The Lost Caverns of Ixalan (LCI) Limited Over and Underperformers Guide • MTG Arena Zone

Table of Contents

The Lost Caverns of Ixalan (LCI) Limited Guides
Overperformers
Underperformers
Wrap Up

Hey everyone! We’ve had some time to jam an insane number of drafts in the last week to see how everything is going down in the deep caverns of Ixalan. While it is still early in the format and we’re not quite to the final evolution of the meta, it is still a great time to check in with how things are going. Today I’ll be discussing the over and underperformers of The Lost Caverns of Ixalan draft.

Keep in mind that we’re just discussing how things are performing compared to my initial expectations of them. I’m not going to tell you that Aclazotz, Deepest Betrayal is great because that was pretty obvious. I’m also not going to tell you that Kaslem's Stonetree is bad because that was also apparent to most people. Instead we’ll be focusing on why some cards are doing better or worse compared to where I thought they would be.

I’ve already updated the tier list multiple times and will continue to do so throughout the format so I’d recommend that you check that out as well.

The Lost Caverns of Ixalan (LCI) Limited Guides

Overperformers

Promising Vein

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I hated Shire Terrace in LTR limited because it always felt like it was a little too slow. This format is pretty fast as well, but you can squeeze just enough juice out of this in the right decks to make it worth it. Being able to trigger descend or even the threat of adding a permanent to your graveyard at instant speed matters. If your deck cares enough about that then this can be a fine addition.

It’s also decent to help splash, but I prefer Captivating Cave over Promising Vein for that purpose. It’s even a cave if for some reason you’ve decided that playing that archetype isn’t a meme.

Don’t get me wrong, you probably still shouldn’t be playing this in your Izzet artifact aggro deck. It’s also competing with the discover lands for the limited number of tapped lands you can realistically play in a deck. Evolving Wilds would have been great in this format, but this is better than I expected.

Tarrian’s Soulcleaver

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I’m still not very high on this, but I was looking at it as only being playable in the Orzhov sacrifice deck. It can also do some serious damage if you’re making a ton of treasures. That combos nicely with Ancestors' Aid that lets you drop a treasure in at instant speed along with the first strike bonus to really catch someone off guard.

One thing that some people miss out on is that it works when things die from both sides of the battlefield. Adding a tax to your opponent’s treasures can force them to play an entirely different game.

Sunfire Torch

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This has been doing well because of how aggressive the format is. Giving your creatures a cheap boost, providing Sunshot Militia with another artifact to tap, and even the possibility to sacrifice it for a Shock provides a lot of option for not a lot of mana.

One of the big things, especially in best of one, is that a ton of your matchups are going to be stacked with one and two drops so this will kill a bunch of their relevant creatures.

This was also going super late early on so they were basically free to pick up. We’ll see if that trend continues as the format goes on.

Waylaying Pirates

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As with almost everything in this format, I have to provide a bit of a disclaimer. This mainly applies to playing it in the Izzet artifact deck. It’s still fine in Azorius artifacts, but not nearly as exciting since you’re not trying to speedrun the tournament. It goes without saying that this should not make the cut if you don’t have a heavy contingent of ways to ensure that it is online.

This performs best as a top end card to help push through the last bit of damage. If you’re planning to kill them quickly and you squint hard enough, it kind of functions as a Nekrataal that you can pick up late.

Pit of Offerings

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Nothing about my opinion of the caves decks has changed and this is pretty bad against most of the aggressive decks. It just absolutely destroys the descend decks which makes it a great sideboard card. You might not see as many of those decks as you do all of the ones in the Jeskai artifact pie, but it’s a fairly low-cost addition for when you do need to board it in.

Underperformers

Mischievous Pup

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I’m not ready to go all the way into calling this poor little guy a bad dog. He’s just performing below the curve in obedience school.

There is plenty of value available for him to scoop up, but the one toughness is a really big drawback in a format filled with low-cost dorks. The format is also too fast for minor durdle value to matter nearly as much since you’re either getting ran over or they are going way over the top of this on value.

Hurl into History

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While this can be a huge swing in the game, passing with five untapped mana can shine a pretty large bat signal up in the sky that you are sitting on this. This format is also fast enough that getting to the point in the game where you can safely hold this up is a pretty big ask.

If it could counter every spell, then it wouldn’t be as bad as it is. You’ll be sitting on a ton of mana every turn if your opponent sniffs it out while casting instants, enchantments, or sorceries. Even if they cast something you don’t want to use this on, you are almost pot committed to countering it to avoid the huge tempo loss.

Song of Stupefaction

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I’m going to be honest with you all. This was a reading problem for me. I defaulted to thinking that this could be played as an instant which would have played much better in this format especially in Dimir with deathtouch creatures. Without flash, this is mostly a sideboard card against big green creatures.

Self-Reflection

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I want this to be good and there are still instances where it can be. Once I did a little Self-Reflection, I came to the conclusion that it’s just too expensive and vulnerable to getting blown out by instant speed removal. Since it can’t target their creatures, it does literal nothing if you don’t already have a creature on the board.

It also doesn’t really fit in with what the blue decks are doing in the format. It’s either too expensive for the low to the ground ones or a “win more” for the late game ones.

Get Lost

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While this is still efficient mana wise, giving your opponent two game pieces has been much worse than just giving them a clue. I’ll still run this, but it’s certainly not premium removal.

Queen’s Bay Paladin

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There are definitely times that this can come down and entirely change the course of the game. There are also times it is just a Fire Elemental or you’re too low on life to use the ability. Black underperforming in general hasn’t helped, but I feel like you need some of the busted rare vampires to want to take this highly.