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Quick Draft IKO 26 May 2021

26 May 12:25 - Airton88 7 Wins - 1 Losses
Maindeck
Creature (18)
1 Checkpoint Officer image
1 Zagoth Mamba image
1 Chittering Harvester image
3 Imposing Vantasaur image
1 Snare Tactician image
2 Cavern Whisperer image
1 Alert Heedbonder image
1 Lurking Deadeye image
1 Blitz Leech image
1 Labyrinth Raptor image
1 Valiant Rescuer image
1 Vulpikeet image
1 Porcuparrot image
1 Nightsquad Commando image
1 Splendor Mare image
Instant, Sorcery, Enchantment, Artifact (8)
1 Will of the All-Hunter image
1 Ruinous Ultimatum image
1 Divine Arrow image
2 Dead Weight image
2 Savai Crystal image
1 Call of the Death-Dweller image
Land (15)
1 Scoured Barrens image
5 Plains image
5 Swamp image
3 Mountain image
1 Wind-Scarred Crag image
Sideboard
2 Perimeter Sergeant image
1 Ivy Elemental image
1 Maned Serval image
1 Aegis Turtle image
1 Savai Sabertooth image
2 Solid Footing image
1 Unlikely Aid image
1 Fully Grown image
1 Plummet image
1 Thwart the Enemy image
1 Unexpected Fangs image
1 Spontaneous Flight image
1 Heightened Reflexes image

Pack 1 Pick 1: Ruinous Ultimatum
Ruinous Ultimatum image 5.0 This is easier to cast than it looks, and it will win you the game 99% of the time when you cast it. A one-sided board wipe is just crazy.
Will of the All-Hunter image 2.5 This isn’t an amazing trick, two for +2/+2 is nice, but not something that would even make the cut all that often. The defensive side of things is kind of interesting, in that the boost is permanent if you use it when you’re blocking. The thing that really saves Will of the all-Hunter from being terrible, though, is Cycling! It is a big deal in this set, and that makes this a solid playable for sure.
Savai Crystal image 2.5 The crystals all provide good fixing – something you want a lot of the time in this format – and they all have Cycling, which means when you draw one and don’t really need the fixing, you can just throw it away to draw another card.
Flame Spill image 4.0 3 mana for 4 damage at Instant speed is already premium and the additional value this gives you is nice, as you can use it to do some damage to your opponent too. And sometimes, killing their X/1 and doing 3 to them will just be game over. Don’t get me wrong, most of the time you should kill something bigger, but if the spillover damage here is going to be lethal for your opponent well -- obviously, you should do that.
Crystacean image 1.5 This is supposed to be here for the UB flash deck, but that deck just doesn’t come together that often, and this has a pretty mediocre floor.
Frenzied Raptor image 1.5 Vanilla 3-mana 4/2s will make the cut sometimes, but you kind of hope they don’t.
Aegis Turtle image 1.0 Purely defensive creatures like this just aren’t worth it these days. Sure, it is an early non-Human you can Mutate on to in a hurry, but you’d much rather be Mutating on to something that gives you some sort of ability, instead of just being a vehicle on which to mutate.
Vulpikeet image 2.5 This starts out with some pretty unimpressive stats, but the real value here comes from the Mutate, which will often give a pretty nice boost to one of your creatures – Flying AND a +1/+1 counter. Now, Mutate is inherently risky, and this isn’t the kind of mutate card that gives you some sort of value that sticks around no matter what – this will just die, and that will suck sometimes, but this can also be a pretty nice card for aggro decks trying to win in a hurry.
Flycatcher Giraffid image 2.0 Neither option here is great, but neither is bad, either.
Blitz Leech image 2.5 This has an ugly stat-line, but by adding Flash and a nice ETB trigger to the mix, it really overcomes that. You can flash this into kill an X/2, and then use the 5/2 body to block something bigger, and that’s a 2-for-1! Sure, it is kind of an expensive one, but that’s real upside. Now, it won’t always be able to do that for you, and it is a little situational, but still -- I basically always like the first copy of this in my Black decks. Going beyond that is a bit much because of the high mana cost though.
Keep Safe image 1.5 There will be times where this feel amazing -- you counter the spell that targets one of your creatures and draw a card -- that’s a 2-for-1! But unfortunately, that actually lining up is far from guaranteed. Still, in this format with mutate creatures, you’re a little more interested in this than you would be in other formats, since you are often taking a big risk to mutate, and this can help protect your creature. Still, you won’t play this most of the time.
Tentative Connection image 2.0 There are a couple of things going on here that make this a little better than most Threaten effects. First, when you can discount this because you have a Menace creature, it will feel pretty good – especially because Menace creatures already pair well with a Threaten effect. The other thing is, there are some efficient ways to sacrifice creatures in this format, and that means stealing an opposing creature and sacrificing it is pretty doable.
Adventurous Impulse image 2.0 This is always a fine, very replacable card. If you need a land, it can usually find you one, and if you need a creature, it can do that too.
Mutual Destruction image 1.5 So, this is Bone Splinters that has flash on occasion. Bone Splinters is never great, but it is passable when you need removal, especially in a deck with lots of expendable bodies. If you can give this Flash it does get significantly better, because then you can do it in response to removal and stuff like that. Still, it isn’t that easy to set that up.
Swamp image
Pack 1 Pick 2: Imposing Vantasaur
Reconnaissance Mission image 2.5 Now, this is certainly reliant on creatures having evasive abilities -- but this set is loaded up with that, with keyword tribal being a real theme here. Creatures with Flying will be especially powerful with it. However, that does mean this can be super situational. There will be times when you draw it and you have no board state to speak of -- that’s going to feel bad -- EXCEPT -- that this has Cycling, so when you end up in that bad situation, you can still just pitch it to dig deeper.
Monstrous Step image 2.5 This is another situational card with Cycling. When this works, it can devastate your opponent. When it is useless (and it will be more often than not) you can Cycle it.
Mystic Subdual image 3.0 This doesn’t get a rid of a blocker entirely, but it does completely shut off an opposing creature, even hosing Mutate! That’s a pretty good deal for two mana.
Mysterious Egg image 1.0 The flavor is cool and all, but I feel like you’d rather have a more exciting ability for Mutate, and a more exciting fail case than one mana 0/2.
Survivors' Bond image 2.0 If you can set this up reliably to get two cards back from your graveyard, it is a decent thing to have a singleton copy of, since in the late game it can really pull you ahead.
Lurking Deadeye image 3.0 These kinds of creatures are not normally something I am very impressed with – that is, creatures who kill something that has been dealt damage. This is because often-times making sure you damage something is difficult, and sometimes even when you do you have to give up a card to do it, so the window where this does something is not as high as you would like. However, this one has Flash, and that means that you will be able to find situations where it does its things more often than not. And even if you aren’t managing to kill something with the ability, sometimes flashing in a 4/2 to kill their X/4 is just fine too.
Savai Sabertooth image 2.0 Two mana 3/1s tend to be fine two drops for aggressive decks.
Humble Naturalist image 3.0 This is a mana creature with okay stats, and those always tend to be nice inclusions in Limited Green decks.
Daysquad Marshal image 2.5 This gives you two bodies with one card, and 4/4 worth of stats. In most sets that a solid card, and that’s what it is here.
Imposing Vantasaur image 3.0 Like all one-mana cyclers, this is a pretty high pick, and way better than it looks! It can be a big defensive creature if that’s what you need, but you can also just throw it away to look for something better – while also triggering all of your cycling payoffs.
Cloudpiercer image 2.5 5-mana for a 5/4 Reach is fairly passable, and adding a rummage mutate effect is fine.
Gust of Wind image 3.0 Even if this always cost 4, it would be a decent card. Bouncing something and drawing a card feels pretty great tempo-wise! But the great news is, this will often cost 2, and you don’t even have to try that hard to make that happen, since you’re playing blue.
Anticipate image 1.5 This is always fine, but never much more than that. It is a very replaceable effect, gives you some reasonable card selection.
Forest image
Pack 1 Pick 3: Snare Tactician
Glowstone Recluse image 3.5 A three-mana ⅔ with Reach is usually playable, and this has good mutate upside. You can use it to lend reach to a creature who really needs it, if you are mutating it and putting it underneath a big creature, but the more valuable option will usually be to Mutate with this on top, since it will be a ⅘ who also gains the abilities of whatever is underneath it.
Lore Drakkis image 3.5 So, getting an instant or sorcery back from the yard is a pretty nice mutate trigger, but the actual creature here is nothing very impressive. However, spending two Hybrid Red/Blue mana to get an instant or sorcery back from the graveyard is a nice rate, and of course it means that the more you mutate in one stack, the more times you get to do it. So yeah, the real draw here is the trigger, which means you will mutate this under stuff most of the time -- and in a fail case it is a 3-mana 2/2 that can give you some mutate value later on in the game.
Charge of the Forever-Beast image 3.0 When this works, it feels pretty good – but there are a lot of times where this doesn’t do anything – like if you don’t have a creature in your hand of a large enough size for the spell to actually matter, and that happens more often than you might think.
Essence Symbiote image 3.0 This is a Grizzly Bears with some nice upside. Making mutate creatures bigger and gaining you a bit of life is a very real bonus. And, I think your average Green deck will probably have 3-5 cards with Mutate, so it will be triggering regularly in most decks in this format. Something to keep in mind too, is that if you Mutate ON to this, it will start putting counters on the new Mutate creature, something that might be the ideal path to take sometimes
Pyroceratops image 3.0 This is a nice spell payoff that can big in a hurry, which feels good when you have Trample along for the ride.
Blitz Leech image 2.5 This has an ugly stat-line, but by adding Flash and a nice ETB trigger to the mix, it really overcomes that. You can flash this into kill an X/2, and then use the 5/2 body to block something bigger, and that’s a 2-for-1! Sure, it is kind of an expensive one, but that’s real upside. Now, it won’t always be able to do that for you, and it is a little situational, but still -- I basically always like the first copy of this in my Black decks. Going beyond that is a bit much because of the high mana cost though.
Frostveil Ambush image 3.0 Like all one-mana cyclers, this is much better than it looks! It has a very situational effect when you cast it as a spell – but the thing is, when you can take advantage of that effect it feels really good. When you can’t, you can just Cycle it away!
Daysquad Marshal image 2.5 This gives you two bodies with one card, and 4/4 worth of stats. In most sets that a solid card, and that’s what it is here.
