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Quick Draft DMU 25 November 2023

25 November 03:00 - DonnieBrook 7 Wins - 0 Losses
Maindeck
Creature (17)
1 Defiler of Faith image
2 Phyrexian Missionary image
1 Walking Bulwark image
4 Argivian Phalanx image
1 Juniper Order Rootweaver image
1 Gibbering Barricade image
1 King Darien XLVIII image
1 Benalish Sleeper image
1 Sengir Connoisseur image
1 Shield-Wall Sentinel image
1 Phyrexian Vivisector image
1 Argivian Cavalier image
1 Mesa Cavalier image
Instant, Sorcery, Enchantment, Artifact (6)
4 Bone Splinters image
1 Prayer of Binding image
1 Shadow Prophecy image
Land (17)
1 Haunted Mire image
1 Sunlit Marsh image
1 Crystal Grotto image
7 Plains image
5 Swamp image
2 Forest image
Sideboard
1 Juniper Order Rootweaver image
4 Benalish Faithbonder image
1 Writhing Necromass image
1 Keldon Strike Team image
1 Clockwork Drawbridge image
2 Shore Up image
1 Heroic Charge image
1 Urborg Repossession image
1 Captain's Call image
1 Smash to Dust image
1 Battle-Rage Blessing image
1 Destroy Evil image

Pack 1 Pick 1: Defiler of Faith
Defiler of Faith image 4.5 A 5-mana 5/5 with VIgilance is already a 3.5 at the very worst, and then the two abilities are of course quite good. Making your spells cheaper and generating tokens is a good way to win games. Like with all of these, the more mono-colored and permanent-heavy you can go the better, but even if they only make about half of your permanent spells way better, that’s plenty.
Radha, Coalition Warlord image 3.0 This might be the weakest of all the signpost Uncommons, but it is still pretty good. The problem is that Radha can’t buff herself, so she is quite vulnerable when attacking. Because the ability triggers when she taps, you can use her with Enlist or with Vehicles – and that’s probably the best way to take advantage, since then she isn’t vulnerable, she just offers a big stats boost to something.
Mossbeard Ancient image 3.5 Every format needs a big green Tramply boi that gains you a bunch of life, and this certainly does that, allowing ramp deck to stabilize against faster decks. You’ll want one of these in that type of deck most of the time, and it also provides a pretty decent reanimation target for Black-Green.
Battlewing Mystic image 4.0 This is really nice. A two mana 2/1 Flyer is actually a pretty good rate, and I love that in the later game you can kick this for some serious card advantage too. Basically, this is great on turn two, and great as a late game top deck – and fine in the mid-game – so I really like it.
Meteorite image 1.0 This reprint is a super clunky way to fix your mana, and adding a Shock to the mix doesn’t make a huge difference for me. This set does have an artifact subtheme, so maybe sometimes it makes the cut?
Salvaged Manaworker image 2.5 We see artifact creatures who can filter mana all the time, and if that’s all they really do – along with mediocre stats – they see very little play. However, the filtering usually costs more than one. This actually looks like some nice fixing.
Ghitu Amplifier image 3.0 This is pretty neat. So, if you don’t kick it, the card is a slightly weaker Kiln Fiend – which means that it can really thrive off of cheap spells and hit hard in the early game. Then, in the late game, you can kick this thing and bounce a creature, which you know is an effect I always love – adding to the board and subtracting from your opponent’s is quite good! I really want to give this a 3.5 but I think I’m letting my own affinity for this type of card push me in that direction – it is probably more like a 3.0.
Meria's Outrider image 2.0 A 5-mana 4/4 with Reach isn’t something I’m in for. The fact this does some damage when it enters the battlefield is a definite upgrade, and it will at least shock your opponent with regularity, and bolt them pretty often too. Still, it seems super clunky to me.
Floriferous Vinewall image 1.5 This is a Defender, and that does matter a bit in this format, but this card seems pretty mediocre. Basically it is a two drop that makes sure you hit a land drop – but a 0/2 is pretty awful for that investment, and it also doesn’t quite fix your mana for you, at least not all the time, since you only get to look at the top 6.
Elfhame Wurm image 2.5 This is a solid French Vanilla creature. It will be a pretty beefy presence on most board states. One of these probably makes the cut in a lot of Green decks, but there are certainly better things you could be doing with 5 mana.
Volshe Tideturner image 2.0 We see two mana 1/3s who can tap for mana to be spent on instants and sorceries all the time, and they pretty much always disappoint. They aren’t terrible, but they also aren’t anywhere near as good as a legitimate mana dork, even with the addition of paying for kicker spells in this case. You just don’t end up being able to use the mana enough, and the stat line isn’t very good.
Gibbering Barricade image 2.5 This slots in nicely in the Defender deck, as well as in the Sacrifice and graveyard decks – and on top of that, it is just a decent card in any Black deck. A 3-mana 2/4 Defender can really lock down the ground for awhile, and the ability to cash stuff in is pretty sweet.
Charismatic Vanguard image 2.0 This has mediocre stats, but an ability that can do some work in the late game with an ability that is a bit overcosted.
Barkweave Crusher image 2.0 Giving an Enlist creature high toughness is interesting, because a lot of them can buff their power but still die pretty easily in combat, so you’re often hoping you can just attack with those creatures in situations where your opponent doesn’t have an option other than a mediocre trade. So, this is more likely to survive after getting buffed by Enlist, but it also takes some more work to make it hit hard.
Pack 1 Pick 2: Phyrexian Missionary
Phyrexian Missionary image 4.0 This looks really good to me. A two mana ⅔ with Lifelink is probably a 3.0, and the kicker upside here is massive, as it sets up a 2-for-1, while getting you back something useful from the graveyard.
Pilfer image 2.0 A two mana Coercion is a pretty big upgrade from three mana versions of the effect. It gives you decent information and can really disrupt your opponent. You still pay two mana for a one-for-one that doesn’t add to the board at all, but I think one copy of this is going to see some play in Black decks.
Battlewing Mystic image 4.0 This is really nice. A two mana 2/1 Flyer is actually a pretty good rate, and I love that in the later game you can kick this for some serious card advantage too. Basically, this is great on turn two, and great as a late game top deck – and fine in the mid-game – so I really like it.
Tolarian Terror image 3.0 Seems like a solid enough spell payoff. If you can pay 5 for this, you’ll be happy, and that seems like a pretty reasonable occurrence in a Blue-Red deck. Ward 2 means that it won’t be easy for your opponent to kill this without significantly overpaying, and that definitely matters.
Thrill of Possibility image 1.5 This is a reprint we’ve seen before, and it tends to be pretty solid in formats that have spell decks – and this is one of those! It triggers your spell payoffs while helping you find even more spells!
Sunbathing Rootwalla image 2.0 This has a baseline as a bear, and obviously has some upside that can really matter later in the game. Even if you’re just a two-color deck, the ability will be pretty solid – though certainly overcosted
Vineshaper Prodigy image 3.5 This seems like a strong common! If you need a bear on turn two, it has you covered – and kicking it means that you get a 2-for-1 with some pretty impressive card selection.
Bone Splinters image 2.0 We have seen this card many a time, and its always fine. Obviously one mana to kill something is really nice, but the requirement to sacrifice a creature is enough to keep it from being anywhere close to premium. Obviously, there are black decks in the format that are going to be able to make really good use of this – especially BW and BR, both of which like it when things die. It is pretty dangerous to run more than one copy of this too, since it is as situational as it is.
Juniper Order Rootweaver image 3.0 This is a very nice Common. It can just be a bear, or it can be a 3-mana 2/2 that puts a counter somewhere. The counter effect is the sort of thing that tends to be useful all game long, since in the later stages you can find somewhere to put it that makes a difference. In the early game, you may just want to make this a three mana 3/3, which is solid.
Flowstone Kavu image 3.0 A three mana 2/3 with Menace is already a solid card, so the fact that this can buff its power is quite nice. This will be able to attack effectively on a whole lot of boards, since it can always threaten to be a 4/1, and it has to be blocked by two creatures – and that makes it pretty hard for your opponent to block it without losing at least one creature. I think this is going to be sneaky good.
Gaea's Might image 2.0 This is a reprint from the last time the Phyrexian invaded, and it makes for a pretty reasonable combat trick. Getting +2/+2 out of it is easy, and it will often be Giant Growth – and sometimes even better! The set up is real, though.
Negate image 0.5 We see this card all the time, and generally it is more of a sideboard card. Most decks only have 4 or so things this can actually target, and that just isn’t enough for it to be a main deck card. When you know your opponent has plenty of targets for it, though, it becomes a pretty nice sideboard card.
Hammerhand image 2.0 This is a reprint, and it’s a pretty nice Aura in aggressive decks. One mana to make something unable to block, while also granting Haste and +1/+1 is a pretty great rate, and will often make whatever attack you make on your turn far more powerful than your opponent expects! And even after that initial turn where it really does some work, the +1/+1 sticks around, which is pretty nice
Pack 1 Pick 3: Bone Splinters
Linebreaker Baloth image 3.5 This looks pretty good! It brings reasonable stats to the table, especially because it can’t be blocked by smaller creatures, so adding Enlist to the mix is pretty sweet – it will be hard to block and able to swing really hard.
Shalai's Acolyte image 3.5 This is the kind of Kicker creature that is sneaky good in Limited. Neither mode of the card is that impressive a – a 5-mana ¾ Flyer or a 7 mana ⅚ Flyer – but the modality is a big deal, and neither mode is terrible either. If you need to play it early, you won’t be ashamed to, and when you cast it late it might be a bit inefficient, but it is pretty likely to be the beefiest flyer on the board.
Cut Down image 4.0 This seems like premium removal. It can kill a whole lot of things that cost more than one mana, and sometimes it will really trade up. It can kill most one, two, and three drops – and a fair bit of cards higher up on the curve too! It can get blanked by a pump spell or something, but that’s true of a lot of really cheap removal – look at Lightning Bolt. The fact this is an Instant is pretty sweet too.
Urborg Repossession image 3.0 We see a Common Black card in virtually every set lets you return two creatures from your hand to your graveyard – and this is one of the best versions of that we have seen. The fact it gains you life helps make up for how slow this effect can be, and when you KICK this, it is actually a pretty powerful spell. You get back a creature, one other permanent, and gain that 2 life for three mana. If this was ALWAYS just a Black-Green card, it would be pretty good, but the fact you can cast it as a different spell without the Kicker is pretty nice
Vanquisher's Axe image 1.5 This isn’t the most efficient Equipment ever, but it isn’t a complete disaster either. It may be particularly good in RW, where you want higher attack than toughness – and it also helps the Equipment and Artifact sub-themes in the set. Still, it probably gets cut from many decks.
Benalish Faithbonder image 2.0 A two mana 1/3 with Vigilance is probably a 1.5 -- adding Enlist is pretty nice on a Vigilance creature too, because Enlist naturally has you tap something extra down when you attack, but at least your enlist creature doesn’t get tapped!
Phyrexian Espionage image 2.0 This is potentially a 5-mana three-for-one, which is pretty attractive! On a base level, it is just Divination – which is usually a C- level card these days. This is one of those effects that never adds to the board, and that can be a real problem, but I think I having one or two effects in your deck like that is reasonable, and this is the kind of thing I wouldn’t feel bad about putting in that slot. When you can really get it going, it can actually be pretty devastating, and at worst, you have Divination.
Volshe Tideturner image 2.0 We see two mana 1/3s who can tap for mana to be spent on instants and sorceries all the time, and they pretty much always disappoint. They aren’t terrible, but they also aren’t anywhere near as good as a legitimate mana dork, even with the addition of paying for kicker spells in this case. You just don’t end up being able to use the mana enough, and the stat line isn’t very good.
Bone Splinters image 2.0 We have seen this card many a time, and its always fine. Obviously one mana to kill something is really nice, but the requirement to sacrifice a creature is enough to keep it from being anywhere close to premium. Obviously, there are black decks in the format that are going to be able to make really good use of this – especially BW and BR, both of which like it when things die. It is pretty dangerous to run more than one copy of this too, since it is as situational as it is.
Soaring Drake image 2.5 This shows you how much power creep there is with creatures! Wind Drake, a 3 mana 2/2 Flyer, used to be a quality card in Limited – but now we get a three mana ⅔ Flyer in Limited and that’s pretty much the bar for “solid Common.”
Goblin Picker image 2.0 This has solid base stats and rummaging can certainly improve the quality of your draws, though Rummaging is markedly worse than looting. Red also doesn’t have a ton of graveyard stuff going on in this format, and that certainly hurts this card’s stock a bit.
Bog Badger image 2.5 Three mana for a 3/3 is still a pretty good rate these days, so the fact you can kick this to give your board menace is certainly nice. It isn’t the kind of thing that always matters, but it matters often enough to be legitimate upside.
Pack 1 Pick 4: Writhing Necromass
Tatyova, Steward of Tides image 3.5 While I think I prefer the Tatyova we saw on the last visit to Dominaria, they did give her another strong signpost Uncommon here! Animating your lands when they enter the battlefield is quite strong, especially because they’ll fly! Obviously enough, UG is about ramping and lands, and she fits in quite nicely there. It looks like the color pair has a good amount of support overall. The downside is, she is basically just going to be a vanilla 3-mana 3/3 until you get that 7th land, and that definitely limits her.
