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

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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Aloe Alchemist

Rating: 2.5/5

This alchemist smoothly slides into your curve as a 3/2 trample for two. While it’s not really a trick since it is only a sorcery speed, it does add a decent chunk of damage. It can even be used on your opponent’s creature when you don’t care about the effect, but just want to commit a crime.

Ankle Biter

Rating: 2.0/5

I can’t hear Ankle Biter without picturing my Shih Tzu. Not that she would ever actually bite someone, but she will let you know that she could really mess your ankle up if she wanted to.

As far as the card itself, a 1/1 deathtouch for one is just a solid card. You prefer to have some ways to take advantage of it, but it’ll hold back some of your opponent’s more impressive monsters on its own.

Beastbond Outcaster

Rating: 3.0/5

The floor is a Centaur Courser, but being able to stash it on turn two to either drop it on turn three or wait until you have something big enough to draw a card off of it is pretty sweet.

Betrayal at the Vault

Rating: 3.0/5

You’ll feel betrayed when things go horribly wrong with this, but being able to pick off two creatures with one card is a beating. Combine with a deathtouch creature for maximum betrayal.

Bristlepack Sentry

Rating: 2.0/5

Drowsing Tyrannodon makes a return in a new form. While you can get it to attack the old fashioned way by playing a big beater. You can also toss some equipment or a +1+1 counter to get this to trigger itself.

Bristly Bill, Spine Sower

Rating: 4.5/5

I’ve heard of bears with upside, but this one is ridiculous. Bill is ready to mess some serious stuff up whether it is just passing around +1+1 counters or doubling them on all of your creatures.

Cactarantula

Rating: 1.5/5

Having a desert is a pretty small ask to get a discount on this chonker. Getting a card out of them targeting it adds a decent amount of value to it. It’s just in that category of too expensive to play too many cards in this slot.

Colossal Rattlewurm

Rating: 4.5/5

I can’t imagine showing this card to someone from twenty years ago. Getting a 6/5 trample that might eat a creature when you flash it in all for four mana seems insane. If they deal with it, you can still get value by searching up a desert. Amazing limited card.

Dance of the Tumbleweeds

Rating: 2.0/5

Three mana is too much for a land ramp even if you can get a desert out of it. The creature is totally fine, but nothing too exciting. It’s when you get both that this card really matters. Spree does some things.

Drover Grizzly

Rating: 1.5/5

While giving all your creatures trample can help, needing to saddle this just to give itself trample leaves it a bit behind the curve.

Freestrider Commando

Rating: 2.0/5

This is nice as it can fill two different spots in your curve depending on what you draw and the game state. The 5/5 is probably going to happen more often, but sometimes you just need a three drop.

Freestrider Lookout

Rating: 3.5/5

Obviously, this is going to fluctuate in value based off of your ability commit crimes. If you have Deadeye Duelist, then it can get downright silly especially since you can do it twice per turn cycle if you have other ways to commit crimes.

Full Steam Ahead

Rating: 2.0/5

These cards always make me miss good old-fashioned Overrun. That extra power and toughness really matters when it comes to ending the game right here, right now. As this is, it’s a good finisher for a go wide deck.

Giant Beaver

Rating: 2.5/5

One of my friends (You know exactly who you are) has been an eager beaver waiting for me to review this hoping that I put something ridiculous. Instead I will leave him (and all of you) with a Disney quote “Well, gee, eh, you’re one big beaver.”

While I’ve previously discussed the downfall of 4/4s for four, this one has vigilance and helps to power up your other creatures. That adds up to one solid limited card.

Gold Rush

Rating: 2.5/5

While this is +2+2 and a treasure at it’s base, it can actually get out of hand with some of the treasure producers running around.

Goldvein Hydra

Rating: 4.0/5

Speaking of cards that can make a crap ton of treasures. You’d usually prefer that your big beasty sticks around to rule the board, but those treasures are at least a decent consolation prize.

Hardbristle Bandit

Rating: 2.5/5

Fixing for any color off of a two-mana dork is solid, but being able to double dip when you commit a crime is great.

Intrepid Stablemaster

Rating: 3.0/5

There’s a lot to like about this nightmare chocobo including that it’s a bear with reach that can tap for mana. The absurd part is when you get to tap for two to cast a Mount or Vehicle well ahead of curve.

Map the Frontier

Rating: 1.5/5

We’ve come quite a long way from the times when Explosive Vegetation was a good limited card. This can get deserts so there might be some scenarios where you still want it.

