Two mana deal 3’s will always be great in limited, and Abrade is no exception. This is pretty much the same as Cathartic Pyre, but maybe you’ll get the sweet satisfaction of blowing up a Dollhouse of Horrors with this!
I love me a Time Walk in Limited, but seven sure is a hefty price to pay for it. Not getting birds like Alrund's Epiphany makes this way worse than it seems at first glance. This is still fine and I’ll almost always play it if I’m Izzet, but I would never bank on casting this for three mana so don’t play it unless you’re Izzet.
It seems incredibly easy to flip Alluring Suitor and insanely difficult to block it after it flips. I might be overrating this slightly, but curving a two drop into this and then casting multiple spells on turn four seems like a near impossible start to beat. I’m very excited to try this out and see if it performs as well as I’m expecting it to!
This is cool and has great flavor, but it ultimately is too low impact for it to interest me in limited. The only place I could see wanting this is a 14 land mono red deck that has like 5-6 of these.
Pingers are very powerful in Limited because they basically invalidate every one toughness creature your opponent has once they untap. This is expensive to activate, but that seems fine because it’s still a decent attacker on both sides. Nothing amazing, but definitely a solid four drop right here.
A 3/2 for three just doesn’t cut it anymore. This is rarely going to connect and will often trade down, so I’d rather fill out my curve with something else.
This is incredibly powerful in the Rakdos vampires decks. There’s a ton of great Blood token producers, which means that it shouldn’t be too difficult to start cracking them whenever is convenient and start crashing in for a ton of damage. This not being able to block does mean that only the aggressively leaning decks will be interested in this though.
A nice little aggressive threat that nets you a Blood token when it dies is going to be plenty good in most decks. It’s nice to see that so far, Red has a nice amount of good common two drops to fill their curve with.
Now this has gotten way better with Exploit in the format. I really hope that Rakdos sacrifice is a thing in this set, and even if it isn’t, there will be decks that can make good use of this sort of effect. Obviously if you’re controlling or don’t have good synergies with this, then don’t play it.
Things are going to get ugly quickly if you exile a creature with this and your opponent doesn’t have an answer. A 2/1 First Strike for two is already solid, and once this starts to deal 2-6 damage it’ll become amazing. This is a great card that I would probably only take the absolutely best uncommons and premium removal over.
This is an absolute nightmare to beat if it comes down on turn three. It ramps, draws cards, and quickly works it’s way up to the ultimate, which should win the game assuming you have a spell lying around or hit one in the top five. Obviously she works the best in primarily red decks, but I’d happily play her no matter what. The reason she’s not higher though is because she doesn’t protect herself and doesn’t do much when you’re behind or facing down a few fliers.
Please don’t waste four mana to cast this nonsense. I can’t think of a single way to abuse this in limited, which often means that it’s effect is probably just worse than drawing a singular card.
What a weird card. A four mana 4/3 Haste is above rate for Limited though, and being able to buff up a smaller attacking creature means that this should deliver a serious beat down the turn it comes down. This is solid, but far from a bomb rare.
Red has a bunch of aggressive creatures and great ways to push them through, especially with the help of the Trample that this is providing. A three mana Coastal Piracy that helps trigger itself seems great to me, so you better hope that you’re not behind when your opponent casts this.
This will be fine filler in the very aggressive decks and pretty poor everywhere else. A Gray Ogre is just so bad, even if they do have Haste and an okay ETB. Creatures are way too big nowadays for you to be able to play a three mana 2/2 and be able to keep up.
Now this is quite the aggressive creature. The floor of being a three mana 3/3 is already more than acceptable in limited, and when you get a free Claim the First Born or Threaten out of this, it’s going to be back breaking. A solid card and definitely something I would try to build around if I got it early enough.
A nice board option that cleanly answers something busted like a Voldaren Bloodcaster. Keep this in the sideboard and wait to bring it in after seeing crazy powerful one toughness creatures like that.
