Awesome. Thanks! I can't wait to start trying this. The reason I asked is because I saw you mention Mana Drain and Imperial Recruiter in the primer. Wasn't sure if that was outdated info or not.
I wouldn't really recommend either of them in a wanderer build to begin with, I just mentioned them because they're high budget and powerful in a vacuum.
I mean, Mana Drain is bonkers. Even when its at its worst (cascade into it during your first main phase and nothing to use colorless mana on), its just a dead cascade. Much like a clone with no creatures on board, or Body Double with no graveyard, or even Consecrated Sphinx with Notion Thief on board.
I think, in a non-Primal Surge version, its a fine inclusion. By no means is it necessary, but it has won me more games than I have lost with it.
The only other 'high budget' card worth considering is Gaea's Cradle. My favorite target for Ulvenwald Hydra. The card is insane, sometimes dead in your opener. Good card, not necessary.
Here is my review for this set. I will go over any card that has any sort of interest, or could draw unwarranted interest (e.g. the card looks powerful but has some costs that are too difficult to overcome that people may try to work around and be disappointed with).
* = I don't think this card will be played outside of very fringe/budget decks
** = Will appear once in awhile but is generally outclassed, or is for very specific decks.
*** = Keep an eye out on this card. Appears highly volatile in terms of playability.
**** = New staple in EDH. Either a flexible card for many decks, or extremely potent for specific decks.
***** = Will have a massive impact on EDH. If you're in these colors you're likely playing it.
If I don't talk about a card that is in the set that's because either it's a reprint or I think it's not going to do anything at all.
(I'm using my Progenitus topic to go over all the cards that pique my interest for various builds, and then largely copying/pasting it into my other topics, so if it seems like I'm spending an inordinate amount of time talking about cards that have no potential in a particular build, it's because of that)
BLUE
*Aethertide Whale - Generates a lot of energy upon ETB but does nothing much besides that.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: None
****Baral, Chief of Compliance - Goblin Electromancer with upside and only one color will be quite sick. Obviously for spellslinger decks, but it will be an automatic include in them. The second ability might make it also playable in a control/counterspell control deck as the loot ability is nice too.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: None
****Baral's Expertise - One of the best in the cycle, as it affects the board in a meaningful and flexible way while also giving a free spell, which helps make this slot into a lot of different blue decks as a decent value/tempo card. Being able to bounce artifacts is also very relevant. Bounce three threats and cheat in a Rhystic Study or Jace isn't too bad.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: None
****Disallow - Voidslime for 1UU instead of GUU will see good amounts of play. Having flexible counterspells is always nice to have. It won't be a broken card but it will be solid.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: most blue decks
*Efficient Construction - It's unfortunate this isn't an artifact itself, but regardless it's a slow but fair way to slowly pump out artifacts. Most artifact combos are just looping from the graveyard over and over again though and not hardcasting much of anything so this likely won't see much play.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: None
*Illusionist's Stratagem - +1 mana over Displace for a cantrip. The cantrip probably isn't worth it at this point, as 4-mana starts to get quite pricy.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: None
*Mechanized Production - Way too slow and vulnerable for EDH. I wouldn't play this even if Phyrexian Metamorph or Sculpting Steel didn't exist, but the fact that those two cards do exist means this card is straight unplayable. It will be funny if you ever win the game with this (note that your 8+ copies of the artifact do not have to be whatever you enchanted, all the card cares about is if you have 8+ copies of any artifact) but shigs and tiggles don't make you more playable.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: None
*Metallic Rebuke - Mana Leak is not bad if you're in a tight meta where mana curves are lower and people often won't have 3 open to pay for their spell. However, you need to improvise for at least 1 before it becomes mana leak and only for 2 does it actually become better, meaning this is not a great early play, and being a great early play is the exact reason why mana leak was so good.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: None
