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Quick Draft MID 8 November 2021

8 November 05:02 - eminenz_tenar 7 Wins - 2 Losses
Maindeck
Creature (18)
1 Larder Zombie image
1 Morkrut Behemoth image
1 Slogurk, the Overslime image
2 Falcon Abomination image
2 Bladestitched Skaab image
1 Morbid Opportunist image
1 Stormrider Spirit image
1 Shady Traveler // Stalking Predator image
1 Nebelgast Intruder image
3 Ecstatic Awakener // Awoken Demon image
1 Hobbling Zombie image
1 Vengeful Strangler // Strangling Grasp image
1 Arrogant Outlaw image
1 Ludevic, Necrogenius // Olag, Ludevic's Hubris image
Instant, Sorcery, Enchantment, Artifact (8)
1 Raze the Effigy image
1 Crawl from the Cellar image
2 Flip the Switch image
1 Startle image
2 Olivia's Midnight Ambush image
1 Silver Bolt image
Land (16)
8 Swamp image
8 Island image
Sideboard
1 Slogurk, the Overslime image
2 Component Collector image
1 Bloodtithe Collector image
1 Clarion Cathars image
1 Crawl from the Cellar image
1 Startle image
1 Raze the Effigy image
1 Blood Pact image
1 Geistwave image
1 Hungry for More image
1 Moonsilver Key image
2 Otherworldly Gaze image
1 Electric Revelation image
1 Necrosynthesis image
1 Bladebrand image
1 Field of Ruin image

Pack 1 Pick 1: Slogurk, the Overslime
Slogurk, the Overslime image 3.0 A 3-mana 3/3 with Trample is a pretty good place to start. However, growing this in Limited, while doable, also won’t be super easy. Obviously there is self mill in the set, so you’ll be able to grow him a bit without any huge problems, but counting on more than a counter or two is probably a mistake! It is unlikely you’ll ever get the counters going enough to return it to your hand. It is pretty nice that you get the lands back when it leaves the battlefield, as sometimes you’ll be interested in that. But yeah, this will just be hard to really get going in Limited. But it has a really good baseline, so that’s not a huge deal.
Voldaren Ambusher image 2.5 On its own, this will sometimes just be a 3-mana 2/2 that does 1 to a thing. If that’s what it always was, it would be solid, but there are some significant hoops to jump through. First, your opponent has to have lost life some way. Most typically, that will be from an attack, but there are also other means that allow you to do that. Second, you can upgrade it if you have enough vampires. I do think this BR deck will be a real pain to play against sometimes, because you might just end up having to block more riskily in some situations to keep a card like this from being really good. But yeah, this does have a super high ceiling, where it will feel like Flame-Tongue Kavu, but sometimes it will just be a Gray Ogre, and that’s abysmal. I think that awful floor really holds it back.
Corpse Cobble image 2.0 Giving up a creature for another creature, or several creatures for one creature isn’t something that is super appealing to me. Now, this does combo pretty well with Decay tokens, since you can sacrifice them before they sacrifice themselves at the end of combat, and there are some other nice sacrifice fodder cards around, and it has Flashback. Its also an instant, so you can sacrifice a big thing your opponent is removing and get a big creature all over again, which will feel pretty nice. All of that means it isn’t unplayable, but I’m a bit skeptical this will be the kind of Blue Black card that really pulls you into the color pair.
Covetous Castaway image 3.5 This starts by giving you a decent body that loads up your graveyard, and then in the later game it can give you another somewhat reasonable body that loads the graveyard more! Lots of decks in this format are interested in throwing stuff in the graveyard, including both UB and UW. This will be a nice inclusion in either of them.
Novice Occultist image 2.5 It won’t always be easy to trade with this and get a 2-for-1 since it’s a ½, so ideally you will sacrifice this to something for value, in which case you don’t really go down a card at all! I could see this ending up as a key common for both BW and UB.
Startle image 2.0 I don’t normally play most Blue “combat tricks” that shrink the power of a creature, but this tacks on enough additional stuff that it seems like it will be pretty solid. The problem with this kind of card is it isn’t always possible for you to trade card-for-card with it, since your creature has to already be big enough to kill the other creature. However, this lets you draw a card and makes you a Decay Zombie, and that’s quite a bit for only two mana! The times where you are able to use this card to help you kill an opposing creature it will feel insane!
Tavern Ruffian image 3.0 In most formats, a 4-mana ⅖ isn’t something that Red is interested in, though those are fairly reasonable defensive stats. However, this is a werewolf, and that means that if its already night time you get a 4-mana 6/5, and it also means that it can become one at some point in the game. That’s a pretty nice deal. And yeah, it isn’t always super easy to control what time of day it is, but this still seems like a solid Red Common to me.
Moonrager's Slash image 4.0 3 mana to do 3 to any target is already a premium removal spell, and this will sometimes just be Lightning Bolt! This is easily premium, and easily Red’s best Common.
Shipwreck Sifters image 1.5 A two mana ½ who loots is fine, and this one can get bigger. I don’t think you’ll want to discard a spirit or a card with Disturb to it all that often, since the power of those cards is often in the fact that you get the two bodies, but you’ll discard those things sometimes and it’ll get bigger.
Organ Hoarder image 3.5 This is my kind of Blue common! 4-mana for a 3/2 that draws a card is virtually always something you play, and this is better than that in most ways, since it gives you card selection and loads up your graveyard a bit in a set that really cares about that. This is Blue’s best Common.
Snarling Wolf image 2.0 Rootwalla is back, albeit in Wolf form! This kind of card tends to feel pretty good early, as your opponent just can’t block it because of the threat of activation, and then the fact it can become a 3/3 keeps it relevant in the later game too. Seems like a solid playable for aggressive Green decks.
Blessed Defiance image 1.0 This doesn’t seem like a great trick to me. Only increasing power means there’s a good chance your creature will be dying, and while the life that you gain and the 1/1 flyer you get in exchange for that makes a difference, it will still usually feel like you’re getting 2-for-1’d when you use this.
Lambholt Harrier image 2.0 This is a Bear that stays relevant all game long thanks to its ability. Now, that ability is pretty pricey, and you’ll normally only be able to make one thing unable to block, but it is an ability your opponent has to account for in the late game, as making one thing unable to block can really help someone find lethal out of nowhere.
Drownyard Amalgam image 2.0 This sets up some graveyard value for you and has a decent defensive body, not to mention an ability that will sometimes help you close out a game. A lot of the time though, it just won’t do enough. Seems reasonable in some controlling decks.
Pack 1 Pick 2: Falcon Abomination
Galvanic Iteration image 3.0 This starts with great stats. A 3-mana 3/3 with First STrike is relevant pretty much all game long, and Florian does one better by also being a source of card advantage, provided you can cause your opponent to lose life on your turn. And, yeah, a 3-mana 3/3 with First Strike is going to be pretty capable at getting in all on its own, especially if you play it on turn three! BR also has lots of ways of doing 1 or 2 damage to the opponent that will also make the ability work.
Covert Cutpurse image 3.5 This has a very high ceiling. If you kill something when you play it, then trade with the 2/2, and then use the Disturbed creature to trade (which will be easy because deathtouch), you’re getting a 3-for-1! That said, that ceiling isn’t super realistic, mostly because it can only kill things that have been damaged, and a good chunk of the time, you’ll have to give up a creature to make that happen. Still, you’re getting a pretty good deal, even keeping that in mind. You get two bodies out of one card, and both are quite capable of trading, and that’s going to feel pretty good.
Lunar Frenzy image 2.5 This seems like a solid trick for aggro decks. For one Red, it can give first Strike and Trample, and sometimes that’s all you need! But if you have extra mana lying around, it can turn a situation into a nightmare for your opponent, since it will allow pretty much any creature to win combat and do significant damage. The fact it is customizable is quite nice! Still, its a trick -- and those tend to only be worth it in really aggressive decks, and even then can be risky.
Component Collector image 1.5 This has decent stats and an ability that will give you a bit of value, though it certainly isn’t exciting
Lunarch Veteran image 2.5 A two mana 1/1 with the life gain effect certainly isn’t impressive. The Disturb effect really matters though, as getting back a flyer that can also gain you some life. Neither half of this card is going to be letting you trade very often because they are so small, but this still seems like a solid Common.
Pestilent Wolf image 2.5 That’s a lot of mana to give a bear Deathtouch! Still, it starts out as a two mana 2/2, and has the ability to trade with anything later in the game. Wolf is also a somewhat useful creature type. I think the whole package is probably a 2.5
Ardent Elementalist image 3.0 This will get you a pretty nice 2-for-1 most of the time, especially since as a 2/1, it stands a pretty good chance of trading with something in addition to getting you back a key instant or sorcery.
Search Party Captain image 3.5 A 4-mana 2/2 that draws you a card is like a 2.0, and decreasing that cost even by 1 is a huge upgrade. So, the fact that sometimes you can play this for two or one mana and then cast what you draw seems really good. This is one of White’s better Commons.
Clarion Cathars image 2.5 We see this basic card a lot, and its always solid. Two bodies for four mana is nice, and the reasonable stats distributed across them is pretty good.
Geistwave image 2.5 This is a neat design for a bounce spell.. Bouncing an opposing nonland permanent for two mana is usually a decent card. It doesn’t give you the value of a whole card unless you use it in response to a trick or something, but it gives you some reasonable tempo and has that blow out upside. Using this to bounce your own thing is actually pretty interesting, since you do net a card, and if what you’re bouncing gives you some value from bouncing it, that’s going to feel pretty good! Especially if you do it in response to removal or something like that. Its probably just a C, but the “bounce your own stuff” upside is very real.
Falcon Abomination image 3.0 This is a Wind Drake with some reasonable upside. Obviously this Zombie token doesn’t give you quite as much value as most Zombie tokens, but it still adds to the board in a way that will have at least some impact. The two bodies will be nice sacrifice fodder, and they’ll also just be good at pressuring your opponent.
Olivia's Midnight Ambush image 3.5 This is decent removal if it is day time or neither night nor day, and when it is night time, its just insane. If it was only the night time mode it would be an easy 4.5! As it is, I think it has a reasonable enough base line and a high enough ceiling that we can call it premium.
Blood Pact image 2.0 Its nice this is an Instant, it makes it a lot more palatable that it is. Instant speed Divination for three mana is pretty nice, and most Black decks will play the first copy of this. In a pinch, you can also use it to do 2 to your opponent, either to finish them off or trigger a bunch of your pseudo-bloodthirst effects, but mostly you’ll want to be drawing the cards.
Pack 1 Pick 3: Falcon Abomination
Ritual of Hope image 1.0 // 3.0 This is a nice payoff for going wide, especially if you can get Coven going, since it becomes Inspired Charge for half the cost! The good news is, by the time a card like this tends to be useful, you’re reasonably likely to have Coven online, since you’ll have to have a board with several different creatures on it, and those several different creatures are likely to have 3 or more powers among them. Obviously, you won’t be playing this other than in fairly aggressive decks, but it seems like a nice pump spell for them.
Kessig Naturalist image 3.5 If it is day time, you get a pretty decent two drop that might be able to trade for something and ramp your mana a bit -- or even better, just ramp you mana without dying! If its night, you get a really nice Werewolf/Wolf lord that will be pumping a good chunk of your deck in RG. And, of course, like with all of these, it can go back and forth between the two modes. Additionally, setting thing up on turn two to start keeping track of day and night might be a big deal, too. Overall, I think this is a strong enough signpost Uncommon that it pulls you into its color pair, even very early on.
Moonsilver Key image 2.5 This gives you fixing, and one is often in the market for that in Limited, since splashing bombs is usually a good idea. You won’t have many artifacts to get with the Key, though there are a few of them.
Falcon Abomination image 3.0 This is a Wind Drake with some reasonable upside. Obviously this Zombie token doesn’t give you quite as much value as most Zombie tokens, but it still adds to the board in a way that will have at least some impact. The two bodies will be nice sacrifice fodder, and they’ll also just be good at pressuring your opponent.
Thraben Exorcism image 0.5 Against some opponents this will feel really good -- namely, against UW -- but against other decks it just won’t have targets often enough to be worth it.
Plummet image 0.5 This format has lots of flyers as a result of Disturb, so Plummet might be a bit better here in the main deck than it is in most formats, but I think you’d still prefer to bring it in out of your sideboard. It is hard to guarantee it will have enough targets against some of the color pairs.
Famished Foragers image 3.0 A 4-mana 4/3 is sort of passable already, and this will often be able to come down and give you some mana, which -- if nothing else, you can use to rummage using its ability. Sometimes, it will enable a pretty impressive double spell turn too, which will feel amazing. You won’t always be making that happen, but the card has a very reasonable baseline and a pretty nice ceiling.