Twinferno image 2.0 This is a pretty neat modal spell. Both halves of it can be really good in the right situation, but you often find yourself unable to manufacture that situation consistently. Jamming both modes together definitely helps, though.
Join Forces image 2.0 I’m not usually a huge fan of three mana tricks, but once you add in the 2-for-1 potential, it starts to get a little more interesting. It also adds pseudo-vigilance if you use it on the attack because of the untap, which of course also means that you can ambush block the opponent – but it is almost always better to use this offensively, since your opponent is less likely to have mana on your turn. It DOES still cost three, which is a very real amount of mana for a temporary boost, but this will generate a 2-for-1 often enough that I think the first copy is pretty appealing in aggressive White deck
Viashino Branchrider image 2.0 Like many cards with Kicker, neither mode of this card is super impressive. You either get a Raging Goblin or a 4-mana Hill Giant with Haste. It does have the upside of bumping up its power, but it is very expensive – and any time we see it cost three, I get pretty skeptical. When this is a 1/1, it dies to anything blocking it. And sure, you can pump a bunch of mana into it to make whatever is blocking it die, but you end up spending some insane mana to kill like…a two drop, and that tempo matters! Once you kick it, it does become more formidable, as you no longer need to buff it for it to actually have a relevant body in combat.
Yavimaya Steelcrusher image 2.5 This is a bear with some pretty significant upside! Enlist means it will be able to attack reasonably hard all game long, and the fact it can destroy artifacts means it has utility all game long too.
Colossal Growth image 2.5 This looks like a very good trick to me. Two for +3/+3 is a great boost that wins most combats, and the kicker makes this absolutely devastating in many situations. It IS still a trick, with all the problems they have, but one that is of this high of quality is going to be something you basically never cut the first copy of in aggressive decks.
Shore Up image 2.0 At one mana, this is pretty impressive for a trick! It only offers +1/+1, which isn’t always enough to win combat, but the untap effect and the hexproof also means it has some additional utility. Any time a trick gives a real boost and only costs one, it tends to be solid in Limited, and I think that’s what this will be.
Geothermal Bog image 3.0 The fact that these have land types is a big deal, because it will really make Domain decks in the format far more functional. I also think that means that, even though these come into play tapped, they are going to be a little bit higher on your pick order than the pain lands are – at least once it is clear you’re going with one of the domain decks, because just jamming these lands into your deck is going to be a big deal. I think these will be valued similarly to how we valued snow lands in Kaldheim – which means they are pretty darn important! They are also useful of course in decks without a Domain theme because of the fixing they provide, and lots of decks in this format will be looking to splash at least a third color, because there are lots of cards in the set that have off-color Kicker costs
Writhing Necromass image 2.0 Casting this for 5 seems pretty doable, and in some decks you can cast it even more easily! Of course, the flipside is that sometimes it will be challenging to get a good deal on this card.
Griffin Protector image 3.0 This is a reprint and it overperformed a bit when we last saw it. I think it will be pretty nice here too, as the Go-wide theme in White is fairly pronounced, as we’ve seen already in this video.
Tidepool Turtle image 1.5 It is kind of sad this doesn’t have Defender, because then at least it would slot in nicely to the defender deck! Obviously not having Defender does mean it can attack, but how often do you rumble with your ⅖ anyway? So, yeah..this has alright stats for a defensive creature, and a useful – albeit very expansive – mana sink ability. Seems like the kind of creature you end up cutting more than you play.
Pack 1 Pick 5: Walking Bulwark
Walking Bulwark image 1.5 // 3.5 This is pretty interesting! On its own, it is sort of like a one mana 0/3 that loses defender and gets +3/+0 and Haste if you pay 2 mana. That’s not completely terrible, and obviously it gets better the more Defenders you have, and there is a Defender deck in this format. Seems like a decent enough one drop for a variety of decks that will also have a more synergistic home in the format.
Eerie Soultender image 2.0 There is a lot of graveyard stuff in this set, and this is both a self-mill payoff and an enabler, which is pretty nice. That graveyard effect can be particularly good, because sometimes if you’re doing the self-mill thing, you mill something you didn’t really want to lose – and this can provide some insurance on that front. It does have some pretty bad stats, but I think the graveyard decks in the format will feel fine about running one of these.
Hexbane Tortoise image 2.0 Thanks to Ward, this is a bit harder to kill with removal, but still pretty easy to trade with. Adding Enlist to the mix is nice, but this is definitely an Enlist creature that can easily be traded with by virtually any two drop, and that certainly lessens its impact.
Soaring Drake image 2.5 This shows you how much power creep there is with creatures! Wind Drake, a 3 mana 2/2 Flyer, used to be a quality card in Limited – but now we get a three mana ⅔ Flyer in Limited and that’s pretty much the bar for “solid Common.”
Tangled Islet image 3.0 The fact that these have land types is a big deal, because it will really make Domain decks in the format far more functional. I also think that means that, even though these come into play tapped, they are going to be a little bit higher on your pick order than the pain lands are – at least once it is clear you’re going with one of the domain decks, because just jamming these lands into your deck is going to be a big deal. I think these will be valued similarly to how we valued snow lands in Kaldheim – which means they are pretty darn important! They are also useful of course in decks without a Domain theme because of the fixing they provide, and lots of decks in this format will be looking to splash at least a third color, because there are lots of cards in the set that have off-color Kicker costs
Hammerhand image 2.0 This is a reprint, and it’s a pretty nice Aura in aggressive decks. One mana to make something unable to block, while also granting Haste and +1/+1 is a pretty great rate, and will often make whatever attack you make on your turn far more powerful than your opponent expects! And even after that initial turn where it really does some work, the +1/+1 sticks around, which is pretty nice
Furious Bellow image 1.5 Sure Strike is always a decent trick, and this is strictly better because it tacks on Scry 1. +3/+0 and First Strike will allow most creatures to win combat, which is definitely quite nice. It has the usual problems tricks have of course – because they are both risky and situational. You’ll run one of these in some of your aggressive Red decks.
Contaminated Aquifer image 3.0 The fact that these have land types is a big deal, because it will really make Domain decks in the format far more functional. I also think that means that, even though these come into play tapped, they are going to be a little bit higher on your pick order than the pain lands are – at least once it is clear you’re going with one of the domain decks, because just jamming these lands into your deck is going to be a big deal. I think these will be valued similarly to how we valued snow lands in Kaldheim – which means they are pretty darn important! They are also useful of course in decks without a Domain theme because of the fixing they provide, and lots of decks in this format will be looking to splash at least a third color, because there are lots of cards in the set that have off-color Kicker costs
Molten Monstrosity image 2.5 This is going to feel pretty miserable if you have an empty board, and you kind of need at least a three power creature for this to feel like you’re doing okay. But it is hard to imagine curve outs where this comes down super early, unless you manage to have a 4 power creature as a two or three drop. You probably mostly play this on turn 5 when you’re curving out, and while that’s good, it isn’t amazing.
Heroic Charge image 1.0 // 3.0 So, they added some pretty real Kicker upside to Inspired Charge – and the Charge is already a card that you end up playing one of in decks that are good at going wide. I love the ability to add trample here later in the game, as it will make it even easier for you to get lethal to go through. I do sort of feel like this sort of card needs a build around grade, because you really need to be very adept at going wide for it to be worth it – if your deck is just decent at it, you can’t really play it.
Pack 1 Pick 6: Bone Splinters
Colossal Growth image 2.5 This looks like a very good trick to me. Two for +3/+3 is a great boost that wins most combats, and the kicker makes this absolutely devastating in many situations. It IS still a trick, with all the problems they have, but one that is of this high of quality is going to be something you basically never cut the first copy of in aggressive decks.
Flowstone Infusion image 3.0 This is a pretty nice card, because it can function as a solid removal spell, and you can also use it as a trick! As we usually see with this type of card, you’ll use it as removal about 90% of the time. It is also nice that it is a cheap Instant for spell decks.
Toxic Abomination image 1.5 I feel like this mostly isn’t worth it. Sure, the base stats are good, but these days a vanilla two mana 3/2 isn’t that amazing in Limited. Even without the loss of two life, this would probably just end up as a 2.0. It can trade up for sure, but yeah. It is a fine two drop if you’re in a really aggressive Black deck, but apart from that I’m not that impressed
Impulse image 2.0 This old school reprint is basically a better Anticipate, and any sort of Instant-speed card selection card tends to be pretty solid in formats that have a Spell deck – and this format has multiple! It still doesn’t add to the board, and there are only so many slots in a deck for that type of card – but I think the first copy of this is fine.
Shore Up image 2.0 At one mana, this is pretty impressive for a trick! It only offers +1/+1, which isn’t always enough to win combat, but the untap effect and the hexproof also means it has some additional utility. Any time a trick gives a real boost and only costs one, it tends to be solid in Limited, and I think that’s what this will be.
Argivian Cavalier image 3.5 This looks like a very nice Common. We see three mana 2/2s that spit out a 1/1 a lot, and they are always solid at worst. This one comes with Enlist upside, and it can even use its token! This is probably one of White’s best Commons.
Bone Splinters image 2.0 We have seen this card many a time, and its always fine. Obviously one mana to kill something is really nice, but the requirement to sacrifice a creature is enough to keep it from being anywhere close to premium. Obviously, there are black decks in the format that are going to be able to make really good use of this – especially BW and BR, both of which like it when things die. It is pretty dangerous to run more than one copy of this too, since it is as situational as it is.
Impede Momentum image 1.5 So, this is temporary removal that doesn’t even fully get rid of the thing it only temporarily removes. I don’t love that. The creature can still use abilities and its static effects still stick around even if they are stunned. Basically, this is a longer-term version of the “tap target creature, it doesn’t untap during your opponent’s next turn” effect, but even those effects are only good when they come with something else meaningful – like as a creature’s Enter the Battlefield ability, or with a cantrip attached. Scry 1 doesn’t quite do it.
Idyllic Beachfront image 3.0 The fact that these have land types is a big deal, because it will really make Domain decks in the format far more functional. I also think that means that, even though these come into play tapped, they are going to be a little bit higher on your pick order than the pain lands are – at least once it is clear you’re going with one of the domain decks, because just jamming these lands into your deck is going to be a big deal. I think these will be valued similarly to how we valued snow lands in Kaldheim – which means they are pretty darn important! They are also useful of course in decks without a Domain theme because of the fixing they provide, and lots of decks in this format will be looking to splash at least a third color, because there are lots of cards in the set that have off-color Kicker costs
Pack 1 Pick 7: Argivian Phalanx
Essence Scatter image 2.5 This reprint is actually a counterspell I will play! It can only counter creature spells, but it does it at two mana, and you only need one Blue! Most decks will have 15+ creatures, and that’s plenty of targets for the first of these to be a solid inclusion in your Blue decks. One thing to keep in mind, don’t fall into the trap of thinking of counter magic as straight up removal. It is substantially worse in most ways, especially in Limited! The problem is – it is like removal that only works if you have the mana up at the right time, and that’s what keeps this from receiving a grade that is remotely close to a “premium removal” grade.
Clockwork Drawbridge image 1.0 This doesn’t seem very good to me, even in the Defender deck in the format. It has mediocre stats and it costs a little too much to tap stuff down. That effect is nice, but three mana is just asking a lot. I think you’ll end up playing this if you really need more defenders to get to your critical mass in that type of deck – but yeah, even in that deck you probably hope you don’t play this.
Volshe Tideturner image 2.0 We see two mana 1/3s who can tap for mana to be spent on instants and sorceries all the time, and they pretty much always disappoint. They aren’t terrible, but they also aren’t anywhere near as good as a legitimate mana dork, even with the addition of paying for kicker spells in this case. You just don’t end up being able to use the mana enough, and the stat line isn’t very good.
Broken Wings image 1.5 As usual, this is passable if you have to main deck it, because it can target enough different things – but you’re kind of hoping you have enough other interaction in your deck that you don’t have to throw this in there.
Jaya's Firenado image 2.0 This is a very clunky removal spell. 5 damage for 5 mana at Sorcery speed is never very impressive, and the upside here is pretty limited, with Scry 1 all you get. Even when we see this card at Instant speed these days it isn’t great, so a Sorcery is kind of rough. This is very far from premium removal, and is the kind of thing you’ll run one of in your red decks, but most of the time you’re hoping you find some better removal.
Argivian Phalanx image 3.0 If you can consistently cast this for 4 or less, I think you’ll be reasonably happy with the card, and that does seem like a pretty reasonable outcome. White has plenty of ways to go wide too, so I think you can pretty consistently cast this for a reasonable cost, and sometimes even play it above curve. It will feel kind of disastrous to have this if your opponent is managing to interfere with your development, though.
Haunting Figment image 2.0 It is a little weird to see a mono-Blue card with Vigilance…but anyway, this seems like a fine two drop. Blue really likes spells, so it will be unblockable a substantial chunk of the time, and even when it isn’t, it is decent on the Vanilla test.