This is some decent top end for the red aggressive decks that will help to fuel your other vampires with all the blood it creates. This isn’t an all-star five drop like Diregraf Horde, but it’s still quite good and something that I would be happy to top my curve with.
I love early creatures with Menace, though it’s a lot better when they’re a 3/2 instead of a 2/3. This feels very similar (though slightly better) than Harvesttide Infiltrator, which was a decent curve filler but only really shined when played with a bunch of wolf/werewolf payoffs. I’d play Fearful Villager in most aggressive decks, but it’ll probably only perform slightly better than Brimstone Vandal, which is kind of disappointing.
For the most part, this seems like a worse Storm Skreelix since it’s easy to chump. However, the Skreelix was always solid in the Izzet spell decks, and I assume that the same will be true for Frenzied Devils. I also foresee people struggling to play against this because of how hard it is to know when to block this or not. The Haste is a little strange here considering that you won’t often attack with this the turn that it comes in because you won’t have the mana to cast spells and buff this.
This gives me major Renegade Freighter vibes, which worries me a bit. A three mana 5/5 Trampler is enormous, and tapping two creatures to crew it seems very doable. You’ll need a very high creature count to make the best use of this, but it seems tough to beat this on turn three after your opponent follows it up with a few creatures.
This is a pretty decent early beater in pretty much every Red deck. It shouldn’t be difficult to get a couple of these and some werewolves in your deck, at which point this should be consistently powered up. Two drops are the most important part of aggressive decks, and I see this being a key curve filler in the format.
Combat becomes impossible once this flips, and even if it never does, this is a must-block creature that will often trade for two creatures or just straight up kill the opponent. The backside is so good that I would rarely ever pass this.
How many discard/draw effects are in this set? They’re all awful, so please don’t play them. Making it night for four mana and doing some rummaging is way too expensive and anemic. You have to impact the board in some way when you’re spending that much mana.
This will be fine in the Izzet spells deck and basically unplayable everywhere else. Even in Izzet this will only be okay, so don’t get duped into overvaluing this by thinking about the best case scenarios of playing this on turn two and unleashing a flurry of spells.
This pecks in for a few points early on and then starts cranking out a 3/2 or two? Sign me up, this is good at every point of the game and is a card that I never plan on cutting from my red decks.
A five mana deal four is a little clunky and awkward when it’s a sorcery, but at least you get paid off for sending a lot of mana to kill a small creature. This is an okay removal spell, but I can imagine it disappointing often when I’m not able to kill the threat or bomb that’s dominating the game
This fits nicely in the Izzet spells deck because of how quickly it will end the game after flipping. I love the play pattern of this and how good it will feel to pass, flip this, and then start casting a bunch of instants and shocking the opponent to death.
This seems like a nightmare to slog through in combat. A huge Magma Pummeler will end the game quickly, and even if it’s only for two or three, it should be able to hold down the ground nicely. Keep in mind that this can even attack and block creatures with Deathtouch profitably!
A 4/4 flier for four is always going to be great in limited, but the effect here puts this way over the top. Manaform Hellkite kills the opponent incredibly quickly assuming you have a spell or two to follow it up with. This also makes it near impossible for your opponent to attack into your open mana since they always need to fear you casting a spell mid-combat, getting an illusion, and then trading it for their best creature. Again, never pass cards as powerful as these.
This will dominate a lot of board states assuming that you have the 8+ vampires needed to make sure this is consistently turned on. I know that I’m going to obliterate my opponent in combat a large percentage of the time that I cast this!
This is one of those “kill it quickly or you lose” sort of rares. It’s nice that this can be answered and the game can resume, but if it isn’t, it should easily dominate the board and quickly get to work on the opponent’s life total. At least it costs six mana and takes awhile to take over the game!
