This week I will pick up where we left off last week, covering the Red, Green, and Black cards from Rise of the Eldrazi. As I did in last week’s article, which covered White, Blue and Colorless cards, I will rank the best cards of each color from the new set, in order (1 = best), and explain why they are the best, including a number of specific applications. I will also mention specific cards that are not good and why they are not good, so that you don’t fall into the trap of playing bad cards in your deck that you mistakenly thought were good cards.
Also at the end of the article I will give a brief top 10 list of the set as a whole, drawing on the combined analyses from this week’s and last week’s articles.
Black Cards
1. Consume the Meek is one of those cards that is so situationally powerful that its existence forces people to play differently than they ordinarily would. Moreover, if it starts seeing as much play as it should, it will force deck builders to adapt by adding more high cost threats to their decks. This card can really disrupt the early progress of so many decks in Standard. White Weenie, Boss Naya, and Bant each quiver at the possibility of having nearly their entire board wiped away either during combat or during their end step. Just think about how many of the top cards in Standard get killed by this: Knight of the Reliquary, Noble Hierarch, Wild Nacatl, Cunning Sparkmage, Student of Warfare, White Knight, Kor Firewalker, Devout Lightcaster, Putrid Leech, Saprolings, Goblins, Dragons, Wolves, Soldiers, Plants, Celestial Colonnade, Angel tokens, Wall of Omens (as incidental value, usually), Wall of Denial, Calcite Snapper, Vampire Nighthawk, Vampire Hexmage… The list goes on and on. This card is the closest card we’ve seen in recent years to Wrath of Leknif (Finkel’s proposed invitational card that got denied). The fact that it can hit man lands will make this card just good enough in the control matchups to warrant main deck slots. I would be very surprised if this card does not play a substantial role in tournament-winning decks.
2. Consuming Vapors is another card that threatens to have a huge impact in many matchups. It is a bit slow, but combined with just one other removal spell (Gatekeeper of Malakir, Terminate, Doom Blade, Smother, Vendetta…) you can reliably set up a board position where the opponent is unlikely to have even a single creature on the board on your fifth turn. Seems like a great time to cast Mind Sludge. There is no Phyrexian Arena in the format to fuel this type of strategy, but between Sign in Blood and all the two-for-ones Black can generate, Mono Black Control will make a comeback. The looming question will be whether it can compete against Sprouting Thrinax and Bloodbraid Elf, or whether it has to wait in the wings until Alara block rotates out of Standard. That is the only question holding this archetype in check.
3. Vendetta played second fiddle to Snuff Out in its Mercadian Masques debut, and will now suffer the same fate behind Smother in its return to the game. Vendetta will see a relevant amount of play in Standard and especially in Block Constructed, primarily as an efficient answer to early threats. Unlike Smother, it can be used, albeit with a hefty drawback in terms of life loss, to kill a larger creature if need be. The one-mana difference really is very relevant when comparing it to Doom Blade. Being able to kill something at one mana and then another at two mana with Smother is important, as is being able to cast a threat with one mana open for removal as opposed to having to leave two mana open. The possibility of playing Vendetta and Lightning Bolt in the same deck is pretty exciting, depending on what the metagame dictates is necessary. I expect to see the Vendetta–Smother combo as a strong one-two punch that relegates Doom Blade to the bench and maybe even to the minor leagues in many cases, depending on what the Black decks are looking for answers to.
4. Arrogant Bloodlord is a card that does not impress me in newer formats since there are so many creatures that just make this guy mediocre (Noble Hierarch, Wall of Omens, Seagate Oracle, most token creatures, etc.). In older formats, especially something like Legacy where most creatures are larger than one power and where Dark Ritual is legal, there may be a place for this guy. His clock is a whole turn slower than Phyrexian Negator’s clock, but this guy is a much smaller liability than Negator maindeck. He is just the right size against Zoo’s creatures and Zoo’s burn spells. I don’t expect him to be a gold standard for creatures or anything like that, but I do expect him to see some warranted play, especially in older formats.
5. Mortician Beetle feels a lot like Bloodhall Ooze. I can see this card being good in a specific kind of deck, likely involving Eldrazi Spawn tokens and lots of removal spells. Just as Algae Gharial was good in the Jund mirror for Block Constructed, this card may be good in a Black-based Eldrazi Spawn token mirror or something. He also seems solid in an aggressive Black strategy involving Bloodghast, Gatekeeper of Malakir, and possibly Demonic Appetite and/or Bloodthrone Vampire. I’m not going to invest too much in getting behind this card, but I am going to rank it above the cards that I believe should not be played, and that says something.
