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)
Annul
Rating: SB // 5.0
There’s a good amount of targets for this spell, but I think it still will be best out of the sideboard.
Atomic Microsizer
Rating: 1.0 // 5.0
This is a pretty weak card on it’s own. It can be nice with creatures with additional +1/+1 counters, or equipment, but has a very low floor.
Cerebral Download
Rating: 2.5 // 5.0
This is a really strong draw spell. It’s easy enough to splash in soup decks, and can dig really far through your library, at instant speed!
Cloudsculpt Technician
Rating: 1.5 // 5.0
This has decent stats for a 3 drop flying creature, but seems pretty replaceable.
Codecracker Hound
Rating: 2.5 // 5.0
This is an upgraded version of Sibsig Appraiser, which was a top common in TDM. This should be an early pick up for Blue decks.
Consult the Star Charts
Rating: 2.5 // 5.0
This can dig pretty deep into your deck if you’re searching for something specific. It’s a little weak if you play it on turn two, but sometimes that will be the correct play.
Cryogen Relic
Rating: 2.0 // 5.0
An easier way to look at this card is reading it as: 2UU mana draw two, & put a stun counter on a tapped creature. You get to split up the mana cost between turns as well, which makes this seem like a pretty decent inclusion for most Blue decks.
Cryoshatter
Rating: 2.5 // 5.0
Removal doesn’t get much better for 1 mana. The only thing this may not deal with well, are static threats that don’t need to tap or block.
Desculpting Blast
Rating: 2.5 // 5.0
This is solid value if you get to hit an attacker with this. and I’m happy to pay the extra mana for getting a 1/1 flyer a decent amount of the time on this bounce spell.
Divert Disaster
Rating: 1.0 // 5.0
I’m not very high on this version of Quench.
Emissary Escort
Rating: 2.0 // 5.0
This seems easy enough to make into > a 4/4 for two mana, though it won’t happen until later in the game. It seems solid if you have the appropriate support for it.
Gigastorm Titan
Rating: 1.5 // 5.0
The earliest you can play this card is turn 3, which would make it a good card when that happens. The reality is that this has a pretty low floor, and even if you play it by turn 4 with another 2 drop, it’s not all that exciting.
Illvoi Galeblade
Rating: 2.0 // 5.0
This is a decent creature that can get a few points in early, chump block something, and replace itself.
Illvoi Infiltrator
Rating: 1.5 // 5.0
The stat-line on this guy is pretty rough for a 3 drop, and likely won’t connect unless you double spell. This guy is likely pretty weak.
Illvoi Light Jammer
Rating: 2.0 // 5.0
I don’t mind this as a combat trick/protection spell. You can either use it to win a combat, or nullify an opponents removal spell, while leaving behind a somewhat relevant piece of equipment. It’s not a typical Blue card in application, so make sure you have enough creatures in your deck to merit playing this.
Illvoi Operative
Rating: 1.0 // 5.0
This is a pretty weak 2 drop. You’ll need to trigger this multiple times for it to be relevant, which is a tall order.
Lost in Space
Rating: 2.0 // 5.0
This is a type of removal spell Blue typically has access to at common. 4 mana is a decent enough rate, but the reason I like this a bit more is the Surveil 1, which gives it a pretty nice boost.
Mechan Assembler
Rating: 2.0 // 5.0
This is a pretty slow engine, but I’m not going to write it off yet. I think it’s going to be decent enough in artifact decks to outweigh the opportunity cost of a 5 mana 4/4.
Mechan Navigator
Rating: 2.0 // 5.0
This works well with the Station mechanic, making this pretty close to Merfolk Looter.
Mechanozoa
Rating: 1.5 // 5.0
This is ok top end filler, but is very replaceable.
Mechan Shieldmate
Rating: 1.5 // 5.0
An underwhelming 2 drop, but is decent to include in more evasive/control oriented blue decks.
Mental Modulation
Rating: 2.0 // 5.0
This is a nice tool for triggering “cast two spells” cards. It seems fine to include in most builds, but doesn’t do all that much on its own.
