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Quick Draft IKO 27 May 2021

27 May 04:50 - MonkeyPantsHustler 7 Wins - 2 Losses
Maindeck
Creature (13)
1 Almighty Brushwagg image
1 Lava Serpent image
1 Greater Sandwurm image
2 Hornbash Mentor image
1 Farfinder image
2 Ferocious Tigorilla image
1 Spelleater Wolverine image
1 Fertilid image
2 Honey Mammoth image
1 Titanoth Rex image
Instant, Sorcery, Enchantment, Artifact (10)
1 Raking Claws image
1 Ram Through image
1 Blitz of the Thunder-Raptor image
1 Lead the Stampede image
1 Fully Grown image
1 Flame Spill image
1 Rumbling Rockslide image
2 Charge of the Forever-Beast image
1 Go for Blood image
Land (17)
7 Forest image
7 Mountain image
1 Evolving Wilds image
2 Rugged Highlands image
Sideboard
1 Zagoth Mamba image
1 Thieving Otter image
1 Flycatcher Giraffid image
1 Mysterious Egg image
1 Adaptive Shimmerer image
1 Sanctuary Lockdown image
2 Weaponize the Monsters image
1 Shredded Sails image
1 Sudden Spinnerets image
1 Light of Hope image
1 Wilt image
1 Channeled Force image
1 Thwart the Enemy image
2 Jungle Hollow image
1 Blossoming Sands image
2 Swiftwater Cliffs image

Pack 1 Pick 1: Zagoth Mamba
Indatha Triome image 3.5 Triomes are really nice, giving you three colors of mana AND being cyclable.
Skull Prophet image 4.0 Wow, talk about a Cycling payoff. Sure, you have to have the mana to spend, but Cycling in this set usually costs 1-2 mana, so it isn’t a stretch to be able to pay the 2, and when you do, you get to start killing smaller stuff and gaining life, which is pretty awesome. It is nice you get something out of the trigger even if you don’t actually kill their creature -- getting some life no matter what is not too bad. On top of that, it is just a nice aggressive body as a 2-mana 3/2.
Grimdancer image 4.0 We have seen plenty of 3-mana 3/3s with just one of these keyword abilities be good, getting a combination of two of them is great -- Menace and Deathtouch together are typically a Nightmare for opponent’s to deal with. This thing will be getting in for lots of damage. Menace and Lifelink are pretty nice too -- basically all the combinations are, though I think Menace + Deathtouch will be the best way to go more often than not.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
Tranquil Cove image 3.0 As always, these provide nice fixing, and the 1 life is a solid bonus.
Pack 1 Pick 2: Ram Through
Rooting Moloch image 4.0 Another very nice Cycling payoff, the Moloch can rebuy a card with Cycling – either to Cycle it again or because you actually want to cast it. Either way, getting a 2-for-1 here is very easy. Then, it has Cycling itself, and that is a really key thing in this format that makes Cycling so darn good – almost all the payoffs have Cycling too, which makes for a very cohesive deck.
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.
Hornbash Mentor image 3.5 A 3-mana 3/3 is already playable, and this does more than that! Giving one of your other creatures a trample counter is nice, and the mana sink ability here, that will at least be putting +1/+1 counters on the creature you put the trample counter on, is some nice additional upside that makes the Mentor pretty relevant all game long, especially if you have even more Trample in your deck.
Savai Sabertooth image 2.0 Two mana 3/1s tend to be fine two drops for aggressive decks.
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.
Pacifism image 4.0 Pacifism is a great card every time we see it in Limited -- which is a lot! Two mana to take away what are normally the two most important things creatures can do Limited -- attacking and blocking -- is just amazing efficiency, and it makes Pacifism a premium removal spell.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Corpse Churn image 2.0 This is mostly here to enable the BG reanimator deck, and it does a decent job of that.
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.
Flycatcher Giraffid image 2.0 Neither option here is great, but neither is bad, either.
Thornwood Falls image 3.0 As always, these provide nice fixing, and the 1 life is a solid bonus.
Pack 1 Pick 3: Blitz of the Thunder-Raptor
Raugrin 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.
Ketria 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Adaptive Shimmerer image 1.5 The idea here is that you mutate on top of this, giving +3/+3 to whatever stats your mutated creature has. It also has Flash, and there are a few cards that care about that. Still, as far as payoffs and enablers go, this is pretty darn inefficient.
