I don’t want to focus on the obvious cards today. If you want, I’ll give you some cliff notes on those:

Tamiyo is very, very good. Half Venser, half Gideon, and the good half of both.

Griselbrand is a Yawgmoth’s Bargain seeking ways to abuse a Bargain. Unfortunately, Bargain also only costs five in Legacy, so you will have to get creative with him in smaller formats.

Tibalt is fighting Faithless Looting. Most Looting decks want specific discards, whether it’s for graveyard shenanigans or value. If I want eight Lootings, I want Tibalt. Otherwise, I only want him if I’m trying to absorb hits or pull potential blockers.

Now that those are out of the way, let’s talk about some interesting cards. I don’t mean the ones that do weird things, like Arcane Melee. I mean the role players. Not even all the role players. We all know Pillar of Flame does good things and is going to see play.

These are the B-list cards that, given the right circumstances, could take a spot in the metagame. Think Daybreak Ranger. Or maybe don’t think about that one as the jury is still out on it. Try Blade Splicer. Not always the best, but on the right day in the right deck it’s all you need. Not all of these cards are going to see play. In fact, most probably won’t.

But maybe some will, and that’s the whole point.

Angel of Jubilation

The Question To Ask: Why this over Hellrider?

In case you haven’t played with the card, let me fill you in. Hellrider is the nuts. People compared it to Hero of Oxid Ridge when it came out, but that’s hardly fair.

Hero of Oxid Ridge had its moments where it was Faltering armies of 1/Xs, but when that wasn’t happening the card was fairly unimpressive. Too often 1/Xs became 2/Xs, and suddenly your theoretical game ender became a Giant Cockroach.

Hellrider just bashes. They have a bunch of blockers in the way? Crash, they take a bunch of damage and get burned out. They don’t have a bunch of blockers in the way? Crash, they take a bunch of damage and get burned out.

Both cards add the same amount of effective power per creature on an attack, but Hellrider is always adding relevant damage. If your guys are all getting through, you probably didn’t need the Anthem effect. If they aren’t, you probably needed the reach. Add to this the four immediate damage from Hellrider (which also makes it much better against Vapor Snag), and where does that leave us?

Let’s step forward to Angel of Jubilation. Why do I want this effect over Hellrider?

Maybe the backside bonus matters. Maybe this is a world of Lingering Souls fights where four 1/1s trading for four 1/1s and four damage is less optimal than four 2/2s creating the same losses for them and leaving you with two 2/2s.

Maybe I don’t want to be red. I might just be stuck in the Block Constructed mentality of Brimstone Volley + Champion of the Parish. Of course, then there’s the issue of Hero of Bladehold, but it’s possible we’re trying to get some immediate value against Vapor Snags.

Maybe I’m a deck that can’t beat a Birthing Pod. I find this last one the most unlikely as Pod decks tend to work better when they’re grinding out an advantage as opposed to getting run over by white durdles, but I could be wrong.

The point here is Angel isn’t anything new, but it’s another option to consider.

Cathars’ Crusade

The Question To Ask: What environment am I playing in where games go this deep?

This is a five-mana enchantment. It has no immediate board impact. How board stall intensive are your matches getting that you need this effect?

If I’m talking about a tokens mirror circa Lorwyn era, this might be within reason. If my opponents are interacting on different axes and can just Titan over the top, probably not so much.

If their plan to beat me involves set damage sweepers like Whipflares and Slagstorms, this could push my guys out of range. If their plan is Day of Judgments and Curse of Death’s Holds that kill my team regardless of the trigger, I would rather try and race.

Cloudshift

The Question To Ask: Is there enough value to be made out of a single shot of this effect to make it worth it?

For those who weren’t around for it, Momentary Blink was insane. You could Riftwing Cloudskate their land early, Blink it to put them back another turn, and quickly lock out most control or midrange decks. Against beatdown, you could do the same to their creatures and Time Walk your way into a stable endgame.

The key, however, was the flashback. Each copy meant two uses. Two Boomerangs, two Remands, two Sacred Nectars.

Cloudshift can pull a lot of the same shenanigans as Blink did, but do the cards exist now to support this off one shot per copy? Is Snapcaster Mage enough to make it equivalent? Are there enough real tempo plays to make me not want to just upgrade on mana to Restoration Angel and get real value? On the flip side of that, does the deck with Restoration Angel want to do so many things with its mana that you’d rather be able to Cloudshift and make another Huntmaster over just Angeling?

Entreat the Angels

The Question To Ask: How awesome is this card?

2WWW, one 4/4 flier. If I need a body to fight early attackers, this isn’t that bad.

4WWW, two 4/4 fliers. This is a very reasonable clock and will stop almost any assault.

6WWW, three 4/4 fliers. This is game ending almost immediately and is very hard to answer with spot removal.

1WW, one 4/4 flier. Seriously?

2WW, two 4/4 fliers. Uhhhhh.

3WW, three 4/4 fliers…

Maybe not yet given that Vapor Snag and Mana Leak choke the hard cast options, but this card has a serious future. Control decks can now randomly kill you midgame and have a scaling threat for later on.

This is probably the card here that fits the "role player" description the least. Just figured I should get the word out on this one.

Nearheath Pilgrim

The Question To Ask: Is this guy going to live long enough to let anything actually get in a lifelink hit?

Champion of the Parish. This guy is a Human, that guy wants you to play Humans. That guy costs one, this guy costs two.

Pilgrim is also one of the few soulbond cards that (probably) won’t completely blow you out if it dies in combat. Sure, you are down however much life you were expecting, but it’s not like your guy suddenly lost double strike or +4/+4 and just gets eaten on a block.

That said, he’s going to die. A lot. Gut Shot is a card. As is Geistflame, though we haven’t seen that one for a while. If I just want a dude, I would rather Loyal Cathar it up and get something that not only survives the pings but comes back for value against anything else. This is especially relevant when the lifelink is going to matter most against red decks likely to be packing Geistflames.

Can you time an attack right to make this worth it? Is there a way a couple of this guy can fit into some ideal two-drop split? I never really liked Thalia if my deck wants to play Gather the Townsfolk for Champion. On the subject of Champion, does it actually matter if you have another guy that dies to pings if you’re already leaning so heavily on your one-drop?

Angel of Jubilation might have a few words on this subject. Flying and lifelink are friends just like +1/+1 and not wanting to die to one damage are.

Silverblade Paladin

The Question To Ask: Is the damage potential worth the Grey Ogre base and likelihood of blowouts?

I’m going to gloss over the whole in combat removal part I mentioned above because I’ve already talked about it. Let’s get into the first part: the three cost 2/2 body.

Mirran Crusader sees a lot of play now. He also gets boarded out a lot when he isn’t just free rolling through due to the double protections. In fact, that probably is the better half of the card. The lack of protection from green is extremely relevant once you realize that Huntmaster of the Fells does two damage. So does Whipflare.

Again, I find myself coming back to Angel of Jubilation. Maybe this toughness pump does matter. Of course I don’t want to be backing mediocre cards with mediocre cards, but Honor of the Pure is also a thing. The immediate double strike gives some Vapor Snag insurance, so if the other removal in the format doesn’t punish X/3s at instant speed or at significant value you can start pushing this guy.

Deadeye Navigator

The Question To Ask: Why this over a Titan?

The pseudo-shroud is cute. You can choose any guy in play for soulbond, including theirs, so he’s usually going to be able to blink. It’s just a matter of whether a hard to kill 5/5 is relevant or if you’re actually using the ability for profit.

There probably isn’t a real reason to play this over a Titan right now, but it seems cute enough that in the future it might have a place. Once the real high-end threats start disappearing from the format, there might be room to spend an effective eight mana on something this hard to kill.

Latch Seeker

The Question To Ask: Is there a tempo deck desperate enough for a win condition to want this guy?

My gut instinct says no. Maybe when Ponder isn’t around to set up Delvers, but even then he’s still an X/1. I mostly just like this card too much for no real reason. I probably should just be looking at Fettergeist or Geist of Saint Traft.

(Also, why did I skip Fettergeist? Maybe I’m trapped in a world where Serendib Efreet is still good, but there wasn’t much talk about this guy. He’s bigger than a Delver, plays reasonably well with non-Lingering Souls threats, and doesn’t make you play a million colors. Of course, there’s the other issue that Lingering Souls is completely absurd.)

Misthollow Griffin

The Question To Ask: Do Moorland Haunt decks want to play a four-drop, even if it’s Phantom Monster?

Signs point to possibly given the use of Dungeon Geists. Let’s rephrase.

The Question To Ask: Do Moorland Haunt decks need to grind this hard?

I would probably be inclined to say no right now due to the Titans being a thing, but I can easily see this out of the board for specific matchups. U/B for example, where getting the free card off this once or twice could easily be back breaking even if they have Ghost Quarters for your Haunts. For future consideration, this card dodges Sever the Bloodline very well.

Demonlord of Ashmouth

The Question To Ask: Are Gravecrawler and Geralf’s Messenger enough to make this not just a Spectral Flight with undying?

I’m not going to lie; I can’t imagine playing this against Vapor Snags any time soon. Also I can’t imagine this contesting a Phyrexian Obliterator.

Once we get past that, the card is fairly interesting. You aren’t so much paying for a creature as you are paying for an aura that has undying. If you’re upgrading from an average 2/2 Zombie to this, it’s a bit like a Spectral Flight in that it’s a bit heavy on the initial investment in exchange for "value." It’s actually reasonable on that end given how hard it is to kill a black X/4, let alone do it twice.

I would want a little more in terms of keeping a board around then just Messenger and Gravecrawler before loading up on this guy though. You are presumably looking at a low reach aggro deck for this guy, and I’m not sure how many four-drops and potential dead draws you can afford. I can see two easily, but only maybe three, and that’s assuming you don’t splash red and debate the merits of just burn spells or Falkenrath Aristocrat.

Gloom Surgeon

The Question To Ask: Is this actually better than Highborn Ghoul?

Let’s start with the base assumption: the incentive to be bashing people with black creatures right now is really Geralf’s Messenger. This means any amount of black mana symbols is going to be doable.

This guy doesn’t work with Gravecrawler. He isn’t actually evasive. He doesn’t dodge the removal that kills Highborn Ghoul.

That leaves two reasons to play him. Either you would rather have him than Walking Corpse and need more two-drops (legitimate), or you’re trying to grind combat value on defense with your Zombies (less legitimate). Plan accordingly.

Soulcage Fiend

The Question To Ask: Do black decks want more than four two-drops?

Again, Messenger is the default. That said, this guy is still a three-power beater and adds additional reach to supplement the obvious undying Shocks. I think that last part is extremely important if the mana doesn’t work out to support red for Brimstone Volley. Also, it’s reasonable to assume that if you can’t Volley you can’t Diregraf Captain. Depending on mana constraints, I can see Fiend seeing a fair amount of play as an auxiliary body.

Archwing Dragon

The Question To Ask: Is this a better end game burn spell than Devil’s Play?

This isn’t a four-drop, no matter how much it looks like one. This is a Forge[/author]“]Pulse of the [author name="Forge"]Forge[/author]. The issue is that the role of top end burn spells is highly contested, in part because Brimstone Volley is so good at what it does.

So if I’m spending this much to go to the face, having automatic buyback is a very good bonus. Dying to creature removal is not, however. Neither is being blocked by Lingering Souls.

I expect how good this card is will likely lean heavily on that last condition. When there are 1/1 fliers floating around and you can easily exchange a quarter of a card for gaining four life, I would rather just Blaze them out. When there aren’t, you will want the ability to turn one card into eight or more points of actual burn.

Just watch out for the removal. I expect Doom Blade and Lingering Souls to be on a sliding scale of playability just based on how the two cards interact.

Kessig Malcontents

The Question To Ask: How short on three-drops is a white/red deck?

The assured one damage is nice, but I’m not going nuts over it. You aren’t playing this card without the ability to reliably have a bunch more Humans. If a Delver deck has enough Humans in play for this to matter, they should be dead to 3/2 fliers and Invisible Stalkers with Swords.

That leaves Champion of the Parish and Gather the Townsfolk. That deck was always a little short on solid options in the three slot. Not that there weren’t options between Fiend Hunter, Mirran Crusader, Geist of Saint Traft, or just hard casting Sword of War and Peace. They just weren’t good.

If this deck moves in the red direction, I can see wanting a more aggressive body with an immediate board impact. None of the above options is extremely exciting on that end, so Kessig Malcontents seems to have a fair lead in the three slot as a Human.

The other question is if you even want three-drops as opposed to just more ones and twos, or if you actually want enough Humans to push this theme. That’s something I don’t have an answer to. I’ve been trying to sort out all the white/red options in Block, and I can just tell you now there are about a million. If you’re interested, good luck and have fun with that dilemma.

Also, again, Lingering Souls. If this is just going to trade the 3/1 body for a single Spirit, I would rather have real burn. Remember the lessons of Squadron Hawk and Bitterblossom.

Thunderous Wrath

The Question To Ask: Can I actually get to six mana to cast this, or do I want to run Looting effects to mitigate drawing blanks?

See all my previous discussion of miracles last week, but the bottom line is you’re going to be drawing them in your openers a lot. In a red deck every card counts, so I either need to be seeing six mana enough to make this worth it or have ways to upgrade it.

Personally, I don’t think Faithless Looting is too far off. Tibalt might not be either. Unfortunately, neither works very well with drawing more copies of this card off them, but you can just discard them anyways. Oddly enough, they also help you push towards six mana by letting you cycle away dead creatures later on.

This card probably falls on the reasonable side of the miracle playability map. Not something you just play to break like Temporal Mastery and not quite as normal cast friendly as Entreat the Angels, but still over the line of playable. Five is more damage than you think. I’ve cast some Beacon of Destructions in my day and even seen a Lava Axe or two.

Zealous Conscripts

The Question To Ask: Is stealing a non-creature permanent worth the two mana increase from Act of Aggression for Titans, or is the additional three damage?

The following planeswalkers let you get reasonable value while losing counters by stealing them.

Sorin, Lord of Innistrad
Garruk, Primal Hunter
Tamiyo, the Moon Sage
Liliana of the Veil
Garruk Relentless / Garruk, the Veil-Cursed
Elspeth Tirel
Gideon Jura (no loss of counters but halts a Fog and makes a 6/6)

That’s basically the whole format. The one real exception is Sorin Markov, who easily bounces back from a -3 with a +2 loyalty ability that regains the life.

So probably yes, with the caveat that you aren’t going to be able to get a turn 4 Titan when you’re on the draw. This card deserves some attention I haven’t seen it get.

Champion of Lambholt

The Question To Ask: Is this living long enough and Faltering enough creatures to make it matter?

Again, Lingering Souls. This card lets "dumb green decks" crash on through that card where before they were basically dead to it. If the Lingering Souls decks of the future start skimping on ways to stop creatures, expect this card to try and race…

Right into Vault of the Archangels. Strike that one. I expect this will turn out disappointing for all the people who just want to bash. Good thing that Lingering Souls card is banned in the one format I actually care about right now.

Geist Trappers

The Question To Ask: Why aren’t there 10,000% more Ghostbusters references on this card?

Beats me. My best guess is the card didn’t have the appropriate name until very late in the whole set building process and the art was commissioned before the opportunity was realized.

Somberwald Sage

The Question To Ask: Is it worth investing into a 0/1 shell to be sure of Primeval Titaning next turn?

In a world of Gut Shots and Vapor Snags, probably not. It’s a cute effect, but it’s better suited for a word with less spite towards X/1s and mid-drops that aren’t immediately board impacting or game ending.

These are the cards that caught my eye, but there are plenty more. Maybe they aren’t good now, but keep them in mind as they may be in the future.

Of course, don’t also get stuck chasing dead ends for low return. Play good cards and win. Just think about these cards, and every so often you will find the perfect fit for a specific case.