I largely agree with both Avatar and TheInternets. I think Selesnya has the deepest pool of "decent cards," but Dimir and Izzet have more potential to be insane. I think Boros is just "okay" and probably better in draft. Golgari just doesn't seem well supported, and I think it's solidly the worst guild for prerelease, whatever the order of the others.
My experience is limited to two Magic Arena sealed events, 7-2 and 7-0 (I was fortunate enough to pull Niv Mizzet in both, and largely rode him to victory with Jeskai and Izzet decks respectively. I will say that Izzet is stronger than it looks.
I'm surprised that your lists aren't including Cascading Cataracts There are very few things in the format which answer an indestructible land, as most exile removal reads "non-land." I've made decks that revolve around just animating that as a win condition. It (mostly) solves the main problem of awaken decks, which is that when they kill your land creature, you're left behind on mana if you keep animating more.
Sounds like a bad thing to just play and sac all your lands to unless you're killing them that turn. But G/W is aggressive enough that the combination offers good reach. I'm playing Bloodbriar anyway in limited, so if I have a couple of them, I'd definitely ad a mantle or two.
Gisela costs 4, not 5, and is a very pushed creature all on her own. Yes, Bruna costs 7, but she reanimates any angel or human on cast trigger, so even if she's countered or immediately removed, she'll bring back a Gisela. Count on seeing many decks with 3-4 Gisela and 2-3 Bruna.
Anyway, I digress, this topic is about limited, and the speed of the format. I'm in agreement with Golden; pretty medium speed.
2/4s feel really good in this format with all the 3/2s, 2/1s, and 2/2s running around. It doesn't feel particularly fast to me from what I've played, but I don't think aggro decks are bad if you get a good start. I think that even defensive decks want to curve out though. Early game cards in this set remain reasonably relevant late game in most decks, as there aren't a ton of big, stompy creatures, plus there are a lot of effects that want you to sac a creature (emerge, various white cards.) Between the transforming werewolves, emerge, and sac effects, and cards that keep growing, your early game eventually becomes your late game.
I'd probably disregard everything Navyat said. I'm not really sure what he's talking about. The only meld you're going to see in limited (barring ridiculous luck,) is Graf Rats + Midnight Scavenger. Chittering Host is a great way to alpha strike, even if it gets immediately removed, and both its components are great on their own. As for meld in standard...well, you go ahead and get back to me after losing a few games to Brisela, Navyat. But according to you, a 4/3 flying, first strike, lifelink for 4, and a 5/7 vigilance flier that reanimates the other component of its meld on cast trigger are nothing exciting I guess. *shrugs* I smell a spoiled eternal formats player.
As for emerge being "dumb," I'm not even sure what that's supposed to mean. Emerge is a fine mechanic, and pretty much all the emerge cards in limited range between good and backbreaking, especially if you can sac one of their "enablers," or something that was hit by Choking Restraints or another enchantment-based removal.
Certainly. Each two color pair in this block has a general theme, though you'll generally mix in elements of the other archetypes of your colors.
R/G: Werewolves~ This can be a pretty simple deck to play because it's mostly big, stompy creatures. However, there are a lot of transform triggers to remember.
G/W: Humans~ Generally a swarmy, aggressive deck with lots of effects that pump your field, buffs, and stuff that cares about humans. Pretty good deck for beginners I'd say. Has a fair bit of sacrifice effects too, and some delirium.
W/U: Spirits~ Lots of fliers, tempo plays, control, and shenanigans. Wouldn't recommend this color combo to newer players due to the lack of brute strength and complexity involved.
U/B: Zombies~ Very grindy archetype. Lots stalling with blockers, recursion, and durdling until your field becomes overwhelming enough to end the game. Can be pretty difficult to play.
B/R: Vampires~ Aggressive archetype that hinges heavily on madness. Discard stuff for madness effect to generate value, and smash face. Lots of removal and ways to get around blockers.
R/W: Aggro~ Combines the two more aggressive colors into a more generic aggro deck. Pretty straightforward generally.
W/B: Skulk/boardstall/control~ Genrally wants to gum up the board and win the late game with strong removal cards and nickle and dime life loss/gain. Often requires careful and calculated combat.
B/G: Delirium~ Wants to fill its graveyard and benefit from delirium effects. Becomes strong in the late game, but delirium can be a tricky mechanic to wield.
G/U: Emerge~ Plays creatures that have a benefit when they hit the battlefield or die, then sacrifice them for powerful emerge creatures. I'd say it's pretty middle of the road for difficulty.
U/R: Spells~ Lots of stuff that benefits from casting instants and sorceries. Can require some finesse to play well though, and your pool has to be pretty generous with good spells, so it's not something you want to force in sealed.
I absolutely think that Dromoka's Command is the best of the cycle. It's very easily a two for one for 2 mana. Sure, you can have Pit Fight and Abzan Advantage in the same card.
There's nothing I don't love about this card. Built in triple extort, multi-color to dodge Sultai charm, that sweet spot of 5 toughness to dodge burn, all at 4 mana with a trample cherry on top. And it's a RHINO! Yes!
Happy to see a great rare in my clan with life drain.
Wow, aside from KolbaneX and maybe a couple other people, nobody sees how good this card is. Let me see if I can explain.
The main complaint I see is that his abilities are too expensive. They are not understanding that the abilities are far more useful when they simply THREATEN to be used than when the are actually used. He's a 2/2 bear. But he's a 2/2 bear that can't be blocked by Courser or Caryatid because he'll pump and kill them. I don't think most people are going to trade their Courser to make you lose 2 mana. So, he's basically pseudo-unblockable.
You can't really kill him either if his controller has mana up (with stuff that gets around regen being exceptions, but most of that costs more than 2 mana.) Yes, you have to hold mana up to protect him. But the kind of deck that wants to use this card generally wants to keep mana up. You don't cram this guy into super fast aggro decks. You play him in grindy controlling decks with good instant speed options. You play him in a deck like Sultai that can just drop this on turn 2, then hold downfall/counterspell/card draw mana.
He defends against early aggro while gaining value. He provides early pressure against control that needs to be answered by expensive exile effects. He can pump into a serious threat in the late game if ignored. And best of all: he's a two mana bear, so who cares if they do waste a removal on him?
Excellent choice for grindy or aggressive controlling decks. Smart Sultai and Abzan players will find a home for this kitty, count on it.
The black one is obviously good, but I think people are underestimating the blue one. Not only does Dragon's Eye Savants have a bigger butt than Nyx-Fleece Ram (albeit without the valuable life gain,) but if you morph it, you can turn it face up in response to a Magma Jet or Lightning Strike even when you're tapped out. This makes it double as a 2/2 that simply turns into a 0/6 when it's burned; that's not without use. Being able to block unmonstrous Polukranos as a two drop and live is nothing to sneeze at either. Looking at an opponent's hand can also be valuable. The card has a lot of utility.
If nothing else, janky Phenax mill decks will love the card.
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I just wanna see Dega go. I don't care beyond that naming wise. It's the dumbest one haha.
Dega is not nearly as dumb as "Junk" and "America." At least Dega sounds like a thing that could be an actual name. I'll be happy to see all these stupid names go though.
My experience is limited to two Magic Arena sealed events, 7-2 and 7-0 (I was fortunate enough to pull Niv Mizzet in both, and largely rode him to victory with Jeskai and Izzet decks respectively. I will say that Izzet is stronger than it looks.
Anyway, I digress, this topic is about limited, and the speed of the format. I'm in agreement with Golden; pretty medium speed.
I'd probably disregard everything Navyat said. I'm not really sure what he's talking about. The only meld you're going to see in limited (barring ridiculous luck,) is Graf Rats + Midnight Scavenger. Chittering Host is a great way to alpha strike, even if it gets immediately removed, and both its components are great on their own. As for meld in standard...well, you go ahead and get back to me after losing a few games to Brisela, Navyat.
As for emerge being "dumb," I'm not even sure what that's supposed to mean. Emerge is a fine mechanic, and pretty much all the emerge cards in limited range between good and backbreaking, especially if you can sac one of their "enablers," or something that was hit by Choking Restraints or another enchantment-based removal.
Certainly. Each two color pair in this block has a general theme, though you'll generally mix in elements of the other archetypes of your colors.
R/G: Werewolves~ This can be a pretty simple deck to play because it's mostly big, stompy creatures. However, there are a lot of transform triggers to remember.
G/W: Humans~ Generally a swarmy, aggressive deck with lots of effects that pump your field, buffs, and stuff that cares about humans. Pretty good deck for beginners I'd say. Has a fair bit of sacrifice effects too, and some delirium.
W/U: Spirits~ Lots of fliers, tempo plays, control, and shenanigans. Wouldn't recommend this color combo to newer players due to the lack of brute strength and complexity involved.
U/B: Zombies~ Very grindy archetype. Lots stalling with blockers, recursion, and durdling until your field becomes overwhelming enough to end the game. Can be pretty difficult to play.
B/R: Vampires~ Aggressive archetype that hinges heavily on madness. Discard stuff for madness effect to generate value, and smash face. Lots of removal and ways to get around blockers.
R/W: Aggro~ Combines the two more aggressive colors into a more generic aggro deck. Pretty straightforward generally.
W/B: Skulk/boardstall/control~ Genrally wants to gum up the board and win the late game with strong removal cards and nickle and dime life loss/gain. Often requires careful and calculated combat.
B/G: Delirium~ Wants to fill its graveyard and benefit from delirium effects. Becomes strong in the late game, but delirium can be a tricky mechanic to wield.
G/U: Emerge~ Plays creatures that have a benefit when they hit the battlefield or die, then sacrifice them for powerful emerge creatures. I'd say it's pretty middle of the road for difficulty.
U/R: Spells~ Lots of stuff that benefits from casting instants and sorceries. Can require some finesse to play well though, and your pool has to be pretty generous with good spells, so it's not something you want to force in sealed.
Love the flavor on the phoenix. To those complaining about haste, just play it with Temur Ascendancy. It's at that 4 power sweet spot.
Happy to see a great rare in my clan with life drain.
The main complaint I see is that his abilities are too expensive. They are not understanding that the abilities are far more useful when they simply THREATEN to be used than when the are actually used. He's a 2/2 bear. But he's a 2/2 bear that can't be blocked by Courser or Caryatid because he'll pump and kill them. I don't think most people are going to trade their Courser to make you lose 2 mana. So, he's basically pseudo-unblockable.
You can't really kill him either if his controller has mana up (with stuff that gets around regen being exceptions, but most of that costs more than 2 mana.) Yes, you have to hold mana up to protect him. But the kind of deck that wants to use this card generally wants to keep mana up. You don't cram this guy into super fast aggro decks. You play him in grindy controlling decks with good instant speed options. You play him in a deck like Sultai that can just drop this on turn 2, then hold downfall/counterspell/card draw mana.
He defends against early aggro while gaining value. He provides early pressure against control that needs to be answered by expensive exile effects. He can pump into a serious threat in the late game if ignored. And best of all: he's a two mana bear, so who cares if they do waste a removal on him?
Excellent choice for grindy or aggressive controlling decks. Smart Sultai and Abzan players will find a home for this kitty, count on it.
If nothing else, janky Phenax mill decks will love the card.
Dega is not nearly as dumb as "Junk" and "America." At least Dega sounds like a thing that could be an actual name. I'll be happy to see all these stupid names go though.