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Premier Draft VOW 19 November 2021

19 November 02:33 - Alberto2104 7 Wins - 0 Losses
Maindeck
Creature (19)
1 Lightning Wolf image
1 Weary Prisoner // Wrathful Jailbreaker image
1 Ill-Tempered Loner // Howlpack Avenger image
1 Voltaic Visionary // Volt-Charged Berserker image
1 Pyre Spawn image
4 Weaver of Blossoms // Blossom-Clad Werewolf image
1 Cobbled Lancer image
1 Stitched Assistant image
1 Olivia's Attendants image
1 Child of the Pack // Savage Packmate image
1 Reclusive Taxidermist image
1 Blood Petal Celebrant image
1 Spore Crawler image
2 Packsong Pup image
1 Dawnhart Disciple image
Instant, Sorcery, Enchantment, Artifact (8)
1 Spiked Ripsaw image
1 Howling Moon image
1 Flame-Blessed Bolt image
1 Thirst for Discovery image
1 Syncopate image
2 Wolf Strike image
1 Abrade image
Land (17)
9 Forest image
8 Mountain image
Sideboard
1 Cobbled Lancer image
1 Stitched Assistant image
1 Fearful Villager image
1 Vilespawn Spider image
1 Kessig Flamebreather image
2 Rural Recruit image
1 Hungry Ridgewolf image
2 Thirst for Discovery image
1 Syncopate image
1 Syphon Essence image
1 Crushing Canopy image
1 Lunar Rejection image
2 Scattered Thoughts image
1 End the Festivities image
1 Ancestral Anger image
1 Honored Heirloom image

Pack 1 Pick 1: Ill-Tempered Loner
Ill-Tempered Loner image 4.5 This looks really good. The front side is hard to interact with and not get 2-for-1’d, although removal that doesn’t do damage can do it. Its great it can pump its power too, increasing the chances of getting that 2-for-1. It will be tough to block this, but the threat of activation will sometimes force people to do it. Obviously, once it transforms it becomes even scarier, and if it is already night when you play it, it will immediately impact the board in a pretty big way. I think this is a bomb.
Sigardian Paladin image 3.5 This is another great signpost Uncommon. It has a baseline of being a 4-mana 4/4, and brings all kinds of amazing additional value. The one bummer about the card is it doesn’t also bring a +1/+1 counter along with it, but there are so many of them in this format that it will really do some serious work.
Parasitic Grasp image 4.0 This is really good. There are lots of Humans who you can kill with this, but in situations where you want to kill a non Human, paying an additional mana is perfectly fine.
Lantern of the Lost image 1.5 This does a real good job hating on the graveyard, and it also replaces itself with its activated ability. While this format feels a little less graveyard centric than Midnight Hunt -- after all, there’s no Flashback here -- graveyards are still a big enough deal in this format that I think you’ll main deck this sometimes. Because it replaces itself, the cost of doing so isn’t massive. I still think in an ideal world, you’re not playing it in your main deck though, as you’d rather have some other cards that have incidental graveyard hate than a card that only hates on graveyards. It will be the best in the UR deck, as it will trigger all your non-creature stuff and replace itself, which is exactly what that deck wants.
Piercing Light image 2.5 This kills X/2s pretty efficiently, but its situational in two different ways, and I don’t love that. The creature has to be small and attacking or blocking. Scry is some minor additional value, but yeah, this falls well short of being premium removal. Its just a solid playable. I’m giving it 2.5.
Falkenrath Celebrants image 2.5 This is a decent 5-drop. A 5-mana 4/4 with Menace is A 2.0 at best, but the two blood tokens it gives you can fuel some stuff or improve your hand.
Unhallowed Phalanx image 1.0 // 2.5 The idea here is that you play this in the toughness matters deck, and I think you’ll play this reasonably often there, but you won’t really be playing it anywhere else. Sure, it can block well, but a 1/13 just isn’t that exciting -- it won’t be able to kill anything in combat, and the fact it can’t block right away is pretty brutal. There are some sweet combos to pull off with this in BG, like sacrificing this to the flipped Catapult creature.
Wanderlight Spirit image 2.5 This is a reasonably aggressive flyer. Not being able to block ground creatures isn’t a huge deal.
Rot-Tide Gargantua image 2.5 Sometimes, the Edict effect here won’t actually do a whole lot, and when that’s the case, its just a 5-mana 5/4, which isn’t really worth it. The upside is definitely real, don’t get me wrong, but I don’t see this being super impressive in most situations.
Ceremonial Knife image 1.5 This gives a very small boost, especially for an Equip cost of 2, and the fact you get Blood out of it isn’t really enough to make me excited about this.
Dawnhart Disciple image 2.5 This is a nice two drop, one that will often be a 3/3 when you’re just curving out.
Parish-Blade Trainee image 2.5 This will get bigger relatively easy since it starts with one power. One kind of awkward thing about it, though, is the fact that if you play this as your two drop, it almost definitely won’t be growing on turn three. It is nice that it pays you off for counter stuff more generally too, but this seems pretty awkward to curve out with, and I think that hurts its grade a little.
Fearful Villager image 2.0 This has alright base stats and some decent upside, but its nothing special.
Lightning Wolf image 1.5 This is pretty underwhelming. A 4-mana 4/3 isn’t a great place to start these days, and while its ability will make it harder to block, its also really frustrating its only Sorcery speed.
Pack 1 Pick 2: Voltaic Visionary
Voltaic Visionary image 3.0 This has a neat design. Ideally, it will be a two mana 4/3 that can’t block that draws you a card for 2 life, and that’s something you’d always play! The problem is sometimes it’ll exile a card you can’t play, but if your curve is low enough or its late, it shouldn’t be too hard for this to net you that card. The downside is that, since it can’t block, trading won’t be super easy. Sometimes you will be able to assign it as a blocker then use the ability to transform it. In those situations, you’ll be more likely to get the 2-for-1, but yeah. This can lead to some aggressive starts or draw you a card late while adding to the board, and I like that.
Skull Skaab image 3.5 So yeah, Skull Skaab is all about Exploit, and so is the UB color pair! This is a two mana 2/2 who can sac something to get a 2/2 Zombie. That on its own isn’t great, but giving up a 1/1 or something you want in the yard getting a 2/2 is pretty good. Where the value really adds up, though, is when you have other cards with Exploit. With those cards, you can sacrifice a thing to get another effect as well as the 2/2 Zombie, which itself is pretty good Exploit fodder. Like most of the signposts in this set, this looks quite good!
Vilespawn Spider image 4.0 This is an excellent signpost Uncommon, it has great vanilla stats, loads up the graveyard, and has a powerful graveyard-payoff effect. It does everything you want in UG.
Gift of Fangs image 3.0 So, this is basically Dead Weight that has both Vampire upside, and downside, depending on what you’re trying to do. If you really need to kill an opposing vampire, it will be pretty frustrating that this can’t do it – but +2/+2 on one of your vampires for only one mana is pretty nice upside on Dead Weight. Dead Weight is normally a 3.0, and I think this will still end up there. It kills a whole lot of things efficiently, after all.
Estwald Shieldbasher image 2.5 This doesn’t have great stats for the cost, but the ability to become indestructible when it attacks makes up for that. It’s a nice place to put +1/+1 counters and Auras, and those are very real things in this format.
Blood Petal Celebrant image 3.0 This is a nice Common. We’ve seen two mana 2/1s who have first strike when they attack before, and they are always good two-drop aggro creatures, and this one gives you some Blood when it goes down. I don’t imagine you’ll cut this in Red decks.
Binding Geist image 2.0 So, the attack trigger here won’t usually make it so the Geist won’t die in combat, but it does let you force your opponent into situations where the best they can do is trade, and that’s not too bad… though it isn’t great either. 1 toughness is a just a big hurdle on a 3-mana creature. Having that ability in Aura form isn’t exactly exciting either when you disturb it.
Supernatural Rescue image 1.0 This has a neat design, and is obviously really geared toward the UW deck, which is about Auras and Spirits. This having Flash will be particularly attractive, as you can use it to prevent one round of attacks and blocks when you do, and you can also get the stats boost at Instant speed, which isn’t too shabby. When it doesn’t have Flash, it is pretty clunky, though tapping down a couple of things can often make some more attacks possible. Still, the mana cost is pretty high here, and you won’t have much reason to run Auras like this when you can just run creatures with Disturb who are far more useful up front. Even with the Spirit upside, I don’t see myself playing this very often.
Bloody Betrayal image 1.0 It takes a special format for Threaten effects to be good – and I don’t really foresee that in this format. You either need a legit sacrifice deck in Red or an incredibly aggressive format for it to work out, since it is the kind of effect that doesn’t give you anything permanently, the Blood token notwithstanding. You could maybe combine it with Exploit if you’re in Black or Blue, and that could be spicy, but you’ll need a significant amount of mana to make that happen most of the time.
Toxic Scorpion image 3.0 This looks nice. A two mana 1/1 with Deathtouch is probably already a 2.0 or 2.5, since it can trade for anything and really represent a problem all game long. So, being able to give death touch to another creature on the ETB is nice, and gives it even more utility in the later game.
Militia Rallier image 2.5 This has efficient stats, even if it can’t attack alone. The good news is it can block alone, and it does a good job of that! And as long as he has some friends, he can rumble too, while untapping a creature, so it has pseudo-vigilance. On top of that, its a nice size for training other creatures.
Pyre Spawn image 2.0 This doesn’t have good stats, but the fact it bolts a thing when it dies does usually mean you can get a 2-for-1, and if your opponent’s life is low they are going to be sweating this a ton. I think this is a decent top curve card.
Alchemist's Retrieval image 2.0 We see this card a lot, and its always kind of alright. This one is nice because if you want to bounce your own thing you can pay less, and paying two to bounce a nonland permanent either player controls is kind of what we expect. Its never anything special, but the first copy often makes the cut in Blue decks.
Pack 1 Pick 3: Pyre Spawn
Mischievous Catgeist image 2.5 Getting in with the 1/1 side of this won’t be super easy, but if you are on the play and play it on turn two, it has a chance. The idea is that you can put Auras on it to really start to get value, and obviously as we’ve seen, there are lots of Auras that would make this into a formidable attacker. Then, when it goes down, it of course becomes an Aura, and one that grants the same ability to another creature. That’s pretty nice, because any time you find a situation where you have an advantageous attack, you can Disturb this and stand a good chance of getting that card.
Boarded Window image 2.5 This kind of effect always plays much better than you’d think. Decreasing the power of attacking creatures really results in a big downgrade for your opponent, and does have a pretty real impact on the board. It is a bit of a bummer -- albeit a flavrful bummer -- that it goes away if your opponent does 4 or more damage to you -- but it will be surprisingly hard for your opponent to find a way to do that, since their creatures will be significantly less potent attackers, something that is even more of a problem if you have blockers. Now you don’t really want this if you’re in the beat down, but if you’re in a more grindy control deck, this is going to be something that does a nice job for you.
Desperate Farmer image 2.5 This starts out with a pretty ugly stat-line – a Gray Ogre with life link just isn’t worth three mana, but it has the ability to turn into a 4/3 with Lifelink, which is obviously pretty good for three mana! And transforming it isn’t’ super hard, something just has to die, so you can just play this and offer a trade for example. You can also exploit something to transform it.
Sigarda's Imprisonment image 3.0 This is White’s usual aura-based premium removal. Now, there’s a very real chance this is worse than normal, since Exploit is in the format, but I still think the efficiency of the card is worth it -- 3 mana completely removes the card from combat, allowing you to attack and take advantage right away, and its nice that in the late game you can get rid of the creature entirely and get a Blood token out of the deal.
Massive Might image 2.0 It feels like the last few sets have had some pretty legit tricks, and this is definitely another one. One mana tricks tend to be pretty nice in aggressive decks, as you get some serious tempo when you use them to win combat, and this one definitely gives you enough of a boost to be worth running in those decks. Now, it IS still a track, and those always come with significant risks, but I think this is one you’ll play the first copy of reasonably often, provided you’re aggro.
Adamant Will image 1.5 We’ve seen this card a few times now, it’s a pretty reasonable trick. The boost it gives is enough to win just about any combat, and the indestructibility means you can even use it to save a creature from removal. It is still a trick and comes with all the inherent downsides those come with – like being situational and sometimes risky.
Stitched Assistant image 3.0 The exploit trigger lets you see two cards, and makes sure that the creature you sacrifice is instantly replaced. You won’t always want to sacrifice a thing, but the fact that you can is pretty nice, and there are enough decent sacrifice fodder type cards that this seems like a 3.