Wilt image 2.5 Another situational cycler means another solid playable
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.
Plains image
Pack 1 Pick 4: Sanctuary Lockdown
Escape Protocol image 0.0 You need to do way too much to make this work. It just won’t happen.
Sanctuary Lockdown image 3.0 That can be truly devastating in some situations, where you have say 4 humans in play, and can just tap down both of your opponent’s blockers at the end of their turn. This means that this card is useful in multiple scenarios, whether being aggressive or defensive. Still, the Human deck is one that doesn’t always come together well in this format, and I think that hurts this card a little bit.
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!
Tranquil Cove image 3.0 As always, these provide nice fixing, and the 1 life is a solid bonus.
Pack 1 Pick 5: Hornbash Mentor
Channeled Force image 1.5 This is not especially easy to make work. It lets you rummage and then damage stuff, but the set up of having to have a bunch of cards in your hand just isn’t going to be worth that a lot of the time.
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.
Hornbash Mentor image 3.5 A 3-mana 3/3 is already playable, and this does more than that! Giving one of your other creatures a trample counter is nice, and the mana sink ability here, that will at least be putting +1/+1 counters on the creature you put the trample counter on, is some nice additional upside that makes the Mentor pretty relevant all game long, especially if you have even more Trample in your deck.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Sudden Spinnerets image 1.0 This doesn’t give a big enough boost to help your creature win combat often enough, and a Reach counter isn’t very exciting.
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.
Scoured Barrens image 3.0 As always, these provide nice fixing, and the 1 life is a solid bonus.
Pack 1 Pick 6: Farfinder
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Light of Hope image 1.0 This is modal, but none of the effects on it are especially good.
Plummet image 0.5 This is a sideboard card, like usual.
Lava Serpent image 3.5 A 6-mana 5/5 with Haste would make the cut some of the time, and this has Cycling, giving it a huge upgrade in a format that really cares about Cycling. You can just throw it away if you get it early, and then in the late game it can be a problem for your opponent.
Swiftwater Cliffs image 3.0 As always, these provide nice fixing, and the 1 life is a solid bonus.
Pack 1 Pick 7: Lead the Stampede
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.
Sudden Spinnerets image 1.0 This doesn’t give a big enough boost to help your creature win combat often enough, and a Reach counter isn’t very exciting.
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.
Savai Sabertooth image 2.0 Two mana 3/1s tend to be fine two drops for aggressive decks.
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.
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.
Serrated Scorpion image 2.0 As a ½, it can block the human tokens in this set, and with the death ability it has, it creates a 4 point swing in life. That’s not insignificant. This is not a bad thing to sacrifice to various effects, nor is it a bad thing to mutate on to. But it isn’t exactly amazing in either of those cases either.
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.
Island image
Pack 1 Pick 8: Weaponize the Monsters
Weaponize the Monsters image 2.5 This is a surprisingly good way to cash in expendable bodies, including those you steal from your opponents! It also really lets you find lethal out of nowhere.
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.
Sudden Spinnerets image 1.0 This doesn’t give a big enough boost to help your creature win combat often enough, and a Reach counter isn’t very exciting.
Ferocious Tigorilla image 2.5 You’re usually going to be choosing Menace with this, as it just tends to be the better evasive ability. A 4-mana 4/3 with Menace is something you’d always play the first copy of, and having the Trample options isn’t bad.
Thwart the Enemy image 0.0 Fogs are bad in Limited. Next!
Gloom Pangolin image 1.0 A ⅕ for 3 might be something you play in slower more controlling decks sometimes -- it can block pretty effectively, but I think most of the time you won’t REALLY want this, and you’ll play it when you’re desperate for creatures, and that’s about it.
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.
Jungle Hollow image 3.0 As always, these provide nice fixing, and the 1 life is a solid bonus.
Pack 1 Pick 9: Evolving Wilds
Skull Prophet image 4.0 Wow, talk about a Cycling payoff. Sure, you have to have the mana to spend, but Cycling in this set usually costs 1-2 mana, so it isn’t a stretch to be able to pay the 2, and when you do, you get to start killing smaller stuff and gaining life, which is pretty awesome. It is nice you get something out of the trigger even if you don’t actually kill their creature -- getting some life no matter what is not too bad. On top of that, it is just a nice aggressive body as a 2-mana 3/2.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Tranquil Cove image 3.0 As always, these provide nice fixing, and the 1 life is a solid bonus.