Spelleater Wolverine image 2.5 This is a nice little aggressive creature in this format, and it slots quite nicely into UR spells, but also into RW Cycling decks, since they tend to throw all kinds of cards with Cycling into the graveyard, including a bunch of instants and sorceries! Basically, it is way easier to get double strike online here than it looks.
Aegis Turtle image 1.0 Purely defensive creatures like this just aren’t worth it these days. Sure, it is an early non-Human you can Mutate on to in a hurry, but you’d much rather be Mutating on to something that gives you some sort of ability, instead of just being a vehicle on which to mutate.
Snare Tactician image 4.0 A premium Cycling payoff, this one allows you to make the game go long by tapping down opposing things on the opponent’s turn, or it allows your Tactician and other friends to get in for a bunch of damage by tapping down blockers on your turn.
Ram Through image 4.0 This is a great removal spell for Green. First, it is NOT a fight card, but a “punch” card – that is, your creature damages the opposing creature, but it doesn’t get damaged itself! That makes it much less risky, even if you do need to be a little careful, since if your creature that is Ramming Through gets killed in response, you get 2-for-1’d. But the upside here is well worth that! As an Instant, you will more easily find situations that aren’t risky, AND it has the Trample upside that will sometimes be crazy. This is premium removal.
Dismal Backwater image 3.0 As always, these provide nice fixing, and the 1 life is a solid bonus.
Pack 1 Pick 4: Divine Arrow
Barrier Breach image 2.5 This is another situational card that would normally be unplayable, but Cycling means that you’ll play it a decent amount of the time.
Cunning Nightbonder image 3.0 So I would feel fine about playing a two mana 2/2 with Flash anyway -- can occasionally ambush a more expensive creature with 2 toughness, or a creature with less than two power, and it has fine stats. But, reducing the cost of spells with Flash is nice too, especially because there seems to be a decent amount of it in this set.
Pyroceratops image 3.0 This is a nice spell payoff that can big in a hurry, which feels good when you have Trample along for the ride.
Divine Arrow image 3.0 This is certainly situational, but also fairly efficient. You’re going to be spending only two mana to kill something, which will usually be less than your opponent paid for their creature. It might fall a little short of premium, but it is a nice removal spell.
Forbidden Friendship image 2.5 This is a reasonable deal for two bodies, and will help decks that want to go wide. It is a mostly better Krenko’s Command, since the dinosaur gets to have Haste, and that card is always just fine.
Honey Mammoth image 2.5 It isn’t exciting, but a 6-mana 6/6 that gains you 4 life can go a long way towards helping you stabilize against more aggressive decks.
Unlikely Aid image 2.0 While the boost it gives is not permanent, 2 power + indestructible is going to make a wider variety of creatures win combat in a wider variety of situations. Because of indestructible, you can use it in response to removal and things like that too if it comes up. Now, this is STILL a trick, and I have a hard time ever really loving them because they are situational and somewhat risky, but this is a trick you’ll play a significant amount of the time.
Hampering Snare image 2.5 Like all one-mana cyclers, this is much better than it looks! It has a very situational effect when you cast it as a spell – but the thing is, when you can take advantage of that effect it feels really good. When you can’t, you can just Cycle it away!
Migratory Greathorn image 3.0 This is another decent peace of fixing and ramp for Green. Paying 3 mana to put this under something bigger, or on top of something smaller, while also searching up a land is a nice deal to me. It helps you splash while also giving you some Mutate synergy.
Suffocating Fumes image 3.0 Another card upgraded considerably by cycling. Giving your opponent’s team -1/-1 until end of turn will sometimes have a big impact, either cause it kills their X/1s outright, or you can use it to really mess up combat for your opponent. But about half the time, and maybe more, it doesn’t do anything significant, and that’s when you can Cycle it.
Shredded Sails image 3.0 I like the modality this has. It has two very sideboardy effects -- you won’t always have an artifact of a creature with Flying to hit with it, but between both being on this card you have a decentish chance of your opponent having a few targets. On top of that, it has Cycling -- so if you end up with some sweet Cycling payoffs, it is even more likely to be useful for your deck.
Mountain image
Pack 1 Pick 5: Dead Weight
Wingspan Mentor image 4.0 A 3-mana 1/3 that gives something permanent Flying is alright nice, and this comes with the added upside of being able to put counters on all your Flyers! This can really take over games, even if you just have one creature to put the counter on.
Of One Mind image 3.0 I am usually interested in running one Divination in most Limited formats, and this is a strictly better one since its cost can be reduced. If you are consistently casting this for one, it will be absolutely silly -- but the requirement it asks for, while doable, isn’t the kind of thing that will just always be the case.
Dark Bargain image 1.5 We see this kind of card a lot, and it is always pretty medium. Even in a set with a graveyard deck, I’m not super pumped about this because of the cost.
Heightened Reflexes image 1.5 When tricks cost one mana, I start to get interested, as the pain of getting 2-for-1’s is no longer accompanied with a big tempo hit, and it is just easier to have the spare mana around. Still, this boost isn’t amazing -- +1/+0 and First Strike will win a fair number of combats, but it isn’t really a boost that makes it happen enough.
Savai Sabertooth image 2.0 Two mana 3/1s tend to be fine two drops for aggressive decks.
Blisterspit Gremlin image 2.0 This can ping stuff repeatedly, but having to use mana to do it does downgrade it significantly from similar cards we have seen.
Mysterious Egg image 1.0 The flavor is cool and all, but I feel like you’d rather have a more exciting ability for Mutate, and a more exciting fail case than one mana 0/2.
Mosscoat Goriak image 2.0 This is some decent stats for three mana, especially because with Vigilance, he will often be able to attack on boards where he also happens to be a good blocker, and Vigilance lets him do both.
Hampering Snare image 2.5 Like all one-mana cyclers, this is much better than it looks! It has a very situational effect when you cast it as a spell – but the thing is, when you can take advantage of that effect it feels really good. When you can’t, you can just Cycle it away!
Dead Weight image 3.5 This is always premium removal when we see it! You’ll usually be able to spend one mana to kill a 2-4 mana creature, and that’s always good.
Swamp image
Pack 1 Pick 6: Cavern Whisperer
Monstrous Step image 2.5 This is another situational card with Cycling. When this works, it can devastate your opponent. When it is useless (and it will be more often than not) you can Cycle it.
Bristling Boar image 2.5 Making it so the only way it dies in combat is if your opponent has one creature that can do 3 damage is surprisingly effective, and grants it an evasive ability -- albeit a weak one. A 4-mana 4/3 is usually playable-ish anyway, and the upside here is real.
Fertilid image 3.0 A three mana 2/2 isn’t especially good, but the fixing Fertilid provides for you is quite nice. Green usually gets nice commons for Splashing or going three colors, and that’s what this is. It has the ability to grab a couple of land over a few turns, and that is nice -- helps mitigate against mana screw, helps you find your colors, etc., If you don’t really need to fix when you play it, it also makes a good creature to mutate on to.
Gust of Wind image 3.0 Even if this always cost 4, it would be a decent card. Bouncing something and drawing a card feels pretty great tempo-wise! But the great news is, this will often cost 2, and you don’t even have to try that hard to make that happen, since you’re playing blue.
Cavern Whisperer image 2.5 So, a 5-mana 4/4 with Menace would make the cut a significant amount of the time. This also has a solid Mutate trigger, albeit one of the less exciting ones around, especially because its efficacy decreases as the game goes on. But hey, it can also lend Menace to a creature it Mutates on to! Or you can use it as the creature on top to make a 4/4 menace out of one of your creatures’. Still, costing 5 to mutate for an underwhelming trigger isn’t great, even if you’re upgrading a creature at the same time.
Light of Hope image 1.0 This is modal, but none of the effects on it are especially good.
Fully Grown image 1.5 I have a hard time liking 3-mana combat tricks in most situations. It makes the risk of a blowout even more painful because of the extra mana you’re paying. And sure, +3/+3 will frequently be enough to win combat, and it is nice that the creature permanently gets Trample, instead of just temporarily, but tricks are just so situational, that I really only like the idea of them at lower mana costs in most cases.
Crystacean image 1.5 This is supposed to be here for the UB flash deck, but that deck just doesn’t come together that often, and this has a pretty mediocre floor.
Pyroceratops image 3.0 This is a nice spell payoff that can big in a hurry, which feels good when you have Trample along for the ride.
Mountain image
Pack 1 Pick 7: Alert Heedbonder
Alert Heedbonder image 2.5 A three mana 2/4 with Vigilance is fine, and so is gaining 1 life every end step -- which is what it is when it is alone. The fact you gain more life the more Vigilance creatures you have is nice additional upside, but still not something amazing. I think this is just decent, and not much else.
Fertilid image 3.0 A three mana 2/2 isn’t especially good, but the fixing Fertilid provides for you is quite nice. Green usually gets nice commons for Splashing or going three colors, and that’s what this is. It has the ability to grab a couple of land over a few turns, and that is nice -- helps mitigate against mana screw, helps you find your colors, etc., If you don’t really need to fix when you play it, it also makes a good creature to mutate on to.
Phase Dolphin image 2.5 This is a decent creature early since it can help others get in, and it can be particularly nice to mutate on to.
Blisterspit Gremlin image 2.0 This can ping stuff repeatedly, but having to use mana to do it does downgrade it significantly from similar cards we have seen.
Shredded Sails image 3.0 I like the modality this has. It has two very sideboardy effects -- you won’t always have an artifact of a creature with Flying to hit with it, but between both being on this card you have a decentish chance of your opponent having a few targets. On top of that, it has Cycling -- so if you end up with some sweet Cycling payoffs, it is even more likely to be useful for your deck.
Mosscoat Goriak image 2.0 This is some decent stats for three mana, especially because with Vigilance, he will often be able to attack on boards where he also happens to be a good blocker, and Vigilance lets him do both.
Memory Leak image 3.5 This is a situational discard effect that becomes useless in the late game. However! It has Cycling 1, and that gives everything a big upgrade in this format – you can cycle it away when it doesn’t do a thing, and when it can do a thing it isn’t too shabby.
Wingfold Pteron image 2.0 A 6-mana 3/6 with Hexproof, or a 6 mana 3/6 with Flying would be a kind of playable card already, at least in slower decks. But, the fact that this gives you flexibility is great. It can be especially nice t to name Hexproof with this, so that I have an excellent place to put a bunch of other keyword counters and/or Auras. Just going full Voltron on the Pteron with Mutate seems fun too.