Gift of Fangs image 3.0 So, this is basically Dead Weight that has both Vampire upside, and downside, depending on what you’re trying to do. If you really need to kill an opposing vampire, it will be pretty frustrating that this can’t do it – but +2/+2 on one of your vampires for only one mana is pretty nice upside on Dead Weight. Dead Weight is normally a 3.0, and I think this will still end up there. It kills a whole lot of things efficiently, after all.
Lightning Wolf image 1.5 This is pretty underwhelming. A 4-mana 4/3 isn’t a great place to start these days, and while its ability will make it harder to block, its also really frustrating its only Sorcery speed.
Parish-Blade Trainee image 2.5 This will get bigger relatively easy since it starts with one power. One kind of awkward thing about it, though, is the fact that if you play this as your two drop, it almost definitely won’t be growing on turn three. It is nice that it pays you off for counter stuff more generally too, but this seems pretty awkward to curve out with, and I think that hurts its grade a little.
Pyre Spawn image 2.0 This doesn’t have good stats, but the fact it bolts a thing when it dies does usually mean you can get a 2-for-1, and if your opponent’s life is low they are going to be sweating this a ton. I think this is a decent top curve card.
Flourishing Hunter image 2.5 It is pretty likely that this gains you 3 or more life, and that will feel pretty good if you’re trying to stabilize against an aggressive deck. . Seems like a solid card to have in the Colossal Dreadmaw/Honey Mammoth.
Pack 1 Pick 4: Flame-Blessed Bolt
Cloaked Cadet image 3.5 This looks really strong. It has a pretty bad starting rate, but the stats it has work really well with training, because it will likely get a counter and likely become a ⅗ when you attack with it, netting you a card. Because it then has 5 toughness, it is going to be hard to take down in combat, and even if they do, you’re probably getting a 2-for-1. And that’s without taking into account having other ways to put counters on stuff.
Mulch image 1.0 // 2.5 This is a reprint, and one that stands a good chance at impacting constructed! In Limited, it is probably only worth it in a deck that is interesting in loading the graveyard, which mostly seems to be UG this time around. It does give you a good shot at hitting a land drop or two, which is fine. Still, I think most decks won’t play this apart from UG.
Blood Petal Celebrant image 3.0 This is a nice Common. We’ve seen two mana 2/1s who have first strike when they attack before, and they are always good two-drop aggro creatures, and this one gives you some Blood when it goes down. I don’t imagine you’ll cut this in Red decks.
Flame-Blessed Bolt image 3.5 This is premium removal. One mana for 2 at Instant speed always is, as you can very easily trade up. The exile clause definitely matters because of the disturb mechanic too.
Skywarp Skaab image 2.5 If this always drew you a card, I’d be pretty pumped about this! It probably only ends up drawing you a card around half the time though, which is substantially worse, as a 5-mana 2/5 Flyer isn’t anything special.
Gluttonous Guest image 2.5 This is a decent Common that slots in well into multiple Black decks. It has high toughness, which BG likes, it gains you life, which BW likes, and it makes Blood tokens, which BR likes! Now, it doesn’t exactly blow you away with what it does in any of those decks, but it is a solid card in all of them.
Unholy Officiant image 2.0 A one mana ½ with Vigilance is not a very good card. Its the kind of card people often overrate, because they think “One mana is only enough to get a 1/1 most of the time!” and while that’s sort of true, the problem in Limited is that this kind of card will get outclassed pretty quickly. That said, it comes with an ability that actually does something in the late game, even if 5 is a lot for a single counter. Its also a decent place to put counters thanks to its keyword ability. So, yeah. This is an alright one drop that you’ll play in your most aggressive GW decks, but it doesn’t look that great anywhere else.
Vampire's Kiss image 1.0 I don’t like cards like this. Sure, it alters the race a little bit and gives you those blood tokens, which the BR deck is certainly interested in, but it just won’t feel like this is giving you a full card of value very often. It doesn’t impact the board meaningfully, and I can’t see myself wanting to jam something like it into my deck.
Estwald Shieldbasher image 2.5 This doesn’t have great stats for the cost, but the ability to become indestructible when it attacks makes up for that. It’s a nice place to put +1/+1 counters and Auras, and those are very real things in this format.
Weary Prisoner image 1.5 This reminds me a whole lot of Tavern Brawler, a card that ended up being super underwhelming in Midnight Hunt. On one side it is a defensive creature, and on the other it is an aggressively costed big creature. Those two things are a bit awkward together, and if you played Midnight Hunt you know that completely controlling day and night how you want it isn’t always easy. This might end up being better than the Brawler -- Midnight Hunt did have an unusual amount of good common removal that made big vanilla creatures bad -- but for now I’m pretty skeptical.
Honored Heirloom image 1.5 3 mana mana rocks are very rarely good in Limited, even if they add mana of any color. This one luckily comes with some additional value, as exiling stuff from graveyards does legitimately matter in this format. Still, you probably don’t play this unless you’re splashing a third color, as it is still very low impact.
Pack 1 Pick 5: Weaver of Blossoms
Parish-Blade Trainee image 2.5 This will get bigger relatively easy since it starts with one power. One kind of awkward thing about it, though, is the fact that if you play this as your two drop, it almost definitely won’t be growing on turn three. It is nice that it pays you off for counter stuff more generally too, but this seems pretty awkward to curve out with, and I think that hurts its grade a little.
Serpentine Ambush image 0.0 This kind of card is always awful in Limited. It is easy to imagine scenarios where it does what you want – like when you use it as a combat trick to ambush something, but situations where you actually get to trade this for a card are few and far between, and this is something we’ve seen repeatedly.
Sure Strike image 1.5 This is a trick we see a lot. It can make almost any creature win combat which is nice, but because it doesn’t raise toughness it doesn’t have the additional value of helping you save a creature from removal – but the main purpose of tricks is using them in combat anyway. You’ll play this in aggro decks for sure, but probably not anywhere else.
Undying Malice image 1.5 It seems like they give Black an Instant like this in every set these days, and they are always a little too situational and mediocre, especially if they don’t provide a stats boost up front to help the creature win combat. Supernatural Stamina, this is not. However, it does have some interesting applications in this set, especially alongside Exploit. You can use it to rebuy a creature you were sacrificing to Exploit, or to rebuy an Exploit trigger in the first place, and that seems like it might be worth doing. If you just have this in your deck as a way to save a creature from dying in combat or as way to counter removal, it probably won’t be worth it, but yeah – if ETBs and Exploit abound in your deck, it seems serviceable.
Syphon Essence image 1.5 This not being able to counter noncreature nonplaneswalkers definitely matters, but it does counter the card type people tend to have the most of, and getting that Blood is nice upside. Still, it’s a narrow enough counterspell that you’ll cut it a lot.
Unhallowed Phalanx image 1.0 // 2.5 The idea here is that you play this in the toughness matters deck, and I think you’ll play this reasonably often there, but you won’t really be playing it anywhere else. Sure, it can block well, but a 1/13 just isn’t that exciting -- it won’t be able to kill anything in combat, and the fact it can’t block right away is pretty brutal. There are some sweet combos to pull off with this in BG, like sacrificing this to the flipped Catapult creature.
Alchemist's Retrieval image 2.0 We see this card a lot, and its always kind of alright. This one is nice because if you want to bounce your own thing you can pay less, and paying two to bounce a nonland permanent either player controls is kind of what we expect. Its never anything special, but the first copy often makes the cut in Blue decks.
Repository Skaab image 3.0 A Hill Giant that sometimes rebuys you an Instant or Sorcery is decent. Obviously, you don’t really want to give up a real creature for the effect all the time, otherwise it is a roundabout way of rummaging, but recurring removal spells is especially potent, and giving up a creature for that is often going to be worth it, especially if you sacrifice a card that brings you some value when it dies.
Supernatural Rescue image 1.0 This has a neat design, and is obviously really geared toward the UW deck, which is about Auras and Spirits. This having Flash will be particularly attractive, as you can use it to prevent one round of attacks and blocks when you do, and you can also get the stats boost at Instant speed, which isn’t too shabby. When it doesn’t have Flash, it is pretty clunky, though tapping down a couple of things can often make some more attacks possible. Still, the mana cost is pretty high here, and you won’t have much reason to run Auras like this when you can just run creatures with Disturb who are far more useful up front. Even with the Spirit upside, I don’t see myself playing this very often.
Weaver of Blossoms image 2.5 This is a nice source of fixing and ramp with decent stats, and sometimes those stats are more than decent and it ramps even more!
Pack 1 Pick 6: Thirst for Discovery
Thirst for Discovery image 3.0 3 mana to draw 3 at instant speed and discard a land is a pretty good deal, and in some decks in this format, discarding nonlands will also be beneficial. It doesn’t impact the board of course, and you don’t want to jam too many cards like that into your deck, but I think this looks pretty good overall, and would value the first copy fairly high.
Syncopate image 2.5 This is a reprint, and actually a pretty reasonable counterspell. XU counterspells are nicely customizable, and you’ll find yourself able to counter a spell much more frequently without going out of your way to leave some amount of mana up as a result. Exiling the thing you counters certainly matters in this format too. Now, it is still a counterspell, and having to have the mana up at the exact right time just for this to trade 1-for-1 still isn’t awesome, but unlike a lot of counterspells, this one is worth it in Limited.
Blood Petal Celebrant image 3.0 This is a nice Common. We’ve seen two mana 2/1s who have first strike when they attack before, and they are always good two-drop aggro creatures, and this one gives you some Blood when it goes down. I don’t imagine you’ll cut this in Red decks.
Snarling Wolf image 1.5 This is another reprint from Midnight Hunt. It was solid there, as it could come down early and help set up Pack Tactics. It will probably be about the same here, except it will help set up Training. Still nothing special though, and not something you even always run. There are a lot of two drops that are just way better.
Adamant Will image 1.5 We’ve seen this card a few times now, it’s a pretty reasonable trick. The boost it gives is enough to win just about any combat, and the indestructibility means you can even use it to save a creature from removal. It is still a trick and comes with all the inherent downsides those come with – like being situational and sometimes risky.
Nurturing Presence image 1.5 This gives you a 1/1 Flyer no matter what, and that helps mitigate the risk of playing it. It’s too bad the rest of the card isn’t very good. The stats boost is situational and unimpressive. The turn you play it will giving +1/+1 to the thing, but still – you’re not really doing a great job with that.
Crushing Canopy image 0.5 There are flyers and Enchantments in this set of course, but not really enough of either to main deck this in most cases. Even blowing up a disturb Aura isn’t great, as most of the time you’re trading a whole card for half of one.
Gryff Rider image 3.0 This looks like a nice Common. Because it has Flying, it will often be able to attack with other creatures that are bigger than it, so it can grow throughout the game, and even just getting one counter on it will feel pretty good. This seems like the kind of Common that will be the bread and butter of aggressive decks in this format.
Nature's Embrace image 1.5 This has a pretty interesting design. Its either a mediocre aura or a mediocre way to fix and ramp. Each card individually is probably a 1.0 at best – and you probably won’t play this at all if you don’t need fixing, so I think it’s a 1.5.
Pack 1 Pick 7: Cobbled Lancer
Cobbled Lancer image 3.0 Obviously, casting this on turn one is close to impossible in Limited, but if you just trade your two drop and then cast this on turn three plus another spell, that seems pretty spicy. Its also big enough that its decent all game long, so even if you don’t play it until turn 4 or something it will be okay, especially if you’re double spelling. The nice thing too is that if you’re milling yourself, you can cash it in for a card from your graveyard. And, if you trade with it and use the ability from the graveyard, you get a 2-for-1!
Persistent Specimen image 1.0 // 2.5 Like many Skeletons who came before it, the idea here is to recur this so that you can keep sacrificing it to exploit triggers and other stuff. I think that really makes this a build around, as you don’t want to play it at all in a deck that doesn’t really take advantage of its recursion, as getting back a 1/1 over and over again just isn’t very good for most decks.
Skywarp Skaab image 2.5 If this always drew you a card, I’d be pretty pumped about this! It probably only ends up drawing you a card around half the time though, which is substantially worse, as a 5-mana 2/5 Flyer isn’t anything special.
Voldaren Epicure image 2.0 This does a bunch of little things, and I think they add up enough to make this a decent card. I don’t think you’ll always play it, but chances are good you’ll be interested in the Blood if yo’ure in Red, and especially Black/Red, and getting it on turn one seems like it will fuel some stuff.
