Kaldheim Limited Ratings
Axgard Braggart
AI Rating: 1.5Pro Rating: 2.0
So, this card will never really be efficient. I mean, it starts as a 4-mana 3/3, and even if you boast with it, you’ll have spent 6 mana on a 4/4. However, efficiency isn’t everything. The fact is that this creature can grow throughout the game, and just the threat of using the ability will be enough for people not to block it when it attacks. Boast creatures a lot of the time will just end up feeling like situational mana sinks, and that’s not necessarily bad. The pseudo-vigilance it gains when it Boasts isn’t bad either.
Battershield Warrior
AI Rating: 2.9Pro Rating: 3.0
That is a very nice boast effect. Obviously, a 3-mana 2/2 isn’t so good, but being able to give your whole board +1/+1 -- including itself -- is pretty nice. A lot of these Boast creatures have some serious threat of activation, and that is certainly an issue here if you are trying to block when someone attacks with this and some other creatures. There’s a good chance it will die after that first swing, but it and all of its friends will be much harder to block, so you’re probably coming out ahead in that exchange.
Battlefield Raptor
AI Rating: 2.3Pro Rating: 1.5 // 3.5
This is a key card for aggressive decks. It wears the cheap Equipment and Auras it he format well, and suiting it up early can often win games. If you’re an aggro deck, you’re never cutting this, and it will be one of the best things you can do on turn one. Obviously, it isn’t very good anywhere else, so keep that in mind.
Beskir Shieldmate
AI Rating: 2.2Pro Rating: 3.0
This is a solid two-drop. A two mana 2/1 is far from ideal, but if you can trade with this and then get a token, you’re going to feel pretty good. Overall, this is a nice two drop that will pretty much always make the cut
Bound in Gold
AI Rating: 3.7Pro Rating: 4.0
So, here’s White’s usual Common Aura that is a premium removal spell. For three mana this shuts down pretty much everything -- apart from static abilities -- and that’s a really good deal. Keeping the creatures from even being able to crew vehicles is a really big deal too. This is white’s best common -- it just answers pretty much everything, and does it efficiently. It has the downsides of aura-based removal of course -- like there are ways to get rid of it -- but it is worth the risk. You can also splash it easily, which really matters in this format.
Clarion Spirit
AI Rating: 4.2Pro Rating: 4.0
This is a really strong engine. Since it starts out as a 2-mana 2/2, you don’t have to get that much out of it for it to feel like you’re doing a good job -- even one 1/1 flying token will get you there, and this will sometimes produce far more than that. Double-spelling in this set is easier than it usually is, largely because of the Foretell mechanic, which typically allows you to pay less mana in a single turn for spells. But, even in a normal set, I would really be inclined to think of this as a really good card, so with foretell it is likely even better. If you can get 2+ tokens out of this, you’re going to be in great shape. It fits incredibly well into aggro decks especially.
Codespell Cleric
AI Rating: 1.4Pro Rating: 1.0 // 2.5
So, since this is one mana, casting it as your second spell in a turn won’t be super challenging, especially in a format with Foretell. I mean, in the late game it will be a little harder, like if you’re in top deck mode, but in the early and mid-game it will just happen. For this to be worth it, it does need to be making that +1/+1 counter a significant chunk of the time, and it can do that in aggro decks. Like Battlefield Raptor, it is much better in aggressive decks than it is elsewhere.
Divine Gambit
AI Rating: 1.2Pro Rating: 2.0
Two mana to exile any of those three types of cards is great -- but letting your opponent put their best permanent into play...not so much. Now, if yo’ure using this to deal with a super high power card, chances are good you’re downgrading their board state, but it won’t always feel like removal since they’ll get something out of the deal. You basically have to look at this as a really expensive removal spell – because you only want to play it late when your opponent can’t really take advantage of the upside. It isn’t entirely unplayable, but it is nowhere near premium removal either! It is mostly just filler.
Doomskar
AI Rating: 4.8Pro Rating: 4.5
This is a powerful board sweeper -- straight up 5 mana to blow up all creatures, or paying 5 over a couple of turns both feel pretty good. Wraths can be awkward to be sure, especially if you’re an aggro deck, but my general philosophy on cards like this is this: They have an effect that is so powerful, and so irreplaceable, that you should be taking it highly no matter what, and it should always make your deck -- provided you can cast it, of course. And yeah, sometimes you’ll look at a board and you’ll wish you just had a 4 drop to follow up your 2 and 3 drop, and that is a bit of a bummer -- but if things end up going sideways on you because you can’t do that? Guess what, you can just play Doomskar!
Doomskar Oracle
AI Rating: 1.9Pro Rating: 2.5
BW and UW are both color pairs interested in Foretell, and Doomskar Oracle fits well into both of those decks. It has Foretell itself, AND it is a Foretell payoff. And, the payoff it gives you isn’t the most powerful thing ever, but incidental life gain can go a long way towards helping you survive in Limited, and since it is attached to a 3-mana 3/2 with foretell, I think you’ll find yourself playing this pretty regularly in White, even if you aren’t in one of the foretell decks. The Foretell here adds up to the same amount of mana you would normally pay, you just get to do it in two installments, which could allow for more flexible turns in the future. Like with a lot of these, I think you should only be foretelling it if you have extra mana lying around, -- or if you have a bunch of foretell payoffs - since just casting it is going to be reasonable a lot of the time too.
Giant Ox
AI Rating: 0.5Pro Rating: 1.0
This is kind of a cool design. A two mana 0/6 is a card that you’ll play sometimes in really controlling decks, but this guy is also capable of crewing basically everything despite being only two mana. That said, this set isn’t exactly brimming with quality Vehicles – something I am pretty disappointed about, so I still don’t think most decks will be playing him – though, pairing him with the Plow is pretty funny.
Glorious Protector
AI Rating: 4.6Pro Rating: 4.0
This is like a fixed version of Restoration Angel. It has the same keywords, stats, and converted mana cost as the Restoration Angel. Unlike Restoration Angel, though, Glorious Protector can exile multiple non-Angel creatures, instead of just one – and, unlike Restoration Angel Glorious Protector doesn’t Blink them – they stay gone until the Protector leaves the battlefield, and while that is some significant downside, there is some upside there too. In particular, it means that if your Angel dies you get that creature back, and basically no matter what you save with it, that means you are getting something back. Exiling creatures who have been shut down by Auras will feel particularly satisfying. You also don’t even have to use that ability if it isn’t advantageous, and it may not always be. Additionally, just being a decently sized creature with Flash can be a big deal, as it allows it to ambush block attacking creatures. In this case Fortell is a greater total mana investment, but you do only pay three mana for the angel the turn you play it, and that’s pretty sweet. So, basically -- this can act like a removal spell as an ambush blocker, it can help save a creature or creatures from complete and total death, and it can just be a win condition as a large flyer -- not to mention helping out Angel synergies and Foretell decks in general. I don’t quite think she’s a bomb, but she’s pretty glorious.
Gods' Hall Guardian
AI Rating: 1.2Pro Rating: 2.0
This is a Foretell card that doesn’t end up costing you extra mana in the end.. You still pay a total of six mana, but having the flexibility to pay that mana in installments -- two on one turn, 4 on another -- is nice. Plus, like most foretell cards, it lets you play something ahead of curve -- getting this down on turn 4 is pretty legit. Now, 6-mana for a 3/6 with Vigilance is far from impressive – but it is already borderline playable. It is a good defensive body that can also pressure the opponent a little bit.
Goldmaw Champion
AI Rating: 1.7Pro Rating: 3.0
This really helps aggro decks in the format run over the slow, plodding control decks. They often don't have very many creatures in play, and that drastically increases how powerful the Champions ability is. It just enables all kinds of attack you wouldn't have without it.
Halvar, God of Battle
AI Rating: 5Pro Rating: 5.0
So with this double-faced modal card, you either get a crazy powerful Equipment or a crazy powerful God that will make all of your Enchanted and equipped creatures have double strike -- while also allowing you to move those things around for free. Keep in mind with this double-faced modal cards, you won’t be transforming them -- you just choose one side or the other and for the most part, it will remain that card. So, if we just look at the Equipment side of this, I’d say we’re looking at an excellent card-- +2/+0 and Vigilance isn’t the most exciting, but it isn’t a terrible boost, especially because the equipped creature comes back to your hand if your opponent kills it. That can be particularly nice with creatures who have ETB abilities, but it is nice in general. +2/+0 is enough to make many creatures into threats, and your opponent just won’t be able to block whatever it is effectively most of the time, since you keep getting it back! Then, you add to the mix the fact that you can also play this as a 4-mana 4/4 with insane upside, and we’re talking about a bomb. Now, obviously, the God side of the card is a little bit more build aroundy than the Equipment side, but it won’t be difficult to get Auras and Equipment int his set, so I don’t think we need to penalize it too much. Overall, I think this card does enough to get into the lower range of being a bomb. Both sides of the card can take over games depending on the board state.
Invoke the Divine
AI Rating: 0.6Pro Rating: 1.5
This set has enough good artifacts and Enchantments that this ends up having a reasonable number of targets, making it an okay thing to run in your main deck.
Iron Verdict
AI Rating: 2.4Pro Rating: 2.5
This is another “Trap card” with foretell. So, in the past, 3-mana cards that do 5-damage to attacking creatures have been solid -- and this can actually work on any tapped creature, not just attacking ones. This is better than most of the other cards like that we’ve seen because of Foretell too. Being able to put this aside and use it for a single white mana later on in the game is great -- and this type of effect is situational, so putting it aside for awhile until you need it is going to work out pretty well. Now, I still don’t think this is quite “premium” removal -- you still are paying a total of 3 mana for the effect, and it is still pretty situational. But it is a nice White common.
Kaya's Onslaught
AI Rating: 2.9Pro Rating: 3.0
Three mana for +1/+1 and double strike is something that you’ll play sometimes, and that’s what this is at a base level. That type of boost makes it very likely that your creature will be able to win combat, and it can also manufacture lethal damage out of nowhere. The problem that all tricks have, though, is that you can really get blown out if your opponent can interact in response, and if you have to pay all three mana for this in a single turn, it also makes it harder for you to play another spell on the same turn. But, by splitting this into two payments, you will more easily find windows where it is worth the risk, since paying a single White mana is way easier than paying three in the same turn. Now, as I often say -- it is still a trick, and even this one has the problems all tricks have: they are highly situational, and you are risking a blowout. That said, this is a nice enough trick that you’ll almost always run it in a White deck with a reasonable number of creatures. It can win the game out of nowhere sometimes!
Master Skald
AI Rating: 1.6Pro Rating: 2.0
5-mana for a 4/4 that returns an artifact or enchantment is not a bad deal. And sure, you also need a creature in your graveyard to make it happen, but by turn 5 that won’t normally be an issue. There are lots of good Artifacts and Enchantments in this set, but the Skald is at his best with Sagas, since they are designed to eventually go to your graveyard in the first place. If you have at least one Saga, playing a Master Skald is usually a pretty good idea.
Rally the Ranks
AI Rating: 3.7Pro Rating: 1.0 // 3.0
This set isn’t nearly as tribal as it looks, so making Rally the Ranks work isn’t always easy Now, you probably do need 7+ creatures with the same creature type before you can make it work -- afterall, if it isn’t pumping your creatures, it is basically a blank card. If you have enough creatures though, the anthem effect it gives you will be a big deal, and it will become a pretty nice card.
Reidane, God of the Worthy
AI Rating: 4.8Pro Rating: 4.0
Like most Gods, this is pretty powerful. On the side, she is a 3-mana ⅔ with Flying and Vigilance -- already a great starting point in terms of efficiency -- but in addition to that she also significantly punishes your opponent. Making their snow lands enter tapped, and making them pay extra for big non-creature spellis is good too- and those two things can potentially combine to make your opponent wait a lot longer to cast their expensive noncreature spells. The artifact side is good too, and is definitely going to be better to play if you’re behind. It does a good job of making your creatures harder to kill, and that can be a pretty big nightmare for your opponent. All-in-all, I think that means Reidane is something you can first pick most of the time when you see it.
Resplendent Marshal
AI Rating: 4.9Pro Rating: 4.0
Alright so, with Resplendent Marshal you are starting out with a creature with great stats. Then, it comes with a big ol’ textbox that will definitely have an impact most of the time. Now, you do need something in your graveyard to make it do its thing, and if you are just playing the Marshal on turn 3 that might not happen – but it still has the reasonable turn 3 fail-case of just being super efficient. Once the game goes long, and your board gets bigger, the ability will have more of an impact – since you’ll have something in your graveyard for the Marshal to exile, and you’re more likely to have creatures that share a creature type with it. Worth noting, too, that even if she does come down and can’t trigger it, she gets to try again when she dies, so chances are good at least one of those will do something, and sometimes it will be utterly game-ending – I mean, just paying 3 mana for a 3/3 that puts a +1/+1 counter on two or three of your creatures is a pretty incredible deal, and that’s not a Magical Christmas Land scenario. She has a great baseline and huge upside.
Revitalize
AI Rating: 0.3Pro Rating: 0.5
This is an underwhelming reprint. A cantrip that gains you life isn’t bad, it is just one of those cards that will be the last card cut from your deck most of the time. Especially because this set doesn’t seem to have a strong life gain theme.
Righteous Valkyrie
AI Rating: 4.7Pro Rating: 3.5
So, on stats alone – a 3-mana 2/4 flyer is a pretty good deal. It can attack and block reasonably well, and that’s not a bad place to start when you have a really full textbox! This Valkyrie’s ability to gain life will be reasonably easy to trigger, especially because it checks for two different creature types that appear within White instead of just one, like some cards in this set. Now, I don’t think it will be especially easy to get the +2/+2 to your whole board, but it won’t be impossible either. But hey, I’m fully on board with a 3-mana 2/4 with Flying that gains me some life, and having the remote chance of getting the +2/+2 going is some nice additional upside.
Rune of Sustenance
AI Rating: 3.4Pro Rating: 2.5
I think the whole Rune cycle is pretty solid. The problem is often that Auras are risky because they 2-for-1 you -- but by adding a cantrip to all the cards in the Rune cycle, they made sure you won’t normally get 2-for-1’d. Now, you do have to be concerned about an opponent killing what you target in response, but as long as it resolves, you’ll be in the clear. It is also interesting you can put this on any permanent, so in a pinch -- like stuck on two lands in the early game, you can effectively cycle these by putting them on a land or something. Now, that isn’t ideal -- but having that in a moment of desperation is definitely upside. It only does something more than draw you a card if it is on a creature or an Equipment though, and lifelink is pretty nice on either of those things. It isn’t quite an evasive ability, but it is one that can really wreak havoc on races. It is also worth noting there are lots of Aura and Enchantment payoffs in this set, which is going to make it a bit better. I think this is a card you’ll play the first copy of in most White decks.
Runeforge Champion
AI Rating: 4.2Pro Rating: 2.0
So, if you have 0 runes in your deck, this guy is not very good – 3-man 2/3 and nothing else doesn’t really cut it these days. However, if he is both searching you up a Rune and making it easier to cast that Rune, he is going to be pretty nice. If you only have one rune, you might end up drawing it before you draw your Champion, but he will do his thing often enough to still be worth it. Two runes is probably ideal, though, that way it is highly unlikely he doesn’t draw you a card when he comes down. Because this guy is so dismal without Rune support, I would avoid ever taking him before you have at least one rune, once you do though, he will be a solid card.
Search for Glory
AI Rating: 2.6Pro Rating: 0.5
3-mana tutors are almost never worth it in Limited. It is just a very inefficient way to search up a card, and it can really leave you open to a lot of damage if your opponent is, you know, actually adding tot he board when you do something like this. The life gain clause ont his does mean that it can counteract that a little bit -- but you won’t be gaining more than 1 or 2 life with this most of the time, and gaining 3 is the absolute most you can gain anyway, and that’s not exactly impressive. Now, you will play this some time, if you have a bomb or bombs it can search up, but that’s pretty much it.
Shepherd of the Cosmos
AI Rating: 3.9Pro Rating: 3.5
This seems pretty good to me. So, even without Foretell, a 6-mana 3/3 with Flying that reanimates a 2-drop would be a pretty nice card. It is generally going to give you that 6 manas worth of value no problem. By adding Foretell, we get an upgrade here, since having the option to pay for it in installments is definite upside. It doesn’t hurt that there are foretell payoffs in the set too!
Sigrid, God-Favored
AI Rating: 4.7Pro Rating: 4.0
Wow, this has a lot going on! Creatures that oblivion ring other creatures are always good. Sigrid is a little more situational than some of those, because he does need the creature to be attacking or blocking, but he also is way better in combat than most creatures like this we’ve seen before. A 3-mana 2/2 with First Strike is basically playable in Limited anyway, and it also works nicely with Flash. There will be times where you Flash this in, exile a scary attacker, and then use Sigrid to block something he can just straight up kill in combat without dying himself. That will be a pretty brutal turn. Protection from Gods will actually matter more than you might think, too, because Changelings are Gods!
Spectral Steel
AI Rating: 2.4Pro Rating: 2.0
A two mana aura that gives +2/+2 is alright, but not usually worth the risk. Auras put you at great risk of getting blown out by a 2-for-1, so for them to be worth it, they have to do something to mitigate that risk, and Spirit Blade does that. Once it is in your graveyard you can use it to get back an Aura or Equipment, meaning that it pays you back for the card that you gave up in using it. It also means that if it gets milled, it can give you some nice graveyard value. Now, the question really is -- how often will it be able to get something back? And I think the answer is -- sometimes, but not all the time. Still, this gives a nice boost, and is a great thing to put on your one drop – and then has some late game utility. That all seems solid to me.
Stalwart Valkyrie
AI Rating: 3.1Pro Rating: 3.0
So, a 4-mana 3/2 with Flying is already a kind of ok card in Limited. So, if you’re paying two for this consistently, that’s going to be pretty nice. Especially because as we’ve seen, BW is interested in casting multiple spells in a turn, and this also helps on that front. Now, using the alternate cost won’t come up a ton in the early game, but it is worth noting that if you trade your 2/2 for theirs, you’re probably going to get more value out of that trade than they will thanks to your Valkyrie. But yeah, from the mid-game on, the alternate casting cost here will become increasingly easy to accomplish, and on a lot of boards a 3/2 with Flying is always relevant.
Starnheim Courser
AI Rating: 2.2Pro Rating: 2.5
This has the always-okay Wind Drake stats and reasonable upside. Good Equipment and Auras are plentiful in the set, so that upside does come up!
Starnheim Unleashed
AI Rating: 4.9Pro Rating: 5.0
So, even if you don’t foretell this, you get a 4-mana 4/4 Angel with flying and vigilance -- that on its own is a well above average card. Then, you add the Foretell upside into the mix and things get really silly. I mean, just paying 5 mana to cast this from foretell gives you TWO 4/4 angels, and that is insanely efficient. Now, you did pay two mana on another turn to make that happen, but still, the amount of power this can give you on a later turn is pretty amazing. 7 mana gives you three, which is pretty nice too. I think this will create 2-3 angels often enough that it is a very powerful bomb.
Story Seeker
AI Rating: 2.3Pro Rating: 2.0
Two mana 2/2s with Lifelink are always solid. Just being able to trade for another two drop and gaining you 2 life is a decent fail case, and if they are allowed to stick around they will end up gaining you significant life. Auras and Equipment are also your friend with a creature like this.
Usher of the Fallen
AI Rating: 3.7Pro Rating: 3.0
One mana 2/1s aren’t normally as impressive in Limited as they are in constructed. They just end up trading 1-for-1 for the most part, and you really need a critical mass of really good aggressive cards to make them thrive, and that’s hard to do in Limited. Luckily for Usher of the Fallen, though, that isn’t all it is. It also comes with a pretty nice Boast effect, which makes a one-one token. That means that trading 1-for-1 with this is suddenly not too bad. If you play this on turn one, and attack into your opponents one or two drop on a later turn, you get to make a 1/1 token before the Usher goes down, and that’s not a bad deal. If you can get it to attack more than once, and have the extra mana for Boasting, it will be pretty nice. That said, the likely outcome with this will more often be what I first described -- one token out of the deal. And that’s not bad, but it isn’t incredible either.
Valkyrie's Sword
AI Rating: 3.5Pro Rating: 3.0
This is part of a whole cycle of Equipment that lets you pay mana to make a creature for the Equipment to attach to. Overall here, you pay 7 mana to get a 6/5 with flying and Vigilance, which is an alright deal -- thought not a stellar one. But if you look at this as a 7-drop creature with a bunch of additional upside and flexibility, it does get a little better. Afterall, you can play it early if you need to -- though the cost of playing it and equipping it isn’t very pretty. I think ideally, you hold on to this until you can pay the extra mana, and then you get that large Angel who happens to leave behind some Equipment. It is really expensive to play this, but it does not seem like a bad top curve to me.
Valor of the Worthy
AI Rating: 0.9Pro Rating: 2.0
I often complain about Auras that don’t give a good boost for the mana cost, as well as auras that don’t give you value to help a 2-for-1 not feel so bad. This does kind of okay on both of those fronts, but not super well on either. The efficiency here is pretty nice when you look at the whole package - one mana for a +1/+1 Aura and a 1/1 flyer if things go wrong, but I’m still not sure I like the risk of putting this on something. +1/+1 can have an impact, but it isn’t ultra likely to be game changing, and while you only spend a single White mana, you still have some risk here, as the 1/1 you get is probably worse than whatever you put it on.
