Drake Hatcher
4 This attacking you is pretty scary, since you don't know how big it can get -- that makes it both hard to block and hard not to block, since you don't want your opponent to get a free Drake.
Inspiring Call
1.5 You need a lot of creatures with counters for this to feel worth it, and while this format certainly has decks that can do it, having a baseline of being a blank card is brutal.
Micromancer
1 // 3.5 You need to have two spells this can tutor up for it to be worth it, and if you get there -- you're going to be really happy with this card.
Stromkirk Bloodthief
1.5 Last time we saw this was in a way more vampire-heavy set and it was not very good. It's probably going to be worse here. The stat-line is bad and the trigger is surprisingly hard to get.
Burnished Hart
2 This ramps and fixes your mana pretty well, while also providing a body that can chump block. Not all decks want that, but I think enough of them will.
Ambush Wolf
2.5 This can trade up when it ambush blocks, and when it doesn't it can add significantly to the board during your opponent's end step, and maybe even hate on the graveyard.
Run Away Together
1.5 It's temping to imagine scenarios where you bounce a creature with an "enters" trigger or help a creature dodge removal, but this is mostly just an awkward bounce spell.
Courageous Goblin
2.5 This'll be able to rumble on turn 3 as a 3/2 Menace reasonably often in this format.
Thrill of Possibility
2 This is always a decent card, especially in spell decks that can use it to chain multiple spell triggers together.
Bake into a Pie
3.5 It's a little expensive but makes up for that in a big way with that food token.
Helpful Hunter
3.5 Two mana 1/1s that draw a card are also quality Limited cards, and there's no reason that won't be true here.
Wary Thespian
2.5 Green isn't super graveyard-oriented in the format, but the solid stat-line and card selection this offers will be welcome in pretty much any Green deck.
Rugged Highlands
2.5 These all offer nice fixing, and the lifegain on the BW can be extra nice.
Heartfire Immolator
3.5 A two mana 2/2 with Prowess is a nice two-drop, and this can turn into removal when you need it to.
Pack 1 Pick 2: Stromkirk Bloodthief
Vengeful Bloodwitch
2.5 This trigger is nice, and the format is reasonably well set up for you to get some life drain going, but the stat-line is bad and it's still fairly situational.
Heroic Reinforcements
3.5 If you can curve out with this at the top, you usually win the game -- and even if thigns aren't going quite that smoothly, it usually results in a big turn.
Arcane Epiphany
2.5 5 mana to draw 3 is powerful but a little bit expensive. However, most Blue decks will be able to make this cost 4 often enough for me to get behind playing it a good chunk of the time.
Burnished Hart
2 This ramps and fixes your mana pretty well, while also providing a body that can chump block. Not all decks want that, but I think enough of them will.
Bigfin Bouncer
3 Adding a 3/2 to the board and bouncing your opponent's best creature feels pretty nice -- although it can be a little rough against "enters" triggers.
Campus Guide
1.5 This is the fixing you play when you're desperate. Or the two drop you play when you're desperate. Mostly, it's bad at being either of those things, so you hope you don't play it.
Fleeting Flight
2 This is a solid trick, it'll win combat most of the time and has the "oops I win" upside of sending your big creature into the air.
Involuntary Employment
1.0 // 2.5 You can't really play this unless you're crazy aggressive or you have good sacrifice outlets. If you do have those things, it can be solid.
Llanowar Elves
3 Playing this on turn one will win you a lot of games, but it is a pretty bad top deck late.
Bake into a Pie
3.5 It's a little expensive but makes up for that in a big way with that food token.
Elementalist Adept
2 1 toughness prowess creatures can underperform, since they often need two triggers to survive being block by a 2/2, but Flash being in the mix helps make it more likely you can find a window to get in with it.
Stromkirk Bloodthief
1.5 Last time we saw this was in a way more vampire-heavy set and it was not very good. It's probably going to be worse here. The stat-line is bad and the trigger is surprisingly hard to get.
Pack 1 Pick 3: Tinybones, Bauble Burglar
Tinybones, Bauble Burglar
2 // 3 On it's own, Tinybones can get some decent card advnatage with it's ability, but you probably need a few other discard spells to really feel like you got there with him.
Elvish Archdruid
3 This has a passable baseline as a three mana 2/2 that can tap for Green, and most Green decks in this format will have enough Elves for there to be additional upside.
Empyrean Eagle
3 An anthem for your flyers can be a powerful thing, helping you do tons of damage even when your opponent is building out their own board.
Revenge of the Rats
1 / 3.5 This is definitely a buildaround, but a legit one for graveyard decks. Making a bunch of tokens is a good way to win the game once you've dumped your library in the graveyard.
Lightshell Duo
2.5 This'll never be great, but it slots in nicely to your spell and graveyard decks.
Crypt Feaster
2 The floor is mediocre and so is the ceiling. This isn't really the graveyard payoff you're looking for, but you'll play it.
