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Quick Draft KHM 16.februar 2021

16 February 02:04 - JimLahey100Proof 7 Wins - 1 Losses
Maindeck
Creature (15)
1 Battlefield Raptor image
1 Harald, King of Skemfar image
1 Beskir Shieldmate image
1 Maja, Bretagard Protector image
2 Ravenous Lindwurm image
1 Grizzled Outrider image
3 Guardian Gladewalker image
1 Bloodline Pretender image
1 Icehide Troll image
1 Masked Vandal image
1 Boreal Outrider image
1 Elderleaf Mentor image
Instant, Sorcery, Enchantment, Artifact (8)
1 Snakeskin Veil image
1 Cosmos Elixir image
1 Valor of the Worthy image
1 Rune of Might image
1 Bound in Gold image
1 Rune of Sustenance image
1 Mammoth Growth image
1 Glittering Frost image
Land (17)
1 Great Hall of Starnheim image
4 Plains image
2 Swamp image
8 Forest image
1 Snowfield Sinkhole image
1 Bretagard Stronghold image
Sideboard
1 Grizzled Outrider image
1 Master Skald image
2 Gods' Hall Guardian image
2 Vault Robber image
1 Immersturm Raider image
1 Hailstorm Valkyrie image
1 Giant Ox image
1 Duskwielder image
2 Revitalize image
4 Skull Raid image
1 Funeral Longboat image
1 Village Rites image
1 Demonic Gifts image

Pack 1 Pick 1: Cosmos Elixir
Cosmos Elixir image 4.5 This card is really well-positioned in this format. The two best decks are aggro and Snow, and it is good against both of them. Against aggro, the life gain can be too much for them to overcome, and against snow decks who don’t pressure you at all, you’re going to start drawing with it really quickly. Both of those scenarios usually lead to you winning.
Forging the Tyrite Sword image 0.5 You mostly don’t want to be playing this. It has little impact on the board early, and that’s not something RW is interested in – and neither is Treasure for the most part. The one situation where you do consider playing this is if you have Halvar in your deck, as he is one of the best cards in the format, and giving up some tempo to search him up in a couple turns is worth it.
Binding the Old Gods image 4.0 I would already sign up for a Sorcery that was 4 mana to destroy a nonland permanent -- more than sign up, I would take it with a first pick a decent chunk of the time, even if it was multi-colored! But because this is a Saga, it does some other stuff too -- and while most of the power is in Chapter 1, Chapter 2 and 3 aren’t nothing -- getting an extra land can help you ramp, and giving your whole board death touch can make your attacks a little more of a problem for your opponent.
Elven Bow image 3.0 Generally, I think it is a bad plan to just straight up cast this as Equipment – when you do that, the bonus you get from them is not very good – 3 to equip is rough for +1/+2 and Reach. So normally, you want to cast this and make the elf token – which in effect, turns this into a 3-mana 2/3 with Reach that, if it dies, leaves equipment behind. And in a lot of ways, it is better than that – because you can move the Equipment before then if there’s a reason too, and even if your creature gets shut down by an Aura or bounced, you still have the Bow.
Grizzled Outrider image 1.5 5-mana for a 5/5 is kind of alright. And that’s all there is to say about that.
Jarl of the Forsaken image 2.0 This type of removal effect is often underwhelming. Sure, when you do manage to trigger the effect it feels pretty good, but most of the time you had to give up a card to make that effect work in the first place, so it isn’t quite as good of a deal as it might seem at first. Now, adding Foretell here does matter -- because it means it will be easier to find a window where you can actually cast and use this, as spending 2 mana on the turn you actually cast the card is significantly better.
Axgard Cavalry image 2.5 This is a nice two drop. Having a bear that can give haste to stuff is really nice. If the board is such that it can’t attack itself, there’s a good chance you can play a creature that has a nice attack on the board if you can make it attack right away, and that’s what the Cavalry does. These creatures who can give haste to other creatures always seem to overperform, and I think this looks like a nice Common for Red.
Axgard Braggart image 2.0 So, this card will never really be efficient. I mean, it starts as a 4-mana 3/3, and even if you boast with it, you’ll have spent 6 mana on a 4/4. However, efficiency isn’t everything. The fact is that this creature can grow throughout the game, and just the threat of using the ability will be enough for people not to block it when it attacks. Boast creatures a lot of the time will just end up feeling like situational mana sinks, and that’s not necessarily bad. The pseudo-vigilance it gains when it Boasts isn’t bad either.
Sculptor of Winter image 3.0 A two-mana 2/2 is passable. Additionally, the fact it can untap snow lands is pretty nice too, since it will allow you to ramp, and produce two snow mana off of one snow land, which matters for many cards in this set.
Mammoth Growth image 1.5 This is a decent trick. Paying the three mana up front isn’t the greatest deal, but the stats boost it gives is enough that it can help almost any creature win combat. The downside is the massive tempo hit you can take if your opponent can do something in response, so like with all tricks, be as careful as you can with this. Adding foretell to the mix does help reduce the downside a little bit -- since you only pay one Green mana the turn you actually use it, and you probably decided to Foretell it on a turn when you couldn’t do anything with your mana anyway, so if you do get blown out the tempo won’t be so bad.
Elderfang Disciple image 1.5 A two mana 1/1 that makes an opponent discard a card is nice, and because it does that, you’re at least starting out with a 1-for-1 in most cases. Then, if it can trade for an X/1, you’re getting some serious 2-for-1 value out of this card. Now, it won’t always line up that way, and in the late game the discard thing might not matter too much, and those are serious limitations, but this seems decent enough.
Smashing Success image 0.0 Land destruction spells are almost never worth it in Limited. This is because it often has a negligible effect on the game -- if you get it late it basically does nothing, if you get it early it might do something, but even then there is about a 50% chance that your opponent still won’t be bothered by it. And yeah, this one is an instant, can hit artifacts, and makes a treasure when it destroys artifacts, but you still shouldn’t play it.
Brinebarrow Intruder image 1.0 This doesn’t seem especially good. It is easy to imagine situations where you flash it in and killed a 3/1 or something, but it is mostly too situational to be worth playing. That decrease to power just doesn’t do enough often enough. You mostly won’t play this.
Fearless Pup image 2.0 A one mana 1/1 with first strike is not that impressive, those are just stats that quickly become irrelevant, and in some games it will feel like you should have just played a four drop that is more impactful. Adding Boast to the mix obviously matters, though, and often just the threat of activation will mean that your opponent just takes hits from this thing. This is also another great creature to enhance with equipment, counters, and Auras.
Snow-Covered Island image 2.5 Blue has some nice snow payoffs, and that means you should be valuing this Snow land over most average cards.
Pack 1 Pick 2: Bretagard Stronghold
Colossal Plow image 1.0 I know people like Ox and Plow shenanigans, but mostly you shouldn’t do that if you want to win. Crew 6 is a TON, and gaining some mana and life back when it attacks just isn’t going to be enough for me to overcome it. It will die on its first attack most of the time too.
Bretagard Stronghold image 3.5 Making two creatures bigger and giving them vigilance and lifelink is pretty awesome, especially because one of your lands id doing the job. Those two keywords combined can really help you win a race, since you gain life and allow your creatures to hang back as blockers.
Divine Gambit image 2.0 Two mana to exile any of those three types of cards is great -- but letting your opponent put their best permanent into play...not so much. Now, if yo’ure using this to deal with a super high power card, chances are good you’re downgrading their board state, but it won’t always feel like removal since they’ll get something out of the deal. You basically have to look at this as a really expensive removal spell – because you only want to play it late when your opponent can’t really take advantage of the upside. It isn’t entirely unplayable, but it is nowhere near premium removal either! It is mostly just filler.
Story Seeker image 2.0 Two mana 2/2s with Lifelink are always solid. Just being able to trade for another two drop and gaining you 2 life is a decent fail case, and if they are allowed to stick around they will end up gaining you significant life. Auras and Equipment are also your friend with a creature like this.
Mammoth Growth image 1.5 This is a decent trick. Paying the three mana up front isn’t the greatest deal, but the stats boost it gives is enough that it can help almost any creature win combat. The downside is the massive tempo hit you can take if your opponent can do something in response, so like with all tricks, be as careful as you can with this. Adding foretell to the mix does help reduce the downside a little bit -- since you only pay one Green mana the turn you actually use it, and you probably decided to Foretell it on a turn when you couldn’t do anything with your mana anyway, so if you do get blown out the tempo won’t be so bad.
Raise the Draugr image 2.0 Black always seems to get a common spell that lets you return creatures from your graveyard to your hand, and here is the Kaldheim version of that! Cards in the past with similar effects are basically always something you want to run a single copy of, because they give your deck some late game punch, and allow you to get extra uses out of the best creatures in your deck, which is pretty awesome. You don’t usually want more of this type of card because they are so useless early, but that first copy is something I always want. I think this one is particularly nice, because it is an instant -- we normally see this effect at Sorcery speed. And sure, it asks for a little bit of help to get going -- you really only want to play this if you are consistently getting the two creatures back, just getting one is not a great deal. But, with that in mind, I think your typical black deck in the format will have enough creatures that share creature types that this will get two things back by the mid to late game most of the time.
Valor of the Worthy image 2.0 I often complain about Auras that don’t give a good boost for the mana cost, as well as auras that don’t give you value to help a 2-for-1 not feel so bad. This does kind of okay on both of those fronts, but not super well on either. The efficiency here is pretty nice when you look at the whole package - one mana for a +1/+1 Aura and a 1/1 flyer if things go wrong, but I’m still not sure I like the risk of putting this on something. +1/+1 can have an impact, but it isn’t ultra likely to be game changing, and while you only spend a single White mana, you still have some risk here, as the 1/1 you get is probably worse than whatever you put it on.
Roots of Wisdom image 1.0 So, this card helps you mill yourself, and then gets an elf or land back from the graveyard most of the time – but not always, especially early. I do like that you get to draw a card if you can’t get a land or elf, which means that you don’t have to have a huge number of elves for it to be super okay. I do kind of wish that it would let you make the choice -- like, if you have an elf and/or land in your graveyard, you could still choose to draw, but it doesn’t work that way -- you only draw if there is nothing to get back. But yeah, like Anticipate, and Tormenting Voice and other cards like this, I imagine you’ll cut this more than you’ll play it. Frankly, it just doesn’t do a whole lot. It doesn’t help that the Elf deck isn’t very impressive.
Battlefield Raptor image 1.5 // 3.5 This is a key card for aggressive decks. It wears the cheap Equipment and Auras it he format well, and suiting it up early can often win games. If you’re an aggro deck, you’re never cutting this, and it will be one of the best things you can do on turn one. Obviously, it isn’t very good anywhere else, so keep that in mind.
Karfell Harbinger image 1.5 So, we see two mana 1/3s who can tap for spells relatively often, and this is a more flexible version of those, since it can also use it to foretell a card. It won’t always make a difference, but it will often enough that you’ll probably play the first copy of this in decks that are interested in spells and/or foretell, which will be lots of Blue decks.
Shackles of Treachery image 0.5 Even in the most aggressive of decks, this card tends to be too situational to be worthwhile, and there isn’t enough of a sacrifice theme in this set to really abuse it.
Warhorn Blast image 1.0 // 3.0 So, mass pump spells always have some decks they will be good in -- obviously, the ones that are going wide -- but they are pretty bad in less aggressive decks. This one does add Foretell to the mix -- this is one of the foretell cards where the total investment is the same whether you Foretell it or not, so if you have the extra mana it will definitely be worth doing, since only paying three for this the turn you play it is no small thing. Still, this kind of card is always kind of a build around. If you’re an aggro deck that is good at going wide, you’re going to want one copy of this pretty often. Even in those decks it is situational, but the situation is much more likely to arise in those decks.
Infernal Pet image 2.0 You probably need to trigger this at least once to make it worth it, and since it starts out as an inefficient 3-mana 2/2, you may even want to trigger it twice before you feel okay about stuff. While that is certainly doable, I don’t really think this is going to be one of the key double spell payoffs that you need for the deck.
Snow-Covered Plains image 2.0 This is the least valuable snow land because White doesn’t care much about Snow.
Pack 1 Pick 3: Maja, Bretagard Protector
Littjara Mirrorlake image 3.5 Making a copy of your best creature and making it a little bit better with a +1/+1 counter in the late game is no joke. This is a land that will add considerably to the board state in the late game, and that really shouldn’t be overlooked.
Maja, Bretagard Protector image 4.0 Anthem effects are a powerful thing, especially when they come attached to a creature. And sure, the creature itself doesn’t have the most impressive of stats, but it will typically be adding a ton of power and toughness to the board -- especially because it comes with landfall that makes a 1/1 token! The ideal thing to do with it will often be to play it and then play a land so you get at least some value if Maja dies, but given that Maja will usually reshape the board anyway, it will be pretty challenging not to get some value out of the card.
Dual Strike image 0.5 Copying a cheap spell with this will be easier than it is with most Fork effects because of Foretell – you can set this aside in the early game and then wait for the opportune moment to copy a spell, and you only need one Red left over. Now, this won’t be giving you super insane value or anything, but copying something like a removal spell or card draw spell will be pretty nice. Still, you need things to line up right and this often ends up being a dead card, so I don’t think you normally want to play it.
Dogged Pursuit image 1.0 Draining one life gives you inevitability, and because it is also gaining you life, it helps you to survive longer -- which in turn helps you drain more life. If you are a control deck, this seems like a decent win condition to me. Now, tapping out to play this on turn four will not always be smart, because you need to be building your board in the early game to not die, and that is a pretty significant downside. You’ll be cutting this a lot, it really takes the right deck for it to be worth it.
Mistwalker image 3.5 This card will overperform for you. 3-mana 1/4s are usually already playable, but the Changeling status and the ability to pump power makes it so that Mistwalker can do a whole lot of stuff for a three drop. It counts for your Giant payoffs, blocks effectively, and can even attack pretty hard.
Raiders' Karve image 1.5 Crew 3 is kind of a lot for a 4/4 vehicle, but the fact that it will effectively ramp and draw you a card like 40% of the time does help make that look a little less ugly. If you can get the land off the top with this even once, you’re going to feel alright. That said, it isn’t exactly efficient, and I think you probably cut this a little more than you play it.
Master Skald image 2.0 5-mana for a 4/4 that returns an artifact or enchantment is not a bad deal. And sure, you also need a creature in your graveyard to make it happen, but by turn 5 that won’t normally be an issue. There are lots of good Artifacts and Enchantments in this set, but the Skald is at his best with Sagas, since they are designed to eventually go to your graveyard in the first place. If you have at least one Saga, playing a Master Skald is usually a pretty good idea.
Gods' Hall Guardian image 2.0 This is a Foretell card that doesn’t end up costing you extra mana in the end.. You still pay a total of six mana, but having the flexibility to pay that mana in installments -- two on one turn, 4 on another -- is nice. Plus, like most foretell cards, it lets you play something ahead of curve -- getting this down on turn 4 is pretty legit. Now, 6-mana for a 3/6 with Vigilance is far from impressive – but it is already borderline playable. It is a good defensive body that can also pressure the opponent a little bit.
Koma's Faithful image 2.0 This seems solid. A 3-mana 3/1 with lifelink isn’t a terrible rate -- trading for an X/3 and gaining 3 life in the process isn’t bad, and it comes with some additional upside. Now, the graveyard isn’t a huge theme in this set, but there is some synergy to be had there.
Elderleaf Mentor image 2.5 This is fine. . Creatures who make two bodies are always nice -- and in the end here you get a solid deal -- 4 -mana for 4/3 worth of stats spread across two bodies. Unfortunately, the Elf deck in this format is hard to make work, and that holds it back a little bit.
Starnheim Courser image 2.5 This has the always-okay Wind Drake stats and reasonable upside. Good Equipment and Auras are plentiful in the set, so that upside does come up!
Story Seeker image 2.0 Two mana 2/2s with Lifelink are always solid. Just being able to trade for another two drop and gaining you 2 life is a decent fail case, and if they are allowed to stick around they will end up gaining you significant life. Auras and Equipment are also your friend with a creature like this.
Snow-Covered Swamp image 2.5 Black has some nice snow payoffs, so you should value this over most average cards.
Pack 1 Pick 4: Ravenous Lindwurm
Frost Augur image 1.0 // 3.5 Drawing more cards than your opponent is a good way to win in Limited, and this little one drop can definitely enable that. You do need to have a decent chunk of Snow permanents to make it do its thing consistently, but I think 5-7 is probably enough that you run this -- even drawing once with it is great. It will certainly be possible in this set to end up with 10+ snow cards though, and when you do, that’s when you’ll be in business. It is pretty bad in a deck without that critical mass though, so keep that in mind.
Invasion of the Giants image 2.5 This Saga is really cheap, and I generally think it will give you more than two mana’s worth of value. Scry 2 helps you set up both Chapter II and III, since both of them pay you off for having a Giant in your hand. Sometimes this will just amount to Scry 2 and draw a card, but even that isn’t too bad for the investment.