Warhorn Blast
AI Rating: 0.7Pro Rating: 1.0 // 3.0
So, mass pump spells always have some decks they will be good in -- obviously, the ones that are going wide -- but they are pretty bad in less aggressive decks. This one does add Foretell to the mix -- this is one of the foretell cards where the total investment is the same whether you Foretell it or not, so if you have the extra mana it will definitely be worth doing, since only paying three for this the turn you play it is no small thing. Still, this kind of card is always kind of a build around. If you’re an aggro deck that is good at going wide, you’re going to want one copy of this pretty often. Even in those decks it is situational, but the situation is much more likely to arise in those decks.
Wings of the Cosmos
AI Rating: 0.6Pro Rating: 1.0
This trick is mostly not worth playing. You can use it both offensively and defensively pretty effectively, and the fact it grants flying might mean sometimes it will also let you sneak in for lethal in the air. But -- a trick is a trick. It is situational, and its risky, and it doesn’t do a whole lot to make any of that less of a problem.
Alrund, God of the Cosmos
AI Rating: 4.9Pro Rating: 4.5
So, this is a pretty cool design for a modal double-faced card. On one side you have the cheaper spell -- one that is reasonably efficient and even gives you some nice card selection with Scry. But what is really cool about it, is that if it hits an opponent you not only scry, you also bounce it to your hand, giving you the chance to play Alrund on a later turn -- or you know, that exact same turn. Now, normally, creatures who have P/T equal to cards in hand aren’t amazing in Limited, since you just don’t usually horde a bunch of cards in that format, but by adding the Raven side to the mix, and the foretold upside, as well as a powerful card-draw effect every turn, Alrund is obviously really, really good. He is a card-drawing engine if your opponent doesn’t deal with him, and that also means he gets bigger!
Alrund's Epiphany
AI Rating: 4.7Pro Rating: 4.0
Well, Time Walk effects are always super strong -- but they are also always pretty expensive. Alrund’s Epiphany does a couple of things that make it better than your typical 7-mana Time Walk, though. One of these is that it actually adds to the board -- and sure, it just adds a couple of Bird tokens, but adding to the board is a big deal -- we have seen other time walks that make creatures, like the one with Awaken, and it was pretty nice. The other nice thing about Alrund’s Epiphany is that with Foretell, you can actually cast this a little earlier. Now, note that unlike some cards with Foretell, this one doesn’t cost the same total mana -- it actually costs one more between the 2 mana to foretell it and the foretell cost of 6-- but that will usually be worth getting it down a turn earlier. I don’t think this is a bomb -- after all, for a Time Walk to do its job it does generally need to have an at least decent board state, but it is really good.
Annul
AI Rating: 0Pro Rating: 0.0
This is a reprint, and it isn’t really one that is here to be played in Limited -- it is for constructed sideboards. It will be a rare thing in this format for people to have enough targets for this for it to be worth running, you might bring it out of your sideboard on occasion, but even then it doesn’t seem that likely to me. It is way better to have cards that destroy this type of permanent rather than counter them, because you can draw the removal after the fact and be okay. You have to have this in your hand at the exact right time for it to do something.
Ascendant Spirit
AI Rating: 4.3Pro Rating: 3.0
Snow mana is easy enough to come by in this format that it is very doable to find enough Snow mana to pump into the Spirit. Now, it does come with some inherent risks – like if your opponent blows it up after you spend a bunch of mana upgrading it – but those risks are mostly worth it because of the huge upside. You do need a lot of snow mana to play this, so keep that in mind, but when you can, it will demand an answer in many games – otherwise your opponent will lose.
Augury Raven
AI Rating: 3.1Pro Rating: 3.0
A 4-mana 3/3 flyer is a great rate in Limited, and this little Common has more upside than that! Because of Foretell, you can spread the cost of the card across two different payments, and while it won’t always make sense to do that -- there will be times where it helps you be really efficient with your mana, like if you want to play a 3-drop and foretell this instead of casting it that turn, or if you have nothing to do on turn two or three, foretelling this lets you pay less mana for it on a later turn.
Avalanche Caller
AI Rating: 3.9Pro Rating: 4.0
This is a really powerful Snow payoff, and one that doesn’t demand you to have a ton of snow lands for it to be worthwhile. Now, the more you have, the better he gets, but it is nice that you don’t need 10+ snow lands to play this – more like just 3. Animating lands and swinging with them is great, and the hexproof really matters too! This is a two drop that can take over games, and that’s a pretty unique thing.
Behold the Multiverse
AI Rating: 3.7Pro Rating: 3.5
4-mana for instant speed Scry 2 and draw 2 cards is usually pretty close to being a first pickable card when we’ve seen it in the past. It just does a great job of letting you see tons of cards, and is the kind of thing you’ll want one of in basically every Blue deck. Adding Foretell to the mix makes it even better, especially because, in this case, you’re not paying extra mana -- you pay the same amount, just in two installments, and that’s just great. Fortell is a lot like Morph or Suspend, in that it adds nice flexibility to a card, and lets you do something with any excess mana you might have -- like if you don’t have a two drop in the early game, you can just Fortell this, and that feels really good.
Berg Strider
AI Rating: 3.5Pro Rating: 3.5
I always like this kind of creature that taps something down when it comes into play, but they are usually only at their best if they can lock the creature down for a turn too. Berg Strider won’t always do that, but it will do it often enough, and hey, at least it does something even if you don’t have the snow mana. It is also another snow payoff that doesn’t demand 10+ snow lands, you can run it with just a few. Tapping something down even without snow mana can often enable an attack you didn’t have otherwise, and tapping something down for a turn can really swing a race in your favor, since that creature won’t be blocking or attacking. This is certainly beefier than most of these tap-down creatures are too -- it has good enough stats to be imposing on some board states.
Bind the Monster
AI Rating: 2Pro Rating: 2.5
Blue does not often get super efficient Auras that are capable of getting a blocker out of the way with no problem, and in general it doesn’t usually get removal that can just straight up shut down most creatures – but that’s what this is. For one mana, this can deal entirely with most creatures, and sure – you’re going to take some damage, but I think it is worth it for the efficiency. Playing more than one of these can get a bit risky, since you only have so much life you can pay for an effect like this, but I think you pretty much always play the first copy, especially if you’re light on other removal.
Brinebarrow Intruder
AI Rating: 0.5Pro Rating: 1.0
This doesn’t seem especially good. It is easy to imagine situations where you flash it in and killed a 3/1 or something, but it is mostly too situational to be worth playing. That decrease to power just doesn’t do enough often enough. You mostly won’t play this.
Cosima, God of the Voyage
AI Rating: 4.7Pro Rating: 4.0
Both sides of Cosima are things I would be interested in playing. On the front, you have a 3-mana 2/4, and you’ll leave Cosima in play if you really need the body -- but in an ideal world, you’ll exile Cosima for a few turns, play some lands, and bring her back later as a bigger creature that reloads your hand. Sometimes, you won’t have time for that, and that means you may have to live with the 3-mana 2/4 -- OR you can cast the Vehicle side, which is reasonably efficient, crews for only one mana, and helps you steal lands from your opponents library, all things that I like. It does take awhile for for it to ever really help you out when you are really far behind. But at parity or if you’re ahead, she’s going to do a lot to improve your chances of winning.
Cosmos Charger
AI Rating: 4.7Pro Rating: 4.0
I like this card a lot. It has enough size that Flashing it in and blocking a smaller creature will not be an uncommon occurrence, and then it has some nice stats for threatening the opponent in the air. Then, you add in a number of things -- like the possibility of using foretell with it, and the fact that it reduces the cost of Foretell, and you have a really, really good card. This is a card where the overall investment for Foretell will end up being more than you would pay for it if you were casting it, but because you can cast it from exile for 2U, it does allow you to pay less mana the turn you decide to cast it, and that can be especially relevant when you want to flash it in.
Cyclone Summoner
AI Rating: 4.5Pro Rating: 3.5
When you pay 7 mana for a card in Limited, it better do something big! And Cyclone Summoner. Bouncing everything but a couple of creature types and lands will drastically reshape the board in most cases. And sure, it is a symmetrical effect, so it can hurt you too -- but your Tornado Summoner will still be in play at the very least, so you’re usually coming out way ahead there. And, if you’re in Blue and took the Summoner at some point in the draft, there’s a good chance you have plenty of other giants and wizards who are going to stick around. Now, it does require some set up -- and sometimes you’ll be playing against another deck with lots of Giants, Wizards, and Changelings-- and it does cost a whopping 7 mana, but it will usually reshape the board in your favor, so those downsides are well worth it.
Depart the Realm
AI Rating: 1.4Pro Rating: 2.0
Two mana to bounce nonland permanents at Instant speed is usually fine. Bounce spells won’t always straight up trade for a card, but the tempo they give you can be worth it – and, sometimes you can get one of your opponent’s cards with this, if you bounce something that they are using a trick on or putting an Aura on. This has Foretell too, but I still don’t think it is much more than “fine”.
Disdainful Stroke
AI Rating: 1.2Pro Rating: 1.0
This is a card we’ve seen a lot of, and generally I don’t like running it. It is super weird in this format too, because you’ll go up against aggro decks who have 0-2 targets for this, and against snow decks who will have like 7+. I think that really means you have to start it in your sideboard, since it will be so bad against a big part of the metagame.
Draugr Thought-Thief
AI Rating: 0.8Pro Rating: 1.5
If you’re going to be a 3-mana 3/2, you probably need to have something going on that makes those inefficient stats worth it -- and I don’t really see that here. You get some very minor card selection, and an effect that might help you put something in your graveyard. Or, alternatively, something that lets you control your opponent’s next draw a little bit, but neither of those things is that great. It is kind of equivalent to Scry 1, but in most ways, it isn’t as good as Scry 1. You will certainly play this sometimes, but you’ll also cut it a fair bit.
Frost Augur
AI Rating: 2.1Pro Rating: 1.0 // 3.5
Drawing more cards than your opponent is a good way to win in Limited, and this little one drop can definitely enable that. You do need to have a decent chunk of Snow permanents to make it do its thing consistently, but I think 5-7 is probably enough that you run this -- even drawing once with it is great. It will certainly be possible in this set to end up with 10+ snow cards though, and when you do, that’s when you’ll be in business. It is pretty bad in a deck without that critical mass though, so keep that in mind.
Frostpeak Yeti
AI Rating: 0.8Pro Rating: 1.5
So, this is a Hill Giant that can become unblockable if you have some Snow mana. That certainly isn’t a good card, but if you are in a controlling Snow deck and you need a win condition well...you probably hope this isn’t it, but it can do the job if you need it to.
Frostpyre Arcanist
AI Rating: 2.3Pro Rating: 1.0 // 3.5
This type of design always interests me -- and by “this type” I mean cards that pay you off for having multiple copies of some card in your deck. The Giant deck -- which is UR -- is a spells deck, so this fits in very nicely -- it costing 4 won’t be that far-fetched, and a ⅖ isn’t too shabby for that kind of mana. You probably need at least two sets of duplicate spells, and ideally, cheap ones, so that is more likely when you play this that one of them is in your graveyard. If you can get this to draw a card for you even like half the time, you’re going to be pretty happy with this card. But yeah, if you don’t have any duplicates, it is probably best to steer clear.
Giant's Amulet
AI Rating: 3.4Pro Rating: 3.0
This is something of a split card. You can play it early as just the Equipment, like if you desperately need to give Hexproof to something -- but most of the time you’ll want to wait until later, when it amounts to being a 5-mana ⅘ with Hexproof about half the time, and then it leaves Equipment behind. That said, this creature doesn’t come with evasion at all, and the actual Equipment boost is a little underwhelming.
Glimpse the Cosmos
AI Rating: 3.5Pro Rating: 3.5
So, if you have 0 Giants in your deck, this is a Sorcery speed Anticipate, which is the kind of card that makes the cut when you are low on playables. But, this has some very real upside. Casting this from your graveyard if you’re in Blue really won’t be that hard, and that means you pay three mana to see six cards and draw two, which is awesome. If you have even a single Giant in your deck, this is worth running. You don’t even have to wait for things to line up really perfectly to use it -- if you just have U left over after you cast a Giant, you can do this. Obviously, the more Giants the better, but this has a reasonable floor and is very easy to make work, and the card selection and advantage it grants you is great.
Graven Lore
AI Rating: 4.1Pro Rating: 3.5
5 mana to draw three at instant speed is already a playable card. . Sure, it doens’t impact the board in a big way, but because its an instant you can find a time to cast it that doesn’t feel super clunky. You don’t usually want too many cards like Graven Lore, just because you can only spend so much mana without affecting the board, but this is still really good, and grants the kind of card advantage and selection that can be instrumental in winning games. If you can manage to Scry 5 with this, it will be absolutely silly -- but that probably won’t happen a ton. However, I would think Scry 1-3 with it is pretty likely, and that still makes for a pretty nice card.
Icebind Pillar
AI Rating: 4Pro Rating: 3.5
This type of card is always quite strong in Limited -- it often amounts to a removal spell that is flexible enough to allow you to switch which creature you use it on, and you can also choose whether to use it defensively or aggressively. And, even though it costs Snow mana, it only asks for one, so it isn’t super crazy. That said, the times where you play this and don’t have snow mana, it will be super abysmal, and that will happen – but not too often. This can really turn a game around for you, which is great!
Icebreaker Kraken
AI Rating: 3.5Pro Rating: 1.0
It is pretty rough that this Kraken only cares about Snow LANDS for reducing its mana cost – snow permanents would be nice, only checking for snow lands means this will be very hard to make work in Limited, even if you draft like 7+ Snow lands, that doesn’t mean you’ll get all 7+, and he will still likely cost 8 or 9 mana, which is still going to be too slow in far too many games. Don’t get me wrong, his eTB ability is pretty good – but I feel like, as hard as it is to cast this guy, he should at least lock down lands too or something! Or maybe tap all their artifacts and creatures in addition. It will just be super hard to cast this, and its ability while good, will be kind of underwhelming a little too often. Oh, and the “return this kraken to your hand” part of it is just silly, because it is pretty darn likely you’ll never be casting it again if you do that, since you’ll very likely need to get those snow lands back in play to cast it, and that will take several turns which you probably don’t have in the late game.
Inga Rune-Eyes
AI Rating: 3.2Pro Rating: 3.0
So, I was pretty much sold on this card after the ETB ability. A 4-mana 3/3 that Scries 3 is very nice. Never underestimate how good scrying is, especially higher scry values like 3 -- that is going to have a very real impact on how good your next few draws are, and that can often determine a game. She then has an ability that will be a little bit harder to make work -- if you jump through some hoops though, her drawing you three cards is pretty much insane, and if you can pull it off, it will be hard for your opponent to win. But, temper your expectations, pulling that off will be difficult. The most likely outcome is that she has an impact on how your opponent attacks and blocks, since they will be trying to avoid letting you draw those cards, but that is definitely not a bad thing.
Karfell Harbinger
AI Rating: 0.9Pro Rating: 1.5
So, we see two mana 1/3s who can tap for spells relatively often, and this is a more flexible version of those, since it can also use it to foretell a card. It won’t always make a difference, but it will often enough that you’ll probably play the first copy of this in decks that are interested in spells and/or foretell, which will be lots of Blue decks.
Littjara Kinseekers
AI Rating: 1.8Pro Rating: 1.5
A 4-mana 2/4 isn’t very good. But, if you can trigger its ETB ability, you’re going to be pretty happy -- as a 4-mana ⅗ that scries one is a pretty good deal. Now, because it has Changeling, you will just need two other creatures with matching creature types to trigger it, and while that isn’t always going to be what your board looks like, I imagine that in the late game it won’t be that hard to trigger. The ideal thing to do would be to curve out with creatures with the same types, but that won’t always be doable. Still, this being a reasonable 4-mana 2/4 changeling in the early game, and a much more impressive card in the later part of the game makes me think this is a pretty solid common for Blue.
Mists of Littjara
AI Rating: 0.8Pro Rating: 1.5
This type of Blue removal spell is always pretty alright. The fact you can’t use it to keep a creature from still being a good blocker can be annoying sometimes, but the fact it can also shut down vehicles and has Flash do make up for that a little bit. The Flash side of it will sometimes allow you to double block and kill something, while keeping both of your creatures, and when you can make this trade 1-for-1 it is going to feel good. That won’t be the regular occurrence, I don’t think – but it will happen often enough that you’ll play this if you need removal.
Mistwalker
AI Rating: 3Pro Rating: 3.5
This card will overperform for you. 3-mana 1/4s are usually already playable, but the Changeling status and the ability to pump power makes it so that Mistwalker can do a whole lot of stuff for a three drop. It counts for your Giant payoffs, blocks effectively, and can even attack pretty hard.
Mystic Reflection
AI Rating: 2.8Pro Rating: 1.0
I don’t think I like this a whole lot, mostly just because it is straight up card disadvantage. You give up a card to simply upgrade another one, and that is often not a good strategy in Limited -- attrition is often the way you win. And sure, making some dinky two drop into a copy of your bomb is great, but it just won’t line up that way often enough. They designed a lot of situational cards like this in this set and gave them Foretell, which does make them better -- after all, you only need U available ot mak a creature you cast become a copy of another creature -- and, you can even do it with your opponent’s creatures, which is worthwhile. Now, I don’t think this is quite unplayable, I just think a lot of people will see this and get best case scenario tunnel vision, and that’s just not how this will pan out.
Orvar, the All-Form
AI Rating: 4.6Pro Rating: 2.0
So, a 4-mana 3/3 with every creature type -- if we stop there, is probably an almost playable card, and this has a bunch more text! Unfortunately though, most of that text will be hard to make matter in Limited. You will need to be running combat tricks or fight spells to take full advantage of this -- and this does take away some of the major risk of combat tricks, since it will make copies of whatever you target -- but Blue is not exactly a color renowned for its combat tricks. Obviously you won’t be mono-blue, and you can pick them up elsewhere, I’m just saying it won’t be the easiest thing to make happen. The discard clause will almost never happen. I think overall this Mythic is a bit of a bummer to open for Limited, since I think it falls short of being something you want to take even remotely early.
Pilfering Hawk
AI Rating: 1.4Pro Rating: 2.0
This is a snow creature that can loot for a single snow mana, and that seems pretty alright to me! Looting is always a solid effect in Limited, as it lets you drastically improve your card quality over the course of the game. On top of that, It is evasive, which means it can chip in some damage early, and it of course will be well-positioned in any deck that cares about Snow. I think this is a solid card.
Ravenform
AI Rating: 1.2Pro Rating: 2.0
Cards that remove a creature but then give your opponent a token tend to be really unimpressive in Limited. The efficiency is nice, and it can deal with artifacts AND creatures, but don’t underestimate the downside of giving them a 1/1 flyer. That makes it so you aren’t exactly getting a straight up 1-for-1 with the card, and aggressive decks will be especially annoyed that their removal spell still leaves a blocker around. I’m not saying this card is bad. It isn’t. It is cheap and can deal with lots of things. It also comes with Foretell upside which is nice, but this isn’t close to being premium removal.
Reflections of Littjara
AI Rating: 3.7Pro Rating: 1.0 // 3.0
This format mostly doesn’t seem tribal enough to make this really work well. Making token copies of all your creatures of a chosen type is great. That said, unlike some tribal payoff things in this set, Reflections of Littjara is something you probably only play when you really get there on a creature type -- I’m talking 10+ cards. This is because it has a pretty significant downside, which is the fact that the turn you play it -- it doesn’t do anything. That means you really have to be able to untap and utilize it immediately, and if you can’t, you might be dead.
Run Ashore
AI Rating: 1Pro Rating: 1.5
Blue often gets an expensive spell that lets you bounce a couple of things, and it is always a decent card, and I think that’s what we’re looking at here. One nice thing here is that one of the permanents will go back to the top of an opponent’s library, which means that you are actually trading one-for-one with Run Ashore, instead of just getting some tempo. Speaking of tempo, you can often find situations where paying 6 mana results in bouncing more than 6 mana worth of stuff for your opponent, and that’s nice too. You can, of course, also use it on your own stuff if you can get benefits out of it, and that sometimes is the case. This can really help a Blue deck stabilize, or potentially end the game. Take note also that it is an instant -- lots of previous similar cards have been sorceries -- and that does open up the chance for some more significant blowouts. That said, it is super expensive and fairly situational, and not really something you can ever afford to play more than one of.
Rune of Flight
AI Rating: 2.6Pro Rating: 3.0
The Runes are all nice, and I think this one may be the best of the bunch. The cycle overcomes the downside of Auras by having cantrips attached to the effect, so getting 2-for-1’d is much less likely. We’ve seen two mana Auras that grant flying and cantrip in other sets, and they have been at around a C – and this is strictly better than that. For one thing, it can also go on Equipment, which will sometimes be the right thing to do, since being able to move Flying around is a big deal. For another thing, in a really dire situation, you can actually attach this to a land to draw the card – like if you’re stuck on two mana and in trouble. Like I said, I think this is the best Rune of the cycle – Flying is just so much better than the other key words.
Saw It Coming
AI Rating: 2.5Pro Rating: 2.5
This is the kind of card with Foretell that will undoubtedly have people saying “You’ve activated my trap card!” Because it is an instant, you can cast it directly from exile, and being able to do it for only two mana is pretty nice. Sure, your overall investment will have been 4 mana, which isn’t the best in terms of efficiency, but leaving up two mana for this is going to be far easier than leaving up 3. If you know me, I’m not usually a lover of counter magic in Limited, since you have to use it during a very specific window for it to actually do something, but I think this ends up being efficient enough in the end that it will be a counterspell you want to run a lot, especially in Foretell decks. It still has all the downsides counterspells have, but by decreasing the amount you pay to cast it from Foretell, that downside is drastically reduced.
