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Premier Draft DAR 21 June 2021

21 June 10:52 - MrBoombastic 7 Wins - 1 Losses
Maindeck
Creature (16)
1 Cloudreader Sphinx image
1 Knight of New Benalia image
1 Baloth Gorger image
1 Shalai, Voice of Plenty image
1 Llanowar Elves image
1 Skittering Surveyor image
1 Marwyn, the Nurturer image
2 Llanowar Envoy image
1 Grunn, the Lonely King image
1 Knight of Grace image
1 Untamed Kavu image
1 Mesa Unicorn image
1 Pegasus Courser image
1 Sergeant-at-Arms image
1 Tatyova, Benthic Druid image
Instant, Sorcery, Enchantment, Artifact (7)
1 Gift of Growth image
1 Adamant Will image
1 Icy Manipulator image
1 In Bolas's Clutches image
1 Call the Cavalry image
1 Seal Away image
1 Grow from the Ashes image
Land (17)
3 Island image
7 Forest image
7 Plains image
Sideboard
3 Excavation Elephant image
2 Sage of Lat-Nam image
1 Krosan Druid image
1 Corrosive Ooze image
1 Cabal Evangel image
1 Sergeant-at-Arms image
1 Gaea's Protector image
1 Opt image
1 Charge image
1 Fiery Intervention image
2 Bloodtallow Candle image
1 Board the Weatherlight image
1 Broken Bond image
2 Arcane Flight image

Pack 1 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.
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.
Healing Grace image 0.0 Strictly better Healing Salve is still not a playable card.
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.
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.
Fervent Strike image 1.5 This is a one-mana trick that can help a creature win a decent number of combats. That’s what makes it a decent enough trick for aggressive decks.
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.
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.
Blessing of Belzenlok image 1.0 This is a mediocre trick, even if you use it on a legendary creature.
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.
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.
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.
Pack 1 Pick 2: Icy Manipulator
Icy Manipulator image 4.0 This is awesome every time we see it. It will often just feel like removal that you can move around all game long, and it can be useful whether you’re being defensive or on the beat down.
On Serra's Wings image 2.0 This makes almost any creature into a threat, but it does have the downside of costing a wopping 4 mana. This means that if your opponent manages to kill the creature you put it on, you’re going to get out-tempo’d pretty hard. So, be prepared for that, and play this when the coast is clear.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Academy Drake image 3.0 In the early part of the game, this is a Wind Drake, which is always serviceable, and in the late game it can be significantly larger. Like most cards with Kicker, the second mode isn’t exactly efficient, but it is nice upside to have on an already reasonable card.
Jousting Lance image 2.5 This is another piece of Equipment that might be a little bit clunky in most formats, but in this one, Jousting Lance tends to be pretty good. +2/+0 and first strike is enough to make many creatures very difficult to block, so most creature-based decks are pretty interested in this.
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.
Tragic Poet image 1.0 This isn’t great, even in a set with Sagas.
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.
Fire Elemental image 1.0 The stats here aren’t great, and there’s not any payoff in this set for Elementals, so you won’t play this most of the time.
Pack 1 Pick 3: Llanowar Elves
Squee, the Immortal image 3.0 Most of the time, this format plays pretty slow and grindy, so a card like Squee, who really doesn’t stay dead no matter the situation, is actually pretty nice. He can block indefinitely if that’s what you need, and he can also be an obnoxious attacker. Now, as a 2/1, he isn’t going to be incredible at either of those things, but still. One note about Squee – he is especially good with Legendary Sorceries, as he can really help you make sure you control a legendary creature, as you always have access to one provided you drew him.
Icy Manipulator image 4.0 This is awesome every time we see it. It will often just feel like removal that you can move around all game long, and it can be useful whether you’re being defensive or on the beat down.
Urza's Tome image 1.5 Even in a set like this one, this seems to be a little too clunky to make your deck on a regular occasion. It will often just loot for 3 mana, and that’s really not worth it.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Academy Drake image 3.0 In the early part of the game, this is a Wind Drake, which is always serviceable, and in the late game it can be significantly larger. Like most cards with Kicker, the second mode isn’t exactly efficient, but it is nice upside to have on an already reasonable card.
Blessing of Belzenlok image 1.0 This is a mediocre trick, even if you use it on a legendary creature.