Pixie Illusionist image 3.0 A one mana 1/1 Flyer is passable, so the upside this has of becoming a 5 mana 3/3 Flyer in the late game and fixing your mana and helping with domain makes this a pretty nice Common!
Pack 1 Pick 8: Juniper Order Rootweaver
Flowstone Infusion image 3.0 This is a pretty nice card, because it can function as a solid removal spell, and you can also use it as a trick! As we usually see with this type of card, you’ll use it as removal about 90% of the time. It is also nice that it is a cheap Instant for spell decks.
Meteorite image 1.0 This reprint is a super clunky way to fix your mana, and adding a Shock to the mix doesn’t make a huge difference for me. This set does have an artifact subtheme, so maybe sometimes it makes the cut?
Juniper Order Rootweaver image 3.0 This is a very nice Common. It can just be a bear, or it can be a 3-mana 2/2 that puts a counter somewhere. The counter effect is the sort of thing that tends to be useful all game long, since in the later stages you can find somewhere to put it that makes a difference. In the early game, you may just want to make this a three mana 3/3, which is solid.
Radiant Grove image 3.0 The fact that these have land types is a big deal, because it will really make Domain decks in the format far more functional. I also think that means that, even though these come into play tapped, they are going to be a little bit higher on your pick order than the pain lands are – at least once it is clear you’re going with one of the domain decks, because just jamming these lands into your deck is going to be a big deal. I think these will be valued similarly to how we valued snow lands in Kaldheim – which means they are pretty darn important! They are also useful of course in decks without a Domain theme because of the fixing they provide, and lots of decks in this format will be looking to splash at least a third color, because there are lots of cards in the set that have off-color Kicker costs
Automatic Librarian image 1.5 This is functional reprint of Chrome Cat, a card that usually didn’t make the cut in Streets of New Capenna. That’s probably true here too. This format does have some Artifact stuff going on, so it will probably be a little better than the cat – but unless you’re a deck desperate for Artifacts or a three drop, you probably won’t run this. It just doesn’t do enough.
Academy Wall image 2.0 This isn’t the most exciting spell payoff ever, especially because it is stapled to such a mediocre creature, but hey – it can block and stuff, and then give you some nice Looting. It has Defender too, and that matters some. It seems like it definitely has a role to play in both UR and UB spell decks – and less of one in UW, since that deck would prefer creatures that can attack.
Yavimaya Steelcrusher image 2.5 This is a bear with some pretty significant upside! Enlist means it will be able to attack reasonably hard all game long, and the fact it can destroy artifacts means it has utility all game long too.
Pack 1 Pick 9: Gibbering Barricade
Meteorite image 1.0 This reprint is a super clunky way to fix your mana, and adding a Shock to the mix doesn’t make a huge difference for me. This set does have an artifact subtheme, so maybe sometimes it makes the cut?
Salvaged Manaworker image 2.5 We see artifact creatures who can filter mana all the time, and if that’s all they really do – along with mediocre stats – they see very little play. However, the filtering usually costs more than one. This actually looks like some nice fixing.
Ghitu Amplifier image 3.0 This is pretty neat. So, if you don’t kick it, the card is a slightly weaker Kiln Fiend – which means that it can really thrive off of cheap spells and hit hard in the early game. Then, in the late game, you can kick this thing and bounce a creature, which you know is an effect I always love – adding to the board and subtracting from your opponent’s is quite good! I really want to give this a 3.5 but I think I’m letting my own affinity for this type of card push me in that direction – it is probably more like a 3.0.
Volshe Tideturner image 2.0 We see two mana 1/3s who can tap for mana to be spent on instants and sorceries all the time, and they pretty much always disappoint. They aren’t terrible, but they also aren’t anywhere near as good as a legitimate mana dork, even with the addition of paying for kicker spells in this case. You just don’t end up being able to use the mana enough, and the stat line isn’t very good.
Gibbering Barricade image 2.5 This slots in nicely in the Defender deck, as well as in the Sacrifice and graveyard decks – and on top of that, it is just a decent card in any Black deck. A 3-mana 2/4 Defender can really lock down the ground for awhile, and the ability to cash stuff in is pretty sweet.
Charismatic Vanguard image 2.0 This has mediocre stats, but an ability that can do some work in the late game with an ability that is a bit overcosted.
Pack 1 Pick 10: Juniper Order Rootweaver
Thrill of Possibility image 1.5 This is a reprint we’ve seen before, and it tends to be pretty solid in formats that have spell decks – and this is one of those! It triggers your spell payoffs while helping you find even more spells!
Juniper Order Rootweaver image 3.0 This is a very nice Common. It can just be a bear, or it can be a 3-mana 2/2 that puts a counter somewhere. The counter effect is the sort of thing that tends to be useful all game long, since in the later stages you can find somewhere to put it that makes a difference. In the early game, you may just want to make this a three mana 3/3, which is solid.
Gaea's Might image 2.0 This is a reprint from the last time the Phyrexian invaded, and it makes for a pretty reasonable combat trick. Getting +2/+2 out of it is easy, and it will often be Giant Growth – and sometimes even better! The set up is real, though.
Negate image 0.5 We see this card all the time, and generally it is more of a sideboard card. Most decks only have 4 or so things this can actually target, and that just isn’t enough for it to be a main deck card. When you know your opponent has plenty of targets for it, though, it becomes a pretty nice sideboard card.
Hammerhand image 2.0 This is a reprint, and it’s a pretty nice Aura in aggressive decks. One mana to make something unable to block, while also granting Haste and +1/+1 is a pretty great rate, and will often make whatever attack you make on your turn far more powerful than your opponent expects! And even after that initial turn where it really does some work, the +1/+1 sticks around, which is pretty nice
Pack 1 Pick 11: Benalish Faithbonder
Benalish Faithbonder image 2.0 A two mana 1/3 with Vigilance is probably a 1.5 -- adding Enlist is pretty nice on a Vigilance creature too, because Enlist naturally has you tap something extra down when you attack, but at least your enlist creature doesn’t get tapped!
Phyrexian Espionage image 2.0 This is potentially a 5-mana three-for-one, which is pretty attractive! On a base level, it is just Divination – which is usually a C- level card these days. This is one of those effects that never adds to the board, and that can be a real problem, but I think I having one or two effects in your deck like that is reasonable, and this is the kind of thing I wouldn’t feel bad about putting in that slot. When you can really get it going, it can actually be pretty devastating, and at worst, you have Divination.
Volshe Tideturner image 2.0 We see two mana 1/3s who can tap for mana to be spent on instants and sorceries all the time, and they pretty much always disappoint. They aren’t terrible, but they also aren’t anywhere near as good as a legitimate mana dork, even with the addition of paying for kicker spells in this case. You just don’t end up being able to use the mana enough, and the stat line isn’t very good.
Goblin Picker image 2.0 This has solid base stats and rummaging can certainly improve the quality of your draws, though Rummaging is markedly worse than looting. Red also doesn’t have a ton of graveyard stuff going on in this format, and that certainly hurts this card’s stock a bit.
Pack 1 Pick 12: Shore Up
Twinferno image 2.0 This is a pretty neat modal spell. Both halves of it can be really good in the right situation, but you often find yourself unable to manufacture that situation consistently. Jamming both modes together definitely helps, though.
Shore Up image 2.0 At one mana, this is pretty impressive for a trick! It only offers +1/+1, which isn’t always enough to win combat, but the untap effect and the hexproof also means it has some additional utility. Any time a trick gives a real boost and only costs one, it tends to be solid in Limited, and I think that’s what this will be.
Tidepool Turtle image 1.5 It is kind of sad this doesn’t have Defender, because then at least it would slot in nicely to the defender deck! Obviously not having Defender does mean it can attack, but how often do you rumble with your ⅖ anyway? So, yeah..this has alright stats for a defensive creature, and a useful – albeit very expansive – mana sink ability. Seems like the kind of creature you end up cutting more than you play.
Pack 1 Pick 13: Heroic Charge
Furious Bellow image 1.5 Sure Strike is always a decent trick, and this is strictly better because it tacks on Scry 1. +3/+0 and First Strike will allow most creatures to win combat, which is definitely quite nice. It has the usual problems tricks have of course – because they are both risky and situational. You’ll run one of these in some of your aggressive Red decks.
Heroic Charge image 1.0 // 3.0 So, they added some pretty real Kicker upside to Inspired Charge – and the Charge is already a card that you end up playing one of in decks that are good at going wide. I love the ability to add trample here later in the game, as it will make it even easier for you to get lethal to go through. I do sort of feel like this sort of card needs a build around grade, because you really need to be very adept at going wide for it to be worth it – if your deck is just decent at it, you can’t really play it.
Pack 1 Pick 14: Shore Up
Shore Up image 2.0 At one mana, this is pretty impressive for a trick! It only offers +1/+1, which isn’t always enough to win combat, but the untap effect and the hexproof also means it has some additional utility. Any time a trick gives a real boost and only costs one, it tends to be solid in Limited, and I think that’s what this will be.
Pack 2 Pick 1: King Darien XLVIII
King Darien XLVIII image 4.5 I’m already sold on a three mana ⅔ that buffs the whole board – that’s like a B, and he comes with all kinds of other stuff! Including an ability that generates tokens while making him larger, and the ability to make tokens hexproof and indestructible, though he does have to give himself up for that one. GW is very into tokens in this format, so he slots in perfectly – and he would be strong in any deck anyway.
Micromancer image 1.0 // 3.0 If your deck has three spells this can search it up, it is going to be pretty powerful! If your deck has 0 spells this can search up, you shouldn’t be playing it. Sounds like a pretty classic build around! It is unplayable with 0 spells, and gets slightly better with one, and then significantly better with two and three.
Protect the Negotiators image 2.0 So, if you kick this, it is a 3-mana Force Spike that gives you a 1/1 at worse. That’s…not great. The upside is that it can be a lot harder to pay the cost sometimes, but the idea that this is essentially a blank card if your board is empty and you don’t kick it is pretty rough, and there will be lots of situations where you just can’t make your opponent pay enough mana. The other issue is that counter spells aren’t often that useful in creature-heavy decks, since you would rather be adding to the board. The UW theme in this format DOES seem to be about both spells and going wide, which is pretty interesting – and could mean this overperforms.
Cut Down image 4.0 This seems like premium removal. It can kill a whole lot of things that cost more than one mana, and sometimes it will really trade up. It can kill most one, two, and three drops – and a fair bit of cards higher up on the curve too! It can get blanked by a pump spell or something, but that’s true of a lot of really cheap removal – look at Lightning Bolt. The fact this is an Instant is pretty sweet too.
Soaring Drake image 2.5 This shows you how much power creep there is with creatures! Wind Drake, a 3 mana 2/2 Flyer, used to be a quality card in Limited – but now we get a three mana ⅔ Flyer in Limited and that’s pretty much the bar for “solid Common.”
Keldon Strike Team image 3.5 This looks really good to me. If you don’t kick it, it is a 3-mana 3/1 with Haste that gives Haste to your whole board the turn it comes down. Then, when you kick it, you pay 5 mana for 5/3 worth of stats spread across three bodies. This gets an extra bonus from the fact that RW especially really wants to go wide. Also keep in mind, because it has Haste it can actually be Enlisted the turn it comes down, unlike most creatures. So yeah, seems like a really good Common to me.
Stall for Time image 2.5 This is sort of passable when you don’t kick it, since it replaces itself and its an Instant, so you can shut down an entire round of attacking and blocking by those two creatures. Kicking it is the real dream though, since those stun counters will really give you some amazing tempo.
Sunbathing Rootwalla image 2.0 This has a baseline as a bear, and obviously has some upside that can really matter later in the game. Even if you’re just a two-color deck, the ability will be pretty solid – though certainly overcosted
Bone Splinters image 2.0 We have seen this card many a time, and its always fine. Obviously one mana to kill something is really nice, but the requirement to sacrifice a creature is enough to keep it from being anywhere close to premium. Obviously, there are black decks in the format that are going to be able to make really good use of this – especially BW and BR, both of which like it when things die. It is pretty dangerous to run more than one copy of this too, since it is as situational as it is.
Magnigoth Sentry image 2.5 Nothing fancy here, but this has solid stats and it can block Flyers! Definitely an upgrade over Giant Spider!
Radiant Grove image 3.0 The fact that these have land types is a big deal, because it will really make Domain decks in the format far more functional. I also think that means that, even though these come into play tapped, they are going to be a little bit higher on your pick order than the pain lands are – at least once it is clear you’re going with one of the domain decks, because just jamming these lands into your deck is going to be a big deal. I think these will be valued similarly to how we valued snow lands in Kaldheim – which means they are pretty darn important! They are also useful of course in decks without a Domain theme because of the fixing they provide, and lots of decks in this format will be looking to splash at least a third color, because there are lots of cards in the set that have off-color Kicker costs
Yavimaya Sojourner image 1.5 This can be a pretty efficient vanilla creature – but even in this format, playing it super early as an efficient creature won’t exactly be easy, so I’m not sure the fact it can be discounted is that big of a deal, because by the time you can cast it for like four mana, the game will be pretty well-developed anyway, and a vanilla 4/6 isn’t going to change the game or anything. This asks for significant set up and the payoff doesn’t really seem worth it to me.
