cancel, or a three mana Faithless Looting, and that just isn’t something you’re always in the market for.
Clever Conjurer image 2.0 This is another Forgotten Realms reprint, and it was fairly unimpressive in that format. It can help you ramp, which is cool, but the fact you can’t use the ability at instant speed is a huge bummer, as it makes the card wayyy worse. It can’t be used to threaten to untap things when your opponent attacks you and things like that.
Pack 1 Pick 13: Wizened Githzerai
Wizened Githzerai image 1.5 This doesn’t seem that good to me. Sure, it can chump block or trade and make a creature worse, but chumping is not something you want to be doing a whole lot. And yeah, the -2/-0 sticks around no matter what happens to the creature, but I still feel like this is a two drop you will cut pretty often.
You Come to the Gnoll Camp image 1.5 Neither option here is great. Individually, they would probably both be a 1.0. +3/+1 for two mana just isn’t a big enough boost, and making a couple of things unable to block doesn’t always matter either. It isn’t the worst thing in the world to run in your deck, but you probably do cut it more than you play it.
Pack 1 Pick 14: Circle of the Moon Druid
Circle of the Moon Druid image 2.5 This was alright last time around. The 4/2 side was nice for getting pack tactics on line, and being a 2/4 when on defense is pretty good too. It basically gives you two nice, but unexciting stat-lines, and you get the optimal one for whether you’re attacking or blocking.
Pack 2 Pick 1: Juvenile Mist Dragon
Neera, Wild Mage image 1.5 One thing to note about this card is that the spell you put on the bottom of your library is removed from the stack and never resolves. I misinterpreted this card in my YouTube set review because I didn’t realize that! So, basically, if you cast something really cheap in the late game, it might be worth it to spin the wheel with Neera and see what happens, but the effect is so random that it just isn’t worth doing with just any old spell. So, basically, it can potentially upgrade spells, but it doesn’t really give you any card advantage, and a lot of the time you’ll just choose not to use its effect. This isn’t very good.
Portable Hole image 1.5 This is a reprint from Forgotten Realms, and it was pretty mediocre in that Limited format. You can definitely play it in your White decks and it usually won’t feel horrible, but there will be some games where you have no real targets for this. Your typical Limited deck will probably have 4-5 things it can hit, and that’s a little too narrow.
Juvenile Mist Dragon image 4.0 This is a great Uncommon, potentially the best one in Blue – at least the best one that doesn’t have Specialize. A 5-mana 4/3 Flyer is probably a 2.5 at worst, so adding the Freeze down effect to a creature with that statline is a really big deal. It will enable new attacks the turn you play it, and then start really doing serious damage in the sky. It also has an important creature, and an ETB ability I’m very interested in rebuying in this format, and it is great even if you aren’t doing that.
You Meet in a Tavern image 2.0 This was way too clunky in Forgotten Realms, but I imagine it will be a little better here. Each of the modes is definitely appealing, since the first option will regularly draw you 2+ cards, and if you already have a developed board, the +2/+2 can do some serious work.
Kobold Warcaller image 2.0 We have seen a lot of one mana 1/1s that can tap and give haste to things, and they tend to be pretty decent. This is obviously an upgrade, because you don’t actually have to cast your creature for it to get the Haste – you can use this during your opponents end step and then cast the Haste creature on your turn, for example. Plus, the creature will keep haste no matter where it goes! It still isn’t amazing or anything, but seems like a fine one drop for aggressive Red decks.
Inspiring Bard image 2.5 Neither mode here is amazing, but you’ll almost always be in a situation where one of them is useful. If you’re behind, you’ll gain life, and if you’re ahead, you’ll buff something so you can send it in.
Improvised Weaponry image 2.5 This was pretty nice in Forgotten Realms. It could kill enough creatures in that format that it sort of overperformed. It may not be quite as good here, but 3 mana to do 2 to anything and getting a treasure back is a pretty solid deal.
You Find the Villains' Lair image 1.5 This wasn’t especially good in Forgotten Realms. Sure, it has two modes and everything, but neither of them is especially good, and both are fairly situational. This can be Cancel, or a three mana Faithless Looting, and that just isn’t something you’re always in the market for.
Baleful Beholder image 1.5 This is a Forgotten Realms reprint. It was pretty mediocre in that set. There were too many situations where neither ETB mattered, and when this is a 6-mana 6/5 and not much else, it feels pretty bad. I think it looks like it will perform similarly in this set.
Hook Horror image 2.5 This is kind of an Alchemy version of Persist. Basically, you get a 5-mana 3/3 that gives you a 2/2 when it dies, and when that 2/2 dies, you get a 1/1. That’s three bodies on one card, which is great for sacrifice effects and the like. It can also just represent a 2-for-1 or even 3-for-1 in a regular deck.
Spiked Pit Trap image 1.5 This was not particularly good in Forgotten Realms. You spend a lot of mana for a mediocre removal spell, and even getting the treasure back isn’t enough.
Flaming Fist Duskguard image 2.0 The boon you get here isn’t that exciting, but yeah – it is staples to a two mana 3/1, and that’s a decent aggressive stat-line. This is probably a bread and butter type two drop for White decks.
Scaled Nurturer image 2.5 Even without the Dragon upside, this would probably be a 2.5. Mana dorks are just really nice, since you get to add to the board and pull ahead of your opponent in mana at the same time.
Air-Cult Elemental image 2.0 This is a Forgotten Realms reprint, and it was a fairly disappointing card in that format. In fact, Blue in general was very underpowered in that set! I mean, I normally love a creature that enters the battlefield and bounces something, and if this format is slow enough this will probably be better than it was in Forgotten Realms – but it is hard to get away from my skepticism.
Pack 2 Pick 2: Grim Bounty
Ascend from Avernus image 1.0 This seems a little too costly to be worth it. I mean, paying 6 mana you should probably expect to get back around two things..and that isn’t remotely worth it. Yeah, if you pump a ton of mana into it then maybe you’re doing something, but this card also suffers from the fact that none of the White decks in the format are really graveyard decks – I guess Black/White is to some extent, but it isn’t a super big theme.
Bonecaller Cleric image 3.0 So, here is one of the reanimation effects that I mentioned earlier. It is pretty nice that this is a two drop that can do two-drop things early, and then if you load up the ‘yard it can reanimate something like Black Dragon or something even better! This will work the best in BG, which is quite good at milling itself.
Grim Wanderer image 1.5 This was in Forgotten Realms, and it wasn’t very good. While the creature is obviously above rate, setting it up so you can cast it is harder than you might think, so most of the time when you do finally cast it, it isn’t really that imposing as a 5/3. Lots of three drops in the format can easily trade with it.
Moradin's Disciples image 3.5 This sort of White creature has been good in lots of formats. Tapping things down with an attack trigger is just a really great way to get some effective attacks in. And, in this particular case, it also means that it will be easier for you to trigger Double Team, and once you have two Disciples attacking, your opponent is basically never going to block again. The statline is mediocre for sure, but its a powerful 2-for-1, so I don’t care too much.
Deadly Dispute image 3.0 This is a powerful reprint. Giving up a creature or artifact for two cards and a treasure is an excellent deal, especially if you are sacrificing a treasure in the first place, and that’s something you’ll be able to do, especially in Black-Red. This also enables you to discard stuff you want to reanimate or whatever.
Summon Undead image 1.5 // 3.0 Here’s another pretty solid reanimation spell. It also mills you, to set up your cards that care about cards in the graveyard, and I like that. There are enough ways to discard cards in this format that I think setting this up is very doable. It probably does need a build around grade, because if you aren’t in a deck with any targets WORTH reanimating, it isn’t worth playing.
You Come to a River image 2.0 This was a fine card in Forgotten Realms, and it probably will be here. Neither mode is anything special. The bounce mode will come up the most, and the times where you can use it in response to a combat trick and blow your opponent out will feel nice, as will the times where you can generate some tempo, but keep in mind bouncing things is always card disadvantage. The second mode this has also doesn’t generally net you a card – but sometimes it can close out a game. You’ll end up playing one of these in Blue decks and you’ll feel fine about it.
Prophetic Prism image 2.0 Mana filters don’t tend to be great in Limited, but adding a cantrip to a card like this definitely makes me interested. We’ve seen this card in some really artifact-centric sets actually be quite good, but this format doesn’t have any big Artifact theme, so it doesn’t have that benefit here. It is probably mostly just solid.
Improvised Weaponry image 2.5 This was pretty nice in Forgotten Realms. It could kill enough creatures in that format that it sort of overperformed. It may not be quite as good here, but 3 mana to do 2 to anything and getting a treasure back is a pretty solid deal.
Circle of the Moon Druid image 2.5 This was alright last time around. The 4/2 side was nice for getting pack tactics on line, and being a 2/4 when on defense is pretty good too. It basically gives you two nice, but unexciting stat-lines, and you get the optimal one for whether you’re attacking or blocking.
