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Premier Draft DAR 20 June 2021

20 June 03:33 - AliasV 7 Wins - 2 Losses
Maindeck
Creature (14)
1 Benalish Honor Guard image
1 Mesa Unicorn image
1 Serra Disciple image
1 D'Avenant Trapper image
1 Aryel, Knight of Windgrace image
2 Deathbloom Thallid image
1 Danitha Capashen, Paragon image
1 Knight of Malice image
1 Windgrace Acolyte image
1 Shalai, Voice of Plenty image
1 Knight of New Benalia image
1 Knight of Grace image
1 Arvad the Cursed image
Instant, Sorcery, Enchantment, Artifact (9)
1 Blessed Light image
1 Fungal Infection image
1 Vicious Offering image
1 Call the Cavalry image
1 Soul Salvage image
1 Adamant Will image
1 Seal Away image
1 Triumph of Gerrard image
1 Gideon's Reproach image
Land (17)
9 Plains image
6 Swamp image
2 Memorial to Folly image
Sideboard
2 Windgrace Acolyte image
1 Garna, the Bloodflame image
1 Serra Disciple image
1 Aesthir Glider image
1 Tragic Poet image
1 Cabal Evangel image
1 Soul Salvage image
1 Bloodtallow Candle image
1 Final Parting image
1 Divest image
2 Deep Freeze image
1 Invoke the Divine image
1 Demonic Vigor image
1 Powerstone Shard image
1 Pierce the Sky image

Pack 1 Pick 1: Aryel, Knight of Windgrace
Aryel, Knight of Windgrace image 5.0 On her own, Aryel is very powerul. Her stats are great, and then she has two really nice activated abilities – and having those abilities pairs really well with Vigilance. It means she can attack and you can still use her to make a Knight on your opponents turn or whatever. Her second ability does require a little bit more building around, but not a ton of it, since she is a Knight who makes Knight tokens, you will sometimes find yourself able to kill plenty of creatures. Basically, Aryel gives you a great baseline, and is the kind of creature where, if left unchecked she floods the board with Knights and starts killing something every turn. That’s definitely a bomb.
Elfhame Druid image 3.5 This is some pretty nice ramp, especially for spells with Kicker. This format makes sure you usually have something to do with mana as a result of Kicker and lots of activated abilities too, so even in the late game, when a mana dork can be kind of rough to draw, it can be useful. Though it still really shines the most early.
Memorial to Folly image 3.5 I love utility lands, and this whole Memorial cycle is certainly that! It enters tapped, but most of the time the Memorial will just feel like a way better Swamp, since in the late game it can get you the best creature back out of your graveyard, that’s a very real effect on a land – something most don’t have!
Shield of the Realm image 1.5 This doesn’t give any real stats boost, but the effect it grants can often really tamper with combat. Of course, the problem is, you generally have to put it on a creature that is already good, because if your creature is just a 2/2 or something, adding this effect won’t make much of difference.
Run Amok image 1.5 This isn’t super great in this format. There are too many ways to interact and the format is far too grindy for this trick to really shine, as we’ve seen it do in some other formats.
Llanowar Scout image 1.5 People often really overrate this type of effect. It is easy to imagine simply always ramping with it, but the problem is that you have to have lands to put into play in the first place. That might sound like a foregone conclusion, but it really isn’t – what makes other ramp cards great is that they get you the land from your library, which effectively draws you a card – in this case, you have to have the land to ramp, and that’s a big difference.
Serra Disciple image 1.5 This has been a great card for 25+ years at this point, and it is still great in Limited. That stat-line and those keywords just aren’t something we see very often for only 5 mana.
Relic Runner image 2.5 This is unblockable often enough that it is a pretty nice little two-drop.
Pierce the Sky image 0.5 This is mostly a sideboard card – it pretty much kills all the flyers in the set.
Demonic Vigor image 1.5 People always overrate this type of card, as it is easy to imagine putting it on a really good creature and making sure you get it back. However, more often than not, you won’t have an amazing creature to put it on, and you’ll often get back something that isn’t super relevant.
Artificer's Assistant image 1.5 This has decent base stats, but the Scry trigger here just doesn’t happen often enough for this to be very good.
Ghitu Lavarunner image 1.5 One mana creatures like this just don’t do well in Limited, especially because loading up the graveyard super quickly isn’t going to happen. This will mostly just be a one mana ½ that is a 2/2 with Haste in the mid-to-late game, but by then, it won’t really matter. The fact it is a Wizard does help make it more playable though.
Llanowar Elves image 3.0 Magic’s classic mana dork is back, and it is once again pretty good. If you play it on turn one, the boost it gives you will often be game-winning. That is of course balanced by the fact that if you draw it light, it is a pretty big dud, but still – that early game upside makes it pretty good.
Eviscerate image 3.5 This is premium removal. 4 to kill something at Sorcery speed isn’t incredible, but this format is slow enough that it does the job without feeling too clunky.
Pack 1 Pick 2: Deathbloom Thallid
Naban, Dean of Iteration image 2.5 This has a very specific ability, one that won’t always come up. There are a few Wizards in UR where it will matter (for example, Merfolk Trickster), but not a preponderance of them.
Gaea's Blessing image 0.5 This is mostly a cantrip in Limited, and not really an efficient one.
Slinn Voda, the Rising Deep image 2.5 This is a pretty legitimate finisher in this format. This format is grindy enough that casting Slinn Voda with Kicker, especially in a deck like UG, is very doable, and adding an 8/8 to the board that bounces pretty much all creatures is excellent. It does get its score dinged by the massive cost, but if you do manage to resolve it with Kicker, it will often feel like a bomb.
Pardic Wanderer image 1.5 This is something you’ll play in decks that have ways to recur Artifacts, as a 6-mana 5/5 with Trample that you can bring back is pretty nice.
Excavation Elephant image 2.0 Like most cards with Kicker in this set, Excavation Elephant is a decent creature when you cast it regularly, and then in the later part of the game you can kick it for some extra value. There are enough Artifacts in this set that casting this with Kicker and getting something back is very doable.
Drudge Sentinel image 1.0 A 3-mana 2/1 that can become indestructible for three mana isn’t very good. Both parts of that are pretty inefficient. The Sentinel isn’t an especially good attacker or blocker, so you mostly just won’t play it.
Divest image 0.5 This is a sideboard card. People frequently won’t have enough targets to make it worth it.
Deathbloom Thallid image 3.0 This has solid base stats that makes it easy for it to trade, and then it leaves behind a Saproling – that’s a pretty good deal for three mana.
Keldon Warcaller image 1.5 This just doesn’t line up very often to really make your Sagas better. It is mostly just a bear.
Pierce the Sky image 0.5 This is mostly a sideboard card – it pretty much kills all the flyers in the set.
Windgrace Acolyte image 2.0 The ETB trigger here is surprisingly solid. The life you gain and the cards you mill can be some really significant value on a reasonable evasive creature.
Fiery Intervention image 2.5 This isn’t premium since it is a Sorcery and 5 mana, but it does kill a lot of stuff in this format, and having the addition upside of blowing up a problem artifact sometimes is nice.
Blink of an Eye image 3.5 Even without Kicker, this would be a playable card. Adding kicker to the mix is great, because it keeps you from going down a card for tempo. Instead, you get to bounce their thing and draw a card, which tends to feel pretty good for 4 mana.
Pack 1 Pick 3: Danitha Capashen, Paragon
Final Parting image 0.5 5 mana for a tutor effect just isn’t worth it 99% of the time. And yeah, you do get to tutor up two things, but this is still woefully inefficient, and spending a turn casting this and not adding to the board is rough.
Knight of Malice image 3.5 This is already a good card as a two mana 2/2 with First Strike, and it gets a big upgrade against an opponent who is playing White.
Cold-Water Snapper image 1.5 Yep, there’s a common with hexproof in this set! This is a great place to put Auras like Arcane Flight, and is sort of passable as top curve in other Blue decks too.
Aesthir Glider image 1.5 In a lot of formats this would be close to unplayable, but in this one – which features lots of Artifact/Historic payoffs, you end up playing the glider sometimes. A 3-mana 2/1 with Flying isn’t bad, but the fact it can’t block is a little miserable.
Keldon Raider image 2.5 A 4-mana 4/3 that lets you rummage is perfectly fine, but not much more than that.
Sparring Construct image 1.5 This is passable, mostly just because it is an Artifact.
Knight of New Benalia image 1.5 Two mana 3/1s tend to be kind of alright, and this one has a useful creature type.
Skirk Prospector image 0.5 There aren’t enough Goblins in this set for this to be worth it. It can sacrifice itself to its own ability to help you ramp, but giving up a card for such minor ramp just isn’t worth doing in Limited.
Cabal Evangel image 1.0 A two mana 2/2 with no other text tends to not be worth playing unless you’re desperate for a two drop.
