Hey everyone! We’re a week into slamming draft after draft after draft of Wilds of Eldraine (at least that’s what I’ve been doing) so it’s time to report some of my findings. Today we’re going to be discussing which cards have been playing better than expected and which have been WOEfully underperforming.
This is only discussing how the cards are performing compared to their initial expectations, not how good or bad they are overall. Gruff Triplets is insane, but everyone knew that so it won’t be here. Similarly, no one was banging the table for Omniscience so it will remain in it’s corner unloved and undiscussed in this article.
I used to have the original grades and the updated ones in here, but I felt that was a little constricting. There are times a card feels better or worse than expected, but not enough to grade it differently. What I say about the cards is far more important than the number value anyway. You number people don’t need to worry because everything is already updated in the tier list.
Overperformers
Imodane’s Recruiter
It’s not that I didn’t think it was going to be a very good card, it’s that it has performing as a top five cards in the set. It’s been ending games while rampaging across the battlefield out of nowhere. Giving the rest of your team haste is a pretty big difference because it lets you play other creatures that get pumped up to smash into the red zone as well.
This has quickly become one of those cards that you have to calculate the math on all the time. It’s also still going far too late, can we all agree to stop letting that happen? I don’t know about you, but I don’t appreciate it when my opponent plays three of them.
Twisted Fealty and Eriette’s Tempting Apple
In a format that is this tempo oriented, stealing your opponent’s best creature can be big game. I was chatting with my buddy BeersSC about these cards and he was saying that he was willing to take them and I quote “insanely high”. He said that he takes the premium removal first, then it’s a debate between the good common creatures and Twisted Fealty. Even the stats back this up since Twisted Fealty is the top performing red uncommon (outside of Imodane's Recruiter which is technically a gold card)
While there aren’t too many ways to sacrifice your freshly acquired creatures, these spells are forcing through enough extra damage on their own. They each even have something extra thrown in and while that doesn’t quite add up to a whole card, it’s certainly not nothing. That last bit of reach from the apple or the Role from Twisted Fealty can be the difference between sweet victory and crushing defeat.
Archive Dragon
This dodges so much removal in the set that it can stabilize you in some rough spots. Even if they’re willing to use two spells to take it out, the ward makes it very difficult unless it’s much later in the game.
The scry two helps ensure that you’re not running out of gas after you hit six mana. It’s even kind enough to start flying over for the win once you take control of the game.
Goblin Bombardment
While this doesn’t reach the heights it did back when you could put damage on the stack, it is head and shoulders above the other cheap red enchanting tales. Actually, that was massively understating how great this card is. You should be slamming this early and enjoying your wins.
The big difference is being able to hit creatures or players so that you don’t get stuck dealing some irrelevant damage to the face when you really need to kill something. It also combos nicely with the Threaten effects allowing you to shoot their creature’s corpse right back at them. If that isn’t enough for you, it can functionally counter their Flick a Coin without needing to hold mana up.
Welcome to Sweettooth
We have been having a discussion over how close this and The Huntsman's Redemption actually are in Floridamun’s chat. That really speaks to the power of this seemingly innocuous uncommon. One of the big things it has going for it is that the two-drop slot can be pretty underwhelming and this gives you multiple game pieces with a ridiculous amount of upside.
Hamlet Glutton
Hammy here has been a giant beating because it is so large compared to the average creature running around in Eldraine. Along the same lines as Archive Dragon, it successfully dodges a ton of the removal in the set while clogging the way and providing a fast clock. The life gain may seem minimal, but sometimes it’s exactly what you need against the fast red decks.
Underperformers
A Tale for the Ages
I wasn’t insanely high on this because it’s a build around that requires a heavy commitment to a very particular deck, but a bunch of other content creators graded this as an A so it certainly has underperformed.
The stats are expected to be a bit off on this because people might shove it in the wrong deck, but to be straight up one of the worst cards in the set shows that it’s not even really worth it in the right deck.
There will be times when this is nuts, but don’t focus on those times. You’re rarely going to have enough auras to make this better than a Glorious Anthem and there are plenty of times it does stone cold nothing.
Back for Seconds
I wasn’t expecting this to perform up to the lofty expectations of Urborg Repossession, but I was expecting it to be serviceable at the minimum. Instead, it has been severely underperforming with a (as I’m writing this) negative two IWD. Some of the problem is that people have been slamming it in any deck when it is really meant to be played in a deck that can stabilize against an aggressive deck and then use it to shut the door at the end.
Moonshaker Cavalry
The main problem with this card is that the format doesn’t end up in a lot of board stalls. Games tend to either be really fast or end up in attrition battles. That limits this card’s ability to end the game on the spot when you play it which is the reason you were playing it to begin with.
Not having haste like Craterhoof Behemoth is actually a pretty big setback on the “ending the game right now” plan. It might still be a giant flyer, but it spends the majority of it’s time sitting in your hand because it costs so much.
Oversold Cemetery
I was well aware that this wasn’t going to perform like it did way back in Onslaught. Limited magic is much different than it was then and that entire block (member those?) was heavily focused on creatures.
It has been a completely unplayable travesty because you can’t play a two mana do nothing in such an aggressive format. The payoff of a Raise Dead every turn (as long as you have four or more creatures in your graveyard, not a huge ask at all, right?) means that the juice isn’t worth the squeeze.
Dawn of Hope
I wasn’t really fooled by this one because I knew it wasn’t going to be in the same ballpark as it was in its previous format. I was even skeptical if it was going to be playable, but I graded it as possibly playable out of optimism. It has been really bad because (I feel like I keep repeating myself) everything is way too fast for this.
Long story short, don’t play cards that don’t affect the board in 2023.
The entire Azorius tap deck
It’s just not living up to expectations unless you get all of the payoffs and it’s wide open. Don’t get me wrong, If I open Hylda of the Icy Crown, I’m still interested in going down that route. Without that, I’ll pass. The normal commons with a couple uncommons deck just doesn’t get there. You get ran over too quickly in this format to durdle around like this.
One of the underdiscussed things that comes up is that you only get triggers for tapping untapped creatures. That leaves your options a lot more limited when your opponent is the beatdown. You end up having to choose between tapping their evasive creature down for a turn or being able to get a trigger.
If you’re not getting triggers than you’re just playing bad tap cards. Is that better or worse than if you’re forced into using them on a suboptimal threat?
Wrap Up
Thanks for reading! I’ll be back in the next couple days with my comprehensive draft guide so you’re fully prepped for the Arena Open. Until then, stay classy people!
I’m always open to feedback, let me know what you loved, what you hated, or just send dog pics. You can contact me at:
