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

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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Brimstone Roundup

Rating: 1.5/5

Dropping this early will probably end up giving you 3-4 tokens over the course of the game. Drawing it late is close to a disaster. It feels like it needed to do something on its own like make a token when it ETBs to be worth it.

Calamity, Galloping Inferno

Rating: 4.5/5

It’s going to be a calamity alright, for your opponent. This comes down and hits like a ton of bricks doing absurd things if you’re double copying something with an ETB. Firey horsey goes BRRRR

Caught in the Crossfire

Rating: 3.0/5

A selective Pyroclasm can put a serious hurting on your poor opponent because you don’t have to make it obvious by not playing creatures. It’s limited to two damage and gets pricy if you want to do both, but still well worth it for the potential blowouts.

Cunning Coyote

Rating: 2.5/5

I would make the joke about chasing the roadrunner, but everyone else already has. Something something.. Looney Tunes.

A hasty deuce deuce for two is great in a beatdown deck and this doesn’t even have that annoying must attack every turn clause. Instead, its giving something else the opportunity to rev their motors and get hasty with it.

Deadeye Duelist

Rating: 2.5/5

I wouldn’t be this high on this card in most sets, but it’s like striking gold here in Thunder Junction. It is prepared to commit a crime every single turn for the low cost of one mana. Bring on the synergy.

Demonic Ruckus

Rating: 1.5/5

This is a card I am only playing if it has some great synergy in my deck (which admittedly will be more often than this grade suggests). If you have a lot of things that trigger off playing two spells a turn, then this is a very cheap way to plot something and make that happen.

Discerning Peddler

Rating: 2.0/5

Getting to rummage away an extra land (or for one early on) is a solid addition on a bear. I can see myself happily adding a couple of these to most red decks.

Explosive Derailment

Rating: 3.0/5

While the three-mana damage-based removal is just fine, the possibility of hitting an artifact as well puts this in the same grouping as most of the other removal in the set.

Ferocification

Rating: 2.5/5

While the +2+0 mostly acts like an only on offense Bonesplitter, the hasty menace option is a great way to keep the pressure on.

Gila Courser

Rating: 2.5/5

Most of the time I doubt you’re going to get more than one attack in with this, but it’s already done its job as long as you get an extra card out of it.

Great Train Heist

Rating: 3.5/5

Oh man, this is going to cause some problems in combat. Guess I first strike out all your blocks, oh here’s another attack step, maybe I even get some treasure tokens. Who knows? It’ll be a great time.

Hell to Pay

Rating: 2.5/5

It’ll be hell to pay x+1 toughness to kill a creature. That rate is pretty terrible for killing the creature, but at least you can make some treasures.

Hellspur Brute

Rating: 3.5/5

It’s not hard to play a couple of cheap outlaws to drop this onto the battlefield for three mana early on. A big ol trampler that early is going to crush some dreams even if it doesn’t do anything else.

Hellspur Posse Boss

Rating: 4.0/5

Getting three bodies for four mana feels great, giving two of them (and all of your other outlaws) haste feels even better. Those tokens having haste is wonderful because it lets you pump up one of your other creatures right away to get some damage in.

Highway Robbery

Rating: 2.5/5

They took away the part of Tormenting Voice where you had to consider whether or not to hold lands. Now you just play them out and this will work itself out later.

Irascible Wolverine

Rating: 2.5/5

This cranky wolverine is about to get aggro on anyone who touches his stuff.

Unless it’s later in the game, you’re probably going to end up plotting this so you have a better chance to hit a playable card off it. Don’t forget to not play a land before casting it in case you hit one.

Iron-Fist Pulverizer

Rating: 1.5/5

This does give you some reach without asking too much of you. There are plenty of cards like Irascible Wolverine that make double spelling as easy as ABC. Still the same problem as other five drops where you can’t really play more than one of them.

Longhorn Sharpshooter

Rating: 4.0/5

Certainly not in the same range as a Ravenous Chupacabra, but can pull off a decent impression even if you don’t get the creature until the next turn. Plus, there is the old “Oh are you at two?” moments.

Weird comments aside, this card is a mythic uncommon. Take it and enjoy your time with it.

Magda, the Hoardmaster

Rating: 4.0/5

This is pretty close to telling your opponent that they either need to have removal or its game over on turn two. Outside of pumping out incidental treasures to put you far ahead in the game, you can cash them in for shiny new 4/4 flyers.