Jaya's Firenado image 2.0 This is a very clunky removal spell. 5 damage for 5 mana at Sorcery speed is never very impressive, and the upside here is pretty limited, with Scry 1 all you get. Even when we see this card at Instant speed these days it isn’t great, so a Sorcery is kind of rough. This is very far from premium removal, and is the kind of thing you’ll run one of in your red decks, but most of the time you’re hoping you find some better removal.
Shield-Wall Sentinel image 0.0 // 2.5 Like all of these Defender matters cards, this is a build around. If you can use it to tutor something up – especially one of the powerful win conditions the deck has – it is going to feel really good. If you don’t have a decent Defender to tutor up, you’ll never play this, because its stats are awful.
Pack 2 Pick 2: Bone Splinters
Elas il-Kor, Sadistic Pilgrim image 3.0 This is a two mana 2/2 that can trade for anything, while also really impacting the game while you gain life and your opponent loses life from its two triggers.
Strength of the Coalition image 2.5 This is a nice trick, the base level of the card is a trick that Green aggro decks play one of most of the time. +2/+2 for one mana is great, because it gives enough of a boost to win most combat, while also being cheap enough that using it doesn’t hamper your board development.
Twinferno image 2.0 This is a pretty neat modal spell. Both halves of it can be really good in the right situation, but you often find yourself unable to manufacture that situation consistently. Jamming both modes together definitely helps, though.
Shore Up image 2.0 At one mana, this is pretty impressive for a trick! It only offers +1/+1, which isn’t always enough to win combat, but the untap effect and the hexproof also means it has some additional utility. Any time a trick gives a real boost and only costs one, it tends to be solid in Limited, and I think that’s what this will be.
Bone Splinters image 2.0 We have seen this card many a time, and its always fine. Obviously one mana to kill something is really nice, but the requirement to sacrifice a creature is enough to keep it from being anywhere close to premium. Obviously, there are black decks in the format that are going to be able to make really good use of this – especially BW and BR, both of which like it when things die. It is pretty dangerous to run more than one copy of this too, since it is as situational as it is.
Volshe Tideturner image 2.0 We see two mana 1/3s who can tap for mana to be spent on instants and sorceries all the time, and they pretty much always disappoint. They aren’t terrible, but they also aren’t anywhere near as good as a legitimate mana dork, even with the addition of paying for kicker spells in this case. You just don’t end up being able to use the mana enough, and the stat line isn’t very good.
Mesa Cavalier image 1.5 This has mediocre stats, and it does a small thing when it enters the battlefield. Not a card you really hope to play, but fine when you do.
Ghitu Amplifier image 3.0 This is pretty neat. So, if you don’t kick it, the card is a slightly weaker Kiln Fiend – which means that it can really thrive off of cheap spells and hit hard in the early game. Then, in the late game, you can kick this thing and bounce a creature, which you know is an effect I always love – adding to the board and subtracting from your opponent’s is quite good! I really want to give this a 3.5 but I think I’m letting my own affinity for this type of card push me in that direction – it is probably more like a 3.0.
Scout the Wilderness image 3.0 This looks pretty good. A three mana Rampant Growth isn’t amazing, but it does fix your mana and ramp you, and I think the Kicked version of the card really makes up for that. Five mana for two 1/1s and a land isn’t a bad deal! And I think this sort of card will be extra good here, between Domain and all of the off-color kicker costs.
Argivian Phalanx image 3.0 If you can consistently cast this for 4 or less, I think you’ll be reasonably happy with the card, and that does seem like a pretty reasonable outcome. White has plenty of ways to go wide too, so I think you can pretty consistently cast this for a reasonable cost, and sometimes even play it above curve. It will feel kind of disastrous to have this if your opponent is managing to interfere with your development, though.
Heroic Charge image 1.0 // 3.0 So, they added some pretty real Kicker upside to Inspired Charge – and the Charge is already a card that you end up playing one of in decks that are good at going wide. I love the ability to add trample here later in the game, as it will make it even easier for you to get lethal to go through. I do sort of feel like this sort of card needs a build around grade, because you really need to be very adept at going wide for it to be worth it – if your deck is just decent at it, you can’t really play it.
Essence Scatter image 2.5 This reprint is actually a counterspell I will play! It can only counter creature spells, but it does it at two mana, and you only need one Blue! Most decks will have 15+ creatures, and that’s plenty of targets for the first of these to be a solid inclusion in your Blue decks. One thing to keep in mind, don’t fall into the trap of thinking of counter magic as straight up removal. It is substantially worse in most ways, especially in Limited! The problem is – it is like removal that only works if you have the mana up at the right time, and that’s what keeps this from receiving a grade that is remotely close to a “premium removal” grade.
Hexbane Tortoise image 2.0 Thanks to Ward, this is a bit harder to kill with removal, but still pretty easy to trade with. Adding Enlist to the mix is nice, but this is definitely an Enlist creature that can easily be traded with by virtually any two drop, and that certainly lessens its impact.
Pack 2 Pick 3: Argivian Phalanx
Tori D'Avenant, Fury Rider image 3.5 Attacking with this is going to be pretty awesome on most boards, as the buffs it offers yoru creature are enough to really make them great attackers. The downside is you have a Gray Ogre that can die relatively easy in combat, but chances are good that attacking with it will be worth it. As long as it trades while buffing your whole board, you’re going to feel good about it.
Frostfist Strider image 4.0 I always love creatures who ETB and freeze something down, and now we have “stun” counters that pretty much do the same thing! It is a great tempo play to add to the board while significantly downgrading your opponents for a whole turn cycle, and it usually enables you get to the upper hand if you didn’t already have it – and if you were already head, you often win on the spot. This is a great Uncommon. It is pretty fascinating to compare to Berg STrider from Kaldheim, which was similar – it was easier to cast, but it also demanded you spend snow mana ot get that to happen, and it didn’t have Ward 2. Now, Giants were also a tribal thing in Kaldheim, but I still think the Strider comes out ahead – and that’s probably why it is at Uncommon. I think this is likely Blue’s best Uncommon.
Pixie Illusionist image 3.0 A one mana 1/1 Flyer is passable, so the upside this has of becoming a 5 mana 3/3 Flyer in the late game and fixing your mana and helping with domain makes this a pretty nice Common!
Hammerhand image 2.0 This is a reprint, and it’s a pretty nice Aura in aggressive decks. One mana to make something unable to block, while also granting Haste and +1/+1 is a pretty great rate, and will often make whatever attack you make on your turn far more powerful than your opponent expects! And even after that initial turn where it really does some work, the +1/+1 sticks around, which is pretty nice
Writhing Necromass image 2.0 Casting this for 5 seems pretty doable, and in some decks you can cast it even more easily! Of course, the flipside is that sometimes it will be challenging to get a good deal on this card.
Meteorite image 1.0 This reprint is a super clunky way to fix your mana, and adding a Shock to the mix doesn’t make a huge difference for me. This set does have an artifact subtheme, so maybe sometimes it makes the cut?
Mesa Cavalier image 1.5 This has mediocre stats, and it does a small thing when it enters the battlefield. Not a card you really hope to play, but fine when you do.
Heroic Charge image 1.0 // 3.0 So, they added some pretty real Kicker upside to Inspired Charge – and the Charge is already a card that you end up playing one of in decks that are good at going wide. I love the ability to add trample here later in the game, as it will make it even easier for you to get lethal to go through. I do sort of feel like this sort of card needs a build around grade, because you really need to be very adept at going wide for it to be worth it – if your deck is just decent at it, you can’t really play it.
Viashino Branchrider image 2.0 Like many cards with Kicker, neither mode of this card is super impressive. You either get a Raging Goblin or a 4-mana Hill Giant with Haste. It does have the upside of bumping up its power, but it is very expensive – and any time we see it cost three, I get pretty skeptical. When this is a 1/1, it dies to anything blocking it. And sure, you can pump a bunch of mana into it to make whatever is blocking it die, but you end up spending some insane mana to kill like…a two drop, and that tempo matters! Once you kick it, it does become more formidable, as you no longer need to buff it for it to actually have a relevant body in combat.
Deathbloom Gardener image 1.5 This card seems super awkward to me. A three mana 1/1 is a horrendous stat-line – dying to any 1 damage or -1/-1 effect is brutal when you’re paying three mana! And uh..yeah, it does have death touch and can tap for mana of any color, but those two abilities together is super weird. Because if you’re tapping it for mana it isn’t going to be available to block and trade for stuff with its Deathtouch. This just seems overcosted on all fronts – but it does provide fixing in a format where you’re often going to be playing a 3rd color so you can pay for off-color kicker. Still, I think you’re hoping for some of the more impactful fixing out there than this thing.
Elfhame Wurm image 2.5 This is a solid French Vanilla creature. It will be a pretty beefy presence on most board states. One of these probably makes the cut in a lot of Green decks, but there are certainly better things you could be doing with 5 mana.
Argivian Phalanx image 3.0 If you can consistently cast this for 4 or less, I think you’ll be reasonably happy with the card, and that does seem like a pretty reasonable outcome. White has plenty of ways to go wide too, so I think you can pretty consistently cast this for a reasonable cost, and sometimes even play it above curve. It will feel kind of disastrous to have this if your opponent is managing to interfere with your development, though.
Pack 2 Pick 4: Phyrexian Missionary
Phyrexian Missionary image 4.0 This looks really good to me. A two mana ⅔ with Lifelink is probably a 3.0, and the kicker upside here is massive, as it sets up a 2-for-1, while getting you back something useful from the graveyard.
Frostfist Strider image 4.0 I always love creatures who ETB and freeze something down, and now we have “stun” counters that pretty much do the same thing! It is a great tempo play to add to the board while significantly downgrading your opponents for a whole turn cycle, and it usually enables you get to the upper hand if you didn’t already have it – and if you were already head, you often win on the spot. This is a great Uncommon. It is pretty fascinating to compare to Berg STrider from Kaldheim, which was similar – it was easier to cast, but it also demanded you spend snow mana ot get that to happen, and it didn’t have Ward 2. Now, Giants were also a tribal thing in Kaldheim, but I still think the Strider comes out ahead – and that’s probably why it is at Uncommon. I think this is likely Blue’s best Uncommon.
Protect the Negotiators image 2.0 So, if you kick this, it is a 3-mana Force Spike that gives you a 1/1 at worse. That’s…not great. The upside is that it can be a lot harder to pay the cost sometimes, but the idea that this is essentially a blank card if your board is empty and you don’t kick it is pretty rough, and there will be lots of situations where you just can’t make your opponent pay enough mana. The other issue is that counter spells aren’t often that useful in creature-heavy decks, since you would rather be adding to the board. The UW theme in this format DOES seem to be about both spells and going wide, which is pretty interesting – and could mean this overperforms.
Haunting Figment image 2.0 It is a little weird to see a mono-Blue card with Vigilance…but anyway, this seems like a fine two drop. Blue really likes spells, so it will be unblockable a substantial chunk of the time, and even when it isn’t, it is decent on the Vanilla test.
Battle-Rage Blessing image 2.0 This format feels like it has some of the best tricks we’ve seen in a while – at least on average – as this is yet another solid trick. Two mana isn’t the amount I love to pay for tricks – I would much rather pay 1 – but deathtouch + indestructible does allow virtually any creature to win combat, and this comes with the upside of also blanking most removal. As usual, tricks are situational and risky, so even most good tricks aren’t amazing. But this is one I will play the first copy of in most creature-heavy Black decks.
Benalish Sleeper image 2.0 Two mana for a 3/1 is usually passable in Limited, so the Edict upside is nice! There are plenty of times where kicking this is better for you than your opponent, and when that’s true, this will feel like a great Common. Now, there will also be times where kicking it doesn’t really do much, or hurts you more than your opponent, so temper your expectations.
Thrill of Possibility image 1.5 This is a reprint we’ve seen before, and it tends to be pretty solid in formats that have spell decks – and this is one of those! It triggers your spell payoffs while helping you find even more spells!
Tangled Islet image 3.0 The fact that these have land types is a big deal, because it will really make Domain decks in the format far more functional. I also think that means that, even though these come into play tapped, they are going to be a little bit higher on your pick order than the pain lands are – at least once it is clear you’re going with one of the domain decks, because just jamming these lands into your deck is going to be a big deal. I think these will be valued similarly to how we valued snow lands in Kaldheim – which means they are pretty darn important! They are also useful of course in decks without a Domain theme because of the fixing they provide, and lots of decks in this format will be looking to splash at least a third color, because there are lots of cards in the set that have off-color Kicker costs
Meteorite image 1.0 This reprint is a super clunky way to fix your mana, and adding a Shock to the mix doesn’t make a huge difference for me. This set does have an artifact subtheme, so maybe sometimes it makes the cut?
Volshe Tideturner image 2.0 We see two mana 1/3s who can tap for mana to be spent on instants and sorceries all the time, and they pretty much always disappoint. They aren’t terrible, but they also aren’t anywhere near as good as a legitimate mana dork, even with the addition of paying for kicker spells in this case. You just don’t end up being able to use the mana enough, and the stat line isn’t very good.
