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Quick Draft AFR 8 September 2021

8 September 08:33 - NovaThePanda1 7 Wins - 2 Losses
Maindeck
Creature (14)
1 Sylvan Shepherd image
1 Brazen Dwarf image
1 Hoarding Ogre image
1 Elturgard Ranger image
1 Werewolf Pack Leader image
1 Owlbear image
2 Hobgoblin Captain image
1 Gnoll Hunter image
1 Purple Worm image
1 Battle Cry Goblin image
1 Swarming Goblins image
1 Valor Singer image
1 Targ Nar, Demon-Fang Gnoll image
Instant, Sorcery, Enchantment, Artifact (9)
1 Goblin Morningstar image
1 Choose Your Weapon image
1 Unexpected Windfall image
2 Dragon's Fire image
1 Improvised Weaponry image
1 Hunter's Mark image
1 Farideh's Fireball image
1 Barbarian Class image
Land (17)
9 Mountain image
8 Forest image
Sideboard
1 Owlbear image
1 Inspiring Bard image
1 Death-Priest of Myrkul image
1 Chaos Channeler image
2 Circle of the Moon Druid image
1 Rust Monster image
1 Armory Veteran image
1 Dire Wolf Prowler image
1 Hill Giant Herdgorger image
1 Grim Bounty image
1 Precipitous Drop image
1 Goblin Morningstar image
1 Iron Golem image
2 Leather Armor image
2 Kick in the Door image
1 Grand Master of Flowers image

Pack 1 Pick 1: Werewolf Pack Leader
Werewolf Pack Leader image 4.0 This is a very good card. If you can play it on turn two, it gives you some nice size in the early game, but it maintains very real relevance into the late game thanks to its ability to draw you card AND to turn into a full-on wereowlf. When it does that, it also gives you 5 of the 6 power necessary to trigger Pack Tactics, which is a great added bonus. Even just drawing with this once and forcing a trade seems good, and sometimes it will run away with the game
Hunter's Mark image 3.5 Even without the upside against Blue decks, Hunter’s Mark would be a very good removal spell for Green. Instant speed punch is great, especially when it comes with the additional upside of sometimes only costing a single mana! This is premium removal.
Feywild Trickster image 1.0 // 3.5 How good this card is will be super dependent on the rest of your deck, since a Gray Ogre is just a horrible stat-line these days. The good news is, as long as you get one token out of this you’re probably doing alright, and more than that will be incredibly powerful. Still, while d20s are around in this set, you probably need 5+ cards that involve them for this to do its thing, and for that reason I think I need to give this a build around grade.
Chaos Channeler image 4.0 This seems really good. It is a 4-mana 4/3 with a ton of upside. No matter what you roll when it attacks, you will end up netting at least one card. And because it says “play” you can even play lands off of it, and that’s awesome. He might die after only one attack, but you’ll usually be getting a 2-for-1 out of it, so that’s fine with me, especially because if left unchecked, the Channeler will just keep drawing you cards.
Djinni Windseer image 3.5 I was already pretty sold on a 4-mana 3/3 Flyer, so adding the d20 effect is just gravy. Even just Scrying 1 with this will feel like you’re getting nice value, and sometimes it will do more than that. The set also has some d20 payoffs, especially in UR, making it marginally better than that. It isn’t the most exciting card, but it is a pretty darn good Common.
Hobgoblin Captain image 2.5 This looks like it might be a nice two drop for aggressive decks in the format. A two mana 3/1 is already playable in many formats, and because he supplies half the power necessary to make pack tactics go off, it seems likely he will have first strike a lot. For now, I have it at 2.5, but if aggro is huge in this format, it will probably move up.
Spiked Pit Trap image 1.5 Lots of sets lately seem to have an Artifact that is a removal spell, and it is nice that you can play them in any deck, but they tend to be pretty inefficient, and that’s kind of the case here. You pay 6 mana total for 5 damage, and you might also get a Treasure. It does have Flash, which makes it so you can sort of ambush kill things, but yeah, you probably don’t end up playing this unless you’re short on good removal
Grim Bounty image 3.5 This is premium removal. It might be a somewhat expensive Sorcery, but it kills pretty much everything for 4 mana, and even gives you a treasure back, almost making it so it costs three mana with some fixing upside!
Brazen Dwarf image 1.0 This doesn’t look very good. A two mana ⅓ isn’t a good stat-line these days, and the fact it might damage your opponent a little bit doesn’t really make up for that for me. It just won’t do enough to feel worth the mana or the card in most decks.
Minimus Containment image 4.0 This is a pretty neat take on White’s usually Enchantment-based removal spell. So, the idea is that you use this on an opposing permanent that is a problem, but the downside is you give your opponent a treasure. The good news about that is that by the late game, the downside will become increasingly negligible, and even in the mid-game, this will often just be worth doing. Not sure I would really recommend using this on a really early creature, though. It will probably be a net-gain for you overall, but the mana you give your opponent early can really come back to bite you. This is still premium removal though, especially since it deals with all nonlands. In a pinch, you can also put it on your own permanent if you really need a specific color of mana or something, but that’s almost never going to be the right thing to do.
Dueling Rapier image 2.5 So, the Equip cost here is obviously really steep, and +2/+0 for a single Red mana would not be an awesome combat trick, but in this case we’re talking about a combat trick that has the stats boost stick around in one form or another. Even if your creature dies, you have something on the battlefield, even if it does cost a lot to Equip, and if you can help a creature win and survive combat and keep this equipped to it, it’s going ot feel pretty good. In a lot of ways, it is still a glorified combat trick, but I’ve underestimated auras and equipment with Flash in the past, dismissing them as combat tricks, so I thinkt his will defy expectations. Still, it probably isn’t much more than a solid playable.
Inspiring Bard image 2.5 A creature with just the Bardic Inspiration ability is usually a solid playable, but it does come with the downside of not doing anything with a +2/+2 boost doesn’t matter -- like if you have to play defense, or don’t have another creature. Adding the “Song of Rest” option means that in those situations, you could an ability that is far more useful, and that’s pretty nice. It probably still isn’t more than a solid playable, though.
Rimeshield Frost Giant image 3.0 Ward 3 is pretty big, and for a creature this size, it may just feel like Hexproof some games, since your opponent will need a pretty hefty removal spell to deal with it in most cases, and it will be pretty hard for your opponent to ever take it down without paying at least what you paid for the Giant.
Shambling Ghast image 2.5 This looks like a nice little one drop to me. It can be a real pain if your opponent has two X/1s in play, since you can make a two-for-one out of your one drop, and those situations will happen. And the good news is, when the -1/-1 part isn’t useful -- and it won’t always be -- you get to make a treasure, which means this little one drop gives you fixing and ramp pretty early on in the game.
Pack 1 Pick 2: Grim Bounty
Dragon's Disciple image 2.0 This is a nice Dragon payoff, as being able to play this as a two-mana 2/4 will feel pretty great, especially on turn 2! Adding Ward 1 to all your dragons isn’t too shabby either. The fact that this has a fail case of being a two mana ⅓ gives it a not entirely terrible floor too. There are enough Dragons around in this set for you to be able to take full advantage of this a decent chunk of the time. You probably need like 3 in your deck to feel good about it, but when you get there, this will be a nice card for you.
Kalain, Reclusive Painter image 4.0 A two mana ½ that makes a treasure is already a pretty good deal, but this adds all kinds of upside that will be amazing in the BR deck. Even all on its own, it is pretty likely that the treasure you made will help you play a creature and put a +1/+1 counter on it your next turn, and that’s some serious value. If you manage to really get treasure going with Kalain, she will undoubtedly take over games. She is certainly fragile, but the fail case is that you still get to keep a single treasure, and that helps make that a little less of a problem. This is a really strong signpost Uncommon
Blink Dog image 1.0 This doesn’t look very good. 3 mana for a 1/1 with Double Strike is rough, and the Phase effect is cool, but also costly. I guess if you have some Equipment he can get interesting, but I think you mostly won’t play this
Deadly Dispute image 2.0 The prevalence of treasure, especially in Black-Red, will make this better than it looks. This kind of effect often plays a lot like Tormenting Voice, which is to say – its pretty replaceable, but I think this will be better than usual thanks to the fact it is good with treasure and it produces treasure. It of course still comes with the upside of being able to sacrifice a creature in response to removal, at which point you really aren’t going down a card either.
Spare Dagger image 1.0 The stats boost it offers is pretty weak, and giving up a whole card to ping something isn’t really something I’m interested in. This IS an equipment, and RW cares about that, so it probably gets played more often than it would in most formats
Dragon's Fire image 4.0 Two mana for 3 damage is always premium removal, and this has some pretty relevant dragon upside that can make it an even better removal spell
Circle of the Moon Druid image 2.5 A card that is always a 3-mana 4/2 is like a 2.0 and a card that is always a 3-mana 2/4 is a 1.0. This gives you the best of both of those, as you’d rather have the 4/2 as the attacker and the 2/4 as the blocker most of the time.
Clever Conjurer image 2.5 This ability only being Sorcery speed is a bummer, but it is still a pretty useful one to have on a 3-mana ⅔. Notably, it can untap lands for you, helping you ramp. And that’s probably the way you’ll use it the most. This seems like a solid playable.
Devoted Paladin image 3.5 Pumping your whole board and giving it Vigilance almost always seems to allow for some serious attacking on your part. After all, your creatures are bigger, and you’re going to be able to leave them all back as blockers even if you’re going to attack with them! We’ve seen similar cards like Dawnfeather Eagle end up great in Limited, and this format does look like it has the means to go wide effectively, and if that’s true, the Paladin is going to be one of the cards you want the most to round out your top curve.
Kick in the Door image 2.5 This card reminds me a lot of some of the cards we saw in Strixhaven, which seemed like they didn’t really do that much, but it turned out Learning for one or two mana was good, even if the other effect was negligible, and I think that’s kind of what we’re looking at here. Without Venture, this card would be pretty close to an F. One mana for a counter and Haste and not being able to be blocked by a few creatures just wouldn’t be worth a whole card, but I think with Venture attached you suddenly have a card that will feel sort of like Guiding Voice from Strixhaven. It will make a new creature able to attack right away, or make an old one able to attack thanks to the counter, while also netting you value from Venturing.
Greataxe image 1.0 +4/+0 is the kind of boost that makes almost any creature capable of attacking, but an Equip Cost of 5 is way too much. This is equipment that might be nice in the later part of the game, since you can just keep sending your guys in, but it will sit on the table doing nothing the rest of the game
Grim Bounty image 3.5 This is premium removal. It might be a somewhat expensive Sorcery, but it kills pretty much everything for 4 mana, and even gives you a treasure back, almost making it so it costs three mana with some fixing upside!
Hill Giant Herdgorger image 2.5 This seems like a fine finisher for Green decks. You’re probably going to hope you have a rare or Uncommon in that slot, but this card is similar enough to Ravenous Lindwurm and Honey Mammoth to make me feel like it has a nice shot. I have a feeling it might not be quite as good as those cards, because this format looks like it is probably going to be faster than Kaldheim, but it looks pretty solid to me
Pack 1 Pick 3: Owlbear
Druid Class image 2.0 I’m not very impressed with this. Gaining a life for every land isn’t worth a card, and while this does level up, neither of the things it levels up into are that good. Playing more than one land a turn is pretty hard to take advantage of after the very early game, because you just won’t have extra lands, and if you do -- you’re probably flooding! Level three is where you finally get something that is worth a whole card in Limited, but you paid a total of 10 mana to get there, and the final product is just a big vanilla creature. Yes, the fact you pay installments does matter, but overall, I think you’ll end up cutting Druid Class a significant chunk of the time.
Choose Your Weapon image 2.5 Both options here are super underwhelming, and will only be useful and efficient in some very specific situations. But, like with all of these cards, putting two situational effects together really does make for a significantly better card, as the situations where you can use that card are drastically increased, even with a card that has two incredibly situational options. Sometimes you’ll find yourself doing lethal with “Two-Weapon Fighting” and sometimes you’ll find yourself killing an opposing Flyer fairly efficiently. I think that makes this a solid card.
Dawnbringer Cleric image 2.5 None of these effects are amazing, but the flexibility this card offers is quite nice. Mostly, you’ll gain 2 life with it, which will be okayish -- but when you have an Enchantment to destroy or a key card to remove from your opponent’s graveyard, it will feel especially good. Gaining life also matters some in this set, so there’s some synergy to be had. I think this is a solid playable.
Arborea Pegasus image 3.0 This is a pretty good Common. The ETB trigger will almost always enable an attack you didn’t have before, and that means that the Pegasus will have an immediate impact on the board, in addition to being a 4-mana 2/3 Flyer itself.
Contact Other Plane image 3.0 So, with a 1-9 you’re getting an Instant speed Divination that costs one extra, which isn’t great, that would probably be a 1.5 or 2.0, but isn’t the worst fail case when the 10-19 gives you a pretty great effect for the cost -- like Behold the Multiverse without Foretell, and that’s a good place to be. Obviously, rolling the 20 will be completely absurd. If that’s what this card always did, it would be like a 4.0. We have to sort of think about what’s the most likely with this, and I think the fail case is passable enough that I’m pretty happy with this over all, as 10-19 is a pretty likely outcome, and that card would probably be a B-. In the end, I think all of that makes this a 3.0.
Ranger's Longbow image 1.5 This gives a reasonable boost and key word for the cost, though it isn’t anything special.
Boots of Speed image 2.0 The boost this offers for the casting cost and the equip cost is pretty reasonable, as paying one more to give something new Haste and +1/+0 will feel pretty good sometimes, especially in a set where there’s an Equipment archetype.
Neverwinter Dryad image 2.5 This is a fine one drop. It ramps for you, and that looks to be a good strategy in this format, especially in UG. It is nice that if you play it early it might actually attack for a bit too
+2 Mace image 2.0 This gives an alright boost for the mana it costs to play and equip, but it isn’t crazy efficient or anything, and it will probably be cut a decent chunk of the time.
