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Quick Draft WOE 23 September 2023

23 September 09:56 - Cartecha 7 Wins - 1 Losses
Maindeck
Creature (16)
1 Gingerbread Hunter image
1 Voracious Vermin image
1 Rootrider Faun image
1 Barrow Naughty image
2 Territorial Witchstalker image
2 Imodane's Recruiter image
1 Greta, Sweettooth Scourge image
2 Fell Horseman image
1 Agatha's Champion image
1 Tough Cookie image
1 Redtooth Genealogist image
1 Beanstalk Wurm image
1 Scream Puff image
Instant, Sorcery, Enchantment, Artifact (7)
1 Candy Grapple image
1 Brave the Wilds image
1 Taken by Nightmares image
1 Shatter the Oath image
1 Rowan's Grim Search image
1 Return from the Wilds image
1 Not Dead After All image
Land (17)
1 Edgewall Inn image
1 Crystal Grotto image
1 Evolving Wilds image
6 Forest image
1 Mountain image
6 Swamp image
1 Plains image
Sideboard
1 Territorial Witchstalker image
2 Protective Parents image
1 Wicked Visitor image
1 Stockpiling Celebrant image
1 Dutiful Griffin image
1 Savior of the Sleeping image
1 Living Lectern image
1 Troublemaker Ouphe image
1 Eriette's Tempting Apple image
1 Moment of Valor image
2 Kellan's Lightblades image
1 Griffin Aerie image
1 Dark Tutelage image
1 Eerie Interference image

Pack 1 Pick 1: Gingerbread Hunter
Fraying Sanity image 0.0 To make Fraying Sanity work you usually need some other mill around, and while there’s a little bit of that in this format, there isn’t enough to support this
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
Embereth Veteran image 3.0 A one mana 2/1 can get in for decent damage on the first couple of turns, but tends to become irrelevant fairly quickly. This helps overcome that by letting you put a Young Hero Role on something, and while it’s not the most amazing of the Roles, since it requires the creature to be small to get a buff from it, it does mean the Veteran can significantly augment your creatures in some situations
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
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
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.
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
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
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.
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.
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
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
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
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
Pack 1 Pick 2: Candy Grapple
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
Gallant Pie-Wielder image 3.5 A three mana ⅔ with First Strike is already a fairly nice card, especially in a set with a lot of Auras, and this will have double strike sometimes. Celebrating is pretty doable, but also not something that will happen every turn
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.
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
Territorial Witchstalker image 1.5 A two mana 2/3 with defender isn’t great, but in a defensive deck it isn’t unplayable, but the ceiling on this card just isn’t very high, and neither is the floor.
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.
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
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
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
Candy Grapple image 4.0 Without Bargain this is premium removal, with it, it’s one of Black’s best commons. It can deal with so much when you Bargain, and there’s plenty of fodder around
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
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
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
Pack 1 Pick 3: Edgewall Inn
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
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
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
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
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.
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.
Frantic Firebolt image 3.5 The base form of this card is mediocre, but if you can just get it to do 3 damage you’re talking about premium removal. That’s not a huge ask at all, especially in Red decks in the format, and that also means it has a really high ceiling. Basically, this has a bad floor, but it will almost never be that bad, and I think that means it does enough to be premium removal you take highly
Bestial Bloodline image 1.0 +2/+2 is a nice boost for the cost, but you still set yourself up for an ugly 2-for-1, and even though this can come back from your graveyard the cost is so high that it is only something you do when you have absolutely nothing else you can do. And even then, it isn’t going to feel great
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.
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
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
Pack 1 Pick 4: Kellan's Lightblades
Ground Seal image 0.0 There’s not enough of a reason to hate on the graveyard in this format
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
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
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
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
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
Charmed Clothier image 2.5 A 5-mana 3/3 flyer is not a good rate. Getting a role token does make a difference, and a card like this also triggers Celebration, so it does some nice stuff for a couple different decks in the format.
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.