Juniper Order Rootweaver image 3.0 This is a very nice Common. It can just be a bear, or it can be a 3-mana 2/2 that puts a counter somewhere. The counter effect is the sort of thing that tends to be useful all game long, since in the later stages you can find somewhere to put it that makes a difference. In the early game, you may just want to make this a three mana 3/3, which is solid.
Pack 2 Pick 5: Prayer of Binding
Nael, Avizoa Aeronaut image 3.0 This might be the signpost Uncommon I’m the most disappointed in – don’t get me wrong, it is still pretty nice. After all, its a 4-mana 2/4 with Flying that has some real upside! But I do think the upside is underpowered compared to the rest of these signposts. If you don’t have a full five land types, it just gives you a bit of card selection. And that’s nice, for sure, but certainly not that strong, especially because he has to get in for damage. If you do have a full five land types he gets to be pretty crazy, though.
Prayer of Binding image 4.0 Kind of weird how many Oblivion Ring effects there are in this format – but yeah, this is another good White removal spell. It might cost one more than Citizen’s Arrest does, but it can remove all nonland pemernants types, is easier to splash with only one White mana required, and having Flash also enables the card to generate some blowouts that aren’t possible with Sorcery-speed versions of the effect. The incidental life gain is pretty nice too!
Slimefoot's Survey image 2.0 This is a pretty sweet ramp spell. Most of the time, casting this is likely to give you Domain of 3 – so you end up paying 5 to ramp significantly and fix, and then get some pretty good card selection. With Domain being a thing, this is both an enabler and a payoff too! Now, the downside here is real – and that is that this is really clunky. Paying 5 on your turn and not adding to the board has been a really bad plan in most Limited formats of late. I love this card, but I’m a bit skeptical it will work out. If the format ends up being as slow as 2018’s Dominaria, it is going to be great – but if it is the speed of your average format? It might be a disaster.
Furious Bellow image 1.5 Sure Strike is always a decent trick, and this is strictly better because it tacks on Scry 1. +3/+0 and First Strike will allow most creatures to win combat, which is definitely quite nice. It has the usual problems tricks have of course – because they are both risky and situational. You’ll run one of these in some of your aggressive Red decks.
Deathbloom Gardener image 1.5 This card seems super awkward to me. A three mana 1/1 is a horrendous stat-line – dying to any 1 damage or -1/-1 effect is brutal when you’re paying three mana! And uh..yeah, it does have death touch and can tap for mana of any color, but those two abilities together is super weird. Because if you’re tapping it for mana it isn’t going to be available to block and trade for stuff with its Deathtouch. This just seems overcosted on all fronts – but it does provide fixing in a format where you’re often going to be playing a 3rd color so you can pay for off-color kicker. Still, I think you’re hoping for some of the more impactful fixing out there than this thing.
Battle-Rage Blessing image 2.0 This format feels like it has some of the best tricks we’ve seen in a while – at least on average – as this is yet another solid trick. Two mana isn’t the amount I love to pay for tricks – I would much rather pay 1 – but deathtouch + indestructible does allow virtually any creature to win combat, and this comes with the upside of also blanking most removal. As usual, tricks are situational and risky, so even most good tricks aren’t amazing. But this is one I will play the first copy of in most creature-heavy Black decks.
Argivian Cavalier image 3.5 This looks like a very nice Common. We see three mana 2/2s that spit out a 1/1 a lot, and they are always solid at worst. This one comes with Enlist upside, and it can even use its token! This is probably one of White’s best Commons.
Toxic Abomination image 1.5 I feel like this mostly isn’t worth it. Sure, the base stats are good, but these days a vanilla two mana 3/2 isn’t that amazing in Limited. Even without the loss of two life, this would probably just end up as a 2.0. It can trade up for sure, but yeah. It is a fine two drop if you’re in a really aggressive Black deck, but apart from that I’m not that impressed
Viashino Branchrider image 2.0 Like many cards with Kicker, neither mode of this card is super impressive. You either get a Raging Goblin or a 4-mana Hill Giant with Haste. It does have the upside of bumping up its power, but it is very expensive – and any time we see it cost three, I get pretty skeptical. When this is a 1/1, it dies to anything blocking it. And sure, you can pump a bunch of mana into it to make whatever is blocking it die, but you end up spending some insane mana to kill like…a two drop, and that tempo matters! Once you kick it, it does become more formidable, as you no longer need to buff it for it to actually have a relevant body in combat.
Soaring Drake image 2.5 This shows you how much power creep there is with creatures! Wind Drake, a 3 mana 2/2 Flyer, used to be a quality card in Limited – but now we get a three mana ⅔ Flyer in Limited and that’s pretty much the bar for “solid Common.”
Pack 2 Pick 6: Captain's Call
Balduvian Berserker image 2.5 This is a little bit clunky, but I think pretty solid overall.. Without enlist, a 3-mana ⅓ that does 1 to something when it dies is…kind of alright. Probably a C- at the very best. But, this has Enlist upside that is pretty significant! Even attacking with it as a ⅔ is a pretty big pain for your opponent. Obviously, if you can make it really big it can be really sweet
Benalish Faithbonder image 2.0 A two mana 1/3 with Vigilance is probably a 1.5 -- adding Enlist is pretty nice on a Vigilance creature too, because Enlist naturally has you tap something extra down when you attack, but at least your enlist creature doesn’t get tapped!
Molten Monstrosity image 2.5 This is going to feel pretty miserable if you have an empty board, and you kind of need at least a three power creature for this to feel like you’re doing okay. But it is hard to imagine curve outs where this comes down super early, unless you manage to have a 4 power creature as a two or three drop. You probably mostly play this on turn 5 when you’re curving out, and while that’s good, it isn’t amazing.
Voda Sea Scavenger image 1.5 This doesn’t seem very good to me. It has what are definitely mediocre stats these days, and the ability just gives you pseudo-scry, but how good it is is highly dependent on your lands – and it also isn’t nearly as good as Scry, because you have far less control over the cards.
Smash to Dust image 1.5 Paying 4 mana for a 3/3 with Flying and Haste is definitely a nice card, and its great that it also scales all game long. You can also pick the exact right spot with it to get in for lethal – it will feel like Fireball in a lot of situations!
Geothermal Bog image 3.0 The fact that these have land types is a big deal, because it will really make Domain decks in the format far more functional. I also think that means that, even though these come into play tapped, they are going to be a little bit higher on your pick order than the pain lands are – at least once it is clear you’re going with one of the domain decks, because just jamming these lands into your deck is going to be a big deal. I think these will be valued similarly to how we valued snow lands in Kaldheim – which means they are pretty darn important! They are also useful of course in decks without a Domain theme because of the fixing they provide, and lots of decks in this format will be looking to splash at least a third color, because there are lots of cards in the set that have off-color Kicker costs
Shadow Prophecy image 2.5 Black usually gets a draw spell like this at Common, and this seems a bit better than most versions of it we see. Usually, we pay three, draw two, and lose two life. That's sort of the baseline here, as you can dig significantly deeper into your deck with this, and even load up your graveyard! The first copy looks pretty solid for most Black decks.
Captain's Call image 2.5 This is definitely not the most efficient token generator we’ve ever seen, but White does have a pretty big go-wide theme going on, and as a result I think this will play a little better than it looks.
Tolarian Geyser image 3.0 This seems pretty nice. Even when you don’t kick t it, a 3-mana bounce spell that draws you a card is usually about a C. You replace the card and get some tempo. The 3 life is some nice upside to tack on, but you would probably even place this in a deck that can’t produce White mana at all.
Pack 2 Pick 7: Bone Splinters
Flowstone Kavu image 3.0 A three mana 2/3 with Menace is already a solid card, so the fact that this can buff its power is quite nice. This will be able to attack effectively on a whole lot of boards, since it can always threaten to be a 4/1, and it has to be blocked by two creatures – and that makes it pretty hard for your opponent to block it without losing at least one creature. I think this is going to be sneaky good.
Bone Splinters image 2.0 We have seen this card many a time, and its always fine. Obviously one mana to kill something is really nice, but the requirement to sacrifice a creature is enough to keep it from being anywhere close to premium. Obviously, there are black decks in the format that are going to be able to make really good use of this – especially BW and BR, both of which like it when things die. It is pretty dangerous to run more than one copy of this too, since it is as situational as it is.
Argivian Phalanx image 3.0 If you can consistently cast this for 4 or less, I think you’ll be reasonably happy with the card, and that does seem like a pretty reasonable outcome. White has plenty of ways to go wide too, so I think you can pretty consistently cast this for a reasonable cost, and sometimes even play it above curve. It will feel kind of disastrous to have this if your opponent is managing to interfere with your development, though.
Smash to Dust image 1.5 Paying 4 mana for a 3/3 with Flying and Haste is definitely a nice card, and its great that it also scales all game long. You can also pick the exact right spot with it to get in for lethal – it will feel like Fireball in a lot of situations!
Tattered Apparition image 1.5 This has pretty bad base stats, but the fact you can pump mana into it to pumps those stats definitely matters, as this can be a real problem in the later stages of the game. It is pretty mediocre early though, and the mana it asks for can be a ton, even in the late game
Artillery Blast image 1.5 I don’t think this looks very good. Sure, Domain is something you can get going in this format without a ton of trouble, but the fact this already limits itself to destroying tapped creatures and requires some significant help to do more than two damage means that I will only run this card in a deck that is really good at getting Domain and even only then if I am desperate for removal. There are just tons of better options.
Automatic Librarian image 1.5 This is functional reprint of Chrome Cat, a card that usually didn’t make the cut in Streets of New Capenna. That’s probably true here too. This format does have some Artifact stuff going on, so it will probably be a little better than the cat – but unless you’re a deck desperate for Artifacts or a three drop, you probably won’t run this. It just doesn’t do enough.
Phyrexian Vivisector image 2.5 While not the most exciting death payoff ever, this does have solid stats, and Scrying can really add up!
Pack 2 Pick 8: Urborg Repossession
Smash to Dust image 1.5 Paying 4 mana for a 3/3 with Flying and Haste is definitely a nice card, and its great that it also scales all game long. You can also pick the exact right spot with it to get in for lethal – it will feel like Fireball in a lot of situations!
Urborg Repossession image 3.0 We see a Common Black card in virtually every set lets you return two creatures from your hand to your graveyard – and this is one of the best versions of that we have seen. The fact it gains you life helps make up for how slow this effect can be, and when you KICK this, it is actually a pretty powerful spell. You get back a creature, one other permanent, and gain that 2 life for three mana. If this was ALWAYS just a Black-Green card, it would be pretty good, but the fact you can cast it as a different spell without the Kicker is pretty nice
Captain's Call image 2.5 This is definitely not the most efficient token generator we’ve ever seen, but White does have a pretty big go-wide theme going on, and as a result I think this will play a little better than it looks.
Artillery Blast image 1.5 I don’t think this looks very good. Sure, Domain is something you can get going in this format without a ton of trouble, but the fact this already limits itself to destroying tapped creatures and requires some significant help to do more than two damage means that I will only run this card in a deck that is really good at getting Domain and even only then if I am desperate for removal. There are just tons of better options.
Ghitu Amplifier image 3.0 This is pretty neat. So, if you don’t kick it, the card is a slightly weaker Kiln Fiend – which means that it can really thrive off of cheap spells and hit hard in the early game. Then, in the late game, you can kick this thing and bounce a creature, which you know is an effect I always love – adding to the board and subtracting from your opponent’s is quite good! I really want to give this a 3.5 but I think I’m letting my own affinity for this type of card push me in that direction – it is probably more like a 3.0.
Jaya's Firenado image 2.0 This is a very clunky removal spell. 5 damage for 5 mana at Sorcery speed is never very impressive, and the upside here is pretty limited, with Scry 1 all you get. Even when we see this card at Instant speed these days it isn’t great, so a Sorcery is kind of rough. This is very far from premium removal, and is the kind of thing you’ll run one of in your red decks, but most of the time you’re hoping you find some better removal.
Tribute to Urborg image 3.5 The base of two mana for -2/-2 is usually about a 2.5, and while the Kicker upside does let it kill more things, it also makes it cost twice as much and is dependent on having things in your graveyard. That said, UB is very into spells, and all Black decks are into the graveyard, so I think kicking this will usually make it much more potent
Pack 2 Pick 9: Keldon Strike Team
Micromancer image 1.0 // 3.0 If your deck has three spells this can search it up, it is going to be pretty powerful! If your deck has 0 spells this can search up, you shouldn’t be playing it. Sounds like a pretty classic build around! It is unplayable with 0 spells, and gets slightly better with one, and then significantly better with two and three.
Protect the Negotiators image 2.0 So, if you kick this, it is a 3-mana Force Spike that gives you a 1/1 at worse. That’s…not great. The upside is that it can be a lot harder to pay the cost sometimes, but the idea that this is essentially a blank card if your board is empty and you don’t kick it is pretty rough, and there will be lots of situations where you just can’t make your opponent pay enough mana. The other issue is that counter spells aren’t often that useful in creature-heavy decks, since you would rather be adding to the board. The UW theme in this format DOES seem to be about both spells and going wide, which is pretty interesting – and could mean this overperforms.
Soaring Drake image 2.5 This shows you how much power creep there is with creatures! Wind Drake, a 3 mana 2/2 Flyer, used to be a quality card in Limited – but now we get a three mana ⅔ Flyer in Limited and that’s pretty much the bar for “solid Common.”