Spare Dagger image 1.0 The stats boost it offers is pretty weak, and giving up a whole card to ping something isn’t really something I’m interested in. This IS an equipment, and RW cares about that, so it probably gets played more often than it would in most formats
Owlbear image 3.5 This is reminiscent of Sarulf’s Packmate, and that’s a good Green Common to emulate. This gives you a very real body -- a 4/4 with Trample can be relevant on many board states, but obviously the ETB draw a card effect is what really makes this great. It will be virtually impossible for you not to get a 2-for-1 out of this Bear, and the value it gives you will be great. Sure, costing 5 does mean you can only run so many, unlike the Packmate which had Foretell, making it much easier to jam a bunch of them into your deck, but you should still value that first 1-2 copies pretty highly. There’s a good chance this is Green’s best common
Devour Intellect image 0.5 // 2.5 Letting your opponent choose to discard whatever they want this is not very good, but with Treasure you can turn it into a better Thoughtseize, and that’s pretty neat. I think this really needs a build around grade, because it is pretty awful in a deck with 0 treasure, but if you are BR, you’ll probably have the Treasure you need to make this work pretty well. Still, a card like this is better in the early game, and has diminishing returns as the game goes on, and you can’t count having treasure early, so don’t expect to fire this off on turn one or two for the more effective mode
Pack 1 Pick 4: Precipitous Drop
Treasure Vault image 2.5 I think this land is probably worth running in most decks despite only producing colorless mana at first. It really overcomes most of its shortcomings by being able to make treasure. In the end, it probably doesn’t really hurt your mana base, since you can always give it up for Treasure, and in the later part of the game you might be able to make some really silly amount of treasure, which might be nice if you have a mana sink of some kind
Wild Shape image 2.0 I’m not usually a big fan of tricks that grant hexproof, they are just too situational! But this gets around that with some pretty nice modality. You can still get Hexproof if you need it, but it has two other modes that can be useful in different situations, and having an option between those three things is pretty nice, though not incredibly. A 1/5 with Reach is probably just going to enable a block you didn’t have before, which isn’t a great thing to give up a card for most of the time, and making something into a 3/3 with Trample won’t always matter either. So, the 1/3 option is probably the best one. Still, for only one mana this does a kind of okay job, and it is certainly decent
Devour Intellect image 0.5 // 2.5 Letting your opponent choose to discard whatever they want this is not very good, but with Treasure you can turn it into a better Thoughtseize, and that’s pretty neat. I think this really needs a build around grade, because it is pretty awful in a deck with 0 treasure, but if you are BR, you’ll probably have the Treasure you need to make this work pretty well. Still, a card like this is better in the early game, and has diminishing returns as the game goes on, and you can’t count having treasure early, so don’t expect to fire this off on turn one or two for the more effective mode
Precipitous Drop image 3.5 I think I would play this most of the time even without the “completed dungeon” bonus. The Aura + Venture is going to be good enough for that, and then the completed dungeon bonus makes this far more potent. One nice thing about this card is that you can stick it on a creature and then get the bonus later once you complete a dungeon, at which point it slikely to just kill whatever it is. I think this gets into the lower range of premium.
Unexpected Windfall image 2.0 This seems like a decent card for Most red decks to get one copy of. 4 mana is a lot for Tormenting Voice, but the two Treasure you get means this card also gives you some very real fixing, in addition to helping you dig deeper into your deck.
Shocking Grasp image 1.5 The effect here isn’t very exciting. This Blue “combat tricks” really need your board to already have something big enough to deal with an attacking creature, or to blow up a block, and that really makes them pretty unimpressive. Obviously, adding a cantrip to the card does it make it better, because it means that at worse, you’re going to be able to Cycle this, but it still isn’t something that will make the cut in your deck all that often.
Yuan-Ti Fang-Blade image 2.5 This has a powerful combat damage to a player trigger, and because it has death touch your opponent will be put in a difficult position with it sometimes. Repeatable Venturing seems pretty powerful, and UB seems the most well-positioned to help creatures like this get evasion
Secret Door image 1.5 In the early game, this can block reasonably well, and in the late game it has an ability that is a reasonable mana sink, and one that can actually give you a ton of value. Only Venturing at Sorcery speed is rough of course, because you have to telegraph to your opponent you won’t be interacting with them, but if you’re flooding out, this ability is going to look pretty good. You probably still don’t play this a ton though.
Spare Dagger image 1.0 The stats boost it offers is pretty weak, and giving up a whole card to ping something isn’t really something I’m interested in. This IS an equipment, and RW cares about that, so it probably gets played more often than it would in most formats
Elturgard Ranger image 3.0 So, for 5 mana you get a 4/1 and a 2/2 -- in other words 6/3 worth of stats. A 5-mana 6/3 wouldn’t be good, but spread across two bodies this gets pretty interesting, plus a 4/1 with Reach has the kind of size to take down some of the dragons in the set, and that definitely matters. It feels like you’ll be able to get a 2-for-1 out of this a decent chunk of the time, and I think most Green decks will be interested in playing the first copy.
Mimic image 1.0 So, this doesn’t seem amazing to me, though the flavor is quite good. Like most treasures, it can only be used the one time to give you mana, so it isn’t even the best fixing ever. And yeah, it can turn into a creature sometimes, and that’s nice upside to have on your mana, but I’m just not sure this will feel like it is worth an entire card very often. You’ll play it if you really need fixing, or maybe you have some artifact synergies, but that’s probably about it
Pack 1 Pick 5: Hobgoblin Captain
Sorcerer Class image 3.0 Getting Faithless looting for a Blue and a Red is a nice place to start here, as it will really help you find cards you want. Once you take this to level 2, things start to get more interesting, as you’re given a whole bunch of mana, and you can even use that mana to level it up to level three! Sadly, level three won’t be very impressive in Limited, as casting more than like two Instants and Sorceries consistently is a pipe dream, even in the most spell-heavy decks. Mostly, this is about Level 1 and 2 in Limited, and that seems like a fine card for most Blue-Red decks in this format. It might take a little bit of building around, but UR always has lots of spells, so I don’t see that being a big hurdle, especially because Level 1 is kind of alright all on its own
Fifty Feet of Rope image 2.0 Well, this is interesting. “Climb Over” won’t matter very often, and “Tie Up” is perhaps a little too situational too. Because it doesn’t tap the creature as part of the effect, it will only do a thing against creatures that already tapped. The part that intrigues me the most is Venturing into the Dungeon, but even that seems a little clunky, though it is obviously a late game mana sink. The first two modes will be hard to make use of early or even late, and the Venture into the Dungeon option is pretty good late, but I can see this sitting ont he table doing very little early, and that’s kind of rough. This is definitely the kind of card it is easy to miss on, because it is both unusual and utilizes a new mechanic, but I don’t think I’m super high on it right now
Goblin Javelineer image 1.5 This probably won’t be great in Limited. A one mana 1/1 with Haste might feel reasonable on turn one, but it is pretty terrible thereafter, and adding the ability to ping things that block it doesn’t really make up for that, though it does help some, since it means that it can at least trade with X/2s, and X/1s effectively can’t block it. If you can find a way to give this death touch, that will unlock its full potential, but overall, I think you cut this more often than you’ll play it.
Sepulcher Ghoul image 2.5 This has passable base stats, and on most attacks it will be able to threaten becoming a 4/3, so your opponent will have to take that into account. Free sacrifice effects like this always play pretty well since you can virtually always use the effect, though in this case, you can only do it once. It looks like the Ghoul is well-positioned for the BG deck especially, since that deck’s all about stuff dying, and it will also pair nicely in BR, where you can use the Threaten effect to steal a creature and sacrifice it. I think all of that helps makes this two mana 2/1 a card you play a significant chunk of the time in Black.
Half-Elf Monk image 3.0 Mastery Decoy effects still tend to be pretty good in Limited. Tapping down your opponent’s best creature every turn often just feels like removal, and this has the minor added bonus of being able to attack and still use the ability. I say “minor” because it is only a ¼, so that’s not exactly incredible. Still, this is a pretty nice common for White.
Deadly Dispute image 2.0 The prevalence of treasure, especially in Black-Red, will make this better than it looks. This kind of effect often plays a lot like Tormenting Voice, which is to say – its pretty replaceable, but I think this will be better than usual thanks to the fact it is good with treasure and it produces treasure. It of course still comes with the upside of being able to sacrifice a creature in response to removal, at which point you really aren’t going down a card either.
Find the Path image 2.5 I think you’re getting pretty solid value here, between getting some ramp and venturing into a dungeon. Venture won’t always feel like drawing a card, but later on in the dungeons it will give you that kind of value, and even the early rooms in the dungeons seem decent enough.
Greataxe image 1.0 +4/+0 is the kind of boost that makes almost any creature capable of attacking, but an Equip Cost of 5 is way too much. This is equipment that might be nice in the later part of the game, since you can just keep sending your guys in, but it will sit on the table doing nothing the rest of the game
Hobgoblin Captain image 2.5 This looks like it might be a nice two drop for aggressive decks in the format. A two mana 3/1 is already playable in many formats, and because he supplies half the power necessary to make pack tactics go off, it seems likely he will have first strike a lot. For now, I have it at 2.5, but if aggro is huge in this format, it will probably move up.
Leather Armor image 0.5 This probably isn’t worth playing. Its cool that it equips for free, but the bonus it gives is negligible enough to not be worth a card in most scenarios. If you end up with a deck with a crazy amount of Equipment payoffs, which RW might have, MAYBE you end up playing it, but that’s probably the only time you do
Pack 1 Pick 6: Gnoll Hunter
Aberrant Mind Sorcerer image 3.5 10-20 is the preferable option, and you have a slightly higher chance of getting that, and 1-9 isn’t too shabby either, as returning a removal spell to the top of your library is some powerful card selection. If you always got the 10-20 effect, it would be a 4.0, and if you always get 1-9, it would probably be a 3.0, so let’s split the difference at 3.5.
Hoard Robber image 1.0 It is nice that this can make treasure, but a 1/3 just isn’t going to be getting in very often without some significant help. I don’t think you play this most of the time.
Gnoll Hunter image 3.0 This is a fine two drop. It is a bear as a baseline, and it can get bigger if it has enough friends. That’s good enough upside for this to be a nice two-drop for Green decks.
Air-Cult Elemental image 3.0 This is one big Man-O’-War! A 6-mana 2/5 Flyer is a bad rate, but because this bounces another creature, you’ll often feel like you’re getting your mana’s worth. If you know me, you know I always love this kind of effect – and there’s a reason for that, it is great in Limited! Adding to your board while subtracting from your opponent’s is one of the best feelings you can have! And yeah, while the 2/5 stats aren’t exactly incredible, it is enough that the elemental can still be a little bit of a threat in the sky, or be an effective blocker. It does cost 6 mana, so you don’t really want more than one of them, but I think I’m going to value the first copy relatively highly.
Dueling Rapier image 2.5 So, the Equip cost here is obviously really steep, and +2/+0 for a single Red mana would not be an awesome combat trick, but in this case we’re talking about a combat trick that has the stats boost stick around in one form or another. Even if your creature dies, you have something on the battlefield, even if it does cost a lot to Equip, and if you can help a creature win and survive combat and keep this equipped to it, it’s going ot feel pretty good. In a lot of ways, it is still a glorified combat trick, but I’ve underestimated auras and equipment with Flash in the past, dismissing them as combat tricks, so I thinkt his will defy expectations. Still, it probably isn’t much more than a solid playable.
Leather Armor image 0.5 This probably isn’t worth playing. Its cool that it equips for free, but the bonus it gives is negligible enough to not be worth a card in most scenarios. If you end up with a deck with a crazy amount of Equipment payoffs, which RW might have, MAYBE you end up playing it, but that’s probably the only time you do
Spare Dagger image 1.0 The stats boost it offers is pretty weak, and giving up a whole card to ping something isn’t really something I’m interested in. This IS an equipment, and RW cares about that, so it probably gets played more often than it would in most formats
Potion of Healing image 1.5 Most of the time we see this kind of effect on a spell and it costs one fewer total mana than Potion of Healing does to draw you a card and gain you some life. This lets you pay it in installments though, and it is nice that you can just play it to draw the card and hold on to the life gain for a little bit later, especially if you’re in GW and you have some things that this can trigger for you. Still, this card seems pretty replacable, just like Revitalize and similar cards we’ve seen. You’ll probably cut it more than you play it.
Price of Loyalty image 1.0 // 2.5 Even with the Treasure upside, this probably won’t be worth it for most decks. Threaten effects aren’t amazing in most formats, since they tend to do very little except in two situations. One of these is that you’re able to kill your opponent when you do it, and the other is that you have some sacrifice outlets that make it easy to turn the effect into a removal spell that gives you some value. However, this does look like it might be worth playing in the Black-Red deck, as there is one red Sacrifice effect at Uncommon, two black sacrifice effects at Common, and one at Uncommon, so setting up the sacrifice is actually going to be doable there, making the card a solid playable in a deck that gets its hands on some of those effects.
Pack 1 Pick 7: Goblin Morningstar
Goblin Morningstar image 3.5 This looks like some pretty good Equipment ot me. While the stats boost isn’t incredible or anything, adding Trample does mean it will be nice to put on medium to large creatures, and the fact that you get a 1/1 goblin when you play it is quite nice, really making up for the other inefficiencies. It equipping to that goblin certainly is nice too, especially as a two-drop.
Soulknife Spy image 3.0 Creatures with this combat trigger tend to be pretty nice in Limited, and this one has more reasonable stats than the ones we usually see at lower rarities. Drawing a card is big, and is the kind of thing your opponent will have to account for one way or another, or the extra cards this gets you will help you win the game. It doesn’t hurt that UB has a significant number of ways to make the creature evasive, either! One particularly nasty combo that you’ll see a lot, because the two cards are Common and Uncommon two will be Fly + Soulknife spy.
Inspiring Bard image 2.5 A creature with just the Bardic Inspiration ability is usually a solid playable, but it does come with the downside of not doing anything with a +2/+2 boost doesn’t matter -- like if you have to play defense, or don’t have another creature. Adding the “Song of Rest” option means that in those situations, you could an ability that is far more useful, and that’s pretty nice. It probably still isn’t more than a solid playable, though.
Paladin's Shield image 1.0 We have seen Equipment like this before, and I’ve never really been impressed by it. A boost to toughness alone is very rarely something you’re after in your Equipment, and while this does have Flash, so you can use it as sort of a combat trick, it will usually only ever save your creature, and not really help it win combat. Then, after you get to attach it for free that one time, the Equip cost is really high for what this is. RW decks do have an Equipment sub-theme, and that helps it out a little bit, but not enough for it to be something you play regularly.
Zombie Ogre image 2.5 This has kind decent defensive stats, but the real value comes from its ability to Venture into the Dungeon, which it can do without any mana investment at all. Sure, you have to have your creature die, but that’s a common enough occurrence that this will be able to Venture for you a decent amount of the time. Playing it in the second main phase after a creature has ALREADY died will feel particularly good, because you’ll be getting that value at your End Step most of the time. This seems like a solid Common
Neverwinter Dryad image 2.5 This is a fine one drop. It ramps for you, and that looks to be a good strategy in this format, especially in UG. It is nice that if you play it early it might actually attack for a bit too
Bulette image 2.5 We’ve seen a lot of creatures like this in the past, and they’re not usually anything amazing, though their ability to grow throughout the game is nice, and they do eventually become a problem for your opponent. Because it counts the death of any creature, you will find that this gains that counter a decent chunk of the time.
Dire Wolf Prowler image 1.5 This starts off with very mediocre stats. A Gray Ogre is just abysmal, and while it has a decent activated ability that can make it a 4/4 with Haste, I don’t think this does enough to be saved from being a card you cut significantly more often than you play it.
Pack 1 Pick 8: Iron Golem
Iron Golem image 2.5 This is like Juggernaut, a card that is still pretty solid in Limited. It is a bit of a bummer that didn’t give it the “can’t be blocked by walls” thing, since there are a few of them in this set, but either way this is a nice little creature. It is sure to die in combat because it has to block and attack constantly, but it has high enough power that it will kill most stuff at least.
