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Premier Draft M19 29.mars 2021

29 March 09:50 - AwedOne 7 Wins - 2 Losses
Maindeck
Instant, Sorcery, Enchantment, Artifact (9)
1 Turn to Slag image
1 Explosive Apparatus image
1 Chandra's Outrage image
1 Feral Invocation image
2 Reduce to Ashes image
1 Rabid Bite image
1 Shock image
1 Hunter's Edge image
Creature (14)
1 Drowsing Tyrannodon image
1 Goreclaw, Terror of Qal Sisma image
1 Colossal Dreadmaw image
1 Vine Mare image
1 Bristling Boar image
1 Highland Game image
1 Greenwood Sentinel image
1 Keldon Raider image
1 Vorstclaw image
1 Centaur Courser image
1 Llanowar Visionary image
1 Ornery Dilophosaur image
1 Turret Ogre image
1 Bone Pit Brute image
Land (17)
8 Mountain image
9 Forest image
Sideboard
1 Greenwood Sentinel image
1 Death Baron image
2 Fire Elemental image
1 Destructive Digger image
1 Tavern Swindler image
1 Goblin Ringleader image
1 Tectonic Rift image
1 Naturalize image
1 Aegis of the Heavens image
1 Root Snare image
1 Plummet image
1 Natural End image
1 Sanctum of Tranquil Light image
1 Sanctum of Fruitful Harvest image
1 Rewind image
1 Dub image
1 Run Afoul image
1 Foul Orchard image
1 Temple of Epiphany image

Pack 1 Pick 1: Goreclaw, Terror of Qal Sisma
Goreclaw, Terror of Qal Sisma image 4.0 This is pretty good. While it is something of a build around, your average Green deck is going to have enough 4-power creatures – lets say 5 -- to make this guy worth it, especially because he bring solid stats as a 4-mana 4/3, and he becomes a 4-mana 5/4 with trample every time he attacks. Decreasing the cost of your future 4 power creatures and giving a mini-overrun effect to them is nice.
Reclamation Sage image 2.0 // 3.0 There are enough Artifacts and Enchantments in this set that you can play this in your main deck and have it be a 2-for-1 a reasonable chunk of the time. It is, of course, still better out of your sideboard.
Satyr Enchanter image 3.0 I’m kind of disappointed in this as a signpost uncommon – I feel like they should have at least made it a 3/3, that would have helped this a lot, or maybe given it First Strike or something. As it stands, you could end up in a GW deck where you don’t actually want to play this thing because it doesn’t have good stats, and that’s never a good sign for a signpost uncommon. Still, he is going to be pretty powerful when you build around him, basically doing an Enchantress impression is pretty strong in the right deck.
Gravedigger image 3.5 Gravedigger is back! Every time it is around it is one of Black’s better Limited cards. We’ve seen it tons of times, most recently in Amonkhet. Just like in that set, he is uncommon – which is a good thing, in past core sets Gravedigger at common made Black decks a little overpowered. So what makes this good? Well a 4-mana 2/2 isn’t very good, but getting a creature back from your graveyard at the same time makes this a 2-for-1. It gets better if you have creatures with ETB or death triggers, or just big bomby creatures, as the value of the cards he is getting back go up.
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.
Skeleton Archer image 2.5 A 4-mana 3/3 isn’t great stats, but not too far off from what you expect – something like a 4/3 or a ¾ would be better – but the ETB trigger on it makes up for that. You can use it to do the last damage to a creature your opponent blocked with, to straight up kill an X/1, and in a worst-case scenario, you still get to hit your opponent for one.
Catalyst Elemental image 1.5 A 3-mana 2/2 that can sacrifice for two Red seems…not that great. It can help you cast bigger creatures and spells and that’s nice, but you actually end up losing mana on it in the long run!
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.
Colossal Dreadmaw image 2.5 Of course Colossal Dreadmaw is back! My guess is it will be about as good the last 50 times we saw it – a solid playable. The kind of Green creature that fits well at the top of your curve thanks to its size and evasive keyword ability. But you can find better finishers at higher rarities.
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.
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.
Wall of Vines image 1.0 I don’t usually like do-nothing walls. And I don’t really like this one, either. It does get bonus points for Reach I guess, but meh.
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.
Explosive Apparatus image 1.5 This isn’t efficient, but this format has an artifact deck, which means this makes the cut sometimes.
Foul Orchard 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 2: Colossal Dreadmaw
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.
Fell Specter image 2.5 A 4-mana 1/3 with flying is pretty awful stats, but one that makes your opponent discard something and does 2 damage to them? That’s not bad. It isn’t going to be easy to cash in the discard damage more than just when you play the card, but there are some other good ways to cash in on it, with the UB signpost uncommon first coming to mind.
Fire Elemental image 1.5 This has mediocre stats, but they aren’t so mediocre that you never play it.
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.
Colossal Dreadmaw image 2.5 Of course Colossal Dreadmaw is back! My guess is it will be about as good the last 50 times we saw it – a solid playable. The kind of Green creature that fits well at the top of your curve thanks to its size and evasive keyword ability. But you can find better finishers at higher rarities.
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.
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.
Greenwood Sentinel image 2.0 This has okay stats and a nice keyword ability.
Skeleton Archer image 2.5 A 4-mana 3/3 isn’t great stats, but not too far off from what you expect – something like a 4/3 or a ¾ would be better – but the ETB trigger on it makes up for that. You can use it to do the last damage to a creature your opponent blocked with, to straight up kill an X/1, and in a worst-case scenario, you still get to hit your opponent for one.
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.
Viashino Pyromancer image 2.5 This is an aggressive two-drop. It doesn’t have the greatest stats, but unlike other 2 drops it still does something in the late game. Now, doing 2 to your opponent won’t always be super meaningful, but at least its something.
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.
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 3: Vine Mare
Switcheroo image 1.5 I’m never a huge fan of these cards. When they can do what you want them to, they seem utterly busted, but they also end up stuck in your hand a lot. It is just way too situational – you have to end up with two creatures where the trade feels like it is worth 5 mana and a card, and lots of board states don’t get there. It does get better if you have a bunch of creature tokens around, but I’m still not super interested in this.
Blood Divination image 2.0 The ideal thing to do with this is sacrifice something that gives you value when it dies – or better, use a Threaten effect to steal your opponent’s creature and THEN sacrifice it, that’s some insane value. That said, there will be lots of times where you just can’t cast this thing because you can’t give up your board position.
Vine Mare image 3.5 A 4-mana 5/3 would sometimes make your deck, especially in a format with a 4 power+ archetype. Then, you add Hexproof to it and the fact that it can’t be blocked by Black creatures, and you have something quite good. Hexproof goes particularly well in the GW deck in this format too, since it really likes Auras. This is a frustrating card to play against sometimes when someone slaps an Aether Tunnel on it, but even in the absence of Auras, this is a pretty nice card.
