Tracker App

Quick Draft AFR 1 August 2021

1 August 11:16 - rafiq 7 Wins - 2 Losses
Maindeck
Instant, Sorcery, Enchantment, Artifact (5)
2 Dragon's Fire image
1 Bull's Strength image
1 Spoils of the Hunt image
1 Farideh's Fireball image
Creature (19)
1 Neverwinter Dryad image
1 Loathsome Troll image
1 Elturgard Ranger image
2 Intrepid Outlander image
1 Chaos Channeler image
1 Tiger-Tribe Hunter image
2 Prosperous Innkeeper image
1 Plundering Barbarian image
1 Hill Giant Herdgorger image
1 Old Gnawbone image
1 Owlbear image
1 Gnoll Hunter image
2 Circle of the Moon Druid image
2 Hoarding Ogre image
1 Earth-Cult Elemental image
Land (18)
8 Mountain image
8 Forest image
1 Lair of the Hydra image
1 Evolving Wilds image
Sideboard
1 Sylvan Shepherd image
3 Shambling Ghast image
1 Zombie Ogre image
1 Shortcut Seeker image
1 Xanathar, Guild Kingpin image
2 You Find Some Prisoners image
1 Devour Intellect image
1 Compelled Duel image
1 Eyes of the Beholder image
1 Potion of Healing image
1 You Find a Cursed Idol image
1 Evolving Wilds image
1 Grand Master of Flowers image

Pack 1 Pick 1: Lair of the Hydra
Lair of the Hydra image 4.0 Like the rest of this cycle, Lair of the Hydra is really good, and worth a high pick. It is more flexible than the others, in that you can turn it into a land almost no matter how much mana you decide to pump into it. This means it can chip in for some early damage if it needs to, and it also means that in the extreme late game it will be absolutely massive, and difficult to take down
Eccentric Apprentice image 4.0 This is another really strong Uncommon for Blue. It starts out as a Wind Drake, and has an ETB venture effect, I think I would pretty much always be playing that card. But then, once you complete a dungeon, it has quite the powerful effect. Turning another creature into a 1/1 Flyer can either help you chip in for more damage, or severely waken an opposing creature. There really seems to be plenty of Venturing in this set, so completing dungeons isn’t going to be crazy far-fetched. You shouldn’t quite count on it just being the case, but the Apprentice will probably be fully upgraded like 20% of the time, and that’s awesome. This is a high pick, and likely one of the best Uncommons in the set.
Plate Armor image 3.0 This is some pretty solid Equipment. 3 to play and 3 to equip can be a little costly, but the good news is that whatever you put this on is going to become a problem, as +3/+3 is enough to make virtually any creature a lot scarier. Ward 1 is nice too, as it makes the amount of mana you spend on this hurt a little less when they kill your creature. Sometimes you’ll be able to Equip it for less, especially in RW which really likes Equipment.
Shessra, Death's Whisper image 3.0 This is a pretty sweet card. The idea is, you play her and force an opposing creature to block one of your creatures, ideally, killing that creature and keeping yours alive. Then, at the end of the turn you can pay 2 life to draw a card if that happened. Obviously, it doesn’t have to line up perfectly for her to draw you cards and stuff -- it can happen on any turn, but what I described is sort of the ideal scenario. The problem I see, though, is that the ETB trigger won’t matter a decent chunk of the time, so setting up that first draw is definitely not a foregone conclusion. She also has really bad stats for the cost. Still, in most games she’s likely to draw you a few cards, but I can’t help but think she’s a bit more underwhelming than the other signpost legendaries
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.
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
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
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.”
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 2: Intrepid Outlander
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
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
Hama Pashar, Ruin Seeker image 3.5 UW is all about Dungeons, especially triggering them with ETB abilities, and getting two triggers out of dungeon rooms is pretty powerful. Hama is definitely small for the cost, but I don’t see it being very difficult to get a ton of value out of her
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.
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
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.
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
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.
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.
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
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.
