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Quick Draft AFR 1 August 2021

1 August 09:13 - Skawenoyah 7 Wins - 2 Losses
Maindeck
Creature (20)
1 Tiger-Tribe Hunter image
1 Yuan-Ti Fang-Blade image
1 Rust Monster image
1 Swarming Goblins image
1 Hoard Robber image
3 Hired Hexblade image
1 Kalain, Reclusive Painter image
1 Hoarding Ogre image
2 Earth-Cult Elemental image
1 Clattering Skeletons image
2 Shambling Ghast image
1 Orcus, Prince of Undeath image
1 Hobgoblin Bandit Lord image
2 Plundering Barbarian image
1 Xorn image
Instant, Sorcery, Enchantment, Artifact (4)
1 Unexpected Windfall image
1 Farideh's Fireball image
1 Burning Hands image
1 Dragon's Fire image
Land (16)
8 Swamp image
8 Mountain image
Sideboard
2 Earth-Cult Elemental image
1 Death-Priest of Myrkul image
2 Dungeon Crawler image
2 Scaled Herbalist image
2 Brazen Dwarf image
1 Sepulcher Ghoul image
2 Check for Traps image
1 Kick in the Door image
1 You Find a Cursed Idol image
1 Bull's Strength image
1 Shocking Grasp image
1 Wild Shape image
1 Devour Intellect image

Pack 1 Pick 1: Xorn
Xorn image 3.0 This has passable stats, and its ability to multiply treasure will definitely come up sometimes, especially in the Black Red deck. However, I wouldn’t count on that always coming up.
Check for Traps image 2.0 This kind of discard spell is usually worth playing in Limited. The fact it can hit anything is a pretty big deal, and means it has utility pretty much all game long. The additional instant/flash upside can even matter a little bit!
Kalain, Reclusive Painter image 4.0 A two mana ½ that makes a treasure is already a pretty good deal, but this adds all kinds of upside that will be amazing in the BR deck. Even all on its own, it is pretty likely that the treasure you made will help you play a creature and put a +1/+1 counter on it your next turn, and that’s some serious value. If you manage to really get treasure going with Kalain, she will undoubtedly take over games. She is certainly fragile, but the fail case is that you still get to keep a single treasure, and that helps make that a little less of a problem. This is a really strong signpost Uncommon
Magic Missile image 3.5 This is premium removal. These types of spells that let you divide damage are always great, because you can sometimes take down multiple creatures with them at once. And, this can also just kill X/3s reasonably efficiently, or go after the opponent to help you close out a game.
Arcane Investigator image 2.0 A two mana 2/1 isn’t great these days, but this one does come with a pretty nice late game effect. No matter what you roll, being able to draw cards late is pretty nice. Still, for the bluk of the game, the Investigator is just not very good. It will be outclasses quickly in the early game, and in the mid-game it will be even more useless.
Celestial Unicorn image 3.0 GW is the color pair most interested in gaining life in this format, and this is a very nice Common payoff for that kind of deck. And, it can be pretty solid in other decks too, as it isn’t like GW is the only deck where you’ll be able to gain life. This can get big fast, and has a reasonable starting point as a 3-mana 3/2. It seems like a pretty good Common.
Hired Hexblade image 3.0 This seems like a solid card. Worst-case, you have a grizzly bear, and best case you have a two mana 2/2 that draws you a card -- which is just a great deal. There is enough treasure in this set that casting this with it isn’t a pipe dream, but you probably shouldn’t expect to be able to do it on turn two. Still, playing this later, once you have that treasure, will be nice since it will have relevance in the late game too when you do it.
Circle of the Moon Druid image 2.5 A card that is always a 3-mana 4/2 is like a 2.0 and a card that is always a 3-mana 2/4 is a 1.0. This gives you the best of both of those, as you’d rather have the 4/2 as the attacker and the 2/4 as the blocker most of the time.
Evolving Wilds image 3.0 This is always some really great fixing, as it makes it very easy to splash a secondary color while only running a single basic of that color, and that always feels great for your mana base. They also make any mana base significantly better, even if you are just straight up two colors. You should value these over most “solid” cards
Spare Dagger image 1.0 The stats boost it offers is pretty weak, and giving up a whole card to ping something isn’t really something I’m interested in. This IS an equipment, and RW cares about that, so it probably gets played more often than it would in most formats
Underdark Basilisk image 2.5 It is pretty hard for small creatures with Deathtouch not to be playable, since they bring the capability of trading with anything. This makes them relevant all game long, though never super impressive. They also tend to be good with fight and punch spells
Leather Armor image 0.5 This probably isn’t worth playing. Its cool that it equips for free, but the bonus it gives is negligible enough to not be worth a card in most scenarios. If you end up with a deck with a crazy amount of Equipment payoffs, which RW might have, MAYBE you end up playing it, but that’s probably the only time you do
Valor Singer image 3.0 This type of effect tends to be a bit better than it looks. I mean, on his own he is effectively a 3-mana 3/3 in most cases, and you’ll often have other creatures on which you can use the ability that might have more of an impact. At the very least, this seems like a solid playable.
You Hear Something on Watch image 3.0 This seems like a pretty nice Common. Sure, the removal effect only works on attackers, so if you’re the beat down it won’t feel great -- but the good news is if you are the beat down, you’re probably interested in the other mode, since it pays you off pretty well for going wide. The removal is too situational to be premium, but it will kill lots of attackers, and having the board pump effect as an option is pretty nice.
Pack 1 Pick 2: Dragon's Fire
Ray of Enfeeblement image 3.0 One mana for -4/-1 to a creature is already a pretty nice deal. It won’t outright kill all of them, but they will certainly be enfeebled enough to be taken down in combat pretty much all the time, and that will feel pretty efficient. Then, against people playing White, it gets a massive upgrade to the point it is one of the best cards in your deck.
Bag of Holding image 2.5 This was a predictable reprint, given the theme of this set. Last time we saw it, it was a Rare, and it was a pretty decent card. Having a card that just lets you sink mana into it to loot is itself a nice thing to have around, and the fact that you can actually eventually get the stuff back that you put on the Bag is nice upside, though it won’t come up that often. It still doesn’t have a real board presence, so it isn’t nearly as good as a creature who can loot for you
Choose Your Weapon image 2.5 Both options here are super underwhelming, and will only be useful and efficient in some very specific situations. But, like with all of these cards, putting two situational effects together really does make for a significantly better card, as the situations where you can use that card are drastically increased, even with a card that has two incredibly situational options. Sometimes you’ll find yourself doing lethal with “Two-Weapon Fighting” and sometimes you’ll find yourself killing an opposing Flyer fairly efficiently. I think that makes this a solid card.
Dragon's Fire image 4.0 Two mana for 3 damage is always premium removal, and this has some pretty relevant dragon upside that can make it an even better removal spell
Owlbear image 3.5 This is reminiscent of Sarulf’s Packmate, and that’s a good Green Common to emulate. This gives you a very real body -- a 4/4 with Trample can be relevant on many board states, but obviously the ETB draw a card effect is what really makes this great. It will be virtually impossible for you not to get a 2-for-1 out of this Bear, and the value it gives you will be great. Sure, costing 5 does mean you can only run so many, unlike the Packmate which had Foretell, making it much easier to jam a bunch of them into your deck, but you should still value that first 1-2 copies pretty highly. There’s a good chance this is Green’s best common
Unexpected Windfall image 2.0 This seems like a decent card for Most red decks to get one copy of. 4 mana is a lot for Tormenting Voice, but the two Treasure you get means this card also gives you some very real fixing, in addition to helping you dig deeper into your deck.
Hoarding Ogre image 2.0 This has Hill Giant stats and a serviceable attack trigger. Because it makes treasure, you can really count this creature as fixing, and that’s typically a valuable thing to have in Limited, plus this set has some nice treasure payoffs.
Zombie Ogre image 2.5 This has kind decent defensive stats, but the real value comes from its ability to Venture into the Dungeon, which it can do without any mana investment at all. Sure, you have to have your creature die, but that’s a common enough occurrence that this will be able to Venture for you a decent amount of the time. Playing it in the second main phase after a creature has ALREADY died will feel particularly good, because you’ll be getting that value at your End Step most of the time. This seems like a solid Common
Goblin Javelineer image 1.5 This probably won’t be great in Limited. A one mana 1/1 with Haste might feel reasonable on turn one, but it is pretty terrible thereafter, and adding the ability to ping things that block it doesn’t really make up for that, though it does help some, since it means that it can at least trade with X/2s, and X/1s effectively can’t block it. If you can find a way to give this death touch, that will unlock its full potential, but overall, I think you cut this more often than you’ll play it.
Potion of Healing image 1.5 Most of the time we see this kind of effect on a spell and it costs one fewer total mana than Potion of Healing does to draw you a card and gain you some life. This lets you pay it in installments though, and it is nice that you can just play it to draw the card and hold on to the life gain for a little bit later, especially if you’re in GW and you have some things that this can trigger for you. Still, this card seems pretty replacable, just like Revitalize and similar cards we’ve seen. You’ll probably cut it more than you play it.
You Find the Villains' Lair image 2.0 Cancel is not usually a great card in Limited. Counterspells are a little too situational, and it is often just going ot be better to add to your board with three mana than count on your opponent playing something that you will counter. In a lot of ways, counter magic in Limited is just bad removal, because you have to have the mana up to use it at the exact right time, or it doesn’t do anything. Basically, a card like Cancel just ends up being a card you have left in your hand after you’ve played everything else, and it might do a thing, but it also might have cost you the game. This gets around that problem with another mode though. Sure, it doesn’t add to the board either, but it still gives you something to do with it that will be more immediate and more of a sure thing in situations where that’s a good idea. Normally, Cancel is like a 1.5, but I think this does enough to make the cut more often than that.
Fates' Reversal image 2.5 So, usually Black has a common that lets you return two creatures, and it is usually a serviceable enough card that you basically always want the first copy of. They are situational, since they don’t do anything until late, but they can really help you grind out a win. This doesn’t do that exactly but I could see it offering similar value sometimes as a creature + Venture won’t feel too shabby.
Djinni Windseer image 3.5 I was already pretty sold on a 4-mana 3/3 Flyer, so adding the d20 effect is just gravy. Even just Scrying 1 with this will feel like you’re getting nice value, and sometimes it will do more than that. The set also has some d20 payoffs, especially in UR, making it marginally better than that. It isn’t the most exciting card, but it is a pretty darn good Common.
Pack 1 Pick 3: Earth-Cult Elemental
Blue Dragon image 3.5 That’s a pretty wacky ETB ability, but it is one that seems pretty nice. It weakens all of those creatures until your next turn, so you can take advantage of their lower power so that you can attack on your turn, and then also benefit from the fact that your creatures can’t attack as hard. This does cost 7, but it also impacts the board in an immediate way and gives you a relatively imposing flyer. Still, there will be times when the ability doesn’t do much either way, and I think that probably keeps it from getting into “first pickable” range.
Dungeon Crawler image 2.5 One mana 2/1s don’t tend to be amazing in Limited, largely because everyone plays lots of creatures, and they’ll get bigger than it in a hurry! However, the upside of this returning to your hand when you complete a dungeon is pretty nice. Even if it is just a 2/1, getting it back for even once in the game will feel pretty good. And, if you’re in Black, I think it is pretty likely you complete at least one dungeon over the course of the game.
Elturgard Ranger image 3.0 So, for 5 mana you get a 4/1 and a 2/2 -- in other words 6/3 worth of stats. A 5-mana 6/3 wouldn’t be good, but spread across two bodies this gets pretty interesting, plus a 4/1 with Reach has the kind of size to take down some of the dragons in the set, and that definitely matters. It feels like you’ll be able to get a 2-for-1 out of this a decent chunk of the time, and I think most Green decks will be interested in playing the first copy.
Earth-Cult Elemental image 2.5 This offers some decent top-of-the-curve stats for Limited, and it has a pretty nice D20 ability. It won’t be awesome to roll 1-9, but the effect is at least symmetrical. It will be true that sometimes it doesn’t hurt your opponent as much as it hurts you, but the opposite will sometimes be true too. Then, the effect is one sided if you roll a 10 or more, which will be well worth the mana you spend. If you always roll 10-20 with it, it is probably one of the better Commons in the set, but unfortunately it won’t go that way, we have to think about the fail cases too! The presence of Treasure in this set also means your opponent will have more permanents than normal to sacrifice, which weakens it further.
Devoted Paladin image 3.5 Pumping your whole board and giving it Vigilance almost always seems to allow for some serious attacking on your part. After all, your creatures are bigger, and you’re going to be able to leave them all back as blockers even if you’re going to attack with them! We’ve seen similar cards like Dawnfeather Eagle end up great in Limited, and this format does look like it has the means to go wide effectively, and if that’s true, the Paladin is going to be one of the cards you want the most to round out your top curve.
Hoard Robber image 1.0 It is nice that this can make treasure, but a 1/3 just isn’t going to be getting in very often without some significant help. I don’t think you play this most of the time.
Spare Dagger image 1.0 The stats boost it offers is pretty weak, and giving up a whole card to ping something isn’t really something I’m interested in. This IS an equipment, and RW cares about that, so it probably gets played more often than it would in most formats
Sepulcher Ghoul image 2.5 This has passable base stats, and on most attacks it will be able to threaten becoming a 4/3, so your opponent will have to take that into account. Free sacrifice effects like this always play pretty well since you can virtually always use the effect, though in this case, you can only do it once. It looks like the Ghoul is well-positioned for the BG deck especially, since that deck’s all about stuff dying, and it will also pair nicely in BR, where you can use the Threaten effect to steal a creature and sacrifice it. I think all of that helps makes this two mana 2/1 a card you play a significant chunk of the time in Black.
Djinni Windseer image 3.5 I was already pretty sold on a 4-mana 3/3 Flyer, so adding the d20 effect is just gravy. Even just Scrying 1 with this will feel like you’re getting nice value, and sometimes it will do more than that. The set also has some d20 payoffs, especially in UR, making it marginally better than that. It isn’t the most exciting card, but it is a pretty darn good Common.
Leather Armor image 0.5 This probably isn’t worth playing. Its cool that it equips for free, but the bonus it gives is negligible enough to not be worth a card in most scenarios. If you end up with a deck with a crazy amount of Equipment payoffs, which RW might have, MAYBE you end up playing it, but that’s probably the only time you do
Feign Death image 1.5 Versions of this effect that are good tend to give the stats boost up front. That’s significantly better than this because it allows a smaller creature to win combat against something bigger, but this doesn’t do that. Sometimes you’ll just have to use it on a chump block, which won’t feel great. It is nice that it basically counters most removal, and it isn’t bad, just not like Supernatural Stamina or other cards we’ve seen that have been pretty solid. This just won’t do enough to make the cut super often.
Boots of Speed image 2.0 The boost this offers for the casting cost and the equip cost is pretty reasonable, as paying one more to give something new Haste and +1/+0 will feel pretty good sometimes, especially in a set where there’s an Equipment archetype.
