Introductions and Explanations
Greetings fellow multiplayer enthusiasts! My name is Prid3 and at the time of writing this I'm a 15+ year veteran of the game who's been playing and following it at a competitive level (across all relevant formats) for well over a decade. That being said I'm not exactly your typical player and have a relatively unique perspective on the game as a whole. Whereas most players spend the majority of their recreational time dueling the bulk of my personal playtime has been spent at kitchen tables duking it out in large multiplayer matches. Be it Cube, Constructed or EDH I've played tens of thousands of hours of multiplayer Magic in my life and consider myself to be an expert on the global multiplayer sphere as a whole. As such this set review is solely focused towards the multiplayer crowd with an emphasis on budget-minded, fair Magic that adheres to a Legacy-esque banned/restricted list. While I'll still touch on degenerate combos and unfair applications I understand that not everyone takes the game as seriously as my own circles and as such I try to balance my reviews to ensure that they're applicable to players of all levels. From turn 1 kills to turn 20 slugfests I'll do my best to keep these relevant for anyone and everyone who routinely sits down at a multiplayer table.
Before moving on I'll quickly touch on some important book-keeping notes that you should be made aware of before delving deeper into this set review. First, know that I never evaluate every single card in a new set. There's absolutely no reason to repeat "this card was designed for duel formats/Limited" hundreds of times so don't expect me to touch on chaff. I'll hit on what I consider to be the key multiplayer cards with an emphasis on the ones that you should make a concerted effort to acquire. Moreover, bear in mind that all ratings discussed in this evaluation should be taken with a grain of salt. It's virtually impossible to give a card a grade that accurately reflects its worth in Cube, Constructed and EDH and so for the purposes of this guide I slant it mostly towards Constructed. I'll touch on Cube and EDH whenever I feel that it's especially applicable but otherwise my primary emphasis will be on a card's 60-card Constructed applications. Finally, I'm not looking to pin down the perfect letter grade for every single card. I'm merely trying to provide you with a rough estimation of its overall worth.
Grading Scale: A: Oppressive cards that completely warp the game around them. These are format definers that typically dominate games in which they're left unchecked and usually crush adversaries who aren't employing similarly powered strategies. This makes them must-have competitive staples with limitless potential. Think Gray Merchant of Asphodel, Humility, Consecrated Sphinx, Sylvan Primordial, Repercussion. B: Extremely formidable cards that will enable you to pull ahead of the pack. Winning decks should be clamoring to field them as they figure to significantly improve your overall win %. This makes them top-priority acquisition targets for players of all skill-levels. Think Syphon Mind, Earthquake, Wrath of God, Rite of Replication, Ulvenwald Hydra. C: Powerful cards that winning decks will want to play. A list full of C's won't crush a table but a solid foundation of them should be good enough to keep you competitive. Think Wight of Precinct Six, Clever Impersonator, Taurean Mauler, Thragtusk, Restoration Angel. D: Marginal playables with which to flesh out your lists in the absence of reasonable alternatives. I strongly encourage that you enlist substitutes if it's a realistic option since they're unlikely to yield impressive win %s. F: Weak cards that wouldn't be played in an ideal world. Niche: Immensely powerful-yet-narrow cards that are Bs/As in decks that actively want them and Ds/Fs everywhere else. Sideboard: Stupendously powerful cards that you wouldn't maindeck against unknown adversaries but that have competitive applications in known metagames with defined threats. +/-: Used to denote a better or worse N. That is, a B+ represents a strong B whereas C- implies a weak C.
Mechanics and Themes
Masterworks: We be Yu-Gi-Oh now friends! Everyone should be ecstatic to see "Expeditions" becoming a staple rarity because the only impact that it has on casual players is getting more cards in their hands by driving down the prices of every other card in the set. After all, it's basic supply and demand. Packs still cost N dollars to purchase and since the market will naturally weed out any arbitrage opportunities (that is, the market won't allow your $3.50 pack to be worth $5.00 because everyone would pounce on that investment) the additional value garnered by Masterworks has to come at the expense of the other cards in the set. That is, if Wizards decides to print a $400.00 Mana Crypt alternative then its value is going to come at the expense of the other rares/mythics and so moving forward the cost of all chase rares/mythics will be artificially deflated. This is a fantastic change and if you don't like it then you don't fully understand how much it objectively benefits you (as a casual player). The buck is being passed on to the die-hards who want to bling out their decks with the coolest versions of the most expensive spells and we should all be thanking Wizards for this shift.
Create: Solid change that removes unnecessary wordiness. Two thumbs up.
Vehicles: The Vehicle mechanic is extremely weak in multiplayer given that it's ostensible Exalted that still forces you to tap your blockers. Getting in for damage is trivial if it leaves you vulnerable in turn which is why I wouldn't expect to see any of them played in competitive spheres. They might seem like reasonable blockers but remember that you still have to tap something to activate them which makes them heinous if you find yourself behind and/or against removal. This is a very much a Duel/Limited mechanic that I wouldn't expect to make waves in any multiplayer format.
Energy: I have extremely low expectations for Energy. It's a "free" and relatively parasitic mechanic and so I'm expecting all of the cards to be underpowered and/or overcosted. I'm also assuming that we won't see anything that converts infinite energy into an on-the-spot game win which means that you'll probably have very little incentive to employ "degenerate" Energy-based combos. As with other parasitic mechanics their cards will excel in decks that feature a critical-mass of enablers but will struggle to compete as standalone spells. My assumption is that Wizards will play it far too safe for the "all Energy" decks to be legitimately busted and so I don't expect this mechanic to have legs unless they revisit it at some point in the future. Presumably they'll make a mistake at some point but the safe money says that Energy will be a fun Limited mechanic but little else.
EDIT: With the full spoiler revealed we can finally start to make more informed statements about Energy cards. Throughout my review I only discussed a handful of them because Energy doesn't strike me as being an especially powerful or relevant mechanic as a whole. Obviously cards like Aethersquall Ancient are fantastic when they're being supported with a critical mass of enablers but the cost of doing so is a steep price to pay. Most of them are marginal and offer little inherent value and so in many ways you're playing a deck that's half air (lands, Energy producers) and half "spells that matter." The problem with that plan is that basically every "Energy matters" card has an unconditional alternative (Kederekt Leviathan for example) and so I don't expect to see many of them played competitively. After all, you're basically doing the same things as everyone else except you need to "mulligan" cards away to produce Energy. As such you're always playing from behind for no tangible benefit. Don't get me wrong, feel free to build the "all Energy" deck if you want to, but I don't see a compelling reason to state "this card is good in dedicated Energy decks" a dozen or so times. I don't expect it to be an especially powerful/relevant archetype and basically none of its cards have much standalone value (barring a few exceptions).
Fabricate: Largely irrelevant Limited mechanic. I'd be shocked if the +1/+1 counter mode was employed more than 5% of the time and I wouldn't expect many Fabricate cards to see competitive multiplayer play. Clearly they could print something along of the lines of a 6 mana 1/1 with Fabricate 6 and it would be awesome but I'm not going to hold my breath on having them push the mechanic to its limits.
EDIT: Now that the set has been fully revealed it appears that my suspicions have been confirmed. None of the Fabricate spells are actively good nor do they figure to see long-term play in competitive multiplayer decks.
White
Vampire Lighthawk: Not a competitive staple by any means but a casual powerhouse by any metric. The base card has an incredibly powerful and diverse array of keywords and given that White is the de facto Equipmentcolor this is an ideal supporting player. Moreover, it also boasts immense synergy with cards like Odric, Lunarch Marshal since any 1-2-Lighthawk-Odric curve will probably take someone out. Otherwise if you simply need a beater/blocker it foots the bill and so I'd expect to see him played early and often in casual multiplayer spheres. After all, if Vampire Nighthawk has taught us anything it's that players love these defensive blockers regardless of their propensity to win games of Magic.
Grade D
Angel of Invention: While White already has a dozen similar 5 drops (Cloudgoat Ranger, Geist-Honored Monk, Knight-Captain of Eos, etc.) this is undoubtedly one of the strongest variations that we've ever seen. The idea is obviously to pair her with Blink effects/engines in order to churn out an army of 2/2s while beating in with your lifelinked flier. Ideally you'll also be able to support her a piece of Equipment in order to abuse her vigilance because otherwise she won't be able to threaten many profitable blocks. Beyond that she's recurrable with Reveillark which isn't something that we generally see on a value 5 drop. Pairing 5 drops with other 5 drops is obviously greedy but it's still relevant synergy to keep in mind. That being said these kinds of cards always have and always will be underpowered in multiplayer given that they rarely accomplish anything meaningful when tasked to defeat multiple adversaries. The fact that this one is an Anthem covered in keywords puts her a step above her brethren but ultimately she's still a marginal value threat. If someone jams a Wrath of God then you don't have anything to show for your troubles and even if they don't it's not as though your 2/2s are going to magically beat a multiplayer table into submission. Given enough time, mana and support she can eventually threaten to seal the deal but realistically she doesn't offer much in the way of practical inevitability.
Grade D+
Authority of the Consuls: While it's unlikely that we'll ever see a "pure" lifegain spell that's truly competitive this is bar-none the closest thing since Grim Feast to making the cut (see the updated Oracle text). As someone who's played both with and against Soul Warden and Soul's Attendant more times than I care to admit I'd like to take this opportunity to remind people that "multiplayer" means different things to different people. I realize that I'm a minority but I'm the type of person who frequently partakes in 6-8 player FFAs (mostly Cube and EDH) and rest assured that Soul Wardens can do serious work when 8 players are jamming fair, creature-based decks. They can easily gain upwards of 50 life by turns 5-6 (assuming that you dodge sweepers obviously) with 20 being a more conservative estimate (i.e. no one brought a token deck or anything). "1 mana gain 20" isn't competitive in multiplayer (it still loses to any tier 1 combo) but I think that we can all agree that that's ridiculously powerful in fair metas devoid of combos. Remember, we're talking about a freaking 1 drop here! Dialing things back to the typical 4 player games it's clear that you'll have a significantly harder time gaining that 20 life from Authority of the Consuls. After all, while it dodges creature removal it doesn't trigger off of your own creatures so if enough of your adversaries show up with creature-light/less builds then you're hooped. What I will say is that in metas lacking Enchantment removal (see: most) this card generates obscene amounts of value over time and can easily garner upwards of 20 or so life. I also want to highlight the fact that the disruptive element to the card matters way more than you probably think. Don't get me wrong, I'm guilty of underestimating it myself, but after playing with Thalia, Heretic Cathar I came to appreciate just how relevant both modes felt. It's not just about neutering blockers either. It obsoletes Lightning Greaves, denies Splinter Twin/Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker-esque combos, screws with utility dorks, on and on and on. It prevents so many unfair interactions that don't immediately spring to mind but when you actually sit down and play the games out you realize that it's keeping people honest in ways that you never expected.
Cataclysmic Gearhulk: When compared to Tragic Arrogance it's clear that Cataclysmic Gearhulk is almost strictly weaker as a standalone spell. After all, the 4/5 vigilant body isn't nearly good enough to offset the fact that your opponents get to choose their best permanents whereas with Tragic Arrogance you're able to select their worst. That being said this card is still utterly back-breaking in lists that can reliably recur it and so that's where it'll leave its mark. Things like Goblin Welder, Oversold Cemetery and Trading Post pair amazingly well with these types of threats by providing you with the ability to seize control of the board for the vast majority of the game. As such Cataclysmic Gearhulk will see a fair amount of play in control and/or denial decks as a means to prevent your adversaries from obtaining a critical mass of resources. I want to stress that you shouldn't treat it as a generic mass removal spell (field Tragic Arrogance if that's what you're in the market for) but insofar as your list is filled with various ways to manipulate creatures/artifacts then Cataclysmic Gearhulk figures to be a stellar addition.
Grade B
Fragmentize: As much as I like cheap removal the fact that it's both sorcery-speed and conditional renders it virtually unplayable. I want to stress that I think that cards like Nature's Claim and Abrupt Decay are fantastic in competitive multiplayer spheres but I struggle to envision scenarios where I'd field this over any number of alternatives.
Grade Sideboard
Fumigate: Boring, underpowered mass removal. It offers reasonable synergy for lifegain-focused strategies but ultimately it's still a 5 CMC Wrath that only effects creatures. If you're the kind of person who enjoys going deep on cards like Test of Endurance and Felidar Sovereign then have at it but this isn't a priority acquisition by any means. The only other major exception that springs to mind is Orzhov control since "free" lifegain helps to support cards like Phyrexian Arena and Necrologia which are critically important in my experience. Clearly you'd always field it over those heinous "End Hostilities" variants anyways, the lifegain is at least somewhat relevant, but we're not looking at the next Tragic Arrogance or Austere Command or anything. The real-world value of these cards is that they're cheap and possess unique names which is relevant for budget-minded builds in formats such as Cube and EDH. Realistically no one is playing them because they're best cards for the job (again, unless your deck converts lifegain into literal game wins).
Grade C
Wispweaver Angel: Her only redeeming quality is that she returns the creature to play immediately whereas things like Flickerwisp don't trigger until EOT. As such jamming multiples (including Clones) enables you to infinitely trigger ETB effects. Assuming that you have something like Impact Tremors or Purphoros, God of the Forge in play then that's an instant-win but even Soul Warden/Soul's Attendant for infinite life will sometimes be good enough to get 'er done. Otherwise she's too weak, slow and conditional compared to value engines such as Eldrazi Displacer, Reveillark, Sun Titan, etc. and since her combo applications are woefully under-powered she won't find a home in competitive multiplayer shells.
Grade Niche
Blue
Dramatic Reversal: Competitive EDH staple. No, I'm not joking. I realize that when I assign cards a "Niche" grade that most people probably assume that it's short-hand for "unplayable trash" but the reality couldn't be further from the truth. This card is stupidly powerful so please don't dismiss it as janky fodder that you can blindly toss away. It'll see competitive play for years to come in a host a different archetypes and deserves to be treated with respect.
Moving on it's ridonkulous in Azami, Lady of Scrolls where it'll unquestionably find a home. It's trivial for it to read "2 mana draw 3 at instant-speed" in that archetype and by no means is that its best-case scenario either. Removal is obviously a thing but Azami tends to play a ton of cheap permission regardless making this significantly less win-more than it otherwise seems. The only thing that that deck cares about is drawing cards, countering spells and finding Mind Over Matter so anything that directly supports that gameplan is a no-brainer.
Finally, it's absolutely stellar in Storm combo (all color combinations). Most builds are filled with fast mana, land untappers, mana rocks, etc. making it a stupendously powerful ritual effect when it's properly supported. You can almost think of it as a Hurkyl's Recall that generates more mana (but less Storm count obviously) which is ideal for jamming your back-breaking bombs such as Time Spiral and Mind's Desire. I suppose that Turnabout is a more apt comparison in that sense but the idea here is that this is a monstrously powerful ritual for most Storm builds. Otherwise it goes infinite when paired with Isochron Scepter and mana rocks which is exactly what Storm decks need to reliably close games out.
Grade Niche
Ceremonious Rejection: Multiplayer formats tend to be plagued with oppressive draw engines such as Mystic Remora, Notion Thief and Consecrated Sphinx and so most cheap permission spells are playable. After all, you don't need to concern yourself with the quality of your interaction spells when you're drawing tons of them each circuit. Rather, you simply need cheap ones which you can quickly deploy and that have a relevant impact on the game. That being said these "Steel Sabotages" aren't staples by any means and that's true even in competitive Vintage/EDH spheres filled with oppressive Artifact-based ramp. While it's undeniably hilarious to nail someone's Black Lotus, Sol Ring or Mana Vault you're still trading 1-for-1 in a multiplayer setting (i.e. multiple adversaries passively benefit at no cost) and you can't use them to interact with opposing permission. Whereas Spell Pierce can be used to thwart an opposing Mana Drain or deny a Rhystic StudyCeremonious Rejection doesn't interact with huge swaths of cards "that matter." This is why you'll rarely see them played in multiplayer but every now and then they do show up in small quantities. This is especially true when you know that certain players in your meta have a penchant for slinging Artifact-focused strategies making them ideal "sideboard" options.
Grade Sideboard
Glimmer of Genius: Wow, I wasn't expecting this. 4 mana "Scry 2 draw 2" on an instant isn't quite Fact or Fiction levels of good but it's pretty damn close and plenty of lists will actively care about the 2 Energy. As such this puppy is surprisingly playable and should see a decent amount of casual play. As an example I would happily play 4 in any deck with a relevant energy sink with the obvious applicant being Demon of Dark Schemes. Think "classic Dimir Control" with sweepers, card draw, permission, etc. Even in decks without Energy sinks this card is undeniably solid but, again, there's no compelling argument to field over Fact or Fiction at that point.
Grade C
Glint-Nest Crane: Augur of Bolas for artifacts? I can dig it. Blue struggles to field relevant early-game threats in general and since it's the de facto "artifact" color this figures to be a reasonable inclusion in any list with 25 or so artifacts. At 26 you have a 90.49% cumulative probability of hitting one or more targets and while that number may seem high remember that 4x Seat of the Synod and 4x Darksteel Citadel already takes care of 8. It's significantly more consistent than Augur of Bolas in that sense, especially if you're playing multiple colors and can afford to field other artifact lands as well. That being said as with every other "Wall of Omens" type threat these don't scale particular well in a multiplayer setting. They generate value, sure, but it's not game-winning value by any means. The 1/3 body is also largely irrelevant for the purposes of attacking/blocking and mostly enables it to be bounced by things like Vedalken Mastermind and Whelming Wave so that you can continue to extract value from the card as the game progresses. That being said I'd almost always rather field either Renowned Weaponsmith and/or Vedalken Engineer in my artifact-heavy shells since the upside of having "Sol Ring" as your 2 drop offsets the games where it fails to provide value. There's no scenario in which you run out a Glint-Nest Crane and have it do something busted but with Renowned Weaponsmith you can conceivably be ramping straight to your 5+ CMC spells starting on turn 3.
Grade C
Insidious Will: While I try to keep these reviews as straight-to-the-point as possible every now and then I feel compelled to stand on my soap box and speak my mind. I think that the average Magic player drastically overrates "versatile" spells to the point where most of them are blinded to their real-world value. When I personally evaluate a card like Insidious Will I see an overcosted pile of trash that shouldn't see any competitive play. None of the modes are worth more than 2 mana and the versatility of having access to all 3 doesn't even come close to justifying the ridiculous mana cost. It's bad in Cube, it's bad in EDH, it's bad in everything. And like, let's make something clear; this card isn't Cryptic Command levels of good (not that I recommend playing with CC either mind you). It's 4 mana for one mode, not two, so let's not start drawing wildly inaccurate comparisons.
Don't worry about flexibility or marginal 2-for-1s when you're playing Blue in a multiplayer setting. You'll win significantly more games by employing degenerate draw engines (such as Mystic Remora, Rhystic Study, Consecrated Sphinx, etc.) and pairing them with free/cheap permission such as Swan Song, Counterspell, Misdirection and Force of Will. After all, it's not as though you need versatility/value from your interaction when you're drawing 6 cards per circuit and so you should focus your efforts on cheap interaction that you can quickly deploy as needed. Passing the turn with huge swaths of untapped mana makes absolutely no sense given that you can easily jam a bomb and protect it with ~2-3 pieces of interaction for 3 mana (tops).
Does this mean that Insidious Will is unplayable trash? No. Relatively speaking it's still a decent Magic card in casual multiplayer spheres. Still, the point that I'm trying to highlight is that you'll win significantly more games by fielding cheap interaction + oppressive card draw engines than you will with overcosted + versatile value spells. Obviously I have neither the ability nor the desire to prevent people from playing with whatever the Hell that they want, field whatever makes you happy, I'm just tired of seeing every "versatile" spell being lauded as a competitive staple. I understand that it feels good to have the right tool for the job but if your intent is to grow as a player and deckbuilder then you're going to have look past these mental traps and focus on the weaknesses and net costs associated with versatility.
Grade C-
Metallurgic Summonings: Jesus this card is bonkers. I was happy enough about Docent of Perfection but man-oh-man is this card ever better. I've said it before and I'll say it again; "Guttersnipe" decks suck because people simply kill your creature at which point you're left with a deck full of air. You draw cards, counter spells and remove threats but it's all meaningless since none of that literally wins games of Magic. Metallurgic Summonings is nuts in the sense that it's a "Talrand, Sky Summoner" that doesn't die to creature removal. Obviously Enchantment removal is still a thing but the onus is on your opponents to field it because otherwise this card spirals wildly out of control if left unchecked. Whereas the "Young Pyromancers" of the world are producing piddly 1/1s this thing will routinely be jamming 5/5s and 8/8s into play. Why? Because decks full of Brainstorms and Ponders can also support Force of Wills and Treasure Cruises. You know that card Temporal Trespass? The 3 mana Time Walk? Imagine playing that while getting an 11/11. If you thought that a kicked Part the Waterveil was good wait until you try that! As if that wasn't good enough the card also has a bonkers "Mizzix's Mastery" aspect to it. It's not the fastest nor the most consistent form of recursion but it's mono-Blue and it's still easily obtainable. Artifactlands alone are enough to consistently get there (coupled with the inherent token creation obviously) which brings a whole never level of consistency to these types of brews. I understand that there's tension between "Yawgmoth's Will" and Dig Through Time but regardless of what your final build looks like it's undeniable that we're looking at an obscenely powerful enabler for spell-based archetypes seeking a non-interactive finisher.
Grade B
Paradoxical Outcome: While I can't deny that this card is a touch too win-more for the ultra-competitive scene it seems utterly ridiculous for everyone else. Assuming that you're reliably bouncing 2 creatures with ETB triggers this ostensibly reads "4 mana draw 4 cards" and it only gets better from there. After all, it naturally combos with fast mana such as Sol Ring, Mana Crypt and Grim Monolith in formats such as EDH which trivializes its mana cost. With respect to play patterns its average use-case will be "bounce my value dudes at EOT and re-cast them on my turn" in order to avoid falling impossibly behind on board. On that note it's relevant to highlight the fact that this card rewards lower-curve decks since jamming Thraben Inspector into Wall of Omens into Sea Gate Oracle etc. will make this a back-breaking midgame play. While your overall card quality will be lower than that of your adversaries' you'll bury them with sheer quantity. Beyond that it's worth noting that this card could see play in creatureless Storm decks as well. After all, bouncing fast mana and drawing cards are two of the easiest ways to generate Storm count and ultimately enable game winning sequences. Mind's Desireing and/or Remanding your own Tendrils of Agony to double its effectiveness are easy ways to close games out and this is a great way to produce mana and dig into your key combo pieces.
Grade B
Saheeli's Artistry: Most Clones are reasonable playables in multiplayer given their propensity to scale positively as the number of players increases. After all, not only do you have more copy targets to choose from (on average) but you also tend to see significantly more bombs and battlecruisers in multiplayer than you do in duels. This should make intuitive sense given that marginal value and/or aggressive threats struggle to close games out when multiple adversaries are involved. This is especially true in formats such as Cube and EDH where it rarely makes sense to field do-nothing critters over game-ending bombs. Moving back to Saheeli's Artistry the card is playable but unexciting. Copying the best artifact + creature is reasonable but remember that it's a 6 CMC Sorcery and so it's significantly less abusable than you probably think. If your deck happens to have cards like Mystical Tutor, Snapcaster Mage and/or Archaeomancer then its stock rises but in general being a spell hinders more than helps in my experience. Obviously you can do things like pair Riptide Laboratory with Archaeomancer to recur these types of value spells indefinitely but at that point there's significantly more competitive ways to close games out (Time Warps for example). Combos aside you can blindly jam Saheeli's Artistry into most Ux shells and reasonably expect to experience success with it but at the same time it's never going to be a competitive staple or anything. While it's not the type of card that I'd never play myself I also wouldn't pressure people to remove from their own lists. If you want to field it, go for it. If not, hey, that's fine too. It's a textbook definition of a C- in the sense that it's good enough to play but not interesting enough to write home about.
Grade C-
Torrential Gearhulk: When I first saw this card I thought that it was too good too be true. And it was. "Target instant." God. Damnit. Oh well, no matter, the card is still insane. I'd like to start by talking about the artifact aspect of this card which is more relevant for Blue than for any other color. Copy Artifact, Tinker, Fabricate, Thirst for Knowledge, Arcum Dagsson, Tezzeret the Seeker, Thoughtcast, the list of reasons why stretches on and on. Whereas being an artifact is a marginal upside for most colors it's actively amazing in the context of Blue. I also love the fact it's a creature for things like Phyrexian Reclamation, Animate Dead, Vedalken Mastermind, Capsize, Eldrazi Displacer, Whelming Wave, etc. As we've seen with cards like Mulldrifter having a body (no matter how small) can easily make-or-break a card and Torrential Gearhulk is no exception. Still, it's not all sunshine and rainbows. While we can all agree that recurring things like Intuition, Fact or Fiction and Gifts Ungiven is relatively powerful it's not as though you're cheating the system or anything. We're talking about a conditional Snapcaster Mage that can't recur things like Expropriate, Time Stretch nor Enter the Infinite (and to the best of my knowledge there's no comparable instants in any color). You also can't "go infinite" with mass bounce either (due to the exile clause) which prevents basically any degenerate form of abuse. That's still relevant synergy to consider but we also have to respect the fact that it's conditional. Remember, cards like Oblivion Sower, Sphinx of Uthuun and Diluvian Primordial provide similar value except they don't impose strict deckbuilding requirements and they never fail to trigger. That being said it's still a Snapcaster Mage of sorts and it's still going to be amazing target to blink/bounce in lists with a critical mass of instants. This is especially relevant for a color like Blue that doesn't have an exciting Titan nor Soul and thus has a bit of hole at 6 CMC (especially for those who can't afford Consecrated Sphinx). It's not a broken card in that sense but it's way too powerful to overlook.
Grade B
Black
Demon of Dark Schemes: Is it just me or is the new Massacre Wurm trying to compensate for something with those swords of his? Is he upset about being "smaller" than his predecessor or something? Come on dude, everyone knows that it's not the size that counts! Either way this seems like an utterly fantastic mass removal spell + recursion engine that will see extensive play in every major multiplayer format. Clearly you're not going to see him in ultra-competitive lists or anything but from a casual perspective this guy is a total bomb. Even if you ignore his recursion clause his Massacre ETB trigger is solid and any semi-relevant BBB creature can weasel its way into Gray Merchant of Asphodel decks fairly easily. Otherwise his recursion is aggressively costed since 3 mana to recur any creature from any graveyard directly to play is a total steal. He doesn't even have to tap to activate it! The 4 Energy is clearly going to be the bottleneck but assuming that you manage untap with this guy then it's reasonable to assume that you'll be able to muster at least 2-3 revivals on average. Even if you don't, no biggie, you still got a 5/5 flying Massacre out of the deal. Lastly, it's relevant to highlight that Black is the king of recursion and that this is an ideal critter to jam on a continual basis given the parasitic nature of Energy. From Phyrexian Reclamation to Animate Dead to Oversold Cemetery there's no shortage of ways to constantly recur him and once you reach a critical-mass of mana and Energy he quickly seizes complete control of the game.
Grade B
Diabolic Tutor: While Dark Petition has all-but supplanted Diabolic Tutor in Constructed I think that this card is largely overlooked in EDH. Some of you probably think "well no kidding tutors are good in EDH, thanks for the head's-up Sherlock /s" but the reality is that I pour over countless Black list in the EDH forums that exclude it. Don't get me wrong, I understand that it's no Demonic Tutor, but I refuse to believe that the vast majority of players can find 99 more powerful alternatives. This is especially true in non-French EDH where you have 40 life at which point there's no compelling reason to exclude heinously degenerate draw spells/engines such as Necropotence, Necrologia, Ad Nauseam, etc. Time and time again I'm forced to remind people that even though their deck has 7 drops their average CMC is probably something close to 2 or 2.5 and so even outside of degenerate combo lists Ad Nauseam still typically amazing. Moreover, even if your deck is full of expensive garbage you'll still want Necrologia to refill your hand in the mid-to-lategame. In that sense I don't understand why you wouldn't include Diabolic Tutor because why wouldn't you want to increase your likelihood of drawing a card like Necropotence or Necrologia? You're playing Black, you have 40 life, freaking use it!
EDH Grade C+
Gonti, Lord of Luxury: While Black has roughly eight billion 4 CMC spells that it can blindly jam into its lists (Damnation, Syphon Mind, Grave Pact, No Mercy, etc.) it's never had much in the way of reasonable creatures. Crypt Ghast is Godly and Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet has started making waves but otherwise it tends to be niche nonsense such as Disciple of Bolas which can be very hit-or-miss at times. What excites me about Gonti is that I can slot him in (literally) any Bx shell and always extract reasonable value from him. After all, you're always getting a pseudo-Impulse and a Deathtouch body with which to trade-off. A lot of people are dismissing him as being "too conditional" but I wouldn't discount any card that enables you to break the color pie. The ability to grab a permission spell from a Blue deck or Enchantment removal from a White/Green deck is insanely relevant since those aren't effects that Black decks naturally have access to. Yes, I know, it's all luck-based. That doesn't change the fact that you're casting an Impulse, that your "hit" can't be stripped from your hand and that it will sometimes dig you into an answer that you wouldn't normally have access to. Otherwise the same generic comments about Demon of Dark Schemes apply. Good with Gray Merchant, good with recursion, good against removal, etc.
Grade C
Morbid Curiosity: While most people are defaulting to combos involving Ugin's Nexus and/or Spine of Ish Sah I think the true appeal of this card is that it's playable in any creature-based shell. Let's face it; the majority of your 4+ CMC critters are going to have powerful ETB triggers attached to relatively anemic bodies that your opposition won't have any incentive to remove. Take a sample curve of Gonti, Lord of Luxury into Gray Merchant of Asphodel into Demon of Dark Schemes into Sepulchral Primordial. Who's going to actively remove those types of threats? No one, that's who! Morbid Curiosity will sometimes rot in your hand as a do-nothing pile of trash, I'm not suggesting otherwise, but it's average use case will be "bin a dude and draw 4-6 cards." This is especially true in lists that cheat creatures into play via Delve, recursion, rituals, etc. Moreover, unlike Disciple of Bolas it doesn't care about the size of the creature which makes it ideal for binning things like Gray Merchant of Asphodel that lack relevant bodies. It's also critical to note that as with Syphon Mind this card doesn't cost life which is relevant for the large % of casual players who ban Exsanguinate and Gray Merchant of Asphodel. Lastly I want to stress that this card is in fact good in decks with cards such as Ugin's Nexus and Spine of Ish Sah. I just don't want people to get the wrong impression and assume that it's some niche draw spell that generic creature-based decks shouldn't be looking to field. This is legitimately one of the most powerful Black draw spells that we've seen printed in some time and it should see a fair amount of play as a result.
Grade C
Night Market Lookout: Even though it's not a real deck I'm a total sucker for the Bloodchief Ascension, Mardu Shadowspear, Thornbow Archer, Pulse Tracker, Ankh of Mishra, etc. "Sligh" archetype. Sometimes I add Red for Price of Progress, Flame Rift, Scab-Clan Berserker, Sulfuric Vortex, Manabarbs, Fiery Confluence, etc., sometimes it's UG for Edric, Spymaster of Trest, I'll start testing White for Reconnaissance and Kambal, Consul of Allocation, you get the idea. Something critical to note about this particular iteration of the Pulse Tracker family is that she's another rogue which is vital for Prowling Notorious Throng. This obviously only applies to Edric, Spymaster of Trest versions of the archetype but these are the kinds of synergies that can eventually support new archetypes. I want to stress that this strategy isn't remotely competitive but it's Hella fun to play because it annoys the crap out of everyone. It's virtually impossible to actually win with it (people just team up and kill you because it's not as though your creatures can threaten profitable blocks) but I personally find it ultra-satisfying to nail everyone for 10-12 by turn 4. Budget versions of the deck can also be built for pennies making it a cheap and hilarious way to screw around with your playgroup every now and then.
Grade F+
Noxious Gearhulk: This is the kind of cards that seems as though it should be awesome. I mean, just look at it! Big body, built-in evasion, a powerful ETB trigger, relevant lifegain, it's a creature so you can recur it, it fuels "Necropotence" style draw spells, it has Black plips for Gray Merchant of Asphodel, what's not to love? Unfortunately it'll never rise above the ranks of "marginal playable" because at the end of the day it's still a 6 mana Doom Blade. In a world of cards like Fleshbag Marauder and Toxic Deluge that'll never pass muster so leave this one to the Duel fiends my friends. I realize that that may seem like an unfair generalization but the reality is that the net impact of jamming this thing is that a single creature dies and you gain some life. That's it. There's obviously a world where this type of threat has relevance but modern multiplayer Magic has evolved far beyond these do-nothing finishers. Hell, just compare him to the various alternatives at your disposal and it'll become eminently obvious why this card will never make the final cut. Sidisi, Undead Vizier, Gray Merchant of Asphodel, Oblivion Sower, Massacre Wurm, Kokusho, the Evening Star, Demon of Dark Schemes, Sepulchral Primordial, Sheoldred, Whispering One, Griselbrand and more are all obvious examples of objectively superior finishers. Again, I'm not trying to make card sound Mudhole levels or anything but I also can't envision a scenario where I'd expect to play with or against this thing in any multiplayer sphere (be it Cube, EDH or Constructed). I'd never recommend it to an aspiring deckbuilder nor would be actively excited to see it employed as a generic finisher.
Grade C-
Ovalchase Daredevil: As we've seen with Squee, Goblin Nabob any free "to hand" recursion can be extremely degenerate in the right archetypes. The primary card that comes to mind is Tortured Existence but realistically any powerful discard/sacrifice outlet does the trick. Clearly you have to be swapping him for artifact creatures to generate worthwhile value at which point he spirals out of control very quickly. Moreover, unlike similar cards (think Stinkweed Imp, Krovikan Horror, Veilborn Ghoul) this card stacks well in multiples and is relatively easy to support. Realistically your only bottle-neck is going to be mana since everything else is fairly trivial. As such you'll typically want to be pairing her with creatures such as Burnished Hart and Solemn Simulacrum whenever possible to ensure a steady stream of mana and artifact creatures. From there you should be able to grind your opponents out with value, stax, denial, basically anything insofar as you're abusing her with a card like Tortured Existence.
Grade Niche
Red
Cathartic Reunion: I'm glad to finally see a noteworthy alternative to both Faithless Looting and Goblin Lore and expect this card to see reasonable amounts of competitive play. While you shouldn't treat these "rummagers" as generic cantrips that you can blindly jam in order to smooth your draws they excel in countless graveyard-driven archetypes where they function as solid enablers. The most obvious application is in Dredge decks given its ability to bin multiple Dredgers and then draw (aka Dredge) 3 cards. Moreover, since the discard is an additional cost you're not required to pay it should you copy the spell which makes this an ideal target to double with things like Dualcaster Mage and Pyromancer's Goggles. Whereas Faithless Looting merely becomes "draw 4 discard 4" this reads "discard 2 draw 6." Beyond that these types of cards excel in Reanimator and Storm strategies, particularly ones looking to "go big" as it were. This is obviously because it pitches multiple cards (as opposed to 1) which is perfect for things like Victimize, Mizzix's Mastery, Past in Flames, Scrap Mastery and Living Death. Don't get me wrong, it's still great with Goblin Welder, Dance of the Dead, Daretti, Scrap Savant, etc., but unlike similar discard outlets this can bin multiple recursion targets which is incredibly relevant in some archetypes. Finally, while Cathartic Reunion is clearly a weaker topdeck than a card like Tormenting Voice in the later stages of the game (given that it's more conditional) it's significantly more degenerate early on where it can enable throngs of busted sequences. Even though it's a higher risk card it's also one that's significantly more likely the snowball the game early-on and thus figures to boast a much higher overall win % than its alternatives. You're definitely going to topdeck this with an empty hand and it's definitely going to suck but those losses will be offset by all of the games where you bin multiple threats on turn 2 in order to setup for a big Victimize (or whatever) on the following turn.
Grade B
Chandra, Torch of Defiance: While the new Chandra isn't going to be a bomb (remember that this is a multiplayer set review) she's still one of the most competitive Red Planeswalkers on the market. Her +1 "draw/Sizzle" is a reasonable form of card advantage/burn that puts a relevant clock on players in formats such as 60-card Constructed and 2HG. The burn aspect is rather insignificant in EDH but otherwise it's nothing to scoff at. Clearly "drawing cards" is relevant in any format and while Red's version is conditional it's still better than nothing. I've been happily playing Outpost Siege for quite some time now and she's a reasonable alternative. Obviously it would have been nice if they'd allowed you to "play" the card as opposed to "cast"ing it (so that you could play lands) but beggars can't be choosers. Otherwise her +1 "Dark Ritual" is extremely powerful and strikes me being her most degenerate mode. In allows you to treat her as a 2 drop in the later stages of the game which is perfect for setting up degenerate sequences such as Chandra + Wildfire on the same turn. Merely untapping with 6-7 mana is also a great place to be on turn 4-5 since there's any number of powerful spells that you can jam for that amount of mana. As to where the card falters it lies primarily in her -3 and -7 which are lackluster at best. In a duel you can jam Chandra on turn 3-4, kill your opponent's threat and still have a Planeswalker to show for your troubles. The same cannot be said for multiplayer as she'll simply die if you attempt to repeat that pattern when multiple adversaries are involved. Moreover, while her ultimate is powerful it's not game-winning (not in the short-run anyways) and is more suited to board control when tasked to defeat numerous opponents. It doesn't scale well into EDH either where it'll struggle immensely to burn players out quickly enough to secure victories. All-in-all Chandra is still relatively powerful Planeswalker for her first 2 modes alone but her inability to reliably close games out is where she'll fall short.
Grade C+
Combustible Gearhulk: I was secretly hoping that the Red Gearhulk would be among the stronger cards of the cycle and much to my delight Wizards exceeded my expectations. I'm loving this card for so many reasons and I cannot wait to start jamming it in numerous archetypes. First of all I don't mind the relatively anemic First Strike ability in multiplayer as it makes him a defensive powerhouse. He can literally tangle with any Titan and emerge unscathed which isn't a feat that many other 6 drops can boast. You're blocking (or at least threatening to block) significantly more than you're attacking in multiplayer and so I'm perfectly content to see this as his keyword. Moving on to the actual meat of the card I want to touch on the various reasons why he's not some generic Browbeat. He actually scales insanely well in a multiplayer given your ability to choose the opponent who is least likely to take the damage. When it comes to casual players "the fear of the unknown" is a legitimate concern and people will often trick themselves into assuming the worst. There's also the sense of "why me?" as players will question why they should take the damage to spare everyone else. After all, that's not exactly fair now is it? Still, you can also target someone who's already been beaten down and who won't be able to afford to take the hit. Another 5-7 to the dome will surely spell their death knell which ostensibly forces them to select the draw mode. It's also important to stress that this card isn't just "good against bad players" or anything. Many decks use life as a resource (Phyrexian Arena, Ad Nauseam) and so it's not objectively correct for people to take the hit each and every time. Beyond that you can even forge alliances using these kinds of cards stating things like "we can't beat this player unless we can dig into X answers." I'm not even suggesting that you lie; that will often be an objectively true statement. I virtually never play games in which everyone does equally well and once players start to fall behind it makes sense for them to team up to try and and improve their situation. The idea here is that you only need one "good" target to make this card bonkers which isn't asking much in a format where you'll routinely have 3 or more to choose from. Beyond that I'm ecstatic about the fact that it's both a creature and an artifact. Goblin Welder, Mimic Vat, Feldon of the Third Path, Flameshadow Conjuring, Sneak Attack, Daretti, Scrap Savant, Trading Post, Panharmonicon, Scrap Mastery and more are all examples of competitive ways to constantly re-trigger his effect. It's equally important to highlight the fact that even if players elect to "take the hit" that self-mill is still relevant for decks with cards like Feldon of the Third Path, Mizzix's Mastery, Daretti, Scrap Savant, Past in Flames, Scrap Mastery, etc. Clearly you'd never be excited to field a 6 mana do-nothing blocker that self-mills 3 cards, I'm not trying to make mountains out of molehills or anything, but I did want to highlight the fact that even the worst-case scenario has a silver-lining. Lastly, it's relevant to note that "big Red" decks do exist and that sometimes taking the damage will be legitimately problematic. Rakdos, Lord of Riots EDH comes to mind as that deck is already playing every big Eldrazi under the sun and with respect to 60-Card Constructed there's always Cloudposts deck that include a fair few as well. Now, the math on hitting a 10+ CMC spell might not be insanely high but the question that you have to ask yourself is "ok, but do all of my opponents know that?" I can sit here from my computer chair and calculate the cumulative probability of hitting at least 1 "Eldrazi" in a 60-card deck that has 8 total to be 35.41% but will the players in your games have that same luxury? Will they be able to accurately estimate the various outcomes and determine the mathematically optimal play or will they just say "screw that noise, draw your damn cards"? Newsflash; humans suck at estimating probabilities which is why we have things like hypergeometric calculators to help us out. The default reaction will be "Hell no I don't want to take 15 to the face" even if the average CMC of you deck is ~2.5. All-in-all this is the most powerful, playable and exciting punisher card that I've ever seen and it's going to be a staple Red value engine for years to come.
Grade B
Fateful Showdown: Much like Collective Defiance this is the type of card that I despise. It's not, I repeat, it's NOT a Wheel. Wheels can be topdecked at any point in the game in order to refuel your hand. They also pair amazingly well with fast mana and a common play pattern includes dropping a bunch of mana rocks on turn 1-2 and restocking with a draw7 on turn 3-4 in order to "restart the game" with a sizable mana advantage. For example, I'm always happy to open turn 1 Sol Ring + Izzet Signet into turn 2 Gilded Lotus + Windfall/ Wheel of Fortune/Timetwister in formats such as EDH. Fateful Showdown doesn't permit those kinds of sequences. When you curve a bunch of fast mana into one it doesn't do anything. When you topdeck this in the later stages of the game it doesn't do anything. In fact, basically the only time that this card has relevance in on turn ~3 (following a turn 2 mana rock) where you can use it to pitch your hand in order to hopefully enable things like Goblin Welder, Daretti, Scrap Savant, Mizzix's Mastey, Past in Flames and Scrap Mastery down the road. The key word there is "hopefully" because you're forced to pitch your entire hand so it's not as though you can sandbag your recursion and bin everything else. As such I think that these kinds of cards are wildly overrated and consider them to nothing more than marginal filler. Relatively speaking they're obviously reasonable playables but I personally won't be playing with or against them myself anytime soon. If you're desperate for removal and "self-mill" in Red then this is a passable option but please don't perpetuate the false claim that this is a Wheel that will see legitimate competitive play. It's as marginal as "card draw" gets.
Grade D
Madcap Experiment: I'll start by saying that I can't think of a competitive way to make this card work with Blightsteel Colossus beyond "hope and prayer". No matter how you slice it you're going to want to pair it with either a tutor or a prevention effect and the moment that you're using multi-card combos to cheat single creatures into play then you're instantly talking about one that's relatively fair and anemic. After all, there's any number of alternatives that can replicate the outcome for a single card. Obviously you can test your luck, roll the dice and see what happens but I wouldn't advise that unless you feel like dying on turn 3-4 to a high risk, medium reward gambit. For those interested in the actual math your cumulative probability of hitting a Blightsteel Colossus within 20 cards is just over 81% assuming a 60 card deck with 4x Colossus. That's assuming no Brainstorms, Ponders, Preordains, etc. and obviously assumes a 60 card library (despite the fact that in practice it'll be closer to 50). The problem is that there's way too variables to consider including # of Colossi drawn, # of cards left in your library, # of cards that you've Scry'd to the bottom, etc. Hell, maybe you run 4x Darksteel Colossus AND 4x Blightsteel Colossus! Still, that should provide you with a rough idea if nothing else. With that in mind where I do see this card being played is alongside Platinum Emperion in decks with no other Artifacts. Much like Stoneforge Mystic + Batterskull you can start any Red deck with 4x Madcap Experiment and 2-3x Platinum Emperion as a generic "value" 4 drop. The body is gargantuan and the effect is incredibly relevant in Red given its plethora of blow-back mass removal spells such as Earthquake. The archetypes that immediately come to mind are 12-Post and UrzaTron as many of their incarnations already field threats such as Platinum Emperion to begin with. Madcap Experiment has loose color requirements making it easy to cast on curve and you're not (as) unhappy to naturally draw your Emperions since you can reliably cast them "the fair way" down the road. Taking no damage from things like Flame Rift, Price of Progress, Sulfuric Vortex and Manabarbs also makes it a reasonable addition to burn decks and so it could easily see play in those as well. Otherwise this is the type of card that will only get better with time since you never know when a new synergy will be uncovered or a new support card will be printed. Finally, this card seems heinous in both Cube and EDH because you'd have to omit Artifact-based ramp entirely in order to support it and there's no possible way that it could bolster your overall win % as a result. This is purely a 60-Card Constructed threat as far as I'm concerned but I'm willing to be proven wrong. If someone can post an EDH build that rivals the Angel's Grace + Ad Nauseam combo then it's conceivable that one day it could enable entirely new EDH archetypes.
Armorcraft Judge: This is an utterly fantastic Magic card that people are grossly overlooking. Mass card draw on cheap Green creatures is almost always competitive and Armorcraft Judge is no exception. After all, Green has throngs of powerful creature tutors (Green Sun's Zenith, Survival of the Fittest, Chord of Calling, Birthing Pod, etc.) and given that Elves are the most powerful tribe by an order of magnitude this card is far too powerful to dismiss. Obviously she only works in decks that focus on +1/+1 counters but insofar as that requirement is met she figures to generate an obscene amount of value on average. This is especially true if you can abuse her Elf subtype with things like Wirewood Symbiote in order to completely break the card in half. Do not gloss over her as some random trash uncommon because I guarantee you that she has competitive applications in formats such as Constructed and EDH where you can reliably curve out with things like Scavenging Ooze, Managorger Hydra, Forgotten Ancient, Kalonian Hydra, Verdurous Gearhulk, etc. She's also bonkers in Elf decks that abuse cards like Immaculate Magistrate and Ezuri, Claw of Progress in order to generate value and/or go infinite with Sage of Hours. Is the card niche? Yes, absolutely. Still, she's like a B+ in the right shells given her ability to bury the table in card advantage if left unchecked.
Grade Niche
Dubious Challenge: Pairing this card with Homeward Path is close enough to being instant-win combo that I can't reasonably dismiss it. The idea here is to use cards like Brainstorm, Preordain and Ponder to sculpt the top of your library while employing land tutors such as Crop Rotation and Expedition Map in order to fetch either Homeward Path or Boseiju, Who Shelters All (or even Gaea's Cradle depending on the contents of the deck) to bring everything together. From there you should be able to cheat multiple ridiculously oppressive threats into play and secure the game in your favor. A sample deck could easily look something like:
The deck is purposely built with a budget in mind (hence the sub-optimal Fetchlands) but unfortunately there's nothing that I can do about cards like Eureka and the creature-base. You could always employ a Hypergenesis build (using Shardless Agent + Violent Outburst as enablers) to circumvent Eurekas but "good" creatures will always set you back a pretty penny. FWIW the manabase doesn't need to be especially fancy and you could get away with just about anything. Heck, even Yavimaya Coast would work just fine. Breeding Pool is crucial for Nature's Lore (so that you can follow it up with a Cantrip on turn 2) but otherwise the only vital lands are the Homeward Paths.
Which I'm using as a "proof of concept" more so than anything else. Boseiju, Who Shelters All is insane against permission and so you already have reasonable incentive to field land tutors such as Crop Rotation, Expedition Map and/or Sylvan Scrying. Beyond that having access to additional copies of "Eureka" (not literal copies but you get the idea) makes the deck significantly more consistent and so this could easily be a tier 1.5-2 combo deck.
Moving on the card seems reasonable as a Collected Company for hatebear decks given that you generally don't care who actually owns the Gaddock Teeg, Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, Hushwing Gryff, etc. The problem with that plan is that the other player can always choose to "sacrifice" the creature by chump attacking into larger threats and so you'd have to employ "politics" in order to hopefully find a like-minded individual. Not a stellar plan by any means but still reasonably effective if you want to team up with other fair decks in order to tackle the unfair ones.
Otherwise you can simply field it as a generic value spell and accept the fact that you're engaging in a 2-horse race. I've written about this topic in the past and so rather than re-hashing my personal view on the subject I'll just copy and paste my official stance on "why 2-horse races are profitable."
Something that continues to baffle me is people's reluctance to enter in 2-horse races in a multiplayer setting. What's a 2-horse race you ask? Imagine that you're a jockey competing in the Kentucky Derby (the world's largest and most prestigious horse racing event). You're approached by a mysterious stranger and given the option to dope your horse in a completely undetectable way that won't harm it. Neither you nor your horse can possibly suffer negative consequences as the result of accepting this deal and this new "super drug" will leave you primed to crush your opposition in triumphant fashion. The catch? If you agree to the terms then one of your adversaries will also be doped with the same drug. Do you accept the terms? The answer is unquestionably "YES!" Assuming a baseline level of competition your chances of winning at a given event is roughly 1/N where N is the number of players. While the actual number will vary based on experience, technical ability, card pool and a host of additional factors it's virtually impossible to garner anything close to a "winning" record. Even if you're the strongest player with the best deck assuming that you're playing at your skill level you're never going to be heavily advantaged over the rest of the field. This has been proven countless times at the Grand Prix/Pro Tour level as even the winningest competitors can only boast roughly a ~65% win rate in the long-run. In that sense while it may seem crazy to suggest giving one of your opponents an immense advantage from a purely competitive standpoint it makes sense insofar as you're significantly bolstering your chances of succeeding. After all, while Magic is undeniably a game of skill there's also a fair amount of luck involved which means that experience and ability can only take you so far in the world of children's card games.
The most blatant example of a card that enables you to enter a 2-horse race is Trade Secrets. While it's never seen any form of competitive play it's mysteriously banned in EDH. Why? Well, more often than not when this card is cast 2 players (out of 4, 6, 8 or more!) are allowed to draw huge swaths of their deck if-not the entire thing. On the following turn the owner is typically capable of firing off any number of instant-win combos backed-up by cheap/free interaction such as Swan Song, Defense Grid, Counterspell, Mana Drain, Mindbreak Trap, Force of Will, Misdirection and Commandeer to seal the deal on the spot. Clearly they don't always "get there" (due to sufficient disruption/interaction) at which point the other player who draws ~75 cards on turn 2-3 usually does. After all, they too have likely assembled all of their combos and now have the ability to support them with their best protection. Far more often than not one of those players would go on to win the game which pushed far too many strategies (see: all other) out of the metagame.
What a lot of people fail to understand is that even if your opponent goes on to win 35% of the time and you only go on to win 30% of the time (i.e. neither of you win the remaining 35%) that's still absolutely amazing and you should always agree to enter that contract. The notion that you can walk into a 4, 6, 8+ player multiplayer game with a ~30% probability to win is completely absurd (again, assuming a baseline level of competition) and jumping from ~17% to ~30% by resolving a single spell is an oppressive leap. This illustrates exactly why this card had to be banned in EDH (the primary multiplayer format) and why it's so utterly ridiculous that no one's playing it casually. If you can double your chances of winning by resolving a single 3 CMC Sorcery then you take that deal each and every time. Furthermore, while I'm implying that your win % could theoretically be lower than that of the "other horse's" after resolving a card such as Trade Secrets in practice that's rarely-if-ever the case. Your deck will be the one specifically designed to abuse the the card(s) whereas the same will not always be true for each of your adversaries every game. There's often weak links, people who're down-and-out, someone testing a silly brew, on and and on. You can target anyone for any reason and assuming that you put a bit of thought into it then odds are you're going to set yourself up for a very easy win if you build your deck properly.
Knowing this you should be absolutely willing to enter 2-horse races if the situation presents itself. One of my favorites curves of all time is Carpet of Flowers into Intangible Virtue into Sylvan Offering where X = 3 or 4. While it's true that I'm putting 8 power across 5 bodies into play for one of my adversaries the 13 power that I create for myself gives me a huge edge over the others. All thing being equal I try to team up with that person to pick the others off (we do have 21 power across 10 bodies in play after all) and from there I'm more than happy to duke it out in the finals even if I had to help my opposition along the way. I don't see it as "I gave them 8 power that I now have to deal with," but rather "I secured my seat in the finals and will win a ton of games as a result." After all, he has the same incentive as I do to cooperate with me since a 50% chance to win sure beats 20%. While life isn't always that simple there's generally no reason to duke it out with the only person who can seriously hurt you when you're very far ahead. This is true for any resource management game and explains why you'll rarely see big stack poker players tangle with one another unless they're holding the nuts. Back to the topic at hand that is how you have to assess these extremely powerful cards that help target opponent as opposed to all opponents and explains why you should be totally willing to jam Trade Secrets et al. in a huge % of your decks. These are extremely degenerate cards with oppressive applications and you should be willing to abuse them when needed.
Oh and before anyone asks the fail-case on an early Trade Secrets is a 3 mana draw 4 that gives the worst player at the table 2 cards. I'd still play that card in 100% of my Blue decks regardless of the other text so even if I knew that none of my opponents would agree to "enter the contract" I'd still play it. The card is ridiculously overpowered in every sense and there's absolutely no reason why you shouldn't be playing with them in some of your decks. If you're trying to improve your overall performance and secure some easy wins a good place to start is a nice and easy 2-horse race as opposed to trying to slug it out with 3+ worthy adversaries.
Clearly this card isn't nearly as cut-and-dry and we'd like it to be (it sucks if you only hit one good creature) but most of what I'm saying holds true for this type of spell. If you routinely play against "that guy" who always wins then a perfectly reasonable way to take him down is to jam this on turn 3, give 2 players (yourself included) an oppressive bomb, beat him down and battle it out from there.
Kujar Seedsculptor: Given that Bond Beetle sees play in 100% of competitive Animar, Soul of Elements EDH builds this card warrants testing at the very least. After all, assuming that you can lead with any other creature then it's ostensibly the same card. Reducing the cost of all future creature spells by 2 is ridiculously overpowered and typically enables the archetype to combo kill using things like Imperial Recruiter and/or Purphoros, God of the Forge . Unfortunately I'm not an Animar player myself so I'm not entirely sure one way or another. I'm assuming that it's going to be a staple but it's also possible that the extra mana does in fact kill the card's competitive worth.
EDH Grade Niche
Nissa, Vital Force: Oh, look, a new Planeswalker for me to hate on! +1? Sucks. -3? Sucks. As expected this card is heinOH MY GOD WHAT IS THAT ULTIMATE? So you jam her, +1 to build a 5/5 blocker and on the following turn you get an Emblem that enables all of your lands to cantrip? Ok, now I'm interested O.O! I'm seeing a ton of suggestions to pair her with Oath of Gideon and while I wouldn't go out of my way to support her with terrible cards (and oh man is Oath of Gideon ever unplayable trash) people need to stop glossing over the fact that her base use-case is absolutely stellar. Your opponents have exactly 1 turn to beat through your blockers (including a newly added 5/5) before she ults and that's not an easy clock to race. Clearly her ult doesn't win the game outright or anything but insofar as you're playing "fair" Magic then I can't imagine many better 5 drops to be slotting into your lists. After all, let's not forget that Green is the king of ramp and between cards like Carpet of Flowers and Burgeoning it's possible to be jamming Nissa as early as turn 2 (and reliably by turn 3) and so it's unfair to think of her as a turn 5 play. The only thing that I'll caution is that this Nissa has immense diminishing returns since none of her modes can reasonably win games of Magic and her recursion is straight-up garbage relative to creature-based alternatives. As such if you ever fall too far behind on board the card doesn't accomplish anything significant and even if you somehow manage to pop her ult off 2-3 times you still have to find a way to literally win the game. Looping Nissas and smashing for 5 isn't exactly going to get the job done. As such I expect to see Nissa as a 2-of as opposed to a 4-of since you'll still want a critical mass of cards that "matter" in your ramp lists and Nissa doesn't quite qualify. She's still a fantastic and relatively competitive Planeswalker but she's not a Liliana Vess that can "Rise of the Dark Realms" to seal the deal or anything. Still a fantastic card though.
Grade B
Oviya Pashiri, Sage Lifecrafter: Rhys the Redeemed is back and weaker than ever! Wait, that's not exciting at all :/. Green is the color that cares the least about artifacts in my experience and the fact that her "big mode" only creates a single dude is a sizable downgrade. It's also important to stress that this barely qualifies as a 1 drop because I'm sure that your opponents would happily choose to have you activate her early-on. Much like Dragonmaster Outcast she's more of a 5+ drop because competitive curves don't involve tapping 3 mana to produce 1/1s. Moreover, whereas Rys could legitimately bury a table in threats and/or fuel things like Beastmaster Ascension and Craterhoof Behemoth Oviya struggles to close games out. She obviously still fuels things like Daretti, Ingenious Iconoclast, Contamination, Smokestack, Shattergang Brothers, etc. and boasts synergy with things like Parallel Lives and Doubling Season but taking older creatures and making them strictly weaker generally isn't a winning combo. Don't get me wrong, I understand that Rhys has to be played in a dedicated token deck whereas Oviya doesn't but what "normal" creature-based deck is going to want this as one of its finishers? Not many. Still, I never gives these kinds of cards terrible grades because they can literally end games on their own. After all, it's theoretically possible to jam her on a board with other 4-5 dudes and just plop a ~5/5 into play every turn. This clearly isn't anything close to her average use-case, any mass removal spell wrecks her, but in metas that are lacking/devoid of it there's a world where she spirals out of control when left unchecked.
Verdurous Gearhulk: While you could arguably field it as a generic value 5 drop that "beats removal" his competitive applications will all be synergy-based in nature. After all, he has very obvious and busted interactions with cards such as Primordial Hydra, Marchesa, the Black Rose, Armorcraft Judge, Unity of Purpose, Fathom Mage, Master Biomancer, Cauldron of Souls, Ivorytusk Fortress and/or basically anything that cares about +1/+1 counters. The fact that it's an artifact is also relevant given that it's a reasonable target to weld in-and-out of play on a continual basis. All-in-all you'll want to focus your efforts on abusing his ETB trigger and artifact subtype as much as possible because whereas a generic 8/8 trampler for 5 doesn't pass muster when it's tasked to defeat multiple adversaries a +1/+1 engine on a body certainly can.
Grade C+
Multicolor
Cloudblazer: While Mulldrifter is too low-impact for ultra competitive multiplayer spheres it's a casual all-star everywhere else. Early on it functions as a Divination to smooth your draws and later on it provides an evasive body that you can Equip, Blink, Bounce, etc. as needed. Cloudblazer trades early-game utility for late-game power as she's almost strictly better in big mana decks seeking to re-trigger her over and over. She's also ideal for formats such as EDH and Cube where you can only field 1x Mulldrifter whereas in an ideal world you'd rather have access to multiples. W.r.t "which card is better?" Mulldrifter is more abusable given his Evoke ability (for example you can Evoke and bounce it with the trigger on the stack with cards such as Vedalken Mastermind in order to BYO Touch of Brilliance) and the ability to jam it as a Divination is relevant in faster metas where it enables you to hit your land drops and dig into midgame action when needed. That being said for casual Blink decks seeking to drag the game for as long as possible the lifegain from Cloudblazer is significantly more valuable. It's basically a wash but I'd generally lean towards Mulldrifter for faster decks/metas and Cloudblazer for slower ones.
Grade C
Contraband Kingpin: I'm only discussing this card in order to play Devil's Advocate to the rave reviews that it's been unjustly receiving. After all, it's just a do-nothing blocker that draws 25% of a card every time that an artifact ETB under your control. What am I missing? Why are people lauding it as a potential competitive staple in the color combo with Baleful Strix, Sygg, River Cutthroat, Lim-Dûl's Vault, etc.? Sorry folks, this isn't the droid that you're looking for. Hell, this won't even make the cut in the best versions of Sharuum the Hegemon EDH. For those unaware that deck wins by comboing Sharuum + Sculpting Steel/Phyrexian Metamorph + Disciple of the Vault/Blood Artist/Zulaport Cutthroat/Bitter Ordeal. Assuming that you have a cantrip/draw spell you can use this to Scry an arbitrarily large number of times, put Bitter Ordeal on top, draw it and kill everyone. Still sucks. Why? Because it requires 4 cards whereas the current combos only require 3. As such there's no compelling reason to jump through that extra hoop when the alternatives don't require it. "Well the card has other uses." Uh, no, it doesn't. Ok, technically it does but it can't compete with the best Blue, Black and White cards in the entire game. What are you cutting for this? What tutor/counterspell/draw spell are you removing for a janky, superfluous combo card? Nothing, that's what. Moving away from Sharuum the point that I'm trying to make is that this isn't game-winning value. Assuming that you jam 12 Artifacts this does what? Virtually draw 3 cards? That's obviously a decent ROI on a 2 drop but what time-frame are we looking at? 10 turns? More? What happens when you draw one of these on turn 5? Or later? Look, if you want a reasonable blocker and a touch of value then go ahead and field this in your artifact-based shells. It's no Baleful Strix but it could be worse. Still, don't kid yourself into thinking that this card is legitimately powerful. It's marginal filler at best and should be treated as such.
Grade D
Kambal, Consul of Allocation: As someone who's played a lot of Scab-Clan Berserker let me assure you that this card is the real deal. He's an absolutely stellar card that will see extensive play in every major multiplayer format. Much like Bloodchief Ascension this is the type of card that scales amazingly well into multiplayer settings where it can deal ludicrous amounts of damage while gaining copious quantities of life. This is especially true in spell-based metas where players are jamming Brainstorms and Burgeonings early and often because forfeiting 10% of your health to cantrip/ramp adds up insanely fast. It also offers natural protection against degenerate Storm decks and given that it's a 2 power creature for 3 it has favorable interactions with all of the competitive recursion such as Grenzo, Dungeon Warden, Alesha, Who Smiles at Death, Reveillark and Sun Titan. Beyond that it's also a natural fit in lifegain-focused strategies given that your Ajani's Pridemate, Karlov of the Ghost Council, Test of Endurance, Well of Lost Dreams and Felidar Sovereign decks probably wants to see him on turn 3 every game. Moving on basically every Bx burn deck should strongly consider fielding him as well because curving things like Bloodchief Ascension, Pulse Trackers (there's like 4 versions now) and Ankh of Mishra into one of these will end games in a jiffy. If all else fails you can simply jam it as a generic value engine in any Orzhov shell since the damage and lifegain add up insanely fast as the number of players increases. Curving Bloodchief Ascension into Tithe Drinker into Kambal, Consul of Allocation into Crypt Ghast into Gray Merchant of Asphodel is basically GG and so there's no wrong way to eat this Reese's. Literally any BWx deck should strongly consider playing the first and it's good enough that you could easily justify fielding more. Left unchecked this card will provide an absurd amount of value and I cannot wait to get my hands on a playset. His only "drawback" (if you can even call it that) is that he doesn't offer much value against creature-heavy archetypes and he technically dies to removal for very little value (a drain for 2 is irrelevant). Neither of those concerns matter in the slightest however and you should be reasonably happy to slot him into any shell that can reliable jam him on turn 2-3.
Grade B+
Rashmi, Eternities Crafter: This card is absolutely bonkers and for the life of me I don't understand she got printed as is. I understand that Wizards wants to push creatures and all but they do really have to resort to printings oppressive nonsense such as Rashmi and Leovold, Emissary of Trest? There's so much going on with her that I don't even know where to begin. First of all it's important to stress that she triggers on the first spell that you cast each turn which obviously has absurd applications with permission and Prophet of Kruphix type effects and scales insanely well with the number of players. Moreover, the fact that your Force of Wills will randomly cast 4 CMC spells for free is mind-blowing and tacking "draw a card" onto Counterspell doesn't seem remotely balanced. Furthermore, let's all take a second to appreciate that last line of text for what it is. "You may, if not, draw it." Uh, what? Is that a joke? So when I cast my Primeval Titan and hit Green Sun's Zenith I can choose to draw it instead of cursing my RNG? How can that be real? She's ostensibly a Cascade engine without the awkwardness of hitting a Counterspell or a Maelstrom Pulse against an empty board. If you don't want to cast that Terminate immediately then you can always elect to draw it instead. Ok Wizards, sure, whatever you say! Beyond that it's important to stress that Green means ramp and so it doesn't make sense to think of her as a turn 4 play. After all, you can easily jam her on turn 2 off of a Carpet of Flowers and/or Burgeoning or even cast her with permissionbackup in the early-to-mid stages of the game. This card is utter degenerate nonsense and I strongly encourage players to acquire and brew with her if at all possible. Realistically she can be jammed into an UGx shell and experience success but she'll obviously excel in ones that can operate at instant-speed. Counterspell, Fact or Fiction, Prophet of Kruphix, Seedborn Muse, do whatever it takes to trigger her each and every turn. You won't regret it!
Grade A
Saheeli Rai: Why hello there new Izzet staple! A value +1 on a 3 mana Planeswalker with an ultimate that instantly wins the game against any number of players? Really? Basalt Monolith + Rings of Brighthearth + Sensei's Divining Top/Staff of Domination is already played in throngs of combo decks and the fact that she tutors for and casts all 3 is utterly absurd. She also goes infinite with Liquimetal Coating and any form of death abuse and can even do silly things with Nevinyrral's Disk + Mycosynth Lattice + Darksteel Forge or even Blightsteel Colosuss and/or Battlecruisers such as Darksteel Colossus. Moreover, her -2 has obvious competitive applications in big mana formats dominated by artifact-based acceleration. After all, "Black Lotus" is ludicrously strong when you're copying a card like Mana Vault/Grim Monolith/Basalt Monolith/Thran Dynamo/Gilded Lotus/etc. This is especially true given that you'll probably want to support her with cards like Wildfire, Destructive Force, Devastation and Obliterate. The idea here is to cast her, Obliterate the world, build to her ultimate and win on the spot. After all, it literally wins the game against any number of players. That's unreal! People argue that she's weak because she can't protect herself but I fail to see how that matters in the slightest. She's 3 CMC for a reason; so that you can cast other spells to protect her. Simply jam her alongside a Blasphemous Act, follow-up with a Jokulhaups on the following turn and then build towards her game-winning ultimate. How is that anything less than absurd?
Grade B
Artifact
Aetherflux Reservoir: *Queue jaw hitting floor.* Alright kids, what we have here is one of the most competitive 1-card EDH finishers that we've ever seen. I don't know why Wizards thought that bringing Storm back would be a good idea but hey, here we are! Someone charted out the lifegain that this card offers and showcased how 15 spells gains you round-about 120 life (the math is fuzzy since instants can enable you to gain a lot more than sorceries) which is obviously enough to OTK an entire EDH table. 15 spells might seem like a lot but when you're playing a Storm deck with Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth + Bubbling Muck, High Tide, Dark Ritual, Candelabra of Tawnos, Yawgmoth's Will, Frantic Search, Turnabout, Treasonous Ogre, Mizzix's Mastery, Past in Flames, Mana Geyser, Time Spiral, Mind's Desire, etc. it really isn't. It's actually trivially easy to combo off by turn 5 and cast more than enough spells to gain the ~150 life required to fire ze missles. Being an artifact clearly makes it softer to opposing permission (whereas Grapeshot, Brain Freeze and Tendrils of Agony aren't) but the ability to tutor for it using cards like Fabricate and Tezzeret the Seeker is a relevant consideration to keep in mind. It's also quick, clean and doesn't care about Eldrazi which can easily thwart mill win conditions. Many Black versions of the deck already field Exsanguinate regardless and assuming that you're not going infinite then curving any reasonably-sized Exsanguinate/Tendrils of Agony into this should spell light's-out for the rest of the table. It's also fantastic in any deck that gains infinite life and makes "lifelink" spells such as Children of Korlis, Tainted Sigil, Tamanoa and Exquisite Blood utterly insane. Before you ask, yes, Tainted Sigil does in fact say "total life lost by each player" which includes the 50 that you pay and the 50 that you deal. Balanced! I also want to highlight its interaction with Treasonous Ogre (which is already an auto-include in 100% of competitive Red EDH lists) because it'll literally enable you to cast your spells for free while gaining life in the process. That's insane people! Hell, even plain old lifegain decks such as Karlov of the Ghost Council and Oloro, Ageless Ascetic will be clamoring to jam this in the 99 as a non-interactive finisher. Otherwise I hope that it goes without saying that this card realistically has no place in Cube and that it's superfluous in Constructed where you can already field a critical mass of relevant win conditions. It's still a huge boon (or bane?) to the EDH community at large and I expect to see it played competitively for years to come.
EDH Grade A
Aetherworks Marvel: As a generic value spell in a deck with creatures and Fetchlands this card seems marginal at best. 6 is a lot of Energy to generate "the fair way" so unless you're reliably abusing other engines then it's not going to earn its keep in many lists. Obviously it's fantastic if you can Brainstorm an Emrakul, the Aeons Torn or Omniscience to the top and cast it for free but it's generally going to be too slow and unreliable outside of dedicated Energy decks.
With respect to "Rally the Ancestors" archetypes that abuse things like Viscera Seer, Zulaport Cutthroat and Living Death this card doesn't quite get there. It's an Artifact (i.e. it doesn't have any synergy with your sac outlets or revival spells), it's slow, it's conditional and it doesn't work with huge swaths of the mass revival enablers. Return to the Ranks, Rally the Ancestors, Wake the Dead, Immortal Servitude, none of them want to be cast "for free." Living Death still works obviously but it's basically the only one that does. All-in-all it's simply too awkward, slow and conditional compared to things like Collected Company that immediately advance your primary gameplan.
With respect to Wildfire + Greater Gargadon decks (all versions) it's another do-nothing 4 drop that doesn't A) ramp or B) effect the board. Don't get me wrong, it's insane in your nut draws, but the biggest weakness of Rx combo decks is their inherent inconsistency and these kinds of cards only exacerbate that issue. As such it won't make the cut in any of the optimized lists because it's heinous when things aren't going perfectly according to plan.
Where I could see this card being played is Eggs. It's a fringe combo deck that pairs cards like Chromatic Star and Krark-Clan Ironworks with Second Sunrise and Faith's Reward in order to generate enormous sums of mana, draw its deck and win by casting something like Laboratory Maniac, Comet Storm or looping Pyrite Spellbomb with Conjurer's Bauble recurring Second Sunrise/Faith's Reward. It's a complicated process but you get the idea. Aetherworks Marvel is interesting in the sense that it pairs well with everything that the deck is already trying to do. You can cast it, sac a bunch of artifacts, look for a Second Sunrise with Aetherworks Marvel's activated ability, sac it to Krark-Clan Ironworks with the Second Sunrise still on the stack and repeat. It wouldn't be played as a 4-of or anything but jamming 1-2 seems very reasonable to me. After all, the deck is 100% reliant on chaining Second Sunrise effects together and digging 6 extra cards each iteration seems incredibly powerful. It's also worth noting that its ability to cast the spell for free is incredibly relevant if you elect to field Open the Vaults given that the 6 CMC pricetag can be difficult to support otherwise. After a couple of iterations mana requirements become trivial and so you typically lose to early fizzles and/or failing to draw into a reasonable quantity of mass recursion effects more so than anything else. This card arguably alleviates both concerns which is why it piques my interest for the archetype.
Grade Niche
Animation Module: This card is ostensibly Hardened Scales 2.0 and will see play in similar style decks. Basically anything that wants to curve Scavenging Ooze into Managorger Hydra into Forgotten Ancient into Kalonian Hydra will strongly consider it as a 1-drop that enables you to use all of your mana every circuit. That being said the card heinous both in the early-game and in multiples which is why you can't blindly run 4 as you can with Hardened Scales. As with Scute Mob this isn't really a turn 1 play since it doesn't have relevant value until much later on. Rather, it's something that you run out on turn 4-5 when you have something like Forgotten Ancient in play so that you can start converting all of your excess mana into a swarm of 1/1s. Assuming that you support them with cards like Beastmaster Ascension, Shamanic Revelation, Craterhoof Behemoth, etc. suddenly you're looking at game-winning value. Otherwise the activated ability is trash and yes, that includes adding counters to Planeswalkers. Nissa, Vital Force is somewhat of an exception but even then I wouldn't recommend going deep on such a marginal combo. You'll obviously activate it a small % of the time (assuming that you have 3 extra mana sitting around why wouldn't you use it?) but realistically you shouldn't pay it any heed. If it happens to be relevant, awesome, but don't worry about trying to "abuse" it or anything.
Grade Niche
Bomat Courier: I can't think of a competitive way to make this card work. Even if we assumed that you always drew him on turn 1 and got 4-5 hits would it even be good? Isn't it just going to swept away to a random mass removal spell long before you'll ever get an opportunity to activate him? Moreover, what happens when you draw them later on? Assuming that your hand is empty then you can obviously cycle them away but what if it isn't? What do you do then, jam a 1/1 for 1? Ugh. Don't get me wrong, I can see why people are interested in this card, but as it sits his average use-case seems unplayable to me. While it may have high-highs it also has some of the lowest-lows imaginable (1/1 for 1 that conditionally cantrips) which is why it won't experience any long-term success.
Grade D+
Ghirapur Orrery: This is one of the weirdest cards that I've ever seen. It's the type of card that would be oppressive if it were printed on a cheaper card and even though it's probably unplayable trash as-is it still compels you to try and break it. Clearly this card is designed for decks with discard outlets and/or ones that can quickly dump their hand. Zombie Infestation, Bottled Cloister, Mind over Matter, plenty of potential synergies spring to mind if you think long and hard enough. It's also reasonable as a curve topper for decks filled with 1-2 CMC spells as a means to push through the midgame in case things go awry. As a random example my Bloodchief Ascension, Thornbow Archer, Pulse Tracker, Mardu Shadowspear, Ankh of Mishra, Flame Rift, Price of Progress burn deck could easily consider fielding it. Obviously the 4 CMC pricetag is a bit of turn-off, I'm not suggesting otherwise, but we can all agree that it's worth testing at the very least. The problem with this card is that it's absolutely terrible unless everything is going according to plan. Giving your opponents a free Exploration is a sizable drawback (albeit less relevant on turns 4+) and the card literally doesn't do anything unless you're reliably pitching your hand. In that sense it's ostensibly a combo card except in this instance your combo doesn't win the game outright and the individual pieces have very little standalone value. To put this in perspective compare Bottled Cloister + Ghirapur Orrery to Pestermite + Splinter Twin. The upside of the former is that it enables you to draw a ton of cards whereas the latter enables you to win the game on the spot against any number of adversaries. Both combos employ cards that suck on their own and they both fail miserably against opposing interaction but the latter compensates by offering a way to literally win games of Magic. The former is still decent, I'm not suggesting otherwise, but why assemble combos in order to generate value when alternatives immediately win the game on the spot? This card could arguably see play in very niche ramp/combo shells but I fear that it's 4 CMC pricetag and symmetrical effect will be its death knell.
Grade Niche
Panharmonicon: Given that Brann Bronzebeard is one of my all-time favorite Hearthstone cards I'm ecstatic to see him porting over to MTG. This card is absolutely bonkers and I cannot wait to start jamming it into every deck with a critical mass of ETB triggers. As with Blade of Selves it's pointless to even suggest specific decks/archetypes because it literally combos with what? 75% of the most commonly played multiplayer threats? More? It's actually crazy how quickly this card seizes control of the game when you stop to think about it. Just imaging curving this into Purphoros, God of the Forge and a Beetleback Chief. That's 20 damage to each opponent on the spot! Or how about Sun Titan recurring Stoneforge Mystic + Flickerwisp? What's the net card advantage when all's said and done, +12? Unreal! Soul Warden, Impact Tremors, Gray Merchant of Asphodel, Sun Titan, Sylvan Primordial it doubles anything and everything under the sun. Things also start to spiral wildly out of control once you start to pair it with things like Brago, King Eternal and Living Death which should more-or-less seal the game in your favor. Obviously you can't go too deep on conditional 4+ spells that don't have an immediate + meaningful impact on the game but you'd have to be crazy to overlook this monstrosity. Insofar as your deck has a critical mass of relevant ETB triggers this is a no-brainer addition that will enable you to quickly end games should it remain unchecked.
Grade A
Prophetic Prism: While generally weaker than Fellwar StoneProphetic Prism serves a niche role in 12-Post/UrzaTron decks as a cheap color fixer that digs you into your essential lands. These archetypes need colored mana and card draw significantly more than they need ramp which is why the Prism tends to win out over its alternatives. I especially love its interaction with Crush of Tentacles gives its ability to fuel Surge while acting a makeshift draw engine. It's neither the fastest nor the prettiest option but it gets the job done. That being said I highly recommend using Fellwar Stone whenever possible since most multiplayer decks can benefit from ramp more so than the card draw. Still, it's important to know when and where the types of enablers should be employed because they definitely have a home in multiplayer.
Grade Niche
Smuggler's Copter: A colorless looter that survives mass removal is intriguing to say the least. These kinds of cards are fantastic from improving your average card quality, mitigating the risks of mana screw/flood and even fueling degenerate graveyard synergies such as Goblin Welder, Animate Dead, Treasure Cruise, etc. Unfortunately while Smuggler's Copter figures to be a Constructed staple it loses a lot of is luster in multiplayer. Tapping multiple creatures at Sorcery speed to build-your-own Merfolk Looter is marginal at best and the clock isn't especially relevant when multiple adversaries are involved. 3 is a significant % of 20 but the same cannot be said for 60 (or even 120 in EDH). That being said it's still a cheap looter that survives mass removal which is arguably relevant for colors such as White and Red that struggle to generate card advantage "the fair way." It also fuels things like Emeria, the Sky Ruin, Goblin Welder, Loyal Retainers, Daretti, Scrap Savant, Scrap Mastery and Sun Titan so clearly there's some potential for this card to see play. Still, it's important to stress that whereas a 3/3 flier represents a significant threat in a duel setting that's not what you want to be jamming in multiplayer. This card sucks on D and it's only relevant if you're tapping multiple creatures at Sorcery speed in order to loot. It's still an interesting card and one that I expect to see some play but it's not going to fare nearly as well in multiplayer as it will in duels.
Grade C
Land
Aether Hub: This card is strictly better than Crumbling Vestige and since I've tested that card in competitive EDH decks worst-case scenario it's a B-tier enabler for degenerate combo decks. The long and short of it is that any land that ETBU and that taps for all 5 colors at any stage of the game (including turn 1) is extremely powerful. Cards like Aether Hub, Gemstone Mine and Tendo Ice Bridge tend to shine in decks that can blink/bounce them with things like Bouncelands. After all, Aether Hub is fantastic if you're constantly resetting its Energy counter since at that point it's a painless City of Brass. You don't run 4 or anything, 1-2 tops, but the card is great in small quantities in the right shells. This is relevant for decks that field things like Exploration, Burgeoning and Summer Bloom that want a critical mass of Bouncelands but that also need to be able to cast their spells on-curve. A sample deck that I personally play is the Burgeoning, Mystic Remora, Summer Bloom, Waste Not, Leovold, Emissary of Trest, Windfall deck that has 4x Simic Growth Chamber, 2x Dimir Aqueduct and 2x Golgari Rot Farm. My other lands need to be able to support my colored spells while entering untapped so that I can actually abuse them with my Bouncelands without falling too far behind on tempo.
The obvious problem with these kinds of lands is that they're typically heinous for generic fair decks. Maybe your deck has other Energy enablers, maybe it doesn't (it doesn't matter much either way), but no matter how slice it this is frequently going to be a "one-and-done" deal and that's why they rarely make the cut in "normal" lists. They come close (way closer than you probably suspect) but ultimately having one good turn doesn't quite pass muster in multiplayer given that games become protracted more often than not. Still, I strongly encourage players to hang on to their lands like Crumbling Vestige, Holdout Settlement and Aether Hub because anything that ETBU and taps for all 5 colors of mana isn't to be underestimated. This card is legitimately bonkers in Energy-based archetypes (or in decks that can reliably blink/bounce it) and since it's still playable without any support it's worth your while to hang on them.
Grade Niche
Blooming Marsh et al.: "Fastlands" have always excelled in competitive formats and settings given their ability to immediately provide untapped color fixing. This is especially relevant for multicolor decks that want to curve out starting on turn 1 and that can't afford to waste time with ETBT alternatives. While Fastlands lose their luster as the game progresses it's a price that should typically be willing to pay. After all, come turn 6-7 you can usually afford to slam a "Golgari Guildgate" but on turn 1 you'll want to be able to cast either your Burgeoning or your Bloodchief Ascension without fail. This ensures that "Fastlands" will always have a home in competitive spheres because unlike most alternatives they don't ask anything special of you. Insofar as you play them as your first 3 land drops they're ostensibly Duals and that's a fantastic place to be. Still, by no means are they required for casual decks that aren't overly concerned with ideal early-game curves. The vast majority of casual lists can afford to take a turn off in order to jam an Opulent Palace (or whatever) and that's perfectly fine too.
Grade B+
Inventors' Fair: Virtually every Artifact-based shell should field 1-2x Inventors' Fair as a low opportunity cost tutor + lifegain engine. It's Legendary so you can't go wild running 4 of them or anything but "free" lifegain and tutoring are far too powerful to overlook. The card is neither good enough nor fast enough to jam in large quantities but even 2 is fine given the statistical unlikelihood of drawing both early on. After all, unlike Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth et al. drawing multiples isn't crippling by any means. You certainly don't want to see them early and often but come turns 6+ you'll have relevant uses for any and all copies. Jamming 3-4 is still a mistake, I'm not suggesting otherwise, but this is a no-brainer addition to throngs of Artifact-based archetypes.
Grade B+
Sequestered Stash: It's a crying shame that you don't actually draw the card, this isn't a staple by any means, but it's still better than jamming 20x Mountain into your decks that feature cards such as Goblin Welder, Trash for Treasure, Daretti, Scrap Savant, Trading Post, Scrap Mastery, etc. It could also be played in Blue-based artifact builds that include things like Treasure Cruise and/or Dig Through Time or even Black lists with recursion. Obviously you should feel free to exclude them if you own and/or can afford competitive alternatives but there's nothing wrong with low opportunity cost self-mill + card selection. After all, it's not as though the land ETBT or anything and so unless your list has strict color requirements then you may as well field a relatively large quantity of value-added colorless lands in your artifact-based shells.
Grade D
Closing Thoughts
Just between you and me I've never been as down on Magic as I've been throughout the stretch of Battle for Zendikar, Oath of the Gatewatch, Shadows Over Innistrad and Eldritch Moon. While I throughout enjoyed the Planes the first that we visited them many years ago Wizards failed to re-capture their splendor this time around. That's why I'm thrilled to see that we're going to continue riding the high that was Conspiracy 2 with another knock-out success. Kaladesh is an unequivocal success for players new and old that offers large shake-ups to every major multiplayer format. From Cube to Constructed to EDH there's competitive goodies for everyone including a new set of Titans that (as with their predecessors) could easily see for play for decades to come. Congratulations Wizards on your ability to re-invigorate my passion for Magic and prove that even when you stumble you never fail to pick yourself up. Here's hoping for many more sets like these to come because rest assured that if every set looked like Kaladesh we'd never have anything to complain about. We still would (obviously!) but consider my faith restored.
I'd think that if Rashmi hits a land you still get to draw it. While that's no free spell it's still a free draw. That's not bad in my book.
It's funny because I knew that's how she worked when she was initially spoiled but some reason when I started typing this review I convinced myself that she doesn't hit lands. I couldn't accept that Wizards would print such blatantly oppressive nonsense. Thanks for the clarification!
Kambal is going to see a lot of play, I hate the guy already. The way you describe using him was exactly how I was thinking I'llbe seeing it getting played across the table.
Combustible Gearhulk must be one I missed - very good card!
Kambal is going to see a lot of play, I hate the guy already. The way you describe using him was exactly how I was thinking I'llbe seeing it getting played across the table.
Combustible Gearhulk must be one I missed - very good card!
Both cards are nuts. Hell, this entire set is nuts.
Metalwork Colossus immediately brought me back to Morbid Curiosity... Certainly a powerful interaction. I could see a black artifact deck using Morbid Curiosity as a broken card draw alongside the Colossus and Myr Enforcer perhaps with Skeleton Shard to keep the beaters coming back for more.
Mulldrifter is much better than Cloudblazer. I value the ability to get out of mana screw higher than gaining 2 life, and mana screw is not restricted to cut-throat games.
I value "free" lifegain higher than most in the context of casual multiplayer spheres. I've found that the majority of my "bad games" were due to slow starts in which I took too much damage early on and died to a random burn spell later on. I think that constantly gaining 2 life is a serious upside to the point where I would definitely field Cloudblazer in my slow, fair blink deck with Eldrazi Displacers.
Disagree on the Saheeli Rai grade. If you ever -2 her, you're basically throwing away the ultimate and turning her into a glorified Seer's Lantern. And to call her +1 "value" is a stretch. It's hard to find a worse +1, so the best I can give it is "better than nothing".
Her +1 smooths your draws which is ideal when you're restarting the game. Everyone else is drawing 1 card per turn and you're virtually drawing 1.25 while building towards an effect that literally reads "you win the game."
If you ever -2 her it's probably because you went turn 1-2 Grim Monolith turn 2-3 Saheeli turn 3-4 Obliterate so I don't mind it if she's merely acting as a Thassa, God of the Sea for the next few turns. Whatever I can do to hit lands/ramp with more consistency seems perfectly reasonable to me.
you're virtually Sounds good to me, but which "literally win the game" artifacts are you running in that Obliterate deck?
1x Rings of Brighthearth at least 1x Basalt Monolith and then however many Sensei's Divining Tops that you want given that they "survive" your mass denial. The idea is obviously to spin them in response and use them to dig for lands in the post-Apocalypse wasteland. The deck has exactly 1 dead card in Rings of Brighthearth which, even then, isn't even completely dead given that it combos with certain mana rocks. Sensei's Top and Basal Monolith are both perfectly playable in "Ugin, the Spirit Dragon" style ramp decks.
Agree with most of it. Though it seems you dislike the black gearhulk. Seems solid to me. (Noxious Gearhulk)
I couldn't envision a scenario where I'd play with it, against it and/or recommend it to another player. It's not unplayable trash or anything, the effect is fine, but at the end of the day it's a glorified Shriekmaw in a world where you really want to be jamming mass removal whenever possible. Even in decks with recursion and such it's not as though it competes with Gray Merchant of Asphodel, Massacre Wurm, Sepulchral Primordial, etc. Hell, I'm not convinced that it's noticeably better than things like Deathbringer Regent and Overseer of the Damned.
I'm leery about Energy, don't I'll dedicate much effort in it.
I pretty much knew that Wizards was going to play it super safe with Energy given that it's a free + (relatively) parasitic mechanic. It's too easy for it to become the next Dredge for them to push anything.
I see what you mean with the gearhulk paragraph.
In my meta your examples of comparables work fine. (Fair three or four player FFA's.)
So I guess I'll buy two.
The other way around, the wurm and the primodial get less effective at small tables.
(Gary's still oppressive...)
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In magic there's Harry Dresden, Fizban, Sethra Lavode, Dorotea Senjak and me...
My meta: 3 or 4 player free for all, anything goes but boring games or broken decks cause a vote to end that game.
The other way around, the wurm and the primodial get less effective at small tables.
True. I'll do a quick review on him in a bit because the card deserves at least a few lines of text.
FWIW I think that most people under-value cards like Sepulchral Primordial in 3 player FFA and 2HG. I'm not trying to convince you that they're amazing for you in your meta or anything but I remember seeing plenty of pros (pros, not random FNMers) dueling with Sylvan Primordial and Sepulchral Primordial back when they were Standard legal. Even if they're only triggering twice those kinds of cards are still fantastic.
Reprinting tendo ice bridge as an uncommon and having it tie into a larger mechanic only gets a nitch rating? Tendo was a $9 card before Aether hub was leaked. So many cards are a bunch of colorless mana and then 1 colored mana like Madcap Experiment or Paradoxical Outcome. You are seriously underestimating it if you think its just niche.
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I was the guy playing the relentless rats deck back during mirrodin and kamigawa blocks. Yes, cranial extraction was used on me. No, I didn't win much. Yes, I do have a relentless rats edh deck. No, it doesn't win much either...
Reprinting tendo ice bridge as an uncommon and having it tie into a larger mechanic only gets a nitch rating? Tendo was a $9 card before Aether hub was leaked. So many cards are a bunch of colorless mana and then 1 colored mana like Madcap Experiment or Paradoxical Outcome. You are seriously underestimating it if you think its just niche.
If the card isn't niche post generic applications for it. Show me "normal" decks that actively want Tendo Ice Bridge and Aether Hub over cards like Exotic Orchard, Mana Confluence, City of Brass, Gemstone Mine, Fetchs + Duals/Shocks, Fast Lands, Pain Lands, Filter Lands, Buddy Lands, Tango Lands, etc. The card is textbook "niche" and will only see play in extremely off-the-wall archetypes in specific formats. Nothing about it screams "generic playable." Just think about it. What decks actually play Tendo Ice Bridge? I don't care about its price, let's analyze where the card is actually played. A touch of Modern play in Bant Eldrazi decks? The deck that needs access to 3 colors of mana but that also wants a critical mass of colorless enablers? Some pre-ban Amulet Bloom play because you could bounce it with Bouncelands? Small amounts of cEDH play in 3-5 color Storm decks? That's exactly what "niche" implies. Good in very specific decks but terrible in most.
What are your thoughts on Quicksmith Genius? It's typical red to discard before drawing. But this card does have a lot of potential draw in it.
Weak stat distribution, dies to sweepers (most artifact-based control decks should field large quantity of sweepers themselves), not an artifact itself, rummaging over looting, inconsistent value output (might live for 15 turns, might die after 1), weak topdeck, forces your hand (you "have" to cast it before jamming your artifacts or else it doesn't do anything), awkward spot on the curve (3 CMC is the ideal time to jam a card like Anger of the Gods to set up for turn 4 value engines such as Trading Post and Daretti, Scrap Savant), etc. Not a card that caught my attention. I really wish that Wizards would start printing more cards like Faerie Mechanist and fewer ones like Quicksmith Genius. They're infinitely more intriguing when they possess the appropriate subtype.
Reprinting tendo ice bridge as an uncommon and having it tie into a larger mechanic only gets a nitch rating? Tendo was a $9 card before Aether hub was leaked. So many cards are a bunch of colorless mana and then 1 colored mana like Madcap Experiment or Paradoxical Outcome. You are seriously underestimating it if you think its just niche.
Don't forget that Crumbling Vestige is extremely similar and hasn't seen any play whatsoever.
Crumbling Vestige is not anywhere near as good. You are stuck holding it in your hand until you also have one of the off color card in your hand that you run it for and doing so could easily cause you to miss land drops. tendo ice bridge you play whenever and tap for colorless all day long till you need the colored mana.
Running a 5 color deck not based on creatures is still not easy. Especially in agro metas. Running a deck with 8 city of brass will add so much damage to you. Gemstone mine completely vanishes. There are plenty of scenarios where tendo would be better.
I was the guy playing the relentless rats deck back during mirrodin and kamigawa blocks. Yes, cranial extraction was used on me. No, I didn't win much. Yes, I do have a relentless rats edh deck. No, it doesn't win much either...
Crumbling Vestige is not anywhere near as good. You are stuck holding it in your hand until you also have one of the off color card in your hand that you run it for and doing so could easily cause you to miss land drops. tendo ice bridge you play whenever and tap for colorless all day long till you need the colored mana.
Running a 5 color deck not based on creatures is still not easy. Especially in agro metas. Running a deck with 8 city of brass will add so much damage to you. Gemstone mine completely vanishes. There are plenty of scenarios where tendo would be better.
Fair, 5 color, noncreature decks that field lands which only tap for colored mana once? Those exist? That's not "niche"? What do those decks even look like?
Sure. What's the cheapest Bayou in TCGplayer? $120.00 USD or something? What about the cheapest Verdant Catacombs? 70? Twilight Mire is 30 at best? I can think of hundreds of reasons to roll with alternatives. "I literally can't afford the other cards" is pretty damned compelling don't you think?
Crumbling Vestige is not anywhere near as good. You are stuck holding it in your hand until you also have one of the off color card in your hand that you run it for and doing so could easily cause you to miss land drops. tendo ice bridge you play whenever and tap for colorless all day long till you need the colored mana.
Running a 5 color deck not based on creatures is still not easy. Especially in agro metas. Running a deck with 8 city of brass will add so much damage to you. Gemstone mine completely vanishes. There are plenty of scenarios where tendo would be better.
Fair, 5 color, noncreature decks that field lands which only tap for colored mana once? Those exist? That's not "niche"?
Sure. What's the cheapest Bayou in TCGplayer? $120 bucks or something? What about the cheapest Verdant Catacombs? 70? Twilight Mire is 30 at best? I can think of hundreds of reasons to roll with alternatives.
Got it, you can throw filters, fetches, shocks and everything to support your argument but if I do then somehow now price is a factor.
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I was the guy playing the relentless rats deck back during mirrodin and kamigawa blocks. Yes, cranial extraction was used on me. No, I didn't win much. Yes, I do have a relentless rats edh deck. No, it doesn't win much either...
Got it, you can throw filters, fetches, shocks and everything to support your argument but if I do then somehow now price is a factor.
I'm asking you for decks. Your argument is that the card has generic applications. I'm saying that it has niche applications. The decks that play Tendo Ice Bridge are very unique. Things like Amulet Bloom that can bounce it with Simic Growth Chamber, Bant Eldrazi decks that want to go turn 1 Noble Hierarch turn 2 Thought-knot Seer, very specific, weird decks that have unique play patterns. You don't see normal decks playing Tendo Ice Bridge. No Abzan or Jund list has them. America Control doesn't field them. Legacy/Vintage decks don't field it. I don't recall it doing anything in Standard.
W.r.t to price, I'm not sure what your point is. Is your argument that all of players can afford to add Bayous and Verdant Catacombs to their lists? Because that hasn't been my experience in the slightest.
Greetings fellow multiplayer enthusiasts! My name is Prid3 and at the time of writing this I'm a 15+ year veteran of the game who's been playing and following it at a competitive level (across all relevant formats) for well over a decade. That being said I'm not exactly your typical player and have a relatively unique perspective on the game as a whole. Whereas most players spend the majority of their recreational time dueling the bulk of my personal playtime has been spent at kitchen tables duking it out in large multiplayer matches. Be it Cube, Constructed or EDH I've played tens of thousands of hours of multiplayer Magic in my life and consider myself to be an expert on the global multiplayer sphere as a whole. As such this set review is solely focused towards the multiplayer crowd with an emphasis on budget-minded, fair Magic that adheres to a Legacy-esque banned/restricted list. While I'll still touch on degenerate combos and unfair applications I understand that not everyone takes the game as seriously as my own circles and as such I try to balance my reviews to ensure that they're applicable to players of all levels. From turn 1 kills to turn 20 slugfests I'll do my best to keep these relevant for anyone and everyone who routinely sits down at a multiplayer table.
Before moving on I'll quickly touch on some important book-keeping notes that you should be made aware of before delving deeper into this set review. First, know that I never evaluate every single card in a new set. There's absolutely no reason to repeat "this card was designed for duel formats/Limited" hundreds of times so don't expect me to touch on chaff. I'll hit on what I consider to be the key multiplayer cards with an emphasis on the ones that you should make a concerted effort to acquire. Moreover, bear in mind that all ratings discussed in this evaluation should be taken with a grain of salt. It's virtually impossible to give a card a grade that accurately reflects its worth in Cube, Constructed and EDH and so for the purposes of this guide I slant it mostly towards Constructed. I'll touch on Cube and EDH whenever I feel that it's especially applicable but otherwise my primary emphasis will be on a card's 60-card Constructed applications. Finally, I'm not looking to pin down the perfect letter grade for every single card. I'm merely trying to provide you with a rough estimation of its overall worth.
Grading Scale:
A: Oppressive cards that completely warp the game around them. These are format definers that typically dominate games in which they're left unchecked and usually crush adversaries who aren't employing similarly powered strategies. This makes them must-have competitive staples with limitless potential. Think Gray Merchant of Asphodel, Humility, Consecrated Sphinx, Sylvan Primordial, Repercussion.
B: Extremely formidable cards that will enable you to pull ahead of the pack. Winning decks should be clamoring to field them as they figure to significantly improve your overall win %. This makes them top-priority acquisition targets for players of all skill-levels. Think Syphon Mind, Earthquake, Wrath of God, Rite of Replication, Ulvenwald Hydra.
C: Powerful cards that winning decks will want to play. A list full of C's won't crush a table but a solid foundation of them should be good enough to keep you competitive. Think Wight of Precinct Six, Clever Impersonator, Taurean Mauler, Thragtusk, Restoration Angel.
D: Marginal playables with which to flesh out your lists in the absence of reasonable alternatives. I strongly encourage that you enlist substitutes if it's a realistic option since they're unlikely to yield impressive win %s.
F: Weak cards that wouldn't be played in an ideal world.
Niche: Immensely powerful-yet-narrow cards that are Bs/As in decks that actively want them and Ds/Fs everywhere else.
Sideboard: Stupendously powerful cards that you wouldn't maindeck against unknown adversaries but that have competitive applications in known metagames with defined threats.
+/-: Used to denote a better or worse N. That is, a B+ represents a strong B whereas C- implies a weak C.
Mechanics and Themes
Masterworks: We be Yu-Gi-Oh now friends! Everyone should be ecstatic to see "Expeditions" becoming a staple rarity because the only impact that it has on casual players is getting more cards in their hands by driving down the prices of every other card in the set. After all, it's basic supply and demand. Packs still cost N dollars to purchase and since the market will naturally weed out any arbitrage opportunities (that is, the market won't allow your $3.50 pack to be worth $5.00 because everyone would pounce on that investment) the additional value garnered by Masterworks has to come at the expense of the other cards in the set. That is, if Wizards decides to print a $400.00 Mana Crypt alternative then its value is going to come at the expense of the other rares/mythics and so moving forward the cost of all chase rares/mythics will be artificially deflated. This is a fantastic change and if you don't like it then you don't fully understand how much it objectively benefits you (as a casual player). The buck is being passed on to the die-hards who want to bling out their decks with the coolest versions of the most expensive spells and we should all be thanking Wizards for this shift.
Create: Solid change that removes unnecessary wordiness. Two thumbs up.
Vehicles: The Vehicle mechanic is extremely weak in multiplayer given that it's ostensible Exalted that still forces you to tap your blockers. Getting in for damage is trivial if it leaves you vulnerable in turn which is why I wouldn't expect to see any of them played in competitive spheres. They might seem like reasonable blockers but remember that you still have to tap something to activate them which makes them heinous if you find yourself behind and/or against removal. This is a very much a Duel/Limited mechanic that I wouldn't expect to make waves in any multiplayer format.
Energy: I have extremely low expectations for Energy. It's a "free" and relatively parasitic mechanic and so I'm expecting all of the cards to be underpowered and/or overcosted. I'm also assuming that we won't see anything that converts infinite energy into an on-the-spot game win which means that you'll probably have very little incentive to employ "degenerate" Energy-based combos. As with other parasitic mechanics their cards will excel in decks that feature a critical-mass of enablers but will struggle to compete as standalone spells. My assumption is that Wizards will play it far too safe for the "all Energy" decks to be legitimately busted and so I don't expect this mechanic to have legs unless they revisit it at some point in the future. Presumably they'll make a mistake at some point but the safe money says that Energy will be a fun Limited mechanic but little else.
EDIT: With the full spoiler revealed we can finally start to make more informed statements about Energy cards. Throughout my review I only discussed a handful of them because Energy doesn't strike me as being an especially powerful or relevant mechanic as a whole. Obviously cards like Aethersquall Ancient are fantastic when they're being supported with a critical mass of enablers but the cost of doing so is a steep price to pay. Most of them are marginal and offer little inherent value and so in many ways you're playing a deck that's half air (lands, Energy producers) and half "spells that matter." The problem with that plan is that basically every "Energy matters" card has an unconditional alternative (Kederekt Leviathan for example) and so I don't expect to see many of them played competitively. After all, you're basically doing the same things as everyone else except you need to "mulligan" cards away to produce Energy. As such you're always playing from behind for no tangible benefit. Don't get me wrong, feel free to build the "all Energy" deck if you want to, but I don't see a compelling reason to state "this card is good in dedicated Energy decks" a dozen or so times. I don't expect it to be an especially powerful/relevant archetype and basically none of its cards have much standalone value (barring a few exceptions).
Fabricate: Largely irrelevant Limited mechanic. I'd be shocked if the +1/+1 counter mode was employed more than 5% of the time and I wouldn't expect many Fabricate cards to see competitive multiplayer play. Clearly they could print something along of the lines of a 6 mana 1/1 with Fabricate 6 and it would be awesome but I'm not going to hold my breath on having them push the mechanic to its limits.
EDIT: Now that the set has been fully revealed it appears that my suspicions have been confirmed. None of the Fabricate spells are actively good nor do they figure to see long-term play in competitive multiplayer decks.
Vampire Lighthawk: Not a competitive staple by any means but a casual powerhouse by any metric. The base card has an incredibly powerful and diverse array of keywords and given that White is the de facto Equipment color this is an ideal supporting player. Moreover, it also boasts immense synergy with cards like Odric, Lunarch Marshal since any 1-2-Lighthawk-Odric curve will probably take someone out. Otherwise if you simply need a beater/blocker it foots the bill and so I'd expect to see him played early and often in casual multiplayer spheres. After all, if Vampire Nighthawk has taught us anything it's that players love these defensive blockers regardless of their propensity to win games of Magic.
Grade D
Angel of Invention: While White already has a dozen similar 5 drops (Cloudgoat Ranger, Geist-Honored Monk, Knight-Captain of Eos, etc.) this is undoubtedly one of the strongest variations that we've ever seen. The idea is obviously to pair her with Blink effects/engines in order to churn out an army of 2/2s while beating in with your lifelinked flier. Ideally you'll also be able to support her a piece of Equipment in order to abuse her vigilance because otherwise she won't be able to threaten many profitable blocks. Beyond that she's recurrable with Reveillark which isn't something that we generally see on a value 5 drop. Pairing 5 drops with other 5 drops is obviously greedy but it's still relevant synergy to keep in mind. That being said these kinds of cards always have and always will be underpowered in multiplayer given that they rarely accomplish anything meaningful when tasked to defeat multiple adversaries. The fact that this one is an Anthem covered in keywords puts her a step above her brethren but ultimately she's still a marginal value threat. If someone jams a Wrath of God then you don't have anything to show for your troubles and even if they don't it's not as though your 2/2s are going to magically beat a multiplayer table into submission. Given enough time, mana and support she can eventually threaten to seal the deal but realistically she doesn't offer much in the way of practical inevitability.
Grade D+
Authority of the Consuls: While it's unlikely that we'll ever see a "pure" lifegain spell that's truly competitive this is bar-none the closest thing since Grim Feast to making the cut (see the updated Oracle text). As someone who's played both with and against Soul Warden and Soul's Attendant more times than I care to admit I'd like to take this opportunity to remind people that "multiplayer" means different things to different people. I realize that I'm a minority but I'm the type of person who frequently partakes in 6-8 player FFAs (mostly Cube and EDH) and rest assured that Soul Wardens can do serious work when 8 players are jamming fair, creature-based decks. They can easily gain upwards of 50 life by turns 5-6 (assuming that you dodge sweepers obviously) with 20 being a more conservative estimate (i.e. no one brought a token deck or anything). "1 mana gain 20" isn't competitive in multiplayer (it still loses to any tier 1 combo) but I think that we can all agree that that's ridiculously powerful in fair metas devoid of combos. Remember, we're talking about a freaking 1 drop here! Dialing things back to the typical 4 player games it's clear that you'll have a significantly harder time gaining that 20 life from Authority of the Consuls. After all, while it dodges creature removal it doesn't trigger off of your own creatures so if enough of your adversaries show up with creature-light/less builds then you're hooped. What I will say is that in metas lacking Enchantment removal (see: most) this card generates obscene amounts of value over time and can easily garner upwards of 20 or so life. I also want to highlight the fact that the disruptive element to the card matters way more than you probably think. Don't get me wrong, I'm guilty of underestimating it myself, but after playing with Thalia, Heretic Cathar I came to appreciate just how relevant both modes felt. It's not just about neutering blockers either. It obsoletes Lightning Greaves, denies Splinter Twin/Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker-esque combos, screws with utility dorks, on and on and on. It prevents so many unfair interactions that don't immediately spring to mind but when you actually sit down and play the games out you realize that it's keeping people honest in ways that you never expected.
As to where you'd field this thing, the options are basically endless. Soul Warden, Soul's Attendant, Serra Ascendant, Auriok Champion, Ajani's Pridemate, Karlov of the Ghost Council (EDH), Necropotence, Well of Lost Dreams, Test of Endurance, Archangel of Thune, Ad Nauseam, Felidar Sovereign, Oloro, Ageless Ascetic (EDH), the list of relevant synergies goes on and on. I want to stress that this is probably the closest thing to a generically playable lifegain spell since it'll legitimately read "1 mana gain 20" in the right metas and that card is certainly playable as-is. Still, I wouldn't bother with pure lifegain effects unless you're building with them in mind. After all, they start to look at more appealing when you're pairing them with cards like Necrologia in order to completely refill your hand in the midgame.
Grade C+
Cataclysmic Gearhulk: When compared to Tragic Arrogance it's clear that Cataclysmic Gearhulk is almost strictly weaker as a standalone spell. After all, the 4/5 vigilant body isn't nearly good enough to offset the fact that your opponents get to choose their best permanents whereas with Tragic Arrogance you're able to select their worst. That being said this card is still utterly back-breaking in lists that can reliably recur it and so that's where it'll leave its mark. Things like Goblin Welder, Oversold Cemetery and Trading Post pair amazingly well with these types of threats by providing you with the ability to seize control of the board for the vast majority of the game. As such Cataclysmic Gearhulk will see a fair amount of play in control and/or denial decks as a means to prevent your adversaries from obtaining a critical mass of resources. I want to stress that you shouldn't treat it as a generic mass removal spell (field Tragic Arrogance if that's what you're in the market for) but insofar as your list is filled with various ways to manipulate creatures/artifacts then Cataclysmic Gearhulk figures to be a stellar addition.
Grade B
Fragmentize: As much as I like cheap removal the fact that it's both sorcery-speed and conditional renders it virtually unplayable. I want to stress that I think that cards like Nature's Claim and Abrupt Decay are fantastic in competitive multiplayer spheres but I struggle to envision scenarios where I'd field this over any number of alternatives.
Grade Sideboard
Fumigate: Boring, underpowered mass removal. It offers reasonable synergy for lifegain-focused strategies but ultimately it's still a 5 CMC Wrath that only effects creatures. If you're the kind of person who enjoys going deep on cards like Test of Endurance and Felidar Sovereign then have at it but this isn't a priority acquisition by any means. The only other major exception that springs to mind is Orzhov control since "free" lifegain helps to support cards like Phyrexian Arena and Necrologia which are critically important in my experience. Clearly you'd always field it over those heinous "End Hostilities" variants anyways, the lifegain is at least somewhat relevant, but we're not looking at the next Tragic Arrogance or Austere Command or anything. The real-world value of these cards is that they're cheap and possess unique names which is relevant for budget-minded builds in formats such as Cube and EDH. Realistically no one is playing them because they're best cards for the job (again, unless your deck converts lifegain into literal game wins).
Grade C
Wispweaver Angel: Her only redeeming quality is that she returns the creature to play immediately whereas things like Flickerwisp don't trigger until EOT. As such jamming multiples (including Clones) enables you to infinitely trigger ETB effects. Assuming that you have something like Impact Tremors or Purphoros, God of the Forge in play then that's an instant-win but even Soul Warden/Soul's Attendant for infinite life will sometimes be good enough to get 'er done. Otherwise she's too weak, slow and conditional compared to value engines such as Eldrazi Displacer, Reveillark, Sun Titan, etc. and since her combo applications are woefully under-powered she won't find a home in competitive multiplayer shells.
Grade Niche
Dramatic Reversal: Competitive EDH staple. No, I'm not joking. I realize that when I assign cards a "Niche" grade that most people probably assume that it's short-hand for "unplayable trash" but the reality couldn't be further from the truth. This card is stupidly powerful so please don't dismiss it as janky fodder that you can blindly toss away. It'll see competitive play for years to come in a host a different archetypes and deserves to be treated with respect.
First of all this card is absolutely bonkers in UGx Elfball archtypes (Ezuri, Claw of Progress, Momir Vig, Simic Visionary, etc) where it'll swiftly become an auto-include. After all, assuming that you're curving out with things like Elvish Mystic (any of Green's 1 CMC accelerants), Priest of Titania, Elvish Archdruid, Shaman of Forgotten Ways, Yisan, the Wanderer Bard, etc. these kinds of cards typically generate obscene amounts of value to the point where they can figuratively end games on the spot. Tooth and Nail, a tutored-up Craterhoof Behemoth, an activated Shaman of Forgotten Ways, there's any number of ways in which they can close games out by providing you with an insurmountable mana advantage in the short-run.
Moving on it's ridonkulous in Azami, Lady of Scrolls where it'll unquestionably find a home. It's trivial for it to read "2 mana draw 3 at instant-speed" in that archetype and by no means is that its best-case scenario either. Removal is obviously a thing but Azami tends to play a ton of cheap permission regardless making this significantly less win-more than it otherwise seems. The only thing that that deck cares about is drawing cards, countering spells and finding Mind Over Matter so anything that directly supports that gameplan is a no-brainer.
Finally, it's absolutely stellar in Storm combo (all color combinations). Most builds are filled with fast mana, land untappers, mana rocks, etc. making it a stupendously powerful ritual effect when it's properly supported. You can almost think of it as a Hurkyl's Recall that generates more mana (but less Storm count obviously) which is ideal for jamming your back-breaking bombs such as Time Spiral and Mind's Desire. I suppose that Turnabout is a more apt comparison in that sense but the idea here is that this is a monstrously powerful ritual for most Storm builds. Otherwise it goes infinite when paired with Isochron Scepter and mana rocks which is exactly what Storm decks need to reliably close games out.
Grade Niche
Ceremonious Rejection: Multiplayer formats tend to be plagued with oppressive draw engines such as Mystic Remora, Notion Thief and Consecrated Sphinx and so most cheap permission spells are playable. After all, you don't need to concern yourself with the quality of your interaction spells when you're drawing tons of them each circuit. Rather, you simply need cheap ones which you can quickly deploy and that have a relevant impact on the game. That being said these "Steel Sabotages" aren't staples by any means and that's true even in competitive Vintage/EDH spheres filled with oppressive Artifact-based ramp. While it's undeniably hilarious to nail someone's Black Lotus, Sol Ring or Mana Vault you're still trading 1-for-1 in a multiplayer setting (i.e. multiple adversaries passively benefit at no cost) and you can't use them to interact with opposing permission. Whereas Spell Pierce can be used to thwart an opposing Mana Drain or deny a Rhystic Study Ceremonious Rejection doesn't interact with huge swaths of cards "that matter." This is why you'll rarely see them played in multiplayer but every now and then they do show up in small quantities. This is especially true when you know that certain players in your meta have a penchant for slinging Artifact-focused strategies making them ideal "sideboard" options.
Grade Sideboard
Glimmer of Genius: Wow, I wasn't expecting this. 4 mana "Scry 2 draw 2" on an instant isn't quite Fact or Fiction levels of good but it's pretty damn close and plenty of lists will actively care about the 2 Energy. As such this puppy is surprisingly playable and should see a decent amount of casual play. As an example I would happily play 4 in any deck with a relevant energy sink with the obvious applicant being Demon of Dark Schemes. Think "classic Dimir Control" with sweepers, card draw, permission, etc. Even in decks without Energy sinks this card is undeniably solid but, again, there's no compelling argument to field over Fact or Fiction at that point.
Grade C
Glint-Nest Crane: Augur of Bolas for artifacts? I can dig it. Blue struggles to field relevant early-game threats in general and since it's the de facto "artifact" color this figures to be a reasonable inclusion in any list with 25 or so artifacts. At 26 you have a 90.49% cumulative probability of hitting one or more targets and while that number may seem high remember that 4x Seat of the Synod and 4x Darksteel Citadel already takes care of 8. It's significantly more consistent than Augur of Bolas in that sense, especially if you're playing multiple colors and can afford to field other artifact lands as well. That being said as with every other "Wall of Omens" type threat these don't scale particular well in a multiplayer setting. They generate value, sure, but it's not game-winning value by any means. The 1/3 body is also largely irrelevant for the purposes of attacking/blocking and mostly enables it to be bounced by things like Vedalken Mastermind and Whelming Wave so that you can continue to extract value from the card as the game progresses. That being said I'd almost always rather field either Renowned Weaponsmith and/or Vedalken Engineer in my artifact-heavy shells since the upside of having "Sol Ring" as your 2 drop offsets the games where it fails to provide value. There's no scenario in which you run out a Glint-Nest Crane and have it do something busted but with Renowned Weaponsmith you can conceivably be ramping straight to your 5+ CMC spells starting on turn 3.
Grade C
Insidious Will: While I try to keep these reviews as straight-to-the-point as possible every now and then I feel compelled to stand on my soap box and speak my mind. I think that the average Magic player drastically overrates "versatile" spells to the point where most of them are blinded to their real-world value. When I personally evaluate a card like Insidious Will I see an overcosted pile of trash that shouldn't see any competitive play. None of the modes are worth more than 2 mana and the versatility of having access to all 3 doesn't even come close to justifying the ridiculous mana cost. It's bad in Cube, it's bad in EDH, it's bad in everything. And like, let's make something clear; this card isn't Cryptic Command levels of good (not that I recommend playing with CC either mind you). It's 4 mana for one mode, not two, so let's not start drawing wildly inaccurate comparisons.
Don't worry about flexibility or marginal 2-for-1s when you're playing Blue in a multiplayer setting. You'll win significantly more games by employing degenerate draw engines (such as Mystic Remora, Rhystic Study, Consecrated Sphinx, etc.) and pairing them with free/cheap permission such as Swan Song, Counterspell, Misdirection and Force of Will. After all, it's not as though you need versatility/value from your interaction when you're drawing 6 cards per circuit and so you should focus your efforts on cheap interaction that you can quickly deploy as needed. Passing the turn with huge swaths of untapped mana makes absolutely no sense given that you can easily jam a bomb and protect it with ~2-3 pieces of interaction for 3 mana (tops).
Does this mean that Insidious Will is unplayable trash? No. Relatively speaking it's still a decent Magic card in casual multiplayer spheres. Still, the point that I'm trying to highlight is that you'll win significantly more games by fielding cheap interaction + oppressive card draw engines than you will with overcosted + versatile value spells. Obviously I have neither the ability nor the desire to prevent people from playing with whatever the Hell that they want, field whatever makes you happy, I'm just tired of seeing every "versatile" spell being lauded as a competitive staple. I understand that it feels good to have the right tool for the job but if your intent is to grow as a player and deckbuilder then you're going to have look past these mental traps and focus on the weaknesses and net costs associated with versatility.
Grade C-
Metallurgic Summonings: Jesus this card is bonkers. I was happy enough about Docent of Perfection but man-oh-man is this card ever better. I've said it before and I'll say it again; "Guttersnipe" decks suck because people simply kill your creature at which point you're left with a deck full of air. You draw cards, counter spells and remove threats but it's all meaningless since none of that literally wins games of Magic. Metallurgic Summonings is nuts in the sense that it's a "Talrand, Sky Summoner" that doesn't die to creature removal. Obviously Enchantment removal is still a thing but the onus is on your opponents to field it because otherwise this card spirals wildly out of control if left unchecked. Whereas the "Young Pyromancers" of the world are producing piddly 1/1s this thing will routinely be jamming 5/5s and 8/8s into play. Why? Because decks full of Brainstorms and Ponders can also support Force of Wills and Treasure Cruises. You know that card Temporal Trespass? The 3 mana Time Walk? Imagine playing that while getting an 11/11. If you thought that a kicked Part the Waterveil was good wait until you try that! As if that wasn't good enough the card also has a bonkers "Mizzix's Mastery" aspect to it. It's not the fastest nor the most consistent form of recursion but it's mono-Blue and it's still easily obtainable. Artifact lands alone are enough to consistently get there (coupled with the inherent token creation obviously) which brings a whole never level of consistency to these types of brews. I understand that there's tension between "Yawgmoth's Will" and Dig Through Time but regardless of what your final build looks like it's undeniable that we're looking at an obscenely powerful enabler for spell-based archetypes seeking a non-interactive finisher.
Grade B
Paradoxical Outcome: While I can't deny that this card is a touch too win-more for the ultra-competitive scene it seems utterly ridiculous for everyone else. Assuming that you're reliably bouncing 2 creatures with ETB triggers this ostensibly reads "4 mana draw 4 cards" and it only gets better from there. After all, it naturally combos with fast mana such as Sol Ring, Mana Crypt and Grim Monolith in formats such as EDH which trivializes its mana cost. With respect to play patterns its average use-case will be "bounce my value dudes at EOT and re-cast them on my turn" in order to avoid falling impossibly behind on board. On that note it's relevant to highlight the fact that this card rewards lower-curve decks since jamming Thraben Inspector into Wall of Omens into Sea Gate Oracle etc. will make this a back-breaking midgame play. While your overall card quality will be lower than that of your adversaries' you'll bury them with sheer quantity. Beyond that it's worth noting that this card could see play in creatureless Storm decks as well. After all, bouncing fast mana and drawing cards are two of the easiest ways to generate Storm count and ultimately enable game winning sequences. Mind's Desireing and/or Remanding your own Tendrils of Agony to double its effectiveness are easy ways to close games out and this is a great way to produce mana and dig into your key combo pieces.
Grade B
Saheeli's Artistry: Most Clones are reasonable playables in multiplayer given their propensity to scale positively as the number of players increases. After all, not only do you have more copy targets to choose from (on average) but you also tend to see significantly more bombs and battlecruisers in multiplayer than you do in duels. This should make intuitive sense given that marginal value and/or aggressive threats struggle to close games out when multiple adversaries are involved. This is especially true in formats such as Cube and EDH where it rarely makes sense to field do-nothing critters over game-ending bombs. Moving back to Saheeli's Artistry the card is playable but unexciting. Copying the best artifact + creature is reasonable but remember that it's a 6 CMC Sorcery and so it's significantly less abusable than you probably think. If your deck happens to have cards like Mystical Tutor, Snapcaster Mage and/or Archaeomancer then its stock rises but in general being a spell hinders more than helps in my experience. Obviously you can do things like pair Riptide Laboratory with Archaeomancer to recur these types of value spells indefinitely but at that point there's significantly more competitive ways to close games out (Time Warps for example). Combos aside you can blindly jam Saheeli's Artistry into most Ux shells and reasonably expect to experience success with it but at the same time it's never going to be a competitive staple or anything. While it's not the type of card that I'd never play myself I also wouldn't pressure people to remove from their own lists. If you want to field it, go for it. If not, hey, that's fine too. It's a textbook definition of a C- in the sense that it's good enough to play but not interesting enough to write home about.
Grade C-
Torrential Gearhulk: When I first saw this card I thought that it was too good too be true. And it was. "Target instant." God. Damnit. Oh well, no matter, the card is still insane. I'd like to start by talking about the artifact aspect of this card which is more relevant for Blue than for any other color. Copy Artifact, Tinker, Fabricate, Thirst for Knowledge, Arcum Dagsson, Tezzeret the Seeker, Thoughtcast, the list of reasons why stretches on and on. Whereas being an artifact is a marginal upside for most colors it's actively amazing in the context of Blue. I also love the fact it's a creature for things like Phyrexian Reclamation, Animate Dead, Vedalken Mastermind, Capsize, Eldrazi Displacer, Whelming Wave, etc. As we've seen with cards like Mulldrifter having a body (no matter how small) can easily make-or-break a card and Torrential Gearhulk is no exception. Still, it's not all sunshine and rainbows. While we can all agree that recurring things like Intuition, Fact or Fiction and Gifts Ungiven is relatively powerful it's not as though you're cheating the system or anything. We're talking about a conditional Snapcaster Mage that can't recur things like Expropriate, Time Stretch nor Enter the Infinite (and to the best of my knowledge there's no comparable instants in any color). You also can't "go infinite" with mass bounce either (due to the exile clause) which prevents basically any degenerate form of abuse. That's still relevant synergy to consider but we also have to respect the fact that it's conditional. Remember, cards like Oblivion Sower, Sphinx of Uthuun and Diluvian Primordial provide similar value except they don't impose strict deckbuilding requirements and they never fail to trigger. That being said it's still a Snapcaster Mage of sorts and it's still going to be amazing target to blink/bounce in lists with a critical mass of instants. This is especially relevant for a color like Blue that doesn't have an exciting Titan nor Soul and thus has a bit of hole at 6 CMC (especially for those who can't afford Consecrated Sphinx). It's not a broken card in that sense but it's way too powerful to overlook.
Grade B
Demon of Dark Schemes: Is it just me or is the new Massacre Wurm trying to compensate for something with those swords of his? Is he upset about being "smaller" than his predecessor or something? Come on dude, everyone knows that it's not the size that counts! Either way this seems like an utterly fantastic mass removal spell + recursion engine that will see extensive play in every major multiplayer format. Clearly you're not going to see him in ultra-competitive lists or anything but from a casual perspective this guy is a total bomb. Even if you ignore his recursion clause his Massacre ETB trigger is solid and any semi-relevant BBB creature can weasel its way into Gray Merchant of Asphodel decks fairly easily. Otherwise his recursion is aggressively costed since 3 mana to recur any creature from any graveyard directly to play is a total steal. He doesn't even have to tap to activate it! The 4 Energy is clearly going to be the bottleneck but assuming that you manage untap with this guy then it's reasonable to assume that you'll be able to muster at least 2-3 revivals on average. Even if you don't, no biggie, you still got a 5/5 flying Massacre out of the deal. Lastly, it's relevant to highlight that Black is the king of recursion and that this is an ideal critter to jam on a continual basis given the parasitic nature of Energy. From Phyrexian Reclamation to Animate Dead to Oversold Cemetery there's no shortage of ways to constantly recur him and once you reach a critical-mass of mana and Energy he quickly seizes complete control of the game.
Grade B
Diabolic Tutor: While Dark Petition has all-but supplanted Diabolic Tutor in Constructed I think that this card is largely overlooked in EDH. Some of you probably think "well no kidding tutors are good in EDH, thanks for the head's-up Sherlock /s" but the reality is that I pour over countless Black list in the EDH forums that exclude it. Don't get me wrong, I understand that it's no Demonic Tutor, but I refuse to believe that the vast majority of players can find 99 more powerful alternatives. This is especially true in non-French EDH where you have 40 life at which point there's no compelling reason to exclude heinously degenerate draw spells/engines such as Necropotence, Necrologia, Ad Nauseam, etc. Time and time again I'm forced to remind people that even though their deck has 7 drops their average CMC is probably something close to 2 or 2.5 and so even outside of degenerate combo lists Ad Nauseam still typically amazing. Moreover, even if your deck is full of expensive garbage you'll still want Necrologia to refill your hand in the mid-to-lategame. In that sense I don't understand why you wouldn't include Diabolic Tutor because why wouldn't you want to increase your likelihood of drawing a card like Necropotence or Necrologia? You're playing Black, you have 40 life, freaking use it!
EDH Grade C+
Gonti, Lord of Luxury: While Black has roughly eight billion 4 CMC spells that it can blindly jam into its lists (Damnation, Syphon Mind, Grave Pact, No Mercy, etc.) it's never had much in the way of reasonable creatures. Crypt Ghast is Godly and Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet has started making waves but otherwise it tends to be niche nonsense such as Disciple of Bolas which can be very hit-or-miss at times. What excites me about Gonti is that I can slot him in (literally) any Bx shell and always extract reasonable value from him. After all, you're always getting a pseudo-Impulse and a Deathtouch body with which to trade-off. A lot of people are dismissing him as being "too conditional" but I wouldn't discount any card that enables you to break the color pie. The ability to grab a permission spell from a Blue deck or Enchantment removal from a White/Green deck is insanely relevant since those aren't effects that Black decks naturally have access to. Yes, I know, it's all luck-based. That doesn't change the fact that you're casting an Impulse, that your "hit" can't be stripped from your hand and that it will sometimes dig you into an answer that you wouldn't normally have access to. Otherwise the same generic comments about Demon of Dark Schemes apply. Good with Gray Merchant, good with recursion, good against removal, etc.
Grade C
Morbid Curiosity: While most people are defaulting to combos involving Ugin's Nexus and/or Spine of Ish Sah I think the true appeal of this card is that it's playable in any creature-based shell. Let's face it; the majority of your 4+ CMC critters are going to have powerful ETB triggers attached to relatively anemic bodies that your opposition won't have any incentive to remove. Take a sample curve of Gonti, Lord of Luxury into Gray Merchant of Asphodel into Demon of Dark Schemes into Sepulchral Primordial. Who's going to actively remove those types of threats? No one, that's who! Morbid Curiosity will sometimes rot in your hand as a do-nothing pile of trash, I'm not suggesting otherwise, but it's average use case will be "bin a dude and draw 4-6 cards." This is especially true in lists that cheat creatures into play via Delve, recursion, rituals, etc. Moreover, unlike Disciple of Bolas it doesn't care about the size of the creature which makes it ideal for binning things like Gray Merchant of Asphodel that lack relevant bodies. It's also critical to note that as with Syphon Mind this card doesn't cost life which is relevant for the large % of casual players who ban Exsanguinate and Gray Merchant of Asphodel. Lastly I want to stress that this card is in fact good in decks with cards such as Ugin's Nexus and Spine of Ish Sah. I just don't want people to get the wrong impression and assume that it's some niche draw spell that generic creature-based decks shouldn't be looking to field. This is legitimately one of the most powerful Black draw spells that we've seen printed in some time and it should see a fair amount of play as a result.
Grade C
Night Market Lookout: Even though it's not a real deck I'm a total sucker for the Bloodchief Ascension, Mardu Shadowspear, Thornbow Archer, Pulse Tracker, Ankh of Mishra, etc. "Sligh" archetype. Sometimes I add Red for Price of Progress, Flame Rift, Scab-Clan Berserker, Sulfuric Vortex, Manabarbs, Fiery Confluence, etc., sometimes it's UG for Edric, Spymaster of Trest, I'll start testing White for Reconnaissance and Kambal, Consul of Allocation, you get the idea. Something critical to note about this particular iteration of the Pulse Tracker family is that she's another rogue which is vital for Prowling Notorious Throng. This obviously only applies to Edric, Spymaster of Trest versions of the archetype but these are the kinds of synergies that can eventually support new archetypes. I want to stress that this strategy isn't remotely competitive but it's Hella fun to play because it annoys the crap out of everyone. It's virtually impossible to actually win with it (people just team up and kill you because it's not as though your creatures can threaten profitable blocks) but I personally find it ultra-satisfying to nail everyone for 10-12 by turn 4. Budget versions of the deck can also be built for pennies making it a cheap and hilarious way to screw around with your playgroup every now and then.
Grade F+
Noxious Gearhulk: This is the kind of cards that seems as though it should be awesome. I mean, just look at it! Big body, built-in evasion, a powerful ETB trigger, relevant lifegain, it's a creature so you can recur it, it fuels "Necropotence" style draw spells, it has Black plips for Gray Merchant of Asphodel, what's not to love? Unfortunately it'll never rise above the ranks of "marginal playable" because at the end of the day it's still a 6 mana Doom Blade. In a world of cards like Fleshbag Marauder and Toxic Deluge that'll never pass muster so leave this one to the Duel fiends my friends. I realize that that may seem like an unfair generalization but the reality is that the net impact of jamming this thing is that a single creature dies and you gain some life. That's it. There's obviously a world where this type of threat has relevance but modern multiplayer Magic has evolved far beyond these do-nothing finishers. Hell, just compare him to the various alternatives at your disposal and it'll become eminently obvious why this card will never make the final cut. Sidisi, Undead Vizier, Gray Merchant of Asphodel, Oblivion Sower, Massacre Wurm, Kokusho, the Evening Star, Demon of Dark Schemes, Sepulchral Primordial, Sheoldred, Whispering One, Griselbrand and more are all obvious examples of objectively superior finishers. Again, I'm not trying to make card sound Mudhole levels or anything but I also can't envision a scenario where I'd expect to play with or against this thing in any multiplayer sphere (be it Cube, EDH or Constructed). I'd never recommend it to an aspiring deckbuilder nor would be actively excited to see it employed as a generic finisher.
Grade C-
Ovalchase Daredevil: As we've seen with Squee, Goblin Nabob any free "to hand" recursion can be extremely degenerate in the right archetypes. The primary card that comes to mind is Tortured Existence but realistically any powerful discard/sacrifice outlet does the trick. Clearly you have to be swapping him for artifact creatures to generate worthwhile value at which point he spirals out of control very quickly. Moreover, unlike similar cards (think Stinkweed Imp, Krovikan Horror, Veilborn Ghoul) this card stacks well in multiples and is relatively easy to support. Realistically your only bottle-neck is going to be mana since everything else is fairly trivial. As such you'll typically want to be pairing her with creatures such as Burnished Hart and Solemn Simulacrum whenever possible to ensure a steady stream of mana and artifact creatures. From there you should be able to grind your opponents out with value, stax, denial, basically anything insofar as you're abusing her with a card like Tortured Existence.
Grade Niche
Cathartic Reunion: I'm glad to finally see a noteworthy alternative to both Faithless Looting and Goblin Lore and expect this card to see reasonable amounts of competitive play. While you shouldn't treat these "rummagers" as generic cantrips that you can blindly jam in order to smooth your draws they excel in countless graveyard-driven archetypes where they function as solid enablers. The most obvious application is in Dredge decks given its ability to bin multiple Dredgers and then draw (aka Dredge) 3 cards. Moreover, since the discard is an additional cost you're not required to pay it should you copy the spell which makes this an ideal target to double with things like Dualcaster Mage and Pyromancer's Goggles. Whereas Faithless Looting merely becomes "draw 4 discard 4" this reads "discard 2 draw 6." Beyond that these types of cards excel in Reanimator and Storm strategies, particularly ones looking to "go big" as it were. This is obviously because it pitches multiple cards (as opposed to 1) which is perfect for things like Victimize, Mizzix's Mastery, Past in Flames, Scrap Mastery and Living Death. Don't get me wrong, it's still great with Goblin Welder, Dance of the Dead, Daretti, Scrap Savant, etc., but unlike similar discard outlets this can bin multiple recursion targets which is incredibly relevant in some archetypes. Finally, while Cathartic Reunion is clearly a weaker topdeck than a card like Tormenting Voice in the later stages of the game (given that it's more conditional) it's significantly more degenerate early on where it can enable throngs of busted sequences. Even though it's a higher risk card it's also one that's significantly more likely the snowball the game early-on and thus figures to boast a much higher overall win % than its alternatives. You're definitely going to topdeck this with an empty hand and it's definitely going to suck but those losses will be offset by all of the games where you bin multiple threats on turn 2 in order to setup for a big Victimize (or whatever) on the following turn.
Grade B
Chandra, Torch of Defiance: While the new Chandra isn't going to be a bomb (remember that this is a multiplayer set review) she's still one of the most competitive Red Planeswalkers on the market. Her +1 "draw/Sizzle" is a reasonable form of card advantage/burn that puts a relevant clock on players in formats such as 60-card Constructed and 2HG. The burn aspect is rather insignificant in EDH but otherwise it's nothing to scoff at. Clearly "drawing cards" is relevant in any format and while Red's version is conditional it's still better than nothing. I've been happily playing Outpost Siege for quite some time now and she's a reasonable alternative. Obviously it would have been nice if they'd allowed you to "play" the card as opposed to "cast"ing it (so that you could play lands) but beggars can't be choosers. Otherwise her +1 "Dark Ritual" is extremely powerful and strikes me being her most degenerate mode. In allows you to treat her as a 2 drop in the later stages of the game which is perfect for setting up degenerate sequences such as Chandra + Wildfire on the same turn. Merely untapping with 6-7 mana is also a great place to be on turn 4-5 since there's any number of powerful spells that you can jam for that amount of mana. As to where the card falters it lies primarily in her -3 and -7 which are lackluster at best. In a duel you can jam Chandra on turn 3-4, kill your opponent's threat and still have a Planeswalker to show for your troubles. The same cannot be said for multiplayer as she'll simply die if you attempt to repeat that pattern when multiple adversaries are involved. Moreover, while her ultimate is powerful it's not game-winning (not in the short-run anyways) and is more suited to board control when tasked to defeat numerous opponents. It doesn't scale well into EDH either where it'll struggle immensely to burn players out quickly enough to secure victories. All-in-all Chandra is still relatively powerful Planeswalker for her first 2 modes alone but her inability to reliably close games out is where she'll fall short.
Grade C+
Combustible Gearhulk: I was secretly hoping that the Red Gearhulk would be among the stronger cards of the cycle and much to my delight Wizards exceeded my expectations. I'm loving this card for so many reasons and I cannot wait to start jamming it in numerous archetypes. First of all I don't mind the relatively anemic First Strike ability in multiplayer as it makes him a defensive powerhouse. He can literally tangle with any Titan and emerge unscathed which isn't a feat that many other 6 drops can boast. You're blocking (or at least threatening to block) significantly more than you're attacking in multiplayer and so I'm perfectly content to see this as his keyword. Moving on to the actual meat of the card I want to touch on the various reasons why he's not some generic Browbeat. He actually scales insanely well in a multiplayer given your ability to choose the opponent who is least likely to take the damage. When it comes to casual players "the fear of the unknown" is a legitimate concern and people will often trick themselves into assuming the worst. There's also the sense of "why me?" as players will question why they should take the damage to spare everyone else. After all, that's not exactly fair now is it? Still, you can also target someone who's already been beaten down and who won't be able to afford to take the hit. Another 5-7 to the dome will surely spell their death knell which ostensibly forces them to select the draw mode. It's also important to stress that this card isn't just "good against bad players" or anything. Many decks use life as a resource (Phyrexian Arena, Ad Nauseam) and so it's not objectively correct for people to take the hit each and every time. Beyond that you can even forge alliances using these kinds of cards stating things like "we can't beat this player unless we can dig into X answers." I'm not even suggesting that you lie; that will often be an objectively true statement. I virtually never play games in which everyone does equally well and once players start to fall behind it makes sense for them to team up to try and and improve their situation. The idea here is that you only need one "good" target to make this card bonkers which isn't asking much in a format where you'll routinely have 3 or more to choose from. Beyond that I'm ecstatic about the fact that it's both a creature and an artifact. Goblin Welder, Mimic Vat, Feldon of the Third Path, Flameshadow Conjuring, Sneak Attack, Daretti, Scrap Savant, Trading Post, Panharmonicon, Scrap Mastery and more are all examples of competitive ways to constantly re-trigger his effect. It's equally important to highlight the fact that even if players elect to "take the hit" that self-mill is still relevant for decks with cards like Feldon of the Third Path, Mizzix's Mastery, Daretti, Scrap Savant, Past in Flames, Scrap Mastery, etc. Clearly you'd never be excited to field a 6 mana do-nothing blocker that self-mills 3 cards, I'm not trying to make mountains out of molehills or anything, but I did want to highlight the fact that even the worst-case scenario has a silver-lining. Lastly, it's relevant to note that "big Red" decks do exist and that sometimes taking the damage will be legitimately problematic. Rakdos, Lord of Riots EDH comes to mind as that deck is already playing every big Eldrazi under the sun and with respect to 60-Card Constructed there's always Cloudposts deck that include a fair few as well. Now, the math on hitting a 10+ CMC spell might not be insanely high but the question that you have to ask yourself is "ok, but do all of my opponents know that?" I can sit here from my computer chair and calculate the cumulative probability of hitting at least 1 "Eldrazi" in a 60-card deck that has 8 total to be 35.41% but will the players in your games have that same luxury? Will they be able to accurately estimate the various outcomes and determine the mathematically optimal play or will they just say "screw that noise, draw your damn cards"? Newsflash; humans suck at estimating probabilities which is why we have things like hypergeometric calculators to help us out. The default reaction will be "Hell no I don't want to take 15 to the face" even if the average CMC of you deck is ~2.5. All-in-all this is the most powerful, playable and exciting punisher card that I've ever seen and it's going to be a staple Red value engine for years to come.
Grade B
Fateful Showdown: Much like Collective Defiance this is the type of card that I despise. It's not, I repeat, it's NOT a Wheel. Wheels can be topdecked at any point in the game in order to refuel your hand. They also pair amazingly well with fast mana and a common play pattern includes dropping a bunch of mana rocks on turn 1-2 and restocking with a draw7 on turn 3-4 in order to "restart the game" with a sizable mana advantage. For example, I'm always happy to open turn 1 Sol Ring + Izzet Signet into turn 2 Gilded Lotus + Windfall/ Wheel of Fortune/Timetwister in formats such as EDH. Fateful Showdown doesn't permit those kinds of sequences. When you curve a bunch of fast mana into one it doesn't do anything. When you topdeck this in the later stages of the game it doesn't do anything. In fact, basically the only time that this card has relevance in on turn ~3 (following a turn 2 mana rock) where you can use it to pitch your hand in order to hopefully enable things like Goblin Welder, Daretti, Scrap Savant, Mizzix's Mastey, Past in Flames and Scrap Mastery down the road. The key word there is "hopefully" because you're forced to pitch your entire hand so it's not as though you can sandbag your recursion and bin everything else. As such I think that these kinds of cards are wildly overrated and consider them to nothing more than marginal filler. Relatively speaking they're obviously reasonable playables but I personally won't be playing with or against them myself anytime soon. If you're desperate for removal and "self-mill" in Red then this is a passable option but please don't perpetuate the false claim that this is a Wheel that will see legitimate competitive play. It's as marginal as "card draw" gets.
Grade D
Madcap Experiment: I'll start by saying that I can't think of a competitive way to make this card work with Blightsteel Colossus beyond "hope and prayer". No matter how you slice it you're going to want to pair it with either a tutor or a prevention effect and the moment that you're using multi-card combos to cheat single creatures into play then you're instantly talking about one that's relatively fair and anemic. After all, there's any number of alternatives that can replicate the outcome for a single card. Obviously you can test your luck, roll the dice and see what happens but I wouldn't advise that unless you feel like dying on turn 3-4 to a high risk, medium reward gambit. For those interested in the actual math your cumulative probability of hitting a Blightsteel Colossus within 20 cards is just over 81% assuming a 60 card deck with 4x Colossus. That's assuming no Brainstorms, Ponders, Preordains, etc. and obviously assumes a 60 card library (despite the fact that in practice it'll be closer to 50). The problem is that there's way too variables to consider including # of Colossi drawn, # of cards left in your library, # of cards that you've Scry'd to the bottom, etc. Hell, maybe you run 4x Darksteel Colossus AND 4x Blightsteel Colossus! Still, that should provide you with a rough idea if nothing else. With that in mind where I do see this card being played is alongside Platinum Emperion in decks with no other Artifacts. Much like Stoneforge Mystic + Batterskull you can start any Red deck with 4x Madcap Experiment and 2-3x Platinum Emperion as a generic "value" 4 drop. The body is gargantuan and the effect is incredibly relevant in Red given its plethora of blow-back mass removal spells such as Earthquake. The archetypes that immediately come to mind are 12-Post and UrzaTron as many of their incarnations already field threats such as Platinum Emperion to begin with. Madcap Experiment has loose color requirements making it easy to cast on curve and you're not (as) unhappy to naturally draw your Emperions since you can reliably cast them "the fair way" down the road. Taking no damage from things like Flame Rift, Price of Progress, Sulfuric Vortex and Manabarbs also makes it a reasonable addition to burn decks and so it could easily see play in those as well. Otherwise this is the type of card that will only get better with time since you never know when a new synergy will be uncovered or a new support card will be printed. Finally, this card seems heinous in both Cube and EDH because you'd have to omit Artifact-based ramp entirely in order to support it and there's no possible way that it could bolster your overall win % as a result. This is purely a 60-Card Constructed threat as far as I'm concerned but I'm willing to be proven wrong. If someone can post an EDH build that rivals the Angel's Grace + Ad Nauseam combo then it's conceivable that one day it could enable entirely new EDH archetypes.
Grade B
Reckless Fireweaver: Niche combo card for decks like Animar, Soul of Elements EDH. 4+ counter Animar + Ancestral Statue + Reckless Fireweaver is a game win and Imperial Recruiter can even fetch the Fireweaver if needed (unlike Purphoros, God of the Forge). That being said the card doesn't have any fair applications (not even in burn decks) so only a small subset of cEDH players should bother acquiring him.
EDH Grade Niche
Armorcraft Judge: This is an utterly fantastic Magic card that people are grossly overlooking. Mass card draw on cheap Green creatures is almost always competitive and Armorcraft Judge is no exception. After all, Green has throngs of powerful creature tutors (Green Sun's Zenith, Survival of the Fittest, Chord of Calling, Birthing Pod, etc.) and given that Elves are the most powerful tribe by an order of magnitude this card is far too powerful to dismiss. Obviously she only works in decks that focus on +1/+1 counters but insofar as that requirement is met she figures to generate an obscene amount of value on average. This is especially true if you can abuse her Elf subtype with things like Wirewood Symbiote in order to completely break the card in half. Do not gloss over her as some random trash uncommon because I guarantee you that she has competitive applications in formats such as Constructed and EDH where you can reliably curve out with things like Scavenging Ooze, Managorger Hydra, Forgotten Ancient, Kalonian Hydra, Verdurous Gearhulk, etc. She's also bonkers in Elf decks that abuse cards like Immaculate Magistrate and Ezuri, Claw of Progress in order to generate value and/or go infinite with Sage of Hours. Is the card niche? Yes, absolutely. Still, she's like a B+ in the right shells given her ability to bury the table in card advantage if left unchecked.
Grade Niche
Dubious Challenge: Pairing this card with Homeward Path is close enough to being instant-win combo that I can't reasonably dismiss it. The idea here is to use cards like Brainstorm, Preordain and Ponder to sculpt the top of your library while employing land tutors such as Crop Rotation and Expedition Map in order to fetch either Homeward Path or Boseiju, Who Shelters All (or even Gaea's Cradle depending on the contents of the deck) to bring everything together. From there you should be able to cheat multiple ridiculously oppressive threats into play and secure the game in your favor. A sample deck could easily look something like:
4x Homeward Path
4x Polluted Delta
4x Wooded Foothills
4x Breeding Pool
2x Hickory Woodlot
1x Saprazzan Skerry
1x Boseiju, Who Shelters All
1x Island
1x Forest
1x Archetype of Endurance
4x Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur
1x Progenitus
1x Worldspine Wurm
1x Blightsteel Colossus
4x Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
Spells (26)
4x Brainstorm
4x Ponder
4x Preordain
2x Crop Rotation
4x Nature's Lore
4x Dubious Challenge
4x Eureka
The deck is purposely built with a budget in mind (hence the sub-optimal Fetchlands) but unfortunately there's nothing that I can do about cards like Eureka and the creature-base. You could always employ a Hypergenesis build (using Shardless Agent + Violent Outburst as enablers) to circumvent Eurekas but "good" creatures will always set you back a pretty penny. FWIW the manabase doesn't need to be especially fancy and you could get away with just about anything. Heck, even Yavimaya Coast would work just fine. Breeding Pool is crucial for Nature's Lore (so that you can follow it up with a Cantrip on turn 2) but otherwise the only vital lands are the Homeward Paths.
Which I'm using as a "proof of concept" more so than anything else. Boseiju, Who Shelters All is insane against permission and so you already have reasonable incentive to field land tutors such as Crop Rotation, Expedition Map and/or Sylvan Scrying. Beyond that having access to additional copies of "Eureka" (not literal copies but you get the idea) makes the deck significantly more consistent and so this could easily be a tier 1.5-2 combo deck.
Moving on the card seems reasonable as a Collected Company for hatebear decks given that you generally don't care who actually owns the Gaddock Teeg, Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, Hushwing Gryff, etc. The problem with that plan is that the other player can always choose to "sacrifice" the creature by chump attacking into larger threats and so you'd have to employ "politics" in order to hopefully find a like-minded individual. Not a stellar plan by any means but still reasonably effective if you want to team up with other fair decks in order to tackle the unfair ones.
Otherwise you can simply field it as a generic value spell and accept the fact that you're engaging in a 2-horse race. I've written about this topic in the past and so rather than re-hashing my personal view on the subject I'll just copy and paste my official stance on "why 2-horse races are profitable."
Something that continues to baffle me is people's reluctance to enter in 2-horse races in a multiplayer setting. What's a 2-horse race you ask? Imagine that you're a jockey competing in the Kentucky Derby (the world's largest and most prestigious horse racing event). You're approached by a mysterious stranger and given the option to dope your horse in a completely undetectable way that won't harm it. Neither you nor your horse can possibly suffer negative consequences as the result of accepting this deal and this new "super drug" will leave you primed to crush your opposition in triumphant fashion. The catch? If you agree to the terms then one of your adversaries will also be doped with the same drug. Do you accept the terms? The answer is unquestionably "YES!" Assuming a baseline level of competition your chances of winning at a given event is roughly 1/N where N is the number of players. While the actual number will vary based on experience, technical ability, card pool and a host of additional factors it's virtually impossible to garner anything close to a "winning" record. Even if you're the strongest player with the best deck assuming that you're playing at your skill level you're never going to be heavily advantaged over the rest of the field. This has been proven countless times at the Grand Prix/Pro Tour level as even the winningest competitors can only boast roughly a ~65% win rate in the long-run. In that sense while it may seem crazy to suggest giving one of your opponents an immense advantage from a purely competitive standpoint it makes sense insofar as you're significantly bolstering your chances of succeeding. After all, while Magic is undeniably a game of skill there's also a fair amount of luck involved which means that experience and ability can only take you so far in the world of children's card games.
The most blatant example of a card that enables you to enter a 2-horse race is Trade Secrets. While it's never seen any form of competitive play it's mysteriously banned in EDH. Why? Well, more often than not when this card is cast 2 players (out of 4, 6, 8 or more!) are allowed to draw huge swaths of their deck if-not the entire thing. On the following turn the owner is typically capable of firing off any number of instant-win combos backed-up by cheap/free interaction such as Swan Song, Defense Grid, Counterspell, Mana Drain, Mindbreak Trap, Force of Will, Misdirection and Commandeer to seal the deal on the spot. Clearly they don't always "get there" (due to sufficient disruption/interaction) at which point the other player who draws ~75 cards on turn 2-3 usually does. After all, they too have likely assembled all of their combos and now have the ability to support them with their best protection. Far more often than not one of those players would go on to win the game which pushed far too many strategies (see: all other) out of the metagame.
What a lot of people fail to understand is that even if your opponent goes on to win 35% of the time and you only go on to win 30% of the time (i.e. neither of you win the remaining 35%) that's still absolutely amazing and you should always agree to enter that contract. The notion that you can walk into a 4, 6, 8+ player multiplayer game with a ~30% probability to win is completely absurd (again, assuming a baseline level of competition) and jumping from ~17% to ~30% by resolving a single spell is an oppressive leap. This illustrates exactly why this card had to be banned in EDH (the primary multiplayer format) and why it's so utterly ridiculous that no one's playing it casually. If you can double your chances of winning by resolving a single 3 CMC Sorcery then you take that deal each and every time. Furthermore, while I'm implying that your win % could theoretically be lower than that of the "other horse's" after resolving a card such as Trade Secrets in practice that's rarely-if-ever the case. Your deck will be the one specifically designed to abuse the the card(s) whereas the same will not always be true for each of your adversaries every game. There's often weak links, people who're down-and-out, someone testing a silly brew, on and and on. You can target anyone for any reason and assuming that you put a bit of thought into it then odds are you're going to set yourself up for a very easy win if you build your deck properly.
Knowing this you should be absolutely willing to enter 2-horse races if the situation presents itself. One of my favorites curves of all time is Carpet of Flowers into Intangible Virtue into Sylvan Offering where X = 3 or 4. While it's true that I'm putting 8 power across 5 bodies into play for one of my adversaries the 13 power that I create for myself gives me a huge edge over the others. All thing being equal I try to team up with that person to pick the others off (we do have 21 power across 10 bodies in play after all) and from there I'm more than happy to duke it out in the finals even if I had to help my opposition along the way. I don't see it as "I gave them 8 power that I now have to deal with," but rather "I secured my seat in the finals and will win a ton of games as a result." After all, he has the same incentive as I do to cooperate with me since a 50% chance to win sure beats 20%. While life isn't always that simple there's generally no reason to duke it out with the only person who can seriously hurt you when you're very far ahead. This is true for any resource management game and explains why you'll rarely see big stack poker players tangle with one another unless they're holding the nuts. Back to the topic at hand that is how you have to assess these extremely powerful cards that help target opponent as opposed to all opponents and explains why you should be totally willing to jam Trade Secrets et al. in a huge % of your decks. These are extremely degenerate cards with oppressive applications and you should be willing to abuse them when needed.
Oh and before anyone asks the fail-case on an early Trade Secrets is a 3 mana draw 4 that gives the worst player at the table 2 cards. I'd still play that card in 100% of my Blue decks regardless of the other text so even if I knew that none of my opponents would agree to "enter the contract" I'd still play it. The card is ridiculously overpowered in every sense and there's absolutely no reason why you shouldn't be playing with them in some of your decks. If you're trying to improve your overall performance and secure some easy wins a good place to start is a nice and easy 2-horse race as opposed to trying to slug it out with 3+ worthy adversaries.
Clearly this card isn't nearly as cut-and-dry and we'd like it to be (it sucks if you only hit one good creature) but most of what I'm saying holds true for this type of spell. If you routinely play against "that guy" who always wins then a perfectly reasonable way to take him down is to jam this on turn 3, give 2 players (yourself included) an oppressive bomb, beat him down and battle it out from there.
Grade Niche
Fairgrounds Trumpeter: Assuming that your deck has a critical mass of threats such as Scavenging Ooze, Managorger Hydra, Taurean Mauler, Gideon's Avenger and/or Forgotten Ancient then this virtually acts as additional scaling threat. Theoretically it could even see play in WGx Soul Sisters builds that employ things like Soul Warden, Essence Warden, Soul's Attendant, Ajani's Pridemate, Karlov of the Ghost Council, Archangel of Thune, on and on and on. That being said the biggest weakness of these types of threats is their vulnerability to removal (especially mass removal) and Fairgrounds Trumpeter merely exacerbates that threat. If your meta is somehow devoid of removal then sure, curving turn 1 Elvish Mystic into turn 2 Trumpeter into turn 3 Forgotten Ancient is certainly reasonable but only for the ~5% of metas that don't feel like playing with interaction. Hell, even then it's not stellar by any means.
Grade F+
Kujar Seedsculptor: Given that Bond Beetle sees play in 100% of competitive Animar, Soul of Elements EDH builds this card warrants testing at the very least. After all, assuming that you can lead with any other creature then it's ostensibly the same card. Reducing the cost of all future creature spells by 2 is ridiculously overpowered and typically enables the archetype to combo kill using things like Imperial Recruiter and/or Purphoros, God of the Forge . Unfortunately I'm not an Animar player myself so I'm not entirely sure one way or another. I'm assuming that it's going to be a staple but it's also possible that the extra mana does in fact kill the card's competitive worth.
EDH Grade Niche
Nissa, Vital Force: Oh, look, a new Planeswalker for me to hate on! +1? Sucks. -3? Sucks. As expected this card is heinOH MY GOD WHAT IS THAT ULTIMATE? So you jam her, +1 to build a 5/5 blocker and on the following turn you get an Emblem that enables all of your lands to cantrip? Ok, now I'm interested O.O! I'm seeing a ton of suggestions to pair her with Oath of Gideon and while I wouldn't go out of my way to support her with terrible cards (and oh man is Oath of Gideon ever unplayable trash) people need to stop glossing over the fact that her base use-case is absolutely stellar. Your opponents have exactly 1 turn to beat through your blockers (including a newly added 5/5) before she ults and that's not an easy clock to race. Clearly her ult doesn't win the game outright or anything but insofar as you're playing "fair" Magic then I can't imagine many better 5 drops to be slotting into your lists. After all, let's not forget that Green is the king of ramp and between cards like Carpet of Flowers and Burgeoning it's possible to be jamming Nissa as early as turn 2 (and reliably by turn 3) and so it's unfair to think of her as a turn 5 play. The only thing that I'll caution is that this Nissa has immense diminishing returns since none of her modes can reasonably win games of Magic and her recursion is straight-up garbage relative to creature-based alternatives. As such if you ever fall too far behind on board the card doesn't accomplish anything significant and even if you somehow manage to pop her ult off 2-3 times you still have to find a way to literally win the game. Looping Nissas and smashing for 5 isn't exactly going to get the job done. As such I expect to see Nissa as a 2-of as opposed to a 4-of since you'll still want a critical mass of cards that "matter" in your ramp lists and Nissa doesn't quite qualify. She's still a fantastic and relatively competitive Planeswalker but she's not a Liliana Vess that can "Rise of the Dark Realms" to seal the deal or anything. Still a fantastic card though.
Grade B
Oviya Pashiri, Sage Lifecrafter: Rhys the Redeemed is back and weaker than ever! Wait, that's not exciting at all :/. Green is the color that cares the least about artifacts in my experience and the fact that her "big mode" only creates a single dude is a sizable downgrade. It's also important to stress that this barely qualifies as a 1 drop because I'm sure that your opponents would happily choose to have you activate her early-on. Much like Dragonmaster Outcast she's more of a 5+ drop because competitive curves don't involve tapping 3 mana to produce 1/1s. Moreover, whereas Rys could legitimately bury a table in threats and/or fuel things like Beastmaster Ascension and Craterhoof Behemoth Oviya struggles to close games out. She obviously still fuels things like Daretti, Ingenious Iconoclast, Contamination, Smokestack, Shattergang Brothers, etc. and boasts synergy with things like Parallel Lives and Doubling Season but taking older creatures and making them strictly weaker generally isn't a winning combo. Don't get me wrong, I understand that Rhys has to be played in a dedicated token deck whereas Oviya doesn't but what "normal" creature-based deck is going to want this as one of its finishers? Not many. Still, I never gives these kinds of cards terrible grades because they can literally end games on their own. After all, it's theoretically possible to jam her on a board with other 4-5 dudes and just plop a ~5/5 into play every turn. This clearly isn't anything close to her average use-case, any mass removal spell wrecks her, but in metas that are lacking/devoid of it there's a world where she spirals out of control when left unchecked.
Grade C
Wildest Dreams: Seasons Past aside Green's spell-based recursion effects are largely unplayable given the color's inability to reliably locate them. Whereas creature-based alternatives are trivial to tutor up with Green Sun's Zenith, Oath of Nissa, Survival of the Fittest, Eldritch Evolution, Chord of Calling, Birthing Pod, etc. the color struggles to reliably find spells when needed. As such even ultra-efficient options (such as Regrowth) barely see play and that even extends to competitive formats and EDH. Wildest Dreams is "fine," it's a strictly better Restock that scales well with cards like Primeval Titan and Sylvan Primordial, but it's never going to make the cut in the best versions of the best Green decks because you can't Green Sun's Zenith (or whatever) for it when needed.
Grade C
Verdurous Gearhulk: While you could arguably field it as a generic value 5 drop that "beats removal" his competitive applications will all be synergy-based in nature. After all, he has very obvious and busted interactions with cards such as Primordial Hydra, Marchesa, the Black Rose, Armorcraft Judge, Unity of Purpose, Fathom Mage, Master Biomancer, Cauldron of Souls, Ivorytusk Fortress and/or basically anything that cares about +1/+1 counters. The fact that it's an artifact is also relevant given that it's a reasonable target to weld in-and-out of play on a continual basis. All-in-all you'll want to focus your efforts on abusing his ETB trigger and artifact subtype as much as possible because whereas a generic 8/8 trampler for 5 doesn't pass muster when it's tasked to defeat multiple adversaries a +1/+1 engine on a body certainly can.
Grade C+
Cloudblazer: While Mulldrifter is too low-impact for ultra competitive multiplayer spheres it's a casual all-star everywhere else. Early on it functions as a Divination to smooth your draws and later on it provides an evasive body that you can Equip, Blink, Bounce, etc. as needed. Cloudblazer trades early-game utility for late-game power as she's almost strictly better in big mana decks seeking to re-trigger her over and over. She's also ideal for formats such as EDH and Cube where you can only field 1x Mulldrifter whereas in an ideal world you'd rather have access to multiples. W.r.t "which card is better?" Mulldrifter is more abusable given his Evoke ability (for example you can Evoke and bounce it with the trigger on the stack with cards such as Vedalken Mastermind in order to BYO Touch of Brilliance) and the ability to jam it as a Divination is relevant in faster metas where it enables you to hit your land drops and dig into midgame action when needed. That being said for casual Blink decks seeking to drag the game for as long as possible the lifegain from Cloudblazer is significantly more valuable. It's basically a wash but I'd generally lean towards Mulldrifter for faster decks/metas and Cloudblazer for slower ones.
Grade C
Contraband Kingpin: I'm only discussing this card in order to play Devil's Advocate to the rave reviews that it's been unjustly receiving. After all, it's just a do-nothing blocker that draws 25% of a card every time that an artifact ETB under your control. What am I missing? Why are people lauding it as a potential competitive staple in the color combo with Baleful Strix, Sygg, River Cutthroat, Lim-Dûl's Vault, etc.? Sorry folks, this isn't the droid that you're looking for. Hell, this won't even make the cut in the best versions of Sharuum the Hegemon EDH. For those unaware that deck wins by comboing Sharuum + Sculpting Steel/Phyrexian Metamorph + Disciple of the Vault/Blood Artist/Zulaport Cutthroat/Bitter Ordeal. Assuming that you have a cantrip/draw spell you can use this to Scry an arbitrarily large number of times, put Bitter Ordeal on top, draw it and kill everyone. Still sucks. Why? Because it requires 4 cards whereas the current combos only require 3. As such there's no compelling reason to jump through that extra hoop when the alternatives don't require it. "Well the card has other uses." Uh, no, it doesn't. Ok, technically it does but it can't compete with the best Blue, Black and White cards in the entire game. What are you cutting for this? What tutor/counterspell/draw spell are you removing for a janky, superfluous combo card? Nothing, that's what. Moving away from Sharuum the point that I'm trying to make is that this isn't game-winning value. Assuming that you jam 12 Artifacts this does what? Virtually draw 3 cards? That's obviously a decent ROI on a 2 drop but what time-frame are we looking at? 10 turns? More? What happens when you draw one of these on turn 5? Or later? Look, if you want a reasonable blocker and a touch of value then go ahead and field this in your artifact-based shells. It's no Baleful Strix but it could be worse. Still, don't kid yourself into thinking that this card is legitimately powerful. It's marginal filler at best and should be treated as such.
Grade D
Kambal, Consul of Allocation: As someone who's played a lot of Scab-Clan Berserker let me assure you that this card is the real deal. He's an absolutely stellar card that will see extensive play in every major multiplayer format. Much like Bloodchief Ascension this is the type of card that scales amazingly well into multiplayer settings where it can deal ludicrous amounts of damage while gaining copious quantities of life. This is especially true in spell-based metas where players are jamming Brainstorms and Burgeonings early and often because forfeiting 10% of your health to cantrip/ramp adds up insanely fast. It also offers natural protection against degenerate Storm decks and given that it's a 2 power creature for 3 it has favorable interactions with all of the competitive recursion such as Grenzo, Dungeon Warden, Alesha, Who Smiles at Death, Reveillark and Sun Titan. Beyond that it's also a natural fit in lifegain-focused strategies given that your Ajani's Pridemate, Karlov of the Ghost Council, Test of Endurance, Well of Lost Dreams and Felidar Sovereign decks probably wants to see him on turn 3 every game. Moving on basically every Bx burn deck should strongly consider fielding him as well because curving things like Bloodchief Ascension, Pulse Trackers (there's like 4 versions now) and Ankh of Mishra into one of these will end games in a jiffy. If all else fails you can simply jam it as a generic value engine in any Orzhov shell since the damage and lifegain add up insanely fast as the number of players increases. Curving Bloodchief Ascension into Tithe Drinker into Kambal, Consul of Allocation into Crypt Ghast into Gray Merchant of Asphodel is basically GG and so there's no wrong way to eat this Reese's. Literally any BWx deck should strongly consider playing the first and it's good enough that you could easily justify fielding more. Left unchecked this card will provide an absurd amount of value and I cannot wait to get my hands on a playset. His only "drawback" (if you can even call it that) is that he doesn't offer much value against creature-heavy archetypes and he technically dies to removal for very little value (a drain for 2 is irrelevant). Neither of those concerns matter in the slightest however and you should be reasonably happy to slot him into any shell that can reliable jam him on turn 2-3.
Grade B+
Rashmi, Eternities Crafter: This card is absolutely bonkers and for the life of me I don't understand she got printed as is. I understand that Wizards wants to push creatures and all but they do really have to resort to printings oppressive nonsense such as Rashmi and Leovold, Emissary of Trest? There's so much going on with her that I don't even know where to begin. First of all it's important to stress that she triggers on the first spell that you cast each turn which obviously has absurd applications with permission and Prophet of Kruphix type effects and scales insanely well with the number of players. Moreover, the fact that your Force of Wills will randomly cast 4 CMC spells for free is mind-blowing and tacking "draw a card" onto Counterspell doesn't seem remotely balanced. Furthermore, let's all take a second to appreciate that last line of text for what it is. "You may, if not, draw it." Uh, what? Is that a joke? So when I cast my Primeval Titan and hit Green Sun's Zenith I can choose to draw it instead of cursing my RNG? How can that be real? She's ostensibly a Cascade engine without the awkwardness of hitting a Counterspell or a Maelstrom Pulse against an empty board. If you don't want to cast that Terminate immediately then you can always elect to draw it instead. Ok Wizards, sure, whatever you say! Beyond that it's important to stress that Green means ramp and so it doesn't make sense to think of her as a turn 4 play. After all, you can easily jam her on turn 2 off of a Carpet of Flowers and/or Burgeoning or even cast her with permission backup in the early-to-mid stages of the game. This card is utter degenerate nonsense and I strongly encourage players to acquire and brew with her if at all possible. Realistically she can be jammed into an UGx shell and experience success but she'll obviously excel in ones that can operate at instant-speed. Counterspell, Fact or Fiction, Prophet of Kruphix, Seedborn Muse, do whatever it takes to trigger her each and every turn. You won't regret it!
Grade A
Saheeli Rai: Why hello there new Izzet staple! A value +1 on a 3 mana Planeswalker with an ultimate that instantly wins the game against any number of players? Really? Basalt Monolith + Rings of Brighthearth + Sensei's Divining Top/Staff of Domination is already played in throngs of combo decks and the fact that she tutors for and casts all 3 is utterly absurd. She also goes infinite with Liquimetal Coating and any form of death abuse and can even do silly things with Nevinyrral's Disk + Mycosynth Lattice + Darksteel Forge or even Blightsteel Colosuss and/or Battlecruisers such as Darksteel Colossus. Moreover, her -2 has obvious competitive applications in big mana formats dominated by artifact-based acceleration. After all, "Black Lotus" is ludicrously strong when you're copying a card like Mana Vault/Grim Monolith/Basalt Monolith/Thran Dynamo/Gilded Lotus/etc. This is especially true given that you'll probably want to support her with cards like Wildfire, Destructive Force, Devastation and Obliterate. The idea here is to cast her, Obliterate the world, build to her ultimate and win on the spot. After all, it literally wins the game against any number of players. That's unreal! People argue that she's weak because she can't protect herself but I fail to see how that matters in the slightest. She's 3 CMC for a reason; so that you can cast other spells to protect her. Simply jam her alongside a Blasphemous Act, follow-up with a Jokulhaups on the following turn and then build towards her game-winning ultimate. How is that anything less than absurd?
Grade B
Aetherflux Reservoir: *Queue jaw hitting floor.* Alright kids, what we have here is one of the most competitive 1-card EDH finishers that we've ever seen. I don't know why Wizards thought that bringing Storm back would be a good idea but hey, here we are! Someone charted out the lifegain that this card offers and showcased how 15 spells gains you round-about 120 life (the math is fuzzy since instants can enable you to gain a lot more than sorceries) which is obviously enough to OTK an entire EDH table. 15 spells might seem like a lot but when you're playing a Storm deck with Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth + Bubbling Muck, High Tide, Dark Ritual, Candelabra of Tawnos, Yawgmoth's Will, Frantic Search, Turnabout, Treasonous Ogre, Mizzix's Mastery, Past in Flames, Mana Geyser, Time Spiral, Mind's Desire, etc. it really isn't. It's actually trivially easy to combo off by turn 5 and cast more than enough spells to gain the ~150 life required to fire ze missles. Being an artifact clearly makes it softer to opposing permission (whereas Grapeshot, Brain Freeze and Tendrils of Agony aren't) but the ability to tutor for it using cards like Fabricate and Tezzeret the Seeker is a relevant consideration to keep in mind. It's also quick, clean and doesn't care about Eldrazi which can easily thwart mill win conditions. Many Black versions of the deck already field Exsanguinate regardless and assuming that you're not going infinite then curving any reasonably-sized Exsanguinate/Tendrils of Agony into this should spell light's-out for the rest of the table. It's also fantastic in any deck that gains infinite life and makes "lifelink" spells such as Children of Korlis, Tainted Sigil, Tamanoa and Exquisite Blood utterly insane. Before you ask, yes, Tainted Sigil does in fact say "total life lost by each player" which includes the 50 that you pay and the 50 that you deal. Balanced! I also want to highlight its interaction with Treasonous Ogre (which is already an auto-include in 100% of competitive Red EDH lists) because it'll literally enable you to cast your spells for free while gaining life in the process. That's insane people! Hell, even plain old lifegain decks such as Karlov of the Ghost Council and Oloro, Ageless Ascetic will be clamoring to jam this in the 99 as a non-interactive finisher. Otherwise I hope that it goes without saying that this card realistically has no place in Cube and that it's superfluous in Constructed where you can already field a critical mass of relevant win conditions. It's still a huge boon (or bane?) to the EDH community at large and I expect to see it played competitively for years to come.
EDH Grade A
Aetherworks Marvel: As a generic value spell in a deck with creatures and Fetchlands this card seems marginal at best. 6 is a lot of Energy to generate "the fair way" so unless you're reliably abusing other engines then it's not going to earn its keep in many lists. Obviously it's fantastic if you can Brainstorm an Emrakul, the Aeons Torn or Omniscience to the top and cast it for free but it's generally going to be too slow and unreliable outside of dedicated Energy decks.
With respect to "Rally the Ancestors" archetypes that abuse things like Viscera Seer, Zulaport Cutthroat and Living Death this card doesn't quite get there. It's an Artifact (i.e. it doesn't have any synergy with your sac outlets or revival spells), it's slow, it's conditional and it doesn't work with huge swaths of the mass revival enablers. Return to the Ranks, Rally the Ancestors, Wake the Dead, Immortal Servitude, none of them want to be cast "for free." Living Death still works obviously but it's basically the only one that does. All-in-all it's simply too awkward, slow and conditional compared to things like Collected Company that immediately advance your primary gameplan.
With respect to Wildfire + Greater Gargadon decks (all versions) it's another do-nothing 4 drop that doesn't A) ramp or B) effect the board. Don't get me wrong, it's insane in your nut draws, but the biggest weakness of Rx combo decks is their inherent inconsistency and these kinds of cards only exacerbate that issue. As such it won't make the cut in any of the optimized lists because it's heinous when things aren't going perfectly according to plan.
Where I could see this card being played is Eggs. It's a fringe combo deck that pairs cards like Chromatic Star and Krark-Clan Ironworks with Second Sunrise and Faith's Reward in order to generate enormous sums of mana, draw its deck and win by casting something like Laboratory Maniac, Comet Storm or looping Pyrite Spellbomb with Conjurer's Bauble recurring Second Sunrise/Faith's Reward. It's a complicated process but you get the idea. Aetherworks Marvel is interesting in the sense that it pairs well with everything that the deck is already trying to do. You can cast it, sac a bunch of artifacts, look for a Second Sunrise with Aetherworks Marvel's activated ability, sac it to Krark-Clan Ironworks with the Second Sunrise still on the stack and repeat. It wouldn't be played as a 4-of or anything but jamming 1-2 seems very reasonable to me. After all, the deck is 100% reliant on chaining Second Sunrise effects together and digging 6 extra cards each iteration seems incredibly powerful. It's also worth noting that its ability to cast the spell for free is incredibly relevant if you elect to field Open the Vaults given that the 6 CMC pricetag can be difficult to support otherwise. After a couple of iterations mana requirements become trivial and so you typically lose to early fizzles and/or failing to draw into a reasonable quantity of mass recursion effects more so than anything else. This card arguably alleviates both concerns which is why it piques my interest for the archetype.
Grade Niche
Animation Module: This card is ostensibly Hardened Scales 2.0 and will see play in similar style decks. Basically anything that wants to curve Scavenging Ooze into Managorger Hydra into Forgotten Ancient into Kalonian Hydra will strongly consider it as a 1-drop that enables you to use all of your mana every circuit. That being said the card heinous both in the early-game and in multiples which is why you can't blindly run 4 as you can with Hardened Scales. As with Scute Mob this isn't really a turn 1 play since it doesn't have relevant value until much later on. Rather, it's something that you run out on turn 4-5 when you have something like Forgotten Ancient in play so that you can start converting all of your excess mana into a swarm of 1/1s. Assuming that you support them with cards like Beastmaster Ascension, Shamanic Revelation, Craterhoof Behemoth, etc. suddenly you're looking at game-winning value. Otherwise the activated ability is trash and yes, that includes adding counters to Planeswalkers. Nissa, Vital Force is somewhat of an exception but even then I wouldn't recommend going deep on such a marginal combo. You'll obviously activate it a small % of the time (assuming that you have 3 extra mana sitting around why wouldn't you use it?) but realistically you shouldn't pay it any heed. If it happens to be relevant, awesome, but don't worry about trying to "abuse" it or anything.
Grade Niche
Bomat Courier: I can't think of a competitive way to make this card work. Even if we assumed that you always drew him on turn 1 and got 4-5 hits would it even be good? Isn't it just going to swept away to a random mass removal spell long before you'll ever get an opportunity to activate him? Moreover, what happens when you draw them later on? Assuming that your hand is empty then you can obviously cycle them away but what if it isn't? What do you do then, jam a 1/1 for 1? Ugh. Don't get me wrong, I can see why people are interested in this card, but as it sits his average use-case seems unplayable to me. While it may have high-highs it also has some of the lowest-lows imaginable (1/1 for 1 that conditionally cantrips) which is why it won't experience any long-term success.
Grade D+
Ghirapur Orrery: This is one of the weirdest cards that I've ever seen. It's the type of card that would be oppressive if it were printed on a cheaper card and even though it's probably unplayable trash as-is it still compels you to try and break it. Clearly this card is designed for decks with discard outlets and/or ones that can quickly dump their hand. Zombie Infestation, Bottled Cloister, Mind over Matter, plenty of potential synergies spring to mind if you think long and hard enough. It's also reasonable as a curve topper for decks filled with 1-2 CMC spells as a means to push through the midgame in case things go awry. As a random example my Bloodchief Ascension, Thornbow Archer, Pulse Tracker, Mardu Shadowspear, Ankh of Mishra, Flame Rift, Price of Progress burn deck could easily consider fielding it. Obviously the 4 CMC pricetag is a bit of turn-off, I'm not suggesting otherwise, but we can all agree that it's worth testing at the very least. The problem with this card is that it's absolutely terrible unless everything is going according to plan. Giving your opponents a free Exploration is a sizable drawback (albeit less relevant on turns 4+) and the card literally doesn't do anything unless you're reliably pitching your hand. In that sense it's ostensibly a combo card except in this instance your combo doesn't win the game outright and the individual pieces have very little standalone value. To put this in perspective compare Bottled Cloister + Ghirapur Orrery to Pestermite + Splinter Twin. The upside of the former is that it enables you to draw a ton of cards whereas the latter enables you to win the game on the spot against any number of adversaries. Both combos employ cards that suck on their own and they both fail miserably against opposing interaction but the latter compensates by offering a way to literally win games of Magic. The former is still decent, I'm not suggesting otherwise, but why assemble combos in order to generate value when alternatives immediately win the game on the spot? This card could arguably see play in very niche ramp/combo shells but I fear that it's 4 CMC pricetag and symmetrical effect will be its death knell.
Grade Niche
Panharmonicon: Given that Brann Bronzebeard is one of my all-time favorite Hearthstone cards I'm ecstatic to see him porting over to MTG. This card is absolutely bonkers and I cannot wait to start jamming it into every deck with a critical mass of ETB triggers. As with Blade of Selves it's pointless to even suggest specific decks/archetypes because it literally combos with what? 75% of the most commonly played multiplayer threats? More? It's actually crazy how quickly this card seizes control of the game when you stop to think about it. Just imaging curving this into Purphoros, God of the Forge and a Beetleback Chief. That's 20 damage to each opponent on the spot! Or how about Sun Titan recurring Stoneforge Mystic + Flickerwisp? What's the net card advantage when all's said and done, +12? Unreal! Soul Warden, Impact Tremors, Gray Merchant of Asphodel, Sun Titan, Sylvan Primordial it doubles anything and everything under the sun. Things also start to spiral wildly out of control once you start to pair it with things like Brago, King Eternal and Living Death which should more-or-less seal the game in your favor. Obviously you can't go too deep on conditional 4+ spells that don't have an immediate + meaningful impact on the game but you'd have to be crazy to overlook this monstrosity. Insofar as your deck has a critical mass of relevant ETB triggers this is a no-brainer addition that will enable you to quickly end games should it remain unchecked.
Grade A
Prophetic Prism: While generally weaker than Fellwar Stone Prophetic Prism serves a niche role in 12-Post/UrzaTron decks as a cheap color fixer that digs you into your essential lands. These archetypes need colored mana and card draw significantly more than they need ramp which is why the Prism tends to win out over its alternatives. I especially love its interaction with Crush of Tentacles gives its ability to fuel Surge while acting a makeshift draw engine. It's neither the fastest nor the prettiest option but it gets the job done. That being said I highly recommend using Fellwar Stone whenever possible since most multiplayer decks can benefit from ramp more so than the card draw. Still, it's important to know when and where the types of enablers should be employed because they definitely have a home in multiplayer.
Grade Niche
Smuggler's Copter: A colorless looter that survives mass removal is intriguing to say the least. These kinds of cards are fantastic from improving your average card quality, mitigating the risks of mana screw/flood and even fueling degenerate graveyard synergies such as Goblin Welder, Animate Dead, Treasure Cruise, etc. Unfortunately while Smuggler's Copter figures to be a Constructed staple it loses a lot of is luster in multiplayer. Tapping multiple creatures at Sorcery speed to build-your-own Merfolk Looter is marginal at best and the clock isn't especially relevant when multiple adversaries are involved. 3 is a significant % of 20 but the same cannot be said for 60 (or even 120 in EDH). That being said it's still a cheap looter that survives mass removal which is arguably relevant for colors such as White and Red that struggle to generate card advantage "the fair way." It also fuels things like Emeria, the Sky Ruin, Goblin Welder, Loyal Retainers, Daretti, Scrap Savant, Scrap Mastery and Sun Titan so clearly there's some potential for this card to see play. Still, it's important to stress that whereas a 3/3 flier represents a significant threat in a duel setting that's not what you want to be jamming in multiplayer. This card sucks on D and it's only relevant if you're tapping multiple creatures at Sorcery speed in order to loot. It's still an interesting card and one that I expect to see some play but it's not going to fare nearly as well in multiplayer as it will in duels.
Grade C
Aether Hub: This card is strictly better than Crumbling Vestige and since I've tested that card in competitive EDH decks worst-case scenario it's a B-tier enabler for degenerate combo decks. The long and short of it is that any land that ETBU and that taps for all 5 colors at any stage of the game (including turn 1) is extremely powerful. Cards like Aether Hub, Gemstone Mine and Tendo Ice Bridge tend to shine in decks that can blink/bounce them with things like Bouncelands. After all, Aether Hub is fantastic if you're constantly resetting its Energy counter since at that point it's a painless City of Brass. You don't run 4 or anything, 1-2 tops, but the card is great in small quantities in the right shells. This is relevant for decks that field things like Exploration, Burgeoning and Summer Bloom that want a critical mass of Bouncelands but that also need to be able to cast their spells on-curve. A sample deck that I personally play is the Burgeoning, Mystic Remora, Summer Bloom, Waste Not, Leovold, Emissary of Trest, Windfall deck that has 4x Simic Growth Chamber, 2x Dimir Aqueduct and 2x Golgari Rot Farm. My other lands need to be able to support my colored spells while entering untapped so that I can actually abuse them with my Bouncelands without falling too far behind on tempo.
The obvious problem with these kinds of lands is that they're typically heinous for generic fair decks. Maybe your deck has other Energy enablers, maybe it doesn't (it doesn't matter much either way), but no matter how slice it this is frequently going to be a "one-and-done" deal and that's why they rarely make the cut in "normal" lists. They come close (way closer than you probably suspect) but ultimately having one good turn doesn't quite pass muster in multiplayer given that games become protracted more often than not. Still, I strongly encourage players to hang on to their lands like Crumbling Vestige, Holdout Settlement and Aether Hub because anything that ETBU and taps for all 5 colors of mana isn't to be underestimated. This card is legitimately bonkers in Energy-based archetypes (or in decks that can reliably blink/bounce it) and since it's still playable without any support it's worth your while to hang on them.
Grade Niche
Blooming Marsh et al.: "Fastlands" have always excelled in competitive formats and settings given their ability to immediately provide untapped color fixing. This is especially relevant for multicolor decks that want to curve out starting on turn 1 and that can't afford to waste time with ETBT alternatives. While Fastlands lose their luster as the game progresses it's a price that should typically be willing to pay. After all, come turn 6-7 you can usually afford to slam a "Golgari Guildgate" but on turn 1 you'll want to be able to cast either your Burgeoning or your Bloodchief Ascension without fail. This ensures that "Fastlands" will always have a home in competitive spheres because unlike most alternatives they don't ask anything special of you. Insofar as you play them as your first 3 land drops they're ostensibly Duals and that's a fantastic place to be. Still, by no means are they required for casual decks that aren't overly concerned with ideal early-game curves. The vast majority of casual lists can afford to take a turn off in order to jam an Opulent Palace (or whatever) and that's perfectly fine too.
Grade B+
Inventors' Fair: Virtually every Artifact-based shell should field 1-2x Inventors' Fair as a low opportunity cost tutor + lifegain engine. It's Legendary so you can't go wild running 4 of them or anything but "free" lifegain and tutoring are far too powerful to overlook. The card is neither good enough nor fast enough to jam in large quantities but even 2 is fine given the statistical unlikelihood of drawing both early on. After all, unlike Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth et al. drawing multiples isn't crippling by any means. You certainly don't want to see them early and often but come turns 6+ you'll have relevant uses for any and all copies. Jamming 3-4 is still a mistake, I'm not suggesting otherwise, but this is a no-brainer addition to throngs of Artifact-based archetypes.
Grade B+
Sequestered Stash: It's a crying shame that you don't actually draw the card, this isn't a staple by any means, but it's still better than jamming 20x Mountain into your decks that feature cards such as Goblin Welder, Trash for Treasure, Daretti, Scrap Savant, Trading Post, Scrap Mastery, etc. It could also be played in Blue-based artifact builds that include things like Treasure Cruise and/or Dig Through Time or even Black lists with recursion. Obviously you should feel free to exclude them if you own and/or can afford competitive alternatives but there's nothing wrong with low opportunity cost self-mill + card selection. After all, it's not as though the land ETBT or anything and so unless your list has strict color requirements then you may as well field a relatively large quantity of value-added colorless lands in your artifact-based shells.
Grade D
Just between you and me I've never been as down on Magic as I've been throughout the stretch of Battle for Zendikar, Oath of the Gatewatch, Shadows Over Innistrad and Eldritch Moon. While I throughout enjoyed the Planes the first that we visited them many years ago Wizards failed to re-capture their splendor this time around. That's why I'm thrilled to see that we're going to continue riding the high that was Conspiracy 2 with another knock-out success. Kaladesh is an unequivocal success for players new and old that offers large shake-ups to every major multiplayer format. From Cube to Constructed to EDH there's competitive goodies for everyone including a new set of Titans that (as with their predecessors) could easily see for play for decades to come. Congratulations Wizards on your ability to re-invigorate my passion for Magic and prove that even when you stumble you never fail to pick yourself up. Here's hoping for many more sets like these to come because rest assured that if every set looked like Kaladesh we'd never have anything to complain about. We still would (obviously!) but consider my faith restored.
Top 10 Cards in the Set
10. Metallurgic Summonings
9. Madcap Experiment
8. Aetherflux Reservoir (my nod to the EDH community)
7. Saheeli Rai (for unfair decks), Nissa, Vital Force (for fair ones)
6. Inventors' Fair
5. Fast Lands
4. Gearhulks (Demon of Dark Schemes being Black's honorary replacement)
3. Kambal, Consul of Allocation
2. Rashmi, Eternities Crafter
1. Panharmonicon
Guilds of Ravnica - Commander 2018 - Core 2019 - Battlebond - Dominaria - Rivals of Ixalan - Ixalan - Commander 2017 - Hour of Devastation - Amonket - Aether Revolt - Commander 2016 - Kaladesh - Conspiracy 2 - Eldritch Moon - Shadows Over Innistrad - Oath of the Gatewatch - Commander 2015 - Battle for Zendikar - Magic Origins - Dragons of Tarkir
Green - Blue - Red - White - Gold
My meta: 3 or 4 player free for all, anything goes but boring games or broken decks cause a vote to end that game.
It's funny because I knew that's how she worked when she was initially spoiled but some reason when I started typing this review I convinced myself that she doesn't hit lands. I couldn't accept that Wizards would print such blatantly oppressive nonsense. Thanks for the clarification!
Guilds of Ravnica - Commander 2018 - Core 2019 - Battlebond - Dominaria - Rivals of Ixalan - Ixalan - Commander 2017 - Hour of Devastation - Amonket - Aether Revolt - Commander 2016 - Kaladesh - Conspiracy 2 - Eldritch Moon - Shadows Over Innistrad - Oath of the Gatewatch - Commander 2015 - Battle for Zendikar - Magic Origins - Dragons of Tarkir
Green - Blue - Red - White - Gold
Combustible Gearhulk must be one I missed - very good card!
Both cards are nuts. Hell, this entire set is nuts.
Guilds of Ravnica - Commander 2018 - Core 2019 - Battlebond - Dominaria - Rivals of Ixalan - Ixalan - Commander 2017 - Hour of Devastation - Amonket - Aether Revolt - Commander 2016 - Kaladesh - Conspiracy 2 - Eldritch Moon - Shadows Over Innistrad - Oath of the Gatewatch - Commander 2015 - Battle for Zendikar - Magic Origins - Dragons of Tarkir
Green - Blue - Red - White - Gold
The Unidentified Fantastic Flying Girl.
EDH
Xenagos, the God of Stompy
The Gitrog Monster: Oppressive Value.
Marchesa, Marionette Master - Undying Robots
Yuriko, the Hydra Omnivore
I make dolls as a hobby.
Refurbish looks good to me, will sit right at home with Goblin Welder, Faithless Looting etc., rummaging your oversized artifacts to profit.
Cathartic Reunion could help here too - which isn't too shabby either
Refurbish already exists in Blue, a significantly stronger Artifact color, and sees 0 play. The card isn't noteworthy.
Guilds of Ravnica - Commander 2018 - Core 2019 - Battlebond - Dominaria - Rivals of Ixalan - Ixalan - Commander 2017 - Hour of Devastation - Amonket - Aether Revolt - Commander 2016 - Kaladesh - Conspiracy 2 - Eldritch Moon - Shadows Over Innistrad - Oath of the Gatewatch - Commander 2015 - Battle for Zendikar - Magic Origins - Dragons of Tarkir
Green - Blue - Red - White - Gold
Reckless Fireweaver is pretty exciting to me. It goes great with Panharmonicon, just pair with Impact Tremors and Genesis Chamber and watch Pia and Kiran Nalaar, Precursor Golem, Myr Battlesphere and new Fabricate creatures melt your opponents.
Huh. I didn't even know Argivian restoration was a card. Live and learn
Yep, but I couldn't help thinking of Bosh, Iron Golem
True but the proposed decklist can't support 6 drops very easily.
I value "free" lifegain higher than most in the context of casual multiplayer spheres. I've found that the majority of my "bad games" were due to slow starts in which I took too much damage early on and died to a random burn spell later on. I think that constantly gaining 2 life is a serious upside to the point where I would definitely field Cloudblazer in my slow, fair blink deck with Eldrazi Displacers.
Her +1 smooths your draws which is ideal when you're restarting the game. Everyone else is drawing 1 card per turn and you're virtually drawing 1.25 while building towards an effect that literally reads "you win the game."
If you ever -2 her it's probably because you went turn 1-2 Grim Monolith turn 2-3 Saheeli turn 3-4 Obliterate so I don't mind it if she's merely acting as a Thassa, God of the Sea for the next few turns. Whatever I can do to hit lands/ramp with more consistency seems perfectly reasonable to me.
Guilds of Ravnica - Commander 2018 - Core 2019 - Battlebond - Dominaria - Rivals of Ixalan - Ixalan - Commander 2017 - Hour of Devastation - Amonket - Aether Revolt - Commander 2016 - Kaladesh - Conspiracy 2 - Eldritch Moon - Shadows Over Innistrad - Oath of the Gatewatch - Commander 2015 - Battle for Zendikar - Magic Origins - Dragons of Tarkir
Green - Blue - Red - White - Gold
Infinite life combos aside Kitchen Finks isn't a competitive multiplayer threat. It doesn't do anything remotely relevant.
1x Rings of Brighthearth at least 1x Basalt Monolith and then however many Sensei's Divining Tops that you want given that they "survive" your mass denial. The idea is obviously to spin them in response and use them to dig for lands in the post-Apocalypse wasteland. The deck has exactly 1 dead card in Rings of Brighthearth which, even then, isn't even completely dead given that it combos with certain mana rocks. Sensei's Top and Basal Monolith are both perfectly playable in "Ugin, the Spirit Dragon" style ramp decks.
Guilds of Ravnica - Commander 2018 - Core 2019 - Battlebond - Dominaria - Rivals of Ixalan - Ixalan - Commander 2017 - Hour of Devastation - Amonket - Aether Revolt - Commander 2016 - Kaladesh - Conspiracy 2 - Eldritch Moon - Shadows Over Innistrad - Oath of the Gatewatch - Commander 2015 - Battle for Zendikar - Magic Origins - Dragons of Tarkir
Green - Blue - Red - White - Gold
I'm leery about Energy, don't I'll dedicate much effort in it.
(And to me vehicles don't seem worth the trouble. Pity, 'cause the concept is cool.)
My meta: 3 or 4 player free for all, anything goes but boring games or broken decks cause a vote to end that game.
I couldn't envision a scenario where I'd play with it, against it and/or recommend it to another player. It's not unplayable trash or anything, the effect is fine, but at the end of the day it's a glorified Shriekmaw in a world where you really want to be jamming mass removal whenever possible. Even in decks with recursion and such it's not as though it competes with Gray Merchant of Asphodel, Massacre Wurm, Sepulchral Primordial, etc. Hell, I'm not convinced that it's noticeably better than things like Deathbringer Regent and Overseer of the Damned.
I pretty much knew that Wizards was going to play it super safe with Energy given that it's a free + (relatively) parasitic mechanic. It's too easy for it to become the next Dredge for them to push anything.
Agreed. I don't think that I even bothered to review any of them. I'll probably do something for the 3/3 looter though.
Guilds of Ravnica - Commander 2018 - Core 2019 - Battlebond - Dominaria - Rivals of Ixalan - Ixalan - Commander 2017 - Hour of Devastation - Amonket - Aether Revolt - Commander 2016 - Kaladesh - Conspiracy 2 - Eldritch Moon - Shadows Over Innistrad - Oath of the Gatewatch - Commander 2015 - Battle for Zendikar - Magic Origins - Dragons of Tarkir
Green - Blue - Red - White - Gold
In my meta your examples of comparables work fine. (Fair three or four player FFA's.)
So I guess I'll buy two.
The other way around, the wurm and the primodial get less effective at small tables.
(Gary's still oppressive...)
My meta: 3 or 4 player free for all, anything goes but boring games or broken decks cause a vote to end that game.
True. I'll do a quick review on him in a bit because the card deserves at least a few lines of text.
FWIW I think that most people under-value cards like Sepulchral Primordial in 3 player FFA and 2HG. I'm not trying to convince you that they're amazing for you in your meta or anything but I remember seeing plenty of pros (pros, not random FNMers) dueling with Sylvan Primordial and Sepulchral Primordial back when they were Standard legal. Even if they're only triggering twice those kinds of cards are still fantastic.
Guilds of Ravnica - Commander 2018 - Core 2019 - Battlebond - Dominaria - Rivals of Ixalan - Ixalan - Commander 2017 - Hour of Devastation - Amonket - Aether Revolt - Commander 2016 - Kaladesh - Conspiracy 2 - Eldritch Moon - Shadows Over Innistrad - Oath of the Gatewatch - Commander 2015 - Battle for Zendikar - Magic Origins - Dragons of Tarkir
Green - Blue - Red - White - Gold
If the card isn't niche post generic applications for it. Show me "normal" decks that actively want Tendo Ice Bridge and Aether Hub over cards like Exotic Orchard, Mana Confluence, City of Brass, Gemstone Mine, Fetchs + Duals/Shocks, Fast Lands, Pain Lands, Filter Lands, Buddy Lands, Tango Lands, etc. The card is textbook "niche" and will only see play in extremely off-the-wall archetypes in specific formats. Nothing about it screams "generic playable." Just think about it. What decks actually play Tendo Ice Bridge? I don't care about its price, let's analyze where the card is actually played. A touch of Modern play in Bant Eldrazi decks? The deck that needs access to 3 colors of mana but that also wants a critical mass of colorless enablers? Some pre-ban Amulet Bloom play because you could bounce it with Bouncelands? Small amounts of cEDH play in 3-5 color Storm decks? That's exactly what "niche" implies. Good in very specific decks but terrible in most.
Guilds of Ravnica - Commander 2018 - Core 2019 - Battlebond - Dominaria - Rivals of Ixalan - Ixalan - Commander 2017 - Hour of Devastation - Amonket - Aether Revolt - Commander 2016 - Kaladesh - Conspiracy 2 - Eldritch Moon - Shadows Over Innistrad - Oath of the Gatewatch - Commander 2015 - Battle for Zendikar - Magic Origins - Dragons of Tarkir
Green - Blue - Red - White - Gold
Weak stat distribution, dies to sweepers (most artifact-based control decks should field large quantity of sweepers themselves), not an artifact itself, rummaging over looting, inconsistent value output (might live for 15 turns, might die after 1), weak topdeck, forces your hand (you "have" to cast it before jamming your artifacts or else it doesn't do anything), awkward spot on the curve (3 CMC is the ideal time to jam a card like Anger of the Gods to set up for turn 4 value engines such as Trading Post and Daretti, Scrap Savant), etc. Not a card that caught my attention. I really wish that Wizards would start printing more cards like Faerie Mechanist and fewer ones like Quicksmith Genius. They're infinitely more intriguing when they possess the appropriate subtype.
Guilds of Ravnica - Commander 2018 - Core 2019 - Battlebond - Dominaria - Rivals of Ixalan - Ixalan - Commander 2017 - Hour of Devastation - Amonket - Aether Revolt - Commander 2016 - Kaladesh - Conspiracy 2 - Eldritch Moon - Shadows Over Innistrad - Oath of the Gatewatch - Commander 2015 - Battle for Zendikar - Magic Origins - Dragons of Tarkir
Green - Blue - Red - White - Gold
Crumbling Vestige is not anywhere near as good. You are stuck holding it in your hand until you also have one of the off color card in your hand that you run it for and doing so could easily cause you to miss land drops. tendo ice bridge you play whenever and tap for colorless all day long till you need the colored mana.
Running a 5 color deck not based on creatures is still not easy. Especially in agro metas. Running a deck with 8 city of brass will add so much damage to you. Gemstone mine completely vanishes. There are plenty of scenarios where tendo would be better.
Finally by your own logic Blooming Marsh which you gave a B+ should be niche because please show me a situation where you would want to run it over bayou, overgrown tomb, twilight mire, woodland cemetery, verdant catacombs, Exotic Orchard
If you say so.
Fair, 5 color, noncreature decks that field lands which only tap for colored mana once? Those exist? That's not "niche"? What do those decks even look like?
Sure. What's the cheapest Bayou in TCGplayer? $120.00 USD or something? What about the cheapest Verdant Catacombs? 70? Twilight Mire is 30 at best? I can think of hundreds of reasons to roll with alternatives. "I literally can't afford the other cards" is pretty damned compelling don't you think?
Guilds of Ravnica - Commander 2018 - Core 2019 - Battlebond - Dominaria - Rivals of Ixalan - Ixalan - Commander 2017 - Hour of Devastation - Amonket - Aether Revolt - Commander 2016 - Kaladesh - Conspiracy 2 - Eldritch Moon - Shadows Over Innistrad - Oath of the Gatewatch - Commander 2015 - Battle for Zendikar - Magic Origins - Dragons of Tarkir
Green - Blue - Red - White - Gold
Got it, you can throw filters, fetches, shocks and everything to support your argument but if I do then somehow now price is a factor.
The magic number for drawing an extra card per turn is probably six. Being able to draw in case of a tie is extremely relevant.
The Unidentified Fantastic Flying Girl.
EDH
Xenagos, the God of Stompy
The Gitrog Monster: Oppressive Value.
Marchesa, Marionette Master - Undying Robots
Yuriko, the Hydra Omnivore
I make dolls as a hobby.
I'm asking you for decks. Your argument is that the card has generic applications. I'm saying that it has niche applications. The decks that play Tendo Ice Bridge are very unique. Things like Amulet Bloom that can bounce it with Simic Growth Chamber, Bant Eldrazi decks that want to go turn 1 Noble Hierarch turn 2 Thought-knot Seer, very specific, weird decks that have unique play patterns. You don't see normal decks playing Tendo Ice Bridge. No Abzan or Jund list has them. America Control doesn't field them. Legacy/Vintage decks don't field it. I don't recall it doing anything in Standard.
W.r.t to price, I'm not sure what your point is. Is your argument that all of players can afford to add Bayous and Verdant Catacombs to their lists? Because that hasn't been my experience in the slightest.
Card seems largely unplayable to me. First of all it doesn't protect your artifacts from huge swaths of relevant removal spells. Yeah, you'll dodge a Nature's Claim or Abrupt Decay every now and then but it doesn't stop Vandalblast, Serenity, Seeds of Innocence, Tragic Arrogance, Austere Command, Bane of Progress, etc. Actual permission is significantly more likely to protect you from game-ending forms of mass removal so I'd recommend fielding that instead. W.r.t the card draw I'm not swayed by a conditional 4 CMC draw engine in the slightest. Mystic Remora, Rhystic Study, Thirst for Knowledge, Trading Post, Mind's Eye, Thoughtcast, Staff of Nin, Recurring Insight, Consecrated Sphinx, Treasure Cruise, Dig Through Time, why bother with conditional alternatives? Even in formats such as EDH this will never surpass them because they always provide value whereas this guy can randomly get swept away, you might not have the biggest Artifact, he's not an artifact himself, he does nothing the turn that you cast him, etc.
Guilds of Ravnica - Commander 2018 - Core 2019 - Battlebond - Dominaria - Rivals of Ixalan - Ixalan - Commander 2017 - Hour of Devastation - Amonket - Aether Revolt - Commander 2016 - Kaladesh - Conspiracy 2 - Eldritch Moon - Shadows Over Innistrad - Oath of the Gatewatch - Commander 2015 - Battle for Zendikar - Magic Origins - Dragons of Tarkir
Green - Blue - Red - White - Gold