I am currently in a strange position. I’m writing this before Ninth Edition becomes public, because by the time Ninth Edition is out there I will know too much to write about it properly. I need to finish this article before I look at Ravnica. Since these cards have been around for a while, and I have experience drafting 7th and 8th Editions, this review will be different from my standard review. Cards will be given star ratings for Limited this time, because I have drafted with almost all of them and can safely give my opinion without taking pure stabs in the dark. Rarity will matter, because Limited matters. Card text will not be shown because these are not new cards. Feel free to look up anything that doesn’t ring a bell.
And now, Ninth Edition:
Star Ratings this time mean things that are a little different. There’s now a fifth rating, because with greater knowledge comes the ability to call a spade a spade. Another good reason, although sad, is that this is my last review. I won’t be around to do Ravnica, because I will have already begun work.
Constructed Stars:
****: A staple card that has proven its worth and will be in many decks, doing something that would otherwise have to be done by a worse card or not at all. This card matters.
***: A solid card that has proven its worth and will be in decks if the right deck type is worthwhile and the expansion sets don’t provide a superior alternative. This card is part of the constructed puzzle.
**: An acceptable constructed card if you need it, or one that fills a role, but one that Standard likely would not miss if it was absent… unless there are gaps in the next two blocks.
*: A card no Standard deck should ever need to play, but in a strange world it’s not unthinkable.
0: A card that is strictly for limited and/or casual. Note that many of them didn’t start out that way, but times have changed. For example, check out Dingus Egg.
Limited Stars:
****: Windmill slam! This card is a bomb.
***: This card is a credit to your deck.
**: Nothing wrong with putting this card in your deck.
*: Do I really have to put this card in my deck?
0: I’ll play another land, thanks.
Cards will be rated in the form: Constructed Rating/Limited Rating
White Commons
Angelic Blessing 0/**
Aven Cloudchaser **/***
Aven Flock 0/***
Crossbow Infantry 0/**
Demystify **/**
Eager Cadet 0/~ (S-Series)
Foot Soldiers 0/**
Glory Seeker */**
Holy Day ***/*
Holy Strength */**
Honor Guard */*
Infantry Veteran 0/**
Master Decoy */***
Mending Hands 0/*
Pacifism ***/***
Pegasus Charger 0/***
Sacred Nectar 0/0
Samite Healer 0/**
Skyhunter Prowler 0/**
Suntail Hawk **/**
Venerable Monk 0/**
Veteran Cavalier 0/*
Warrior’s Honor 0/*
Total Rating: 16/43
Mean Rating: 0.67/1.90
This is a solid group of White commons, and I approve. With Disenchant out of the picture, there are no longer any “natural” top tier White cards that belong at common.
The closest the color gets is Pacifism, which is the best of the White removal enchantments because it does not waste effort doing anything that it doesn’t need to do, letting it both stay simple and stay cheap. It is not an accident that the three of the four most important White commons in the basic set are spells that deal in absolutes: Demystify, Pacifism and Holy Day are all pure expressions of basic Magic ideas that sacrifice unnecessary ideas and needless complexity in order to capture what they need to do. All of them are good at their jobs. I’ve used Holy Day in the sideboard of MWC profitably, to buy time against Goblins and Affinity. All three of these cards were in Eighth Edition and will probably be with us for a long time. The only creature that matters is also a pure ideal: The 1/1 flying White creature, Suntail Hawk. It’s not the best one drop for White in 9th (or 8th), but there’s nothing wrong with it.
I like this set of creatures. They’re interesting without being complex, and lay a solid foundation for Limited play and introducing new players to the game without giving them too much useless chaff. You’re allowed the one skill tester, especially since casual players love gaining life. The one flaw is that I think that the slight loss of flying power will be significant.
White Uncommon
Angel of Mercy */****
Ballista Squad 0/****
Blessed Orator */***
Chastise **/***
Circle of Protection: Black ***/***
Circle of Protection: Red ***/***
Gift of Estates **/**
Inspirit */***
Kami of Old Stone 0/**
Leonin Skyhunter ***/****
Peace of Mind */0
Sanctum Guardian */***
Seasoned Marshall */**
Serra’s Blessing 0/0
Soul Warden **/***
Spirit Link */**
Tempest of Light ***/***
Vengeance */~ S-Series
Zealous Inquisitor **/***
Total Rating: 29/47
Mean Rating:1.57/2.61
Gift of Estates is the first card that falls under the “if you’ve never been allowed to play it, it’s new to you” rule, also known as Portal. I think the card has potential, but it’s no Tithe. It is also no Eternal Dragon. Being able to always get one land, and being able to do it off of a one land start, are both key abilities. Gift of Estates seems like a card you would sideboard in when you know that you’ll be able to get it to trigger. I’m glad we have it around, but the more I think about trying to use it for real the less I see myself using it. Tempest of Light is a card that I gave high marks to in my initial review, confident that it would eventually get its day in the sun, but that day has not yet come. It might not ever get here if enchantments are never important enough to make anyone care about this kind of ability, but this is a still a very strong way of doing what must be done if it ever needs doing.