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
Pack 1 Pick 3: Spoils of the Hunt
Minion of the Mighty image 1.0 This set has a big dragon theme, but I still think setting this up so that Pack Tactics triggers will be pretty darn hard, and will sometimes feel like a win more type effect than anything. If yo’ure attacking with 6 power worth of stuff, there’s a good chance you’re already in a good position to win the game! Sure, if you are desperate this can get you a dragon down for free, but how much of a discount will it be, really? By the time you’re attacking that hard, you’re typically going to have plenty of mana in your typical game of Limited
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
Barbarian Class image 1.0 // 3.0 The base level of this one probably wouldn’t be worth it all on its own, even with all the d20 stuff in the set. It just won’t create a different outcome all that often, though obviously it does make those d20 cards better. Once you add level two, you are getting a very real payoff for rolling dice, as +2/+0 and Menace is a pretty big deal, and then Level 3 adding Haste to the mix -- regardless of Dice being rolled, seems nice. So, how good would this be if you just paid 6 up front for all of this? Well, not amazing, but paying it in installments is obviously better. Still, I think your deck will be dependent enough on having dice effects that this won’t really work in every deck, and even when it does I don’t see it being amazing. Because it is so dependent on dice, I think this needs a buildaround grade, because in your Average red deck with like 3-4 dice effects, it probably isn’t worth it. You probably need 7+ to get there.
Precipitous Drop image 3.5 I think I would play this most of the time even without the “completed dungeon” bonus. The Aura + Venture is going to be good enough for that, and then the completed dungeon bonus makes this far more potent. One nice thing about this card is that you can stick it on a creature and then get the bonus later once you complete a dungeon, at which point it slikely to just kill whatever it is. I think this gets into the lower range of premium.
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
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.
Ranger's Longbow image 1.5 This gives a reasonable boost and key word for the cost, though it isn’t anything special.
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.
Improvised Weaponry image 3.0 This probably isn’t quite premium removal, given that it does 2 for three mana and is a Sorcery. However, the fact that it can hit the opponent and it is a removal spell that gives you fixing and ramp is definitely appealing, even if won’t feel that efficient.
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
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.
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.
Pack 1 Pick 4: Farideh's Fireball
You Meet in a Tavern image 3.0 Both options on this can be quite powerful. Sometimes you really need to find yourself a couple of creatures in the top part of your deck, and other times pumping the whole board is great. This is a rather clunky Sorcery, but both modes can be great in the right situation
You Find Some Prisoners image 2.0 I think this is a bit underwhelming compared to the other Uncommon “Choose your Adventure”-style cards. If you can hit an Artifact with it that will be nice, but the second ability is a little too random, though it will certainly be useful most of the time in the later game, as it effectively draws you a card. Still, You Find some Prisoners is likely to sit in your hand for a long time before it actually does something, and even when it does do something, it normally isn’t going to feel that powerful.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Pack 1 Pick 5: Chaos Channeler
Warlock Class image 2.5 The Level 1 of this wouldn’t be worth it on its own, as using up a whole card for a fairly mediocre “morbid” effect that will only trigger every couple of turns or so just isn’t what you want to be doing. Now, it is nice that when you take it to level two, it draws you a card, and I do think that if we looked at this as 2B for an Enchantment with the Morbid ability + the card selection effect, you’d probably play that card. Then, in the late came it can level up and get a pretty powerful effect, but it is worth noting that that effect is really only going to do something if you’re already ahead in most cases. I think the whole package is probably a solid playable.
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.
Cloister Gargoyle image 3.0 A 3-mana 0/4 that ventures into the dungeon is probably already a decent card for the format, but this looks to be one of the bigger payoffs for completing dungeons at lower rarities, as it becoming a ¾ Flyer is a pretty big deal -- that kind of size almost always matters on an evasive creature, and it is going to give you value when it ETBs no matter what.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
Pack 1 Pick 6: Evolving Wilds
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
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.