There are plenty of ways to make treasures running around so later in the game you might be able to poop out a Dragon as soon as you play this.

Magebane Lizard

Rating: 1.5/5

I don’t really see a deck that wants to run this. Maybe you can bring it in against a really heavy spells deck. In most cases, it’s hoping to be a card twenty-three curve filler.

Mine Raider

Rating: 2.0/5

In reality this is going to range from a 1.5 up to 2.5 depending on how many outlaws you have in your deck.

Outlaws’ Fury

Rating: 2.0/5

A go wide finisher that might be alright in a really heavy outlaw deck as a trick.

Prickly Pair

Rating: 3.0/5

I think we all know how these cards perform at this point. While it lacks any form of evasion, it does give you an outlaw with the ability to pass around the pump.

Quick Draw

Rating: 1.0/5

I may love one mana tricks, but this is not the type that I am looking for.

Quilled Charger

Rating: 2.0/5

Being able to attack as a 5/5 menace sounds nice and all, but you do have to saddle it up. I would be fine with this as a top end in a very low to the ground deck.

Reckless Lackey

Rating: 2.5/5

Raging Goblin has seen some serious power creep over the years. This is a great little early beater that makes things awkward because of first strike. When he runs out of uses, you can cash him in for a new card and a treasure token.

Resilient Roadrunner

Rating: 3.0/5

To quote the Road Runner, “Beep Beep Mother Funker!” (Editor’s note: Josh, I obviously edited that word and I also highly doubt the validity of that quote)

I love that he has protection from coyotes, how else is Acme going to stay in business. Any aggressive deck will love this little guy smashing in early while having evasion later.

Return the Favor

Rating: 2.0/5

This feels like one of those cards that you either stare at all game or completely demolish your opponent with. They might as well scoop the poop if you redirect a removal spell and copy it, but it can be extremely awkward at other times.

Rodeo Pyromancers

Rating: 2.0/5

This is a great way to double or even triple spell on turn five, but the body is merely alright. You don’t really want to draw it later in the game either. Feels like it will be a cut from really good decks, but slide right into ones that got into the right lane a little too late.

Scalestorm Summoner

Rating: 3.5/5

It’s great that you just have to control (instead of attack with) a beefy creature to get the trigger because you can curve into it. Don’t forget that it can trigger off of itself if you pump it precombat with one of those handy dandy 1/1 mercenaries or a combat trick.  

Scorching Shot

Rating: 3.0/5

This is pretty close to hard removal for only two mana. Sorcery speed and double red aren’t the greatest, but still a really solid removal spell.

Slickshot Show-Off

Rating: 3.0/5

I’m sure fellow Draft Lab member Dafore is going to be hyped every time he busts this since we all know his love for Festival Crasher. Flying and haste make this that much sweeter.

Stingerback Terror

Rating: 4.5/5

Yeah, I know this doesn’t have any extra value tacked on to it. The value is having an extremely cheap, very large trampling flyer. I’m not going to break the math out for this, just trust me it will get the job done.

Take for a Ride

Rating: 3.0/5

Those of you who remember the days of Ray of Command are well aware of how much you can screw someone’s day up with an instant speed Threaten. If you don’t have anyway to commit a crime at instant speed, you probably shouldn’t be playing this at all.

Terror of the Peaks

Rating: 4.5/5

This is a messed-up Magic card in limited. Your opponent basically has to have a removal spell that can actually deal with this and pay three life to prevent themselves from taking a one way trip to Wrecksville USA.

I don’t have to talk this up, it’s pretty obvious why its great.

Thunder Salvo

Rating: 2.5/5

This is fine, but really doesn’t do it for me unless I’m playing a heavy spells deck or am really light on removal. If you’re planning on double or triple spelling often, then bump it up a bit.

Trick Shot

Rating: 2.0/5

This gets significantly better if you’re playing it with cost reducers such as Geyser Drake. Without that, you probably want to limit yourself to one of these per deck so you don’t get stuck staring at multiples.

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Wrap Up

Red feels pretty spicy with some busted bombs like Terror of the Peaks and Stingerback Terror controlling the skies. It has it’s usual variety of damage based removal as well as some small efficient creatures.

Thanks for reading! I’ll be back soon with my limited review of the green 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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