Kardur, Doomscourge image 4.0 Kardur is strong, so it is kind of unfortunate that BR collectively isn’t really. You’ll mostly play him off a splash in other decks. Forcing all of your opponent’s creatures to attack you can make a big impact, not only because you can set up blocks to kill their creatures -- which, with Kardur in play, also means you’ll drain them 1 life -- but also because it opens your opponent up for a crack back that might just be lethal. In other words, Your opponent will have to attack in what is likely a less-than-optimal situation, while you’ll be able to attack in a pretty good one. Now, if your opponent’s board is significantly better than yours, things might not go so well, but if that’s true, well -- they were probably going to attack you with everything anyway! Note, by the way, that it doesn’t matter who controls an attacking creature for the drain life trigger, so it matters when you attack and when your opponent attacks.
Littjara Kinseekers image 1.5 A 4-mana 2/4 isn’t very good. But, if you can trigger its ETB ability, you’re going to be pretty happy -- as a 4-mana ⅗ that scries one is a pretty good deal. Now, because it has Changeling, you will just need two other creatures with matching creature types to trigger it, and while that isn’t always going to be what your board looks like, I imagine that in the late game it won’t be that hard to trigger. The ideal thing to do would be to curve out with creatures with the same types, but that won’t always be doable. Still, this being a reasonable 4-mana 2/4 changeling in the early game, and a much more impressive card in the later part of the game makes me think this is a pretty solid common for Blue.
Draugr Thought-Thief image 1.5 If you’re going to be a 3-mana 3/2, you probably need to have something going on that makes those inefficient stats worth it -- and I don’t really see that here. You get some very minor card selection, and an effect that might help you put something in your graveyard. Or, alternatively, something that lets you control your opponent’s next draw a little bit, but neither of those things is that great. It is kind of equivalent to Scry 1, but in most ways, it isn’t as good as Scry 1. You will certainly play this sometimes, but you’ll also cut it a fair bit.
Ravenous Lindwurm image 2.5 This is this format’s premier Common finisher. The efficient stats and life gain it grants you can turn around a lot of games, and if you’re in a mid-range or slow Green deck, you’ll be pretty happy with the Lindwurm.
Dwarven Reinforcements image 2.0 Normally when you pay 4 mana for a couple of tokens, you expect a couple of 2/2s -- and that isn’t what you get here. However, Foretell does mean you can pay for this in two separate installments, which does help overcome that downside.
Skull Raid image 2.0 Mind Rot effects are often not great in Limited. In the early game, you can get a 2-for-1 with them -- but it comes at the great sacrifice of not adding to the board at all on turn 3. Then, in the late game, it tends to get worse as the game goes on, and will be a terrible draw way too often. This card gets around those problems by becoming a draw spell if your opponent odeon’t have two cards to discard, so that means that this Mind Rot has all the upside of most of them -- it can get you a 2-for-1 -- but it can still do it if your opponent has one or no cards in the hand. Now, it isn’t exactly an efficient draw spell, but that’s ok with me overall. Foretell, of course, also makes it easier to cast because you get to pay in installments.
Axgard Braggart image 2.0 So, this card will never really be efficient. I mean, it starts as a 4-mana 3/3, and even if you boast with it, you’ll have spent 6 mana on a 4/4. However, efficiency isn’t everything. The fact is that this creature can grow throughout the game, and just the threat of using the ability will be enough for people not to block it when it attacks. Boast creatures a lot of the time will just end up feeling like situational mana sinks, and that’s not necessarily bad. The pseudo-vigilance it gains when it Boasts isn’t bad either.
Fearless Pup image 2.0 A one mana 1/1 with first strike is not that impressive, those are just stats that quickly become irrelevant, and in some games it will feel like you should have just played a four drop that is more impactful. Adding Boast to the mix obviously matters, though, and often just the threat of activation will mean that your opponent just takes hits from this thing. This is also another great creature to enhance with equipment, counters, and Auras.
Codespell Cleric image 1.0 // 2.5 So, since this is one mana, casting it as your second spell in a turn won’t be super challenging, especially in a format with Foretell. I mean, in the late game it will be a little harder, like if you’re in top deck mode, but in the early and mid-game it will just happen. For this to be worth it, it does need to be making that +1/+1 counter a significant chunk of the time, and it can do that in aggro decks. Like Battlefield Raptor, it is much better in aggressive decks than it is elsewhere.
Snow-Covered Island image 2.5 Blue has some nice snow payoffs, and that means you should be valuing this Snow land over most average cards.
Pack 1 Pick 5: Ravenous Lindwurm
Littjara Mirrorlake image 3.5 Making a copy of your best creature and making it a little bit better with a +1/+1 counter in the late game is no joke. This is a land that will add considerably to the board state in the late game, and that really shouldn’t be overlooked.
Return Upon the Tide image 1.5 So, most of the time, if you’re reanimating an Elf with this, you’re probably not getting the largest creature -- probably a 3/3 at the most, so it is nice that if you do go for an Elf you get those tokens, which will make the 5-mana investment a little bit less of a burden. Then, if you reanimate something big, you won’t get the tokens, but you’re probably still getting your 5 mana’s worth. So, basically, if you’re in an elf deck at least, Return Upon the Tide helps you get around the downside of 5-mana reanimation spells, by giving you a wider variety of options that will feel like you are doing an okay job with the card. It also has Foretell, which means that you can pay for it in installments, though with this one you end up paying one additional total mana if you go that route -- but that will sometimes be worth doing.
Draugr Thought-Thief image 1.5 If you’re going to be a 3-mana 3/2, you probably need to have something going on that makes those inefficient stats worth it -- and I don’t really see that here. You get some very minor card selection, and an effect that might help you put something in your graveyard. Or, alternatively, something that lets you control your opponent’s next draw a little bit, but neither of those things is that great. It is kind of equivalent to Scry 1, but in most ways, it isn’t as good as Scry 1. You will certainly play this sometimes, but you’ll also cut it a fair bit.
Ravenous Lindwurm image 2.5 This is this format’s premier Common finisher. The efficient stats and life gain it grants you can turn around a lot of games, and if you’re in a mid-range or slow Green deck, you’ll be pretty happy with the Lindwurm.
Depart the Realm image 2.0 Two mana to bounce nonland permanents at Instant speed is usually fine. Bounce spells won’t always straight up trade for a card, but the tempo they give you can be worth it – and, sometimes you can get one of your opponent’s cards with this, if you bounce something that they are using a trick on or putting an Aura on. This has Foretell too, but I still don’t think it is much more than “fine”.
Frostpeak Yeti image 1.5 So, this is a Hill Giant that can become unblockable if you have some Snow mana. That certainly isn’t a good card, but if you are in a controlling Snow deck and you need a win condition well...you probably hope this isn’t it, but it can do the job if you need it to.
Revitalize image 0.5 This is an underwhelming reprint. A cantrip that gains you life isn’t bad, it is just one of those cards that will be the last card cut from your deck most of the time. Especially because this set doesn’t seem to have a strong life gain theme.
Tormentor's Helm image 2.5 Like Run Amok, this is a great card for aggressive decks, as it gives an efficient stats boost and can even help you close out a game because of the inevitable damage every time you attack, but it isn’t really very good anywhere else.
Cinderheart Giant image 1.5 So, this is a big ol’ giant with Trample, something that normally wouldn’t be so good -- but its death trigger is pretty interesting. It basically means it will kill something at random when it dies -- not much can stand up to 7 damage -- and that’s pretty nice. It is random unfortunately, so you may kill an Elf token instead of a real card, but by having a death trigger, it does help mitigate against some of the danger of running a 7-drop in your deck, because now if it gets removed, at least it will impact the board one way or another. Now, I still don’t really think you’ll play thi sin most decks, even Giant decks, but it seems like a reasonable top curve if you’re in need of that.
Hagi Mob image 1.5 This seems alright. A 5-mana 5/4 isn’t great, but it isn’t abysmal either -- and its Boast ability is fine. Doing 1 damage to a creature is the ideal scenario, but if you can use it to make blocking harder for your opponent, or to ping your opponent because they are close to dead, that works too. It isn’t super efficient at any of the stuff it does, and it isn’t very exciting, but it seems like an alright top curve card for Red decks.
Snow-Covered Plains image 2.0 This is the least valuable snow land because White doesn’t care much about Snow.
Pack 1 Pick 6: Giant Ox
Dual Strike image 0.5 Copying a cheap spell with this will be easier than it is with most Fork effects because of Foretell – you can set this aside in the early game and then wait for the opportune moment to copy a spell, and you only need one Red left over. Now, this won’t be giving you super insane value or anything, but copying something like a removal spell or card draw spell will be pretty nice. Still, you need things to line up right and this often ends up being a dead card, so I don’t think you normally want to play it.
Jarl of the Forsaken image 2.0 This type of removal effect is often underwhelming. Sure, when you do manage to trigger the effect it feels pretty good, but most of the time you had to give up a card to make that effect work in the first place, so it isn’t quite as good of a deal as it might seem at first. Now, adding Foretell here does matter -- because it means it will be easier to find a window where you can actually cast and use this, as spending 2 mana on the turn you actually cast the card is significantly better.
Annul image 0.0 This is a reprint, and it isn’t really one that is here to be played in Limited -- it is for constructed sideboards. It will be a rare thing in this format for people to have enough targets for this for it to be worth running, you might bring it out of your sideboard on occasion, but even then it doesn’t seem that likely to me. It is way better to have cards that destroy this type of permanent rather than counter them, because you can draw the removal after the fact and be okay. You have to have this in your hand at the exact right time for it to do something.
Dwarven Reinforcements image 2.0 Normally when you pay 4 mana for a couple of tokens, you expect a couple of 2/2s -- and that isn’t what you get here. However, Foretell does mean you can pay for this in two separate installments, which does help overcome that downside.
Run Ashore image 1.5 Blue often gets an expensive spell that lets you bounce a couple of things, and it is always a decent card, and I think that’s what we’re looking at here. One nice thing here is that one of the permanents will go back to the top of an opponent’s library, which means that you are actually trading one-for-one with Run Ashore, instead of just getting some tempo. Speaking of tempo, you can often find situations where paying 6 mana results in bouncing more than 6 mana worth of stuff for your opponent, and that’s nice too. You can, of course, also use it on your own stuff if you can get benefits out of it, and that sometimes is the case. This can really help a Blue deck stabilize, or potentially end the game. Take note also that it is an instant -- lots of previous similar cards have been sorceries -- and that does open up the chance for some more significant blowouts. That said, it is super expensive and fairly situational, and not really something you can ever afford to play more than one of.
Skull Raid image 2.0 Mind Rot effects are often not great in Limited. In the early game, you can get a 2-for-1 with them -- but it comes at the great sacrifice of not adding to the board at all on turn 3. Then, in the late game, it tends to get worse as the game goes on, and will be a terrible draw way too often. This card gets around those problems by becoming a draw spell if your opponent odeon’t have two cards to discard, so that means that this Mind Rot has all the upside of most of them -- it can get you a 2-for-1 -- but it can still do it if your opponent has one or no cards in the hand. Now, it isn’t exactly an efficient draw spell, but that’s ok with me overall. Foretell, of course, also makes it easier to cast because you get to pay in installments.
Giant Ox image 1.0 This is kind of a cool design. A two mana 0/6 is a card that you’ll play sometimes in really controlling decks, but this guy is also capable of crewing basically everything despite being only two mana. That said, this set isn’t exactly brimming with quality Vehicles – something I am pretty disappointed about, so I still don’t think most decks will be playing him – though, pairing him with the Plow is pretty funny.
Karfell Kennel-Master image 2.5 This has been solid top-curve in Black decks. It often comes down and enables 1-2 attacks that you just couldn’t have done before, and a 4/4 body is pretty good in this format.
Axgard Cavalry image 2.5 This is a nice two drop. Having a bear that can give haste to stuff is really nice. If the board is such that it can’t attack itself, there’s a good chance you can play a creature that has a nice attack on the board if you can make it attack right away, and that’s what the Cavalry does. These creatures who can give haste to other creatures always seem to overperform, and I think this looks like a nice Common for Red.
Snow-Covered Mountain image 2.0 Red isn’t overflowing with snow payoffs, but this is still a snow land and those are quite useful in this format.
Pack 1 Pick 7: Master Skald
Master Skald image 2.0 5-mana for a 4/4 that returns an artifact or enchantment is not a bad deal. And sure, you also need a creature in your graveyard to make it happen, but by turn 5 that won’t normally be an issue. There are lots of good Artifacts and Enchantments in this set, but the Skald is at his best with Sagas, since they are designed to eventually go to your graveyard in the first place. If you have at least one Saga, playing a Master Skald is usually a pretty good idea.
Skull Raid image 2.0 Mind Rot effects are often not great in Limited. In the early game, you can get a 2-for-1 with them -- but it comes at the great sacrifice of not adding to the board at all on turn 3. Then, in the late game, it tends to get worse as the game goes on, and will be a terrible draw way too often. This card gets around those problems by becoming a draw spell if your opponent odeon’t have two cards to discard, so that means that this Mind Rot has all the upside of most of them -- it can get you a 2-for-1 -- but it can still do it if your opponent has one or no cards in the hand. Now, it isn’t exactly an efficient draw spell, but that’s ok with me overall. Foretell, of course, also makes it easier to cast because you get to pay in installments.
Withercrown image 1.0 So, I have a hard time ever calling removal “premium” if it still allows whatever you put it on to block, and this does have that problem. This is also weakened by the presence of Good Auras, +1/+1 Counters, and Equipment, since those all mean that the creature still won’t have 0 power. It doesn’t hurt that this makes your opponent lose life every turn or sacrifice the creature, at which point, you do actually get the blocker out of the way. That said, most of the time, you’ll probably play this and your opponent will just use the creature to block and die, as it allows them to get something out of the weakened creature. You generally only play this if you didn’t get better removal spells.
Disdainful Stroke image 1.0 This is a card we’ve seen a lot of, and generally I don’t like running it. It is super weird in this format too, because you’ll go up against aggro decks who have 0-2 targets for this, and against snow decks who will have like 7+. I think that really means you have to start it in your sideboard, since it will be so bad against a big part of the metagame.
Warhorn Blast image 1.0 // 3.0 So, mass pump spells always have some decks they will be good in -- obviously, the ones that are going wide -- but they are pretty bad in less aggressive decks. This one does add Foretell to the mix -- this is one of the foretell cards where the total investment is the same whether you Foretell it or not, so if you have the extra mana it will definitely be worth doing, since only paying three for this the turn you play it is no small thing. Still, this kind of card is always kind of a build around. If you’re an aggro deck that is good at going wide, you’re going to want one copy of this pretty often. Even in those decks it is situational, but the situation is much more likely to arise in those decks.
Broken Wings image 1.5 This card is very mainboardable in this format because it has lots of good targets. It still isn’t great or anything, though.
Annul image 0.0 This is a reprint, and it isn’t really one that is here to be played in Limited -- it is for constructed sideboards. It will be a rare thing in this format for people to have enough targets for this for it to be worth running, you might bring it out of your sideboard on occasion, but even then it doesn’t seem that likely to me. It is way better to have cards that destroy this type of permanent rather than counter them, because you can draw the removal after the fact and be okay. You have to have this in your hand at the exact right time for it to do something.
Seize the Spoils image 1.0 This is not an efficient way to dig deeper into your library, and while it also gives you a Treasure, you mostly should avoid playing this.
Highland Forest image 3.5 This is a Snow land to value fairly highly. It gives you snow mana and fixing, and it is in colors that have some nice snow payoffs at lower rarities.
Pack 1 Pick 8: Revitalize
Great Hall of Starnheim image 3.5 Because you have to give up a creature for this effect, you will often just be upgrading a creature -- or sacrificing one that has been negated by an Aura or something -- but if you have some tokens around, or creatures with death triggers, it will feel pretty good, and I think it will be often enough that ONE of those things is going on on your board in the later part of the game, which means this is just another really nice utility land that does something very real late.
Surtland Frostpyre image 3.0 Doing 2 damage to everything and letting you Scry 2 is not a bad deal, especially when it comes attached to a land. You won’t always be able to get the value you want out of the ability, since maybe it hurts you more than your opponent -- but adding Scry 2 to the mix does help a little bit on that front.
Immersturm Skullcairn image 3.0 I think this is weaker that the others in this cycle because one of its effects often has diminished returns by the late game - in particular, the discard a card part of the card. Mostly, this will give you some reach, and maybe you end up getting some useful card out of your opponent’s hand, but it won’t line up that way very often. It is still a land that does something useful in the later game, and I’m always on board for that.
Roots of Wisdom image 1.0 So, this card helps you mill yourself, and then gets an elf or land back from the graveyard most of the time – but not always, especially early. I do like that you get to draw a card if you can’t get a land or elf, which means that you don’t have to have a huge number of elves for it to be super okay. I do kind of wish that it would let you make the choice -- like, if you have an elf and/or land in your graveyard, you could still choose to draw, but it doesn’t work that way -- you only draw if there is nothing to get back. But yeah, like Anticipate, and Tormenting Voice and other cards like this, I imagine you’ll cut this more than you’ll play it. Frankly, it just doesn’t do a whole lot. It doesn’t help that the Elf deck isn’t very impressive.
Frostpeak Yeti image 1.5 So, this is a Hill Giant that can become unblockable if you have some Snow mana. That certainly isn’t a good card, but if you are in a controlling Snow deck and you need a win condition well...you probably hope this isn’t it, but it can do the job if you need it to.
Demonic Gifts image 1.5 This type of trick is usually alright. The stats boost is enough to make your creature take down larger creatures in combat, and it doesn’t really have to “win” the combat, since the Gifts will bring your creature right back if it dies. This can get especially nasty if your creature has an ETB ability. It also doesn’t hurt that it does something against most removal too. It is still a trick, and the situational nature of them keeps most of them from ever being especially good.