Dwarven Priest image 2.0 4-mana for a 2/4 isn’t terribly off-rate, and in a worst-case this is a 4-mana 2/4 that gains you 1 life. You can definitely go wider and gain a bunch with it too. This can sometimes help you stabilize, and fits especially well in the BW lifegain deck.
Lich's Caress image 3.0 This is a good removal spell. Sure, it is a little bit clunky at 5 mana, but It even does a good job of making up for the fact that you may well have to take your entire turn to cast it by gaining you some life, which makes up at least a little bit for the fact that you may not get to advance your board the turn you cast it.
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.
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.
Naturalize image 0.5 This is strictly sideboard material in this format. Bring it in against someone who has multiple targets.
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.
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.
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.
Scholar of Stars image 2.5 You can draw a card off of this often enough for it to be solid.
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 4: Bristling Boar
Diamond Mare image 2.5 So this card has kind of a great design for Limited. That doesn’t mean it is really good though, just to say that upfront. What I like about it is that it can fit into any deck, and actually synergizes really well with two archetypes: BW lifegain and UW artifacts. Still though, it is mostly a 2-mana 2/2 that is going to gain you like 3 life in a game, and that’s not exactly special.
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.
Gallant Cavalry image 3.0 4-mana for two 2/2s with Vigilance is a pretty nice rate – not hard to get a 2-for-1 with them. It fits especially well in decks looking to go wide with creature tokens, which is a big focus of RW in this format.
Ghostform image 1.0 I’m never a huge fan of this kind of card. It basically pans out as a really risky Blue Lava Axe, and that kind of card tends to not be worth it. You use up a card to do something that won’t generally matter unless it kills your opponent. That’s too situational.
Sure Strike image 2.0 This is always a serviceable combat trick that basically wins you any combat. In exchange, it isn’t the kind of trick that can save your creature for removal.
Thornhide Wolves image 1.5 This is a vanilla creature with passable stats, so you’ll play it at the top of your curve sometimes.
Frilled Sea Serpent image 2.0 This can be a decent finisher for Blue decks that need one. It isn’t efficient to cast, and it costs a ton to make it unblockable, but it does give you inevitability in the late game.
Fire Elemental image 1.5 This has mediocre stats, but they aren’t so mediocre that you never play 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.
Explosive Apparatus image 1.5 This isn’t efficient, but this format has an artifact deck, which means this makes the cut sometimes.
Havoc Devils image 2.5 4-mana for a 4/3 trampler is perfectly fine.
Island image
Pack 1 Pick 5: Highland Game
Vampire Sovereign image 4.0 This does a good Siege Rhino impression. Ok, maybe that’s hyperbolic, but this is a very good uncommon. 5 mana for a ¾ flyer is already a serviceable card, adding the Lightning Helix to your opponent’s dome effect makes this even better. The Sovereign is much better than her bite, since she brings an impressive body with her. The 6-point life swing means you get value out of it even if it dies.
Aegis of the Heavens image 1.0 This gives a huge boost to toughness, one which means your creature will pretty much always survive combat, but the fact that it only boosts power by one also means your creature won’t always be winning combat. In other words, you’ll use this up a lot just to save a creature, and that’s often not going to be worth a card. It IS more worth it if you use it against damage-based removal, but that’s still only one type of removal that this does anything about. Aura-based removal and “destroy” effects will still do their thing. Overall, this often plays out as a one-creature fog, and that’s not really worth it most of the time.
Omenspeaker image 2.5 This has decent stats for a defensive deck, and relevance at all stages of the game thanks to Scry makes this an appealing card to me for my Blue decks.
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.
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.
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.
Hostile Minotaur image 2.0 4-mana for a 3/3 with Haste is passable.
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.
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.
Catalyst Elemental image 1.5 A 3-mana 2/2 that can sacrifice for two Red seems…not that great. It can help you cast bigger creatures and spells and that’s nice, but you actually end up losing mana on it in the long run!
Meandering River 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 6: Death Baron
Death Baron image 3.0 There are enough Zombies and Skeletons in this set – even at lower rarities – that the lord effect actually comes up sometimes, making this a pretty nice card. Skeleton Archer + Baron is one of the sweetest things around.
Vampire Sovereign image 4.0 This does a good Siege Rhino impression. Ok, maybe that’s hyperbolic, but this is a very good uncommon. 5 mana for a ¾ flyer is already a serviceable card, adding the Lightning Helix to your opponent’s dome effect makes this even better. The Sovereign is much better than her bite, since she brings an impressive body with her. The 6-point life swing means you get value out of it even if it dies.
Wall of Vines image 1.0 I don’t usually like do-nothing walls. And I don’t really like this one, either. It does get bonus points for Reach I guess, but meh.
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.
Mighty Leap image 2.0 This is a playable combat trick, and it offers more upside than most combat tricks because sometimes it can just end the game for you out of nowhere. I mean, I guess all combat tricks can do that – but not all of them offer you flying, which can just make a stable board into game over for your opponent sometimes. Still, it’s just a combat trick and it has the inherent risks that they all have – serious blowout potential – you’ll play one in any white deck with like 15 creatures in most cases, but it isn’t going to be great most of the time.
Skymarch Bloodletter image 3.0 A 3-mana 2/2 with flying is solid stats, and the ETB trigger here is also nice. There is even a lifegain deck in this format to take advantage of that ETB trigger. This is one of Black’s better commons.
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.
Root Snare image 0.0 Fog is already a terrible card in Limited, and this one costs two mana instead of one. So yeah, it is unplayable. Fog effects just aren’t worth a card in this format, you basically are just giving yourself card disadvantage every time you play this, you might as well mulligan to 6!
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!
Plains image
Pack 1 Pick 7: Greenwood Sentinel
Druid of Horns image 2.5 So, this is supposed to be here to support the GW deck in the format, but that deck just has a really hard time coming together, and it is partly because of cards like this. Sure, if you can get an Aura on this, it will feel pretty good – but it starts out incredibly efficiently! One nice thing about it is that even if your opponent does kill it in response to an Aura, you still get the 3/3, because it only has to be targeted by an Aura. It isn’t a bad card exactly, it is just supposed to be one of the key cards for the GW deck, and it just doesn’t usually feel that special.
Gallant Cavalry image 3.0 4-mana for two 2/2s with Vigilance is a pretty nice rate – not hard to get a 2-for-1 with them. It fits especially well in decks looking to go wide with creature tokens, which is a big focus of RW in this format.
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.
Revitalize image 1.0 Even in a format with a lifegain archetype, Revitalize doesn’t tend to be worth it.
Greenwood Sentinel image 2.0 This has okay stats and a nice keyword ability.
Wall of Vines image 1.0 I don’t usually like do-nothing walls. And I don’t really like this one, either. It does get bonus points for Reach I guess, but meh.