Helpful Hunter
3.5 Two mana 1/1s that draw a card are also quality Limited cards, and there's no reason that won't be true here.
Marauding Blight-Priest
2 This isn't the most exciting payoff, but it's fine -- and it's a two-card combo with Bloodthirsty Conqueror.
Grow from the Ashes
2 It can be tough to play a card that doesn't add to the board, but this can fix and ramp really effecitvely, and can be particularly good with landfall.
Goblin Surprise
2.5 Neither mode is great. The tokens are a bit below rate and the buff is situational, but having a choice between them is a big upgrade.
Luminous Rebuke
2.5 This is either too narrow or too expensive, but having the choice between the modes makes it greater than the sum of its parts.
Blossoming Sands
2.5 These all offer nice fixing, and the lifegain on the BW can be extra nice.
Pack 1 Pick 4: Bake into a Pie
Ruby, Daring Tracker
3.5 She accelerates your mana to get you to bigger creatures, and then becomes a big creature herself at that point. Pretty good top-deck, too.
Micromancer
1 // 3.5 You need to have two spells this can tutor up for it to be worth it, and if you get there -- you're going to be really happy with this card.
Armasaur Guide
2.5 You can get a counter from this even when it doesn't attack, and it's nice it can put the counter on itself too, as a 5/5 vigilance is pretty formidable.
Sower of Chaos
1.5 The stat-line's mediocre and the ability is too expensive.
Grow from the Ashes
2 It can be tough to play a card that doesn't add to the board, but this can fix and ramp really effecitvely, and can be particularly good with landfall.
Wary Thespian
2.5 Green isn't super graveyard-oriented in the format, but the solid stat-line and card selection this offers will be welcome in pretty much any Green deck.
Erudite Wizard
1.5 This has a weak starting stat-line and isn't that easy to grow.
Stab
4 This is super efficient removal that can often trade up.
Bake into a Pie
3.5 It's a little expensive but makes up for that in a big way with that food token.
Dismal Backwater
2.5 These all offer nice fixing, and the lifegain on the BW can be extra nice.
Involuntary Employment
1.0 // 2.5 You can't really play this unless you're crazy aggressive or you have good sacrifice outlets. If you do have those things, it can be solid.
Pack 1 Pick 5: Involuntary Employment
Inspiration from Beyond
0 // 3 This has a nice ceiling, but a miserable floor. You need lots of spells and lots of graveyard stuff going on, and neither of those are guaranteed.
Rogue's Passage
1.5 This effect generally isn't worth making your mana worse for. Sure, it can be nice late -- but that's not even a guarantee.
Fishing Pole
1.5 Turning one of your creatures into a 1/1 Fish factory can be good, but it's frequently better to attack with a creature than it is to mess with this.
Fleeting Flight
2 This is a solid trick, it'll win combat most of the time and has the "oops I win" upside of sending your big creature into the air.
Run Away Together
1.5 It's temping to imagine scenarios where you bounce a creature with an "enters" trigger or help a creature dodge removal, but this is mostly just an awkward bounce spell.
Involuntary Employment
1.0 // 2.5 You can't really play this unless you're crazy aggressive or you have good sacrifice outlets. If you do have those things, it can be solid.
Fake Your Own Death
2.5 This is a quality trick that almost always wins combat and/or blanks removal, while generating extra value with a treasure.
Fleeting Distraction
1 // 2.5 This is only going to make the cut regularly in spell decks that love the idea of a card that triggers prowess and replaces itself.
Gorehorn Raider
2.5 This is strong when you can Raid, and pretty mediocre when you can't.
Fiery Annihilation
4 This kills most stuff and turns off death triggers and any threat of recursion. Format has a decent number of equipment, too.
Witness Protection
1 This is a removal spell that gives you less than a 1-for-1. Leaving a 1/1 creature around is brutal since it can still attack and block, and if you have any X/1s it can be super miserable.
Infestation Sage
3 Getting two 1/1 bodies -- including one that can fly -- for only one mana is nice. Makes it good sacrifice fodder and a good Raid enabler.
Squad Rallier
2.5 The stat-line is a bit underwhelming, but that activated ability is exactly what you want in the mid-to-late game. It's some serious flood insurance.
Involuntary Employment
1.0 // 2.5 You can't really play this unless you're crazy aggressive or you have good sacrifice outlets. If you do have those things, it can be solid.
Inspiring Paladin
3 Even without the +1/+1 counter upside this would be a solid card, and with it becomes a very good Common.
Icewind Elemental
2.5 5-mana 3/4 Flyers have held up pretty well in Limited, and a loot trigger is pretty powerful.
Snakeskin Veil
3 Always a great trick, it's solid in combat and great against removal. Spending one mana to win combat or blank a removal spell is a great feeling.
Pack 1 Pick 7: Fiery Annihilation
Affectionate Indrik
3 Adding this to the board while killing a 3/3 feels pretty good, though it does have limitations against larger creatures.
Fiery Annihilation
4 This kills most stuff and turns off death triggers and any threat of recursion. Format has a decent number of equipment, too.
Stroke of Midnight
0 This is never good. It's tempting to see it as efficient and flexible, but giving your opponent a 1/1 means you always end up behind. You really have to always be killing a huge bomb for that cost to be worth it, and that's not how it pans out.