Keldon Strike Team image 3.5 This looks really good to me. If you don’t kick it, it is a 3-mana 3/1 with Haste that gives Haste to your whole board the turn it comes down. Then, when you kick it, you pay 5 mana for 5/3 worth of stats spread across three bodies. This gets an extra bonus from the fact that RW especially really wants to go wide. Also keep in mind, because it has Haste it can actually be Enlisted the turn it comes down, unlike most creatures. So yeah, seems like a really good Common to me.
Stall for Time image 2.5 This is sort of passable when you don’t kick it, since it replaces itself and its an Instant, so you can shut down an entire round of attacking and blocking by those two creatures. Kicking it is the real dream though, since those stun counters will really give you some amazing tempo.
Jaya's Firenado image 2.0 This is a very clunky removal spell. 5 damage for 5 mana at Sorcery speed is never very impressive, and the upside here is pretty limited, with Scry 1 all you get. Even when we see this card at Instant speed these days it isn’t great, so a Sorcery is kind of rough. This is very far from premium removal, and is the kind of thing you’ll run one of in your red decks, but most of the time you’re hoping you find some better removal.
Pack 2 Pick 10: Argivian Phalanx
Twinferno image 2.0 This is a pretty neat modal spell. Both halves of it can be really good in the right situation, but you often find yourself unable to manufacture that situation consistently. Jamming both modes together definitely helps, though.
Shore Up image 2.0 At one mana, this is pretty impressive for a trick! It only offers +1/+1, which isn’t always enough to win combat, but the untap effect and the hexproof also means it has some additional utility. Any time a trick gives a real boost and only costs one, it tends to be solid in Limited, and I think that’s what this will be.
Volshe Tideturner image 2.0 We see two mana 1/3s who can tap for mana to be spent on instants and sorceries all the time, and they pretty much always disappoint. They aren’t terrible, but they also aren’t anywhere near as good as a legitimate mana dork, even with the addition of paying for kicker spells in this case. You just don’t end up being able to use the mana enough, and the stat line isn’t very good.
Argivian Phalanx image 3.0 If you can consistently cast this for 4 or less, I think you’ll be reasonably happy with the card, and that does seem like a pretty reasonable outcome. White has plenty of ways to go wide too, so I think you can pretty consistently cast this for a reasonable cost, and sometimes even play it above curve. It will feel kind of disastrous to have this if your opponent is managing to interfere with your development, though.
Heroic Charge image 1.0 // 3.0 So, they added some pretty real Kicker upside to Inspired Charge – and the Charge is already a card that you end up playing one of in decks that are good at going wide. I love the ability to add trample here later in the game, as it will make it even easier for you to get lethal to go through. I do sort of feel like this sort of card needs a build around grade, because you really need to be very adept at going wide for it to be worth it – if your deck is just decent at it, you can’t really play it.
Pack 2 Pick 11: Mesa Cavalier
Writhing Necromass image 2.0 Casting this for 5 seems pretty doable, and in some decks you can cast it even more easily! Of course, the flipside is that sometimes it will be challenging to get a good deal on this card.
Meteorite image 1.0 This reprint is a super clunky way to fix your mana, and adding a Shock to the mix doesn’t make a huge difference for me. This set does have an artifact subtheme, so maybe sometimes it makes the cut?
Mesa Cavalier image 1.5 This has mediocre stats, and it does a small thing when it enters the battlefield. Not a card you really hope to play, but fine when you do.
Heroic Charge image 1.0 // 3.0 So, they added some pretty real Kicker upside to Inspired Charge – and the Charge is already a card that you end up playing one of in decks that are good at going wide. I love the ability to add trample here later in the game, as it will make it even easier for you to get lethal to go through. I do sort of feel like this sort of card needs a build around grade, because you really need to be very adept at going wide for it to be worth it – if your deck is just decent at it, you can’t really play it.
Pack 2 Pick 12: Benalish Sleeper
Benalish Sleeper image 2.0 Two mana for a 3/1 is usually passable in Limited, so the Edict upside is nice! There are plenty of times where kicking this is better for you than your opponent, and when that’s true, this will feel like a great Common. Now, there will also be times where kicking it doesn’t really do much, or hurts you more than your opponent, so temper your expectations.
Meteorite image 1.0 This reprint is a super clunky way to fix your mana, and adding a Shock to the mix doesn’t make a huge difference for me. This set does have an artifact subtheme, so maybe sometimes it makes the cut?
Volshe Tideturner image 2.0 We see two mana 1/3s who can tap for mana to be spent on instants and sorceries all the time, and they pretty much always disappoint. They aren’t terrible, but they also aren’t anywhere near as good as a legitimate mana dork, even with the addition of paying for kicker spells in this case. You just don’t end up being able to use the mana enough, and the stat line isn’t very good.
Pack 2 Pick 13: Battle-Rage Blessing
Battle-Rage Blessing image 2.0 This format feels like it has some of the best tricks we’ve seen in a while – at least on average – as this is yet another solid trick. Two mana isn’t the amount I love to pay for tricks – I would much rather pay 1 – but deathtouch + indestructible does allow virtually any creature to win combat, and this comes with the upside of also blanking most removal. As usual, tricks are situational and risky, so even most good tricks aren’t amazing. But this is one I will play the first copy of in most creature-heavy Black decks.
Toxic Abomination image 1.5 I feel like this mostly isn’t worth it. Sure, the base stats are good, but these days a vanilla two mana 3/2 isn’t that amazing in Limited. Even without the loss of two life, this would probably just end up as a 2.0. It can trade up for sure, but yeah. It is a fine two drop if you’re in a really aggressive Black deck, but apart from that I’m not that impressed
Pack 2 Pick 14: Smash to Dust
Smash to Dust image 1.5 Paying 4 mana for a 3/3 with Flying and Haste is definitely a nice card, and its great that it also scales all game long. You can also pick the exact right spot with it to get in for lethal – it will feel like Fireball in a lot of situations!
Pack 3 Pick 1: Sengir Connoisseur
Weatherlight Compleated image 0.0 As cool as it is to see the Weatherlight Phyrexianized, this card looks awful for Limited. It begins as a two mana Artifact that lets you Scry 1 any time one of your creatures dies and that..is not good. It does eventually become a creature, and then start drawing you cards when stuff dies, but it is going to be very slow. It just needs too many counters. It is also a miserable top deck. The ideal plan is to play it on turn two – but you also aren’t really adding to the board on turn two if you do that, so uh..yeah
Rona, Sheoldred's Faithful image 3.5 Making your opponent’s life total go down just by casting spells is pretty nice – as is the fact that you can bring Rona back from the graveyard. It is a bit costly of course, and isn’t the kind of thing you should just always do when she dies, but in the late game if you’re flooding out, it does give you something fine to do with your mana.
Sprouting Goblin image 3.5 This is pretty nice! You can play it on turn two if you need to, but kicking it makes sure you hit your 4th land drop and even fix your mana. It is also nice that it has some late game utility, since it lets you give up lands to draw cards. That’s nice, because drawing this late can be pretty underwhelming – you don’t really need the land! But it can fetch you one that you can sacrifice.
Sengir Connoisseur image 3.0 Every time we see one of these 5-mana 3/3 Flyer that grows when something happens, they tend to underperform. The big problem is the high cost and the fact it can easily die to two or three mana removal, which is a real hit to the tempo. One nice thing here, is that you can play her in your first main phase when you have trades to offer, and then your opponent is put in kind of an ugly place, but I still envision this being harder to get going than it looks. I’m not saying it is bad, mind you – just not a super high quality Uncommon.
Shadow Prophecy image 2.5 Black usually gets a draw spell like this at Common, and this seems a bit better than most versions of it we see. Usually, we pay three, draw two, and lose two life. That's sort of the baseline here, as you can dig significantly deeper into your deck with this, and even load up your graveyard! The first copy looks pretty solid for most Black decks.
Volshe Tideturner image 2.0 We see two mana 1/3s who can tap for mana to be spent on instants and sorceries all the time, and they pretty much always disappoint. They aren’t terrible, but they also aren’t anywhere near as good as a legitimate mana dork, even with the addition of paying for kicker spells in this case. You just don’t end up being able to use the mana enough, and the stat line isn’t very good.
Molten Tributary image 3.0 The fact that these have land types is a big deal, because it will really make Domain decks in the format far more functional. I also think that means that, even though these come into play tapped, they are going to be a little bit higher on your pick order than the pain lands are – at least once it is clear you’re going with one of the domain decks, because just jamming these lands into your deck is going to be a big deal. I think these will be valued similarly to how we valued snow lands in Kaldheim – which means they are pretty darn important! They are also useful of course in decks without a Domain theme because of the fixing they provide, and lots of decks in this format will be looking to splash at least a third color, because there are lots of cards in the set that have off-color Kicker costs
Molten Monstrosity image 2.5 This is going to feel pretty miserable if you have an empty board, and you kind of need at least a three power creature for this to feel like you’re doing okay. But it is hard to imagine curve outs where this comes down super early, unless you manage to have a 4 power creature as a two or three drop. You probably mostly play this on turn 5 when you’re curving out, and while that’s good, it isn’t amazing.
Phyrexian Warhorse image 2.0 I’m not ultra impressed with either mode here. You’re either getting a Hill Giant, or paying 5 mana for a 3/3 and a 1/1. That’s not a great rate. And yeah, the Warhorse can sacrifice stuff to get bigger, and the threat to do that is pretty legitimate – but I don’t feel like this is efficient or powerful enough to be a card that always makes the cut.
Llanowar Stalker image 1.0 My first instinct with a card like this is that it is just awful. I mean, it is a one mana 1/1 that will be a 2/1 on some turns, and if you really get things going – a 3/1 or 4/1 – but it can still just be traded with by a 1/1 Soldier token, so it really isn’t that impressive. Enlist makes this card a little more interesting, because if this can tap and buff your other creatures by 2 on most turns, that’s pretty good value. Still…the fail case of the card is pretty dang bad, and I’m not sure the Enlist upside does enough to change my mind.
Negate image 0.5 We see this card all the time, and generally it is more of a sideboard card. Most decks only have 4 or so things this can actually target, and that just isn’t enough for it to be a main deck card. When you know your opponent has plenty of targets for it, though, it becomes a pretty nice sideboard card.
Shield-Wall Sentinel image 0.0 // 2.5 Like all of these Defender matters cards, this is a build around. If you can use it to tutor something up – especially one of the powerful win conditions the deck has – it is going to feel really good. If you don’t have a decent Defender to tutor up, you’ll never play this, because its stats are awful.
In Thrall to the Pit image 1.5 // 3.0 There is definitely enough sacrifice stuff around in this format that this can work out, but I do think you need a buildaround grade. As usual, this sort of Effect isn’t usually going to be worth it unless you have ways to sacrifice the creature. And yes, you can Kick this to make it do that all on your own, but 7 mana is ton of mana, and while that makes this have a better late-game effect, I don’t think it has a drastic effect on how good the card is. In a regular Red deck, this is probably a 1.5 – if you’re really aggressive, this can work out sometimes, but the temporary nature of this card makes its impact Limited. But, it is probably a 3.0 in a deck that has good sacrifice outlets.
Benalish Faithbonder image 2.0 A two mana 1/3 with Vigilance is probably a 1.5 -- adding Enlist is pretty nice on a Vigilance creature too, because Enlist naturally has you tap something extra down when you attack, but at least your enlist creature doesn’t get tapped!
Pack 3 Pick 2: Shield-Wall Sentinel
Balmor, Battlemage Captain image 3.5 This is another nice spell payoff! That trigger is super strong, even if you only have a couple of creatures, and it is the kind of thing your opponent has to respect – the threat of activation is very real. The question is how easy it will be to go wide enough to really take advantage of this, but my feeling is you don’t have to go that wide to make this impressive.
Relic of Legends image 2.0 Most three mana mana rocks, even those that tap for any color, aren’t great in Limited. This could end up being better if the format is slow enough, but playing something like this on turn three can put you in really bad shape. This does come with the additional upside of producing a ton of extra mana, though – provided you have legendary creatures to tap. It feels like there is probably a legendary heavy ramp deck out there that can really use this to ramp, but I think you cut it a lot.
Mossbeard Ancient image 3.5 Every format needs a big green Tramply boi that gains you a bunch of life, and this certainly does that, allowing ramp deck to stabilize against faster decks. You’ll want one of these in that type of deck most of the time, and it also provides a pretty decent reanimation target for Black-Green.
Mesa Cavalier image 1.5 This has mediocre stats, and it does a small thing when it enters the battlefield. Not a card you really hope to play, but fine when you do.
Salvaged Manaworker image 2.5 We see artifact creatures who can filter mana all the time, and if that’s all they really do – along with mediocre stats – they see very little play. However, the filtering usually costs more than one. This actually looks like some nice fixing.
Benalish Sleeper image 2.0 Two mana for a 3/1 is usually passable in Limited, so the Edict upside is nice! There are plenty of times where kicking this is better for you than your opponent, and when that’s true, this will feel like a great Common. Now, there will also be times where kicking it doesn’t really do much, or hurts you more than your opponent, so temper your expectations.