Pack 1 Pick 4: Death-Priest of Myrkul
Prosperous Innkeeper image 3.0 A two mana 1/1 that gives you treasure is already pretty decent. It gives you some real fixing and ramp, so adding the life gain effect to the Innkeeper makes for a pretty nice two drop for most green decks
Death-Priest of Myrkul image 4.0 This card really feels like a Rare, and that’s always a good sign for an Uncommon! Sure, he has some ugly stats for the cost, but everything else going on here is great. There are enough creatures with those types in Black in this set that it will be pumping 3-5 of the creatures in your deck, and sometimes more, but the real value comes from the ability to make 1/1 Skeletons, which, if the Deathpriest is in play, will of course be 2/2 skeletons! You won’t always be able to trigger that effortlessly, but it will happen often enough for the Deathpriest to be a very real problem for your opponent, and the great thing is, after you make that first one, you’re going to be getting value even if they do find removal for it!
Devoted Paladin image 3.5 Pumping your whole board and giving it Vigilance almost always seems to allow for some serious attacking on your part. After all, your creatures are bigger, and you’re going to be able to leave them all back as blockers even if you’re going to attack with them! We’ve seen similar cards like Dawnfeather Eagle end up great in Limited, and this format does look like it has the means to go wide effectively, and if that’s true, the Paladin is going to be one of the cards you want the most to round out your top curve.
Dueling Rapier image 2.5 So, the Equip cost here is obviously really steep, and +2/+0 for a single Red mana would not be an awesome combat trick, but in this case we’re talking about a combat trick that has the stats boost stick around in one form or another. Even if your creature dies, you have something on the battlefield, even if it does cost a lot to Equip, and if you can help a creature win and survive combat and keep this equipped to it, it’s going ot feel pretty good. In a lot of ways, it is still a glorified combat trick, but I’ve underestimated auras and equipment with Flash in the past, dismissing them as combat tricks, so I thinkt his will defy expectations. Still, it probably isn’t much more than a solid playable.
Yuan-Ti Fang-Blade image 2.5 This has a powerful combat damage to a player trigger, and because it has death touch your opponent will be put in a difficult position with it sometimes. Repeatable Venturing seems pretty powerful, and UB seems the most well-positioned to help creatures like this get evasion
Half-Elf Monk image 3.0 Mastery Decoy effects still tend to be pretty good in Limited. Tapping down your opponent’s best creature every turn often just feels like removal, and this has the minor added bonus of being able to attack and still use the ability. I say “minor” because it is only a ¼, so that’s not exactly incredible. Still, this is a pretty nice common for White.
You Hear Something on Watch image 3.0 This seems like a pretty nice Common. Sure, the removal effect only works on attackers, so if you’re the beat down it won’t feel great -- but the good news is if you are the beat down, you’re probably interested in the other mode, since it pays you off pretty well for going wide. The removal is too situational to be premium, but it will kill lots of attackers, and having the board pump effect as an option is pretty nice.
Find the Path image 2.5 I think you’re getting pretty solid value here, between getting some ramp and venturing into a dungeon. Venture won’t always feel like drawing a card, but later on in the dungeons it will give you that kind of value, and even the early rooms in the dungeons seem decent enough.
You Come to a River image 3.0 This is a solid modal card. Usually, just a card that does the “Fight the Current” option, is something that makes the cut a decent chunk of the time. It has the flexibility of dealing, at least temporarily, with multiple permanent types, and you can even use it to actually take away a card permanently if your opponent tries to put auras or combat tricks on their creatures. The other option you’ll basically only choose when its lethal, but that is some nice upside to have on an already solid card.
Underdark Basilisk image 2.5 It is pretty hard for small creatures with Deathtouch not to be playable, since they bring the capability of trading with anything. This makes them relevant all game long, though never super impressive. They also tend to be good with fight and punch spells
Shocking Grasp image 1.5 The effect here isn’t very exciting. This Blue “combat tricks” really need your board to already have something big enough to deal with an attacking creature, or to blow up a block, and that really makes them pretty unimpressive. Obviously, adding a cantrip to the card does it make it better, because it means that at worse, you’re going to be able to Cycle this, but it still isn’t something that will make the cut in your deck all that often.
Pack 1 Pick 5: Hoarding Ogre
Loathsome Troll image 2.5 A 5-mana 6/2 is not very good, though it does make Pack Tactics get going all on its own, and that certainly is relevant int his format. Still, a 2-drop can block it and take it down! The good news is, if you have the time and the mana, it has a solid ability it can use from the graveyard. It going on top of your library is not super good, since you have to replace your draw to get it back, and there’s a reasonable chance what you were going to draw was going to be better, but when it returns to your hand it will feel pretty good, and obviously that’s true when it goes to the battlefield as well. Still, this doesn’t have the best stats ever, even accounting for Pack Tactics, and its ability is both expensive and going to feel actively mediocre when you roll a 1-9
You See a Pair of Goblins image 3.0 This is a pretty nice modal card. If you’re not going wide enough, make a couple of Goblins at Instant speed. If you are going wide enough, this is basically trumpet blast. Neither of those cards are amazing, but jamming them both on to the same card is good, and really helps make a go-wide deck viable.
Brazen Dwarf image 1.0 This doesn’t look very good. A two mana ⅓ isn’t a good stat-line these days, and the fact it might damage your opponent a little bit doesn’t really make up for that for me. It just won’t do enough to feel worth the mana or the card in most decks.
Air-Cult Elemental image 3.0 This is one big Man-O’-War! A 6-mana 2/5 Flyer is a bad rate, but because this bounces another creature, you’ll often feel like you’re getting your mana’s worth. If you know me, you know I always love this kind of effect – and there’s a reason for that, it is great in Limited! Adding to your board while subtracting from your opponent’s is one of the best feelings you can have! And yeah, while the 2/5 stats aren’t exactly incredible, it is enough that the elemental can still be a little bit of a threat in the sky, or be an effective blocker. It does cost 6 mana, so you don’t really want more than one of them, but I think I’m going to value the first copy relatively highly.
Dueling Rapier image 2.5 So, the Equip cost here is obviously really steep, and +2/+0 for a single Red mana would not be an awesome combat trick, but in this case we’re talking about a combat trick that has the stats boost stick around in one form or another. Even if your creature dies, you have something on the battlefield, even if it does cost a lot to Equip, and if you can help a creature win and survive combat and keep this equipped to it, it’s going ot feel pretty good. In a lot of ways, it is still a glorified combat trick, but I’ve underestimated auras and equipment with Flash in the past, dismissing them as combat tricks, so I thinkt his will defy expectations. Still, it probably isn’t much more than a solid playable.
Veteran Dungeoneer image 3.5 This seems like a pretty darn good Common. As I’ve said throughout the video, Venturing isn’t quite drawing a card most of the time, but it gives you value that isn’t that far away from drawing a card, and if this was a 4-mana ¾ that drew you a card, it would be amazing. And again, this won’t quite feel like a 2-for-1 all the time, but it does do a lot for the mana cost, and enough to be one of White’s best Commons.
Hoarding Ogre image 2.0 This has Hill Giant stats and a serviceable attack trigger. Because it makes treasure, you can really count this creature as fixing, and that’s typically a valuable thing to have in Limited, plus this set has some nice treasure payoffs.
Plummet image 0.5 This is a weird card to see these days, since “sideboard” type cards are becoming less and less of a thing in Limited. Instead, they give us modal cards that do sideboard-type things, but have much better fail case than sideboard cards. Anyway, this is something you should pretty much never main deck, but not too terrible if you go up against an opponent with enough targets.
Shambling Ghast image 2.5 This looks like a nice little one drop to me. It can be a real pain if your opponent has two X/1s in play, since you can make a two-for-one out of your one drop, and those situations will happen. And the good news is, when the -1/-1 part isn’t useful -- and it won’t always be -- you get to make a treasure, which means this little one drop gives you fixing and ramp pretty early on in the game.
Zombie Ogre image 2.5 This has kind decent defensive stats, but the real value comes from its ability to Venture into the Dungeon, which it can do without any mana investment at all. Sure, you have to have your creature die, but that’s a common enough occurrence that this will be able to Venture for you a decent amount of the time. Playing it in the second main phase after a creature has ALREADY died will feel particularly good, because you’ll be getting that value at your End Step most of the time. This seems like a solid Common
Pack 1 Pick 6: Shambling Ghast
Fifty Feet of Rope image 2.0 Well, this is interesting. “Climb Over” won’t matter very often, and “Tie Up” is perhaps a little too situational too. Because it doesn’t tap the creature as part of the effect, it will only do a thing against creatures that already tapped. The part that intrigues me the most is Venturing into the Dungeon, but even that seems a little clunky, though it is obviously a late game mana sink. The first two modes will be hard to make use of early or even late, and the Venture into the Dungeon option is pretty good late, but I can see this sitting ont he table doing very little early, and that’s kind of rough. This is definitely the kind of card it is easy to miss on, because it is both unusual and utilizes a new mechanic, but I don’t think I’m super high on it right now
Scaled Herbalist image 2.0 When you get this down early, it will feel pretty nice. It doesn’t have the best stats, but you are likely to have the extra lands necessary to take advantage of its ability. In the mid-to-late-game it becomes increasingly useless though, unless you’re able to draw a whole bunch of cards
Kick in the Door image 2.5 This card reminds me a lot of some of the cards we saw in Strixhaven, which seemed like they didn’t really do that much, but it turned out Learning for one or two mana was good, even if the other effect was negligible, and I think that’s kind of what we’re looking at here. Without Venture, this card would be pretty close to an F. One mana for a counter and Haste and not being able to be blocked by a few creatures just wouldn’t be worth a whole card, but I think with Venture attached you suddenly have a card that will feel sort of like Guiding Voice from Strixhaven. It will make a new creature able to attack right away, or make an old one able to attack thanks to the counter, while also netting you value from Venturing.
Plummet image 0.5 This is a weird card to see these days, since “sideboard” type cards are becoming less and less of a thing in Limited. Instead, they give us modal cards that do sideboard-type things, but have much better fail case than sideboard cards. Anyway, this is something you should pretty much never main deck, but not too terrible if you go up against an opponent with enough targets.
Half-Elf Monk image 3.0 Mastery Decoy effects still tend to be pretty good in Limited. Tapping down your opponent’s best creature every turn often just feels like removal, and this has the minor added bonus of being able to attack and still use the ability. I say “minor” because it is only a ¼, so that’s not exactly incredible. Still, this is a pretty nice common for White.
Manticore image 3.0 These types of “kill something that was damaged” effects are often underwhelming, just because it takes more work than you'd think to consistently manufacture situations where that happens -- in particular, situations where you can make it happen without giving up significant resources, like an ugly block or an attack. However, when they add Flash to the mix, the card gets significantly more interesting because it means there will be a wider variety of situations where you can make that part of the card work. Plus, in a fail case this gives you a passable Flying body. Don’t count on this to feel like a Flying Ravenous Chupacabra all the time, but it will do that often enough to be a pretty nice common.
Bar the Gate image 3.0 This seems like a pretty good counterspell. They always come with big downsides, like how situational they are, and three mana for one is normally not a card you really want to play, but when some additional value is added on to countermagic, it becomes increasingly worth it, and that’s what we have here. Sure, it doesn’t counter everything -- but creatures are the most common thing your opponent will do, so it will often have targets. Venturing into the Dungeon isn’t quite “draw a card” most of the time, but it gets close enough that I’m actually pretty interested in the first copy of this for most Blue decks.
Leather Armor image 0.5 This probably isn’t worth playing. Its cool that it equips for free, but the bonus it gives is negligible enough to not be worth a card in most scenarios. If you end up with a deck with a crazy amount of Equipment payoffs, which RW might have, MAYBE you end up playing it, but that’s probably the only time you do
Shambling Ghast image 2.5 This looks like a nice little one drop to me. It can be a real pain if your opponent has two X/1s in play, since you can make a two-for-one out of your one drop, and those situations will happen. And the good news is, when the -1/-1 part isn’t useful -- and it won’t always be -- you get to make a treasure, which means this little one drop gives you fixing and ramp pretty early on in the game.
Pack 1 Pick 7: Dungeon Crawler
Dungeon Crawler image 2.5 One mana 2/1s don’t tend to be amazing in Limited, largely because everyone plays lots of creatures, and they’ll get bigger than it in a hurry! However, the upside of this returning to your hand when you complete a dungeon is pretty nice. Even if it is just a 2/1, getting it back for even once in the game will feel pretty good. And, if you’re in Black, I think it is pretty likely you complete at least one dungeon over the course of the game.
Shambling Ghast image 2.5 This looks like a nice little one drop to me. It can be a real pain if your opponent has two X/1s in play, since you can make a two-for-one out of your one drop, and those situations will happen. And the good news is, when the -1/-1 part isn’t useful -- and it won’t always be -- you get to make a treasure, which means this little one drop gives you fixing and ramp pretty early on in the game.
Shortcut Seeker image 2.0 This has some okay defensive stats, but unfortunately it needs to do damage to a player to actually do something real, making it kind of an odd card. UB is going to be pretty good at making creatures gain evasion, but I’m not super interested in this.
Spiked Pit Trap image 1.5 Lots of sets lately seem to have an Artifact that is a removal spell, and it is nice that you can play them in any deck, but they tend to be pretty inefficient, and that’s kind of the case here. You pay 6 mana total for 5 damage, and you might also get a Treasure. It does have Flash, which makes it so you can sort of ambush kill things, but yeah, you probably don’t end up playing this unless you’re short on good removal
Devour Intellect image 0.5 // 2.5 Letting your opponent choose to discard whatever they want this is not very good, but with Treasure you can turn it into a better Thoughtseize, and that’s pretty neat. I think this really needs a build around grade, because it is pretty awful in a deck with 0 treasure, but if you are BR, you’ll probably have the Treasure you need to make this work pretty well. Still, a card like this is better in the early game, and has diminishing returns as the game goes on, and you can’t count having treasure early, so don’t expect to fire this off on turn one or two for the more effective mode
Hill Giant Herdgorger image 2.5 This seems like a fine finisher for Green decks. You’re probably going to hope you have a rare or Uncommon in that slot, but this card is similar enough to Ravenous Lindwurm and Honey Mammoth to make me feel like it has a nice shot. I have a feeling it might not be quite as good as those cards, because this format looks like it is probably going to be faster than Kaldheim, but it looks pretty solid to me
Dawnbringer Cleric image 2.5 None of these effects are amazing, but the flexibility this card offers is quite nice. Mostly, you’ll gain 2 life with it, which will be okayish -- but when you have an Enchantment to destroy or a key card to remove from your opponent’s graveyard, it will feel especially good. Gaining life also matters some in this set, so there’s some synergy to be had. I think this is a solid playable.
