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 white.
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)
Ajani, Caller of the Pride
Rating: 4.0 // 5.0
Five loyalty on turn 3 is really hard to answer. If you play a two drop and follow up with Ajani, the opponent might concede on the spot.
Ajani’s Pridemate
Rating: 2.5 // 5.0
There is a ton of lifegain this set, including the tapped land cycle like Blossoming Sands, as well as repeatable lifegain on Dazzling Angel. A solid two drop, even if you only have a few ways to gain life.
Angel of Finality
Rating: 2.0 // 5.0
The graveyard removal is relevant this set, especially against threshold decks. The statline is solid, working well as a blocker and relevant flying attacker.
Arahbo, the First Fang
Rating: 4.0 // 5.0
4/4 worth of stats for 3 mana is solid enough on its own. Depending on your build, this thing can get pretty absurd, helping you go wide with ease.
Armasaur Guide
Rating: 1.5 // 5.0
A top-end go wide finisher of sorts. It doesn’t look like it will be super effective, but if you want a five drop, this works.
Authority of the Consuls
Rating: 2.0 // 5.0
This is a situational card, and a lot of decks won’t want to include it. However, it can be effective in a couple different types of decks. It can be good in a hyper aggressive deck, and has potential with a high density of lifegain synergies, pairing it with cards like Cat Collector or Ajani's Pridemate.
Banishing Light
Rating: 2.5 // 5.0
Classic white removal. It’s great.
Cat Collector
Rating: 2.5 // 5.0
A very solid three drop on its own, that enables and benefits from lifegain synergies.
Cathar Commando
Rating: 1.5 // 5.0
Decent filler if you need a two drop, and a solid sideboard option.
Celestial Armor
Rating: 3.5 // 5.0
A combat/protection trick that leaves behind an equipment that provides flying and +2/+0 if a pretty sick deal for 3 mana. You can also use it aggressively, attaching it to a creature at the end of your opponents turn to commence the beatings.
Claws Out
Rating: 2.0 // 5.0
This is the go-wide payoff you will be interested in. The ability to be cast for 2 mana is pretty sick as well, allowing you to play multiple spells during the turn to close out the game.
Crystal Barricade
Rating: SB // 5.0
This can be a decent sideboard option if you need a wall. It can also shut down burn spells, making your opponent kill this thing first.
Dauntless Veteran
Rating: 2.0 // 5.0
This guys pretty weak on its own, but in a solid go-wide build can do some work. It will likely die the turn it attacks, so pairing it with a combat trick could be a nice sequence.
Day of Judgment
Rating: 3.5 // 5.0
A lot of white decks look to go wide, which always makes board wipes a bit awkward, but it’s still a very powerful spell that can win games when timed well.
Dazzling Angel
Rating: 2.0 // 5.0
This is an alright creature on it’s own, but gets a lot better with lifegain/angel synergies.
Divine Resilience
Rating: 1.5 // 5.0
I’m not a huge fan of this card, but maybe your supposed to use it in a go-wide deck to protect your attackers. I’m not holding my breath.
Exemplar of Light
Rating: 3.5 // 5.0
This thing is absurd if you can trigger it multiple times, becoming a giant threat and card drawing engine.
Felidar Savior
Rating: 2.5 // 5.0
A clone of Basri's Acolyte, which was a top common during it’s time. I assume this will be one of the best white commons during this set as well.
Fleeting Flight
Rating: 2.0 // 5.0
This is kind of like Snakesking Veil, but hexproof is switched with EOT flying. This works well in more aggressive decks, letting you either win combat while attacking, or sending a flyer over the top for lethal.
Giada, Font of Hope
Rating: 3.0 // 5.0
There are two common and three uncommon angels in white, so this actually has a high likelyhood of getting the synergy benefits. Even if you end up with no angels, this is still a very solid two drop.
Guarded Heir
Rating: 2.5 // 5.0
This is a great top end creature for any white deck, but especially strong in go-wide archetypes. Providing three bodies and 7/7 worth of stats is a solid curve topper.
