Today’s goal: to answer a few key questions about Kaladesh Limited.
How do the mechanics affect the format?
How does creature sizing affect the format?
What cards do I want to be first-picking?
Are there any holes or oversaturated slots in a color?
How does the color play to the set’s themes?
How do the rares line up for the color?
What are the cards I think will be under- and overvalued?
Mechanics
Fabricate is a very important mechanic for Kaladesh Limited. Any time you can split a creature into two bodies, you create the potential to trade it for multiple opposing creatures. This implies any one-toughness ground creature in Kaladesh is a liability to attack with. Any large creature without evasion is also likely to be chumped for days.
Wizards R&D is definitely a step ahead of me here, however. There are really no one-toughness creatures to attack with, and the majority of the large creatures have trample or other evasion. Be wary of the few cards that don’t fit this mold. Also note that Fabricate is only in green, black, and white, so decks heavy on blue or red might be weaker against the cards made worse here.
Fabricate’s “go wide” aspect also improves mass pump spells in certain color combinations. Engineered Might implies the core here is G/W, but Inspired Charge in B/W is likely similar.
Sizing
Not really a mechanic, but every color has a jump to four toughness or power at four mana, which is fairly early. Creatures that are 2/2s and 3/3s really need something to set them apart, like evasion or a non-combat bonus or some way to trade up.
Vehicles
There are seven common or uncommon Vehicles. Most of them are massive threats that outsize the rest of the format. This can be your way for your 2/2s or 3/3s to trade up into 3/4 creatures.
Vehicles being the big threats also pushes on the removal of the format. They are only going to become creatures in combat, making sorcery-speed answers worse. Smaller removal also gets worse as you are much more concerned with being hit by a train than a Vedalken. Bounce and other tempo tricks get better as you are also getting tempo value on the creatures tapped to Crew the Vehicle.
Too many Vehicles can become a liability. Cars can drive other cars, but they aren’t good at it. Similar to emerge from Eldritch Moon, try not to fall too low on non-Vehicle creatures in deckbuilding.
While Vehicles are more creature-like than past artifact sets’ mechanics, remember that the difference between artifact removal and just removal is very small in this set. Cards like Appetite for the Unnatural are maindeck high picks instead of sideboard options.
Energy
Energy is a very weird mechanic. It is clearly parasitic in that every Energy card only works with itself and other Energy cards, but there often isn’t a clear line between enablers and payoffs. When looking at cards that make and spend Energy, most of them are priced to work on their own and do work reasonably well that way. However, the mechanic is clearly at its best when you are redirecting the resource into the highest-payoff effects from those that produce more than they need.
Look at your Energy cards. Think about how good they are if you don’t spend your Energy on them. Think about how good they are if you spend extra Energy on them. Don’t play too many cards that fall into one of these bins and not the other or you will have a deck that isn’t actually synergistic.
Example: Janjeet Sentry is clearly a card that wants you to pour additional Energy into it for more activations. A deck where all your Energy sources are also Janjeet Sentry is going to have a lot of 2U 2/3s.
White
Common
Converted Mana Cost 1
2
3
4
5
Removal
Tricks
Uncommon
2
3
4
6
Removal
Other
Rare
Great
Good
Okay
No Thanks
Top Commons
Both Fragmentize and Revoke Privileges miss on hitting big Vehicles, but Fragmentize hits the medium and small ones and costs one. There are also a ton of artifact creatures. You won’t be short on targets here.
That’s it. All of white’s other commons feel like they aren’t super-efficient or have large hidden drawbacks.
Top Uncommons
Normally I would support saving the Whales, but not in Kaladesh. Skywhaler’s Shot is instant removal that kills Vehicles and bomb rares and huge threats and has an upside.
Aerial Responder isn’t Vampire Nighthawk, but I think everyone is glad that isn’t the case. As is, the card is still very powerful and extremely difficult to race.
A lot of other cards are just behind these, including Fairgrounds Warden and Visionary Augmenter. What white lacks in power commons, it makes up for at uncommon.
Curve and Sizing
White has no creature at common that directly punches through a four-toughness blocker. You have to go around, go over, or get in your SUV and drive through it.
Spells
Often white is heavy on creatures and light on spells, but there are so many artifact creatures in Kaladesh that each color had to be relatively loaded on spells. Enabling Vehicles also plays into this.
The thing I like about the white spells is there is no nonsense here. It’s all combat tricks and removal. You are playing to the battlefield every step of the way. The key is going to be finding which ones underperform and playing less of them.
Mechanics
White has a subtheme of flickering and bouncing your own things for value. This plays into using Fabricate to make Servo tokens for reuse value, which plays into the go-wide plan in G/W and B/W. In U/W, this plays into Energy generation. W/R still has some ways to play to this plan but no real core setup.
For parasitic purposes, white’s Energy cards are all more on the source side. Use their Energy to fuel your other color payoffs.
Rares
White’s rares are amazing. I’m likely even being modest in my rankings here: Fumigate and Aetherstorm Roc are likely closer to great and Toolshaper Exemplar is a really good playable-level card. It has multiple sweepers and multiple giant fliers.
Sleepers
If you have never played against the Coalition Honor Guard mechanic, it is miserable. You can’t play removal. You can’t play combat tricks. You can’t play Auras. This card will often get a two-for-one and sometimes get more as it turns off multiple cards in their hand. Bonus points for playing it on an artifact creature so they can’t Disenchant effects on it.
I usually hate these Cloudshift-style tricks, as it is hard for them to earn you a card of value, but Acrobatic Maneuver comes with the card built in. Instead you are gifted with a situational two-for-one, which sounds great to me. One notable trick is Crewing a Vehicle and using Acrobatic Maneuver to “untap” the creature you used to Crew it.
Traps
As mentioned with Fragmentize, many of the threats you want to neutralize are Vehicles. Energy triggers and Fabricate also mean creatures generate value despite being removed. Revoke Privileges is an all-time low for Arrest effects, hence why it has extra bonuses. Hard removal is still good and I expect to first-pick the card, but more strong creatures go ahead of it in the pick order now.
This reads like an efficient creature or good Crew member, but many of the Vehicles I like have Crew 4 or 5. This isn’t much better than a 2/2 there, and it still trades for 2/2s and gets brick-walled by 3/4s. For the most part this is a generic two-drop that attacks poorly.
Summary
White lacks true power at common, but makes up for it at uncommon and rare. It tries to make up for this with small synergies, so if your white deck doesn’t have a plan to add up to more than the sum of its parts, you’d better have been passed a lot of good ones.
Blue
Common
1
2
3
4
5
7
Removal
Tricks
Other
Uncommon
1
2
3
4
5
Removal
Other
Rare
Great
Good
Okay
Unsure
Top Commons
Now this is a real removal spell. Malfunction is still hampered by the format having a lot of enters-the-battlefield effects, but it hits Vehicles. Just remember your tap trigger at competitive events or you will be very sad.
Similar to white, blue drops off into solid playables quickly from there. None of the other commons have that all-around efficiency I usually expect from a first-pick-quality card.
Top Uncommons
Okay, maybe the Whales can help themselves. Four-power fliers for four mana are basically unheard-of. Your opponent will die to Long-Finned Skywhale very quickly.
Aether Meltdown is an instant-speed removal spell that is cheap and gains value. Note that the -4/-0 also prevents creatures it enchants from Crewing Vehicles.
Curve and Sizing
Blue has no four-toughness creature for four, instead relying on its artifact creatures. This means secondary-color four drops when in blue are likely to be above replacement level.
Spells
While it isn’t flooded on spells like usual, blue is heavy on countermagic. There aren’t many good activated mana sinks due to Energy and there aren’t many flash creatures, so try to pair your counters with instants that let you otherwise use the mana or as follow-ups to cheap creatures.
Mechanics
Blue has similar trigger recycling payoffs to white but has no Fabricate overlap in color. Look for this as well when making U/R, U/B, and U/G decks, as many of the same synergies exist on a smaller scale.
There is a small “artifacts matter theme” running through blue, black, and red. Value artifact creatures more highly here.
U/G is the Energy deck, with blue providing the clear sources and green providing mostly solid sinks. Almost all of the enabler-only cards are U/G as well. Just remember balance here: sinks and sources, not too many of each.
Rares
Blue’s rares are a step down from white’s, but still solid. I’m starting to think there is a push towards good rares in the actual colors in Kaladesh to try to push people into a lane early in a draft.
Note that almost all of blue’s rares pay you off for a defensive style of play, either costing mana or providing longer-term card advantage.
Sleepers
Gearseeker Serpent is one of the few common creatures that stands up to Vehicles in finishing power and has a powerful mechanic built in. This is a lot closer to a five-mana 5/6 with evasion than it looks at first.
Similar to white, blue has many other strong uncommons but few that are universally good. I feel like I should specifically mention that Shrewd Negotiation is going to play out less conditionally than Switcheroo did in Magic 2013, as you have Servo tokens from Fabricate to trade away. Again this interacts with their Vehicles and their best creatures.
Traps
Most of the expensive cards I want to counter are Vehicles, and it’s a lot easier to pay the two for this than the three for Mana Leak. Revolutionary Rebuff becomes a blank very quickly.
It is somewhat ingrained in our minds that double Thopter makers are Whirler Rogues, but Experimental Aviator is far from it. It only provides two power and has no bonus ability besides blocking 2/2s. This is more of a role-player than a slam dunk.
Summary
Blue as always is a little more finicky than other colors, but a lot of the synergies have overlap in this set. It also gets bonus points due to the more even creature spread across colors in Kaladesh, so expect blue to overperform the individual cards rather than getting bogged down with blanks like in Shadows over Innistrad.
Black
Common
1
2
3
4
5
6
Removal
Tricks
Other
Uncommon
2
3
4
Removal
Other
Rare
Great
Good
Okay
No Thanks
Top Commons
Instant speed. Kills anything. Gains life. Tidy Conclusion is where it is at.
Top Uncommons
Good removal with a bonus. Underhanded Designs is shockingly similar to Tidy Conclusion.
I’ve been harsh on small-things-only removal, but Essence Extraction’s tacked-on lifegain is a big plus.
Curve and Sizing
A theme in black this set is durdly-sized creatures without evasion. Find ways to avoid a ground stall in your black decks.
Spells
Black this set is weird. It has two extremely powerful tricks, which feels out of character for it. Subtle Strike is especially weird, as the one-toughness creature I want to kill the most is black’s own Foundry Screecher!
Black also has three different three-mana two-for-ones at common. This means you should never prioritize these unless a specific one really fits your deck.
Mechanics
Black has a minor +1/+1 counter subtheme. The primary overlap is supposed to be green, but Fabricate in white also give you some play there.
Rares
Black’s rares are mostly on the reasonable side of things, except the two mythics. I have no idea why both of these very similar cards are in the same set, but there are multiple giant evasive six-cost creatures that kill their things.
Sleepers
Dhund Operative is one of the few creatures that trades up well in the format, but it does so while also attacking well. In a deck that reliably has an artifact, a 3/2 creature with deathtouch for 1B is a solid payoff that has a reasonably high floor as a default Grizzly Bear.
Most recursive creatures like Ovalchase Daredevil have a “This can’t block” clause. Ovalchase Daredevil doesn’t. It isn’t phenomenal stats, but it can play offense and defense, which makes it better than the average similar card.
Traps
Diabolic Tutor seems especially bad in Kaladesh. Creatures are relatively pushed, and Vehicles want you to spend your mana committing to the battlefield while providing top-notch finishers. There are very few cards I want to spend four mana to find, and even fewer when you consider that sweepers are worse due to vehicles too.
Oddly, Make Obsolete may be preemptively obsolete. Beyond the four-toughness jump, creature sizing is very varied, making the one-toughness jump worse, and lots of the non-Servo one-toughness creatures are being driven out of the format by Servo tokens. I remember Cower in Fear being a maindeck card in Magic 2013, but Make Obsolete is more of a sideboard card.
Summary
Black has a lot of ways to get chip-shot advantages but needs an actual way to win. That is what you are looking for in your other color.
Red
Common
1
2
3
4
5
Removal
Tricks
Other
Uncommon
1
2
3
4
Removal
Other
Rare
Great
Good
No Thanks
Unsure
Top Commons
Welding Sparks is not small-ball removal. It is base small-ball removal that scales up at instant speed. This is my pick for best common in the set.
Salivating Gremlins isn’t quite Brazen Wolves, but at times it will be better. The trample is a big deal, and the third toughness is very nice in a format where a third power isn’t rewarded elsewhere.
Top Uncommons
While I didn’t draft much of the format, I heard stories about Swelter in Odyssey block drafts. Furious Reprisal is slightly worse in current Magic, but clearing away two small creatures is still powerful.
Uncommon instant sweepers are not something we see often for good reason. I’m especially interested in the ability of Incendiary Sabotage to let you block with your creatures that will die to it and add the three damage to finish off larger creatures.
Curve and Sizing
While high-power creatures are usually decent blockers, red doesn’t get high enough power at good enough rates to consider it in this set. Its common three-drops also attack for four damage. Turn things sideways and figure it out later.
Spells
Not a lot to say here. Red just has a solid mix of aggressively slanted spells with different styles of tricks and removal.
Mechanics
In addition to the previously mentioned artifact overlap with blue and black, red has Vehicle-specific payoffs. It also has high-power creatures that are oddly good at driving the expensive cars on their own. Terror of the Fairgrounds is fully licensed and insured to take Demolition Stomper out for a spin.
Rares
I’ve listed a lot of red rares as unknown as I’m not sure where to evaluate them, but most of these are somewhere between bad and okay and not anywhere above that. They are very situational cards; it’s just a matter of if the situations they are good in are reasonable or rare.
Sleepers
For the first time ever, Demolish will correctly be in people’s maindecks. There are enough solid artifact creatures and Vehicles to kill that it is approximately on the same level as Smite the Monstrous in a normal set.
Since all of the big creatures and Vehicles in the format have trample or evasion built in, Hijack’s ability to deal damage is maximized. There aren’t many sacrifice outlets for the combo, but it’s a fine finisher.
Traps
I don’t think this is a format that pays off early-game filtering, and the additional land you have to sandbag to cast Cathartic Reunion makes it start feeling conditional where Tormenting Voice was marginal but always castable.
I don’t like 3/2s in this format, and a conditional one-shot loot isn’t going to make me like Quicksmith Genius.
Summary
Land, creature, sideways. Land, creature, more sideways. Land, trick, even more sideways.
Green
Common
1
2
Sage of Shalia’s Claim
3
4
5
6
Removal
Tricks
Other
Uncommon
2
3
4
5
6
Removal
Tricks
Other
Rare
Great
Good
Oviya Pashiri, Sage Lifecrafter
No Thanks
Top Commons
Ah yes, Peema Outrider, the old four-mana 4/4 trample creature at common with an upside.
Appetite for the Unnatural is not only instant removal for Vehicles and artifact creatures with a bonus, it also hits Malfunction and Revoke Privileges to counter their removal.
Unlike in the other colors, there are even more commons I want to mention here. It isn’t just my normal green bias; the green commons genuinely feel very strong relative to the other colors.
Top Uncommons
There are tons of expensive things to use the mana on, tons of things to use the Energy on if you draw this late, and tons of things to do with a 2/2 body. Servant of the Conduit hits on all the relevant specs.
Somehow most of a Thragtusk ended up at uncommon. With trample and better stats.
Curve and Sizing
Green is giant. Every other color jumps a bit at the four-slot, but green goes even bigger into Vehicle territory.
Spells
One side effect of an artifact set is that green gets to be a removal color. The last artifact set was before fight cards like Prey Upon existed, so this is the first time green has had real removal on top of this. As a result, it looks on the surface like green has it all with great spells and great creatures, whereas usually the spells are scarce.
Mechanics
A secret mechanic in artifact sets is that you can more freely splash. When your on-curve creatures cost generic mana, you can get away with missing something for a little longer. Green has several enablers for this strategy. Expect Malfunction to often be drafted as a G/U hybrid card.
Rares
Green’s rares are very pushed. Not a lot to say here; they’re just big creatures in a world where sorcery-speed removal is punished.
Shout out to Dubious Challenge, aka Collected Dump-any, for keeping it real and reminding us not everyone can be a star or even make the team. Props to Neal Oliver for the name.
Sleepers
Normally land tutor effects like Attune with Aether are mediocre in two-color decks, but the bonus Energy here adds a partial card of value to a cheap effect.
Four is a lot of power to add, and trample means you can’t just chump block away Larger Than Life. It isn’t great, but it’s one of the best sorcery-speed individual pump spells I can remember.
Traps
Oh Rabid Bite… except sorcery-speed removal is much worse in this format and most of the big things I’m targeting already trample. Still fine, but Nature’s Way is definitely second-tier removal.
All the big threats trample and ignore Servo blockers…except sad Cowl Prowler. Expect this to run into blockers all day long.
Summary
Green is the best color in Kaladesh: great removal, great creatures, great rares, and even great archetype payoffs.
Artifact
Common
2
3
4
5
7
Other
Uncommon
3
4
5
6
Other
Rare
Great
Good
Okay
No Thanks
Unsure
Top Commons
There shouldn’t be many chase commons in colorless as it drives weird things in drafts, but I’m taking the high-power Vehicles fairly aggressively. Renegade Freighter is exciting as it is easy to Crew and hits hard.
Top Uncommons
What is this card? Snapping Drake isn’t enough for you, so let’s make it colorless and give it more abilities?
Curve and Sizing
The artifact creatures in Kaladesh are surprisingly reasonably sized for their cost, ignoring any bonus abilities. Expect them to dry up a bit early as people select whatever curve filler they need.
Mechanics
I want to note: I don’t list the Vehicles in the top picks section, but I talk about how they affect removal a lot earlier. This makes sense when you think about wanting only a couple of them as finishers, but at the same time wanting your removal to interact as well as possible when you need it to. A big part of that is stopping their finishers, which much of the removal just doesn’t do against a Ballista Charger or Demolition Stomper.
Rares
There are a lot of rare build-arounds in the artifact section, and unlike red’s, some of these have real potential. My best advice at this point is to try them out if they look good in your deck and see what happens.
Sleepers
Even at twice the cost, a Bonesplitter is exciting to me. Torch Gauntlet might be one of the few really solid common Equipment cards that squeak through development these days.
Chaining off slightly clunky creatures doesn’t seem great, but it plays much better than expected. Making a few 4/4s in a row really makes it hard to be in a bad position unless you were behind and getting buried on tempo to start.
Traps
I think most of the Puzzleknots are too clunky to just play. You really need to want the artifact or the Energy if they make it to put them anywhere near your deck.
Filigree Familiar hits at a weird curve spot right before the sizing jump. It’s never going to be bad, as it replaces itself, but it won’t often get the good trade you want it to.
Summary
The artifacts in Kaladesh are sturdier than you would think. Expect them to be taken earlier due to their generic nature.
Multicolored and Land
Uncommon
2
3
4
5
Removal
Other
Rares
Great
Good
Okay
The multicolored spells in Kaladesh are all fairly strong. The real standouts are in U/W, with Dovin Baan as a great planeswalker and Cloudblazer as an all-around absurd card. I’m also willing to splash Unlicensed Disintegration and Restoration Gearsmith. Aside from Restoration Gearsmith, they all give you an idea of what the archetype wants to be doing. Draft them fairly highly and use them as guidelines.
The lands on the other hand are just okay. Fast lands are much worse in Limited as games go longer, and the other lands aren’t anything special. Even Inventors’ Fair is a minor bonus that has a real cost in colorless mana.
Overall
Color differences are less pronounced with more strategic differences than card availability ones.
The overall power level is high.
There is lots of built-in creature value and creatures that dodge sorcery-speed removal, making most removal a bit worse than normal.
Most colors are looking towards the higher rarities for payoffs.
There are lots of big trample or evasive creatures in Kaladesh. Don’t try to block a lot. Kill it, tempo it, or play to win first.