Scaled Herbalist image 2.0 When you get this down early, it will feel pretty nice. It doesn’t have the best stats, but you are likely to have the extra lands necessary to take advantage of its ability. In the mid-to-late-game it becomes increasingly useless though, unless you’re able to draw a whole bunch of cards
Pack 1 Pick 8: Hired Hexblade
Moon-Blessed Cleric image 3.0 This does a pretty good Heliod’s Pilgrim impression. It can’t tutor the card right to your hand, but it lets you get any kind of Enchantment, not an Aura, and it also comes with better stats for the cost, so I think it will end up playing very similarly to the Pilgrim, who tends to be a pretty nice card to have in most limited formats. Obviously you need some Enchantments to really get it going, but that doesn’t seem like a difficult hurdle.
Demogorgon's Clutches image 1.5 They continue to print Mind Rots that are at least somewhat reasonable in Limited, and that’s a good trend I think. The problem with the discard part of this card is how much its usefulness decreases in the late game, like it is usually a god awful top deck to draw your Mind Rot late. And, early, it is often better to just add to the board. So there’s sort of a sweet spot of a few turns where you kind of hope you get the card where it will feel at its best. That’s why straight up Mind Rot is usually like a 1.0. However, by adding some additional effects to the card – especially the part where your opponent loses 2 life --- it makes it so this Mind Rot actually does something even late. It still isn’t good late, mind you, but it is better than most of its predecessors.
Hired Hexblade image 3.0 This seems like a solid card. Worst-case, you have a grizzly bear, and best case you have a two mana 2/2 that draws you a card -- which is just a great deal. There is enough treasure in this set that casting this with it isn’t a pipe dream, but you probably shouldn’t expect to be able to do it on turn two. Still, playing this later, once you have that treasure, will be nice since it will have relevance in the late game too when you do it.
Feign Death image 1.5 Versions of this effect that are good tend to give the stats boost up front. That’s significantly better than this because it allows a smaller creature to win combat against something bigger, but this doesn’t do that. Sometimes you’ll just have to use it on a chump block, which won’t feel great. It is nice that it basically counters most removal, and it isn’t bad, just not like Supernatural Stamina or other cards we’ve seen that have been pretty solid. This just won’t do enough to make the cut super often.
Ranger's Longbow image 1.5 This gives a reasonable boost and key word for the cost, though it isn’t anything special.
Baleful Beholder image 3.0 If you’re looking for some kind of finisher in a Black deck, this Beholder isn’t a terrible place to turn. Sometimes giving menace to your whole time will just win you the game on the spot, other times it won’t do anything --- the average situation is probably somewhere in the middle. Like, it lets one of your creatures attack who couldn’t, but that’s still not bad when attached to a 6-mana 6/5. Additionally, the fact it can get rid of Enchantments in a pinch is nice too.
Vampire Spawn image 2.5 This might not quite be Siege Rhino, but it seems pretty nice. A 3-mana 2/3 isn’t where you want to be normally, but the ETB trigger here is pretty real. It is a bit odd that Black doesn’t really care about life gain this time around, but that’s okay. The drain effect here is a total net gain of 4 life – in other words, it creates a gap of 4 life between you and your opponent, and that’s pretty nice in a race. This seems like a solid playable.
Pack 1 Pick 9: Check for Traps
Check for Traps image 2.0 This kind of discard spell is usually worth playing in Limited. The fact it can hit anything is a pretty big deal, and means it has utility pretty much all game long. The additional instant/flash upside can even matter a little bit!
Arcane Investigator image 2.0 A two mana 2/1 isn’t great these days, but this one does come with a pretty nice late game effect. No matter what you roll, being able to draw cards late is pretty nice. Still, for the bluk of the game, the Investigator is just not very good. It will be outclasses quickly in the early game, and in the mid-game it will be even more useless.
Hired Hexblade image 3.0 This seems like a solid card. Worst-case, you have a grizzly bear, and best case you have a two mana 2/2 that draws you a card -- which is just a great deal. There is enough treasure in this set that casting this with it isn’t a pipe dream, but you probably shouldn’t expect to be able to do it on turn two. Still, playing this later, once you have that treasure, will be nice since it will have relevance in the late game too when you do it.
Circle of the Moon Druid image 2.5 A card that is always a 3-mana 4/2 is like a 2.0 and a card that is always a 3-mana 2/4 is a 1.0. This gives you the best of both of those, as you’d rather have the 4/2 as the attacker and the 2/4 as the blocker most of the time.
Evolving Wilds image 3.0 This is always some really great fixing, as it makes it very easy to splash a secondary color while only running a single basic of that color, and that always feels great for your mana base. They also make any mana base significantly better, even if you are just straight up two colors. You should value these over most “solid” cards
Leather Armor image 0.5 This probably isn’t worth playing. Its cool that it equips for free, but the bonus it gives is negligible enough to not be worth a card in most scenarios. If you end up with a deck with a crazy amount of Equipment payoffs, which RW might have, MAYBE you end up playing it, but that’s probably the only time you do
Pack 1 Pick 10: Unexpected Windfall
Choose Your Weapon image 2.5 Both options here are super underwhelming, and will only be useful and efficient in some very specific situations. But, like with all of these cards, putting two situational effects together really does make for a significantly better card, as the situations where you can use that card are drastically increased, even with a card that has two incredibly situational options. Sometimes you’ll find yourself doing lethal with “Two-Weapon Fighting” and sometimes you’ll find yourself killing an opposing Flyer fairly efficiently. I think that makes this a solid card.
Unexpected Windfall image 2.0 This seems like a decent card for Most red decks to get one copy of. 4 mana is a lot for Tormenting Voice, but the two Treasure you get means this card also gives you some very real fixing, in addition to helping you dig deeper into your deck.
Goblin Javelineer image 1.5 This probably won’t be great in Limited. A one mana 1/1 with Haste might feel reasonable on turn one, but it is pretty terrible thereafter, and adding the ability to ping things that block it doesn’t really make up for that, though it does help some, since it means that it can at least trade with X/2s, and X/1s effectively can’t block it. If you can find a way to give this death touch, that will unlock its full potential, but overall, I think you cut this more often than you’ll play it.
Potion of Healing image 1.5 Most of the time we see this kind of effect on a spell and it costs one fewer total mana than Potion of Healing does to draw you a card and gain you some life. This lets you pay it in installments though, and it is nice that you can just play it to draw the card and hold on to the life gain for a little bit later, especially if you’re in GW and you have some things that this can trigger for you. Still, this card seems pretty replacable, just like Revitalize and similar cards we’ve seen. You’ll probably cut it more than you play it.
You Find the Villains' Lair image 2.0 Cancel is not usually a great card in Limited. Counterspells are a little too situational, and it is often just going ot be better to add to your board with three mana than count on your opponent playing something that you will counter. In a lot of ways, counter magic in Limited is just bad removal, because you have to have the mana up to use it at the exact right time, or it doesn’t do anything. Basically, a card like Cancel just ends up being a card you have left in your hand after you’ve played everything else, and it might do a thing, but it also might have cost you the game. This gets around that problem with another mode though. Sure, it doesn’t add to the board either, but it still gives you something to do with it that will be more immediate and more of a sure thing in situations where that’s a good idea. Normally, Cancel is like a 1.5, but I think this does enough to make the cut more often than that.
Pack 1 Pick 11: Dungeon Crawler
Dungeon Crawler image 2.5 One mana 2/1s don’t tend to be amazing in Limited, largely because everyone plays lots of creatures, and they’ll get bigger than it in a hurry! However, the upside of this returning to your hand when you complete a dungeon is pretty nice. Even if it is just a 2/1, getting it back for even once in the game will feel pretty good. And, if you’re in Black, I think it is pretty likely you complete at least one dungeon over the course of the game.
Elturgard Ranger image 3.0 So, for 5 mana you get a 4/1 and a 2/2 -- in other words 6/3 worth of stats. A 5-mana 6/3 wouldn’t be good, but spread across two bodies this gets pretty interesting, plus a 4/1 with Reach has the kind of size to take down some of the dragons in the set, and that definitely matters. It feels like you’ll be able to get a 2-for-1 out of this a decent chunk of the time, and I think most Green decks will be interested in playing the first copy.
Hoard Robber image 1.0 It is nice that this can make treasure, but a 1/3 just isn’t going to be getting in very often without some significant help. I don’t think you play this most of the time.
Feign Death image 1.5 Versions of this effect that are good tend to give the stats boost up front. That’s significantly better than this because it allows a smaller creature to win combat against something bigger, but this doesn’t do that. Sometimes you’ll just have to use it on a chump block, which won’t feel great. It is nice that it basically counters most removal, and it isn’t bad, just not like Supernatural Stamina or other cards we’ve seen that have been pretty solid. This just won’t do enough to make the cut super often.
Pack 1 Pick 12: Shocking Grasp
Find the Path image 2.5 I think you’re getting pretty solid value here, between getting some ramp and venturing into a dungeon. Venture won’t always feel like drawing a card, but later on in the dungeons it will give you that kind of value, and even the early rooms in the dungeons seem decent enough.
Underdark Basilisk image 2.5 It is pretty hard for small creatures with Deathtouch not to be playable, since they bring the capability of trading with anything. This makes them relevant all game long, though never super impressive. They also tend to be good with fight and punch spells
Shocking Grasp image 1.5 The effect here isn’t very exciting. This Blue “combat tricks” really need your board to already have something big enough to deal with an attacking creature, or to blow up a block, and that really makes them pretty unimpressive. Obviously, adding a cantrip to the card does it make it better, because it means that at worse, you’re going to be able to Cycle this, but it still isn’t something that will make the cut in your deck all that often.
Pack 1 Pick 13: Shambling Ghast
Brazen Dwarf image 1.0 This doesn’t look very good. A two mana ⅓ isn’t a good stat-line these days, and the fact it might damage your opponent a little bit doesn’t really make up for that for me. It just won’t do enough to feel worth the mana or the card in most decks.
Shambling Ghast image 2.5 This looks like a nice little one drop to me. It can be a real pain if your opponent has two X/1s in play, since you can make a two-for-one out of your one drop, and those situations will happen. And the good news is, when the -1/-1 part isn’t useful -- and it won’t always be -- you get to make a treasure, which means this little one drop gives you fixing and ramp pretty early on in the game.
Pack 1 Pick 14: Scaled Herbalist
Scaled Herbalist image 2.0 When you get this down early, it will feel pretty nice. It doesn’t have the best stats, but you are likely to have the extra lands necessary to take advantage of its ability. In the mid-to-late-game it becomes increasingly useless though, unless you’re able to draw a whole bunch of cards
Pack 2 Pick 1: Orcus, Prince of Undeath
Orcus, Prince of Undeath image 5.0 So, at worst, this is a 4-mana 5/3 with Flying and Trample. That’s already a B, because it is a cheap creature that puts your opponent on a very fast clock. So, the option of pumping extra mana into him for additional effects is upside on an already impressive card. If you pay 7 and kill all the X/2s on the board, or get back like a two-drop to the battlefield that’s going to feel pretty great. It just seems like, at worst, you have a creature that pressures your opponent in the sky really effectively, and at best you have a card that completely reshapes the board in your favor. And yes, the -X/-X part is symmetrical, but because you have complete control over it, you’ll only use that part when it is beneficial for you, making it feel a lot less symmetrical. I think this does enough to be a bomb
Rust Monster image 3.5 There are enough artifacts in this set that Rust Monster will be quite imposing on some boards. This is especially true because Red has so much treasure. Even the starting point here – a 3-mana 2/1 with First Strike – isn’t bad, but any time you attack with artifacts in play your opponent is going to have really hard decision to make. I think the Monster is well-supported enough in this set that it is probably worth a first pick in some weaker packs.
Trickster's Talisman image 3.0 This gives a decent stats boost for the cost, and the option to give up the Talisman to copy a creature is going to be pretty busted sometimes
Chaos Channeler image 4.0 This seems really good. It is a 4-mana 4/3 with a ton of upside. No matter what you roll when it attacks, you will end up netting at least one card. And because it says “play” you can even play lands off of it, and that’s awesome. He might die after only one attack, but you’ll usually be getting a 2-for-1 out of it, so that’s fine with me, especially because if left unchecked, the Channeler will just keep drawing you cards.
Veteran Dungeoneer image 3.5 This seems like a pretty darn good Common. As I’ve said throughout the video, Venturing isn’t quite drawing a card most of the time, but it gives you value that isn’t that far away from drawing a card, and if this was a 4-mana ¾ that drew you a card, it would be amazing. And again, this won’t quite feel like a 2-for-1 all the time, but it does do a lot for the mana cost, and enough to be one of White’s best Commons.
Price of Loyalty image 1.0 // 2.5 Even with the Treasure upside, this probably won’t be worth it for most decks. Threaten effects aren’t amazing in most formats, since they tend to do very little except in two situations. One of these is that you’re able to kill your opponent when you do it, and the other is that you have some sacrifice outlets that make it easy to turn the effect into a removal spell that gives you some value. However, this does look like it might be worth playing in the Black-Red deck, as there is one red Sacrifice effect at Uncommon, two black sacrifice effects at Common, and one at Uncommon, so setting up the sacrifice is actually going to be doable there, making the card a solid playable in a deck that gets its hands on some of those effects.
Farideh's Fireball image 5.0 I think this sneaks into the lower range of premium removal. 5 mana to do 5 to something at Instant speed is perhaps not the most efficient thing ever, but it does kill most stuff, and the fac that your opponent also always takes 2 is enough to nudge this into that premium range. Sure, it will do 2 to you sometimes too, but that’s okay. This is the kind of card that will plummet in its score if the format turns out to be fast though, so keep that in mind.
Gnoll Hunter image 3.0 This is a fine two drop. It is a bear as a baseline, and it can get bigger if it has enough friends. That’s good enough upside for this to be a nice two-drop for Green decks.
Manticore image 3.0 These types of “kill something that was damaged” effects are often underwhelming, just because it takes more work than you'd think to consistently manufacture situations where that happens -- in particular, situations where you can make it happen without giving up significant resources, like an ugly block or an attack. However, when they add Flash to the mix, the card gets significantly more interesting because it means there will be a wider variety of situations where you can make that part of the card work. Plus, in a fail case this gives you a passable Flying body. Don’t count on this to feel like a Flying Ravenous Chupacabra all the time, but it will do that often enough to be a pretty nice common.
Potion of Healing image 1.5 Most of the time we see this kind of effect on a spell and it costs one fewer total mana than Potion of Healing does to draw you a card and gain you some life. This lets you pay it in installments though, and it is nice that you can just play it to draw the card and hold on to the life gain for a little bit later, especially if you’re in GW and you have some things that this can trigger for you. Still, this card seems pretty replacable, just like Revitalize and similar cards we’ve seen. You’ll probably cut it more than you play it.
Vampire Spawn image 2.5 This might not quite be Siege Rhino, but it seems pretty nice. A 3-mana 2/3 isn’t where you want to be normally, but the ETB trigger here is pretty real. It is a bit odd that Black doesn’t really care about life gain this time around, but that’s okay. The drain effect here is a total net gain of 4 life – in other words, it creates a gap of 4 life between you and your opponent, and that’s pretty nice in a race. This seems like a solid playable.