Nebelgast Beguiler image 2.0 Master Decoy-type effects tend to play pretty well in Limited, sort of becoming like removal in the late part of the game. The creature here is very clunky and unimpressive, though. Having a defensive creature who has to tap to use its ability is a bit annoying, and I think you’ll cut this a decent chunk of the time.
Vampire Slayer image 1.5 This set has a lot of vampires, but not so many that a two mana 2/2 that kills Vampires in combat is that great. This is especially true because many vampires are already kind of small and this can trade with them.
Fearful Villager image 2.0 This has alright base stats and some decent upside, but its nothing special.
Witch's Web image 1.5 We see this trick a lot, and its always passable in aggressive decks. It gives enough of a boost that the creature usually wins combat, and it can even be used to ambush an attacking flyer, though typically you’d rather use this aggressively than defensively.
Pack 1 Pick 8: Syncopate
Dread Fugue image 0.0 // 1.0 Neither side of this card is very good in Limited. If you just cast it normally, there’s a good chance you hit nothing, and the 3-mana effect is just Coercion, a card that generally isn’t playable in Limited. You’ve got to be adding to the board meaningfully in most Limited formats, and this doesn’t do that, and it will often do nothing. It gets a little better as a sideboard card, but its probably still just a 1 there.
Syncopate image 2.5 This is a reprint, and actually a pretty reasonable counterspell. XU counterspells are nicely customizable, and you’ll find yourself able to counter a spell much more frequently without going out of your way to leave some amount of mana up as a result. Exiling the thing you counters certainly matters in this format too. Now, it is still a counterspell, and having to have the mana up at the exact right time just for this to trade 1-for-1 still isn’t awesome, but unlike a lot of counterspells, this one is worth it in Limited.
Persistent Specimen image 1.0 // 2.5 Like many Skeletons who came before it, the idea here is to recur this so that you can keep sacrificing it to exploit triggers and other stuff. I think that really makes this a build around, as you don’t want to play it at all in a deck that doesn’t really take advantage of its recursion, as getting back a 1/1 over and over again just isn’t very good for most decks.
Sure Strike image 1.5 This is a trick we see a lot. It can make almost any creature win combat which is nice, but because it doesn’t raise toughness it doesn’t have the additional value of helping you save a creature from removal – but the main purpose of tricks is using them in combat anyway. You’ll play this in aggro decks for sure, but probably not anywhere else.
Unholy Officiant image 2.0 A one mana ½ with Vigilance is not a very good card. Its the kind of card people often overrate, because they think “One mana is only enough to get a 1/1 most of the time!” and while that’s sort of true, the problem in Limited is that this kind of card will get outclassed pretty quickly. That said, it comes with an ability that actually does something in the late game, even if 5 is a lot for a single counter. Its also a decent place to put counters thanks to its keyword ability. So, yeah. This is an alright one drop that you’ll play in your most aggressive GW decks, but it doesn’t look that great anywhere else.
Pyre Spawn image 2.0 This doesn’t have good stats, but the fact it bolts a thing when it dies does usually mean you can get a 2-for-1, and if your opponent’s life is low they are going to be sweating this a ton. I think this is a decent top curve card.
Bramble Armor image 1.0 We just saw this in the last set. It wasn’t very good last time around, even with the free Equip, and really kind of underperformed. While this format has Training, which this can help with, the last format had Coven, which this could have helped with, and it still wasn’t a card you ran very often.
Pack 1 Pick 9: Lightning Wolf
Lantern of the Lost image 1.5 This does a real good job hating on the graveyard, and it also replaces itself with its activated ability. While this format feels a little less graveyard centric than Midnight Hunt -- after all, there’s no Flashback here -- graveyards are still a big enough deal in this format that I think you’ll main deck this sometimes. Because it replaces itself, the cost of doing so isn’t massive. I still think in an ideal world, you’re not playing it in your main deck though, as you’d rather have some other cards that have incidental graveyard hate than a card that only hates on graveyards. It will be the best in the UR deck, as it will trigger all your non-creature stuff and replace itself, which is exactly what that deck wants.
Unhallowed Phalanx image 1.0 // 2.5 The idea here is that you play this in the toughness matters deck, and I think you’ll play this reasonably often there, but you won’t really be playing it anywhere else. Sure, it can block well, but a 1/13 just isn’t that exciting -- it won’t be able to kill anything in combat, and the fact it can’t block right away is pretty brutal. There are some sweet combos to pull off with this in BG, like sacrificing this to the flipped Catapult creature.
Ceremonial Knife image 1.5 This gives a very small boost, especially for an Equip cost of 2, and the fact you get Blood out of it isn’t really enough to make me excited about this.
Dawnhart Disciple image 2.5 This is a nice two drop, one that will often be a 3/3 when you’re just curving out.
Parish-Blade Trainee image 2.5 This will get bigger relatively easy since it starts with one power. One kind of awkward thing about it, though, is the fact that if you play this as your two drop, it almost definitely won’t be growing on turn three. It is nice that it pays you off for counter stuff more generally too, but this seems pretty awkward to curve out with, and I think that hurts its grade a little.
Lightning Wolf image 1.5 This is pretty underwhelming. A 4-mana 4/3 isn’t a great place to start these days, and while its ability will make it harder to block, its also really frustrating its only Sorcery speed.
Pack 1 Pick 10: Vilespawn Spider
Skull Skaab image 3.5 So yeah, Skull Skaab is all about Exploit, and so is the UB color pair! This is a two mana 2/2 who can sac something to get a 2/2 Zombie. That on its own isn’t great, but giving up a 1/1 or something you want in the yard getting a 2/2 is pretty good. Where the value really adds up, though, is when you have other cards with Exploit. With those cards, you can sacrifice a thing to get another effect as well as the 2/2 Zombie, which itself is pretty good Exploit fodder. Like most of the signposts in this set, this looks quite good!
Vilespawn Spider image 4.0 This is an excellent signpost Uncommon, it has great vanilla stats, loads up the graveyard, and has a powerful graveyard-payoff effect. It does everything you want in UG.
Bloody Betrayal image 1.0 It takes a special format for Threaten effects to be good – and I don’t really foresee that in this format. You either need a legit sacrifice deck in Red or an incredibly aggressive format for it to work out, since it is the kind of effect that doesn’t give you anything permanently, the Blood token notwithstanding. You could maybe combine it with Exploit if you’re in Black or Blue, and that could be spicy, but you’ll need a significant amount of mana to make that happen most of the time.
Pyre Spawn image 2.0 This doesn’t have good stats, but the fact it bolts a thing when it dies does usually mean you can get a 2-for-1, and if your opponent’s life is low they are going to be sweating this a ton. I think this is a decent top curve card.
Alchemist's Retrieval image 2.0 We see this card a lot, and its always kind of alright. This one is nice because if you want to bounce your own thing you can pay less, and paying two to bounce a nonland permanent either player controls is kind of what we expect. Its never anything special, but the first copy often makes the cut in Blue decks.
Pack 1 Pick 11: Stitched Assistant
Massive Might image 2.0 It feels like the last few sets have had some pretty legit tricks, and this is definitely another one. One mana tricks tend to be pretty nice in aggressive decks, as you get some serious tempo when you use them to win combat, and this one definitely gives you enough of a boost to be worth running in those decks. Now, it IS still a track, and those always come with significant risks, but I think this is one you’ll play the first copy of reasonably often, provided you’re aggro.
Adamant Will image 1.5 We’ve seen this card a few times now, it’s a pretty reasonable trick. The boost it gives is enough to win just about any combat, and the indestructibility means you can even use it to save a creature from removal. It is still a trick and comes with all the inherent downsides those come with – like being situational and sometimes risky.
Stitched Assistant image 3.0 The exploit trigger lets you see two cards, and makes sure that the creature you sacrifice is instantly replaced. You won’t always want to sacrifice a thing, but the fact that you can is pretty nice, and there are enough decent sacrifice fodder type cards that this seems like a 3.
Flourishing Hunter image 2.5 It is pretty likely that this gains you 3 or more life, and that will feel pretty good if you’re trying to stabilize against an aggressive deck. . Seems like a solid card to have in the Colossal Dreadmaw/Honey Mammoth.
Pack 1 Pick 12: Weary Prisoner
Mulch image 1.0 // 2.5 This is a reprint, and one that stands a good chance at impacting constructed! In Limited, it is probably only worth it in a deck that is interesting in loading the graveyard, which mostly seems to be UG this time around. It does give you a good shot at hitting a land drop or two, which is fine. Still, I think most decks won’t play this apart from UG.
Weary Prisoner image 1.5 This reminds me a whole lot of Tavern Brawler, a card that ended up being super underwhelming in Midnight Hunt. On one side it is a defensive creature, and on the other it is an aggressively costed big creature. Those two things are a bit awkward together, and if you played Midnight Hunt you know that completely controlling day and night how you want it isn’t always easy. This might end up being better than the Brawler -- Midnight Hunt did have an unusual amount of good common removal that made big vanilla creatures bad -- but for now I’m pretty skeptical.
Honored Heirloom image 1.5 3 mana mana rocks are very rarely good in Limited, even if they add mana of any color. This one luckily comes with some additional value, as exiling stuff from graveyards does legitimately matter in this format. Still, you probably don’t play this unless you’re splashing a third color, as it is still very low impact.
Pack 1 Pick 13: Syphon Essence
Syphon Essence image 1.5 This not being able to counter noncreature nonplaneswalkers definitely matters, but it does counter the card type people tend to have the most of, and getting that Blood is nice upside. Still, it’s a narrow enough counterspell that you’ll cut it a lot.
Unhallowed Phalanx image 1.0 // 2.5 The idea here is that you play this in the toughness matters deck, and I think you’ll play this reasonably often there, but you won’t really be playing it anywhere else. Sure, it can block well, but a 1/13 just isn’t that exciting -- it won’t be able to kill anything in combat, and the fact it can’t block right away is pretty brutal. There are some sweet combos to pull off with this in BG, like sacrificing this to the flipped Catapult creature.
Pack 1 Pick 14: Crushing Canopy
Crushing Canopy image 0.5 There are flyers and Enchantments in this set of course, but not really enough of either to main deck this in most cases. Even blowing up a disturb Aura isn’t great, as most of the time you’re trading a whole card for half of one.
Pack 2 Pick 1: Olivia's Attendants
Olivia's Attendants image 4.5 This is very impressive. A 6-mana 6/6 with Menace is something that would make the cut at the top of your curve pretty frequently, and these Attendants bring so much more value. They will crank out blood tokens in a hurry, and then the thing that really pushes it into bomb range is the ability to just ping things -- which, by the way, also gives you more Blood tokens! So yeah, this has efficient stats and powerful abilities. You do need it to survive until your next turn in most cases to get the value, but its definitely a bomb.
Lambholt Raconteur image 3.0 This is a pretty nice payoff for the spell deck, especially when it transforms! You’ll always play this in UR, and it will probably make the cut in pretty much any deck with 5 or so spells.
Parasitic Grasp image 4.0 This is really good. There are lots of Humans who you can kill with this, but in situations where you want to kill a non Human, paying an additional mana is perfectly fine.
Archghoul of Thraben image 3.5 This looks nice enough. At worst, it is a 3-mana 3/2 that Surveils 1 when it dies. That’s not great, but is perfectly playable. And, obviously, if you have a bunch of other Zombies, it triggers even more. Black decks will basically always have a few zombies, and UB decks will have more than a few, and in those decks it can turn into a real card advantage engine.
Toxic Scorpion image 3.0 This looks nice. A two mana 1/1 with Deathtouch is probably already a 2.0 or 2.5, since it can trade for anything and really represent a problem all game long. So, being able to give death touch to another creature on the ETB is nice, and gives it even more utility in the later game.
Drogskol Infantry image 3.0 This looks like a nice Common to me! It is a bear on one side, and then can come back as a pretty nice Aura late. Look at it as a creature who can trade and leave an Aura behind, and that sounds pretty good.
Spore Crawler image 3.0 I like this. It doesn’t do anything fancy, but it has 2-for-1 written all over it, and I always like Commons that can produce those easily.
Dreadlight Monstrosity image 1.5 This doesn’t seem very good. A 6-mana 5/5 is an ugly rate, even with Ward 2, and yeah – it can become unblockable, but only for a huge chunk of mana, and only if you have a card in exile. Now, by the time you can use the ability it is reasonably likely you have something in exile because of Disturb, but there will be times where that just isn’t the case, and without that ability, this card is really not good. You’ll play it if you’re desperate for a finisher I guess, but you’re hoping for something better.