Forest image
Pack 1 Pick 8: Perimeter Sergeant
Exuberant Wolfbear image 3.5 The fail case is a highly efficient 4-mana 4/4, and if you have a few Humans lying around, it is likely that he will be making one of your other creatures considerably larger too. Between the efficient fail-case and nice upside, I think this is in the lower rnage of first pickable.
Unlikely Aid image 2.0 While the boost it gives is not permanent, 2 power + indestructible is going to make a wider variety of creatures win combat in a wider variety of situations. Because of indestructible, you can use it in response to removal and things like that too if it comes up. Now, this is STILL a trick, and I have a hard time ever really loving them because they are situational and somewhat risky, but this is a trick you’ll play a significant amount of the time.
Dark Bargain image 1.5 We see this kind of card a lot, and it is always pretty medium. Even in a set with a graveyard deck, I’m not super pumped about this because of the cost.
Perimeter Sergeant image 2.5 This is a decent payoff for going wide with Humans, but don’t expect it to survive that first swing!
Sleeper Dart image 1.0 This isn’t great, and is basically only the kind of card you run when you don’t have enough playables. It replaces itself, but the effect it has is really negligible.
Aegis Turtle image 1.0 Purely defensive creatures like this just aren’t worth it these days. Sure, it is an early non-Human you can Mutate on to in a hurry, but you’d much rather be Mutating on to something that gives you some sort of ability, instead of just being a vehicle on which to mutate.
Essence Symbiote image 3.0 This is a Grizzly Bears with some nice upside. Making mutate creatures bigger and gaining you a bit of life is a very real bonus. And, I think your average Green deck will probably have 3-5 cards with Mutate, so it will be triggering regularly in most decks in this format. Something to keep in mind too, is that if you Mutate ON to this, it will start putting counters on the new Mutate creature, something that might be the ideal path to take sometimes
Bloodfell Caves image 3.0 As always, these provide nice fixing, and the 1 life is a solid bonus.
Pack 1 Pick 9: Savai Crystal
Savai Crystal image 2.5 The crystals all provide good fixing – something you want a lot of the time in this format – and they all have Cycling, which means when you draw one and don’t really need the fixing, you can just throw it away to draw another card.
Aegis Turtle image 1.0 Purely defensive creatures like this just aren’t worth it these days. Sure, it is an early non-Human you can Mutate on to in a hurry, but you’d much rather be Mutating on to something that gives you some sort of ability, instead of just being a vehicle on which to mutate.
Flycatcher Giraffid image 2.0 Neither option here is great, but neither is bad, either.
Blitz Leech image 2.5 This has an ugly stat-line, but by adding Flash and a nice ETB trigger to the mix, it really overcomes that. You can flash this into kill an X/2, and then use the 5/2 body to block something bigger, and that’s a 2-for-1! Sure, it is kind of an expensive one, but that’s real upside. Now, it won’t always be able to do that for you, and it is a little situational, but still -- I basically always like the first copy of this in my Black decks. Going beyond that is a bit much because of the high mana cost though.
Tentative Connection image 2.0 There are a couple of things going on here that make this a little better than most Threaten effects. First, when you can discount this because you have a Menace creature, it will feel pretty good – especially because Menace creatures already pair well with a Threaten effect. The other thing is, there are some efficient ways to sacrifice creatures in this format, and that means stealing an opposing creature and sacrificing it is pretty doable.
Adventurous Impulse image 2.0 This is always a fine, very replacable card. If you need a land, it can usually find you one, and if you need a creature, it can do that too.
Swamp image
Pack 1 Pick 10: Lurking Deadeye
Monstrous Step image 2.5 This is another situational card with Cycling. When this works, it can devastate your opponent. When it is useless (and it will be more often than not) you can Cycle it.
Mysterious Egg image 1.0 The flavor is cool and all, but I feel like you’d rather have a more exciting ability for Mutate, and a more exciting fail case than one mana 0/2.
Survivors' Bond image 2.0 If you can set this up reliably to get two cards back from your graveyard, it is a decent thing to have a singleton copy of, since in the late game it can really pull you ahead.
Lurking Deadeye image 3.0 These kinds of creatures are not normally something I am very impressed with – that is, creatures who kill something that has been dealt damage. This is because often-times making sure you damage something is difficult, and sometimes even when you do you have to give up a card to do it, so the window where this does something is not as high as you would like. However, this one has Flash, and that means that you will be able to find situations where it does its things more often than not. And even if you aren’t managing to kill something with the ability, sometimes flashing in a 4/2 to kill their X/4 is just fine too.
Savai Sabertooth image 2.0 Two mana 3/1s tend to be fine two drops for aggressive decks.
Forest image
Pack 1 Pick 11: Blitz Leech
Essence Symbiote image 3.0 This is a Grizzly Bears with some nice upside. Making mutate creatures bigger and gaining you a bit of life is a very real bonus. And, I think your average Green deck will probably have 3-5 cards with Mutate, so it will be triggering regularly in most decks in this format. Something to keep in mind too, is that if you Mutate ON to this, it will start putting counters on the new Mutate creature, something that might be the ideal path to take sometimes
Blitz Leech image 2.5 This has an ugly stat-line, but by adding Flash and a nice ETB trigger to the mix, it really overcomes that. You can flash this into kill an X/2, and then use the 5/2 body to block something bigger, and that’s a 2-for-1! Sure, it is kind of an expensive one, but that’s real upside. Now, it won’t always be able to do that for you, and it is a little situational, but still -- I basically always like the first copy of this in my Black decks. Going beyond that is a bit much because of the high mana cost though.
Spelleater Wolverine image 2.5 This is a nice little aggressive creature in this format, and it slots quite nicely into UR spells, but also into RW Cycling decks, since they tend to throw all kinds of cards with Cycling into the graveyard, including a bunch of instants and sorceries! Basically, it is way easier to get double strike online here than it looks.
Aegis Turtle image 1.0 Purely defensive creatures like this just aren’t worth it these days. Sure, it is an early non-Human you can Mutate on to in a hurry, but you’d much rather be Mutating on to something that gives you some sort of ability, instead of just being a vehicle on which to mutate.
Dismal Backwater image 3.0 As always, these provide nice fixing, and the 1 life is a solid bonus.
Pack 1 Pick 12: Unlikely Aid
Barrier Breach image 2.5 This is another situational card that would normally be unplayable, but Cycling means that you’ll play it a decent amount of the time.
Honey Mammoth image 2.5 It isn’t exciting, but a 6-mana 6/6 that gains you 4 life can go a long way towards helping you stabilize against more aggressive decks.
Unlikely Aid image 2.0 While the boost it gives is not permanent, 2 power + indestructible is going to make a wider variety of creatures win combat in a wider variety of situations. Because of indestructible, you can use it in response to removal and things like that too if it comes up. Now, this is STILL a trick, and I have a hard time ever really loving them because they are situational and somewhat risky, but this is a trick you’ll play a significant amount of the time.
Mountain image
Pack 1 Pick 13: Heightened Reflexes
Heightened Reflexes image 1.5 When tricks cost one mana, I start to get interested, as the pain of getting 2-for-1’s is no longer accompanied with a big tempo hit, and it is just easier to have the spare mana around. Still, this boost isn’t amazing -- +1/+0 and First Strike will win a fair number of combats, but it isn’t really a boost that makes it happen enough.
Savai Sabertooth image 2.0 Two mana 3/1s tend to be fine two drops for aggressive decks.
Swamp image
Pack 1 Pick 14: Fully Grown
Fully Grown image 1.5 I have a hard time liking 3-mana combat tricks in most situations. It makes the risk of a blowout even more painful because of the extra mana you’re paying. And sure, +3/+3 will frequently be enough to win combat, and it is nice that the creature permanently gets Trample, instead of just temporarily, but tricks are just so situational, that I really only like the idea of them at lower mana costs in most cases.
Mountain image
Pack 1 Pick 15: Forest
Forest image
Pack 2 Pick 1: Labyrinth Raptor
Labyrinth Raptor image 3.5 This is a powerful little two-drop. A two mana 2/2 Menace is already a solid playable, probably at least a C -- but this brings far more to the table! Making your opponent sacrifice one of the creatures blocking it means that your opponent has to have a way to do lethal damage to the Raptor with just one of the blocking creatures. In short, that makes it a lot harder to set up the necessary double-block -- especially because the Raptor can pump its power and the power of other Menace creatures.
Auspicious Starrix image 4.5 This is pretty silly for an Uncommon. It definitely feels like it could have been a Rare as a result of how complex and powerful it is. So, let’s break this down. At worst, you have a 5-mana 6/6. But this gives you SO much more! If you pay its Mutate cost, or mutate something else on to it, it has a very powerful Mutate trigger that lets you put permanents on to the battlefield for free! You can also make sure it Mutates that first time by paying the Mutate cost for it and putting it on one of your creatures. The first time it Mutates, you get the top permanent from your library -- and sure, good chance it is a land, but a free land isn’t a bad thing. You also have a reasonable chance of hitting something real. Then, if you really stack the Mutate high here, things will get really silly. The free permanents really offset the risk of going all in one mutate creature -- and this is really what the Starrix wants you to be doing.
Pollywog Symbiote image 3.0 A two mana ⅓ that reduces the cost of cards with Mutate would probably be a nice payoff to have in Mutate-heavy decks. It gets even better since the Symbiote lets you loot whenever it mutates, which is pretty great.
Flourishing Fox image 4.0 This is one of the premier cycling payoffs, since if you play it on turn one it can huge quite rapidly. It also has Cycling itself, so if you draw it late and you have another Cycling payoff you’re trying to win with, you can just cycle it away!
Drannith Stinger image 4.0 5-mana for a 5/4 Reach is fairly passable, and adding a rummage mutate effect is fine.
Mosscoat Goriak image 2.0 This is some decent stats for three mana, especially because with Vigilance, he will often be able to attack on boards where he also happens to be a good blocker, and Vigilance lets him do both.
Capture Sphere image 3.5 This is usually not quite premium removal since it is kind of expensive and doesn’t take away static abilities. However, in a set loaded up with Mutate, it gets a lot better, as sometimes your opponent will be taking the risk of mutating, but suddenly that means Capture Sphere can effectively give you a 2-for-1.
Nightsquad Commando image 2.5 So, if this was a 3-mana 2/3 who always gave you that 1/1 would be quite nice. However, you have to fulfill the “Raid” trigger here to get that 1/1. And while that’s not the craziest hoop to jump through, it won’t always be worth it.
