Innistrad: Midnight Hunt Limited Set Review: Blue

• 5.0: Disgustingly powerful and basically unbeatable. Either answer it the turn it comes down or just pack up your cards. (Esika’s Chariot, Fury, Starnheim Unleashed)
• 4.5: Incredible bomb that still gives your opponent a slim chance. (Icingdeath, Frost Tyrant, Alrund’s Epiphany, Grand Master of Flowers)
• 4.0: Great rare or the absolute best uncommons and removal. (Froghemoth, Murder, Skullport Merchant)
• 3.5: Great role filler or removal that you never cut. (Magic Missile, Clarion Spirit, Battle Cry Goblin)
• 3.0: Good playable that I’m basically never cutting. (Usher of the Fallen, Owlbear, Dragon Turtle)
• 2.5: Decent playable and the bar I hope nearly every card in my deck to reach. (Rally Maneuver, Steadfast Paladin, Goblin Morningstar)
• 2.0: Mediocre filler that normally is your 20-23rd card(s). (Contact Other Plane, Vampire Spawn, Valor Singer)
• 1.5: Replaceable, overall bad filler. Could also be decent sideboard cards. (Dungeon Map, Spiked Pit Trap, Village Rites)
• 1.0: Bad filler. Gets cut most of the time. (Secret Door, Brazen Dwarf, Funeral Longboat)
• 0.5: Very unhappy to main deck this, but maybe it has fringe sideboard applications. (You see a Guard Approach, Kick in the Door, Compelled Duel)
• 0.0: Unplayable in every possible situation. (Mimic, Fifty feet of Rope, Bard Class)

Baithook Angler

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Rating: 2.5/5

I love a two drop that gets value from trading. Both sides are pretty anemic, but together they make a decent two drop that I’ll almost always be happy to play. There’s lots of milling in blue, so milling this and getting some extra value is going to be pretty darn sweet.

Component Collector

Rating: 1.5/5

Some decks will want a 1/4 for three, but most won’t. The tapping ability is a pretty aggressive effect which feels kind of out of place on a solely defensive creature like this.

Consider

Rating: 1.5/5- 3/5

It’s not that Consider is bad; there’s just very few times that you would actually want to play it. Maybe if you had a bunch of Delver of Secrets and a Poppet Stitcher you’d be interested in it, but for the most part I’m of the camp that Opt is only ever good in limited if you have a ton of cards that synergize with it. Do keep in mind that this does become very good once you get a couple Thermo-Alchemist and Seize the Storm in your deck!

Covetous Castaway

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Rating: 2.5/5

The front side of this is pretty poor, but having a huge flier on the backside is really going to decentivize your opponent from attacking. Milling three also isn’t the worst with all the Flashback and Disturb cards floating around.

Curse of Surveillance

Rating: 3/5

I don’t know how many good curses are in the format, but even if just Curse of Surveillance is attached you’re still going to be drawing at least two cards a turn. That effect is very powerful, but also a little clunky which is why this isn’t rated higher. It’s also nice that the draw trigger is a may, so you don’t have to worry about milling out with this.

Delver of Secrets

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Rating: 1/5-3/5

You need a ton of Instants and Sorceries before this gets good, which seems difficult to do when most decks have 17 lands and 12-17 creatures. I wouldn’t touch Delver unless I had at least 10 instants/sorceries in my deck, however that does seem doable considering all the great Flashback spells in this set. Normally I would avoid Delver, but if you have an incredibly spell heavy deck I say go for it and cross your fingers that it flips!

Devious Cover-Up

Rating: 1/5-2.5/5

Devious Cover-Up was a hallmark of Guilds of Ravnica draft and played a role in Dimir being so dominant. If the games end up being incredibly grindy, then looping these could end up being the go-to win condition. Most decks won’t be interested in an expensive Dissipate, but the ones that do will rely heavily on Devious Cover-Up.

Dissipate

Rating: 2/5

Cancel is rarely particularly good or bad in a format and I believe that Dissipate will follow this trend. Getting rid of Flashback and Disturb cards for good is a nice little bonus though. Dissipate is probably closer to a 3/5  in sealed so keep that in mind during the prerelease.

Drownyard Amalgam

Rating: 1.5/5

Five drops are way too replaceable, though this one has enough abilities that I wouldn’t be too upset if I had to run it. A better Ashiok’s Skulker can only be so bad after all.

Fading Hope

Rating: 2.5/5

Either tempo your opponent out or save your own threat all while potentially Scrying one? Now that’s a solid deal. I’m pretty much always happy to main deck the first Unsummon effect unless I’m a really slow, controlling deck.

