Power 9 Pro – Magic The Gathering Accessories – Tournament Discussion – Deck Analysis

Welcome, dear reader, to the final installment of our Worldwake Set Review. We broke the set up into batches. Here’s links to the white, blue, black, red, and green reviews. As usual, I will add my comments, evaluating each card with an eye toward primarily limited play, but with the occasional anecdote on Eternal formats and the beloved EDH format. James will then add his comments evaluating each card for standard, block, and extended play.

Novablast Wurm
3GGWW
Creature – Wurm
7/7
Whenever Novablast Wurm attacks, destroy all other creatures.
Rarity: Mythic Rare
Set Number: #119/145

Well, I love this card in my old Sneak Attack deck! If you think about this card as a Day of Judgement, then you’re getting a 7/7 creature for 1GG, and in exchange for the “now” of the sorcery, you get the effect over and over again. When you drop this Wurm in limited, the game becomes “do you have a removal spell capable of killing this guy, or can you find one in the next ~1-2 turns?” This, my friends, is about as bomby as it can get. Anything that must be killed, the alternative being game loss, is a bomb, especially something costing a very castable 7. Thumbs up from me.

JAMES

This is crazy. If you can cast it and still have a Vines of the Vastwood ready…that’s crazy. I’ll let someone else figure that one out.

Wrexial, the Risen Deep
3UUB
Legendary Creature – Kraken
5/8
Islandwalk, swampwalk
Whenever Wrexial, the Risen Deep deals
combat damage to a player, you may
cast target instant or sorcery card from
that player’s graveyard without paying
its mana cost. If that card would be
put into a graveyard this turn, exile it
instead.
Rarity: Mythic Rare
Set Number: #120/145

This is a lame EDH general, IMO. There’s just not enough consistent effect on the board… I dunno… this just seems weak. Now, in limited, this could indeed be pretty fierce, but it’s not on the level of, say, Novablast Wurm. This will occasionally kill a few chump blockers, and then re-use your opponent’s removal or burn on them as you crush them. Also, you’re bound to run into a few players sporting islands and/or swamps, and luckily those two colors are also the most likely to have instants and sorceries to hijack. So it’s not like this isn’t incredibly good, it’s just not really an “I win” kind of bomb the way some of this other stuff is. Against blue or black mages, it may very well be “I win”.

JAMES

Crazy. I don’t think this will be a meta shaping card. It’s crazy though. I want 1-2x in my G/W deck now! lol.

Amulet of Vigor
1
Artifact
Whenever a permanent enters the battlefield tapped and under your control, untap it.
Rarity: Rare
Set Number: #121/145

Wow, this is a hell of a trinket. Even doing something as mundane as turning Ravnica dual lands like Hallowed Fountain into their Alpha counterparts, like Tundra, makes this thing pretty hawt. In EDH, I can see running these, since Nevinyrrals Disk is ubiquitous, and can function more like a sorcery then. I think I’d be pretty hard pressed to run this in a limited deck of any sort, however. It’s just not going to do a lot. So yeah, cool in constructed where you can abuse it, and a bummer of a rare in limited, where it’s all but worthless.

JAMES

I’m thinking about this as something affinity would play with…maybe a control deck in type 2 that wants lands to enter untapped? It’s a pretty interesting play on that premise. Turn one you’re not likely to see something you want to counter but T2 you need/want the extra mana open…? Does a Thopter-Foundry, Sword of the Meek deck want something like this?

Basilisk Collar
1
Artifact – Equipment
Equipped creature has deathtouch and lifelink.
Equip {2}
Rarity: Rare

Yikes! Another sick trinket. (For those who wonder, this is a reference to Trinket Mage, a mainstay of many decks with tutor-packages of 1-drop artifact toolboxes) Anyway, this will just rock some fools in limited, making every single blocker a removal spell in disguise. Not only that, but the lifelink will quickly get out of hand as well, and functions a lot like double-strike in terms of increasing the life total changes generated by any given attack. The nice thing about lifelink is you get half of the life total change even when they block! So yeah, I consider this a stone cold bomb in limited, and am tempted to run it in various EDH decks, though it’s probably sub-par to the other options there (umezawas jitte).

JAMES

lol. I don’t see this be played a lot. Maybe I’m missing something great about it but for constructed I don’t see it being a must-have.

Everflowing Chalice
0
Artifact
Multikicker {2}
Everflowing Chalice enters the battlefield with a charge counter on it for each time it was kicked.
{T}: Add {1} to your mana pool for each charge counter on Everflowing Chalice.
Rarity: Uncommon
Set Number: #123/145

Mike Flores did a good job evaluating this. A lot of times it’s like Mind Stone without the cantrip. Occasionally it’s somewhere between Worn Powerstone and Thran Dynamo. sometimes it’s a storm count, and sometimes it’s some weird 6-drop or beyond. In any case, it’s flexible and likely to see play. In limited, I can get behind this in basically any deck. Why not have a chance to ramp up? Quite strong.

JAMES

I don’t like paying 4 mana for 2 of any color because it means T4/5 is “dead.” Maybe as a 2 for one mana but Explore seems a lot better.

Hammer of Ruin
2
Artifact – Equipment
Equipped creature gets +2/+0.
Whenever equipped creature deals combat damage to a player, you may destroy target equipment that player controls.
Equip {2}
Rarity: Uncommon
Set Number: #124/145

Interesting Manriki Gusari variant here. This is a hollow shell of the original though. Still probably gets played in some limited decks, mostly those with fliers, but you’ll always be hoping instead for the trusty machete, etc. Having to connect to kill an equipment makes this mostly an expensive Bonesplitter.

JAMES

Not for constructed imo.

Hedron Rover
4
Artifact Creature – Construct
2/2
Landfall – Whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control, Hedron Rover gets +2/+2 until end of turn.
Rarity: Common

Well, this isn’t TOO terrible, but it’s still sub-par in my estimation. It’s a wimpy Territorial Baloth. But then, any deck can run him. He’s too vulnerable for my liking, setting you up to be down 3 mana to a Disfigure or Burst Lightning.

JAMES

Constructs suck. They should all be allies.(thinking limited). Otherwise, they totally suck.

Kitesail
1
Artifact – Equipment
Equipped creature gets +1/+0 and flying.
Equip {2}
Rarity: ?

Excellent. Flying is key here, the +1 is like icing, or a nice wrapper. This should do some strong work, especially if the rarity turns out to be less than rare.

JAMES

I don’t like the question mark in this one, but whatever. It’s not going to make it. Equip cost is too high. Probably fine/great for limited though.

Lodestone Golem
4
Artifact Creature – Golem
5/3
Nonartifact spells cost {1} more to cast.
Rarity: Rare
Set Number: #127/145

This guy’s wicked cool, and probably has a place in several EDH decks. In limited, he’s pretty sweet, especially if you’ve got either good mana ramping, or many artifact creatures (thanks, Doctor Obvious!). I like the Juggernaut stats. Pretty solid all the way around. Even if this just comes down and beats until it dies, you’ve slowed down their advancement as well as their ability to kill him. Solid, but not killer. I wouldn’t call it a bomb.

JAMES

I love these cards that only provide minor advantage. It could be enough for control decks to like this a ground/offensive card. Probably worth trying due to the tempo play. Downside is lack of evasion.

Pilgrim’s Eye
3
Artifact Creature – Thopter
1/1
Flying
When Pilgrim’s Eye enters the battlefield, search your library for a basic land, reveal it, and put it into your hand. Then shuffle your library.
Rarity: Common

Weird and wild. I like it, especially in the UW skies kind of archetype. This ensures a land drop and “replaces” itself in a pseudo cantrip. It provides a somewhat weak body, but it’s evasive, and again, you got a basic land. Just think of it as Borderland Ranger, but you trade a point of P/T for flying, and you can play it in any deck. Sounds good to me! Slow controlling decks might even just think of this as primarily chump block fodder, since they just want to stall and make land drops until the late game. This fits the bill.

JAMES

I like this for limited. Lots. For constructed it’s a little too slow. I don’t think the evasion is enough @ 1 attack…

Razor Boomerang
3
Artifact – Equipment
Equipped creature has “{T}, Unattach Razor Boomerang: Razor Boomerang deals 1 damage to target creature or player. Return Razor Boomerang to its owner’s hand”.
Equip {2}
Rarity: Uncommon

Yow, that’s a lot of mana for a single point of damage. I’d have to be quite desperate to go to these lengths. No thanks.

JAMES

Too expensive.

Seer’s Sundial
4
Artifact
Landfall – Whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control, you may pay {2}. If you do, draw a card.
Illus. Franz Vohwinkle
Rarity: Rare
Set Number: #130/145

Nice. This should pay off at about the second activation. I’d probably play this, but alas, I’d probably not pick it high unless I was already a slow, methodical kind of control deck, worried about long-term card advantage and such. Not my typical deck. But yeah, this will probably prompt removal, and if you get two or more activations out of it before then, you’re well ahead in the card department.

JAMES

Too expensive.

Walking Atlas
2
Creature – Construct
1/1
{T}: You may put a land card from your hand onto the battlefield.
Rarity: Common

Yeah, I can’t see playing this. It’s only relevant really really early, which is never a good thing. Even then, it’s doing very little. This is poor.

JAMES

It’s aight…maybe the 23rd card.

Bojuka Bog
Land
Bojuka Bog enters the battlefield tapped.
{T}: Add {B} to your mana pool.
When Bojuka Bog enters the battlefield, exile all cards from target player’s graveyard.
Rarity: Common

Definitely got a place in many other formats. EDH runs this, as the graveyard is an oft-used resource. In limited, this will seldom matter, but keep it in mind for your sideboard if you happen to get one as your 14th pick or whatever.

JAMES

This is hella against Dredge. Can’t imagine it’s great against much more than that. Knight of the Reliquary I guess. Pretty narrow though.

Celestial Colonnade
Land
Celestial Colonnade enters the battlefield tapped.
{T}: Add {W} or {U} to your mana pool.
{3}{W}{U}: Until end of turn, Celestial Colonnade becomes a 4/4 white and blue Elemental creature with flying and vigilance. It’s still a land.
Rarity: Rare
Set Number: #133/145

No. Joke. The new man lands are all solid, and this one is no exception. Wow. Man lands on a dual land. I don’t want to go into all the nuanced ways in which lands with abilities are inherently more powerful than spells with the same or similar abilities, but they are! I’m willing to assert it. After all, this is an opinion piece. As such, these are all strong when they’re in your colors, and many will be rare-drafted anyway because they’re likely to be among the pricier cards in the set. When you get one in your colors, you’ll have a slight advantage over the chumps running mere basic lands.

JAMES

Awesomeness. When I saw this first revealed I cursed WotC for printing something that makes the M10 lands valueless. lol. It’s sweet. Great include for U/W/x

Creeping Tar Pits
Land
Creeping Tar Pits enters the battlefield tapped.
{T}: Add {U} or {B} to your mana pool.
{1}{U}{B}: Until end of turn, Creeping Tar Pits becomes a 3/2 blue and black Elemental creature and is unblockable. It’s still a land.
Illus. Jason Felix
Rarity: Rare
Set Number: #134/145

Again, see celestial collonade. If it’s in one of your colors, consider splash the missing color. These are HAWT.

JAMES

It’s aight. Can really only be activated when the opponent is essentially tapped out (path + bolt variations = too broad a threat base).

Dread Statuary
Land
{T}: Add {1} to your mana pool
{4}: Dread Statuary becomes a 4/2 Golem artifact creature until end of turn. It’s still a land.
Rarity: Uncommon
Set Number: #135/145

This uncommon is both more likely to be in your pack, and more likely to fit in your deck. It’s very strong as well. Play this whenever you get it. Pick it decently high, cause it won’t last more than 3 or 4 picks I’m guessing, as anyone can play this.

JAMES

Nahhh.

Eye of Ugin
Legendary Land
Colorless Eldrazi spells cost {2} less to cast.
{7}, {T}: Search your library for a colorless creature card, reveal it and put it in your hand. Then shuffle your library.
Illus. James Paick
Rarity: Mythic Rare
Set Number: #136/145

Arcum Dagsson’s summer retreat, I think, eh? Well, this is pretty sweet. No telling what “Eldrazi spells” refers to, as Eldrazi Monument doesn’t seem to qualify. But the Planar Portal aspect is neat. I also like lands that don’t product mana… and we don’t see them much anymore. Back in the day there were myriad such lands, from the crappy ( Seafarers Quay ) to the weird and very good ( Maze of Ith ), to the outright insanely awesome ( The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale ). Anyway, this looks like fun, but it’s very narrow in limited, indeed.

JAMES

WTF?…are there any Eldrazi spells? Is WotC pulling a fast one on us? Is it just for the next set Wtf?

Halimar Depths
Land
Halimar Depths enters the battlefield tapped.
{T}: Add {U} to your mana pool.
When Halimar Depths enters the battlefield, look at top three cards of your library and put them back in any order.
Rarity: Common

In any U deck that’s not hard-core aggro, I like this. Why not Sage Owl yourself? That’s worth 1 mana, right? It’s like this land always taps for one Senseis Divining Top activation every time it comes down.

JAMES

Hmmm, so borderline. I’m not quick to think of a time I’d like to include this in a constructed control deck.

Khalni Garden
Land
Khalni Garden enters the battlefield tapped.
When Khalni Garden enters the battlefield, put a 0/1 green Plant creature token onto the battlefield.
{T}: Add {G} to your mana pool.
Rarity: Common
Set Number: #138/145

I like this less than Halimar Depths. Not too stoked here. Maybe if I had a convenient way to bounce this every turn… Living Tsunami or something.

JAMES

WAAAAAY tooooo narrow. lol.

Lavaclaw Reaches
Land
Lavaclaw Reaches enters the battlefield tapped.
{T}: Add {B} or {R} to your mana pool.
{1}{B}{R}: Until end of turn, Lavaclaw Reaches becomes a 2/2 black and red Elemental creature with “{X}: This creature gets +X/+0 until end of turn.” It’s still a land.
Rarity: Rare
Set Number: #139/145

Another manland dual. Not bad, but so far the Collonade takes the cake.

JAMES

Lol. Not good enough.

Quicksand
Land
{T}: Add {1} to your mana pool.
{T}, Sacrifice Quicksand: Target attacking creature without flying gets -1/-2 until end of turn.
Rarity: Uncommon

Nice reprint. This is solid. Play it. Pick it mid-to-high. It’s removal on a land! This is the kind of land that’s going to help pad those 19-land manabases we’ve come to enjoy in ZZZ.

JAMES

I’ll play this in limited. Even if I have to 2 4 1 a huge creature…Worth it.

Raging Ravine
Land
Raging Ravine enters the battlefield tapped.
{T}: Add {R} or {G} to your mana pool.
{2}{R}{G}: Until end of turn, Raging Ravine becomes a 3/3 red and green Elemental creature with “Whenever this creature attacks, put a +1/+1 counter on it.” It’s still a land.
Rarity: Rare

This one and the Collonade are roughly on par in my mind. Both avoid the easiest removal, though in constructed, the Ravine has to contend with Lightning Bolt.

JAMES

Interesting dual land, and may be will see play on that alone–for standard/type2 at least. Jund likes the tri-land savage land though.

Sejiri Steppe
Land
Sejiri Steppe enters the battlefield tapped.
When Sejiri Steppe enters the battlefield, you may have target creature gain protection from the color of your choice until end of turn.
{T}: Add {W} to your mana pool.
Rarity: Common

Yep, this one’s solid. An even better target for Living Tsunami and friends for recursion.

JAMES

I don’t think one creature is enough…

Smoldering Spires
Land
Smoldering Spires enters the battlefield tapped.
When Smoldering Spires enters the battlefield, target creature can’t block until end of turn.
{T}: Add {R} to your mana pool.
Rarity: Common

I like this one too. Protection is even better, but many red decks want to push damage through. Ironically, the tension here is that red decks that want to push damage through also want their early mana, so the EtB tapped plays against the deck that wants this most. Don’t fear splashing these EtB lands into off-color decks. Soaring Seacliffs proved the viability of doing just that as it launched baloths into the sky in ZZZ.

JAMES

Same

Stirring Brush
Land
Stirring Brush enters the battlefield tapped.
{T}: Add {G} or {W} to your mana pool.
{1}{G}{W}: Until end of turn, Stirring Brush becomes a 3/4 green and white Elemental creature with reach. It’s still a land.
Rarity: Rare

Hmm. Well, I think Ravine and Collonade are my faves.

JAMES

This color combination doesn’t want reach on a land.

Tectonic Edge
Land
{T}: Add {1} to your mana pool.
{1}, {T}: Sacrifice Tectonic Edge: Destroy target nonbasic land. Activate this ability only if an opponent controls four or more lands.
Rarity: Uncommon

Pseudo Ghost Quarter. This will be played in constructed, methinks. You should probably sideboard it in limited, and I dont’ know how high I’d pick it… likely not until the middle of the pack at the earliest.

JAMES

lol. Maybe a 1x in a Knight of the Reliquary deck? Hit the off color? Too narrow, so no.

And that does it! We hope you have fun at the pre-releases. Thanks for reading along. As always, tell us where we goofed up in the comments section below.

Welcome to the Green section of our Worldwake Set Review series. We began with white here, for those just tuning in who’d like to see all the reviews. As usual, I will add my comments, evaluating each card with an eye toward primarily limited play, but with the occasional anecdote on Eternal formats and the beloved EDH format. James will then add his comments evaluating each card for standard, block, and extended play.

Here we go!

Arbor Elf
G
Creature – Elf Druid
1/1
{T}: Untap target Forest.
Rarity: Common

Hmm. Well, I guess he’s essentially a Llanowar elves, which makes him very playable. He’s got a slight edge on the original, though, since you might have a forest that’s a creature, or is enchanted with something like wild growth, or more likely some modern equivalent. Anyway, he’s a great mana ramper, and will let you drop a 3-drop on turn 2, etc. A solid common, especially for monogreen or base-green.

JAMES

Playable. I like this in extended for untapping Murmuring Bosk. This is defintily a good construction worthy card. I say, take out the Llanowar Elf and put in Garruk, Wildspeaker’s little cousin.

Avenger of Zendikar
5GG
Creature – Elemental
5/5
When Avenger of Zendikar enters the battlefield, put a 0/1 green Plant creature token onto the battlefield for each land you control.
Landfall – Whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control, you may put a +1/+1 counter on each Plant creature you control.
Illus. Zoltan Boros & Gabor Szikszai
Rarity: Mythic Rare

This will be huge for the random monogreen drafter who opens it. Even better is someone who is in Gw or Gr, because they can splash Bold Defense or another global pumper… even something as seemingly innocuous as Goblin Bushwhacker could become quite deadly… the tension in non-mono-green builds, however, will be that the fewer forests you run, the fewer plants you get at the outset. Anyway, this is very solid, giving you a big beater, a ton of tiny guys, and a way to grow them. Alas, as a mythic, you can never really plan for this guy, you just have to get really lucky. Then again, this might be passed by anyone not heavy in green, so maybe you’ll see it more often than the typical mythic… so slightly-less-than-never rather than just “never”.

JAMES

Wow. What a great ability. If you can stick this one turn and then next turn follow up with an Overrun it’s probably good game. It does setup up for boardsweepers like Day of Judgement and the new red sweeper Chain Reaction. But we can look at cards like Cloudthresher which was the same 7cc and know that it’s not completely out of the question for a Green player to plop something like this on the table. If you don’t have an answer it is seriously GG.

Bestial Menace
3GG
Sorcery
Put a 1/1 green Snake creature token, a 2/2 green Wolf creature token, and a 3/3 green Elephant creature token onto the battlefield.
Rarity: Uncommon
Set Number: #97/145

I love the wackiness of this card. How random! Wtf are a snake, a wolf, and an elephant doing together? It almost sounds like some kind of joke… “a snake, a wolf, and an elephant walk into a battlefield…” Anyway, this is a stone cold bomb in limited, and I’m already pumped for monogreen between this crazy uncommon and the Llanowar variant in common. this is not “just” 6 power and 6 toughness for the bargain basement price of 5 mana. It’s THREE bodies! This is very nice. It exponentially increases the relevance of spells like the aforementioned Bold Defense, albeit by an exponent of 3. Still, as Broodmate Dragon should have proved to us all beyond a shadow of a doubt, making several creatures is very very strong, often quite a bit stronger than a comparable creature that rolls solo. This is going to wreck shop, I’m convinced. Just be aware of the sweepers like Marsh Casualties!

JAMES

5 cc for three creatures totaling 6 power/toughness. Interesting. If it was something like “choose one: 6 1/1’s, 3 2/2’s or 2 3/3’s” I might be more inclined to say, “yeah, this is gonna make it” but the lack of options make me think it’s too underwhelming. Compare to the Avenger of Zendikar above and you get a LOT more for your mana.

Canopy Cover
1G
Enchantment – Aura
Enchant creature
Enchanted creature can’t be blocked except by creatures with flying and/or reach.
Enchanted creature can’t be the target of spells or abilities your opponents control.
Rarity: Uncommon
Set Number: #98/145

This is an aura I can get behind. The main reason is that it shields the creature it’s on, protecting you from the ubiquitous 241 associated with auras. It also provides evasion, which is nice… Green has trample and that’s it, typically, but this is a neat combination of the abilities from Troll Ascetic and Elven Riders, all at an affordable cost. If you have something that needs to connect, this is the ticket.

JAMES

Nice. Evasion and shroud. What would you stick this on though? It better be damn worth not playing a more utility card. It’s also fairly narrow. Tough call. Auras just don’t get much loving and with good reason: they suck. lol.

Explore
1G
Sorcery
You may play an additional land this turn.
Draw a card.
Rarity: Common

Okay, this one was contentious on my discussion email thread, but we all ended up with a consensus: this is somewhere between solid and “da bomb.” Okay, break down the scenarios: Ideally you have this in your opener along with 3 or more lands. In that case, it’s a fine turn 2 play, especially if you also happen to have two 1-drops, or say, Arbor Elf and a 2-drop. This card propels you forward in a mana ramp fashion AND replaces itself! Okay, so the mediocre situation: you draw it early, but lack the land drop… you still get to cantrip. If you’re going to miss your 3rd land drop, you might as well play this to cantrip (draw 1). This is still a fine turn 3 play when you’re lacking that crucial early drop. Okay, so least impressive scenario: you draw this on turn 18, in top deck mode. You still get to just “cycle” this for 1G. That’s juuuust fine, folks. Hakuna matatta. No worries. This is solid. I’d probably run as many as 3 in a super fast mana ramp kind of deck, but 2 seems fine, and if you just have the 1, well, just hope to see it extremely early under good circumstances.

JAMES

Playable. Manaramp loves this kinda stuff. It costs the same as Rampant Growth and essentially does a better job at the task: get an extra land in play while also replacing itself. Very nice. Definitely a standard worthy card for Manaramp, Lightsaber and Jund–at least for testing to see how it goes.

Feral Contest
3G
Sorcery
Put a +1/+1 counter on target creature you control. Another target creature must block it this turn if able.
Rarity: Common

Hmm. Not really my style… it’s a pretty telegraphed “trick” and it’s the softest kind of removal, unable to hit tappers, etc. I dislike this.

JAMES

Sort of lame really. why is it so expensive? It’s not a guaranteed removal spell and it only marginally puts the attack phase in your favor…

Gnarlid Pack
1G
Creature – Beast
2/2
Multikicker {1}{G}
Gnarlid Pack enters the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter on it for each time it was kicked.
Rarity: Common

Again with an incrementally better update on a staple limited guy employing multikick. This one’s among the best of the cycle. He’s a grizzly bear! No wait, he’s a hill giant! No wait, now he’s… okay, he’s a 6-drop 4/4… not great but not terrible. Anyway, this is solid all the way around, and will be on par whenever you drop him, or above par really late, where despite being over-costed, you’re getting the flexibility part out of him… remember, this takes up the grizzly bear slot in your deck… you will still, hopefully, have high end guys too, it’s just that this grizzly bear doesn’t envoke the sigh of the original when you draw him late. Good stuff.

JAMES

I really don’t like this cycle. I guess big mana decks like green might see a use…but it’s stupid.

Grappler Spider
1G
Creature – Spider
2/1
Reach
Rarity: Common

Meh. Reach bear. Not bad, not thrilling either. Has its place, which will often be on the bench due to having better options.

JAMES

Wow. Very weak-sauce. I’d almost rather it be a 0/2…but still super lame. 0/2 Deathtouch. lol.

Graypelt Hunter
3G
Creature – Human Warrior Ally?
2/2
Trample
Whenever Graypelt Hunter or another Ally enters the battlefield under your control, you may put a +1/+1 counter on Graypelt Hunter.
Rarity: Common

Trample hill giant on common? This is strictly better than hill giant. This is very playable, even as your only ally. With any other allies, he increases marginally. In a full on allies build, this is going to be one of your premiere beaters thanks to the trample. This is a sick common ally.

JAMES

weak.

Groundswell
G
Instant
Target creature gets +2/+2 until end of turn.
Landfall – If you had a land enter the battlefield under your control this turn, that creature gets +4/+4 until end of turn instead.
Rarity: Common

No joke! This is the kind of trick you should look for in green. It’s cheap, and usually doesn’t need the land drop to do its job as a simple combat trick type removal spell. For the times when you want to alpha, you should have no problem sandbagging a land for the right turn. This makes me happy. Monogreen was already flush with these kinds of effects, with Vines of Vastwood and Primal Bellow. Now you should be able to draft the exact number of such spells that you want. When I’m in monogreen, I obviously pick Primal Bellow very high, but I might start skimping on the vines, even though they have particular effectiveness against spot removal… but now you can expect to make up for one passed vines in pack 3, at least in terms of tricks / pump.

JAMES

Cool. Green never misses a land drop. “never” lol. Anyway, It’s a decent ability. Not strong enough for constructed necessarily but a neat little pump spell.

Harabaz Druid
1G
Creature – Human Druid Ally
0/1
{T}: Add X mana of any one color to your mana pool, where X is the number of Allies you control.
Rarity: Rare

Well, again we see a theme with the better allies: they’re good enough on their own, and superb in allies. This is no exception. I can definitely see running this without lots of allies, or picking it as my first ally in pack 3. If a constructed allies deck is viable, I’m guessing this is part of it, but it’s too board-committed for constructed I think. We’ll see what James says. All in all, this rare is cool in any green deck, and obviously, even cooler in any strongly allies deck that includes green, as many such decks will.

JAMES

Not bad. It’s no Noble Hierarch but few things in life are. Allies really needed a fixer and this is a cheap, potentially powerful one.

Joraga Warcaller
G
Creature – Elf Warrior
1/1
Multikicker {1}{G}
Joraga Warcaller enters the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter on it for each time it was kicked.
Other Elf creatures you control get +1/+1 for each +1/+1 counter on Joraga Warcaller.
Rarity: Rare

Whoa… a neat rare… also introduces a small elves tribal theme. Anyway, this is a bit slow unless you have several other elves. It’s just that he’s not really big enough to live long unless you pay 6 or more… I dunno. I’m skeptical for limited. I think the times this guy’s killer in limited are few and far between.

JAMES

Nice. Very freaking nice. Elves ala Eldrazi Monument will probably like this one. 3cc for a Glorious Anthem on all your elves? Not bad. Try it out in your Elves! builds.

Leatherback Baloth
GGG
Creature – Beast
4/5
Flavor Text: GEE GEE GEE, BABY BABY BABY
Illus. Chris Rahn
Rarity: Uncommon

Yikes! This is huge for monogreen, obviously. I don’t think any other archetype can even play this, unless you’re maybe base green with a small splash. But holy cow! What a 3-drop! It can stop everything you’ll see on the ground before turn 5 or 6 at the earliest. And it can throw down too! Beats for 4 will have to be contained, and good luck killing this guy with blockers… especially against monogreen! “You have G up? Crap, now what?” I love this… it’s the kind of card that will often be passed to the delight of the monogreen drafter, because others can’t really do with him what’s best. Anyway, monogreen was already a pet favorite archetype of mine in ZZZ. Now I’m even more excited for those packs that I open Gigantiform or something, and go into monogreen.

JAMES

Am I missing something with that flavor text? I’m hoping it’s random, mtg-salvation text that isn’t real. Prety cheap. I like this as Doran #2 but the trip-G may be hard for the builds. Very solid beater in mono-green/Elf builds.

Nature’s Claim
G
Instant
Destroy target artifact or enchantment. Its controller gains 4 life.
Rarity: Common

You know, I liked this a lot early. It’s reminiscent of the speed of Oxidize or Crumble before it. It’s definitely cheap and solid, so I think it will see play. But a pal pointed out to me that this kind of spell ( disenchant variants in general) have fallen out of favor, replaced by creatures with EtB effects doing the same. Krosan Grip will still likely be the de-facto spell for older formats too. But this is an awesome option to have in your sideboard, killing pesky quests or equipment for a low cost, usually putting you ahead on mana. The life gain is negligible compared to the effect of anything you’d spend a removal spell to kill. Anyway, I still like the spell, but I have tempered my impression of it for constructed formats, and I look forward to seeing James’ opinion here.

JAMES

This is a really cheap way of dealing with a Umezawas Jitte. Also great against Edrazi Monument. This is a great looking common. I dunno. I guess as a green mage (whether jund or whatever), I’m not particuarly worried about someone gaining 4 life. Lifegain doesn’t typically worry me when it’s not attached to a creature like Baneslayer Angel or Rhox War Monk.

Omnath, Locus of Mana
2G
Legendary Creature – Elemental
1/1
Green mana doesn’t empty from your mana pool as phases and steps end.
Omnath, Locus of Mana gets +1/+1 for each green mana in your mana pool.
Rarity: Mythic Rare

EDH General? Perhaps… he’s cheap and big, and lends himself to all the various green infinite mana engines. Also, even absent those combos coming together, he’s a fine general for giving him a sword (or jitte) or even a cloak, and letting him win the general damage race. He’s definitely unshielded though, and EDH has lots of answers to creatures… so I’m guessing he ends up marginal as a general. In limited… well, I think he’s still awesome in monogreen and playable in green with splash. He’s going to get bigger and bigger. He’s a must answer threat. These are attributes that translate into “playable” or even “strong.”

JAMES

weird. Very weird. It’s pretty cool if you think about it. Add three green to your pool, attack for 4, have mana ready for Vines of Vastwood or just ready for 2nd main phase. Very cool. Worth experimenting with at least!

Quest for Renewal
1G
Enchantment
Whenever a creature under your control taps, you may put a quest counter on Quest for Renewal.
As long as Quest for Renewal has four or more quest counters on it, untap all creatures you control during each other player’s untap step.
Rarity: Uncommon

An interesting take on Seedborn Muse. I like this spell in a deck with mana elves, and it’s even okay in a straight-forward aggro deck. It lets all your guys essentially have vigilance, except it’s even better for your tappers. Looks fine to me.

JAMES

Kinda neat. Pretty easy to get going too. I like this as a varriant to test for Elves (in standard). Quest cards are sooo hard to guage. They always seem borderline hot-sauce but end up being mild and borning.

Slingbow Trap
3G
Instant – Trap
If a black creature with flying is attacking, you may pay {G} rather than pay Slingbow Trap’s mana cost.
Destroy target attacking creature with flying.
Rarity: Uncommon

Yeah, this will be good. I’m not sure whether it’s maindeck or side though… green is traditionally weak against fliers, despite all the reach creatures… I think it goes in the side, but in about half of the game 2s you play, it will save your neck from some brutal flier or other.

JAMES

I like this for dealing with Vampire Nighthawk. What a big B of a card. I hate that card. lol. Certainly an interesitng SB option but probably a bit too narrow. Worth the Jund/Elves/Lightsaber Zoo players experimenting with though.

Snapping Creeper
2G
Creature – Plant
2/3
Landfall – Whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control, Snapping Creeper gains vigilance until end of turn.
Its vastly spread roots alert it of distant dangers.
Rarity: Common

Lame ability, but this is still a decent ground clogger if you don’t already have enough. He stops bears, that’s his best attribute. He’s like the bear killa.

JAMES

Lol. I think of Little Shop of Horrors.

Strength of the Tajuru
XGG
Instant
Multikicker {1}(You may pay an additional {1} any number of times as you cast this spell.)
Choose target creature, then choose another target creature for each time Strength of the Tajuru was kicked. Put X +1/+1 counters on each of them.
Illus. Christopher Moeller
Rarity: Rare
Set Number: #113/145

Pretty dang good… this will end some games in a hurry because it’s an instant. EOT? Strength for 6 on my trampler! Have any removal? No? GG. Very strong.

JAMES

Sicko instant. Probably worth 5cc to put 2 plus Counters on two creatures. It’s a colorless multikick too making me think that this isn’t really restricted to mono color builds. What would this go in though? I’m not sure. It’s pretty steep on the curve but is the ability worth it?

Summit Apes
3G
Creature – Ape
5/2
As long as you control a Mountain Summit Apes can’t be blocked except by two or more creatures.
Rarity: Uncommon

Yeah, this is solid on color, and still takes either a removal spell or a big blocker / attacker with it. I’d play him.