Essence Symbiote image 3.0 This is a Grizzly Bears with some nice upside. Making mutate creatures bigger and gaining you a bit of life is a very real bonus. And, I think your average Green deck will probably have 3-5 cards with Mutate, so it will be triggering regularly in most decks in this format. Something to keep in mind too, is that if you Mutate ON to this, it will start putting counters on the new Mutate creature, something that might be the ideal path to take sometimes
Snare Tactician image 4.0 A premium Cycling payoff, this one allows you to make the game go long by tapping down opposing things on the opponent’s turn, or it allows your Tactician and other friends to get in for a bunch of damage by tapping down blockers on your turn.
Hampering Snare image 2.5 Like all one-mana cyclers, this is much better than it looks! It has a very situational effect when you cast it as a spell – but the thing is, when you can take advantage of that effect it feels really good. When you can’t, you can just Cycle it away!
Greater Sandwurm image 3.5 This is an imposing presence if you can play it as a creature – but it is super expensive! The good news is that it has Cycling, so you can just throw it away early. This especially potent in the BG reanimator deck, as this is something you can throw away on turn two, and then reanimate on turn 4 or 5, which is often enough to win the game.
Springjaw Trap image 1.5 You’ll play this if you end up with enough flash in UB, or if you’re desperate for removal, OR if you have Lurrus. But that’s pretty much it.
Maned Serval image 1.5 This is a reasonably efficient French Vanilla creature that it is okay to mutate on top of.
Mountain image
Pack 2 Pick 2: Valiant Rescuer
Sanctuary Smasher image 4.0 A 6-mana 6/4 First Strike is already a pretty nice creature in Limited -- it is hard for opponent’s to set up advantageous blocks on this, and even if you’re behind, First Strike allows this thing to block pretty effectiely too! Then you add the Cycling ability -- which even if it did nothing else would be a nice thing to add to this creature, since you could get rid of it if you were desperate for a land drop and nowhere near the six mana -- but this Cycling ability actually does something, and it is something that can completely alter combat. Giving First Strike to something at Instant speed is nice, especially when it is attached to a creature who can be a scary attacker in the late game. So yeah, I think this is pretty awesome, and definitely worth a first pick.
Blitz of the Thunder-Raptor image 1.5 // 3.5 So, you probably need at least two instants and sorceries in your graveyard for this to feel like it is worth it, and once you get 3 or more you will really be in business. The fact it exiles stuff isn’t going to be HUGE in this format, but it will matter sometimes. So, the problem with a card like this is usually that it is effectively blank, or almost blank for much of the early game, and that can be a pretty big problem! I also think you really need to be a spell-heavy deck to really take advantage of it, because those decks will make it stop being a blank card more consistently and earlier in most cases. I don’t think it is a foregone conclusion that Red decks will have the necessary 7+ Instants and Sorceries to make Blitz of the Thunder-Raptor make sense, and I think that your average deck that probably has 3-5 instants and sorceries will probably not be getting the best out of it.
Valiant Rescuer image 4.0 This is a premium Cycling payoff, as it can rapidly flood the board with tokens to overwhelm your opponent. And, it has Cycling too, which means if you are trying to win the game with other Cycling payoffs, you can just cycle it away!
Frostveil Ambush image 3.0 Like all one-mana cyclers, this is much better than it looks! It has a very situational effect when you cast it as a spell – but the thing is, when you can take advantage of that effect it feels really good. When you can’t, you can just Cycle it away!
Frenzied Raptor image 1.5 Vanilla 3-mana 4/2s will make the cut sometimes, but you kind of hope they don’t.
Essence Symbiote image 3.0 This is a Grizzly Bears with some nice upside. Making mutate creatures bigger and gaining you a bit of life is a very real bonus. And, I think your average Green deck will probably have 3-5 cards with Mutate, so it will be triggering regularly in most decks in this format. Something to keep in mind too, is that if you Mutate ON to this, it will start putting counters on the new Mutate creature, something that might be the ideal path to take sometimes
Perimeter Sergeant image 2.5 This is a decent payoff for going wide with Humans, but don’t expect it to survive that first swing!
Startling Development image 3.0 Another highly situational card with one mana cycling, Startling Development is much better than it looks. The 4/4 part will come up sometimes, and when it does it will be nice! But yeah, the real power here comes from being able to Cycle away for one mana.
Fully Grown image 1.5 I have a hard time liking 3-mana combat tricks in most situations. It makes the risk of a blowout even more painful because of the extra mana you’re paying. And sure, +3/+3 will frequently be enough to win combat, and it is nice that the creature permanently gets Trample, instead of just temporarily, but tricks are just so situational, that I really only like the idea of them at lower mana costs in most cases.
Savai Sabertooth image 2.0 Two mana 3/1s tend to be fine two drops for aggressive decks.
Sleeper Dart image 1.0 This isn’t great, and is basically only the kind of card you run when you don’t have enough playables. It replaces itself, but the effect it has is really negligible.
Vulpikeet image 2.5 This starts out with some pretty unimpressive stats, but the real value here comes from the Mutate, which will often give a pretty nice boost to one of your creatures – Flying AND a +1/+1 counter. Now, Mutate is inherently risky, and this isn’t the kind of mutate card that gives you some sort of value that sticks around no matter what – this will just die, and that will suck sometimes, but this can also be a pretty nice card for aggro decks trying to win in a hurry.
Dead Weight image 3.5 This is always premium removal when we see it! You’ll usually be able to spend one mana to kill a 2-4 mana creature, and that’s always good.
Blossoming Sands image 3.0 As always, these provide nice fixing, and the 1 life is a solid bonus.
Pack 2 Pick 3: Dead Weight
Indatha Crystal image 2.5 The crystals all provide good fixing – something you want a lot of the time in this format – and they all have Cycling, which means when you draw one and don’t really need the fixing, you can just throw it away to draw another card.
Trumpeting Gnarr image 4.0 A 3-mana 3/3 is a nice baseline, and then this has a Mutate ability that offsets the risk of getting 2-for-1’d since it makes you a token every time. That mutate ability definitely isn’t efficient, but you’ll be surprised at how good it feels despite that
Glimmerbell image 2.0 This is here to be something sweet to Mutate on to, especially early. The Flying and Untap ability on a much larger creature can feel pretty good! It has a decent fail case too.
Hampering Snare image 2.5 Like all one-mana cyclers, this is much better than it looks! It has a very situational effect when you cast it as a spell – but the thing is, when you can take advantage of that effect it feels really good. When you can’t, you can just Cycle it away!
Thwart the Enemy image 0.0 Fogs are bad in Limited. Next!
Solid Footing image 1.5 This is an interesting Vigilance payoff, and you’ll play it sometimes if you have enough Vigilance, because in those scenarios it gives a big boost for only one mana. You’ll cut this a lot, though.
Divine Arrow image 3.0 This is certainly situational, but also fairly efficient. You’re going to be spending only two mana to kill something, which will usually be less than your opponent paid for their creature. It might fall a little short of premium, but it is a nice removal spell.
Savai Sabertooth image 2.0 Two mana 3/1s tend to be fine two drops for aggressive decks.
Suffocating Fumes image 3.0 Another card upgraded considerably by cycling. Giving your opponent’s team -1/-1 until end of turn will sometimes have a big impact, either cause it kills their X/1s outright, or you can use it to really mess up combat for your opponent. But about half the time, and maybe more, it doesn’t do anything significant, and that’s when you can Cycle it.
Almighty Brushwagg image 2.5 This card is a real overperformer. A one-mana 1/1 with Trample is pretty laughable, but the ability is surprisingly effective, and you end up in situations where you can use it twice more often than you’d think! The Brushwagg is also great for mutating on to, since Trample and that ability are much better served on a larger creature.
Rumbling Rockslide image 3.0 This is pretty clunky as a 4-mana Sorcery, but it does scale as the game goes on, and can deal with virtually any creature, provided you get some lands in play.
Dead Weight image 3.5 This is always premium removal when we see it! You’ll usually be able to spend one mana to kill a 2-4 mana creature, and that’s always good.
Tranquil Cove image 3.0 As always, these provide nice fixing, and the 1 life is a solid bonus.
Pack 2 Pick 4: Vulpikeet
Boon of the Wish-Giver image 3.5 If the Boon was just a 6-mana draw 4 it wouldn’t be great -- it would mean the only thing the card can do is tap you out for a turn, and while drawing 4 is awesome, not adding to the board is sometimes not an option. Basically this is a split card. The 6-mana sorcery, and a one-mana Instant that draws you a card. Both options will be nice sometimes – and of course, Cycling is extra good in this set because of all the payoffs.
Prickly Marmoset image 3.5 This is another very good Cycling payoff who can make life a nightmare for your opponent. Every single time you attack with this your opponent has to make a choice between potentially taking a ton of damage to the face, or throwing a creature in front of it that will probably just die, since First Strike and even just one +2/+0 is enough to make the Marmoset win combat most of the time.
Farfinder image 3.5 We have seen cards like Skittering Surveyor and Pilgrim’s Eye be really nice sources of fixing in the past. And this set is a wedge set, where splashing a third color and even straight up playing a third color will happen a decent chunk of the time. On top of that, this is not the worst thing to Mutate on top of, since it at least gives your new monster the Vigilance keyword.
Unexpected Fangs image 1.5 As a trick, it gives a pretty mediocre stats boost, even if the counter is permanent. The best tricks drastically increase the chance of your creature winning in combat, and this just won’t line up that way often enough. Lifelink permanently is something I can get behind, but I feel like this trick has all the usual risks tricks have, without really being worth it.
Wingfold Pteron image 2.0 A 6-mana 3/6 with Hexproof, or a 6 mana 3/6 with Flying would be a kind of playable card already, at least in slower decks. But, the fact that this gives you flexibility is great. It can be especially nice t to name Hexproof with this, so that I have an excellent place to put a bunch of other keyword counters and/or Auras. Just going full Voltron on the Pteron with Mutate seems fun too.
Plummet image 0.5 This is a sideboard card, like usual.
Hampering Snare image 2.5 Like all one-mana cyclers, this is much better than it looks! It has a very situational effect when you cast it as a spell – but the thing is, when you can take advantage of that effect it feels really good. When you can’t, you can just Cycle it away!
Mutual Destruction image 1.5 So, this is Bone Splinters that has flash on occasion. Bone Splinters is never great, but it is passable when you need removal, especially in a deck with lots of expendable bodies. If you can give this Flash it does get significantly better, because then you can do it in response to removal and stuff like that. Still, it isn’t that easy to set that up.