Clarion Cathars image 2.5 We see this basic card a lot, and its always solid. Two bodies for four mana is nice, and the reasonable stats distributed across them is pretty good.
Baithook Angler image 3.0 This looks like a nice Common. A two mana 2/1 can trade with lots of stuff, and then the fact that you can get another reasonably costed body out of your graveyard is pretty amazing. I mean, that’s 4 mana for a 2/1 and a ½ Flyer. And sure, you don’t get the bodies at the same time, but that’s still a pretty nice card.
No Way Out image 1.0 Tacking a Decay zombie on to Mind Rot isn’t that great, especially in a format where people will happily discard many of their cards.
Flip the Switch image 1.5 This isn’t quite a hard counter, but its pretty close, and adding to the board while you counter a thing isn’t bad, even if what you’re adding is a token that can’t block and can only attack once.
Search Party Captain image 3.5 A 4-mana 2/2 that draws you a card is like a 2.0, and decreasing that cost even by 1 is a huge upgrade. So, the fact that sometimes you can play this for two or one mana and then cast what you draw seems really good. This is one of White’s better Commons.
Pack 1 Pick 4: Bladestitched Skaab
Bladestitched Skaab image 3.0 This is an efficient Zombie lord, and this set has lots of Zombies! This will be great in UB decks.
Dawnhart Mentor image 3.0 Neither body is very impressive, but getting them both for that price isn’t too bad! Especially since going wide is often a good thing. This gets some bonus points here though. It helps get Coven online, since on its own, it gives you a 1/1 and a 0/4, and then it also has a nice Coven payoff -- +3/+3 and Trample is enough to make almost any creature a problem. Note, by the way, that the Mentor doesn’t have defender.
Festival Crasher image 0.5 // 2.5 This has a very mediocre baseline. A two mana ⅓ these days is probably a D-. It does have some real upside though, and the threat of activation is pretty real! If your opponent just has a 2/2, and you attack with this and leave mana up, they just can’t afford to block it! Chaining multiple spells together is obviously the dream, but don’t count on doing that a ton in Limited. This will make the cut in decks with a decent number of spells, and probably be something you pass on in any other deck.
Blood Pact image 2.0 Its nice this is an Instant, it makes it a lot more palatable that it is. Instant speed Divination for three mana is pretty nice, and most Black decks will play the first copy of this. In a pinch, you can also use it to do 2 to your opponent, either to finish them off or trigger a bunch of your pseudo-bloodthirst effects, but mostly you’ll want to be drawing the cards.
Otherworldly Gaze image 0.5 Loading the graveyard is important in this format, its true, but a card that pretty much only does that, while giving you some card selection, isn’t something I’m interested in. You never get the card back. There are so many cards that load the graveyard while doing actual other things!
Timberland Guide image 3.0 This is a reprint, and even if it wasn’t, we see cards like this a lot, and I also like them a decent amount. They are nice as two drops, as they can be two mana 2/2s, and then in the later game you can put the counter somewhere more relevant. There isn’t a +1/+1 counter deck in this format, but the counter this guy brings with him can really help you set up Coven, since you add him to the board and put the counter somewhere else, and you’re already 2/3 of the way there!
Tireless Hauler image 3.0 Like with most of the werewolves, just the front side of the card is reasonable – a 4/5 with Vigilance can do some decent work! But it also has its werewolf side, where it has the potential to really dominate a board.
Crawl from the Cellar image 2.0 This is an interesting take on the usual Sorcery that lets you return two creatures to your hand. The first time you cast this, the value is going to be pretty nice, provided you have a zombie, as it effectively replaces itself while making a creature bigger. The second time is less efficient, but in the you pay 5 mana for a 2-for-1 and two +1/+1 counters, which actually isn’t too bad. Now, you really would prefer to be putting these counters on zombies that don’t have decay to get full value out of them, but a significant chunk of the time that’s probably where the counter goes, and you may also just not have anywhere to put the counter in the first place.
Olivia's Midnight Ambush image 3.5 This is decent removal if it is day time or neither night nor day, and when it is night time, its just insane. If it was only the night time mode it would be an easy 4.5! As it is, I think it has a reasonable enough base line and a high enough ceiling that we can call it premium.
Devious Cover-Up image 1.0 This is a hard counter, but four mana is a ton to have to have available at the right time, and the additional value this gives you just isn’t going to make up for that.
Bramble Armor image 2.5 This is a pretty decent boost when it equips for free, and it will also help you get coven online if that’s what you need. Equipping it after that first time is a little rough for sure, but if it keeps giving you coven or making creature sin to threats, that is reasonable.
Pack 1 Pick 5: Morbid Opportunist
Morbid Opportunist image 3.5 Drawing when a creature dies is nice, even if they did cap this at only once a turn. The stat line here is pretty ugly, but I think the Opportunist could be a very real engine, especially if you have some Zombie tokens around, trading those in recklessly for cards is going to feel pretty good.
Unnatural Moonrise image 2.0 The idea here is that if you’re in RG, making it Night is going to transform all of your scary werewolves, and there will certainly be times where that will be devastating! The small stats boost and trample matter too, especially because it can also draw you a card, allowing you to let this card replace itself, which seems especially nice, because sometimes you must go down a card for an effect like this. Then it has Flashback, which means it can happen all over again! Obviously, you have to have lots of creatures who are nightbound for this to really do its job, but because this is RG, it seems pretty likely you’ll have at least 5 of those most drafts without even trying, and that’s probably enough. This looks to have the potential to just end games in some situations. However, it isn’t very good in situations where that’s not the case.
Brimstone Vandal image 2.5 A 3-mana ⅔ with Menace is already something you play a decent chunk of the time, so the addition Night and Day value here is pretty great! On its own, it is a 3-mana ⅔ with Menace, and will do a a bit of damage over the course of the game. This is a quality common.
Galedrifter image 3.0 This isn’t quite a hard counter, but its pretty close, and adding to the board while you counter a thing isn’t bad, even if what you’re adding is a token that can’t block and can only attack once. 55 – Galedrifter – 3.0 A 4-mana 3/2 Flyer is a 1.5, so getting a second body out of this, even if it isn’t the most efficient one when you Disturb it, is going to be some nice additional value.
Neonate's Rush image 2.5 When you manage to kill a creature with this, it is going to feel incredible. When you can’t, this is less true. However, it is an enabler for all the pseudo-bloodthirst in the format and it replaces itself, AND it will often only cost two mana, making the outcome a lot more palatable.
Raze the Effigy image 1.5 This format doesn’t have a ton of artifacts, but having the option to destroy an artifact on a decent combat trick certainly makes it more flexible.
Secrets of the Key image 3.0 Paying one Blue to investigate isn’t great, even to me, and I love Clue tokens! However, the additional flashback on it is very real, and means that in the end, this card end sup being a 3-for-1, even if it does it kind of slowly. You end up paying 5 mana for three Clues, and that’s not too shabby. Between Flashback, Investigate, and Disturb, this format looks to be kind of slow and grindy, and if that’s true, Secrets of the Key will be something you want one of in virtually all of your Blue decks, as the card advantage is very real. I thinkt he first copy will be a 3.0, though they do have diminishing returns after that because it doesn’t really impact the board.
Shipwreck Sifters image 1.5 A two mana ½ who loots is fine, and this one can get bigger. I don’t think you’ll want to discard a spirit or a card with Disturb to it all that often, since the power of those cards is often in the fact that you get the two bodies, but you’ll discard those things sometimes and it’ll get bigger.
Electric Revelation image 1.5 This is an expensive Tormenting Voice, buts it’s an instant and it has flashback. This format does have a graveyard theme for sure, so discarding cards to cast this isn’t a huge deal. Still, it doesn’t impact the board in any way, and is replaceable overall.
Rotten Reunion image 1.5 Hating on a couple graveyard cards and getting a couple of Zombies that can either pressure your opponent or act as sacrifice fodder seems alright for a three mana investment.
Pack 1 Pick 6: Crawl from the Cellar
Arcane Infusion image 2.0 This is UR’s signpost uncommon, and it tells you that you want to jam a ton of instants and sorceries into your deck. If you can do that, you end up with something pretty nice. If you can’t do that, this will be pretty ugly, because you can’t really afford to wiff with it on either activation. Still, getting 10ish spells is pretty doable, especially in UR. Over the course of a game, you can end up getting a 2-for-1 thanks to the Flashback too! I could give it a build around grade, but I think that UR decks will naturally find themselves with the right composition often enough that we don’t need to go there. That said, it also isn’t a signpost uncommon that pulls you into the color pair, either.
Crawl from the Cellar image 2.0 This is an interesting take on the usual Sorcery that lets you return two creatures to your hand. The first time you cast this, the value is going to be pretty nice, provided you have a zombie, as it effectively replaces itself while making a creature bigger. The second time is less efficient, but in the you pay 5 mana for a 2-for-1 and two +1/+1 counters, which actually isn’t too bad. Now, you really would prefer to be putting these counters on zombies that don’t have decay to get full value out of them, but a significant chunk of the time that’s probably where the counter goes, and you may also just not have anywhere to put the counter in the first place.
Soul-Guide Gryff image 2.5 This has decent Flying stats, and exiling a card with Flashback or Disturb is pretty relevant in the format.
Flip the Switch image 1.5 This isn’t quite a hard counter, but its pretty close, and adding to the board while you counter a thing isn’t bad, even if what you’re adding is a token that can’t block and can only attack once.
Tapping at the Window image 2.5 This gives some decent card selection while also loading your graveyard, and you end up with a 2-for-1 after you cast it the second time – and you’ve also seen a ton of cards!
Blood Pact image 2.0 Its nice this is an Instant, it makes it a lot more palatable that it is. Instant speed Divination for three mana is pretty nice, and most Black decks will play the first copy of this. In a pinch, you can also use it to do 2 to your opponent, either to finish them off or trigger a bunch of your pseudo-bloodthirst effects, but mostly you’ll want to be drawing the cards.
Brimstone Vandal image 2.5 A 3-mana ⅔ with Menace is already something you play a decent chunk of the time, so the addition Night and Day value here is pretty great! On its own, it is a 3-mana ⅔ with Menace, and will do a a bit of damage over the course of the game. This is a quality common.
Siege Zombie image 2.0 This seems passable, as in the early game it has alright stats, and in the late game it can be a real source of reach. It can also help you activate cards that give you a bonus if an opponent has lost life. Still, it does ask for a lot to make the opponent lose that 1 life, and it just won’t always be doable.
Devious Cover-Up image 1.0 This is a hard counter, but four mana is a ton to have to have available at the right time, and the additional value this gives you just isn’t going to make up for that.
Pack 1 Pick 7: Blood Pact
Arcane Infusion image 2.0 This is UR’s signpost uncommon, and it tells you that you want to jam a ton of instants and sorceries into your deck. If you can do that, you end up with something pretty nice. If you can’t do that, this will be pretty ugly, because you can’t really afford to wiff with it on either activation. Still, getting 10ish spells is pretty doable, especially in UR. Over the course of a game, you can end up getting a 2-for-1 thanks to the Flashback too! I could give it a build around grade, but I think that UR decks will naturally find themselves with the right composition often enough that we don’t need to go there. That said, it also isn’t a signpost uncommon that pulls you into the color pair, either.
Mounted Dreadknight image 2.0 This has a decent baseline, and sometimes it will be especially big. Not a bad thing to have at the top of your curve.
Devious Cover-Up image 1.0 This is a hard counter, but four mana is a ton to have to have available at the right time, and the additional value this gives you just isn’t going to make up for that.
Timberland Guide image 3.0 This is a reprint, and even if it wasn’t, we see cards like this a lot, and I also like them a decent amount. They are nice as two drops, as they can be two mana 2/2s, and then in the later game you can put the counter somewhere more relevant. There isn’t a +1/+1 counter deck in this format, but the counter this guy brings with him can really help you set up Coven, since you add him to the board and put the counter somewhere else, and you’re already 2/3 of the way there!
Return to Nature image 0.5 Its nice that this does three different things, making it a more reasonable main deck card, but I’m still pretty skeptical about main decking it on a regular basis. This format has artifacts and enchantments, but not a ton of them, and while exiling something from a graveyard is nice, yo’ure often only getting half a card of value when you do it, since your opponent already cast their spell with flashback or their creature with disturb. I think this should probably still start in your sideboard.
Abandon the Post image 0.0 // 2.5 I’m not a huge fan of this type of card, mostly because it basically does nothing unless you win the game with it. That said, if you have six mana available to cast it both times in a single turn, it does stand a pretty good chance of stealing a win out of nowhere. A card like this is soo all-in on aggro though that I think we do need to give it a buildaround grade If you are an aggro deck, you’ll probably play one copy of this and feel alright about it. Otherwise you pretty much can’t play it.