Secret Door image 1.5 In the early game, this can block reasonably well, and in the late game it has an ability that is a reasonable mana sink, and one that can actually give you a ton of value. Only Venturing at Sorcery speed is rough of course, because you have to telegraph to your opponent you won’t be interacting with them, but if you’re flooding out, this ability is going to look pretty good. You probably still don’t play this a ton though.
Inspiring Bard image 2.5 A creature with just the Bardic Inspiration ability is usually a solid playable, but it does come with the downside of not doing anything with a +2/+2 boost doesn’t matter -- like if you have to play defense, or don’t have another creature. Adding the “Song of Rest” option means that in those situations, you could an ability that is far more useful, and that’s pretty nice. It probably still isn’t more than a solid playable, though.
Ranger's Hawk image 2.0 One mana 1/1 flyers are almost never that great in Limited unless they have something else worthwhile going on. The good news for this Hawk, is that it does! In the early game it can attack a bit in the air, but it will quickly be forced to stop attacking. Luckily, it has a late game mana sink that seems pretty good -- venturing into dungeons every turn will definitely allow you to grind out some wins late. Now, the cost of doing it isn’t small -- having to have another untapped creature isn’t a guarantee, but if you are at parity or ahead of your opponent, it won’t be that hard to make it happen. I think this is a solid playable.
Manticore image 3.0 These types of “kill something that was damaged” effects are often underwhelming, just because it takes more work than you'd think to consistently manufacture situations where that happens -- in particular, situations where you can make it happen without giving up significant resources, like an ugly block or an attack. However, when they add Flash to the mix, the card gets significantly more interesting because it means there will be a wider variety of situations where you can make that part of the card work. Plus, in a fail case this gives you a passable Flying body. Don’t count on this to feel like a Flying Ravenous Chupacabra all the time, but it will do that often enough to be a pretty nice common.
Shortcut Seeker image 2.0 This has some okay defensive stats, but unfortunately it needs to do damage to a player to actually do something real, making it kind of an odd card. UB is going to be pretty good at making creatures gain evasion, but I’m not super interested in this.
Goblin Javelineer image 1.5 This probably won’t be great in Limited. A one mana 1/1 with Haste might feel reasonable on turn one, but it is pretty terrible thereafter, and adding the ability to ping things that block it doesn’t really make up for that, though it does help some, since it means that it can at least trade with X/2s, and X/1s effectively can’t block it. If you can find a way to give this death touch, that will unlock its full potential, but overall, I think you cut this more often than you’ll play it.
Pack 1 Pick 9: Inspiring Bard
Djinni Windseer image 3.5 I was already pretty sold on a 4-mana 3/3 Flyer, so adding the d20 effect is just gravy. Even just Scrying 1 with this will feel like you’re getting nice value, and sometimes it will do more than that. The set also has some d20 payoffs, especially in UR, making it marginally better than that. It isn’t the most exciting card, but it is a pretty darn good Common.
Spiked Pit Trap image 1.5 Lots of sets lately seem to have an Artifact that is a removal spell, and it is nice that you can play them in any deck, but they tend to be pretty inefficient, and that’s kind of the case here. You pay 6 mana total for 5 damage, and you might also get a Treasure. It does have Flash, which makes it so you can sort of ambush kill things, but yeah, you probably don’t end up playing this unless you’re short on good removal
Brazen Dwarf image 1.0 This doesn’t look very good. A two mana ⅓ isn’t a good stat-line these days, and the fact it might damage your opponent a little bit doesn’t really make up for that for me. It just won’t do enough to feel worth the mana or the card in most decks.
Dueling Rapier image 2.5 So, the Equip cost here is obviously really steep, and +2/+0 for a single Red mana would not be an awesome combat trick, but in this case we’re talking about a combat trick that has the stats boost stick around in one form or another. Even if your creature dies, you have something on the battlefield, even if it does cost a lot to Equip, and if you can help a creature win and survive combat and keep this equipped to it, it’s going ot feel pretty good. In a lot of ways, it is still a glorified combat trick, but I’ve underestimated auras and equipment with Flash in the past, dismissing them as combat tricks, so I thinkt his will defy expectations. Still, it probably isn’t much more than a solid playable.
Inspiring Bard image 2.5 A creature with just the Bardic Inspiration ability is usually a solid playable, but it does come with the downside of not doing anything with a +2/+2 boost doesn’t matter -- like if you have to play defense, or don’t have another creature. Adding the “Song of Rest” option means that in those situations, you could an ability that is far more useful, and that’s pretty nice. It probably still isn’t more than a solid playable, though.
Rimeshield Frost Giant image 3.0 Ward 3 is pretty big, and for a creature this size, it may just feel like Hexproof some games, since your opponent will need a pretty hefty removal spell to deal with it in most cases, and it will be pretty hard for your opponent to ever take it down without paying at least what you paid for the Giant.
Pack 1 Pick 10: Kick in the Door
Dragon's Disciple image 2.0 This is a nice Dragon payoff, as being able to play this as a two-mana 2/4 will feel pretty great, especially on turn 2! Adding Ward 1 to all your dragons isn’t too shabby either. The fact that this has a fail case of being a two mana ⅓ gives it a not entirely terrible floor too. There are enough Dragons around in this set for you to be able to take full advantage of this a decent chunk of the time. You probably need like 3 in your deck to feel good about it, but when you get there, this will be a nice card for you.
Blink Dog image 1.0 This doesn’t look very good. 3 mana for a 1/1 with Double Strike is rough, and the Phase effect is cool, but also costly. I guess if you have some Equipment he can get interesting, but I think you mostly won’t play this
Clever Conjurer image 2.5 This ability only being Sorcery speed is a bummer, but it is still a pretty useful one to have on a 3-mana ⅔. Notably, it can untap lands for you, helping you ramp. And that’s probably the way you’ll use it the most. This seems like a solid playable.
Kick in the Door image 2.5 This card reminds me a lot of some of the cards we saw in Strixhaven, which seemed like they didn’t really do that much, but it turned out Learning for one or two mana was good, even if the other effect was negligible, and I think that’s kind of what we’re looking at here. Without Venture, this card would be pretty close to an F. One mana for a counter and Haste and not being able to be blocked by a few creatures just wouldn’t be worth a whole card, but I think with Venture attached you suddenly have a card that will feel sort of like Guiding Voice from Strixhaven. It will make a new creature able to attack right away, or make an old one able to attack thanks to the counter, while also netting you value from Venturing.
Greataxe image 1.0 +4/+0 is the kind of boost that makes almost any creature capable of attacking, but an Equip Cost of 5 is way too much. This is equipment that might be nice in the later part of the game, since you can just keep sending your guys in, but it will sit on the table doing nothing the rest of the game
Pack 1 Pick 11: Choose Your Weapon
Choose Your Weapon image 2.5 Both options here are super underwhelming, and will only be useful and efficient in some very specific situations. But, like with all of these cards, putting two situational effects together really does make for a significantly better card, as the situations where you can use that card are drastically increased, even with a card that has two incredibly situational options. Sometimes you’ll find yourself doing lethal with “Two-Weapon Fighting” and sometimes you’ll find yourself killing an opposing Flyer fairly efficiently. I think that makes this a solid card.
Dawnbringer Cleric image 2.5 None of these effects are amazing, but the flexibility this card offers is quite nice. Mostly, you’ll gain 2 life with it, which will be okayish -- but when you have an Enchantment to destroy or a key card to remove from your opponent’s graveyard, it will feel especially good. Gaining life also matters some in this set, so there’s some synergy to be had. I think this is a solid playable.
Neverwinter Dryad image 2.5 This is a fine one drop. It ramps for you, and that looks to be a good strategy in this format, especially in UG. It is nice that if you play it early it might actually attack for a bit too
Devour Intellect image 0.5 // 2.5 Letting your opponent choose to discard whatever they want this is not very good, but with Treasure you can turn it into a better Thoughtseize, and that’s pretty neat. I think this really needs a build around grade, because it is pretty awful in a deck with 0 treasure, but if you are BR, you’ll probably have the Treasure you need to make this work pretty well. Still, a card like this is better in the early game, and has diminishing returns as the game goes on, and you can’t count having treasure early, so don’t expect to fire this off on turn one or two for the more effective mode
Pack 1 Pick 12: Unexpected Windfall
Unexpected Windfall image 2.0 This seems like a decent card for Most red decks to get one copy of. 4 mana is a lot for Tormenting Voice, but the two Treasure you get means this card also gives you some very real fixing, in addition to helping you dig deeper into your deck.
Shocking Grasp image 1.5 The effect here isn’t very exciting. This Blue “combat tricks” really need your board to already have something big enough to deal with an attacking creature, or to blow up a block, and that really makes them pretty unimpressive. Obviously, adding a cantrip to the card does it make it better, because it means that at worse, you’re going to be able to Cycle this, but it still isn’t something that will make the cut in your deck all that often.
Spare Dagger image 1.0 The stats boost it offers is pretty weak, and giving up a whole card to ping something isn’t really something I’m interested in. This IS an equipment, and RW cares about that, so it probably gets played more often than it would in most formats
Pack 1 Pick 13: Leather Armor
Greataxe image 1.0 +4/+0 is the kind of boost that makes almost any creature capable of attacking, but an Equip Cost of 5 is way too much. This is equipment that might be nice in the later part of the game, since you can just keep sending your guys in, but it will sit on the table doing nothing the rest of the game
Leather Armor image 0.5 This probably isn’t worth playing. Its cool that it equips for free, but the bonus it gives is negligible enough to not be worth a card in most scenarios. If you end up with a deck with a crazy amount of Equipment payoffs, which RW might have, MAYBE you end up playing it, but that’s probably the only time you do
Pack 1 Pick 14: Leather Armor
Leather Armor image 0.5 This probably isn’t worth playing. Its cool that it equips for free, but the bonus it gives is negligible enough to not be worth a card in most scenarios. If you end up with a deck with a crazy amount of Equipment payoffs, which RW might have, MAYBE you end up playing it, but that’s probably the only time you do
Pack 2 Pick 1: Death-Priest of Myrkul
Monk Class image 4.0 Level 1 of this class isn’t anything amazing, but it might help you double spell sometimes. Level two lets you bounce something, and that’s something that I think really elevates this class – its ability to actually interact with the opposing board! That will buy you more time to try to get Level 3 here, which you’ll want to do, because it will effectively start drawing you cards if you can double spell. Now, you won’t always be able to do it, but this is actually really cheap to level up, and just drawing a couple cards off of it will make you feel pretty good about your situation
Death-Priest of Myrkul image 4.0 This card really feels like a Rare, and that’s always a good sign for an Uncommon! Sure, he has some ugly stats for the cost, but everything else going on here is great. There are enough creatures with those types in Black in this set that it will be pumping 3-5 of the creatures in your deck, and sometimes more, but the real value comes from the ability to make 1/1 Skeletons, which, if the Deathpriest is in play, will of course be 2/2 skeletons! You won’t always be able to trigger that effortlessly, but it will happen often enough for the Deathpriest to be a very real problem for your opponent, and the great thing is, after you make that first one, you’re going to be getting value even if they do find removal for it!
Cleric Class image 1.5 // 3.5 GW is about gaining life, and this will fit in really well there. Like with most of these, the level 1 Enchantment probably wouldn’t be worth playing, but I think the next two abilities on this one are quite potent. Level 2 gives you an Ajani’s Pridemate effect, which is great if you have some life gain, and Level 3 lets you reanimate a creature and gain some life, which will also mean you put a counter somewhere. The total package here is pretty appealing, but probably still a pretty serious build around. It has a kind of reasonable floor as most decks can take advantage of the reanimation, but it is probably not going to be very good in your typical White deck, and like a B in a GW deck that is good at gaining life
Moon-Blessed Cleric image 3.0 This does a pretty good Heliod’s Pilgrim impression. It can’t tutor the card right to your hand, but it lets you get any kind of Enchantment, not an Aura, and it also comes with better stats for the cost, so I think it will end up playing very similarly to the Pilgrim, who tends to be a pretty nice card to have in most limited formats. Obviously you need some Enchantments to really get it going, but that doesn’t seem like a difficult hurdle.
Plundering Barbarian image 2.5 This seems like a solid card. This format has enough artifacts that this will have something to target often enough with “Smash the Chest,” and it feel great when you do that. When you don’t, it provides some reasonable fixing for you with “Pry it Open.”
Celestial Unicorn image 3.0 GW is the color pair most interested in gaining life in this format, and this is a very nice Common payoff for that kind of deck. And, it can be pretty solid in other decks too, as it isn’t like GW is the only deck where you’ll be able to gain life. This can get big fast, and has a reasonable starting point as a 3-mana 3/2. It seems like a pretty good Common.
Spiked Pit Trap image 1.5 Lots of sets lately seem to have an Artifact that is a removal spell, and it is nice that you can play them in any deck, but they tend to be pretty inefficient, and that’s kind of the case here. You pay 6 mana total for 5 damage, and you might also get a Treasure. It does have Flash, which makes it so you can sort of ambush kill things, but yeah, you probably don’t end up playing this unless you’re short on good removal
You Find the Villains' Lair image 2.0 Cancel is not usually a great card in Limited. Counterspells are a little too situational, and it is often just going ot be better to add to your board with three mana than count on your opponent playing something that you will counter. In a lot of ways, counter magic in Limited is just bad removal, because you have to have the mana up to use it at the exact right time, or it doesn’t do anything. Basically, a card like Cancel just ends up being a card you have left in your hand after you’ve played everything else, and it might do a thing, but it also might have cost you the game. This gets around that problem with another mode though. Sure, it doesn’t add to the board either, but it still gives you something to do with it that will be more immediate and more of a sure thing in situations where that’s a good idea. Normally, Cancel is like a 1.5, but I think this does enough to make the cut more often than that.
Swarming Goblins image 3.0 This seems like a pretty nice 5-drop. The worst case is 5 mana for a 4/3 and a 1/1, and that’s a pretty passable card -- if you get two tokens out of this it is going to feel well worth the investment, and obviously on the rare occasions you hit 20 you’ll feel like you’re robbing the bank.
Devour Intellect image 0.5 // 2.5 Letting your opponent choose to discard whatever they want this is not very good, but with Treasure you can turn it into a better Thoughtseize, and that’s pretty neat. I think this really needs a build around grade, because it is pretty awful in a deck with 0 treasure, but if you are BR, you’ll probably have the Treasure you need to make this work pretty well. Still, a card like this is better in the early game, and has diminishing returns as the game goes on, and you can’t count having treasure early, so don’t expect to fire this off on turn one or two for the more effective mode
Bulette image 2.5 We’ve seen a lot of creatures like this in the past, and they’re not usually anything amazing, though their ability to grow throughout the game is nice, and they do eventually become a problem for your opponent. Because it counts the death of any creature, you will find that this gains that counter a decent chunk of the time.
Arborea Pegasus image 3.0 This is a pretty good Common. The ETB trigger will almost always enable an attack you didn’t have before, and that means that the Pegasus will have an immediate impact on the board, in addition to being a 4-mana 2/3 Flyer itself.