Inquisition of Kozilek is being compared to Thoughtseize, Duress, and Cabal Therapy. This is fine as long as it is not being compared favorably to these cards, as some are strangely trying to do. Realistically, the card is more on the power level of Psychic Spear or Ostracize. One of the most misunderstood mechanics in Magic is the discard mechanic. Card draw is pretty straightforward as it always gives you more options, but the purpose of discard is to take away the opponent’s options. Unlike card draw, however, discard gets worse as the game progresses since it cannot take away opposing draw steps but only cards that have already been drawn. So basically cards like Coercion or Thoughtseize go from being really good early to dead late, when the opponent has no more cards in hand. When you place further restrictions on the card by saying it can only take certain cards and not others, the window of opportunity for the card being good gets smaller and smaller. Duress has a similar problem in this regard, but it is at least good up until the point where the opponent has cast all his non-creature spells, and it is usually non-creature spells that you are really worried about anyway. The problem with Inquisition is that it is really only good early in the game before the opponent casts their early spells. Later in the game when they start casting their higher cost cards, there is a good chance they have no more targets for Inquisition, or at least no more worthwhile targets. Furthermore, even if it is in your opening hand, it is quite often the case that the card you really want them not to have cannot be chosen with Inquisition (i.e. Planeswalkers, Day of Judgment, Polymorph, or in older formats, Ad Nauseam, Force of Will, etc.). So all things considered, the drawback of top decking this card later in the game is not sufficiently compensated for by the upside of drawing it in your opener and hitting an important early spell. I can’t imagine a situation where I would want to be playing with this card in my deck.
Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief is the most recent addition to the Colostomy family of vampires. If you draw this guy in a match of Limited magic, it is because you don’t pass on the opportunity to play one of the most powerful Limited cards in the set. If you draw him in a Constructed match, it is because you forgot Malakir Bloodwitch was printed. “But he pumps and kills stuff and is a legendary Vampire!” Good, then go build an EDH deck and have fun with that. Just don’t expect to win a competitive Constructed tournament with this guy in your deck.
Guul Draz Assassin was the promo card they gave me when I purchased a box of the new set. The feeling I got when I was handed this holographic dog turd was similar to the feeling I got when I won a promo Ancient Ziggurat at FNM. That Ancient Ziggurat went straight into my trade binder, and even the guy who collects promo cards doesn’t want it. The mana investment on this card is really high, and only good if the opponent has multiple things that get killed by him, and the payoff is only worthwhile if they are applying a small enough amount of pressure for you to have time to level this guy up and start tapping him. Not only do all these situations have to be just right, but they also have to not have the removal spell to completely blow you out and basically double Time Walk you in response to the second attempt at leveling him. Geez, talk about high risk, low reward. I expect this card to see no warranted play.
Hellcarver Demon. Speaking of high risk, this guy is about as risky as you can get. Unlike the Assassin, however, the Demon usually has a pretty high reward. Kaervek’s Spite, Hatred, and Tomb of Urami each saw a substantial amount of play as Black finishers, and the allure of living the dream that was born with players casting Mind’s Desire will make playing Hellcarver Demon too tempting for some people to overcome, even in the face of sound reasoning. The fact of the matter is that he is a six-drop. You are investing the same amount of mana you would be in a card like Sorin Markov or a second Malakir Bloodwitch for a card that is the same size as Abyssal Persecutor. There may be a neat trick (notice I did not say ‘cute’) with cards like Halimar Depths and Jace, the Mind Sculptor to put huge threats onto the board, but I’m sure there are better things to be doing with those setup cards. The thing you must remember is that once his ability triggers a single time, you are all-in and at the mercy of an opposing Day of Judgment, Martial Coup, removal spell + weak trigger, etc. Unless there is some obscure combo enabled by the unique stats of this card, don’t play him. He is not worth it.
Contaminated Ground is garbage. I’m not quite sure what it is about cards like this that excite people, but they always seem to see inordinate amounts of play just after a set’s release. Psychic Venom and Evil Presence are still terrible even if you put them together in the same card. Basically, this card is a Sinkhole only when the opponent doesn’t mind getting Sinkholed, and is a Psychic Venom only when the opponent doesn’t mind getting Psychic Venomed. Sure, you still get to exert your Evil Presence on the opponent, but that is largely irrelevant when they destroy you with better cards. Spreading Seas is strictly a mana investment since it replaces itself with a new card. This card does not replace itself and so it is both a mana investment and a card investment. The effect is worth the mana investment but not the whole card investment. So don’t play it.
In this set, Black got what it usually gets: good removal spells. It didn’t get much else, and unfortunately no good card drawing this time around.
Red Cards
1. Kargan Dragonlord is a very solid card. I wrote about him a couple weeks ago here when talking about directions for Mono Red, so I won’t repeat myself. He is basically a Lightning Dragon that costs one less mana to cast (except that Baneslayer Angel does not have protection from him). Actually he may even be better than a three casting cost Lightning Dragon because of his ultimate. I rate him 1 instead of 2 simply since he can take over a game by himself.
2. Staggershock is another card I talked about when discussing the merits of Kargan Dragonlord two weeks ago. It can deal 4 to the opponent for 3 mana at instant speed, just like Flame Javelin, or it can deal 2 damage to a creature and 2 to the opponent, or it can deal 2 damage to 2 separate creatures. Each of those options is quite worthwhile. For those who have dreams of casting Arc Lightning and Fire/Ice for value, this is the card you are looking for — not Forked Bolt.
3. Devastating Summons, unlike Hellcarver Demon, is the all-in card of the set that is actually good. Goblin Bushwhacker now has a place in RDW variants as it combines to so well with this card. The problem with Bushwhacker wasn’t that it was bad in Mono Red but rather than, unlike in Boros decks that could set up sick Ranger of Eos-fueled assaults, there was not quite enough upside to the Bushwhacker. Now everything has changed. The nice thing about Devastating Summons is that you do not have to necessarily go “all in” with it, depending on how much damage you have already dealt to the opponent and what sort of outs the opponent may have. Paying 3 mana and sacrificing 3 lands for a 2/1 and a pair of 4/3’s, each with haste, may be what you want to do, especially if you have drawn, say, 6 lands and 2 Devastating Summons and 2 Goblin Bushwhackers in a game. This card is like Goblin Trenches with a combo upside, giving you something worthwhile to do with excess lands, hence justifying running even more lands to fuel Plated Geopede and Kargan Dragonlord. Devastating Summons is an all-around good card, despite the obvious card disadvantage.
4. Conquering Manticore looks like a bulk rare since, unlike the Masticores, the Manticores have traditionally been terrible for Constructed play. This one, however, has a mechanic that is very interesting, and stats that make it precisely good enough to merit play. Consider this: the opponent cheats an Emrakul, the Aeons Torn into play and passes. Next turn you untap and put Conquering Manticore into play, gain control of Emrakul and attack for 15, annihilating 6 of your opponent’s permanents. Then he untaps his 15/15 along with the one or two permanents he has left in play, sees that his life total is at 5, looks at the 5/5 flying Manticore on your side, frowns and says go. I am not usually a fan of six-drop creatures, but this one has a powerful enough ability attached to him, and one that is uniquely well-positioned to put him above the bar and the best card available for certain applications. There is a name for cards that solve niche problems and yet have wide-ranging utility: we call them good cards. The question will be whether the format is right for Conquering Manticore over something like Broodmate Dragon. My intuition, as difficult as this may be for some to believe, is that yes, it is!
5. Sarkhan the Mad carries a fairly powerful set of abilities. I can definitely see this card making the cut as a one-of in Jund, or in a dedicated Black-Red deck. It’s probably not the sort of thing you want to being doing in a Grixis, deck since you don’t have Sprouting Thrinax to make into a Dragon, and Blue probably affords you better ways to draw cards. Despite being Mad, I’m not sure Sarkhan will shake things up too much more than he did his first time around. He suffers from the same drawback as his Vol counterpart of not helping you enough when you’re behind on the board. I mean, upgrading your guy to a Dragon is nice, but if you have guys to upgrade you’re probably not too far behind. And what do we cut? Siege-Gang Commander? Like I said, it is probably only a one-of since he’s not exactly earth-shatteringly good.