Blood Pact image 2.0 Its nice this is an Instant, it makes it a lot more palatable that it is. Instant speed Divination for three mana is pretty nice, and most Black decks will play the first copy of this. In a pinch, you can also use it to do 2 to your opponent, either to finish them off or trigger a bunch of your pseudo-bloodthirst effects, but mostly you’ll want to be drawing the cards.
Candletrap image 3.0 This is pretty cheap removal. Before you get Coven online, it definitely isn’t great removal, because allowing the creature to still block is usually not what you want to be doing. It can’t do damage at least, but it still a presence on the board, and that means you aren’t trading a full 1-for-1. But its nice than in the later game, you can just get rid of that creature entirely. Still, it is probably a little too slow and clunky to be premium.
Pack 1 Pick 8: Flip the Switch
Ghoulish Procession image 3.0 If your deck has a decent number of non-token creatures and/or lots of way to take down opposing creatures, this looks pretty nice. And doing either of those things in Black doesn’t look crazy difficult! Sure, the tokens are temporary, but paying two mana for a token factory like this seems very nice, even if they are decaying.
Mounted Dreadknight image 2.0 This has a decent baseline, and sometimes it will be especially big. Not a bad thing to have at the top of your curve.
Flip the Switch image 1.5 This isn’t quite a hard counter, but its pretty close, and adding to the board while you counter a thing isn’t bad, even if what you’re adding is a token that can’t block and can only attack once.
Stolen Vitality image 1.5 This is a decent trick that give you lethal out of nowhere on an attacking creature, and one that can also be used defensive quite effectly thanks to the First Strike. Now, using this kind of card defensively is definitely not optimal, but it is upside for sure. I don’t love that it only bumps toughness by 1, since if you’re the one attacking, there’s still a good chance your creature will die.
Thraben Exorcism image 0.5 Against some opponents this will feel really good -- namely, against UW -- but against other decks it just won’t have targets often enough to be worth it.
Bounding Wolf image 2.0 Reach is extra good in this format because there are a ton of flyers as a result that everything that has disturb comes back as a Flyer. So if you’re in Green, you’re going to need a way to stop that. Bounding Wolf can do it, and it even ambush block thanks to flash!
Duress image 0.5 As always, this is a sideboard card. It misses too often to be worth it in your main deck. Even when you can hit stuff with it, it might have Flashback!
Pack 1 Pick 9: Startle
Startle image 2.0 I don’t normally play most Blue “combat tricks” that shrink the power of a creature, but this tacks on enough additional stuff that it seems like it will be pretty solid. The problem with this kind of card is it isn’t always possible for you to trade card-for-card with it, since your creature has to already be big enough to kill the other creature. However, this lets you draw a card and makes you a Decay Zombie, and that’s quite a bit for only two mana! The times where you are able to use this card to help you kill an opposing creature it will feel insane!
Tavern Ruffian image 3.0 In most formats, a 4-mana ⅖ isn’t something that Red is interested in, though those are fairly reasonable defensive stats. However, this is a werewolf, and that means that if its already night time you get a 4-mana 6/5, and it also means that it can become one at some point in the game. That’s a pretty nice deal. And yeah, it isn’t always super easy to control what time of day it is, but this still seems like a solid Red Common to me.
Shipwreck Sifters image 1.5 A two mana ½ who loots is fine, and this one can get bigger. I don’t think you’ll want to discard a spirit or a card with Disturb to it all that often, since the power of those cards is often in the fact that you get the two bodies, but you’ll discard those things sometimes and it’ll get bigger.
Blessed Defiance image 1.0 This doesn’t seem like a great trick to me. Only increasing power means there’s a good chance your creature will be dying, and while the life that you gain and the 1/1 flyer you get in exchange for that makes a difference, it will still usually feel like you’re getting 2-for-1’d when you use this.
Lambholt Harrier image 2.0 This is a Bear that stays relevant all game long thanks to its ability. Now, that ability is pretty pricey, and you’ll normally only be able to make one thing unable to block, but it is an ability your opponent has to account for in the late game, as making one thing unable to block can really help someone find lethal out of nowhere.
Drownyard Amalgam image 2.0 This sets up some graveyard value for you and has a decent defensive body, not to mention an ability that will sometimes help you close out a game. A lot of the time though, it just won’t do enough. Seems reasonable in some controlling decks.
Pack 1 Pick 10: Component Collector
Component Collector image 1.5 This has decent stats and an ability that will give you a bit of value, though it certainly isn’t exciting
Pestilent Wolf image 2.5 That’s a lot of mana to give a bear Deathtouch! Still, it starts out as a two mana 2/2, and has the ability to trade with anything later in the game. Wolf is also a somewhat useful creature type. I think the whole package is probably a 2.5
Ardent Elementalist image 3.0 This will get you a pretty nice 2-for-1 most of the time, especially since as a 2/1, it stands a pretty good chance of trading with something in addition to getting you back a key instant or sorcery.
Search Party Captain image 3.5 A 4-mana 2/2 that draws you a card is like a 2.0, and decreasing that cost even by 1 is a huge upgrade. So, the fact that sometimes you can play this for two or one mana and then cast what you draw seems really good. This is one of White’s better Commons.
Blood Pact image 2.0 Its nice this is an Instant, it makes it a lot more palatable that it is. Instant speed Divination for three mana is pretty nice, and most Black decks will play the first copy of this. In a pinch, you can also use it to do 2 to your opponent, either to finish them off or trigger a bunch of your pseudo-bloodthirst effects, but mostly you’ll want to be drawing the cards.
Pack 1 Pick 11: Moonsilver Key
Moonsilver Key image 2.5 This gives you fixing, and one is often in the market for that in Limited, since splashing bombs is usually a good idea. You won’t have many artifacts to get with the Key, though there are a few of them.
Thraben Exorcism image 0.5 Against some opponents this will feel really good -- namely, against UW -- but against other decks it just won’t have targets often enough to be worth it.
Plummet image 0.5 This format has lots of flyers as a result of Disturb, so Plummet might be a bit better here in the main deck than it is in most formats, but I think you’d still prefer to bring it in out of your sideboard. It is hard to guarantee it will have enough targets against some of the color pairs.
Famished Foragers image 3.0 A 4-mana 4/3 is sort of passable already, and this will often be able to come down and give you some mana, which -- if nothing else, you can use to rummage using its ability. Sometimes, it will enable a pretty impressive double spell turn too, which will feel amazing. You won’t always be making that happen, but the card has a very reasonable baseline and a pretty nice ceiling.
Pack 1 Pick 12: Otherworldly Gaze
Blood Pact image 2.0 Its nice this is an Instant, it makes it a lot more palatable that it is. Instant speed Divination for three mana is pretty nice, and most Black decks will play the first copy of this. In a pinch, you can also use it to do 2 to your opponent, either to finish them off or trigger a bunch of your pseudo-bloodthirst effects, but mostly you’ll want to be drawing the cards.
Otherworldly Gaze image 0.5 Loading the graveyard is important in this format, its true, but a card that pretty much only does that, while giving you some card selection, isn’t something I’m interested in. You never get the card back. There are so many cards that load the graveyard while doing actual other things!
Devious Cover-Up image 1.0 This is a hard counter, but four mana is a ton to have to have available at the right time, and the additional value this gives you just isn’t going to make up for that.
Pack 1 Pick 13: Electric Revelation
Raze the Effigy image 1.5 This format doesn’t have a ton of artifacts, but having the option to destroy an artifact on a decent combat trick certainly makes it more flexible.
Electric Revelation image 1.5 This is an expensive Tormenting Voice, buts it’s an instant and it has flashback. This format does have a graveyard theme for sure, so discarding cards to cast this isn’t a huge deal. Still, it doesn’t impact the board in any way, and is replaceable overall.
Pack 1 Pick 14: Flip the Switch
Flip the Switch image 1.5 This isn’t quite a hard counter, but its pretty close, and adding to the board while you counter a thing isn’t bad, even if what you’re adding is a token that can’t block and can only attack once.
Pack 2 Pick 1: Shady Traveler
Vanquish the Horde image 4.5 Sweepers are always pretty nice in Limited, since they alter the game in a way that really no other kind of card can. They can single handedly help you escape a game where you have no hope! This one starts out pretty expensive, but if its worth casting, it won’t usually cost more than 4 or 5. Wraths do always have the downside of not being quite as good in aggro decks, but even there, they remain pretty darn good. There are definitely situations where you’d rather draw a creature than Wipe Out the Horde in that time of deck, but there will also be times where resetting the board will get you there.
Hound Tamer image 4.0 You would always play this card if it was always Hound Tamer. It has good stats and an ability that can be a nice place to sink mana in the late game, so obviously the fact it can also be a larger creature that grants Trample to a bunch of stuff is awesome.
Dawnhart Mentor image 3.0 Neither body is very impressive, but getting them both for that price isn’t too bad! Especially since going wide is often a good thing. This gets some bonus points here though. It helps get Coven online, since on its own, it gives you a 1/1 and a 0/4, and then it also has a nice Coven payoff -- +3/+3 and Trample is enough to make almost any creature a problem. Note, by the way, that the Mentor doesn’t have defender.
Ritual of Hope image 1.0 // 3.0 This is a nice payoff for going wide, especially if you can get Coven going, since it becomes Inspired Charge for half the cost! The good news is, by the time a card like this tends to be useful, you’re reasonably likely to have Coven online, since you’ll have to have a board with several different creatures on it, and those several different creatures are likely to have 3 or more powers among them. Obviously, you won’t be playing this other than in fairly aggressive decks, but it seems like a nice pump spell for them.
Arrogant Outlaw image 2.0 When this is just a 3-mana 3/2, it won’t feel great. But sometimes, it will drain the opponent two life, which will feel like you’re getting your mana’s worth. You’ll probably cut this a significant chunk of the time, but playing it isn’t a disaster.
Pestilent Wolf image 2.5 That’s a lot of mana to give a bear Deathtouch! Still, it starts out as a two mana 2/2, and has the ability to trade with anything later in the game. Wolf is also a somewhat useful creature type. I think the whole package is probably a 2.5
Bounding Wolf image 2.0 Reach is extra good in this format because there are a ton of flyers as a result that everything that has disturb comes back as a Flyer. So if you’re in Green, you’re going to need a way to stop that. Bounding Wolf can do it, and it even ambush block thanks to flash!
Cathar Commando image 2.5 You can flash this in to ambush block an X/3, and most X/3s will cost more than the Commando, so that’s nice! The additional utility of blowing up artifacts and enchantments doesn’t hurt either. This is a solid Common.
Celestus Sanctifier image 2.0 If you are changing between night and day a lot, this gives you some decent card selection, and even lets you load the graveyard a bit -- like with Flashback or Disturb cards. That said, it has mediocre stats, and the ability isn’t incredible, and it won’t always be easy to get going in the first place.
Shady Traveler image 3.0 A 3-mana 2/3 with Menace is a card you’ll play sometimes – probably a 2.5, and it will come into play as or transform into Stalking Predator pretty regularly, in which case you’re getting an amazing deal!
Bat Whisperer image 2.5 If this always gave you a bat, it would be at least a 3.5. One nice thing about the bat too is that it might help you enable future cards that give you a bonus if your opponent has lost life on a particular turn. Sometimes it will be a 4-mana 4/2 though, and that’s pretty bad.
Raze the Effigy image 1.5 This format doesn’t have a ton of artifacts, but having the option to destroy an artifact on a decent combat trick certainly makes it more flexible.
Secrets of the Key image 3.0 Paying one Blue to investigate isn’t great, even to me, and I love Clue tokens! However, the additional flashback on it is very real, and means that in the end, this card end sup being a 3-for-1, even if it does it kind of slowly. You end up paying 5 mana for three Clues, and that’s not too shabby. Between Flashback, Investigate, and Disturb, this format looks to be kind of slow and grindy, and if that’s true, Secrets of the Key will be something you want one of in virtually all of your Blue decks, as the card advantage is very real. I thinkt he first copy will be a 3.0, though they do have diminishing returns after that because it doesn’t really impact the board.
Gavony Silversmith image 2.5 If you have at least one other creature in play, you’re getting a 4-mana ¾ and putting another counter on a creature who can attack that turn, and that’s a solid enough deal. Sometimes you’ll be able to add 2/2 to the board that can attack right away too. It can also help you get coven by diversifying your creatures’ power.