Bestial Bloodline image 1.0 +2/+2 is a nice boost for the cost, but you still set yourself up for an ugly 2-for-1, and even though this can come back from your graveyard the cost is so high that it is only something you do when you have absolutely nothing else you can do. And even then, it isn’t going to feel great
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
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 5: Voracious Vermin
Tattered Ratter image 2.5 Rats can often just be chump blocked, but Tattered Ratter makes sure that that’s going to be a lot harder. It will make your opponent just have to take damage from attacking rats pretty often, as a 3-power rat can take down a whole lot of blockers. Still, there are so many board states where this is just going to be a two mana 2/2, even if you have rats, because there are often situations where your opponent isn’t interested in blocking them anyway
Stroke of Midnight image 3.0 We’ve seen cards like this a lot, and this kind of effect is generally worse than it looks in Limited. Destroying anything for three is nice and all, but in a lot of ways, you can look at this as an Aura that makes a nonland permanent into a 1/1 with no abilities. When you look at it that way, it is much less impressive. Sure, that’s almost always going to downgrade something, and it doesn’t make this card bad, but it also isn’t premium removal for that reason
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
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.
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.
Territorial Witchstalker image 1.5 A two mana 2/3 with defender isn’t great, but in a defensive deck it isn’t unplayable, but the ceiling on this card just isn’t very high, and neither is the floor.
Charmed Clothier image 2.5 A 5-mana 3/3 flyer is not a good rate. Getting a role token does make a difference, and a card like this also triggers Celebration, so it does some nice stuff for a couple different decks in the format.
Gnawing Crescendo image 1.0 // 2.5 These effects don’t usually pan out that well in Limited. That said, this format looks like it can go wide in both Black/Red and Red/White, meaning this might have some more uses than usual. It is nice that you get something even if your creatures die, but the 1/1s that can’t block aren’t exactly going to help you on the back swing
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
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.
Pack 1 Pick 6: Brave the Wilds
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
Aquatic Alchemist image 1.5 Unfortunately, putting an instant or sorcery on top of your library from your graveyard isn’t a great effect all on its own. In fact, it’s card disadvantage. You go down a card and don’t get one back. This makes up for that some by also giving you a creature, I’m not really blown away by it either. We’ve seen cards with this same instant or sorcery trigger do pretty well, but most of the time they don’t have a restriction on how many times they can get buffed in a turn. Basically, both sides of this are fairly weak and not very impactful
Hopeless Nightmare image 2.5 One mana to make your opponent discard and lose 2 life is an acceptable rate, and after that point the Nightmare is great fodder for cards with Bargain. It’s definitely a role-player, but something you probably want one of in Black if you have a few cards that Bargain
Slumbering Keepguard image 2.0 It is kind of nice that this is a one-drop that can threaten to get significantly larger late, as that means it maintains some relevance all game long. The incidental Scry you get doesn’t hurt either
Protective Parents image 2.5 This has passable stats and a decent death trigger.
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
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
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
Frantic Firebolt image 3.5 The base form of this card is mediocre, but if you can just get it to do 3 damage you’re talking about premium removal. That’s not a huge ask at all, especially in Red decks in the format, and that also means it has a really high ceiling. Basically, this has a bad floor, but it will almost never be that bad, and I think that means it does enough to be premium removal you take highly
Pack 1 Pick 7: Rootrider Faun
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
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.
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
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.
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
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
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
Scream Puff image 2.0 This is pretty beefy, although I think it would be much better if it made the food on ETB. That would allow it to be one of these big creatures that helps slower decks stabilize. It can still help you do that of course, but having to rumble with it in order to get food makes the card a little bit awkward
Pack 1 Pick 8: Barrow Naughty
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
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.
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
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.
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
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
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
Pack 1 Pick 9: Crystal Grotto
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.
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
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.
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
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
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
Pack 1 Pick 10: Territorial Witchstalker
Territorial Witchstalker image 1.5 A two mana 2/3 with defender isn’t great, but in a defensive deck it isn’t unplayable, but the ceiling on this card just isn’t very high, and neither is the floor.
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.
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
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
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 1 Pick 11: Eriette's Tempting Apple
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
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
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.
