It might seem like the height of idiocy to do a “better than you think!” for a set that has been out all of two weeks. In fact, it is. However, being an individual who is rarely averse to high-risk low-payoff stunts, I’m going to try it out. Bear in mind that some of these things might be really obvious to those of you who have played the set more, but seeing as how the current Limited format is still in its infancy, I figure there’s at least some value to what I am fixing to say. Onward!
Oh, but first, my friend Dale wanted me to namedrop him so that he could humiliate his home-boys back in Ohio. I’ma do this right now. And congratulate him on Top-8ing a Pro Tour Qualifier just a week after playing with Cody and I and listening to the obnoxious “here is how to make your mana work!” lecture that I insistently give to everybody who will listen. Seriously. Once, a homeless person actually gave me his tinful of quarters and his cardboard sign/Sharpie just to try and get me to shut the hell up about “Karoos” and “guild-splashes” and “midgame efficiency.” It was awesome. I bought some Taco Bell. That was a great day.
Mourning Thrull
I personally think this guy is insane, and would play four of him if I opened the correct cards. Orzhov is a guild that loves for the game to progress as long as possible, and this guy helps you do exactly that. All of the random one-damage pinging that combines together in that guild really adds up over the course of four or five turns. Also, as somebody else has recently pointed out, don’t let the little sun watermark in the text box fool you into thinking that this man only belongs in one deck. He’s great in any Golgari deck because he helps you survive a little bit longer to get your splash mana online, and fills a hole in the mana curve that previously only gets occupied by Transluminants and marginal 2/1s. He’s less necessary in White/x, especially since those decks tend to be more aggressive and thus don’t need to be plinking with a 1/x but rather bashing with a 2/x, but I will still run the guy.
Of course, you obviously win if you manage to pump his power at all. Quite a nasty combo with Ghost Warden or Gruul Guildmage, I will gladly say. Also, if you get a Sunforger equipped to him, you are actually cheating, and I will call the police.
Petrahydrox
Continuing the trend of common guild-mana cards, I will always run this guy in a ton of decks. Hill Giants are notoriously good in Limited, particularly in decks (like Izzet or Dimir) that really want to trade. A 3/3 creature for four is actually a little bit under the curve for Blue, and is perfectly fine in Red, where your only true Hill Giant (Viashino Fangtail) might be turning on his side for alternative reasons anyway. The ability I have found to be a bonus rather than a drawback. Obviously if your opponent has out a Thundersong Trumpeter or Ghost Warden then he’s less than stellar, but if he’s trumpeting your random 3/3 then your fliers are getting through. Mainly, though, you just run this guy out there to trade with their biggest man. Usually he does a fine job of that. He is the Jeff Hornacek of the Izzet Team, a solid technical player that gets the job done. By the way, please tell me I haven’t made that joke before. Namedropping JH more than absolutely necessary would be a violation of all that I find holy.
Which is tons, I tell you. Turtle Soup. Mourning doves. Beef jerky. The Jerky Boys. Dynamite Hack. Lars von Trier. Real West dressing. Electrolyze.
Tons.
Pyromatics/Train of Thought
Ravnica Limited, assuming you build your deck properly, is all about not getting mana-flooded in the mid-to-late game. One of the reasons that the guildmages are so good is that, in addition to being an easy-to-cast two-drop, they give you something to do if you draw too many lands, thus enabling you to eventually draw out of a glut and get back into the game. These cards, also do an astounding job of that. Sure, six mana is a lot to pay for three damage, but sometimes you take what you can get. Rip Pyro with ten mana out and you’re suddenly a few inches from winning the whole thing. Train of Thought, too, is just incredible. I like having two card draw spells… a combination of Compulsive Research, Train, and Flow of Ideas (clearly the worst of the three). They let you recoup some early card disadvantage lost to opponent’s bombs or tricks, and ensure that you’re deploying a steady stream of threats until you reach your bombs or your evasion men leave them dead.
Agent of Masks
As Julien — someone whom you ought to listen to because he is about four-hundred times better at the game than I am — pointed out, this guy is solid in the mid-game but rather unexciting later on. The midgame, however, is where many matches are won and lost. Agent of Masks trades with the 2/2s that the opponent will draw off-curve in the later turns of the game, and combines with Pillory of the Sleepless, Orzhova, and Mourning Thrull to clock the opponent through any kind of defense. I was very skeptical of this gentleman at first, but Cody and Jack convinced me otherwise. Run him in your pile and see what you think.
Steamcore Weird
I am sure everyone knows that this guy is fine, but I just want to make clear how exceedingly nuts he actually is. He is Flametongue Kavu with a few minor adjustments. This guy gets out of hand very, very quickly, and you really should not be letting him go past you later than about fifth pick. Remember: Ogre Savant, Repeal, Peel from Reality, Cloudstone Curio, Mark of Eviction.
Schizmotivate
This should be called Schinsanewreckyou. This card gives you a ton of room to outplay your opponent in about five hundred different ways, and for some reason people rarely see it coming. I also love getting it back with a Chronarch, just because you know you’re bashing some serious head. Killing a Drift of Phantasms and dealing four more points of damage with your flier is just mad sexy. The occasion is very rare when you don’t get at least a one-for-one. Take all of the bad things I said about Gaze of the Gorgon yesterday, sprinkle them with some fairy-dust, make the card about twenty times more versatile, add a cool U/R internal border and trippy artwork, and you’re presented with this little gem.
Other notes:
Leap of Flame is a hauss, Shrieking Grotesque is about the best card ever printed, don’t play Signets in a deck unless you need to, Silhana Ledgewalker is the most annoying little elf ever, and never — I mean NEVER — pass a Savage Twister. You understand that it’s that good, right?
Tomorrow: a fiery conclusion. Well, not so fiery. I need to write about Guildpact cards, but I really want to piss someone off, or at least do something incendiary. Any suggestions?
-Zac