Nurturing Presence image 1.5 This gives you a 1/1 Flyer no matter what, and that helps mitigate the risk of playing it. It’s too bad the rest of the card isn’t very good. The stats boost is situational and unimpressive. The turn you play it will giving +1/+1 to the thing, but still – you’re not really doing a great job with that.
Militia Rallier image 2.5 This has efficient stats, even if it can’t attack alone. The good news is it can block alone, and it does a good job of that! And as long as he has some friends, he can rumble too, while untapping a creature, so it has pseudo-vigilance. On top of that, its a nice size for training other creatures.
Mindleech Ghoul image 2.0 This is a bear with some pretty nice upside, as sometimes taking away a card from your opponent’s hand will be worth losing the creature. Its nice that the card is exiled too, because you know, graveyard stuff.
Daybreak Combatants image 2.5 This adds a pretty significant amount of power to the board out of nowhere, thanks to Haste. The boost is going to be enough to enable some attacks you may just not have had before, and the fact it can get in there too seems pretty nice. In a pinch, you can also make this into a 4/2 the turn it comes down, a 4/2 with Haste for three isn’t too shabby.
Unhallowed Phalanx image 1.0 // 2.5 The idea here is that you play this in the toughness matters deck, and I think you’ll play this reasonably often there, but you won’t really be playing it anywhere else. Sure, it can block well, but a 1/13 just isn’t that exciting -- it won’t be able to kill anything in combat, and the fact it can’t block right away is pretty brutal. There are some sweet combos to pull off with this in BG, like sacrificing this to the flipped Catapult creature.
Honored Heirloom image 1.5 3 mana mana rocks are very rarely good in Limited, even if they add mana of any color. This one luckily comes with some additional value, as exiling stuff from graveyards does legitimately matter in this format. Still, you probably don’t play this unless you’re splashing a third color, as it is still very low impact.
Pack 2 Pick 2: Child of the Pack
Child of the Pack image 3.5 A 4-mana 2/5 that can crank out 2/2s is a nice mana sink, and it actually combos pretty well with itself, since you can just choose to use that ability rather than cast spells, and that allows you to still add to the board while getting to transform the Child into its werewolf form, which will be making that same token into a 3/2 -- and pumping your whole board in generally is pretty nice!
Bramble Wurm image 3.5 This is a pretty nice thing to ramp into, and a good finisher in general, as it will really allow you to stabilize between its size and the life it gains you. Its too bad it doesn’t draw you a card, like some other big Wurms we’ve seen, but even without that, this looks like a nice top curve for slower decks.
Cloaked Cadet image 3.5 This looks really strong. It has a pretty bad starting rate, but the stats it has work really well with training, because it will likely get a counter and likely become a ⅗ when you attack with it, netting you a card. Because it then has 5 toughness, it is going to be hard to take down in combat, and even if they do, you’re probably getting a 2-for-1. And that’s without taking into account having other ways to put counters on stuff.
Steelclad Spirit image 2.0 Two mana 3/3s with Defender are surprisingly not completely terrible. This is because they block pretty impressively early, and have enough size that your opponent is usually just going to have to trade. This has the nice upside of being an attacker sometimes.
Kessig Flamebreather image 2.0 Every time we’ve seen a noncreature spell payoff that pings the opponent, it has ended up being better than it looks. It will tend to do enough incidental damage throughout the game that it ends up being a pretty nice payoff.
Doomed Dissenter image 3.0 This is a reprint, and a nice one to have in a set with Exploit. This is a great thing to sacrifice, and even apart from that, it can be a really obnoxious creature that just makes all X/1s really sad, since it just trades and gives you a 2/2. You get 3/3 of stats out of this for only two mana in the end, and that’s pretty nice.
Ceremonial Knife image 1.5 This gives a very small boost, especially for an Equip cost of 2, and the fact you get Blood out of it isn’t really enough to make me excited about this.
Hookhand Mariner image 3.0 This is a nice Common werewolf, something they could have used in the last set! A 4-mana 4/4 is pretty close to a C, and when this transforms it is hard to block.
Sigarda's Imprisonment image 3.0 This is White’s usual aura-based premium removal. Now, there’s a very real chance this is worse than normal, since Exploit is in the format, but I still think the efficiency of the card is worth it -- 3 mana completely removes the card from combat, allowing you to attack and take advantage right away, and its nice that in the late game you can get rid of the creature entirely and get a Blood token out of the deal.
Wedding Invitation image 1.5 This replaces itself, and that’s good, because the effect it has wouldn’t be worth anywhere close to worth an entire card. But yeah, since it replaces itself, the effect is pretty decent, especially on a vampire, as lifelink can really alter races. Still isn’t a great card, though. It will be pretty easy to cut since it is so low impact.
Gluttonous Guest image 2.5 This is a decent Common that slots in well into multiple Black decks. It has high toughness, which BG likes, it gains you life, which BW likes, and it makes Blood tokens, which BR likes! Now, it doesn’t exactly blow you away with what it does in any of those decks, but it is a solid card in all of them.
Daybreak Combatants image 2.5 This adds a pretty significant amount of power to the board out of nowhere, thanks to Haste. The boost is going to be enough to enable some attacks you may just not have had before, and the fact it can get in there too seems pretty nice. In a pinch, you can also make this into a 4/2 the turn it comes down, a 4/2 with Haste for three isn’t too shabby.
Selhoff Entomber image 1.5 Forcing you to discard a specific card type really devalues the effectiveness of a rummage or loot effect. The idea here is to discard something you want in the graveyard, like if it has disturb, but a lot of the time you’d rather just cast both halves of the card.
Pack 2 Pick 3: Thirst for Discovery
Vilespawn Spider image 4.0 This is an excellent signpost Uncommon, it has great vanilla stats, loads up the graveyard, and has a powerful graveyard-payoff effect. It does everything you want in UG.
Thirst for Discovery image 3.0 3 mana to draw 3 at instant speed and discard a land is a pretty good deal, and in some decks in this format, discarding nonlands will also be beneficial. It doesn’t impact the board of course, and you don’t want to jam too many cards like that into your deck, but I think this looks pretty good overall, and would value the first copy fairly high.
Oakshade Stalker image 3.0 So, if its day time, this is either a 3-mana 3/3 or a 5-mana 3/3 with Flash. If its night time, things get more interesting, because you still can choose to spend the extra mana for Flash, but the creature will come down as a 6/3, so it becomes a 5-mana 6/3 with Flash. That’s a creature that will take down most things it blocks, which is nice.
Doomed Dissenter image 3.0 This is a reprint, and a nice one to have in a set with Exploit. This is a great thing to sacrifice, and even apart from that, it can be a really obnoxious creature that just makes all X/1s really sad, since it just trades and gives you a 2/2. You get 3/3 of stats out of this for only two mana in the end, and that’s pretty nice.
Kessig Flamebreather image 2.0 Every time we’ve seen a noncreature spell payoff that pings the opponent, it has ended up being better than it looks. It will tend to do enough incidental damage throughout the game that it ends up being a pretty nice payoff.
Chill of the Grave image 2.5 This sort of effect is always pretty decent when paired with a draw. If you can pay two for this consistently, it will feel especially good. It looks reasonably well suited for both the UB and UR decks, which are Zombies and spells respectively. You generally want to use this type of effect aggressively to alter the race, but it isn’t the worst thing defensively.
Weaver of Blossoms image 2.5 This is a nice source of fixing and ramp with decent stats, and sometimes those stats are more than decent and it ramps even more!
Persistent Specimen image 1.0 // 2.5 Like many Skeletons who came before it, the idea here is to recur this so that you can keep sacrificing it to exploit triggers and other stuff. I think that really makes this a build around, as you don’t want to play it at all in a deck that doesn’t really take advantage of its recursion, as getting back a 1/1 over and over again just isn’t very good for most decks.
Rural Recruit image 3.0 This is a pretty good Common. 4/2 worth of stats spread across two bodies isn’t too bad for 4 mana, and it comes with the means to train itself right away. This turning into a 2/2 isn’t exactly amazing, but it will definitely make your attacks on the turn after you play it feel pretty good.
Sure Strike image 1.5 This is a trick we see a lot. It can make almost any creature win combat which is nice, but because it doesn’t raise toughness it doesn’t have the additional value of helping you save a creature from removal – but the main purpose of tricks is using them in combat anyway. You’ll play this in aggro decks for sure, but probably not anywhere else.
Undying Malice image 1.5 It seems like they give Black an Instant like this in every set these days, and they are always a little too situational and mediocre, especially if they don’t provide a stats boost up front to help the creature win combat. Supernatural Stamina, this is not. However, it does have some interesting applications in this set, especially alongside Exploit. You can use it to rebuy a creature you were sacrificing to Exploit, or to rebuy an Exploit trigger in the first place, and that seems like it might be worth doing. If you just have this in your deck as a way to save a creature from dying in combat or as way to counter removal, it probably won’t be worth it, but yeah – if ETBs and Exploit abound in your deck, it seems serviceable.
Traveling Minister image 1.5 This common gains life, which BW likes, and it can set up training a little better, which GW likes. But it doesn’t do either thing that well, and as a one mana 1/1 it isn’t exactly impactful. The Sorcery speed only thing is killer!
Pack 2 Pick 4: Reclusive Taxidermist
Reclusive Taxidermist image 3.5 Look, you would always play a two mana ½ that can add mana of any color -- that’s just great fixing and nice ramp, especially early! So the fact it gets bigger in the later part of the game is just upside on something that is already quite nice.
Bloodtithe Harvester image 3.5 This is a very nice signpost Uncommon, that tells you BR is all about Blood tokens. This is a super efficient creature that brings one of those Blood tokens along with it -- and if that’s where this card ended -- a two mana 3/2 that gives you a Blood -- you would be pretty happy to play that! But it also comes with the ability to become a removal spell once you amass enough Blood. So yeah, gives you Blood, good Blood payoff, good stats. This is a signpost that you should be willing to go after pretty aggressively
Sanctify image 0.5 This is good at destroying Artifacts and Enchantments, and I think there are enough of them that this might make your main deck sometimes. While there are lots of Auras, keep in mind, blowing up the disturbed side of a card isn’t really going to be a one-for-one and won’t feel that great, and I think that limits how good this is in your main deck. You mostly want this out of your sideboard.
Syncopate image 2.5 This is a reprint, and actually a pretty reasonable counterspell. XU counterspells are nicely customizable, and you’ll find yourself able to counter a spell much more frequently without going out of your way to leave some amount of mana up as a result. Exiling the thing you counters certainly matters in this format too. Now, it is still a counterspell, and having to have the mana up at the exact right time just for this to trade 1-for-1 still isn’t awesome, but unlike a lot of counterspells, this one is worth it in Limited.
Scattered Thoughts image 2.0 It is pretty funny to compare this card to Organ Hoarder from the last set, which was the same mana cost, but put a 3/2 body into play and only let you grab one card from the top three, but yeah, way better either way. Anyway, this might not be the best Common in the whole set like the Hoarder was, but it seems like a solid playable. Looking at 4 cards is pretty nice for the cost, and loading up the graveyard is worth doing too.
Belligerent Guest image 2.5 This has alright stats and is going to make you blood sometimes, both are welcome.
Nurturing Presence image 1.5 This gives you a 1/1 Flyer no matter what, and that helps mitigate the risk of playing it. It’s too bad the rest of the card isn’t very good. The stats boost is situational and unimpressive. The turn you play it will giving +1/+1 to the thing, but still – you’re not really doing a great job with that.
Aim for the Head image 1.5 It seems like we get a new take on Mind Rot every set, and this one is a bit interesting. 3 mana to get rid of two of your opponent’s cards is of course a 2-for-1 – but not impacting the board can be a pretty real cost, and an effect like this definitely has diminishing returns as the game goes on. It is a big deal that this exiles the cards though, because of the graveyard stuff in the format, and the alternate mode where it is a Zombie removal spell is nice too. That’s not to say this card is GOOD or anything, but it IS good as far as Mind Rots go.
Hookhand Mariner image 3.0 This is a nice Common werewolf, something they could have used in the last set! A 4-mana 4/4 is pretty close to a C, and when this transforms it is hard to block.