Hired Blade image 1.5 You can flash this in to kill some stuff, but it isn’t the best ambush blocker as a 3/2. It can only survive blocking one power creatures, so most of the time it is just sort of a super conditional removal spell with some creature upside. Which is fine, but not something that always makes your deck.
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.
Swamp image
Pack 1 Pick 8: Tectonic Rift
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.
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.
Wall of Vines image 1.0 I don’t usually like do-nothing walls. And I don’t really like this one, either. It does get bonus points for Reach I guess, but meh.
Ghostform image 1.0 I’m never a huge fan of this kind of card. It basically pans out as a really risky Blue Lava Axe, and that kind of card tends to not be worth it. You use up a card to do something that won’t generally matter unless it kills your opponent. That’s too situational.
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.
Catalyst Elemental image 1.5 A 3-mana 2/2 that can sacrifice for two Red seems…not that great. It can help you cast bigger creatures and spells and that’s nice, but you actually end up losing mana on it in the long run!
Abnormal Endurance image 1.5 We have seen almost this card before – Supernatural Stamina, which did the exact same thing and had a synonymous name, but it cost one less mana. Supernatural Stamina was pretty nice – a trick that makes your creature able to kill something it couldn’t before, and keeps your creature alive is strong. Especially if that creature has a ETB ability, because you get to trigger it all over again! That said, increasing the mana cost by 100% does significantly decrease how good a trick is. Still, this will often allow you to win combat without permanently losing a creature, and while that’s situational, it seems alright for a trick.
Forest image
Pack 1 Pick 9: Foul Orchard
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.
Catalyst Elemental image 1.5 A 3-mana 2/2 that can sacrifice for two Red seems…not that great. It can help you cast bigger creatures and spells and that’s nice, but you actually end up losing mana on it in the long run!
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.
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.
Wall of Vines image 1.0 I don’t usually like do-nothing walls. And I don’t really like this one, either. It does get bonus points for Reach I guess, but meh.
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.
Foul Orchard 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 10: Greenwood Sentinel
Fire Elemental image 1.5 This has mediocre stats, but they aren’t so mediocre that you never play it.
Greenwood Sentinel image 2.0 This has okay stats and a nice keyword ability.
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.
Viashino Pyromancer image 2.5 This is an aggressive two-drop. It doesn’t have the greatest stats, but unlike other 2 drops it still does something in the late game. Now, doing 2 to your opponent won’t always be super meaningful, but at least its something.
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.
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 11: Naturalize
Blood Divination image 2.0 The ideal thing to do with this is sacrifice something that gives you value when it dies – or better, use a Threaten effect to steal your opponent’s creature and THEN sacrifice it, that’s some insane value. That said, there will be lots of times where you just can’t cast this thing because you can’t give up your board position.
Naturalize image 0.5 This is strictly sideboard material in this format. Bring it in against someone who has multiple targets.
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.
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.
Scholar of Stars image 2.5 You can draw a card off of this often enough for it to be solid.
Pack 1 Pick 12: Explosive Apparatus
Ghostform image 1.0 I’m never a huge fan of this kind of card. It basically pans out as a really risky Blue Lava Axe, and that kind of card tends to not be worth it. You use up a card to do something that won’t generally matter unless it kills your opponent. That’s too situational.
Fire Elemental image 1.5 This has mediocre stats, but they aren’t so mediocre that you never play it.
Explosive Apparatus image 1.5 This isn’t efficient, but this format has an artifact deck, which means this makes the cut sometimes.
Island image
Pack 1 Pick 13: Aegis of the Heavens
Aegis of the Heavens image 1.0 This gives a huge boost to toughness, one which means your creature will pretty much always survive combat, but the fact that it only boosts power by one also means your creature won’t always be winning combat. In other words, you’ll use this up a lot just to save a creature, and that’s often not going to be worth a card. It IS more worth it if you use it against damage-based removal, but that’s still only one type of removal that this does anything about. Aura-based removal and “destroy” effects will still do their thing. Overall, this often plays out as a one-creature fog, and that’s not really worth it most of the time.
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.
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.
Pack 1 Pick 14: Root Snare
Root Snare image 0.0 Fog is already a terrible card in Limited, and this one costs two mana instead of one. So yeah, it is unplayable. Fog effects just aren’t worth a card in this format, you basically are just giving yourself card disadvantage every time you play this, you might as well mulligan to 6!
Plains image
Pack 1 Pick 15: Swamp
Swamp image
Pack 2 Pick 1: Chandra's Outrage
Planar Cleansing image 4.0 This is inherently powerful, and completely changes the board. Now, as always, a board sweeper is not something every deck wants – if you’re really aggressive and you see this P2P1 or something, you may want to steer clear – but this type of effect is pretty much irreplaceable. It does cause triple White, but asking for that on turn 6 or later isn’t really insane. It has its limitations, but I think that Planar Cleansing is pretty good.
Woodland Champion image 3.5 This has a very reasonable floor and a very high ceiling. There are lots of ways to make creature tokens in this format, including at lower mana costs, so the Champion can sometimes become absolutely massive.
Goblin Ringleader image 0.0 // 2.0 There aren’t really enough Goblins in this set for this to ever be anything special. You need to be drawing a card with this at least half the time to play it, and that just won’t happen in most decks. If you do end up with 5+ Goblins, it probably is an alright inclusion.
Ember Hauler image 3.5 This is a 2-drop that is relevant all game long because of a powerful ability. Early it is nice to play this as a 2/2 that can attack, and late it gives you a way to kill small creature and complicated combat for your opponent, and it can even go after Planeswalkers and your opponent’s face, so that’s pretty nice. The one thing not nice about it? That double Red cost means it may not always be easy to get it down on turn 2.
Sage's Row Denizen image 1.0 There isn’t really a mill deck in this format, and as a result the Denizen is mostly just an inefficient creature.
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.
Destructive Digger image 1.5 This has medium stats and an ability that can come in handy in the late game, but it is pretty expensive.
Mammoth Spider image 2.5 Mammoth Spider isn’t fancy, but it is a reasonable card for most Green decks, especially those that need some defense against flyers.
Goblin Bird-Grabber image 2.0 This is another silly card for the Red “Flying” deck. Being able to grab on to your flyers and take to the air is nice, but not as easy to set-up as it might seem.
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.
Unsummon image 2.5 One mana to return a creature is an awesome rate, because you’re basically always going to come out ahead in terms of tempo – since you’re going to be bouncing things that cost a heck of a lot more than one mana most of the time. Additionally, bounce effects let you blow out opponents who are overly reliant on Auras or combat tricks. Finally, in a pinch you can use it to save your own creature, which will be worth it some of the time.
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.
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.
Chandra's Outrage image 3.5 This is reasonably efficient removal that also damages the opponent some. That’s enough for it to get into the lower range of “premium” for me.
