Tracker App

Premier Draft WOE 11 September 2023

11 September 01:56 - eduba97 7 Wins - 0 Losses
Maindeck
Creature (15)
2 Agatha's Champion image
1 Skewer Slinger image
1 Ferocious Werefox image
1 Beanstalk Wurm image
1 Redtooth Genealogist image
1 Bellowing Bruiser image
1 Hollow Scavenger image
1 Picnic Ruiner image
1 Troublemaker Ouphe image
2 Toadstool Admirer image
2 Ruby, Daring Tracker image
1 Two-Headed Hunter image
Instant, Sorcery, Enchantment, Artifact (8)
1 Curse of the Werefox image
1 Spider Food image
1 The Huntsman's Redemption image
1 Royal Treatment image
1 Garruk's Uprising image
1 Titanic Growth image
1 Torch the Tower image
1 Return from the Wilds image
Land (17)
1 Edgewall Inn image
7 Mountain image
9 Forest image
Sideboard
1 Tangled Colony image
1 Kellan, the Fae-Blooded image
1 Rootrider Faun image
1 Beanstalk Wurm image
1 Grand Ball Guest image
1 Redcap Thief image
1 Toadstool Admirer image
1 Minecart Daredevil image
1 Verdant Outrider image
1 Merfolk Coralsmith image
1 Spider Food image
1 Bespoke Battlegarb image
1 Witch's Mark image
1 Break the Spell image
2 Brave the Wilds image
1 Kindled Heroism image
1 Dragon Mantle image

Pack 1 Pick 1: Tangled Colony
Impact Tremors image 0.0 // 2.5 Like Goblin Bombardment, if your deck can make a lot of bodies, this does represent a pretty big problem for your opponent, although it is a very awkward top deck unlike Bombardment. Bombardment rewards you for already having things in play, Impact Tremors doesn’t
Tangled Colony image 3.5 This is a pretty annoying attacker to have to deal with. You can choose to trade it with it, sure – but your opponent then gets at least two rat tokens, so you come out behind. So, you’re left with either just taking 3 at a time or losing some serious value in a trade. Now, the fact it can’t block does make it far worse, because you can’ threaten to trade when your opponent attacks you, but this is a card that’s really going to make you groan when your opponent plays it on turn two. The damage will add up quickly, and you’re always going to come out behind
Galvanic Giant image 3.0 This Adventure is going to feel nice in the extreme late game. In the earlier stages of the game Galvanic Giant doesn’t seem terrible either. Sure, the stats are bad, but if you can follow it up with a five-mana card on the next turn, you’re going to be in business. Obviously, this is a case where the Adventure isn’t always going to get cast before the creature, but it’s nice having that late game ability to see a bunch of cards
Hearth Elemental image 3.5 The adventure side here is the kind of thing you probably only use in the later stage of the game when it allows you to reload your hand. It’s not a great idea to use it when you still have a bunch of cards so it isn’t the kind of card where you cast your adventure early and then get the creature later. Although, you can use it to make the Elemental easier to cast. But I don’t think you should give up some real cards to make that happen. That’s okay though, because it seems reasonably easy to reduce the cost of the Elemental to something decent even if you don’t load your graveyard with Stoke Genius
Bitter Chill image 3.0 This effect at two mana is nice, especially because this comes with some nice insurance most versions of it don’t. One of the big downsides of Aura removal is that if your opponent sacrifices or bounces their thing, it feels horrible. In this case, if you have 1 mana up, it’s going to feel a lot less horrible. So, this really gets around that downside in a significant way, and it’s efficient – so overall, I think this is actually Blue premium removal. Something we don’t see a whole lot of
Stingblade Assassin image 1.5 This ETB ability almost always underperforms. It’s just hard to consistently find a way to do damage to a creature without using up some resource you didn’t really want to use up. It might be interesting with Rat tokens, because your opponent is going to be willing to block those a lot with their 2/2s or whatever, but this probably doesn’t end up being able to destroy something often enough for this to be very good
Beanstalk Wurm image 2.0 Extra land effects rarely play well in Limited, especially when not accompanied by a way to draw cards, so the adventure here is often not going to be good. If you have it on turn two and have nothing else to do, it might help you ramp a bit. Even then it isn’t guaranteed though, as a missed land drop makes that advantage disintegrates and by the later stages of the game it is increasingly meaningless, and if you don’t have the extra land to begin with it’s always meaningless. The other side is a passable creature, but I think the overall package here is underwhelming
Water Wings image 2.0 This looks like a solid trick. It gives a big enough buff that it will make your creature win most combats, and the hexproof part means it also works well against removal. Flying also gives it a third mode, where sometimes you can send a creature into the air to do lethal
Snaremaster Sprite image 3.0 Three mana for a 1/1 flyer that stuns something is probably already a playable card – especially in a format with a Faerie deck and some payoffs for tapping things, so the fact that you also have the option of just playing this on turn one makes this a nice Common
Crystal Grotto image 1.0 Mana filter lands usually aren’t very good in Limited. It’s just really costly to have to tap two lands for one mana, and that’s effectively what happens when you need to filter using a land. The fact that Prophetic Prism and that Scarecrow are in the set probably also means that the demand for this will be even lower, as those two can filter your mana and you only have to tap one land to do it. Crystal Grotto is usually a 1.5, and with better Common colorless fixing around, this will probably drop down to a 1.0
Rimefur Reindeer image 2.5 This has some serious potential, as tapping down just one thing a turn is often pretty great at allowing your aggressive deck to rumble, and that’s especially true if the enchantment augmented one of your creatures. But, when you aren’t triggering this regularly, it is a well below rate creature.
Tuinvale Guide image 2.5 This is mediocre without Celebration, and pretty nice when it is a 3/3 flying lifelinker. Triggering celebration is something you can do, but not so often that this will be anything special
Warehouse Tabby image 1.5 Take away the Enchantment part of this card and it’s…pretty bad. A one mana 1/1 with death touch is usually pretty solid, as it can trade for anything. This has the capacity to do that, but because you have to have mana up to do it and because you spend extra mana to make it do it, it is way worse than a one mana 1/1 that always has death touch. The fact it cranks out a few 1/1s is nice, but even in this format I don’t imagine this just giving you 1/1 after 1/1.
Ratcatcher Trainee image 3.0 A two mana 2/1 with first strike when it attacks is a great aggressive creature in Limited, and this one can make you a couple of 1/1s too. It is a bit odd as far as adventures go, because this is one where you probably cast it fairly often without ever using the Adventure part, where with most of them it makes a lot of sense to try to get the full value. Here, you’re not going to do that as often, but it still has big upside because if you draw it late you can get the tokens and the 2/1 all in a single turn. The Adventure side can also get celebration going all on its own
Pack 1 Pick 2: Agatha's Champion
Karmic Justice image 0.0 Your opponent isn’t going to be destroying your noncreature permanents often enough for this to matter in Limited
Knight of Doves image 1.0 // 3.5 White has lots of expendable enchantments in the form of Role tokens, and Black-White in particular is interested in getting Enchantments into the graveyard and getting value out of them, so getting a few tokens out of this isn’t farfetched. However, I also don’t think it’s going to be automatic. This probably needs a build around grade. Your typical deck will probably struggle to make even one token with the Knight, but some decks will turn it into a real engine.
Callous Sell-Sword image 2.5 The Adventure side of this is…not good on it’s own, since it’s would be a 2-for-1. It’s basically a worse version of Bone Splinters, and it isn’t like Bone Splinters is an amazing card. Obviously, it does get better being attached to a two mana 2/2 with upside, and if you did use Burn Together to kill something that turn, it will be a 3/3. I will say that the Sell-Sword side of this is going to be harder than it looks to get counters on. We’ve seen creatures like this before – including some with Flash – and it is surprisingly difficult to manufacture situations where you end up with a sizable creature
Agatha's Champion image 3.5 This is going to feel pretty bad when you don’t Bargain it, and pretty good when you do. Luckily, Bargaining seems easy to pull off in green, because you’ve got access to lots of food and role tokens
Kellan's Lightblades image 2.5 This kind of removal is never amazing, since it is as restrictive as it is. For example, if you’re trying to be aggressive, something that can only target an attacker of blocker is a lot worse. And that’s definitely true here. The Bargain upside is nice, as it makes it less restrictive. It can only kill attackers or blockers, but at least it can take down those with more than three toughness. Still, this isn’t premium removal, though it does get closer to being that in a slower deck
Sugar Rush image 1.5 This replaces itself, but the buff is highly unlikely to be that useful in combat. Sure, it probably lets you kill something, but most of the time whatever you cast this on will die two. Drawing the card does keep you from getting 2-for-1’d, but it doesn’t really make up for the tempo you lose. It does get a little better with Rat tokens, but I’d still steer clear of it most of the time
Snaremaster Sprite image 3.0 Three mana for a 1/1 flyer that stuns something is probably already a playable card – especially in a format with a Faerie deck and some payoffs for tapping things, so the fact that you also have the option of just playing this on turn one makes this a nice Common
Redtooth Genealogist image 3.0 This looks like a very good rate to me – it is basically a better version of a three mana 2/3 that puts a +1/+1 counter somewhere, and that card is usually quite good in Limited. I think this is one of Green’s best Commons
Minecart Daredevil image 3.5 I like this a lot because it resembles some of the Adventures from last Eldraine that were huge overperformers. Yes, you’ve got a medicore trick on one side and a mediocre vanilla creature on the other, but you get both on one card, and both halves of this card can conceivably trade with something and that means you’re getting a 2-for-1.
Frostbridge Guard image 1.5 This has somewhat passable stats, and it has an ability that is useful, albeit expensive. Tapping things does bring some extra value in this format, but three for the effect is kind of brutal. I miss the days of Master Decoy
Misleading Motes image 3.0 We just saw this card but with a Lord of the Ringsy name, and it ended up being solid. It’s a 4 mana instant that removes…pretty much any creature. Keep in mind it is your opponent who decides where the creature goes
Unruly Catapult image 1.0 // 3.0 This isn’t quite as impressive as Thermo-Alchemist, but it’s doing a decent impression. This will likely be a premiere payoff in the Blue/Red spells deck, and kind of unplayable everywhere else. It can inflict a ton of extra damage when you have lots of cheap spells, and an 0/4 body is decently stout.
Moment of Valor image 1.5 Neither of these modes is very good on its own, and probably wouldn’t be a card that made the cut. This is just too expensive for this narrow of effects. But, stapling two narrow effects on to a single card does make a huge difference, and that modality is enough for this to make the cut in your deck sometimes
Pack 1 Pick 3: Kellan, the Fae-Blooded
Kellan, the Fae-Blooded image 4.0 A three mana 2/2 with double strike is a card you always play, and this comes with some nice upside in a format with built in Auras in the form of Monster Roles. The tutor side of the card is pretty bad on its own, but because it’s attached to a creature, you can sort of look at this as a 5-mana 2/2 with double strike that tutors something up, and that’s actually a quality card, especially because the card you get is going to synergize with Kellan
Archive Dragon image 2.5 A 6-mana 4/6 Flyer with Ward 2 seems…kind of okay. There’s not much in the format that can kill it efficiently between it’s size and the Ward tax, and obviously this body is good at attacking or blocking. The Scry 2 is a nice additional effect to have, but I do feel kind of like I should be getting a little extra something here, especially on an Uncommon. I think having one of these at the top of your curve in Blue seems like a good idea, though.