Rescue image 0.5 This can do some things – like help you reset a Saga – but it is mostly too narrow to ever really want to play.
Homarid Explorer image 1.0 There isn’t enough of a payoff for milling yourself or your opponent for this to be very good.
Pack 1 Pick 4: Knight of Malice
Final Parting image 0.5 5 mana for a tutor effect just isn’t worth it 99% of the time. And yeah, you do get to tutor up two things, but this is still woefully inefficient, and spending a turn casting this and not adding to the board is rough.
Knight of Malice image 3.5 This is already a good card as a two mana 2/2 with First Strike, and it gets a big upgrade against an opponent who is playing White.
Cold-Water Snapper image 1.5 Yep, there’s a common with hexproof in this set! This is a great place to put Auras like Arcane Flight, and is sort of passable as top curve in other Blue decks too.
Aesthir Glider image 1.5 In a lot of formats this would be close to unplayable, but in this one – which features lots of Artifact/Historic payoffs, you end up playing the glider sometimes. A 3-mana 2/1 with Flying isn’t bad, but the fact it can’t block is a little miserable.
Keldon Raider image 2.5 A 4-mana 4/3 that lets you rummage is perfectly fine, but not much more than that.
Sparring Construct image 1.5 This is passable, mostly just because it is an Artifact.
Knight of New Benalia image 1.5 Two mana 3/1s tend to be kind of alright, and this one has a useful creature type.
Skirk Prospector image 0.5 There aren’t enough Goblins in this set for this to be worth it. It can sacrifice itself to its own ability to help you ramp, but giving up a card for such minor ramp just isn’t worth doing in Limited.
Cabal Evangel image 1.0 A two mana 2/2 with no other text tends to not be worth playing unless you’re desperate for a two drop.
Rescue image 0.5 This can do some things – like help you reset a Saga – but it is mostly too narrow to ever really want to play.
Homarid Explorer image 1.0 There isn’t enough of a payoff for milling yourself or your opponent for this to be very good.
Pack 1 Pick 5: Aesthir Glider
Goblin Warchief image 0.5 Don’t let this card fool you. Goblins are not well-supported in this format. This will basically just be a 3-mana 2/2 with Haste most of the time, and that isn’t worth it.
Memorial to Genius image 3.5 Having a land that can produce mana for you early, and then draw you a couple cards late is pretty nice!
The Flame of Keld image 1.5 This isn’t as good in Limited as it is in constructed, mostly because you have to wait until the pretty late game to play this, as discarding your hand won’t be worth it until you’re out of or almost out of cards. It is kind of nice to play late because it does give you some extra fuel. Then, Chapter III will only be really good if you’re mono-red, and that’s unlikely.
Bloodstone Goblin image 2.0 A two-mana 2/2 isn’t a bad baseline, but this often isn’t much more than that. That’s because, by the part of the game where you can pay kicker costs, a 3/3 with Menace usually isn’t going to be the most…well…menacing creature around.
Broken Bond image 1.5 There’s enough Artifacts and Enchantments in this set that you can play this in the main deck some, and sometimes it will even ramp you a bit.
Divest image 0.5 This is a sideboard card. People frequently won’t have enough targets to make it worth it.
Ghitu Journeymage image 2.5 In a Red deck, especially a UR deck, this will be a 3-mana 3/2 that does 2 damage to the opponent a decent chunk of the time, and that’s a decent enough card.
Aesthir Glider image 1.5 In a lot of formats this would be close to unplayable, but in this one – which features lots of Artifact/Historic payoffs, you end up playing the glider sometimes. A 3-mana 2/1 with Flying isn’t bad, but the fact it can’t block is a little miserable.
Blessing of Belzenlok image 1.0 This is a mediocre trick, even if you use it on a legendary creature.
Pierce the Sky image 0.5 This is mostly a sideboard card – it pretty much kills all the flyers in the set.
Pack 1 Pick 6: Deathbloom Thallid
Shanna, Sisay's Legacy image 3.0 Shanna is often just a large vanilla creature which gets a little bit of upside against creature abilities, but you know, two mana for a creature that can potentially get larger is quite good. Of course, the flipside is that she can also shrink at an inopportune time.
Divination image 2.0 As usual, Divination is fine. It is a 3-mana 2-for-1, and while you don’t want too many cards that don’t add to the board, having one of these is fine in most Blue decks.
Windgrace Acolyte image 2.0 The ETB trigger here is surprisingly solid. The life you gain and the cards you mill can be some really significant value on a reasonable evasive creature.
Befuddle image 1.5 This type of Blue “combat trick” almost always disappoints, just because you need things to line up in very specific ways for it to actually feel like a combat trick. Other times, it just feels like Fog. However, adding a cantrip effect to this makes it substantially better, as does the fact that the UR deck likes spells. It still isn’t good exactly, but it is better than most versions of this type of card.
Deathbloom Thallid image 3.0 This has solid base stats that makes it easy for it to trade, and then it leaves behind a Saproling – that’s a pretty good deal for three mana.
Rampaging Cyclops image 2.5 This is a 4-mana 4/4 with downside, which seems kind of rough, but it kind of turns out that his statline is good enough for that to be worth it. 4/4 is just very large in Limited, and while the double block clause is rough, most of the time you’ll still be trading at least with your opponent, so it isn’t the biggest disaster.
Caligo Skin-Witch image 3.0 This is another card with Kicker where neither option is terribly efficient, but it turns out that it doesn’t really matter – the flexibility and late game usefulness make up for that. In this format, people tend to hold on to card a fair bit, so kicking the Skin-Witch ends up hitting two cards way more in this format than in most, and can often just be the kind of thing that shifts the game in your favor.
Syncopate image 2.0 This is a Counterspell that can sort of stay relevant all game since you can pay X, but there will still be times where you just can’t use it to effectively counter something because your opponent has too much mana. Like a lot of counterspells, it has some significant downside as a result of being so situational, but this one is good enough that you’ll play it a decent chunk of the time.
Gift of Growth image 2.0 This trick will often allow your creature to win combat early, and sometimes the kicker side of things can get you lethal out of nowhere, in addition to also being the sort of boost that will allow almost any creature to take down any other creature. It is still a trick of course, and comes with the significant downside those have.
Pack 1 Pick 7: Memorial to Folly
Memorial to Folly image 3.5 I love utility lands, and this whole Memorial cycle is certainly that! It enters tapped, but most of the time the Memorial will just feel like a way better Swamp, since in the late game it can get you the best creature back out of your graveyard, that’s a very real effect on a land – something most don’t have!
Adeliz, the Cinder Wind image 4.0 If you end up with enough Wizards and spells (which won’t be very hard in a UR deck), this will be one of your best cards, as it will just make combat a nightmare for your opponent. Pumping your whole board is no joke, and even if Adeliz is alone, she effectively has Prowess for herself, and that’s pretty nice on a creature with Haste and Flying.
Short Sword image 2.5 It definitely isn’t exciting, but this does give an efficient boost for the cost, and this set has enough Artifact and Equipment synergy around that you’ll play it a decent chunk of the time.
Dub image 2.0 This is a pretty solid Aura, mostly because the stats boost it gives will often make a creature into something your opponent has to kill, and if they can’t, you probably win. Still, it is quite swingy – if your opponent can kill your guy, that means you just got 2-for-1’d, and that’s not always easy to recover from.
Llanowar Scout image 1.5 People often really overrate this type of effect. It is easy to imagine simply always ramping with it, but the problem is that you have to have lands to put into play in the first place. That might sound like a foregone conclusion, but it really isn’t – what makes other ramp cards great is that they get you the land from your library, which effectively draws you a card – in this case, you have to have the land to ramp, and that’s a big difference.
Skittering Surveyor image 3.5 So, this is a 3-mana ½ that draws you any basic land, and I would be on board with that pretty much no matter the format. The fixing it provides is just that good – and in this format, it is even better! Especially because there is Artifact/historic synergy all over the place.
Drudge Sentinel image 1.0 A 3-mana 2/1 that can become indestructible for three mana isn’t very good. Both parts of that are pretty inefficient. The Sentinel isn’t an especially good attacker or blocker, so you mostly just won’t play it.
Blessing of Belzenlok image 1.0 This is a mediocre trick, even if you use it on a legendary creature.
Pack 1 Pick 8: Windgrace Acolyte
Memorial to Folly image 3.5 I love utility lands, and this whole Memorial cycle is certainly that! It enters tapped, but most of the time the Memorial will just feel like a way better Swamp, since in the late game it can get you the best creature back out of your graveyard, that’s a very real effect on a land – something most don’t have!
Shield of the Realm image 1.5 This doesn’t give any real stats boost, but the effect it grants can often really tamper with combat. Of course, the problem is, you generally have to put it on a creature that is already good, because if your creature is just a 2/2 or something, adding this effect won’t make much of difference.