Pack 1 Pick 10: Flycatcher Giraffid
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.
Savai Sabertooth image 2.0 Two mana 3/1s tend to be fine two drops for aggressive decks.
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.
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.
Flycatcher Giraffid image 2.0 Neither option here is great, but neither is bad, either.
Thornwood Falls image 3.0 As always, these provide nice fixing, and the 1 life is a solid bonus.
Pack 1 Pick 11: Fully Grown
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.
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.
Adaptive Shimmerer image 1.5 The idea here is that you mutate on top of this, giving +3/+3 to whatever stats your mutated creature has. It also has Flash, and there are a few cards that care about that. Still, as far as payoffs and enablers go, this is pretty darn inefficient.
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.
Plains image
Pack 1 Pick 12: Mysterious Egg
Escape Protocol image 0.0 You need to do way too much to make this work. It just won’t happen.
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.
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.
Pack 1 Pick 13: Thieving Otter
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.
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.
Sudden Spinnerets image 1.0 This doesn’t give a big enough boost to help your creature win combat often enough, and a Reach counter isn’t very exciting.
Pack 1 Pick 14: Swiftwater Cliffs
Plummet image 0.5 This is a sideboard card, like usual.
Swiftwater Cliffs image 3.0 As always, these provide nice fixing, and the 1 life is a solid bonus.
Pack 1 Pick 15: Sudden Spinnerets
Sudden Spinnerets image 1.0 This doesn’t give a big enough boost to help your creature win combat often enough, and a Reach counter isn’t very exciting.
Pack 2 Pick 1: Flame Spill
Whirlwind of Thought image 0.0 // 3.5 Four mana for an Enchantment that has no immediate impact on the board is always kind of painful. Especially because this will continue to not have a big impact on the board unless your deck is loaded up with non-creature spells. And, while that is certainly doable, that is a pretty big deckbuilding requirement. This will be quite good when you get there on non-creatures, but it will often be unplayable.
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!
Insatiable Hemophage image 3.0 Three mana for a 4/5 with Menace is crazy good, and while giving your opponent a deathtouch counter isn’t awesome, there are lots of situations where that just doesn’t matter! Like if you play this one turn 3 and your opponent has nothing. Or, you play this on turn three, and then kill whatever you put the counter on next turn. Even when those optimal situations don’t emerge, the fact this is so big means that your opponent will frequently have to double-block anyway. And hey, even if you just end up trading 1-for-1 with this thing, that’s not too bad of a deal.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Cloudpiercer image 2.5 5-mana for a 5/4 Reach is fairly passable, and adding a rummage mutate effect is fine.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Dreamtail Heron image 3.5 I love herons in real life, and I’m glad this one seems pretty sweet in Limited. A 5-mana ¾ Flyer, which this is on a base level, is somewhat passable. It can serve as a finisher in decks that are really lacking one. But this does more than that, of course, thanks to the Mutate mechanic. If you play it first, it is a ¾ Flyer that might draw you a card later if you mutate on it. If you play it second, you can use it to give a beefier creature Flying and draw a card, or make a smaller creature into a ¾ flyer that draws you a card. That drawn card really helps avoid the 2-for-1 that you are potentially going to be dealing with here.
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.
Jungle Hollow image 3.0 As always, these provide nice fixing, and the 1 life is a solid bonus.
Pack 2 Pick 2: Rumbling Rockslide
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.
Void Beckoner image 3.5 So, an 8-mana 8/8 Deathtouch would not normally be something I want to play -- that’s because it is just so hard to get to 8 mana! But by adding cycling to this, it becomes much more intriguing. Cycling really lets you get away with playing stupid expensive cards, since if you can’t cast them, you can always turn them in for a card. It is especially nice that this Beckoner also has a trigger with Cycling -- giving something Deathtouch at Instant speed and drawing card is pretty nice. Even if your creature still dies in combat, you end up netting a card out of this, so that fact is offset, especially if you are trading a little guy who could previously only chump block for something scary on the opponent’s side of the table. This also gets an upgrade because BG decks can reanimate him pretty easily.
Majestic Auricorn image 2.5 A 5-mana 4/4 with Vigilance isn’t great, but it would make the cut sometimes. If you’re playing this for its Mutate cost on turn 4, you’re probably upgrading one of your creatures to a 4/4 vigilance and gaining 4 life. Other times, you’ll be paying 4 to give something bigger vigilance and gain 4 life. While that’s decent, the reward you get for the risk here isn’t amazing.