Wretched Throng image 0.0 // 3.5 I always really like collect ‘em all cards in Limited, they make for interesting picks, and this is a fun take on that. The main idea here is that you can keep getting Exploit fodder if you have multiple copies, but just the fact that it can block and trade and get you another Throng is actually pretty good too. A card like this always needs a range of grades. If you have one of these, you’re never going to play it, but as soon as you have two, you’re looking at a 2.5, if you have 3, it is 3.0, if you have 4 or more, it’s a 3.5.
Steelclad Spirit image 2.0 Two mana 3/3s with Defender are surprisingly not completely terrible. This is because they block pretty impressively early, and have enough size that your opponent is usually just going to have to trade. This has the nice upside of being an attacker sometimes.
Pack 2 Pick 5: Wolf Strike
Biolume Egg image 3.5 So, a 3-mana 0/4 that Scries 2 is something that you would already play in mid-range or control decks. Scry 2 has a very real impact on the quality of cards you draw! So, the upside that sacrificing this gives you a 4/4 that is unblockable is pretty spicy. And, given that Explot is a mechanic in this set, it means that sacrificing this won’t really be difficult to come by. In fact, the Scry might help you find something!
Doomed Dissenter image 3.0 This is a reprint, and a nice one to have in a set with Exploit. This is a great thing to sacrifice, and even apart from that, it can be a really obnoxious creature that just makes all X/1s really sad, since it just trades and gives you a 2/2. You get 3/3 of stats out of this for only two mana in the end, and that’s pretty nice.
Wolf Strike image 3.5 This is quite good. Even if it isn’t night time, this will be good in your Green decks, as the creature doesn’t fight, it just does damage equal to its power, so its one-sided! If it is night-time, it gets wayyy better, as it can make your creature take down a wider variety of creatures, and even offer you the opportunity to attack more effectively with the creature after it kills something else. You do have to be careful with this kind of card since you can get blown out if you don’t pick your spot carefully, but because its an Instant, you can pick your spot pretty effectively. Its definitely premium removal.
Binding Geist image 2.0 So, the attack trigger here won’t usually make it so the Geist won’t die in combat, but it does let you force your opponent into situations where the best they can do is trade, and that’s not too bad… though it isn’t great either. 1 toughness is a just a big hurdle on a 3-mana creature. Having that ability in Aura form isn’t exactly exciting either when you disturb it.
Syphon Essence image 1.5 This not being able to counter noncreature nonplaneswalkers definitely matters, but it does counter the card type people tend to have the most of, and getting that Blood is nice upside. Still, it’s a narrow enough counterspell that you’ll cut it a lot.
Traveling Minister image 1.5 This common gains life, which BW likes, and it can set up training a little better, which GW likes. But it doesn’t do either thing that well, and as a one mana 1/1 it isn’t exactly impactful. The Sorcery speed only thing is killer!
Scattered Thoughts image 2.0 It is pretty funny to compare this card to Organ Hoarder from the last set, which was the same mana cost, but put a 3/2 body into play and only let you grab one card from the top three, but yeah, way better either way. Anyway, this might not be the best Common in the whole set like the Hoarder was, but it seems like a solid playable. Looking at 4 cards is pretty nice for the cost, and loading up the graveyard is worth doing too.
Alchemist's Retrieval image 2.0 We see this card a lot, and its always kind of alright. This one is nice because if you want to bounce your own thing you can pay less, and paying two to bounce a nonland permanent either player controls is kind of what we expect. Its never anything special, but the first copy often makes the cut in Blue decks.
Unhallowed Phalanx image 1.0 // 2.5 The idea here is that you play this in the toughness matters deck, and I think you’ll play this reasonably often there, but you won’t really be playing it anywhere else. Sure, it can block well, but a 1/13 just isn’t that exciting -- it won’t be able to kill anything in combat, and the fact it can’t block right away is pretty brutal. There are some sweet combos to pull off with this in BG, like sacrificing this to the flipped Catapult creature.
Kessig Flamebreather image 2.0 Every time we’ve seen a noncreature spell payoff that pings the opponent, it has ended up being better than it looks. It will tend to do enough incidental damage throughout the game that it ends up being a pretty nice payoff.
Pack 2 Pick 6: Abrade
Brine Comber image 3.5 This looks amazing, and kind of resembles Lingering Souls. Three mana a 1/1 and a 1/1 flyer isn’t bad, and you get at least one 1/1 flyer back from your graveyard, all from a single card! And that’s without taking into account the Aura upside. This is a great signpost Uncommon.
Syphon Essence image 1.5 This not being able to counter noncreature nonplaneswalkers definitely matters, but it does counter the card type people tend to have the most of, and getting that Blood is nice upside. Still, it’s a narrow enough counterspell that you’ll cut it a lot.
Gift of Fangs image 3.0 So, this is basically Dead Weight that has both Vampire upside, and downside, depending on what you’re trying to do. If you really need to kill an opposing vampire, it will be pretty frustrating that this can’t do it – but +2/+2 on one of your vampires for only one mana is pretty nice upside on Dead Weight. Dead Weight is normally a 3.0, and I think this will still end up there. It kills a whole lot of things efficiently, after all.
End the Festivities image 0.5 Yeah. No thanks. This is a sideboard card, there aren’t enough X/1s in this format that you want to be doing this.
Kindly Ancestor image 3.0 This seems like a nice Common. A 3-mana ⅔ with Lifelink would be a 2.5, so adding the Disturb upside is pretty nice! Giving lifelink to evasive creatures is especially nasty, as life gain just utterly alters races. Its nice that it will also work pretty well in GW, as putting +1/+1 counters on a lifelinker tends to feel pretty good.
Abrade image 4.0 Woo boy, this is a very powerful reprint, and its one that was UNCOMMON last time, so the downshift is pretty exciting. Two to do 3 to something is always premium, and having the other mode is nice too, even if this format isn’t exactly filled to the brim with Artifacts.
Bloodcrazed Socialite image 3.5 A 4-mana 3/3 with Menace isn’t amazing -- it is probably a 2.0 at best -- however -- this brings a blood token along with it, and I think I’d already be playing that card a reasonable chunk of the time, but it also has the impressive upside of making itself into a 5/5 when it attacks, provided you have blood. Because the Socialite brings a Blood token with it, you’ll get to do it at least once, and if you have other blood lying around, this will be a beating.
Sporeback Wolf image 2.5 We’ve seen two mana 2/2s with this box of text before, and its fine. Being a 2/4 is decent enough upside on a bear.
Unhallowed Phalanx image 1.0 // 2.5 The idea here is that you play this in the toughness matters deck, and I think you’ll play this reasonably often there, but you won’t really be playing it anywhere else. Sure, it can block well, but a 1/13 just isn’t that exciting -- it won’t be able to kill anything in combat, and the fact it can’t block right away is pretty brutal. There are some sweet combos to pull off with this in BG, like sacrificing this to the flipped Catapult creature.
Pack 2 Pick 7: Lunar Rejection
Lunar Rejection image 2.5 We’ve seen this card before without the werewolf hate side of things, and it was pretty solid. Bouncing a thing doesn’t usually give you a 1-or-1 trade, but because you draw a card, that’s what this amounts to, and you’re usually coming out ahead on tempo. Obviously, the Werewolf hosing upside will feel insane.
End the Festivities image 0.5 Yeah. No thanks. This is a sideboard card, there aren’t enough X/1s in this format that you want to be doing this.
Pointed Discussion image 1.5 Black always gets a draw spell like this, and the vast majority of them are pretty mediocre. Two cards for three mana and two life will be something worth paying in grindier decks, and the blood is nice upside. You won’t ever play it in more aggressive decks, though
Syphon Essence image 1.5 This not being able to counter noncreature nonplaneswalkers definitely matters, but it does counter the card type people tend to have the most of, and getting that Blood is nice upside. Still, it’s a narrow enough counterspell that you’ll cut it a lot.
Nature's Embrace image 1.5 This has a pretty interesting design. Its either a mediocre aura or a mediocre way to fix and ramp. Each card individually is probably a 1.0 at best – and you probably won’t play this at all if you don’t need fixing, so I think it’s a 1.5.
Scattered Thoughts image 2.0 It is pretty funny to compare this card to Organ Hoarder from the last set, which was the same mana cost, but put a 3/2 body into play and only let you grab one card from the top three, but yeah, way better either way. Anyway, this might not be the best Common in the whole set like the Hoarder was, but it seems like a solid playable. Looking at 4 cards is pretty nice for the cost, and loading up the graveyard is worth doing too.
Stitched Assistant image 3.0 The exploit trigger lets you see two cards, and makes sure that the creature you sacrifice is instantly replaced. You won’t always want to sacrifice a thing, but the fact that you can is pretty nice, and there are enough decent sacrifice fodder type cards that this seems like a 3.
Selhoff Entomber image 1.5 Forcing you to discard a specific card type really devalues the effectiveness of a rummage or loot effect. The idea here is to discard something you want in the graveyard, like if it has disturb, but a lot of the time you’d rather just cast both halves of the card.
Pack 2 Pick 8: Blood Petal Celebrant
Geistlight Snare image 1.5 I’m always a bit skeptical of counter magic in Limited. This is a bad mana leak a big chunk of the time, and sometimes it will cost two or one, which will obviously feel much better, but you still have to hold it up at the right time for it to do its thing, and it has waning value as the game goes on and players have more mana.
Rural Recruit image 3.0 This is a pretty good Common. 4/2 worth of stats spread across two bodies isn’t too bad for 4 mana, and it comes with the means to train itself right away. This turning into a 2/2 isn’t exactly amazing, but it will definitely make your attacks on the turn after you play it feel pretty good.
Blood Servitor image 1.0 If you’re really interested in Blood, you might play this, but there are plenty of other cards in the set that make blood that are more efficient.
Blood Petal Celebrant image 3.0 This is a nice Common. We’ve seen two mana 2/1s who have first strike when they attack before, and they are always good two-drop aggro creatures, and this one gives you some Blood when it goes down. I don’t imagine you’ll cut this in Red decks.
Wretched Throng image 0.0 // 3.5 I always really like collect ‘em all cards in Limited, they make for interesting picks, and this is a fun take on that. The main idea here is that you can keep getting Exploit fodder if you have multiple copies, but just the fact that it can block and trade and get you another Throng is actually pretty good too. A card like this always needs a range of grades. If you have one of these, you’re never going to play it, but as soon as you have two, you’re looking at a 2.5, if you have 3, it is 3.0, if you have 4 or more, it’s a 3.5.
Witch's Web image 1.5 We see this trick a lot, and its always passable in aggressive decks. It gives enough of a boost that the creature usually wins combat, and it can even be used to ambush an attacking flyer, though typically you’d rather use this aggressively than defensively.
Serpentine Ambush image 0.0 This kind of card is always awful in Limited. It is easy to imagine scenarios where it does what you want – like when you use it as a combat trick to ambush something, but situations where you actually get to trade this for a card are few and far between, and this is something we’ve seen repeatedly.
Pack 2 Pick 9: Spore Crawler
Toxic Scorpion image 3.0 This looks nice. A two mana 1/1 with Deathtouch is probably already a 2.0 or 2.5, since it can trade for anything and really represent a problem all game long. So, being able to give death touch to another creature on the ETB is nice, and gives it even more utility in the later game.
Spore Crawler image 3.0 I like this. It doesn’t do anything fancy, but it has 2-for-1 written all over it, and I always like Commons that can produce those easily.
Nurturing Presence image 1.5 This gives you a 1/1 Flyer no matter what, and that helps mitigate the risk of playing it. It’s too bad the rest of the card isn’t very good. The stats boost is situational and unimpressive. The turn you play it will giving +1/+1 to the thing, but still – you’re not really doing a great job with that.
Mindleech Ghoul image 2.0 This is a bear with some pretty nice upside, as sometimes taking away a card from your opponent’s hand will be worth losing the creature. Its nice that the card is exiled too, because you know, graveyard stuff.
Unhallowed Phalanx image 1.0 // 2.5 The idea here is that you play this in the toughness matters deck, and I think you’ll play this reasonably often there, but you won’t really be playing it anywhere else. Sure, it can block well, but a 1/13 just isn’t that exciting -- it won’t be able to kill anything in combat, and the fact it can’t block right away is pretty brutal. There are some sweet combos to pull off with this in BG, like sacrificing this to the flipped Catapult creature.
Honored Heirloom image 1.5 3 mana mana rocks are very rarely good in Limited, even if they add mana of any color. This one luckily comes with some additional value, as exiling stuff from graveyards does legitimately matter in this format. Still, you probably don’t play this unless you’re splashing a third color, as it is still very low impact.
