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Premier Draft WAR 18.mars 2021

18 March 08:29 - glenn2763 7 Wins - 2 Losses
Maindeck
Creature (10)
1 Kiora's Dambreaker image
1 Bloom Hulk image
1 Ugin's Conjurant image
1 Spellkeeper Weird image
1 Pollenbright Druid image
1 Centaur Nurturer image
1 Aven Eternal image
1 Flux Channeler image
1 Snarespinner image
1 Evolution Sage image
Instant, Sorcery, Enchantment, Artifact (10)
1 Courage in Crisis image
1 Band Together image
1 Commence the Endgame image
2 Tamiyo's Epiphany image
1 New Horizons image
1 Teferi's Time Twist image
1 Callous Dismissal image
1 Lazotep Plating image
1 Enter the God-Eternals image
Planeswalker (3)
1 Kiora, Behemoth Beckoner image
1 Arlinn, Voice of the Pack image
1 Dovin, Hand of Control image
Land (17)
7 Forest image
2 Swamp image
7 Island image
1 Karn's Bastion image
Sideboard
1 Eternal Taskmaster image
1 Vraska's Finisher image
1 Goblin Assailant image
2 Erratic Visionary image
1 Thundering Ceratok image
1 Wardscale Crocodile image
1 Charmed Stray image
1 Ashiok's Skulker image
1 Massacre Girl image
1 Kraul Stinger image
1 Tithebearer Giant image
1 Bleeding Edge image
2 Forced Landing image
1 Steady Aim image
1 Bond of Flourishing image
1 Blindblast image

Pack 1 Pick 1: Ugin's Conjurant
Jace, Wielder of Mysteries image 3.0 So, in Limited, this Jace is mostly just a way to draw cards. It doesn’t protect itself and its static ability is hard to make work. So yeah, you’re usually just going to be using his +1 as long as he can stay alive, but that’s not too shabby.
Vizier of the Scorpion image 3.0 So, this will typically be a 3-mana 1/1 that makes a 1/1 with Deathtouch, and that’s pretty good. Sometimes it will make your Army already in play gain +1/+1 and give it deathtouch, and I’m reasonably happy with that too.
Ugin's Conjurant image 3.0 X-costed creatures are nice because you can play them anywhere on your curve and they will be reasonably efficient. Now, this X-costed creature does shrink when it is damaged, but with all the Proliferate in this set, it is still a pretty good creature to have.
Evolution Sage image 1.5 // 4.0 So, a 3-mana 3/2 is usually not that great, and something you only include when desperate – but this obviously brings more than that to the table. Landfall for Proliferate seems pretty nice, especially because Green seems interested in +1/+1 counters, and obviously all decks will have planeswalkers. This becomes a serious value engine if it isn’t dealt with, at least in a deck that takes advantage by having lots of counters to proliferate.
Pollenbright Druid image 3.5 A 2-mana 1/1 that puts a counter anywhere – including on itself, is usually a pretty decent card already. At worst it is going to be a Grizzly Bears, and there are other times where putting the counter elsewhere makes a big deal, like on an evasive creature. But this has the additional ability to also just Proliferate, which you will be doing if you already have other counters in play. Either way, you’re going to get some value out of your 2 drop in the late game, and that’s not always easy to come by.
Sky Theater Strix image 1.5 This is a two mana ½ Flyer that will sometimes attack for two. Not great, but not bad either.
Teyo's Lightshield image 2.5 A 3-mana ¼ is an ok deal, and a 3-mana 0/3 that puts a counter on something a little more meaningful is even better.
Kaya's Ghostform image 1.0 This just isn’t useful. It is nice that it counts being exiled, because it seems like there is a lot of that going around in this set, but still. You open yourself up to a 2-for-1 when you cast it in the first place, and then when it sticks you do get something pretty nice – the creature comes back. But for that to really be worth it you probably need something awesome, or something with a death trigger or ETB trigger. If you can do that, maybe you play it, but mostly I think you should steer clear of this.
Ironclad Krovod image 1.0 This is a vanilla creature with okayish stats. You hope you aren’t playing it.
Enforcer Griffin image 2.5 A 5-mana ¾ with Flying might not seem great, but it has just the right size in this format, outclassing most of the non-rare Flyers in the set. It isn’t anything special, but it is better than it looks.
Chandra's Pyrohelix image 3.5 We’ve seen this exact card and others like it a few times, and it is always good. Being able to kill an X/2 is nice, being able to go to your opponent’s face is nice too when it will finish them off. Most formats also have enough X/1s in them that you can get a 2-for-1 with this a decent chunk of the time. I think that for me, this gets into the lower range of “premium removal,” and is first pickable in some weaker packs.
Davriel's Shadowfugue image 1.0 4 mana to make the opponent discard 2 and lose 2 life just isn’t a good deal. Mind Rot, which makes the opponent discard 2 for 3 mana is often not good enough for Limited, and this costs one more and adds a negligible effect.
Kronch Wrangler image 2.5 So a 2-mana 2/1 with trample is not very good. Add this other text to it, though and it obviously gets a good deal better. Obviously best suited to RG, where there are the most “ferocious” pay offs, but the fact that this gets bigger in the late game is nice when coupled with the fact that it can do some damage or trade early.
Turret Ogre image 2.5 This has decent stats + Reach, and an ETB ability that will trigger a good chunk of the time. That is a solid playable.
Pack 1 Pick 2: Commence the Endgame
Commence the Endgame image 3.5 At 6-mana you draw 2 and create a 2/2 token (or put two counters on an Army). Especially at Instant speed, that can really be a 3-for-1. That 3-for-1 is basically the ceiling, but it becomes increasingly likely the more cards you have in hand. It might be bit expensive, but I can’t imagine not wanting to play one of these in any Blue deck in the format.
Saheeli, Sublime Artificer image 2.0 // 4.0 This is one of the better spell payoffs in the whole set! Saheeli is one of the few walkers in this set where most of the value actually comes from her static ability, and not her loyalty ability. Making a 1/1 Servo every time you play a noncreature spell is really good, as it suddenly makes all those spells add to the board in addition to doing whatever else they are doing. Obviously she is a build around, but she is a really powerful one.
Huatli's Raptor image 3.0 A two mana 2/3 with Vigilance is nice, especially one that proliferates for you. That said, this isn’t the kind of gold card that is going to really actively pull you into a color pair, it is the kind you happily run if you’re already looking at GW +1/+1 counters as a deck.
Ironclad Krovod image 1.0 This is a vanilla creature with okayish stats. You hope you aren’t playing it.
Kronch Wrangler image 2.5 So a 2-mana 2/1 with trample is not very good. Add this other text to it, though and it obviously gets a good deal better. Obviously best suited to RG, where there are the most “ferocious” pay offs, but the fact that this gets bigger in the late game is nice when coupled with the fact that it can do some damage or trade early.
Mana Geode image 1.5 If you need fixing you could do worse than playing this.
Centaur Nurturer image 3.0 Decent stats, vanilla test wise, gains you life when it comes down and blocks reasonably – and it provides fixing and ramp? I’m all over that for my Green decks.
Trusted Pegasus image 3.5 This is a nice aggressive card. It has good base stats, and then can bring another creature to the sky with it, which can really lead to you doing a ton of damage.
Sky Theater Strix image 1.5 This is a two mana ½ Flyer that will sometimes attack for two. Not great, but not bad either.
Banehound image 1.0 This is the kind of card new players will overrate because on the surface it seems like a pretty great deal. I mean, a one mana 1/1 with two keyword abilities is somewhat tempting, right? Well, not really. That’s because these two particular keyword abilities, lifelink and haste, aren’t particularly useful on a 1/1. For both of those to be at their best, you want a bit more power, so the returns on having those two keyword abilities really doesn’t make this all that much better than having a vanilla 1-mana 1/1.
New Horizons image 2.5 This type of mana-fixing/ramping Auras always feels good when it also does something to impact the board. Making one of your creatures a little better isn’t too shabby. This can help you splash double-colored cards too, which I like!
Herald of the Dreadhorde image 2.0 A 4-mana 3/2 isn’t great, but hey – it can trade with plenty of 4 drops, and if you’re trading with this your’e probably going to come out ahead, because it comes with Amass 2. Whether this makes you a 2/2 creature or makes your Army a bigger, it is a good deal, since it is coming in addition to a trade.
Honor the God-Pharaoh image 2.0 Tormenting Voice + Amass isn’t too bad. You get to add to the board while improving card quality, and that seems fine.
Pack 1 Pick 3: Tamiyo's Epiphany
Bond of Revival image 2.0 These types of effects tend to underperform, at least 5 mana. It is nice that this one gives Haste to your creature, so maybe you get in for some damage right away. But frequently you’ll have this and all you can do is bring back a 2-drop or a 3-drop that doesn’t make a huge impact. Or worse you will draw it early when it isn’t really going to be worth it. Of course, the upside can be massive, and it certainly gets better in decks with a couple really powerful creatures – something this set has no shortage of.
Challenger Troll image 4.0 On its own it is a 5-mana 6/5 that can’t be blocked by more than one creature. That’s already a very good card, because it is not easy to take down a 6/5 in combat if you can’t double block him. But adding this effect to all your big boys? I’m in for that.
Heartwarming Redemption image 1.0 Sometimes an effect like this can be a nice way to reload your hand, but it is also super awkward. Any time I look at a card and see that it is completely useless if you’re in top deck mode, it makes me really uninterested in playing it, especially because even in an ideal situation where you’re flooding and you use this to get out of that flood, it still isn’t going to feel like it is doing something that impressive.
Erratic Visionary image 1.5 This has a decent body and it loots. Looting can improve your draws in the late game, and that’s nice.
Honor the God-Pharaoh image 2.0 Tormenting Voice + Amass isn’t too bad. You get to add to the board while improving card quality, and that seems fine.
Goblin Assailant image 1.0 This is a vanilla creature with mediocre stats. You’ll only play it if you’re desperate for a two drop.
Totally Lost image 1.5 We've seen this card a lot, and it is always kind of ok. Putting something on top of your library is better than just bouncing something, because it means you are replacing your opponent's draw, meaning you are trading one card for one card -- which is not the guess with regular bounce spells. Still, at 5 mana this is a bit clunky, though it can enable some nice blowouts in response to combat tricks and will be nice against Amass tokens.
Charmed Stray image 1.0 // 2.5 This is only going to be worth it if you end up with 3+ of them, as a one -mana 1/1 with lifelink just doesn’t do enough to be worth a card. If you do have multiple copies, they do get better – but I’d advise not going after them hard, and just picking them up late in packs.
Pouncing Lynx image 3.0 Two mana 2/1 first strike is pretty darn good, and yeah – this can only do it when it attacks, but that’s still pretty great. This is a difficult creature to deal with in the early game, and first strike can even pose problems later in games for your opponent. This can be especially good in conjunction with combat tricks.
Jaya's Greeting image 4.0 Two mana to do 3 to something at Instant speed is already premium, so adding Scry is just icing on the cake.
Kraul Stinger image 1.5 This can trade with anything, but being a 3-mana 2/2 isn’t so good. One mana 1/1 death touchers are way better, because you can always trade up.