Pack 2 Pick 2: Ludevic, Necrogenius
Ludevic, Necrogenius image 3.5 Like a lot of DFCs, this has some great flavor! Its also a pretty good card. A two mana ⅔ that mills you is exactly what a lot of decks in this format will want, since the graveyard can really be abused as a resource. Then, when the game gets late, Ludevic can transform into Olag. The cost to transform is a little steep with double blue and double black, but it is definitely doable. And, as long as you exile at least one thing, Olag will be a 5/5 copy of that card, and that definitely has some potential. It takes a long time to really to get to where you can transform Ludevic, but its nice that he’s useful before his Hubris takes over as a more imposing creature.
Dryad's Revival image 1.0 If this were just three mana to return a card from your graveyard to your hand it wouldn’t be very good. That’s just not a great rate most of the time, as that’s a very real amount of mana and you’re only getting one card out of the deal. Basically, it is card selection, and card selection that is contingent upon you having something in your graveyard worth getting back int he first place. Not doing anything to add to the board is a real problem. Adding Flashback does mean this can give you a 2-for-1 in the long run which isn’t too shabby, but I still don’t love this, even in a graveyard set. I thinkt his is a super replaceable card that doesn’t do something real way too often.
Moonsilver Key image 2.5 This gives you fixing, and one is often in the market for that in Limited, since splashing bombs is usually a good idea. You won’t have many artifacts to get with the Key, though there are a few of them.
Ecstatic Awakener image 2.5 One mana 1/1s are pretty bad, they just lose relevance quickly. The Awakener gets around that to some extent as a result of its ability to transform into Awoken Demon. Transforming it is a little bit steep at 3 mana and sacrificing something, but there is going to be some significant sacrifice fodder in both Black/White and Blue/Black, so it won’t hurt quite as much as it might look at first. Still, you aren’t really doing incredible when you transform this into a 4/4.
Stolen Vitality image 1.5 This is a decent trick that give you lethal out of nowhere on an attacking creature, and one that can also be used defensive quite effectly thanks to the First Strike. Now, using this kind of card defensively is definitely not optimal, but it is upside for sure. I don’t love that it only bumps toughness by 1, since if you’re the one attacking, there’s still a good chance your creature will die.
Return to Nature image 0.5 Its nice that this does three different things, making it a more reasonable main deck card, but I’m still pretty skeptical about main decking it on a regular basis. This format has artifacts and enchantments, but not a ton of them, and while exiling something from a graveyard is nice, yo’ure often only getting half a card of value when you do it, since your opponent already cast their spell with flashback or their creature with disturb. I think this should probably still start in your sideboard.
Shipwreck Sifters image 1.5 A two mana ½ who loots is fine, and this one can get bigger. I don’t think you’ll want to discard a spirit or a card with Disturb to it all that often, since the power of those cards is often in the fact that you get the two bodies, but you’ll discard those things sometimes and it’ll get bigger.
Stormrider Spirit image 1.5 This is a reprint from our last trip to Innistrad, where it was mediocre. You can flash it in to ambush block a small thing, and then it is a decent threat in the air, but it isn’t especially efficient.
Candlegrove Witch image 2.5 This is a Bear that will often, though not always, have flying in the late game. Flying helps it stay relevant throughout the game, which is nice. Seems like a solid two drop.
Bramble Armor image 2.5 This is a pretty decent boost when it equips for free, and it will also help you get coven online if that’s what you need. Equipping it after that first time is a little rough for sure, but if it keeps giving you coven or making creature sin to threats, that is reasonable.
Plummet image 0.5 This format has lots of flyers as a result of Disturb, so Plummet might be a bit better here in the main deck than it is in most formats, but I think you’d still prefer to bring it in out of your sideboard. It is hard to guarantee it will have enough targets against some of the color pairs.
Tapping at the Window image 2.5 This gives some decent card selection while also loading your graveyard, and you end up with a 2-for-1 after you cast it the second time – and you’ve also seen a ton of cards!
Morkrut Behemoth image 2.5 The idea here is to sacrifice something to it that isn’t a big deal, like a Zombie token, and if you do that then yeah – a 7/6 with Menace on turn 5 is pretty imposing. You can also just straight up pay 7 for it, which isn’t great but its not a disaster either. This seems like some decent top curve for some Black decks in the format – especially UB and BW – but I think you’ll find you cut it a pretty significant chunk of the time for cards that are just better.
Pack 2 Pick 3: Nebelgast Intruder
Firmament Sage image 3.0 This has some very ugly stats, but it has an ability that is a card-drawing engine. If it manages to stick around, it is definitely going to net you a few cards, and that’s pretty nice.
Field of Ruin image 0.0 We see this a lot, and it’s a card they print mostly to be used in constructed to hate on powerful lands. This format doesn’t really have those, so it isn’t worth playing. And yeah, it fixes for you, but you know what else does that doesn’t also fix for your opponent? Just playing a land that can produce mana that is in one of your colors!
Nebelgast Intruder image 3.5 Lately, we’ve seen a lot of Blue creatures with Flash that reduce the power of something when they come down. Some of them have been pretty good -- like Faerie Duelist. Others have been pretty mediocre, like Burrog Befuddler. I think this one ends up being pretty good though. A 3-mana 2/1 with Flash and Flying is already pretty playable, so adding an ability that, at the very least, makes you take less damage, isn’t too shabby. Especially because sometimes reducing a creature’s power will give you a whole card worth of value on its own! This is a very good Uncommon.
Harvesttide Sentry image 2.5 This has decent base stats and if you can get coven going, it becomes a lot harder to easily block this thing.
Crawl from the Cellar image 2.0 This is an interesting take on the usual Sorcery that lets you return two creatures to your hand. The first time you cast this, the value is going to be pretty nice, provided you have a zombie, as it effectively replaces itself while making a creature bigger. The second time is less efficient, but in the you pay 5 mana for a 2-for-1 and two +1/+1 counters, which actually isn’t too bad. Now, you really would prefer to be putting these counters on zombies that don’t have decay to get full value out of them, but a significant chunk of the time that’s probably where the counter goes, and you may also just not have anywhere to put the counter in the first place.
Tavern Ruffian image 3.0 In most formats, a 4-mana ⅖ isn’t something that Red is interested in, though those are fairly reasonable defensive stats. However, this is a werewolf, and that means that if its already night time you get a 4-mana 6/5, and it also means that it can become one at some point in the game. That’s a pretty nice deal. And yeah, it isn’t always super easy to control what time of day it is, but this still seems like a solid Red Common to me.
Devious Cover-Up image 1.0 This is a hard counter, but four mana is a ton to have to have available at the right time, and the additional value this gives you just isn’t going to make up for that.
Shipwreck Sifters image 1.5 A two mana ½ who loots is fine, and this one can get bigger. I don’t think you’ll want to discard a spirit or a card with Disturb to it all that often, since the power of those cards is often in the fact that you get the two bodies, but you’ll discard those things sometimes and it’ll get bigger.
Falkenrath Perforator image 2.5 In a set where this had no synergy at all, this would probably be a 1.5. The stats aren’t good, and the 1 damage just isn’t enough to make up for that. However, this set’s BR archetype has a lot of cards that give you extra effects if your opponent lost life, and this is one way you can make that happen. Plus, its a vampire, and while the tribal themes for vampires aren’t massive int his set, they are still there! I think all of that is enough to bump this up to a solid playable.
Evolving Wilds image 3.0 This is always really nice fixing, and I tend to like it even more than the rare dual lands here, especially because it throws itself in the graveyard and that definitely matters in this set.
Snarling Wolf image 2.0 Rootwalla is back, albeit in Wolf form! This kind of card tends to feel pretty good early, as your opponent just can’t block it because of the threat of activation, and then the fact it can become a 3/3 keeps it relevant in the later game too. Seems like a solid playable for aggressive Green decks.
Homestead Courage image 1.0 This gives a nice, efficient boost twice. It isn’t a boost that always makes a difference, though, and even when it does, I’m not sure it will always feel like you’re getting a full card worth of value. Being cheap to flashback is good for flashback payoffs, and also makes it easy to turn it back into day, and that matters.
Pack 2 Pick 4: Ecstatic Awakener
Corpse Cobble image 2.0 Giving up a creature for another creature, or several creatures for one creature isn’t something that is super appealing to me. Now, this does combo pretty well with Decay tokens, since you can sacrifice them before they sacrifice themselves at the end of combat, and there are some other nice sacrifice fodder cards around, and it has Flashback. Its also an instant, so you can sacrifice a big thing your opponent is removing and get a big creature all over again, which will feel pretty nice. All of that means it isn’t unplayable, but I’m a bit skeptical this will be the kind of Blue Black card that really pulls you into the color pair.
Devoted Grafkeeper image 4.0 This is a very strong signpost uncommon, with it really pushing you in the direction of Disturb. It both loads your graveyard a bit and pays you off for disturb -- and flashback, for that matter. And then, it of course has Disturb itself! In the end, you end up paying 5 mana for a 2/1 and a 3/1 Flyer, plus all that other upside, and that’s an excellent deal.
Falcon Abomination image 3.0 This is a Wind Drake with some reasonable upside. Obviously this Zombie token doesn’t give you quite as much value as most Zombie tokens, but it still adds to the board in a way that will have at least some impact. The two bodies will be nice sacrifice fodder, and they’ll also just be good at pressuring your opponent.
Vampire Interloper image 2.5 This has nice aggressive stats, and looks like a decent enabler for all the Black-Red cards that care about your opponent losing life.
Crawl from the Cellar image 2.0 This is an interesting take on the usual Sorcery that lets you return two creatures to your hand. The first time you cast this, the value is going to be pretty nice, provided you have a zombie, as it effectively replaces itself while making a creature bigger. The second time is less efficient, but in the you pay 5 mana for a 2-for-1 and two +1/+1 counters, which actually isn’t too bad. Now, you really would prefer to be putting these counters on zombies that don’t have decay to get full value out of them, but a significant chunk of the time that’s probably where the counter goes, and you may also just not have anywhere to put the counter in the first place.
Blessed Defiance image 1.0 This doesn’t seem like a great trick to me. Only increasing power means there’s a good chance your creature will be dying, and while the life that you gain and the 1/1 flyer you get in exchange for that makes a difference, it will still usually feel like you’re getting 2-for-1’d when you use this.
Ecstatic Awakener image 2.5 One mana 1/1s are pretty bad, they just lose relevance quickly. The Awakener gets around that to some extent as a result of its ability to transform into Awoken Demon. Transforming it is a little bit steep at 3 mana and sacrificing something, but there is going to be some significant sacrifice fodder in both Black/White and Blue/Black, so it won’t hurt quite as much as it might look at first. Still, you aren’t really doing incredible when you transform this into a 4/4.
Bat Whisperer image 2.5 If this always gave you a bat, it would be at least a 3.5. One nice thing about the bat too is that it might help you enable future cards that give you a bonus if your opponent has lost life on a particular turn. Sometimes it will be a 4-mana 4/2 though, and that’s pretty bad.
Pestilent Wolf image 2.5 That’s a lot of mana to give a bear Deathtouch! Still, it starts out as a two mana 2/2, and has the ability to trade with anything later in the game. Wolf is also a somewhat useful creature type. I think the whole package is probably a 2.5
Thraben Exorcism image 0.5 Against some opponents this will feel really good -- namely, against UW -- but against other decks it just won’t have targets often enough to be worth it.
Drownyard Amalgam image 2.0 This sets up some graveyard value for you and has a decent defensive body, not to mention an ability that will sometimes help you close out a game. A lot of the time though, it just won’t do enough. Seems reasonable in some controlling decks.
Pack 2 Pick 5: Olivia's Midnight Ambush
Rite of Oblivion image 3.0 Its nice this can exile any nonland permanent, and even nicer that it has flashback! However, the cost of giving up your own nonland permanent is very real. Now, if you have some Clues and/or Zombie tokens, it won’t hurt too badly, but a lot of the time you’ll be straight up 2-for-1ing yourself. And, that’s something that it is worth doing sometimes. Giving up your worst permanent for their best is reasonable, but going down the full card is still pretty rough. I think the first copy of this looks like an auto-include in BW decks, but beyond that first one, I’d be skeptical.
Necrosynthesis image 1.5 If this was just an Aura with the “Whenever another creature dies” bit, it would be close to unplayable. It doesn’t give an immediate stats boost, and it doesn’t do anything to mitigate against card disadvantage. However, it comes with an additional effect that does help mitigate against that disadvantage, since it will give you some pretty serious card selection when it dies. It is nice too that it doesn’t look at counters alone, it looks at the creature’s power, and that means you’ll always be netting a card when the thing dies. Now, it does still have the very real downside of not buffing the creature at all at first, but the creature will grow over the course of the game. Still, this isn’t great. Sure it replaces itself, but the effect of the Aura isn’t that great in the first place. Even with Zombies dying left and right, this doesn’t seem worth it.