Pack 2 Pick 10: Kessig Flamebreather
Steelclad Spirit image 2.0 Two mana 3/3s with Defender are surprisingly not completely terrible. This is because they block pretty impressively early, and have enough size that your opponent is usually just going to have to trade. This has the nice upside of being an attacker sometimes.
Kessig Flamebreather image 2.0 Every time we’ve seen a noncreature spell payoff that pings the opponent, it has ended up being better than it looks. It will tend to do enough incidental damage throughout the game that it ends up being a pretty nice payoff.
Ceremonial Knife image 1.5 This gives a very small boost, especially for an Equip cost of 2, and the fact you get Blood out of it isn’t really enough to make me excited about this.
Wedding Invitation image 1.5 This replaces itself, and that’s good, because the effect it has wouldn’t be worth anywhere close to worth an entire card. But yeah, since it replaces itself, the effect is pretty decent, especially on a vampire, as lifelink can really alter races. Still isn’t a great card, though. It will be pretty easy to cut since it is so low impact.
Selhoff Entomber image 1.5 Forcing you to discard a specific card type really devalues the effectiveness of a rummage or loot effect. The idea here is to discard something you want in the graveyard, like if it has disturb, but a lot of the time you’d rather just cast both halves of the card.
Pack 2 Pick 11: Rural Recruit
Vilespawn Spider image 4.0 This is an excellent signpost Uncommon, it has great vanilla stats, loads up the graveyard, and has a powerful graveyard-payoff effect. It does everything you want in UG.
Chill of the Grave image 2.5 This sort of effect is always pretty decent when paired with a draw. If you can pay two for this consistently, it will feel especially good. It looks reasonably well suited for both the UB and UR decks, which are Zombies and spells respectively. You generally want to use this type of effect aggressively to alter the race, but it isn’t the worst thing defensively.
Rural Recruit image 3.0 This is a pretty good Common. 4/2 worth of stats spread across two bodies isn’t too bad for 4 mana, and it comes with the means to train itself right away. This turning into a 2/2 isn’t exactly amazing, but it will definitely make your attacks on the turn after you play it feel pretty good.
Undying Malice image 1.5 It seems like they give Black an Instant like this in every set these days, and they are always a little too situational and mediocre, especially if they don’t provide a stats boost up front to help the creature win combat. Supernatural Stamina, this is not. However, it does have some interesting applications in this set, especially alongside Exploit. You can use it to rebuy a creature you were sacrificing to Exploit, or to rebuy an Exploit trigger in the first place, and that seems like it might be worth doing. If you just have this in your deck as a way to save a creature from dying in combat or as way to counter removal, it probably won’t be worth it, but yeah – if ETBs and Exploit abound in your deck, it seems serviceable.
Pack 2 Pick 12: Scattered Thoughts
Syphon Essence image 1.5 This not being able to counter noncreature nonplaneswalkers definitely matters, but it does counter the card type people tend to have the most of, and getting that Blood is nice upside. Still, it’s a narrow enough counterspell that you’ll cut it a lot.
Scattered Thoughts image 2.0 It is pretty funny to compare this card to Organ Hoarder from the last set, which was the same mana cost, but put a 3/2 body into play and only let you grab one card from the top three, but yeah, way better either way. Anyway, this might not be the best Common in the whole set like the Hoarder was, but it seems like a solid playable. Looking at 4 cards is pretty nice for the cost, and loading up the graveyard is worth doing too.
Pack 2 Pick 13: Scattered Thoughts
Syphon Essence image 1.5 This not being able to counter noncreature nonplaneswalkers definitely matters, but it does counter the card type people tend to have the most of, and getting that Blood is nice upside. Still, it’s a narrow enough counterspell that you’ll cut it a lot.
Scattered Thoughts image 2.0 It is pretty funny to compare this card to Organ Hoarder from the last set, which was the same mana cost, but put a 3/2 body into play and only let you grab one card from the top three, but yeah, way better either way. Anyway, this might not be the best Common in the whole set like the Hoarder was, but it seems like a solid playable. Looking at 4 cards is pretty nice for the cost, and loading up the graveyard is worth doing too.
Pack 2 Pick 14: End the Festivities
End the Festivities image 0.5 Yeah. No thanks. This is a sideboard card, there aren’t enough X/1s in this format that you want to be doing this.
Pack 3 Pick 1: Packsong Pup
Lantern Flare image 4.0 This looks pretty good, though I think you basically always want to at least be splashing Red to get the full value out of it. Two mana to do one for each creature you control and gain that much life is a card you’d play in most aggro decks anyway. It definitely takes some set up, but as long as you have two creatures, you’re getting an okay deal. Of course, it gets way more flexible if you can Cleave it, and being an X damage spell at instant speed that gains you life is pretty serious. Overall, this thing looks quite nice. Its effectively a split card with two pretty nice options.
Packsong Pup image 3.0 This is the kind of Werewolf payoff that Midnight Hunt really needed! In a deck with Wolves and Werewolves, this will become quite large, and then give you pretty nice value if it dies. Now, it does take some set up, and it starts super fragile, so I’m not sure I want to be first picking it, but it is certainly a quality card for RG decks in the format.
Restless Bloodseeker image 3.5 Cranking out a few blood tokens a game is pretty nice, and that’s usually what this will be able to do. And, that’s good, because it can transform itself using that blood. And, once that happens, its ability can not only be a serious way to disrupt a race, it also means that all on its own, the Bloodseeker can gain you life and thus make more tokens. This thing has a very reasonable baseline, and looks like it could be a pretty nice finisher once it transforms. It fits well in BW lifegain and BR Blood too, which is nice.
Archghoul of Thraben image 3.5 This looks nice enough. At worst, it is a 3-mana 3/2 that Surveils 1 when it dies. That’s not great, but is perfectly playable. And, obviously, if you have a bunch of other Zombies, it triggers even more. Black decks will basically always have a few zombies, and UB decks will have more than a few, and in those decks it can turn into a real card advantage engine.
Courier Bat image 3.0 This is a very nice Common. Early, its a Wind Drake, which is passable -- and then from the mid-game on, you’re going to be able to get a creature back reasonably often. Obviously, you’re going to want some life gain stuff going on, and that’s really a thing in BW, but there’s enough life gain around that I think this will be pretty much an auto-include in most Black decks, especially because it has such a good floor.
Fear of Death image 2.5 This kind of removal is nowhere close to being premium. Only reducing a creature’s power just doesn’t do enough. The thing can still block with its full toughness and use abilities, so you don’t even get rid of a whole card with it on some creatures. That, combined with the necessary set up, makes this a fairly unimpressive card. It does mill you, which is important, but it isn’t anything more than a decent playable.
Nature's Embrace image 1.5 This has a pretty interesting design. Its either a mediocre aura or a mediocre way to fix and ramp. Each card individually is probably a 1.0 at best – and you probably won’t play this at all if you don’t need fixing, so I think it’s a 1.5.
Heron of Hope image 2.5 This doesn’t have the best base stats, but it is a nice little life gain enhancer, and the fact it can gain life gain itself means it does stuff even if its your only life gain card -- and generally, it won’t be.
Syncopate image 2.5 This is a reprint, and actually a pretty reasonable counterspell. XU counterspells are nicely customizable, and you’ll find yourself able to counter a spell much more frequently without going out of your way to leave some amount of mana up as a result. Exiling the thing you counters certainly matters in this format too. Now, it is still a counterspell, and having to have the mana up at the exact right time just for this to trade 1-for-1 still isn’t awesome, but unlike a lot of counterspells, this one is worth it in Limited.
Sheltering Boughs image 1.0 This Aura replaces itself, which definitely upgrades it, but the stats boost isn’t pretty. I think you’ll cut this more than you play it.
Evolving Wilds image 3.0 We see this all the time, and its always a pretty nice land. It does an excellent job of fixing for you. If you’re splashing something, just a single Wilds and a basic land in that splash color is enough, and that’s pretty great! Its at pretty much the same level as the Rare dual lands we just saw.
Ancestral Anger image 1.0 I like collect ‘em all cards, but just pumping power at Sorcery speed just isn’t that great, even with Trample. Now, I do think it has a little bit of value in the UR deck, since it is a spell that cantrips, but I’m still not very impressed.
Wanderlight Spirit image 2.5 This is a reasonably aggressive flyer. Not being able to block ground creatures isn’t a huge deal.
Ragged Recluse image 2.5 This format has enough ways to discard – Blood tokens in particular – that transforming this thing into a witch is very doable, and once you do you have a pretty nice creature., although it isn’t exactly a world breaker.
Pack 3 Pick 2: Fearful Villager
Soulcipher Board image 1.0 // 3.0 This seems like it might be a little slow. It doesn’t add to the board in a meaningful way until it transforms, and it will usually take a few turns for you to get there. Sure, any creature being milled or dying will remove a counter, so if you have a deck that is good at self-milling you could get it going pretty fast, but you probably can’t really count on this being good enough all on its own. I mean, if you don’t see a creature with the ability, it won’t remove a counter, and do you really want to not draw a creature? I mean, sometimes you won’t want to, but you frequently would rather have the creature than mill it. Once it does transform, its pretty impressive as an aerial threat with a very good mana sink ability, but I think it will be too slow in most decks.
Spiked Ripsaw image 3.0 This reminds me a lot of Plate Armor, and that’s pretty good company to keep, because that was a very powerful piece of Equipment. It costs the same to play and equip and gives the same stats boost, though Plate Armor also granted Ward and could reduce its equip cost. In place of that, though, Spiked Ripjaw can make your creature have trample, which is pretty nice. But yeah, this big of a stats boost can make almost any creature into a threat, and that’s what makes this so nice.
Resistance Squad image 3.5 GW has the most humans, but every White deck in this format will have enough Humans for you to play this, and when you get to draw that card, you’re getting quite the 2-for-1, as this 3/2 can really effectively trade for stuff or attack.
Diregraf Scavenger image 2.5 This looks decent. Death touchers do tend to get a little less impressive the more mana you spend on them, because the fact they can trade with anything is less attractive when they are trading down, but the ETB ability here definitely does enough to make up for that. Draining your opponent 2 life with this will be fairly commonplace, and that means you get to hate on the opposing graveyard while also triggering your life gain stuff, and you are adding a pretty obnoxious creature to the board at the same time.
Unholy Officiant image 2.0 A one mana ½ with Vigilance is not a very good card. Its the kind of card people often overrate, because they think “One mana is only enough to get a 1/1 most of the time!” and while that’s sort of true, the problem in Limited is that this kind of card will get outclassed pretty quickly. That said, it comes with an ability that actually does something in the late game, even if 5 is a lot for a single counter. Its also a decent place to put counters thanks to its keyword ability. So, yeah. This is an alright one drop that you’ll play in your most aggressive GW decks, but it doesn’t look that great anywhere else.
Fearful Villager image 2.0 This has alright base stats and some decent upside, but its nothing special.
Repository Skaab image 3.0 A Hill Giant that sometimes rebuys you an Instant or Sorcery is decent. Obviously, you don’t really want to give up a real creature for the effect all the time, otherwise it is a roundabout way of rummaging, but recurring removal spells is especially potent, and giving up a creature for that is often going to be worth it, especially if you sacrifice a card that brings you some value when it dies.
Snarling Wolf image 1.5 This is another reprint from Midnight Hunt. It was solid there, as it could come down early and help set up Pack Tactics. It will probably be about the same here, except it will help set up Training. Still nothing special though, and not something you even always run. There are a lot of two drops that are just way better.
Belligerent Guest image 2.5 This has alright stats and is going to make you blood sometimes, both are welcome.
Vampire's Kiss image 1.0 I don’t like cards like this. Sure, it alters the race a little bit and gives you those blood tokens, which the BR deck is certainly interested in, but it just won’t feel like this is giving you a full card of value very often. It doesn’t impact the board meaningfully, and I can’t see myself wanting to jam something like it into my deck.
Rural Recruit image 3.0 This is a pretty good Common. 4/2 worth of stats spread across two bodies isn’t too bad for 4 mana, and it comes with the means to train itself right away. This turning into a 2/2 isn’t exactly amazing, but it will definitely make your attacks on the turn after you play it feel pretty good.
Pyre Spawn image 2.0 This doesn’t have good stats, but the fact it bolts a thing when it dies does usually mean you can get a 2-for-1, and if your opponent’s life is low they are going to be sweating this a ton. I think this is a decent top curve card.