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
Contact Other Plane image 3.0 So, with a 1-9 you’re getting an Instant speed Divination that costs one extra, which isn’t great, that would probably be a 1.5 or 2.0, but isn’t the worst fail case when the 10-19 gives you a pretty great effect for the cost -- like Behold the Multiverse without Foretell, and that’s a good place to be. Obviously, rolling the 20 will be completely absurd. If that’s what this card always did, it would be like a 4.0. We have to sort of think about what’s the most likely with this, and I think the fail case is passable enough that I’m pretty happy with this over all, as 10-19 is a pretty likely outcome, and that card would probably be a B-. In the end, I think all of that makes this a 3.0.
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.
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
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.
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
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.
Pack 1 Pick 7: Tiger-Tribe Hunter
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.
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.”
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
Pack 1 Pick 8: Prosperous Innkeeper
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
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
Pack 1 Pick 9: Plundering Barbarian
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.
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
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.”
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.
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.
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: Hill Giant Herdgorger
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.
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
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
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.
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
Pack 1 Pick 11: Sylvan Shepherd
Barbarian Class image 1.0 // 3.0 The base level of this one probably wouldn’t be worth it all on its own, even with all the d20 stuff in the set. It just won’t create a different outcome all that often, though obviously it does make those d20 cards better. Once you add level two, you are getting a very real payoff for rolling dice, as +2/+0 and Menace is a pretty big deal, and then Level 3 adding Haste to the mix -- regardless of Dice being rolled, seems nice. So, how good would this be if you just paid 6 up front for all of this? Well, not amazing, but paying it in installments is obviously better. Still, I think your deck will be dependent enough on having dice effects that this won’t really work in every deck, and even when it does I don’t see it being amazing. Because it is so dependent on dice, I think this needs a buildaround grade, because in your Average red deck with like 3-4 dice effects, it probably isn’t worth it. You probably need 7+ to get there.
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
Ranger's Longbow image 1.5 This gives a reasonable boost and key word for the cost, though it isn’t anything special.
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.
Pack 1 Pick 12: You Find Some Prisoners
You Find Some Prisoners image 2.0 I think this is a bit underwhelming compared to the other Uncommon “Choose your Adventure”-style cards. If you can hit an Artifact with it that will be nice, but the second ability is a little too random, though it will certainly be useful most of the time in the later game, as it effectively draws you a card. Still, You Find some Prisoners is likely to sit in your hand for a long time before it actually does something, and even when it does do something, it normally isn’t going to feel that powerful.
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
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.
Pack 1 Pick 13: Shambling Ghast
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
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: 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
Pack 2 Pick 1: Old Gnawbone
Old Gnawbone image 3.5 A 7-mana 7/7 Flyer is certainly imposing, but it better be for that cost! One nice thing here is that you will be able to get Treasure out of this the turn you play it, so even if your opponent kills it on their turn, you at least get something. Of course, the problem here is that you probably don’t really need treasure if you were able to cast Old Gnarlbone, and while this format does seem to have a significant number of mana sinks, I’m just not sure you’ll have anything to do with all the treasure this produces.
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.
Shessra, Death's Whisper image 3.0 This is a pretty sweet card. The idea is, you play her and force an opposing creature to block one of your creatures, ideally, killing that creature and keeping yours alive. Then, at the end of the turn you can pay 2 life to draw a card if that happened. Obviously, it doesn’t have to line up perfectly for her to draw you cards and stuff -- it can happen on any turn, but what I described is sort of the ideal scenario. The problem I see, though, is that the ETB trigger won’t matter a decent chunk of the time, so setting up that first draw is definitely not a foregone conclusion. She also has really bad stats for the cost. Still, in most games she’s likely to draw you a few cards, but I can’t help but think she’s a bit more underwhelming than the other signpost legendaries
Skullport Merchant image 3.0 So, this is a Black Sailor of Means with upside, and that’s a really good place to start. Tacking on fixing and ramp to a creature like this just ends up feeling really great. Sometimes you won’t really want the treasure, so its great that he can cash them in for cards, as well as creatures!