JAMES
4cc for a somewhat evasive 5/2. Does lend itself well to taking out multiple creatures but it’s weaksauce butt makes it damn vulnerable. I guess it’s not strong enough for constructed…

Terastodon
6GG
Creature – Elephant
9/9
When Terastodon enters the battlefield, destroy up to three target noncreature permanents. For each permanent put into a graveyard this way, it’s controller puts a 3/3 green Elephant creature token onto the battlefield.
Illus. Lars Grant-West
Rarity: Rare

Very cool rare. Again, thinking about monogreen… often you’ll kill your own lands with this guy, believe it or not. In fact, I might wager that this is the usual way to play Terastodon. In that case, for 8 mana (and three lands which are mostly superfluous at that point anyway), you get 18 points of power and toughness on 4 creatures! Every once in a while, you’ll nuke an opponent’s ___________ (whatever) and take a mere 15 points of power instead. Either way, this is a mega-bomb, in my opinion, and should win you the game as often as not. This also happens to be a neat LD type spell for EDH decks, as well as a great reanimator target for some such decks. Recurring this thing seems naughty indeed, maybe with Moat in play?

JAMES

Might be okay but not as good as Avenger (above).

Vastwood Animist
2G
Creature – Elf Shaman Ally
1/1
{T}: Target land becomes a X/X Elemental creature until end of turn, where X is the number of Allies you control. It’s still a land.
Rarity: Uncommon

Well, this is an ally I’d only play in solid allies, and even then, I think there are better options. Still, in allies, critical mass is important, so the Type Line of this card may end up being its best feature.

JAMES

Too weak. the mass of Allies required to make this work is too high to justify playing.

Vastwood Zendikon
4G
Enchantment – Aura
Enchant land
Enchanted land is a 6/4 green Elemental creature. It’s still a land.
When enchanted land is put into a graveyard, return that card to its owner’s hand.
Illus. Rob Alexander
Rarity: Common
Set Number: #117/145

My least favorite Zendikon in some regards, but still decent. I think as a later drop, this has the advantage of being less of a tempo speed bump, since you’ll still probably have plays you can make, and being set back from 5 to 4 is a lot easier than from 2 to 1 mana, for example. So playing this “on curve” is easier on your tempo. I dunno… these are hard to evaluate. I’m usually going to hope for better actual creatures, but these are in the middle of my pick orders at present, especially the flying zendikon. Playable, I’d say, but uniquely weird.

JAMES

I’m not too hot on this. It’s definitly beefy enough on the attack and butt side that the stats don’t completely stink but it’s really not impressive.

Wolfbriar Elemental
2GG
Creature – Elemental
4/4
Multikicker {G}
When Wolfbriar Elemental enters the battlefield, put a 2/2 green Wolf creature token onto the battlefield for each time it was kicked.
Rarity: Rare

Bomb. Absolute bomb. Nearly a bomb without being kicked, but not quite. Kick it twice and it’s out of control. Even once is great. When you top deck this on turn 14 or whatever with 8+ mana in play, you’re going to win, absent a counterspell. Very strong

JAMES

Balanced on the cost side but it’s not as good as Master of the Wild Hunt because you can’t use the wolves for spot removal. Hmmm, it’s tough to say. It’s certainly big enough but I worry that if I pay 5cc for this and get a 2/2 I’m going to be a little behind on board position. It’s also not an “on curve” play like the Master of the Wild Hunt because I have to drop this on turn 5 or 6 to really get my mana’s worth… Maybe I’m being too conservative?

That does it for Green. Stay tuned: our multicolor, colorless, and lands batch will finish our review series up, and should be published in the next 24 hours or so. Thanks for reading, and as always, let us know where we screwed the pooch in the comments!

Time to look at some red cards. If you’re just tuning in, we’ve broken the new Worldwake cards into colors and given you our initial reactions to them. I will evaluate each card with an eye toward limited play with an occasional word about EDH or eternal formats. My colleague James will gear his comments more toward constructed formats like standard and extended. To read the series from the beginning, start with our white review, here.

Tally ho!

Akoum Battlesinger
1R
Creature – Human Berserker Ally
1/1
Haste
Whenever Akoum Battlesinger or another Ally enters the battlefield under your control, you may have Ally creatures you control get +1/+0 until end of turn.
Rarity: Common

I like this global pump ally. It’s a more fleeting kind of ability than the counter based allies, but this should help fill out an aggressive ally build for sure. A nifty common.

JAMES

As I’ve mentioned a few times through out the set reviews (white, Blue and black), I don’t see Allies being much of a powerhouse. They’re generally “meh” so for the time being I’m going to forgo looking at Allies cards from a constructive perspective–at least unless something really catches my eye. The time frame for constructing a kick-ass Standard/Type 2 build using Allies is just not within the scope of these reviews. One avenue worth examining is whether Boros Bushwacker could be converted over to an Allies deck (at least partially)…

Bazaar Trader
1R
Creature – Goblin
1/1
{T}: Target player gains control of target artifact, creature or land that you control.
Illus. Matt Cavotta
Rarity: Rare
Set Number: #72/145

Well, I’m immediately reminded of Trix, a notorious deck that used Donate on Illusions of Grandeur as its kill. I’m not sure what the best thing would be to use this ability on in recent times. Abyssal Persecutor, also from Worldwake seems cute, but not very good, really. Immortal Coil? Donate your Platinum Angel…. no wait! Maybe you donate your Platinum Angel to the guy who controls Abyssal Persecutor! Then what? I’m getting sidetracked here. In limited, I can’t think of a reason you’d activate this either. Maybe I’m missing something huge, but I think this is the Steamflogger Boss rare of Worldwake, only for limited you don’t even get a hill giant, but rather an anemic bear I’d probably not play in my monored deck.

JAMES

why would I want to do something like this? I am writing this review through a fog of [what I hope is] a 24 hour flu but I’m not seeing this. Maybe I’m just a selfish player but I can’t think of a card that if I gave it to my opponent, he/she would lose…so wtf would I want to do this for?

Bull Rush
R
Instant
Target creature gets +2/+0 until end of turn.
Rarity: Common

Well, it’s an okay trick I guess, but it’s definitely nothing flashy. Seems old fashioned. I like its simplicity, which is has in spades, and doesn’t have much else.

JAMES

At least it only costs R is all I can think of. There are so many better cards for constructed that deal two points of damage and have more flexiblity than this.

Chain Reaction
2RR
Sorcery
Chain Reaction deals X damage to each creature, where X is the number of creatures on the battlefield.
Illus. Trevor Claxton
Rarity: Rare

Holy smokes! Say hello to one of the chase rares, folks. Feels a lot like a red Wrath of God, doesn’t it? Can’t praise this more than that. This is a global sweeper, and is an extremely strong card in limited. But sometimes it will be a lame pyroclasm, so it’s not quite the same as WoG. But for most intents and purposes, it’s a red wrath. Very cool.

JAMES

This is pretty sicko. A new varition on a Day of Judgement for red. Mass removal at 4cc is typically played extensively across a number of formats. I’ll wager this makes SB for Type 2 decks like mono-red burns (to bring in against Vamps and Jund). This is the kind of card that completely reverses the card advantage-nature brought about by Bloodbraid Elf, Sprouting Thrinax, Broodmate Dragon, and Gatekeeper of Malakir. I can also see this in the U/W/r control decks as another way of punishing players for over extending. That is [card]Wall of Denial[card] will likely sitck around (x/6 butt is huge) while the opposing players entire force will be reset. Hawt card.

Claws of Valakut
1RR
Enchantment – Aura
Enchant creature
Enchanted creature gets +1/+0 for each Mountain you control and has first strike.
Rarity: Common

A strong aura. I have an aversion to auras because I love snagging someone in a 241 by killing their dude in response to their aura, or just killing it whenever with an aura like this that doesn’t shield the creature. Also, I don’t like having to carefully play around this pitfall when I’m the one wielding the aura… I often fail and fall in the 241 pit. So I have this aversion. But… this is the kind of aura that CAN be an exception in some narrow circumstances. In a very quick monored or similar deck, especially with evasive creatures, this can be the nail in the coffin. As your opponent struggles to keep up with your early pressure, you’ll have an opening sooner or later to confidently lay this on an evasive guy, and get in for serious damage. Anyway, this is usually not my bag, but I’ve seen it done to great effect, and if I’m in fast monored, I’ll definitely try one of these.

JAMES

Pretty interesitng. If you can plop this on a creature with at least an x/4 butt this could be nasty. I can’t think of many auruas that see play–and the reason is obvious: auraus go to the graveyard if hte creature dies–contrasted with equipments that stick around. (ahem, Mr Obvious). So while probably a good play for a mono-Red play in limited it’s not that great for constructed. Too bad it’s not +x to toughness where x equals the nuber of non basics you control. that would be slick.

Comet Storm
XRR
Instant
Multikicker {1} (You may pay an additional {1} any number of times as you cast this spell.)
Choose target creature or player, then choose another target creature or player for each time Comet Storm was kicked. Comet Storm then deals X damage to each of them.
Illus. Jung Park
Rarity: Mythic Rare

I like comet storm, but I am of the opinion that banefire is superior. This is not germane to the discussion of limited, in which this card is hands down bonkers nuts, and I’m glad it’s a mythic. Fireball type effects that can dome or is creatures are already sick in limited, and ones that can do both are fantastic. Ones that can potentially hit several creatures AND dome for a significant amount later on? Well, that’s just nutty. Comet storm does have speed issues, but this is Zendikar, home of landfall and 19 land limited decks that curve out at 3. I mean, you’ll have a chance to do stupid things with this. Or, hopefully, you’ll just need the one target, amirite?! Love comet storm.

JAMES

Well, let’s see. 8cc to deal 5 damage to a Baneslayer Angel and 5 to an opponent. On the low-end it’s pretty cheap to knock out a bunch of creatures–it’s cheaper than Fireball at least that is massively epxensive to hit multiple creatures with any real affect. Anyway, this is a good card. I’d not be surpised to this going into a Mono-Red Burn deck as a 1-2x or a x/R-control style deck that needs more kill outlets late game, such as Crypt of Agadeem powered deck. (not really controlling, I know, but it came to mind as a “big mana” deck).

Cosi’s Ravager
3R
Creature – Elemental
2/2
Landfall – Whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control, you may have Cosi’s Ravager Servant deal 1 damage to target player.
Rarity: Common

I’m not that pumped about this. This is too expensive for a piddly 2/2 that has a cute ability that won’t hit creatures. Nope, I don’t dig it.

JAMES

It’s aight. Not going to be very good in constructed.

Crusher Zendikon
2R
Enchantment – Aura
Enchant land
Enchanted land is a 4/2 red Beast creature with trample. It’s still a land.
When enchanted land is put into a graveyard, return that card to its owner’s hand.
Rarity: Common

“Teetering Peaks, your time has come my friend.” TP: “I’m a real boy!” Sorry, Pinocchio reference. Yeah, I’m not into the red one as much as the blue and black ones so far. Still interested to see how this gets put to use.

JAMES

Lol @ Joe. Anyway, these aura series are okay. I mentioned liking the blue variation and I’ll stand by that being the most likely to see play.

Cunning Sparkmage
2R
Creature – Human Shaman
0/1
Haste
{T}: Cunning Sparkmage deals 1 damage to target creature or player.
Rarity: Uncommon

Yeah, this guy’s got the goods. Very nice. He’s even better than Vulshok Sorcerer, IMO, since the one power isn’t relevant on a pinger / timmy, and the extra R made the sorcerer less spashable. But a haste pinger is always superb.

JAMES

I don’t THINK this is good enough. I like pingers and a hasty pinger is definitly better. I just don’t think it’s good enough. I guess I have to ask myself, “If this guy/gal cost 5cc and did 2 damage, I would say, Yeah!” but as it is now, only 1 damage isn’t enough. I guess I just can’t think of a deck where I’d rather play the pinger over a straight up burn spell…

Deathforge Shaman
4R
Creature – Ogre Shaman
4/3
Multikicker {R}
When Deathforge Shaman enters the battlefield, it deals damage to target player equal to twice the number of times it was kicked.
Rarity: Uncommon

Pop Quiz: how many times do you have to multi-kick Deathforge Shaman before it is more efficient than a Comet Storm to the dome? You might be surprised to hear that a Deathforge Shaman multikicked four times (total mana cost 4R + RRRR or CMC 9 is more efficient than comet storm for X = 7, also costing 9, and the efficiency then grows in favor of the shaman. Kicked only three times, the two spells are equally efficient, costing 8 and doing 6 damage. This is all providing you have tons of red mana, as this multikicker requires. Plus Comet Storm is removal too, I’m just pointing out that this guy can be every bit as much of a late game neutron bomb laser beam as any X spell of old, and a 4/3 ain’t shabby either. I dig this guy.

JAMES

Cool. I like Joe’s breakdown actually. Need a LOT of mana to get it going but you do have the creature too. Neat. I’ll bet it’s too expensive as a 5 drop but the concept of a 1x is interesting. But building decks with a bunch of 1x’s is for the EDH crowd. What I mean is, this is too expensive for constructed play.

Dragonmaster Outcast
R
Creature – Human Shaman
1/1
At the beginning of your upkeep, if you control six or more lands, put a 5/5 red Dragon creature token with flying onto the battlefield.
Rarity: Mythic Rare
Set Number: #81/145

Yowza yowza. Okay, so this seems totally crazed. Than goodness this is a vulnerable 1/1! I think if you even get one dragon out of him, you’re looking just swell. Man. I’d definitely run him and I think I’d splash him as my only red card if I see him but aren’t playing red. “Used all your removal yet? Let’s find out.” It’s a must kill removal bait if nothing else. And if they don’t have such, you just won the game for sitting there and then tapping a mountain. This is the kind of thug that makes removal king of limited.

JAMES

Ultimately the issue I have the 1-drops that do amazing things (like Scut Mob) is that they are seriously vulnerable and you don’t have much incentive or playing them early game. And Red decks don’t like have 6 mana on the table. That means they missed a copule of burn spells or the opponent was able to stablize and the game state is swinging toward the red burn deck ‘never’ winning. There is the off-hand chance that this makes an excellent SB option for Red that (as I just said) has serious issues digging out of late game states…Testing will tell.

Goblin Roughrider
2R
Creature – Goblin Knight
3/2
Rarity: Common

Well you can’t be strictly better than gray ogre and be less interesting than this, I think. Still, not bad stats for a vanilla guy.

JAMES

Nothing here.

Grotag Goblin Thrasher
4R
Creature – Lizard
3/3
Whenever Grotag Goblin Thrasher attacks, target creature can’t block this turn.
Rarity: Common

Yeah, I like this. I’ll wait a turn and pay more for my hill giant for this. Very cool.

JAMES

WAAAY to expensive for contsructed.

Kazuul, Tyrant of the Cliffs
3RR
Legendary Creature – Ogre Warrior
5/4
Whenever a creature under an opponent’s control attacks you, put a 3/3 red Ogre creature token onto the battlefield unless that creature’s controller pays {3}.
Rarity: Rare

Hey, not bad! Swell body for the cost, and maybe an ogre here and there. More likely you staunch much of their attacks until they can kill this. Also, this is a dud EDH general.

JAMES

Very freaking interesting. Very. The general stats are good enough to warrant a look. My biggest hestiation is that it costs 5cc and doens’t “mana-sap” your opponent enough. There are plenty of deadly two drops like Putrid Leech that will take this bad boy out. I guess that means I don’t see this being a constructed staple.

Mordant Dragon
3RRR
Creature – Dragon
5/5
Flying
{1}{R}: Mordant Dragon gets +1+0 until end of turn.
Whenever Mordant Dragon deals combat damage to a player, you may have it deal that much damage to a creature that player controls.
Rarity: Rare

5/5 flier for 6 is damn good in limited, and this one pumps and represents long term reusable removal. This is a house in limited, in short.

JAMES

Cool dragon. It’s no Broodmate Dragon but it acts as a piece of flying removal too. That’s pretty cool. Red Deck Wins style decks should toy around with this. I know it seems expensive but being able to knock out creatures is nothing to scoff at. It’s an “investment” play. That is, you’re investing in next turn removal. Maybe too risky in the end but DAMN worth experimenting with.

Quest for the Goblin Lord
R
Enchantment
Whenever a Goblin enters the battlefield under your control, you may put a quest counter on Quest for the Goblin Lord.
As long as Quest for the Goblin Lord has five or more counters on it, creatures you control get +2/+0.
Rarity: Uncommon

Well, I dunno about this one. How many goblins are there? Torch slinger. Goblin shortcutters. I’m not sure you can get enough of them to make this even go active. Even if you did… well, I guess if you did it’s still a constant trumpet blast, which is good, I’m just highly skeptical about how consistently this will go active.

JAMES

Luckily there are enough very good goblins that this might be doable. Goblin Guide, Warren Instigator, Siege Gang Commander. Hmmm…Probably a playble goblin I’m forgetting. I don’t like this card as a main strategy but the only way to use it reliably is to play it as a 4x. Hmm, what does everyone else think? Too dependent on other goblins to make it worth it?

Ricochet Trap
3R
Instant – Trap
If an opponent cast a blue spell this turn, you may pay {R} rather than pay Ricochet Trap’s mana cost.
Change the target of target spell with a single target.
Illus. Jaime Jones
Rarity: Uncommon
Set Number: #87/145

I’ve always been a sucker for Deflection type spells, so I’m already in love with this spell, even at full price. The discount against blue is a tradition dating back to Red Elemental Blast. This is an awesome spell, in my opinion, and it’s a particularly insulting subtype of 241 interaction when you send your opponent’s removal spell back at their own hapless minion. I love this. Don’t forget that this spell is effectively “counter target counterspell-like spell with a single target” or something along those lines, because you can use this spell to change the target of a counterspell, cancel, flashfreeze, etc. that’s on the stack to target Ricochet Trap instead. This is a largely unknown use of these spells… I’ve seen people punt on this in the past, so know the trick!

JAMES

I’m trying to remember the rules around Cruel Ultimatum and whether you can swing this at the opponent’s dome. For some reason I remember it doesn’t work that way because it’s “target opponent” and (baring not a multiplayer game), you’re the only opponent so it resolves on you anyway. If I’m completely about that ruling then this is great. But I’m 99% sure I’m right. [Sad Face].

Roiling Terrain
2RR
Sorcery
Destroy target land, then Roiling Terrain deals damage to that land’s controller equal to the number of land cards in that player’s graveyard.
Rarity: Common

This looks like fun. In a lot of games, this will actually Lightning Bolt your opponent or better after nuking their land. Between fetchlands and extra lands being discarded and the land you kill with the spell itself, 3 seems like about the upper limit for limited. In constructed formats, this could be a nice 4-slot land destruction spell, since it doubles as burn and will do much more in those formats. I like it in limited simply because LD spells, even as late as turn 4, will punish most mis-step draws an opponent might have. If they miss one of the first four land drops and you don’t and you cast this spell… well, that should be game over right there in a majority of such games. Therefore, this definitely has a place at the table.

JAMES
This could be sort of interesting. There are a lot of fetch-based mana builds. The question is, Is removing one of your opponents lands (knocking them back a turn, granted) AND doing maybe…3 damage worth 4cc? I don’t think it’s enough. Wouldn’t a Red mage rather cast something like Hells Thunder AND have mana left for an EOT Lightning Bolt? That’s 7 damange for the same 4cc. Plus, what type of player are we doing this to? Vamps is going to scoff at your play because of the low mana curve–same for Boros and mirror Red burn. I think Jund and U/W/x are the most vulnerable to this card. It may be worth taking Jund off color–that is destroying their only green source for example. But then it’s likely you’re only doing 1 damage (they don’t run a lot of fetches…only 4x Verdant Catacombs). Yeah, I guess this is a “no” conculsion.

Rumbling Aftershocks
4R
Enchantment
Whenever you cast a kicked spell, you may have Rumbling Aftershocks deal damage to target creature or player equal to the number of times that spell was kicked.
Rarity: Uncommon

Nice. This could potentially sneak into a weird mini-archetype of its own creation. There’s enough multikicker spells, it seems, to have a deck that can consistently mutlikick a spell or two in the late game. But this doesn’t do anything “on its own” which is usually the hallmark of bad spells for limited. Still, I think if the critical mass is there, you might get away with this. Enchantment removal is seldom maindecked, and you can always play mind games in game 2, siding this out if it’s your main or only enchantment. This is a very narrow, unlikely deck to succeed with, but I still think it might be fun to try. For 90%+ of situations in limited, I would advise you avoid this card.

JAMES

Barfy, do-nothing spell.

Searing Blaze
RR
Instant
Searing Blaze deals 1 damage to target player and 1 damage to target creature that player controls.
Landfall – If you had a land enter the battlefield under your control this turn, Searing Blaze deals 3 damage to that player and 3 damage to that creature instead.
Rarity: Common

I like this spell, reminiscent of Lash Out. Ironically, the place I want this most outside of limited is a dedicated burn deck, the mirror match of which happens to make this the worst card in your deck, as you have to have an opposing creature to target in order to cast this thing. Anyway, that’s irrelevant to limited, where this will almost always be two lightning bolts on one card with the requirement that you hit one creature with the first bolt and dome them with the other. Sounds good to me.

JAMES

Proably good enough for limited…but even there I think “one damage isn’t shit.” I’d say “yes” if it was 2 damage divided as you choose between any number of creatures or players. Alas, it is not and you’re stuck doing an amazing 1 damage each for 2 red. It is good against Mirror Red burns where the player is running x/1 tramplers like Ball Lightning…I guess I really don’t like this. Seems too underwhelming to me.

Skitter of Lizards
R
Creature – Lizard
1/1
Multikicker {1}{R} (You may pay an additional {1}{R} any number of times as you cast this spell.)
Haste
Skitter of Lizards enters the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter on it for each time it was kicked.
Illus. Warren Mahy
Rarity: Common

Yet again we have a 1/1 that can be a gray ogre or a bad hill giant or an even worse… uh… 7-drop 4/4? Anyway, this is all helped by the haste in this case, making the 1/1 version a Raging Goblin, and the 2/2 version a Goblin Chariot, and the others…. well, the other versions are hasty, put it that way. I’m not sure there are historical antecedents. This is among the best representatives of this cycle so far, I’d say. I’m happy to play this guy in fast red decks.

JAMES

Weak sauce just like the whole cycle.

Slavering Nulls
1R
Creature – Goblin Zombie
2/1
Whenever Slavering Nulls deals combat damage to a player, if you control a Swamp, you may have that player discard a card.
Rarity: Uncommon

Not bad. It’s the right bear body for the money, and will sometimes nuke a slow opponent in the style of Ravenous Rats or some such. I think this has a lot going for it. What’s with the (mono)red zombie? That’s a Magic first, from what I can tell (not counting Changelings). Am I missing something? This one gets the nod, but barely. I’d rather have Goblin Shortcutter, for example.

JAMES
Turn three could be pretty brutal if you get hit with a Blightning AND this guy. In the black review, there was also a discard outlet I liked. (Bloodhusk Ritualist) Maybe R/B running this guy, blightning, bloodhusk ritualist, quest for the nihil stone, and good ol’ Hypnoic Specter could be good. Backed up with the standard suite of Lighning Bolts and Burst Lightnings and a Bloodcheif Assension???

Stone Idol Trap
5R
Instant – Trap
Stone Idol Trap costs {1} less to cast for each attacking creature.
Put a 6/12 colorless Construct artifact creature token with trample onto the battlefield. Exile it at the beginning of your next end step.
Rarity: Rare

Holy crud! 6/12? Twelve? Really? I can see this costing 2R a lot of times. It’s going to kill something, so it’s a decent removal spell, but then it also is going to either kill something else, soak a removal spell, or smash your opponent for upwards of 6 damage. So yeah, I think this is knocking on the door of Bomb country for limited.

JAMES

I’ve seen extended Doran, the siege tower decks running blue for counter magic but I wonder if against the Zoo decks this is better than blue. Probably not but it is a good stabalizer…Just don’t want to pull this off a Dark Confidant. I REALLY don’t like only getting the one chance to swing with it but it needed to be balanced I guess. Hmm, that was really the only immediate application I saw but in standard this is also viable. The trample makes it huge. I’m on the fence.

Tuktuk Scrapper
3R
Creature – Goblin Artificer Ally
2/2
Whenever Tuktuk Scrapper or another Ally enters the battlefield under your control, you may destroy target artifact. If that artifact is put into a graveyard this way, Tuktuk Scrapper deals damage equal to the number of Allies you control to that artifact’s controller.
Rarity: Uncommon
Set Number: #94/145

Interesting. Definitely gets played in allies, where critical mass is uber important. This will usually not hit a lot of artifacts though… I’m thinking 1-2 on the high side. Still, there are a couple of really annoying artifacts, and this uncommon helps allies combat them with little lost opportunity cost. I like it okay, even though it’s a very vulnerable 2/2.

JAMES

I like the idea of destroying a Trusty Machete but that’s limited. I don’t think this will see much play in any format outside limited.

As always we want to hear what you think. Did we miss anything? Are we completely off base on any of our comments? Let us know in the comments!

Welcome to the black section of our Worldwake set review series. The series started here with white, for those just joining us. I will initially evaluate each card for Limited and eternal formats / EDH. James will then add his comments for the realm of standard, block, and occasionally extended. Let’s get down to business.

Abyssal Persecutor
2BB
Creature – Demon
6/6
Flying, trample
You can’t win the game and your opponents can’t lose the game.
Rarity: Mythic Rare

Oh man, Black starts with a bang. This guy made some waves in my dork email threads. Now obviously this twist on Platinum Angel is going to require that you have some kind of sacrifice outlet in your deck: big deal! Constructed has a plethora of options, most notable, perhaps, being Gatekeeper of Malakir, a card black decks love running anyway. All of this is germane to constructed, however, whereas in limited, you may not be able to play this guy simply because you have no way to kill him. And as a mythic rare in pack 3, you’re not going to be able to prepare specifically for this card, so your sacrifice outlet may have to come from your Worldwake booster. Just keep this stuff in mind when contemplating this otherwise rather deadly 4-drop flying trampler.

JAMES

I don’t see this as much of a drawback. I can just see people ussing Assasinate on their own guy so they can win. lol.

Agadeem Occultist
2B
Creature – Human Shaman Ally
0/2
{T}: Put target creature card from an opponent’s graveyard onto the battlefield under your control if its converted mana cost is less than or equal to the number of Allies you control.
Rarity: Rare

Another ally that will be gruesome indeed when the times are good, and pitiful to negligible when the going gets tough. Allies is very much an “all in” kind of strategy in this regard. This will he hawt for the heavy allies drafter who is passed this by other players with no interest in hating.

JAMES

Not bad for 3 cc but there really aren’t enough low-costing allies to justfiy this. I just don’t think Allies have much of a future outside limited and MAYBE block…Think we’ll see allies in later sets? Rise of the Elderazi? And afterwards?

Anowon, the Ruin Sage
3BB
Legendary Creature – Vampire Shaman
4/3
At the beginning of your upkeep, each player sacrifices a non-Vampire creature.
Illus. Dan Scott
Rarity: Rare
Set Number: #49/145

Now THIS might make an interesting EDH general! Sheldon Menery, prepare to hate this guy’s Timmy hostility. He’s cheap and disruptive. This is another guy who’s significantly better if you happen to have a few vampires already, but he’s also good enough that few people will pass him, unlike the ally above. I think he’s going to create some serious problems for opposing mages in limited.

JAMES

Kinda cool. Tons of vamps in these last two sets (Zendikar & Worldwake) but this is getting pretty pricy. I just don’t think it’s a game winner and for 5cc I want a game winner. I’m comparing this to Malakir Bloodwitch

Bloodhusk Ritualist
2B
Creature – Vampire Shaman
2/2
Multikicker {B}
When Bloodhusk Ritualist enters the battlefield, target opponent discards a card for each time it was kicked.
Rarity: Uncommon

This guy’s going to be great for monoblack EDH decks. My pal and I have slightly different Maga, Traitor to Mortals builds, and we’re both happy about this card. It’s another big mana discard spell that comes with a gray ogre attached to it. Not bad. He’s also solid in limited, because as I’ve said many times, gray ogre is often good enough to run on its own, and this just gives it some extra oomph. On turn 5 you’ll sometimes be emptying your opponent’s hand of those high-curve bombs he was about to drop. Not too shabby, I’d say.

JAMES

First reaction? “Holy Shit”. Seriously. Sitting on the bus (38L w00t) writing this and I said, “Holy Shit.” It’s so damn cheap!!!–Playable.

Bojuka Brigand
1B
Creature – Human Warrior Ally
1/1
Bojuka Brigand can’t block.
Whenever Bojuka Brigand or another Ally creature enters the battlefield under your control, you may put a +1/+1 counter on Bojuka Brigand.
Rarity: Common

Pretty mediocre guy, strictly worse than Oran-rief Survivalist but still essentially the same creature. Good enough as a “grizzly bear +”.

JAMES

Not strictly worse, joe. The same. Meh…I guess there could be a hybrid colored Ally deck in these cards…but for standard? extended? GTFOH.

Brink of Disaster
2BB
Enchantment – Aura
Enchant creature or land
When enchanted permanent becomes tapped, destroy it.
Rarity: Common

Well, it’s a bit expensive, and your opponent gets to decide when the permanent dies, typically. They can also buy themselves time to find removal if that’s what they want to do. I want harder removal than this. This is quite soft.

JAMES

Hits the battlefield too late to be viable. Meaning, it can be played around.

Butcher of Malakir
5BB
Creature – Vampire Warrior
5/4
Flying
Whenever Butcher of Malakir or another creature you control is put into a graveyard from the battlefield, each opponent sacrifices a creature.
Rarity: Rare

Another bomby rare here, but with far fewer strings attached. If your deck can live to drop a 7 consistently, then this will help considerably with the late game attrition war, if the 5 points of flying power doesn’t do the trick on its own. I’m thinking you can suicide attack with some confidence once this guy’s on the battlefield. Top marks from me.

JAMES

It’s aight. Pretty damn expensive for 7cc. So, yeah…too slow for constructed.

Caustic Crawler
3BB
Creature – Insect
4/3
Landfall – Whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control, you may have target creature get -1/-1 until end of turn.
Rarity: Uncommon

This uncommon will be another element that can theoretically slow this format down a bit, taking out the various 1-toughness speed beaters of the ZZZ era. This guy isn’t bad at 4/3 for the cost, and the ability should help you out significantly. Save some land drops for that second main phase, folks!

JAMES

Very cool uncommon. So HAWT with Marsh Casualties. It’s a LITTLE slow at 5cc becuse a kicked burst lightning takes thsi guy out before you [concievably] start using his soft spot removal but it’s very appealing. I guess I’m talking limited. For constructed it’s just too hefty a cost for this meta.

Corrupted Zendikon
1B
Enchantment – Aura
Enchant land
Enchanted land is a 3/3 black Ooze creature. It’s still a land.
When enchanted land is put into a graveyard, return that card to its owner’s hand.
Rarity: Common

You know, I like the flying blue zendikon best, but this is a close second. It’s a watchwolf with a weird kind of built-in tempo loss and additional potential tempo loss, but it’s probably worth it. The more I think about these zendikons, the more I’m getting on board with them. I’m definitely interested to see how they play out. I’m on the fence, leaning toward embracing these.

JAMES

Pretty cheap actually. Not sure B wants to do this on turn two though. I’m thinking in Blightning packing decks. Turn two is (typically) reseved for Putrid Leeches and having to replay a recently lightning bolted creature isn’t very appealing.

Dead Reckoning
1BB
Sorcery
You may put target creature card from your graveyard on top of your library.
If you do, Dead Reckoning deals damage equal to that card’s power to target creature.
Rarity: Common

Wowzers. This is quite a removal spell. Common, too! I think black has a lot of recursion potential these days, enabling the already fast color to play a more deliberate long game strategy as well. I like this card as a mid game removal spell. You do exchange your next draw for the recurred creature, but you’ve nuked an opponent’s spell as well. If your returned creature was something like the aforementioned Gatekeeper of Malakir, then you’ve got a mini engine online. Should be a mainstay, I’m thinking.

JAMES

Sexy. I like how it potentially works off ETBF abilities like Bloodbraid Elf…Man, cascade on a 4cc creature is broken. lol. This is a cool card that has some power to it…I wonder if “to creature or player” was just too broken…question for R&D i guess.

Death’s Shadow
B
Creature – Avatar
13/13
Death’s Shadow gets -X/-X, where X is your life total.
Rarity: Rare
Set Number: #57/145

This is one of the most exciting and hyped cards of my email thread discussions. People are pumped about this guy. I love the silly combo with Lich myself, but that’s just me. I think the most prescient thing to note about this guy came from a guy on my thread who said something along the lines of: “drop this with 10 life, and it’s still a 3/3 for 1, only now the more life you lose, the bigger he gets.” Nice way to think about him, I think. I know this will play well with early Vampire Lacerators and such. Seems fine to me. As a rather obvious side note, this is likely unplayable in EDH. Lol.
JAMES

I wouldn’t be surprised to see this as a 1-2x SB option for bringing in against either Red Burn or Boros Bushwacker builds. It’s SO freaking cheap. It makes Scute Mob feel stupid.

Jagwasp Swarm
3B
Creature – Insect
3/2
Flying
Rarity: Common

You know, I think this card would otherwise be fine in limited. 3 power and flying for hill giant’s mana cost… usually this is fine. But this format can kill 2 toughness creatures with relative ease. I’d be a little hesitant about this guy, therefore. There’s a lot of creatures nowadays whose envelope has been pushed farther than this. Anyway, he can fill a needed gap, but otherwise, I’m looking for something a little better. This will still do some beating though. He’s on the solid side of marginal, if that makes any sense.