The most interesting pair of cards here are the Circles because it means that none of them are common and three of them are flat out gone. The circles haven’t seen use in Constructed lately, and on seeing them leave it makes me wonder if people are missing a good chance to sideboard CoP: Green. A lot of that probably has to do with there not being a good White foundation for the decks that would use these cards in the first place. Wrath of God is not what it used to be, although it is still in 9th. It was always one of White’s great strengths that no matter what you were relying on there was that chance that they would drop the hammer on you. The good news is, that chance is actually still here and far more likely because they’ve replaced three obscure cards that are sideboard only with one far stronger one at rare.
Seventh Edition Limited play was heavily influenced by the impending doom of the five common circles. Everyone had to be careful to pick up the enchantment removal and threat diversity necessary to deal with the fact that someone out there probably had the appropriate pair of Circles to shut you down. Sometimes you would even face them maindeck, but more than that was the worry about sideboarding. I liked that those limited formats required you to actively draft a sideboard, not just the Circles and enchantment removal but also cards like Squall and Tremor. It was important to both pick up the cards you needed and to keep the ones you feared away from your opponents. Sometimes as a White player you could sacrifice some picks and shut your opponents out of Tranquility and Disenchant. That was a wonderful thing, and it will probably always feel more natural to me than Tempest of Light and Naturalize. Eighth Edition reduced that effect dramatically, and now we’re cutting into it again.
The result is a new White that is full of playable commons but without any spectacular ones, a condition which 9th preserves. That makes White an awful color to focus on but an interesting color to look at as a backup if you need some creature support or to fill out your card numbers, especially given how often it will be ignored by the rest of the table. In terms of impact on Constructed, I’m glad to have Tempest of Light but right now none of the new cards seems like it should make a difference.
White Rares:
Blinding Angel ***/****
Blinking Spirit **/***
Glorious Anthem ****/****
Ivory Mask ***/**
Marble Titan **/***
Master Healer */***
Oracle’s Attendants */***
Paladin en-Vec **/***
Reverse Damage */*
Righteousness */***
Sacred Ground ***/*
Savannah Lions ****/***
Serra Angel **/****
Story Circle ****/****
Weathered Wayfarer ****/***
Worship ****/****
Wrath of God ****/****
Total Rating: 44/52
Mean Rating:2.64/3.06
Wow. That’s quite a jump. This is an amazing set of cards. We forget what we’re missing until we have to go play Block, and here it is to remind you: Almost all of the basic set’s top White cards are here at rare. The only thing wrong with Savannah Lions is that it doesn’t have enough quality friends around. Glorious Anthem may not quite be Crusade but it is the gold standard for creature boosting global enchantments. Wrath of God is so good that we regularly pay two more mana for the same effect with a nominal little bonus. Worship and Story Circle shut people down all the time. The second tier of White rares includes several other cards that have ruled the day in the past: Blinding Angel, Blinking Spirit, Serra Angel. Of the seventeen rares, a full thirteen either have a place in Constructed or had a strong role in the past. If you compare this to the 8th Edition list of rares, you’ll see that this a radically upgraded list. That’s a very good thing.
White Cards Lost:
Rare:
Avatar of Hope **/***
Blessed Reversal 0/*
Elite Archers 0/***
Intrepid Hero **/**
Noble Purpose */***
Rolling Stones 0/0
Sunweb 0/**
Uncommon:
Ardent Militia 0/***
Circle of Protection: Blue **/**
Circle of Protection: Green ***/***
Circle of Protection: White **/**
Elite Javelineer 0/**
Karma ***/***
Peach Garden Oath 0/*
Rain of Blades **/**
Redeem 0/**
Sanctimony ***/*
Staunch Defenders **/***
Sword Dancer: 0/**
Wall of Swords 0/***
Common:
Angelic Page 0/***
Diving Griffin */***
Healing Salve 0/**
Razorfoot Griffin 0/**
Solidarity 0/0
Tundra Wolves */*
I’ll miss the Circles, as I stated above, and I’ll miss Wall of Swords. I’ll especially miss Karma, which has served us well as a way to keep the big bad in check when people like Benzo decide that “more Swamps means more death!” In terms of Limited, White lost two strong common flyers, one of which was replaced fully and one of which was replaced only partially.