Tamiyo's Epiphany image 3.0 This lets you see up to SIX cards in your deck for only 4 mana. That’s some pretty serious card selection, and not usually the kind we see at Common. Now, it is a Sorcery, which will sometimes make it really awkward. Like, you know, if you are getting beat down you don’t really want to be drawing the Epiphany. Still, I think the upside makes it worth playing one copy of in virtually every Blue deck. Going beyond one copy is probably a little dangerous.
Pack 1 Pick 4: Tamiyo's Epiphany
Bond of Discipline image 1.5 It is easy to imagine the ideal scenario here, where you cast the Bond and swing for lethal, but it just doesn’t line up that way very easily. Sure, you don’t even need lethal because of lifelink, but you still end up using a whole card just to damage your opponent and mess up the race a little. While it is more effective than a Fog, in a lot of ways this card feels like a glorified one.
Tamiyo's Epiphany image 3.0 This lets you see up to SIX cards in your deck for only 4 mana. That’s some pretty serious card selection, and not usually the kind we see at Common. Now, it is a Sorcery, which will sometimes make it really awkward. Like, you know, if you are getting beat down you don’t really want to be drawing the Epiphany. Still, I think the upside makes it worth playing one copy of in virtually every Blue deck. Going beyond one copy is probably a little dangerous.
Band Together image 3.0 Just up front: note this does not let you target two different creatures of your opponent's. Instead, you target two of your creatures, who then do damage equal to their power to one creature your opponent controls. Now that that's clear -- this is still an excellent common for Green. We have seen instant speed versions of this effect before, and they all only allowed you to target one creature on your side to do the damage -- this lets you do even more damage, allowing your two smallish creatures to take down one of your opponent's much larger creatures.
Battlefield Promotion image 1.0 Even though this set has a long of payoffs for +1/+1 counters, and a few for gaining life, I’m normally not interested in this. This is a relatively grindy format, and combat tricks like this just don’t work like you’d hope they would in other formats. You should mostly avoid this.
Turret Ogre image 2.5 This has decent stats + Reach, and an ETB ability that will trigger a good chunk of the time. That is a solid playable.
Defiant Strike image 1.0 Last time we saw this card, it was surprisingly good because it was in Khans of Tarkir, and the Prowess mechanic was all over the place, including on White cards. Not the case here though. +1/+0 is the kind of stat boost that will have very little impact on combat the majority of the time, and normally you want your combat tricks to make it more likely your creature wins combat against larger creatures-- and sure, this cycles itself, and that's what keeps it from being unplayable, but it still isn't very good.
Saheeli's Silverwing image 1.5 There isn’t enough of an artifact sub-theme in the set that you want to play sub-par cards just because they are artifacts, and that’s what this is. 4 mana for a 2/3 flyer is not a good rate, and the ETB ability it has is not the most relevant. It gives you some minor information, and that’s not enough to overcome these bad stats.
Duskmantle Operative image 1.5 This is a bear with some reasonable but unexciting upside.
Banehound image 1.0 This is the kind of card new players will overrate because on the surface it seems like a pretty great deal. I mean, a one mana 1/1 with two keyword abilities is somewhat tempting, right? Well, not really. That’s because these two particular keyword abilities, lifelink and haste, aren’t particularly useful on a 1/1. For both of those to be at their best, you want a bit more power, so the returns on having those two keyword abilities really doesn’t make this all that much better than having a vanilla 1-mana 1/1.
Totally Lost image 1.5 We've seen this card a lot, and it is always kind of ok. Putting something on top of your library is better than just bouncing something, because it means you are replacing your opponent's draw, meaning you are trading one card for one card -- which is not the guess with regular bounce spells. Still, at 5 mana this is a bit clunky, though it can enable some nice blowouts in response to combat tricks and will be nice against Amass tokens.
Forced Landing image 0.5 This is an interesting version of the Green flyer hate sideboard card that every set has. Instead of just straight Plummet, this lets you put the creature on the bottom of their library – which is sometimes better, like if the creature has a death trigger or your opponent has ways to get stuff back from their graveyard. Still, this is mostly likely a sideboard card.
Pack 1 Pick 5: Eternal Taskmaster
Eternal Taskmaster image 3.0 Two mana for a 2/3 is a nice deal, even coming into play tapped, and the fact that this guy can bring creatures back to your hand from your graveyard is really nice too, and something that gives him usefulness all game long.
Demolish image 0.0 I always try to give this a sideboard grade, but the reality is – you will never side this in in this set. There aren’t enough artifacts or problem lands, so most of the time this reads “Pay 4 mana, discard this and do almost nothing.”
Duskmantle Operative image 1.5 This is a bear with some reasonable but unexciting upside.
Blindblast image 1.5 Adding a card-draw effect to a card always makes it way more attractive, and I think that is certainly the case here. This can kill some small creatures, in which case you get a straight-up two-for-one, but my guess is that you'll usually just use this to make your opponent's best creature unable to block. That kind of effect is quite strong in aggressive Red decks, as sometimes you go from not being able to attack at all, to being able to attack with everything after a problem creature is removed from the equation. It still isn’t something you probably ever want more than one of, and you don’t want it all if you aren’t aggressive.
Erratic Visionary image 1.5 This has a decent body and it loots. Looting can improve your draws in the late game, and that’s nice.
Centaur Nurturer image 3.0 Decent stats, vanilla test wise, gains you life when it comes down and blocks reasonably – and it provides fixing and ramp? I’m all over that for my Green decks.
Banehound image 1.0 This is the kind of card new players will overrate because on the surface it seems like a pretty great deal. I mean, a one mana 1/1 with two keyword abilities is somewhat tempting, right? Well, not really. That’s because these two particular keyword abilities, lifelink and haste, aren’t particularly useful on a 1/1. For both of those to be at their best, you want a bit more power, so the returns on having those two keyword abilities really doesn’t make this all that much better than having a vanilla 1-mana 1/1.
Relentless Advance image 1.5 You have two possibilities here: one is that you just paid 4 to put 3 +1/+1 counters onto a Zombie Army token you already have, the other is that you paid 4 mana for a 3/3 – in other words, a Hill Giant. Sure, it has some synergy with populate and other cards with Amass, but neither of those deals would be a particularly attractive card in Limited.
Invading Manticore image 2.5 Whether or not you already have an army, you are paying 6 mana to add 6/7 to the battlefield, and that's not a bad thing to have at the top of your curve.
Defiant Strike image 1.0 Last time we saw this card, it was surprisingly good because it was in Khans of Tarkir, and the Prowess mechanic was all over the place, including on White cards. Not the case here though. +1/+0 is the kind of stat boost that will have very little impact on combat the majority of the time, and normally you want your combat tricks to make it more likely your creature wins combat against larger creatures-- and sure, this cycles itself, and that's what keeps it from being unplayable, but it still isn't very good.
Pack 1 Pick 6: Vraska's Finisher
Dovin's Veto image 0.5 This is definitely a card that was printed with constructed in mind. Negate is usually pretty nice in constructed, it is not nearly as nice in Limited. Your typical Limited deck will only have about 5 cards that this can counter, and that’s not nearly enough for you to ever want to play this in your main 40 cards.
Teyo's Lightshield image 2.5 A 3-mana ¼ is an ok deal, and a 3-mana 0/3 that puts a counter on something a little more meaningful is even better.
Pouncing Lynx image 3.0 Two mana 2/1 first strike is pretty darn good, and yeah – this can only do it when it attacks, but that’s still pretty great. This is a difficult creature to deal with in the early game, and first strike can even pose problems later in games for your opponent. This can be especially good in conjunction with combat tricks.
Vivien's Grizzly image 2.0 Like her Arkbow, her Grizzly also is a nice manasink, though less reliable than the legendary artifacts. But still, this is basically a really bad Duskwatch Recruiter – but the Recruiter was an absurd limited card, so being a bad version of it doesn’t mean the card itself is bad. It has alright stats and the ability to draw you cards sometimes in the late game.
Goblin Assailant image 1.0 This is a vanilla creature with mediocre stats. You’ll only play it if you’re desperate for a two drop.
Mana Geode image 1.5 If you need fixing you could do worse than playing this.
Vraska's Finisher image 3.0 This type of card does not normally impress me, but Vraska’s Finisher really does well in this format. With all the planeswalkers around, Vraska’s ability to destroy the ones that have been damaged on your turn is pretty great, especially because people often let through damage on a planeswalker if it doesn’t kill it. When you do that, you don’t end up using up a card to kill the walker. Generally, if you are using this to kill a creature, you do use up another card to make it get damaged, but still, sometimes that’s worth doing.
Wardscale Crocodile image 2.0 Hexproof on a common is pretty nice. I mean sure, it can die in combat pretty easily, but because it has hexproof you can make sure that it only dies in combat when it is beneficial for you—like killing a creature with 5 toughness. Then, there is the usual upside that Hexproof creatures bring – risky spells, like Fight cards, or auras and the like become a lot better, because you know your opponent won’t be able to easily 2-for-1 you.
Raging Kronch image 1.5 Usually when we see creatures who can’t attack alone they have more impressive stats than this. That said, usually creatures who can’t attack alone can’t block alone either – but this Kronch can. Obviously a fine card in an aggressive deck, and it cheaply triggers all the “ferocious” pay offs in the set.
Pack 1 Pick 7: Kiora, Behemoth Beckoner
Kiora, Behemoth Beckoner image 2.5 That is a lot of starting loyalty! Kiora seems to be all about playing big dudes. Her static ability pays you off for doing so, and her -1 ability can help you ramp. Worth noting, also, that her -1 may help you protect her because it can let you untap a creature to block. I think the additional value she can give you by untapping permanents, especially lands, makes her pretty solid in just about any deck, though nothing special.
Forced Landing image 0.5 This is an interesting version of the Green flyer hate sideboard card that every set has. Instead of just straight Plummet, this lets you put the creature on the bottom of their library – which is sometimes better, like if the creature has a death trigger or your opponent has ways to get stuff back from their graveyard. Still, this is mostly likely a sideboard card.
Vraska's Finisher image 3.0 This type of card does not normally impress me, but Vraska’s Finisher really does well in this format. With all the planeswalkers around, Vraska’s ability to destroy the ones that have been damaged on your turn is pretty great, especially because people often let through damage on a planeswalker if it doesn’t kill it. When you do that, you don’t end up using up a card to kill the walker. Generally, if you are using this to kill a creature, you do use up another card to make it get damaged, but still, sometimes that’s worth doing.
Kaya's Ghostform image 1.0 This just isn’t useful. It is nice that it counts being exiled, because it seems like there is a lot of that going around in this set, but still. You open yourself up to a 2-for-1 when you cast it in the first place, and then when it sticks you do get something pretty nice – the creature comes back. But for that to really be worth it you probably need something awesome, or something with a death trigger or ETB trigger. If you can do that, maybe you play it, but mostly I think you should steer clear of this.
Pollenbright Druid image 3.5 A 2-mana 1/1 that puts a counter anywhere – including on itself, is usually a pretty decent card already. At worst it is going to be a Grizzly Bears, and there are other times where putting the counter elsewhere makes a big deal, like on an evasive creature. But this has the additional ability to also just Proliferate, which you will be doing if you already have other counters in play. Either way, you’re going to get some value out of your 2 drop in the late game, and that’s not always easy to come by.