Shrouded Shepherd image 4.0 Cleave Shadows is certainly somewhat situational, but I think you’ll be surprised by how many board states there will be where it lets you kill something. And if you’re doing that the shepherd will feel pretty nuts. You can of course Cleave and then cast the creature in the same turn too, in which case their debuffed board and your buffed creature probably mean you have a pretty great attack. Even without the Adventure, Shrouded Shepherd would definitely be playable too, so this is another one of these where the total package is incredibly impressive
Commune with Nature image 1.5 We’ve seen this a lot. It usually lets you draw a card for one mana, and you see a huge chunk of your deck in Limited. But it just doesn’t always make the cut, you only have so much room for cards that don’t impact the board
Sleight of Hand image 2.0 Seeing two cards for one mana tends to be a nice rate, and this will be especially good in this format’s spell deck, but running the first copy of this seems decent in most Blue decks. It is true that you only have so much space for cards that don’t impact the board, but this is efficient enough that it will make the cut a decent chunk of the time.
Voracious Vermin image 2.0 Three mana for a 2/1 and a 1/1 isn’t bad, and this will definitely be growing, especially in Black/Red where you throw rats at your opponent a lot of the time. Just blocking those rats will make the Vermin grow.
Sweettooth Witch image 3.0 Giving up food to hurt your opponent can definitely have a place, and even be a win condition, and the base line of the card as a three mana 3/2 that makes a food isn’t a disaster
Bespoke Battlegarb image 0.0 This doesn’t look good. Two mana to play and two to equip for +2/+0 just…isn’t where you want to be. The Celebration trigger on it will let you equip it for free, but even when that’s the case I’m not especially interested
Brave the Wilds image 2.0 One green mana to search up a basic land is a borderline playable, especially if you’re playing more than two colors. The upside of animating a land means it can add to the board sometimes too
Stockpiling Celebrant image 1.5 This can be used to rebuy ETBs and Adventures, which is cool. But if it’s not doing not doing that? Well, you’re playing an inefficient creature
Scarecrow Guide image 2.0 This is another way to fix your mana that is solid, but certainly not exciting
Spider Food image 0.5 This format has a lot of targets for this, but there are also two lower rarity ways to Naturalize stuff in this format that are way better in the main deck. So, this is a sideboard card but one you probably won’t use very often
Pack 1 Pick 4: Skewer Slinger
Intangible Virtue image 0.0 // 3.0 There are enough tokens in this set for this to be good in some decks. Rat tokens are probably the most plentiful, and if you’re pairing White with Black or Red, you’re likely to have some of those – in addition to Knight tokens, Bird Tokens, and Human tokens
Restless Bivouac image 3.5 One of the greatest things about a creature land, especially one that gives you good fixing like all of the ones in this cycle do, is that they become very real cards by the part of the game where you don’t really need lands anymore, something that isn’t true about typical lands. This becomes an effective attacker that can even put counters on itself and if it’s left unchecked it is definitely a land that can take over the game. Worth remembering creature lands also effectively dodge Sorcery speed removal!
Syr Armont, the Redeemer image 4.0 It can’t put the Role on itself, but provided you have something else around Syr Armont is a 5-mana 4/4 that gives something else +2/+2 and trample and uh…that’s kind of crazy, and will usually mean that whatever you just put that Role on is suddenly a way more effective attacker than it was before. Sometimes it will turn something that couldn’t attack into an attacker, and I haven’t even mentioned how good this effect is when you have other Roles and Auras around on your board. I think this is an amazing signpost Uncommon
Icewrought Sentry image 3.0 This looks pretty good to me. Tapping opposing blockers is always really good, and while paying mana for it isn’t ideal the fact that the Sentry becomes a 4/4 when you do it helps offset that downside. Blue-White has some other cards that involve tapping and getting paid off for it too, making paying that mana all the more appealing. It also doesn’t hurt that simply the threat of activation makes your opponent play the game differently. They have to account for the Sentry when thinking about how they are going to attack on their own turn.
Archon's Glory image 2.0 One mana for +2/+2 generally makes for a decent trick that will allow a creature to win combat fairly often – and at a very low cost, and the added bargain upside here will come up sometimes. It sort of gives it a mode where you can send a creature into the air to do lethal.
Return Triumphant image 2.0 This is a lot like recommission from The Brothers’ War. That card ended up being find, but nothing special. Both let you reanimate a mana value 3 or less card and then buff it when you do. The idea is that you increase your chances of reanimating something that is worth the mana thanks to the buff, but the card still requires enough set up that I’m not super excited about it
Freeze in Place image 2.0 While it isn’t quite removal, stunning a creature for three turns will feel like it is sometimes. Scry 2 combines nicely too, because you can use it to find whatever it is you desperately need, now that you bought yourself some time. The Blue/White deck in the format likes tapping things too, so getting some additional value here isn’t impossible.
Skewer Slinger image 1.5 This makes X/1s pretty miserable as they can neither attack through it or block it effectively. Overall, it is definitely a defensive card more than anything, and that’s always a little awkward
Spider Food image 0.5 This format has a lot of targets for this, but there are also two lower rarity ways to Naturalize stuff in this format that are way better in the main deck. So, this is a sideboard card but one you probably won’t use very often
Scarecrow Guide image 2.0 This is another way to fix your mana that is solid, but certainly not exciting
Bellowing Bruiser image 2.0 I’m high on most of the Adventure creatures in the set – this one doesn’t seem quite as good as the others. This is because it doesn’t really generate 2-for-1 type value or even close to it. It isn’t bad by any means, but the Adventure side is a highly situational card. It can be powerful in the right spot of course, and if you ever 8 mana to cast both halves that will feel pretty awesome, but overall, I don’t see Beat a Path being that impressive, and the same is true of a 5-mana 4/4 Haste. It’s still a solid card that will make the cut a decent chunk of the time – but most of the adventures in this set are a little better than that
Pack 1 Pick 5: Agatha's Champion
Raid Bombardment image 0.0 // 2.5 Another Enchantment that rewards you for having lots of small creatures – things might get interesting if you can get your hands on impact tremors and goblin bombardment along with this. Anyway, like those this probably needs a specific deck – one that makes lots of Rats seems the most appealing. But if you can do that, you can quickly damage your opponent. It’s probably an F in most decks, and a C in a deck that got there on small stuff
Agatha's Champion image 3.5 This is going to feel pretty bad when you don’t Bargain it, and pretty good when you do. Luckily, Bargaining seems easy to pull off in green, because you’ve got access to lots of food and role tokens
Bespoke Battlegarb image 0.0 This doesn’t look good. Two mana to play and two to equip for +2/+0 just…isn’t where you want to be. The Celebration trigger on it will let you equip it for free, but even when that’s the case I’m not especially interested
Return Triumphant image 2.0 This is a lot like recommission from The Brothers’ War. That card ended up being find, but nothing special. Both let you reanimate a mana value 3 or less card and then buff it when you do. The idea is that you increase your chances of reanimating something that is worth the mana thanks to the buff, but the card still requires enough set up that I’m not super excited about it
Rowan's Grim Search image 2.0 This is a nice take on the usual Black card raw spell we get. If you don’t bargain, we’re talking about an instant speed draw 2 lose 2, which is playable in all but the fastest of formats. If you have something expendable to bargain, you’re looking at a card that lets you see a ton of cards for the cost – up to six of them, which is dang impressive. It helps you load the graveyard too. Now…it is still a card that doesn’t really impact the board, and you won’t always want to Bargain it, so it isn’t amazing or anything
Redtooth Genealogist image 3.0 This looks like a very good rate to me – it is basically a better version of a three mana 2/3 that puts a +1/+1 counter somewhere, and that card is usually quite good in Limited. I think this is one of Green’s best Commons
Snaremaster Sprite image 3.0 Three mana for a 1/1 flyer that stuns something is probably already a playable card – especially in a format with a Faerie deck and some payoffs for tapping things, so the fact that you also have the option of just playing this on turn one makes this a nice Common
Archon's Glory image 2.0 One mana for +2/+2 generally makes for a decent trick that will allow a creature to win combat fairly often – and at a very low cost, and the added bargain upside here will come up sometimes. It sort of gives it a mode where you can send a creature into the air to do lethal.
Sugar Rush image 1.5 This replaces itself, but the buff is highly unlikely to be that useful in combat. Sure, it probably lets you kill something, but most of the time whatever you cast this on will die two. Drawing the card does keep you from getting 2-for-1’d, but it doesn’t really make up for the tempo you lose. It does get a little better with Rat tokens, but I’d still steer clear of it most of the time
Beanstalk Wurm image 2.0 Extra land effects rarely play well in Limited, especially when not accompanied by a way to draw cards, so the adventure here is often not going to be good. If you have it on turn two and have nothing else to do, it might help you ramp a bit. Even then it isn’t guaranteed though, as a missed land drop makes that advantage disintegrates and by the later stages of the game it is increasingly meaningless, and if you don’t have the extra land to begin with it’s always meaningless. The other side is a passable creature, but I think the overall package here is underwhelming
Pack 1 Pick 6: Ferocious Werefox
Eriette's Tempting Apple image 1.0 A 4-mana Threaten isn’t amazing, but as usual, if you can sacrifice the thing that you steal we’re talking about a potentially powerful card. But the apple’s other two effects aren’t particularly good either
Moment of Valor image 1.5 Neither of these modes is very good on its own, and probably wouldn’t be a card that made the cut. This is just too expensive for this narrow of effects. But, stapling two narrow effects on to a single card does make a huge difference, and that modality is enough for this to make the cut in your deck sometimes
Harried Spearguard image 1.5 This is great in terms of sacrifice fodder, as it gives you two bodies for the price of 1. It also isn’t bad just based on the rate you get out of it. But it’s nothing special either. It will quickly get outclassed in most games and be relegated into chump block mode
Misleading Motes image 3.0 We just saw this card but with a Lord of the Ringsy name, and it ended up being solid. It’s a 4 mana instant that removes…pretty much any creature. Keep in mind it is your opponent who decides where the creature goes
Armory Mice image 2.0 A two mana 3/1 is usually acceptable, and this will be a 3/3 some percentage of the time. I’m giving this a 2.
Water Wings image 2.0 This looks like a solid trick. It gives a big enough buff that it will make your creature win most combats, and the hexproof part means it also works well against removal. Flying also gives it a third mode, where sometimes you can send a creature into the air to do lethal
Ferocious Werefox image 3.5 Buffing a creature at instant speed earlier and getting a reasonable 4-drop later means this delivers some serious value for a Common
Protective Parents image 2.5 This has passable stats and a decent death trigger.