Run Amok image 1.5 This isn’t super great in this format. There are too many ways to interact and the format is far too grindy for this trick to really shine, as we’ve seen it do in some other formats.
Pierce the Sky image 0.5 This is mostly a sideboard card – it pretty much kills all the flyers in the set.
Demonic Vigor image 1.5 People always overrate this type of card, as it is easy to imagine putting it on a really good creature and making sure you get it back. However, more often than not, you won’t have an amazing creature to put it on, and you’ll often get back something that isn’t super relevant.
Ghitu Lavarunner image 1.5 One mana creatures like this just don’t do well in Limited, especially because loading up the graveyard super quickly isn’t going to happen. This will mostly just be a one mana ½ that is a 2/2 with Haste in the mid-to-late game, but by then, it won’t really matter. The fact it is a Wizard does help make it more playable though.
Pack 1 Pick 9: Memorial to Folly
Memorial to Folly image 3.5 I love utility lands, and this whole Memorial cycle is certainly that! It enters tapped, but most of the time the Memorial will just feel like a way better Swamp, since in the late game it can get you the best creature back out of your graveyard, that’s a very real effect on a land – something most don’t have!
Shield of the Realm image 1.5 This doesn’t give any real stats boost, but the effect it grants can often really tamper with combat. Of course, the problem is, you generally have to put it on a creature that is already good, because if your creature is just a 2/2 or something, adding this effect won’t make much of difference.
Run Amok image 1.5 This isn’t super great in this format. There are too many ways to interact and the format is far too grindy for this trick to really shine, as we’ve seen it do in some other formats.
Pierce the Sky image 0.5 This is mostly a sideboard card – it pretty much kills all the flyers in the set.
Demonic Vigor image 1.5 People always overrate this type of card, as it is easy to imagine putting it on a really good creature and making sure you get it back. However, more often than not, you won’t have an amazing creature to put it on, and you’ll often get back something that isn’t super relevant.
Ghitu Lavarunner image 1.5 One mana creatures like this just don’t do well in Limited, especially because loading up the graveyard super quickly isn’t going to happen. This will mostly just be a one mana ½ that is a 2/2 with Haste in the mid-to-late game, but by then, it won’t really matter. The fact it is a Wizard does help make it more playable though.
Pack 1 Pick 10: Windgrace Acolyte
Sentinel of the Pearl Trident image 1.5 This is just too expensive for what it is. Its ETB trigger won’t do anything far more often than it will. And sure, resetting a Saga or triggering an ETB ability again seems cool, but it won’t happen as often as you’d think.
Bloodtallow Candle image 2.0 This is not an efficient way to removal creatures, but this format has several payoffs for playing Artifacts/historic cards, and having a cheap one around isn’t bad, especially because some of those payoffs let you get Artifacts back from your graveyard, and recurring a removal spell – even an inefficient one, tends to feel pretty good.
Rat Colony image 1.5 So, I wouldn’t advise jamming a bunch of these into your deck in most cases (though, if you have Tetsuko Umezawa, things might get interesting). Still, it is a kind of okay two drop, and they do get better in multiples.
Opt image 2.0 As usual, this is fine. Seeing two cards for one mana feels pretty good.
Pack 1 Pick 11: Bloodtallow Candle
Final Parting image 0.5 5 mana for a tutor effect just isn’t worth it 99% of the time. And yeah, you do get to tutor up two things, but this is still woefully inefficient, and spending a turn casting this and not adding to the board is rough.
Cabal Evangel image 1.0 A two mana 2/2 with no other text tends to not be worth playing unless you’re desperate for a two drop.
Rescue image 0.5 This can do some things – like help you reset a Saga – but it is mostly too narrow to ever really want to play.
Pack 1 Pick 12: Final Parting
Final Parting image 0.5 5 mana for a tutor effect just isn’t worth it 99% of the time. And yeah, you do get to tutor up two things, but this is still woefully inefficient, and spending a turn casting this and not adding to the board is rough.
Cabal Evangel image 1.0 A two mana 2/2 with no other text tends to not be worth playing unless you’re desperate for a two drop.
Rescue image 0.5 This can do some things – like help you reset a Saga – but it is mostly too narrow to ever really want to play.
Pack 1 Pick 13: Divest
Divest image 0.5 This is a sideboard card. People frequently won’t have enough targets to make it worth it.
Pierce the Sky image 0.5 This is mostly a sideboard card – it pretty much kills all the flyers in the set.
Pack 1 Pick 14: Windgrace Acolyte
Windgrace Acolyte image 2.0 The ETB trigger here is surprisingly solid. The life you gain and the cards you mill can be some really significant value on a reasonable evasive creature.
Pack 2 Pick 1: Shalai, Voice of Plenty
Shalai, Voice of Plenty image 4.5 This has great base stats and the hexproof ability can really put a damper on your opponents plans. Now, if they have removal that can kill Shalai, it will be a little sad, but sometimes making your opponent have to kill Shalai before targeting other things is upside on its own. Shalai gets absolutely bonkers in a deck where you can use the activated ability though, as pumping your whole board – including Shalai, can quickly snowball.
The Eldest Reborn image 4.5 This is an Uncommon bomb, and a card that always does a ton for the investment. Up front, it makes your opponent lose a creature. And sure, it is an Edict, so your opponent chooses which creature they lose – and that can be kind of a bummer, but you still have the next two chapters! Your opponent has to discard a card on their next turn, and then you get to reanimate something on the turn after that. This is certainly sort of slow, but it amounts to a 3-for-1 in the end, and you really make your opponent’s life difficult because with Chapter I and II, your opponent has to keep Chapter III in mind, as putting something in the graveyard you can make use of is a big problem.
Amaranthine Wall image 1.0 Even with all of the artifact/historic payoffs in this format, Amaranthine Wall is pretty bad. It just blocks, and a 4 mana card that does that isn’t really something you’re going to want most of the time.
Orcish Vandal image 1.5 If you have Artifacts, being able to hurl them at your opponent’s dome and creatures feels pretty good, but this format doesn’t have so many that doing that is really easy.
Adamant Will image 1.5 This is a decent trick, which will frequently allow your creature to win combat. The indestructibility also gives it an additional use as a way to save a creature from removal. This format is pretty grindy, so tricks aren’t as good as they are in some formats, but if you’re an aggressive deck and you need a trick, this is a solid one.
Grow from the Ashes image 3.5 Fixing and ramp are big in this format as a result of kicker and various mana sinks, and Grow from the Ashes is really good at giving you both of those things, especially when you kick it. It can even allow you to splash double colored cards, which is nice upside.
Powerstone Shard image 0.0 // 2.5 This is hard to make work, but if you end up 3+ Powerstone Shards, you can start consider playing them, especially if you’re in a ramp deck. If you have 2 or less, it probably isn’t worth it.
Keldon Warcaller image 1.5 This just doesn’t line up very often to really make your Sagas better. It is mostly just a bear.
Opt image 2.0 As usual, this is fine. Seeing two cards for one mana feels pretty good.
Fiery Intervention image 2.5 This isn’t premium since it is a Sorcery and 5 mana, but it does kill a lot of stuff in this format, and having the addition upside of blowing up a problem artifact sometimes is nice.
Bloodtallow Candle image 2.0 This is not an efficient way to removal creatures, but this format has several payoffs for playing Artifacts/historic cards, and having a cheap one around isn’t bad, especially because some of those payoffs let you get Artifacts back from your graveyard, and recurring a removal spell – even an inefficient one, tends to feel pretty good.
Caligo Skin-Witch image 3.0 This is another card with Kicker where neither option is terribly efficient, but it turns out that it doesn’t really matter – the flexibility and late game usefulness make up for that. In this format, people tend to hold on to card a fair bit, so kicking the Skin-Witch ends up hitting two cards way more in this format than in most, and can often just be the kind of thing that shifts the game in your favor.
Ghitu Chronicler image 3.5 This can be a two mana 1/3 early – and you need that sometimes. However, the real value of the card comes when you kick it. 6 mana for a 1/3 that returns a spell is surprisingly potent in this format, especially if you’ve got Fight With Fire, but even if you just have reasonable spells to get back, this still feels pretty good.
Gideon's Reproach image 3.0 This is situational, but it is efficient enough that it still makes it into the lower range of premium removal. Attacking and blocking does happen a fair bit, and because of that, it doesn’t feel all that situational.
Pack 2 Pick 2: Fungal Infection
Kamahl's Druidic Vow image 0.5 Most of this cycle is pretty good, but that’s not really the case here. Needing to have a legendary creature in play is a pretty big requirement, but even if you do manage to fulfill it, there’s no guarantee this will do anything, since you also need a significant amount of mana to make it do its thing, and you’re still at the mercy of variance. Getting a few lands won’t usually be worth it, you really need to be getting a creature, or you aren’t really getting there, and there aren’t so many legendary creatures that that is super easy.