Bestial Bloodline image 1.0 +2/+2 is a nice boost for the cost, but you still set yourself up for an ugly 2-for-1, and even though this can come back from your graveyard the cost is so high that it is only something you do when you have absolutely nothing else you can do. And even then, it isn’t going to feel great
Pack 1 Pick 12: Moment of Valor
Ground Seal image 0.0 There’s not enough of a reason to hate on the graveyard in this format
Bestial Bloodline image 1.0 +2/+2 is a nice boost for the cost, but you still set yourself up for an ugly 2-for-1, and even though this can come back from your graveyard the cost is so high that it is only something you do when you have absolutely nothing else you can do. And even then, it isn’t going to feel great
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 13: Territorial Witchstalker
Territorial Witchstalker image 1.5 A two mana 2/3 with defender isn’t great, but in a defensive deck it isn’t unplayable, but the ceiling on this card just isn’t very high, and neither is the floor.
Charmed Clothier image 2.5 A 5-mana 3/3 flyer is not a good rate. Getting a role token does make a difference, and a card like this also triggers Celebration, so it does some nice stuff for a couple different decks in the format.
Pack 1 Pick 14: Protective Parents
Protective Parents image 2.5 This has passable stats and a decent death trigger.
Pack 2 Pick 1: Taken by Nightmares
Vampiric Rites image 3.0 This is a pretty nice sacrifice outlet, and Black in this format has access to many rat tokens that will feel particularly good to sacrifice to this
Agatha of the Vile Cauldron image 3.0 A two mana 1/1 that reduces the cost of creature activated abilities by 1 is…not that exciting. Sure, there are abilities around, but not so many that you can count on Agatha being a key player in your deck. The cool thing is she counts herself, so her ability will basically cost 5 at the most, and that ability is a pretty awesome overrun effect. If you augment her power, you can gain access to it even more quickly
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
Korvold and the Noble Thief image 1.0 The turn you play this is going to feel really rough, because paying FOUR and not getting anything meaningful on the board is a pain. Especially because the next chapter does the same thing! But chapter III is a pretty nice payoff. You can use all that treasure to up your chances of playing your opponent’s stuff. It is a bit of a bummer that if you don’t make sure to hold on to that treasure, and your opponent is in different colors than you, you’re going to be out of luck when it comes to casting off-color things. Overall…I’m kind of skeptical here. I love the value Chapter III can generate, but it’s really slow, and I think that will make this a liability
Taken by Nightmares image 3.5 Even without the enchantment part, you’d always play it in your black decks. Exiling something for 4 at instant speed is just always going to be good. When you also get this to scry, it will feel amazing
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
Quick Study image 2.0 Instant speed Divination isn’t too shabby, though it doesn’t add to the board and that can always be a problem in Limited.
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.
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
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
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.
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
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
Territorial Witchstalker image 1.5 A two mana 2/3 with defender isn’t great, but in a defensive deck it isn’t unplayable, but the ceiling on this card just isn’t very high, and neither is the floor.
Pack 2 Pick 2: Imodane's Recruiter
Grasp of Fate image 3.5 This is an oblivion ring variant, and like all of them it is premium removal. Hitting multiple permanent types and exiling for three is just that good. There’s a risk it gets destroyed of course, but that doesn’t make it any less impressive
The Princess Takes Flight image 2.0 Temporarily exiling something with Chapter 1 can be used to get an opposing creature out of the way for a bit, and it can also be a slow way to blink something, but the fact that Chapter 1 and 3 are basically part of the same effect makes the value this can generate pretty low. Chapter 2 isn’t bad, but I think the whole package here seems pretty medium. I think the best way to use this is to cast something with Bargain after Chapter II, that way you permanently rid yourself of an opposing creature. While you can certainly make that happen, when it doesn’t line up that way, it seems very mediocre
Imodane's Recruiter image 3.5 The creature side is effectively a 3-mana 3/2 with Haste that also buffs your whole board. That’s a pretty nice card! The Adventure side isn’t the most efficient way to produce a couple of Knight tokens, but like with all Adventures having that option at all is a big deal. I mean, if you have the time to cast both sides, getting a 3-for-1 isn’t out of the question, and if you have eight mana you can crank out the two 2/2s and then play the recruiter, which will be really devastating. All that said, this is an Adventure creature where you’re more likely to want to play the creature before you ever get the adventure
Dutiful Griffin image 3.0 A 5-mana 4/4 Flyer is pretty nice, though Air elemental isn’t quite as impressive as it once was. A creature this beefy that can come back from the graveyard is interesting, but I do think sacrificing two Enchantments is a pretty significant cost, even with Role tokens around. It does get a little more interesting if you also have some payoffs for putting Enchantments into your graveyard, but I think there are a lot of games where you just don’t have the time or resources to bring this thing back
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
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.