Pack 1 Pick 4: In Bolas's Clutches
In Bolas's Clutches image 4.5 This is an Uncommon bomb, which isn’t something you see every day! Mind control effects are among the strongest thing you can do in Limited, as you end up using a card to steal your opponents’ best creature, which basically amounts to a 2-for-1. It is also nice that this will give you two legendary permanents if your deck is interested in that. It does have the downside of being an Aura – so if your opponent bounces the target or destroys the Clutches, they get their creature back, but that’s reasonable downside on a very powerful card.
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.
Board the Weatherlight image 0.5 This is almost unplayable. Even with all of the historic stuff in this set, you’ll find yourself whiffing with this way too often for it to be worth it. And, even when it does its thing, it just draws you one card. If you end up with a deck with a ton of Historics, including some bombs, you can sometimes play it, but you mostly won’t.
Cabal Paladin image 2.0 This has a pretty nice Historic ability, as it can really chip in a ton of damage, but it comes on a pretty terrible body. A 4-mana 4/2 dies to a whole lot of stuff that costs 1-2 mana, and that never feels very good.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Healing Grace image 0.0 Strictly better Healing Salve is still not a playable card.
Academy Journeymage image 3.5 Man-O’-War effects are always good in Limited – adding to your own board and subtracting from your opponent’s at the same time is always good. Even if you can’t reduce the cost of this, it plays pretty well, and if you can lower the cost to 4 it is going to feel great.
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.
Pack 1 Pick 5: Skittering Surveyor
Howling Golem image 1.5 Symmetrical draw isn’t amazing, but you do get to take advantage of the new card before your opponent, which is nice. Howling Golem gets extra points for being an Artifact in this format too.
Settle the Score image 3.5 The planeswalker part of this will almost never come up, but exiling a creature for 4 mana is a good deal anyway.
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.
Healing Grace image 0.0 Strictly better Healing Salve is still not a playable card.
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.
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.
Blessing of Belzenlok image 1.0 This is a mediocre trick, even if you use it on a legendary creature.
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.
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.
Opt image 2.0 As usual, this is fine. Seeing two cards for one mana feels pretty good.
Pack 1 Pick 6: Marwyn, the Nurturer
Marwyn, the Nurturer image 3.5 There are enough Elves in this format that Marwyn tends to feel pretty good. Even on her own, she is a 3-mana 1/1 that taps for G, and while that isn’t awesome, it is a nice fail case on a creature that will often do significantly more than that.
Dauntless Bodyguard image 3.0 This is nice, because it is a one mana 2/1 that is good all game long. If you play it early, it is going to crack in for some pretty real damage. If you get it late, it may not be able to attack as effectively, but because it can sacrifice itself to save one of your creatures, it still has really nice utility.
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.
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.
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.
Academy Drake image 3.0 In the early part of the game, this is a Wind Drake, which is always serviceable, and in the late game it can be significantly larger. Like most cards with Kicker, the second mode isn’t exactly efficient, but it is nice upside to have on an already reasonable card.
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.
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.
Tragic Poet image 1.0 This isn’t great, even in a set with Sagas.
Pack 1 Pick 7: Llanowar Envoy
Wizard's Retort image 2.5 Cancel usually is something like a 1.0 in Limited, it comes with all the downside that is inherent to counterspells – most notably, you better have the mana at the exact right time for it to actually do something! But, the Wizard clause here is a big deal, as this turns into straight up Counterspell, which is a significantly better card. If you’re in Blue (and uh, you are if you’re playing this), being able to cast this for UU will happen pretty often.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Pack 1 Pick 8: Excavation Elephant
Primordial Wurm image 1.5 You’re kind of hoping you get something better than this for the top of your curve, especially in a set with a ton of Kicker, which allows multiple cards to be curve toppers and early plays, but if you really need a big boi at the end of the game, the Wurm is passable.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Stronghold Confessor image 2.5 A one mana 1/1 with Menace and a 4-mana 3/3 with Menace are both kind of okay, and having the flexibility to be either is quite nice.
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.
Pack 1 Pick 9: Sage of Lat-Nam
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.
Healing Grace image 0.0 Strictly better Healing Salve is still not a playable card.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Pack 1 Pick 10: Krosan Druid
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.
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.
Tragic Poet image 1.0 This isn’t great, even in a set with Sagas.
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.
Fire Elemental image 1.0 The stats here aren’t great, and there’s not any payoff in this set for Elementals, so you won’t play this most of the time.