Thwart the Enemy image 0.0 Fogs are bad in Limited. Next!
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
Sudden Spinnerets image 1.0 This doesn’t give a big enough boost to help your creature win combat often enough, and a Reach counter isn’t very exciting.
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.
Ferocious Tigorilla image 2.5 You’re usually going to be choosing Menace with this, as it just tends to be the better evasive ability. A 4-mana 4/3 with Menace is something you’d always play the first copy of, and having the Trample options isn’t bad.
Jungle Hollow image 3.0 As always, these provide nice fixing, and the 1 life is a solid bonus.
Pack 2 Pick 3: Ferocious Tigorilla
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.
Weaponize the Monsters image 2.5 This is a surprisingly good way to cash in expendable bodies, including those you steal from your opponents! It also really lets you find lethal out of nowhere.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Ferocious Tigorilla image 2.5 You’re usually going to be choosing Menace with this, as it just tends to be the better evasive ability. A 4-mana 4/3 with Menace is something you’d always play the first copy of, and having the Trample options isn’t bad.
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!
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.
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.
Helica Glider image 2.5 Most of the time you’re going to go with the Flying option -- but sometimes First Strike will be better. It is nice on turn three, and then later in the game a nice thing to mutate on top of thanks to the keyword ability it brings with it.
Plains image
Pack 2 Pick 4: Charge of the Forever-Beast
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.
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.
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.
Sudden Spinnerets image 1.0 This doesn’t give a big enough boost to help your creature win combat often enough, and a Reach counter isn’t very exciting.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
Rugged Highlands image 3.0 As always, these provide nice fixing, and the 1 life is a solid bonus.
Pack 2 Pick 5: Spelleater Wolverine
Inspired Ultimatum image 5.0 This is an Ultimatum that will win you the game when you cast it 99% of the time. Your opponent just can’t come back from this kind of value. And like all of them, it is far easier to cast than it looks.
General's Enforcer image 3.5 So, a two mana ⅔ who can make 1/1 tokens out of stuff in graveyards is pretty nice, but don’t expect the legendary upside to come up.
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.
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.
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.
Corpse Churn image 2.0 This is mostly here to enable the BG reanimator deck, and it does a decent job of that.
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.
Sudden Spinnerets image 1.0 This doesn’t give a big enough boost to help your creature win combat often enough, and a Reach counter isn’t very exciting.
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.
Adaptive Shimmerer image 1.5 The idea here is that you mutate on top of this, giving +3/+3 to whatever stats your mutated creature has. It also has Flash, and there are a few cards that care about that. Still, as far as payoffs and enablers go, this is pretty darn inefficient.
Thornwood Falls image 3.0 As always, these provide nice fixing, and the 1 life is a solid bonus.
Pack 2 Pick 6: Hornbash Mentor
Hornbash Mentor image 3.5 A 3-mana 3/3 is already playable, and this does more than that! Giving one of your other creatures a trample counter is nice, and the mana sink ability here, that will at least be putting +1/+1 counters on the creature you put the trample counter on, is some nice additional upside that makes the Mentor pretty relevant all game long, especially if you have even more Trample in your deck.
Escape Protocol image 0.0 You need to do way too much to make this work. It just won’t happen.
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.
Boot Nipper image 3.0 This is a very nice two drop that gives you a couple of nice options. You would always play a two mana 2/1 with death touch, and you would frequently play a two mana 2/1 with lifelink. The power of having a choice between those two things is very real. If yo’ure behind, you probably go with death touch, but if you are the beatdown, you probably go with lifelink. This is a nice cheap creature to mutate on to as well, and those keyword counters will be nice on your mutated creature.
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.
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.
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.
Light of Hope image 1.0 This is modal, but none of the effects on it are especially good.
Dismal Backwater image 3.0 As always, these provide nice fixing, and the 1 life is a solid bonus.
Pack 2 Pick 7: Fertilid
Serrated Scorpion image 2.0 As a ½, it can block the human tokens in this set, and with the death ability it has, it creates a 4 point swing in life. That’s not insignificant. This is not a bad thing to sacrifice to various effects, nor is it a bad thing to mutate on to. But it isn’t exactly amazing in either of those cases either.