Bar the Gate image 3.0 This seems like a pretty good counterspell. They always come with big downsides, like how situational they are, and three mana for one is normally not a card you really want to play, but when some additional value is added on to countermagic, it becomes increasingly worth it, and that’s what we have here. Sure, it doesn’t counter everything -- but creatures are the most common thing your opponent will do, so it will often have targets. Venturing into the Dungeon isn’t quite “draw a card” most of the time, but it gets close enough that I’m actually pretty interested in the first copy of this for most Blue decks.
Contact Other Plane image 3.0 So, with a 1-9 you’re getting an Instant speed Divination that costs one extra, which isn’t great, that would probably be a 1.5 or 2.0, but isn’t the worst fail case when the 10-19 gives you a pretty great effect for the cost -- like Behold the Multiverse without Foretell, and that’s a good place to be. Obviously, rolling the 20 will be completely absurd. If that’s what this card always did, it would be like a 4.0. We have to sort of think about what’s the most likely with this, and I think the fail case is passable enough that I’m pretty happy with this over all, as 10-19 is a pretty likely outcome, and that card would probably be a B-. In the end, I think all of that makes this a 3.0.
Pack 2 Pick 2: Chaos Channeler
Tiger-Tribe Hunter image 3.0 This doesn’t have the most impressive stats around, but since it is a 4/4 with Pack Tactics, it doesn’t need a whole lot of help to trigger it, and when you do, it will feel pretty good -- flinging something at one of your opponent’s creatures can be a pretty good ability, though it isn’t the kind that you’ll always be able to make use of. It is especially nice that he doesn’t have to stick to only Flinging the creatures who are attacking, so you can play a new creature and use it to kill off an opposing blocker, suddenly making your attack a real problem for your opponent. Sacrificing a creature is a real cost to be sure, but when that ability does its thing, it is going to feel pretty great. The base line here is a little bit rough, and the baility won’t always work out, but I thinkt his does enough to be a pretty high quality playable.
Blink Dog image 1.0 This doesn’t look very good. 3 mana for a 1/1 with Double Strike is rough, and the Phase effect is cool, but also costly. I guess if you have some Equipment he can get interesting, but I think you mostly won’t play this
Chaos Channeler image 4.0 This seems really good. It is a 4-mana 4/3 with a ton of upside. No matter what you roll when it attacks, you will end up netting at least one card. And because it says “play” you can even play lands off of it, and that’s awesome. He might die after only one attack, but you’ll usually be getting a 2-for-1 out of it, so that’s fine with me, especially because if left unchecked, the Channeler will just keep drawing you cards.
Spoils of the Hunt image 3.5 So even without any treasure at all, this is a 3-mana Rabid Bite at Instant speed, which is already a card I would be interested in. It also compares pretty well with Ambuscade, a card that cost the same and always gave +1/+0 in addition to the punch effect. The treasure upside is nice, because sometimes your creature won’t have the power necessary to be good with Spoils of the Hunt. However, if you’re in Green anyway, your creatures will mostly be good with this. One does have to be cautious with spells like this, as your opponent removing the creature you target is an epic blow out, but because its an Instant, it won’t be that hard to find an ideal window. I think this is premium removal
Potion of Healing image 1.5 Most of the time we see this kind of effect on a spell and it costs one fewer total mana than Potion of Healing does to draw you a card and gain you some life. This lets you pay it in installments though, and it is nice that you can just play it to draw the card and hold on to the life gain for a little bit later, especially if you’re in GW and you have some things that this can trigger for you. Still, this card seems pretty replacable, just like Revitalize and similar cards we’ve seen. You’ll probably cut it more than you play it.
Fates' Reversal image 2.5 So, usually Black has a common that lets you return two creatures, and it is usually a serviceable enough card that you basically always want the first copy of. They are situational, since they don’t do anything until late, but they can really help you grind out a win. This doesn’t do that exactly but I could see it offering similar value sometimes as a creature + Venture won’t feel too shabby.
Improvised Weaponry image 3.0 This probably isn’t quite premium removal, given that it does 2 for three mana and is a Sorcery. However, the fact that it can hit the opponent and it is a removal spell that gives you fixing and ramp is definitely appealing, even if won’t feel that efficient.
Djinni Windseer image 3.5 I was already pretty sold on a 4-mana 3/3 Flyer, so adding the d20 effect is just gravy. Even just Scrying 1 with this will feel like you’re getting nice value, and sometimes it will do more than that. The set also has some d20 payoffs, especially in UR, making it marginally better than that. It isn’t the most exciting card, but it is a pretty darn good Common.
Ranger's Longbow image 1.5 This gives a reasonable boost and key word for the cost, though it isn’t anything special.
Swarming Goblins image 3.0 This seems like a pretty nice 5-drop. The worst case is 5 mana for a 4/3 and a 1/1, and that’s a pretty passable card -- if you get two tokens out of this it is going to feel well worth the investment, and obviously on the rare occasions you hit 20 you’ll feel like you’re robbing the bank.
Hired Hexblade image 3.0 This seems like a solid card. Worst-case, you have a grizzly bear, and best case you have a two mana 2/2 that draws you a card -- which is just a great deal. There is enough treasure in this set that casting this with it isn’t a pipe dream, but you probably shouldn’t expect to be able to do it on turn two. Still, playing this later, once you have that treasure, will be nice since it will have relevance in the late game too when you do it.
Evolving Wilds image 3.0 This is always some really great fixing, as it makes it very easy to splash a secondary color while only running a single basic of that color, and that always feels great for your mana base. They also make any mana base significantly better, even if you are just straight up two colors. You should value these over most “solid” cards
Bar the Gate image 3.0 This seems like a pretty good counterspell. They always come with big downsides, like how situational they are, and three mana for one is normally not a card you really want to play, but when some additional value is added on to countermagic, it becomes increasingly worth it, and that’s what we have here. Sure, it doesn’t counter everything -- but creatures are the most common thing your opponent will do, so it will often have targets. Venturing into the Dungeon isn’t quite “draw a card” most of the time, but it gets close enough that I’m actually pretty interested in the first copy of this for most Blue decks.
Pack 2 Pick 3: Purple Worm
Purple Worm image 3.5 Even if you always paid 7 for this, it would be kind of alright, and it will frequently just be 5 mana. Adding Ward to a card like this really matters too, because the big downside with this kind of creature is that your opponent might be able to kill it for very little mana. Now, there’s still a pretty good chance they can kill it for less than 7, but killing it for less than 5 won’t be a common occurrence! This seems like a nice finisher for Green decks
Loathsome Troll image 2.5 A 5-mana 6/2 is not very good, though it does make Pack Tactics get going all on its own, and that certainly is relevant int his format. Still, a 2-drop can block it and take it down! The good news is, if you have the time and the mana, it has a solid ability it can use from the graveyard. It going on top of your library is not super good, since you have to replace your draw to get it back, and there’s a reasonable chance what you were going to draw was going to be better, but when it returns to your hand it will feel pretty good, and obviously that’s true when it goes to the battlefield as well. Still, this doesn’t have the best stats ever, even accounting for Pack Tactics, and its ability is both expensive and going to feel actively mediocre when you roll a 1-9
Improvised Weaponry image 3.0 This probably isn’t quite premium removal, given that it does 2 for three mana and is a Sorcery. However, the fact that it can hit the opponent and it is a removal spell that gives you fixing and ramp is definitely appealing, even if won’t feel that efficient.
Valor Singer image 3.0 This type of effect tends to be a bit better than it looks. I mean, on his own he is effectively a 3-mana 3/3 in most cases, and you’ll often have other creatures on which you can use the ability that might have more of an impact. At the very least, this seems like a solid playable.
Feign Death image 1.5 Versions of this effect that are good tend to give the stats boost up front. That’s significantly better than this because it allows a smaller creature to win combat against something bigger, but this doesn’t do that. Sometimes you’ll just have to use it on a chump block, which won’t feel great. It is nice that it basically counters most removal, and it isn’t bad, just not like Supernatural Stamina or other cards we’ve seen that have been pretty solid. This just won’t do enough to make the cut super often.
Arcane Investigator image 2.0 A two mana 2/1 isn’t great these days, but this one does come with a pretty nice late game effect. No matter what you roll, being able to draw cards late is pretty nice. Still, for the bluk of the game, the Investigator is just not very good. It will be outclasses quickly in the early game, and in the mid-game it will be even more useless.
You Hear Something on Watch image 3.0 This seems like a pretty nice Common. Sure, the removal effect only works on attackers, so if you’re the beat down it won’t feel great -- but the good news is if you are the beat down, you’re probably interested in the other mode, since it pays you off pretty well for going wide. The removal is too situational to be premium, but it will kill lots of attackers, and having the board pump effect as an option is pretty nice.
Dueling Rapier image 2.5 So, the Equip cost here is obviously really steep, and +2/+0 for a single Red mana would not be an awesome combat trick, but in this case we’re talking about a combat trick that has the stats boost stick around in one form or another. Even if your creature dies, you have something on the battlefield, even if it does cost a lot to Equip, and if you can help a creature win and survive combat and keep this equipped to it, it’s going ot feel pretty good. In a lot of ways, it is still a glorified combat trick, but I’ve underestimated auras and equipment with Flash in the past, dismissing them as combat tricks, so I thinkt his will defy expectations. Still, it probably isn’t much more than a solid playable.
Bar the Gate image 3.0 This seems like a pretty good counterspell. They always come with big downsides, like how situational they are, and three mana for one is normally not a card you really want to play, but when some additional value is added on to countermagic, it becomes increasingly worth it, and that’s what we have here. Sure, it doesn’t counter everything -- but creatures are the most common thing your opponent will do, so it will often have targets. Venturing into the Dungeon isn’t quite “draw a card” most of the time, but it gets close enough that I’m actually pretty interested in the first copy of this for most Blue decks.
+2 Mace image 2.0 This gives an alright boost for the mana it costs to play and equip, but it isn’t crazy efficient or anything, and it will probably be cut a decent chunk of the time.
Bull's Strength image 1.5 Like most versions of this that we’ve seen, it is pretty reasonable. The boost it gives will allow you to win combat, and trample will even allow you to do some damage out of nowhere. The untap clause also gives a creature pseudo vigilance, or allows you to ambush an opposing creature, though like with most tricks, you generally prefer to use it offensively -- but the additional flexibility doesn’t hurt. It is still a trick though and comes with all those inherent risks I always talk about -- its situational, and if things go wrong you get blown out really hard.
Boots of Speed image 2.0 The boost this offers for the casting cost and the equip cost is pretty reasonable, as paying one more to give something new Haste and +1/+0 will feel pretty good sometimes, especially in a set where there’s an Equipment archetype.
Pack 2 Pick 4: Owlbear
Burning Hands image 3.5 As we’ve seen with most of this cycle, this is a pretty good card even without the color hosing effect. Normally, two mana to do 2 to something at Instant speed would probably be a 2.5. It isn’t quite premium, just because it can only kill small stuff and not that efficiently. However, I do think adding the huge upside against Green permanents in a big deal, as when you go against a Green deck this will feel like a 4.0!
You See a Pair of Goblins image 3.0 This is a pretty nice modal card. If you’re not going wide enough, make a couple of Goblins at Instant speed. If you are going wide enough, this is basically trumpet blast. Neither of those cards are amazing, but jamming them both on to the same card is good, and really helps make a go-wide deck viable.
Silver Raven image 1.5 One mana 1/1 flyers don’t tend to be very impressive in most Limited formats unless they have a lot going on. And, while Scry 1 is a little more than nothing, it isn’t that good, either. It does mean it still does a thing in the late game, and improving your draws matters, but yeah, this is pretty mediocre overall. If the set had more of an Artifact theme it would be better, but it just isn’t there.
Owlbear image 3.5 This is reminiscent of Sarulf’s Packmate, and that’s a good Green Common to emulate. This gives you a very real body -- a 4/4 with Trample can be relevant on many board states, but obviously the ETB draw a card effect is what really makes this great. It will be virtually impossible for you not to get a 2-for-1 out of this Bear, and the value it gives you will be great. Sure, costing 5 does mean you can only run so many, unlike the Packmate which had Foretell, making it much easier to jam a bunch of them into your deck, but you should still value that first 1-2 copies pretty highly. There’s a good chance this is Green’s best common
Secret Door image 1.5 In the early game, this can block reasonably well, and in the late game it has an ability that is a reasonable mana sink, and one that can actually give you a ton of value. Only Venturing at Sorcery speed is rough of course, because you have to telegraph to your opponent you won’t be interacting with them, but if you’re flooding out, this ability is going to look pretty good. You probably still don’t play this a ton though.
Goblin Javelineer image 1.5 This probably won’t be great in Limited. A one mana 1/1 with Haste might feel reasonable on turn one, but it is pretty terrible thereafter, and adding the ability to ping things that block it doesn’t really make up for that, though it does help some, since it means that it can at least trade with X/2s, and X/1s effectively can’t block it. If you can find a way to give this death touch, that will unlock its full potential, but overall, I think you cut this more often than you’ll play it.
Compelled Duel image 1.0 I’m never a huge fan of this type of card. It isn’t easy to get 2-for-1’d when you cast it, and it is fairly situational. However, this is cheaper than most versions of this we’ve seen. +3/+3 is going to be enough to make just about any creature into a problem, though keep in mind that your opponent only needs to use one blocker here – it isn’t that all creatures have to block – just one does. So you need to end up in situations where the 3 damage either wins you the game or you take down an important creature, but a lot of the time their important creature will be attacking you.
Dwarfhold Champion image 2.5 A two mana 3/1 tends to be a reasonable baseline for aggro decks, and this comes with some decent additional upside. Gaining toughness when you equip it will feel pretty nice, as obviously a 3/1 is pretty vulnerable
Hobgoblin Captain image 2.5 This looks like it might be a nice two drop for aggressive decks in the format. A two mana 3/1 is already playable in many formats, and because he supplies half the power necessary to make pack tactics go off, it seems likely he will have first strike a lot. For now, I have it at 2.5, but if aggro is huge in this format, it will probably move up.
Spiked Pit Trap image 1.5 Lots of sets lately seem to have an Artifact that is a removal spell, and it is nice that you can play them in any deck, but they tend to be pretty inefficient, and that’s kind of the case here. You pay 6 mana total for 5 damage, and you might also get a Treasure. It does have Flash, which makes it so you can sort of ambush kill things, but yeah, you probably don’t end up playing this unless you’re short on good removal
Clever Conjurer image 2.5 This ability only being Sorcery speed is a bummer, but it is still a pretty useful one to have on a 3-mana ⅔. Notably, it can untap lands for you, helping you ramp. And that’s probably the way you’ll use it the most. This seems like a solid playable.
Pack 2 Pick 5: Dragon's Fire
Wish image 0.0 These type of effects usually aren’t that good in Limited. You have to have something worth grabbing in your sideboard, but this isn’t Strixhaven, you’re not going to have a bunch of good options in there. Mostly, this will cost three mana to grab some mediocre card out of your sideboard. One kind of interesting thing here is that if you draft basic lands, you can sort of use it as fixing, but it isn’t exactly good at that either. I think this is probably just unplayable.
Rust Monster image 3.5 There are enough artifacts in this set that Rust Monster will be quite imposing on some boards. This is especially true because Red has so much treasure. Even the starting point here – a 3-mana 2/1 with First Strike – isn’t bad, but any time you attack with artifacts in play your opponent is going to have really hard decision to make. I think the Monster is well-supported enough in this set that it is probably worth a first pick in some weaker packs.
