Tracker App

Premier Draft AKR 14 August 2021

14 August 03:04 - Forge 7 Wins - 1 Losses
Maindeck
Creature (13)
2 Aerial Guide image
1 Hekma Sentinels image
1 Vile Manifestation image
1 Archfiend of Ifnir image
1 Labyrinth Guardian image
1 Wasteland Scorpion image
1 Striped Riverwinder image
1 Spellweaver Eternal image
1 Eternal of Harsh Truths image
1 Gravedigger image
1 Soulstinger image
1 Shadowstorm Vizier image
Instant, Sorcery, Enchantment, Artifact (10)
1 Winds of Rebuke image
2 Unquenchable Thirst image
1 Hieroglyphic Illumination image
1 Lethal Sting image
1 Countervailing Winds image
1 Final Reward image
1 Essence Scatter image
1 Strategic Planning image
1 Edifice of Authority image
Land (17)
8 Island image
7 Swamp image
1 Irrigated Farmland image
1 Desert of the Glorified image
Sideboard
1 Shefet Monitor image
1 Obelisk Spider image
1 Ornery Kudu image
1 Dune Beetle image
1 Ancient Crab image
1 Slither Blade image
1 Sidewinder Naga image
1 Pride Sovereign image
1 Bitterbow Sharpshooters image
1 Unquenchable Thirst image
1 Farm image
1 Unburden image
1 Rhonas's Monument image
1 Destined image
1 Tormenting Voice image
2 Crash Through image

Pack 1 Pick 1: Archfiend of Ifnir
Archfiend of Ifnir image 5.0 A 5-mana 5/4 Flyer is great, and the Archfiend comes with an absolutely insane cycling/discard payoff. -1/-1 to only your opponent’s side of the table is great, and can really bust open just about any combat, in addition to straight up killing all of their X/1s. In short, this can destroy your opponent in the air with its efficient flying body, and it can wreak havoc on their board in general. That’s certainly a bomb.
Exemplar of Strength image 2.0 If you play this on turn two, it can potentially get out of hand, but for a lot of the game, it is basically just a two mana 1/1 that becomes a 2/2 and gains you 1 life when it attacks. That’s…not great, even in a format with various -1/-1 counter synergies.
Censor image 2.5 Counterspells that only ask the opponent to pay 1 to ignore them usually aren’t very good except for in the very early game. The nice thing here, is that once you get to the late game and Censor doesn’t look so good, you can just Cycle it away and get another card.
Renewed Faith image 2.0 You will almost always end up cycling this. Two mana for 2 life and a card is pretty decent. Three mana for six life and no card isn’t, but you do have the option to do that, and sometimes you’ll want to – like if you’ll die without doing it.
Binding Mummy image 3.0 This has a baseline of a 2-mana 2/2 and it has some very real upside. This set is loaded up with Zombies – and remember, anything that is Embalmed comes back as a zombie too, so the Binding Mummy tends to be quite good at tapping down blockers and letting you go all out.
Trespasser's Curse image 0.5 This doesn’t do anything apart from the life drain effect, and that just isn’t going to be worth a card most of the time.
Desert of the Mindful image 3.0 Deserts are pretty important in this format. Not only do they provide some significant flood insurance thanks to Cycling, they also power up several cards in the format that pay you off for having Deserts. As a result, you should actually value them relatively highly, taking them over most medium cards.
Anointer Priest image 2.5 This is a solid little token/embalm payoff. A two mana 1/3 isn’t great, but the bit of life gain it gets + the fact it comes back from the graveyard in the late game is pretty nice.
Hieroglyphic Illumination image 2.5 4 mana to draw 2 at instant speed isn’t the greatest thing ever, but this has an alternate mode where you pay a single Blue to draw a card, and having both of those options is pretty nice.
Bloodlust Inciter image 2.5 This kind of card isn’t always very good, but this format is fast enough that the Inciter is actually pretty decent. Giving Haste to every creature you play is quite nice, especially the ones that have scary Exert effects.
Desert of the True image 3.0 Deserts are pretty important in this format. Not only do they provide some significant flood insurance thanks to Cycling, they also power up several cards in the format that pay you off for having Deserts. As a result, you should actually value them relatively highly, taking them over most medium cards.
Blur of Blades image 1.5 Sometimes this will get a blocker out of the way and damage your opponent, and suddenly their dead to an Alpha strike. That makes it a reasonable inclusion in aggressive decks, especially because it will always have a pretty decent effect in those decks.
Oasis Ritualist image 3.5 This card is really nice. It has enough toughness to stand up to most common Exert creatures, and it provides significant fixing and ramp.
Stinging Shot image 1.5 This is good at hating on flyers, and because it has cycling, you can get away with in your main deck.
Pack 1 Pick 2: Shefet Monitor
Unesh, Criosphinx Sovereign image 4.5 All on its own, Unesh is a 6-mana 4/4 Flyer that basically casts Fact or Fiction when it comes down. It will always end up netting you at least one card, and often times it will give you two. The large flying body + the 2-for-1 or better potential is enough for Unesh to be a bomb, even without any other Sphinxes!
Vizier of Remedies image 1.0 This is a two mana 2/1 with some very minor upside for the format. You’ll play it if you really need a two drop, but that’s about it.
Shefet Monitor image 3.5 This card is really good. In the early game, you can cycle it away, and you get to draw two cards in the process! One will be a basic land of course, but that’s fine, it is still giving you a 2-for-1 off of a Cycle, which is pretty awesome – and good for your mana! Then, in the late game, Shefet Monitor towers over many board states, and can be a passable finisher.
Naga Oracle image 1.0 This isn’t very good. A 4-mana 2/4 needs to do something pretty relevant to be good, and it just doesn’t. It gives you a bit of card selection/graveyard stocking, but that’s not really enough.
Haze of Pollen image 0.5 Fog effects are bad in Limited – usually unplayable. Even adding cycling doesn’t help that out a whole lot.
Beneath the Sands image 2.0 This can help you fix and ramp, which some decks wants, and unlike a lot of ramp spells – which are terrible late game top decks – you can Cycle away Beneath the Sands.
Tormenting Voice image 1.5 This kind of effect is always very replaceable, as you’re just getting some card selection and not impacting the board. It can be at its best, though, in UR spells, as it can trigger your spell payoffs while also hopefully finding you more spells.
Horror of the Broken Lands image 3.0 In the early game, you can cycle this away, and in the late game it can be a very legitimate finisher in a deck with a reasonable amount of Cycling. It has a very reasonable floor, and a decent enough ceiling.
Oketra's Avenger image 3.5 When this is Exerted, it is pretty darn hard to block – and that’s true pretty much all game long, making this an excellent two drop.
Unquenchable Thirst image 3.0 It isn’t that difficult to get enough deserts for this to do the more powerful thing. Not tapping the creature when you don’t have a desert definitely isn’t great, but that is a pretty reasonable floor on a card that can shut down most creatures in the format for only two mana.
Solitary Camel image 2.0 A 3-mana 3/2 that will have lifelink a decent chunk of the time is fine.
In Oketra's Name image 1.5 This just doesn’t pan out most of the time. Sure, if you have a bunch of Zombies and you’re going wide, it gives a nice boost for the cost, but having both of those things happen isn’t guaranteed.
Soulstinger image 2.5 All on its own, Soulstinger is a 4-mana 2/3 that puts two -1/-1 counters on something when it dies. That’s the kind of card that can really create 2-for-1s, and that’s sort of the baseline here. You can also just play the Soulstinger as a larger creature if that’s what you need, and put the counters somewhere else.
Pack 1 Pick 3: Labyrinth Guardian
Labyrinth Guardian image 3.0 This dies to everything, but it gives you two pretty relevant bodies and its only one card, so if your opponent wants to use spells to kill both copies, you aren’t exactly going to be broken up about it.
Trial of Solidarity image 3.0 Cards that pump your whole board and give it Vigilance tend to be quite nice, since they drastically alter the state of a race. You’re suddenly doing way more damage, your creatures are harder to block, and your creatures can hang back to block. The Cartouche clause comes up more often than you’d think here too!
Sixth Sense image 1.0 This kind of Aura is always sort of hard to get behind. Because it gives no stats boost, the creature you put it on has to already be capable of getting in to draw you the card, and you’ll find yourself unable to create that situation pretty frequently.
Bloodlust Inciter image 2.5 This kind of card isn’t always very good, but this format is fast enough that the Inciter is actually pretty decent. Giving Haste to every creature you play is quite nice, especially the ones that have scary Exert effects.
