Tracker App

Quick Draft ONE 31 March 2023

31 March 11:32 - Krisley 7 Wins - 2 Losses
Maindeck
Creature (15)
1 Capricious Hellraiser image
1 Magmatic Sprinter image
1 Chimney Rabble image
3 Sawblade Scamp image
2 Bladegraft Aspirant image
2 Atraxa's Skitterfang image
1 Kuldotha Cackler image
2 Dune Mover image
1 Soulless Jailer image
1 Argentum Masticore image
Instant, Sorcery, Enchantment, Artifact (10)
4 Blazing Crescendo image
2 Hexgold Slash image
1 Churning Reservoir image
1 Hazardous Blast image
1 Free from Flesh image
1 Awaken the Sleeper image
Land (18)
18 Mountain image
Sideboard
1 Sawblade Scamp image
1 Necrogen Rotpriest image
1 Ovika, Enigma Goliath image
1 Myr Kinsmith image
1 Tyrranax Atrocity image
1 Rustvine Cultivator image
1 Graaz, Unstoppable Juggernaut image
1 Oil-Gorger Troll image
1 Tyvar's Stand image
2 Reject Imperfection image
1 Eye of Malcator image
1 Incubation Sac image
1 Mirran Safehouse image
1 Prologue to Phyresis image
1 Ruthless Predation image
1 The Surgical Bay image

Pack 1 Pick 1: Capricious Hellraiser
Capricious Hellraiser image 4.0 The Hellraiser wants your graveyard to be well-stocked – both to reduce its cost, and use its ETB trigger. 9 cards is sort of a lot, so don’t count on getting that done a ton. And the ability isn’t quite as good as it looks at first. Because it exiles three cards at random and only lets you cast noncreature nonlands, there’s a pretty real chance you just wiff. Now, you will probably hit something you can cast pretty often, and casting it for free can be pretty insane – but the Hellraiser is annoyingly random and not always easy to set up. I think you’ll get a nice 2-for-1 often enough out of this for it to be quite good
Chittering Skitterling image 2.5 A three mana ¼ isn’t great, but this does end up with a pretty nice ability if you can get Corrupted going. Cashing in irrelevant artifacts or creatures for cards is always nice. It also has the potential to combine quite well with the format’s Threaten effect, since it sacrifices stuff for free!
Bladehold War-Whip image 3.5 This gives you a three mana 2/2 with double strike up front, and that’s great, as is reducing the cost of your other Equipment. The bad news is that once that 2/2 goes down, you have to pay five to put this on something. That’s a downside, but it will still feel pretty close to a 2-for-1.
Trawler Drake image 3.0 A three mana 1/1 Flyer isn’t good, but there are enough ways to grow this – between casting spells and Proliferating, that it won’t be that hard to make this a good investment. The big downside is that it will die to pretty much everything the turn it comes down.
Thirsting Roots image 2.5 This is a solid modal card. It can help you fix your mana or just hit a land drop, and it is the kind of card that can almost stand in for a land in your deck, since it is almost a modal double-faced land card! Once you have the lands you need, you can Proliferate for some nice value. Sometimes neither mode will be useful, which is a bummer – but most of the time you’ll be getting something worthwhile for the investment.
Duelist of Deep Faith image 3.0 This is going to be a pain to block all game long, and that goes really well alongside Toxic. That makes this a pretty high quality Common
Testament Bearer image 2.0 This can give you a 2-for-1 with some nice card selection, but a 4-mana 4/1 is a rough rate
Meldweb Strider image 2.0 A 5-mana 5/5 Vigilance Vehicle with Crew 3 is probably a 1.5. That’s just not a very good rate for a card that isn’t a creature unless you do some extra work! The fact this comes with an oil counter does matter though, as it does make it so this can be a creature all on its one for one turn, and if you proliferate it can become a real problem. Of course, the upside there is still that this is just a 5-mana 5/5 with Vigilance – which is nice, but again – there is work to be done to even get it to the point where it does that consistently.
Whisper of the Dross image 1.5 If you can kill something with this, or have it help you win combat, it will feel pretty good since you’re only spending a single mana! Problem is, those situations won’t be that easy to manufacture
Branchblight Stalker image 2.5 A two mana 3/1 with upside will usually make the cut in aggro decks, but it isn’t anything special
Sawblade Scamp image 2.5 This is kind of close to being Thermo-Alchemist, and that card has been great in spell decks in several different formats at this point. This does die super easy, but it only costs one, so your opponent won’t really be able to trade up for it or anything, and if it sits around in play in your spell-heavy deck, it is going to chip in for a ton of damage. Now, it is worse that the Alchemist, because the Alchemist can do damage without the help of spells, it just does more when you have them. The Scamp doesn’t do anything when you can’t find your spells, which happens
Vulshok Splitter image 2.0 So, this is effectively a 4-mana 4/2 when it comes down – one that leaves behind a pretty clunky piece of equipment. Neither of these things is that impressive for 4 mana, but the initial creature you get out of this definitely softens the blow, especially in a format with lots of payoffs for Equipment.
Oil-Gorger Troll image 3.0 A 5-mana ¾ that gains you 3 life when it enters the battlefield is not especially good, so how good this card is comes down to how often you get to draw. I think it is definitely accessible, and one this card is gaining you life and netting you a card, it is going to feel pretty sweet. This is another Green card that feels like it can do a reasonable job of throwing a monkey wrench into the plans of aggro decks, as is often the case for creatures that gain life on ETB.
Terramorphic Expanse image 2.5 This always provides some solid fixing, even for two color decks. It can be particularly appealing when you are splashing one card, as just a single basic land and the Expanse are often enough to make that work.
Pack 1 Pick 2: Tyvar's Stand
Reject Imperfection image 2.0 Cancel ends up being a dud more often than not. The double Blue is surprisingly difficult to get at the right time, and leaving up three mana to counter something can horribly backfire if your opponent can play around it. It is nice that it triggers when you counter something cheap, as countering something that costs less than three feels particularly bad with this kind of card, so at least you get a consolation prize
Necrosquito image 3.0 4-mana 2/2 Flyers have felt pretty bad lately – mostly because they can die to common one mana removal. However, this can grow quite quickly, especially if you combine it with sacrifice effects. But even combat can lead to this being an impressive flyer.
Tyvar's Stand image 3.5 Two mana for +1/+1, hexproof, and indestructible is a pretty solid trick, and this has the upside of both scaling as the game goes on and being castable for only mana when that’s useful for you. The best tricks have the ability to win combat and protect a creature from removal, giving them broad situations where you want to use them, and this definitely does that, and can even give you lethal out of nowhere! This is one of the best Limited combat tricks we’ve ever seen.
Surgical Skullbomb image 2.5 Like the others, this cycles at worst, and can have a real impact on the board that still nets you a card.
Gitaxian Raptor image 3.0 A three mana ¼ flyer is an acceptable rate, so its nice that this has the upside of using oil counters to increase its power and lower its toughness. Three oil counters is a nice number to have, as just attacking with this and turning it into a 2/3 three turns in a row is going to feel pretty good.
Barbed Batterfist image 2.5 Two mana 3/1s tend to play pretty well in aggro decks, and that’s what you get up front here – and then you have the option of moving the Equipment to other stuff – like if you really want your token to be a 2/2, or if something else can benefit from the stat boost. +1/-1 certainly isn’t amazing, but this is really cheap to play and equip, which will be especially nice with Equipment payoffs in the set.
Oil-Gorger Troll image 3.0 A 5-mana ¾ that gains you 3 life when it enters the battlefield is not especially good, so how good this card is comes down to how often you get to draw. I think it is definitely accessible, and one this card is gaining you life and netting you a card, it is going to feel pretty sweet. This is another Green card that feels like it can do a reasonable job of throwing a monkey wrench into the plans of aggro decks, as is often the case for creatures that gain life on ETB.
Whisper of the Dross image 1.5 If you can kill something with this, or have it help you win combat, it will feel pretty good since you’re only spending a single mana! Problem is, those situations won’t be that easy to manufacture
Offer Immortality image 2.5 This trick is always decent. It doesn’t have the upside of helping you do more damage to your opponent, but it trades that in for the flexibility of winning virtually any combat and saving your creature from most removal
Charge of the Mites image 2.5 While you’re overpaying a bit for each of these modes individually, the modality here is definitely nice! If you’re good at going wide – and if you’re in White you probably are – it can be a reasonable removal spell. If you’re having a hard time getting your board going, it can give you a couple of mites!
Malcator's Watcher image 2.0 I like cards that replace themselves, and this has a fairly relevant body by virtue of being evasive and an Artifact.
Maze Skullbomb image 2.5 have the time to use the ability.
Blightbelly Rat image 3.0 A two mana 2/2 is a passable place to start – so adding both Toxic and a nice death trigger to the mix probably makes this one of the best Black Commons
Pack 1 Pick 3: Necrogen Rotpriest
Feed the Infection image 1.5 Lately, Sorcery-speed card draw effects that make you lose life have felt pretty bad, since you spend a significant amount of mana, don’t add to the board, and actually help out your aggressive opponent. However, I do think making your opponent lose 3 as well is a significant upgrade, but it still might be too slow
Necrogen Rotpriest image 3.5 Black/Green is a grinder Toxic deck, as the Rotpriest shows you. It provides a medium defensive body, along with all kinds of toxic upside – you get to poison stuff more quickly, and granting death touch to toxic stuff is nice all game. On some boards, you’re going to put your opponent in a spot where they have to get a significant number of poison counters or set up an ugly block against your potential deathtouch creature. Threat of activation will be pretty real there!
Cephalopod Sentry image 3.5 UW is the most artifact-centric color pair in this format, as Cephalapod Sentry clearly shows. On its own, it is a 4-mana 1/5 flyer, which isn’t the worst rate ever – and if you’re in Blue/White it is likely to be a threat your opponent has to kill, as you’re likely to control many artifacts.
Furnace Strider image 3.0 A 5-mana 4/5 isn’t the worst rate ever, especially because this can give itself haste! On your next turn whatever you cast gains haste too if you want it to, so it feels like you’re getting a pretty solid return on your investment with this.
Ichor Synthesizer image 1.5 A two mana 1/3 is below-rate these days, but this does eventually become an unblockable 3/3, and that’s certainly something your opponent has to contend with. What I don’t like, is that if you don’t get this down early, your chances of getting to four oil counters are significantly curtailed, in which case you’re just playing something that is pretty close to a two mana 1/3, and I don’t like that.
Meldweb Curator image 1.5 This has a mediocre stat-line, and its ability isn’t that impressive either. Getting back removal is nice of course, but putting it on top of your library isn’t that powerful. You’ll usually have to wait a turn to get it, and if you didn’t have something worth getting out of the graveyard, you’re even more out of luck.
Charge of the Mites image 2.5 While you’re overpaying a bit for each of these modes individually, the modality here is definitely nice! If you’re good at going wide – and if you’re in White you probably are – it can be a reasonable removal spell. If you’re having a hard time getting your board going, it can give you a couple of mites!
Axiom Engraver image 1.5 This has a mediocre stat-line, and a card that can rummage a couple of times isn’t exactly something you’re going to go after. You’ll probably play this when you’re desperate for a two drop or some oil counters, but otherwise it won’t make the cut.
Sawblade Scamp image 2.5 This is kind of close to being Thermo-Alchemist, and that card has been great in spell decks in several different formats at this point. This does die super easy, but it only costs one, so your opponent won’t really be able to trade up for it or anything, and if it sits around in play in your spell-heavy deck, it is going to chip in for a ton of damage. Now, it is worse that the Alchemist, because the Alchemist can do damage without the help of spells, it just does more when you have them. The Scamp doesn’t do anything when you can’t find your spells, which happens
Anoint with Affliction image 4.0 This is great. Even without Corrupted, this would be a very nice removal spell – so, the fact that this will be able to remove anything by the mid-to-late game in most Black decks is great. This is certainly premium removal you can spent a high pick on..
Quicksilver Fisher image 2.5 This has reasonable Flying stats and a solid ETB ability. Looting is always a nice effect to tack on to a reasonable creature.
Lattice-Blade Mantis image 3.0 This seems pretty strong for a Common. A 4-mana 4/3 is almost passable, so adding the ability to use oil counters to buff it up to a 5/4 that untaps is really nice. This can hit pretty hard while playing both offense and defense.