Strix Lookout
2 The stats aren't amazing, but it can attack for much of the game, and once it can't looting isn't too shabby.
Fanatical Firebrand
2.5 This is really nice on turn one, and it's ping ability keeps it at least somewhat relevant all game long.
Vanguard Seraph
2 It's been awhile since a 4-mana 3/3 Flyer was exciting, and this life gain payoff is underwhelming.
Axgard Cavalry
1.5 This stat-line is pretty bad these days, and Haste is too narrow of a keyword ability for this to be very useful.
Swiftwater Cliffs
2.5 These all offer nice fixing, and the lifegain on the BW can be extra nice.
Pack 1 Pick 8: Exsanguinate
Exsanguinate
1 You need a ton of mana before this is worth casting, and even then it doesn't impact the board.
Sower of Chaos
1.5 The stat-line's mediocre and the ability is too expensive.
Apothecary Stomper
2.5 This is pretty solid for the cost. The counters will augment your board in a pretty big way, and even as a 4/4 the stomper isn't really a creature that can be ignored.
Fleeting Distraction
1 // 2.5 This is only going to make the cut regularly in spell decks that love the idea of a card that triggers prowess and replaces itself.
Armasaur Guide
2.5 You can get a counter from this even when it doesn't attack, and it's nice it can put the counter on itself too, as a 5/5 vigilance is pretty formidable.
Tranquil Cove
2.5 These all offer nice fixing, and the lifegain on the BW can be extra nice.
Make Your Move
0.5 There aren't enough artifacts or enchantments in this format for this to be main deck material.
Pack 1 Pick 9: Heartfire Immolator
Burnished Hart
2 This ramps and fixes your mana pretty well, while also providing a body that can chump block. Not all decks want that, but I think enough of them will.
Run Away Together
1.5 It's temping to imagine scenarios where you bounce a creature with an "enters" trigger or help a creature dodge removal, but this is mostly just an awkward bounce spell.
Courageous Goblin
2.5 This'll be able to rumble on turn 3 as a 3/2 Menace reasonably often in this format.
Thrill of Possibility
2 This is always a decent card, especially in spell decks that can use it to chain multiple spell triggers together.
Rugged Highlands
2.5 These all offer nice fixing, and the lifegain on the BW can be extra nice.
Heartfire Immolator
3.5 A two mana 2/2 with Prowess is a nice two-drop, and this can turn into removal when you need it to.
Pack 1 Pick 10: Involuntary Employment
Burnished Hart
2 This ramps and fixes your mana pretty well, while also providing a body that can chump block. Not all decks want that, but I think enough of them will.
Campus Guide
1.5 This is the fixing you play when you're desperate. Or the two drop you play when you're desperate. Mostly, it's bad at being either of those things, so you hope you don't play it.
Fleeting Flight
2 This is a solid trick, it'll win combat most of the time and has the "oops I win" upside of sending your big creature into the air.
Involuntary Employment
1.0 // 2.5 You can't really play this unless you're crazy aggressive or you have good sacrifice outlets. If you do have those things, it can be solid.
Revenge of the Rats
1 / 3.5 This is definitely a buildaround, but a legit one for graveyard decks. Making a bunch of tokens is a good way to win the game once you've dumped your library in the graveyard.
Lightshell Duo
2.5 This'll never be great, but it slots in nicely to your spell and graveyard decks.
Crypt Feaster
2 The floor is mediocre and so is the ceiling. This isn't really the graveyard payoff you're looking for, but you'll play it.
Goblin Surprise
2.5 Neither mode is great. The tokens are a bit below rate and the buff is situational, but having a choice between them is a big upgrade.
Pack 1 Pick 12: Dismal Backwater
Sower of Chaos
1.5 The stat-line's mediocre and the ability is too expensive.
Dismal Backwater
2.5 These all offer nice fixing, and the lifegain on the BW can be extra nice.
Involuntary Employment
1.0 // 2.5 You can't really play this unless you're crazy aggressive or you have good sacrifice outlets. If you do have those things, it can be solid.
Pack 1 Pick 13: Gorehorn Raider
Gorehorn Raider
2.5 This is strong when you can Raid, and pretty mediocre when you can't.
Homunculus Horde
1.5 If you can ge these triggers going it can be pretty insane, but it's super vulnerable and expensive to cast, and it isn't like drawing 2 cards a turn is automatic.
Rune-Sealed Wall
1.5 Purely defensive creatures are rarely worth it in Limited, and while this can surveil, that's not enough upside.
Midnight Snack
1 This doesn't impact the board much on it's own, and even if it's giving you food, finding a turn where you can sink a bunch of mana into it and use it's ability is going to be a rarity.
Savannah Lions
1.5 Feels pretty good on turn one, but quickly becomes irrelevant.
Burglar Rat
2.5 This is always a solid Limited creature. It's certainly not a full-blown 2-for-1, but it gets a card up front and then you have a body around to block or sacrifice.