Howl of the Hunt image 2.5 This kind of card pretty much always performs. Combat tricks and Auras both have some pretty serious problems. The chief one is that you can get totally blown out if you’re not careful. However, Auras with Flash tend to play reasonably well every time we see them, provided they are reasonably costed, and I think this one is. You have to be careful about when you play it of course, but if your opponent has no way to interact, this is basically a combat trick that takes something down, and then the Aura itself sticks around. The fact it works this way helps you mitigate the potential card disadvantage, since you’ll use the Aura to help you kill something up front. The werewolf upside here matters too. You usually want to be the aggressor with a trick, but giving your Wolf or Werewolf pseudo-vigilance is pretty nice, and having the option to ambush block is okay too.
Pack's Betrayal image 1.0 Rummaging a few times a came with this seems fine, but not exactly game breaking. It does have decent stats to go along with that ability.
Flip the Switch image 1.5 This isn’t quite a hard counter, but its pretty close, and adding to the board while you counter a thing isn’t bad, even if what you’re adding is a token that can’t block and can only attack once.
Stolen Vitality image 1.5 This is a decent trick that give you lethal out of nowhere on an attacking creature, and one that can also be used defensive quite effectly thanks to the First Strike. Now, using this kind of card defensively is definitely not optimal, but it is upside for sure. I don’t love that it only bumps toughness by 1, since if you’re the one attacking, there’s still a good chance your creature will die.
Olivia's Midnight Ambush image 3.5 This is decent removal if it is day time or neither night nor day, and when it is night time, its just insane. If it was only the night time mode it would be an easy 4.5! As it is, I think it has a reasonable enough base line and a high enough ceiling that we can call it premium.
Devious Cover-Up image 1.0 This is a hard counter, but four mana is a ton to have to have available at the right time, and the additional value this gives you just isn’t going to make up for that.
Crossroads Candleguide image 1.0 You’ll play it you’re desperate for a creature or fixing, but you really hope you don’t have to, because it doesn’t do either thing particularly well.
Startle image 2.0 I don’t normally play most Blue “combat tricks” that shrink the power of a creature, but this tacks on enough additional stuff that it seems like it will be pretty solid. The problem with this kind of card is it isn’t always possible for you to trade card-for-card with it, since your creature has to already be big enough to kill the other creature. However, this lets you draw a card and makes you a Decay Zombie, and that’s quite a bit for only two mana! The times where you are able to use this card to help you kill an opposing creature it will feel insane!
Pack 2 Pick 6: Hobbling Zombie
Plummet image 0.5 This format has lots of flyers as a result of Disturb, so Plummet might be a bit better here in the main deck than it is in most formats, but I think you’d still prefer to bring it in out of your sideboard. It is hard to guarantee it will have enough targets against some of the color pairs.
Vampire Interloper image 2.5 This has nice aggressive stats, and looks like a decent enabler for all the Black-Red cards that care about your opponent losing life.
Evolving Wilds image 3.0 This is always really nice fixing, and I tend to like it even more than the rare dual lands here, especially because it throws itself in the graveyard and that definitely matters in this set.
Mourning Patrol image 2.5 A 3-mana 2/3 with Vigilance is fine, so the fact that this can come back as a 2/1 with Flying and Vigilance is pretty nice! Both halves in this case very capable of trading, too.
Secrets of the Key image 3.0 Paying one Blue to investigate isn’t great, even to me, and I love Clue tokens! However, the additional flashback on it is very real, and means that in the end, this card end sup being a 3-for-1, even if it does it kind of slowly. You end up paying 5 mana for three Clues, and that’s not too shabby. Between Flashback, Investigate, and Disturb, this format looks to be kind of slow and grindy, and if that’s true, Secrets of the Key will be something you want one of in virtually all of your Blue decks, as the card advantage is very real. I thinkt he first copy will be a 3.0, though they do have diminishing returns after that because it doesn’t really impact the board.
Pestilent Wolf image 2.5 That’s a lot of mana to give a bear Deathtouch! Still, it starts out as a two mana 2/2, and has the ability to trade with anything later in the game. Wolf is also a somewhat useful creature type. I think the whole package is probably a 2.5
Otherworldly Gaze image 0.5 Loading the graveyard is important in this format, its true, but a card that pretty much only does that, while giving you some card selection, isn’t something I’m interested in. You never get the card back. There are so many cards that load the graveyard while doing actual other things!
Neonate's Rush image 2.5 When you manage to kill a creature with this, it is going to feel incredible. When you can’t, this is less true. However, it is an enabler for all the pseudo-bloodthirst in the format and it replaces itself, AND it will often only cost two mana, making the outcome a lot more palatable.
Hobbling Zombie image 3.0 We often see 3-mana 2/2s with Deathtouch, and they are usually like a C. The ability to trade for anything is nice, after all! But this can do that and make a Zombie token. Obviously, it is a big down grade from a regular 2/2 zombie, but it is still enough additional upside for this to move up to 3.0.
Pack 2 Pick 7: Vengeful Strangler
Fleshtaker image 4.0 This looks like a pretty strong signpost Uncommon. It starts with solid base stats, and every time it attacks your opponent really has to take stock of just how big it might become! On top of that, it is a more general sacrifice payoff, which works with itself as well as other cards, and gaining life and scrying is pretty nice additional value to add to sacrifices.
Vengeful Strangler image 3.0 This seems pretty nice. Because it can’t block, the only way you can transform it is if your opponent blocks it or decides to kill it, or you sacrifice it yourself. Luckily that last part is pretty doable in the format. Once it transforms it isn’t super incredible, but it does tax your opponent pretty heavily for having whatever their best permanent is, and theoretically it could get to the point where they just decide to sacrifice it. Sometimes your opponent will have to choose between letting the 2/1 through or having to deal with the obnoxious aura, and that’s a nice choice to force on them.
Shady Traveler image 3.0 A 3-mana 2/3 with Menace is a card you’ll play sometimes – probably a 2.5, and it will come into play as or transform into Stalking Predator pretty regularly, in which case you’re getting an amazing deal!
Abandon the Post image 0.0 // 2.5 I’m not a huge fan of this type of card, mostly because it basically does nothing unless you win the game with it. That said, if you have six mana available to cast it both times in a single turn, it does stand a pretty good chance of stealing a win out of nowhere. A card like this is soo all-in on aggro though that I think we do need to give it a buildaround grade If you are an aggro deck, you’ll probably play one copy of this and feel alright about it. Otherwise you pretty much can’t play it.
Path to the Festival image 2.0 This is pretty clunky since it doesn't add to the board at all. It can do it again from the graveyard though, which can potentially really turbo your mana. It is also reasonable fixing, and if you're splashing a third color, that Scry will be nice.
Secrets of the Key image 3.0 Paying one Blue to investigate isn’t great, even to me, and I love Clue tokens! However, the additional flashback on it is very real, and means that in the end, this card end sup being a 3-for-1, even if it does it kind of slowly. You end up paying 5 mana for three Clues, and that’s not too shabby. Between Flashback, Investigate, and Disturb, this format looks to be kind of slow and grindy, and if that’s true, Secrets of the Key will be something you want one of in virtually all of your Blue decks, as the card advantage is very real. I thinkt he first copy will be a 3.0, though they do have diminishing returns after that because it doesn’t really impact the board.
Candlelit Cavalry image 2.5 On a base level, this is a 5-mana 5/5, something that makes the cut in some Green decks anyway, and it will gain trample sometimes. Seems decent enough.
Ritual Guardian image 2.0 If this was a 3-mana 3/2 that always had Lifelink, it would probably be a 2.5 or 3.0. The fact this won’t always have it, and in fact probably won’t have it a decent chunk of the time, makes this significanlty worse than that, because a 3-mana 3/2 is just an ugly stat line these days.
Pack 2 Pick 8: Startle
Arcane Infusion image 2.0 This is UR’s signpost uncommon, and it tells you that you want to jam a ton of instants and sorceries into your deck. If you can do that, you end up with something pretty nice. If you can’t do that, this will be pretty ugly, because you can’t really afford to wiff with it on either activation. Still, getting 10ish spells is pretty doable, especially in UR. Over the course of a game, you can end up getting a 2-for-1 thanks to the Flashback too! I could give it a build around grade, but I think that UR decks will naturally find themselves with the right composition often enough that we don’t need to go there. That said, it also isn’t a signpost uncommon that pulls you into the color pair, either.
Neonate's Rush image 2.5 When you manage to kill a creature with this, it is going to feel incredible. When you can’t, this is less true. However, it is an enabler for all the pseudo-bloodthirst in the format and it replaces itself, AND it will often only cost two mana, making the outcome a lot more palatable.
Clarion Cathars image 2.5 We see this basic card a lot, and its always solid. Two bodies for four mana is nice, and the reasonable stats distributed across them is pretty good.
Startle image 2.0 I don’t normally play most Blue “combat tricks” that shrink the power of a creature, but this tacks on enough additional stuff that it seems like it will be pretty solid. The problem with this kind of card is it isn’t always possible for you to trade card-for-card with it, since your creature has to already be big enough to kill the other creature. However, this lets you draw a card and makes you a Decay Zombie, and that’s quite a bit for only two mana! The times where you are able to use this card to help you kill an opposing creature it will feel insane!
Harvesttide Infiltrator image 2.5 This has a decent fail case as a 3-mana 3/2 with Trample, and sometimes it will be bigger.
Duress image 0.5 As always, this is a sideboard card. It misses too often to be worth it in your main deck. Even when you can hit stuff with it, it might have Flashback!
Unruly Mob image 2.0 This is a reprint from our other two visits to Innistrad, and it wasn’t very good either time -- a 1.5 at best! It does grow as the game goes on, but it starts really small and grows pretty slowly. Only growing when your creatures die is tricky too. However, this will probably be better in this format than we’ve seen in the past, mostly because BW is a sacrifice deck this time around, and that combos pretty well with the Mob. The GW deck has lots of tokens too, so yeah, I think maybe this ends up being a solid playable this time around.
Pack 2 Pick 9: Arrogant Outlaw
Ritual of Hope image 1.0 // 3.0 This is a nice payoff for going wide, especially if you can get Coven going, since it becomes Inspired Charge for half the cost! The good news is, by the time a card like this tends to be useful, you’re reasonably likely to have Coven online, since you’ll have to have a board with several different creatures on it, and those several different creatures are likely to have 3 or more powers among them. Obviously, you won’t be playing this other than in fairly aggressive decks, but it seems like a nice pump spell for them.
Arrogant Outlaw image 2.0 When this is just a 3-mana 3/2, it won’t feel great. But sometimes, it will drain the opponent two life, which will feel like you’re getting your mana’s worth. You’ll probably cut this a significant chunk of the time, but playing it isn’t a disaster.
Cathar Commando image 2.5 You can flash this in to ambush block an X/3, and most X/3s will cost more than the Commando, so that’s nice! The additional utility of blowing up artifacts and enchantments doesn’t hurt either. This is a solid Common.
Celestus Sanctifier image 2.0 If you are changing between night and day a lot, this gives you some decent card selection, and even lets you load the graveyard a bit -- like with Flashback or Disturb cards. That said, it has mediocre stats, and the ability isn’t incredible, and it won’t always be easy to get going in the first place.
Bat Whisperer image 2.5 If this always gave you a bat, it would be at least a 3.5. One nice thing about the bat too is that it might help you enable future cards that give you a bonus if your opponent has lost life on a particular turn. Sometimes it will be a 4-mana 4/2 though, and that’s pretty bad.
Secrets of the Key image 3.0 Paying one Blue to investigate isn’t great, even to me, and I love Clue tokens! However, the additional flashback on it is very real, and means that in the end, this card end sup being a 3-for-1, even if it does it kind of slowly. You end up paying 5 mana for three Clues, and that’s not too shabby. Between Flashback, Investigate, and Disturb, this format looks to be kind of slow and grindy, and if that’s true, Secrets of the Key will be something you want one of in virtually all of your Blue decks, as the card advantage is very real. I thinkt he first copy will be a 3.0, though they do have diminishing returns after that because it doesn’t really impact the board.
Pack 2 Pick 10: Ecstatic Awakener
Ecstatic Awakener image 2.5 One mana 1/1s are pretty bad, they just lose relevance quickly. The Awakener gets around that to some extent as a result of its ability to transform into Awoken Demon. Transforming it is a little bit steep at 3 mana and sacrificing something, but there is going to be some significant sacrifice fodder in both Black/White and Blue/Black, so it won’t hurt quite as much as it might look at first. Still, you aren’t really doing incredible when you transform this into a 4/4.