Lizardfolk Librarians image 3.0 Like all the Double Team cards, this has a built-in 2-for-1. Now, the 2/4 stats aren’t exactly exciting, but the fact you end up Scrying 4 and only using up one card to do it isn’t too bad when added to the statline. You don’t always want to attack with a 2/4, because obviously it has better stats for blocking – but it is hard for most of these Double Team cards to not be solid or better.
Grim Bounty image 3.5 This is a little clunky at 4 mana, but being able to kill anything for that cost was pretty good in Forgotten Realms, and it will be pretty good here too. It is a removal spell that even helps you splash, and gives you the treasure synergy you need.
You're Ambushed on the Road image 1.0 This was not really playable in Forgotten Realms. It is tempting to look at a card like this and think of all the ways you can use those two modes – but too often neither of the modes is actually worth using up a card. Now, this format does have more reasons to return your own stuff to your hand, but I don’t think that makes this all that much better.
Pack 2 Pick 3: Cast Down
Kalain, Reclusive Painter image 4.0 This is one of the cards that comes directly from Forgotten Realms, and boy – it was powerful as the signpost Uncommon for the Black/Red treasure deck, a role it fills again here. The Black/Red deck was the best deck in that format, and while this format is substantially different, I think Kalain will still be quite good. A two mana ½ that makes a treasure is something you’d basically always play, so the fact that you get to buff every creature you cast using treasure is a pretty big deal. This looks to be a super strong signpost common again.
Cast Down image 4.0 This is premium removal. This format does have a lot of legendary creatures, but this can still kill a massive percentage of creatures in the set for only two mana, and that’s really great.
Kenku Artificer image 1.0 // 3.5 Artifacts are far from a big theme in the format, but there are enough of them around that this having a target is kind of doable. But I think your typical Blue deck in the format probably has 1-2 Artifacts, and that just..isn’t going to be enough. If you are in UB or UR you will have access to some treasure, but those color pairs still aren’t that into artifacts in general. So…if you end up in a deck that can consistently make this into a 3-mana 1/1 that makes a 3/3 Flyer, you’re going to be super happy, but that deck just won’t happen very often. Drawing this early and not having an artifact to target is going to be an awful feeling.
Minimus Containment image 2.5 This is a Forgotten Realms reprint. It is decent removal – being able to deal with any permanent type is pretty nice. Still, it never really felt premium, since you are giving your opponent back some very real value, especially when you use this early, as it can ramp them into more powerful spells.
Young Red Dragon image 3.0 This is a pretty nice Common. It makes you a treasure early, which can actually allow you to play this very Dragon on turn three, which is pretty nice! It can also be used for other purposes too of course. The creature you get can’t block, which is a liability sometimes, but it looks like an effective enough attacker that I’m not too concerned about that.
Armor of Shadows image 1.5 This is a solid trick. Any time one costs only a single mana, it warrants some serious consideration to make your deck. +1/+0 isn’t the greatest thing ever – your creature really needs decent size already to fully take advantage of this as a trick, but it IS a power boost that will upgrade enough creatures and let them do lethal to an opposing creature. On top of that, it can also save a creature from damage or destroy removal, which is some nice secondary upside.
Poison the Blade image 2.0 I’m never super high on this kind of trick. Yes, it makes any creature trade for anything, and then you draw a card, which is nice. But your creature you use this on is usually also going to be dying in combat, so the advantage you get out of this is less impressive. I mean, it is definitely fine, but I don’t plan on going after it that early, or even always playing it.
Hook Horror image 2.5 This is kind of an Alchemy version of Persist. Basically, you get a 5-mana 3/3 that gives you a 2/2 when it dies, and when that 2/2 dies, you get a 1/1. That’s three bodies on one card, which is great for sacrifice effects and the like. It can also just represent a 2-for-1 or even 3-for-1 in a regular deck.
Blur image 2.0 This is a decent way to blink a creature. Adding “Draw a Card” to it makes a big difference, because it means it replaces itself – and that’s good, because you won’t always have a way to use this card effectively enough. The UW deck is about blinking creatures and stuff, and obviously this can get the job done in that deck.
Summon Undead image 1.5 // 3.0 Here’s another pretty solid reanimation spell. It also mills you, to set up your cards that care about cards in the graveyard, and I like that. There are enough ways to discard cards in this format that I think setting this up is very doable. It probably does need a build around grade, because if you aren’t in a deck with any targets WORTH reanimating, it isn’t worth playing.
You Find the Villains' Lair image 1.5 This wasn’t especially good in Forgotten Realms. Sure, it has two modes and everything, but neither of them is especially good, and both are fairly situational. This can be Cancel, or a three mana Faithless Looting, and that just isn’t something you’re always in the market for.
Eyes of the Beholder image 2.0 This was a mediocre removal spell in Forgotten Realms, and that’s probably what it will be here, too. Six mana is a ton, and while this can kill a whole lot of things, you’ll usually be spending more mana than your opponent spent to cast the creature that you kill. It is something you end up playing when you need the removal, but you basically never want more than one – it just isn’t anywhere close to premium.
Pack 2 Pick 4: Alora, Rogue Companion
Alora, Rogue Companion image 2.5 // 3.5 This Specialize creature seems a little more build-aroundy than most of them do. On its own, it can make itself unblockable and hit for three, but then it has to return to your hand, and that’s not…amazing. Obviously, making something else unblockable that has an ETB ability or something is super good, but you won’t always pull that off. Then, once Alora specializes, she adds an extra bonus to the creature returning to your hand, but you still really need to be returning something that gives you value already – either by hitting your opponent hard or retriggering ETB – because the bonuses don’t seem that great for the most part. Basically, if your deck doesn’t have much in the way of ETBs to rebuy, this doesn’t seem especially good, and if you do – she’ll be quite good.
Goblin Trapfinder image 2.5 This is some pretty nice sacrifice fodder, since it provides you with two separate bodies! This is basically a one mana 1/1 that draws you a card when it dies – and yes, the card you draw is very specific, but it is still giving you a pretty real card most of the time. This is probably at its best in Black-Red, but it seems like a fine inclusion in any Red deck.
Prosperous Innkeeper image 3.5 This was really nice in Forgotten Realms, and it will be here too! Gaining the life is a big deal, especially in Green/White, and the fact that it ramps and fixes for you is great.
Patriar's Humiliation image 2.5 So, a one mana instant that does damage to a creature equal to the number of creatures you have in play is usually about a 2.0. It can be really efficient removal, but it requires enough set up that it isn’t premium. This adds the “creature loses all abilities” text to the mix, which means that you can get a bonus effect that keeps that creature from ever having abilities again, which can matter sometimes. More importantly, it means that even in a situation where you can’t quite kill a creature this can do still do something. You do still need to be killing things with this for it to be worth a slot in your deck, but basically the fail case is less awful than usual.
Unexpected Windfall image 1.5 This is a card that is great in constructed, but much less impressive in Limited. Spending 4 mana and giving up two cards to get back two cards and a couple of treasure just isn’t as impactful. That doesn’t mean this is bad – but it definitely isn’t something you run in all of your Red decks.
Baleful Beholder image 1.5 This is a Forgotten Realms reprint. It was pretty mediocre in that set. There were too many situations where neither ETB mattered, and when this is a 6-mana 6/5 and not much else, it feels pretty bad. I think it looks like it will perform similarly in this set.
Gnoll Hunter image 3.0 This was a great two drop in Forgotten Realms, and it will be here too.
Manticore image 2.0 This wasn’t very impressive in forgotten Realms, and it probably won’t be that good here either. This sort of “kill a damaged creature” effect ends up being pretty narrow, and even when you give the creature Flash, you’ll have a harder time than you might think getting it to do its thing. When you can kill something with this it feels pretty amazing. When you end up having to cast it without triggering the ability, it feels pretty bad.
Valiant Farewell image 2.0 This doesn’t seem like an amazing combat trick. That’s because it costs two mana and only offers +2/+0 to your creature, and without a toughness boost, that means your creature’s chances of surviving combat are significantly lower. Now, it does replace itself, and it also offers a permanent boost to your next creature. And that value certainly helps this card out, but it still means that in a lot of situations you’ll use up this trick and a creature, and end up not really gaining anything on the board. So the tempo doesn’t seem awesome. The times where you can use this and keep your creature alive will feel absurd, though!
Prophetic Prism image 2.0 Mana filters don’t tend to be great in Limited, but adding a cantrip to a card like this definitely makes me interested. We’ve seen this card in some really artifact-centric sets actually be quite good, but this format doesn’t have any big Artifact theme, so it doesn’t have that benefit here. It is probably mostly just solid.
Chain Devil image 2.0 We see these creatures that ETB and make both players sacrifice something a lot, and they are usually pretty medium. It is nice that this one says “nontoken,” as your opponent having a token when you play an effect like this is pretty brutal. Of course, it also means that you can’t sacrifice a token to it either! There are decks in this format that will have good sacrifice fodder and stuff, and I think this will slot in as a decent card in most Black decks.