Pack 1 Pick 4: Blazing Crescendo
Prosthetic Injector image 1.5 This is cheap to play and Equip, but it doesn’t feel like it is worth a whole card to me. +0/+2 is a pretty meager boost, and while Toxic and Equipment have synergy in this format, there are better options for both of those of things that are also at lower rarities!
Watchful Blisterzoa image 2.5 So, this is basically a 6-mana 4/4 Flyer that draws you a card when it dies, and that’s a 2-for-1.. Sometimes you’ll get more oil on it and draw more cards too. That’s a reasonable enough card, even if that stat-line has felt pretty bad lately. As much as I love 2-for-1s, paying this much mana for one that doesn’t leave behind any board presence at all – and dies to lots of cheap removal – is going to feel rough sometimes. If you need a 6-drop that can finish the game and have some upside, you could do worse than this – but you can probably do better too
Flensing Raptor image 2.5 You’ll often have another Toxic creature around, and when you do this ETB ability is some serious business. When you don’t, you still get a Wind Drake with Toxic 1. I’m giving this a 2.5
Quicksilver Fisher image 2.5 This has reasonable Flying stats and a solid ETB ability. Looting is always a nice effect to tack on to a reasonable creature.
Duress image 0.5 This is a sideboard card. Against someone who isn’t a creature heavy deck, it is worth using. Against your typical Limited deck, though, it isn’t. It will just wiff far too often, and going down a card for no effect is brutal.
Prologue to Phyresis image 2.0 This isn’t especially powerful on its own, as a poison counter isn’t worth a ton on its own – but this is a spell that replaces itself, and the UR deck will make decent use of it
Blazing Crescendo image 2.0 This is somewhat similar to Enthusiastic Study from Strixhaven, in that it gives a +3/+1 boost and draws you a card. Enthusiastic Study gave trample too, which makes it better, but I think this is still a nice trick. Now, a +3/+1 boost isn’t great, as many creatures will still die because the toughness boost is so low – but this offsets that downside by getting you that card back. And, if you do manage to make your creature survive and get the card, it will feel great
Eye of Malcator image 2.0 One of Blue’s big themes is Artifacts, and this is certainly a payoff for playing them. It is nice that it Scries up front, which means you can make sure you are more likely to hit Artifacts on your next couple turns. Still, most of these cards we see that aren’t always creatures but temporarily become creatures when X happens have been sort of underwhelming. Its just rough that the card is near irrelevant on your opponents’ turn, and often doesn’t do enough on your turn either.
Stinging Hivemaster image 3.5 This is a very nice common. A three mana 3/2 with Toxic 1 is already probably playable, so the fact it spits out a Mite when it dies is sweet. It is worth noting that the token’s inability to block does lower the value of the token – more than adding Toxic 1 makes up for
Escaped Experiment image 2.0 On its own, this is a two mana 2/1 that gives -1/-0 to an opposing creature when it attacks, and its ability can lower power a lot more than that! This can often enable nice attacks not just for the Experiment, but the board. That said, it doesn’t really change the ability of your opponent’s creatures to block effectively. They may not be able to kill things they tussle with, but if they could already block your stuff and survive – that will still be true.
Axiom Engraver image 1.5 This has a mediocre stat-line, and a card that can rummage a couple of times isn’t exactly something you’re going to go after. You’ll probably play this when you’re desperate for a two drop or some oil counters, but otherwise it won’t make the cut.
Pack 1 Pick 5: Hexgold Slash
Jawbone Duelist image 3.5 A two mana 1/1 Double Strike always plays really well – it does a great job against other X/1s, and can trade for X/2s, while having all kinds of additional upside with Equipment, tricks, and other buffs. So, adding Toxic 1 to the mix is pretty sweet – especially because it means this will give the opponent two poison each time it goes unblocked. This will also hold all the Equipment in the set really well.
Chittering Skitterling image 2.5 A three mana ¼ isn’t great, but this does end up with a pretty nice ability if you can get Corrupted going. Cashing in irrelevant artifacts or creatures for cards is always nice. It also has the potential to combine quite well with the format’s Threaten effect, since it sacrifices stuff for free!
Hexgold Slash image 3.5 Even without the Toxic-hating upside this card has, it would be quite good! One mana for 2 damage just tends to be a great deal, even allowing you to trade up for lots of 3 and 4 mana cards. Toxic is really everywhere in the format too, so you’re going to be able to do the 4 damage with this at some point in most games.
Sawblade Scamp image 2.5 This is kind of close to being Thermo-Alchemist, and that card has been great in spell decks in several different formats at this point. This does die super easy, but it only costs one, so your opponent won’t really be able to trade up for it or anything, and if it sits around in play in your spell-heavy deck, it is going to chip in for a ton of damage. Now, it is worse that the Alchemist, because the Alchemist can do damage without the help of spells, it just does more when you have them. The Scamp doesn’t do anything when you can’t find your spells, which happens
Pestilent Syphoner image 2.0 This seems solid enough. It represents a real threat thanks to toxic, and is likely to contribute a few poison early. Some decks will just want to turn on their corrupted effects and not actually win with poison, and this will probably be at its best in that type of deck
Dross Skullbomb image 2.5 This one can get a creature back from your graveyard and draw you a card, and once it does that you get a pretty nice 2-for-1
Leonin Lightbringer image 2.5 Equipping this won’t be particularly hard in this format, but it isn’t like the payoff here is amazing or anything. Ward 2 does make it a nice place to put Equipment too, since it feels awful if your opponent kills something in response to you Equipping it, and this makes that a lot harder.
Sinew Dancer image 2.0 So, if you don’t get Corrupted going, this is a pretty bad card. While Master Decoy-type creatures are nice, we’ve seen in the past that asking for four mana for such an effect is just too much, and not an effective way to use your mana on most turns. Obviously, if you can get some poison on your opponent, it gets a lot better – as one mana a turn to tap something often just feels like removal. There is some interesting synergy to be had here, as if you have three poison on your opponent, you probably have some Toxic creatures in play, in which case tapping down a blocker is going to be increasingly problematic for your opponent. That said, getting three poison on your opponent is significant set up, and the baseline card is pretty bad
Maze Skullbomb image 2.5 have the time to use the ability.
Dune Mover image 2.0 This kind of fixing usually isn’t great, because putting the card on top is a pretty massive difference from getting it in your hand or something. But it does have solid stats and brings Toxic to the table.
Pack 1 Pick 6: Magmatic Sprinter
Magmatic Sprinter image 3.5 This looks really good. A three mana 3/2 with Haste is easily a C, and this comes with some pretty real upside! You can use this to put oil counters all over the place by casting it every turn, and there are definitely reasons to do that. Or, you can choose to have this stick in play for a couple of turns at a time if you need the board presence
Vivisurgeon's Insight image 1.5 Man, I have a hard time believing paying 5 to draw three and Proliferate is going to be worth it here. I love the card advantage of course, but paying that much and likely having only a minimal impact on the board seems like a really bad idea
The Dross Pits image 2.5 This seems like a solid utility land cycle. They enter tapped, so you don’t want too many of them, but the fact you can cash them in in the later stages of the game for a card is really nice, and can help when you’re flooding out.
Compleat Devotion image 2.0 Two mana for +2/+2 is a mediocre boost, but the 2-for-1 upside you get when you use this on a Toxic creature is definitely real upside. There’s enough Toxic in White that I feel like this is a 2.0
Sawblade Scamp image 2.5 This is kind of close to being Thermo-Alchemist, and that card has been great in spell decks in several different formats at this point. This does die super easy, but it only costs one, so your opponent won’t really be able to trade up for it or anything, and if it sits around in play in your spell-heavy deck, it is going to chip in for a ton of damage. Now, it is worse that the Alchemist, because the Alchemist can do damage without the help of spells, it just does more when you have them. The Scamp doesn’t do anything when you can’t find your spells, which happens
Experimental Augury image 2.5 Anticipate usually isn’t great in Limited, but tacking Proliferate on to is a pretty big deal. There are lots of counters in this set, and even payoffs for prolfierating specifically! On top of that, UR likes spells, and this kind of instant that replaces itself always gets a boost there. Basically, this will actually effect the board reasonably often thanks to the synergies in the set, while also giving you some solid card selection.
The Hunter Maze image 2.5 This seems like a solid utility land cycle. They enter tapped, so you don’t want too many of them, but the fact you can cash them in in the later stages of the game for a card is really nice, and can help when you’re flooding out.
The Surgical Bay image 2.5 This seems like a solid utility land cycle. They enter tapped, so you don’t want too many of them, but the fact you can cash them in in the later stages of the game for a card is really nice, and can help when you’re flooding out.
Meldweb Curator image 1.5 This has a mediocre stat-line, and its ability isn’t that impressive either. Getting back removal is nice of course, but putting it on top of your library isn’t that powerful. You’ll usually have to wait a turn to get it, and if you didn’t have something worth getting out of the graveyard, you’re even more out of luck.
Pack 1 Pick 7: Churning Reservoir
Churning Reservoir image 1.0 // 3.0 This feels like it has the potential to be quite the value engine, as there are lots of Red cards that can do some stuff with oil counters. The token creation effect certainly isn’t the most efficient thing ever, but I can see some decks finding a way to utilize it on turns when they can. This probably needs a buildaround though, as you really need to have a critical mass of oil counters and oil counter payoffs or this just won’t do enough to be worth a card
Necrogen Communion image 1.0 I don’t like this very much. It is rare that an Aura that brings a creature back when it dies is worth it, and I don’t think adding Toxic 2 is quite enough to make a difference. Both of these effects are only good if your creature is already quite good, and that’s never how you want to do Auras.
Blightbelly Rat image 3.0 A two mana 2/2 is a passable place to start – so adding both Toxic and a nice death trigger to the mix probably makes this one of the best Black Commons
Terramorphic Expanse image 2.5 This always provides some solid fixing, even for two color decks. It can be particularly appealing when you are splashing one card, as just a single basic land and the Expanse are often enough to make that work.
Kuldotha Cackler image 2.5 This will be able to attack with higher power a decent chunk of the time for sure, but the times where it is just a lowly 2/3 will feel pretty rough.
Mandible Justiciar image 3.0 A two mana 2/1 with Lifelink is usually playable anyway, and this will often be a 3/2 or larger on your turn. Seems like a great two drop for aggressive decks that care about artifacts.
Phyrexian Atlas image 1.5 In most formats, a three mana mana rock just isn’t worth it. You need to add more meaningfully to the board, and using a card to get a small mana boost can be pretty rough. In theory, this does start doing something in the middle part of the game, but I’m still not in on this.
Copper Longlegs image 1.5 A two mana 1/3 Reach isn’t very good. This can give itself up to Proliferate which is nice, since it will often not be a very relevant body on the board. Still, it doesn’t seem like this will be making the cut with regularity
Pack 1 Pick 8: Chimney Rabble
Paladin of Predation image 2.0 This is hard to chump block, and it can end the game in two swings thanks to Toxic. The stat-line isn’t amazing for the cost though, and there will still be enough boards where your opponent can just double block it to take it down. It also doesn’t deliver any bonus value you get to hold on to in the event it gets destroyed, and if I’m going to spend 7 mana, I feel like I should get something, even a bit of life or a 1/1 token would make a big difference.
Gitaxian Anatomist image 1.5 A 4-mana 2/5 is passable, and having the option to Proliferate can be nice, especially because Blue has lots of oil counters running around – and some poison too! It is definitely awkward you have to tap this to Proliferate, since the thing this card is best at in terms of combat is blocking, and not being able to do that for a turn might be a liability.
Chrome Prowler image 1.5 None of what this does feels especially meaningful. It has mediocre stats and an ETB ability that is underwhelming. A 3/2 with Flash can ambush block stuff, but not that effectively – it just ends up being a surprise trade or chump block. The tap effect will be nice at times, but this just doesn’t feel like it has enough of an impact to make the cut consistently.