Cinderheart Giant image 1.5 So, this is a big ol’ giant with Trample, something that normally wouldn’t be so good -- but its death trigger is pretty interesting. It basically means it will kill something at random when it dies -- not much can stand up to 7 damage -- and that’s pretty nice. It is random unfortunately, so you may kill an Elf token instead of a real card, but by having a death trigger, it does help mitigate against some of the danger of running a 7-drop in your deck, because now if it gets removed, at least it will impact the board one way or another. Now, I still don’t really think you’ll play thi sin most decks, even Giant decks, but it seems like a reasonable top curve if you’re in need of that.
Revitalize image 0.5 This is an underwhelming reprint. A cantrip that gains you life isn’t bad, it is just one of those cards that will be the last card cut from your deck most of the time. Especially because this set doesn’t seem to have a strong life gain theme.
Pack 1 Pick 9: Grizzled Outrider
Forging the Tyrite Sword image 0.5 You mostly don’t want to be playing this. It has little impact on the board early, and that’s not something RW is interested in – and neither is Treasure for the most part. The one situation where you do consider playing this is if you have Halvar in your deck, as he is one of the best cards in the format, and giving up some tempo to search him up in a couple turns is worth it.
Grizzled Outrider image 1.5 5-mana for a 5/5 is kind of alright. And that’s all there is to say about that.
Jarl of the Forsaken image 2.0 This type of removal effect is often underwhelming. Sure, when you do manage to trigger the effect it feels pretty good, but most of the time you had to give up a card to make that effect work in the first place, so it isn’t quite as good of a deal as it might seem at first. Now, adding Foretell here does matter -- because it means it will be easier to find a window where you can actually cast and use this, as spending 2 mana on the turn you actually cast the card is significantly better.
Mammoth Growth image 1.5 This is a decent trick. Paying the three mana up front isn’t the greatest deal, but the stats boost it gives is enough that it can help almost any creature win combat. The downside is the massive tempo hit you can take if your opponent can do something in response, so like with all tricks, be as careful as you can with this. Adding foretell to the mix does help reduce the downside a little bit -- since you only pay one Green mana the turn you actually use it, and you probably decided to Foretell it on a turn when you couldn’t do anything with your mana anyway, so if you do get blown out the tempo won’t be so bad.
Smashing Success image 0.0 Land destruction spells are almost never worth it in Limited. This is because it often has a negligible effect on the game -- if you get it late it basically does nothing, if you get it early it might do something, but even then there is about a 50% chance that your opponent still won’t be bothered by it. And yeah, this one is an instant, can hit artifacts, and makes a treasure when it destroys artifacts, but you still shouldn’t play it.
Brinebarrow Intruder image 1.0 This doesn’t seem especially good. It is easy to imagine situations where you flash it in and killed a 3/1 or something, but it is mostly too situational to be worth playing. That decrease to power just doesn’t do enough often enough. You mostly won’t play this.
Fearless Pup image 2.0 A one mana 1/1 with first strike is not that impressive, those are just stats that quickly become irrelevant, and in some games it will feel like you should have just played a four drop that is more impactful. Adding Boast to the mix obviously matters, though, and often just the threat of activation will mean that your opponent just takes hits from this thing. This is also another great creature to enhance with equipment, counters, and Auras.
Pack 1 Pick 10: Valor of the Worthy
Colossal Plow image 1.0 I know people like Ox and Plow shenanigans, but mostly you shouldn’t do that if you want to win. Crew 6 is a TON, and gaining some mana and life back when it attacks just isn’t going to be enough for me to overcome it. It will die on its first attack most of the time too.
Valor of the Worthy image 2.0 I often complain about Auras that don’t give a good boost for the mana cost, as well as auras that don’t give you value to help a 2-for-1 not feel so bad. This does kind of okay on both of those fronts, but not super well on either. The efficiency here is pretty nice when you look at the whole package - one mana for a +1/+1 Aura and a 1/1 flyer if things go wrong, but I’m still not sure I like the risk of putting this on something. +1/+1 can have an impact, but it isn’t ultra likely to be game changing, and while you only spend a single White mana, you still have some risk here, as the 1/1 you get is probably worse than whatever you put it on.
Roots of Wisdom image 1.0 So, this card helps you mill yourself, and then gets an elf or land back from the graveyard most of the time – but not always, especially early. I do like that you get to draw a card if you can’t get a land or elf, which means that you don’t have to have a huge number of elves for it to be super okay. I do kind of wish that it would let you make the choice -- like, if you have an elf and/or land in your graveyard, you could still choose to draw, but it doesn’t work that way -- you only draw if there is nothing to get back. But yeah, like Anticipate, and Tormenting Voice and other cards like this, I imagine you’ll cut this more than you’ll play it. Frankly, it just doesn’t do a whole lot. It doesn’t help that the Elf deck isn’t very impressive.
Karfell Harbinger image 1.5 So, we see two mana 1/3s who can tap for spells relatively often, and this is a more flexible version of those, since it can also use it to foretell a card. It won’t always make a difference, but it will often enough that you’ll probably play the first copy of this in decks that are interested in spells and/or foretell, which will be lots of Blue decks.
Shackles of Treachery image 0.5 Even in the most aggressive of decks, this card tends to be too situational to be worthwhile, and there isn’t enough of a sacrifice theme in this set to really abuse it.
Warhorn Blast image 1.0 // 3.0 So, mass pump spells always have some decks they will be good in -- obviously, the ones that are going wide -- but they are pretty bad in less aggressive decks. This one does add Foretell to the mix -- this is one of the foretell cards where the total investment is the same whether you Foretell it or not, so if you have the extra mana it will definitely be worth doing, since only paying three for this the turn you play it is no small thing. Still, this kind of card is always kind of a build around. If you’re an aggro deck that is good at going wide, you’re going to want one copy of this pretty often. Even in those decks it is situational, but the situation is much more likely to arise in those decks.
Pack 1 Pick 11: Gods' Hall Guardian
Dual Strike image 0.5 Copying a cheap spell with this will be easier than it is with most Fork effects because of Foretell – you can set this aside in the early game and then wait for the opportune moment to copy a spell, and you only need one Red left over. Now, this won’t be giving you super insane value or anything, but copying something like a removal spell or card draw spell will be pretty nice. Still, you need things to line up right and this often ends up being a dead card, so I don’t think you normally want to play it.
Dogged Pursuit image 1.0 Draining one life gives you inevitability, and because it is also gaining you life, it helps you to survive longer -- which in turn helps you drain more life. If you are a control deck, this seems like a decent win condition to me. Now, tapping out to play this on turn four will not always be smart, because you need to be building your board in the early game to not die, and that is a pretty significant downside. You’ll be cutting this a lot, it really takes the right deck for it to be worth it.
Master Skald image 2.0 5-mana for a 4/4 that returns an artifact or enchantment is not a bad deal. And sure, you also need a creature in your graveyard to make it happen, but by turn 5 that won’t normally be an issue. There are lots of good Artifacts and Enchantments in this set, but the Skald is at his best with Sagas, since they are designed to eventually go to your graveyard in the first place. If you have at least one Saga, playing a Master Skald is usually a pretty good idea.
Gods' Hall Guardian image 2.0 This is a Foretell card that doesn’t end up costing you extra mana in the end.. You still pay a total of six mana, but having the flexibility to pay that mana in installments -- two on one turn, 4 on another -- is nice. Plus, like most foretell cards, it lets you play something ahead of curve -- getting this down on turn 4 is pretty legit. Now, 6-mana for a 3/6 with Vigilance is far from impressive – but it is already borderline playable. It is a good defensive body that can also pressure the opponent a little bit.
Koma's Faithful image 2.0 This seems solid. A 3-mana 3/1 with lifelink isn’t a terrible rate -- trading for an X/3 and gaining 3 life in the process isn’t bad, and it comes with some additional upside. Now, the graveyard isn’t a huge theme in this set, but there is some synergy to be had there.
Pack 1 Pick 12: Skull Raid
Littjara Kinseekers image 1.5 A 4-mana 2/4 isn’t very good. But, if you can trigger its ETB ability, you’re going to be pretty happy -- as a 4-mana ⅗ that scries one is a pretty good deal. Now, because it has Changeling, you will just need two other creatures with matching creature types to trigger it, and while that isn’t always going to be what your board looks like, I imagine that in the late game it won’t be that hard to trigger. The ideal thing to do would be to curve out with creatures with the same types, but that won’t always be doable. Still, this being a reasonable 4-mana 2/4 changeling in the early game, and a much more impressive card in the later part of the game makes me think this is a pretty solid common for Blue.
Draugr Thought-Thief image 1.5 If you’re going to be a 3-mana 3/2, you probably need to have something going on that makes those inefficient stats worth it -- and I don’t really see that here. You get some very minor card selection, and an effect that might help you put something in your graveyard. Or, alternatively, something that lets you control your opponent’s next draw a little bit, but neither of those things is that great. It is kind of equivalent to Scry 1, but in most ways, it isn’t as good as Scry 1. You will certainly play this sometimes, but you’ll also cut it a fair bit.
Skull Raid image 2.0 Mind Rot effects are often not great in Limited. In the early game, you can get a 2-for-1 with them -- but it comes at the great sacrifice of not adding to the board at all on turn 3. Then, in the late game, it tends to get worse as the game goes on, and will be a terrible draw way too often. This card gets around those problems by becoming a draw spell if your opponent odeon’t have two cards to discard, so that means that this Mind Rot has all the upside of most of them -- it can get you a 2-for-1 -- but it can still do it if your opponent has one or no cards in the hand. Now, it isn’t exactly an efficient draw spell, but that’s ok with me overall. Foretell, of course, also makes it easier to cast because you get to pay in installments.
Fearless Pup image 2.0 A one mana 1/1 with first strike is not that impressive, those are just stats that quickly become irrelevant, and in some games it will feel like you should have just played a four drop that is more impactful. Adding Boast to the mix obviously matters, though, and often just the threat of activation will mean that your opponent just takes hits from this thing. This is also another great creature to enhance with equipment, counters, and Auras.
Pack 1 Pick 13: Revitalize
Revitalize image 0.5 This is an underwhelming reprint. A cantrip that gains you life isn’t bad, it is just one of those cards that will be the last card cut from your deck most of the time. Especially because this set doesn’t seem to have a strong life gain theme.
Cinderheart Giant image 1.5 So, this is a big ol’ giant with Trample, something that normally wouldn’t be so good -- but its death trigger is pretty interesting. It basically means it will kill something at random when it dies -- not much can stand up to 7 damage -- and that’s pretty nice. It is random unfortunately, so you may kill an Elf token instead of a real card, but by having a death trigger, it does help mitigate against some of the danger of running a 7-drop in your deck, because now if it gets removed, at least it will impact the board one way or another. Now, I still don’t really think you’ll play thi sin most decks, even Giant decks, but it seems like a reasonable top curve if you’re in need of that.
Hagi Mob image 1.5 This seems alright. A 5-mana 5/4 isn’t great, but it isn’t abysmal either -- and its Boast ability is fine. Doing 1 damage to a creature is the ideal scenario, but if you can use it to make blocking harder for your opponent, or to ping your opponent because they are close to dead, that works too. It isn’t super efficient at any of the stuff it does, and it isn’t very exciting, but it seems like an alright top curve card for Red decks.
Pack 1 Pick 14: Skull Raid
Dual Strike image 0.5 Copying a cheap spell with this will be easier than it is with most Fork effects because of Foretell – you can set this aside in the early game and then wait for the opportune moment to copy a spell, and you only need one Red left over. Now, this won’t be giving you super insane value or anything, but copying something like a removal spell or card draw spell will be pretty nice. Still, you need things to line up right and this often ends up being a dead card, so I don’t think you normally want to play it.
Skull Raid image 2.0 Mind Rot effects are often not great in Limited. In the early game, you can get a 2-for-1 with them -- but it comes at the great sacrifice of not adding to the board at all on turn 3. Then, in the late game, it tends to get worse as the game goes on, and will be a terrible draw way too often. This card gets around those problems by becoming a draw spell if your opponent odeon’t have two cards to discard, so that means that this Mind Rot has all the upside of most of them -- it can get you a 2-for-1 -- but it can still do it if your opponent has one or no cards in the hand. Now, it isn’t exactly an efficient draw spell, but that’s ok with me overall. Foretell, of course, also makes it easier to cast because you get to pay in installments.
Pack 1 Pick 15: Skull Raid
Skull Raid image 2.0 Mind Rot effects are often not great in Limited. In the early game, you can get a 2-for-1 with them -- but it comes at the great sacrifice of not adding to the board at all on turn 3. Then, in the late game, it tends to get worse as the game goes on, and will be a terrible draw way too often. This card gets around those problems by becoming a draw spell if your opponent odeon’t have two cards to discard, so that means that this Mind Rot has all the upside of most of them -- it can get you a 2-for-1 -- but it can still do it if your opponent has one or no cards in the hand. Now, it isn’t exactly an efficient draw spell, but that’s ok with me overall. Foretell, of course, also makes it easier to cast because you get to pay in installments.
Pack 2 Pick 1: Rune of Might
Showdown of the Skalds image 4.0 For this Saga you do have to pay 4 for it to do very little the first turn, at least in the early and mid-game, but on subsequent turns the card advantage and +1/+1 counters this thing gives you is really good. Note, by the way, that you can play lands off of the Showdown, although the lands aren’t spells so they don’t trigger the ability in the second and third chapter of the Showdown. In the later part of the game this will grant you more immediate card advantage, which is nice. There will definitely be times where this is too slow to save you -- or maybe you don’t have enough of a board presence to take advantage of those +1/+1 counters, but most of the time this will really shift a game in your favor -- especially if you untap after you play it.
Rune of Might image 3.0 This is strictly better Setessan Training, and the Training was a pretty solid card! Granted, this set is not quite as Enchantment-focused as Theros Beyond Death, but this still seems pretty good. While a stats boost AND trample for 1G can be a really risky Aura to play, this draws you a card so you can avoid a total blowout from a 2-for-1 most of the time. Trample is an evasive ability too -- it might be flying -- but it does make it harder for your opponent to stop your creatures form damaging them.
The Three Seasons image 1.0 This has not been very good. It seems like it might be an okay snow payoff, but it turns out that getting the most out of Chapter II is difficult, and that’s not great news when Chapter I has no immediate impact on the board. Then, Chapter III is kind of a bummer, because you have to give your opponent back some cards. Now, you can choose their worst ones and all that, but I’ve seen that side of the card backfire a lot.
Hailstorm Valkyrie image 2.0 A 4-mana 2/2 with flying and trample is not good. By adding the ability to pump snow mana into this, you get something that is certainly better. Oftentimes your opponent will just have to take a hit from this because of the threat of activation of that ability. That said, being able to do it more than once in this format is far from a forgone conclusion, and because it has such a bad baseline, the upside doesn’t do enough to make it a whole lot better.
Guardian Gladewalker image 2.5 So, we see versions of this card all the time -- and they are always pretty nice commons for Green. The +1/+1 counter ETB trigger makes it so that it is relevant all game long -- often times a single counter is enough to enable attacks you just didn’t have before. And, you know, sometimes, this is just a two-mana 2/2, like in the early game. Adding changeling to the mix is significant upside on an already pretty good Green common.
Behold the Multiverse image 3.5 4-mana for instant speed Scry 2 and draw 2 cards is usually pretty close to being a first pickable card when we’ve seen it in the past. It just does a great job of letting you see tons of cards, and is the kind of thing you’ll want one of in basically every Blue deck. Adding Foretell to the mix makes it even better, especially because, in this case, you’re not paying extra mana -- you pay the same amount, just in two installments, and that’s just great. Fortell is a lot like Morph or Suspend, in that it adds nice flexibility to a card, and lets you do something with any excess mana you might have -- like if you don’t have a two drop in the early game, you can just Fortell this, and that feels really good.
Axgard Braggart image 2.0 So, this card will never really be efficient. I mean, it starts as a 4-mana 3/3, and even if you boast with it, you’ll have spent 6 mana on a 4/4. However, efficiency isn’t everything. The fact is that this creature can grow throughout the game, and just the threat of using the ability will be enough for people not to block it when it attacks. Boast creatures a lot of the time will just end up feeling like situational mana sinks, and that’s not necessarily bad. The pseudo-vigilance it gains when it Boasts isn’t bad either.
Skull Raid image 2.0 Mind Rot effects are often not great in Limited. In the early game, you can get a 2-for-1 with them -- but it comes at the great sacrifice of not adding to the board at all on turn 3. Then, in the late game, it tends to get worse as the game goes on, and will be a terrible draw way too often. This card gets around those problems by becoming a draw spell if your opponent odeon’t have two cards to discard, so that means that this Mind Rot has all the upside of most of them -- it can get you a 2-for-1 -- but it can still do it if your opponent has one or no cards in the hand. Now, it isn’t exactly an efficient draw spell, but that’s ok with me overall. Foretell, of course, also makes it easier to cast because you get to pay in installments.
Gnottvold Recluse image 2.0 Most spiders we see come with low power and high toughness. This makes them good at repeatedly blocking smaller flyers, but not so good at actually killing them. Gnottvold Recluse is different, in that it has higher power and lower toughness. This means it is going to be better at blocking and killing larger flyers, but a lot worse at repeatedly blocking flyers. 3-mana for a 4/2 line is often a borderline playable card even without Reach, and I think adding Reach to the mix here means you will feel fine about playing the first copy of this. Though, it would be nice if it were a snow permanent or something.