Dissenter's Deliverance image 1.0 There aren’t a ton of Artifacts in this set, but this does Cycle, so you’ll put it in your main deck some.
Striped Riverwinder image 2.5 A 7-mana 5/5 isn’t great, even with Hexproof, but the fact you can Cycle this away early is pretty awesome. Then, in the late game, it is pretty difficult to interact with and not the worst finisher ever.
Desert of the Mindful image 3.0 Deserts are pretty important in this format. Not only do they provide some significant flood insurance thanks to Cycling, they also power up several cards in the format that pay you off for having Deserts. As a result, you should actually value them relatively highly, taking them over most medium cards.
Unburden image 2.0 Mind Rot usually isn’t very good in Limited, but you can use that part of the card when its good, and Cycle it away when its not, which makes it somewhat playable.
Pursue Glory image 2.0 This is a very inefficient Trumpet Blast, but unlike Trumpet Blast it can actually do something even when you aren’t able to do lethal with it! You can cycle it away.
Seer of the Last Tomorrow image 1.0 Not really a mill deck in this format, and that makes this pretty bad.
In Oketra's Name image 1.5 This just doesn’t pan out most of the time. Sure, if you have a bunch of Zombies and you’re going wide, it gives a nice boost for the cost, but having both of those things happen isn’t guaranteed.
Greater Sandwurm image 2.5 This is a solid finisher, and when he’s not what you’re looking for, you can just cycle him away.
Pack 1 Pick 4: Unquenchable Thirst
Dusk image 3.0 In the right deck, Dusk can be fairly one-sided. Though, keep in mind, some opponents won’t have big enough creatures for Dusk to effect that much. Still, even if you just kill a single thing on your opponent’s board with the Dusk half, you’ll feel pretty good. Especially because you get the Dawn half in your graveyard to use later in the game.
Farm image 3.5 This is a pretty impressive card. Neither half of these are exactly efficiently costed, but the fact that this card does both of these things is great. Farm lets you kill any attacking or blocking creature, and while htat’s somewhat restrictive, it does deal with anything that decides to enter combat in one way or another, and there’s a whole lot of that in this format. The Farm part likely would be a solid playable all on its own, so the Market half giving you a double loot effect in the later part of the game is really nice, and will improve your card quality.
Manglehorn image 0.5 There aren’t really enough artifacts in this set for it to be worth it.
Tormenting Voice image 1.5 This kind of effect is always very replaceable, as you’re just getting some card selection and not impacting the board. It can be at its best, though, in UR spells, as it can trigger your spell payoffs while also hopefully finding you more spells.
Cartouche of Strength image 4.0 The whole Cartouche cycle is good, but Cartouche of Strength is the best of the bunch. Giving a creature +1/+1 and trample, and punching an opposing creature is amazing, and often enough to really change the complection of a game.
Supply Caravan image 2.0 A 5-mana 3/5 isn’t something you want, but this will give you a 1/1 token like half of the time, and that makes it decent.
Desert of the Glorified image 3.0 Deserts are pretty important in this format. Not only do they provide some significant flood insurance thanks to Cycling, they also power up several cards in the format that pay you off for having Deserts. As a result, you should actually value them relatively highly, taking them over most medium cards.
Unquenchable Thirst image 3.0 It isn’t that difficult to get enough deserts for this to do the more powerful thing. Not tapping the creature when you don’t have a desert definitely isn’t great, but that is a pretty reasonable floor on a card that can shut down most creatures in the format for only two mana.
Horror of the Broken Lands image 3.0 In the early game, you can cycle this away, and in the late game it can be a very legitimate finisher in a deck with a reasonable amount of Cycling. It has a very reasonable floor, and a decent enough ceiling.
Naga Oracle image 1.0 This isn’t very good. A 4-mana 2/4 needs to do something pretty relevant to be good, and it just doesn’t. It gives you a bit of card selection/graveyard stocking, but that’s not really enough.
Stinging Shot image 1.5 This is good at hating on flyers, and because it has cycling, you can get away with in your main deck.
Pack 1 Pick 5: Obelisk Spider
Enigma Drake image 3.0 This is a nice payoff for the UR spells deck, as it can become quite the threat in the air.
Obelisk Spider image 3.5 This X-costed planeswalker can come down whenever you want her too, and she packs some pretty nice abilities. Her +2 doesn’t net you a card or anything, but it does Scry 2, which is some nice selection. Her 0 ability does net you cards, and can even put some into play for free! Meanwhile, her ultimate is quite easy to reach, and it can do 10 damage to your opponent out of nowhere, which is often enough to just end the game. She is challenging to take over the game with all alone though, and for that reason I don’t think she’s quite a bomb.
Ominous Sphinx image 3.5 This has nice stats and a pretty decent Cycling payoff effect that can really wreak havoc on your opponent, especially during combat.
Cartouche of Solidarity image 3.0 The whole Cartouche cycle is quite nice. +1/+1 and First Strike is already the kind of boost that makes a creature significantly more formidable, and this also makes sure to give you a spare 1/1 body, which helps the threat of a 2-for-1 not loom quite as large.
Miasmic Mummy image 1.5 The symmetrical discard isn’t something you’re all that interested in in the format, and this is just a 2/2. It is a Zombie, so that matters, but you won’t play this all that often.
Scarab Feast image 1.0 This format has a lot of graveyard stuff, but you still mostly won’t play this. The only reason it isn’t just a sideboard card is because of Cycling.
Pursue Glory image 2.0 This is a very inefficient Trumpet Blast, but unlike Trumpet Blast it can actually do something even when you aren’t able to do lethal with it! You can cycle it away.
Nef-Crop Entangler image 3.0 This is yet another Exert two-drop who, once it starts exerting itself, can attack pretty much all game long.
Dissenter's Deliverance image 1.0 There aren’t a ton of Artifacts in this set, but this does Cycle, so you’ll put it in your main deck some.
Dune Beetle image 1.0 If you need a defensive two drop, you could do worse than this I guess.
Pack 1 Pick 6: Ornery Kudu
Chandra's Defeat image 0.5 Like the rest of this cycle, this is great out of your sideboard, but terrible too often to put anywhere else.
Wasteland Scorpion image 2.5 Deathtouchers can trade with anything, and that’s pretty nice! That does mostly make this a defensive card, though. And, like a lot of cards in the set, you can also cycle this away when it isn’t very good.
Dissenter's Deliverance image 1.0 There aren’t a ton of Artifacts in this set, but this does Cycle, so you’ll put it in your main deck some.
Fan Bearer image 3.5 Master Decoy-type creatures are good in most Limited formats, and this one comes with a relevant creature type.
Desert of the True image 3.0 Deserts are pretty important in this format. Not only do they provide some significant flood insurance thanks to Cycling, they also power up several cards in the format that pay you off for having Deserts. As a result, you should actually value them relatively highly, taking them over most medium cards.
Shed Weakness image 1.5 This is an alright trick. One mana for +2/+2 is fairly passable, and sometimes you’ll also get rid of a -1/-1 counter, which will make it feel like Giant Growth!
Disposal Mummy image 1.0 This set has a graveyard sub-theme, but Disposal Mummy is too inefficient and situational with its effect to really be worth it most of the time.
Pouncing Cheetah image 1.5 This is kind of okay. It can flash in and ambush block stuff, but there’s not much that it can survive blocking because of its mediocre stats.
Pack 1 Pick 7: Wasteland Scorpion
Chandra's Defeat image 0.5 Like the rest of this cycle, this is great out of your sideboard, but terrible too often to put anywhere else.
Wasteland Scorpion image 2.5 Deathtouchers can trade with anything, and that’s pretty nice! That does mostly make this a defensive card, though. And, like a lot of cards in the set, you can also cycle this away when it isn’t very good.
Dissenter's Deliverance image 1.0 There aren’t a ton of Artifacts in this set, but this does Cycle, so you’ll put it in your main deck some.
Fan Bearer image 3.5 Master Decoy-type creatures are good in most Limited formats, and this one comes with a relevant creature type.
Desert of the True image 3.0 Deserts are pretty important in this format. Not only do they provide some significant flood insurance thanks to Cycling, they also power up several cards in the format that pay you off for having Deserts. As a result, you should actually value them relatively highly, taking them over most medium cards.