Falcon Abomination

Rating: 3/5

So many Wind Drakes with value in this set! Falcon Abomination will be a key decay enabler and is one of the main reasons why Vivisection is going to be so good in this set.

Firmament Sage

Rating: 2.5/5

Flipping between night and day doesn’t seem the most difficult throughout a long game, so I could see this being a huge headache for the opponent if you have a high density of instants. A 2/3 for four that draws at least one card is quite good, and the fact that you can trigger it multiple times throughout the game makes this a pretty nice four drop in my eyes.

Flip the Switch

Rating: 2/5

Convolute with Decay isn’t stellar, but it’s definitely got some sweet synergies in this set. Again, counters like these are much, much better in sealed than draft.

Galedrifter

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Rating: 3/5

Assault Griffin is already pretty decent. The worst thing about low toughness fliers like that is when they trade down, but that’s not an issue for Galedrifter since after you trade you can still get an expensive Wind Drake later in the game. I assume that you’ll be seeing a lot of Galedrifters during your time drafting Innistrad: Midnight Hunt.

Geistwave

Rating: 2/5

Disperse with upside is pretty sweet. I could definitely see this being a great board card against removal like Candletrap.

Grafted Identity

Rating: 5/5

Control Magic will always be one of the best effects in the history of limited because it answers the best creature your opponent has and then forces them to answer it themselves. In a normal format this may only be a 4/5, but the existence of Decayed tokens makes it incredibly easy to have the sacrifice fodder needed to cast this. Always take this and enjoy squishing your opponent with it.

Larder Zombie

Rating: .5/5

A 1/3 Defender for one is awful in modern limited. The Scry 1 that you really have to work for isn’t adding much either. I’d basically never play this.

Lier, Disciple of the Drowned

Rating: 4/5

This grade comes with the assumption that you’re already a spell heavy deck. It seems really easy to run away with the game and bury the opponent once Lier lives for a turn or two. The existence of Fading Hope and Geistwave makes Lier that much better since you could even situate the game to the point that you’re able to protect Lier with one of the bounce spells in your graveyard. A 3/4 also ain’t a bad blocker so you should have plenty of time to cast all those sweet spells in your graveyard!

Locked in the Cemetery

Rating: 2.5/5

It seems pretty trivial in blue to get this to be a two mana Claustrophobia. There’s a decent amount of bounce and a lot of creatures with ETB’s and activated abilities, so while this is a decent removal spell, it’s not something I’ll ever value too highly.

Malevolent Hermit

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Rating: 3.5/5

The comparisons between Voidmage Prodigy and Malevolent Hermit have been all over Twitter. What’s had me cracking up is people comparing Kai Budde to Malevolent Hermit, and after examining the card the resemblance is pretty spot on. Regardless of that, this card seems great. It makes your opponents removal way more awkward and in the worst case scenario you can just trade this in combat and be left with a Flashback Wind Drake.

Memory Deluge

Rating: 4/5

Now this is a draw spell. Getting a four-for-one in limited is amazing, even if it is slow. The best part about Memory Deluge is how good it is at drawing your high impact spells/bombs. By the time you cast this for four or seven, you probably aren’t interested in drawing many more lands, so instead of that you can just take whatever decent spells that show up. You better be the aggressor when your opponent casts this because I don’t see how you’re going to keep up in the late game once this is cast.

Mysterious Tome

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Rating: 3.5/5

Half Icebind Pillar, half Arcane Encyclopedia?! This seems excellent to me since it buys you time while also drawing your cards. Assuming that the format isn’t lightning fast, then this very high rating should hold up and Mysterious Tome should take over many games.

Nebelgast Intruder

Rating: 3/5

Flying always overperforms in limited and I especially like fliers like Faerie Duelist that find a way to ambush a creature for free. Even as just a three mana 2/1 Flying this is fine and having both a high floor and ceiling is what makes for a consistent and overall good limited card.

Ominous Roost

Rating: 3.5/5

This score assumes that you’re actively building around Birding Vengeance. There are just so many Flashback and Disturb cards in this set that it seems pretty easy to get 3+ birds out of this, which is fantastic. I’m very much looking forward to opening this and trying my hardest to relive some of the glory days of original Innistrad and Burning Vengeance.

Organ Hoarder

Rating: 3/5

I’m not sure if I’m rating some of these four drops too highly, but Loxodon Line Breaker with a better Anticipate attached just seems great to me. My goodness there’s so many good Striped Bears in this set!

