Yesterday, we went over the Mythics for Innistrad: Crimson Vow and rated them based on their constructed viability, and whether or not you should craft them on Magic Arena when the set launches this Thursday. Today, we’ll be taking a look at the Rares for the set! In case you missed the Mythic review, check it out here.
The Rating System
This is the rating system that we’ll be using for all of the reviews. I will throw a .5 after the star on occasion.
★ – Draft Chaff. These cards have zero constructed viability. Do Not Craft
★★ – Fringe constructed playability. Mostly a meme card. Only craft if you have all the other Rares.
★★★ – Some constructed viability. Needs testing but most likely needs additional pieces or a meta shift to be good. Only Craft if you have spare Wild Cards.
★★★★ – Strong constructed viability. Generally a good card and will test well and make the cut in decks. 2nd tier priority for crafting.
★★★★★ – All Star Cards. These are deck defining cards with strong qualities. Top tier crafts.
This time, we’ll be looking at these in going by color, just to keep things organized. Since there are more rares, we’ll be doing short snippets of reviews for most of the cards, with the occasional deeper dive for more impactful cards.
White
By Invitation Only
By Invitation Only
By Invitation Only
Choose a number between 0 and 13. Each player sacrifices that many creatures of their choice.
is interesting. We’ve seen 5 mana board wipes be utilized in Standard’s past to great effect, so I’d wager this will make some kind of appearance. It will require a control deck that’s playing white to be good in Standard to happen but it could. Historic has better options so this probably won’t make waves.
Rating: ★★★
Hopeful Initiate
As a 1 drop in White,
Hopeful Initiate
Hopeful Initiate
Training (Whenever this creature attacks with another creature with greater power, put a +1/+1 counter on this creature.)
{2}{W}, Remove two +1/+1 counters from among creatures you control: Destroy target artifact or enchantment.
has a lot going for it. We can very easily get counters on this guy whether its via Training, or
Luminarch Aspirant
Luminarch Aspirant
At the beginning of combat on your turn, put a +1/+1 counter on target creature you control.
. This has some great utility as well being able to destroy both artifacts and enchantments, and we have some great targets in the format, like
Ranger Class
Ranger Class
(Gain the next level as a sorcery to add its ability.)
When this Class enters, create a 2/2 green Wolf creature token.
{1}{G}: Level 2
Whenever you attack, put a +1/+1 counter on target attacking creature.
{3}{G}: Level 3
You may look at the top card of your library any time.
You may cast creature spells from the top of your library.
and
Esika’s Chariot
Esika’s Chariot
When Esika's Chariot enters, create two 2/2 green Cat creature tokens.
Whenever Esika's Chariot attacks, create a token that's a copy of target token you control.
Crew 4
. This definitely slots into Standard’s Mono White Aggro, and may find a home in Historic Humans.
Rating: ★★★★
Lantern Flare
Lantern Flare
Lantern Flare
Cleave {X}{R}{W} (You may cast this spell for its cleave cost. If you do, remove the words in square brackets.)
Lantern Flare deals X damage to target creature or planeswalker and you gain X life. [X is the number of creatures you control.]
is a pretty interesting card. While it can help a deck stabilize, it’s requires a fair bit of mana. I think it could maybe see play in Mono White, but it has some stiff competition. For Historic, it could be an interesting option for Jeskai Control, but the fact that it only hits a single creature could be an issue. Overall I don’t see this making a huge impact.
Rating: ★★
Sigarda’s Summons
While what
Sigarda’s Summons
Sigarda’s Summons
Creatures you control with +1/+1 counters on them have base power and toughness 4/4, have flying, and are Angels in addition to their other types.
offers may seem appealing, I don’t think that this is going to be a constructed playable card. The only deck that wants this is Mono White In Standard, and only when you’re against ground based creature decks. It is good at breaking board stalls, but it’s terrible as a top deck, and if you’re at 6 mana, and have a board full of creatures with +1/+1 counters, you’re probably winning.
Rating: ★★
Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
First strike
Noncreature spells cost {1} more to cast.
is a sweet reprint. It’s going to be a big W for Mono White, and could even spawn a Death and Taxes version of Mono White. We already have this in Historic, and it’s an all star there too. This is one of the rares that will be a MASSIVE player in Standard going forward.
Rating: ★★★★★
Voice of the Blessed
Voice of the Blessed
Voice of the Blessed
Whenever you gain life, put a +1/+1 counter on this creature.
As long as this creature has four or more +1/+1 counters on it, it has flying and vigilance.
As long as this creature has ten or more +1/+1 counters on it, it has indestructible.
is a card that I think will have more Historic viability than Standard. There isn’t a “life gain” deck in Standard, but Historic has one that’s quite good. This is a better
Ajani’s Pridemate
Ajani’s Pridemate
Whenever you gain life, put a +1/+1 counter on this creature.