JAMES

Meh. Moving on.

Kalastria Highborn
BB
Creature – Vampire Shaman
2/2
Whenever Kalastria Highborn or another Vampire you control is put into a graveyard from the battlefield, you may pay {B}. If you do, target player loses 2 life and you gain 2 life.
Rarity: Rare

Not bad for a bear, albeit a rare bear. In heavy vampires, the ability could net you 8, 12, or 16 point swings… usually you’ll get at least a 4 point life swing if you play conservatively… and even if he dies when you’re tapped out, you still had a bear, so big deal. I think vampires might be a new archetype to force along the lines of allies in ZZZ and presumably ZZW. There’s quite a good pool of vampire synergy now. The mass appears to be approaching critical. We shall see.

JAMES

WOW. This card LOVES Bloodghast. Certainly worth playing with.

Mire’s Toll
B
Sorcery
Target player reveals a card from his or her hand for each Swamp you control. Choose one of those cards. That player discards that card.
Rarity: Common

Hmm. Well, it’s a weak kind of weak blackmail, since later on, they won’t have as many cards left as you have swamps anyway. I’m not crazy about this one. Sometimes, though, in limited, you can time discard right to nuke their high-curve bomb… so if your deck is wicked fast but lacks late game, this might be an option for you when your swamps equals their cards in hand, and you can ensure you ditch their best threat. Meh… I’m waffling here. This card has a place, but it’s not a real universal killer.

JAMES

Nice. This will definitly see some play. It’s no Mind Sludge or Duress but there are some distinct advantages to it; it’s SORT of like a cross between sludge and Thoughtsieze making me think it’s playable. Hmmm, worth tinkering with for Mono-B (or R/B) builds in Standard and for extended decks that run swamps. I’m hesitant to say the same for Jund-style decks because of the high dual/tri-color lands…Test it out! is all I can advocate.

Nemesis Trap
4BB
Instant – Trap
If a white creature is attacking you, you may pay {B}{B} rather than pay Nemesis Trap’s mana cost.
Exile target creature, then put a token that is a copy of that creature onto the battlefield. Exile it at the beginning of the next end step.
Rarity: Uncommon
Set Number: #61/145

This thing is nuts, IMO. Against white it’s through the roof, but even at 6 it’s going to usually be a 241, guaranteed… the only trick then is getting them to attack forcefully into your six untapped lands! I think it’s good enough though. Cards that will consistently 241 your opponent are good. This one will, and this one is. Imagine that they attack you with a Kor Hookmaster? Or a sphinx of lost truths, or a turntimber ranger, or a Bala Ged Thief, or, or, or… you get the picture.

JAMES

Craziness. I REALLY like this as an anti-Baneslayer Angel play. Certainly worth experimenting.

Pulse Tracker
B
Creature – Vampire Rogue
1/1
Whenever Pulse Tracker attacks, each opponent loses 1 life.
Rarity: Common

Not terrible, but wimpy. In dedicated vampires, with things to do with a 1/1 that becomes roughly irrelevant mid to late, then sure. I’m not playing this outside of a very dedicated vampire theme though.

JAMES

Not really good enough. I like that on T2, unblocked you’re doing 2 damage and if you keep presenting threats on-curve then really the 1/1 won’t be blocked making it essentially a 2/1 for 1cc. That puts it on par with Elite Vanguard which saw (and may still see) some play. It’s certainly no Vampire Lacerator though.

Quag Vampires
B
Creature – Vampire Rogue
1/1
Multikicker {1}{B}
Swampwalk
Quag Vampires enters the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter on it for each time it was kicked.
Rarity: Common

He’s a gray ogre usually. Late game he’s a 5-drop 3/3. Not exciting. Then he’s a 7-drop 4/4. He does make a great sideboard against black, and he IS slightly more versatile than a plain old ogre. But he’s not terribly exciting. Again, though, dedicated vampires might drop him as a 1/1, so he has uses.

JAMES

No thanks. No, really. No thanks.

Quest for the Nihil Stone
B
Enchantment
Whenever an opponent discards a card, you may put a quest counter on Quest for the Nihil Stone.
At the beginning of each opponent’s upkeep, if that player has no cards in hand and Quest for the Nihil Stone has two or more quest counters on it, you may have that player lose 5 life.
Rarity: Rare
Set Number: #64/145

Initially I thought you sacrificed to deal the 5, but knowing that it’s a recurring 5 any time they’re hellbent… well, that makes it significantly better. This is very easy to play around in limited absent discard though. I’m not seeing how this will wreck a careful player’s day.

JAMES

Wow. There are some very interesting quests coming out in this set. I’m very intrigued by the interaction between this one (Q. for the Nihil) and Bloodcheif Asscension. Esspecially on the back of some of the insane discard like Bloodhusk Ritualist (see above)…and a long time favorite of mine Blightning.

Ruthless Cullblade
1B
Creature – Vampire Warrior
2/1
Ruthless Cullblade gets +2/+1 as long as an opponent has 10 or less life.
Illus. rk Post
Rarity: Common
Set Number: #65/145

A weak bear and then later on, a 4/2 for 2. Solid all the way around. Should be a staple filler vampire warrior. Keep this kind of guy in mind for pack 3 when you’re deciding whether to fill a bear slot in your vampire deck with something like surrakar marauder or the like… it might be better to wait for a real vamp. Definitely a situational consideration, but know that there are common, decent, early vampires in worldwake.

JAMES

I’ve always liked Guul Draz Vampire and I still do–at least over this one. I like the evasion of Guul…it’s sickaliciousness. and this one isn’t.

Scrib Nibblers
2B
Creature – Rat
1/1
{T}: Exile the top card of target player’s library. If it’s a land card, you gain 1 life.
Landfall – Whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control, you may untap Scrib Nibblers.
Rarity: Uncommon

Ah, book eaters. So you can potentially make someone miss a land drop… but it’s pretty random, and I can’t see what kind of game plan this would further. I’m not down with this rat.

JAMES

Puke.

Shoreline Salvager
3B
Creature – Surrakar
3/3
When Shoreline Salvager deals combat damage to a player, if you control an Island, draw a card.
Rarity: Uncommon
Set Number: #67/145

Nice hill giant! He’s Johnny Magic (shadowmage infiltrator, for the n00bs) if you’re in blue, a natural pairing for black, though this color combination wasn’t super popular in ZZZ to my limited knowledge. I think this uncommon will help make that color combination better for sure. But you can’t count on seeing any given uncommon in pack 3 really… I dunno. He’ll randomly be great for some people. I wonder where my own decision point will be when it comes time to potentially hate draft one of these. I mean, a plain old hill giant isn’t THAT terrible, really. I dunno. If you’re solid black or black with another non-blue splash, and you crack this in your pack 3, do you try to add blue? Hard question. But I think he’s around that powerful. I’d sure be tempted to get greedy.

JAMES

I sorta like this. I don’t see this being all that hot in constructed because the cost is so high. BUT it’s looking good for limited.

Smother
1B
Instant
Destroy target creature with converted mana cost 3 or less. It can’t be regenerated.
Rarity: Uncommon

Awesome reprint. Solid removal. Very strong. Moving on.

JAMES

I expect this to see play. I’m happy to see this solid reprint.

Tomb Hex
2B
Instant
Target creature gets -2/-2 until end of turn.
Landfall – If a land entered the battlefield under your control this turn, that creature gets -4/-4 until end of turn instead.
Rarity: Common

More excellent removal for black, the removal-iest color of them all. This is just plain solid. Trick some fools with a fetch land and sudden death one of their guys!

JAMES

HOLY SMOKES, BATMAN. this is redonk!! Well, not as good as Sudden Death (by a LONG shot) but it’s super solid. Next to Smother it’s not that hot either…man, i guess i’m resinding this. I just think it looks so cheap. But I was getting ahead of myself. Great for limited without a doubt though! (and I know weaker players will walk their Baneslayer right into this one……but we’re not tuning our decks for weaker players, or we shouldn’t be at least.)

Urge to Feed
BB
Instant
Target creature gets -3/-3 until end of turn. You may tap any number of untapped Vampire creatures you control. If you do, put a +1/+1 counter on each of those Vampires.
Illus. Johann Bodin
Rarity: Uncommon
Set Number: #70/145

Whoa mamma. A common with Tomb hex, plus uncommon smother, and this beautiful uncommon, reminiscent of Last Gasp. The removal looks good. This thing will be a cool play for the turn after your opponent drops a 3-toughness wall or whatever, thinking they’ve stopped the flow of vampire attacks. Then on their EOT, you smile and tap your team, growing them beyond that previous barrier, all while killing one of their peeps. Love it.

JAMES

OKAY, now this is getting a little insane. Declare blockers step has never looked more fun. Vamps will have to include this. To not include it would be silly.

So what happened is that I wrote up my review yesterday for my local playgroup and thought, “Hey, James might like this”  But my style is a little different and I’m not as deep into the analysis as his excellent white review is.   We talked and instead of integrating my thoughts into his review, I’d just publish mine.

In short, my opinion on the set as a whole is a little lukewarm.  I’m the guy who likes to buy x4 of everything, and this time I think I’ll sit it out as I see a lot of “jump through the flaming hoop” cards that Johnny’s like, and some EDH goodness.  Most of the cards I want I either picked up (Jace) or I don’t see them going up in price too much.  In the long run, when the set rotates out, the cards will depress.  I’m of the feeling that it will be easy to trade extra fetches (just an example) for almost anything I want out of this set.

I also evaluate for draft by default.  In that respect I think draft is about to become a bit more organic, as all the speedster cards get replaced by fatter guys, defensive guys, and better flyers.

Anyways, I haven’t done a set evaluation in a while, so sorry if it’s a little scattered.  I  do evaluation on a couple different levels so I’ll break it down by category.

Chase – A chase card is usually a premier, high value rare. Chase doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a must own, sometimes the card is just too expensive or it’s very specific to the environment that’s its being played in.  But you should know what they are, and why they demand that value.

Ex. Jace, The Mind Sculptor, Thoughtsieze, Baneslayer Angel, Tarmogoyf

Staple – A staple card are generally “must own” x4 copy.  These can be any rarity, and you’ll see these over and over again in the course of the format.  The difference from these and “evergreen” cards is that you’ll see them drop in value as they rotate out, or they’re roleplayers for a certain type of deck or format.  Sometimes, because of mana cost or ability they might be good, they won’t be relevant to every deck.

Ex.  Rampant Growth, Duress, Bloodbraid Elf, Honor of the Pure, Blightning, Tri-lands, Duals, Fetch Lands.

Staple – Evergreen – I think I’m the only person I know who uses this term – – The best example I can give  off the top of my head of a “staple” vs. an “evergreen” is Elvish Archdruid vs. Great Sable Stag.  Archdruid is a great card, but he fits a role in a particular deck type.  GSS is almost always a good deal – he’ll be a staple, a roleplayer, sure, but he’ll definitely go into any almost any  green deck, as opposed to having you have to build around him.

Evergreens provide resources to multiple deck types in casual play, multiplayer, EDH and competitive.

Ex. , Lightning Bolt, Path to Exile, Acidic Slime, Tri-lands, Duals, Fetch Lands.

Role player – These cards are decent, but only in certain archtypes.  I generally advise newer players to stay away from these cards unless you’re a Johnny and get the sense that you want to break it in half.

Ex.  Megrim, Traumatize

Bomb (Draft only) In a Draft, bombs are usually first picks out a pack, they’ll have a huge effect on the game if they resolve, and will almost always win you the game unless your opponent has an answer.

Ex. Fireball, Hellkite Charger, Marsh Casualities

To keep the review as easy to read as possible I’ve just linked the spoiler here.  I’m not going to clutter up the review with all the stats unless it’s appropriate.  http://mtgsalvation.com/worldwake-spoiler.html

***White***

Admonition Angel – Draft Bomb, Role Player

The four big flying fatties seeing play in standard are Sphinx of Jhar Isle, Baneslayer, Malakir Bloodwitch, to some extent Broodmate Dragon.  Sphinx and Broodmate are decent because their mostly immune to removal, and Baneslayer is too good not to play.  Malakir is immune to most removal, gains you life, and can block Baneslayer.  Any new entry into the “flying finishers” gets compared to them.  While Angel is bigger, it’s slower and very vulnerable.  In draft though, very little can deal with it.

Apex Hawk

You expect a 2/2 flyer for 3 casting cost.  And a 3/3 flyer for 5 is par as well.   Decent draft pick

Archon of Redemption – Role player

Same issue as Angel above but he’s got under average stats for his cost.  He’s begging you to build a deck around him.  I’d actually play Serra Angel over this.  Gaining life is overrated, AND you have to jump through some hoops to really get value.

Battle Hurda

Pretty boring., kind of lower pick draft card.  There’s enough x/4’s  that he won’t matter as much.

Fledging Griffin

Solid draft pick, very fair.

Guardian Zendikon

Well now we have some defense in draft. Too bad he doesn’t fly.

Hada Freeblade – Role player

If Allies becomes a standard deck, this guy will be in it.

Iona’s Judgement.

It’s removal.

Join The Ranks – Role player

See Hada Freeblade

Kitesail Apprentice

Pretty bad.  Duelist is better and didn’t get played all that much- Compare this to Skyfisher!

Kor Firewalker – Staple – Evergreen

Huge card that really really hurts mono-red.  And it’s a soldier. The gain life ability just puts it over the top.

Lightkeeper of Emeria

I actually prefer this card in draft to the archon above. It doesn’t really ask you to play other cards to make it better,  It’s got decent stats even as a 2/4 with no kick, since it comes out early to play defense, and if you draw it late, the life gain will help out.

Loam Lion – Staple

This is weird, because it might see play in extended zoo but white green isn’t the best deck in standard right now.  Amazing statistics for its cost, just like Kird Ape.

Marsh Threader

Cliff Threader’s good, so I would guess this is.

Marshal’s Anthem  – Role Player

I like this card.  Resurrection was never bad, and neither was Glorious Anthem. I think it’s a little under the radar but it’s good in control, and it’s pretty huge in EDH.  It’s probably too expensive for tournament constructed in multiples which is why it’s so low in cost.   I’d probably pick it for draft though.

Perimeter Captain

Third in the list of “red black aggro just doesn’t want to see this card in draft”

Refraction Trap – Role player

This is a huge card in draft, and may see play in standard.  Note that it protects planeswalkers, which harm’s way doesn’t do.

Rest for the Weary

Like Sunspring expedition, it’s a Decent Sideboard card for the aggro matchup in draft.

Ruin Ghost – Role Player

There’s an infinite combo with this and some other cards on the forums,  He’s got bad stats, but yeah, sometimes you want lands to come in multiple times.

Stone Forge Mystic – Role Player

Yep, someone’s gonna make a kor deck with him.  Bad stats otherwise.

Talus Paladin – Role player

This is a big swing in Allies and may push that deck over the top.

Terra Eternal

Makes your man lands INDESTRUCTIBLE!  And that’s it.  Now you youngsters will have that special feeling you only get when you open an animate wall as your rare.

Veteran’s reflexes Bleh.

***Blue***

Aether Tradewinds

Solid Utility Common.  Like Narrow Escape, it wants you to play permanents with comes into play abilities (Halimar depths! ), and it slows down your opponent.  Worst case scenario, in the early game you can put an opponent’s land back in their hand.  Boomerang has been a tournament staple, maybe this card has a place.

Calcite Snapper

Another common that owns the speed deck in draft, and it can bash for four if you like.  And shroud.  Tournament level, possibly, because of that last ability.

Dispel

Wizards just hates hard counters, this is another bad counterspell I’m just going to ignore.

Enclave Elite

Slightly worse than Apex Hawk in draft, but no slouch.  Blue usually doesn’t get fatties with no drawback.

Goliath Sphinx

<Hork>

Halimar Excavator

Woo Ally mill deck.  We continue the theme of decent defensive stats again, that 1/3 ass for 2 is no joke.

Horizon Drake

Sure!  3 power flying for 3 is great.  The ability might even be relevant.

Jace the Mind Sculptor – Chase Rare.

It’s good. The pros have already been sleeving and playing it.  Brainstorm is no joke.  And that ultimate is a 40 cal straight to the noggin.  You don’t walk away from that.

Jwari Shapeshifter – Role player

Basically, you’re either playing allies and want this card, or you don’t care.  It’s really good for that deck of course.

Mysteries of the Deep

Instant Speed Card draw is pretty clutch.  It’s expensive, but Blue Mages hate to tap out.  Not sure if this will see play over Mind Spring in standard but it seems okay.

Permafrost trap

I’m sure this is decent, but I’m not first picking it in draft.

Quest for Ula’s Temple

I actually have a deck for this.  The other 8 million magic players out there?  Out of luck.

Sejiri Merfolk – Staple?

Seems pretty strong for the cost.  Great draft pick for those colors

Selective Memory  – Role player

We’ve seen cards like this before, someone always figures out a way to break them.  I still don’t feel good opening this in a pack.

Spell Contortion.

Fairly costed, if it was costed any other way it would be a must play staple.  This is sort of fair.  I think people are still locked in on Flashfreeze as THE counterspell, will take a white or blue deck actually winning more for them to start considering other stuff.  I like it though.

Surrakar Banisher

This is no veldakin dismisser, but its got a decent body.

Thada Adel, Acquistor

Definitely in EDH.  If it were 2/2 for two it might see play in legacy.  It’s playable, but how many artifacts are in play in standard?  May be really good in Rise?

Tideforce Elemental

I think this is part of the combo with Ruin Ghost.   First pick in draft too.

Treasure Hunt – Staple – Evergreen

This is a huge card for blue.  The math has been done and the long and short of it is that you get 1.75 cards for 2 mana.  If you can manipulate the library (halimar depths and jace) then you always get more bang than divination.   Also, you always, always draw a spell.

Twitch

This is a reprint.  Can’t really complain too much.

Vapor Snare

Pretty bomby.  Mind Control is always good.

Voyager Drake

Great stats, great ability, great first pick.

Wind Zendikon

Another huge card for blue.  2/2 flyer for 1 with a minor draw back (you slow yourself down a bit to get aggro).   It’s a great card without a deck right now.

***Black***

Abyssal Persecutor  – Chase

I’m on the fence on this guy.  I like him, but not enough to shell out a twenty for him, then build a possibly weaker deck around him.  His price is leveraged around the fact that he is a solid mythic in a mostly bad set.  The black deck in standard is Vampires, and this is based on it’s synergy, and he doesn’t contribute to that at all.

Agadeem Occultist

Another weird rare. He’s pretty good in Allies, but not in constructed, since you have no idea what’s going to be in a graveyard.  Bad stats for his cost too.

Anowon, the Ruin Sage.

He just HAD to be 4/3.  Malakir Bloodwitch is so much better than this, and that’s a low cost rare.  He could have been 4/4 and relevant.  I don’t see what’s wrong with abyss in standard, I really don’t.  He’s legendary, too.  People might try and play him, and he’s just going to feel clunky.

Bloodhusk Ritualist.

The question posed earlier was “Is this better than Mind Sludge?”  Short answer: No.

Mind Sludge just ends games.  Ritualist is probably best in an edh or casual deck, but ultimately you’re paying for a 2/2 for 3, which isn’t that great.  Decent in Draft though, another solid 2 or 3 for 1.

Bojuka Brigand (why I do I feel like we’re back in Betrayers of Kamigawa land?)

The ability to block is fairly irrelevant anyway – I think black allies will rally around growers like him and the sellsword to get past all the fat blockers.  And coming out a couple turns faster is worth it.  Sick card.

Brink of Disaster

It’s removal, and it kills land, which is pretty relevant.  Not a Befoul though.

Butcher of Malakir – Bomb

A little highly costed for standard, but it does wreck some of those shroud strategies.

For draft, I suspect ZZW will be a bit slower, so this can make an impact.

Caustic Crawler

Meh.  I’d rather play shatterskull giant (which just got a lot better by the way) 4 is a much more relevant power now though.

Corrupted Zendikon.

3/3 for 2 casting cost in black is aggressive.  I can dig it.

Dead Reckoning

Huge draft masher two for one.  Might be good in standard where you want to get value back when you get hit by blightnings  – Grim Discovery saw play for that same reason.

Death’s Shadow – Role player.

Meh. Though you can search for it with Ranger of Eos

Jagwasp Swarm

Playable draft pick.  Like I said I think flyers and evasion is better now.

Kalastria Highborn.

Some people will love this card.  The question is whether it’s better to play than Hexmage in the vampires slot.   For the moment, I don’t think so.   If you have a deck for this guy, that’s great.  He’s slightly better in casual though, which I think is why his price is up.  He’ll go down over the long run I bet.   He’s no Rotlung Reanimator.

Mire’s Toll

There was a card in standard called blackmail which was 3 cards for B, and it was pretty bad. You want to play discard early, not late.

Nemesis Trap – Staple

This is Broken Visage as an uncommon. This a great card, fun to wreck people with, and will could see play in standard to 187 those baneslayers.

Pulse Tracker

I sort of like this card as 1 drop vampire, and a rogue, and he does an extra damage.  He quickly becomes irrelevant when someone drops a blocker, but he can still do duty as a vampire for you.

Quag Vampires

Same deal as Apex Hawk and the Merfolk.  Not as good as either but swampwalk is relevant.  If you’re playing swamps you can at least hate it so you don’t get killed by it.

Quest for the Nihil Stone  – Role Player

Except this one is actually really good!  Five life is pretty huge, and there’s some great discard out there.  This is totally under the radar right now (1 dollar on SCG), and I suspect it will jump up once someone breaks it.

Ruthess Cullblade

Ok draft pick.  He’s a vampire, decent stats, and an okay ability.  But in Standard he’s competing with Hexmage again.

Scrib Nibblers

What’s to say?  He’s got a mill ability, and can maybe gain you life.  Sucks in combat for his cost though.

Shoreline Salvager.

Good Stats for his cost in draft, and the ability is no slouch.

Smother – Staple

Another proven reprint that just rotated out of extended.  Now it’s back and extended players will be happy.  No slouch in standard either.

Tomb Hex

I like. Solid removal in draft.

Urge to kill

WOW does black get a lot of stuff that kills stuff. And yeah, it’s good for vampires.  Vampire players do a little dance.  Again.  Yawn.

***Red***

Akoum Battlesinger

I can imagine this scene, where wizards is sending a memo around to all the colors that they should slow down a bit, and of course Red got the memo, didn’t bother reading past the first sentence, and decided to wing it.   Red’s just gonna keep aggroing it out, like that loud drunk guy at the party that’s making everyone uncomfortable.

Ummm. yeah, not the best card unless you’re committed to mashing with allies.

Bazaar Trader

Wut?  It can’t even give away an Illusions of Grandeur.

Wizards fell down, least they could do is give us the other half the combo piece…

Donating the demon is the best I can come up with.

Bull Rush

RAAARRRRREEDDGHKAGHTG!!!

Chain Reaction

This is pretty good for red.  Not Earthquake good, though. Much more of a Multiplayer Wrath.  Phone this rare right into your EDH deck.

Claws of Valkut

RAAAAAAA…..It’s lightning Talons, basically.  But not always as good.

Comet Storm – Bomb, Staple – Evergreen

Solid red Bomb.  Instant is huge.   For standard it’s weighed against cascade, but it’s  fantastic card for casual and draft.

Cosi’s Ravager

Not particularly great.   It’s not as good as hellhound, though I guess with land tricks it can do a few extra points. Maybe there’s a combo deck in him.

Crusher Zendikon

Unlike the Black and Blue Zendikon, this guy doesn’t have good stats for his cost. Draft playable, since that 4 power is more important.

Cunning Sparkmage

Solid draft pick

Death Forge Shaman

I thought he was good, then I realized the damage is only to target PLAYER.  Well he’s a body.  If you have 8 mana he’s pretty nasty.

Dragonmaster Outcast – Chase

He makes dragons.  He’s fetchable with Ranger of Eos.  He takes a turn longer to smash face than with  scute mob, but he makes flyers.  Multiples of flyers.  He makes DRAGONS.

Goblin Roughrider

Sure.

Grotag Goblin Thrasher

Good stats for the cost, and this is about as close as you’re going to get to evasion in red for that casting cost in draft.

Kazul, Tyrant of the Cliffs – Bomb

Everything that Anawon the ruin sage isn’t, except he’s not a vampire.

Mordant Dragon – Bomb

Same issue as Admonition Angel for his cost in standard.  In draft he’s a slightly worse flameblast dragon.

Quest for the Goblin Lord –Role player

Now that’s cute, cheap, and easy to pull off.  Siege Gang Commander anyone?

Ricochet Trap

Wizards keeps making deflect/swerve variants and they keep sucking in draft and ride the margins in standard.

Roiling Terrain

This is interesting but expensive.  The card this compares to is molten rain, but it’s not as good.  Against some decks it’ll just whiff on the damage.  But then lands are better now…

Rumbling Aftershocks

Meh.  Kind of hard to build around it in your last pack.

Searing Blaze – Staple

It’s kinda like lash out, but worse.  But red loves two for ones, and red has lots of ways to make land fall happen.

Skitter of Lizards!

ARARARRARARAGAGGHHH!   Solid beats. Early game it’s a goblin chariot, late game it’s a tuktuk, whatever you like.

Slavering Nulls

Decent stats, it’s a zombie goblin, and it has a discard effect.  I miss that red/black deck… could it be back now?

Stone Idol Trap

Kills an attacker, swings in for 6 (probably)  But is it a staple, really?  I really can’t say.  Seems good, but what do you take out?

Tuktuk Scrapper

Crappy body (like most of the allies) but the artifact ability is pretty nasty.

***Green***

Arbor Elf  - Staple

It’s llanowar elf, with the possibility that you might whiff if you don’t have an actual forest in play (you have savage lands/oran rief etc out) But it’s still probably good.

Avenger of Zendikar – Bomb

Pretty cute, and fun in casual to.   Someone’s going enjoy killing with plants, I’m sure.

Bestial Menace – Staple

Flores already called it in Eldrazi green. Any deck that makes tokens.  Think Cloudgoat ranger.  Except you hit for nine.  It’s fairly bomby in draft.  If you were to get that by p/t paying “fair” it would cost you 7.

Canopy Cover

Funny,  I was just talking about how elves needed a silhana ledgewalker…  dunno if it will see play, but seems like a good draft pick. Think Whispersilk cloak

Explore – Staple

Better than rampant growth.  Great flip over in cascade decks especially.

Feral Contest

Another awkward green attempt at stall-breaking.

Gnarlid Pack

Bear, or Hill Giant, or better, it’s all good.  Solid draft beater.

“Back in my day, we played Kickered Grizzly Bears, and we called it Kavu Titan, and we lit in on fire so it had  haste.  I remember those days… ”

Grappler Spider.

Eh.

Graypelt Hunter

So it’s Nimana Sellsword with Trample?   Sold!

Groundswell – Staple

Might of Old Krosa, I missed you.

Harabaz Druid

Could be interesting.  Again, I’m not all that interested in Allies.dec

Joraga warcaller – Staple

It’s a great finisher in Elves, and you’ve got the mana and ways to put on counters.  If you’re playing elves, you should pick this up.

Leatherback Baloth – Role Player

Same issue as always – Straight green always runs into problems. It has no tricks, no card advantage, and no reach (the ability to finish the game with a random top deck or through a stall).  And elves is usually better  because of it’s synergy. But people are gonna pick it up and play it, and Wizards will promote it, and will rotate out, and no one will care.

Nature’s Claim

Nothing wrong with this, it’s a solid card, but not even naturalize is seeing play right now.

Omnath, Locus of Mana – Chase

Debatable on its power level, I think it’s a great general and someone’s likely to break it.  It’s a tempo choice – you invest in the attack at the cost of progression on the board – but Omnath is an insane late game top deck.

Quest for Renewal

Seems strong, especially in casual Multiplayer

Slingbow Trap – Role Player

It’s targeted green removal, and will have targets in draft.  I think windstorm is the sideboard card for this in standard.

Snapping Creeper

Good stats, will probably have vigilance.  Just another guy that slows down the board.

Strength of the Tajuru – Bomb

Nice finisher there – see the comet storm chart for stats.  Oh yeah, and combos with Warcaller.

Summit Apes

Huge beater in draft.  Might be too fragile for constructed… Someone’s gonna try it though.  Might be really good.

Terastadon

Blow up your own lands and get 18 power for 8 mana.  Or just play crush of wurms.
Blow up their lands and they get stuff.  I dunno.  EDH, but kinda dull.

Vastwood Animist

Another good ally card with bad stats

Vastwood Zendikon

Craw Wurm was usually good, except this attacks a turn early. Pretty saucy.

Wolfbriar Elemental –Staple – Evergreen

Pretty solid beater.  Decent stats on his own and late game drops some extra threats. Might not be standard worthy but he’s still really good overall.

***Multicolor***

Novablast Wurm – Bomb

It’s almost like Wizards designed EDH just so we could have a place to play big fatties like this.  I dunno, we’ve got acceleration, and this blows up stuff.  While it’s still pretty slow for standard, this is a great effect to have.

Wrexial, the Risen Deep – Bomb

Made for EDH again.  He’s got a great toughness, is immune to terror, and has evasion.  His ability isn’t that relevant to standard, but casual, OMG he’s got targets.

***Artifacts***

Amulet of Vigor

I really can’t comment on Amulet of Vigor without bias.  At this point I’m a bit sick of yet another “jump through the deck design hoop”  rare.   I don’t have the mental fortitude to start looking for all the CIPT permanents in standard and extended and casual that this might go with.  It’s just exhausting.  Let the Johnny’s have their cake, I’ll just do what I usually do – wait til someone figures out how to break it then lamely shell out for an overpriced rare.  …or I could just play nature’s claim on it and let you play with a slow deck.

Basilisk Collar – Bomb

There’s a Kor deck. This card isn’t good enough for it, since you never want to attack with Armament Master.  But re-usable deathtouch is sick in draft.

Everflowing Chalice – Staple – Evergreen

Turn 2 chalice for 1, turn turn 3 chalice for 2, turn 4 do fun things with 6-7 mana.  Like Play novablast wurm   Solid card for most formats.

Hammer of Ruin

Not exactly a bonesplitter, nor is the ability that relevant.

Hedron Rover

Better than Hedron Scrabbler, I suppose.

Kitesail

Better than Hammer of Ruin, in cost and utility. Flying matters.

Lodestone Golem

I really like this guy.  Might be a role player in an esper deck, or something likes to eat lands.  Anyone notice he’s got Juggy stats?

Pilgrims Eye – Staple – Evergreen

Stats and flying are kind of fair, but irrevelant.  We play the Borderland ranger and we’re fine. For EDH as well, anything that thins you out early is generally good.

Razor Boomerang

Wait, it is Betrayers of Kamigawa.  I should have called it at the evil red griefing Legendary Ogre for 5.  Well, Hankyu very much.

Seer’s Sundial.

I dislike that the default casting cost for artifacts that draw you cards seem to be four.  Still, I could see this (possibly) playing support in a red or green casual deck with no other way to draw cards.

Walking Atlas – role player

There was an elf a while back that had this ability, and it saw play. You could do some silly things with this and Geopede, maybe.

***Lands***

Bojuka Bog – Staple – Evergreen.

I don’t necessarily like what this card means for the reanimator deck archetype, especially in casual.  Of course it’s a land, so you have a choice of holding back vs. playing it, but in my case I would do the thing I usually do with functional lands like Maze, I just play one less business spell and treat this as a spell. It’s uncounterable.  It’s like, reanimation in standard isn’t that great, we’ve got crypt, leyline, and relic in extended, was this really necessary?   Seems like an odd call.

Celestial Colonnade – staple

It’s a dual land, it becomes a flyer.  Is it any good?  Well, as good as any manland would be.  They’re all great for casual, and they dodge  removal in standard.. could be good.  And if they were, it just makes land destruction and sea’s claim decks that much better.

Creeping Tar Pits – staple

I can get behind this card as well. Unblockable is pretty key.

Dread statuary

Sure in draft.  Seems slow and vulnerable in standard. 3/3 would have been better.

Eye of Ugin

Of Ghostflame fame.   We get a hint of the next set (Steamflogger Boss?)   The funny thing to me is, that if Eldrazi spells are actually playable/competitive, then a land that gives a discount of two to all of them is pretty crazy, like workshop crazy. But it’s legendary!

The ability is pretty silly, but I guess some casual deck might like it.  Another random Johnny rare.

Halimar Depths – Staple – Evergreen.

Great card, especially with Treasure Hunt.

Khalni Garden

Some people don’t like this card.  It does give you a guy, which is relevant.  Polymorph decks will find some fun with this.

Lavaclaw Reaches – Staple

Sure.

Quicksand – Staple.

Sure to be popular in control to stem the aggro rush, and always good in draft.

Raging Ravine – Staple – Evergreen

I REALLY like this guy.  He starts off as a 4/4 and continues to get bigger.  What’s not to like?

Sejiri Steppe

Here’s the question – if you’re playing this as a spell slot in order to ignore the question of whether you should play this as a spell or ramp, , it’s not necessarily as good as Brave the elements (The latter is a reactive instant, after all)

And if you’re playing it as a land, it’s kind of like Soaring Seacliff.  So yeah maybe I answered the question.