Blindblast image 1.5 Adding a card-draw effect to a card always makes it way more attractive, and I think that is certainly the case here. This can kill some small creatures, in which case you get a straight-up two-for-one, but my guess is that you'll usually just use this to make your opponent's best creature unable to block. That kind of effect is quite strong in aggressive Red decks, as sometimes you go from not being able to attack at all, to being able to attack with everything after a problem creature is removed from the equation. It still isn’t something you probably ever want more than one of, and you don’t want it all if you aren’t aggressive.
Prismite image 1.0 This is a creature with bad stats that also doesn’t filter mana very well. If your deck is desperately in need of a two drop AND some mana fixing, it can do those things, but again – it doesn’t do either of them well.
New Horizons image 2.5 This type of mana-fixing/ramping Auras always feels good when it also does something to impact the board. Making one of your creatures a little better isn’t too shabby. This can help you splash double-colored cards too, which I like!
Pack 1 Pick 8: Spellkeeper Weird
Lazotep Behemoth image 1.0 A 5-mana 5/4 is some ok stats. Better than some vanilla stat lines. But you still mostly wont play this.
Kronch Wrangler image 2.5 So a 2-mana 2/1 with trample is not very good. Add this other text to it, though and it obviously gets a good deal better. Obviously best suited to RG, where there are the most “ferocious” pay offs, but the fact that this gets bigger in the late game is nice when coupled with the fact that it can do some damage or trade early.
Defiant Strike image 1.0 Last time we saw this card, it was surprisingly good because it was in Khans of Tarkir, and the Prowess mechanic was all over the place, including on White cards. Not the case here though. +1/+0 is the kind of stat boost that will have very little impact on combat the majority of the time, and normally you want your combat tricks to make it more likely your creature wins combat against larger creatures-- and sure, this cycles itself, and that's what keeps it from being unplayable, but it still isn't very good.
Unlikely Aid image 2.0 This is a solid trick. The stats boost and indestructibility is going to be enough for your creature to win most combats, and you can even use it in response to (most) removal to save your creature. Now, it IS still a trick, which is something only aggro decks are really interested in, and it is a bit risky since your opponent interacting in response to it is really bad.
Nahiri's Stoneblades image 0.0 I don't like tricks that don't help my creature survive combat. Only bumping power with no keyword added just isn’t worth it, even if you can pump two creatures.
Invading Manticore image 2.5 Whether or not you already have an army, you are paying 6 mana to add 6/7 to the battlefield, and that's not a bad thing to have at the top of your curve.
Spellkeeper Weird image 2.0 A 3-mana ¼ has some not entirely horrendous defensive stats, and this one comes with the ability to get back key spells – with removal spells being the most interesting. While I think this will probably be best in a UR spells deck, I think most Blue decks in this format will probably run enough instants and sorceries for the Weird to be a solid inclusion in the deck.
Pack 1 Pick 9: Pollenbright Druid
Pollenbright Druid image 3.5 A 2-mana 1/1 that puts a counter anywhere – including on itself, is usually a pretty decent card already. At worst it is going to be a Grizzly Bears, and there are other times where putting the counter elsewhere makes a big deal, like on an evasive creature. But this has the additional ability to also just Proliferate, which you will be doing if you already have other counters in play. Either way, you’re going to get some value out of your 2 drop in the late game, and that’s not always easy to come by.
Teyo's Lightshield image 2.5 A 3-mana ¼ is an ok deal, and a 3-mana 0/3 that puts a counter on something a little more meaningful is even better.
Kaya's Ghostform image 1.0 This just isn’t useful. It is nice that it counts being exiled, because it seems like there is a lot of that going around in this set, but still. You open yourself up to a 2-for-1 when you cast it in the first place, and then when it sticks you do get something pretty nice – the creature comes back. But for that to really be worth it you probably need something awesome, or something with a death trigger or ETB trigger. If you can do that, maybe you play it, but mostly I think you should steer clear of this.
Ironclad Krovod image 1.0 This is a vanilla creature with okayish stats. You hope you aren’t playing it.
Davriel's Shadowfugue image 1.0 4 mana to make the opponent discard 2 and lose 2 life just isn’t a good deal. Mind Rot, which makes the opponent discard 2 for 3 mana is often not good enough for Limited, and this costs one more and adds a negligible effect.
Kronch Wrangler image 2.5 So a 2-mana 2/1 with trample is not very good. Add this other text to it, though and it obviously gets a good deal better. Obviously best suited to RG, where there are the most “ferocious” pay offs, but the fact that this gets bigger in the late game is nice when coupled with the fact that it can do some damage or trade early.
Pack 1 Pick 10: New Horizons
Ironclad Krovod image 1.0 This is a vanilla creature with okayish stats. You hope you aren’t playing it.
Kronch Wrangler image 2.5 So a 2-mana 2/1 with trample is not very good. Add this other text to it, though and it obviously gets a good deal better. Obviously best suited to RG, where there are the most “ferocious” pay offs, but the fact that this gets bigger in the late game is nice when coupled with the fact that it can do some damage or trade early.
Mana Geode image 1.5 If you need fixing you could do worse than playing this.
Centaur Nurturer image 3.0 Decent stats, vanilla test wise, gains you life when it comes down and blocks reasonably – and it provides fixing and ramp? I’m all over that for my Green decks.
New Horizons image 2.5 This type of mana-fixing/ramping Auras always feels good when it also does something to impact the board. Making one of your creatures a little better isn’t too shabby. This can help you splash double-colored cards too, which I like!
Pack 1 Pick 11: Charmed Stray
Heartwarming Redemption image 1.0 Sometimes an effect like this can be a nice way to reload your hand, but it is also super awkward. Any time I look at a card and see that it is completely useless if you’re in top deck mode, it makes me really uninterested in playing it, especially because even in an ideal situation where you’re flooding and you use this to get out of that flood, it still isn’t going to feel like it is doing something that impressive.
Goblin Assailant image 1.0 This is a vanilla creature with mediocre stats. You’ll only play it if you’re desperate for a two drop.
Charmed Stray image 1.0 // 2.5 This is only going to be worth it if you end up with 3+ of them, as a one -mana 1/1 with lifelink just doesn’t do enough to be worth a card. If you do have multiple copies, they do get better – but I’d advise not going after them hard, and just picking them up late in packs.
Pouncing Lynx image 3.0 Two mana 2/1 first strike is pretty darn good, and yeah – this can only do it when it attacks, but that’s still pretty great. This is a difficult creature to deal with in the early game, and first strike can even pose problems later in games for your opponent. This can be especially good in conjunction with combat tricks.
Pack 1 Pick 12: Forced Landing
Battlefield Promotion image 1.0 Even though this set has a long of payoffs for +1/+1 counters, and a few for gaining life, I’m normally not interested in this. This is a relatively grindy format, and combat tricks like this just don’t work like you’d hope they would in other formats. You should mostly avoid this.
Defiant Strike image 1.0 Last time we saw this card, it was surprisingly good because it was in Khans of Tarkir, and the Prowess mechanic was all over the place, including on White cards. Not the case here though. +1/+0 is the kind of stat boost that will have very little impact on combat the majority of the time, and normally you want your combat tricks to make it more likely your creature wins combat against larger creatures-- and sure, this cycles itself, and that's what keeps it from being unplayable, but it still isn't very good.
Forced Landing image 0.5 This is an interesting version of the Green flyer hate sideboard card that every set has. Instead of just straight Plummet, this lets you put the creature on the bottom of their library – which is sometimes better, like if the creature has a death trigger or your opponent has ways to get stuff back from their graveyard. Still, this is mostly likely a sideboard card.
Pack 1 Pick 13: Centaur Nurturer
Demolish image 0.0 I always try to give this a sideboard grade, but the reality is – you will never side this in in this set. There aren’t enough artifacts or problem lands, so most of the time this reads “Pay 4 mana, discard this and do almost nothing.”
Centaur Nurturer image 3.0 Decent stats, vanilla test wise, gains you life when it comes down and blocks reasonably – and it provides fixing and ramp? I’m all over that for my Green decks.
Pack 1 Pick 14: Goblin Assailant
Goblin Assailant image 1.0 This is a vanilla creature with mediocre stats. You’ll only play it if you’re desperate for a two drop.
Pack 2 Pick 1: Bleeding Edge
Mobilized District image 3.5 Creature lands are nice. They can catch an opponent offguard, dodge all sorcery speed removal, and – you know, go from just being a land, which is always useful for mana – to being part of your actual board. It is a good place to put mana when you’re flooding out too. Sure, the cost of 4 is a lot to turn in into a 3/3 with Vigilance, but even if this always costed 4, I think it would probably still be fine. The one thing to keep an eye on is your mana situation, because this set looks to have some considerable mana requirements, and this obviously makes your mana worse, and that does hold it back a little bit. Still, I think this is a nice land that you’ll play in just about every deck, except maybe the most mana-starved.
God-Pharaoh's Statue image 0.0 You should pass on this one. I By the time you're at 6 mana, making your opponent pay 2 extra mana for spells will have a pretty negligible effect. And sure, I guess it can function as a win condition in a super controlling deck, but it is basically a super bad version of Ill-Gotten Inheritance.
Saheeli, Sublime Artificer image 2.0 // 4.0 This is one of the better spell payoffs in the whole set! Saheeli is one of the few walkers in this set where most of the value actually comes from her static ability, and not her loyalty ability. Making a 1/1 Servo every time you play a noncreature spell is really good, as it suddenly makes all those spells add to the board in addition to doing whatever else they are doing. Obviously she is a build around, but she is a really powerful one.
Bleeding Edge image 4.0 This will frequently feel like a 3-mana 2/2 that destroys a creature when it enters the battlefield – and that’s a great card. It definitely will feel a bit less good to put counters on an Army already in play, but it is still a reasonable deal. The -2/-2 can’t kill everything of course, but it does enough for me to want to value this really highly.
Goblin Assailant image 1.0 This is a vanilla creature with mediocre stats. You’ll only play it if you’re desperate for a two drop.
Divine Arrow image 3.0 This is a removal spell that is situational, but it does the job pretty efficiently. You’ll never really cut the first copy of this, but being situational does hold it back from being premium.
Spellgorger Weird image 1.0 // 3.5 I do think this needs two grades, as you need a critical mass of instants and sorceries to really get there. Sure, if you get it to 3/3 you’re doing alright, but obviously you want a deck with 7+ instants and sorceries to fully take advantage of this thing. Doesn’t hurt that it has synergy with proliferate either!
Invading Manticore image 2.5 Whether or not you already have an army, you are paying 6 mana to add 6/7 to the battlefield, and that's not a bad thing to have at the top of your curve.
Totally Lost image 1.5 We've seen this card a lot, and it is always kind of ok. Putting something on top of your library is better than just bouncing something, because it means you are replacing your opponent's draw, meaning you are trading one card for one card -- which is not the guess with regular bounce spells. Still, at 5 mana this is a bit clunky, though it can enable some nice blowouts in response to combat tricks and will be nice against Amass tokens.
Forced Landing image 0.5 This is an interesting version of the Green flyer hate sideboard card that every set has. Instead of just straight Plummet, this lets you put the creature on the bottom of their library – which is sometimes better, like if the creature has a death trigger or your opponent has ways to get stuff back from their graveyard. Still, this is mostly likely a sideboard card.