Hare Apparent
Rating: 1.5 // 5.0
This is a vanilla Grizzly Bear most of the time, but can be a solid two drop option for low to the ground decks when you get 3+ copies.
Healer’s Hawk
Rating: 2.0 // 5.0
Goldvein Pick and Adventuring Gear both exist, which can make this a very real card. It also easily enables some of the other lifegain synergies, making Ajani's Pridemate a premium turn two follow up.
Helpful Hunter
Rating: 2.5 // 5.0
Spirited Companion is always very strong.
Herald of Eternal Dawn
Rating: 2.0 // 5.0
A similar card to Platinum Angel for more control oriented decks. This is most certainly not a card for every white deck, but can be a decent tool for more control oriented builds.
Inspiring Paladin
Rating: 2.0 // 5.0
A decent 3 drop that gets more powerful the faster and more +1/+1 counters your deck has.
Joust Through
Rating: 2.5 // 5.0
1 mana is pretty hard to beat, even if it’s conditional removal. This is good for both aggro and control decks, and also gives you a random lifegain trigger.
Luminous Rebuke
Rating: 2.5 // 5.0
A solid white removal spell that works better in slower white decks.
Make Your Move
Rating: SB // 5.0
White looks to have enough good removal this set, so you shouldn’t ever need to maindeck this.
Mischievous Pup
Rating: 1.5 // 5.0
I’m surprised they reprinted this, especially with all of the 1/1’s running amok. This can be alright with some decent synergies, but it’s not as strong as most (myself included) assume.
Prideful Parent
Rating: 2.0 // 5.0
Another solid common 3 drop that plays more into the go-wide decks.
Raise the Past
Rating: 0.5 // 5.0
There is an aggressive deck that I could see playing this, but it would be a very unique build.
Resolute Reinforcements
Rating: 2.0 // 5.0
A solid two drop for any white deck.
Savannah Lions
Rating: 1.5 // 5.0
For the most part, this should be reserved for the hyper aggressive decks.
Serra Angel
Rating: 2.5 // 5.0
She’s still at it.
Skyknight Squire
Rating: 3.0 // 5.0
As long as you drop this in the early game, it’s a huge threat. It does make for a very poor top deck later in the game though.
Squad Rallier
Rating: 1.5 // 5.0
I’m not too excited to put this in my deck, but I could see it as a curve topper for aggro decks to refill their hands.
Stroke of Midnight
Rating: 1.5 // 5.0
If you’re hard up for removal, this will do the trick. In practice, this card performs very poorly.
Sun-Blessed Healer
Rating: 2.5 // 5.0
The floor of a 3/1 lifelink 2 drop is decent enough. The kicker pushes this to be even a bit stronger.
Twinblade Blessing
Rating: 2.0 // 5.0
The ideal scenario is to use this as a combat trick and turn your remaining creature into a threat the following turn. It’s a bit hard for those circumstances to line up perfectly, and the WW casting cost isn’t helping the stars align either. It can be used proactively on a flyer if your opponent doesn’t have a kill spell, or you have a protection spell to back it up.
Valkyrie’s Call
Rating: 1.5 // 5.0
The ceiling on this card is pretty high, but the floor is extremely low. For five mana you have the potential to do nothing, or to warp the game. I don’t typically play these types of cards because of the high variance.
Vanguard Seraph
Rating: 1.5 // 5.0
This is one of the weakest angels, but can really shine with repeated lifegain.
Youthful Valkyrie
Rating: 2.0 // 5.0
Even without angel follow ups, this is a really strong creature to put equipment or +1/+1 counters on.
Top 3 White Commons:
Felidar Savior Banishing Light Helpful Hunter
White looks like a very strong option to enable some of the equipment like Goldvein Pick. There are good options for go-wide builds and some solid life gain synergies that are both worth playing in to. I’ll be dissecting Blue next, stay tuned!
Lose and Learn, Learn and Win!