Gloom Stalker image 2.5 This is pretty bad if you haven’t completed a dungeon, and if you have, it is pretty good, but still not incredible.
Elturgard Ranger image 3.0 So, for 5 mana you get a 4/1 and a 2/2 -- in other words 6/3 worth of stats. A 5-mana 6/3 wouldn’t be good, but spread across two bodies this gets pretty interesting, plus a 4/1 with Reach has the kind of size to take down some of the dragons in the set, and that definitely matters. It feels like you’ll be able to get a 2-for-1 out of this a decent chunk of the time, and I think most Green decks will be interested in playing the first copy.
Find the Path image 2.5 I think you’re getting pretty solid value here, between getting some ramp and venturing into a dungeon. Venture won’t always feel like drawing a card, but later on in the dungeons it will give you that kind of value, and even the early rooms in the dungeons seem decent enough.
Dueling Rapier image 2.5 So, the Equip cost here is obviously really steep, and +2/+0 for a single Red mana would not be an awesome combat trick, but in this case we’re talking about a combat trick that has the stats boost stick around in one form or another. Even if your creature dies, you have something on the battlefield, even if it does cost a lot to Equip, and if you can help a creature win and survive combat and keep this equipped to it, it’s going ot feel pretty good. In a lot of ways, it is still a glorified combat trick, but I’ve underestimated auras and equipment with Flash in the past, dismissing them as combat tricks, so I thinkt his will defy expectations. Still, it probably isn’t much more than a solid playable.
Earth-Cult Elemental image 2.5 This offers some decent top-of-the-curve stats for Limited, and it has a pretty nice D20 ability. It won’t be awesome to roll 1-9, but the effect is at least symmetrical. It will be true that sometimes it doesn’t hurt your opponent as much as it hurts you, but the opposite will sometimes be true too. Then, the effect is one sided if you roll a 10 or more, which will be well worth the mana you spend. If you always roll 10-20 with it, it is probably one of the better Commons in the set, but unfortunately it won’t go that way, we have to think about the fail cases too! The presence of Treasure in this set also means your opponent will have more permanents than normal to sacrifice, which weakens it further.
Silver Raven image 1.5 One mana 1/1 flyers don’t tend to be very impressive in most Limited formats unless they have a lot going on. And, while Scry 1 is a little more than nothing, it isn’t that good, either. It does mean it still does a thing in the late game, and improving your draws matters, but yeah, this is pretty mediocre overall. If the set had more of an Artifact theme it would be better, but it just isn’t there.
Dragon's Fire image 4.0 Two mana for 3 damage is always premium removal, and this has some pretty relevant dragon upside that can make it an even better removal spell
Gnoll Hunter image 3.0 This is a fine two drop. It is a bear as a baseline, and it can get bigger if it has enough friends. That’s good enough upside for this to be a nice two-drop for Green decks.
Pack 2 Pick 6: Battle Cry Goblin
Tiger-Tribe Hunter image 3.0 This doesn’t have the most impressive stats around, but since it is a 4/4 with Pack Tactics, it doesn’t need a whole lot of help to trigger it, and when you do, it will feel pretty good -- flinging something at one of your opponent’s creatures can be a pretty good ability, though it isn’t the kind that you’ll always be able to make use of. It is especially nice that he doesn’t have to stick to only Flinging the creatures who are attacking, so you can play a new creature and use it to kill off an opposing blocker, suddenly making your attack a real problem for your opponent. Sacrificing a creature is a real cost to be sure, but when that ability does its thing, it is going to feel pretty great. The base line here is a little bit rough, and the baility won’t always work out, but I thinkt his does enough to be a pretty high quality playable.
Battle Cry Goblin image 3.0 On its own, this is a two mana 2/2 that can pump its power and can Haste for 1R, which is usually a pretty decent card in Limited. The Pack Tactics effect here isn’t the most impressive, but adding another body to the board that can have its power pumped can sometimes matter, and obviously, if you end up with a lot of Goblins -- and there are lots of Goblins in this set -- this gets even better.
Dire Wolf Prowler image 1.5 This starts off with very mediocre stats. A Gray Ogre is just abysmal, and while it has a decent activated ability that can make it a 4/4 with Haste, I don’t think this does enough to be saved from being a card you cut significantly more often than you play it.
Sepulcher Ghoul image 2.5 This has passable base stats, and on most attacks it will be able to threaten becoming a 4/3, so your opponent will have to take that into account. Free sacrifice effects like this always play pretty well since you can virtually always use the effect, though in this case, you can only do it once. It looks like the Ghoul is well-positioned for the BG deck especially, since that deck’s all about stuff dying, and it will also pair nicely in BR, where you can use the Threaten effect to steal a creature and sacrifice it. I think all of that helps makes this two mana 2/1 a card you play a significant chunk of the time in Black.
Rimeshield Frost Giant image 3.0 Ward 3 is pretty big, and for a creature this size, it may just feel like Hexproof some games, since your opponent will need a pretty hefty removal spell to deal with it in most cases, and it will be pretty hard for your opponent to ever take it down without paying at least what you paid for the Giant.
Potion of Healing image 1.5 Most of the time we see this kind of effect on a spell and it costs one fewer total mana than Potion of Healing does to draw you a card and gain you some life. This lets you pay it in installments though, and it is nice that you can just play it to draw the card and hold on to the life gain for a little bit later, especially if you’re in GW and you have some things that this can trigger for you. Still, this card seems pretty replacable, just like Revitalize and similar cards we’ve seen. You’ll probably cut it more than you play it.
Armory Veteran image 2.5 This has a solid baseline, and becomes pretty scary when you stick Equipment on him, as adding Menace to whatever other boost he’s getting will be formidable.
Bar the Gate image 3.0 This seems like a pretty good counterspell. They always come with big downsides, like how situational they are, and three mana for one is normally not a card you really want to play, but when some additional value is added on to countermagic, it becomes increasingly worth it, and that’s what we have here. Sure, it doesn’t counter everything -- but creatures are the most common thing your opponent will do, so it will often have targets. Venturing into the Dungeon isn’t quite “draw a card” most of the time, but it gets close enough that I’m actually pretty interested in the first copy of this for most Blue decks.
Price of Loyalty image 1.0 // 2.5 Even with the Treasure upside, this probably won’t be worth it for most decks. Threaten effects aren’t amazing in most formats, since they tend to do very little except in two situations. One of these is that you’re able to kill your opponent when you do it, and the other is that you have some sacrifice outlets that make it easy to turn the effect into a removal spell that gives you some value. However, this does look like it might be worth playing in the Black-Red deck, as there is one red Sacrifice effect at Uncommon, two black sacrifice effects at Common, and one at Uncommon, so setting up the sacrifice is actually going to be doable there, making the card a solid playable in a deck that gets its hands on some of those effects.
Pack 2 Pick 7: Circle of the Moon Druid
Critical Hit image 1.0 Two mana for double strike alone isn’t the most impressive trick. The creature you use it on generally already has to be fairly impressive for it to be worthwhile, and it won’t even always allow you to win combat if your creature isn’t big enough. It is easy to imagine using this on your 6/6 Trampler, and that will happen sometimes, but you have to think of all the situations where the effect is negligible, which will be the majority of the time. The whole “natural 20” thing is cute, but won’t happen often enough for that to factor into the grade much.
Unexpected Windfall image 2.0 This seems like a decent card for Most red decks to get one copy of. 4 mana is a lot for Tormenting Voice, but the two Treasure you get means this card also gives you some very real fixing, in addition to helping you dig deeper into your deck.
Gloom Stalker image 2.5 This is pretty bad if you haven’t completed a dungeon, and if you have, it is pretty good, but still not incredible.
Circle of the Moon Druid image 2.5 A card that is always a 3-mana 4/2 is like a 2.0 and a card that is always a 3-mana 2/4 is a 1.0. This gives you the best of both of those, as you’d rather have the 4/2 as the attacker and the 2/4 as the blocker most of the time.
Silver Raven image 1.5 One mana 1/1 flyers don’t tend to be very impressive in most Limited formats unless they have a lot going on. And, while Scry 1 is a little more than nothing, it isn’t that good, either. It does mean it still does a thing in the late game, and improving your draws matters, but yeah, this is pretty mediocre overall. If the set had more of an Artifact theme it would be better, but it just isn’t there.
Thieves' Tools image 2.5 This will fight nicely into UB, because that color is all about making small creatures evasive and getting value when they do combat damage, and it will fit nicely in BR because it likes treasures.
Goblin Javelineer image 1.5 This probably won’t be great in Limited. A one mana 1/1 with Haste might feel reasonable on turn one, but it is pretty terrible thereafter, and adding the ability to ping things that block it doesn’t really make up for that, though it does help some, since it means that it can at least trade with X/2s, and X/1s effectively can’t block it. If you can find a way to give this death touch, that will unlock its full potential, but overall, I think you cut this more often than you’ll play it.
Find the Path image 2.5 I think you’re getting pretty solid value here, between getting some ramp and venturing into a dungeon. Venture won’t always feel like drawing a card, but later on in the dungeons it will give you that kind of value, and even the early rooms in the dungeons seem decent enough.
Pack 2 Pick 8: Dragon's Fire
You Come to a River image 3.0 This is a solid modal card. Usually, just a card that does the “Fight the Current” option, is something that makes the cut a decent chunk of the time. It has the flexibility of dealing, at least temporarily, with multiple permanent types, and you can even use it to actually take away a card permanently if your opponent tries to put auras or combat tricks on their creatures. The other option you’ll basically only choose when its lethal, but that is some nice upside to have on an already solid card.
Mordenkainen's Polymorph image 1.0 This kind of card always looks really cool, and that’s because it is easy to think of situations where it does something. But, even though there are several of them -- like making a creature big enough to block something it couldn’t before, or shrinking an opposing creature, or doing 4 lethal damage int he air, or saving a creature from damage-based removal -- even with all of those possibilities, you’d be surprised how infrequently a situation emerges where this will actually do something. We’ve seen a ton of cards like this over the years, and they always significantly underperform. I can’t see that changing here.
Sepulcher Ghoul image 2.5 This has passable base stats, and on most attacks it will be able to threaten becoming a 4/3, so your opponent will have to take that into account. Free sacrifice effects like this always play pretty well since you can virtually always use the effect, though in this case, you can only do it once. It looks like the Ghoul is well-positioned for the BG deck especially, since that deck’s all about stuff dying, and it will also pair nicely in BR, where you can use the Threaten effect to steal a creature and sacrifice it. I think all of that helps makes this two mana 2/1 a card you play a significant chunk of the time in Black.
+2 Mace image 2.0 This gives an alright boost for the mana it costs to play and equip, but it isn’t crazy efficient or anything, and it will probably be cut a decent chunk of the time.
Hoarding Ogre image 2.0 This has Hill Giant stats and a serviceable attack trigger. Because it makes treasure, you can really count this creature as fixing, and that’s typically a valuable thing to have in Limited, plus this set has some nice treasure payoffs.
Dragon's Fire image 4.0 Two mana for 3 damage is always premium removal, and this has some pretty relevant dragon upside that can make it an even better removal spell
Boots of Speed image 2.0 The boost this offers for the casting cost and the equip cost is pretty reasonable, as paying one more to give something new Haste and +1/+0 will feel pretty good sometimes, especially in a set where there’s an Equipment archetype.
Pack 2 Pick 9: Swarming Goblins
Moon-Blessed Cleric image 3.0 This does a pretty good Heliod’s Pilgrim impression. It can’t tutor the card right to your hand, but it lets you get any kind of Enchantment, not an Aura, and it also comes with better stats for the cost, so I think it will end up playing very similarly to the Pilgrim, who tends to be a pretty nice card to have in most limited formats. Obviously you need some Enchantments to really get it going, but that doesn’t seem like a difficult hurdle.
Celestial Unicorn image 3.0 GW is the color pair most interested in gaining life in this format, and this is a very nice Common payoff for that kind of deck. And, it can be pretty solid in other decks too, as it isn’t like GW is the only deck where you’ll be able to gain life. This can get big fast, and has a reasonable starting point as a 3-mana 3/2. It seems like a pretty good Common.
Spiked Pit Trap image 1.5 Lots of sets lately seem to have an Artifact that is a removal spell, and it is nice that you can play them in any deck, but they tend to be pretty inefficient, and that’s kind of the case here. You pay 6 mana total for 5 damage, and you might also get a Treasure. It does have Flash, which makes it so you can sort of ambush kill things, but yeah, you probably don’t end up playing this unless you’re short on good removal
Swarming Goblins image 3.0 This seems like a pretty nice 5-drop. The worst case is 5 mana for a 4/3 and a 1/1, and that’s a pretty passable card -- if you get two tokens out of this it is going to feel well worth the investment, and obviously on the rare occasions you hit 20 you’ll feel like you’re robbing the bank.
Devour Intellect image 0.5 // 2.5 Letting your opponent choose to discard whatever they want this is not very good, but with Treasure you can turn it into a better Thoughtseize, and that’s pretty neat. I think this really needs a build around grade, because it is pretty awful in a deck with 0 treasure, but if you are BR, you’ll probably have the Treasure you need to make this work pretty well. Still, a card like this is better in the early game, and has diminishing returns as the game goes on, and you can’t count having treasure early, so don’t expect to fire this off on turn one or two for the more effective mode
Bar the Gate image 3.0 This seems like a pretty good counterspell. They always come with big downsides, like how situational they are, and three mana for one is normally not a card you really want to play, but when some additional value is added on to countermagic, it becomes increasingly worth it, and that’s what we have here. Sure, it doesn’t counter everything -- but creatures are the most common thing your opponent will do, so it will often have targets. Venturing into the Dungeon isn’t quite “draw a card” most of the time, but it gets close enough that I’m actually pretty interested in the first copy of this for most Blue decks.
Pack 2 Pick 10: Improvised Weaponry
Improvised Weaponry image 3.0 This probably isn’t quite premium removal, given that it does 2 for three mana and is a Sorcery. However, the fact that it can hit the opponent and it is a removal spell that gives you fixing and ramp is definitely appealing, even if won’t feel that efficient.
Ranger's Longbow image 1.5 This gives a reasonable boost and key word for the cost, though it isn’t anything special.
Swarming Goblins image 3.0 This seems like a pretty nice 5-drop. The worst case is 5 mana for a 4/3 and a 1/1, and that’s a pretty passable card -- if you get two tokens out of this it is going to feel well worth the investment, and obviously on the rare occasions you hit 20 you’ll feel like you’re robbing the bank.
Hired Hexblade image 3.0 This seems like a solid card. Worst-case, you have a grizzly bear, and best case you have a two mana 2/2 that draws you a card -- which is just a great deal. There is enough treasure in this set that casting this with it isn’t a pipe dream, but you probably shouldn’t expect to be able to do it on turn two. Still, playing this later, once you have that treasure, will be nice since it will have relevance in the late game too when you do it.