Topple the Statue image 1.5 So, when we see 3 mana to tap something and draw a card at instant speed isn’t all that great. It does replace itself, and have a somewhat flexible effect, so that does save it from being completely terrible.
Sarkhan's Catharsis image 1.0 Even in a set with this many Planeswalkers I’m not very interested in a Lava Axe variant.
Sorin's Thirst image 2.5 These types of removal spells are always nice. Killing small creatures at Instant speed and gaining some life is a pretty good deal. It isn’t quite premium, but its close.
Pouncing Lynx image 3.0 Two mana 2/1 first strike is pretty darn good, and yeah – this can only do it when it attacks, but that’s still pretty great. This is a difficult creature to deal with in the early game, and first strike can even pose problems later in games for your opponent. This can be especially good in conjunction with combat tricks.
Pack 2 Pick 2: Flux Channeler
Single Combat image 3.5 Board sweepers that let your opponent make decisions can be pretty frustrating. I mean this is still a boardsweeper, but the fact your opponent will always hold on to their best creature is a problem, because it means that if you cast this and your opponent has the best creature on the table, you can't do anything about it. Still, I think it has enough power behind it that it is a good card, but be ready to be disappointed sometimes.
Huatli, the Sun's Heart image 1.0 This is a high toughness build around in a set that doesn’t really have anything else pushing you in that direction. Gaining life with the loyalty ability isn’t that great, and the static ability normally won’t be upgrading your board.
Flux Channeler image 1.5 // 3.5 A 3-mana 2/2, which is a horrendous statline, and it doesn’t get to help you proliferate right away or anything, at least not most of the time. That said, as soon as you play noncreatures – including planeswalkers, being able to add counters to stuff as a repeatable effect seems pretty nice. This is sort of a double build around – you need lots of counters and lots of non-creature spells to make it work, but when you can, it is a pretty great engine.
Tenth District Legionnaire image 3.0 A two mana 2/2 with Haste does some work already, but the fact this also has Heroic -- more or less -- and such a good trigger for when you target it makes it very interesting. Combat tricks will be even more powerful than usual on this guy, since he gets extra big and does so permanently. Same with auras! And Scry on top of all of that is very nice.
Martyr for the Cause image 3.0 This guy adds proliferate to a Grizzly Bear body, which means that he has some late-game relevance, even if he can just block and add a couple counters to your permanents that’s going to do something.
Unlikely Aid image 2.0 This is a solid trick. The stats boost and indestructibility is going to be enough for your creature to win most combats, and you can even use it in response to (most) removal to save your creature. Now, it IS still a trick, which is something only aggro decks are really interested in, and it is a bit risky since your opponent interacting in response to it is really bad.
Totally Lost image 1.5 We've seen this card a lot, and it is always kind of ok. Putting something on top of your library is better than just bouncing something, because it means you are replacing your opponent's draw, meaning you are trading one card for one card -- which is not the guess with regular bounce spells. Still, at 5 mana this is a bit clunky, though it can enable some nice blowouts in response to combat tricks and will be nice against Amass tokens.
Charity Extractor image 1.5 This is a pretty good defensive card, and not a bad place to counters thanks to lifelink. But you’ll cut it a lot. It just doesn’t do enough.
Chandra's Pyrohelix image 3.5 We’ve seen this exact card and others like it a few times, and it is always good. Being able to kill an X/2 is nice, being able to go to your opponent’s face is nice too when it will finish them off. Most formats also have enough X/1s in them that you can get a 2-for-1 with this a decent chunk of the time. I think that for me, this gets into the lower range of “premium removal,” and is first pickable in some weaker packs.
Teyo's Lightshield image 2.5 A 3-mana ¼ is an ok deal, and a 3-mana 0/3 that puts a counter on something a little more meaningful is even better.
Forced Landing image 0.5 This is an interesting version of the Green flyer hate sideboard card that every set has. Instead of just straight Plummet, this lets you put the creature on the bottom of their library – which is sometimes better, like if the creature has a death trigger or your opponent has ways to get stuff back from their graveyard. Still, this is mostly likely a sideboard card.
Thundering Ceratok image 2.0 So a 5-mana 4/5 with Trample is already passable, it is a body big enough that trample really means something. Making it so this also gives trample to your whole team is nice, though it is worth noting that I would guess that around 50% of the time you play this, that won’t matter. There will also be plenty of times when it does, just don’t expect it to be a huge play all the time, and don’t value it that way, because it won’t.
Wall of Runes image 1.5 If you’re a defensive deck, you’ll play this and it will be passable. If you’re not defensive, don’t play it.
Pack 2 Pick 3: Karn's Bastion
Karn's Bastion image 4.0 This is a powerful land. Proliferate is great in this set, and most decks will be able to take advantage of it, so, having a land that can produce mana for you early and then in the late game can start making your creatures bigger and giving your planeswalkers loyalty is really really good.
Prison Realm image 4.0 This is excellent removal, taking down any creature or planeswalker no questions asked. Adding Scry to the equation is nice too. And yeah, if it gets blown up your opponent gets their thing back, but the efficiency, power, and flexibility it offers makes that a worthwhile risk.
Paradise Druid image 4.0 One of the annoying things about mana dorks can be that you play them, and they have horrible stats, so your opponent can take it down with literally any removal spell, and then you don’t have the mana that you were eagerly planning on heaving for your next turn to ramp out something awesome. Paradise Druid doesn’t let that happen, since she has hexproof, she almost guarnatees you’ll get to make some mana your next turn. On top of that, she has reasonable stats that you can send into combat if you desperately have to, and she produces mana of any color.
Topple the Statue image 1.5 So, when we see 3 mana to tap something and draw a card at instant speed isn’t all that great. It does replace itself, and have a somewhat flexible effect, so that does save it from being completely terrible.
Mana Geode image 1.5 If you need fixing you could do worse than playing this.
Callous Dismissal image 3.5 So, most of the time this is a two mana 1/1 that bounces an opposing creature. That’s great. Any time you can add to your board and subtract from your opponents’ with a single card, you’re going to be pretty happy about, and this does it pretty often.
Toll of the Invasion image 3.5 This card is an overperformer. Most discard spells in Limited aren’t super impressive, but you have to look at this one as a 3-mana 1/1 that lets you get rid of your opponents best non land card. This format has lots of powerful expensive cards, which means people have cards in hand even late, and the disruption this offers – while also adding to the board – is pretty nice.
Duskmantle Operative image 1.5 This is a bear with some reasonable but unexciting upside.
Blindblast image 1.5 Adding a card-draw effect to a card always makes it way more attractive, and I think that is certainly the case here. This can kill some small creatures, in which case you get a straight-up two-for-one, but my guess is that you'll usually just use this to make your opponent's best creature unable to block. That kind of effect is quite strong in aggressive Red decks, as sometimes you go from not being able to attack at all, to being able to attack with everything after a problem creature is removed from the equation. It still isn’t something you probably ever want more than one of, and you don’t want it all if you aren’t aggressive.
Loxodon Sergeant image 2.0 This starts out with reasonablish stats, and it also has a useful ability. Obviously, Vigilance for your whole team when this comes down is decent, but it is the kind of ETB ability that I would guess won't matter about 50% of the time. Don't get me wrong, it makes a difference, but I don't feel like enough of one. I think this is a card that you don't feel bad about having in your deck, but you probably don't want more than one.
Vampire Opportunist image 1.5 This starts with some mediocre stats, and it has a late game ability that is pretty expensive. That said, it isn’t the worst mana sink to have, as it can really close out a game in tight situations.
Kiora's Dambreaker image 2.0 A 6-mana 5/6 isn’t great, but it is passable stats, especially in Blue. Add Proliferate to that and it certainly gets better – especially in a set whose cup runneth over with various types of counters.
Pack 2 Pick 4: Arlinn, Voice of the Pack
Bolt Bend image 0.0 Too situational to ever do anything consistently enough to be worth putting in your deck.
Arlinn, Voice of the Pack image 3.5 For 6-mana, she gives immediately makes a 2/2 wolf token – with a counter, so basically a 3/3. That definitely protects her a bit, and may even make it so that she can make 3 of these 3/3s. But in general, I feel like if you manage to make 2 with her, you’re probably feeling alright about your situation, and she of course also has some synergy with other wolves – you know, like the one we just talked about – and she also has some synergy with proliferate because of the +1/+1 counters.
Lazotep Plating image 1.5 There are a few cards in this set that seem to have been printed with the intent of taking away the downside Amass has -- that is, that you can put at on of resources into one of those tokens and have it get bounced or destroyed and really not feel so good about the situation. Overall, I think this is actually a pretty nice card. Sometimes we see these hexproof effects and they are hard to want to actually play, but since this one coems with Amass, it does more than just blank a removal spell. I also think the special synergy with Amass will make this pretty solid. Still, it is highly situational -- against some opponents it wont' really matter -- but hey, at least you can Amass 1 in those matches, I guess?
Herald of the Dreadhorde image 2.0 A 4-mana 3/2 isn’t great, but hey – it can trade with plenty of 4 drops, and if you’re trading with this your’e probably going to come out ahead, because it comes with Amass 2. Whether this makes you a 2/2 creature or makes your Army a bigger, it is a good deal, since it is coming in addition to a trade.
Lazotep Behemoth image 1.0 A 5-mana 5/4 is some ok stats. Better than some vanilla stat lines. But you still mostly wont play this.
Pollenbright Druid image 3.5 A 2-mana 1/1 that puts a counter anywhere – including on itself, is usually a pretty decent card already. At worst it is going to be a Grizzly Bears, and there are other times where putting the counter elsewhere makes a big deal, like on an evasive creature. But this has the additional ability to also just Proliferate, which you will be doing if you already have other counters in play. Either way, you’re going to get some value out of your 2 drop in the late game, and that’s not always easy to come by.
War Screecher image 1.5 2-mana 1/3 flyers are usually alright, and this can pump your whole team in the late game. It is decent filler.
Guild Globe image 1.5 This replaces itself and gives you some fixing. If you’re interested in splashing something this can help you do it.
Sky Theater Strix image 1.5 This is a two mana ½ Flyer that will sometimes attack for two. Not great, but not bad either.
Saheeli's Silverwing image 1.5 There isn’t enough of an artifact sub-theme in the set that you want to play sub-par cards just because they are artifacts, and that’s what this is. 4 mana for a 2/3 flyer is not a good rate, and the ETB ability it has is not the most relevant. It gives you some minor information, and that’s not enough to overcome these bad stats.
Kaya's Ghostform image 1.0 This just isn’t useful. It is nice that it counts being exiled, because it seems like there is a lot of that going around in this set, but still. You open yourself up to a 2-for-1 when you cast it in the first place, and then when it sticks you do get something pretty nice – the creature comes back. But for that to really be worth it you probably need something awesome, or something with a death trigger or ETB trigger. If you can do that, maybe you play it, but mostly I think you should steer clear of this.
