Part 1 of this set review can be found here: White
Part 2 of this set review can be found here: Blue
Part 3 of this set review can be found here: Black
Part 4 of this set review can be found here: Red
Part 5 of this set review can be found here: Green
Blah blah blah blah blah the rating system:
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. In the case of multicolored cards, the effect may be a powerful one, but not justified by its cost. Example: Minotaur Illusionist, Yavimaya Kavu
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: Death Grasp, Razorfin Hunter
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: Prophetic Bolt, Vindicate
Playable — Flagship
This card has a powerful or unique effect, so much so that we build decks around it rather than fitting it into decks. 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: Fires of Yavimaya, Psychatog
Blah blah blah blah blah the gold:
Agent of Masks
Bleeder deck much?
I can’t think of a deck in the past where I would want to play Agent of Masks (though the similarly-costed Subversion was a successfully played sideboard card in my Pro Tour: New York 1999 Urza’s Block deck for breaking Worship), but then again I’ve yet to try to assemble a true Orzhov Bleeder… maybe a point a turn really matters in that deck. I would have to see the Bleeder in action a little more, understand its nuances better, before giving the final thumbs down on Agent of Masks. Right now it doesn’t seem like the kind of card that would make the cut. For five mana, Standard gives us Meloku, Arashi, North Tree, etc. so there isn’t much incentive for a 2/3 with a mediocre ability. I’ll keep my mind open… but not too open.
Playable – Role Player (likely Constructed Unplayable)
Angel of Despair
I was initially more excited about Angel of Despair than I am now, after a few weeks of reflection. There is no doubt that this card is “efficient” as far as seven drops with multiple relevant abilities go, and certainly no doubt that the Angel’s “Vindicate” ability is fantastic. Like many players, I immediately compared it mentally to Desolation Angel (this one is a little bit bigger), a card that looked fairly weak to start but ended up defining its own block.
Angel of Despair will clearly see a lot of play in Block, and some play in Standard, but I don’t think it is as good as some players are making out. In terms of card advantage and overall playability, it doesn’t stack up to the sevens we are most eager to play (Eternal Dragon), and it will have a tough time competing with the best of Standard’s sixes. That said, I certainly can’t give this Angel anything less than Staple because it will be played in any Block B/W deck that can ramp to seven, almost without question. I just don’t like this card in any format where you are likely to see Mana Leak, Remand, and the like, because ostensibly impressive sevens are exactly the kinds of threats that today’s Blue Control decks like making unimpressive on the numbers.
One thing I really dislike about the Angel is the number of colored mana in the cost. Were it 5WB — or even 6WB — instead of 3WWBB, the Angel could be played in UrzaTron decks with Orzhov Signet or Orzhov Basilica; for now, it works only in a dedicated Bleeder deck or a specially formulated Green or Blue build. I think the UrzaTron-friendly conjectural version would have been better against Blue… but I guess R&D didn’t want players splashing; quite understandable on that count.
Playable — Staple
Blind Hunter
I’ve seen this card compared to Highway Robber in the forums, and that is something that did not originally occur to me. I was going to give the Blind Hunter the unconditional Constructed Unplayable, but the Bat is functionally better than Highway Robber, and Highway Robber saw play in Block and a little bit of Standard.
The difference between these cards is that Blind Hunter can fly and Highway Robber was a Mercenary. Being able to fly is more important when the cards are down, but being a Mercenary is much more important when considering whether a card is going to appear at all. Most Highway Robbers I saw in Block came not down, but out of decks, via Cateran Slaver and the like as finishers against Story Circle, or went infinite chump with Haunted Crossroads.
That discussion aside, I am wary about giving death sentences to B/W cards right now because everyone keeps saying how playable the Orzhov are, even as their cards are much more expensive and clunky than what we would normally consider good enough for Standard Control. Maybe the Bleeder race synergy is such that 2/2 creatures for four are good enough as long as they do something. I seem to remember the effectiveness of Solemn Simulacrum, which had no Ghost Council holding its hand.
Playable – Role Player (I’d say B/W in particular, but that should be obvious from the mana cost).