Merfolk Trickster image 3.0 This has a lot of utility for a two drop. A two mana 2/2 with Flash is already fairly passable, but the ETB ability here is quite good. You can use it to simply tap down an attacker you don’t want to attack you – or to tap down a blocker that you don’t want to be in your way. But, you can also use it to turn abilities of a creature off at instant speed, and this can sometimes really allow you to blow out your opponent. It won’t always come up, but when it does, it’ll feel pretty good.
Urgoros, the Empty One image 2.5 If this guy is left alone, he can do some serious work ripping apart your opponents’ hand. It is also nice that, unlike with most specters, Urgoros will draw you a card once your opponent runs out of things to discard. However, Urgoros is really held back in this format because there is so much cheap removal that can kill him, and you’ll often find yourself really far behind on tempo if your opponent has one of those answers – and they often will.
Fiery Intervention image 2.5 This isn’t premium since it is a Sorcery and 5 mana, but it does kill a lot of stuff in this format, and having the addition upside of blowing up a problem artifact sometimes is nice.
Cloudreader Sphinx image 3.5 This card really overperforms. 5-mana ¾ Flyers are usually somewhat passable, but in this format that statline is especially good. Additionally, Scry 2 is a nice thing to add to an already solid creature.
Benalish Honor Guard image 1.5 This is alright, but even with the large number of legendaries in this set, this will be a two mana 2/2 most of the time, and usually not much bigger than 3/2. It is also a knight, which matters.
Deep Freeze image 2.5 This is typical of most Blue removal. It does the job of turning off a creature, but the downside is that creature can still block. This means this type of effect isn’t great if you’re really aggressive, but still – at least the creature can only block once! This isn’t premium, but it is solid removal.
Fungal Infection image 2.5 This ends up lining up surprisingly well. Sometimes you can use this to just kill an X/2, other times you can use it to kill two X/1s, and still other times you can use it help a creature win combat while also getting a Saproling. Sure, sometimes a Saproling and -1/-1 won’t do a ton, but even in those fail cases you can at least get a blocker.
Healing Grace image 0.0 Strictly better Healing Salve is still not a playable card.
Charge image 1.5 Pumping your whole board with this isn’t the best thing to be doing in a format that can be as grindy as this one, but it does do the job reasonably efficiently, and if you’re going wide enough you might end up playing it.
Gift of Growth image 2.0 This trick will often allow your creature to win combat early, and sometimes the kicker side of things can get you lethal out of nowhere, in addition to also being the sort of boost that will allow almost any creature to take down any other creature. It is still a trick of course, and comes with the significant downside those have.
Arbor Armament image 1.0 This is a mediocre trick, but it does give the counter permanently. Still, tricks that are defensive always seem super awkward. You can of course use it offensively, but Reach doesn’t matter in that situation, and +1/+1 just isn’t always going to be enough to win combat.
Homarid Explorer image 1.0 There isn’t enough of a payoff for milling yourself or your opponent for this to be very good.
Pack 2 Pick 3: Garna, the Bloodflame
The Mending of Dominaria image 2.5 This is slow, but if you have the time, it gives you a ton of value. You end up with at least a 2-for-1 in most cases, and then you will also get a significant mana boost from Chapter III. Even getting up to 10 or so mana is big in this format because of all the kicker, so that ability is better than it looks.
Garna, the Bloodflame image 3.0 Garna is kind of hard to get serious value out of. You have to leave up significant mana, and then set up a situation where some of your creatures die to give you value, and while that’s not impossible, it comes up less often than you might think. It is nice that she comes with Flash and gives Haste to your whole board though, as sometimes she can also just represent a ton of damage out of nowhere, between her 3/3 body and whatever other creatures you play on your own turn.
Deep Freeze image 2.5 This is typical of most Blue removal. It does the job of turning off a creature, but the downside is that creature can still block. This means this type of effect isn’t great if you’re really aggressive, but still – at least the creature can only block once! This isn’t premium, but it is solid removal.
Frenzied Rage image 2.0 +2/+1 and Menace for two mana is very aggressive, and can make many creatures into a threat. Now, it does have the same downside of all Auras – namely, the huge risk of getting 2-for-1’d, but it is worth doing in some of the more aggressive decks.
Fungal Infection image 2.5 This ends up lining up surprisingly well. Sometimes you can use this to just kill an X/2, other times you can use it to kill two X/1s, and still other times you can use it help a creature win combat while also getting a Saproling. Sure, sometimes a Saproling and -1/-1 won’t do a ton, but even in those fail cases you can at least get a blocker.
Ancient Animus image 2.5 Getting the counter with this won’t come up a ton, but being an instant speed fight effect is a fine baseline.
Invoke the Divine image 2.0 There are enough targets for this in this format that you end up main decking it sometimes.
Adventurous Impulse image 1.5 This can often allow you to find a creature or a land, and sometimes you really need one of those and not the other. It does wiff sometimes, but usually this costs one mana for some card selection, and while that is a fairly replaceable effect, it is something you’ll play often enough.
Ghitu Journeymage image 2.5 In a Red deck, especially a UR deck, this will be a 3-mana 3/2 that does 2 damage to the opponent a decent chunk of the time, and that’s a decent enough card.
Yavimaya Sapherd image 3.5 3-mana 2/2s that make a 1/1 are always really good in Limited, and this comes with the added bonus of the creature types of the creatures it makes.
Artificer's Assistant image 1.5 This has decent base stats, but the Scry trigger here just doesn’t happen often enough for this to be very good.
Divest image 0.5 This is a sideboard card. People frequently won’t have enough targets to make it worth it.
Pack 2 Pick 4: Vicious Offering
Memorial to Glory image 3.0 This might come into play tapped, but it more that makes up for that with the ability to make a couple of creature tokens in the late game.
Adeliz, the Cinder Wind image 4.0 If you end up with enough Wizards and spells (which won’t be very hard in a UR deck), this will be one of your best cards, as it will just make combat a nightmare for your opponent. Pumping your whole board is no joke, and even if Adeliz is alone, she effectively has Prowess for herself, and that’s pretty nice on a creature with Haste and Flying.
Bloodstone Goblin image 2.0 A two-mana 2/2 isn’t a bad baseline, but this often isn’t much more than that. That’s because, by the part of the game where you can pay kicker costs, a 3/3 with Menace usually isn’t going to be the most…well…menacing creature around.
Windgrace Acolyte image 2.0 The ETB trigger here is surprisingly solid. The life you gain and the cards you mill can be some really significant value on a reasonable evasive creature.
Corrosive Ooze image 1.5 There is Equipment in this set, but not so much that this ability is amazing. Most of the time, Corrosive Ooze is just a Bear.
Serra Disciple image 1.5 This has been a great card for 25+ years at this point, and it is still great in Limited. That stat-line and those keywords just aren’t something we see very often for only 5 mana.
Demonic Vigor image 1.5 People always overrate this type of card, as it is easy to imagine putting it on a really good creature and making sure you get it back. However, more often than not, you won’t have an amazing creature to put it on, and you’ll often get back something that isn’t super relevant.
Llanowar Envoy image 1.5 This offers a mediocre body and mediocre fixing. You’ll play it sometimes if you need both of those things.
Feral Abomination image 1.5 This is a kind of okay finisher if you’re desperate for one.
Vicious Offering image 3.5 Even without Kicker, this has a pretty nice baseline as a two mana instant that gives -2/-2. That’s something you would play most of the time! The kicker upside is great though, as -5/-5 can take down even more stuff. It feels especially good to give up a Saproling with it.
Tragic Poet image 1.0 This isn’t great, even in a set with Sagas.
Pack 2 Pick 5: Call the Cavalry
Damping Sphere image 0.0 This pretty much does nothing in Limited. Don’t play it.
Garna, the Bloodflame image 3.0 Garna is kind of hard to get serious value out of. You have to leave up significant mana, and then set up a situation where some of your creatures die to give you value, and while that’s not impossible, it comes up less often than you might think. It is nice that she comes with Flash and gives Haste to your whole board though, as sometimes she can also just represent a ton of damage out of nowhere, between her 3/3 body and whatever other creatures you play on your own turn.
Call the Cavalry image 2.5 This makes creatures reasonably efficiently, and they even have a useful creature type. It isn’t exciting, but it does a decent job of making your board presence bigger.
Aesthir Glider image 1.5 In a lot of formats this would be close to unplayable, but in this one – which features lots of Artifact/Historic payoffs, you end up playing the glider sometimes. A 3-mana 2/1 with Flying isn’t bad, but the fact it can’t block is a little miserable.