Pack 2 Pick 5: Erratic Visionary
Mayhem Devil image 1.5 // 3.5 This is very much a buildaround, but the good news is that it has reasonable stats even if you can't quite build around it. When you do manage to have ways to sacrifice stuff in your deck, it is an incredible payoff, as doing 1 to anything can really make effects far more powerful! Worth noting too, that if your opponent sacrifices something, you get to take advantage of the trigger then, too -- so edict effects go up in value a little bit if you have Mayhem Devil.
Totally Lost image 1.5 We've seen this card a lot, and it is always kind of ok. Putting something on top of your library is better than just bouncing something, because it means you are replacing your opponent's draw, meaning you are trading one card for one card -- which is not the guess with regular bounce spells. Still, at 5 mana this is a bit clunky, though it can enable some nice blowouts in response to combat tricks and will be nice against Amass tokens.
Divine Arrow image 3.0 This is a removal spell that is situational, but it does the job pretty efficiently. You’ll never really cut the first copy of this, but being situational does hold it back from being premium.
Heartfire image 1.5 Two mana to do 4 to anything at Instant speed would be premium removal. This asks you to do a little more work than that though, wanting you to sacrifice a creature or planeswalker to use it. Now, it looks like the RB deck is going to be interested in doing some sacrificing, and will also have creatures that are good to sacrifice, so maybe that's the best place for it. But either way, I think this is an alright card -- what saves it from being outright bad is the fact that it is an Instant, and the fact it can go to your opponent' face. As an Instant, it can be used in situations where losing the creature isn't as much of a downside -- like after you block something first, then sacrifice the creature to kill something else. The most attractive time to use this is in response to your opponent's removal of course. But still, even in those "ideal" situations, you're not really getting a 2-for-1. To do that you'll need to be giving up tokens.
Loxodon Sergeant image 2.0 This starts out with reasonablish stats, and it also has a useful ability. Obviously, Vigilance for your whole team when this comes down is decent, but it is the kind of ETB ability that I would guess won't matter about 50% of the time. Don't get me wrong, it makes a difference, but I don't feel like enough of one. I think this is a card that you don't feel bad about having in your deck, but you probably don't want more than one.
Toll of the Invasion image 3.5 This card is an overperformer. Most discard spells in Limited aren’t super impressive, but you have to look at this one as a 3-mana 1/1 that lets you get rid of your opponents best non land card. This format has lots of powerful expensive cards, which means people have cards in hand even late, and the disruption this offers – while also adding to the board – is pretty nice.
Erratic Visionary image 1.5 This has a decent body and it loots. Looting can improve your draws in the late game, and that’s nice.
Sarkhan's Catharsis image 1.0 Even in a set with this many Planeswalkers I’m not very interested in a Lava Axe variant.
Steady Aim image 1.0 This will make your creature survive combat frequently, and can be used in response to damage-based removal. What I don’t love is that it isn’t that exciting offensively, and generally you want your combat tricks to produce blowouts on the attack, like blowing up double blocks – which this won’t do as often. I think it is an ok trick, but I don’t want more than one in an ideal world.
Prismite image 1.0 This is a creature with bad stats that also doesn’t filter mana very well. If your deck is desperately in need of a two drop AND some mana fixing, it can do those things, but again – it doesn’t do either of them well.
Pack 2 Pick 6: Bond of Flourishing
Bond of Flourishing image 1.0 This reminds me a lot of cards like Adventurous Impulse and Anticipate – which means it is a fine card to include, can help dig you into whatever you really need, but it isn’t anything amazing. I do like that it gains you 3 life, so that if doing this means you are going behind on board a bit to dig, you at least gain some life to helps often that blow. And yeah, it can only hit permanents, but that’s MOST of your deck, so I think that’s fine.
Vampire Opportunist image 1.5 This starts with some mediocre stats, and it has a late game ability that is pretty expensive. That said, it isn’t the worst mana sink to have, as it can really close out a game in tight situations.
Kronch Wrangler image 2.5 So a 2-mana 2/1 with trample is not very good. Add this other text to it, though and it obviously gets a good deal better. Obviously best suited to RG, where there are the most “ferocious” pay offs, but the fact that this gets bigger in the late game is nice when coupled with the fact that it can do some damage or trade early.
Ashiok's Skulker image 1.5 2-mana 1/3 flyers are usually alright, and this can pump your whole team in the late game. It is decent filler.
Tithebearer Giant image 3.0 Because this is fairly expensive and has mediocre stats you don’t normally want more than one of these, but the first copy is pretty nice. Because it draws you a card and has a reasonable body, you’re virtually always going to get a 2-for-1 out of this, and 2-for-1s go a long way towards helping you win.
Iron Bully image 2.5 This card really overperforms thanks to all the Proliferate in the set. Even if it just puts its counter on itself, it doesn’t tend to only be a 2/2 with Menace for very long!
Unlikely Aid image 2.0 This is a solid trick. The stats boost and indestructibility is going to be enough for your creature to win most combats, and you can even use it in response to (most) removal to save your creature. Now, it IS still a trick, which is something only aggro decks are really interested in, and it is a bit risky since your opponent interacting in response to it is really bad.
Demolish image 0.0 I always try to give this a sideboard grade, but the reality is – you will never side this in in this set. There aren’t enough artifacts or problem lands, so most of the time this reads “Pay 4 mana, discard this and do almost nothing.”
Chainwhip Cyclops image 1.5 This guy is decent. There are tons of board states where an ability like that really opens the flood gates – get that one problem blocker out of the way, and now the best your opponent can do is chump or trade! It does cost a lot of mana here, at 4, and it comes on an inefficient creature as a 5-mana 4/4, but that effect can be a good mana sink.
Pack 2 Pick 7: Teferi's Time Twist
Giant Growth image 2.0 We don’t see combat tricks like this very often anymore. A single mana giving such a massive P/T boost is great, and will make a creature capable of winning almost any combat. The opportunity cost of leaving up one Green mana is really low, and the upside here is very high. It is still a combat trick, so it has some issues of being situational and easy to get blown out on.
Nahiri's Stoneblades image 0.0 I don't like tricks that don't help my creature survive combat. Only bumping power with no keyword added just isn’t worth it, even if you can pump two creatures.
Ashiok's Skulker image 1.5 2-mana 1/3 flyers are usually alright, and this can pump your whole team in the late game. It is decent filler.
Steady Aim image 1.0 This will make your creature survive combat frequently, and can be used in response to damage-based removal. What I don’t love is that it isn’t that exciting offensively, and generally you want your combat tricks to produce blowouts on the attack, like blowing up double blocks – which this won’t do as often. I think it is an ok trick, but I don’t want more than one in an ideal world.
Vivien's Grizzly image 2.0 Like her Arkbow, her Grizzly also is a nice manasink, though less reliable than the legendary artifacts. But still, this is basically a really bad Duskwatch Recruiter – but the Recruiter was an absurd limited card, so being a bad version of it doesn’t mean the card itself is bad. It has alright stats and the ability to draw you cards sometimes in the late game.
Return to Nature image 1.5 This hates on enough things that it is worth playing in your main deck sometimes, though this format does not have a ton of Artifacts.
Teferi's Time Twist image 1.0 This can do a variety of things, but most of the time they won’t be worth doing. Because this is an Instant, if your opponent tries to take down a planeswalker, you can use the Time Twist, both saving it and setting its loyalty back to what it was when it came into play. On top of that, Teferi’s Time Twist is also good with ETB creatures, can help your creature dodge a removal spell, and so on. I still am not very interested in playing it.
Sarkhan's Catharsis image 1.0 Even in a set with this many Planeswalkers I’m not very interested in a Lava Axe variant.
Pack 2 Pick 8: Snarespinner
Price of Betrayal image 0.5 Even in a set that has a ton of counters, it is pretty hard to consistently use Price of Betrayal to get rid of an opponents’ card. You’ll find yourself downgrading or weakening a card more often, and that just isn’t worth it.
Wardscale Crocodile image 2.0 Hexproof on a common is pretty nice. I mean sure, it can die in combat pretty easily, but because it has hexproof you can make sure that it only dies in combat when it is beneficial for you—like killing a creature with 5 toughness. Then, there is the usual upside that Hexproof creatures bring – risky spells, like Fight cards, or auras and the like become a lot better, because you know your opponent won’t be able to easily 2-for-1 you.
Snarespinner image 1.5 This blocks fliers really well for a two-drop, but it isn’t that great at anything else.
Sarkhan's Catharsis image 1.0 Even in a set with this many Planeswalkers I’m not very interested in a Lava Axe variant.
Ironclad Krovod image 1.0 This is a vanilla creature with okayish stats. You hope you aren’t playing it.
Naga Eternal image 1.0 This is a vanilla creature with mediocre stats. That’s all.
Kraul Stinger image 1.5 This can trade with anything, but being a 3-mana 2/2 isn’t so good. One mana 1/1 death touchers are way better, because you can always trade up.
Pack 2 Pick 9: Forced Landing
Invading Manticore image 2.5 Whether or not you already have an army, you are paying 6 mana to add 6/7 to the battlefield, and that's not a bad thing to have at the top of your curve.
Totally Lost image 1.5 We've seen this card a lot, and it is always kind of ok. Putting something on top of your library is better than just bouncing something, because it means you are replacing your opponent's draw, meaning you are trading one card for one card -- which is not the guess with regular bounce spells. Still, at 5 mana this is a bit clunky, though it can enable some nice blowouts in response to combat tricks and will be nice against Amass tokens.
Forced Landing image 0.5 This is an interesting version of the Green flyer hate sideboard card that every set has. Instead of just straight Plummet, this lets you put the creature on the bottom of their library – which is sometimes better, like if the creature has a death trigger or your opponent has ways to get stuff back from their graveyard. Still, this is mostly likely a sideboard card.
Topple the Statue image 1.5 So, when we see 3 mana to tap something and draw a card at instant speed isn’t all that great. It does replace itself, and have a somewhat flexible effect, so that does save it from being completely terrible.
Sarkhan's Catharsis image 1.0 Even in a set with this many Planeswalkers I’m not very interested in a Lava Axe variant.
Pouncing Lynx image 3.0 Two mana 2/1 first strike is pretty darn good, and yeah – this can only do it when it attacks, but that’s still pretty great. This is a difficult creature to deal with in the early game, and first strike can even pose problems later in games for your opponent. This can be especially good in conjunction with combat tricks.
Pack 2 Pick 10: Thundering Ceratok
Totally Lost image 1.5 We've seen this card a lot, and it is always kind of ok. Putting something on top of your library is better than just bouncing something, because it means you are replacing your opponent's draw, meaning you are trading one card for one card -- which is not the guess with regular bounce spells. Still, at 5 mana this is a bit clunky, though it can enable some nice blowouts in response to combat tricks and will be nice against Amass tokens.
Charity Extractor image 1.5 This is a pretty good defensive card, and not a bad place to counters thanks to lifelink. But you’ll cut it a lot. It just doesn’t do enough.
Teyo's Lightshield image 2.5 A 3-mana ¼ is an ok deal, and a 3-mana 0/3 that puts a counter on something a little more meaningful is even better.
Forced Landing image 0.5 This is an interesting version of the Green flyer hate sideboard card that every set has. Instead of just straight Plummet, this lets you put the creature on the bottom of their library – which is sometimes better, like if the creature has a death trigger or your opponent has ways to get stuff back from their graveyard. Still, this is mostly likely a sideboard card.
