Our Core Set 2021 Limited List ranks all the cards from the set to assist with picking cards for your sealed or draft deck. We have ratings for each card separated by color for Drifter (D) and Compulsion (C), who are both Mythic ranked drafters, and you can read their comprehensive pre-release set reviews using the links below the table. Full written updates will be recorded in the changelog at the bottom, but minor grade changes will be made on the fly too.
Check out this Google Sheets document for a printable version!
Legend
We’ve expanded our system of pluses and minuses from last time. Any grade except S and F can receive them now, but C+ and C- are still most common and important.
- S: Ridiculous bomb: has a huge immediate impact on the game and threatens to dominate it if unanswered. (Luminous Broodmoth, Vivien, Monsters’ Advocate, Kiora Bests the Sea God)
- A: Very powerful card: approaches bomb status, pulls you strongly into its colour. (A+: Shark Typhoon, A: Auspicious Starrix, A-: Blood Curdle)
- B: Great playable: happy to pick early, pulls you into its colour. (B+: Lavabrink Venturer, B: Fire Prophecy or Farfinder in pack 1, B-: Rumbling Rockslide or Farfinder in pack 2)
- C+: Good playable that rarely gets cut. (Gust of Wind, Boot Nipper, Raugrin Triome)
- C: Fine playable, sometimes gets cut. (Excavation Mole, Glimmerbell, Neutralize)
- C-: Mediocre playable or decent filler, gets cut around half the time. (Savai Sabertooth, Convolute, Raugrin Crystal)
- D: Medium to bad filler, gets cut a lot. (D+: Frenzied Raptor, D: Serrated Scorpion, D-: Tentative Connection with no sacrifice outlets)
- F: Mostly to totally unplayable cards. (In most but not all formats: Blazing Volley maindeck, Inspire Awe, Field of Ruin)
Drifter
I fell in love with Limited ever since I began in New Phyrexia over nine years ago. With a particular fondness for flashback and cube drafts, I’ve drafted more sets than I can count on every platform through wildly different eras. On Arena I draft infinitely, having profited 30k or so gems from it at this point, and have made top 100 mythic many times. Self-reflection and critical analysis are paramount to Limited improvement, and I try to focus on teaching and enhancing those aspects in my articles, and in each session of the Limited coaching service I provide.
Check out all my articles here or follow me on Twitter for regular updates!
Compulsion
I’ve played Magic off and on for the last 20 years. I just checked to confirm that and it blew my mind a little bit. I started with 6th edition and began playing ‘competitively’ with Odyssey. My handle is actually a really good Limited card from the Odyssey block. Anyway, Magic Arena got me back into the game, and I have been drafting infinitely since closed beta and have finished top 1000 Mythic nearly every ranked season.
Check out all my articles here or follow me on Twitch to catch my streams!
Changelog