Shed Weakness image 1.5 This is an alright trick. One mana for +2/+2 is fairly passable, and sometimes you’ll also get rid of a -1/-1 counter, which will make it feel like Giant Growth!
Disposal Mummy image 1.0 This set has a graveyard sub-theme, but Disposal Mummy is too inefficient and situational with its effect to really be worth it most of the time.
Pouncing Cheetah image 1.5 This is kind of okay. It can flash in and ambush block stuff, but there’s not much that it can survive blocking because of its mediocre stats.
Pack 1 Pick 8: Desert of the Glorified
Appeal image 2.0 If you can cast both halves of this in the same turn, this can have a pretty big impact, since one of your creatures will get a decent boost and trample, two opposing blockers will be tapped, and your creatures will have vigilance. Still, you did not some decent set up for this to do that ideal thing, including a decent number of creatures. And, in the end, you use up a card here for temporary effects that don’t permanently add to the board in any way, and I don’t love that.
Pursue Glory image 2.0 This is a very inefficient Trumpet Blast, but unlike Trumpet Blast it can actually do something even when you aren’t able to do lethal with it! You can cycle it away.
Disposal Mummy image 1.0 This set has a graveyard sub-theme, but Disposal Mummy is too inefficient and situational with its effect to really be worth it most of the time.
Scarab Feast image 1.0 This format has a lot of graveyard stuff, but you still mostly won’t play this. The only reason it isn’t just a sideboard card is because of Cycling.
Desert of the Glorified image 3.0 Deserts are pretty important in this format. Not only do they provide some significant flood insurance thanks to Cycling, they also power up several cards in the format that pay you off for having Deserts. As a result, you should actually value them relatively highly, taking them over most medium cards.
Floodwaters image 1.5 This kind of card is always kind of unimpressive. Sure, it can really enable a great attack, but until the extreme late game it won’t really do anything, and even then bouncing two creatures just won’t matter often enough. However, because this has Cycling, you can utilize this card when it is at its best, and just Cycle it away when it isn’t.
In Oketra's Name image 1.5 This just doesn’t pan out most of the time. Sure, if you have a bunch of Zombies and you’re going wide, it gives a nice boost for the cost, but having both of those things happen isn’t guaranteed.
Pack 1 Pick 9: Hieroglyphic Illumination
Binding Mummy image 3.0 This has a baseline of a 2-mana 2/2 and it has some very real upside. This set is loaded up with Zombies – and remember, anything that is Embalmed comes back as a zombie too, so the Binding Mummy tends to be quite good at tapping down blockers and letting you go all out.
Desert of the Mindful image 3.0 Deserts are pretty important in this format. Not only do they provide some significant flood insurance thanks to Cycling, they also power up several cards in the format that pay you off for having Deserts. As a result, you should actually value them relatively highly, taking them over most medium cards.
Anointer Priest image 2.5 This is a solid little token/embalm payoff. A two mana 1/3 isn’t great, but the bit of life gain it gets + the fact it comes back from the graveyard in the late game is pretty nice.
Hieroglyphic Illumination image 2.5 4 mana to draw 2 at instant speed isn’t the greatest thing ever, but this has an alternate mode where you pay a single Blue to draw a card, and having both of those options is pretty nice.
Blur of Blades image 1.5 Sometimes this will get a blocker out of the way and damage your opponent, and suddenly their dead to an Alpha strike. That makes it a reasonable inclusion in aggressive decks, especially because it will always have a pretty decent effect in those decks.
Oasis Ritualist image 3.5 This card is really nice. It has enough toughness to stand up to most common Exert creatures, and it provides significant fixing and ramp.
Pack 1 Pick 10: Unquenchable Thirst
Vizier of Remedies image 1.0 This is a two mana 2/1 with some very minor upside for the format. You’ll play it if you really need a two drop, but that’s about it.
Beneath the Sands image 2.0 This can help you fix and ramp, which some decks wants, and unlike a lot of ramp spells – which are terrible late game top decks – you can Cycle away Beneath the Sands.
Unquenchable Thirst image 3.0 It isn’t that difficult to get enough deserts for this to do the more powerful thing. Not tapping the creature when you don’t have a desert definitely isn’t great, but that is a pretty reasonable floor on a card that can shut down most creatures in the format for only two mana.
Solitary Camel image 2.0 A 3-mana 3/2 that will have lifelink a decent chunk of the time is fine.
In Oketra's Name image 1.5 This just doesn’t pan out most of the time. Sure, if you have a bunch of Zombies and you’re going wide, it gives a nice boost for the cost, but having both of those things happen isn’t guaranteed.
Pack 1 Pick 11: Striped Riverwinder
Sixth Sense image 1.0 This kind of Aura is always sort of hard to get behind. Because it gives no stats boost, the creature you put it on has to already be capable of getting in to draw you the card, and you’ll find yourself unable to create that situation pretty frequently.
Dissenter's Deliverance image 1.0 There aren’t a ton of Artifacts in this set, but this does Cycle, so you’ll put it in your main deck some.
Striped Riverwinder image 2.5 A 7-mana 5/5 isn’t great, even with Hexproof, but the fact you can Cycle this away early is pretty awesome. Then, in the late game, it is pretty difficult to interact with and not the worst finisher ever.
In Oketra's Name image 1.5 This just doesn’t pan out most of the time. Sure, if you have a bunch of Zombies and you’re going wide, it gives a nice boost for the cost, but having both of those things happen isn’t guaranteed.
Pack 1 Pick 12: Farm
Farm image 3.5 This is a pretty impressive card. Neither half of these are exactly efficiently costed, but the fact that this card does both of these things is great. Farm lets you kill any attacking or blocking creature, and while htat’s somewhat restrictive, it does deal with anything that decides to enter combat in one way or another, and there’s a whole lot of that in this format. The Farm part likely would be a solid playable all on its own, so the Market half giving you a double loot effect in the later part of the game is really nice, and will improve your card quality.
Supply Caravan image 2.0 A 5-mana 3/5 isn’t something you want, but this will give you a 1/1 token like half of the time, and that makes it decent.
Stinging Shot image 1.5 This is good at hating on flyers, and because it has cycling, you can get away with in your main deck.
Pack 1 Pick 13: Dune Beetle
Pursue Glory image 2.0 This is a very inefficient Trumpet Blast, but unlike Trumpet Blast it can actually do something even when you aren’t able to do lethal with it! You can cycle it away.
Dune Beetle image 1.0 If you need a defensive two drop, you could do worse than this I guess.
Pack 1 Pick 14: Ancient Crab
Ancient Crab image 1.0 This format has lots of cheap creature who can gain evasion or stats boosts as a result of exerting or other effects, and that makes Ancient Crab pretty unimpressive here.
Pack 2 Pick 1: Spellweaver Eternal
Irrigated Farmland image 3.0 These all add two colors mana, which is great fixing, and if you get them at a point in the game where you no longer need lands, you can just Cycle them away. Don’t underestimate how good that is. Just imagine every time you’ve flooded out in a game of Magic, now imagine you can just throw away some of those lands for new cards, and you’ll know what I mean.
Trial of Strength image 2.5 3-mana for a 4/2 is fine, and you might find yourself casting this more than once over the course of the game, which feels pretty nice.
Destined image 2.5 The Destined side of this is a decent combat trick, though it isn’t quite as good as Supernatural Stamina. +1/+0 won’t win that many combats, but because of indestructibility, your creature will likely survive combat at least, and you can use it in response to removal, too. The Lead side also has some pretty nice uses, as Lure effects often do in very specific situations. Forcing everything to block one of your creatures means all of your other creatures will get through that turn, and that can often be game-ending. Obviously, casting both of these on the same turn on the same creature is also pretty powerful, but you’ll often find a use for Destined earlier in the game.
Onward image 1.0 It is temping to look at this thing as a card that will just end the game on the spot, but the sad thing is – it really won’t very often. Just pumping power a bunch isn’t that impressive – your creature already has to get through for damage or be able to win combat for it do anything, and then the Victory half is only a Sorcery, and that means you can’t also use it in the same turn unless you do everything pre-combat, and that’s pretty ugly.
Desert Cerodon image 2.5 Like a lot of creatures with cycling, this doesn’t have great stats, but the fact you can throw it away for a new card when the 6/4 isn’t worth it makes it pretty solid.
Khenra Eternal image 2.5 This has okay stats, an okay keyword ability, and it’s a Zombie, so its perfectly fine.
Impeccable Timing image 2.5 This is too situational to be “premium” removal, but it does a pretty nice job in a format with lots of small creatures.