Mm’menon, the Right Hand
Rating: 3.0 // 5.0
This is an Air Elemental with upside dependent on the amount of artifacts in your deck.
Moonlit Meditation
Rating: 0.0 // 5.0
There aren’t enough token creation cards in this set to consider playing this.
Mouth of the Storm
Rating: 2.0 // 5.0
If your deck can support a 7 drop, this one is incredibly powerful, and buys you an entire turn.
Nanoform Sentinel
Rating: 1.5 // 5.0
This is a weak 3 drop, but can definitely help station up a Spaceship very quickly.
Quantum Riddler
Rating: 4.0 // 5.0
At the absolute worst, this is a 4/6 flyer for 5 mana that draws 1 on ETB. That’s an incredibly high floor. This card can end up drawing you a lot, in addition to being a giant, flying, sphinx.
Scour for Scrap
Rating: 1.5 // 5.0
This is a pretty slow card, but may be worth consideration if you have 1 or more bomb artifacts in your deck.
Selfcraft Mechan
Rating: 2.0 // 5.0
This pairs really well with Cryogen Relic. Aside from that, there are a handful of 2/2 robot and 1/1 thopter tokens in the set you can sacrifice for a card.
Sinister Cryologist
Rating: 1.0 // 5.0
This seems like a pretty bad 3 drop. The only upside is that the warp cost is cheap enough to enable the “cast two spell” mechanic.
Specimen Freighter
Rating: 1.5 // 5.0
This reminds me of Floodwaters. Instead of cycling, it’s a flying spaceship. I don’t think this card will be all that great, but I’m not writing it off yet.
Starbreach Whale
Rating: 2.0 // 5.0
Surveil 2 is more significant than most people give it credit for, especially later in the game. I wouldn’t be too excited to warp this at any point, but you do get the option if you don’t have anything else to do.
Starfield Vocalist
Rating: 2.0 // 5.0
There are a good amount of ETB triggers in this set. With a high number of good ETB triggers (7+), I’d consider this guy to be a 2.5-3.0, but for your average deck, 2.0 seems fair.
Starwinder
Rating: 3.0 // 5.0
This can be amazing at times, drawing you lots of cards. The downside is that you do have to connect with a creature(s) to do so, making the floor of this a 7/7 for 7.
Steelswarm Operator
Rating: 2.0 // 5.0
There’s a good amount of artifacts in the set that this can help cast, but not a ton of activated abilities on them. It’s still a decent mana dork, that can push a few points of damage through in the air.
Synthesizer Labship
Rating: 2.5 // 5.0
The 2+ ability is pretty nice, and not hard to activate. You can also use your creature from the 2+ ability to station this back up to get it closer to 9+.
Tractor Beam
Rating: 2.5 // 5.0
This is a nice removal spell, that allows you to take threats that have meaningful passive abilities for yourself.
Unravel
Rating: 2.0 // 5.0
For the most part, this is Cancel, but there will be rare times when this draws you a card along the way.
Uthros Psionicist
Rating: 1.5 // 5.0
I’m optimistic about this guy, but it will most likely be a 2/4 for 3 mana the majority of games.
Uthros Scanship
Rating: 1.5 // 5.0
This might be end up being far too slow, but it’s worth giving the spaceship a shot going into the new set.
Weftwalking
Rating: 3.5 // 5.0
While this doesn’t do anything the turn you play it, it makes it pretty easy to stabilize thereafter. Optimally, you play this when both players have 1-2 cards in hand, giving you a fresh 7, and the free spell has little/no effect for your opponent that late in the game.
Top 3 Blue Commons:
Cryoshatter Cryogen Relic Starbreach Whale
Blue looks a bit slow this set, and looks to be a support color. There are some great card advantage options throughout, like Codecracker Hound, and Cerebral Download. The commons look to be relatively weak, so you will probably be pulled into this color via uncommons/rares. You’ll want to make sure your blue decks have early game, and spaceships look a bit too slow for most Blue decks. I’ll be breaking down Black next, stay tuned!
Lose and Learn, Learn and Win!