Strategic Planning
AI Rating: 0.4Pro Rating: 1.0
For two mana you get some card selection and some help loading your graveyard. These type of spells that just let you go 1-for-1 are always easy to cut, as their effects are so minimal. They aren’t bad, but you’d probably rather have a two-drop creature most of the time.
Undersea Invader
AI Rating: 0.5Pro Rating: 1.0
One of the great things about flash is being able to ambush block, and you won't be doing that here because it enters tapped. It might be a giant, but it is mostly just an inefficient creature. If it wasn't a Giant you probably wouldn't play it all.
Blood on the Snow
AI Rating: 4.6Pro Rating: 4.5
If you have some snow mana around when you cast this, it is going to feel great! Even without snow mana, this is a board sweeper -- which is a pretty irreplaceable effect. Sure, some decks might not love to run it if they are the beat down, but having a card in your deck that just completely reshapes the board is worthwhile everywhere. There aren’t very many cards that can change a game so drastically. Now, one of the downsides of board sweepers -- especially a 6 mana one -- is that your opponent likely gets to add to the board first. But the Snow upside here helps make that less of an issue, since you get to reanimate something. Even with just two snow mana here, you’re going to be in good shape, and that isn’t a crazy thing to have by the time you have 6 mana. I think that makes this a bomb.
Bloodsky Berserker
AI Rating: 3.5Pro Rating: 3.5
Just triggering the ability once will be enough to feel like your investment was worth it, and if you do it more than that, this Berserker will get silly in a hurry. You won’t always be able to double spell, but you’ll be able to often enough that this is a very real threat, despite only being a two drop. I mean, if on turn four you play this and another two drop, that’s a pretty darn good turn four, even if you won’t get to take advantage of the menace side of things. This card, like a lot of BW cards in this set, incentivizes having a low curve and/or a lot of Foretell. Now, he does start out very vulnerable, and there will be times where you can’t get him going, or he dies to a one-mana removal spell -- but that’s fine.
Burning-Rune Demon
AI Rating: 4.9Pro Rating: 4.5
A 6-mana 6/6 flyer is pretty scare, and Burning-Rune Demon will also draw you a card – and it is generally going to be a pretty good one. Sure, your opponent will make put the best one in the graveyard, but getting a huge evasive creature and what is probably the second best card left in your deck is a very good deal, and means this Demon is a 2-for-1, in addition to the fact that, if they don’t kill it, he represents a very quick threat. The fact he does something even if he dies right away is really nice
Crippling Fear
AI Rating: 4.6Pro Rating: 4.0
This can often be a one-sided board wipe, especially against aggressive decks. Since you choose the creature type, you can choose whatever hurts you the least and hurts your opponent the most. Sometimes your opponent will have Changelings, and that can be annoying, but this is still very strong.
Deathknell Berserker
AI Rating: 2Pro Rating: 2.0
There are a decent number of ways in this format to get the Berserker to 3 power, so he makes that 2/2 Zombie way more often than you might think! And when he does that, he feels quite good. That’s nice upside to have on an already okay creature stats-wise.
Demonic Gifts
AI Rating: 1Pro Rating: 1.5
This type of trick is usually alright. The stats boost is enough to make your creature take down larger creatures in combat, and it doesn’t really have to “win” the combat, since the Gifts will bring your creature right back if it dies. This can get especially nasty if your creature has an ETB ability. It also doesn’t hurt that it does something against most removal too. It is still a trick, and the situational nature of them keeps most of them from ever being especially good.
Dogged Pursuit
AI Rating: 0.6Pro Rating: 1.0
Draining one life gives you inevitability, and because it is also gaining you life, it helps you to survive longer -- which in turn helps you drain more life. If you are a control deck, this seems like a decent win condition to me. Now, tapping out to play this on turn four will not always be smart, because you need to be building your board in the early game to not die, and that is a pretty significant downside. You’ll be cutting this a lot, it really takes the right deck for it to be worth it.
Draugr Necromancer
AI Rating: 4.8Pro Rating: 4.0
A vanilla 4-mana 4/4 is already playable, and this is far from vanilla! Just making your opponent’s creatures that die go to exile is a somewhat relevant ability. Most decks have at least 1-2 cards that care about the graveyard, so hey, that’s upside. But where you really get the value is out of the ability to cast the creatures that are exiled by the Necromancer. Now, you do have to have snow mana to cast creatures that aren’t in a color that lands you control could produce, but that isn’t a huge ask -- you generally will just need one snow land to make that work in most cases, and then of course there’s the fact that a decent chunk of opponents will have creatures you can cast with your mana anyway! Now, the snow limitation is definitely relevant, and there will be times where this guy is just too slow to help you out, but he’s still pretty great.
Draugr Recruiter
AI Rating: 1.1Pro Rating: 1.5
So, this is definitely a Boast ability that is all about the late game. The boast is expensive, and also asks for cards in the graveyard, but if you do get to use this late, and attack with this Recruiter in a situation where the best your opponent can do is trade with it or chump block it, it is going to be pretty nice. That said, by the late game, a 4-mana 3/3 won’t always be capable of making that situation happen. Sometimes, if you have something good enough in your graveyard, it will be worth the bad attack, but it is still kind of a rough deal. I think I will probably cut this a little more than I play it.
Draugr's Helm
AI Rating: 3.6Pro Rating: 3.0
Two to play and four to equip for +2/+2 and Menace is just too much mana -- especially the Equip part. The good news, though, is that this normally won’t just be the equipment. If you pay 5 for it, you get a 2/2 zombie token that is equipped with it -- which means 5 for a 4/4 with Menace. That’s a decent rate, especially because if the token does die, you still have the Equipment. And, yeah, that Equip cost is pretty steep, but it also makes most creature into a threat. And, it is really just upside on a 5-mana 4/4 with Menace, and that’s not too shabby.
Dread Rider
AI Rating: 0.5Pro Rating: 1.0
This has some nice defensive stats and an activated ability that can close out games, but it tends to be too expensive and not powerful enough for even control decks to be interested in it.
Dream Devourer
AI Rating: 3.8Pro Rating: 3.0
Obviously a two-mana 0/3 isn’t so good, but making it so you can foretell all your cards is nice especially since it basically guarantees you’ll never pay more than its mana cost to foretell it, so you just get the upside of being able to pay for things in installments. Attacking with this when you have a bunch of face down foretell card is going to be pretty hilarious, and kind of a nightmare for opponents -- and, getting all those face down card isn’t an impossibility, since the Devourer lets you do it with all of your nonland cards! I think most of the time if you play it early, this will cause serious problems for opponents, in addition to helping make it easier for you to cast cards, and that’s a lot of nice stuff to have on a two-drop. The real question is, how good of a job can you really do pumping its power? I sort of think that it will be challenging to keep it really scary forever, because eventually you’ll run out of cards -- but still, I think the upside here is pretty nice.
Duskwielder
AI Rating: 0.7Pro Rating: 1.0
You’ll play this in really aggressive Black decks, but even then you’re kind of hoping you’ll get a better one drop than this! Overall, this is quickly outclassed on the board, and the Boast effect doesn’t do enough to help that.
Egon, God of Death
AI Rating: 4.5Pro Rating: 2.5
So, both sides of this card really want you to have cards in your graveyard. On the Egon side, you need to have two cards for him to exile, or he sacrifices himself and draws you a card. The nice thing about that is, even if you can’t quite keep him in play, he will be on the board for a whole turn, and a 6/6 deathtouch is going to be enough to keep your opponent from attacking pretty often. Then, when your turn comes, he replaces himself. So the fail case here if you can’t quite keep him in play is not that miserable, though not great either. The other side of the card, Throne of Death, is a pretty sweet little graveyard engine. It mills a card every turn, and presumably you’ll get creatures in your graveyard from that effect, and then in the later part of the game it can cash in creatures in the graveyard for cards. There is a decent amount of graveyard synergy in this set, and that will make both sides of this card pretty happy. Both require some building around and the right situation in your graveyard though, and that definitely holds them back.
Elderfang Disciple
AI Rating: 2.3Pro Rating: 1.5
A two mana 1/1 that makes an opponent discard a card is nice, and because it does that, you’re at least starting out with a 1-for-1 in most cases. Then, if it can trade for an X/1, you’re getting some serious 2-for-1 value out of this card. Now, it won’t always line up that way, and in the late game the discard thing might not matter too much, and those are serious limitations, but this seems decent enough.
Eradicator Valkyrie
AI Rating: 4.9Pro Rating: 4.5
A 4-mana 4/3 with lifelink and flying is a great card. Evasiveness + Lifelink is a great way to win a race, and that’s often what you’re trying to do in Limited. The lifepoint gap between players created by this creature every time it hits an opponent is eight, and that’s no joke. Then, you throw in the Boast ability, which allows you to give up a creature to make your opponent sacrifice a creature, and you suddenly have a 4-mana 4/3 with lifelink and flying that also works as removal. And sure, sometimes that effect won’t matter, but it will do something more often than it won’t, and it is stapled to a highly efficient creature anyway. Oh, it also has hexproof from planeswalkers, which might come up on super rare occasions, so that doesn’t hurt either. But yeah, this is definitely a bomb.
Feed the Serpent
AI Rating: 3.8Pro Rating: 3.5
This has been surprisingly disappointing in this set. Black is a weak color overall and it isn’t easy to splash, and it is too slow to combat aggro decks. That doesn’t mean it isn’t still quite good, mind you, just that it would normally be even better. It is still easily Black’s best commons and can deal with a whole lot of stuff!
Grim Draugr
AI Rating: 1.4Pro Rating: 2.0
This is fine. It has alright stats and it can gain some evasion in the later part of the game, giving it continued relevance.
Hailstorm Valkyrie
AI Rating: 2.1Pro Rating: 2.0
A 4-mana 2/2 with flying and trample is not good. By adding the ability to pump snow mana into this, you get something that is certainly better. Oftentimes your opponent will just have to take a hit from this because of the threat of activation of that ability. That said, being able to do it more than once in this format is far from a forgone conclusion, and because it has such a bad baseline, the upside doesn’t do enough to make it a whole lot better.
Haunting Voyage
AI Rating: 4.4Pro Rating: 3.0
If the game goes long and you’re in a tribal deck, this will basically end the game on the spot when you Foretell it. Additionally, even if you don’t Foretell it, in the late game it will still be a pretty strong play that gets you back two creatures. It does ask for some set up, but tribal is pretty strong in this set, so I have a hard time imagining you won’t be able to get two things more often than not when you just cast this normally. It is worth noting that it is one of the few cards in the set that has a higher Foretell cost -- you end up paying a total of NINE mana to reanimate all your creatures with the same type, and that’s not exactly a great deal. It requires the game to be pretty late to get going, and a little bit of building around, and that definitely holds it back some.
Infernal Pet
AI Rating: 1.6Pro Rating: 2.0
You probably need to trigger this at least once to make it worth it, and since it starts out as an inefficient 3-mana 2/2, you may even want to trigger it twice before you feel okay about stuff. While that is certainly doable, I don’t really think this is going to be one of the key double spell payoffs that you need for the deck.
Jarl of the Forsaken
AI Rating: 2.1Pro Rating: 2.0
This type of removal effect is often underwhelming. Sure, when you do manage to trigger the effect it feels pretty good, but most of the time you had to give up a card to make that effect work in the first place, so it isn’t quite as good of a deal as it might seem at first. Now, adding Foretell here does matter -- because it means it will be easier to find a window where you can actually cast and use this, as spending 2 mana on the turn you actually cast the card is significantly better.
Karfell Kennel-Master
AI Rating: 1.7Pro Rating: 2.5
This has been solid top-curve in Black decks. It often comes down and enables 1-2 attacks that you just couldn’t have done before, and a 4/4 body is pretty good in this format.
Koma's Faithful
AI Rating: 1.6Pro Rating: 2.0
This seems solid. A 3-mana 3/1 with lifelink isn’t a terrible rate -- trading for an X/3 and gaining 3 life in the process isn’t bad, and it comes with some additional upside. Now, the graveyard isn’t a huge theme in this set, but there is some synergy to be had there.
Poison the Cup
AI Rating: 4.4Pro Rating: 4.0
This is an excellent removal spell. I mean, it is strictly better Murder, and Murder is already a premium removal spell. Three to kill anything at instant speed is just an amazing deal, especially at Instant speed. The Foretell upside here is important too. You do end up paying one more mana for it if you go that route, but it also lets you pay it installments and you only have to pay one Black mana, which is sometimes worth while, AND of course, it also adds Scry 2 to the mix, which is probably worth that additional mana anyway. This is one of the best uncommons in the entire set.
Priest of the Haunted Edge
AI Rating: 1.7Pro Rating: 1.0 // 3.0
This is a snow payoff that DEMANDS you have a bunch of snow lands, and you won’t always have enough to make the Priest work. You probably need 7+ snow lands to do it. However, once you do, this becomes a reasonable early blocker than is a removal spell later on, and it is something you can get back from your graveyard fairly easily. It is not very good in other decks in the format, though.
Raise the Draugr
AI Rating: 1.8Pro Rating: 2.0
Black always seems to get a common spell that lets you return creatures from your graveyard to your hand, and here is the Kaldheim version of that! Cards in the past with similar effects are basically always something you want to run a single copy of, because they give your deck some late game punch, and allow you to get extra uses out of the best creatures in your deck, which is pretty awesome. You don’t usually want more of this type of card because they are so useless early, but that first copy is something I always want. I think this one is particularly nice, because it is an instant -- we normally see this effect at Sorcery speed. And sure, it asks for a little bit of help to get going -- you really only want to play this if you are consistently getting the two creatures back, just getting one is not a great deal. But, with that in mind, I think your typical black deck in the format will have enough creatures that share creature types that this will get two things back by the mid to late game most of the time.
Return Upon the Tide
AI Rating: 2Pro Rating: 1.5
So, most of the time, if you’re reanimating an Elf with this, you’re probably not getting the largest creature -- probably a 3/3 at the most, so it is nice that if you do go for an Elf you get those tokens, which will make the 5-mana investment a little bit less of a burden. Then, if you reanimate something big, you won’t get the tokens, but you’re probably still getting your 5 mana’s worth. So, basically, if you’re in an elf deck at least, Return Upon the Tide helps you get around the downside of 5-mana reanimation spells, by giving you a wider variety of options that will feel like you are doing an okay job with the card. It also has Foretell, which means that you can pay for it in installments, though with this one you end up paying one additional total mana if you go that route -- but that will sometimes be worth doing.
Rise of the Dread Marn
AI Rating: 4Pro Rating: 2.5
This kind of card is often very awkward -- it is just hard to manufacture the necessary turn for this to do a whole bunch. You can use it pretty reasonably if you can get two zombies out of it, but you’d be surprised how often combat doesn’t exactly go the way you want it to to make that happen, especially because you have to have three mana lying around to do it. That said, this is more efficient than most versions of this we’ve seen, even if you just cast it normally, so it is a reasonable card even without Foretell. However, adding Foretell here is a big deal, because it will allow you to find that window a little more easily. Only having to pay one Black for it means it will be easier to use it in an advantageous situation. I think it is likely going to most effective when you’re the one blocking, since you have far more control over how combat goes as the blocker. And yeah, sometimes there will be board states where this gives you like 10 zombies, and those will be amazing, but I think you have to imagine that getting 2-3 is the norm – while also accepting sometimes it will just be a dead card.
Rune of Mortality
AI Rating: 3.1Pro Rating: 2.5
“draw a card” to an Aura goes a long way towards making an Aura better, since it takes away a 2-for-1. The fact that these can go on any permanent means that sometimes you can effectively cycle them too, by putting them on a land if you’re manascrewed. Deathtouch is a nice keyword ability to grant, too, because it can make any creature capable of trading with any other creature, and since you drew a card off of this, a trade will feel fine.
Skemfar Avenger
AI Rating: 4.4Pro Rating: 3.5
This seems quite good to me. A two mana 3/1 is usually borderline playable, and the Avenger brings a very powerful ability along for the ride. Sure, you need Elves and Berserkers to get it going, but that’s not going to be too hard in Black. This trading 1-for-1 is kind of your worst-case scenario, and that’s not too bad for a two-drop. If you just draw one card off of this, you’re going to be in business, and you’ll often be able to do more. Making opponents decide whether it is worth attacking you or blocking your creatures when you have this in play is a good thing.
Skemfar Shadowsage
AI Rating: 3Pro Rating: 2.5
This set is a lot less tribal than it looks, and the Elf deck isn’t particularly good, so the Shadowsage has really underperformed. Afterall, you do have to have at least two creatures in play that share a type for this to do anything . It doesn’t have the worst stats for 4 mana, as a ⅖ is a decentish defensive body. The set up here is just harder than one might think. I’m not saying it is bad exactly, just not as good as it would be in a super tribal set.
Skull Raid
AI Rating: 1.4Pro Rating: 2.0
Mind Rot effects are often not great in Limited. In the early game, you can get a 2-for-1 with them -- but it comes at the great sacrifice of not adding to the board at all on turn 3. Then, in the late game, it tends to get worse as the game goes on, and will be a terrible draw way too often. This card gets around those problems by becoming a draw spell if your opponent odeon’t have two cards to discard, so that means that this Mind Rot has all the upside of most of them -- it can get you a 2-for-1 -- but it can still do it if your opponent has one or no cards in the hand. Now, it isn’t exactly an efficient draw spell, but that’s ok with me overall. Foretell, of course, also makes it easier to cast because you get to pay in installments.
Tergrid, God of Fright
AI Rating: 4.9Pro Rating: 4.0
So, both sides of this seem like they have their place. The god side really needs your deck to have the right composition to really take advantage. Not all Black decks will have enough sacrifice or discard effects to actually utilize that part of her text, but she is a 5-mana ⅘ with Menace at worst, so she has a very reasonable floor. Even if you just have like two ways to take advantage of that text, she would be pretty nice. Worth noting, too, that because Sagas technically “sacrifice” after their last Chapter, she can steal those for you. The Lantern side, on the other hand, needs a little bit less effort to be built around, but it is more situational. Basically, it just pressures your opponent by making them give up a permanent or life, and that type of effect can sometimes be really bad -- like if your opponent is significantly ahead of you. If you’re well ahead of your opponent, the Lantern side will likely be better at helping you finish off your opponent, especially because, if you have enough mana lying around, you can use the ability more than once a turn! Basically, Tergrid is better in the early going most of the time, and the Lantern is better late – and having the flexibility of a card that is good at both of those times is pretty nice.
Tergrid's Shadow
AI Rating: 2.8Pro Rating: 1.5
I tend not to be a huge fan of symmetrical edict effects in Limited. They have some really wide variance in terms of what they can do. There will certainly be board states where it devastates your opponent and doesn’t hurt you as much -- and those will be situations where you cast it. But there will also be times where it hurts you more than your opponent, and you just won’t be able to cast this card. It does have Foretell, which means that maybe if the board isn’t ideal, but you have the mana around, you can Foretell it to pay less mana for it on a single turn further down the road. And yeah, there will be times where you just foretell this on turn two, let your opponent play two creatures, and then cast the Shadow on turn four, which will be pretty nice, but you can’t count on that panning out regularly.
Valki, God of Lies
AI Rating: 4.9Pro Rating: 5.0
On the creature side here, you have a very good creature -- one that makes your opponent exile a creature card of your choice from their hand would already be pretty good as far as disruption goes, especially since Valki has decent stats! But it doesn’t stop there, oh no -- Valki can also become a copy of the creatures he exiles, which is neat. Sure, they get their card back if they ever kill Valki, but I’ve played with enough disruptive creatures like this over the years to know that even if they get their card back, you will have disrupted them enough for it to be well worth it. If this was JUST the Valki side, it would be pretty good. Then, you add the Tibalt side to the mix and things get really crazy! You get a planeswalker who can exile artifacts, creatures, and cards from the top of your opponent’s library, and you can steal all that stuff you exile too! He does start with kind of low loyalty for the cost, and he isn’t able to protect himself with tokens or whatever, but his abilities will snowball, and you’ll start casting creatures from exile with him that will protect him int he long run.
Varragoth, Bloodsky Sire
AI Rating: 4.7Pro Rating: 3.5
This starts with some very playable stats, and adds a pretty nice Boast effect -- he lets you tutor up a card and put it on top of your library. Combining Boast with Deathtouch is nice, because a death touch creature is much more likely to survive their attack than most other 2/3s, so getting to Boast more than once is a real possibility. Even if they do decide to block it, it is very likely their creature is also going to die, while you also get to improve your card quality. So, with Boast on board, this is basically a 5-mana ⅔ with death touch that puts your best or most needed card on top of your library, and that’s pretty nice. Keep in mind, putting a card on top is significantly worse than putting it in your hand -- if it went to your hand he would obviously be insane, but still, on top of your library is pretty nice.
Vengeful Reaper
AI Rating: 4.1Pro Rating: 3.5
This seems quite good to me. It can represent a real threat as an attacker thanks to haste and Flying, and once it can no longer attack effectively, deathtouch means it can still trade with anything. The Foretell here is nice too, as paying for it in payments will make it easier for you to double spell for the cards that care about that.