Arcane Investigator image 2.0 A two mana 2/1 isn’t great these days, but this one does come with a pretty nice late game effect. No matter what you roll, being able to draw cards late is pretty nice. Still, for the bluk of the game, the Investigator is just not very good. It will be outclasses quickly in the early game, and in the mid-game it will be even more useless.
Arborea Pegasus image 3.0 This is a pretty good Common. The ETB trigger will almost always enable an attack you didn’t have before, and that means that the Pegasus will have an immediate impact on the board, in addition to being a 4-mana 2/3 Flyer itself.
Ranger's Longbow image 1.5 This gives a reasonable boost and key word for the cost, though it isn’t anything special.
Pack 2 Pick 2: Tiger-Tribe Hunter
Keen-Eared Sentry image 1.5 This doesn’t seem that good to me. Giving yourself hexproof won’t matter very often, and neither will limiting your opponent to only one venture a turn. Maybe this is here to help provide some Dungeon hate for constructed, where venturing more than once a turn will happen all the time, but in Limited, it isn’t going to happen so often that you desperately want this little two drop. It does have an okay baseline, so it isn’t terrible, but its text box won’t matter that much.
Hunter's Mark image 3.5 Even without the upside against Blue decks, Hunter’s Mark would be a very good removal spell for Green. Instant speed punch is great, especially when it comes with the additional upside of sometimes only costing a single mana! This is premium removal.
Tiger-Tribe Hunter image 3.0 This doesn’t have the most impressive stats around, but since it is a 4/4 with Pack Tactics, it doesn’t need a whole lot of help to trigger it, and when you do, it will feel pretty good -- flinging something at one of your opponent’s creatures can be a pretty good ability, though it isn’t the kind that you’ll always be able to make use of. It is especially nice that he doesn’t have to stick to only Flinging the creatures who are attacking, so you can play a new creature and use it to kill off an opposing blocker, suddenly making your attack a real problem for your opponent. Sacrificing a creature is a real cost to be sure, but when that ability does its thing, it is going to feel pretty great. The base line here is a little bit rough, and the baility won’t always work out, but I thinkt his does enough to be a pretty high quality playable.
Kick in the Door image 2.5 This card reminds me a lot of some of the cards we saw in Strixhaven, which seemed like they didn’t really do that much, but it turned out Learning for one or two mana was good, even if the other effect was negligible, and I think that’s kind of what we’re looking at here. Without Venture, this card would be pretty close to an F. One mana for a counter and Haste and not being able to be blocked by a few creatures just wouldn’t be worth a whole card, but I think with Venture attached you suddenly have a card that will feel sort of like Guiding Voice from Strixhaven. It will make a new creature able to attack right away, or make an old one able to attack thanks to the counter, while also netting you value from Venturing.
Ranger's Hawk image 2.0 One mana 1/1 flyers are almost never that great in Limited unless they have something else worthwhile going on. The good news for this Hawk, is that it does! In the early game it can attack a bit in the air, but it will quickly be forced to stop attacking. Luckily, it has a late game mana sink that seems pretty good -- venturing into dungeons every turn will definitely allow you to grind out some wins late. Now, the cost of doing it isn’t small -- having to have another untapped creature isn’t a guarantee, but if you are at parity or ahead of your opponent, it won’t be that hard to make it happen. I think this is a solid playable.
Farideh's Fireball image 5.0 I think this sneaks into the lower range of premium removal. 5 mana to do 5 to something at Instant speed is perhaps not the most efficient thing ever, but it does kill most stuff, and the fac that your opponent also always takes 2 is enough to nudge this into that premium range. Sure, it will do 2 to you sometimes too, but that’s okay. This is the kind of card that will plummet in its score if the format turns out to be fast though, so keep that in mind.
Greataxe image 1.0 +4/+0 is the kind of boost that makes almost any creature capable of attacking, but an Equip Cost of 5 is way too much. This is equipment that might be nice in the later part of the game, since you can just keep sending your guys in, but it will sit on the table doing nothing the rest of the game
Thieves' Tools image 2.5 This will fight nicely into UB, because that color is all about making small creatures evasive and getting value when they do combat damage, and it will fit nicely in BR because it likes treasures.
Owlbear image 3.5 This is reminiscent of Sarulf’s Packmate, and that’s a good Green Common to emulate. This gives you a very real body -- a 4/4 with Trample can be relevant on many board states, but obviously the ETB draw a card effect is what really makes this great. It will be virtually impossible for you not to get a 2-for-1 out of this Bear, and the value it gives you will be great. Sure, costing 5 does mean you can only run so many, unlike the Packmate which had Foretell, making it much easier to jam a bunch of them into your deck, but you should still value that first 1-2 copies pretty highly. There’s a good chance this is Green’s best common
Silver Raven image 1.5 One mana 1/1 flyers don’t tend to be very impressive in most Limited formats unless they have a lot going on. And, while Scry 1 is a little more than nothing, it isn’t that good, either. It does mean it still does a thing in the late game, and improving your draws matters, but yeah, this is pretty mediocre overall. If the set had more of an Artifact theme it would be better, but it just isn’t there.
Mimic image 1.0 So, this doesn’t seem amazing to me, though the flavor is quite good. Like most treasures, it can only be used the one time to give you mana, so it isn’t even the best fixing ever. And yeah, it can turn into a creature sometimes, and that’s nice upside to have on your mana, but I’m just not sure this will feel like it is worth an entire card very often. You’ll play it if you really need fixing, or maybe you have some artifact synergies, but that’s probably about it
Valor Singer image 3.0 This type of effect tends to be a bit better than it looks. I mean, on his own he is effectively a 3-mana 3/3 in most cases, and you’ll often have other creatures on which you can use the ability that might have more of an impact. At the very least, this seems like a solid playable.
Clever Conjurer image 2.5 This ability only being Sorcery speed is a bummer, but it is still a pretty useful one to have on a 3-mana ⅔. Notably, it can untap lands for you, helping you ramp. And that’s probably the way you’ll use it the most. This seems like a solid playable.
Pack 2 Pick 3: Hoard Robber
Dungeon Crawler image 2.5 One mana 2/1s don’t tend to be amazing in Limited, largely because everyone plays lots of creatures, and they’ll get bigger than it in a hurry! However, the upside of this returning to your hand when you complete a dungeon is pretty nice. Even if it is just a 2/1, getting it back for even once in the game will feel pretty good. And, if you’re in Black, I think it is pretty likely you complete at least one dungeon over the course of the game.
Moon-Blessed Cleric image 3.0 This does a pretty good Heliod’s Pilgrim impression. It can’t tutor the card right to your hand, but it lets you get any kind of Enchantment, not an Aura, and it also comes with better stats for the cost, so I think it will end up playing very similarly to the Pilgrim, who tends to be a pretty nice card to have in most limited formats. Obviously you need some Enchantments to really get it going, but that doesn’t seem like a difficult hurdle.
Hunter's Mark image 3.5 Even without the upside against Blue decks, Hunter’s Mark would be a very good removal spell for Green. Instant speed punch is great, especially when it comes with the additional upside of sometimes only costing a single mana! This is premium removal.
Hoard Robber image 1.0 It is nice that this can make treasure, but a 1/3 just isn’t going to be getting in very often without some significant help. I don’t think you play this most of the time.
Hired Hexblade image 3.0 This seems like a solid card. Worst-case, you have a grizzly bear, and best case you have a two mana 2/2 that draws you a card -- which is just a great deal. There is enough treasure in this set that casting this with it isn’t a pipe dream, but you probably shouldn’t expect to be able to do it on turn two. Still, playing this later, once you have that treasure, will be nice since it will have relevance in the late game too when you do it.
Scion of Stygia image 3.0 If you know me, you know I’m a pretty big fan of Blue creatures with bounce or tap down effects, and this is a distinctly D & D version of it, but it seems pretty good to me. The nice thing about it is, even if you roll 1-9 with it, you’re getting reasonable value out of a 3-mana 2/1, and the tap down might prevent an attack or enable a better one for you. Then, when you hit 10-20, which is slightly more likely, you’re going to feel like you’ve got an amazing deal. Basically, 1-9 this will feel like a 2.0, and 11-20 will feel like a 3.5. I think that means it gets a 3.0
Dueling Rapier image 2.5 So, the Equip cost here is obviously really steep, and +2/+0 for a single Red mana would not be an awesome combat trick, but in this case we’re talking about a combat trick that has the stats boost stick around in one form or another. Even if your creature dies, you have something on the battlefield, even if it does cost a lot to Equip, and if you can help a creature win and survive combat and keep this equipped to it, it’s going ot feel pretty good. In a lot of ways, it is still a glorified combat trick, but I’ve underestimated auras and equipment with Flash in the past, dismissing them as combat tricks, so I thinkt his will defy expectations. Still, it probably isn’t much more than a solid playable.
Evolving Wilds image 3.0 This is always some really great fixing, as it makes it very easy to splash a secondary color while only running a single basic of that color, and that always feels great for your mana base. They also make any mana base significantly better, even if you are just straight up two colors. You should value these over most “solid” cards
Dwarfhold Champion image 2.5 A two mana 3/1 tends to be a reasonable baseline for aggro decks, and this comes with some decent additional upside. Gaining toughness when you equip it will feel pretty nice, as obviously a 3/1 is pretty vulnerable
Rimeshield Frost Giant image 3.0 Ward 3 is pretty big, and for a creature this size, it may just feel like Hexproof some games, since your opponent will need a pretty hefty removal spell to deal with it in most cases, and it will be pretty hard for your opponent to ever take it down without paying at least what you paid for the Giant.
Shocking Grasp image 1.5 The effect here isn’t very exciting. This Blue “combat tricks” really need your board to already have something big enough to deal with an attacking creature, or to blow up a block, and that really makes them pretty unimpressive. Obviously, adding a cantrip to the card does it make it better, because it means that at worse, you’re going to be able to Cycle this, but it still isn’t something that will make the cut in your deck all that often.
You Find a Cursed Idol image 2.0 This seems like a solid card to me. The modality here is great, and most of the time if you can blow up an Artifact or Enchantment, that’s where you’re going to go, but it is great that it has a fail case of Venture + Treasure, which won’t always feel like a whol card’s worth of value, but it gets pretty close. This is sort of like a Naturalize with Cycling in that sense, and that’s always a decent card
Pack 2 Pick 4: Earth-Cult Elemental
Trelasarra, Moon Dancer image 3.5 This is a very powerful life gain payoff for the GW deck. If you’ve ever played with Ajani’s Pridemate, you know what I’m talking about! And this trigger is even better than that one! Adding Scry can help you find more ways to gain life too, to keep the party going. This is going to be a high pick, even as a multi-colored card
Mordenkainen's Polymorph image 1.0 This kind of card always looks really cool, and that’s because it is easy to think of situations where it does something. But, even though there are several of them -- like making a creature big enough to block something it couldn’t before, or shrinking an opposing creature, or doing 4 lethal damage int he air, or saving a creature from damage-based removal -- even with all of those possibilities, you’d be surprised how infrequently a situation emerges where this will actually do something. We’ve seen a ton of cards like this over the years, and they always significantly underperform. I can’t see that changing here.
Jaded Sell-Sword image 3.0 A 4-mana 4/3 is passable, and the Treasure upside here is nice. It will make it a formidable attacker the turn it comes down.
Celestial Unicorn image 3.0 GW is the color pair most interested in gaining life in this format, and this is a very nice Common payoff for that kind of deck. And, it can be pretty solid in other decks too, as it isn’t like GW is the only deck where you’ll be able to gain life. This can get big fast, and has a reasonable starting point as a 3-mana 3/2. It seems like a pretty good Common.
Sylvan Shepherd image 2.5 This looks like it has a lot going on because of the d20 stuff, but it is basically just a 3-mana ⅔ with Vigilance that gains you 1-2 life when it attacks. That’s basically a textbook solid playable, especially in a format that does have some life gain payoffs
You See a Guard Approach image 1.0 Individually, these effects are not worth an entire card. They’re just too situational. Sure, it feels good to give your creature hexproof in response to removal, but there will be lots of times where that effect doesn’t matter. The tap effect is even more underwhelming, and while it can allow you to stop something from attacking you, or maybe help you attack more effectively, it will also be useless a decent chunk of the time. Each of those, cards, individually -- would be almost unplayable. If you put them together, you obviously have a better card that you’ll actually be able to use sometimes, but I still don’t think it is very good.
Manticore image 3.0 These types of “kill something that was damaged” effects are often underwhelming, just because it takes more work than you'd think to consistently manufacture situations where that happens -- in particular, situations where you can make it happen without giving up significant resources, like an ugly block or an attack. However, when they add Flash to the mix, the card gets significantly more interesting because it means there will be a wider variety of situations where you can make that part of the card work. Plus, in a fail case this gives you a passable Flying body. Don’t count on this to feel like a Flying Ravenous Chupacabra all the time, but it will do that often enough to be a pretty nice common.
Earth-Cult Elemental image 2.5 This offers some decent top-of-the-curve stats for Limited, and it has a pretty nice D20 ability. It won’t be awesome to roll 1-9, but the effect is at least symmetrical. It will be true that sometimes it doesn’t hurt your opponent as much as it hurts you, but the opposite will sometimes be true too. Then, the effect is one sided if you roll a 10 or more, which will be well worth the mana you spend. If you always roll 10-20 with it, it is probably one of the better Commons in the set, but unfortunately it won’t go that way, we have to think about the fail cases too! The presence of Treasure in this set also means your opponent will have more permanents than normal to sacrifice, which weakens it further.
Baleful Beholder image 3.0 If you’re looking for some kind of finisher in a Black deck, this Beholder isn’t a terrible place to turn. Sometimes giving menace to your whole time will just win you the game on the spot, other times it won’t do anything --- the average situation is probably somewhere in the middle. Like, it lets one of your creatures attack who couldn’t, but that’s still not bad when attached to a 6-mana 6/5. Additionally, the fact it can get rid of Enchantments in a pinch is nice too.
Inspiring Bard image 2.5 A creature with just the Bardic Inspiration ability is usually a solid playable, but it does come with the downside of not doing anything with a +2/+2 boost doesn’t matter -- like if you have to play defense, or don’t have another creature. Adding the “Song of Rest” option means that in those situations, you could an ability that is far more useful, and that’s pretty nice. It probably still isn’t more than a solid playable, though.
Brazen Dwarf image 1.0 This doesn’t look very good. A two mana ⅓ isn’t a good stat-line these days, and the fact it might damage your opponent a little bit doesn’t really make up for that for me. It just won’t do enough to feel worth the mana or the card in most decks.
Pack 2 Pick 5: Clattering Skeletons
Gretchen Titchwillow image 3.5 That stat-line is a passable one for a defensive creature that does something else, and Gretchen definitely does, supplying you with a very powerful mana sink ability that will be a life saver in the late game. The extra land part of the card won’t always matter, since most of the time when you start using this ability you’re probably not going to be in desperate need of more lands, but it could definitely help, especially in UG, which is a ramp color pair as it often is.
