Before I start, I am going to contextualize how I plan to run these set reviews. The first set review I did was for Ravnica, and I am going to use the same system this time around. Rather than doing a one-to-five star based system, I am going to use the ever-popular Ravnica system:
Constructed Unplayable
This card should not be played in Constructed under any normal circumstances, and should never be found in a competitive Constructed deck. Example: Chimney Imp, Giant Cockroach
Playable – Role Player
This card is either unspectacular and competing with cards that do the same thing more efficiently, or useful in only a limited number of decks. For whatever reason (redundancy, lack of better alternatives), the card is good enough to fill a role in a reasonable Constructed deck. Example: Shatter, Shock
Playable — Staple
This card is played in whatever decks and strategies where it would be appropriate, almost without question. When the card is absent, we start asking questions. Example: Birds of Paradise, Sakura-Tribe Elder
Playable — Flagship
This card has a powerful or unique effect, so much so that we build decks around it rather than fitting it into existing ones. Quite often the presence of this card allows for new archetypes to be explored. In some cases, those archetypes are not very good (but without their flagships, we would never even ask the question). Example: Mind’s Desire, Upheaval, Balancing Act, Replenish
Absolver Thrull
Just last week I ran a Gatherer search to see which was legal in Ninth Edition: Aven Cloudchaser or Cloudchaser Eagle (the answer is Aven Cloudchaser). The reason I ran this search was because I was considering playing the legal version in a G/x Sakura-Tribe Elder deck in Standard. Forgetting for a moment about the decks that rely on Annex and Glare of Subdual, today’s Standard is this crazy world where people are hard casting Confiscate in any deck that produces Blue mana (except, ironically, the mono-Blue ones).
I think a point of toughness might be more useful than flying for a creature that is played for the sole purpose of smashing enchantments; for example, Annex Wildfire uses Pyroclasm as its default creature elimination spell. The ability to fly, while relevant, is levied in context against a deck with relatively few interactions; Kokusho, the Evening Star can block either a 2/3 ground-based creature or a 2/2 flyer. All in all, Absolver Thrull seems a superb utility card. While not a default choice in a world with Seed Spark and Aven Cloudchaser, this represents a reasonable option. I certainly wouldn’t feel bad playing Congregation at Dawn for as many as three, depending on the matchup (even if I only started one).
Playable – Role Player
Belfry Spirit
This card is not nearly as bad as it looks at first glance. I would not typically advocate playing a 1/1 flyer for five mana, but nevertheless, Belfry Spirit compares reasonably to Ordered Migration, for whatever that is worth. Ordered Migration was played to success by multiple decks in Invasion Block (all of them being Domain decks, of course), and Belfry Spirit shares the ability to put five power of 1/1 flyers into play for five mana. While I don’t think Belfry Spirit will knock down a lot of doors, I wouldn’t be surprised if it found a home as the clunkiest 5/5 flyer for five mana in the history of Magic.
Constructed Unplayable (unlikely but may be Playable – Role Player)
Benediction of Moons
So let’s say that half the time you get the Haunt ability off, and half the time you don’t… That gives Benediction of Moons an expected value of plus-three life at sorcery speed. Considering the fact that Healing Salve (plus-three life at instant speed or three damage prevention) was barely good enough for Limited, precedent doesn’t bode well for the Benediction. Maybe in Two-Headed Giant? Probably not.
Constructed Unplayable
Droning Bureaucrats
A 1/4 for four mana is pretty standard for a White defensive creature (Teroh’s Faithful et al). I actually like this creature as it taps to turn off every token creature in the opponent’s deck (provided that he doesn’t already have Glare of Subdual in play) every turn. I don’t think Droning Bureaucrats has much going for it outside of that purpose, but that doesn’t mean that it won’t come up for this human to advise that, say, Yosei shouldn’t attack this turn. Stranger things have happened.
Playable – Role Player
Ghost Warden
At least Angelic Page was hot.
Constructed Unplayable
Ghostway
I don’t know if a lot of players will actually run Ghostway for this purpose, but it seems pretty good at Wrath of God or Wildfire defense; Second Sunrise, which had a similar ability for a similar cost, didn’t draw a lot of adoption. That said, unlike Second Sunrise, Ghostway is an asymmetrical effect (that is, it only works for your guys), so the updated version can be used to win fights.
Say it’s a symmetrical matchup… My 1/1 and 2/2 guys against yours. I crash with everyone. You block everyone. Because you get to pick where everyone goes, the advantage is all yours. You put your 2/2s in front of my 1/1s and two 1/1s in front of my 2/2s. You let a few points in, but you’re way ahead on the exchange. In fact, you are already counting up all the points you can do with your alpha counter-strike.