If you notice on thing about all the cards that got cut, it should be that many of them are very weak cards. Another is that many of the useful ones on the list are color hosers. The rest of the cards cut seem to have been sacrificed in the name of not giving players cards that are good for nothing. I heartily approve.
Blue Commons:
Aven Fisher 0/***
Aven Windreader 0/***
Boomerang ***/***
Coral Eel 0/**
Counsel of the Soratami */***
Crafty Pathmage 0/*
Dehydration 0/***
Fishliver Oil 0/*
Flight 0/*
Fugitive Wizard 0/0
Giant Octopus 0/***
Horned Turtle */***
Lumengrid Warden 0/*
Mana Leak ****/***
Remove Soul **/***
Sage Aven 0/**
Sea Monster 0/**
Sea’s Claim 0/0
Sift */***
Sleight of Hand ***/***
Storm Crow 0/*
Time Ebb 0/***
Wanderguard Sentry 0/**
Wind Drake 0/***
Total Rating: 11/52
Mean Rating:0.46/2.17
Just when you thought Blue couldn’t possibly have less useful commons, they go and move Rewind to uncommon. Then someone unsummoned Unsummon. They’re definitely not making it easy on you if you don’t have much of a budget. As a Limited color, Blue is strong. It has several cards that I don’t want in my deck, but if I draft properly I won’t have to play them. There may not be many constructed cards here, but that doesn’t matter. The flyers are strong, the card drawing is solid, the counters are useful and the bounce is nice. Blue has never survived by having lots of strong cards; it has ruled by having a few great cards. Mana Leak and Boomerang are here to help out with that Blue deck that you don’t want to face.
Blue Uncommons:
Air Elemental **/****
Annex 0/*
Azure Drake */***
Baleful Stare **/**
Confiscate **/****
Dream Prowler 0/***
Exhaustion */0
Index 0/0
Levitation 0/0
Phantom Warrior 0/***
Puppeteer 0/***
Reminisce */0
Rewind ***/**
Telepathy 0/0
Thieving Magpie ****/***
Thought Courier ***/***
Tidings **/***
Treasure Trove */***
Withering Gaze **/**
Total Rating: 27/38
Mean Rating:1.42/2.00
Once again Blue has to make a living off a few cards that strongly reinforce its core themes and doesn’t waste its strength trying to prop up the rest of the color. If I was doing a true strength index for Constructed, a few top cards would matter more than any number of semi-playable filler cards since you’ll never have to worry about filling out a block deck with these cards. The Limited options here are not strong, so Blue drafters will have to make their living elsewhere. They should also seek to combine Blue with a color that offers deeper picks, which will vary based on who is around you. If you start Blue, being able to read signals around you will matter more than ever.
Blue Rares:
Archivist 0/**
Battle of Wits **/0
Clone ***/***
Cowardice ***/**
Daring Apprentice 0/**
Evacuation **/**
Fleeting Image */***
Imaginary Pet **/***
Mahamoti Djinn **/****
Mind Bend */*
Plagiarize **/**
Polymorph 0/0
Temporal Adept ****/****
Tidal Kraken 0/**
Trade Routes **/**
Traumatize 0/*
Vizzerdrix 0/*
Zur’s Weirding **/*
Total Rating: 26/35
Mean Rating:1.44/1.94
Well that was unexpected. Not only are blue’s uncommons unimpressive, its rares are no better than its uncommons. That is quite a contrast from White. Look at these two sets of cards. They don’t even begin to compare with each other. Is it possible that things have swung too far against the old king of the colors? It is more than possible, it is highly probable. The sins of the father are being visited upon the son. There’s no need for this kind of bitterness. Temporal Adept and Clone is the only important cards that slipped through the cracks here. Clone is potentially important due to the new Legend rule. Battle of Wits and Cowardice are also around as deck seeds, but the chance that either will be all that competitive is low.
That raises the question: What did Blue leave behind?
Commons:
Catalog */**
Coastal Hornclaw 0/***
Flash Counter **/*
Inspiration **/**
Merchant of Secrets 0/*
Sage of Lat-Nam 0/*
Sage Owl */**
Sea Eagle 0/*
Sneaky Homunculus 0/0
Spiketail Hatchling ***/***
Twiddle */0
Unsummon ***/**
Uncommon:
Coastal Piracy **/**
Concentrate ***/***
Curiosity ***/*
Fighting Drake */***
Hibernation ****/**
Invisibility 0/*
Merchant Scroll ***/*
Steal Artifact */**
Wall of Air ***/***
Wrath of Marit Lage **/**
Rare:
Balance of Power 0/0
Bribery ***/****
Deflection **/**
Intruder Alarm ***/0
Shifting Sky */*
Blue lost Bribery, Concentrate, Hibernation, Merchant Scroll, Wall of Air, Spiketail Hatching and Unsummon. What did it get in return? Tidings and Clone. That seems hardly fair. It took a beating in
Limited too, although a smaller one. I’m hoping it doesn’t make a difference. All Blue needs are a few worthy spells. Surprisingly few of them have to be available with White borders.
