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Premier Draft IKO 24 August 2021

24 August 12:02 - Pokmet 7 Wins - 2 Losses
Maindeck
Creature (17)
1 Momentum Rumbler image
1 Lurking Deadeye image
1 Boot Nipper image
1 Insatiable Hemophage image
2 Auspicious Starrix image
1 Glowstone Recluse image
2 Pollywog Symbiote image
1 Ferocious Tigorilla image
2 Cavern Whisperer image
1 Jegantha, the Wellspring image
1 Essence Symbiote image
2 Fertilid image
1 Blitz Leech image
Instant, Sorcery, Enchantment, Artifact (6)
1 Adventurous Impulse image
1 Mythos of Vadrok image
1 Essence Scatter image
1 Fire Prophecy image
1 Pacifism image
1 Heartless Act image
Land (17)
1 Jungle Hollow image
1 Island image
3 Swamp image
3 Mountain image
4 Forest image
1 Rugged Highlands image
1 Tranquil Cove image
1 Blossoming Sands image
1 Thornwood Falls image
1 Savai Triome image
Sideboard
2 Aegis Turtle image
1 Prickly Marmoset image
1 Adaptive Shimmerer image
1 Facet Reader image
2 Coordinated Charge image
1 Divine Arrow image
1 Indatha Crystal image
1 Raugrin Crystal image
2 Dead Weight image
1 Fully Grown image
1 Death's Oasis image
1 Startling Development image

Pack 1 Pick 1: Mythos of Vadrok
Mythos of Vadrok image 4.0 So, a 4-mana Sorcery that divides 5 damage is already something I am very much in on. Sure, it can’t hit players, but I don’t care, that is an effect that isn’t too hard to get a 2-for-1 out of, and sometimes you can do even better than that! Then, if you’re Jeskai, you get a nice additional effect -- one that will probably lead to you using the card differently. Instead of killing stuff, you’ll probably just make it so 5 things can’t attack or block, since that is often just going to be lethal depending on the board state. So, either mode of this card is really powerful, and it is very good even if you don’t go the Jeskai wrote.
Primal Empathy image 3.5 That draw you a card every turn are very powerful, it is the kind of card advantage that just becomes insurmountable for your opponent. And sure, you DO have to meet a requirement to draw that card, but even if you can’t draw a card, a +1/+1 counter every turn is nice too -- and obviously it also means that you will be able to get your creature big enough to start drawing cards with it eventually.
Call of the Death-Dweller image 2.0 This takes some significant set up, and it is kind of difficult to actually load up your graveyard the way it wants you to. Sure, paying 3 to get back a 3/3 and give it those counters is nice, but it will be challenging to really make anything more than that happen, and even that is far from guaranteed. This format does have a reanimator deck, but it really prefers the cards that can reanimate big bois.
Cunning Nightbonder image 3.0 So I would feel fine about playing a two mana 2/2 with Flash anyway -- can occasionally ambush a more expensive creature with 2 toughness, or a creature with less than two power, and it has fine stats. But, reducing the cost of spells with Flash is nice too, especially because there seems to be a decent amount of it in this set.
Nightsquad Commando image 2.5 So, if this was a 3-mana 2/3 who always gave you that 1/1 would be quite nice. However, you have to fulfill the “Raid” trigger here to get that 1/1. And while that’s not the craziest hoop to jump through, it won’t always be worth it.
Dreamtail Heron image 3.5 I love herons in real life, and I’m glad this one seems pretty sweet in Limited. A 5-mana ¾ Flyer, which this is on a base level, is somewhat passable. It can serve as a finisher in decks that are really lacking one. But this does more than that, of course, thanks to the Mutate mechanic. If you play it first, it is a ¾ Flyer that might draw you a card later if you mutate on it. If you play it second, you can use it to give a beefier creature Flying and draw a card, or make a smaller creature into a ¾ flyer that draws you a card. That drawn card really helps avoid the 2-for-1 that you are potentially going to be dealing with here.
Suffocating Fumes image 3.0 Another card upgraded considerably by cycling. Giving your opponent’s team -1/-1 until end of turn will sometimes have a big impact, either cause it kills their X/1s outright, or you can use it to really mess up combat for your opponent. But about half the time, and maybe more, it doesn’t do anything significant, and that’s when you can Cycle it.
Wingfold Pteron image 2.0 A 6-mana 3/6 with Hexproof, or a 6 mana 3/6 with Flying would be a kind of playable card already, at least in slower decks. But, the fact that this gives you flexibility is great. It can be especially nice t to name Hexproof with this, so that I have an excellent place to put a bunch of other keyword counters and/or Auras. Just going full Voltron on the Pteron with Mutate seems fun too.
Plummet image 0.5 This is a sideboard card, like usual.
Prickly Marmoset image 3.5 This is another very good Cycling payoff who can make life a nightmare for your opponent. Every single time you attack with this your opponent has to make a choice between potentially taking a ton of damage to the face, or throwing a creature in front of it that will probably just die, since First Strike and even just one +2/+0 is enough to make the Marmoset win combat most of the time.
Cavern Whisperer image 2.5 So, a 5-mana 4/4 with Menace would make the cut a significant amount of the time. This also has a solid Mutate trigger, albeit one of the less exciting ones around, especially because its efficacy decreases as the game goes on. But hey, it can also lend Menace to a creature it Mutates on to! Or you can use it as the creature on top to make a 4/4 menace out of one of your creatures’. Still, costing 5 to mutate for an underwhelming trigger isn’t great, even if you’re upgrading a creature at the same time.
Boot Nipper image 3.0 This is a very nice two drop that gives you a couple of nice options. You would always play a two mana 2/1 with death touch, and you would frequently play a two mana 2/1 with lifelink. The power of having a choice between those two things is very real. If yo’ure behind, you probably go with death touch, but if you are the beatdown, you probably go with lifelink. This is a nice cheap creature to mutate on to as well, and those keyword counters will be nice on your mutated creature.
Drannith Healer image 3.5 Another Cycling card that is better than it looks! This one is a bear with a Cycling payoff, in addition to having the great 1 mana Cycling effect.
Blisterspit Gremlin image 2.0 This can ping stuff repeatedly, but having to use mana to do it does downgrade it significantly from similar cards we have seen.
Swamp image
Pack 1 Pick 2: Pacifism
Song of Creation image 3.0 Drawing extra cards is super powerful, and this thing will get silly in a hurry. Sure, you won’t always want to play it right away since you have other stuff going on in your hand, but once it makes sense to cast this, you will, and you will take over the game -- no question about it. Drawing extra cards, playing extra lands, it all goes well together, because it makes it more likely you can cast the extra cards you are drawing in the first place!
Charge of the Forever-Beast image 3.0 When this works, it feels pretty good – but there are a lot of times where this doesn’t do anything – like if you don’t have a creature in your hand of a large enough size for the spell to actually matter, and that happens more often than you might think.
Ivy Elemental image 1.5 This will never be efficient – you’ll pretty much always feel like you are paying one too much mana for it. Still, it is flexible, it can be a large creature late, and a smaller one early. It also isn’t the worst thing to mutate on to because of those counters.
Sleeper Dart image 1.0 This isn’t great, and is basically only the kind of card you run when you don’t have enough playables. It replaces itself, but the effect it has is really negligible.
Fully Grown image 1.5 I have a hard time liking 3-mana combat tricks in most situations. It makes the risk of a blowout even more painful because of the extra mana you’re paying. And sure, +3/+3 will frequently be enough to win combat, and it is nice that the creature permanently gets Trample, instead of just temporarily, but tricks are just so situational, that I really only like the idea of them at lower mana costs in most cases.
Pacifism image 4.0 Pacifism is a great card every time we see it in Limited -- which is a lot! Two mana to take away what are normally the two most important things creatures can do Limited -- attacking and blocking -- is just amazing efficiency, and it makes Pacifism a premium removal spell.
Frost Lynx image 3.5 This type of tempo creature is always great for Blue. You get to add a 2/2 to your board while significantly impacting the board state. Tapping something down could mean that you suddenly have really good attacks. It could also mean that you buy yourself some time against an aggro deck.
Mysterious Egg image 1.0 The flavor is cool and all, but I feel like you’d rather have a more exciting ability for Mutate, and a more exciting fail case than one mana 0/2.
Unexpected Fangs image 1.5 As a trick, it gives a pretty mediocre stats boost, even if the counter is permanent. The best tricks drastically increase the chance of your creature winning in combat, and this just won’t line up that way often enough. Lifelink permanently is something I can get behind, but I feel like this trick has all the usual risks tricks have, without really being worth it.
Convolute image 1.5 We see this a lot, and it is never that good. Leaving mana up for a counterspell is a big cost, and this one isn’t even a hard counter.
Spelleater Wolverine image 2.5 This is a nice little aggressive creature in this format, and it slots quite nicely into UR spells, but also into RW Cycling decks, since they tend to throw all kinds of cards with Cycling into the graveyard, including a bunch of instants and sorceries! Basically, it is way easier to get double strike online here than it looks.
Gust of Wind image 3.0 Even if this always cost 4, it would be a decent card. Bouncing something and drawing a card feels pretty great tempo-wise! But the great news is, this will often cost 2, and you don’t even have to try that hard to make that happen, since you’re playing blue.
Dreamtail Heron image 3.5 I love herons in real life, and I’m glad this one seems pretty sweet in Limited. A 5-mana ¾ Flyer, which this is on a base level, is somewhat passable. It can serve as a finisher in decks that are really lacking one. But this does more than that, of course, thanks to the Mutate mechanic. If you play it first, it is a ¾ Flyer that might draw you a card later if you mutate on it. If you play it second, you can use it to give a beefier creature Flying and draw a card, or make a smaller creature into a ¾ flyer that draws you a card. That drawn card really helps avoid the 2-for-1 that you are potentially going to be dealing with here.
Tranquil Cove image 3.0 As always, these provide nice fixing, and the 1 life is a solid bonus.
Pack 1 Pick 3: Auspicious Starrix
Auspicious Starrix image 4.5 This is pretty silly for an Uncommon. It definitely feels like it could have been a Rare as a result of how complex and powerful it is. So, let’s break this down. At worst, you have a 5-mana 6/6. But this gives you SO much more! If you pay its Mutate cost, or mutate something else on to it, it has a very powerful Mutate trigger that lets you put permanents on to the battlefield for free! You can also make sure it Mutates that first time by paying the Mutate cost for it and putting it on one of your creatures. The first time it Mutates, you get the top permanent from your library -- and sure, good chance it is a land, but a free land isn’t a bad thing. You also have a reasonable chance of hitting something real. Then, if you really stack the Mutate high here, things will get really silly. The free permanents really offset the risk of going all in one mutate creature -- and this is really what the Starrix wants you to be doing.
Regal Leosaur image 3.0 So the mutate trigger here doesn’t technically help you avoid a 2-for-1 most of the time, but it is powerful. Still, it is kind of an awkward card, since Mutate by its very nature does not help you go wide, so board pump on Mutate definitely feels weird. Still, it will frequently have a very real impact on the board state.
Garrison Cat image 1.5 This is a one drop that replaces itself, which isn’t too bad. It is also something you can mutate on to very early, and still getting a 1/1 when your mutated creature dies is okay upside. You still won’t play this most of the time, but it can be passable.