Bar the Gate image 3.0 This seems like a pretty good counterspell. They always come with big downsides, like how situational they are, and three mana for one is normally not a card you really want to play, but when some additional value is added on to countermagic, it becomes increasingly worth it, and that’s what we have here. Sure, it doesn’t counter everything -- but creatures are the most common thing your opponent will do, so it will often have targets. Venturing into the Dungeon isn’t quite “draw a card” most of the time, but it gets close enough that I’m actually pretty interested in the first copy of this for most Blue decks.
Pack 2 Pick 11: Valor Singer
Valor Singer image 3.0 This type of effect tends to be a bit better than it looks. I mean, on his own he is effectively a 3-mana 3/3 in most cases, and you’ll often have other creatures on which you can use the ability that might have more of an impact. At the very least, this seems like a solid playable.
Dueling Rapier image 2.5 So, the Equip cost here is obviously really steep, and +2/+0 for a single Red mana would not be an awesome combat trick, but in this case we’re talking about a combat trick that has the stats boost stick around in one form or another. Even if your creature dies, you have something on the battlefield, even if it does cost a lot to Equip, and if you can help a creature win and survive combat and keep this equipped to it, it’s going ot feel pretty good. In a lot of ways, it is still a glorified combat trick, but I’ve underestimated auras and equipment with Flash in the past, dismissing them as combat tricks, so I thinkt his will defy expectations. Still, it probably isn’t much more than a solid playable.
Bull's Strength image 1.5 Like most versions of this that we’ve seen, it is pretty reasonable. The boost it gives will allow you to win combat, and trample will even allow you to do some damage out of nowhere. The untap clause also gives a creature pseudo vigilance, or allows you to ambush an opposing creature, though like with most tricks, you generally prefer to use it offensively -- but the additional flexibility doesn’t hurt. It is still a trick though and comes with all those inherent risks I always talk about -- its situational, and if things go wrong you get blown out really hard.
Boots of Speed image 2.0 The boost this offers for the casting cost and the equip cost is pretty reasonable, as paying one more to give something new Haste and +1/+0 will feel pretty good sometimes, especially in a set where there’s an Equipment archetype.
Pack 2 Pick 12: Hobgoblin Captain
You See a Pair of Goblins image 3.0 This is a pretty nice modal card. If you’re not going wide enough, make a couple of Goblins at Instant speed. If you are going wide enough, this is basically trumpet blast. Neither of those cards are amazing, but jamming them both on to the same card is good, and really helps make a go-wide deck viable.
Goblin Javelineer image 1.5 This probably won’t be great in Limited. A one mana 1/1 with Haste might feel reasonable on turn one, but it is pretty terrible thereafter, and adding the ability to ping things that block it doesn’t really make up for that, though it does help some, since it means that it can at least trade with X/2s, and X/1s effectively can’t block it. If you can find a way to give this death touch, that will unlock its full potential, but overall, I think you cut this more often than you’ll play it.
Hobgoblin Captain image 2.5 This looks like it might be a nice two drop for aggressive decks in the format. A two mana 3/1 is already playable in many formats, and because he supplies half the power necessary to make pack tactics go off, it seems likely he will have first strike a lot. For now, I have it at 2.5, but if aggro is huge in this format, it will probably move up.
Pack 2 Pick 13: Rust Monster
Rust Monster image 3.5 There are enough artifacts in this set that Rust Monster will be quite imposing on some boards. This is especially true because Red has so much treasure. Even the starting point here – a 3-mana 2/1 with First Strike – isn’t bad, but any time you attack with artifacts in play your opponent is going to have really hard decision to make. I think the Monster is well-supported enough in this set that it is probably worth a first pick in some weaker packs.
Earth-Cult Elemental image 2.5 This offers some decent top-of-the-curve stats for Limited, and it has a pretty nice D20 ability. It won’t be awesome to roll 1-9, but the effect is at least symmetrical. It will be true that sometimes it doesn’t hurt your opponent as much as it hurts you, but the opposite will sometimes be true too. Then, the effect is one sided if you roll a 10 or more, which will be well worth the mana you spend. If you always roll 10-20 with it, it is probably one of the better Commons in the set, but unfortunately it won’t go that way, we have to think about the fail cases too! The presence of Treasure in this set also means your opponent will have more permanents than normal to sacrifice, which weakens it further.
Pack 2 Pick 14: Armory Veteran
Armory Veteran image 2.5 This has a solid baseline, and becomes pretty scary when you stick Equipment on him, as adding Menace to whatever other boost he’s getting will be formidable.
Pack 3 Pick 1: Grand Master of Flowers
Grand Master of Flowers image 4.0 This is not the kind of planeswalker that will take over the game with ease, but it still seems pretty good. His first +1 is where you’ll get the most bang for your buck, as making creatures unable to attack or block can have a pretty big impact on the game, and can allow the Grand Master to protect itself. Now, he can’t stop creatures with some pretty common key-word ability, but that’s okay – he can still stop most stuff. His other +1 is only going to be useful if you have also drafted Monk of the Open Hand. We’ll see the monk later in this video. It is an Uncommon, and a pretty nice one drop, but you aren’t really guaranteed to get one in your draft, so that effect might be useless. If you can get a monk or two, though, that other +1 will feel good while you can use it, as you get a body to protect the Grand Master. Obviously the big goal here is to get the Grand Master up to 7 loyalty, at which point he becomes a huge indestructible Dragon, but making that happen won’t be easy. It will take 4 turns to get there, and while he can protect himself to some extent, he’s not so good at it that it will be easy to make that happen. Now, your opponent will want to commit significant resources to keeping his loyalty from getting that high, and that will also give you some value. All in all though, I don’t think this is a bomb planeswalker – merely a good one.
Split the Party image 2.5 This is a unique design for a bounce spell, and I think most of the time it will be pretty alright. You probably want to be bouncing two things with it to feel good about the amount of mana you spend on it, and you can do that as long as they have three creatures since it is rounded up. There will be times where it just doesn’t matter though, even when you bounce a couple of things. A decent chunk of the time, this will either simply delay the inevitable. This kind of effect does not allow you to trade card-for-card and is pure tempo, so keep that in mind. I think overall, that just makes this a 2.5
Loathsome Troll image 2.5 A 5-mana 6/2 is not very good, though it does make Pack Tactics get going all on its own, and that certainly is relevant int his format. Still, a 2-drop can block it and take it down! The good news is, if you have the time and the mana, it has a solid ability it can use from the graveyard. It going on top of your library is not super good, since you have to replace your draw to get it back, and there’s a reasonable chance what you were going to draw was going to be better, but when it returns to your hand it will feel pretty good, and obviously that’s true when it goes to the battlefield as well. Still, this doesn’t have the best stats ever, even accounting for Pack Tactics, and its ability is both expensive and going to feel actively mediocre when you roll a 1-9
Trelasarra, Moon Dancer image 3.5 This is a very powerful life gain payoff for the GW deck. If you’ve ever played with Ajani’s Pridemate, you know what I’m talking about! And this trigger is even better than that one! Adding Scry can help you find more ways to gain life too, to keep the party going. This is going to be a high pick, even as a multi-colored card
Bull's Strength image 1.5 Like most versions of this that we’ve seen, it is pretty reasonable. The boost it gives will allow you to win combat, and trample will even allow you to do some damage out of nowhere. The untap clause also gives a creature pseudo vigilance, or allows you to ambush an opposing creature, though like with most tricks, you generally prefer to use it offensively -- but the additional flexibility doesn’t hurt. It is still a trick though and comes with all those inherent risks I always talk about -- its situational, and if things go wrong you get blown out really hard.
Sylvan Shepherd image 2.5 This looks like it has a lot going on because of the d20 stuff, but it is basically just a 3-mana ⅔ with Vigilance that gains you 1-2 life when it attacks. That’s basically a textbook solid playable, especially in a format that does have some life gain payoffs
Owlbear image 3.5 This is reminiscent of Sarulf’s Packmate, and that’s a good Green Common to emulate. This gives you a very real body -- a 4/4 with Trample can be relevant on many board states, but obviously the ETB draw a card effect is what really makes this great. It will be virtually impossible for you not to get a 2-for-1 out of this Bear, and the value it gives you will be great. Sure, costing 5 does mean you can only run so many, unlike the Packmate which had Foretell, making it much easier to jam a bunch of them into your deck, but you should still value that first 1-2 copies pretty highly. There’s a good chance this is Green’s best common
Ranger's Longbow image 1.5 This gives a reasonable boost and key word for the cost, though it isn’t anything special.
Clattering Skeletons image 3.0 A 4-mana 4/3 is fine, and this comes with a nice enough death trigger. Venturing is going to be a big part of this format -- think learn/lessons in Strixhaven -- so any card that can do it for you is going to be a little better than it looks.
Unexpected Windfall image 2.0 This seems like a decent card for Most red decks to get one copy of. 4 mana is a lot for Tormenting Voice, but the two Treasure you get means this card also gives you some very real fixing, in addition to helping you dig deeper into your deck.
Feign Death image 1.5 Versions of this effect that are good tend to give the stats boost up front. That’s significantly better than this because it allows a smaller creature to win combat against something bigger, but this doesn’t do that. Sometimes you’ll just have to use it on a chump block, which won’t feel great. It is nice that it basically counters most removal, and it isn’t bad, just not like Supernatural Stamina or other cards we’ve seen that have been pretty solid. This just won’t do enough to make the cut super often.
Delver's Torch image 2.0 The cost of playing this and Equipping it is pretty high for only a +1/+1 stat boost. Venturing every time the creature attacks is where the real value is, but as high as I am on Venture, I’m not a huge fan of this card. It doesn’t do a whole lot to help one of your creatures attack that couldn’t already attack before, and I think that’s the big thing you want Equipment to do for you, and +1/+1 isn’t going to do it that often, which won’t feel great for such a high Equip cost. If you already have Evasive creatures or a big creature it could be nice because you can get the Venture going, but yeah, I think this is clunky and overwhelming overall
Spare Dagger image 1.0 The stats boost it offers is pretty weak, and giving up a whole card to ping something isn’t really something I’m interested in. This IS an equipment, and RW cares about that, so it probably gets played more often than it would in most formats
Pixie Guide image 2.0 This has a reasonable floor. Two mana ⅓ flyers tend to be sort of acceptable in Limited, and the upsider here is pretty alright too. UR especially will be able to take advantage of the effect, but most decks that are at least part Blue will probably have 2-3 cards that involve a d20, so it will come up some. This isn’t especially close to good, though it isn’t bad either.
Pack 3 Pick 2: Hunter's Mark
Green Dragon image 3.5 This whole cycle is pretty nice, and Green Dragon doesn’t really disappoint. A 6-mana 4/4 Flyer is often a borderline playable, but its ETB trigger is also going to be a huge headache for people to contend with. Now, there will be some board states where it doesn’t do much, but the card has a reasonable base line and will sometimes set up situations where your opponent just has to block to not die, which means they lose their creatures.
Hunter's Mark image 3.5 Even without the upside against Blue decks, Hunter’s Mark would be a very good removal spell for Green. Instant speed punch is great, especially when it comes with the additional upside of sometimes only costing a single mana! This is premium removal.
Death-Priest of Myrkul image 4.0 This card really feels like a Rare, and that’s always a good sign for an Uncommon! Sure, he has some ugly stats for the cost, but everything else going on here is great. There are enough creatures with those types in Black in this set that it will be pumping 3-5 of the creatures in your deck, and sometimes more, but the real value comes from the ability to make 1/1 Skeletons, which, if the Deathpriest is in play, will of course be 2/2 skeletons! You won’t always be able to trigger that effortlessly, but it will happen often enough for the Deathpriest to be a very real problem for your opponent, and the great thing is, after you make that first one, you’re going to be getting value even if they do find removal for it!
Charmed Sleep image 3.5 I’m always hesitant to give Blue removal a “premium removal” grade, because it seems more often than not they don’t get there due to various disadvantages, but I think this gets there just barely. It did last time we saw it too. It doesn’t shut down static or activated abilities, but most creatures will become useless once this is on it.
Feign Death image 1.5 Versions of this effect that are good tend to give the stats boost up front. That’s significantly better than this because it allows a smaller creature to win combat against something bigger, but this doesn’t do that. Sometimes you’ll just have to use it on a chump block, which won’t feel great. It is nice that it basically counters most removal, and it isn’t bad, just not like Supernatural Stamina or other cards we’ve seen that have been pretty solid. This just won’t do enough to make the cut super often.
Improvised Weaponry image 3.0 This probably isn’t quite premium removal, given that it does 2 for three mana and is a Sorcery. However, the fact that it can hit the opponent and it is a removal spell that gives you fixing and ramp is definitely appealing, even if won’t feel that efficient.
Dire Wolf Prowler image 1.5 This starts off with very mediocre stats. A Gray Ogre is just abysmal, and while it has a decent activated ability that can make it a 4/4 with Haste, I don’t think this does enough to be saved from being a card you cut significantly more often than you play it.
Planar Ally image 3.5 We have seen a lot of 5-mana 3/3 Flyers of late that have some ability, and they’ve all been pretty nice cards for Limited, and I think that’s what we have here. Venturing with every attack is great, as the Ally, left unchecked, will be able to get you through dungeons all on its own. This format does have more large flyers than usual as a result of the heavy Dragon theme, so this may find itself unable to attack effectively more than it would in most formats, but I think this is still a pretty good Common.
Scaled Herbalist image 2.0 When you get this down early, it will feel pretty nice. It doesn’t have the best stats, but you are likely to have the extra lands necessary to take advantage of its ability. In the mid-to-late-game it becomes increasingly useless though, unless you’re able to draw a whole bunch of cards
Bull's Strength image 1.5 Like most versions of this that we’ve seen, it is pretty reasonable. The boost it gives will allow you to win combat, and trample will even allow you to do some damage out of nowhere. The untap clause also gives a creature pseudo vigilance, or allows you to ambush an opposing creature, though like with most tricks, you generally prefer to use it offensively -- but the additional flexibility doesn’t hurt. It is still a trick though and comes with all those inherent risks I always talk about -- its situational, and if things go wrong you get blown out really hard.
Goblin Javelineer image 1.5 This probably won’t be great in Limited. A one mana 1/1 with Haste might feel reasonable on turn one, but it is pretty terrible thereafter, and adding the ability to ping things that block it doesn’t really make up for that, though it does help some, since it means that it can at least trade with X/2s, and X/1s effectively can’t block it. If you can find a way to give this death touch, that will unlock its full potential, but overall, I think you cut this more often than you’ll play it.
Devoted Paladin image 3.5 Pumping your whole board and giving it Vigilance almost always seems to allow for some serious attacking on your part. After all, your creatures are bigger, and you’re going to be able to leave them all back as blockers even if you’re going to attack with them! We’ve seen similar cards like Dawnfeather Eagle end up great in Limited, and this format does look like it has the means to go wide effectively, and if that’s true, the Paladin is going to be one of the cards you want the most to round out your top curve.