Skittering Surveyor image 3.5 So, this is a 3-mana ½ that draws you any basic land, and I would be on board with that pretty much no matter the format. The fixing it provides is just that good – and in this format, it is even better! Especially because there is Artifact/historic synergy all over the place.
Soul Salvage image 2.0 As usual, most Black decks tend to end up wanting one of these most of the time, but usually not more than one. They are bad to get in the early game, when they are effectively blank cards, but in the late game it is a good way to help you pull ahead of your opponent.
Pierce the Sky image 0.5 This is mostly a sideboard card – it pretty much kills all the flyers in the set.
Aven Sentry image 2.0 This has decent French Vanilla stats, and not much else.
Knight of New Benalia image 1.5 Two mana 3/1s tend to be kind of alright, and this one has a useful creature type.
Arcane Flight image 1.5 This gives a nice boost for the cost, especially with Flying in the mix. It is especially nice on the hexproof turtle, but its efficiency makes it worthwhile in some other Blue decks too.
Pack 2 Pick 6: Knight of New Benalia
Gaea's Blessing image 0.5 This is mostly a cantrip in Limited, and not really an efficient one.
Chainer's Torment image 2.0 Most of the time, paying 4 mana for this won’t feel worth it. Most of the time, you’ll do some damage and gain some life up to 12 or 14, and then make like a 6/6 that lowers your life back down to 6. It does this all really slowly too, and the fact that you played this on turn four will often mean your life is pretty low, assuming your opponent has also added to the board. Don’t get me wrong, this does win games sometimes, but it seems like it does very little even more often than that.
Baloth Gorger image 3.5 This is a very good common, as playing it as a 4-mana 4/4 feels pretty good, and then in the late game it has the added utility of being an 8-mana 7/7, which, while not efficient – is not upside to have on an already efficient creature.
Aesthir Glider image 1.5 In a lot of formats this would be close to unplayable, but in this one – which features lots of Artifact/Historic payoffs, you end up playing the glider sometimes. A 3-mana 2/1 with Flying isn’t bad, but the fact it can’t block is a little miserable.
Invoke the Divine image 2.0 There are enough targets for this in this format that you end up main decking it sometimes.
Knight of New Benalia image 1.5 Two mana 3/1s tend to be kind of alright, and this one has a useful creature type.
Guardians of Koilos image 1.5 The idea here is that you can bounce a Saga or other Historic thing to your hand that will give you value when you play it again, but a lot of the time this is just a 5-mana 4/4, and that’s not really something you want.
Powerstone Shard image 0.0 // 2.5 This is hard to make work, but if you end up 3+ Powerstone Shards, you can start consider playing them, especially if you’re in a ramp deck. If you have 2 or less, it probably isn’t worth it.
Corrosive Ooze image 1.5 There is Equipment in this set, but not so much that this ability is amazing. Most of the time, Corrosive Ooze is just a Bear.
Pack 2 Pick 7: Deep Freeze
Amaranthine Wall image 1.0 Even with all of the artifact/historic payoffs in this format, Amaranthine Wall is pretty bad. It just blocks, and a 4 mana card that does that isn’t really something you’re going to want most of the time.
Tetsuko Umezawa, Fugitive image 2.5 So, on his own, Tetsuko is a two mana 1/3 that is unblockable. You would already play that sometimes! He comes with the additional upside of also making a few other creatures in your deck unblockable too, and that’s pretty nice.
Deep Freeze image 2.5 This is typical of most Blue removal. It does the job of turning off a creature, but the downside is that creature can still block. This means this type of effect isn’t great if you’re really aggressive, but still – at least the creature can only block once! This isn’t premium, but it is solid removal.
Keldon Warcaller image 1.5 This just doesn’t line up very often to really make your Sagas better. It is mostly just a bear.
Excavation Elephant image 2.0 Like most cards with Kicker in this set, Excavation Elephant is a decent creature when you cast it regularly, and then in the later part of the game you can kick it for some extra value. There are enough Artifacts in this set that casting this with Kicker and getting something back is very doable.
Vodalian Arcanist image 2.0 This has decent stats and allows you to make some extra mana for Instants and Sorceries, something that is a pretty nice effect to have, albeit not one that will come up all the time.
Llanowar Scout image 1.5 People often really overrate this type of effect. It is easy to imagine simply always ramping with it, but the problem is that you have to have lands to put into play in the first place. That might sound like a foregone conclusion, but it really isn’t – what makes other ramp cards great is that they get you the land from your library, which effectively draws you a card – in this case, you have to have the land to ramp, and that’s a big difference.
Run Amok image 1.5 This isn’t super great in this format. There are too many ways to interact and the format is far too grindy for this trick to really shine, as we’ve seen it do in some other formats.
Pack 2 Pick 8: Soul Salvage
Dark Bargain image 2.0 This is basically Black Divination, and that means having one copy of it in your Black decks is usually decent.
Soul Salvage image 2.0 As usual, most Black decks tend to end up wanting one of these most of the time, but usually not more than one. They are bad to get in the early game, when they are effectively blank cards, but in the late game it is a good way to help you pull ahead of your opponent.
Run Amok image 1.5 This isn’t super great in this format. There are too many ways to interact and the format is far too grindy for this trick to really shine, as we’ve seen it do in some other formats.
Caligo Skin-Witch image 3.0 This is another card with Kicker where neither option is terribly efficient, but it turns out that it doesn’t really matter – the flexibility and late game usefulness make up for that. In this format, people tend to hold on to card a fair bit, so kicking the Skin-Witch ends up hitting two cards way more in this format than in most, and can often just be the kind of thing that shifts the game in your favor.
Navigator's Compass image 0.5 This kind of card is always overrated. People look at it and they really think of it as a form of fixing, and..well, it is, but you also use up an entire card for it, and you just modify a land you already have. This does nothing but fix for the most part. It does gain you a bit of life, and it is an artifact in a set that cares about them, but you can do a lot better than this.
Baloth Gorger image 3.5 This is a very good common, as playing it as a 4-mana 4/4 feels pretty good, and then in the late game it has the added utility of being an 8-mana 7/7, which, while not efficient – is not upside to have on an already efficient creature.
Tolarian Scholar image 1.5 In most formats, this would be a 1.0, but the Wizard creature type matters enough here that this 3-mana 2/3 gets a little upgrade.
Pack 2 Pick 9: Adamant Will
Amaranthine Wall image 1.0 Even with all of the artifact/historic payoffs in this format, Amaranthine Wall is pretty bad. It just blocks, and a 4 mana card that does that isn’t really something you’re going to want most of the time.
Adamant Will image 1.5 This is a decent trick, which will frequently allow your creature to win combat. The indestructibility also gives it an additional use as a way to save a creature from removal. This format is pretty grindy, so tricks aren’t as good as they are in some formats, but if you’re an aggressive deck and you need a trick, this is a solid one.
Powerstone Shard image 0.0 // 2.5 This is hard to make work, but if you end up 3+ Powerstone Shards, you can start consider playing them, especially if you’re in a ramp deck. If you have 2 or less, it probably isn’t worth it.
Keldon Warcaller image 1.5 This just doesn’t line up very often to really make your Sagas better. It is mostly just a bear.
Caligo Skin-Witch image 3.0 This is another card with Kicker where neither option is terribly efficient, but it turns out that it doesn’t really matter – the flexibility and late game usefulness make up for that. In this format, people tend to hold on to card a fair bit, so kicking the Skin-Witch ends up hitting two cards way more in this format than in most, and can often just be the kind of thing that shifts the game in your favor.
Ghitu Chronicler image 3.5 This can be a two mana 1/3 early – and you need that sometimes. However, the real value of the card comes when you kick it. 6 mana for a 1/3 that returns a spell is surprisingly potent in this format, especially if you’ve got Fight With Fire, but even if you just have reasonable spells to get back, this still feels pretty good.
Pack 2 Pick 10: Deep Freeze
Deep Freeze image 2.5 This is typical of most Blue removal. It does the job of turning off a creature, but the downside is that creature can still block. This means this type of effect isn’t great if you’re really aggressive, but still – at least the creature can only block once! This isn’t premium, but it is solid removal.
Healing Grace image 0.0 Strictly better Healing Salve is still not a playable card.
Gift of Growth image 2.0 This trick will often allow your creature to win combat early, and sometimes the kicker side of things can get you lethal out of nowhere, in addition to also being the sort of boost that will allow almost any creature to take down any other creature. It is still a trick of course, and comes with the significant downside those have.
Arbor Armament image 1.0 This is a mediocre trick, but it does give the counter permanently. Still, tricks that are defensive always seem super awkward. You can of course use it offensively, but Reach doesn’t matter in that situation, and +1/+1 just isn’t always going to be enough to win combat.
Homarid Explorer image 1.0 There isn’t enough of a payoff for milling yourself or your opponent for this to be very good.