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
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.
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.
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.
Precipitous Drop image 3.5 I think I would play this most of the time even without the “completed dungeon” bonus. The Aura + Venture is going to be good enough for that, and then the completed dungeon bonus makes this far more potent. One nice thing about this card is that you can stick it on a creature and then get the bonus later once you complete a dungeon, at which point it slikely to just kill whatever it is. I think this gets into the lower range of premium.
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.
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.
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.
Ranger's Longbow image 1.5 This gives a reasonable boost and key word for the cost, though it isn’t anything special.
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.
Pack 2 Pick 2: Grand Master of Flowers
Grand Master of Flowers image 4.0 This is not the kind of planeswalker that will take over the game with ease, but it still seems pretty good. His first +1 is where you’ll get the most bang for your buck, as making creatures unable to attack or block can have a pretty big impact on the game, and can allow the Grand Master to protect itself. Now, he can’t stop creatures with some pretty common key-word ability, but that’s okay – he can still stop most stuff. His other +1 is only going to be useful if you have also drafted Monk of the Open Hand. We’ll see the monk later in this video. It is an Uncommon, and a pretty nice one drop, but you aren’t really guaranteed to get one in your draft, so that effect might be useless. If you can get a monk or two, though, that other +1 will feel good while you can use it, as you get a body to protect the Grand Master. Obviously the big goal here is to get the Grand Master up to 7 loyalty, at which point he becomes a huge indestructible Dragon, but making that happen won’t be easy. It will take 4 turns to get there, and while he can protect himself to some extent, he’s not so good at it that it will be easy to make that happen. Now, your opponent will want to commit significant resources to keeping his loyalty from getting that high, and that will also give you some value. All in all though, I don’t think this is a bomb planeswalker – merely a good one.
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
Fly image 2.5 So, when we see an Aura that grants Flying to a creature and draws you a card, it tends to be reasonably playable. While Venturing into a dungeon a single time won’t quite be as good as drawing a card, most of the time if you do it twice, it will feel like a whole card’s worth of value, and that will make up for the risk of getting 2-for-1’d when your opponent kills what this is attached to. Now, your creature does have to hit your opponent to get the effect, and that isn’t guaranteed or anything, but it seems like on a lot of boards, giving a creature these abilities will make it a big problem for your opponent.
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.
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.
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
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
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
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.
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.
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.
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 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 2 Pick 3: Owlbear
Oswald Fiddlebender image 2.0 So, these types of abilities are tough to make work in Limited. They can shine in constructed because you can make your deck so that it can really effectively utilize it, but in Limited, you’ll be dependent on the draft going just the right way for the ability to always be useful, and even then it might not be worth it! The good news is, it has a baseline as a two mana 2/2, and even if you just end up with a 2-mana and 3-mana Artifact in your deck, the ability might actually come up sometimes. This seems like it will get cut a lot, as just a straight up bear isn’t what it used to be, but it does have a decent enough fail case.
Green Dragon image 3.5 This whole cycle is pretty nice, and Green Dragon doesn’t really disappoint. A 6-mana 4/4 Flyer is often a borderline playable, but its ETB trigger is also going to be a huge headache for people to contend with. Now, there will be some board states where it doesn’t do much, but the card has a reasonable base line and will sometimes set up situations where your opponent just has to block to not die, which means they lose their creatures.
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.
Power of Persuasion image 3.0 Rolling 1-9 here isn’t going to feel very good, as you’re just not getting your 3 mana’s worth to bounce something at Sorcery speed, but the good news is that other rolls will give you about what you’d expect -- and that’s a pseudo Time Ebb effect for 10-19, and a temporary mind control for 20. The 10-19 effect actually lets you go 1 for 1 on cards, and obviously the mind control will feel like a 2-for-1. So, yeah the 1-9 might be a bit of a bummer, but hey, at least it interacts with the opposing board and gets something off of it, which will at least give you some tempo.
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
+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.
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.
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
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
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.