Squash image 3.5 This is a very powerful removal spell if you’re in a Giant deck. 1R for 6 damage at instant speed is pretty incredibly efficient.. What’s nice is, 5 mana for 6 damage at instant speed isn’t completely horrendous either -- it isn’t great, mind you -- but it is the kind of removal that you’ll end up running one of a decent amount of the time. The goods news is, most Red decks will have at least a few Giants without even trying to take them, but the better news is, Giants is a very well-supported tribe in this set, and in those decks, this costing 1R won’t be that hard to achieve.
Snakeskin Veil image 1.5 This is a decent combat trick. It doesn’t give the biggest boost ever, even for one mana. Basically with tricks, you’re looking for the ones that can do the best job of helping your creature win combat, and you want to do it as efficiently as possible. One usually expects at least a +2/+2 boost from a one mana trick, and this doesn’t deliver there. However, it does grant a creature hexproof, and that means that it also has utility outside of combat -- plus, the boost it gives is permanent, so it isn’t SUPER far away from +2/+2.
Run Ashore image 1.5 Blue often gets an expensive spell that lets you bounce a couple of things, and it is always a decent card, and I think that’s what we’re looking at here. One nice thing here is that one of the permanents will go back to the top of an opponent’s library, which means that you are actually trading one-for-one with Run Ashore, instead of just getting some tempo. Speaking of tempo, you can often find situations where paying 6 mana results in bouncing more than 6 mana worth of stuff for your opponent, and that’s nice too. You can, of course, also use it on your own stuff if you can get benefits out of it, and that sometimes is the case. This can really help a Blue deck stabilize, or potentially end the game. Take note also that it is an instant -- lots of previous similar cards have been sorceries -- and that does open up the chance for some more significant blowouts. That said, it is super expensive and fairly situational, and not really something you can ever afford to play more than one of.
Codespell Cleric image 1.0 // 2.5 So, since this is one mana, casting it as your second spell in a turn won’t be super challenging, especially in a format with Foretell. I mean, in the late game it will be a little harder, like if you’re in top deck mode, but in the early and mid-game it will just happen. For this to be worth it, it does need to be making that +1/+1 counter a significant chunk of the time, and it can do that in aggro decks. Like Battlefield Raptor, it is much better in aggressive decks than it is elsewhere.
Dwarven Reinforcements image 2.0 Normally when you pay 4 mana for a couple of tokens, you expect a couple of 2/2s -- and that isn’t what you get here. However, Foretell does mean you can pay for this in two separate installments, which does help overcome that downside.
Snow-Covered Forest image 2.5 Green has some nice snow payoffs, and that means you should be valuing this Snow land over most average cards.
Pack 2 Pick 2: Bound in Gold
Basalt Ravager image 4.0 This is a 4-mana 4/2 that does 1 to something when it comes into play, even if it is all alone, and doing two with this isn’t far-fetched at all. 3+ might not be that common, but it will happen too. It is great that it can also hit players, as that is not something we always see on these red creatures with an ETB ability that damages something. I also love that it has high power, which means it can block and kill a whole lot of things, getting you that muc-needed 2-for-1. Typically, this will come down and add to your board while subtracting something from your opponents, and that type of creature is very good.
The Trickster-God's Heist image 2.0 This is another situational Saga that doesn’t always do something. When you can play it and take full advantage it is strong, but it will be stuck in your hand doing nothing more often than you’d think.
Forging the Tyrite Sword image 0.5 You mostly don’t want to be playing this. It has little impact on the board early, and that’s not something RW is interested in – and neither is Treasure for the most part. The one situation where you do consider playing this is if you have Halvar in your deck, as he is one of the best cards in the format, and giving up some tempo to search him up in a couple turns is worth it.
Berg Strider image 3.5 I always like this kind of creature that taps something down when it comes into play, but they are usually only at their best if they can lock the creature down for a turn too. Berg Strider won’t always do that, but it will do it often enough, and hey, at least it does something even if you don’t have the snow mana. It is also another snow payoff that doesn’t demand 10+ snow lands, you can run it with just a few. Tapping something down even without snow mana can often enable an attack you didn’t have otherwise, and tapping something down for a turn can really swing a race in your favor, since that creature won’t be blocking or attacking. This is certainly beefier than most of these tap-down creatures are too -- it has good enough stats to be imposing on some board states.
Jarl of the Forsaken image 2.0 This type of removal effect is often underwhelming. Sure, when you do manage to trigger the effect it feels pretty good, but most of the time you had to give up a card to make that effect work in the first place, so it isn’t quite as good of a deal as it might seem at first. Now, adding Foretell here does matter -- because it means it will be easier to find a window where you can actually cast and use this, as spending 2 mana on the turn you actually cast the card is significantly better.
Bind the Monster image 2.5 Blue does not often get super efficient Auras that are capable of getting a blocker out of the way with no problem, and in general it doesn’t usually get removal that can just straight up shut down most creatures – but that’s what this is. For one mana, this can deal entirely with most creatures, and sure – you’re going to take some damage, but I think it is worth it for the efficiency. Playing more than one of these can get a bit risky, since you only have so much life you can pay for an effect like this, but I think you pretty much always play the first copy, especially if you’re light on other removal.
Dwarven Reinforcements image 2.0 Normally when you pay 4 mana for a couple of tokens, you expect a couple of 2/2s -- and that isn’t what you get here. However, Foretell does mean you can pay for this in two separate installments, which does help overcome that downside.
Beskir Shieldmate image 3.0 This is a solid two-drop. A two mana 2/1 is far from ideal, but if you can trade with this and then get a token, you’re going to feel pretty good. Overall, this is a nice two drop that will pretty much always make the cut
Funeral Longboat image 1.5 This is a decent vehicle. Crew 1 is just so easy to do, that this is going to just feel like a two mana 3/3 with Vigilance some of the time. And, the fact it is so easy to crew AND has vigilance, means your opponent also has to take into account while attacking you.
Elderfang Disciple image 1.5 A two mana 1/1 that makes an opponent discard a card is nice, and because it does that, you’re at least starting out with a 1-for-1 in most cases. Then, if it can trade for an X/1, you’re getting some serious 2-for-1 value out of this card. Now, it won’t always line up that way, and in the late game the discard thing might not matter too much, and those are serious limitations, but this seems decent enough.
Roots of Wisdom image 1.0 So, this card helps you mill yourself, and then gets an elf or land back from the graveyard most of the time – but not always, especially early. I do like that you get to draw a card if you can’t get a land or elf, which means that you don’t have to have a huge number of elves for it to be super okay. I do kind of wish that it would let you make the choice -- like, if you have an elf and/or land in your graveyard, you could still choose to draw, but it doesn’t work that way -- you only draw if there is nothing to get back. But yeah, like Anticipate, and Tormenting Voice and other cards like this, I imagine you’ll cut this more than you’ll play it. Frankly, it just doesn’t do a whole lot. It doesn’t help that the Elf deck isn’t very impressive.
Bound in Gold image 4.0 So, here’s White’s usual Common Aura that is a premium removal spell. For three mana this shuts down pretty much everything -- apart from static abilities -- and that’s a really good deal. Keeping the creatures from even being able to crew vehicles is a really big deal too. This is white’s best common -- it just answers pretty much everything, and does it efficiently. It has the downsides of aura-based removal of course -- like there are ways to get rid of it -- but it is worth the risk. You can also splash it easily, which really matters in this format.
Infernal Pet image 2.0 You probably need to trigger this at least once to make it worth it, and since it starts out as an inefficient 3-mana 2/2, you may even want to trigger it twice before you feel okay about stuff. While that is certainly doable, I don’t really think this is going to be one of the key double spell payoffs that you need for the deck.
Highland Forest image 3.5 This is a Snow land to value fairly highly. It gives you snow mana and fixing, and it is in colors that have some nice snow payoffs at lower rarities.
Pack 2 Pick 3: Guardian Gladewalker
Replicating Ring image 3.0 This provides great fixing, and it actually ends up making a bunch of copies more often than you might think! And all of that extra mana is also pretty good, because there are several creatures at lower rarities with snow mana activated abilities, and if you can sink that much snow mana into them, they become quite formidable.
Skemfar Elderhall image 3.5 This is a land that can turn into a removal spell and a couple of tokens in the late game, and I’m all about that.
Vengeful Reaper image 3.5 This seems quite good to me. It can represent a real threat as an attacker thanks to haste and Flying, and once it can no longer attack effectively, deathtouch means it can still trade with anything. The Foretell here is nice too, as paying for it in payments will make it easier for you to double spell for the cards that care about that.
Guardian Gladewalker image 2.5 So, we see versions of this card all the time -- and they are always pretty nice commons for Green. The +1/+1 counter ETB trigger makes it so that it is relevant all game long -- often times a single counter is enough to enable attacks you just didn’t have before. And, you know, sometimes, this is just a two-mana 2/2, like in the early game. Adding changeling to the mix is significant upside on an already pretty good Green common.
Immersturm Raider image 1.5 We see this card a lot -- I mean, Fissure Wizard in Zendikar Rising is basically the same. It is a solid card, gives you some card selection -- which can even make it matter in the late game, and all of that makes it so that it can overcome the downside of its mediocre stats.
Frostpeak Yeti image 1.5 So, this is a Hill Giant that can become unblockable if you have some Snow mana. That certainly isn’t a good card, but if you are in a controlling Snow deck and you need a win condition well...you probably hope this isn’t it, but it can do the job if you need it to.
Weigh Down image 3.0 -3/-3 for one Black mana is super efficient. Having to have a creature in the graveyard does mean this will often be dead in the early game, and sometimes even later than that -- but, all you have to do to make it work is trade with something, and if you’re doing that and getting the additional value out of that creature by exiling it to pay for this, it will feel pretty good. I think the first copy of this tends to really feel like premium removal, but you generally don’t want to run too many of them, as there is only so much fuel in your graveyard.
Vault Robber image 1.0 This is something you mostly won’t play. You could do worse if you are desperate for fixing, but the fact he is reliant on stuff in the graveyard to make Treasure can be rough, and his stats aren’t very good.
Jarl of the Forsaken image 2.0 This type of removal effect is often underwhelming. Sure, when you do manage to trigger the effect it feels pretty good, but most of the time you had to give up a card to make that effect work in the first place, so it isn’t quite as good of a deal as it might seem at first. Now, adding Foretell here does matter -- because it means it will be easier to find a window where you can actually cast and use this, as spending 2 mana on the turn you actually cast the card is significantly better.
Hagi Mob image 1.5 This seems alright. A 5-mana 5/4 isn’t great, but it isn’t abysmal either -- and its Boast ability is fine. Doing 1 damage to a creature is the ideal scenario, but if you can use it to make blocking harder for your opponent, or to ping your opponent because they are close to dead, that works too. It isn’t super efficient at any of the stuff it does, and it isn’t very exciting, but it seems like an alright top curve card for Red decks.
Frost Bite image 3.5 So, at the base level, this is a shock that can’t hit players. 2 damage for one mana is pretty nice, as it is very likely to allow you to trade up, and because it is an instant, you can occasionally get some pretty amazing blowouts for a very low cost. Then, it is a Snow spell that is a Snow payoff, and if you have enough Snow going on and this does 3 damage, you’re really in business.
Run Ashore image 1.5 Blue often gets an expensive spell that lets you bounce a couple of things, and it is always a decent card, and I think that’s what we’re looking at here. One nice thing here is that one of the permanents will go back to the top of an opponent’s library, which means that you are actually trading one-for-one with Run Ashore, instead of just getting some tempo. Speaking of tempo, you can often find situations where paying 6 mana results in bouncing more than 6 mana worth of stuff for your opponent, and that’s nice too. You can, of course, also use it on your own stuff if you can get benefits out of it, and that sometimes is the case. This can really help a Blue deck stabilize, or potentially end the game. Take note also that it is an instant -- lots of previous similar cards have been sorceries -- and that does open up the chance for some more significant blowouts. That said, it is super expensive and fairly situational, and not really something you can ever afford to play more than one of.
Alpine Meadow image 3.0 This isn’t one of the more important snow lands around, because White and Red are the colors that care the least about Snow. Still, it does provide fixing and a snow permanent, and those are things that are pretty valuable in this set.
Pack 2 Pick 4: Bloodline Pretender
Bloodline Pretender image 2.5 A 3-mana 2/2 is not good. However, if you are in a tribal deck, the Pretender is going to be able to grow enough to be worth playing, especially because it also will benefit from any tribal payoffs you have. It can slot into a lot of decks in this format and be a pretty solid card.
Bretagard Stronghold image 3.5 Making two creatures bigger and giving them vigilance and lifelink is pretty awesome, especially because one of your lands id doing the job. Those two keywords combined can really help you win a race, since you gain life and allow your creatures to hang back as blockers.
Goldmaw Champion image 3.0 This really helps aggro decks in the format run over the slow, plodding control decks. They often don't have very many creatures in play, and that drastically increases how powerful the Champions ability is. It just enables all kinds of attack you wouldn't have without it.
Goldvein Pick image 3.0 This card is super good in this format. There are lots of good creatures to equip and the fixing it gives is great. While it is definitely better in more aggressive decks, it can work in any deck with a reasonable number of creatures, and that means you can value it pretty highly.
Smashing Success image 0.0 Land destruction spells are almost never worth it in Limited. This is because it often has a negligible effect on the game -- if you get it late it basically does nothing, if you get it early it might do something, but even then there is about a 50% chance that your opponent still won’t be bothered by it. And yeah, this one is an instant, can hit artifacts, and makes a treasure when it destroys artifacts, but you still shouldn’t play it.
Horizon Seeker image 3.0 This card enables splashes, makes it easier to find your snow mana, and has pretty reasonable stats. He fits into any Green deck really, and that’s nice.
Frost Bite image 3.5 So, at the base level, this is a shock that can’t hit players. 2 damage for one mana is pretty nice, as it is very likely to allow you to trade up, and because it is an instant, you can occasionally get some pretty amazing blowouts for a very low cost. Then, it is a Snow spell that is a Snow payoff, and if you have enough Snow going on and this does 3 damage, you’re really in business.
Mammoth Growth image 1.5 This is a decent trick. Paying the three mana up front isn’t the greatest deal, but the stats boost it gives is enough that it can help almost any creature win combat. The downside is the massive tempo hit you can take if your opponent can do something in response, so like with all tricks, be as careful as you can with this. Adding foretell to the mix does help reduce the downside a little bit -- since you only pay one Green mana the turn you actually use it, and you probably decided to Foretell it on a turn when you couldn’t do anything with your mana anyway, so if you do get blown out the tempo won’t be so bad.
Littjara Kinseekers image 1.5 A 4-mana 2/4 isn’t very good. But, if you can trigger its ETB ability, you’re going to be pretty happy -- as a 4-mana ⅗ that scries one is a pretty good deal. Now, because it has Changeling, you will just need two other creatures with matching creature types to trigger it, and while that isn’t always going to be what your board looks like, I imagine that in the late game it won’t be that hard to trigger. The ideal thing to do would be to curve out with creatures with the same types, but that won’t always be doable. Still, this being a reasonable 4-mana 2/4 changeling in the early game, and a much more impressive card in the later part of the game makes me think this is a pretty solid common for Blue.
Dogged Pursuit image 1.0 Draining one life gives you inevitability, and because it is also gaining you life, it helps you to survive longer -- which in turn helps you drain more life. If you are a control deck, this seems like a decent win condition to me. Now, tapping out to play this on turn four will not always be smart, because you need to be building your board in the early game to not die, and that is a pretty significant downside. You’ll be cutting this a lot, it really takes the right deck for it to be worth it.
Master Skald image 2.0 5-mana for a 4/4 that returns an artifact or enchantment is not a bad deal. And sure, you also need a creature in your graveyard to make it happen, but by turn 5 that won’t normally be an issue. There are lots of good Artifacts and Enchantments in this set, but the Skald is at his best with Sagas, since they are designed to eventually go to your graveyard in the first place. If you have at least one Saga, playing a Master Skald is usually a pretty good idea.
Tormentor's Helm image 2.5 Like Run Amok, this is a great card for aggressive decks, as it gives an efficient stats boost and can even help you close out a game because of the inevitable damage every time you attack, but it isn’t really very good anywhere else.
Pack 2 Pick 5: Rune of Sustenance
Rune of Sustenance image 2.5 I think the whole Rune cycle is pretty solid. The problem is often that Auras are risky because they 2-for-1 you -- but by adding a cantrip to all the cards in the Rune cycle, they made sure you won’t normally get 2-for-1’d. Now, you do have to be concerned about an opponent killing what you target in response, but as long as it resolves, you’ll be in the clear. It is also interesting you can put this on any permanent, so in a pinch -- like stuck on two lands in the early game, you can effectively cycle these by putting them on a land or something. Now, that isn’t ideal -- but having that in a moment of desperation is definitely upside. It only does something more than draw you a card if it is on a creature or an Equipment though, and lifelink is pretty nice on either of those things. It isn’t quite an evasive ability, but it is one that can really wreak havoc on races. It is also worth noting there are lots of Aura and Enchantment payoffs in this set, which is going to make it a bit better. I think this is a card you’ll play the first copy of in most White decks.