Pack 2 Pick 5: Nefarious Imp
You're Confronted by Robbers image 3.0 Neither mode is great for the mana investment – but three 1/1 soldiers at instant speed for 4 mana is already enough for this card to be a C at worst. You can use those bodies to ambush block stuff, or just to go really wide if you’re interested in doing that. What’s nice is, if you are already wide enough, you can use this to tap down blockers at the end of your opponent’s turn and go for the win.
Devoted Paladin image 2.0 This is a Forgotten Realms reprint, and it is a pretty solid card, especially if you’re good at going wide, at it looks like Red-White will be able to do that, both with tokens and double team.
Clever Conjurer image 2.0 This is another Forgotten Realms reprint, and it was fairly unimpressive in that format. It can help you ramp, which is cool, but the fact you can’t use the ability at instant speed is a huge bummer, as it makes the card wayyy worse. It can’t be used to threaten to untap things when your opponent attacks you and things like that.
Warriors of Tiamat image 2.5 A 5-mana 4/2 with Haste isn’t something you want to play, but combining haste with Double Team is pretty spicy, since it means unlike other Double Team creatures, you can get that extra copy of the card before your opponent has a chance to untap. The downside, of course, is lots of cheap creatures and removal can trade with this thing, but they still have to find a way to deal with it twice, and that’s pretty nice.
Jaded Sell-Sword image 2.0 Ramping into Treasure with this felt decent in Forgotten Realms, but it definitely wasn’t amazing. It can come down and attack on almost any board when you do get it those two keyword abilities, but when it is just a 4-mana 4/3 it feels pretty bad, and that happens a little too often.
Hypnotic Pattern image 0.0 These Blue cards that just lower power don’t tend to be very good, and I think that’s true here, even with the perpetual -2/-0. Sure, it costs one, but most of the time you don’t get a card worth of value out of a card like this. Looking at it as “removal” is pretty dangerous, because the creature you use it on will still be able to do pretty much everything a creature can do. Sure, maybe it doesn’t attack or block as well – but it can do both of them. And, using this as a trick isn’t great either, because your creature still needs enough power to kill the thing you use it on.
Kobold Warcaller image 2.0 We have seen a lot of one mana 1/1s that can tap and give haste to things, and they tend to be pretty decent. This is obviously an upgrade, because you don’t actually have to cast your creature for it to get the Haste – you can use this during your opponents end step and then cast the Haste creature on your turn, for example. Plus, the creature will keep haste no matter where it goes! It still isn’t amazing or anything, but seems like a fine one drop for aggressive Red decks.
Poison the Blade image 2.0 I’m never super high on this kind of trick. Yes, it makes any creature trade for anything, and then you draw a card, which is nice. But your creature you use this on is usually also going to be dying in combat, so the advantage you get out of this is less impressive. I mean, it is definitely fine, but I don’t plan on going after it that early, or even always playing it.
Nefarious Imp image 2.0 This is a decent payoff for creatures leaving the battlefield, especially because it is stapled to such a reasonable creature. Scry 1 isn’t going to let you take over the game or anything, but it definitely helps!
Valiant Farewell image 2.0 This doesn’t seem like an amazing combat trick. That’s because it costs two mana and only offers +2/+0 to your creature, and without a toughness boost, that means your creature’s chances of surviving combat are significantly lower. Now, it does replace itself, and it also offers a permanent boost to your next creature. And that value certainly helps this card out, but it still means that in a lot of situations you’ll use up this trick and a creature, and end up not really gaining anything on the board. So the tempo doesn’t seem awesome. The times where you can use this and keep your creature alive will feel absurd, though!
Pack 2 Pick 6: Krydle of Baldur's Gate
Krydle of Baldur's Gate image 3.0 Like Kalain, Krydle was a signpost Uncommon in Forgotten Realms, and he’s a signpost Uncommon here too. He offers a ton of value for a two drop, since he lets you get through your opponents defenses, and if it is Krydle getting through, you get to drain a life and Scry 1 every time, which is a pretty big deal. In the late game, he can send in much larger creatures to be unblockable. He’s basically a great early-game threat that also works as a late-game win condition.
Scouting Hawk image 2.0 So, the times where this gets you that Plains, it will feel quite good. Problem is, there will be a significant chunk of the time where it can’t do that, and a 3-mana 1/1 Flyer is pretty dang abysmal. You can set it up to some degree of course, especially if your opponent went first. But if you go first it is a heck of a lot harder to make sure the ETB ability does something. Basically, it will feel like a 1.0 when you don’t get a land, and a 3.0 when you can. I guess that makes it a 2.0.
You Hear Something on Watch image 3.0 This was a solid card for slower decks in Forgotten Realms Limited. Being able to kill a whole lot of creatures in the format for only two mana is nice, even if it is situational – and that is the mode you’ll use the most on this. But the board pump comes up sometimes too!
You Find the Villains' Lair image 1.5 This wasn’t especially good in Forgotten Realms. Sure, it has two modes and everything, but neither of them is especially good, and both are fairly situational. This can be Cancel, or a three mana Faithless Looting, and that just isn’t something you’re always in the market for.
Chain Devil image 2.0 We see these creatures that ETB and make both players sacrifice something a lot, and they are usually pretty medium. It is nice that this one says “nontoken,” as your opponent having a token when you play an effect like this is pretty brutal. Of course, it also means that you can’t sacrifice a token to it either! There are decks in this format that will have good sacrifice fodder and stuff, and I think this will slot in as a decent card in most Black decks.
Unexpected Allies image 1.0 I’m not a huge fan of this, mostly because at Sorcery speed, it is very easy to disrupt. Your opponent need only respond in any number of ways to get a 2-for-1. Now, if you wait until your opponent’s shields are down, this can do some work, since it makes your creature hit harder, and gives double team to whatever you want – and sometimes there will be spicy options. The +2/+0 means that it will be easier for you to at least get a trade with the attack, and the fact you get First Strike sometimes is a nice bonus that makes the creature very hard to block. However, this set seems to have a high power level, and I’m not sure how much value I see in playing something that is easy to mess up.
You Come to the Gnoll Camp image 1.5 Neither option here is great. Individually, they would probably both be a 1.0. +3/+1 for two mana just isn’t a big enough boost, and making a couple of things unable to block doesn’t always matter either. It isn’t the worst thing in the world to run in your deck, but you probably do cut it more than you play it.
Sylvan Shepherd image 2.0 This has passable stats and it is a repeatable source of life gain, which GW is especially interested in.
Iron Golem image 1.0 This has solid stats, but the whole has to block and attack thing is a pretty big downside. You end up in situations where the trades are super ugly for you, or worse – you can’t even trade because they have a large creature.
Pack 2 Pick 7: Vampire Spawn
Wild Shape image 1.0 This was not good in Forgotten Realms. Sure, it has a bunch of modes, but the only one that tends to matter is the Hexproof one, and that effect is pretty darn narrow. It feels good when you blank removal with it of course, but there are lots of situations where there is just no real way to use this card effectively.
Steadfast Unicorn image 2.0 We’ve seen a lot of one drops with this sort of mass pump ability kind of underwhelm in the past, but that Vigilance makes a difference! Your board becoming better at attacking and hanging around to block can really alter races. Now, this still isn’t amazing or anything, but it seems like a solid one drop, where most similar cards were cards you cut more often than you played.
Dueling Rapier image 1.5 This ended up being surprisingly solid in Forgotten Realms, but that format turned out to be fairly aggressive, and there was an Equipment deck. Without that synergy, this is basically a one mana trick that gives +2/+0 and then the boost sticks around. That can definitely be good, but because it doesn’t offer any boost that will assist your creature in SURVIVING combat, it is a bit more limited. Your creature will usually just go down, even if it takes another creature with it. Then, you have to deal with Equip 4, which is pretty ugly. I mean, you definitely end up playing one of these in really aggressive Red decks, but you cut it a fair bit too.
Gnoll Hunter image 3.0 This was a great two drop in Forgotten Realms, and it will be here too.
Demogorgon's Clutches image 1.5 This is an underwhelming reprint. It is a Mind Rot with some added value, but the added value is too minimal for it to really be that much better than Mind Rot.
Genasi Rabble-Rouser image 3.0 This is a pretty strong Common. A two mana ⅓ with the ability to pump its power for one and a Red is probably pretty close to a 2.5, so obviously adding Double Team to the mix is pretty nice. This is a nice two drop for aggressive Red decks.
Vampire Spawn image 3.0 This was a nice little common in Forgotten Realms. It has passable stats and creates a life point difference of 4 just from entering the battlefield. That is surprisingly good!
Rimeshield Frost Giant image 2.0 Another reprint, and a pretty medium one. This has some decent-sized ground stats, and Ward 3 does make it hard to get this thing out of the way, but it isn’t a GREAT 5-drop, and really you’re hoping for a better one.
Pack 2 Pick 8: Soulknife Spy
Dragonborn Immolator image 3.0 A 4-mana 2/4 that can get +1/+0 for two mana is probably a 2.5, so the death trigger here is really sweet, as it will be able to make your next creature more formidable.