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.
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 2 Pick 4: Gnoll Hunter
Shessra, Death's Whisper image 3.0 This is a pretty sweet card. The idea is, you play her and force an opposing creature to block one of your creatures, ideally, killing that creature and keeping yours alive. Then, at the end of the turn you can pay 2 life to draw a card if that happened. Obviously, it doesn’t have to line up perfectly for her to draw you cards and stuff -- it can happen on any turn, but what I described is sort of the ideal scenario. The problem I see, though, is that the ETB trigger won’t matter a decent chunk of the time, so setting up that first draw is definitely not a foregone conclusion. She also has really bad stats for the cost. Still, in most games she’s likely to draw you a few cards, but I can’t help but think she’s a bit more underwhelming than the other signpost legendaries
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!
Delver's Torch image 2.0 The cost of playing this and Equipping it is pretty high for only a +1/+1 stat boost. Venturing every time the creature attacks is where the real value is, but as high as I am on Venture, I’m not a huge fan of this card. It doesn’t do a whole lot to help one of your creatures attack that couldn’t already attack before, and I think that’s the big thing you want Equipment to do for you, and +1/+1 isn’t going to do it that often, which won’t feel great for such a high Equip cost. If you already have Evasive creatures or a big creature it could be nice because you can get the Venture going, but yeah, I think this is clunky and overwhelming overall
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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
Contact Other Plane image 3.0 So, with a 1-9 you’re getting an Instant speed Divination that costs one extra, which isn’t great, that would probably be a 1.5 or 2.0, but isn’t the worst fail case when the 10-19 gives you a pretty great effect for the cost -- like Behold the Multiverse without Foretell, and that’s a good place to be. Obviously, rolling the 20 will be completely absurd. If that’s what this card always did, it would be like a 4.0. We have to sort of think about what’s the most likely with this, and I think the fail case is passable enough that I’m pretty happy with this over all, as 10-19 is a pretty likely outcome, and that card would probably be a B-. In the end, I think all of that makes this a 3.0.
Pack 2 Pick 5: Circle of the Moon Druid
Power of Persuasion image 3.0 Rolling 1-9 here isn’t going to feel very good, as you’re just not getting your 3 mana’s worth to bounce something at Sorcery speed, but the good news is that other rolls will give you about what you’d expect -- and that’s a pseudo Time Ebb effect for 10-19, and a temporary mind control for 20. The 10-19 effect actually lets you go 1 for 1 on cards, and obviously the mind control will feel like a 2-for-1. So, yeah the 1-9 might be a bit of a bummer, but hey, at least it interacts with the opposing board and gets something off of it, which will at least give you some tempo.
Aberrant Mind Sorcerer image 3.5 10-20 is the preferable option, and you have a slightly higher chance of getting that, and 1-9 isn’t too shabby either, as returning a removal spell to the top of your library is some powerful card selection. If you always got the 10-20 effect, it would be a 4.0, and if you always get 1-9, it would probably be a 3.0, so let’s split the difference at 3.5.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Eyes of the Beholder image 3.0 It is pretty difficult for a card to be premium removal when it costs 6 mana – unless of course it also draws you a card, like Rise of Extus in Strixhaven. Eye of the Beholder can definitely kill almost everything, but six mana is a whole lot! It is an Instant, which does means sometimes you’ll be able to manufacture some blowouts. I think you’ll always be reasonably happy with the first copy of this, but running more than that is pretty risky.
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.
Pack 2 Pick 6: Hoarding Ogre
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Pack 2 Pick 7: Circle of the Moon Druid
Blink Dog image 1.0 This doesn’t look very good. 3 mana for a 1/1 with Double Strike is rough, and the Phase effect is cool, but also costly. I guess if you have some Equipment he can get interesting, but I think you mostly won’t play this
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
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
Pack 2 Pick 8: Elturgard Ranger
Dragon's Disciple image 2.0 This is a nice Dragon payoff, as being able to play this as a two-mana 2/4 will feel pretty great, especially on turn 2! Adding Ward 1 to all your dragons isn’t too shabby either. The fact that this has a fail case of being a two mana ⅓ gives it a not entirely terrible floor too. There are enough Dragons around in this set for you to be able to take full advantage of this a decent chunk of the time. You probably need like 3 in your deck to feel good about it, but when you get there, this will be a nice card for you.