, and that’s saying something because Pridemate is a power player in the lifegain decks. This will for sure replace Pridemate in that deck.
Rating: ★★★★
Welcoming Vampire
I think that
Welcoming Vampire
Welcoming Vampire
Flying
Whenever one or more other creatures you control with power 2 or less enter, draw a card. This ability triggers only once each turn.
is a card that might just be good enough to make the cut. Draw is a problem that Mono White has, since they dump their hands. That being said, I think the current climate of Standard may want
Elite Spellbinder
Elite Spellbinder
Flying
When this creature enters, look at target opponent's hand. You may exile a nonland card from it. For as long as that card remains exiled, its owner may play it. A spell cast this way costs {2} more to cast.
over this. I don’t think it’s quite good enough for Historic, but it might be worth testing.
Rating: ★★★
Katilda, Dawnhart Martyr / Katilda’s Rising Dawn
Katilda, Dawnhart Martyr
Katilda, Dawnhart Martyr
Flying, lifelink, protection from Vampires
Katilda's power and toughness are each equal to the number of permanents you control that are Spirits and/or enchantments.
Disturb {3}{W}{W} (You may cast this card from your graveyard transformed for its disturb cost.)
/
Katilda’s Rising Dawn
Katilda’s Rising Dawn
Flying, lifelink, protection from Vampires
Katilda's power and toughness are each equal to the number of permanents you control that are Spirits and/or enchantments.
Disturb {3}{W}{W} (You may cast this card from your graveyard transformed for its disturb cost.)
is a hard card to evaluate. I think that it’s probably not quite good enough for Standard, but it could be a consideration for GW Enchantress, just as another way to win the game. That being said, this feels a bit much of a stretch to make work.
Rating: ★★
Wedding Invitation / Wedding Festivity
Wedding Invitation
Wedding Invitation
When this artifact enters, draw a card.
{T}, Sacrifice this artifact: Target creature can't be blocked this turn. If it's a Vampire, it also gains lifelink until end of turn.
/
Wedding Festivity
Wedding Festivity
At the beginning of your end step, put an invitation counter on this enchantment. If you attacked with two or more creatures this turn, draw a card. Otherwise, create a 1/1 white Human creature token. Then if this enchantment has three or more invitation counters on it, transform it.
isn’t great. It’s far too slow to get going, although there is some good benefits of the front side. I think a more competitive option for this would be
Sparring Regimen
Sparring Regimen
When this enchantment enters, learn. (You may reveal a Lesson card you own from outside the game and put it into your hand, or discard a card to draw a card.)
Whenever you attack, put a +1/+1 counter on target attacking creature and untap it.
and that’s only seeing small amounts of play. I think it could be tested but won’t be good enough.
Rating: ★★★
Blue
Consuming Tide
Consuming Tide is actually a really interesting card. I think that this card will be wanted by the Izzet Turns deck. It’ll be utilized as a way to reset the board with losing very little. I think that there’s also a place where this could see some play in Historic for Jeskai Creativity or Control.
Rating: ★★★
Dreamshackle Geist
Dreamshackle Geist
Dreamshackle Geist
Flying
At the beginning of combat on your turn, choose up to one —
• Tap target creature.
• Target creature doesn't untap during its controller's next untap step.
is a card that feels average to me, but at the same time, this compares to
Dungeon Geists
Dungeon Geists
Flying
When this creature enters, tap target creature an opponent controls. That creature doesn't untap during its controller's untap step for as long as you control this creature.
which saw standard play. I think though the metas were very different when Dungeon Geist was in Standard so I don’t think it’ll do much. I also don’t think that this is good enough for Historic either.
Rating: ★★
Geralf, Visionary Stitcher
Geralf, Visionary Stitcher
Geralf, Visionary Stitcher
Zombies you control have flying.
{U}, {T}, Sacrifice another nontoken creature: Create an X/X blue Zombie creature token, where X is the sacrificed creature's toughness.
is a card that may make the Historic Zombies deck want to play blue. This alongside
Necroduality
Necroduality
Whenever a nontoken Zombie you control enters, create a token that's a copy of that creature.
might be enough to push the viability of zombies in Historic. I don’t know that Standard is the home for Geralf, but Historic could be it.
Rating: ★★★
Hullbreaker Horror
Hullbreaker Horror
Hullbreaker Horror
Flash
This spell can't be countered.
Whenever you cast a spell, choose up to one —
• Return target spell you don't control to its owner's hand.
• Return target nonland permanent to its owner's hand.
is the feeling a bit like a draft card. 7 mana is often a very contentious point for constructed, and you want to be winning the game off it or before it. This does neither. While having Flash is cool, and uncountability is great, it just feels a bit underwhelming for constructed. In a world where Control decks are playing fewer high mana cost bomb threats, this feels a bit stranded.