Smoldering Spires

Well, red actually likes it when you can’t block.

Stirring Brush – Staple

Good stats, but my Raging Ravine is better. You could be playing w/g though.

Tectonic Edge  – Staple – Evergreen

I’ll take Wasteland where I get can get it, I guess.

Welcome to the Blue section of our Worldwake Set Review. Thanks for coming! Let’s get to business.

AEther Tradewinds
2U
Instant
Return target permanent you control and target permanent you don’t control to their owner’s hand.
Rarity: Common

This is a VERY useful spell in limited, even post-M10 combat damage rules changes (before the change, this would have been absurd). This should let you avoid a bad combat step while simultaneously setting up either a guaranteed landfall by returning a land, or another Enters the Battlefield (EtB) effect from one of your creatures. All while messing up the opponent’s tempo. Strong one here.

JAMES

For limited it looks great. I always like playing a one-off Teetering Peaks–especially if I’m in white and have a Kor Skyfisher or get Living Tsunami–and I can see this fitting in well with that. Prevents a turn of attacking from your opponent…you see what I’m saying. So far as constructed…well, I don’t see the use.

Calcite Snapper
1UU
Creature – Turtle
1/4
Shroud
Landfall – Whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control, you
may switch Calcite Snapper’s power and toughness until end of turn.
Rarity: Common
Set Number: #25/145

This looks entirely unappealing to me. There are better options for holding down the ground, and this just doesn’t do much. I’m hoping not to play with this card until I make some kind of Turtle theme deck for my kids. Until then, this is a bookmark.

JAMES

No thanks.

Dispel
U
Instant
Counter target instant spell.
Rarity: Common
Set Number: #26/145

This should see play in some constructed formats, I’m thinking. It’s a good way to fight through counters. In limited, it’s very narrow, and is thus only likely to be in your sideboard. I can’t see ever maindecking this, but picking one up isn’t too terrible for your sideboard. I’d pick it low though, even then.

JAMES

Wow. What a great counter spell! It’s a narrow card making it more of a SB option than MD–at least for any U based decks I’m thinking of. That being said, all the major decks are running Lightening Bolts AND Burst Lightening (and of course Path) so there’s certainly an argument in favor of testing out the right number for your decks. I think U-light decks in extended may also run this to counter the Cryptic Command or [card]Mana Leak[card].

Enclave Elite
2U
Creature – Merfolk Soldier
2/2
Multikicker {1}{U}
Islandwalk
Enclave Elite enters the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter on it for each time it was kicked.
Rarity:Common

I really like these “Gray Ogre ++” variants. They’re passable on their own when dropped turn 3, albeit a little behind the modern curves, but they stay relevant (or more relevant than usual) when you top deck them late. I’m less pumped about this one than I am for the white flying version (flying instead of Islandwalk), but against some opponents, this will be even more of a trump. It’s evasive and relevant whenever you draw him. I like the looks of this cycle.

JAMES

I don’t see this being played outside of limited and even there it’s only marginal. The kick cost is too ridiculous after even one kick.

Goliath Sphinx
5UU
Creature – Sphinx
8/7
Flying
Flavor Text: Go ahead, TACCOM.
Rarity: Rare

Big. Flying. Any questions? This always makes the cut if you’re on-color, unless you have some kind of crazy aggro curve. Usually, he’ll be in. Lots of times, he’ll win you the game when you top deck him. Big dumb fliers are great in limited.

JAMES

Neat but damn expensive. Just too damn expensive for constructed play.

Halimar Excavator
1U
Creature – Human Wizard Ally
1/3
Whenever Halimar Excavator or another Ally enters the battlefield under your control, target player puts the top X cards of his or her library into his or her graveyard, where X is the number of Allies you control.
Illus. Kev Walker
Rarity: Common
Set Number: #29/145

An interesting addition to Hedron Crab based archetypes. Now, when you see a crab, you might be well advised to take all the allies you can as well. This should make the archetype interesting indeed… I think it may be viable. The key is getting an early crab to set you in the deck… you can’t really “force” this otherwise. In “regular” (crabless) allies, I don’t see this decking mechanism going all the way, but I could be wrong. You’d need at minimum 2, preferably 3 of this guy, I would think.

JAMES

Interesting. Getting milled always stinks…but I’m pretty sure block builds of Allies won’t include the mill strategy. This route is inherently too slow.

Horizon Drake
1UU
Creature – Drake
3/1
Flying, protection from lands
Rarity: Uncommon

Interesting protection clause. Take that Valakut! This guy’s nice mainly because he’s aggressive and evasive. Wasp Lancer was comparable, and did great things in its day. This will sometimes die, but will usually get some good damage in before taking down some kind of spider or opposing flier. I like it, but it’s not really my first string of fliers. I’ll take him though.

JAMES

Watch out! it’s a land!!!…oh…right. barf. Too narrow. There just aren’t enough lands worth worry about to justify this card.

Jace, the Mind Sculptor
2UU
Planeswalker – Jace
3
[+2]: Look at the top card of target player’s library. You may put that card on the bottom of that player’s library.
[0]: Draw three cards, then put two cards from your hand on top of your library in any order.
[-1]: Return target creature to its owner’s hand.
[-12]: Exile all cards from target player’s library, then that player shuffles his or her hand into his or her library.
Illus. Jason Chan
Rarity: Mythic Rare
Set Number: #31/145

This looks incredible to me. A bomb in limited, probably more so in constructed, but I’ll try to let James handle that. Limited is pretty straight-forward as well… this guy does so many useful things, it’s hard not to see why he’s great. I want to talk about EDH for a moment though. I think most EDH decks that can access this guy will play him. He adds another Hinder effect (in this case, I mean the “put a card on the bottom of your opponent’s deck” part of Hinder) for decks that run the Tunnel Vision combo, which is most blue decks. It also helps you with the brainstorm effects and the bouncing. Subtly, in EDH you might have more of a chance than you think to use the ultimate ability here. EDH tends to go long, and lots of decks can fend off creatures indefinitely in the late game. So Jace, tMS, should occasionally deck the sad EDH player. All in all, a very exciting mythic planeswalker.’

JAMES

This version of Jace is very interesting. Weird sort of telling time-like abilities. The draw backs are that this guy costs a LOT for his initial abilities. A control player has to REALLY be dictating the turns to justify this card. Certainly don’t want that player to activate the ultimate ability but I don’t see there being enough time to pull that off. …6 turns to “go off”? If you taret your opponent with ability one and you hit a land, dud. target yourself and hit a land, good. Use ability two, very nice. Ability three is also pretty sexy. I’m thinking the card’s use will be restricted to the first three abilities. Bouncing creatures is pretty hawt if you can then counter them. Hmmm, very interesting.

Jwari Shapeshifter
1U
Creature – Shapeshifter Ally
0/0
You may have Jwari Shapeshifter enter the battlefield as a copy of any Ally creature on the battlefield.
Illus. Kev Walker
Rarity: Rare
Set Number: #32/145

Hmmm… narrow indeed. If you happen to open it in an already-allies-dedicated pool / deck, consider yourself lucky. Otherwise, this will seldom see play, as it won’t be consistent enough. In allies, it’s probably only “strong” not even “bomb” levels of good… you have to have another strong ally in hand before this does much of anything aside from keeping the ally flow going.

JAMES

Pretty cheap. Pretty freaking good for limited but marginal outside that–but mostly because Allies seem weak in Block. I like the concept though. Maybe there’s a U/W/R Ally deck in block…

Mysteries of the Deep
4U
Instant
Draw two cards.
Landfall – If you had a land enter the battlefield under your control this turn, draw three cards instead.
Illus. Veronique Meignaud
Rarity: Common
Set Number: #33/145

I like this one. It’s a bit of a conundrum though… instant card draw is great because you can play it on your opponent’s end step. But this will usually get you one fewer card then… of course, you might have harrow or a fetch land, so who knows. I still like this even if you just main phase it out there for the three, or decide to live with the mere two cards to maintain a control posture.

JAMES

It’s costed somewhere along the lines of Mind Spring and Sift, both of which I’ve always felt were pretty expensive. I don’t think this does enough for constructed play.

Permafrost Trap
2UU
Instant – Trap
If an opponent had a green creature enter the battlefield under his or her control this turn, you may pay {U} rather than pay Permafrost Trap’s mana cost.
Tap up to two target creatures. Those creatures don’t untap during their controller’s next untap step.
Rarity: Uncommon

Whether for the trap cost or full price, this is a beating, and will win games. In the skies archetype, you will push through the last points of damage with this guy. It’s a tempo nightmare for an opponent that’s unprepared, or who over-committed. Very strong spell here, IMO.

JAMES

I like this for standard. It’s an interesting tempo play. Bloodbraid Elf played by opposing player. Boom, trap that down! Hehe. Thats’ really what I would play this for. It’s sweet for one mana because it buys two turns (one from the hasty bloodbraid and one for the next turn). Looks good to me in this currnet meta game.

Quest for Ula’s Temple
U
Enchantment
At the beginning of your upkeep, you may look at the top card of your library. If it’s a creature card, you may reveal it and put a quest counter on Quest for Ula’s Temple.
At the beginning of each end step, if there are three or more quest counters on Quest for Ula’s Temple, you may put a Kraken, Leviathan, Octopus, or Serpent creature card from your hand onto the battlefield.
Illus. Rob Alexander
Rarity: Rare
Set Number: #35/145

Gimmicky. If you have a ton of the right creatures in your deck, then maybe, but I guess I missed all the Krakens, Leviathans, Octopi, and Serpents… sure there are some, but… I dunno. I’m not touching this with a ten foot tentacle. Looks like crap to me.

JAMES

Lorthos is what comes to mind first. lol. Looks good for casual, fun, theme based decks but otherwise it’s just too damn narrow.

Sejiri Merfolk
1U
Creature – Merfolk Soldier
2/1
As long as you control a Plains, Sejiri Merfolk has first strike and lifelink.
Rarity: Uncommon

Another Kird Ape wannabe. This guy’s a house. Two very relevant abilities in the color combination that’s the best natural fit for blue aggro. This will be a fine super-grizzly bear, even if he just swings once, then scares off smaller ground attackers.

JAMES

Pretty neat. The abilities aren’t something to scoff at because a W/U control deck has something that is cheap and can take out Bloodbraids, gain life and stick around. It’s really a question of what to pull out of the U/W deck over this…Because the lifegain and first-strike ablity is so relevant and helpful for the U/W control build, this guy will eat removal. It’s certainly worth toying with.

Selective Memory
3U
Sorcery
Search your library for any number of nonland cards and exile them.
Then shuffle your library.
Illus. Chippy
Rarity: Rare
Set Number: #37/145

Very interesting rare here. Not playable in limited, but see Treasure Hunt below for some thoughts on what this thing can potentially do…

JAMES

[[[scrolls down to Treasure Hunt below…]]] Blah. Whatever. Maybe in 1.5/1 formats but I don’t see the point in exiling my own library. why not just NOT play this card AND whatever it is you don’t want in your deck. the concept of exiling my own library of cards I don’t want doesn’t make any sense to me. I look forward to reading the comment of someone who breaks this card and proves me wrong. I will happily say, “wow, I didn’t think of that. You rock.”

Spell Contortion
2U
Instant
Multikicker {1}{U}
Counter target spell unless its
controller pays {2}. Draw a card for
each time Spell Contortion was
kicked.
Rarity: Uncommon
Set Number: #38/145

Seems utterly insane in constructed, and not terrible in limited. Usually in limited, you’ll counter something early and be happy. Occasionally you’ll go all constructed on us, and you’ll nab this late. Then you counter their play, whatever it is, and kick it into infinity and beyond! The fact that they can easily pay the 2 is not really germane here, as what you’re really after is drawing (N-3)/2 cards (round down) where N is your available mana. That is going to be great in constructed, and not terrible in limited.

JAMES

Pretty neat. It’s a little more expensive than Cryptic Command and a bit more narrow but very late game you could draw two cards off this. Most of the time it will be an expensive Mana Leak though. Worth testing out but I don’t see control players running more than a couple to round out a counter suite.

Surrakar Banisher
4U
Creature – Surrakar
3/3
When Surrakar Banisher enters the battlefield, you may return target tapped creature to its owner’s hand.
Illus. Matt Cavotta
Rarity: Common
Set Number: #39/145

This kind of guy has traditionally been way better than it might seem at first. The tempo is really nice here, clearing one of their attackers and leaving behind a hill giant. Every once in a while you’ll want to return your own creature. Not a terribly high pick, but no slouch either… this is a fine addition to most decks with access to him.

JAMES

Interesting tempo card. He’s big enough that with the bounce he’s not HORRIBLE. I just would have loved to see this guy cost UUU or UU2 because then there’s at least the hope of having counter mana open. Otherwise you’re bouncing a big creature that’s just going to be there again when it’s time to attack, gaining you a whole lotta nuthin’.

Thada Adel, Acquisitor
1UU
Legendary Creature – Merfolk Rogue
2/2
Islandwalk
Whenever Thada Adel, Acquisitor deals combat damage to a player, search that player’s library for an artifact card and exile it. Then that player shuffles his or her library. Until end of turn, you may play that card.
Rarity: Rare

Every time you see a new Legendary creature, you should be thinking “would this be any good as an EDH general?” I know that’s the first though I always have. In this case, old Thada looks a bit weak. He’s very killable, has a questionable effect, though against 99% of all EDH players, you can at least play their Senseis Divining Top! I just don’t think he has enough of an effect to be worth the coveted general slot. ANYWAY, in limited, this is also usually a dud, but occasionally great. You have to just think of him as a gray ogre with islandwalk when deciding whether to play him. Sometimes that’s good enough. Rarely is it anything to get pumped about.

JAMES

I can see this getting some play in extended mirror matches for Fairies/Wizards that almost rely entirely on their ability to get Jitte down for their win. There are a TON of U-splashed decks also running Jitte that makes this card pretty interesting. It’s all about the islandwalk and that will ultimately determine how playable this is. Not the worst card on this U list.

Tideforce Elemental
2U
Creature – Elemental
2/1
{U}, {T}: You may tap or untap another target creature.
Landfall – Whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control, you may untap Tideforce Elemental.
Rarity: Uncommon

Very strong here. This can do a lot of tricky things, and because of the landfall effect, it does marginally more. This card is strong in limited. A wacky (read: cute and worthless) combo occurred to me, involving this card and two others from Worldwake, along with azorius chancery… the two cards are Amulet of Vigor (untaps permanents that EtB tapped under your control) and Ruin Ghost (creature with {W}, {T}: exile target land you control then return it to the battlefield under your control. All this does is let you loop picking up and dropping the chancery, with each iteration adding another “return a land you control to your hand” effect to the stack. Lame? Yes. Worthless? Yes. Funny? If you have a sense of humor like mine, then… kinda.
JAMES

Kinda cool. Super cheap. I like this for constructed because it will help with the turn-purchasing until the contorl player can setup a real win like Sphinx of Jwar Isle.

Treasure Hunt
1U
Sorcery
Reveal cards from the top of your library until you reveal a nonland card, then put all cards revealed this way into your hand.
Illus. Daren Bader
Rarity: Common
Set Number: #42/145

Okay, this is a card I’m excited about for Legacy, and I don’t know exactly how it will pan out. There’s a popular deck known as 43Land.dec in Legacy which runs… 43 lands! The question, then, is how many non-lands in that deck can be replaced by this card, and if you do that, how many cards are you drawing on average? Another question I have relates to EDH. If you run this spell in EDH, where Muddle the Mixture and the like can find it for you, and you also run Selective Memory above, can this combo you out? I know that Lands End / Seismic Assault both come to mind here… can you combo? I think these have some potential. In limited, this is probably worth running 1-3 copies, since it will sometimes just cantrip, and sometimes run you through a land pocket into business, guaranteeing the next couple drops. I know I’ve been running 18 lands and up in ZZZ typically, because of landfall… this will be another synergy to play with high land counts. I love this card.

JAMES

This is a good draw spell. There will be times when this hits a pocket of lands and then your opponent is going to be a sad panda but mostly just hitting 1.5 cards on average is nice. I can also see this playing well with Ponder. Certainly a ’see what you can do with this’ kinda card.

Twitch
2U
Instant
You may tap or untap target artifact, creature, or land.
Draw a card.
Rarity: Common

MEh… it cantrips and saves you from one attacker… not high on my list, really.

JAMES

Bummer. There’s just not much to this.

Vapor Snare
4U
Enchantment – Aura
Enchant creature
You control enchanted creature.
At the beginning of your upkeep, sacrifice Vapor Snare unless you return a land you control to its owner’s hand.
Rarity: Uncommon

I like this. Steals a creature and turns it into a pseudo Living Tsunami. Sounds good to me! Landfall makes this “downside” an upside.

JAMES

the mana cost makes this mid-to-late game and stealing a creature at that point is awesome-sauce. Especially if it’s something like that Baneslayer. There won’t be a lot of landfall that the U-based plaer is playing (that I can think of) so I dn’t see the potential for landfall being a bonus but it’s not that bad of a card. A blue player should be in control and be leveraging this card as a win condition. good for Block and Standard

Voyager Drake
3U
Creature – Drake
3/3
Multikicker {U}
Flying
When Voyager Drake enters the battlefield, up to X target creatures gain flying until end of turn, where X is the number of times Voyager Drake was kicked.
Rarity: Uncommon
Set Number: #45/145

Man, oh man. They’re really pushing creatures these days, am I right? All by itself, this is a flying hill giant. Very strong. But then you get this gravy additional multikicker which might be relevant, but it doesn’t matter because you’re already playing a flying hill giant! I think it might be passe to compare everything to grizzly bears, gray ogres, and hill giants anymore… we’ll see. This IS uncommon, so it’s not necessarily the new hill giant. Man, this looks sweet.

Not so bad. I don’t think this will see constructed play but it certainly looks interesting for limited.

Wind Zendikon
U
Enchantment – Aura
Enchant land
Enchanted land is a 2/2 blue Elemental creature with flying. It’s still a land.
When enchanted land is put into a graveyard, return that card to its owner’s hand.
Rarity: Common
Set Number: #46/145

I’m still unsure about these zendikons, but I like this flying one a lot. It only costs U, which is very cool. Time will tell. There just aren’t a lot of ways to get caught in a 241 with these guys because there aren’t a lot of instant speed land destruction spells, so you’ll almost always at least get your land back when your creature is killed. This should make these good enough. I’m willing to try them, and I want to try this flier version most.

JAMES

I really like this version of the cycle. It’s a cheap flier for a color that’s only going to be attacking some times anyway. The risk is someone trying to bolt the creature down. But that’s using removal on land that a person can just replay. We’re also looking at the blue version so you should have a counter available. (like Dispel, above). Neat.

Hello and welcome to another Power9Pro set review. It’s that Magical Christmas-morning-like time that happens quarterly for us Magic dorks of the world: Pre-release time. The set has just been completely spoiled, and if you’re anything like us, you’ve been chomping at the bit for the last two or three weeks, at least, Jonesing to play with these new babies.

My fellow teammate and Power9Pro founder James DiPadua is going to be the counterpoint to my points here, hopefully calling me out when I’m way off base (or misreading a card!), and pointing out anything I miss. As is our custom, I’m looking at these cards specifically from the standpoint of Limited except when otherwise noted. My second love is EDH, so you’ll see some comments with that format in mind as well, while James will cover the more constructed-tournament-oriented evaluation of these cards. We’re breaking the cards into color groups this time around, so without further ado, let’s dig in to White.

Just a disclaimer (from James): These reviews are obviously done without any play exposure. Also, at least so far as my reviews, I’m working through them color by color without first seeing what the ‘other colors’ have. Some of my comments need to be taken with that perspective. What we as a collective at Power 9 Pro will do is have a full review afer a week or so of acquainting ourselves better with the cards. So, these reviews are really meant as a “first impression and guide” for Prereleases and any Type2 events you have over the next few weeks.

Admonition Angel
3WWW
Creature – Angel
6/6
Flying
Landfall – Whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control, you may exile target nonland permanent other than Admonition Angel.
When Admonition Angel leaves the battlefield, return all cards exiled with it to the battlefield under their owners’ control.
Rarity: Mythic Rare
Set Number: #1/145

Okay, let’s start with a 6/6 Flying for 6 mana. This is already a huge bomb in limited, capable of winning the game on the back of evasion + huge stats. So we’re already dealing with a winner. Now consider the recurring landfall removal… this becomes huge. This spell will often be held until turn 7 so that you can drop the angel and immediately landfall to nuke something. However, unlike Roil Elemental, another 6-drop landfall guy, this creature has a 6 point backside, so it may hit the battlefield on turn 6 a lot more of the time than its predecessor, if you can consider the elemental such. Admonition Angel can also play some tricks with other creatures that YOU, the controller of Admonition Angel, control. If you have a Sphinx of Lost Truths on board, don’t forget that you can crack that fetchland in response to removal pointed at your Admonition Angel, triggering landfall, removing the sphinx, and getting you a free Ideas Unbound of sorts. This won’t happen often, but might be relevant somewhere, sometime. I give this a big thumbs up for the formats I’m concerned with, though I suspect James will say of this creature, as with many (any) new ones, “Baneslayer Angel casts a large shadow”… James?

JAMES

The mana cost is right; it’s not over-costed since it has flying and an exile ability…but it just doesn’t seem right to me. I really don’t like spending 6 mana on something that can be exiled itself…and after it is exiled (say ala Path to Exile) any of the cards I was able to remove with it come right back into, er, the battlefield.
Yeah…sorta lame. Neat from a flavor standpoint but certainly not Type 2

.

Apex Hawks
Cost: 2W
Type: Creature – Bird
Pow/Tgh: 2/2
Rules Text: Multikicker {1}{W} (You may pay an additional {1}{W} any number of times as you cast this spell.)
Flying
Apex Hawks enters the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter on it for each time it was kicked.
Rarity: Common

I find this interesting at common, as the “skies” player should have no problem virtually counting on getting one or more of these. They’re already a flying Gray Ogre, which would already be a premium. But the multikicker makes it more relevant late game. For a mere 7, you get a 4/4 flier: not amazing on its own, but this is the gravy dept. we’re talking about here. This is the bonus free boost to a flying 2/2 for 3 that you’d happily play already.

JAMES

Interesting but expensive if you want it to be anything bigger than a 2/2 with evasion. Kick it once and it’s already the same cost as a Baneslayer Angel. Meh.

Archon of Redemption
3WW
Creature – Archon
3/4
Flying
Whenver Archon Of Redemption or another creature with flying enters the battlefield under your control, you may gain life equal to that creature’s power.
Illus. Steve Belledin
Rarity: Rare
Set Number: #3/145

Archon of Redemption fits the “hiding in Baneslayer’s shadow” bill even more than the angel above, since they share casting costs. However, this is still a fine bomby rare in limited. In the right kind of skies deck, this is both a hard-to-kill flier, and a stall card all in one. You’ll be able to sit back and gain life while you whittle away at your opponents in the air. Very strong here for limited.

JAMES

I certainly agree with Joe’s assessment that it’s going to be good in limited, especially since in mirror matches it can standup to-and kill-your oponent’s Sheppard of the Lost.
So far as constructed, I don’t see a deck that would pay the exact same converted mana cost as the Baneslayer and not play the Baneslayer. Maybe people who aren’t willing to/been-able-to drop the $200 needed to get a playset of BSA?

Battle Hurda
4W
Creature – Giant
3/3
First Strike
Rarity: Common

Hard to evaluate. He’s a turn slow and only blocks well to make up for it. Does he clog the board enough starting on turn 5? He does end up trumping other ostensibly cheaper Hill Giant type 4-drops. I’m not picking this high, but I look forward to seeing whether it turns out to be better than my first impression.

JAMES
This is the Shepard of the Lost’s retarded Giant Cousin…that’s not so Giant. Good at common in the sense that if you need a little something extra, fine. But for constructed play, there’s no place for a rather boring Hill Giant.

Fledgling Griffin
1W
Creature – Griffin
2/2
Landfall – Whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control, Fledgling Griffin gains flying until end of turn.
Rarity: Common

Should be just fine, another mainstay of a UW flying aggro strategy. This will be a grizzly bear every once in a while, but will usually be, for all intents and purposes, flying to boot. This is the kind of creature that defines limited archetypes. Very solid.

JAME

Mike Flores has been discussing how to break down cards into their effectiveness on a “what you get for the casting cost.” On Twitter today, he asked me to find a case where someone would pay 2cc for a vanilla 2/2. I’m not sure if we can count this as a vanilla 2/2 since it can get the flying. I just wonder if this could be a candidate. But I’d hate to say something like that just because I’m looking for an example to show Flores.
Yeah…this is interesting but it’s uses outside of limited are fairly dubious. Maybe I’m just totally corrupted by really good 2 drops like Tarmogyof, Knight of the White Orchid, Ethersworn Canonist and Kor Skyfisher (to name only a few), that I can’t claim this will see play…

Guardian Zendikon
2W
Enchantment – Aura
Enchant land
Enchanted land is a 2/6 white Wall creature with defender. It’s still a land.
When enchanted land is put into a graveyard, return that card to its owner’s hand.
Rarity: Common

This cycle will really test the common wisdom that auras are inherently weak due to exposing you to two-for-one (241) card disadvantage. If these become heavily played (their effects are all somewhat appealing, and the 241 is mitigated by the land-return policy), then keep your eyes peeled for LD spells, especially instant speed ones. Personally, the effect from these needs to be devastating to justify inclusion. I still think it’s enough of a tempo loss to enchant my land, then lose my creature and get my land back, to risk messing with these guys. A 2/6 defender isn’t arousing me much. As an aside, keep in mind lands with Enters the Battlefield (EtB) effects and/ or sacrificial effects. Dark Depths? Maybe if the right Aura is printed? Probably not, I’m just saying… think outside the box.

JAMES

What is nice about this card/cycle is that it acts as creature while allowing the caster to access the mana. I don’t think this is the one that will be seen in play but it is an half-okay fit for a control player. I don’t think this is “the one.”

Hada Freeblade
W
Creature – Human Soldier Ally
0/1
Whenever Hada Freeblade or another Ally enters the battlefield under your control, you may put a +1/+1 counter on Hada Freeblade.
Rarity: Uncommon
Set Number: #7/145

A 1-drop Ally. Definitely solid to any Ally archetype. Thank you, Dr. Obvious. I’m unsure what else to add here. Allies has always been about critical mass. I think this probably takes the place of a few Makindi Shieldmates and/or the like. Allies will likely remain a playable strategy, especially in times when you force it hard and early and end up one of, if not the, only player in that archetype.

JAMES

Kazandu Blademaster really needed an on-color ally one drop and this could be it but the pool of allies is pretty thin that I don’t see a creature like this making the Ally an archetype in Type2. Allies are pretty strong in drafts if you can pull them off and one thing I’ve noticed is that while Kazandu Blademaster is sweet it’s so conditional on getting more playable Allies. In the end we have to ask ourselves if we’re willing to pay 1cc for a 1/2. Probably not…so my verdict is “keep on looking.”

Iona’s Judgment
4W
Sorcery
Exile target creature or enchantment.
Illus. Mike Bierek
Rarity: Common
Set Number: #8/145

Very solid removal in a color usually lacking it. This will hit any creature, and doesn’t trigger graveyard effects. This will be a high pick despite its high cost, because randomly nuking Quests and such at the last moment will be clutch. Very strong here, IMO.

JAMES

For constructed I don’t see why a person wouldn’t just play Oblivion Ring for one less (yeah, yeah, drawback…but kinda only against Maelstrom Puls and the Jund player would rather use Maelstrom on something…well, better). Are enchantments such a big freaking deal? Not unless your playing against Fruity Loops (or whatever it’s called…the Pyromancers Asscension deck). If enchantments/planeswalkers aren’t your weakpoint, then I suggest Journey to Nowhere or the instant-speed Path to Exile. The bar is pretty high so far as removal in white for constructed play and this just isn’t it…not for 5cc! Play the BSA; that’s removal and lifegain all in one.

Join the Ranks
3W
Instant
Put two 1/1 white Soldier Ally creature tokens onto the battlefield.
Rarity: Common
Set Number: #9/145

Instant speed double-ally trigger. Just keep this card in mind as you play your first limited match against an allies player! In dedicated allies, this goes from “very solid” to “absolutely devastating”. This should usually be the equivalent of a Windborne Charge or a kicked Bold Defense in terms of “I win” potential. Outside its home archetype, this is still very good, posing as white-like removal, letting you surprise block to your advantage.

JAMES

I like the fact that it creates Ally tokens. When I frist read this card a week or so back I didn’t catch the Ally part. Pretty sweet for limited. Again, I’m not sure that an Ally deck is going to be a powerful enough archetype by itself. Jund is still putting up some massively good numbers and this little ally-token maker doesn’t make enough of them to offset the card advantage inherent from Bloodbraid Elf, Maelstrom Pulse, Sprouting Thrinax and Broodmate Dragon.

Kitesail Apprentice
W
Creature – Kor Soldier
1/1
As long as Kitesail Apprentice is equipped, it gets +1/+1 and has flying.
Illus. Austin Hsu
Rarity: Common
Set Number: #10/145

This is tricky to evaluate. With enough equipment, I might consider running this, as it instantly gets evasive and bigger. With an Explorers Scope or a Trusty Machete, for instance, I’m tempted by this guy. Otherwise, I’m hoping I don’t need to fill the early drop hole this bad…

JAMES

I’ve tried building a mono-white soliders deck with a lean toward Kor and a couple of pieces of equipment but was never able to figure out something that was very competitive. I’m not trying to imply that this will be the card that tips the scales but it’s certainly worth toying with if you’ve been playing a wheenie Kor deck (and getting smashed). There are some very decent equipment cards such as Adventuring Gear, Behemoth Sledge and maybe even Bone saw (hey, it’s SUPER cheap–and on a card like Kitsail it’s a rough beating).
–returning back to reality: I’ve always felt that Kor weren’t very good for even limited considering that it’s a new creature type for Zendikar so if i have a Trusty Machete or an Explorers Scope (or both) I could consider taking some Kor knowing that they’ll be lightly drafted. It’s worth testing…but don’t come crying to me if you get your ass whooped. I said that it can be super weak and worth trying out.

Kor Firewalker
WW
Creature – Kor Soldier
2/2
Protection from red
Whenever a player casts a red spell, you may gain 1 life.
Rarity: Uncommon

Wow, this looks like a constructed metagame hoser to me. Seems like a Dragons Claw stapled to a weird, slow poke Silver Knight. Since either of these are already played against certain red decks as sideboard options, we can safely conclude that this card has a similar fate. As for limited, there’s nothing wrong with a Grizzly Bear, and the extra rules text is gravy when it’s relevant. I like it.

JAMES

Pro-red has been really good over the last few years and i expect to see this making the cut. mono-White builds have been sadly underpowered and here we have a creature that can block Bloodbraids, Thrinaxes and Goblin Guides (oh, my!). It is ‘only’ a 2/2 for 2 (aheh, mike…) but I can see this being a great SB selection for that player looking to make a go @ mono-white weenies.

Lightkeeper of Emeria
3W
Creature – Angel
2/4
Multikicker {W}
Flying
When Lightkeeper of Emeria enters the battlefield you gain 2 life for each time it was kicked.
Rarity: Uncommon

Whoa mamma! Nice uncommon here. This is the kind of card that Multi-kick was made for, making what’s already quite relevant and good enough (a 2/4 flier for 4 is solid-to-fantastic in limited, traditionally) relevant when you draw it later and later into the game. In your opener, this is quite good provided you can make drops. Nothing wrong with playing this guy turn 4. But when you top deck this on turn 18, suddenly you’re gaining like 10 or more life. Seems like a bargain for an uncommon. Skies looks like a healthy archetype so far, and it was no slouch in ZZZ either.

JAMES

Interesting but I don’t see this being THAT great. It’s only 2 life and I have to pay a bunch for it. It comes down to this: would I like to kick this a couple of times (or even once if I’m sitting at 5 open lands) and gain 2 life each time OR leave mana open for other options (such as Path, Harms Way, etc)? I think I’d like to have mana available for other things.

THAT means I’m only looking at a 2/4 for 4…barf.

Loam Lion
W
Creature – Cat
1/1
Loam Lion gets +1/+2 as long as you control a Forest.
Rarity: Uncommon

Ah, the fabled “New Kird Ape” cycle. This one looks neat enough. I know a lot of old school Legacy types who will love to play a WG stompy with fetches into Savannah into this guy… but what’s crazy is that this kind of play is only about marginal for such a deck. This guy might have legs in standard too, given the presence of fetches there. I just think he’s pretty sad on turn 1 naked. In limited, it obviously hinges entirely on being on-color, but when he’s on color, he should be a very good foil to the typical ZZZ aggro deck, blocking crap like Vampire Lacerator all day. Also dodges Disfigure and un-kicked Burst Lightning. All ticks in the Pro column for Loam Lion.

JAMES

I’ve also experimented with G/W builds that weren’t quite strong enough and I’ll have to see about adding this in those builds. Having a ‘3′ sized butt is nice. This is also worth considering for the Zoo decks that just haven’t been able to keep up with Jund builds…2/3 for 1 really isn’t that bad.