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.”
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.
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.
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.
+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.
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 2 Pick 9: Compelled Duel
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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: Zombie Ogre
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.
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
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.
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 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 2 Pick 11: Shortcut Seeker
+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.
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
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.
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 2 Pick 12: Earth-Cult Elemental
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.
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.
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.
Pack 2 Pick 13: Eyes of the Beholder
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.
Eyes of the Beholder image 3.0 It is pretty difficult for a card to be premium removal when it costs 6 mana – unless of course it also draws you a card, like Rise of Extus in Strixhaven. Eye of the Beholder can definitely kill almost everything, but six mana is a whole lot! It is an Instant, which does means sometimes you’ll be able to manufacture some blowouts. I think you’ll always be reasonably happy with the first copy of this, but running more than that is pretty risky.
Pack 2 Pick 14: Potion of Healing
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.
Pack 3 Pick 1: Xanathar, Guild Kingpin
Xanathar, Guild Kingpin image 5.0 Obviously enough, this is a bomb. Shutting off the opponent’s spells during your turn isn’t an incredible effect in Limited, though it does matter. Xanathar’s power really comes from the ability to just play cards from your opponent’s library, though. Note it says “play” which means it includes lands, so if there is a land on top, you can play it with your land drop for the turn and hopefully hit something better. That just means you’ll get serious value out of this guy virtually every single turn. It does have unimpressive stats and you have to wait until your next upkeep to get the value, but still -- this is an amazing bomb
White Dragon image 4.0 Adding a creature to the battlefield while also hampering your opponent’s side of the table for a full turn cycle is pretty serious, especially when that creature is a 4/4 Flyer! This will just give you all kinds of tempo, and can really swing the game in your favor, which is a great thing for an Uncommon to be capable of. I think this might be the best card in the uncommon dragon cycle.
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!
Aberrant Mind Sorcerer image 3.5 10-20 is the preferable option, and you have a slightly higher chance of getting that, and 1-9 isn’t too shabby either, as returning a removal spell to the top of your library is some powerful card selection. If you always got the 10-20 effect, it would be a 4.0, and if you always get 1-9, it would probably be a 3.0, so let’s split the difference at 3.5.
Delver's Torch image 2.0 The cost of playing this and Equipping it is pretty high for only a +1/+1 stat boost. Venturing every time the creature attacks is where the real value is, but as high as I am on Venture, I’m not a huge fan of this card. It doesn’t do a whole lot to help one of your creatures attack that couldn’t already attack before, and I think that’s the big thing you want Equipment to do for you, and +1/+1 isn’t going to do it that often, which won’t feel great for such a high Equip cost. If you already have Evasive creatures or a big creature it could be nice because you can get the Venture going, but yeah, I think this is clunky and overwhelming overall
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.
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
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
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.
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
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.
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.
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
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.
Pack 3 Pick 2: Dragon's Fire
Circle of Dreams Druid image 2.5 The mana requirement here is steep, and you should really never expect to actually play it on turn three, but with the kind of mana it can produce, playing it later won’t be too shabby either, though you do probably need some mana sinks to find use for the mana. If you ended up with two of these, it would be tempting to go mono-green for sure, provided you have those payoffs, but most of the time it won’t go that way.
Sudden Insight image 2.5 This won’t always be that easy to get going, especially because this set doesn’t really have a big graveyard theme, but in the late game it seems pretty likely to draw you 3+ cards, and obviously it can do even more than that. It does cost 6, and it is utterly terrible until the relatively late game, so it is hard to get overly excited about it, but I think it is a decent draw spell to have a single copy of in your Blue decks.