Shield-Wall Sentinel image 0.0 // 2.5 Like all of these Defender matters cards, this is a build around. If you can use it to tutor something up – especially one of the powerful win conditions the deck has – it is going to feel really good. If you don’t have a decent Defender to tutor up, you’ll never play this, because its stats are awful.
Flowstone Infusion image 3.0 This is a pretty nice card, because it can function as a solid removal spell, and you can also use it as a trick! As we usually see with this type of card, you’ll use it as removal about 90% of the time. It is also nice that it is a cheap Instant for spell decks.
Yavimaya Steelcrusher image 2.5 This is a bear with some pretty significant upside! Enlist means it will be able to attack reasonably hard all game long, and the fact it can destroy artifacts means it has utility all game long too.
Floriferous Vinewall image 1.5 This is a Defender, and that does matter a bit in this format, but this card seems pretty mediocre. Basically it is a two drop that makes sure you hit a land drop – but a 0/2 is pretty awful for that investment, and it also doesn’t quite fix your mana for you, at least not all the time, since you only get to look at the top 6.
Clockwork Drawbridge image 1.0 This doesn’t seem very good to me, even in the Defender deck in the format. It has mediocre stats and it costs a little too much to tap stuff down. That effect is nice, but three mana is just asking a lot. I think you’ll end up playing this if you really need more defenders to get to your critical mass in that type of deck – but yeah, even in that deck you probably hope you don’t play this.
Talas Lookout image 3.0 This has passable stats for a Flyer, and a pretty nice death trigger that means you’ll usually get a 2-for-1 out of it.
Writhing Necromass image 2.0 Casting this for 5 seems pretty doable, and in some decks you can cast it even more easily! Of course, the flipside is that sometimes it will be challenging to get a good deal on this card.
Pack 3 Pick 3: Haunted Mire
Dragon Whelp image 3.5 This is a reprint, and it is a pretty good Limited card! 4-mana for a ⅔ Flyer isn’t amazing, but Firebreathing does some serious work here. You’re not normally going to be buffing it so much that it gets sacrificed anyway – unless it is going to kill your opponent, and you can still do that!
Rona's Vortex image 3.0 This looks pretty good. We don’t often get one mana instant speed bounce spells, and the upside here turns into a time ebb effect – which is one-for-one removal! Seems like it will be easy to blow out a variety of situations with it too, as leaving up one Blue is pretty easy. Like with most of these, it is playable even if you don’t have any Black at all, but ideally you can splash Black at least.
Fires of Victory image 2.5 This is interesting. Obviously it can be a really efficient removal spell, but there will also be times where you draw this and you just don’t have the cards for it to matter. Even if you do Kick it, there’s a chance you’re paying 5 to draw one and do 1 damage, and that just isn’t going to be very good. In the early game it can kill lots of stuff, and if you’re a control deck that often has a full grip of cards, it can be potent – but that just doesn’t work out that often in Limited. This will have a pretty wild range overall. The ceiling is nice, the floor is awful. There may be a UR deck in this format that can really take full advantage of this, but I’ll believe it when I see it.
Impulse image 2.0 This old school reprint is basically a better Anticipate, and any sort of Instant-speed card selection card tends to be pretty solid in formats that have a Spell deck – and this format has multiple! It still doesn’t add to the board, and there are only so many slots in a deck for that type of card – but I think the first copy of this is fine.
Flowstone Kavu image 3.0 A three mana 2/3 with Menace is already a solid card, so the fact that this can buff its power is quite nice. This will be able to attack effectively on a whole lot of boards, since it can always threaten to be a 4/1, and it has to be blocked by two creatures – and that makes it pretty hard for your opponent to block it without losing at least one creature. I think this is going to be sneaky good.
Phyrexian Vivisector image 2.5 While not the most exciting death payoff ever, this does have solid stats, and Scrying can really add up!
Sunbathing Rootwalla image 2.0 This has a baseline as a bear, and obviously has some upside that can really matter later in the game. Even if you’re just a two-color deck, the ability will be pretty solid – though certainly overcosted
Benalish Faithbonder image 2.0 A two mana 1/3 with Vigilance is probably a 1.5 -- adding Enlist is pretty nice on a Vigilance creature too, because Enlist naturally has you tap something extra down when you attack, but at least your enlist creature doesn’t get tapped!
Yavimaya Sojourner image 1.5 This can be a pretty efficient vanilla creature – but even in this format, playing it super early as an efficient creature won’t exactly be easy, so I’m not sure the fact it can be discounted is that big of a deal, because by the time you can cast it for like four mana, the game will be pretty well-developed anyway, and a vanilla 4/6 isn’t going to change the game or anything. This asks for significant set up and the payoff doesn’t really seem worth it to me.
Haunted Mire image 3.0 The fact that these have land types is a big deal, because it will really make Domain decks in the format far more functional. I also think that means that, even though these come into play tapped, they are going to be a little bit higher on your pick order than the pain lands are – at least once it is clear you’re going with one of the domain decks, because just jamming these lands into your deck is going to be a big deal. I think these will be valued similarly to how we valued snow lands in Kaldheim – which means they are pretty darn important! They are also useful of course in decks without a Domain theme because of the fixing they provide, and lots of decks in this format will be looking to splash at least a third color, because there are lots of cards in the set that have off-color Kicker costs
Talas Lookout image 3.0 This has passable stats for a Flyer, and a pretty nice death trigger that means you’ll usually get a 2-for-1 out of it.
Splatter Goblin image 2.5 This is a quality two drop. It can attack and block quite effectively on many boards, since it can frequently generate a 2-for-1
Pack 3 Pick 4: Argivian Phalanx
Raff, Weatherlight Stalwart image 3.5 This looks like a strong signpost Uncommon. Tapping things to draw extra cards sounds good to me, and then he comes with a nice ability for buffing the whole board. Basically, both of his effects are about going wide as possible and reaping the benefits.
Sengir Connoisseur image 3.0 Every time we see one of these 5-mana 3/3 Flyer that grows when something happens, they tend to underperform. The big problem is the high cost and the fact it can easily die to two or three mana removal, which is a real hit to the tempo. One nice thing here, is that you can play her in your first main phase when you have trades to offer, and then your opponent is put in kind of an ugly place, but I still envision this being harder to get going than it looks. I’m not saying it is bad, mind you – just not a super high quality Uncommon.
Rona's Vortex image 3.0 This looks pretty good. We don’t often get one mana instant speed bounce spells, and the upside here turns into a time ebb effect – which is one-for-one removal! Seems like it will be easy to blow out a variety of situations with it too, as leaving up one Blue is pretty easy. Like with most of these, it is playable even if you don’t have any Black at all, but ideally you can splash Black at least.
Flowstone Infusion image 3.0 This is a pretty nice card, because it can function as a solid removal spell, and you can also use it as a trick! As we usually see with this type of card, you’ll use it as removal about 90% of the time. It is also nice that it is a cheap Instant for spell decks.
Impede Momentum image 1.5 So, this is temporary removal that doesn’t even fully get rid of the thing it only temporarily removes. I don’t love that. The creature can still use abilities and its static effects still stick around even if they are stunned. Basically, this is a longer-term version of the “tap target creature, it doesn’t untap during your opponent’s next turn” effect, but even those effects are only good when they come with something else meaningful – like as a creature’s Enter the Battlefield ability, or with a cantrip attached. Scry 1 doesn’t quite do it.
Volshe Tideturner image 2.0 We see two mana 1/3s who can tap for mana to be spent on instants and sorceries all the time, and they pretty much always disappoint. They aren’t terrible, but they also aren’t anywhere near as good as a legitimate mana dork, even with the addition of paying for kicker spells in this case. You just don’t end up being able to use the mana enough, and the stat line isn’t very good.
Argivian Phalanx image 3.0 If you can consistently cast this for 4 or less, I think you’ll be reasonably happy with the card, and that does seem like a pretty reasonable outcome. White has plenty of ways to go wide too, so I think you can pretty consistently cast this for a reasonable cost, and sometimes even play it above curve. It will feel kind of disastrous to have this if your opponent is managing to interfere with your development, though.
Jaya's Firenado image 2.0 This is a very clunky removal spell. 5 damage for 5 mana at Sorcery speed is never very impressive, and the upside here is pretty limited, with Scry 1 all you get. Even when we see this card at Instant speed these days it isn’t great, so a Sorcery is kind of rough. This is very far from premium removal, and is the kind of thing you’ll run one of in your red decks, but most of the time you’re hoping you find some better removal.
Benalish Faithbonder image 2.0 A two mana 1/3 with Vigilance is probably a 1.5 -- adding Enlist is pretty nice on a Vigilance creature too, because Enlist naturally has you tap something extra down when you attack, but at least your enlist creature doesn’t get tapped!
Elfhame Wurm image 2.5 This is a solid French Vanilla creature. It will be a pretty beefy presence on most board states. One of these probably makes the cut in a lot of Green decks, but there are certainly better things you could be doing with 5 mana.
Talas Lookout image 3.0 This has passable stats for a Flyer, and a pretty nice death trigger that means you’ll usually get a 2-for-1 out of it.
Pack 3 Pick 5: Phyrexian Vivisector
Love Song of Night and Day image 3.0 I think you’ll frequently want to skip Chapter I here, since it does benefit your opponent as well as you, and really they come out ahead in most ways, since you spent mana and a card and they just got to draw 2 cards for 0 mana! Sometimes you’ll do chapter I, like if you’re desperate for a specific card or really need some gas – but the good news is, just getting chapter II and chapter III is plenty fo value for the investment.
Relic of Legends image 2.0 Most three mana mana rocks, even those that tap for any color, aren’t great in Limited. This could end up being better if the format is slow enough, but playing something like this on turn three can put you in really bad shape. This does come with the additional upside of producing a ton of extra mana, though – provided you have legendary creatures to tap. It feels like there is probably a legendary heavy ramp deck out there that can really use this to ramp, but I think you cut it a lot.
Aggressive Sabotage image 2.0 This is sort of a build your own Blightning. I’m not usually a very big fan of Mind Rot effects, and that’s because they occupy a really awkward place. They are sort of at their best in the early to mid-game, because you’re more likely to hit 2 cards – but you also would probably rather just add to the board than play Mind Rot on turn 3. Then, in the late game, they are really bad top decks when both players have basically nothing in their hand. A card like Aggressive Sabotage does help shore up some of that, since in the late game you can still use it to Bolt your opponent. And, adding any effect – even one that small – makes a difference.
Sacred Peaks image 3.0 The fact that these have land types is a big deal, because it will really make Domain decks in the format far more functional. I also think that means that, even though these come into play tapped, they are going to be a little bit higher on your pick order than the pain lands are – at least once it is clear you’re going with one of the domain decks, because just jamming these lands into your deck is going to be a big deal. I think these will be valued similarly to how we valued snow lands in Kaldheim – which means they are pretty darn important! They are also useful of course in decks without a Domain theme because of the fixing they provide, and lots of decks in this format will be looking to splash at least a third color, because there are lots of cards in the set that have off-color Kicker costs
Pixie Illusionist image 3.0 A one mana 1/1 Flyer is passable, so the upside this has of becoming a 5 mana 3/3 Flyer in the late game and fixing your mana and helping with domain makes this a pretty nice Common!
Yavimaya Sojourner image 1.5 This can be a pretty efficient vanilla creature – but even in this format, playing it super early as an efficient creature won’t exactly be easy, so I’m not sure the fact it can be discounted is that big of a deal, because by the time you can cast it for like four mana, the game will be pretty well-developed anyway, and a vanilla 4/6 isn’t going to change the game or anything. This asks for significant set up and the payoff doesn’t really seem worth it to me.
Benalish Faithbonder image 2.0 A two mana 1/3 with Vigilance is probably a 1.5 -- adding Enlist is pretty nice on a Vigilance creature too, because Enlist naturally has you tap something extra down when you attack, but at least your enlist creature doesn’t get tapped!
Thrill of Possibility image 1.5 This is a reprint we’ve seen before, and it tends to be pretty solid in formats that have spell decks – and this is one of those! It triggers your spell payoffs while helping you find even more spells!
Phyrexian Vivisector image 2.5 While not the most exciting death payoff ever, this does have solid stats, and Scrying can really add up!
Soaring Drake image 2.5 This shows you how much power creep there is with creatures! Wind Drake, a 3 mana 2/2 Flyer, used to be a quality card in Limited – but now we get a three mana ⅔ Flyer in Limited and that’s pretty much the bar for “solid Common.”
Pack 3 Pick 6: Sunlit Marsh
Strength of the Coalition image 2.5 This is a nice trick, the base level of the card is a trick that Green aggro decks play one of most of the time. +2/+2 for one mana is great, because it gives enough of a boost to win most combat, while also being cheap enough that using it doesn’t hamper your board development.
Destroy Evil image 2.5 This has two modes that are somewhat narrow, but putting them both together does mean most opponents will have enough combined targets for this to do a decent job.