Marsh Threader
1W
Creature – Kor Scout
2/1
Swampwalk
Rarity: Common

If you think this is unplayable, I’ll refer you to Cliff Threader. This is the kind of guy, a 2/1 for 2, that is deceptive… these guys DEFINE limited in almost all limited formats. True story.

JAMES

Pretty nice for limited, sure, but not so great outside of that. The 2 power just isn’t enough to kill that much in this meta…

Marshal’s Anthem
2WW
Enchantment
Multikicker {1}{W}
Creatures you control get +1+1.
When Marshal’s Anthem enters the battlefield, return up to X target creature cards from your graveyard to the battlefield, where X is equal to the number of times Marshal’s Anthem was kicked.
Rarity: Rare

WHAAA? This is a crazy sick mashup of a card. It’s like Glorious Anthem slipped a Flibanserin into the drink of Resurrection, and nine months later, we get Marshal’s Anthem. This card gives me a bit of a res-erection. As a late game bomb, this thing will swing the game for you. It’s mana-into-card advantage. I don’t know what else to say. Compare with the card’s ancestry. Play this thing. Pray you started in W/x when you crack this pack 3. Etc.

JAMES

Hmmmm…it’s not Honor of the Pure which at WW (plus 2 more) is the best comparision (especially because the kick requires TONS of W) but the attrition rate of white decks makes this SORTA appealing. Just sorta. I’ll say this is’nt nearly good enough for constructed. It’s just way too freaking expensive to get anything out of it. (8 mana for two creatures AND +1/+1?? pssshhh, just play [card]Emeria, the Sky Ruin[card] if you need creatures from the graveyard and keep your mana for dropping [card]Captain of the Watch[card] + 1 for Path to Exile)

Perimeter Captain
W
Creature – Human Soldier
0/4
Defender
Whenever a creature you control with defender blocks, you may gain 2 life.
“We stand between the jaws of chaos and the mantle of order”
Rarity: Uncommon
Set Number: #16/145

Again, they’re pushing lifegain in fun new ways. This guy actually fits the bill for the Skies archetype I’ve been obsessing about up until now: it comes down early, stalls the board, and when it finally dies, it usually bumps you up a couple life points, aiding the cause further. I think it’s a good fit for decks that want to stall and/or tie up the board on the ground.

JAMES

This is a good construction card. The weird defenders have been making a good impression on constructed for the last two…three blocks (from Plumveil to Wall of Reverence to Wall of Denial). This one is actually a little better since it has a big enough butt to matter AND buying more time against the aggro builds that U/W control struggles with. I’d definitly put this in my build. It’s also GREAT in limited, skies decks that leverage Kraken Hatchling to stall the ground but needed a little more to help with that…dang, I like this one.

Refraction Trap
3W
Instant – Trap
If an opponent cast a red instant or sorcery spell this turn, you may pay {W} rather than pay Refraction Trap’s mana cost.
Prevent the next 3 damage that a source of your choice would deal to you and/or permanents you control. Refraction Trap deals that much damage to target creature or player.
Rarity: Uncommon

Hmm… obvious constructed (and limited) sideboard options here. I’m not sure I play this main though in limited… however, Shieldmates Blessing got some well deserved play, and in the right deck was quite strong. Then again, that was essentially this card with the trap cost moved to the casting cost. So I dunno… I’m in the air here, but I think this stays in the board for me, and it picked not-too-high.

JAMES

Jesus. Move over Harms Way there’s a new sherif in town. If a player casts a red instant or sorcery? yeah, that NEVER happens…

Rest for the Weary
1W
Instant
You gain 4 life.
Landfall – If you had a land enter the battlefield under your control this turn, you gain 8 life instead.
Rarity: Common

Long time readers (and I know they are legion) will recall that I’m no fan of lifegain in and of itself. I don’t mind incidental or abusive-recursive lifegain, but a spell like this is a waste of a slot in my opinion, even at the ever lower mana costs and ever higher payoffs that are being pushed these days. That said, in the right context, these kinds of spells are great. If you’re just trying to buy time against weenie rush strategies, and your late game is solid, then this is just fine.

JAMES

freaking lame.

Ruin Ghost
1W
Creature – Spirit
1/1
{W}, {T}: Exile target land you control, then return it to the battlefield under your control.
Flavor Text: “Haunting us, these different meanings and spectral beings. We’re fighting sleep with broken, rusted weaponry.”
Rarity: Uncommon
Set Number: #19/145

I like the landfall-as-an-instant mechanic here, which is the entire point of this spell. Should be good enough, and should be picked fairly high. Lots of skies decks will want this. Don’t forget that you can do seemingly innocuous crap like leave only white up, but then shennanigan an island out of and into play, and then use that U mana to counter, and other miscellany like that. This is a new skill testing tricky card that enables LOTS of shennanigans. I think it might be higher picked than some might think. He is a 1/1 though, and you have to have something relevant to do with him. Every draft will have someone who is pumped to have opened this, let’s put it that way.

JAMES

I don’t like spirits that can’t fly so I HATE this card. lol. jk. I think the ability is too slow. It’s just way, way too slow…and do you konw what it’s like to be way, way too slow? Well, I don’t know and you don’t want to.

Stoneforge Mystic
1W
Creature – Kor Artificer
1/2
When Stoneforge Mystic enters the battlefield, you may search your library for an Equipment card, reveal it, and put it into your hand. If you do, shuffle your library.
{1}{W}, {T}: You may put an Equipment card from your hand onto the battlefield.
Illus. Mike Bierek
Rarity: Rare
Set Number: #20/145

Alright, our first EDH must-have! I think every EDH deck that has access to white will likely want this. It’s basically a second copy of Steelshapers Gift or another more narrow copy of Enlightened Tutor. Let’s face it, lots of decks just want to get Umezawas Jitte. These are all redundant copies. Everything aside from the EtB effect is windowdressing. The same kind of scenario plays out in limited. Did you nab a machete? Then he gets the nod.

JAMES

Hmmm, interesting. I also think this might be too slow. Most of the equipments that a Kor creature will want to fetch are cheap enough to cast. Plus, it excludes cards like Sigil of Distinction which is a pretty darn cool equipment…maybe getting Quitus Spike or Umezawas Jitte would be good? I don’t know…I don’t think this is worth playing.

Talus Paladin
3W
Creature – Human Knight Ally
2/3
Whenever Talus Paladin or another Ally enters the battlefield under your control, you may have Allies you control gain lifelink until end of turn and you may put a +1/+1 counter on Talus Paladin.
Rarity: Rare
Set Number: #21/145

Lifelink is huge, despite what I said about lifegain. Lifelink can be thought of as one step across the “is it recursive?” line for lifegain. Anyway, this will make some ally strategies bomb-tastic. However, you’ll have to open it yourself, as most people will take it if they’re on color and not in allies, because a 3/4 for 3W is good enough to hate the card away from anyone who happens to be in allies. I like him.

JAMES

Interesting. This makes me think that mono-W (or splash for something…but not sure WHAT) Allies might not be a complete waste of cardboard. The fact that they get the +1’s is what makes this appealing. It’s too bad it has to stick around long enough to attack…but I guess the Ally deck is going to have to be defensive to start with…maybe with Honor of the Pure? This is wroth toying around with in the lab…at least for five mintues.

Terra Eternal
2W
Enchantment
All lands are indestructible.
Rarity: Rare
Set Number: #22/145

There’s probably a cool combo with this, but I can’t think of it… maybe Legacy 43Land.dec will like this? This will be a recurring comment for me, lol. I know there’s at least one blue card for which the same thought occurred. Anyway, this is lots better when you have a man-land of some kind. Luckily there’s just such a cycle in this set…however, since both are rare, it’ll be… um… rare to see both in limited.

JAMES

I dunno…Legacy is beyond my meta knowledge. I see a LOT of strip mines played in vintage but I dont’ see the vintage players jumping out of their seats for something like this. Meh.

Veteran’s Reflexes
W
Instant
Target creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn. Untap that creature.
Rarity: Common

An awesome combat trick in a color whose removal usually comes in this form. This should be seen as a removal spell. Occasionally you’ll do that magical last point of damage to an unsuspecting opponent. I like it. This should enable many an ambush block.

JAMES

lol. COULD act as a piece of removal but it’s not the best removal in the world…at all. If it gave your creature first strike too, I’d be all about it…but it’s really just border line…

That does it for white. Please chime in down in the comments section to let us know where you agreed and, more likely, where you disagreed with our evaluations. Thanks, and we’ll see you again in the other posts.

Welcome to another preview season, those joyful times when we Magic players experience the christmas-like joy of opening presents four times a year or so. We here at power9pro can hardly wait to try this new set, as it already looks to be bomber. Here is the first batch of cards… there’s 111 spoiled so far, but we won’t be dealing with the 4 basic lands of each color, so you do the math… there’s a boatload of cards in this initial bunch. When possible, our reviews here are gut-reaction type first impressions, though in this case, we’ve seen a few cards already… we couldn’t resist! This time around, James will be joining me. I’ll be posting all my reactions, and when he feels like it, James will throw in his two cents. As usual, my focus will be on Legacy, EDH, and limited. James will speak to other constructed formats.

Please chime in in the comments section, as we love to hear about how much you think our evaluations are right-on or suck-the-big-one! So, without further ado, let’s dive right in!

Celestial Mantle – 3WWW
Enchantment – Aura (Rare)
Enchant creature
Enchanted creature gets +3/+3.
Whenever enchanted creature deals combat damage to a player, double its controller’s life total.
Illus. Steve Argyle
#6/249

Joe

This should definitely have a place in my Ghost Council of Orzhova EDH deck, as tallowisp searches this up nicely. Also, in EDH this clearly has a bigger effect since players start at 40. For 6 mana, you’re pulling your pants down for a 241 in other formats, but if you’re reasonably sure you can connect, i.e., you have an evasive creature, then it seems worth the risk as you’ll likely win on the back of this in such cases.

James

So far as limited, this is way beyond a “just a bomb.” WotC went plaid here–please tell me y’all know this from spaceballs (am I aging myself here?)

I don’t see much room for this in a constructed play, especially not in a meta with such life gaining bombs as Baneslayer Angel and Wall of Reverence.

Day of Judgment – 2WW
Sorcery (Rare)
Destroy all creatures.

“I have seen planes leveled and all life rendered to dust. It brought no pleasure, even to a heart as dark as mine.”
-Sorin Markov

Illus. Kev Walker
#9/249

Joe
I have mixed feelings about this. For one thing, it seems to signal the eternal demise of wrath of god. For another, this lacks the “cannot regenerate” clause of its obvious fore-bearer. Still, a global sweeper is a global sweeper. This still kills progenitus! I’m gonna go out on a very sturdy limb here and predict that this sees much play!
James
Of course it will see play. It’s obviously a powered down version of Wrath but a very good one nonetheless. I wouldn’t go so far as to claim that Wrath is forever condemned to Ext’d, etc though. White has been getting the shiz lately so far as strong removal (Path to Exile for example) so from my perspective dropping Wrath for DoJ is a way of balancing that power boost.

Devout Lightcaster – WWW
Creature – Kor Cleric (Rare)
Protection from black
When Devout Lightcaster enters the battlefield, exile target black permanent.
2/2
Illus. Shelly Wan
#12/249

Joe
I’m a sucker for painters servant, which plays nicely with this fellow. Even without the artifact helper, this has a bit role to play as a decent color hoser. Still, with the servant, this can go fully vindicate-ive and nuke lands and all. If you’re not sure you’re playing a black opponent, this guy becomes a shitty gray ogre. Middling card, I’d say… a role to play, albeit a narrow one.

James

In an environment where Vampires is looking to be a real archetype post-Zen release, this will be an excellent sideboard option. Other than SB, I don’t see much hope for this card seeing a lot of play. It’s not even really THAT great of a card in Limited.

Felidar Sovereign – 4WW
Creature – Cat Beast (Mythic Rare)
Vigilance, lifelink
At the beginning of your upkeep, if you have 40 or more life, you win the game.
4/6
Illus. Zoltan Boros & Gabor Szikszai
#12/249

Joe
My dork clique had a pseudo-argument about this. I posted to my group asking if they thought this might be banned in EDH, since you start with win-condition life totals… but I didn’t actually think it would be banned. Nobody took the bait, so at least among my dork crew, the consensus is that even in EDH, this guy’s none too scary. He seems pretty ridiculous in a limited match though. I’m still unsure how I feel about mythics in general… they seem to be powerful enough that they grant the lucky ones who crack them in limited events a huge advantage. Meh… he’s mostly a 4/6 vigilance lifelink… the win condition is nice, but it’s a bit of a foregone conclusion most of the time… if you’ve got 40 life, winning is usually just academic from there… usually.

James

Unfortunately any lifegainer’s from here on out are going to be forever compared to Baneslayer Angel which this most certainly is not. It’s nice to plop down and hold off the ground but I’d personally rather drop B.A. a turn earlier and have flying, firststrike & Lifelink. Since it’s NOT B.A., this will be the poor-man’s substitute. That comment sounds harsher than I mean it to (not deleted/revised because it’s prob’ the honest truth). That being said, I think it’s a really well designed card. It’s just unfortunate that it’s printed on the tailcoats of Baneslayer…

Iona, Shield of Emeria – 6WWW
Legendary Creature – Angel (Mythic Rare)
Flying
As Iona, Shield of Emeria enters the battlefield, choose a color.
Your opponents can’t cast spells of the chosen color.
7/7
Illus. Jason Chan
#13/249

Joe

This, on the other hand, seems like a neat General to try in EDH… hoses those mono-color decks nicely. “Got any artifacts, pal?” Also, it plays quite well with my old friend painters servant! A 9-drop is usually a huge mana commitment. You’ll want to make sure your opponent doesn’t have obvious counterspell mana available… but yeah… when this hits the table, things should be looking good for you. I doubt it has much of a place in standard-like formats though, where the CMC hurts a lot.

James

9cc? …’nuff said. With all the un-counterable cards floating in Zendikar, this card at 9cc really, really wants to be uncounterable. Sadly it’s not. My bet is that this doesn’t see play unless the deck build is super creative. It’s just not a Cloudthresher.

Journey to Nowhere – 1W
Enchantment (Common)
When Journey to Nowhere enters the battlefield, exile target creature.
When Journey to Nowhere leaves the battlefield, return the exiled creature to the battlefield under its owner’s control.

Joe
For some reason this seems combo-rific to me, but I’m having trouble figuring out an elegant one. Opalescence and pandemonium with this guy lets you do infinite damage… I think! Can’t you put him into play, then exile himself, which triggers his come-back-into-play ability again? Again, I think so! But this is hardly game breaking. This is pretty much a slight improvement on pacifism I think.

James

I sorta smell a combo with this too…Anyway, Joe, it can’t exile itself because it can only exile a creature. Regardless, this will be a great pick in Limited. Pick it high.

Kabira Evangel – 2W
Creature – Human Cleric Ally (Rare)
Whenever Kabira Evangel or another Ally enters the battlefield under your control, you may choose a color. If you do, Allies you control gain protection from the chosen color until end of turn.
2/3
Illus. Eric Deschamps
#15/249

Joe
Ally is a neat new mechanic they’re introducing in Zendikar. I think it might work out quite well. This guy reminds me a bit of glory. Mistform Wakecaster can make all your dudes Allies. Just sayin’. All in all, this guy’s strictly better than gray ogre even without any other allies in play. His value goes up from there.
James
For limited, this isn’t so hot for a rare since it’s only EoT and I’m not convinced that Allies will be a forceable archetype in limited. Since we’re also losing changelings with Lor-block rotating out, we can’t even build an Ally/Changeling deck. Allies look super fun but at this stage in my review of Zendikar I don’t even see this seeing competitive play. Makes for a great casual build though!

Kazandu Blademaster – WW
Creature – Human Soldier Ally (Uncommon)
First strike, vigilance
Whenever Kazandu Blademaster or another Ally enters the battlefield under your control, you may put a +1/+1 counter on Kazandu Blademaster.
“If you hire a sell-sword, you’d better watch your back. Hire me, and I’ll watch it for you.”
1/1
Illus. Michael Komarck
#16/249

Joe
Well, he’s very much in the white knight lineage, but there hasn’t been a 2-drop 2/2 vigilance first strike, which he essentially is at worst. I think this makes him VERY good. He’s not actually a knight, either. Being a soldier makes him marginally better in some relevant cases. I think he’s got a lot of promise.
James

This one is better than the last Ally. Honor of the Pure loves this guy. I don’t know how viable White Whinnie is going to be but if it’s going to see play as an archteype, this one has to be in there. Vigilance & Firststrike for a 2-drop is very much “not bad.” For limited? That’s questionable. I’ll say it’s “marginal” and at this stage in the spoilers, I say don’t first pick. EDIT: after seeing more of the cards spoiled, I’m liking this Ally more and more. I’m also liking him more and more for constructed.

Kor Sanctifiers – 2W
Creature – Kor Cleric (Common)
Kicker {W} (You may pay an additional {W} as you cast this spell.)
When Kor Sanctifiers enters the battlefield, if it was kicked, destroy target artifact or enchantment.
“Why keep such trinkets? They only add weight to your travels.”
2/3
Illus. Dan Scott
#22/249

Joe

Okay, so this guy, unkicked, is better than gray ogre… he’s playable. But his kicker gives you a relatively painless disenchant effect that you can maindeck. I think he’s therefore got the goods, and I expect to see him in limited events for sure.

James

Playable in limited for sure. Beyond that? No.

Luminarch Ascension – 1W
Enchantment (Rare)
At the beginning of each opponent’s end step, if you didn’t lose life this turn, you may put a quest counter on Luminarch Ascension. (Damage causes loss of life)
{1}{W}: Put a 4/4 white Angel creature token with flying onto the battlefield. Activate this ability only if Luminarch Ascension has four or more quest counters on it.
Illus. Michael Komarck
#25/249

Joe

Whoa… so it’s easy to drop this thing, and by turn 7 or 8, it’s very reasonable to expect it to “go active” in a limited format, especially if you build your deck in a defensive stalling manner. At that point, this is a very effective win condition. Putting out 3-4 flying 4/4 angels per turn at will? WTF? Definitely intriguing. Paired with something like solitary confinement or energy field? Or even constant mists / fog / story circle / etc.? I think it’s going to be brutal. Reminds me of another 2-drop enchantment that made creature tokens and ended up broken as hell… bitterblossom. (Comments section!) Just reminds me of it… I’m not sure it’s the same caliber. I’m just not sure.

James

This is the only Quest-related card I see being remotely playable–though Khalni Heart Expedition looks pretty intereseting… The lack of a limitation on number of Angels you pump out is awesome. I’d grab this in limited without a hesitation and I can definitely see a control deck building with this. It’s a great 2-drop imo.

Pitfall Trap – 2W
Instant – Trap (Uncommon)
If exactly one creature is attacking, you may pay {W} rather than pay Pitfall Trap’s mana cost.
Destroy target attacking creature without flying.

Joe

This is cheap enough even without the bonus. Strong removal for white. And quite often, people send over their only evasive guy or what have you. This seems like all up-side… I’m failing to see a down-side. Very strong removal, probably a high pick.

James

Bomb removal. Because of the trap mechanic, it could leak over into constructed too…I may be over-valuing Trap but first glance at the trap-related cards, and I’m thinking they’re pretty good.

Steppe Lynx – W
Creature – Cat (Common)
Landfall – Whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control, Steppe Lynx gets +2/+2 until end of turn.
0/1

Joe

Hmmm… this is hard to evaluate. In a white weenie strategy, you’re only hoping to make your land drops for the first two or three turns consistently, so I’m tempted to think this is worse, in the long run, than its seeming predecessors like savannah lions. However, this new set has fetch lands, so there will be times when you can fairly easily ensure a double-activation in the early turns. Is turn 2, swing for 4 enough of an incentive? Luckily for me, standard isn’t my area of expertise and I don’t have to conclusively make this tough call. I’m guessing it’s going to fall short, since without a land this does dick.

James

I’d be willing to test this card out. I agree, it’s on the edge. A turn 2 for 4 is pretty good though. With rampant growth it could swing in for 6 on turn 2. Quite a tempo…okay, I’m put on the spot here: I say “no” to constructed. It’s just a totally dead card late game, and that’s why it will suck.

World Queller – 3WW
Creature – Avatar (Rare)
At the beginning of your upkeep, you may choose a card type. If you do, each player sacrifices a permanent of that type.
4/4
Illus. James Paick
#39/249

Joe

Reminds me a bit of Braids cabal minion, though the timing is slightly different. For another colorless mana, you essentially get +2/+2, and you get to choose the permanent type. This seems huge to me. You can always choose a type you don’t have if that’s better for you, and you can selectively force opponents to lose their only planeswalker, or their only enchantment, etc. I think, therefore, that this is even better than braids across the board. The only downside is the timing, really. With braids, opponents had to sac right away on their own upkeep. With this guy, he’s got to survive until your own upkeep. Still, this guy seems to me like a clear winner.

James

Bomb. Me-likes. If it weren’t for the “downside” of activating on upkeep, this would be way beyond broken.

Archive Trap – 3UU
Instant – Trap (Rare)
If an opponent searched his or her library this turn, you may pay {0} rather than pay Archive Trap’s mana cost.
Target opponent puts the top thirteen cards of his or her library into his or her graveyard.
Illus. Jason Felix
#41/249

Joe

Well, the old sanity grinding deck might have liked to have this, but then again maybe not. How often did people search their libraries back then? Now, the rate at which libraries will be searched in a set with five new fetchlands is another story. This might be seen as a subtle hoser for fetchlands, enabling the next generation of grinding style deck. Should be a nice dollar rare with a fun deck to call home.

James

there’s always a mill deck around…do not draft this card; it sucks!

Archmage Ascension – 2U
Enchantment (Rare)
At the beginning of each end step, if you drew two or more cards this turn, you may put a quest counter on Archmage Ascension.
As long as Archmage Ascension has six or more quest counters on it, if you would draw a card, you may instead search your library for a card, put that card into your hand, then shuffle your library.
Illus. Christopher Moeller
#42/249

Joe

Hmm. Six counters is a lot, though the effect is powerful. Too bad they’re not charge counters, so you could just add a few… oh wait, coretapper only works on artifacts. Yeah, this is too big an investment… your opponent has six turns to figure out how to stop you at best, and meanwhile, this isn’t doing anything for you at all except taking up a slot that a real card with an actual effect might otherwise occupy. This card is pure shit.

James Lame.

Cancel – 1UU
Instant (Common)
Counter target spell.

Joe

This is an awesome spell! Okay, so obviously nothing groundbreaking here. This is the nouveau counterspell, and the forces that be in the universe have decided UU is too cheap, and “forever hence shall ye pay 1 more, I say!” Run of the mill shit. Definitely a fun part of the many many limited formats it’s been a part of. Watch out when someone leaves 1UU open, people. It’s tell-tale.

James

Other than Aaron F. (of WotC) spouting out some stats on this seeing play in MODO, I don’t see this being construction worthy. Counter magic looks like it’s taking a break after the long run of Cryptic Command.

Ior Ruin Expedition – 1U
Enchantment (Common)
Landfall – Whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control, you may put a quest counter on Ior Ruin Expedition.
Remove three quest counters from Ior Ruin Expedition and sacrifice it: Draw two cards.

Joe

I’m immediately comparing this to standstill in my mind. Then I read again and realize I’m mixing up the three counters and the two cards… or rather, I thought it was three of each at first, counters and cards drawn. At any rate, this is more like couriers capsule, not standstill… it’s probably slightly more efficient that capsule, though capsule didn’t present opponents with such a window to disrupt the cards, and once you had 4 mana, there wasn’t much they could do to stop you… in this case you’ll always be waiting for the cards, even with the presence of fetchlands. I think it’s probably sub-par as card drawing goes.

James

Underpowered for any format. Pass.

Lorthos, the Tidemaker – 5UUU
Legendary Creature – Octopus (Mythic Rare)
Whenever Lorthos, the Tidemaker attacks, you may pay {8}. If you do, tap up to eight permanents. Those permanents don’t untap during their controllers’ next untap steps.
When Lorthos emerges from his deepwater realm, the tide bows to his will and the coastline cowers in his presence.
8/8
Illus. Kekai Kotaki
#53/249

Joe

I wrote an article about this bad boy recently. Hooray for Vorthos… er… I mean Lorthos! Octo-card!

James

See Joe’s post on this. I don’t really have a comment.

Lullmage Mentor – 1UU
Creature – Merfolk Wizard (Rare)
Whenever a spell or ability you control counters a spell, you may put a 1/1 blue Merfolk creature token onto the battlefield.
Tap seven untapped Merfolk you control: Counter target spell.
“Many voices are needed to quiet this land.”
2/2
Illus. Jaime Jones
#54/249

Joe

Consider patron wizard. He seems like a more efficient way to counter a spell with a 3-drop and a bunch of dorks. But merfolk are a quick tribe, and it’s a shame Lorwyn is leaving, because stonybrook schoolmaster and summon the school might like to speak to this gentle-merman. Since other counters give you tokens too, I think this guy might be enough on his own in constructed, but I don’t see how you’ll ever have enough counters and/or merfolk to get it all rolling with limited.

James

I’m not seeing anything in this. SEVEN? merfolk? give me a break.

Mindbreak Trap – 2UU
Instant – Trap (Mythic Rare)
If an opponent cast three or more spells this turn, you may pay {0} rather than pay Mindbreak Trap’s mana cost.
Exile any number of target spells.

“Life is a maze. This is one of its dead ends.”
- Noyan Dar, Tazeem lullmage

Illus. Christopher Moeller
#57/249

Joe

This seems almost designed to hose old combo decks, especially storm decks. In limited, this is the saddest mythic rare to see. You’ll never have a stack with three spells, let alone three from one player, and in limited it’s likely the first two spells were creatures, so this is a free counter of the third creature maybe once in a blue moon, but usually it’s a 4 mana uber-counter. Sad, sad times.
James

Storm & TEPS are getting raped from what I understand. I’ve read a little about Dragonstorm being remotely viable, in which case (and ONLY if it’s THE dominant deck in Ext’d) it’d be a great SB card for any deck @ zero cc. That’s what makes me think this is an awesome card but falling prey to “wrong place at the wrong time.” I mean, seriously? Exile any number of spells? Nice…well, close but no cigar.

Quest for Ancient Secrets – U
Enchantment (Uncommon)
Whenever a card is put into your graveyard from anywhere, you may put a quest counter on Quest for Ancient Secrets.
Remove five quest counters from Quest for Ancient Secrets and sacrifice it: Target player shuffles his or her graveyard into his or her library.
Illus. Mike Bierek
#59/249

Joe

What a truly, masterfully bad, horrible remake of feldons cane. It’s like feldon’s cane knocked up tormods crypt not knowing they were estranged brother and sister, and their poor baby was named Quest for Ancient Secrets. Someone seriously peed in this gene pool. Poor kid got mom’s targetability, but dad’s doofus ability, and is just kinda slow in general.

James

” ” Did you catch my comment there?

Roil Elemental – 3UUU
Creature – Elemental (Rare)
Flying
Landfall – Whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control, you may gain control of target creature for as long as you control Roil Elemental.
3/2
Illus. Raymond Swanland
#62/249

Joe

GTFOH! Thank god it’s a vulnerable 2 toughness 6-drop. This is a beast. As a turn seven surprise when you’re holding that fetchland you’d been sandbagging? Drop Roil Elemental, then a fetchland and have some “uh, double-up, uh uh” control magic action like Sir Mix-a-Lot would do. Still, seems like “Shock it” is a pretty inevitable kind of response. But this is hardly an argument against it… like they all said about tarmogoyf, right? “Dies to everything”. This guy costs 6, dies to everything, and if they don’t have an answer, wins the game fairly well against creature strategies. I remember playing 6-drop 3/3 fliers in ravnica block in the form of conclave equenaut… okay, so it had convoke. Still, this guy steals shit, c’mon!

James

Hello! doesn’t say anything about EOT. Just make sure you can protect Roil Elemental and you have yourself a Vedalken Shackles on steroids. No joke, imo. This one is just waiting to be abused. Finally a U worth considering for a deck! Expensive though…

Sea Gate Loremaster – 4U
Creature – Merfolk Wizard Ally (Rare)
{T}: Draw a card for each Ally you control.

“He’s a living library. He remembers everything our band of explorers has seen, and we can use that to our advantage.”
- Zahr Gada, Halimar expedition leader

1/3
Illus. Dave Kendall
#63/249

Joe

Worst case, he’s similar to urza’s blueprints or something, but more vulnerable as a creature… more like archivist I suppose. Best case, he’s arcanis the omnipotent and beyond! I think he’s got the goods.

James

“not bad”…I guess…”meh”

Spell Pierce – U
Instant (Common)
Counter target noncreature spell unless its controller pays {2}.

Joe

Should be quite huge in constructed. I’m guessing it’ll be at least as popular as force spike, maybe as much as spell snare. It’s definitely destined to be in the counterspell arsenal from this point forward. I predict lots of play. This will cause many frowns in the near future.

James

Cheap for sure at 1cc and great for hitting a planeswalker. This might actually be a viable SB for U.

Sphinx of Lost Truths – 3UU
Creature – Sphinx (Rare)
Kicker {1}{U} (You may pay an additional {1}{U} as you cast this spell)
Flying
When Sphinx of Lost Truths enters the battlefield, draw three cards. Then if it wasn’t kicked, discard three cards.
3/5
Illus. Shelly Wan
#69/249

Joe

Super duper in limited even without the selection boost thing… just a 5-drop 3/5 flyer. The rest is gravy. It’s some very tasty gravy too! This guy is a bomb for sure. Late game he’s a sick flyer and a recharge of your hand. Very strong.

James

I’d def’ play this in limited. It’s great for fixing your hand. I can also see this being useful in constructed though only marginally. Man, at this point in the review, I’m thinking U TOTALLY SUCKS.

Whiplash Trap – 3UU
Instant – Trap (Common)
If an opponent had two or more creatures enter the battlefield under his or her control this turn, you may pay {U} rather than pay Whiplash Trap’s mana cost.
Return two target creatures to their owners’ hands.
Illus. Zoltan Boros & Gabor Szikszai

Joe

This could actually stall someone pretty effectively, though the effect seems more impressive on U than it should I think… by virtue of the fact that two creatures entered the battlefield, the opponent is well established in mana, so it seems to follow that you’re only likely to set them back a turn, just like unsummon earlier on. You could, I suppose, return two more expensive creatures that were summoned earlier one at a time… their turn 3 and 4 plays before dropping two guys on turn 5, perhaps. All of this is within the realm of the U version. As 3UU, this is still rather good. The effect is very strong, I just don’t think it’s likely to be as awesome on turn 2 bouncing two 1-drop 1/1s… it’s better at their EOT on turn 6, bouncing their turn 5 and 6 plays and clearing the way for an attack. Strong bounce spell here.

James

Now we’re talking. Hmm, [reviewing my comments] seems like the U commons are all way more likely to see play than the uncommons/rares. I must be taking crazy pills or something. This card just screams flexibility to me. Again, I’m thinking the Trap mechanic is way powerful and having more than one way of playing a card (esp’ at different cc’s) represents great potential imo.

Windrider Eel – 3U
Creature – Fish (Common)
Flying
Landfall – Whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control, Windrider Eel gets +2/+2 until end of turn.
“The best spot to hook one is right behind the gills” – Rana Cloudwake, Kor skyfisher
2/2
Illus. Austin Hsu
#78/249

Joe

In the past, 4-drop 2/2 flyers were pretty good in limited. This guy’s occasionally approximately air elemental better, and with fetchlands, occasionally insane flying roar of the wurm tokens. I giv the nod of approval.

James

Great for limited. This is a great card to pick highly. Evasion, built-in pump. What’s not to like? So far as constructed? Nah…

Bala Ged Thief – 3B
Creature – Human Rogue Ally (Rare)
Whenever Bala Ged Thief or another Ally enters the battlefield under your control, target player reveals a number of cards from his or her hand equal to the number of Allies you control. You choose one of them. That player discards that card.
2/2
Illus. Matt Cavotta
#79/249

Joe

Not terrible even if he triggers for himself and never does anything else. I’m a fan of making people discard their last spell in limited. Good players will try to sandbag a land for this kind of thing. I think this thief is solid, and I’d be taking her and hoping for allies.dec in a draft. Not sure what an ally constructed deck looks like, but I’m guessing it doesn’t look anything like this card.

James

This is awesome for limited. It’s removal and a beating stick all in one. The cost seems right imo.

Blood Tribute – 4BB
Sorcery (Rare)
Kicker – Tap an untapped Vampire you control. (You may tap a Vampire you control in addition to any other costs as you cast this spell.)
Target player loses half his or her life, rounded up. If Blood Tribute was kicked, you gain life equal to the life lost this way.
Illus. Alex Horley-Orlandelli
#81/249

Joe

Nice ass! Not bad for EDH, where you can see a 40-point life swing. Probably decent in constructed, but it has the built in paradox of being a late game mana cost for an effect that gets worse as the game progresses.

James

Beat it…come on everyone just beat it. Doh, I meant Kick it.