Lurking Roper image 3.5 You would basically always end up playing a 3-mana ⅘ Wall. That might sound crazy to you, but the main reason Walls tend to not be great in Limited is because most of them can just block things and not damage them. The Roper isn’t just a wall, it is one that will kill almost everything that can attack into it in the early and mid-game. So, even if that’s all this was, I think the first copy would make the cut in most Green decks. So, when you add the bonus that it can attack, you’ve got a better card, and then you have a way to actually untap it too, and it is even better! Even if you can never untap the thing, it is going to be a pretty nice card, and if you can, it will be awesome
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.
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
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.
+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.
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.
Delver's Torch image 2.0 The cost of playing this and Equipping it is pretty high for only a +1/+1 stat boost. Venturing every time the creature attacks is where the real value is, but as high as I am on Venture, I’m not a huge fan of this card. It doesn’t do a whole lot to help one of your creatures attack that couldn’t already attack before, and I think that’s the big thing you want Equipment to do for you, and +1/+1 isn’t going to do it that often, which won’t feel great for such a high Equip cost. If you already have Evasive creatures or a big creature it could be nice because you can get the Venture going, but yeah, I think this is clunky and overwhelming overall
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.
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.
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.
Ranger's Longbow image 1.5 This gives a reasonable boost and key word for the cost, though it isn’t anything special.
Pack 3 Pick 3: Dragon's Fire
Grim Wanderer image 2.0 This is a strange card to evaluate. Obviously on the vanilla test it is incredible, but the requirement of a creature needing to die is harder to set up than you might think. It does have Flash, which means that you can more easily find a situation where you can cast it, but keep in mind the kind of Flash it has will almost never allow you to use it to ambush your opponent, because a creature probably won’t die until combat. Still, it isn’t hard to imagine a situation where you and your opponent trade two drops and you play this at the end of their turn, and if you can do that, it will be quite imposing. A 5/3 even in the late game isn’t too bad, and you may be able to double spell because it is so cheap. The big downside is you literally can’t cast it at all if something hasnt’ died. It would be much better even if it cost like 6 or 7 or something as a base cost, and then got reduce dwhen something died, but sometimes this will just be stuck in your hand, or to get it going you have to block in an ugly way or something like that, and that really tempers my expectations here.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
+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.
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
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.
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
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.
Pack 3 Pick 4: You Find Some Prisoners
Barrowin of Clan Undurr image 3.5 The ETB trigger here is nice on a 4-mana 3/3, but the real value comes from whether or not you have completed a dungeon, as Barrowin offers you an excellent attack trigger, one that will make it pretty easy for you to get some amazing value out of this card, especially because it Ventured! BW looks pretty good at completing Dungeons too, so I imagine this is in the lower range of first pickable
You Find Some Prisoners image 2.0 I think this is a bit underwhelming compared to the other Uncommon “Choose your Adventure”-style cards. If you can hit an Artifact with it that will be nice, but the second ability is a little too random, though it will certainly be useful most of the time in the later game, as it effectively draws you a card. Still, You Find some Prisoners is likely to sit in your hand for a long time before it actually does something, and even when it does do something, it normally isn’t going to feel that powerful.
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.
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.
Grim Bounty image 3.5 This is premium removal. It might be a somewhat expensive Sorcery, but it kills pretty much everything for 4 mana, and even gives you a treasure back, almost making it so it costs three mana with some fixing upside!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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 3 Pick 5: Prosperous Innkeeper
Lurking Roper image 3.5 You would basically always end up playing a 3-mana ⅘ Wall. That might sound crazy to you, but the main reason Walls tend to not be great in Limited is because most of them can just block things and not damage them. The Roper isn’t just a wall, it is one that will kill almost everything that can attack into it in the early and mid-game. So, even if that’s all this was, I think the first copy would make the cut in most Green decks. So, when you add the bonus that it can attack, you’ve got a better card, and then you have a way to actually untap it too, and it is even better! Even if you can never untap the thing, it is going to be a pretty nice card, and if you can, it will be awesome
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
Shessra, Death's Whisper image 3.0 This is a pretty sweet card. The idea is, you play her and force an opposing creature to block one of your creatures, ideally, killing that creature and keeping yours alive. Then, at the end of the turn you can pay 2 life to draw a card if that happened. Obviously, it doesn’t have to line up perfectly for her to draw you cards and stuff -- it can happen on any turn, but what I described is sort of the ideal scenario. The problem I see, though, is that the ETB trigger won’t matter a decent chunk of the time, so setting up that first draw is definitely not a foregone conclusion. She also has really bad stats for the cost. Still, in most games she’s likely to draw you a few cards, but I can’t help but think she’s a bit more underwhelming than the other signpost legendaries
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.
