Average Picked At: 4.61 Total Times Picked: 51 Average Last Seen At: 3.76 Total Times Seen 179
Pro Rating: 4.0 Pro Comment: I always love creatures who ETB and freeze something down, and now we have “stun” counters that pretty much do the same thing! It is a great tempo play to add to the board while significantly downgrading your opponents for a whole turn cycle, and it usually enables you get to the upper hand if you didn’t already have it – and if you were already head, you often win on the spot. This is a great Uncommon. It is pretty fascinating to compare to Berg STrider from Kaldheim, which was similar – it was easier to cast, but it also demanded you spend snow mana ot get that to happen, and it didn’t have Ward 2. Now, Giants were also a tribal thing in Kaldheim, but I still think the Strider comes out ahead – and that’s probably why it is at Uncommon. I think this is likely Blue’s best Uncommon.
Average Picked At: 5.37 Total Times Picked: 41 Average Last Seen At: 4.53 Total Times Seen 271
Pro Rating: 3.0 Pro Comment: Every time we see one of these 5-mana 3/3 Flyer that grows when something happens, they tend to underperform. The big problem is the high cost and the fact it can easily die to two or three mana removal, which is a real hit to the tempo. One nice thing here, is that you can play her in your first main phase when you have trades to offer, and then your opponent is put in kind of an ugly place, but I still envision this being harder to get going than it looks. I’m not saying it is bad, mind you – just not a super high quality Uncommon.
Average Picked At: 7.72 Total Times Picked: 53 Average Last Seen At: 5.91 Total Times Seen 320
Pro Rating: 3.0 Pro Comment: This has some kind of mediocre base stats, but its modal Prowess-like ability is pretty sweet, even if all of the options are kind of small. You’ll always have an option that is relevant though, since Scrying is something you can always do and get an advantage from. It benefits from the fact that there are three Blue archetypes in the format that are into instants and sorceries too!
Average Picked At: 10.62 Total Times Picked: 108 Average Last Seen At: 8.73 Total Times Seen 1306
Pro Rating: 1.5 Pro Comment: This is functional reprint of Chrome Cat, a card that usually didn’t make the cut in Streets of New Capenna. That’s probably true here too. This format does have some Artifact stuff going on, so it will probably be a little better than the cat – but unless you’re a deck desperate for Artifacts or a three drop, you probably won’t run this. It just doesn’t do enough.
Average Picked At: 7.92 Total Times Picked: 164 Average Last Seen At: 7.27 Total Times Seen 1095
Pro Rating: 3.0 Pro Comment: This is a reprint and it overperformed a bit when we last saw it. I think it will be pretty nice here too, as the Go-wide theme in White is fairly pronounced, as we’ve seen already in this video.
Average Picked At: 11.81 Total Times Picked: 96 Average Last Seen At: 9.40 Total Times Seen 1532
Pro Rating: 2.0 Pro Comment: Like many cards with Kicker, neither mode of this card is super impressive. You either get a Raging Goblin or a 4-mana Hill Giant with Haste. It does have the upside of bumping up its power, but it is very expensive – and any time we see it cost three, I get pretty skeptical. When this is a 1/1, it dies to anything blocking it. And sure, you can pump a bunch of mana into it to make whatever is blocking it die, but you end up spending some insane mana to kill like…a two drop, and that tempo matters! Once you kick it, it does become more formidable, as you no longer need to buff it for it to actually have a relevant body in combat.
Average Picked At: 8.00 Total Times Picked: 11 Average Last Seen At: 5.17 Total Times Seen 112
Pro Rating: 2.5 Pro Comment: In the later stages of the game, you’re going to be especially interested in drawing extra cards – and so is your opponent. Because at that point you have enough mana to not worry about the extra cost, but you really need gas. The fact that this is symmetrical makes it sort of weird to evaluate – but overall, I think it ends up being kind of a wash. You and your opponent can both benefit from it, and you get a 2/3 out of the deal. Bad news is, your opponent can take advantage of the effect first, since their draw step is imminent – and if they draw removal after drawing their extra and kill the Loremaster, you’re going to feel pretty awful!
Average Picked At: 1.22 Total Times Picked: 41 Average Last Seen At: 1.23 Total Times Seen 45
Pro Rating: 5.0 Pro Comment: We’re going to see a lot of Kicker costs that aren’t the same color as the card – a returning feature that they really went hard on in the original Invasion Block, so it makes sense! The thing to keep in mind with cards like this is that in an ideal world, you’re at least splashing the kicker mana, and that will be reasonably easy to accomplish in the format. You won’t always be able to kick them, but you will be able to pretty often – and obviously that’s even more true if you’re just all in on all the colors. And, even if you don’t pay the Kicker here, you have a great card in a 4-mana ¾ with Flying and Lifelink. If you do pay the kicker you get to cast Shock twice – you can do it on two separate targets, or to one if you want. And because of lifelink, it is going to feel like Lightning Helix stapled to a nice Flyer. Obviously, you need to at least be splashing one or both of the colors of the Kicker effect to get full value, but that’s very doable.
Average Picked At: 3.52 Total Times Picked: 58 Average Last Seen At: 3.15 Total Times Seen 157
Pro Rating: 4.0 Pro Comment: This seems pretty strong. The base form of the card lets you take out some permanent types that are definitely around in this format, and once you kick it it will generally feel like premium removal, since it is 4 mana to exile any nonland permanent. It feels weird to me this is Green, but I guess the Black kicker sort of makes it a Black-Green card.
Average Picked At: 7.91 Total Times Picked: 35 Average Last Seen At: 5.28 Total Times Seen 336
Pro Rating: 3.0 Pro Comment: This is a nice attack trigger! Whether you get a land on the table or a 1/1 goblin, you’ll be pretty happy. Note, by the way, that even if it IS a land, you don’t have to put it on the table if you’d rather have a 1/1 – although most of the time, getting that land will be better, since it digs you one card deeper into your deck. It has Menace too, so it will be hard for you to attack with this in a situation where your opponent can just kill it – they’ll usually have to give something up.
Average Picked At: 4.68 Total Times Picked: 47 Average Last Seen At: 3.99 Total Times Seen 233
Pro Rating: 3.5 Pro Comment: Notably, this thing can block. Not the turn it comes into play or comes back from the graveyard, but still – the ability to block on a 2-power recursive creature definitely matters! Bringing a 2/1 back over and over against is a decent thing to be doing in a game of Limited, especially because you can play this on turn one and it can do some work. This will be especially nice in any deck that can get extra value out of bringing it back over and over again – like decks utilizing Sacrifice effects, where it can be pretty interesting.
Average Picked At: 2.00 Total Times Picked: 15 Average Last Seen At: 2.27 Total Times Seen 34
Pro Rating: 3.5 Pro Comment: Obviously, letting your opponent draw a card isn’t amazing, but the fact that Ertai can flash in an destroy pretty much any creature or counter pretty much any spell makes up for that, especially because you’re also adding a 3/2 to the board. In terms of cards, this means you and your opponent are breaking even, and you’re usually going to get a great advantage when it comes to tempo. Giving them that card is definitely not ideal, but what this card does – and how flexible it is at doing it – is powerful enough, that it would be pretty busted if they didn’t get to draw!
Average Picked At: 7.48 Total Times Picked: 23 Average Last Seen At: 4.78 Total Times Seen 122
Pro Rating: 2.5 Pro Comment: These offer good fixing and always come into play untapped. It is nice that you can produce colorless all the time, so having to damage yourself for the colored mana isn’t a huge deal.
Average Picked At: 8.07 Total Times Picked: 14 Average Last Seen At: 5.26 Total Times Seen 104
Pro Rating: 3.5 Pro Comment: So, this has a cool design. You can use the first two chapters to phase out things that you want to save, and then the last chapter wipes the board. Well..sort of. It does give everyone 2/2 Phyrexians for each creature they lost, and that is a big downgrade from a pure sweeper – but still, you can save your best creatures whil downgrading your opponents entire board. The Read Ahead mechanic is sweet here too, because if you have the time to set up Chapter III, you can take that time — whether you want to use one or two turns to do it – but if the board is in such a state you need to blow everything up right away, it can do that too. This seems fairly strong, though not a bomb – the fact it just replaces creatures instead of entirely removing them is a problem.
Pro Rating: 1.5 Pro Comment: This Karn doesn’t seem very good – in any format, really. He can ramp your mana and draw cards, which is nice – but he doesn’t really add or subtract from the board in any really meaningful way. You can’t even use the mana he makes you the turn he comes out! He can’t protect himself, he can’t remove creatures, and to draw cards he even demands some mana! That’s not how Planeswalkers are supposed to work! And yeah, he can make his own mana, but still. I think if you play him on a board where there is parity or your’e ahead, you can definitely get some value out of him, but he’s just so slow at doing something meaningful that he is not very good if you’re behind – and even when you are at parity or ahead, he is just sort of a useful thing to have around – not the card that shifts the game in your favor.
Average Picked At: 1.69 Total Times Picked: 26 Average Last Seen At: 1.66 Total Times Seen 35
Pro Rating: 4.0 Pro Comment: This looks pretty sweet. Chapter I gives you some nice disruption – but it is great that you can skip it if when you play this making your opponent discard doesn’t accomplish much. Chapter II’s tutor effect is very real too – though one thing to keep in mind is that Chapter II isn’t a may effect, so if you’re at 3 – you lose! But that downside is certainly worth it. Then finally Chapter III lets you straight up reanimate something! If you made your opponent discard a great card with Chapter I, this can be particularly awesome. I think you will pretty frequently start this at Chapter II, so you can more quickly get to the two more powerful chapters, and there will also be times where you just start it on Chapter III – like in situations where you really need another body on the board right away, otherwise you’re dead. So yeah, this can actually give you a three-for-one if you manage to get full value out of all three chapters, and that’s pretty powerful – and I love the option to start it on chapter II and Chapter III when necessary.
Average Picked At: 11.04 Total Times Picked: 115 Average Last Seen At: 8.91 Total Times Seen 1376
Pro Rating: 2.5 Pro Comment: Three mana for a 3/3 is still a pretty good rate these days, so the fact you can kick this to give your board menace is certainly nice. It isn’t the kind of thing that always matters, but it matters often enough to be legitimate upside.
Average Picked At: 8.21 Total Times Picked: 58 Average Last Seen At: 6.44 Total Times Seen 400
Pro Rating: 3.0 Pro Comment: A 3-mana ⅔ with Menace is a 2.0 at worst, and you get a fair bit of value out of paying the Kicker cost here. You won’t always have something to get back with that effect – at least, not something meaningful – but it also doesn’t seem like it will be a huge challenge to get some value there.
Average Picked At: 2.21 Total Times Picked: 24 Average Last Seen At: 2.14 Total Times Seen 44
Pro Rating: 4.0 Pro Comment: This new Braids looks pretty sweet. A 3-mana 3/3 is a nice starting point, and making your opponent choose between letting you draw and losing life or sacrificing their own permanent is pretty sweet. You won’t want to do that every turn of course, especially if you play this on turn three, but luckily it is a “may” and not a “must” trigger. There will be lots of times where making your opponent make that choice is hugely powerful, and you can even choose a card type they just don’t have if you’re more interested in drawing cards and lowering your opponent’s life.
Average Picked At: 4.32 Total Times Picked: 63 Average Last Seen At: 3.86 Total Times Seen 217
Pro Rating: 3.5 Pro Comment: Every format needs a big green Tramply boi that gains you a bunch of life, and this certainly does that, allowing ramp deck to stabilize against faster decks. You’ll want one of these in that type of deck most of the time, and it also provides a pretty decent reanimation target for Black-Green.