Cryptic Gateway
In every situation I think I would play this card, I realize I would probably already have the mana to cast the creature, or have already cast it. If you could have tapped two creatures to search your library for a creature of the type, well then it would work…
It doesn’t.
I opened a foil one of these and I only wish I had a microwave. Unfortunately, I broke my microwave giving Foil Mudhole the ride of its life.
Doom Cannon
More of a Sealed card than a Draft card due to its inherent slowness, the Doom Cannon seems meant to be either used with (I guess) Rotlung Reanimator, or with Symbiotic/Broodhatch creatures. You could use it with Mobilization, but that would be a horrifyingly slow way to win a game. Still, worth taking a look at even if you don’t have those cards; you can always trade dying creatures to add on a little more damage or whatever. Be weary of creature types, though.
Dream Chisel
My dream is to get this, Future Sight, and Ixidor on the table then scream”LOOK AT ME, I’M PLAYING THE NOVEL!” while sighting out morph creatures.
Wait, my God – that’s a nightmare. A horrible nightmare. No, no, I don’t sniff glue; don’t make me play this horrible card! Darkest Dreams to life? This is the darkest dream! It’s the bastard son of Memory Crystal and Illusionary Mask, and they named it”Suck!”
Riptide Replicator
The number of combos this card can do is equal to or greater than the number with Imagecrafter…. And that’s a lot. And there’s one booster card from each color: Catapult Squad, Wirewood Savage, Aether Charge, Death Match, Peer Pressure, so on. Really, you can just win the game with it by itself. Funny thing, if you had two of these, you could make for a really ridiculous Elvish Guidance. Ha ha.
Or you could go back to smoking da Dream Chisel. Groovy.
In Constructed, the Slate is generally a”Win more” card, since you tend to either have a lot of creatures on the board and be winning, or have none and then the Slate is useless. In Limited formats, however, the Slate redeems itself. I haven’t a lot of experience with the card – but generally, if you get the Slate active and the creatures flying out of your hand, you will probably either win the game or manage to deck yourself. The amount of card drawing possible with this card is ridiculous.
As for combos, I would say it likes the symbiotic creatures – although drawing seven or more cards isn’t something you can do many times. And remember not to discard too much; the Slate stops working after a Wrath and you don’t want to be sitting there with an empty hand like a complete moron.
Tribal Golem
The Golem has no bad abilities, but the best combination is probably Black / Blue, especially alongside an Imagecrafter – Flying and Haste the first turn, then Regeneration or First Strike when necessary later on. There isn’t a lot that your opponent can do about such a creature without first removing the Imagecrafter/Mistform Dreamer first, especially if he isn’t playing black. Not exactly a bomb rare, but a pretty good one anyways. Good as a first pick since you don’t have to commit and all it’s abilities are decent enough. In White/Red, its a 4/4 First-striking hasted trample at times? Cool, eh?
Cycling Lands
Play them, k?
Fetch Lands
Generally good. Wrong block. But still good!
Contested Cliffs
While it requires a commitment to green/red, or at least a splash (Birchlore Rangers works, too) of red in your deck, the Cliffs are extremely powerful. Even if you’re just using them to trade off your beasts during combat or picking off his smaller critters with your larger ones, reusable burn/removal has long been known to be broken in Limited. This card satisfies those roles… And even lets you play an extra mana source without it being a dead card in the late game. Smooth.
Daru Encampment
I wouldn’t get excited, but it’s a good way to deal extra damage with Gustcloak Harriers/Gustcloak Skirmishers, or to enhance/protect your soldiers in combat. One of those cards that adds to a win subtly – but not so directly as to make you first-pick it.
Goblin Burrows
Same ting as the Encampment – but even better with flying goblins. Well, there’s one. Swing for three! Evasive goblin damage!
Grand Coliseum
Actually, this is probably better than City of Brass or painlands in limited, since it will always be functional in your deck (over pain lands, which require a commitment to two colors) or won’t burn you out over a long game. The comes into play tapped thing isn’t that big a deal as in constructed, where that waited turn can cost you the game, over the whole ‘getting mana screwed’ thing, which will cost you the game.
Riptide Laboratory
Me: Yeah, but you can use the lab to bounce your opponent’s wizards, too.
Friend: No you can’t. Read the card. The spoiler was wrong.
Me: Damn, this card is crap.
Other friend: I just opened it as a rare in a pack.
Me : If it was foil, it could go the way of the Mudhole…
Seaside Haven
You’re tapping three land and sacrificing a creature to draw a single card? It could at least functional as well as Jalum Tome or something. Yeesh. A bad card.
This is more like it! While W/B isn’t necessarily with the most synergy, the whole cleric tribe does seem to work well with each other. The sanctum lets you do lots of fun things, and at times is worth playing without the white side. I mean, Fallen Cleric turns into four points of life loss, and when you consider you’ll like be having it die in combat while you’re at it, it’s not so bad.
Oh yeah – you could use this card with Riptide Replicator! And Imagecrafter!
…Which is what I said with almost every card in this set. Sigh.
Unholy Grotto
Cheap to use, and there are zombies worth getting back over and over again… Especially in Limited, where you really don’t mind getting your Rotlung Reanimator, Fallen Cleric or Gluttonous Zombie back. It’s like having more of a good card in your deck!
You could combo with with Fallen Cleric and Starlit Sanctum. That would be really slow, but you could win with it.
Wirewood Lodge
Wellwisher is the only Elf I’d want to untap often enough to warrant using this. So if you have three Wellwishers, then you should play this. If not, trying building that Trickery Charm + Krosan Restorer + Wirewood Lodge combo deck. Turn 3 win, assuming you can figure out something to cast with all that mana. Blaze? Great, now it’s three colors to boot.
What we need now, is a set like Tempest with lots of cool mechanics and combo cards. God I’m sick of this damn set. I love playing it… But writing about is like stabbing myself in the forehead with a fork. CREATURE TYPE! CREATURE TYPE! MORPH! Blargh. Like a two-year-old with a potato brain transplant wouldn’t notice Misery Charm + Imagecrafter or something.