Part 1 of this set review can be found here: White
As with yesterday’s White cards, today we are going to use the following scale for Guildpact’s Blue additions:
Constructed Unplayable
This card should not be played in Constructed under any normal circumstances, and will never generally be found in a competitive Constructed deck. Example: Sea Snidd
Playable – Role Player
This card is either 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: Discombobulate
Playable — Staple
This card is played in any decks and strategies where it would be appropriate, almost without question. When the card is absent, we start asking questions. Example: Counterspell
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 builds. 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: Time Spiral
Let’s go!
Aetherplasm
The effect of Aetherplasm is quite striking. For four mana, you have the opportunity for both a Natural Order-esque acceleration effect and immediate card advantage via winning a fight with a smaller opponent. Block your Selesnya Guildmage and replace Aetherplasm with Borborygmos; squish. Clearly, Natural Order would be a strong card to play — assuming the metagame didn’t hate it out of existence — but this isn’t just a Natural Order… a lot of dominoes have to fall the right way for Aetherplasm to work.
Do you have a spicy muffin in hand to trade places? Natural Order would let you hunt for a lone Verdant Force or Sliver Queen, but with Aetherplasm, some uncastable Ponza-esque threat or defender has to be ready to trade zones.
Will your opponent be stupid enough to crack into Aetherplasm given the potential disincentives? If the answer is “yes,” you’ll won without it 80% of the time anyway, or you’re dead to the overflow (if not both).
Do you have a reasonable expectation to tap four for a 1/1 and then have it stick around until your declare blockers step? If the answer is “yes,” then maybe this is a sideboard card for matchups that have neither creature elimination nor Glare of Subdual.
You can’t tell but I’m looking straight up with my hands behind my back, whistling. Yes, I am doing that right now. Nothing to see here. Moving on…
Constructed Unplayable
Crystal Seer
This guy will be a house in DC10.
Constructed Unplayable
Drowned Rusalka
This Spirit compares reasonably to Hapless Researcher, who was a contributor in decks from Block Deep Dog to Extended Reanimator. In some decks, the Researcher replaced Careful Study. In others, it got Ninja of the Deep Hours up in that grill. Drowned Rusalka differs from Hapless Researcher in two key areas. First, its ability has a specific mana requirement. Second, you discard first and then draw a card. The former is clearly a disadvantage, but the latter is only ostensibly weak. Theoretically, Hapless Researcher would give you greater control over your discard (you might not like the new card), but on the other hand, the Researcher would, under most circumstances, imply a net loss of card advantage in the short term; with the Rusalka, you can play down to 0 cards in hand and play the ability for an implied even (I don’t actually think that the Rusalka will be playing to a profit more often than a deck with Madness and Flashback, but the difference bears mentioning).
That said, I think Drowned Rusalka has some potential. At the very least, it can be used to keep counters off the Jitte. Moreover, Drowned Rusalka, in tandem with other draw/discard creatures, should be able to activate a Life from the Loam-based Dredge engine. The problem is that I don’t think that even the most focused version of such a deck would be able to compete in Standard. Look at this first pass:
Creatures (28)
- 4 Sakura-Tribe Elder
- 4 Ninja of the Deep Hours
- 4 Birds of Paradise
- 4 Thought Courier
- 4 Firemane Angel
- 4 Golgari Grave-Troll
- 4 Drowned Rusalka
Lands (20)
Spells (12)
It seems like a mess, right? The thing is, you can’t play a creature deck without at least trying to win the Jitte war. Unlike in Extended, you’re forced to play all the Jittes you can, if that is your goal in life. This is quite depressing, given the volume of Jittes that will hit the bin due to Dredge. There are lots of neat para-Extended plays this deck can claw into. Its long game, with multiple Golgari Grave-Trolls and Life from the Loam online, seems very strong… but there are too many “ifs” along the way for my liking in the current Standard. Can even the strongest draw realistically fight Tide Star, Meloku, or even Icy Manipulator?
Maybe when the U/G Guild hits Dissention this card will deserve a closer look, and maybe it will see Block play with Fists of Ironwood or some such. For now, I think Drowned Rusalka is essentially Constructed Unplayable, even if I won’t rate it as such given the fact that I can imagine actual — if not successful — decks where it could contribute.
Playable – Role Player
Frazzle
I don’t see Frazzle ousting Mana Leak, Remand, Hinder, or Rewind from the main Blue decks in Standard, and certainly it is not good enough for any known Extended deck. That said, Discombobulate and Vex have shown us that almost any hard counter can find a warm home, regardless of cost; Frazzle has the advantage of being splashable. This card will definitely see Block play, and enterprising Green mages will sideboard it in to defeat some other hapless Green mage who taps all his mana for something big and dumb. Welcome to the City of Guilds.
Playable – Role Player
Gigadrowse
A big division in Standard around the time of Champs, and to a lesser extent today, is the horrible Mono-Blue player versus the not-quite-as-terrible Blue player. The good players knew (and know) when to drop their pants and stick the Legend. The bad players ran their Jushi decks like they were 1997 Draw-Go variants, and were buried under well-played offensive sequences.
Gigadrowse is going to test Blue players even more. It is not just the new Mana Short, but also a crazy great test spell in general due to the intersection of the Replicate mechanic and the word “Instant” in the middle of the card. I like any cards that can keep counters off the Jitte while maintaining some level of flexibility elsewhere, and this card falls into that category. I don’t know if it is maindeck worthy, but Gigadrowse will definitely impact the upcoming Constructed formats, Pro Tour, Unified, and Block.
Playable — Staple
Hatching Plans
This card is kind of the worst Flagship of all time, but Ben Bleiweiss says it will be broken. Hatching Plans can only be broken in a deck designed to do so; ergo, this card is not and cannot by definition be Staple. I suppose you could play Hatching Plans in a kooky deck using Seed Spark to get maximum A#1 card advantage, but really, that seems a bit too cute for me; in that case, it would be a terrible limiting factor, protecting your potentially stray Seed Sparks (therefore not very good). A reasonable historical precedent is the Zvi Mowshowitz/Scott Johns U/W deck from US Nationals 2001 which ran Tsabo’s Web and Dismantling Blow for the long game, but notice how much more efficient that synergy is. I think I prefer this card in a Flagship role.
In Type 1, before the widespread Star City Vintage community really took off, the best players of the day (Chapin, Pustilnik, Weissman) correlated a 1:1 between a resolved Ancestral Recall and a game win. This is interesting in the sense that in smaller formats (i.e. Standard), players get plus-two card advantage all the time and still fail to win. This probably says something about the power level of the cards being provided by the quick “Ancestral,” meaning that it might not be good enough to Hatch the old plans at all.
Side it in with Leave no Trace against Annex Wildfire? Is there anything worse than siding a “win more” compliment in that works only when your primary strategy breaker also shows up?
Playable – Flagship (leaky leaky) or Role Player (you pick)
Infiltrator’s Magemark
The “can’t be blocked” ability isn’t even unconditional. What if he sideboards in Peregrine Mask?
Constructed Unplayable
Leyline of Singularity
“Boom goes the dynamite!”
This card is the sickest Leyline. One of the things I like about Singularity is that all the good Blue threats are legendary anyway, so this card has no telling downside. The opening hand freebie aspect is actually a deterrent, I think, because the best use for Leyline of Singularity will be in fighting the G/W Selesnya Block deck (it is the anti-Hour of Reckoning), and you don’t necessarily want to give the opponent a chance to Seed Spark the Leyline before it can squish Saprolings. It seems better, at least conditionally, to play this card like a Wrath of God (same cost) that kills every Saproling, demands a permanent removal answer, and might chomp on some Guildmages or Pachyderms as well.
Playable – Role Player
Mimeofacture
Mimeofacture is a solid answer card for today’s Standard, and at high amounts of mana, this card can also present reasonable or powerful threats. For four mana, a Blue mage can nix the opponent’s Meloku most of the time. For eight, he can suddenly walk away with Meloku advantage while greatly decreasing the opponent’s long-term ability to re-establish the same. If this isn’t impressive to you, consider that I almost always answer Meloku by playing my own Meloku, and Mimeofacture is simply the more mana efficient way to do this. At four mana, you can run Mimeofacture with Mana Leak backup.
Now replace “Meloku” with “Umezawa’s Jitte.” I don’t know if this is the best, but Jitte advantage is so important to so many matchups these days, and most of the decks that can cast Mimeofacture (that care about Jitte advantage) can muster eight mana without much difficulty. This card is not fast, and might not be maindeck quality, but the cards I plan to use it to fight are not fast, either.
Of course you can point Mimeofacture against non-legendary threats. In some cases, you might also have a better chance of hitting (there are decks that play only one Meloku, for some bizarre reason).
Playable – Role Player
Quicken
Quicken is probably the most significant card, long term, to appear in this set. The applications are as numerous as the sorceries in a format. You can tack it onto Tidings and get a pretty serviceable Opportunity. You can sweep the board at the end of the opponents turn so as to leave one monolithic threat in play at the end of yours. You can respond to an opponent’s threat with sorcery speed card draw in order to find countermagic of your own.
You can probably do some downright broken things, too.
There are worse things in life than picking up three for Ideas Unbound after the “at end of turn” trigger hits.
Playable — Staple
Repeal
One of the best anti-token defensive cards of all time, Repeal is going to put a big hurt on Call of the Herd in Extended, even as the remaining disciples of Mongrel start leafing through the new Gruul toys. I love any cheap card that tells me to draw an extra one at the end, and I really love any card that can keep counters off the Jitte… Repeal is just gravy utility from top to toes… If I didn’t love pointing Boomerang at the opponent’s first land so much, I’d say this card was an automatic inclusion in Jushi Blue; it should probably start off as a sideboard all-star regardless.
Playable — Staple
Runeboggle
Complicate barely saw play and it was strictly better than Runeboggle. The original from Ice Age, which was essentially Runeboggle under the old timing templates, didn’t see play at all. If nothing else, this card gives a third copy of the Force Void family for Mental Magic, which is fun for me but not very useful to most Constructed Magic players.
Constructed Unplayable
Sky Swallower
I am trying to imagine a setup where I had five mana to play Sky Swallower but I could withstand having my board — an implied five mana, at least — stolen. When Sky Swallower comes down, that’s your all-in. You can’t really expect backup that is on par with what the opponent can produce with nine-plus mana. This card is officially gawd-awful against common answer cards like Putrefy, Icy Manipulator, Dream Leash, Confiscate, and even Boomerang. If it were north of 10/8 I would be willing to consider it, but the downsides are just too enormous for consideration.
Sway of the Stars combo, maybe?
Constructed Unplayable
Steamcore Weird
History has been less lavish in its praise of Thornscape Battlemage than its contemporary, the incomparable Flametongue Kavu… but it’s hard to argue with that superb Grey Ogre’s relevance in Block, and to a smaller degree in Standard Constructed. Late in Invasion Block, G/R/u beatdown often sideboarded Thornscape Battlemage and didn’t play the 4/2 at all, believe it or not.
While Standard U/R decks are pretty firmly entrenched in their card choices at present, the fact that both the Annex Wildfire style and UrzaTron decks pack Signets may leave the door open for Steamcore Weird. This card is a superb play against a beatdown deck on turn three, buying time for the deck to set up its more expensive bomb cards. Additionally, Steamcore Weird is a source of Blue damage. It can take out cards like Paladin en-Vec 187-style, and dance past Circle of Protection: Red, so the card is a potential sideboard addition for Red Deck Wins.
Look for this card to chomp and block many a 1/1 Saproling in the two or three set tournaments.
Playable – Role Player
Stratozeppelid
Air Elemental isn’t good enough.
Constructed Unplayable
Thunderheads
Once upon a time there was a card called Tidal Wave. Tidal Wave won the Pro Tour. I would say that it won the sixty-card Pro Tour but Justin Schneider, using a deck built by Mike Long, actually ran sixty-three cards, with Tidal Wave in his sideboard.
Tidal Wave produced an effect quite similar to that of Thunderheads; the difference is that rather than a 3/3 creature (and maybe more), Tidal Wave created a single 5/5. Tidal Wave was somewhat important to Schneider’s win as certain threats — Ihsan’s Shade, for example — were Protection from White, and therefore not vulnerable to cards like Swords to Plowshares, of which he played three copies.
So, Thunderheads… one copy is actually not a great deal, as you would expect three mana for a 3/3 to be the standard for Constructed. The addition of flying is nice, though there is no guarantee you will be able to get a trade in against some of the more common flying creatures. Destroying multiple cards for six or nine mana is the real incentive here, and that doesn’t seem enough. Consider what Call of the Herd gives you for just one more mana — no restriction on when you can spend the Replicate or Flashback mana, no defender, no one turn limitation — and then evaluate if you think this card is a good deal. Were it not for Tidal Wave and its unlikely win at the Dallas Juniors, I would dismiss Thunderheads entirely, but the precedent of so similar a card makes me think there might be some potential here… maybe in Block?
Playable – Role Player (probably Constructed Unplayable)
Torch Drake
A 2/2 flyer for four mana with an additional ability is pretty much stock for a Blue or White Draft deck. Welcome to the world of Teremko Griffin and Tin-Wing Chimera.
Constructed Unplayable
Train of Thought
This card isn’t optimal at any drop, but it is almost good enough at every drop that it may warrant play… if that makes sense. Rather like this: you really want to hit Wild Mongrel on turn 2, but you’ll settle for Aquamoeba. Turn 4 rolls around, and what you really want is a Loxodon Hierarch but you suppose you’ll settle for a 1/1 Saproling if it’s free. It’s turn 6 and you would love to tap for Keiga, the Tide Star, but you suppose you can settle for Meloku and an end of turn or mid-combat 1/1 Illusion token. Ya grok?
On six mana, Train of Thought will net you two cards. This is one worse than Opportunity for the same mana, and at sorcery speed, but the fact that you can net one card on four mana — which is worse than instant Inspiration or the additional cards provided by either Concentrate or Deep Analysis — and basically cycle badly for a net zero draw gives the Replicate sorcery a measure of flexibility. It may find a spot in especially mana tight decks that sometimes have too many late game lands. Train of Thought is unlikely to be a first string card drawing choice in any regular deck, but it is at the same time a fairly likely choice for slot-filler.
Playable – Role Player
Vacuumelt
Can I trade the Replicate for a 2/2 body? Perhaps creature type Jellyfish? No? Then I really don’t think this card is good enough. Vacuumelt is profoundly worse than Repulse, Rushing River, Echoing Truth, and a host of other cards. If it were an instant, Vacuumelt might have a little virtue, but the combination of sorcery speed and weak effect means that this card does not make the cut.
Constructed Unplayable
Vedalken Plotter
Consider that Shifting Borders got a reasonable amount of play for UrzaTron defense… this card is cheaper and gives you a 1/1 body. Sure, you can’t Splice it all day, but you can do other things, like attack, block, and potentially bounce. Vedalken Plotter isn’t going to start there, but I predict it will be a first string defensive measure against all kinds of mischief, from Urza’s Tower to Vitu-Ghazi, the City Tree (from the second string fifteen, of course).
Playable – Role Player
Vertigo Spawn
“Okay, last card.
“Constructed Unplay-
“What’s that?
“Jon Sonne made Top 8 of US Nationals with Kaijin of the Vanishing Touch you say?
“That’s imp-
“Okay, I suppose ‘impossible’ isn’t precisely the word I’m looking for…
“No, I don’t think Vertigo Spawn is as good as, sadly, Kaijin of the Vanishing Touch. It doesn’t force the opponent to actually re-play the creature in question, and doesn’t bin tokens for all time. That said, it creates almost the exact same kind of slowdown effect, can buy time for bomb decks, and force the opponent to commit more and more threats for sweepers.
“Constructed Unplay-
“Fine. Fine!”
Playable – Role Player
Here is my short list for Guildpact Blue, nearly three times as long as my White card equivalent:
Quicken
Probably the defining card of the set. Quicken is going to make life difficult (or “interesting,” if that’s how you want to think of it) for players in wide formats like Vintage and Legacy. It is going to be relevant for the rest of us, too.
Gigadrowse
An incredible test spell, Gigadrowse is going to be a Blue-on-Blue powerhouse that allows one player to force down a bomb even when the opponent is gripping a hand full of countermagic. This card can keep counters off the Jitte, hold down Godo before he is declared as an attacker the first time in a turn, and generally cause headaches limited only by available Islands.
Repeal, Mimeofacture, and Steamcore Weird
Three board control cards that will help the Blue mage out of different kinds of sticky situations. Repeal is a generally good control card that makes life impossible for expensive tokens (if not necessarily Ravnica Block’s Saprolings of today). Mimeofacture is the Bribery of the set, making players like Jamie Wakefield cry at its mere existence, and everyone else rethink how they structure their sparse legendary offenses. With Steamcore Weird, a little bit of Flametongue Kavu joins the Blue ranks… even if it never leaves home.
Train of Thought
A reasonable engine spell, Train of Thought is the quintessential role player that reminds us never to underestimate cards that tell us to draw another.
Leyline of Singularity and Vedalken Plotter
Two fairly clunky defensive measures, Leyline of Singularity and Vedalken Plotter each have specific and relevant goals to accomplish. The latter, in particular, will be a new tool for Blue to use in its strategic war with… um… itself.
Up next, my favorite color.
LOVE
MIKE