Ornery Tumblewagg

Rating: 4.5/5

The finest Brushwagg that has ever been printed. He can get mighty ornery on your opponents face while your side gets riled up. Great card that is going to win a lot of games.

Outcaster Greenblade

Rating: 3.5/5

This depends on how many deserts you have in your deck, but this is probably still decent in most decks even if they don’t have any. It can get downright nutty when it’s a three mana 4/5 that replaces itself.

Outcaster Trailblazer

Rating: 3.0/5

While the card by itself doesn’t do much besides possibly help double spell, it does cheaply trigger synergies with other cards that want a creature with power four or greater. Once it’s down, it can start drawing you extra cards for every time you play a new giant monster.

Patient Naturalist

Rating: 2.5/5

You’ll hit a land the majority of the time with this, but even if you whiff you still get a treasure to ramp or fix. Hopefully you have some graveyard synergies that this can help you out with as well.

Railway Brawler

Rating: 4.5/5

Well, this card is nuttier than squirrel poo. A 5/5 reach trample that can be plotted for four (or hard cast for five) is a good card. All of your future creatures coming in at double strength is going to end any resistance your opponent was putting up.

Rambling Possum

Rating: 3.0/5

There is a ton of possible value to be had by bouncing some of your other creatures with this. This possum even gets extra rowdy when you do it. Definitely ahead of the curve when it comes to self-bounce effects.

Raucous Entertainer

Rating: 3.0/5

This puts a small tax on making all of your future creatures just a little bit bigger. With plot, you should be able to double spell and get counters on two creatures with this. This can generate a ton of value  over the course of a long game and worst case scenario it is still a bear.

Reach for the Sky

Rating: 1.5/5

There are going to be times when this wins a combat and sticks around to make life miserable for your opponent. There are also going to be times they kill your creature in response leaving you down four mana and a card.  

Rise of the Varmints

Rating: 2.0/5

This is difficult to grade because it can be around a 3.0 in the right deck (Heavy on creatures and self mill) all the way down to a 0.5 in some decks (heavy spells while extremely light on creatures). I’ll just leave it here and give you the opportunity to make that decision yourself.

Smuggler’s Surprise

Rating: 2.0/5

As much as I love spree cards, this one was not designed with limited in mind. The semi-Divination is fine since it’s at instant speed especially if you are protecting something with the third ability at the same time. The middle ability might as well not exist when it comes to limited.

Snakeskin Veil

Rating: 2.5/5

This card existing in a limited format can dictate so much of what people choose to do. Just leaving up a green can put the fear of losing their removal in them. It also enables stacking a bunch of counters and effects on one creature. It does a lot for very little.  

Spinewoods Armadillo

Rating: 3.0/5

While two mana to land cycle is a bit much these days (LotR ruined us) this does let you get any basic or a desert while chucking three life in. That’s a much better situation while just casting a giant warded up reach creature doesn’t look too bad either.

Spinewoods Paladin

Rating: 2.5/5

We keep getting new takes on Ravenous Lindwurm and this one looks like a hit. Dropping it down to five mana makes the small drop in stats and life worth it. Premium common top end.

Stubborn Burrowfiend

Rating: 3.0/5

A great enabler for some graveyard shenanigans while also providing a payoff at the same time. Sure, it needs saddled, but still a great two drop that could possibly get massive.

Throw from the Saddle

Rating: 3.0/5

Getting the small boost (which is permanent on a mount) brings this Rabid Bite variant up to snuff with a lot of the other removal in the set. Being in green with Snakeskin veil running around to prevent getting blown out makes this that much better.

Trash the Town

Rating: 3.5/5

This has a lot going for it and is a great example of what a good spree card should be doing. All of the modes can be reasonable in different situations while being great when you get the whole shebang.

Tumbleweed Rising

Rating: 1.5/5

This feels too situational for me to want to run it and if I do, I sure don’t want multiples. It’s potentially really efficient later in the game, but vulnerable to removal in response. Too many what ifs for me.

Voracious Varmint

Rating: 2.5/5

A great way to be able to run artifact and enchantment removal without having it be a potential dead slot. A 2/2 vigilance for two isn’t lighting the world on fire, but is great when it has such a high upside.

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Wrap Up

GOTTA HAVE BEEF! GOTTA HAVE SPICE! If you’re like the Macho Man, then snap into some green while drafting Outlaws of Thunder Junction. It’s packing a great variety of high quality creatures at all points of the mana curve.

Thanks for reading! I’ll be back soon with my limited review of the 1st part of the Multicolor 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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