Return to Nature image 0.5 Its nice that this does three different things, making it a more reasonable main deck card, but I’m still pretty skeptical about main decking it on a regular basis. This format has artifacts and enchantments, but not a ton of them, and while exiling something from a graveyard is nice, yo’ure often only getting half a card of value when you do it, since your opponent already cast their spell with flashback or their creature with disturb. I think this should probably still start in your sideboard.
Stormrider Spirit image 1.5 This is a reprint from our last trip to Innistrad, where it was mediocre. You can flash it in to ambush block a small thing, and then it is a decent threat in the air, but it isn’t especially efficient.
Plummet image 0.5 This format has lots of flyers as a result of Disturb, so Plummet might be a bit better here in the main deck than it is in most formats, but I think you’d still prefer to bring it in out of your sideboard. It is hard to guarantee it will have enough targets against some of the color pairs.
Morkrut Behemoth image 2.5 The idea here is to sacrifice something to it that isn’t a big deal, like a Zombie token, and if you do that then yeah – a 7/6 with Menace on turn 5 is pretty imposing. You can also just straight up pay 7 for it, which isn’t great but its not a disaster either. This seems like some decent top curve for some Black decks in the format – especially UB and BW – but I think you’ll find you cut it a pretty significant chunk of the time for cards that are just better.
Pack 2 Pick 11: Field of Ruin
Field of Ruin image 0.0 We see this a lot, and it’s a card they print mostly to be used in constructed to hate on powerful lands. This format doesn’t really have those, so it isn’t worth playing. And yeah, it fixes for you, but you know what else does that doesn’t also fix for your opponent? Just playing a land that can produce mana that is in one of your colors!
Tavern Ruffian image 3.0 In most formats, a 4-mana ⅖ isn’t something that Red is interested in, though those are fairly reasonable defensive stats. However, this is a werewolf, and that means that if its already night time you get a 4-mana 6/5, and it also means that it can become one at some point in the game. That’s a pretty nice deal. And yeah, it isn’t always super easy to control what time of day it is, but this still seems like a solid Red Common to me.
Devious Cover-Up image 1.0 This is a hard counter, but four mana is a ton to have to have available at the right time, and the additional value this gives you just isn’t going to make up for that.
Shipwreck Sifters image 1.5 A two mana ½ who loots is fine, and this one can get bigger. I don’t think you’ll want to discard a spirit or a card with Disturb to it all that often, since the power of those cards is often in the fact that you get the two bodies, but you’ll discard those things sometimes and it’ll get bigger.
Pack 2 Pick 12: Crawl from the Cellar
Crawl from the Cellar image 2.0 This is an interesting take on the usual Sorcery that lets you return two creatures to your hand. The first time you cast this, the value is going to be pretty nice, provided you have a zombie, as it effectively replaces itself while making a creature bigger. The second time is less efficient, but in the you pay 5 mana for a 2-for-1 and two +1/+1 counters, which actually isn’t too bad. Now, you really would prefer to be putting these counters on zombies that don’t have decay to get full value out of them, but a significant chunk of the time that’s probably where the counter goes, and you may also just not have anywhere to put the counter in the first place.
Bat Whisperer image 2.5 If this always gave you a bat, it would be at least a 3.5. One nice thing about the bat too is that it might help you enable future cards that give you a bonus if your opponent has lost life on a particular turn. Sometimes it will be a 4-mana 4/2 though, and that’s pretty bad.
Thraben Exorcism image 0.5 Against some opponents this will feel really good -- namely, against UW -- but against other decks it just won’t have targets often enough to be worth it.
Pack 2 Pick 13: Necrosynthesis
Necrosynthesis image 1.5 If this was just an Aura with the “Whenever another creature dies” bit, it would be close to unplayable. It doesn’t give an immediate stats boost, and it doesn’t do anything to mitigate against card disadvantage. However, it comes with an additional effect that does help mitigate against that disadvantage, since it will give you some pretty serious card selection when it dies. It is nice too that it doesn’t look at counters alone, it looks at the creature’s power, and that means you’ll always be netting a card when the thing dies. Now, it does still have the very real downside of not buffing the creature at all at first, but the creature will grow over the course of the game. Still, this isn’t great. Sure it replaces itself, but the effect of the Aura isn’t that great in the first place. Even with Zombies dying left and right, this doesn’t seem worth it.
Startle image 2.0 I don’t normally play most Blue “combat tricks” that shrink the power of a creature, but this tacks on enough additional stuff that it seems like it will be pretty solid. The problem with this kind of card is it isn’t always possible for you to trade card-for-card with it, since your creature has to already be big enough to kill the other creature. However, this lets you draw a card and makes you a Decay Zombie, and that’s quite a bit for only two mana! The times where you are able to use this card to help you kill an opposing creature it will feel insane!
Pack 2 Pick 14: Otherworldly Gaze
Otherworldly Gaze image 0.5 Loading the graveyard is important in this format, its true, but a card that pretty much only does that, while giving you some card selection, isn’t something I’m interested in. You never get the card back. There are so many cards that load the graveyard while doing actual other things!
Pack 3 Pick 1: Olivia's Midnight Ambush
Willow Geist image 2.0 So at worst, this is a one mana 1/1 that gains you a life when it dies. You would probably never play that card in Limited. So, how easy will it be to get counters on this? Well...reasonably. But it isn’t like you’ll be exiling stuff early most of the time, so in the early game it is pretty unimpressive, and it takes quite a while to grow. Getting it to 2/2 on turn 4 or 5 is probably realistic, and you aren’t exactly killing it if that’s what you’re doing. It does grow more the longer the game goes on, which is nice, but yeah.
Thermo-Alchemist image 3.5 Looks who’s back! He was around for our last trip to Innistrad, and he was a COMMON, if you can believe that. He was an excellent spell build around, and did a ton of damage. The great thing about him too, is a two mana 0/3 that can tap to do 1 to your opponent is already kind of a passable card, so the fact that sometimes it will be doing 2 or 3 damage a turn is amazing. I don’t think one really has to give this a build around grade, because the floor is so reasonable.
Beloved Beggar image 3.5 This looks pretty good. You play it early as a reasonable blocker, until it inevitably dies, and then in the late game it can come out of your graveyard and be a very real win condition. Six mana for a 4/4 with Flying and Vigilance certainly isn’t insanely efficient, but it isn’t that far off from what I’d be willing to pay. The 0/4 side won’t ever allow you to actually trade with anything, but keeping your opponent at bay with has some value, especially since it becomes a win condition later. Also, keep in mind you can put this in your graveyard by other means and just skip the 0/4 part sometimes. It also can help you get Coven!
Storm Skreelix image 3.0 This is a pretty nice signpost for Blue Red, as it is simultaneously a cost reduction effect for spells and a win condition for those spell decks. It will often be a 4/4, especially in a set with flashback! It seems strong enough to me that it can pull you into its colors and is worth a first pick sometimes.
Lambholt Harrier image 2.0 This is a Bear that stays relevant all game long thanks to its ability. Now, that ability is pretty pricey, and you’ll normally only be able to make one thing unable to block, but it is an ability your opponent has to account for in the late game, as making one thing unable to block can really help someone find lethal out of nowhere.
Unruly Mob image 2.0 This is a reprint from our other two visits to Innistrad, and it wasn’t very good either time -- a 1.5 at best! It does grow as the game goes on, but it starts really small and grows pretty slowly. Only growing when your creatures die is tricky too. However, this will probably be better in this format than we’ve seen in the past, mostly because BW is a sacrifice deck this time around, and that combos pretty well with the Mob. The GW deck has lots of tokens too, so yeah, I think maybe this ends up being a solid playable this time around.
Plummet image 0.5 This format has lots of flyers as a result of Disturb, so Plummet might be a bit better here in the main deck than it is in most formats, but I think you’d still prefer to bring it in out of your sideboard. It is hard to guarantee it will have enough targets against some of the color pairs.
Stolen Vitality image 1.5 This is a decent trick that give you lethal out of nowhere on an attacking creature, and one that can also be used defensive quite effectly thanks to the First Strike. Now, using this kind of card defensively is definitely not optimal, but it is upside for sure. I don’t love that it only bumps toughness by 1, since if you’re the one attacking, there’s still a good chance your creature will die.
Larder Zombie image 1.5 So, a one mana ⅓ isn’t amazing, especially with Defender! But at least it can block and kill X/1s. Its ability asks for several creatures in play, and I guess the idea is that you’ll be making Zombie tokens so doing that might not be too hard! The ability itself isn’t bad -- as it can give you card selection and/or help you load up the graveyard. Still, I don’t see this being especially good overall.
Olivia's Midnight Ambush image 3.5 This is decent removal if it is day time or neither night nor day, and when it is night time, its just insane. If it was only the night time mode it would be an easy 4.5! As it is, I think it has a reasonable enough base line and a high enough ceiling that we can call it premium.
Duress image 0.5 As always, this is a sideboard card. It misses too often to be worth it in your main deck. Even when you can hit stuff with it, it might have Flashback!
Locked in the Cemetery image 3.0 So, if this always tapped the thing you attached it to, it would probably be premium removal. Two mana for that effect is pretty great! However, in the early game, making it do that is going to be pretty challenging. By the mid-game it becomes much more doable. Overall, I think having to have a loaded up graveyard to make this work does keep it from being premium, but it still a pretty good Blue common.
Tavern Ruffian image 3.0 In most formats, a 4-mana ⅖ isn’t something that Red is interested in, though those are fairly reasonable defensive stats. However, this is a werewolf, and that means that if its already night time you get a 4-mana 6/5, and it also means that it can become one at some point in the game. That’s a pretty nice deal. And yeah, it isn’t always super easy to control what time of day it is, but this still seems like a solid Red Common to me.
Secrets of the Key image 3.0 Paying one Blue to investigate isn’t great, even to me, and I love Clue tokens! However, the additional flashback on it is very real, and means that in the end, this card end sup being a 3-for-1, even if it does it kind of slowly. You end up paying 5 mana for three Clues, and that’s not too shabby. Between Flashback, Investigate, and Disturb, this format looks to be kind of slow and grindy, and if that’s true, Secrets of the Key will be something you want one of in virtually all of your Blue decks, as the card advantage is very real. I thinkt he first copy will be a 3.0, though they do have diminishing returns after that because it doesn’t really impact the board.
Pack 3 Pick 2: Bloodtithe Collector
Bloodtithe Collector image 3.5 If this always made your opponent discard, it would be an easy 4.0 Only doing it some of the time obviously downgrades it significantly, but it is still a decent flying body as a fail case.
Borrowed Time image 4.0 This is premium removal. It hits any nonland permanent, no questions asked. Like other Oblivion Ringish cards, your opponent can get the thing back if they destroy Respite, but that’s worth the risk -- you’re still trading 1-for-1 in that scenario anyway!
Rise of the Ants image 3.0 This is a nice little card. Don’t get me wrong, 6 mana for two 3/3s and 2 life isn’t incredible, but it is pasasble, and can enable a 2-for-1 on the right board. Casting this the first time will often do enough to help you stabilize between the two bodies and that life too. Flashing it Back will feel really good too, and if you manage to get to that point, this will have given you 4 bodies, all of which can conceivably trade for something. And yeah, it isn’t exactly efficient, but it is effectively card advantage! Still, it is expensive and clunky, so I can’t imagine taking it super early, but having one of these in most of your grindy Green decks seems pretty nice.
Devious Cover-Up image 1.0 This is a hard counter, but four mana is a ton to have to have available at the right time, and the additional value this gives you just isn’t going to make up for that.
Candlegrove Witch image 2.5 This is a Bear that will often, though not always, have flying in the late game. Flying helps it stay relevant throughout the game, which is nice. Seems like a solid two drop.
Unblinking Observer image 2.5 This will help you cast enough stuff that it seems like a solid Common. It fits nicely in the UR spells deck and the UW deck, which will be the most disturb heavy deck in the format. I’m giving it a 2.5.
Vampire Interloper image 2.5 This has nice aggressive stats, and looks like a decent enabler for all the Black-Red cards that care about your opponent losing life.
Harvesttide Infiltrator image 2.5 This has a decent fail case as a 3-mana 3/2 with Trample, and sometimes it will be bigger.
Locked in the Cemetery image 3.0 So, if this always tapped the thing you attached it to, it would probably be premium removal. Two mana for that effect is pretty great! However, in the early game, making it do that is going to be pretty challenging. By the mid-game it becomes much more doable. Overall, I think having to have a loaded up graveyard to make this work does keep it from being premium, but it still a pretty good Blue common.