Village Rites
AI Rating: 1.1Pro Rating: 1.0
This is a reprint, and not one that I thought was particularly good in Limited. For this type of card to really be something special, you need for there to be a significant sacrifice or token sub-theme, and neither seems to be an overwhelming focus of this set, though the Elf deck might do the best of taking advantage of this. It is nice that it is an instant, so you can sacrifice something after you declare a block, or in response to an opponent’s removal, but you’re basically still just doing the same sort of thing that Tormenting Voice does. Giving up two cards to get two back. And that’s not bad it just isn’t the kind of thing you will always have roomf or in your deck. Mostly, I think you’ll only play this if you’re short on playables.
Weigh Down
AI Rating: 2.2Pro Rating: 3.0
-3/-3 for one Black mana is super efficient. Having to have a creature in the graveyard does mean this will often be dead in the early game, and sometimes even later than that -- but, all you have to do to make it work is trade with something, and if you’re doing that and getting the additional value out of that creature by exiling it to pay for this, it will feel pretty good. I think the first copy of this tends to really feel like premium removal, but you generally don’t want to run too many of them, as there is only so much fuel in your graveyard.
Withercrown
AI Rating: 1.7Pro Rating: 1.0
So, I have a hard time ever calling removal “premium” if it still allows whatever you put it on to block, and this does have that problem. This is also weakened by the presence of Good Auras, +1/+1 Counters, and Equipment, since those all mean that the creature still won’t have 0 power. It doesn’t hurt that this makes your opponent lose life every turn or sacrifice the creature, at which point, you do actually get the blocker out of the way. That said, most of the time, you’ll probably play this and your opponent will just use the creature to block and die, as it allows them to get something out of the weakened creature. You generally only play this if you didn’t get better removal spells.
Arni Brokenbrow
AI Rating: 4.3Pro Rating: 3.5
A 3-mana 3/3 with Haste is already pretty nice, and the Boast here is pretty nice. It is one of the cheaper ones in the set, so you don’t have to go out of your way to activate it, and because it has Haste, you will sometimes be able to play it and smash your opponent right away with an enlarged Arni. Now, if Arni is your biggest creature, the Boast ability does absolutely nothing, but that’s the fail case on what is already a pretty efficient card.
Axgard Cavalry
AI Rating: 2.1Pro Rating: 2.5
This is a nice two drop. Having a bear that can give haste to stuff is really nice. If the board is such that it can’t attack itself, there’s a good chance you can play a creature that has a nice attack on the board if you can make it attack right away, and that’s what the Cavalry does. These creatures who can give haste to other creatures always seem to overperform, and I think this looks like a nice Common for Red.
Basalt Ravager
AI Rating: 4.1Pro Rating: 4.0
This is a 4-mana 4/2 that does 1 to something when it comes into play, even if it is all alone, and doing two with this isn’t far-fetched at all. 3+ might not be that common, but it will happen too. It is great that it can also hit players, as that is not something we always see on these red creatures with an ETB ability that damages something. I also love that it has high power, which means it can block and kill a whole lot of things, getting you that muc-needed 2-for-1. Typically, this will come down and add to your board while subtracting something from your opponents, and that type of creature is very good.
Birgi, God of Storytelling
AI Rating: 4.8Pro Rating: 4.0
Like most of these gods, I like both sides here. On one side you get an efficient creature that will pay you back some mana that is also a pretty nice Boast payoff -- taking away the “once a turn” part of Boasting is pretty nice. I imagine you’ll often play that side if it is earlier in the game, and you’re trying to kill your opponent quickly. The extra mana might help you double spell and things like that -- but it does get weaker as the game goes on, and you just don’t have the extra cards to play to make that mana matter. Still, Birgi is obviously really good. You also have the Harnfel side, which is a bit expensive at 5 mana -- especially because it doesn’t do anything to the board state immediately -- but if a game goes long, it is going to get silly. Pitching lands and getting to play the two top cards of your library every turn will quickly get you to the point where you are overwhelming your opponent. That card advantage is no joke!
Breakneck Berserker
AI Rating: 1.9Pro Rating: 2.0
Three mana 3/2s with Haste are just fine in aggressive decks. It also has a couple of useful creature types, so that’s nice.
Calamity Bearer
AI Rating: 4.6Pro Rating: 3.5
So, on its own, Calamity bearer is effectively a 4-mana 6/4, since it doubles its own damage too. That means it hits pretty hard, and can trade for just about anything. Then, if you have even more giants, things will get really silly. Especially if you have a giant or giants in play when you play this -- because if you do, the board will immediately be impacted. It isn’t super impressive on its own, but the reasonable fail case does mean you can play it in any red deck, and it has some considerable upside if you end up in Giants.
Cinderheart Giant
AI Rating: 1.1Pro Rating: 1.5
So, this is a big ol’ giant with Trample, something that normally wouldn’t be so good -- but its death trigger is pretty interesting. It basically means it will kill something at random when it dies -- not much can stand up to 7 damage -- and that’s pretty nice. It is random unfortunately, so you may kill an Elf token instead of a real card, but by having a death trigger, it does help mitigate against some of the danger of running a 7-drop in your deck, because now if it gets removed, at least it will impact the board one way or another. Now, I still don’t really think you’ll play thi sin most decks, even Giant decks, but it seems like a reasonable top curve if you’re in need of that.
Craven Hulk
AI Rating: 2.2Pro Rating: 2.0
This coward may not be good at blocking, but a 4-mana 4/4 is a good enough deal in Limited that I’m okay with that. Its also a Giant, and that is probably the creature type that matters the most in this set, as it is the most tribal of the color pairs.
Crush the Weak
AI Rating: 2.7Pro Rating: 2.5
These types of cards always feel sort of awkward to me. That’s because you will far too frequently have a board state where it doesn’t help at all -- either because your opponents board is too big, or because your board is too small. It is nice that it adds some extra graveyard hate to the mix, and has Foretell, making paying for it a little more manageable. It fits really nicely into Giant decks, which are mostly larger creatures.
Demon Bolt
AI Rating: 4.3Pro Rating: 4.0
This is a very good common. So, even if you take Foretell out of the mix, we are talking about premium removal. 4-mana for 3 damage at instant speed always plays pretty well. It does enough damage that trading up with it is no problem. Adding Foretell to the mix is no joke either, as you can use it to really maximize the efficiency of your mana. Like, if you want to play a creature on a turn rather than play this, but you have two extra mana -- so you Foretell it, and only have to pay one Red for it the turn you cast it. So yeah, that upside is very real. This is Red’s best Common.
Doomskar Titan
AI Rating: 3.2Pro Rating: 3.5
He might cost 6 mana, but he’s going to add a whole lot of damage to the board often enough that he is well worth it! And, if you foretell him on an earlier turn where you have mana around to do it, he’ll come down a turn earlier! Now, the downside here, is that on his own, he can’t do a ton, but keep in mind, his ability affects him too -- he becomes a 5/4 with Haste, and that isn’t the worst fail case ever -- and how often will your board be empty anyway? He does need you to be really going at least somewhat wide to do his best work, but he will have an impact even if you just have a couple of creatures.
Dragonkin Berserker
AI Rating: 4.7Pro Rating: 4.5
This starts out with very nice stats -- a two mana 2/2 first strike can have relevance all game long, as the key word makes it kind of tricky to beat it in combat. That kind of card is often a c+ already. Then, this berserker brings a whole lot more to the table. While the “reduce cost of Boast” part of the card won’t be making a huge impact when he comes down, the fact that he can make a Dragon when he attacks is no joke, even at 5 mana for the effect. And, obviously, the more Dragons he makes, the cheaper it gets -- though if you can do this more than once, you probably just win the game anyway.
Dual Strike
AI Rating: 0.6Pro Rating: 0.5
Copying a cheap spell with this will be easier than it is with most Fork effects because of Foretell – you can set this aside in the early game and then wait for the opportune moment to copy a spell, and you only need one Red left over. Now, this won’t be giving you super insane value or anything, but copying something like a removal spell or card draw spell will be pretty nice. Still, you need things to line up right and this often ends up being a dead card, so I don’t think you normally want to play it.
Dwarven Hammer
AI Rating: 3.8Pro Rating: 3.5
So, if you cast this and pay for the Dwarf, you’re going to get a 5-mana 5/1 with Trample. That is...not the most exciting thing in the world. However, like with this whole cycle, if we look at these as effectively being creatures who leave inefficient Equipment behind, it looks much better. Once that Dwarf does die, the Hammer can make any creature you have into a threat, and that’s pretty awesome.
Dwarven Reinforcements
AI Rating: 1.9Pro Rating: 2.0
Normally when you pay 4 mana for a couple of tokens, you expect a couple of 2/2s -- and that isn’t what you get here. However, Foretell does mean you can pay for this in two separate installments, which does help overcome that downside.
Fearless Liberator
AI Rating: 3.5Pro Rating: 3.0
I like that this creature populates the board with its Boast ability. Now, it doesn’t do it efficiently, and frequently this 2/1 is going to die when it attacks, but having the option when it attacks to make a token is definitely not a bad thing. Also another great place to put equipment, +1/+1 counters, and Auras. If this attacks more than once, it will go a long way towards improving your chance of winning.
Fearless Pup
AI Rating: 1.4Pro Rating: 2.0
A one mana 1/1 with first strike is not that impressive, those are just stats that quickly become irrelevant, and in some games it will feel like you should have just played a four drop that is more impactful. Adding Boast to the mix obviously matters, though, and often just the threat of activation will mean that your opponent just takes hits from this thing. This is also another great creature to enhance with equipment, counters, and Auras.
Frenzied Raider
AI Rating: 3Pro Rating: 2.5
This is a nice Boast payoff, and will give you another bonus to get while you’re attacking that could further complicate combat. There is a lot of Boast in Red, so it isn’t too hard to make him work in most Red decks.
Frost Bite
AI Rating: 3.4Pro Rating: 3.5
So, at the base level, this is a shock that can’t hit players. 2 damage for one mana is pretty nice, as it is very likely to allow you to trade up, and because it is an instant, you can occasionally get some pretty amazing blowouts for a very low cost. Then, it is a Snow spell that is a Snow payoff, and if you have enough Snow going on and this does 3 damage, you’re really in business.
Goldspan Dragon
AI Rating: 4.9Pro Rating: 4.5
So, a 5-mana 4/4 with Flying and Haste is already a very high pick, and obviously this has way more going on! First, it makes you treasure, which are good for fixing of course, and second, it upgrades all of your treasure to add two mana, and that could come in handy. The fact it has Haste AND makes treasure when it is targeted also means that your investment will almost always net you at least some damage and treasure, even if the Dragon does die quickly. Now, there will be times in the late game where the treasure doesn’t really matter, and we do have to keep that in mind. I think between its aggressive stats and its ability to give you a bunch of extra mana, it is a bomb. This set will be able to benefit more than normal from a bunch of treasure that produce more mana as a result of both Boast and Foretell.
Hagi Mob
AI Rating: 1.3Pro Rating: 1.5
This seems alright. A 5-mana 5/4 isn’t great, but it isn’t abysmal either -- and its Boast ability is fine. Doing 1 damage to a creature is the ideal scenario, but if you can use it to make blocking harder for your opponent, or to ping your opponent because they are close to dead, that works too. It isn’t super efficient at any of the stuff it does, and it isn’t very exciting, but it seems like an alright top curve card for Red decks.
Immersturm Raider
AI Rating: 1.6Pro Rating: 1.5
We see this card a lot -- I mean, Fissure Wizard in Zendikar Rising is basically the same. It is a solid card, gives you some card selection -- which can even make it matter in the late game, and all of that makes it so that it can overcome the downside of its mediocre stats.
Magda, Brazen Outlaw
AI Rating: 4.5Pro Rating: 3.5
So, on her own, Magda is a 2-mana 2/1 that basically reads “When Magda is tapped, create a Treasure.” That would be a playable card in Limited already, as the fixing that provides is no joke, and it is kind of like she is giving back one of the mana you spend on her. But, also pumping Dwarf power, and creating treasures for every tapped Dwarf is a big deal. That’s a ton of mana -- or, you can hold on to it to use her Treasure activated ability, which lets you cheat a Dragon into play. Now, you’re probably not going to get there that often in Limited -- but it also won’t surprise me to see it happen, it just isn’t something that will occur with regularity.
Open the Omenpaths
AI Rating: 0Pro Rating: 0.0
This is a card a lot of people will play when they are desperate for fixing – but don’t do it. Ritual effects like this aren’t good in Limited, you two for one yourself for some fixing and a small mana boost, and that card disadvantage is likely to cause you to lose the game. The alternate mode this has doesn’t help make any more playable either.
Provoke the Trolls
AI Rating: 2.3Pro Rating: 2.5
4-mana to do 3 to anything is not an amazing deal, and it is definitely kept out of the “premium” tier of removal, but at least it can do it at instant speed. The additional upside here is that you can also use this as a combat trick, by targeting one of your own creatures to give it +5/+0. And, while that is certainly upside, it isn’t that much upside. First, you need the creature you target with it to survive, so that means it has at least 4 toughness. Second, if you’re using it to help you kill a blocking or attacking creature in combat, well -- you just 2-for-1’d yourself. Third, if you’re interested in using it to help you do lethal, it isn’t actually that much more damage than the card can do as a burn spell, since the 3 damage can just go after the opponent. So, yeah, on occasion you’ll use it for that stats boost -- but most of the time, this is just an okay removal spell.
Quakebringer
AI Rating: 4.8Pro Rating: 4.5
A 5-mana 5/4 that does two to your opponent during each of your upkeeps is a good card already. Then, you factor in the graveyard and foretell upside, and you have a considerably better card. This type of effect really puts pressure on your opponent, and the fact that killing the Quakebringer won’t necessarily put an end to his damaging them every turn is great. This is a card where, in an ideal world, you aren’t ever going to use the foretell side of things, because your total investment is 6-mana instead of 5, but, like all of these, if you have the extra mana lying around anyway, fortelling it isn’t a bad plan, since you will get it into play a turn earlier. This is a bomb.
Reckless Crew
AI Rating: 1.7Pro Rating: 1.0
This basically only going to be worthwhile in a deck that really got there on equipment and artifacts -- and especially Equipment, since you get some free equips when you play this. This set does have enough decks that play 3+ pieces of Equipment that this kind of works in those decks, but even there, you will sometimes find yourself in situations where this makes 0-1 tokens, and that’s not so good. Mostly, you probably shouldn’t play it.
Run Amok
AI Rating: 1.6Pro Rating: 2.5
This is a key card for aggro decks in this format. If you’re going hard in that direction, this becomes a pretty high pick. It often lets you run over an opposing creature and do opposing damage, and can result in lethal out of nowhere. It isn’t especially good in other decks, though.
Rune of Speed
AI Rating: 2.7Pro Rating: 2.5
The Runes are all nice because they come with a cantrip, taking away the biggest downside of Auras -- the possibility of getting blown out by a 2-for-1. This is cheap enough that putting it on a new creature that can take advantage of Haste is a real possibility, though sometimes you may have to settle for only getting an advantage out of the +1/+0 part. Like all runes, if you put it on equipment it can really shine.
Seize the Spoils
AI Rating: 0.8Pro Rating: 1.0
This is not an efficient way to dig deeper into your library, and while it also gives you a Treasure, you mostly should avoid playing this.
Shackles of Treachery
AI Rating: 0.6Pro Rating: 0.5
Even in the most aggressive of decks, this card tends to be too situational to be worthwhile, and there isn’t enough of a sacrifice theme in this set to really abuse it.
Smashing Success
AI Rating: 0.3Pro Rating: 0.0
Land destruction spells are almost never worth it in Limited. This is because it often has a negligible effect on the game -- if you get it late it basically does nothing, if you get it early it might do something, but even then there is about a 50% chance that your opponent still won’t be bothered by it. And yeah, this one is an instant, can hit artifacts, and makes a treasure when it destroys artifacts, but you still shouldn’t play it.
Squash
AI Rating: 3.3Pro Rating: 3.5
This is a very powerful removal spell if you’re in a Giant deck. 1R for 6 damage at instant speed is pretty incredibly efficient.. What’s nice is, 5 mana for 6 damage at instant speed isn’t completely horrendous either -- it isn’t great, mind you -- but it is the kind of removal that you’ll end up running one of a decent amount of the time. The goods news is, most Red decks will have at least a few Giants without even trying to take them, but the better news is, Giants is a very well-supported tribe in this set, and in those decks, this costing 1R won’t be that hard to achieve.
Tibalt's Trickery
AI Rating: 2.6Pro Rating: 0.0
This is too hard to effectively use in Limited since its so random, and you won’t have a deck constructed to abuse it.
Toralf, God of Fury
AI Rating: 4.9Pro Rating: 4.5
Toralf is 4-mana 5/4 with trample that will make all of your burn spells way more potent, as you can spread around the damage from your spells -- while it doesn’t quite make all your spells feel like Arc Lightning or Pyrotechnics, it gets pretty close. And, if yo’ure in Red, it is a safe bet to think that you will have at least 2 or 3 ways of doing noncombat damage to stuff. Then, let’s look at his Hammer -- that is also quite good, as it gives you a repeatable source to do 3 damage to things. You do have to pay a total of six mana for it every time, which is a little bit clunky -- but not that clunky for repeatable damage that can even go to the dome. And sure, it won’t give any other benefit to most creatures, but I don’t think it matters -- basically it is a really nice card that has the kind of relevant upside of also pumping the power of legendary creatures it gets equipped too. And, obviously enough -- the ability to return to your hand not only enables you to keep on playing it and re-equipping it -- which in the late game might be a lot of fun -- imagine having 8 mana around! Throwing the hammer at people over and over, or running them over with a super efficient God that can spread burn damage around sounds pretty good to me.
Tormentor's Helm
AI Rating: 2Pro Rating: 2.5
Like Run Amok, this is a great card for aggressive decks, as it gives an efficient stats boost and can even help you close out a game because of the inevitable damage every time you attack, but it isn’t really very good anywhere else.
Tundra Fumarole
AI Rating: 4.4Pro Rating: 4.0
3 mana to do 4 to a creature or planeswalker is efficient enough to be premium removal, and this comes with some not insignificant Snow upside. You’ll be able to kill most things with this, and mostly things that cost more mana than this too. Getting some of the mana back you spend on this is pretty nice, though it won’t always matter. Sometimes there’s just not something to do with it. But, because this card is good without that, it is just some nice upside to an already pretty good removal spell.
Tuskeri Firewalker
AI Rating: 2.7Pro Rating: 3.0
A 3-mana 3/2 isn’t great, but its Boast effect is pretty nice. You really need to only be able to play somethin off of it once to feel good about the situation, since at that point, you’re getting a 2-for-1 in most cases. It even lets you pay lands if you exile one of them. The downside with this type of effect is often that you are unable to cast the spell you exile, and that’ll happen, but I think it’ll work out often enough that this seems pretty nice to me. Even if you just attack with it and it dies in combat, if you get a card out of the Boast, you’re doing just fine. I think this is a pretty good Red common.
Vault Robber
AI Rating: 0.4Pro Rating: 1.0
This is something you mostly won’t play. You could do worse if you are desperate for fixing, but the fact he is reliant on stuff in the graveyard to make Treasure can be rough, and his stats aren’t very good.
Arachnoform
AI Rating: 0.3Pro Rating: 1.0
This set has a lot of nice Auras, but Arachnoform isn’t one of them. It doesn’t mitigate agains the 2-for-1, and the bonus it grants is not significant enough for me to be interested in taking a risk. +2/+2, reach, and changeling status just doesn’t do it for me.
Battle Mammoth
AI Rating: 4.9Pro Rating: 4.5
A 5-mana 6/5 trampler is a nice place to start -- and this Mammoth has two other things going on. First, it lets you draw a card any time a permanent is targeted by an opponent. This means that if your opponent uses removal of any kind on your board, you’re going to turn the situation into a 2-for-1. And, most of the time, it is likely they’ll go after the Mammoth since he is the source of those problems, so it is great that he includes himself in his ability. That makes his fail case scenario into a 2-for-1. This mammoth also has Foretell, which in this case does result in you paying more mana -- 6 total instead of 5 -- but sometimes paying it in installments will be more appealing -- like if you don’t have anything to do on turn two, it isn’t going to hurt you to Foretell this and manage to bring it down a turn earlier.
Blessing of Frost
AI Rating: 4Pro Rating: 3.0
This seems pretty nice, though you pretty much have to be getting the Snow mana going for it to be worth it. 5-mana just to draw a card for each creature you control with power 4 or greater is rough and highly situational. Even if you’re drawing two cards with it -- which is by no means guaranteed -- you are being hugely inefficient and not impacting the board. The great thing here, though, is if you do have snow mana, you add an immediate impact to the board, while also increasing your chances of drawing more cards, since your creatures will get bigger. Paying 5 mana for this, putting two +1/+1 counters somewhere on your board, and drawing two or three cards is a pretty darn big deal. So, it does take some set up, but sometimes even just one counter to your whole board is reasonable enough, and I think that will generally be very doable. If you really got there on snow mana it will be absolutely absurd, too -- so it is nice having that upside.