Pack 2 Pick 11: Invoke the Divine
Windgrace Acolyte image 2.0 The ETB trigger here is surprisingly solid. The life you gain and the cards you mill can be some really significant value on a reasonable evasive creature.
Demonic Vigor image 1.5 People always overrate this type of card, as it is easy to imagine putting it on a really good creature and making sure you get it back. However, more often than not, you won’t have an amazing creature to put it on, and you’ll often get back something that isn’t super relevant.
Tragic Poet image 1.0 This isn’t great, even in a set with Sagas.
Pack 2 Pick 12: Demonic Vigor
Windgrace Acolyte image 2.0 The ETB trigger here is surprisingly solid. The life you gain and the cards you mill can be some really significant value on a reasonable evasive creature.
Demonic Vigor image 1.5 People always overrate this type of card, as it is easy to imagine putting it on a really good creature and making sure you get it back. However, more often than not, you won’t have an amazing creature to put it on, and you’ll often get back something that isn’t super relevant.
Tragic Poet image 1.0 This isn’t great, even in a set with Sagas.
Pack 2 Pick 13: Soul Salvage
Damping Sphere image 0.0 This pretty much does nothing in Limited. Don’t play it.
Soul Salvage image 2.0 As usual, most Black decks tend to end up wanting one of these most of the time, but usually not more than one. They are bad to get in the early game, when they are effectively blank cards, but in the late game it is a good way to help you pull ahead of your opponent.
Pack 2 Pick 14: Powerstone Shard
Teshar, Ancestor's Apostle image 3.0 This starts with some mediocre stats. However, you’ll find yourself getting one card back with this reasonably often, and that’s a nice effect to have.
Seal Away image 4.0 This is situational, but it is cheap enough that it is incredibly good removal.
Sentinel of the Pearl Trident image 1.5 This is just too expensive for what it is. Its ETB trigger won’t do anything far more often than it will. And sure, resetting a Saga or triggering an ETB ability again seems cool, but it won’t happen as often as you’d think.
Sage of Lat-Nam image 2.0 The effect here is pretty strong, as cashing in artifacts for cards can be a good deal, but it isn’t always easy to set up.
Mesa Unicorn image 2.5 Two mana 2/2s with Lifelink are usually nice little cards in Limited, and that’s the case here.
Ghitu Chronicler image 3.5 This can be a two mana 1/3 early – and you need that sometimes. However, the real value of the card comes when you kick it. 6 mana for a 1/3 that returns a spell is surprisingly potent in this format, especially if you’ve got Fight With Fire, but even if you just have reasonable spells to get back, this still feels pretty good.
Cabal Evangel image 1.0 A two mana 2/2 with no other text tends to not be worth playing unless you’re desperate for a two drop.
Gift of Growth image 2.0 This trick will often allow your creature to win combat early, and sometimes the kicker side of things can get you lethal out of nowhere, in addition to also being the sort of boost that will allow almost any creature to take down any other creature. It is still a trick of course, and comes with the significant downside those have.
Llanowar Envoy image 1.5 This offers a mediocre body and mediocre fixing. You’ll play it sometimes if you need both of those things.
Shivan Fire image 3.5 This is premium removal. One mana to do 2 at instant speed already is, and adding the additional upside of being more potent with Kicker is just great.
Frenzied Rage image 2.0 +2/+1 and Menace for two mana is very aggressive, and can make many creatures into a threat. Now, it does have the same downside of all Auras – namely, the huge risk of getting 2-for-1’d, but it is worth doing in some of the more aggressive decks.
Blessing of Belzenlok image 1.0 This is a mediocre trick, even if you use it on a legendary creature.
Syncopate image 2.0 This is a Counterspell that can sort of stay relevant all game since you can pay X, but there will still be times where you just can’t use it to effectively counter something because your opponent has too much mana. Like a lot of counterspells, it has some significant downside as a result of being so situational, but this one is good enough that you’ll play it a decent chunk of the time.
Tragic Poet image 1.0 This isn’t great, even in a set with Sagas.
Pack 3 Pick 1: Seal Away
Teshar, Ancestor's Apostle image 3.0 This starts with some mediocre stats. However, you’ll find yourself getting one card back with this reasonably often, and that’s a nice effect to have.
Seal Away image 4.0 This is situational, but it is cheap enough that it is incredibly good removal.
Sentinel of the Pearl Trident image 1.5 This is just too expensive for what it is. Its ETB trigger won’t do anything far more often than it will. And sure, resetting a Saga or triggering an ETB ability again seems cool, but it won’t happen as often as you’d think.
Sage of Lat-Nam image 2.0 The effect here is pretty strong, as cashing in artifacts for cards can be a good deal, but it isn’t always easy to set up.
Mesa Unicorn image 2.5 Two mana 2/2s with Lifelink are usually nice little cards in Limited, and that’s the case here.
Ghitu Chronicler image 3.5 This can be a two mana 1/3 early – and you need that sometimes. However, the real value of the card comes when you kick it. 6 mana for a 1/3 that returns a spell is surprisingly potent in this format, especially if you’ve got Fight With Fire, but even if you just have reasonable spells to get back, this still feels pretty good.
Cabal Evangel image 1.0 A two mana 2/2 with no other text tends to not be worth playing unless you’re desperate for a two drop.
Gift of Growth image 2.0 This trick will often allow your creature to win combat early, and sometimes the kicker side of things can get you lethal out of nowhere, in addition to also being the sort of boost that will allow almost any creature to take down any other creature. It is still a trick of course, and comes with the significant downside those have.
Llanowar Envoy image 1.5 This offers a mediocre body and mediocre fixing. You’ll play it sometimes if you need both of those things.
Shivan Fire image 3.5 This is premium removal. One mana to do 2 at instant speed already is, and adding the additional upside of being more potent with Kicker is just great.
Frenzied Rage image 2.0 +2/+1 and Menace for two mana is very aggressive, and can make many creatures into a threat. Now, it does have the same downside of all Auras – namely, the huge risk of getting 2-for-1’d, but it is worth doing in some of the more aggressive decks.
Blessing of Belzenlok image 1.0 This is a mediocre trick, even if you use it on a legendary creature.
Syncopate image 2.0 This is a Counterspell that can sort of stay relevant all game since you can pay X, but there will still be times where you just can’t use it to effectively counter something because your opponent has too much mana. Like a lot of counterspells, it has some significant downside as a result of being so situational, but this one is good enough that you’ll play it a decent chunk of the time.
Tragic Poet image 1.0 This isn’t great, even in a set with Sagas.
Pack 3 Pick 2: Knight of Grace
Hinterland Harbor image 3.0 Like most two-color cycles of lands, these are some pretty nice fixing, and they’ll often come into play untapped.
Knight of Grace image 3.5 This has really good base stats and a useful creature type, and if you are lucky enough to go up against someone who is playing Black, it gets even better.
Jhoira's Familiar image 2.0 The base-line here certainly isn’t efficient, but reducing the cost of your historic spells will come up enough that you’ll play this a decent chunk of the time.
Slinn Voda, the Rising Deep image 2.5 This is a pretty legitimate finisher in this format. This format is grindy enough that casting Slinn Voda with Kicker, especially in a deck like UG, is very doable, and adding an 8/8 to the board that bounces pretty much all creatures is excellent. It does get its score dinged by the massive cost, but if you do manage to resolve it with Kicker, it will often feel like a bomb.
Blessing of Belzenlok image 1.0 This is a mediocre trick, even if you use it on a legendary creature.
Pierce the Sky image 0.5 This is mostly a sideboard card – it pretty much kills all the flyers in the set.
Skirk Prospector image 0.5 There aren’t enough Goblins in this set for this to be worth it. It can sacrifice itself to its own ability to help you ramp, but giving up a card for such minor ramp just isn’t worth doing in Limited.
Blink of an Eye image 3.5 Even without Kicker, this would be a playable card. Adding kicker to the mix is great, because it keeps you from going down a card for tempo. Instead, you get to bounce their thing and draw a card, which tends to feel pretty good for 4 mana.
D'Avenant Trapper image 2.5 This has decent stats and an okay historic trigger. Tapping stuff down can often really enable attacks you just didn’t have before, and that’s a good place to be in an aggressive deck.
Serra Disciple image 1.5 This has been a great card for 25+ years at this point, and it is still great in Limited. That stat-line and those keywords just aren’t something we see very often for only 5 mana.
Demonic Vigor image 1.5 People always overrate this type of card, as it is easy to imagine putting it on a really good creature and making sure you get it back. However, more often than not, you won’t have an amazing creature to put it on, and you’ll often get back something that isn’t super relevant.
Dark Bargain image 2.0 This is basically Black Divination, and that means having one copy of it in your Black decks is usually decent.
