Wilds of Eldraine (WOE) Limited Set Review: Enchanting Tales (WOT)

Hey everyone! I hope you’re ready to get wild in the crazy world of Eldraine. Things have changed since the last time we visited with a serious lack of Elk related humor. Instead, we are focusing on WotC’s strange takes on classic fairy tales. That means that it is filled with puns and dad jokes galore so it’s clearly designed to go along with my writing style.

On top of that I get to pronounce WOE exactly like Joey Lawrence every time. Granted most of you are thinking “What is this old man blathering about, someone get him his meds.” I can assure you it was a thing back in the day with Avatar of Woe.

Per usual, I’ll be grading the entire set for the purpose of limited as well as writing about a million other articles about it until they let me out of the content creation dungeon. With all that, you’ll be well prepared to crush some dreams.

For those of you wondering if I missed some cards, the adventures that require different colors for each part are in the multicolor section. The Enchanting Tales bonus sheet will have its own article as well.

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. (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)

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White

Blind Obedience

Rating: 1.5/5

This is mostly a really annoying effect since it’s not attached to a creature. It makes it harder for them to have blockers, but you took turn two off to cast this. You’re also playing behind curve if you are extorting with it. There are times this will add up to enough to be worth it, most of the time it’s filler.

Dawn of Hope

Rating: 2.5/5

This card was very good back in its original printing, but limited is much faster and more efficient now. Even though drawing a card off popping a food sounds great, it is a total of four mana with this. Even the creatures cost four mana.  In a board stall, this will usually grind out a win. In a beatdown race, this will do very little.

Grasp of Fate

Rating: 3.0/5

I’ll grasp this if I need a removal spell in my white decks. The double pip in the casting cost is a bit of a hindrance, but not enough to keep me off of this.

Greater Auramancy

Rating: 1.0/5

This is shroud, not hexproof. That means even you can’t target your own enchanted creatures which can be a bit of a downer.

I would consider boarding this in if I was heavy on Roles and they were heavy on removal.

Griffin Aerie

Rating: 2.0/5

This is entirely dependent on how often you can trigger this. The obvious way is through food, but there are also Archon's Glory, Cursed Courtier, Tuinvale Guide, and others to get you there.

Intangible Virtue

Rating: 1.5/5

If this was in the rat colors, I would be all about it. Having to splash it for the only deck that really wants it is a big kick down the old tier list.

Karmic Justice

Rating: 0.5/5

How many spells or abilities are your opponents going to be playing that destroy a non-creature permanent of yours? Even if they board in enchantment removal, you still have to draw this and have them knowingly use it to let this be a removal spell.

Knightly Valor

Rating: 2.5/5

While it is only 4/4 worth of stats for five, the enchantment part has pseudo-haste if you put it on something that can attack.  

Land Tax

Rating: 2.5/5

This is a hard card to grade because you usually don’t want it if you are on the play, while it is a game breaking bomb if you are on the draw. That makes it an amazing sideboard card, but you need ways to loot it away if you are going to play it in the main. Speaking of looting, that also plays amazingly well with this being active since you have so many raw pieces of cardboard to toss.

Leyline of Sanctity

Rating: 0.5/5

There aren’t too many situations where you would even board this in. Even for free it is really not worth the card to possibly blank one or two cards in their deck.

Phyrexian Unlife

Rating: 0.5/5

This can functionally gain you nine life (not ten because you’d already be dead when you play this) if you play it under the best of circumstances. Anything above ten life, this is a net negative. In most cases it will line up somewhere around five which is not a good magic card.

There are a couple ways to abuse it by paying life when it no longer matters, but it’s just not worth it.

Rest in Peace

Rating: 0.5/5

There are some decks that you might possibly board this in against, but its still usually not worth the card.

Smothering Tithe

Rating: 0.5/5

Are you playing commander? No, then don’t play this card.

Blue

As Foretold

Rating: 1.0/5

There are no cool suspend cards to take advantage of this with. It’s way too slow to be relevant.

Compulsion

Rating: 1.0/5

I loved this card back in OTJ drafts, but that was filled with Madness and Flashback cards to take advantage of the discard. There’s nothing like that here so it’s an expensive late game looting machine that can sacrifice itself for a new card. Too much mana involved to want it early in the game.

Copy Enchantment

Rating: 1.5/5

This is heavily dependent on what enchantments you have in your deck because you don’t want to rely on your opponent to have a good target.

Curiosity

Rating: 2.0/5

You can take a trip straight to combo city with this and Unruly Catapult. It’s also good on most evasive creatures. There is just a ton of cheap removal running around so it’s not as easy to ensure that you get your requisite hit in to break even on this.

Forced Fruition

Rating: 1.0/5

I’ve heard a lot of hype about this and lets just say I am not sold. If you are in the position to play a six mana do nothing that lets your opponent play the best three to four spells in their deck and they still can’t win, you were probably winning anyway.

That’s not even getting into how bad this is if they have enchantment removal. Guess I’ll draw seven off of my Troublemaker Ouphe.

There are times this might be a sideboard card, but even then, it’s going to be risky.