“Ghostway you!”
“How awful! Why am I in G/W again?”
Playable – Role Player
Graven Dominator
Graven Dominator is a difficult creature to evaluate. Generally speaking, a 4/4 flyer for six mana is nothing to write home about. In fact, in a world where Serra Angel isn’t good enough, yadda yadda yadda. However Graven Dominator has this strange ability that turns everything else into a 1/1. That could be good, right? The weird thing is that because you play Graven Dominator on your turn, it is difficult to take advantage of this ability without some strange biasing in the picture (for example, you are playing an otherwise creature-free deck). I suppose if you could somehow Flash Graven Dominator into play, it could save you a lot of life points… but you’ll probably Flash something stronger into play, if we’re honest. Even if you’ve got Caltrops out, it seems really odd to make a deck around this “combo.”
The most obvious application, given that this is a Guildpact White card, is with Orzhov Pontiff. I know that doesn’t seem very efficient, even if it is like a Wrath of God that leaves you a 4/4 flyer, but I’ve personally invented enough weird sideboard strategies involving misplaced six-mana guys to beat fast decks that I can’t really point fingers.
Playable – Role Player
Guardian’s Magemark
This card seems a little expensive for Constructed deck, but it has some relevant synergies with at least one existing strategy. The first thing I thought was that Tallowisp might use one copy to save multiple creatures from a sweeper, provided the littlest ones are wearing pants (something that can’t be done with Indomitable Will, necessarily). I don’t like this Magemark much, but I can still imagine it working in one deck that doesn’t get very much play in one very narrow situation.
Constructed Unplayable
Harrier Griffin
I really like Harrier Griffin’s ability, and I’m sure it will be fun in Limited, but I can’t get past the fact that for the same cost I could summon a card reading “the Tide Star” or “Bandit Warlord” at the end.
Constructed Unplayable
Leyline of the Meek
This actually combines almost every element that I hate in a card. First of all, Leyline of the Meek is much more expensive than analogues like Glorious Anthem, and twice as expensive as Crusade. Secondly, it is symmetrical. I dislike symmetrical cards even when I play them. Worst of all, for all its faults, Leyline of the Meek can help generate truly degenerate draws, and is therefore much better than it looks at first glance. The fact that you can start — quite draw dependently — with this card in your opening grip is a scary thing, given the cost of today’s tokens. Fists of Ironwood much?
Playable – Role Player
Lionheart Maverick
You’ve got to scrape pretty low to choose this card. It’s simply not good enough for Standard or Extended due to the presence of Isamaru, Hound of Konda, Savannah Lions, and the 1/1 flyer twins, Lantern Kami and Suntail Hawk. That said, Lionheart Maverick’s pump ability does demand a second look. A 1/1 creature with two abilities for one mana is actually ahead of the curve for White Weenie-type decks, and this one is at least conditionally more impressive than Soltari Foot Soldier and Benevolent Bodyguard. I wouldn’t expect Lionheart Maverick to prosper in any token heavy format (which, unfortunately, includes its own block)… like I said; you’ve got to scrape pretty low.
Constructed Unplayable (might be Playable – Role Player)
Martyred Rusalka
Martyred Rusalka’s ability would make it a potential all-star in another Collectable — sorry, Trading — Card Game. Aficionados of Magic: the Gathering can still take advantage of this Spirit, as a narrow answer to big investments in cards and mana, with token creatures playing breaker… that doesn’t really seem good enough to me. Vitu-Ghazi, the City Tree can at least chump block every turn without playing an additional investment of an otherwise useless card.
Constructed Unplayable
Order of the Stars
This card is fantastic. I don’t know if it is maindeck worthy, but Order of the Stars will be hell for the beatdown. With some kind of pump effect, Order of the Stars can cause serious problems, buying a great deal of time for a tiny mana commitment. Decks with no creature removal, or monochromatic beatdown decks, will have to think twice about how to get up-and-over (flying, trample, etc.) because one of these not only keeps an Arashi at bay, it keeps all counters off Umezawa’s Jitte.
I can see Order of the Stars as a sideboard card in Control, Combo, and even Aggro decks. It isn’t sexy; in fact, it’s quite limited… but the cost on Order of the Stars is so low that I can’t imagine dismissing it, provided the competitive landscape presents the right kind of beatdown decks to combat.
Playable — Staple
Shadow Lance
Firebreathing much?