Rune of Speed image 2.5 The Runes are all nice because they come with a cantrip, taking away the biggest downside of Auras -- the possibility of getting blown out by a 2-for-1. This is cheap enough that putting it on a new creature that can take advantage of Haste is a real possibility, though sometimes you may have to settle for only getting an advantage out of the +1/+0 part. Like all runes, if you put it on equipment it can really shine.
Battlefield Raptor image 1.5 // 3.5 This is a key card for aggressive decks. It wears the cheap Equipment and Auras it he format well, and suiting it up early can often win games. If you’re an aggro deck, you’re never cutting this, and it will be one of the best things you can do on turn one. Obviously, it isn’t very good anywhere else, so keep that in mind.
Annul image 0.0 This is a reprint, and it isn’t really one that is here to be played in Limited -- it is for constructed sideboards. It will be a rare thing in this format for people to have enough targets for this for it to be worth running, you might bring it out of your sideboard on occasion, but even then it doesn’t seem that likely to me. It is way better to have cards that destroy this type of permanent rather than counter them, because you can draw the removal after the fact and be okay. You have to have this in your hand at the exact right time for it to do something.
Master Skald image 2.0 5-mana for a 4/4 that returns an artifact or enchantment is not a bad deal. And sure, you also need a creature in your graveyard to make it happen, but by turn 5 that won’t normally be an issue. There are lots of good Artifacts and Enchantments in this set, but the Skald is at his best with Sagas, since they are designed to eventually go to your graveyard in the first place. If you have at least one Saga, playing a Master Skald is usually a pretty good idea.
Axgard Braggart image 2.0 So, this card will never really be efficient. I mean, it starts as a 4-mana 3/3, and even if you boast with it, you’ll have spent 6 mana on a 4/4. However, efficiency isn’t everything. The fact is that this creature can grow throughout the game, and just the threat of using the ability will be enough for people not to block it when it attacks. Boast creatures a lot of the time will just end up feeling like situational mana sinks, and that’s not necessarily bad. The pseudo-vigilance it gains when it Boasts isn’t bad either.
Snakeskin Veil image 1.5 This is a decent combat trick. It doesn’t give the biggest boost ever, even for one mana. Basically with tricks, you’re looking for the ones that can do the best job of helping your creature win combat, and you want to do it as efficiently as possible. One usually expects at least a +2/+2 boost from a one mana trick, and this doesn’t deliver there. However, it does grant a creature hexproof, and that means that it also has utility outside of combat -- plus, the boost it gives is permanent, so it isn’t SUPER far away from +2/+2.
Berg Strider image 3.5 I always like this kind of creature that taps something down when it comes into play, but they are usually only at their best if they can lock the creature down for a turn too. Berg Strider won’t always do that, but it will do it often enough, and hey, at least it does something even if you don’t have the snow mana. It is also another snow payoff that doesn’t demand 10+ snow lands, you can run it with just a few. Tapping something down even without snow mana can often enable an attack you didn’t have otherwise, and tapping something down for a turn can really swing a race in your favor, since that creature won’t be blocking or attacking. This is certainly beefier than most of these tap-down creatures are too -- it has good enough stats to be imposing on some board states.
Immersturm Raider image 1.5 We see this card a lot -- I mean, Fissure Wizard in Zendikar Rising is basically the same. It is a solid card, gives you some card selection -- which can even make it matter in the late game, and all of that makes it so that it can overcome the downside of its mediocre stats.
Village Rites image 1.0 This is a reprint, and not one that I thought was particularly good in Limited. For this type of card to really be something special, you need for there to be a significant sacrifice or token sub-theme, and neither seems to be an overwhelming focus of this set, though the Elf deck might do the best of taking advantage of this. It is nice that it is an instant, so you can sacrifice something after you declare a block, or in response to an opponent’s removal, but you’re basically still just doing the same sort of thing that Tormenting Voice does. Giving up two cards to get two back. And that’s not bad it just isn’t the kind of thing you will always have roomf or in your deck. Mostly, I think you’ll only play this if you’re short on playables.
Snow-Covered Forest image 2.5 Green has some nice snow payoffs, and that means you should be valuing this Snow land over most average cards.
Pack 2 Pick 6: Icehide Troll
Tibalt's Trickery image 0.0 This is too hard to effectively use in Limited since its so random, and you won’t have a deck constructed to abuse it.
Crush the Weak image 2.5 These types of cards always feel sort of awkward to me. That’s because you will far too frequently have a board state where it doesn’t help at all -- either because your opponents board is too big, or because your board is too small. It is nice that it adds some extra graveyard hate to the mix, and has Foretell, making paying for it a little more manageable. It fits really nicely into Giant decks, which are mostly larger creatures.
Guardian Gladewalker image 2.5 So, we see versions of this card all the time -- and they are always pretty nice commons for Green. The +1/+1 counter ETB trigger makes it so that it is relevant all game long -- often times a single counter is enough to enable attacks you just didn’t have before. And, you know, sometimes, this is just a two-mana 2/2, like in the early game. Adding changeling to the mix is significant upside on an already pretty good Green common.
Revitalize image 0.5 This is an underwhelming reprint. A cantrip that gains you life isn’t bad, it is just one of those cards that will be the last card cut from your deck most of the time. Especially because this set doesn’t seem to have a strong life gain theme.
Dread Rider image 1.0 This has some nice defensive stats and an activated ability that can close out games, but it tends to be too expensive and not powerful enough for even control decks to be interested in it.
Karfell Harbinger image 1.5 So, we see two mana 1/3s who can tap for spells relatively often, and this is a more flexible version of those, since it can also use it to foretell a card. It won’t always make a difference, but it will often enough that you’ll probably play the first copy of this in decks that are interested in spells and/or foretell, which will be lots of Blue decks.
Demon Bolt image 4.0 This is a very good common. So, even if you take Foretell out of the mix, we are talking about premium removal. 4-mana for 3 damage at instant speed always plays pretty well. It does enough damage that trading up with it is no problem. Adding Foretell to the mix is no joke either, as you can use it to really maximize the efficiency of your mana. Like, if you want to play a creature on a turn rather than play this, but you have two extra mana -- so you Foretell it, and only have to pay one Red for it the turn you cast it. So yeah, that upside is very real. This is Red’s best Common.
Skull Raid image 2.0 Mind Rot effects are often not great in Limited. In the early game, you can get a 2-for-1 with them -- but it comes at the great sacrifice of not adding to the board at all on turn 3. Then, in the late game, it tends to get worse as the game goes on, and will be a terrible draw way too often. This card gets around those problems by becoming a draw spell if your opponent odeon’t have two cards to discard, so that means that this Mind Rot has all the upside of most of them -- it can get you a 2-for-1 -- but it can still do it if your opponent has one or no cards in the hand. Now, it isn’t exactly an efficient draw spell, but that’s ok with me overall. Foretell, of course, also makes it easier to cast because you get to pay in installments.
Icehide Troll image 3.0 This is a key common for Snow decks, as if you are able to pump this it becomes a pretty powerful threat. Because it asks for two snow that won’t work in every deck, but in the decks where the troll DOES work, it will be one of your best Commons.
Jarl of the Forsaken image 2.0 This type of removal effect is often underwhelming. Sure, when you do manage to trigger the effect it feels pretty good, but most of the time you had to give up a card to make that effect work in the first place, so it isn’t quite as good of a deal as it might seem at first. Now, adding Foretell here does matter -- because it means it will be easier to find a window where you can actually cast and use this, as spending 2 mana on the turn you actually cast the card is significantly better.
Pack 2 Pick 7: Gods' Hall Guardian
Rune of Flight image 3.0 The Runes are all nice, and I think this one may be the best of the bunch. The cycle overcomes the downside of Auras by having cantrips attached to the effect, so getting 2-for-1’d is much less likely. We’ve seen two mana Auras that grant flying and cantrip in other sets, and they have been at around a C – and this is strictly better than that. For one thing, it can also go on Equipment, which will sometimes be the right thing to do, since being able to move Flying around is a big deal. For another thing, in a really dire situation, you can actually attach this to a land to draw the card – like if you’re stuck on two mana and in trouble. Like I said, I think this is the best Rune of the cycle – Flying is just so much better than the other key words.
Littjara Mirrorlake image 3.5 Making a copy of your best creature and making it a little bit better with a +1/+1 counter in the late game is no joke. This is a land that will add considerably to the board state in the late game, and that really shouldn’t be overlooked.
Vault Robber image 1.0 This is something you mostly won’t play. You could do worse if you are desperate for fixing, but the fact he is reliant on stuff in the graveyard to make Treasure can be rough, and his stats aren’t very good.
Scorn Effigy image 1.0 This is efficient, but it doesn’t have impressive stats in the end. It can help decks with lots of double-spell payoffs, but that’s really the only place its worth it.
Infernal Pet image 2.0 You probably need to trigger this at least once to make it worth it, and since it starts out as an inefficient 3-mana 2/2, you may even want to trigger it twice before you feel okay about stuff. While that is certainly doable, I don’t really think this is going to be one of the key double spell payoffs that you need for the deck.
Gods' Hall Guardian image 2.0 This is a Foretell card that doesn’t end up costing you extra mana in the end.. You still pay a total of six mana, but having the flexibility to pay that mana in installments -- two on one turn, 4 on another -- is nice. Plus, like most foretell cards, it lets you play something ahead of curve -- getting this down on turn 4 is pretty legit. Now, 6-mana for a 3/6 with Vigilance is far from impressive – but it is already borderline playable. It is a good defensive body that can also pressure the opponent a little bit.
Draugr Thought-Thief image 1.5 If you’re going to be a 3-mana 3/2, you probably need to have something going on that makes those inefficient stats worth it -- and I don’t really see that here. You get some very minor card selection, and an effect that might help you put something in your graveyard. Or, alternatively, something that lets you control your opponent’s next draw a little bit, but neither of those things is that great. It is kind of equivalent to Scry 1, but in most ways, it isn’t as good as Scry 1. You will certainly play this sometimes, but you’ll also cut it a fair bit.
Axgard Cavalry image 2.5 This is a nice two drop. Having a bear that can give haste to stuff is really nice. If the board is such that it can’t attack itself, there’s a good chance you can play a creature that has a nice attack on the board if you can make it attack right away, and that’s what the Cavalry does. These creatures who can give haste to other creatures always seem to overperform, and I think this looks like a nice Common for Red.
Berg Strider image 3.5 I always like this kind of creature that taps something down when it comes into play, but they are usually only at their best if they can lock the creature down for a turn too. Berg Strider won’t always do that, but it will do it often enough, and hey, at least it does something even if you don’t have the snow mana. It is also another snow payoff that doesn’t demand 10+ snow lands, you can run it with just a few. Tapping something down even without snow mana can often enable an attack you didn’t have otherwise, and tapping something down for a turn can really swing a race in your favor, since that creature won’t be blocking or attacking. This is certainly beefier than most of these tap-down creatures are too -- it has good enough stats to be imposing on some board states.
Pack 2 Pick 8: Masked Vandal
Masked Vandal image 2.5 This format has lots of things the Vandal can blow up, and that makes it a pretty nice card for your main deck. Having all creature types is nice too.
Depart the Realm image 2.0 Two mana to bounce nonland permanents at Instant speed is usually fine. Bounce spells won’t always straight up trade for a card, but the tempo they give you can be worth it – and, sometimes you can get one of your opponent’s cards with this, if you bounce something that they are using a trick on or putting an Aura on. This has Foretell too, but I still don’t think it is much more than “fine”.
Scorn Effigy image 1.0 This is efficient, but it doesn’t have impressive stats in the end. It can help decks with lots of double-spell payoffs, but that’s really the only place its worth it.
Seize the Spoils image 1.0 This is not an efficient way to dig deeper into your library, and while it also gives you a Treasure, you mostly should avoid playing this.
Cinderheart Giant image 1.5 So, this is a big ol’ giant with Trample, something that normally wouldn’t be so good -- but its death trigger is pretty interesting. It basically means it will kill something at random when it dies -- not much can stand up to 7 damage -- and that’s pretty nice. It is random unfortunately, so you may kill an Elf token instead of a real card, but by having a death trigger, it does help mitigate against some of the danger of running a 7-drop in your deck, because now if it gets removed, at least it will impact the board one way or another. Now, I still don’t really think you’ll play thi sin most decks, even Giant decks, but it seems like a reasonable top curve if you’re in need of that.
Jaspera Sentinel image 2.0 The fixing this offers is a big deal for the decks trying to play 3+ colors. It doesn’t have the greatest stats, and Reach isn’t very exciting, but the mana production here is nice.
Tuskeri Firewalker image 3.0 A 3-mana 3/2 isn’t great, but its Boast effect is pretty nice. You really need to only be able to play somethin off of it once to feel good about the situation, since at that point, you’re getting a 2-for-1 in most cases. It even lets you pay lands if you exile one of them. The downside with this type of effect is often that you are unable to cast the spell you exile, and that’ll happen, but I think it’ll work out often enough that this seems pretty nice to me. Even if you just attack with it and it dies in combat, if you get a card out of the Boast, you’re doing just fine. I think this is a pretty good Red common.
Snow-Covered Plains image 2.0 This is the least valuable snow land because White doesn’t care much about Snow.
Pack 2 Pick 9: Guardian Gladewalker
Guardian Gladewalker image 2.5 So, we see versions of this card all the time -- and they are always pretty nice commons for Green. The +1/+1 counter ETB trigger makes it so that it is relevant all game long -- often times a single counter is enough to enable attacks you just didn’t have before. And, you know, sometimes, this is just a two-mana 2/2, like in the early game. Adding changeling to the mix is significant upside on an already pretty good Green common.
Skull Raid image 2.0 Mind Rot effects are often not great in Limited. In the early game, you can get a 2-for-1 with them -- but it comes at the great sacrifice of not adding to the board at all on turn 3. Then, in the late game, it tends to get worse as the game goes on, and will be a terrible draw way too often. This card gets around those problems by becoming a draw spell if your opponent odeon’t have two cards to discard, so that means that this Mind Rot has all the upside of most of them -- it can get you a 2-for-1 -- but it can still do it if your opponent has one or no cards in the hand. Now, it isn’t exactly an efficient draw spell, but that’s ok with me overall. Foretell, of course, also makes it easier to cast because you get to pay in installments.
Gnottvold Recluse image 2.0 Most spiders we see come with low power and high toughness. This makes them good at repeatedly blocking smaller flyers, but not so good at actually killing them. Gnottvold Recluse is different, in that it has higher power and lower toughness. This means it is going to be better at blocking and killing larger flyers, but a lot worse at repeatedly blocking flyers. 3-mana for a 4/2 line is often a borderline playable card even without Reach, and I think adding Reach to the mix here means you will feel fine about playing the first copy of this. Though, it would be nice if it were a snow permanent or something.
Squash image 3.5 This is a very powerful removal spell if you’re in a Giant deck. 1R for 6 damage at instant speed is pretty incredibly efficient.. What’s nice is, 5 mana for 6 damage at instant speed isn’t completely horrendous either -- it isn’t great, mind you -- but it is the kind of removal that you’ll end up running one of a decent amount of the time. The goods news is, most Red decks will have at least a few Giants without even trying to take them, but the better news is, Giants is a very well-supported tribe in this set, and in those decks, this costing 1R won’t be that hard to achieve.
Run Ashore image 1.5 Blue often gets an expensive spell that lets you bounce a couple of things, and it is always a decent card, and I think that’s what we’re looking at here. One nice thing here is that one of the permanents will go back to the top of an opponent’s library, which means that you are actually trading one-for-one with Run Ashore, instead of just getting some tempo. Speaking of tempo, you can often find situations where paying 6 mana results in bouncing more than 6 mana worth of stuff for your opponent, and that’s nice too. You can, of course, also use it on your own stuff if you can get benefits out of it, and that sometimes is the case. This can really help a Blue deck stabilize, or potentially end the game. Take note also that it is an instant -- lots of previous similar cards have been sorceries -- and that does open up the chance for some more significant blowouts. That said, it is super expensive and fairly situational, and not really something you can ever afford to play more than one of.
Codespell Cleric image 1.0 // 2.5 So, since this is one mana, casting it as your second spell in a turn won’t be super challenging, especially in a format with Foretell. I mean, in the late game it will be a little harder, like if you’re in top deck mode, but in the early and mid-game it will just happen. For this to be worth it, it does need to be making that +1/+1 counter a significant chunk of the time, and it can do that in aggro decks. Like Battlefield Raptor, it is much better in aggressive decks than it is elsewhere.
Dwarven Reinforcements image 2.0 Normally when you pay 4 mana for a couple of tokens, you expect a couple of 2/2s -- and that isn’t what you get here. However, Foretell does mean you can pay for this in two separate installments, which does help overcome that downside.
Pack 2 Pick 10: Funeral Longboat
Forging the Tyrite Sword image 0.5 You mostly don’t want to be playing this. It has little impact on the board early, and that’s not something RW is interested in – and neither is Treasure for the most part. The one situation where you do consider playing this is if you have Halvar in your deck, as he is one of the best cards in the format, and giving up some tempo to search him up in a couple turns is worth it.