Swamp image
Pack 2 Pick 2: Feral Invocation
Air Elemental image 3.5 It isn’t exciting, but Air Elemental is always an efficient creature in Limited, and in this format the Elemental creature type matters!
Captivating Gyre image 1.5 Blue virtually always gets a card like this in Limited – something that costs 6+ mana, but lets you bounce/tap down 2+ things. These cards do tend to be pretty powerful in situations where you can win the game as a result of it, but if you use this and aren’t able to take any real advantage, you likely didn’t do much, since you went down a card for tempo alone. So, it is slow AND situational, and that’s not amazing. You’ll play this at the top of your curve in Blue decks sometimes, but it is by no means a card you’re going to run all the time.
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.
Dawning Angel image 3.0 This card really overperforms. The statline isn’t pretty, but the ETB ability plays quite well. This set has a lifegain archetype, but adding a real threat to the board that also gains you life has a surprisingly big impact on games.
Boneclad Necromancer image 1.5 This card was an underperformer. It is harder than it might seem at first to make sure this gives you the 2/2 Zombie, and the times where you just have to cast this as a 5-mana 3/3 are rough, and what’s more is, even when you do get the Zombie token, it just doesn’t feel incredible.
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.
Greenwood Sentinel image 2.0 Vigilance is upside, but not crazy upside to have on a bear. This is a decent 2-drop.
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.
Feral Invocation image 2.0 This has proven to be pretty solid. Auras can be dangerous as a result of the 2-for-1 risk, but because the Invocation has Flash, you can normally get around that. You can do so by using it as a combat trick of sorts that allows you to kill one of your opponents’ creatures in combat, and then your creature gets to keep the buff! Now, you still have to be careful when you use it, because the 2-for-1 risk is still there, but as long as you are, this ends up being a pretty reasonable card for creature-heavy Green decks.
Fire Elemental image 1.0 This would normally be pretty close to unplayable, but with the elemental deck being a very real thing in this format, you actually play this sometimes.
Soul Salvage image 2.5 This kind of card is basically always something Black decks want one copy of in Limited. It is basically a Black Divination, but one with powerful card selection, since you know you’re going to get your two best creatures back.
Stone Golem image 0.0 I’m not sure why you would play this. Artifact synergy is not a big part of this set, it doesn’t have a useful creature type. It is just a bad creature.
Plains image
Pack 2 Pick 3: Reduce to Ashes
Apostle of Purifying Light image 2.5 This is a solid card that obviously gets way better against Black decks and graveyard strategies, but you can really maindeck this because of the solid stats. Chances are pretty good that your opponent will be playing Black as one of their colors, and it will always feel good when that’s the case.
Noxious Grasp image 1.5 // 3.5 Against someone who is playing Green and/or White, this is pretty incredible – two mana to destroy a creature or planeswalker at instant speed is the kind of efficiency we just don’t see. Kind of silly that it has that 1 life clause attached to it, but hey – that’s additional value I guess. You can get away with maindecking this because there are enough opponents who will have stuff this can target, but you still mostly want to bring it out of your sideboard.
Inspiring Captain image 2.5 There are enough tokens in this format that Inspiring Captain often comes down and has an immediate impact on the board. Now, you do need a reasonable board state in most cases to really take advantage, but this tends to be better than something like Inspired Charge, since its failed case is still something that adds to the board.
Greenwood Sentinel image 2.0 Vigilance is upside, but not crazy upside to have on a bear. This is a decent 2-drop.
Infuriate image 1.5 This is not a bad boost for only one mana. One mana tricks tend to be the best in Limited, since they are easier to pay for and less risky when you get 2-for-1’d.
Metropolis Sprite image 2.0 This has reasonable starting stats and the ability to attack sometimes as a 2/1, which isn’t bad. It also isn’t good, but yeah.
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.
Stone Golem image 0.0 I’m not sure why you would play this. Artifact synergy is not a big part of this set, it doesn’t have a useful creature type. It is just a bad creature.
Reduce to Ashes image 2.5 5 damage from a 5 mana Sorcery is always solid removal, though not especially close to being premium.
Centaur Courser image 2.0 Vanilla 3-mana 3/3s are still perfectly fine in Limited.
Unsummon image 2.5 One mana to return a creature is an awesome rate, because you’re basically always going to come out ahead in terms of tempo – since you’re going to be bouncing things that cost a heck of a lot more than one mana most of the time. Additionally, bounce effects let you blow out opponents who are overly reliant on Auras or combat tricks. Finally, in a pinch you can use it to save your own creature, which will be worth it some of the time.
Griffin Sentinel image 2.0 This can threaten your opponent a bit in the sky while also being a pretty effective blocker. It isn’t anything special, but you’ll play it in your White decks often enough.
Plains image
Pack 2 Pick 4: Rabid Bite
Sephara, Sky's Blade image 4.0 A 7mana 7/7 with Flying and Lifelink is certainly nice, but the triple White and such a high mana cost does it make it a little less attractive to me. Making your other flyers indestructible could be nice, but Sephara still dies to a ton of removal in this set, and that won’t feel so good after paying 7 mana. It is also highly unlikely you’re ever going to manage to cast her for her alternate cost. Still, left unchecked she does take over games – Lifelink on such a huge creature is virtually impossible to race.
Blightbeetle image 0.0 // 2.0 I like that there are a bunch of color-hating cards around in this set, but this one seems weaker than the others. Protection from Green is great, but on a two mana 1/1 is nothing special. There are Green cards in this set that do stuff with counters, and this shuts those down – but not nearly enough for this to make a major impact. Unlike most of this cycle, which I think you can main deck a decent chunk of the time, I don’t think you ever do that here, and even out of the sideboard, Blightbeetle isn’t very imposing.
Moorland Inquisitor image 2.0 This is a bear with some reasonable upside, so it isn’t bad, but a lot of the time by the time you have the mana to give the Inquisitor First Strike, a 2/2 with First Strike doesn’t really matter!
Fire Elemental image 1.0 This would normally be pretty close to unplayable, but with the elemental deck being a very real thing in this format, you actually play this sometimes.
Bladebrand image 2.0 So, your creature is almost always going to kill the opposing one when it gains deathtouch, so that’s nice. And it even draws you a card, so it is something of a 2-for-1! However, it is still really situational, like all tricks, so don’t value it too highly.
Gift of Paradise image 2.0 This kind of ramp/fixing Aura doesn’t often feel great, since you use a bunch of mana and don’t add to the board, which is normally pretty crucial in Limited. However, gaining 3 life here is a real bonus, as you basically pay a certain amount of life by casting this instead of playing a creature. It also lets you fix for double-colored things, which isn’t bad upside.
Ripscale Predator image 1.5 A reasonable finisher if you’re in the market for one, but there’s plenty you’d rather have!
Rabid Bite image 3.5 This type of effect is always premium removal for Green. It kills things really efficiently, and while you do need to have somewhat reasonably sized creatures for it to work its best, the fact it isn’t a straight “fight” effect helps make up for that.
Infuriate image 1.5 This is not a bad boost for only one mana. One mana tricks tend to be the best in Limited, since they are easier to pay for and less risky when you get 2-for-1’d.
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!
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.
Mountain image
Pack 2 Pick 5: 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.
Might of the Masses image 1.5 I’m never a huge fan of tricks with such conditional boosts, but this does only cost one and will give +1/+1 at a minimum, and sometimes it will give a lot more than that, so you’ll find yourself playing this in decks that can go wide sometimes.
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.
Destructive Digger image 1.5 This has medium stats and an ability that can come in handy in the late game, but it is pretty expensive.
Scorch Spitter image 1.5 In a lot of formats, the Scorch Spitter would be unplayable. A one-mana 1/1, even with this ability, would quickly get outclasses. BUT it is Elemental, and also a card that combos well with Goblin Smuggler. It still isn’t good, mind you, but it is far from unplayable.
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.
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.
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.
Bladebrand image 2.0 So, your creature is almost always going to kill the opposing one when it gains deathtouch, so that’s nice. And it even draws you a card, so it is something of a 2-for-1! However, it is still really situational, like all tricks, so don’t value it too highly.
Reduce to Ashes image 2.5 5 damage from a 5 mana Sorcery is always solid removal, though not especially close to being premium.
Forest image
Pack 2 Pick 6: Temple of Epiphany
Temple of Epiphany 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.
Yarok's Wavecrasher image 2.5 This has efficient stats, but it has a kind of wonky ETB ability. When you play it, you have to return a creature, it isn’t a may clause like we often see these days. This means there are plenty of board states where playing this just doesn’t make sense, because there isn’t always something that is worth bouncing. It also means that if he’s alone, the Wavecrasher has to bounce himself! Now, that ability does have upside too – like returning creatures with ETB abilities or getting a creature free from an Aura, but the situations where he is awkward to play are often enough that this isn’t anything special.
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.
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.
Ripscale Predator image 1.5 A reasonable finisher if you’re in the market for one, but there’s plenty you’d rather have!
Barony Vampire image 0.5 This has terrible stats and doesn’t do anything other than have those stats.
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.
Plummet image 0.5 As usual, this is better utilized as a sideboard card once you see enough targets for it.
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.
Marauder's Axe image 1.5 Equipment that just boosts power doesn’t tend to be amazing, though it does work well on things like tokens, since they become much more formidable.
Pack 2 Pick 7: Keldon Raider
Gods Willing image 2.5 This is always a solid combat trick. Protection can just do so much – from making a creature unblockable, to helping it win combat, to countering removal spells. It is a pretty good deal for one mana.
Marauder's Axe image 1.5 Equipment that just boosts power doesn’t tend to be amazing, though it does work well on things like tokens, since they become much more formidable.
Keldon Raider image 2.5 This has decent stats and lets you rummage. It isn’t exciting, but it is a solid Common.
Destructive Digger image 1.5 This has medium stats and an ability that can come in handy in the late game, but it is pretty expensive.
Inspiring Captain image 2.5 There are enough tokens in this format that Inspiring Captain often comes down and has an immediate impact on the board. Now, you do need a reasonable board state in most cases to really take advantage, but this tends to be better than something like Inspired Charge, since its failed case is still something that adds to the board.
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.
Stone Golem image 0.0 I’m not sure why you would play this. Artifact synergy is not a big part of this set, it doesn’t have a useful creature type. It is just a bad creature.
Natural End image 0.5 This is decent sideboard material, there aren’t enough artifacts and enchantments to really be maindecking it, though.
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 8: Vorstclaw
Mystic Forge image 0.0 This set doesn’t have enough artifacts for this to do anything.
Hard Cover image 0.5 This gives a minimal boost, and the ability to make a creature loot just isn’t enough to overcome the huge downside of the 2-for-1 you could suffer.
Zephyr Charge image 0.0 This is really bad. It tends to not do very much until the extreme late game, where you have the mana to utilize it – and, by then, your opponent probably has a board that isn’t that intimidated by flying.
Barony Vampire image 0.5 This has terrible stats and doesn’t do anything other than have those stats.
Steadfast Sentry image 3.0 This has alright stats and an alright death trigger. Having Vigilance matters on a creature like this, because – obviously enough – you can attack and block, and using this to trade often feels pretty good because you come out ahead as a result of that +1/+1 counter.
Vorstclaw image 1.5 This is a vanilla creature, but it has a useful creature type and somewhat reasonable stats, so you’ll find yourself with it a the top of your curve sometimes.
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.
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: Goblin Ringleader
Goblin Ringleader image 0.0 // 2.0 There aren’t really enough Goblins in this set for this to ever be anything special. You need to be drawing a card with this at least half the time to play it, and that just won’t happen in most decks. If you do end up with 5+ Goblins, it probably is an alright inclusion.
Sage's Row Denizen image 1.0 There isn’t really a mill deck in this format, and as a result the Denizen is mostly just an inefficient creature.
Goblin Bird-Grabber image 2.0 This is another silly card for the Red “Flying” deck. Being able to grab on to your flyers and take to the air is nice, but not as easy to set-up as it might seem.
Unsummon image 2.5 One mana to return a creature is an awesome rate, because you’re basically always going to come out ahead in terms of tempo – since you’re going to be bouncing things that cost a heck of a lot more than one mana most of the time. Additionally, bounce effects let you blow out opponents who are overly reliant on Auras or combat tricks. Finally, in a pinch you can use it to save your own creature, which will be worth it some of the time.
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.
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.
Swamp image
Pack 2 Pick 10: Fire Elemental
Captivating Gyre image 1.5 Blue virtually always gets a card like this in Limited – something that costs 6+ mana, but lets you bounce/tap down 2+ things. These cards do tend to be pretty powerful in situations where you can win the game as a result of it, but if you use this and aren’t able to take any real advantage, you likely didn’t do much, since you went down a card for tempo alone. So, it is slow AND situational, and that’s not amazing. You’ll play this at the top of your curve in Blue decks sometimes, but it is by no means a card you’re going to run all the time.
Greenwood Sentinel image 2.0 Vigilance is upside, but not crazy upside to have on a bear. This is a decent 2-drop.
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.
Fire Elemental image 1.0 This would normally be pretty close to unplayable, but with the elemental deck being a very real thing in this format, you actually play this sometimes.
Stone Golem image 0.0 I’m not sure why you would play this. Artifact synergy is not a big part of this set, it doesn’t have a useful creature type. It is just a bad creature.