Bespoke Battlegarb image 0.0 This doesn’t look good. Two mana to play and two to equip for +2/+0 just…isn’t where you want to be. The Celebration trigger on it will let you equip it for free, but even when that’s the case I’m not especially interested
Pack 1 Pick 7: Curse of the Werefox
Dark Tutelage image 1.5 Drawing extra cards is good, but mana values get high enough in most Limited decks that this might be a problem. If you have a really low curve this can end up being quite the card advantage engine, but I’m skeptical you’ll end up in a deck like that very often
Redtooth Genealogist image 3.0 This looks like a very good rate to me – it is basically a better version of a three mana 2/3 that puts a +1/+1 counter somewhere, and that card is usually quite good in Limited. I think this is one of Green’s best Commons
Curse of the Werefox image 3.0 It effectively gives +1/+1 to the thing you fight with, and a stats boost always makes fighting a little more appealing. Now, it does have some significant downsides. Namely, that if your opponent has any way to interact in response you probably get wrecked – whether it’s a removal spell or a combat trick on their creature – and that means you get yourself 2-for-1’d. So you have to pick your spots with this, especially because it’s a Sorcery
Living Lectern image 3.0 It feels like giving this up for a card and a Sorcerer role is going to generate some serious value, and the fact it can sit around as a reasonable blocker until you feel like doing that seems pretty good
Armory Mice image 2.0 A two mana 3/1 is usually acceptable, and this will be a 3/3 some percentage of the time. I’m giving this a 2.
Plunge into Winter image 1.5 I think you end up with a decent rate when you cast this card, one that means you won’t feel bad about playing it. Tapping doesn’t always matter, but you do always get Scry 1 draw a card, and when tapping does matter – or even better – when you have a tap payoff in play – this gets significantly better.
Unruly Catapult image 1.0 // 3.0 This isn’t quite as impressive as Thermo-Alchemist, but it’s doing a decent impression. This will likely be a premiere payoff in the Blue/Red spells deck, and kind of unplayable everywhere else. It can inflict a ton of extra damage when you have lots of cheap spells, and an 0/4 body is decently stout.
Brave the Wilds image 2.0 One green mana to search up a basic land is a borderline playable, especially if you’re playing more than two colors. The upside of animating a land means it can add to the board sometimes too
Pack 1 Pick 8: Rootrider Faun
Redtooth Vanguard image 3.5 This 3/1 trampler is going to be able to come back from the graveyard a ton in this format, and while you won’t always have the mana to make it happen, bringing this back constantly does represent a major problem for your opponent, whether you’re behind or ahead. If you’re ahead it can attack for free in some decks, and when you’re behind it can block and trade forever. The fact it doesn’t enter tapped like some recursive creatures is a pretty big deal too
Twisted Fealty image 1.5 This format doesn’t really have a sacrifice deck, and that’s usually the place for a Threaten effect. It isn’t unplayable, though. It will have a home in some really aggressive decks
Kindled Heroism image 1.5 We’ve seen this trick many times before and it’s always kind of okay. The boost can allow your creature to win a decent number of combats, and when you can make that happen for only one mana it feels pretty amazing. Still, it is a combat trick and one that isn’t always very impactful
Rootrider Faun image 3.0 This has decent stats, it offers decent ramp, and it offers decent fixing. None of the things it does are very exciting, but ramp does seem like a real strategy in Green
Minecart Daredevil image 3.5 I like this a lot because it resembles some of the Adventures from last Eldraine that were huge overperformers. Yes, you’ve got a medicore trick on one side and a mediocre vanilla creature on the other, but you get both on one card, and both halves of this card can conceivably trade with something and that means you’re getting a 2-for-1.
Merfolk Coralsmith image 2.0 Creatures who can modulate their power always play a little better than they look, as that flexibility lets them do a wide range of things. This can trade with things that have as much as 4 toughness and hit pretty hard when you want it to. The Scry trigger is a nice additional effect too
Freeze in Place image 2.0 While it isn’t quite removal, stunning a creature for three turns will feel like it is sometimes. Scry 2 combines nicely too, because you can use it to find whatever it is you desperately need, now that you bought yourself some time. The Blue/White deck in the format likes tapping things too, so getting some additional value here isn’t impossible.
Pack 1 Pick 9: Beanstalk Wurm
Impact Tremors image 0.0 // 2.5 Like Goblin Bombardment, if your deck can make a lot of bodies, this does represent a pretty big problem for your opponent, although it is a very awkward top deck unlike Bombardment. Bombardment rewards you for already having things in play, Impact Tremors doesn’t
Beanstalk Wurm image 2.0 Extra land effects rarely play well in Limited, especially when not accompanied by a way to draw cards, so the adventure here is often not going to be good. If you have it on turn two and have nothing else to do, it might help you ramp a bit. Even then it isn’t guaranteed though, as a missed land drop makes that advantage disintegrates and by the later stages of the game it is increasingly meaningless, and if you don’t have the extra land to begin with it’s always meaningless. The other side is a passable creature, but I think the overall package here is underwhelming
Water Wings image 2.0 This looks like a solid trick. It gives a big enough buff that it will make your creature win most combats, and the hexproof part means it also works well against removal. Flying also gives it a third mode, where sometimes you can send a creature into the air to do lethal
Crystal Grotto image 1.0 Mana filter lands usually aren’t very good in Limited. It’s just really costly to have to tap two lands for one mana, and that’s effectively what happens when you need to filter using a land. The fact that Prophetic Prism and that Scarecrow are in the set probably also means that the demand for this will be even lower, as those two can filter your mana and you only have to tap one land to do it. Crystal Grotto is usually a 1.5, and with better Common colorless fixing around, this will probably drop down to a 1.0
Rimefur Reindeer image 2.5 This has some serious potential, as tapping down just one thing a turn is often pretty great at allowing your aggressive deck to rumble, and that’s especially true if the enchantment augmented one of your creatures. But, when you aren’t triggering this regularly, it is a well below rate creature.
Tuinvale Guide image 2.5 This is mediocre without Celebration, and pretty nice when it is a 3/3 flying lifelinker. Triggering celebration is something you can do, but not so often that this will be anything special
Pack 1 Pick 10: Redtooth Genealogist
Karmic Justice image 0.0 Your opponent isn’t going to be destroying your noncreature permanents often enough for this to matter in Limited
Redtooth Genealogist image 3.0 This looks like a very good rate to me – it is basically a better version of a three mana 2/3 that puts a +1/+1 counter somewhere, and that card is usually quite good in Limited. I think this is one of Green’s best Commons
Minecart Daredevil image 3.5 I like this a lot because it resembles some of the Adventures from last Eldraine that were huge overperformers. Yes, you’ve got a medicore trick on one side and a mediocre vanilla creature on the other, but you get both on one card, and both halves of this card can conceivably trade with something and that means you’re getting a 2-for-1.
Frostbridge Guard image 1.5 This has somewhat passable stats, and it has an ability that is useful, albeit expensive. Tapping things does bring some extra value in this format, but three for the effect is kind of brutal. I miss the days of Master Decoy
Unruly Catapult image 1.0 // 3.0 This isn’t quite as impressive as Thermo-Alchemist, but it’s doing a decent impression. This will likely be a premiere payoff in the Blue/Red spells deck, and kind of unplayable everywhere else. It can inflict a ton of extra damage when you have lots of cheap spells, and an 0/4 body is decently stout.
Pack 1 Pick 11: Spider Food
Commune with Nature image 1.5 We’ve seen this a lot. It usually lets you draw a card for one mana, and you see a huge chunk of your deck in Limited. But it just doesn’t always make the cut, you only have so much room for cards that don’t impact the board
Bespoke Battlegarb image 0.0 This doesn’t look good. Two mana to play and two to equip for +2/+0 just…isn’t where you want to be. The Celebration trigger on it will let you equip it for free, but even when that’s the case I’m not especially interested
Brave the Wilds image 2.0 One green mana to search up a basic land is a borderline playable, especially if you’re playing more than two colors. The upside of animating a land means it can add to the board sometimes too
Spider Food image 0.5 This format has a lot of targets for this, but there are also two lower rarity ways to Naturalize stuff in this format that are way better in the main deck. So, this is a sideboard card but one you probably won’t use very often
Pack 1 Pick 12: Bellowing Bruiser
Spider Food image 0.5 This format has a lot of targets for this, but there are also two lower rarity ways to Naturalize stuff in this format that are way better in the main deck. So, this is a sideboard card but one you probably won’t use very often
Scarecrow Guide image 2.0 This is another way to fix your mana that is solid, but certainly not exciting
Bellowing Bruiser image 2.0 I’m high on most of the Adventure creatures in the set – this one doesn’t seem quite as good as the others. This is because it doesn’t really generate 2-for-1 type value or even close to it. It isn’t bad by any means, but the Adventure side is a highly situational card. It can be powerful in the right spot of course, and if you ever 8 mana to cast both halves that will feel pretty awesome, but overall, I don’t see Beat a Path being that impressive, and the same is true of a 5-mana 4/4 Haste. It’s still a solid card that will make the cut a decent chunk of the time – but most of the adventures in this set are a little better than that
Pack 1 Pick 13: Beanstalk Wurm
Bespoke Battlegarb image 0.0 This doesn’t look good. Two mana to play and two to equip for +2/+0 just…isn’t where you want to be. The Celebration trigger on it will let you equip it for free, but even when that’s the case I’m not especially interested
Beanstalk Wurm image 2.0 Extra land effects rarely play well in Limited, especially when not accompanied by a way to draw cards, so the adventure here is often not going to be good. If you have it on turn two and have nothing else to do, it might help you ramp a bit. Even then it isn’t guaranteed though, as a missed land drop makes that advantage disintegrates and by the later stages of the game it is increasingly meaningless, and if you don’t have the extra land to begin with it’s always meaningless. The other side is a passable creature, but I think the overall package here is underwhelming
Pack 1 Pick 14: Bespoke Battlegarb
Bespoke Battlegarb image 0.0 This doesn’t look good. Two mana to play and two to equip for +2/+0 just…isn’t where you want to be. The Celebration trigger on it will let you equip it for free, but even when that’s the case I’m not especially interested
Pack 2 Pick 1: Hollow Scavenger
Repercussion image 0.0 This is another symmetrical effect that it’s very hard to make sure you get the best of, so it’s better not to play it
Pollen-Shield Hare image 3.5 When it has a big enough friend around, it is going to be an intimidating attacker on any board – and that alone is enough for the Ruiner to be relevant almost all game long. This is a case where I think you probably do play this as a two drop when you have it on turn two, because while the Adventure is a nice bit of value to have, making sure you get it isn’t that important. Obviously, like a lot of these, it is fun how it synergizes with itself, as Stolen Goodies is likely to make one of your creatures have 4 or more power so that the Ruiner can do its thing. Basically, if you draw this later you’ll probably cast both halves, but if you have it early, you’re probably just playing it as a creature. Both of those options feel pretty good, though There are certainly creature tokens in this format, and Hare Raising will sometimes be an absolute beating. Both sides of this have a really high ceiling, but the floor is actually pretty nice too, as even on their own both halves actually do something. I mean, imagine this as a three mana 2/2 with Hare Raising as the ETB
Totentanz, Swarm Piper image 3.5 As usual, Black-Red is into having things die, whether as a result of sacrificing them or otherwise. On its own, Totentanz is a three mana ⅔ that leaves behind a 1/1 that can’t block. That’s an okay card, but the fact that Totentanz can potentially become a Rat engine is pretty exciting to me
Galvanic Giant image 3.0 This Adventure is going to feel nice in the extreme late game. In the earlier stages of the game Galvanic Giant doesn’t seem terrible either. Sure, the stats are bad, but if you can follow it up with a five-mana card on the next turn, you’re going to be in business. Obviously, this is a case where the Adventure isn’t always going to get cast before the creature, but it’s nice having that late game ability to see a bunch of cards
Graceful Takedown image 3.5 So, this is another Green removal spell that doesn’t result in your creatures taking damage. Even if you have 0 enchanted creatures, you can have one thing take part in the effect, and if you do have enchanted creatures, you’ll be able to take down almost anything. It also puts you in less danger if you are able to choose multiple creatures, because a blow out is a lot harder for your opponent to produce when multiple creatures are doing the biting
Hollow Scavenger image 2.5 There is a lot you can do with Food in this format, so paying one mana and like half a card for it is pretty reasonable. Especially when the creature side of this can take advantage of that food and make itself into a pretty sizable attacker
Freeze in Place image 2.0 While it isn’t quite removal, stunning a creature for three turns will feel like it is sometimes. Scry 2 combines nicely too, because you can use it to find whatever it is you desperately need, now that you bought yourself some time. The Blue/White deck in the format likes tapping things too, so getting some additional value here isn’t impossible.