Vulpikeet image 2.5 This starts out with some pretty unimpressive stats, but the real value here comes from the Mutate, which will often give a pretty nice boost to one of your creatures – Flying AND a +1/+1 counter. Now, Mutate is inherently risky, and this isn’t the kind of mutate card that gives you some sort of value that sticks around no matter what – this will just die, and that will suck sometimes, but this can also be a pretty nice card for aggro decks trying to win in a hurry.
Checkpoint Officer image 3.5 This isn’t QUITE Master Decoy -- they are identical other than that this costs an additional mana to tap stuff down -- but that’s close enough to Master Decoy to still be a pretty high quality common. Tap effects tend to be great, and it is a kind of pseudo-removal that is good all game long. It is better than usual in this format that is loaded up with huge monsters and Mutate, where tapping down one guy is bigger than it normally would.
Fully Grown image 1.5 I have a hard time liking 3-mana combat tricks in most situations. It makes the risk of a blowout even more painful because of the extra mana you’re paying. And sure, +3/+3 will frequently be enough to win combat, and it is nice that the creature permanently gets Trample, instead of just temporarily, but tricks are just so situational, that I really only like the idea of them at lower mana costs in most cases.
Island image
Pack 2 Pick 5: Call of the Death-Dweller
Savai Crystal image 2.5 The crystals all provide good fixing – something you want a lot of the time in this format – and they all have Cycling, which means when you draw one and don’t really need the fixing, you can just throw it away to draw another card.
Call of the Death-Dweller image 2.0 This takes some significant set up, and it is kind of difficult to actually load up your graveyard the way it wants you to. Sure, paying 3 to get back a 3/3 and give it those counters is nice, but it will be challenging to really make anything more than that happen, and even that is far from guaranteed. This format does have a reanimator deck, but it really prefers the cards that can reanimate big bois.
Evolving Wilds image 3.0 As always, this provides excellent fixing. It lets you splash a card off of only a single basic land, and that’s great consistency. Even in a two color deck, the impact it has on your mana is substantial.
Thieving Otter image 2.5 A 3-mana 2/2 that draws you a card when it hits the opponent would probably normally be kind of alright. It has a great ability, but actually getting in to draw you that card is difficult pretty much all game. But, this isn’t an ordinary format. There are keyword counters all over the place, and of course there is mutate. Playing this on turn 3, and then mutating something on to it later that has more size and/or abilities is going to feel pretty good. You still are dealing with a kind of ugly fail case on this little guy, but I think the upside is real enough that you end up playing this in most of your Blue decks, and it may even be better than that if you have enough Mutate going on. One combo with a couple of Commons is to play Otter turn 3, and then mutate the Heron onto it on turn 4 -- suddenly you have a ¾ flyer that draws you a card when it mutates and when it hits the opponent. This will happen a lot in this format.
Garrison Cat image 1.5 This is a one drop that replaces itself, which isn’t too bad. It is also something you can mutate on to very early, and still getting a 1/1 when your mutated creature dies is okay upside. You still won’t play this most of the time, but it can be passable.
Blazing Volley image 0.5 This is a sideboard card. There just aren’t enough things this kills for it to be a main deck card in this format.
Cavern Whisperer image 2.5 So, a 5-mana 4/4 with Menace would make the cut a significant amount of the time. This also has a solid Mutate trigger, albeit one of the less exciting ones around, especially because its efficacy decreases as the game goes on. But hey, it can also lend Menace to a creature it Mutates on to! Or you can use it as the creature on top to make a 4/4 menace out of one of your creatures’. Still, costing 5 to mutate for an underwhelming trigger isn’t great, even if you’re upgrading a creature at the same time.
Forbidden Friendship image 2.5 This is a reasonable deal for two bodies, and will help decks that want to go wide. It is a mostly better Krenko’s Command, since the dinosaur gets to have Haste, and that card is always just fine.
Flycatcher Giraffid image 2.0 Neither option here is great, but neither is bad, either.
Spontaneous Flight image 1.5 The best tricks cost very little mana, and this doesn’t really deliver there. Still, it does give a pretty nice boost and permanently gives your creature Flying. That last part means that it can help you get in for lethal, or really alter a race in a hurry. Still, it has all the risks that tricks have – it is situational and you risk getting 2-for-1’d.
Rugged Highlands image 3.0 As always, these provide nice fixing, and the 1 life is a solid bonus.
Pack 2 Pick 6: Porcuparrot
Zagoth Crystal image 2.5 The crystals all provide good fixing – something you want a lot of the time in this format – and they all have Cycling, which means when you draw one and don’t really need the fixing, you can just throw it away to draw another card.
Porcuparrot image 2.5 Mutating this on to your two drop and turning it into a pinger sounds pretty nice. And yeah, this is part of the cycle of mutate creatures that really pays you off for going tall with Mutate, but that seems pretty dangerous here -- though the idea of being able to do 2+ damage to things with this ability is pretty awesome. Still though, I have a hard time being super high on any of the Mutate creatures who don’t mitigate against the 2-for-1 for you -- this can sort of do it, if you pick off some 1/1s, but that still won’t feel amazing or anything.
Pyroceratops image 3.0 This is a nice spell payoff that can big in a hurry, which feels good when you have Trample along for the ride.
Dark Bargain image 1.5 We see this kind of card a lot, and it is always pretty medium. Even in a set with a graveyard deck, I’m not super pumped about this because of the cost.
Thwart the Enemy image 0.0 Fogs are bad in Limited. Next!
Crystacean image 1.5 This is supposed to be here for the UB flash deck, but that deck just doesn’t come together that often, and this has a pretty mediocre floor.
Coordinated Charge image 2.5 All the cards with Cycling in this set are way better than they look. They are functionally split cards that you can just cycle when what they do doesn’t matter. Plus, if you’re in RW you’re really looking for a critical mass of these and will just jam all of them into your deck. And..yeah, sometimes this effect doesn’t matter, since you need to be going wide. But you can just cycle it away! Then, when it does matter, it will feel pretty great.
Mosscoat Goriak image 2.0 This is some decent stats for three mana, especially because with Vigilance, he will often be able to attack on boards where he also happens to be a good blocker, and Vigilance lets him do both.
Springjaw Trap image 1.5 You’ll play this if you end up with enough flash in UB, or if you’re desperate for removal, OR if you have Lurrus. But that’s pretty much it.
Jungle Hollow image 3.0 As always, these provide nice fixing, and the 1 life is a solid bonus.
Pack 2 Pick 7: Imposing Vantasaur
Bristling Boar image 2.5 Making it so the only way it dies in combat is if your opponent has one creature that can do 3 damage is surprisingly effective, and grants it an evasive ability -- albeit a weak one. A 4-mana 4/3 is usually playable-ish anyway, and the upside here is real.
Imposing Vantasaur image 3.0 Like all one-mana cyclers, this is a pretty high pick, and way better than it looks! It can be a big defensive creature if that’s what you need, but you can also just throw it away to look for something better – while also triggering all of your cycling payoffs.
Heightened Reflexes image 1.5 When tricks cost one mana, I start to get interested, as the pain of getting 2-for-1’s is no longer accompanied with a big tempo hit, and it is just easier to have the spare mana around. Still, this boost isn’t amazing -- +1/+0 and First Strike will win a fair number of combats, but it isn’t really a boost that makes it happen enough.
Almighty Brushwagg image 2.5 This card is a real overperformer. A one-mana 1/1 with Trample is pretty laughable, but the ability is surprisingly effective, and you end up in situations where you can use it twice more often than you’d think! The Brushwagg is also great for mutating on to, since Trample and that ability are much better served on a larger creature.
Phase Dolphin image 2.5 This is a decent creature early since it can help others get in, and it can be particularly nice to mutate on to.
Honey Mammoth image 2.5 It isn’t exciting, but a 6-mana 6/6 that gains you 4 life can go a long way towards helping you stabilize against more aggressive decks.
Sleeper Dart image 1.0 This isn’t great, and is basically only the kind of card you run when you don’t have enough playables. It replaces itself, but the effect it has is really negligible.
Memory Leak image 3.5 This is a situational discard effect that becomes useless in the late game. However! It has Cycling 1, and that gives everything a big upgrade in this format – you can cycle it away when it doesn’t do a thing, and when it can do a thing it isn’t too shabby.
Forest image
Pack 2 Pick 8: Imposing Vantasaur
Indatha Crystal image 2.5 The crystals all provide good fixing – something you want a lot of the time in this format – and they all have Cycling, which means when you draw one and don’t really need the fixing, you can just throw it away to draw another card.
Imposing Vantasaur image 3.0 Like all one-mana cyclers, this is a pretty high pick, and way better than it looks! It can be a big defensive creature if that’s what you need, but you can also just throw it away to look for something better – while also triggering all of your cycling payoffs.
Thwart the Enemy image 0.0 Fogs are bad in Limited. Next!
Nightsquad Commando image 2.5 So, if this was a 3-mana 2/3 who always gave you that 1/1 would be quite nice. However, you have to fulfill the “Raid” trigger here to get that 1/1. And while that’s not the craziest hoop to jump through, it won’t always be worth it.
Heightened Reflexes image 1.5 When tricks cost one mana, I start to get interested, as the pain of getting 2-for-1’s is no longer accompanied with a big tempo hit, and it is just easier to have the spare mana around. Still, this boost isn’t amazing -- +1/+0 and First Strike will win a fair number of combats, but it isn’t really a boost that makes it happen enough.
Hampering Snare image 2.5 Like all one-mana cyclers, this is much better than it looks! It has a very situational effect when you cast it as a spell – but the thing is, when you can take advantage of that effect it feels really good. When you can’t, you can just Cycle it away!
Keep Safe image 1.5 There will be times where this feel amazing -- you counter the spell that targets one of your creatures and draw a card -- that’s a 2-for-1! But unfortunately, that actually lining up is far from guaranteed. Still, in this format with mutate creatures, you’re a little more interested in this than you would be in other formats, since you are often taking a big risk to mutate, and this can help protect your creature. Still, you won’t play this most of the time.
Swiftwater Cliffs image 3.0 As always, these provide nice fixing, and the 1 life is a solid bonus.
Pack 2 Pick 9: Nightsquad Commando
Pollywog Symbiote image 3.0 A two mana ⅓ that reduces the cost of cards with Mutate would probably be a nice payoff to have in Mutate-heavy decks. It gets even better since the Symbiote lets you loot whenever it mutates, which is pretty great.
Mosscoat Goriak image 2.0 This is some decent stats for three mana, especially because with Vigilance, he will often be able to attack on boards where he also happens to be a good blocker, and Vigilance lets him do both.
