Today’s review is going to cover the colors I haven’t tackled thus far. Pro Tour: Geneva is behind us, and I don’t think there’s going to be much TTP action in the near future (or at least with real cardboard). The next few weeks are going to be quite eventful, with Grand Prix: Dallas (by the time you read these lines, I’ll probably be on my way there), Grand Prix: Singapore, and Grand Prix: Amsterdam (2HG) early in March. Completing my review of TTP Draft is especially timely, as Planar Chaos comes out next week on Magic Online. You’ll want to know everything you can when you actually start drafting.
Here we go with the final three colors:
Green
Red and Blue were both given a real boost in Planar Chaos, but Green has nothing to be jealous of. I was one of these players who said, at first, that Green was terrible in Time Spiral. It took me a while to understand how to draft the color, and it eventually became one of my favorite colors. The color gains a lot in versatility in Planar Chaos, with a common removal spell, common card drawing, and three evasion creatures. You will be happy to pick six out of twelve commons from the third pack, which is quite a good sign for Green mages.
Green Commons
Citanul Woodreaders
Essence Warden
Evolution Charm
Fa’adiyah Seer
Giant Dustwasp
Healing Leaves
Mire Boa
Reflex Sliver
Seal of Primordium
Uktabi Drake
Utopia Vow
Vitaspore Thallid
Citanul Woodreaders
Planar Chaos has been played for almost a month, and I’m quite sure opinions about these Druids have changed. At first I didn’t think they would fit Green aggro decks so well, but in fact there’s no Green deck in which you won’t want to include him. He’s a good deal for 2G in a deck that needs to stall the ground for a couple of turns, and a good deal too for 4GG, especially for aggro decks that need to fill up their hands again.
Essence Warden
I never feel it’s bad to have this card in my maindeck, yet I never feel shocked to see it in the sideboard. A passable one-drop, or 23rd card, which sometimes can turn a matchup in your favor. Forgetting to put it in against really aggressive decks when you are the controlling mage is a mistake. When you do the math at the end of the game, and see how many turns it bought you, you’ll realize it’s worth the slot.
Evolution Charm
The only real (and easy to use) common mana fixer in Planar Chaos. Dreamscape Artist is way behind in terms of mana fixing. Most of the abilities on this card are useful, but you will be drafting it because of the fetch land ability. Raise Dead might come in handy for creatures like Firemaw Kavu, or a few bomb rares that your opponent had a hard time getting rid of the first time, and most players forget about the flying ability (which won me a crucial game in Geneva). It’s a fine card that you should pick very highly if you’re splashing a third color. The fact that it’s overrated makes it hard to pick late, so you’ll usually want to secure these early in the third pack (especially if you’re desperate for mana fixers).
Fa’adiyah Seer
Sindbad has never been really popular, but the more I see this card, the more I like it. It’s far from being exciting, and except for Sage of Epityr, you don’t really have many ways to abuse it. It’s still a passable 23rd card that can provide some card advantage to a deck that can’t produce any by more traditional means.
Giant Dustwasp
My favorite Green common. A great turn 2 suspend guy, and a pretty good turn 5 drop. I’m always happy to first pick it if I’m Green.
Healing Leaves
Green has lost its tricks in the third pack. There are no pump spells or affiliates. This is the only trick you’re getting. I’m not a huge fan of it, but it can fill a trickless deck if you desperately need something extra.
Mire Boa
Green’s second-best common creature. Good versus everything but W/U as it’s not very good against Flankers and big blockers. It will make your main deck every time.
Reflex Sliver
Slivers is a hard deck to put together – I might write about this draft archetype at some point – but Reflex Sliver has a use. When it’s alongside Gemhide Slivers and Might Slivers, it definitely has a room in your deck. Not something you should pick too highly, though, as no one else will want it anyway.
Seal of Primordium
Disenchant is not stellar in this format. It should remain in your sideboard.
Utopia Vow
Players on the tour seems to have mixed feelings about this card. I personally feel that this is a fine removal, especially in the late game. But many times I’ve seen the mana produced by the Pacified creature being crucial. It was made to be a controversial card, and it sure is one.
Uktabi Drake
By now, I guess players have realized how good it is. Comparable to Skyknight Legionnaire, it has a lot of synergy with cards like Herd Gnarr and Primal Forcemage. One of my personal favorites in the new format.
Vitaspore Thallid
I’ve never seen much use out of this fella.
Black
During PT: Geneva, I heard a lot of players saying they would draft anything but Black. I felt the same about White, but somehow I’m pretty sure I’m right on this one. Sure, Black hasn’t much to offer in Planar Chaos. And the more Black is hated by the public, the more powerful it is for the Black mage. As an example, check the first featured draft in Geneva. Maxime Hermes was one of the two Black drafters at the table, and ended up nabbing a third pick Endrek Sahr out of pack 1, and other insane things like this. If you receive early signals that Black is open in pack 1, then you shouldn’t be ignoring them (like I do for White). Black is good overall, even if Planar Chaos isn’t that exciting for the Black mage.
Black commons
Blightspeaker
Bog Serpent
Brain Gorgers
Cradle to Grave
Dash Hopes
Deadly Grub
Melancholy
Midnight Charm
Rathi Trapper
Ridged Kusite
Spitting Sliver
Vampiric Link
Blightspeaker
If you’re not White, with four rebels in total in Black – including Blightspeaker itself, Dunerider Outlaw, Big Game Hunter, and Rathi Trapper – it’s a card that you should rate highly, depending on how many Rathi Trappers you’re planning to play. If you’re planning to go Rebels from pack 1, and you managed to pick enough in Time Spiral, you’ll want to get as many as possible. This is a card that is quite difficult to rate, as unlike Amrou Scout (a card you would probably play anyway for its 2/1 for two mana body) Blightspeaker will be unlikely to make your deck if you don’t have any other rebels.
Bog Serpent
A passable card against other Black decks. It’s probably missing a point of power and toughness to be really exciting.
Brain Gorgers
I’ve played Black many times in this format, but I’ve never really managed to draft enough Madness enablers to play Brain Gorgers. I’m pretty sure I would play it if I had three Trespasser Il-Vecs or Tolarian Sentinels.
Cradle to Grave
People I‘ve talked to about this card call it a “bad Remove Soul.” The thing they’ve missed is that the format is no Ninth Edition. Black Mages usually don’t have much to do on turn 2, so killing a morph on turn 3 – on the draw – is a fine deal. In R/B, where you have ways to deal with early creatures, it will later deal with creatures that Red usually has a hard time dealing with (i.e. big ones).
Dash Hopes
I see no real hope for this card.
Deadly Grub
A filler you are never happy to run.
Melancholy
If this card read “sacrifice a Swamp, destroy target creature,” it would be slightly better. You opponent can still get rid of the enchantment. It’s not a great card, but a fine removal option if you’ve little else.
Midnight Charm
This is my favorite Black removal spell in Planar Chaos. Killing 1/1 critters has never been so important. With Uktabi Drakes and Prodigal Pyromancer in the common slot, you will want a cheap way to deal with them. Piracy Charm has also risen in my estimation.
Rathi Trapper
The best Black common. A searchable Master Decoy. He helps any Black deck stall while waiting for a better way to deal with the tapped creature.
Ridged Kusite
The only Madness enabler in the Black common slot. I talked about this little fellow in the previous articles. He’s fine if you’re missing Madness enablers, or when you don’t have any ways to let your 2/2s sneak some damage through, or when you’re packing a couple of Aquamorph Entities.
Spitting Sliver
This depends on how many slivers you have in your deck. It can be reasonable filler if you’re missing creatures in your Black deck, or a fine card in a sliver deck.
Vampiric Link
Watching the PT: Geneva finals totally changed my opinion about this card. I would never have considered Vampiric Link at all, but two of the five matches were decided by this card. I don’t think I would ever maindeck it, but it’s a good option against evasion creatures that your deck can’t really deal with (such as Errant Ephemeron), or in a deck with evasion creatures against a deck that can’t deal with them.
White
I’ve been saying it for some time now, but as I’m reviewing White, I guess I should say it one more time: I hate White. Sure, it gets some nice cards in the latest set, but they don’t seem to be good enough. Most White decks have a problem “killing,” or sealing the deal. Except for Shade of Trokair, which requires you to play heavy White for it to be interesting, your guys seem to do little but stall the ground without really sneaking in much damage. Except for White/Blue, which seems to be a very efficient archetype when drafted correctly. I would never want to draft any other combination of White.
White Commons
Aven Riftwatcher
Dawn Charm
Ghost Tactician
Mana Tithe
Pallid Mycoderm
Poultice Sliver
Saltfield Recluse
Revered Dead
Shade of Trokair
Sinew Sliver
Sunlance
Whitemane Lion
Aven Riftwatcher
I had to re-evaluate this card along with my testing. At first I thought it would be an overrated card. Just because it flies and gains life doesn’t make it good. I was wrong. There are some decks that can use it to its full power, with rebel searchers or Momentary Blinks. In these cases, you can play as many as you want: he will always be good. If you don’t have any of the cards mentioned above (or similar), it’s a card that will give you two or three turns to set up against an aggressive deck that would rather wait for it to vanish than waste resources killing it.
Dawn Charm
All three abilities are fine, but it feels like it doesn’t do enough. It’s a great card against Black/Red though, as Red and Black removal allows regeneration these days. It can also come in handy when you’re targeted by a Mindstab or lethal direct damage. Otherwise, I’m not a big fan.
Ghost Tactician
An expensive 2/5 that doesn’t seem to do enough for its cost.
Mana Tithe
I’ve seen Julien Nuijten play this card over Snapback in White/Blue. I would personally never play around this card in the early game. If my opponent has it, he will be rewarded. There’s always a point in a game when you will need to tap out to cast an important spell, and you’ll run into the Mana Tithe eventually. This is how everyone should think, and that’s why Mana Tithe can be good. Of course, in the very late game it’s often a dead draw. Even so, one or two in a White deck can hurt your opponent.
Pallid Mycoderm
A 2/4 for 3W with an ability that is rarely useful, unless you’re W/G with bunch of Thallids. But honestly, who wants to be W/G Thallids? A passable card nonetheless, if you don’t have great expectation for your four-drops.
Poultice Sliver
White is now the Sliver color. Watcher Sliver was already a pretty good card in defensive decks… it’s a great card now that it’s found two new defensively-efficient friends. With both Poultice and Watcher Sliver in player, your opponent will have a hard time attacking on the ground. But with so many new evasion creatures, is that really what you’re looking for?
Saltfield Recluse
To me, this is the most efficient White card in the set. I remember how good Sanctum Custodian was, and this guy is probably just as good. Add to the mix that he’s a rebel, and that he can totally dominate the board along with a Merfolk Thaumaturgist, the underappreciated Blue common.
Revered Dead
A very average card. It could be useful in the board against non-trampling, non-flying Green creatures.
Shade of Trokair
The Shade is a very solid creature for all the tempo-oriented White decks, like W/R or W/G. The more White you play (yuck), the more value this card has, and the higher you should pick it during the draft.
Sinew Sliver
Sliver strategies should now be expecting to play White in the third booster. Fortunately for Sliver players, this one isn’t too good if not paired with its friends. That means that you may be getting all of them if no one else is going for the same plan as you.
Sunlance
White’s removal spell. It gives W/U and W/G a cheap removal option.
Whitemane Lion
A solid combat trick, that can also work to re-use your Shaper Parasites, Jedit’s Dragoons, or Firemaw Kavus. Also quite surprising along with a Herd Gnarr, which will get +2/+2 for each 1W you spend. In 2HG, it’s another way to improve the spell count for your buddy to cast a big Empty the Warrens.
Pick Orders and Archetypes
Black/Green
I said before the Pro Tour that I would try to avoid Black Green. Black is a color that should be played in a control strategy, and is best alongside colors that help keeping control of the game and have ways to back it up with kill cards. Green creatures don’t exactly follow this plan, and often require GG in their cost when Black is usually hungry for Swamps.
Black/Green uses middle-sized to big creatures, backed up with a few removal spells. It can’t really deal efficiently with evasion creatures, and it’s usually pretty slow.
Pick Order
Giant Dustwasp
Rathi Trapper
Mire Boa
Citanul Woodreaders
Utopia Vow
Melancholy
Midnight Charm
Uktabi Drake
Special Notes
- Both colors require a lot of their own color of mana, and depending on how much Green or Black you are, the pick order may change. For example, I would take Rathi Trapper over Giant Dustwasp if I’m planning on running nine or ten Swamps because I have a pair of Tendrils of Corruption I want to abuse.
- The Uktabi Drake doesn’t really fit the archetype. It’s Green-mana hungry, and not the kind of solid creature you want in the archetype.
Black/White
White doesn’t really give to Black a way to fix its problem. In fact, it has the same problem as Black. It can’t kill. Except for Castle Raptors and Amrou Seekers, it doesn’t really have an efficient way to win the game. Fortunately, there’s one synergy that can save your day if you are in these colors. I wouldn’t venture into Black/White if I wasn’t running rebels, which are the only efficient way the archetype has of gaining card advantage.
Pick Order
Blightspeaker / Rathi Trapper (depending on how many rebels you have already. I would secure as many Blightspeakers as possible if I have targets in my deck.)
Saltfield Recluse
Aven Riftwatcher
Sunlance
Shade of Trokair
Whitemane Lion
Midnight Charm
Melancholy
Special Notes
- There are probably other ways to draft Black/White, but this is the most efficient I’ve found thus far.
White/Green
White/Green has never been really popular in any format. This might seem like a balanced combination with the addition of removal in both colors – Sunlance and Utopia Vow – but somehow, it never really works out.
Pick Order
Giant Dustwasp
Sunlance
Saltfield Recluse
Whitemane Lion
Mire Boa
Shade of Trokair
Uktabi Drake
Citanul Woodreaders
Utopia Vow
Dawn Charm
Essence Warden
Special Notes
- Evolution Charm doesn’t appear on the list, as it entirely depends on if you have a card or two to splash. If you do, it would probably be ranked after Utopia Vow, also depending on the importance of the card you’re splashing.
- W/G is the archetype in which Essence Warden shines. It finds synergy with Whitemane Lion (it’s not that much of a blast, but it can give you a considerable amount of life in the late game), or with Icatian Crier.
- Shade of Trokair should be picked higher on the list if you’re running a lot of White.
That’s it for my Planar Chaos draft review. We have a Constructed period coming up, and next week I’ll let you know about my trip to Texas!
Wish me luck!
Raph