Cartouche of Solidarity image 3.0 The whole Cartouche cycle is quite nice. +1/+1 and First Strike is already the kind of boost that makes a creature significantly more formidable, and this also makes sure to give you a spare 1/1 body, which helps the threat of a 2-for-1 not loom quite as large.
Marauding Boneslasher image 2.0 This has decent stats and a useful creature type, so you’ll play it a decent amount of the time.
Mighty Leap image 1.5 This is always a decent trick that has the upside of giving you some reach in the late game.
Stinging Shot image 1.5 This is good at hating on flyers, and because it has cycling, you can get away with in your main deck.
Spellweaver Eternal image 3.0 Afflict and Prowess on a two mana 2/1 is a pretty good deal. The Eternal will make sure it does damage to the opponent one way or another in most scenarios, and because of Prowess your opponent has to be pretty careful about how they block. This is yet another impressive two drop in a format that is loaded up with them!
Splendid Agony image 2.5 This is pretty solid, though not premium. There are enough small creatures in this set that it sometimes give you a 2-for-1, but it isn’t that impressive against larger creatures, though weakening them still has some value.
Firebrand Archer image 2.5 This performs surprisingly well as a spell payoff, and can really chip in a ton of additional damage, while also providing pretty good reach in the later part of the game.
Pack 2 Pick 2: Eternal of Harsh Truths
Ramunap Excavator image 2.5 Playing lands from the graveyard does matter a little in this format. Both the cycling deserts and the Uncommon desert cycle tend to end up in the graveyard, and getting those back can have some serious value.
Eternal of Harsh Truths image 2.0 The idea here is that your opponent would rather leave this unblocked than take two damage, but it just doesn’t pan out that way very often. A 1/3 is quickly outclassed, and you just won’t find this drawing you cards all that often.
Hope Tender image 3.0 If you’re not exerting this, it doesn’t do a whole lot other than be a 2-mana 2/2. Simply untapping a single land just isn’t that big of a deal, you’re essentially just filtering mana. Still, it can ramp for you when it exerts and it has fine base line stats.
Magmaroth image 2.5 Keeping this a 4-mana 5/5 or 4/4, even in a spell deck, isn’t always the easiest thing to do. And, even when you can, the card isn’t exactly a worldbeater.
Oashra Cultivator image 1.0 This isn’t very good. An 0/3 body just doesn’t stand up very well in this format, since all the Exert creatures can just manhandle it, and its ability to search up a basic land is clunky and slow. Sure, if you need fixing and/or ramp, you’ll play the cultivator, but you kind of hope you end up with some of the better ramp in the set, like Oasis Ritualist.
Crash Through image 1.5 In the UR spell deck this is okay, as just triggering all your Prowess stuff and drawing a card, AND giving trample to your board is worth the one mana.
Pitiless Vizier image 2.5 This guy has a very real threat of activation. A 4/2 hits hard, and there aren’t that many creatuers that can block this and survive, and in those situations your opponent has to gauge whether or not you have the Cycling card that just blows them out entirely.
In Oketra's Name image 1.5 This just doesn’t pan out most of the time. Sure, if you have a bunch of Zombies and you’re going wide, it gives a nice boost for the cost, but having both of those things happen isn’t guaranteed.
Desert of the Glorified image 3.0 Deserts are pretty important in this format. Not only do they provide some significant flood insurance thanks to Cycling, they also power up several cards in the format that pay you off for having Deserts. As a result, you should actually value them relatively highly, taking them over most medium cards.
Strategic Planning image 1.0 You just won’t want to do this most of the time. It has a very minimal effect that doesn’t impact on the board, and it is very replaceable.
Seeker of Insight image 2.0 This doesn’t have the most impressive spell payoff effect there is, but looting with this sometimes is solid.
Beneath the Sands image 2.0 This can help you fix and ramp, which some decks wants, and unlike a lot of ramp spells – which are terrible late game top decks – you can Cycle away Beneath the Sands.
Spellweaver Eternal image 3.0 Afflict and Prowess on a two mana 2/1 is a pretty good deal. The Eternal will make sure it does damage to the opponent one way or another in most scenarios, and because of Prowess your opponent has to be pretty careful about how they block. This is yet another impressive two drop in a format that is loaded up with them!
Pack 2 Pick 3: Shadowstorm Vizier
Leave image 0.5 This is incredibly difficult to set up in Limited, and should mostly be avoided.
Destined image 2.5 The Destined side of this is a decent combat trick, though it isn’t quite as good as Supernatural Stamina. +1/+0 won’t win that many combats, but because of indestructibility, your creature will likely survive combat at least, and you can use it in response to removal, too. The Lead side also has some pretty nice uses, as Lure effects often do in very specific situations. Forcing everything to block one of your creatures means all of your other creatures will get through that turn, and that can often be game-ending. Obviously, casting both of these on the same turn on the same creature is also pretty powerful, but you’ll often find a use for Destined earlier in the game.
Shadowstorm Vizier image 3.0 This can do some decent damage in the air when combined with discard and cycling effects, and there are certainly enough of those in this format for the Vizier to be pretty good – though it may be the most underwhelming of this cycle of signpost uncommons.
Floodwaters image 1.5 This kind of card is always kind of unimpressive. Sure, it can really enable a great attack, but until the extreme late game it won’t really do anything, and even then bouncing two creatures just won’t matter often enough. However, because this has Cycling, you can utilize this card when it is at its best, and just Cycle it away when it isn’t.
Dauntless Aven image 2.5 A 3-mana 2/1 flyer is reasonably playable already, so adding the ability to untap something definitely matters. You can use this on the Aven itself, or more ideally, use it on an Exert creature so it can attack and Exert again on the very next turn.
Shed Weakness image 1.5 This is an alright trick. One mana for +2/+2 is fairly passable, and sometimes you’ll also get rid of a -1/-1 counter, which will make it feel like Giant Growth!
Miasmic Mummy image 1.5 The symmetrical discard isn’t something you’re all that interested in in the format, and this is just a 2/2. It is a Zombie, so that matters, but you won’t play this all that often.
Cartouche of Knowledge image 3.5 This Cartouche draws you a card to get around the risk of getting 2-for-1’d, and I’m all for that. This actually gives you a lot for only two mana, as Flying and +1/+1 is no joke.
Cartouche of Zeal image 3.0 There aren’t enough artifacts in this set for this to be remotely worth putting in your main deck.
Dune Beetle image 1.0 If you need a defensive two drop, you could do worse than this I guess.
Pathmaker Initiate image 2.0 Making small creatures unblockable definitely has a place in this format, especially when you can exert them to make them bigger after you make them unblockable.
Crash Through image 1.5 In the UR spell deck this is okay, as just triggering all your Prowess stuff and drawing a card, AND giving trample to your board is worth the one mana.
Pack 2 Pick 4: Gravedigger
Honored Crop-Captain image 3.5 RW is very aggressive int his format, and Honored Crop-Captain is a big part of that! It has great stats as a two mana 3/2, and pumping the power of your whole board is quite potent, especially in combination with exert.
Gravedigger image 3.5 Gravedigger is always a pretty nice card in Limited, as he is very easy to create 2-for-1s with. In this format, he also has a very nice creature type!
Magma Spray image 3.5 One mana for 2 damage is pretty much always premium, and Magma Spray can even deal with pesky embalm creatures permanently.
Blighted Bat image 2.0 A 3-mana 2/1 that can gain Haste is alright, and it comes with a useful creature type!
Bitterbow Sharpshooters image 2.5 This thing has pretty good size to stop many of the creatures in this format, and also attacks pretty well.
Gust Walker image 3.5 This is an excellent two drop. It can simply attack as a two mana 2/2 early, and then once its necessary, it can start Exerting itself to continue attacking in the air. This two drop is relevant all game long, and is very nice in aggressive decks.
Cartouche of Knowledge image 3.5 This Cartouche draws you a card to get around the risk of getting 2-for-1’d, and I’m all for that. This actually gives you a lot for only two mana, as Flying and +1/+1 is no joke.
Compulsory Rest image 3.5 This is a premium removal spell. It is a little bit worse than Pacifism, since you do give your opponent the option of sacrificing the creature and gaining life, but that’s mostly negligible. This shuts down most creatures very effectively.
Slither Blade image 1.5 This is a great place to put Cartouches and stuff like that since its unblockable, but it is pretty unimpressive in most other decks.