Blizzard Brawl
AI Rating: 3.8Pro Rating: 2.5 // 4.0
So, this is a strictly better Prey Upon, and Prey Upon is usually a solid but not great removal spell in the formats we’ve seen it in. Fight cards have a significant downside most other removal doesn’t -- if your opponent can interact at all, you can end up getting blown out. There’s also the fact that you need a decent number of sizable creatures to make it worth it. However, by only costing a single Green mana, finding a window where you can use this one isn’t too difficult. I think any Green deck probably plays the first copy of this, and if you can get enough snow permanents going, it will be one of the best cards in your deck, as +1/+0 and indestructible becoming part of the card is crazy good. That usually means that in addition to killing something, and making it harder for your opponent to interact with it, you’ll also have a free attack, and that type of turn will be devastating. I want to give this a build around grade, because I think the upgrade is super significant in a heavy snow deck. I’ll say this is a C in a regular Green deck, and a B in a deck that has enough snow permanents -- in those decks, this is premium removal.
Boreal Outrider
AI Rating: 3.9Pro Rating: 4.0
This seems like a really good snow payoff. On a base level, you have a 3-mana 3/2 that is a snow permanent, which isn’t a bad place to start -- but the fact that this will pump all of your creatures equal to the number of snow mana spent on them is no joke. Even if you only have one way to produce snow mana, having a couple creatures enter the battlefield with an additional counter each is a great return on the 3 mana that you spent. Keep in mind, that the Outrider triggers when the creature is cast, and that means that it won’t do its thing for itself -- just other creature spells. Over all, this seems really strong to me, as you will usually end up with more than one snow land lying around -- if you have two, it will really well...snowball.
Broken Wings
AI Rating: 1.5Pro Rating: 1.5
This card is very mainboardable in this format because it has lots of good targets. It still isn’t great or anything, though.
Elderleaf Mentor
AI Rating: 2.1Pro Rating: 2.5
This is fine. . Creatures who make two bodies are always nice -- and in the end here you get a solid deal -- 4 -mana for 4/3 worth of stats spread across two bodies. Unfortunately, the Elf deck in this format is hard to make work, and that holds it back a little bit.
Elven Bow
AI Rating: 3.4Pro Rating: 3.0
Generally, I think it is a bad plan to just straight up cast this as Equipment – when you do that, the bonus you get from them is not very good – 3 to equip is rough for +1/+2 and Reach. So normally, you want to cast this and make the elf token – which in effect, turns this into a 3-mana 2/3 with Reach that, if it dies, leaves equipment behind. And in a lot of ways, it is better than that – because you can move the Equipment before then if there’s a reason too, and even if your creature gets shut down by an Aura or bounced, you still have the Bow.
Elvish Warmaster
AI Rating: 4.5Pro Rating: 3.5
So, this card has a reasonable floor and incredible upside. Most Green decks in this format are likely to have 3-5 elves without even trying, and the Warmaster will be happy in that type of deck. Just getting one extra token out of this will be a good deal, after all, he is a two mana 2/2. Now, if your deck can really go crazy on Elves -- and make extra Elf tokens, and then utilize the overrun ability in the late game, then you’re talking. That isn’t always easy to do, but like I said, the Warmaster doesn’t need you to go crazy on Elves to be pretty good.
Esika, God of the Tree
AI Rating: 4.6Pro Rating: 4.0
A 3-mana ¼ with Vigilance that taps for mana of any color and lets your other legendary creatures have Vigilance and the ability to tap for mana is a pretty good deal, especially because it seems like most decks in this format will have 3 or so legendary creatures, since there are more than the normal amount of them around. I think this is a great source of fixing and ramp and it has nice defensive stats. Additionally, it is very possible in this format to cast the Prismatic Bridge side, which will normally win you the game.
Esika's Chariot
AI Rating: 4.9Pro Rating: 4.0
4-mana to make 2/2 tokens on its own is usually a solid card in Limited, so everything else this does is upside -- and that upside is considerable. Sure, crew 4 on a 4/4 Vehicle is kind of rough, but the fact that this copies a token you control every time it attacks helps to make up for that. And also, keep in mind, this comes with the necessary creatures to crew it in the first place. It is still going to be a bit clunky in terms of crewing it, and sometimes you just won’t be able to do it -- sometimes the two 2/2 tokens is all you’ll get -- but like I said, that is a decent card in most Limited formats, and this has the potential to take over games on the right board state.
Fynn, the Fangbearer
AI Rating: 3.8Pro Rating: 3.0
A two-mana ⅓ with death touch is actually a very good statline. This is because it can actually block one and two drops and survive, while still killing them. Then, Fynn adds some crazy deathtouch upside to the mix -- death touch combat damage to a player turning into poison counters is no small thing, though Fynn being the only creature in the set that has a poison counter ability does make it a little bit less appealing. There are other ways to get deahtoutch in this set, especially in Green-Black, so he will help you win with poison on occasion. If you get two of these, things might get really silly – and at Uncommon, it could happen! Still, I think most of the time he’ll just be a two mana 1/3 with deathtouch, and that’s good enough for me.
Glittering Frost
AI Rating: 2.9Pro Rating: 2.5
This card is pretty important in the 4 and 5 color Snow decks, as it helps enable your mana while also giving you two snow permanents with a single card. It is pretty much useless in aggro decks, though.
Gnottvold Recluse
AI Rating: 1.3Pro Rating: 2.0
Most spiders we see come with low power and high toughness. This makes them good at repeatedly blocking smaller flyers, but not so good at actually killing them. Gnottvold Recluse is different, in that it has higher power and lower toughness. This means it is going to be better at blocking and killing larger flyers, but a lot worse at repeatedly blocking flyers. 3-mana for a 4/2 line is often a borderline playable card even without Reach, and I think adding Reach to the mix here means you will feel fine about playing the first copy of this. Though, it would be nice if it were a snow permanent or something.
Grizzled Outrider
AI Rating: 1.8Pro Rating: 1.5
5-mana for a 5/5 is kind of alright. And that’s all there is to say about that.
Guardian Gladewalker
AI Rating: 2.3Pro Rating: 2.5
So, we see versions of this card all the time -- and they are always pretty nice commons for Green. The +1/+1 counter ETB trigger makes it so that it is relevant all game long -- often times a single counter is enough to enable attacks you just didn’t have before. And, you know, sometimes, this is just a two-mana 2/2, like in the early game. Adding changeling to the mix is significant upside on an already pretty good Green common.
Horizon Seeker
AI Rating: 2.5Pro Rating: 3.0
This card enables splashes, makes it easier to find your snow mana, and has pretty reasonable stats. He fits into any Green deck really, and that’s nice.
Icehide Troll
AI Rating: 2.4Pro Rating: 3.0
This is a key common for Snow decks, as if you are able to pump this it becomes a pretty powerful threat. Because it asks for two snow that won’t work in every deck, but in the decks where the troll DOES work, it will be one of your best Commons.
In Search of Greatness
AI Rating: 3.5Pro Rating: 1.0
In the early game, it seems like this could be pretty potent -- it would make casting two spells in one turn pretty easy on say, turn four for example, and that could get you really far ahead. However, as the game wears on, you will run out of extra spells for this to do anything with. Now, the good news is, even if it isn’t letting you cast stuff for free anymore, you do get Scry 1 every turn out of it. The bad news is, that probably isn’t really enough for you to want to play this that often.
Jaspera Sentinel
AI Rating: 1.8Pro Rating: 2.0
The fixing this offers is a big deal for the decks trying to play 3+ colors. It doesn’t have the greatest stats, and Reach isn’t very exciting, but the mana production here is nice.
Jorn, God of Winter
AI Rating: 4.8Pro Rating: 4.0
On the god side, you have, at worst, a 3-mana 3/3 that untaps itself when it attacks, which -- you know, isn’t amazing or anything, but is fine. But it has way more upside than that, as it untaps all snow permanents. This could get especially nice in a world where you have several snow lands, or other snow creatures attacking, since it will give them pseudo-vigilance. So, yeah, the God side is a very good snow payoff -- and so is the the artifact side. Being able to play snow permanents from your graveyard is nice, even if they do come into play tapped. The fact that Kaldring just taps for the effect is really nice, since it means that all of your mana will be available for you to cast a snow permanent from the graveyard. By the way, since it says “play” this means you can get snow lands too, though that isn’t the ideal way to use the card.
King Harald's Revenge
AI Rating: 0.6Pro Rating: 1.0
I don’t like this type of card. Sure, lure-type effects are nice, but they only really get powerful if they force EVERYTHING to block something, allowing the rest of your board to get through. This will just require one block. And yeah, sometimes this will make your creature absolutely massive, and adding Trample to that is nice -- but it still seems so clunky to me. You have to wait for the absolute right window for this to work out for you -- one where you have enough creatures for it to matter -- one where forcing the block makes a difference -- and one where your opponent doesn’t have cards in hand and mana up, since if they do, you have a good chance at getting completely blown out.
Kolvori, God of Kinship
AI Rating: 4.1Pro Rating: 2.5
Both sides of this card love legendary creatures. And, the good news is, this set has a pretty strong legendary creatures sub-theme, with several appearing at uncommon. That said, it won’t be super easy to get enough legendary creatures to really take advantage of the god side of this card. Getting her to a 6/6 will be unlikely. But, her activated ability pays you off for just having a few legendary creatures at least, and she will be able to draw you a card with it sometimes even if you just have three in your whole deck, and taht’s acceptable since she is also a 4-mana 2/4. The other side of the card is less good in Limited. It is a two mana mana-rock, and that’s no joke -- even if it is limited to legendary spells and creatures of a specific type. It won’t always line up for you either -- both sides of this are a little dependent on your deck having just the right composition to really excel -- but I think that’s probably ok. She isn’t the most impressive God for Limited.
Littjara Glade-Warden
AI Rating: 3.2Pro Rating: 3.0
It is definitely a bit of a bummer that you can only use this ability at sorcery speed, but turning creatures in the graveyard into value in the late game is pretty nice. Two +1/+1 counters can make a significant difference on many board states. And in addition to that, it is also a changeling, so tribal synergies will make it better too. It does start out as a Hill Giant, but the ability is good enough to overcome that mediocre performance on the vanilla test.
Mammoth Growth
AI Rating: 1.1Pro Rating: 1.5
This is a decent trick. Paying the three mana up front isn’t the greatest deal, but the stats boost it gives is enough that it can help almost any creature win combat. The downside is the massive tempo hit you can take if your opponent can do something in response, so like with all tricks, be as careful as you can with this. Adding foretell to the mix does help reduce the downside a little bit -- since you only pay one Green mana the turn you actually use it, and you probably decided to Foretell it on a turn when you couldn’t do anything with your mana anyway, so if you do get blown out the tempo won’t be so bad.
Masked Vandal
AI Rating: 2.8Pro Rating: 2.5
This format has lots of things the Vandal can blow up, and that makes it a pretty nice card for your main deck. Having all creature types is nice too.
Old-Growth Troll
AI Rating: 4.6Pro Rating: 4.0
So, this is sort of hard to cast on curve in Limited, but I think that’s ok -- 4/4 trampler is relevant for the entirety of most games, especially one that gives you some value when it dies. A lot of the time you probably won’t be particularly intereste din the ramp aspect of this troll, but you will absolutely be interested in basically turning one of your lands into a 4/4 with Trample. It isn’t exactly a 2-for-1, because you do end up giving up a land, but a 4/4 trampler is a huge upgrade over a land by the mid to late game especially.
Path to the World Tree
AI Rating: 3.4Pro Rating: 1.0 // 3.5
This is a big payoff for going five colors. On its own, it provides you with some fixing, something you often want in Limited to splash powerful cards. Worth noting this can get you snow lands if that’s what you need. Where it really gets interesting, though, is if you can utilize its activated ability -- and obviously, it can help you do that because of the fixing it gives you. That ability is no joke -- you get 2 cards, 2 life, and a 2/2 bear -- while your opponent loses 2 life and an X/2 creature. That’s the kind of late game effect that will win you games. Now, how realistic is it to be able to use that ability? I mean, you probably shouldn’t count on it, but it is doable in some decks. In decks that have a lot of fixing, this turns out to be pretty great – in decks that don’t, it is pretty bad.
Ravenous Lindwurm
AI Rating: 2.9Pro Rating: 2.5
This is this format’s premier Common finisher. The efficient stats and life gain it grants you can turn around a lot of games, and if you’re in a mid-range or slow Green deck, you’ll be pretty happy with the Lindwurm.
Realmwalker
AI Rating: 4.5Pro Rating: 3.5
So, this 3-mana ⅔ comes with some very significant upside. First, it can be whatever creature type you need it to be. But where it really gets sweet is when you get to cast stuff off the top of your library -- something that is very significant card advantage. Now, I would guess that on average you’ll get like one free card out of that, but that’s a great deal -- and sometimes it might take over games. You do have to be smart when naming creature types, but many decks in this format will have lots of creatures that share a type, so it won’t be that difficult to make it happen. Plus, changelings will be really great with this.
Rootless Yew
AI Rating: 3.2Pro Rating: 3.0
This card has been worse than it looks, largely because there aren’t that many common or uncommon creatures it can grab for you. However, it does have reasonable stats, and being able to grab a Lindwurm with this is pretty sweet.
Roots of Wisdom
AI Rating: 0.2Pro Rating: 1.0
So, this card helps you mill yourself, and then gets an elf or land back from the graveyard most of the time – but not always, especially early. I do like that you get to draw a card if you can’t get a land or elf, which means that you don’t have to have a huge number of elves for it to be super okay. I do kind of wish that it would let you make the choice -- like, if you have an elf and/or land in your graveyard, you could still choose to draw, but it doesn’t work that way -- you only draw if there is nothing to get back. But yeah, like Anticipate, and Tormenting Voice and other cards like this, I imagine you’ll cut this more than you’ll play it. Frankly, it just doesn’t do a whole lot. It doesn’t help that the Elf deck isn’t very impressive.
Rune of Might
AI Rating: 3.3Pro Rating: 3.0
This is strictly better Setessan Training, and the Training was a pretty solid card! Granted, this set is not quite as Enchantment-focused as Theros Beyond Death, but this still seems pretty good. While a stats boost AND trample for 1G can be a really risky Aura to play, this draws you a card so you can avoid a total blowout from a 2-for-1 most of the time. Trample is an evasive ability too -- it might be flying -- but it does make it harder for your opponent to stop your creatures form damaging them.
Sarulf's Packmate
AI Rating: 4.2Pro Rating: 4.0
This is a great common. A 4-mana 3/3 that draws you a card is already a good card. It is going to give you a two-for-one almost every time, especially because the stats it has are actually passable for the mana cost. Then, you add foretold to the mix, which in this case lets you pay for the card in two separate installments, and you have a card that is super powerful for a common.
Sculptor of Winter
AI Rating: 3.2Pro Rating: 3.0
A two-mana 2/2 is passable. Additionally, the fact it can untap snow lands is pretty nice too, since it will allow you to ramp, and produce two snow mana off of one snow land, which matters for many cards in this set.
Snakeskin Veil
AI Rating: 1.5Pro Rating: 1.5
This is a decent combat trick. It doesn’t give the biggest boost ever, even for one mana. Basically with tricks, you’re looking for the ones that can do the best job of helping your creature win combat, and you want to do it as efficiently as possible. One usually expects at least a +2/+2 boost from a one mana trick, and this doesn’t deliver there. However, it does grant a creature hexproof, and that means that it also has utility outside of combat -- plus, the boost it gives is permanent, so it isn’t SUPER far away from +2/+2.
Spirit of the Aldergard
AI Rating: 4.2Pro Rating: 4.0
This is a great card for decks that either interested in snow or fixing -- both of which seem to be what Green is interested in this format, so it has that going for it. Now, in terms of fixing, you will need to have picked up snow dual lands in the draft to really get the full value out of it as a “fixer” but that probably won’t be a huge problem if you’re going hard into the Snow deck. It does have kind of terrible stats on a base level, but it will often be a 2/4 or larger on turn 4, and that’s not a bad deal, and then in the late game it can become downright formidable. This is one of the best Uncommons in the set.
Struggle for Skemfar
AI Rating: 3.6Pro Rating: 3.5
So, this is a strictly better Hunt the Weak. And, while I think Hunt the Weak seems a bit weaker these days thani t used to, it was always a solid card. The +1/+1 counter makes it so more of your creatures are capable of killing opposing creatures, and yeah -- you do have to be super cautious with this, since if your opponent interacts in response it will be a blow out -- but it still does a pretty good job at getting creatures out of the way for Green decks. Adding Foretell to this is great -- because in this case, you actually end up paying less total mana. Additionally, by only costing Green the turn you cast it, it means you can play a new creature and have it fight right away, and in general, it will mean that it is easier for you to find a safe window to cast it, since you don’t need a whole bunch of mana to make it do its thing. This is premium removal for Green.
Toski, Bearer of Secrets
AI Rating: 4.7Pro Rating: 4.0
This is kind of like a Green Bident of Thassa with a body. That type of “draw a card” effect for each creature that does combat damage to a player is super strong, and can really snowball things for you in a hurry -- the more cards you draw, the more creatures you can play who will draw you more cards when they hit your opponent. Toski isn’t easy to kill either, meaning the effect will normally stick around. Now, you do need SOME board state for Toski to be great, but at least Toski can block whatever it wants on the first turn, before attacking every turn after that. Toski will take over games thanks to the cards you get, though.
Tyvar Kell
AI Rating: 4.9Pro Rating: 4.0
So, obviously, Tyvar will excel in decks with a ton of elves -- but one of the nice things about him is he isn’t completely reliant on your deck having like 10+. This is because he can make Elves himself with his 0 loyalty ability. Those Elves can protect him, and because of his static ability, they can also tap for Black mana. Once you have Elves, he can put counters on them, untap them, and give them deathtouch with the +1, and obviously his -6 does kind of ask you to have a ton of elves, but you won’t often get there anyway. So, basically, I think your average Green deck in this format will have 5 or so elves without trying, and he is going to be a good card in those decks.
Vorinclex, Monstrous Raider
AI Rating: 5Pro Rating: 4.0
So, a 6-mana 6/6 with Trample and Haste is already a card I’m interested in -- it is very likely to get in for damage before it can be removed, and if it doesn’t get removed it will do a whole lot more than that! On top of that, you have some counter payoffs going on here, and there are enough counters in this set for those abilities to matter. He is especially good against your opponents’ Sagas.
Aegar, the Freezing Flame
AI Rating: 3.6Pro Rating: 4.5
With Aegar in play, if you do more damage to a creature than it has toughness, you get to draw a card -- provided the source of that damage is a Giant, Wizard, or spell. And, of course, that includes Aegar -- which means that if a 2/2 blocks it for example, you get to draw a card. That’s pretty sweet, and this kind of card will really warp games where your opponent might have to choose between blocking more effectively, or allowing you to draw a card -- and that’s never a good choice. Obviously, the UR color pair is about spells and Giants too, so you should have at least a handful of cards in your deck that can trigger this. It isn’t difficult to draw 2-3 cards with Aegar, and I think that makes him a bomb, even if he does require a bit of work to build around.
Arni Slays the Troll
AI Rating: 3.2Pro Rating: 3.5
This Saga seems pretty nice to me. It starts out with a Fight effect, which is effectively a removal spell -- even if it is a somewhat restrictive one. You won’t always have a good Fight to make happen, but you will often enough in a Red Green deck. Chapter II gives you some counters and some mana too, and chapter III gains you some life. None of these chapters individually are that impressive, but if you think about the amount of mana you’re paying, you’re going to be pretty happy.
Ascent of the Worthy
AI Rating: 1.2Pro Rating: 0.5
This card is way too difficult to set up effectively, and you should mostly not play it.
Battle for Bretagard
AI Rating: 3.4Pro Rating: 3.5
This is a pretty powerful token payoff for the GW deck, and it does a good job all on its own. If this Saga is just left alone – with your opponent not doing anything to hinder it, and you not doing anything to make it do more, you end up paying 3 mana for four 1/1 tokens, and that’s not a bad deal. Obviously, you can make more than that happen with this, especially because the GW deck is all about tokens. It takes some set up to really take advantage of it, but sometimes it will just make your board drastically expand.
Battle of Frost and Fire
AI Rating: 4.5Pro Rating: 4.5
Chances are good that if you’re in UR, you’ve got a decent number of giants, so Chapter 1 will almost always hurt your opponent more than it hurts you. Chapter II doesn’t have quite the impact on the board, but Scry 3 can really help you set up optimal draws -- and that’s especially useful because chapter 3 lets you draw two cards and discard one if you play something that has a CMC of 5 or greater -- which is pretty likely after you Scry 3. I like that this Saga has its big game-changing chapter as chapter one, instead of chapter three like most of them. And yeah, sometimes, your opponent will be a giant deck too and it won’t be so good, but most of the time? This is going to be really great for the player who casts it.
The Bears of Littjara
AI Rating: 4.5Pro Rating: 4.0
This will normally give you a ton of value for three mana. Even if your board is otherwise empty, this makes a 2/2 when you play it, then turns it into a 4/4 on the next turn, and then lets you do damage equal to that creature’s power on the following turn. And, yeah, things could go really wrong there, but most of the time you will have a board with a few more shapeshifters around to really abuse this card. But the fact that this is pretty good even on its own certainly makes it attractive. You get a 4/4 token and removal in the end, all for only three mana.
Binding the Old Gods
AI Rating: 4.3Pro Rating: 4.0
I would already sign up for a Sorcery that was 4 mana to destroy a nonland permanent -- more than sign up, I would take it with a first pick a decent chunk of the time, even if it was multi-colored! But because this is a Saga, it does some other stuff too -- and while most of the power is in Chapter 1, Chapter 2 and 3 aren’t nothing -- getting an extra land can help you ramp, and giving your whole board death touch can make your attacks a little more of a problem for your opponent.