Otherworldly Gaze

Rating: .5/5

This deserves a 0/5, however there is a small percentage of the time where this could be good. If your deck has like four Ominous Roost and a bunch of Disturb and Flashback spells, then maybe I can see playing this. The lack of Laboratory Maniac in the format really makes a world of a difference though and even in original Innistrad I was never a Dream Twist fan, which this is somewhat similar to. I’d recommend steering clear of nonsense cards like this unless you have complete mastery of the format and are able to identify the very few spots where this card can be good.

Overwhelmed Archivist

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Rating: 3/5

A classic bread-and-butter card that you’re happy to fill your deck with. These Disturbed creatures are mostly great, and the looting effect from Archive Haunt will be especially awesome when you bring this back in the late game.

Patrician Geist

Rating: 3.5/5

A Wind Drake that pumps your fellow spirits while making Disturb and Flashback cheaper is unsurprisingly great and an awesome early pick that gets even better when built around.

Phantom Carriage

Rating: 3.5

A huge flier that draws a relevant spell every time is absolutely backbreaking.This is a crazy powerful six drop and not one I’d ever expect to see later than second or third pick. I just can’t get over how much better this card is than all the dragons in the DnD set. You’ll see what I’m talking about the first time you play this spooky dragon.

Poppet Stitcher

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Rating: 4.5/5

Yeah I don’t see how you ever beat this if it flips. Amassing enough Decayed tokens seems easy enough in general and once it flips your opponent will be facing down at least three 3/3’s. Well what if all your tokens get answered? Have no fear, you can just flip Poppet Factory into Poppet Stitcher and just do it all over again!

Revenge of the Drowned

Rating: 3/5

Run Aground but with the opponent getting the option to bottom the creature is still quite solid, and the Decayed token makes me believe that this is slightly better than most instant speed Time Ebb effects of the past. The value of the Decayed token heavily depends on what ways you have to get value out of the extra creatures, so try to build your deck in a way where they can be used for more than just two damage.

Secrets of the Key

Rating: 1/5

This is beyond slow. I like it in the Ominous Roost deck and that’s pretty much it. There’s so many two-for-one creatures in blue, so just play those over this and actually impact the board in some way instead of durdling around.

Shipwreck Sifters

Rating: 1.5/5

I can’t see this ever getting bigger than a 2/3, but it’s kind of nice if you play this and loot away a card with Disturb. This still just seems too low impact to ever actively seek out during a draft.

Skaab Wrangler

Rating: 2.5/5

It’s obvious that the Decayed tokens are going to provide way more value than just attacking. An early creature that especially shines during board stalls is a good place to be for a two mana 2/1.

Sludge Monster

Rating: 3.5/5

Sludge Monster weakens the opponent’s best threat and has a big body itself, but what stops this card from being great is that the creature with the Sludge counter returns to normal once Sludge Monster is answered. Still a very powerful late game play and a card I’m happy to take early.

Spectral Adversary

Rating: 4/5

A 2/1 Flying, Flash is already very good and being a great mana sink as well pushes Spectral Adversary over the edge. Large Flash threats always overperform in limited because you’ll often get to ambush an unsuspecting creature. Not only that, but it can save your creatures or stop the opponent’s creatures from attacking and blocking. There’s just so much versatility here that there’s no chance I’m taking a common or uncommon over Spectral Adversary.

Startle

Rating: 1.5/5

There’s a lot going on here, but for the most part this is really just a slightly better Shocking Grasp. Not something I want to be main decking, but a great board card against fight spells like Clear Shot!

Stormrider Spirit

Rating: 2/5

This card will be great the first week of the format since you’ll probably be able to ambush a creature from some unsuspecting opponents. Later on in the format everyone will know when to play around this, which will more or less make it a five mana 3/3 flier, which is fine but not exciting.

Suspicious Stowaway

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Rating: 4/5

A Looter Ill-Kor that can block is already very good, but adding Seafaring Werewolf to that brings this card to an entirely different level. Assuming that this flips and lives, you’ll easily out card your opponent while you beat them down. Once you’re up 2-3 cards, it should be really easy to win.

Triskaidekaphile

Rating: 3.5/5

Azure Mage has always been great and a 1/3 with that effect seems way better than a 2/1 to me. Unfortunately I don’t  think it’ll be possible to live the dream with this one, but having a great mana sink in the late game is still more than good enough in my opinion.

Unblinking Observer

Rating: 2/5

Most sets have this sort of creature and it’s consistently mediocre. I don’t see much of a difference here, but the existence of Flashback means that players will be casting more instants and sorceries in this format, which bodes well for this wide-eyed little dude.

Vivisection

Rating: 3/5

Vivisection is way better this time around than it was on Mirrodin Besieged. Decayed tokens should be easy to get, so most of the time this should be comparable to Concentrate.

Thank you for reading!