Borborygmos
Borborygmos is the quintessential Big, Dumb, and Unplayable rare fatty, but the metagame shift we are all predicting towards G/R actually makes it relevant to read his whole text box, despite the unattractive seven in the corner. Let me dial you back to the beginning of Odyssey Standard, when Call of the Herd was new and the Deadguys were inexplicably losing only to other G/R decks at the Invitational. By States ’02, Brian Kowal illustrated that even though G/R had fast cards like Raging Kavu, no fewer than three different G/R archetypes could be played in Standard, ranging from fast to glacial. The decks had different incentives (the fast ended up being the best when Wild Mongrel got really good and players like Scraps learned to cut the chaff), but in the days before Psychatog took off in Standard, the slowest deck had a lot going for it, too.
You see, the slower the G/R deck, the more favored it is in the mirror (oddly, the opposite is usually true for card advantage rich B/R decks). In Odyssey Standard, the faster G/R deck, with its Minotaur Explorers and Yavimaya Barbarians, would inevitably run into the Beast Attacks of the opponent; everyone was trading Elephant tokens and 4/2 Flametongue Kavus, so that element of card advantage was a wash… The medium-slow decks had twice the Flashback, but Kowal was the only person I know who bragged about the Shivan Dragons in his sideboard… “No one has a slower G/R deck than I do!”
It made sense in the context of the Invasion/Planeshift/Apocalypse plus Odyssey Standard… The elimination in the format was mostly two and four damage, so nothing that was typically played could answer the Dragon. At the same time, other slow G/R decks would stall against the Elephant and Beast tokens of Kowal’s G/R. That left the door wide open for Shivan Dragon to Kibler over and mop up unopposed.
Think of Borborygmos in the context of this kind of threat. It is certainly not good enough on its face, but in the sideboard for Block or possibly Standard Green-on-Green? Stranger things have certainly happened; once upon a time in G/R on G/R, Mr Jonathan Magic ran City of Brass in his G/R for the sole purpose of killing the opponent’s Shivan Wurms, despite the fact that the matchup was all about Birds of Paradise, Saproling Burst, and chump blocking. The mana acceleration in Standard especially makes Borborygmos a surprisingly realistic play.
Big and Dumb Rating: 1.10
Playable – Role Player
Burning-Tree Bloodscale
This creature is far too conditional to be played in Standard… It is a Hill Giant only half the time, and the rest of the day it spends as a 2/2 for four. Burning-Tree Bloodscale has some abilities, great; they aren’t good enough and, in fact, I already forgot what they are.
Big and Dumb Rating: .67
Constructed Unplayable
Burning-Tree Shaman
Now this is a Gruul creature I can get behind.
Burning-Tree Shaman is bigger than the standard for its mana cost, which would put it in contention for Constructed even if it didn’t have an additional ability. Its ability is a doozy!
The quintessential big and dumb Green creature (for its cost), Burning-Tree Shaman is not only big, he punishes everyone who tries to be clever. If you ever get two of these guys in play at the same time, cards like Psychatog and Wild Mongrel become really, really painful (having just one will counter most of their utility, and that of Arcbound Ravager, to begin with). A spectacular creature.
Big and Dumb Rating: 1.28
Playable — Staple
Castigate
This card is almost the same as Distress. The difference is that Castigate is easier to cast in a Standard Orzhov deck, while being useless in a Mono-Black Control deck. Distress was fine in Block but got little Standard play; I would expect Castigate to do a bit better (Staple in Block and possibly Staple in Standard) for two reasons: 1) R&D is really encouraging a B/W deck (when there was little incentive to Mono-Black Control), and 2) Life from the Loam, Grave-Shell Scarab, and other Dredge cards are extremely potent in all the Constructed formats right now; this card is a true answer to B/G’s mighty engines.
While it is a little more expensive than Duress, Castigate is probably worth the extra White mana, in the Orzhov Bleeder at least. We don’t actually have Duress right now, and the additional graveyard hate has uses.
Playable — Staple
Cerebral Vortex
Oh you, Matt Cavotta. This is a clever name (the outermost layer of the cerebrum — the cerebral cortex — has a gray color, hence the name “gray matter”).
I would actually be willing to pay three mana and two life for two cards, but that’s just me. This card is probably also — or perhaps more frequently — going to be used to pop opponents who have drawn a ton of cards in a turn. You tap out for Tidings? Take seven… and discard at the end of turn while you’re at it. Cerebral Vortex is a good hoser for Heartbeat Combo, or other combo, decks… and it’s serviceable in the abstract.
Playable — Staple
Conjurer’s Ban
I am surprised at some of the weak responses I have seen with regards to this card. My initial impression is that Conjurer’s Ban is awesome. It is actually going straight into my Orzhov decks in Alpha form, though whether it stays maindeck is not yet clear. Conjurer’s Ban is powerful in three different roles:
* It can be played as a “must counter” threat. In fact, if the opponent doesn’t counter this card, he might not be countering at all. I have built many Black Control decks (including the B/W deck I played at Pro Tour: Los Angeles) on the idea of sculpting a single perfect turn against Control decks. A turn where I am up by one card in hand, and can play more threats than the opponent can counter… this card fits perfectly into that strategy, allowing the Orzhov Bleeder to resolve a game winner even through a wall of permission.
* You can name “Island” on turn two (replace this with Forest, Swamp, Mountain, Plains, whatever). You may or may not Turf Wound the opponent into next week. You may miss, you may get lucky, you may be up against Red Deck Wins (and Wins and Wins), which has only one non-Mountain land. Given the variety of different non-basic lands in Standard and Extended (and probably Block), this card is not going to be a backbreaker every game, but it will win single-handedly win the game on turn two a disgusting number of times. If the opponent didn’t have a one-drop, he will probably give you a cantrip Specter’s Wail in addition to a faux Boomerang. Point of reference: even some Disrupting Scepter decks played the one Black Vise in 1996 for the random screwjob wins.
* It’s a cantrip. The biggest intangible advantage Blue Control decks have over every other kind is the ability to lace their land drops together. Opt, Telling Time, and even Remand allow Blue decks with the same number of lands hit drops where a B/W deck would fall prey to short term screw (or flood). Any kind of cheap cantrip helps address this issue, and in this case, the card can serve as a Solfatara or endgame puzzle piece; without Undead Gladiator and Eternal Dragon, my B/W deck would not have been viable; ditto on Tainted Pact in Odyssey Mono-Black Control, where that was one of the best decks (if not the best).
Playable – Role Player (may be Staple)
Culling Sun
This card is pretty weird. It costs a full Black mana more than Wrath of God, and simply isn’t as good. You can make an argument that Culling Sun is a strictly worse card (the creatures can potentially regenerate), but that isn’t clear because you may want to keep three-mana-plus creatures around (say, your Ghost Council of Orzhova).
I can’t imagine any Block B/W deck that didn’t access at least some number of Culling Suns, so I am listing it as Staple even though I don’t think it is that great a card. For Team Constructed this will allow a team to diversify White cards across multiple decks if need be.
Playable — Staple
Dune-Brood Nephilim
This card is definitely not Constructed Unplayable, but I just can’t think of a deck that would want to play it. Maybe there is some kind of weird Nephilim Voltron deck that is good enough but unseen at present.
Think of it like this: yes, Dune-Brood Nephilim is one of the four Green ones, but it is still really difficult to play. Assuming you could get an impossibly costed creature in on turn 4, are you really looking to deal three damage and produce four Sand creature tokens? The number of tokens will definitely get out of hand given time, but given the relatively small size of this creature combined with its lack of evasion, it seems a strange plan to choose.
Big and Dumb Rating: 1.00
Playable – Role Player (somebody write him a role)
Electrolyze
I don’t have to review this card. It’s five stars all the way for any deck that can play it. Electrolyze is better in any U/R deck than Watchwolf is in G/W, and non-Izzet dedicated decks — like Sunforger decks, for instance — will bend over backwards to incorporate it.
Look for Electrolyze to be played in force at PT Honolulu.
Playable — Staple
Feral Animist
This card is a lot better than it looks. Seriously. Yes, you can get a 3/4 with an unconditionally amazing ability for the same mana. No, 2/1 combat creatures for three mana are not in high demand, and the first pump on Feral Animist is decidedly sub-Firebreathing.
But it goes large.
Look at the progression of damage that can be accomplished with Feral Animist:
3 mana: 4
6 mana: 8
9 mana: 16
With an Umezawa’s Jitte:
3 mana: 12
6 mana: 24
9 mana: 48
I’m not saying that connecting with the Animist is easy, but I am unwilling to completely dismiss a card that can go lethal for what is currently considered reasonable resource dedication in a Green deck. Maybe it can go in some sort of kooky mana engine/Fling deck, or something.
Big and Dumb Rating: .78
Playable – Role Player
Gelectrode
Gelectrode will be a superb sideboard card. It seems a bit fragile for fighting real creature decks or burn decks, but this 0/1 with Goblin Sharpshooter aspirations is going to take all kinds of names alongside card drawing, Shocks, and other instants.
Playable – Role Player
Ghost Council of Orzhova
Zvi said this is the best reason to play Orzhov; I can accept that. It is probably going to be played only in Orzhov because the mana is so strict. I think that even Selesnya or Golgari would have a rough time of it, but, then again, it is probably not out of the question to run this guy in a token friendly Green as a five-drop.
Ghost Council of Orzhova will probably be best in a curve B/W with Ravenous Rats and Shrieking Grotesque, one that can play aggressively or hang back to win attrition wars.
Playable — Staple
Glint-Eye Nephilim
I am actually much more excited about hitting people with this Nephilim than its Dune-Brood brother. There is a strong precedent for creatures that discard cards to grant +1/+1 in this game, which I’m sure crossed all of your minds when you first read this card’s game text.
If you ever connect with Glint-Eye Nephilim, expect to pump the fist, because madcap excitement will ensue even with no power increase. The problem is that a 2/2 for four mana has no expectation to live to its first attack step, and less expectation of getting through for damage. Don’t forget that Glint-Eye Nephilim is twice as difficult to play as Psychatog and twice as expensive as Wild Mongrel; moreover, it has a mana activation cost.
If you are going to play this card, you will have to build a deck around it, and chances are, Glint-Eye Nephilim is not going to earn the majority of that deck’s wins.
Big and Dumb Rating: .92
Playable – Role Player
Goblin Flectomancer
Goblin Flectomancer is a cheaper, if more difficult to play, Deflection… with legs. Brian Weissman and George Baxter advocated Deflection for its inherent card advantage back in ’95, and I see the Flectomancer as being better than Deflection in every possible way (assuming a Constructed deck could cast it).
I am all about proactive elements in Control decks. I tap out on turns 2, 3, 5, and 6 with great regularity, and don’t see why I wouldn’t run this card against any deck that didn’t play, say agnostic global removal. That might mean that Goblin Flectomancer is a sideboard card only, but that isn’t really a slight against a card at all. Can you imagine it against Boros Deck Wins? That is a deck where Goblin Flectomancer could and should suck… but if the opponent wants to get through your Meloku, he has to kill your Flectomancer first. Take six from Char? How humiliating is that? If you Shock his Kami of Ancient Law, the opponent might have to worry about a legitimate race in the early game even… And Boros Deck Wins should be a mediocre place to sideboard in the card.
You know all the times your Hattori-Hanzo Tron opponent sides out his Pyroclasms? He can forget about winning with Blaze, Boseiju or no. You know that Annex your Wildfire opponent was planning to aim at your Boilerworks turn 4? I hope he can appreciate shooting at his own stuff (I’d take that trade in a second). Goblin Flectomancer will allow any Izzet deck to play CounterSliver, even the ones that are supposed to be true Control or Combo, and that allows them to change matchup paradigms and dictate the terms of victory at will. Deceptively awesome card.
Playable — Staple
Ink-Treader Nephilim
This card doesn’t make any sense to me. I try to look at the Nephilim by what color each one is missing; like the one that doesn’t have Green has sort of a Ninjitsu thing going on, and Ninjitsu is a Black and Blue ability (Green’s enemies). This Nephilim, which doesn’t include Black, can be targeted by Terror-ish removal, so it can spread that Terror around like dem legs (which differentiates it a little bit from other R/W Nephilim).
The best thing I can think of is Shocking my own guy so that I can kill all the opponent’s tokens and 2/2s and get in with my 3/3. Role Player!
Big and Dumb Rating: .83
Playable – Role Player
Izzet Chronarch
Both Scrivener and Anarchist have seen Constructed play; this guy is both, so I don’t see any barrier to Constructed play, albeit not necessarily in huge volumes. I don’t think that Empty the Catacombs is good enough, but if some kind of real Living Death appears, look for Izzet Chronarch to go Staple and then immediately start ruling Standard.
Playable – Role Player
Killer Instinct
Let’s look at the obvious: Killer Instinct is a six mana enchantment; you have to actually resolve it and then you have to pray it is play when your upkeep rolls around, at which point you have to have a good enough creature on top of your deck that you end up saving mana eventually. Um… um… yes?
Man, this card would KICK ASS at 1G.
Theoretically, if you can get this Enchantment into play (say the turn your Blue opponent taps out for his Tide Star), you can use Sensei’s Divining Top and creatures with superstar comes-into-play and leaves-play abilities to roll through counter decks. Running out might be an issue, but a one-time resolution (especially with equipment) can save a million mana and deal sufficient damage.
Another option (and probably the intended one) is for fun decks to Seething Song this out and then smash with really expensive creatures that have respectable Big and Dumb Ratings.
If it were me, I’d rather just resolve an actual decent six-mana spell.
Constructed Unplayable
Leap of Flame
Two mana, one damage, kind of. What deck would this go into?
Constructed Unplayable
Mortify
Mortify is the White Putrefy… obviously. Putrefy is universally played in Standard and Extended, and very good players advocate it over Smother in big formats that include Psychatog. Differences include allowing for regeneration, which is only rarely a big deal, and being unable to destroy Umezawa’s Jitte in Standard; on balance, Mortify is one of only a few maindeck worthy cards that the Orzhov Bleeder can use to fight Annex. I’m pretty sure that Orzhov is going to be one of the most mana intensive decks in recent memory, so not getting wrecked by two-for-ones on the mana should be important; less so is the option of eliminating Glare of Subdual, but it’s still worth mentioning.
Playable — Staple
Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind
Interesting ability or no, Niv-Mizzet is considerably worse than any of the playable Kamigawa Dragons. He almost does five on offense like the Spirit cycle, but can’t fight the same way on defense. Because of that, he isn’t good enough on the fundamentals.
That said, Niv-Mizzet is definitely good enough to play, because of its two card combination with Curiosity, which may be an issue in some future Extended rogue deck. The card merits potential Johnny exploration but should not be ubiquitous in U/R decks in the same way Yosei is in G/W, or so good that G/R decks will splash for it, like Keiga.
Playable – Role Player
Orzhov Pontiff
I think that all the potential catalyst cards will see Constructed play in B/W because, well, the strategy seems to be about eking out small advantage after small advantage. The Haunt ability is also particularly easy to set up via Ghost Council of Orzhova… if you can get damage on the stack? Sweep away.
Playable — Staple
Pillory of the Sleepless
Arrest and Cage of Hands have seen play at three mana, so I don’t see why Pillory of the Sleepless wouldn’t appear in Block at least. It is worse than the existing Staples in almost every deck, but there are still potential reasons to play this card. For one, Orzhov doesn’t smell like the fastest Guild to me, so maybe a point a turn will be relevant in the same way manaburn helped the old versions of Annex Wildfire establish any kind of a clock. Second, Pillory of the Sleepless is notoriously tutor eligible; the ability to find a card made Highway Robbers playable, as discussed above.
Playable – Role Player
Rumbling Slum
This card is awesome. The drawback on a 5/5 for four mana has to be pretty steep before players elect not to run it, and this one’s “drawback” is actually a Bloodthirst enabler as well as a faux sixth point for the race. The full four copies should see play in almost every G/R deck at Honolulu.
Big and Dumb Rating 1.33
Playable — Flagship
Savage Twister
The best thing about Savage Twister is that G/R is good this time. The card was probably good enough last time, but in Ravnica, it will appear in a premier deck archetype. When Savage Twister was around for the Mirage Block Pro Tour, the best deck was BloomDrain. There was no G/R deck to speak of in Weatherlight inclusive Pro Tour Qualifiers, and if there were, it wouldn’t have been able to deal with Man-o’-War, Memory Lapse, and Mind Harness, anyway.
This time there are cards like Rumbling Slum with five toughness, and Skarrgan Firebird with potentially six. The Twister will be able to knock down everything up to and including Loxodon Hierarch pre-combat to set up the big boom-boom through the Red Zone, essentially at will. This spell will be the bane of chump-intending Suntail Hawks everywhere, and may even score main deck adoption.
Playable — Staple
Scab-Clan Mauler
This card is so much worse than Watchwolf. If it were 2/2 base with Bloodthirst 1, Scab-Clan Mauler would be Staple straight in, but 1/1 for two is just not sexy. The Mauler benefits from Llanowar Elves, where a strike essentially puts the card in Gnarled Mass territory for turn 2 (not bad whatsoever), but, still, this just isn’t sexy. Trample, in this case, is relevant often enough; you will play the Mauler as a 1/1 only in dire circumstances.
When you have the Llanowar Elves draw, Scab-Clan Mauler on turn 2 can contribute to a third turn Slum or Solifuge, keeping the opponent on his heels from the onset. The low cost on Scab-Clan Mauler can allow you to play multiple Bloodthirst creatures off curve, if you have any reasonable damage source.
Big and Dumb Rating: 1.08
Playable – Staple
Schismotivate
We know from cards like Consume Strength that even if Schismotivate set up -0/-4 instead of -4/-0, the “two creature” requirement would be too strict for most Constructed decks.
Constructed Unplayable
Skarrgan Skybreaker
The Skybreaker is a big boom, similar to Legendary Borborygmos. Seven is a lot of mana, but if you’ve got it (and a Rumbling Slum) you get a 6/6 for your mana. Eight mana under those conditions buys you a Volcanic Geyser for six, or three under less ideal circumstances.
The tricks you can pull in combat, or with your back against the wall, are plentiful. For instance, you get the swing into a two-for-one; bring into the trade plus Lone Wolf proxy; or the more elaborate crash, demand a chump, accumulate Jitte counters, and finish. Again, Skarrgan Skybreaker is not the typical maindeck threat. Unlike the more aggressive Gruul drops, this one’s probably too pricey and too conditional to run main in a big format with Blue decks, but not actually much worse than Godo, Bandit Warlord in decks with power mana.
Playable – Role Player
Souls of the Faultless
I’m less optimistic about Souls of the Faultless than some; certainly it will see some play, but this is not an unconditional nightmare for beatdown like Wall of Blossoms was.
In Standard, White decks have lots of flyers, and Green decks will have to wait on a big enough guy to knock down the Souls before mounting a swarm attack. I suppose this Defender buys time even in the latter case, but that doesn’t make it a necessarily better choice than something that generates card advantage.
Playable – Role Player
Stitch in Time
Stitch in Time is one of the most interestingly designed cards in Guildpact, and a deceptively good one. The basis for playing games of chance professionally is based on a combination of psychology and long-term expected value. Think of it like this: would you wager $100 every time you flipped a coin? You would be wasting your time in a fair game, but gambling thusly would make a lot of sense if your opponent were willing to wager $200 against you.
If you think about it in those terms, Stitch in Time poses exactly that scenario. It is a card and three mana if you fail. If you win the coin flip, you get at least the three mana back, as well as a card (breaking even), as well as whatever else a turn can give you. You get land drops. You get an attack. You get a desperate topdeck attempt when your back is against the wall.
It is important to consider the long-term advantages to Stitch in Time before dismissing it, because the card is only superficially fair. All of that said, evaluating Stitch requires you to consider the opportunity cost… is the chance to take an extra turn better than, say, the guaranteed advantage of an Electrolyze? The other question you have to ask is what you are actually going to do setting up or in the case that you earn your extra turn; I would not build my game plan around such a turn because of the erratic nature of Stitch in Time, but the card definitely has the same kind of appeal in an overmatched beatdown deck as, say, Mindblaze.
Playable – Role Player
Streetbreaker Wurm
Streetbreaker Wurm is a worse Kodama of the North Tree in Standard, and isn’t going to pass Arashi at the five spot. If fives are good enough, Streetbreaker Wurm will pass mustard in block… it can fight Rumbling Slum — which is the standard for Ravnica Block G/R — but don’t expect anything spectacular; for interactive matchups he’s not better than most fours, and considerably worse than the Staples.
Big and Dumb Rating: 1.07
Playable – Role Player
Teysa, Orzhov Scion
Teysa is harder to break than she looks (and she doesn’t look easy, exactly). Spiritual Visit, for example, despite being a White card, produces colorless token creatures. The best generators in the format produce either Green Saprolings or Snakes, or Blue Illusions. Even Belfry Spirit makes Black Bats. The downfall is that you need to use real White creatures to power up Teysa, unless you’ve got her Black triggered ability online.