Pack 1 Pick 11: Call the Cavalry
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.
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.
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.
Blessing of Belzenlok image 1.0 This is a mediocre trick, even if you use it on a legendary creature.
Pack 1 Pick 12: Board the Weatherlight
Board the Weatherlight image 0.5 This is almost unplayable. Even with all of the historic stuff in this set, you’ll find yourself whiffing with this way too often for it to be worth it. And, even when it does its thing, it just draws you one card. If you end up with a deck with a ton of Historics, including some bombs, you can sometimes play it, but you mostly won’t.
Cabal Paladin image 2.0 This has a pretty nice Historic ability, as it can really chip in a ton of damage, but it comes on a pretty terrible body. A 4-mana 4/2 dies to a whole lot of stuff that costs 1-2 mana, and that never feels very good.
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.
Pack 1 Pick 13: Opt
Healing Grace image 0.0 Strictly better Healing Salve is still not a playable card.
Opt image 2.0 As usual, this is fine. Seeing two cards for one mana feels pretty good.
Pack 1 Pick 14: 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.
Pack 2 Pick 1: Grunn, the Lonely King
Two-Headed Giant image 3.5 This has some random stuff going on of course, but whatever the coin lands on, you’re looking at an efficient creature. A 4-mana 4/4 is a great baseline, and it will be attacking with Menace or Double Strike a reasonable chunk of the time. Now, sometimes you’ll really be crossing your fingers for a flip to go a certain way, and when it doesn’t it won’t feel so good, but most of the time you’ll feel like you got your mana’s worth out of this.
Weight of Memory image 2.0 Even in this relatively slow format, Weight of Memory often feels very clunky. Still, 5 mana to draw 3 isn’t too shabby, even if the mill part of the card will have very little impact.
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.
Grunn, the Lonely King image 3.0 Grunn is a 6-mana 5/5, and that’s not very good, but the fact that he becomes a 10/10 when he attacks is pretty nice, that’s not something to easily contend with. If you can kick him, he gets even bigger. This format does have some efficient removal that can make Grunn feel bad sometimes, but he does represent a very real threat.
Keldon Raider image 2.5 A 4-mana 4/3 that lets you rummage is perfectly fine, but not much more than that.
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.
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.
Radiating Lightning image 1.0 This will often just feel like 4 mana to do 3 to an opponent, and that’s not worth it. Doing 1 damage to opposing creatures will sometimes actually do something, but it will be irrelevant more often than not.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Pack 2 Pick 2: Knight of Grace
Evra, Halcyon Witness image 2.5 This is a pretty wacky card. A 6-mana 4/4 with lifelink isn’t very good, but the “exchange life total” effect can sometimes be crazy good. Even if your opponent can block and kill Evra, if you’re able to make its power like 12 or 13, you’re going to end up with a pretty nice net-gain of life. Now, there’s a lot of stuff that’s not so good here. It dies to a ton of removal in this format that costs less than it does, which is rough. Its ability is also quite clunky. In the end, the whole package here is pretty medium. There will be games where it gets dealt with easily and you aren’t in good shape, but you’ll also sometimes take over games with it.
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.
Warcry Phoenix image 2.0 This isn’t efficient, but it is nice that it can keep coming back when you attack with enough creatures, and that kind of persistence can be pretty great.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Divest image 0.5 This is a sideboard card. People frequently won’t have enough targets to make it worth it.
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.
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 2 Pick 3: Untamed Kavu
Gaea's Blessing image 0.5 This is mostly a cantrip in Limited, and not really an efficient one.
Untamed Kavu image 3.5 This is really efficient no matter which mode you use, with the 5-mana 5/5 version obviously being the more attractive one in most scenarios.
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.
Homarid Explorer image 1.0 There isn’t enough of a payoff for milling yourself or your opponent for this to be very 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.
Academy Drake image 3.0 In the early part of the game, this is a Wind Drake, which is always serviceable, and in the late game it can be significantly larger. Like most cards with Kicker, the second mode isn’t exactly efficient, but it is nice upside to have on an already reasonable card.
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.
Divest image 0.5 This is a sideboard card. People frequently won’t have enough targets to make it worth it.
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.
Fervent Strike image 1.5 This is a one-mana trick that can help a creature win a decent number of combats. That’s what makes it a decent enough trick for aggressive decks.