Black Commons:
Bog Imp 0/**
Coercion **/**
Contaminated Bond 0/0
Dark Banishing ***/****
Enfeeblement */**
Fear 0/*
Festering Goblin ***/***
Foul Imp ***/***
Giant Cockroach 0/**
Gravedigger */***
Highway Robber 0/*
Hollow Dogs 0/***
Looming Shade 0/**
Mind Rot */**
Plague Beetle */*
Raise Dead 0/*
Ravenous Rats ***/*
Razortooth Rats 0/***
Scathe Zombies 0/*
Serpent Warrior 0/**
Spineless Thug */**
Unholy Strength **/**
Total Rating: 21/43
Mean Rating:0.95/1.95
Black’s commons don’t seem to have anything interesting that they didn’t have the last time around. Nothing too important was lost if you’re not Mike Flores and miss Vicious Hunger, but nothing much was gained either. It should play as it has always played, a solid color that does what it does and does it well while staying in its required style.
Black Uncommons:
Blackmail **/**
Bog Wraith 0/***
Consume Spirit ***/***
Cruel Edict **/**
Deathgazer 0/**
Diabolic Tutor ***/***
Drudge Skeletons 0/**
Execute ***/***
Gluttonous Zombie 0/***
Horror of Horrors 0/0
Megrim **/*
Nantuko Husk **/***
Nekrataal **/****
Phyrexian Gargantua 0/***
Slay ***/***
Soul Feast **/**
Swarm of Rats 0/*
Zombify ***/**
Total Rating: 27/42
Mean Rating:1.50/2.33
Cruel Edict is well named, because it says “but you will play a worse version” and you know in your heart that it is true. The Black uncommons mostly divide into traditional Black Limited uncommons that deal with killing things or giving us evasion creatures and several support cards for constructed. Black wants to make sure and retain access to Consume Spirit, Nekrataal, Cruel Edict, Execute and Slay for its most typical decks and keep Zombify, Megrim, Nantuko Husk and Diabolic Tutor for stranger offerings.
Black Rares:
Death Pits of Rath 0/*
Final Punishment 0/*
Grave Pact **/****
Hell’s Caretaker */***
Hypnotic Specter ****/****
Lord of the Undead **/**
Mindslicer **/***
Mortivore **/****
Nightmare */***
Persecute ****/***
Phyrexian Arena ***/****
Plague Wind 0/***
Royal Assassin ****/**
Sengir Vampire **/****
Underworld Dreams **/*
Will-o’-the-Wisp ***/**
Yawgmoth Demon 0/*
Total Rating: 32/45
Mean Rating:1.88/2.65
It’s the return of the… no way, you’re kidding. Don’t hit the Wrath, don’t hit the Wrath! If Red gets all the Rituals and lots of Shocks then perhaps the time has come that this card can be fair again. Note that I say perhaps. I’m still worried. I know how it felt to have to deal with Hypnotic Specter, especially when it took the answer to the situation out of my hand. In many ways it is easy to see Hypnotic as not being a fair card, and if you get the right help from other colors we could often be looking at turn 2 Hypnotic if not a turn 1. We’ve been living in a world where all someone could hit you for was damage, and with Affinity gone it never looked all that deadly. This could change everything. Other than that there are no especially interesting additions here.
Cut from Black:
Commons:
Deepwood Ghoul 0/***
Dusk Imp 0/***
Maggot Carrier */*
Nausea **/**
Severed Legion 0/***
Vicious Hunger **/***
Uncommons:
Abyssal Specter ***/***
Ambition’s Cost */***
Carrion Wall 0/**
Coercion **/**
Larceny 0/0
Mind Slash 0/0
Mind Sludge ***/***
Primevil Shambler */***
Sever Soul 0/***
Warped Devotion */*
Rare:
Death Pit Offering **/**
Eastern Paladin **/****
Fallen Angel **/****
Murderous Betrayal 0/**
Phyrexian Plaguelord ***/****
Vampiric Spirit 0/***
Western Paladin **/****
Once again we see that the color hosers are being crippled, and Black has lost not just its Paladins but also Phyrexian Plaguelord and Fallen Angel. Right now Kamigawa gives us all the big creatures we could ever need, but this potentially portents a time when Sengir Vampire would have to stand alone. Could that be the point? There’s no reason the card has to be bad, but the bar for expensive creatures has intentionally been raised.
Tomorrow you get the rest of the set, including perhaps the most important development in the base set since… well since forever: The Lands.