Beast-Kin Ranger
2.5 Making tokens can make this hit really hard, but a 3-mana 3/3 trampler isn't anythign special.
Prideful Parent
3.5 Three mana 2/2s that make 1/1s are always quality cards in Limited, and the 2/2 in this case even comes with Vigilance.
Fleeting Distraction
1 // 2.5 This is only going to make the cut regularly in spell decks that love the idea of a card that triggers prowess and replaces itself.
Crypt Feaster
2 The floor is mediocre and so is the ceiling. This isn't really the graveyard payoff you're looking for, but you'll play it.
Healer's Hawk
3 This is a great one drop, especially in a format with lots of ways to buff the Hawk.
Wind-Scarred Crag
2.5 These all offer nice fixing, and the lifegain on the BW can be extra nice.
Sure Strike
1.5 This is a good trick in combat, but it's a little bit expensive and not useful against most removal.
Pack 2 Pick 2: Hungry Ghoul
Omniscience
0 This is too expensive to be relevant, and even when you do get it in play in Limited, you probably don't have any cards you need to cast for free anyway -- since you have 10 mana.
Boltwave
1 This might just be a 0, but there are enough spell payoffs in the format that I'm cutting it a little bit of slack. The main problem is that a spell that only does direct damage doesn't impact the board at all -- sometimes casting it feels like mulliganing.
Needletooth Pack
3.5 This is a great Morbid trigger. Getting it once is plenty strong, and if you can set it up on other turns too, you're going to win.
Angel of Finality
2.5 This is a nice stat-line, and sometimes you'll take threshold away from your opponent.
Hungry Ghoul
2.5 It has passable starting point and it's activated ability has some good applications in the format, in addition to just being solid on it's own.
Dazzling Angel
3 This is a solid stat-line and the incidental life gain is going to feel good in go-wide and lifegain decks in the format.
Sure Strike
1.5 This is a good trick in combat, but it's a little bit expensive and not useful against most removal.
Elfsworn Giant
3.5 This is a very strong landfall trigger, and while the stat-line isn't incredible, it's not thard to make sure you get at least one 1/1 out of this, and if it's left alone, it becomes a value engine.
Fleeting Flight
2 This is a solid trick, it'll win combat most of the time and has the "oops I win" upside of sending your big creature into the air.
Run Away Together
1.5 It's temping to imagine scenarios where you bounce a creature with an "enters" trigger or help a creature dodge removal, but this is mostly just an awkward bounce spell.
Involuntary Employment
1.0 // 2.5 You can't really play this unless you're crazy aggressive or you have good sacrifice outlets. If you do have those things, it can be solid.
Dwynen's Elite
2.5 This'll just be a two mana 2/2 reasonably often, but it'll also make a 1/1 token a decent chunk of the time, and if it always did that it would be a 4.0.
Pack 2 Pick 3: Infestation Sage
Painful Quandary
0 This was awful last time and it will be here too. It doesn't impact the board and there's not even a guarantee that the effect will do anything meaningful.
Frenzied Goblin
2.5 This can definitely let an aggro deck get through for a big attack, even in the late game.
Youthful Valkyrie
2.5 This is an okayish stat-line, and most White decks will have like 3 angels, so the upside is accessible.
Infestation Sage
3 Getting two 1/1 bodies -- including one that can fly -- for only one mana is nice. Makes it good sacrifice fodder and a good Raid enabler.
Inspiring Paladin
3 Even without the +1/+1 counter upside this would be a solid card, and with it becomes a very good Common.
Cackling Prowler
2.5 A 4-mana 4/3 with Ward 2 is pretty decent, as the Ward heps offset some of the problems of that stat-line, and it gives it more time to grow.
Healer's Hawk
3 This is a great one drop, especially in a format with lots of ways to buff the Hawk.
Uncharted Voyage
3 These 4-mana "Time Ebb" effects always tend to perform well. They give you good 1-for-1 removal that can even be disruptive, and adding Surveil to the mix is nice.
Sure Strike
1.5 This is a good trick in combat, but it's a little bit expensive and not useful against most removal.
Thornwood Falls
2.5 These all offer nice fixing, and the lifegain on the BW can be extra nice.
Divine Resilience
1.5 This is good at blanking removal, not so good at winning combat -- and you kind of need both these days for a trick to be exciting.
Pack 2 Pick 4: Hungry Ghoul
Juggernaut
1.5 If you need a 4-drop you can probably do worse, but how often are you desperate for a 4 drop in Limited?
Revenge of the Rats
1 / 3.5 This is definitely a buildaround, but a legit one for graveyard decks. Making a bunch of tokens is a good way to win the game once you've dumped your library in the graveyard.
Firespitter Whelp
2.5 Wind Drake stats aren't what they used to be, but the upside is enough to make this solid.
Bite Down
3.5 This is always great removal, and while you have to be careful agaisnt interaction, being an instant helps make it easy to find the rightw indow for it.
Pilfer
2 This is a nice way to disrupt your opponent, although not adding to the board is always a problem.
Thrill of Possibility
2 This is always a decent card, especially in spell decks that can use it to chain multiple spell triggers together.
Hungry Ghoul
2.5 It has passable starting point and it's activated ability has some good applications in the format, in addition to just being solid on it's own.