Blessing of Belzenlok image 1.0 This is a mediocre trick, even if you use it on a legendary creature.
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.
Pack 2 Pick 4: Seal Away
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.
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.
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.
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.
Pierce the Sky image 0.5 This is mostly a sideboard card – it pretty much kills all the flyers in the set.
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.
Healing Grace image 0.0 Strictly better Healing Salve is still not a playable card.
Thallid Omnivore image 3.0 You will end up having this on many board states where your opponent always has to block it, since it can get big so quickly and so cheaply. Saprolings pair really well with it, not only because of the life gain, but also because there are plenty of cards in this set that make multiples, and that’s just what Thallid Omnivore is after.
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.
Pack 2 Pick 5: Mesa Unicorn
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.
Rona, Disciple of Gix image 3.0 Rona is pretty glacial, but she does become a pretty nice source of card advantage. Even if you only ever take advantage of the one thing she exiles, you’re probably going to get a 2-for-1 out of the deal. Exiling cards from your library for 4 isn’t exactly efficient though, and the effect is also incredibly random, so you won’t always be getting something worthwhile.
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.
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.
Mesa Unicorn image 2.5 Two mana 2/2s with Lifelink are usually nice little cards in Limited, and that’s the case here.
Relic Runner image 2.5 This is unblockable often enough that it is a pretty nice little two-drop.
Jousting Lance image 2.5 This is another piece of Equipment that might be a little bit clunky in most formats, but in this one, Jousting Lance tends to be pretty good. +2/+0 and first strike is enough to make many creatures very difficult to block, so most creature-based decks are pretty interested in this.
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.
Academy Drake image 3.0 In the early part of the game, this is a Wind Drake, which is always serviceable, and in the late game it can be significantly larger. Like most cards with Kicker, the second mode isn’t exactly efficient, but it is nice upside to have on an already reasonable card.
Pack 2 Pick 6: Pegasus Courser
Fungal Plots image 1.0 // 3.0 This card is a pretty sweet build around and value engine. It doesn’t work out in every deck, but being able to exile creatures to make Saprolings tends to feel pretty good – the real value, though, comes from being able to sacrifice saprolings to draw cards and gain life. Note that that ability works with ANY saprolings too, not just the ones that Fungal Plots makes, and that’s pretty nice.
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.
Pegasus Courser image 3.5 This is perhaps White’s best Common. Its base stats certainly aren’t good, but being able to send other creatures to the sky is the kind of ability that can really alter a game state all game long.
Mammoth Spider image 2.5 This creature has some very nice stats for the format, and can stonewall a lot of creatures on the ground and in the air.
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.
Blessing of Belzenlok image 1.0 This is a mediocre trick, even if you use it on a legendary 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.
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.
Pack 2 Pick 7: Sergeant-at-Arms
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Blessing of Belzenlok image 1.0 This is a mediocre trick, even if you use it on a legendary creature.
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.
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.
Pack 2 Pick 8: Sergeant-at-Arms
Unwind image 0.5 This is generally too narrow for you to really want to play. It is better out of your sideboard, as bringing it in against someone who has a lot of noncreature spells will work out okay.
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.
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.
Gaea's Protector image 0.5 This is such an odd card. The idea is that you have a 4/2 that will kill your opponents X/4, but the problem is that your opponent just has to assign one blocker, and they can just stick something in front of it that trades – or worse, put a couple of Saprolings in front of it.
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.
Stronghold Confessor image 2.5 A one mana 1/1 with Menace and a 4-mana 3/3 with Menace are both kind of okay, and having the flexibility to be either is quite nice.
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.
Pack 2 Pick 9: Excavation Elephant
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.
Radiating Lightning image 1.0 This will often just feel like 4 mana to do 3 to an opponent, and that’s not worth it. Doing 1 damage to opposing creatures will sometimes actually do something, but it will be irrelevant more often than not.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Pack 2 Pick 10: Charge
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.
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.
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.
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.
Divest image 0.5 This is a sideboard card. People frequently won’t have enough targets to make it worth it.
Pack 2 Pick 11: Excavation Elephant
Homarid Explorer image 1.0 There isn’t enough of a payoff for milling yourself or your opponent for this to be very good.
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.
Fervent Strike image 1.5 This is a one-mana trick that can help a creature win a decent number of combats. That’s what makes it a decent enough trick for aggressive decks.