Thundering Ceratok image 2.0 So a 5-mana 4/5 with Trample is already passable, it is a body big enough that trample really means something. Making it so this also gives trample to your whole team is nice, though it is worth noting that I would guess that around 50% of the time you play this, that won’t matter. There will also be plenty of times when it does, just don’t expect it to be a huge play all the time, and don’t value it that way, because it won’t.
Pack 2 Pick 11: Callous Dismissal
Callous Dismissal image 3.5 So, most of the time this is a two mana 1/1 that bounces an opposing creature. That’s great. Any time you can add to your board and subtract from your opponents’ with a single card, you’re going to be pretty happy about, and this does it pretty often.
Blindblast image 1.5 Adding a card-draw effect to a card always makes it way more attractive, and I think that is certainly the case here. This can kill some small creatures, in which case you get a straight-up two-for-one, but my guess is that you'll usually just use this to make your opponent's best creature unable to block. That kind of effect is quite strong in aggressive Red decks, as sometimes you go from not being able to attack at all, to being able to attack with everything after a problem creature is removed from the equation. It still isn’t something you probably ever want more than one of, and you don’t want it all if you aren’t aggressive.
Loxodon Sergeant image 2.0 This starts out with reasonablish stats, and it also has a useful ability. Obviously, Vigilance for your whole team when this comes down is decent, but it is the kind of ETB ability that I would guess won't matter about 50% of the time. Don't get me wrong, it makes a difference, but I don't feel like enough of one. I think this is a card that you don't feel bad about having in your deck, but you probably don't want more than one.
Vampire Opportunist image 1.5 This starts with some mediocre stats, and it has a late game ability that is pretty expensive. That said, it isn’t the worst mana sink to have, as it can really close out a game in tight situations.
Pack 2 Pick 12: Lazotep Plating
Lazotep Plating image 1.5 There are a few cards in this set that seem to have been printed with the intent of taking away the downside Amass has -- that is, that you can put at on of resources into one of those tokens and have it get bounced or destroyed and really not feel so good about the situation. Overall, I think this is actually a pretty nice card. Sometimes we see these hexproof effects and they are hard to want to actually play, but since this one coems with Amass, it does more than just blank a removal spell. I also think the special synergy with Amass will make this pretty solid. Still, it is highly situational -- against some opponents it wont' really matter -- but hey, at least you can Amass 1 in those matches, I guess?
Lazotep Behemoth image 1.0 A 5-mana 5/4 is some ok stats. Better than some vanilla stat lines. But you still mostly wont play this.
Saheeli's Silverwing image 1.5 There isn’t enough of an artifact sub-theme in the set that you want to play sub-par cards just because they are artifacts, and that’s what this is. 4 mana for a 2/3 flyer is not a good rate, and the ETB ability it has is not the most relevant. It gives you some minor information, and that’s not enough to overcome these bad stats.
Pack 2 Pick 13: Steady Aim
Steady Aim image 1.0 This will make your creature survive combat frequently, and can be used in response to damage-based removal. What I don’t love is that it isn’t that exciting offensively, and generally you want your combat tricks to produce blowouts on the attack, like blowing up double blocks – which this won’t do as often. I think it is an ok trick, but I don’t want more than one in an ideal world.
Prismite image 1.0 This is a creature with bad stats that also doesn’t filter mana very well. If your deck is desperately in need of a two drop AND some mana fixing, it can do those things, but again – it doesn’t do either of them well.
Pack 2 Pick 14: Ashiok's Skulker
Ashiok's Skulker image 1.5 2-mana 1/3 flyers are usually alright, and this can pump your whole team in the late game. It is decent filler.
Pack 3 Pick 1: Massacre Girl
Massacre Girl image 5.0 Up front, worth saying a 5-mana 4/4 menace on its own is usually at least a C, maybe a C+ in some formats. But she does wayyy more than that. As her name implies, she comes down and massacres stuff. How much stuff? Well, it depends. Basically, if there is the right distribution of toughness on the table, she can wipe the entire board, as she just keeps triggering her “Whenever a creature dies this turn” effect every time one thing dies, so if a 1/1 dies, it happens again, and now all X/2s die, and then it happens again, and so forth. Also worth noting, that the things don’t have to be killed by her ETB ability, if you have the mana to also play a removal spell, and you were just short of being able to wipe all your opponent’s creatures, you can still make it happen. In general, I think she is amazing – she isn’t THAT far from being a 5-mana 4/4 with Menace that wipes the whole board. I think in plenty of situations she will take down a couple of small creatures, but even if that’s all, you’re looking at a really strong card. The solid stats attached to that ability are what really sells me on her.
Nahiri, Storm of Stone image 3.0 Her static ability is nice, since it can enable so many attacks that weren't possible otherwise -- first strike can be a real game changer. But her value comes from the fact that she's also a reasonable removal spell. For 4 mana, she can take down tapped creatures with up to SIX toughness. And sure, killing something that is tapped usually means it hit you first, and that's never great, but when it comes with the additional upside of perhaps being able to kill 2 or 3 creatures, and First Strike for your team, that’s not too bad.
God-Pharaoh's Statue image 0.0 You should pass on this one. I By the time you're at 6 mana, making your opponent pay 2 extra mana for spells will have a pretty negligible effect. And sure, I guess it can function as a win condition in a super controlling deck, but it is basically a super bad version of Ill-Gotten Inheritance.
Ajani's Pridemate image 3.5 This is good every time we’ve seen it. A 2-mana 2/2 as a fail case makes it so that it has a very reasonable floor, and this format has enough life gain to make sure that the Pridemate won’t normally stay a 2/2 for very long.
Rising Populace image 1.5 This sort of creature always seems to disappoint. 3-mana 2/2 is not a stat line you want to have, but it does slowly get bigger the longer the game goes on.
Enforcer Griffin image 2.5 A 5-mana ¾ with Flying might not seem great, but it has just the right size in this format, outclassing most of the non-rare Flyers in the set. It isn’t anything special, but it is better than it looks.
Kraul Stinger image 1.5 This can trade with anything, but being a 3-mana 2/2 isn’t so good. One mana 1/1 death touchers are way better, because you can always trade up.
Forced Landing image 0.5 This is an interesting version of the Green flyer hate sideboard card that every set has. Instead of just straight Plummet, this lets you put the creature on the bottom of their library – which is sometimes better, like if the creature has a death trigger or your opponent has ways to get stuff back from their graveyard. Still, this is mostly likely a sideboard card.
Defiant Strike image 1.0 Last time we saw this card, it was surprisingly good because it was in Khans of Tarkir, and the Prowess mechanic was all over the place, including on White cards. Not the case here though. +1/+0 is the kind of stat boost that will have very little impact on combat the majority of the time, and normally you want your combat tricks to make it more likely your creature wins combat against larger creatures-- and sure, this cycles itself, and that's what keeps it from being unplayable, but it still isn't very good.
Spellkeeper Weird image 2.0 A 3-mana ¼ has some not entirely horrendous defensive stats, and this one comes with the ability to get back key spells – with removal spells being the most interesting. While I think this will probably be best in a UR spells deck, I think most Blue decks in this format will probably run enough instants and sorceries for the Weird to be a solid inclusion in the deck.
Jaya's Greeting image 4.0 Two mana to do 3 to something at Instant speed is already premium, so adding Scry is just icing on the cake.
Giant Growth image 2.0 We don’t see combat tricks like this very often anymore. A single mana giving such a massive P/T boost is great, and will make a creature capable of winning almost any combat. The opportunity cost of leaving up one Green mana is really low, and the upside here is very high. It is still a combat trick, so it has some issues of being situational and easy to get blown out on.
Kaya's Ghostform image 1.0 This just isn’t useful. It is nice that it counts being exiled, because it seems like there is a lot of that going around in this set, but still. You open yourself up to a 2-for-1 when you cast it in the first place, and then when it sticks you do get something pretty nice – the creature comes back. But for that to really be worth it you probably need something awesome, or something with a death trigger or ETB trigger. If you can do that, maybe you play it, but mostly I think you should steer clear of this.
New Horizons image 2.5 This type of mana-fixing/ramping Auras always feels good when it also does something to impact the board. Making one of your creatures a little better isn’t too shabby. This can help you splash double-colored cards too, which I like!
Pack 3 Pick 2: Dovin, Hand of Control
Domri's Ambush image 3.5 This is pretty great! Any time there are spells that let a creature deal damage equal to its power to another creature, they tend to be pretty darn good. Keep in mind that this isn’t a “fight,” your opponent’s creature does not do damage to yours. RG for this effect would already be a pretty solid card, but adding a +1/+1 counter to the mix, along with the ability to talk planesawlkers, and we are definitely in the realm of premium removal. Sure, it is somewhat situational in that you have to have a creature, and you have to be careful when you cast it so you don’t get blown out – and the fact that it is a Sorcery does make it a little harder to find an ideal opening, but it is still pretty good.
Bond of Insight image 0.0 // 2.5 This isn’t as good as it looks. This is because you will need a decent number of instants and sorceries for this card to actually do anything. Milling yourself and your opponent 4 cards just isn’t worth it if you aren’t also returning two instants and sorceries – even just returning one is pretty bad for 4 mana. If you have enough spells it does improve, though.
Dovin, Hand of Control image 2.0 The static ability here looks kind of nice, making your opponent pay more for stuff. Unfortunately, there are lots of games where that effect won’t make much of a difference, since most decks don’t run THAT many cards in those three categories – wish they had included planeswalkers too at least! His loyalty ability might be a nice way to slow down the game for control decks, and can help you find answers, but mostly he seems like he is a mediocre fog effect to me. Sometimes that’s something you want, but it isn’t anything special.
No Escape image 3.0 This is a pretty good counterspell. Creatures and planeswalkers together are going to make up three quarters or more of most decks, so this has plenty of targets. And it’s a hard counter! And it exiles the things it counters. All of that makes me want to play the first copy of this in most Blue decks.
Spark Reaper image 2.5 A 3-mana 2/3 has somewhat passable stats, and this has a pretty nice activated ability. The fact that you can use it at Instant speed – which we don’t always get with effects like this is what really makes it worthwhile, since you can use it in response to removal or declare a block and then use it, getting some serious value. This is a decent late-game mana sink.
Spark Harvest image 3.5 This kills a bunch of cards in this format, and it can only cost one mana if you are willing to sacrifice something. Obviously killing walkers matters more in this format than in any other we have ever seen, and the ability to sacrifice a walker matters more too. A lot of the uncommon walkers eventually tick down to 1 loyalty, so turning them into fodder for this seems nice. It is made a lot better by the fact that you can also straight up pay 5 to destroy a creature or planeswalker.
Return to Nature image 1.5 This hates on enough things that it is worth playing in your main deck sometimes, though this format does not have a ton of Artifacts.
Goblin Assailant image 1.0 This is a vanilla creature with mediocre stats. You’ll only play it if you’re desperate for a two drop.
Arboreal Grazer image 1.0 This kind of card tends to be pretty terrible in Limited. Getting to put a land in play will feel pretty good in the early game, but you aren’t actually netting a card there. It might get you ahead in the short-term, but it isn’t nearly as good as having a creature that is a mana dork, or one that searches up a land, its way worse. Then, in the late game, it is entirely useless! Mostly, don’t play this.