Zealot's Conviction image 2.5 A one mana Aura with Flash that gives +1/+1 is already somewhat acceptable. The boost isn’t massive, so it can’t win that many combats, but the fact that it leaves a permanent buff behind really matters, because it means you effect the board in the short-term and long-term when you can win combat. Then, when you get Corrupted going, this becomes really good, as +2/+1 and First Strike is going to win you most combats, and the boost is once again permanent! One mana tricks really tend to overperform, even when the lack the ability to save a creature from most removal like this
Chimney Rabble image 3.0 I like the rate here. 4/4 of stats for 4, including 3 power that rumbles right away. Going wide is definitely a thing in this format, too
Infectious Inquiry image 2.0 Black usually gets a three mana Common that does some version of draw 2 lose 2, and it is usually a passable card. Not adding to the board can be a liability, and this format does feel like it will be a fast one – so you never really want more than one of these. That first copy seems alright, though.
Ichor Synthesizer image 1.5 A two mana 1/3 is below-rate these days, but this does eventually become an unblockable 3/3, and that’s certainly something your opponent has to contend with. What I don’t like, is that if you don’t get this down early, your chances of getting to four oil counters are significantly curtailed, in which case you’re just playing something that is pretty close to a two mana 1/3, and I don’t like that.
Pack 1 Pick 9: Sawblade Scamp
Testament Bearer image 2.0 This can give you a 2-for-1 with some nice card selection, but a 4-mana 4/1 is a rough rate
Meldweb Strider image 2.0 A 5-mana 5/5 Vigilance Vehicle with Crew 3 is probably a 1.5. That’s just not a very good rate for a card that isn’t a creature unless you do some extra work! The fact this comes with an oil counter does matter though, as it does make it so this can be a creature all on its one for one turn, and if you proliferate it can become a real problem. Of course, the upside there is still that this is just a 5-mana 5/5 with Vigilance – which is nice, but again – there is work to be done to even get it to the point where it does that consistently.
Sawblade Scamp image 2.5 This is kind of close to being Thermo-Alchemist, and that card has been great in spell decks in several different formats at this point. This does die super easy, but it only costs one, so your opponent won’t really be able to trade up for it or anything, and if it sits around in play in your spell-heavy deck, it is going to chip in for a ton of damage. Now, it is worse that the Alchemist, because the Alchemist can do damage without the help of spells, it just does more when you have them. The Scamp doesn’t do anything when you can’t find your spells, which happens
Vulshok Splitter image 2.0 So, this is effectively a 4-mana 4/2 when it comes down – one that leaves behind a pretty clunky piece of equipment. Neither of these things is that impressive for 4 mana, but the initial creature you get out of this definitely softens the blow, especially in a format with lots of payoffs for Equipment.
Oil-Gorger Troll image 3.0 A 5-mana ¾ that gains you 3 life when it enters the battlefield is not especially good, so how good this card is comes down to how often you get to draw. I think it is definitely accessible, and one this card is gaining you life and netting you a card, it is going to feel pretty sweet. This is another Green card that feels like it can do a reasonable job of throwing a monkey wrench into the plans of aggro decks, as is often the case for creatures that gain life on ETB.
Terramorphic Expanse image 2.5 This always provides some solid fixing, even for two color decks. It can be particularly appealing when you are splashing one card, as just a single basic land and the Expanse are often enough to make that work.
Pack 1 Pick 10: Reject Imperfection
Reject Imperfection image 2.0 Cancel ends up being a dud more often than not. The double Blue is surprisingly difficult to get at the right time, and leaving up three mana to counter something can horribly backfire if your opponent can play around it. It is nice that it triggers when you counter something cheap, as countering something that costs less than three feels particularly bad with this kind of card, so at least you get a consolation prize
Surgical Skullbomb image 2.5 Like the others, this cycles at worst, and can have a real impact on the board that still nets you a card.
Gitaxian Raptor image 3.0 A three mana ¼ flyer is an acceptable rate, so its nice that this has the upside of using oil counters to increase its power and lower its toughness. Three oil counters is a nice number to have, as just attacking with this and turning it into a 2/3 three turns in a row is going to feel pretty good.
Offer Immortality image 2.5 This trick is always decent. It doesn’t have the upside of helping you do more damage to your opponent, but it trades that in for the flexibility of winning virtually any combat and saving your creature from most removal
Maze Skullbomb image 2.5 have the time to use the ability.
Pack 1 Pick 11: Sawblade Scamp
Meldweb Curator image 1.5 This has a mediocre stat-line, and its ability isn’t that impressive either. Getting back removal is nice of course, but putting it on top of your library isn’t that powerful. You’ll usually have to wait a turn to get it, and if you didn’t have something worth getting out of the graveyard, you’re even more out of luck.
Axiom Engraver image 1.5 This has a mediocre stat-line, and a card that can rummage a couple of times isn’t exactly something you’re going to go after. You’ll probably play this when you’re desperate for a two drop or some oil counters, but otherwise it won’t make the cut.
Sawblade Scamp image 2.5 This is kind of close to being Thermo-Alchemist, and that card has been great in spell decks in several different formats at this point. This does die super easy, but it only costs one, so your opponent won’t really be able to trade up for it or anything, and if it sits around in play in your spell-heavy deck, it is going to chip in for a ton of damage. Now, it is worse that the Alchemist, because the Alchemist can do damage without the help of spells, it just does more when you have them. The Scamp doesn’t do anything when you can’t find your spells, which happens
Quicksilver Fisher image 2.5 This has reasonable Flying stats and a solid ETB ability. Looting is always a nice effect to tack on to a reasonable creature.
Pack 1 Pick 12: Eye of Malcator
Prologue to Phyresis image 2.0 This isn’t especially powerful on its own, as a poison counter isn’t worth a ton on its own – but this is a spell that replaces itself, and the UR deck will make decent use of it
Eye of Malcator image 2.0 One of Blue’s big themes is Artifacts, and this is certainly a payoff for playing them. It is nice that it Scries up front, which means you can make sure you are more likely to hit Artifacts on your next couple turns. Still, most of these cards we see that aren’t always creatures but temporarily become creatures when X happens have been sort of underwhelming. Its just rough that the card is near irrelevant on your opponents’ turn, and often doesn’t do enough on your turn either.
Escaped Experiment image 2.0 On its own, this is a two mana 2/1 that gives -1/-0 to an opposing creature when it attacks, and its ability can lower power a lot more than that! This can often enable nice attacks not just for the Experiment, but the board. That said, it doesn’t really change the ability of your opponent’s creatures to block effectively. They may not be able to kill things they tussle with, but if they could already block your stuff and survive – that will still be true.
Pack 1 Pick 13: Sawblade Scamp
Sawblade Scamp image 2.5 This is kind of close to being Thermo-Alchemist, and that card has been great in spell decks in several different formats at this point. This does die super easy, but it only costs one, so your opponent won’t really be able to trade up for it or anything, and if it sits around in play in your spell-heavy deck, it is going to chip in for a ton of damage. Now, it is worse that the Alchemist, because the Alchemist can do damage without the help of spells, it just does more when you have them. The Scamp doesn’t do anything when you can’t find your spells, which happens
Sinew Dancer image 2.0 So, if you don’t get Corrupted going, this is a pretty bad card. While Master Decoy-type creatures are nice, we’ve seen in the past that asking for four mana for such an effect is just too much, and not an effective way to use your mana on most turns. Obviously, if you can get some poison on your opponent, it gets a lot better – as one mana a turn to tap something often just feels like removal. There is some interesting synergy to be had here, as if you have three poison on your opponent, you probably have some Toxic creatures in play, in which case tapping down a blocker is going to be increasingly problematic for your opponent. That said, getting three poison on your opponent is significant set up, and the baseline card is pretty bad
Pack 1 Pick 14: The Surgical Bay
The Surgical Bay image 2.5 This seems like a solid utility land cycle. They enter tapped, so you don’t want too many of them, but the fact you can cash them in in the later stages of the game for a card is really nice, and can help when you’re flooding out.
Pack 2 Pick 1: Ovika, Enigma Goliath
Ovika, Enigma Goliath image 4.5 This is expensive, but it does give you quite the impressive creature. Ward 3 and pay three life is pretty legit, as it makes it harder for your opponent to efficiently deal with the Goliath, and they are going to take a hit in terms of their life no matter what they do – and that’s the fail case here. Then, if you untap with it and cast some noncreature spell, the game is pretty much over, since you make an army of tokens that can either allow you to finish your opponent off or gain a massive advantage on the board. You won’t always find yourself able to do that of course, but you’re still talking about a 6/6 Flyer that is an absolute pain to kill. I think this sneaks into the lower “bomb” range, since it gives you solid value even if the worst-case thing happens, and if it sticks around, you’re just going to win.
Ambulatory Edifice image 3.0 When you can kill something with the -1/-1 this will feel pretty good. When you can’t, it will feel pretty mediocre. Sometimes you’ll be able to weaken something in a way that is beneficial for you, but you definitely want to be killing stuff with it.
Vat of Rebirth image 1.0 This seems like it takes too much work. If you play it early it will definitely build up counters and then reanimate something at some point, but if you get it in the mid to late game, it is likely to be a little too slow to actually do anything, and that’s a huge downside
Slaughter Singer image 4.0 So, GW is about Toxic aggro – and A two mana 2/2 with Toxic 2 is already pretty solid, so offering a boost to all of your toxic creatures is nice – and will feel especially good with the tokens in the format. If you get it early it will allow you to be really aggressive, and if you get it late it can still have a pretty real and immediate impact
Quicksilver Fisher image 2.5 This has reasonable Flying stats and a solid ETB ability. Looting is always a nice effect to tack on to a reasonable creature.
Myr Custodian image 1.5 If this only Scried 2 for you, it would probably be a 2.5. Scry 2 is pretty nice card selection Letting your opponent also Scry 1 obviously makes it worse, especially because your opponent can take advantage of their Scry before you can.
Kuldotha Cackler image 2.5 This will be able to attack with higher power a decent chunk of the time for sure, but the times where it is just a lowly 2/3 will feel pretty rough.
Annihilating Glare image 3.5 This is reminiscent of Eaten Alive, a Common removal spell that played really well in a format that had lots of expendable tokens to sacrifice. You know what this format also has? That’s right, lots of expendable tokens – especially if you’re in Black/White and have access to lots of Mites.
Glistener Seer image 2.0 One mana 0/3s are pretty underwhelming. This one does Scry a few times though, and that can be useful all game long.
Vanish into Eternity image 1.5 Six mana to exile a creature is pretty far from an ideal rate, even on an instant. It just isn’t easy for a spell that expensive to ever be premium, because you will usually overpay to kill a cheaper creature. But the fact that this can deal with other permanent types much more efficiently helps things even out. Basically this is going to be a more expensive Disenchant early, and late it can deal with anything. It definitely isn’t premium, even with its modality, but I think the first copy will make the cut in a lot of White decks.
Contagious Vorrac image 4.0 This is a great Common. If this could only proliferate, or only get a land from the top four, it would be a good Common – having the option between both is great. It can help you hit your land drop when you need it to, and then you can Proliferate in the later game and get some nice value.
Chimney Rabble image 3.0 I like the rate here. 4/4 of stats for 4, including 3 power that rumbles right away. Going wide is definitely a thing in this format, too
Dune Mover image 2.0 This kind of fixing usually isn’t great, because putting the card on top is a pretty massive difference from getting it in your hand or something. But it does have solid stats and brings Toxic to the table.
The Hunter Maze image 2.5 This seems like a solid utility land cycle. They enter tapped, so you don’t want too many of them, but the fact you can cash them in in the later stages of the game for a card is really nice, and can help when you’re flooding out.
Pack 2 Pick 2: Bladegraft Aspirant
Sheoldred's Edict image 2.0 Edict effects aren’t nearly as good in Limited as in constructed, mostly because most decks have multiples of things in play and can really minimize the downside. This one is an instant, and it gives you three options that should, in theory, allow you to maximize what it can do, but I’m still not overly impressed with this. It is better early, and pretty bad the longer the game goes on
Oxidda Finisher image 2.5 Paying 7 for this is bad, 6 is medium, and 5 is solid. Getting it lower than that is sort of unlikely, although with For Mirrodin!, it will be easier to play more Equipment in this format than in most. Normally you can’t run a ton of it because you need the creatures to put it on, but most of the Equipment in this set gives you both. Still, getting this to 5 is a reasonable expectation, getting below that probably isn’t.