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Pack 2 Pick 11: Centaur Courser
Inspiring Captain image 2.5 There are enough tokens in this format that Inspiring Captain often comes down and has an immediate impact on the board. Now, you do need a reasonable board state in most cases to really take advantage, but this tends to be better than something like Inspired Charge, since its failed case is still something that adds to the board.
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.
Stone Golem image 0.0 I’m not sure why you would play this. Artifact synergy is not a big part of this set, it doesn’t have a useful creature type. It is just a bad creature.
Centaur Courser image 2.0 Vanilla 3-mana 3/3s are still perfectly fine in Limited.
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Pack 2 Pick 12: Fire Elemental
Moorland Inquisitor image 2.0 This is a bear with some reasonable upside, so it isn’t bad, but a lot of the time by the time you have the mana to give the Inquisitor First Strike, a 2/2 with First Strike doesn’t really matter!
Fire Elemental image 1.0 This would normally be pretty close to unplayable, but with the elemental deck being a very real thing in this format, you actually play this sometimes.
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.
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Pack 2 Pick 13: Destructive Digger
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.
Destructive Digger image 1.5 This has medium stats and an ability that can come in handy in the late game, but it is pretty expensive.
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Pack 2 Pick 14: Plummet
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.
Plummet image 0.5 As usual, this is better utilized as a sideboard card once you see enough targets for it.
Pack 2 Pick 15: Natural End
Natural End image 0.5 This is decent sideboard material, there aren’t enough artifacts and enchantments to really be maindecking it, though.
Pack 3 Pick 1: Llanowar Visionary
Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose image 4.5 Vito might be a low-drop, but he really takes over games. If you already have ways to gain life he gets better, but because he can give your whole board lifelink anyway, he can really just do it all on his own – well, I guess he needs creatures, but you know what I mean. The damage he does and the life he gains you adds up in a big way, and he tends to be unbeatable if he is on the board for long.
Sanctum of Fruitful Harvest image 1.0 // 3.0 This Sanctum fixes for you, which you might be in the market for in any deck, and in the Sanctum deck it can make it way easier for you to play multiple colors.
Kitesail Freebooter image 3.0 This is a nice disruptive creature that also comes with some reasonable French Vanilla stats. Even though they get the creature back if they kill him, he will usually have disrupted their plan enough to really cause them problems, while also still getting traded for 1-for-1.
Shipwreck Dowser image 3.5 A 5-mana 3/3 that returns an instant or sorcery to your hand is already a pretty good card -- it can help you get back a powerful removal spell while also having a large enough body to trade with something -- and that’s a 2-for-1.. Adding Prowess to the mix makes it even more appealing, since it can become a 4/4 pretty easily, and usually at Instant speed. Now, there is a downside here -- if your deck doesn’t have a decent number of spells, and you are just playing this as a 5-mana 3/3 that’s not going to feel too good. However, I don’t think it is a stretch to say most decks will have 4 or 5 instants or soceries, and if that’s the case you’re looking at a pretty good card.
Revitalize image 0.5 // 2.0 This card is normally not worth it. However, this does gain you 3 life, which several cards in this set check for, and if you’re in a deck with several of those payoffs, it is probably going to make the cut a reasonable chunk of the time.
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.
Destructive Tampering image 0. 5 // 2.0 This is mostly a sideboard card, but if you’re in a really aggressive deck, consider playing one of them because they give you a way to win a game even if your opponent stabilizes.
Radiant Fountain image 0.0 Even in the life gain deck this isn’t worth it. It does huge damage to your mana base, and gaining 2 life doesn’t make up for that.
Gale Swooper image 3.0 These are reasonable stats for an evasive creature. Giving something else Flying is a very real ETB trigger, and one that will frequently make attacks happen that just couldn’t before. I think you always run your first copy of this.
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.
Furor of the Bitten image 1.0 This gives a reasonable boost for the cost, but probably not quite enough to be worth the risk of a 2-for-1, especially because you can end up setting yourself up for the 2-for-1 just by playing this, since it forces your creature to attack. It can also be used to force an opposing creature to attack, but that additional use still doesn’t make it very good.
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.
Opt image 2.0 This is always pretty decent, especially in formats that have spell payoffs, and this one does.
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.
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Pack 3 Pick 2: Shock
Grim Tutor image 1.0 Grim Tutor is great in a 99-card singleton format where you get to build your deck out of any and all the cards ever, since it will be netting you a powerful card or one that is great in a given situation -- in Limited, Grim Tutor’s functionality is nowhere near as high. Sure, you can get that removal spell you need, or find a bomb, but paying 3 mana and 3 life for that isn’t a great deal, especially because for many cards you search up, you won’t be able to cast it the turn you get it either! In many ways, this amounts to a 3-mana draw 1 -- it is admittedly a little better than that -- but still, I only see myself playing this in a super controlling deck that is planning on winning with an incredible bomb, because in those situations you have a few targets that are at least intriguing, but even then I’m not very interested din this.
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.
Aven Gagglemaster image 3.5 On its own, this is a 5-mana 4/3 flyer that gains you 2 life when it comes down – that is already a card you always play, and the Gagglemaster gaining you 4 life instead isn’t going to be far-fetched. White decks will always play the first copy of this pretty happily.
Rewind image 1.0 4 mana for a counterspell is a ton, and while this is “free” in a sense, that fact won’t matter in the vast majority of Limited games. You just won’t have another instant or activated ability to spend that untapped mana on most of the time, so you’re just looking at what is basically a 4-mana hard counter, and that’s something that you don’t want to play in Limited. Your opponent playing around it is pretty devastating, and it is a lot harder to do well tempo-wise with a 4-mana counter. I can see decks coming together sometimes that are loaded up with instants and/or activated abilities, in which case it becomes a little better, but I think you steer clear most of the time.
Ranger's Guile image 2.0 This is a fairly decent combat trick for Limited. The stats boost isn’t hte mos impressive for the cost -- but Hexproof is where this gets some extra power, since it means you can no tonly use Guile to win combat, you can use it to save your creature.
Crypt Lurker image 3.0 This card really ended up overperforming. It helps you set up things for the reanimator deck, and its ¾ body lines up surprisingly well, and sacrificing a creature to this ends up making sense more often than you’d think too.
Teferi's Protege image 2.5 Looting is nice because it helps you get through your library and gives you nice card selection. This looter also comes with reasonable stats for the investment as a ⅔. It is somewhat limited as a looter since it asks for two mana every time you do it, but that’s ok -- it is a good place to be spending your mana as the game goes long, and it will definitely have a positive impact on the outcome of long games. This is a solid Blue common.
Finishing Blow image 3.5 This is a little bit expensive, but it can kill pretty much everything and it does at Instant speed, so the 5 mana is well worth it.
Shock image 3.5 This almost always trades up, and it can even do the last 2 damage to your opponent. This is premium removal.