Dire Wolf Prowler image 1.5 This starts off with very mediocre stats. A Gray Ogre is just abysmal, and while it has a decent activated ability that can make it a 4/4 with Haste, I don’t think this does enough to be saved from being a card you cut significantly more often than you play it.
Clattering Skeletons image 3.0 A 4-mana 4/3 is fine, and this comes with a nice enough death trigger. Venturing is going to be a big part of this format -- think learn/lessons in Strixhaven -- so any card that can do it for you is going to be a little better than it looks.
You Find a Cursed Idol image 2.0 This seems like a solid card to me. The modality here is great, and most of the time if you can blow up an Artifact or Enchantment, that’s where you’re going to go, but it is great that it has a fail case of Venture + Treasure, which won’t always feel like a whol card’s worth of value, but it gets pretty close. This is sort of like a Naturalize with Cycling in that sense, and that’s always a decent card
Shocking Grasp image 1.5 The effect here isn’t very exciting. This Blue “combat tricks” really need your board to already have something big enough to deal with an attacking creature, or to blow up a block, and that really makes them pretty unimpressive. Obviously, adding a cantrip to the card does it make it better, because it means that at worse, you’re going to be able to Cycle this, but it still isn’t something that will make the cut in your deck all that often.
Scaled Herbalist image 2.0 When you get this down early, it will feel pretty nice. It doesn’t have the best stats, but you are likely to have the extra lands necessary to take advantage of its ability. In the mid-to-late-game it becomes increasingly useless though, unless you’re able to draw a whole bunch of cards
Clever Conjurer image 2.5 This ability only being Sorcery speed is a bummer, but it is still a pretty useful one to have on a 3-mana ⅔. Notably, it can untap lands for you, helping you ramp. And that’s probably the way you’ll use it the most. This seems like a solid playable.
Goblin Javelineer image 1.5 This probably won’t be great in Limited. A one mana 1/1 with Haste might feel reasonable on turn one, but it is pretty terrible thereafter, and adding the ability to ping things that block it doesn’t really make up for that, though it does help some, since it means that it can at least trade with X/2s, and X/1s effectively can’t block it. If you can find a way to give this death touch, that will unlock its full potential, but overall, I think you cut this more often than you’ll play it.
Spare Dagger image 1.0 The stats boost it offers is pretty weak, and giving up a whole card to ping something isn’t really something I’m interested in. This IS an equipment, and RW cares about that, so it probably gets played more often than it would in most formats
Minimus Containment image 4.0 This is a pretty neat take on White’s usually Enchantment-based removal spell. So, the idea is that you use this on an opposing permanent that is a problem, but the downside is you give your opponent a treasure. The good news about that is that by the late game, the downside will become increasingly negligible, and even in the mid-game, this will often just be worth doing. Not sure I would really recommend using this on a really early creature, though. It will probably be a net-gain for you overall, but the mana you give your opponent early can really come back to bite you. This is still premium removal though, especially since it deals with all nonlands. In a pinch, you can also put it on your own permanent if you really need a specific color of mana or something, but that’s almost never going to be the right thing to do.
Pack 2 Pick 6: Plundering Barbarian
Monk of the Open Hand image 2.5 This card reminds me a lot of the BW double-spell deck from Kaldheim. If you can get your curve low enough, this guy can grow relatively quickly and without you having to commit significant resources. It does look like a low-curve aggro deck is a thing in this format too, especially in RW, so I can see this being a nice fit there. This is also the Monk that the Planeswalker we saw earlier -- Grand Master of Flowers can tutor up, so it should go up in your pick order if you have the Grand Master. It takes some work to make the Monk worth playing if you don’t have the Grand Master, but if you find yourself with a low curve, this will be a nice fit.
Dungeon Map image 3.0 This provides a bit of ramp, and then in the later part of the game it is a great place to sink your mana, as venturing over and over again is some nice value. If this format is super fast, playing this on turn three could end up being a pretty big liability, and the late game value won’t matter, but if this is a typical format, I can see this being a pretty nice card in just about any deck
Hill Giant Herdgorger image 2.5 This seems like a fine finisher for Green decks. You’re probably going to hope you have a rare or Uncommon in that slot, but this card is similar enough to Ravenous Lindwurm and Honey Mammoth to make me feel like it has a nice shot. I have a feeling it might not be quite as good as those cards, because this format looks like it is probably going to be faster than Kaldheim, but it looks pretty solid to me
Hoarding Ogre image 2.0 This has Hill Giant stats and a serviceable attack trigger. Because it makes treasure, you can really count this creature as fixing, and that’s typically a valuable thing to have in Limited, plus this set has some nice treasure payoffs.
Plundering Barbarian image 2.5 This seems like a solid card. This format has enough artifacts that this will have something to target often enough with “Smash the Chest,” and it feel great when you do that. When you don’t, it provides some reasonable fixing for you with “Pry it Open.”
Ranger's Longbow image 1.5 This gives a reasonable boost and key word for the cost, though it isn’t anything special.
Earth-Cult Elemental image 2.5 This offers some decent top-of-the-curve stats for Limited, and it has a pretty nice D20 ability. It won’t be awesome to roll 1-9, but the effect is at least symmetrical. It will be true that sometimes it doesn’t hurt your opponent as much as it hurts you, but the opposite will sometimes be true too. Then, the effect is one sided if you roll a 10 or more, which will be well worth the mana you spend. If you always roll 10-20 with it, it is probably one of the better Commons in the set, but unfortunately it won’t go that way, we have to think about the fail cases too! The presence of Treasure in this set also means your opponent will have more permanents than normal to sacrifice, which weakens it further.
+2 Mace image 2.0 This gives an alright boost for the mana it costs to play and equip, but it isn’t crazy efficient or anything, and it will probably be cut a decent chunk of the time.
You Find a Cursed Idol image 2.0 This seems like a solid card to me. The modality here is great, and most of the time if you can blow up an Artifact or Enchantment, that’s where you’re going to go, but it is great that it has a fail case of Venture + Treasure, which won’t always feel like a whol card’s worth of value, but it gets pretty close. This is sort of like a Naturalize with Cycling in that sense, and that’s always a decent card
Pack 2 Pick 7: Plundering Barbarian
Bull's Strength image 1.5 Like most versions of this that we’ve seen, it is pretty reasonable. The boost it gives will allow you to win combat, and trample will even allow you to do some damage out of nowhere. The untap clause also gives a creature pseudo vigilance, or allows you to ambush an opposing creature, though like with most tricks, you generally prefer to use it offensively -- but the additional flexibility doesn’t hurt. It is still a trick though and comes with all those inherent risks I always talk about -- its situational, and if things go wrong you get blown out really hard.
Plundering Barbarian image 2.5 This seems like a solid card. This format has enough artifacts that this will have something to target often enough with “Smash the Chest,” and it feel great when you do that. When you don’t, it provides some reasonable fixing for you with “Pry it Open.”
Price of Loyalty image 1.0 // 2.5 Even with the Treasure upside, this probably won’t be worth it for most decks. Threaten effects aren’t amazing in most formats, since they tend to do very little except in two situations. One of these is that you’re able to kill your opponent when you do it, and the other is that you have some sacrifice outlets that make it easy to turn the effect into a removal spell that gives you some value. However, this does look like it might be worth playing in the Black-Red deck, as there is one red Sacrifice effect at Uncommon, two black sacrifice effects at Common, and one at Uncommon, so setting up the sacrifice is actually going to be doable there, making the card a solid playable in a deck that gets its hands on some of those effects.
You Find a Cursed Idol image 2.0 This seems like a solid card to me. The modality here is great, and most of the time if you can blow up an Artifact or Enchantment, that’s where you’re going to go, but it is great that it has a fail case of Venture + Treasure, which won’t always feel like a whol card’s worth of value, but it gets pretty close. This is sort of like a Naturalize with Cycling in that sense, and that’s always a decent card
Leather Armor image 0.5 This probably isn’t worth playing. Its cool that it equips for free, but the bonus it gives is negligible enough to not be worth a card in most scenarios. If you end up with a deck with a crazy amount of Equipment payoffs, which RW might have, MAYBE you end up playing it, but that’s probably the only time you do
Arcane Investigator image 2.0 A two mana 2/1 isn’t great these days, but this one does come with a pretty nice late game effect. No matter what you roll, being able to draw cards late is pretty nice. Still, for the bluk of the game, the Investigator is just not very good. It will be outclasses quickly in the early game, and in the mid-game it will be even more useless.
Veteran Dungeoneer image 3.5 This seems like a pretty darn good Common. As I’ve said throughout the video, Venturing isn’t quite drawing a card most of the time, but it gives you value that isn’t that far away from drawing a card, and if this was a 4-mana ¾ that drew you a card, it would be amazing. And again, this won’t quite feel like a 2-for-1 all the time, but it does do a lot for the mana cost, and enough to be one of White’s best Commons.
Paladin's Shield image 1.0 We have seen Equipment like this before, and I’ve never really been impressed by it. A boost to toughness alone is very rarely something you’re after in your Equipment, and while this does have Flash, so you can use it as sort of a combat trick, it will usually only ever save your creature, and not really help it win combat. Then, after you get to attach it for free that one time, the Equip cost is really high for what this is. RW decks do have an Equipment sub-theme, and that helps it out a little bit, but not enough for it to be something you play regularly.
Pack 2 Pick 8: Burning Hands
Burning Hands image 3.5 As we’ve seen with most of this cycle, this is a pretty good card even without the color hosing effect. Normally, two mana to do 2 to something at Instant speed would probably be a 2.5. It isn’t quite premium, just because it can only kill small stuff and not that efficiently. However, I do think adding the huge upside against Green permanents in a big deal, as when you go against a Green deck this will feel like a 4.0!
Spoils of the Hunt image 3.5 So even without any treasure at all, this is a 3-mana Rabid Bite at Instant speed, which is already a card I would be interested in. It also compares pretty well with Ambuscade, a card that cost the same and always gave +1/+0 in addition to the punch effect. The treasure upside is nice, because sometimes your creature won’t have the power necessary to be good with Spoils of the Hunt. However, if you’re in Green anyway, your creatures will mostly be good with this. One does have to be cautious with spells like this, as your opponent removing the creature you target is an epic blow out, but because its an Instant, it won’t be that hard to find an ideal window. I think this is premium removal
Celestial Unicorn image 3.0 GW is the color pair most interested in gaining life in this format, and this is a very nice Common payoff for that kind of deck. And, it can be pretty solid in other decks too, as it isn’t like GW is the only deck where you’ll be able to gain life. This can get big fast, and has a reasonable starting point as a 3-mana 3/2. It seems like a pretty good Common.
Thieves' Tools image 2.5 This will fight nicely into UB, because that color is all about making small creatures evasive and getting value when they do combat damage, and it will fit nicely in BR because it likes treasures.
Plummet image 0.5 This is a weird card to see these days, since “sideboard” type cards are becoming less and less of a thing in Limited. Instead, they give us modal cards that do sideboard-type things, but have much better fail case than sideboard cards. Anyway, this is something you should pretty much never main deck, but not too terrible if you go up against an opponent with enough targets.
Secret Door image 1.5 In the early game, this can block reasonably well, and in the late game it has an ability that is a reasonable mana sink, and one that can actually give you a ton of value. Only Venturing at Sorcery speed is rough of course, because you have to telegraph to your opponent you won’t be interacting with them, but if you’re flooding out, this ability is going to look pretty good. You probably still don’t play this a ton though.
Gloom Stalker image 2.5 This is pretty bad if you haven’t completed a dungeon, and if you have, it is pretty good, but still not incredible.
Pack 2 Pick 9: Rust Monster
Rust Monster image 3.5 There are enough artifacts in this set that Rust Monster will be quite imposing on some boards. This is especially true because Red has so much treasure. Even the starting point here – a 3-mana 2/1 with First Strike – isn’t bad, but any time you attack with artifacts in play your opponent is going to have really hard decision to make. I think the Monster is well-supported enough in this set that it is probably worth a first pick in some weaker packs.
Veteran Dungeoneer image 3.5 This seems like a pretty darn good Common. As I’ve said throughout the video, Venturing isn’t quite drawing a card most of the time, but it gives you value that isn’t that far away from drawing a card, and if this was a 4-mana ¾ that drew you a card, it would be amazing. And again, this won’t quite feel like a 2-for-1 all the time, but it does do a lot for the mana cost, and enough to be one of White’s best Commons.
Price of Loyalty image 1.0 // 2.5 Even with the Treasure upside, this probably won’t be worth it for most decks. Threaten effects aren’t amazing in most formats, since they tend to do very little except in two situations. One of these is that you’re able to kill your opponent when you do it, and the other is that you have some sacrifice outlets that make it easy to turn the effect into a removal spell that gives you some value. However, this does look like it might be worth playing in the Black-Red deck, as there is one red Sacrifice effect at Uncommon, two black sacrifice effects at Common, and one at Uncommon, so setting up the sacrifice is actually going to be doable there, making the card a solid playable in a deck that gets its hands on some of those effects.
Potion of Healing image 1.5 Most of the time we see this kind of effect on a spell and it costs one fewer total mana than Potion of Healing does to draw you a card and gain you some life. This lets you pay it in installments though, and it is nice that you can just play it to draw the card and hold on to the life gain for a little bit later, especially if you’re in GW and you have some things that this can trigger for you. Still, this card seems pretty replacable, just like Revitalize and similar cards we’ve seen. You’ll probably cut it more than you play it.
Arcane Investigator image 2.0 A two mana 2/1 isn’t great these days, but this one does come with a pretty nice late game effect. No matter what you roll, being able to draw cards late is pretty nice. Still, for the bluk of the game, the Investigator is just not very good. It will be outclasses quickly in the early game, and in the mid-game it will be even more useless.
Ranger's Longbow image 1.5 This gives a reasonable boost and key word for the cost, though it isn’t anything special.
Pack 2 Pick 10: Kick in the Door
Keen-Eared Sentry image 1.5 This doesn’t seem that good to me. Giving yourself hexproof won’t matter very often, and neither will limiting your opponent to only one venture a turn. Maybe this is here to help provide some Dungeon hate for constructed, where venturing more than once a turn will happen all the time, but in Limited, it isn’t going to happen so often that you desperately want this little two drop. It does have an okay baseline, so it isn’t terrible, but its text box won’t matter that much.
Hunter's Mark image 3.5 Even without the upside against Blue decks, Hunter’s Mark would be a very good removal spell for Green. Instant speed punch is great, especially when it comes with the additional upside of sometimes only costing a single mana! This is premium removal.
Kick in the Door image 2.5 This card reminds me a lot of some of the cards we saw in Strixhaven, which seemed like they didn’t really do that much, but it turned out Learning for one or two mana was good, even if the other effect was negligible, and I think that’s kind of what we’re looking at here. Without Venture, this card would be pretty close to an F. One mana for a counter and Haste and not being able to be blocked by a few creatures just wouldn’t be worth a whole card, but I think with Venture attached you suddenly have a card that will feel sort of like Guiding Voice from Strixhaven. It will make a new creature able to attack right away, or make an old one able to attack thanks to the counter, while also netting you value from Venturing.