Jarl of the Forsaken image 2.0 This type of removal effect is often underwhelming. Sure, when you do manage to trigger the effect it feels pretty good, but most of the time you had to give up a card to make that effect work in the first place, so it isn’t quite as good of a deal as it might seem at first. Now, adding Foretell here does matter -- because it means it will be easier to find a window where you can actually cast and use this, as spending 2 mana on the turn you actually cast the card is significantly better.
Dwarven Reinforcements image 2.0 Normally when you pay 4 mana for a couple of tokens, you expect a couple of 2/2s -- and that isn’t what you get here. However, Foretell does mean you can pay for this in two separate installments, which does help overcome that downside.
Funeral Longboat image 1.5 This is a decent vehicle. Crew 1 is just so easy to do, that this is going to just feel like a two mana 3/3 with Vigilance some of the time. And, the fact it is so easy to crew AND has vigilance, means your opponent also has to take into account while attacking you.
Roots of Wisdom image 1.0 So, this card helps you mill yourself, and then gets an elf or land back from the graveyard most of the time – but not always, especially early. I do like that you get to draw a card if you can’t get a land or elf, which means that you don’t have to have a huge number of elves for it to be super okay. I do kind of wish that it would let you make the choice -- like, if you have an elf and/or land in your graveyard, you could still choose to draw, but it doesn’t work that way -- you only draw if there is nothing to get back. But yeah, like Anticipate, and Tormenting Voice and other cards like this, I imagine you’ll cut this more than you’ll play it. Frankly, it just doesn’t do a whole lot. It doesn’t help that the Elf deck isn’t very impressive.
Infernal Pet image 2.0 You probably need to trigger this at least once to make it worth it, and since it starts out as an inefficient 3-mana 2/2, you may even want to trigger it twice before you feel okay about stuff. While that is certainly doable, I don’t really think this is going to be one of the key double spell payoffs that you need for the deck.
Pack 2 Pick 11: Vault Robber
Vengeful Reaper image 3.5 This seems quite good to me. It can represent a real threat as an attacker thanks to haste and Flying, and once it can no longer attack effectively, deathtouch means it can still trade with anything. The Foretell here is nice too, as paying for it in payments will make it easier for you to double spell for the cards that care about that.
Immersturm Raider image 1.5 We see this card a lot -- I mean, Fissure Wizard in Zendikar Rising is basically the same. It is a solid card, gives you some card selection -- which can even make it matter in the late game, and all of that makes it so that it can overcome the downside of its mediocre stats.
Vault Robber image 1.0 This is something you mostly won’t play. You could do worse if you are desperate for fixing, but the fact he is reliant on stuff in the graveyard to make Treasure can be rough, and his stats aren’t very good.
Jarl of the Forsaken image 2.0 This type of removal effect is often underwhelming. Sure, when you do manage to trigger the effect it feels pretty good, but most of the time you had to give up a card to make that effect work in the first place, so it isn’t quite as good of a deal as it might seem at first. Now, adding Foretell here does matter -- because it means it will be easier to find a window where you can actually cast and use this, as spending 2 mana on the turn you actually cast the card is significantly better.
Hagi Mob image 1.5 This seems alright. A 5-mana 5/4 isn’t great, but it isn’t abysmal either -- and its Boast ability is fine. Doing 1 damage to a creature is the ideal scenario, but if you can use it to make blocking harder for your opponent, or to ping your opponent because they are close to dead, that works too. It isn’t super efficient at any of the stuff it does, and it isn’t very exciting, but it seems like an alright top curve card for Red decks.
Pack 2 Pick 12: Mammoth Growth
Smashing Success image 0.0 Land destruction spells are almost never worth it in Limited. This is because it often has a negligible effect on the game -- if you get it late it basically does nothing, if you get it early it might do something, but even then there is about a 50% chance that your opponent still won’t be bothered by it. And yeah, this one is an instant, can hit artifacts, and makes a treasure when it destroys artifacts, but you still shouldn’t play it.
Mammoth Growth image 1.5 This is a decent trick. Paying the three mana up front isn’t the greatest deal, but the stats boost it gives is enough that it can help almost any creature win combat. The downside is the massive tempo hit you can take if your opponent can do something in response, so like with all tricks, be as careful as you can with this. Adding foretell to the mix does help reduce the downside a little bit -- since you only pay one Green mana the turn you actually use it, and you probably decided to Foretell it on a turn when you couldn’t do anything with your mana anyway, so if you do get blown out the tempo won’t be so bad.
Master Skald image 2.0 5-mana for a 4/4 that returns an artifact or enchantment is not a bad deal. And sure, you also need a creature in your graveyard to make it happen, but by turn 5 that won’t normally be an issue. There are lots of good Artifacts and Enchantments in this set, but the Skald is at his best with Sagas, since they are designed to eventually go to your graveyard in the first place. If you have at least one Saga, playing a Master Skald is usually a pretty good idea.
Tormentor's Helm image 2.5 Like Run Amok, this is a great card for aggressive decks, as it gives an efficient stats boost and can even help you close out a game because of the inevitable damage every time you attack, but it isn’t really very good anywhere else.
Pack 2 Pick 13: Immersturm Raider
Rune of Speed image 2.5 The Runes are all nice because they come with a cantrip, taking away the biggest downside of Auras -- the possibility of getting blown out by a 2-for-1. This is cheap enough that putting it on a new creature that can take advantage of Haste is a real possibility, though sometimes you may have to settle for only getting an advantage out of the +1/+0 part. Like all runes, if you put it on equipment it can really shine.
Immersturm Raider image 1.5 We see this card a lot -- I mean, Fissure Wizard in Zendikar Rising is basically the same. It is a solid card, gives you some card selection -- which can even make it matter in the late game, and all of that makes it so that it can overcome the downside of its mediocre stats.
Village Rites image 1.0 This is a reprint, and not one that I thought was particularly good in Limited. For this type of card to really be something special, you need for there to be a significant sacrifice or token sub-theme, and neither seems to be an overwhelming focus of this set, though the Elf deck might do the best of taking advantage of this. It is nice that it is an instant, so you can sacrifice something after you declare a block, or in response to an opponent’s removal, but you’re basically still just doing the same sort of thing that Tormenting Voice does. Giving up two cards to get two back. And that’s not bad it just isn’t the kind of thing you will always have roomf or in your deck. Mostly, I think you’ll only play this if you’re short on playables.
Pack 2 Pick 14: Skull Raid
Dread Rider image 1.0 This has some nice defensive stats and an activated ability that can close out games, but it tends to be too expensive and not powerful enough for even control decks to be interested in it.
Skull Raid image 2.0 Mind Rot effects are often not great in Limited. In the early game, you can get a 2-for-1 with them -- but it comes at the great sacrifice of not adding to the board at all on turn 3. Then, in the late game, it tends to get worse as the game goes on, and will be a terrible draw way too often. This card gets around those problems by becoming a draw spell if your opponent odeon’t have two cards to discard, so that means that this Mind Rot has all the upside of most of them -- it can get you a 2-for-1 -- but it can still do it if your opponent has one or no cards in the hand. Now, it isn’t exactly an efficient draw spell, but that’s ok with me overall. Foretell, of course, also makes it easier to cast because you get to pay in installments.
Pack 2 Pick 15: Vault Robber
Vault Robber image 1.0 This is something you mostly won’t play. You could do worse if you are desperate for fixing, but the fact he is reliant on stuff in the graveyard to make Treasure can be rough, and his stats aren’t very good.
Pack 3 Pick 1: Grizzled Outrider
Icebreaker Kraken image 1.0 It is pretty rough that this Kraken only cares about Snow LANDS for reducing its mana cost – snow permanents would be nice, only checking for snow lands means this will be very hard to make work in Limited, even if you draft like 7+ Snow lands, that doesn’t mean you’ll get all 7+, and he will still likely cost 8 or 9 mana, which is still going to be too slow in far too many games. Don’t get me wrong, his eTB ability is pretty good – but I feel like, as hard as it is to cast this guy, he should at least lock down lands too or something! Or maybe tap all their artifacts and creatures in addition. It will just be super hard to cast this, and its ability while good, will be kind of underwhelming a little too often. Oh, and the “return this kraken to your hand” part of it is just silly, because it is pretty darn likely you’ll never be casting it again if you do that, since you’ll very likely need to get those snow lands back in play to cast it, and that will take several turns which you probably don’t have in the late game.
Glimpse the Cosmos image 3.5 So, if you have 0 Giants in your deck, this is a Sorcery speed Anticipate, which is the kind of card that makes the cut when you are low on playables. But, this has some very real upside. Casting this from your graveyard if you’re in Blue really won’t be that hard, and that means you pay three mana to see six cards and draw two, which is awesome. If you have even a single Giant in your deck, this is worth running. You don’t even have to wait for things to line up really perfectly to use it -- if you just have U left over after you cast a Giant, you can do this. Obviously, the more Giants the better, but this has a reasonable floor and is very easy to make work, and the card selection and advantage it grants you is great.
Rune of Speed image 2.5 The Runes are all nice because they come with a cantrip, taking away the biggest downside of Auras -- the possibility of getting blown out by a 2-for-1. This is cheap enough that putting it on a new creature that can take advantage of Haste is a real possibility, though sometimes you may have to settle for only getting an advantage out of the +1/+0 part. Like all runes, if you put it on equipment it can really shine.
Tergrid's Shadow image 1.5 I tend not to be a huge fan of symmetrical edict effects in Limited. They have some really wide variance in terms of what they can do. There will certainly be board states where it devastates your opponent and doesn’t hurt you as much -- and those will be situations where you cast it. But there will also be times where it hurts you more than your opponent, and you just won’t be able to cast this card. It does have Foretell, which means that maybe if the board isn’t ideal, but you have the mana around, you can Foretell it to pay less mana for it on a single turn further down the road. And yeah, there will be times where you just foretell this on turn two, let your opponent play two creatures, and then cast the Shadow on turn four, which will be pretty nice, but you can’t count on that panning out regularly.
Seize the Spoils image 1.0 This is not an efficient way to dig deeper into your library, and while it also gives you a Treasure, you mostly should avoid playing this.
Breakneck Berserker image 2.0 Three mana 3/2s with Haste are just fine in aggressive decks. It also has a couple of useful creature types, so that’s nice.
Mammoth Growth image 1.5 This is a decent trick. Paying the three mana up front isn’t the greatest deal, but the stats boost it gives is enough that it can help almost any creature win combat. The downside is the massive tempo hit you can take if your opponent can do something in response, so like with all tricks, be as careful as you can with this. Adding foretell to the mix does help reduce the downside a little bit -- since you only pay one Green mana the turn you actually use it, and you probably decided to Foretell it on a turn when you couldn’t do anything with your mana anyway, so if you do get blown out the tempo won’t be so bad.
Raise the Draugr image 2.0 Black always seems to get a common spell that lets you return creatures from your graveyard to your hand, and here is the Kaldheim version of that! Cards in the past with similar effects are basically always something you want to run a single copy of, because they give your deck some late game punch, and allow you to get extra uses out of the best creatures in your deck, which is pretty awesome. You don’t usually want more of this type of card because they are so useless early, but that first copy is something I always want. I think this one is particularly nice, because it is an instant -- we normally see this effect at Sorcery speed. And sure, it asks for a little bit of help to get going -- you really only want to play this if you are consistently getting the two creatures back, just getting one is not a great deal. But, with that in mind, I think your typical black deck in the format will have enough creatures that share creature types that this will get two things back by the mid to late game most of the time.
Littjara Kinseekers image 1.5 A 4-mana 2/4 isn’t very good. But, if you can trigger its ETB ability, you’re going to be pretty happy -- as a 4-mana ⅗ that scries one is a pretty good deal. Now, because it has Changeling, you will just need two other creatures with matching creature types to trigger it, and while that isn’t always going to be what your board looks like, I imagine that in the late game it won’t be that hard to trigger. The ideal thing to do would be to curve out with creatures with the same types, but that won’t always be doable. Still, this being a reasonable 4-mana 2/4 changeling in the early game, and a much more impressive card in the later part of the game makes me think this is a pretty solid common for Blue.
Brinebarrow Intruder image 1.0 This doesn’t seem especially good. It is easy to imagine situations where you flash it in and killed a 3/1 or something, but it is mostly too situational to be worth playing. That decrease to power just doesn’t do enough often enough. You mostly won’t play this.
Warhorn Blast image 1.0 // 3.0 So, mass pump spells always have some decks they will be good in -- obviously, the ones that are going wide -- but they are pretty bad in less aggressive decks. This one does add Foretell to the mix -- this is one of the foretell cards where the total investment is the same whether you Foretell it or not, so if you have the extra mana it will definitely be worth doing, since only paying three for this the turn you play it is no small thing. Still, this kind of card is always kind of a build around. If you’re an aggro deck that is good at going wide, you’re going to want one copy of this pretty often. Even in those decks it is situational, but the situation is much more likely to arise in those decks.
Grizzled Outrider image 1.5 5-mana for a 5/5 is kind of alright. And that’s all there is to say about that.
Guardian Gladewalker image 2.5 So, we see versions of this card all the time -- and they are always pretty nice commons for Green. The +1/+1 counter ETB trigger makes it so that it is relevant all game long -- often times a single counter is enough to enable attacks you just didn’t have before. And, you know, sometimes, this is just a two-mana 2/2, like in the early game. Adding changeling to the mix is significant upside on an already pretty good Green common.
Invoke the Divine image 1.5 This set has enough good artifacts and Enchantments that this ends up having a reasonable number of targets, making it an okay thing to run in your main deck.
Glacial Floodplain image 3.0 Like most of the snow dual lands that have White in them, this one isn’t quite as good as the others. Still, it provides fixing and snow mana, and that’s useful in this format.
Pack 3 Pick 2: Boreal Outrider
Harald, King of Skemfar image 3.0 In many BG decks Harald is a 3-mana 3/2 with Menace that draws you a card, and that’s pretty nice. Unfortunately, BG is one of the weaker color pairs in the format, and that holds him back significantly. The other Elf payoffs are pretty disappointing.
Provoke the Trolls image 2.5 4-mana to do 3 to anything is not an amazing deal, and it is definitely kept out of the “premium” tier of removal, but at least it can do it at instant speed. The additional upside here is that you can also use this as a combat trick, by targeting one of your own creatures to give it +5/+0. And, while that is certainly upside, it isn’t that much upside. First, you need the creature you target with it to survive, so that means it has at least 4 toughness. Second, if you’re using it to help you kill a blocking or attacking creature in combat, well -- you just 2-for-1’d yourself. Third, if you’re interested in using it to help you do lethal, it isn’t actually that much more damage than the card can do as a burn spell, since the 3 damage can just go after the opponent. So, yeah, on occasion you’ll use it for that stats boost -- but most of the time, this is just an okay removal spell.
Boreal Outrider image 4.0 This seems like a really good snow payoff. On a base level, you have a 3-mana 3/2 that is a snow permanent, which isn’t a bad place to start -- but the fact that this will pump all of your creatures equal to the number of snow mana spent on them is no joke. Even if you only have one way to produce snow mana, having a couple creatures enter the battlefield with an additional counter each is a great return on the 3 mana that you spent. Keep in mind, that the Outrider triggers when the creature is cast, and that means that it won’t do its thing for itself -- just other creature spells. Over all, this seems really strong to me, as you will usually end up with more than one snow land lying around -- if you have two, it will really well...snowball.
Stalwart Valkyrie image 3.0 So, a 4-mana 3/2 with Flying is already a kind of ok card in Limited. So, if you’re paying two for this consistently, that’s going to be pretty nice. Especially because as we’ve seen, BW is interested in casting multiple spells in a turn, and this also helps on that front. Now, using the alternate cost won’t come up a ton in the early game, but it is worth noting that if you trade your 2/2 for theirs, you’re probably going to get more value out of that trade than they will thanks to your Valkyrie. But yeah, from the mid-game on, the alternate casting cost here will become increasingly easy to accomplish, and on a lot of boards a 3/2 with Flying is always relevant.
Sculptor of Winter image 3.0 A two-mana 2/2 is passable. Additionally, the fact it can untap snow lands is pretty nice too, since it will allow you to ramp, and produce two snow mana off of one snow land, which matters for many cards in this set.
Jarl of the Forsaken image 2.0 This type of removal effect is often underwhelming. Sure, when you do manage to trigger the effect it feels pretty good, but most of the time you had to give up a card to make that effect work in the first place, so it isn’t quite as good of a deal as it might seem at first. Now, adding Foretell here does matter -- because it means it will be easier to find a window where you can actually cast and use this, as spending 2 mana on the turn you actually cast the card is significantly better.
Icehide Troll image 3.0 This is a key common for Snow decks, as if you are able to pump this it becomes a pretty powerful threat. Because it asks for two snow that won’t work in every deck, but in the decks where the troll DOES work, it will be one of your best Commons.
Goldmaw Champion image 3.0 This really helps aggro decks in the format run over the slow, plodding control decks. They often don't have very many creatures in play, and that drastically increases how powerful the Champions ability is. It just enables all kinds of attack you wouldn't have without it.
Master Skald image 2.0 5-mana for a 4/4 that returns an artifact or enchantment is not a bad deal. And sure, you also need a creature in your graveyard to make it happen, but by turn 5 that won’t normally be an issue. There are lots of good Artifacts and Enchantments in this set, but the Skald is at his best with Sagas, since they are designed to eventually go to your graveyard in the first place. If you have at least one Saga, playing a Master Skald is usually a pretty good idea.