Whisper Squad image 0.0 // 3.0 This is unplayable with only one copy, but it gradually becomes more playable the more copies you get. Sure, paying two to get a 1/1 out of your deck doesn’t seem great, but it is actually some very real value, and an effective way to help you go wide. If you end up with 4 copies of this, it will become a pretty nice card.
Fully Grown image 1.5 I have a hard time liking 3-mana combat tricks in most situations. It makes the risk of a blowout even more painful because of the extra mana you’re paying. And sure, +3/+3 will frequently be enough to win combat, and it is nice that the creature permanently gets Trample, instead of just temporarily, but tricks are just so situational, that I really only like the idea of them at lower mana costs in most cases.
Lurking Deadeye image 3.0 These kinds of creatures are not normally something I am very impressed with – that is, creatures who kill something that has been dealt damage. This is because often-times making sure you damage something is difficult, and sometimes even when you do you have to give up a card to do it, so the window where this does something is not as high as you would like. However, this one has Flash, and that means that you will be able to find situations where it does its things more often than not. And even if you aren’t managing to kill something with the ability, sometimes flashing in a 4/2 to kill their X/4 is just fine too.
Daysquad Marshal image 2.5 This gives you two bodies with one card, and 4/4 worth of stats. In most sets that a solid card, and that’s what it is here.
Coordinated Charge image 2.5 All the cards with Cycling in this set are way better than they look. They are functionally split cards that you can just cycle when what they do doesn’t matter. Plus, if you’re in RW you’re really looking for a critical mass of these and will just jam all of them into your deck. And..yeah, sometimes this effect doesn’t matter, since you need to be going wide. But you can just cycle it away! Then, when it does matter, it will feel pretty great.
Facet Reader image 2.0 In a set with Cycling, this type of ability is much less impressive, since a lot of your cards will already be able to do this. It is still fine and will make the cut some, but less often than usual.
Honey Mammoth image 2.5 It isn’t exciting, but a 6-mana 6/6 that gains you 4 life can go a long way towards helping you stabilize against more aggressive decks.
Prickly Marmoset image 3.5 This is another very good Cycling payoff who can make life a nightmare for your opponent. Every single time you attack with this your opponent has to make a choice between potentially taking a ton of damage to the face, or throwing a creature in front of it that will probably just die, since First Strike and even just one +2/+0 is enough to make the Marmoset win combat most of the time.
Perimeter Sergeant image 2.5 This is a decent payoff for going wide with Humans, but don’t expect it to survive that first swing!
Dismal Backwater image 3.0 As always, these provide nice fixing, and the 1 life is a solid bonus.
Pack 1 Pick 4: Glowstone Recluse
Pollywog Symbiote image 3.0 A two mana ⅓ that reduces the cost of cards with Mutate would probably be a nice payoff to have in Mutate-heavy decks. It gets even better since the Symbiote lets you loot whenever it mutates, which is pretty great.
Proud Wildbonder image 3.0 A 4-mana 4/3 with Trample is fine, and the fact that he can do 4 no matter how he gets block is a nice upgrade -- especially because he does it for all of your tramplers!
Glowstone Recluse image 3.5 A three-mana ⅔ with Reach is usually playable, and this has good mutate upside. You can use it to lend reach to a creature who really needs it, if you are mutating it and putting it underneath a big creature, but the more valuable option will usually be to Mutate with this on top, since it will be a ⅘ who also gains the abilities of whatever is underneath it.
Crystacean image 1.5 This is supposed to be here for the UB flash deck, but that deck just doesn’t come together that often, and this has a pretty mediocre floor.
Lurking Deadeye image 3.0 These kinds of creatures are not normally something I am very impressed with – that is, creatures who kill something that has been dealt damage. This is because often-times making sure you damage something is difficult, and sometimes even when you do you have to give up a card to do it, so the window where this does something is not as high as you would like. However, this one has Flash, and that means that you will be able to find situations where it does its things more often than not. And even if you aren’t managing to kill something with the ability, sometimes flashing in a 4/2 to kill their X/4 is just fine too.
Frenzied Raptor image 1.5 Vanilla 3-mana 4/2s will make the cut sometimes, but you kind of hope they don’t.
Startling Development image 3.0 Another highly situational card with one mana cycling, Startling Development is much better than it looks. The 4/4 part will come up sometimes, and when it does it will be nice! But yeah, the real power here comes from being able to Cycle away for one mana.
Fully Grown image 1.5 I have a hard time liking 3-mana combat tricks in most situations. It makes the risk of a blowout even more painful because of the extra mana you’re paying. And sure, +3/+3 will frequently be enough to win combat, and it is nice that the creature permanently gets Trample, instead of just temporarily, but tricks are just so situational, that I really only like the idea of them at lower mana costs in most cases.
Go for Blood image 4.0 Two mana for Instant speed Fight is already a card that would make the cut, and adding Cycling 1 to this makes it way better!
Humble Naturalist image 3.0 This is a mana creature with okay stats, and those always tend to be nice inclusions in Limited Green decks.
Flycatcher Giraffid image 2.0 Neither option here is great, but neither is bad, either.
Blossoming Sands image 3.0 As always, these provide nice fixing, and the 1 life is a solid bonus.
Pack 1 Pick 5: Divine Arrow
Boon of the Wish-Giver image 3.5 If the Boon was just a 6-mana draw 4 it wouldn’t be great -- it would mean the only thing the card can do is tap you out for a turn, and while drawing 4 is awesome, not adding to the board is sometimes not an option. Basically this is a split card. The 6-mana sorcery, and a one-mana Instant that draws you a card. Both options will be nice sometimes – and of course, Cycling is extra good in this set because of all the payoffs.
Savai Crystal image 2.5 The crystals all provide good fixing – something you want a lot of the time in this format – and they all have Cycling, which means when you draw one and don’t really need the fixing, you can just throw it away to draw another card.
Dead Weight image 3.5 This is always premium removal when we see it! You’ll usually be able to spend one mana to kill a 2-4 mana creature, and that’s always good.
Blisterspit Gremlin image 2.0 This can ping stuff repeatedly, but having to use mana to do it does downgrade it significantly from similar cards we have seen.
Divine Arrow image 3.0 This is certainly situational, but also fairly efficient. You’re going to be spending only two mana to kill something, which will usually be less than your opponent paid for their creature. It might fall a little short of premium, but it is a nice removal spell.
Humble Naturalist image 3.0 This is a mana creature with okay stats, and those always tend to be nice inclusions in Limited Green decks.
Adventurous Impulse image 2.0 This is always a fine, very replacable card. If you need a land, it can usually find you one, and if you need a creature, it can do that too.
Sleeper Dart image 1.0 This isn’t great, and is basically only the kind of card you run when you don’t have enough playables. It replaces itself, but the effect it has is really negligible.
Mutual Destruction image 1.5 So, this is Bone Splinters that has flash on occasion. Bone Splinters is never great, but it is passable when you need removal, especially in a deck with lots of expendable bodies. If you can give this Flash it does get significantly better, because then you can do it in response to removal and stuff like that. Still, it isn’t that easy to set that up.
Ferocious Tigorilla image 2.5 You’re usually going to be choosing Menace with this, as it just tends to be the better evasive ability. A 4-mana 4/3 with Menace is something you’d always play the first copy of, and having the Trample options isn’t bad.
Wind-Scarred Crag image 3.0 As always, these provide nice fixing, and the 1 life is a solid bonus.
Pack 1 Pick 6: Pollywog Symbiote
Raugrin Crystal image 2.5 The crystals all provide good fixing – something you want a lot of the time in this format – and they all have Cycling, which means when you draw one and don’t really need the fixing, you can just throw it away to draw another card.
Pollywog Symbiote image 3.0 A two mana ⅓ that reduces the cost of cards with Mutate would probably be a nice payoff to have in Mutate-heavy decks. It gets even better since the Symbiote lets you loot whenever it mutates, which is pretty great.
Pyroceratops image 3.0 This is a nice spell payoff that can big in a hurry, which feels good when you have Trample along for the ride.
Patagia Tiger image 2.5 A 5-mana ¾ Flyer is usually a serviceable card in Limited.. This brings some pretty real additional upside, in that it can pump humans. White and Black especially have a lot of humans, and in those decks this will be a nice common because it will frequently give one of your Humans an attack that wouldn’t have worked before the Tiger came down.
Whisper Squad image 0.0 // 3.0 This is unplayable with only one copy, but it gradually becomes more playable the more copies you get. Sure, paying two to get a 1/1 out of your deck doesn’t seem great, but it is actually some very real value, and an effective way to help you go wide. If you end up with 4 copies of this, it will become a pretty nice card.
Adaptive Shimmerer image 1.5 The idea here is that you mutate on top of this, giving +3/+3 to whatever stats your mutated creature has. It also has Flash, and there are a few cards that care about that. Still, as far as payoffs and enablers go, this is pretty darn inefficient.
Plummet image 0.5 This is a sideboard card, like usual.
Capture Sphere image 3.5 This is usually not quite premium removal since it is kind of expensive and doesn’t take away static abilities. However, in a set loaded up with Mutate, it gets a lot better, as sometimes your opponent will be taking the risk of mutating, but suddenly that means Capture Sphere can effectively give you a 2-for-1.
Excavation Mole image 3.0 This is a Grizzly Bears with some nice upside. Making mutate creatures bigger and gaining you a bit of life is a very real bonus. And, I think your average Green deck will probably have 3-5 cards with Mutate, so it will be triggering regularly in most decks in this format. Something to keep in mind too, is that if you Mutate ON to this, it will start putting counters on the new Mutate creature, something that might be the ideal path to take sometimes.
Tranquil Cove image 3.0 As always, these provide nice fixing, and the 1 life is a solid bonus.
Pack 1 Pick 7: Ferocious Tigorilla
General's Enforcer image 3.5 So, a two mana ⅔ who can make 1/1 tokens out of stuff in graveyards is pretty nice, but don’t expect the legendary upside to come up.
Barrier Breach image 2.5 This is another situational card that would normally be unplayable, but Cycling means that you’ll play it a decent amount of the time.
Rooting Moloch image 4.0 Another very nice Cycling payoff, the Moloch can rebuy a card with Cycling – either to Cycle it again or because you actually want to cast it. Either way, getting a 2-for-1 here is very easy. Then, it has Cycling itself, and that is a really key thing in this format that makes Cycling so darn good – almost all the payoffs have Cycling too, which makes for a very cohesive deck.
Aegis Turtle image 1.0 Purely defensive creatures like this just aren’t worth it these days. Sure, it is an early non-Human you can Mutate on to in a hurry, but you’d much rather be Mutating on to something that gives you some sort of ability, instead of just being a vehicle on which to mutate.
Fully Grown image 1.5 I have a hard time liking 3-mana combat tricks in most situations. It makes the risk of a blowout even more painful because of the extra mana you’re paying. And sure, +3/+3 will frequently be enough to win combat, and it is nice that the creature permanently gets Trample, instead of just temporarily, but tricks are just so situational, that I really only like the idea of them at lower mana costs in most cases.