Fleeting Flight
2 This is a solid trick, it'll win combat most of the time and has the "oops I win" upside of sending your big creature into the air.
Giant Growth
2 This is always a nice trick. It wins most combats very efficiently and can even blank some removal.
Llanowar Elves
3 Playing this on turn one will win you a lot of games, but it is a pretty bad top deck late.
Pack 2 Pick 5: Arbiter of Woe
Rogue's Passage
1.5 This effect generally isn't worth making your mana worse for. Sure, it can be nice late -- but that's not even a guarantee.
Arbiter of Woe
2.5 You're going to need some fodder to make this really work out, but there's plenty of that in the format, and the enters trigger is pretty legit.
Frenzied Goblin
2.5 This can definitely let an aggro deck get through for a big attack, even in the late game.
Witness Protection
1 This is a removal spell that gives you less than a 1-for-1. Leaving a 1/1 creature around is brutal since it can still attack and block, and if you have any X/1s it can be super miserable.
Evolving Wilds
2.5 This plus a basic land is always a nice way to fix for a bomb, and it can even help you get threshold.
Sure Strike
1.5 This is a good trick in combat, but it's a little bit expensive and not useful against most removal.
Giant Growth
2 This is always a nice trick. It wins most combats very efficiently and can even blank some removal.
Pilfer
2 This is a nice way to disrupt your opponent, although not adding to the board is always a problem.
Hungry Ghoul
2.5 It has passable starting point and it's activated ability has some good applications in the format, in addition to just being solid on it's own.
Pack 2 Pick 6: Spitfire Lagac
Boltwave
1 This might just be a 0, but there are enough spell payoffs in the format that I'm cutting it a little bit of slack. The main problem is that a spell that only does direct damage doesn't impact the board at all -- sometimes casting it feels like mulliganing.
Inspiring Call
1.5 You need a lot of creatures with counters for this to feel worth it, and while this format certainly has decks that can do it, having a baseline of being a blank card is brutal.
Twinblade Blessing
2 It's a little bit clunky, but it can usually help your creature win combat or do lethal out of nowhere, and it offers a buff that makes most creatures problematic.
Spitfire Lagac
2 This has mediocre stats and an underwhelming landfall trigger.
Dwynen's Elite
2.5 This'll just be a two mana 2/2 reasonably often, but it'll also make a 1/1 token a decent chunk of the time, and if it always did that it would be a 4.0.
Giant Growth
2 This is always a nice trick. It wins most combats very efficiently and can even blank some removal.
Fake Your Own Death
2.5 This is a quality trick that almost always wins combat and/or blanks removal, while generating extra value with a treasure.
Luminous Rebuke
2.5 This is either too narrow or too expensive, but having the choice between the modes makes it greater than the sum of its parts.
Pack 2 Pick 7: Spitfire Lagac
Affectionate Indrik
3 Adding this to the board while killing a 3/3 feels pretty good, though it does have limitations against larger creatures.
Stab
4 This is super efficient removal that can often trade up.
Gnarlid Colony
2 This was super underwhelming when we saw it last, and while this format has a +1/+1 counter theme, the creature is inefficient and trample only matters on the largest creatures.
Quick-Draw Katana
2 This only offers a buff during your turn, and if you're an aggro deck you're probably more interested in playing more creatures than playing this thing.
Spitfire Lagac
2 This has mediocre stats and an underwhelming landfall trigger.
Dwynen's Elite
2.5 This'll just be a two mana 2/2 reasonably often, but it'll also make a 1/1 token a decent chunk of the time, and if it always did that it would be a 4.0.
Jungle Hollow
2.5 These all offer nice fixing, and the lifegain on the BW can be extra nice.
Ambush Wolf
2.5 This can trade up when it ambush blocks, and when it doesn't it can add significantly to the board during your opponent's end step, and maybe even hate on the graveyard.
Pack 2 Pick 8: Inspiration from Beyond
Inspiration from Beyond
0 // 3 This has a nice ceiling, but a miserable floor. You need lots of spells and lots of graveyard stuff going on, and neither of those are guaranteed.
Heroic Reinforcements
3.5 If you can curve out with this at the top, you usually win the game -- and even if thigns aren't going quite that smoothly, it usually results in a big turn.
Aegis Turtle
1 This isn't worth a card. All it does is block, and it doesn't do it all that well, since it just absorbs damage and can't trade for anything.
Squad Rallier
2.5 The stat-line is a bit underwhelming, but that activated ability is exactly what you want in the mid-to-late game. It's some serious flood insurance.
Icewind Elemental
2.5 5-mana 3/4 Flyers have held up pretty well in Limited, and a loot trigger is pretty powerful.
Rugged Highlands
2.5 These all offer nice fixing, and the lifegain on the BW can be extra nice.
Pack 2 Pick 9: Crypt Feaster
Rune-Sealed Wall
1.5 Purely defensive creatures are rarely worth it in Limited, and while this can surveil, that's not enough upside.
Midnight Snack
1 This doesn't impact the board much on it's own, and even if it's giving you food, finding a turn where you can sink a bunch of mana into it and use it's ability is going to be a rarity.