Alpine Watchdog image 1.5 So, a two mana 2/2 with Vigilance is pretty passable. This guy does have some small additional synergies as a result of being a card that the RW signpost uncommon can search up, and that does increase his value for sure.
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.
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.
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.
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Pack 3 Pick 3: Ornery Dilophosaur
Goremand image 3.5 This is a very efficient Flyer that comes with all kinds of upside! It has a little downside too, since you have to sacrifice a creature to cast it, but that is often worth it for a creature this imposing, especially because it subtracts from the opponents’ board too. Where it gets really nasty is in the reanimator deck, where you don’t end up actually sacrificing anything, and your opponent still does.
Jeskai Elder image 2.5 A two mana ½ with Prowess isn’t the most amazing -- we have seen a few different two mana 1/3s with Prowess in the past -- but the damage trigger here letting you loot is pretty nice. That said, a ½ can’t really threaten a whole lot of creatures as an attacker, even with Prowess, and the elder will rapidly become irrelevant on many board states, because it just isn’t big enough. It is pretty nice on turn two, but after that it isn’t all that impressive.
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.
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.
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.
Opt image 2.0 This is always pretty decent, especially in formats that have spell payoffs, and this one does.
Dub image 2.5 This Aura gives a big enough stats boost and a good enough keyword ability that it is worth the risk of getting 2-for-1’d. It is especially nice on lifelinkers or flyers. Aggro decks will virtually always play the first copy.
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.
Walking Corpse image 1.0 This is a vanilla two drop that you’ll play only out of desperation.
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.
Furor of the Bitten image 1.0 This gives a reasonable boost for the cost, but probably not quite enough to be worth the risk of a 2-for-1, especially because you can end up setting yourself up for the 2-for-1 just by playing this, since it forces your creature to attack. It can also be used to force an opposing creature to attack, but that additional use still doesn’t make it very good.
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.
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 4: Hunter's Edge
Rewind image 1.0 4 mana for a counterspell is a ton, and while this is “free” in a sense, that fact won’t matter in the vast majority of Limited games. You just won’t have another instant or activated ability to spend that untapped mana on most of the time, so you’re just looking at what is basically a 4-mana hard counter, and that’s something that you don’t want to play in Limited. Your opponent playing around it is pretty devastating, and it is a lot harder to do well tempo-wise with a 4-mana counter. I can see decks coming together sometimes that are loaded up with instants and/or activated abilities, in which case it becomes a little better, but I think you steer clear most of the time.
Tavern Swindler image 1.5 // 3.0 This weird card is mostly here as another way to help the BW deck gain 3 or more life in a turn, thus triggering all the payoffs.
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.
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.
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.
Hobblefiend image 2.5 This guy can starts out reasonable and can get progressively larger throughout the game, something that pairs quite well with Trample. It is a very reasonable card for setting up sacrifice payoffs, since it can do it so cheaply.
Skeleton Archer image 2.5 There are lots of X/1s in this format, so this really overperforms. Doesn’t hurt that it can go after the opponent too sometimes.
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.
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.
Crypt Lurker image 3.0 This card really ended up overperforming. It helps you set up things for the reanimator deck, and its ¾ body lines up surprisingly well, and sacrificing a creature to this ends up making sense more often than you’d think too.
Burn Bright image 1.0 I never love this kind of mass pump effect in Limited. I like to get a toughness boost too, because that makes it far more flexible. If your creature was dead when your opponent blocked, it still will be even if you use this, and that means that this is really only worthwhile when you can do straight up lethal, really limiting its prospects.
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Pack 3 Pick 5: Turret Ogre
Temple of Silence image 3.0 This fix for you and help you smooth out your draws, so they can really play a key role in helping smooth out the beginning of your game. If they are in both your colors you should value them over most medium cards, and if you’re interested in splashing you should value them even more.
Burlfist Oak image 3.0 This will always be at least a 4/5 on your turn, and it can always threaten to get even larger with Instant speed draw spells. It is a little less impressive as a blocker, though, and it does die to lots of removal when its vulnerable.
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.
Roaming Ghostlight image 4.0 My favorite Common in the set, the Ghostlight is great because it adds to the board while you take away from your opponents’, AND it adds a very relevant evasive body to the board. For a Common, it shifts games way in your favor.
Destructive Tampering image 0. 5 // 2.0 This is mostly a sideboard card, but if you’re in a really aggressive deck, consider playing one of them because they give you a way to win a game even if your opponent stabilizes.
Radiant Fountain image 0.0 Even in the life gain deck this isn’t worth it. It does huge damage to your mana base, and gaining 2 life doesn’t make up for that.
Gloom Sower image 1.0 // 2.0 This card is mostly not very good – it has low toughness for the cost and is very easy to take down. However, it does slot reasonably well into the UB reanimator deck, and that helps make it a more appealing card.
Finishing Blow image 3.5 This is a little bit expensive, but it can kill pretty much everything and it does at Instant speed, so the 5 mana is well worth it.
Run Afoul image 0.5 This is mostly just a sideboard card. An edict for only flyers is a dead card too often, and even as a sideboard card it leaves a lot to be desired.
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.
Mountain image
Pack 3 Pick 6: Bone Pit Brute
Transmogrify image 0.0 Well, Red usually gets at least one Rare or Mythic that is a super random card that looks like fun, but isn’t so good in Limited, and that’s what we have here. Most of the ways you could use this, you are really relying on chance. If you use it on your opponent, you have to hope they get a worse creature -- something that is a safe bet if they have a bomb in play, but something that is definitely not guaranteed against most creatures. If you use it on yourself, you kind of have to hope that you hit something better. Now, sure -- you could use this on a creature token, but even in cashing in a token for a random creature for 4 mana isn’t going to be worth it way too often. I think it is best to steer clear of this.
Indulging Patrician image 3.5 So, a 3-mana ¼ with flying and lifelink is already a pretty nice card.+. It defends well and gains you life while it does, and it can also hit the opponent to create two point life swings, which isn’t insignificant. Then, you tack on a pretty powerful ability -- making your opponent lose 3 life any turn you gain 3 is great, and if you just manage to trigger that once, you’re going to be pretty happy -- if you do it more than that, well, your opponent’s probably dead or close to it. Keep in mind, by the way, that it causes loss of life -- this means you don’t also gain 3 life when your opponent loses the life, because it isn’t damage, so lifelink doesn’t matter there. How good the Patrician will be will really depend on how easy it is to gain 3 life on a given turn. Because the Patrician gains 1 on its own, you only need to gain 2 more life the rest of a turn -- this means that combining the Patrician with combat tricks might be especially devastating by the way.
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.
Bone Pit Brute image 1.5 This isn’t terrible to have at the top of your curve. His own stats aren’t great, but at least he has Menace! The fact he gives +4/+0 to something when he comes down is what keeps him from being completely terrible, though. That will often make an attack happen that just couldn’t before.
