Quicksmith Rebel
4.0 So, if you have an Artifact in play when you play the Rebel, he’s going to be insane. Even if your opponent can take him down right away, you will be able to use that artifacts ability to do 2 damage to something, which will often at least mean you kill one creature, and once you do that you’re in 2-for-1 territory. And, if your opponent can’t find a way to deal with the Rebel or the artifact he gave the ability too, he’s just going to win you the game. The problem is that, even in this format, you won’t always have an artifact to use this ability on, and of course the Rebel also dies to pretty much everything.
Bomat Bazaar Barge
3.0 This doesn’t have as insane of stats as some of the other Vehicles around, but it draws you a card, and that more than makes up for that.
Illusionist's Stratagem
1.5 This is really situational, though it does feel pretty awesome when you blink two creatures with ETB abilities and draw a card. You’d be surprised how often this does very little, though.
Ceremonious Rejection
0.5 Even in a format with this many Artifacts, this is mostly just too narrow to put in your main deck.
Eager Construct
1.5 If you need a two drop or an Artifact, you could do worse.
Ruinous Gremlin
1.5 This is passable in your main deck because there are enough Artifacts it can target, but you sort of hope you have some better artifact hate.
Weldfast Wingsmith
2.0 This has mediocre starting stats, but it does gain Flying often enough to be a decent inclusion in artifact-heavy decks.
Fourth Bridge Prowler
1.5 You can play this and kill something with the ETB a decent chunk of the time, but it does tend to get worse as the game goes on.
Wild Wanderer
2.5 This actually provides some reasonable fixing and ramp, and is large enough to trade.
Revoke Privileges
4.0 This is a really effective removal spell, capable of completely shutting down a whole lot of cards in the format for only three mana. The fact it stops Crewing from happening is really important.
Daring Demolition
4.0 4 mana to kill any creature or artifact is great in this format, even at Sorcery speed. This is premium removal.
Weldfast Monitor
2.5 Like the rest of this cycle, this is a pretty solid creature to have in your Red decks.
Highspire Artisan
2.5 The two choices you have here are pretty nice. A 3-mana ¼ with Reach can block a lot of stuff all game long while also turning on +1/+1 counter synergies, and a 3-mana 0/3 with Reach that also gives you a 1/1 token isn’t too shabby either.
Shipwreck Moray
1.0 This probably isn’t the Energy payoff you were looking for. It has really mediocre starting stats, and takes a ton of energy to ever actually do anything.
Pack 1 Pick 2: Welding Sparks
Sly Requisitioner
2.0 I really wanted this to be awesome, because it seems like a lot of fun as a value-engine type card, but it just doesn’t get there as often as you’d like. It is expensive for such a mediocre statline, even with Improvise, and cranking out 1/1s with it is harder to do than you might think, especially because it only counts nontokens.
Voltaic Brawler
3.5 If you drop this on turn two, it does a pretty good job of taking over the game, since on the next two turns it attacks as a 4/3 with Trample. Now, those boost are temporary, and eventually the Brawler will get a little outclassed, but a 4/3 trampler is relevant on most boards.
Hidden Stockpile
3.0 On its own, you can sacrifice a servo to it every turn to Scry, and then get a Servo at the end of every turn. In addition to just being a funny little value engine, it also helps trigger other Revolt cards, and BW is fairly interested in that.
Sage of Shaila's Claim
1.5 Energy is important in this format and all, but this two drop still doesn’t usually feel like its worth the card.
Fragmentize
2.0 This is actually mainboardable in this format, as there are plenty of targets for it. In an ideal world, you probably start it in your sideboard in best of 3, though.
Subtle Strike
2.5 This can often give you a 2-for-1 for only two mana, and that’s great! It won’t always line up that way, but even when it doesn’t it tends to do a pretty good job of making combat go your way.
Ice Over
2.5 It is a bummer that this doesn’t tap down the thing you attach it too, but it is still some serviceable removal.
Maulfist Squad
2.5 Like most of the Fabricate creatures, this is pretty solid, as both options are pretty reasonable. A 4-mana 4/2 with Menace is nice on boards where you are the beat down and your opponent won’t be blocking it any time soon, and 4 mana for a 3/1 and a 1/1 is pretty good when you’re behind.
Sweatworks Brawler
2.5 A 4-mana 3/3 with Menace is kind of alright, and you’ll find yourself playing this for three mana pretty often.
Renegade Map
3.0 This card might not look very exciting, but it does a whole lot! It does stuff with your Artifact synergies, can set up Revolt for free, lets you play fewer lands, and helps you splash.
Aether Swooper
3.5 This often feels like a two mana ½ that makes a 1/1 token on ETB, and that is a very powerful card. If you play this on turn two, you are virtually guaranteed to get that token, and if you can generate a little bit more Energy, it can really get going. It is also a great place to put Artificer’s Goggles!
Welding Sparks
4.0 This is a great Common, one that would be really good even if it always does 3, but will be doing 4+ pretty often.
Gearseeker Serpent
3.0 This is a very nice Common for Blue decks in this format, which really like Artifacts. It often costs 4 or 5 mana, and is a great finisher in this format thanks to its bulk and potential evasiveness.
Pack 1 Pick 3: Gifted Aetherborn
Baral, Chief of Compliance
3.0 In Limited, this is mostly just a two mana 1/3 that decreases the cost of instants and sorceries – but the good news is that ability is actually pretty nice in most Blue decks in the format.
Spire Patrol
3.5 This adds a reasonably efficient flyer to the board while locking down your opponent’s best creature for a turn cycle, so it does a great job of helping you stabilize or press an advantage.
Decoction Module
1.5 This gives you a bunch of energy over the course of the game, and can help you rebuy ETB effects, but in most decks it doesn’t really feel worth it.
Gifted Aetherborn
3.5 This has great stats, gains you life, and can trade with anything. Not much more to say about it!
Dukhara Peafowl
2.5 This is an artifact in a set that cares about that, and has decent stats and the ability to gain flying. You’ll play this pretty often in Blue.
Universal Solvent
1.5 If you really need Artifacts and/or removal, you can play this, but most of the time you won’t.
Eddytrail Hawk
2.5 Giving other stuff flying can have a pretty big impact, and the Hawk can do it twice without any outside help, making it a decent card.
Self-Assembler
0.5 // 3.0 If you have one Self Assembler, don’t play it. If you manage to get a second one, you’re actually kind of in business. A 5-mana 4/4 isn’t good, but it does draw you another one, and making sure you have those plays on back to back turns is pretty nice. Because of the mana cost running more than 3 probably isn’t a great idea, but chaining those three together is pretty nice, even with mediocre stats.
Maulfist Squad
2.5 Like most of the Fabricate creatures, this is pretty solid, as both options are pretty reasonable. A 4-mana 4/2 with Menace is nice on boards where you are the beat down and your opponent won’t be blocking it any time soon, and 4 mana for a 3/1 and a 1/1 is pretty good when you’re behind.
Workshop Assistant
2.0 It isn’t super difficult to have an Artifact in your graveyard for this to return, but because of its mediocre stats, it will mostly just be chump blocking and returning an artifact, which isn’t amazing.
Malfunction
3.0 4 mana is a little clunky, but this shuts down most creatures and artifacts in the format.
Unbridled Growth
1.0 This is something you’ll play if you’re really hard up for fixing, but will avoid most of the time.
Pack 1 Pick 4: Gifted Aetherborn
Gifted Aetherborn
3.5 This has great stats, gains you life, and can trade with anything. Not much more to say about it!
Shrewd Negotiation
2.5 This is a little less situational than it looks. The format has a ton of 1/1 tokens, and trading a random token for your opponent’s best things can be a pretty big deal. It does take a significant amount of set up, and is pretty clunky, but it has a pretty high ceiling.
Thriving Turtle
2.5 If you play this on turn one, it can become a very real creature on the board. It generally won’t be able to attack forever because its power starts so low, but by the time it has to stop attacking, it has the kind of size that isn’t easy to attack through.
Impeccable Timing
2.5 This is situational, but the format does have a significant number of small creatures, and people will inevitably be attacking or blocking, so you’ll find yourself playing this a decent chunk of the time.
Cogworker's Puzzleknot
2.5 This can really help you go wide in a hurry, which is useful for White decks, and it also gives you two artifacts on turn two, which can really help out cards with Improvise.
Sweatworks Brawler
2.5 A 4-mana 3/3 with Menace is kind of alright, and you’ll find yourself playing this for three mana pretty often.
Prakhata Pillar-Bug
2.5 Yet another efficient artifact creature that can gain a useful keyword, and yet another 2.5.
Inventor's Goggles
3.0 This gives a kind of passable boost for the casting and Equip cost, but what really makes it a nice card is the fact that it equips for free to an Artificer when it enters the battlefield, and this format has a ton of them. Playing this on turn one and an Artificer on turn two happens all the time in this format, and is a pretty amazing start.
Shipwreck Moray
1.0 This probably isn’t the Energy payoff you were looking for. It has really mediocre starting stats, and takes a ton of energy to ever actually do anything.
Maulfist Squad
2.5 Like most of the Fabricate creatures, this is pretty solid, as both options are pretty reasonable. A 4-mana 4/2 with Menace is nice on boards where you are the beat down and your opponent won’t be blocking it any time soon, and 4 mana for a 3/1 and a 1/1 is pretty good when you’re behind.
Unbridled Growth
1.0 This is something you’ll play if you’re really hard up for fixing, but will avoid most of the time.
Pack 1 Pick 5: Ballista Charger
Shrewd Negotiation
2.5 This is a little less situational than it looks. The format has a ton of 1/1 tokens, and trading a random token for your opponent’s best things can be a pretty big deal. It does take a significant amount of set up, and is pretty clunky, but it has a pretty high ceiling.
Creeping Mold
1.0 This does kill a lot of Artifacts, but as a 4 mana Sorcery, it is too clunky to be worth it most of the time.
Ballista Charger
2.5 This isn’t as exciting as some of the other vehicles in the set, but it is big and can pick off small creatures or damage the opponent when it attacks.
Destructive Tampering
0.5 // 2.5 This looks like something you’d never play in most formats, but two things make this actually an okay card in really aggressive decks. One of these is simply the fact that it often has targets to destroy with the first option, the other is just that turning off (almost) all blockers is often enough for the aggro decks to finish off an opponent who has stabilized. You really only want it in that one deck, but you’re kind of always on the look out for that one copy if that’s what your deck looks like.
Mind Rot
1.0 This is basically never good in Limited, and that’s not different here!
Conviction
1.0 This Aura just isn’t worth it. The stats boost isn’t great, and being able to return it to your hand doesn’t really help make it much better.
Select for Inspection
2.0 One mana to bounce a creature is a really good deal, even if it can only go after tapped creatures. It can give you some very nice tempo, and tacking on the Scry is nice additional upside.
Thriving Turtle
2.5 If you play this on turn one, it can become a very real creature on the board. It generally won’t be able to attack forever because its power starts so low, but by the time it has to stop attacking, it has the kind of size that isn’t easy to attack through.
Sky Skiff
2.5 The mana and crew cost here are both quite low, and thanks to Flying this can attack pretty much all game long.
Shipwreck Moray
1.0 This probably isn’t the Energy payoff you were looking for. It has really mediocre starting stats, and takes a ton of energy to ever actually do anything.
Pack 1 Pick 6: Speedway Fanatic
Ornithopter
1.0 There aren’t really any shenanigans you can do with Ornithopter in this format, so you mostly don’t play it.
Speedway Fanatic
2.0 Giving Vehicles haste is nice, and a two mana 2/1 with Haste isn’t the worst thing ever, either.
Aether Inspector
2.0 This whole cycle is pretty nice, but the Inspector is probably the worst of the bunch. It starts out with worse stats and feels a little bit overcosted. But still, it’s a reasonable playable.
Ornamental Courage
1.0 This isn’t a great trick. The small power boost doesn’t help you win very many combats.
Commencement of Festivities
0.5 Fog is slightly better in this format than in most, where I would give it a 0.0. This is because there are decks in the format that try to win the game in a single swing either after pumping their whole board or casting Destructive Revelry, and siding this in against those decks is actually kind of reasonable.
Malfunction
3.0 4 mana is a little clunky, but this shuts down most creatures and artifacts in the format.
Pendulum of Patterns
0.5 Yeah, this isn’t really worth it. Early on it gains you some life, but that doesn’t matter a whole lot in this format. Then, later, you can cash it in for a card for a wopping 5 mana. Even in a format that loves artifacts, there isn’t much of a reason to play this thing.
Lathnu Sailback
0.5 You’re almost never desperate enough to stick this in your deck. A 5-mana 5/4 just doesn’t do anything in this format.
Defiant Salvager
1.5 Only being able to sacrifice things at Sorcery speed is rough, even in a format that has a lot of Servos to gobble up.
Pack 1 Pick 7: Aethertorch Renegade
Aethertorch Renegade
2.5 This gives you a ton of energy up front, which is pretty nice! Not so nice is the amount of energy it takes to use its abilities. Pinging stuff is good and all, but it doesn’t do something on every board state, and 2 energy is pretty steep. Sometimes you’ll get there enough on an energy deck for the 6 damage effect, but don’t hold your breath.
Highspire Artisan
2.5 The two choices you have here are pretty nice. A 3-mana ¼ with Reach can block a lot of stuff all game long while also turning on +1/+1 counter synergies, and a 3-mana 0/3 with Reach that also gives you a 1/1 token isn’t too shabby either.
Aether Swooper
3.5 This often feels like a two mana ½ that makes a 1/1 token on ETB, and that is a very powerful card. If you play this on turn two, you are virtually guaranteed to get that token, and if you can generate a little bit more Energy, it can really get going. It is also a great place to put Artificer’s Goggles!
Prophetic Prism
3.0 The fac this replaces itself is a pretty big deal. Most of the time filter artifacts aren’t worth a card, but this is literally worth a card and then some because of that. And, this format really cares about artifacts.
Lathnu Sailback
0.5 You’re almost never desperate enough to stick this in your deck. A 5-mana 5/4 just doesn’t do anything in this format.
Alley Evasion
1.0 This set does have lots of ETB abilities, but this card is still mostly just a dud. Both modes are underpowered and situational.
Ornamental Courage
1.0 This isn’t a great trick. The small power boost doesn’t help you win very many combats.
Consulate Skygate
0.5 Yeah, you mostly won’t play this. It just doesn’t do anything but block, and it doesn’t even do that very well.
Pack 1 Pick 8: Chandra's Pyrohelix
Fortuitous Find
2.0 If your deck has a good mix of artifacts and creatures – and ideally, artifact creatures, this feels pretty good, since you can pay 3 to get two creatures back, and that’s a nice little play in the late game. Pretty much a dead card early, and if your graveyard doesn’t have the right composition, its pretty bad.
Implement of Examination
2.0 So, you basically pay a total of 4 mana for two cards, which isn’t completely terrible – and you can spread it out over a couple of turns. It is also an artifact, and one that can get Revolt going.
Aether Tradewinds
1.0 This effect is supposed to be here to help you abuse ETB abilities, but it often just isn’t worth going down a card to do this.
Ornamental Courage
1.0 This isn’t a great trick. The small power boost doesn’t help you win very many combats.
Hijack
1.0 While there are aggressive decks in this format, I haven’t really found that Hijack is worth it most of the time, even in them. It is basically a blank card until you can use it to do lethal, and that’s too inconsistent.
Alley Evasion
1.0 This set does have lots of ETB abilities, but this card is still mostly just a dud. Both modes are underpowered and situational.
Chandra's Pyrohelix
3.0 At worst, this kills an X/2 for two mana, which is fine – and sometimes you can take out 2 X/1s, which will feel amazing. It can also go after your opponent when necessary.
Pack 1 Pick 9: Weldfast Monitor
Ceremonious Rejection
0.5 Even in a format with this many Artifacts, this is mostly just too narrow to put in your main deck.
Ruinous Gremlin
1.5 This is passable in your main deck because there are enough Artifacts it can target, but you sort of hope you have some better artifact hate.
Fourth Bridge Prowler
1.5 You can play this and kill something with the ETB a decent chunk of the time, but it does tend to get worse as the game goes on.
Weldfast Monitor
2.5 Like the rest of this cycle, this is a pretty solid creature to have in your Red decks.
Highspire Artisan
2.5 The two choices you have here are pretty nice. A 3-mana ¼ with Reach can block a lot of stuff all game long while also turning on +1/+1 counter synergies, and a 3-mana 0/3 with Reach that also gives you a 1/1 token isn’t too shabby either.
Shipwreck Moray
1.0 This probably isn’t the Energy payoff you were looking for. It has really mediocre starting stats, and takes a ton of energy to ever actually do anything.
Pack 1 Pick 10: Maulfist Squad
Fragmentize
2.0 This is actually mainboardable in this format, as there are plenty of targets for it. In an ideal world, you probably start it in your sideboard in best of 3, though.
Subtle Strike
2.5 This can often give you a 2-for-1 for only two mana, and that’s great! It won’t always line up that way, but even when it doesn’t it tends to do a pretty good job of making combat go your way.
Ice Over
2.5 It is a bummer that this doesn’t tap down the thing you attach it too, but it is still some serviceable removal.
Maulfist Squad
2.5 Like most of the Fabricate creatures, this is pretty solid, as both options are pretty reasonable. A 4-mana 4/2 with Menace is nice on boards where you are the beat down and your opponent won’t be blocking it any time soon, and 4 mana for a 3/1 and a 1/1 is pretty good when you’re behind.
Renegade Map
3.0 This card might not look very exciting, but it does a whole lot! It does stuff with your Artifact synergies, can set up Revolt for free, lets you play fewer lands, and helps you splash.
Pack 1 Pick 11: Malfunction
Dukhara Peafowl
2.5 This is an artifact in a set that cares about that, and has decent stats and the ability to gain flying. You’ll play this pretty often in Blue.
Universal Solvent
1.5 If you really need Artifacts and/or removal, you can play this, but most of the time you won’t.
Workshop Assistant
2.0 It isn’t super difficult to have an Artifact in your graveyard for this to return, but because of its mediocre stats, it will mostly just be chump blocking and returning an artifact, which isn’t amazing.
Malfunction
3.0 4 mana is a little clunky, but this shuts down most creatures and artifacts in the format.
Pack 1 Pick 12: Sweatworks Brawler
Thriving Turtle
2.5 If you play this on turn one, it can become a very real creature on the board. It generally won’t be able to attack forever because its power starts so low, but by the time it has to stop attacking, it has the kind of size that isn’t easy to attack through.
Sweatworks Brawler
2.5 A 4-mana 3/3 with Menace is kind of alright, and you’ll find yourself playing this for three mana pretty often.
Shipwreck Moray
1.0 This probably isn’t the Energy payoff you were looking for. It has really mediocre starting stats, and takes a ton of energy to ever actually do anything.
Pack 1 Pick 13: Conviction
Conviction
1.0 This Aura just isn’t worth it. The stats boost isn’t great, and being able to return it to your hand doesn’t really help make it much better.
Thriving Turtle
2.5 If you play this on turn one, it can become a very real creature on the board. It generally won’t be able to attack forever because its power starts so low, but by the time it has to stop attacking, it has the kind of size that isn’t easy to attack through.
Pack 1 Pick 14: Commencement of Festivities
Commencement of Festivities
0.5 Fog is slightly better in this format than in most, where I would give it a 0.0. This is because there are decks in the format that try to win the game in a single swing either after pumping their whole board or casting Destructive Revelry, and siding this in against those decks is actually kind of reasonable.
Pack 2 Pick 1: Gonti, Lord of Luxury
Gonti, Lord of Luxury
4.5 A 4-mana 2/3 with Deathtouch isn’t great, but it would be a card you played on occasion. Luckily, Gonti is a whole lot more than that though! He also lets you draw the best card from your opponents top few cards, and that ends up pairing really well with deathtouch, because Gonti will always give you a 2-for-1 as a result.
Unlicensed Disintegration
4.0 Most of the time, this will kill your opponent’s best creature and bolt your opponent in the face. If that’s not premium removal, I don’t know what is.
Armorcraft Judge
3.5 This draws you one card often enough to be a reasonably high pick. And, while sometimes it will just be a Hill Giant, it will also draw you 2+ cards sometimes too!
Ovalchase Dragster
2.5 This has huge power for only 4 mana and crew 1, and can often get in for 6 the first time without being blocked. It doesn’t always happen – especially in a format with a bunch of Servos – but even if they lose a servo and take 5, it doesn’t feel too bad. If you do get in that first time though, the Dragster is pretty incredible.
Implement of Malice
2.0 If you consistently can use this to make an opponent discard and you draw, it feels alright. It just won’t always do that. Still, at least it isn’t blank in the late game, since you can basically cash it in for a card. It also gets revolt going.
Hijack
1.0 While there are aggressive decks in this format, I haven’t really found that Hijack is worth it most of the time, even in them. It is basically a blank card until you can use it to do lethal, and that’s too inconsistent.
Herald of the Fair
2.0 This has mediocre stats, but an ETB ability that often lets you attack more effectively. Still, it is pretty replaceable and not remotely impressive.
Peema Outrider
3.5 The choice between a 4-mana 4/4 Trample and a 4-mana 3/3 Trample with a 1/1 Servo token is a good decision to have to make, because either option is giving you a great deal.
Weldfast Monitor
2.5 Like the rest of this cycle, this is a pretty solid creature to have in your Red decks.
Inventor's Goggles
3.0 This gives a kind of passable boost for the casting and Equip cost, but what really makes it a nice card is the fact that it equips for free to an Artificer when it enters the battlefield, and this format has a ton of them. Playing this on turn one and an Artificer on turn two happens all the time in this format, and is a pretty amazing start.
Workshop Assistant
2.0 It isn’t super difficult to have an Artifact in your graveyard for this to return, but because of its mediocre stats, it will mostly just be chump blocking and returning an artifact, which isn’t amazing.
Alley Strangler
1.5 This has alright stats and an evasive keyword ability. You’ll play it sometimes.
Nimble Innovator
1.5 4-mana for a 2/2 is pretty ugly, but at least it draws you a card. It can give you a 2-for-1 often enough to make the cut sometimes.
Appetite for the Unnatural
2.0 This is a passable main deck card in this format since there are plenty of targets.
Pack 2 Pick 2: Bomat Courier
Bomat Courier
2.0 If you can play this on turn one and have it stick around, it ends up being a nice source of card advantage in the later game. Problem is, for the rest of the game it isn’t especially good, since it won’t be a very good attacker. Sure, even if it attacks and dies, you can pitch your hand to draw the card that goes under it, but that’s not exactly a big deal.
Armorcraft Judge
3.5 This draws you one card often enough to be a reasonably high pick. And, while sometimes it will just be a Hill Giant, it will also draw you 2+ cards sometimes too!
Arborback Stomper
4.0 It is kind of amazing how much this does for you. The fairly efficient trampling body coupled with +5 life is just a big deal, and often enough to get you back at parity from behind. It really helps you stabilize against the format’s aggro decks.
Welding Sparks
4.0 This is a great Common, one that would be really good even if it always does 3, but will be doing 4+ pretty often.
Thriving Rhino
3.0 This is the best card in the “Thriving” cycle. The first time it attacks it becomes a ¾, and that’s a pretty real body – especially on turn 4, but even in the later part of the game.
Appetite for the Unnatural
2.0 This is a passable main deck card in this format since there are plenty of targets.
Shipwreck Moray
1.0 This probably isn’t the Energy payoff you were looking for. It has really mediocre starting stats, and takes a ton of energy to ever actually do anything.
Implement of Malice
2.0 If you consistently can use this to make an opponent discard and you draw, it feels alright. It just won’t always do that. Still, at least it isn’t blank in the late game, since you can basically cash it in for a card. It also gets revolt going.
Highspire Artisan
2.5 The two choices you have here are pretty nice. A 3-mana ¼ with Reach can block a lot of stuff all game long while also turning on +1/+1 counter synergies, and a 3-mana 0/3 with Reach that also gives you a 1/1 token isn’t too shabby either.
Impeccable Timing
2.5 This is situational, but the format does have a significant number of small creatures, and people will inevitably be attacking or blocking, so you’ll find yourself playing this a decent chunk of the time.
Built to Last
2.0 This is a decent trick that gets even better if you’re rumbling with artifact creatures. It is a decent inclusion in aggro decks.
Die Young
3.0 This is a nice removal spell. At worst, it is two mana to give something -2/-2, and if you have other energy around, it can take down larger things.
Kujar Seedsculptor
3.0 You have to be careful with this, because your opponent killing the creature you put the counter on will just blow you out of the game. However, when the coast is clear, permanently pumping a creature and killing an opposing creature is quite strong, especially in a set that has +1/+1 counter payoffs.
Pack 2 Pick 3: Chandra's Revolution
Era of Innovation
1.0 This looks like it would be a pretty sweet buildaround, but its mostly a dud. The set does have lots of artifacts and artificers, but getting to 6 energy with this is really hard, and it has the problem of not adding to the board in any significant way in the mean time. Sure, if you get to draw those three cards with it you probably win, but by playing a two mana card that doesn’t do anything up front, you are drastically decreasing your chances of lasting long enough to do that in the first place!
Invigorated Rampage
2.0 In really aggressive decks, this trick can really be a beating, as it can add a ton of damage to the board out of nowhere. Now, its rough that it doesn’t increase your creature’s toughness at all, but that just doesn’t really matter if the card lets you run over a couple of your opponent’s creatures while doing a bunch of damage.
Arborback Stomper
4.0 It is kind of amazing how much this does for you. The fairly efficient trampling body coupled with +5 life is just a big deal, and often enough to get you back at parity from behind. It really helps you stabilize against the format’s aggro decks.
Aviary Mechanic
2.5 This has a solid baseline as a bear, and its ETB ability actually does something like half the time, and that’s pretty nice.
Chandra's Revolution
3.0 4 mana for 4 damage at Sorcery speed isn’t the most amazing thing, and the land tap down part of the card doesn’t give it much of an upgrade. Still, it is reasonably efficient removal.
Rush of Vitality
1.5 This is a decent trick that you’ll run in some of your aggro decks.
Aether Swooper
3.5 This often feels like a two mana ½ that makes a 1/1 token on ETB, and that is a very powerful card. If you play this on turn two, you are virtually guaranteed to get that token, and if you can generate a little bit more Energy, it can really get going. It is also a great place to put Artificer’s Goggles!
Universal Solvent
1.5 If you really need Artifacts and/or removal, you can play this, but most of the time you won’t.
Appetite for the Unnatural
2.0 This is a passable main deck card in this format since there are plenty of targets.
Dukhara Peafowl
2.5 This is an artifact in a set that cares about that, and has decent stats and the ability to gain flying. You’ll play this pretty often in Blue.
Reservoir Walker
1.5 3 life and 3 energy isn’t really enough to offset the bad stats this has. It isn’t unplayable, but you won’t play it very often.
Sky Skiff
2.5 The mana and crew cost here are both quite low, and thanks to Flying this can attack pretty much all game long.
Pack 2 Pick 4: Aether Poisoner
Ornithopter
1.0 There aren’t really any shenanigans you can do with Ornithopter in this format, so you mostly don’t play it.
Empyreal Voyager
3.5 This has solid stats and can supply you with Energy, which you’re very interested in UG, so it’s a pretty nice card to have.
Blossoming Defense
2.0 This is a nice trick that has additional utility against removal spells thanks to Hexproof.
Precise Strike
1.5 This is one mana, and can help enough creatures win combat that it is a semi-reasonable inclusion in aggro decks.
Weldfast Monitor
2.5 Like the rest of this cycle, this is a pretty solid creature to have in your Red decks.
Glint-Sleeve Artisan
3.0 This is one of White’s best commons. A 3-mana 3/3 or a 3-mana 2/2 and a 1/1 is quite nice, especially because White has lots of ways to pay you off for going wide.
Narnam Cobra
2.5 Like the rest of this cycle, this is reasonably costed, is an artifact, and can gain a useful keyword. In this case, it can trade.
Aether Poisoner
3.5 This is another very good Common in this cycle. With death touch, it is a real pain to block or attack through, and that means it often has no problem making that 1/1 token. Attacking with it into a block and making that 1/1 feels pretty good, and it can obviously get even more out of hand!
Reckless Fireweaver
2.5 This has alright stats and does often chip in a few damage with its ability, especially if you’re making servos.
Shipwreck Moray
1.0 This probably isn’t the Energy payoff you were looking for. It has really mediocre starting stats, and takes a ton of energy to ever actually do anything.
Pack 2 Pick 5: Subtle Strike
Inventor's Apprentice
1.5 If your deck can have this be a 2/3 reasonably consistently, it is a sort of alright card, as a 2/3 body is at least somewhat relevant even late, but it isn’t exactly blowing your opponent away either.
Shipwreck Moray
1.0 This probably isn’t the Energy payoff you were looking for. It has really mediocre starting stats, and takes a ton of energy to ever actually do anything.
Fortuitous Find
2.0 If your deck has a good mix of artifacts and creatures – and ideally, artifact creatures, this feels pretty good, since you can pay 3 to get two creatures back, and that’s a nice little play in the late game. Pretty much a dead card early, and if your graveyard doesn’t have the right composition, its pretty bad.
Select for Inspection
2.0 One mana to bounce a creature is a really good deal, even if it can only go after tapped creatures. It can give you some very nice tempo, and tacking on the Scry is nice additional upside.
Audacious Infiltrator
2.5 This ability comes up more than you might think with all the thopters and servos running around. One of the big downsides about being an X/1 is usually that you die to something like a token, but that’s not a problem here, so it is just a creature with a decent aggressive statline.
Fireforger's Puzzleknot
1.5 So, this can kill a couple of X/1s or an X/2 for 4 mana. That’s not exactly incredible, but hey – its an artifact, and that helps elevate it a bit.
Cathartic Reunion
1.0 This mostly isn’t worth it. It is just some clunky card selection that asks for significant set up. There isn’t enough of a graveyard theme in the format for it to be more than that.
Subtle Strike
2.5 This can often give you a 2-for-1 for only two mana, and that’s great! It won’t always line up that way, but even when it doesn’t it tends to do a pretty good job of making combat go your way.
Sage of Shaila's Claim
1.5 Energy is important in this format and all, but this two drop still doesn’t usually feel like its worth the card.
Ornamental Courage
1.0 This isn’t a great trick. The small power boost doesn’t help you win very many combats.
Pack 2 Pick 6: Fireforger's Puzzleknot
Shrewd Negotiation
2.5 This is a little less situational than it looks. The format has a ton of 1/1 tokens, and trading a random token for your opponent’s best things can be a pretty big deal. It does take a significant amount of set up, and is pretty clunky, but it has a pretty high ceiling.
Impeccable Timing
2.5 This is situational, but the format does have a significant number of small creatures, and people will inevitably be attacking or blocking, so you’ll find yourself playing this a decent chunk of the time.
Peema Outrider
3.5 The choice between a 4-mana 4/4 Trample and a 4-mana 3/3 Trample with a 1/1 Servo token is a good decision to have to make, because either option is giving you a great deal.
Hijack
1.0 While there are aggressive decks in this format, I haven’t really found that Hijack is worth it most of the time, even in them. It is basically a blank card until you can use it to do lethal, and that’s too inconsistent.
Fragmentize
2.0 This is actually mainboardable in this format, as there are plenty of targets for it. In an ideal world, you probably start it in your sideboard in best of 3, though.
Leave in the Dust
2.5 Bounce + Draw a card is pretty solid, since it actually lets you go 1-for-1 with your opponent in addition to the tempo.
Druid of the Cowl
2.5 This has decent stats and ramps your mana, which makes it a solid card.
Fireforger's Puzzleknot
1.5 So, this can kill a couple of X/1s or an X/2 for 4 mana. That’s not exactly incredible, but hey – its an artifact, and that helps elevate it a bit.
Dawnfeather Eagle
3.5 This is one of the sets best Commons. It just has such a massive impact on virtually any board state, and that’s a lot to say about a Common! +1/+1 and Vigilance to your whole team while you also add a flying threat to the table is amazing. The stats boost + Vigilance makes it so you can suddenly attack your opponent, both because your creatures get larger and because they have vigilance, making it much harder for your opponent to kill you on the back swing. This is excellent top curve for aggressive White decks in this format, and the best decks often have at least two of these.
Pack 2 Pick 7: Daring Demolition
Hazardous Conditions
2.5 So BG likes +1/+1 counters, so the idea here is that you’re only weakening opposing creatures, but that idea quickly disintegrates for two reasons: First, not all of your creatures will have counters, even in a BG deck, and second, your opponent is reasonably likely to have some counters too! And it isn’t like -2/-2 really does enough on all board states anyway. You don’t even always play this in BG, which is a sad thing to say about a signpost uncommon.
Live Fast
2.0 Drawing some cards and getting some energy is something you’ll want in some Black decks, but not all of them.
Fragmentize
2.0 This is actually mainboardable in this format, as there are plenty of targets for it. In an ideal world, you probably start it in your sideboard in best of 3, though.
Shipwreck Moray
1.0 This probably isn’t the Energy payoff you were looking for. It has really mediocre starting stats, and takes a ton of energy to ever actually do anything.
Daring Demolition
4.0 4 mana to kill any creature or artifact is great in this format, even at Sorcery speed. This is premium removal.
Ornamental Courage
1.0 This isn’t a great trick. The small power boost doesn’t help you win very many combats.
Lathnu Sailback
0.5 You’re almost never desperate enough to stick this in your deck. A 5-mana 5/4 just doesn’t do anything in this format.
Reservoir Walker
1.5 3 life and 3 energy isn’t really enough to offset the bad stats this has. It isn’t unplayable, but you won’t play it very often.
Pack 2 Pick 8: Renegade Map
Lifecraft Cavalry
2.0 This is kind of alright even when you don’t revolt, and pretty scary when you can. It isn’t terrible top curve.
Weldfast Monitor
2.5 Like the rest of this cycle, this is a pretty solid creature to have in your Red decks.
Renegade Map
3.0 This card might not look very exciting, but it does a whole lot! It does stuff with your Artifact synergies, can set up Revolt for free, lets you play fewer lands, and helps you splash.
Wild Wanderer
2.5 This actually provides some reasonable fixing and ramp, and is large enough to trade.
Revolutionary Rebuff
1.0 This is cheap, but it also isn’t anywhere close to a hard counter, and the fact that it can’t counter artifacts definitely matters in this set.
Fragmentize
2.0 This is actually mainboardable in this format, as there are plenty of targets for it. In an ideal world, you probably start it in your sideboard in best of 3, though.
Salivating Gremlins
2.5 This will be a 4/3 with Trample on lots of turns, and that’s a relevant body all game long. If you’re really good at making servos, sometimes it will be even bigger!
Pack 2 Pick 9: Implement of Malice
Implement of Malice
2.0 If you consistently can use this to make an opponent discard and you draw, it feels alright. It just won’t always do that. Still, at least it isn’t blank in the late game, since you can basically cash it in for a card. It also gets revolt going.
Hijack
1.0 While there are aggressive decks in this format, I haven’t really found that Hijack is worth it most of the time, even in them. It is basically a blank card until you can use it to do lethal, and that’s too inconsistent.
Weldfast Monitor
2.5 Like the rest of this cycle, this is a pretty solid creature to have in your Red decks.
Inventor's Goggles
3.0 This gives a kind of passable boost for the casting and Equip cost, but what really makes it a nice card is the fact that it equips for free to an Artificer when it enters the battlefield, and this format has a ton of them. Playing this on turn one and an Artificer on turn two happens all the time in this format, and is a pretty amazing start.
Workshop Assistant
2.0 It isn’t super difficult to have an Artifact in your graveyard for this to return, but because of its mediocre stats, it will mostly just be chump blocking and returning an artifact, which isn’t amazing.
Appetite for the Unnatural
2.0 This is a passable main deck card in this format since there are plenty of targets.
Pack 2 Pick 10: Thriving Rhino
Armorcraft Judge
3.5 This draws you one card often enough to be a reasonably high pick. And, while sometimes it will just be a Hill Giant, it will also draw you 2+ cards sometimes too!
Thriving Rhino
3.0 This is the best card in the “Thriving” cycle. The first time it attacks it becomes a ¾, and that’s a pretty real body – especially on turn 4, but even in the later part of the game.
Appetite for the Unnatural
2.0 This is a passable main deck card in this format since there are plenty of targets.
Highspire Artisan
2.5 The two choices you have here are pretty nice. A 3-mana ¼ with Reach can block a lot of stuff all game long while also turning on +1/+1 counter synergies, and a 3-mana 0/3 with Reach that also gives you a 1/1 token isn’t too shabby either.
Kujar Seedsculptor
3.0 You have to be careful with this, because your opponent killing the creature you put the counter on will just blow you out of the game. However, when the coast is clear, permanently pumping a creature and killing an opposing creature is quite strong, especially in a set that has +1/+1 counter payoffs.
Pack 2 Pick 11: Invigorated Rampage
Invigorated Rampage
2.0 In really aggressive decks, this trick can really be a beating, as it can add a ton of damage to the board out of nowhere. Now, its rough that it doesn’t increase your creature’s toughness at all, but that just doesn’t really matter if the card lets you run over a couple of your opponent’s creatures while doing a bunch of damage.
Rush of Vitality
1.5 This is a decent trick that you’ll run in some of your aggro decks.
Dukhara Peafowl
2.5 This is an artifact in a set that cares about that, and has decent stats and the ability to gain flying. You’ll play this pretty often in Blue.
Reservoir Walker
1.5 3 life and 3 energy isn’t really enough to offset the bad stats this has. It isn’t unplayable, but you won’t play it very often.
Pack 2 Pick 12: Weldfast Monitor
Precise Strike
1.5 This is one mana, and can help enough creatures win combat that it is a semi-reasonable inclusion in aggro decks.
Weldfast Monitor
2.5 Like the rest of this cycle, this is a pretty solid creature to have in your Red decks.
Cathartic Reunion
1.0 This mostly isn’t worth it. It is just some clunky card selection that asks for significant set up. There isn’t enough of a graveyard theme in the format for it to be more than that.
Ornamental Courage
1.0 This isn’t a great trick. The small power boost doesn’t help you win very many combats.
Pack 2 Pick 14: Hijack
Hijack
1.0 While there are aggressive decks in this format, I haven’t really found that Hijack is worth it most of the time, even in them. It is basically a blank card until you can use it to do lethal, and that’s too inconsistent.
Narnam Renegade
2.5 This can trade with anything without Revolt, and with Revolt it also becomes a decent attacker.
Longtusk Cub
3.5 If you play this on turn two, it can just run away with the game, since it will just keep making Energy and making itself larger. Later in the game, it isn’t quite as imposing, but it still represents a very real threat that has to be accounted for.
Renegade Wheelsmith
4.0 This card is great. RW is aggressive enough that blanking a blocker when this attacks can often mean game over for your opponent, and its important to note that it also makes things unable to block when it crews Vehicles, which is nice.
Aviary Mechanic
2.5 This has a solid baseline as a bear, and its ETB ability actually does something like half the time, and that’s pretty nice.
Lathnu Sailback
0.5 You’re almost never desperate enough to stick this in your deck. A 5-mana 5/4 just doesn’t do anything in this format.
Consulate Skygate
0.5 Yeah, you mostly won’t play this. It just doesn’t do anything but block, and it doesn’t even do that very well.
Daring Demolition
4.0 4 mana to kill any creature or artifact is great in this format, even at Sorcery speed. This is premium removal.
Hunt the Weak
3.0 You have to be careful with this, because your opponent killing the creature you put the counter on will just blow you out of the game. However, when the coast is clear, permanently pumping a creature and killing an opposing creature is quite strong, especially in a set that has +1/+1 counter payoffs.
Workshop Assistant
2.0 It isn’t super difficult to have an Artifact in your graveyard for this to return, but because of its mediocre stats, it will mostly just be chump blocking and returning an artifact, which isn’t amazing.
Ice Over
2.5 It is a bummer that this doesn’t tap down the thing you attach it too, but it is still some serviceable removal.
Implement of Malice
2.0 If you consistently can use this to make an opponent discard and you draw, it feels alright. It just won’t always do that. Still, at least it isn’t blank in the late game, since you can basically cash it in for a card. It also gets revolt going.
Dawnfeather Eagle
3.5 This is one of the sets best Commons. It just has such a massive impact on virtually any board state, and that’s a lot to say about a Common! +1/+1 and Vigilance to your whole team while you also add a flying threat to the table is amazing. The stats boost + Vigilance makes it so you can suddenly attack your opponent, both because your creatures get larger and because they have vigilance, making it much harder for your opponent to kill you on the back swing. This is excellent top curve for aggressive White decks in this format, and the best decks often have at least two of these.
Cogworker's Puzzleknot
2.5 This can really help you go wide in a hurry, which is useful for White decks, and it also gives you two artifacts on turn two, which can really help out cards with Improvise.
Pack 3 Pick 2: Aetherflux Reservoir
Aetherflux Reservoir
0.0 This has great stats, and giving you extra energy and extra +1/+1 counters comes up a whole lot in this format.
Renegade Wheelsmith
4.0 This card is great. RW is aggressive enough that blanking a blocker when this attacks can often mean game over for your opponent, and its important to note that it also makes things unable to block when it crews Vehicles, which is nice.
Veteran Motorist
3.5 Most of the time, this will kill your opponent’s best creature and bolt your opponent in the face. If that’s not premium removal, I don’t know what is.
Engineered Might
2.5 This card is such a bummer as far as signposts go. Luckily, GW has other ways to pump the whole board that are better, because if this was the card that you were counting on to win you the game when you go wide, you’d be in trouble! Being a sorcery for 5 mana is just really rough, and gives your opponent way more information than you’d like. Pumping one creature as a secondary option is alright I guess, but its still a sorcery that can be easily responded to. I don’t think you even always play this in your GW decks, and that’s pretty sad.
Eddytrail Hawk
2.5 Giving other stuff flying can have a pretty big impact, and the Hawk can do it twice without any outside help, making it a decent card.
Ornamental Courage
1.0 This isn’t a great trick. The small power boost doesn’t help you win very many combats.
Bastion Mastodon
2.5 Being an artifact matters in this set, and this offers a decent body that can gain Vigilance. Like the rest of this cycle, Bastion Mastodon is pretty solid.
Fourth Bridge Prowler
1.5 You can play this and kill something with the ETB a decent chunk of the time, but it does tend to get worse as the game goes on.
Cogworker's Puzzleknot
2.5 This can really help you go wide in a hurry, which is useful for White decks, and it also gives you two artifacts on turn two, which can really help out cards with Improvise.
Gearseeker Serpent
3.0 This is a very nice Common for Blue decks in this format, which really like Artifacts. It often costs 4 or 5 mana, and is a great finisher in this format thanks to its bulk and potential evasiveness.
Herald of the Fair
2.0 This has mediocre stats, but an ETB ability that often lets you attack more effectively. Still, it is pretty replaceable and not remotely impressive.
Reckless Fireweaver
2.5 This has alright stats and does often chip in a few damage with its ability, especially if you’re making servos.
Hinterland Drake
2.5 This has pretty aggressive flying stats, and that’s enough to offset the fact that it can’t block Artifact creatures – it will mostly be attacking anyway.
Pack 3 Pick 3: Aethertorch Renegade
Demolition Stomper
1.0 Most of the vehicles in this set are solid or better. This isn’t one of them. Yeah, its huge when it gets going, but Crew 5 is massive and even if really small creatures can’t block it, its still very chumpable, and takes a lot of set up.
Aethertorch Renegade
2.5 This gives you a ton of energy up front, which is pretty nice! Not so nice is the amount of energy it takes to use its abilities. Pinging stuff is good and all, but it doesn’t do something on every board state, and 2 energy is pretty steep. Sometimes you’ll get there enough on an energy deck for the 6 damage effect, but don’t hold your breath.
Aether Meltdown
3.0 This can pretty much shut down a lot of creatures – and vehicles – in the format for only two mana, while also giving you a bit of Energy to use with other cards. It is of course frustrating that things can still block once you use this, and that keeps it from being amazing, but it does a pretty good job.
Kujar Seedsculptor
3.0 You have to be careful with this, because your opponent killing the creature you put the counter on will just blow you out of the game. However, when the coast is clear, permanently pumping a creature and killing an opposing creature is quite strong, especially in a set that has +1/+1 counter payoffs.
Consulate Turret
1.0 This format has some nice Energy payoffs. This isn’t one of them. Only hitting players is a big problem, and even though it can just tap to give you energy, it usually doesn’t feel like its worth a card.
Inspired Charge
0.5 // 2.5 You would definitely prefer to get Dawnfeather Eagle, but with all of the Servos in White, you end up going wide enough to make this work in a decent chunk of decks, and it can definitely sub in for the eagle in those decks. If you aren’t good at going wide, it is pretty unplayable.
Universal Solvent
1.5 If you really need Artifacts and/or removal, you can play this, but most of the time you won’t.
Gearseeker Serpent
3.0 This is a very nice Common for Blue decks in this format, which really like Artifacts. It often costs 4 or 5 mana, and is a great finisher in this format thanks to its bulk and potential evasiveness.
Dukhara Peafowl
2.5 This is an artifact in a set that cares about that, and has decent stats and the ability to gain flying. You’ll play this pretty often in Blue.
Destructive Tampering
0.5 // 2.5 This looks like something you’d never play in most formats, but two things make this actually an okay card in really aggressive decks. One of these is simply the fact that it often has targets to destroy with the first option, the other is just that turning off (almost) all blockers is often enough for the aggro decks to finish off an opponent who has stabilized. You really only want it in that one deck, but you’re kind of always on the look out for that one copy if that’s what your deck looks like.
Reservoir Walker
1.5 3 life and 3 energy isn’t really enough to offset the bad stats this has. It isn’t unplayable, but you won’t play it very often.
Live Fast
2.0 Drawing some cards and getting some energy is something you’ll want in some Black decks, but not all of them.
Pack 3 Pick 4: Underhanded Designs
Underhanded Designs
3.0 Most of the value here comes from this turning into a removal spell, but being able to drain the opponent from time to time is nice additional upside. Not every deck will be able to consistently make it into a removal spell, but it isn’t that hard to accomplish either.
Restoration Gearsmith
4.0 This almost always has something to get back for you, and that means it is almost always an easy 2-for-1.
Chandra's Revolution
3.0 4 mana for 4 damage at Sorcery speed isn’t the most amazing thing, and the land tap down part of the card doesn’t give it much of an upgrade. Still, it is reasonably efficient removal.
Implement of Malice
2.0 If you consistently can use this to make an opponent discard and you draw, it feels alright. It just won’t always do that. Still, at least it isn’t blank in the late game, since you can basically cash it in for a card. It also gets revolt going.
Self-Assembler
0.5 // 3.0 If you have one Self Assembler, don’t play it. If you manage to get a second one, you’re actually kind of in business. A 5-mana 4/4 isn’t good, but it does draw you another one, and making sure you have those plays on back to back turns is pretty nice. Because of the mana cost running more than 3 probably isn’t a great idea, but chaining those three together is pretty nice, even with mediocre stats.
Woodweaver's Puzzleknot
1.5 If you’re interested in energy, this can give you 6 all on its own while also gaining you 6 life. That life gain actually matters too, because playing this and sacrificing this is pretty slow, but the life gain does offset that a bit. You won’t play this in any but the most all-in energy decks.
Ornamental Courage
1.0 This isn’t a great trick. The small power boost doesn’t help you win very many combats.
Select for Inspection
2.0 One mana to bounce a creature is a really good deal, even if it can only go after tapped creatures. It can give you some very nice tempo, and tacking on the Scry is nice additional upside.
Fragmentize
2.0 This is actually mainboardable in this format, as there are plenty of targets for it. In an ideal world, you probably start it in your sideboard in best of 3, though.
Subtle Strike
2.5 This can often give you a 2-for-1 for only two mana, and that’s great! It won’t always line up that way, but even when it doesn’t it tends to do a pretty good job of making combat go your way.
Lathnu Sailback
0.5 You’re almost never desperate enough to stick this in your deck. A 5-mana 5/4 just doesn’t do anything in this format.
Pack 3 Pick 5: Ceremonious Rejection
Ceremonious Rejection
0.5 Even in a format with this many Artifacts, this is mostly just too narrow to put in your main deck.
Rush of Vitality
1.5 This is a decent trick that you’ll run in some of your aggro decks.
Propeller Pioneer
3.0 This is another nice card that really gets you going wide, and having the option to make it a 4-mana 3/2 Flyer when that’s what you need is pretty nice.
Inventor's Goggles
3.0 This gives a kind of passable boost for the casting and Equip cost, but what really makes it a nice card is the fact that it equips for free to an Artificer when it enters the battlefield, and this format has a ton of them. Playing this on turn one and an Artificer on turn two happens all the time in this format, and is a pretty amazing start.
Leave in the Dust
2.5 Bounce + Draw a card is pretty solid, since it actually lets you go 1-for-1 with your opponent in addition to the tempo.
Aviary Mechanic
2.5 This has a solid baseline as a bear, and its ETB ability actually does something like half the time, and that’s pretty nice.
Bastion Mastodon
2.5 Being an artifact matters in this set, and this offers a decent body that can gain Vigilance. Like the rest of this cycle, Bastion Mastodon is pretty solid.
Ruinous Gremlin
1.5 This is passable in your main deck because there are enough Artifacts it can target, but you sort of hope you have some better artifact hate.
Thriving Rhino
3.0 This is the best card in the “Thriving” cycle. The first time it attacks it becomes a ¾, and that’s a pretty real body – especially on turn 4, but even in the later part of the game.
Inspired Charge
0.5 // 2.5 You would definitely prefer to get Dawnfeather Eagle, but with all of the Servos in White, you end up going wide enough to make this work in a decent chunk of decks, and it can definitely sub in for the eagle in those decks. If you aren’t good at going wide, it is pretty unplayable.
Pack 3 Pick 6: Implement of Malice
Servo Schematic
2.0 This gives you two artifacts on turn two, which is pretty good at setting up Improvise and other Artifact payoffs. Ideally, your deck also has some ways to sacrifice the Schematic so you can get that second servo.
Thopter Arrest
4.0 This can exile most stuff in the format very efficiently. And sure, if your opponent gets rid of it they get their card back, but you’ll still have disrupted them a ton and traded 1-for-1 in the process. And, oftentimes, they just can’t deal with it.
Fourth Bridge Prowler
1.5 You can play this and kill something with the ETB a decent chunk of the time, but it does tend to get worse as the game goes on.
Unbridled Growth
1.0 This is something you’ll play if you’re really hard up for fixing, but will avoid most of the time.
Inspired Charge
0.5 // 2.5 You would definitely prefer to get Dawnfeather Eagle, but with all of the Servos in White, you end up going wide enough to make this work in a decent chunk of decks, and it can definitely sub in for the eagle in those decks. If you aren’t good at going wide, it is pretty unplayable.
Woodweaver's Puzzleknot
1.5 If you’re interested in energy, this can give you 6 all on its own while also gaining you 6 life. That life gain actually matters too, because playing this and sacrificing this is pretty slow, but the life gain does offset that a bit. You won’t play this in any but the most all-in energy decks.
Implement of Malice
2.0 If you consistently can use this to make an opponent discard and you draw, it feels alright. It just won’t always do that. Still, at least it isn’t blank in the late game, since you can basically cash it in for a card. It also gets revolt going.