Boareskyr Tollkeeper image 3.0 This is a nice little two drop that makes your opponent’s life a little bit more difficult, and it pairs well with the UW deck in the format which can absue ETB abilities. It is sweet that you can even make lands enter tapped! I think the trigger here is going to give you some pretty real tempo.
A-Sepulcher Ghoul image
Jaded Sell-Sword image 2.0 Ramping into Treasure with this felt decent in Forgotten Realms, but it definitely wasn’t amazing. It can come down and attack on almost any board when you do get it those two keyword abilities, but when it is just a 4-mana 4/3 it feels pretty bad, and that happens a little too often.
Soulknife Spy image 3.0 Another Forgotten Realms reprint, and this was one of the few Blue Commons in that set that I would describe as “Good.” A card that draws you a card when it hits the opponent is pretty sweet when it comes with solid stats, and this definitely does. If you can give it evasion in some way, it becomes a must kill, and even when you aren’t able to do that, it still becomes something your opponent better trade for.
Earth-Cult Elemental image 1.5 This was a bit of a disappointment in Forgotten Realms. It has passable stats, but six drops that didn’t like…gain you life, were kind of a liability in that format. It will probably be a little bit better here, but its ETB ability isn’t that great either. By the time this comes down many players have expendable permanents, so it is mostly the kind of thing your opponent will shrug about. It is passable as a top-curve creature, but that’s about it.
Lantern of Revealing image 2.0 This is another pretty nice source of fixing. A three mana mana rock can definitely be clunky, but this turns into a pretty nice mana sink in the later game, since it can effectively draw you lands and put them into play, or at least let you Scry 1. It will certainly improve your draws in the late game, while helping you fix and ramp early.
Pack 2 Pick 9: Hook Horror
Portable Hole image 1.5 This is a reprint from Forgotten Realms, and it was pretty mediocre in that Limited format. You can definitely play it in your White decks and it usually won’t feel horrible, but there will be some games where you have no real targets for this. Your typical Limited deck will probably have 4-5 things it can hit, and that’s a little too narrow.
Inspiring Bard image 2.5 Neither mode here is amazing, but you’ll almost always be in a situation where one of them is useful. If you’re behind, you’ll gain life, and if you’re ahead, you’ll buff something so you can send it in.
You Find the Villains' Lair image 1.5 This wasn’t especially good in Forgotten Realms. Sure, it has two modes and everything, but neither of them is especially good, and both are fairly situational. This can be Cancel, or a three mana Faithless Looting, and that just isn’t something you’re always in the market for.
Baleful Beholder image 1.5 This is a Forgotten Realms reprint. It was pretty mediocre in that set. There were too many situations where neither ETB mattered, and when this is a 6-mana 6/5 and not much else, it feels pretty bad. I think it looks like it will perform similarly in this set.
Hook Horror image 2.5 This is kind of an Alchemy version of Persist. Basically, you get a 5-mana 3/3 that gives you a 2/2 when it dies, and when that 2/2 dies, you get a 1/1. That’s three bodies on one card, which is great for sacrifice effects and the like. It can also just represent a 2-for-1 or even 3-for-1 in a regular deck.
Flaming Fist Duskguard image 2.0 The boon you get here isn’t that exciting, but yeah – it is staples to a two mana 3/1, and that’s a decent aggressive stat-line. This is probably a bread and butter type two drop for White decks.
Pack 2 Pick 10: Grim Wanderer
Bonecaller Cleric image 3.0 So, here is one of the reanimation effects that I mentioned earlier. It is pretty nice that this is a two drop that can do two-drop things early, and then if you load up the ‘yard it can reanimate something like Black Dragon or something even better! This will work the best in BG, which is quite good at milling itself.
Grim Wanderer image 1.5 This was in Forgotten Realms, and it wasn’t very good. While the creature is obviously above rate, setting it up so you can cast it is harder than you might think, so most of the time when you do finally cast it, it isn’t really that imposing as a 5/3. Lots of three drops in the format can easily trade with it.
Summon Undead image 1.5 // 3.0 Here’s another pretty solid reanimation spell. It also mills you, to set up your cards that care about cards in the graveyard, and I like that. There are enough ways to discard cards in this format that I think setting this up is very doable. It probably does need a build around grade, because if you aren’t in a deck with any targets WORTH reanimating, it isn’t worth playing.
Circle of the Moon Druid image 2.5 This was alright last time around. The 4/2 side was nice for getting pack tactics on line, and being a 2/4 when on defense is pretty good too. It basically gives you two nice, but unexciting stat-lines, and you get the optimal one for whether you’re attacking or blocking.
You're Ambushed on the Road image 1.0 This was not really playable in Forgotten Realms. It is tempting to look at a card like this and think of all the ways you can use those two modes – but too often neither of the modes is actually worth using up a card. Now, this format does have more reasons to return your own stuff to your hand, but I don’t think that makes this all that much better.
Pack 2 Pick 11: Summon Undead
Armor of Shadows image 1.5 This is a solid trick. Any time one costs only a single mana, it warrants some serious consideration to make your deck. +1/+0 isn’t the greatest thing ever – your creature really needs decent size already to fully take advantage of this as a trick, but it IS a power boost that will upgrade enough creatures and let them do lethal to an opposing creature. On top of that, it can also save a creature from damage or destroy removal, which is some nice secondary upside.
Hook Horror image 2.5 This is kind of an Alchemy version of Persist. Basically, you get a 5-mana 3/3 that gives you a 2/2 when it dies, and when that 2/2 dies, you get a 1/1. That’s three bodies on one card, which is great for sacrifice effects and the like. It can also just represent a 2-for-1 or even 3-for-1 in a regular deck.
Summon Undead image 1.5 // 3.0 Here’s another pretty solid reanimation spell. It also mills you, to set up your cards that care about cards in the graveyard, and I like that. There are enough ways to discard cards in this format that I think setting this up is very doable. It probably does need a build around grade, because if you aren’t in a deck with any targets WORTH reanimating, it isn’t worth playing.
Eyes of the Beholder image 2.0 This was a mediocre removal spell in Forgotten Realms, and that’s probably what it will be here, too. Six mana is a ton, and while this can kill a whole lot of things, you’ll usually be spending more mana than your opponent spent to cast the creature that you kill. It is something you end up playing when you need the removal, but you basically never want more than one – it just isn’t anywhere close to premium.
Pack 2 Pick 12: Baleful Beholder
Baleful Beholder image 1.5 This is a Forgotten Realms reprint. It was pretty mediocre in that set. There were too many situations where neither ETB mattered, and when this is a 6-mana 6/5 and not much else, it feels pretty bad. I think it looks like it will perform similarly in this set.
Manticore image 2.0 This wasn’t very impressive in forgotten Realms, and it probably won’t be that good here either. This sort of “kill a damaged creature” effect ends up being pretty narrow, and even when you give the creature Flash, you’ll have a harder time than you might think getting it to do its thing. When you can kill something with this it feels pretty amazing. When you end up having to cast it without triggering the ability, it feels pretty bad.
Valiant Farewell image 2.0 This doesn’t seem like an amazing combat trick. That’s because it costs two mana and only offers +2/+0 to your creature, and without a toughness boost, that means your creature’s chances of surviving combat are significantly lower. Now, it does replace itself, and it also offers a permanent boost to your next creature. And that value certainly helps this card out, but it still means that in a lot of situations you’ll use up this trick and a creature, and end up not really gaining anything on the board. So the tempo doesn’t seem awesome. The times where you can use this and keep your creature alive will feel absurd, though!
Pack 2 Pick 13: Poison the Blade
Poison the Blade image 2.0 I’m never super high on this kind of trick. Yes, it makes any creature trade for anything, and then you draw a card, which is nice. But your creature you use this on is usually also going to be dying in combat, so the advantage you get out of this is less impressive. I mean, it is definitely fine, but I don’t plan on going after it that early, or even always playing it.
Valiant Farewell image 2.0 This doesn’t seem like an amazing combat trick. That’s because it costs two mana and only offers +2/+0 to your creature, and without a toughness boost, that means your creature’s chances of surviving combat are significantly lower. Now, it does replace itself, and it also offers a permanent boost to your next creature. And that value certainly helps this card out, but it still means that in a lot of situations you’ll use up this trick and a creature, and end up not really gaining anything on the board. So the tempo doesn’t seem awesome. The times where you can use this and keep your creature alive will feel absurd, though!
Pack 2 Pick 14: You Find the Villains' Lair
You Find the Villains' Lair image 1.5 This wasn’t especially good in Forgotten Realms. Sure, it has two modes and everything, but neither of them is especially good, and both are fairly situational. This can be Cancel, or a three mana Faithless Looting, and that just isn’t something you’re always in the market for.
