I once did one of these that covered multiple sets at once for Dragon’s Maze. From a personal sanity note, it was a bad idea. So, for Dragons of Tarkir,
I’ve split off the reevaluation of Fate Reforged into its own thing. You can find my Dragons of Tarkir breakdown (which was hopefully helpful for your
Prerelease) here.
Some quick notes from Dragons of Tarkir that guide our discussion:
– Dragons for the most part are 4/4 fliers. No, don’t ask me how the clans lost the war to them with all of their Monastery Flocks, Sagu Archers, and
Sage-Eye Harriers or how Feral Krushok and Summit Prowler now represent food for the average Dragon that is now the exact same size. Flavor Draft judges
can answer that one for you.
– Megamorph is playing a different curve smoothing role than regular morph did. Morph allowed Glacial Stalkers to be Gray Ogres, or more accurately, let
you kick your Gray Ogre lategame to become a 4/5 or something else huge. Megamorph is doing less of the small three-drop, big six- drop thing and more of
an average two-drop thing, but it has pseudo-kicker to a 3/3 later on. Going late is now significantly less rewarded, just getting a +1/+1 upgrade on your
two-drop is much smaller than getting a +2/+3 or more on your three-drop. There still are a couple morphs that follow the old pattern of costing more than
three by default and flipping into something big, but Megamorph means the cost to face up those cards is going to be more than their morph counterparts as
it’s less of an installment plan on the main body and more “this is giving you a direct upgrade and should cost more than just casting it.” This means the
decks trying to use morphs as leverage going late are going to be slower and just generally worse at turning the corner onboard, making aggression just
that much better.
In case this explanation got a little lost, just compare Segmented Krotiq to Woolly Loxodon. Basically the same card, only you have to wait a whole extra
turn to flip Krotiq, which is a whole extra turn of 2/2s being able to jam into your face down creature.
– I originally grouped this by Brood, but after doing the Dragons of Tarkir layout, I realized that the draw to being a specific Brood isn’t really there.
While there are a number of great two-color rares that will push you towards an allied pair, if you don’t get one of those cards, it’s just the uncommon
six-drop Dragons pulling you into an allied pair. Going enemy colors to pick up some better curve options, synergies, or just the Fate Reforged commons
like Harsh Sustenance is totally valid. As such, I’m laying this out by color and will be evaluating pairs at the end.
White:
Common Creatures By Curve:
One Mana
Two Mana
Three Mana
Four Mana
Five Mana
Removal:
Tricks:
Other:
Last time around, I said white in Fate Reforged looked really mediocre. I definitely forgot this for a while and kept getting trapped into white decks when
I would take an incorrect signal from a mid-pack Soul Summons, which, while fine, is not distinctly better than any other white common.
This time around, the cards actually seem solid. Not insane, as there aren’t a ton of standouts, but the random dorks actually matter instead of running
into X/5s all day.
Soul Summons got worse as the prowess thing matters less with two less packs of the mechanic. Of course, it’s still a 2/2 for two in a format where that is
fine.
Dragon-Bell Monk seems great now instead of average to solid like it was before. Not only does prowess get insane with rebound, the 2/2 to 3/3 jump is a
lot bigger, and the threat of pushing it to 4/4 to punish a double block is real.
I’m not sure if Sandsteppe Outcast got better or worse. Losing a pack of Trumpet Blast and Rush of Battle hurts, but the 1/1 flier is more likely to trade
for a full card now. Either way, it is still the best white common.
This goes for all of them, but Abzan Runemark also got an upgrade. There is no Force Away equivalent in Dragons of Tarkir, and both the removal that exists
and what it has to answer changed a lot. There are less Rite of the Serpent, Kill Shot, or Throttle that would just two for one the aura and more Twin Bolt
or Defeat that are focused on fighting two-drops. Putting a Runemark on a two-drop legitimately pushes it into a new threat class. In terms of the
abilities they grant, vigilance is probably in the middle of the pack, but white is also the color most likely to want to curve two-drop into Runemark for
the “haste” damage.
Abzan Skyguard is just good value now. Previously there was a lot of “this card blocks a giant flier and I keep the counters around for a tempo/life
swing,” and now there will be a lot of “trade for your creature, my other creature now is big enough to trump your creatures.”
Sandblast is still good removal, but it’s the only one. If you are white and short on removal coming out of pack one, you are going to have to count on
your secondary color most of the time to pick up removal.
Uncommon Creatures By Curve:
One Mana
Two Mana
Three Mana
Four Mana
Five Mana
Six Mana
Removal:
Tricks:
Other:
The white uncommons were already good, and they got better.
As per the Dragon Hunter discussion in the Dragons review, hitting a 2/1 on turn 1 is game-breaking. Mardu Woe-Reaper is yet another one of those, and the
lifegain matters.
Jeskai Barricade now has two common removal spells that are enchantments to counter, and 0/4 is much better sized than in Khans where most of the 2/2s were
morphs that flipped to be bigger than Barricade could handle.
Lightform was already good and got better, as lifelink matters more in small creature races and gets better with more bolster.
Elite Scaleguard…yeah. Don’t pass it.
Lotus-Eye Mystics is interesting. I think it is still very average, but it’s possible I’m incorrectly assuming it will be a 3/2 more than a 4/3. Pacifism
and Reduce in Stature will only end up in the graveyard via exploit on the enchanted creature, while Debilitating Injury loops were a thing that could
happen.
Honor’s Reward was a card that could blow open games if it mattered early, and the scenarios where that will happen are much more common now. As stated a
lot in these reviews, +2/+2 in a format of 2/2 fights matters a lot more than the +2/+2 landing on a 2/2 staring down X/5s. The four life also matters a
lot more in races.
The losers are Valorous Stance and Channel Harm. Stance is still very good, but it kills less things. It probably moves down about the same amount that
Elite Scaleguard moved up. Channel Harm, on the other hand, got way worse. The effect is more of a blowout, but the six-drop slot is more of a luxury. By
the time you get to Fate Reforged, you should know if you have room for a six-drop, but a lot of the time I expect picking this to be a decision about if
you want to replace a playable without a major gain.
Blue:
Common Creatures By Curve:
Two Mana
Three Mana
Four Mana
Five Mana
Removal:
Tricks:
Other:
As mentioned last time, there are only five creatures in blue in Fate Reforged. Another strike against U/B where you are short on creatures early and it
only gets worse from there. If you are leaning on blue being open pack three, don’t count on it for creatures.
That said, four of the five are great. Jeskai Sage trades very well, exploits very well, and with the new prowess plus rebound interaction and 2/2 sizing
of the format, attacks very well. Write into Being is awesome as always, though the fact that it helps you hit your fifth land is likely less relevant than
it was before. Lotus Path Djinn’s third toughness matters a ton more, and again, prowess is great. Aven Surveyor is still Aven Surveyor, and it might be
reason enough to skew away from fives harder in packs one and two if you are blue.
There are some small shifts upward in spell quality. Will of the Naga is now more likely to be your only delve card, and blue decks are more likely to
support double blue, so the two biggest reasons to cut it from decks are gone. Jeskai Runemark is still the best Runemark, and as per above, they all get
better. Whisk Away gets a bit better as I think the stunted draw matters more as the games get shorter, but that could also be wrong, as it trades in a
less tempo-positive manner now that the curve of the format moved down.
Uncommon Creatures By Curve:
Two Mana
Three Mana
Four Mana
Six Mana
Removal:
Tricks:
Other:
The uncommons in blue generally get a bit worse.
Frost Walker is more likely to trade with a random durdle on turn 2 now, and it is less likely to get a free four damage if you hit it on curve.
Reality Shift is going to turn more 2/2s into 2/2s than 4/5s into 2/2s.
Marang River Prowler is fine, but now it requires active support to not be a bit costly instead of just being unblockable in a blocking format. And yes,
the exploit tricks are cute, but paying a three mana kicker each time to get the bonus is still a real cost.
Cloudform, similarly, is still good, but the flying matters a little less than before.
The only winners are Rite of Undoing and Mistfire Adept. Adept’s base 3/3 size is better, the prowess is better with rebound, and just generally being an
awesome card that costs less than five is better as the format ups the pace. Rite of Undoing has a similar change as Will of the Naga with respect to not
fighting for resources with Treasure Cruise, but the self rebuy also matters more with two enchantment removal spells and cheaper things to recast.
Black:
Common Creatures By Curve:
One Mana
Two Mana
Three Mana
Four Mana
Five Mana
Removal:
Other:
Pack three is the real winner for black. While I hated a lot of the cards in Dragons of Tarkir, most of the black commons in Fate Reforged are actually
great.
Typhoid Rats compares favorably to Hand of Silumgar because one is much less mana than two. Two-drop deathtouch trading for a two-drop is parity, but
one-drop trading for a two-drop often means you did two relevant things in a turn while they only did one.
Sultai Emissary is a unique effect. It gets exploited at board parity. The difference between curving out with an exploit creature with a Palace Familiar
or a Sultai Familiar is massive, and I expect the black decks that have two of this card to get significantly more match wins than those without it. If you
don’t have a lot of exploit, the card is still fine, as 1/1 is more likely to trade more now than it was before.
Hooded Assassin and Alesha’s Vanguard got sizing upgrades, as X/3 actually matters going later into the games now that there are less morphs. Sibsig Host
is also just a giant brick wall, and while it was one before, the two power can hold off multiple attackers now.
And Gurmag Angler, man. Nothing touches a 5/5. There aren’t other delve cards fighting for the slot. Early trades are more common. I expect a lot of games
to just be ended by a turn 5 that involves Angler plus two-drop.
The spells are all about the same. Douse in Gloom jumps over Reach of Shadows for best black common since tempo matters more now. Sultai Runemark is
definitely the worst, and Tasigur’s Cruelty is just a Mind Rot and beyond replaceable even when you want to play it.
The card I’m unsure on is Ancestral Vengeance. At the least I’m going to side it in a lot more, at best it’s a corner stone of the B/W archetype. Time to
test!
Uncommon Creatures By Curve
One Mana
Two Mana
Three Mana
Four Mana
Six Mana
Other:
There are a lot of power shifts here, but in the end, it is mostly a wash.
I really wanted Qarsi High Priest to be good, but 0/2 is still not a body, and it is competing with other sacrifice effects. No thanks.
Merciless Executioner got worse since the lone creature you are tagging is likely just a two-drop. Sibsig Muckdraggers also got way worse, as even with
less other delve cards it is still super clunky in a format that punishes that.
Orc Sureshot now truly ascends to the top tier of uncommons since it can easily kill something relevant with triggers. Noxious Dragon now usually eats a
relevant card on the way out. Battle Brawler with the enhancement was already great, but it’s even harder to beat now.
The card I’m most excited about is Grave Strength. More creatures trading early and more relevant to a +3/+3 both imply to me that this card is going to go
from marginal to strong.
Don’t be tricked into playing Fearsome Awakening because there are more Dragons. Yes, it makes 6/6s sometimes. The rest of the time it’s a five-mana spell
that makes a 2/2. It was better when there were morphs trading early that you could rebuy as their face up side.
Red:
Common Creatures By Curve
Two Mana
Three Mana
Four Mana
Five Mana
Six Mana
Removal:
Tricks:
Other:
Having multiple two-drops in this pack is huge for red. The earlygame was where it struggled in Dragons of Tarkir. I wouldn’t change the bias towards
taking early drops in packs one and two, but this means that red decks don’t necessarily have to lean on their other color to hit the required curve.
Note that Mardu Scout does push towards red decks being base red. There aren’t really other cards in the format with the same early color commitment, so it
is easy to forget.
Gore Swine has more bears to trade with and less Barrage of Boulders to jam with. Stay away.
Fierce Invocation gets better, as 4/4 no longer looks silly against a bunch of X/5s. Of course, the standard five-drop disclaimer applies. It goes from a
sign of a draft gone wrong to a reasonable 20th to 23rd card.
I’m sure there are still Temur Battle Rage decks where the card is really insane, but there is no more Barrage of Boulders as backup copies, and you are
now seeing it pack three, making it harder to draft around since you can’t plan for it. The replacement tricks in Dragons of Tarkir just aren’t quite the
same. The card as a raw trick gets much better, as simply the first half of double strike is likely to win more combats as creature sizes are much closer,
but in terms of a gameplan, it loses a lot of mileage.
Bathe in Dragonfire is now insane. Before it was just fine removal that was a little awkward going late. With the creature size cap now shifting to 4/4
from X/5, it just is basically a red Murder.
Both of the “Other” spells go from mediocre or bad to actually reasonable. Even a bad Lava Axe is still a Lava Axe in an aggressive format, and a lot of
the real punishers for Lightning Shrieker, like X/5s that block fliers or Kill Shots, are just gone. Mardu Runemark is probably the second best Runemark
since it makes the simple double block not so simple. It is still worse than Jeskai Runemark, as letting them chump block is still worse than letting them
not block.
Uncommon Creatures By Curve
Two Mana
Four Mana
Five Mana
Six Mana
Removal:
Other:
Well, people weren’t really beating Pyrotechnics before, and they sure aren’t now. Wild Slash is also still really good.
The rest of the uncommons here are not the best. Vaultbreaker is the biggest loser, as it trades down a lot of the time. Giant Cockroach is not the size to
be in a Grizzly Bear format.
The two solid ones are Humble Defector and Hungering Yeti. Defector was always fine, but with the creature size shift, Yeti can easily ambush an attacker.
Also, again, how are yetis food for dragons when they are literally the exact same size?
Green
Common Creatures By Curve
Two Mana
Three Mana
Four Mana
Five Mana
Six Mana
Removal:
Other:
The green commons really didn’t get much better. At most, some average cards swapped for some mediocre ones.
Both ramp spells (Whisperer of the Wilds and Map the Wastes) got way worse, as you are punished for taking a turn off in the earlygame, and neither was
that exciting to begin with.
Frontier Mastodon got a semi-reasonable upgrade since 4/3 is a relevant size in this format, though the baseline of the card is still super average.
Formless Nurturing as a 3/3 is actually now just filler level and no longer unplayably embarrassing.
Return to the Earth is now much more useful against enchantments since it can kill Pacifism, but it is much worse against fliers; the baseline nature of
the format means they matter less than when they were flying over the Glacial Stalker versus Archers’ Parapet standoffs.
Hunt the Weak is good, but it also was good, so no change there. Was best green common, still is best green common.
Ainok Guide is the only real big winner. The splash fixing actually matters more since it is scarce instead of abundant, and the 2/2 body is also more
relevant.
Uncommon Creatures By Curve
Three Mana
Four Mana
Five Mana
Six Mana
Seven Mana
Tricks:
Other:
Still a lot of mediocre here, but at least the uncommons have some cards that gain significant value.
Abzan Kin-Guard is now in a format where 3/3 is a relevant body and lifelink matters a lot more. As mentioned before, lifelink got way better with more
bolster, more racing, and Runemarks being better. Abzan Runemark on Abzan Kin-Guard is unbeatable without a removal spell.
Winds of Qal Sisma gets much better, as Fog with upside is a reasonable racing play and much less conditional on creatures actually engaging in specific
blocks. Note that I don’t like Revealing Wind since the “with upside” part is very important.
Cached Defenses now just curves out insanely well in a format that rewards it a lot more.
The only real loser is Abzan Beastmaster, and even that card still seems fine. Because creature sizing is so flat, it is easy to trigger it every turn and
exchange cards. Eventually they will run out of things, and you won’t.
Multicolored:
Cunning Strike appears to be a clunky card in a color with the big issue of clunking out (Red) and is in probably the worst color combination. Skip it.
Grim Contest lost a lot, as there are no longer Disowned Ancestors or Archers’ Parapets, and instead, everything is a 2/2. It’s another reason to pick up
Colossodon Yearlings, but it goes from “signal to be Sultai if you see it past sixth” to “not even that good when it works.”
Enough about cards that got bad. Let’s talk about the good ones.
Harsh Sustenance is even better than before. This is a legitimate payoff for being W/B and a reason to expect that Scoured Barrens will disappear before
any of the other lands as other white decks try to splash it.
Ethereal Ambush takes out two attackers or makes two real attackers. I’ve harped on the high drops a lot, but this one is actually significantly above
replacement value. Obviously it is competing with Ojutai’s Summons for the slot, but you can prioritize cards differently once you know you are U/G and
have a decent shot of picking up an Ambush pack three.
War Flare is really unique instead of totally replaceable. The red Trumpet Blast replacement is Volcanic Rush, which costs five and doesn’t add toughness
in a format of flat X/2s versus 2/Xs, and the white Rush of Battle replacement is Great Teacher’s Decree at uncommon. The spot it fills is no longer
overloaded, and it can really shine.
Artifacts:
Hewed Stone Retainers might be good. Don’t play the rest.
Overall:
All of these Fate Reforged cards look much more at home with the Dragons of Tarkir cards than the Khans of Tarkir ones. Packs will feel much less like
“take a rare, then hope to get a few more playables” now.
Green is a color you have to move in on early, as you really need the full first two packs of playables to make it worth it.
If black doesn’t look open pack one, don’t get tricked into moving in as getting cut pack three is a nightmare.
Take creatures before pack three if you are in blue.
White goes well with anything.
Red’s primary focus is filling the hole it has in the earlygame.
There are a lot of very good splashable cards you can set up for. Just because you are U/W don’t forget about that sideboard Death Wind when you see a
Dismal Backwater come pack three.
This format is low to the ground. There is a maximum density of high cost spells you can play. Pick accordingly.