Flare of Faith image 2.0 This seems like a decent trick if you’re a White aggro deck with lots of Humans in it. It gives a decent stats boost that will often allow your creature to win combat. Two mana for just +2/+2 is pretty mediocre for a trick, but the Human upside will make it worth running often enough
Bladebrand image 1.5 This is a reprint, and it is one that is pretty mediocre. Giving death touch + a cantrip is pretty nice in combat, but it is a very narrow card overall because it is only useful in combat. Sure, I guess you can cast it just to cycle it, but that’s pretty rough! There are some silly things you can do with it sometimes, like give death touch to something that is being triple blocked, but a lot of the time you just use this and trade a creature on the table for one in your library. And, while that’s fine, it is certainly not a great card, and not one that makes the cut more than half the time.
Mounted Dreadknight image 2.0 This has a decent baseline, and sometimes it will be especially big. Not a bad thing to have at the top of your curve.
Bounding Wolf image 2.0 Reach is extra good in this format because there are a ton of flyers as a result that everything that has disturb comes back as a Flyer. So if you’re in Green, you’re going to need a way to stop that. Bounding Wolf can do it, and it even ambush block thanks to flash!
Pack 3 Pick 3: Bladestitched Skaab
Curse of Shaken Faith image 0.5 This isn’t really here for Limited. The effect it has won’t come up enough for it to be worth it. All it does is damage too, and doing damage alone and not adding to the board in any way is very rarely worth it in Limited. This does have sideboard potential, to be used against someone going crazy with Flashback or Disturb, but that’s about it. Even then, its unlikely they have enough for this to punish them enough.
Bladestitched Skaab image 3.0 This is an efficient Zombie lord, and this set has lots of Zombies! This will be great in UB decks.
Faithful Mending image 3.0 Looting twice and gaining some life isn’t a bad deal for two mana, and being able to do it again from the graveyard is pretty nice. This will let you see a ton of cards in your deck, while simultaneously helping you put things in your graveyard. It does have the downside of, you know, not doing a whole lot immediately, but the life gain does help out a tiny bit on that front. I think the first copy looks appealing in most UW decks, but you don’t want to stock up on too many cards that don’t affect the board.
Timberland Guide image 3.0 This is a reprint, and even if it wasn’t, we see cards like this a lot, and I also like them a decent amount. They are nice as two drops, as they can be two mana 2/2s, and then in the later game you can put the counter somewhere more relevant. There isn’t a +1/+1 counter deck in this format, but the counter this guy brings with him can really help you set up Coven, since you add him to the board and put the counter somewhere else, and you’re already 2/3 of the way there!
Harvesttide Infiltrator image 2.5 This has a decent fail case as a 3-mana 3/2 with Trample, and sometimes it will be bigger.
Raze the Effigy image 1.5 This format doesn’t have a ton of artifacts, but having the option to destroy an artifact on a decent combat trick certainly makes it more flexible.
Clarion Cathars image 2.5 We see this basic card a lot, and its always solid. Two bodies for four mana is nice, and the reasonable stats distributed across them is pretty good.
Stuffed Bear image 1.0 This set doesn’t have much of an Artifact theme. If it did, the BEar would be a little more interesting. As it is, it is a creature that you have to pay mana for every turn to actually make into a creature. And, while that activation isn’t so bad the first time around, you eventually end up having to pay a ton of mana for this to actually be a card on the board that matters, and I don’t really think you want to be doing that.
Crawl from the Cellar image 2.0 This is an interesting take on the usual Sorcery that lets you return two creatures to your hand. The first time you cast this, the value is going to be pretty nice, provided you have a zombie, as it effectively replaces itself while making a creature bigger. The second time is less efficient, but in the you pay 5 mana for a 2-for-1 and two +1/+1 counters, which actually isn’t too bad. Now, you really would prefer to be putting these counters on zombies that don’t have decay to get full value out of them, but a significant chunk of the time that’s probably where the counter goes, and you may also just not have anywhere to put the counter in the first place.
Plummet image 0.5 This format has lots of flyers as a result of Disturb, so Plummet might be a bit better here in the main deck than it is in most formats, but I think you’d still prefer to bring it in out of your sideboard. It is hard to guarantee it will have enough targets against some of the color pairs.
Unblinking Observer image 2.5 This will help you cast enough stuff that it seems like a solid Common. It fits nicely in the UR spells deck and the UW deck, which will be the most disturb heavy deck in the format. I’m giving it a 2.5.
Candlelit Cavalry image 2.5 On a base level, this is a 5-mana 5/5, something that makes the cut in some Green decks anyway, and it will gain trample sometimes. Seems decent enough.
Pack 3 Pick 4: Silver Bolt
Turn the Earth image 0.5 This is mostly here to hate on graveyards. And, even in a format with lots of graveyard stuff going on, I don’t love it. It has one pretty narrow purpose that just isn’t worth using up a card for in a Limited deck. This is for the sideboard. It will be an F in your main deck, and maybe a C- against an opponent who has lots of graveyard shenanigans, but even then I’m not super interested in this.
Fangblade Brigand image 4.0 Just the Human side would be something you always play! It has passable base stats a very real activated ability that will make it a challenge to attack into or block And then, when it transforms, it becomes even more imposing, adding +1/+1 and an additional powerful activated ability.
Eccentric Farmer image 1.5 Lands will end up in your graveyard more often than normal in this format because of self-mill, and the Farmer brings some of that mill with him! You’ll get a land out of this reasonably often, and making sure you hit your next land drop and loading your graveyard has decent value.
Hedgewitch's Mask image 1.5 This is a decent, albeit unimpressive, piece of Equipment. One to play and two to equip is kind of alright, and the upside of being unblockable by bigger stuff doesn’t hurt. It can help you get Coven. Still, this format doesn’t seem to have a huge equipment theme, and that probably means this gets cut a lot.
Locked in the Cemetery image 3.0 So, if this always tapped the thing you attached it to, it would probably be premium removal. Two mana for that effect is pretty great! However, in the early game, making it do that is going to be pretty challenging. By the mid-game it becomes much more doable. Overall, I think having to have a loaded up graveyard to make this work does keep it from being premium, but it still a pretty good Blue common.
Lambholt Harrier image 2.0 This is a Bear that stays relevant all game long thanks to its ability. Now, that ability is pretty pricey, and you’ll normally only be able to make one thing unable to block, but it is an ability your opponent has to account for in the late game, as making one thing unable to block can really help someone find lethal out of nowhere.
Harvesttide Sentry image 2.5 This has decent base stats and if you can get coven going, it becomes a lot harder to easily block this thing.
Silver Bolt image 1.5 If you need removal really badly, you’ll play this in your main deck where it can be kind of passable. Especially because when you end up against werewolves, it will actually be a pretty good deal.
Search Party Captain image 3.5 A 4-mana 2/2 that draws you a card is like a 2.0, and decreasing that cost even by 1 is a huge upgrade. So, the fact that sometimes you can play this for two or one mana and then cast what you draw seems really good. This is one of White’s better Commons.
Clarion Cathars image 2.5 We see this basic card a lot, and its always solid. Two bodies for four mana is nice, and the reasonable stats distributed across them is pretty good.
Pestilent Wolf image 2.5 That’s a lot of mana to give a bear Deathtouch! Still, it starts out as a two mana 2/2, and has the ability to trade with anything later in the game. Wolf is also a somewhat useful creature type. I think the whole package is probably a 2.5
Pack 3 Pick 5: Geistwave
Hungry for More image 2.5 For a total investment of 5 mana, you get 6/2 worth of stats with a whole bunch of keyword abilities. Those creatures of course die at the end of your end step, but the life swing they will allow for will often make it a pretty reasonable deal. You also won’t always (or even usually) trade one of these vampires for a card, so in a way you’re sort of Lava Axing your opponent here, though obviously it is significantly better than that! There are some other useful synergies too -- the vampire creature type for one thing, and the fact that you can use the tokens for fodder in your second main phase. Still, even with all of that in mind, I don’t feel like this is a signpost Uncommon that really pulls you into its color pair. In fact, I don’t think it gets particularly close to getting there.
Chaplain of Alms image 3.5 The one mana 1/1 First Strike side of this would really only make the cut in the most aggressive of decks that are adept at boosting its stats, so you can get the best mileage possible out of first strike. But, of course, adding Disturb to the card makes it into something you’ll play in every White deck! I mean, honestly, if this was always just a 4 mana 2/1 with Flying and First Strike that gave Ward 1 to your board, you’d play that -- and this is far more flexible than that. You can first pick this.
Brood Weaver image 2.5 A 4-man 2/4 with Reach is often a fine playable -- something like a 1.5 or a 2.0, and making another Reach spider when it dies is solid enough.
Abandon the Post image 0.0 // 2.5 I’m not a huge fan of this type of card, mostly because it basically does nothing unless you win the game with it. That said, if you have six mana available to cast it both times in a single turn, it does stand a pretty good chance of stealing a win out of nowhere. A card like this is soo all-in on aggro though that I think we do need to give it a buildaround grade If you are an aggro deck, you’ll probably play one copy of this and feel alright about it. Otherwise you pretty much can’t play it.
Geistwave image 2.5 This is a neat design for a bounce spell.. Bouncing an opposing nonland permanent for two mana is usually a decent card. It doesn’t give you the value of a whole card unless you use it in response to a trick or something, but it gives you some reasonable tempo and has that blow out upside. Using this to bounce your own thing is actually pretty interesting, since you do net a card, and if what you’re bouncing gives you some value from bouncing it, that’s going to feel pretty good! Especially if you do it in response to removal or something like that. Its probably just a C, but the “bounce your own stuff” upside is very real.
Jack-o'-Lantern image 1.5 Well, if this set wasn’t screaming “Halloween!” at you already, it is now! This card looks kind of alright for Limited. Exiling a problem card in a graveyard and drawing a card for a total investment of two mana really isn’t that bad, and then it is fixing from your graveyard too, which seems fine. I definitely don’t think you always run this, but it seems like it will be your 23rd card sometimes, especially if you’re interested in the fixing.
Shady Traveler image 3.0 A 3-mana 2/3 with Menace is a card you’ll play sometimes – probably a 2.5, and it will come into play as or transform into Stalking Predator pretty regularly, in which case you’re getting an amazing deal!
Path to the Festival image 2.0 This is pretty clunky since it doesn't add to the board at all. It can do it again from the graveyard though, which can potentially really turbo your mana. It is also reasonable fixing, and if you're splashing a third color, that Scry will be nice.
Silver Bolt image 1.5 If you need removal really badly, you’ll play this in your main deck where it can be kind of passable. Especially because when you end up against werewolves, it will actually be a pretty good deal.
Stolen Vitality image 1.5 This is a decent trick that give you lethal out of nowhere on an attacking creature, and one that can also be used defensive quite effectly thanks to the First Strike. Now, using this kind of card defensively is definitely not optimal, but it is upside for sure. I don’t love that it only bumps toughness by 1, since if you’re the one attacking, there’s still a good chance your creature will die.
Pack 3 Pick 6: Morkrut Behemoth
Deathbonnet Sprout image 2.5 This starts out as a card that helps you mill yourself a bit, which is something you’re interested in in this format. I don’t think it is something that you would play a ton if that’s all it was, though. But, once it mills enough stuff, it can transform into a pretty real threat that becomes increasingly large. Now, making it transform is a bit tough, since it has to be three CREATURE cards, and you are going to have to mill quite a few cards to get there. Obviously creatures end in your graveyard naturally too, so it is definitely going to transform if it sticks around, but it will take awhile.
Flare of Faith image 2.0 This seems like a decent trick if you’re a White aggro deck with lots of Humans in it. It gives a decent stats boost that will often allow your creature to win combat. Two mana for just +2/+2 is pretty mediocre for a trick, but the Human upside will make it worth running often enough
Component Collector image 1.5 This has decent stats and an ability that will give you a bit of value, though it certainly isn’t exciting
Neonate's Rush image 2.5 When you manage to kill a creature with this, it is going to feel incredible. When you can’t, this is less true. However, it is an enabler for all the pseudo-bloodthirst in the format and it replaces itself, AND it will often only cost two mana, making the outcome a lot more palatable.
Startle image 2.0 I don’t normally play most Blue “combat tricks” that shrink the power of a creature, but this tacks on enough additional stuff that it seems like it will be pretty solid. The problem with this kind of card is it isn’t always possible for you to trade card-for-card with it, since your creature has to already be big enough to kill the other creature. However, this lets you draw a card and makes you a Decay Zombie, and that’s quite a bit for only two mana! The times where you are able to use this card to help you kill an opposing creature it will feel insane!