Blessing of Belzenlok image 1.0 This is a mediocre trick, even if you use it on a legendary creature.
Pack 2 Pick 12: Sage of Lat-Nam
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.
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.
Healing Grace image 0.0 Strictly better Healing Salve is still not a playable card.
Pack 2 Pick 13: Corrosive Ooze
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.
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.
Pack 2 Pick 14: Broken Bond
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.
Pack 3 Pick 1: Tatyova, Benthic Druid
Sylvan Awakening image 1.0 It is tempting to look at a card like this and see how much damage it could potentially do, but the thing to remember is that you have to tap three lands to play this in the first place, so even if you have like 6 in play – which is a pretty good number – you just get three 2/2s until your next turn. Now, you can use that more offensively sometimes, like to do lethal – or you can be more defensive with it. However, that defensive mode basically amounts to it being a convoluted fog, which isn’t particularly good. Sometimes you’ll have a huge number of lands and this will get you there, but it will be a dead card for a significant chunk of many games.
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.
Tatyova, Benthic Druid image 4.5 Tatyova’s “landfall” effect is incredibly good, as gaining life and drawing a card is bonkers, and it will allow you to just get absurd card advantage. Now, Tatyova is a 5-mana 3/3, which is pretty miserable, and also means it dies to a whole lot of removal. The best thing to do is wait until you can play Tatyova and a land in the same turn, that way you get some value no matter what, and if you’re allowed to draw even 1-2 other card with Tatyova after that, you’re probably just going to win.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Voltaic Servant image 1.5 There are a few pretty sweet combos you can pull off with Voltaic Servant in this format, with Traxos being the sweetest one around, but it is also just a two mana 1/3 that will be giving an artifact creature pseudo-Vigilance, and that’s not the worst thing ever.
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.
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.
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.
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 3 Pick 2: Grow from the Ashes
Torgaar, Famine Incarnate image 4.0 So, it is pretty easy to make Torgaar a 6 mana 7/6 with a pretty nice ETB ability. Just having a single creature to sacrifice is not far-fetched, especially in BG, where it is likely you have a few Saprolings lying around. The ETB ability here is an interesting one, because it can be used two different ways. If your opponent has more than 10 life, you can target them and lower them to 10 life. And, if you have less than 10 life, you can target yourself, and go up to 10 life. Sometimes the ETB will make very little difference, but because it can be used in two different ways, it will often do a little something, which is nice on a 6-mana 7/6 – and it will be cheaper than that a decent chunk of the time!
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.
Aven Sentry image 2.0 This has decent French Vanilla stats, and not much else.
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.
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.
Radiating Lightning image 1.0 This will often just feel like 4 mana to do 3 to an opponent, and that’s not worth it. Doing 1 damage to opposing creatures will sometimes actually do something, but it will be irrelevant more often than not.
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.
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.
Academy Journeymage image 3.5 Man-O’-War effects are always good in Limited – adding to your own board and subtracting from your opponent’s at the same time is always good. Even if you can’t reduce the cost of this, it plays pretty well, and if you can lower the cost to 4 it is going to feel great.
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.
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.
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.
Pack 3 Pick 3: Baloth Gorger
The Mirari Conjecture image 4.0 This isn’t that difficult to make work in this format. Sure, you do need a decent number of Instants and Sorceries, but setting that up, especially in UR, isn’t hard. If you’re able to use it to get two spells back, and then double one of them, you’re going to find yourself in incredible shape.
Damping Sphere image 0.0 This pretty much does nothing in Limited. Don’t play 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.
Unwind image 0.5 This is generally too narrow for you to really want to play. It is better out of your sideboard, as bringing it in against someone who has a lot of noncreature spells will work out okay.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Opt image 2.0 As usual, this is fine. Seeing two cards for one mana feels pretty good.
Pack 3 Pick 4: Cloudreader Sphinx
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.
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.
Thallid Soothsayer image 2.5 Cashing in creatures for cards is nice on a late of board states, especially if you have a bunch of Saprolings.
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.
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.
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.
Primordial Wurm image 1.5 You’re kind of hoping you get something better than this for the top of your curve, especially in a set with a ton of Kicker, which allows multiple cards to be curve toppers and early plays, but if you really need a big boi at the end of the game, the Wurm is passable.
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.
