Sultai is shaping up nicely with surveil, undergrowth and the new flashback.

I absolutely abhor the mentor and converge cards. Nothing intersting in white and, red and green at the moment, unless cpunted as a splash color.

Certainly looks like a very high powered set so far.

Is that supposed to be Emmara on Might of the Multitude?

Disdainful Stroke returns!



Sure we're losing Disallow, but starting the year out with Disdainful Stroke, Sinister Sabotage, Ionize, Essence Scatter, Negate, Spell Pierce, and Syncopate isn't too shabby...

New cards out and about fellas...

Goblin Banneret is a pretty good looking 1-drop...Mentor, self-pumps. Good addition to the mono-red/Boros Deck.

The Locket cycle is pretty good but standard design for the last couple of years of mana rocks. When you don't need the mana, sack if for cards. Getting 2 cards for the increased sac cost is pretty good.

Expansion // Explosion is looking to be a great card Izzet mages were looking for. Explosion is expensive but the effect is very good.

Vivid Revival looks bad.

Molderhulk is pretty solid looking IF we get good ways of getting things in and out of the graveyard.

Govern the Storm is solid removal in Limited. Better ways of doing the same thing in Standard for less with more upside.

Midnight Reaper looks pretty good. Maybe just a SB card, but I could see it MD into Orzhov Knights.

Arclight Pheonix looks cute, but it isn't as good as we currently have. However, if you can get 2-4 of these in your graveyard and consistently cast 3 instant/sorceries, they could be very solid.

Inescapable Flame is...meh. Could be a decent SB card against control...yeah, I'm stretching.

Maximize Altitude is limited fodder. We've got access to enchantments that do the same thing and stick around. Just another bad Jump-Start card.

Vraska, Golgari Queen. 4-mana Planeswalker. Not the best one ever printed, but on turn 4 she can protect herself fairly well. Her + ability is a may, so sacrificing something isn't necessary and her Ultimate just ends the game upon creature damage. Overall I like her, though she might be considered underpowered by some people.

Swarm Guildmage - Nice 2-drop Golgari bear. Late game can make your army hard to block and power them up, the rest of the time a quick little mana-sink to gain you life. Very nice.

Passwall Adept is a very good limited pick. Early blocker that makes creatures unblockable is nothing to sneeze at...especially since it can be repeated multiple times, even on itself. I see this ending many limited games.

House Guildmage - Liking the new Guildmages. Expensive abilities in comparison, but really good. 1st ability to keep a tapped creature locked down is fairly meh, but can be useful. The second ability to Surveil 2 every turn is pretty sexy though.

Golgari Findbroker - BBGG is pretty specific cost so most likely only will be seen in Golgari only decks but its on a decent 3/4 body and brings back any permanent card. Sounds pretty good though the casting cost is so restrictive likely not to see much play. Could see it played to reuse sagas, which could be good.

Removal in grixis seems all pretty good for limited or is just me? 3 mana shock that turns a land into removal, 5 damage for 5 to a creature , draw 2 discard 1 and deal 4 at instant speed, destroy and surveil 2 for 5, -2/-4 and a tap...

We still have to see the low mana removal other than distainful stroke I guess.

Nah, pretty much spot on as far as I can see (though Disdainful stroke is a counter, not removal, and a low-mana option for a mid to late game spell as well). Not great removal, but some decent removal options already exist in Standard so there is that.

Problem I see is go-wide decks are looking pretty good against Grixis. I don't think there is a sweeper for red or black which will really hurt its viability, especially in a Convoke environment.

The Guildmages look quite good.

I don't see it yet, but the I'm tempted to believe there may be a way to break Vivid Revival.

I think Inescapable Flame might have a home in some form of Counterburn or Ramp Burn, but it's not great value and all comes down to whether being uncounterable matters at all in the format.

I see the possibility with Vivid Revival as well but between the casting cost, the restrictive return policy, and exiling of the spell it is ringing alarm bells to me.

The more I think about Inescapable Flame the more I can see it as Sideboard material against counter control. Most don't have any problems going low on life so 6 damage to the face can take games otherwise unwinnable. Don't know if it is the answer, but I can see the possibility of it. One other good thing about it is that it is an instant as well, so you can get around lifegain in some instances.

For Vivid Revival to reach maximum power, we'll likely need something akin to Gifts Ungiven, but a multicolor version. Otherwise, it'd need to find a home in a deck like Sultai as a value engine.