Arcane Flight image 1.5 This gives a nice boost for the cost, especially with Flying in the mix. It is especially nice on the hexproof turtle, but its efficiency makes it worthwhile in some other Blue decks too.
Pack 3 Pick 3: Triumph of Gerrard
Fight with Fire image 4.0 If this didn’t have Kicker at all, it would be premium removal. Adding Kicker to the mix here is a significant upgrade though. There are enough ways to recur it (Ghitu Chronicler most notably) that you’ll pretty regularly find yourself playing it as removal in the early game, and then getting it back and Kicking it in the later part of the game. When you Kick it, it is usually going to win you the game, either by clearing out a couple of creatures or just doing lethal to your opponent on the spot.
Triumph of Gerrard image 2.0 This is one of the more underwhelming Sagas in the set. You have to have a creature to put the counters on in the first place, and often times you won’t have that on turn two. Then, it sort of puts all of your eggs in one basket, and that’s a dangerous plan. Now, it isn’t unplayable or even close to it, but it won’t do what you want it to as often as you might think.
Sanctum Spirit image 2.0 It is cool that this can become indestructible, but a lot of the time when you play this, you find yourself not really wanting to discard a Historic card to save it, as a 3/2 with lifelink isn’t exactly a worldbeater.
Serra Disciple image 1.5 This has been a great card for 25+ years at this point, and it is still great in Limited. That stat-line and those keywords just aren’t something we see very often for only 5 mana.
Warlord's Fury image 1.5 There is a bit of a spell theme in this set, but not really enough of one that Warlord’s Fury feels amazing here. It does replace itself, so it isn’t terrible.
Cloudreader Sphinx image 3.5 This card really overperforms. 5-mana ¾ Flyers are usually somewhat passable, but in this format that statline is especially good. Additionally, Scry 2 is a nice thing to add to an already solid creature.
Caligo Skin-Witch image 3.0 This is another card with Kicker where neither option is terribly efficient, but it turns out that it doesn’t really matter – the flexibility and late game usefulness make up for that. In this format, people tend to hold on to card a fair bit, so kicking the Skin-Witch ends up hitting two cards way more in this format than in most, and can often just be the kind of thing that shifts the game in your favor.
Fiery Intervention image 2.5 This isn’t premium since it is a Sorcery and 5 mana, but it does kill a lot of stuff in this format, and having the addition upside of blowing up a problem artifact sometimes is nice.
Relic Runner image 2.5 This is unblockable often enough that it is a pretty nice little two-drop.
Adventurous Impulse image 1.5 This can often allow you to find a creature or a land, and sometimes you really need one of those and not the other. It does wiff sometimes, but usually this costs one mana for some card selection, and while that is a fairly replaceable effect, it is something you’ll play often enough.
Krosan Druid image 2.5 Early in the game, the Druid gives you a reasonable body, and in the late game in can gain you a ton of life, enough that it can often allow you to stabilize, and that’s some really nice upside! You won’t always get the opportunity to kick it, of course.
Ghitu Journeymage image 2.5 In a Red deck, especially a UR deck, this will be a 3-mana 3/2 that does 2 damage to the opponent a decent chunk of the time, and that’s a decent enough card.
Pack 3 Pick 4: Gideon's Reproach
Jodah, Archmage Eternal image 3.0 Jodah is mostly just a fairly hard to cast 4-mana 4/3 with Flying, which isn’t bad, but the other part of the card just won’t come up in Limited because your mana won’t be good enough.
Memorial to War image 2.5 This Memorial is kind of a dud compared the others, blowing up lands just isn’t a big deal in Limited – though, it is nice that it can blow opposing Memorials, and people will be fixing enough in this format that sometimes it has a real effect. Still, it pales in comparison to the others, but it is still a land with some very utility in the late game.
Adventurous Impulse image 1.5 This can often allow you to find a creature or a land, and sometimes you really need one of those and not the other. It does wiff sometimes, but usually this costs one mana for some card selection, and while that is a fairly replaceable effect, it is something you’ll play often enough.
Rampaging Cyclops image 2.5 This is a 4-mana 4/4 with downside, which seems kind of rough, but it kind of turns out that his statline is good enough for that to be worth it. 4/4 is just very large in Limited, and while the double block clause is rough, most of the time you’ll still be trading at least with your opponent, so it isn’t the biggest disaster.
Homarid Explorer image 1.0 There isn’t enough of a payoff for milling yourself or your opponent for this to be very good.
Seismic Shift image 0.5 This isn’t very good. Sometimes Red decks will end up playing a card that makes an opponent’s stuff unable to block, but only targeting two creatures with this is a big bummer for 4 mana. And yeah, I know it blows up a land too, but that effect is pretty much never good in Limited.
Pardic Wanderer image 1.5 This is something you’ll play in decks that have ways to recur Artifacts, as a 6-mana 5/5 with Trample that you can bring back is pretty nice.
Gideon's Reproach image 3.0 This is situational, but it is efficient enough that it still makes it into the lower range of premium removal. Attacking and blocking does happen a fair bit, and because of that, it doesn’t feel all that situational.
Windgrace Acolyte image 2.0 The ETB trigger here is surprisingly solid. The life you gain and the cards you mill can be some really significant value on a reasonable evasive creature.
Baloth Gorger image 3.5 This is a very good common, as playing it as a 4-mana 4/4 feels pretty good, and then in the late game it has the added utility of being an 8-mana 7/7, which, while not efficient – is not upside to have on an already efficient creature.
Tragic Poet image 1.0 This isn’t great, even in a set with Sagas.
Pack 3 Pick 5: Blessed Light
Merfolk Trickster image 3.0 This has a lot of utility for a two drop. A two mana 2/2 with Flash is already fairly passable, but the ETB ability here is quite good. You can use it to simply tap down an attacker you don’t want to attack you – or to tap down a blocker that you don’t want to be in your way. But, you can also use it to turn abilities of a creature off at instant speed, and this can sometimes really allow you to blow out your opponent. It won’t always come up, but when it does, it’ll feel pretty good.
Baird, Steward of Argive image 3.0 A 4-mana 2/4 with Vigilance wouldn’t be a very good card, but it would probably be passable, and Baird comes with a lot more upside than that! First, his “Ghostly Prison”-type effect is quite nice, as it will make your opponent have to choose between adding to the board or paying the mana to attack in the early game, and that can significantly slow them down. He is, of course, also legendary and a “historic” spell, which means he brings some extra synergy to the table. Sometimes his tax effect doesn’t do a ton – like in the extreme late game, but this does often make your opponent make difficult decisions in the early to mid-game.
Blessed Light image 3.0 This is kind of expensive, but the price is going to be worth it most of the time. Exiling creatures and Enchantments is nice. Sometimes exiling is especially nice, as recursion is a thing. This is also an Instant, which means you can sometimes manufacture a 2-for-1 with it. It isn’t premium removal, but it is certainly solid, and the first copy will usually make the cut.
Cabal Evangel image 1.0 A two mana 2/2 with no other text tends to not be worth playing unless you’re desperate for a two drop.
Saproling Migration image 3.5 Both modes on this are quite good, and can allow you to go wide in a hurry. In BG there are some significant Saproling/go wide payoffs too, which make it even nicer.
Sergeant-at-Arms image 2.5 This is another card with Kicker where both options don’t exactly seem efficient, but having the choice between them is great. You either get a 3-mana 2/3 or a 6-mana 2/3 that makes two 1/1 tokens. When you kick it, it can really allow you to stabilize in situations even when you are pretty far behind.
Keldon Warcaller image 1.5 This just doesn’t line up very often to really make your Sagas better. It is mostly just a bear.
Cold-Water Snapper image 1.5 Yep, there’s a common with hexproof in this set! This is a great place to put Auras like Arcane Flight, and is sort of passable as top curve in other Blue decks too.
Broken Bond image 1.5 There’s enough Artifacts and Enchantments in this set that you can play this in the main deck some, and sometimes it will even ramp you a bit.
Dub image 2.0 This is a pretty solid Aura, mostly because the stats boost it gives will often make a creature into something your opponent has to kill, and if they can’t, you probably win. Still, it is quite swingy – if your opponent can kill your guy, that means you just got 2-for-1’d, and that’s not always easy to recover from.
Pack 3 Pick 6: Arvad the Cursed
Diligent Excavator image 0.5 There just isn’t a viable mill deck in this format, so this mostly doesn’t do anything.
Memorial to War image 2.5 This Memorial is kind of a dud compared the others, blowing up lands just isn’t a big deal in Limited – though, it is nice that it can blow opposing Memorials, and people will be fixing enough in this format that sometimes it has a real effect. Still, it pales in comparison to the others, but it is still a land with some very utility in the late game.