The Bloodsky Massacre
AI Rating: 3.9Pro Rating: 3.5
Chapter one gives you a reasonably efficient creature, while chapter two and three have tribal effects that will make that creature give you some extra value. Drawing a card off your attacking Berserker on turn two, and then getting one Red mana off of it is good – and while “Berserker” isn’t exactly the “archetype” for BR, just because there are not enough payoffs for that to really be the case – the color pair does have a whole lot of Berserkers, so this is normally going to do some more impressive things than simply get value out of the Berserker token it makes. This will do a ton of work for only three mana.
Fall of the Impostor
AI Rating: 2.8Pro Rating: 3.5
Three mana for a +1/+1 counter won’t make it feel like the greatest investment ever at first, and really -- even after you get the second counter it won’t feel great either -- but hey, it does impact the board a little bit at least! The most value the card gives you is with chapter three, which will typically take down your opponent’s best creature -- and that means you spent three mana for two +1/+1 counters and a removal spell, which is actually crazy efficient! It is, of course, slow -- and sometimes you’ll really wish you could just kill their creature first, but this is still really efficient.
Firja, Judge of Valor
AI Rating: 3.7Pro Rating: 3.5
A 5-mana 2/4 with flying and lifelink is sort of passable, and then if you can trigger her ability even once, you’re going to be in business. Keep in mind too, it is better than “Draw a card” because you get some card selection at the same time. She also helps you load your graveyard, and that’s not irrelevant! The ability itself can help you trigger it again next turn, too, since the extra card you get will likely be a spell.
Firja's Retribution
AI Rating: 4.6Pro Rating: 4.5
This saga impacts the board immediately with its Chapter I effect, and a 4-mana 4/4 angel with flying and Vigilance is already a great deal. Chapter II then lets you turn all of your angels into removal spells, and chapter three will make your angels really scary by granting them double strike. So, even if your deck has 0 other Angels, this is going to be a good card --- getting a token that can kill something is pretty good. If your deck has other Angels in play when this comes down, it will be completely busted. I think your typical BW deck in this format will have enough Angels in it for this to do more than just what is printed on the card. Now, if your board doesn’t have Angels by Chapter II and III this won’t feel so good, but if that’s the case, your opponent likely traded 1-for-1 with your Angel token, so it isn’t like it is the end of the world or anything.
Forging the Tyrite Sword
AI Rating: 0.7Pro Rating: 0.5
You mostly don’t want to be playing this. It has little impact on the board early, and that’s not something RW is interested in – and neither is Treasure for the most part. The one situation where you do consider playing this is if you have Halvar in your deck, as he is one of the best cards in the format, and giving up some tempo to search him up in a couple turns is worth it.
Harald, King of Skemfar
AI Rating: 3.3Pro Rating: 3.0
In many BG decks Harald is a 3-mana 3/2 with Menace that draws you a card, and that’s pretty nice. Unfortunately, BG is one of the weaker color pairs in the format, and that holds him back significantly. The other Elf payoffs are pretty disappointing.
Harald Unites the Elves
AI Rating: 3.8Pro Rating: 3.0
Like Harald himself, this is a pretty strong Elf payoff, but it is really held back by how mediocre the Elf decks in this format usually are. The common and uncommon payoffs just aren’t there.
Immersturm Predator
AI Rating: 4.7Pro Rating: 5.0
This starts as a 4-mana 3/3 flyer, which is great -- and it will become larger and larger as the game goes on, while also potentially hating a bit on an opposing graveyard. The thing that really puts him over the top is his ability to become indestructible. That will make it very difficult to kill, and that’s something you want to be saying about an efficient creature who will just keep growing. Note, by the way, that the “Tap” here is not part of the cost -- it is only part of the effect, so if you attack with this you can still make it indestructible. The “Tap” part matters more if you’re trying to block, but I think most of the time you’re going to be rumbling with this thing anyway. This is an incredible bomb.
Invasion of the Giants
AI Rating: 2Pro Rating: 2.5
This Saga is really cheap, and I generally think it will give you more than two mana’s worth of value. Scry 2 helps you set up both Chapter II and III, since both of them pay you off for having a Giant in your hand. Sometimes this will just amount to Scry 2 and draw a card, but even that isn’t too bad for the investment.
Kardur, Doomscourge
AI Rating: 3.1Pro Rating: 4.0
Kardur is strong, so it is kind of unfortunate that BR collectively isn’t really. You’ll mostly play him off a splash in other decks. Forcing all of your opponent’s creatures to attack you can make a big impact, not only because you can set up blocks to kill their creatures -- which, with Kardur in play, also means you’ll drain them 1 life -- but also because it opens your opponent up for a crack back that might just be lethal. In other words, Your opponent will have to attack in what is likely a less-than-optimal situation, while you’ll be able to attack in a pretty good one. Now, if your opponent’s board is significantly better than yours, things might not go so well, but if that’s true, well -- they were probably going to attack you with everything anyway! Note, by the way, that it doesn’t matter who controls an attacking creature for the drain life trigger, so it matters when you attack and when your opponent attacks.
Kardur's Vicious Return
AI Rating: 2.5Pro Rating: 2.0
This is harder to make work than it looks. Oftentimes you don’t want to sacrifice something with chapter I, and you don’t have anything worthwhile to do with Chapter III, and Chapter II might hur you just as much as your opponent. In the right deck it can still be alright, but it is hard to make this work in this format for the most part.
Kaya the Inexorable
AI Rating: 5Pro Rating: 5.0
It is a general rule of thumb that if you have a planeswalker that can protect itself AND act as removal, it is going to be amazing in Limited, and Kaya does both of those things. Now, her +1 does require you to have a creature in play for it to work, but it makes life for your opponent super difficult. Sure, maybe they can kill what gets the counter -- but then you get the card back and you also get a 1/1 to protect Kaya! So, she may need something in play already for that ability to really work, but she makes it very likely that something will be able to protect her thank to that token. Her -3 doesn’t require nearly as much analysis -- it kills pretty much everything, no questions asked, and that’s awesome. Her ultimate is a little challenging to make work in Limited, but it doesn’t really matter -- the +1 and -3 are enough for her to dominate games in Limited. Kaya is super powerful, even by bomb standards.
King Narfi's Betrayal
AI Rating: 4Pro Rating: 2.5
Mostly this just amounts to being a kind of convoluted Divination. One thing that can be frustrating about it is that you have to cast the things you exiled during chapter II or III. If something happens and you can’t, you’re going to miss out on your shot to do it. Another annoying thing is that this just isnt’ especially good in the early game. If you get it late, it definitely is nice – just like Divination would be, but yeah, it isn’t incredible.
Koll, the Forgemaster
AI Rating: 2.5Pro Rating: 3.5
This guy is pretty scary in RW decks, as making all of your Equipped and Enchanted creatures come back to your hand is a really big deal. The token pumping part comes up less often, but he’s still pretty good overall.
Koma, Cosmos Serpent
AI Rating: 4.9Pro Rating: 5.0
Well, this is pretty obviously a bomb. Note that you get a serpent token every upkeep, which includes your opponents, and that’s important, because Koma can turn those Serpent tokens into powerful effects. Your opponent will basically never be able to untap and kill Koma, because by the time it gets to their main phase you will have a serpent you can sacrifice to make him indestructible, and the Serpent fuel will only keep on coming. Making things tapped and turning off activated abilities isn’t quite as powerful in Limited, but it is a nice bonus effect. Basically, Koma generates Serpetn tokens like crazy and is very difficult to kill.
Maja, Bretagard Protector
AI Rating: 3.8Pro Rating: 4.0
Anthem effects are a powerful thing, especially when they come attached to a creature. And sure, the creature itself doesn’t have the most impressive of stats, but it will typically be adding a ton of power and toughness to the board -- especially because it comes with landfall that makes a 1/1 token! The ideal thing to do with it will often be to play it and then play a land so you get at least some value if Maja dies, but given that Maja will usually reshape the board anyway, it will be pretty challenging not to get some value out of the card.
Moritte of the Frost
AI Rating: 3.4Pro Rating: 3.5
Clones tend to be nice because they can be whatever the best creature on the battlefield is -- or, in this case, whatever your best permanents is -- , though clones that cost 5 do start to be a little less attractive, because it is normally less likely that you’ll be able to get 5 mana’s worth of value out of it. But, the whole “two +1/+1 counters” thing is important here, and it will often make it hard for Moritte not to give you 5 mana’s worth of value. As long as you are copying something that costs 3+ mana, it will feel pretty nice -- and oftentimes you’ll get a lot more than that. I think you’ll be copying creatures with this like 90% of the time, but the fact he can also copy like an Aura that is a removal spell and stuff like that is definitely nice additional upside.
Narfi, Betrayer King
AI Rating: 3.6Pro Rating: 4.0
In most UB decks, Narfi will likely be able to pump at least half of your creatures, and that’s more than enough for Narfi to be pretty powerful. His recursion ability won’t always be something you can use, but the good news is that he is going to be nice to bring back even in the late game, and you can do it over and over. Note, by the way, that you can do it at instant speed, and you may be able to take advantage of that to really surprise your opponent with the additional stats boost for your creatures.
Niko Aris
AI Rating: 4.8Pro Rating: 4.0
One thing I really like here, is that if you are able to pump some mana into X, Niko Aris will have a permanent effect on the board, even if they die right away. And those Shard tokens are no joke -- I loved Clue tokens, and these are basically better versions of those! It is also nice that you don’t have to put any mana into X -- you can just cast Niko Aris for three mana, and even without Shards, Niko is pretty nice. The +1 is pretty interesting -- making a creature unblockable is nice, having it bounce back to your hand won’t always be ideal, but sometimes you can make that into upside thanks to ETB abilities. In a weird way, you can also make that effect into protection for Niko, since, if it bounces to your hand, you can play it again and now it can block on your opponent’s turn. Then, the -1 is a nice removal effect -- Niko will usually be able to do 2 damage to a tapped creature right when they come down, and if you have some Shards lying around, or other ways to draw cards, Niko can really threaten to kill them. Niko can then, of course, make more Shard tokens too. Overall, I like Niko -- seems like a card-drawing engine, and I’m always on board for that.
Niko Defies Destiny
AI Rating: 1Pro Rating: 1.0
This has been challenging to make work, simply because even with all the Foretell in the format, it is difficult to always benefit from the first two chapters on the card. When you can, it feels good, but this card is too inconsistent for me to want to play it in most decks.
The Raven's Warning
AI Rating: 3.4Pro Rating: 2.5
Three mana for a 1/1 flyer that gains you 2 life isn’t going to feel super amazing as your initial effect -- but at least it adds to the board right away, and at least the two life you gain can offset some of the downside of how slow this card is. Provided you have some flyers-- like, you know, the bird that you just got -- chapter II is likely to draw you a card. Chapter III then gives you a pretty interesting Wish effect -- these are normally not super amazing in Limited, but being able to take sideboard cards because you have Raven’s Warning, and knowing you can bring them in sometimes isn’t bad upside. Now, I don’t think this is crazy good or anything -- I mean generally, it replace sitself, you get a 1/1 flyer, and MAYBE you get some decent card selection -- and that’s not bad for three mana, but that does take a while.
Sarulf, Realm Eater
AI Rating: 4.6Pro Rating: 4.5
So, a 3-mana 3/3 that gets a +1/+1 counter every time an opposing permanent goes to the graveyard is pretty good. Sure, sometimes it will just get killed before gaining in size at all, but it is a creature that gets more imposing throughout the game, and it does a good job on the vanilla test anyway. Sarulf adds to that the ability to remove all of its counters during your upkeep to exile all nonland permanents with a CMC less than or equal to the number of counters. You get to decide when to do it, so you can always do it at an opportune time – like when it hurts your opponent a ton and doesn’t hurt you nearly as much.
Showdown of the Skalds
AI Rating: 4.5Pro Rating: 4.0
For this Saga you do have to pay 4 for it to do very little the first turn, at least in the early and mid-game, but on subsequent turns the card advantage and +1/+1 counters this thing gives you is really good. Note, by the way, that you can play lands off of the Showdown, although the lands aren’t spells so they don’t trigger the ability in the second and third chapter of the Showdown. In the later part of the game this will grant you more immediate card advantage, which is nice. There will definitely be times where this is too slow to save you -- or maybe you don’t have enough of a board presence to take advantage of those +1/+1 counters, but most of the time this will really shift a game in your favor -- especially if you untap after you play it.
Svella, Ice Shaper
AI Rating: 4.2Pro Rating: 4.5
Svella comes with reasonable stats for the cost, and the ability to make snow artifacts that provide fixing and snow mana. The late game ability to choose a card from the top four cards of your library to cast is nice additional upside, and Svella can get there surprisingly quickly thanks to the Icy Manaliths. It is definitely an amazing late-game mana sink. Svella is a bomb that, if she isn’t killed, will simply win you the game.
The Three Seasons
AI Rating: 1.3Pro Rating: 1.0
This has not been very good. It seems like it might be an okay snow payoff, but it turns out that getting the most out of Chapter II is difficult, and that’s not great news when Chapter I has no immediate impact on the board. Then, Chapter III is kind of a bummer, because you have to give your opponent back some cards. Now, you can choose their worst ones and all that, but I’ve seen that side of the card backfire a lot.
The Trickster-God's Heist
AI Rating: 2Pro Rating: 2.0
This is another situational Saga that doesn’t always do something. When you can play it and take full advantage it is strong, but it will be stuck in your hand doing nothing more often than you’d think.
Vega, the Watcher
AI Rating: 2.7Pro Rating: 3.5
Even if you only draw one card with Vega you are going to feel pretty good about your investment, since it has such reasonable stats to begin with. Drawing that one card isn’t too challenging, either!
Waking the Trolls
AI Rating: 4.2Pro Rating: 4.0
This is definitely slow, but if you can get to Chapter III, it is pretty difficult to lose most of the time, since the first two Chapters likely mean you have at least two more lands than your opponent, and oftentimes it will amount to even more than that.
Bloodline Pretender
AI Rating: 3.7Pro Rating: 2.5
A 3-mana 2/2 is not good. However, if you are in a tribal deck, the Pretender is going to be able to grow enough to be worth playing, especially because it also will benefit from any tribal payoffs you have. It can slot into a lot of decks in this format and be a pretty solid card.
Colossal Plow
AI Rating: 1.4Pro Rating: 1.0
I know people like Ox and Plow shenanigans, but mostly you shouldn’t do that if you want to win. Crew 6 is a TON, and gaining some mana and life back when it attacks just isn’t going to be enough for me to overcome it. It will die on its first attack most of the time too.
Cosmos Elixir
AI Rating: 4.8Pro Rating: 4.5
This card is really well-positioned in this format. The two best decks are aggro and Snow, and it is good against both of them. Against aggro, the life gain can be too much for them to overcome, and against snow decks who don’t pressure you at all, you’re going to start drawing with it really quickly. Both of those scenarios usually lead to you winning.
Funeral Longboat
AI Rating: 0.9Pro Rating: 1.5
This is a decent vehicle. Crew 1 is just so easy to do, that this is going to just feel like a two mana 3/3 with Vigilance some of the time. And, the fact it is so easy to crew AND has vigilance, means your opponent also has to take into account while attacking you.
Goldvein Pick
AI Rating: 2.6Pro Rating: 3.0
This card is super good in this format. There are lots of good creatures to equip and the fixing it gives is great. While it is definitely better in more aggressive decks, it can work in any deck with a reasonable number of creatures, and that means you can value it pretty highly.
Maskwood Nexus
AI Rating: 4.9Pro Rating: 2.0
Paying 7 total mana to make one token is ugly, even if it is a changeling. It just isn’t that great at making tokens, though it isn’t a bad mana sink in the late game. My feeling, though, is that most of the time when you play this it won’t have much of an immediate impact. If the game goes long, it can really help you, though.
Pyre of Heroes
AI Rating: 2.5Pro Rating: 0.5
This is really hard to make work in Limited. You have to have creatures with the right type AND the right mana cost to really swing it, and in Limited that’s not going to be easy to do, even if this is a tribal format
Raiders' Karve
AI Rating: 1.1Pro Rating: 1.5
Crew 3 is kind of a lot for a 4/4 vehicle, but the fact that it will effectively ramp and draw you a card like 40% of the time does help make that look a little less ugly. If you can get the land off the top with this even once, you’re going to feel alright. That said, it isn’t exactly efficient, and I think you probably cut this a little more than you play it.
Raven Wings
AI Rating: 1.8Pro Rating: 1.5
This is fine. 2 to play and 2 to equip is a bit steep, but giving evasion and +1/+0 to something will often make a pretty big difference -- sending your big guys into the air is particularly appealing.
Replicating Ring
AI Rating: 3.3Pro Rating: 3.0
This provides great fixing, and it actually ends up making a bunch of copies more often than you might think! And all of that extra mana is also pretty good, because there are several creatures at lower rarities with snow mana activated abilities, and if you can sink that much snow mana into them, they become quite formidable.
Runed Crown
AI Rating: 3Pro Rating: 3.0
You do need at least one Rune around to play this, but once you’re there, it is pretty nice because it searches up the Rune and draws you a card with that Runes ETB ability, and it also becomes a much better equipment once you do that, and usually paying 2 to Equip it feels fine once it has a Rune.
Scorn Effigy
AI Rating: 1.1Pro Rating: 1.0
This is efficient, but it doesn’t have impressive stats in the end. It can help decks with lots of double-spell payoffs, but that’s really the only place its worth it.
Weathered Runestone
AI Rating: 0.4Pro Rating: 0.0
This isn’t really here for Limited, it is a hate card for constructed sideboards, and one that won’t have much of an impact on most of your games in Limited, so you should never play it.
Alpine Meadow
AI Rating: 2.7Pro Rating: 3.0
This isn’t one of the more important snow lands around, because White and Red are the colors that care the least about Snow. Still, it does provide fixing and a snow permanent, and those are things that are pretty valuable in this set.
Arctic Treeline
AI Rating: 3Pro Rating: 3.0
This is another snow land that isn’t super important because the colors it is in aren’t completely focused in on snow. However, it does provide fixing and a snow permanent, and those are valuable things
Axgard Armory
AI Rating: 1.4Pro Rating: 2.5
If you have the right deck composition, this is a nice utility land that can draw you 2 pretty meaningful cards in the late game.
Barkchannel Pathway
AI Rating: 3.6Pro Rating: 2.5
This all provide good fixing, but the Snow duals in the set are actually way better!
Blightstep Pathway
AI Rating: 3.2Pro Rating: 2.5
This all provide good fixing, but the Snow duals in the set are actually way better!
Bretagard Stronghold
AI Rating: 2.1Pro Rating: 3.5
Making two creatures bigger and giving them vigilance and lifelink is pretty awesome, especially because one of your lands id doing the job. Those two keywords combined can really help you win a race, since you gain life and allow your creatures to hang back as blockers.
Darkbore Pathway
AI Rating: 4Pro Rating: 2.5
This all provide good fixing, but the Snow duals in the set are actually way better!
Faceless Haven
AI Rating: 3.9Pro Rating: 3.0
Heavy snow decks in the format can get this going pretty easily, though it does also compromise their mana a little bit.
Gates of Istfell
AI Rating: 1.7Pro Rating: 3.5
It is great having a land that can draw you some cards and gain you some life in the late game – most lands become useless at that point! But not this one.
Glacial Floodplain
AI Rating: 3Pro Rating: 3.0
Like most of the snow dual lands that have White in them, this one isn’t quite as good as the others. Still, it provides fixing and snow mana, and that’s useful in this format.
Gnottvold Slumbermound
AI Rating: 2.2Pro Rating: 3.5
Blowing up lands in this format is bigger than normal because of snow lands and this cycle, and being able to make a 4/4 at instant speed is pretty nice too.
Great Hall of Starnheim
AI Rating: 2.1Pro Rating: 3.5
Because you have to give up a creature for this effect, you will often just be upgrading a creature -- or sacrificing one that has been negated by an Aura or something -- but if you have some tokens around, or creatures with death triggers, it will feel pretty good, and I think it will be often enough that ONE of those things is going on on your board in the later part of the game, which means this is just another really nice utility land that does something very real late.
Hengegate Pathway
AI Rating: 3.8Pro Rating: 2.5
This all provide good fixing, but the Snow duals in the set are actually way better!
Highland Forest
AI Rating: 3.2Pro Rating: 3.5
This is a Snow land to value fairly highly. It gives you snow mana and fixing, and it is in colors that have some nice snow payoffs at lower rarities.
Ice Tunnel
AI Rating: 3.2Pro Rating: 3.5
This is a Snow land to value fairly highly. It gives you snow mana and fixing, and it is in colors that have some nice snow payoffs at lower rarities.
Immersturm Skullcairn
AI Rating: 1.5Pro Rating: 3.0
I think this is weaker that the others in this cycle because one of its effects often has diminished returns by the late game - in particular, the discard a card part of the card. Mostly, this will give you some reach, and maybe you end up getting some useful card out of your opponent’s hand, but it won’t line up that way very often. It is still a land that does something useful in the later game, and I’m always on board for that.
Littjara Mirrorlake
AI Rating: 2.4Pro Rating: 3.5
Making a copy of your best creature and making it a little bit better with a +1/+1 counter in the late game is no joke. This is a land that will add considerably to the board state in the late game, and that really shouldn’t be overlooked.
