The new set isn’t really looking to rock any established foundation. We’ve got about 50% reprints, 50% new cards, and no new mechanics. That doesn’t mean it’s going to be bad by any means, in fact it may be a better set because the designers are working with far less unknowns than usual. Either way, I have been feeding and watering my J2SJosh in my basement, and I feel like he’s thriving. Let’s take a look at blue.
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)
It may be hard to grow this card, especially on the draw, but a lot of it’s power is from the raid trigger, making cards like Burglar Rat quite problematic.
In a perfect world, this nets you a ton of power and toughness. In the real world, this can fall pretty flat, only pumping your 1-2 creatures in play at a time.
I’m a big fan of Balmor decks, and they can be quite explosive. Pairing it with cards like Goblin Surprise, and Faebloom Trick are key for the deck to shine.
There will be games when this is a tiny creature for 5 mana as well as games where it becomes gigantic. The floor is pretty low for 5 mana, but it should still be a fine card to include in your deck.
This card is a bit more overpowered than one would assume. It loots on ETB, and every turn there after (while flying for 2 points), and eventually grows into a 3/3 deathtouch. If you picture this card reading: “T: Loot and opponent loses 2 life.” it changes your perspective a bit.
Ward 4 isn’t hexproof, but it does narrow down the removal that can kill this by a large margin. With the 8/12 trampling body, it’s pretty hard to stop this thing from generating the 4 3/3 tokens when it attacks.
The window for when this will be good is pretty narrow. Attacking on turn 5 with a 2/3 menace isn’t all that threatening, but if you can connect with and/or pump up its power, the payoff is solid.
A decent body to get involved in combat with when needed, and the passive ability can start taking over the game pretty quickly. Evolving Wilds is very nice to pair with this to start thinning out your deck.
While the raid trigger does give opponents choices, all of those choices are pretty rough. This card can add up value throughout the game, and can be diabolical in multiples.
This card isn’t great by itself, but if your deck has lots of support it can shine. There are a good amount of cheap equipment to pair this with, and a fair amount of +1/+1 counters as well.
If Tatyova hits the battlefield in any kind of stalemate, the player with her will likely win if unchecked. She is pretty weak on defense, but in all other scenarios she accrues tons of value.
This is a cool design for sure, but not a great limited card. It’s awesome in a deck full of creatures and tokens, but still hast the potential to fall flat.
This is pretty slow, but it does mana fix/ramp pretty well. Most often you will use this as a chump blocker, sacrificing it before damage goes through.
This is a weird one, but it does have some utility. It can be good at providing a sea of fish to go wide during stalemates, provide sacrifice fodder, or produce never ending chump blockers. But it’s pretty bad outside of those scenarios.
The only instance I could see putting this in a deck is in a very slow 4-5 color control deck, where the treasure could be helpful. You could also play this out of the sideboard against hyper aggro decks, but it still feels like a weak option.
There are a good amount of cheap flyers in this set to enable this piece of equipment. If you played during Kaldheim, you are familiar with the potential power of the innocuous equipment.
This is designed for aggro decks, and while it does help you attack with smaller creatures, the mana/equip costs are pretty clunky. I think if this had a free attach when it entered the battlefield, it would feel a bit better, and fit more in line with the flavor of the card.
The first ability is decent for generating value off of irrelevant creatures, and the second ability has the potential to be threatening the longer the game goes on. This is for a very specific type of deck that can generate fodder.
The fact that each player draws an additional card on your upkeep, is a benefit to you (the active player). The incidental life loss can add up throughout the game.
Andy "Icky" Ferguson is a long time limited grinder, with his first draft in 1999 at the age of 11. 22 years later, you can still find him streaming drafts, achieving the top ranks, including rank #1 5 months of 2021. Seasoned member of the Draft Lab squad and appointed "zen master", Andy lives by the motto; "lose and learn, learn and win".