Dang, red actually has some decent top end for once it seems. This is awkward if it’s bounced or exiled, but for the most part this should be similarly powerful to Pitchburn Devils from original Innistrad. I like the idea of topping a lot of my decks with this. Do keep in mind that the abundance of decent late game in red means that you should rarely be prioritizing these sorts of cards.
If you have a low curve and are planning to be aggressive, then this should perform well. Keep your curve in mind when playing this because the last thing you want is to play it and only be able to hit one spell off of it.
This is mostly just Soul Sear, which is normally just an easier to cast Murder. I’ll always play as much removal as I can get my hands on, and Rending Flame is no exception. Getting to deal two is just gravy, but when that does happen it’s going to be particularly disgusting. Though with all of the Disturb in the format I bet that this will be dealing two surprisingly often!
This is a fantastic payoff for werewolf decks and a great playable in any red deck. I love how this can beat down early and then deliver the last few points of burn in the late game after the board gets clogged up. This is a very solid two drop and a big reason to look to go Gruul werewolves.
This mostly seems like a mediocre attacker and blocker unless your deck is filled to the brim with Blood producers and users. Almost no decks will want this, but the few Rakdos vampire decks that do will most likely be able to make good use of it.
Getting a 1/1 every turn is more than good enough to see play, and the fact that this ends the game rather quickly with the deal seven makes it an even scarier threat. It shouldn’t be too difficult to get to thirteen permanents when you’re looking to crack this and end the game. Any card that provides a consistent advantage over the course of the game will often be especially powerful in limited because games tend to go so long. That’s why planeswalkers are so good and that’s why I believe that this will be great.
A classic mediocre, yet still serviceable combat trick right here. It’ll get the job done, but not efficiently. It never blows you away, but it’s always there for you when you need it. I love me a trusty Sure Strike and I’m looking forward to begrudgingly including it in my aggressive decks that are lacking removal.
This of course gets better or worse depending on the density of vampires in your deck. This is going to be pretty nuts though when you’re playing Rakdos and cast it post combat, killing three of your opponents creatures and none of your own while also getting a Blood token. Even if your red deck is low on vampires and high on low-toughness creatures, this will still be a great board option.
This hits very hard on both sides and should be a major headache for the opponent unless they have some instant speed removal in hand or a couple huge creatures laying around. This is obviously great and I would always play it, but I do wish that it could do more on clogged board states.
Now this is a weird one to evaluate. This provides a decent amount for one mana, but at the end of a day a one mana vanilla 1/1 is rarely going to do much. Maybe if you have a ton of Blood users or are mono red I would include this, but for the most part this seems way too low impact for my liking.
Voltaic Visionary
Rating: 3.5/5
This is a stellar two drop. Sure, you have to deal yourself two to flip it, but you get to draw a card and get a huge beater once you pay that price. Every deck will want this because of how powerful it is at nearly every point in the game. Don’t be afraid to burn yourself a little if it means you’re getting this much value!
This feels almost identical to Tavern Ruffian, except it’s slightly worse. This is a good blocker that does transform into a powerful threat, but you can do better for four mana in this set. I’d probably still play this if you have the werewolf synergies to back it up and bench it if you don’t.
Yikes. Red had some great uncommons, but besides Abrade and Flame-Blessed Bolt the color feels somewhat lacking on good commons. Blood Petal Celebrant is decent, but it’s shocking to be rating it as the third best red common. I unfortunately fear that Red may yet again be the weakest color in the set, but we’ll see for sure at the end after I’ve reviewed all the cards and thoroughly went through the entire set.
Thanks for reading!
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While Chris Kvartek technically kicked off his career in 2012, he burst onto the scene in 2019 like few before him. With an early season Top Finish at Mythic Championship II and narrow miss for his second at Mythic Championship IV, Kvartek earned invitations to two more Mythic Championships through online qualifiers. He secured his second Top Finish of the season at Mythic Championship VII, and now this rising star must prove he can stay among the elite of professional Magic.