Nightsquad Commando image 2.5 So, if this was a 3-mana 2/3 who always gave you that 1/1 would be quite nice. However, you have to fulfill the “Raid” trigger here to get that 1/1. And while that’s not the craziest hoop to jump through, it won’t always be worth it.
Hampering Snare image 2.5 Like all one-mana cyclers, this is much better than it looks! It has a very situational effect when you cast it as a spell – but the thing is, when you can take advantage of that effect it feels really good. When you can’t, you can just Cycle it away!
Springjaw Trap image 1.5 You’ll play this if you end up with enough flash in UB, or if you’re desperate for removal, OR if you have Lurrus. But that’s pretty much it.
Maned Serval image 1.5 This is a reasonably efficient French Vanilla creature that it is okay to mutate on top of.
Mountain image
Pack 2 Pick 10: Perimeter Sergeant
Frenzied Raptor image 1.5 Vanilla 3-mana 4/2s will make the cut sometimes, but you kind of hope they don’t.
Perimeter Sergeant image 2.5 This is a decent payoff for going wide with Humans, but don’t expect it to survive that first swing!
Fully Grown image 1.5 I have a hard time liking 3-mana combat tricks in most situations. It makes the risk of a blowout even more painful because of the extra mana you’re paying. And sure, +3/+3 will frequently be enough to win combat, and it is nice that the creature permanently gets Trample, instead of just temporarily, but tricks are just so situational, that I really only like the idea of them at lower mana costs in most cases.
Savai Sabertooth image 2.0 Two mana 3/1s tend to be fine two drops for aggressive decks.
Sleeper Dart image 1.0 This isn’t great, and is basically only the kind of card you run when you don’t have enough playables. It replaces itself, but the effect it has is really negligible.
Blossoming Sands image 3.0 As always, these provide nice fixing, and the 1 life is a solid bonus.
Pack 2 Pick 11: Solid Footing
Thwart the Enemy image 0.0 Fogs are bad in Limited. Next!
Solid Footing image 1.5 This is an interesting Vigilance payoff, and you’ll play it sometimes if you have enough Vigilance, because in those scenarios it gives a big boost for only one mana. You’ll cut this a lot, though.
Savai Sabertooth image 2.0 Two mana 3/1s tend to be fine two drops for aggressive decks.
Suffocating Fumes image 3.0 Another card upgraded considerably by cycling. Giving your opponent’s team -1/-1 until end of turn will sometimes have a big impact, either cause it kills their X/1s outright, or you can use it to really mess up combat for your opponent. But about half the time, and maybe more, it doesn’t do anything significant, and that’s when you can Cycle it.
Tranquil Cove image 3.0 As always, these provide nice fixing, and the 1 life is a solid bonus.
Pack 2 Pick 12: Plummet
Wingfold Pteron image 2.0 A 6-mana 3/6 with Hexproof, or a 6 mana 3/6 with Flying would be a kind of playable card already, at least in slower decks. But, the fact that this gives you flexibility is great. It can be especially nice t to name Hexproof with this, so that I have an excellent place to put a bunch of other keyword counters and/or Auras. Just going full Voltron on the Pteron with Mutate seems fun too.
Plummet image 0.5 This is a sideboard card, like usual.
Checkpoint Officer image 3.5 This isn’t QUITE Master Decoy -- they are identical other than that this costs an additional mana to tap stuff down -- but that’s close enough to Master Decoy to still be a pretty high quality common. Tap effects tend to be great, and it is a kind of pseudo-removal that is good all game long. It is better than usual in this format that is loaded up with huge monsters and Mutate, where tapping down one guy is bigger than it normally would.
Island image
Pack 2 Pick 13: Savai Crystal
Savai Crystal image 2.5 The crystals all provide good fixing – something you want a lot of the time in this format – and they all have Cycling, which means when you draw one and don’t really need the fixing, you can just throw it away to draw another card.
Blazing Volley image 0.5 This is a sideboard card. There just aren’t enough things this kills for it to be a main deck card in this format.
Spontaneous Flight image 1.5 The best tricks cost very little mana, and this doesn’t really deliver there. Still, it does give a pretty nice boost and permanently gives your creature Flying. That last part means that it can help you get in for lethal, or really alter a race in a hurry. Still, it has all the risks that tricks have – it is situational and you risk getting 2-for-1’d.
Pack 2 Pick 14: Thwart the Enemy
Thwart the Enemy image 0.0 Fogs are bad in Limited. Next!
Jungle Hollow image 3.0 As always, these provide nice fixing, and the 1 life is a solid bonus.
Pack 2 Pick 15: Forest
Forest image
Pack 3 Pick 1: Splendor Mare
Offspring's Revenge image 0.0 You won’t be able to make this work.
Barrier Breach image 2.5 This is another situational card that would normally be unplayable, but Cycling means that you’ll play it a decent amount of the time.
Splendor Mare image 3.5 A three mana 3/3 with lifelink is probably already a nice card in Limited, then you add the Cycling upside here and you have something really nice. Paying 1W to draw a card and permanently give something life link is a nice option to have in addition to just having an efficient creature.
Lore Drakkis image 3.5 So, getting an instant or sorcery back from the yard is a pretty nice mutate trigger, but the actual creature here is nothing very impressive. However, spending two Hybrid Red/Blue mana to get an instant or sorcery back from the graveyard is a nice rate, and of course it means that the more you mutate in one stack, the more times you get to do it. So yeah, the real draw here is the trigger, which means you will mutate this under stuff most of the time -- and in a fail case it is a 3-mana 2/2 that can give you some mutate value later on in the game.
Blisterspit Gremlin image 2.0 This can ping stuff repeatedly, but having to use mana to do it does downgrade it significantly from similar cards we have seen.
Frost Lynx image 3.5 This type of tempo creature is always great for Blue. You get to add a 2/2 to your board while significantly impacting the board state. Tapping something down could mean that you suddenly have really good attacks. It could also mean that you buy yourself some time against an aggro deck.
Patagia Tiger image 2.5 A 5-mana ¾ Flyer is usually a serviceable card in Limited.. This brings some pretty real additional upside, in that it can pump humans. White and Black especially have a lot of humans, and in those decks this will be a nice common because it will frequently give one of your Humans an attack that wouldn’t have worked before the Tiger came down.
Ram Through image 4.0 This is a great removal spell for Green. First, it is NOT a fight card, but a “punch” card – that is, your creature damages the opposing creature, but it doesn’t get damaged itself! That makes it much less risky, even if you do need to be a little careful, since if your creature that is Ramming Through gets killed in response, you get 2-for-1’d. But the upside here is well worth that! As an Instant, you will more easily find situations that aren’t risky, AND it has the Trample upside that will sometimes be crazy. This is premium removal.
Shredded Sails image 3.0 I like the modality this has. It has two very sideboardy effects -- you won’t always have an artifact of a creature with Flying to hit with it, but between both being on this card you have a decentish chance of your opponent having a few targets. On top of that, it has Cycling -- so if you end up with some sweet Cycling payoffs, it is even more likely to be useful for your deck.
Drannith Stinger image 4.0 5-mana for a 5/4 Reach is fairly passable, and adding a rummage mutate effect is fine.
Go for Blood image 4.0 Two mana for Instant speed Fight is already a card that would make the cut, and adding Cycling 1 to this makes it way better!
Flycatcher Giraffid image 2.0 Neither option here is great, but neither is bad, either.
Memory Leak image 3.5 This is a situational discard effect that becomes useless in the late game. However! It has Cycling 1, and that gives everything a big upgrade in this format – you can cycle it away when it doesn’t do a thing, and when it can do a thing it isn’t too shabby.
Of One Mind image 3.0 I am usually interested in running one Divination in most Limited formats, and this is a strictly better one since its cost can be reduced. If you are consistently casting this for one, it will be absolutely silly -- but the requirement it asks for, while doable, isn’t the kind of thing that will just always be the case.
Scoured Barrens image 3.0 As always, these provide nice fixing, and the 1 life is a solid bonus.
Pack 3 Pick 2: Chittering Harvester
Reptilian Reflection image 2.5 Most of the Red and White Cycling payoffs are really crazy good, but Reptilian Reflection is a bit worse than the others, mostly because it is so bad when you don’t have Cycling around. The other Cycling payoffs still do stuff when you can’t cycle, but this just sits on the table doing nothing! It also doesn’t pay you off for Cycling multiple times in a turn like the others. Still, it isn’t bad, just merely a solid Cycling payoff instead of a crazy good one. When it can really get going, it can put your opponent in a horrible situation.
Dire Tactics image 3.5 Well, exiling a creature for two mana is pretty awesome, especially at Instant speed. And sure, you might lose some life from it -- but if your deck has Humans in it -- and BW is one of the Humans color pairs -- you might not even have to deal with that downside!
Chittering Harvester image 2.5 So, Edict effects may be extra good in a format with Mutate, since people will more frequently not be going wide as a result. But Edict effects can really let you down by the later part of the game -- like turn 5 when you play this. It can also have a nice effect -- but I mean, is making a creature into a 4/6 for 5 mana, while making your opponent sac something really that great? I don’t think it is. Making your opponent lose their worst creature is pretty close to irrelevant on many boards by that point. Sure, if you stack Mutating it gets sillier, but I’m still not in love with this one.
Mysterious Egg image 1.0 The flavor is cool and all, but I feel like you’d rather have a more exciting ability for Mutate, and a more exciting fail case than one mana 0/2.
Humble Naturalist image 3.0 This is a mana creature with okay stats, and those always tend to be nice inclusions in Limited Green decks.
Mutual Destruction image 1.5 So, this is Bone Splinters that has flash on occasion. Bone Splinters is never great, but it is passable when you need removal, especially in a deck with lots of expendable bodies. If you can give this Flash it does get significantly better, because then you can do it in response to removal and stuff like that. Still, it isn’t that easy to set that up.
Aegis Turtle image 1.0 Purely defensive creatures like this just aren’t worth it these days. Sure, it is an early non-Human you can Mutate on to in a hurry, but you’d much rather be Mutating on to something that gives you some sort of ability, instead of just being a vehicle on which to mutate.
Cloudpiercer image 2.5 5-mana for a 5/4 Reach is fairly passable, and adding a rummage mutate effect is fine.
Dark Bargain image 1.5 We see this kind of card a lot, and it is always pretty medium. Even in a set with a graveyard deck, I’m not super pumped about this because of the cost.