Is just a matter of time before someone figures out a sick combo deck, Grixis and Sultai have all the right tools.
I think there is a solid Grixis deck around Niv Mizzet and Eldest Reborn, you could combo up in one huge turn


You could keep casting low CMC spells and cantrips while Steam-Kin fuels you mana and Niv Mizzet drains and draws you cards

Lava coil, we get a beefed up magma spray!

Insert//invent, first side is meh, sorcery and instant tutor has potential, but is expensive (at least it's instant)

Unless there is something really worth spending 6 mana to get, it will almost always be better in Izzet to just draw cards. Nice that it does 1-up in card advantage though.

Lava Coil is really nice...completely removes the Rekindling Phoenix threat for less mana. Also removes early stompy threats like turn-2 Steel Leaf Paladins or Thrashing Brontodons.

New cards up!

Golgari Raiders - Looks to be a solid threat late game with increasing P/T and especially Haste. But without evasion or trample this is just going to be chump blocked all day long.

Never Happened - Dimir is just looking sick in this set. Loving it. 3-mana to look at their hand, then exile something from it or the graveyard. Pretty sure this is not a Maindeck card but more of a Sideboard option.

Integrity // Intervention - Nice split card. Integrity pumps a critter, Intervention is an expensive Lightning Helix. Both great for what the Boros decks of Guilds is trying to do.

Nightveil Predator - So it looks like this is card 2 of an uncommon theme. UUBB gets you a pretty solid 3/3 Hexproof, Deathtouch Flyer. Maybe not the most constructed playable card, but love the name and flavor text.

Erratic Cyclops - Could this be the second card (after Golgari Raiders) in a 4-mana cycle? A 0/8 Trample creature for 4-mana is bad, but his ability to pump up the attack when you cast instants/sorceries is quite nice. I could see this as a SB card against the Izzet mirror as Izzet usually has problems permanently dealing with high-toughness creatures.

Conclave Guildmage - I have so far liked the Guildmages...that stops here. 1-mana to give all your creatures trample is nice, but in Selesnya most of your creatures should be small so it won't do much good for much of them. And creating a 2/2 Vigilant Elf Knight (nice touch) for 6-mana is uber-expensive. I like the idea of this card but not so much the execution of it.

Price of Fame - Love the name...the card, still pretty good. 4-mana is a steep price for creature removal, expecially non-exile effects, for standard play. However, Surveil 2 is pretty sweet and the legendary clause makes it great for dealing with some difficult legendary creatures. I could see this sideboarded in in place of Cast Down, if not just straight Maindecked as a 1 or 2-of.

Hm....

Nobody’s talking about this?

I did yesterday...NGA is just pretty dead.



Not really much else to say about it. Not many matchups it really would shine in, especially with all the exile effects running around. Best case scenario is that he'll draw you a card to replace himself when he gets shocked, if he doesn't eat a Lava Coil on the next turn.

DIES TO REMOVAL

I just failed to notice that it didn't say "another", card seems very sweet now, compare to matter reshaper, except they have to point a removal spell at it asap... wait, that sounds even better than very sweet!

Also funny when compared to midnight entourage.

A few new cards just spoiled...only 1 worse than Midnight Reaper

Truefire Captain - RRWW, just what Boros wanted. Top-end 4/3 Mentor, deals damage taken to your opponent. Solid IMO. Relevant Knight class as well.

Centaur Mediator - 3/3 body that gives everyone 4 life CitP trigger. Limited playable at best.

League Guildmage - Izzet's very own...and he isn't half bad. 3U draw a card, XR to copy a instant/sorcery. This guildmage scales well throughout the game.

Mission Briefing - Holy mother of god...Surveil 2, give any instant/sorcery in you graveyard Jump-Start...at instant speed...yes please! Probably my favorite card of the spoiler season so far.

Doom Whisperer - 6/6 Flying Trampler for 3BB is really good. Tack on Surveil 2 for 2 life and this thing looks busted.

Citywatch Sphinx - After Doom Whisperer, this card is very limited playable only. Meh card is meh.

Thoughbound Phantasm - For U, you get a creature that just gets better with each Surveil. Looks to be a terrible topdeck, but having a few in your opening hand with some surveil cards looks pretty good.

Well, for a Snapcaster effect, we got Mission Briefing.

Doom Whisperer looks like the best card I've seen in a long time. If there is a Sultai graveyard shenanigans deck, they just got a zero-mana enabler tacked onto a 6/6 flying trampling body for only 5 mana.

Sweet Lord.