Constructed Unplayable
Shrieking Grotesque
Let me ask you a question: if you had a two-drop that you would be willing to play, would you pay an extra mana to give it +1/+0 and flying? What if you got Wild Mongrel, but it was a 3/2 flyer to start… except you paid 1GW instead of 1G? That card would probably serve alongside Anurid Brushhopper, and kick Noble Panther out of Constructed contention for all time.
That said, Shrieking Grotesque is probably the best card overall in today’s batch. It’s a White card — technically not Gold or Guild — but Shrieking Grotesque can really only be played in a B/W deck, so it’s unfair to compare this spell with the relatively weaker monochromatic palette of Guildpact Part I. If the B/W attrition-advantage strategy is proven viable in Constructed, I’d imagine that Shrieking Grotesque would go straight in. The fact that it generates card advantage on the way down makes this relatively cheap threat a very nice compliment to Ghost Council of Orzhova. There’s nothing better than running two-for-one breakers with bombs that break symmetrical permanent counts (Flametongue Kavu, Phyrexian Rager, and Ravenous Rats in Braids).
Playable — Staple
Sinstriker’s Will
The list of things you can get for four mana that can contain threats —including a simple Faith’s Fetters — is too long to consider a card as conditional as this one; too many things can go wrong, or not fall into place, for Sinstriker’s Will to see Constructed play.
Constructed Unplayable
Skyrider Trainee
If this were a 3/3 flyer for 4W it still wouldn’t be good enough.
Constructed Unplayable
Spelltithe Enforcer
This card is a bit expensive for its role, at least the role that I perceive for it. I would love to see Spelltithe Enforcer actually in play against a Mind’s Desire deck — what a bloodbath — but you don’t usually get five turns against good combination decks. Maybe a spoiler out of Scepter-Chant’s sideboard? Probably not.
As a Sphere of Resistance, the combination of being asymmetrical and attached to a Hill Giant is nice, but, again, Spelltithe Enforcer seems a little slow. It’s cool that you can keep the opponent off curve if you play this in Standard the turn before he is going to hit his Godo or Dragon, but three toughness is a little short in a format with Lightning Helix, defined by Jitte and Wildfire.
Playable – Role Player
Storm Herd
The fact that I have been clamoring for something to do with ten mana in a White deck (musing on how to break Weathered Wayfarer in Standard) is not lost on me as I am called to review the card Storm Herd. The said review is “no, this isn’t what I want to replace Mindslaver with, either.”
Constructed Unplayable
To Arms!
There are a lot of applications for this card; all are very good, if conditional and potentially narrow. You can double up with Glare of Subdual. You can Alpha Strike and then surprise the opponent with a force of ready blockers. You can get in with Godo and Yosei… and the Morning Star can follow up for an extra five points, piggybacking Godo’s triggered combat ability. Any of these tricks can punish, or even bury, an opponent, but the nature of the decks that could take advantage of instant untaps is such that they would not typically play a card like Call to Glory.
Drawing a card for one or two mana (as opposed to a conditional +1/+1) on the other hand, has its own branch of Magic theory. When you combine a reasonable effect with the cantrip clause, strange things happen in the card selection department. Urza’s Bauble, Peek, and Bandage all have less spectacular effects than To Arms!… and all have seen play in reasonable, or even highly successful, Constructed decks. That To Arms! makes it past the Unplayable grade isn’t really up for debate as far as I can tell.
Playable – Role Player
Withstand
What a difference a mana makes!
I just spent two paragraphs talking about how viable To Arms! should be, but now I am going to naysay Withstand. The difference between two mana and three is sometimes minor, but sometimes profound. I like two-for-ones as much as the next guy, but I am not looking forward to spending three mana to fight a Volcanic Hammer. The problem is that you generally want your reactive cards to cost less than the cards they are fighting (an old Blue adage), and this card is almost guaranteed to be spending more. Better damage prevention cards that cost three mana have failed to make the grade in constructed when Red was much more of an immediate threat (Kor Chant), so I really don’t see Withstand redefining the battle lines.
Constructed Unplayable
Straight White seems a bit thin from the Constructed angle. That said, Guildpact is based on Gold and Guild themes, and therefore the lion’s share of good cards will be in a later section. The best cards, in my estimation, are:
Shrieking Grotesque
Ravenous Rats Plus (and probably alongside in Constructed).
Absolver Thrull
An alternative to the underplayed Aven Cloudchaser.
Ghostway or Order of the Stars
Both cards are reasonably fast; either one can help a sixty-card deck get past the beatdown. No great shakes in either case.
LOVE
MIKE