Edge of Eternities is dropping 8/1, with in-person prereleases happening the weekend before. It’s the most “far-out” set thusfar (excluding “un” sets), and we be goin’ to space! The new mechanics Station and Warp, reward slower gameplay. As we evaluate the cards, it will be important to keep that in mind. Alright, let’s blast off!
5.0: Disgustingly powerful and basically unbeatable. Either answer it the turn it comes down or just pack up your cards. (Gruff Triplets, Virtue of Persistence, The Eternal Wanderer)
4.5: Incredible bomb that still gives your opponent a slim chance. (Virtue of Loyalty, Imodane's Recruiter, Realm-Scorcher Hellkite)
4.0: Great rare or the absolute best uncommons and removal. (Faunsbane Troll, Gumdrop Poisoner, Talion’s Messenger)
3.5: Great role filler or removal that you never cut. (Candy Grapple, Hearth Elemental, Torch the Tower)
3.0: Good playable that I’m basically never cutting. (Shrouded Shepherd, Spellscorn Coven, Sharae of Numbing Depths)
2.5: Decent playable and the bar I hope nearly every card in my deck to reach. (Evolving Wilds, Archon's Glory, Flick a Coin)
2.0: Mediocre filler that normally is your 20-23rd card(s). (Mintstrosity, Ice Out, Grabby Giant)
1.5: Replaceable, overall bad filler. Could also be decent sideboard cards. (Titanic Growth, Scarecrow Guide, Territorial Witchstalker)
1.0: Bad filler. Gets cut most of the time. (Dark Tutelage, Kindled Heroism, Impact Tremors)
0.5: Very unhappy to main deck this, but maybe it has fringe sideboard applications. Cards that “could” be situationally decent, but bad in most situations. (Smothering Tithe, Rhystic Study, Mana Flare)
0.0: Unplayable in every possible situation. They rarely print cards this bad these days. (Hew the Entwood, One with Nothing)
Alpharael, Stonechosen
Rating: 1.0 // 5.0
As cool as this card may seem, it’s likely just going to be a 3/3 for 5 mana that can’t attack.
Archenemy’s Charm
Rating: 1.5 // 5.0
This card is strong, but BBB is a pretty tough mana cost. I would be stoked to play this in any mono/close to mono Black deck, it’s just rare for that to happen.
Beamsaw Prospector
Rating: 1.5 // 5.0
A very replaceable 2 drop.
Blade of the Swarm
Rating: 2.5 // 5.0
I’m assuming that this will be able to target a warp card more often than not, making for a powerful 2-for-1. If you don’t have a target, 5/3 isn’t a terrible stat line on a 4 drop at the end of the day.
Chorale of the Void
Rating: 1.0 // 5.0
There’s a high ceiling for this card but so many things can go wrong along the way. You could not have an attacker, you could get your enchanted creature killed before combat, or your opponent could have no creatures in their graveyard. I’d pass on the temptation altogether.
Comet Crawler
Rating: 2.0 // 5.0
4 power of lifelink is a pretty significant attacker. This is also a good sacrifice outlet to enable Void triggers.
Dark Endurance
Rating: 1.0 // 5.0
We’ve seen many iterations of this trick in black, and none of them have been good. I don’t think this one will be great either.
Decode Transmissions
Rating: 1.5 // 5.0
This isn’t quite Read the Bones, and makes for a pretty slow card. It’s playable, but be careful you don’t fall behind on board.
Depressurize
Rating: 2.5 // 5.0
This is a 2 mana kill spell for any creature with ≤ 3 power. Meaning it can take out a lot of different creatures, including high mana cost bombs that happen to have low power. Though a tiny bit narrow, this is a solid removal spell.
Dubious Delicacy
Rating: 2.5 // 5.0
The closest comparison I can think of for this card is Eriette's Tempting Apple, which performed a whole lot better than one would expect. The casting cost on this one is cheaper, and the effect is more consistent. I assume this will be a very solid card.
Elegy Acolyte
Rating: 3.5 // 5.0
Hard to beat the rate on this creature, it does a whole lot for 4 mana. If this creature isn’t dealt with, it will take over most games eventually.
Embrace Oblivion
Rating: 2.0 // 5.0
This version of Bone Splinters is nice this set, since you can sacrifice artifacts in addition to creatures. This still doesn’t fit into every black deck, but if you have the fodder to support it, it works nicely.
Entropic Battlecruiser
Rating: 2.0 // 5.0
This is a little sketchy, because it doesn’t do anything by itself. But if you take the time to turn it into a creature, it’s pretty hard to deal with. It can effectively attack for 6 + discard, and has 10 toughness with deathtouch.
Faller’s Faithful
Rating: 2.5 // 5.0
This isn’t strictly designed to be a Lurking Deadeye. You can kill anything. You will often want to kill your own small creature, like a Virus Beetle, to draw two cards.
Fell Gravship
Rating: 2.0 // 5.0
This does a decent job of helping fill your graveyard, with a decent ETB effect. The station is a little underwhelming, but overall has a lot of value built into the ship.
Gravblade Heavy
Rating: 1.5 // 5.0
A 4 drop 4/4 deathtouch is a pretty decent creature if you have the artifacts to support it.
