Outlaws of Thunder Junction (OTJ) Limited Set Review: Black

Hey everyone! Are you ready to get crazy with cowboys? All of Magic’s villains (At least the currently available ones. Sorry, no Elesh Norn in a cowboy hat) are up to some shenanigans on Magic’s newest plane. They are setting up a massive heist so we are getting all kinds of bonus sheet stuff going on here that will surely shake up limited formats. While it won’t happen often, you will assuredly remember that time you got destroyed by Mana Drain.

Per usual, I’ll be grading the entire set for limited purposes. Maybe one day I’ll get to see sunlight again, but today is not that day.

Here’s the usual grading scale:

• 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)

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Ambush Gigapede

Rating: 1.5/5

I can’t imagine ever wanting to play more than one of these, but it does have some uses if your curve can afford it fit it in.

Binding Negotiation

Rating: 2.0/5

They call this binding because you’re locked into being stuck with it when you top deck it later. Fine as a one off or a sideboard card against busted bombs. It is a bit better when you can grab their card that they already invested mana into plotting. It is what it is.

Blacksnag Buzzard

Rating: 1.5/5

This is good if you can get it down with a counter, but pretty lackluster if you can’t. It’ll also be difficult to get them to trade when this is plotted. In that case you can still get there with a removal spell or a sacrifice.

Blood Hustler

Rating: 3.0/5

This big money hustler is a great way to have a repeatable source of committing a crime that also grows itself in the process. Since the ability is instant speed, you can get two triggers per turn cycle by pinging on their turn.

Boneyard Desecrator

Rating: 1.5/5

The sacrifice ability is overcosted for something as small as adding a +1+1 counter to this. The treasure if it’s an outlaw really doesn’t make up for the cost. Outside of that, being a 3/4 menace is a little below what I am looking for out of four mana.

Caustic Bronco

Rating: 3.5/5

While many people have images of Dark Confidant dancing in their heads, needing to attack to get the trigger is significantly worse. The late game option to saddle up to deal damage to them is solid to have so you don’t have to worry about dying to your own card. This still falls into that really good, but not quite great box.

Consuming Ashes

Rating: 3.0/5

It’s just so difficult to rank removal above this these days unless it does something else great. Surveil two is nice, but you’re only getting it when you trade down on mana. I’m never going to cut this card in a black deck, but I’m also not going to be happy slamming it first pick.

Corrupted Conviction

Rating: 1.5/5

We’ve had this card a ton of times and it almost always falls into the category of playable in some decks, but often gets played in more than it should. I feel like it’ll be the same here.

Desert’s Due

Rating: 3.0/5

Cheap removal that can scale up without a big investment into it is always nice. Even with the modern devaluation of removal, this is still a great way to not fall behind or have an early double spell turn.

Desperate Bloodseeker

Rating: 2.5/5

Desperate Bloodseeker sounds like something out of a Twilight book. Do people even remember what that was to make fun of it anymore? Anyway, this vamp can really sparkle.

Outside of my love for two mana 2/2 lifelinkers, this can perform multiple other services. The obvious one is that it helps fill your graveyard for some shenanigans. The other thing is that it commits a crime for free when it comes into play by targeting your opponent.

Fake Your Own Death

Rating: 2.0/5

Faking your own death can really pay off whether it’s through insurance fraud or just getting those pesky bookies off your back. It can also let you trade up with a creature while getting yours back along with a treasure token. Especially great with ETB effects, but still a solid card when it does the thing.

Forsaken Miner

Rating: 2.0/5

More of a constructed card than a limited one, but still fine in an aggressive deck. It starts the curve off at one and can come back anytime you commit a crime, but not being able to block does take a big chunk out of the usefulness of a recursive creature.

Gisa, the Hellraiser

Rating: 4.5/5

I was very tempted to give this the full five, but you do need to commit a crime before it becomes insane. I’d talk more about this being busted, but seriously just windmill it and have a great time.

Hollow Marauder

Rating: 3.5/5

I like the effect; I don’t love the price for it. Even with a couple creatures in your graveyard, it still costs five mana. If you have some self-mill or plan to play a late game, it gets a lot more manageable.

All those words were hollow. I say all that and I’m still taking this fairly early. You should be doing the same.

Insatiable Avarice

Rating: 1.5/5

I’m grading this with the assumption that you are heavy black, if not then you don’t ever want to play this card. Tutors aren’t great in limited especially when you go down a card to put a card on top of your library. The draw three is solid, but as we discussed it takes a very heavy investment in black.

Kaervek, the Punisher

Rating: 3.5/5

A decent little value engine tied to a double pipped Centaur Courser. The card having to be black as well as needing the mana to both commit the crime and play the spell hold it back a bit.

Lively Dirge

Rating: 2.0/5

Whether you want this is entirely dependent on how much value you can get out of cheap creatures. Being able to tutor for one is nice, but you really need to have some good targets once you’re up to five mana.

Mourner’s Surprise

Rating: 2.5/5

Getting a relevant 1/1 and a Raise Dead for two mana is a great deal. You just can’t stack your deck with too many because you don’t want to draw them without some juicy targets. While you can raw dog it without a creature to bring back, you really don’t want to be doing that.

