Solemn Simulacrum
4 This generates a 3-for-1 almost every time you play it, and that's an advantage that can set you up for victory.
Elvish Regrower
4 This is a great 2-for-1. That 4/3 body can even rumble pretty well.
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.
Sun-Blessed Healer
4 A two mana 3/1 with lifelink is something you play 100% of the time, and this has an insane kicker mode in the late game.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Giant Growth
2 This is always a nice trick. It wins most combats very efficiently and can even blank some removal.
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.
Quakestrider Ceratops
2.5 This is a huge vanilla creature -- so huge that I think it's actually going to make the cut in most Green decks, even if it doesn't do anything other than attack or block.
Pack 1 Pick 2: Wildwood Scourge
Brineborn Cutthroat
2 This has bad starting stats but there are enough cards with flash and instants in the set for it to grow.
Wildwood Scourge
2 This never feels like an efficient creature, and it doesn't exactly grow quickly.
Resolute Reinforcements
3 This is just a good rate, and it gets better if you've got some ways to blink or recur the Reinforcements.
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.
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.
Spitfire Lagac
2 This has mediocre stats and an underwhelming landfall trigger.
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.
Giant Growth
2 This is always a nice trick. It wins most combats very efficiently and can even blank some removal.
Erudite Wizard
1.5 This has a weak starting stat-line and isn't that easy to grow.
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.
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.
Dismal Backwater
2.5 These all offer nice fixing, and the lifegain on the BW can be extra nice.
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.
Pack 1 Pick 3: Snakeskin Veil
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.
Brazen Scourge
2.5 This is a good stat-line, but the double red makes it less likely you actually run it out on 3.
Guarded Heir
3.5 This is expensive, but it delivers what a 6-mana card could. It's virtually impossible for you to win the game the turn after you cast it, even when you're behind -- and it can pull you ahead if you're at parity.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Inspiring Paladin
3 Even without the +1/+1 counter upside this would be a solid card, and with it becomes a very good Common.
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.
Ravenous Amulet
1.5 This is too slow to work out very well. If you have lots of fodder you might be able to go off, though.
Pack 1 Pick 4: Elvish Regrower
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.
Elvish Regrower
4 This is a great 2-for-1. That 4/3 body can even rumble pretty well.
Claws Out
1.5 // 2.5 If you're good at going wide and you have like 4+ cats, this'll be worth playing for sure. If you're not lowering the cost and don't have enough creatures in general, it's unplayable.
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.
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.
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.
Goldvein Pick
3 This is great Equipment. It offers a good buff for the cost, and the treasure makes it very easy to move around -- while also giving you a mana boost that you might have access to every turn.
Icewind Elemental
2.5 5-mana 3/4 Flyers have held up pretty well in Limited, and a loot trigger is pretty powerful.
Tranquil Cove
2.5 These all offer nice fixing, and the lifegain on the BW can be extra nice.
Elvish Regrower
4 This is a great 2-for-1. That 4/3 body can even rumble pretty well.
Pack 1 Pick 5: Goldvein Pick
Sower of Chaos
1.5 The stat-line's mediocre and the ability is too expensive.
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.
Make Your Move
0.5 There aren't enough artifacts or enchantments in this format for this to be main deck material.
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.
Sanguine Syphoner
2.5 This attack trigger plays pretty well, especially in a format with a life gain deck.
Giant Growth
2 This is always a nice trick. It wins most combats very efficiently and can even blank some removal.
Goldvein Pick
3 This is great Equipment. It offers a good buff for the cost, and the treasure makes it very easy to move around -- while also giving you a mana boost that you might have access to every turn.
Icewind Elemental
2.5 5-mana 3/4 Flyers have held up pretty well in Limited, and a loot trigger is pretty powerful.
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.
Pack 1 Pick 6: Beast-Kin Ranger
Frenzied Goblin
2.5 This can definitely let an aggro deck get through for a big attack, even in the late game.
Beast-Kin Ranger
2.5 Making tokens can make this hit really hard, but a 3-mana 3/3 trampler isn't anythign special.
Sower of Chaos
1.5 The stat-line's mediocre and the ability is too expensive.
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.