Wardscale Crocodile image 2.0 Hexproof on a common is pretty nice. I mean sure, it can die in combat pretty easily, but because it has hexproof you can make sure that it only dies in combat when it is beneficial for you—like killing a creature with 5 toughness. Then, there is the usual upside that Hexproof creatures bring – risky spells, like Fight cards, or auras and the like become a lot better, because you know your opponent won’t be able to easily 2-for-1 you.
Enforcer Griffin image 2.5 A 5-mana ¾ with Flying might not seem great, but it has just the right size in this format, outclassing most of the non-rare Flyers in the set. It isn’t anything special, but it is better than it looks.
Gateway Plaza image 2.0 This is pretty good fixing, even if it does make you basically pay a mana for it.
Saheeli's Silverwing image 1.5 There isn’t enough of an artifact sub-theme in the set that you want to play sub-par cards just because they are artifacts, and that’s what this is. 4 mana for a 2/3 flyer is not a good rate, and the ETB ability it has is not the most relevant. It gives you some minor information, and that’s not enough to overcome these bad stats.
Pack 3 Pick 3: Evolution Sage
Evolution Sage image 1.5 // 4.0 So, a 3-mana 3/2 is usually not that great, and something you only include when desperate – but this obviously brings more than that to the table. Landfall for Proliferate seems pretty nice, especially because Green seems interested in +1/+1 counters, and obviously all decks will have planeswalkers. This becomes a serious value engine if it isn’t dealt with, at least in a deck that takes advantage by having lots of counters to proliferate.
Tenth District Legionnaire image 3.0 A two mana 2/2 with Haste does some work already, but the fact this also has Heroic -- more or less -- and such a good trigger for when you target it makes it very interesting. Combat tricks will be even more powerful than usual on this guy, since he gets extra big and does so permanently. Same with auras! And Scry on top of all of that is very nice.
Bulwark Giant image 1.5 Well, this is the kind of card that really stabilize you against an aggressive deck. 5 life is huge against decks intent on ending the game quickly, and a 3/6 is no small roadblock. Obviously, this is primarily a defensive card, and not something every White deck is after.
Sky Theater Strix image 1.5 This is a two mana ½ Flyer that will sometimes attack for two. Not great, but not bad either.
Turret Ogre image 2.5 This has decent stats + Reach, and an ETB ability that will trigger a good chunk of the time. That is a solid playable.
Gateway Plaza image 2.0 This is pretty good fixing, even if it does make you basically pay a mana for it.
New Horizons image 2.5 This type of mana-fixing/ramping Auras always feels good when it also does something to impact the board. Making one of your creatures a little better isn’t too shabby. This can help you splash double-colored cards too, which I like!
Erratic Visionary image 1.5 This has a decent body and it loots. Looting can improve your draws in the late game, and that’s nice.
Spark Reaper image 2.5 A 3-mana 2/3 has somewhat passable stats, and this has a pretty nice activated ability. The fact that you can use it at Instant speed – which we don’t always get with effects like this is what really makes it worthwhile, since you can use it in response to removal or declare a block and then use it, getting some serious value. This is a decent late-game mana sink.
Trusted Pegasus image 3.5 This is a nice aggressive card. It has good base stats, and then can bring another creature to the sky with it, which can really lead to you doing a ton of damage.
Kasmina's Transmutation image 2.5 Removal that doesn’t really remove is always pretty underwhelming. I mean, sure, you do at least take away all of the creature’s abilities and make it a 1/1, but it can still block, and that’s a pretty big deal. This is still decent removal, just don’t treat it like one of the best common removal spells in the set.
Wall of Runes image 1.5 If you’re a defensive deck, you’ll play this and it will be passable. If you’re not defensive, don’t play it.
Pack 3 Pick 4: Enter the God-Eternals
Enter the God-Eternals image 4.5 This is really, really strong. Like most cards with Amass, we can kind of look at it as a creature with an ETB ability. In this case, you are playing a 5-mana 4/4 that kills something and gains you 4 life, while also milling 4 cards. That’s an insanely good play in Limited, as adding to your board while also subtracting from your opponents can really turn a game around.
Kiora, Behemoth Beckoner image 2.5 That is a lot of starting loyalty! Kiora seems to be all about playing big dudes. Her static ability pays you off for doing so, and her -1 ability can help you ramp. Worth noting, also, that her -1 may help you protect her because it can let you untap a creature to block. I think the additional value she can give you by untapping permanents, especially lands, makes her pretty solid in just about any deck, though nothing special.
Loxodon Sergeant image 2.0 This starts out with reasonablish stats, and it also has a useful ability. Obviously, Vigilance for your whole team when this comes down is decent, but it is the kind of ETB ability that I would guess won't matter about 50% of the time. Don't get me wrong, it makes a difference, but I don't feel like enough of one. I think this is a card that you don't feel bad about having in your deck, but you probably don't want more than one.
Kraul Stinger image 1.5 This can trade with anything, but being a 3-mana 2/2 isn’t so good. One mana 1/1 death touchers are way better, because you can always trade up.
Prismite image 1.0 This is a creature with bad stats that also doesn’t filter mana very well. If your deck is desperately in need of a two drop AND some mana fixing, it can do those things, but again – it doesn’t do either of them well.
Goblin Assailant image 1.0 This is a vanilla creature with mediocre stats. You’ll only play it if you’re desperate for a two drop.
Steady Aim image 1.0 This will make your creature survive combat frequently, and can be used in response to damage-based removal. What I don’t love is that it isn’t that exciting offensively, and generally you want your combat tricks to produce blowouts on the attack, like blowing up double blocks – which this won’t do as often. I think it is an ok trick, but I don’t want more than one in an ideal world.
Contentious Plan image 2.0 A cantrip with Proliferate is nice in this format. You’ll just almost always have something to put more counters on, and that will feel great since this just replaces itself.
Samut's Sprint image 1.5 This is just red’s obligatory solid combat trick that will be nice in aggro decks. +2/+1 is enough of a boost for a creature to win a lot of combats, and the additional Haste upside doesn’t hurt. Still, it IS a combat trick and it comes with all the inherent risks that combat tricks have they are inherently situational and come with the risk of a 2-for-1 that blows you out.
Courage in Crisis image 2.0 If this was just 3-mana to put a counter on something at Sorcery speed, it would be an F or close to it. But you add proliferate to the mix and things get more interesting. Basically, at its worse, this gives you two +1/+1 counters at sorcery speed, and there will be plenty of times where it will add counters some other places too. That said, it does come with some pretty huge risk in that it can open you up to a 2-for-1 if you're not careful.
Davriel's Shadowfugue image 1.0 4 mana to make the opponent discard 2 and lose 2 life just isn’t a good deal. Mind Rot, which makes the opponent discard 2 for 3 mana is often not good enough for Limited, and this costs one more and adds a negligible effect.
Pack 3 Pick 5: Bloom Hulk
Price of Betrayal image 0.5 Even in a set that has a ton of counters, it is pretty hard to consistently use Price of Betrayal to get rid of an opponents’ card. You’ll find yourself downgrading or weakening a card more often, and that just isn’t worth it.
Jace's Triumph image 2.0 This is mostly just Divination. Having a Jace is possible, but not super likely. Divination is always a pretty decent card, and that’s what this is.
No Escape image 3.0 This is a pretty good counterspell. Creatures and planeswalkers together are going to make up three quarters or more of most decks, so this has plenty of targets. And it’s a hard counter! And it exiles the things it counters. All of that makes me want to play the first copy of this in most Blue decks.
Demolish image 0.0 I always try to give this a sideboard grade, but the reality is – you will never side this in in this set. There aren’t enough artifacts or problem lands, so most of the time this reads “Pay 4 mana, discard this and do almost nothing.”
Spark Harvest image 3.5 This kills a bunch of cards in this format, and it can only cost one mana if you are willing to sacrifice something. Obviously killing walkers matters more in this format than in any other we have ever seen, and the ability to sacrifice a walker matters more too. A lot of the uncommon walkers eventually tick down to 1 loyalty, so turning them into fodder for this seems nice. It is made a lot better by the fact that you can also straight up pay 5 to destroy a creature or planeswalker.
Makeshift Battalion image 2.5 You’ll play this in an aggressive deck, but for the most part that type of deck isn’t great in this format. It just won’t always be easy to send in two additional creatures into combat, and it won’t be worth risking trades so much either since the payoff is just a +1/+1 counter. I’m not saying this is bad, just not something you should be excited about.
Tithebearer Giant image 3.0 Because this is fairly expensive and has mediocre stats you don’t normally want more than one of these, but the first copy is pretty nice. Because it draws you a card and has a reasonable body, you’re virtually always going to get a 2-for-1 out of this, and 2-for-1s go a long way towards helping you win.
Banehound image 1.0 This is the kind of card new players will overrate because on the surface it seems like a pretty great deal. I mean, a one mana 1/1 with two keyword abilities is somewhat tempting, right? Well, not really. That’s because these two particular keyword abilities, lifelink and haste, aren’t particularly useful on a 1/1. For both of those to be at their best, you want a bit more power, so the returns on having those two keyword abilities really doesn’t make this all that much better than having a vanilla 1-mana 1/1.
Bloom Hulk image 3.5 This has good stats and it proliferates. You’ll usually feel like you’re getting more than 4 mana’s worth of value out of this. This is one of Green’s best commons.
Heartfire image 1.5 Two mana to do 4 to anything at Instant speed would be premium removal. This asks you to do a little more work than that though, wanting you to sacrifice a creature or planeswalker to use it. Now, it looks like the RB deck is going to be interested in doing some sacrificing, and will also have creatures that are good to sacrifice, so maybe that's the best place for it. But either way, I think this is an alright card -- what saves it from being outright bad is the fact that it is an Instant, and the fact it can go to your opponent' face. As an Instant, it can be used in situations where losing the creature isn't as much of a downside -- like after you block something first, then sacrifice the creature to kill something else. The most attractive time to use this is in response to your opponent's removal of course. But still, even in those "ideal" situations, you're not really getting a 2-for-1. To do that you'll need to be giving up tokens.
Pack 3 Pick 6: Aven Eternal
God-Pharaoh's Statue image 0.0 You should pass on this one. I By the time you're at 6 mana, making your opponent pay 2 extra mana for spells will have a pretty negligible effect. And sure, I guess it can function as a win condition in a super controlling deck, but it is basically a super bad version of Ill-Gotten Inheritance.
Spellkeeper Weird image 2.0 A 3-mana ¼ has some not entirely horrendous defensive stats, and this one comes with the ability to get back key spells – with removal spells being the most interesting. While I think this will probably be best in a UR spells deck, I think most Blue decks in this format will probably run enough instants and sorceries for the Weird to be a solid inclusion in the deck.
Chainwhip Cyclops image 1.5 This guy is decent. There are tons of board states where an ability like that really opens the flood gates – get that one problem blocker out of the way, and now the best your opponent can do is chump or trade! It does cost a lot of mana here, at 4, and it comes on an inefficient creature as a 5-mana 4/4, but that effect can be a good mana sink.
Davriel's Shadowfugue image 1.0 4 mana to make the opponent discard 2 and lose 2 life just isn’t a good deal. Mind Rot, which makes the opponent discard 2 for 3 mana is often not good enough for Limited, and this costs one more and adds a negligible effect.
Aven Eternal image 3.5 3-mana 2/2 flyers tend to be playable if that’s all they are. Adding Amass here is great, and will give you a great deal whether you put a counter on an Army already in play or you make a token.
War Screecher image 1.5 2-mana 1/3 flyers are usually alright, and this can pump your whole team in the late game. It is decent filler.
Vivien's Grizzly image 2.0 Like her Arkbow, her Grizzly also is a nice manasink, though less reliable than the legendary artifacts. But still, this is basically a really bad Duskwatch Recruiter – but the Recruiter was an absurd limited card, so being a bad version of it doesn’t mean the card itself is bad. It has alright stats and the ability to draw you cards sometimes in the late game.
Blindblast image 1.5 Adding a card-draw effect to a card always makes it way more attractive, and I think that is certainly the case here. This can kill some small creatures, in which case you get a straight-up two-for-one, but my guess is that you'll usually just use this to make your opponent's best creature unable to block. That kind of effect is quite strong in aggressive Red decks, as sometimes you go from not being able to attack at all, to being able to attack with everything after a problem creature is removed from the equation. It still isn’t something you probably ever want more than one of, and you don’t want it all if you aren’t aggressive.
Gateway Plaza image 2.0 This is pretty good fixing, even if it does make you basically pay a mana for it.
Pack 3 Pick 7: Kiora's Dambreaker
Storm the Citadel image 1.0 I am not a big fan of this in Limited. 5 for +2/+2 at sorcery speed for your whole team is nothing special – an evasive ability like trample, or something like vigilance added to it would make it a lot better. As it is, I don’t see the combat damage trigger on this card mattering in most games. Yeah, I’m just not impressed, even if your deck can go wide, you hopefully have some better ways to take advantage of it than this.
Steady Aim image 1.0 This will make your creature survive combat frequently, and can be used in response to damage-based removal. What I don’t love is that it isn’t that exciting offensively, and generally you want your combat tricks to produce blowouts on the attack, like blowing up double blocks – which this won’t do as often. I think it is an ok trick, but I don’t want more than one in an ideal world.
Topple the Statue image 1.5 So, when we see 3 mana to tap something and draw a card at instant speed isn’t all that great. It does replace itself, and have a somewhat flexible effect, so that does save it from being completely terrible.
Primordial Wurm image 1.5 A 6-mana 7/6 is some pretty decent vanilla stats. I still would rather have Colossal Dreadmaw because Trample.
Wardscale Crocodile image 2.0 Hexproof on a common is pretty nice. I mean sure, it can die in combat pretty easily, but because it has hexproof you can make sure that it only dies in combat when it is beneficial for you—like killing a creature with 5 toughness. Then, there is the usual upside that Hexproof creatures bring – risky spells, like Fight cards, or auras and the like become a lot better, because you know your opponent won’t be able to easily 2-for-1 you.
Kiora's Dambreaker image 2.0 A 6-mana 5/6 isn’t great, but it is passable stats, especially in Blue. Add Proliferate to that and it certainly gets better – especially in a set whose cup runneth over with various types of counters.
Charity Extractor image 1.5 This is a pretty good defensive card, and not a bad place to counters thanks to lifelink. But you’ll cut it a lot. It just doesn’t do enough.
Raging Kronch image 1.5 Usually when we see creatures who can’t attack alone they have more impressive stats than this. That said, usually creatures who can’t attack alone can’t block alone either – but this Kronch can. Obviously a fine card in an aggressive deck, and it cheaply triggers all the “ferocious” pay offs in the set.
Pack 3 Pick 8: Band Together
Band Together image 3.0 Just up front: note this does not let you target two different creatures of your opponent's. Instead, you target two of your creatures, who then do damage equal to their power to one creature your opponent controls. Now that that's clear -- this is still an excellent common for Green. We have seen instant speed versions of this effect before, and they all only allowed you to target one creature on your side to do the damage -- this lets you do even more damage, allowing your two smallish creatures to take down one of your opponent's much larger creatures.
Callous Dismissal image 3.5 So, most of the time this is a two mana 1/1 that bounces an opposing creature. That’s great. Any time you can add to your board and subtract from your opponents’ with a single card, you’re going to be pretty happy about, and this does it pretty often.
Ironclad Krovod image 1.0 This is a vanilla creature with okayish stats. You hope you aren’t playing it.
Martyr for the Cause image 3.0 This guy adds proliferate to a Grizzly Bear body, which means that he has some late-game relevance, even if he can just block and add a couple counters to your permanents that’s going to do something.
Forced Landing image 0.5 This is an interesting version of the Green flyer hate sideboard card that every set has. Instead of just straight Plummet, this lets you put the creature on the bottom of their library – which is sometimes better, like if the creature has a death trigger or your opponent has ways to get stuff back from their graveyard. Still, this is mostly likely a sideboard card.
Davriel's Shadowfugue image 1.0 4 mana to make the opponent discard 2 and lose 2 life just isn’t a good deal. Mind Rot, which makes the opponent discard 2 for 3 mana is often not good enough for Limited, and this costs one more and adds a negligible effect.
Demolish image 0.0 I always try to give this a sideboard grade, but the reality is – you will never side this in in this set. There aren’t enough artifacts or problem lands, so most of the time this reads “Pay 4 mana, discard this and do almost nothing.”
Pack 3 Pick 9: Kraul Stinger
God-Pharaoh's Statue image 0.0 You should pass on this one. I By the time you're at 6 mana, making your opponent pay 2 extra mana for spells will have a pretty negligible effect. And sure, I guess it can function as a win condition in a super controlling deck, but it is basically a super bad version of Ill-Gotten Inheritance.
Enforcer Griffin image 2.5 A 5-mana ¾ with Flying might not seem great, but it has just the right size in this format, outclassing most of the non-rare Flyers in the set. It isn’t anything special, but it is better than it looks.
Kraul Stinger image 1.5 This can trade with anything, but being a 3-mana 2/2 isn’t so good. One mana 1/1 death touchers are way better, because you can always trade up.
Forced Landing image 0.5 This is an interesting version of the Green flyer hate sideboard card that every set has. Instead of just straight Plummet, this lets you put the creature on the bottom of their library – which is sometimes better, like if the creature has a death trigger or your opponent has ways to get stuff back from their graveyard. Still, this is mostly likely a sideboard card.
Defiant Strike image 1.0 Last time we saw this card, it was surprisingly good because it was in Khans of Tarkir, and the Prowess mechanic was all over the place, including on White cards. Not the case here though. +1/+0 is the kind of stat boost that will have very little impact on combat the majority of the time, and normally you want your combat tricks to make it more likely your creature wins combat against larger creatures-- and sure, this cycles itself, and that's what keeps it from being unplayable, but it still isn't very good.
Giant Growth image 2.0 We don’t see combat tricks like this very often anymore. A single mana giving such a massive P/T boost is great, and will make a creature capable of winning almost any combat. The opportunity cost of leaving up one Green mana is really low, and the upside here is very high. It is still a combat trick, so it has some issues of being situational and easy to get blown out on.
Pack 3 Pick 10: Wardscale Crocodile
Return to Nature image 1.5 This hates on enough things that it is worth playing in your main deck sometimes, though this format does not have a ton of Artifacts.
Goblin Assailant image 1.0 This is a vanilla creature with mediocre stats. You’ll only play it if you’re desperate for a two drop.
Wardscale Crocodile image 2.0 Hexproof on a common is pretty nice. I mean sure, it can die in combat pretty easily, but because it has hexproof you can make sure that it only dies in combat when it is beneficial for you—like killing a creature with 5 toughness. Then, there is the usual upside that Hexproof creatures bring – risky spells, like Fight cards, or auras and the like become a lot better, because you know your opponent won’t be able to easily 2-for-1 you.
Gateway Plaza image 2.0 This is pretty good fixing, even if it does make you basically pay a mana for it.
Saheeli's Silverwing image 1.5 There isn’t enough of an artifact sub-theme in the set that you want to play sub-par cards just because they are artifacts, and that’s what this is. 4 mana for a 2/3 flyer is not a good rate, and the ETB ability it has is not the most relevant. It gives you some minor information, and that’s not enough to overcome these bad stats.
Pack 3 Pick 11: Erratic Visionary
Sky Theater Strix image 1.5 This is a two mana ½ Flyer that will sometimes attack for two. Not great, but not bad either.
Erratic Visionary image 1.5 This has a decent body and it loots. Looting can improve your draws in the late game, and that’s nice.
Spark Reaper image 2.5 A 3-mana 2/3 has somewhat passable stats, and this has a pretty nice activated ability. The fact that you can use it at Instant speed – which we don’t always get with effects like this is what really makes it worthwhile, since you can use it in response to removal or declare a block and then use it, getting some serious value. This is a decent late-game mana sink.
Kasmina's Transmutation image 2.5 Removal that doesn’t really remove is always pretty underwhelming. I mean, sure, you do at least take away all of the creature’s abilities and make it a 1/1, but it can still block, and that’s a pretty big deal. This is still decent removal, just don’t treat it like one of the best common removal spells in the set.
Pack 3 Pick 12: Courage in Crisis
Goblin Assailant image 1.0 This is a vanilla creature with mediocre stats. You’ll only play it if you’re desperate for a two drop.
Steady Aim image 1.0 This will make your creature survive combat frequently, and can be used in response to damage-based removal. What I don’t love is that it isn’t that exciting offensively, and generally you want your combat tricks to produce blowouts on the attack, like blowing up double blocks – which this won’t do as often. I think it is an ok trick, but I don’t want more than one in an ideal world.
Courage in Crisis image 2.0 If this was just 3-mana to put a counter on something at Sorcery speed, it would be an F or close to it. But you add proliferate to the mix and things get more interesting. Basically, at its worse, this gives you two +1/+1 counters at sorcery speed, and there will be plenty of times where it will add counters some other places too. That said, it does come with some pretty huge risk in that it can open you up to a 2-for-1 if you're not careful.
Pack 3 Pick 13: Tithebearer Giant
Demolish image 0.0 I always try to give this a sideboard grade, but the reality is – you will never side this in in this set. There aren’t enough artifacts or problem lands, so most of the time this reads “Pay 4 mana, discard this and do almost nothing.”
Tithebearer Giant image 3.0 Because this is fairly expensive and has mediocre stats you don’t normally want more than one of these, but the first copy is pretty nice. Because it draws you a card and has a reasonable body, you’re virtually always going to get a 2-for-1 out of this, and 2-for-1s go a long way towards helping you win.
Pack 3 Pick 14: Blindblast
Blindblast image 1.5 Adding a card-draw effect to a card always makes it way more attractive, and I think that is certainly the case here. This can kill some small creatures, in which case you get a straight-up two-for-one, but my guess is that you'll usually just use this to make your opponent's best creature unable to block. That kind of effect is quite strong in aggressive Red decks, as sometimes you go from not being able to attack at all, to being able to attack with everything after a problem creature is removed from the equation. It still isn’t something you probably ever want more than one of, and you don’t want it all if you aren’t aggressive.
Draft Pick Overview