Streets of New Capenna Limited Set Review: Green

---

It’s every magic players favorite time, spoiler season. It’s like Christmas, but we get it multiple times a year! I get so hyped up for new sets and this one is going to be crazy with the first shard based set we’ve had in a long time. So lets jump right into see what’s going down on the mean Streets of New Capenna.

• 5.0: Disgustingly powerful and basically unbeatable. Either answer it the turn it comes down or just pack up your cards. (Tovolar's Huntmaster, The Meathook Massacre, Starnheim Unleashed)
• 4.5: Incredible bomb that still gives your opponent a slim chance. (Adeline, Resplendent Cathar, Alrund's Epiphany, Grand Master of Flowers)
• 4.0: Great rare or the absolute best uncommons and removal. (Froghemoth, Morbid Opportunist, Skullport Merchant)
• 3.5: Great role filler or removal that you never cut. (Magic Missile, Cathartic Pyre, Battle Cry Goblin)
• 3.0: Good playable that I’m basically never cutting. (Usher of the Fallen, Search Party Captain, Dragon Turtle)
• 2.5: Decent playable and the bar I hope nearly every card in my deck to reach. (Mourning Patrol, Steadfast Paladin, Goblin Morningstar)
• 2.0: Mediocre filler that normally is your 20-23rd card(s). (Contact Other Plane, Mindleech Ghoul, Timberland Guide)
• 1.5: Replaceable, overall bad filler. Could also be decent sideboard cards. (Secrets of the Key, Spiked Pit Trap, Village Rites)
• 1.0: Bad filler. Gets cut most of the time. (Secret Door, Mystic Skull, Funeral Longboat)
• 0.5: Very unhappy to main deck this, but maybe it has fringe sideboard applications. (You See a Guard Approach, Bramble Armor, Compelled Duel)
• 0.0: Unplayable in every possible situation. (Mimic, Change of Fortune, Curse of Shaken Faith)

---

Attended Socialite

Rating: 2.0/5

This would be much stronger as a 2/2 base, but only having one toughness means that following it up with a three drop will usually still result in it trading for a two drop. Still a fine curve filler especially if you are trying to be aggressive.

Bootleggers’ Stash

Rating: 0.5/5

OMG this card is soooo AMAZEBALLS… in Commander. In limited, it’s a six mana do nothing unless you have A LOT of treasure payoffs. I’m giving it the 0.5 instead of the flat 0.0 because I could see some outlier decks pulling off some cool stuff with it.

Bouncer’s Beatdown

Rating: 3.0/5

The exile is nice flavor for when your bouncer tosses them out of the club. You know we’ve been spoiled when we’re debating whether a 3-mana instant bite spell is good. Spoiler Alert: It is. You can blow some combats up with this and it’s filthy if you ever get to beatdown a creature for only one mana.

Broken Wings

Rating: 1.5/5

Strictly a sideboard card, but a very effective one so try to round a couple of these up late. Might as well not exist in Bo1 land.

Cabaretti Initiate

Rating: 1.5/5

The artist 100% used Rocket Raccoon as a model for this card. Seriously I can’t look at this card without picturing him yelling at Quill about something. As for the card, it’s probably not making the cut that often unless things have gone really wrong.

Caldaia Strongarm

Rating: 2.5/5

The fail case is coming down as a vanilla 4/5 for five which isn’t humiliating to play. It really shines by sticking those counters on an evasive creature or a big trampler while leaving a body behind. You could also take a mana discount to blitz this bad boy out if you value a random card over the 2/3.

Capenna Express

Rating: 1.5/5

Futurist Sentinel was pretty much an unplayable scrap heap. This is a different format and all, but I still want to get off this train before it leaves the station. The sacrificing the treasure option is the only thing that makes this better and I usually want to be doing other things with my treasures than getting to attack with my slightly above rate creature.

Civic Gardener

Rating: 1.5/5

Most of the time this is a knock off brand mana creature early. It’s kind of odd though because it requires you to be playing either an instant (and riding full control on Arena) or two creatures to take advantage of it. It can also give a creature pseudo vigilance, but it will probably end up getting eaten on an attack long before this really matters.

Cleanup Crew

Rating: 3.0/5

Well, apparently Linda ended up working at the casinos after getting out of Kaldheim. She got a real glow up though. Huge body with a choice of life, popping something off, or rarely exiling something from a graveyard.  

Courier’s Briefcase

Rating: 2.5/5

The most common scenario is that it’s a two mana 1/1 Sailor of Means which is just fine in a set based around three color shards. Since you’re most likely playing three colors, you’re only two treasures away from turning this into three extra cards later. Just a lot of options from a two drop.

Elegant Entourage

Rating: 3.0/5

This entourage makes sure the beats keep coming. While the +1+1 is nice, the trample can force through some huge damage with cards like Freelance Muscle.

Evolving Door

Rating: 1.0/5

No matter how many times I read this, I can’t convince myself of some way I want to be using it. Between sorcery speed, the number of colors requirement, and having to cast what you get right away I’m going to have to have some serious multicolor bombs and some really bad fodder to want this. I’m sure it does something busted in commander though.

Fight Rigging

Rating: 4.0/5

Now this is a hideaway card that you should actually be able to trigger. This continuing to put counters on your creatures every turn even after you cast your hideaway makes this even better. It’s funny how different this cycle is with two of them being almost bombs, one being playable, and two basically being blank pieces of cardboard.

For the Family

Rating: 1.5/5

Is having to play this for the family like when your mom makes you take your cousin out and pretend to like them. In most cases, pump without any extra benefit thrown in isn’t very good these days. I do think that cheap high-power pump like this and Antagonize might let you pull off a very low to the ground deck similar to the Festival Crasher deck from Midnight Hunt. If you have multiple Illuminator Virtuoso, then that strategy is a lot more viable.