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
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
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
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
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.
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
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 2 Pick 3: Evolving Wilds
Beseech the Mirror image 2.0 So, this is a tutor, and it’s almost always a good idea to look at them with serious skepticism in Limited. The average power level of cards in your deck is lower than in 60 or 99 card formats, so tutoring is already inherently weaker, but the fact most of them also don’t impact the board at all is also a huge liability. If you get the Bargain on this one going it can effect the board, effectively grabbing whatever your best 4 or less card is from your deck and casting it. That gives it a better floor than most tutors have, but it does take some set up. It can still tutor up something else, but most of the time grabbing something you can’t use right away is just going to be the worst play
Embereth Veteran image 3.0 A one mana 2/1 can get in for decent damage on the first couple of turns, but tends to become irrelevant fairly quickly. This helps overcome that by letting you put a Young Hero Role on something, and while it’s not the most amazing of the Roles, since it requires the creature to be small to get a buff from it, it does mean the Veteran can significantly augment your creatures in some situations
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
Cursed Courtier image 3.0 This is basically a three mana 1/1 with lifelink most of the time, which is bad – but if your deck has enough ways to put other roles on the Courtier, things get interesting, since the Cursed Role will go away and then it will get buffed, so it will become significantly larger in a flash. There are also a few ways to sacrifice enchantments, including to the Bargain mechanic, so getting rid of this negative Aura is easier than it might seem at first. Notably, this also triggers cards with Celebration all on its own, since it gives you two nonland permanents, so you can see that this does a bunch of stuff in a bunch of different 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
Territorial Witchstalker image 1.5 A two mana 2/3 with defender isn’t great, but in a defensive deck it isn’t unplayable, but the ceiling on this card just isn’t very high, and neither is the floor.
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
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
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.
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
Aquatic Alchemist image 1.5 Unfortunately, putting an instant or sorcery on top of your library from your graveyard isn’t a great effect all on its own. In fact, it’s card disadvantage. You go down a card and don’t get one back. This makes up for that some by also giving you a creature, I’m not really blown away by it either. We’ve seen cards with this same instant or sorcery trigger do pretty well, but most of the time they don’t have a restriction on how many times they can get buffed in a turn. Basically, both sides of this are fairly weak and not very impactful
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.
Pack 2 Pick 4: Greta, Sweettooth Scourge
Season of Growth image 2.0 The Scry effect alone isn’t enough to run this, but the good news is there are several green cards in the set that will trigger this, even at lower rarities. They are combat tricks of course, but this also works pretty well with all the fight and bite spells, as it will make them into 2-for-1s, which is actually pretty nuts. So, I think you can actually play one of these in most Green decks and have it do something, and in some of them it might be really nuts
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
Disdainful Stroke image 0.5 This is a sideboard card. Most opponents won’t have enough things you can counter with this for it to be worth it.
Greta, Sweettooth Scourge image 4.0 A three mana 3/3 that makes a Food is already close to a 3.0, so her other abilities are pretty amazing to have. Giving up food for cards is a very good deal, and sometimes buffing your creatures with Food is nice too. Keep in mind that the buff effect is only sorcery speed, while the draw a card effect is not. In the later stage of the game, you can look at this as a 5-mana 3/3 that draws you a card and you lose 1 life, which isn’t too shabby either. This looks like an excellent signpost Uncommon overall, with a great baseline and a very powerful effect on the game
Quick Study image 2.0 Instant speed Divination isn’t too shabby, though it doesn’t add to the board and that can always be a problem in Limited.
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
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.
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
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.
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
Bestial Bloodline image 1.0 +2/+2 is a nice boost for the cost, but you still set yourself up for an ugly 2-for-1, and even though this can come back from your graveyard the cost is so high that it is only something you do when you have absolutely nothing else you can do. And even then, it isn’t going to feel great
Pack 2 Pick 5: Fell Horseman
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
Johann, Apprentice Sorcerer image 3.5 This effect is really powerful, even when limited to once per turn. If your deck has enough instants and sorceries in it, this will end up drawing you an extra card on many turns and that’s just crazy. This gets even better if you use draw effects or other things to manipulate the top of your library, as you increase your chances of getting that card on top. I like the high toughness here too, as it means Johann is an engine that isn’t super easy to kill
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
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.
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.
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.
Fell Horseman image 3.0 Like most of the Common adventure creatures, both sides of this look super underwhelming, but they do in fact often result in a 2-for-1, so it’s better than it looks
Candy Trail image 1.5 Scry 2 on turn one doesn’t sound like a bad idea in a lot of situations, although using up a whole card to do it definitely isn’t appealing. However, the fact you can cash this in for a card and life later means you don’t use up a whole card. Still, in a format without a big artifact theme, these artifacts that have tiny effects have been fairly underwhelming
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
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
Pack 2 Pick 6: Stockpiling Celebrant
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
Eerie Interference image 0.0 Fog effects are almost always bad in Limited, even when they become one-sided. The problem is that they have far too narrow of a use-case
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.
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
Protective Parents image 2.5 This has passable stats and a decent death trigger.
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.
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
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.
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.
Pack 2 Pick 7: Shatter the Oath
Eerie Interference image 0.0 Fog effects are almost always bad in Limited, even when they become one-sided. The problem is that they have far too narrow of a use-case
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.
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
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.
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
Aquatic Alchemist image 1.5 Unfortunately, putting an instant or sorcery on top of your library from your graveyard isn’t a great effect all on its own. In fact, it’s card disadvantage. You go down a card and don’t get one back. This makes up for that some by also giving you a creature, I’m not really blown away by it either. We’ve seen cards with this same instant or sorcery trigger do pretty well, but most of the time they don’t have a restriction on how many times they can get buffed in a turn. Basically, both sides of this are fairly weak and not very impactful
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
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
Pack 2 Pick 8: Fell Horseman
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
Savior of the Sleeping image 2.5 As we’ve seen there are a decent number of ways to get enchantments in the graveyard, so it isn’t that unreasonable to think getting a counter or two on this is doable
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
Gnawing Crescendo image 1.0 // 2.5 These effects don’t usually pan out that well in Limited. That said, this format looks like it can go wide in both Black/Red and Red/White, meaning this might have some more uses than usual. It is nice that you get something even if your creatures die, but the 1/1s that can’t block aren’t exactly going to help you on the back swing
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
Fell Horseman image 3.0 Like most of the Common adventure creatures, both sides of this look super underwhelming, but they do in fact often result in a 2-for-1, so it’s better than it looks
Aquatic Alchemist image 1.5 Unfortunately, putting an instant or sorcery on top of your library from your graveyard isn’t a great effect all on its own. In fact, it’s card disadvantage. You go down a card and don’t get one back. This makes up for that some by also giving you a creature, I’m not really blown away by it either. We’ve seen cards with this same instant or sorcery trigger do pretty well, but most of the time they don’t have a restriction on how many times they can get buffed in a turn. Basically, both sides of this are fairly weak and not very impactful
Pack 2 Pick 9: Wicked Visitor
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
Korvold and the Noble Thief image 1.0 The turn you play this is going to feel really rough, because paying FOUR and not getting anything meaningful on the board is a pain. Especially because the next chapter does the same thing! But chapter III is a pretty nice payoff. You can use all that treasure to up your chances of playing your opponent’s stuff. It is a bit of a bummer that if you don’t make sure to hold on to that treasure, and your opponent is in different colors than you, you’re going to be out of luck when it comes to casting off-color things. Overall…I’m kind of skeptical here. I love the value Chapter III can generate, but it’s really slow, and I think that will make this a liability
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
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.