Mutual Destruction image 1.5 So, this is Bone Splinters that has flash on occasion. Bone Splinters is never great, but it is passable when you need removal, especially in a deck with lots of expendable bodies. If you can give this Flash it does get significantly better, because then you can do it in response to removal and stuff like that. Still, it isn’t that easy to set that up.
Facet Reader image 2.0 In a set with Cycling, this type of ability is much less impressive, since a lot of your cards will already be able to do this. It is still fine and will make the cut some, but less often than usual.
Ferocious Tigorilla image 2.5 You’re usually going to be choosing Menace with this, as it just tends to be the better evasive ability. A 4-mana 4/3 with Menace is something you’d always play the first copy of, and having the Trample options isn’t bad.
Thornwood Falls image 3.0 As always, these provide nice fixing, and the 1 life is a solid bonus.
Pack 1 Pick 8: Essence Scatter
Light of Hope image 1.0 This is modal, but none of the effects on it are especially good.
Springjaw Trap image 1.5 You’ll play this if you end up with enough flash in UB, or if you’re desperate for removal, OR if you have Lurrus. But that’s pretty much it.
Startling Development image 3.0 Another highly situational card with one mana cycling, Startling Development is much better than it looks. The 4/4 part will come up sometimes, and when it does it will be nice! But yeah, the real power here comes from being able to Cycle away for one mana.
Tentative Connection image 2.0 There are a couple of things going on here that make this a little better than most Threaten effects. First, when you can discount this because you have a Menace creature, it will feel pretty good – especially because Menace creatures already pair well with a Threaten effect. The other thing is, there are some efficient ways to sacrifice creatures in this format, and that means stealing an opposing creature and sacrificing it is pretty doable.
Blazing Volley image 0.5 This is a sideboard card. There just aren’t enough things this kills for it to be a main deck card in this format.
Pyroceratops image 3.0 This is a nice spell payoff that can big in a hurry, which feels good when you have Trample along for the ride.
Essence Scatter image 2.5 Two mana counterspells offset the risks of your opponent playing around it, and even though it can only counter creatures, that’s going to be just fine in this set. This format has more creatures in than normal, too!
Forest image
Pack 1 Pick 9: Cavern Whisperer
Cunning Nightbonder image 3.0 So I would feel fine about playing a two mana 2/2 with Flash anyway -- can occasionally ambush a more expensive creature with 2 toughness, or a creature with less than two power, and it has fine stats. But, reducing the cost of spells with Flash is nice too, especially because there seems to be a decent amount of it in this set.
Suffocating Fumes image 3.0 Another card upgraded considerably by cycling. Giving your opponent’s team -1/-1 until end of turn will sometimes have a big impact, either cause it kills their X/1s outright, or you can use it to really mess up combat for your opponent. But about half the time, and maybe more, it doesn’t do anything significant, and that’s when you can Cycle it.
Wingfold Pteron image 2.0 A 6-mana 3/6 with Hexproof, or a 6 mana 3/6 with Flying would be a kind of playable card already, at least in slower decks. But, the fact that this gives you flexibility is great. It can be especially nice t to name Hexproof with this, so that I have an excellent place to put a bunch of other keyword counters and/or Auras. Just going full Voltron on the Pteron with Mutate seems fun too.
Plummet image 0.5 This is a sideboard card, like usual.
Cavern Whisperer image 2.5 So, a 5-mana 4/4 with Menace would make the cut a significant amount of the time. This also has a solid Mutate trigger, albeit one of the less exciting ones around, especially because its efficacy decreases as the game goes on. But hey, it can also lend Menace to a creature it Mutates on to! Or you can use it as the creature on top to make a 4/4 menace out of one of your creatures’. Still, costing 5 to mutate for an underwhelming trigger isn’t great, even if you’re upgrading a creature at the same time.
Blisterspit Gremlin image 2.0 This can ping stuff repeatedly, but having to use mana to do it does downgrade it significantly from similar cards we have seen.
Swamp image
Pack 1 Pick 10: Tranquil Cove
Sleeper Dart image 1.0 This isn’t great, and is basically only the kind of card you run when you don’t have enough playables. It replaces itself, but the effect it has is really negligible.
Convolute image 1.5 We see this a lot, and it is never that good. Leaving mana up for a counterspell is a big cost, and this one isn’t even a hard counter.
Spelleater Wolverine image 2.5 This is a nice little aggressive creature in this format, and it slots quite nicely into UR spells, but also into RW Cycling decks, since they tend to throw all kinds of cards with Cycling into the graveyard, including a bunch of instants and sorceries! Basically, it is way easier to get double strike online here than it looks.
Gust of Wind image 3.0 Even if this always cost 4, it would be a decent card. Bouncing something and drawing a card feels pretty great tempo-wise! But the great news is, this will often cost 2, and you don’t even have to try that hard to make that happen, since you’re playing blue.
Dreamtail Heron image 3.5 I love herons in real life, and I’m glad this one seems pretty sweet in Limited. A 5-mana ¾ Flyer, which this is on a base level, is somewhat passable. It can serve as a finisher in decks that are really lacking one. But this does more than that, of course, thanks to the Mutate mechanic. If you play it first, it is a ¾ Flyer that might draw you a card later if you mutate on it. If you play it second, you can use it to give a beefier creature Flying and draw a card, or make a smaller creature into a ¾ flyer that draws you a card. That drawn card really helps avoid the 2-for-1 that you are potentially going to be dealing with here.
Tranquil Cove image 3.0 As always, these provide nice fixing, and the 1 life is a solid bonus.
Pack 1 Pick 11: Prickly Marmoset
Garrison Cat image 1.5 This is a one drop that replaces itself, which isn’t too bad. It is also something you can mutate on to very early, and still getting a 1/1 when your mutated creature dies is okay upside. You still won’t play this most of the time, but it can be passable.
Daysquad Marshal image 2.5 This gives you two bodies with one card, and 4/4 worth of stats. In most sets that a solid card, and that’s what it is here.
Coordinated Charge image 2.5 All the cards with Cycling in this set are way better than they look. They are functionally split cards that you can just cycle when what they do doesn’t matter. Plus, if you’re in RW you’re really looking for a critical mass of these and will just jam all of them into your deck. And..yeah, sometimes this effect doesn’t matter, since you need to be going wide. But you can just cycle it away! Then, when it does matter, it will feel pretty great.
Prickly Marmoset image 3.5 This is another very good Cycling payoff who can make life a nightmare for your opponent. Every single time you attack with this your opponent has to make a choice between potentially taking a ton of damage to the face, or throwing a creature in front of it that will probably just die, since First Strike and even just one +2/+0 is enough to make the Marmoset win combat most of the time.
Dismal Backwater image 3.0 As always, these provide nice fixing, and the 1 life is a solid bonus.
Pack 1 Pick 12: Blossoming Sands
Crystacean image 1.5 This is supposed to be here for the UB flash deck, but that deck just doesn’t come together that often, and this has a pretty mediocre floor.
Frenzied Raptor image 1.5 Vanilla 3-mana 4/2s will make the cut sometimes, but you kind of hope they don’t.
Fully Grown image 1.5 I have a hard time liking 3-mana combat tricks in most situations. It makes the risk of a blowout even more painful because of the extra mana you’re paying. And sure, +3/+3 will frequently be enough to win combat, and it is nice that the creature permanently gets Trample, instead of just temporarily, but tricks are just so situational, that I really only like the idea of them at lower mana costs in most cases.
Blossoming Sands image 3.0 As always, these provide nice fixing, and the 1 life is a solid bonus.
Pack 1 Pick 13: Adventurous Impulse
Savai Crystal image 2.5 The crystals all provide good fixing – something you want a lot of the time in this format – and they all have Cycling, which means when you draw one and don’t really need the fixing, you can just throw it away to draw another card.
Adventurous Impulse image 2.0 This is always a fine, very replacable card. If you need a land, it can usually find you one, and if you need a creature, it can do that too.
Sleeper Dart image 1.0 This isn’t great, and is basically only the kind of card you run when you don’t have enough playables. It replaces itself, but the effect it has is really negligible.
Pack 1 Pick 14: Adaptive Shimmerer
Adaptive Shimmerer image 1.5 The idea here is that you mutate on top of this, giving +3/+3 to whatever stats your mutated creature has. It also has Flash, and there are a few cards that care about that. Still, as far as payoffs and enablers go, this is pretty darn inefficient.
Plummet image 0.5 This is a sideboard card, like usual.
Pack 1 Pick 15: Fully Grown
Fully Grown image 1.5 I have a hard time liking 3-mana combat tricks in most situations. It makes the risk of a blowout even more painful because of the extra mana you’re paying. And sure, +3/+3 will frequently be enough to win combat, and it is nice that the creature permanently gets Trample, instead of just temporarily, but tricks are just so situational, that I really only like the idea of them at lower mana costs in most cases.
Pack 2 Pick 1: Heartless Act
Colossification image 2.0 I have a hard time getting behind Auras that don’t give you some sort of value to offset the colossal risk of getting 2-for-1’d -- and this doesn’t do that. Which is even worse because it costs 7 mana, so you will take a huge tempo hit too. Still, it is the kind of card where, if you get to untap, you have a good chance at winning. It is a very swingy card, but if you are good at making mana and have several evasive creatures, it will probably make the cut.
Mystic Subdual image 3.0 This doesn’t get a rid of a blocker entirely, but it does completely shut off an opposing creature, even hosing Mutate! That’s a pretty good deal for two mana.
Boon of the Wish-Giver image 3.5 If the Boon was just a 6-mana draw 4 it wouldn’t be great -- it would mean the only thing the card can do is tap you out for a turn, and while drawing 4 is awesome, not adding to the board is sometimes not an option. Basically this is a split card. The 6-mana sorcery, and a one-mana Instant that draws you a card. Both options will be nice sometimes – and of course, Cycling is extra good in this set because of all the payoffs.
Heartless Act image 4.0 I get it, this set has lots of counters, so this won’t actually be able to kill everything -- but it will still be able to kill a majority of creatures for only two mana, and that’s a pretty good Doom Blade impression. On top of that, even if you end up in a situation where all your opponent’s stuff has counters, it comes with another option that lets you take away those counters. Depending on the counters, that could sometimes act as a removal spell anyway, because if something attacks you and you take away some keyword abilities or +1/+1 counters, an advantageous block may emerge.
Humble Naturalist image 3.0 This is a mana creature with okay stats, and those always tend to be nice inclusions in Limited Green decks.
Raking Claws image 3.0 Another situational card with Cycling, Raking Claws can sometimes do a whole lot as a trick, but when it can’t? Well, just Cycle it away and look for something else.
Divine Arrow image 3.0 This is certainly situational, but also fairly efficient. You’re going to be spending only two mana to kill something, which will usually be less than your opponent paid for their creature. It might fall a little short of premium, but it is a nice removal spell.
Cavern Whisperer image 2.5 So, a 5-mana 4/4 with Menace would make the cut a significant amount of the time. This also has a solid Mutate trigger, albeit one of the less exciting ones around, especially because its efficacy decreases as the game goes on. But hey, it can also lend Menace to a creature it Mutates on to! Or you can use it as the creature on top to make a 4/4 menace out of one of your creatures’. Still, costing 5 to mutate for an underwhelming trigger isn’t great, even if you’re upgrading a creature at the same time.