Port of Karfell
AI Rating: 1.6Pro Rating: 3.5
Reanimating something in the late game is a huge deal, and if you have a powerful creature in play and you have Karfell Port around too, your opponent is going to be in a lot of trouble. Now, sure, 6 mana to reanimate something isn’t the most efficient thing ever -- but that’s fine, since it is really just here as a late-game effect on one of your lands.
Rimewood Falls
AI Rating: 3.4Pro Rating: 3.0
Good Snow land. It gives you snow mana and fixing, and it is in colors that have some nice snow payoffs.
Shimmerdrift Vale
AI Rating: 3.8Pro Rating: 3.5
It isn’t often that one of the best Commons in a set is a Land, but that’s the case in Kaldheim. This land provides excellent fixing and snow mana, and those are really important things for many decks in this format.
Skemfar Elderhall
AI Rating: 2.3Pro Rating: 3.5
This is a land that can turn into a removal spell and a couple of tokens in the late game, and I’m all about that.
Snowfield Sinkhole
AI Rating: 2.8Pro Rating: 3.0
Like most of the snow dual lands that have White in them, this one isn’t quite as good as the others. Still, it provides fixing and snow mana, and that’s useful in this format.
Sulfurous Mire
AI Rating: 3Pro Rating: 3.5
This is a Snow land to value fairly highly. It gives you snow mana and fixing, and it is in colors that have some nice snow payoffs at lower rarities.
Surtland Frostpyre
AI Rating: 1.8Pro Rating: 3.0
Doing 2 damage to everything and letting you Scry 2 is not a bad deal, especially when it comes attached to a land. You won’t always be able to get the value you want out of the ability, since maybe it hurts you more than your opponent -- but adding Scry 2 to the mix does help a little bit on that front.
Tyrite Sanctum
AI Rating: 2.6Pro Rating: 1.0
This set does have more legendary creatures in it that most do, but it isn’t exactly Kamigawa -- there aren’t enough legendaries around for you to be able to support this very often. It hurts your mana base and often won’t do enough to be worth it.
Volatile Fjord
AI Rating: 3.2Pro Rating: 3.5
This is a Snow land to value fairly highly. It gives you snow mana and fixing, and it is in colors that have some nice snow payoffs at lower rarities.
Woodland Chasm
AI Rating: 3.3Pro Rating: 3.5
This is a Snow land to value fairly highly. It gives you snow mana and fixing, and it is in colors that have some nice snow payoffs at lower rarities.
The World Tree
AI Rating: 4.2Pro Rating: 3.5
This gives you great fixing, and that’s hard to say no to in this format.
Snow-Covered Plains
AI Rating: 2Pro Rating: 2.0
This is the least valuable snow land because White doesn’t care much about Snow.
Snow-Covered Island
AI Rating: 2.9Pro Rating: 2.5
Blue has some nice snow payoffs, and that means you should be valuing this Snow land over most average cards.
Snow-Covered Swamp
AI Rating: 2.6Pro Rating: 2.5
Black has some nice snow payoffs, so you should value this over most average cards.
Snow-Covered Mountain
AI Rating: 2.4Pro Rating: 2.0
Red isn’t overflowing with snow payoffs, but this is still a snow land and those are quite useful in this format.
Snow-Covered Forest
AI Rating: 3Pro Rating: 2.5
Green has some nice snow payoffs, and that means you should be valuing this Snow land over most average cards.
| Card | Pro Rating | AI Rating | APA | Picked | ALSA | Seen |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
ss-common text-light|White|Creature — Dwarf Warrior
|
2.0 | 1.5 | 10.11 | 274 | 8.53 | 3285 |
|
ss-uncommon|White|Creature — Human Warrior
|
3.0 | 2.9 | 6.63 | 136 | 5.51 | 877 |
|
ss-common text-light|White|Creature — Bird
|
1.5 // 3.5 | 2.3 | 8.14 | 275 | 7.20 | 2750 |
|
ss-common text-light|White|Creature — Human Warrior
|
3.0 | 2.2 | 8.33 | 376 | 7.74 | 2985 |
|
ss-common text-light|White|Enchantment — Aura
|
4.0 | 3.7 | 4.55 | 338 | 4.23 | 1536 |
|
ss-uncommon|White|Creature — Spirit
|
4.0 | 4.2 | 3.08 | 160 | 3.41 | 454 |
|
ss-common text-light|White|Creature — Human Cleric
|
1.0 // 2.5 | 1.4 | 10.33 | 281 | 9.09 | 3473 |
|
ss-uncommon|White|Sorcery
|
2.0 | 1.2 | 11.05 | 120 | 8.01 | 1434 |
|
ss-rare|White|Sorcery
|
4.5 | 4.8 | 1.57 | 42 | 2.04 | 76 |
|
ss-common text-light|White|Creature — Human Cleric
|
2.5 | 1.9 | 9.22 | 332 | 8.39 | 3185 |
|
ss-common text-light|White|Creature — Ox
|
1.0 | 0.5 | 12.85 | 223 | 10.45 | 4082 |
|
ss-rare|White|Creature — Angel Cleric
|
4.0 | 4.6 | 2.06 | 50 | 1.88 | 93 |
|
ss-common text-light|White|Creature — Cat
|
2.0 | 1.2 | 11.07 | 263 | 9.36 | 3623 |
|
ss-common text-light|White|Creature — Dwarf Warrior
|
3.0 | 1.7 | 9.63 | 298 | 8.35 | 3155 |
|
ss-mythic|White|Legendary Creature — God
|
5.0 | 5 | 1.04 | 28 | 1.03 | 33 |
|
ss-common text-light|White|Instant
|
1.5 | 0.6 | 12.62 | 272 | 10.11 | 4070 |
|
ss-common text-light|White|Instant
|
2.5 | 2.4 | 7.73 | 319 | 6.67 | 2565 |
|
ss-uncommon|White|Instant
|
3.0 | 2.9 | 6.43 | 130 | 5.22 | 797 |
|
ss-common text-light|White|Creature — Dwarf Warrior
|
2.0 | 1.6 | 10.00 | 311 | 8.78 | 3468 |
|
ss-rare|White|Enchantment
|
1.0 // 3.0 | 3.7 | 4.41 | 46 | 3.98 | 182 |
|
ss-rare|White|Legendary Creature — God
|
4.0 | 4.8 | 1.57 | 42 | 1.74 | 66 |
|
ss-mythic|White|Creature — Angel Warrior
|
4.0 | 4.9 | 1.35 | 23 | 2.00 | 32 |
|
ss-common text-light|White|Instant
|
0.5 | 0.3 | 13.26 | 234 | 10.77 | 4269 |
|
ss-rare|White|Creature — Angel Cleric
|
3.5 | 4.7 | 1.84 | 61 | 1.95 | 101 |
|
ss-uncommon|White|Enchantment — Aura Rune
|
2.5 | 3.4 | 5.29 | 137 | 4.32 | 639 |
|
ss-rare|White|Creature — Dwarf Warrior
|
2.0 | 4.2 | 3.09 | 44 | 3.41 | 150 |
|
ss-rare|White|Snow Sorcery
|
0.5 | 2.6 | 7.26 | 42 | 5.25 | 314 |
|
ss-uncommon|White|Creature — Angel Warrior
|
3.5 | 3.9 | 4.01 | 140 | 3.61 | 490 |
|
ss-rare|White|Legendary Creature — Human Warrior
|
4.0 | 4.7 | 1.88 | 52 | 2.38 | 82 |
|
ss-uncommon|White|Enchantment — Aura
|
2.0 | 2.4 | 7.92 | 101 | 6.14 | 910 |
|
ss-common text-light|White|Creature — Angel Warrior
|
3.0 | 3.1 | 6.08 | 343 | 5.48 | 1973 |
|
ss-common text-light|White|Creature — Pegasus
|
2.5 | 2.2 | 8.36 | 311 | 7.33 | 2728 |
|
ss-mythic|White|Sorcery
|
5.0 | 4.9 | 1.26 | 23 | 1.21 | 28 |
|
ss-common text-light|White|Creature — Dwarf Cleric
|
2.0 | 2.3 | 8.17 | 366 | 7.46 | 2784 |
|
ss-uncommon|White|Creature — Spirit Warrior
|
3.0 | 3.7 | 4.42 | 90 | 3.98 | 554 |
|
ss-uncommon|White|Artifact — Equipment
|
3.0 | 3.5 | 5.08 | 145 | 4.57 | 696 |
|
ss-common text-light|White|Enchantment — Aura
|
2.0 | 0.9 | 11.72 | 239 | 9.92 | 3873 |
|
ss-common text-light|White|Instant
|
1.0 // 3.0 | 0.7 | 12.15 | 313 | 10.21 | 4111 |
|
ss-common text-light|White|Instant
|
1.0 | 0.6 | 12.50 | 302 | 10.46 | 4118 |
|
ss-mythic|Blue|Legendary Creatue — God
|
4.5 | 4.9 | 1.42 | 26 | 1.32 | 32 |
|
ss-mythic|Blue|Sorcery
|
4.0 | 4.7 | 1.84 | 25 | 2.20 | 36 |
|
ss-common text-light|Blue|Instant
|
0.0 | 0 | 14.09 | 263 | 11.33 | 4519 |
|
ss-rare|Blue|Snow Creature — Spirit
|
3.0 | 4.3 | 2.85 | 27 | 2.76 | 126 |
|
ss-common text-light|Blue|Creature — Bird
|
3.0 | 3.1 | 5.91 | 347 | 5.31 | 2000 |
|
ss-uncommon|Blue|Snow Creature — Human Wizard
|
4.0 | 3.9 | 3.80 | 154 | 3.48 | 486 |
|
ss-common text-light|Blue|Instant
|
3.5 | 3.7 | 4.37 | 390 | 4.38 | 1505 |
|
ss-common text-light|Blue|Snow Creature — Giant Wizard
|
3.5 | 3.5 | 4.84 | 376 | 5.08 | 1886 |
|
ss-common text-light|Blue|Enchantment — Aura
|
2.5 | 2 | 8.97 | 379 | 7.93 | 3173 |
|
ss-common text-light|Blue|Creature — Human Rogue
|
1.0 | 0.5 | 12.88 | 221 | 10.41 | 3981 |
|
ss-rare|Blue|Legendary Creature — God
|
4.0 | 4.7 | 1.77 | 43 | 2.32 | 70 |
|
ss-rare|Blue|Creature — Horse Spirit
|
4.0 | 4.7 | 1.74 | 47 | 2.46 | 101 |
|
ss-rare|Blue|Creature — Giant Wizard
|
3.5 | 4.5 | 2.43 | 54 | 2.65 | 112 |
|
ss-common text-light|Blue|Instant
|
2.0 | 1.4 | 10.31 | 297 | 8.75 | 3403 |
|
ss-common text-light|Blue|Instant
|
1.0 | 1.2 | 10.99 | 288 | 9.29 | 3595 |
|
ss-common text-light|Blue|Creature — Zombie Rogue
|
1.5 | 0.8 | 12.03 | 311 | 9.99 | 3948 |
|
ss-uncommon|Blue|Snow Creature — Human Wizard
|
1.0 // 3.5 | 2.1 | 8.52 | 106 | 6.65 | 1089 |
|
ss-common text-light|Blue|Snow Creature — Yeti
|
1.5 | 0.8 | 11.89 | 246 | 9.45 | 3658 |
|
ss-uncommon|Blue|Creature — Giant Wizard
|
1.0 // 3.5 | 2.3 | 8.02 | 131 | 6.08 | 945 |
|
ss-uncommon|Blue|Artifact — Equipment
|
3.0 | 3.4 | 5.12 | 143 | 4.29 | 635 |
|
ss-uncommon|Blue|Sorcery
|
3.5 | 3.5 | 4.84 | 166 | 4.27 | 646 |
|
ss-rare|Blue|Snow Instant
|
3.5 | 4.1 | 3.43 | 37 | 3.17 | 134 |
|
ss-uncommon|Blue|Snow Artifact
|
3.5 | 4 | 3.72 | 136 | 3.47 | 476 |
|
ss-rare|Blue|Snow Creature — Kraken
|
1.0 | 3.5 | 5.05 | 43 | 3.98 | 246 |
|
ss-uncommon|Blue|Legendary Creature — Human Wizard
|
3.0 | 3.2 | 5.61 | 181 | 5.13 | 821 |
|
ss-common text-light|Blue|Creature — Zombie Wizard
|
1.5 | 0.9 | 11.64 | 292 | 9.81 | 3861 |
|
ss-common text-light|Blue|Creature — Shapeshifter
|
1.5 | 1.8 | 9.39 | 320 | 8.26 | 3120 |
|
ss-common text-light|Blue|Enchantment — Aura
|
1.5 | 0.8 | 11.99 | 337 | 10.44 | 4177 |
|
ss-common text-light|Blue|Creature — Shapeshifter
|
3.5 | 3 | 6.35 | 358 | 5.80 | 2179 |
|
ss-rare|Blue|Instant
|
1.0 | 2.8 | 6.83 | 24 | 4.75 | 265 |
|
ss-mythic|Blue|Legendary Creature — Shapeshifter
|
2.0 | 4.6 | 2.10 | 21 | 2.77 | 45 |
|
ss-common text-light|Blue|Snow Creature — Bird
|
2.0 | 1.4 | 10.50 | 258 | 8.63 | 3372 |
|
ss-common text-light|Blue|Sorcery
|
2.0 | 1.2 | 10.96 | 217 | 8.60 | 3377 |
|
ss-rare|Blue|Enchantment
|
1.0 // 3.0 | 3.7 | 4.45 | 49 | 3.74 | 210 |
|
ss-common text-light|Blue|Instant
|
1.5 | 1 | 11.49 | 378 | 10.15 | 4118 |
|
ss-uncommon|Blue|Enchantment — Aura Rune
|
3.0 | 2.6 | 7.17 | 150 | 5.82 | 923 |
|
ss-uncommon|Blue|Instant
|
2.5 | 2.5 | 7.56 | 81 | 5.41 | 802 |
|
ss-common text-light|Blue|Sorcery
|
1.0 | 0.4 | 13.13 | 273 | 10.95 | 4302 |
|
ss-common text-light|Blue|Creature — Giant Rogue
|
1.0 | 0.5 | 12.82 | 287 | 10.56 | 4231 |
|
ss-rare|Black|Snow Sorcery
|
4.5 | 4.6 | 2.00 | 60 | 2.41 | 108 |
|
ss-uncommon|Black|Creature — Human Berserker
|
3.5 | 3.5 | 4.99 | 175 | 4.32 | 652 |
|
ss-mythic|Black|Creature — Demon Berserker
|
4.5 | 4.9 | 1.22 | 27 | 1.67 | 37 |
|
ss-rare|Black|Sorcery
|
4.0 | 4.6 | 2.06 | 52 | 2.40 | 93 |
|
ss-common text-light|Black|Creature — Elf Berserker
|
2.0 | 2 | 8.99 | 377 | 7.96 | 3060 |
|
ss-common text-light|Black|Instant
|
1.5 | 1 | 11.40 | 324 | 9.80 | 3923 |
|
ss-common text-light|Black|Enchantment
|
1.0 | 0.6 | 12.59 | 281 | 10.04 | 3978 |
|
ss-rare|Black|Snow Creature — Zombie Cleric
|
4.0 | 4.8 | 1.48 | 44 | 1.78 | 60 |
|
ss-common text-light|Black|Creature — Zombie Cleric
|
1.5 | 1.1 | 11.21 | 265 | 9.25 | 3621 |
|
ss-uncommon|Black|Artifact — Equipment
|
3.0 | 3.6 | 4.72 | 155 | 3.99 | 600 |
|
ss-common text-light|Black|Creature — Spirit Knight
|
1.0 | 0.5 | 12.77 | 281 | 10.56 | 4057 |
|
ss-rare|Black|Creature — Demon Cleric
|
3.0 | 3.8 | 4.09 | 32 | 3.58 | 141 |
|
ss-common text-light|Black|Creature — Elf Berserker
|
1.0 | 0.7 | 12.21 | 234 | 9.78 | 3833 |
|
ss-rare|Black|Legendary Creature — God
|
2.5 | 4.5 | 2.30 | 47 | 2.59 | 112 |
|
ss-common text-light|Black|Creature — Elf Cleric
|
1.5 | 2.3 | 7.98 | 360 | 7.15 | 2699 |
|
ss-mythic|Black|Creature — Angel Berserker
|
4.5 | 4.9 | 1.39 | 23 | 1.81 | 32 |
|
ss-common text-light|Black|Instant
|
3.5 | 3.8 | 4.27 | 357 | 3.97 | 1429 |
|
ss-common text-light|Black|Snow Creature — Zombie Berserker
|
2.0 | 1.4 | 10.45 | 256 | 8.88 | 3442 |
|
ss-uncommon|Black|Snow Creature — Angel Wizard
|
2.0 | 2.1 | 8.70 | 99 | 5.93 | 952 |
|
ss-mythic|Black|Sorcery
|
3.0 | 4.4 | 2.65 | 17 | 2.52 | 52 |
|
ss-common text-light|Black|Creature — Imp
|
2.0 | 1.6 | 9.99 | 345 | 8.86 | 3369 |
|
ss-common text-light|Black|Creature — Zombie Cleric
|
2.0 | 2.1 | 8.61 | 338 | 7.53 | 2980 |
|
ss-common text-light|Black|Creature — Zombie Berserker
|
2.5 | 1.7 | 9.55 | 405 | 8.96 | 3388 |
|
ss-common text-light|Black|Creature — Elf Cleric
|
2.0 | 1.6 | 9.93 | 370 | 8.63 | 3502 |
|
ss-uncommon|Black|Instant
|
4.0 | 4.4 | 2.73 | 155 | 2.49 | 334 |
|
ss-common text-light|Black|Snow Creature — Zombie Cleric
|
1.0 // 3.0 | 1.7 | 9.78 | 333 | 8.30 | 3246 |
|
ss-common text-light|Black|Instant
|
2.0 | 1.8 | 9.48 | 353 | 8.49 | 3282 |
|
ss-uncommon|Black|Sorcery
|
1.5 | 2 | 8.95 | 99 | 6.48 | 1049 |
|
ss-rare|Black|Instant
|
2.5 | 4 | 3.58 | 52 | 3.58 | 173 |
|
ss-uncommon|Black|Enchantment — Aura Rune
|
2.5 | 3.1 | 5.93 | 131 | 4.80 | 813 |
|
ss-rare|Black|Creature — Elf Berserker
|
3.5 | 4.4 | 2.61 | 56 | 2.72 | 131 |
|
ss-uncommon|Black|Creature — Elf Cleric
|
2.5 | 3 | 6.33 | 162 | 5.64 | 925 |
|
ss-common text-light|Black|Sorcery
|
2.0 | 1.4 | 10.51 | 262 | 8.53 | 3350 |
|
ss-rare|Black|Legendary Creature — God
|
4.0 | 4.9 | 1.34 | 53 | 1.32 | 72 |
|
ss-uncommon|Black|Instant
|
1.5 | 2.8 | 6.73 | 126 | 5.33 | 822 |
|
ss-mythic|Black|Legendary Creature — God
|
5.0 | 4.9 | 1.20 | 20 | 1.23 | 22 |
|
ss-rare|Black|Legendary Creature — Demon Rogue
|
3.5 | 4.7 | 1.77 | 48 | 1.77 | 93 |
|
ss-uncommon|Black|Creature — Angel Cleric
|
3.5 | 4.1 | 3.51 | 156 | 3.32 | 501 |
|
ss-common text-light|Black|Instant
|
1.0 | 1.1 | 11.31 | 317 | 9.52 | 3801 |
|
ss-common text-light|Black|Sorcery
|
3.0 | 2.2 | 8.23 | 381 | 7.53 | 2885 |
|
ss-common text-light|Black|Enchantment — Aura
|
1.0 | 1.7 | 9.55 | 300 | 8.49 | 3197 |
|
ss-rare|Red|Legendary Creature — Human Berserker
|
3.5 | 4.3 | 2.89 | 56 | 2.93 | 111 |
|
ss-common text-light|Red|Creature — Dwarf Berserker
|
2.5 | 2.1 | 8.71 | 463 | 8.02 | 3065 |
|
ss-uncommon|Red|Creature — Giant Wizard
|
4.0 | 4.1 | 3.32 | 174 | 3.08 | 472 |
|
ss-rare|Red|Legendary Creature — God
|
4.0 | 4.8 | 1.54 | 41 | 1.76 | 64 |
|
ss-common text-light|Red|Creature — Dwarf Berserker
|
2.0 | 1.9 | 9.24 | 394 | 8.39 | 3198 |
|
ss-rare|Red|Creature — Giant Berserker
|
3.5 | 4.6 | 2.09 | 46 | 2.18 | 92 |
|
ss-common text-light|Red|Creature — Giant Berserker
|
1.5 | 1.1 | 11.19 | 333 | 9.30 | 3670 |
|
ss-common text-light|Red|Creature — Giant Coward
|
2.0 | 2.2 | 8.47 | 465 | 8.08 | 3154 |
|
ss-uncommon|Red|Sorcery
|
2.5 | 2.7 | 7.05 | 153 | 5.83 | 941 |
|
ss-common text-light|Red|Instant
|
4.0 | 4.3 | 2.98 | 448 | 3.11 | 1076 |
|
ss-uncommon|Red|Creature — Giant Berserker
|
3.5 | 3.2 | 5.63 | 175 | 4.86 | 663 |
|
ss-rare|Red|Creature — Human Berserker
|
4.5 | 4.7 | 1.76 | 62 | 2.01 | 80 |
|
ss-uncommon|Red|Instant
|
0.5 | 0.6 | 12.58 | 118 | 8.99 | 1524 |
|
ss-uncommon|Red|Artifact — Equipment
|
3.5 | 3.8 | 4.23 | 186 | 3.89 | 558 |
|
ss-common text-light|Red|Sorcery
|
2.0 | 1.9 | 9.26 | 339 | 7.98 | 2974 |
|
ss-uncommon|Red|Creature — Dwarf Berserker
|
3.0 | 3.5 | 4.95 | 134 | 4.55 | 674 |
|
ss-common text-light|Red|Creature — Wolf
|
2.0 | 1.4 | 10.49 | 301 | 9.13 | 3465 |
|
ss-uncommon|Red|Creature — Demon Berserker
|
2.5 | 3 | 6.34 | 126 | 5.21 | 784 |
|
ss-common text-light|Red|Snow Instant
|
3.5 | 3.4 | 5.23 | 400 | 5.01 | 1791 |
|
ss-mythic|Red|Creature — Dragon
|
4.5 | 4.9 | 1.27 | 37 | 1.63 | 41 |
|
ss-common text-light|Red|Creature — Troll Berserker
|
1.5 | 1.3 | 10.57 | 421 | 9.51 | 3623 |
|
ss-common text-light|Red|Creature — Demon Berserker
|
1.5 | 1.6 | 9.97 | 353 | 8.74 | 3371 |
|
ss-rare|Red|Legendary Creature — Dwarf Berserker
|
3.5 | 4.5 | 2.38 | 55 | 2.64 | 109 |
|
ss-common text-light|Red|Instant
|
0.0 | 0 | 14.04 | 263 | 11.56 | 4669 |
|
ss-common text-light|Red|Instant
|
2.5 | 2.3 | 8.03 | 157 | 6.30 | 974 |
|
ss-mythic|Red|Creature — Giant Berserker
|
4.5 | 4.8 | 1.52 | 21 | 1.59 | 33 |
|
ss-rare|Red|Sorcery
|
1.0 | 1.7 | 9.64 | 33 | 6.77 | 384 |
|
ss-common text-light|Red|Instant
|
2.5 | 1.6 | 9.97 | 386 | 8.72 | 3305 |
|
ss-uncommon|Red|Enchantment — Aura Rune
|
2.5 | 2.7 | 7.02 | 162 | 5.81 | 898 |
|
ss-common text-light|Red|Sorcery
|
1.0 | 0.8 | 11.97 | 324 | 10.06 | 3994 |
|
ss-common text-light|Red|Sorcery
|
0.5 | 0.6 | 12.57 | 284 | 10.37 | 4113 |
|
ss-common text-light|Red|Instant
|
0.0 | 0.3 | 13.32 | 277 | 11.00 | 4253 |
|
ss-common text-light|Red|Instant
|
3.5 | 3.3 | 5.40 | 490 | 5.49 | 2086 |
|
ss-rare|Red|Instant
|
0.0 | 2.6 | 7.31 | 39 | 5.68 | 317 |
|
ss-mythic|Red|Legendary Creature — God
|
4.5 | 4.9 | 1.32 | 28 | 1.79 | 35 |
|
ss-common text-light|Red|Artifact — Equipment
|
2.5 | 2 | 8.91 | 395 | 8.20 | 3126 |
|
ss-rare|Red|Snow Sorcery
|
4.0 | 4.4 | 2.53 | 47 | 3.10 | 129 |
|
ss-common text-light|Red|Creature — Human Berserker
|
3.0 | 2.7 | 7.13 | 478 | 6.96 | 2605 |
|
ss-common text-light|Red|Creature — Dwarf Rogue
|
1.0 | 0.4 | 13.06 | 277 | 10.90 | 4414 |
|
ss-common text-light|Green|Enchantment — Aura
|
1.0 | 0.3 | 13.19 | 277 | 10.65 | 4194 |
|
ss-mythic|Green|Creature — Elephant
|
4.5 | 4.9 | 1.18 | 28 | 1.62 | 36 |
|
ss-rare|Green|Snow Sorcery
|
3.0 | 4 | 3.70 | 40 | 3.24 | 146 |
|
ss-uncommon|Green|Snow Sorcery
|
2.5 // 4.0 | 3.8 | 4.11 | 190 | 3.83 | 619 |
|
ss-uncommon|Green|Snow Creature — Elf Warrior
|
4.0 | 3.9 | 3.85 | 167 | 3.34 | 511 |
|
ss-common text-light|Green|Instant
|
1.5 | 1.5 | 10.23 | 327 | 8.71 | 3528 |
|
ss-common text-light|Green|Creature — Elf Warrior
|
2.5 | 2.1 | 8.69 | 449 | 7.97 | 3001 |