Depart the Realm image 2.0 Two mana to bounce nonland permanents at Instant speed is usually fine. Bounce spells won’t always straight up trade for a card, but the tempo they give you can be worth it – and, sometimes you can get one of your opponent’s cards with this, if you bounce something that they are using a trick on or putting an Aura on. This has Foretell too, but I still don’t think it is much more than “fine”.
Disdainful Stroke image 1.0 This is a card we’ve seen a lot of, and generally I don’t like running it. It is super weird in this format too, because you’ll go up against aggro decks who have 0-2 targets for this, and against snow decks who will have like 7+. I think that really means you have to start it in your sideboard, since it will be so bad against a big part of the metagame.
Dread Rider image 1.0 This has some nice defensive stats and an activated ability that can close out games, but it tends to be too expensive and not powerful enough for even control decks to be interested in it.
Tuskeri Firewalker image 3.0 A 3-mana 3/2 isn’t great, but its Boast effect is pretty nice. You really need to only be able to play somethin off of it once to feel good about the situation, since at that point, you’re getting a 2-for-1 in most cases. It even lets you pay lands if you exile one of them. The downside with this type of effect is often that you are unable to cast the spell you exile, and that’ll happen, but I think it’ll work out often enough that this seems pretty nice to me. Even if you just attack with it and it dies in combat, if you get a card out of the Boast, you’re doing just fine. I think this is a pretty good Red common.
Rimewood Falls image 3.0 Good Snow land. It gives you snow mana and fixing, and it is in colors that have some nice snow payoffs.
Pack 3 Pick 3: Elderleaf Mentor
Vengeful Reaper image 3.5 This seems quite good to me. It can represent a real threat as an attacker thanks to haste and Flying, and once it can no longer attack effectively, deathtouch means it can still trade with anything. The Foretell here is nice too, as paying for it in payments will make it easier for you to double spell for the cards that care about that.
Spectral Steel image 2.0 A two mana aura that gives +2/+2 is alright, but not usually worth the risk. Auras put you at great risk of getting blown out by a 2-for-1, so for them to be worth it, they have to do something to mitigate that risk, and Spirit Blade does that. Once it is in your graveyard you can use it to get back an Aura or Equipment, meaning that it pays you back for the card that you gave up in using it. It also means that if it gets milled, it can give you some nice graveyard value. Now, the question really is -- how often will it be able to get something back? And I think the answer is -- sometimes, but not all the time. Still, this gives a nice boost, and is a great thing to put on your one drop – and then has some late game utility. That all seems solid to me.
Great Hall of Starnheim image 3.5 Because you have to give up a creature for this effect, you will often just be upgrading a creature -- or sacrificing one that has been negated by an Aura or something -- but if you have some tokens around, or creatures with death triggers, it will feel pretty good, and I think it will be often enough that ONE of those things is going on on your board in the later part of the game, which means this is just another really nice utility land that does something very real late.
Funeral Longboat image 1.5 This is a decent vehicle. Crew 1 is just so easy to do, that this is going to just feel like a two mana 3/3 with Vigilance some of the time. And, the fact it is so easy to crew AND has vigilance, means your opponent also has to take into account while attacking you.
Battlefield Raptor image 1.5 // 3.5 This is a key card for aggressive decks. It wears the cheap Equipment and Auras it he format well, and suiting it up early can often win games. If you’re an aggro deck, you’re never cutting this, and it will be one of the best things you can do on turn one. Obviously, it isn’t very good anywhere else, so keep that in mind.
Mists of Littjara image 1.5 This type of Blue removal spell is always pretty alright. The fact you can’t use it to keep a creature from still being a good blocker can be annoying sometimes, but the fact it can also shut down vehicles and has Flash do make up for that a little bit. The Flash side of it will sometimes allow you to double block and kill something, while keeping both of your creatures, and when you can make this trade 1-for-1 it is going to feel good. That won’t be the regular occurrence, I don’t think – but it will happen often enough that you’ll play this if you need removal.
Revitalize image 0.5 This is an underwhelming reprint. A cantrip that gains you life isn’t bad, it is just one of those cards that will be the last card cut from your deck most of the time. Especially because this set doesn’t seem to have a strong life gain theme.
Mistwalker image 3.5 This card will overperform for you. 3-mana 1/4s are usually already playable, but the Changeling status and the ability to pump power makes it so that Mistwalker can do a whole lot of stuff for a three drop. It counts for your Giant payoffs, blocks effectively, and can even attack pretty hard.
Elderfang Disciple image 1.5 A two mana 1/1 that makes an opponent discard a card is nice, and because it does that, you’re at least starting out with a 1-for-1 in most cases. Then, if it can trade for an X/1, you’re getting some serious 2-for-1 value out of this card. Now, it won’t always line up that way, and in the late game the discard thing might not matter too much, and those are serious limitations, but this seems decent enough.
Roots of Wisdom image 1.0 So, this card helps you mill yourself, and then gets an elf or land back from the graveyard most of the time – but not always, especially early. I do like that you get to draw a card if you can’t get a land or elf, which means that you don’t have to have a huge number of elves for it to be super okay. I do kind of wish that it would let you make the choice -- like, if you have an elf and/or land in your graveyard, you could still choose to draw, but it doesn’t work that way -- you only draw if there is nothing to get back. But yeah, like Anticipate, and Tormenting Voice and other cards like this, I imagine you’ll cut this more than you’ll play it. Frankly, it just doesn’t do a whole lot. It doesn’t help that the Elf deck isn’t very impressive.
Elderleaf Mentor image 2.5 This is fine. . Creatures who make two bodies are always nice -- and in the end here you get a solid deal -- 4 -mana for 4/3 worth of stats spread across two bodies. Unfortunately, the Elf deck in this format is hard to make work, and that holds it back a little bit.
Hagi Mob image 1.5 This seems alright. A 5-mana 5/4 isn’t great, but it isn’t abysmal either -- and its Boast ability is fine. Doing 1 damage to a creature is the ideal scenario, but if you can use it to make blocking harder for your opponent, or to ping your opponent because they are close to dead, that works too. It isn’t super efficient at any of the stuff it does, and it isn’t very exciting, but it seems like an alright top curve card for Red decks.
Alpine Meadow image 3.0 This isn’t one of the more important snow lands around, because White and Red are the colors that care the least about Snow. Still, it does provide fixing and a snow permanent, and those are things that are pretty valuable in this set.
Pack 3 Pick 4: Glittering Frost
The Trickster-God's Heist image 2.0 This is another situational Saga that doesn’t always do something. When you can play it and take full advantage it is strong, but it will be stuck in your hand doing nothing more often than you’d think.
Hailstorm Valkyrie image 2.0 A 4-mana 2/2 with flying and trample is not good. By adding the ability to pump snow mana into this, you get something that is certainly better. Oftentimes your opponent will just have to take a hit from this because of the threat of activation of that ability. That said, being able to do it more than once in this format is far from a forgone conclusion, and because it has such a bad baseline, the upside doesn’t do enough to make it a whole lot better.
Tormentor's Helm image 2.5 Like Run Amok, this is a great card for aggressive decks, as it gives an efficient stats boost and can even help you close out a game because of the inevitable damage every time you attack, but it isn’t really very good anywhere else.
Duskwielder image 1.0 You’ll play this in really aggressive Black decks, but even then you’re kind of hoping you’ll get a better one drop than this! Overall, this is quickly outclassed on the board, and the Boast effect doesn’t do enough to help that.
Open the Omenpaths image 0.0 This is a card a lot of people will play when they are desperate for fixing – but don’t do it. Ritual effects like this aren’t good in Limited, you two for one yourself for some fixing and a small mana boost, and that card disadvantage is likely to cause you to lose the game. The alternate mode this has doesn’t help make any more playable either.
King Harald's Revenge image 1.0 I don’t like this type of card. Sure, lure-type effects are nice, but they only really get powerful if they force EVERYTHING to block something, allowing the rest of your board to get through. This will just require one block. And yeah, sometimes this will make your creature absolutely massive, and adding Trample to that is nice -- but it still seems so clunky to me. You have to wait for the absolute right window for this to work out for you -- one where you have enough creatures for it to matter -- one where forcing the block makes a difference -- and one where your opponent doesn’t have cards in hand and mana up, since if they do, you have a good chance at getting completely blown out.
Strategic Planning image 1.0 For two mana you get some card selection and some help loading your graveyard. These type of spells that just let you go 1-for-1 are always easy to cut, as their effects are so minimal. They aren’t bad, but you’d probably rather have a two-drop creature most of the time.
Gods' Hall Guardian image 2.0 This is a Foretell card that doesn’t end up costing you extra mana in the end.. You still pay a total of six mana, but having the flexibility to pay that mana in installments -- two on one turn, 4 on another -- is nice. Plus, like most foretell cards, it lets you play something ahead of curve -- getting this down on turn 4 is pretty legit. Now, 6-mana for a 3/6 with Vigilance is far from impressive – but it is already borderline playable. It is a good defensive body that can also pressure the opponent a little bit.
Run Ashore image 1.5 Blue often gets an expensive spell that lets you bounce a couple of things, and it is always a decent card, and I think that’s what we’re looking at here. One nice thing here is that one of the permanents will go back to the top of an opponent’s library, which means that you are actually trading one-for-one with Run Ashore, instead of just getting some tempo. Speaking of tempo, you can often find situations where paying 6 mana results in bouncing more than 6 mana worth of stuff for your opponent, and that’s nice too. You can, of course, also use it on your own stuff if you can get benefits out of it, and that sometimes is the case. This can really help a Blue deck stabilize, or potentially end the game. Take note also that it is an instant -- lots of previous similar cards have been sorceries -- and that does open up the chance for some more significant blowouts. That said, it is super expensive and fairly situational, and not really something you can ever afford to play more than one of.
Hagi Mob image 1.5 This seems alright. A 5-mana 5/4 isn’t great, but it isn’t abysmal either -- and its Boast ability is fine. Doing 1 damage to a creature is the ideal scenario, but if you can use it to make blocking harder for your opponent, or to ping your opponent because they are close to dead, that works too. It isn’t super efficient at any of the stuff it does, and it isn’t very exciting, but it seems like an alright top curve card for Red decks.
Glittering Frost image 2.5 This card is pretty important in the 4 and 5 color Snow decks, as it helps enable your mana while also giving you two snow permanents with a single card. It is pretty much useless in aggro decks, though.
Snow-Covered Island image 2.5 Blue has some nice snow payoffs, and that means you should be valuing this Snow land over most average cards.
Pack 3 Pick 5: Beskir Shieldmate
Tergrid's Shadow image 1.5 I tend not to be a huge fan of symmetrical edict effects in Limited. They have some really wide variance in terms of what they can do. There will certainly be board states where it devastates your opponent and doesn’t hurt you as much -- and those will be situations where you cast it. But there will also be times where it hurts you more than your opponent, and you just won’t be able to cast this card. It does have Foretell, which means that maybe if the board isn’t ideal, but you have the mana around, you can Foretell it to pay less mana for it on a single turn further down the road. And yeah, there will be times where you just foretell this on turn two, let your opponent play two creatures, and then cast the Shadow on turn four, which will be pretty nice, but you can’t count on that panning out regularly.
Gates of Istfell image 3.5 It is great having a land that can draw you some cards and gain you some life in the late game – most lands become useless at that point! But not this one.
Goldmaw Champion image 3.0 This really helps aggro decks in the format run over the slow, plodding control decks. They often don't have very many creatures in play, and that drastically increases how powerful the Champions ability is. It just enables all kinds of attack you wouldn't have without it.
Beskir Shieldmate image 3.0 This is a solid two-drop. A two mana 2/1 is far from ideal, but if you can trade with this and then get a token, you’re going to feel pretty good. Overall, this is a nice two drop that will pretty much always make the cut
Smashing Success image 0.0 Land destruction spells are almost never worth it in Limited. This is because it often has a negligible effect on the game -- if you get it late it basically does nothing, if you get it early it might do something, but even then there is about a 50% chance that your opponent still won’t be bothered by it. And yeah, this one is an instant, can hit artifacts, and makes a treasure when it destroys artifacts, but you still shouldn’t play it.
Gnottvold Recluse image 2.0 Most spiders we see come with low power and high toughness. This makes them good at repeatedly blocking smaller flyers, but not so good at actually killing them. Gnottvold Recluse is different, in that it has higher power and lower toughness. This means it is going to be better at blocking and killing larger flyers, but a lot worse at repeatedly blocking flyers. 3-mana for a 4/2 line is often a borderline playable card even without Reach, and I think adding Reach to the mix here means you will feel fine about playing the first copy of this. Though, it would be nice if it were a snow permanent or something.
Littjara Kinseekers image 1.5 A 4-mana 2/4 isn’t very good. But, if you can trigger its ETB ability, you’re going to be pretty happy -- as a 4-mana ⅗ that scries one is a pretty good deal. Now, because it has Changeling, you will just need two other creatures with matching creature types to trigger it, and while that isn’t always going to be what your board looks like, I imagine that in the late game it won’t be that hard to trigger. The ideal thing to do would be to curve out with creatures with the same types, but that won’t always be doable. Still, this being a reasonable 4-mana 2/4 changeling in the early game, and a much more impressive card in the later part of the game makes me think this is a pretty solid common for Blue.
Karfell Harbinger image 1.5 So, we see two mana 1/3s who can tap for spells relatively often, and this is a more flexible version of those, since it can also use it to foretell a card. It won’t always make a difference, but it will often enough that you’ll probably play the first copy of this in decks that are interested in spells and/or foretell, which will be lots of Blue decks.
Village Rites image 1.0 This is a reprint, and not one that I thought was particularly good in Limited. For this type of card to really be something special, you need for there to be a significant sacrifice or token sub-theme, and neither seems to be an overwhelming focus of this set, though the Elf deck might do the best of taking advantage of this. It is nice that it is an instant, so you can sacrifice something after you declare a block, or in response to an opponent’s removal, but you’re basically still just doing the same sort of thing that Tormenting Voice does. Giving up two cards to get two back. And that’s not bad it just isn’t the kind of thing you will always have roomf or in your deck. Mostly, I think you’ll only play this if you’re short on playables.
Master Skald image 2.0 5-mana for a 4/4 that returns an artifact or enchantment is not a bad deal. And sure, you also need a creature in your graveyard to make it happen, but by turn 5 that won’t normally be an issue. There are lots of good Artifacts and Enchantments in this set, but the Skald is at his best with Sagas, since they are designed to eventually go to your graveyard in the first place. If you have at least one Saga, playing a Master Skald is usually a pretty good idea.
Sulfurous Mire image 3.5 This is a Snow land to value fairly highly. It gives you snow mana and fixing, and it is in colors that have some nice snow payoffs at lower rarities.
Pack 3 Pick 6: Battlefield Raptor
Roots of Wisdom image 1.0 So, this card helps you mill yourself, and then gets an elf or land back from the graveyard most of the time – but not always, especially early. I do like that you get to draw a card if you can’t get a land or elf, which means that you don’t have to have a huge number of elves for it to be super okay. I do kind of wish that it would let you make the choice -- like, if you have an elf and/or land in your graveyard, you could still choose to draw, but it doesn’t work that way -- you only draw if there is nothing to get back. But yeah, like Anticipate, and Tormenting Voice and other cards like this, I imagine you’ll cut this more than you’ll play it. Frankly, it just doesn’t do a whole lot. It doesn’t help that the Elf deck isn’t very impressive.
Demonic Gifts image 1.5 This type of trick is usually alright. The stats boost is enough to make your creature take down larger creatures in combat, and it doesn’t really have to “win” the combat, since the Gifts will bring your creature right back if it dies. This can get especially nasty if your creature has an ETB ability. It also doesn’t hurt that it does something against most removal too. It is still a trick, and the situational nature of them keeps most of them from ever being especially good.
Battlefield Raptor image 1.5 // 3.5 This is a key card for aggressive decks. It wears the cheap Equipment and Auras it he format well, and suiting it up early can often win games. If you’re an aggro deck, you’re never cutting this, and it will be one of the best things you can do on turn one. Obviously, it isn’t very good anywhere else, so keep that in mind.
Duskwielder image 1.0 You’ll play this in really aggressive Black decks, but even then you’re kind of hoping you’ll get a better one drop than this! Overall, this is quickly outclassed on the board, and the Boast effect doesn’t do enough to help that.
Run Ashore image 1.5 Blue often gets an expensive spell that lets you bounce a couple of things, and it is always a decent card, and I think that’s what we’re looking at here. One nice thing here is that one of the permanents will go back to the top of an opponent’s library, which means that you are actually trading one-for-one with Run Ashore, instead of just getting some tempo. Speaking of tempo, you can often find situations where paying 6 mana results in bouncing more than 6 mana worth of stuff for your opponent, and that’s nice too. You can, of course, also use it on your own stuff if you can get benefits out of it, and that sometimes is the case. This can really help a Blue deck stabilize, or potentially end the game. Take note also that it is an instant -- lots of previous similar cards have been sorceries -- and that does open up the chance for some more significant blowouts. That said, it is super expensive and fairly situational, and not really something you can ever afford to play more than one of.
Brinebarrow Intruder image 1.0 This doesn’t seem especially good. It is easy to imagine situations where you flash it in and killed a 3/1 or something, but it is mostly too situational to be worth playing. That decrease to power just doesn’t do enough often enough. You mostly won’t play this.