Mocking Sprite
2 Last time we saw this, the stat-line really held it back. This format has fewer incidental ways to kill it, but I'm still skeptical of it being able to stick around.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Spitfire Lagac
2 This has mediocre stats and an underwhelming landfall trigger.
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.
Thornwood Falls
2.5 These all offer nice fixing, and the lifegain on the BW can be extra nice.
Pack 1 Pick 8: Make Your Move
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.
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.
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.
Giant Growth
2 This is always a nice trick. It wins most combats very efficiently and can even blank some removal.
Make Your Move
0.5 There aren't enough artifacts or enchantments in this format for this to be main deck material.
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.
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.
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.
Quakestrider Ceratops
2.5 This is a huge vanilla creature -- so huge that I think it's actually going to make the cut in most Green decks, even if it doesn't do anything other than attack or block.
Pack 1 Pick 10: Cackling Prowler
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.
Spitfire Lagac
2 This has mediocre stats and an underwhelming landfall trigger.
Giant Growth
2 This is always a nice trick. It wins most combats very efficiently and can even blank some removal.
Erudite Wizard
1.5 This has a weak starting stat-line and isn't that easy to grow.
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.
Pack 1 Pick 11: Ravenous Amulet
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.
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.
Ravenous Amulet
1.5 This is too slow to work out very well. If you have lots of fodder you might be able to go off, though.
Pack 1 Pick 12: Gnarlid Colony
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.
Goldvein Pick
3 This is great Equipment. It offers a good buff for the cost, and the treasure makes it very easy to move around -- while also giving you a mana boost that you might have access to every turn.
Icewind Elemental
2.5 5-mana 3/4 Flyers have held up pretty well in Limited, and a loot trigger is pretty powerful.
Pack 1 Pick 13: 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.
Genesis Wave
1 You need a ton of mana for casting this to be worthwhile, and you just can't get there in Limited often enough.
Phyrexian Arena
3 This really underperformed last time, but I'm cautiously optimistic. This format doesn't look crazy fast, and drawing an extra card every turn is a very big advantage.
Self-Reflection
1.5 It's tough to feel like you're getting your mana's worth, since you need an impressive creature to copy. Flashback does mean you get a 2-for-1 eventually, though.
Mild-Mannered Librarian
2.5 This becomes a 2-for-1 in the late game, though it'll never be that great as a creature.
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.
Sower of Chaos
1.5 The stat-line's mediocre and the ability is too expensive.
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.
Treetop Snarespinner
2 This is a decent defensive creature, and it's activated ability is pretty nice in the late game.
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.
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.
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.
Erudite Wizard
1.5 This has a weak starting stat-line and isn't that easy to grow.
Pack 2 Pick 2: Wildwood Scourge
Progenitus
0 There's no reliable way to cheat it into play in this format, so you'll never see it in play.
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.
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.
Wildwood Scourge
2 This never feels like an efficient creature, and it doesn't exactly grow quickly.
Joust Through
3 It's narrow, but it's so efficient that I think that's acceptable.
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.
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.
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.
Icewind Elemental
2.5 5-mana 3/4 Flyers have held up pretty well in Limited, and a loot trigger is pretty powerful.
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.
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.
Swiftwater Cliffs
2.5 These all offer nice fixing, and the lifegain on the BW can be extra nice.
Spitfire Lagac
2 This has mediocre stats and an underwhelming landfall trigger.
Pack 2 Pick 3: Doubling Season
Doubling Season
0 This doesn't add to the board at all, and you very quickly need to start generating value from it to make that happen -- but there won't be decks in this format that can do that.
Wardens of the Cycle
3 Just getting the Morbid trigger once is enough to feel good about things, and that's good -- but don't expect to make this go off one very turn.
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.
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.
Llanowar Elves
3 Playing this on turn one will win you a lot of games, but it is a pretty bad top deck late.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Rugged Highlands
2.5 These all offer nice fixing, and the lifegain on the BW can be extra nice.
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.
Pack 2 Pick 4: Bushwhack
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.
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.
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.
Giant Growth
2 This is always a nice trick. It wins most combats very efficiently and can even blank some removal.
Lightshell Duo
2.5 This'll never be great, but it slots in nicely to your spell and graveyard decks.
Bushwhack
2.5 Each of these modes is kind of medium, but having a card that can fix your mana when you need it or be a mediocre removal spell is fine.
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.
Vanguard Seraph
2 It's been awhile since a 4-mana 3/3 Flyer was exciting, and this life gain payoff is underwhelming.
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.
Pack 2 Pick 5: Inspiring Paladin
Billowing Shriekmass
3 This helps set up graveyard stuff while also frequently becoming a 4/4 flyer as a result of it's trigger.
Imprisoned in the Moon
1.5 This is flexible, but giving your opponent mana means that you can't really cast it early -- otherwise the downside can be monumental -- so it's really not that flexible.
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.
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.
Inspiring Paladin
3 Even without the +1/+1 counter upside this would be a solid card, and with it becomes a very good Common.
Beast-Kin Ranger
2.5 Making tokens can make this hit really hard, but a 3-mana 3/3 trampler isn't anythign special.
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.
Spitfire Lagac
2 This has mediocre stats and an underwhelming landfall trigger.
Scoured Barrens
2.5 These all offer nice fixing, and the lifegain on the BW can be extra nice.
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.
Pack 2 Pick 6: Gnarlid Colony
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.
Clinquant Skymage
2 This starting stat-line is absolutely abyssmal, but the text box does mean it can grow in a hurry.
Sower of Chaos
1.5 The stat-line's mediocre and the ability is too expensive.
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.
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.
Pilfer
2 This is a nice way to disrupt your opponent, although not adding to the board is always a problem.
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.
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.
Grappling Kraken
3 It's expensive, but it has a very strong landfall trigger. Once it's in play, each land you draw becomes a removal spell -- so you don't really care if you flood out.
Sure Strike
1.5 This is a good trick in combat, but it's a little bit expensive and not useful against most removal.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Pack 2 Pick 8: Gnarlid Colony
Diregraf Ghoul
2 Entering tapped is a big downside unless you drop this on turn one, but at least a 2/2 body is sort of relevant on most boards.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Pack 2 Pick 9: Vampire Soulcaller
Sower of Chaos
1.5 The stat-line's mediocre and the ability is too expensive.
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.
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.
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.
Erudite Wizard
1.5 This has a weak starting stat-line and isn't that easy to grow.
Pack 2 Pick 10: Ambush Wolf
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.
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.
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.
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.
Icewind Elemental
2.5 5-mana 3/4 Flyers have held up pretty well in Limited, and a loot trigger is pretty powerful.
Pack 2 Pick 11: Armasaur Guide
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.
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.
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.
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.
Spitfire Lagac
2 This has mediocre stats and an underwhelming landfall trigger.
Soulstone Sanctuary
3 This hurts your mana base for sure, but having a land that can permanently turn into a creature is a big deal in the late game.
Reclamation Sage
0.5 This is a sideboard card because it won't have targets often enough against most decks.
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.
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.
Battlesong Berserker
3 This adds +1/+0 and menace to the board when it comes down, and can attack as a 4/4 menace even when it's on it's own.
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.
Treetop Snarespinner
2 This is a decent defensive creature, and it's activated ability is pretty nice in the late game.
Spitfire Lagac
2 This has mediocre stats and an underwhelming landfall trigger.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 3 Pick 2: Banishing Light
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.
Cat Collector
4 If this was 5-mana for a 3/2 that makes a 1/1 and gains you 3 life, you'd play that card happily -- and this has lots of upside beyond that.
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.
Dwynen, Gilt-Leaf Daen
3 The baseline here is solid and there are enough Elves in the format for this to buff a few of the creatures in your deck.
Make Your Move
0.5 There aren't enough artifacts or enchantments in this format for this to be main deck material.
Lightshell Duo
2.5 This'll never be great, but it slots in nicely to your spell and graveyard decks.
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.
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.
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.
Gleaming Barrier
1 If this format had an artifact theme this might be more useful, as is it's just a bad defensive creature that gives you a little mana back.
Banishing Light
3.5 As usual, this is pretty efficient and flexible, so it's good removal.
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.
Pack 3 Pick 3: Llanowar Elves
Grappling Kraken
3 It's expensive, but it has a very strong landfall trigger. Once it's in play, each land you draw becomes a removal spell -- so you don't really care if you flood out.