Blessing of Belzenlok image 1.0 This is a mediocre trick, even if you use it on a legendary creature.
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.
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 5: Knight of New Benalia
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.
Wizard's Retort image 2.5 Cancel usually is something like a 1.0 in Limited, it comes with all the downside that is inherent to counterspells – most notably, you better have the mana at the exact right time for it to actually do something! But, the Wizard clause here is a big deal, as this turns into straight up Counterspell, which is a significantly better card. If you’re in Blue (and uh, you are if you’re playing this), being able to cast this for UU will happen pretty often.
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.
Divest image 0.5 This is a sideboard card. People frequently won’t have enough targets to make it worth it.
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.
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.
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.
Radiating Lightning image 1.0 This will often just feel like 4 mana to do 3 to an opponent, and that’s not worth it. Doing 1 damage to opposing creatures will sometimes actually do something, but it will be irrelevant more often than not.
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.
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 6: Llanowar Envoy
Valduk, Keeper of the Flame image 3.0 This is a nice buildaround for Equipment/Auras, as a free Spark Elemental every turn isn’t too shabby. The downside, of course, is having to put a bunch of Auras/Equipment on a single creature is very risky, but the payoff is sometimes worth it.
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.
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.
Gaea's Protector image 0.5 This is such an odd card. The idea is that you have a 4/2 that will kill your opponents X/4, but the problem is that your opponent just has to assign one blocker, and they can just stick something in front of it that trades – or worse, put a couple of Saprolings in front of it.
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.
Invoke the Divine image 2.0 There are enough targets for this in this format that you end up main decking it sometimes.
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.
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.
Pack 3 Pick 7: Fiery Intervention
Nature's Spiral image 1.5 This can be somewhat appealing if you have some significantly powerful permanents, but just spinning your wheels for this kind of card selection can be a bit of liability.
Lingering Phantom image 2.5 This has bad stats to be sure – as 6-mana 5/4 isn’t where you want to be, but the fact that you can just get it back all game long for a single B is nice. Sure, you have to have Historic spells to be triggering that consistently, but even just having a few of them around is doable. Now, this does cost 6, and sometimes you just won’t be able to keep casting it, but if that’s true, it is because you have other stuff to do. Lingering Phantom is something you can get back and then cast when you whiff on your draw step.
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.
Stronghold Confessor image 2.5 A one mana 1/1 with Menace and a 4-mana 3/3 with Menace are both kind of okay, and having the flexibility to be either is quite nice.
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.
Fire Elemental image 1.0 The stats here aren’t great, and there’s not any payoff in this set for Elementals, so you won’t play this most of the time.
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.
Healing Grace image 0.0 Strictly better Healing Salve is still not a playable card.
Pack 3 Pick 8: Bloodtallow Candle
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.
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.
Gaea's Protector image 0.5 This is such an odd card. The idea is that you have a 4/2 that will kill your opponents X/4, but the problem is that your opponent just has to assign one blocker, and they can just stick something in front of it that trades – or worse, put a couple of Saprolings in front of it.
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.
Healing Grace image 0.0 Strictly better Healing Salve is still not a playable card.
Opt image 2.0 As usual, this is fine. Seeing two cards for one mana feels pretty good.
Pack 3 Pick 9: Gift of Growth
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 3 Pick 10: Bloodtallow Candle
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.
Radiating Lightning image 1.0 This will often just feel like 4 mana to do 3 to an opponent, and that’s not worth it. Doing 1 damage to opposing creatures will sometimes actually do something, but it will be irrelevant more often than not.
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.
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.
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.
Pack 3 Pick 11: Adamant Will
Unwind image 0.5 This is generally too narrow for you to really want to play. It is better out of your sideboard, as bringing it in against someone who has a lot of noncreature spells will work out okay.
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.
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.
Opt image 2.0 As usual, this is fine. Seeing two cards for one mana feels pretty good.
Pack 3 Pick 12: Arcane Flight
Blessing of Belzenlok image 1.0 This is a mediocre trick, even if you use it on a legendary creature.
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.
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 13: Arcane Flight
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.
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 14: Gaea's Protector
Gaea's Protector image 0.5 This is such an odd card. The idea is that you have a 4/2 that will kill your opponents X/4, but the problem is that your opponent just has to assign one blocker, and they can just stick something in front of it that trades – or worse, put a couple of Saprolings in front of it.
Draft Pick Overview