Scion of Stygia image 3.0 If you know me, you know I’m a pretty big fan of Blue creatures with bounce or tap down effects, and this is a distinctly D & D version of it, but it seems pretty good to me. The nice thing about it is, even if you roll 1-9 with it, you’re getting reasonable value out of a 3-mana 2/1, and the tap down might prevent an attack or enable a better one for you. Then, when you hit 10-20, which is slightly more likely, you’re going to feel like you’ve got an amazing deal. Basically, 1-9 this will feel like a 2.0, and 11-20 will feel like a 3.5. I think that means it gets a 3.0
Pack 3 Pick 3: Farideh's Fireball
Hall of Storm Giants image 4.0 This whole cycle looks really good. Creature lands tend to be quite good because they don’t take up a real slot in your deck, yet they can have a very real impact on games. This can just sit around and make mana for you early, and then when you get to the later part of the game you can start sending it after your opponent with all your extra mana. 6 mana is certainly a lot, but the beauty of it is that it gives you a great mana sink, something you usually want, and the creature it makes is no joke either, it can be a real problem on offense or defense for you. And yeah, it will usually come into play tapped, but that’s a fair price to pay. This is something you should take pretty highly, don’t underestimate the power of creature lands!
You See a Pair of Goblins image 3.0 This is a pretty nice modal card. If you’re not going wide enough, make a couple of Goblins at Instant speed. If you are going wide enough, this is basically trumpet blast. Neither of those cards are amazing, but jamming them both on to the same card is good, and really helps make a go-wide deck viable.
Loathsome Troll image 2.5 A 5-mana 6/2 is not very good, though it does make Pack Tactics get going all on its own, and that certainly is relevant int his format. Still, a 2-drop can block it and take it down! The good news is, if you have the time and the mana, it has a solid ability it can use from the graveyard. It going on top of your library is not super good, since you have to replace your draw to get it back, and there’s a reasonable chance what you were going to draw was going to be better, but when it returns to your hand it will feel pretty good, and obviously that’s true when it goes to the battlefield as well. Still, this doesn’t have the best stats ever, even accounting for Pack Tactics, and its ability is both expensive and going to feel actively mediocre when you roll a 1-9
Druid Class image 2.0 I’m not very impressed with this. Gaining a life for every land isn’t worth a card, and while this does level up, neither of the things it levels up into are that good. Playing more than one land a turn is pretty hard to take advantage of after the very early game, because you just won’t have extra lands, and if you do -- you’re probably flooding! Level three is where you finally get something that is worth a whole card in Limited, but you paid a total of 10 mana to get there, and the final product is just a big vanilla creature. Yes, the fact you pay installments does matter, but overall, I think you’ll end up cutting Druid Class a significant chunk of the time.
Ranger's Hawk image 2.0 One mana 1/1 flyers are almost never that great in Limited unless they have something else worthwhile going on. The good news for this Hawk, is that it does! In the early game it can attack a bit in the air, but it will quickly be forced to stop attacking. Luckily, it has a late game mana sink that seems pretty good -- venturing into dungeons every turn will definitely allow you to grind out some wins late. Now, the cost of doing it isn’t small -- having to have another untapped creature isn’t a guarantee, but if you are at parity or ahead of your opponent, it won’t be that hard to make it happen. I think this is a solid playable.
Planar Ally image 3.5 We have seen a lot of 5-mana 3/3 Flyers of late that have some ability, and they’ve all been pretty nice cards for Limited, and I think that’s what we have here. Venturing with every attack is great, as the Ally, left unchecked, will be able to get you through dungeons all on its own. This format does have more large flyers than usual as a result of the heavy Dragon theme, so this may find itself unable to attack effectively more than it would in most formats, but I think this is still a pretty good Common.
Hill Giant Herdgorger image 2.5 This seems like a fine finisher for Green decks. You’re probably going to hope you have a rare or Uncommon in that slot, but this card is similar enough to Ravenous Lindwurm and Honey Mammoth to make me feel like it has a nice shot. I have a feeling it might not be quite as good as those cards, because this format looks like it is probably going to be faster than Kaldheim, but it looks pretty solid to me
Unexpected Windfall image 2.0 This seems like a decent card for Most red decks to get one copy of. 4 mana is a lot for Tormenting Voice, but the two Treasure you get means this card also gives you some very real fixing, in addition to helping you dig deeper into your deck.
Scion of Stygia image 3.0 If you know me, you know I’m a pretty big fan of Blue creatures with bounce or tap down effects, and this is a distinctly D & D version of it, but it seems pretty good to me. The nice thing about it is, even if you roll 1-9 with it, you’re getting reasonable value out of a 3-mana 2/1, and the tap down might prevent an attack or enable a better one for you. Then, when you hit 10-20, which is slightly more likely, you’re going to feel like you’ve got an amazing deal. Basically, 1-9 this will feel like a 2.0, and 11-20 will feel like a 3.5. I think that means it gets a 3.0
Greataxe image 1.0 +4/+0 is the kind of boost that makes almost any creature capable of attacking, but an Equip Cost of 5 is way too much. This is equipment that might be nice in the later part of the game, since you can just keep sending your guys in, but it will sit on the table doing nothing the rest of the game
You Come to a River image 3.0 This is a solid modal card. Usually, just a card that does the “Fight the Current” option, is something that makes the cut a decent chunk of the time. It has the flexibility of dealing, at least temporarily, with multiple permanent types, and you can even use it to actually take away a card permanently if your opponent tries to put auras or combat tricks on their creatures. The other option you’ll basically only choose when its lethal, but that is some nice upside to have on an already solid card.
Farideh's Fireball image 5.0 I think this sneaks into the lower range of premium removal. 5 mana to do 5 to something at Instant speed is perhaps not the most efficient thing ever, but it does kill most stuff, and the fac that your opponent also always takes 2 is enough to nudge this into that premium range. Sure, it will do 2 to you sometimes too, but that’s okay. This is the kind of card that will plummet in its score if the format turns out to be fast though, so keep that in mind.
Pack 3 Pick 4: Goblin Morningstar
Goblin Morningstar image 3.5 This looks like some pretty good Equipment ot me. While the stats boost isn’t incredible or anything, adding Trample does mean it will be nice to put on medium to large creatures, and the fact that you get a 1/1 goblin when you play it is quite nice, really making up for the other inefficiencies. It equipping to that goblin certainly is nice too, especially as a two-drop.
Arborea Pegasus image 3.0 This is a pretty good Common. The ETB trigger will almost always enable an attack you didn’t have before, and that means that the Pegasus will have an immediate impact on the board, in addition to being a 4-mana 2/3 Flyer itself.
Gloom Stalker image 2.5 This is pretty bad if you haven’t completed a dungeon, and if you have, it is pretty good, but still not incredible.
Farideh's Fireball image 5.0 I think this sneaks into the lower range of premium removal. 5 mana to do 5 to something at Instant speed is perhaps not the most efficient thing ever, but it does kill most stuff, and the fac that your opponent also always takes 2 is enough to nudge this into that premium range. Sure, it will do 2 to you sometimes too, but that’s okay. This is the kind of card that will plummet in its score if the format turns out to be fast though, so keep that in mind.
Clattering Skeletons image 3.0 A 4-mana 4/3 is fine, and this comes with a nice enough death trigger. Venturing is going to be a big part of this format -- think learn/lessons in Strixhaven -- so any card that can do it for you is going to be a little better than it looks.
Dwarfhold Champion image 2.5 A two mana 3/1 tends to be a reasonable baseline for aggro decks, and this comes with some decent additional upside. Gaining toughness when you equip it will feel pretty nice, as obviously a 3/1 is pretty vulnerable
Dire Wolf Prowler image 1.5 This starts off with very mediocre stats. A Gray Ogre is just abysmal, and while it has a decent activated ability that can make it a 4/4 with Haste, I don’t think this does enough to be saved from being a card you cut significantly more often than you play it.
Mordenkainen's Polymorph image 1.0 This kind of card always looks really cool, and that’s because it is easy to think of situations where it does something. But, even though there are several of them -- like making a creature big enough to block something it couldn’t before, or shrinking an opposing creature, or doing 4 lethal damage int he air, or saving a creature from damage-based removal -- even with all of those possibilities, you’d be surprised how infrequently a situation emerges where this will actually do something. We’ve seen a ton of cards like this over the years, and they always significantly underperform. I can’t see that changing here.
Owlbear image 3.5 This is reminiscent of Sarulf’s Packmate, and that’s a good Green Common to emulate. This gives you a very real body -- a 4/4 with Trample can be relevant on many board states, but obviously the ETB draw a card effect is what really makes this great. It will be virtually impossible for you not to get a 2-for-1 out of this Bear, and the value it gives you will be great. Sure, costing 5 does mean you can only run so many, unlike the Packmate which had Foretell, making it much easier to jam a bunch of them into your deck, but you should still value that first 1-2 copies pretty highly. There’s a good chance this is Green’s best common
Dawnbringer Cleric image 2.5 None of these effects are amazing, but the flexibility this card offers is quite nice. Mostly, you’ll gain 2 life with it, which will be okayish -- but when you have an Enchantment to destroy or a key card to remove from your opponent’s graveyard, it will feel especially good. Gaining life also matters some in this set, so there’s some synergy to be had. I think this is a solid playable.
Hoarding Ogre image 2.0 This has Hill Giant stats and a serviceable attack trigger. Because it makes treasure, you can really count this creature as fixing, and that’s typically a valuable thing to have in Limited, plus this set has some nice treasure payoffs.
Pack 3 Pick 5: Barbarian Class
Barbarian Class image 1.0 // 3.0 The base level of this one probably wouldn’t be worth it all on its own, even with all the d20 stuff in the set. It just won’t create a different outcome all that often, though obviously it does make those d20 cards better. Once you add level two, you are getting a very real payoff for rolling dice, as +2/+0 and Menace is a pretty big deal, and then Level 3 adding Haste to the mix -- regardless of Dice being rolled, seems nice. So, how good would this be if you just paid 6 up front for all of this? Well, not amazing, but paying it in installments is obviously better. Still, I think your deck will be dependent enough on having dice effects that this won’t really work in every deck, and even when it does I don’t see it being amazing. Because it is so dependent on dice, I think this needs a buildaround grade, because in your Average red deck with like 3-4 dice effects, it probably isn’t worth it. You probably need 7+ to get there.
Ranger's Hawk image 2.0 One mana 1/1 flyers are almost never that great in Limited unless they have something else worthwhile going on. The good news for this Hawk, is that it does! In the early game it can attack a bit in the air, but it will quickly be forced to stop attacking. Luckily, it has a late game mana sink that seems pretty good -- venturing into dungeons every turn will definitely allow you to grind out some wins late. Now, the cost of doing it isn’t small -- having to have another untapped creature isn’t a guarantee, but if you are at parity or ahead of your opponent, it won’t be that hard to make it happen. I think this is a solid playable.
Goblin Javelineer image 1.5 This probably won’t be great in Limited. A one mana 1/1 with Haste might feel reasonable on turn one, but it is pretty terrible thereafter, and adding the ability to ping things that block it doesn’t really make up for that, though it does help some, since it means that it can at least trade with X/2s, and X/1s effectively can’t block it. If you can find a way to give this death touch, that will unlock its full potential, but overall, I think you cut this more often than you’ll play it.
Soulknife Spy image 3.0 Creatures with this combat trigger tend to be pretty nice in Limited, and this one has more reasonable stats than the ones we usually see at lower rarities. Drawing a card is big, and is the kind of thing your opponent will have to account for one way or another, or the extra cards this gets you will help you win the game. It doesn’t hurt that UB has a significant number of ways to make the creature evasive, either! One particularly nasty combo that you’ll see a lot, because the two cards are Common and Uncommon two will be Fly + Soulknife spy.
Unexpected Windfall image 2.0 This seems like a decent card for Most red decks to get one copy of. 4 mana is a lot for Tormenting Voice, but the two Treasure you get means this card also gives you some very real fixing, in addition to helping you dig deeper into your deck.
Brazen Dwarf image 1.0 This doesn’t look very good. A two mana ⅓ isn’t a good stat-line these days, and the fact it might damage your opponent a little bit doesn’t really make up for that for me. It just won’t do enough to feel worth the mana or the card in most decks.
Priest of Ancient Lore image 3.5 This is a pretty great Common. People are always complaining white doesn’t have enough card draw, so getting an ETB ability like this will make them happy. In Limited, this will be a 2-for-1 a lot of the time, and the fact it gains that 1 life is no small thing either, since GW is all about gaining life.
Boots of Speed image 2.0 The boost this offers for the casting cost and the equip cost is pretty reasonable, as paying one more to give something new Haste and +1/+0 will feel pretty good sometimes, especially in a set where there’s an Equipment archetype.
Elturgard Ranger image 3.0 So, for 5 mana you get a 4/1 and a 2/2 -- in other words 6/3 worth of stats. A 5-mana 6/3 wouldn’t be good, but spread across two bodies this gets pretty interesting, plus a 4/1 with Reach has the kind of size to take down some of the dragons in the set, and that definitely matters. It feels like you’ll be able to get a 2-for-1 out of this a decent chunk of the time, and I think most Green decks will be interested in playing the first copy.
Hoard Robber image 1.0 It is nice that this can make treasure, but a 1/3 just isn’t going to be getting in very often without some significant help. I don’t think you play this most of the time.
Pack 3 Pick 6: Targ Nar, Demon-Fang Gnoll
Targ Nar, Demon-Fang Gnoll image 3.0 This is the signpost uncommon for RG, a color pair that is all about Pack Tactics. Targ comes with its own Pack Tactics ability, and its one that is pretty nice, though not incredible. However, because he has the ability to double his own power, he can make Pack Tactics happen pretty easily, and him attacking with just a couple of other creatures can be a real problem. Still, right now at least, I think that this signpost Uncommon falls a little bit short of being one you want to take with a super early pick. It doesn’t seem like the kind of card that will take over games often enough.
You're Ambushed on the Road image 1.5 LIke most of this cycle, this card takes two options that would not be a great card on their own and puts them together, and the product is definitely greater than the sum of its parts. White-Blue especially is interested in bouncing its own creatures to retrigger ETB abilities, so that part of the card will come up in ways other than just to save a creature from removal. The trick part is mediocre, but will find its place. Each card individually would be a 1.0 at best, but together, I think the options make this card a pretty decent playable.
Hill Giant Herdgorger image 2.5 This seems like a fine finisher for Green decks. You’re probably going to hope you have a rare or Uncommon in that slot, but this card is similar enough to Ravenous Lindwurm and Honey Mammoth to make me feel like it has a nice shot. I have a feeling it might not be quite as good as those cards, because this format looks like it is probably going to be faster than Kaldheim, but it looks pretty solid to me
Air-Cult Elemental image 3.0 This is one big Man-O’-War! A 6-mana 2/5 Flyer is a bad rate, but because this bounces another creature, you’ll often feel like you’re getting your mana’s worth. If you know me, you know I always love this kind of effect – and there’s a reason for that, it is great in Limited! Adding to your board while subtracting from your opponent’s is one of the best feelings you can have! And yeah, while the 2/5 stats aren’t exactly incredible, it is enough that the elemental can still be a little bit of a threat in the sky, or be an effective blocker. It does cost 6 mana, so you don’t really want more than one of them, but I think I’m going to value the first copy relatively highly.