Shed Weakness image 1.5 This is an alright trick. One mana for +2/+2 is fairly passable, and sometimes you’ll also get rid of a -1/-1 counter, which will make it feel like Giant Growth!
Seer of the Last Tomorrow image 1.0 Not really a mill deck in this format, and that makes this pretty bad.
Pack 2 Pick 5: Lethal Sting
Vizier of the Anointed image 3.0 As long as you have at least a couple of Embalm/Eternalize creatures, Vizier of the Anointed is going ot be pretty darn good. He searches one of them up – ideally one you can use from the graveyard on your next turn, at which point you not only get value out of a card in your graveyard, you also get to draw an additional card! It isn’t that easy to turn the Vizier into a straight up engine – doing the card draw more than once doesn’t happen very often – but its pretty good even when that’s the case.
Pathmaker Initiate image 2.0 Making small creatures unblockable definitely has a place in this format, especially when you can exert them to make them bigger after you make them unblockable.
Cartouche of Ambition image 3.5 Sticking a -1/-1 counter somewhere, +1/+1 and lifelink is a pretty good deal for three mana, and the whole package usually makes it so one of your creatures can rumble that just couldn’t before. Sometimes the counter part of the card will outright kill something too, in which case you’re going to feel pretty great about things.
Shed Weakness image 1.5 This is an alright trick. One mana for +2/+2 is fairly passable, and sometimes you’ll also get rid of a -1/-1 counter, which will make it feel like Giant Growth!
Oketra's Avenger image 3.5 When this is Exerted, it is pretty darn hard to block – and that’s true pretty much all game long, making this an excellent two drop.
Cartouche of Zeal image 3.0 There aren’t enough artifacts in this set for this to be remotely worth putting in your main deck.
Lethal Sting image 2.5 This is a cheap way to kill any creature, and the downside can turn into upside in some situations. Still, the set up is real, and that makes it hard for it to be premium.
Beneath the Sands image 2.0 This can help you fix and ramp, which some decks wants, and unlike a lot of ramp spells – which are terrible late game top decks – you can Cycle away Beneath the Sands.
Spellweaver Eternal image 3.0 Afflict and Prowess on a two mana 2/1 is a pretty good deal. The Eternal will make sure it does damage to the opponent one way or another in most scenarios, and because of Prowess your opponent has to be pretty careful about how they block. This is yet another impressive two drop in a format that is loaded up with them!
Tormenting Voice image 1.5 This kind of effect is always very replaceable, as you’re just getting some card selection and not impacting the board. It can be at its best, though, in UR spells, as it can trigger your spell payoffs while also hopefully finding you more spells.
Pack 2 Pick 6: Countervailing Winds
Watchers of the Dead image 2.0 This is a two-mana 2/2 that can hate on the graveyard a bit in a set that has graveyard stuff, so its fine.
Compelling Argument image 1.0 There’s not really a mill deck in this format, but this does cycle for only one Blue mana, so you’ll play it sometimes.
Dune Beetle image 1.0 If you need a defensive two drop, you could do worse than this I guess.
Solitary Camel image 2.0 A 3-mana 3/2 that will have lifelink a decent chunk of the time is fine.
Blur of Blades image 1.5 Sometimes this will get a blocker out of the way and damage your opponent, and suddenly their dead to an Alpha strike. That makes it a reasonable inclusion in aggressive decks, especially because it will always have a pretty decent effect in those decks.
Countervailing Winds image 2.0 This will sometimes perform quite well as a counterspell, and if you’re in a situation where it doesn’t, you can just Cycle it away.
Hooded Brawler image 2.5 This 3-mana 3/2 can swing as a 5/4 once his base stats aren’t doing it for you anymore, and that’s enough size to be relevant all game long.
Sidewinder Naga image 2.0 This will sometimes be a 4/2 with Trample, which is fine, but it wouldn’t be an incredible card even if it was always a 4/2 with trample.
Pitiless Vizier image 2.5 This guy has a very real threat of activation. A 4/2 hits hard, and there aren’t that many creatuers that can block this and survive, and in those situations your opponent has to gauge whether or not you have the Cycling card that just blows them out entirely.
Pack 2 Pick 7: Final Reward
Wasp of the Bitter End image 3.0 So, the “Bolas” part here will basically never matter, but that’s okay, because a two mana 2/1 Flyer is a pretty serious stat-line in Limited, and can really do a ton of damage in the air before your opponent can get their shields up.
Final Reward image 3.0 This is expensive, but it also answers any creature – and because it exiles them, it can even shut down annoying cards with Embalm. This is premium removal.
Winds of Rebuke image 2.5 Two mana to bounce a nonland permanent is always an okay card in Limited. It doesn’t let you trade 1-for-1 all the time, but the tempo is sometimes worth it. On occasion, you may also mill something useful into your graveyard.
Sacred Cat image 2.5 A one mana 1/1 with lifelink isn’t usually anything special, but this effectively ends up being two mana for 2 1/1s with Lifelink, and that’s actually quite nice.
Marauding Boneslasher image 2.0 This has decent stats and a useful creature type, so you’ll play it a decent amount of the time.
Tormenting Voice image 1.5 This kind of effect is always very replaceable, as you’re just getting some card selection and not impacting the board. It can be at its best, though, in UR spells, as it can trigger your spell payoffs while also hopefully finding you more spells.
Ornery Kudu image 2.0 On its own, this is a 3-mana 2/3, which isn’t very good. If you put the -1/-1 counter somewhere else, especially somewhere where you get some nice value, it will feel pretty good.
Disposal Mummy image 1.0 This set has a graveyard sub-theme, but Disposal Mummy is too inefficient and situational with its effect to really be worth it most of the time.
Pack 2 Pick 8: Essence Scatter
Essence Scatter image 2.5 Creature spells are the most common type of spell in Magic, so Essence Scatter always tends to be a pretty solid playable in Limited. Its easy to cast and has lots of targets.
Naga Vitalist image 2.5 This is pretty decent at ramping you, and sometimes you’ll be interested in that.
Floodwaters image 1.5 This kind of card is always kind of unimpressive. Sure, it can really enable a great attack, but until the extreme late game it won’t really do anything, and even then bouncing two creatures just won’t matter often enough. However, because this has Cycling, you can utilize this card when it is at its best, and just Cycle it away when it isn’t.
Mighty Leap image 1.5 This is always a decent trick that has the upside of giving you some reach in the late game.
Khenra Eternal image 2.5 This has okay stats, an okay keyword ability, and it’s a Zombie, so its perfectly fine.
Blighted Bat image 2.0 A 3-mana 2/1 that can gain Haste is alright, and it comes with a useful creature type!
Sunscorched Desert image 1.0 So, you mostly don’t play this Desert, since it isn’t good for your mana at all. However, sometimes you might end up in a mono-colored deck, and if its an aggressive mono-colored deck that has a few Desert payoffs, Sunscorched Desert actually makes the cut. That doesn’t happen a ton, but I’ve seen it happen a few times.
Pack 2 Pick 9: Irrigated Farmland
Irrigated Farmland image 3.0 These all add two colors mana, which is great fixing, and if you get them at a point in the game where you no longer need lands, you can just Cycle them away. Don’t underestimate how good that is. Just imagine every time you’ve flooded out in a game of Magic, now imagine you can just throw away some of those lands for new cards, and you’ll know what I mean.
Impeccable Timing image 2.5 This is too situational to be “premium” removal, but it does a pretty nice job in a format with lots of small creatures.
Marauding Boneslasher image 2.0 This has decent stats and a useful creature type, so you’ll play it a decent amount of the time.
Mighty Leap image 1.5 This is always a decent trick that has the upside of giving you some reach in the late game.
Stinging Shot image 1.5 This is good at hating on flyers, and because it has cycling, you can get away with in your main deck.
Splendid Agony image 2.5 This is pretty solid, though not premium. There are enough small creatures in this set that it sometimes give you a 2-for-1, but it isn’t that impressive against larger creatures, though weakening them still has some value.
Pack 2 Pick 10: Strategic Planning
Hope Tender image 3.0 If you’re not exerting this, it doesn’t do a whole lot other than be a 2-mana 2/2. Simply untapping a single land just isn’t that big of a deal, you’re essentially just filtering mana. Still, it can ramp for you when it exerts and it has fine base line stats.