Arvad the Cursed image 3.5 Even if Arvad didn’t pump legendary creatures at all, he would be a card you’d usually run. He can trade with anything and gain you life in the process, and he’s a good creature to pump. There are enough other legendary creatures in this set, too, that Arvad does often end up pumping a few other creatures in your deck too.
Healing Grace image 0.0 Strictly better Healing Salve is still not a playable card.
Gift of Growth image 2.0 This trick will often allow your creature to win combat early, and sometimes the kicker side of things can get you lethal out of nowhere, in addition to also being the sort of boost that will allow almost any creature to take down any other creature. It is still a trick of course, and comes with the significant downside those have.
Bloodstone Goblin image 2.0 A two-mana 2/2 isn’t a bad baseline, but this often isn’t much more than that. That’s because, by the part of the game where you can pay kicker costs, a 3/3 with Menace usually isn’t going to be the most…well…menacing creature around.
Navigator's Compass image 0.5 This kind of card is always overrated. People look at it and they really think of it as a form of fixing, and..well, it is, but you also use up an entire card for it, and you just modify a land you already have. This does nothing but fix for the most part. It does gain you a bit of life, and it is an artifact in a set that cares about them, but you can do a lot better than this.
Pierce the Sky image 0.5 This is mostly a sideboard card – it pretty much kills all the flyers in the set.
Befuddle image 1.5 This type of Blue “combat trick” almost always disappoints, just because you need things to line up in very specific ways for it to actually feel like a combat trick. Other times, it just feels like Fog. However, adding a cantrip effect to this makes it substantially better, as does the fact that the UR deck likes spells. It still isn’t good exactly, but it is better than most versions of this type of card.
Pack 3 Pick 7: Benalish Honor Guard
Yargle, Glutton of Urborg image 1.5 This 5-mana 9/3 is pretty silly! And, actually fairly playable too. It is a historic spell, which definitely matters, and also a funny place to put something like Arcane Flight.
Adventurous Impulse image 1.5 This can often allow you to find a creature or a land, and sometimes you really need one of those and not the other. It does wiff sometimes, but usually this costs one mana for some card selection, and while that is a fairly replaceable effect, it is something you’ll play often enough.
Ghitu Chronicler image 3.5 This can be a two mana 1/3 early – and you need that sometimes. However, the real value of the card comes when you kick it. 6 mana for a 1/3 that returns a spell is surprisingly potent in this format, especially if you’ve got Fight With Fire, but even if you just have reasonable spells to get back, this still feels pretty good.
Serra Disciple image 1.5 This has been a great card for 25+ years at this point, and it is still great in Limited. That stat-line and those keywords just aren’t something we see very often for only 5 mana.
Benalish Honor Guard image 1.5 This is alright, but even with the large number of legendaries in this set, this will be a two mana 2/2 most of the time, and usually not much bigger than 3/2. It is also a knight, which matters.
Charge image 1.5 Pumping your whole board with this isn’t the best thing to be doing in a format that can be as grindy as this one, but it does do the job reasonably efficiently, and if you’re going wide enough you might end up playing it.
Soul Salvage image 2.0 As usual, most Black decks tend to end up wanting one of these most of the time, but usually not more than one. They are bad to get in the early game, when they are effectively blank cards, but in the late game it is a good way to help you pull ahead of your opponent.
Keldon Overseer image 2.5 Another card with Kicker where neither the unkicked OR kicked version seems very efficient, but the upside offered by that flexibility is very real. Kicking this late and Threatening an opponents creature will add a lot of damage to the board in most cases, and will often really allow you to attack in a situation where it didn’t look like a good idea.
Pack 3 Pick 8: D'Avenant Trapper
Wild Onslaught image 1.5 This isn’t especially good without kicker, but sometimes that boost will mean the difference between winning combat and losing it, and can sometimes result in lethal! Kicking it is where a ton of damage can really come out of nowhere in a hurry, though it is pretty darn expensive to do it.
Grow from the Ashes image 3.5 Fixing and ramp are big in this format as a result of kicker and various mana sinks, and Grow from the Ashes is really good at giving you both of those things, especially when you kick it. It can even allow you to splash double colored cards, which is nice upside.
Guardians of Koilos image 1.5 The idea here is that you can bounce a Saga or other Historic thing to your hand that will give you value when you play it again, but a lot of the time this is just a 5-mana 4/4, and that’s not really something you want.
Tolarian Scholar image 1.5 In most formats, this would be a 1.0, but the Wizard creature type matters enough here that this 3-mana 2/3 gets a little upgrade.
D'Avenant Trapper image 2.5 This has decent stats and an okay historic trigger. Tapping stuff down can often really enable attacks you just didn’t have before, and that’s a good place to be in an aggressive deck.
Dub image 2.0 This is a pretty solid Aura, mostly because the stats boost it gives will often make a creature into something your opponent has to kill, and if they can’t, you probably win. Still, it is quite swingy – if your opponent can kill your guy, that means you just got 2-for-1’d, and that’s not always easy to recover from.
Blessing of Belzenlok image 1.0 This is a mediocre trick, even if you use it on a legendary creature.
Pack 3 Pick 9: Mesa Unicorn
Sage of Lat-Nam image 2.0 The effect here is pretty strong, as cashing in artifacts for cards can be a good deal, but it isn’t always easy to set up.
Mesa Unicorn image 2.5 Two mana 2/2s with Lifelink are usually nice little cards in Limited, and that’s the case here.
Ghitu Chronicler image 3.5 This can be a two mana 1/3 early – and you need that sometimes. However, the real value of the card comes when you kick it. 6 mana for a 1/3 that returns a spell is surprisingly potent in this format, especially if you’ve got Fight With Fire, but even if you just have reasonable spells to get back, this still feels pretty good.
Frenzied Rage image 2.0 +2/+1 and Menace for two mana is very aggressive, and can make many creatures into a threat. Now, it does have the same downside of all Auras – namely, the huge risk of getting 2-for-1’d, but it is worth doing in some of the more aggressive decks.
Blessing of Belzenlok image 1.0 This is a mediocre trick, even if you use it on a legendary creature.
Tragic Poet image 1.0 This isn’t great, even in a set with Sagas.
Pack 3 Pick 10: Serra Disciple
Pierce the Sky image 0.5 This is mostly a sideboard card – it pretty much kills all the flyers in the set.
Serra Disciple image 1.5 This has been a great card for 25+ years at this point, and it is still great in Limited. That stat-line and those keywords just aren’t something we see very often for only 5 mana.
Demonic Vigor image 1.5 People always overrate this type of card, as it is easy to imagine putting it on a really good creature and making sure you get it back. However, more often than not, you won’t have an amazing creature to put it on, and you’ll often get back something that isn’t super relevant.
Dark Bargain image 2.0 This is basically Black Divination, and that means having one copy of it in your Black decks is usually decent.
Arcane Flight image 1.5 This gives a nice boost for the cost, especially with Flying in the mix. It is especially nice on the hexproof turtle, but its efficiency makes it worthwhile in some other Blue decks too.
Pack 3 Pick 11: Serra Disciple
Serra Disciple image 1.5 This has been a great card for 25+ years at this point, and it is still great in Limited. That stat-line and those keywords just aren’t something we see very often for only 5 mana.
Relic Runner image 2.5 This is unblockable often enough that it is a pretty nice little two-drop.
Adventurous Impulse image 1.5 This can often allow you to find a creature or a land, and sometimes you really need one of those and not the other. It does wiff sometimes, but usually this costs one mana for some card selection, and while that is a fairly replaceable effect, it is something you’ll play often enough.
Ghitu Journeymage image 2.5 In a Red deck, especially a UR deck, this will be a 3-mana 3/2 that does 2 damage to the opponent a decent chunk of the time, and that’s a decent enough card.
Pack 3 Pick 12: Tragic Poet
Adventurous Impulse image 1.5 This can often allow you to find a creature or a land, and sometimes you really need one of those and not the other. It does wiff sometimes, but usually this costs one mana for some card selection, and while that is a fairly replaceable effect, it is something you’ll play often enough.
Seismic Shift image 0.5 This isn’t very good. Sometimes Red decks will end up playing a card that makes an opponent’s stuff unable to block, but only targeting two creatures with this is a big bummer for 4 mana. And yeah, I know it blows up a land too, but that effect is pretty much never good in Limited.
Tragic Poet image 1.0 This isn’t great, even in a set with Sagas.
Pack 3 Pick 13: Cabal Evangel
Cabal Evangel image 1.0 A two mana 2/2 with no other text tends to not be worth playing unless you’re desperate for a two drop.
Keldon Warcaller image 1.5 This just doesn’t line up very often to really make your Sagas better. It is mostly just a bear.
Pack 3 Pick 14: Pierce the Sky
Pierce the Sky image 0.5 This is mostly a sideboard card – it pretty much kills all the flyers in the set.
Draft Pick Overview