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.
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.
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.
Light of Hope image 1.0 This is modal, but none of the effects on it are especially good.
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.
Drannith Stinger image 4.0 5-mana for a 5/4 Reach is fairly passable, and adding a rummage mutate effect is fine.
Blossoming Sands image 3.0 As always, these provide nice fixing, and the 1 life is a solid bonus.
Pack 2 Pick 8: Ferocious Tigorilla
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.
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.
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.
Ferocious Tigorilla image 2.5 You’re usually going to be choosing Menace with this, as it just tends to be the better evasive ability. A 4-mana 4/3 with Menace is something you’d always play the first copy of, and having the Trample options isn’t bad.
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.
Gloom Pangolin image 1.0 A ⅕ for 3 might be something you play in slower more controlling decks sometimes -- it can block pretty effectively, but I think most of the time you won’t REALLY want this, and you’ll play it when you’re desperate for creatures, and that’s about it.
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.
Mountain image
Pack 2 Pick 9: Jungle Hollow
Insatiable Hemophage image 3.0 Three mana for a 4/5 with Menace is crazy good, and while giving your opponent a deathtouch counter isn’t awesome, there are lots of situations where that just doesn’t matter! Like if you play this one turn 3 and your opponent has nothing. Or, you play this on turn three, and then kill whatever you put the counter on next turn. Even when those optimal situations don’t emerge, the fact this is so big means that your opponent will frequently have to double-block anyway. And hey, even if you just end up trading 1-for-1 with this thing, that’s not too bad of a deal.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Jungle Hollow image 3.0 As always, these provide nice fixing, and the 1 life is a solid bonus.
Pack 2 Pick 10: Jungle Hollow
Thwart the Enemy image 0.0 Fogs are bad in Limited. Next!
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.
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.
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.
Sudden Spinnerets image 1.0 This doesn’t give a big enough boost to help your creature win combat often enough, and a Reach counter isn’t very exciting.
Jungle Hollow image 3.0 As always, these provide nice fixing, and the 1 life is a solid bonus.
Pack 2 Pick 11: Weaponize the Monsters
Weaponize the Monsters image 2.5 This is a surprisingly good way to cash in expendable bodies, including those you steal from your opponents! It also really lets you find lethal out of nowhere.
Light of Hope image 1.0 This is modal, but none of the effects on it are especially good.
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.
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.
Plains image
Pack 2 Pick 12: Rugged Highlands
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.
Sudden Spinnerets image 1.0 This doesn’t give a big enough boost to help your creature win combat often enough, and a Reach counter isn’t very exciting.
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.
Rugged Highlands image 3.0 As always, these provide nice fixing, and the 1 life is a solid bonus.
Pack 2 Pick 13: Adaptive Shimmerer
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.
Sudden Spinnerets image 1.0 This doesn’t give a big enough boost to help your creature win combat often enough, and a Reach counter isn’t very exciting.
Adaptive Shimmerer image 1.5 The idea here is that you mutate on top of this, giving +3/+3 to whatever stats your mutated creature has. It also has Flash, and there are a few cards that care about that. Still, as far as payoffs and enablers go, this is pretty darn inefficient.
Pack 2 Pick 14: Light of Hope
Savai Sabertooth image 2.0 Two mana 3/1s tend to be fine two drops for aggressive decks.
Light of Hope image 1.0 This is modal, but none of the effects on it are especially good.
Pack 2 Pick 15: Blossoming Sands
Blossoming Sands image 3.0 As always, these provide nice fixing, and the 1 life is a solid bonus.
Pack 3 Pick 1: Honey Mammoth
Emergent Ultimatum image 4.0 Like the other Ultimatums, this is easier to cast than it looks. This is maybe the weakest of the cycle for Limited, since the others are powerful cards all on their own, and Emergent Ultimatum asks you to have some other sweet stuff going on to really excel, but it is still great.
Grimdancer image 4.0 We have seen plenty of 3-mana 3/3s with just one of these keyword abilities be good, getting a combination of two of them is great -- Menace and Deathtouch together are typically a Nightmare for opponent’s to deal with. This thing will be getting in for lots of damage. Menace and Lifelink are pretty nice too -- basically all the combinations are, though I think Menace + Deathtouch will be the best way to go more often than not.
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.
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
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Sudden Spinnerets image 1.0 This doesn’t give a big enough boost to help your creature win combat often enough, and a Reach counter isn’t very exciting.