Geistwave image 2.5 This is a neat design for a bounce spell.. Bouncing an opposing nonland permanent for two mana is usually a decent card. It doesn’t give you the value of a whole card unless you use it in response to a trick or something, but it gives you some reasonable tempo and has that blow out upside. Using this to bounce your own thing is actually pretty interesting, since you do net a card, and if what you’re bouncing gives you some value from bouncing it, that’s going to feel pretty good! Especially if you do it in response to removal or something like that. Its probably just a C, but the “bounce your own stuff” upside is very real.
Voldaren Stinger image 2.0 Your opponent does have to respect this as an attacker if you have the mana up, so this gives you a good way to chip in for one damage to activate your Bloodthirst stuff.
Morkrut Behemoth image 2.5 The idea here is to sacrifice something to it that isn’t a big deal, like a Zombie token, and if you do that then yeah – a 7/6 with Menace on turn 5 is pretty imposing. You can also just straight up pay 7 for it, which isn’t great but its not a disaster either. This seems like some decent top curve for some Black decks in the format – especially UB and BW – but I think you’ll find you cut it a pretty significant chunk of the time for cards that are just better.
Celestus Sanctifier image 2.0 If you are changing between night and day a lot, this gives you some decent card selection, and even lets you load the graveyard a bit -- like with Flashback or Disturb cards. That said, it has mediocre stats, and the ability isn’t incredible, and it won’t always be easy to get going in the first place.
Pack 3 Pick 7: Ecstatic Awakener
Turn the Earth image 0.5 This is mostly here to hate on graveyards. And, even in a format with lots of graveyard stuff going on, I don’t love it. It has one pretty narrow purpose that just isn’t worth using up a card for in a Limited deck. This is for the sideboard. It will be an F in your main deck, and maybe a C- against an opponent who has lots of graveyard shenanigans, but even then I’m not super interested in this.
Flare of Faith image 2.0 This seems like a decent trick if you’re a White aggro deck with lots of Humans in it. It gives a decent stats boost that will often allow your creature to win combat. Two mana for just +2/+2 is pretty mediocre for a trick, but the Human upside will make it worth running often enough
Celestus Sanctifier image 2.0 If you are changing between night and day a lot, this gives you some decent card selection, and even lets you load the graveyard a bit -- like with Flashback or Disturb cards. That said, it has mediocre stats, and the ability isn’t incredible, and it won’t always be easy to get going in the first place.
Falkenrath Perforator image 2.5 In a set where this had no synergy at all, this would probably be a 1.5. The stats aren’t good, and the 1 damage just isn’t enough to make up for that. However, this set’s BR archetype has a lot of cards that give you extra effects if your opponent lost life, and this is one way you can make that happen. Plus, its a vampire, and while the tribal themes for vampires aren’t massive int his set, they are still there! I think all of that is enough to bump this up to a solid playable.
Component Collector image 1.5 This has decent stats and an ability that will give you a bit of value, though it certainly isn’t exciting
Sungold Barrage image 2.5 This is far from premium removal, as cards with 4 toughness aren’t incredibly common to see on the table. They will be a little more common in this set thanks to DFC creatures, who tend to be larger on one side. It can kill a lot of scary things for sure, but it is too situational to be anything more than solid.
Ecstatic Awakener image 2.5 One mana 1/1s are pretty bad, they just lose relevance quickly. The Awakener gets around that to some extent as a result of its ability to transform into Awoken Demon. Transforming it is a little bit steep at 3 mana and sacrificing something, but there is going to be some significant sacrifice fodder in both Black/White and Blue/Black, so it won’t hurt quite as much as it might look at first. Still, you aren’t really doing incredible when you transform this into a 4/4.
Stormrider Spirit image 1.5 This is a reprint from our last trip to Innistrad, where it was mediocre. You can flash it in to ambush block a small thing, and then it is a decent threat in the air, but it isn’t especially efficient.
Pack 3 Pick 8: Stormrider Spirit
Larder Zombie image 1.5 So, a one mana ⅓ isn’t amazing, especially with Defender! But at least it can block and kill X/1s. Its ability asks for several creatures in play, and I guess the idea is that you’ll be making Zombie tokens so doing that might not be too hard! The ability itself isn’t bad -- as it can give you card selection and/or help you load up the graveyard. Still, I don’t see this being especially good overall.
Stolen Vitality image 1.5 This is a decent trick that give you lethal out of nowhere on an attacking creature, and one that can also be used defensive quite effectly thanks to the First Strike. Now, using this kind of card defensively is definitely not optimal, but it is upside for sure. I don’t love that it only bumps toughness by 1, since if you’re the one attacking, there’s still a good chance your creature will die.
Pack's Betrayal image 1.0 Rummaging a few times a came with this seems fine, but not exactly game breaking. It does have decent stats to go along with that ability.
Stormrider Spirit image 1.5 This is a reprint from our last trip to Innistrad, where it was mediocre. You can flash it in to ambush block a small thing, and then it is a decent threat in the air, but it isn’t especially efficient.
Return to Nature image 0.5 Its nice that this does three different things, making it a more reasonable main deck card, but I’m still pretty skeptical about main decking it on a regular basis. This format has artifacts and enchantments, but not a ton of them, and while exiling something from a graveyard is nice, yo’ure often only getting half a card of value when you do it, since your opponent already cast their spell with flashback or their creature with disturb. I think this should probably still start in your sideboard.
Shady Traveler image 3.0 A 3-mana 2/3 with Menace is a card you’ll play sometimes – probably a 2.5, and it will come into play as or transform into Stalking Predator pretty regularly, in which case you’re getting an amazing deal!
Path to the Festival image 2.0 This is pretty clunky since it doesn't add to the board at all. It can do it again from the graveyard though, which can potentially really turbo your mana. It is also reasonable fixing, and if you're splashing a third color, that Scry will be nice.
Pack 3 Pick 9: Larder Zombie
Unruly Mob image 2.0 This is a reprint from our other two visits to Innistrad, and it wasn’t very good either time -- a 1.5 at best! It does grow as the game goes on, but it starts really small and grows pretty slowly. Only growing when your creatures die is tricky too. However, this will probably be better in this format than we’ve seen in the past, mostly because BW is a sacrifice deck this time around, and that combos pretty well with the Mob. The GW deck has lots of tokens too, so yeah, I think maybe this ends up being a solid playable this time around.
Stolen Vitality image 1.5 This is a decent trick that give you lethal out of nowhere on an attacking creature, and one that can also be used defensive quite effectly thanks to the First Strike. Now, using this kind of card defensively is definitely not optimal, but it is upside for sure. I don’t love that it only bumps toughness by 1, since if you’re the one attacking, there’s still a good chance your creature will die.
Larder Zombie image 1.5 So, a one mana ⅓ isn’t amazing, especially with Defender! But at least it can block and kill X/1s. Its ability asks for several creatures in play, and I guess the idea is that you’ll be making Zombie tokens so doing that might not be too hard! The ability itself isn’t bad -- as it can give you card selection and/or help you load up the graveyard. Still, I don’t see this being especially good overall.
Duress image 0.5 As always, this is a sideboard card. It misses too often to be worth it in your main deck. Even when you can hit stuff with it, it might have Flashback!
Tavern Ruffian image 3.0 In most formats, a 4-mana ⅖ isn’t something that Red is interested in, though those are fairly reasonable defensive stats. However, this is a werewolf, and that means that if its already night time you get a 4-mana 6/5, and it also means that it can become one at some point in the game. That’s a pretty nice deal. And yeah, it isn’t always super easy to control what time of day it is, but this still seems like a solid Red Common to me.
Secrets of the Key image 3.0 Paying one Blue to investigate isn’t great, even to me, and I love Clue tokens! However, the additional flashback on it is very real, and means that in the end, this card end sup being a 3-for-1, even if it does it kind of slowly. You end up paying 5 mana for three Clues, and that’s not too shabby. Between Flashback, Investigate, and Disturb, this format looks to be kind of slow and grindy, and if that’s true, Secrets of the Key will be something you want one of in virtually all of your Blue decks, as the card advantage is very real. I thinkt he first copy will be a 3.0, though they do have diminishing returns after that because it doesn’t really impact the board.
Pack 3 Pick 10: Bladebrand
Devious Cover-Up image 1.0 This is a hard counter, but four mana is a ton to have to have available at the right time, and the additional value this gives you just isn’t going to make up for that.
Flare of Faith image 2.0 This seems like a decent trick if you’re a White aggro deck with lots of Humans in it. It gives a decent stats boost that will often allow your creature to win combat. Two mana for just +2/+2 is pretty mediocre for a trick, but the Human upside will make it worth running often enough
Bladebrand image 1.5 This is a reprint, and it is one that is pretty mediocre. Giving death touch + a cantrip is pretty nice in combat, but it is a very narrow card overall because it is only useful in combat. Sure, I guess you can cast it just to cycle it, but that’s pretty rough! There are some silly things you can do with it sometimes, like give death touch to something that is being triple blocked, but a lot of the time you just use this and trade a creature on the table for one in your library. And, while that’s fine, it is certainly not a great card, and not one that makes the cut more than half the time.
Mounted Dreadknight image 2.0 This has a decent baseline, and sometimes it will be especially big. Not a bad thing to have at the top of your curve.
Bounding Wolf image 2.0 Reach is extra good in this format because there are a ton of flyers as a result that everything that has disturb comes back as a Flyer. So if you’re in Green, you’re going to need a way to stop that. Bounding Wolf can do it, and it even ambush block thanks to flash!
Pack 3 Pick 11: Raze the Effigy
Timberland Guide image 3.0 This is a reprint, and even if it wasn’t, we see cards like this a lot, and I also like them a decent amount. They are nice as two drops, as they can be two mana 2/2s, and then in the later game you can put the counter somewhere more relevant. There isn’t a +1/+1 counter deck in this format, but the counter this guy brings with him can really help you set up Coven, since you add him to the board and put the counter somewhere else, and you’re already 2/3 of the way there!
Raze the Effigy image 1.5 This format doesn’t have a ton of artifacts, but having the option to destroy an artifact on a decent combat trick certainly makes it more flexible.
Stuffed Bear image 1.0 This set doesn’t have much of an Artifact theme. If it did, the BEar would be a little more interesting. As it is, it is a creature that you have to pay mana for every turn to actually make into a creature. And, while that activation isn’t so bad the first time around, you eventually end up having to pay a ton of mana for this to actually be a card on the board that matters, and I don’t really think you want to be doing that.
Plummet image 0.5 This format has lots of flyers as a result of Disturb, so Plummet might be a bit better here in the main deck than it is in most formats, but I think you’d still prefer to bring it in out of your sideboard. It is hard to guarantee it will have enough targets against some of the color pairs.
Pack 3 Pick 12: Clarion Cathars
Hedgewitch's Mask image 1.5 This is a decent, albeit unimpressive, piece of Equipment. One to play and two to equip is kind of alright, and the upside of being unblockable by bigger stuff doesn’t hurt. It can help you get Coven. Still, this format doesn’t seem to have a huge equipment theme, and that probably means this gets cut a lot.
Clarion Cathars image 2.5 We see this basic card a lot, and its always solid. Two bodies for four mana is nice, and the reasonable stats distributed across them is pretty good.
Pestilent Wolf image 2.5 That’s a lot of mana to give a bear Deathtouch! Still, it starts out as a two mana 2/2, and has the ability to trade with anything later in the game. Wolf is also a somewhat useful creature type. I think the whole package is probably a 2.5
Pack 3 Pick 13: Hungry for More
Hungry for More image 2.5 For a total investment of 5 mana, you get 6/2 worth of stats with a whole bunch of keyword abilities. Those creatures of course die at the end of your end step, but the life swing they will allow for will often make it a pretty reasonable deal. You also won’t always (or even usually) trade one of these vampires for a card, so in a way you’re sort of Lava Axing your opponent here, though obviously it is significantly better than that! There are some other useful synergies too -- the vampire creature type for one thing, and the fact that you can use the tokens for fodder in your second main phase. Still, even with all of that in mind, I don’t feel like this is a signpost Uncommon that really pulls you into its color pair. In fact, I don’t think it gets particularly close to getting there.
Stolen Vitality image 1.5 This is a decent trick that give you lethal out of nowhere on an attacking creature, and one that can also be used defensive quite effectly thanks to the First Strike. Now, using this kind of card defensively is definitely not optimal, but it is upside for sure. I don’t love that it only bumps toughness by 1, since if you’re the one attacking, there’s still a good chance your creature will die.
Pack 3 Pick 14: Component Collector
Component Collector image 1.5 This has decent stats and an ability that will give you a bit of value, though it certainly isn’t exciting
Draft Pick Overview