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Premier Draft M19 29.mars 2021

29 March 12:02 - trewo10 7 Wins - 2 Losses
Maindeck
Creature (17)
1 Leafkin Avenger image
1 Fire Elemental image
1 Turret Ogre image
1 Chandra's Magmutt image
1 Draconic Disciple image
1 Lightning Mare image
1 Onakke Ogre image
1 Centaur Courser image
1 Sparktongue Dragon image
1 Sedge Scorpion image
1 Chandra's Embercat image
1 Pack Mastiff image
2 Ripscale Predator image
1 Centaur Courser image
1 Llanowar Visionary image
1 Pitchburn Devils image
Instant, Sorcery, Enchantment, Artifact (6)
1 Track Down image
1 Shock image
1 Thud image
1 Bag of Holding image
1 Reduce to Ashes image
1 Hunter's Edge image
Land (17)
8 Mountain image
8 Forest image
1 Timber Gorge image
Sideboard
1 Volley Veteran image
1 Octoprophet image
1 Goblin Arsonist image
3 Goblin Smuggler image
1 Chandra's Pyreling image
1 Elvish Rejuvenator image
1 Fortress Crab image
1 Deathbloom Thallid image
1 Niambi, Esteemed Speaker image
1 Daybreak Charger image
1 Totally Lost image
1 Act of Treason image
1 Tormenting Voice image
1 Eternal Isolation image
1 Befuddle image
1 Tormod's Crypt image
1 Trumpet Blast image
1 Thrill of Possibility image

Pack 1 Pick 1: Volley Veteran
Crucible of Worlds image 0.0 This doesn’t do anything in this format.
Volley Veteran image 1.5 // 3.5 So obviously, this is something of a build around, but there are enough goblins around for this to do 2 damage a decent chunk of the time. Either way, though, this has a reasonable floor, as a 4-mana 4/2 that does 1 to a creature it can pick things up, do 1 last damage and so forth. Obviously it hasn’t an even higher ceiling of MORE than 2 damage, but this set doesn’t have so much Goblin support that that will be a regular occurrence.
Siegebreaker Giant image 2.5 This brings some pretty imposing stats, even if it can die in combat fairly easily, it makes sure to make an impact thanks to trample! The unblockable effect isn’t a bad mana sink, but it is pretty costly, and it isn’t as easy to make that ability turn in to a ton of damage as it might seem at first.
Colossal Majesty image 0.0 // 3.0 This is a nice build around for 4 power or more decks, and it can turn into a real card-drawing engine in the right deck. Now, you probably need 5+ cards with 4 or more power, and while that’s doable in RG, I think this still needs a build around grade.
Plummet image 0.5 This is sideboard material. Bring it in against an opponent who has multiple good targets.
Smelt image 0.5 This set HAS artifacts, but not so many that you ever main deck this.
Salvager of Secrets image 2.5 We’ve seen other cards like this, and they’re basically always nice cards for Blue decks in Limited – buying back removal spells is unsurprisingly quite good. That said, it doesn’t fit into every deck ever – you’ll play this in all your control decks, though.
Giant Spider image 2.0 This card has been in, by my estimation, one million Limited formats, and it is always serviceable but unexciting. A 4-mana 2/4 is a little below what you want stats wise, but the Reach is great and can shut down a lot of flyers.
Gearsmith Guardian image 2.0 You aren’t going to be playing a 5-mana 3/5 artifact in your deck if it doesn’t have Blue in it, but if you’re in the UW artifact deck, this is a pretty solid inclusion.
Daybreak Chaplain image 2.0 A two-mana 1/3 with lifelink is fine, but not much else. It is definitely an obnoxious blocker for decks with lots of 2/2s or creature tokens, and it carries equipment and auras well – as lifelink creatures always do. It is a fine card, especially if you have life gain payoffs.
Druid of the Cowl image 3.0 This has the kind of body that can block two drops, and also provides you with some ramp. That’s always a pretty nice Green common.
Aviation Pioneer image 3.0 Paying 3-mana for 2/3 worth of stats, and the 1/1 has flying is a pretty nice deal. It is also one of the better enablers for the UW artifact deck, since it gives you an evasive artifact creature so cheaply.
Trumpet Blast image 0.0 // 2.0 I don’t like this sort of effect – it doesn’t pump toughness at all, so you basically HAVE to set up an alpha strike that kills your opponent for it to work out, unlike other spells that also pump creature toughness and can get you some advantages in combat. Basically this will only be playable in decks where you can go really really wide to kill your opponent, and is an F everywhere else.
Walking Corpse image 1.0 This is a Black Grizzly Bear and nothing more. The Zombie type has some small upside in this format, but not enough to make this worth putting in your deck most of the time.
Island image
Pack 1 Pick 2: Draconic Disciple
Sai, Master Thopterist image 2.0 // 4.0 You can make this guy work in this format, but it isn’t a cake walk, and that’s why I think it needs a build around grade. There are enough Artifacts in this format for this to churn out 1/1 tokens, but a lot of them are mediocre at best. If you end up with enough powerful Artifact payoffs though, like Sai, you can start running those mediocre cards, since they won’t be mediocre anymore. In your typical deck in this format – even a UW one – you probably won’t have enough Artifacts to make him work, he just needs a real critical mass to get there. He isn’t terrible in those decks, but he isn’t great either. If you can really build around him though, he becomes one of the best cards in your deck.
Draconic Disciple image 3.5 This helps you fix and ramp which is great – if that’s all it was I would feel pretty good about it. But, in the late game, it transforms into a win condition by giving you a scary dragon token.
Bone to Ash image 2.5 This counterspell is expensive and doesn’t even counter all types of spells – but I think getting a 2-for-1 when you use it is a good consolation prize. One should basially never choose NOT to develop their board to leave this up, but once you have nothing else to do, it will feel pretty awesome.
Field Creeper image 1.5 This isn’t efficient, but this format has an artifact deck, which means this makes the cut sometimes.
Oakenform image 1.5 This gives a nice stats boost for the mana, but I think steering clear of this Aura is the right thing most of the time. Unless you have Vine Mare of course.
Plummet image 0.5 This is sideboard material. Bring it in against an opponent who has multiple good targets.
Angel of the Dawn image 3.5 A 5-mana 3/3 flyer that pumps your whole board and gives it vigilance is kind of nuts for a common, so I’m surprised to see it at that rarity again after Dawnfeather Eagle. Even when you just have like 2 other creatures in play this is nice, and it gets crazy if you’re going really wide. It is great in a race, because it lets you smash into your opponent without giving up blockers. This is one of White’s best Commons.
Sparktongue Dragon image 2.0 This basically has kicker, and the feel of playing this will feel pretty familiar.Basically you either get a 5-mana 3/3 flyer, acceptable not great – or an 8-mana 3/3 flyer that cast Lightning Bolt. Neither option is efficient, but at least it scales some as the game goes on.
Macabre Waltz image 2.0 This kind of card is always one you would like one of in your Black decks, but you don’t want to go after them too early. They aren’t very good early, but in the late game they can really help you restock your hand and get ahead of your opponent.
Duress image 0.5 As usual, this is a sideboard card. Most decks don’t have enough cards this can hit.
Salvager of Secrets image 2.5 We’ve seen other cards like this, and they’re basically always nice cards for Blue decks in Limited – buying back removal spells is unsurprisingly quite good. That said, it doesn’t fit into every deck ever – you’ll play this in all your control decks, though.
Goblin Motivator image 1.5 We have seen many an incarnation of this card, and they always tend to be decent but not great. Haste only has so many uses, though it does do enough to keep the Motivator a relevant card in the late game sometimes, it isn’t always enough.
Oreskos Swiftclaw image 1.5 Two-mana 3/1s are usually fine for aggro decks, but there are enough tokens in this format that this guy is a bit worse than usual.
Mountain image
Pack 1 Pick 3: Lightning Mare
Knightly Valor image 3.0 I always complain about the 2-for-1 risk that Auras can bring you, but Knightly Valor is the type of Aura that gets around that problem. It does this by creating a 2/2 creature token. This means that even if your opponent untaps and kills the thing that you put the Valor on, you’re going to still have that token. Basically you pay 5 mana here to add 4/4 of Vigilance to the board, and 2/2 of that can attack right away. That turns out to be a good deal, especially in a format with both token payoffs and Aura payoffs.
Lightning Mare image 2.5 This is a reasonably efficient creature with some reasonable upside. Firebreathing is nice, but obviously it will die in combat to most things – unless of course your opponent has a board full of Blue creatures!
Snapping Drake image 2.0 This has passable French Vanilla stats, so you’ll play it sometimes.
Skyscanner image 2.5 A 3-mana 1/1 flyer is pretty bad, but one that replaces itself is nice, especially as an artifact in a format with an archetype that pays you off for them.
Rabid Bite image 3.5 This is a great removal spell for Green, just like every time we see it. Keep in mind that this card doesn’t actually involve “Fighting,” it just punches one of your opponent’s creatures in the face. Ideally your deck has some beefy guys in it to really take advantage, but even killing their 3/3 with yours is a good deal here. You do have to really pay attention to when your opponent has mana up when you cast this though, as you open yourself up to all kinds of blow outs if they mana for a pump or removal spell in response.
Knight's Pledge image 2.0 This Aura is better in this format than it would be in most. There are enough early aggressive creatures with keyword abilities, that slapping this on something can sometimes just be a path to victory. You do still have a hug risk of getting 2-for-1’d, and that keeps it from being great , but in a lot of formats it would be near unplayable, whereas in this one, the Pledge is a good fit in some decks.
Star-Crowned Stag image 3.5 There are frequently board states where turning off one of your opponent’s blockers means you can just attack with everything, and this is the kind of common that really forces your opponent to play less aggressively or end up in a world of hurt, and that’s not too hard to punish. This is an ideal card for the top-curve of aggro decks in this format.
Oreskos Swiftclaw image 1.5 Two-mana 3/1s are usually fine for aggro decks, but there are enough tokens in this format that this guy is a bit worse than usual.
Infectious Horror image 0.0 A 4-mana 2/2 is terrible on the vanilla test – so surely it does SOMETHING right? Well, I guess it does technically do “something” – but that “something” isn’t much. Making your opponent lose 2 when this attacks is just not good, since they will be able to easily block and kill this on almost any board state. There aren’t a lot of creatures in Limited that are stone unplayable, but this is one of them.
Take Vengeance image 2.5 This isn’t premium removal – but it is fine. It at least kills things pretty efficiently at two mana, but the conditions it asks for make it much less powerful. The creature has to be tapped, and that means most of the time a more offensive minded deck won’t be interested in this type of removal, they want a way to get blockers out of the way – this doesn’t do that. It’s also only a sorcery, so if you’re the defensive-minded deck where this is better-suited, you still have to take a hit to the face from something before you kill it.
Sovereign's Bite image 0.0 I don’t like cards like this in most formats. They don’t impact the board in any way. Sure, 6 damage of life swing can be nice, and sometimes it will end games, but you gotta have cards that actually impact the board. This card is pretty bad unless you’re way ahead of your opponent and beating down on them. It isn’t good if you’re behind or at parity, because it just won’t do anything.
Act of Treason image 0.0 // 2.5 This is bad in a lot of decks, but in can be good in a couple scenarios: one of these is that your deck is incredibly aggressive, and Act of Treason can consistently end games for you. The other is that you have sacrifice outlets that let you actually kill your opponent’s creature in addition to stealing it.