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.
Wind-Scarred Crag image 3.0 As always, these provide nice fixing, and the 1 life is a solid bonus.
Pack 3 Pick 2: Charge of the Forever-Beast
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.
Titanoth Rex image 3.0 A 9-mana 11/11 trampler just wouldn’t be playable in most formats – but in this one, it is significantly better than just “playable”! That’s partly because it has Cycling, which means when you can’t cast it – which will most of the time – you can just cycle it away. This format also has a very real BG reanimator deck, and you don’t need me to tell you that getting this back for 5 or 6 mana is absolutely silly.
Avian Oddity image 3.5 If you cast this normally, it has reasonable stats, and being able to Cycle it away and give something Flying is a great option too.
Ferocious Tigorilla image 2.5 You’re usually going to be choosing Menace with this, as it just tends to be the better evasive ability. A 4-mana 4/3 with Menace is something you’d always play the first copy of, and having the Trample options isn’t bad.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Flycatcher Giraffid image 2.0 Neither option here is great, but neither is bad, either.
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.
Swamp image
Pack 3 Pick 3: Titanoth Rex
Mythos of Illuna image 3.0 // 4.5 If you can’t pay Temur mana for this, it is basically Clone, and that’s not a terrible thing. The Mythos makes you a copy of whatever the best permanent on the table is – whether you get a second copy of one of your creatures, or a copy of your opponents. This gets really silly though when you can pay the RG as well as the Blue, since now the token will fight something. This means you can basically use this to kill your opponents best creature. It will be especially devastating when you use it to copy your best creature, and kill your opponents best creature without losing anything!
Huntmaster Liger image 2.5 A 4-mana ¾ with some Mutate upside is what this is in its most basic form, and that’s fine -- especially because the Mutate upside is pretty powerful, pumping your whole team. Now, it is sort of an awkward card in that Mutate expressly asks you not to go wide, so you’re not always going to be able to get a huge boost out of Mutate here, but it still does enough to make the cut most of the time.
Titanoth Rex image 3.0 A 9-mana 11/11 trampler just wouldn’t be playable in most formats – but in this one, it is significantly better than just “playable”! That’s partly because it has Cycling, which means when you can’t cast it – which will most of the time – you can just cycle it away. This format also has a very real BG reanimator deck, and you don’t need me to tell you that getting this back for 5 or 6 mana is absolutely silly.
Footfall Crater image 3.0 Another card with one mana Cycling that makes it way better! The Enchant Land part of the card can sometimes do a thing, but this is one you’re going to be Cycling a lot.
Thwart the Enemy image 0.0 Fogs are bad in Limited. Next!
Drannith Healer image 3.5 Another Cycling card that is better than it looks! This one is a bear with a Cycling payoff, in addition to having the great 1 mana Cycling effect.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Light of Hope image 1.0 This is modal, but none of the effects on it are especially good.
Mountain image
Pack 3 Pick 4: Go for Blood
Fight as One image 2.5 I start to be very interested in tricks once they have the possibility of allowing you to 2-for-1 your opponent for very little mana, and that’s definitely what we have here. In addition to that, because indestructibility is granted, you can use it to blank most removal spells too -- and generally at a price much cheaper than what your opponent is paying. This has a fine floor of +1/+1 and indestructibility, and a very impressive ceieling when you can give two things the boost -- and yeah, sometimes that will blow out the opponent.
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.
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.
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.
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!
Adaptive Shimmerer image 1.5 The idea here is that you mutate on top of this, giving +3/+3 to whatever stats your mutated creature has. It also has Flash, and there are a few cards that care about that. Still, as far as payoffs and enablers go, this is pretty darn inefficient.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
Bloodfell Caves image 3.0 As always, these provide nice fixing, and the 1 life is a solid bonus.
Pack 3 Pick 5: Greater Sandwurm
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.
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.
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.
Plummet image 0.5 This is a sideboard card, like usual.
Cloudpiercer image 2.5 5-mana for a 5/4 Reach is fairly passable, and adding a rummage mutate effect is fine.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Swiftwater Cliffs image 3.0 As always, these provide nice fixing, and the 1 life is a solid bonus.
Pack 3 Pick 6: Almighty Brushwagg
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.
Channeled Force image 1.5 This is not especially easy to make work. It lets you rummage and then damage stuff, but the set up of having to have a bunch of cards in your hand just isn’t going to be worth that a lot of the time.