Craven Hulk image 2.0 This coward may not be good at blocking, but a 4-mana 4/4 is a good enough deal in Limited that I’m okay with that. Its also a Giant, and that is probably the creature type that matters the most in this set, as it is the most tribal of the color pairs.
Elderfang Disciple image 1.5 A two mana 1/1 that makes an opponent discard a card is nice, and because it does that, you’re at least starting out with a 1-for-1 in most cases. Then, if it can trade for an X/1, you’re getting some serious 2-for-1 value out of this card. Now, it won’t always line up that way, and in the late game the discard thing might not matter too much, and those are serious limitations, but this seems decent enough.
Feed the Serpent image 3.5 This has been surprisingly disappointing in this set. Black is a weak color overall and it isn’t easy to splash, and it is too slow to combat aggro decks. That doesn’t mean it isn’t still quite good, mind you, just that it would normally be even better. It is still easily Black’s best commons and can deal with a whole lot of stuff!
Snow-Covered Mountain image 2.0 Red isn’t overflowing with snow payoffs, but this is still a snow land and those are quite useful in this format.
Pack 3 Pick 7: Snowfield Sinkhole
Niko Defies Destiny image 1.0 This has been challenging to make work, simply because even with all the Foretell in the format, it is difficult to always benefit from the first two chapters on the card. When you can, it feels good, but this card is too inconsistent for me to want to play it in most decks.
Karfell Kennel-Master image 2.5 This has been solid top-curve in Black decks. It often comes down and enables 1-2 attacks that you just couldn’t have done before, and a 4/4 body is pretty good in this format.
Immersturm Raider image 1.5 We see this card a lot -- I mean, Fissure Wizard in Zendikar Rising is basically the same. It is a solid card, gives you some card selection -- which can even make it matter in the late game, and all of that makes it so that it can overcome the downside of its mediocre stats.
Draugr Thought-Thief image 1.5 If you’re going to be a 3-mana 3/2, you probably need to have something going on that makes those inefficient stats worth it -- and I don’t really see that here. You get some very minor card selection, and an effect that might help you put something in your graveyard. Or, alternatively, something that lets you control your opponent’s next draw a little bit, but neither of those things is that great. It is kind of equivalent to Scry 1, but in most ways, it isn’t as good as Scry 1. You will certainly play this sometimes, but you’ll also cut it a fair bit.
Starnheim Courser image 2.5 This has the always-okay Wind Drake stats and reasonable upside. Good Equipment and Auras are plentiful in the set, so that upside does come up!
Village Rites image 1.0 This is a reprint, and not one that I thought was particularly good in Limited. For this type of card to really be something special, you need for there to be a significant sacrifice or token sub-theme, and neither seems to be an overwhelming focus of this set, though the Elf deck might do the best of taking advantage of this. It is nice that it is an instant, so you can sacrifice something after you declare a block, or in response to an opponent’s removal, but you’re basically still just doing the same sort of thing that Tormenting Voice does. Giving up two cards to get two back. And that’s not bad it just isn’t the kind of thing you will always have roomf or in your deck. Mostly, I think you’ll only play this if you’re short on playables.
Deathknell Berserker image 2.0 There are a decent number of ways in this format to get the Berserker to 3 power, so he makes that 2/2 Zombie way more often than you might think! And when he does that, he feels quite good. That’s nice upside to have on an already okay creature stats-wise.
Duskwielder image 1.0 You’ll play this in really aggressive Black decks, but even then you’re kind of hoping you’ll get a better one drop than this! Overall, this is quickly outclassed on the board, and the Boast effect doesn’t do enough to help that.
Snowfield Sinkhole image 3.0 Like most of the snow dual lands that have White in them, this one isn’t quite as good as the others. Still, it provides fixing and snow mana, and that’s useful in this format.
Pack 3 Pick 8: Snakeskin Veil
Forging the Tyrite Sword image 0.5 You mostly don’t want to be playing this. It has little impact on the board early, and that’s not something RW is interested in – and neither is Treasure for the most part. The one situation where you do consider playing this is if you have Halvar in your deck, as he is one of the best cards in the format, and giving up some tempo to search him up in a couple turns is worth it.
Skull Raid image 2.0 Mind Rot effects are often not great in Limited. In the early game, you can get a 2-for-1 with them -- but it comes at the great sacrifice of not adding to the board at all on turn 3. Then, in the late game, it tends to get worse as the game goes on, and will be a terrible draw way too often. This card gets around those problems by becoming a draw spell if your opponent odeon’t have two cards to discard, so that means that this Mind Rot has all the upside of most of them -- it can get you a 2-for-1 -- but it can still do it if your opponent has one or no cards in the hand. Now, it isn’t exactly an efficient draw spell, but that’s ok with me overall. Foretell, of course, also makes it easier to cast because you get to pay in installments.
Snakeskin Veil image 1.5 This is a decent combat trick. It doesn’t give the biggest boost ever, even for one mana. Basically with tricks, you’re looking for the ones that can do the best job of helping your creature win combat, and you want to do it as efficiently as possible. One usually expects at least a +2/+2 boost from a one mana trick, and this doesn’t deliver there. However, it does grant a creature hexproof, and that means that it also has utility outside of combat -- plus, the boost it gives is permanent, so it isn’t SUPER far away from +2/+2.
Raiders' Karve image 1.5 Crew 3 is kind of a lot for a 4/4 vehicle, but the fact that it will effectively ramp and draw you a card like 40% of the time does help make that look a little less ugly. If you can get the land off the top with this even once, you’re going to feel alright. That said, it isn’t exactly efficient, and I think you probably cut this a little more than you play it.
Immersturm Raider image 1.5 We see this card a lot -- I mean, Fissure Wizard in Zendikar Rising is basically the same. It is a solid card, gives you some card selection -- which can even make it matter in the late game, and all of that makes it so that it can overcome the downside of its mediocre stats.
Axgard Cavalry image 2.5 This is a nice two drop. Having a bear that can give haste to stuff is really nice. If the board is such that it can’t attack itself, there’s a good chance you can play a creature that has a nice attack on the board if you can make it attack right away, and that’s what the Cavalry does. These creatures who can give haste to other creatures always seem to overperform, and I think this looks like a nice Common for Red.
Fearless Pup image 2.0 A one mana 1/1 with first strike is not that impressive, those are just stats that quickly become irrelevant, and in some games it will feel like you should have just played a four drop that is more impactful. Adding Boast to the mix obviously matters, though, and often just the threat of activation will mean that your opponent just takes hits from this thing. This is also another great creature to enhance with equipment, counters, and Auras.
Battlefield Raptor image 1.5 // 3.5 This is a key card for aggressive decks. It wears the cheap Equipment and Auras it he format well, and suiting it up early can often win games. If you’re an aggro deck, you’re never cutting this, and it will be one of the best things you can do on turn one. Obviously, it isn’t very good anywhere else, so keep that in mind.
Pack 3 Pick 9: Guardian Gladewalker
Rune of Speed image 2.5 The Runes are all nice because they come with a cantrip, taking away the biggest downside of Auras -- the possibility of getting blown out by a 2-for-1. This is cheap enough that putting it on a new creature that can take advantage of Haste is a real possibility, though sometimes you may have to settle for only getting an advantage out of the +1/+0 part. Like all runes, if you put it on equipment it can really shine.
Seize the Spoils image 1.0 This is not an efficient way to dig deeper into your library, and while it also gives you a Treasure, you mostly should avoid playing this.
Mammoth Growth image 1.5 This is a decent trick. Paying the three mana up front isn’t the greatest deal, but the stats boost it gives is enough that it can help almost any creature win combat. The downside is the massive tempo hit you can take if your opponent can do something in response, so like with all tricks, be as careful as you can with this. Adding foretell to the mix does help reduce the downside a little bit -- since you only pay one Green mana the turn you actually use it, and you probably decided to Foretell it on a turn when you couldn’t do anything with your mana anyway, so if you do get blown out the tempo won’t be so bad.
Littjara Kinseekers image 1.5 A 4-mana 2/4 isn’t very good. But, if you can trigger its ETB ability, you’re going to be pretty happy -- as a 4-mana ⅗ that scries one is a pretty good deal. Now, because it has Changeling, you will just need two other creatures with matching creature types to trigger it, and while that isn’t always going to be what your board looks like, I imagine that in the late game it won’t be that hard to trigger. The ideal thing to do would be to curve out with creatures with the same types, but that won’t always be doable. Still, this being a reasonable 4-mana 2/4 changeling in the early game, and a much more impressive card in the later part of the game makes me think this is a pretty solid common for Blue.
Brinebarrow Intruder image 1.0 This doesn’t seem especially good. It is easy to imagine situations where you flash it in and killed a 3/1 or something, but it is mostly too situational to be worth playing. That decrease to power just doesn’t do enough often enough. You mostly won’t play this.
Warhorn Blast image 1.0 // 3.0 So, mass pump spells always have some decks they will be good in -- obviously, the ones that are going wide -- but they are pretty bad in less aggressive decks. This one does add Foretell to the mix -- this is one of the foretell cards where the total investment is the same whether you Foretell it or not, so if you have the extra mana it will definitely be worth doing, since only paying three for this the turn you play it is no small thing. Still, this kind of card is always kind of a build around. If you’re an aggro deck that is good at going wide, you’re going to want one copy of this pretty often. Even in those decks it is situational, but the situation is much more likely to arise in those decks.
Guardian Gladewalker image 2.5 So, we see versions of this card all the time -- and they are always pretty nice commons for Green. The +1/+1 counter ETB trigger makes it so that it is relevant all game long -- often times a single counter is enough to enable attacks you just didn’t have before. And, you know, sometimes, this is just a two-mana 2/2, like in the early game. Adding changeling to the mix is significant upside on an already pretty good Green common.
Pack 3 Pick 10: Harald, King of Skemfar
Harald, King of Skemfar image 3.0 In many BG decks Harald is a 3-mana 3/2 with Menace that draws you a card, and that’s pretty nice. Unfortunately, BG is one of the weaker color pairs in the format, and that holds him back significantly. The other Elf payoffs are pretty disappointing.
Provoke the Trolls image 2.5 4-mana to do 3 to anything is not an amazing deal, and it is definitely kept out of the “premium” tier of removal, but at least it can do it at instant speed. The additional upside here is that you can also use this as a combat trick, by targeting one of your own creatures to give it +5/+0. And, while that is certainly upside, it isn’t that much upside. First, you need the creature you target with it to survive, so that means it has at least 4 toughness. Second, if you’re using it to help you kill a blocking or attacking creature in combat, well -- you just 2-for-1’d yourself. Third, if you’re interested in using it to help you do lethal, it isn’t actually that much more damage than the card can do as a burn spell, since the 3 damage can just go after the opponent. So, yeah, on occasion you’ll use it for that stats boost -- but most of the time, this is just an okay removal spell.
Master Skald image 2.0 5-mana for a 4/4 that returns an artifact or enchantment is not a bad deal. And sure, you also need a creature in your graveyard to make it happen, but by turn 5 that won’t normally be an issue. There are lots of good Artifacts and Enchantments in this set, but the Skald is at his best with Sagas, since they are designed to eventually go to your graveyard in the first place. If you have at least one Saga, playing a Master Skald is usually a pretty good idea.
Depart the Realm image 2.0 Two mana to bounce nonland permanents at Instant speed is usually fine. Bounce spells won’t always straight up trade for a card, but the tempo they give you can be worth it – and, sometimes you can get one of your opponent’s cards with this, if you bounce something that they are using a trick on or putting an Aura on. This has Foretell too, but I still don’t think it is much more than “fine”.
Disdainful Stroke image 1.0 This is a card we’ve seen a lot of, and generally I don’t like running it. It is super weird in this format too, because you’ll go up against aggro decks who have 0-2 targets for this, and against snow decks who will have like 7+. I think that really means you have to start it in your sideboard, since it will be so bad against a big part of the metagame.
Dread Rider image 1.0 This has some nice defensive stats and an activated ability that can close out games, but it tends to be too expensive and not powerful enough for even control decks to be interested in it.
Pack 3 Pick 11: Great Hall of Starnheim
Great Hall of Starnheim image 3.5 Because you have to give up a creature for this effect, you will often just be upgrading a creature -- or sacrificing one that has been negated by an Aura or something -- but if you have some tokens around, or creatures with death triggers, it will feel pretty good, and I think it will be often enough that ONE of those things is going on on your board in the later part of the game, which means this is just another really nice utility land that does something very real late.
Funeral Longboat image 1.5 This is a decent vehicle. Crew 1 is just so easy to do, that this is going to just feel like a two mana 3/3 with Vigilance some of the time. And, the fact it is so easy to crew AND has vigilance, means your opponent also has to take into account while attacking you.
Revitalize image 0.5 This is an underwhelming reprint. A cantrip that gains you life isn’t bad, it is just one of those cards that will be the last card cut from your deck most of the time. Especially because this set doesn’t seem to have a strong life gain theme.
Roots of Wisdom image 1.0 So, this card helps you mill yourself, and then gets an elf or land back from the graveyard most of the time – but not always, especially early. I do like that you get to draw a card if you can’t get a land or elf, which means that you don’t have to have a huge number of elves for it to be super okay. I do kind of wish that it would let you make the choice -- like, if you have an elf and/or land in your graveyard, you could still choose to draw, but it doesn’t work that way -- you only draw if there is nothing to get back. But yeah, like Anticipate, and Tormenting Voice and other cards like this, I imagine you’ll cut this more than you’ll play it. Frankly, it just doesn’t do a whole lot. It doesn’t help that the Elf deck isn’t very impressive.
Hagi Mob image 1.5 This seems alright. A 5-mana 5/4 isn’t great, but it isn’t abysmal either -- and its Boast ability is fine. Doing 1 damage to a creature is the ideal scenario, but if you can use it to make blocking harder for your opponent, or to ping your opponent because they are close to dead, that works too. It isn’t super efficient at any of the stuff it does, and it isn’t very exciting, but it seems like an alright top curve card for Red decks.
Pack 3 Pick 12: Hailstorm Valkyrie
Hailstorm Valkyrie image 2.0 A 4-mana 2/2 with flying and trample is not good. By adding the ability to pump snow mana into this, you get something that is certainly better. Oftentimes your opponent will just have to take a hit from this because of the threat of activation of that ability. That said, being able to do it more than once in this format is far from a forgone conclusion, and because it has such a bad baseline, the upside doesn’t do enough to make it a whole lot better.
Tormentor's Helm image 2.5 Like Run Amok, this is a great card for aggressive decks, as it gives an efficient stats boost and can even help you close out a game because of the inevitable damage every time you attack, but it isn’t really very good anywhere else.
Duskwielder image 1.0 You’ll play this in really aggressive Black decks, but even then you’re kind of hoping you’ll get a better one drop than this! Overall, this is quickly outclassed on the board, and the Boast effect doesn’t do enough to help that.
Open the Omenpaths image 0.0 This is a card a lot of people will play when they are desperate for fixing – but don’t do it. Ritual effects like this aren’t good in Limited, you two for one yourself for some fixing and a small mana boost, and that card disadvantage is likely to cause you to lose the game. The alternate mode this has doesn’t help make any more playable either.
Pack 3 Pick 13: Village Rites
Smashing Success image 0.0 Land destruction spells are almost never worth it in Limited. This is because it often has a negligible effect on the game -- if you get it late it basically does nothing, if you get it early it might do something, but even then there is about a 50% chance that your opponent still won’t be bothered by it. And yeah, this one is an instant, can hit artifacts, and makes a treasure when it destroys artifacts, but you still shouldn’t play it.
Karfell Harbinger image 1.5 So, we see two mana 1/3s who can tap for spells relatively often, and this is a more flexible version of those, since it can also use it to foretell a card. It won’t always make a difference, but it will often enough that you’ll probably play the first copy of this in decks that are interested in spells and/or foretell, which will be lots of Blue decks.
Village Rites image 1.0 This is a reprint, and not one that I thought was particularly good in Limited. For this type of card to really be something special, you need for there to be a significant sacrifice or token sub-theme, and neither seems to be an overwhelming focus of this set, though the Elf deck might do the best of taking advantage of this. It is nice that it is an instant, so you can sacrifice something after you declare a block, or in response to an opponent’s removal, but you’re basically still just doing the same sort of thing that Tormenting Voice does. Giving up two cards to get two back. And that’s not bad it just isn’t the kind of thing you will always have roomf or in your deck. Mostly, I think you’ll only play this if you’re short on playables.
Pack 3 Pick 14: Demonic Gifts
Demonic Gifts image 1.5 This type of trick is usually alright. The stats boost is enough to make your creature take down larger creatures in combat, and it doesn’t really have to “win” the combat, since the Gifts will bring your creature right back if it dies. This can get especially nasty if your creature has an ETB ability. It also doesn’t hurt that it does something against most removal too. It is still a trick, and the situational nature of them keeps most of them from ever being especially good.
Duskwielder image 1.0 You’ll play this in really aggressive Black decks, but even then you’re kind of hoping you’ll get a better one drop than this! Overall, this is quickly outclassed on the board, and the Boast effect doesn’t do enough to help that.
Pack 3 Pick 15: Duskwielder
Duskwielder image 1.0 You’ll play this in really aggressive Black decks, but even then you’re kind of hoping you’ll get a better one drop than this! Overall, this is quickly outclassed on the board, and the Boast effect doesn’t do enough to help that.
Draft Pick Overview