Freelance Muscle

Rating: 2.5/5

This can be a really big boy for five mana. Even if you just have a three-power creature around this is attacking as a 7/7 which is going to be really hard to block at that point in the game. It even does some solid bodyguard work on defense. Plus are you really going to say no to a rhino with a gun?

Gala Greeters

Rating: 4.0/5

What a way to greet your opponent. This is the scariest two drop in the set and demands an immediate answer or it is going to run away with the game through either ramping you or growing. Particularly nasty when you lead this into something like Exhibition Magician where you get two triggers right off the bat.

Glittermonger

Rating: 2.0/5

Glittermonger sounds like my wife at the end of a crafting session. (Update: she ended up laughing at that and I don’t have to sleep on the couch tonight) If you need something to clog up the ground and have a continuous treasure payoff such as Pyre-Sledge Arsonist then this is a fine card for your deck.

High-Rise Sawjack

Rating: 2.5/5

Never thought I’d see an elf with a chainsaw, but here we are. This fits the usual spider role for when you need a way to block flyers in your green deck.

Jewel Thief

Rating: 3.5/5

This Jewel Thief stole my heart the moment I saw it. Just an insanely pushed common that does so much for three mana. I think even the casuals will know to take this card early, but try to grab as many of these as you can.

Luxurious Libation

Rating: 2.5/5

Nothing like having a few libations and blasting your opponent in the face for approximately a billion.  Preferably combine this with a trampler to do maximum damage with it and the free citizen isn’t too shabby either. This is a card that you’re going to have to account for when your opponent makes a suspicious alpha strike.  

Most Wanted

Rating: 1.5/5

Were they trying to be ironic by calling this most wanted? It might be a trick that sticks around, but only adding one toughness makes it hard to keep the creature around. Two treasure tokens are technically something, but you did spend three mana and a card to get them.

Prizefight

Rating: 2.5/5

You can’t go wrong with a raccoon punching a rhino in the face. Way to stand up for trash pandas every where little buddy. Instant speed makes it a lot easier to wreck someone in combat and even though it’s a fight spell you should have something big enough to pull off the win. This is one of the cases where the treasure token is basically free.

Rhox Pummeler

Rating: 2.0/5

If I don’t have any other way to fill the top of my curve, I’ll let this guy pummel his way in. Preferably he ends up trading for two creatures while sneaking in a few trample damage.

Riveteers Decoy

Rating: 2.5/5

The value of this card swings heavily based off of if your opponent has any 1/1 tokens floating around because trading it off for one of those feels about as good as getting punched in the face by a gorilla. In that case you are probably better off waiting for an opening and blitzing this in to get the card back.

Social Climber

Rating: 2.0/5

Unless you are in a tight race a few life points aren’t going to be worth having your three drop be a 3/2. I also might be slightly biased by how much I hate the art style.

Take to the Streets

Rating: 2.0/5

Is Overrun too good these days? Trample is pretty key when you do the go wide sorcery speed pump thing and vigilance only on your citizens isn’t remotely in the same class. Instead of taking to the streets, I’ll just stay home and play video games instead.

Titan of Industry

Rating: 5.0/5

Bomb alert!! The baseline of a 7/7 with reach, trample, and a freaking shield counter on it is a huge beating, but hey let’s just get bananas and throw in a 4/4 rhino too. But that’s not all! You can also pop off an artifact or enchantment instead of one of those.

Flashback to 2011 bad beat stories, “I was good until they played a titan”.

Topiary Stomper

Rating: 3.0/5

I look at this as an adventure creature where you get the land on the front half and then later get a decent creature thrown in. This is definitely a case where the double green is a huge downside over being a single green pip as it would be at least half a grade higher if it was G2 instead.

Venom Connoisseur

Rating: 2.5/5

How many snakes is this lady walking around with? Apparently enough to pass them out to the whole team while being trained to only attack the bad guys.  There are definitely going to be times where this completely blows out blocks with an instant speed creature and I would highly recommend finding ways to avoid that happening to you.

Vivien on the Hunt

Rating: 4.5/5

I read the first two abilities and thought this card was pretty bad. Maybe the third ability will be decent… Oh, I guess she’s just pooping out 4/4 rhinos like it’s going out of style. Per usual a planeswalker that protects itself is pretty nuts. Imagine my shock.

Voice of the Vermin

Rating: 2.5/5

The shield counter lets you get away with pumping up a 1/1 or an evasive creature when you attack the first time. After that it’s probably best to just make it a 4/4 unless it’s lethal the other way.  

Warm Welcome

Rating: 2.0/5

This is not even close to Fierce Empath. It’s also not three mana 1/1 that draws a card because it’s not out of the realm of possibility to miss. The times I want this card are when I have a high creature count and I have multiple alliance triggers that are much better at instant speed such as Venom Connoisseur.

Workshop Warchief

Rating: 4.5/5

This rhino doesn’t mess around. Thragtusk was an insane limited card and this is arguably better. If you open him, just follow the chief to victory.

---

Wrap Up

Green provides the usual plethora of beefy creatures, pump tricks, and fight spells. It looks like it will go best in combination with Naya beatdown decks. You really do have to decide early on whether you are taking the cards that go better in that or the more value-oriented soup decks.

Green is packing a whole bunch of high end rares that are real draws into the color.  Unlike most sets, it doesn’t corner the market on fixing so you might have more access to the key cards.

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

You can also find me at:

• Discord
• Twitch
• Twitter