Pack 3 Pick 1: Eldritch Pact
Eldritch Pact image 2.0 This has a cool design…one that is sort of hard to evaluate. This can potentially kill your opponent or mill them out, or you can use it on yourself if it’s a situation where drawing a whole bunch of cards However, it feels like there will be too many situations where doing either of these things is worth it, and its brutal having a 7 drop that just doesn’t do something useful. It sort of feels like this needs to be winning you the game when you cast it, or it isn’t worth it. It does seem like it could be a real win condition in some control decks, but I’m pretty skeptical of this thing.
Red Dragon image 2.5 A 6-mana 4/4 Flyer is definitely overcosted, and I do think the ETB ability here does enough to make up for that, but it is still nothing more than a decent playable. You don’t even usually want more than one, even in a dragon deck.
Choose Your Weapon image 1.5 This is a Forgotten Realms reprint, and it was fine in that set. It is a pretty typical modal card in that both parts of it are pretty underwhelming. The trick wouldn’t be good enough to play and the Flyer removal spell would be a sideboard card. You lump these two mediocre cards together though, and you end up with a card that will be able to do something meaningful reasonably often. Still, you end up cutting it a lot.
Goggles of Night image 2.5 This has a pretty sweet combat damage trigger – Scry 1 and draw a card is just really good in Limited, and if you can make this do its thing with regularity, you’ll just win! Now, the problem is – this doesn’t enhance the statistics of the creature at all, so what you need is a creature who is already evasive. Good news is, UB has a lot of nice ways to make creatures hard to block, so this slots in nicely there as a very real way to generate insane value. But there will still be times where you just can’t put this on something meaningful. Still, the effect is powerful enough that I’m pretty interested in playing this, provided my deck has a decent amount of evasion.
You Hear Something on Watch image 3.0 This was a solid card for slower decks in Forgotten Realms Limited. Being able to kill a whole lot of creatures in the format for only two mana is nice, even if it is situational – and that is the mode you’ll use the most on this. But the board pump comes up sometimes too!
Farideh's Fireball image 2.0 This is another Forgotten Realms reprint. It was a solid removal spell in that format, though it turned out to be a little clunky. It definitely isn’t premium removal, but I think chances are good that this will perform better in this format than it did in Forgotten Realms.
Kobold Warcaller image 2.0 We have seen a lot of one mana 1/1s that can tap and give haste to things, and they tend to be pretty decent. This is obviously an upgrade, because you don’t actually have to cast your creature for it to get the Haste – you can use this during your opponents end step and then cast the Haste creature on your turn, for example. Plus, the creature will keep haste no matter where it goes! It still isn’t amazing or anything, but seems like a fine one drop for aggressive Red decks.
Shambling Ghast image 3.0 This was a very nice common for Black in Forgotten Realms. It can really keep your opponent from attacking you early, especially because it can generate 2-for-1s against two X/1s, but just the fact it can block and kill two drops is pretty sweet too. Being able to get treasure out of it is really nice too.
Iron Golem image 1.0 This has solid stats, but the whole has to block and attack thing is a pretty big downside. You end up in situations where the trades are super ugly for you, or worse – you can’t even trade because they have a large creature.
Pseudodragon Familiar image 2.5 This is solid cheap Dragon. A three mana 2/1 Flyer isn’t the most impressive rate, but the ability to send your other creatures into the sky in the mid to late game definitely matters. This seems like a nice Common for Blue.
Gnoll Hunter image 3.0 This was a great two drop in Forgotten Realms, and it will be here too.
Devoted Paladin image 2.0 This is a Forgotten Realms reprint, and it is a pretty solid card, especially if you’re good at going wide, at it looks like Red-White will be able to do that, both with tokens and double team.
Earth-Cult Elemental image 1.5 This was a bit of a disappointment in Forgotten Realms. It has passable stats, but six drops that didn’t like…gain you life, were kind of a liability in that format. It will probably be a little bit better here, but its ETB ability isn’t that great either. By the time this comes down many players have expendable permanents, so it is mostly the kind of thing your opponent will shrug about. It is passable as a top-curve creature, but that’s about it.
Owlbear image 3.5 This was pretty good in Forgotten Realms. This easily sets up a 2-for-1 because of its ETB ability and its size, and it really isn’t too shabby as an attacker.
Pack 3 Pick 2: Jade Orb of Dragonkind
Jade Orb of Dragonkind image 2.5 I think this is the best card in this cycle. A +1/+1 counter is no joke, and Green decks have more general interest in ramping than the other two colors have. It is still a three mana mana rock, and those can be a real liability – you need to add to the board after all!
Goggles of Night image 2.5 This has a pretty sweet combat damage trigger – Scry 1 and draw a card is just really good in Limited, and if you can make this do its thing with regularity, you’ll just win! Now, the problem is – this doesn’t enhance the statistics of the creature at all, so what you need is a creature who is already evasive. Good news is, UB has a lot of nice ways to make creatures hard to block, so this slots in nicely there as a very real way to generate insane value. But there will still be times where you just can’t put this on something meaningful. Still, the effect is powerful enough that I’m pretty interested in playing this, provided my deck has a decent amount of evasion.
Minthara of the Absolute image 3.0 Minthara of the Absolute – 3.0 This is the signpost Uncommon for BW, a color pair all about permanents leaving the battlefield, so you’ll be able to ratchet up the intensity on this pretty easily. I mean, a 4-mana 2/4 that gives +1/+0 to your whole board is a card you always play, and while it isn’t that immediately most of the time, it will get there relatively easily, and then beyond. It is nice that if you get multiple copies of this they feed off of each other too. I don’t feel like this is a signpost Uncommon that really puls you into its deck – but it is a card you’ll never cut if you ARE Black/White.
Hook Horror image 2.5 This is kind of an Alchemy version of Persist. Basically, you get a 5-mana 3/3 that gives you a 2/2 when it dies, and when that 2/2 dies, you get a 1/1. That’s three bodies on one card, which is great for sacrifice effects and the like. It can also just represent a 2-for-1 or even 3-for-1 in a regular deck.
Hobgoblin Captain image 3.0 This was one of the great two drops in Forgotten Realms, and it will probably be quite good here too! It gets you half way to Pack Tactics on its own, and getting to attack with First Strike is surprisingly easy. This is going to be one of Red’s best commons.
Sylvan Shepherd image 2.0 This has passable stats and it is a repeatable source of life gain, which GW is especially interested in.
Hypnotic Pattern image 0.0 These Blue cards that just lower power don’t tend to be very good, and I think that’s true here, even with the perpetual -2/-0. Sure, it costs one, but most of the time you don’t get a card worth of value out of a card like this. Looking at it as “removal” is pretty dangerous, because the creature you use it on will still be able to do pretty much everything a creature can do. Sure, maybe it doesn’t attack or block as well – but it can do both of them. And, using this as a trick isn’t great either, because your creature still needs enough power to kill the thing you use it on.
Undercellar Myconid image 3.5 I like this common a lot. A 3-mana ½ that gives you a 1/1 token is probably a 2.0 and a 3-mana ½ that taps for mana of any color is probably a 2.5. Stapling both of those together and adding another token to the mix is pretty dang impressive. Even if your opponent takes this down before it can make mana, it leaves two 1/1s around, and if they don’t, you can probably ramp into your 5 drop on turn 4, which is pretty sweet.
Reckless Barbarian image 2.5 This is a bear that has a useful creature type and it has some pretty real upside too. These creatures who can sac for mana are generally not as good as they look. They give you fast mana for sure, but you also have to use up a whole card just to get that mana, and that kind of thing is significantly worse in Limited than it is in constructed formats. You definitely use this mana when it gives you a nice advantage, but giving up something on the board for mana is a very real cost! We’ve seen that with cards like Treasure Hound and Skirk Prospector, and I think that’s probably going to be true here too.
Shocking Grasp image 2.0 Normally I’m not a big fan of cards that just lowers power, but if you add a cantrip to pretty much anything, it becomes a substantially better card, and that’s certainly true here! The worst case is you take two less damage and draw a card, and while that’s not amazing, it isn’t the worst thing ever. The times where you manage to actually use this as a full-blown trick that keeps your creature alive and kills theirs is going to feel particularly insane, since you get a two mana 2-for-1! Now, that won’t happen a ton, but it will happen!
Guardian Naga image 2.5 Another Adventure where neither half is especially good. The ADventure is an expensive Disenchant, and the creature has underwhelming stats for 7, even with Vigilance and its ability to not take damage during your turn. You won’t always have something to use the Adventure side on, but it is pretty nice that you can run this in your main deck without a huge cost. After all, you do still get a creature eventually, even if it is overcosted.
Hill Giant Herdgorger image 2.5 In Forgotten Realms, if you were in Green, you really needed one of these to help you stabilize against the formats aggro decks, and it did a pretty darn good job between its size and the life gain effect. It will likely fill a similar role in Green decks int his format. All of these big ol’ green creatures that gain you life have been pretty solid in recent formats, and I think that’s true here.