Bloodghast – BB
Creature – Vampire Spirit (Rare)
Bloodghast can’t block.
Bloodghast has haste as long as an opponent has 10 life or less.
Landfall – Whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control, you may return Bloodghast from your graveyard to the battlefield.
2/1
Illus. Daarken
#83/249

Joe

Amazing. Definitely going in the ghost council of orzhova edh deck. Seems quite strong to me in limited and constructed both, though not being a blocker definitely rains on the parade a bit. Still, in the context of the constructed deck he’s likely in, this guy is probably a superb enabler, assuming somehing cares about a vampire coming into play. In limited, he never fucking dies! Keep sending him, you’ll get him back free of charge. Seems no joke to me.

James

Hmmm, this guy is marginal. The Landfall-grave digger is pretty slick but a 2/1 is nothing to write home about. Late pick in limited and just pass it by for constructed. why block w/ a 2/1 anyway? he’s meant to be agro and the landfall-grave-dig ability re-enforces that motif. still, i’m not sure it’s got the goods for constructed. Mono-Black Aggro may be viable but so far as two drops go, I’d rather play B/G and use putrid leech & have access to maelstrom pulse

Gatekeeper of Malakir – BB
Creature – Vampire Warrior (Uncommon)
Kicker {B} (You may pay an additional {B} as you cast this spell.)
When Gatekeeper of Malakir enters the battlefield, if it was kicked, target player sacrifices a creature.
“You may enter the city – once the toll is paid.”
2/2
Illus. Karl Kopinski

Joe

Sweet bear. Triple black to kick hurts, as does double black for a 2/2. Still, cruel edict really rocks.

James

NOW we’re talking. Sick. Don’t pass this card up in a draft and I’d keep an eye on this for constructed.

Guul Draz Specter – 2BB
Creature – Specter (Rare)
Flying
Guul Draz Specter gets +3/+3 as long as an opponent has no cards in hand.
Whenever Guul Draz Specter deals combat damage to a player, that player discards a card.
2/2
Illus. Mark Tedin

Joe

Pretty slow, and unlikely to do 5 to anyone who doesn’t want him to. Modern specters are too polite. That thug hypnotic specter never let any succas pick the card they want to discard, he just reached over and took one. “And what, son?” Still, the whole 4-drop 2/2 thing applies here. He’s pretty awesome.

James

Move over Hippie, there’s a new sherif in town. Seems a bit costly at 4cc (for Constructed) but it’s worth it. Damn worth it.

Halo Hunter – 2BBB
Creature – Demon (Rare)
Intimidate (This creature can’t be blocked except by artifact creatures and/or creatures that share a color with it.)
When Halo Hunter enters the battlefield, destroy target Angel.
6/3
Illus. Chris Rahn
#96/249

Joe

Myr can’t be intimidated, didn’t you know? Big fat fliers are always nice. Killing an angel is nice sometimes, I won’t lie. Just not as often as a big fat flier is awesome, which is pretty much always, especially for 5 mana.

James

So is this what R&D had in mind when they made the Baneslayer Angel have protection from demons and dragons? Wtf? Anyway, at least it can zoom on by the B.A. without any problems. The twist on ‘Fear’ is nice too. I don’t like it only having a x/3 butt.

Hideous End – 1BB
Instant (Common)
Destroy target nonblack creature. Its controller loses 2 life.

“A little dark magic won’t stop me. The worse the curse, the better the prize.”
- Radavi, Joraga relic-hunter, last words

Illus. Zoltan Boros & Gabor Szikszai

Joe

Cool. Removal = very important. This will see plenty of play. Terror + shock, kinda. Solid.

James

Super well designed card. This is great. I’d run it in Limited and Constructed. It’s right inline with Blightening, taking a card & doing damage. Sweet. Very playable in limited (obviously) and will peak its head into constructed decks, though it’s long term viablity isn’t something I’m convinced of. It does do exactly what B wants to do: kill creatures and suck life.

Kalitas, Bloodchief of Ghet – 5BB
Legendary Creature – Vampire Warrior (Mythic Rare)
{B}{B}{B}, {T}: Destroy target creature. If that creature is put into a graveyard this way, put a black Vampire creature token onto the battlefield. Its power is equal to that creature’s power and its toughness is equal to that creature’s toughness.
5/5
Illus. Todd Lockwood
#99/249

Joe

For 7 mana, he doesn’t do much for a constructed deck to want him, that’s my guess. In limited he’s broken as hell, there’s no doubt. A fabulous specimen of a bomb.

James
The tapping is what makes me think it doesn’t have the goods. Still, it’s pretty freaking impressive but at 7cc? I just can’t commit. Personally, I don’t like big-mana decks because they’re so vulnerable to counters and quick-spot removals. The meta is shifting and we may be looking at bigger mana decks. I just think about other “high” costing creatures: Captain of the Watch, Cloud thresher & Broodmate Dragon. Those cards are just _better_ imo…For a Mythic Rare I do’nt see this peaking above $3

Mind Sludge – 4B
Sorcery (Uncommon)
Target player discards a card for each Swamp you control.

Joe

It’s been a part of MBC in the past. Nothing like a cheaper mindtwist, right? You’re always taking their whole hand with this. It’s part of the incentive toward MBC in my mind… the inevitable destruction. Should see play, could be in constructed. In limited, where it’s likely a 2-color deck or so, it’s still not bad if they discard 2-3 cards.

James
I actually think this is a splashable card in Jund-esque/ R-B decks. How many swamps mid-to-late game do you really need to empty your opponent’s hand? 3? Definitely very good for MBC; I can also see this being pretty good in limited when you’re heading toward late game and your opponent is about to drop a hefty 6cc on you. Oops, not any more.

Needlebite Trap – 5BB
Instant – Trap (Uncommon)
If an opponent gained life this turn, you may pay {B} rather than pay Needlebite Trap’s mana cost.
Target player loses 5 life and you gain 5 life.
The traps around the vampire city of Malakir hint at the thirst of its inhabitants.
Illus. Daarken
#105/249

Joe

In limited, you might really play it for 7, and it will win a lot of games that way. It’s not badly priced at 7 either. It’s essentially an easier, instant-speed drain life for 5. I could definitely see maindecking it in limited. In constructed, it’s only good for B, so it’s probably only a sideboard card if a life-gaining deck is popular.

James
This is an unbelievably good card. I expect this card to see play as it completely nullifies most instances of life-gain. I’m hard pressed to think of an instance where a player gains more than 5 life in a turn. Baneslayer Angel may be the pet card right now but it’s just met an instant that completely wastes a turn, and it only cost 1 cc. Damn.

Ob Nixilis, the Fallen – 3BB
Legendary Creature – Demon (Mythic Rare)
Landfall – Whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control, you may have target player lose 3 life. If you do, put three +1/+1 counters on Ob Nixilis, the Fallen.
3/3
Illus. Jason Felix
#107/249

Joe

This guy might not be a terrible General, though for monoblack, maga traitor to mortals or kiku nights flower still seem better. Still, this guy comes down early and hits very hard. Think about swinging turn 6 for 9 after your opponent losing 6 life to your fetchland. That’s well within the realm of “insane” for a spell with sengir vampire’s casting cost. Obviously a bomb in limited… this is the kind of mythic rare you hope for.

James
Absolutely playable. Now we’re looking at a really good spell for Jund, R/B & MBC. Please note, we’re not talking EOT; we’re talking counters. At 5cc, I don’t see this making Ext’d (at least not next month) but this is absolutely a playable for Type2. Get ‘em while you can boys (and gals), this is a no-joke demon.

Quest for the Gravelord – B
Enchantment (Uncommon)
Whenever a creature is put into a graveyard from the battlefield, you may put a quest counter on Quest for the Gravelord.
Remove three quest counters from Quest for the Gravelord and sacrifice it: Put a 5/5 black Zombie Giant creature token onto the battlefield.
Illus. Chris Rahn

Joe

Now here’s a quest I can get behind. You don’t lose much other than the card if they kill this thing, because it only cost you B. They likley had to spend more to remove it. The quest counters aren’t necessarily trivial to add, but they’ll arrive in due time in a limited game. And thn, you get a nice 5/5 for your low investment. I like it. Sems to go really well with any kind of sweeper removal. I think this has lots of potential to shine.

James
I don’t really agree with Joe on this one. Maybe I’m just comparing it to the Angel-creator a little too much. I don’t see how it’s balanced that we have to sac the enchantment. I’d rather see a limitation such as “Only play this ability once per turn.” Still as a one-drop there’s not much wrong with it. I don’t think this will see play.

Sorin Markov – 3BBB
Planeswalker – Sorin (Mythic Rare)
[+2]: Sorin Markov deals 2 damage to target creature or player and you gain 2 life.
[-3]: Target opponent’s life total becomes 10.
[-7]: You control target player’s next turn.
4
Illus. Michael Comarck
#111/249

Joe

I wrote an article about this guy when he was first “decided.” Clearly an insane bomb in limited, assuming you can support black. I finally got a glimpse of the full frame art for this guy, courtesy of my dork pal who disagreed vehemently with me on the topic of this artwork:

I must admit that the artwork may not be quite as bad as I claimed in the post, but I’m still depressed that this is what a lot of players consider the pinnacle of magic artwork… that this style is all the rage. I guess I’m just an old school Amy Weber style guy. Fay Jones for life!! They should have made this guy into a vampire token instead.

James
@ the art, this looks like a rip off of a True Blood character. Maybe I just worked with too many Scandinavians to really get behind the art on this one. He’s “aight”. So far as the abilities go, I believe this is a very good planeswalker. I have no qualms about paying 5cc to make my opponent’s life total become 10. Bloodsucking from there is great. We haven’t even seen all the B but I do see MBC becoming more and more viable. Control focused on discard and removal transitioning into Sorin here could be very difficult for decks to deal with. All in all, I think this card is strictly balanced and I don’t anticipate a metoric rise in value like we saw with Sarkan Vol and Elspeth

Soul Stair Expedition – B
Enchantment (Common)
Landfall – Whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control, you may put a quest counter on Soul Stair Expedition.
Remove three quest counters from Soul Stair Expedition and sacrifice it: Return up to two target creature cards from your graveyard to your hand.
Illus. Anthony Francisco
#112/249

Joe

Not bad. It’s the same price as raise dead, and in exchange for being slower, it does double duty. I’m okay with this in limited. It’s definitely a shittier card the longer the game goes, as you may wait a while before you can use this once you’ve run out your hand. Sandbagging lands is going to be a big skill-test in this set, I predict.

James
Take off the training wheels and use your lands to bluff. Is that basically the lesson WotC trying to teach with a few of these landfall cards? This one in particular is really nice and it’s way better than the Quest of the Gravelord. This is a great mid-draft pick and will fill in your one-drops nicely. So far as constructed is concerned, maybe two in your decks is enough. This card will do WONDERS for making unearth viable as an archetype and that’s where I’d keep an eye on this card appearing–that and Jund-style decks running Bloodbraid Elf.

Vampire Lacerator – B
Creature – Vampire Warrior (Common)
At the beginning of your upkeep, you lose 1 life unless an opponent has 10 or less life.
The lacerators cut themselves before each hunt. They must feed before the sun rises or bleed to death.
2/2
Illus. Steve Argyle
#115/249

Joe

Sick! This guy is huge for the vampire deck. He’s Isamaru, vampire of konda! The drawback is really low, I think. Even if you always took 1 on upkeep, he might be worth it. The fact that it’s only temporary pain is great. In limited, he’s awesome on turn 1, and still relevant later. Seems like you could do some real damage if you drafted multiples of these cheap vampires after cracking one of the better rare ones.

James
Bingo. Here we have a must-include for the MB decks. Very aggressive. Limited: Very playable Constructed: Playable

Vampire Nighthawk – 1BB
Creature – Vampire Shaman (Uncommon)
Flying
Deathtouch (Creatures dealt damage by this creature are destroyed. You can divide this creature’s combat damage among any of the creatures blocking or blocked by it.)
Lifelink (Damage dealt by this creature also causes you to gain that much life.)
2/3
Illus. Jason Chan
#116/249

Joe

There’s nothing wrong with this guy and everything right. Gray ogre never had it so good. A superb creature, and surely a high pick for black.

James
Just gets better and better for Mono-black. This is a first pick for limited. The x/3 but is big enough to hold off the ground (and remove creatures). Your opponent won’t attack into him so if you’re swinging on T4 the life swing is 4. Has everyone see the skyrocketing price of Vampire Nocturnes? Vampire.dec will be interesting to see if it’s just a quick fad or a here-to-stay trend.

Chandra Ablaze – 4RR
Planeswalker – Chandra (Mythic Rare)
[+1]: Discard a card. If a red card is discarded this way, Chandra Ablaze deals 4 damage to target creature or player.
[-2]: Each player discards his or her hand, then draws three cards.
[-7]: Cast any number of target red instant and/or sorcery cards from your graveyard without paying their mana cost.
5
Illus. Steve Argyle
#120/249

Joe

What an interesting inferno of abilities. Turns your red cards into free flame javelins, refills hands (worst of the three for its symmetry), and goes yawgmoths will styl on your burn spells three turns down the line. Seems just fine to me. Six is a lot, but so is 4 damage! Obviously insane in limited, but I’m not sure it’s going to cut the mustard in constructed. Burn decks want to be about done by turn 6, not just deploying their bomb.

James
This card is stupidly good and I’m not thinking Limited here. I’m talking constructed. It’s absolutely okay to play this turn 6. By that point in the game, the red mage has cast MOST of his/her instants and sorceries–and being mono-red they are ALL red. Turn 8 = GG. If Chandra Ablaze makes it to prime-time, expect to bring in the Mindbreak Trap (see above). Since it’s an activated ability, the “number of cast spells” all go on the stack–and you have your opportunity to negate & exile all of them. Again, with a trap cost of ZERO, any and all decks can run Mindbreak. It’s just going to be a very, very narrow SB choice so make absolutely sure that Chandra is in the meta before tromping off and throwing it in your SB. Anyway, back to Chandra: she’s very playable. Play her in your Mono-red decks!

Demolish – 3R
Sorcery (Common)
Destroy target artifact or land.

Joe

An oldie but goodie. Has its place… in your sideboard.

James
…if there…

Electropotence – 2R
Enchantment (Rare)
Whenever a creature enters the battlefield under your control, you may pay {2}{R}. If you do, that creature deals damage equal to its power to target creature or player.
Where life and force collide
Illus. Christopher Moeller

Joe

Time has not been kind to pandemonium, alas. At least in this version, only you get to trigger it, but this still seems steep. There’s probably going to be an attempt to break this, maybe along with that new pacifism thing we saw above? I dunno… this is killer in limited though, as reusable burn or removal typically is.

James
Maybe in a Jund deck? Decks playing Bloodbraid will test this out for sure. It’s just too efficient to ignore and the 3-drop slot isn’t going to be too hot with the loss of Boggart Gang-bang. Er, I mean Boggart Ram-Gang .

Elemental Appeal – RRRR
Sorcery (Rare)
Kicker {5} (You may pay an additional {5} as you cast this spell)
Put a 7/1 red Elemental creature token with trample and haste onto the battlefield. Exile it at the beginning of the next end step. If Elemental Appeal was kicked, that creature gets +7/+0 until end of turn.
Illus. Anthony Francisco

Joe

Ball lightning seems to have aged a little better, but the original is still better imo. 9 mana is a lot for a 14/1 that dies to prodigal pyromancer. The 7/1 is still good as non-morphing blistering firecat. Good for a burst of damage when opponents are wide open for it. Terrible when they’re prepared. I think it gets playing in limited only when you’re way deep in red (thank you, Dr. Obvious). Constructed might have a place for him.

James
Marginally playble; certainly nothing to write home about. Looks like we’d be paying 4cc for 3-4 damage and that SUCKs for red decks. I take it back, it’s not playable.

Geyser Glider – 3RR
Creature – Elemental Beast (Uncommon)
Landfall – Whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control, Geyser Glider gains flying until end of turn.

“Quit pontificating, mage. The last thing we want to do is give it more hot air.”
-Tala Vertan, Makindi shieldmate

4/4
Illus. Warren Mahy

Joe

Air Elemental for red is a big deal, even if he’s lazy and only flies when the weather is just right. This guy’s going to be a red limited deck’s backbone in lots of cases. Superb for a 5-drop in a color often lacking evasive guys.

James
Great for limited. 5cc for a 4/4 isn’t even all that bad in limited and this one can get flying “every other turn or so”. Not bad. I’m not sure about constructed though. Mono-Red doesn’t really want more than 5 or 6 lands in play. But, again, I have the feeling that the mana curve is shifting slowly upward with this set so it’s not THAT bad in constructed. I just expect to see it win a ton of games in limited and then be generally absent in constructed. This is early-pick worthy for sure. Getting two in a limited deck would be devastating…there aren’t many creatures with butts over x/3 in this set so he’ll dominate in limited.

Goblin Bushwhacker – R
Creature – Goblin Warrior (Common)
Kicker – {R} (You may pay an additional {R} as you cast this spell.)
When Goblin Bushwhacker enters the battlefield, if it was kicked, creatures you control get +1/+0 and gain haste until end of turn.

1/1

Joe

Not bad for a rush aggro kind of deck. A mini trumpet blast with a 1/1 attached. 1-drop 1/1s are usually avoided in limited unless they do something special… this guy might be special enough.

James
Where’s the haste? That’s what would make this card very playable. Now it’s just a filler-card. Drafting I would pick this mid-to late and be pretty happy but I wouldn’t want more than 2 in my deck. It’s just too mediocre. I wouldn’t even look at this as a one-drop. It’s a two drop that you want to play before an alpha strike. I see this being a splash card in limited (i.e. for splashing red) and being completely forgotten about in constructed.

Goblin Guide – R
Creature – Goblin Scout (Rare)
Haste
Whenever Goblin Guide attacks, defending player reveals the top card of his or her library. If it’s a land card, that player puts it into his or her hand.
“I’ve been all over this world. I even remember some of those places.”
2/2
Illus. Warren Mahy

Joe

This is a very powerful jackal pup kind of guy. The drawback gives you a clue about what’s coming up, reminiscent of orcish spy and pals. Seems more impressive in constructed where you can drop him turn 1 regularly. I wonder if the bonus cards will prove to be an acceptable downside or not. In limited, he’s kind of on the fence in my mind. I hate handing this kind of card advantage to an opponent, so my curve had better be quite aggressive for me to run him. Luckily, as a suicide attacker, your opponent might actually want to take 2 and hope to see some bonus land.

James
Hmm, this is going to be hotly debated I expect. On the play, dropping turn 1 & attacking potentially gives your opponent an 8th card in the opening hand. However, there aren’t THAT many things a person can do turn one so ultimately that 8th card will be discarded. Also, we could view the “sneak peek” as providing us more information than the opponent will EVER want to reveal. On the play, you don’t necessarily even know what your opponent is playing–they haven’t had a chance to show us yet. Getting a peek at a card will provide you a ton of information on how to adjust your plays for the rest of the game. Actually, now that I thought about it on “out loud and on paper” with y’all, I’m not seeing the potential draw as a downside at all. This card is a bomb and will absolutely see play, replacing Mogg Fanatic and even sorta-kinda Figure of Destiny. A very, very very good goblin.

Goblin Ruinblaster – 2R
Creature – Goblin Shaman (Uncommon)
Haste
Kicker – {R}
When Goblin Ruinblaster enters the battlefield, if it was kicked, destroy target nonbasic land.
2/1

Joe

Hmm. Well, this could have a place in older formats, but I think there are better, more efficient options there. It’s not bad as a hasty ogre, and the CiP LD thing will be decent at times, though usually irrelevant for limited. Hasty 2/1 for 2R… doesn’t seem terrible.

James
Great card. 3cc is perfect. Bloodbraids will hit this bad boy, so kick it and destroy their dual lands. This card is horrible for limited though; just pass it. (But make sure you have 4x for your red decks).

Kazuul Warlord – 4R
Creature – Minotaur Warrior Ally (Rare)
Whenever Kazuul Warlord or another Ally enters the battlefield under your control, you may put a +1/+1 counter on each Ally creature you control.
On expeditions, minotaurs are worth their weight in gold. Fortunately for the paymasters, most minotaurs don’t know how much they weigh.
3/3
Illus. Kev Walker

Joe

All by his lonesome, that he’s a 4/4 for 4R means he’s fomori nomad good, and strictly better than berserkers of blood ridge. The fact that he will often boost and be boosted by other allies makes this guy bomb-level good. With more than two other allies in your deck, I’d say this guy’s huge. Without a single other ally, he’s merely highly playable.

James
I’m so on the fence with Allies and I don’t see a very viable ally deck occurring. Though, I have to admit, if you have just even one other ally on the board (or one in hand) this is a very good card. Play him in limited and then test the waters in constructed. “Marginal”

Lavaball Trap – 6RR
Instant – Trap (Rare)
If an opponent had two or more lands enter the battlefield under his or her control this turn, you may pay {3}{R}{R} rather than pay Lavaball Trap’s mana cost.
Destroy two target lands. Lavaball Trap deals 4 damage to each creature.
Illus. Zoltan Boros & Gabor Szikszai

Joe

This seems most relevant as a trap, since by the time you have 8 mana, the two lands will likely be irrelevant, and there’s a good chance it won’t even kill all the creatures your opponent controls at that point. As a trap, it’s clearly designed to punish use of the new fetch lands. This seems like a big enough cost though to somewhat telegraph itself in constructed. Opponent has 3RR up? Maybe I’ll wait to break that fetch land I just dropped until my opponent’s turn! Thumbs down for me. Easily avoided any time you know it’s coming… probably unlikely to matter in all other cases.

James
Ummm, as a giant pyroclasm + land destruction for 8 cc I say “no” but for 5cc I say yes. Since fetch lands will without a doubt see play, I can see this being playable. It’s just so damn situational that I’m not convinced I would ever play it. I guess that means my verdict is “no.”

Murasa Pyromancer – 4RR
Creature – Human Shaman Ally (Uncommon)
Whenever Murasa Pyromancer or another Ally enters the battlefield under your control, you may have Murasa Pyromancer deal damage to target creature equal to the number of Allies you control.
Fire is my accomplice. For enough coin, it can be yours as well.
3/2
Illus. Kekai Kotaki

Joe

This is one ally that surely shines in an ally-heavy deck, but sucks pretty bad on his own. I wouldn’t run him as my only ally. He’s a pretty bad sparkmage apprentice variant then. But again, with 3+ other allies, I’d give him a shot.

James
Maybe playble in limited if you’re getting a lot of allies. Otherwise, just forget it. If it read “to creature or player” I’d say yeah but as it is, no. …or if it had flash. Alas, neither is the case…

Plated Geopede – 1R
Creature – Insect (Common)
First strike
Landfall – Whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control, Plated Geopede gets +2/+2 until end of turn.

“Kor armorers buy the scales and claws. Elf oracles buy the rest.”
- Nablas, North Hada trapper

1/1
Illus. Eric Deschamps

Joe

I like the fetchland in combat tricks he enables, but he’s kinda tiny for 2 mana. I think a density of landfall effects would still be pretty devastating though, so he’d likely be included in such a deck. If you crack a fetchland and raredraft it, as I plan to do until I have playsets, then landfall, and this guy, don’t seem like bad things to pursue for that deck.

James
For a common, this isn’t that bad. Don’t load up on them because w/out the haste he’s UBER vulnerable but certainly playble as a 3/3 firststrike. I don’t see this being good in constructed. It’s def’ worth testing out in a draft though.

Warren Instigator – RR
Creature – Goblin Berserker (Mythic Rare)
Double Strike
Whenever Warren Instigator deals damage to an opponent, you may put a Goblin creature card from your hand onto the battlefield.
1/1
Illus. Andrew Robinson

Joe

Goblin Lackey redux, this time with doublestrike! It’s pretty well a bargain to get doublestrike for R more than the original. On the other hand, a huge part of the original was the turn 1 play. I still have to believe this will be a chase rare, a huge player in goblin decks across all formats, and essentially Lackeys 5-8 whenever both are legal and you’re playing gobbos. Alas, goblin warchief wont help him come down sooner. I’m only marginally into him in limited, but I wouldn’t complain to open him, since I’ll likely have paid for my entry fee just from the card pool. Personally, I think he’s better than goblin scout.

James
Very good in constructed but horrible in limited. It’s likely to eat any removal your opponent has (in constructed) so that bodes well for the real bomb in a goblin deck: Siege-gang Commander. Personally I don’t see much wrong with dropping this guy on turn 2 and getting 1/2 your hand into play on turn 3. Massive pressure that’s for sure.

Baloth Woodcrasher – 4GG
Creature – Beast (Uncommon)
Landfall – Whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control, Baloth Woodcrasher gets +4/+4 and gains trample until end of turn.
Its insatiable hunger quickly depletes a region of prey. It must migrate from place to place to feed its massive bulk.
4/4
Illus. Zoltan Boros & Gabor Szikszai
#157/249

Joe

He’s pretty much an 8/8 trample for 6, on average. Might occasionally be a 12/12 though. And in green you can always harrow (see below!) after dropping a land, and he’d then be 16/16. Make your land drop for the turn a fetch and he’s the magical 20/20. So anyway, clearly he has the potential to go large. I’m gonna go ahead and say this is probably a very high pick green uncommon. Even if he’s only 8/8 and trample a third of the time, and 4/4 vanilla the rest, he’s still fine for 6 CMC.

James
Great card! Don’t pass him up in limited. As for constructed…meh. He’s certainly no Broodmate Dragon…and def’ not Terra Stomper (see below).

Beast Hunt – 3G
Sorcery (Common)
Reveal the top three cards of your library. Put all creature cards revealed this way into your hand and the rest into your graveyard.

“Surely we could tame something besides hurdas and pillarfield oxen!”
- Sheyda, Ondu gamekeeper

Illus. Kieran Yanner

Joe

It’s no gift of the gargantuan, but it’s still decent selection. This is how green card draw has gone since the wacky days of harmonize. Not my kind of card, but I think it’s playable.

James
I’d play one or two in a creature heavy limited deck but the downside is losing a land (or two!) to the graveyard and that land can mean the likelihood of us losing a LOT of tempo. As for constructed? Nah….

Gigantiform – 3GG
Enchantment – Aura (Rare)
Kicker {4}
Enchant creature
Enchanted creature is 8/8 and has trample.
When Gigantiform enters the battlefield, if it was kicked, you may search your library for a card named Gigantiform, put it onto the battlefield, then shuffle your library.
Illus. Justin Sweet
#162/249

Joe

When will this ever be kicked in constructed? This is gimmicky trash. In limited, the non-kicked use is fine (and you’ll essentially never have two anyway), turning some dork into a big beater. Might even be rightly considered a bomb. But it’s an invitation to a bitch slap in constructed.

James
It’s okay in limited as it will turn your pitiful x/2 into something worth having but it screams “2 4 1 me please!” I would pick this kinda late. The trample is appealing but I’m not sure it’s enough to justify the card.

Harrow – 2G
Instant
As an additional cost to cast Harrow, sacrifice a land.
Search your library for up to two basic land cards and put them onto the battlefield. Then shuffle your library.

Joe

First Tempest, then Invasion both proved how incredibly good this spell is. Neither set had landfall. This is going to be huge. It’s what they call an enabler. This will see play as a 4-of in multiple tournament viable constructed decks. It’s also an incredible fixer for limited. Go go Harrow!

James
Jesus. Ridiculously good. Makes turn 4 a 6 drop. Jesus. This card will see play…lots of play, like that trashy girl at the bar you see hanging around a different guy (or gal) every week.

Khalni Heart Expedition – 1G
Enchantment (Common)
Landfall – Whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control, you may put a quest counter on Khalni Heart Expedition.
Remove three quest counters from Khalni Heart Expedition and sacrifice it: Search your library for up to two basic land cards, put them onto the battlefield tapped, then shuffle your library.
Illus. Jason Chan

Joe

Whoa mamma. So you drop this turn 2. Turn 3 you drop a land, then cast harrow, then sacrifice this thing. Now you’ve got 6 lands in play on turn 3, having searched for 4 of them, and any landfallers you have just got activated 5 times. Killer. This is also going to be huge, I suspect. Probably a tournament 4-of as well. Very solid in limited. Probably a necessity for decks with more than 2 colors.

James
I’d rather just play Rampant Growth. I’m not as excited about this as Joe is. It’s just not that great…in constructed. In limited it’s great. Thins out your deck, fetches your color-fix–albeit kinda slowly. I mean, aside from the ideal scenario of Heart Expedition to Harrow, it’s going to take 3 turns to activate. Again, I’d rather just play rampant growth.

Nissa Revane – 2GG
Planeswalker – Nissa (Mythic Rare)
[+1] Search your library for a card named Nissa’s Chosen and put it onto the battlefield. Then shuffle your library.
[+1] You gain 2 life for each Elf you control.
[-7] Search your library for any number of Elf creature cards and put them onto the battlefield. Then shuffle your library.
2
Illus. Jaime Jones

Joe

Nissa’s Chosen (see below) is a common, so you know whoever cracks this in pack 1 is going to end up with a few. Without many elves though, this planeswalker isn’t even particularly playable. Seems like a constructed deck will form around her though… we’ll see if it has the goods. I’m guessing it’ll be a contender. Such a vulnerable planeswalker though.

James
This has to be the Single Worst Planeswalker Ever Nuf said. It’s so stupid it’s hard to believe. I don’t even see an elf deck forming around this. What would be the point? If you like Nissa’s Chosen, just play 4x Nissa’s Chosen and forget the planeswalker ‘ho–and last I checked (disclaimer, I haven’t checked–lol!) elfish warrior isn’t played. Would it be played if it was put back in the library? Probably not. SUPER LAME!!!!

Nissa’s Chosen – GG
Creature – Elf Warrior (Common)
If Nissa’s Chosen would be put into a graveyard from the battlefield, put it on the bottom of its owner’s library instead.
2/3
Illus. Jaime Jones

Joe

Elvish warrior without the mythic planeswalker. Close to a bomb common with her. Playable either way.

James
Playable in limited certainly but not outside that.

Oracle of Mul Daya – 3G
Creature – Elf Shaman (Rare)
You can play one additional land on each of your turns.
Play with the top card of your library revealed.
You may play the top card of your library if it’s a land card.
2/2
Illus. Vance Kovacs
#172/249

Joe

Another landfall enabler, but slightly weird. I think I’ll always try to play her though, maybe even as a lone green splash, if only for the land-from-the-top thing. I like it. Kind of a future sight / azusa lost but seeking mashup.

James
Now here’s something interesting. Playing a land off the top is awesome. It might be worth revealing the “non-land” under the land. Still, 4cc for an extra land isn’t really all that great if you don’t have anything to play into. Against a control deck, this is horrible card. You’re basically revealing whether the opponent should tap out for creatures or “hang back” to counter. At 3cc I might think otherwise but at 4? (I’m shaking my head “no”).

Oran-Rief Survivalist – 1G
Creature – Human Warrior Ally (Common)
Whenever Oran-Rief Survivalist or another Ally enters the battlefield under your control, you may put a +1/+1 counter on Oran-Rief Survivalist.
“I’m strong enough to survive alone. I’m smart enough to want companions at my side.”
1/1
Illus. Kev Walker

Joe

Grizzly bear is playable. It only gets better from there. Solid for sure.

James
Playable for allies. R/G allies might be a good deck for limited but I’m pretty sure it’s not worth playing in constructed.

Predatory Urge – 3G
Enchantment – Aura (Rare)
Enchant creature.
Enchanted creature has “{T}: This creature deals damage equal to its power to target creature. That creature deals damage equal to its power to this creature.”
Illus. Scott Chou

Joe

Decent reusable removal if you get some kind of wall or whatnot. Not terrible, but nothing to write home about really. Should have a place in 40-card maindecks though.

James
$0.50 rare.

Rampaging Baloths – 4gg
Creature – Beast (Mythic Rare)
Trample
Landfall – Whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control, you may put a 4/4 green Beast creature token onto the battlefield.

When the land is angry, so are they.
- Nissa Revane

6/6
Illus. Eric Deschamps
#176/249

Joe

Bombastic in limited. If you play him and never drop another land, he’s still worth it. Since you’ll usually get 2-4 more 4/4s out of the deal, he’s clearly a bomb. Mythic gods, smile on me!

James
This might see play in constructed. Putting 4/4 ’s into play for the cost of playing land is nothing to ignore.

River Boa – 1G
Creature – Snake (Common)
Islandwalk
{G}: Regenerate River Boa.
2/1

Joe

Oldie and very goodie. This is an easy card to underestimate. This guy’s very strong.

James
Excellent in limited. Very excellent.

Scute Mob – G
Creature – Insect (Rare)
At the beginning of your upkeep, if you control five or more lands, put four +1/+1 counters on Scute Mob.

“Survival rule 781: There are always more scute bugs.”
- Zurdi, goblin shortcutter

1/1
Illus. Zoltan Boros & Gabor Szikszai
#182/249

Joe

Wow. This is a very solid 1-drop. This will quickly go berserk for you if it lives past turn 5! I’m on board. Not sure I’d consider it a bomb, but it’s quite solid.

James
I wouldn’t play this as a “one drop” for sure. It will eat your removal and if it doesn’t get removed quickly, your opponent will lose very quickly. It’s as good as ‘Goyf. This will see heavy constructed play.