Contact Other Plane image 3.0 So, with a 1-9 you’re getting an Instant speed Divination that costs one extra, which isn’t great, that would probably be a 1.5 or 2.0, but isn’t the worst fail case when the 10-19 gives you a pretty great effect for the cost -- like Behold the Multiverse without Foretell, and that’s a good place to be. Obviously, rolling the 20 will be completely absurd. If that’s what this card always did, it would be like a 4.0. We have to sort of think about what’s the most likely with this, and I think the fail case is passable enough that I’m pretty happy with this over all, as 10-19 is a pretty likely outcome, and that card would probably be a B-. In the end, I think all of that makes this a 3.0.
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
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
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.
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.
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 3 Pick 6: Intrepid Outlander
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
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.
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.
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.
Deadly Dispute image 2.0 The prevalence of treasure, especially in Black-Red, will make this better than it looks. This kind of effect often plays a lot like Tormenting Voice, which is to say – its pretty replaceable, but I think this will be better than usual thanks to the fact it is good with treasure and it produces treasure. It of course still comes with the upside of being able to sacrifice a creature in response to removal, at which point you really aren’t going down a card either.
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.
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.
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
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.
Pack 3 Pick 7: Loathsome Troll
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
Improvised Weaponry image 3.0 This probably isn’t quite premium removal, given that it does 2 for three mana and is a Sorcery. However, the fact that it can hit the opponent and it is a removal spell that gives you fixing and ramp is definitely appealing, even if won’t feel that efficient.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.”
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.
Pack 3 Pick 8: Hoarding Ogre
Divine Smite image 2.5 Phasing something out just isn’t that good. It is sort of like bouncing a creature, except it is worse in the sense that your opponent doesn’t have to pay mana again to get their creature back. It will just come back on its own. In that sense, it is more like tapping a creature down for one turn. You also can’t use it on your own creature to save it from removal or something like that, you can only target the opponent’s stuff. Still, it does a kind of reasonable thing against all creatures or planeswalkers, and will be insane against people playing Black. I think that if this was just the phasing side of it, it wouldn’t be very good. So, this one might be better to start in your sideboard, which I don’t think is true of the rest of this cycle. Still, you’ll run into people playing Black often enough that I think this is a solid playable.
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.
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
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.
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
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.
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 3 Pick 9: Evolving Wilds
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.
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
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
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.
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.
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.
Pack 3 Pick 10: Shambling Ghast
Sudden Insight image 2.5 This won’t always be that easy to get going, especially because this set doesn’t really have a big graveyard theme, but in the late game it seems pretty likely to draw you 3+ cards, and obviously it can do even more than that. It does cost 6, and it is utterly terrible until the relatively late game, so it is hard to get overly excited about it, but I think it is a decent draw spell to have a single copy of in your Blue decks.
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.
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.
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.
Ranger's Longbow image 1.5 This gives a reasonable boost and key word for the cost, though it isn’t anything special.
Pack 3 Pick 11: Bull's Strength
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.
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.
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.
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.
Pack 3 Pick 12: Neverwinter Dryad
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.
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.
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
Pack 3 Pick 13: You Find a Cursed Idol
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
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 14: Shambling Ghast
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.
Draft Pick Overview