My Top Ten cards so far in Theros: Beyond Death

In this video, we look at what I feel are the EARLY top ten cards from Theros: Beyond Death. I wanted to do this now since we still have others cards to go for a few reasons. For my updated thoughts on this, as well as staying up to date with some brews for standard and pioneer, I recommend following me both on here and at my channel HERE. Now lets look at some cards!

I have the video provided here but lets go over it here shall we? 

1. I wanted to evaluate some cards more on their power level without knowing the full support for them. I think it's interesting how standings and opinions change once we get support pieces for cards.

2. I want to get cards in my head, and YOURS, early so we know what to start expecting from the coming meta,

3. Spoiler season gets the gears grinding for everyone. I want to know what YOU think will be impactful. Let's put those thinking caps on.

Let me know what you think of my choices here, and what cards that you think will make an impact in new standard.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Arasta of the Endless Web - A solid butt makes this hard to remove for a lot of decks and can clog up the ground and skys thanks to reach. Punishing your opponents for casting instants and sorceries is nice, though I'd much rather have this trigger when I myself cast an instant or sorcery. I see this being a potential sideboard card and one that if left unchecked, can really gum up a battlefield in your favor.

Aphemia, the Cacophony - The power of this card will depend on the deck its in and the enchanment support it receives. On it's face, a 2/1 flyer is already an ok, though unexciting rate. However, with proper support and deck building around it, this provides a ton of value. I have this as an honorable mention now but I wouldn't be surprised if this doesn't move up with some good cheap enchanments to trigger it's zombie making abilities.

10 - Nadir Kraken - A must answer threat and what looks to be an excellent sideboard option for control decks when your opponent removes some of their creature removal. Growing every single turn is something that can quickly snowball, and making additional tokens doesn't hurt either. This card has a lot of potential.

9 - Drag to the Underworld - Again, the decks and support for this will be meaningfull. A 4 mana murder is not constructed playable. However, a two mana murder is VERY playable. In a deck that can support such devotion and make it a payoff, I expect this card to become a staple.

8 - Ashiok, Nightmare Muse - Years ago this card would have blown me away, however I think it's still a very fine card. Three mana walkers have spoiled us on power level, but this gives some interesting options. 2/3's every turn are decently sized body for a grixis or dimir deck, and this card also gives a way to remove enchantments with it's minus ability. That can't be understated in color combos that rarely have any form of interaction here, with a set on the horizon that promises to bring enchantments galor.

7 - Kunoros, Hound of Athreos - Keyword soup ala Questing Beast, the hound absolutley punsihes graveyard decks (hello Cat Oven.) Vigilance, Lifelink, and Menace provide you with a six point life swing when it connects and will prove to be hard to block thanks to menace. While this isn't busted by any means, it's extremely solid.

6 - Woe Strider - A free sac outlet is back in standard, and this one has the ability to bring itself back from the yard, bring a goat friend with it, and provide a much needed asset that some aristocrat decks could be looking for. Don't overlook escape. Built in card advantage in mechanics like this prove useful time and time again.

5 - Storm's Wrath - 4 Damage to creatures AND plansewalkers is a big get for red, but two questions remain that will tell the tale of this card. Is 4 damage even enough these days versus the current plansewalkers? And what deck are you going to play where this doesn't just burn you as well? Questions aside, the power level is still there.

4 - Tectonic Giant - Man this card is versatile. Lets talk the two modes on here when it attacks
- Tectonic Giant does 3 damage to each opponent: Having this be a way to trigger regardless if combat damage gets through or not is nice. There's so muchh potential here. Swing 10 with Torbran? I'll take that.
- Exile the top two cards of your library. Choose one of them. Until the end of your next turn, you may play that card: This is nice because for one, you don't HAVE to play the card that turn. That itself is wonderful. Two, it's "play a card" not "cast a spell". Being able to potential land drop if needed could be game changing as well. I just love this card.

3 - Heliod, Sun-Crowned - I know most of the hooplah over this card is in regards to it's combo with Walking Ballista in Pioneer. Get ready because without bans, it will be a thing. How good is unknown but I expect to die to this in some regard. However, Heliod itself seems fine and extactly what a mono white deck in both standard or Pioneer could want. Those decks have a knack for gaining life as is. Doing so while REALLY growing your creatures could get out of hand. 

2 - Haktos the Unscarred - Hello there Achilles.  What a weird card. When I first read this, I read "has protection from the chosen converted mana cost." Not HAS PROTECTION FROM EACH CONVERTED MANA COST OTHER THAN THE CHOSEN NUMBER. This is a random roll which may be a drawback to some but I don't think it is. Think about playing against this....how do you do it? You can't just pack sideboard hate specifically because the randomness means it could be blanked. Protection is busted and I fear this card may show us why.

1 - Polukranos, Unchained- This card is absurd. Many people have pointed out how the damage prevention clause can be a drawback with cards like Wild Slash, Stomp, Questing Beast, and other cards with "damage can't be prevented" text. Agreed. However, that's a small sample size to compare to a whole cardpool. This is a four mana 6/6 that can fight creatures and come back later as as 12/12....potential flaws considered, this card still seems to be absolutely bonkers and I expect to see it in big numbers in a lot of decks.