Fleeting Distraction
1 // 2.5 This is only going to make the cut regularly in spell decks that love the idea of a card that triggers prowess and replaces itself.
Crypt Feaster
2 The floor is mediocre and so is the ceiling. This isn't really the graveyard payoff you're looking for, but you'll play it.
Sure Strike
1.5 This is a good trick in combat, but it's a little bit expensive and not useful against most removal.
Pack 2 Pick 10: Involuntary Employment
Boltwave
1 This might just be a 0, but there are enough spell payoffs in the format that I'm cutting it a little bit of slack. The main problem is that a spell that only does direct damage doesn't impact the board at all -- sometimes casting it feels like mulliganing.
Sure Strike
1.5 This is a good trick in combat, but it's a little bit expensive and not useful against most removal.
Elfsworn Giant
3.5 This is a very strong landfall trigger, and while the stat-line isn't incredible, it's not thard to make sure you get at least one 1/1 out of this, and if it's left alone, it becomes a value engine.
Involuntary Employment
1.0 // 2.5 You can't really play this unless you're crazy aggressive or you have good sacrifice outlets. If you do have those things, it can be solid.
Frenzied Goblin
2.5 This can definitely let an aggro deck get through for a big attack, even in the late game.
Youthful Valkyrie
2.5 This is an okayish stat-line, and most White decks will have like 3 angels, so the upside is accessible.
Uncharted Voyage
3 These 4-mana "Time Ebb" effects always tend to perform well. They give you good 1-for-1 removal that can even be disruptive, and adding Surveil to the mix is nice.
Sure Strike
1.5 This is a good trick in combat, but it's a little bit expensive and not useful against most removal.
Pack 2 Pick 12: Revenge of the Rats
Revenge of the Rats
1 / 3.5 This is definitely a buildaround, but a legit one for graveyard decks. Making a bunch of tokens is a good way to win the game once you've dumped your library in the graveyard.
Thrill of Possibility
2 This is always a decent card, especially in spell decks that can use it to chain multiple spell triggers together.
Zul Ashur, Lich Lord
2 // 3.5 This is playable even with 0 other zombies, but if you have 3 or 4 of them, it gets substantially better.
Midnight Snack
1 This doesn't impact the board much on it's own, and even if it's giving you food, finding a turn where you can sink a bunch of mana into it and use it's ability is going to be a rarity.
Ajani's Pridemate
3 As usual, the Pridemate is a nice life gain payoff with a reasonable baseline.
Tatyova, Benthic Druid
4 Her Landfall trigger wins games, and while she's a bit slow and has a bad stat-line, the life she gains you helps make up for that -- and makes it more likely you'll cast those new cards you draw, too.
Crackling Cyclops
1.5 This probably asks too much to be worth it. It'll be a 0/4 way too often, and it isn't like a 3/4 is that exciting.
Helpful Hunter
3.5 Two mana 1/1s that draw a card are also quality Limited cards, and there's no reason that won't be true here.
Tolarian Terror
1.5 // 4 If you're in a spell heavy deck like UR, or a UB deck that's good at milling itself, the Terror is going to be a super powerful card that can often end games.
Fake Your Own Death
2.5 This is a quality trick that almost always wins combat and/or blanks removal, while generating extra value with a treasure.
Giant Growth
2 This is always a nice trick. It wins most combats very efficiently and can even blank some removal.
Stab
4 This is super efficient removal that can often trade up.
Icewind Elemental
2.5 5-mana 3/4 Flyers have held up pretty well in Limited, and a loot trigger is pretty powerful.
Hare Apparent
1.5 // 2.5 You can't really play this if you only have one, but if you have 4+, you'll get enough tokens for them to be worthwhile.
Stroke of Midnight
0 This is never good. It's tempting to see it as efficient and flexible, but giving your opponent a 1/1 means you always end up behind. You really have to always be killing a huge bomb for that cost to be worth it, and that's not how it pans out.
Pack 3 Pick 2: Abrade
Reclamation Sage
0.5 This is a sideboard card because it won't have targets often enough against most decks.
Burnished Hart
2 This ramps and fixes your mana pretty well, while also providing a body that can chump block. Not all decks want that, but I think enough of them will.
Revenge of the Rats
1 / 3.5 This is definitely a buildaround, but a legit one for graveyard decks. Making a bunch of tokens is a good way to win the game once you've dumped your library in the graveyard.
Abrade
3.5 Two mana deal 3s are always great, and this one can take out an artifact on occasion.
Elfsworn Giant
3.5 This is a very strong landfall trigger, and while the stat-line isn't incredible, it's not thard to make sure you get at least one 1/1 out of this, and if it's left alone, it becomes a value engine.
Squad Rallier
2.5 The stat-line is a bit underwhelming, but that activated ability is exactly what you want in the mid-to-late game. It's some serious flood insurance.
Stab
4 This is super efficient removal that can often trade up.
Inspiring Paladin
3 Even without the +1/+1 counter upside this would be a solid card, and with it becomes a very good Common.
Firebrand Archer
1.5 // 2.5 You can only play this if you lots and lots of noncreature spells, since the stat-line is so bad. You need a few triggers to make up for that.
Uncharted Voyage
3 These 4-mana "Time Ebb" effects always tend to perform well. They give you good 1-for-1 removal that can even be disruptive, and adding Surveil to the mix is nice.
Broken Wings
0.5 This is a sideboard card. There aren't enough targets in most decks for it to be wortwhile in the main deck.
Wind-Scarred Crag
2.5 These all offer nice fixing, and the lifegain on the BW can be extra nice.
Grow from the Ashes
2 It can be tough to play a card that doesn't add to the board, but this can fix and ramp really effecitvely, and can be particularly good with landfall.
Pack 3 Pick 3: Abrade
Mischievous Mystic
4 This has good stats, and even if you only get one token out of it you're going to feel great.
Revenge of the Rats
1 / 3.5 This is definitely a buildaround, but a legit one for graveyard decks. Making a bunch of tokens is a good way to win the game once you've dumped your library in the graveyard.
Fake Your Own Death
2.5 This is a quality trick that almost always wins combat and/or blanks removal, while generating extra value with a treasure.
Gnarlid Colony
2 This was super underwhelming when we saw it last, and while this format has a +1/+1 counter theme, the creature is inefficient and trample only matters on the largest creatures.
Courageous Goblin
2.5 This'll be able to rumble on turn 3 as a 3/2 Menace reasonably often in this format.
Macabre Waltz
2.5 Giving up a land late to get two good creatures back from the yard is a good way to win those games, although this is pretty bad when you get it early.
Tolarian Terror
1.5 // 4 If you're in a spell heavy deck like UR, or a UB deck that's good at milling itself, the Terror is going to be a super powerful card that can often end games.
Armasaur Guide
2.5 You can get a counter from this even when it doesn't attack, and it's nice it can put the counter on itself too, as a 5/5 vigilance is pretty formidable.
Refute
2 Cancel is usually not a card that always makes the cut, and this probably doesn't quite get there either -- although adding Loot to the mix is definitely better.
Sower of Chaos
1.5 The stat-line's mediocre and the ability is too expensive.
Jungle Hollow
2.5 These all offer nice fixing, and the lifegain on the BW can be extra nice.
Abrade
3.5 Two mana deal 3s are always great, and this one can take out an artifact on occasion.
Pack 3 Pick 4: Dragon Trainer
Burnished Hart
2 This ramps and fixes your mana pretty well, while also providing a body that can chump block. Not all decks want that, but I think enough of them will.
Blanchwood Armor
0 You would need a mono-green deck with lots of hexproof for this to be a thing, and you can't pull that off in this format.
Skyship Buccaneer
3.5 If you always drew with this, it would be a 4.5! However, you just can't count on always raiding. And when you don't, it's a 2.0.
Crypt Feaster
2 The floor is mediocre and so is the ceiling. This isn't really the graveyard payoff you're looking for, but you'll play it.
Sanguine Syphoner
2.5 This attack trigger plays pretty well, especially in a format with a life gain deck.
Llanowar Elves
3 Playing this on turn one will win you a lot of games, but it is a pretty bad top deck late.
Aegis Turtle
1 This isn't worth a card. All it does is block, and it doesn't do it all that well, since it just absorbs damage and can't trade for anything.
Gutless Plunderer
1.5 Three-mana 2/2s with death touch aren't anything special and even if you get this Raid trigger it's hard to feel good about casting this.
Goblin Surprise
2.5 Neither mode is great. The tokens are a bit below rate and the buff is situational, but having a choice between them is a big upgrade.
Dragon Trainer
4 The rate here is great, and if you can recur the Trainer, things get out of hand in a hurry.
Pack 3 Pick 5: Tinybones, Bauble Burglar
Tinybones, Bauble Burglar
2 // 3 On it's own, Tinybones can get some decent card advnatage with it's ability, but you probably need a few other discard spells to really feel like you got there with him.
Dragon Trainer
4 The rate here is great, and if you can recur the Trainer, things get out of hand in a hurry.
Reassembling Skeleton
1.5 // 3.0 This isn't great if you're just planning on bringing it back to chump with it, but if you have something meaningful to do with the body -- or you're good at milling -- it can be a nice card.
Run Away Together
1.5 It's temping to imagine scenarios where you bounce a creature with an "enters" trigger or help a creature dodge removal, but this is mostly just an awkward bounce spell.
Burst Lightning
4 This is Shock with upside, and the upside is real -- since in the late game it can deal with much larger creatures or finish the opponent off.
Think Twice
2.5 This is never super efficient, but it does draw you 2 cards, and if you mill it, it's like adding the card to your hand which is pretty sweet.
Hare Apparent
1.5 // 2.5 You can't really play this if you only have one, but if you have 4+, you'll get enough tokens for them to be worthwhile.
Vampire Soulcaller
2 Not being able to block is a big downside, as it makes it way harder to generate a 2-for-1 with this than with something like Gravedigger.