Forest image
Pack 1 Pick 4: Onakke Ogre
Thud image 1.5 This removal spell is cheap, but it does ask for a pretty big sacrifice in the form of one of your creatures. And you can’t just give up some creature token here, because if you do that you’re getting basically no value. So, this is usually going to Two-For-One you – unless you use something like Act of Agression, which would be pretty disgusting. This CAN also target your opponent too, so keep that in mind. This can be hard to make work – you need a creature that replaces itself somehow or has a good death effect, or to steal an opponent’s creature to get the full vaue.
Militia Bugler image 3.0 This guy’s pretty good as a 3-mana 2/3 with Vigilance already, something that will often make the cut. The additional ability it has does make it better, but in your typical Limited deck, that trigger will miss like half the time. And I don’t think you should warp your deck too much to make it so that you hit more consistently with this, if your’e doing that, your deck is going to be in trouble because it has too many small creatures in it. The good news is, a 3-mana 2/3 with Vigilance that draws you a card about half the time is still a nice card.
Psychic Symbiont image 3.5 Hello 3-for-1. I like this a lot, a 6-mana 3/3 flyer is obviously pretty bad – but making your opponent lose a card while you draw one, and then having a 3/3 that can be attacking in the air? Yeah, this is really sweet.
Angel of the Dawn image 3.5 A 5-mana 3/3 flyer that pumps your whole board and gives it vigilance is kind of nuts for a common, so I’m surprised to see it at that rarity again after Dawnfeather Eagle. Even when you just have like 2 other creatures in play this is nice, and it gets crazy if you’re going really wide. It is great in a race, because it lets you smash into your opponent without giving up blockers. This is one of White’s best Commons.
Tormenting Voice image 1.5 This is the kind of card that ends up being your 23rd card in Red a lot of the time. That’s what it has been every time we have seen it. It helps you dig through your deck but with a fairly significant cost. Sure, it gets a little better in the UR deck which cares about spells, but not by a lot.
Walking Corpse image 1.0 This is a Black Grizzly Bear and nothing more. The Zombie type has some small upside in this format, but not enough to make this worth putting in your deck most of the time.
Bristling Boar image 2.5 Bristling Boar has anti-menace, and doesn’t like it when creatures team up to block it. That isn’t irrelevant text – it means your opponent HAS to have a 3-power or more creature to kill it in combat, and if they don’t? Well, you have what basically amount to free attacks. IT also does a solid job on the vanilla test as a 4-mana 4/3.
Loxodon Line Breaker image 1.0 This is just a vanilla creature with mediocre stats. You’ll play this in a world where you can’t seem to find yourself enough playables or enough creatures, but in an ideal world you’re never playing it.
Rustwing Falcon image 1.5 There’s always sort of a card like this where talking about the Vanilla test/French Vanilla test is important – this card isn’t good. I mean yeah, it’s a one mana ½ with flying, maybe that’s more than you expect to get for one mana, and hey at least it is relevant in the late game because evasion. But the problem is that a ½ quickly gets outmatched. Sure, if your opponent has like no flyers or something maybe it remains relevant – but in most cases it will quickly get outclassed by like turn 3, at which point it is useless. In the most aggressive decks around, you can play this, but everyone else should avoid it.
Onakke Ogre image 2.0 This might look like a throwaway vanilla creature, but 3-mana for a 4/2 is a passable statline, especially in a set that has a 4 power or more archetype, and this one does!
Uncomfortable Chill image 1.5 Adding a cantrip to this effect is a big upgrade. That said, it is still way too situational to be worth it most of the time. It is easy to imagine ideal scenarios where this feels like a Fog with a cantrip effect, or even better – it lets you set up some awesome blocks, but those situations are too rare.
Cinder Barrens image 2.5 These are all good fixing, and are worth playing even in two-color decks because making your mana better is a big deal.
Pack 1 Pick 5: Shock
Tectonic Rift image 1.0 Blowing up lands is terrible in Limited, but the “can’t block” part of the card will appeal to some aggressive decks.
Explosive Apparatus image 1.5 This isn’t efficient, but this format has an artifact deck, which means this makes the cut sometimes.
Revitalize image 1.0 Even in a format with a lifegain archetype, Revitalize doesn’t tend to be worth it.
Disperse image 2.5 The flexibility of bouncing any nonland permanent at instant speed is nice, and two mana is a fair cost for that. You can just do a ton of things with it. Bounce spells frequently just give you some tempo – that is, they play like an 5-drop and you pay tow mana to make them do it again – and that’s nice. But that’s really just the base of this card. Sometimes you can actually trade cards with your opponent, or blow them out – like if they try to put an aura on something or use a combat trick. Those situations will arise, so be ready for them in this format.
Star-Crowned Stag image 3.5 There are frequently board states where turning off one of your opponent’s blockers means you can just attack with everything, and this is the kind of common that really forces your opponent to play less aggressively or end up in a world of hurt, and that’s not too hard to punish. This is an ideal card for the top-curve of aggro decks in this format.
Shock image 3.5 This is another premium removal spell for red, as it can kill most early creatures and because it only costs a single mana it will basically always help you trade up.
Loxodon Line Breaker image 1.0 This is just a vanilla creature with mediocre stats. You’ll play this in a world where you can’t seem to find yourself enough playables or enough creatures, but in an ideal world you’re never playing it.
Highland Game image 1.5 This is a pretty unexciting two-drop. Two-mana 2/1s need to do something interesting, and this doesn’t – gaining 2 life doesn’t qualify as interesting – it just isn’t’ enough value. You’ll play it if you need a 2 drop though.
Tormenting Voice image 1.5 This is the kind of card that ends up being your 23rd card in Red a lot of the time. That’s what it has been every time we have seen it. It helps you dig through your deck but with a fairly significant cost. Sure, it gets a little better in the UR deck which cares about spells, but not by a lot.
Boggart Brute image 3.0 This type of creature is always pretty solid in aggro decks. 3-mana 3/2 with menace just tends to play pretty well, and get in for lots of damage early.
Plains image
Pack 1 Pick 6: Timber Gorge
Declare Dominance image 1.5 I don’t like cards like this very much. I know some people think they are great in Limited, but I respectfully disagree. I don’t think it is terrible or anything, I mean it gives a creature a huge boost and basically forces your opponent into uncomfortable blocks. So what’s the problem with this? Well, the fact that a pretty decent chunk of the time you won’t be able to cast it for any sort of value. If you are behind its pretty useless, at parity it can be good sometimes, but if your opponent just has a big dude on their side of the board it is still pretty useless. If you’re ahead it will work wonders, and is a great way to clear out blockers – so that means it is really good in one scenario that you just won’t always be in, and kind of bad in the others.
Talons of Wildwood image 2.0 This is a fairly reasonable Aura. It doesn’t give an impressive boost, but it gets around the downsides of 2-for-1s by being able to come back whenever you need it.
Loxodon Line Breaker image 1.0 This is just a vanilla creature with mediocre stats. You’ll play this in a world where you can’t seem to find yourself enough playables or enough creatures, but in an ideal world you’re never playing it.
Field Creeper image 1.5 This isn’t efficient, but this format has an artifact deck, which means this makes the cut sometimes.
Fire Elemental image 1.5 This has mediocre stats, but they aren’t so mediocre that you never play it.
Trumpet Blast image 0.0 // 2.0 I don’t like this sort of effect – it doesn’t pump toughness at all, so you basically HAVE to set up an alpha strike that kills your opponent for it to work out, unlike other spells that also pump creature toughness and can get you some advantages in combat. Basically this will only be playable in decks where you can go really really wide to kill your opponent, and is an F everywhere else.
Invoke the Divine image 1.5 // 3.0 You can main deck this in this format if you’re really in need of playables, as there are enough good Artifacts and Enchantments running around, but it is still going to be more well-suited to your sideboard, where it will feel pretty good to bring in against some opponents.
Havoc Devils image 2.5 4-mana for a 4/3 trampler is perfectly fine.
Inspired Charge image 0.5 // 2.5 As always, this is really only well-suited to the go-wide aggro decks, and pretty much unplayable elsewhere. Mass pump like this is situational, and that is even more true in decks not really built with a ton of creatures and ways to go wide. It is a nice card for those go-wide decks though, and can certainly be a win condition for them.
Timber Gorge image 2.5 These are all good fixing, and are worth playing even in two-color decks because making your mana better is a big deal.
Pack 1 Pick 7: Elvish Rejuvenator
Enigma Drake image 3.0 This is a pretty nice spell build around, as by the late game it is a very real win condition. It can take a long time to grow, so that holds it back some.
Take Vengeance image 2.5 This isn’t premium removal – but it is fine. It at least kills things pretty efficiently at two mana, but the conditions it asks for make it much less powerful. The creature has to be tapped, and that means most of the time a more offensive minded deck won’t be interested in this type of removal, they want a way to get blockers out of the way – this doesn’t do that. It’s also only a sorcery, so if you’re the defensive-minded deck where this is better-suited, you still have to take a hit to the face from something before you kill it.
Macabre Waltz image 2.0 This kind of card is always one you would like one of in your Black decks, but you don’t want to go after them too early. They aren’t very good early, but in the late game they can really help you restock your hand and get ahead of your opponent.
Inspired Charge image 0.5 // 2.5 As always, this is really only well-suited to the go-wide aggro decks, and pretty much unplayable elsewhere. Mass pump like this is situational, and that is even more true in decks not really built with a ton of creatures and ways to go wide. It is a nice card for those go-wide decks though, and can certainly be a win condition for them.
Vampire Neonate image 2.0 This is a kind of okay card pretty much all game long. Early, it can do some blocking, and late it can help you trigger life gain payoffs and even serve as a win condition. It is fragile and slow, but it does do the job sometimes.
Gearsmith Prodigy image 1.0 This is not a very exciting artifact payoff for Limited. You will basically never make this a 2/2 in the early game, and by the time it can be one, a 2/2 doesn’t really matter.
Totally Lost image 2.0 This isn’t efficient, but unlike a lot of Blue spells that interact with your opponent’s creatures – this one actually lets you trade for a card, since it puts the card back on top of your opponent’s library. So this one gives you both tempo and a card, and sometimes you can get a two-for-one if a combat trick or an Aura is involved.
Elvish Rejuvenator image 2.5 This card is pretty cool. It helps you ramp into stuff. It doesn’t do a good job on the vanilla test of course, but the ramp it gives you makes up for that mostly.
Submerged Boneyard image 2.5 These are all good fixing, and are worth playing even in two-color decks because making your mana better is a big deal.
Pack 1 Pick 8: Centaur Courser
Lava Axe image 0.5 I’m not usually interested in Lava Axe in Limited. Sure, it can give your aggro deck some reach, but this card is automatic card disadvantage. In other words, it doesn’t impact the board at all, and is basically only good if it kills your opponent – which it just won’t do often enough to make up for the other times where it is an utterly useless sorcery that costs 5 mana.
Fire Elemental image 1.5 This has mediocre stats, but they aren’t so mediocre that you never play it.
Centaur Courser image 2.0 This is a boring vanilla creature, but the stats are good enough for it to be solid.
Trusty Packbeast image 1.5 This has ok stats as a 3-mana 2/3, but you won’t really play this without a few artifacts. The good news is, the UW deck will be interested in running those.
Mind Rot image 0.5 Mind Rot just isn’t very good in Limited these days. You get a 2-for-1, but the cost of doing that early is that you don’t add to your board, which can be a huge liability. Then, in the late game is useless. You can sometimes find a situation where siding it in makes sense – like against a control deck that holds on to lots of cards.