Oashra Cultivator image 1.0 This isn’t very good. An 0/3 body just doesn’t stand up very well in this format, since all the Exert creatures can just manhandle it, and its ability to search up a basic land is clunky and slow. Sure, if you need fixing and/or ramp, you’ll play the cultivator, but you kind of hope you end up with some of the better ramp in the set, like Oasis Ritualist.
Strategic Planning image 1.0 You just won’t want to do this most of the time. It has a very minimal effect that doesn’t impact on the board, and it is very replaceable.
Seeker of Insight image 2.0 This doesn’t have the most impressive spell payoff effect there is, but looting with this sometimes is solid.
Beneath the Sands image 2.0 This can help you fix and ramp, which some decks wants, and unlike a lot of ramp spells – which are terrible late game top decks – you can Cycle away Beneath the Sands.
Pack 2 Pick 11: Destined
Destined image 2.5 The Destined side of this is a decent combat trick, though it isn’t quite as good as Supernatural Stamina. +1/+0 won’t win that many combats, but because of indestructibility, your creature will likely survive combat at least, and you can use it in response to removal, too. The Lead side also has some pretty nice uses, as Lure effects often do in very specific situations. Forcing everything to block one of your creatures means all of your other creatures will get through that turn, and that can often be game-ending. Obviously, casting both of these on the same turn on the same creature is also pretty powerful, but you’ll often find a use for Destined earlier in the game.
Dune Beetle image 1.0 If you need a defensive two drop, you could do worse than this I guess.
Pathmaker Initiate image 2.0 Making small creatures unblockable definitely has a place in this format, especially when you can exert them to make them bigger after you make them unblockable.
Crash Through image 1.5 In the UR spell deck this is okay, as just triggering all your Prowess stuff and drawing a card, AND giving trample to your board is worth the one mana.
Pack 2 Pick 12: Slither Blade
Gust Walker image 3.5 This is an excellent two drop. It can simply attack as a two mana 2/2 early, and then once its necessary, it can start Exerting itself to continue attacking in the air. This two drop is relevant all game long, and is very nice in aggressive decks.
Slither Blade image 1.5 This is a great place to put Cartouches and stuff like that since its unblockable, but it is pretty unimpressive in most other decks.
Shed Weakness image 1.5 This is an alright trick. One mana for +2/+2 is fairly passable, and sometimes you’ll also get rid of a -1/-1 counter, which will make it feel like Giant Growth!
Pack 2 Pick 13: Tormenting Voice
Sidewinder Naga image 2.0 This will sometimes be a 4/2 with Trample, which is fine, but it wouldn’t be an incredible card even if it was always a 4/2 with trample.
Pack 2 Pick 14: Sidewinder Naga
Sidewinder Naga image 2.0 This will sometimes be a 4/2 with Trample, which is fine, but it wouldn’t be an incredible card even if it was always a 4/2 with trample.
Pack 3 Pick 1: Edifice of Authority
Gideon of the Trials image 4.0 If you play this Gideon turn three, it is going to be quite difficult for your opponent to win the game. This is because he can use the +1 to effectively stop your most effective attacker, and then eventually use his ability to get an Emblem. The Emblem won’t be going anywhere, and if your opponent can’t get through to damage Gideon, they will be in an awful lot of trouble. That said, he does have diminishing returns as the game continues, and he doesn’t do a great job of getting you back ahead from being behind. In some situations, he feels like he just delays the inevitable, and that’s not great. I think that keeps him from being a bomb.
Edifice of Authority image 4.0 This is great, and one of the better non-rare first picks in the format since it is colorless and powerful. At first, it can only stop a creature from attacking, but it does for only one mana, so that’s not too bad! Eventually, it gets enough brick counters to reach the point where you can just completely shut down a creature until your next turn, and that’s pretty awesome. You can use it offensively or defensively, and it is basically removal that can move from creature to creature as needed, and that’s awesome.
Abrade image 4.0 Two mana for 3 damage at Instant speed is always premium, and the added upside of hitting an Artifact with it sometimes is nice.
Ahn-Crop Champion image 3.0 This has nice stats as a 4-mana 4/4, and its exert ability has some nice uses. One can simply use it to grant the other creatures something akin to vigilance, or more ideally, you can use it to untap exerted creatures, who will then be able to exert themselves and become better attackers on a subsequent turn.
Evolving Wilds image 3.0 As usual, the Wilds provides some nice fixing for you, and is even quite good for your mana in a two-color deck.
Firebrand Archer image 2.5 This performs surprisingly well as a spell payoff, and can really chip in a ton of additional damage, while also providing pretty good reach in the later part of the game.
Aerial Guide image 3.5 This is a great Common. Wind Drake stats are kind of passable, and giving another attacker Flying is a pretty big deal, and Aerial Guide can quickly account for a ton of damage as a result of that ability.
Slither Blade image 1.5 This is a great place to put Cartouches and stuff like that since its unblockable, but it is pretty unimpressive in most other decks.
Supernatural Stamina image 2.5 This is a pretty impressive combat trigger. The +2/+0 is enough to make many creatures capable of trading when they couldn’t before, and the additional effect on the card makes it so you get that creature back anyway. This can feel especially powerful on an ETB creature. The low cost here is great, and can really accomplish a lot.
Cartouche of Strength image 4.0 The whole Cartouche cycle is good, but Cartouche of Strength is the best of the bunch. Giving a creature +1/+1 and trample, and punching an opposing creature is amazing, and often enough to really change the complection of a game.
Pouncing Cheetah image 1.5 This is kind of okay. It can flash in and ambush block stuff, but there’s not much that it can survive blocking because of its mediocre stats.
Quarry Hauler image 3.0 Quarry Hauler brings a decent body to the table, and its ETB trigger will be useful a surprising chunk of the time. You can use it to add -1/-1 counters to opposing things, subtract them from yours, add +1/+1 counters, and so forth.
Desert of the Indomitable image 3.0 Deserts are pretty important in this format. Not only do they provide some significant flood insurance thanks to Cycling, they also power up several cards in the format that pay you off for having Deserts. As a result, you should actually value them relatively highly, taking them over most medium cards.
Oketra's Avenger image 3.5 When this is Exerted, it is pretty darn hard to block – and that’s true pretty much all game long, making this an excellent two drop.
Pack 3 Pick 2: Soulstinger
Temmet, Vizier of Naktamun image 4.0 Naktamun is quite powerful alongside creature tokens, as unblockable + lifelink creates an incredibly difficult situation for your opponent, one where they can just never win the race. One great thing about Temmet too, is that once he’s Embalmed, he can target himself, so he doesn’t even necessarily need other tokens to really get going, though if you’re in UW, you’re likely to have a decent number of them anyway.
Rhonas's Monument image 2.5 This is pretty decent, especially compared to the non-Oketra monuments. +2/+2 and trample is a pretty real boost, and often enough to make a creature able to attack that just couldn’t before.
Hope Tender image 3.0 If you’re not exerting this, it doesn’t do a whole lot other than be a 2-mana 2/2. Simply untapping a single land just isn’t that big of a deal, you’re essentially just filtering mana. Still, it can ramp for you when it exerts and it has fine base line stats.
Dauntless Aven image 2.5 A 3-mana 2/1 flyer is reasonably playable already, so adding the ability to untap something definitely matters. You can use this on the Aven itself, or more ideally, use it on an Exert creature so it can attack and Exert again on the very next turn.
Magma Spray image 3.5 One mana for 2 damage is pretty much always premium, and Magma Spray can even deal with pesky embalm creatures permanently.
Forsake the Worldly image 1.5 Because of Cycling you can main deck this and have it be kind of okay. In an ideal world, you probably still start in your sideboard.
Cartouche of Solidarity image 3.0 The whole Cartouche cycle is quite nice. +1/+1 and First Strike is already the kind of boost that makes a creature significantly more formidable, and this also makes sure to give you a spare 1/1 body, which helps the threat of a 2-for-1 not loom quite as large.
Zealot of the God-Pharaoh image 2.5 A 4-mana 4/3 is reasonable, and this has an ability that is a solid enough mana sink.
Soulstinger image 2.5 All on its own, Soulstinger is a 4-mana 2/3 that puts two -1/-1 counters on something when it dies. That’s the kind of card that can really create 2-for-1s, and that’s sort of the baseline here. You can also just play the Soulstinger as a larger creature if that’s what you need, and put the counters somewhere else.
Rhonas's Stalwart image 3.5 Look, yet another really good common two-drop with Exert! Like the others, this has a fine baseline that can attack reasonably well, and then in the later game in can start exerting to make itself larger and more evasive.