Gravkill
Rating: 2.5 // 5.0
This is a solid removal spell, albeit a little more expensive than something like Murder.
Gravpack Monoist
Rating: 2.0 // 5.0
A decent flyer that you don’t mind losing in combat or sacrificing for the greater good.
Hullcarver
Rating: 2.0 // 5.0
The classic Typhoid Rat, now with the upside of being an artifact as well.
Hylderblade
Rating: 1.5 // 5.0
While the “free” equip is nice, the fact that it does it EOT is pretty rough. There’s still some decks that could probably make use of this.
Hymn of the Faller
Rating: 2.0 // 5.0
This is a pretty medium draw spell for 2 mana if you don’t get the Void trigger. When you get the void trigger, this thing is nice.
Insatiable Skittermaw
Rating: 1.5 // 5.0
This is decent filler for Void decks.
Lightless Evangel
Rating: 2.0 // 5.0
Assuming you have a good amount of sacrifice triggers, this is a solid 2 drop.
Monoist Circuit-Feeder
Rating: 2.5 // 5.0
Not only is this a sizeable flying creature, it can kill a small-medium creature, and enable a bigger attack on ETB. This card does a lot.
Monoist Sentry
Rating: 1.5 // 5.0
This is an interesting design, but overall seems worse than the common Hullcarver.
Perigee Beckoner
Rating: 1.5 // 5.0
This has potential for a lot of different synergies. It works well with ETB, sacrifice, on death, or Void triggers. I’m still not sold on it, but there is potential.
Requiem Monolith
Rating: 3.0 // 5.0
This can act like a one sided [“Howling Mine”]. It also enables attacks that you would otherwise not be able to make. Be careful that you don’t deck yourself or take too much damage along the way.
Scrounge for Eternity
Rating: 1.0 // 5.0
This is a pretty sketchy reanimate spell. Not only do you need to have a good target in your graveyard, you also need to have the fodder as well. I’d skip this, unless you have a really synergistic deck.
Sothera, the Supervoid
Rating: 2.0 // 5.0
This is pretty decent if you’re set up for it when you play it. If you have repeatable sacrifice effects you can start firing off, this card is sick. If you just play this with little/no gameplan, it does close to nothing. I wouldn’t just put this into any deck.
Sunset Saboteur
Rating: 2.0 // 5.0
This can be decent at times when your opponent has no creatures, or you have multiple removal spells to back it up. Otherwise, it looks like it will just attack once and then try to trade with something as a blocker.
Susurian Dirgecraft
Rating: 2.0 // 5.0
This will most often trade down, by killing a 2-3 drop an opponent controls. If you can station this bad boy up, it’s a good sized flyer that’s worth the investment.
Susurian Voidborn
Rating: 2.0 // 5.0
Part of what makes this guy great is the warp cost of B. Warp is nice in Black, because it’s an easy way to trigger your Void triggers. It’s best suited for a sacrifice oriented build, since it only triggers off your own stuff.
Swarm Culler
Rating: 2.0 // 5.0
This is a solid sacrifice engine to help trigger void and draw cards along the way. It should be able to attack with its high toughness, and can also station something the turn it comes down.
Temporal Intervention
Rating: 2.0 // 5.0
This seems like a solid Thoughtseize for limited. It shouldn’t be too difficult to cast this for 1, and can hit anything in your opponents hand.
Timeline Culler
Rating: 2.0 // 5.0
BB is a bit rough of a casting cost, but the Warp ability gives this a lot of potential. This creature gives you a never-ending Void trigger, albeit very taxing on your Black mana.
Tragic Trajectory
Rating: 2.5 // 5.0
A nice iteration of Tragic Slip. Sorcery speed is a little tough, but it’s not too hard to get the -10/-10 via warp.
Umbral Collar Zealot
Rating: 2.5 // 5.0
This is a really solid 2 drop. The stats are nice, and it provides a repeatable, instant-speed sacrifice outlet with meaningful effect.
Virus Beetle
Rating: 2.5 // 5.0
I love Virus Beetle. It seems a lot better in this set, with artifact and Void synergies looking to be very prominent.
Voidforged Titan
Rating: 2.0 // 5.0
This is a pretty meaningful passive threat, that has a sizeable body as well. It’s a little slow, but seems solid top end for most decks.
Vote Out
Rating: 2.5 // 5.0
Sure, it’s sorcery speed, but you’ll be hard pressed to find more efficient removal spells in limited.
Xu-Ifit, Osteoharmonist
Rating: 3.5 // 5.0
This is a must-kill threat. You can reanimate a giant creature as early as turn 4 if you’re able to get it into your graveyard. The reanimation is never-ending, since you don’t have the exile clause you typically see on these types of cards.
Zero Point Ballad
Rating: 3.5 // 5.0
This things a bomb. Scaleable board wipes allow for more one-sided effects if you line it up well. If you cast it late in the game for 7, it’s a huge swing.
Top 3 Black Commons:
Depressurize Virus Beetle Gravkill
Blacks looking pretty strong this set, with lots of solid commons. There’s also an above-average amount of solid removal spells at both common and uncommon. Black has a solid set of base creatures to work with, that should fit well into most any deck. I’ll be breaking down Red next, stay tuned!
Lose and Learn, Learn and Win!