Forbidden Friendship image 2.5 This is a reasonable deal for two bodies, and will help decks that want to go wide. It is a mostly better Krenko’s Command, since the dinosaur gets to have Haste, and that card is always just fine.
Maned Serval image 1.5 This is a reasonably efficient French Vanilla creature that it is okay to mutate on top of.
Blood Curdle image 4.0 This is a great common. 4 mana for instant speed kill anything is something you always play and this permanently gives something lifelink. Sure, sometimes that upside won’t mean much, but sometimes it will really matter -- and when it is stapled to an already premium removal spell, I’m pretty happy about it.
Blade Banish image 2.5 This is situational for sure, but this format has a whole lot of big bois, so it is a little better than usual. It is also an Instant, which means you can sometimes really get a blow out.
Blossoming Sands image 3.0 As always, these provide nice fixing, and the 1 life is a solid bonus.
Pack 3 Pick 3: Checkpoint Officer
Lore Drakkis image 3.5 So, getting an instant or sorcery back from the yard is a pretty nice mutate trigger, but the actual creature here is nothing very impressive. However, spending two Hybrid Red/Blue mana to get an instant or sorcery back from the graveyard is a nice rate, and of course it means that the more you mutate in one stack, the more times you get to do it. So yeah, the real draw here is the trigger, which means you will mutate this under stuff most of the time -- and in a fail case it is a 3-mana 2/2 that can give you some mutate value later on in the game.
Wingspan Mentor image 4.0 A 3-mana 1/3 that gives something permanent Flying is alright nice, and this comes with the added upside of being able to put counters on all your Flyers! This can really take over games, even if you just have one creature to put the counter on.
Honey Mammoth image 2.5 It isn’t exciting, but a 6-mana 6/6 that gains you 4 life can go a long way towards helping you stabilize against more aggressive decks.
Unexpected Fangs image 1.5 As a trick, it gives a pretty mediocre stats boost, even if the counter is permanent. The best tricks drastically increase the chance of your creature winning in combat, and this just won’t line up that way often enough. Lifelink permanently is something I can get behind, but I feel like this trick has all the usual risks tricks have, without really being worth it.
Durable Coilbug image 2.5 This has decent Bear stats, and isn’t a bad mana sink in the late game.
Fire Prophecy image 4.0 Two mana for three damage to a creature at instant speed is already premium, because it tends to be efficient enough to trade up pretty often. But, adding this card selection ability is a nice upgrade It will play much like rummaging would, except that you don’t get the card in the graveyard, so sometimes it will be weaker that rummage, but most of the time you wouldn’t know the difference. This is definitely premium removal -- kills something and then helps you find more gas, and I always like that.
Sleeper Dart image 1.0 This isn’t great, and is basically only the kind of card you run when you don’t have enough playables. It replaces itself, but the effect it has is really negligible.
Divine Arrow image 3.0 This is certainly situational, but also fairly efficient. You’re going to be spending only two mana to kill something, which will usually be less than your opponent paid for their creature. It might fall a little short of premium, but it is a nice removal spell.
Thwart the Enemy image 0.0 Fogs are bad in Limited. Next!
Almighty Brushwagg image 2.5 This card is a real overperformer. A one-mana 1/1 with Trample is pretty laughable, but the ability is surprisingly effective, and you end up in situations where you can use it twice more often than you’d think! The Brushwagg is also great for mutating on to, since Trample and that ability are much better served on a larger creature.
Checkpoint Officer image 3.5 This isn’t QUITE Master Decoy -- they are identical other than that this costs an additional mana to tap stuff down -- but that’s close enough to Master Decoy to still be a pretty high quality common. Tap effects tend to be great, and it is a kind of pseudo-removal that is good all game long. It is better than usual in this format that is loaded up with huge monsters and Mutate, where tapping down one guy is bigger than it normally would.
Essence Scatter image 2.5 Two mana counterspells offset the risks of your opponent playing around it, and even though it can only counter creatures, that’s going to be just fine in this set. This format has more creatures in than normal, too!
Island image
Pack 3 Pick 4: Will of the All-Hunter
Will of the All-Hunter image 2.5 This isn’t an amazing trick, two for +2/+2 is nice, but not something that would even make the cut all that often. The defensive side of things is kind of interesting, in that the boost is permanent if you use it when you’re blocking. The thing that really saves Will of the all-Hunter from being terrible, though, is Cycling! It is a big deal in this set, and that makes this a solid playable for sure.
Back for More image 4.0 There is so much you can do here. Let’s start with the ideal case. Because this is an Instant, you can do something nasty like bring back a big boy who blocks one of their creatures, and also have that creature fight one of their small creatures. If your creature is big enough to take all that damage, you end up with an amazing deal. So yeah, that won’t line up all the time -- but even if your creature dies from the damage, you still take down 2 things of your opponent’s. And then, there’s also the case where all you can do is kill a single creature with the fight effect -- but that’s fine too. So what’s the downside here? Well, you have to have a creature in your graveyard that is worth fighting with, but that’s not hard to do in this format. This is just great.
Blazing Volley image 0.5 This is a sideboard card. There just aren’t enough things this kills for it to be a main deck card in this format.
Mutual Destruction image 1.5 So, this is Bone Splinters that has flash on occasion. Bone Splinters is never great, but it is passable when you need removal, especially in a deck with lots of expendable bodies. If you can give this Flash it does get significantly better, because then you can do it in response to removal and stuff like that. Still, it isn’t that easy to set that up.
Fully Grown image 1.5 I have a hard time liking 3-mana combat tricks in most situations. It makes the risk of a blowout even more painful because of the extra mana you’re paying. And sure, +3/+3 will frequently be enough to win combat, and it is nice that the creature permanently gets Trample, instead of just temporarily, but tricks are just so situational, that I really only like the idea of them at lower mana costs in most cases.
Keep Safe image 1.5 There will be times where this feel amazing -- you counter the spell that targets one of your creatures and draw a card -- that’s a 2-for-1! But unfortunately, that actually lining up is far from guaranteed. Still, in this format with mutate creatures, you’re a little more interested in this than you would be in other formats, since you are often taking a big risk to mutate, and this can help protect your creature. Still, you won’t play this most of the time.
Checkpoint Officer image 3.5 This isn’t QUITE Master Decoy -- they are identical other than that this costs an additional mana to tap stuff down -- but that’s close enough to Master Decoy to still be a pretty high quality common. Tap effects tend to be great, and it is a kind of pseudo-removal that is good all game long. It is better than usual in this format that is loaded up with huge monsters and Mutate, where tapping down one guy is bigger than it normally would.
Dark Bargain image 1.5 We see this kind of card a lot, and it is always pretty medium. Even in a set with a graveyard deck, I’m not super pumped about this because of the cost.
Solid Footing image 1.5 This is an interesting Vigilance payoff, and you’ll play it sometimes if you have enough Vigilance, because in those scenarios it gives a big boost for only one mana. You’ll cut this a lot, though.
Spelleater Wolverine image 2.5 This is a nice little aggressive creature in this format, and it slots quite nicely into UR spells, but also into RW Cycling decks, since they tend to throw all kinds of cards with Cycling into the graveyard, including a bunch of instants and sorceries! Basically, it is way easier to get double strike online here than it looks.
Honey Mammoth image 2.5 It isn’t exciting, but a 6-mana 6/6 that gains you 4 life can go a long way towards helping you stabilize against more aggressive decks.
Thornwood Falls image 3.0 As always, these provide nice fixing, and the 1 life is a solid bonus.
Pack 3 Pick 5: Cavern Whisperer
Call of the Death-Dweller image 2.0 This takes some significant set up, and it is kind of difficult to actually load up your graveyard the way it wants you to. Sure, paying 3 to get back a 3/3 and give it those counters is nice, but it will be challenging to really make anything more than that happen, and even that is far from guaranteed. This format does have a reanimator deck, but it really prefers the cards that can reanimate big bois.
Solid Footing image 1.5 This is an interesting Vigilance payoff, and you’ll play it sometimes if you have enough Vigilance, because in those scenarios it gives a big boost for only one mana. You’ll cut this a lot, though.
Essence Scatter image 2.5 Two mana counterspells offset the risks of your opponent playing around it, and even though it can only counter creatures, that’s going to be just fine in this set. This format has more creatures in than normal, too!
Cathartic Reunion image 1.5 This is a reprint, and one that would be better in a set that has more of a graveyard theme. In this set, it is mostly just a fine 23rd card, like Tormenting Voice effects often are. It is a nice way to dig deeper into your deck, even if you do have some considerable set up costs in discarding two cards.
Savai Sabertooth image 2.0 Two mana 3/1s tend to be fine two drops for aggressive decks.
Coordinated Charge image 2.5 All the cards with Cycling in this set are way better than they look. They are functionally split cards that you can just cycle when what they do doesn’t matter. Plus, if you’re in RW you’re really looking for a critical mass of these and will just jam all of them into your deck. And..yeah, sometimes this effect doesn’t matter, since you need to be going wide. But you can just cycle it away! Then, when it does matter, it will feel pretty great.
Cavern Whisperer image 2.5 So, a 5-mana 4/4 with Menace would make the cut a significant amount of the time. This also has a solid Mutate trigger, albeit one of the less exciting ones around, especially because its efficacy decreases as the game goes on. But hey, it can also lend Menace to a creature it Mutates on to! Or you can use it as the creature on top to make a 4/4 menace out of one of your creatures’. Still, costing 5 to mutate for an underwhelming trigger isn’t great, even if you’re upgrading a creature at the same time.
Dead Weight image 3.5 This is always premium removal when we see it! You’ll usually be able to spend one mana to kill a 2-4 mana creature, and that’s always good.
Migratory Greathorn image 3.0 This is another decent peace of fixing and ramp for Green. Paying 3 mana to put this under something bigger, or on top of something smaller, while also searching up a land is a nice deal to me. It helps you splash while also giving you some Mutate synergy.
Spontaneous Flight image 1.5 The best tricks cost very little mana, and this doesn’t really deliver there. Still, it does give a pretty nice boost and permanently gives your creature Flying. That last part means that it can help you get in for lethal, or really alter a race in a hurry. Still, it has all the risks that tricks have – it is situational and you risk getting 2-for-1’d.
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Pack 3 Pick 6: Ivy Elemental
Ivy Elemental image 1.5 This will never be efficient – you’ll pretty much always feel like you are paying one too much mana for it. Still, it is flexible, it can be a large creature late, and a smaller one early. It also isn’t the worst thing to mutate on to because of those counters.