Setting up the Orzhov Bleeder seems difficult under the best of conditions, and Teysa requires some real hoop navigation. If and when she comes online, Teysa should be pretty strong… under ideal conditions, she should be able to fight a Jitte or even Keiga! It’s the sequencing on those conditions that I expect to be a bit of a bear.
As for stats, 2/3 for three mana is perfectly acceptable. Teysa can fight a bear, if not a Burning-Tree Shaman; Teysa should not let you down if she has the requisite tools, and patience, available.
Playable – Role Player
Tibor and Lumia
Tibor and Lumia seems a bit homeless to me. I don’t envision the Izzet as a creature deck, and this Legendary creature appears like it should be a team member or support card. The best option seems like holding back blue cantrips to play Wonder, but the token murdering should come in handy as well. Hill Giants are not typically robust enough to carry wins on their own, and this one is a bit fragile given its payout versus arrival time. Interesting, but a fairly average card.
Playable – Role Player
Ulasht, the Hate Seed
I would not want to play Ulasht maindeck, but I can see siding it in for token-on-token mirror matches. Those games probably come down to huge standoffs with relatively few breakers (number of City-Trees, who gets Glare of Subdual), and the Hate Seed seems a card that can complicate the accepted list of relevant threats… like playing Godo to generate Jitte advantage.
I honestly wouldn’t mind using the first Ulasht to clog the board, and then a second one to mop up… this all assumes that you aren’t buried under Savage Twister or something. Ulasht is not a great card in the abstract, but its ability to double your creature count should make for some interesting sideboard games.
Playable – Role Player
Wee Dragonauts
If there is a beatdown deck in the Izzet, Wee Dragonauts is the card that is going to make it possible. The Faerie Wizard is essentially a short term Quirion Dryad that has a built-in Wonder.
Wee Dragonauts seems like a decent addition to a Red Deck Wins-style deck (probably sideboarding Steamcore Weird against Paladin en-Vec). It combines nicely with Arcane cards like Reach Through Mists, even better with Volcanic Hammer.
Playable – Role Player
Witch-Maw Nephilim
Like the original Miracle Grow, a Witch-Maw Nephilim deck will want to play as much velocity as possible, but there are special incentives to cards like Reach Through Mists (for its cost) and even Giant Growth (because it cheats the count short term). Just think what you can do with two Divining Tops.
Probably the best of the Nephilim, Witch-Maw is also the most fragile. Because he is a 1/1, untapping with it in play is an even greater concern… In addition to cards like Last Gasp, Volcanic Hammer, Shock, and other commonly played cards, you have to worry about Gelectrodes, Darkblasts, and even single Jitte counters.
Big and Dumb Rating: .58
Playable – Role Player
Wreak Havoc
Wreak Havoc has become the poster child for “disappointing spoiled cards” from MTGSalvation.com, and for good reason. At three mana, we try to overlay a web of good removal cards that can aim at two different kinds of permanents (along with Mortify and Putrefy), but are just disappointed when we see a card on par with Demolish. Clearly perceived shortfalls like this one are bad for business, and worse for the marketing department.
Wreak Havoc is very playable, but nothing to write home about. Artifact destruction is cheap and spectacular both in this block (Smash and Scattering Spree), and outside the Wildfire decks at least, mana denial is at its all time low since Land Tax was legal due to the various 1G cards.
Playable – Role Player
Yore-Tiller Nephilim
All the Nephilim are difficult to play; this one isn’t even Green. I think Yore-Tiller is better than Ink-Treader Nephilim, probably behind Dune-Brood, and nowhere close to either of the +1/+1 generating cards. Likely it is in last place due to colors.
Constructed Unplayable
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The Short List:
Electrolyze
Possibly the best overall card in Guildpact.
Mortify
People who love Putrefy will like Mortify!
Rumbling Slum
A beautifully developed card, Rumbling Slum cleverly combines Blastoderm-scale statistics with a disadvantage and mechanics driver at the same time.
Burning-Tree Shaman
A surprisingly violent beacon of hope.
Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind
This card will bring joy (to designers) and angry frustration (to opponents) in equal measure.
Angel of Despair
It would have been better if they had just reprinted Vindicate, but this is fine too.
And finally… The Kitchen Sink
LOVE
MIKE