Skybeast Tracker image 1.5 A 4-mana 2/4 with Reach is not very good these days, though you could do worse if you need something defensive. This will make some food sometimes, which certainly has its uses in the format
Stormkeld Prowler image 1.5 Two +1/+1 counters is pretty nice! But a two-mana 2/1…isn’t, and by the time you play your 5-drop and make this a 4/3, it isn’t like it will be unbeatable. There will also be times where you can’t grow until well beyond that turn.
Rat Out image 2.0 The Rat not being able to block here is obviously a big deal, but if you can pick off an X/1 with this while adding something to your board that’s not…too bad. The problem is a 1/1 that can’t block isn’t exactly the most significant thing to add to your board. In fact, it’s pretty close to the least significant thing you can add
Witch's Mark image 2.0 This is a nice Tormenting Voice variant. Even without the Role token this card is usually in the D+ or C- range, especially in a format with some graveyard stuff and a spell deck, and that’s true in this format. Actually adding to the board while digging deeper into your deck is going to feel pretty nice. You probably don’t desperately want more than one of these, although perhaps if you’re in the spell deck going deeper than that first copy might be worth it
Bespoke Battlegarb image 0.0 This doesn’t look good. Two mana to play and two to equip for +2/+0 just…isn’t where you want to be. The Celebration trigger on it will let you equip it for free, but even when that’s the case I’m not especially interested
Barrow Naughty image 2.0 A two mana 1/3 with lifelink is a solid card, and that’s what this well be a decent chunk of the time, especially in Blue-Black. The buff effect is expensive and really only the kind of thing you use when you have nothing else to do
Protective Parents image 2.5 This has passable stats and a decent death trigger.
Pack 2 Pick 2: The Huntsman's Redemption
Curiosity image 1.0 For this to do anything, the creature you put it on generally already has to be good, and when an Aura needs that from you it gets a lot worse. If you have a lot of flyers this isn’t a bad role player, but most of the time you won’t play it
The Huntsman's Redemption image 4.0 This looks good. It starts out as a 3-mana 3/3 and then offers lots of additional value. The Chapter II isn’t always going to be able to do something, but when you do have something expendable around to give up, tutoring a creature up isn’t too bad. Chapter III will make two of your creatures, including the 3/3 you got with chapter I, and maybe the creature you got with Chapter II, into very real threats. Most of the value here is from Chapter I and III, with Chapter II definitely not doing something meaningful most of the time, but I think the whole package is still really strong
Woodland Acolyte image 3.5 I would always play a three mana 2/2 that draws me a card, and this is a lot better than that. Because of the Adventure, you can really look at it as a potential 4-mana 2/2 that gets you a permanent back from your graveyard – and that is also a card I would probably always play. Even playing this in a deck that can never cast the Adventure sounds really good
Ash, Party Crasher image 3.0 A two mana 2/2 with Haste is a solid starting point, and getting a +1/+1 counter or two on Ash is doable. You can get Celebration going relatively often in Red/White, with cards that make Monster Role Auras, cards that make food, or cards that make creature tokens. It isn’t automatic to get it going but even triggering this once seems pretty nice
Merry Bards image 2.0 So you can play this as a 4-mana 3/2 with the Role token, which means it will become a 4/3 the next time it attacks, and then a 5/4. That’s not a bad investment, and the fact you can put the token somewhere else really matters, as you can stick in on something that can get value out of it the turn you play it. Just playing this as a vanilla creature is a lot less appealing, but it isn’t a bad fail case
Sleight of Hand image 2.0 Seeing two cards for one mana tends to be a nice rate, and this will be especially good in this format’s spell deck, but running the first copy of this seems decent in most Blue decks. It is true that you only have so much space for cards that don’t impact the board, but this is efficient enough that it will make the cut a decent chunk of the time.
Rowan's Grim Search image 2.0 This is a nice take on the usual Black card raw spell we get. If you don’t bargain, we’re talking about an instant speed draw 2 lose 2, which is playable in all but the fastest of formats. If you have something expendable to bargain, you’re looking at a card that lets you see a ton of cards for the cost – up to six of them, which is dang impressive. It helps you load the graveyard too. Now…it is still a card that doesn’t really impact the board, and you won’t always want to Bargain it, so it isn’t amazing or anything
Grand Ball Guest image 2.0 A vanilla two mana 2/2 is probably a 1.0 these days, and while I think triggering celebration is doable, it isn’t going to happen so much that this will be a 3/3 with trample every turn or anything
Bespoke Battlegarb image 0.0 This doesn’t look good. Two mana to play and two to equip for +2/+0 just…isn’t where you want to be. The Celebration trigger on it will let you equip it for free, but even when that’s the case I’m not especially interested
Unassuming Sage image 2.0 Neither of these modes is a model of efficiency, but the second mode does at least get synergy going for Celebration and Aura decks
Stockpiling Celebrant image 1.5 This can be used to rebuy ETBs and Adventures, which is cool. But if it’s not doing not doing that? Well, you’re playing an inefficient creature
Hollow Scavenger image 2.5 There is a lot you can do with Food in this format, so paying one mana and like half a card for it is pretty reasonable. Especially when the creature side of this can take advantage of that food and make itself into a pretty sizable attacker
Voracious Vermin image 2.0 Three mana for a 2/1 and a 1/1 isn’t bad, and this will definitely be growing, especially in Black/Red where you throw rats at your opponent a lot of the time. Just blocking those rats will make the Vermin grow.
Pack 2 Pick 3: Royal Treatment
Compulsion image 1.0 This is pretty bad. Sure, rummaging can be nice, but having to pay mana to do it is a big downside, and even though this can replace itself you have to invest 4 mana to get there.
Twisted Fealty image 1.5 This format doesn’t really have a sacrifice deck, and that’s usually the place for a Threaten effect. It isn’t unplayable, though. It will have a home in some really aggressive decks
Royal Treatment image 2.0 This is really good against removal, less good in combat. +1/+1 just isn’t a boost that will help your creature succeed often enough
Graceful Takedown image 3.5 So, this is another Green removal spell that doesn’t result in your creatures taking damage. Even if you have 0 enchanted creatures, you can have one thing take part in the effect, and if you do have enchanted creatures, you’ll be able to take down almost anything. It also puts you in less danger if you are able to choose multiple creatures, because a blow out is a lot harder for your opponent to produce when multiple creatures are doing the biting
Rootrider Faun image 3.0 This has decent stats, it offers decent ramp, and it offers decent fixing. None of the things it does are very exciting, but ramp does seem like a real strategy in Green
Shatter the Oath image 2.5 5 mana Sorcery speed removal isn’t anything special. It’s just too expensive and clunky for that to ever be the case. This can go after two card types and it does upgrade your board a tiny bit, but overall it still seems a little too slow to be anything special
Not Dead After All image 1.5 This is an interesting take on this type of effect since the creature gets to return with a buff. Unfortunately, when we see this effect completely absent of an upfront power boost, it hasn’t really played super well. It does work well against removal, but not working that well in combat is a an issue.
Beanstalk Wurm image 2.0 Extra land effects rarely play well in Limited, especially when not accompanied by a way to draw cards, so the adventure here is often not going to be good. If you have it on turn two and have nothing else to do, it might help you ramp a bit. Even then it isn’t guaranteed though, as a missed land drop makes that advantage disintegrates and by the later stages of the game it is increasingly meaningless, and if you don’t have the extra land to begin with it’s always meaningless. The other side is a passable creature, but I think the overall package here is underwhelming
Redcap Thief image 2.5 This offers some nice fixing and ramp and can trigger celebration all on its own. That seems like something worth doing in Red decks in this format
Ratcatcher Trainee image 3.0 A two mana 2/1 with first strike when it attacks is a great aggressive creature in Limited, and this one can make you a couple of 1/1s too. It is a bit odd as far as adventures go, because this is one where you probably cast it fairly often without ever using the Adventure part, where with most of them it makes a lot of sense to try to get the full value. Here, you’re not going to do that as often, but it still has big upside because if you draw it late you can get the tokens and the 2/1 all in a single turn. The Adventure side can also get celebration going all on its own
Break the Spell image 2.0 This is probably going to be something that can stay in your main deck. There are many Enchantments in this set, including the Role tokens. Destroying those normally wouldn’t be that good, but because this draws you a card when you hit one, the effect is much better. The times where you hit a legitimate Enchantment are going to feel nice too. There are plenty of expendable enchantments around and sometimes you’ll just target one of yours for value too.
Stormkeld Prowler image 1.5 Two +1/+1 counters is pretty nice! But a two-mana 2/1…isn’t, and by the time you play your 5-drop and make this a 4/3, it isn’t like it will be unbeatable. There will also be times where you can’t grow until well beyond that turn.
Pack 2 Pick 4: Picnic Ruiner
Faerie Fencing image 4.0 Even without the Faerie upside this is an instant speed removal spell that scales all game long. If your deck has 0 Faeries you would always play it, but it does get far better if you do have some faeries around, as it becomes incredibly efficient. Heck, you can pay one to give something -3/-3 when you have a Faerie. There are enough faeries in black that setting this up for the extra value isn’t hard, and the baseline card is already really good
Gadwick's First Duel image 1.5 // 3.5 Just getting a Cursed token for two mana isn’t terrible…though certainly not good either. It is very easy for your opponent to move the Cursed Role since all they have to do is use an effect that lets them put a role on one of their creatures. So, it’s a good thing it does some other stuff. Scry 2 helps set up chapter III in theory, and if you can copy something like a removal spell with chapter III this card is going to feel pretty insane, especially for two mana! Not all decks will do that consistently, though
Picnic Ruiner image 3.5 When it has a big enough friend around, it is going to be an intimidating attacker on any board – and that alone is enough for the Ruiner to be relevant almost all game long. This is a case where I think you probably do play this as a two drop when you have it on turn two, because while the Adventure is a nice bit of value to have, making sure you get it isn’t that important. Obviously, like a lot of these, it is fun how it synergizes with itself, as Stolen Goodies is likely to make one of your creatures have 4 or more power so that the Ruiner can do its thing. Basically, if you draw this later you’ll probably cast both halves, but if you have it early, you’re probably just playing it as a creature. Both of those options feel pretty good, though
Besotted Knight image 3.0 Neither half of this card is exactly something you’d play on its own, but the fact of the matter is you can get both of these things! Using the Adventure side is likely to augment one of your early game creatures and make it more of a problem, and then you just sort of have this Hill Giant sitting in your hand, ready to come into play as soon as you don’t have anything else to do with your mana. That might know sound exciting, but I think you definitely get enough value out of this in the end for it to be a nice Common. Worth remembering too that the Role tokens have a lot of synergies in the set.