Bristling Boar image 2.5 Making it so the only way it dies in combat is if your opponent has one creature that can do 3 damage is surprisingly effective, and grants it an evasive ability -- albeit a weak one. A 4-mana 4/3 is usually playable-ish anyway, and the upside here is real.
Raking Claws image 3.0 Another situational card with Cycling, Raking Claws can sometimes do a whole lot as a trick, but when it can’t? Well, just Cycle it away and look for something else.
Facet Reader image 2.0 In a set with Cycling, this type of ability is much less impressive, since a lot of your cards will already be able to do this. It is still fine and will make the cut some, but less often than usual.
Corpse Churn image 2.0 This is mostly here to enable the BG reanimator deck, and it does a decent job of that.
Forbidden Friendship image 2.5 This is a reasonable deal for two bodies, and will help decks that want to go wide. It is a mostly better Krenko’s Command, since the dinosaur gets to have Haste, and that card is always just fine.
Blazing Volley image 0.5 This is a sideboard card. There just aren’t enough things this kills for it to be a main deck card in this format.
Greater Sandwurm image 3.5 This is an imposing presence if you can play it as a creature – but it is super expensive! The good news is that it has Cycling, so you can just throw it away early. This especially potent in the BG reanimator deck, as this is something you can throw away on turn two, and then reanimate on turn 4 or 5, which is often enough to win the game.
Savai Sabertooth image 2.0 Two mana 3/1s tend to be fine two drops for aggressive decks.
Swamp image
Pack 3 Pick 7: Wind-Scarred Crag
Lead the Stampede image 2.0 Most of the time, this will just be Green Divination, which is fine, but not amazing. Sometimes it will draw you more – but sometimes it will also draw you less.
Cathartic Reunion image 1.5 This is a reprint, and one that would be better in a set that has more of a graveyard theme. In this set, it is mostly just a fine 23rd card, like Tormenting Voice effects often are. It is a nice way to dig deeper into your deck, even if you do have some considerable set up costs in discarding two cards.
Aegis Turtle image 1.0 Purely defensive creatures like this just aren’t worth it these days. Sure, it is an early non-Human you can Mutate on to in a hurry, but you’d much rather be Mutating on to something that gives you some sort of ability, instead of just being a vehicle on which to mutate.
Wilt image 2.5 Another situational cycler means another solid playable
Tentative Connection image 2.0 There are a couple of things going on here that make this a little better than most Threaten effects. First, when you can discount this because you have a Menace creature, it will feel pretty good – especially because Menace creatures already pair well with a Threaten effect. The other thing is, there are some efficient ways to sacrifice creatures in this format, and that means stealing an opposing creature and sacrificing it is pretty doable.
Mysterious Egg image 1.0 The flavor is cool and all, but I feel like you’d rather have a more exciting ability for Mutate, and a more exciting fail case than one mana 0/2.
Glimmerbell image 2.0 This is here to be something sweet to Mutate on to, especially early. The Flying and Untap ability on a much larger creature can feel pretty good! It has a decent fail case too.
Convolute image 1.5 We see this a lot, and it is never that good. Leaving mana up for a counterspell is a big cost, and this one isn’t even a hard counter.
Wind-Scarred Crag image 3.0 As always, these provide nice fixing, and the 1 life is a solid bonus.
Pack 3 Pick 8: Zagoth Mamba
Zagoth Mamba image 3.0 The fail case of being a one mana 1/1 is pretty ugly, so you definitely need to be able to do some Mutating to make it worth while. The good news is, there is plenty of Mutate in this set, and when you do get this trigger -- which will frequently let you pick off small creatures, or even larger ones if you do it after combat -- when you do get that trigger it will be pretty nice, and offset some of the risks of Mutating.
Easy Prey image 3.0 This is a somewhat narrow removal spell – but it is still a removal spell. It certainly isn’t premium, but by adding Cycling to this card, which you would play one of in a lot of formats anyway, you end up with a pretty nice card.
Bristling Boar image 2.5 Making it so the only way it dies in combat is if your opponent has one creature that can do 3 damage is surprisingly effective, and grants it an evasive ability -- albeit a weak one. A 4-mana 4/3 is usually playable-ish anyway, and the upside here is real.
Hampering Snare image 2.5 Like all one-mana cyclers, this is much better than it looks! It has a very situational effect when you cast it as a spell – but the thing is, when you can take advantage of that effect it feels really good. When you can’t, you can just Cycle it away!
Blade Banish image 2.5 This is situational for sure, but this format has a whole lot of big bois, so it is a little better than usual. It is also an Instant, which means you can sometimes really get a blow out.
Almighty Brushwagg image 2.5 This card is a real overperformer. A one-mana 1/1 with Trample is pretty laughable, but the ability is surprisingly effective, and you end up in situations where you can use it twice more often than you’d think! The Brushwagg is also great for mutating on to, since Trample and that ability are much better served on a larger creature.
Convolute image 1.5 We see this a lot, and it is never that good. Leaving mana up for a counterspell is a big cost, and this one isn’t even a hard counter.
Thornwood Falls image 3.0 As always, these provide nice fixing, and the 1 life is a solid bonus.
Pack 3 Pick 9: Scoured Barrens
Barrier Breach image 2.5 This is another situational card that would normally be unplayable, but Cycling means that you’ll play it a decent amount of the time.
Blisterspit Gremlin image 2.0 This can ping stuff repeatedly, but having to use mana to do it does downgrade it significantly from similar cards we have seen.
Patagia Tiger image 2.5 A 5-mana ¾ Flyer is usually a serviceable card in Limited.. This brings some pretty real additional upside, in that it can pump humans. White and Black especially have a lot of humans, and in those decks this will be a nice common because it will frequently give one of your Humans an attack that wouldn’t have worked before the Tiger came down.
Shredded Sails image 3.0 I like the modality this has. It has two very sideboardy effects -- you won’t always have an artifact of a creature with Flying to hit with it, but between both being on this card you have a decentish chance of your opponent having a few targets. On top of that, it has Cycling -- so if you end up with some sweet Cycling payoffs, it is even more likely to be useful for your deck.
Flycatcher Giraffid image 2.0 Neither option here is great, but neither is bad, either.
Of One Mind image 3.0 I am usually interested in running one Divination in most Limited formats, and this is a strictly better one since its cost can be reduced. If you are consistently casting this for one, it will be absolutely silly -- but the requirement it asks for, while doable, isn’t the kind of thing that will just always be the case.
Scoured Barrens image 3.0 As always, these provide nice fixing, and the 1 life is a solid bonus.
Pack 3 Pick 10: Maned Serval
Mysterious Egg image 1.0 The flavor is cool and all, but I feel like you’d rather have a more exciting ability for Mutate, and a more exciting fail case than one mana 0/2.
Mutual Destruction image 1.5 So, this is Bone Splinters that has flash on occasion. Bone Splinters is never great, but it is passable when you need removal, especially in a deck with lots of expendable bodies. If you can give this Flash it does get significantly better, because then you can do it in response to removal and stuff like that. Still, it isn’t that easy to set that up.
Aegis Turtle image 1.0 Purely defensive creatures like this just aren’t worth it these days. Sure, it is an early non-Human you can Mutate on to in a hurry, but you’d much rather be Mutating on to something that gives you some sort of ability, instead of just being a vehicle on which to mutate.
Dark Bargain image 1.5 We see this kind of card a lot, and it is always pretty medium. Even in a set with a graveyard deck, I’m not super pumped about this because of the cost.
Maned Serval image 1.5 This is a reasonably efficient French Vanilla creature that it is okay to mutate on top of.
Blossoming Sands image 3.0 As always, these provide nice fixing, and the 1 life is a solid bonus.
Pack 3 Pick 11: Unexpected Fangs
Honey Mammoth image 2.5 It isn’t exciting, but a 6-mana 6/6 that gains you 4 life can go a long way towards helping you stabilize against more aggressive decks.
Unexpected Fangs image 1.5 As a trick, it gives a pretty mediocre stats boost, even if the counter is permanent. The best tricks drastically increase the chance of your creature winning in combat, and this just won’t line up that way often enough. Lifelink permanently is something I can get behind, but I feel like this trick has all the usual risks tricks have, without really being worth it.
Thwart the Enemy image 0.0 Fogs are bad in Limited. Next!
Almighty Brushwagg image 2.5 This card is a real overperformer. A one-mana 1/1 with Trample is pretty laughable, but the ability is surprisingly effective, and you end up in situations where you can use it twice more often than you’d think! The Brushwagg is also great for mutating on to, since Trample and that ability are much better served on a larger creature.
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Pack 3 Pick 12: Solid Footing
Fully Grown image 1.5 I have a hard time liking 3-mana combat tricks in most situations. It makes the risk of a blowout even more painful because of the extra mana you’re paying. And sure, +3/+3 will frequently be enough to win combat, and it is nice that the creature permanently gets Trample, instead of just temporarily, but tricks are just so situational, that I really only like the idea of them at lower mana costs in most cases.
Dark Bargain image 1.5 We see this kind of card a lot, and it is always pretty medium. Even in a set with a graveyard deck, I’m not super pumped about this because of the cost.
Solid Footing image 1.5 This is an interesting Vigilance payoff, and you’ll play it sometimes if you have enough Vigilance, because in those scenarios it gives a big boost for only one mana. You’ll cut this a lot, though.
Thornwood Falls image 3.0 As always, these provide nice fixing, and the 1 life is a solid bonus.
Pack 3 Pick 13: Spontaneous Flight
Solid Footing image 1.5 This is an interesting Vigilance payoff, and you’ll play it sometimes if you have enough Vigilance, because in those scenarios it gives a big boost for only one mana. You’ll cut this a lot, though.
Spontaneous Flight image 1.5 The best tricks cost very little mana, and this doesn’t really deliver there. Still, it does give a pretty nice boost and permanently gives your creature Flying. That last part means that it can help you get in for lethal, or really alter a race in a hurry. Still, it has all the risks that tricks have – it is situational and you risk getting 2-for-1’d.
Plains image
Pack 3 Pick 14: Savai Sabertooth
Savai Sabertooth image 2.0 Two mana 3/1s tend to be fine two drops for aggressive decks.
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Pack 3 Pick 15: Aegis Turtle
Aegis Turtle image 1.0 Purely defensive creatures like this just aren’t worth it these days. Sure, it is an early non-Human you can Mutate on to in a hurry, but you’d much rather be Mutating on to something that gives you some sort of ability, instead of just being a vehicle on which to mutate.
Draft Pick Overview