Fraying Sanity

Rating: 0.5/5

The only card that mills your opponent is Cruel Somnophage which is a rare. You can try to play the old attrition game, but in general this is still going to be milling one or two cards a turn.

Hatching Plans

Rating: 3.0/5

Combo time, this and any Bargain card is a… wait for it… bargain to draw three cards with. An extremely premium card draw spell in any deck that can easily enable it.

Intruder Alarm

Rating: 1.0/5

Everything has sort of vigilance as long as you play a creature. Of course, your opponent could play one for you. It’s three mana for a card that will mostly just be annoying. Constructed combo card that we can’t even play in historic.

Kindred Discovery

Rating: 2.0/5

This can bury your opponent in card advantage as long as you have a theme in your deck, perhaps Faeries would be an appropriate choice. Keep in mind that this is five mana so you really need to draw four cards with this before your happy with it. If your creature types are all over the place, you shouldn’t be playing this.

Leyline of Anticipation

Rating: 1.0/5

Playing at instant speed is cool and all, but have you tried starting a game with seven cards in hand instead. It feels much better. If it’s not in your opening hand, then you’re really not going to want to be dropping this for four mana.

Omniscience

Rating: 0.0/5

Cool for constructed nonsense, don’t put this in your limited decks.

Rhystic Study

Rating: 0.5/5

I am once again asking you “Are you playing commander?”. If you draw this later in the game it is absolute garbage. Even on turn three, it gives your opponent the option. If they decide not to pay for it twice, you have successfully cast a slow Divination. Not exactly an earth shattering event.

Spreading Seas

Rating: 1.0/5

This bad boy was too hot for historic! It replaces itself and has a small chance of mana screwing your opponent. It’s still filler, but that time you get them good with it will be memorable.

Black

Bitterblossom

Rating: 4.5/5

Limited has evolved since the days this was originally printed, which takes it down from an unbeatable bomb to almost unbeatable. Still really amazing card and this format even lets you Bargain it away if you’re going to die to it. Plus you get lots of complaint equity when your opponent plays this on turn two.

Dark Tutelage

Rating: 1.5/5

I’m going with that this is too slow and painful to be worth it. It is nice to be able to bargain it away, but your limited deck is gong to have some expensive cards in it and hitting a five or six drop is a pretty huge chunk of your life total.

Grave Pact

Rating: 4.0/5

This would be higher if it didn’t have triple black in the casting cost. I can assure that it is worth it. Limited games always end up with some kind of attrition going on and your opponent losing a creature every time you do is very difficult to overcome.

Leyline of the Void

Rating: 0.5/5

Not really a graveyard set so a sideboard card at best. Too expensive if it’s not in your opening hand. No other upside to it.

Necropotence

Rating: 2.0/5

This is going to be controversial for sure. First off, we’re going to have to go over the same things we did about Necro back in the day.

1. You don’t want to play it early; you’re just giving up your free draws. Wait till your hand is empty and then use it to reload.
2. Don’t kill your opponent’s Necro because it just gives them their draw step back.

With that out of the way, this is fine in some decks and awful in others. Bargain once again comes to the rescue by providing a way to get rid of the downside of an enchantment. There are going to be games where this outright wins you the game and there will be times you regret ever putting it in your deck.

You also need to be really, really heavy black to play this. You’re also going to want to look into food or lifelink. I have to imagine the stats on this are going to be atrocious because of people taking it too early or playing with it wrong.

To sum it up, this is rated here because some games it will be a 0.0 and some games it will be a 4.0

Oppression

Rating: 1.5/5

This falls under the category of a mostly really annoying card that you will remember the one time you got screwed by it. It’s a symmetrical effect where you are already down this card by playing it. It could be good versus high mana curve decks, but you most likely don’t want to start out with this in your deck.

Oversold Cemetery

Rating: 2.0/5

This was amazing back in the OLS days, but that format was heavy with creatures because of morph. Maybe you still want this if you have some self-mill or are planning to win in the late game.

Polluted Bonds

Rating: 0.5/5

Five mana to maybe drain a few points off your opponent when they can dictate whether or not it ever happens. No thank you.

Sanguine Bond

Rating: 1.0/5

If you have a deck built around food and lifelink, then this could hit them for an absurd amount of damage. In most decks, it’s a five mana do nothing.

Stab Wound

Rating: 3.0/5

While there are plenty of times that this is just a three mana kill spell, it can really shine by cutting something relevant down to size. Your opponent is either forced to find a way to kill it or sit there losing two life a turn.

Vampiric Rites

Rating: 1.5/5

I really need to be in the rat deck or something similar to want to be playing this.

Waste Not

Rating: 0.5/5

There is no way you are playing enough discard spells to make this worth it.

Red

Aggravated Assault

Rating: 1.5/5

Eight mana into an extra attack seems like a poor use of a card. Once this is out, they are likely going to trade off as much as possibly leaving this much less effective.

Blood Moon

Rating: 0.5/5

The only way this is ever worth it is if you end up shutting down a couple of manlands with it. This was only added to Arena for the purpose of making brawl players angry.