Gingerbrute image 2.5 He’s back! He wasn’t too bad as a beater last time around, and that will be pretty true here too with all of the Role tokens. Putting one on him and going to town with him is definitely going to be a way to close out a game
Spider Food image 0.5 This format has a lot of targets for this, but there are also two lower rarity ways to Naturalize stuff in this format that are way better in the main deck. So, this is a sideboard card but one you probably won’t use very often
Rowan's Grim Search image 2.0 This is a nice take on the usual Black card raw spell we get. If you don’t bargain, we’re talking about an instant speed draw 2 lose 2, which is playable in all but the fastest of formats. If you have something expendable to bargain, you’re looking at a card that lets you see a ton of cards for the cost – up to six of them, which is dang impressive. It helps you load the graveyard too. Now…it is still a card that doesn’t really impact the board, and you won’t always want to Bargain it, so it isn’t amazing or anything
Shatter the Oath image 2.5 5 mana Sorcery speed removal isn’t anything special. It’s just too expensive and clunky for that to ever be the case. This can go after two card types and it does upgrade your board a tiny bit, but overall it still seems a little too slow to be anything special
Snaremaster Sprite image 3.0 Three mana for a 1/1 flyer that stuns something is probably already a playable card – especially in a format with a Faerie deck and some payoffs for tapping things, so the fact that you also have the option of just playing this on turn one makes this a nice Common
Kindled Heroism image 1.5 We’ve seen this trick many times before and it’s always kind of okay. The boost can allow your creature to win a decent number of combats, and when you can make that happen for only one mana it feels pretty amazing. Still, it is a combat trick and one that isn’t always very impactful
Conceited Witch image 3.0 A 3 mana ⅔ with Menace is passable, and you can augment one of your creatures with this on an earlier turn – or the same turn, if you have happen to have four mana. It just seems like plenty of value to get out of a single card, and it even seems reasonably efficient
Pack 2 Pick 5: Edgewall Inn
Doubling Season image 1.0 This format does have a lot of tokens to double, but not very many +1/+1 counters. On its own, this is a 5-mana card that doesn’t do anything and that’s a pretty huge liability. You can definitely get some sweet value out of it sometimes, but it’s very slow and needs very specific cards
Discerning Financier image 3.0 If you miss a land drop he steps in and makes sure you don’t fall too far behind, and giving treasure to your opponent in the late game to draw cards is definitely going to be worth it. It does just end up being pretty close to vanilla a decent chunk of the time, though.
Edgewall Inn image 3.0 This looks like a very nice land. Sure it enters tapped, but unlike a lot of utility lands we see, this one can produce colored mana so it isn’t a liability for your mana base. And that’s great, because the late game ability this has is pretty big. Getting back an Adventure late is going to be something that really helps you grind out a long game, since you often get a card that gives you impressive value when you do. You don’t really want more than one, but I think most decks will have enough adventures to make that first copy pretty nice
Vantress Transmuter image 3.0 This doesn’t quite give you two cards, but I think it gets close enough, even with Croaking Curse being Sorcery speed. It lets you downgrade a creature and up your ability to attack, and then you get a decent creature on a future turn
Sleight of Hand image 2.0 Seeing two cards for one mana tends to be a nice rate, and this will be especially good in this format’s spell deck, but running the first copy of this seems decent in most Blue decks. It is true that you only have so much space for cards that don’t impact the board, but this is efficient enough that it will make the cut a decent chunk of the time.
Titanic Growth image 2.0 We’ve seen this a ton and it’s always a playable trick. It makes it so most creatures can win combat against most other creatures, and the stats boost is even good against some removal
Barrow Naughty image 2.0 A two mana 1/3 with lifelink is a solid card, and that’s what this well be a decent chunk of the time, especially in Blue-Black. The buff effect is expensive and really only the kind of thing you use when you have nothing else to do
Eriette's Whisper image 1.5 4 mana to Mind Rot isn’t great, even if you do get a Role out of the deal. Spending this much and adding minimally to the board is just something you want to do in most formats.
Skybeast Tracker image 1.5 A 4-mana 2/4 with Reach is not very good these days, though you could do worse if you need something defensive. This will make some food sometimes, which certainly has its uses in the format
Kindled Heroism image 1.5 We’ve seen this trick many times before and it’s always kind of okay. The boost can allow your creature to win a decent number of combats, and when you can make that happen for only one mana it feels pretty amazing. Still, it is a combat trick and one that isn’t always very impactful
Pack 2 Pick 6: Return from the Wilds
Mana Flare image 0.0 You don’t really want to double the mana you and your opponent produce, especially because most of the time when you play this your opponent will get the first crack at all that sweet, sweet mana
Stormkeld Prowler image 1.5 Two +1/+1 counters is pretty nice! But a two-mana 2/1…isn’t, and by the time you play your 5-drop and make this a 4/3, it isn’t like it will be unbeatable. There will also be times where you can’t grow until well beyond that turn.
Return from the Wilds image 2.0 A three mana 1/1 that rampant growths is a solid enough card, and ramping does look fairly viable in this format. This can also give you food when you reach the part of the game where more lands doesn’t do you any good
Break the Spell image 2.0 This is probably going to be something that can stay in your main deck. There are many Enchantments in this set, including the Role tokens. Destroying those normally wouldn’t be that good, but because this draws you a card when you hit one, the effect is much better. The times where you hit a legitimate Enchantment are going to feel nice too. There are plenty of expendable enchantments around and sometimes you’ll just target one of yours for value too.
Shatter the Oath image 2.5 5 mana Sorcery speed removal isn’t anything special. It’s just too expensive and clunky for that to ever be the case. This can go after two card types and it does upgrade your board a tiny bit, but overall it still seems a little too slow to be anything special
Unruly Catapult image 1.0 // 3.0 This isn’t quite as impressive as Thermo-Alchemist, but it’s doing a decent impression. This will likely be a premiere payoff in the Blue/Red spells deck, and kind of unplayable everywhere else. It can inflict a ton of extra damage when you have lots of cheap spells, and an 0/4 body is decently stout.
Snaremaster Sprite image 3.0 Three mana for a 1/1 flyer that stuns something is probably already a playable card – especially in a format with a Faerie deck and some payoffs for tapping things, so the fact that you also have the option of just playing this on turn one makes this a nice Common
Scarecrow Guide image 2.0 This is another way to fix your mana that is solid, but certainly not exciting
Return Triumphant image 2.0 This is a lot like recommission from The Brothers’ War. That card ended up being find, but nothing special. Both let you reanimate a mana value 3 or less card and then buff it when you do. The idea is that you increase your chances of reanimating something that is worth the mana thanks to the buff, but the card still requires enough set up that I’m not super excited about it
Pack 2 Pick 7: Garruk's Uprising
Garruk's Uprising image 2.5 The Red/Green and Blue/Green decks in this format can probably make decent use of this. One of the nice things about it is that it rewards you some for already having big things in play and then rewards you as well when you play them afterward, that means most of the time it will do something
Three Bowls of Porridge image 1.5 None of these modes is going to feel very efficient, but they do all do…something. Picking of a small creature will probably feel the best, but tapping things is certainly nice on the right board state, especially if you have a payoff for tapping something. Then it can of course do the Food thing. Still, the ability is expensive enough that having the mana around to actually use it isn’t guaranteed, and it isn’t like any of these modes is really going to make you feel like you’re getting there
Stingblade Assassin image 1.5 This ETB ability almost always underperforms. It’s just hard to consistently find a way to do damage to a creature without using up some resource you didn’t really want to use up. It might be interesting with Rat tokens, because your opponent is going to be willing to block those a lot with their 2/2s or whatever, but this probably doesn’t end up being able to destroy something often enough for this to be very good
Not Dead After All image 1.5 This is an interesting take on this type of effect since the creature gets to return with a buff. Unfortunately, when we see this effect completely absent of an upfront power boost, it hasn’t really played super well. It does work well against removal, but not working that well in combat is a an issue.
Shatter the Oath image 2.5 5 mana Sorcery speed removal isn’t anything special. It’s just too expensive and clunky for that to ever be the case. This can go after two card types and it does upgrade your board a tiny bit, but overall it still seems a little too slow to be anything special
Leaping Ambush image 1.0 They put a trick like this in almost every format, and it is almost always bad. Tricks are at their best when you use them offensively, because your opponent is less likely to have mana up to blow you out – so a trick that gets like 2/3s of its value from being used defensively just isn’t worth it
Wicked Visitor image 2.0 This has passable base stats and a passable payoff for the Black/White deck, which will be the most adept at putting enchantments in the graveyard
Johann's Stopgap image 2.5 4 mana to bounce something and draw a card is usually playable. It lets you break even on cards while setting your opponent back a little. With bargain in the mix, this moves up another notch – probably to the point where the first copy is something you feel decent about having in all of your Blue decks
Pack 2 Pick 8: Troublemaker Ouphe
Leyline of Anticipation image 0.0 Giving all your spells flash is a decent upgrade…but not usually one you want to spend an entire card on in Limited
Torch the Tower image 4.0 This is premium removal. It would be without Bargain. With it it’s even better, as it can become a one mana deal 3. Sure, you do have to give something up, and sometimes that something will have to be real, but this format has a variety of tokens and other expendable things with these types, so Torch the Tower isn’t going to be that hard to get it to do 3 for a very low cost.
Mocking Sprite image 2.5 This has almost reasonable stats, and reducing the costs of spells has some extra weight in this format thanks to Adventures, in addition to the fact that it just plays well in any Blue/Red deck.
Troublemaker Ouphe image 2.5 This feels like a two drop you want one of in every Green deck, simply because it provides main deck hate against permanent types that are very common in this format. You won’t always have something to get Bargain going, but at least the fail case is a Bear
Living Lectern image 3.0 It feels like giving this up for a card and a Sorcerer role is going to generate some serious value, and the fact it can sit around as a reasonable blocker until you feel like doing that seems pretty good
Sugar Rush image 1.5 This replaces itself, but the buff is highly unlikely to be that useful in combat. Sure, it probably lets you kill something, but most of the time whatever you cast this on will die two. Drawing the card does keep you from getting 2-for-1’d, but it doesn’t really make up for the tempo you lose. It does get a little better with Rat tokens, but I’d still steer clear of it most of the time
Return Triumphant image 2.0 This is a lot like recommission from The Brothers’ War. That card ended up being find, but nothing special. Both let you reanimate a mana value 3 or less card and then buff it when you do. The idea is that you increase your chances of reanimating something that is worth the mana thanks to the buff, but the card still requires enough set up that I’m not super excited about it
Pack 2 Pick 9: Witch's Mark
Repercussion image 0.0 This is another symmetrical effect that it’s very hard to make sure you get the best of, so it’s better not to play it
Freeze in Place image 2.0 While it isn’t quite removal, stunning a creature for three turns will feel like it is sometimes. Scry 2 combines nicely too, because you can use it to find whatever it is you desperately need, now that you bought yourself some time. The Blue/White deck in the format likes tapping things too, so getting some additional value here isn’t impossible.