Inspiring Paladin
3 Even without the +1/+1 counter upside this would be a solid card, and with it becomes a very good Common.
Pack 3 Pick 6: Eaten Alive
Seismic Rupture
0.5 This is mostly sideboard material. Most decks won't be equipped to abuse it, and most opponents won't have the right deck for it to be useful.
Vampire Soulcaller
2 Not being able to block is a big downside, as it makes it way harder to generate a 2-for-1 with this than with something like Gravedigger.
Fleeting Distraction
1 // 2.5 This is only going to make the cut regularly in spell decks that love the idea of a card that triggers prowess and replaces itself.
Elfsworn Giant
3.5 This is a very strong landfall trigger, and while the stat-line isn't incredible, it's not thard to make sure you get at least one 1/1 out of this, and if it's left alone, it becomes a value engine.
Eaten Alive
3 Not going to be as good here as it was in Crimson Vow, as decayed zombie tokens aren't everywhere, but it's still petty awesome when you do have something expendable to give up.
Axgard Cavalry
1.5 This stat-line is pretty bad these days, and Haste is too narrow of a keyword ability for this to be very useful.
Macabre Waltz
2.5 Giving up a land late to get two good creatures back from the yard is a good way to win those games, although this is pretty bad when you get it early.
Squad Rallier
2.5 The stat-line is a bit underwhelming, but that activated ability is exactly what you want in the mid-to-late game. It's some serious flood insurance.
Gorehorn Raider
2.5 This is strong when you can Raid, and pretty mediocre when you can't.
Twinblade Blessing
2 It's a little bit clunky, but it can usually help your creature win combat or do lethal out of nowhere, and it offers a buff that makes most creatures problematic.
Ambush Wolf
2.5 This can trade up when it ambush blocks, and when it doesn't it can add significantly to the board during your opponent's end step, and maybe even hate on the graveyard.
Uncharted Voyage
3 These 4-mana "Time Ebb" effects always tend to perform well. They give you good 1-for-1 removal that can even be disruptive, and adding Surveil to the mix is nice.
Thrill of Possibility
2 This is always a decent card, especially in spell decks that can use it to chain multiple spell triggers together.
Courageous Goblin
2.5 This'll be able to rumble on turn 3 as a 3/2 Menace reasonably often in this format.
Marauding Blight-Priest
2 This isn't the most exciting payoff, but it's fine -- and it's a two-card combo with Bloodthirsty Conqueror.
Bloodfell Caves
2.5 These all offer nice fixing, and the lifegain on the BW can be extra nice.
Pack 3 Pick 9: Midnight Snack
Midnight Snack
1 This doesn't impact the board much on it's own, and even if it's giving you food, finding a turn where you can sink a bunch of mana into it and use it's ability is going to be a rarity.
Crackling Cyclops
1.5 This probably asks too much to be worth it. It'll be a 0/4 way too often, and it isn't like a 3/4 is that exciting.
Fake Your Own Death
2.5 This is a quality trick that almost always wins combat and/or blanks removal, while generating extra value with a treasure.
Giant Growth
2 This is always a nice trick. It wins most combats very efficiently and can even blank some removal.
Icewind Elemental
2.5 5-mana 3/4 Flyers have held up pretty well in Limited, and a loot trigger is pretty powerful.
Revenge of the Rats
1 / 3.5 This is definitely a buildaround, but a legit one for graveyard decks. Making a bunch of tokens is a good way to win the game once you've dumped your library in the graveyard.
Uncharted Voyage
3 These 4-mana "Time Ebb" effects always tend to perform well. They give you good 1-for-1 removal that can even be disruptive, and adding Surveil to the mix is nice.
Broken Wings
0.5 This is a sideboard card. There aren't enough targets in most decks for it to be wortwhile in the main deck.
Wind-Scarred Crag
2.5 These all offer nice fixing, and the lifegain on the BW can be extra nice.
Grow from the Ashes
2 It can be tough to play a card that doesn't add to the board, but this can fix and ramp really effecitvely, and can be particularly good with landfall.
Pack 3 Pick 11: Macabre Waltz
Fake Your Own Death
2.5 This is a quality trick that almost always wins combat and/or blanks removal, while generating extra value with a treasure.
Courageous Goblin
2.5 This'll be able to rumble on turn 3 as a 3/2 Menace reasonably often in this format.
Macabre Waltz
2.5 Giving up a land late to get two good creatures back from the yard is a good way to win those games, although this is pretty bad when you get it early.
Sower of Chaos
1.5 The stat-line's mediocre and the ability is too expensive.
Pack 3 Pick 12: Crypt Feaster
Crypt Feaster
2 The floor is mediocre and so is the ceiling. This isn't really the graveyard payoff you're looking for, but you'll play it.
Aegis Turtle
1 This isn't worth a card. All it does is block, and it doesn't do it all that well, since it just absorbs damage and can't trade for anything.
Run Away Together
1.5 It's temping to imagine scenarios where you bounce a creature with an "enters" trigger or help a creature dodge removal, but this is mostly just an awkward bounce spell.