Rating: ★★
Inspired Idea
Inspired Idea
Inspired Idea
Cleave {3}{U}{U} (You may cast this spell for its cleave cost. If you do, remove the words in square brackets.)
Draw three cards. [Your maximum hand size is reduced by three for the rest of the game.]
is a card that is ALMOST playable. I doubt that anyone is going to want to pay the 3 mana cost and have their max hand size reduced, so we’re going to be paying 5 for this. The question becomes, is a 5 mana draw 3 worthwhile? Yea, it could be. The one thing that holds this back from viability is that it’s a sorcery.
Rating: ★★
Overcharged Amalgam
Overcharged Amalgam
Overcharged Amalgam
Flash
Flying
Exploit (When this creature enters, you may sacrifice a creature.)
When this creature exploits a creature, counter target spell, activated ability, or triggered ability.
seems very interesting. It compares to
Nimble Obstructionist
Nimble Obstructionist
Flash
Flying
Cycling {2}{U} ({2}{U}, Discard this card: Draw a card.)
When you cycle this card, counter target activated or triggered ability you don't control.
a bit, but it requires another creature to sacrifice for exploit. We are getting quite a bit of zombie support in this set, but I don’t know that the deck will be competitive in Standard. It definitely won’t see play in Historic, because we have
Stifle
Stifle
Counter target activated or triggered ability. (Mana abilities can't be targeted.)
.
Rating: ★★
Patchwork Crawler
Patchwork Crawler
Patchwork Crawler
{2}{U}: Exile target creature card from your graveyard and put a +1/+1 counter on this creature.
This creature has all activated abilities of all creature cards exiled with it.
is plain and simple too cute. It has some utility of being able to exile creatures from the graveyard, but that’s the only reliable thing we have. I think that trying to build around this is not a recipe for success.
Rating: ★
Winged Portent
Winged Portent
Winged Portent
Cleave {4}{G}{U} (You may cast this spell for its cleave cost. If you do, remove the words in square brackets.)
Draw a card for each creature you control [with flying].
is a strange one. the colors don’t necessarily lend themselves to being a creature deck, nor a flying creature deck. I think that this may be something more of a card for draft.
Rating: ★
Mirrorhall Mimic / Ghastly Mimicry
Mirrorhall Mimic /
Ghastly Mimicry
Ghastly Mimicry
You may have this creature enter as a copy of any creature on the battlefield, except it's a Spirit in addition to its other types.
Disturb {3}{U}{U} (You may cast this card from your graveyard transformed for its disturb cost.)
is a really cool card. 4 mana clones are pretty competitive, and if we can get the flip side in play on a powerful creature, things could be insane. I think it’s worth considering for Historic where the creature quality is much higher.
Rating: ★★★
READ MORE: Ten Most Expensive MTG Cards in Innistrad: Crimson Vow
Black
Bloodvial Purveyor
Bloodvial Purveyor
Bloodvial Purveyor
Flying, trample
Whenever an opponent casts a spell, that player creates a Blood token. (It's an artifact with "{1}, {T}, Discard a card, Sacrifice this token: Draw a card.")
Whenever this creature attacks, it gets +1/+0 until end of turn for each Blood token defending player controls.
is really interesting. It’s has an aggressive stat line, good evasion and trample. It’s “drawback” is giving the opponent blood tokens whenever they cast spells, but we get to boost our damage for each blood token they have. Blood tokens let a player loot, but they have to pay 1 to do so. I think that this could be pretty competitive for Standard, and may be for Historic Vampires.
Rating: ★★★
Demonic Bargain
Demonic Bargain
Demonic Bargain
Exile the top thirteen cards of your library, then search your library for a card. Put that card into your hand, then shuffle.
is a pretty interesting card. It feels almost like
Demonic Consultation
Demonic Consultation
Choose a card name. Exile the top six cards of your library, then reveal cards from the top of your library until you reveal a card with the chosen name. Put that card into your hand and exile all other cards revealed this way.
, but not quite as combo-y. You obviously run the risk of exiling the card that you’re hoping to search for, but a 3 mana tutor is pretty strong. I think that this could be card that would go in the
Tainted Pact
Tainted Pact
Exile the top card of your library. You may put that card into your hand unless it has the same name as another card exiled this way. Repeat this process until you put a card into your hand or you exile two cards with the same name, whichever comes first.
and
Jace, Wielder of Mysteries
Jace, Wielder of Mysteries
If you would draw a card while your library has no cards in it, you win the game instead.
+1: Target player mills two cards. Draw a card.
−8: Draw seven cards. Then if your library has no cards in it, you win the game.
decks as ways to reliably find either of those cards, but that’s probably it.
Rating: ★★★
Dreadfeast Demon
Dreadfeast Demon is a really cool card. I think that this is a card that we can try to build around as a fun little challenge. We can sacrifice tokens to this, so that’d be how I’d build it. I don’t think that we’re making this top tier though. This is a HOUSE in draft though.
Rating: ★
Dying to Serve
Dying to Serve
Dying to Serve
Whenever you discard one or more cards, create a tapped 2/2 black Zombie creature token. This ability triggers only once each turn.
is a worse
Waste Not
Waste Not
Whenever an opponent discards a creature card, create a 2/2 black Zombie creature token.
Whenever an opponent discards a land card, add {B}{B}.
Whenever an opponent discards a noncreature, nonland card, draw a card.
. The fact that we have to discard cards for this, and that it activates only 1 time a turn, is a pretty big hinderance for this being good.
Rating: ★
Falkenrath Forebear
Falkenrath Forebear is inspired by Skyclave Shade. I think in a deck where Blood tokens are plentiful, I’d consider this. Everywhere else, I’d take a Shade. I think that this is a reasonable creature and worth testing in a more aggro style deck.
Rating: ★★
Graf Reaver
I think that
Graf Reaver
Graf Reaver
Exploit (When this creature enters, you may sacrifice a creature.)
When this creature exploits a creature, destroy target planeswalker.
At the beginning of your upkeep, this creature deals 1 damage to you.
is a very good card. At worst, it’s a 2 mana planeswalker removal spell. At best, we have a solid creature that also removed a planeswalker. Definitely a really solid option for removal.
Rating: ★★★★
Headless Rider
Headless Rider
Headless Rider
Whenever this creature or another nontoken Zombie you control dies, create a 2/2 black Zombie creature token.
is a sweet card for Zombies. A card like this is a great way to rebuild a board after a board wipe. If the Zombies deck is good in Standard, this will be great. This could definitely be a great card in Historic as well. I’d expect this to definitely get tested.
Rating: ★★★
Path of Peril
Path of Peril
Path of Peril
Cleave {4}{W}{B} (You may cast this spell for its cleave cost. If you do, remove the words in square brackets.)
Destroy all creatures [with mana value 2 or less].
is great. Giving control a board wipe at 3 mana that can deal with a LOT of tiny aggressive creatures is fantastic. It’s cleave cost is a bit much but can deal with the whole board so I think that this has a good shot of being played if Esper is playable.
Rating: ★★★
Concealing Curtains / Revealing Eye
Concealing Curtains
Concealing Curtains
Defender
{2}{B}: Transform this creature. Activate only as a sorcery.
/ Revealing Eye isn’t great. Generally creatures with defender are not played, and if they need some big upside. The flip side is a bad discard spell because it let’s the target of it draw a new card. This is purely a draft rare, in which it’s an alright card.
Rating: ★
Voldaren Bloodcaster / Bloodbat Summoner
Voldaren Bloodcaster
Voldaren Bloodcaster
Flying
Whenever this creature or another nontoken creature you control dies, create a Blood token. (It's an artifact with "{1}, {T}, Discard a card, Sacrifice this token: Draw a card.")
Whenever you create a Blood token, if you control five or more Blood tokens, transform this creature.
/
Bloodbat Summoner
Bloodbat Summoner
Flying
Whenever this creature or another nontoken creature you control dies, create a Blood token. (It's an artifact with "{1}, {T}, Discard a card, Sacrifice this token: Draw a card.")
Whenever you create a Blood token, if you control five or more Blood tokens, transform this creature.
is a fine card. It’s competitively stated and costed, and in decks where blood tokens will be a focus, this might be alright. I just think that the “Blood Token” deck will be tricky to build, and probably will be a bit harder to make happen.
Rating: ★★
READ MORE: Zombies Are Straight-Up Silly In Commander These Days
Red
Alchemist’s Gambit
Alchemist’s Gambit
Alchemist’s Gambit
Cleave {4}{U}{U}{R} (You may cast this spell for its cleave cost. If you do, remove the words in square brackets.)
Take an extra turn after this one. During that turn, damage can't be prevented. [At the beginning of that turn's end step, you lose the game.]
Exile Alchemist's Gambit.
is an insane card, and one that will absolutely 100% be played in Standard, and possibly Historic. This is additional copies of
Alrund’s Epiphany
Alrund’s Epiphany
Create two 1/1 blue Bird creature tokens with flying. Take an extra turn after this one. Exile Alrund's Epiphany.
Foretell {4}{U}{U} (During your turn, you may pay {2} and exile this card from your hand face down. Cast it on a later turn for its foretell cost.)
for Izzet Turns, and also gives Izzet Dragons an “extra turn” finisher. This card may be the tipping point of solidifying Izzet Turns as the best deck in Standard, and could cause a banning for Epiphany.
Rating: ★★★★★
Change of Fortune
Change of Fortune
Change of Fortune
Discard your hand, then draw a card for each card you've discarded this turn.
is very interesting. It’s meant to play into the Blood Token mechanic, but I don’t anticipate it being played in that deck. Where I think it could show up in is the Mono Red Madness deck. That being said, that deck already has a bunch of ways to discard cards, so we’ll have to see, but it’s definitely worth testing.
Rating: ★★★
Creepy Puppeteer
Creepy Puppeteer is a very interesting card. It’s definitely possible that this could be a decent top end for a Red aggro deck, and buff up some smaller creatures. This also could fit into the Gruul Aggro deck in Historic, since there’s quite a few smaller creatures that we can buff. Very interesting card that has some real potential.
Rating: ★★★
Curse of Hospitality
This card is pretty cool. Curse of Hospitality has a similar effect to
Robber of the Rich
Robber of the Rich
Reach, haste
Whenever this creature attacks, if defending player has more cards in hand than you, exile the top card of their library. During any turn you attacked with a Rogue, you may cast that card and you may spend mana as though it were mana of any color to cast that spell.
, which saw some play. That card has been phased out of the deck. Where this card has some play over Robber is that it gives ALL of your creatures trample. That’s a pretty big benefit. I think this card is moreso going to be used for that effect than the secondary one. That being said, I’m 50/50 on if this sees play, so we’ll have to see.
Rating: ★★★
Dominating Vampire
One of our obligatory “
Act of Treason
Act of Treason
Gain control of target creature until end of turn. Untap that creature. It gains haste until end of turn. (It can attack and {T} this turn.)
” for the set is
Dominating Vampire
Dominating Vampire
When this creature enters, gain control of target creature with mana value less than or equal to the number of Vampires you control until end of turn. Untap that creature. It gains haste until end of turn.
. I don’t think that this card is very good. It has a pretty strict requirement for meet to get the creature we want, and we may not always be able to meet it. A 3/3 for 3 is fine? I’m not excited by this card and I don’t think it’s going to be played, except for maybe in a Vampire Aggro deck.
Rating: ★★
Kessig Wolfrider
Kessig Wolfrider
Kessig Wolfrider
Menace
{2}{R}, {T}, Exile three cards from your graveyard: Create a 3/2 red Wolf creature token.
is an awesome card. Red has been looking for a new 1 cost to really take center stage and I think that Kessig Wolfrider is it. Menace makes sure that we’re getting damage through in the early game and we can pump out some tokens to help beef up our board. I think this combos really nicely with Creepy Puppeteer. Standard playable for sure, possibly Historic playable.
Rating: ★★★★
Olivia’s Attendants
Olivia’s Attendants doesn’t excite me in the slightest. It’s 6 mana, and it needs to connect to get any benefit. It’s only redeeming qualities are that it’s got menace, and it can be a mana sync to ping down creatures. I don’t expect this to be played at all in constructed.
Rating: ★
Stensia Uprising
Stensia Uprising is a neat token producer for red. I think that this card could be good. A consistent source of creatures is always a nice thing to have for Mono Red, and depending on how long it stays in play, or when we play it, it could deal 7 to our opponent’s face, which could end the game outright. That being said, there isn’t anything quite like this so it’s a bit hard to evaluate. I don’t know that it’s going to really see a ton of consideration.
Rating: ★★
Ill-Tempered Loner / Howlpack Avenger
This is a really cool design. On the front side, Ill-Tempered Loner is a
Stuffy Doll
Stuffy Doll
Indestructible
As this creature enters, choose a player.
Whenever this creature is dealt damage, it deals that much damage to the chosen player.
{T}: This creature deals 1 damage to itself.
, but on the flip side, Howlpack Avenger makes all of our permanents into Stuffy Dolls. There’s tons of combo potential here, but in Historic.
For Standard, this may be used more fairly as a good blocker, and if you happen to transform it, attacking / blocking is highly favorable for you. For Historic, we have quite a few of these style effects in Truefire Captain and Brash Taunter, so this could slot into that Tier 4 deck nicely.
Rating: ★★
READ MORE: Dracula Is Yet More Proof That Wizards Can Nail Crossovers
Green
Ascendant Packleader
Ascendant Packleader
Ascendant Packleader
This creature enters with a +1/+1 counter on it if you control a permanent with mana value 4 or greater.
Whenever you cast a spell with mana value 4 or greater, put a +1/+1 counter on this creature.
is a super cool 1 drop. It’s a solid attacker in the early game, but then as the game goes on, it gets bigger. I think this card is definitely on the table for consideration in Mono Green in Standard, and maybe the more Midrange versions of Gruul, for Standard and Historic.
Rating: ★★★★
Dig Up
Dig Up is actually pretty good. We’ve seen 1 mana land tutors be strong in the past like
Attune with Aether
Attune with Aether
Search your library for a basic land card, reveal it, put it into your hand, then shuffle. You get {E}{E} (two energy counters).
. It’s cleave ability lets us tutor anything which is pretty nice. I think that this may make it’s way into some Golgari decks with lower land counts to guarantee that they hit their land drops for Standard and Historic both. 2 mana is also a very important turn for ramp decks in Historic so this could creep in there as well.
Rating: ★★★
Glorious Sunrise
Glorious Sunrise
Glorious Sunrise
At the beginning of combat on your turn, choose one —
• Creatures you control get +1/+1 and gain trample until end of turn.
• Target land gains "{T}: Add {G}{G}{G}" until end of turn.
• Draw a card if you control a creature with power 3 or greater.
• You gain 3 life.
is a pretty versatile card and a powerful one. I think that this has a home in Mono Green Aggro, as all of these options are really strong for that deck. I think that this probably is a bit too slow though for Historic.
Rating: ★★★★
Hamlet Vanguard
I really like
Hamlet Vanguard
Hamlet Vanguard
Ward {2} (Whenever this creature becomes the target of a spell or ability an opponent controls, counter it unless that player pays {2}.)
This creature enters with two +1/+1 counters on it for each other nontoken Human you control.
a lot. I think that this card has the makings of a REALLY good finisher in Humans decks for both formats. Stick a
Maul of the Skyclaves
Maul of the Skyclaves
When this Equipment enters, attach it to target creature you control.
Equipped creature gets +2/+2 and has flying and first strike.(It deals combat damage before creatures without first strike.)
Equip {2}{W}{W}
on this guy, and you’re in business. It has built in protection, and can get absolutely massive, and not to mention, we can hit this off
Collected Company
Collected Company
Look at the top six cards of your library. Put up to two creature cards with mana value 3 or less from among them onto the battlefield. Put the rest on the bottom of your library in any order.
in Historic. Big thumbs up from me.
Rating: ★★★★
Hiveheart Shaman
I don’t think that Hiveheart Shaman‘s home is really in constructed. Where this shines is as a build around me card in Limited. For constructed 4 or 5 color decks, we’re ideally playing dual lands, so this gains very little value. We can’t even leverage the activated ability because it requires basic land types.
Rating: ★
Howling Moon
I think that Howling Moon is more of a commander card than anything. The existing Werewolf deck in Standard wants to be curving out with creatures rather than playing an enchantment that relies on our opponent’s casting multiple spells to gain some benefit.
Rating: ★
Splendid Reclamation
During it’s first time in Standard
Splendid Reclamation
Splendid Reclamation
Return all land cards from your graveyard to the battlefield tapped.
didn’t do too much. This time probably won’t be any different, but where this card will 100% shine is in Historic. This combos incredibly well with
Scapeshift
Scapeshift
Sacrifice any number of lands. Search your library for up to that many land cards, put them onto the battlefield tapped, then shuffle.
and could make a very cool landfall / ramp deck come about. We don’t have
Field of the Dead
Field of the Dead
This land enters tapped.
{T}: Add {C}.
Whenever this land or another land you control enters, if you control seven or more lands with different names, create a 2/2 black Zombie creature token.
in the format any more, but there’s a lot to explore with this.
Rating: ★★★
Howlpack Piper / Wildsong Howler
Howlpack Piper is a really cool take on
Elvish Piper
Elvish Piper
{G}, {T}: You may put a creature card from your hand onto the battlefield.
, but with some Werewolf synergy upside. You’ll ideally want to give this haste somehow to be able to cheat a creature into play right away. Wildsong Howler is a great way to help refuel our hand with additional creatures. This card for Standard is most likely used for a tempo play if at all. For Historic, we can cheat some insane stuff into play, so I’d expect some experimentation there.
Rating: ★★★
Ulvenwald Oddity / Ulvenwald Behemoth
I think that Ulvenwald Oddity /
Ulvenwald Behemoth
Ulvenwald Behemoth
Trample, haste
{5}{G}{G}: Transform this creature.
is a really solid midrange creature. A 4 mana 4/4 with trample and haste is a great rate, and should it stick around, we get a… behemoth of a boss monster. I think this is a shoe in for a spot on Mono Green in Standard. For Historic, it has to contend with
Questing Beast
Questing Beast
Vigilance, deathtouch, haste
Questing Beast can't be blocked by creatures with power 2 or less.
Combat damage that would be dealt by creatures you control can't be prevented.
Whenever Questing Beast deals combat damage to an opponent, it deals that much damage to target planeswalker that player controls.
so I don’t expect it to see much love there.
Rating: ★★★★
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Multicolor / Artifact / Land
Anje, Maid of Dishonor
Anje, Maid of Dishonor is the one creature that I could see that would make a vampire / blood token deck work. She’s has a reliable way to produce blood tokens, and we can combo finish our opponent’s out with her activated ability. I’d expect this to see some testing for that very deck, so we’ll see how good it’ll be.
Rating: ★★★
Eruth, Tormented Prophet
Eruth, Tormented Prophet
Eruth, Tormented Prophet
If you would draw a card, exile the top two cards of your library instead. You may play those cards this turn.
is definitely not a constructed card. It’s definitely a “For Commander / Brawl” card, and that’s fine. It’s a cool effect that can give you some great value, but in the current climate of Standard and Historic, there’s much better cards to be playing.
Rating: ★
Grolnok, the Omnivore
What is most likely another “For Commander / Brawl” card, could also be a really fun “self mill” enabler.
Grolnok, the Omnivore
Grolnok, the Omnivore
Whenever a Frog you control attacks, mill three cards.
Whenever a permanent card is put into your graveyard from your library, exile it with a croak counter on it.
You may play lands and cast spells from among cards you own in exile with croak counters on them.
is one of the few cards that allow you to cast spells from exile. This would primarily be something for Historic, but could give you some protection for your
Jace, Wielder of Mysteries
Jace, Wielder of Mysteries
If you would draw a card while your library has no cards in it, you win the game instead.
+1: Target player mills two cards. Draw a card.
−8: Draw seven cards. Then if your library has no cards in it, you win the game.
. Pretty meme-y but still pretty fun.
Rating: ★★
Halana and Alena, Partners
Halana and Alena, Partners is actually a very cool card. This is a pretty competitive card for Gruul, and I think gives a little boost of power to the
Bard Class
Bard Class
(Gain the next level as a sorcery to add its ability.)
Legendary creatures you control enter with an additional +1/+1 counter on them.
{R}{G}: Level 2
Legendary spells you cast cost {R}{G} less to cast. This effect reduces only the amount of colored mana you pay.
{3}{R}{G}: Level 3
Whenever you cast a legendary spell, exile the top two cards of your library. You may play them this turn.
deck, which I’m a big fan of. I’m only giving this a 3 star rating because Bard Class is a pretty fringe deck, but this definitely goes in that deck.
Rating: ★★★
Odric, Blood-Cursed
Odiric, Blood-Cursed is a card that goes in the Blood Token deck. I’m sure that there’s an amalgamation a cards that you could compile into the deck to maximize the benefit of Odric, but I think that it’s just too hard to get full value. You’re probably looking at playing this with Anje and Olivia, and maybe get 3ish blood tokens per ETB trigger from Odric. I still don’t think that the deck will be quite good enough though it will be tried.
Rating: ★★★
Old Rutstein
Old Rutstein
Old Rutstein
When Old Rutstein enters and at the beginning of your upkeep, mill a card. If a land card is milled this way, create a Treasure token. If a creature card is milled this way, create a 1/1 green Insect creature token. If a noncreature, nonland card is milled this way, create a Blood token.
is a card that if it were to see any play would be a part of a new archetype for Standard. This is an engine for a self mill style of deck that may want to play some kind of landfall outlet like
Felidar Retreat
Felidar Retreat
Landfall — Whenever a land you control enters, choose one —
• Create a 2/2 white Cat Beast creature token.
• Put a +1/+1 counter on each creature you control. Those creatures gain vigilance until end of turn.
, and Splendid Reclamation, and maybe
Cultivator Colossus
Cultivator Colossus
Trample
Cultivator Colossus's power and toughness are each equal to the number of lands you control.
When this creature enters, you may put a land card from your hand onto the battlefield tapped. If you do, draw a card and repeat this process.
. It’s pretty slow, but could be a cool deck to try out in both Standard and Historic. I don’t think it’s very competitive though
Rating: ★★
Torens, Fist of the Angels
Torens, Fist of the Angels
Torens, Fist of the Angels
Training (Whenever this creature attacks with another creature with greater power, put a +1/+1 counter on this creature.)
Whenever you cast a creature spell, create a 1/1 green and white Human Soldier creature token with training.
is a house! This is a great card to play in Humans decks for both Standard and Historic. It’s a hit off Collected Company, and is a human itself, so it helps with those synergies. This lets you go super wide, and while it may not get really big, it’ll be a reasonable threat.
Rating: ★★★★
Dorothea, Vengeful Victim / Dorothea’s Retribution
Dorothea, Vengeful Victim
Dorothea, Vengeful Victim
Flying
When Dorothea attacks or blocks, sacrifice it at end of combat.
Disturb {1}{W}{U} (You may cast this card from your graveyard transformed for its disturb cost.)
is very interesting. 2 mana for a 4/4 flyer that gets 1 shot at combat is strange, but could be valuable. Where this card really shines is on it’s back side. Dorothea’s Retribution is effectively
Geist of Saint Traft
Geist of Saint Traft
Hexproof (This creature can't be the target of spells or abilities your opponents control.)
Whenever Geist of Saint Traft attacks, create a 4/4 white Angel creature token with flying that's tapped and attacking. Exile that token at end of combat.
‘s effect on an aura.
This is probably the most competitive Creature / Aura disturb card in the set, and while it may be a stretch for this to be good in Standard, Historic has a home for this already in Azorius Auras. 3 mana would be the most expensive aura in that deck, so we’ll have to test it and see just how good it is, but it looks pretty good.
Rating: ★★★★
Edgar, Charmed Groom / Edgar Markov’s Coffin
Edgar and his coffin are pretty fair cards. Edgar is a vampire lord, which is great for the vampire deck, but on his own, he’s a pretty solid creature. His coffin does a good job at keeping the board gummed up while we wait for him to rise again, but one of its downside is that it’s an artifact. There’s a fair bit of artifact removal in both Standard and Historic, so this may not stick around long.
Rating: ★★★
Runo Stromkirk / Krothuss, Lord of the Deep
Runo Stromkirk
Runo Stromkirk
Flying
When Runo enters, put up to one target creature card from your graveyard on top of your library.
At the beginning of your upkeep, look at the top card of your library. You may reveal that card. If a creature card with mana value 6 or greater is revealed this way, transform Runo.
is another “For Commander” card. The color combination and theme for this card doesn’t line up with anything else in the set, but this is a pretty cool commander. I’m sure that there’s probably some cheeky combo deck in Historic that could try to take advantage of
Krothuss, Lord of the Deep
Krothuss, Lord of the Deep
Flying
When Runo enters, put up to one target creature card from your graveyard on top of your library.
At the beginning of your upkeep, look at the top card of your library. You may reveal that card. If a creature card with mana value 6 or greater is revealed this way, transform Runo.
but I think that’s a “challenge deck” that shouldn’t be very competitive.
Rating: ★
Dollhouse of Horrors
Dollhouse of Horrors
Dollhouse of Horrors
{1}, {T}, Exile a creature card from your graveyard: Create a token that's a copy of the exiled card, except it's a 0/0 Construct artifact in addition to its other types and it has "This token gets +1/+1 for each Construct you control." It gains haste until end of turn. Activate only as a sorcery.
is a cool take on a card like
God-Pharaoh’s Gift
God-Pharaoh’s Gift
At the beginning of combat on your turn, you may exile a creature card from your graveyard. If you do, create a token that's a copy of that card, except it's a 4/4 black Zombie. It gains haste until end of turn.
. This is probably another Historic “challenge deck” type of card, and there’s a few angles you could take with this. You could try to generate constructs other ways and then your reanimated creature constructs are much larger, or you could try to go for a slew of different creatures that have broken enter the battlefield and attack triggered abilities and try to win that way. I think one creature you’d want for sure would be
Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger
Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger
When you cast this spell, exile two target permanents.
Indestructible
Whenever Ulamog attacks, defending player exiles the top twenty cards of their library.
. Ultimately though, this is a pretty odd card that most likely won’t see much play.
Rating: ★★
Investigator’s Journal
I’m pretty sure that Investigator’s Journal is meant to be for Commander / Brawl. I could see it as an on board card draw option, similar to Mazemind Tome, but this is just worse than that. I don’t expect this to see much play if any.
Rating: ★
Enemy Colored Slow Lands
Not much to say about these cards, except these are must crafts. Lands are the backbone of any deck, and having these for both Standard and Historic are going to be great pick ups.
Rating: ★★★★★
Voldaren Estate
Our last card is
Voldaren Estate
Voldaren Estate
{T}: Add {C}.
{T}, Pay 1 life: Add one mana of any color. Spend this mana only to cast a Vampire spell.
{5}, {T}: Create a Blood token. This ability costs {1} less to activate for each Vampire you control. (It's an artifact with "{1}, {T}, Discard a card, Sacrifice this token: Draw a card.")
. I don’t expect that this is going to be a very powerful land, as I don’t think the “vampire / blood token” deck will be very strong. It’s most likely not even an auto include in just a plain Vampire deck, as usually those decks are 1 or 2 colors and the mana is often good enough as is.
Rating: ★
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And that’s it! That was a long one and if you made it this far, I commend your dedication! We’ll be going over a few notable commons and uncommons in tomorrow’s article before the release on Magic Arena on Thursday. What Rares are you excited to try out in Standard or Historic? Let us know in the comments!