Stormkeld Prowler image 1.5 Two +1/+1 counters is pretty nice! But a two-mana 2/1…isn’t, and by the time you play your 5-drop and make this a 4/3, it isn’t like it will be unbeatable. There will also be times where you can’t grow until well beyond that turn.
Rat Out image 2.0 The Rat not being able to block here is obviously a big deal, but if you can pick off an X/1 with this while adding something to your board that’s not…too bad. The problem is a 1/1 that can’t block isn’t exactly the most significant thing to add to your board. In fact, it’s pretty close to the least significant thing you can add
Witch's Mark image 2.0 This is a nice Tormenting Voice variant. Even without the Role token this card is usually in the D+ or C- range, especially in a format with some graveyard stuff and a spell deck, and that’s true in this format. Actually adding to the board while digging deeper into your deck is going to feel pretty nice. You probably don’t desperately want more than one of these, although perhaps if you’re in the spell deck going deeper than that first copy might be worth it
Bespoke Battlegarb image 0.0 This doesn’t look good. Two mana to play and two to equip for +2/+0 just…isn’t where you want to be. The Celebration trigger on it will let you equip it for free, but even when that’s the case I’m not especially interested
Pack 2 Pick 10: Grand Ball Guest
Curiosity image 1.0 For this to do anything, the creature you put it on generally already has to be good, and when an Aura needs that from you it gets a lot worse. If you have a lot of flyers this isn’t a bad role player, but most of the time you won’t play it
Merry Bards image 2.0 So you can play this as a 4-mana 3/2 with the Role token, which means it will become a 4/3 the next time it attacks, and then a 5/4. That’s not a bad investment, and the fact you can put the token somewhere else really matters, as you can stick in on something that can get value out of it the turn you play it. Just playing this as a vanilla creature is a lot less appealing, but it isn’t a bad fail case
Rowan's Grim Search image 2.0 This is a nice take on the usual Black card raw spell we get. If you don’t bargain, we’re talking about an instant speed draw 2 lose 2, which is playable in all but the fastest of formats. If you have something expendable to bargain, you’re looking at a card that lets you see a ton of cards for the cost – up to six of them, which is dang impressive. It helps you load the graveyard too. Now…it is still a card that doesn’t really impact the board, and you won’t always want to Bargain it, so it isn’t amazing or anything
Grand Ball Guest image 2.0 A vanilla two mana 2/2 is probably a 1.0 these days, and while I think triggering celebration is doable, it isn’t going to happen so much that this will be a 3/3 with trample every turn or anything
Bespoke Battlegarb image 0.0 This doesn’t look good. Two mana to play and two to equip for +2/+0 just…isn’t where you want to be. The Celebration trigger on it will let you equip it for free, but even when that’s the case I’m not especially interested
Pack 2 Pick 11: Redcap Thief
Twisted Fealty image 1.5 This format doesn’t really have a sacrifice deck, and that’s usually the place for a Threaten effect. It isn’t unplayable, though. It will have a home in some really aggressive decks
Redcap Thief image 2.5 This offers some nice fixing and ramp and can trigger celebration all on its own. That seems like something worth doing in Red decks in this format
Break the Spell image 2.0 This is probably going to be something that can stay in your main deck. There are many Enchantments in this set, including the Role tokens. Destroying those normally wouldn’t be that good, but because this draws you a card when you hit one, the effect is much better. The times where you hit a legitimate Enchantment are going to feel nice too. There are plenty of expendable enchantments around and sometimes you’ll just target one of yours for value too.
Stormkeld Prowler image 1.5 Two +1/+1 counters is pretty nice! But a two-mana 2/1…isn’t, and by the time you play your 5-drop and make this a 4/3, it isn’t like it will be unbeatable. There will also be times where you can’t grow until well beyond that turn.
Pack 2 Pick 12: Spider Food
Gadwick's First Duel image 1.5 // 3.5 Just getting a Cursed token for two mana isn’t terrible…though certainly not good either. It is very easy for your opponent to move the Cursed Role since all they have to do is use an effect that lets them put a role on one of their creatures. So, it’s a good thing it does some other stuff. Scry 2 helps set up chapter III in theory, and if you can copy something like a removal spell with chapter III this card is going to feel pretty insane, especially for two mana! Not all decks will do that consistently, though
Spider Food image 0.5 This format has a lot of targets for this, but there are also two lower rarity ways to Naturalize stuff in this format that are way better in the main deck. So, this is a sideboard card but one you probably won’t use very often
Rowan's Grim Search image 2.0 This is a nice take on the usual Black card raw spell we get. If you don’t bargain, we’re talking about an instant speed draw 2 lose 2, which is playable in all but the fastest of formats. If you have something expendable to bargain, you’re looking at a card that lets you see a ton of cards for the cost – up to six of them, which is dang impressive. It helps you load the graveyard too. Now…it is still a card that doesn’t really impact the board, and you won’t always want to Bargain it, so it isn’t amazing or anything
Pack 2 Pick 13: Titanic Growth
Titanic Growth image 2.0 We’ve seen this a ton and it’s always a playable trick. It makes it so most creatures can win combat against most other creatures, and the stats boost is even good against some removal
Kindled Heroism image 1.5 We’ve seen this trick many times before and it’s always kind of okay. The boost can allow your creature to win a decent number of combats, and when you can make that happen for only one mana it feels pretty amazing. Still, it is a combat trick and one that isn’t always very impactful
Pack 2 Pick 14: Break the Spell
Break the Spell image 2.0 This is probably going to be something that can stay in your main deck. There are many Enchantments in this set, including the Role tokens. Destroying those normally wouldn’t be that good, but because this draws you a card when you hit one, the effect is much better. The times where you hit a legitimate Enchantment are going to feel nice too. There are plenty of expendable enchantments around and sometimes you’ll just target one of yours for value too.
Pack 3 Pick 1: Toadstool Admirer
Spreading Seas image 0.0 This doesn’t do much in Limited. Sure, if your opponent happens to only have one land that can produce one of their colors and you stick this on it, it can be pretty hilarious, but most of the time that’s not going to happen to them. Replacing itself just isn’t’ enough these days, it needs to actually…do something too, and this just won’t
Sleep-Cursed Faerie image 2.5 I don’t hate the idea of playing this on turn one and just letting it sit around a bit before it becomes an actual problem. You get a pretty good for your investment. The bad news is that you’ll draw it late sometimes, and you’ll have to pay a bunch of mana and spend significant time for it to become relevant. The good news is, a 3/3 flyer is good on most boards, but this does seem a little slow if you play it in the mid-to-late game.
Ashiok's Reaper image 2.5 This seems like it may be a little too clunky. The stats are bad, and while getting Enchantments into the graveyard is more doable in this format than most, it isn’t going to just happen so often that this entirely makes up for that very real problem.
Neva, Stalked by Nightmares image 3.5 A gravedigger with Menace that can also get back enchantments is a card I’d already play, and this can also get larger. Keep in mind any time you put a role on a creature that already has one, it loses the one it had before, so that’s one of the built in ways in the format Neva can grow. Obviously, she works with Bargain too
Ego Drain image 0.0 This card is awful when you don’t control a Faerie. When you do, it offers some powerful disruption, but it gets a lot less powerful when you aren’t able to use it on turn one. Even a Faerie deck will find itself without Faeries in play in the early game, and this card’s value certainly diminishes when you can’t cast it during that time.
Feed the Cauldron image 2.0 This will never let you trade up, and that’s one of the best things to do with removal spells. With this, you’ll kill something that cost the same or less. Getting that Food helps, but you don’t even always get it.
Into the Fae Court image 1.5 A draw spell that adds to the board sounds attractive. It’s too bad that the thing it adds to the board is so insignificant though, and it makes me think this is probably a little bit too clunky to be something that always makes the cut in your Blue decks
Toadstool Admirer image 0.0 This doesn’t seem very good to me. A one mana 1/1 with Ward 2 just…doesn’t matter, and even though this can eventually put counters on itself, it only does so in the extreme late game, and it will take it way too long for it to ever be relevant
Barrow Naughty image 2.0 A two mana 1/3 with lifelink is a solid card, and that’s what this well be a decent chunk of the time, especially in Blue-Black. The buff effect is expensive and really only the kind of thing you use when you have nothing else to do
Water Wings image 2.0 This looks like a solid trick. It gives a big enough buff that it will make your creature win most combats, and the hexproof part means it also works well against removal. Flying also gives it a third mode, where sometimes you can send a creature into the air to do lethal
Skybeast Tracker image 1.5 A 4-mana 2/4 with Reach is not very good these days, though you could do worse if you need something defensive. This will make some food sometimes, which certainly has its uses in the format
Verdant Outrider image 2.0 A three mana 4/2 usually has the big problem of dying to 2 power creatures, but obviously enough, Verdant Outrider can get around that. You won’t always have the time or mana to use that ability of course, but it definitely does enough for this to be solid filler
Cooped Up image 2.5 Pacifism does not seem at its best in this format. There will be main deck ways to destroy Enchantments for one thing, for another all of the Adventure creatures feel pretty bad when you use up a whole card on them to remove them. It also has the usual downsides of pacifism that are true in every format – like the fact it doesn’t stop static abilities. It isn’t terrible – after all it’s removal, and it can put itself in the graveyard which the Black-White deck especially is interested in. But this feels well below “premium” removal these days.
Flick a Coin image 2.0 Each thing this does individually isn’t that impressive but getting them all for three mana seems like a decent enough deal, especially if you’re in the market for fixing. Still, it’s a fairly low impact card that probably won’t always make the cut.
Pack 3 Pick 2: Ruby, Daring Tracker
Kindred Discovery image 0.0 // 3.5 This will probably actually work in a Faerie deck, as if you have a critical mass of those you’re going to be drawing a ton of cards, especially because their evasiveness allows themt o attack so effectively. Other Blue decks in the format aren’t likely to have enough creatures of a single type to make it work though, so this needs a build around grade
Horned Loch-Whale image 4.5 Lagoon Breach is removal, even if it is situational, and then the whale is certainly beefy enough to trade for something, so we’re talking about a 2-for-1 here. And it is pretty much always an imposing board presence
Bitter Chill image 3.0 This effect at two mana is nice, especially because this comes with some nice insurance most versions of it don’t. One of the big downsides of Aura removal is that if your opponent sacrifices or bounces their thing, it feels horrible. In this case, if you have 1 mana up, it’s going to feel a lot less horrible. So, this really gets around that downside in a significant way, and it’s efficient – so overall, I think this is actually Blue premium removal. Something we don’t see a whole lot of
Ruby, Daring Tracker image 3.5 It can ramp your mana quite effectively, and that makes it more likely that you can get a creature with power 4 or great into play quickly, at which point Ruby herself becomes a significantly better attacker. There will also be times in the mid to late game when you draw her and can already trigger her ability, in which case she becomes a two mana ¾ with Haste, which is going to feel pretty good
Gingerbread Hunter image 4.5 This is great. Sure, Puny Snack isn’t the best removal spell in the world, but when it’s attached to an efficient creature who also spits out a Food token, it doesn’t really matter. Generating a 2-for-1 with this is going to be really easy, and it’s probably going to be one of the better Uncommons in the entire format
Mintstrosity image 2.0 Two mana 3/1s tend to be solid for aggro decks, and getting a Food when this goes down is nice upside to have
Unruly Catapult image 1.0 // 3.0 This isn’t quite as impressive as Thermo-Alchemist, but it’s doing a decent impression. This will likely be a premiere payoff in the Blue/Red spells deck, and kind of unplayable everywhere else. It can inflict a ton of extra damage when you have lots of cheap spells, and an 0/4 body is decently stout.