Dragon Mantle

Rating: 2.5/5

This replaces itself right off the bat for only one mana so the floor for this is pretty high. This can do some serious damage on an evasive creature, but even making a trade up on the ground is fine.

Fiery Emancipation

Rating: 3.0/5

This is assuming that your mana base can support this. That means at least ten red sources, but preferably more. Building up to this and swinging out with triple damage will usually end the game on the spot or at least force a lot of trades.

Your rat tokens suddenly hitting like they are Lightning Bolts is big game and bigger creatures are just doing insane amounts of damage with this.

Goblin Bombardment

Rating: 2.0/5

You’re going to want to be in a rat infestation deck to want to play this. It is no where near as good as it was back in the damage on the stack days.

Impact Tremors

Rating: 1.5/5

Another cheap enchantment that requires you to be ratty to play.

Leyline of Lightning

Rating: 1.0/5

Even if I start the game off with this, I’m not going to put myself behind curve to deal a few extra damage. If I draw it later in the game, I might as well leave in embarrassment.

Mana Flare

Rating: 0.5/5

Are you playing a storm deck in vintage cube? Then this isn’t the card for you. Symmetrical effect that your opponent usually gets to take advantage of first while you’re down a card. It also rarely matters in the late game.

Raid Bombardment

Rating: 2.0/5

As we’ve seen with a few others on this list, I want this in the rat deck and nowhere else.

Repercussion

Rating: 1.0/5

Maybe if you’re hyper aggressive and they set up some walls in front of you. Keep in mind this works both ways so if they block your 1/1 with a 5/5 you are taking five damage while they take one. You better be killing them with the swingout for that to be worth it.

Shared Animosity

Rating: 1.5/5

Yet another card where we ask whether or not we are being ratty today.

Sneak Attack

Rating: 1.0/5

They sure did put a lot of cube cards on here with this. There are no creatures really worth doing this with in the set. I’m sure someone is going to steal a couple games with this, but most of the time it’s trash.

Green

Defense of the Heart

Rating: 3.5/5

This just requires your opponent to have three creatures, not like oath where they need to have more than you. You might have to be careful about how you block to get it to trigger, but getting to Tooth and Nail for only four mana is well worth taking a few extra points.

Doubling Season

Rating: 1.5/5

I don’t want to pay five mana to do nothing unless it gives me a huge payoff. Double creature tokens are nice and all, but it’s going to be pretty late.

Unfortunately, you can’t use it to put six stun counters on a creature because it’s only creatures you control. It actually means that you would get six stun counters if they played Freeze in Place on your creature because it’s not a may.

Garruk’s Uprising

Rating: 1.5/5

I saw an unnamed friend of mine play this thinking they drew the card no matter what. You already need to have that four-power creature out for that to happen. You also need a pretty hefty investment in four power creatures to want this.

Ground Seal

Rating: 1.0/5

This does replace itself and can be bargained away. I’d board this in against someone with multiple graveyard effects.

Hardened Scales

Rating: 1.0/5

If you’re looking to combine this with Virtue of Loyalty or Gruff Triplets, you don’t need to bother because those are insane on their own.  There aren’t really a lot of cards that get a huge benefit out of this besides Voracious Vermin, Questing Druid, Picnic Ruiner, and Elusive Otter. There are a few others, but those are the best uses.

Leyline of Abundance

Rating: 0.5/5

Do you have a whole bunch of mana creatures and need a way to spend all that extra mana? No? You’re saying that doesn’t really come together in draft?

Yeah, this is another functionally almost blank piece of cardboard.

Nature’s Will

Rating: 1.5/5

I guess if you’re the beatdown you can pay four mana to make sure they can’t counterspell anything after you get through. You also get to double your mana too. I just don’t think paying four and having to get a creature through is a great combination. Maybe having tramplers is the key to making this worth it.

Parallel Lives

Rating: 1.5/5

I like this a little bit more than Doubling Season since it’s one mana cheaper for the main effect that I care about. Still heavily deck dependent and can drop to a 0.0 in a hurry.

Primal Vigor

Rating: 0.5/5

Hey look it’s Doubling Season, but your opponent gets to have fun too. Hard pass.

Prismatic Omen

Rating: 1.0/5

You need to be going really hard into the five color shenanigans for this. Most of the time it’s going to perform similar to a Prophetic Prism which also drew you a card when it came into play.

Season of Growth

Rating: 2.5/5

There are a lot of combat tricks in this set including some that are adventures. That makes this pretty solid in the right deck since the scrys will add up and you only really need to get one card off of this to be even. Still getting to draw the card even if they kill the target in response is a pretty huge difference.

Unnatural Growth

Rating: 1.5/5

You have to be nearly monogreen to play this, but it is insane if you do get it out.

Utopia Sprawl

Rating: 2.5/5

One mana ramp and mana fixing is really good. While it’s not quite Birds of Paradise it can function similarly to it.

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Wrap Up

The enchanting tales were a wild adventure for sure. It’s clear that a lot of these were chosen to make them more available for commander and other constructed formats. That means that they range form unplayable dumpster fires to broken cards and really not many in between.

Thanks for reading! I’ll be back tomorrow with my archetypes guide. Until then, stay classy people!

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

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