Gust of Wind image 3.0 Even if this always cost 4, it would be a decent card. Bouncing something and drawing a card feels pretty great tempo-wise! But the great news is, this will often cost 2, and you don’t even have to try that hard to make that happen, since you’re playing blue.
Boot Nipper image 3.0 This is a very nice two drop that gives you a couple of nice options. You would always play a two mana 2/1 with death touch, and you would frequently play a two mana 2/1 with lifelink. The power of having a choice between those two things is very real. If yo’ure behind, you probably go with death touch, but if you are the beatdown, you probably go with lifelink. This is a nice cheap creature to mutate on to as well, and those keyword counters will be nice on your mutated creature.
Perimeter Sergeant image 2.5 This is a decent payoff for going wide with Humans, but don’t expect it to survive that first swing!
Gloom Pangolin image 1.0 A ⅕ for 3 might be something you play in slower more controlling decks sometimes -- it can block pretty effectively, but I think most of the time you won’t REALLY want this, and you’ll play it when you’re desperate for creatures, and that’s about it.
Unexpected Fangs image 1.5 As a trick, it gives a pretty mediocre stats boost, even if the counter is permanent. The best tricks drastically increase the chance of your creature winning in combat, and this just won’t line up that way often enough. Lifelink permanently is something I can get behind, but I feel like this trick has all the usual risks tricks have, without really being worth it.
Fully Grown image 1.5 I have a hard time liking 3-mana combat tricks in most situations. It makes the risk of a blowout even more painful because of the extra mana you’re paying. And sure, +3/+3 will frequently be enough to win combat, and it is nice that the creature permanently gets Trample, instead of just temporarily, but tricks are just so situational, that I really only like the idea of them at lower mana costs in most cases.
Blossoming Sands image 3.0 As always, these provide nice fixing, and the 1 life is a solid bonus.
Pack 2 Pick 2: Fire Prophecy
Slitherwisp image 4.0 Making every card with flash draw you a card and do 1 to your opponent is just a crazy good trigger. A 3 -mana 3/2 with Flash is usually a C or so too, so you have a reasonable floor here. You can Flash it in to eat smaller creatures or just to trade -- although that latter option doesn’t sound super attractive given this guy’s ability.
Archipelagore image 4.0 The ideal thing you want to do is play this for the Mutate cost, since it gives you a discount on the card and gives you the powerful Mutate trigger -- tapping down one of your opponent’s creatures for a turn is no joke, especially because if you put the Archipelagore on to something that was on the battlefield the previous turn (which is likely) it can get in there and rumble right away! Obviously, the more it mutates, the more tapping you get to do, and that’s awesome. And yeah, doesn’t hurt that if you have this and no creatures, you can at least pay 7 mana for a 7/7 with some Mutate upside.
Channeled Force image 1.5 This is not especially easy to make work. It lets you rummage and then damage stuff, but the set up of having to have a bunch of cards in your hand just isn’t going to be worth that a lot of the time.
Neutralize image 3.0 Counterspells have some very real downside over a lot of removal, in that you have to be able to cast it whenever what you want to remove is cast. That’s not the case for other removal -- this makes counter-magic situational, and if it is hard to create that situation -- and leaving up three mana isn’t always possible -- that makes a lot of counter magic subpar in Limited. However! This is a good illustration of how Cycling can really change a card. By adding Cycling, you end up with a card that is much less situational -- in fact, you can pretty much always do something with it, even if that thing is just Cycling it.
Honey Mammoth image 2.5 It isn’t exciting, but a 6-mana 6/6 that gains you 4 life can go a long way towards helping you stabilize against more aggressive decks.
Cloudpiercer image 2.5 5-mana for a 5/4 Reach is fairly passable, and adding a rummage mutate effect is fine.
Anticipate image 1.5 This is always fine, but never much more than that. It is a very replaceable effect, gives you some reasonable card selection.
Survivors' Bond image 2.0 If you can set this up reliably to get two cards back from your graveyard, it is a decent thing to have a singleton copy of, since in the late game it can really pull you ahead.
Bushmeat Poacher image 3.0 This is a very nice activated ability. Cashing in creatures for cards is always a nice thing to have in Limited, because it isn’t unusual for some of your early creatures to become kind of useless as the game wears on, and this gives you something really nice to do with them -- gaining life and drawing a card is great. Any time those two are put together I’m pretty happy, because the life you gain makes it more likely you’ll be able to use that extra card you drew before you die. You can also use it in response to removal, or on a creature who has been shut down by an Aura. This can also be used to sacrifice creatures who are blocking and would die anyway. A 4-mana 2/4 isn’t even the worst stats ever, and overall this is pretty nice in slower Black decks.
Fire Prophecy image 4.0 Two mana for three damage to a creature at instant speed is already premium, because it tends to be efficient enough to trade up pretty often. But, adding this card selection ability is a nice upgrade It will play much like rummaging would, except that you don’t get the card in the graveyard, so sometimes it will be weaker that rummage, but most of the time you wouldn’t know the difference. This is definitely premium removal -- kills something and then helps you find more gas, and I always like that.
Coordinated Charge image 2.5 All the cards with Cycling in this set are way better than they look. They are functionally split cards that you can just cycle when what they do doesn’t matter. Plus, if you’re in RW you’re really looking for a critical mass of these and will just jam all of them into your deck. And..yeah, sometimes this effect doesn’t matter, since you need to be going wide. But you can just cycle it away! Then, when it does matter, it will feel pretty great.
Bristling Boar image 2.5 Making it so the only way it dies in combat is if your opponent has one creature that can do 3 damage is surprisingly effective, and grants it an evasive ability -- albeit a weak one. A 4-mana 4/3 is usually playable-ish anyway, and the upside here is real.
Daysquad Marshal image 2.5 This gives you two bodies with one card, and 4/4 worth of stats. In most sets that a solid card, and that’s what it is here.
Scoured Barrens image 3.0 As always, these provide nice fixing, and the 1 life is a solid bonus.
Pack 2 Pick 3: Jegantha, the Wellspring
Jegantha, the Wellspring image 4.0 This is one of the easier companions to make into a Companion, as sometimes your deck will just fulfill the requirement without even trying! And like all of these, when you meet their requirement, they effectively are built-in card advantage, even if you do pay a little extra to put it into your hand. Jegantha gives you a 5-mana 5/5, which is nice, and even fixes for you. Since it generally isn’t a big cost to companion it, it is pretty appealing.
Avian Oddity image 3.5 If you cast this normally, it has reasonable stats, and being able to Cycle it away and give something Flying is a great option too.
Void Beckoner image 3.5 So, an 8-mana 8/8 Deathtouch would not normally be something I want to play -- that’s because it is just so hard to get to 8 mana! But by adding cycling to this, it becomes much more intriguing. Cycling really lets you get away with playing stupid expensive cards, since if you can’t cast them, you can always turn them in for a card. It is especially nice that this Beckoner also has a trigger with Cycling -- giving something Deathtouch at Instant speed and drawing card is pretty nice. Even if your creature still dies in combat, you end up netting a card out of this, so that fact is offset, especially if you are trading a little guy who could previously only chump block for something scary on the opponent’s side of the table. This also gets an upgrade because BG decks can reanimate him pretty easily.
Memory Leak image 3.5 This is a situational discard effect that becomes useless in the late game. However! It has Cycling 1, and that gives everything a big upgrade in this format – you can cycle it away when it doesn’t do a thing, and when it can do a thing it isn’t too shabby.
Rumbling Rockslide image 3.0 This is pretty clunky as a 4-mana Sorcery, but it does scale as the game goes on, and can deal with virtually any creature, provided you get some lands in play.
Corpse Churn image 2.0 This is mostly here to enable the BG reanimator deck, and it does a decent job of that.
Springjaw Trap image 1.5 You’ll play this if you end up with enough flash in UB, or if you’re desperate for removal, OR if you have Lurrus. But that’s pretty much it.
Light of Hope image 1.0 This is modal, but none of the effects on it are especially good.
Capture Sphere image 3.5 This is usually not quite premium removal since it is kind of expensive and doesn’t take away static abilities. However, in a set loaded up with Mutate, it gets a lot better, as sometimes your opponent will be taking the risk of mutating, but suddenly that means Capture Sphere can effectively give you a 2-for-1.
Blitz Leech image 2.5 This has an ugly stat-line, but by adding Flash and a nice ETB trigger to the mix, it really overcomes that. You can flash this into kill an X/2, and then use the 5/2 body to block something bigger, and that’s a 2-for-1! Sure, it is kind of an expensive one, but that’s real upside. Now, it won’t always be able to do that for you, and it is a little situational, but still -- I basically always like the first copy of this in my Black decks. Going beyond that is a bit much because of the high mana cost though.
Plummet image 0.5 This is a sideboard card, like usual.
Cavern Whisperer image 2.5 So, a 5-mana 4/4 with Menace would make the cut a significant amount of the time. This also has a solid Mutate trigger, albeit one of the less exciting ones around, especially because its efficacy decreases as the game goes on. But hey, it can also lend Menace to a creature it Mutates on to! Or you can use it as the creature on top to make a 4/4 menace out of one of your creatures’. Still, costing 5 to mutate for an underwhelming trigger isn’t great, even if you’re upgrading a creature at the same time.
Swamp image
Pack 2 Pick 4: Essence Symbiote
Ominous Seas image 3.5 This is a solid Cycling payoff, as the 8/8 it can give you can really end games. In general, it is much easier to get this going than it looks! It also gets a big upgrade because if you draw it late, you’re not likely to ever be able to make that creature token, and that would make it a pretty terrible draw, but Cycling gets around that downside.
Raugrin Crystal image 2.5 The crystals all provide good fixing – something you want a lot of the time in this format – and they all have Cycling, which means when you draw one and don’t really need the fixing, you can just throw it away to draw another card.
Lurking Deadeye image 3.0 These kinds of creatures are not normally something I am very impressed with – that is, creatures who kill something that has been dealt damage. This is because often-times making sure you damage something is difficult, and sometimes even when you do you have to give up a card to do it, so the window where this does something is not as high as you would like. However, this one has Flash, and that means that you will be able to find situations where it does its things more often than not. And even if you aren’t managing to kill something with the ability, sometimes flashing in a 4/2 to kill their X/4 is just fine too.
Facet Reader image 2.0 In a set with Cycling, this type of ability is much less impressive, since a lot of your cards will already be able to do this. It is still fine and will make the cut some, but less often than usual.
Essence Symbiote image 3.0 This is a Grizzly Bears with some nice upside. Making mutate creatures bigger and gaining you a bit of life is a very real bonus. And, I think your average Green deck will probably have 3-5 cards with Mutate, so it will be triggering regularly in most decks in this format. Something to keep in mind too, is that if you Mutate ON to this, it will start putting counters on the new Mutate creature, something that might be the ideal path to take sometimes
Solid Footing image 1.5 This is an interesting Vigilance payoff, and you’ll play it sometimes if you have enough Vigilance, because in those scenarios it gives a big boost for only one mana. You’ll cut this a lot, though.
Forbidden Friendship image 2.5 This is a reasonable deal for two bodies, and will help decks that want to go wide. It is a mostly better Krenko’s Command, since the dinosaur gets to have Haste, and that card is always just fine.