Self-Assembler
0.5 // 3.0 If you have one Self Assembler, don’t play it. If you manage to get a second one, you’re actually kind of in business. A 5-mana 4/4 isn’t good, but it does draw you another one, and making sure you have those plays on back to back turns is pretty nice. Because of the mana cost running more than 3 probably isn’t a great idea, but chaining those three together is pretty nice, even with mediocre stats.
Precise Strike
1.5 This is one mana, and can help enough creatures win combat that it is a semi-reasonable inclusion in aggro decks.
Pack 3 Pick 7: Weldfast Engineer
Outland Boar
3.5 This definitely isn’t exciting but it has good stats and is hard to block, and that’s a nice thing to have in RG.
Weldfast Engineer
3.5 This asks not only for Artifacts, but artifact creatures in particular. However, you’ll have them in this format, since there are lots of Servos among the other artifacts. And, making a servo into a 3/1 every turn can be a real problem for your opponent on many board states.
Leave in the Dust
2.5 Bounce + Draw a card is pretty solid, since it actually lets you go 1-for-1 with your opponent in addition to the tempo.
Aether Inspector
2.0 This whole cycle is pretty nice, but the Inspector is probably the worst of the bunch. It starts out with worse stats and feels a little bit overcosted. But still, it’s a reasonable playable.
Irontread Crusher
2.0 This vehicle isn’t as exciting as some of the others, but it can do the job.
Countless Gears Renegade
2.5 You’ll get the 1/1 out of this like half the time, and it will feel great when you do. When that doesn’t work out, it will feel pretty mediocre.
Lathnu Sailback
0.5 You’re almost never desperate enough to stick this in your deck. A 5-mana 5/4 just doesn’t do anything in this format.
Unbridled Growth
1.0 This is something you’ll play if you’re really hard up for fixing, but will avoid most of the time.
Pack 3 Pick 8: Destructive Tampering
Aeronaut Admiral
3.0 This has almost passable stats, and the ability to give Vehicles flying is pretty relevant in the format.
Creeping Mold
1.0 This does kill a lot of Artifacts, but as a 4 mana Sorcery, it is too clunky to be worth it most of the time.
Destructive Tampering
0.5 // 2.5 This looks like something you’d never play in most formats, but two things make this actually an okay card in really aggressive decks. One of these is simply the fact that it often has targets to destroy with the first option, the other is just that turning off (almost) all blockers is often enough for the aggro decks to finish off an opponent who has stabilized. You really only want it in that one deck, but you’re kind of always on the look out for that one copy if that’s what your deck looks like.
Thriving Turtle
2.5 If you play this on turn one, it can become a very real creature on the board. It generally won’t be able to attack forever because its power starts so low, but by the time it has to stop attacking, it has the kind of size that isn’t easy to attack through.
Implement of Malice
2.0 If you consistently can use this to make an opponent discard and you draw, it feels alright. It just won’t always do that. Still, at least it isn’t blank in the late game, since you can basically cash it in for a card. It also gets revolt going.
Reckless Fireweaver
2.5 This has alright stats and does often chip in a few damage with its ability, especially if you’re making servos.
Unbridled Growth
1.0 This is something you’ll play if you’re really hard up for fixing, but will avoid most of the time.
Pack 3 Pick 9: Renegade Wheelsmith
Renegade Wheelsmith
4.0 This card is great. RW is aggressive enough that blanking a blocker when this attacks can often mean game over for your opponent, and its important to note that it also makes things unable to block when it crews Vehicles, which is nice.
Aviary Mechanic
2.5 This has a solid baseline as a bear, and its ETB ability actually does something like half the time, and that’s pretty nice.
Lathnu Sailback
0.5 You’re almost never desperate enough to stick this in your deck. A 5-mana 5/4 just doesn’t do anything in this format.
Consulate Skygate
0.5 Yeah, you mostly won’t play this. It just doesn’t do anything but block, and it doesn’t even do that very well.
Hunt the Weak
3.0 You have to be careful with this, because your opponent killing the creature you put the counter on will just blow you out of the game. However, when the coast is clear, permanently pumping a creature and killing an opposing creature is quite strong, especially in a set that has +1/+1 counter payoffs.
Implement of Malice
2.0 If you consistently can use this to make an opponent discard and you draw, it feels alright. It just won’t always do that. Still, at least it isn’t blank in the late game, since you can basically cash it in for a card. It also gets revolt going.
Pack 3 Pick 10: Reckless Fireweaver
Engineered Might
2.5 This card is such a bummer as far as signposts go. Luckily, GW has other ways to pump the whole board that are better, because if this was the card that you were counting on to win you the game when you go wide, you’d be in trouble! Being a sorcery for 5 mana is just really rough, and gives your opponent way more information than you’d like. Pumping one creature as a secondary option is alright I guess, but its still a sorcery that can be easily responded to. I don’t think you even always play this in your GW decks, and that’s pretty sad.
Ornamental Courage
1.0 This isn’t a great trick. The small power boost doesn’t help you win very many combats.
Cogworker's Puzzleknot
2.5 This can really help you go wide in a hurry, which is useful for White decks, and it also gives you two artifacts on turn two, which can really help out cards with Improvise.
Herald of the Fair
2.0 This has mediocre stats, but an ETB ability that often lets you attack more effectively. Still, it is pretty replaceable and not remotely impressive.
Reckless Fireweaver
2.5 This has alright stats and does often chip in a few damage with its ability, especially if you’re making servos.
Pack 3 Pick 11: Live Fast
Inspired Charge
0.5 // 2.5 You would definitely prefer to get Dawnfeather Eagle, but with all of the Servos in White, you end up going wide enough to make this work in a decent chunk of decks, and it can definitely sub in for the eagle in those decks. If you aren’t good at going wide, it is pretty unplayable.
Destructive Tampering
0.5 // 2.5 This looks like something you’d never play in most formats, but two things make this actually an okay card in really aggressive decks. One of these is simply the fact that it often has targets to destroy with the first option, the other is just that turning off (almost) all blockers is often enough for the aggro decks to finish off an opponent who has stabilized. You really only want it in that one deck, but you’re kind of always on the look out for that one copy if that’s what your deck looks like.
Reservoir Walker
1.5 3 life and 3 energy isn’t really enough to offset the bad stats this has. It isn’t unplayable, but you won’t play it very often.
Live Fast
2.0 Drawing some cards and getting some energy is something you’ll want in some Black decks, but not all of them.
Pack 3 Pick 12: Lathnu Sailback
Ornamental Courage
1.0 This isn’t a great trick. The small power boost doesn’t help you win very many combats.
Select for Inspection
2.0 One mana to bounce a creature is a really good deal, even if it can only go after tapped creatures. It can give you some very nice tempo, and tacking on the Scry is nice additional upside.
Lathnu Sailback
0.5 You’re almost never desperate enough to stick this in your deck. A 5-mana 5/4 just doesn’t do anything in this format.
Pack 3 Pick 13: Inspired Charge
Leave in the Dust
2.5 Bounce + Draw a card is pretty solid, since it actually lets you go 1-for-1 with your opponent in addition to the tempo.
Inspired Charge
0.5 // 2.5 You would definitely prefer to get Dawnfeather Eagle, but with all of the Servos in White, you end up going wide enough to make this work in a decent chunk of decks, and it can definitely sub in for the eagle in those decks. If you aren’t good at going wide, it is pretty unplayable.
Pack 3 Pick 14: Unbridled Growth
Unbridled Growth
1.0 This is something you’ll play if you’re really hard up for fixing, but will avoid most of the time.