Honored Heirloom image 1.5 3 mana mana rocks are very rarely good in Limited, even if they add mana of any color. This one luckily comes with some additional value, as exiling stuff from graveyards does legitimately matter in this format. Still, you probably don’t play this unless you’re splashing a third color, as it is still very low impact.
Pack 3 Pick 3: Weaver of Blossoms
Demonic Bargain image 0.0 Flavorful design, but this is terrible in Limited. 3 mana for a tutor just isn’t very good in most decks -- its just super slow, even if you are grabbing your bomb -- and you also have a reasonable chance at milling whatever it is you wanted to search up, as 13 cards is a ton in Limited! So yeah, this is a 0.
Brine Comber image 3.5 This looks amazing, and kind of resembles Lingering Souls. Three mana a 1/1 and a 1/1 flyer isn’t bad, and you get at least one 1/1 flyer back from your graveyard, all from a single card! And that’s without taking into account the Aura upside. This is a great signpost Uncommon.
Stormchaser Drake image 3.5 This starts out with a great Flying body, and the ability it has can be quite nice, especially in UW, a deck that will have a decent number of Auras, and Auras of course count for the ability. You’ll still play this in just about any Blue deck though, as the stats alone are worth it, and any Blue deck at all probably has a decent chance of having some other things that target it.
Mulch image 1.0 // 2.5 This is a reprint, and one that stands a good chance at impacting constructed! In Limited, it is probably only worth it in a deck that is interesting in loading the graveyard, which mostly seems to be UG this time around. It does give you a good shot at hitting a land drop or two, which is fine. Still, I think most decks won’t play this apart from UG.
Serpentine Ambush image 0.0 This kind of card is always awful in Limited. It is easy to imagine scenarios where it does what you want – like when you use it as a combat trick to ambush something, but situations where you actually get to trade this for a card are few and far between, and this is something we’ve seen repeatedly.
Traveling Minister image 1.5 This common gains life, which BW likes, and it can set up training a little better, which GW likes. But it doesn’t do either thing that well, and as a one mana 1/1 it isn’t exactly impactful. The Sorcery speed only thing is killer!
Weaver of Blossoms image 2.5 This is a nice source of fixing and ramp with decent stats, and sometimes those stats are more than decent and it ramps even more!
Kessig Flamebreather image 2.0 Every time we’ve seen a noncreature spell payoff that pings the opponent, it has ended up being better than it looks. It will tend to do enough incidental damage throughout the game that it ends up being a pretty nice payoff.
Rural Recruit image 3.0 This is a pretty good Common. 4/2 worth of stats spread across two bodies isn’t too bad for 4 mana, and it comes with the means to train itself right away. This turning into a 2/2 isn’t exactly amazing, but it will definitely make your attacks on the turn after you play it feel pretty good.
Mindleech Ghoul image 2.0 This is a bear with some pretty nice upside, as sometimes taking away a card from your opponent’s hand will be worth losing the creature. Its nice that the card is exiled too, because you know, graveyard stuff.
Vampire's Kiss image 1.0 I don’t like cards like this. Sure, it alters the race a little bit and gives you those blood tokens, which the BR deck is certainly interested in, but it just won’t feel like this is giving you a full card of value very often. It doesn’t impact the board meaningfully, and I can’t see myself wanting to jam something like it into my deck.
Scattered Thoughts image 2.0 It is pretty funny to compare this card to Organ Hoarder from the last set, which was the same mana cost, but put a 3/2 body into play and only let you grab one card from the top three, but yeah, way better either way. Anyway, this might not be the best Common in the whole set like the Hoarder was, but it seems like a solid playable. Looking at 4 cards is pretty nice for the cost, and loading up the graveyard is worth doing too.
Pack 3 Pick 4: Howling Moon
Howling Moon image 1.0 // 3.5 You pretty much need to be in a Werewolf deck for this to be worth it, because the other pat of the card won’t produce tokens often enough. It is especially bad to get this in the later part of the game when players are struggling to find spells to cast in the first place! But yeah, if you have enough Wolves and Werewolves, this card is fairly appealing, as +2/+2 to one of them every turn is sure to make your attacks a lot better, and getting that free wolf token from time to time will just be nice extra value. I do think this needs a build around though.
Lambholt Raconteur image 3.0 This is a pretty nice payoff for the spell deck, especially when it transforms! You’ll always play this in UR, and it will probably make the cut in pretty much any deck with 5 or so spells.
Honeymoon Hearse image 2.5 This Vehicle doesn’t need to be crewed exactly -- though tapping down two creatures isn’t that far off from crewing. For three mana, it brings some pretty nice stats and an evasive keyword ability, and it will definitely be nice to tap a couple of small creatures who couldn’t attack anyway to put this thing into action. You won’t always have those creatures, though, and sometimes you’ll just have some larger creatures where attacking with them just makes more sense.
Crawling Infestation image 1.0 // 3.5 This is very similar to a card from our last trip to Innistrad called Creeping Sensation. So similar that I thought it was a reprint at first! They are pretty similar, the main difference is that this checks for creatures that go to the graveyard and not lands, and it only triggers once each turn, but this is a pretty similar card. It really helps you out if you’re interested in milling, and it cranks out Insect tokens fairly often. Basically, you get to add to the board while also loading up your graveyard. And, your own creatures dying also will give you those tokens. There’s a bit of a risk of milling yourself out, but based on how it worked out last time, you usually end up winning with all the graveyard value before that happens. You don’t wanna play this if you’re an aggro deck of course, but if you’re any sort of grindy graveyard deck, this is a very impressive engine
Mulch image 1.0 // 2.5 This is a reprint, and one that stands a good chance at impacting constructed! In Limited, it is probably only worth it in a deck that is interesting in loading the graveyard, which mostly seems to be UG this time around. It does give you a good shot at hitting a land drop or two, which is fine. Still, I think most decks won’t play this apart from UG.
Hungry Ridgewolf image 2.5 This isn’t the most exciting payoff ever, but it has decent base stats and will sometimes be a 3/2 with Trample, which is especially nice.
Kindly Ancestor image 3.0 This seems like a nice Common. A 3-mana ⅔ with Lifelink would be a 2.5, so adding the Disturb upside is pretty nice! Giving lifelink to evasive creatures is especially nasty, as life gain just utterly alters races. Its nice that it will also work pretty well in GW, as putting +1/+1 counters on a lifelinker tends to feel pretty good.
Adamant Will image 1.5 We’ve seen this card a few times now, it’s a pretty reasonable trick. The boost it gives is enough to win just about any combat, and the indestructibility means you can even use it to save a creature from removal. It is still a trick and comes with all the inherent downsides those come with – like being situational and sometimes risky.
Parish-Blade Trainee image 2.5 This will get bigger relatively easy since it starts with one power. One kind of awkward thing about it, though, is the fact that if you play this as your two drop, it almost definitely won’t be growing on turn three. It is nice that it pays you off for counter stuff more generally too, but this seems pretty awkward to curve out with, and I think that hurts its grade a little.
Courier Bat image 3.0 This is a very nice Common. Early, its a Wind Drake, which is passable -- and then from the mid-game on, you’re going to be able to get a creature back reasonably often. Obviously, you’re going to want some life gain stuff going on, and that’s really a thing in BW, but there’s enough life gain around that I think this will be pretty much an auto-include in most Black decks, especially because it has such a good floor.
Massive Might image 2.0 It feels like the last few sets have had some pretty legit tricks, and this is definitely another one. One mana tricks tend to be pretty nice in aggressive decks, as you get some serious tempo when you use them to win combat, and this one definitely gives you enough of a boost to be worth running in those decks. Now, it IS still a track, and those always come with significant risks, but I think this is one you’ll play the first copy of reasonably often, provided you’re aggro.
Pack 3 Pick 5: Packsong Pup
Ollenbock Escort image 2.5 A one mana 1/1 with Vigilance is kind of alright in this format, since there is an Aura deck and a +1/+1 counter deck, but it gets a lot better with its ability to make something gain lifelink and indestructibility. Those two keywords are huge, and this is going to have some serious impact on the board if you have a creature with a counter somewhere, as your opponent has to respect this ability or get completely wrecked.
Packsong Pup image 3.0 This is the kind of Werewolf payoff that Midnight Hunt really needed! In a deck with Wolves and Werewolves, this will become quite large, and then give you pretty nice value if it dies. Now, it does take some set up, and it starts super fragile, so I’m not sure I want to be first picking it, but it is certainly a quality card for RG decks in the format.
Parish-Blade Trainee image 2.5 This will get bigger relatively easy since it starts with one power. One kind of awkward thing about it, though, is the fact that if you play this as your two drop, it almost definitely won’t be growing on turn three. It is nice that it pays you off for counter stuff more generally too, but this seems pretty awkward to curve out with, and I think that hurts its grade a little.
Wanderlight Spirit image 2.5 This is a reasonably aggressive flyer. Not being able to block ground creatures isn’t a huge deal.
Witch's Web image 1.5 We see this trick a lot, and its always passable in aggressive decks. It gives enough of a boost that the creature usually wins combat, and it can even be used to ambush an attacking flyer, though typically you’d rather use this aggressively than defensively.
Evolving Wilds image 3.0 We see this all the time, and its always a pretty nice land. It does an excellent job of fixing for you. If you’re splashing something, just a single Wilds and a basic land in that splash color is enough, and that’s pretty great! Its at pretty much the same level as the Rare dual lands we just saw.
Blood Petal Celebrant image 3.0 This is a nice Common. We’ve seen two mana 2/1s who have first strike when they attack before, and they are always good two-drop aggro creatures, and this one gives you some Blood when it goes down. I don’t imagine you’ll cut this in Red decks.
Unholy Officiant image 2.0 A one mana ½ with Vigilance is not a very good card. Its the kind of card people often overrate, because they think “One mana is only enough to get a 1/1 most of the time!” and while that’s sort of true, the problem in Limited is that this kind of card will get outclassed pretty quickly. That said, it comes with an ability that actually does something in the late game, even if 5 is a lot for a single counter. Its also a decent place to put counters thanks to its keyword ability. So, yeah. This is an alright one drop that you’ll play in your most aggressive GW decks, but it doesn’t look that great anywhere else.
Gryff Rider image 3.0 This looks like a nice Common. Because it has Flying, it will often be able to attack with other creatures that are bigger than it, so it can grow throughout the game, and even just getting one counter on it will feel pretty good. This seems like the kind of Common that will be the bread and butter of aggressive decks in this format.
Weaver of Blossoms image 2.5 This is a nice source of fixing and ramp with decent stats, and sometimes those stats are more than decent and it ramps even more!
Pack 3 Pick 6: Dawnhart Disciple
Geistlight Snare image 1.5 I’m always a bit skeptical of counter magic in Limited. This is a bad mana leak a big chunk of the time, and sometimes it will cost two or one, which will obviously feel much better, but you still have to hold it up at the right time for it to do its thing, and it has waning value as the game goes on and players have more mana.
Wretched Throng image 0.0 // 3.5 I always really like collect ‘em all cards in Limited, they make for interesting picks, and this is a fun take on that. The main idea here is that you can keep getting Exploit fodder if you have multiple copies, but just the fact that it can block and trade and get you another Throng is actually pretty good too. A card like this always needs a range of grades. If you have one of these, you’re never going to play it, but as soon as you have two, you’re looking at a 2.5, if you have 3, it is 3.0, if you have 4 or more, it’s a 3.5.
Kindly Ancestor image 3.0 This seems like a nice Common. A 3-mana ⅔ with Lifelink would be a 2.5, so adding the Disturb upside is pretty nice! Giving lifelink to evasive creatures is especially nasty, as life gain just utterly alters races. Its nice that it will also work pretty well in GW, as putting +1/+1 counters on a lifelinker tends to feel pretty good.
Cradle of Safety image 2.0 This is functionally identical to Starlit Mantle, a card we saw fairly recently that overperformed. This Aura doesn’t give the most amazing boost for the cost, but hexproof can be used to counter spells and it will feel really swingy when you can do that. It will be especially nice in the UW deck, which pays you off for Auras. I think this will be a fine playable, just like the mantle was.
Wedding Invitation image 1.5 This replaces itself, and that’s good, because the effect it has wouldn’t be worth anywhere close to worth an entire card. But yeah, since it replaces itself, the effect is pretty decent, especially on a vampire, as lifelink can really alter races. Still isn’t a great card, though. It will be pretty easy to cut since it is so low impact.