Brave the Wilds image 2.0 One green mana to search up a basic land is a borderline playable, especially if you’re playing more than two colors. The upside of animating a land means it can add to the board sometimes too
Spider Food image 0.5 This format has a lot of targets for this, but there are also two lower rarity ways to Naturalize stuff in this format that are way better in the main deck. So, this is a sideboard card but one you probably won’t use very often
Torch the Tower image 4.0 This is premium removal. It would be without Bargain. With it it’s even better, as it can become a one mana deal 3. Sure, you do have to give something up, and sometimes that something will have to be real, but this format has a variety of tokens and other expendable things with these types, so Torch the Tower isn’t going to be that hard to get it to do 3 for a very low cost.
Rootrider Faun image 3.0 This has decent stats, it offers decent ramp, and it offers decent fixing. None of the things it does are very exciting, but ramp does seem like a real strategy in Green
Redcap Thief image 2.5 This offers some nice fixing and ramp and can trigger celebration all on its own. That seems like something worth doing in Red decks in this format
Merfolk Coralsmith image 2.0 Creatures who can modulate their power always play a little better than they look, as that flexibility lets them do a wide range of things. This can trade with things that have as much as 4 toughness and hit pretty hard when you want it to. The Scry trigger is a nice additional effect too
Pack 3 Pick 3: Toadstool Admirer
Stab Wound image 3.0 This has been a nice Limited card every time we’ve seen it. It feels good to outright kill something with it, but it feels even better to put it on a creature that doesn’t die because the Aura usually does enough to make that creature irrelevant while it also starts quickly pressuring your opponent’s life
Discerning Financier image 3.0 If you miss a land drop he steps in and makes sure you don’t fall too far behind, and giving treasure to your opponent in the late game to draw cards is definitely going to be worth it. It does just end up being pretty close to vanilla a decent chunk of the time, though.
Threadbind Clique image 4.0 Both sides of this card have been fairly underwhelming when we’ve seen them lately. Destroying only tapped creatures is highly restrictive and not especially useful when you’re the beat down. But at least it does let you do it at instant speed, so a creature doesn’t have to hit you first. Then, a 4-mana 3/3 Flyer just isn’t what it used to be. However…like with all of these, even two medium cards stapled together is two cards making the Clique really good. It’s another adventure creature with an accessible 2-for-1.
Sharae of Numbing Depths image 3.5 It’s a 4-mana 2/3 that stuns something down and draws you a card. I’m always playing that. Stunning something isn’t quite as good as bouncing, but it feels pretty close! Then it works well with other tap effects too
Toadstool Admirer image 0.0 This doesn’t seem very good to me. A one mana 1/1 with Ward 2 just…doesn’t matter, and even though this can eventually put counters on itself, it only does so in the extreme late game, and it will take it way too long for it to ever be relevant
Living Lectern image 3.0 It feels like giving this up for a card and a Sorcerer role is going to generate some serious value, and the fact it can sit around as a reasonable blocker until you feel like doing that seems pretty good
Feed the Cauldron image 2.0 This will never let you trade up, and that’s one of the best things to do with removal spells. With this, you’ll kill something that cost the same or less. Getting that Food helps, but you don’t even always get it.
Sweettooth Witch image 3.0 Giving up food to hurt your opponent can definitely have a place, and even be a win condition, and the base line of the card as a three mana 3/2 that makes a food isn’t a disaster
Evolving Wilds image 2.5 As usual, this provides nice fixing. Makes it pretty easy to splash a single card if you have one Evolving Wilds, since it effectively gives you two sources of your splash color
Verdant Outrider image 2.0 A three mana 4/2 usually has the big problem of dying to 2 power creatures, but obviously enough, Verdant Outrider can get around that. You won’t always have the time or mana to use that ability of course, but it definitely does enough for this to be solid filler
Gingerbrute image 2.5 He’s back! He wasn’t too bad as a beater last time around, and that will be pretty true here too with all of the Role tokens. Putting one on him and going to town with him is definitely going to be a way to close out a game
Kindled Heroism image 1.5 We’ve seen this trick many times before and it’s always kind of okay. The boost can allow your creature to win a decent number of combats, and when you can make that happen for only one mana it feels pretty amazing. Still, it is a combat trick and one that isn’t always very impactful
Pack 3 Pick 4: Brave the Wilds
Griffin Aerie image 0.0 // 3.0 I think this has potential, at least in some decks. Food isn’t that readily available in White, but if you’re paired with Black or Green, you’re going to have food – and this basically adds “make a 2/2 flying token” to your food getting sacrificed and that’s honestly…kind of insane. There are other ways to gain life in White too of course, but that’s the one that immediately springs to mind when you see a card that has a threshold of 3 life for it to do something. It needs a build around grade, since not all White decks will trigger it enough, but I think this can make a whole lot of tokens in the right deck
Callous Sell-Sword image 2.5 The Adventure side of this is…not good on it’s own, since it’s would be a 2-for-1. It’s basically a worse version of Bone Splinters, and it isn’t like Bone Splinters is an amazing card. Obviously, it does get better being attached to a two mana 2/2 with upside, and if you did use Burn Together to kill something that turn, it will be a 3/3. I will say that the Sell-Sword side of this is going to be harder than it looks to get counters on. We’ve seen creatures like this before – including some with Flash – and it is surprisingly difficult to manufacture situations where you end up with a sizable creature
Discerning Financier image 3.0 If you miss a land drop he steps in and makes sure you don’t fall too far behind, and giving treasure to your opponent in the late game to draw cards is definitely going to be worth it. It does just end up being pretty close to vanilla a decent chunk of the time, though.
Ratcatcher Trainee image 3.0 A two mana 2/1 with first strike when it attacks is a great aggressive creature in Limited, and this one can make you a couple of 1/1s too. It is a bit odd as far as adventures go, because this is one where you probably cast it fairly often without ever using the Adventure part, where with most of them it makes a lot of sense to try to get the full value. Here, you’re not going to do that as often, but it still has big upside because if you draw it late you can get the tokens and the 2/1 all in a single turn. The Adventure side can also get celebration going all on its own
Brave the Wilds image 2.0 One green mana to search up a basic land is a borderline playable, especially if you’re playing more than two colors. The upside of animating a land means it can add to the board sometimes too
Freeze in Place image 2.0 While it isn’t quite removal, stunning a creature for three turns will feel like it is sometimes. Scry 2 combines nicely too, because you can use it to find whatever it is you desperately need, now that you bought yourself some time. The Blue/White deck in the format likes tapping things too, so getting some additional value here isn’t impossible.
Mintstrosity image 2.0 Two mana 3/1s tend to be solid for aggro decks, and getting a Food when this goes down is nice upside to have
Johann's Stopgap image 2.5 4 mana to bounce something and draw a card is usually playable. It lets you break even on cards while setting your opponent back a little. With bargain in the mix, this moves up another notch – probably to the point where the first copy is something you feel decent about having in all of your Blue decks
Spell Stutter image 1.0 // 2.5 One of the downsides with counter magic that gives your opponent the option of paying mana to ignore it is that it gets worse as the game goes longer, but the Faerie upside here helps hedge against that. This probably needs a build around grade though, because if you’re in Blue and you’re short on Faeries it’s a lot worse
Toadstool Admirer image 0.0 This doesn’t seem very good to me. A one mana 1/1 with Ward 2 just…doesn’t matter, and even though this can eventually put counters on itself, it only does so in the extreme late game, and it will take it way too long for it to ever be relevant
Unassuming Sage image 2.0 Neither of these modes is a model of efficiency, but the second mode does at least get synergy going for Celebration and Aura decks
Pack 3 Pick 5: Torch the Tower
Dragon Mantle image 1.5 Giving a creature firebereathing isn’t particularly useful unless that creature was also pretty good, but this does replace itself, so that makes the floor on it pretty reasonable, especially for a one mana card. It isn’t a bad thing to sacrifice to Bargain either, since it will have already giving you a card
Imodane, the Pyrohammer image 2.5 This has solid stats and Red has enough commons and uncommon instants and sorceries that target things for her ability to do its thing sometimes and when she can, she’s going to be a pretty big pain for your opponent. Still, she’s going to just be a 4-mana 4/4 a decent chunk of the time
Sharae of Numbing Depths image 3.5 It’s a 4-mana 2/3 that stuns something down and draws you a card. I’m always playing that. Stunning something isn’t quite as good as bouncing, but it feels pretty close! Then it works well with other tap effects too
Hollow Scavenger image 2.5 There is a lot you can do with Food in this format, so paying one mana and like half a card for it is pretty reasonable. Especially when the creature side of this can take advantage of that food and make itself into a pretty sizable attacker
Johann's Stopgap image 2.5 4 mana to bounce something and draw a card is usually playable. It lets you break even on cards while setting your opponent back a little. With bargain in the mix, this moves up another notch – probably to the point where the first copy is something you feel decent about having in all of your Blue decks
Commune with Nature image 1.5 We’ve seen this a lot. It usually lets you draw a card for one mana, and you see a huge chunk of your deck in Limited. But it just doesn’t always make the cut, you only have so much room for cards that don’t impact the board
Feed the Cauldron image 2.0 This will never let you trade up, and that’s one of the best things to do with removal spells. With this, you’ll kill something that cost the same or less. Getting that Food helps, but you don’t even always get it.
Diminisher Witch image 2.5 Cursing an opposing creature isn’t the most powerful thing in the world, but when you Bargain this does upgrade your board and downgrade your opponents reasonably effectively.
Ferocious Werefox image 3.5 Buffing a creature at instant speed earlier and getting a reasonable 4-drop later means this delivers some serious value for a Common
Torch the Tower image 4.0 This is premium removal. It would be without Bargain. With it it’s even better, as it can become a one mana deal 3. Sure, you do have to give something up, and sometimes that something will have to be real, but this format has a variety of tokens and other expendable things with these types, so Torch the Tower isn’t going to be that hard to get it to do 3 for a very low cost.
Pack 3 Pick 6: Two-Headed Hunter
Ground Seal image 0.0 There’s not enough of a reason to hate on the graveyard in this format
Two-Headed Hunter image 4.5 This looks really good. The combat trick side will alter combat significantly, usually enough for it to be in your favor, and then in the later game you get a reasonably efficient creature. This is another Adventure that has very real 2-for-1 potential.