Greataxe image 1.0 +4/+0 is the kind of boost that makes almost any creature capable of attacking, but an Equip Cost of 5 is way too much. This is equipment that might be nice in the later part of the game, since you can just keep sending your guys in, but it will sit on the table doing nothing the rest of the game
Silver Raven image 1.5 One mana 1/1 flyers don’t tend to be very impressive in most Limited formats unless they have a lot going on. And, while Scry 1 is a little more than nothing, it isn’t that good, either. It does mean it still does a thing in the late game, and improving your draws matters, but yeah, this is pretty mediocre overall. If the set had more of an Artifact theme it would be better, but it just isn’t there.
Pack 2 Pick 11: Hired Hexblade
Moon-Blessed Cleric image 3.0 This does a pretty good Heliod’s Pilgrim impression. It can’t tutor the card right to your hand, but it lets you get any kind of Enchantment, not an Aura, and it also comes with better stats for the cost, so I think it will end up playing very similarly to the Pilgrim, who tends to be a pretty nice card to have in most limited formats. Obviously you need some Enchantments to really get it going, but that doesn’t seem like a difficult hurdle.
Hired Hexblade image 3.0 This seems like a solid card. Worst-case, you have a grizzly bear, and best case you have a two mana 2/2 that draws you a card -- which is just a great deal. There is enough treasure in this set that casting this with it isn’t a pipe dream, but you probably shouldn’t expect to be able to do it on turn two. Still, playing this later, once you have that treasure, will be nice since it will have relevance in the late game too when you do it.
Shocking Grasp image 1.5 The effect here isn’t very exciting. This Blue “combat tricks” really need your board to already have something big enough to deal with an attacking creature, or to blow up a block, and that really makes them pretty unimpressive. Obviously, adding a cantrip to the card does it make it better, because it means that at worse, you’re going to be able to Cycle this, but it still isn’t something that will make the cut in your deck all that often.
You Find a Cursed Idol image 2.0 This seems like a solid card to me. The modality here is great, and most of the time if you can blow up an Artifact or Enchantment, that’s where you’re going to go, but it is great that it has a fail case of Venture + Treasure, which won’t always feel like a whol card’s worth of value, but it gets pretty close. This is sort of like a Naturalize with Cycling in that sense, and that’s always a decent card
Pack 2 Pick 12: Brazen Dwarf
Sylvan Shepherd image 2.5 This looks like it has a lot going on because of the d20 stuff, but it is basically just a 3-mana ⅔ with Vigilance that gains you 1-2 life when it attacks. That’s basically a textbook solid playable, especially in a format that does have some life gain payoffs
Inspiring Bard image 2.5 A creature with just the Bardic Inspiration ability is usually a solid playable, but it does come with the downside of not doing anything with a +2/+2 boost doesn’t matter -- like if you have to play defense, or don’t have another creature. Adding the “Song of Rest” option means that in those situations, you could an ability that is far more useful, and that’s pretty nice. It probably still isn’t more than a solid playable, though.
Brazen Dwarf image 1.0 This doesn’t look very good. A two mana ⅓ isn’t a good stat-line these days, and the fact it might damage your opponent a little bit doesn’t really make up for that for me. It just won’t do enough to feel worth the mana or the card in most decks.
Pack 2 Pick 13: Scaled Herbalist
You Find a Cursed Idol image 2.0 This seems like a solid card to me. The modality here is great, and most of the time if you can blow up an Artifact or Enchantment, that’s where you’re going to go, but it is great that it has a fail case of Venture + Treasure, which won’t always feel like a whol card’s worth of value, but it gets pretty close. This is sort of like a Naturalize with Cycling in that sense, and that’s always a decent card
Scaled Herbalist image 2.0 When you get this down early, it will feel pretty nice. It doesn’t have the best stats, but you are likely to have the extra lands necessary to take advantage of its ability. In the mid-to-late-game it becomes increasingly useless though, unless you’re able to draw a whole bunch of cards
Pack 2 Pick 14: You Find a Cursed Idol
You Find a Cursed Idol image 2.0 This seems like a solid card to me. The modality here is great, and most of the time if you can blow up an Artifact or Enchantment, that’s where you’re going to go, but it is great that it has a fail case of Venture + Treasure, which won’t always feel like a whol card’s worth of value, but it gets pretty close. This is sort of like a Naturalize with Cycling in that sense, and that’s always a decent card
Pack 3 Pick 1: Hobgoblin Bandit Lord
Hobgoblin Bandit Lord image 3.0 This set has a lot of Goblins, so the Bandit Leader’s lord effect alone would make it a pretty playable card. The other ability is where things get interesting, though. Even if you can just use it to do 1 damage at a time, it is a pretty nice ability to have around, and if you play one of several cards that puts multiple Goblin bodies on the table, Shocking stuff won’t be hard to accomplish either. The ability of course won’t always be active, even in a deck with a lot of Goblins, so keep that in mind. Still, I think the reasonable floor of a 3-mana 2/3 and the very high ceiling of Goblin Lord that can act as removal or reach is a pretty nice card.
Lightfoot Rogue image 2.5 This is a solid two-drop, though not an overly impressive one for an Uncommon. What you get out of a roll 1-10 and 11-19 really isn’t that different in most scenarios, but it is nice that this gains death touch when it attacks, meaning that your opponent has to give something up to kill it. Unfortunately, the format seems to have enough 1/1 tokens lying around that that isn’t that impressive. Obviously rolling a 20 with it will make it super amazing, but it won’t do that most of the time. It also has the very real downside of not having death touch on defense. One of the nice things about death touch is how good it is both attacking and blocking, but you don’t really get that upside here.
Rally Maneuver image 2.0 This is an interesting trick. You typically want to only be spending 1-2 mana on tricks, but when they start being able to target multiple creatures, I get interested in more expensive ones too, since they at least have the possibility of creating a 2-for-1. This would obviously be better if it just gave +2/+0 and First Strike to two thing, but there will be situations where this lines up pretty nicely, allowing two of your creatures to win combat while gaining you some life. It is sort of unfortunate that it requires you to target two separate creatures, but this still seems pretty solid as far as tricks go. The first copy seems like it will be pretty good in White aggressive decks.
Rust Monster image 3.5 There are enough artifacts in this set that Rust Monster will be quite imposing on some boards. This is especially true because Red has so much treasure. Even the starting point here – a 3-mana 2/1 with First Strike – isn’t bad, but any time you attack with artifacts in play your opponent is going to have really hard decision to make. I think the Monster is well-supported enough in this set that it is probably worth a first pick in some weaker packs.
Swarming Goblins image 3.0 This seems like a pretty nice 5-drop. The worst case is 5 mana for a 4/3 and a 1/1, and that’s a pretty passable card -- if you get two tokens out of this it is going to feel well worth the investment, and obviously on the rare occasions you hit 20 you’ll feel like you’re robbing the bank.
Armory Veteran image 2.5 This has a solid baseline, and becomes pretty scary when you stick Equipment on him, as adding Menace to whatever other boost he’s getting will be formidable.
Earth-Cult Elemental image 2.5 This offers some decent top-of-the-curve stats for Limited, and it has a pretty nice D20 ability. It won’t be awesome to roll 1-9, but the effect is at least symmetrical. It will be true that sometimes it doesn’t hurt your opponent as much as it hurts you, but the opposite will sometimes be true too. Then, the effect is one sided if you roll a 10 or more, which will be well worth the mana you spend. If you always roll 10-20 with it, it is probably one of the better Commons in the set, but unfortunately it won’t go that way, we have to think about the fail cases too! The presence of Treasure in this set also means your opponent will have more permanents than normal to sacrifice, which weakens it further.
Scaled Herbalist image 2.0 When you get this down early, it will feel pretty nice. It doesn’t have the best stats, but you are likely to have the extra lands necessary to take advantage of its ability. In the mid-to-late-game it becomes increasingly useless though, unless you’re able to draw a whole bunch of cards
Yuan-Ti Fang-Blade image 2.5 This has a powerful combat damage to a player trigger, and because it has death touch your opponent will be put in a difficult position with it sometimes. Repeatable Venturing seems pretty powerful, and UB seems the most well-positioned to help creatures like this get evasion
Dawnbringer Cleric image 2.5 None of these effects are amazing, but the flexibility this card offers is quite nice. Mostly, you’ll gain 2 life with it, which will be okayish -- but when you have an Enchantment to destroy or a key card to remove from your opponent’s graveyard, it will feel especially good. Gaining life also matters some in this set, so there’s some synergy to be had. I think this is a solid playable.
Mimic image 1.0 So, this doesn’t seem amazing to me, though the flavor is quite good. Like most treasures, it can only be used the one time to give you mana, so it isn’t even the best fixing ever. And yeah, it can turn into a creature sometimes, and that’s nice upside to have on your mana, but I’m just not sure this will feel like it is worth an entire card very often. You’ll play it if you really need fixing, or maybe you have some artifact synergies, but that’s probably about it
Scion of Stygia image 3.0 If you know me, you know I’m a pretty big fan of Blue creatures with bounce or tap down effects, and this is a distinctly D & D version of it, but it seems pretty good to me. The nice thing about it is, even if you roll 1-9 with it, you’re getting reasonable value out of a 3-mana 2/1, and the tap down might prevent an attack or enable a better one for you. Then, when you hit 10-20, which is slightly more likely, you’re going to feel like you’ve got an amazing deal. Basically, 1-9 this will feel like a 2.0, and 11-20 will feel like a 3.5. I think that means it gets a 3.0
Gloom Stalker image 2.5 This is pretty bad if you haven’t completed a dungeon, and if you have, it is pretty good, but still not incredible.
Boots of Speed image 2.0 The boost this offers for the casting cost and the equip cost is pretty reasonable, as paying one more to give something new Haste and +1/+0 will feel pretty good sometimes, especially in a set where there’s an Equipment archetype.
Pack 3 Pick 2: Farideh's Fireball
Choose Your Weapon image 2.5 Both options here are super underwhelming, and will only be useful and efficient in some very specific situations. But, like with all of these cards, putting two situational effects together really does make for a significantly better card, as the situations where you can use that card are drastically increased, even with a card that has two incredibly situational options. Sometimes you’ll find yourself doing lethal with “Two-Weapon Fighting” and sometimes you’ll find yourself killing an opposing Flyer fairly efficiently. I think that makes this a solid card.
Hunter's Mark image 3.5 Even without the upside against Blue decks, Hunter’s Mark would be a very good removal spell for Green. Instant speed punch is great, especially when it comes with the additional upside of sometimes only costing a single mana! This is premium removal.
Keen-Eared Sentry image 1.5 This doesn’t seem that good to me. Giving yourself hexproof won’t matter very often, and neither will limiting your opponent to only one venture a turn. Maybe this is here to help provide some Dungeon hate for constructed, where venturing more than once a turn will happen all the time, but in Limited, it isn’t going to happen so often that you desperately want this little two drop. It does have an okay baseline, so it isn’t terrible, but its text box won’t matter that much.
Mordenkainen's Polymorph image 1.0 This kind of card always looks really cool, and that’s because it is easy to think of situations where it does something. But, even though there are several of them -- like making a creature big enough to block something it couldn’t before, or shrinking an opposing creature, or doing 4 lethal damage int he air, or saving a creature from damage-based removal -- even with all of those possibilities, you’d be surprised how infrequently a situation emerges where this will actually do something. We’ve seen a ton of cards like this over the years, and they always significantly underperform. I can’t see that changing here.
Baleful Beholder image 3.0 If you’re looking for some kind of finisher in a Black deck, this Beholder isn’t a terrible place to turn. Sometimes giving menace to your whole time will just win you the game on the spot, other times it won’t do anything --- the average situation is probably somewhere in the middle. Like, it lets one of your creatures attack who couldn’t, but that’s still not bad when attached to a 6-mana 6/5. Additionally, the fact it can get rid of Enchantments in a pinch is nice too.
Ranger's Hawk image 2.0 One mana 1/1 flyers are almost never that great in Limited unless they have something else worthwhile going on. The good news for this Hawk, is that it does! In the early game it can attack a bit in the air, but it will quickly be forced to stop attacking. Luckily, it has a late game mana sink that seems pretty good -- venturing into dungeons every turn will definitely allow you to grind out some wins late. Now, the cost of doing it isn’t small -- having to have another untapped creature isn’t a guarantee, but if you are at parity or ahead of your opponent, it won’t be that hard to make it happen. I think this is a solid playable.
Pixie Guide image 2.0 This has a reasonable floor. Two mana ⅓ flyers tend to be sort of acceptable in Limited, and the upsider here is pretty alright too. UR especially will be able to take advantage of the effect, but most decks that are at least part Blue will probably have 2-3 cards that involve a d20, so it will come up some. This isn’t especially close to good, though it isn’t bad either.
Farideh's Fireball image 5.0 I think this sneaks into the lower range of premium removal. 5 mana to do 5 to something at Instant speed is perhaps not the most efficient thing ever, but it does kill most stuff, and the fac that your opponent also always takes 2 is enough to nudge this into that premium range. Sure, it will do 2 to you sometimes too, but that’s okay. This is the kind of card that will plummet in its score if the format turns out to be fast though, so keep that in mind.
Clever Conjurer image 2.5 This ability only being Sorcery speed is a bummer, but it is still a pretty useful one to have on a 3-mana ⅔. Notably, it can untap lands for you, helping you ramp. And that’s probably the way you’ll use it the most. This seems like a solid playable.
Ranger's Longbow image 1.5 This gives a reasonable boost and key word for the cost, though it isn’t anything special.
Potion of Healing image 1.5 Most of the time we see this kind of effect on a spell and it costs one fewer total mana than Potion of Healing does to draw you a card and gain you some life. This lets you pay it in installments though, and it is nice that you can just play it to draw the card and hold on to the life gain for a little bit later, especially if you’re in GW and you have some things that this can trigger for you. Still, this card seems pretty replacable, just like Revitalize and similar cards we’ve seen. You’ll probably cut it more than you play it.
You Find the Villains' Lair image 2.0 Cancel is not usually a great card in Limited. Counterspells are a little too situational, and it is often just going ot be better to add to your board with three mana than count on your opponent playing something that you will counter. In a lot of ways, counter magic in Limited is just bad removal, because you have to have the mana up to use it at the exact right time, or it doesn’t do anything. Basically, a card like Cancel just ends up being a card you have left in your hand after you’ve played everything else, and it might do a thing, but it also might have cost you the game. This gets around that problem with another mode though. Sure, it doesn’t add to the board either, but it still gives you something to do with it that will be more immediate and more of a sure thing in situations where that’s a good idea. Normally, Cancel is like a 1.5, but I think this does enough to make the cut more often than that.