Dragon's Fire image 4.0 This was a premium removal spell in Forgotten Realms, and it will probably be even better here, since this set is way more into Dragon than that one was. Two mana to do 3 at instant speed is already premium, so the dragon upside is pretty amazing.
Pack 3 Pick 3: Guildsworn Prowler
Grim Wanderer image 1.5 This was in Forgotten Realms, and it wasn’t very good. While the creature is obviously above rate, setting it up so you can cast it is harder than you might think, so most of the time when you do finally cast it, it isn’t really that imposing as a 5/3. Lots of three drops in the format can easily trade with it.
Swashbuckler Extraordinaire image 3.5 A three mana 2/2 that makes a Treasure is right around a 2.5, so the fact that this also gives you a pretty powerful Treasure payoff is quite nice. Double strike is no joke, especially if you have a creature with evasion, and it will definitely be worth giving up a Treasure for that on a lot of boards. One really great thing is that if you have additional treasure, you can give more than one thing double strike. It is also great that the turn you play the Swashbuckler you can already give something double strike.
Blessed Hippogriff image 3.5 So, if you took the Adventure away here, you’d have a 3.0 Reasonably costed Flyers that can send another creature into the air always play quite well. The Adventure part of the card isn’t always going to come up, but it is nice that if you find a way to use it ahead of turn 4, you get some pretty real value – maybe even a 2-for-1! Even just setting up a chump block that your creature survives is pretty decent use of the card, since you get a whole creature later. Does having the Adventure do enough to get this to a B-? I don’t quite think it does. The problem is just that indestructible isn’t as useful as often as you’d think. Still, this is one of White’s best Commons.
Guildsworn Prowler image 3.0 I think this is a good Common. A two mana 2/1 with death touch is generally going to be a 2.5, since it is fairly cheap and can trade for anything. When you can draw a card off of this, it will feel particularly absurd. Obviously, if it would draw you a card even if it was blocking, it would probably be a B because it would always be a 2-for-1. But if you do find a way to draw that card, it will feel pretty nice! It can be a nice sacrifice outlet, in addition to being a nice attacker and blocker.
Hobgoblin Captain image 3.0 This was one of the great two drops in Forgotten Realms, and it will probably be quite good here too! It gets you half way to Pack Tactics on its own, and getting to attack with First Strike is surprisingly easy. This is going to be one of Red’s best commons.
Guardian Naga image 2.5 Another Adventure where neither half is especially good. The ADventure is an expensive Disenchant, and the creature has underwhelming stats for 7, even with Vigilance and its ability to not take damage during your turn. You won’t always have something to use the Adventure side on, but it is pretty nice that you can run this in your main deck without a huge cost. After all, you do still get a creature eventually, even if it is overcosted.
You Come to the Gnoll Camp image 1.5 Neither option here is great. Individually, they would probably both be a 1.0. +3/+1 for two mana just isn’t a big enough boost, and making a couple of things unable to block doesn’t always matter either. It isn’t the worst thing in the world to run in your deck, but you probably do cut it more than you play it.
Demogorgon's Clutches image 1.5 This is an underwhelming reprint. It is a Mind Rot with some added value, but the added value is too minimal for it to really be that much better than Mind Rot.
Tymora's Invoker image 1.5 This has mediocre stats as a two drop, but it is nice that in the extreme late game it can draw you those two cards. If you just keep drawing lands, this helps you fix that! But, it is still quite expensive, and pretty meaningless in the early game.
You Line Up the Shot image 1.5 So, this is the usual “Crushing Canopy” type effect we see, but it is actually a little bit better. This is because instead of paying three up front, you can choose to pay in installments. It is also better because it can also just be cycled away for one mana. This card does suffer a bit from the fact there are some adventures in this set that let you deal with the same sorts of things, and they turn into creatures, so those are probably just better than You Line Up the Shot. But still, any time you add Cycling to a card that can be situationally useful, it tends to be playable, and I think that’s what we have here.
Incessant Provocation image 1.0 // 3.0 As usual, the Threaten effect in this set is a build around. There is sacrifice stuff around - Seplucher Ghoul at Common can sacrifice things for free, and if you have cards like that the Provocation will be something you want to play, since you can get rid of their creature permanently and get a bonus on the way there! If you don’t have 3+ ways to sacrifice creatures though, you hope you’re not playing this. It does perpetually force the creature to attack, but that really isn’t going to feel like enough most of the time.
Water Weird image 3.0 When you hit your opponent with this, you get a pretty good trigger. You either get to grow the Weird, or Surveil 1, and both are pretty nice options.
Pack 3 Pick 4: Armor of Shadows
Choose Your Weapon image 1.5 This is a Forgotten Realms reprint, and it was fine in that set. It is a pretty typical modal card in that both parts of it are pretty underwhelming. The trick wouldn’t be good enough to play and the Flyer removal spell would be a sideboard card. You lump these two mediocre cards together though, and you end up with a card that will be able to do something meaningful reasonably often. Still, you end up cutting it a lot.
Grim Wanderer image 1.5 This was in Forgotten Realms, and it wasn’t very good. While the creature is obviously above rate, setting it up so you can cast it is harder than you might think, so most of the time when you do finally cast it, it isn’t really that imposing as a 5/3. Lots of three drops in the format can easily trade with it.
Improvised Weaponry image 2.5 This was pretty nice in Forgotten Realms. It could kill enough creatures in that format that it sort of overperformed. It may not be quite as good here, but 3 mana to do 2 to anything and getting a treasure back is a pretty solid deal.
Lizardfolk Librarians image 3.0 Like all the Double Team cards, this has a built-in 2-for-1. Now, the 2/4 stats aren’t exactly exciting, but the fact you end up Scrying 4 and only using up one card to do it isn’t too bad when added to the statline. You don’t always want to attack with a 2/4, because obviously it has better stats for blocking – but it is hard for most of these Double Team cards to not be solid or better.
Armor of Shadows image 1.5 This is a solid trick. Any time one costs only a single mana, it warrants some serious consideration to make your deck. +1/+0 isn’t the greatest thing ever – your creature really needs decent size already to fully take advantage of this as a trick, but it IS a power boost that will upgrade enough creatures and let them do lethal to an opposing creature. On top of that, it can also save a creature from damage or destroy removal, which is some nice secondary upside.
Dawnbringer Cleric image 2.0 This is another reprint from Forgotten Realms. It is a decent little two drop. If you’re the life gain deck, it can get those triggers going, and the format has enough artifacts and Enchantments that those modes are reasonable too.
You Come to the Gnoll Camp image 1.5 Neither option here is great. Individually, they would probably both be a 1.0. +3/+1 for two mana just isn’t a big enough boost, and making a couple of things unable to block doesn’t always matter either. It isn’t the worst thing in the world to run in your deck, but you probably do cut it more than you play it.
Poison the Blade image 2.0 I’m never super high on this kind of trick. Yes, it makes any creature trade for anything, and then you draw a card, which is nice. But your creature you use this on is usually also going to be dying in combat, so the advantage you get out of this is less impressive. I mean, it is definitely fine, but I don’t plan on going after it that early, or even always playing it.
Vampire Spawn image 3.0 This was a nice little common in Forgotten Realms. It has passable stats and creates a life point difference of 4 just from entering the battlefield. That is surprisingly good!
Undercellar Myconid image 3.5 I like this common a lot. A 3-mana ½ that gives you a 1/1 token is probably a 2.0 and a 3-mana ½ that taps for mana of any color is probably a 2.5. Stapling both of those together and adding another token to the mix is pretty dang impressive. Even if your opponent takes this down before it can make mana, it leaves two 1/1s around, and if they don’t, you can probably ramp into your 5 drop on turn 4, which is pretty sweet.
Pseudodragon Familiar image 2.5 This is solid cheap Dragon. A three mana 2/1 Flyer isn’t the most impressive rate, but the ability to send your other creatures into the sky in the mid to late game definitely matters. This seems like a nice Common for Blue.
Pack 3 Pick 5: Drider
Swashbuckler Extraordinaire image 3.5 A three mana 2/2 that makes a Treasure is right around a 2.5, so the fact that this also gives you a pretty powerful Treasure payoff is quite nice. Double strike is no joke, especially if you have a creature with evasion, and it will definitely be worth giving up a Treasure for that on a lot of boards. One really great thing is that if you have additional treasure, you can give more than one thing double strike. It is also great that the turn you play the Swashbuckler you can already give something double strike.
Liara of the Flaming Fist image 3.0 This is the Red/White signpost uncommon. Unsurprisingly, it is a go-wide aggro deck – in this case, it is really built around the Double Team mechanic, as that is the easiest way to get cards with the same name. Notably, this also will help you out with tokens! The fact you can give anything double team and first strike is pretty spicy too, as you can give it to your best creature to get another copy – and First Strike helps that creature survive. Note, by the way, that ability can only be used once. Period. Not once per turn! But still, having that ability once seems pretty strong.