Edgewall Pack image 3.0 A 4-mana 3/3 menace that makes a 1/1 that can’t block is pretty decent. Worth noting that it triggers card swith Celebration on its own, and there are definitely some curve outs where you play a two drop and a three drop with Celebration, where then playing the Pack would make for a pretty spicy turn 4.
Spider Food image 0.5 This format has a lot of targets for this, but there are also two lower rarity ways to Naturalize stuff in this format that are way better in the main deck. So, this is a sideboard card but one you probably won’t use very often
Merfolk Coralsmith image 2.0 Creatures who can modulate their power always play a little better than they look, as that flexibility lets them do a wide range of things. This can trade with things that have as much as 4 toughness and hit pretty hard when you want it to. The Scry trigger is a nice additional effect too
Beanstalk Wurm image 2.0 Extra land effects rarely play well in Limited, especially when not accompanied by a way to draw cards, so the adventure here is often not going to be good. If you have it on turn two and have nothing else to do, it might help you ramp a bit. Even then it isn’t guaranteed though, as a missed land drop makes that advantage disintegrates and by the later stages of the game it is increasingly meaningless, and if you don’t have the extra land to begin with it’s always meaningless. The other side is a passable creature, but I think the overall package here is underwhelming
Ratcatcher Trainee image 3.0 A two mana 2/1 with first strike when it attacks is a great aggressive creature in Limited, and this one can make you a couple of 1/1s too. It is a bit odd as far as adventures go, because this is one where you probably cast it fairly often without ever using the Adventure part, where with most of them it makes a lot of sense to try to get the full value. Here, you’re not going to do that as often, but it still has big upside because if you draw it late you can get the tokens and the 2/1 all in a single turn. The Adventure side can also get celebration going all on its own
Skewer Slinger image 1.5 This makes X/1s pretty miserable as they can neither attack through it or block it effectively. Overall, it is definitely a defensive card more than anything, and that’s always a little awkward
Hamlet Glutton image 3.0 I always love a big ol’ green creature that gains me life when it ETBs, because it allows slower decks to stabilize. If this always cost 7 it would be overcosted, but because Bargaining this looks so doable, it will often cost 5 and you won’t have to give up much to make it happen. Red-Green and Blue-Green will both always want at least one copy of this
Pack 3 Pick 7: Ruby, Daring Tracker
Collector's Vault image 1.5 This is probably a little too clunky to be worth it. Looting and treasure is nice of course, but the number of turns where you have the time and mana to activated this ability will be surprisingly limited
Ruby, Daring Tracker image 3.5 It can ramp your mana quite effectively, and that makes it more likely that you can get a creature with power 4 or great into play quickly, at which point Ruby herself becomes a significantly better attacker. There will also be times in the mid to late game when you draw her and can already trigger her ability, in which case she becomes a two mana ¾ with Haste, which is going to feel pretty good
Prophetic Prism image 2.0 This is pretty solid every time we see it. It’s not going to be as good here as it would be an artifact-heavy set, but it replaces itself and does an okay job of fixing your mana
Return from the Wilds image 2.0 A three mana 1/1 that rampant growths is a solid enough card, and ramping does look fairly viable in this format. This can also give you food when you reach the part of the game where more lands doesn’t do you any good
Brave the Wilds image 2.0 One green mana to search up a basic land is a borderline playable, especially if you’re playing more than two colors. The upside of animating a land means it can add to the board sometimes too
Scarecrow Guide image 2.0 This is another way to fix your mana that is solid, but certainly not exciting
Grand Ball Guest image 2.0 A vanilla two mana 2/2 is probably a 1.0 these days, and while I think triggering celebration is doable, it isn’t going to happen so much that this will be a 3/3 with trample every turn or anything
Living Lectern image 3.0 It feels like giving this up for a card and a Sorcerer role is going to generate some serious value, and the fact it can sit around as a reasonable blocker until you feel like doing that seems pretty good
Pack 3 Pick 8: Minecart Daredevil
Eriette's Tempting Apple image 1.0 A 4-mana Threaten isn’t amazing, but as usual, if you can sacrifice the thing that you steal we’re talking about a potentially powerful card. But the apple’s other two effects aren’t particularly good either
Picklock Prankster image 3.0 There is a chance you miss with Free the Fae. You have a pretty good chance of not missing, especially in Blue/Red and Blue/Black, but this isn’t the kind of effect that will only miss on rare occasions. I think expecting it to wiff entirely a third of the time is reasonable. When you can get a card out of it it’s going to feel pretty good, especially because you also get a reasonable flyer. A creature with these two keywords goes great with the various Role tokens in the set too.
Mocking Sprite image 2.5 This has almost reasonable stats, and reducing the costs of spells has some extra weight in this format thanks to Adventures, in addition to the fact that it just plays well in any Blue/Red deck.
Minecart Daredevil image 3.5 I like this a lot because it resembles some of the Adventures from last Eldraine that were huge overperformers. Yes, you’ve got a medicore trick on one side and a mediocre vanilla creature on the other, but you get both on one card, and both halves of this card can conceivably trade with something and that means you’re getting a 2-for-1.
Edgewall Pack image 3.0 A 4-mana 3/3 menace that makes a 1/1 that can’t block is pretty decent. Worth noting that it triggers card swith Celebration on its own, and there are definitely some curve outs where you play a two drop and a three drop with Celebration, where then playing the Pack would make for a pretty spicy turn 4.
Armory Mice image 2.0 A two mana 3/1 is usually acceptable, and this will be a 3/3 some percentage of the time. I’m giving this a 2.
Scarecrow Guide image 2.0 This is another way to fix your mana that is solid, but certainly not exciting
Pack 3 Pick 9: Verdant Outrider
Spreading Seas image 0.0 This doesn’t do much in Limited. Sure, if your opponent happens to only have one land that can produce one of their colors and you stick this on it, it can be pretty hilarious, but most of the time that’s not going to happen to them. Replacing itself just isn’t’ enough these days, it needs to actually…do something too, and this just won’t
Ashiok's Reaper image 2.5 This seems like it may be a little too clunky. The stats are bad, and while getting Enchantments into the graveyard is more doable in this format than most, it isn’t going to just happen so often that this entirely makes up for that very real problem.
Ego Drain image 0.0 This card is awful when you don’t control a Faerie. When you do, it offers some powerful disruption, but it gets a lot less powerful when you aren’t able to use it on turn one. Even a Faerie deck will find itself without Faeries in play in the early game, and this card’s value certainly diminishes when you can’t cast it during that time.
Water Wings image 2.0 This looks like a solid trick. It gives a big enough buff that it will make your creature win most combats, and the hexproof part means it also works well against removal. Flying also gives it a third mode, where sometimes you can send a creature into the air to do lethal
Verdant Outrider image 2.0 A three mana 4/2 usually has the big problem of dying to 2 power creatures, but obviously enough, Verdant Outrider can get around that. You won’t always have the time or mana to use that ability of course, but it definitely does enough for this to be solid filler
Flick a Coin image 2.0 Each thing this does individually isn’t that impressive but getting them all for three mana seems like a decent enough deal, especially if you’re in the market for fixing. Still, it’s a fairly low impact card that probably won’t always make the cut.
Pack 3 Pick 10: Brave the Wilds
Kindred Discovery image 0.0 // 3.5 This will probably actually work in a Faerie deck, as if you have a critical mass of those you’re going to be drawing a ton of cards, especially because their evasiveness allows themt o attack so effectively. Other Blue decks in the format aren’t likely to have enough creatures of a single type to make it work though, so this needs a build around grade
Unruly Catapult image 1.0 // 3.0 This isn’t quite as impressive as Thermo-Alchemist, but it’s doing a decent impression. This will likely be a premiere payoff in the Blue/Red spells deck, and kind of unplayable everywhere else. It can inflict a ton of extra damage when you have lots of cheap spells, and an 0/4 body is decently stout.
Brave the Wilds image 2.0 One green mana to search up a basic land is a borderline playable, especially if you’re playing more than two colors. The upside of animating a land means it can add to the board sometimes too
Spider Food image 0.5 This format has a lot of targets for this, but there are also two lower rarity ways to Naturalize stuff in this format that are way better in the main deck. So, this is a sideboard card but one you probably won’t use very often
Merfolk Coralsmith image 2.0 Creatures who can modulate their power always play a little better than they look, as that flexibility lets them do a wide range of things. This can trade with things that have as much as 4 toughness and hit pretty hard when you want it to. The Scry trigger is a nice additional effect too
Pack 3 Pick 11: Kindled Heroism
Sharae of Numbing Depths image 3.5 It’s a 4-mana 2/3 that stuns something down and draws you a card. I’m always playing that. Stunning something isn’t quite as good as bouncing, but it feels pretty close! Then it works well with other tap effects too
Living Lectern image 3.0 It feels like giving this up for a card and a Sorcerer role is going to generate some serious value, and the fact it can sit around as a reasonable blocker until you feel like doing that seems pretty good
Verdant Outrider image 2.0 A three mana 4/2 usually has the big problem of dying to 2 power creatures, but obviously enough, Verdant Outrider can get around that. You won’t always have the time or mana to use that ability of course, but it definitely does enough for this to be solid filler
Kindled Heroism image 1.5 We’ve seen this trick many times before and it’s always kind of okay. The boost can allow your creature to win a decent number of combats, and when you can make that happen for only one mana it feels pretty amazing. Still, it is a combat trick and one that isn’t always very impactful
Pack 3 Pick 12: Toadstool Admirer
Ratcatcher Trainee image 3.0 A two mana 2/1 with first strike when it attacks is a great aggressive creature in Limited, and this one can make you a couple of 1/1s too. It is a bit odd as far as adventures go, because this is one where you probably cast it fairly often without ever using the Adventure part, where with most of them it makes a lot of sense to try to get the full value. Here, you’re not going to do that as often, but it still has big upside because if you draw it late you can get the tokens and the 2/1 all in a single turn. The Adventure side can also get celebration going all on its own
Freeze in Place image 2.0 While it isn’t quite removal, stunning a creature for three turns will feel like it is sometimes. Scry 2 combines nicely too, because you can use it to find whatever it is you desperately need, now that you bought yourself some time. The Blue/White deck in the format likes tapping things too, so getting some additional value here isn’t impossible.
Toadstool Admirer image 0.0 This doesn’t seem very good to me. A one mana 1/1 with Ward 2 just…doesn’t matter, and even though this can eventually put counters on itself, it only does so in the extreme late game, and it will take it way too long for it to ever be relevant
Pack 3 Pick 13: Dragon Mantle
Dragon Mantle image 1.5 Giving a creature firebereathing isn’t particularly useful unless that creature was also pretty good, but this does replace itself, so that makes the floor on it pretty reasonable, especially for a one mana card. It isn’t a bad thing to sacrifice to Bargain either, since it will have already giving you a card
Commune with Nature image 1.5 We’ve seen this a lot. It usually lets you draw a card for one mana, and you see a huge chunk of your deck in Limited. But it just doesn’t always make the cut, you only have so much room for cards that don’t impact the board
Pack 3 Pick 14: Merfolk Coralsmith
Merfolk Coralsmith image 2.0 Creatures who can modulate their power always play a little better than they look, as that flexibility lets them do a wide range of things. This can trade with things that have as much as 4 toughness and hit pretty hard when you want it to. The Scry trigger is a nice additional effect too
Draft Pick Overview