Whisper Squad image 0.0 // 3.0 This is unplayable with only one copy, but it gradually becomes more playable the more copies you get. Sure, paying two to get a 1/1 out of your deck doesn’t seem great, but it is actually some very real value, and an effective way to help you go wide. If you end up with 4 copies of this, it will become a pretty nice card.
Plummet image 0.5 This is a sideboard card, like usual.
Corpse Churn image 2.0 This is mostly here to enable the BG reanimator deck, and it does a decent job of that.
Aegis Turtle image 1.0 Purely defensive creatures like this just aren’t worth it these days. Sure, it is an early non-Human you can Mutate on to in a hurry, but you’d much rather be Mutating on to something that gives you some sort of ability, instead of just being a vehicle on which to mutate.
Scoured Barrens image 3.0 As always, these provide nice fixing, and the 1 life is a solid bonus.
Pack 2 Pick 5: Death's Oasis
Death's Oasis image 0.0 You won’t end up in a deck where you can make this work.
Ominous Seas image 3.5 This is a solid Cycling payoff, as the 8/8 it can give you can really end games. In general, it is much easier to get this going than it looks! It also gets a big upgrade because if you draw it late, you’re not likely to ever be able to make that creature token, and that would make it a pretty terrible draw, but Cycling gets around that downside.
Skull Prophet image 4.0 Wow, talk about a Cycling payoff. Sure, you have to have the mana to spend, but Cycling in this set usually costs 1-2 mana, so it isn’t a stretch to be able to pay the 2, and when you do, you get to start killing smaller stuff and gaining life, which is pretty awesome. It is nice you get something out of the trigger even if you don’t actually kill their creature -- getting some life no matter what is not too bad. On top of that, it is just a nice aggressive body as a 2-mana 3/2.
Springjaw Trap image 1.5 You’ll play this if you end up with enough flash in UB, or if you’re desperate for removal, OR if you have Lurrus. But that’s pretty much it.
Aegis Turtle image 1.0 Purely defensive creatures like this just aren’t worth it these days. Sure, it is an early non-Human you can Mutate on to in a hurry, but you’d much rather be Mutating on to something that gives you some sort of ability, instead of just being a vehicle on which to mutate.
Startling Development image 3.0 Another highly situational card with one mana cycling, Startling Development is much better than it looks. The 4/4 part will come up sometimes, and when it does it will be nice! But yeah, the real power here comes from being able to Cycle away for one mana.
Checkpoint Officer image 3.5 This isn’t QUITE Master Decoy -- they are identical other than that this costs an additional mana to tap stuff down -- but that’s close enough to Master Decoy to still be a pretty high quality common. Tap effects tend to be great, and it is a kind of pseudo-removal that is good all game long. It is better than usual in this format that is loaded up with huge monsters and Mutate, where tapping down one guy is bigger than it normally would.
Patagia Tiger image 2.5 A 5-mana ¾ Flyer is usually a serviceable card in Limited.. This brings some pretty real additional upside, in that it can pump humans. White and Black especially have a lot of humans, and in those decks this will be a nice common because it will frequently give one of your Humans an attack that wouldn’t have worked before the Tiger came down.
Cathartic Reunion image 1.5 This is a reprint, and one that would be better in a set that has more of a graveyard theme. In this set, it is mostly just a fine 23rd card, like Tormenting Voice effects often are. It is a nice way to dig deeper into your deck, even if you do have some considerable set up costs in discarding two cards.
Divine Arrow image 3.0 This is certainly situational, but also fairly efficient. You’re going to be spending only two mana to kill something, which will usually be less than your opponent paid for their creature. It might fall a little short of premium, but it is a nice removal spell.
Mountain image
Pack 2 Pick 6: Indatha Crystal
Indatha Crystal image 2.5 The crystals all provide good fixing – something you want a lot of the time in this format – and they all have Cycling, which means when you draw one and don’t really need the fixing, you can just throw it away to draw another card.
Cunning Nightbonder image 3.0 So I would feel fine about playing a two mana 2/2 with Flash anyway -- can occasionally ambush a more expensive creature with 2 toughness, or a creature with less than two power, and it has fine stats. But, reducing the cost of spells with Flash is nice too, especially because there seems to be a decent amount of it in this set.
Sleeper Dart image 1.0 This isn’t great, and is basically only the kind of card you run when you don’t have enough playables. It replaces itself, but the effect it has is really negligible.
Phase Dolphin image 2.5 This is a decent creature early since it can help others get in, and it can be particularly nice to mutate on to.
Raking Claws image 3.0 Another situational card with Cycling, Raking Claws can sometimes do a whole lot as a trick, but when it can’t? Well, just Cycle it away and look for something else.
Coordinated Charge image 2.5 All the cards with Cycling in this set are way better than they look. They are functionally split cards that you can just cycle when what they do doesn’t matter. Plus, if you’re in RW you’re really looking for a critical mass of these and will just jam all of them into your deck. And..yeah, sometimes this effect doesn’t matter, since you need to be going wide. But you can just cycle it away! Then, when it does matter, it will feel pretty great.
Daysquad Marshal image 2.5 This gives you two bodies with one card, and 4/4 worth of stats. In most sets that a solid card, and that’s what it is here.
Unexpected Fangs image 1.5 As a trick, it gives a pretty mediocre stats boost, even if the counter is permanent. The best tricks drastically increase the chance of your creature winning in combat, and this just won’t line up that way often enough. Lifelink permanently is something I can get behind, but I feel like this trick has all the usual risks tricks have, without really being worth it.
Go for Blood image 4.0 Two mana for Instant speed Fight is already a card that would make the cut, and adding Cycling 1 to this makes it way better!
Maned Serval image 1.5 This is a reasonably efficient French Vanilla creature that it is okay to mutate on top of.
Pack 2 Pick 7: Thornwood Falls
Solid Footing image 1.5 This is an interesting Vigilance payoff, and you’ll play it sometimes if you have enough Vigilance, because in those scenarios it gives a big boost for only one mana. You’ll cut this a lot, though.
Of One Mind image 3.0 I am usually interested in running one Divination in most Limited formats, and this is a strictly better one since its cost can be reduced. If you are consistently casting this for one, it will be absolutely silly -- but the requirement it asks for, while doable, isn’t the kind of thing that will just always be the case.
Sleeper Dart image 1.0 This isn’t great, and is basically only the kind of card you run when you don’t have enough playables. It replaces itself, but the effect it has is really negligible.
Dead Weight image 3.5 This is always premium removal when we see it! You’ll usually be able to spend one mana to kill a 2-4 mana creature, and that’s always good.
Flycatcher Giraffid image 2.0 Neither option here is great, but neither is bad, either.
Startling Development image 3.0 Another highly situational card with one mana cycling, Startling Development is much better than it looks. The 4/4 part will come up sometimes, and when it does it will be nice! But yeah, the real power here comes from being able to Cycle away for one mana.
Lava Serpent image 3.5 A 6-mana 5/5 with Haste would make the cut some of the time, and this has Cycling, giving it a huge upgrade in a format that really cares about Cycling. You can just throw it away if you get it early, and then in the late game it can be a problem for your opponent.
Wilt image 2.5 Another situational cycler means another solid playable
Thornwood Falls image 3.0 As always, these provide nice fixing, and the 1 life is a solid bonus.
Pack 2 Pick 8: Fertilid
Cunning Nightbonder image 3.0 So I would feel fine about playing a two mana 2/2 with Flash anyway -- can occasionally ambush a more expensive creature with 2 toughness, or a creature with less than two power, and it has fine stats. But, reducing the cost of spells with Flash is nice too, especially because there seems to be a decent amount of it in this set.
Fertilid image 3.0 A three mana 2/2 isn’t especially good, but the fixing Fertilid provides for you is quite nice. Green usually gets nice commons for Splashing or going three colors, and that’s what this is. It has the ability to grab a couple of land over a few turns, and that is nice -- helps mitigate against mana screw, helps you find your colors, etc., If you don’t really need to fix when you play it, it also makes a good creature to mutate on to.
Crystacean image 1.5 This is supposed to be here for the UB flash deck, but that deck just doesn’t come together that often, and this has a pretty mediocre floor.
Essence Scatter image 2.5 Two mana counterspells offset the risks of your opponent playing around it, and even though it can only counter creatures, that’s going to be just fine in this set. This format has more creatures in than normal, too!
Helica Glider image 2.5 Most of the time you’re going to go with the Flying option -- but sometimes First Strike will be better. It is nice on turn three, and then later in the game a nice thing to mutate on top of thanks to the keyword ability it brings with it.
Keep Safe image 1.5 There will be times where this feel amazing -- you counter the spell that targets one of your creatures and draw a card -- that’s a 2-for-1! But unfortunately, that actually lining up is far from guaranteed. Still, in this format with mutate creatures, you’re a little more interested in this than you would be in other formats, since you are often taking a big risk to mutate, and this can help protect your creature. Still, you won’t play this most of the time.
Lava Serpent image 3.5 A 6-mana 5/5 with Haste would make the cut some of the time, and this has Cycling, giving it a huge upgrade in a format that really cares about Cycling. You can just throw it away if you get it early, and then in the late game it can be a problem for your opponent.
Forest image
Pack 2 Pick 9: Cavern Whisperer
Divine Arrow image 3.0 This is certainly situational, but also fairly efficient. You’re going to be spending only two mana to kill something, which will usually be less than your opponent paid for their creature. It might fall a little short of premium, but it is a nice removal spell.
Cavern Whisperer image 2.5 So, a 5-mana 4/4 with Menace would make the cut a significant amount of the time. This also has a solid Mutate trigger, albeit one of the less exciting ones around, especially because its efficacy decreases as the game goes on. But hey, it can also lend Menace to a creature it Mutates on to! Or you can use it as the creature on top to make a 4/4 menace out of one of your creatures’. Still, costing 5 to mutate for an underwhelming trigger isn’t great, even if you’re upgrading a creature at the same time.
Gust of Wind image 3.0 Even if this always cost 4, it would be a decent card. Bouncing something and drawing a card feels pretty great tempo-wise! But the great news is, this will often cost 2, and you don’t even have to try that hard to make that happen, since you’re playing blue.
Boot Nipper image 3.0 This is a very nice two drop that gives you a couple of nice options. You would always play a two mana 2/1 with death touch, and you would frequently play a two mana 2/1 with lifelink. The power of having a choice between those two things is very real. If yo’ure behind, you probably go with death touch, but if you are the beatdown, you probably go with lifelink. This is a nice cheap creature to mutate on to as well, and those keyword counters will be nice on your mutated creature.
Unexpected Fangs image 1.5 As a trick, it gives a pretty mediocre stats boost, even if the counter is permanent. The best tricks drastically increase the chance of your creature winning in combat, and this just won’t line up that way often enough. Lifelink permanently is something I can get behind, but I feel like this trick has all the usual risks tricks have, without really being worth it.
Fully Grown image 1.5 I have a hard time liking 3-mana combat tricks in most situations. It makes the risk of a blowout even more painful because of the extra mana you’re paying. And sure, +3/+3 will frequently be enough to win combat, and it is nice that the creature permanently gets Trample, instead of just temporarily, but tricks are just so situational, that I really only like the idea of them at lower mana costs in most cases.