**Quicksmith Spy - Maybe it has an infinite combo with something?
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: None
*Reverse Engineer - If you improvise for 1 it becomes Concentrate, though you really want to improvise for 3 before you really want to consider playing this. Improvising for only two means it's still generally worse than Thirst for Knowledge, the standard 3-mana draw-three spell for artifact decks.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: None
**Skyship Bandit - Literally Thrummingbird except it's a 2/1 instead of a 1/1. The extra point of power has some uses, mostly in being able to trade with 2 toughness creatures, but if your deck doesn't want Thrummingbird, it very likely doesn't want this either.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: None
*****Trophy Mage - Obvious brother (or sister in this case) to Trinket Mage and Treasure Mage, two cards that see massive amounts of play. There are tons of 3-mana artifacts to get, such as Ashnod's Altar, Mimic Vat, Sword of X and Y, many mana rocks, Cloudstone Curio, and the list goes on. 3-mana is always the fair spot for tutors, especially when it comes with a body. Pick up your foils fast because this will be a staple. Like many of these 3-mana dudes that tutor for something, Trophy mage won't be broken, but it will become a staple.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: Any blue deck with 2+ critical 3-mana artifacts
*****Whir of Invention - It's obviously a Chord of Calling for artifacts. Chord is a 5-star card and this will easily be another 5-star card as well. With Chord, you don't even need to convoke, just tutoring up a creature at instant speed is strong, and the convoke just made it ridiculous. This will be the same thing; you don't need to abuse the improvise part of the card, it's still going to be very good. The only difference is that Chord's convoke cost allowed you to tap green creatures to pay for the triple green, whereas there aren't many blue artifacts you can improvise, meaning you'll often have to pay at least the triple blue. Still, it's going to be strong.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: Any blue deck with critical artifacts
RED
**Indomitable Creativity - Really huge polymorph-variant must be interesting, right? Well this one seems like it'll be very difficult to abuse. While you can target artifacts or creatures, revealing either one will satisfy the card. For example, if you wanted to kill 4 of your dumb creature tokens, you might end up revealing underwhelming artifacts instead of these huge creatures you wanted to flip over, and vice versa. If you played something like Divergent Transformations instead, which only cares about creatures, you will instead keep flipping until you hit creatures, making it easier to cheat in bombs. This means this card seems more like a multi-kill spell that gives the controller something in return at random, rather than something you can build around and be able to cheat in a fattie with the proper deckbuilding. Given that monored has problems killing large creatures this might still see play, but it's not going to be as good as your normal Polymorph-type card.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: None
*Kari Zev, Skyship Raider - She's a lower CMC Geist of Saint Traft who doesn't hit as hard and can be killed with spot removal, but is a little harder to kill in actual combat. She'll be interesting in standard, but it doesn't seem like she'll be enough for EDH as a voltron. She comes down early and is hard to block, but she needs serious equipment/aura to boost her power and she can still be killed with removal spells.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: None
***Kari Zev's Expertise - This might be the most interesting of the cycle not because the Threaten effect is bonkers, but the fact that it's the lowest CMC of the cycle, meaning if you want to go out of your way to abuse Ancestral Vision or the like, this is the best of the cycle to do so.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: None
*Lightning Runner - Extra attack steps can be strong in the right build, but because you need so much energy for it, there's not many places that can use this.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: None
***Pia's Revolution - Punisher mechanics are not good in EDH, but this is at a low enough CMC and is repeatable where either choice the opponent makes is generally acceptable. It's similar to Combustible Gearhulk in that you get to target the opponent who has to make the choice, so you can target the guy at a low life total if you want to recur an artifact.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: None
*Quicksmith Rebel - Granting an artifact an ability while this guy is in play is cool design, although just poking something for 2 damage isn't that useful in EDH.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: None
*Release the Gremlins - There are a bunch of cards that destroy multiple artifacts, and I feel like there are enough of them that are more efficient than this card. It's a nice mana sink late in the game, but it is very inefficient early-midgame, so I would rather play Shattering Spree, Vandalblast, etc.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: None
GREEN
**Aetherwind Basker - If you want to make an energy deck, you can play a token deck and have this in here to create a bunch of energy quickly. outside of that this card doesn't really do anything.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: None
**Aid from the Cowl - This triggers at your end step so you are more likely to get at least one trigger when it resolves (as opposed to triggering at your upkeep), which helps the playability of the card. 5-mana is pretty hefty so you want to be almost all permanents or have some library manipulation.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: Maelstrom Wanderer
****Heroic Intervention - Basically it's a super Boros Charm/Simic Charm. If you're blue, you should just play a counterspell instead of this so you can counter whatever would be troubling you, but if you're not blue and you're in green this might be your next best option. It stops most traditional removal spells and sweepers.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: None
**Hidden Herbalists - Most creatures that produced mana upon ETB were red or black or made eldrazi tokens, so I guess it's interesting that monogreen finally gets one that does it, albeit with the revolt restriction. Regardless, the types of decks that cared about Priest of Urabrask and similar cards would care about this, and everything else probably won't.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: None
*Maulfist Revolutionary - It proliferates only one target, and since it does target it can't get around shroud/protection/etc. for whatever that's worth.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: None
**Monstrous Onslaught - If you have a large creature (e.g. Terastodon) this can pick off multiple creatures. Since it checks the value of X as you cast it, you don't get blown out by a removal spell either. Sorcery speed and 5-mana sucks, but if you can kill 2-3 creatures it could be fine.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: None
**Peema Aether-Seer - It can generate a lot of energy on its own if you have recursion/blink.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: None
**Ridgescale Tusker - Anthems the rest of your team for 5-mana. Sounds fine but you really want to have a +1/+1 counter theme.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: None
****Rishkar, Peema Renegade - He's subtle but I see a lot of utility. Basically he makes two of your creatures slightly bigger and into Llanowar Elves, meaning he's fine early on in a creature-heavy deck to help you mana ramp (especially if the two creatures getting the counters can immediately tap), and he's fine later in the game when you want extra power/toughness on the board. In addition, anything with +1/+1 counter synergies like Doubling Season will be good. On top of that, your creatures can produce mana if they have ANY counters on them, including -1/-1 counters, and any counters that were on them before Rishkar ETB'd. You do want to build around him, and play cards that can put +1/+1 counters on a lot of things quickly (e.g. Oath of Ajani, Cathars' Crusade, etc.) but when built around properly he provides a lot of utility for just 3-mana.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: Prossh with some changes
***Rishkar's Expertise - One of the most interesting cards in the cycle because it lets you cast a larger variety of spells for free. Consider that Garruk, Primal Hunter was a 5-mana planeswalker who let you draw cards (and would kill himself immediately). 6-mana is a lot, but you get what you pay for, and since you draw a bunch of cards before you cast your free spell, you can certainly end up casting something very sweet.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: None
MULTICOLOR
**Maverick Thopterist - This guy will be quite fun in draft, as the thopters you make can help cast additional maverick thopterists, assuming you draft multiples. In any case, he's like an easier to cast Breya, Etherium Shaper albeit without any extra abilities. If you can improvise for 2-3 he's certainly not bad, and will likely be good in budget artifact decks. He may be good enough in normal artifact decks but it seems unlikely since he himself is not an artifact.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: None
**Rogue Refiner - Beefy Elvish Visionary for 1 mana and making it blue-green is okay, but it's not something that I would play over a regular Elvish Visionary. If you're an energy deck then go ahead and play it, but outside of that I probably wouldn't bother.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: None
ARTIFACT
***Cogwork Assembler - 7-mana for its activation is very hefty, so I imagine it'll be used for infinite combos or something as the ability doesn't require tapping. For example, Krark-Clan ironworks + Myr Battlesphere + this card = infinite colorless mana. Of course artifact decks generally don't have problems generating mana (unless they get hit with a sweeper) and so maybe this being a mana dump will make it good, I don't know.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: None
***Crackdown Construct - With any ability that requires no cost to activate and isn't a mana ability, you can get an infinite power and toughness artifact creature, and I'm sure there's a lot of things you can do with that. In standard we get Wandering Fumarole for lulz which is funny as hell, and I know there are other things you can do.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: None
**Gonti's Aether Heart - Seems not bad if you're focused on generating energy. If you want to play this card with the idea of taking an extra turn, you'll probably be disappointed, as you would be better off just playing Time Warp effects or something.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: None
*Heart of Kiran - Simple beatsticks in EDH don't cut it.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: None
**Hope of Ghirapur - Legendary version of Xantid Swarm. You need to have this actually connect while Xantid Swarm just needs to attack, and while this does have flying and is only a 1-drop, it's going to be hard for a 1/1 to force through damage, and you need to sacrifice this for the effect, and it only stops noncreature spells. Granted, this does last for a full turn cycle while Xantid Swarm was more like a Grand Abolisher placed on one player for just the rest of the turn. I guess being legendary maybe you can make colorless voltron or something, but I don't know. Xantid Swarm is better when you attack a player with counterspells to help resolve a combo, whereas this is more like a stax piece on the control/storm player, but this is fairly clunky unless you can play it really early and continuously recur it. It is a relatively unique effect so it isn't unplayable, but I wouldn't be excited to test this out.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: None
***Inspiring Statuary - Most artifact decks don't have a problem generating mana, especially if this card only helps power out nonartifact spells which an artifact deck won't have a ton of (especially those that cost a lot of mana). Still, it is something to keep your eye on.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: None
***Lifecrafter's Bestiary - Essentially it's a bad Glimpse of Nature, but Glimpse of Nature was more like a deck that enabled storm decks/combo and that kind of thing, whereas this is more of a card that just gives all your creature spells "Kicker G, draw a card". Still should be playable in any case. You obviously want a high number of creatures, maybe 30-40 or more, before you should even consider this.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: None
**Merchant's Dockhand - It's a hefty mana cost per turn and tapping some artifacts can be annoying, but it is only 1-mana. Doesn't sound exciting but I imagine there are worse things you can play.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: None
**Metallic Mimic - If you have a tribal theme this should be fine for just 2-mana, though it's more for weenie decks as I don't think something like Dragon tribal really needs +1/+1 counters on them.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: None
BANNEDParadox Engine - I'm not even going to spend much time talking about this card. It's going to get banned really fast. I would be shocked if the RC doesn't ban it. Prophet of Kruphix got hammered and it isn't nearly as insane as this. It combos with way too many things, namely a bunch of mana rocks and/or mana dorks + some dumb enabler. Buyback cards like Capsize becomes bounce everything you want. Put something stupid like Think twice under an Isochron Scepter and it draws your deck. There are tons of combos, and none of them are good for the game. Play the crap out of this card and have fun with it until it gets banned.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: Probably everything pending budget
***Planar Bridge - Obvious parallel to Planar Portal right down to the name. Both are artifacts that cost 6 to hardcast, and this one is 8 mana instead of 6 to find your card and only for permanents but you do put it into play immediately (e.g. sneak in Blightsteel Colossus end of turn). These types of cards are fine in big mana decks that need mana sinks.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: None
***Scrap Trawler - Artifact recursion for no additional costs at just 3 mana upfront is not bad. There are some restrictions but it is repeatable, and it should do some nice work.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: None
*Servo Schematic - Similar to Ichor Wellspring and Mycosynth Wellspring in that they're 2-mana artifacts that do the same thing upon ETB or hitting the graveyard. Here though I think making a 1/1 flier is worse than drawing a card or fetching a basic land to ensure your next land drop.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: None
***Treasure Keeper - Similar to Matter Reshaper except you add one mana, remove the colorless requirement, and there are fewer restrictions on the free card you get when it dies (any nonland card that is CMC 3 or less can be cast for free). Seems decent.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: None
***Universal Solvent - Decks get another way to deal with problematic permanents that their colors won't allow them to (e.g. black/red vs enchantments), and it's another tool for Trinket Mage, and is another object that can be recurred with Salvaging Station. Unassuming card that most decks won't play because it is overcosted, but if your deck/colors are desperate it should be good, and artifact decks don't really have problems generating the necessary mana.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: None
**Walking Ballista - Functions similarly to Triskelion. Interestingly enough if you pay 6 it ETBs with three +1/+1 counters which is the same as Triskelion. The difference is obviously that Triskelion is better for infinite combos as it always ETBs with the counters while cheating this into play doesn't do anything. It's kind of more like Hangarback walker as they are playable artifact creatures with XX costs.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: None
LAND
***Spire of Industry - Glimmervoid that requires you to pay 1 life to get the colored mana, but it doesn't disappear if you have zero artifacts in play. It's usually worse than Glimmervoid; 1 life isn't much, but they can add up, and it's not that hard to have at least 1 artifact in play if you are the kind of deck that actually wants to play Glimmervoid. Still, artifact decks likely want to play this anyway, and this could be passable in non-artifact decks although there are usually going to be better options.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: None
Gonna try something a little different for my set review.
Instead of just copying and pasting my review of the cards that match the deck's colors, I'm just going to link to my Progenitus review (which covers all cards I think will be relevant for EDH) and then put the summary in my respective topics.
WUBRGProgenitus
URGMaelstrom Wanderer
WUBOloro, Ageless Ascetic
WURZedruu, the Greathearted
BRGProssh, Skyraider of Kher ($100)
GWUDerevi, Empyrial Tactician ($100)
UGKruphix, God of Horizons ($100)(retired)UTalrand, Sky Summoner (French 1v1, $100)
I think, in a non-Primal Surge version, its a fine inclusion. By no means is it necessary, but it has won me more games than I have lost with it.
Also, Imperial Recruiter is an ok card. It tutors for many awesome creatures, and in an awesome fashion. Before, you could get Prophet of Kruphix, but even now there are amazing options. Clever Impersonator, mana dorks, Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker (to tutor for more stuff), Animar, Soul of Elements, Body Double, Beguiler of Wills, Acidic Slime, and much more. Also, you can use it to get mana with Food Chain, sac/chump fodder, add to creature count for Shaman of Forgotten Ways and Beguiler of Wills (which it tutors), and I'm sre many more. Again not necessary, but it could be a good fit for your deck.
The only other 'high budget' card worth considering is Gaea's Cradle. My favorite target for Ulvenwald Hydra. The card is insane, sometimes dead in your opener. Good card, not necessary.
TLDR
MOST EXCITING/INTERESTING/RELEVANT CARDS OVERALL (no particular build or deck)
Restoration Specialist
Baral, Chief of Compliance
Baral's Expertise
Disallow
Trophy Mage
Whir of Invention
Heroic Intervention
Rishkar, Peema Renegade
Paradox Engine (will likely get banned)
MOST EXCITING/INTERESTING/RELEVANT CARDS FOR THIS DECK
Trophy Mage
Paradox Engine
Here is my review for this set. I will go over any card that has any sort of interest, or could draw unwarranted interest (e.g. the card looks powerful but has some costs that are too difficult to overcome that people may try to work around and be disappointed with).
* = I don't think this card will be played outside of very fringe/budget decks
** = Will appear once in awhile but is generally outclassed, or is for very specific decks.
*** = Keep an eye out on this card. Appears highly volatile in terms of playability.
**** = New staple in EDH. Either a flexible card for many decks, or extremely potent for specific decks.
***** = Will have a massive impact on EDH. If you're in these colors you're likely playing it.
If I don't talk about a card that is in the set that's because either it's a reprint or I think it's not going to do anything at all.
(I'm using my Progenitus topic to go over all the cards that pique my interest for various builds, and then largely copying/pasting it into my other topics, so if it seems like I'm spending an inordinate amount of time talking about cards that have no potential in a particular build, it's because of that)
BLUE
*Aethertide Whale - Generates a lot of energy upon ETB but does nothing much besides that.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: None
****Baral, Chief of Compliance - Goblin Electromancer with upside and only one color will be quite sick. Obviously for spellslinger decks, but it will be an automatic include in them. The second ability might make it also playable in a control/counterspell control deck as the loot ability is nice too.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: None
****Baral's Expertise - One of the best in the cycle, as it affects the board in a meaningful and flexible way while also giving a free spell, which helps make this slot into a lot of different blue decks as a decent value/tempo card. Being able to bounce artifacts is also very relevant. Bounce three threats and cheat in a Rhystic Study or Jace isn't too bad.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: None
****Disallow - Voidslime for 1UU instead of GUU will see good amounts of play. Having flexible counterspells is always nice to have. It won't be a broken card but it will be solid.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: most blue decks
*Efficient Construction - It's unfortunate this isn't an artifact itself, but regardless it's a slow but fair way to slowly pump out artifacts. Most artifact combos are just looping from the graveyard over and over again though and not hardcasting much of anything so this likely won't see much play.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: None
*Illusionist's Stratagem - +1 mana over Displace for a cantrip. The cantrip probably isn't worth it at this point, as 4-mana starts to get quite pricy.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: None
*Mechanized Production - Way too slow and vulnerable for EDH. I wouldn't play this even if Phyrexian Metamorph or Sculpting Steel didn't exist, but the fact that those two cards do exist means this card is straight unplayable. It will be funny if you ever win the game with this (note that your 8+ copies of the artifact do not have to be whatever you enchanted, all the card cares about is if you have 8+ copies of any artifact) but shigs and tiggles don't make you more playable.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: None
*Metallic Rebuke - Mana Leak is not bad if you're in a tight meta where mana curves are lower and people often won't have 3 open to pay for their spell. However, you need to improvise for at least 1 before it becomes mana leak and only for 2 does it actually become better, meaning this is not a great early play, and being a great early play is the exact reason why mana leak was so good.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: None
**Quicksmith Spy - Maybe it has an infinite combo with something?
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: None
*Reverse Engineer - If you improvise for 1 it becomes Concentrate, though you really want to improvise for 3 before you really want to consider playing this. Improvising for only two means it's still generally worse than Thirst for Knowledge, the standard 3-mana draw-three spell for artifact decks.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: None
**Skyship Bandit - Literally Thrummingbird except it's a 2/1 instead of a 1/1. The extra point of power has some uses, mostly in being able to trade with 2 toughness creatures, but if your deck doesn't want Thrummingbird, it very likely doesn't want this either.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: None
*****Trophy Mage - Obvious brother (or sister in this case) to Trinket Mage and Treasure Mage, two cards that see massive amounts of play. There are tons of 3-mana artifacts to get, such as Ashnod's Altar, Mimic Vat, Sword of X and Y, many mana rocks, Cloudstone Curio, and the list goes on. 3-mana is always the fair spot for tutors, especially when it comes with a body. Pick up your foils fast because this will be a staple. Like many of these 3-mana dudes that tutor for something, Trophy mage won't be broken, but it will become a staple.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: Any blue deck with 2+ critical 3-mana artifacts
*****Whir of Invention - It's obviously a Chord of Calling for artifacts. Chord is a 5-star card and this will easily be another 5-star card as well. With Chord, you don't even need to convoke, just tutoring up a creature at instant speed is strong, and the convoke just made it ridiculous. This will be the same thing; you don't need to abuse the improvise part of the card, it's still going to be very good. The only difference is that Chord's convoke cost allowed you to tap green creatures to pay for the triple green, whereas there aren't many blue artifacts you can improvise, meaning you'll often have to pay at least the triple blue. Still, it's going to be strong.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: Any blue deck with critical artifacts
RED
**Indomitable Creativity - Really huge polymorph-variant must be interesting, right? Well this one seems like it'll be very difficult to abuse. While you can target artifacts or creatures, revealing either one will satisfy the card. For example, if you wanted to kill 4 of your dumb creature tokens, you might end up revealing underwhelming artifacts instead of these huge creatures you wanted to flip over, and vice versa. If you played something like Divergent Transformations instead, which only cares about creatures, you will instead keep flipping until you hit creatures, making it easier to cheat in bombs. This means this card seems more like a multi-kill spell that gives the controller something in return at random, rather than something you can build around and be able to cheat in a fattie with the proper deckbuilding. Given that monored has problems killing large creatures this might still see play, but it's not going to be as good as your normal Polymorph-type card.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: None
*Kari Zev, Skyship Raider - She's a lower CMC Geist of Saint Traft who doesn't hit as hard and can be killed with spot removal, but is a little harder to kill in actual combat. She'll be interesting in standard, but it doesn't seem like she'll be enough for EDH as a voltron. She comes down early and is hard to block, but she needs serious equipment/aura to boost her power and she can still be killed with removal spells.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: None
***Kari Zev's Expertise - This might be the most interesting of the cycle not because the Threaten effect is bonkers, but the fact that it's the lowest CMC of the cycle, meaning if you want to go out of your way to abuse Ancestral Vision or the like, this is the best of the cycle to do so.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: None
*Lightning Runner - Extra attack steps can be strong in the right build, but because you need so much energy for it, there's not many places that can use this.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: None
***Pia's Revolution - Punisher mechanics are not good in EDH, but this is at a low enough CMC and is repeatable where either choice the opponent makes is generally acceptable. It's similar to Combustible Gearhulk in that you get to target the opponent who has to make the choice, so you can target the guy at a low life total if you want to recur an artifact.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: None
*Quicksmith Rebel - Granting an artifact an ability while this guy is in play is cool design, although just poking something for 2 damage isn't that useful in EDH.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: None
*Release the Gremlins - There are a bunch of cards that destroy multiple artifacts, and I feel like there are enough of them that are more efficient than this card. It's a nice mana sink late in the game, but it is very inefficient early-midgame, so I would rather play Shattering Spree, Vandalblast, etc.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: None
GREEN
**Aetherwind Basker - If you want to make an energy deck, you can play a token deck and have this in here to create a bunch of energy quickly. outside of that this card doesn't really do anything.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: None
**Aid from the Cowl - This triggers at your end step so you are more likely to get at least one trigger when it resolves (as opposed to triggering at your upkeep), which helps the playability of the card. 5-mana is pretty hefty so you want to be almost all permanents or have some library manipulation.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: Maelstrom Wanderer
****Heroic Intervention - Basically it's a super Boros Charm/Simic Charm. If you're blue, you should just play a counterspell instead of this so you can counter whatever would be troubling you, but if you're not blue and you're in green this might be your next best option. It stops most traditional removal spells and sweepers.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: None
**Hidden Herbalists - Most creatures that produced mana upon ETB were red or black or made eldrazi tokens, so I guess it's interesting that monogreen finally gets one that does it, albeit with the revolt restriction. Regardless, the types of decks that cared about Priest of Urabrask and similar cards would care about this, and everything else probably won't.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: None
*Maulfist Revolutionary - It proliferates only one target, and since it does target it can't get around shroud/protection/etc. for whatever that's worth.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: None
**Monstrous Onslaught - If you have a large creature (e.g. Terastodon) this can pick off multiple creatures. Since it checks the value of X as you cast it, you don't get blown out by a removal spell either. Sorcery speed and 5-mana sucks, but if you can kill 2-3 creatures it could be fine.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: None
**Peema Aether-Seer - It can generate a lot of energy on its own if you have recursion/blink.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: None
**Ridgescale Tusker - Anthems the rest of your team for 5-mana. Sounds fine but you really want to have a +1/+1 counter theme.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: None
****Rishkar, Peema Renegade - He's subtle but I see a lot of utility. Basically he makes two of your creatures slightly bigger and into Llanowar Elves, meaning he's fine early on in a creature-heavy deck to help you mana ramp (especially if the two creatures getting the counters can immediately tap), and he's fine later in the game when you want extra power/toughness on the board. In addition, anything with +1/+1 counter synergies like Doubling Season will be good. On top of that, your creatures can produce mana if they have ANY counters on them, including -1/-1 counters, and any counters that were on them before Rishkar ETB'd. You do want to build around him, and play cards that can put +1/+1 counters on a lot of things quickly (e.g. Oath of Ajani, Cathars' Crusade, etc.) but when built around properly he provides a lot of utility for just 3-mana.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: Prossh with some changes
***Rishkar's Expertise - One of the most interesting cards in the cycle because it lets you cast a larger variety of spells for free. Consider that Garruk, Primal Hunter was a 5-mana planeswalker who let you draw cards (and would kill himself immediately). 6-mana is a lot, but you get what you pay for, and since you draw a bunch of cards before you cast your free spell, you can certainly end up casting something very sweet.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: None
MULTICOLOR
**Maverick Thopterist - This guy will be quite fun in draft, as the thopters you make can help cast additional maverick thopterists, assuming you draft multiples. In any case, he's like an easier to cast Breya, Etherium Shaper albeit without any extra abilities. If you can improvise for 2-3 he's certainly not bad, and will likely be good in budget artifact decks. He may be good enough in normal artifact decks but it seems unlikely since he himself is not an artifact.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: None
**Rogue Refiner - Beefy Elvish Visionary for 1 mana and making it blue-green is okay, but it's not something that I would play over a regular Elvish Visionary. If you're an energy deck then go ahead and play it, but outside of that I probably wouldn't bother.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: None
ARTIFACT
***Cogwork Assembler - 7-mana for its activation is very hefty, so I imagine it'll be used for infinite combos or something as the ability doesn't require tapping. For example, Krark-Clan ironworks + Myr Battlesphere + this card = infinite colorless mana. Of course artifact decks generally don't have problems generating mana (unless they get hit with a sweeper) and so maybe this being a mana dump will make it good, I don't know.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: None
***Crackdown Construct - With any ability that requires no cost to activate and isn't a mana ability, you can get an infinite power and toughness artifact creature, and I'm sure there's a lot of things you can do with that. In standard we get Wandering Fumarole for lulz which is funny as hell, and I know there are other things you can do.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: None
**Gonti's Aether Heart - Seems not bad if you're focused on generating energy. If you want to play this card with the idea of taking an extra turn, you'll probably be disappointed, as you would be better off just playing Time Warp effects or something.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: None
*Heart of Kiran - Simple beatsticks in EDH don't cut it.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: None
**Hope of Ghirapur - Legendary version of Xantid Swarm. You need to have this actually connect while Xantid Swarm just needs to attack, and while this does have flying and is only a 1-drop, it's going to be hard for a 1/1 to force through damage, and you need to sacrifice this for the effect, and it only stops noncreature spells. Granted, this does last for a full turn cycle while Xantid Swarm was more like a Grand Abolisher placed on one player for just the rest of the turn. I guess being legendary maybe you can make colorless voltron or something, but I don't know. Xantid Swarm is better when you attack a player with counterspells to help resolve a combo, whereas this is more like a stax piece on the control/storm player, but this is fairly clunky unless you can play it really early and continuously recur it. It is a relatively unique effect so it isn't unplayable, but I wouldn't be excited to test this out.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: None
***Inspiring Statuary - Most artifact decks don't have a problem generating mana, especially if this card only helps power out nonartifact spells which an artifact deck won't have a ton of (especially those that cost a lot of mana). Still, it is something to keep your eye on.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: None
***Lifecrafter's Bestiary - Essentially it's a bad Glimpse of Nature, but Glimpse of Nature was more like a deck that enabled storm decks/combo and that kind of thing, whereas this is more of a card that just gives all your creature spells "Kicker G, draw a card". Still should be playable in any case. You obviously want a high number of creatures, maybe 30-40 or more, before you should even consider this.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: None
**Merchant's Dockhand - It's a hefty mana cost per turn and tapping some artifacts can be annoying, but it is only 1-mana. Doesn't sound exciting but I imagine there are worse things you can play.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: None
**Metallic Mimic - If you have a tribal theme this should be fine for just 2-mana, though it's more for weenie decks as I don't think something like Dragon tribal really needs +1/+1 counters on them.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: None
BANNEDParadox Engine - I'm not even going to spend much time talking about this card. It's going to get banned really fast. I would be shocked if the RC doesn't ban it. Prophet of Kruphix got hammered and it isn't nearly as insane as this. It combos with way too many things, namely a bunch of mana rocks and/or mana dorks + some dumb enabler. Buyback cards like Capsize becomes bounce everything you want. Put something stupid like Think twice under an Isochron Scepter and it draws your deck. There are tons of combos, and none of them are good for the game. Play the crap out of this card and have fun with it until it gets banned.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: Probably everything pending budget
***Planar Bridge - Obvious parallel to Planar Portal right down to the name. Both are artifacts that cost 6 to hardcast, and this one is 8 mana instead of 6 to find your card and only for permanents but you do put it into play immediately (e.g. sneak in Blightsteel Colossus end of turn). These types of cards are fine in big mana decks that need mana sinks.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: None
*Renegade Map - I'd rather play Wanderer's Twig or Mycosynth Wellspring if I wanted these cheap artifacts that got me basic lands.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: None
***Scrap Trawler - Artifact recursion for no additional costs at just 3 mana upfront is not bad. There are some restrictions but it is repeatable, and it should do some nice work.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: None
*Servo Schematic - Similar to Ichor Wellspring and Mycosynth Wellspring in that they're 2-mana artifacts that do the same thing upon ETB or hitting the graveyard. Here though I think making a 1/1 flier is worse than drawing a card or fetching a basic land to ensure your next land drop.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: None
***Treasure Keeper - Similar to Matter Reshaper except you add one mana, remove the colorless requirement, and there are fewer restrictions on the free card you get when it dies (any nonland card that is CMC 3 or less can be cast for free). Seems decent.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: None
***Universal Solvent - Decks get another way to deal with problematic permanents that their colors won't allow them to (e.g. black/red vs enchantments), and it's another tool for Trinket Mage, and is another object that can be recurred with Salvaging Station. Unassuming card that most decks won't play because it is overcosted, but if your deck/colors are desperate it should be good, and artifact decks don't really have problems generating the necessary mana.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: None
**Walking Ballista - Functions similarly to Triskelion. Interestingly enough if you pay 6 it ETBs with three +1/+1 counters which is the same as Triskelion. The difference is obviously that Triskelion is better for infinite combos as it always ETBs with the counters while cheating this into play doesn't do anything. It's kind of more like Hangarback walker as they are playable artifact creatures with XX costs.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: None
LAND
***Spire of Industry - Glimmervoid that requires you to pay 1 life to get the colored mana, but it doesn't disappear if you have zero artifacts in play. It's usually worse than Glimmervoid; 1 life isn't much, but they can add up, and it's not that hard to have at least 1 artifact in play if you are the kind of deck that actually wants to play Glimmervoid. Still, artifact decks likely want to play this anyway, and this could be passable in non-artifact decks although there are usually going to be better options.
MY DECKS THAT I WOULD PLAY IT IN: None
WUBRGProgenitus
URGMaelstrom Wanderer
WUBOloro, Ageless Ascetic
WURZedruu, the Greathearted
BRGProssh, Skyraider of Kher ($100)
GWUDerevi, Empyrial Tactician ($100)
UGKruphix, God of Horizons ($100)(retired)UTalrand, Sky Summoner (French 1v1, $100)
Gonna try something a little different for my set review.
Instead of just copying and pasting my review of the cards that match the deck's colors, I'm just going to link to my Progenitus review (which covers all cards I think will be relevant for EDH) and then put the summary in my respective topics.
Amonkhet
MOST EXCITING/INTERESTING/RELEVANT CARDS OVERALL (no particular build or deck)
Anointed Procession
As Foretold
Pull from Tomorrow
Shadow of the Grave
Harsh Mentor
Harvest Season
Manglehorn
Hapatra, Vizier of Poisons
MOST EXCITING/INTERESTING/RELEVANT CARDS FOR THIS DECK
Manglehorn
Shefet Monitor
Vizier of the Menagerie
WUBRGProgenitus
URGMaelstrom Wanderer
WUBOloro, Ageless Ascetic
WURZedruu, the Greathearted
BRGProssh, Skyraider of Kher ($100)
GWUDerevi, Empyrial Tactician ($100)
UGKruphix, God of Horizons ($100)(retired)UTalrand, Sky Summoner (French 1v1, $100)
MOST EXCITING/INTERESTING/RELEVANT CARDS OVERALL (no particular build or deck)
Hour of Revelation
Solemnity
Unesh, Criosphinx Sovereign
Razaketh, the Foulblooded
Ramunap Excavator
The Locust God
The Scarab God
The Scorpion god
Mirage Mirror
MOST EXCITING/INTERESTING/RELEVANT CARDS FOR THIS DECK
Unesh, Criosphinx Sovereign
Ramunap Excavator
God-Pharaoh's Gift
Mirage Mirror
WUBRGProgenitus
URGMaelstrom Wanderer
WUBOloro, Ageless Ascetic
WURZedruu, the Greathearted
BRGProssh, Skyraider of Kher ($100)
GWUDerevi, Empyrial Tactician ($100)
UGKruphix, God of Horizons ($100)(retired)UTalrand, Sky Summoner (French 1v1, $100)
TLDR
MOST EXCITING/INTERESTING/RELEVANT CARDS OVERALL (no particular build or deck)
Kindred Discovery
Kheru Mind-Eater
Patron of the Vein
Izzet Chemister
Kindred Summons
Arahbo, Roar of the World
Edgar Markov
Inalla, Archmage Ritualist
Kess, Dissident mage
Mairsil, the Pretender
Mirri, Weatherlight Duelist
Nazahn, Revered Bladesmith
The Ur-Dragon
Hammer of Nazahn
Ramos, Dragon Engine
MOST EXCITING/INTERESTING/RELEVANT CARDS FOR THIS DECK
N/A
WUBRGProgenitus
URGMaelstrom Wanderer
WUBOloro, Ageless Ascetic
WURZedruu, the Greathearted
BRGProssh, Skyraider of Kher ($100)
GWUDerevi, Empyrial Tactician ($100)
UGKruphix, God of Horizons ($100)(retired)UTalrand, Sky Summoner (French 1v1, $100)
TLDR
MOST EXCITING/INTERESTING/RELEVANT CARDS OVERALL (no particular build or deck)
Tocatli honor Guard
Arcane Adaptation
Revel in Riches
Captivating Crew
Growing Rites of Itlimoc // Itlimoc, Cradle of the Sun
Hostage Taker
Tishana, Voice of Thunder
MOST EXCITING/INTERESTING/RELEVANT CARDS FOR THIS DECK
N/A
WUBRGProgenitus
URGMaelstrom Wanderer
WUBOloro, Ageless Ascetic
WURZedruu, the Greathearted
BRGProssh, Skyraider of Kher ($100)
GWUDerevi, Empyrial Tactician ($100)
UGKruphix, God of Horizons ($100)(retired)UTalrand, Sky Summoner (French 1v1, $100)
TLDR
MOST EXCITING/INTERESTING/RELEVANT CARDS OVERALL (no particular build or deck)
Ravenous Chupacabra
Vona's Hunger
Blood Sun
Tendershoot Dryad
World Shaper
Journey to eternity
Storm the Vault /// Vault of Catlacan
Immortal Sun
Silent Gravestone
MOST EXCITING/INTERESTING/RELEVANT CARDS FOR THIS DECK
Silent Gravestone
WUBRGProgenitus
URGMaelstrom Wanderer
WUBOloro, Ageless Ascetic
WURZedruu, the Greathearted
BRGProssh, Skyraider of Kher ($100)
GWUDerevi, Empyrial Tactician ($100)
UGKruphix, God of Horizons ($100)(retired)UTalrand, Sky Summoner (French 1v1, $100)