Neutralize the Guards

Rating: 2.0/5

While a great sideboard card against some decks, you can mainboard this if you plan to be in combat a lot. The instant speed -1-1 to all their creatures can usually turn a trade into a victory and has potential to be a giant blowout.

Nezumi Linkbreaker

Rating: 2.5/5

You can’t really go wrong with a one mana creature that dies into another creature. It feels like something that might be undervalued early on, but will be a higher pick once people figure out the format.

Overzealous Muscle

Rating: 1.5/5

While you can’t stuff too many five drops in your deck, this is going to be very annoying to deal with and hits like a truck.

Pitiless Carnage

Rating: 1.5/5

A nice late game way to filter your extra lands into new cards, but really doesn’t do much earlier in the game. There are going to be times you’re like “OMG they drew six cards and I lost to it”. There are also going to be times its sitting in their hand all game doing nothing.

Rakish Crew

Rating: 3.0/5

Not quite Bastion of Remembrance but it does a reasonable facsimile. Just have a pile of outlaws and this is going to be extremely annoying for your opponent.

Rattleback Apothecary

Rating: 2.5/5

Menace plays so well with deathtouch making this very difficult to block as long as you’re committing some crimes. Being able to pass lifelink around can make it very difficult for your opponent to race.

Raven of Fell Omens

Rating: 2.5/5

Adding a drain to every crime is good, but limiting to once per turn is a bit of a downer. This can also slowly peck them to death in the air along with those drains.

Rictus Robber

Rating: 3.5/5

Great value as long as you can coax a trade out of your opponent. Even if they are unwilling to comply, the old removal into this will do the trick.

Rooftop Assassin

Rating: 2.5/5

I’m normally pretty low on these Manticore type effects, but the lifelink is a decent bump up for me. It even had a relevant creature type. Sometimes it’s the little things that add up.

Rush of Dread

Rating: 4.0/5

This is one of those cards where all the effects are situational, but it’s still great because you can select which ones you want including all of them. It can lead to a lot of interesting lines where you are trying to maximize value out of it which bumps it up a bit for me.

Servant of the Stinger

Rating: 3.5/5

I am a fan of cheap deathtouch creatures and this makes attacking extremely awkward for your opponent. Turning into a Demonic Tutor if it gets through and you’ve committed a crime is alright, but I feel like the three toughness deathtoucher is going to matter a lot more.

Shoot the Sheriff

Rating: 2.5/5

Very cheap efficient removal, but there are going to be a lot of games where it doesn’t hit anything you want it to. My buddy Floridamun was notorious for always having Go for the Throat in BRO while his opponent had all artifact creatures (well that and also notorious for that time he threw a gator in a Wendy’s drive through window).

Skulduggery

Rating: 2.0/5

Those of you who have gotten wrecked by Subtle Strike will have some flashbacks with this. Not getting a counter out of it is a huge step down, but only costing one mana is pretty nice.

Of note, you do need to have both targets to be able to cast this. You can’t just cast it to kill their one toughness creature without having a creature of your own.

Tinybones Joins Up

Rating: 1.0/5

You would have to have a pretty big chunk of legendary creatures to want to play this. Target player discards a card for one mana just isn’t good unless you have multiple ways to bounce it. Maybe if you have a couple Nurturing Pixie.

Tinybones, the Pickpocket

Rating: 2.5/5

You can’t really go wrong with a 1/1 Deathtouch for one mana. The upside is there because they will be forced into a position to either trade or give you a card.

Treasure Dredger

Rating: 2.5/5

This looks very innocuous but can enable a ton of shenanigans. If you see your opponent drop this on turn two, do not expect a normal game of Magic to occur.

Unfortunate Accident

Rating: 3.0/5

Getting extra value is pretty key on one for one removal and this gives you that even if it is a bit pricy. That’s what is wonderful about Spree, it’s an option when you need it and doesn’t hinder you when you don’t.

Unscrupulous Contractor

Rating: 3.0/5

Do you really need to add the unscrupulous to this? At least you can assume all of the contractors here in Florida meet the description.

Turning one of your 1/1 tokens or a Nezumi Linkbreaker into two new cards is solid and you can even randomly kill your opponent with it.

Vadmir, New Blood

Rating: 3.5/5

If you are in the business of committing crimes (and who isn’t in Thunder Junction), this will grow pretty fast. It turns any instant speed crime into a combat trick and can run away with a game once it gets menace and lifelink.

Vault Plunderer

Rating: 2.5/5

Phyrexian Rager has always been a good limited card and while everything else has value too these days, getting a card when you play it always felt good. I would typically prefer that 2/2 to the 3/1, but there will be times this is better.

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Wrap Up

Were you expecting black to have a bunch of removal? How about card draw tied to either sacrificing creatures or paying life? Maybe some discard and creature recursion? In that case, you won’t be disappointed because it has all of the usual suspects.

Thanks for reading! I’ll be back soon with my limited review of the black cards from Outlaws of Thunder Junction. Until then, stay classy people!

If you have any questions, let me know in the comments below.

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