Blossoming Sands image 3.0 As always, these provide nice fixing, and the 1 life is a solid bonus.
Pack 2 Pick 10: Coordinated Charge
Channeled Force image 1.5 This is not especially easy to make work. It lets you rummage and then damage stuff, but the set up of having to have a bunch of cards in your hand just isn’t going to be worth that a lot of the time.
Neutralize image 3.0 Counterspells have some very real downside over a lot of removal, in that you have to be able to cast it whenever what you want to remove is cast. That’s not the case for other removal -- this makes counter-magic situational, and if it is hard to create that situation -- and leaving up three mana isn’t always possible -- that makes a lot of counter magic subpar in Limited. However! This is a good illustration of how Cycling can really change a card. By adding Cycling, you end up with a card that is much less situational -- in fact, you can pretty much always do something with it, even if that thing is just Cycling it.
Anticipate image 1.5 This is always fine, but never much more than that. It is a very replaceable effect, gives you some reasonable card selection.
Survivors' Bond image 2.0 If you can set this up reliably to get two cards back from your graveyard, it is a decent thing to have a singleton copy of, since in the late game it can really pull you ahead.
Bushmeat Poacher image 3.0 This is a very nice activated ability. Cashing in creatures for cards is always a nice thing to have in Limited, because it isn’t unusual for some of your early creatures to become kind of useless as the game wears on, and this gives you something really nice to do with them -- gaining life and drawing a card is great. Any time those two are put together I’m pretty happy, because the life you gain makes it more likely you’ll be able to use that extra card you drew before you die. You can also use it in response to removal, or on a creature who has been shut down by an Aura. This can also be used to sacrifice creatures who are blocking and would die anyway. A 4-mana 2/4 isn’t even the worst stats ever, and overall this is pretty nice in slower Black decks.
Coordinated Charge image 2.5 All the cards with Cycling in this set are way better than they look. They are functionally split cards that you can just cycle when what they do doesn’t matter. Plus, if you’re in RW you’re really looking for a critical mass of these and will just jam all of them into your deck. And..yeah, sometimes this effect doesn’t matter, since you need to be going wide. But you can just cycle it away! Then, when it does matter, it will feel pretty great.
Pack 2 Pick 11: Blitz Leech
Memory Leak image 3.5 This is a situational discard effect that becomes useless in the late game. However! It has Cycling 1, and that gives everything a big upgrade in this format – you can cycle it away when it doesn’t do a thing, and when it can do a thing it isn’t too shabby.
Corpse Churn image 2.0 This is mostly here to enable the BG reanimator deck, and it does a decent job of that.
Blitz Leech image 2.5 This has an ugly stat-line, but by adding Flash and a nice ETB trigger to the mix, it really overcomes that. You can flash this into kill an X/2, and then use the 5/2 body to block something bigger, and that’s a 2-for-1! Sure, it is kind of an expensive one, but that’s real upside. Now, it won’t always be able to do that for you, and it is a little situational, but still -- I basically always like the first copy of this in my Black decks. Going beyond that is a bit much because of the high mana cost though.
Plummet image 0.5 This is a sideboard card, like usual.
Swamp image
Pack 2 Pick 12: Raugrin Crystal
Raugrin Crystal image 2.5 The crystals all provide good fixing – something you want a lot of the time in this format – and they all have Cycling, which means when you draw one and don’t really need the fixing, you can just throw it away to draw another card.
Solid Footing image 1.5 This is an interesting Vigilance payoff, and you’ll play it sometimes if you have enough Vigilance, because in those scenarios it gives a big boost for only one mana. You’ll cut this a lot, though.
Corpse Churn image 2.0 This is mostly here to enable the BG reanimator deck, and it does a decent job of that.
Aegis Turtle image 1.0 Purely defensive creatures like this just aren’t worth it these days. Sure, it is an early non-Human you can Mutate on to in a hurry, but you’d much rather be Mutating on to something that gives you some sort of ability, instead of just being a vehicle on which to mutate.
Pack 2 Pick 13: Aegis Turtle
Aegis Turtle image 1.0 Purely defensive creatures like this just aren’t worth it these days. Sure, it is an early non-Human you can Mutate on to in a hurry, but you’d much rather be Mutating on to something that gives you some sort of ability, instead of just being a vehicle on which to mutate.
Patagia Tiger image 2.5 A 5-mana ¾ Flyer is usually a serviceable card in Limited.. This brings some pretty real additional upside, in that it can pump humans. White and Black especially have a lot of humans, and in those decks this will be a nice common because it will frequently give one of your Humans an attack that wouldn’t have worked before the Tiger came down.
Mountain image
Pack 2 Pick 14: Coordinated Charge
Sleeper Dart image 1.0 This isn’t great, and is basically only the kind of card you run when you don’t have enough playables. It replaces itself, but the effect it has is really negligible.
Coordinated Charge image 2.5 All the cards with Cycling in this set are way better than they look. They are functionally split cards that you can just cycle when what they do doesn’t matter. Plus, if you’re in RW you’re really looking for a critical mass of these and will just jam all of them into your deck. And..yeah, sometimes this effect doesn’t matter, since you need to be going wide. But you can just cycle it away! Then, when it does matter, it will feel pretty great.
Pack 2 Pick 15: Startling Development
Startling Development image 3.0 Another highly situational card with one mana cycling, Startling Development is much better than it looks. The 4/4 part will come up sometimes, and when it does it will be nice! But yeah, the real power here comes from being able to Cycle away for one mana.
Pack 3 Pick 1: Savai Triome
Savai Triome image 3.5 Triomes are really nice, giving you three colors of mana AND being cyclable.
Porcuparrot image 2.5 Mutating this on to your two drop and turning it into a pinger sounds pretty nice. And yeah, this is part of the cycle of mutate creatures that really pays you off for going tall with Mutate, but that seems pretty dangerous here -- though the idea of being able to do 2+ damage to things with this ability is pretty awesome. Still though, I have a hard time being super high on any of the Mutate creatures who don’t mitigate against the 2-for-1 for you -- this can sort of do it, if you pick off some 1/1s, but that still won’t feel amazing or anything.
Duskfang Mentor image 3.0 Granting keywords to creatures who don’t have them -- especially big creatures -- is going to feel good, and this whole cycle also has the ability to pump up creatures with that keyword, including the one the counter was put on. That means these have an immediate impact on the board in most cases, and they also have late game value in their mana sink ability.
Footfall Crater image 3.0 Another card with one mana Cycling that makes it way better! The Enchant Land part of the card can sometimes do a thing, but this is one you’re going to be Cycling a lot.
Thieving Otter image 2.5 A 3-mana 2/2 that draws you a card when it hits the opponent would probably normally be kind of alright. It has a great ability, but actually getting in to draw you that card is difficult pretty much all game. But, this isn’t an ordinary format. There are keyword counters all over the place, and of course there is mutate. Playing this on turn 3, and then mutating something on to it later that has more size and/or abilities is going to feel pretty good. You still are dealing with a kind of ugly fail case on this little guy, but I think the upside is real enough that you end up playing this in most of your Blue decks, and it may even be better than that if you have enough Mutate going on. One combo with a couple of Commons is to play Otter turn 3, and then mutate the Heron onto it on turn 4 -- suddenly you have a ¾ flyer that draws you a card when it mutates and when it hits the opponent. This will happen a lot in this format.
Of One Mind image 3.0 I am usually interested in running one Divination in most Limited formats, and this is a strictly better one since its cost can be reduced. If you are consistently casting this for one, it will be absolutely silly -- but the requirement it asks for, while doable, isn’t the kind of thing that will just always be the case.
Daysquad Marshal image 2.5 This gives you two bodies with one card, and 4/4 worth of stats. In most sets that a solid card, and that’s what it is here.
Lurking Deadeye image 3.0 These kinds of creatures are not normally something I am very impressed with – that is, creatures who kill something that has been dealt damage. This is because often-times making sure you damage something is difficult, and sometimes even when you do you have to give up a card to do it, so the window where this does something is not as high as you would like. However, this one has Flash, and that means that you will be able to find situations where it does its things more often than not. And even if you aren’t managing to kill something with the ability, sometimes flashing in a 4/2 to kill their X/4 is just fine too.
Adventurous Impulse image 2.0 This is always a fine, very replacable card. If you need a land, it can usually find you one, and if you need a creature, it can do that too.
Durable Coilbug image 2.5 This has decent Bear stats, and isn’t a bad mana sink in the late game.
Drannith Stinger image 4.0 5-mana for a 5/4 Reach is fairly passable, and adding a rummage mutate effect is fine.
Plummet image 0.5 This is a sideboard card, like usual.
Farfinder image 3.5 We have seen cards like Skittering Surveyor and Pilgrim’s Eye be really nice sources of fixing in the past. And this set is a wedge set, where splashing a third color and even straight up playing a third color will happen a decent chunk of the time. On top of that, this is not the worst thing to Mutate on top of, since it at least gives your new monster the Vigilance keyword.
Dark Bargain image 1.5 We see this kind of card a lot, and it is always pretty medium. Even in a set with a graveyard deck, I’m not super pumped about this because of the cost.
Jungle Hollow image 3.0 As always, these provide nice fixing, and the 1 life is a solid bonus.
Pack 3 Pick 2: Auspicious Starrix
Eerie Ultimatum image 5.0 The ultimatums are all way easier to cast in this format than they would be in most. The fixing here is just great. This means that there is a very real strategy of drafting an ultimatum as a win condition in a controlling deck, and Eerie Ultimatum is one of the ones that just wins you the game if you cast it. It does require some set up, since you’re going to need permanents in your graveyard, but that’s pretty likely by the time you cast it.
Auspicious Starrix image 4.5 This is pretty silly for an Uncommon. It definitely feels like it could have been a Rare as a result of how complex and powerful it is. So, let’s break this down. At worst, you have a 5-mana 6/6. But this gives you SO much more! If you pay its Mutate cost, or mutate something else on to it, it has a very powerful Mutate trigger that lets you put permanents on to the battlefield for free! You can also make sure it Mutates that first time by paying the Mutate cost for it and putting it on one of your creatures. The first time it Mutates, you get the top permanent from your library -- and sure, good chance it is a land, but a free land isn’t a bad thing. You also have a reasonable chance of hitting something real. Then, if you really stack the Mutate high here, things will get really silly. The free permanents really offset the risk of going all in one mutate creature -- and this is really what the Starrix wants you to be doing.
Unbreakable Bond image 3.0 This format has a very real reanimator deck in the BG color pair, and that makes Unbreakable Bond significantly better in this format than in most. You can cycle away a big ol’ creature, and then use this to reanimate it and give it lifelink! That can be a play that ends games. In short, this just will have far more attractive targets than it does in most formats, and that makes it a pretty nice card.
Ferocious Tigorilla image 2.5 You’re usually going to be choosing Menace with this, as it just tends to be the better evasive ability. A 4-mana 4/3 with Menace is something you’d always play the first copy of, and having the Trample options isn’t bad.
Durable Coilbug image 2.5 This has decent Bear stats, and isn’t a bad mana sink in the late game.