Earth-Cult Elemental image 2.5 This offers some decent top-of-the-curve stats for Limited, and it has a pretty nice D20 ability. It won’t be awesome to roll 1-9, but the effect is at least symmetrical. It will be true that sometimes it doesn’t hurt your opponent as much as it hurts you, but the opposite will sometimes be true too. Then, the effect is one sided if you roll a 10 or more, which will be well worth the mana you spend. If you always roll 10-20 with it, it is probably one of the better Commons in the set, but unfortunately it won’t go that way, we have to think about the fail cases too! The presence of Treasure in this set also means your opponent will have more permanents than normal to sacrifice, which weakens it further.
Pack 3 Pick 3: Kalain, Reclusive Painter
You Happen On a Glade image 3.0 I like this. It gives Green decks some really good fixing -- and that’s the option that will feel worthwhile the most often. However, one eventually reaches a stage in a game where top decking a fixing spell like this isn’t what you want to be doing, and by that stage of the game you probably have something in your graveyard yo’ud love to get back. I don’t really see myself cutting the first copy of this in most Green decks, especially if I’m splashing or 3 colors
Kalain, Reclusive Painter image 4.0 A two mana ½ that makes a treasure is already a pretty good deal, but this adds all kinds of upside that will be amazing in the BR deck. Even all on its own, it is pretty likely that the treasure you made will help you play a creature and put a +1/+1 counter on it your next turn, and that’s some serious value. If you manage to really get treasure going with Kalain, she will undoubtedly take over games. She is certainly fragile, but the fail case is that you still get to keep a single treasure, and that helps make that a little less of a problem. This is a really strong signpost Uncommon
Steadfast Paladin image 3.0 Two mana 2/2s with Lifelink tend to be solid enough in Limited, especially in a format with a life gain archetype. It will also wield Equipment pretty effectively.
Ranger's Longbow image 1.5 This gives a reasonable boost and key word for the cost, though it isn’t anything special.
Hobgoblin Captain image 2.5 This looks like it might be a nice two drop for aggressive decks in the format. A two mana 3/1 is already playable in many formats, and because he supplies half the power necessary to make pack tactics go off, it seems likely he will have first strike a lot. For now, I have it at 2.5, but if aggro is huge in this format, it will probably move up.
Owlbear image 3.5 This is reminiscent of Sarulf’s Packmate, and that’s a good Green Common to emulate. This gives you a very real body -- a 4/4 with Trample can be relevant on many board states, but obviously the ETB draw a card effect is what really makes this great. It will be virtually impossible for you not to get a 2-for-1 out of this Bear, and the value it gives you will be great. Sure, costing 5 does mean you can only run so many, unlike the Packmate which had Foretell, making it much easier to jam a bunch of them into your deck, but you should still value that first 1-2 copies pretty highly. There’s a good chance this is Green’s best common
Clattering Skeletons image 3.0 A 4-mana 4/3 is fine, and this comes with a nice enough death trigger. Venturing is going to be a big part of this format -- think learn/lessons in Strixhaven -- so any card that can do it for you is going to be a little better than it looks.
You Hear Something on Watch image 3.0 This seems like a pretty nice Common. Sure, the removal effect only works on attackers, so if you’re the beat down it won’t feel great -- but the good news is if you are the beat down, you’re probably interested in the other mode, since it pays you off pretty well for going wide. The removal is too situational to be premium, but it will kill lots of attackers, and having the board pump effect as an option is pretty nice.
Charmed Sleep image 3.5 I’m always hesitant to give Blue removal a “premium removal” grade, because it seems more often than not they don’t get there due to various disadvantages, but I think this gets there just barely. It did last time we saw it too. It doesn’t shut down static or activated abilities, but most creatures will become useless once this is on it.
Brazen Dwarf image 1.0 This doesn’t look very good. A two mana ⅓ isn’t a good stat-line these days, and the fact it might damage your opponent a little bit doesn’t really make up for that for me. It just won’t do enough to feel worth the mana or the card in most decks.
Gloom Stalker image 2.5 This is pretty bad if you haven’t completed a dungeon, and if you have, it is pretty good, but still not incredible.
You're Ambushed on the Road image 1.5 LIke most of this cycle, this card takes two options that would not be a great card on their own and puts them together, and the product is definitely greater than the sum of its parts. White-Blue especially is interested in bouncing its own creatures to retrigger ETB abilities, so that part of the card will come up in ways other than just to save a creature from removal. The trick part is mediocre, but will find its place. Each card individually would be a 1.0 at best, but together, I think the options make this card a pretty decent playable.
Pack 3 Pick 4: Yuan-Ti Fang-Blade
Feywild Trickster image 1.0 // 3.5 How good this card is will be super dependent on the rest of your deck, since a Gray Ogre is just a horrible stat-line these days. The good news is, as long as you get one token out of this you’re probably doing alright, and more than that will be incredibly powerful. Still, while d20s are around in this set, you probably need 5+ cards that involve them for this to do its thing, and for that reason I think I need to give this a build around grade.
Blue Dragon image 3.5 That’s a pretty wacky ETB ability, but it is one that seems pretty nice. It weakens all of those creatures until your next turn, so you can take advantage of their lower power so that you can attack on your turn, and then also benefit from the fact that your creatures can’t attack as hard. This does cost 7, but it also impacts the board in an immediate way and gives you a relatively imposing flyer. Still, there will be times when the ability doesn’t do much either way, and I think that probably keeps it from getting into “first pickable” range.
Sylvan Shepherd image 2.5 This looks like it has a lot going on because of the d20 stuff, but it is basically just a 3-mana ⅔ with Vigilance that gains you 1-2 life when it attacks. That’s basically a textbook solid playable, especially in a format that does have some life gain payoffs
Fates' Reversal image 2.5 So, usually Black has a common that lets you return two creatures, and it is usually a serviceable enough card that you basically always want the first copy of. They are situational, since they don’t do anything until late, but they can really help you grind out a win. This doesn’t do that exactly but I could see it offering similar value sometimes as a creature + Venture won’t feel too shabby.
You Come to the Gnoll Camp image 2.0 Like most of this cycle, this has two effects that are good in the right situation, but pretty narrow. Putting them together does make for a better card, and sometimes aggro decks really want a card that just blanks a couple of blockers – and they also are pretty happy with a combat trick, even if this one isn’t the greatest. The lack of significant toughness boost makes it a challenge for this to help your creature survive combats, but that’s alright. The first copy of this seems like a decent inclusion for Red aggro decks.
Clattering Skeletons image 3.0 A 4-mana 4/3 is fine, and this comes with a nice enough death trigger. Venturing is going to be a big part of this format -- think learn/lessons in Strixhaven -- so any card that can do it for you is going to be a little better than it looks.
Yuan-Ti Fang-Blade image 2.5 This has a powerful combat damage to a player trigger, and because it has death touch your opponent will be put in a difficult position with it sometimes. Repeatable Venturing seems pretty powerful, and UB seems the most well-positioned to help creatures like this get evasion
Bull's Strength image 1.5 Like most versions of this that we’ve seen, it is pretty reasonable. The boost it gives will allow you to win combat, and trample will even allow you to do some damage out of nowhere. The untap clause also gives a creature pseudo vigilance, or allows you to ambush an opposing creature, though like with most tricks, you generally prefer to use it offensively -- but the additional flexibility doesn’t hurt. It is still a trick though and comes with all those inherent risks I always talk about -- its situational, and if things go wrong you get blown out really hard.
Gloom Stalker image 2.5 This is pretty bad if you haven’t completed a dungeon, and if you have, it is pretty good, but still not incredible.
Find the Path image 2.5 I think you’re getting pretty solid value here, between getting some ramp and venturing into a dungeon. Venture won’t always feel like drawing a card, but later on in the dungeons it will give you that kind of value, and even the early rooms in the dungeons seem decent enough.
Charmed Sleep image 3.5 I’m always hesitant to give Blue removal a “premium removal” grade, because it seems more often than not they don’t get there due to various disadvantages, but I think this gets there just barely. It did last time we saw it too. It doesn’t shut down static or activated abilities, but most creatures will become useless once this is on it.
Pack 3 Pick 5: Sepulcher Ghoul
Gretchen Titchwillow image 3.5 That stat-line is a passable one for a defensive creature that does something else, and Gretchen definitely does, supplying you with a very powerful mana sink ability that will be a life saver in the late game. The extra land part of the card won’t always matter, since most of the time when you start using this ability you’re probably not going to be in desperate need of more lands, but it could definitely help, especially in UG, which is a ramp color pair as it often is.
Wild Shape image 2.0 I’m not usually a big fan of tricks that grant hexproof, they are just too situational! But this gets around that with some pretty nice modality. You can still get Hexproof if you need it, but it has two other modes that can be useful in different situations, and having an option between those three things is pretty nice, though not incredibly. A 1/5 with Reach is probably just going to enable a block you didn’t have before, which isn’t a great thing to give up a card for most of the time, and making something into a 3/3 with Trample won’t always matter either. So, the 1/3 option is probably the best one. Still, for only one mana this does a kind of okay job, and it is certainly decent
Intrepid Outlander image 3.5 This starts out with nice base stats. Reach tends to perform pretty well in Limited, especially in colors that don’t have that much access to Green, and obviously the Pack Tactics trigger here is quite powerful. Venturing into Dungeons is going to be the source of a ton of value in this format, and Intrepid Outlander can help you do it sometimes
Compelled Duel image 1.0 I’m never a huge fan of this type of card. It isn’t easy to get 2-for-1’d when you cast it, and it is fairly situational. However, this is cheaper than most versions of this we’ve seen. +3/+3 is going to be enough to make just about any creature into a problem, though keep in mind that your opponent only needs to use one blocker here – it isn’t that all creatures have to block – just one does. So you need to end up in situations where the 3 damage either wins you the game or you take down an important creature, but a lot of the time their important creature will be attacking you.
Sepulcher Ghoul image 2.5 This has passable base stats, and on most attacks it will be able to threaten becoming a 4/3, so your opponent will have to take that into account. Free sacrifice effects like this always play pretty well since you can virtually always use the effect, though in this case, you can only do it once. It looks like the Ghoul is well-positioned for the BG deck especially, since that deck’s all about stuff dying, and it will also pair nicely in BR, where you can use the Threaten effect to steal a creature and sacrifice it. I think all of that helps makes this two mana 2/1 a card you play a significant chunk of the time in Black.
Elturgard Ranger image 3.0 So, for 5 mana you get a 4/1 and a 2/2 -- in other words 6/3 worth of stats. A 5-mana 6/3 wouldn’t be good, but spread across two bodies this gets pretty interesting, plus a 4/1 with Reach has the kind of size to take down some of the dragons in the set, and that definitely matters. It feels like you’ll be able to get a 2-for-1 out of this a decent chunk of the time, and I think most Green decks will be interested in playing the first copy.
Zombie Ogre image 2.5 This has kind decent defensive stats, but the real value comes from its ability to Venture into the Dungeon, which it can do without any mana investment at all. Sure, you have to have your creature die, but that’s a common enough occurrence that this will be able to Venture for you a decent amount of the time. Playing it in the second main phase after a creature has ALREADY died will feel particularly good, because you’ll be getting that value at your End Step most of the time. This seems like a solid Common
You Find the Villains' Lair image 2.0 Cancel is not usually a great card in Limited. Counterspells are a little too situational, and it is often just going ot be better to add to your board with three mana than count on your opponent playing something that you will counter. In a lot of ways, counter magic in Limited is just bad removal, because you have to have the mana up to use it at the exact right time, or it doesn’t do anything. Basically, a card like Cancel just ends up being a card you have left in your hand after you’ve played everything else, and it might do a thing, but it also might have cost you the game. This gets around that problem with another mode though. Sure, it doesn’t add to the board either, but it still gives you something to do with it that will be more immediate and more of a sure thing in situations where that’s a good idea. Normally, Cancel is like a 1.5, but I think this does enough to make the cut more often than that.
Manticore image 3.0 These types of “kill something that was damaged” effects are often underwhelming, just because it takes more work than you'd think to consistently manufacture situations where that happens -- in particular, situations where you can make it happen without giving up significant resources, like an ugly block or an attack. However, when they add Flash to the mix, the card gets significantly more interesting because it means there will be a wider variety of situations where you can make that part of the card work. Plus, in a fail case this gives you a passable Flying body. Don’t count on this to feel like a Flying Ravenous Chupacabra all the time, but it will do that often enough to be a pretty nice common.
Spiked Pit Trap image 1.5 Lots of sets lately seem to have an Artifact that is a removal spell, and it is nice that you can play them in any deck, but they tend to be pretty inefficient, and that’s kind of the case here. You pay 6 mana total for 5 damage, and you might also get a Treasure. It does have Flash, which makes it so you can sort of ambush kill things, but yeah, you probably don’t end up playing this unless you’re short on good removal
Pack 3 Pick 6: Swarming Goblins
Demogorgon's Clutches image 1.5 They continue to print Mind Rots that are at least somewhat reasonable in Limited, and that’s a good trend I think. The problem with the discard part of this card is how much its usefulness decreases in the late game, like it is usually a god awful top deck to draw your Mind Rot late. And, early, it is often better to just add to the board. So there’s sort of a sweet spot of a few turns where you kind of hope you get the card where it will feel at its best. That’s why straight up Mind Rot is usually like a 1.0. However, by adding some additional effects to the card – especially the part where your opponent loses 2 life --- it makes it so this Mind Rot actually does something even late. It still isn’t good late, mind you, but it is better than most of its predecessors.
Bag of Holding image 2.5 This was a predictable reprint, given the theme of this set. Last time we saw it, it was a Rare, and it was a pretty decent card. Having a card that just lets you sink mana into it to loot is itself a nice thing to have around, and the fact that you can actually eventually get the stuff back that you put on the Bag is nice upside, though it won’t come up that often. It still doesn’t have a real board presence, so it isn’t nearly as good as a creature who can loot for you
Ranger's Hawk image 2.0 One mana 1/1 flyers are almost never that great in Limited unless they have something else worthwhile going on. The good news for this Hawk, is that it does! In the early game it can attack a bit in the air, but it will quickly be forced to stop attacking. Luckily, it has a late game mana sink that seems pretty good -- venturing into dungeons every turn will definitely allow you to grind out some wins late. Now, the cost of doing it isn’t small -- having to have another untapped creature isn’t a guarantee, but if you are at parity or ahead of your opponent, it won’t be that hard to make it happen. I think this is a solid playable.
Dueling Rapier image 2.5 So, the Equip cost here is obviously really steep, and +2/+0 for a single Red mana would not be an awesome combat trick, but in this case we’re talking about a combat trick that has the stats boost stick around in one form or another. Even if your creature dies, you have something on the battlefield, even if it does cost a lot to Equip, and if you can help a creature win and survive combat and keep this equipped to it, it’s going ot feel pretty good. In a lot of ways, it is still a glorified combat trick, but I’ve underestimated auras and equipment with Flash in the past, dismissing them as combat tricks, so I thinkt his will defy expectations. Still, it probably isn’t much more than a solid playable.