Keen Glidemaster image 2.5 Its nice that this is a two-drop who can stay relevant all game long, since flying definitely allows that.
Dub image 2.5 This Aura gives a big enough stats boost and a good enough keyword ability that it is worth the risk of getting 2-for-1’d. It is especially nice on lifelinkers or flyers. Aggro decks will virtually always play the first copy.
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.
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.
Caged Zombie image 1.5 It seems like this ability would be a nice way to close out games, and it is sometimes, but it is more challenging to set up than it looks at first, since you need a creature to die and you need to have mana available to use the ability.
Mountain image
Pack 3 Pick 7: Drowsing Tyrannodon
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.
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.
Skeleton Archer image 2.5 There are lots of X/1s in this format, so this really overperforms. Doesn’t hurt that it can go after the opponent too sometimes.
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.
Portcullis Vine image 1.0 This can block some stuff early and then replace itself late. Neither of those are very exciting.
Revitalize image 0.5 // 2.0 This card is normally not worth it. However, this does gain you 3 life, which several cards in this set check for, and if you’re in a deck with several of those payoffs, it is probably going to make the cut a reasonable chunk of the time.
Rookie Mistake image 1.0 It is hard to line this up in an advantageous way, it is just so weird. However, it is cheap, and this format has spell payoffs, so that saves it from being completely unplayable.
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.
Island image
Pack 3 Pick 8: Sanctum of Tranquil Light
Sanctum of Tranquil Light image 0.5 // 2.0 Decks with 3+ Sanctums are a real thing in this format, but this is one of the more underwhelming ones, even when you get your Sanctum stuff going. Tapping stuff down is a good way to prolong the game, and sometimes helps you enable attacks, but the other Sanctums are all better than this one. You’re really only going to play it in a Sanctum deck.
Meteorite image 1.5 This is an expensive mana rock, but it is fixing, and it can even Shock something, so that helps make it a little more reasonable to play.
Prismite image 1.0 This has bad stats and it is bad at fixing mana. If you’re desperate for a two drop or fixing you’ll play it, but that’s 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.
Alpine Watchdog image 1.5 So, a two mana 2/2 with Vigilance is pretty passable. This guy does have some small additional synergies as a result of being a card that the RW signpost uncommon can search up, and that does increase his value for sure.
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.
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.
Swamp image
Pack 3 Pick 9: Sanctum of Fruitful Harvest
Sanctum of Fruitful Harvest image 1.0 // 3.0 This Sanctum fixes for you, which you might be in the market for in any deck, and in the Sanctum deck it can make it way easier for you to play multiple colors.
Destructive Tampering image 0. 5 // 2.0 This is mostly a sideboard card, but if you’re in a really aggressive deck, consider playing one of them because they give you a way to win a game even if your opponent stabilizes.
Radiant Fountain image 0.0 Even in the life gain deck this isn’t worth it. It does huge damage to your mana base, and gaining 2 life doesn’t make up for that.
Gale Swooper image 3.0 These are reasonable stats for an evasive creature. Giving something else Flying is a very real ETB trigger, and one that will frequently make attacks happen that just couldn’t before. I think you always run your first copy of this.
Furor of the Bitten image 1.0 This gives a reasonable boost for the cost, but probably not quite enough to be worth the risk of a 2-for-1, especially because you can end up setting yourself up for the 2-for-1 just by playing this, since it forces your creature to attack. It can also be used to force an opposing creature to attack, but that additional use still doesn’t make it very good.
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.
Swamp image
Pack 3 Pick 10: Rewind
Rewind image 1.0 4 mana for a counterspell is a ton, and while this is “free” in a sense, that fact won’t matter in the vast majority of Limited games. You just won’t have another instant or activated ability to spend that untapped mana on most of the time, so you’re just looking at what is basically a 4-mana hard counter, and that’s something that you don’t want to play in Limited. Your opponent playing around it is pretty devastating, and it is a lot harder to do well tempo-wise with a 4-mana counter. I can see decks coming together sometimes that are loaded up with instants and/or activated abilities, in which case it becomes a little better, but I think you steer clear most of the time.
Ranger's Guile image 2.0 This is a fairly decent combat trick for Limited. The stats boost isn’t hte mos impressive for the cost -- but Hexproof is where this gets some extra power, since it means you can no tonly use Guile to win combat, you can use it to save your creature.
Alpine Watchdog image 1.5 So, a two mana 2/2 with Vigilance is pretty passable. This guy does have some small additional synergies as a result of being a card that the RW signpost uncommon can search up, and that does increase his value for sure.
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.
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.
Island image
Pack 3 Pick 11: Turn to Slag
Jeskai Elder image 2.5 A two mana ½ with Prowess isn’t the most amazing -- we have seen a few different two mana 1/3s with Prowess in the past -- but the damage trigger here letting you loot is pretty nice. That said, a ½ can’t really threaten a whole lot of creatures as an attacker, even with Prowess, and the elder will rapidly become irrelevant on many board states, because it just isn’t big enough. It is pretty nice on turn two, but after that it isn’t all that impressive.
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.
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.
Walking Corpse image 1.0 This is a vanilla two drop that you’ll play only out of desperation.
Furor of the Bitten image 1.0 This gives a reasonable boost for the cost, but probably not quite enough to be worth the risk of a 2-for-1, especially because you can end up setting yourself up for the 2-for-1 just by playing this, since it forces your creature to attack. It can also be used to force an opposing creature to attack, but that additional use still doesn’t make it very good.
Pack 3 Pick 12: Tavern Swindler
Tavern Swindler image 1.5 // 3.0 This weird card is mostly here as another way to help the BW deck gain 3 or more life in a turn, thus triggering all the payoffs.
Skeleton Archer image 2.5 There are lots of X/1s in this format, so this really overperforms. Doesn’t hurt that it can go after the opponent too sometimes.
Burn Bright image 1.0 I never love this kind of mass pump effect in Limited. I like to get a toughness boost too, because that makes it far more flexible. If your creature was dead when your opponent blocked, it still will be even if you use this, and that means that this is really only worthwhile when you can do straight up lethal, really limiting its prospects.
Forest image
Pack 3 Pick 13: Run Afoul
Radiant Fountain image 0.0 Even in the life gain deck this isn’t worth it. It does huge damage to your mana base, and gaining 2 life doesn’t make up for that.
Run Afoul image 0.5 This is mostly just a sideboard card. An edict for only flyers is a dead card too often, and even as a sideboard card it leaves a lot to be desired.
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Pack 3 Pick 14: Dub
Dub image 2.5 This Aura gives a big enough stats boost and a good enough keyword ability that it is worth the risk of getting 2-for-1’d. It is especially nice on lifelinkers or flyers. Aggro decks will virtually always play the first copy.
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Pack 3 Pick 15: Island
Island image
Draft Pick Overview