Scythe Tiger – G
Creature – Cat (Common)
Shroud
When Scythe Tiger enters the battlefield, sacrifice it unless you sacrifice a land.
3/2

Joe

Rogue elephant, the second. I like the shroud thing. This has been a mainstay of budget legacy and even vintage stompy decks, which might now have 8 such one-drop 3 power dorks. It’s pretty risky though in limited. I’d be a little frightened to drop him turn 1 with 40 cards, but with risk comes reward, right? Grizzly bear is frown town for him though. Plus, with shroud, you can’t equip him or anything. Lukewarm.

James
I think this could be good in a tron-style deck that runs Crucible of Worlds. as a 2/3 it’d be no-question good in limited but at x/2 it’s pretty risky.

Terra Stomper – 3GGG
Creature – Beast (Rare)
Terra Stomper can’t be countered.
Trample
Sometimes violent earthquakes, hurtling boulders, and unseasonable dust storms are wrongly attributed to the Roil.
8/8
Illus. Goran Josic
#187/249

Joe

Holy smokes. 8/8 trample uncounterable. For 6? Yikes! This’ll likely see some tournament play, and is going to make people do whatever they can to get into green. I like him a lot. I’m calling this a bomb.

James
Very powerful. This is the sort of thing you want to play Harrow on turn 3 for. Man…turn4 this puppy and your opp’ is probably taking a small dump in his pants. The argument “it can be easily removed” is applicable to so many damn creatures, please don’t make that your comment. This card is stupidly good. It’s significantly more than just efficient.

Turntimber Ranger – 3GG
Creature – Elf Druid Ally (Rare)
Whenever Turntimber Ranger or another Ally enters the battlefield, you may put a 2/2 green Wolf creature token onto the battlefield. If you do, put a +1/+1 counter on Turntimber Ranger.
2/2
Illus. Wayne Reynolds

Joe

What’s with wayne reynolds and this pose? goldmeadow stalwart invented the look, and this ranger is just a copycat! This is a sick bomb of an ally though. 5 power and toughness for 5 mana, but in two creatures is sick on its own, but with the potential for more, it’s off the charts. This guy’s yet another bomb rare for limited.

James
This is the kind of ally that makes me think allies just might–JUST MIGHT–have something for constructed. Again, so far as allies, I’m thinking R/G–potentially R/G/w but that’s pushing it. The comparison card for this is Broodmate imo. “But that costs more and you get two 4/4’s!” Yeah, yeah but this guy could easily pump out 2 or 3 2/2’s and becomes a 4/4 or 5/5–especially if your other ally is the minotaur. Worth watching and def’ worth experimenting with.

Vines of Vastwood – G
Instant (Common)
Kicker – {G} (You may pay an additional {G} as you cast this spell)
Target creature can’t be the target of spells of abilities your opponents control until end of turn. If Vines of Vastwood was kicked, that creature gets +4/+4 until end of turn.

Joe

Saweet common, this. Such a trivial kicker, it will rarely go unkicked. Very very good. A nice combat trick and/or removal-counterspell. Awesome card.

JamesPick this up in limited. NEVER EVER pass it. lol. I also think this would be worth examining in constructed. It can save your creature from “cheap removal” (such as the Terra Stomper) and create massive pressure. I wouldn’t underestimate this card at all–as though that weren’t clear already.

Blade of the Bloodchief – 1
Artifact – Equipment (Rare)
Whenever a creature is put into a graveyard from the battlefield, put a +1/+1 counter on equipped creature. If equipped creature is a Vampire, put two +1/+1 counters on it instead.
Equip {1}
Illus. Jung Park
#196/249

Joe

Oh my. This should be quite the beating. The counters are on the dude, not the blade… (Doc Obv. strikes again). I love it. I can’t see ever benching this in limited. Not ever.

James
I’ve seen some people bashing this card on twitter but personally I think it’s great. I’d run 2x in a vampire deck.

Carnage Altar – 2
Artifact (Uncommon)
3, Sacrifice a creature: Draw a card.
Illus. James Paick

Joe

Superb. Another card I can’t see myself leaving in my 40-card deck sideboard for any reason. Why not draw cards as creatures die? This would have been even more insane pre-M10 combat damage rules changes. It’s still solid. Makes removal from your opponents hurt a lot less.

James
The only concern I have with this card is the total cost. If you don’t have fatties to stall the ground and you’re just holding back mana open to activate this, then you’re losing and no amount of draw is going to help. This card is decent but not superb.

Eldrazi Monument – 5
Artifact (Mythic Rare)
Creatures you control get +1/+1, have flying, and are indestructible.
At the beginning of your upkeep, sacrifice a creature. If you can’t, sacrifice Eldrazi Monument.

“Gods don’t die. They merely slumber.”
-Ayli, Kamsa cleric

Illus. Mark Tedin
#199/249

Joe

That’s some mythic stuff right there. Indestructible and flying are both fantastic. Sacrificing can be difficult sometimes, but if you have any kind of token production, you’re golden. I like it. Shouldn’t be too hard to justify it in most sealed pools you open containing it. In draft, well… hope you get it early I guess? I dunno. Doesn’t seem intuitively to fit in draft as easily… if it comes pack three, you might just not have the right deck for it, I think. Interesting one. I doubt it’ll make the grade in constructed.

James
I’m not sure. It looks hawt but the question is, “Is getting in a couple of more points of damage per turn worth creating an infinite attrition situation?” Probably not.

Eternity Vessel – 6
Artifact (Mythic Rare)
Eternity Vessel enters the battlefield with X charge counters on it, where X is your life total.
Landfall – Whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control, you may have your life total become equal to the number of charge counters on Eternity Vessel.
Illus. John Avon
#200/249

Joe

Well, clearly your opponent must deal with this before they can do much else. As such, I consider it a highly worthwhile card. Coretapper has a crush on this thing. Probably shit for constructed, but in EDH it might have a place here or there. Arcum dagsson probably has better things to grab. I dunno. Anyone? Buhler?

James
Very interesting no doubt. But construction worthy? Probably not. The landfall issue isn’t great if you’re already losing and looking to stall. It sorta reminds me oLichs Mirror

Akoum Refuge
Land (Uncommon)
Akoum Refuge enters the battlefield tapped.
When Akoum Refuge enters the battlefield, you gain 1 life.
{T}: Add {B} or {R} to your mana pool.

Joe

I’ll only review this first one, but understand that it’s a cycle. They seem fine to me for limited, but in constructed there are doubtlessly better options available.

James
It’s better than the tri-lands from shards if you’re only in two colors (lol–obviously!) but beyond that I don’t see much here. Maybe a poor-man’s substitute for the new dual lands?

Arid Mesa
Land (Rare)
{T}, Pay 1 Life, Sacrifice Arid Mesa: Search your library for a Mountain or Plains card and put it onto the battlefield. Then shuffle your library.
Illus. Raymond Swanland
#211/249

Joe

Likewise, this cycle will be represented by the following comment: Whoop, there it is!

James
Get ‘em while you can boys. These cards will see $25++ very quickly–probably more considering the price of Onslaught fetchers.

Crypt of Agadeem

Land (Rare)
Crypt of Agadeem enters the battlefield tapped.
{T}: Add {B} to your mana pool.
{2}, {T}: Add {B} to your mana pool for each black creature card in your graveyard.

Joe

You need three black creatures in your yard before you break even on mana. With four, you gain one mana, and so on. Seems weak to me. Quite weak.

James
Pass.

Emeria, The Sky Ruin
Land (Rare)
Emeria, the Sky Ruin enters the battlefield tapped.
At the beginning of your upkeep, if you control seven or more plains, return target creature card from your graveyard to the battlefield.
{T}: Add {W} to you mana pool.

Joe

Awesome. More for constructed than limited, where seven plains ain’t gonna happen that often. Seven plains plus this guy is also quite late for constructed though. Probably not that awesome after all.

James
Borderline. I’d put one or two into a mono-white deck. Never more than that though.

Teetering Peaks
Land (Common)
Teetering Peaks enters the battlefield tapped.
When Teetering Peaks enters the battlefield, target creature gets +2/+0 until end of turn.
{T}: Add {R} to your mana pool.
Illus. Fred Fields

Joe

I don’t think +2/+0 is worth cip tapped.

James
I think this isn’t so bad. It’s a free pump. Great in limited if you’re only splashing for red–and are in B or U–where there were a few evasive guys. I’m a sucker for “free abilities” though.

Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
Land (Rare)
Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle enters the battlefield tapped.
Whenever a Mountain enters the battlefield under your control, if you control at least five other Mountains, you may have Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle deal 3 damage to target creature or player.
{T}: Add {R} to your mana pool.
Illus. Kieran Yanner
#228/249

Joe

Unless harrow + khalni heart expedition are way better than I think they are, then needing 7, 8, 9 lands in play is just too slow for these kinds of marginal effects. Pass.

James
I think this might be okay in a mono-red deck. It’s just not clear [to me] what the optimal time to play this is. Turn 1? Certainly if you don’t have a Goblin Guide in hand (see above) but turn 4 isn’t so bad because mono-red SHOULD have plenty to play at 3cc. Getting 3 damage in for just playing a mountain really isn’t that bad–not at all–and that 3 damage is uncountable. “sweet” I def’ think this is worth testing out.

The cards in the upcoming release of the Magic core set, Magic 2010 or “M10″ have now been completely spoiled by our pals at mtgsalvation.  M10 is a set which has already proven contentious, generating debate and controversy with the announcement of its accompanying rules changes a few weeks back.  Here are my first impressions and snap judgements upon diving in to this pile of spoiled cards like a child on christmas into a pile of fresh loot!

Ajani Goldmane – 2WW
Planeswalker – Ajani (Mythic Rare)
+1: You gain 2 life.
-1: Put a +1/+1 counter on each creature you control. Those creatures gain vigilance until end of turn.
-6: Put a white Avatar creature token onto the battlefield with “This creature’s power and toughness are each equal to your life total.”
4

(FYI, I’ll put card links around the reprinted cards’ names)  Nice.  So there’s both mythic rares and planeswalkers in this core set.  Very interesting.  Wizards is supposedly trying to make the core sets more intricate and to stop trying to dumb them down or power them down.  Mark Rosewater wrote a couple days ago that in creating M10, they intend to recapture some of that je n’sais pas… that evocative resonance… that certain essence or spirit or Substance™ that alpha cards had by making cards which were very top down, which represented some concrete thing in the mind of the player.  I’d say Ajani Goldmane is a nice way to do just that.  He’s this big feline-manoid planeswalker loyal to you.

As for the card, it’s obviously still a mega bomb in limited and constructed both.  The real bonus here is that he won’t be rotating with Lorwyn block, nor will any of his colleague planeswalkers.  Awesome way to start a set.

Angel’s Mercy – 2WW
Instant (Common)
You gain 7 life.
“Until that day I cursed the angels, those uncaring lights in the sky. They rewarded my scorn with the gift of time, every year of which I’ve spent in devotion to their names.”—Torian Sha, Soul Warden
Illus. Andrew Robinson

I am reminded of bargain, which if we follow the analogy means in exchange for your opponent drawing a card, you’ve paid an extra W.  This seems like a bargain, if you’ll excuse the expression.  However, recall too that heroes reunion has the same effect at half the cost, and you see that this is somewhere between that and kiss of the amesha when it comes to gaining seven life.  I’ve always been more of a vitalizing cascade kind of guy, but I’m a sucker for good artwork.  Anyway, as the first non-reprint, this is kind of a dud to me, though clearly this effect can have some impact on a game played with 40 card decks.  Even still, this has never been my style of card, even though I admit it’s at the threshold of being compelling.

Armored Ascension – 3W
Enchantment – Aura (Uncommon)
Enchant creature
Enchanted creature gets +1/+1 for each Plains you control and has flying.

This is a great reprint in limited.  You set yourself up for a two-for-one (241) when you cast this, but in exchange for your risk, your reward is the likely transmutation of some wimpy dude into an evasive killing machine.  Even if you’re 241′ed, often you were powering up your weakest minion, so you’ve sort of forced your opponent to waste removal on the least threatening man like a Bush era preventive strike.  Then again, you still got 241′ed, which is never fun.  Meh… the reward side of this is often great enough for me personally.  All I can say is, “Wings of shields, Ho!”

Baneslayer Angel – 3WW
Creature – Angel (Mythic Rare)
Flying, first strike, lifelink, protection from Demons and from Dragons
Some angels protect the meek and innocent. Others seek out and smite evil wherever it lurks.
5/5
Illus. Greg Staples
#4/249

Yes please!  Demons and dragons is kind of coincidental / gravy if you ask me.  Consider that in previous core sets, air elemental and serra angel and sengir vampire set the bar for 5-drop fliers, and they were all 4/4s.  Throw in lifelink and an additional eager cadet worth of power / toughness and you have yourself a rocking good deal.  And again, this guy’s soaked in protection from demons and dragons gravy!  Talk about no joke!   This guy seems to indicate that wizards is recalibrating things to make the standard core set creature commensurate with today’s powered up creature base.  McLovin it.  This is so far beyond merely being “sick” that it’s more like “terminally ill,” bro!  (all rights to the phrase “terminally ill” reserved)

Blinding Mage – 1W
Creature – Human Wizard (Common)
{W}, {T}: Tap target creature.
1/2
#5/249

Master Decoy has always been awesome in limited.  Now we have a wizard variety too, a trend in M10… the functional reprint.  Can’t say much about this guy that you don’t probably know.  It’s a darned good effect.

Captain of the Watch – 4WW
Creature – Human Soldier (Rare)
Vigilance
Other Soldier creatures you control get +1/+1 and have vigilance.
When Captain of the Watch enters the battlefield, put three 1/1 white Soldier creature tokens onto the battlefield.
3/3
Illus. Greg Staples
#6/249

The card that first comes to mind is siege-gang commander, which I understand is in this set as well.  Though more expensive than SGC, cards like momentary blink and otherworldly journey are on color here… I think that at one mana cheaper with a built-in reach factor (and by that I mean late game damage-making, not the keyword ability, obviously), SGC is likely stronger than this guy, but that’s not to say he’s bad.  This is by all means a sick card, especially in a universe with token decks like we have, in white today.  Cloudgoat ranger is peeking around SGC’s shoulder when I think of this card.  This can come down for free off a windbrisk heights and completely devastate for, on average in the long term, probably less mana than the retail cconverted mana cost of 5 on old SGC.  So yeah, this card’s got the goods, I’m guessing.  A little steep once Lorwyn is gone, but he may still have a future even then.  I like where this set is going.

Celestial Purge – 1W
Instant (Uncommon)
Exile target black or red permanent.

Another awesome reprint.  Fantastic at what it does, narrow in scope perhaps, but brutaly efficient and effective.  On this one, I kind of question whether it truly posesses that je n’sais pas Rosewater seeks… celestial purge… almost brings images of the gods sticking their fingers down their throats at the heavenly vomitorium doesn’t it?  What’s it supposed to be, in and of itself?  Not 100% intuitive the way, say black knight is.  But whatever.

Divine Verdict – 3W
Instant (Common)
Destroy target attacking or blocking creature.
Giants and pit spawn attempted to topple the cathedral’s pillars. The fine grit of their remains still swirls in the breeze outside.
Illus. Kev Walker

I thought of resounding silence at first, which for several reasons is self-apparently superior to this card.  However, not strictly so… as this can hit a blocker.  Exile is greater than destroy.  Anyway, as an option in constructed this seems thoroughly irrelevant.  It will very likely make the cut in 40 card decks as a solid removal spell.

Elite Vanguard – W
Creature – Human Soldier (Uncommon)
“Simba who?”
2/1
#9/249

Whoa shit!  Okay it’s savannah lions time.  This is an unprecedented functional reprint which will allow old school weenie decks should they wish to play 8 savannah lions plus however many Isamaru, Hound of Konda they want.  Maybe 4 was all they wanted… I suspect we will soon find out.  This is an undisputedly powerful card in constructed.  In limited his value is ironically lessened, but he’s still respectable.  A tad vulnerable perhaps, but a case study in efficiency.  Good stuff.

Excommunicate – 2W
Sorcery (Common)
Put target creature on top of its owner’s library.

This is a soft removal spell which can win you some games.  A good choice as a reprint for a set introducing “exile”… gotta differentiate that from excommunication… which means… um… going back into the head / spellbook of your creator-planeswalker… duh.  Just like the normal meaning of the word… intuitive!  (I actually love the rules and terminology changes, but thought this was kind of funny.  Also, I’m a critic.)

Glorious Charge – 1W
Instant (Common)
Creatures you control get +1/+1 until end of turn.
#11/249

Neat trick, I suppose.  Nice and global.

Griffin Sentinel – 2W
Creature – Griffin (Common)
Flying
Vigilance (Attacking doesn’t cause this creature to tap.)
Once a griffin sentinel adopts a territory as its own, only death can force it to betray its post.
1/3
Illus. Warren Mahy

This one isn’t bad at all.  Decently cheap with evasion and a big butt plus the vigilance to use it on defense.

Guardian Seraph – 2WW
Creature – Angel (Rare)
Flying
If a source an opponent controls would deal damage to you, prevent 1 of that damage.
3/4
Illus. Paul Bonner

I’m a sucker for angels, so I kind of like this right away.  It’s like a reverse serendib efreet kind of, right?  Anyway, this kind of effect can get annoying fast, and a 3/4 flier for 4 is already quite good.  3/3 flying for 4 would be ahead of the magical hill giant benchmark, so yeah, this guy’s pretty decent.

Harm’s Way – W
Instant (Uncommon)
The next 2 damage that a source of your choice would deal to you or a permanent you control this turn is dealt to target creature or player instead.
Illus. Dan Scott
#14/249

I really like this spell.  I think of it as a mini captains maneuver.  This can be just devastating to an opponent looking to save himself with a burn spell to finish off your best creature only to see his own forces further decimated.  Even combat can be a mess with this running around.  I definitely dig this one and hope to get a chance to play some limited with it.

Holy Strength – W
Enchantment – Aura (Common)
Enchant creature
Enchanted creature gets +1/+2.

An oldie but not-so-goodie, but I guess it’s got The Substance™.  This is an example where there’s not enough bang for the buck, and exposure to 241s is not worthwhile.

Honor of the Pure – 1W
Enchantment (Rare)
White creatures you control get +1/+1.
Together the soldiers were like a golden blade, cutting down their enemies and scarring the darkness.
Illus. Greg Staples

Wow.  This is crusade on ‘roids.  Not only is it cheaper in terms of colored mana requirement, making it way more splashable in multicolor W/x decks, but it only affects your creatures.  Sick.

Indestructibility – 3W
Enchantment – Aura (Rare)
Enchant permanent
Enchanted permanent is indestructible.

I love it.  For once the keyword comes before the card it’s based on… or rather a card comes later… aw hell, you know what I mean!  This is an hilarious card to me.  I love the elegance.  It does what it says.  Indestructability grants a creature… indestructibility!  Hey hey!  Surely there are fun and abusive ways to use this.  Also, this seems like a good example of “enough bang for your buck to risk 241 exposure”.  Also, copious amounts of The Substance™.

Lifelink – W
Enchantment – Aura (Common)
Enchant creature
Enchanted creature has lifelink.
(Damage dealt by the creature also causes its controller to gain that much life.)
The spoils of war are not measured only in gold and silver.
Illus. Terese Nielsen

Lol.  Back to back, eh?  Well, who said lightning never strikes twice?  They used to call spirit link swords to plowshares 5-8… does this make lifelink swords 9-12?  Not really… see, lifelink is different than spirit link because if I cast this on an opponent’s creature, they gain the life.  D’oh.  Looks like spirit link will go the way of the dodo.

Lightwielder Paladin – 3WW
Creature – Human Knight (Rare)
First strike (This creature deals combat damage before creatures without first strike.)
Whenever Lightwielder Paladin deals combat damage to a player, you may exile target black or red permanent that player controls.
4/4
Illus. D. Alexander Gregory

Interesting, but I think underpowered.  For 5 mana you can have baneslayer angel, making this a very weird, narrow choice for what… knight decks?  In limited he passes muster.

Mesa Enchantress – 1WW
Creature – Human Druid (Rare)
Whenever you cast an enchantment spell, you may draw a card.
0/2

Interesting reprint… I’m not seeing how enchantress could be a viable archetype… but who knows.  Outside that archetype this is a card without much of a purpose.  You’ll probably never run this in limited without redundant copies of some self-recursive enchantment like rancor or something.

Open the Vaults – 4WW
Sorcery (Rare)
Return all artifact and enchantment cards from all graveyards to the battlefield under their owners’ control.
#21/249

Holy smokes!  Replenish is back!  Well, okay… it costs a full sol ring worth or mana more now.  That’s probably okay.  I personally think replenish was an original genesis of the adage that for 4 mana you should be “winning the game.”  They also nerfed this further by making it symetrical whereas the progenitor was solely the caster’s yard.  Anyway, this is an extremely powerful effect, and if march of the machines or opalescence effects come around, this will likely see some play.

Pacifism – 1W
Enchantment – Aura (Common)
Enchant creature
Enchanted creature can’t attack or block.

There’s nothing wrong with pacifism.  Rife with The Substance™, this is a solid removal spell.

Palace Guard – 2W
Creature – Human Soldier (Common)
Palace Guard can block any number of creatures.
“I’m not nearly as bothered by being outnumbered as I am by their foul stench.”
1/4
Illus. Volkan Baga

Blaze of glory is an effect I have missed from the early days, so I’m glad they’re easing back into it.  This guy is good at what he does: hold down the ground while you stall for the late game, presumably.

Planar Cleansing – 3WWW
Sorcery (Rare)
Destroy all nonland permanents.
A new beginning requires a clean slate.
Illus. Michael Komarck
#24/249

Wrath of God seems to be out of this core set then.    Well, I guess it might be for the best that this and other big effects are moving from the 4 cmc range up into the 6 cmc range with slight power boosts.  As one of my pals put it when telling me about this over email, “Wrath of Gone, Amirite?”

Razorfoot Griffin – 3W
Creature – Griffin (Common)
Flying, first strike
2/2

This guy is way better than he may seem.  I love a 2/2 flying for 4 in limited, and first strike pushes him way over the top.

Rhox Pikemaster – 2WW
Creature – Rhino Soldier (Uncommon)
First strike
Other Soldier creatures you control have first strike.
3/3
#26/249

Hmm.  His ability is not too bad for a themed soldier deck, but I’m guessing such a deck won’t have the goods.  It’s worth noting that he’s better than Hill Giant.

Righteousness – W
Instant (Uncommon)
Target blocking creature gets +7/+7 until end of turn.

Such a cool card.  This has been a personal favorite since back in the day when I used to enjoy blocking and nuking their peeps, then gaining tons of life by swords to plowshares-ing my own dude.

Safe Passage – 2W
Instant (Common)
Prevent all damage that would be dealt to you and creatures you control this turn.
With one flap of her wings, the angel beat back the fires of war.
Illus. Christopher Moeller

Blah.  Fog / Darkness / Holy Day are way better… the way this differs is the creatures part… you can use this to turn the tide of a land stall I guess.

Serra Angel – 3WW
Creature – Angel (Uncommon)
Flying, vigilance (This creature can’t be blocked except by creatures with flying or reach, and attacking doesn’t cause this creature to tap.)
Her sword sings more beautiful than any choir.
4/4
Illus. Greg Staples
#29/249

Classic Magic: The Gathering.  I love it.  This is a no joke flier.  What can you say?

Siege Mastodon – 4W
Creature – Elephant (Common)
“Defending the citadel is easy. I just take these big fellows outside the main gate and let the enemy take a good long look.”
-Mastodon keeper
3/5
Illus. Matt Cavotta

Not too shabby, but all you get for your extra mana (over the cost of hill giant) is 2 points of toughness.  Just always remember, when considering cards like this for constructed, that for the same mana increase, albeit a colored one, you can get the flying, first strike, lifelink, protection AND +2/+2 of baneslayer angel.  Thus, I can safely say this will never ever ever ever ever ever ever in a million years see serious constructed play.  Not terrible in limited though, and I hear common is easier to come by than mythic rare… go figure.

Silence – W
Instant (Rare)
Your opponents can’t cast spells this turn. (Spells cast before this resolves are unaffected.)
“All the wizardry in the world has to pass through one small and easily sealed door.” -Ajani Goldmane
Illus. Wayne Reynolds
#31/249

This was a preview from long ago.  Orims Chant is the ancestor card here.  This looks fucking good, I’m not sure what else to say.

Silvercoat Lion – 1W
Creature – Cat (Common)

Hunters of every species on the savannah, silvercoats disdain camouflage in favor of total dominance of the food chain.
2/2
Illus. Terese Nielsen

Grizzly Bears!  Hooray!  Grizzly lions!

Solemn Offering – 2W
Sorcery (Common)
Destroy target artifact or enchantment. You gain 4 life.
“‘A relic donation is suggested.’ ‘The suggestion is mandatory.’”
-Temple signs
Illus. Sam Wood

A lot like divine offering, this one will have many useful applications.

Soul Warden – W
Creature – Human Cleric (Common)
Whenever another creature enters the battlefield, you gain 1 life.
1/1
#34/249

Yep, this is good stuff.  There are many decks that can just abuse this guy, and among the seldom played 1/1 for 1 creatures of the world, this is in the small subset that actually see play.  If all you do with him is gain 3 life and hit your opponent for 1 before chump blocking, consider it mission accomplished for this guy.

Stormfront Pegasus – 1W
Creature – Pegasus (Common)
Flying
2/1

An interesting pedigree here, for this flying bear.  Usually such guys have some weird drawback like drake familiar or gossamer phantasm.  It’s a functional reprint of mistral charger though, and even shares the creature type!

Tempest of Light – 2W
Instant (Uncommon)
Destroy all enchantments.

I remember when this took over for tranquility as the enchantment sweeper.  This has narrow applications.  Usually disenchant is better.

Undead Slayer – 2W
Creature – Human Cleric (Uncommon)
{W},{T}: Exile target Skeleton, Vampire, or Zombie.
2/2
#37/249

This will be great with something like trickery charm.  On its own it’s as good as gray ogre.

Veteran Armorsmith – WW
Creature – Human Soldier (Common)
Other Soldier creatures you control get +0/+1.
“Courage is a proud and gleaming shield. It does not bend or hide from sight. To fight with courage, we must forge in steel.”
2/3
Illus. Michael Komarck

Well, he’s not bad as a 2-drop… that’s about all I can really say… he’s slightly above par.

Veteran Swordsmith – 2W
Creature – Human Soldier (Common)
Other Soldier creatures you control get +1/+0.
“Truth is a straight, keen edge. There are no soft angles or rounded edges. To fight for truth, we must forge in steel.”
3/2
Illus. Michael Komarck

Ditto here… slightly above par.  Obviously these guys will appear in some early casual soldier decks of new players all over the place.

Wall of Faith – 3W
Creature – Wall (Common)
Defender
{W}: Wall of Faith gets +0/+1 until end of turn.
0/5
#40/249

I have logistical problems with The Substance™ of this creature.  Wall of faith?!  Bricks, mortar… sure.  Even wall of shadows makes some fantasy sense… but wall of faith… I dunno… somehow doesn’t sit right.  This wall is a pile of shit too, with no flying and a rather small butt for the cost.  Stick to plumeveil and the equally logistically problematic wall of reverence, people.

White Knight – WW
Creature – Human Knight (Uncommon)
First strike, protection from black
2/2

Sick reprint.  Ye Olde Substance™.

Air Elemental – 3UU
Creature – Elemental (Uncommon)
Flying (This creature can’t be blocked except by creatures with flying or reach.)
4/4

Another core set staple for years on end, this set the bar which baneslayer angel has so easily cleared.  Still a good creature for limited.

Alluring Siren – 1U
Creature – Siren (Uncommon)
{T}: Target creature an opponent controls attacks you this turn if able.
“The ground polluted floats with human gore,
And human carnage taints the dreadful shore
Fly swift the dangerous coast: let every ear
Be stopp’d against the song! ’tis death to hear!”- Homer, The Odyssey, trans. Pope
1/1
Illus. Chippy

A turn faster than its obvious ancestor nettling imp, as well as more elegant in its wording, though without the seldom-relevant destruction clause of the imp.  I love the flavor here, and always thought sirens were better for this effect than imps.  tehsubstance™lolroflmaoetc.

Cancel – 1UU
Instant (Common)
Counter target spell.
Illus. David Palumbo
#44/249

This reprint sort of sets the  counterspell precedent.  Cancel is what it is.  Very useful, very powerful, but only in a sufficiently controlling deck.

Clone – 3U
Creature – Shapeshifter (Rare)
You may have Clone enter the battlefield as a copy of any creature on the battlefield.
0/0
#45/249

One of my personal favorite cards and quite an evocative creature as well.  This thing is so versatile and has lots of interesting rube-goldberg-like combo potentials out there, such as the old faceless butcher loops and what not.  I love clone.  Rare since onslaught, this used to be an uncommon.  Anyway, good schtuff.

Convincing Mirage – 1U
Enchantment – Aura (Common)
Enchant land
As Convincing Mirage enters the battlefield, choose a basic land type.
Enchanted land is the chosen type.
“Where are we? You must learn to ask more useful questions than that.”
Illus. Ryan Pancoast

Yay phantasmal terrain!  For the cost of lingering mirage even!  <cough>lame</cough>… excuse me.  This is pretty boring shit.

Coral Merfolk – 1U
Creature – Merfolk (Common)
2/1

If not for the creature type, this would be strictly worse than grizzly bears, generally considered the bear… err… I mean bare minimum of playability.  So yeah, coral merfolk is kind of a dud.  Here’s hoping they keep the excellent Rebecca Guay artwork.

Disorient – 3U
Instant (Common)
Target creature gets -7/-0 until end of turn.
“If it has a brain, even a primitive one, we can most surely scramble it.”- Garild, merfolk mage
Illus. John Matson

They should have called it “disorient like a motherfucker” because Jesus!  -7?  Minus SEVEN?  That’s some serious disorientation… like falling-down piss drunk disorientation… like “where the hell am I?” disorientation.  Hell, maybe even “who the hell am I?”  Anyway, at 4 mana, I hope to god I have better things to do than waste my time with this (way) worse version of the itself-unplayable shrink.

Divination – 2U
Sorcery (Common)
Draw two cards.

Counsel of the Soratami wasn’t evocative enough?  That was a joke.  WTF is a soratami?  Lol.  This is a good card for limited control decks.

Djinn of Wishes – 3UU
Creature – Djinn (Rare)
Flying
Djinn of Wishes enters the battlefield with three wish counters on it.
2{U}{U}, Remove a wish counter from Djinn of Wishes: Reveal the top card of your library. You may play that card without paying its mana cost. If you don’t, exile it.
4/4

Another great 5-drop 4/4 flier that makes serra angel, sengir vampire, and air elemental look kinda like piles of puke.  I guess serra might be better than this in narrow circumstances.  Still awesome in limited.  </goeswithoutsaying>

Essence Scatter – 1U
Instant (Common)
Counter target creature spell.
Some wizards compete not to summon the most interesting creatures, but to create the most interesting aftereffects when a summons goes awry.
Illus. John Foster
#51/249

Now here’s an evocative-or-not decision I’m unsure of.  What was wrong with remove soul?  Maybe it implied that the creature was already there, ensouled, in order to have said soul removed?  I dunno… this is a sick card though.

Fabricate – 2U
Sorcery (Uncommon)
Search your library for an artifact card, reveal it, and put it into your hand. Then shuffle your library.

Tutors are good in this game, no question.  This will see constructed tournament play, I presume.  A very fine reprint and solid card.  If you have some bomb artifact in limited, obviously this gets the nod.

Flashfreeze – 1U
Instant (Uncommon)
Counter target red or green spell.

Narrow but extremely potent.  This has been and will continue to be a constructed sideboard staple.

Hive Mind – 5U
Enchantment (Rare)
Whenever a player casts an instant or sorcery spell, each other player copies that spell. Each of those players may choose new targets for his or her copy.
“All consciousness is one, separated only by a thin veil of the physical.”—Jace Beleren
Illus. Steve Argyle

I love cards like this.  Radiate was fun, imo.  This will cause some great fun and hilarity in multiplayer games and such.  Fun times.  Probably shite for tournament formats.

Horned Turtle – 2U
Creature – Turtle (Common)
1/4

Well, it’s horned turtle alright.  Yawn… Okay, so what should I say?  He’s good at stalling on the ground?  He’s got The Substance™?  I mean, sure, he’s a turtle.  Four toughness = hard shell home?  I can see that.

Ice Cage – 1U
Enchantment – Aura (Common)
Enchant creature
Enchanted creature can’t attack or block, and its activated abilities can’t be activated.
When enchanted creature becomes the target of a spell or ability, destroy Ice Cage.
Illus. Mike Bierek

This is a flavorful one.  I like the flavor of frozen solid better though.  The creature frozen solid, ready to be shattered like a liquid terminator doused in liquid nitrogen.  In this case, it’s the ice itself which shatters, letting the creature thaw back out… like a liquid terminator come to think of it.  Anyway, terminators aside, this is “soft removal” and in this case it seems a bit soft for my liking.  Still, sometimes we have no choice but to run this kind of card and hope for the best.