Wander in Death image 2.5 The first copy of this type of effect is solid in virtually every Limited format. This is because they give you some serious gas in the later part of the game. And, the nice thing here, is that you can cycle it when its useless in the earlier part of the game. There are some serious diminishing returns after that first copy though, even with Cycling.
Desert of the Fervent image 3.0 Deserts are pretty important in this format. Not only do they provide some significant flood insurance thanks to Cycling, they also power up several cards in the format that pay you off for having Deserts. As a result, you should actually value them relatively highly, taking them over most medium cards.
Aerial Guide image 3.5 This is a great Common. Wind Drake stats are kind of passable, and giving another attacker Flying is a pretty big deal, and Aerial Guide can quickly account for a ton of damage as a result of that ability.
Pack 3 Pick 3: Pride Sovereign
Pride Sovereign image 4.0 Obviously you have to be GW to get the most out of Pride Sovereign, but if you are, he gets out of hand in a hurry. He can very cheaply make 1/1 white cat tokens with lifelink, and when he does, he also buffs himself! This means you can assign him to block and then exert him, at which point he will grow to at least a 4/4. The Sovereign gets huge in the hurry and really makes you go wide. It is a bit fragile at first, and I think that makes it fall a bit short of being a bomb.
Onward image 1.0 It is temping to look at this thing as a card that will just end the game on the spot, but the sad thing is – it really won’t very often. Just pumping power a bunch isn’t that impressive – your creature already has to get through for damage or be able to win combat for it do anything, and then the Victory half is only a Sorcery, and that means you can’t also use it in the same turn unless you do everything pre-combat, and that’s pretty ugly.
Cartouche of Strength image 4.0 The whole Cartouche cycle is good, but Cartouche of Strength is the best of the bunch. Giving a creature +1/+1 and trample, and punching an opposing creature is amazing, and often enough to really change the complection of a game.
Hekma Sentinels image 2.0 Opponents do have to respect that this might turn into a ¾ out of nowhere, but it isn’t exactly like a ¾ is a world beater to begin with.
Magma Spray image 3.5 One mana for 2 damage is pretty much always premium, and Magma Spray can even deal with pesky embalm creatures permanently.
Anointer Priest image 2.5 This is a solid little token/embalm payoff. A two mana 1/3 isn’t great, but the bit of life gain it gets + the fact it comes back from the graveyard in the late game is pretty nice.
Unburden image 2.0 Mind Rot usually isn’t very good in Limited, but you can use that part of the card when its good, and Cycle it away when its not, which makes it somewhat playable.
Pouncing Cheetah image 1.5 This is kind of okay. It can flash in and ambush block stuff, but there’s not much that it can survive blocking because of its mediocre stats.
Oasis Ritualist image 3.5 This card is really nice. It has enough toughness to stand up to most common Exert creatures, and it provides significant fixing and ramp.
Dune Beetle image 1.0 If you need a defensive two drop, you could do worse than this I guess.
Mighty Leap image 1.5 This is always a decent trick that has the upside of giving you some reach in the late game.
Blur of Blades image 1.5 Sometimes this will get a blocker out of the way and damage your opponent, and suddenly their dead to an Alpha strike. That makes it a reasonable inclusion in aggressive decks, especially because it will always have a pretty decent effect in those decks.
Pack 3 Pick 4: Unburden
Trial of Solidarity image 3.0 Cards that pump your whole board and give it Vigilance tend to be quite nice, since they drastically alter the state of a race. You’re suddenly doing way more damage, your creatures are harder to block, and your creatures can hang back to block. The Cartouche clause comes up more often than you’d think here too!
Ahn-Crop Champion image 3.0 This has nice stats as a 4-mana 4/4, and its exert ability has some nice uses. One can simply use it to grant the other creatures something akin to vigilance, or more ideally, you can use it to untap exerted creatures, who will then be able to exert themselves and become better attackers on a subsequent turn.
Rhonas's Stalwart image 3.5 Look, yet another really good common two-drop with Exert! Like the others, this has a fine baseline that can attack reasonably well, and then in the later game in can start exerting to make itself larger and more evasive.
Greater Sandwurm image 2.5 This is a solid finisher, and when he’s not what you’re looking for, you can just cycle him away.
Solitary Camel image 2.0 A 3-mana 3/2 that will have lifelink a decent chunk of the time is fine.
Slither Blade image 1.5 This is a great place to put Cartouches and stuff like that since its unblockable, but it is pretty unimpressive in most other decks.
Unburden image 2.0 Mind Rot usually isn’t very good in Limited, but you can use that part of the card when its good, and Cycle it away when its not, which makes it somewhat playable.
Desert of the Indomitable image 3.0 Deserts are pretty important in this format. Not only do they provide some significant flood insurance thanks to Cycling, they also power up several cards in the format that pay you off for having Deserts. As a result, you should actually value them relatively highly, taking them over most medium cards.
Unquenchable Thirst image 3.0 It isn’t that difficult to get enough deserts for this to do the more powerful thing. Not tapping the creature when you don’t have a desert definitely isn’t great, but that is a pretty reasonable floor on a card that can shut down most creatures in the format for only two mana.
In Oketra's Name image 1.5 This just doesn’t pan out most of the time. Sure, if you have a bunch of Zombies and you’re going wide, it gives a nice boost for the cost, but having both of those things happen isn’t guaranteed.
Winds of Rebuke image 2.5 Two mana to bounce a nonland permanent is always an okay card in Limited. It doesn’t let you trade 1-for-1 all the time, but the tempo is sometimes worth it. On occasion, you may also mill something useful into your graveyard.
Pack 3 Pick 5: Aerial Guide
Dissenter's Deliverance image 1.0 There aren’t a ton of Artifacts in this set, but this does Cycle, so you’ll put it in your main deck some.
Floodwaters image 1.5 This kind of card is always kind of unimpressive. Sure, it can really enable a great attack, but until the extreme late game it won’t really do anything, and even then bouncing two creatures just won’t matter often enough. However, because this has Cycling, you can utilize this card when it is at its best, and just Cycle it away when it isn’t.
Crash Through image 1.5 In the UR spell deck this is okay, as just triggering all your Prowess stuff and drawing a card, AND giving trample to your board is worth the one mana.
Desert Cerodon image 2.5 Like a lot of creatures with cycling, this doesn’t have great stats, but the fact you can throw it away for a new card when the 6/4 isn’t worth it makes it pretty solid.
Aerial Guide image 3.5 This is a great Common. Wind Drake stats are kind of passable, and giving another attacker Flying is a pretty big deal, and Aerial Guide can quickly account for a ton of damage as a result of that ability.
Puncturing Blow image 3.5 This is definitely a clunky sorcery, but it also kills almost everything in the format, and the “Exile” clause actually matters in this format. This gets into the lower range of “premium” removal for me.
Oketra's Avenger image 3.5 When this is Exerted, it is pretty darn hard to block – and that’s true pretty much all game long, making this an excellent two drop.
Sunscorched Desert image 1.0 So, you mostly don’t play this Desert, since it isn’t good for your mana at all. However, sometimes you might end up in a mono-colored deck, and if its an aggressive mono-colored deck that has a few Desert payoffs, Sunscorched Desert actually makes the cut. That doesn’t happen a ton, but I’ve seen it happen a few times.
Tah-Crop Elite image 2.5 This has an Exert trigger that can be quite impressive on the right board. The downside is that the board won’t always be right for it. The fact it dies to pretty much all the removal in the set despite costing 4 mana is also pretty rough.
Wasteland Scorpion image 2.5 Deathtouchers can trade with anything, and that’s pretty nice! That does mostly make this a defensive card, though. And, like a lot of cards in the set, you can also cycle this away when it isn’t very good.
Pack 3 Pick 6: Unquenchable Thirst
Manglehorn image 0.5 There aren’t really enough artifacts in this set for it to be worth it.
Nest of Scarabs image 0.0 // 3.0 Obviously, this is a build around, and one that will mostly only work in the BG deck, which is all about -1/-1 counters. If you have few or no ways to make counters, Nest of Scarabs is terrible. However, if you get there on a critical mass of -1/-1 counter cards, and it is doable in this format, Nest of Scarabs gets pretty crazy, since it will start spitting out a significant number of tokens.
Unburden image 2.0 Mind Rot usually isn’t very good in Limited, but you can use that part of the card when its good, and Cycle it away when its not, which makes it somewhat playable.
Unquenchable Thirst image 3.0 It isn’t that difficult to get enough deserts for this to do the more powerful thing. Not tapping the creature when you don’t have a desert definitely isn’t great, but that is a pretty reasonable floor on a card that can shut down most creatures in the format for only two mana.
Bitterbow Sharpshooters image 2.5 This thing has pretty good size to stop many of the creatures in this format, and also attacks pretty well.
Oashra Cultivator image 1.0 This isn’t very good. An 0/3 body just doesn’t stand up very well in this format, since all the Exert creatures can just manhandle it, and its ability to search up a basic land is clunky and slow. Sure, if you need fixing and/or ramp, you’ll play the cultivator, but you kind of hope you end up with some of the better ramp in the set, like Oasis Ritualist.
Initiate's Companion image 2.0 Thing is fine. A two mana 3/1 is, as usual, a decent aggro creature, and its combat damage to a player effect kind of matters. Its most notable use is untapping an exerted creature.
Anointer Priest image 2.5 This is a solid little token/embalm payoff. A two mana 1/3 isn’t great, but the bit of life gain it gets + the fact it comes back from the graveyard in the late game is pretty nice.
Disposal Mummy image 1.0 This set has a graveyard sub-theme, but Disposal Mummy is too inefficient and situational with its effect to really be worth it most of the time.
Pack 3 Pick 7: Crash Through
Appeal image 2.0 If you can cast both halves of this in the same turn, this can have a pretty big impact, since one of your creatures will get a decent boost and trample, two opposing blockers will be tapped, and your creatures will have vigilance. Still, you did not some decent set up for this to do that ideal thing, including a decent number of creatures. And, in the end, you use up a card here for temporary effects that don’t permanently add to the board in any way, and I don’t love that.
Bitterbow Sharpshooters image 2.5 This thing has pretty good size to stop many of the creatures in this format, and also attacks pretty well.
Sacred Cat image 2.5 A one mana 1/1 with lifelink isn’t usually anything special, but this effectively ends up being two mana for 2 1/1s with Lifelink, and that’s actually quite nice.
Naga Vitalist image 2.5 This is pretty decent at ramping you, and sometimes you’ll be interested in that.
Disposal Mummy image 1.0 This set has a graveyard sub-theme, but Disposal Mummy is too inefficient and situational with its effect to really be worth it most of the time.
Crash Through image 1.5 In the UR spell deck this is okay, as just triggering all your Prowess stuff and drawing a card, AND giving trample to your board is worth the one mana.
Feral Prowler image 2.0 It is unfortunately pretty hard to trade Feral Prowler for anything, since basically all the best small creatures in the format can evade it or get to big when they are exerted. That doesn’t make it terrible, but it is definitely worse here than in most sets.
Pouncing Cheetah image 1.5 This is kind of okay. It can flash in and ambush block stuff, but there’s not much that it can survive blocking because of its mediocre stats.
Pack 3 Pick 8: Vile Manifestation
Vile Manifestation image 2.0 This underwhelms as a Cycling payoff for the most part. This is largely because it doesn’t have any evasion to speak of. It will often start life as a two mana 0/4 and slowly grow, which isn’t terrible of course, but it is a pretty intense build around with a pretty mediocre ceiling.
Tah-Crop Elite image 2.5 This has an Exert trigger that can be quite impressive on the right board. The downside is that the board won’t always be right for it. The fact it dies to pretty much all the removal in the set despite costing 4 mana is also pretty rough.
Nef-Crop Entangler image 3.0 This is yet another Exert two-drop who, once it starts exerting itself, can attack pretty much all game long.
Bitterbow Sharpshooters image 2.5 This thing has pretty good size to stop many of the creatures in this format, and also attacks pretty well.
Supply Caravan image 2.0 A 5-mana 3/5 isn’t something you want, but this will give you a 1/1 token like half of the time, and that makes it decent.
Life Goes On image 0.5 This is sideboard material that you might bring in against a really aggressive deck, where the life gain legitimately makes it hard for them to win. That’s not going to go down very often, though.
Sacred Cat image 2.5 A one mana 1/1 with lifelink isn’t usually anything special, but this effectively ends up being two mana for 2 1/1s with Lifelink, and that’s actually quite nice.
Pack 3 Pick 9: Aerial Guide
Ahn-Crop Champion image 3.0 This has nice stats as a 4-mana 4/4, and its exert ability has some nice uses. One can simply use it to grant the other creatures something akin to vigilance, or more ideally, you can use it to untap exerted creatures, who will then be able to exert themselves and become better attackers on a subsequent turn.
Aerial Guide image 3.5 This is a great Common. Wind Drake stats are kind of passable, and giving another attacker Flying is a pretty big deal, and Aerial Guide can quickly account for a ton of damage as a result of that ability.
Slither Blade image 1.5 This is a great place to put Cartouches and stuff like that since its unblockable, but it is pretty unimpressive in most other decks.
Cartouche of Strength image 4.0 The whole Cartouche cycle is good, but Cartouche of Strength is the best of the bunch. Giving a creature +1/+1 and trample, and punching an opposing creature is amazing, and often enough to really change the complection of a game.
Pouncing Cheetah image 1.5 This is kind of okay. It can flash in and ambush block stuff, but there’s not much that it can survive blocking because of its mediocre stats.
Desert of the Indomitable image 3.0 Deserts are pretty important in this format. Not only do they provide some significant flood insurance thanks to Cycling, they also power up several cards in the format that pay you off for having Deserts. As a result, you should actually value them relatively highly, taking them over most medium cards.
Pack 3 Pick 10: Rhonas's Monument
Rhonas's Monument image 2.5 This is pretty decent, especially compared to the non-Oketra monuments. +2/+2 and trample is a pretty real boost, and often enough to make a creature able to attack that just couldn’t before.
Dauntless Aven image 2.5 A 3-mana 2/1 flyer is reasonably playable already, so adding the ability to untap something definitely matters. You can use this on the Aven itself, or more ideally, use it on an Exert creature so it can attack and Exert again on the very next turn.
Forsake the Worldly image 1.5 Because of Cycling you can main deck this and have it be kind of okay. In an ideal world, you probably still start in your sideboard.
Cartouche of Solidarity image 3.0 The whole Cartouche cycle is quite nice. +1/+1 and First Strike is already the kind of boost that makes a creature significantly more formidable, and this also makes sure to give you a spare 1/1 body, which helps the threat of a 2-for-1 not loom quite as large.
Aerial Guide image 3.5 This is a great Common. Wind Drake stats are kind of passable, and giving another attacker Flying is a pretty big deal, and Aerial Guide can quickly account for a ton of damage as a result of that ability.
Pack 3 Pick 11: Hekma Sentinels
Rhonas's Stalwart image 3.5 Look, yet another really good common two-drop with Exert! Like the others, this has a fine baseline that can attack reasonably well, and then in the later game in can start exerting to make itself larger and more evasive.
Solitary Camel image 2.0 A 3-mana 3/2 that will have lifelink a decent chunk of the time is fine.
Winds of Rebuke image 2.5 Two mana to bounce a nonland permanent is always an okay card in Limited. It doesn’t let you trade 1-for-1 all the time, but the tempo is sometimes worth it. On occasion, you may also mill something useful into your graveyard.
Pack 3 Pick 12: Winds of Rebuke
Rhonas's Stalwart image 3.5 Look, yet another really good common two-drop with Exert! Like the others, this has a fine baseline that can attack reasonably well, and then in the later game in can start exerting to make itself larger and more evasive.
Solitary Camel image 2.0 A 3-mana 3/2 that will have lifelink a decent chunk of the time is fine.
Winds of Rebuke image 2.5 Two mana to bounce a nonland permanent is always an okay card in Limited. It doesn’t let you trade 1-for-1 all the time, but the tempo is sometimes worth it. On occasion, you may also mill something useful into your graveyard.
Pack 3 Pick 13: Crash Through
Dissenter's Deliverance image 1.0 There aren’t a ton of Artifacts in this set, but this does Cycle, so you’ll put it in your main deck some.
Crash Through image 1.5 In the UR spell deck this is okay, as just triggering all your Prowess stuff and drawing a card, AND giving trample to your board is worth the one mana.
Pack 3 Pick 14: Bitterbow Sharpshooters
Bitterbow Sharpshooters image 2.5 This thing has pretty good size to stop many of the creatures in this format, and also attacks pretty well.
Draft Pick Overview