Wilt image 2.5 Another situational cycler means another solid playable
Gust of Wind image 3.0 Even if this always cost 4, it would be a decent card. Bouncing something and drawing a card feels pretty great tempo-wise! But the great news is, this will often cost 2, and you don’t even have to try that hard to make that happen, since you’re playing blue.
Blood Curdle image 4.0 This is a great common. 4 mana for instant speed kill anything is something you always play and this permanently gives something lifelink. Sure, sometimes that upside won’t mean much, but sometimes it will really matter -- and when it is stapled to an already premium removal spell, I’m pretty happy about it.
Adaptive Shimmerer image 1.5 The idea here is that you mutate on top of this, giving +3/+3 to whatever stats your mutated creature has. It also has Flash, and there are a few cards that care about that. Still, as far as payoffs and enablers go, this is pretty darn inefficient.
Spontaneous Flight image 1.5 The best tricks cost very little mana, and this doesn’t really deliver there. Still, it does give a pretty nice boost and permanently gives your creature Flying. That last part means that it can help you get in for lethal, or really alter a race in a hurry. Still, it has all the risks that tricks have – it is situational and you risk getting 2-for-1’d.
Frenzied Raptor image 1.5 Vanilla 3-mana 4/2s will make the cut sometimes, but you kind of hope they don’t.
Snare Tactician image 4.0 A premium Cycling payoff, this one allows you to make the game go long by tapping down opposing things on the opponent’s turn, or it allows your Tactician and other friends to get in for a bunch of damage by tapping down blockers on your turn.
Checkpoint Officer image 3.5 This isn’t QUITE Master Decoy -- they are identical other than that this costs an additional mana to tap stuff down -- but that’s close enough to Master Decoy to still be a pretty high quality common. Tap effects tend to be great, and it is a kind of pseudo-removal that is good all game long. It is better than usual in this format that is loaded up with huge monsters and Mutate, where tapping down one guy is bigger than it normally would.
Jungle Hollow image 3.0 As always, these provide nice fixing, and the 1 life is a solid bonus.
Pack 3 Pick 3: Insatiable Hemophage
Insatiable Hemophage image 3.0 Three mana for a 4/5 with Menace is crazy good, and while giving your opponent a deathtouch counter isn’t awesome, there are lots of situations where that just doesn’t matter! Like if you play this one turn 3 and your opponent has nothing. Or, you play this on turn three, and then kill whatever you put the counter on next turn. Even when those optimal situations don’t emerge, the fact this is so big means that your opponent will frequently have to double-block anyway. And hey, even if you just end up trading 1-for-1 with this thing, that’s not too bad of a deal.
Migration Path image 3.5 I really like the places they chose to put Cycling in this set -- and this is a great example of that. When you need to ramp or find mana of a specific color, this does the job really well. In fact, if you have a couple of these, it even potentially enables you splashing a double colored card. But one of the downsides of ramp spells like this, is that if you already have all the mana you need, casting it might not be the optimal thing to do. Instead, you can just Cycle it away and try to find something else. As I’ve been saying a lot -- this makes cards that have effects that have diminishing returns, or that have narrow effects, a lot better than they would be otherwise.
Ram Through image 4.0 This is a great removal spell for Green. First, it is NOT a fight card, but a “punch” card – that is, your creature damages the opposing creature, but it doesn’t get damaged itself! That makes it much less risky, even if you do need to be a little careful, since if your creature that is Ramming Through gets killed in response, you get 2-for-1’d. But the upside here is well worth that! As an Instant, you will more easily find situations that aren’t risky, AND it has the Trample upside that will sometimes be crazy. This is premium removal.
Cathartic Reunion image 1.5 This is a reprint, and one that would be better in a set that has more of a graveyard theme. In this set, it is mostly just a fine 23rd card, like Tormenting Voice effects often are. It is a nice way to dig deeper into your deck, even if you do have some considerable set up costs in discarding two cards.
Survivors' Bond image 2.0 If you can set this up reliably to get two cards back from your graveyard, it is a decent thing to have a singleton copy of, since in the late game it can really pull you ahead.
Blade Banish image 2.5 This is situational for sure, but this format has a whole lot of big bois, so it is a little better than usual. It is also an Instant, which means you can sometimes really get a blow out.
Tentative Connection image 2.0 There are a couple of things going on here that make this a little better than most Threaten effects. First, when you can discount this because you have a Menace creature, it will feel pretty good – especially because Menace creatures already pair well with a Threaten effect. The other thing is, there are some efficient ways to sacrifice creatures in this format, and that means stealing an opposing creature and sacrificing it is pretty doable.
Nightsquad Commando image 2.5 So, if this was a 3-mana 2/3 who always gave you that 1/1 would be quite nice. However, you have to fulfill the “Raid” trigger here to get that 1/1. And while that’s not the craziest hoop to jump through, it won’t always be worth it.
Facet Reader image 2.0 In a set with Cycling, this type of ability is much less impressive, since a lot of your cards will already be able to do this. It is still fine and will make the cut some, but less often than usual.
Boot Nipper image 3.0 This is a very nice two drop that gives you a couple of nice options. You would always play a two mana 2/1 with death touch, and you would frequently play a two mana 2/1 with lifelink. The power of having a choice between those two things is very real. If yo’ure behind, you probably go with death touch, but if you are the beatdown, you probably go with lifelink. This is a nice cheap creature to mutate on to as well, and those keyword counters will be nice on your mutated creature.
Pyroceratops image 3.0 This is a nice spell payoff that can big in a hurry, which feels good when you have Trample along for the ride.
Spelleater Wolverine image 2.5 This is a nice little aggressive creature in this format, and it slots quite nicely into UR spells, but also into RW Cycling decks, since they tend to throw all kinds of cards with Cycling into the graveyard, including a bunch of instants and sorceries! Basically, it is way easier to get double strike online here than it looks.
Bloodfell Caves image 3.0 As always, these provide nice fixing, and the 1 life is a solid bonus.
Pack 3 Pick 4: Momentum Rumbler
Momentum Rumbler image 2.5 This is a Hill Giant that gains First Strike permanently when it attacks, which isn’t a terrible card to start with. The fact it can then gain double strike on the next attack is nice additional upside! Now, this format has a surprising number of large creatures, and getting through with the Rumbler that first time isn’t always the easiest, but it is a solid card.
Swallow Whole image 3.5 One White mana to exile a tapped creature is pretty good. It might be situational, but it is crazy efficient. Obviously, this isn’t quite that -- it makes you tap one of your creatures to pay for the cost, and that won’t always be a cost you can easily pay. The upside is that the creature you tap also gets a +1/+1 counter, though -- so you get to kill something and make one of your creature’s permanently bigger, and that feels really good. You upgrade your board while significantly downgrading your opponents’, all for one mana!
Savai Sabertooth image 2.0 Two mana 3/1s tend to be fine two drops for aggressive decks.
Drannith Healer image 3.5 Another Cycling card that is better than it looks! This one is a bear with a Cycling payoff, in addition to having the great 1 mana Cycling effect.
Heightened Reflexes image 1.5 When tricks cost one mana, I start to get interested, as the pain of getting 2-for-1’s is no longer accompanied with a big tempo hit, and it is just easier to have the spare mana around. Still, this boost isn’t amazing -- +1/+0 and First Strike will win a fair number of combats, but it isn’t really a boost that makes it happen enough.
Springjaw Trap image 1.5 You’ll play this if you end up with enough flash in UB, or if you’re desperate for removal, OR if you have Lurrus. But that’s pretty much it.
Dead Weight image 3.5 This is always premium removal when we see it! You’ll usually be able to spend one mana to kill a 2-4 mana creature, and that’s always good.
Solid Footing image 1.5 This is an interesting Vigilance payoff, and you’ll play it sometimes if you have enough Vigilance, because in those scenarios it gives a big boost for only one mana. You’ll cut this a lot, though.
Mysterious Egg image 1.0 The flavor is cool and all, but I feel like you’d rather have a more exciting ability for Mutate, and a more exciting fail case than one mana 0/2.
Greater Sandwurm image 3.5 This is an imposing presence if you can play it as a creature – but it is super expensive! The good news is that it has Cycling, so you can just throw it away early. This especially potent in the BG reanimator deck, as this is something you can throw away on turn two, and then reanimate on turn 4 or 5, which is often enough to win the game.
Adventurous Impulse image 2.0 This is always a fine, very replacable card. If you need a land, it can usually find you one, and if you need a creature, it can do that too.
Dismal Backwater image 3.0 As always, these provide nice fixing, and the 1 life is a solid bonus.
Pack 3 Pick 5: Boot Nipper
Barrier Breach image 2.5 This is another situational card that would normally be unplayable, but Cycling means that you’ll play it a decent amount of the time.
Maned Serval image 1.5 This is a reasonably efficient French Vanilla creature that it is okay to mutate on top of.
Ferocious Tigorilla image 2.5 You’re usually going to be choosing Menace with this, as it just tends to be the better evasive ability. A 4-mana 4/3 with Menace is something you’d always play the first copy of, and having the Trample options isn’t bad.
Boot Nipper image 3.0 This is a very nice two drop that gives you a couple of nice options. You would always play a two mana 2/1 with death touch, and you would frequently play a two mana 2/1 with lifelink. The power of having a choice between those two things is very real. If yo’ure behind, you probably go with death touch, but if you are the beatdown, you probably go with lifelink. This is a nice cheap creature to mutate on to as well, and those keyword counters will be nice on your mutated creature.
Dead Weight image 3.5 This is always premium removal when we see it! You’ll usually be able to spend one mana to kill a 2-4 mana creature, and that’s always good.
Sleeper Dart image 1.0 This isn’t great, and is basically only the kind of card you run when you don’t have enough playables. It replaces itself, but the effect it has is really negligible.
Nightsquad Commando image 2.5 So, if this was a 3-mana 2/3 who always gave you that 1/1 would be quite nice. However, you have to fulfill the “Raid” trigger here to get that 1/1. And while that’s not the craziest hoop to jump through, it won’t always be worth it.
Light of Hope image 1.0 This is modal, but none of the effects on it are especially good.
Cloudpiercer image 2.5 5-mana for a 5/4 Reach is fairly passable, and adding a rummage mutate effect is fine.
Sudden Spinnerets image 1.0 This doesn’t give a big enough boost to help your creature win combat often enough, and a Reach counter isn’t very exciting.
Mountain image
Pack 3 Pick 6: Rugged Highlands
Barrier Breach image 2.5 This is another situational card that would normally be unplayable, but Cycling means that you’ll play it a decent amount of the time.
Channeled Force image 1.5 This is not especially easy to make work. It lets you rummage and then damage stuff, but the set up of having to have a bunch of cards in your hand just isn’t going to be worth that a lot of the time.
Aegis Turtle image 1.0 Purely defensive creatures like this just aren’t worth it these days. Sure, it is an early non-Human you can Mutate on to in a hurry, but you’d much rather be Mutating on to something that gives you some sort of ability, instead of just being a vehicle on which to mutate.
Memory Leak image 3.5 This is a situational discard effect that becomes useless in the late game. However! It has Cycling 1, and that gives everything a big upgrade in this format – you can cycle it away when it doesn’t do a thing, and when it can do a thing it isn’t too shabby.