Honored Heirloom image 1.5 3 mana mana rocks are very rarely good in Limited, even if they add mana of any color. This one luckily comes with some additional value, as exiling stuff from graveyards does legitimately matter in this format. Still, you probably don’t play this unless you’re splashing a third color, as it is still very low impact.
Dawnhart Disciple image 2.5 This is a nice two drop, one that will often be a 3/3 when you’re just curving out.
Reckless Impulse image 2.5 I like that we’re seeing more of these so-called “impulsive draw” effects, seeing one at Common is neat! Anyway, this can sometimes feel like two mana to draw 2, which is quite good. Other times, you’ll hit two lands, and that won’t feel so good, but I think most of the time getting two cards of value out of this is going to happen, especially if you don’t play a land before you play it -- and you pretty much never should.
Gluttonous Guest image 2.5 This is a decent Common that slots in well into multiple Black decks. It has high toughness, which BG likes, it gains you life, which BW likes, and it makes Blood tokens, which BR likes! Now, it doesn’t exactly blow you away with what it does in any of those decks, but it is a solid card in all of them.
Pack 3 Pick 7: Wolf Strike
Laid to Rest image 1.0 // 4.0 This is mostly here for the GW deck, which is all about Humans and +1/+1 counters, and in that deck, this is going to be a pretty serious value engine. Drawing cards and gaining life is really going to enable you to grind out wins. Sure, costing 4 and not adding to the board is kind of a big deal, but the good news is that while it may not actually add something to the board, it does alter the board, in the sense that your opponent now has to deal with the fact that if they attack you, you can threaten to gain life and draw cards. This is definitely a build around, but I think its one that has a high enough ceiling that you may want to consider taking it early.
Adamant Will image 1.5 We’ve seen this card a few times now, it’s a pretty reasonable trick. The boost it gives is enough to win just about any combat, and the indestructibility means you can even use it to save a creature from removal. It is still a trick and comes with all the inherent downsides those come with – like being situational and sometimes risky.
Sure Strike image 1.5 This is a trick we see a lot. It can make almost any creature win combat which is nice, but because it doesn’t raise toughness it doesn’t have the additional value of helping you save a creature from removal – but the main purpose of tricks is using them in combat anyway. You’ll play this in aggro decks for sure, but probably not anywhere else.
Wolf Strike image 3.5 This is quite good. Even if it isn’t night time, this will be good in your Green decks, as the creature doesn’t fight, it just does damage equal to its power, so its one-sided! If it is night-time, it gets wayyy better, as it can make your creature take down a wider variety of creatures, and even offer you the opportunity to attack more effectively with the creature after it kills something else. You do have to be careful with this kind of card since you can get blown out if you don’t pick your spot carefully, but because its an Instant, you can pick your spot pretty effectively. Its definitely premium removal.
Pointed Discussion image 1.5 Black always gets a draw spell like this, and the vast majority of them are pretty mediocre. Two cards for three mana and two life will be something worth paying in grindier decks, and the blood is nice upside. You won’t ever play it in more aggressive decks, though
Apprentice Sharpshooter image 2.0 This seems decent. 3-mana 1/4s with Reach are always kind of alright, and this one’s Training upside is pretty real! If you end up playing this on turn three, you’ll often find that it isn’t that important you have a blocker, but attacking with a ¼ just isn’t worth it either, but now if you attack with almost anything else, it will become a ⅖, which is definitely more formidable.
Nurturing Presence image 1.5 This gives you a 1/1 Flyer no matter what, and that helps mitigate the risk of playing it. It’s too bad the rest of the card isn’t very good. The stats boost is situational and unimpressive. The turn you play it will giving +1/+1 to the thing, but still – you’re not really doing a great job with that.
Fearful Villager image 2.0 This has alright base stats and some decent upside, but its nothing special.
Pack 3 Pick 8: Weaver of Blossoms
Geistlight Snare image 1.5 I’m always a bit skeptical of counter magic in Limited. This is a bad mana leak a big chunk of the time, and sometimes it will cost two or one, which will obviously feel much better, but you still have to hold it up at the right time for it to do its thing, and it has waning value as the game goes on and players have more mana.
Bramble Armor image 1.0 We just saw this in the last set. It wasn’t very good last time around, even with the free Equip, and really kind of underperformed. While this format has Training, which this can help with, the last format had Coven, which this could have helped with, and it still wasn’t a card you ran very often.
Unholy Officiant image 2.0 A one mana ½ with Vigilance is not a very good card. Its the kind of card people often overrate, because they think “One mana is only enough to get a 1/1 most of the time!” and while that’s sort of true, the problem in Limited is that this kind of card will get outclassed pretty quickly. That said, it comes with an ability that actually does something in the late game, even if 5 is a lot for a single counter. Its also a decent place to put counters thanks to its keyword ability. So, yeah. This is an alright one drop that you’ll play in your most aggressive GW decks, but it doesn’t look that great anywhere else.
Cradle of Safety image 2.0 This is functionally identical to Starlit Mantle, a card we saw fairly recently that overperformed. This Aura doesn’t give the most amazing boost for the cost, but hexproof can be used to counter spells and it will feel really swingy when you can do that. It will be especially nice in the UW deck, which pays you off for Auras. I think this will be a fine playable, just like the mantle was.
Sporeback Wolf image 2.5 We’ve seen two mana 2/2s with this box of text before, and its fine. Being a 2/4 is decent enough upside on a bear.
Selhoff Entomber image 1.5 Forcing you to discard a specific card type really devalues the effectiveness of a rummage or loot effect. The idea here is to discard something you want in the graveyard, like if it has disturb, but a lot of the time you’d rather just cast both halves of the card.
Weaver of Blossoms image 2.5 This is a nice source of fixing and ramp with decent stats, and sometimes those stats are more than decent and it ramps even more!
Pack 3 Pick 9: Ancestral Anger
Nature's Embrace image 1.5 This has a pretty interesting design. Its either a mediocre aura or a mediocre way to fix and ramp. Each card individually is probably a 1.0 at best – and you probably won’t play this at all if you don’t need fixing, so I think it’s a 1.5.
Heron of Hope image 2.5 This doesn’t have the best base stats, but it is a nice little life gain enhancer, and the fact it can gain life gain itself means it does stuff even if its your only life gain card -- and generally, it won’t be.
Syncopate image 2.5 This is a reprint, and actually a pretty reasonable counterspell. XU counterspells are nicely customizable, and you’ll find yourself able to counter a spell much more frequently without going out of your way to leave some amount of mana up as a result. Exiling the thing you counters certainly matters in this format too. Now, it is still a counterspell, and having to have the mana up at the exact right time just for this to trade 1-for-1 still isn’t awesome, but unlike a lot of counterspells, this one is worth it in Limited.
Sheltering Boughs image 1.0 This Aura replaces itself, which definitely upgrades it, but the stats boost isn’t pretty. I think you’ll cut this more than you play it.
Ancestral Anger image 1.0 I like collect ‘em all cards, but just pumping power at Sorcery speed just isn’t that great, even with Trample. Now, I do think it has a little bit of value in the UR deck, since it is a spell that cantrips, but I’m still not very impressed.
Wanderlight Spirit image 2.5 This is a reasonably aggressive flyer. Not being able to block ground creatures isn’t a huge deal.
Pack 3 Pick 10: Spiked Ripsaw
Spiked Ripsaw image 3.0 This reminds me a lot of Plate Armor, and that’s pretty good company to keep, because that was a very powerful piece of Equipment. It costs the same to play and equip and gives the same stats boost, though Plate Armor also granted Ward and could reduce its equip cost. In place of that, though, Spiked Ripjaw can make your creature have trample, which is pretty nice. But yeah, this big of a stats boost can make almost any creature into a threat, and that’s what makes this so nice.
Unholy Officiant image 2.0 A one mana ½ with Vigilance is not a very good card. Its the kind of card people often overrate, because they think “One mana is only enough to get a 1/1 most of the time!” and while that’s sort of true, the problem in Limited is that this kind of card will get outclassed pretty quickly. That said, it comes with an ability that actually does something in the late game, even if 5 is a lot for a single counter. Its also a decent place to put counters thanks to its keyword ability. So, yeah. This is an alright one drop that you’ll play in your most aggressive GW decks, but it doesn’t look that great anywhere else.
Snarling Wolf image 1.5 This is another reprint from Midnight Hunt. It was solid there, as it could come down early and help set up Pack Tactics. It will probably be about the same here, except it will help set up Training. Still nothing special though, and not something you even always run. There are a lot of two drops that are just way better.
Rural Recruit image 3.0 This is a pretty good Common. 4/2 worth of stats spread across two bodies isn’t too bad for 4 mana, and it comes with the means to train itself right away. This turning into a 2/2 isn’t exactly amazing, but it will definitely make your attacks on the turn after you play it feel pretty good.
Pyre Spawn image 2.0 This doesn’t have good stats, but the fact it bolts a thing when it dies does usually mean you can get a 2-for-1, and if your opponent’s life is low they are going to be sweating this a ton. I think this is a decent top curve card.
Pack 3 Pick 11: Rural Recruit
Mulch image 1.0 // 2.5 This is a reprint, and one that stands a good chance at impacting constructed! In Limited, it is probably only worth it in a deck that is interesting in loading the graveyard, which mostly seems to be UG this time around. It does give you a good shot at hitting a land drop or two, which is fine. Still, I think most decks won’t play this apart from UG.
Serpentine Ambush image 0.0 This kind of card is always awful in Limited. It is easy to imagine scenarios where it does what you want – like when you use it as a combat trick to ambush something, but situations where you actually get to trade this for a card are few and far between, and this is something we’ve seen repeatedly.
Rural Recruit image 3.0 This is a pretty good Common. 4/2 worth of stats spread across two bodies isn’t too bad for 4 mana, and it comes with the means to train itself right away. This turning into a 2/2 isn’t exactly amazing, but it will definitely make your attacks on the turn after you play it feel pretty good.
Scattered Thoughts image 2.0 It is pretty funny to compare this card to Organ Hoarder from the last set, which was the same mana cost, but put a 3/2 body into play and only let you grab one card from the top three, but yeah, way better either way. Anyway, this might not be the best Common in the whole set like the Hoarder was, but it seems like a solid playable. Looking at 4 cards is pretty nice for the cost, and loading up the graveyard is worth doing too.
Pack 3 Pick 12: Hungry Ridgewolf
Crawling Infestation image 1.0 // 3.5 This is very similar to a card from our last trip to Innistrad called Creeping Sensation. So similar that I thought it was a reprint at first! They are pretty similar, the main difference is that this checks for creatures that go to the graveyard and not lands, and it only triggers once each turn, but this is a pretty similar card. It really helps you out if you’re interested in milling, and it cranks out Insect tokens fairly often. Basically, you get to add to the board while also loading up your graveyard. And, your own creatures dying also will give you those tokens. There’s a bit of a risk of milling yourself out, but based on how it worked out last time, you usually end up winning with all the graveyard value before that happens. You don’t wanna play this if you’re an aggro deck of course, but if you’re any sort of grindy graveyard deck, this is a very impressive engine
Mulch image 1.0 // 2.5 This is a reprint, and one that stands a good chance at impacting constructed! In Limited, it is probably only worth it in a deck that is interesting in loading the graveyard, which mostly seems to be UG this time around. It does give you a good shot at hitting a land drop or two, which is fine. Still, I think most decks won’t play this apart from UG.
Hungry Ridgewolf image 2.5 This isn’t the most exciting payoff ever, but it has decent base stats and will sometimes be a 3/2 with Trample, which is especially nice.
Pack 3 Pick 13: Weaver of Blossoms
Ollenbock Escort image 2.5 A one mana 1/1 with Vigilance is kind of alright in this format, since there is an Aura deck and a +1/+1 counter deck, but it gets a lot better with its ability to make something gain lifelink and indestructibility. Those two keywords are huge, and this is going to have some serious impact on the board if you have a creature with a counter somewhere, as your opponent has to respect this ability or get completely wrecked.
Weaver of Blossoms image 2.5 This is a nice source of fixing and ramp with decent stats, and sometimes those stats are more than decent and it ramps even more!
Pack 3 Pick 14: Honored Heirloom
Honored Heirloom image 1.5 3 mana mana rocks are very rarely good in Limited, even if they add mana of any color. This one luckily comes with some additional value, as exiling stuff from graveyards does legitimately matter in this format. Still, you probably don’t play this unless you’re splashing a third color, as it is still very low impact.
Draft Pick Overview