Oreskos Swiftclaw image 1.5 Two-mana 3/1s are usually fine for aggro decks, but there are enough tokens in this format that this guy is a bit worse than usual.
Bogstomper image 1.0 This is a big vanilla boi who you’ll play if you’re desperate for top curve.
Mountain image
Pack 1 Pick 9: Trumpet Blast
Plummet image 0.5 This is sideboard material. Bring it in against an opponent who has multiple good targets.
Smelt image 0.5 This set HAS artifacts, but not so many that you ever main deck this.
Gearsmith Guardian image 2.0 You aren’t going to be playing a 5-mana 3/5 artifact in your deck if it doesn’t have Blue in it, but if you’re in the UW artifact deck, this is a pretty solid inclusion.
Daybreak Chaplain image 2.0 A two-mana 1/3 with lifelink is fine, but not much else. It is definitely an obnoxious blocker for decks with lots of 2/2s or creature tokens, and it carries equipment and auras well – as lifelink creatures always do. It is a fine card, especially if you have life gain payoffs.
Trumpet Blast image 0.0 // 2.0 I don’t like this sort of effect – it doesn’t pump toughness at all, so you basically HAVE to set up an alpha strike that kills your opponent for it to work out, unlike other spells that also pump creature toughness and can get you some advantages in combat. Basically this will only be playable in decks where you can go really really wide to kill your opponent, and is an F everywhere else.
Walking Corpse image 1.0 This is a Black Grizzly Bear and nothing more. The Zombie type has some small upside in this format, but not enough to make this worth putting in your deck most of the time.
Island image
Pack 1 Pick 10: Sparktongue Dragon
Field Creeper image 1.5 This isn’t efficient, but this format has an artifact deck, which means this makes the cut sometimes.
Oakenform image 1.5 This gives a nice stats boost for the mana, but I think steering clear of this Aura is the right thing most of the time. Unless you have Vine Mare of course.
Sparktongue Dragon image 2.0 This basically has kicker, and the feel of playing this will feel pretty familiar.Basically you either get a 5-mana 3/3 flyer, acceptable not great – or an 8-mana 3/3 flyer that cast Lightning Bolt. Neither option is efficient, but at least it scales some as the game goes on.
Macabre Waltz image 2.0 This kind of card is always one you would like one of in your Black decks, but you don’t want to go after them too early. They aren’t very good early, but in the late game they can really help you restock your hand and get ahead of your opponent.
Salvager of Secrets image 2.5 We’ve seen other cards like this, and they’re basically always nice cards for Blue decks in Limited – buying back removal spells is unsurprisingly quite good. That said, it doesn’t fit into every deck ever – you’ll play this in all your control decks, though.
Mountain image
Pack 1 Pick 11: Act of Treason
Knight's Pledge image 2.0 This Aura is better in this format than it would be in most. There are enough early aggressive creatures with keyword abilities, that slapping this on something can sometimes just be a path to victory. You do still have a hug risk of getting 2-for-1’d, and that keeps it from being great , but in a lot of formats it would be near unplayable, whereas in this one, the Pledge is a good fit in some decks.
Oreskos Swiftclaw image 1.5 Two-mana 3/1s are usually fine for aggro decks, but there are enough tokens in this format that this guy is a bit worse than usual.
Infectious Horror image 0.0 A 4-mana 2/2 is terrible on the vanilla test – so surely it does SOMETHING right? Well, I guess it does technically do “something” – but that “something” isn’t much. Making your opponent lose 2 when this attacks is just not good, since they will be able to easily block and kill this on almost any board state. There aren’t a lot of creatures in Limited that are stone unplayable, but this is one of them.
Act of Treason image 0.0 // 2.5 This is bad in a lot of decks, but in can be good in a couple scenarios: one of these is that your deck is incredibly aggressive, and Act of Treason can consistently end games for you. The other is that you have sacrifice outlets that let you actually kill your opponent’s creature in addition to stealing it.
Forest image
Pack 1 Pick 12: Thud
Thud image 1.5 This removal spell is cheap, but it does ask for a pretty big sacrifice in the form of one of your creatures. And you can’t just give up some creature token here, because if you do that you’re getting basically no value. So, this is usually going to Two-For-One you – unless you use something like Act of Agression, which would be pretty disgusting. This CAN also target your opponent too, so keep that in mind. This can be hard to make work – you need a creature that replaces itself somehow or has a good death effect, or to steal an opponent’s creature to get the full vaue.
Loxodon Line Breaker image 1.0 This is just a vanilla creature with mediocre stats. You’ll play this in a world where you can’t seem to find yourself enough playables or enough creatures, but in an ideal world you’re never playing it.
Uncomfortable Chill image 1.5 Adding a cantrip to this effect is a big upgrade. That said, it is still way too situational to be worth it most of the time. It is easy to imagine ideal scenarios where this feels like a Fog with a cantrip effect, or even better – it lets you set up some awesome blocks, but those situations are too rare.
Cinder Barrens image 2.5 These are all good fixing, and are worth playing even in two-color decks because making your mana better is a big deal.
Pack 1 Pick 13: Tormenting Voice
Loxodon Line Breaker image 1.0 This is just a vanilla creature with mediocre stats. You’ll play this in a world where you can’t seem to find yourself enough playables or enough creatures, but in an ideal world you’re never playing it.
Tormenting Voice image 1.5 This is the kind of card that ends up being your 23rd card in Red a lot of the time. That’s what it has been every time we have seen it. It helps you dig through your deck but with a fairly significant cost. Sure, it gets a little better in the UR deck which cares about spells, but not by a lot.
Plains image
Pack 1 Pick 14: Fire Elemental
Fire Elemental image 1.5 This has mediocre stats, but they aren’t so mediocre that you never play it.
Trumpet Blast image 0.0 // 2.0 I don’t like this sort of effect – it doesn’t pump toughness at all, so you basically HAVE to set up an alpha strike that kills your opponent for it to work out, unlike other spells that also pump creature toughness and can get you some advantages in combat. Basically this will only be playable in decks where you can go really really wide to kill your opponent, and is an F everywhere else.
Pack 1 Pick 15: Totally Lost
Totally Lost image 2.0 This isn’t efficient, but unlike a lot of Blue spells that interact with your opponent’s creatures – this one actually lets you trade for a card, since it puts the card back on top of your opponent’s library. So this one gives you both tempo and a card, and sometimes you can get a two-for-one if a combat trick or an Aura is involved.
Pack 2 Pick 1: Sedge Scorpion
Repeated Reverberation image 0.0 Fork effects just don’t tend to cut it in Limited, because you can’t count on things lining up the way they need to. This one costs four, which makes it even harder than usual, and the additional spell copy isn’t really enough.
Diamond Knight image 2.5 This starts as a 3-mana 1/1 with Vigilance, which is obviously horrendous -- it is also the kind of body that dies to pretty much everything, including spells that are one to 2 mana cheaper than it is. Obviously, it starts to get bigger as the game goes on – but the fact that it only counts your spells is kind of a pain. Still, it does tend to get counters often enough that it is a reasonable card in most decks.
Master Splicer image 4.0 This is a great Uncommon. For 4 -mana you get 5/5 worth of stats across two bodies. This is one of the most imposing and efficient ways to go wide in this format. There are also a few other playable Golems in this set (Meteor Golem, Pattern Matcher, Prismite to a lesser extent) that will get boosted by it too!
Chandra's Spitfire image 3.0 This is way easier to pump than it looks, as this format has lots of ways to do some incidental damage to set up the Spitfire.
Murder image 4.0 This is an Instant that kills things for three mana. That might not be exciting, but it IS premium removal.
Yoked Ox image 0.5 You’re only going to play this if you’re in the slowest, most controlling deck ever. Sure, it blocks well, but that has rapidly diminishing values as the game goes on.
Winged Words image 3.0 Well, in a worst case scenario this is Divination, a card that is usually solid. It is the kind of card that helps you dig deeper into your library to hit land drops early, and helps you reload your hand late. In the best case, it draws you 2 for 2 mana, which is a significantly better deal. Blue is, of course, loaded up with flyers – especially if you pair it with white and/or Red, where there is a distinct flying theme, so making this cost 2 really isn’t that difficult.
Mind Rot image 1.0 Mind Rot is never particularly good. It does give you a 2-for-1 in ideal situations, but it is really only good in the mid-game. Early on, paying 3 for this and not adding to the board isn’t ideal, and late, your opponent likely doesn’t have cards. So in the mid-game is the sweet spot, but that’s a bit too narrow for me.
Sedge Scorpion image 2.5 One-mana 1/1s with death touch are always solid. They aren’t ever game-breaking, but they do remain relevant all game long.
Inspired Charge image 1.0 // 2.5 Like always, if you’re in the token deck this will be a decent Common for you. If you’re not, don’t play it.
Vial of Dragonfire image 2.0 Like heartpiercer bow, Vial of Dragonfire can be searched up by Renowned Weaponsmith. While certainly not efficient – it takes a total of 4 mana to do 2 damage to a creature – it is the kind of card you run in enough situations – like if you are desperate for removal, or your deck has artifact synergies, especially the weaponsmith.
Squad Captain image 1.5 A 5-mana 2/2 with Vigilance is atrocious, but if you have at least two other creatures in play you are getting a sort of ok deal. More than 2, and you’re going to be reasonably happy with it. The dream is to just curve out with this, and that will certainly happen sometimes. If your opponent has removal for even just one early creature, Squad Captain is going to start looking pretty ugly. It is also not a bad card for the extreme late game during a board stall, since it can get quite large, but overall it is really inconsistent.
Griffin Protector image 2.5 This frequently attacks as a ¾ Flyer, which feels pretty good. Sometimes it will be a 2/3, but it will also sometimes be a 5/6 if you have ways to make counters!
Reduce to Ashes image 2.5 5 damage from a 5 mana Sorcery is always solid removal, though not especially close to being premium.
Island image
Pack 2 Pick 2: Goblin Smuggler
Temple of Mystery image 3.0 Like most rare land cycles, these are great sources of fixing, and adding scry to them is pretty nice. If you are in both colors of one of these, you should consider taking one of them if you see it mid pack or later, as it does improve your mana base significantly. If you’re trying to splash something, I think they can move up even more.
Herald of the Sun image 3.0 A 6-mana 4/4 flyer is not a great card, but this one does come with a decent payoff for Flyers. 4 mana is kind of a lot for a counter, so this is usually the kind of thing you’ll start doing once you really run out of things to do – in other words, it is a mana sink – but that’s usually a nice thing to have. The threat of activation of an effect like this is real too, so sometimes you’ll just get to damage, or your opponent won’t attack, and you don’t even have to use the ability! Still, it is a little bit clunky at everything it does.
Aether Gust image 1.0 // 3.5 There is a cycle of color-hosing cards like this in the set, and they are all pretty great – provided your opponent is playing one or both of the colors that it hates on. Both is deal, but I think these are all powerful enough that you side them in even again an opponent in only one of the colors. Two mana for this effect is a great deal – countering a spell and putting it back in their library, or Time Ebbing something is pretty nice. Note, though,t hat your opponent does decide whether it goes on top or bottom not you. Over the course of a draft you are pretty much guaranteed to play against someone who it is good against, and usually you’ll run into a couple of people that fit the bill there. I don’t think you want to run these mainboard, even though its true that there is something like a 40% chance opponent’s will be affected by this – just because it being a completely dead card is a real possibility, but these are incredible out of the sideboard, and become one of the best cards in your deck.