Startling Development image 3.0 Another highly situational card with one mana cycling, Startling Development is much better than it looks. The 4/4 part will come up sometimes, and when it does it will be nice! But yeah, the real power here comes from being able to Cycle away for one mana.
Bristling Boar image 2.5 Making it so the only way it dies in combat is if your opponent has one creature that can do 3 damage is surprisingly effective, and grants it an evasive ability -- albeit a weak one. A 4-mana 4/3 is usually playable-ish anyway, and the upside here is real.
Pyroceratops image 3.0 This is a nice spell payoff that can big in a hurry, which feels good when you have Trample along for the ride.
Bushmeat Poacher image 3.0 This is a very nice activated ability. Cashing in creatures for cards is always a nice thing to have in Limited, because it isn’t unusual for some of your early creatures to become kind of useless as the game wears on, and this gives you something really nice to do with them -- gaining life and drawing a card is great. Any time those two are put together I’m pretty happy, because the life you gain makes it more likely you’ll be able to use that extra card you drew before you die. You can also use it in response to removal, or on a creature who has been shut down by an Aura. This can also be used to sacrifice creatures who are blocking and would die anyway. A 4-mana 2/4 isn’t even the worst stats ever, and overall this is pretty nice in slower Black decks.
Coordinated Charge image 2.5 All the cards with Cycling in this set are way better than they look. They are functionally split cards that you can just cycle when what they do doesn’t matter. Plus, if you’re in RW you’re really looking for a critical mass of these and will just jam all of them into your deck. And..yeah, sometimes this effect doesn’t matter, since you need to be going wide. But you can just cycle it away! Then, when it does matter, it will feel pretty great.
Rugged Highlands image 3.0 As always, these provide nice fixing, and the 1 life is a solid bonus.
Pack 3 Pick 7: Pollywog Symbiote
Titanoth Rex image 3.0 A 9-mana 11/11 trampler just wouldn’t be playable in most formats – but in this one, it is significantly better than just “playable”! That’s partly because it has Cycling, which means when you can’t cast it – which will most of the time – you can just cycle it away. This format also has a very real BG reanimator deck, and you don’t need me to tell you that getting this back for 5 or 6 mana is absolutely silly.
Pollywog Symbiote image 3.0 A two mana ⅓ that reduces the cost of cards with Mutate would probably be a nice payoff to have in Mutate-heavy decks. It gets even better since the Symbiote lets you loot whenever it mutates, which is pretty great.
Checkpoint Officer image 3.5 This isn’t QUITE Master Decoy -- they are identical other than that this costs an additional mana to tap stuff down -- but that’s close enough to Master Decoy to still be a pretty high quality common. Tap effects tend to be great, and it is a kind of pseudo-removal that is good all game long. It is better than usual in this format that is loaded up with huge monsters and Mutate, where tapping down one guy is bigger than it normally would.
Frost Lynx image 3.5 This type of tempo creature is always great for Blue. You get to add a 2/2 to your board while significantly impacting the board state. Tapping something down could mean that you suddenly have really good attacks. It could also mean that you buy yourself some time against an aggro deck.
Plummet image 0.5 This is a sideboard card, like usual.
Snare Tactician image 4.0 A premium Cycling payoff, this one allows you to make the game go long by tapping down opposing things on the opponent’s turn, or it allows your Tactician and other friends to get in for a bunch of damage by tapping down blockers on your turn.
Keep Safe image 1.5 There will be times where this feel amazing -- you counter the spell that targets one of your creatures and draw a card -- that’s a 2-for-1! But unfortunately, that actually lining up is far from guaranteed. Still, in this format with mutate creatures, you’re a little more interested in this than you would be in other formats, since you are often taking a big risk to mutate, and this can help protect your creature. Still, you won’t play this most of the time.
Lurking Deadeye image 3.0 These kinds of creatures are not normally something I am very impressed with – that is, creatures who kill something that has been dealt damage. This is because often-times making sure you damage something is difficult, and sometimes even when you do you have to give up a card to do it, so the window where this does something is not as high as you would like. However, this one has Flash, and that means that you will be able to find situations where it does its things more often than not. And even if you aren’t managing to kill something with the ability, sometimes flashing in a 4/2 to kill their X/4 is just fine too.
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Pack 3 Pick 8: Fertilid
Avian Oddity image 3.5 If you cast this normally, it has reasonable stats, and being able to Cycle it away and give something Flying is a great option too.
Fertilid image 3.0 A three mana 2/2 isn’t especially good, but the fixing Fertilid provides for you is quite nice. Green usually gets nice commons for Splashing or going three colors, and that’s what this is. It has the ability to grab a couple of land over a few turns, and that is nice -- helps mitigate against mana screw, helps you find your colors, etc., If you don’t really need to fix when you play it, it also makes a good creature to mutate on to.
Springjaw Trap image 1.5 You’ll play this if you end up with enough flash in UB, or if you’re desperate for removal, OR if you have Lurrus. But that’s pretty much it.
Heightened Reflexes image 1.5 When tricks cost one mana, I start to get interested, as the pain of getting 2-for-1’s is no longer accompanied with a big tempo hit, and it is just easier to have the spare mana around. Still, this boost isn’t amazing -- +1/+0 and First Strike will win a fair number of combats, but it isn’t really a boost that makes it happen enough.
Wilt image 2.5 Another situational cycler means another solid playable
Bristling Boar image 2.5 Making it so the only way it dies in combat is if your opponent has one creature that can do 3 damage is surprisingly effective, and grants it an evasive ability -- albeit a weak one. A 4-mana 4/3 is usually playable-ish anyway, and the upside here is real.
Spontaneous Flight image 1.5 The best tricks cost very little mana, and this doesn’t really deliver there. Still, it does give a pretty nice boost and permanently gives your creature Flying. That last part means that it can help you get in for lethal, or really alter a race in a hurry. Still, it has all the risks that tricks have – it is situational and you risk getting 2-for-1’d.
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Pack 3 Pick 9: Lurking Deadeye
Of One Mind image 3.0 I am usually interested in running one Divination in most Limited formats, and this is a strictly better one since its cost can be reduced. If you are consistently casting this for one, it will be absolutely silly -- but the requirement it asks for, while doable, isn’t the kind of thing that will just always be the case.
Lurking Deadeye image 3.0 These kinds of creatures are not normally something I am very impressed with – that is, creatures who kill something that has been dealt damage. This is because often-times making sure you damage something is difficult, and sometimes even when you do you have to give up a card to do it, so the window where this does something is not as high as you would like. However, this one has Flash, and that means that you will be able to find situations where it does its things more often than not. And even if you aren’t managing to kill something with the ability, sometimes flashing in a 4/2 to kill their X/4 is just fine too.
Adventurous Impulse image 2.0 This is always a fine, very replacable card. If you need a land, it can usually find you one, and if you need a creature, it can do that too.
Durable Coilbug image 2.5 This has decent Bear stats, and isn’t a bad mana sink in the late game.
Plummet image 0.5 This is a sideboard card, like usual.
Dark Bargain image 1.5 We see this kind of card a lot, and it is always pretty medium. Even in a set with a graveyard deck, I’m not super pumped about this because of the cost.
Jungle Hollow image 3.0 As always, these provide nice fixing, and the 1 life is a solid bonus.
Pack 3 Pick 10: Jungle Hollow
Durable Coilbug image 2.5 This has decent Bear stats, and isn’t a bad mana sink in the late game.
Wilt image 2.5 Another situational cycler means another solid playable
Adaptive Shimmerer image 1.5 The idea here is that you mutate on top of this, giving +3/+3 to whatever stats your mutated creature has. It also has Flash, and there are a few cards that care about that. Still, as far as payoffs and enablers go, this is pretty darn inefficient.
Spontaneous Flight image 1.5 The best tricks cost very little mana, and this doesn’t really deliver there. Still, it does give a pretty nice boost and permanently gives your creature Flying. That last part means that it can help you get in for lethal, or really alter a race in a hurry. Still, it has all the risks that tricks have – it is situational and you risk getting 2-for-1’d.
Checkpoint Officer image 3.5 This isn’t QUITE Master Decoy -- they are identical other than that this costs an additional mana to tap stuff down -- but that’s close enough to Master Decoy to still be a pretty high quality common. Tap effects tend to be great, and it is a kind of pseudo-removal that is good all game long. It is better than usual in this format that is loaded up with huge monsters and Mutate, where tapping down one guy is bigger than it normally would.
Jungle Hollow image 3.0 As always, these provide nice fixing, and the 1 life is a solid bonus.
Pack 3 Pick 11: Facet Reader
Cathartic Reunion image 1.5 This is a reprint, and one that would be better in a set that has more of a graveyard theme. In this set, it is mostly just a fine 23rd card, like Tormenting Voice effects often are. It is a nice way to dig deeper into your deck, even if you do have some considerable set up costs in discarding two cards.
Survivors' Bond image 2.0 If you can set this up reliably to get two cards back from your graveyard, it is a decent thing to have a singleton copy of, since in the late game it can really pull you ahead.
Tentative Connection image 2.0 There are a couple of things going on here that make this a little better than most Threaten effects. First, when you can discount this because you have a Menace creature, it will feel pretty good – especially because Menace creatures already pair well with a Threaten effect. The other thing is, there are some efficient ways to sacrifice creatures in this format, and that means stealing an opposing creature and sacrificing it is pretty doable.
Facet Reader image 2.0 In a set with Cycling, this type of ability is much less impressive, since a lot of your cards will already be able to do this. It is still fine and will make the cut some, but less often than usual.
Pyroceratops image 3.0 This is a nice spell payoff that can big in a hurry, which feels good when you have Trample along for the ride.
Pack 3 Pick 12: Dead Weight
Springjaw Trap image 1.5 You’ll play this if you end up with enough flash in UB, or if you’re desperate for removal, OR if you have Lurrus. But that’s pretty much it.
Dead Weight image 3.5 This is always premium removal when we see it! You’ll usually be able to spend one mana to kill a 2-4 mana creature, and that’s always good.
Solid Footing image 1.5 This is an interesting Vigilance payoff, and you’ll play it sometimes if you have enough Vigilance, because in those scenarios it gives a big boost for only one mana. You’ll cut this a lot, though.
Adventurous Impulse image 2.0 This is always a fine, very replacable card. If you need a land, it can usually find you one, and if you need a creature, it can do that too.
Pack 3 Pick 13: Dead Weight
Dead Weight image 3.5 This is always premium removal when we see it! You’ll usually be able to spend one mana to kill a 2-4 mana creature, and that’s always good.
Sleeper Dart image 1.0 This isn’t great, and is basically only the kind of card you run when you don’t have enough playables. It replaces itself, but the effect it has is really negligible.
Mountain image
Pack 3 Pick 14: Aegis Turtle
Barrier Breach image 2.5 This is another situational card that would normally be unplayable, but Cycling means that you’ll play it a decent amount of the time.
Aegis Turtle image 1.0 Purely defensive creatures like this just aren’t worth it these days. Sure, it is an early non-Human you can Mutate on to in a hurry, but you’d much rather be Mutating on to something that gives you some sort of ability, instead of just being a vehicle on which to mutate.
Pack 3 Pick 15: Plains
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Draft Pick Overview