Drider image 2.5 This was decent in Forgotten Realms. Obviously when you can get in with it, it generates some very serious value, but it does have a stat-line that makes it kind of challenging to do that with regularity. There are of course ways to make it evasive, especially in UB.
Spiked Pit Trap image 1.5 This was not particularly good in Forgotten Realms. You spend a lot of mana for a mediocre removal spell, and even getting the treasure back isn’t enough.
Baleful Beholder image 1.5 This is a Forgotten Realms reprint. It was pretty mediocre in that set. There were too many situations where neither ETB mattered, and when this is a 6-mana 6/5 and not much else, it feels pretty bad. I think it looks like it will perform similarly in this set.
Young Red Dragon image 3.0 This is a pretty nice Common. It makes you a treasure early, which can actually allow you to play this very Dragon on turn three, which is pretty nice! It can also be used for other purposes too of course. The creature you get can’t block, which is a liability sometimes, but it looks like an effective enough attacker that I’m not too concerned about that.
Shocking Grasp image 2.0 Normally I’m not a big fan of cards that just lowers power, but if you add a cantrip to pretty much anything, it becomes a substantially better card, and that’s certainly true here! The worst case is you take two less damage and draw a card, and while that’s not amazing, it isn’t the worst thing ever. The times where you manage to actually use this as a full-blown trick that keeps your creature alive and kills theirs is going to feel particularly insane, since you get a two mana 2-for-1! Now, that won’t happen a ton, but it will happen!
Incessant Provocation image 1.0 // 3.0 As usual, the Threaten effect in this set is a build around. There is sacrifice stuff around - Seplucher Ghoul at Common can sacrifice things for free, and if you have cards like that the Provocation will be something you want to play, since you can get rid of their creature permanently and get a bonus on the way there! If you don’t have 3+ ways to sacrifice creatures though, you hope you’re not playing this. It does perpetually force the creature to attack, but that really isn’t going to feel like enough most of the time.
Underdark Basilisk image 2.5 This was solid in Forgotten Realms. It gets extra good alongside effects that let it damage things – like Band Together – because the Death touch allows it to take down anything. Outside of that, it does a decent job of deterring attacks early, since it can trade for any of your opponents attacks. It also stays relevant all game long.
You Come to a River image 2.0 This was a fine card in Forgotten Realms, and it probably will be here. Neither mode is anything special. The bounce mode will come up the most, and the times where you can use it in response to a combat trick and blow your opponent out will feel nice, as will the times where you can generate some tempo, but keep in mind bouncing things is always card disadvantage. The second mode this has also doesn’t generally net you a card – but sometimes it can close out a game. You’ll end up playing one of these in Blue decks and you’ll feel fine about it.
Pack 3 Pick 6: Eyes of the Beholder
Alora, Rogue Companion image 2.5 // 3.5 This Specialize creature seems a little more build-aroundy than most of them do. On its own, it can make itself unblockable and hit for three, but then it has to return to your hand, and that’s not…amazing. Obviously, making something else unblockable that has an ETB ability or something is super good, but you won’t always pull that off. Then, once Alora specializes, she adds an extra bonus to the creature returning to your hand, but you still really need to be returning something that gives you value already – either by hitting your opponent hard or retriggering ETB – because the bonuses don’t seem that great for the most part. Basically, if your deck doesn’t have much in the way of ETBs to rebuy, this doesn’t seem especially good, and if you do – she’ll be quite good.
You Hear Something on Watch image 3.0 This was a solid card for slower decks in Forgotten Realms Limited. Being able to kill a whole lot of creatures in the format for only two mana is nice, even if it is situational – and that is the mode you’ll use the most on this. But the board pump comes up sometimes too!
Improvised Weaponry image 2.5 This was pretty nice in Forgotten Realms. It could kill enough creatures in that format that it sort of overperformed. It may not be quite as good here, but 3 mana to do 2 to anything and getting a treasure back is a pretty solid deal.
Sylvan Shepherd image 2.0 This has passable stats and it is a repeatable source of life gain, which GW is especially interested in.
You Find the Villains' Lair image 1.5 This wasn’t especially good in Forgotten Realms. Sure, it has two modes and everything, but neither of them is especially good, and both are fairly situational. This can be Cancel, or a three mana Faithless Looting, and that just isn’t something you’re always in the market for.
Gray Slaad image 1.0 // 3.0 So, the Black-Green deck in this format is pretty interested in milling itself, and this looks like a nice enabler and payoff for that deck. A 4/1 with Menace and Deathtouch is pretty hard to interact with! However, you pretty much have to be in that deck, or the Adventure on this isn’t very good, and the creature won’t be that good either. Only counting creature cards for it to get the bonus is pretty rough too. This probably means this needs a build around grade. It will be a really good Common for Black/Green decks, but pretty mediocre for everyone else.
Band Together image 3.5 We have seen cards that cost the same and only let one creature do damage equal to their power to something, and they tend to be pretty close to premium. This lets you have two creatures do the damage, which is significant for two reasons. First, it means you can find more situations where this will function as removal. Second, it makes you less vulnerable to your opponent interacting, since now they can kill one of your creatures and you can still do some damage. I think the whole “two creature” side of things is enough to make this premium.
Eyes of the Beholder image 2.0 This was a mediocre removal spell in Forgotten Realms, and that’s probably what it will be here, too. Six mana is a ton, and while this can kill a whole lot of things, you’ll usually be spending more mana than your opponent spent to cast the creature that you kill. It is something you end up playing when you need the removal, but you basically never want more than one – it just isn’t anywhere close to premium.
Earth-Cult Elemental image 1.5 This was a bit of a disappointment in Forgotten Realms. It has passable stats, but six drops that didn’t like…gain you life, were kind of a liability in that format. It will probably be a little bit better here, but its ETB ability isn’t that great either. By the time this comes down many players have expendable permanents, so it is mostly the kind of thing your opponent will shrug about. It is passable as a top-curve creature, but that’s about it.
Pack 3 Pick 7: Vampire Spawn
Hill Giant Herdgorger image 2.5 In Forgotten Realms, if you were in Green, you really needed one of these to help you stabilize against the formats aggro decks, and it did a pretty darn good job between its size and the life gain effect. It will likely fill a similar role in Green decks int his format. All of these big ol’ green creatures that gain you life have been pretty solid in recent formats, and I think that’s true here.
Jaded Sell-Sword image 2.0 Ramping into Treasure with this felt decent in Forgotten Realms, but it definitely wasn’t amazing. It can come down and attack on almost any board when you do get it those two keyword abilities, but when it is just a 4-mana 4/3 it feels pretty bad, and that happens a little too often.
You Hear Something on Watch image 3.0 This was a solid card for slower decks in Forgotten Realms Limited. Being able to kill a whole lot of creatures in the format for only two mana is nice, even if it is situational – and that is the mode you’ll use the most on this. But the board pump comes up sometimes too!
Clever Conjurer image 2.0 This is another Forgotten Realms reprint, and it was fairly unimpressive in that format. It can help you ramp, which is cool, but the fact you can’t use the ability at instant speed is a huge bummer, as it makes the card wayyy worse. It can’t be used to threaten to untap things when your opponent attacks you and things like that.
Soulknife Spy image 3.0 Another Forgotten Realms reprint, and this was one of the few Blue Commons in that set that I would describe as “Good.” A card that draws you a card when it hits the opponent is pretty sweet when it comes with solid stats, and this definitely does. If you can give it evasion in some way, it becomes a must kill, and even when you aren’t able to do that, it still becomes something your opponent better trade for.
Vampire Spawn image 3.0 This was a nice little common in Forgotten Realms. It has passable stats and creates a life point difference of 4 just from entering the battlefield. That is surprisingly good!
Ranger Squadron image 2.5 Without Double Team, this is not a very good card – the stats just don’t look good. But, this is a Double Team creature with Flying, and that means yo’ure pretty likely to get that second copy. And yeah, it is two copies of an inefficient creature, but we’ve seen in many Limited formats that any sort of effect that gives you card advantage tends to be good, even if what you’re getting isn’t efficient.
Blur image 2.0 This is a decent way to blink a creature. Adding “Draw a Card” to it makes a big difference, because it means it replaces itself – and that’s good, because you won’t always have a way to use this card effectively enough. The UW deck is about blinking creatures and stuff, and obviously this can get the job done in that deck.
Pack 3 Pick 8: Seek New Knowledge
Scouting Hawk image 2.0 So, the times where this gets you that Plains, it will feel quite good. Problem is, there will be a significant chunk of the time where it can’t do that, and a 3-mana 1/1 Flyer is pretty dang abysmal. You can set it up to some degree of course, especially if your opponent went first. But if you go first it is a heck of a lot harder to make sure the ETB ability does something. Basically, it will feel like a 1.0 when you don’t get a land, and a 3.0 when you can. I guess that makes it a 2.0.