Retributive Wand image 0.0 This really reminds of me of Rod of Ruin – and that’s not a great place to be. You have to pay 6 mana to dole out the first one damage this does, and that’s pretty terrible. And paying 3 every time to do one damage to anything isn’t so good either. It isn’t easy to sacrifice either.
Undead Servant image 0.0 // 2.5 Obviously, like most of this cycle, this is unplayable as one copy. You don’t want to be playing a vanilla 4-mana 3/2, there are countless cards in this set you would play before that. You have to be making a Zombie token pretty regularly with this for it to be worth it. How many copies of this do you need before it is worth playing? Probably around 3, and it gets better if you are good at loading up your graveyard and can get value out of them that way.
Moat Piranhas image 1.5 We have seen cards like this before – creatures who are very efficient but have defender, and they are always pretty alright. If you’re a defensive deck, I think you can play a couple of these and feel fine about it, and Blue can be pretty defensive. It can block really well early, and isn’t that hard to at least use to trade with something even late. However, if you’re an aggro deck, then this is terrible.
Healer of the Glade image 1.0 This is an Elemental, but it is one of the few in the set that you cut alot, even in most elemental decks. It just doesn’t do enough stuff to really feel like a card most of the time. It is quickly outclassed stats-wise, and gaining 3 life isn’t really a big payoff.
Sanitarium Skeleton image 0.5 // 2.5 You really only want to play this if you’re in a Sacrifice deck, everywhere else it is just too slow and silly to do much.
Goblin Smuggler image 3.0 This card really overperforms, mostly because there are so many creatures with low power in this format who do some impressive stuff – most notably at Common, Audacious Thief and Lavakin Brawler, both of whom pair incredibly well with the Goblin. And apart from those things, the Smuggler is just an okay card anyway, allowing you to push through damage late.
Centaur Courser image 2.0 Vanilla 3-mana 3/3s are still perfectly fine in Limited.
Anvilwrought Raptor image 1.5 This isn’t particularly good. Sure, first strike keeps it relevant for a while, but 1 toughness is just so bad on something you’re spending 4 mana on. You’ll play this if you could use an Artifact or a flyer.
Epicure of Blood image 2.5 This is a decent-but-not-great lifegain payoff. It has alright stats too.
Moment of Heroism image 1.5 Combat tricks are really at their best at one mana. This is because it is much easier to have the mana available to use them, and you get blown out less if your opponent has removal. This costs two, but it does give a decent bonus +2/+2 is enough to win a lot of combats, and lifelink also feels good when you’re racing. Still, this is pretty much limited to aggro decks.
Blossoming Sands image 2.5 If you need fixing, this is a decent place to get it. There are also a few cards in the set that care about lifegain, which might mean they are a little more useful than usual in some decks, but mostly they just make your mana better. Even if you’re just 2 colors, taking these over filler is sometimes a good call, since they really make your mana so much better.
Pack 2 Pick 3: Chandra's Embercat
Aether Gust image 1.0 // 3.5 There is a cycle of color-hosing cards like this in the set, and they are all pretty great – provided your opponent is playing one or both of the colors that it hates on. Both is deal, but I think these are all powerful enough that you side them in even again an opponent in only one of the colors. Two mana for this effect is a great deal – countering a spell and putting it back in their library, or Time Ebbing something is pretty nice. Note, though,t hat your opponent does decide whether it goes on top or bottom not you. Over the course of a draft you are pretty much guaranteed to play against someone who it is good against, and usually you’ll run into a couple of people that fit the bill there. I don’t think you want to run these mainboard, even though its true that there is something like a 40% chance opponent’s will be affected by this – just because it being a completely dead card is a real possibility, but these are incredible out of the sideboard, and become one of the best cards in your deck.
Risen Reef image 4.0 Woo boy, this is one of the sweetest signpost uncommons we’ve ever seen! Elemental decks are really well supported in this Limited format, so Risen Reef ends up triggering a whole whole lot in most cases, and even on its own, it triggers its own ability, and that’s a good fail case to have! It gets particularly silly with cards that make multiple elementals. This is better than most of the rares and mythics in this set.
Murder image 4.0 This is an Instant that kills things for three mana. That might not be exciting, but it IS premium removal.
Anvilwrought Raptor image 1.5 This isn’t particularly good. Sure, first strike keeps it relevant for a while, but 1 toughness is just so bad on something you’re spending 4 mana on. You’ll play this if you could use an Artifact or a flyer.
Greenwood Sentinel image 2.0 Vigilance is upside, but not crazy upside to have on a bear. This is a decent 2-drop.
Yoked Ox image 0.5 You’re only going to play this if you’re in the slowest, most controlling deck ever. Sure, it blocks well, but that has rapidly diminishing values as the game goes on.
Plummet image 0.5 As usual, this is better utilized as a sideboard card once you see enough targets for it.
Sorcerer of the Fang image 1.5 This is a creature with mediocre stats that has a late game mana sink that can sometimes close things out, but boy is that ability expensive!
Octoprophet image 2.5 I like playing creatures with decent stats who let me scry, though I do think those that appear lower in the curve are better, because they allow you to keep a larger percentage of hands. A 4-drop who scries doesn’t do that.
Gorging Vulture image 3.5 This has Wind Drake stats while also loading your graveyard and gaining you life, two things Black decks are interested in in this format. That makes this a key Common for Black deck.
Chandra's Embercat image 3.0 So, 2 mana 2/2s are always a decent baseline for a card, but this comes with some significant addition value. I think most Red decks will have 4 or 5 elementals in them without even trying, so it seems like most decks can get use out of it. Elementals are one of the best decks in this format too, and this is a key Common for that deck.
Prismite image 1.0 You will play this if you’re desperate for a 2-drop and/or fixing, but that’s about it.
Evolving Wilds image 3.0 This can be whatever mana you need it to be, whereas the other lands in the format just produce two colors. Evolving Wilds is even worth it in a 2-color deck because it makes your mana so much better, but obviously it is really good in decks with 3 or more colors as well. Running 1 basic land of your splash color along with the Wilds now means you have 2 copies of that land, and that’s pretty nice.
Pack 2 Pick 4: Pack Mastiff
Eternal Isolation image 3.0 This is better than most White cards we see that hate on power 4 or greater creatures, and that’s because it is way cheaper! Sure, it goes in your opponents’ deck, but it goes on the bottom, so it is pretty close to straight up removal – and against some opponents who have graveyard stuff going on, it can be even better! It is still conditional removal, but it is efficient enough that its pretty good.
Risen Reef image 4.0 Woo boy, this is one of the sweetest signpost uncommons we’ve ever seen! Elemental decks are really well supported in this Limited format, so Risen Reef ends up triggering a whole whole lot in most cases, and even on its own, it triggers its own ability, and that’s a good fail case to have! It gets particularly silly with cards that make multiple elementals. This is better than most of the rares and mythics in this set.
Moldervine Reclamation image 2.5 This is an interesting card. On the one hand, I think it looks like a really great engine, allowing you to make any trade profitable, and allowing you to even chump block effectively. On the other hand, it is also a 5 mana enchantment that does nothing on its own, and sometimes playing something like this instead of immediately impacting the board is just going to make you lose. If you play this, you’ll experience both of those scenarios.
Pack Mastiff image 2.0 // 3.0 Most of this collect ‘em all cycle is pretty bad if you only have one copy – that’s not true of the Mastiff, who has decent stats and a fine activated ability. The trade off here is that the Mastiff is also the least impressive of the bunch when you end up with multiple copies, as they all have to be in play at the exact right time to really abuse the ability.
Sedge Scorpion image 2.5 One-mana 1/1s with death touch are always solid. They aren’t ever game-breaking, but they do remain relevant all game long.
Frilled Sea Serpent image 1.5 This doesn’t have efficient stats, nor does it make itself unblockable efficiently – but it has actually proven to be kind of a reasonable finisher in this format, you know – if you didn’t get some that are significantly better.
Goblin Smuggler image 3.0 This card really overperforms, mostly because there are so many creatures with low power in this format who do some impressive stuff – most notably at Common, Audacious Thief and Lavakin Brawler, both of whom pair incredibly well with the Goblin. And apart from those things, the Smuggler is just an okay card anyway, allowing you to push through damage late.
Epicure of Blood image 2.5 This is a decent-but-not-great lifegain payoff. It has alright stats too.
Convolute image 1.0 A three-mana counterspell that isn’t even a hard counter is a hard sell for me. This is just too situational to be worth it in most decks.
Soulmender image 1.5 So, this can be an alright inclusion for the life gain deck, but there are so many cards that are just better and feature incidental life gain, that most of the time you hope you’re not playing this.
Vial of Dragonfire image 2.0 Like heartpiercer bow, Vial of Dragonfire can be searched up by Renowned Weaponsmith. While certainly not efficient – it takes a total of 4 mana to do 2 damage to a creature – it is the kind of card you run in enough situations – like if you are desperate for removal, or your deck has artifact synergies, especially the weaponsmith.
Wind-Scarred Crag image 2.5 If you need fixing, this is a decent place to get it. There are also a few cards in the set that care about lifegain, which might mean they are a little more useful than usual in some decks, but mostly they just make your mana better. Even if you’re just 2 colors, taking these over filler is sometimes a good call, since they really make your mana so much better.
Pack 2 Pick 5: Bag of Holding
Bag of Holding image 3.0 This card will just win you games that get to mid-game or later since it lets you loot like crazy, and filter your draws to the point that you are just drawing better than your opponent. Sometimes, we really wish we didn’t have to discard when we looted, and this helps with that, because if you ever need to get back something you looted, you can always fire off that second ability to get a bunch of cards back.
Portal of Sanctuary image 0.5 This is mostly a trap. It is really hard to set up effectively, and its only use is basically reusing ETB triggers or maybe moving Auras around, and you aren’t always going to have boards where that matters.
Netcaster Spider image 2.0 This is another decent spider for Green. It doesn’t have as high of toughness as some spiders, but it makes up for that by becoming a 4/3 when it blocks flyers, which will be enough to trade with a lot of them.
Heart-Piercer Bow image 0.0 // 2.5 This card is kind of a weird one! On its own, it is kind of horrendous – it just doesn’t do enough most of the time but if you can pair it with a bunch of other Bows and some Renowned Weaponsmiths, you suddenly have a very real deck, as getting a bunch of these in play all at once makes it very hard for your opponent to win the game. However, you pretty much need the weaponsmiths to make this strategy work, and they are mostly unplayable otherwise.
Brightwood Tracker image 2.0 This creature has an expensive ability, but it isn’t a bad late-game mana sink, as you can virtually guarantee you draw a creature once you’re using it, but it is more of an emergency activated ability than anything – like if you’re flooding out. It isn’t exactly the kind of ability that will win you the game.
Barony Vampire image 0.5 This has terrible stats and doesn’t do anything other than have those stats.
Griffin Protector image 2.5 This frequently attacks as a ¾ Flyer, which feels pretty good. Sometimes it will be a 2/3, but it will also sometimes be a 5/6 if you have ways to make counters!
Wolfkin Bond image 2.5 I have a hard time getting behind auras that don’t add something to the board – but Wolfkin Bond does that. Paying 5 for +2/+2 isn’t great, but adding a 2/2 to the board makes it a lot better. It likely lets you attack with something that couldn’t before, or at the very least lets you attack harder, and it makes sure that a Wolf is around to block and then start attacking the next turn. This helps you from being completely devastated by a 2-for-1 as well, since you at least have the Wolf behind. Though, keep in mind, if your opponent has mana up, they can just blow up your target for the Bond and you don’t get anything – and that’s still a huge risk with this type of card. This is a solid playable, and I think most Green decks will be fine with one of these.