Sunlit Marsh image 3.0 The fact that these have land types is a big deal, because it will really make Domain decks in the format far more functional. I also think that means that, even though these come into play tapped, they are going to be a little bit higher on your pick order than the pain lands are – at least once it is clear you’re going with one of the domain decks, because just jamming these lands into your deck is going to be a big deal. I think these will be valued similarly to how we valued snow lands in Kaldheim – which means they are pretty darn important! They are also useful of course in decks without a Domain theme because of the fixing they provide, and lots of decks in this format will be looking to splash at least a third color, because there are lots of cards in the set that have off-color Kicker costs
Soaring Drake image 2.5 This shows you how much power creep there is with creatures! Wind Drake, a 3 mana 2/2 Flyer, used to be a quality card in Limited – but now we get a three mana ⅔ Flyer in Limited and that’s pretty much the bar for “solid Common.”
Goblin Picker image 2.0 This has solid base stats and rummaging can certainly improve the quality of your draws, though Rummaging is markedly worse than looting. Red also doesn’t have a ton of graveyard stuff going on in this format, and that certainly hurts this card’s stock a bit.
Crystal Grotto image 1.0 Even in a set with a multicolor theme, I’m not super into this. Filter lands are almost always not worth the trouble – and I think that will be especially true in this set, which has a ton of fixing! Filtering mana does fix for you, but at the cost of making everything of that color cost one extra, and that’s a big deal. Adding Scry 1 to the mix doesn’t make enough of a difference. I think you’ll play this if you’re really desperate for fixing – but that’s about it
Ghitu Amplifier image 3.0 This is pretty neat. So, if you don’t kick it, the card is a slightly weaker Kiln Fiend – which means that it can really thrive off of cheap spells and hit hard in the early game. Then, in the late game, you can kick this thing and bounce a creature, which you know is an effect I always love – adding to the board and subtracting from your opponent’s is quite good! I really want to give this a 3.5 but I think I’m letting my own affinity for this type of card push me in that direction – it is probably more like a 3.0.
Llanowar Stalker image 1.0 My first instinct with a card like this is that it is just awful. I mean, it is a one mana 1/1 that will be a 2/1 on some turns, and if you really get things going – a 3/1 or 4/1 – but it can still just be traded with by a 1/1 Soldier token, so it really isn’t that impressive. Enlist makes this card a little more interesting, because if this can tap and buff your other creatures by 2 on most turns, that’s pretty good value. Still…the fail case of the card is pretty dang bad, and I’m not sure the Enlist upside does enough to change my mind.
Phyrexian Vivisector image 2.5 While not the most exciting death payoff ever, this does have solid stats, and Scrying can really add up!
Pack 3 Pick 7: Crystal Grotto
Love Song of Night and Day image 3.0 I think you’ll frequently want to skip Chapter I here, since it does benefit your opponent as well as you, and really they come out ahead in most ways, since you spent mana and a card and they just got to draw 2 cards for 0 mana! Sometimes you’ll do chapter I, like if you’re desperate for a specific card or really need some gas – but the good news is, just getting chapter II and chapter III is plenty fo value for the investment.
Gibbering Barricade image 2.5 This slots in nicely in the Defender deck, as well as in the Sacrifice and graveyard decks – and on top of that, it is just a decent card in any Black deck. A 3-mana 2/4 Defender can really lock down the ground for awhile, and the ability to cash stuff in is pretty sweet.
Gaea's Might image 2.0 This is a reprint from the last time the Phyrexian invaded, and it makes for a pretty reasonable combat trick. Getting +2/+2 out of it is easy, and it will often be Giant Growth – and sometimes even better! The set up is real, though.
Argivian Phalanx image 3.0 If you can consistently cast this for 4 or less, I think you’ll be reasonably happy with the card, and that does seem like a pretty reasonable outcome. White has plenty of ways to go wide too, so I think you can pretty consistently cast this for a reasonable cost, and sometimes even play it above curve. It will feel kind of disastrous to have this if your opponent is managing to interfere with your development, though.
Phyrexian Espionage image 2.0 This is potentially a 5-mana three-for-one, which is pretty attractive! On a base level, it is just Divination – which is usually a C- level card these days. This is one of those effects that never adds to the board, and that can be a real problem, but I think I having one or two effects in your deck like that is reasonable, and this is the kind of thing I wouldn’t feel bad about putting in that slot. When you can really get it going, it can actually be pretty devastating, and at worst, you have Divination.
Tolarian Terror image 3.0 Seems like a solid enough spell payoff. If you can pay 5 for this, you’ll be happy, and that seems like a pretty reasonable occurrence in a Blue-Red deck. Ward 2 means that it won’t be easy for your opponent to kill this without significantly overpaying, and that definitely matters.
Smash to Dust image 1.5 Paying 4 mana for a 3/3 with Flying and Haste is definitely a nice card, and its great that it also scales all game long. You can also pick the exact right spot with it to get in for lethal – it will feel like Fireball in a lot of situations!
Crystal Grotto image 1.0 Even in a set with a multicolor theme, I’m not super into this. Filter lands are almost always not worth the trouble – and I think that will be especially true in this set, which has a ton of fixing! Filtering mana does fix for you, but at the cost of making everything of that color cost one extra, and that’s a big deal. Adding Scry 1 to the mix doesn’t make enough of a difference. I think you’ll play this if you’re really desperate for fixing – but that’s about it
Pack 3 Pick 8: Argivian Cavalier
Ertai's Scorn image 1.5 So, this is Cancel that will cost one less if your opponent is playing more spells. Cancel is usually a 1.5 in Limited these days – three mana is a ton to leave up to counter something when you could just be adding to the board with that mana – and while the upside to make this cheaper is there, I don’t think it is that much better than Cancel.
Voda Sea Scavenger image 1.5 This doesn’t seem very good to me. It has what are definitely mediocre stats these days, and the ability just gives you pseudo-scry, but how good it is is highly dependent on your lands – and it also isn’t nearly as good as Scry, because you have far less control over the cards.
Argivian Phalanx image 3.0 If you can consistently cast this for 4 or less, I think you’ll be reasonably happy with the card, and that does seem like a pretty reasonable outcome. White has plenty of ways to go wide too, so I think you can pretty consistently cast this for a reasonable cost, and sometimes even play it above curve. It will feel kind of disastrous to have this if your opponent is managing to interfere with your development, though.
Phyrexian Espionage image 2.0 This is potentially a 5-mana three-for-one, which is pretty attractive! On a base level, it is just Divination – which is usually a C- level card these days. This is one of those effects that never adds to the board, and that can be a real problem, but I think I having one or two effects in your deck like that is reasonable, and this is the kind of thing I wouldn’t feel bad about putting in that slot. When you can really get it going, it can actually be pretty devastating, and at worst, you have Divination.
Argivian Cavalier image 3.5 This looks like a very nice Common. We see three mana 2/2s that spit out a 1/1 a lot, and they are always solid at worst. This one comes with Enlist upside, and it can even use its token! This is probably one of White’s best Commons.
Artillery Blast image 1.5 I don’t think this looks very good. Sure, Domain is something you can get going in this format without a ton of trouble, but the fact this already limits itself to destroying tapped creatures and requires some significant help to do more than two damage means that I will only run this card in a deck that is really good at getting Domain and even only then if I am desperate for removal. There are just tons of better options.
Salvaged Manaworker image 2.5 We see artifact creatures who can filter mana all the time, and if that’s all they really do – along with mediocre stats – they see very little play. However, the filtering usually costs more than one. This actually looks like some nice fixing.
Pack 3 Pick 9: Shadow Prophecy
Rona, Sheoldred's Faithful image 3.5 Making your opponent’s life total go down just by casting spells is pretty nice – as is the fact that you can bring Rona back from the graveyard. It is a bit costly of course, and isn’t the kind of thing you should just always do when she dies, but in the late game if you’re flooding out, it does give you something fine to do with your mana.
Shadow Prophecy image 2.5 Black usually gets a draw spell like this at Common, and this seems a bit better than most versions of it we see. Usually, we pay three, draw two, and lose two life. That's sort of the baseline here, as you can dig significantly deeper into your deck with this, and even load up your graveyard! The first copy looks pretty solid for most Black decks.
Volshe Tideturner image 2.0 We see two mana 1/3s who can tap for mana to be spent on instants and sorceries all the time, and they pretty much always disappoint. They aren’t terrible, but they also aren’t anywhere near as good as a legitimate mana dork, even with the addition of paying for kicker spells in this case. You just don’t end up being able to use the mana enough, and the stat line isn’t very good.
Molten Monstrosity image 2.5 This is going to feel pretty miserable if you have an empty board, and you kind of need at least a three power creature for this to feel like you’re doing okay. But it is hard to imagine curve outs where this comes down super early, unless you manage to have a 4 power creature as a two or three drop. You probably mostly play this on turn 5 when you’re curving out, and while that’s good, it isn’t amazing.
Negate image 0.5 We see this card all the time, and generally it is more of a sideboard card. Most decks only have 4 or so things this can actually target, and that just isn’t enough for it to be a main deck card. When you know your opponent has plenty of targets for it, though, it becomes a pretty nice sideboard card.
Benalish Faithbonder image 2.0 A two mana 1/3 with Vigilance is probably a 1.5 -- adding Enlist is pretty nice on a Vigilance creature too, because Enlist naturally has you tap something extra down when you attack, but at least your enlist creature doesn’t get tapped!
Pack 3 Pick 10: Clockwork Drawbridge
Mesa Cavalier image 1.5 This has mediocre stats, and it does a small thing when it enters the battlefield. Not a card you really hope to play, but fine when you do.
Salvaged Manaworker image 2.5 We see artifact creatures who can filter mana all the time, and if that’s all they really do – along with mediocre stats – they see very little play. However, the filtering usually costs more than one. This actually looks like some nice fixing.
Benalish Sleeper image 2.0 Two mana for a 3/1 is usually passable in Limited, so the Edict upside is nice! There are plenty of times where kicking this is better for you than your opponent, and when that’s true, this will feel like a great Common. Now, there will also be times where kicking it doesn’t really do much, or hurts you more than your opponent, so temper your expectations.
Yavimaya Steelcrusher image 2.5 This is a bear with some pretty significant upside! Enlist means it will be able to attack reasonably hard all game long, and the fact it can destroy artifacts means it has utility all game long too.
Clockwork Drawbridge image 1.0 This doesn’t seem very good to me, even in the Defender deck in the format. It has mediocre stats and it costs a little too much to tap stuff down. That effect is nice, but three mana is just asking a lot. I think you’ll end up playing this if you really need more defenders to get to your critical mass in that type of deck – but yeah, even in that deck you probably hope you don’t play this.
Pack 3 Pick 11: Benalish Faithbonder
Impulse image 2.0 This old school reprint is basically a better Anticipate, and any sort of Instant-speed card selection card tends to be pretty solid in formats that have a Spell deck – and this format has multiple! It still doesn’t add to the board, and there are only so many slots in a deck for that type of card – but I think the first copy of this is fine.
Phyrexian Vivisector image 2.5 While not the most exciting death payoff ever, this does have solid stats, and Scrying can really add up!
Benalish Faithbonder image 2.0 A two mana 1/3 with Vigilance is probably a 1.5 -- adding Enlist is pretty nice on a Vigilance creature too, because Enlist naturally has you tap something extra down when you attack, but at least your enlist creature doesn’t get tapped!
Splatter Goblin image 2.5 This is a quality two drop. It can attack and block quite effectively on many boards, since it can frequently generate a 2-for-1
Pack 3 Pick 12: Benalish Faithbonder
Impede Momentum image 1.5 So, this is temporary removal that doesn’t even fully get rid of the thing it only temporarily removes. I don’t love that. The creature can still use abilities and its static effects still stick around even if they are stunned. Basically, this is a longer-term version of the “tap target creature, it doesn’t untap during your opponent’s next turn” effect, but even those effects are only good when they come with something else meaningful – like as a creature’s Enter the Battlefield ability, or with a cantrip attached. Scry 1 doesn’t quite do it.
Volshe Tideturner image 2.0 We see two mana 1/3s who can tap for mana to be spent on instants and sorceries all the time, and they pretty much always disappoint. They aren’t terrible, but they also aren’t anywhere near as good as a legitimate mana dork, even with the addition of paying for kicker spells in this case. You just don’t end up being able to use the mana enough, and the stat line isn’t very good.
Benalish Faithbonder image 2.0 A two mana 1/3 with Vigilance is probably a 1.5 -- adding Enlist is pretty nice on a Vigilance creature too, because Enlist naturally has you tap something extra down when you attack, but at least your enlist creature doesn’t get tapped!
Pack 3 Pick 13: Benalish Faithbonder
Benalish Faithbonder image 2.0 A two mana 1/3 with Vigilance is probably a 1.5 -- adding Enlist is pretty nice on a Vigilance creature too, because Enlist naturally has you tap something extra down when you attack, but at least your enlist creature doesn’t get tapped!
Thrill of Possibility image 1.5 This is a reprint we’ve seen before, and it tends to be pretty solid in formats that have spell decks – and this is one of those! It triggers your spell payoffs while helping you find even more spells!
Pack 3 Pick 14: Destroy Evil
Destroy Evil image 2.5 This has two modes that are somewhat narrow, but putting them both together does mean most opponents will have enough combined targets for this to do a decent job.
Draft Pick Overview