Helica Glider image 2.5 Most of the time you’re going to go with the Flying option -- but sometimes First Strike will be better. It is nice on turn three, and then later in the game a nice thing to mutate on top of thanks to the keyword ability it brings with it.
Adaptive Shimmerer image 1.5 The idea here is that you mutate on top of this, giving +3/+3 to whatever stats your mutated creature has. It also has Flash, and there are a few cards that care about that. Still, as far as payoffs and enablers go, this is pretty darn inefficient.
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.
Frenzied Raptor image 1.5 Vanilla 3-mana 4/2s will make the cut sometimes, but you kind of hope they don’t.
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!
Wilt image 2.5 Another situational cycler means another solid playable
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.
Mountain image
Pack 3 Pick 7: Lava Serpent
Pouncing Shoreshark image 3.5 So, by giving a Mutate creature Flash, you open up some very interesting options. For one thing, the mutate trigger here is excellent -- bouncing something at instant speed is huge, especially in this format with Mutate all over the place. You can also Flash it in to make a creature suddenly larger so that it can win combat, in addition to bouncing something else. Then, like all of these, you can potentially trigger the Mutate effect multiple times, and then things will be really silly!
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.
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.
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.
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.
Lava Serpent image 3.5 A 6-mana 5/5 with Haste would make the cut some of the time, and this has Cycling, giving it a huge upgrade in a format that really cares about Cycling. You can just throw it away if you get it early, and then in the late game it can be a problem for your opponent.
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.
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.
Rugged Highlands image 3.0 As always, these provide nice fixing, and the 1 life is a solid bonus.
Pack 3 Pick 8: Wilt
Channeled Force image 1.5 This is not especially easy to make work. It lets you rummage and then damage stuff, but the set up of having to have a bunch of cards in your hand just isn’t going to be worth that a lot of the time.
Wilt image 2.5 Another situational cycler means another solid playable
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.
Adaptive Shimmerer image 1.5 The idea here is that you mutate on top of this, giving +3/+3 to whatever stats your mutated creature has. It also has Flash, and there are a few cards that care about that. Still, as far as payoffs and enablers go, this is pretty darn inefficient.
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.
Frenzied Raptor image 1.5 Vanilla 3-mana 4/2s will make the cut sometimes, but you kind of hope they don’t.
Gloom Pangolin image 1.0 A ⅕ for 3 might be something you play in slower more controlling decks sometimes -- it can block pretty effectively, but I think most of the time you won’t REALLY want this, and you’ll play it when you’re desperate for creatures, and that’s about it.
Swamp image
Pack 3 Pick 9: Raking Claws
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Sudden Spinnerets image 1.0 This doesn’t give a big enough boost to help your creature win combat often enough, and a Reach counter isn’t very exciting.
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.
Pack 3 Pick 10: Honey Mammoth
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.
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.
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.
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.
Flycatcher Giraffid image 2.0 Neither option here is great, but neither is bad, either.
Swamp image
Pack 3 Pick 11: Thwart the Enemy
Thwart the Enemy image 0.0 Fogs are bad in Limited. Next!
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.
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.
Light of Hope image 1.0 This is modal, but none of the effects on it are especially good.
Mountain image
Pack 3 Pick 12: Shredded Sails
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.
Adaptive Shimmerer image 1.5 The idea here is that you mutate on top of this, giving +3/+3 to whatever stats your mutated creature has. It also has Flash, and there are a few cards that care about that. Still, as far as payoffs and enablers go, this is pretty darn inefficient.
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.
Bloodfell Caves image 3.0 As always, these provide nice fixing, and the 1 life is a solid bonus.
Pack 3 Pick 13: Swiftwater Cliffs
Plummet image 0.5 This is a sideboard card, like usual.
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.
Swiftwater Cliffs image 3.0 As always, these provide nice fixing, and the 1 life is a solid bonus.
Pack 3 Pick 14: Channeled Force
Channeled Force image 1.5 This is not especially easy to make work. It lets you rummage and then damage stuff, but the set up of having to have a bunch of cards in your hand just isn’t going to be worth that a lot of the time.
Mountain image
Pack 3 Pick 15: Rugged Highlands
Rugged Highlands image 3.0 As always, these provide nice fixing, and the 1 life is a solid bonus.
Draft Pick Overview