Seek New Knowledge image 2.5 So, you end up only getting a 1-for-1 in the end, but because it always gets you two nonlands, that makes it significantly better than most draw spells which you can hit lands with. Now, the downside is you can’t use this to help you hit your third land drop – and that’s something that you usually want to use this sort of card for early, but this is mostly a mid-to-late game card, and that’s certainly a bit awkward on a two mana draw spell. Still, the card selection seems powerful and efficient enough that I think I would be interested in playing the first copy.
Lantern of Revealing image 2.0 This is another pretty nice source of fixing. A three mana mana rock can definitely be clunky, but this turns into a pretty nice mana sink in the later game, since it can effectively draw you lands and put them into play, or at least let you Scry 1. It will certainly improve your draws in the late game, while helping you fix and ramp early.
Dawnbringer Cleric image 2.0 This is another reprint from Forgotten Realms. It is a decent little two drop. If you’re the life gain deck, it can get those triggers going, and the format has enough artifacts and Enchantments that those modes are reasonable too.
Demogorgon's Clutches image 1.5 This is an underwhelming reprint. It is a Mind Rot with some added value, but the added value is too minimal for it to really be that much better than Mind Rot.
You Come to a River image 2.0 This was a fine card in Forgotten Realms, and it probably will be here. Neither mode is anything special. The bounce mode will come up the most, and the times where you can use it in response to a combat trick and blow your opponent out will feel nice, as will the times where you can generate some tempo, but keep in mind bouncing things is always card disadvantage. The second mode this has also doesn’t generally net you a card – but sometimes it can close out a game. You’ll end up playing one of these in Blue decks and you’ll feel fine about it.
Summon Undead image 1.5 // 3.0 Here’s another pretty solid reanimation spell. It also mills you, to set up your cards that care about cards in the graveyard, and I like that. There are enough ways to discard cards in this format that I think setting this up is very doable. It probably does need a build around grade, because if you aren’t in a deck with any targets WORTH reanimating, it isn’t worth playing.
Pack 3 Pick 9: Kobold Warcaller
You Hear Something on Watch image 3.0 This was a solid card for slower decks in Forgotten Realms Limited. Being able to kill a whole lot of creatures in the format for only two mana is nice, even if it is situational – and that is the mode you’ll use the most on this. But the board pump comes up sometimes too!
Kobold Warcaller image 2.0 We have seen a lot of one mana 1/1s that can tap and give haste to things, and they tend to be pretty decent. This is obviously an upgrade, because you don’t actually have to cast your creature for it to get the Haste – you can use this during your opponents end step and then cast the Haste creature on your turn, for example. Plus, the creature will keep haste no matter where it goes! It still isn’t amazing or anything, but seems like a fine one drop for aggressive Red decks.
Iron Golem image 1.0 This has solid stats, but the whole has to block and attack thing is a pretty big downside. You end up in situations where the trades are super ugly for you, or worse – you can’t even trade because they have a large creature.
Gnoll Hunter image 3.0 This was a great two drop in Forgotten Realms, and it will be here too.
Devoted Paladin image 2.0 This is a Forgotten Realms reprint, and it is a pretty solid card, especially if you’re good at going wide, at it looks like Red-White will be able to do that, both with tokens and double team.
Earth-Cult Elemental image 1.5 This was a bit of a disappointment in Forgotten Realms. It has passable stats, but six drops that didn’t like…gain you life, were kind of a liability in that format. It will probably be a little bit better here, but its ETB ability isn’t that great either. By the time this comes down many players have expendable permanents, so it is mostly the kind of thing your opponent will shrug about. It is passable as a top-curve creature, but that’s about it.
Pack 3 Pick 10: Hypnotic Pattern
Sylvan Shepherd image 2.0 This has passable stats and it is a repeatable source of life gain, which GW is especially interested in.
Hypnotic Pattern image 0.0 These Blue cards that just lower power don’t tend to be very good, and I think that’s true here, even with the perpetual -2/-0. Sure, it costs one, but most of the time you don’t get a card worth of value out of a card like this. Looking at it as “removal” is pretty dangerous, because the creature you use it on will still be able to do pretty much everything a creature can do. Sure, maybe it doesn’t attack or block as well – but it can do both of them. And, using this as a trick isn’t great either, because your creature still needs enough power to kill the thing you use it on.
Reckless Barbarian image 2.5 This is a bear that has a useful creature type and it has some pretty real upside too. These creatures who can sac for mana are generally not as good as they look. They give you fast mana for sure, but you also have to use up a whole card just to get that mana, and that kind of thing is significantly worse in Limited than it is in constructed formats. You definitely use this mana when it gives you a nice advantage, but giving up something on the board for mana is a very real cost! We’ve seen that with cards like Treasure Hound and Skirk Prospector, and I think that’s probably going to be true here too.
Shocking Grasp image 2.0 Normally I’m not a big fan of cards that just lowers power, but if you add a cantrip to pretty much anything, it becomes a substantially better card, and that’s certainly true here! The worst case is you take two less damage and draw a card, and while that’s not amazing, it isn’t the worst thing ever. The times where you manage to actually use this as a full-blown trick that keeps your creature alive and kills theirs is going to feel particularly insane, since you get a two mana 2-for-1! Now, that won’t happen a ton, but it will happen!
Guardian Naga image 2.5 Another Adventure where neither half is especially good. The ADventure is an expensive Disenchant, and the creature has underwhelming stats for 7, even with Vigilance and its ability to not take damage during your turn. You won’t always have something to use the Adventure side on, but it is pretty nice that you can run this in your main deck without a huge cost. After all, you do still get a creature eventually, even if it is overcosted.
Pack 3 Pick 11: Grim Wanderer
Grim Wanderer image 1.5 This was in Forgotten Realms, and it wasn’t very good. While the creature is obviously above rate, setting it up so you can cast it is harder than you might think, so most of the time when you do finally cast it, it isn’t really that imposing as a 5/3. Lots of three drops in the format can easily trade with it.
You Come to the Gnoll Camp image 1.5 Neither option here is great. Individually, they would probably both be a 1.0. +3/+1 for two mana just isn’t a big enough boost, and making a couple of things unable to block doesn’t always matter either. It isn’t the worst thing in the world to run in your deck, but you probably do cut it more than you play it.
Tymora's Invoker image 1.5 This has mediocre stats as a two drop, but it is nice that in the extreme late game it can draw you those two cards. If you just keep drawing lands, this helps you fix that! But, it is still quite expensive, and pretty meaningless in the early game.
Incessant Provocation image 1.0 // 3.0 As usual, the Threaten effect in this set is a build around. There is sacrifice stuff around - Seplucher Ghoul at Common can sacrifice things for free, and if you have cards like that the Provocation will be something you want to play, since you can get rid of their creature permanently and get a bonus on the way there! If you don’t have 3+ ways to sacrifice creatures though, you hope you’re not playing this. It does perpetually force the creature to attack, but that really isn’t going to feel like enough most of the time.
Pack 3 Pick 12: Grim Wanderer
Grim Wanderer image 1.5 This was in Forgotten Realms, and it wasn’t very good. While the creature is obviously above rate, setting it up so you can cast it is harder than you might think, so most of the time when you do finally cast it, it isn’t really that imposing as a 5/3. Lots of three drops in the format can easily trade with it.
You Come to the Gnoll Camp image 1.5 Neither option here is great. Individually, they would probably both be a 1.0. +3/+1 for two mana just isn’t a big enough boost, and making a couple of things unable to block doesn’t always matter either. It isn’t the worst thing in the world to run in your deck, but you probably do cut it more than you play it.
Poison the Blade image 2.0 I’m never super high on this kind of trick. Yes, it makes any creature trade for anything, and then you draw a card, which is nice. But your creature you use this on is usually also going to be dying in combat, so the advantage you get out of this is less impressive. I mean, it is definitely fine, but I don’t plan on going after it that early, or even always playing it.
Pack 3 Pick 13: Shocking Grasp
Baleful Beholder image 1.5 This is a Forgotten Realms reprint. It was pretty mediocre in that set. There were too many situations where neither ETB mattered, and when this is a 6-mana 6/5 and not much else, it feels pretty bad. I think it looks like it will perform similarly in this set.
Shocking Grasp image 2.0 Normally I’m not a big fan of cards that just lowers power, but if you add a cantrip to pretty much anything, it becomes a substantially better card, and that’s certainly true here! The worst case is you take two less damage and draw a card, and while that’s not amazing, it isn’t the worst thing ever. The times where you manage to actually use this as a full-blown trick that keeps your creature alive and kills theirs is going to feel particularly insane, since you get a two mana 2-for-1! Now, that won’t happen a ton, but it will happen!
Pack 3 Pick 14: Earth-Cult Elemental
Earth-Cult Elemental image 1.5 This was a bit of a disappointment in Forgotten Realms. It has passable stats, but six drops that didn’t like…gain you life, were kind of a liability in that format. It will probably be a little bit better here, but its ETB ability isn’t that great either. By the time this comes down many players have expendable permanents, so it is mostly the kind of thing your opponent will shrug about. It is passable as a top-curve creature, but that’s about it.
Draft Pick Overview