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Dissension Limited - Group EffortsBy Daniel Rezendes on May 22nd, 2006 · Filed in Limited · 25 CommentsSpell Snare is unplayable and Cackling Flames is nuts! That's right, it's time for Dissension's Limited review. We are going to shoot out our opinions about all of the commons and uncommons in the latest set, all for your benefit, entertainment, and most of all, so that you can disagree with us. Everyone always disagrees with the guys doing the reviews. Below you will find the complete list of cards with both our comments (My (that's VestDan) text is straight, Tahn's is in italics, and I reserve the right to be wrong on occasion), perfectly printable in toilet paper format. The Guilds: Azorius: Azorius is a little dissapointing for me. For one, Forecast has so much potential, but we happened to see the two most powerful forecast abilities spoiled first, and the others were all a bit of a letdown (although Plumes of Peace is, of course, quite good). The guild everyone expected to be slow, stall-control ended up being more of an aggro control strategy, which is fine, but kinda dull. Moreover, the control isn't all that substantial, and has to come from other sets (Drift of Phantasms and the like are very important). Many of the commons are underpowered or of limited use, which, in combination with Orzhov, bodes ill for heavy White decks in block Limited. Simic: These guys are very powerful, and Graft is quite potent. Some cheap fliers suddenly become huge, as you can toss counters from your less useful graft creatures on to them. The problem with Simic, though, is that it only has one or two creatures that cost less than four mana. Once they get online, they are very potent, but you have to get some earlier stuff from other guilds. Some Signets would be good too, as this is a mana-hungry guild (maybe not so much as Izzet, but still likes having a lot of mana to play around with). Bounce is your friend. Finally, Simic has some very tasty synergy with Gruul, I hear. Rakdos: Easily has several of the best common removal spells in the block, and a few nifty creatures to boot. A lot of the early focus on Rakdos was on the Hellbent mechanic, which (as I and many others always purported) is quite useful. In my prerelease flight, 80% of the field or so was WUG... but the top three decks were Rakdos. Trust me, there is a lot of Block draft complete trios: Dimir-Orzhov-Azorius - Slow Control...probably too shallow, as Orzhov and *Azorius have a lot of weak commons. Focus on removal and evasion. *Boros-Izzet-Azorius - Aggro-Control with lots of small, evasive creatures. Lots of potential card advantage here, just be careful for big critters. *Golgari-Gruul-Rakdos - Beatdown with heavy removal, but not much evasion, so be careful of that. Dredge gives Rakdos some nice staying power, and Rakdos level aggression (particularly Kill-Suit Cultist) helps enable Bloodthirst well. *Dimir-Izzet-Rakdos - Confused... tempo-based, maybe? I'm not sure how this would work, though I'm leaning toward a controlling strategy. *Boros-Orzhov-Rakdos - Removal craziness -- you can take care of just about anything with this combo, in theory at least. Make sure to get evasion from Ravnica and Guildpact, and try to get some big creatures somewhere if you can. We'll talk more about that later. Other powerful combos - None of those trios include Simic, which can be quite powerful. Selesnya combos well with it, and a few odd Azorius cards could be added. However, be aware that Selesnya-Simic is very removal light, not that Faith's Fetters or Plumes of Peace shouldn't already be your top pick. Consider splashing Black or Red for a little removal if it is availible. Simic-Izzet-Gruul is a very powerful combination, with the Simic giving the evasion for bloodthirst and Gruul giving early game creatures for Simic, with Izzet utility spells (not to mention synnergy between the two +1/+1 counter mechanics). However, this puts a lot of the onus of playability on pack two, so make sure you are guiding your left away from red. Two-guild combinations that worked in previous draft formats can still work, you'll just have to know that one of the packs won't give you any gold cards. For example, I've always liked Selesnya-Golgari-Orzhov, but now with only one pack of Ravnica to get your BG and GW cards and no gold cards from Dissention, you really have to open great stuff in Ravnica. Dissension Commons White: Aurora Eidolon - The recursion is cute, but the size and effect here are just not enough to warrant the cost. It has a somewhat decent combat trick, and pulling it off a few times could be annoying. Best Eidolon by quite a margin, and more often than not maindeck worthy. Beacon Hawk - Not quite sure what to think of this yet. Seems comperable to Courier Hawk, though a better defensive card, so I'd call it better overall. I dislike Courier Hawk, and while this seems a bit better, I still don't like it. 1/1s, even when flying, need to have good abilities, and I don't think these are good enough generally. Playable if you need two-drops, nice with Viashino Fangtail Carom - A nice little trick, which at least replaces itself, will probably save a creature, and very likely kill one of your opponent's as well. Not a top pick, but definately main-deckable. Looks good, and might be even better in practice. Or maybe I'm just lucky that my first Carom I cast was a straight three-for-one. Still, the mere possibility of that for two mana makes this card very good, and you'll find that it's usually at least a one mana cheaper Zap. Freewind Equenaut - It's a Wind Drake at worst, which is more than fine for Limited. If you can get his ability operational, that's very nice too, but don't push yourself to get it working--again, Wind Drake is playable alone in Limited. Happy with stuff like Magemarks. Can't go wrong with those stats, and it will occasionally do scary things. Pick this high. Guardian of the Guildpact - it's effectively costed defense, though its inability to block fliers and the fact that many of the best Plain. Simple. Good. Very good, if unexciting. It should always make your deck if only to annoy your opponent (and because it really is very good). Haazda Exonerator - Something good to have around, even perhaps in your main deck, considering all the potent auras running around. Don't push to get it in your main, but it's okay to have one of. Think of it as Dissension's Caregiver, but a little less likely to make the main deck. Meh. It's not terrible, but I'm happy if I don't need to play it. Destroying an Aura isn't bad. Unfortunately, that's ALL it does, which makes the card too narrow for my taste. Soulsworn Jury - Good defensive stats, AND defense agaisnt bomb creatures. Very playable in controlling decks on its stats alone, quite good if you can activate it. Horned Turtle and Remove Soul are both good cards. Getting them in a nice package makes for a very good card. Steeling Stance - Solid, if unexciting. Forecast obviously can't be used in combat, so the Forecast ability is only really useful to pump your aggressive creatures. The double White makes it annoying to hard cast, but decent. Doesn't seem amazing, but playable. However, as shallow as Azorius seem to be, and as shallow as Guildpact's White guild, this probably will go very late. Here I'll disagree with VestDan. This card is not solid at all. Wojek Siren was already extremely unexciting, and while this is easier to use and more reliable, it also costs three times as much! Three mana combat tricks should be damn good (think Wildsize) and this just isn't. The forecast is pathetic, as its effect is marginal and it gives away the trick, making it pretty much impossible to ever catch anything with it later. Valor Made Real - "Sacrifice a creature: Deal its power in damage to target attacking creature, and prevent all combat damage this turn." Well, just about. Essentially a Fog variant, only really playable if you have something to combo with it, and questionable even then. I've seen way too many people get excited over this. VestDan's analysis is right on. Blue: Enigma Eidolon - for those of you who miss Dimir Mill from Rav-Rav-Rav, this might help, but like the other Eidolons, seems too expensive. Don't let that Glimpse in your pool tempt you to play this. Helium Squirter - 5 for a 3/3 flier is always good. This isn't quite a flier, but it's close enough, and it CAN make your other creatures fliers... and bigger. Play it, particularly in Simic, and Gruul-Simic when GP is involved. 3/3 fliers for five tend to be defining in Limited. This is at least as good. This card seems generally underestimated for now. Ocular Halo - expensive, but repeated card advantage is great in Limited. Great. At the very least, this will draw out some instant creature kill, or if not, draw you a card to replace it before they kill it. The White ability is barely significant compared to the draw, and of course works This has a white abilty. Really. This card is underrated for now, and will only go up in pick orders. One card a turn is great, and there are plenty of creatures happy to spend their time in defense, tapping every end of turn for a card. General Aura warning applies: play this only when you're sure your opponent can't remove the creature in response. The Vigilance ability is mostly irrelevant by the way. Silkwing Scout - A two power flier for 2U is good by itself; the ability is very tasty gravy. Very good card, playable even without the G. Great package. Good card for obvious reasons. Vision Skeins - card disadvantage, but its instant card draw, and cheap. I'm not to thrilled with giving the opponent two cards, and I expect this is quite disgustingly awful for Limited, but I can see this card surprising me. Maybe. Not likely. Very very not likely. Barring some very weird circumstances, unplayable. Writ of Passage - You can either make one of your small creatures unblockable and a big removal target for U, or you can pay 1U a turn to get the 1-2 damage through. Considering all the flying availible, I'd rather just have another flying critter, but then again your opponent probably has fliers as well, making flight a bit less evasive than it usually is. Still seems not to be something you want to maindeck often, if ever. By the way, this is not really an Azorius card, it just has their keyword -- Azorius stuff tends to fly already, after all. Simic, on the other hand, might have more fun with it. I'd never play cards like this. You need to be in a good position already for this to be effective, which is always a bad sign. And even when it works its effect is slow. Black: Delirium Skeins - wonderful if you are Rakdos, enabling many of your cards while disrupting your opponent greatly. You still only want to cast it when you are discarding less cards than your opponent - hellbent isn't worth it otherwise, unless you have a LOT of it. Perhaps also good if you have a lot of Dredge to work with as well (if you can set both yourself and your opponent to topdecking, dredge gives you resilience over them. I'd only really play if there's a LOT of hellbent in your deck, like five Demon's Jesters or something, so in block draft, not too good, and iffy at best in triple Dissension. Too situational to be good. Discard by itself is rather erratic already, symmetric discard is too situational. I don't believe in Hellbent enabling much, due to a lack of cards worth going Hellbent for. Demon's Jester - a 2/2 flier for 3B is about par for black, but it becomes wicked with hellbent. If you want to play a dedicated hellbent style deck, this should be about the most expensive thing in it (unless you If I find this funny, does that make me demonic? Of course my last comment is followed by the one common card you want to have Hellbent for. Still I'd prefer emptying my hand the "normal" way. This card is very good, obviously. Don't go out of your way to reach the empty hand, but late game it shouldn't be too hard to get him powered up. Enemy of the Guildpact - a bit on the expensive side, but a powerful ability in this format. Still, two toughness hurts it a lot, and there's enough monocolored creatures that can take it down that it is a mostly defensive card. Not as good as the Guardian of the Guildpact. The Guardian is good, this one just isn't. Even in the gold block, the actually gold spells are a minority, and a lot of the best ones don't even want to enter the red zone much (Guildmages). There's plenty of mono-coloured removal that can deal with this five mana, two tougness card, and it's rather worthless on offence. Entropic Eidolon - One of the better Eidolons, probably, but you're still paying 3BB for a one point mana drain. Possibly useful as repeated combat chaff, which is why it is the most useful, as it is ability is the only one that is always gonna help. The amount of extra mana you would need - not to mention gold spells - makes the Eidolons interesting but essentially unplayable. Draining for one isn't very relevant. Even if you manage to do it three or four times, you've paid way too much for the effect. Macabre Waltz - Amazing card. At the worst, you can return two creatures and discard one of them, to make it an overcosted Raise Dead. But bringing back two problem creatures, and likely discarding an extra land, can seal a game for you or help turn one around. The only reason this seems to be so undervalued is all the nifty removal and creatures Dissension black has. Very good. It often gives that pant-dropping feel to your opponent when you take back your two bombs. It's like Death Denied but it's common (so was Death Denied--VD). It's also a bit less swingy, but on the other hand I think Ravnica has more game-breaking creatures (especially at uncommon, hi Guildmages again). Note how this doesn't work well with Hellbent; this card actually wants you to keep an excess land in hand (like you do usually). Nettling Curse - Well, it's KINDA removal, and it's KINDA damage. This CAN let you get rid of problem creatures (that don't have tap abilities), and it CAN get some substantial damage onto your opponent (likely damaging you in the process, and only if they don't have one of the many easy ways to sacrifice the creature in the format). Obviously, lots of ifs on the card, making it generally bad. It's better against bad players, but hopefully you don't need help against them. Not the kind of card I'd play. It's not too terrible, but it's situational and expensive. I wouldn't feel too bad about playing it, but I'd rather not. Seal of Doom - It was good before, it's good AND synergistic now. Spot kill is always good, and this is cheap and can can be paid for in advance. And it's easily splashed for. Take the damned card. Good, cheap removal. If you've ever played Limited you know that's a top pick. Slaughterhouse Bouncer - Meh, alright. Overcosted without hellbent, and too expensive to be used much in a hellbent heavy deck. Not playable. Meh. If you need some random filler, here it is. A bit like Barbarian Riftcutter; not too bad, but looks so much better in your sideboard. Vesper Ghoul - About two mana more than it would cost in green, but of course, it isn't green. If you want accel, a signet is better 90% of the time, and if you need fixing, why are you looking in black? Vaguely playable if you really need mana fixing, but then you have bigger problems that adding a 1/1 for 3 to your deck will do little to help. Desperate for mana-fixing? Try to find another solution first. Still nothing? Well here you go I guess. I can't think of anything funny to say. So I'll just say it's a good card. Red: Cackling Flames - This looks very much like the Odyssey threshhold burn spell... but while hellbent is a little more risky, this is an instant. A mite expensive for Lightning Bolt, but 3 damage kills an awful lot of important stuff that needs killin'. It's removal, it's Limited, don't complain. Quite a step up from Dogpile. Instant-speed removal at a reasonable cost, with the option to turn it into a Lava Axe to finish your opponent. Great card. Kill-Suit Cultist - This is a Gruul-Rakdos card. It might as well read, "If you have B untapped, this is unblockable," in a way. Of course, they could just throw any ol' creature in its way to kill it. A nice escort for other creatures you attack with, making any blocking assignments potentially deadly. Again, not as good against players who aren't scared of it. Useful in the late game to break through ugly board positions, so don't automatically drop him turn 1 when you can. It seems playable, but I really can't bring myself to like it. It's quite nice if you have a lot of pingers though. Then again, having a lot of pingers is nice by itself. Ogre Gatecrasher - Eh, what the heck. Hill Giant is fine for Limited, and it might even kill something with an annoyingly high toughness. Quite solid. Solid card. Hill Giants are good in Limited, and there are enough Defenders to make its CIP matter - and when it does, you just got a great deal. Psychotic Fury - A very elegant card - either saving one of your multicolored creatures, or doubling the damage one deals to something. At the very least, it replaces itself in your hand, which is always a good thing for a combat trick to do. Make sure you have enough creatures to cast this on, though (you might be surprised how often people forget this sort of thing). Like, at least five gold creatures with more than one power, which happens a lot less often than you'd think. Very situational combat trick, and therefore not very good. You need a lot of gold creatures to make this good. I'd say at least six are necessary. Sandstorm Eidolon - Um... why? Aggressive decks that want to make blocking hard can't afford to be spending 4 mana on 2/2s, only to sacrifice them to get one more creature through. Yuck. Seal of Fire - Same as Seal of Doom: very good, just play it. It's cheap and effective removal, and can even hit your opponent for two when you need to. Removal is good. And it's cheap too. Taste for Mayhem - Loves first strike! Nice with anything with evasion as well, even without the hellbent. Can work to get a good deal of early damage, as well. It's still an aura, and it does nothing to make its target harder to kill, so be careful with it - Bonesplitter this ain't. Don't play it. The thought of +4/+0 is tempting, but this card just sets you up for a two-for-one and doesn't give enough to risk that. Utvara Scalper - About the best evasion Red can hope to get. Not too bad, really needs some removal or power-enhancing to make it get past the numerous fliers on the format. Likely as not, it will just ram into some large flier to no effect, so not a very high pick. Works well with Taste for Mayhem, though. If you really need a Bloodthirst enabler but still managed to miss the Ledgewalkers I guess you can use this. It's a bad card, but it can be used if it fills a hole in your deck. Whiptail Moloch - It's big, but without evasion, trample, or haste, or anything, and considering that 75% or more of the removal still kills it, much more risky than is worth. There are ways around the drawback, and that would make this a nice card if you actually got something interesting for that drawback. A Glass Golem with one extra toughness just isn't impressive enough. Green: Aquastrand Spider - At worst, its a bear. It's a bear that can graft, which is good. And it lets all your grafters and graft targets block fliers. And Simic has very little else to do early on. Definately some good. Bears are good. Being able to block fliers is nice, being able to let another creature block fliers is potentially very good. Could be a high pick if you're short on two-drops. Cytospawn Shambler - Expensive, but big and potentially game-winning. Look out for black removal and the such. Don't want too many of them, and only if you have a lot of accel. Rare fat is generally gonna be better fat anyway, but this'll get the job done. Expensive, but efficient and game-breaking. Really good. Simic Initiate - One drops are generally not worth the effort for Limited... but this is a one drop that pumps your later drops when 1/1s are of little use. Later in the game, it is still only a 1/1, but it can still pump your next creature, which means it can have some impact on the board. Sometimes better not to play right away -- use it to leech a counter off of a Vigean Hydropon, to make your NEXT creature +2/+2 without card disadvantage yet. This seems currently rather overrated. One card for a 1/1 sucks. One card for one +1/+1 counter sucks (sorcery-speed Battlegrowth?) Getting to turn the 1/1 into the counter really doesn't help the card much. It IS good in the Blood-graft deck because of its extreme synergy, but that's all. Simic Ragworm - As I said before, a 3/3 for 4 is useful in Limited to begin with. The ability to untap is decent alone, and makes for all sorts of crazy combos randomly possible. If you can saddle him with just about ANY tap ability, he becomes quite disturbingly good... but getting him such an ability isn't terribly easy. And, as said a few times before, 4 mana is busy in Simic, making the Ragworm sit on the sidelines more often than not. Hill Giants are fine, the untap ability isn't much more than semi-vigilance. Decent but unexciting filler. Sporeback Troll - A bit small for it's cost, but in a highly Simic deck, more or less makes all your creatures regenerate for 1G. Really, though, make Neither of us like this card, but in certain decks - such as Blood-graft - it can be incredible. There are so many viable archetypes, it is hard to discount anything. Too weak for its cost. Don't play it, it's just too clumsy. Street Savvy - Sideboard only, if your opponent has some random landwalker that wrecks you. And I mean WREAKS you, and you have no other answer for it. Really not worth it otherwise. Even for sideboard purposes I can hardly ever imagine this coming in. Thrive - Wow, this card actually makes sense this time around! It was just a random card in Prophecy; here, it is a massive Simic enabler. Great stuff, here, and playable outside of Simic regardless. Decent in any deck, good with a lot of Graft effects. I wouldn't get too excited about it though. Utopia Sprawl - Mana accel and mana fixing both, not bad at all. Not a huge pick, but maindeckable certainly in base-green decks. Good mana-fixing, and the fact that it can be played turn 1 is often relevant too. Do notice it's an Enchant Forest, so you need a lot of Forests for this to work! That's actually very relevant in this format of three- and fourcolour decks filled with Karoos. Verdant Eidoloron - Huh? Why Honestly? I guess you can kinda use it to accelerate to six mana... but still. Way not worth it. I've seen people playing it. I really don't understand. If you want to get to high mana values, get a signet, or just another land for the love of Yawgmoth. (I'm such a nerd.) Last of the Eidolons, finally. Not the worst one, but still not good enough to play. Multicolor Assault Zeppelid - Dear god, yes. This is huge, it is cheap, and it flies. A great reason to play Simic, all by itself. Value it highly. Particularly potent with a few Graft counters. Just great. Remember I said 3/3 fliers for five rule Limited? Let's just take one mana off. Comes down turn three off a Signet which is crazy. Azorius First-Wing - When did flying become free? And protection from enchantments? Odd, but useful in this aura-ridden environment, not to mention the Seals. Really, I don't think anyone will disagree that 2/2 fliers for 2 are a good thing that should be played if the mana allows. Yep, he's great. Bears are good, fliers are good. Flying bear? Awesome. And yes the pro-enchantments is quite relevant, although it may work against you occasionally too. No Cloak for this guy. Coiling Oracle - a 1/1 for GU isn't spectacular, but it replaces itself, either with a new card in your hand or a land in play, untapped. Very solid, though take some of the business Simic spells first. Ok but unspectacular. Mostly an expensive cantrip with unreliable acceleration. Decent but a bit overrated. Gobhobbler Rats - I don't know what can be said about it that hasn't been already for about a month. It's a bear, that's fine as it is. Don't be at all hesitant to play it. Hellbent is nice, but don't hurt yourself trying to get it unless hellbent wins you the game. Indeed a bear is always fine, and it's quite good late game. Overrule - Pissiest Common in the Set Award Winner. Not only does it disrupt your opponent, it makes it that much harder for them to win. As with many scaled effects, don't be afraid to use it early when you need to, just becasue you think you might benefit more from it later. Some people don't like counters in Limited, but one or two always seem to work for me. Still, Azorius is fairly weak, which might mean you can finagle your way into being the only one drafting it... but unlikely, as easy as splashing and such is. Way too expensive Counterspell. Convolute isn't great, this is MUCH worse. Plumes of Peace - It's removal that doesn't suck. The tap ability is a little dissapointing as a sorcery, but I suppose can help get some damage though, though I'd rather get a creature tapped down for good. Don't underestimate it, it can shut down anything that attacked you last turn, and at 5 mana, any creature at all, which is a good thing, last I heard. First pickable, as it's in a removal-light combination. It's removal in WU, a colour combination light on it. That alone makes is first pick material. Rakdos Ickspitter - Pingers are good. Duh. Oh, it hurts your opponent while it kills his critters? That's neat-o spiff. Very strong. Disgusting in multiples. Pingers are always good. High pick. Vigean Hydropon - 1GU: Your next 5 creatures are bigger and Simic enabled. Sweet. Just for god's sake don't count this as a creature during deck construction! Repeat -- no mater what the type line says, this is NOT a creature. These are being highly underdrafted that I see, which can be good for someone -- in multiples, these are completely insane. It offers five power and toughness for three mana, which is good. However you need to play it early, which makes it a loss of tempo, and a bad late-game draw. You need a lot of creatures in your deck to make it work, and I would only play it if the +1/+1 counters somehow mean more to you (Simic effects) or you have ways to pump out creatures quickly (token production). Wrecking Ball - Killing a creature, instant speed, is a great deal, this is obviously a high pick. One thing I'd like to mention though is, don't forget it can kill lands. Land destruction isn't usually worth a spot in Limited, but this card is there for the critter removal; that said, in this format, you will likely see numerous opportunities to captialize on color screw, so take advantage of it and grind their face into the dirt. It's the Rakdos way. Plain awesome. The only problem with this card is that it will pull everyone in Rakdos. Hybrid: Minister of Impediments - Very nice. Master Decoy was always a super powerful card, and this doesn't tie up your mana. Quite, quite, quite good. Very good. You need to pick this very high, first pick if necessary, because everyone can and will play it. Riot Spikes - Versatile and efficient. Better off used as removal most of the time, only use as pump on evasive creatures, or perhaps first strikers. Ok, but rather unexciting. Should almost never be used on your own creatures, except if they have "if this is enchanted" clauses. Shielding Plax - Isn't the frame pretty? It's a cantrip and makes an important critter hard to kill. Quite playable, particularly with the "If this is enchanted..." creatures, Minister of Impediments, Guildmages... ya know, creatures with abilities. I'm sure you have a few of those. Not great. Rather expensive cantrip, and it's an Aura so you can still expect the creature to be bounced or killed in response. Signets and Karoos - you know how to use these by now, I should hope. And, no, Hellbent is not worth not playing the Rakdos Karoo. You fool. Dissension Uncommons White: Azorius Herald - This is incredibly strong if it can stay in play. The life gain is quite helpful, and being downright unblockable makes it very strong. Moreso than other evasion creatures, the Herald likes Graft and other size augmenters. Agreed. Definitely a strong pull towards Azorius. Blessing of the Nephilim - Not a high pick as it's another aura, but a bit higher of a pick if you have a lot (a lot) of gold creatures, particularly evasive ones (Azorius First-Wing would be a great target, if it was a legal one). Not a bad card to play, but not something you should push to include by any means. You should never play Auras that have so little effect. You're just asking for a two for one, and the reward just isn't worth the risk here. Brace for Impact - Can be very powerful, but as with the other multicolor-matters cards, you really have to have a large number of creatures Read this card. I'll bet if I ask you what it does in a week, you'll say, "I've never heard of it." Expensive and narrow trick. Indeed, don't play this below eight multicoloured creatures (which is nearly impossible by the way). When you have eight or more... I guess you can play it. But it's still the first card to cut probably. Condemn - It's efficient removal. Hell, this is worth getting just to have in your cardpool for constructed. Play this if you are white, and its worth splashing for if you aren't. Removal for one mana, and even more importantly, in a colour that needs it. Mistral Charger - a 2/1 for 3 is playable in Limited. A 2/1 for 2 with no disadvantage (it's even splashable) is, well, very playable. Efficient flyer. No questions asked. Paladin of Prahv - Recurring lifegain can be amazingly annoying in Limited. This is a mediocre creature, but a powerful forecast ability, if subtle. For example, against an aggressive deck, you could use it to discourage a creature from blocking, even. Quite playable, but look for evasion, removal, and efficient creatures first. Right on about the recurring lifegain. The creature isn't as bad as it looks either. Stoic Ephemera - Not to bad for a control deck, actually, as it can take out - or, just as importantly, hold back - quite a few strong attackers. This should always be able to trade with a more expensive creature. Stinkweed Imp without the dredge, and even then less strong. Still good enough to play. Blue Court Hussar - Nicely defensive and good card filtering. A great effect that's only slightly overcosted without the creature, and quite efficient if you can keep it in play. Don't be afraid to cast without the white if you need to dig - it's not worth waiting for the 1/3 if you can't cast the rest of your hand. Agreed. Solid, though rather unspectacular. Plaxmanta - A fine counter against any creature removal your opponent might unleash, and quite superb if it stays in play as well. Also, if you have the mana availible, don't forget that this can be a surprise blocker as well. Like Court Hussar, mildly playable without the enhancement, quite playable with it. Great card. You should almost never "waste" it by just using it as a creature, and generally save it as either surprise blocker or, more often, Mystic Snake for removal. Skyscribing - Vision Skeins is unplayable in Limited, but at least its an instant. Unplayable. Spell Snare - Counters this limited aren't really worth it in Limited. This is a fine card in constructed, but won't do much in Limited. Worse than Skyscribing.  Vigean Graftmage - A finely sized critter, and plenty good because of the graft. The activated ability is also quite nice, if costly to use much. It's not something you should consider highly, but it's a fine card to toss into your deck. Filler. I wouldn't be very happy to run it, but it's not terrible either. Black: Bond of Agony - No No comment submitted on this card (for obvious reason-VD) Brain Pry - A fine card agaisnt Forecast, and the fact that it replaces itself if you wiff on the card name means its never unplayable. I'd usually rather have Castigate, if availible, or even a creature 75% of the time. Sideboard against powerful Forecast (think Pride of the Clouds) cards only. Crypt Champion - a difficult effect to control, but a potentially powerful one, and a powerful creature on its own right if he stays in play. Particularly powerful with recurring removal like Rakdos Ickspitter, to get rid of your opponent's likely reanimation targets. The symmetric effect will usually be just that, symmetric. But the creature makes it worth it on its own. Drekavac - I'm not sure what to think of this card yet. If you get him out early, he can do a lot of damage, but you are more likely to use an important card. Later in the game, you'll probably just pitch an excess land, so he's not a dead card (assuming you are smart enough not to just drop every land you draw). I think I'd play it if I were heavy black, but not be too dissapointed if I didn't get it in a draft. I wouldn't play it. As VestDan explained, early on you have no cards to miss (unless you're flooded). Later he won't have much impact. And he works oddly bad with Hellbent then, wanting you to keep a land in hand. Nightcreep - CAN be used during an opponent's upkeep tostunt their turn, if they aren't playing black. But you have to be playing heavy black to do it, and slowing your opponent down for a turn isn't something worth a card to do. Unplayable. Ragamuffyn - Ain't bad, and it's good for hellbent-oriented decks to have an out in case the aggression stalls. The ability won't be useable often, but will be quite powerful when it is. This card is very good. Perhaps the uncommon which has won me the most games so far. Fair body early on, gamewinner late game. Slithering Shade - in any other block, this would be quite powerful, but as three color decks are the norm and four color decks common, If you hold the card upside-down and look very closely at the art, you can just make out a Torment expansion symbol. Agreed, except for the "sadly".  Red: Flame-Kin War Scout - a great card in aggressive decks - if your board is better than your opponent's, this guy will keep it that way for a while. Your opponent may manage to pop it with a one drop, but just as likely they had cast their cheap creatures to stave off your early assault, and won't be able to pop this easily. Four mana for removal you can't control. That's not good. If it works, it's probably as a win-more card. Don't play this. Flaring Flame-Kin - Decent stats to begin with, quite brutal when enchanted. If you have two or three Taste for Mayhem and/or Riot Spikes or other such things, go for it - all the cards are playable alone, so not getting them together doesn't hurt you. Really good if you have 2+ Auras. Gnat-Alley Creeper - Can be surprisingly effective evasion, as there's so many fliers these days. A 3/1 for 3 isn't bad either, though there are about a quarter million of those in Ravnica. Quite playable. Okay for aggressive decks. Ignorant Bliss - I suppose in triple Dissension, this works as a fine Hellbent enabler... though that would rarely be worth it. It does at least replace itself, but still isn't worth it in Limited. I look forward to using this agaisnt in Mental Magic one day, though. (I had to say it.) Yep, not worth it outside of DDD. Besides, there's not enough good hellbent around to make this good. Kindle the Carnage - It's a board sweeper of a sort, though highly undependable. Sweepers are powerful, but that's usually because they reset the board when you are better prepared to recover, and losing most of your hand makes that difficult. Seems very overrated. I just don't see how you're going to win if you blow up your own hand in addition to the board. The only deck this could shine is FAT.dec, if you don't mind losing one fat guy in your hand to blow up all the early creatures, then follow up with a bunch more fat. Squealing Devil - Enrage is much less good as a sorcery, so don't expect the ability to be too good without evasion or something of the sort. But BR for a 2/1 Fear is quite good... not to mention entertaining, as the first creature with Fear that can't block other ones. Nezumi Cutthroats never were brave defenders either.  (Oh craps, I forgot about that one!--VD) That said, this card is better than the infamous rat (besides requiring two colours of course) as it can block too, and the CIP ability is surprisingly useful late game. You need an evasive creature for it to shine, but then it's often six to the head. Even pumping up a useless small guy to force a trade can be good. Very high pick.Weight of Spires - Even with karoos around, this is far too undependable. Don't use it. As he said. Green: Fertile Imagination - you really need to be able to get four or more tokens out of this to make it worth it, which depends on what deck you are against. Undependable in most situations, so should probably be avoided. Not terrible, but it almost needs to be cast on turn four to be good. I don't like cards that are dead topdecks late game. Flash Foliage - Can block anything, including fliers and downright unblockable creatures, and can sneak past first strike if you're clever. Or, if you just want the creature (for whatever reasons), remember you can cast it blocking after damage has been stacked. Its a cantrip either This quick trick is even more slick with sick Simic picks. ...sorry about that. There are a lot of evasive creatures that hate to see Saprolings jump out of the bushes. A cantrip at worst, a potential two-for-one, this makes a good card. Might as well add a personal embarassing moment: attacking with Rakdos Ickspitter (his board was empty) into this. Bah. Indrik Stomphowler - It will almost certainly have a target on your opponent's side, and is a finely costed creature for its size. A litle fat combined with a little utility, and all splashable, makes for a good card. This card isn't good, it's great. A 4/4 for 4G is very good on its own, and this will always find a target, and often a very important one. While we're on the subject of funny moments: I played Stomphowler, and my opponent shot his Seal of Fire at my head to force me to blow up my own Signet. I hit his forgotten Utopia Sprawl. Might of the Nephilim - even on a monocolored creature, its still a playable combat trick. Not a high pick, but should certainly make your deck. Yep. Decent combat trick, always makes it. Patagia Viper - 4 mana is a bit much for a 2/1 flier in this environment, and 4 mana for two tokens seems a bit wanting as well, but both together seems more than fine. Evasion and chump blocking all in one, fine card. Four power for four mana, half of which flies, nice enough. Unfortunately pingers wreck it. Stomp and Howl - Powerful when it works... which is only about 15% of the time. That's a random guess, but this card is still dead far too often. Unplayable. Multicolor: Azorius AEthermage - Cute. Useless. Not totally useless actually. I thought the same, but the trick with this card is Karoos. Late game, if you have this and a Karoo in hand, you can play the Karoo and bounce itself, allowing you to draw card each turn. How good this is, I don't know, I've never done it myself actually. It might still be unplayable, but it's still worth sharing this trick. (Fair enough. That might be worth trying, since karoos are obviously worth playing a bunch of anyway, and card advantage engines are important --VD). Azorius Ploy - Useful, but wayyyy too expensive. It's not too bad, but such a cost for a combat trick? Still somewhat playable I guess, if you are in blue AND heavily in white. Hellhole Rats - A fine card, and a fine example of why you shouldn't play excess lands as you draw them. Quite good. Decent, but unspectacular. Jagged Poppet - Risky in Limited, but very efficient stats. I'd really only use it in a Dissension heavy environemnt with a lot of hellbent - too easy to kill yourself with it in any other deck. The drawback seems to steep to play this. Leafdrake Roost - Astonishing bomb. Play it. Best uncommon. Pain Magnification - does "win more" mean anything to you? Unplayable. Palliation Accord - expensive, but wonderful stall. This makes it REALLY hard for your opponent to get substantial damage through to you, particularly if you have creatures to block with as well. Seems too expensive for not enough effect to me, I'd rather have something that actually affects the board. Plaxcaster Frogling - a 3/3 for 3 is good as it is, but one that can be made untargetable - and share the wealth with some of your later creatures - is a fine card indeed. Very good. Great card. It would be quite good without its abilities, go figure. Sky Hussar - I'm torn. Is this better off used as a card advantage engine, or a huge win condition? A higher pick than Moroii ever was. If your deck can support it. It's almost always a 4/3 flier + cantrip for five mana. That's great, and it has some other options too. First pick material. Trygon Predator - Efficiently costed for a 2/3 flier, and the ability is quite useful as well. A lovely thing. VERY powerful. The stats are good enough by themselves, and it will take out several cards. Twinstrike - Fine without the hellbent, exceptional with. Just below Wrecking Ball in awesomeitude. This should be above Wrecking Ball in my opinion. If any card deserves the name "Wrecking" it's this one. There's no card you'd rather topdeck lategame. (I only put it below Wrecking Ball as there are so many 3+ toughness things running around, and the few times I've had it I've had to bend over backwards to use it like it should be used. I could just be unlucky with it though. --VD) Vigean Intuition - Potential card advantage, sure, but expensive and undependable much of the time. Playable if you have a very creature-heavy deck, but seems to go late right now. Not worth it. Hybrid: Azorius Guildmage - This is a terrible card. Only an idiot would play anything like it. Simply awful. (Don't worry, I'm licensed to use irony.) Game-breaking. Rakdos Guildmage - Either ability would be great, and the efficient body is playable as it is. Same. Simic Guildmage - The abilities seem limited at first, but can do unexpected tricks. Move that Shielding Plax around. Keep putting auras on your Bramble Elemental. With just a few +1/+1 counters to play with, he makes your board virtually impenitrable. And, as always, he's a 2/2 for 2. Well, unless it's a she. I'm not sure I want to know. All three guildmages are insane bombs in Dissension, only Leafdrake Roost and possibly Twinstrike are in the same league among the uncommons. Split // Awesome: Hit // Run - Both sides are quite powerful, even playable on its own, though Run seems to work better with Selesnya than Gruul. Decent, but not great at all, both of them. Pure // Simple- Both are pretty limited in use. If you can play both sides, is likely to be useful at SOME point, but otherwise, only really Pure is usable alone, and only then if your opponent has a lot of multicolored creatures taht are big problems for you. Agree, I'd only play maindeck if I had access to both halves. Rise // Fall - very powerful both, though Fall is overrated right now (good, but overrated). Rise is worth playing alone, easily -- those are two powerful effects on such a cheap card. Yep, Rise is great. Fall is generally not worth it on its own. Supply // Demand - Supply is obviously playable on its own, and is quite the bomb really, splashable for if you are playing either color. Demand is nothing to sneeze at either, though like Transmute cards, you should keep in mind what targets you have when picking it. Supply is a bomb, Demand is useful. I've actually seen someone play Supply with Doubling Season out for if I remember well 14 tokens. They got Grafted too but his opponent miraculously scooped while he was still busy grafting them. Trial // Error - Both very limited in use. Neither is terribly playable alone, though if you could cast both halves, could be worth a slot. Trial is okay but not great, Error is too weak. Remember Trial targets the creature you're not returning. Someone once tried to save his Azorius Firstwing by casting Trial on my Silkwing Scout with damage on the stack. Don't make that mistake. Artifacts: Magewright's Stone - You have to have at least three or four creatures with quite powerful activated abilities (think, Viashino Fangtail/Rakdos Ickspitter) to make this useful. If you do, well, it's amazery. Does nothing on its own. Avoid. Skullmead Cauldron - Um... kay. Recurring lifegain CAN be good, but not this little at this cost. And glad it's unplayable too. I didn't think Honden of Cleansing Fire was much fun at all. Another in the mega-mega cycle of 3/3s for 4 that ruin trivia questions for all time. Good enough. It avoids Seal of Doom! (in return for getting hit by artifact removal of course.) Ghost Quarter - Interesting. Don't play it. Hey, mana-fixing! Um. No. Lands: Novijen, Heart of Progress - Eh, why not? Decent in the late game, and it produces mana at least. Not sure. I'm generally not a fan of Guildhouses with rarely useful abilities, because they really have to do something useful often enough to make up for that one game where they will randomly screw up your mana. If your mana base is really solid, go ahead and play this. Otherwise, go for mana consistency over the random time this will be useful. Prahv, Spires of Order - Because preventing all damage from one source is worth seven mana. *rolls eyes*. This isn't completely awful - I mean, it's no Nivix, Aerie of the Firemind - but the times it would be useful are limited and quite depressing. Same comment as Novijen, but this is worse. Rix Maadi, Dungeon Palace - A fine card, this set's good guildhall. Gives Rakdos something to do once it's aggroed all the business cards out of its hand. Disagree, doesn't seem better than Prahv to me. If you have a really aggressive deck I'd imagine you'd value mana consistency even higher. Well there you have it, the initial MTGSalvation review for Dissension Limited. This would normally be a good place for closing thoughts, but, well, this article is long enough already. Be sure to read Tahn's upcoming article on RGD draft at Pro Tour: Prague for a more detailed analysis of block draft. By Daniel Rezendes on May 22nd, 2006 · Filed in Limited · 25 Comments About Daniel RezendesJourneyman Wordsmith and Magic player for over a decade. In recent years, I've stopped sucking at writing, which is always a plus. Would certainly not say no to a job offer from WotC's continuity department. |
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