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
Territorial Witchstalker image 1.5 A two mana 2/3 with defender isn’t great, but in a defensive deck it isn’t unplayable, but the ceiling on this card just isn’t very high, and neither is the floor.
Pack 2 Pick 10: Dutiful Griffin
Dutiful Griffin image 3.0 A 5-mana 4/4 Flyer is pretty nice, though Air elemental isn’t quite as impressive as it once was. A creature this beefy that can come back from the graveyard is interesting, but I do think sacrificing two Enchantments is a pretty significant cost, even with Role tokens around. It does get a little more interesting if you also have some payoffs for putting Enchantments into your graveyard, but I think there are a lot of games where you just don’t have the time or resources to bring this thing back
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
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
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
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 2 Pick 11: Territorial Witchstalker
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
Territorial Witchstalker image 1.5 A two mana 2/3 with defender isn’t great, but in a defensive deck it isn’t unplayable, but the ceiling on this card just isn’t very high, and neither is the floor.
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
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: Rowan's Grim Search
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.
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
Bestial Bloodline image 1.0 +2/+2 is a nice boost for the cost, but you still set yourself up for an ugly 2-for-1, and even though this can come back from your graveyard the cost is so high that it is only something you do when you have absolutely nothing else you can do. And even then, it isn’t going to feel great
Pack 2 Pick 13: Griffin Aerie
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
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 2 Pick 14: Protective Parents
Protective Parents image 2.5 This has passable stats and a decent death trigger.
Pack 3 Pick 1: Imodane's Recruiter
Rest in Peace image 0.0 Even though this replaces itself, there isn’t enough of a reason to hate on the graveyard in this format to ever make this matter
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
Dream Spoilers image 1.0 4-mana 2/2 flyer do not fair well in Limited. This is mostly because there are multiple one mana spells in each set that can deal with them, so paying FOUR often results in a huge tempo hit. The ability here is nice, especially if you can cast multiple spells, but triggering it is far from automatic and even when you do sometimes it won’t do anything. I don’t think this makes the cut very often
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
Imodane's Recruiter image 3.5 The creature side is effectively a 3-mana 3/2 with Haste that also buffs your whole board. That’s a pretty nice card! The Adventure side isn’t the most efficient way to produce a couple of Knight tokens, but like with all Adventures having that option at all is a big deal. I mean, if you have the time to cast both sides, getting a 3-for-1 isn’t out of the question, and if you have eight mana you can crank out the two 2/2s and then play the recruiter, which will be really devastating. All that said, this is an Adventure creature where you’re more likely to want to play the creature before you ever get the adventure
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
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.
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
Beluna's Gatekeeper image 2.5 A restricted Sorcery speed bounce effect isn’t amazing, but you’ll usually have something you can bounce with this early. Usually, a bounce effect is card disadvantage, but because you get a big vanilla creature out of this later, that isn’t really the case. While it doesn’t quite deliver the two cards of value that make some adventures really strong, this does do a whole lot for a single card
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
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
Territorial Witchstalker image 1.5 A two mana 2/3 with defender isn’t great, but in a defensive deck it isn’t unplayable, but the ceiling on this card just isn’t very high, and neither is the floor.
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
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: Agatha's Champion
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
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
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
Stroke of Midnight image 3.0 We’ve seen cards like this a lot, and this kind of effect is generally worse than it looks in Limited. Destroying anything for three is nice and all, but in a lot of ways, you can look at this as an Aura that makes a nonland permanent into a 1/1 with no abilities. When you look at it that way, it is much less impressive. Sure, that’s almost always going to downgrade something, and it doesn’t make this card bad, but it also isn’t premium removal for that reason
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
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.
Cut In image 2.5 A 4-mana deal 4 sorcery isn’t premium removal, and I don’t think adding a Young Hero Role token to the mix gets this there. Still, it can kill a decent number of things and it does add to the board a tiny bit too.
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
Frantic Firebolt image 3.5 The base form of this card is mediocre, but if you can just get it to do 3 damage you’re talking about premium removal. That’s not a huge ask at all, especially in Red decks in the format, and that also means it has a really high ceiling. Basically, this has a bad floor, but it will almost never be that bad, and I think that means it does enough to be premium removal you take highly
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.
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.
Bestial Bloodline image 1.0 +2/+2 is a nice boost for the cost, but you still set yourself up for an ugly 2-for-1, and even though this can come back from your graveyard the cost is so high that it is only something you do when you have absolutely nothing else you can do. And even then, it isn’t going to feel great
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
Pack 3 Pick 3: Tough Cookie
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
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
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.
Tough Cookie image 4.0 A two mana 2/2 that makes a Food on ETB is already a solid playable – especially because this happens to be a Food itself, giving it even more upside and synergy. The activated ability will not be something you are always able to find the time to use, but there will also be turns where this thing animates a couple of foods and really makes your opponent’s life difficult. Note, by the way, it can animate other noncreature artifacts too. While Food is going to be the most typical thing it will animate, there are some other cards in the format it can turn into 4/4s too
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
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
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
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
Savior of the Sleeping image 2.5 As we’ve seen there are a decent number of ways to get enchantments in the graveyard, so it isn’t that unreasonable to think getting a counter or two on this is doable
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
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
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 4: Redtooth Genealogist
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
Chancellor of Tales image 4.0 This seems really strong, so much so that I wouldn’t have been shocked if it were a rare. There are a lot of Adventures in this set and doubling them is huge. Your normal deck will have more than enough adventures to take advantage of the chancellor. The one downside the card has is its fairly inefficient stat-line, but honestly, given how strong this is, that hardly matters
Eerie Interference image 0.0 Fog effects are almost always bad in Limited, even when they become one-sided. The problem is that they have far too narrow of a use-case
Protective Parents image 2.5 This has passable stats and a decent death trigger.
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
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
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
Quick Study image 2.0 Instant speed Divination isn’t too shabby, though it doesn’t add to the board and that can always be a problem in Limited.
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
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
Territorial Witchstalker image 1.5 A two mana 2/3 with defender isn’t great, but in a defensive deck it isn’t unplayable, but the ceiling on this card just isn’t very high, and neither is the floor.
Pack 3 Pick 5: Beanstalk Wurm
Frolicking Familiar image 4.0 You’ll often be able to pick off something small with the Adventure, and that means you’re talking about a potential 2-for-1. Then you get a 2/2 Flyer that can become a real problem of an attacker, especially when you leave your mana up, because your opponent has no idea exactly how big the Familiar is going to be
Dutiful Griffin image 3.0 A 5-mana 4/4 Flyer is pretty nice, though Air elemental isn’t quite as impressive as it once was. A creature this beefy that can come back from the graveyard is interesting, but I do think sacrificing two Enchantments is a pretty significant cost, even with Role tokens around. It does get a little more interesting if you also have some payoffs for putting Enchantments into your graveyard, but I think there are a lot of games where you just don’t have the time or resources to bring this thing back
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.
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
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
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
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
Ice Out image 2.0 This is Cancel when you don’t Bargain it, and Counterspell when you do. 1 mana may not seem like much, but the chasm between those two cards is massive. The fact this has double blue in the cost really matters too, as Limited mana bases aren’t good enough for you to consistently be able to leave up two Blue mana for this.
Hopeful Vigil image 2.5 You get a reasonable body up front, and then you can sacrifice this to Bargain or other sacrifice effects. That does seem pretty doable, and the fact that you get a decent creature up front really makes this intriguing as far as two drops go. It also happens to trigger Celebration on its own.
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 3 Pick 6: Return from the Wilds
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
Pack 3 Pick 7: Troublemaker Ouphe
Hatching Plans image 3.0 This will be one of the absolute best things you can ever sacrifice to a Bargain card as you end up netting a bunch of cards and getting a bonus effect. Most decks in this format will have enough cards with Bargain to make this worth playing. The downside is, of course, that it does stone nothing when you can’t sacrifice it
Stroke of Midnight image 3.0 We’ve seen cards like this a lot, and this kind of effect is generally worse than it looks in Limited. Destroying anything for three is nice and all, but in a lot of ways, you can look at this as an Aura that makes a nonland permanent into a 1/1 with no abilities. When you look at it that way, it is much less impressive. Sure, that’s almost always going to downgrade something, and it doesn’t make this card bad, but it also isn’t premium removal for that reason
Succumb to the Cold image 1.5 This can be a nice tempo card that you can use to close out your opponent, and that’s especially true in Blue/White, which can get some extra value from the tapping. Still, it is fairly situational – if you can’t use it to finish your opponent off, or you have to use it defensively, it feels pretty bad
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
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
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
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.
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
Pack 3 Pick 8: Scream Puff
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
Scream Puff image 2.0 This is pretty beefy, although I think it would be much better if it made the food on ETB. That would allow it to be one of these big creatures that helps slower decks stabilize. It can still help you do that of course, but having to rumble with it in order to get food makes the card a little bit awkward
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
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.
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
Ice Out image 2.0 This is Cancel when you don’t Bargain it, and Counterspell when you do. 1 mana may not seem like much, but the chasm between those two cards is massive. The fact this has double blue in the cost really matters too, as Limited mana bases aren’t good enough for you to consistently be able to leave up two Blue mana for this.
Aquatic Alchemist image 1.5 Unfortunately, putting an instant or sorcery on top of your library from your graveyard isn’t a great effect all on its own. In fact, it’s card disadvantage. You go down a card and don’t get one back. This makes up for that some by also giving you a creature, I’m not really blown away by it either. We’ve seen cards with this same instant or sorcery trigger do pretty well, but most of the time they don’t have a restriction on how many times they can get buffed in a turn. Basically, both sides of this are fairly weak and not very impactful
Pack 3 Pick 9: Not Dead After All
Dream Spoilers image 1.0 4-mana 2/2 flyer do not fair well in Limited. This is mostly because there are multiple one mana spells in each set that can deal with them, so paying FOUR often results in a huge tempo hit. The ability here is nice, especially if you can cast multiple spells, but triggering it is far from automatic and even when you do sometimes it won’t do anything. I don’t think this makes the cut very often
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
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.
Beluna's Gatekeeper image 2.5 A restricted Sorcery speed bounce effect isn’t amazing, but you’ll usually have something you can bounce with this early. Usually, a bounce effect is card disadvantage, but because you get a big vanilla creature out of this later, that isn’t really the case. While it doesn’t quite deliver the two cards of value that make some adventures really strong, this does do a whole lot for a single card
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
Territorial Witchstalker image 1.5 A two mana 2/3 with defender isn’t great, but in a defensive deck it isn’t unplayable, but the ceiling on this card just isn’t very high, and neither is the floor.
Pack 3 Pick 10: Dark Tutelage
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
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
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.
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.
Bestial Bloodline image 1.0 +2/+2 is a nice boost for the cost, but you still set yourself up for an ugly 2-for-1, and even though this can come back from your graveyard the cost is so high that it is only something you do when you have absolutely nothing else you can do. And even then, it isn’t going to feel great
Pack 3 Pick 11: Savior of the Sleeping
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
Savior of the Sleeping image 2.5 As we’ve seen there are a decent number of ways to get enchantments in the graveyard, so it isn’t that unreasonable to think getting a counter or two on this is doable
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
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 12: Eerie Interference
Eerie Interference image 0.0 Fog effects are almost always bad in Limited, even when they become one-sided. The problem is that they have far too narrow of a use-case
Protective Parents image 2.5 This has passable stats and a decent death trigger.
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 13: Kellan's Lightblades
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
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
Pack 3 Pick 14: Living Lectern
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
Draft Pick Overview