Illusionary Servant – 1UU
Creature – Illusion (Common)
Flying
When Illusionary Servant becomes the target of a spell or ability, sacrifice it.
“Illusion is a handy but fragile medium. Use it only in a pinch, or against the dim-witted.” – Jace Beleren
3/4
Illus. Dave Kendall

Hmm.  It’s no serendib efreet, but it’s still an undeniably powerful flier.  The problem is that there seem to be plenty of ways in this set to target this guy.  Even something like giant growth will do the trick.  So yeah, I’d only run this as if it were a burn spell I’m hoping will deal 3 to my opponent… seems like half the time you’ll get 3 damage in there, a quater of the time you’ll get none, and a quarter of the time you’ll get more than 3.  It’s an interesting tension, but I’d rather have something with staying power, and would pay more for it.  I was slow to adopt brackwater elemental too though, so I guess I just fear the fleeting.

Jace Beleren – 1UU
Planeswalker – Jace (Mythic Rare)
+2: Each player draws a card.
-1: Target player draws a card.
-10: Target player puts the top twenty cards of his or her library into his or her graveyard.
3
Illus. Aleksi Briclot
#58/249

Mythic planeswalker.  No joke.  Among the greats.  Nothing else needs to be said I think.

Jump – U
Instant (Common)
Target creature gains flying until end of turn.

I’ve played magic since 1994 or thereabouts, and I don’t think I’ve ever cast this spell or seen it cast.  Also, I probably have sixteen billion copies of the card already.  I can’t say it’s terrible, as you could even win a game off the back of jump.  I just don’t ever see it happen.

Levitation – 2UU
Enchantment (Uncommon)
Creatures you control have flying. (They can’t be blocked except by creatures with flying or reach.)

I have mixed feelings about levitation.  The card can be great in limited though, making your squad evasive.  It just doesn’t do anything on its own… you need to already have a decent force assembled.  Would a removal spell be better?  I dunno… sometimes I reach that conclusion when I’m considering levitation… but there’s a time and place where this can certainly shine.  For some aggressive decks, this is the final nail in the coffin.

Merfolk Looter – 1U
Creature – Merfolk Rogue (Common)
{T}: Draw a card, then discard a card.
1/1

A tried and true classic sure to see play all over the place.  Highly recommendable.

Merfolk Sovereign – 1UU
Creature – Merfolk (Rare)
Other Merfolk creatures you control get +1/+1.
{T}: Target Merfolk creature is unblockable this turn.
“The sharks envy our ferocity. The eels envy our cunning.”
2/2
Illus. Jesper Ejsing

You know, I think the cheaper lord of atlantis is superior here, primarily because of being cheaper, but also because his evasion ability is universal, albeit more narrow.  Still, I suspect the sovereign will see play, and with enough merfolk, might even make the cut in limited.  He’s gray ogre, after all.

Mind Control – 3UU
Enchantment – Aura (Uncommon)
Enchant creature
You control enchanted creature.
#63/249

A fixed control magic eh?  Since bribery costs the same, I’m feeling disappointed… or rather power-hungry, when I consider this card, but I know for damn sure this will be played in limited and likely in constructed too.

Mind Spring – XUU
Sorcery (Rare)
Draw X cards.

This card is very good in limited.  Use it.  I think it has seen some marginal constructed play too… but yeah, there’s nothing like restocking your hand in the early late game in limited to pretty much seal the deal.

Negate – 1U
Instant (Common)
Counter target noncreature spell.
Masters of the arcane savor a delicious irony. Their study of deep and complex arcana leads to such a simple end: the ability to say merely yes or no.
Illus. Jeremy Jarvis
#66/249

Another card with tournament sideboard pedigree.  Narrow but brutally effective.

Phantom Warrior – 1UU
Creature – Illusion Warrior (Uncommon)
Phantom Warrior is unblockable.
2/2

This gray ogre will hold some equipment in the near future… this is my prediction.

Polymorph – 3U
Sorcery (Rare)
Destroy target creature. It can’t be regenerated. Its controller reveals cards from the top of his or her library until he or she reveals a creature card. The player puts that card onto the battlefield and shuffles all other cards revealed this way into his or her library.

I’ve wanted to make a token deck with a solitary darksteel colossus in it to use with polymorph… not sure it would be viable, but it’d be fun when you pull it off… there’s my Timmy moment.  I have dug this spell with ten shovels since Mirage, and I love the artwork too… some demon turning into a rabbit… or vice-versa maybe?  Fun times.

Ponder – U
Sorcery (Common)
Look at the top three cards of your library, then put them back in any order. You may shuffle your library.
Draw a card.
#68/249

This card has been restricted in vintage.  Any questions?  It’s very good.

Sage Owl – 1U
Creature – Bird (Common)
Flying (This creature can’t be blocked except by creatures with flying or reach.)
When Sage Owl enters the battlefield, look at the top four cards of your library, then put them back in any order.
1/1

Card selection stapled to a reasonably costed flier makes for a decent card in limited.  Nothing amazing, but good clean fun.

Serpent of the Endless Sea – 4U
Creature – Serpent (Common)
Serpent of the Endless Sea’s power and toughness are each equal to the number of Islands you control.
Serpent of the Endless Sea can’t attack unless defending player controls an Island.
*/*
Illus. Kieran Yanner

I never cared for the sea serpent class of creatures and their shared reluctance to… you know… go up on land.  If I’m paying for a big fella, I want to do more than just block, so then you’re stuck trying to figure out how to make an opponent’s lands into islands, and it’s just not worth it.  Maybe if he had lifelink or something..?  He’s just not reliable enough for my tastes, and if I want a wall, I’ll play a wall and get it cheaper than this most likely.

Sleep – 2UU
Sorcery (Uncommon)
Tap all creatures target opponent controls. Creatures that player controls don’t untap during their controller’s next untap step.

This would be SO unfair as an instant.  Even as a sorcery, I can see this being back-breaking.  This should definitely win some limited games, where board stalls often pop up.  I’m thinking this will see some play.

Snapping Drake – 3U
Creature – Drake (Common)
Flying
3/2
Illus. Todd Lockwood

In limited, even 2/2 fliers for 4 are sometimes playable.  Snapping drake is even better.  Evasion is huge, and should only come second to bombs and removal, so goes the traditional wisdom on the topic.  So anyway, this is a card that can help fill out a “skies” kind of archetype for sure.

Sphinx Ambassador – 5UU
Creature – Sphinx (Mythic Rare)
Flying
Whenever Sphinx Ambassador deals combat damage to a player, search that player’s library for a card, then that player names a card. If you searched for a creature card that isn’t the named card, you may put it onto the battlefield under your control. Then that player shuffles his or her library.
5/5

My oh my.  I like sphinxes.  Seven is pricey, but will hit the table in limited.  5/5 flier is probably the primary benefit, as once you’ve hit them, the 5 damage should be the main thing you’re concerned with at that presumably late stage of the game.  Thus, the ability is kind of just cute.  Also, in limited, there’s far less likelihood of them guessing correctly… so that helps, but it’s still not as sexy as the 5 damage I’m thinking.  I feel weird evaluating mythic rares, as I’m mostly a limited and eternal guy, and only have a passing knowledge of standard.  And let’s be honest, you won’t often have these in your limited pools, and when you do, they’re in the bomb category and you’re likely going to be playing them by default if at all possible with your pool.  So they’re kind of foregone conclusions… it’d have to be a very aggressive deck I’m looking at to leave this guy on the bench.

Telepathy – U
Enchantment (Uncommon)
Your opponents play with their hands revealed.

Information cards are hard to evaluate.  They don’t come cheaper though.  It kind of depends on how much you value this information.  It’s not something I tend to value much at all… and this is a card which doesn’t do much for the cause of winning… it’s kind of like the opposite of a “win more”… it’s like a “lose less” kind of thing… giving you more information and letting you be more careful about your decisions… I dunno.  Now, in tandem with discard spells, this can be very effective… wait until they have their two big bombs left and hit them with mind rot?  I can get behind that logic I guess.

Time Warp – 3UU
Sorcery (Mythic Rare)
Target player takes an extra turn after this one.

This is the classic card that allowed Zvi Mowshowitz’s turboland deck to go infinite along with the unlikely battlefield scrounger.  I like the card a lot.  I think it’s probably the correctly costed time walk, and apparently wizards agrees.  Sometimes this just gives you another attack step and another land drop and draw… and often that’s plenty for 5 mana!

Tome Scour – U
Sorcery (Common)
Target player puts the top five cards of his or her library into his or her graveyard.
Genius is overrated, especially when it’s someone else’s.
Illus. Steven Belledin

I think this could have a place in the sanity grinding deck, which looks to remain largely intact post-M10-launch.  Then again, maybe not… maybe the deck has enough mill elements and would rather keep to larger concentrations of blue mana symbols.  I don’t know.  Five is a lot though.

Traumatize – 3UU
Sorcery (Rare)
Target player puts the top half of his or her library, rounded down, into his or her graveyard.

Okay, so I’ll let the cat out of the bag a little here… this set also contains haunting echoes, and the two have danced their dirty dance before to great effect… look for this to be a fledgeling constructed archetype right out of the gates.  It’s a mean combination.  Also, this could be a limited archetype for those lucky enough to see this in pack 1 of a draft, given tomb scour above.  I dunno… interesting.  Milling half a deck is often enough in limited to get the job done.

Twincast – UU
Instant (Rare)
Copy target instant or sorcery spell. You may choose new targets for the copy.

This is another reason sanity grinding will stick around.  An awesome spell, the descendant of fork, one of my favorite cards back in the day.  I do think the spell makes more sense as a blue spell.  Anyway, the applications here are myriad.  Use the spell when you can.  In limited, you’ll almost always have a devastating way to use it.

Unsummon – U
Instant (Common)
Return target creature to its owner’s hand.

Very effective.  For half the cost you get the main impetus for running boomerang, though sometimes the latter is used primarily for bouncing an early land drop… but unsummon has seen play in the past and may have a bit part here and there in the near future too.  I’m okay with it in limited… you’ll usually come out way ahead on mana, and it will potentially let you sneak the last points through the turn after your opponent taps out for their ass-saving bomb.

Wall of Frost – 1UU
Creature – Wall (Uncommon)
Defender (This creature can’t attack.)
Whenever Wall of Frost blocks a creature, that creature doesn’t untap during its controller’s next untap step.
“I welcome it. The pasture is cleared of weeds and the wolves are frozen solid.” -Lumi, Goatherd
0/7
Illus. Mike Bierek
#80/249

Immediately, I thought of a creature sticking his tongue to the wall, having it freeze, and being thereby unable to untap the next turn while the fire department comes and unsticks him.  Seems decent to me, especially in the kind of skies deck I mentioned above where you’ll want these big dorks to just tie up and stall the ground assault.  In this role, wall of frost will shine, shine, shine on.

Wind Drake – 2U
Creature – Drake (Common)
Flying (This creature can’t be blocked except by creatures with flying or reach.)
2/2

Strictly better than gray ogre, and therefore highly playable in limited.  You basically get flying for free, which is huge.

Zephyr Sprite – U
Creature – Faerie (Common)
Flying
“I’ve never understood why so many beings lumber around on the ground. There are three dimensions, yet they use only two.”
1/1
Illus. Kev Walker

A long tradition here starting with scryb sprites, then flying men (which this is all but a reprint of), then on to lantern kami and suntail hawk.  Finally the circle comes back to blue, where I think it belongs.  This is a faerie too, giving it some extra relevance, and unlike cloud sprite, this has no drawback.  The faeries build with 1-drops is decidedly passe though, so whether this sees play is debatable if not simply in serious doubt.  It’s got a place in limited though… same deck we’ve been talking about, the Ux skies deck, traditionally UW.

Acolyte of Xathrid – B
Creature – Human Cleric (Common)
{1}{B}, {T}: Target player loses 1 life.
Like all priests, she gives her blessings only to those truly worthy of them.
0/1
Illus. Chris Rahn
#83/249

I don’t like this one.  Way too slow.  This is just shit.  Steer clear.  Why couldn’t this have a single point of power?  Then it might be playable… or if it had no activation cost, only tap… ?  Is that too powerful?  I don’t see how, given cards like blightspeaker and stormscape apprentice.

Assassinate – 2B
Sorcery (Common)
Destroy target tapped creature.

Very powerful removal here.  This one is definitely going to see limited play, but I think constructed simply has better options.

Black Knight – BB
Creature – Human Knight (Uncommon)
First strike, protection from white
2/2
Illus. Christopher Moeller
#85/249

The classic, iconic, The Substance™-bearing companion to white knight, this is a very solid 2-drop.  Relevant protection and first strike make him outstanding in his field.

Bog Wraith – 3B
Creature – Wraith (Uncommon)
Swampwalk (This creature is unblockable as long as defending player controls a Swamp.)
3/3

This hill giant is playable simply as a body, and occasionally, against hapless opponents, will spell their doom.  He’s in the great position of being small enough that opponents hate to “waste” removal on him, but large enough that the damage against swampy opponents will add up very quickly.

Cemetery Reaper – 1BB
Creature – Zombie (Rare)
Other Zombie creatures you control get +1/+1.
{2}{B}, {T}: Exile target creature card from a graveyard. Put a 2/2 black Zombie creature token onto the battlefield.
2/2

So long lord of the undead.  This comparable gray ogre body is super-playable, and doesn’t require you to play a lot of zombies to be relevant the way his direct ancestor did… thus, I think I may like this guy even better, at least for limited.  Plus, this guy still pumps out zombies which he makes 3/3, not much fun to come up against I’d wager.

Child of Night – 1B
Creature – Vampire (Common)
Lifelink (Damage dealt by this creature also causes you to gain that much life.)
2/1
#88/249

Ooooh, this is an intriguing grizzly bears.  Lifelink is such a powerful ability, able to swing games.  You have to remember to consider a connection with this guy to be worth 4, since that’s the total life swing.  As such, he’s very efficiently costed.  I suspect he’ll be a mainstay of limited, and might even find his way into a new vampire tribal deck, though I have doubts as to its viability… it might be a contender though.  We’ll see.  2-drops are a big part of limited though, and this one’s quite solid.

Consume Spirit – X1B
Sorcery (Uncommon)
Spend only black mana on X.
Consume Spirit deals X damage to target creature or player and you gain X life.

An upgrade to the old drain life, this proved itself far more powerful than its originator.  This kind of spell is a big part of MBC or Mono Black Control archetypes of the past, serving as mid-range removal and ultimately a win condition.  Versatile and excellent.

Deathmark – B
Sorcery (Uncommon)
Destroy target green or white creature.

Deathmark is another card with a narrow application, but brutal efficiency.  I might even say that it’s the quintessential such card.  It’s certainly in the running.  Blue elemental blast and its red brother and ice age cousins pyroblast and hydroblast may be more-quintessential I guess, but I’m getting off topic here.  Deathmark will see play in sideboards.  Count on it.

Diabolic Tutor – 2BB
Sorcery (Uncommon)
Search your library for a card and put that card into your hand. Then shuffle your library.

Tutors are awesome.  This is the “fixed” tutor they came up with a couple years back… it’s always felt expensive to me.  But its power is undeniable.  What problem are you facing?  Go get the solution.  It’s that simple / powerful.

Disentomb – B
Sorcery (Common)
Return target creature card from your graveyard to your hand.

A direct raise dead reprint.  What was wrong with The Substance™ of raise dead?  This is a decent card, but seldom sees constructed play.  Limited, sure, though.  Also, this card is a misnomer given that entomb takes a card from your library and puts it into the graveyard, then dis-entomb should put it from the graveyard back into your library… right?!

Doom Blade – 1B
Instant (Common)
Destroy target nonblack creature.

How does “strictly better than terror” sound to you?  Like sweet music to your ears?  Mine too!  This is sure to see LOTS of play.

Dread Warlock – 1BB
Creature – Human Wizard (Common)
Dread Warlock can’t be blocked except by black creatures.
2/2

Very doomblade-like in its almost-fear kind of thing, but “now with 100% less artifacts!”  Probably not a bad gray ogre here.  I’d play it.

Drudge Skeletons – 1B
Creature – Skeleton (Common)
{B}: Regenerate Drudge Skeletons. (The next time this creature would be destroyed this turn, it isn’t. Instead tap it, remove all damage from it, and remove it from combat.)
1/1

(Or, if you live in China, “Drudge Very-Emaciated-But-Still-Clad-In-Skin Zombie”)  It’s a good one… very good at defense obviously.  Good at tying up the ground in a Ub skies kind of thing.  It sees play in limited, but not constructed.

Duress – B
Sorcery (Common)
Target opponent reveals his or her hand. You choose a noncreature, nonland card from it. That player discards that card.

Really!?  Wow.  This is super-powered. With thoughtseize legal alongside duress for a while, I think black decks will have their optimal mix of the two figured out and will use them to evil ends.  This has seen and continues to see lots of play in older formats, and it seems that continuum will be extended indefinitely.  Welcome back to standard, old pal.

Gravedigger – 3B
Creature – Zombie (Common)
When Gravedigger enters the battlefield, you may return target creature card from your graveyard to your hand.
2/2

Now that’s The Substance™!  Why didn’t they reprint this as “Disentomber”?  This is a really good card, FYI.  It’s disentomb and a gray ogre in one card.  Card economy, people.

Haunting Echoes – 3BB
Sorcery (Rare)
Exile all cards in target player’s graveyard other than basic land cards. Search that player’s library for all cards with the same name as cards exiled this way and exile them. Then that player shuffles his or her library.

We kind of hit on this one already.  It’s mean and brutal.  However, unlike traumatize, this isn’t even really playable in limited.  Also, it bears mentioning that typically you either build around these two, of you play neither.  They’re narrow.

Howling Banshee – 2BB
Creature – Spirit (Uncommon)
Flying
When Howling Banshee enters the battlefield, each player loses 3 life.
Villagers cloaked the town in magical silence, but their ears still bled.
3/3
Illus. Andrew Robinson

Again, a flying hill giant is almost a must-play.  The free lightning bolts all around is gravy.

Hypnotic Specter – 1BB
Creature – Specter (Rare)
Flying (This creature can’t be blocked except by creatures with flying or reach.)
Whenever Hypnotic Specter deals damage to an opponent, that player discards a card at random.
2/2

Another classic Magic icon, this thing is Bah-Rutal!  Shout out to my homie Colin Crook who top8′ed NM States once with a rogue deck centered on Hippy.  Anyway, this is also pretty much a must-play in limited, unless it’s your only playable black card with no fixers.  It’s occasionally seen in standard, and still plays a part in some old-format decks like deadguy in legacy, though his popularity there has waned somewhat as tombstalker’s star has risen.

Kelinore Bat – 2B
Creature – Bat (Common)
Flying
The nesting bats of Kelinore sleep soundly while the sun passes, nestled among their grisly collections.
2/1
Illus. Dave Kendall

A passable flying gray ogre, but somewhat vulnerable.  Play it when you need to.  It’ll never make the cut in constructed, barring some awesome bats with tribal themes in the next expansion.

Liliana Vess – 3BB
Planeswalker – Liliana (Mythic Rare)
+1: Target player discards a card.
-2: Search your library for a card, then shuffle your library and put that card on top of it.
-8: Put all creature cards in all graveyards onto the battlefield under your control.
5

Another evil, brutal, effective, mythic rare planeswalker.  What can you say?!  She’s a house.

Looming Shade – 2B
Creature – Shade (Common)
{B}: Looming Shade gets +1/+1 until end of turn.
1/1

Every once in a while, I’m caught with my pants down and get overrun by a shade.  Still, these things are kind of fickle and lame in my mind.  I just don’t like their vulnerability… but they have an upside to balance it.  Meh.  I guess I’m on the fence here, but leaning against the wind which would otherwise blow me off on the “this sucks” side of the fence.

Megrim – 2B
Enchantment (Uncommon)
Whenever an opponent discards a card, Megrim deals 2 damage to that player.

This is the classic “skill tester” card, by which is meant that by playing this you have failed the test of skill.  Please don’t play this card.  It’s not as good as it seems / you think.

Mind Rot – 2B
Sorcery (Common)
Target player discards two cards.

Quality discard at the going rate.  Worthwhile if that’s part of the archetype you’re building.  Even sees play in constructed on occasion.

Mind Shatter – XBB
Sorcery (Rare)
Target player discards X cards at random.

A big role-player in constructed and often the death knell in limited too.  This is an awesome card… the fixed mind twist.

Nightmare – 5B
Creature – Nightmare Horse (Rare)
Flying
Nightmare’s power and toughness are each equal to the number of Swamps you control.
*/*

Classic, iconic, big, flying, scary.  Definitely a bomb in limited, and seldom seen in constructed for its 6 CMC and mono-blackness.

Relentless Rats – 1BB
Creature – Rat (Uncommon)
Relentless Rats gets +1/+1 for each other creature on the battlefield named Relentless Rats.
A deck can have any number of cards named Relentless Rats.
2/2

This is a funny one.  Thrumming Stone anyone?  Not my style, but hey, it’s a…. anyone? …. Bueller? … that’s right, gray ogre!

Rise from the Grave – 4B
Sorcery (Uncommon)
Put target creature in a graveyard onto the battlefield under your control. That creature is black and is a Zombie in addition to its other types.

They nerfed zombify?  Lame-o!  Guess they thought it was too expensive, eh?  Well, I think this will still be played, and it’s still splashable.  Way less sexy at 5 than 4, but hey, that’s like saying men and women are less sexy the more pounds you add to them.  “Duh.”

Royal Assassin – 1BB
Creature – Human Assassin (Rare)
{T}: Destroy target tapped creature.
1/1

My brother’s favorite card, and an oldie-but-goodie.  It should be self-evidently powerful, but in case you missed the memo, reusable removal is pretty damn good in this game, especially so in limited.  Well worth the vulnerability here.

Sanguine Bond – 3BB
Enchantment (Rare)
Whenever you gain life, target opponent loses that much life.
“Blood is constant. Every drop I drink, someone must bleed.”—Vradeen, vampire nocturnus
Illus. Jaime Jones

Interesting flavor here.  I think I like it.  There’s gotta be a decent life-gain and Sanguine Bond kind of deck soon to be put forth.  This is a little pricey and squarely in the “does nothing by itself” category though, so who knows.  I’d play it in limited with a critical mass of lifelink and lifegain spells.

Sign in Blood – BB
Sorcery (Common)
Target player draws two cards and loses 2 life.
“You know I accept only one currency here, and yet you have sought me out. Why now do you hesitate?” – Xathrid demon

Illus. Howard Lyon

Nice.  It’s basically nights whisper, but slightly more black and now can target the opponent.  The original popped up in combo decks often, but the single black helped there… I think this will still see some play, and from what I can tell so far, MBC may make a comeback here in which case this may have a home there.  I like that you can use this to burn someone out for the last two points.  Very cool.

Soul Bleed – 2B
Enchantment – Aura (Common)
Enchant creature
At the beginning of enchanted creature’s controller’s upkeep, that player loses 1 life.
#113/249

Cursed land for creatures, and one cheaper, hey!  Not bad I guess, but all you’re doing is conferring a nuisance and compelling a chump block.  I’d way rather have real removal.  I can’t see myself ever playing this one.

Tendrils of Corruption – 3B
Instant (Common)
Tendrils of Corruption deals X damage to target creature and you gain X life, where X is the number of Swamps you control.

A brutal staple to MBC and some other decks in the time spiral era (when it could be searched up with mystical teachings).  This is huge.  Instant is huge.  The lifegain is great.  This is a very very good card, and will see play.

Underworld Dreams – BBB
Enchantment (Rare)
Whenever an opponent draws a card, Underworld Dreams deals 1 damage to him or her.

A classic from legends originally, this hasn’t really seen a tremendous tournament presence to my knowledge, but I sure like the spell and have long wanted to build around it.  It’s recurring damage that’s hard to avoid.  Unless I was very heavy in black, though, I’d be reluctant to run it in limited, unless I knew my opponent was blue and would be drawing a lot on their own.  Fun and flavorful but maybe not as great as my nostalgia would like.

Unholy Strength – B
Enchantment – Aura (Common)
Enchant creature
Enchanted creature gets +2/+1.

I would love if they reused the old pentagram picutre from alpha before they made the dumb decision to remove the pentagram.  Anyway, this is way more playable than holy strength, but still exposes you to 241s, so use with caution.

Vampire Aristocrat – 2B
Creature – Vampire Rogue (Common)
Sacrifice a creature: Vampire Aristocrat gets +2/+2 until end of turn.
2/2
#117/249

First we had phyrexian ghoul, then nantuko husk, both zombies… I guess it makes more sense for a vampire to eat peeps?  This should still be a good one, though not quite as good as they were in the past due to the new combat damage rules.  I’m sure it will see limited play though as at worst it’s a…. wait for it…. gray ogre.

Vampire Nocturnus – 1BBB
Creature – Vampire (Mythic Rare)
Play with the top card of your library revealed.
As long as the top card of your library is black, Vampire Nocturnus and other Vampire creatures you control get +2/+1 and have flying.
3/3

Nice one!  Hill Giant, eat your heart out…. even though this guy’s fairly color intensive.  You know, I think this guy makes the vampire tribal deck, if there is one.  He’s pretty good.  A 5/4 flier when the moon is full or whatever… Good times for a 4-drop.  I’ll play him if I ever get him in limited… or at least I’ll try.

Wall of Bone – 2B
Creature – Skeleton Wall (Uncommon)
Defender (This creature can’t attack.)
{B}: Regenerate Wall of Bone.
1/4

Old school!  This is what horned turtle wishes he was, imo.  Wall of bizzone.  He has a place, but it’s not usually in my decks.

Warpath Ghoul – 2B
Creature – Zombie (Common)
The battle was over, but the carnage continued for days.
3/2
Illus. rk post

Interesting improvement on Mr. Gray Ogre.  Playable for sure.

Weakness – B
Enchantment – Aura (Common)
Enchant creature
Enchanted creature gets -2/-1.

Soft removal, occasionally real hard removal for those vulnerable creatures we’ve been looking at with 1 toughness.  This is playable removal in limited for damn sure.

Xathrid Demon – 3BBB
Creature – Demon (Mythic Rare)
Flying, trample
At the beginning of your upkeep, sacrifice a creature other than Xathrid Demon, then each opponent loses life equal to the sacrificed creature’s power. If you can’t sacrifice a creature, tap Xathrid Demon and you lose 7 life.
7/7
Illus. Wayne Reynolds

A “Fixed” Lord of the Pit?… Lol, usually fixing cards makes them worse, not better.  This is clearly better and might even be playable in constructed, though I doubt it.  Again, with enough black in my deck, this would make the cut in limited I think… I’d have to have more than 12-13 playable creatures aside from him though.

Zombie Goliath – 4B
Creature – Zombie Giant (Common)
“HULK WANT BRAINS!!!”
4/3

Warpath ghoul, maybe.  But this?  No thanks.  4/4 on the ground should cost 4.  This is one more mana and one less toughness.  Ride the pine, buddy.

Act of Treason – 2R
Sorcery (Uncommon)
Gain control of target creature until end of turn. Untap that creature. It gains haste until end of turn. (It can attack and {T} this turn.)
“Rage courses in every heart, yearning to betray its rational prison.”—Sarkhan Vol
Illus. Eric Deschamps

This has more of The Substance™ than threaten did I guess.  Either way, it’s the same card, and it’s very good.  Play it, especially if you have the vampire aristocrat on board!

Ball Lightning – RRR
Creature – Elemental (Rare)
Trample, haste
At the beginning of the end step, sacrifice Ball Lightning.
6/1
#123/249

Ball lightning is a card with an awesome pedigree.  It’s likely to be found in RDW decks in the near future if monored burn catches on the way I’m starting to suspect it will.  This can also be just grand in limited as a surprise source of much damage.  Don’t hang on to it too long waiting for an opening though, especially against black decks which might have discard spells or red decks which might just burn him on the spot.

Berserkers of Blood Ridge – 4R
Creature – Human Berserker (Common)
Berserkers of Blood Ridge attacks each turn if able.
4/4

5-drop 4/4s don’t make me joyous or anything, but they’re playable for sure, even with mild drawbacks like this one.

Bogardan Hellkite – 6RR
Creature – Dragon (Mythic Rare)
Flash (You may cast this spell any time you could cast an instant)
Flying
When Bogardan Hellkite enters the battlefield, it deals 5 damage divided as you choose among any number of target creatures and/or players.
5/5
Illus. Scott M. Fischer
#128/249

Yikes!  This reprint will obviously crush limited opponents and has seen play in lots of tournaments including worlds, where pat chapin used him to a 2nd place finish.  A bomb for sure.

Burning Inquiry – R
Sorcery (Common)
Each player draws three cards, then discards three cards at random.
Jariad burned the midnight oil, burned through scroll after scroll, and then burned down his laboratory.
Illus. Zoltan Boros & Gabor Szikszai

I like it!  This might even have some great applications in eternal formats since it generates so many draws and discards.  Madness certainly would like to run this card, even though red is not typically the color of choice for that archetype historically.  Then again, the random part hurts its chances somewhat.  I still kind of like this one for constructed.  In limited, it’s risky and luck-based, and I think you’d be well advised to opt out.

Burst of Speed – R
Instant (Common)
Creatures you control gain haste until end of turn.
#129/249

Lol.  Weak.  Not worth a slot in your deck, I promise you.

Canyon Minotaur – 3R
Creature – Minotaur Warrior (Common)
3/3

I could, all along, have compared 4-drop 3/3s to this guy, I guess, but hill giant is the original.  This is the bear minimum for playability, and is quite passable.

Capricious Efreet – 4RR
Creature – Efreet (Rare)
At the beginning of your upkeep, choose target nonland permanent you control and up to two nonland permanents you don’t control. Destroy one of them at random.
“You wish for great destruction? It is done, my master.”
6/4
Illus. Justin Sweet
#151/249

Efreets and Djinns (actually, “djinn” is plural, go figure) have a special place in my heart.  Arabian Nights is by far my favorite expansion set for many reasons, among them that it is the sole expansion built entirely on existing Earth mythology, rather than abstract contrived Dominaria, etc…. so anyway, I automatically love any given new efreet or djinn.  However, I have to admit, reluctantly, that these aren’t always necessarily great cards.  This is an interesting take on the randomness factor present in a dual-mode in coin flip cards.  I like the triple-mode of this guy, but I think in general you don’t want to rely on having good luck, and to the contrary, many aspects of deck design are intended to mitigate the role of luck.  Plus, this is a 6-drop 6/4 with no flying… so it’s a craw wurm, which isn’t too exciting in constructed.  In limited, craw wurm is probably fine, but not if he randomly destroys one of your permanents every third turn on average… I give this the head-shake rather than the nod unless I’m feeling saucy.

Chandra Nalaar – 3RR
Planeswalker – Chandra (Mythic Rare)
+1: Chandra Nalaar deals 1 damage to target player.
-X: Chandra Nalaar deals X damage to target creature.
-8: Chandra Nalaar deals 10 damage to target player and each creature he or she controls.
6

Mythic planeswalker… see above buck-passing, responsibility-shirking comments.

Dragon Whelp – 2RR
Creature – Dragon (Uncommon)
Flying
{R}: Dragon Whelp gets +1/+0 until end of turn. At the beginning of the end step, if this ability has been played four or more times this turn, sacrifice Dragon Whelp.
2/3

An old favorite with plenty of Substance™.  He’s well-costed and flies.  Definitely a contender in limited.  I don’t think he’s made the cut in many, if any, serious tournament constructed decks though.

Earthquake – XR
Sorcery (Rare)
Earthquake deals X damage to each creature without flying and each player.

This is a super-powerful card which should do a real number on a lot of the token decks going nuts in standard right now, if not outright eliminating them entirely.  I predict this card will see much constructed play, as it has the excellent side-benefit of also burning both players, granting a nice burn-reach effect.  I can’t say enough to promote this card.  I think it’s absolutely great.  The only X-damage spell of its class that surpasses it is rolling earthquake, and perhaps molten disaster can make a bid too… but yeah, earthquake is, in a word, “hella.”

Fiery Hellhound – 1RR
Creature – Elemental Hound (Common)
{R}: Fiery Hellhound gets +1/+0 until end of turn.
Once a barbarian army has conquered a region, their shamans summon hellhounds that keep undesirables out and prisoners in.

2/2
Illus. Ted Galaday

Gray Ogre with built-in firebreathing.  Not bad.

Fireball – XR
Sorcery (Uncommon)
Fireball deals X damage divided evenly, rounded down, among any number of target creatures and/or players.
As an additional cost to cast Fireball, pay {1} for each target beyond the first.

A staple for years, and a versatile burn spell capable of killing multiple creatures but unlike earthquake, doing so in a more surgical manner.  Also, you can burn an opponent out with this card from a lesser life total than your opponent.  Lastly, this is uncommon, so it will play a much larger part of limited.  Beware the red mage’s late game in limited, folks!  Keep track of the key moment when your life total sinks below N-1 where N is the number of lands your red mage opponent controls, because if they’re in red, there’s good reason to expect fireball to be their end game plan.  This is a sick card.

Firebreathing – R
Enchantment – Aura (Common)
Enchant creature
{R}: Enchanted creature gets +1/+0 until end of turn.

Weak sauce in general.  If you don’t get the whole 241 thing, do some research on it, because it’s a key to improving at Magic.  Exposure to a 241 should give you far more benefit than this.  Plus, it’s arguable that merely converting mana to potential damage at a 1-to-1 basis through a creature (like a firebreather or shade) is a pretty weak thing to do with one&