Neverwinter Dryad image 2.5 This is a fine one drop. It ramps for you, and that looks to be a good strategy in this format, especially in UG. It is nice that if you play it early it might actually attack for a bit too
Devour Intellect image 0.5 // 2.5 Letting your opponent choose to discard whatever they want this is not very good, but with Treasure you can turn it into a better Thoughtseize, and that’s pretty neat. I think this really needs a build around grade, because it is pretty awful in a deck with 0 treasure, but if you are BR, you’ll probably have the Treasure you need to make this work pretty well. Still, a card like this is better in the early game, and has diminishing returns as the game goes on, and you can’t count having treasure early, so don’t expect to fire this off on turn one or two for the more effective mode
Inspiring Bard image 2.5 A creature with just the Bardic Inspiration ability is usually a solid playable, but it does come with the downside of not doing anything with a +2/+2 boost doesn’t matter -- like if you have to play defense, or don’t have another creature. Adding the “Song of Rest” option means that in those situations, you could an ability that is far more useful, and that’s pretty nice. It probably still isn’t more than a solid playable, though.
Sepulcher Ghoul image 2.5 This has passable base stats, and on most attacks it will be able to threaten becoming a 4/3, so your opponent will have to take that into account. Free sacrifice effects like this always play pretty well since you can virtually always use the effect, though in this case, you can only do it once. It looks like the Ghoul is well-positioned for the BG deck especially, since that deck’s all about stuff dying, and it will also pair nicely in BR, where you can use the Threaten effect to steal a creature and sacrifice it. I think all of that helps makes this two mana 2/1 a card you play a significant chunk of the time in Black.
Swarming Goblins image 3.0 This seems like a pretty nice 5-drop. The worst case is 5 mana for a 4/3 and a 1/1, and that’s a pretty passable card -- if you get two tokens out of this it is going to feel well worth the investment, and obviously on the rare occasions you hit 20 you’ll feel like you’re robbing the bank.
Pack 3 Pick 7: Hired Hexblade
Portable Hole image 2.0 This will feel pretty good to use on a two-drop permanent, as you will come out ahead mana wise and it will prevents death triggers and stuff like that. It can also deal with all of the Class Enchantments, which will certainly come up. However, just being able to hit two and one mana permanents is a liability in Limited. This isn’t something that will even always make the cut. It could end up being better if aggro decks are a big deal in this format.
Iron Golem image 2.5 This is like Juggernaut, a card that is still pretty solid in Limited. It is a bit of a bummer that didn’t give it the “can’t be blocked by walls” thing, since there are a few of them in this set, but either way this is a nice little creature. It is sure to die in combat because it has to block and attack constantly, but it has high enough power that it will kill most stuff at least.
Greataxe image 1.0 +4/+0 is the kind of boost that makes almost any creature capable of attacking, but an Equip Cost of 5 is way too much. This is equipment that might be nice in the later part of the game, since you can just keep sending your guys in, but it will sit on the table doing nothing the rest of the game
Hired Hexblade image 3.0 This seems like a solid card. Worst-case, you have a grizzly bear, and best case you have a two mana 2/2 that draws you a card -- which is just a great deal. There is enough treasure in this set that casting this with it isn’t a pipe dream, but you probably shouldn’t expect to be able to do it on turn two. Still, playing this later, once you have that treasure, will be nice since it will have relevance in the late game too when you do it.
You Hear Something on Watch image 3.0 This seems like a pretty nice Common. Sure, the removal effect only works on attackers, so if you’re the beat down it won’t feel great -- but the good news is if you are the beat down, you’re probably interested in the other mode, since it pays you off pretty well for going wide. The removal is too situational to be premium, but it will kill lots of attackers, and having the board pump effect as an option is pretty nice.
Armory Veteran image 2.5 This has a solid baseline, and becomes pretty scary when you stick Equipment on him, as adding Menace to whatever other boost he’s getting will be formidable.
You Find a Cursed Idol image 2.0 This seems like a solid card to me. The modality here is great, and most of the time if you can blow up an Artifact or Enchantment, that’s where you’re going to go, but it is great that it has a fail case of Venture + Treasure, which won’t always feel like a whol card’s worth of value, but it gets pretty close. This is sort of like a Naturalize with Cycling in that sense, and that’s always a decent card
Evolving Wilds image 3.0 This is always some really great fixing, as it makes it very easy to splash a secondary color while only running a single basic of that color, and that always feels great for your mana base. They also make any mana base significantly better, even if you are just straight up two colors. You should value these over most “solid” cards
Pack 3 Pick 8: Check for Traps
Check for Traps image 2.0 This kind of discard spell is usually worth playing in Limited. The fact it can hit anything is a pretty big deal, and means it has utility pretty much all game long. The additional instant/flash upside can even matter a little bit!
Brazen Dwarf image 1.0 This doesn’t look very good. A two mana ⅓ isn’t a good stat-line these days, and the fact it might damage your opponent a little bit doesn’t really make up for that for me. It just won’t do enough to feel worth the mana or the card in most decks.
Mimic image 1.0 So, this doesn’t seem amazing to me, though the flavor is quite good. Like most treasures, it can only be used the one time to give you mana, so it isn’t even the best fixing ever. And yeah, it can turn into a creature sometimes, and that’s nice upside to have on your mana, but I’m just not sure this will feel like it is worth an entire card very often. You’ll play it if you really need fixing, or maybe you have some artifact synergies, but that’s probably about it
Neverwinter Dryad image 2.5 This is a fine one drop. It ramps for you, and that looks to be a good strategy in this format, especially in UG. It is nice that if you play it early it might actually attack for a bit too
Clever Conjurer image 2.5 This ability only being Sorcery speed is a bummer, but it is still a pretty useful one to have on a 3-mana ⅔. Notably, it can untap lands for you, helping you ramp. And that’s probably the way you’ll use it the most. This seems like a solid playable.
Bull's Strength image 1.5 Like most versions of this that we’ve seen, it is pretty reasonable. The boost it gives will allow you to win combat, and trample will even allow you to do some damage out of nowhere. The untap clause also gives a creature pseudo vigilance, or allows you to ambush an opposing creature, though like with most tricks, you generally prefer to use it offensively -- but the additional flexibility doesn’t hurt. It is still a trick though and comes with all those inherent risks I always talk about -- its situational, and if things go wrong you get blown out really hard.
Leather Armor image 0.5 This probably isn’t worth playing. Its cool that it equips for free, but the bonus it gives is negligible enough to not be worth a card in most scenarios. If you end up with a deck with a crazy amount of Equipment payoffs, which RW might have, MAYBE you end up playing it, but that’s probably the only time you do
Pack 3 Pick 9: Earth-Cult Elemental
Armory Veteran image 2.5 This has a solid baseline, and becomes pretty scary when you stick Equipment on him, as adding Menace to whatever other boost he’s getting will be formidable.
Earth-Cult Elemental image 2.5 This offers some decent top-of-the-curve stats for Limited, and it has a pretty nice D20 ability. It won’t be awesome to roll 1-9, but the effect is at least symmetrical. It will be true that sometimes it doesn’t hurt your opponent as much as it hurts you, but the opposite will sometimes be true too. Then, the effect is one sided if you roll a 10 or more, which will be well worth the mana you spend. If you always roll 10-20 with it, it is probably one of the better Commons in the set, but unfortunately it won’t go that way, we have to think about the fail cases too! The presence of Treasure in this set also means your opponent will have more permanents than normal to sacrifice, which weakens it further.
Scaled Herbalist image 2.0 When you get this down early, it will feel pretty nice. It doesn’t have the best stats, but you are likely to have the extra lands necessary to take advantage of its ability. In the mid-to-late-game it becomes increasingly useless though, unless you’re able to draw a whole bunch of cards
Dawnbringer Cleric image 2.5 None of these effects are amazing, but the flexibility this card offers is quite nice. Mostly, you’ll gain 2 life with it, which will be okayish -- but when you have an Enchantment to destroy or a key card to remove from your opponent’s graveyard, it will feel especially good. Gaining life also matters some in this set, so there’s some synergy to be had. I think this is a solid playable.
Scion of Stygia image 3.0 If you know me, you know I’m a pretty big fan of Blue creatures with bounce or tap down effects, and this is a distinctly D & D version of it, but it seems pretty good to me. The nice thing about it is, even if you roll 1-9 with it, you’re getting reasonable value out of a 3-mana 2/1, and the tap down might prevent an attack or enable a better one for you. Then, when you hit 10-20, which is slightly more likely, you’re going to feel like you’ve got an amazing deal. Basically, 1-9 this will feel like a 2.0, and 11-20 will feel like a 3.5. I think that means it gets a 3.0
Gloom Stalker image 2.5 This is pretty bad if you haven’t completed a dungeon, and if you have, it is pretty good, but still not incredible.
Pack 3 Pick 10: Earth-Cult Elemental
Choose Your Weapon image 2.5 Both options here are super underwhelming, and will only be useful and efficient in some very specific situations. But, like with all of these cards, putting two situational effects together really does make for a significantly better card, as the situations where you can use that card are drastically increased, even with a card that has two incredibly situational options. Sometimes you’ll find yourself doing lethal with “Two-Weapon Fighting” and sometimes you’ll find yourself killing an opposing Flyer fairly efficiently. I think that makes this a solid card.
Mordenkainen's Polymorph image 1.0 This kind of card always looks really cool, and that’s because it is easy to think of situations where it does something. But, even though there are several of them -- like making a creature big enough to block something it couldn’t before, or shrinking an opposing creature, or doing 4 lethal damage int he air, or saving a creature from damage-based removal -- even with all of those possibilities, you’d be surprised how infrequently a situation emerges where this will actually do something. We’ve seen a ton of cards like this over the years, and they always significantly underperform. I can’t see that changing here.
Baleful Beholder image 3.0 If you’re looking for some kind of finisher in a Black deck, this Beholder isn’t a terrible place to turn. Sometimes giving menace to your whole time will just win you the game on the spot, other times it won’t do anything --- the average situation is probably somewhere in the middle. Like, it lets one of your creatures attack who couldn’t, but that’s still not bad when attached to a 6-mana 6/5. Additionally, the fact it can get rid of Enchantments in a pinch is nice too.
Potion of Healing image 1.5 Most of the time we see this kind of effect on a spell and it costs one fewer total mana than Potion of Healing does to draw you a card and gain you some life. This lets you pay it in installments though, and it is nice that you can just play it to draw the card and hold on to the life gain for a little bit later, especially if you’re in GW and you have some things that this can trigger for you. Still, this card seems pretty replacable, just like Revitalize and similar cards we’ve seen. You’ll probably cut it more than you play it.
Earth-Cult Elemental image 2.5 This offers some decent top-of-the-curve stats for Limited, and it has a pretty nice D20 ability. It won’t be awesome to roll 1-9, but the effect is at least symmetrical. It will be true that sometimes it doesn’t hurt your opponent as much as it hurts you, but the opposite will sometimes be true too. Then, the effect is one sided if you roll a 10 or more, which will be well worth the mana you spend. If you always roll 10-20 with it, it is probably one of the better Commons in the set, but unfortunately it won’t go that way, we have to think about the fail cases too! The presence of Treasure in this set also means your opponent will have more permanents than normal to sacrifice, which weakens it further.
Pack 3 Pick 11: Brazen Dwarf
Ranger's Longbow image 1.5 This gives a reasonable boost and key word for the cost, though it isn’t anything special.
Brazen Dwarf image 1.0 This doesn’t look very good. A two mana ⅓ isn’t a good stat-line these days, and the fact it might damage your opponent a little bit doesn’t really make up for that for me. It just won’t do enough to feel worth the mana or the card in most decks.
Gloom Stalker image 2.5 This is pretty bad if you haven’t completed a dungeon, and if you have, it is pretty good, but still not incredible.
You're Ambushed on the Road image 1.5 LIke most of this cycle, this card takes two options that would not be a great card on their own and puts them together, and the product is definitely greater than the sum of its parts. White-Blue especially is interested in bouncing its own creatures to retrigger ETB abilities, so that part of the card will come up in ways other than just to save a creature from removal. The trick part is mediocre, but will find its place. Each card individually would be a 1.0 at best, but together, I think the options make this card a pretty decent playable.
Pack 3 Pick 12: Bull's Strength
Sylvan Shepherd image 2.5 This looks like it has a lot going on because of the d20 stuff, but it is basically just a 3-mana ⅔ with Vigilance that gains you 1-2 life when it attacks. That’s basically a textbook solid playable, especially in a format that does have some life gain payoffs
Bull's Strength image 1.5 Like most versions of this that we’ve seen, it is pretty reasonable. The boost it gives will allow you to win combat, and trample will even allow you to do some damage out of nowhere. The untap clause also gives a creature pseudo vigilance, or allows you to ambush an opposing creature, though like with most tricks, you generally prefer to use it offensively -- but the additional flexibility doesn’t hurt. It is still a trick though and comes with all those inherent risks I always talk about -- its situational, and if things go wrong you get blown out really hard.
Find the Path image 2.5 I think you’re getting pretty solid value here, between getting some ramp and venturing into a dungeon. Venture won’t always feel like drawing a card, but later on in the dungeons it will give you that kind of value, and even the early rooms in the dungeons seem decent enough.
Pack 3 Pick 13: Wild Shape
Wild Shape image 2.0 I’m not usually a big fan of tricks that grant hexproof, they are just too situational! But this gets around that with some pretty nice modality. You can still get Hexproof if you need it, but it has two other modes that can be useful in different situations, and having an option between those three things is pretty nice, though not incredibly. A 1/5 with Reach is probably just going to enable a block you didn’t have before, which isn’t a great thing to give up a card for most of the time, and making something into a 3/3 with Trample won’t always matter either. So, the 1/3 option is probably the best one. Still, for only one mana this does a kind of okay job, and it is certainly decent
You Find the Villains' Lair image 2.0 Cancel is not usually a great card in Limited. Counterspells are a little too situational, and it is often just going ot be better to add to your board with three mana than count on your opponent playing something that you will counter. In a lot of ways, counter magic in Limited is just bad removal, because you have to have the mana up to use it at the exact right time, or it doesn’t do anything. Basically, a card like Cancel just ends up being a card you have left in your hand after you’ve played everything else, and it might do a thing, but it also might have cost you the game. This gets around that problem with another mode though. Sure, it doesn’t add to the board either, but it still gives you something to do with it that will be more immediate and more of a sure thing in situations where that’s a good idea. Normally, Cancel is like a 1.5, but I think this does enough to make the cut more often than that.
Pack 3 Pick 14: Devour Intellect
Devour Intellect image 0.5 // 2.5 Letting your opponent choose to discard whatever they want this is not very good, but with Treasure you can turn it into a better Thoughtseize, and that’s pretty neat. I think this really needs a build around grade, because it is pretty awful in a deck with 0 treasure, but if you are BR, you’ll probably have the Treasure you need to make this work pretty well. Still, a card like this is better in the early game, and has diminishing returns as the game goes on, and you can’t count having treasure early, so don’t expect to fire this off on turn one or two for the more effective mode
Draft Pick Overview