Ripscale Predator image 1.5 A reasonable finisher if you’re in the market for one, but there’s plenty you’d rather have!
Boreal Elemental image 3.5 5-mana ¾ Flyers tend to be pretty solid in Limited, and this one comes with a useful creature type and a nice additional ability. By making removal spells cost two additional mana, your opponent won’t be able to utilize their mana more effectively than you in most situations. With 4 toughness, really cheap removal just doesn’t deal with this, so your opponent is likely paying 4+ mana to take it down, and that really isn’t too bad. This is a key common for Blue decks, and one of its best.
Duress image 0.5 As usual, this is sideboard only material. Not enough things it can hit in the typical deck for it to be in your main deck.
Pack 2 Pick 6: Goblin Smuggler
Moldervine Reclamation image 2.5 This is an interesting card. On the one hand, I think it looks like a really great engine, allowing you to make any trade profitable, and allowing you to even chump block effectively. On the other hand, it is also a 5 mana enchantment that does nothing on its own, and sometimes playing something like this instead of immediately impacting the board is just going to make you lose. If you play this, you’ll experience both of those scenarios.
Goblin Smuggler image 3.0 This card really overperforms, mostly because there are so many creatures with low power in this format who do some impressive stuff – most notably at Common, Audacious Thief and Lavakin Brawler, both of whom pair incredibly well with the Goblin. And apart from those things, the Smuggler is just an okay card anyway, allowing you to push through damage late.
Moment of Heroism image 1.5 Combat tricks are really at their best at one mana. This is because it is much easier to have the mana available to use them, and you get blown out less if your opponent has removal. This costs two, but it does give a decent bonus +2/+2 is enough to win a lot of combats, and lifelink also feels good when you’re racing. Still, this is pretty much limited to aggro decks.
Befuddle image 1.0 Cards that lower a creature’s power and not do much else aren’t usually very good in Limited, and I think that’s true here. The kinds of situations where that effect is worth using are just so few and far between. This does replace itself, but that’s not really enough to salvage this card.
Battalion Foot Soldier image 0.0 // 2.5 The “collect ‘em all”-type cards are always pretty interesting. Obviously, if you just have one of these, you’re not going to play it. However, if you can get 2 or more, I think you play them. A 3-mana 2/2 that draws you another 3-mana 2/2 is some nice card advantage. Because the creature is kind of underwhelming, I think even with 3-5 of them, it is probably just still a solid playable. It isn’t amazing, but it will let you quickly fill the board and avoid mana flooding and that always feels nice.
Anvilwrought Raptor image 1.5 This isn’t particularly good. Sure, first strike keeps it relevant for a while, but 1 toughness is just so bad on something you’re spending 4 mana on. You’ll play this if you could use an Artifact or a flyer.
Feral Abomination image 1.0 This is a big creature with Deathtouch – which always feels weird on a huge creature like this. If you’re desperate for a finisher, this can do it sometimes.
Yoked Ox image 0.5 You’re only going to play this if you’re in the slowest, most controlling deck ever. Sure, it blocks well, but that has rapidly diminishing values as the game goes on.
Winged Words image 3.0 Well, in a worst case scenario this is Divination, a card that is usually solid. It is the kind of card that helps you dig deeper into your library to hit land drops early, and helps you reload your hand late. In the best case, it draws you 2 for 2 mana, which is a significantly better deal. Blue is, of course, loaded up with flyers – especially if you pair it with white and/or Red, where there is a distinct flying theme, so making this cost 2 really isn’t that difficult.
Plains image
Pack 2 Pick 7: Ripscale Predator
Moldervine Reclamation image 2.5 This is an interesting card. On the one hand, I think it looks like a really great engine, allowing you to make any trade profitable, and allowing you to even chump block effectively. On the other hand, it is also a 5 mana enchantment that does nothing on its own, and sometimes playing something like this instead of immediately impacting the board is just going to make you lose. If you play this, you’ll experience both of those scenarios.
Rule of Law image 0.0 This is a reprint that has been a nice sideboard card in the past…but for constructed. I have a hard time seeing this as something worth playing in Limited. Sure, people double spell in Limited a time or two a game, but that’s not often enough for Rule of Law to be worth it.
Unholy Indenture image 0.0 This is bad. It is easy to imagine situations where you put this on an opposing creature and steal it when it dies, or put it on one of your creatures that you know will die – but it a lot harder to guarantee your creature dies than it looks, and you often end up spending 3 mana for a minimal effect. It is notable too that the creature you put it on pretty much already has to be worthwhile, and capable of trading with something, otherwise it really isn’t worth it.
Fathom Fleet Cutthroat image 2.0 I’m not a huge fan of most versions of this card we see. Damaging an opposing creature so this does something when it ETBs just isnt’ as easy as it sounds. You often have to give up a creature or burn spell to make it happen. And sure, sometimes you get a situation where you give up nothing and this really feels like a 2-for-1, but those situations are harder to produce than it seems.
Frilled Sea Serpent image 1.5 This doesn’t have efficient stats, nor does it make itself unblockable efficiently – but it has actually proven to be kind of a reasonable finisher in this format, you know – if you didn’t get some that are significantly better.
Anvilwrought Raptor image 1.5 This isn’t particularly good. Sure, first strike keeps it relevant for a while, but 1 toughness is just so bad on something you’re spending 4 mana on. You’ll play this if you could use an Artifact or a flyer.
Fortress Crab image 1.0 Here’s a super defensive creature that you will only play on very rare occasions. It just doesn’t do much.
Ripscale Predator image 1.5 A reasonable finisher if you’re in the market for one, but there’s plenty you’d rather have!
Agonizing Syphon image 2.5 4 mana for 3 damage is pretty steep, but the fact you can hit any target AND you gain 3 life does enough to make this solid removal, though I wouldn’t say it is premium.
Pack 2 Pick 8: Eternal Isolation
Eternal Isolation image 3.0 This is better than most White cards we see that hate on power 4 or greater creatures, and that’s because it is way cheaper! Sure, it goes in your opponents’ deck, but it goes on the bottom, so it is pretty close to straight up removal – and against some opponents who have graveyard stuff going on, it can be even better! It is still conditional removal, but it is efficient enough that its pretty good.
Blood Burglar image 2.5 This has decent stats and lifelink in a set that cares about gaining life, so it is something you play pretty often.
Faerie Miscreant image 1.0 // 3.0 One mana 1/1 flyers are some of the most overrated creatures around but they usually aren’t good because of how quickly they get outclassed, so that is the base grade we’re looking at here. However, if you can draw a card off of them you’re talking about a much better card. Because this one has such an ugly baseline, you probably need 3+ Miscreants before they become worth playing, and once we’re talking about 4+ I think it becomes a solid card.
Bone Splinters image 2.0 This is a reprint we have seen several times, and every time it is pretty solid. You have to 2-for-1 yourself, but the fact that it lets you kill anything makes that worth it in many cases, since you can take down your opponent’s bomb. Its value does go up in situations where you have creature tokens, or creatures who give you value when they die, but I still think it is just a decent removal spell, the kind you play if you don’t pick up some of the better ones that are out there.
Prismite image 1.0 You will play this if you’re desperate for a 2-drop and/or fixing, but that’s about it.
Undead Servant image 0.0 // 2.5 Obviously, like most of this cycle, this is unplayable as one copy. You don’t want to be playing a vanilla 4-mana 3/2, there are countless cards in this set you would play before that. You have to be making a Zombie token pretty regularly with this for it to be worth it. How many copies of this do you need before it is worth playing? Probably around 3, and it gets better if you are good at loading up your graveyard and can get value out of them that way.
Soulmender image 1.5 So, this can be an alright inclusion for the life gain deck, but there are so many cards that are just better and feature incidental life gain, that most of the time you hope you’re not playing this.
Thornwood Falls image 2.5 If you need fixing, this is a decent place to get it. There are also a few cards in the set that care about lifegain, which might mean they are a little more useful than usual in some decks, but mostly they just make your mana better. Even if you’re just 2 colors, taking these over filler is sometimes a good call, since they really make your mana so much better.
Pack 2 Pick 9: Reduce to Ashes
Chandra's Spitfire image 3.0 This is way easier to pump than it looks, as this format has lots of ways to do some incidental damage to set up the Spitfire.
Mind Rot image 1.0 Mind Rot is never particularly good. It does give you a 2-for-1 in ideal situations, but it is really only good in the mid-game. Early on, paying 3 for this and not adding to the board isn’t ideal, and late, your opponent likely doesn’t have cards. So in the mid-game is the sweet spot, but that’s a bit too narrow for me.
Inspired Charge image 1.0 // 2.5 Like always, if you’re in the token deck this will be a decent Common for you. If you’re not, don’t play it.
Vial of Dragonfire image 2.0 Like heartpiercer bow, Vial of Dragonfire can be searched up by Renowned Weaponsmith. While certainly not efficient – it takes a total of 4 mana to do 2 damage to a creature – it is the kind of card you run in enough situations – like if you are desperate for removal, or your deck has artifact synergies, especially the weaponsmith.
Griffin Protector image 2.5 This frequently attacks as a ¾ Flyer, which feels pretty good. Sometimes it will be a 2/3, but it will also sometimes be a 5/6 if you have ways to make counters!
Reduce to Ashes image 2.5 5 damage from a 5 mana Sorcery is always solid removal, though not especially close to being premium.
Island image
Pack 2 Pick 10: Centaur Courser
Aether Gust image 1.0 // 3.5 There is a cycle of color-hosing cards like this in the set, and they are all pretty great – provided your opponent is playing one or both of the colors that it hates on. Both is deal, but I think these are all powerful enough that you side them in even again an opponent in only one of the colors. Two mana for this effect is a great deal – countering a spell and putting it back in their library, or Time Ebbing something is pretty nice. Note, though,t hat your opponent does decide whether it goes on top or bottom not you. Over the course of a draft you are pretty much guaranteed to play against someone who it is good against, and usually you’ll run into a couple of people that fit the bill there. I don’t think you want to run these mainboard, even though its true that there is something like a 40% chance opponent’s will be affected by this – just because it being a completely dead card is a real possibility, but these are incredible out of the sideboard, and become one of the best cards in your deck.
Undead Servant image 0.0 // 2.5 Obviously, like most of this cycle, this is unplayable as one copy. You don’t want to be playing a vanilla 4-mana 3/2, there are countless cards in this set you would play before that. You have to be making a Zombie token pretty regularly with this for it to be worth it. How many copies of this do you need before it is worth playing? Probably around 3, and it gets better if you are good at loading up your graveyard and can get value out of them that way.
Moat Piranhas image 1.5 We have seen cards like this before – creatures who are very efficient but have defender, and they are always pretty alright. If you’re a defensive deck, I think you can play a couple of these and feel fine about it, and Blue can be pretty defensive. It can block really well early, and isn’t that hard to at least use to trade with something even late. However, if you’re an aggro deck, then this is terrible.
Sanitarium Skeleton image 0.5 // 2.5 You really only want to play this if you’re in a Sacrifice deck, everywhere else it is just too slow and silly to do much.
Centaur Courser image 2.0 Vanilla 3-mana 3/3s are still perfectly fine in Limited.
