With Wilds of Eldraine prereleases having just come to a close, it’s almost time for the official release of the set. Recently, we went over what we believe to be the best cards in the set for various formats. Many of these cards have been heavily hyped up as players await their opportunities to play with the new goodies. However, just because certain cards have a lot of hype around them doesn’t mean that the rest of the set doesn’t have value to various formats.
With that in mind, today we will be going over some of the most underrated cards from Wilds of Eldraine. You may not hear tons of people singing praises about these cards, but each of them has potential in at least one major MTG format. It’s no secret that cards like Beseech the Mirror are on players’ radars, but perhaps there are some hidden gems as we dig deeper into the set. Without further ado, here are some of the most underrated cards from the new set.
Monstrous Rage
Monstrous Rage is an extremely efficient pump spell. While the card isn’t super flashy and it’s just an uncommon, it seems like a natural fit for Boros Heroic in Pioneer. Boros Heroic has definitely fallen off a bit in the format in recent months, but it still has the capability of putting up strong results. In this archetype, Monstrous Rage checks a lot of boxes that other pump spells don’t check. Much like Invigorated Rampage, this card gives a big power boost as well as Trample to the Creature it targets. This helps either Illuminator Virtuoso or Favored Hoplite cross the finish line, even in the face of chump blockers. Against mono-green devotion, this is a big deal.
There are a couple key differences, however, that favor Monstrous Rage. First, this card only costs one mana, letting you more easily cast multiple spells in the same turn and hold up God’s Willing to protect your threat against opposing removal spells. Second, because the Trample ability is given by the Monster Role the card creates, your Creature will maintain a power boost and Trample even in future turns. This makes Monstrous Rage a great play earlier in the game, even if you can’t get lethal in all at once. This card looks like a decent upgrade for this deck at the very least.
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Goddric, Cloaked Reveler
Another card that is very heavily slanted towards an aggressive shell is Goddric, Cloaked Reveler. Goddric is a strong addition to Standard red aggressive decks. At minimum, you get a three-mana three-power Creature that can attack immediately. This alone is reasonable, but unlikely to push out other three-drop options like Squee, Dubious Monarch. However, that’s not where the fun stops.
If you are able to play two nonland permanents on the same turn, Goddric goes from being a three-power attacker to a four-power attacker with Flying and the ability to pump itself and other Dragons by spending extra mana. This is the type of card that has a high floor and a high ceiling. It’s a solid aggressive Creature in the early turns of the game as is.
From there, you can set up at least one turn where you get a big attack in in the air, which helps provide the mono-red deck with extra reach. In a deck filled with one-drops, this isn’t super difficult to make happen. You can even play this card and a one-drop on turn four and immediately attack in the air for four damage. Given the tendency for the ground to get gummed up quickly in Standard thanks to cards like Wedding Announcement, this may be a big deal.
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Ashiok, Wicked Manipulator
It may be a bit surprising to see Ashiok on this list. After all, it’s the only Planeswalker featured in the main set! Still, while this card has been mentioned alongside cards like Bolas’s Citadel in Commander to maximize its static ability, few people have been talking about the card outside of the context of Commander. It is certainly true that this card is weaker than other five-mana Planeswalkers in the past, such as Teferi, Hero of Dominaria. That doesn’t mean it can’t play a role in Standard, though.
Ashiok has a decently strong first ability, and if you can keep the card alive, it’s easy to pull ahead as you relish all of the card advantage. In this sense, the card can definitely be decent in midrange mirrors. Given how popular black-based midrange decks are in Standard, I wouldn’t count this card out just yet. We’ve seen cards like Phyrexian Arena be utilized out of the sideboard against midrange and control decks. Ashiok could potentially play a similar role, without the dangerous life loss attached. Ashiok also helps dig for answers to Sheoldred, the Apocalypse without triggering the powerful Creature, which is a nice bonus. As a smaller note, if Faerie Mastermind continues to play a notable role in Standard, Ashiok gets around that card too.
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Court of Embereth
Moving on to the Commander format, Court of Embereth has insanely high upside. For four mana, you get to become the Monarch, providing you with extra cards until an opponent can deal damage to you. Well, at the same time, Court of Embereth gives you Creatures every single turn cycle to help you keep control of the Monarchy.
If that weren’t enough, Court of Embereth then damages each opponent every turn cycle as long as you are the Monarch. Outside of opposing Fliers, maintaining control of the Monarchy shouldn’t be too difficult, and the damage Court of Embereth deals certainly adds up. For any red deck that can go wide with tokens, this card can get out of control rather quickly.
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Korvold, Gleeful Glutton
Last but not least, we have a cool Commander option that has the potential to be quite strong. For eight mana, you get a four-power Flier with Trample and Haste. It does cost one less for each card type among permanents you sacrificed the turn you cast it, which works well alongside cards like Ashnod’s Alter to get this card out ahead of schedule.
From there, if you can connect in combat with your Hasty Flier, which shouldn’t be a big ask in a multiplayer Commander game, you get to draw cards and put a number of plus-one plus-one counters on Korvold equal to the number of permanent types in your graveyard. Notably, this does exclude Instants and Sorceries. Still, it’s easy to get Creatures and Lands into your graveyard naturally, and Korvold certainly pays you off if you can get other permanent types in as well.
Korvold may be expensive to cast, but its ability to repeatedly draw you cards is very powerful. Each of these underrated cards could have reasonable impact moving forward, so while they may not be the most sought-after cards right now, don’t sleep on their potential.
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