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.
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.
Brazen Scourge
2.5 This is a good stat-line, but the double red makes it less likely you actually run it out on 3.
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.
Spitfire Lagac
2 This has mediocre stats and an underwhelming landfall trigger.
Icewind Elemental
2.5 5-mana 3/4 Flyers have held up pretty well in Limited, and a loot trigger is pretty powerful.
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.
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.
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.
Pack 3 Pick 4: Meteor Golem
Meteor Golem
2 Adding a 3/3 to the board and destroying your opponents best permanent is powerful, but not all decks are going to get to 7 mana.
Wardens of the Cycle
3 Just getting the Morbid trigger once is enough to feel good about things, and that's good -- but don't expect to make this go off one very turn.
Frenzied Goblin
2.5 This can definitely let an aggro deck get through for a big attack, even in the late game.
Mischievous Pup
1.5 This was underwhelming last time we saw it -- it has a bad stat-line and a narrow enters trigger, so it's not going to make the cut all the time.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Tragic Banshee
3 Morbid triggers that only do something once can be rough, as you just can't always find a way to make something day and then spend 5 mana on this. If you can it'll feel great, and it's nice that it can still kill an X/1 in a pinch.
Pack 3 Pick 5: Wildwood Scourge
Wildwood Scourge
2 This never feels like an efficient creature, and it doesn't exactly grow quickly.
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.
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.
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.
Sure Strike
1.5 This is a good trick in combat, but it's a little bit expensive and not useful against most removal.
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.
Bushwhack
2.5 Each of these modes is kind of medium, but having a card that can fix your mana when you need it or be a mediocre removal spell is fine.
Wind-Scarred Crag
2.5 These all offer nice fixing, and the lifegain on the BW can be extra nice.
Icewind Elemental
2.5 5-mana 3/4 Flyers have held up pretty well in Limited, and a loot trigger is pretty powerful.
Pack 3 Pick 6: Heraldic Banner
Heraldic Banner
1.5 This is an awkward card, because you usually don't want to name the same color for both effects -- but you have no choice here.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Soul-Shackled Zombie
2.5 Draining 2 with this is going to be pretty close to automatic, and the body does a decent job of trading.
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.
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.
Bulk Up
1.5 The ceiling here is real -- you can spend 8 mana and quadruple power. The flower is awful -- since it doesnt' buff toughness at all, it's not much of a combat trick.
Pack 3 Pick 7: Wary Thespian
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.
Claws Out
1.5 // 2.5 If you're good at going wide and you have like 4+ cats, this'll be worth playing for sure. If you're not lowering the cost and don't have enough creatures in general, it's unplayable.
Swiftfoot Boots
1 For this to be good, your creature already has to be great -- and in Limited that's not very likely.
Rune-Sealed Wall
1.5 Purely defensive creatures are rarely worth it in Limited, and while this can surveil, that's not enough upside.
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.
Lightshell Duo
2.5 This'll never be great, but it slots in nicely to your spell and graveyard decks.
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.
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.
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.
Goldvein Pick
3 This is great Equipment. It offers a good buff for the cost, and the treasure makes it very easy to move around -- while also giving you a mana boost that you might have access to every turn.
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.
Sure Strike
1.5 This is a good trick in combat, but it's a little bit expensive and not useful against most removal.
Bloodfell Caves
2.5 These all offer nice fixing, and the lifegain on the BW can be extra nice.
Pack 3 Pick 9: Stroke of Midnight
Reclamation Sage
0.5 This is a sideboard card because it won't have targets often enough against most decks.
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.
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.
Spitfire Lagac
2 This has mediocre stats and an underwhelming landfall trigger.
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.
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.
Lightshell Duo
2.5 This'll never be great, but it slots in nicely to your spell and graveyard decks.
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.
Gleaming Barrier
1 If this format had an artifact theme this might be more useful, as is it's just a bad defensive creature that gives you a little mana back.
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.
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.
Pack 3 Pick 12: Fake Your Own Death
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.
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.
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.
Pack 3 Pick 14: Bulk Up
Bulk Up
1.5 The ceiling here is real -- you can spend 8 mana and quadruple power. The flower is awful -- since it doesnt' buff toughness at all, it's not much of a combat trick.