Anvilwrought Raptor image 1.5 This isn’t particularly good. Sure, first strike keeps it relevant for a while, but 1 toughness is just so bad on something you’re spending 4 mana on. You’ll play this if you could use an Artifact or a flyer.
Pack 2 Pick 11: Octoprophet
Aether Gust image 1.0 // 3.5 There is a cycle of color-hosing cards like this in the set, and they are all pretty great – provided your opponent is playing one or both of the colors that it hates on. Both is deal, but I think these are all powerful enough that you side them in even again an opponent in only one of the colors. Two mana for this effect is a great deal – countering a spell and putting it back in their library, or Time Ebbing something is pretty nice. Note, though,t hat your opponent does decide whether it goes on top or bottom not you. Over the course of a draft you are pretty much guaranteed to play against someone who it is good against, and usually you’ll run into a couple of people that fit the bill there. I don’t think you want to run these mainboard, even though its true that there is something like a 40% chance opponent’s will be affected by this – just because it being a completely dead card is a real possibility, but these are incredible out of the sideboard, and become one of the best cards in your deck.
Anvilwrought Raptor image 1.5 This isn’t particularly good. Sure, first strike keeps it relevant for a while, but 1 toughness is just so bad on something you’re spending 4 mana on. You’ll play this if you could use an Artifact or a flyer.
Yoked Ox image 0.5 You’re only going to play this if you’re in the slowest, most controlling deck ever. Sure, it blocks well, but that has rapidly diminishing values as the game goes on.
Sorcerer of the Fang image 1.5 This is a creature with mediocre stats that has a late game mana sink that can sometimes close things out, but boy is that ability expensive!
Octoprophet image 2.5 I like playing creatures with decent stats who let me scry, though I do think those that appear lower in the curve are better, because they allow you to keep a larger percentage of hands. A 4-drop who scries doesn’t do that.
Pack 2 Pick 12: Goblin Smuggler
Frilled Sea Serpent image 1.5 This doesn’t have efficient stats, nor does it make itself unblockable efficiently – but it has actually proven to be kind of a reasonable finisher in this format, you know – if you didn’t get some that are significantly better.
Goblin Smuggler image 3.0 This card really overperforms, mostly because there are so many creatures with low power in this format who do some impressive stuff – most notably at Common, Audacious Thief and Lavakin Brawler, both of whom pair incredibly well with the Goblin. And apart from those things, the Smuggler is just an okay card anyway, allowing you to push through damage late.
Epicure of Blood image 2.5 This is a decent-but-not-great lifegain payoff. It has alright stats too.
Wind-Scarred Crag image 2.5 If you need fixing, this is a decent place to get it. There are also a few cards in the set that care about lifegain, which might mean they are a little more useful than usual in some decks, but mostly they just make your mana better. Even if you’re just 2 colors, taking these over filler is sometimes a good call, since they really make your mana so much better.
Pack 2 Pick 13: Ripscale Predator
Heart-Piercer Bow image 0.0 // 2.5 This card is kind of a weird one! On its own, it is kind of horrendous – it just doesn’t do enough most of the time but if you can pair it with a bunch of other Bows and some Renowned Weaponsmiths, you suddenly have a very real deck, as getting a bunch of these in play all at once makes it very hard for your opponent to win the game. However, you pretty much need the weaponsmiths to make this strategy work, and they are mostly unplayable otherwise.
Barony Vampire image 0.5 This has terrible stats and doesn’t do anything other than have those stats.
Ripscale Predator image 1.5 A reasonable finisher if you’re in the market for one, but there’s plenty you’d rather have!
Pack 2 Pick 14: Befuddle
Befuddle image 1.0 Cards that lower a creature’s power and not do much else aren’t usually very good in Limited, and I think that’s true here. The kinds of situations where that effect is worth using are just so few and far between. This does replace itself, but that’s not really enough to salvage this card.
Plains image
Pack 2 Pick 15: Fortress Crab
Fortress Crab image 1.0 Here’s a super defensive creature that you will only play on very rare occasions. It just doesn’t do much.
Pack 3 Pick 1: Hunter's Edge
Niambi, Esteemed Speaker image 3.0 Okay so, there really aren’t going to be enough legendary cards in this format for her second ability to work, so mostly what you’re paying for here is the 2-mana 2/1 that can bounce one of your creatures and gain you some life. As always with this type of effect, it is particularly nice to bounce something with an ETB ability, or a creature shut down by an aura-based removal spell. So, mostly she is a difficult to cast Goblin Piker with some decent upside.
Twinblade Assassins image 3.5 This can turn into a card-drawing engine, and definitely will cause problems for your opponent. The idea of chump blocking or even trading becomes a lot less palatable when they know you’re going to just draw a card at the end of your turn. It also has some pretty nice stats on top of all of that!
Sanctum of Shattered Heights image 0.5 // 3.0 This is not very good unless you’re in a Sanctum deck, where it does two key things. First, it is removal, and second it gives you something to do with your duplicate sanctums.
Lorescale Coatl image 3.0 I always like this card when it gets printed! A 3-mana 2/2 that grows progressively larger as the game goes on is nice, especially because you don’t have to contribute any resources to it getting larger. The Coatl gets better the more card draw you have, but even just a +1/+1 counter every turn is pretty nice. Now, the Coatl is pretty inefficient initially, and there will definitely be times where you play this and your opponent can kill it for 1-2 mana, and that’s going to be pretty rough.
Turn to Slag image 2.5 This is clunky as heck, but it does kill most things, and there is enough good Equipment in this format that you’ll even blow up some Equipment sometimes. It isn’t premium removal, but it is serviceable.
Wishcoin Crab image 1.0 This has stats that line up reasonably well against early attackers, and if you’re in the market for that, you’ll probably play it.
Wall of Runes image 1.0 This is a decent inclusion if you’re really defensive, but even there it isn’t great.
Basri's Acolyte image 3.5 This kind of creature always performs pretty well. You’re adding ⅘ worth of stats to the board for 4 mana, and ⅔ of it is has lifelink. That’s a great deal for a Common especially. And sure, it can’t put the counters on itself ever -- and you need at least two other creatures to really reap all the benefits. Those are limitations to be sure, but not huge ones.
Staunch Shieldmate image 0.5 Well, those are some impressive stats on a one mana creature – we’ve never seen a one mana 1/3 with no downsides at all. That said, while he might do well on the vanilla test, he still isn’t all that impressive in Limited. He is quickly outclassed without some help, and you’ll only play him if you really need a one drop for a super aggro deck.
Secure the Scene image 1.5 The flexibility here is pretty nice. However, the mana cost and giving your opponent a 1/1 soldier aren’t so nice – it is especially clunky as a Sorcery. Removing something and then giving your opponent a creature, even a 1/1 creature, is just a huge downside. It really slows you down to not get a whole card of value out of this.
Legion's Judgment image 1.5 This being Sorcery speed is kind of sad, because sometimes when it is an Instant, you can use it after combat tricks and things resolve, which can really blow people out. It can kill big stuff, and most people have enough targets that it is a reasonable main deck card, but it is nowhere near premium removal with its major limitations.
Deathbloom Thallid image 3.0 This is always a nice creature when we see it. It has decent stats for attacking, blocking, or trading, and then gives you a 1/1 when it dies, which is pretty good for the overall investment.
Lofty Denial image 1.0 // 2.0 This is pretty terrible if you don’t have a flier, and if you do have one it is pretty passable, but still not great. Counterspells have serious issues in Limited because of how difficult it is to leave mana up for them, and this isn’t even a hard counter.
Hunter's Edge image 3.5 We see cards like this a lot, and they’re always pretty good removal spells for Green decks. They come with the downside of usually being pretty clunky and risking a 2-for-1, so be careful when you cast it. The good news here is that this straight up does damage and isn’t a fight effect, so you don’t need to end up with a creature just the right size to survive fighting something else. It also means that the creature you use it on will be able to attack right away more easily, since it won’t have taken any damage.
Swamp image
Pack 3 Pick 2: Llanowar Visionary
Basri Ket image 4.5 He doesn’t do a great job of protecting himself, but he does do a great job at improving your board state. He can sort of protect himself a little in the sense that he may make one of your creatures into a better blocker, but most of the time Basri wants you to be turning your creatures sideways. You can’t take advantage of indestructibility if you don’t, and you can’t take advantage of his -2 without attacking either. His -2 will be able to just end games sometimes if he comes down late, and that’s going to be awesome, and also means he is good pretty much all game long. His emblem is strong too, churning out tokens and making your whole board bigger every turn is a powerful thing. Even if he just comes down, does his +1, and does his -2 the next turn, you’re usually going to be getting WAY more than 3 mana’s worth of value out of him. Basri is good, but I don’t think he’s a bomb.
Garruk's Uprising image 1.5 // 3.5 This is definitely a build around, but a pretty good one. We have seen 3-mana Enchantments that draw you a card any time you play a power 4 or higher creature before -- this obviously blows that out of the water by having all sorts of other text. Drawing you a card when it comes down, provided you have the right creature in play, and giving trample to the whole board is a nice additional thing to add. That said, this will be very difficult to play in a deck that only has something like 3 creatures who have 4 or more power -- just giving trample to the whole board just won’t cut it -- you need to be drawing when it comes into play and/or a couple of times after it comes down, and even though this card is Green, I don’t think you’re guaranteed to pull that off.
Volcanic Geyser image 3.0 So, this is never going to efficiently do damage – it just can’t how it is costed. However, it makes up for some of that with its flexibility. It scales as the game goes on and can even go for the opponents’ dome, and it does it all at Instant speed.
Experimental Overload image 4.0 There are a lot of good cheap spells in this format, and that makes this really easy to make work. Even if you just get a 2/2 out of it, you're likely to get a 2-for-1, and by the late game the token you make from this becomes a legitimate win condition. Getting back a removal spell and making a reasonably sized token is a surprisingly powerful turn!
Rambunctious Mutt image 1.5 He’s just not very efficient if he isn’t taking down an Artifact or Enchantment, and while this format has a decent number of those, it doesn’t have so many that this guy always makes the cut.
Chandra's Magmutt image 3.0 This has Grizzly Bear stats and the ability to do 1 to the opponent every turn, and that ability means that the Magemutt stays relevant all game long, after being a decent play on turn two. This will end up threatening a lot of extra damage on the opponent.
Hunter's Edge image 3.5 We see cards like this a lot, and they’re always pretty good removal spells for Green decks. They come with the downside of usually being pretty clunky and risking a 2-for-1, so be careful when you cast it. The good news here is that this straight up does damage and isn’t a fight effect, so you don’t need to end up with a creature just the right size to survive fighting something else. It also means that the creature you use it on will be able to attack right away more easily, since it won’t have taken any damage.
Grasp of Darkness image 4.0 This is premium removal, it kills things really efficiently. The one downside is that it costs double Black, but if you’re playing a Black deck that isn’t much of a downside.
Drowsing Tyrannodon image 3.0 A two-mana 3/3 is an excellent blocker in the early game that represents a real obstacle for aggressive opponents. Making into an attacker isn’t hard either, as he counts himself, so just putting one piece of equipment or one counter on the Tyrannodon makes it so he can rumble with his impressively efficient stats.
Silent Dart image 1.5 This is the kind of thing that you run only if really light on removal. It just isn’t very efficient.
Llanowar Visionary image 3.5 Wow, this is a strong common. If you just had a 3-mana 2/2 that tapped for Green, it would be solid -- if you just had a 3-mana 2/2 that drew you a card when it entered the battlefield, it would be pretty good. This card is basically Llanowar Elves and Elvish Visionary stapled together -- in terms of the name and the effects. So, this ramps you, and can also pretty easily give you a 2-for-1 because of the card it draws.
Anointed Chorister image 2.5 So, a one mana 1/1 with lifelink is generally not a card worth playing – it just won’t be relevant for very long, but adding an activated ability here makes things interesting. It is by no means an efficient way to pump the chorister, but if you are flooding out it gives you a reasonable mana sink, one that can turn the Chorister into quite the scary attacker in the later part of the game. This format also has life gain payoffs, and that matters too!
Goblin Arsonist image 2.0 So, this is a one mana creature that can trade up for X/2s, and even threaten 2-for-1s when your opponent has two X/1s in play. It can also just ping the opponent for one when that is going to be meaningful. It also has a little bit of extra value in the Sacrifice deck, since it will give you some sort of value in addition to whatever the sacrifice effect gives you.
Bloodfell Caves image 2.5 This give you nice fixing and even gain you some life! You should value these over most medium cards if they are in your color or you’re interested in fixing.
Pack 3 Pick 3: Pitchburn Devils
Necromentia image 0.0 This type of card is always bad in Limited, because 1) it doesn’t impact the board at all, and 2) It is difficult to know what to name in Limited, especially in Bo1, and 3) even if you DO hit something with it, you have to think about how likely it was your opponent would have drawn the card anyway -- and in most cases, it isn’t that likely. So generally if you’re playing this, you are basically mulliganing and paying 3 mana with your opening hand -- so don’t do it.
Tormod's Crypt image 0.5 This isn’t usually worth it in Limited, as it can only do one thing. There IS a legit graveyard deck in this format, which makes it a reasonable sideboard card, but you should never put this in your main deck.
Snarespinner image 2.0 This blocks flyers well, outright killing many of them. Green often needs something like this to combat flyers, and the first copy makes the cut reasonably often.
Grasp of Darkness image 4.0 This is premium removal, it kills things really efficiently. The one downside is that it costs double Black, but if you’re playing a Black deck that isn’t much of a downside.
Fetid Imp image 2.5 Creatures with death touch are always nice because they can trade with pretty much anything, and Fetid Imp can trade for way more than to having Flying! And, in the mean time, it isn’t a bad attacker in the air.
Masked Blackguard image 1.5 This is something you play sometimes, it is a two-drop that maintains some relevancy all game long because of its ability, even if the creature itself and its ability are pretty darn inefficient.
Pitchburn Devils image 1.5 This has terrible stats, but it has a death trigger which allows it to trade for things with 6 power, or – even better, can sometimes allow you to get a 2-for-1. That said, it is hard to overcome the inefficiency here.
Forgotten Sentinel image 1.0 This has bad stats and a textbox that is just downside, but it does have 4 power, and some decks care about that.
Titanic Growth image 2.0 This is a stat boost that will allow your creature to win almost all combats, and that’s the kind of trick most aggro decks feel okay about running.
Read the Tides image 1.5 This has two modes, and while it doesn’t do either thing very efficiently, it is nice that it gives you options. Sometimes the bounce effect can win you the game, and when it can’t, you can use this to draw some cards. Now, if you’re behind your opponent it probably won’t help you much, but at parity of if you’re ahead, it is pretty nice.
Warded Battlements image 1.5 This is weird because it is a payoff for go-wide aggro decks, where the boost will be the most effective – but also weird because it has Defender, and that’s not usually what you’re looking for in an aggro deck. The Battlements are probably actually at their best in the UW skies deck – those decks usually need blockers on the ground while they attack in the air, and +1/+0 on a bunch of flyers is pretty nice. Still, you don’t even always run it in those decks.
Blood Glutton image 2.0 This doesn’t have great stats, but trading with it and gaining some life is surprisingly decent, and it is a way to repeatedly gain life, something that the life gain decks really want.
Swiftwater Cliffs image 2.5 This give you nice fixing and even gain you some life! You should value these over most medium cards if they are in your color or you’re interested in fixing.
Pack 3 Pick 4: Chandra's Magmutt
Chandra's Pyreling image 2.5 So, two mana 1/3s are borderline playables most of the time, and this does come with some upside -- noncombat damage turning this into a ⅔ double striker is no joke, and just the threat of that happening will often mean your opponent is unable to block it effectively, so they have to risk getting hit for 4. As we’ve already seen, there are ways to do noncombat damage -- like the Magemutt and various burn spells, so it isn’t a pipe dream to make that happen. That said, you also will be hard-pressed to end up with a legit burn deck in Limited that can trigger this all the time -- instead, its somewhere in the middle.
Conclave Mentor image 3.5 So, this is the signpost uncommon for GW, which is all about +1/+1 counters! This will make all of those cards better. It doesn’t hurt that it can gain you a little life when it dies too, and if you have been putting the counters on it, there’s a good chance it will be a substantial amount of life.
Falconer Adept image 3.0 While this has some mediocre stats, the plethora of tricks, +1/+1 counters, bounce spells, and more frequently allows this attack more than once, and if you can do that, you’re doing a really good job since that means you are getting 2 birds to come along for the right. You can go wide in a hurry with this.
Onakke Ogre image 1.5 3-mana 4/2s are borderline playables, and this set has various payoffs for 4 power, so you’ll play this a little more than you might think.
Opt image 2.0 This is always pretty decent, especially in formats that have spell payoffs, and this one does.
Infernal Scarring image 1.5 I generally don’t like this when we see it. It does replace itself if the creature dies, but it just gives such an underwhelming statsboost. You’ll play it in more aggressive decks, but even then it won’t always make the cut.
Anointed Chorister image 2.5 So, a one mana 1/1 with lifelink is generally not a card worth playing – it just won’t be relevant for very long, but adding an activated ability here makes things interesting. It is by no means an efficient way to pump the chorister, but if you are flooding out it gives you a reasonable mana sink, one that can turn the Chorister into quite the scary attacker in the later part of the game. This format also has life gain payoffs, and that matters too!
Frantic Inventory image 0.5 // 3.0 I actually enjoy these “Collect ‘em All” type cards in Limited, as they make for interesting decisions even later on in packs. Obviously, you don’t want to play this if you only have 1, it is woefully inefficient -- and even 2 isn’t really where you should be playing it. I think you need to get at least 3 before you start playing it, and any more than that and it becomes increasingly impressive. It doesn’t hurt that UG has payoffs for drawing cards, and UR has payoffs for spells either. Keep in mind, by the way -- in Limited you can play as many copies of something as you can get your hands on, so you can go higher than 4.
Chandra's Magmutt image 3.0 This has Grizzly Bear stats and the ability to do 1 to the opponent every turn, and that ability means that the Magemutt stays relevant all game long, after being a decent play on turn two. This will end up threatening a lot of extra damage on the opponent.
Goblin Wizardry image 2.5 This slots in nicely into the spell deck, because it IS a spell that will trigger your spell payoffs, and it creates two tokens who are spell payoffs too.
Library Larcenist image 2.5 This card is a real overperformer. Blue has enough ways to get creatures through for damage that this draws you a card way more often than you might think on paper.
Swiftwater Cliffs image 2.5 This give you nice fixing and even gain you some life! You should value these over most medium cards if they are in your color or you’re interested in fixing.
Pack 3 Pick 5: Leafkin Avenger
Leafkin Avenger image 3.5 I always like cards that are reasonably efficient, and have abilities that can be useful all game long, and that’s what the Leafkin does. It is the signpost uncommon for the RG deck, which is all about high power -- and both of its abilities are all about that -- and, you know, obviously it has 4 power itself. You don’t always need extra mana in the later part of the game, but if you have some mana sinks and some six drops, it will be relevant a decent chunk of the time. Oh, and this guy has a built in mana sink too! It might be expensive, but in the late game it will be an ability that puts your opponent on a quick clock -- and it can tap for mana and use the ability all in the same turn, which makes it a little more plausible you’ll be able to use it.
Basri's Solidarity image 2.0 This is very hit or miss. If you don’t have a good board state, it isn’t very good. If you have a decen board state, it is alright, and if you’ve gone really wide, it is hugely powerful. Obviously, White, and especially RW is going to be good at going wide, but cards that are sort of all or nothing like this often concern me. I like a card to at least have a reasonable fail case, and that isn’t what we have here, so that does limit it somewhat.
Wishcoin Crab image 1.0 This has stats that line up reasonably well against early attackers, and if you’re in the market for that, you’ll probably play it.
Daybreak Charger image 3.0 This is a nice aggressive two drop. It starts with reasonable enough stats and then has a very real ETB ability. Giving something +2/+0 is often enough to enable attack that you didn’t have before, and giving the boost to a creature token or an evasive creature feels particularly satisfying. This is a premiere two-drop for White aggressive decks.
Chandra's Magmutt image 3.0 This has Grizzly Bear stats and the ability to do 1 to the opponent every turn, and that ability means that the Magemutt stays relevant all game long, after being a decent play on turn two. This will end up threatening a lot of extra damage on the opponent.
Thrill of Possibility image 1.5 This is an upgraded Tormenting Voice, and I’m all for that in a format with lots of spell payoffs! This lets you dig deeper into your deck and improve your card quality, so you’ll play that first copy a decent chunk of the time.
Deathbloom Thallid image 3.0 This is always a nice creature when we see it. It has decent stats for attacking, blocking, or trading, and then gives you a 1/1 when it dies, which is pretty good for the overall investment.
Infernal Scarring image 1.5 I generally don’t like this when we see it. It does replace itself if the creature dies, but it just gives such an underwhelming statsboost. You’ll play it in more aggressive decks, but even then it won’t always make the cut.
Fetid Imp image 2.5 Creatures with death touch are always nice because they can trade with pretty much anything, and Fetid Imp can trade for way more than to having Flying! And, in the mean time, it isn’t a bad attacker in the air.
Life Goes On image 0.5 This gains you a bunch of life and that’s all. That’s not something you usually play in Limited. Maybe if you are GW and have some of the White life gain payoffs it can make it, but that won’t happen often.
Forest image
Pack 3 Pick 6: Track Down
Light of Promise image 0.0 I would advise against play this. If you’re new to my set reviews, you may not know that I absolutely hate Auras that don’t give me some kind of value that actually adds to the board. This is an Aura that does absolutely nothing on its own. You have to have life gain around -- and even though the BW deck in this format is about gaining life, I’m still not interested in an Aura that makes me do extra work to get a bonus. Putting it on something with lifelink is tempting, but I’m going to resist that temptation. I realize that the creature gets absolutely huge as you gain more life, since it gets a counter for every single point of life you gain, but the investment here is huge, risky, and requires some serious help to be worth it. I’m not interested in all of that when I’m putting a 2-for-1 on the line.
Vodalian Arcanist image 2.0 This two-mana 1/3 does a good job of blocking early, and then gives you some nice extra mana to utilize.
Daybreak Charger image 3.0 This is a nice aggressive two drop. It starts with reasonable enough stats and then has a very real ETB ability. Giving something +2/+0 is often enough to enable attack that you didn’t have before, and giving the boost to a creature token or an evasive creature feels particularly satisfying. This is a premiere two-drop for White aggressive decks.
Warded Battlements image 1.5 This is weird because it is a payoff for go-wide aggro decks, where the boost will be the most effective – but also weird because it has Defender, and that’s not usually what you’re looking for in an aggro deck. The Battlements are probably actually at their best in the UW skies deck – those decks usually need blockers on the ground while they attack in the air, and +1/+0 on a bunch of flyers is pretty nice. Still, you don’t even always run it in those decks.
Walking Corpse image 1.0 This is a vanilla two drop that you’ll play only out of desperation.
Crash Through image 1.0 // 2.0 This is nice in the spells deck, since it triggers a bunch of stuff and replaces itself, but pretty much unplayable everywhere else.
Forgotten Sentinel image 1.0 This has bad stats and a textbox that is just downside, but it does have 4 power, and some decks care about that.
Legion's Judgment image 1.5 This being Sorcery speed is kind of sad, because sometimes when it is an Instant, you can use it after combat tricks and things resolve, which can really blow people out. It can kill big stuff, and most people have enough targets that it is a reasonable main deck card, but it is nowhere near premium removal with its major limitations.
Track Down image 1.0 This is Green Sorcery-Speed Anticipate, and it is a pretty darn replaceable card. You’d rather be playing something that adds to the board than getting some card selection in most decks.
Wind-Scarred Crag image 2.5 This give you nice fixing and even gain you some life! You should value these over most medium cards if they are in your color or you’re interested in fixing.
Pack 3 Pick 7: Turret Ogre
Bolt Hound image 3.0 A 3-mana 2/2 with Haste usually isn’t anything special, but this is a lot more than that. The Warcry effect here will be adding additional damage to the board, and will often enable creatures to attack who just couldn’t before. The Hound is obviously going to really shine in aggro decks, especially those that go wide. And, if you can keep it alive after that first attack, it will do it again on the next turn! There will definitely be some games that start with 2-drop, bolt hound, and attack for 5 -- and then you can do it again the next turn!
Sanguine Indulgence image 2.0 Most Black decks are after the first copy of this, even if they can’t get life gain going. Paying 4 to get back two creatures is pretty reasonable, and the kind of thing that can help you win the long game.
Ornery Dilophosaur image 1.5 This card’s main downfall is that it costs 4 and frequently only has two toughness, which makes it die to a whole lot, and you’re usually losing tempo when it happens. It does have Deathtouch, which allows it to trade with whatever, but costing 4 makes that a lot less impressive. Becoming a 4/4 when it attacks is nice additional upside, but it isn’t that impressive, really.
Concordia Pegasus image 1.5 This can attack early, but doesn’t exactly do anything super meaningful most of the time. This format does have +1/+1 counters and a flying archetype, and does help make it better. You will play this for sure, but you’ll also cut it a decent chunk of the time.
Rise Again image 3.0 5-mana to reanimate is not usually very good in Limited, but this format is the exception to that rule. There is a very real and well-supported reanimation deck, and this Common is one of the key cards for it.
Tome Anima image 1.0 This card seems like it would be solid, but it just isn’t. It has mediocre stats that make it a liability as a blocker in many situations, and even as an unblockable attacker it doesn’t really feel that great.
Turret Ogre image 2.5 This has decent stats to begin with, and then it is a nice 4-power payoff that has 4-power itself, making it slot quite nicely into the RG deck especially.
Portcullis Vine image 1.0 This can block some stuff early and then replace itself late. Neither of those are very exciting.
Mountain image
Pack 3 Pick 8: Deathbloom Thallid
Deathbloom Thallid image 3.0 This is always a nice creature when we see it. It has decent stats for attacking, blocking, or trading, and then gives you a 1/1 when it dies, which is pretty good for the overall investment.
Makeshift Battalion image 2.0 This does a good job of supporting both the go-wide deck and the +1/+1 counter deck. But it isn’t stellar – a 3-mana 3/2 won’t be surviving more attacks, and while a 4/3 has a better shot – it isn’t exactly a juggernaut either.
Staunch Shieldmate image 0.5 Well, those are some impressive stats on a one mana creature – we’ve never seen a one mana 1/3 with no downsides at all. That said, while he might do well on the vanilla test, he still isn’t all that impressive in Limited. He is quickly outclassed without some help, and you’ll only play him if you really need a one drop for a super aggro deck.
Infernal Scarring image 1.5 I generally don’t like this when we see it. It does replace itself if the creature dies, but it just gives such an underwhelming statsboost. You’ll play it in more aggressive decks, but even then it won’t always make the cut.
Crash Through image 1.0 // 2.0 This is nice in the spells deck, since it triggers a bunch of stuff and replaces itself, but pretty much unplayable everywhere else.
Tome Anima image 1.0 This card seems like it would be solid, but it just isn’t. It has mediocre stats that make it a liability as a blocker in many situations, and even as an unblockable attacker it doesn’t really feel that great.
Library Larcenist image 2.5 This card is a real overperformer. Blue has enough ways to get creatures through for damage that this draws you a card way more often than you might think on paper.
Island image
Pack 3 Pick 9: Niambi, Esteemed Speaker
Niambi, Esteemed Speaker image 3.0 Okay so, there really aren’t going to be enough legendary cards in this format for her second ability to work, so mostly what you’re paying for here is the 2-mana 2/1 that can bounce one of your creatures and gain you some life. As always with this type of effect, it is particularly nice to bounce something with an ETB ability, or a creature shut down by an aura-based removal spell. So, mostly she is a difficult to cast Goblin Piker with some decent upside.
Sanctum of Shattered Heights image 0.5 // 3.0 This is not very good unless you’re in a Sanctum deck, where it does two key things. First, it is removal, and second it gives you something to do with your duplicate sanctums.
Wishcoin Crab image 1.0 This has stats that line up reasonably well against early attackers, and if you’re in the market for that, you’ll probably play it.
Staunch Shieldmate image 0.5 Well, those are some impressive stats on a one mana creature – we’ve never seen a one mana 1/3 with no downsides at all. That said, while he might do well on the vanilla test, he still isn’t all that impressive in Limited. He is quickly outclassed without some help, and you’ll only play him if you really need a one drop for a super aggro deck.
Legion's Judgment image 1.5 This being Sorcery speed is kind of sad, because sometimes when it is an Instant, you can use it after combat tricks and things resolve, which can really blow people out. It can kill big stuff, and most people have enough targets that it is a reasonable main deck card, but it is nowhere near premium removal with its major limitations.
Deathbloom Thallid image 3.0 This is always a nice creature when we see it. It has decent stats for attacking, blocking, or trading, and then gives you a 1/1 when it dies, which is pretty good for the overall investment.
Swamp image
Pack 3 Pick 10: Goblin Arsonist
Experimental Overload image 4.0 There are a lot of good cheap spells in this format, and that makes this really easy to make work. Even if you just get a 2/2 out of it, you're likely to get a 2-for-1, and by the late game the token you make from this becomes a legitimate win condition. Getting back a removal spell and making a reasonably sized token is a surprisingly powerful turn!
Rambunctious Mutt image 1.5 He’s just not very efficient if he isn’t taking down an Artifact or Enchantment, and while this format has a decent number of those, it doesn’t have so many that this guy always makes the cut.
Chandra's Magmutt image 3.0 This has Grizzly Bear stats and the ability to do 1 to the opponent every turn, and that ability means that the Magemutt stays relevant all game long, after being a decent play on turn two. This will end up threatening a lot of extra damage on the opponent.
Anointed Chorister image 2.5 So, a one mana 1/1 with lifelink is generally not a card worth playing – it just won’t be relevant for very long, but adding an activated ability here makes things interesting. It is by no means an efficient way to pump the chorister, but if you are flooding out it gives you a reasonable mana sink, one that can turn the Chorister into quite the scary attacker in the later part of the game. This format also has life gain payoffs, and that matters too!
Goblin Arsonist image 2.0 So, this is a one mana creature that can trade up for X/2s, and even threaten 2-for-1s when your opponent has two X/1s in play. It can also just ping the opponent for one when that is going to be meaningful. It also has a little bit of extra value in the Sacrifice deck, since it will give you some sort of value in addition to whatever the sacrifice effect gives you.
Bloodfell Caves image 2.5 This give you nice fixing and even gain you some life! You should value these over most medium cards if they are in your color or you’re interested in fixing.
Pack 3 Pick 11: Tormod's Crypt
Tormod's Crypt image 0.5 This isn’t usually worth it in Limited, as it can only do one thing. There IS a legit graveyard deck in this format, which makes it a reasonable sideboard card, but you should never put this in your main deck.
Masked Blackguard image 1.5 This is something you play sometimes, it is a two-drop that maintains some relevancy all game long because of its ability, even if the creature itself and its ability are pretty darn inefficient.
Warded Battlements image 1.5 This is weird because it is a payoff for go-wide aggro decks, where the boost will be the most effective – but also weird because it has Defender, and that’s not usually what you’re looking for in an aggro deck. The Battlements are probably actually at their best in the UW skies deck – those decks usually need blockers on the ground while they attack in the air, and +1/+0 on a bunch of flyers is pretty nice. Still, you don’t even always run it in those decks.
Blood Glutton image 2.0 This doesn’t have great stats, but trading with it and gaining some life is surprisingly decent, and it is a way to repeatedly gain life, something that the life gain decks really want.
Swiftwater Cliffs image 2.5 This give you nice fixing and even gain you some life! You should value these over most medium cards if they are in your color or you’re interested in fixing.
Pack 3 Pick 12: Chandra's Pyreling
Chandra's Pyreling image 2.5 So, two mana 1/3s are borderline playables most of the time, and this does come with some upside -- noncombat damage turning this into a ⅔ double striker is no joke, and just the threat of that happening will often mean your opponent is unable to block it effectively, so they have to risk getting hit for 4. As we’ve already seen, there are ways to do noncombat damage -- like the Magemutt and various burn spells, so it isn’t a pipe dream to make that happen. That said, you also will be hard-pressed to end up with a legit burn deck in Limited that can trigger this all the time -- instead, its somewhere in the middle.
Goblin Wizardry image 2.5 This slots in nicely into the spell deck, because it IS a spell that will trigger your spell payoffs, and it creates two tokens who are spell payoffs too.
Library Larcenist image 2.5 This card is a real overperformer. Blue has enough ways to get creatures through for damage that this draws you a card way more often than you might think on paper.
Swiftwater Cliffs image 2.5 This give you nice fixing and even gain you some life! You should value these over most medium cards if they are in your color or you’re interested in fixing.
Pack 3 Pick 13: Thrill of Possibility
Thrill of Possibility image 1.5 This is an upgraded Tormenting Voice, and I’m all for that in a format with lots of spell payoffs! This lets you dig deeper into your deck and improve your card quality, so you’ll play that first copy a decent chunk of the time.
Life Goes On image 0.5 This gains you a bunch of life and that’s all. That’s not something you usually play in Limited. Maybe if you are GW and have some of the White life gain payoffs it can make it, but that won’t happen often.
Forest image
Pack 3 Pick 14: Daybreak Charger
Daybreak Charger image 3.0 This is a nice aggressive two drop. It starts with reasonable enough stats and then has a very real ETB ability. Giving something +2/+0 is often enough to enable attack that you didn’t have before, and giving the boost to a creature token or an evasive creature feels particularly satisfying. This is a premiere two-drop for White aggressive decks.
Warded Battlements image 1.5 This is weird because it is a payoff for go-wide aggro decks, where the boost will be the most effective – but also weird because it has Defender, and that’s not usually what you’re looking for in an aggro deck. The Battlements are probably actually at their best in the UW skies deck – those decks usually need blockers on the ground while they attack in the air, and +1/+0 on a bunch of flyers is pretty nice. Still, you don’t even always run it in those decks.
Pack 3 Pick 15: Mountain
Mountain image
Draft Pick Overview