|
ss-uncommon|Green|Artifact — Equipment
|
3.0 | 3.4 | 5.26 | 170 | 4.22 | 646 |
|
ss-rare|Green|Creature — Elf Warrior
|
3.5 | 4.5 | 2.34 | 73 | 2.31 | 128 |
|
ss-mythic|Green|Legendary Creature — God
|
4.0 | 4.6 | 2.13 | 31 | 2.07 | 46 |
|
ss-rare|Green|Legendary Artifact — Vehicle
|
4.0 | 4.9 | 1.18 | 68 | 1.39 | 75 |
|
ss-uncommon|Green|Legendary Creature — Human Warrior
|
3.0 | 3.8 | 4.15 | 167 | 3.72 | 521 |
|
ss-common text-light|Green|Snow Enchantment — Aura
|
2.5 | 2.9 | 6.64 | 399 | 6.23 | 2343 |
|
ss-common text-light|Green|Creature — Spider
|
2.0 | 1.3 | 10.77 | 324 | 8.90 | 3605 |
|
ss-common text-light|Green|Creature — Elf Warrior
|
1.5 | 1.8 | 9.49 | 361 | 8.17 | 3241 |
|
ss-common text-light|Green|Creature — Shapeshifter
|
2.5 | 2.3 | 7.99 | 404 | 7.13 | 2729 |
|
ss-common text-light|Green|Creature — Human Warrior
|
3.0 | 2.5 | 7.50 | 348 | 6.56 | 2549 |
|
ss-common text-light|Green|Snow Creature — Troll Warrior
|
3.0 | 2.4 | 7.80 | 396 | 6.65 | 2537 |
|
ss-rare|Green|Enchantment
|
1.0 | 3.5 | 5.06 | 36 | 4.17 | 202 |
|
ss-common text-light|Green|Creature — Elf Rogue
|
2.0 | 1.8 | 9.31 | 358 | 8.30 | 3221 |
|
ss-rare|Green|Legendary Snow Creature — God
|
4.0 | 4.8 | 1.58 | 50 | 1.78 | 96 |
|
ss-common text-light|Green|Sorcery
|
1.0 | 0.6 | 12.60 | 332 | 10.60 | 4201 |
|
ss-rare|Green|Legendary Creature — God
|
2.5 | 4.1 | 3.43 | 42 | 3.13 | 185 |
|
ss-uncommon|Green|Creature — Shapeshifter
|
3.0 | 3.2 | 5.76 | 131 | 4.44 | 737 |
|
ss-common text-light|Green|Instant
|
1.5 | 1.1 | 11.20 | 313 | 9.51 | 3692 |
|
ss-common text-light|Green|Creature — Shapeshifter
|
2.5 | 2.8 | 6.84 | 527 | 6.42 | 2509 |
|
ss-rare|Green|Creature — Troll Warrior
|
4.0 | 4.6 | 2.19 | 58 | 2.43 | 101 |
|
ss-uncommon|Green|Enchantment
|
1.0 // 3.5 | 3.4 | 5.19 | 161 | 4.62 | 682 |
|
ss-common text-light|Green|Creature — Wurm
|
2.5 | 2.9 | 6.43 | 464 | 6.10 | 2370 |
|
ss-rare|Green|Creature — Shapeshifter
|
3.5 | 4.5 | 2.33 | 55 | 2.60 | 106 |
|
ss-uncommon|Green|Creature — Treefolk
|
3.0 | 3.2 | 5.71 | 217 | 5.11 | 857 |
|
ss-common text-light|Green|Sorcery
|
1.0 | 0.2 | 13.60 | 306 | 11.46 | 4540 |
|
ss-uncommon|Green|Enchantment — Aura Rune
|
3.0 | 3.3 | 5.55 | 150 | 4.63 | 708 |
|
ss-common text-light|Green|Creature — Wolf
|
4.0 | 4.2 | 3.01 | 596 | 3.25 | 1149 |
|
ss-common text-light|Green|Snow Creature — Elf Rogue
|
3.0 | 3.2 | 5.82 | 495 | 5.55 | 2070 |
|
ss-common text-light|Green|Instant
|
1.5 | 1.5 | 10.10 | 403 | 9.01 | 3609 |
|
ss-uncommon|Green|Snow Creature — Bear Spirit
|
4.0 | 4.2 | 3.03 | 197 | 2.93 | 452 |
|
ss-common text-light|Green|Sorcery
|
3.5 | 3.6 | 4.58 | 538 | 4.58 | 1703 |
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ss-rare|Green|Legendary Creature — Squirrel
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4.0 | 4.7 | 1.85 | 47 | 1.86 | 67 |
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ss-mythic|Green|Legendary Planeswalker — Tyvar
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4.0 | 4.9 | 1.41 | 27 | 1.31 | 37 |
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ss-mythic|Green|Legendary Creature — Phyrexian Praetor
|
4.0 | 5 | 1.13 | 195 | 1.51 | 230 |
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ss-uncommon|Blue|Red|Legendary Creature — Giant Wizard
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4.5 | 3.6 | 4.65 | 193 | 4.29 | 596 |
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ss-uncommon|Red|Green|Enchantment — Saga
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3.5 | 3.2 | 5.75 | 168 | 5.12 | 748 |
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ss-uncommon|White|Black|Enchantment — Saga
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0.5 | 1.2 | 10.91 | 75 | 7.69 | 1183 |
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ss-rare|White|Green|Enchantment — Saga
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3.5 | 3.4 | 5.23 | 47 | 4.29 | 233 |
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ss-rare|Blue|Red|Enchantment — Saga
|
4.5 | 4.5 | 2.41 | 58 | 2.63 | 110 |
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ss-rare|Blue|Green|Enchantment — Saga
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4.0 | 4.5 | 2.47 | 53 | 2.72 | 95 |
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ss-uncommon|Black|Green|Enchantment — Saga
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4.0 | 4.3 | 2.94 | 194 | 2.90 | 392 |
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ss-rare|Black|Red|Enchantment — Saga
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3.5 | 3.9 | 3.94 | 66 | 3.90 | 180 |
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ss-uncommon|White|Green|Saga — Enchantment
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3.5 | 2.8 | 6.82 | 121 | 5.25 | 859 |
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ss-uncommon|White|Black|Legendary Creature — Angel Cleric
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3.5 | 3.7 | 4.31 | 126 | 4.39 | 718 |
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ss-rare|White|Black|Enchantment — Saga
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4.5 | 4.6 | 2.14 | 42 | 2.71 | 90 |
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ss-uncommon|White|Red|Enchantment — Saga
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0.5 | 0.7 | 12.24 | 102 | 9.11 | 1481 |
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ss-uncommon|Black|Green|Legendary Creature — Elf Warrior
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3.0 | 3.3 | 5.53 | 171 | 4.93 | 716 |
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ss-rare|Black|Green|Enchantment — Saga
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3.0 | 3.8 | 4.15 | 60 | 4.20 | 199 |
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ss-rare|Black|Red|Creature — Vampire Dragon
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5.0 | 4.7 | 1.78 | 74 | 1.99 | 99 |
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ss-uncommon|Blue|Red|Enchantment — Saga
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2.5 | 2 | 8.76 | 151 | 7.25 | 1167 |
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ss-uncommon|Black|Red|Legendary Creature — Demon Berserker
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4.0 | 3.1 | 6.07 | 161 | 5.31 | 808 |
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ss-uncommon|Black|Red|Enchantment — Saga
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2.0 | 2.5 | 7.61 | 133 | 6.37 | 986 |
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ss-mythic|White|Black|Legendary Planeswalker — Kaya
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5.0 | 5 | 1.11 | 37 | 1.10 | 40 |
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ss-rare|Blue|Black|Enchantment — Saga
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2.5 | 4 | 3.71 | 41 | 3.70 | 184 |
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ss-uncommon|White|Red|Legendary Creature — Dwarf Cleric
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3.5 | 2.5 | 7.45 | 111 | 6.11 | 927 |
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ss-mythic|Blue|Green|Legendary Creature — Serpent
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5.0 | 4.9 | 1.30 | 30 | 1.28 | 32 |
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ss-uncommon|White|Green|Legendary Creature — Human Warrior
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4.0 | 3.8 | 4.30 | 151 | 4.22 | 612 |
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ss-uncommon|Blue|Green|Legendary Snow Creature — Shapeshifter
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3.5 | 3.4 | 5.14 | 167 | 4.47 | 670 |
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ss-uncommon|Blue|Black|Legendary Snow Creature — Zombie Wizard
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4.0 | 3.6 | 4.76 | 140 | 4.20 | 593 |
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ss-mythic|White|Blue|Legendary Planeswalker — Niko
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4.0 | 4.8 | 1.68 | 19 | 2.25 | 46 |
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ss-uncommon|White|Blue|Enchantment — Saga
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1.0 | 1 | 11.60 | 118 | 8.52 | 1427 |
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ss-rare|White|Blue|Enchantment — Saga
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2.5 | 3.4 | 5.33 | 33 | 4.51 | 202 |
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ss-rare|Black|Green|Legendary Creature — Wolf
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4.5 | 4.6 | 1.98 | 64 | 2.07 | 97 |
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ss-rare|White|Red|Enchantment — Saga
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4.0 | 4.5 | 2.34 | 61 | 2.38 | 113 |
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ss-uncommon|Red|Green|Legendary Snow Creature — Troll Warrior
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4.5 | 4.2 | 3.24 | 176 | 3.27 | 429 |
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ss-uncommon|Blue|Green|Enchantment — Saga
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1.0 | 1.3 | 10.72 | 115 | 7.72 | 1273 |
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ss-uncommon|Blue|Black|Enchantment — Saga
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2.0 | 2 | 8.77 | 93 | 6.44 | 984 |
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ss-uncommon|White|Blue|Legendary Creature — Bird Spirit
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3.5 | 2.7 | 7.16 | 117 | 6.09 | 948 |
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ss-rare|Red|Green|Enchantment — Saga
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4.0 | 4.2 | 3.23 | 57 | 3.12 | 148 |
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ss-uncommon||Artifact Creature — Shapeshifter
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2.5 | 3.7 | 4.36 | 138 | 3.72 | 596 |
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ss-uncommon||Artifact — Vehicle
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1.0 | 1.4 | 10.48 | 97 | 7.52 | 1191 |
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ss-rare||Artifact
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4.5 | 4.8 | 1.68 | 56 | 1.87 | 87 |
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ss-common text-light||Artifact — Vehicle
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1.5 | 0.9 | 11.72 | 283 | 9.90 | 3995 |
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ss-common text-light||Artifact — Equipment
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3.0 | 2.6 | 7.28 | 354 | 6.60 | 2528 |
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ss-rare||Artifact
|
2.0 | 4.9 | 1.35 | 34 | 1.57 | 86 |
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ss-rare||Artifact
|
0.5 | 2.5 | 7.63 | 32 | 5.66 | 325 |
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ss-common text-light||Artifact — Vehicle
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1.5 | 1.1 | 11.16 | 268 | 9.20 | 3588 |
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ss-common text-light||Artifact — Equipment
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1.5 | 1.8 | 9.49 | 351 | 8.52 | 3469 |
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ss-uncommon||Snow Artifact
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3.0 | 3.3 | 5.54 | 90 | 4.55 | 698 |
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ss-uncommon||Artifact — Equipment
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3.0 | 3 | 6.16 | 136 | 4.89 | 706 |
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ss-common text-light||Artifact Creature — Scarecrow
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1.0 | 1.1 | 11.20 | 289 | 9.42 | 3645 |
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ss-uncommon||Artifact
|
0.0 | 0.4 | 13.13 | 95 | 9.74 | 1562 |
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ss-common text-light||Snow Land — Mountain Plains
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3.0 | 2.7 | 7.14 | 156 | 5.50 | 1045 |
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ss-common text-light||Snow Land — Forest Plains
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3.0 | 3 | 6.13 | 176 | 4.73 | 914 |
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ss-uncommon||Land
|
2.5 | 1.4 | 10.39 | 145 | 8.49 | 1454 |
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ss-rare||Land
|
2.5 | 3.6 | 4.76 | 49 | 3.74 | 192 |
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ss-rare||Land
|
2.5 | 3.2 | 5.80 | 40 | 3.87 | 220 |
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ss-uncommon||Land
|
3.5 | 2.1 | 8.71 | 181 | 7.32 | 1232 |
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ss-rare||Land
|
2.5 | 4 | 3.66 | 47 | 3.29 | 192 |
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ss-rare||Snow Land
|
3.0 | 3.9 | 4.02 | 41 | 3.48 | 187 |
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ss-uncommon||Land
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3.5 | 1.7 | 9.78 | 137 | 7.66 | 1303 |
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ss-common text-light||Snow Land — Plains Island
|
3.0 | 3 | 6.38 | 145 | 4.94 | 947 |
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ss-uncommon||Land
|
3.5 | 2.2 | 8.39 | 192 | 6.98 | 1146 |
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ss-uncommon||Land
|
3.5 | 2.1 | 8.63 | 151 | 6.67 | 1103 |
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ss-rare||Land
|
2.5 | 3.8 | 4.21 | 34 | 3.74 | 213 |
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ss-common text-light||Snow Land — Mountain Forest
|
3.5 | 3.2 | 5.66 | 187 | 4.50 | 808 |
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ss-common text-light||Snow Land — Island Swamp
|
3.5 | 3.2 | 5.64 | 165 | 4.41 | 800 |
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ss-uncommon||Land
|
3.0 | 1.5 | 10.18 | 151 | 7.96 | 1404 |
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ss-uncommon||Land
|
3.5 | 2.4 | 7.89 | 165 | 6.30 | 1069 |
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ss-uncommon||Land
|
3.5 | 1.6 | 9.96 | 131 | 7.67 | 1228 |
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ss-common text-light||Snow Land — Forest Island
|
3.0 | 3.4 | 5.25 | 175 | 4.06 | 723 |
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ss-common text-light||Snow Land
|
3.5 | 3.8 | 4.18 | 437 | 3.92 | 1485 |
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ss-uncommon||Land
|
3.5 | 2.3 | 8.19 | 210 | 6.74 | 1140 |
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ss-common text-light||Snow Land — Plains Swamp
|
3.0 | 2.8 | 6.82 | 139 | 4.97 | 974 |
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ss-common text-light||Snow Land — Swamp Mountain
|
3.5 | 3 | 6.23 | 179 | 4.81 | 901 |
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ss-uncommon||Land
|
3.0 | 1.8 | 9.31 | 173 | 7.71 | 1257 |
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ss-rare||Land
|
1.0 | 2.6 | 7.42 | 36 | 5.09 | 281 |
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ss-common text-light||Snow Land — Island Mountain
|
3.5 | 3.2 | 5.62 | 199 | 4.70 | 842 |
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ss-common text-light||Snow Land — Swamp Forest
|
3.5 | 3.3 | 5.40 | 184 | 4.15 | 741 |
|
ss-rare||Land
|
3.5 | 4.2 | 3.07 | 69 | 3.14 | 192 |
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ss-common text-light||Basic Snow Land — Plains
|
2.0 | 2 | 8.98 | 207 | 6.87 | 1865 |
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ss-common text-light||Basic Snow Land — Island
|
2.5 | 2.9 | 6.57 | 199 | 5.16 | 1296 |
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ss-common text-light||Basic Snow Land — Swamp
|
2.5 | 2.6 | 7.41 | 237 | 5.52 | 1457 |
|
ss-common text-light||Basic Snow Land — Mountain
|
2.0 | 2.4 | 7.93 | 222 | 6.08 | 1613 |
|
ss-common text-light||Basic Snow Land — Forest
|
2.5 | 3 | 6.15 | 260 | 4.97 | 1304 |
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About Limited Ratings
- 5.0 The absolute best you can get.
- 4.5 Incredible bomb, but not unbeatable.
- 4.0 Good rare or top-tier uncommon.
- 3.5 Top-tier common or solid uncommon.
- 3.0 Good playable that always make the cut.
- 2.5 A solid playable that rarely gets cut.
- 2.0 A good playable, but is sometimes cut.
- 1.5 Filler card but sometimes gets cut.
- 1.0 Not good filler and often gets gut.
- 0.5 Almost Unplayable and mostly sideboard material.
- 0.0 Not playable at all.
AI Limited ratings are gathered with data from MTGA Assistant, while Nizzahon Magic provides the Pro ratings. The key difference is that the Pro ratings and comments are made before the set officially releases, while the AI ratings dynamically update with new data. It would be best to use the Pro ratings as guidance as sets are released and the AI Ratings a couple of weeks after release. Here is an explanation of how we score the cards: