West Lockwood: Travel Blog

Preface – Its no secret that I play card games. As many of you could guess, my ADD tendancies inspire me to alway be doing something with my hands. So in the freetime that has been accumulating in my apartment ever since my computer’s power cable broke, I’ve been indulging in the self-degenerating ritual of Solitaire. Gruß Gott!


This time playing Solitaire was different, though. Always having considered myself a good player, I decided to actually do some Laboratory work and record my results – measuring what my averages actually were, and evaluating my strategy.

The Experiment – In a sample of 73 games of Solitaire (non- electronic, always playing with the 3 card flip, and with no limit on tries going through the stack) I recorded a score of 20 wins to 53 losses, or a win percentage of around 27%. This seems low, but consider that in my first 10 games I only recorded 1 win, and you might understand that 27% is actually a few percentage points HIGHER than what my true average should be (throughout the test, I stayed fairly consistant, winning just a little over 1/4 of all games. However, later on I started undertsanding that dropping cards from the stack should only be done if the ratio of cards dropped were proportional to the cars being flipped from that action (1:1 was my base goal).

Here is the breakdown of the number of aces on the table in the games I lost:

0 Aces – 2

1 Aces – 5

2 Aces – 9

3 Aces – 20

4 Aces – 17

What Happened? – The results show that there were very few games where the board presented me with no options. My notes show that only three of my games were “No Flop” upon starting, and that only one was a complete shutout with absolutely no plays whatsoever. For the lost 2 ace games, most were from board clogging – low numbers like 2’s and 3’s would stall up piles because the lack of aces ensured that they couldn’t be removed. For the lost 3 ace games, it was a mix of not being able to dump high cards, and the low number jam. Consequently, the 4 ace games were the mixed bag: some were really close to having been won, but some combination of stack drops had put cards in bad combinations. For example, one game I needed to dump a 8 of clubs, but the only red 9 available to me was behind it in the stack. Without stacking cards on the aces, there was no way to remove the 8 and get a reshuffle, and the game was doomed…

“But I Ain’t Done Yet!”

Strategy – Let’s look at the obvious one first: Aces. They add a whole new way to remove problem cards from the board, thus the more you have out, the more options are available. 2’s cannot have any cards stacked on them, so obviously should be plopped on their corresponding ace immediately (although I see a lot of players forget to do this, and stick themselves with low cards preventing flips: this should never be.)

Foresight – One of the better strategies I can reccomend is “foresight” – effectively planning your stack drops by looking at the next cards, and analyzing which will help you best. There is only so much this can do to benefit you (since flips cannot be predicted), but sometimes sandbagging an early ace drop is worth it for the reshuffle – especially if you do not have the corresponding 2 to stack on it. Sandbagging is especially useful if the next card in the stack won’t help the board (or even worse, set up a condition where the cards after the sandbagged card become inaccessable). I know this borders on cheating, since “Foresight” is really just looking at the next card in the stack. But really, the card order isn’t a secret after the first time through the stack. Therefore, in order to remain fair, I never use “Foresight” during the first runthrough.

Another regards flipping cards. Since the win is guarenteed by all cards on the table being flipped, the flip takes precidence over all else, dropping cards from the stack, clearing to aces/kings etc. This should be obvious. However, there are a few things that can help keep your stacks clear, and flipping often:

Dont stack low cards when their corresponding aces are missing! – Definitely a no brainer. If you put a low number (2 or 3) without its corresponding ace onto a larger number, you run the risk of blocking the amount of cards you can stack on that ace. When the low numbers are late in the stack they can be dropped any time, so leave them there! BUT BE CAREFUL: if you make the 2 inaccessible, you run the risk of neutering the ace when it does flip/drop in the late game. So here’s my suggestion: if the ace is just buried in the stack, drop the 2, because the ace will come sooner or later. If the ace is unflipped though, wait on dropping the 2 (preferably sandbagging for a reshuffle), and leave an open three – just in case.

Kings – This is contentious, because many times they will be available in multiples. Here are my tips for order of preference: The first empty space should be for kings on stacks, no question. If multiple kings are on stacks, there are two options. 1) Gamble: take the one from the smaller stack – its removal might get you a chance to clear the king from the larger stack. 2) Play it Safe: take the one from the large stack, since you don’t want it to stall you late game if there are no cleared spots for it.
Kings from the stack should not go down unless there is a queen to go on them, creating a flip. Same goes for most larger cards in your stack.

Conclusion – Solitaire is a ridiculously deep game. I hope you enjoyed this nonsense. To be honest, I can’t really believed I spent so much time doing this: both playing so much Solitaire and finishing this ridiculous write up. My goal is 100 games by the end of the week, so I will update the statistics as they come in. Remember to bookmark West Lockwood.com for your best source of ridiculously excessive information regarding what you can do when bored.


West Lockwood


*Update: On March 26th, I completed the project of 100 games. My final record was 32W – 68L, or a win percentage slightly under 1/3 of the games I played (32%, obviously). I had many more wins in my last few games, and I have to attribute that to the strategy I adopted.


Whenever I had a choice of cards to flip, I always chose the largest pile – even with kings on the table. My entire strategy was based on flipping big piles, and not laying down cards from the deck unless they yielded a direct flip result. It worked.

Hey, here’s a brief, honest, and unbiased guide to some of the best and worst nightclubs, clubs, bars, parties and general night life that I have been to so far in Berlin.

Berlin Nightspots

40 Seconds – This nightclub has one of the coolest venues in Berlin, playing American top 40 music on the top floor of a highrise. Amazing view of Potsdamer Platz, and a huge bar. nfortunately, the patrons are usually snotty, the cover is 10 – €, drinks are mindblowingly expensive and its fairly exclusive (meaning that none of my non-white friends got in.)

The basement of Tresor looks like this, minus the smoke, darkness, cigarettes and a skullthrashing bass

Tresor – I’ve been to this notorious club in Kreuzberg twice, and each time it has been an epic experience. They say it is the birthplace of modern Techno, and the place is enormous. There’s a upscale dancefloor and bar with a wood floor upstairs, a larger more electronic/house room on the ground floor, and a smokey dungeonesque techno club in the basement. So epic that the 15 – € saturday cover is almost worth it.

Adagio – The inside of this club has vaulted ceilings and is cavernous inside, with an attempt at seeming upscale. The illusion doesn’t succeed, as the dance floor is as grimey and ghetto as a downscale bar in LA. They fail at getting uper end patrons, so be prepared to mingle with some Potsdamer hoodrats and bouncers who think too highly of themselves.

Tube Station – Probably my favorite venue, this place has a fairly low cover, friendly staff, and a really fun top 40 dance atmosphere. All the cab drivers know how to get here, too. One thursday night, an employee in lingere was handing out hamburgers to everyone dancing, but unfortunately there was no veggie alternative! Minus 10 points from Gryffindor.

Kit Kat Klub – Made famous in the musical Cabaret, this place is famous for its “Swingers Parties”, and has (I’m told) an extraordinarilly debaucherous basement scene. You won’t get in without outrageous attire, but proceed with caution regardless.

Steinhaus – DON’T GO HERE. The place is always empty and for good reason, its out of the way, unfriendly, and artificially creates a line to make it look like something is going on (and multiple doors and lack of windows prevent reconaissance).

Weekend Club – On the 12th and 15th floors of a highrise in Alexanderplatz, the place isn’t cheap and the music didn’t blow my mind (very whomp-whompish). However, the people who go there were a blast, and the drinks (although teuer) are amazing. The 8 – € Whiskey Sour was the best I’ve ever had.

Gretchen – Reasonable prices for amazing concerts, and great customer service. My friends and I saw Master P and Flux Pavilion there in January, and it was quite the live show for only 12 – €. Not as conviently located near an Sbahn or Ubahn station though, and also could be a substitute for Currywurst in terms of the amount of sausages there…

Qdorf – Apparently better on the weekdays, this club is cantina style and has six seperate bars, dancefloors and stages. I didn’t have an amazing experience here, but it was fairly inexpensive for Berlin, and was quite lively – if lower end.

Heart of Gold – Ok, ok, this isn’t a club. But the bar in the bottom of this Hostel is a great place to meet international kids looking to have fun. Close to Friedrichstraße, it has pool, fußbol and wifi.

Madame Claudes – Its an upside down bar, which is a cool concept, but really poorly implimented. Every time its been tried, it has failed the fun meter. Perhaps if trivia night was more of my jam I’d go, but not on a thursday night.

Matrix – This place was fun, with a standard cover, but a fairly young clientelle. Not extraordinarilly classy. The redeeming factor for this club is its availibility as an alternative for Club Watergate (discussed below), so bear that in mind when you don’t get into the latter.

Maxxim – What else can I say about a club with a website tackier than the club itself? Oh, yeah, bear in mind that the club is completely tactless. Yeah, go here if you really want to skim the bottom of the barrel with the women, and pay obscene amounts of money for mediocre drinks.

Maria at Ostbahnhof – This is a really awful party at a really awesome place. Right on the river, big interior, but high prices and covers for incredibly lame dancefests makes this one place worth skipping.

Check the Hours at:

Sage Club – We have tried this place twice and neither time was anything happening. At least Tresor is a close alternative…

Cookies – I heard it’s actually only open on Tuesday and Thursday, but my experience suggests its actually open less than that. Tube Station is a close alternative, go there instead.

Be Prepared NOT to get into:

Berghain – Personally I didn’t have trouble getting in. Then again, I saw people who did, and it has a reputation for turning people away. Standard 10 – € cover, 1.50 – € coatcheck that I’ve been seeing at most elite clubs in Berlin. But for one of the most famous, its drinks were quite pricewert and the staff were super cool. Friday the main floor was closed, but it hardly mattered, very cool industrial venue.

My scouts report that Berghain is at its best when they have famous live DJ’s spinning, so make sure you check dates for the concert that fits your style best.

Watergate – I’ll just say that I tried to get into Watergate on a really packed night, and was in a highly comical mood while in line, loudly convincing some Irish girls that I was from Belfast (with success!) Unfortunately none of us got in, despite the plethora of attractive women in our group.

That’s all for now. Come back for more European guides and travel tips. Remember to bookmark westlockwood.com for your best source of honest information from actual customers and clubgoers around the world.


West Lockwood

Whats up, oh community?

First of all, let me point out that this is not going to be very MTG oriented. I recently moved to south (Süd) Berlin (thats in Germany) and as it is now, I don’t have very much time for drafting (especially considering that booster packs here cost 4.49 – €, or around $6.00).


So far I’ve done a lot of night wandering through the city. There is a very active nightlife here, albeit slightly more reserved than in the USA. Today we had our first snow that stuck around, which was awesome. My buddy Rupert and I had planned to go outside and create an enormous phallic structure out of snow. Instead, we made nachos and watched “American Dad” in Deutsch. I swear, they love that show here. I also realized that Comedy Central in Germany = Nick At Nite in the USA. Don’t believe me? All they play is Married: with Children and Fresh Prince of Bel Air (the tag for which is “Chill Mit Will”, hahahaha).


On Friday night, a group of us FU-BESTers pregamed at a friends apartment nearby Alexanderplatz before taking a taxi to the Gretchen club. After waiting in a line full of Spanish guys (and one German dude who told me I had a really peculiar Deutsch accent), we get in (amazing, considering most of the group is not in a condition to be allowed in) and get to see Doctor P and Flux Pavilion spinning. It was Dubstep-pingly epic. Some German girl was actually impressed when I refused to buy her a drink. Obviously she was used to trolling guys for free beverages, so this was novel for her. Some other broad I was dancing with took off my pink rayban knockoffs and started wearing them. Unfortunately I was having too much fun to remember to get them back (if having too much fun is ever unfortunate)!


Earlier on Friday (and I mean much earlier), we had a chance to have a forum discussion with Dr. Klaus Scharioth (the Former German Ambassador to the US). I wish the S-Bahn had been more efficient (c’mon Germany…), because I was late. Even so, he had some fantastic insights on to how exactly Germany, and the EU as an entity itself, had chances in surviving in a global marketplace. In regards to the financial crisis back at home, he pointed out that Germany had already dealt with the effects of the massive amount of debt accrued on interest payments alone (and how its backbreaking effects can be mitigated – particularly through taxes, which he finds indispensable as no country can perpetually lower their taxes and still survive). It’s times like this that I wonder if my Pop wasn’t far off the mark when he said;

“If I were president, I’d have all our problems fixed within a week… okay, maybe two.”

Hilarious, I know. Yet I’ll argue that he might be quite right on, since one of the biggest points he’s drilled into me since I was a child was to pay off your (credit card) debt on time – if not earlier – so you don’t burn money on interest payments (which is exactly what the US is doing right now, and what Klaus also argued for).

Another topic of interest was annual percentage of GDP investment. Historically, it is advisable to reinvest 10% of the GDP back into your country’s infrastructure. That means roads, water, sewage and EDUCATION. Of course this all ties back into economics. How?

Industrial Output – Germany, the EU, nor the USA will ever be able to match China on production capacity alone. They have the (inexpensive) labor, and a huge consumer market. That means niche marketing is key to economic growth.

Niche Marketing – Here, two factors are key: quality and innovation.

1) The products have to have superior components (read: not fail). In the case of the USA, this might not be quite as important as it is for Germany since its production capacity is much, much higher.

2) At the same time, it is important to find a balance between quality and innovation – what you produce MUST be on the cutting edge.

So how does this relate to reinvesting in your infrastructure? Simple. If you have subpar educational/research systems, you will not be producing goods on the cutting edge of technology, reducing your consumer appeal. Innovation is time based – eventually everyone catches up. Why do you think Apple and (historically) Nintendo products sell so well? (Think: there are tons of Mouses, MP3 players, motion based controllers, and Tablets on the market now, but who did them first?). Everyone will always copy a good idea – take for example the story of how the Russians “borrowed” US technology to build their own B-29 Stratofortress (the TU – 4) back in 1944. Everyone catches up, so the process of constantly improving or innovating new products is crucial to countries who don’t focus on heavy industry, thus not reinvesting into those doing the innovating will eventually lead to an economic downfall.


Wow. I actually didn’t expect to write something on global economics, but there it is. I hope you enjoyed my spiel. Clearly I enjoyed Dr. Scharioth’s insights, and found them terribly relevant (especially after discovering that German University Students pay 300 – € per semester… thats JC pricing in California!). Have a great weekend, and I’ll keep you updated with more of my insights and adventures from Europe! Who knows? Maybe I will even have a chance to sling against Kai Budde…


West Lockwood

 

Hi everybody!



Today I wanted to go ahead and tell you something: I miss my ex girlfriend terribly. Whew. Now that I got that off my chest, lets take one last look back at M12 Drafting and discuss viable decklists. Personally i’ve seen my fair share of ugliness and beauty emerge from this core set, allow me to share it with you!

B/R Bloodthirst – This was a no brainer. The colors together are easily the best in the set in terms of commons and uncommons. What defines this deck? I argue that the best cards are Tormented Soul/Goblin Fireslinger, Stormblood Berserker, Blood Ogre, Vampire Outcasts and Gorehorn Minotaurs. The gnarly tempo is filthy, and it combines two nasty techs to eat your opponent: pinging with the little dudes, and outclassing with large, inexpensive quality creatures.

Tormented Soul + Dark Favor/Greatsword – One of the fun renegade decks. This one is one of the most infuriating decks to lose to, but the combo is quite easy to deal with. It is scary fast though, and since it is so cheap to get online, it isn’t uncommon to see turn 4 wins.

Hexproof + Trollhide – This is the deck I always see people trying to draft, and out of the bunch could have the largest variance in terms of performance. More often than not, I see people running Sacred Wolf or Thran Golem in their decks, buried amidst tons of garbage auras that end up being sandbagged as their creatures melt away to Incinerate or Smallpox. Living the dream isn’t impossible though. Dungrove Elder is a beast, and Jade Mage can buy you turns of chump blocking. And of course, beating face with a Trollhide’d Aven Fleetwing is just so satisfying.

Illusion.dec – Ugh. This is a whole bag of mixed messages. Ok, yes. If you open Lord of the Unreal with no Doom Blade, Fireball, Mind Control, or any other premium removal, you probably take it. But in draft, repeatable removal is much more prevalent (Gideon’s Lawkeeper) than in standard. However, Phantasmal Bear is a complete gem. It and Merfolk Looter are my favorite blue commons. The great tempo from da bears even works as a suitable black replacement in the Bloodthirst deck (I had one draft where I picked up 4 – didn’t lose a game).

U/W Skies – It always has to be mentioned, since it is always A deck. Stormfront Pegasus is still around, although it doesn’t fuel Griffin Rider. A newcomer is Skywinder Drake, beating face in the air hard and early (just like me on a saturday morning after a night of hard drinking), and Serra Angel still has swag.

Well, I could probably list more, but I’ll leave that to you! What did I leave out here? What’s your favorite archetype to draft? Post below and let me know!

Till next time!

Hey there, all you non-entrepreneurial geeks! Oh, have I offended you? Sorry.

You are a geek, though, aren’t you?


Did you get the reference? Yes, I have been watching Game of Thrones (again!) and yes, Tyrion Lannister is a badass. He has what the French call a certain, how do you say? Ah, yes. Swag. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, either leave this website to watch episode 1 of Game of Thrones, or ignore my jests and continue reading.






Glad you stayed! Today’s post is a little out of the ordinary, since usually I only post about set reviews, therefore only around 4 or 5 times a year. I hope to be a better writer to you now, and in the middle of cleaning up M12 draft after M12 draft, you’d think I might have additional insights about the current format.





“Wrong!”


Core sets are some of the most boring to draft. Ever. I don’t care whether the format is way faster than M11 thanks to bloodthirst, its still stale. The only cool dream I’ve seen lived recently that didn’t involve bloodthirst was the guy who played Zombie Infestation with Rites of Flourishing into an Overrun. Fortunately, it has provided a few nice cards for my cube. I love drafting, but like most people, shoveling out anywhere from $9 to $15 per draft makes me sick to my stomach every time I look at my bank account (I’m kidding, I have like infinite money. But it truly does make me sick to think about how poor you people must be trying to keep up with me.) Bravado aside, when my dollars got low, this “cube thing” started getting way more appealing, and so I built my own. My cube, based on Eric Klug’s design, is a peasant cube consisting of around 420 unique cards (swag), none of them rare. You’d be amazed to see the ridiculous cards that can still go in though, things like Force of Will, Aether Vial, Cloudgoat Ranger, Sylvan Library, Bloodbraid Elf, and Reanimate just to name a few. And unlike M12, or any other core sets, the pool is deep, with many winning draft strategies possible.







As my old humanities teacher used to encourage us to ask, “why does this matter?” Why I am telling you this is so that you know it is totally possible to draft with your friends for pennies every week, and possibly have more fun and get better at drafting than you would have if you had just bought a box of M12. You aren’t worried about picking rares for value since you keep none of the cards, you have a chance to evaluate what goes into the cube and what isn’t worth playing with (unlike drafting from expansions, where the Dross Hopper or Bountiful Harvest is obviously going to be picked last every time). Cubes are also sick because they give you a chance to dust off your old rare binder filled with cards you love, but don’t play anymore. It isn’t bloodsucking (or thirsting) standard, which requires you to update your entire inventory every 4 months, so cards from alpha have a chance to be played with the most modern cards to come from R&D (Stormblood Berserker is my newest cube addition).

If I’ve sold you on the merits of building a cube so quickly, great! Read further, O’ Eager Cadet, I have additional knowledge to impart before you start building:



Budget Notes

If you have zero of the cards, buying a cube might end up costing you anywhere between $50 and $300 for the paper alone. Don’t flip out. If you have a playgroup that’s into it, they can help offset costs to you. My solution was to have a 1 time $8 play fee – after that, people could duel as much as they’d like.

Trade. I acquired about 20% of my cube by paying cash, and forking over $35 bucks for a stack of someone’s jank/bulk commons feels terrible. More so if you buy from a store and have retail prices and sales tax to deal with. Your friends have most of the cards you need anyway. If they play with you, have them donate to the cube – they’ll want to eventually anyway. Go to FNM’s with a list of things you need, people will usually be willing to root though shoeboxes at home to get you staples if you trade standard-legal cards for them.

Proxy. Still missing that Vampire Nighthawk? Print one out! Something from some obscure portal set hard to find, like Fire Imp? Get that Epson to work! I had a proxy Aether Vial until last friday, and I’m pretty sure my Library of Alexandria will never be real. It isn’t worth diluting the game experience to keep your honor.

Research

Master List. Every cube starts somewhere. Mine was going through boxes and boxes of cards looking for things that seemed fun, and the initial cubelist had some issues. Find a template to work off of, see why they are using certain cards, and why others are excluded. My current cubelist can be found here. It, along with Klug’s list are good places to start from.

Sleeves. You have to sleeve your cube. Super Card Barrier, and Ultra Pro are the best. If you skimp out on buying cards, fine. Skimp out on sleeves, and you’re boned. Buy the best, they last the longest. Lots of online stores have bulk deals for cases that aren’t selling well. The art is whack (mine show a blue woman riding a mammoth…), but for as little as $17, you can get around 700 sleeves. Remember: THERE HAS TO BE ENOUGH SLEEVES FOR LAND, TOO! To not do so is a common noob error.

I think that is enough to mull over for now. Once again, check out my cube. As Carl would say, its “friggin’ awesome.” Next time, I’ll go more in depth on my cube, discussing bombs and functional strategies. If anyone has suggestions, comments or requests on what to hear, comment on the feed and I’ll be sure to get back to you. Peace!

“Your cube… it just went straight to my friggin’ head!”

 

o all you Sluts, Hoes, Cosi’s Tricksters and Kitchen Finks, you have reached the definitive set review for the faster-format-than-expected Magic 2012!

Core sets always end up boring me after a few drafts. Also, they tend to be fairly straightforward. So instead of rating EVERY card, i’ll give you my top common/uncommon picks for each color, suggest archetypes they might fit into, and reference notable rares.

Blue

Aether Adept: 4-7. Unsummon on a stick, Aether Adept was one of my favorite commons from M11. It resets all of your nifty etb abilities, and removes nasty (or beneficial enchantments) by bouncing creatures. It was my favorite answer to Armored Accession in blue, and also could provide tempo swings in your advantage with all of these great phantasmal creatures. Still, with double U in the casting cost, this wizard is not adapted for the 3 drop slot.

Aven Fleetwing: This was a card I underrated at first, but has proven a strong answer to the best draft archetype, B/R bloodthirst/removal. Regardless of its hexprooficity, this bird problem is that it won’t come out fast enough to match larger fliers, and Giant Spider stops a non-Trollhide’d Fleetwing in its tracks. Great in either U/W skies or U/G hexproof/enchantment (or even the Mesa Enchantress deck, should you attempt to live dreams.)

Azure Mage: 4-7. I’d be surprised if this got picked later than 7 most of the time. Even though 4 is a lot to pay for a draw, the 2/1 for 2 is a fine tempo card for an aggressive blue deck. That being said, this guy feels like he is torn between two deck archetypes since having a fatter ass would dedicate it to a response deck, and not to tapout – like it’s current power/toughness suggests.

Belltower Sphinx: 5-7. This is our Azure Drake replacement? And its in uncommon? Sheesh… Well, for some reason I still feel like this might earn an mvp award in some renegade deck who ended up decking their opponent while on their heels the entire game. The good news is you still get a 2/5 flier on top of a mediocre ability that you shouldn’t be picking the card for. One “uncommon” combo for milling would be this paired with Alluring Siren, forcing attacks.

Cancel: 7-10. The soulless, flavorless, introverted, butthole-ginger cousin of Counterspell did not shine like a new penny in M11, Zendikar, M10 or whatever time spiral set it was spawned from. In fact, I believe that these can actually be BOUGHT for a penny at your local card shop, providing that the Sheen of the penny shines brighter than Charlie (and has finished rehab).

Coral Merfolk: 1. This card will always be picked first. Even before Azure Mage. I’m not even kidding.

Divination: 4-6. This still isn’t an instant. Niether was Mulldrifter. Nevermind.

Frost Dick: 3-6. Regardless of the fact that it is actually spelled “Frost Breath”, I will never be saying “Breath” for as long as I cast this spell. That simply isn’t the correct pronunciation. Frost Dick is much more accurate, so please remember to honor your ancestors. I really hope this Frost Dick doesn’t replace Sleep, as I would lose actual sleep over Blue’s loss.

Ice Cage: 7-10. Another card where the pronunciation is deceiving. You see, the word “Cage” is pronounced exactly like “Breath” from Frost Breath, in that your ancestors will continued to be dishonored if you don’t say “Ice Dick” every time you cast this.

Jace’s Archivist: 3-5. Yo can really see where R&D is going with this Planeswalker flavor, now that even rares have their own link. It’s too bad that Liliana is lurking in Innistrad, since her Caress would go great with this card. The best use of this is lategame, when you are topdecking lands and are sandbagging against aggro in hopes of bluffing the counter. Unfortunately, when you draw your 5, so will they, refueling their assault. This is strictly better for the noob in you, who wants to go for a limited mill deck (and you probably should if you crack this asshole). How, you ask? Pick every card with “Jace” in the name. I shouldn’t have had to tell you that.

Jace’s Erasure: 10-14. Ohhhh combo!

Merfolk Mesmerist: 7-11. I take back my mill strategy comment. Add this guy to the mix. Your deck will still probably suck.

Mind Control: 1-2. Big surprise here. I think the only uncommon you take before this is Fireball, and that is up for debate.

Negate: 8-12. I don’t have anything witty to say about this one. It comes late, and you can usually count on it tabling.

Phantasmal Dragon: 4-6. I actually have found the Phantasmal creatures to be great, since people don’t intentionally pack their decks with jank to get rid of them in an humiliating, or insulting manner (read: Hornet Sting). You get a profitably large creature, they use up their pump spell to murk it. One less trick up their sleeve. Plus this guy is big, and flies. And he combos with Lord of the Unreal in an unreal way.

Phantasmal Bear: 5-7. Nothing new here that wasn’t said above.

Skywinder Drake: 4-7. Cloud elemental wanted to come, but this guy swang for more. I’m a fan. Unfortunately, Cloud Elemental got its greatest advantage from stopping Lily’s Specter and Stormfront Pegasus in their tracks. We’ll see what this more aggressive guy gets us. I’m sad blue has lost the common staples of it’s air defense.

Turn to Frog: 4-6. Diminish gets a makeover. And I like it.

Unsummon: 8-11. Expect this to continue lurking at the bottom of the packs, as it has for the last 15 years.

Lord of the Unreal: 2-4. If you crack him, you get a general idea of where else to go with your deck. If you didn’t he won’t be magical if you haven’t built around him, but 3-4 of the Phantoms will make him worth running.

So I just did Blue. I wont do any of the other colors as in depth.


Top Commons

Merfolk Looter

Skywinder Drake

Aven Fleetwing

Phantasmal Bear

Frost Breath/Mana Leak

Best Uncommons

Mind Control

Azure Mage

Phantasmal Dragon

Black
Black is one of the strongest, if not THE strongest color to draft in M12. It has its fair share of Bloodthirsty creatures (although the commons are nowhere near the power level of reds), and solid removal.

Doom Blade – No question here. I happily pass on rares more often than I pass this card.

Child of Night – This little kid has been around since M10, and still isn’t aging. And a 2/1 lifelinker for 2 is still good.

Duskhunter Bat – Pick order gets muddy after good ol’ Doom Blade. But a 2/2 flier for 2 is tits, and at worst a 1/1 flier gets your thirsty vampires online. Speaking of which…

Bloodrage Vampire – the working class part of the thirsty deck. He is not and will never be exciting. But, attacking for 4 is solid, and is a surprisingly detouring defender as well.

Gravedigger – in such a combat-oriented format, getting the 2 for 1 value that he provides can prove backbreaking. I had the fortune to draft our old Corpse digging friend along with Solemn Simulacrum, and the engine was nut butter. Still, more than 2 of these and you’re getting a little greedy since a 2/2 for 4 isn’t exactly 1337 skill…

“Now THAT is 1337 skill!”

Tormented Soul – You might be surprised about this pick. However, games are won off the back of this guy entirely, whether its through enabling bloodthirst efficiently, or pinging ftw (although if bloodthirst is your plan, his pick order becomes much higher). I’m not one to ever reccomend creature enchantments, but Dark Favor on this guy? Reasonable?

Honorable Mentions: Sorin’s Thirst and Blood Seeker – flavorwise, these should work in the bloodthirst deck, right? Removal is removal, and some of the gnarliest threats on the M12 board have 2 toughness. And Bloodseeker happens to be a freakishly powerful lategame threat for the aggro deck.

Best Uncommons

Black didn’t do as well in number of powerful uncommons as it did with commons. Still, the power level is there.

Sengir Vampire – HE’S BACK! One of the classic cards from my childhood. I remember my friend Casey had a deck that was all Dark Ritual and Sengir Vampire back in like 3rd grade, and it was greatly feared. Although his pump ability barely ever becomes relevant, the fact that he still is a 4/4 flying for 5 is QUITE relevant.

I only wish the old art was back, too. We’re over the Anorexic Michael Jackson lookalike.

Vampire Outcasts – insane. I’m actually not sure that this isn’t better than old Sengis when its been thirsted. Okay, it isn’t, but it sure puts them on a clock while putting you out of their reach.

Consume Spirit – I am not sure if this beats out the Onyx Mage. However, it is direct removal, and can be used to end games. Onyx Mage is suffering from a format where so many creatures would die attacking/blocking anyway, or can actually regenerate.

Red
Red is really good. Maybe the best, deepest color. I draft it way too often, and its as fun to play as this song is to listen to.
Top Commons

Incinerate – We lose bolt, but this still works fine.

Blood Ogre – First Strike is INCREDIBLE here. And a 3/3 Striker for 3 is just stupid good.

Shock – Okay, we lose bolt, but get twice as many lesser replacements.

Gorehorn Minotaurs – a 5/5 on turn 4? Need I say more?

Chandra’s Outrage – Its a huge kill spell that deals with Giant Spider, and can also finish the game for you. The only downside is its hard to splash.

Honorable Mention – Goblin Fireslinger. I have to be real here, the only reason he’s not on the top 5 is because red has so much choice removal. This guy in numbers can be really frightening, and is just as good a bloodthirst enabler as Tormented Soul, probably better. Drafting the two together is a really fun archetype, too.

Best Uncommons

Fireball – continuing its epic struggle against Mind Control for the title of Best Uncommon. Who would YOU pick pack 1 pick 1?

Volcanic Dragon – Usually when they make rares into uncommons, they end up being very high draft picks. Dragons are usually picked highly anyway, so with that logic in mind, yeah, pick this high.

Stormblood Berserker – Ok…. higher than the dragon, probably. As I’ve played with (and more often faced) this guy, my respect for his versatility grows. He can either be a scary-as-hell thirster, or an effective enabler. Early in the game, hes as unblockable as the Tormented Soul, so if you can ping turn 2 and play him, you either outtempo your opponent or get them to use their Doom Blade on a 2 drop, leaving your later threats to beat face unopposed.

“Roooaaaaaaarrr!”



Green
Green is definitely proving to be one of the weaker colors in M12, if not the weakest. That being said, many of the threats I talk about are in green, so lets take a moment to appreciate nature…

Rampant Growth – First of all, the green commons aren’t in any order. Rampant is the one I would feel most comfortable picking first, but none of these are mindblowing P1P1’s. At all.

Arachnus Web – This card is amazing against bombs like Royal Assassin, and early threats like Stormblood Berserker. The fact that you can pair it with Arachnus Spinner, and shoot webs is awesome, so if you crack the big spider, make sure to pick up at least 3 of these along the way.

Giant Spider – Big poppa. Been with us since the beginning. Still awesome.

Trollhide – Get ready folks, this may be the first time an Aura has made it onto my top picks. Its a little freakish how late these go sometimes in draft, since they are powerful, versatile, and thanks to Auramancer and Sacred Wolf, not completely a 2 for 1, should the creature die or become bounced. Biggest threat here is blue, red and black decks should the creature not be hexproof, since Unsummon, burn, Doom Blade and Aether Adept ruin your day.

Sacred Wolf – Oh wait, Hexproof. That makes Trollhide Better. So, Smallpox is the only answer?

Honorable Mentions: Llanowar Elves and Titanic Growth. Both good. Llanowar gets big things out early. Titanic Growth is premium removal for green. Grab both if you can.

Best Uncommons – green got more here than it did in common.

Acidic Slime. No question. Blows up Trollhides, Pacifisms, and trouble artifacts like Crown of Empires or Thran Golem. And it has deathtouch.

Cudgel Troll. I guess the only real insult to this guy was putting Incinerate in the same set as him, since he is the only innate regenerator. He’s still good, too.

Jade Mage. Yeeeeah army! Chump blockers for days?

Hunters Insight and Carnage Wurm- Haven’t really had a chance to play with the instant, but it looks powerful and I love its green flavor. Carnage Wurm is just really big and has trample for sort of cheap. It can also be splashed easily.

Overrun – mayhaps the best green uncommon? I’d pick Slime over this probably, since this requires you to build around it more. But it blows games out.

White

Top Commons

Pacifism – Peace be with you, brother.

Gideon’s Lawkeeper – Works really well if you have a Royal Assasin in your deck, or want to destroy Ice Cage.

Stormfront Pegasus – 2 power in the air for 2. Very word.

Assault Griffin – 3 power in the air for 4. Regular Word.

Peregrine Falcon/Armored Warhorse – To be real, this is where the commons drop off for white, although the Falcon is great in the air, and the 3 butt on the horse is solid early game for heavy white decks.

Best Uncommons

Oblivion Ring – Oh wow. White has a really legit way to deal with a planeswalker. Or any other problem.

Serra Angel – She just wins. I only wish they’d bring back the old Douglas Shuler art that everyone I know has a crush on.

… wait, was THAT the old art? It should have been!

Timely Reinforcements – Great when you’re behind, especially since 6 life isn’t negligible, and you’re getting 3 bodies instead of 1. Honor of the Pure/Overrun anyone?

Arbalest Elite – I guess it was too much to ask for a reprint of Heavy Arbalest, but this still rocks the casbah.

Artifact

 

After a hiatus on standard drafting while the stagnant 3x Scars format was exclusive, I’m back in action and ready to rate the cards being spoiled from New Phyrexia.
Grading Scale: 0-5, 5’s are the highest picks in limited (and given out very seldomly), and 1’s are the dregs of the draft pool. “S” cards are a staple sideboard card. Lets get started!

Black

Blind Zealot – 2.2 – A Mindstab Thrull-esque guy, the fear, er, intimidate definitely makes this worth drafting under normal circumstances. However, we cant be blind: we have to remember that this is an artifact block, and that most of the time, this will end up getting shut down by Wall of Tanglecord.

Caress of Phyrexia – 2.5 (not infect), 4 (infect) – Drawing three cards and losing three life is about par for the course in my mind for black. It isn’t Sign in Blood quality by any means, and the sorcery speed and double black cost aren’t what draw me to it. It is the offensive capabilities. I can probably count the amount of times I’ve seen Sign used as a kill con on one hand. This, however, will be ending people’s games quite more often. Even if you’re going for normal damage, three is much more relevant than two.

Chancellor of the Dross – 4.2 – I had a Chance to crack this guy at the prerelease. While normally he is definitely a bomb, acceleration is necessary to make him really work wonders. With infect on the decline, he is much better than he would have been in Scars, and his lifedrain on t1 actually saved me from dying to a Victorious Destruction.

Dementia Bat – 1 – The discard ability, while able to fire off on their draw phase, is prohibited too heavily by its cost. As a 2/2 flier, its overcosted as well.

Despise – S – As far as drafts go, this card is basically worthless most of the time. Wasting a pick on this Ostracize is basically worthless unless they somehow tutor a bomb into their hand (read: Chancellor or Praetor). In such a removal heavy format, these are the only relevant targets. Don’t waste your high picks here.

Dismember – 4.4 – Pick it. Grin because you aren’t even in black. Move on.

Enslave – 4.5 – Black’s Mind Control is back! And who ever passes up a control magic effect? Especially when its in a more relevant color (lets be honest, R&D has done one hell of a job neutering the greatest color in magic…)

Entomber Exarch – 3.5 – This is much better preemptive removal than Despise, and so much more flexible than Gravedigger ever was. Multiple effect possibilities on-a-stick, this is exactly what your deck needs. Rate him at the upper mid level of your picks.

Evil Presence – 1 – Its Back! New Spreading Seas for constructed post rotation? Does U/B control make a comeback in standard after CawBlade dies this autumn? You be the judge!

Geth’s Verdict – 3.5 – Why isn’t this Geth’s Edict? Was that a mistype? The only reason this is in the threes is because the rest of black’s removal is so good (you’d definitely pick Dismember over this). But it is an instant and it is quite cheap. I had the chance to play two at the prerelease, and they were incredible every time I used them.

Glistening Oil – 3 – This card is an interesting choice of either balls out alpha strike or moral removal. I suspect its main use will be for the latter, yet I can’t help seeing an oily Alpha Tyrannax dishing out some serious poison in the near future.

Grim Affliction – 3 (non infect) 4 (infect) – this is better for infect decks than either Spread the Sickness or Instil Infection ever were (and I know that is a bold statement). It combines the best aspects of both – the proliferation from Spread, and the instant speed, -1/-1 counters of Instil. However, it operates at a much lower cost, making your opponent’s reaction to your casting guaranteed to be: you guessed it – grim.

Ichor Explosion – 2.7 – Wow. Didn’t I already mention how there was plenty of removal? Well, now black has a filthy sweep that isn’t rare. It certainly costs a ton, but combines well with cards like Trigon of Rage to help you trade up (at an expensive cost, did I mention that?).

Life’s Finale – 4.7 – … More remova… I mean, board swee.. I mean targeted library hate. I don’t see any deck not running this. I’d probably splash just to make this happen.

Mortis Dogs – 3.2 – Not bad, gives incentive to keep on the attack with him. More often than not, he’ll suffer from the “Crusher Zendikon” syndrome, where in a format filled with cheap 2/x creatures, he’ll end up trading. However, maybe that’s in your best interest if you plan on recurring him with Entomber Exarch. Makes things like Bleak Cloven Vampires, and other non-infect black worth drafting much more, and with ny pump, him going to the graveyard could turn out to be more of a liability than just taking the 4 from his attack.

Parasitic Implant – 3 – More removal. And you get a cute Myr. Everybody wins. Except them. Best play I saw at the Prerelease? Parasitic Implant on a Lead Myr. The irony of a Myr bursting forth from inside another Myr was not lost on me.

Phyrexian Obliterator – .02 – This card is terrible. Oh, wait, I think that period was mistyped… no? Does the fact that people are already planning constructed decks around this guy suggest that he might be at least halfway decent? Probably not. If I crack one at the prerelease, hes zippo food. The only thing good about this guy is that the art is by Todd Lockwood. Oh, how sarcasm runs in my family…

Pith Driller – 2.8 – Black has so much stupid removal. He worked really well at the prerelease, killing the Trigon of Rage-enhanced Vault Skirge I was having trouble answering, while his 4 toughness was a strong field presence. I might even pick him higher since he helps metalcraft.

Postmortem Lunge – 1.5 – I think just because Gruesome Encore proved to be less than thrilling, Wizards decided to thrill us with an even less thrilling version of that less than thrilling card. Thrilled? Don’t be. Unless you drafted a Putrefax. In which case, pick Gruesome Encore.

Praetor’s Grasp – 4 – This is so much better in this set than any other, since you dont have to worry about the card being off color as long as its mana symbols are phyrexian. Clean and well designed, this is one that is going to make your opponent feel more violated than this dog:



“I’ll Praetors Grasp the deer semen in your cervix!”
Now that you’re either laughing hysterically, or disgusted and ready to leave WestLockwood.com, let’s move on. After playing against Praetor’s Grasp, I rate it much higher than I did initially. The problem with Memoricide as a SB card in limited is you have to know what your opponent is playing in order to have it be truly effective. With this, you take their best card, can can cast it whenever the hell you please, and gain insight on what you can expect to see from their deck in the future. Grab (or grip) it high.

Reaper of Sheoldred – 3 – Great top end/ defense card for infect decks. You’re probably still looking at that deer photo, which is fine. Just remember, this guy doesn’t suck.

Sheoldred, Whispering One – 5 – If you end up at the prerelease this weekend, you’ll end up with one of these. Awesome, right? If you crack one however, you’ll end up with two. Awesomer? Pro tip: go black if you get it. The Abyss costs $70 for a reason (and yes, part of that is because it was from Legends, but it is still a house).

Surgical Extraction – S – When I said that thing on Praetor’s Grip about constructed sideboard material, this is even more so. However, in limited there is really going to have to be something that is dumping a ton of cards into graveyards for me to find this worth playing as neither Scars or Besieged have great mill engines in common or uncommon.

Toxic Nim – 1.8 – This guy is especially pathetic versus another infect deck. His 6 cost makes him live at the top end of your curve, and the regenerate is not relevant at all. I can’t wait to sandbag a Pith Driller until this dweeb comes out, and then watch my opponent die a little inside when I slay it (note my use of “dweeb” here, as it has not been used to insult someone since 1993: the year Richard Garfield released Magic).

Vault Skirge – 3 – I actually like this guy a lot. The lifelink means that Phy-casting (did I just come up with a new phrase? Oh yes-I-diiiid!) will never be an issue, he answers Plague Stinger, and if you give him a pump up (the jam), life begins. Just make sure that when you cast Vault Skirge, you simultaneously slam a boombox on the table, and bump this song. And then dance.

Whispering Specter – 2.5 – Basically, whenever you see a card that says “Whispering” in the title, grab it. Evasion, Infect, and a semi-decent discard ability make this worth playing.

Blue

Argent Mutation – 2.5 – We’ve all seen the powerful combos that can come from having another artifact on the table, from activating metalcraft, or making a target for your Barrage Ogre to fling at someone, or (bless your heart) turning your opponents Carnifex Demon into a target for your Shatter. If you havent gotten my rant yet, this is a card that depends on others for value, so use it with discretion.

Arm With Aether – 2.5 – This is a fun little trick. Since blue now has at least two unblockable creatures in this set that immediately come to my mind (read on to find out who they are!), this can be nice to clear a field of dudes, while still beating in. Its not amazing by any means, but on the occasion could be just what you needed

Blighted Agent – 3.8 – Ok, I went B/R non-infect aggro at the prerelease, and I almost splashed to run this. The dude is incredible, and were he in scars, it would have been B/U or BUG infect that would have ran wild for a few months. Even if you aren’t dedicated infect, but you are in blue, really do pick this high.

Chained Throatseeker – 2 – My friends are really all about this guy, and I am less than thrilled. I hate all of blue’s Sea Serpent-esque creatures, and I always have. Historically, they have never been liked, and I’m sure the draft gods will ensure he is not picked high either. I would 100% of the time rather have things like Blight Mamba, or (obviously) Phyrexian Juggernaut.

Chancellor of the Spires – 4.5 – Well, we are onto the 3rd Chancellor, and I haven’t seen one that sucks. 7 cards in a non milling limited format is still fine, and his ability is behooved by that revelation, although I wish it triggered upon entering the battlefield as well as the instant/sorcery recursion.

Corrupted Resolve – 2 – Poison is significantly less of an issue than it has been, and this card reflects that, plus it only seems to be good when you are already doing fine, and are simply trying to protect your offensive.

Deceiver Exarch – 3.5 – If not for the fact that everyone will want him to pair with the (now $8???) Splinter Twin for the next few months of constructed, pick him because Pestermite was always good, and that 4 butt doesn’t hurt in the least.

Defensive Stance – 1 – I’ll stand on the fact that this will make it into my maindeck a whopping 0% of the time I draft it.

Gixtian Probe – 2.9 – This was on the chopping block nearly every time I saw people making cuts in their blue decks at the prerelease. While a free cantrip and seeing your opponents hand is “good”, it isn’t that good. I’d say take it for constructed or trade, since people will always like it.

Impaler Shrike – 2.9 as well – 1 toughness hampers this terribly. 3 cards is great, but I was able to run circles around this all day today.

Jin Gitaxias – 2 – Yes. He. Ends. Games. But this is not eldrazi. I can’t remember the last game I played where I hit access to 10 mana in Scars. EDH? Great. Constructed? Potential. Limited? Pass it.

Mental Misstep – 3.5 – Ah. The card that everyone has been raving about in this set. It is still very very early to see how this free counterspell will pan out in the larger formats (although I am excited to see for myself), so I won’t attempt to condense what other people have been discussing for weeks into my humble blog. As far as limited is concerned, there are 29 targets for this in Scars alone, in MBS there are 11, and there are more than 16 in NP (including Mental Misstep itself). Relevant targets include Darksteel Axe, the Spellbombs, Infiltration Lens, Glint Hawk, Spikeshot Elder, Kudoltha Rebirth, Copper Carapace, Flayer Husk, Steel Sabotage, Despise, Surgical Extraction, and Dispatch.

Mindculling – 3 – Were it not a sorcery, i’d pick it higher, but wizards doesn’t print non-sorcery discard. Still, brutal, and the earlier you can pull it off, the better.

Numbing Dose – 3 – It certainly is a Paralyzing Grasp, and it is certainly also true that that was playable in Zen limited. Blue’s removal is never as good, but it is functional and sometimes that’s all you really need.

Phyrexian Ingester – 4 – Ok, ok. Maybe I was wrong when I said blue never got good removal. It just did. For just two mana more than the Numbing Dose, you get a beatstick that not only exiles a creature (Bye Bye, Jin-Gitaxias!), but draws strength from them as well. Big ups to my boy Knutson for splashing blue in his infect deck just to run this guy, because Shang Tsung just became a Magic Card!

“Your creature’s soul is mine!”

Phyrexian Metamorph – 4 – Clone, with the downside of being an artifact, and the upside of potentially costing 3, or being played in ANY COLOR. Doesn’t that seem reasonable?

Psychic Barrier – 2.5 – There are some very relevant things to counter in common/uncommon here. As a cycle, this is much worse than Geth’s Verdict though, and I’d rather save a deckslot on actual creature removal, and save the counterspells for the spells.

Psychic Surgery – S – This is another one of those cards which you can see having an enormous impact on constructed where there will be many, many times to use it: post Preordain, Fetch, Stoneforge, Hawk, the list goes on. When they shuffle, you Fateseal 2. For limited though it remains to be seen how many search effects are in the set. I doubt it will be that effective. Example: MBS only has Viridian Emissary and Treasure Mage that provide non-rare shuffling effects, thus making the only relevant scenarios to use this card Game 2, when you know they have a Zenith. I wouldn’t pick this high.

Spined Thopter – 2.8 – Yeah, this guy isn’t very impressive. Yes, its two power in the air on turn 2. How much stuff pings in this set?

Spire Monitor – 3 – A little flashy beef in the air, I approve.

Tezzeret’s Gambit – 3.2 – I really love card draw, and the proliferation could always come in handy, as well as the ability to play this withut playing blue.

Vapor Snag – 2.2 – I wouldn’t pick a slightly better version of Unsummon very high, yet there are some very relevant things to bounce in this format (read: Skinrender), even on your side.

Viral Drake – 3 – This is a one man Infect engine. I wouldn’t be sad to see this guy along with a Blighted Agent: literally it would be the only way I’d run blue infect.

Wing Splicer – 3, or 3.5 with other golem creators – Flying is by far the most relevant of the abilities that could be given to a golem. If you end up with Precursor Golem (and pray to god that you get Venser, too), your deck would be a force(kin… I know that was a stretch) to be reckoned with. Just make sure you don’t get it spliced off. Brotherhood of the hood.

Xenograft – 1 – While this card is indicative of a tribal theme emerging in New Phyrexia, my best guess is that this is just Mark Rosewater being cruel to blue players.

White

Apostle’s Blessing – 2 – Utility at its most fundamental level, white has been going for individual creature/artifact protection for years, with nothing ever quite being good enough to fit the bill. This covers so many bases that it just might do the trick. Definitely playable, but look at it more as a negation of removal, and don’t high pick in a draft by any means. Tis a blessing to use this as your 23rd card though (especially out of color!!!)

Auriok Survivors – 1 – Far too expensive and conditional to have it be worth picking at all. The good news is that its an uncommon, so we won’t have to wonder why this card survived the compleation (or the design board) very often.

Blade Splicer – 3.5 – I love all the golem guys. They’re all twofers, and thats just smexy. So smexy, that were the chick on Blade Splicer a different race, she’d be a smexican. God I love having my own website where I can say whatever I want! Cheese Dick! Of course, this guy will be a constructed staple post rotation, and works insanely well with Shape Anew.

Cathedral Membrane – 3 – Oh this is cool removal, good sir. I remember one time when I broke a girls membrane (inside a cathedral, coincidentally). She was not happy, and her father ended up dealing me 6 damage. I know its not quite the same, but it totally removed me from ever being involved in combat again. Which is what this wall should do for you (in a very Perilous Myr way).

Chancellor of the Annex – 4.8 – In case you didn’t get the Obvious memo from Captain Duh, the chancellors seem like reasonable cards. Although flavorwise, they should have named this Chancellor of the Tithe, after whites awesome Force Spike. Making everything your opponents cast cost 1 more, coupled with a turn 1 Time Walk is just stupid good.

Dispatch – 3.5 – Toted as the spell that takes the torch from STP and PTE, Dispatch has a lot to live up to. Having three artifacts is a tall order to enable the effect, so while you could still first turn remove something with a minor drawback with the other cards, this time R&D has prevented that application (meaning this will never be seen outside of standard, especially since you can’t cast it phyrexian style).

Due Respect – 3 – If it came to picking this or Dispatch… yeah i’d probably pick the former. I really like that white got a pseudo-sleep that cantrips. I see this as slowing the game down incredibly during the beginning, and saving your butt later on – useful at all stages.

Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite – 4.8 – Pick it. I think its even better than Phyrexian Obliterator (or did I mean worse?) since its casting cost is nowhere near as prohibitive. I guess with the Obliterator there’s a strong pull to draft mono black, but sexy ol Elesh here is much more malleable. White infectors are much more valuable because of her, heck, any deck is. Glass half full, glass half empty, view it any way you’d like. She’s an Infest that only hits enemy creatures, a Tempered Steel for all of your guys… Norn is a permanent 4 digit difference between your opponents creatures and your own. Why did I write so much, you already get that she’s good…

Exclusion Ritual – 4 – R&D just talked about this card the other day on their website. It’s supposed to be the new O-Ring. It’s pretty awesome. Expensive, but you get what you pay for.

Forced Worship – 4 – Great reusable Pacifism. Sure its no Cage of Hands, but we can’t force Wizards to reprint that.

Inquisitor Exarch – 3 – Its like the two striders copulated and had a slightly weaker, non artifact, white offspring. Obviously both Pierce and Peace aren’t minorities (that was terrible… but come on, he’s whiter than Rick Astley). I don’t see the life gain as ever mattering in limited, but its a nice card in a heavy white deck.

Lost Leonin – 3.5 – Now white infect is cooking with gas! Unfortunately, in N/B/S, this archetype wont ever be as relevant. However, the Leonin’s value isn’t lost on me, as I see this being a huge hit in sealed, since 2 power 2 drop infectors are exactly what you want for tempo.

Loxodon Convert – 1 – I actually sent Roger Ebert an email asking him to rate this card for me. He send me an email back which said ****. “You gave Loxodon Convert Four stars?”, I asked. “No”, he replied, “I was swearing.”

Marrow Shards – 2 – Quaint combat trick with the possibility for mass removal. Not a ton of 1 toughness, so this may struggle to be relevant.

Master Splicer – 3.5 – Where’s the Master Debator? In the Blue section? Oh no, hes in the bathroom, obviously. And he took your box of tissues. By the way, did I mention I like the golem guys?If it ever comes down to this or the first striker though, go with the strike.

Norn’s Annex – 4 – In the great tradition of Propaganda-esque enchantments, Wizards finally decided it was worth making this rare. I personally like this a lot, since unless they are playing white they are getting no profitable attacks for each creature with power 2 or less (infectors excluded). Even then, it lessens the risk of secon main plays if they are in white. And with the ability to run this in any deck, I’d annex it out of the draft pack very quickly.

Phyrexian Unlife – 3 – I had to read this one twice, not because I loved it, but because I am mentally handicapped. It’s great versus traditional aggro strategy (essentially giving you 1.5 games, with the ability to always get away from that 0 life infect bonus with some lifelink), and pointless versus infect. But since the art is by Jason Chan (and he does the art on all the best cards: see JTMS, Nighthawk, Koth, Iona, Kargan, and now New Karn) I would probably end up with an unlife of my own if I discounted this card.

Porcelain Legionnaire – 3.4 – The upside of tempoing out a 3 power first striker on turn 2 is better than what Accorder Paladin did in MBS (although without the battlecry). Much less flimsy on his own, which truly is what you want him to do anyways. And especially handy against infect, he handles all but things like Tangle Angler with ease.

Puresteel Paladin – 3.8 – Stoneforge Mystic got another new friend. The equip cost is what matters, this could be purely devastating…

Sensor Splicer – 2.8 – This golem guy costs more, so hes less good. Simple. Ability also less relevant.

Shattered Angel – 3.3 – Theres a tradition on printing angels that hit for 3 in the air and cost 5. This is definitely not Shepherd of the Lost though. Phyrexia gave this beeyatch the short end of the stick by not giving her first strike or vigilance to go along with the double white mana cost. I would be raving like a fiend about this in ZEN limited, but as the last 6 months have shown us, lifegain isn’t really that crucial, especially once you already have 5 lands out… you can count on your opponent to sandbag lands effectively (or not care and infect you), and not be worse for wear.

Shriek Raptor – 3 – Another flying infector for white at common. Tine Shrike is more appealing for me, but this certainly will get the job done. The larger ass on this bird is also helpful, since it won’t die to stupid things like Marrow Shards, like the Tine or the Plague Stinger will.

Suture Priest – 1.5 – This has been spoiled for awhile now, but its not like I can just forget about it. I think I read some newspaper column about a second round of Soul Sisters being enabled with this card. While someone might try that, it won’t be me (because constructed is a moneypit), and it better had not be you, either. If you try to get that going in a draft, you’ll need more than sutures after I finish beating your ass with a piece of driftwood. Wow. Random, moving on.

War Report – 1 – Not Impressive.

Green

Beast Within – 3.5 – Well, its an instant speed Vindicate with a downside that is much more pronounced in a limited environment. A 3/3 isn’t insurmountable (like I’ve always said, in Scars, 4 toughness is really the number to watch out for), however, its just big enough to put a chink in your armor. This really is useful tech against things like Glint Hawk Idol, who’s Chimeric Idol style protection make it tricky to remove with creature based kill spells. However, Beast Within serves a dual purpose: if you need alpha strike capability, you can always just blow up one of your own lands for another body.

Birthing Pod – 2.5 – Is this the fixed Survival of the Fittest? Let me get a “hell no” from my homeboys:

“Hell No, ese!”
Its not nearly as good as Survival since you already have to be able to cast the creature in order to sacrifice it. However, the “plus one” clause definitely spawns a half-bone in my Leopoldo boxer-briefs, as I suspect that combined with the new Phyrexian manacosts (which also seem ridiculously sexy) this will lead to some pretty devastating blowouts, with the player on the receiving end becoming a shell of his former self.

Brutalizer Exarch – 2 – Unexciting, and costing too much for simply too little. I don’t think I would ever use him for the first ability, burying a problem artifact (or planeswalker) with the second is useful, but only in conjuncture with something which repeats its use (once again, Venser shines).

Chancellor of the Tangle – 3 – I mean, YEAH. You pick it. But to be honest, I saw this guy pan out quite poorly at the prerelease, and I fully expect him to end up being the worst of the Chancellor Cycle. That being said, if I were in green non infect, its not like I wouldn’t pick him…

Corrosive Gale – 2.5 – Good tech against something green struggles with traditionally. No need to grab it high, but its worth running.

Death-Hood Cobra – 3 – Flavor-wise, this should have been called like… Clearcutting Spider, since he is such a mana-dump for such spiderish abilities. Much better on the D than when swinging in, there are simply too many cheap 2/x’ers in this format for him to be traded profitably when playing aggressive. That’s a huge problem with green, since ideally you’d like to stay offensive.

Fresh Meat – 3 – This is my rallying cry as I follow freshmen into Del Playa… wait, they printed a card called “Fresh Meat”? But that’s completely inaccurate: there are no stretchy pants in the art! At least it has to do with feeding on the fallen, which speaks to me on a shockingly personal level. The instant speed also saves this card from being thrown in the pile of random green jank which is usually accumulated by the end of the draft.

Glissa’s Scorn – 3.5 – In case anyone has been completely scornful in their acknowledgment of this block being artifact themed, PLAY THIS CARD. It’s strictly better than Shatter, and even begins to give Divine Offering a run for it’s money.

Glistener Elf – 3.5 – Infect finally gets its true 1 drop. Unfortunately, infect has become much less powerful with the release of NPH and MBS. The true value of this card is quite a bit lower if you aren’t forcing infect… in fact, I would rarely play this at all. Perfect fuel for your opponents Arc Trail.

Greenhilt Trainee – 2.5 – For all of you who have not played Bloodshot Trainee from Scars, it isn’t always easy to pump these guys up to take advantage of their sweeeeet abilities (or at least get them to stick around for long enough). In the case of maindecking one of the two, I’d always prefer the Bloodshot, since 4 toughness is the breaking point of the format (like I’ve mentioned repeatedly), and repeated removal at that level of damage is simply incredible.

Leeching Bite – 4 – Incredible pump spell/removal. For green, this has the potential to be as powerful as Arc Trail if used correctly.

Maul Splicer – 1.5 – I cracked not one, but TWO of these at the prerelease (one in foil). WHile the though of having 3 creatures at the expense of one card is uber shmexy, the card is abominably high-costed. Trample is also not the most relevant of abilities in this case.

Meliria, Sylvok Outcast – 4.3 – Not only does she neuter infect (not like it hadn’t already been done), but she also nerfs bombs like Contagion Clasp/Engine, Trigon of Corruption, and any other post infect proliferation tricks your opponents might have cracked. If you are lucky enough to get both this AND Phyrexian Unlife, I will have to personally beat you, humiliate you, ostracize you from your community, thus making you feel as much an outcast as poor Meliria.

Mutagenic Growth – 3 – As far as pump spells go, this can be read as “Pay 2 life, Target opponent loses 2 life/deals two damage to target creature”. In that sense, its similar to a one shot Putrid Leech, which has proven itself to not be too shabby of a card.

Mycosynth Fiend – 1.5 – I think Tom LaPile wrote about this guy in a set review from WIzards, saying it gave you a two-pronged attack with Infect. Sorry, Tom. You’re wrong. Doubling the threat to include normal damage doesn’t help poison, it dilutes it. Infect traditionally wins through an aggressive swarm early on (or Skithiryx). If you aren’t drawing 2 drop infectors to help fuel the swarm, you’re playing a losing deck. While its true that splashing cards like Blightwidow in straight forward beatdown decks can be beneficial, throwing this indiscriminately into a deep poison deck is just wasting a slot. I’d rather run Blackcleave Goblin over this any day, and I hate Blackcleave Goblin.

Noxious Revival – 4 – Wow. Essentially a free Reclaim. Bot only is this going in my Cube when I pick one up, it’s also replacing every instance of Reclaim (though few) in any constructed decks I own. How many times have I forced myself not to tap out, losing tempo just so I could cast this? Ok, not that often, but enough to make me dig this. Pulling back Putrefax for a round 2, or Life’s Finale is filthy, especially if you aren’t even playing green!

Phyrexian Swarmlord – 3.8 – Great finisher for the good ol’ “I” deck, but definitely a win more condition rather than something which is actively helping you.

Rotted Hystrix – 0 – Not even a dinosaur.

Spinebiter – 3.5 – I think I actually like him more than the Swarmlord. The Thorn Elemental ability is wonderful, and his ass is huge. Not to mention his mouth looks like the sand pit that Boba Fett got thrown into in Return of the Jedi.

Thundering Tanadon – 3 – Getting some meat on the ‘field is never bad, and this guy is quite effective at being a DiNoSaUrZ. I suppose you could muscle him out on turn 4, but you could do that with Paladium Myr anyway. Plus he is susceptible to, you guessed it, artifact removal!

Triumph of the Hordes – 3 – Now this is pretty amazing. Definitely worth running in non-infect for a goofy wincon. I wouldn’t run more than 2 in a limited deck, as I see plenty of times for this to be useless. Sorcery speed also lets them know that it’s coming, and means that they’re prepared, if they haven’t lost the game already…

Viridian Betrayers – 1.5 – Pleaugh!

Viridian Harvest – 1 – Not because it is bad, but because it will never be picked high. If you have spellbombs in your deck, this is an easy way to gain some life. It doesn’t work as a protective item since I sincerely doubt your opponents will have scruples about destroying a problem artifact of yours at the fear of you gaining life. That being said, you’d probably rather run Whitesun’s Passage if you want to guarantee lifegain, although I don’t think I’ll ever end up maindecking either of these cards.

Vital Splicer – 3.5 – This is green’s best splicer, no question. Keeping those golems around is easier than the splicer himself, but should that be an issue, it’s vital to have a little security. Its like Brinks. I want my golems to be able to stick around long enough to beat the living crap out of the guy who just broke into my house.

Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger – 4 – I’m really only giving him 4 since he is a praetor, and you sort of pick them no matter what. I think he is my least favorite of the cycle, since the cost is ridonkulous, and the abilities are less relevant late game. The only card I see you abusing with this in limited might be like… Caged Sun and Exsanguinate, and if you are running a deck like that, you probably aren’t winning games very frequently. Of course, he is a 7/6 trample, so thats always nice.

Red

Act of Agression – 3.3 – Ah, my friends Brion Stoutarm EDH deck gets another trick. And this time, it’s instant speed… Very nice, very agressive. The life cost is negligible here in Scarsblock drafts, as it will be in the lifegaining Stoutarm EDH. However, this requires a Fling/sac outlet to maximize efficiency.

Artillerize – 3.8 – Two-for-ones are never rated high in my book, however, this deals with some of the best problems you can face in draft, not to mention dinging a player for a whole 4th of their initial life total. The sac price could be beneficial, like Ichor or (as in my prerelease case) Mycosynth Wellspring. You can also use it to blank targets, like sacing your one artifact in response to their Oxidda Scrapmelter, forcing them to destroy one of their own. Shouldn’t be hard to draft plenty of em at common, too. Pair it with Concussive Bolt!

Bludgeon Brawl – 2 – Not the bomb I hoped it would be. Your deck must be tuned to maximize the lethality of this card, and you must also be ready for your opponent to equip as well. Double edged sword. Although if you’re lucky enough to get this and a Puresteel Paladin, I will personally fly to wherever you are and give you a free hj.

Chancellor of the Forge – 4 – So they decided that Raging Goblin wasn’t fast enough? Welcome to my mindset in 2003, MaRo! Another Chance for a terrific blowout, brought to you by a Magesterial Siege-Gang wannabe.

Fallen Ferromancer – 2.8 – GOOOD INFECTOR. In a not very relevant Infect color. The Tap Infect ping would be amazing were it not a tap ping. He costs too much to pick early.

Flameborn Viron – 2 – RaWrDiNoSaUrZzZzZZZzLaWL!

Furnace Scamp – 2 – So this is what Hellspark Elemental turned into… I doubt that ability will be relevant very often, and the fact that you can’t hit a creature with it makes it much less… good.

Geosurge – 1.5 – Meh. Dark ritual effects for 4 do less than float my boat. I suppose if you get a Chance of the Forge…

Gut Shot – 2 – Two life for 1 damage? I’d rather play Death Spark.

Invasion Parasite – 3.6 – I really like this guy. L/D has always held a place in my heart as the most aggravating way to kill someone, Parasite is awesome because he is making them feel bad about playing more land. I’m still having trouble deciding if the Phyrexian altcosts will make him better or worse, but unless you’re drafting NNN (nnn?) I suspect it won’t play that huge a role. My favorite part is that the exiled land doesn’t return when he goes to the graveyard. Nice touch, Wizards.

Moltensteel Dragon – 4 – While I’ve usually said that the requisite for a good dragon these days is Haste, Firebreathing and Flying, this guy is an exception. He can be played on turn 4 at the cost of 4 life, and can be pumped in any deck. Downsides? No haste, which means its more than likely that he’ll be eating Revoke Existence because of his artifact creature type.

Ogre Menial – 3 – Another red infector. So far, both that we’ve seen are mana-dumps, suggesting that a heavy red lean will be important to utilize them. However, this guy has the potential to end games, or trade up drastically, and actually makes Geosurge quite nifty.

Priest of Urabrask – 1.5 – This Priest of Gix reprint would be amazing if he had Phyrexian mana symbols in his casting cost, thereby gaining you a turn of mana.

Rage Extractor – Variable – This is one of those cards that is necessary to build around, and being an uncommon, i’d venture to say that the deck will never be very effective. That being said, on it’s own it can be a house with as little as 4-5 Phy spells in your deck, and its flexibility to hit creatures or players makes it worth trying.

Razor Swine – 2 – I didn’t run it at the prerelease. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t since first strike is relevant, but there is so much that kills 1 toughness creatures that it becomes a liability.

Ruthless Invasion – 2 – Don’t grab it high.

Scrapyard Salvo – 1 – Crap.

Slag Fiend – 1.5 – ALL graveyards is his redeeming feature. Prepare for this fiend to make a limited appearance in limited, and none at all in constructed!

Slash Panther – 3.2 – The haste is great here, even if the toughness isn’t. No time to prepare means this guy is ruthless.

Tormenter Exarch – 4 – Some people may disagree with this rating, but Tormenter Exarch performed so well for me today, that there is no way I could rate him less. Not once did I use him to beef a creature, but -0/-2 was so relevant, it felt like I was playing with Fire Imp. It deals with everything thats a low end problem, and remains effective during topdeck wars.

Urabrask, the Hidden – 5 – Oh, jeez, did you really print this? Even a 4/4 Haste for 5 is more than reasonable, but giving the boner (er, bonus) to all your creatures (and the boner to you) makes this real grea… wait, all creatures your opponents play ebt?

…

Victorious Destruction – 2.5 – In any other set, I wouldn’t even consider this playable. Here, I found the little gem rotting in my pile of jank cards, and I thought “hey, you know? This is removal. Maybe i’ll side it in later.” Good choice, since I almost lost to the 1 life clause later when I had it played against me (big ups to my Dross Chancellor for circumventing a loss to a whiny 13 year old).

Volt Charge – 3.5 – Who doesn’t want a proliferating lightning bolt?

Vulshok Refugee – 2.5 – meh. Better than Goblin Roughriders to be sure, but its name is far less appealing. Who really wants to play with a card with “Refugee” in the name, anyways? Refugee’s are usually starving, diseased, and have less power than they do toughness. If anyone at wizards had asked me to design a Refugee card, I would have called it Vulshok Escape Baby. It would be a 1/3 and retain it’s unblockability. Since its more than likely to have AIDS, i’d give it infect as well. Most importantly it would have art like this:



“I will carve my people’s vengeance on the face of Phyrexia… after I get out of this f***ing camp!”

Whipflare – 3.5 – How high would you pick Pyroclasm? How high would you pick it if you knew it wasn’t going to hit all of your Myr? Pick it, and use it to whip your opponent back into the 1850’s.

Colorless/Multicolored

Jor Kadeen, The Prevailer – 4 – For some reason, I think this guy really captured the essence of the old legends from… Legends. Except he is actually usable, even without the metalcraft ability, and his color combo is relevant in draft. I wouldn’t grab him if I wasn’t playing those colors if there were something usable for my deck, but I can almost guarantee there will be a R/W player at your table who will use this guy to ranally ape you later on.

Alloy Myr – 3.5 – Super handy lil utility guy. Of course, he isn’t the Sol Ring on-a-stick that our good friend Pally is. I see nothing wrong with grabbing him high, as he is literally usable in EVERY DECK.

Batterskull – 5 – I think I pick this over everything. No, really. I probably don’t have to explain why, either. 1) Its reusable, and basically impervious to removal. 2) He’s going to increase in $$$ value, so grab em and slang em while Stoneforge Mystic is still in standard. 3) Lifelink and Vigilance are now more relevant than ever in limited. I’ll batter you in the skull if you dont pick this.

Blinding Souleater – 3.5 – I real LSV’s article on Channelfireball the other day, and I actually agree with him the most regarding this guy. You can’t just pay life to make him worth it, but in white he is amazing.

Caged Sun – 3.5 – Why wouldn’t you want Honor of the Pure and Vernal Bloom, for whatever color you chose, all in one? Anyone? No? Sure I know its probably the greediest card in the set. Screw you!

Conversion Chamber –

Karn, the Released – 4.8 – Yeah thats right, he doesn’t get a 5. I know that the ultimate ability REALLY doesn’t end up mattering too often (read as: ever), but I’m not even going to reserve judgment until Wizards prints the english translation. Anything that Shahrazad’s the game up is never going to make me happy to see printed. His +4 (plus four???), -3, and colorless casting cost, however, make him unquestionably worth playing in any limited deck, ever. Ever. I think he’ll find a spot in my Karn EDH deck, too (goodbye Spine of Ish Sah! We hardly knew ye.)

Lashwrithe (Formerly Screamwhip) – 4 – Oh lo’die. More mono black incentive. One of the guys in my playgroup is already tinkering around with the idea of this and the Obliterator (seems reasonable, right?). Needless to say, this piece of equipment will cause your opponents to scream as you whip them. And, as you will be playing black, this seems more than ironic.

Surgenode – 3 – This actually blew my buddy Knutson out of the water at the prerelease, in conjuncture with Necrogen Censor. Filthy little combo, also easy to assemble. Also works with Conversion Chamber, and Hex Parasite.

Well, about 2 months too late, I have a take on Scars of Mirrodin (SOM) and the cards/archetypes that YOU should be drafting!

I use the 1-5 grading scale, with 5’s being reserved for the very finest cards you could hope for (and given out very seldomly), and 1’s being the dregs of the draft pool. You may see “S”, these are cards I believe should always be a staple sideboard card, and nothing more. Lets get started!

Artifacts

Commons

Well, since this is an artifact based set, why not start out with these?

• Accorder’s Shield – 2. This may actually be better than I give it credit for since it means a turn 1 Glint Hawk, a more durable Infecter, a Ghalma’s Warden with a HUGE ass (I love elephants with a big ass) and allowing your Bloodshot Trainee to both attack and shoot (provided you’ve beefed him up to 4 power). Not bad.
• The Replica’s: Auriok, Moriok, Sylvok, Vulshok, Neurok – 1-3 – The only replica i’d splash is Sylvok. The ability to blow up any problem artifact or enchantment is great, plus he blocks bears, and eats all of SOM’s x/1’s for breakfast. Moriok comes in second for me, I can block and then Sign in Blood? Sure, I’ll run that! From there it dips off, Vulshok is hampered because the three can only burn to your opponents face. Neurok is mediocre and Auriok is only worth running if you REALLY need that last artifact for metalcraft.
• Bladed Pinions – 3 – First strike is quite valuable in this set, and this artifact casts and equips cheaply, plus flying makes it great in basically any archetype, whether you’re running Gaveleer/Sunspear Shikari equipment, or B/G infect.
• Chrome Steed – 3 – A staple for the metalcraft deck, its value significantly decreases without it. AT least ten artifacts, preferably about 13-15 make this effective as a 4/4. Running multiples was never a bad thing either…
• Mana Myr: Copper, Gold, Silver, Iron, Leaden – 3.5 – You never go wrong by picking a mana myr. Even if they tap off color, they still are great in ANY deck. I like grabbing anywhere from 2-4 myr per deck, so if the choice isn’t perfectly clear, go myr!
• Corpse Cur – 2 – This is one of those cards where if you’re deep into infect, you’re so happy to see in a pack, and all other instances you aren’t. From my experience, dropping a bear on turn 4 doesn’t exactly break the format unless its pulling back something with evasion (like Plague Stinger) or ridiculous powerlevels (Skittles, Putrefax).
• Echo Circlet – 1.5 – Crap.
• The Spellbombs: Flight, Horizon, Nihil, Origin, Panic – 2.5 – These are actually quite useful. My faves have to be Origin first, since popping it doesn’t lessen your metalcraft, and Horizon second, since fixing mana is always a good thing. However, don’t discount Panic or Horizon. I’ve won games off the back of both, giving a creature evasion for lethal. You shouldn’t be afraid to grab one to up your artifact count.
• Glint Hawk Idol – 2 – Its always nice to have something which turns into a creature when you need it to. It gives it protection, like Chimeric Idol back in the day. But in a set where artifact destruction is 1) more common and 2) more utilized, it makes this more of a liability.
• Golden Urn – 1.5 – The .5 extra is because this isn’t nearly as bad as it seems. Yes, with infect breaking the traditional play style, lifegain is REALLY not as important as it wasn’t before (oh snap!), but this can still buy you a couple of turns against a traditional deck if you need it.
• Golem Foundry – 1.5 – I only had 1 draft where this actually went off against me… and it still wasn’t a problem. A better version would be “as long as Golem Foundry has three or more charge counters on it, whenever you play an artifact, you may put a 3/3 golem artifact creature token into play.” That would cause some sh*tstorms. And by that, I meant “shatterstorms” (no I didn’t).
• Ichorclaw Myr – 3 (infect) – The stickiest of the Icky. Ooh wee! THis guy is a great infecter, maybe not Necropede, but quite solid at getting damage through since your opponents are now even less likely to block.
• Necrogen Censer – 2 – You’ll find these late in packs, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t good. Censer finds its home in hard aggro decks. You know, the ones that use Perilous Myr’s 2 damage on the player instead of their Plague Stinger… so maybe I’m over exaggerating with that example, but think of its synergies with proliferate… now think about its actual synergies with cards like Glint Hawk and Glimmerpoint Stag. 4 Damage turns into 8, and suddenly Necrogen Censer doesn’t seem like such a piece of crap.
• Perilous Myr- 4 – This might be the only common artifact that I’d feel really fine with first picking. Screw Ember Hauler as being the heir to Mogg Fanatic’s crown, this guy is the real deal.
• Razorfield Thresher – 1 – Please, try and avoid having to maindeck this guy. It shouldn’t be hard.
• Sabreclaw Golem – 2.5 – In red decks, this guy is a boss. Remember how earlier I said that first strike was great in this set? Especially against infect, this guy is your best friend.
• Snapsail Glider – 3- I love metalcrafters which fuel themselves (i.e. artifacts with metalcraft – it just makes sense). While he isn’t mindblowing, he’s so flexible that you’d love to welcome him into your deck.
• Soliton – 2.5 – Untapping is great, but this guy isn’t all that impressive. Go ahead and make other worthwhile picks before this guy, but don’t feel bad at all if you end up running him.
• Strider Harness – 3 – The cheap equip cost and haste are redeeming factors here. Being able to explode out with a 4/2 (or larger) Goblin Gaveleer, or a vicious Sunspear Shikari is something worth experiencing… from your side of the table!
• Sylvok Lifestaff – 3 – This is a cheap and effective piece of gear to throw on defense creatures who (with the +1/+0) might be able to make a trade while blocking, and at the same time negate an opponents attack. Similarly, it makes creatures like Perilous Myr nasty while on the offense, doubling the damage they get through, and creating a pronounced life disparity if they don’t.
• Tumble Magnet – 3.5-4 – Remember when I said Perilous Myr might be the only common artifact I’d be fine first-picking? Yeah I lied, this would also be one. See the Necrogen Censer argument as to why this is doubly effective.
• Vector Asp – 1.5 – My first draft of SOM made me think this guy was much better than he actually is (it probably had something to do with the two Necrotic Ooze’s in my deck…). Anyway, if you need him for your infect deck, by all means, grab one, but not 3.
• Wall of Tanglecord – 3-3.5 – My god, this wall is effective! It basically shuts off U/W skies if you stick it, and stops Fliers from the infect deck (which can kill you awfully fast…). I’ve put accorders shield on this for some Wall of Denial’esque toughness, but it’s better served by something which grants it at least one point in power.
 

M11 is here, and as R&D says, it’s “a set everyone can sink their teeth into.” Without further ado, lets take a look at each and every one of the 249 cards and grade their draft-worthiness!
Grading Scale
I’m a traditionalist, and a pragmatist. When something works, why change it? I use the 1-5 grading scale, with 5’s being reserved for the very finest cards you could hope for (and given out very seldomly), and 1’s being the dregs of the draft pool. You may see “S”, these are cards I believe should always be a staple sideboard card, and nothing more. Lets get started!

White

Commons
• Ajani’s Mantra – 1. Gaining one life each upkeep is great… if your opponent is only pinging you for 1 each turn. Save your two drop slot for something that actually does something useful.
• Assault Griffin – 3. Obviously 3 power in the air for 4 cmc is significant and relevant.
• Blinding Mage – 3.5. From tapping your opponents biggest baddies, to tapping their tappers, and responding to triggers, these guys are some of the most fun you can have in the common slot in M11! I had three of them in a recent M11 draft. Let me just say, I left 3 white open every turn! Pick em high, keeping in mind they cannot win the game for you by themselves.
• Cloud Crusader – 2.5. This guy flips the P/T balance of Assault Griffin, throws in a trickier casting cost (though at 4 mana, thats not such a problem), and gives first strike to boot. I prefer Assault Griffin, but this guy works in a pinch.
• Excommunicate – 3. This is very underrated removal. Used early, think of it as making your opponent replay their last turn. Thats kind of like what Time Walk does…
• Goldenglow Moth – 1.5. Don’t pick it high, since it doesnt really do anything. If you can beef up its butt, wow! Wait, that means developing a strategy around Goldenglow Moth? No thanks.
• Holy Strength – 2. This is still around? Wow. I could put this on Goldenglow Moth, and then… Oh, wait. I just developed a strategy around Goldenglow Moth. Probably not what I should be wating my thought process on.
• Infantry Veteran – 2. Limited by the fact that the +1/+1 bonus can only be applied to attacking creatures. There’s far better stuff in white.
• Inspired Charge – 2.5-3. This allows your creatures to surpass their natural limits and has proven to be a blowout card before in my “limited” experience of M11… limited. I’m glad I don’t shop at Limited (or Limited Too), otherwise my conversational topics might be… limited…
• Mighty Leap – 2.5. Combat tricks are combat tricks. This is far better in a color pairing like g/w, since the flying bonus can be a godsend to green’s beefy, earthbound creatures.
• Pacifism – 4. If you have a brain in your head, you understand why this card is good. Pacifism disables a creature without sending it to the graveyard. This is huge with all sorts of recursion at common and uncommon (Rise from the Grave, Disentomb, Gravedigger, etc) in the set.
• Palace Guard – 2. More filler. This one can stop multiple creatures, so its not as bad as it could be.
• Safe Passage – 3. I really enjoy this card, since it stops ALL DAMAGE, not just combat damage, and protects you as well as only your creatures, allowing you to attack into a more powerful force for a crippling blow if they block, or allows you to absorb an alpha strike next turn if they don’t.
• Siege Mastodon – 2. Ho Hum.
• Silvercoat Lion – 2. Would you like some bear with your lion?
• Solemn Offering – S. Plleeeauuughhh!
• Squadron Hawk – 1 (for one copy), 2 (for two Copies), 3 (for three copies), and so on. They’re especially great in limited if you have more than 4, since casting the second one allows you to search for the rest. Exxxxxxccceeelllent.
• Stormfront Pegasus – 3.5. Beating face in the air on turn two since 2009.
• Tireless Missionaries – 1. Maybe if Ajani’s Pridemate triggered for each life gained…
• Wild Griffin – 2. Seems fine, but a tier below the Pegasus. You shouldn’t be playing around Hornet Sting.

Uncommons

• Ajani’s Pridemate – 3. This guy is totally fine, since he’s a Silvercoat Lion no matter what, and even if you have a remote amount of lifegain, you get a beefier, muscular, and more masculine Pridemate. Was that too sexual at the end?
• Armored Ascension – 3. I hate giving non-totem aura’s such good ratings, but this one really is worth the chance if you’re in heavy white. Putting it on a small creature forces them to use removal on a weak card, and had potentially devastating payoffs if they don’t.
• Celestial Purge – S. I almost feel this card should be maindecked no matter what. It’s effect is one of the best of the Uncommon enemy-hate cycle of cards (flashfreeze, deathmark, combust, and autumn’s vale being the others). The only glaring problem is the lack of red mages I’ve encountered so far, neutering half of this cards appeal.
• Condemn – 3.5. Solid white removal again, despite the conditional nature of the card. Note that it is not in play, errhhmm, on the battlefield, nor is it in the graveyard. So do not use it on Squadron Hawks
• Elite Vanguard – 2.5. Why not start the game aggressively?
• Roc Egg – 2.5 Seems really good, but would be better if it had flying as well as the bird.
• Serra Angel – 4. Talk about a blowout card. I think combust was really made for her, since baneslayer won’t be seen very often in draft.
• War Priest of Thune – 3.5. This guy has an amazing effect. The problem is, more often than not, he won’t be cast to kill an enchantment. Regardless, he’s still a bear, and opens up a sideboard slot through his versatility.
• White Knight – 3.5. He’s real strong. he’s also my favorite card, and much more useful than black knight, since he is immune to some of the best and most efficient removal in the set.

Rares & Mythics
Name Edition Colour Type Cost Power Rarity $

• Angelic Arbiter – 4. Wow. Knock em dead after you neuter them is what this card’s text should say!
• Day of Judgment – 4. Grab the sweep before someone else does.
• Honor of the Pure – 2.5-3. Why not make all your guys bigger?
• Knight Exemplar – 3.5. I think for its mana cost this guy is reasonable. What I really like is the fact that there are other playable knights to make this guy worthwhile.
• Leyline of Sanctity – S. I don’t really see much reason to use this. By turn 4, you’ve already been hit by Mind Rot or Liliana’s Specter, and topdecking it while facing an onslaught of creatures doesn’t seem good.
• Serra Ascendant – 1.5. If you’re playing the dumb lifegain deck, maindeck this guy. If you aren’t, he gets outclassed VERY quickly. 30 life doesn’t seem that unreasonable, but that means your deck is geared to work around one card that you are not going to see a majority of the time. If you somehow miraculously end up with 4, let me know how amazingly it goes and I’ll change the rating.
• Silence – 1.5. Anyone who played in M10 soon realized that this card is not nearly as good as it seems, since instants can still be played in response to it.
• Vengeful Archon – 4.5. This guy is just silly. I feel his ability should be on a red creature, except that he prevents the damage to you as well. I opened him in the M11 prerelease sealed event, and won every game that he resolved in. He helped me go 5-0 with a terrible draft pool. That testifies to his power.
• Ajani Goldmane – 3.5. Yeah, I think i’d run him if he came my way.
• Baneslayer Angel – 5. I think everyone gets just how good this card is.
• Sun Titan – 5. This is also an amazing card.

Blue

Commons
Edition Colour Type Cost Power Rarity $
• Aether Adept – 3. Oh Man O’ War, why did you lose that colorless in favor of one more blue? I hate double color casting costs on 3 mana cards, but even that can’t make me hate you
• Armored Cancrix – 1.
• Augury Owl – 3. This is actually amazing. Scry 3, fix your next turns, and get a flier. So much better than the last owl…
• Azure Drake – 2.5. “O yea, and I looked upon thee, azure drake, and I rememberede ye from that set of Legends. Recalling that, even in the face of suche power creep, ye are still a solid flier, I was resolved to place thee in mine maindeck.” -The Evil Eye of Orms-By-Gore
• Cancel – 2. This still is not Counterspell. More importantly, it is definitely not Mana Leak.
• Cloud Elemental – 2.5. Yea, and it could block creatures with flying. Yet it had not 3 power.
• Diminish – 3.5. There’s nothing like being able to attack with Scroll Thief and being able to bluff a Diminsh. Better yet, let them learn by experience how painful that lesson can be! Played this with huge success in my first M11 draft.
• Foresee – 3. Solid stack-your-topdeck-age.
• Harbor Serpent – 1.5. Find another way to get your beats in blue other than this.
• Ice Cage – 2.5. Its drawback is significant, however, it does shut down the creature better than Pacifism, and may buy you what every discerning blue mage requires: time to think.
• Jace’s Erasure – 1.5. This card is nearly borderline unplayable. As far as the Common planeswalker cycle of cards go, this and Ajani’s Mantra are by far the worst. The only reason that this is rated higher than the white enchantment is because it has synergies with more than just the uncommon planeswalker card, as Tome Scour, Preordain and Foresee can all be picked up at common.
• Mana Leak – 3.5. Go, realistic counterspell, go! Use it early.
• Maritime Guard –
• Merfolk Spy – 1.5. Fill.
• Negate – 1.5. Ick.
• Phantom Beast – 2. These big, cost efficient guys that die when targeted can really be a hassle against many different decks, especially creature heavy aggro. Don’t be too disappointed if you end up main decking one.
• Preordain – 3. At first, I said this card was a strictly worse version of Ponder. However, Scry has proven itself to be a very strong ability in this set, and this card is well worth running.
• Scroll Thief – 2.5. Ophidian? Not quite. However, there are interesting common pairings which make this card very appealing. Combos include Diminish and Goblin Tunneler, as well as Crystal Ball (which pairs with nearly anything).
• Tome Scour – 1. Unless you are really trying to live the dream and make the mill deck, this card should find itself at the end of every pack and far, far away from your maindeck.
• Unsummon – 2.5. People bash Unsummon, but to be honest, there are plenty of times that I wish I had topdecked this card. Unsummon is great against blue or red for their creature control spells (Mind Control, Act of Treason), Black for its removal (Doom Blade, Assasinate), against white for nasty enchantments (Armored Ascension), and against green for its expensive beaters (And Garruk’s Packleader to prevent card draw). A recent example of Unsummon being useful would be at a draft last week when my opponent cast Rise from the Grave on my Mitotic Slime, a play that ended up costing me the match.

Uncommons

• Air Servant – 3. The tap ability is strong, a 4 turn clock in the air is strong. I dig this card.
• Alluring Siren – 1.5. There are definitely times for this card to be good, pulling out their blockers, eating their weenies, however, this assumes you have a stronger creature presence than they do. For blue, that means pairing with green or having some beefy artifacts. Doesn’t seem strong.
• Call to Mind – 2.5. Mnemonic Wall fueled some incredible plays in ROE. This is worse, having that 0/4 body established some board presence when it was cast, this just taps you out. However, if its worth having that 4th Lightning Bolt or Fireball in your deck, by all means run one of this.
• Flashfreeze – S. Definitely worth picking at least one of these up for your board if you can do it without sacrificing picks.
• Jace’s Ingenuity – 3. Instant speed card draw. I’ve definitely sat on this and a Mana Leak until my opponent’s end step in at least one draft since the release. I plan to do it again.
• Mind Control – 4. This is one you don’t pass up folks. Like it’s predecessor Control Magic, and all of the recent offspring in the Zendikar Block (Vapor Snare, Domestication), there is no reason to pass this up.
• Sleep – 3.5. Huge and devastating. Lock down ALL their creatures for 2 attacks. Thats incredibly potent.
• Wall of Frost – 2. Why wasn’t this in ROE, exactly? Its not as good here.
• Water Servant – 2.5. Hes big, blue, and pumpable. Unlike Morphling, though, he doesn’t have any of the truly valuable abilities.

Rares

• Clone –
• Conundrum Sphinx – 3.5-4. I had a few people criticize me for playing this in my release sealed deck, citing that his ability just “isn’t that good”. Their tune ended up changing when I pointed out that he is still an Air Elemental, for one less. And then I played Crystal Ball, and ended up drawing a card every time I attacked… boy were they shocked then!
• Leyline of Anticipation – 1.5. There is very little reason to have this in a blue deck, where everything you are casting should be at instant speed anyway, and where your 23 slots should be dedicated to actually performing some sort of relevant function.
• Mass Polymorph – 1. Gross.
• Merfolk Sovereign – 2. How many merfolk are in this set anyway?
• Redirect – 3. Gamechanger. Reselecting all targets fixes the problem that Refraction Trap had with Searing Blaze back in Worldwake. Suddenly Fireball users have another thing to consider…
• Stormtide Leviathan – 4. This is a card which, if you should open it, should pull you heavily into blue. It is also a card, if you see later on (say in pack 2), should pull you into blue anyway.
• Traumatize – 2. Maybe if you see this, you should go mill. I wouldn’t
• Frost Titan – 4. Bombastic.
• Jace Beleren – 3.5. A one sided Howling Mine is really, really good.
• Time Reversal – 2. This card really is junky. A Timetwister for 5 is no Timetwister, especially since your opponent reaps all the immediate benefits of drawing 7 cards and having all their mana sources open.

Black

Commons
• Assassinate – 3. Solid removal. The only issue with this is that since the creature is tapped, and the spell is a sorcery, you have to be able to absorb punishment, before this can be cast (Read: very effective against Rotting Legion, very ineffective against Serra Angel).
• Barony Vampire – 2. Goblin Roughrider in black. Does not pull me into the color, but can eat a large attacker.
• Blood Tithe – 1. Multiplayer likes this card. Limited does not.
• Bloodthrone Vampire – 3. Much better in this set than it was in Rise of the Eldrazi (its a little bizarre that it has been printed in two consecutive sets…) My buddy pointed out that he saw this guy as “less good” now because “there ain’t any spawns to sac”. After taking a moment to appreciate the intellectual gap between the multitudes of moronic masses (excellent alliteration, with the potential to be the title of a Magic card!) and myself, I explained the incredible synergy of the card within black. You can cast a Liliana’s Specter, sacrifice to swing in for 3, cast Gravedigger or Disentomb to bring it back, cast it again, making them discard their Duskdale Wurm, then Rise from the Grave it. Or just beat their face with Reassembling Skeleton. The possibilities are just beginning!
• Bog Raiders – 1.5. Vanilla Filler. Probably better in your sideboard.
• Child of Night – 3. Still a house, but not quite as affectual as it was in M10 limited.
• Disentomb – 2. Always nice to have, but you can afford to pick other things over it, since they table.
• Doom Blade – 4. The best of the black M11 commons, this is a pack 1 pick 1 choice that few would pass up.
• Duress – 2. Late pick.
• Gravedigger – 2.5. No black deck should be without one!
• Liliana’s Specter – 4. While white and blue’s planeswalker commons got the shaft, black got a gem. Not only is this card absolutely fine on its own, paired with recursion cards or bounce, it leads to reusable discard. This is a card I find myself playing around more than Mind Rot, both when I’m piloting the black deck, or playing against it. Pick them early.
• Mind Rot – 2.5-3. This can be very powerful, and disrupts any player you go against (moreso the green or red players, since unless they pair with U/B, they have no way to recover from the card disadvantage.)
• Nether Horror – 2. A 4/2 body means that it dishes out some pain, and can take down a much more valuable creature on the d.
• Nightwing Shade – 3. This has actually been much more brutal than I initially gave it credit for. Pumpable flier: game winner.
• Quag Sickness – 3.5. Good removal.
• Rotting Legion – 2.5-3. Not nearly as bad as it appears. 5 toughness beats the spread against most creatures, and its drawback is marginal.
• Sign in Blood – 2.5. Netting cards/dishing the last 2 points is always good.
• Stabbing Pain – 3. Nobody gives this card the recognition it deserves. Tapping the creature is huge, and gives it much more functionality than Hornet Sting.
• Unholy Strength – 1.5. Creature enchantments?! Bleaugh! Not as bad as its white counterpart though.
• Viscera Seer – 1.5. Pleaugh!

Uncommons

• Blood Tithe – 3B. Sorcery. Each opponent loses 3 life. You gain life eaqual to the life lost this way.
• Reassembling Skeleton – 1B. Creature: Skeleton Warrior. 1B: Return from the graveyard to the battlefield, tapped. 1/1.
• Rise from the Grave – Reprint.

Rares

• Captivating Vampire – 1BB. Creature: Vampire. Other Vampires you control get +1/+1.
  Tap 5 untapped Vampires you control: gain control of target creature. It becomes a Vampire in addition to it’s other types. 2/2.

Red

Commons
• Chandra’s Outrage – 2RR. Instant. Chandra’s Outrage deals 4 damage to target creature and 2 damage to that creature’s controler.
• Fling – Reprint (yes!).
• Lava Axe – Reprint.
• Lightning Bolt – Reprint.

Uncommons

• Act of Treason – Reprint.
• Arc Runner – 2R. Creature: Elemental. Haste. At end of turn, sacrifice Arc Runner. 5/1.
• Chandra’s Flamespitter – 2R. Flying. Whenever an opponent is dealt non combat damage, it gets +3/+0 until EOT. 1/3.
• Fireball – Reprint.
• Flame Servant – 3RR. Creature: Elemental. If an instant or sorcery you control would deal damage, it deals double damage instead. 4/3.
• Prodigal Pyromancer – Tim is Back!

Rares

Green

Commons
• Fog – Reprint.
• Giant Growth – Reprint.
• Giant Spider – Reprint.
• Naturalize – Reprint.
• Plummet – 1G. Instant. Destroy target creature with flying.
• Sylvan Ranger – 1G. Creature: Elf Scout. When S.R. ETB, you may search your library for a basic land, reveal, put into your hand. Shuffle your library afterwards. 1/1.

Uncommons

• Awakener Druid – Reprint.
• Rares
• Birds of Paradise – Reprint.

Artifact

Commons

Uncommons

• Sorcerer’s Strongbox – 4. Artifact. 2T: Flip a coin. If you win the flip, sac Sorcerer’s Strongbox and draw 3 cards.

Rares

Aftermath:

“Some quote I’ll give you later”

It’s time to test our skill.

Rise of the Eldrazi – A 249 card set at the end of a block, with new “level up” and “rebound mechanics”, along with the new Umbra’s and Eldrazi tokens.

Grading Scale:

5 – Grab and move on – no question. Color does not matter.

4 – This card will be taken every time if I am in this color (or on first pick: think trusty machete)

3 – This is a great card for the color, but I don’t feel too bad passing up.

2 – Mostly filler. If I need to maindeck this card, I don’t weep about it.

1 – Cards I’d rarely see myself maindecking.

S – Sideboard.

0 – Razor Boomerang.

White

• Caravan Escort – 3. This guy is nice because his level up cost is colorless, he comes out sooner than Irikal Outrider, and is just a better creature anyways.
• Dawnglare Invoker – 3-4. Part of the 8 mana ability cycle, the mass tapping ability wins games all by itself, and a 2 power flier for three is fair enough as it is. This is the best common for white.
• Demystify – S. Support. Demystify is (solid) sideboard material. The art here is much better than it was in Onslaught.
• Eland Umbra – 1. Umbras make auras worth using, basically negating twoofers: the problem which has traditionally plagued them. Eland Umbra is just annoying though – It doesn’t make your creature more of a threat. Not worth picking highly.
• Glory Seeker – 1. Bear. One way to guarentee an 0-3 draft is to maindeck multiples of this guy.
• Guard Duty – 2-3. The funniest form of “removal” I’ve seen in awhile, the best at common for white. The funniest part about Guard Duty is that you may end up using it on your own creatures! A wonderful way to shut down Ulamog’s Crusher.
• Harmless Assault – 1. You’ll find this card lurking in the bottom three of draft picks.
• Hyena Umbra – 2-3. I initially overrated this card. Yet for one mana, you get Lance, +1/+1 and Regeneration for one low, low price. First strike is also a premium in this set, making this muuch better than Eland Umbra.




• Ikiral Outrider – 1-2. Once again, leveling up with colorless is really handy, and this guy has stalled me out on multiple occasions, both in sealed at the pre-release and in draft. Then again, that’s all he did. Witgh his expensive leweling cost, he is easilly the worst of the levelers.
• Knight of Cliffhaven – 3-4. Maybe its my Zendikar draft mentality that makes me love this chick more than she deserves. She starts out as Glory Seeker (and they are both at common: guess who gets the nod?), and with a 3 pump, she flies and gets a bigger ass. I love chicks with a big ass. Especially chicks that FLY!
• Kor Line-Slinger – 3. Tappers have always been fun. Pick highly, he completely disrupts your opponents game.
• Lone Missionary – 2. Why not gain 4 life? I wish this card had been in Zendikar… However this does synergise with Survival Cache. Pair em up.
• Makindi Griffin – 2-3. Lightkeeper of Emeria unkicked, or a strictly better version of Pillarfield Ox? you be the judge. (Hint – he’s really good.)
• Puncturing Light – 3. Removal is removal, even when it is conditional, and innafective versus some of the massive creatures in this set. However, the majority of creatures have low powers, meaning you’ll never be short on valid targets.
• Repel the Darkness – 2-3. This is a good cantrip. Twitch on steroids.
• Smite – 2-3. This was good removal in Stronghold. It’s not hard to find a blocker in white, and this doesn’t have the non-black clause which plagues cards like Corpsehatch or Vendetta. This card is underrated – players have a tendancy to pass it, so bear that in mind when you see one early on.
• Soul’s Attendent – 2. I ran two of these at the pre-release. Whenever my opponent attacked with Rapacious One, I gained twice the life. It was amazing. A little life gain can make all the difference sometimes, LSV’s review does not do this guy justice.
• Stalwart Shield-Bearers – 1. Hahaha, someone PLEASE draft the defender deck! You don’t want to? Haha, fine, i’ll do it and brag about it later.
• Totem-Guide Hartebeest – 2. This guy tutors for an aura, and has a 5 toughness butt, beating the spread of red burn, and making a Vendetta quite unprofitable. The problem with the Aura deck in limited is that its lynchpin cards are rare. So unless you already have opened a few of them (Umbra Mystic or Kor Spirit Dancer), this guy will not be running at full speed.

Top 5 White Commons

• 1) Dawnglare Invoker
• 2) Knight of Cliffhaven
• 3) Makindi Griffin
• 4) Kor Line-Slinger
• 5) Puncturing Light


Uncommons


• Affa Guard Hound – 2. You get a 2/5 blocker for 3 at instant speed. Flash knights like Benalish Knight are some of my favorite cards. This card is missing first strike, alsong with much maindeck appeal.
• Emerge Unscathed – 2. Rebound is nice. The problem with this card is that its primary use would be for sneaking in damage (like Distortion Strike), not saving a creature. White has fliers, it can already sneak in for damage. At best you’ll break even, eating some removal spell like Flameslash, or Vendetta (which you might want to let resolve anyway).
• Kabira Vindicator – 2-3. People get really caught up on his Glorious Anthem ability, forgetting that he is a Pillarfield Ox when you cast him. Thats fine, since he does get bigger later and the level up cost isn’t ridiculous either.
• Luminous Wake – 1. This card would be nuts were it not an aura. So crazy. I misread it at first and thought it was nuts. Now I dont. Its crap. Use it to counteract that Lust for War. Or just use a Demystify.
• Mammoth Umbra – 3. This is up there with Hyena Umbra. +3/+3, Vigilance and regenerate for 5. While it may be affordable in this set, it still gets eaten alive by Narcolepsy, annddd…..
• Oust – 3. This ended up being better than I thought. The three problems are very obvious: your opponent gains life, you can only cast at sorcery speed, and you still have to deal with the creature again in 3 turns. However, it deals with umbras, levelers AND eldrazi in an efficient fashion.
• Soulbound Guardians – 1. I like the art, I don’t like the card. Then again, if I were drafting the defender deck…
• Survival Cache – 3-4. Its like Divination, but you gain 4 life. This card is amazing. At worst, you gan 4 life. At best, you have an opportunity to draw two cards as well. In white. Thats just plain awesome.
• Time of Heroes – 2-4. Time of Heroes isn’t a first pick. This and Venerated Teacher have variances in their card values based on the amount of levelers you maindeck, but Time of Heroes one more so, since you don’t get a Gray Ogre out of the deal.
• Wall of Omens – 3-4. This and Overgrown battlement should always have a place in your deck. 4 toughness stops everything early on, and your opponent will feel like a jackass Flameslashing this, leaving you with +1 card advantage.

Top White Uncommons

• 1) Oust
• 2) Survival Cache
• 3) Wall of Omens
• 4) Time of Heroes (Moves up if you’re playing levelers)

I’m dissapointed by White in this set, fortunately it’s rares make up for its weakness in commons and uncommons. It pairs badly with green, since it fails to fuel green’s ramp/token generation, and requires heavy mana-investment in levelers, putting it at odds in that pairing.

Blue

• Aura Finesse – 1. To every player who argues that this should be maindecked to reset Narcolepsy, there are two players who realize that the ultimate goal in Magic is to win, something that is not helped by maindecking retarded cards like Aura Finesse. They win.
• Champion’s Drake – 2. Once again, so many cards in this set have their niche. Level up decks love this, yet there are so many other better choices.
• Deprive – 3. This card was spoiled as uncommon. I’m happy to see it at common, and it has proven itself to be worthwhile in draft. I hate the art, but the return of a two mana hard counter is something that I can’t hide my excitement about. I’m hoarding these!
• Distortion Strike – 3. I like this much better than Emerge Unscathed. This one has proven itself, especially in conjuncture with Mnemonic Wall, a combo which finished me off at one of the last drafts I attended.
• Eel Umbra – 2. Another Umbra, this seems more like a green card. A permanent pump spell/combat trick. Blah.
• Fleeting Distraction – 1. If the choice is between this and Distortion Strike… why am I even saying this? You understand that this card is crap, why hear it from me?
• Frostwind Invoker – 2-3. Another of the 8 mana ability cards. A flying alpha strike is cool. I guess a 3/3 flying for 5 is like a kicked Apex Hawks, but it isn’t great.
• Halimar Wavewatch – 3. A fine ground stall for 4. And, boy does he stall! Blue gets a fat ass creature for… 12 mana. And it’s still good. Stops everything until you want to beat their face.
• Jwari Scuttler – 1. Goblin Roughriders is better. But this one has great art
• Lay Bare – 2. Is this the return of control to limited? Probably not seriously, but this and Deprive at common make serious contenders, especially with all these cheap blue cantrips.
• Merfolk Observer – 2. Same category as lone missionary. I like missionary better.
• Mnemonic Wall – 3. Ok, I think control is back. This card is really great. Especially when you return a Staggershock. Or Consuming Vapors. And then use Artizan of Kozilek to return it to the battlefield, and the return (insert instant spell of choice) to your hand… gg.
• Narcolepsy – 4. Such solid blue removal. Waaay better than Paralyzing Grasp. You really shouldn’t let these get past you, even if you’re not in blue.
• Regress – 3-4. Should draw a card, too. OKAY, I got greedy! This card is SO good in this set, returning Eldrazi, destroying umbras, ruining their mana production, or saving your own permanents from destruction. The blue mans tool.
• Sea Gate Oracle – 2-3. I like this, you get a Slight of Hand with a 1/3 body. Very fair.
• See Beyond – 2-3. God this would be so nuts were it instant speed. A better effect than Slight of Hand, and a wonderful filter.
• Shared Discovery – 1. The value of this card goes up if you are in green, red or black too, since you can tap eldrazi spawn to do it. That being said, its terrible otherwise (Plus the art on this looks like its from some janky 1960’s epic, like Jason and the Argonauts.)
• Skywatcher Adept – 3. Can beat your face down, really well, can he? Sure i’ll play him! He can swing for 2 in the air nearly as fast as Wind Zendikon, and with a Time of Heroes on the battlefield, he really shows his mettle.
• Venerated Teacher – 2-4. This is the Armament Master for the level up draft deck. And he’s common. By himself, though, he’s just a gray ogre, which means his draft value fluctuates based on the amount of levelers you have in your deck. Run at least 6 levelers for this guy to be worthwhile.



Top 5 Blue Commons

• 1) Narcolepsy
• 2) Skywatcher Adept
• 3) Regress
• 4) Halimar Wavewatch/Distortion Strike
• 5) See Beyond/Deprive

Blue has a lot of solid cards at common. A lot of this list is interchangable, and I found it impossible to leave cards off it.

Uncommons

• Crab Umbra – 1. This ended up being a garbage umbra, since it does nothing by itself. (terrible art, by the way. It looks like the guy is covered in blue masking tape.)
• Domestication – 3. A strange variation on Control Magic, Mind Control, Vapor Snare, etc. It’s actually more reminiscent of cards like Mark of Mutiny, since it dies if you grab a fatty. Still a great trick, as always.
• Drake Umbra – 3. This should cost one less. Its still a beast though, and will end games.
• Enclave Cryptologist – 4. A Reckless Scholar that becomes an Archivist. If you can fuel it with Venerated Teacher, its good. Paying for the level up isn’t terrible though, this guy is so much better in this set than he was in Zendikar. Looter is back, baby!
• Guard Gomazoa – 2-3. This card is sooooo good. Very annoying. Too bad there is cheap burn in Eldrazi.
• Hada Spy Patrol – 3-4. This card has won me drafts. If you fuel him up to 3+ level counters, hes ridiculous though. Probably one of the strongest kill engines for the level deck, shroud unblockable is INCREDIBLE!
• Merfolk Skyscout – 2-3. Untapping is strong. If worst comes to worst, he has Vigilance. This is a card that is quite effective, and a much better way to untap your things than Crab Umbra.
• Phantasmal Abomination – 1-2. This is fair. It either eats a creature while blocking (or prevents attacking for awhile), or eats a spell by being targeted. 1 for 1 on the card advantage = basic removal. Fine. Just don’t pick it high, because you can’t pump it up, give it flying or do much else worthwhile with it.
• Reality Spasm – 3. I like x costed spells. Even if you only pay one, its a nice effect. The two blue is the only thing bringing the value of this card down.
• Unified Will – 1-2. Countering is cool! But you’re playing blue! How likely are you to have more creatures than your opponent, especially when they’re producing all that eldrazi spawn?

Top Blue Uncommons

• Enclave Cryptologist (a turn 2 looter – amazing)
• Hada Spy Patrol (Perhaps the most consistant of the bunch)
• Drake Umbra (A solid finisher)
• Domestication

Black

• Bal Ged Scorpion – 2-3. Eh. I enjoy taking out 0/6 Halimar Wavewatches with this, but I wouldn’t run more than 2 in a deck.
• Bloodrite Invoker – 2. The third of the 8 mana ability commons. Most of the time, this will be just a 3/1 for 3. Not great. The drain lifish ability is cool, but i’m sure you can find better things to spend mana on. Great art though, even though hes the second worst invoker in the set.
• Bloodthrone Vampire – 2. I like it better than Vampire Aristocrat. He combos in an amazing way with red cards like Conquering Manticore and Traitorous Instinct, allowing you to sacrifice their creatures before you allow them to return under your opponents control.
• Cadaver Imp – 3. Another tweak on grave digger, this guy is cheaper and can fly. Rad. Black needs to be economic on it’s weak creatures.
• Contaminated Ground – 1. Spreading Seas for Black, anyone? Did they make this card for LSV to base a constructed deck around, too?
• Death Cultist – 1. Why isn’t this give a creature -1/-1 instead?
• Demonic Apetite – 1. I feel like this card was in some Kamigawa set. This card has its ups and downs. +3/+3 for one is gnarly. Losing a creature every turn sucks, though. Plus its not totem armor. I won’t draft this highly. Or at all.
• Dread Drone – 3-4. you get 3 creatures for 1 card. Thats awesome, no doubt. 5 Mana is the top of your curve though, so be careful. Use him with Distortion Strike for 10 unblockable damage over 2 turns!
• Essence Feed – 3. Fuel em eldrazi! Don’t be discrete! The effect isn’t terribly amazing though.
• Gloomhunter – 3. This is par. Doesn’t this remind you of Dawnglare Invoker (in the white section), except strictly worse?
• Induce Dispair – 3. This can be ridiculous removal at instant speed, or terrible removal if you have nothing to reveal. Reveal that Kozilek, give that creature -10/-10. Of course, most the time you’ll be revealing commons or uncommons. Which means you’ll be giving -11/-11 with Pathrazer of Ulamog. See how I did that? Awesome!
• Last Kiss – 3. Great name, cool card. Thank god its instant speed.
• Nighthaze – 1. Oho! Black gets the one mana cantrip, too??? At least it isn’t -1/-0 again… Great art.
• Null Champion – 2. Who doesn’t like Nulls??!! This guy is worth it, it shouldn’t be hard to keep him at a 4/2 most the time. If he ever hits 7/3 regen, though… that is brutal.
• Perish the Thought – 2. I suppose this is nice with cards like Cadaver Imp around, it doesn’t impress me very much, but i’d include in a mono black deck.
• Shrivel – 1. This is great… murk their spawn (and yours).
• Vendetta – 3-4. This card was waaay better in Prophecy. Wait… its still awesome. Just not as awesome. Since the guy isn’t getting his throat slit by Volrath in this art. Should be one of your first picks.
• Zof Shade – 2. Crypt Ripper is better.
• Zulaport Enforcer – 2-3. This card, I predict, will be awesome in the level deck since he requires so few counters to become a savage and hit his 3rd ability.

Top Black Commons

• 1) Vendetta
• 2) Last Kiss
• 3) Induce Dispair
• 4) Dread Drone
• 5) Zulaport Enforcer/Cadaver Imp

Uncommon

• Arrogant Bloodlord – 2. This, plus Shrivel, could prove devastating. There are just so many better options, especially since he becomes outclassed so quickly.
• Corpsehatch – 3-4. Man, thats basically a +3 creature advantage to you. Wow. Why is it sorcery? Probably the best removal in the set.
• Curse of Wizardry – 1. This would be so fun in multiples. Except its crap.
• Escaped Null – 2. This doesn’t impress me at all. Until I looked at it again, and saw it had lifelink. I still don’t think its great, but it has a really bizzare form of “moral” evasion, which I suppose could be good.
• Inquisition of Kozilek – 1. Ruin early plays. Better in constructed.
• Nirkana Cutthroat – 3-4. This is a Goblin Roughrider that gets better. And with only level 3 to reach, this is awesome because it either forces removal, holds off their biggest beast, or gets in for fear of trading (which it won’t if you hit its ultimatum level). Nice gold titties, vampire woman. Big ol’ golden nipples. Thats what I’m calling this card from now on.
• Pawn of Ulamog – 2. This guy proved less than effective, and I won’t be drafting him higly again.
• Skeletal Wurm – 2. So vanilla in this set, becomes outclassed very fast indeed. Regenerate is pretty awesome though.



• Suffer the past – 3-4. This is actually AWESOME, especially against black. Instant speed graveyard removal and lifedrain. Game friggin finisher, and also ass saver.
• Virulent Swipe – 3. This is really cool, you get removal and pump up. Twice. For one black. Instant Speed. Incredible.

Top Black Uncommons

• 1) Corpsehatch
• 2) Nirkana Cutthroat
• 3) Suffer the Past
• 4) Virulent Swipe

Red

• Battle Rampart – 2. Could lead to some cool tricks with all these fatties. I still will not pick this high (actually, if I were high, I probably would. So I was wrong. Lick my thin dick.)
• Battle-Rattle Shaman – 2-3. Is it me, or does this card belong in the Lorwyn block because of the name, the art, everything?
• Brood Birthing – 4 (if you are drafting the eldrazi token deck), 2 otherwise. This is the quintessential card of the set. Make eldrazi happen. Rad. Its not good without tokens already in play though.
• Emrakul’s Hatcher – 3-4. I take it back. This is the quintissential card for eldrazi fueling. If you don’t run this, you don’t run spit. Frightening with a Splinter Twin on him!
• Fissure Vent – 1. Sideboard. I don’t really see non basic being a problem in this set like it was in Worldwake.
• Flame Slash – 4. This can kill most everything that matters early on. I can’t imagine picking many other commons or uncommons over this. Move over lightning bol… oh wait, nevermind. Great in limited.
• Goblin Arsonist – 2. I’ll probably run this at some point.
• Goblin Tunneler – 2. This reminds me of that old dwarven warrior card. Its funny how, despite all the beef between goblins and dwarves in Fallen Empires, wizards basically crossbred the cards. Speaking of crossbreeding, the goblin in this card is terribly ugly. Why did I write so much for this card?
• Grotag Siege-Runner – 1. This card is totally fine. a 2/1 for 2 is, as I’ve always said, par for the course in limited. The defender shock could prove very helpful. Hes a 1 simply because I think he will end up being sideboarded in most the time.
• Heat Ray – 3. I usually burn these ritualistically, or give them away to small children in exchange for their rares. In limited, they will be more worthwhile, especially as an instant.
• Kiln Fiend – 3. I reeeeaaaallly like this… elemental beast. Pair with the other eldrazi token producing colors (i.e. jund) and you have a ridiculous threat, ridiculously early. Hes like a Ruinous Minotaur, except a turn earlier, and no disability. In essence, waaay better. Especially with Distortion Strike, a combo everyone has recognized the potential of.
• Lagac Lizard – 2. Fortunately, Hill Giants have large blind spots in which a human can easily hide. Unfortunately, these blind spots are beneath the bottoms of their feet.
• Lavafume Invoker – 2. The red 8 mana common dude. He gives all your creatures +3/+0. Besides that, hes a gray ogre. You be the judge.
• Ogre Sentry – 2. Hes a 3/3 for 2… with defender. Rad. Red Decks are supposed to be fast. Unless your stalling to eldrazi, this guy probably shouldn’t be in your think red deeeiiick.
• Raid Bombardment – 2. I could see this being cool with Lavafume Invoker, all out attack, then pump. Especially with Eldrazi Spawn. Thats a pretty late game tactic though.
• Spawning Breath – 2. Sure. I’ll order one. Maybe two.
• Staggershock – 4. Grab as many as you can. Thats an awesome card.
• Vent Sentinel – 2 (but it depends on the number of defender creatures you have). I see boros defender as being a playable archetype in RotE limited. This guy makes it possible.
• Wrap in Flames – 2-3. It remains to be seen how good this really is. I think it will be nice.

Top 5 Red Commons

• 1) Staggershock
• 2) Flameslash
• 3) Emrakul’s Hatcher
• 4) Heat Ray
• 5) Brood Birthing/Battle-Rattle Shaman

Uncommon


• Akoum Boulderfoot – 2. Limited Fodder. Pings. Meh.
• Brimstone Mage – 3-4. This guy is really good, although admittedly not as good as Cunning Sparkmage. However if you can afford his hefty leveling costs, you can get a Lightning Bolt out of him every turn.
• Explosive Revelation – 4. Cantrips for a non land AND deals damage? Not bad at all. Imagine Emrakuling someone with this… ow.
• Forked Bolt – 3-4. Solid burn, its splitting a shock and making it slower.
• Lust for War – 2. This card is another reason to consider Boros. With all the tappers in white, this could be quite a disabiling pain to your opponent.
• Rapacious One – 3-4. The Trample makes this a must for anyone who wants tokens. To be fair, i’d consider playing this even without the eldrazi spawn clause. Its a solid card.
• Soulsurge Elemental – 2-3. All these red uncommons have such synergy… This guy is amazing in the spawn deck, especially with Emrakul’s Hatcher. Surprise! He’s now a 9/1 First Strike!
• Surreal memoir – 3. This can be really good, especially since there aren’t a huge amount of instants red has to choose from.
• Traitorous Instinct – 3-4. Its great how Wizards keeps making Act of Treason better and better since M10. This newest incarnation may be the best, giving the creature an unpermanent boost (unlike Zendikar’s version, Mark of Mutiny). The ONLY drawback is its extra 1 mana cost.



• Valakut Fireboar – 2-3. This was spoiled early, a lot of people have talked about its impact on limited. Personally, I dont think its great at all. Just like Calcite Snapper, when it attacks, it dies to ANYTHING (except eldrazi spawn). Without trample, the defending player won’t mind blocking. With ANYTHING (like eldrazi spawn). Hyena umbra eats this guy alive.

Top Red Uncommons

• 1) Forked Bolt
• 2) Brimstone Firemage
• 3) Explosive Revalation
• 4) Rapacious One
• 5) Soulsurge Elemental

Green

• Ancient Stirrings – 1. Its a strange sort of colorless tutor, that is much worse in practice than it looks on paper.
• Aura Gnarlid – 3. Even for its base cost, it’s fair. With evasion, and receiving boosts in an aura-heavy set, this guy should be picked early and frequently.
• Daggerback Basilisk – 3-4. This might even be better than the Gnarlid. Get this guy on the drake aura, and he is reDONKulous. Draft him highly.
• Growth Spasm – 3. Pseudo twoofer. You get mana fixing (in the form of your land of choice) and a lil spawn.
• Haze Frog – 1. Flash is awesome here. Preventing ridiculous amounts of damage is also awesome. The 5cc is not.
• Kozilek’s Predator – 4. This is almost like a Siege-Gang Commander. 3 creatures for 4 mana. Deal.
• Leaf Arrow – S. 3 damage at instant speed is great. Its a sideboard card, through and through, and will be great when confronted by a 4/2 Skywatcher Adept.
• Living Destiny – 2. You stand to gain a ton of life. But most the time you won’t. I don’t really feel like running this card at all.
• Might of the Masses – 2-3. Situational. What I don’t like is that when you need this card the most is when it’s at it’s worst: when you have few creatures and really need to wipe out one of theirs.
• Naturalize – S. C’mon, it’s disenchant. I love it, but i’d still board it until I know whether its worth playing or not. Definitely not breaking the format.
• Nema Siltlurker – 1. More jank to throw into miscellaneous shoeboxes, or the woodstove at my buddy Kai’s house. Kai’s house is always cold since he can’t afford wood, and Kai also hates magic cards. He probably would like this card more than anyone else I know. Also, if you ever burn a magic card, they kind of twist up and pop. It’s really trippy, since Kai also smokes a lot of weed, its just one more reason he’ll love the Siltlurker.
• Nest Invader – 3. Bears just got better. The new prescedent for the two drop.
• Ondu Giant – 3-4. We used to pay 4cc for Pillarfield Ox, and now you give it Rampant Growth for free? Sure we will play that card!
• Overgrown Battlement – 3-4. The defender deck keeps getting better and better. This ramps you, too? Kozilek’s Predator on turn 3??? YES!
• Snake Umbra – 3. Another of my favorite umbras, this one lets green play with Ophidian, too. Rad. Some people have their debate with me on this one, but its really good.
• Spider Umbra – 2. Definitely not as good as Hyena, but really good for green. Reach is a crucial component for winning matches. Pretty rad art.
• Sporecap Spider – 2-3. I wouldn’t waste an early pick on this guy, he’ll get passed back. Great delay though.
• Stomper Cub – 2-3. Tramples. 5 power. Put umbras on him, and you get Beefcake!
• Wildheart Invoker – 3. Finally we get to the green 8 cost ability creature. This guy might be the best of the cycle, or at least up there with the white one. Cost-wise, he is a Shatterskull Giant (completely playable in draft), but giving a creature +5/+5 and trample is totally devastating. Additionally, since you don’t need to tap to activate, this invoker is a nasty surprise.

Top 5 Green Commons

• 1) Kozilek’s Predator
• 2) Overgrown Battlement
• 3) Growth Spasm
• 4) Ondu Giant
• 5) Daggerback Basilisk//Wildheart Invoker

Uncommon


• Beastbreaker of Bala Ged – 3-4. Bear to Beefcake. You attack for 4 by turn 3. That… is reDONKulous. This card is a counterargument to anyone who describes an Eldrazi draft as “Glacially” slow.
• Boar Umbra – 3. The card is so simple, a caveman could play it!

“Screw you, West Lockwood!”

• Bramblesnap – 4. This guy has such potential, its ridiculous. You can even tap him to pump himself up, which many players don’t realize when they try to burn him.
• Broodwarden – 3-4. Oh lord. As if spawn.dec wasn’t viable enough as it was. Sure, lets make em all bears… what? We can run more than ONE broodwarden? Oh snap!
• Gravity Well – S. Hahaha, this card made me laugh. I immediately thought of pairing it with this little $80 beauty from legends, but it wouldn’t even work. The upside is that you can completely neuter flyer decks by siding this in.

Stupidest combo ever!

• Irresistable Prey – 2. Here is the one mana cantrip for green. All I have to say is that its beter than nothing.
• Jaddi Lifestrider – 2. This is cool with tokens (doy), I suppose its fair. Stops traffic with its huge butt.
• Joraga Treespeaker – 3-4. Solid fuel for the eldrazi fire. This is cool because it fits both major draft archetypes. The 3rd ability doesn’t impress me much for limited, but having a Greenweaver Druid is great, especially since you don’t miss out on the mana when you level it up on turn two.
• Pelakka Wurm – 3-4. This is one motherf***er I can sink my teeth into. We all have a soft spot for the big guy, you know. Force of Nature. Colossus of Sardia. Polar Kraken. Phrexian Colossus. Avatar of Might. Pneumbra Wurm. And (why not?) Gigantiform. However, this guy has what all previous fatties (with the exception of Pneumbra Wurm) didn’t – Financial Security. You gain life when he comes into play, and you get a payoff when he dies. And hes uncommon!
• Prey’s Vengeance – 3. This is a great Giant Growth variant. You get it twice. Deal. I’m sold. Thats green removal, after all.

Top Green Unommons

• Bramblesnap
• Beastbreaker of Bala Ged
• Broodwarden
• Joraga Treespeaker
• Pelakka Wurm

Artifact

• Dreamstone Hedron – 3. This card should be absolutely fine to play with if the curve is high. It can be cast much earlier than turn six. Think of it as an everflowing chalice on steroids.
• Enatu Golem – 1-2. Not very impressive. There are a few ways to abuse the ability, but they are probably not worth the mana.
• Ogre’s Cleaver – 2-3. Eh, not much equipment in the set, but paying 5 to equip is a little ridiculous. Yet equipping this on a flier or unblockable creature means that your opponent is put on a 4 turn clock to cope, or die.
• Pennon Blade – 2-3. Conditionally its better than the cleaver since it can be frighteningly huge in that spawn deck!
• Prophetic prism – 3. This is great mana fixing at common. It cantrips for two and filters for neccisary mana colors. One or two per deck should be fine.
• Reinforced Bulwark – 1. Not as good as some other white walls which are also 0/4’s. Yet it can be played in ANY deck. Solid as a wall can be, I suppose. Meh.
• Ruined Servitor – 2. No reason not to play it, I guess. A bear for any deck.
• Warmonger’s Chariot – 3. This is probably the best frequent equipment we will see for limited, and is yet another piece to the Defender deck puzzle.

Colorless Common and Uncommon


• Hand of Emrakul – 1-2. This is probably one of the most playable eldrazi spells. Unfortunately, its definitely the least powerful. Which makes it the Eldrazi least worth playing.
• Ulamog’s Crusher – 2. This guy is a beast. The disability isn’t really even a disability since he has Annihilator 2, which is a huge boost over Hand of Emrakul’s Annihilator 1.
• Artisan of Kozilek – 3-4. This guy gives you two creatures for one. Imagine bringing back a Pelukka Wurm… or another eldrazi… So thats why all the rare and mythic ones must be reshuffled back into the library…
• Not of this World – 0. I see this only being run in some rediculous Eldrazi ramp deck, but even then it would suck. This is the Razor Boomerang for ROE, dont waste a pick on it.
• Pathrazer of Ulamog – 1. This guy blows the game out, basically can’t be blocked, Annihilator 3, but costs 11…
• Skittering Invasion – 3. 5 creatures?????!!!!

Rise of the Eldrazi is definitely a different beast from Zendikar and Worldwake limited. Remember this quote: “Purus Semper Vestibulum.”