Kick in the Door image 2.5 This card reminds me a lot of some of the cards we saw in Strixhaven, which seemed like they didn’t really do that much, but it turned out Learning for one or two mana was good, even if the other effect was negligible, and I think that’s kind of what we’re looking at here. Without Venture, this card would be pretty close to an F. One mana for a counter and Haste and not being able to be blocked by a few creatures just wouldn’t be worth a whole card, but I think with Venture attached you suddenly have a card that will feel sort of like Guiding Voice from Strixhaven. It will make a new creature able to attack right away, or make an old one able to attack thanks to the counter, while also netting you value from Venturing.
Mimic image 1.0 So, this doesn’t seem amazing to me, though the flavor is quite good. Like most treasures, it can only be used the one time to give you mana, so it isn’t even the best fixing ever. And yeah, it can turn into a creature sometimes, and that’s nice upside to have on your mana, but I’m just not sure this will feel like it is worth an entire card very often. You’ll play it if you really need fixing, or maybe you have some artifact synergies, but that’s probably about it
Arcane Investigator image 2.0 A two mana 2/1 isn’t great these days, but this one does come with a pretty nice late game effect. No matter what you roll, being able to draw cards late is pretty nice. Still, for the bluk of the game, the Investigator is just not very good. It will be outclasses quickly in the early game, and in the mid-game it will be even more useless.
Armory Veteran image 2.5 This has a solid baseline, and becomes pretty scary when you stick Equipment on him, as adding Menace to whatever other boost he’s getting will be formidable.
Half-Elf Monk image 3.0 Mastery Decoy effects still tend to be pretty good in Limited. Tapping down your opponent’s best creature every turn often just feels like removal, and this has the minor added bonus of being able to attack and still use the ability. I say “minor” because it is only a ¼, so that’s not exactly incredible. Still, this is a pretty nice common for White.
Pack 3 Pick 7: Elturgard Ranger
Wild Shape image 2.0 I’m not usually a big fan of tricks that grant hexproof, they are just too situational! But this gets around that with some pretty nice modality. You can still get Hexproof if you need it, but it has two other modes that can be useful in different situations, and having an option between those three things is pretty nice, though not incredibly. A 1/5 with Reach is probably just going to enable a block you didn’t have before, which isn’t a great thing to give up a card for most of the time, and making something into a 3/3 with Trample won’t always matter either. So, the 1/3 option is probably the best one. Still, for only one mana this does a kind of okay job, and it is certainly decent
You See a Guard Approach image 1.0 Individually, these effects are not worth an entire card. They’re just too situational. Sure, it feels good to give your creature hexproof in response to removal, but there will be lots of times where that effect doesn’t matter. The tap effect is even more underwhelming, and while it can allow you to stop something from attacking you, or maybe help you attack more effectively, it will also be useless a decent chunk of the time. Each of those, cards, individually -- would be almost unplayable. If you put them together, you obviously have a better card that you’ll actually be able to use sometimes, but I still don’t think it is very good.
Elturgard Ranger image 3.0 So, for 5 mana you get a 4/1 and a 2/2 -- in other words 6/3 worth of stats. A 5-mana 6/3 wouldn’t be good, but spread across two bodies this gets pretty interesting, plus a 4/1 with Reach has the kind of size to take down some of the dragons in the set, and that definitely matters. It feels like you’ll be able to get a 2-for-1 out of this a decent chunk of the time, and I think most Green decks will be interested in playing the first copy.
You Find the Villains' Lair image 2.0 Cancel is not usually a great card in Limited. Counterspells are a little too situational, and it is often just going ot be better to add to your board with three mana than count on your opponent playing something that you will counter. In a lot of ways, counter magic in Limited is just bad removal, because you have to have the mana up to use it at the exact right time, or it doesn’t do anything. Basically, a card like Cancel just ends up being a card you have left in your hand after you’ve played everything else, and it might do a thing, but it also might have cost you the game. This gets around that problem with another mode though. Sure, it doesn’t add to the board either, but it still gives you something to do with it that will be more immediate and more of a sure thing in situations where that’s a good idea. Normally, Cancel is like a 1.5, but I think this does enough to make the cut more often than that.
Clattering Skeletons image 3.0 A 4-mana 4/3 is fine, and this comes with a nice enough death trigger. Venturing is going to be a big part of this format -- think learn/lessons in Strixhaven -- so any card that can do it for you is going to be a little better than it looks.
Earth-Cult Elemental image 2.5 This offers some decent top-of-the-curve stats for Limited, and it has a pretty nice D20 ability. It won’t be awesome to roll 1-9, but the effect is at least symmetrical. It will be true that sometimes it doesn’t hurt your opponent as much as it hurts you, but the opposite will sometimes be true too. Then, the effect is one sided if you roll a 10 or more, which will be well worth the mana you spend. If you always roll 10-20 with it, it is probably one of the better Commons in the set, but unfortunately it won’t go that way, we have to think about the fail cases too! The presence of Treasure in this set also means your opponent will have more permanents than normal to sacrifice, which weakens it further.
Thieves' Tools image 2.5 This will fight nicely into UB, because that color is all about making small creatures evasive and getting value when they do combat damage, and it will fit nicely in BR because it likes treasures.
Bulette image 2.5 We’ve seen a lot of creatures like this in the past, and they’re not usually anything amazing, though their ability to grow throughout the game is nice, and they do eventually become a problem for your opponent. Because it counts the death of any creature, you will find that this gains that counter a decent chunk of the time.
Pack 3 Pick 8: Circle of the Moon Druid
Sudden Insight image 2.5 This won’t always be that easy to get going, especially because this set doesn’t really have a big graveyard theme, but in the late game it seems pretty likely to draw you 3+ cards, and obviously it can do even more than that. It does cost 6, and it is utterly terrible until the relatively late game, so it is hard to get overly excited about it, but I think it is a decent draw spell to have a single copy of in your Blue decks.
Soulknife Spy image 3.0 Creatures with this combat trigger tend to be pretty nice in Limited, and this one has more reasonable stats than the ones we usually see at lower rarities. Drawing a card is big, and is the kind of thing your opponent will have to account for one way or another, or the extra cards this gets you will help you win the game. It doesn’t hurt that UB has a significant number of ways to make the creature evasive, either! One particularly nasty combo that you’ll see a lot, because the two cards are Common and Uncommon two will be Fly + Soulknife spy.
Brazen Dwarf image 1.0 This doesn’t look very good. A two mana ⅓ isn’t a good stat-line these days, and the fact it might damage your opponent a little bit doesn’t really make up for that for me. It just won’t do enough to feel worth the mana or the card in most decks.
Jaded Sell-Sword image 3.0 A 4-mana 4/3 is passable, and the Treasure upside here is nice. It will make it a formidable attacker the turn it comes down.
Dueling Rapier image 2.5 So, the Equip cost here is obviously really steep, and +2/+0 for a single Red mana would not be an awesome combat trick, but in this case we’re talking about a combat trick that has the stats boost stick around in one form or another. Even if your creature dies, you have something on the battlefield, even if it does cost a lot to Equip, and if you can help a creature win and survive combat and keep this equipped to it, it’s going ot feel pretty good. In a lot of ways, it is still a glorified combat trick, but I’ve underestimated auras and equipment with Flash in the past, dismissing them as combat tricks, so I thinkt his will defy expectations. Still, it probably isn’t much more than a solid playable.
Celestial Unicorn image 3.0 GW is the color pair most interested in gaining life in this format, and this is a very nice Common payoff for that kind of deck. And, it can be pretty solid in other decks too, as it isn’t like GW is the only deck where you’ll be able to gain life. This can get big fast, and has a reasonable starting point as a 3-mana 3/2. It seems like a pretty good Common.
Circle of the Moon Druid image 2.5 A card that is always a 3-mana 4/2 is like a 2.0 and a card that is always a 3-mana 2/4 is a 1.0. This gives you the best of both of those, as you’d rather have the 4/2 as the attacker and the 2/4 as the blocker most of the time.
Pack 3 Pick 9: Sylvan Shepherd
Loathsome Troll image 2.5 A 5-mana 6/2 is not very good, though it does make Pack Tactics get going all on its own, and that certainly is relevant int his format. Still, a 2-drop can block it and take it down! The good news is, if you have the time and the mana, it has a solid ability it can use from the graveyard. It going on top of your library is not super good, since you have to replace your draw to get it back, and there’s a reasonable chance what you were going to draw was going to be better, but when it returns to your hand it will feel pretty good, and obviously that’s true when it goes to the battlefield as well. Still, this doesn’t have the best stats ever, even accounting for Pack Tactics, and its ability is both expensive and going to feel actively mediocre when you roll a 1-9
Bull's Strength image 1.5 Like most versions of this that we’ve seen, it is pretty reasonable. The boost it gives will allow you to win combat, and trample will even allow you to do some damage out of nowhere. The untap clause also gives a creature pseudo vigilance, or allows you to ambush an opposing creature, though like with most tricks, you generally prefer to use it offensively -- but the additional flexibility doesn’t hurt. It is still a trick though and comes with all those inherent risks I always talk about -- its situational, and if things go wrong you get blown out really hard.
Sylvan Shepherd image 2.5 This looks like it has a lot going on because of the d20 stuff, but it is basically just a 3-mana ⅔ with Vigilance that gains you 1-2 life when it attacks. That’s basically a textbook solid playable, especially in a format that does have some life gain payoffs
Ranger's Longbow image 1.5 This gives a reasonable boost and key word for the cost, though it isn’t anything special.
Unexpected Windfall image 2.0 This seems like a decent card for Most red decks to get one copy of. 4 mana is a lot for Tormenting Voice, but the two Treasure you get means this card also gives you some very real fixing, in addition to helping you dig deeper into your deck.
Spare Dagger image 1.0 The stats boost it offers is pretty weak, and giving up a whole card to ping something isn’t really something I’m interested in. This IS an equipment, and RW cares about that, so it probably gets played more often than it would in most formats
Pack 3 Pick 10: Dire Wolf Prowler
Dire Wolf Prowler image 1.5 This starts off with very mediocre stats. A Gray Ogre is just abysmal, and while it has a decent activated ability that can make it a 4/4 with Haste, I don’t think this does enough to be saved from being a card you cut significantly more often than you play it.
Scaled Herbalist image 2.0 When you get this down early, it will feel pretty nice. It doesn’t have the best stats, but you are likely to have the extra lands necessary to take advantage of its ability. In the mid-to-late-game it becomes increasingly useless though, unless you’re able to draw a whole bunch of cards
Bull's Strength image 1.5 Like most versions of this that we’ve seen, it is pretty reasonable. The boost it gives will allow you to win combat, and trample will even allow you to do some damage out of nowhere. The untap clause also gives a creature pseudo vigilance, or allows you to ambush an opposing creature, though like with most tricks, you generally prefer to use it offensively -- but the additional flexibility doesn’t hurt. It is still a trick though and comes with all those inherent risks I always talk about -- its situational, and if things go wrong you get blown out really hard.
Goblin Javelineer image 1.5 This probably won’t be great in Limited. A one mana 1/1 with Haste might feel reasonable on turn one, but it is pretty terrible thereafter, and adding the ability to ping things that block it doesn’t really make up for that, though it does help some, since it means that it can at least trade with X/2s, and X/1s effectively can’t block it. If you can find a way to give this death touch, that will unlock its full potential, but overall, I think you cut this more often than you’ll play it.
Scion of Stygia image 3.0 If you know me, you know I’m a pretty big fan of Blue creatures with bounce or tap down effects, and this is a distinctly D & D version of it, but it seems pretty good to me. The nice thing about it is, even if you roll 1-9 with it, you’re getting reasonable value out of a 3-mana 2/1, and the tap down might prevent an attack or enable a better one for you. Then, when you hit 10-20, which is slightly more likely, you’re going to feel like you’ve got an amazing deal. Basically, 1-9 this will feel like a 2.0, and 11-20 will feel like a 3.5. I think that means it gets a 3.0
Pack 3 Pick 11: Hill Giant Herdgorger
Hill Giant Herdgorger image 2.5 This seems like a fine finisher for Green decks. You’re probably going to hope you have a rare or Uncommon in that slot, but this card is similar enough to Ravenous Lindwurm and Honey Mammoth to make me feel like it has a nice shot. I have a feeling it might not be quite as good as those cards, because this format looks like it is probably going to be faster than Kaldheim, but it looks pretty solid to me
Unexpected Windfall image 2.0 This seems like a decent card for Most red decks to get one copy of. 4 mana is a lot for Tormenting Voice, but the two Treasure you get means this card also gives you some very real fixing, in addition to helping you dig deeper into your deck.
Greataxe image 1.0 +4/+0 is the kind of boost that makes almost any creature capable of attacking, but an Equip Cost of 5 is way too much. This is equipment that might be nice in the later part of the game, since you can just keep sending your guys in, but it will sit on the table doing nothing the rest of the game
You Come to a River image 3.0 This is a solid modal card. Usually, just a card that does the “Fight the Current” option, is something that makes the cut a decent chunk of the time. It has the flexibility of dealing, at least temporarily, with multiple permanent types, and you can even use it to actually take away a card permanently if your opponent tries to put auras or combat tricks on their creatures. The other option you’ll basically only choose when its lethal, but that is some nice upside to have on an already solid card.
Pack 3 Pick 12: Hoarding Ogre
Gloom Stalker image 2.5 This is pretty bad if you haven’t completed a dungeon, and if you have, it is pretty good, but still not incredible.
Dawnbringer Cleric image 2.5 None of these effects are amazing, but the flexibility this card offers is quite nice. Mostly, you’ll gain 2 life with it, which will be okayish -- but when you have an Enchantment to destroy or a key card to remove from your opponent’s graveyard, it will feel especially good. Gaining life also matters some in this set, so there’s some synergy to be had. I think this is a solid playable.
Hoarding Ogre image 2.0 This has Hill Giant stats and a serviceable attack trigger. Because it makes treasure, you can really count this creature as fixing, and that’s typically a valuable thing to have in Limited, plus this set has some nice treasure payoffs.
Pack 3 Pick 13: Brazen Dwarf
Unexpected Windfall image 2.0 This seems like a decent card for Most red decks to get one copy of. 4 mana is a lot for Tormenting Voice, but the two Treasure you get means this card also gives you some very real fixing, in addition to helping you dig deeper into your deck.
Brazen Dwarf image 1.0 This doesn’t look very good. A two mana ⅓ isn’t a good stat-line these days, and the fact it might damage your opponent a little bit doesn’t really make up for that for me. It just won’t do enough to feel worth the mana or the card in most decks.
Pack 3 Pick 14: Kick in the Door
Kick in the Door image 2.5 This card reminds me a lot of some of the cards we saw in Strixhaven, which seemed like they didn’t really do that much, but it turned out Learning for one or two mana was good, even if the other effect was negligible, and I think that’s kind of what we’re looking at here. Without Venture, this card would be pretty close to an F. One mana for a counter and Haste and not being able to be blocked by a few creatures just wouldn’t be worth a whole card, but I think with Venture attached you suddenly have a card that will feel sort of like Guiding Voice from Strixhaven. It will make a new creature able to attack right away, or make an old one able to attack thanks to the counter, while also netting you value from Venturing.
Draft Pick Overview