Noxious Assault image 1.0 This is an interesting take on a mass pump effect. There will certainly be times where this puts your opponent in a lose-lose situation, since they can neither take all the damage or get the poison counters, but most of the time they can probably find a way to mix and match and survive. Five mana for this sorcery speed boost is normally just not a very good card in Limited and I don’t feel like the poison counter upside is enough for me to want to play this in this format. It is definitely hard to evaluate, as the poison vs. damage choice can definitely be powerful, but I think this is probably still too situational to be very good.
Terramorphic Expanse image 2.5 This always provides some solid fixing, even for two color decks. It can be particularly appealing when you are splashing one card, as just a single basic land and the Expanse are often enough to make that work.
Zealot's Conviction image 2.5 A one mana Aura with Flash that gives +1/+1 is already somewhat acceptable. The boost isn’t massive, so it can’t win that many combats, but the fact that it leaves a permanent buff behind really matters, because it means you effect the board in the short-term and long-term when you can win combat. Then, when you get Corrupted going, this becomes really good, as +2/+1 and First Strike is going to win you most combats, and the boost is once again permanent! One mana tricks really tend to overperform, even when the lack the ability to save a creature from most removal like this
Eye of Malcator image 2.0 One of Blue’s big themes is Artifacts, and this is certainly a payoff for playing them. It is nice that it Scries up front, which means you can make sure you are more likely to hit Artifacts on your next couple turns. Still, most of these cards we see that aren’t always creatures but temporarily become creatures when X happens have been sort of underwhelming. Its just rough that the card is near irrelevant on your opponents’ turn, and often doesn’t do enough on your turn either.
Fleshless Gladiator image 3.0 This seems like a solid Common. You can play it early as a bear, and then in the mid to late game it can start coming back from your graveyard, which can net you a very real advantage
Plague Nurse image 2.0 A 4-mana ¾ with Toxic 2 is fine, and adding more Toxic to your Toxic creatures can definitely cause problems. The threat of activation is something that your opponent really has to consider on a board with a few other Toxic creatures.
Phyrexian Atlas image 1.5 In most formats, a three mana mana rock just isn’t worth it. You need to add more meaningfully to the board, and using a card to get a small mana boost can be pretty rough. In theory, this does start doing something in the middle part of the game, but I’m still not in on this.
Tyrranax Atrocity image 2.5 Toxic 3 is a lot, as it will immediately give you Corrupted if you don’t already have it, and if you do already have it 3 poison is going to get your opponent in the red zone. Toxic pairs really well with Haste too, as it makes it easier to get in that first time, or at the very least set up a situation where your opponent’s options are a bad chump block or taking the hit.
Basilica Shepherd image 4.0 Say hello to the white Diregraf Horde! This is a great Common that adds a ton to the board for the cost. While the Pests being unable to block is definitely a downside, there is a lot you can do with those Artifact tokens – including sacrificing them or simply using them to go wide. This is probably White’s best Common.
Bladegraft Aspirant image 2.5 A three mana 2/3 with Menace is usuallya lready playable, but this also gives you some big Equipment upside! Making it cheaper to play and cheaper to put on the Aspirant is pretty serious. A menace creature is great for suiting up too
The Autonomous Furnace image 2.5 This seems like a solid utility land cycle. They enter tapped, so you don’t want too many of them, but the fact you can cash them in in the later stages of the game for a card is really nice, and can help when you’re flooding out.
Pack 2 Pick 3: Atraxa's Skitterfang
Soulless Jailer image 1.0 These abilities don’t hate on very much in this format, but it is a two mana 0/4 that happens to be an artifact,, so it probably isn’t a complete disaster to play it. I don’t think the typical deck in the format will have enough cards that the ability actually comes up, but there are definitely a few Uncommons in the format it actually does something against
Atraxa's Skitterfang image 4.0 This looks great for an Uncommon. Gray Ogre stats are never very good, but the ability tacked on to this is pretty huge! Granting a keyword to something once a turn for three turns is quite strong, especially because you can do it the turn you play it if you play it before combat. One of these keywords is extremely likely to be beneficial for you every single turn, giving you attacks you just didn’t have. It can also give the keyword to itself, though that doesn’t help you on that first turn. But if you don’t have a creature to buff with it, you can just wait to play it until your second main phase. It gets better in a world where you have ways to take more advantage of oil counters too! Its also colorless, so I can see this getting first picked a lot, since it will end up in your deck 100% of the time and is a powerful card.
Cacophony Scamp image 3.5 A one mana 1/1 that does 1 to something when it dies is usually a playable card – it can trade up for X/2s and it can get 2-for-1s against two X/1s! On top of that, this has proliferate upside. Getting in with this and sacrificing it to get a couple extra counters – while also pinging something for 1, is going to feel pretty good. Enhancing it with Equipment, tricks, and auras will feel especially great.
Charge of the Mites image 2.5 While you’re overpaying a bit for each of these modes individually, the modality here is definitely nice! If you’re good at going wide – and if you’re in White you probably are – it can be a reasonable removal spell. If you’re having a hard time getting your board going, it can give you a couple of mites!
Malcator's Watcher image 2.0 I like cards that replace themselves, and this has a fairly relevant body by virtue of being evasive and an Artifact.
Ruthless Predation image 3.5 This is basically Epic Confrontation, which is a great Limited Common. +1/+2 enables a lot more of your creatures to Fight successfully, and you can often knock a blocker out of the way and swing in with your buffed creature.
Thrill of Possibility image 1.5 We’ve seen this before, and it is often the kind of card that spell decks will run, but no one else really wants to play, and even the spell decks would be happier with a lot of other instants and sorceries that draw them cards!
Surgical Skullbomb image 2.5 Like the others, this cycles at worst, and can have a real impact on the board that still nets you a card.
Compleat Devotion image 2.0 Two mana for +2/+2 is a mediocre boost, but the 2-for-1 upside you get when you use this on a Toxic creature is definitely real upside. There’s enough Toxic in White that I feel like this is a 2.0
Sinew Dancer image 2.0 So, if you don’t get Corrupted going, this is a pretty bad card. While Master Decoy-type creatures are nice, we’ve seen in the past that asking for four mana for such an effect is just too much, and not an effective way to use your mana on most turns. Obviously, if you can get some poison on your opponent, it gets a lot better – as one mana a turn to tap something often just feels like removal. There is some interesting synergy to be had here, as if you have three poison on your opponent, you probably have some Toxic creatures in play, in which case tapping down a blocker is going to be increasingly problematic for your opponent. That said, getting three poison on your opponent is significant set up, and the baseline card is pretty bad
Sheoldred's Headcleaver image 1.5 A 4-mana 2/4 with Menace is probably a 1.0 at best, and while adding Toxic to the mix is nice, this still dies to a whole lot of common double blocks
Ichorspit Basilisk image 1.5 A three mana 1/3 Deathtouch isn’t the most impressive thing ever, but it does provide a pretty good road block. Adding Toxic to a death toucher is nice upside, since blocking this can be a real pain
Pack 2 Pick 4: Atraxa's Skitterfang
Plated Onslaught image 1.5 // 3.0 Here is your big payoff for going wide with Mites! Your artifacts make it cheaper, and having a bunch of artifact creatures is going to feel really good when you have a +2/+1 boost. This sort of card usually needs a build around grade, because if you don’t have enough ways to go really wide, you can’t really play it – but when you’re in the right deck, this ends a lot of games
Font of Progress image 0.0 Mill strategies rarely work out in Limited, mostly because actually effecting the board is all important, and mill has almost no effect on the game until your opponent actually runs out of cards. There is a card we’ll see later in this video that can really help you win with mill, but I don’t think this one will. You don’t really want to spend your mana on this ability – you want to be playing things that are more meaningful. Even proliferating to get this to where it mills more cards isn’t going to be good enough
Atraxa's Skitterfang image 4.0 This looks great for an Uncommon. Gray Ogre stats are never very good, but the ability tacked on to this is pretty huge! Granting a keyword to something once a turn for three turns is quite strong, especially because you can do it the turn you play it if you play it before combat. One of these keywords is extremely likely to be beneficial for you every single turn, giving you attacks you just didn’t have. It can also give the keyword to itself, though that doesn’t help you on that first turn. But if you don’t have a creature to buff with it, you can just wait to play it until your second main phase. It gets better in a world where you have ways to take more advantage of oil counters too! Its also colorless, so I can see this getting first picked a lot, since it will end up in your deck 100% of the time and is a powerful card.
Thrill of Possibility image 1.5 We’ve seen this before, and it is often the kind of card that spell decks will run, but no one else really wants to play, and even the spell decks would be happier with a lot of other instants and sorceries that draw them cards!
Testament Bearer image 2.0 This can give you a 2-for-1 with some nice card selection, but a 4-mana 4/1 is a rough rate
Thirsting Roots image 2.5 This is a solid modal card. It can help you fix your mana or just hit a land drop, and it is the kind of card that can almost stand in for a land in your deck, since it is almost a modal double-faced land card! Once you have the lands you need, you can Proliferate for some nice value. Sometimes neither mode will be useful, which is a bummer – but most of the time you’ll be getting something worthwhile for the investment.
Mandible Justiciar image 3.0 A two mana 2/1 with Lifelink is usually playable anyway, and this will often be a 3/2 or larger on your turn. Seems like a great two drop for aggressive decks that care about artifacts.
Cruel Grimnarch image 1.5 Oftentimes a creature that makes your opponent discard really drops off in the late game, because your opponent is in top deck mode. So, its nice that this can gain you 4 life in that situation. We’re still talking about a creature that is fairly below-rate. Adding deathtouch to a 5/5 isn’t a huge upgrade, and if your opponent just holds on to a land in the late game this will still have the usual downside this type of card has
Vulshok Splitter image 2.0 So, this is effectively a 4-mana 4/2 when it comes down – one that leaves behind a pretty clunky piece of equipment. Neither of these things is that impressive for 4 mana, but the initial creature you get out of this definitely softens the blow, especially in a format with lots of payoffs for Equipment.
Titanic Growth image 2.0 +4/+4 will win you most combats, and two mana isn’t a terrible amount to spend for the boost. It can also sneak in lethal out of nowhere.
Blazing Crescendo image 2.0 This is somewhat similar to Enthusiastic Study from Strixhaven, in that it gives a +3/+1 boost and draws you a card. Enthusiastic Study gave trample too, which makes it better, but I think this is still a nice trick. Now, a +3/+1 boost isn’t great, as many creatures will still die because the toughness boost is so low – but this offsets that downside by getting you that card back. And, if you do manage to make your creature survive and get the card, it will feel great
Pack 2 Pick 5: Kuldotha Cackler
Swooping Lookout image 2.5 A one mana ½ with Flying and Vigilance would be a solid card in most formats. It is typically a card people can overrate in Limited, because a ½ Flyer is pretty irrelevant in most games by the middle or late game, but in a format with lots of incentives to play Equipment, this gets significantly more interesting. There will definitely be games where this comes down on turn one and does some damage, then gets suited up and runs away with the game. It probably isn’t great, but I don’t imagine you’ll ever cut the first of these from a White deck that is interested in being aggressive
Tamiyo's Logbook image 1.0 // 3.5 This reminds me a lot of Jodah’s Codex. It can give you some unbeatable card advantage, but there is some serious work you need to do to get there. You’re going to have to get the cost way down on this significantly or it won’t be worth playing. While there are lots of artifacts in the set, I’m skeptical that just any Blue deck can turn this into a card worth playing, so it feels like this needs a buildaround grade.
Carnivorous Canopy image 1.5 There are enough Artifacts and Enchantments in this set that this it probably isn’t a disaster to run this, especially with that Proliferate upside. It is a bit of a bummer that all this Artifact spot removal is a little worse in a world with the “For Mirrodin!” mechanic, because your opponent still holds on to a token, and being a Sorcery is pretty rough too. This is mostly a sideboard card, though. I think you’ll be disappointed if this makes your main deck.
Oil-Gorger Troll image 3.0 A 5-mana ¾ that gains you 3 life when it enters the battlefield is not especially good, so how good this card is comes down to how often you get to draw. I think it is definitely accessible, and one this card is gaining you life and netting you a card, it is going to feel pretty sweet. This is another Green card that feels like it can do a reasonable job of throwing a monkey wrench into the plans of aggro decks, as is often the case for creatures that gain life on ETB.
Kuldotha Cackler image 2.5 This will be able to attack with higher power a decent chunk of the time for sure, but the times where it is just a lowly 2/3 will feel pretty rough.
Hazardous Blast image 1.5 // 2.5 We’ve seen this card before, more or less, and in the right deck it can be a pretty good way to end the game, as turning off all blocking can really allow you to do a ton of damage. In a pinch, it can also sweep away a bunch of X/1s, like Mite tokens and the like – so it sort of has an alternate mode, but certainly the most powerful thing to do with it is use it to let you alpha strike for the win. With Toxic in the format, it may be easier than normal to set up lethal too, since you can threaten with both poison counters and damage
Aspirant's Ascent image 2.0 One mana tricks have been some pretty serious business of late, and I think this looks like another solid one. This kind of gives you two separate uses, which is great for such a low cost! First it can be used as a traditional trick to help your creature win combat with the +1/+3 boost – but you can also use it before your opponent blocks to make a big creature take to the air and crack in for a bunch of damage – along with some toxic upside
Infectious Inquiry image 2.0 Black usually gets a three mana Common that does some version of draw 2 lose 2, and it is usually a passable card. Not adding to the board can be a liability, and this format does feel like it will be a fast one – so you never really want more than one of these. That first copy seems alright, though.
Axiom Engraver image 1.5 This has a mediocre stat-line, and a card that can rummage a couple of times isn’t exactly something you’re going to go after. You’ll probably play this when you’re desperate for a two drop or some oil counters, but otherwise it won’t make the cut.
Incisor Glider image 2.5 This looks like a pretty nice common! A two mana ⅓ with Flying is sort of passable to begin with, and this has a really nice Corrupted Trigger, as buffing the whole board can really change combat. It also doesn’t hurt that cheap Flyers go really well with all the Equipment in the set.
Pack 2 Pick 6: Incubation Sac
Necrogen Communion image 1.0 I don’t like this very much. It is rare that an Aura that brings a creature back when it dies is worth it, and I don’t think adding Toxic 2 is quite enough to make a difference. Both of these effects are only good if your creature is already quite good, and that’s never how you want to do Auras.
Incubation Sac image 3.5 This has the potential to be really good in Limited, especially because it has the ability to make three bodies at the very least! Now, it certainly isn’t efficient at doing it, but in a lot of Limited formats cards that simply let you outcard the opponent are what you need, and this will definitely do it. A three-for-one really isn’t out of the question, and that’s not something you find at lower rarities most of the time. It reminds me a little bit of Mask of the Jadecrafter from The Brothers’ War, which turned out to be pretty good. I’m going to start the format pretty high on this thing – though if it ends up being a format that is dominated by aggro, this will drop precipitously.
The Autonomous Furnace image 2.5 This seems like a solid utility land cycle. They enter tapped, so you don’t want too many of them, but the fact you can cash them in in the later stages of the game for a card is really nice, and can help when you’re flooding out.
Escaped Experiment image 2.0 On its own, this is a two mana 2/1 that gives -1/-0 to an opposing creature when it attacks, and its ability can lower power a lot more than that! This can often enable nice attacks not just for the Experiment, but the board. That said, it doesn’t really change the ability of your opponent’s creatures to block effectively. They may not be able to kill things they tussle with, but if they could already block your stuff and survive – that will still be true.
Skyscythe Engulfer image 1.5 If you’re behind, it can hang back and block even flyers, and if you’re ahead, it can attack pretty hard. I wish there was some sort of ETB associated with it so you got some permanent value, though. Six mana is a lot to not get something like that!
Myr Custodian image 1.5 If this only Scried 2 for you, it would probably be a 2.5. Scry 2 is pretty nice card selection Letting your opponent also Scry 1 obviously makes it worse, especially because your opponent can take advantage of their Scry before you can.
Gitaxian Raptor image 3.0 A three mana ¼ flyer is an acceptable rate, so its nice that this has the upside of using oil counters to increase its power and lower its toughness. Three oil counters is a nice number to have, as just attacking with this and turning it into a 2/3 three turns in a row is going to feel pretty good.
Annihilating Glare image 3.5 This is reminiscent of Eaten Alive, a Common removal spell that played really well in a format that had lots of expendable tokens to sacrifice. You know what this format also has? That’s right, lots of expendable tokens – especially if you’re in Black/White and have access to lots of Mites.
Myr Kinsmith image 0.0 // 2.0 There aren’t really that many Myrs in the set, so I mostly don’t see this getting off the ground. If you have at least three Myr, it is probably worth playing, as it will be able to generate a 2-for-1. And if you have Myr Convert, this will sort of fix your mana too. It is probably unplayable in most Limited decks, and playable if you have a couple of Converts.
Pack 2 Pick 7: Sawblade Scamp
Gleeful Demolition image 3.0 This format has a lot of Artifacts including Artifact creatures, so a card that can destroy them for one mana is already a card you’ll always play. That is definitely the mode you’re going to choose most frequently, but sometimes destroying your own thing is more beneficial. Like if you need extra bodies to go wide to win the game, or if you need those bodies to block
Font of Progress image 0.0 Mill strategies rarely work out in Limited, mostly because actually effecting the board is all important, and mill has almost no effect on the game until your opponent actually runs out of cards. There is a card we’ll see later in this video that can really help you win with mill, but I don’t think this one will. You don’t really want to spend your mana on this ability – you want to be playing things that are more meaningful. Even proliferating to get this to where it mills more cards isn’t going to be good enough
Duress image 0.5 This is a sideboard card. Against someone who isn’t a creature heavy deck, it is worth using. Against your typical Limited deck, though, it isn’t. It will just wiff far too often, and going down a card for no effect is brutal.
Gitaxian Raptor image 3.0 A three mana ¼ flyer is an acceptable rate, so its nice that this has the upside of using oil counters to increase its power and lower its toughness. Three oil counters is a nice number to have, as just attacking with this and turning it into a 2/3 three turns in a row is going to feel pretty good.
Sawblade Scamp image 2.5 This is kind of close to being Thermo-Alchemist, and that card has been great in spell decks in several different formats at this point. This does die super easy, but it only costs one, so your opponent won’t really be able to trade up for it or anything, and if it sits around in play in your spell-heavy deck, it is going to chip in for a ton of damage. Now, it is worse that the Alchemist, because the Alchemist can do damage without the help of spells, it just does more when you have them. The Scamp doesn’t do anything when you can’t find your spells, which happens
Bonepicker Skirge image 3.0 A three mana 2/2 Flyer isn’t quite as good as it used to be – but it is still decent enough, so adding some additional effects usually makes for a nice card, and that’s what we have here. If this always had deathtouch and lifelink it would be a 4.0, but you do have to jump through some hoops here.
Furnace Skullbomb image 1.5 I think this is probably the worst of the bunch, mostly because its effect is more niche than the others. If you don’t have a permanent that cares about oil counters, it doesn’t do anything, while the others have effects that pretty much always do something. It still can be cycled away easily, and when you can get value out of the counters it is fine, but it is a bit worse than the others.
Vanish into Eternity image 1.5 Six mana to exile a creature is pretty far from an ideal rate, even on an instant. It just isn’t easy for a spell that expensive to ever be premium, because you will usually overpay to kill a cheaper creature. But the fact that this can deal with other permanent types much more efficiently helps things even out. Basically this is going to be a more expensive Disenchant early, and late it can deal with anything. It definitely isn’t premium, even with its modality, but I think the first copy will make the cut in a lot of White decks.
Pack 2 Pick 8: Blazing Crescendo
Incubation Sac image 3.5 This has the potential to be really good in Limited, especially because it has the ability to make three bodies at the very least! Now, it certainly isn’t efficient at doing it, but in a lot of Limited formats cards that simply let you outcard the opponent are what you need, and this will definitely do it. A three-for-one really isn’t out of the question, and that’s not something you find at lower rarities most of the time. It reminds me a little bit of Mask of the Jadecrafter from The Brothers’ War, which turned out to be pretty good. I’m going to start the format pretty high on this thing – though if it ends up being a format that is dominated by aggro, this will drop precipitously.
Cutthroat Centurion image 2.0 This can threaten to become a 4/4 any time it swings, which is pretty nice. This kind of card often gets through without you actually having to sacrifice anything to it, because the opponent just can’t muster a good block. This also combines well with the various sacrifice synergies, and being a free Sacrifice effect means it has the upside of working really well with Red’s usual Threaten effect.
Rustvine Cultivator image 1.5 This doesn’t look very good. The best thing about a mana dork is that it can play you more powerful spells every turn. This can’t do that. It will finally untap a land on turn three, and while the boost is nice, the fact you had to tap this twice to get it is no small thing. Sure, you can proliferate and stuff to have to tap it less, but you’re jumping through some pretty serious hoops to make your one drop work.
Branchblight Stalker image 2.5 A two mana 3/1 with upside will usually make the cut in aggro decks, but it isn’t anything special
Mirran Bardiche image 2.0 This one gives you a 5-mana 4/3 with Vigilance up front. As is the case for most of the Common For Mirrodin! Artifacts, that rate wouldn’t really be acceptable all on its own – but being able to move the boost around when you need to is nice.
Blazing Crescendo image 2.0 This is somewhat similar to Enthusiastic Study from Strixhaven, in that it gives a +3/+1 boost and draws you a card. Enthusiastic Study gave trample too, which makes it better, but I think this is still a nice trick. Now, a +3/+1 boost isn’t great, as many creatures will still die because the toughness boost is so low – but this offsets that downside by getting you that card back. And, if you do manage to make your creature survive and get the card, it will feel great
Prophetic Prism image 2.5 We’ve seen this before and it is always surprisingly good. Filtering mana is of course in efficient, and this doesn’t actually net you mana – but the fact this fixes your mana and replaces itself is no small thing. Actually getting a card worth of value is a big deal.
Pack 2 Pick 9: Dune Mover
Myr Custodian image 1.5 If this only Scried 2 for you, it would probably be a 2.5. Scry 2 is pretty nice card selection Letting your opponent also Scry 1 obviously makes it worse, especially because your opponent can take advantage of their Scry before you can.
Kuldotha Cackler image 2.5 This will be able to attack with higher power a decent chunk of the time for sure, but the times where it is just a lowly 2/3 will feel pretty rough.
Glistener Seer image 2.0 One mana 0/3s are pretty underwhelming. This one does Scry a few times though, and that can be useful all game long.
Vanish into Eternity image 1.5 Six mana to exile a creature is pretty far from an ideal rate, even on an instant. It just isn’t easy for a spell that expensive to ever be premium, because you will usually overpay to kill a cheaper creature. But the fact that this can deal with other permanent types much more efficiently helps things even out. Basically this is going to be a more expensive Disenchant early, and late it can deal with anything. It definitely isn’t premium, even with its modality, but I think the first copy will make the cut in a lot of White decks.
Dune Mover image 2.0 This kind of fixing usually isn’t great, because putting the card on top is a pretty massive difference from getting it in your hand or something. But it does have solid stats and brings Toxic to the table.
The Hunter Maze image 2.5 This seems like a solid utility land cycle. They enter tapped, so you don’t want too many of them, but the fact you can cash them in in the later stages of the game for a card is really nice, and can help when you’re flooding out.
Pack 2 Pick 10: Tyrranax Atrocity
Zealot's Conviction image 2.5 A one mana Aura with Flash that gives +1/+1 is already somewhat acceptable. The boost isn’t massive, so it can’t win that many combats, but the fact that it leaves a permanent buff behind really matters, because it means you effect the board in the short-term and long-term when you can win combat. Then, when you get Corrupted going, this becomes really good, as +2/+1 and First Strike is going to win you most combats, and the boost is once again permanent! One mana tricks really tend to overperform, even when the lack the ability to save a creature from most removal like this
Phyrexian Atlas image 1.5 In most formats, a three mana mana rock just isn’t worth it. You need to add more meaningfully to the board, and using a card to get a small mana boost can be pretty rough. In theory, this does start doing something in the middle part of the game, but I’m still not in on this.
Tyrranax Atrocity image 2.5 Toxic 3 is a lot, as it will immediately give you Corrupted if you don’t already have it, and if you do already have it 3 poison is going to get your opponent in the red zone. Toxic pairs really well with Haste too, as it makes it easier to get in that first time, or at the very least set up a situation where your opponent’s options are a bad chump block or taking the hit.
The Autonomous Furnace image 2.5 This seems like a solid utility land cycle. They enter tapped, so you don’t want too many of them, but the fact you can cash them in in the later stages of the game for a card is really nice, and can help when you’re flooding out.
Terramorphic Expanse image 2.5 This always provides some solid fixing, even for two color decks. It can be particularly appealing when you are splashing one card, as just a single basic land and the Expanse are often enough to make that work.
Pack 2 Pick 11: Soulless Jailer
Soulless Jailer image 1.0 These abilities don’t hate on very much in this format, but it is a two mana 0/4 that happens to be an artifact,, so it probably isn’t a complete disaster to play it. I don’t think the typical deck in the format will have enough cards that the ability actually comes up, but there are definitely a few Uncommons in the format it actually does something against
Thrill of Possibility image 1.5 We’ve seen this before, and it is often the kind of card that spell decks will run, but no one else really wants to play, and even the spell decks would be happier with a lot of other instants and sorceries that draw them cards!
Compleat Devotion image 2.0 Two mana for +2/+2 is a mediocre boost, but the 2-for-1 upside you get when you use this on a Toxic creature is definitely real upside. There’s enough Toxic in White that I feel like this is a 2.0
Ichorspit Basilisk image 1.5 A three mana 1/3 Deathtouch isn’t the most impressive thing ever, but it does provide a pretty good road block. Adding Toxic to a death toucher is nice upside, since blocking this can be a real pain
Pack 2 Pick 12: Blazing Crescendo
Plated Onslaught image 1.5 // 3.0 Here is your big payoff for going wide with Mites! Your artifacts make it cheaper, and having a bunch of artifact creatures is going to feel really good when you have a +2/+1 boost. This sort of card usually needs a build around grade, because if you don’t have enough ways to go really wide, you can’t really play it – but when you’re in the right deck, this ends a lot of games
Thrill of Possibility image 1.5 We’ve seen this before, and it is often the kind of card that spell decks will run, but no one else really wants to play, and even the spell decks would be happier with a lot of other instants and sorceries that draw them cards!
Blazing Crescendo image 2.0 This is somewhat similar to Enthusiastic Study from Strixhaven, in that it gives a +3/+1 boost and draws you a card. Enthusiastic Study gave trample too, which makes it better, but I think this is still a nice trick. Now, a +3/+1 boost isn’t great, as many creatures will still die because the toughness boost is so low – but this offsets that downside by getting you that card back. And, if you do manage to make your creature survive and get the card, it will feel great
Pack 2 Pick 13: Hazardous Blast
Carnivorous Canopy image 1.5 There are enough Artifacts and Enchantments in this set that this it probably isn’t a disaster to run this, especially with that Proliferate upside. It is a bit of a bummer that all this Artifact spot removal is a little worse in a world with the “For Mirrodin!” mechanic, because your opponent still holds on to a token, and being a Sorcery is pretty rough too. This is mostly a sideboard card, though. I think you’ll be disappointed if this makes your main deck.
Hazardous Blast image 1.5 // 2.5 We’ve seen this card before, more or less, and in the right deck it can be a pretty good way to end the game, as turning off all blocking can really allow you to do a ton of damage. In a pinch, it can also sweep away a bunch of X/1s, like Mite tokens and the like – so it sort of has an alternate mode, but certainly the most powerful thing to do with it is use it to let you alpha strike for the win. With Toxic in the format, it may be easier than normal to set up lethal too, since you can threaten with both poison counters and damage
Pack 2 Pick 14: Myr Kinsmith
Myr Kinsmith image 0.0 // 2.0 There aren’t really that many Myrs in the set, so I mostly don’t see this getting off the ground. If you have at least three Myr, it is probably worth playing, as it will be able to generate a 2-for-1. And if you have Myr Convert, this will sort of fix your mana too. It is probably unplayable in most Limited decks, and playable if you have a couple of Converts.
Pack 3 Pick 1: Argentum Masticore
Argentum Masticore image 4.0 This has the downside Masticores usually have, but also turns it in to a bit of upside! A 5-mana 5/5 with First Strike and protection from Multicolored that makes you discard every turn would probably be a 2.5 at best – that’s a huge downside, even on an efficient creature. But turning the cards you discard into removal spells is amazing, and really softens the blow. When you have this in play you’ll usually be able to get more value out of holding on to cards than playing them. Now, there will be times where you just have lands to discard – or you run out of cards to discard, and things will go really sideways if that happens, but I think the upside here is enough for this to be a high pick.
Awaken the Sleeper image 1.0 // 3.0 Here’s the usual Threaten effect! It is interesting its an Uncommon, which means consistently getting it when you have sacrifice outlets is going to be harder than normal. It is also kind of a bummer that it destroys the equipment immediately, instead of you getting a swing in first. But hey, the Equipment destruction angle does mean that you get to trade 1-for-1 in that situation, and that’s not too bad on top of all the other things that this can allow. As usual, this kind of a card is a build around. If you can’t consistently get that full card of value – by destroying Equipment or by sacrificing what you steal – you’re looking at a card that is pretty much only useful in one situation: When you can use it and win on the spot
Infectious Bite image 4.0 Instant speed Rabid Bite is great, so tacking on Poison upside is pretty awesome. As always, you have to be a little careful about casting removal like this, but it will do the job really well most of the time.
Gleeful Demolition image 3.0 This format has a lot of Artifacts including Artifact creatures, so a card that can destroy them for one mana is already a card you’ll always play. That is definitely the mode you’re going to choose most frequently, but sometimes destroying your own thing is more beneficial. Like if you need extra bodies to go wide to win the game, or if you need those bodies to block
Dross Skullbomb image 2.5 This one can get a creature back from your graveyard and draw you a card, and once it does that you get a pretty nice 2-for-1
Phyrexian Atlas image 1.5 In most formats, a three mana mana rock just isn’t worth it. You need to add more meaningfully to the board, and using a card to get a small mana boost can be pretty rough. In theory, this does start doing something in the middle part of the game, but I’m still not in on this.
Flensing Raptor image 2.5 You’ll often have another Toxic creature around, and when you do this ETB ability is some serious business. When you don’t, you still get a Wind Drake with Toxic 1. I’m giving this a 2.5
The Surgical Bay image 2.5 This seems like a solid utility land cycle. They enter tapped, so you don’t want too many of them, but the fact you can cash them in in the later stages of the game for a card is really nice, and can help when you’re flooding out.
Fleshless Gladiator image 3.0 This seems like a solid Common. You can play it early as a bear, and then in the mid to late game it can start coming back from your graveyard, which can net you a very real advantage
Testament Bearer image 2.0 This can give you a 2-for-1 with some nice card selection, but a 4-mana 4/1 is a rough rate
Meldweb Strider image 2.0 A 5-mana 5/5 Vigilance Vehicle with Crew 3 is probably a 1.5. That’s just not a very good rate for a card that isn’t a creature unless you do some extra work! The fact this comes with an oil counter does matter though, as it does make it so this can be a creature all on its one for one turn, and if you proliferate it can become a real problem. Of course, the upside there is still that this is just a 5-mana 5/5 with Vigilance – which is nice, but again – there is work to be done to even get it to the point where it does that consistently.
Chimney Rabble image 3.0 I like the rate here. 4/4 of stats for 4, including 3 power that rumbles right away. Going wide is definitely a thing in this format, too
Blazing Crescendo image 2.0 This is somewhat similar to Enthusiastic Study from Strixhaven, in that it gives a +3/+1 boost and draws you a card. Enthusiastic Study gave trample too, which makes it better, but I think this is still a nice trick. Now, a +3/+1 boost isn’t great, as many creatures will still die because the toughness boost is so low – but this offsets that downside by getting you that card back. And, if you do manage to make your creature survive and get the card, it will feel great
Lattice-Blade Mantis image 3.0 This seems pretty strong for a Common. A 4-mana 4/3 is almost passable, so adding the ability to use oil counters to buff it up to a 5/4 that untaps is really nice. This can hit pretty hard while playing both offense and defense.
Pack 3 Pick 2: Mirran Safehouse
Mirran Safehouse image 0.0 This has a cool design! Especially because it even gains the ability to tap for mana, but this won’t amount to much more than a hard-to-use 3 mana mana rock, and that’s not worth a card in Limited.
Bilious Skulldweller image 2.5 A one mana 1/1 with Deathtouch is usually solid. Gets interesting with Fight effects too. So, adding Toxic 1 to this is a nice upgrade, as it makes it more of a problem as an attacker.
Cephalopod Sentry image 3.5 UW is the most artifact-centric color pair in this format, as Cephalapod Sentry clearly shows. On its own, it is a 4-mana 1/5 flyer, which isn’t the worst rate ever – and if you’re in Blue/White it is likely to be a threat your opponent has to kill, as you’re likely to control many artifacts.
Hexgold Hoverwings image 3.5 This gives you a 4-mana 3/2 Flyer up front, which is a passable card, so the additional upside here is great. Buffing all your Equipped creatures is going to come up, especially in RW – and just being able to move this Equipment around to whatever creature benefits most from it is pretty great.
Phyrexian Atlas image 1.5 In most formats, a three mana mana rock just isn’t worth it. You need to add more meaningfully to the board, and using a card to get a small mana boost can be pretty rough. In theory, this does start doing something in the middle part of the game, but I’m still not in on this.
Molten Rebuke image 2.0 This is red’s usual really mediocre modal removal spell. 5 mana for 5 damage at Sorcery speed isn’t anywhere close to premium – it is super clunky and firing it off on something that is cheaper than it is rough. Destroying Equipment matters a little for sure, but the fact that most Equipment in this format has “For Mirrodin!” probably means you don’t even get a full card of value if you do that
Hazardous Blast image 1.5 // 2.5 We’ve seen this card before, more or less, and in the right deck it can be a pretty good way to end the game, as turning off all blocking can really allow you to do a ton of damage. In a pinch, it can also sweep away a bunch of X/1s, like Mite tokens and the like – so it sort of has an alternate mode, but certainly the most powerful thing to do with it is use it to let you alpha strike for the win. With Toxic in the format, it may be easier than normal to set up lethal too, since you can threaten with both poison counters and damage
Dune Mover image 2.0 This kind of fixing usually isn’t great, because putting the card on top is a pretty massive difference from getting it in your hand or something. But it does have solid stats and brings Toxic to the table.
Basilica Skullbomb image 2.0 Glad to see a Phyrexian variant of the Mirrodin Spellbomb! At worst, these all cycle away while giving you some artifact synergy, and that makes it hard for them to be terrible. Then, when you have the mana, it does something reasonably significant while still replacing itself. +2/+2 and Flying is the kind of boost that matters a big chunk of the time.
Cruel Grimnarch image 1.5 Oftentimes a creature that makes your opponent discard really drops off in the late game, because your opponent is in top deck mode. So, its nice that this can gain you 4 life in that situation. We’re still talking about a creature that is fairly below-rate. Adding deathtouch to a 5/5 isn’t a huge upgrade, and if your opponent just holds on to a land in the late game this will still have the usual downside this type of card has
Escaped Experiment image 2.0 On its own, this is a two mana 2/1 that gives -1/-0 to an opposing creature when it attacks, and its ability can lower power a lot more than that! This can often enable nice attacks not just for the Experiment, but the board. That said, it doesn’t really change the ability of your opponent’s creatures to block effectively. They may not be able to kill things they tussle with, but if they could already block your stuff and survive – that will still be true.
Free from Flesh image 2.0 One mana for +2/+2 tends to be a pretty solid boost, as you can very cheaply allow your creature to win a lot of combats. The oil counters really matter for some cards too, though sometimes you’ll end up adding oil counters on something that can’t really do anything with them.
Flensing Raptor image 2.5 You’ll often have another Toxic creature around, and when you do this ETB ability is some serious business. When you don’t, you still get a Wind Drake with Toxic 1. I’m giving this a 2.5
Pack 3 Pick 3: Free from Flesh
Reject Imperfection image 2.0 Cancel ends up being a dud more often than not. The double Blue is surprisingly difficult to get at the right time, and leaving up three mana to counter something can horribly backfire if your opponent can play around it. It is nice that it triggers when you counter something cheap, as countering something that costs less than three feels particularly bad with this kind of card, so at least you get a consolation prize
Atmosphere Surgeon image 4.0 This is a great payoff for casting spells. It can give itself flying, and you can store up the counters to use them once you have great stuff to give flying to. Works great with Proliferate too!
Thirsting Roots image 2.5 This is a solid modal card. It can help you fix your mana or just hit a land drop, and it is the kind of card that can almost stand in for a land in your deck, since it is almost a modal double-faced land card! Once you have the lands you need, you can Proliferate for some nice value. Sometimes neither mode will be useful, which is a bummer – but most of the time you’ll be getting something worthwhile for the investment.
Duress image 0.5 This is a sideboard card. Against someone who isn’t a creature heavy deck, it is worth using. Against your typical Limited deck, though, it isn’t. It will just wiff far too often, and going down a card for no effect is brutal.
Gitaxian Raptor image 3.0 A three mana ¼ flyer is an acceptable rate, so its nice that this has the upside of using oil counters to increase its power and lower its toughness. Three oil counters is a nice number to have, as just attacking with this and turning it into a 2/3 three turns in a row is going to feel pretty good.
Mandible Justiciar image 3.0 A two mana 2/1 with Lifelink is usually playable anyway, and this will often be a 3/2 or larger on your turn. Seems like a great two drop for aggressive decks that care about artifacts.
The Dross Pits image 2.5 This seems like a solid utility land cycle. They enter tapped, so you don’t want too many of them, but the fact you can cash them in in the later stages of the game for a card is really nice, and can help when you’re flooding out.
Thrill of Possibility image 1.5 We’ve seen this before, and it is often the kind of card that spell decks will run, but no one else really wants to play, and even the spell decks would be happier with a lot of other instants and sorceries that draw them cards!
Leonin Lightbringer image 2.5 Equipping this won’t be particularly hard in this format, but it isn’t like the payoff here is amazing or anything. Ward 2 does make it a nice place to put Equipment too, since it feels awful if your opponent kills something in response to you Equipping it, and this makes that a lot harder.
Bonepicker Skirge image 3.0 A three mana 2/2 Flyer isn’t quite as good as it used to be – but it is still decent enough, so adding some additional effects usually makes for a nice card, and that’s what we have here. If this always had deathtouch and lifelink it would be a 4.0, but you do have to jump through some hoops here.
Ichor Synthesizer image 1.5 A two mana 1/3 is below-rate these days, but this does eventually become an unblockable 3/3, and that’s certainly something your opponent has to contend with. What I don’t like, is that if you don’t get this down early, your chances of getting to four oil counters are significantly curtailed, in which case you’re just playing something that is pretty close to a two mana 1/3, and I don’t like that.
Free from Flesh image 2.0 One mana for +2/+2 tends to be a pretty solid boost, as you can very cheaply allow your creature to win a lot of combats. The oil counters really matter for some cards too, though sometimes you’ll end up adding oil counters on something that can’t really do anything with them.
Pack 3 Pick 4: Graaz, Unstoppable Juggernaut
Graaz, Unstoppable Juggernaut image 1.5 This is a cool call back to the old school Juggernaut, and it can certainly enhance your board state. Your average creature is likely to be worse than a 5/3 – making the whole board hit that hard is pretty real, and at the stage of the game when you cast Graaz, your opponent probably can’t be hit by more than one of them. All that said, Graaz costs a ton of mana, and also comes with some downside – making all your stuff attack isn’t always a good thing.
Swooping Lookout image 2.5 A one mana ½ with Flying and Vigilance would be a solid card in most formats. It is typically a card people can overrate in Limited, because a ½ Flyer is pretty irrelevant in most games by the middle or late game, but in a format with lots of incentives to play Equipment, this gets significantly more interesting. There will definitely be games where this comes down on turn one and does some damage, then gets suited up and runs away with the game. It probably isn’t great, but I don’t imagine you’ll ever cut the first of these from a White deck that is interested in being aggressive
Rustvine Cultivator image 1.5 This doesn’t look very good. The best thing about a mana dork is that it can play you more powerful spells every turn. This can’t do that. It will finally untap a land on turn three, and while the boost is nice, the fact you had to tap this twice to get it is no small thing. Sure, you can proliferate and stuff to have to tap it less, but you’re jumping through some pretty serious hoops to make your one drop work.
Duelist of Deep Faith image 3.0 This is going to be a pain to block all game long, and that goes really well alongside Toxic. That makes this a pretty high quality Common
Hazardous Blast image 1.5 // 2.5 We’ve seen this card before, more or less, and in the right deck it can be a pretty good way to end the game, as turning off all blocking can really allow you to do a ton of damage. In a pinch, it can also sweep away a bunch of X/1s, like Mite tokens and the like – so it sort of has an alternate mode, but certainly the most powerful thing to do with it is use it to let you alpha strike for the win. With Toxic in the format, it may be easier than normal to set up lethal too, since you can threaten with both poison counters and damage
Quicksilver Fisher image 2.5 This has reasonable Flying stats and a solid ETB ability. Looting is always a nice effect to tack on to a reasonable creature.
Barbed Batterfist image 2.5 Two mana 3/1s tend to play pretty well in aggro decks, and that’s what you get up front here – and then you have the option of moving the Equipment to other stuff – like if you really want your token to be a 2/2, or if something else can benefit from the stat boost. +1/-1 certainly isn’t amazing, but this is really cheap to play and equip, which will be especially nice with Equipment payoffs in the set.
Carnivorous Canopy image 1.5 There are enough Artifacts and Enchantments in this set that this it probably isn’t a disaster to run this, especially with that Proliferate upside. It is a bit of a bummer that all this Artifact spot removal is a little worse in a world with the “For Mirrodin!” mechanic, because your opponent still holds on to a token, and being a Sorcery is pretty rough too. This is mostly a sideboard card, though. I think you’ll be disappointed if this makes your main deck.
Terramorphic Expanse image 2.5 This always provides some solid fixing, even for two color decks. It can be particularly appealing when you are splashing one card, as just a single basic land and the Expanse are often enough to make that work.
Fleshless Gladiator image 3.0 This seems like a solid Common. You can play it early as a bear, and then in the mid to late game it can start coming back from your graveyard, which can net you a very real advantage
Adaptive Sporesinger image 2.5 Both of these triggers can be pretty nice. +2/+2 and Vigilance is a boost that can really allow you to have a much better turn, since it can allow a creature to attack more effectively and stay on defense, and when Proliferate can add a bunch of counters to stuff, that will feel good too.
Pack 3 Pick 5: Hexgold Slash
Monument to Perfection image 0.0 This has a really neat design, but I think it is pretty much a dud in Limited. We’ve seen artifacts that let you search up a land for three mana, and they are usually far too clunky to be worth using. Moreover, actually getting enough lands in play to make it so this can animate into this really scary creature isn’t likely.
Incubation Sac image 3.5 This has the potential to be really good in Limited, especially because it has the ability to make three bodies at the very least! Now, it certainly isn’t efficient at doing it, but in a lot of Limited formats cards that simply let you outcard the opponent are what you need, and this will definitely do it. A three-for-one really isn’t out of the question, and that’s not something you find at lower rarities most of the time. It reminds me a little bit of Mask of the Jadecrafter from The Brothers’ War, which turned out to be pretty good. I’m going to start the format pretty high on this thing – though if it ends up being a format that is dominated by aggro, this will drop precipitously.
The Hunter Maze image 2.5 This seems like a solid utility land cycle. They enter tapped, so you don’t want too many of them, but the fact you can cash them in in the later stages of the game for a card is really nice, and can help when you’re flooding out.
Escaped Experiment image 2.0 On its own, this is a two mana 2/1 that gives -1/-0 to an opposing creature when it attacks, and its ability can lower power a lot more than that! This can often enable nice attacks not just for the Experiment, but the board. That said, it doesn’t really change the ability of your opponent’s creatures to block effectively. They may not be able to kill things they tussle with, but if they could already block your stuff and survive – that will still be true.
Carnivorous Canopy image 1.5 There are enough Artifacts and Enchantments in this set that this it probably isn’t a disaster to run this, especially with that Proliferate upside. It is a bit of a bummer that all this Artifact spot removal is a little worse in a world with the “For Mirrodin!” mechanic, because your opponent still holds on to a token, and being a Sorcery is pretty rough too. This is mostly a sideboard card, though. I think you’ll be disappointed if this makes your main deck.
Charge of the Mites image 2.5 While you’re overpaying a bit for each of these modes individually, the modality here is definitely nice! If you’re good at going wide – and if you’re in White you probably are – it can be a reasonable removal spell. If you’re having a hard time getting your board going, it can give you a couple of mites!
Hexgold Slash image 3.5 Even without the Toxic-hating upside this card has, it would be quite good! One mana for 2 damage just tends to be a great deal, even allowing you to trade up for lots of 3 and 4 mana cards. Toxic is really everywhere in the format too, so you’re going to be able to do the 4 damage with this at some point in most games.
The Autonomous Furnace image 2.5 This seems like a solid utility land cycle. They enter tapped, so you don’t want too many of them, but the fact you can cash them in in the later stages of the game for a card is really nice, and can help when you’re flooding out.
Chimney Rabble image 3.0 I like the rate here. 4/4 of stats for 4, including 3 power that rumbles right away. Going wide is definitely a thing in this format, too
Blazing Crescendo image 2.0 This is somewhat similar to Enthusiastic Study from Strixhaven, in that it gives a +3/+1 boost and draws you a card. Enthusiastic Study gave trample too, which makes it better, but I think this is still a nice trick. Now, a +3/+1 boost isn’t great, as many creatures will still die because the toughness boost is so low – but this offsets that downside by getting you that card back. And, if you do manage to make your creature survive and get the card, it will feel great
Pack 3 Pick 6: Oil-Gorger Troll
Serum-Core Chimera image 3.0 As usual, Blue/Red is into spells – but there is an oil counter theme too! Like most signposts, this looks pretty nice. A 4-mana 2/4 Flyer isn’t amazing, but is actually a solid stat-line – so the upside of drawing a card and bolting a creature or planeswalker every three spells is pretty massive. The thing I don’t love here is that there are often going to be times where you just can’t get that third oil counter, even with proliferate around
Magmatic Sprinter image 3.5 This looks really good. A three mana 3/2 with Haste is easily a C, and this comes with some pretty real upside! You can use this to put oil counters all over the place by casting it every turn, and there are definitely reasons to do that. Or, you can choose to have this stick in play for a couple of turns at a time if you need the board presence
Prologue to Phyresis image 2.0 This isn’t especially powerful on its own, as a poison counter isn’t worth a ton on its own – but this is a spell that replaces itself, and the UR deck will make decent use of it
Bladegraft Aspirant image 2.5 A three mana 2/3 with Menace is usuallya lready playable, but this also gives you some big Equipment upside! Making it cheaper to play and cheaper to put on the Aspirant is pretty serious. A menace creature is great for suiting up too
Gitaxian Raptor image 3.0 A three mana ¼ flyer is an acceptable rate, so its nice that this has the upside of using oil counters to increase its power and lower its toughness. Three oil counters is a nice number to have, as just attacking with this and turning it into a 2/3 three turns in a row is going to feel pretty good.
The Dross Pits image 2.5 This seems like a solid utility land cycle. They enter tapped, so you don’t want too many of them, but the fact you can cash them in in the later stages of the game for a card is really nice, and can help when you’re flooding out.
Oil-Gorger Troll image 3.0 A 5-mana ¾ that gains you 3 life when it enters the battlefield is not especially good, so how good this card is comes down to how often you get to draw. I think it is definitely accessible, and one this card is gaining you life and netting you a card, it is going to feel pretty sweet. This is another Green card that feels like it can do a reasonable job of throwing a monkey wrench into the plans of aggro decks, as is often the case for creatures that gain life on ETB.
Surgical Skullbomb image 2.5 Like the others, this cycles at worst, and can have a real impact on the board that still nets you a card.
Bring the Ending image 2.5 This starts out as a bad mana leak, and by the later stages of the game becomes a really efficient hard counter. I actually like that design, because this type of counterspell is usually good earlier in the game and horrible late. So, adding Corrupted to the mix means that this will be good for a huge chunk of the game.
Pack 3 Pick 7: Bladegraft Aspirant
Watchful Blisterzoa image 2.5 So, this is basically a 6-mana 4/4 Flyer that draws you a card when it dies, and that’s a 2-for-1.. Sometimes you’ll get more oil on it and draw more cards too. That’s a reasonable enough card, even if that stat-line has felt pretty bad lately. As much as I love 2-for-1s, paying this much mana for one that doesn’t leave behind any board presence at all – and dies to lots of cheap removal – is going to feel rough sometimes. If you need a 6-drop that can finish the game and have some upside, you could do worse than this – but you can probably do better too
Necrogen Communion image 1.0 I don’t like this very much. It is rare that an Aura that brings a creature back when it dies is worth it, and I don’t think adding Toxic 2 is quite enough to make a difference. Both of these effects are only good if your creature is already quite good, and that’s never how you want to do Auras.
Mirran Bardiche image 2.0 This one gives you a 5-mana 4/3 with Vigilance up front. As is the case for most of the Common For Mirrodin! Artifacts, that rate wouldn’t really be acceptable all on its own – but being able to move the boost around when you need to is nice.
Goldwarden's Helm image 2.0 You get a three mana 2/3 up front here, which isn’t the worst baseline – especially when you have Equipment and Artifact payoffs in the format. The Boost this offers on its own is certainly very meager, though.
Vivisurgeon's Insight image 1.5 Man, I have a hard time believing paying 5 to draw three and Proliferate is going to be worth it here. I love the card advantage of course, but paying that much and likely having only a minimal impact on the board seems like a really bad idea
Hazardous Blast image 1.5 // 2.5 We’ve seen this card before, more or less, and in the right deck it can be a pretty good way to end the game, as turning off all blocking can really allow you to do a ton of damage. In a pinch, it can also sweep away a bunch of X/1s, like Mite tokens and the like – so it sort of has an alternate mode, but certainly the most powerful thing to do with it is use it to let you alpha strike for the win. With Toxic in the format, it may be easier than normal to set up lethal too, since you can threaten with both poison counters and damage
Bladegraft Aspirant image 2.5 A three mana 2/3 with Menace is usuallya lready playable, but this also gives you some big Equipment upside! Making it cheaper to play and cheaper to put on the Aspirant is pretty serious. A menace creature is great for suiting up too
Vanish into Eternity image 1.5 Six mana to exile a creature is pretty far from an ideal rate, even on an instant. It just isn’t easy for a spell that expensive to ever be premium, because you will usually overpay to kill a cheaper creature. But the fact that this can deal with other permanent types much more efficiently helps things even out. Basically this is going to be a more expensive Disenchant early, and late it can deal with anything. It definitely isn’t premium, even with its modality, but I think the first copy will make the cut in a lot of White decks.
Pack 3 Pick 8: Ruthless Predation
Ruthless Predation image 3.5 This is basically Epic Confrontation, which is a great Limited Common. +1/+2 enables a lot more of your creatures to Fight successfully, and you can often knock a blocker out of the way and swing in with your buffed creature.
Oil-Gorger Troll image 3.0 A 5-mana ¾ that gains you 3 life when it enters the battlefield is not especially good, so how good this card is comes down to how often you get to draw. I think it is definitely accessible, and one this card is gaining you life and netting you a card, it is going to feel pretty sweet. This is another Green card that feels like it can do a reasonable job of throwing a monkey wrench into the plans of aggro decks, as is often the case for creatures that gain life on ETB.
Vanish into Eternity image 1.5 Six mana to exile a creature is pretty far from an ideal rate, even on an instant. It just isn’t easy for a spell that expensive to ever be premium, because you will usually overpay to kill a cheaper creature. But the fact that this can deal with other permanent types much more efficiently helps things even out. Basically this is going to be a more expensive Disenchant early, and late it can deal with anything. It definitely isn’t premium, even with its modality, but I think the first copy will make the cut in a lot of White decks.
Hazardous Blast image 1.5 // 2.5 We’ve seen this card before, more or less, and in the right deck it can be a pretty good way to end the game, as turning off all blocking can really allow you to do a ton of damage. In a pinch, it can also sweep away a bunch of X/1s, like Mite tokens and the like – so it sort of has an alternate mode, but certainly the most powerful thing to do with it is use it to let you alpha strike for the win. With Toxic in the format, it may be easier than normal to set up lethal too, since you can threaten with both poison counters and damage
Adaptive Sporesinger image 2.5 Both of these triggers can be pretty nice. +2/+2 and Vigilance is a boost that can really allow you to have a much better turn, since it can allow a creature to attack more effectively and stay on defense, and when Proliferate can add a bunch of counters to stuff, that will feel good too.
Myr Custodian image 1.5 If this only Scried 2 for you, it would probably be a 2.5. Scry 2 is pretty nice card selection Letting your opponent also Scry 1 obviously makes it worse, especially because your opponent can take advantage of their Scry before you can.
The Hunter Maze image 2.5 This seems like a solid utility land cycle. They enter tapped, so you don’t want too many of them, but the fact you can cash them in in the later stages of the game for a card is really nice, and can help when you’re flooding out.
Pack 3 Pick 9: Awaken the Sleeper
Awaken the Sleeper image 1.0 // 3.0 Here’s the usual Threaten effect! It is interesting its an Uncommon, which means consistently getting it when you have sacrifice outlets is going to be harder than normal. It is also kind of a bummer that it destroys the equipment immediately, instead of you getting a swing in first. But hey, the Equipment destruction angle does mean that you get to trade 1-for-1 in that situation, and that’s not too bad on top of all the other things that this can allow. As usual, this kind of a card is a build around. If you can’t consistently get that full card of value – by destroying Equipment or by sacrificing what you steal – you’re looking at a card that is pretty much only useful in one situation: When you can use it and win on the spot
Gleeful Demolition image 3.0 This format has a lot of Artifacts including Artifact creatures, so a card that can destroy them for one mana is already a card you’ll always play. That is definitely the mode you’re going to choose most frequently, but sometimes destroying your own thing is more beneficial. Like if you need extra bodies to go wide to win the game, or if you need those bodies to block
Dross Skullbomb image 2.5 This one can get a creature back from your graveyard and draw you a card, and once it does that you get a pretty nice 2-for-1
Phyrexian Atlas image 1.5 In most formats, a three mana mana rock just isn’t worth it. You need to add more meaningfully to the board, and using a card to get a small mana boost can be pretty rough. In theory, this does start doing something in the middle part of the game, but I’m still not in on this.
The Surgical Bay image 2.5 This seems like a solid utility land cycle. They enter tapped, so you don’t want too many of them, but the fact you can cash them in in the later stages of the game for a card is really nice, and can help when you’re flooding out.
Chimney Rabble image 3.0 I like the rate here. 4/4 of stats for 4, including 3 power that rumbles right away. Going wide is definitely a thing in this format, too
Pack 3 Pick 10: Dune Mover
Phyrexian Atlas image 1.5 In most formats, a three mana mana rock just isn’t worth it. You need to add more meaningfully to the board, and using a card to get a small mana boost can be pretty rough. In theory, this does start doing something in the middle part of the game, but I’m still not in on this.
Molten Rebuke image 2.0 This is red’s usual really mediocre modal removal spell. 5 mana for 5 damage at Sorcery speed isn’t anywhere close to premium – it is super clunky and firing it off on something that is cheaper than it is rough. Destroying Equipment matters a little for sure, but the fact that most Equipment in this format has “For Mirrodin!” probably means you don’t even get a full card of value if you do that
Hazardous Blast image 1.5 // 2.5 We’ve seen this card before, more or less, and in the right deck it can be a pretty good way to end the game, as turning off all blocking can really allow you to do a ton of damage. In a pinch, it can also sweep away a bunch of X/1s, like Mite tokens and the like – so it sort of has an alternate mode, but certainly the most powerful thing to do with it is use it to let you alpha strike for the win. With Toxic in the format, it may be easier than normal to set up lethal too, since you can threaten with both poison counters and damage
Dune Mover image 2.0 This kind of fixing usually isn’t great, because putting the card on top is a pretty massive difference from getting it in your hand or something. But it does have solid stats and brings Toxic to the table.
Free from Flesh image 2.0 One mana for +2/+2 tends to be a pretty solid boost, as you can very cheaply allow your creature to win a lot of combats. The oil counters really matter for some cards too, though sometimes you’ll end up adding oil counters on something that can’t really do anything with them.
Pack 3 Pick 11: Reject Imperfection
Reject Imperfection image 2.0 Cancel ends up being a dud more often than not. The double Blue is surprisingly difficult to get at the right time, and leaving up three mana to counter something can horribly backfire if your opponent can play around it. It is nice that it triggers when you counter something cheap, as countering something that costs less than three feels particularly bad with this kind of card, so at least you get a consolation prize
Duress image 0.5 This is a sideboard card. Against someone who isn’t a creature heavy deck, it is worth using. Against your typical Limited deck, though, it isn’t. It will just wiff far too often, and going down a card for no effect is brutal.
Gitaxian Raptor image 3.0 A three mana ¼ flyer is an acceptable rate, so its nice that this has the upside of using oil counters to increase its power and lower its toughness. Three oil counters is a nice number to have, as just attacking with this and turning it into a 2/3 three turns in a row is going to feel pretty good.
Thrill of Possibility image 1.5 We’ve seen this before, and it is often the kind of card that spell decks will run, but no one else really wants to play, and even the spell decks would be happier with a lot of other instants and sorceries that draw them cards!
Pack 3 Pick 12: Rustvine Cultivator
Rustvine Cultivator image 1.5 This doesn’t look very good. The best thing about a mana dork is that it can play you more powerful spells every turn. This can’t do that. It will finally untap a land on turn three, and while the boost is nice, the fact you had to tap this twice to get it is no small thing. Sure, you can proliferate and stuff to have to tap it less, but you’re jumping through some pretty serious hoops to make your one drop work.
Hazardous Blast image 1.5 // 2.5 We’ve seen this card before, more or less, and in the right deck it can be a pretty good way to end the game, as turning off all blocking can really allow you to do a ton of damage. In a pinch, it can also sweep away a bunch of X/1s, like Mite tokens and the like – so it sort of has an alternate mode, but certainly the most powerful thing to do with it is use it to let you alpha strike for the win. With Toxic in the format, it may be easier than normal to set up lethal too, since you can threaten with both poison counters and damage
Carnivorous Canopy image 1.5 There are enough Artifacts and Enchantments in this set that this it probably isn’t a disaster to run this, especially with that Proliferate upside. It is a bit of a bummer that all this Artifact spot removal is a little worse in a world with the “For Mirrodin!” mechanic, because your opponent still holds on to a token, and being a Sorcery is pretty rough too. This is mostly a sideboard card, though. I think you’ll be disappointed if this makes your main deck.
Pack 3 Pick 13: Blazing Crescendo
Carnivorous Canopy image 1.5 There are enough Artifacts and Enchantments in this set that this it probably isn’t a disaster to run this, especially with that Proliferate upside. It is a bit of a bummer that all this Artifact spot removal is a little worse in a world with the “For Mirrodin!” mechanic, because your opponent still holds on to a token, and being a Sorcery is pretty rough too. This is mostly a sideboard card, though. I think you’ll be disappointed if this makes your main deck.
Blazing Crescendo image 2.0 This is somewhat similar to Enthusiastic Study from Strixhaven, in that it gives a +3/+1 boost and draws you a card. Enthusiastic Study gave trample too, which makes it better, but I think this is still a nice trick. Now, a +3/+1 boost isn’t great, as many creatures will still die because the toughness boost is so low – but this offsets that downside by getting you that card back. And, if you do manage to make your creature survive and get the card, it will feel great
Pack 3 Pick 14: Prologue to Phyresis
Prologue to Phyresis image 2.0 This isn’t especially powerful on its own, as a poison counter isn’t worth a ton on its own – but this is a spell that replaces itself, and the UR deck will make decent use of it
Draft Pick Overview