Kiln Fiend, Splinter Twin, and Tuktuk the Explorer are each marginally playable, but none of which are terribly exciting. Kiln Fiend can semi-reliably attack for 4 in a burn deck, which is about as much damage as you would expect on average from a Plated Geopede, but without the ability to play defense or survive a block. Nonetheless, combined with Staggershock and Searing Blaze, dealing with blockers might not be the hardest thing in the world to overcome. Splinter Twin is a bad card in general but might fit in that stupid Pestermite deck. Tuktuk is powerful, but paying three mana for a five-power creature is straight-up doable in the form of Woolly Thoctar, who sees very little play… and this 5/5 requires some work. There may be a deck that can use this work-requirement as an advantage, say by warding off an attack for a turn and then casting Day of Judgment or something, but I doubt this type of strategy will be Tier 1. These cards are each better than the ones I’m about to discuss.
Flame Slash should not be in your deck, and should only be in your sideboard if there is a specific card or cards that you have no better answer to that just destroy you. Red decks are unique in that their creature removal spells can be directed at the opponent, which can act as Time Walk victory cards. If the opponent is a control or combo deck without creatures, the burn spells can put the opponent on a clock that is generally two-or-so turns faster than your creatures would dictate. Also even against a deck with creatures, you can often set up a scenario where you can race their creatures with burn spells to the dome. Flame Slash is a marked deviation from either of these strategies, and a concession to fight the fight that Red decks almost never win, namely the burn-your-creatures plan. Every once in a while there is a creature so good, like Tarmogoyf, that requires the Red mage to play a card like Spitebellows specifically to off him, or a card so versatile like Skred that is worth deviating from the traditional Red plan for, but one extra damage at sorcery speed has to have some VERY specific applications to merit a slot in Red decks over a real burn spell that can target players. If you are worried about creatures, play Searing Blaze, not this card. If the creature is too big for Searing Blaze, just steal it for a turn via Threaten and kill the opponent with it.
Forked Bolt tries so hard to be Fire/Ice but just isn’t. Unlike Flame Slash, at least this card can Shock the opponent at sorcery speed. Spikes everywhere have visions of Arc Lightning where their small mana investment gains them a two-for-one. But seriously, aside from maybe against an Elf deck (and in that case Pyroclasm is likely better), when will this card ever really gain you card advantage? Most of the time you will ping a creature and deal one to the opponent, or just deal 2 to the opponent. If you are using it to trade for a single creature, you are deviating from the burn plan and probably losing. This card is basically somewhere between First Volley and Volcanic Spray in terms of power level, and I expect the cards in my deck to be much higher on the power scale than that.
Explosive Revelation is a card that is getting some attention from lovers of Draco-Explosion decks. The cards are certainly there, between Halimar Depths; Jace, the Mind Sculptor; Ponder; and Emrakul, the Aeons Torn. The problem is that all these setup cards work better in a Blue-Green shell with Polymorph and/or Summoning Trap than they do in a Blue-Red shell with this card. The strategy is powerful; it’s just overshadowed by a more powerful one. If Polymorph is not in M11, this card and archetype may shine. Until then, I would not recommend trying it.
Brood Birthing is a card I almost considered as playable and then thought better about it. Paying two mana for a an 0/1 is obviously bad, but if you play it in a dedicated spawn-producing deck you can usually wait and ensure that you’ll be getting three spawns out of the deal. The problem is that you have to wait for the acceleration. The acceleration will not be from, say, 2 to 5 or 2 to 6. Rather, it will be from 3 to 6 or 4 to 7, since there is no way to make a spawn token on the first turn. And this is assuming you draw a Nest Invader by turn 2. Otherwise you might be looking at having to wait until to 4 or 5 just to be able to cast this card for full value. One might say “That’s fine, the goal is just to cast large Eldrazi Annihilators.” But if that’s really the goal, then the better strategy would be to just run more spawn generators attached to relevant bodies or spells (i.e. Corpsehatch or Emrakul’s Hatcher). My intuition is that even these kinds of cards will fail in Constructed and the optimal way of casting Eldrazi monsters will be the old fashioned way with Rampant Growths and Explores combined with board sweepers like All is Dust. I just don’t see this card winning more games than it will be losing. It is bad.
Red got a really good creature (Kargan Dragonlord), a really good spell (Staggershock), and a solid finisher card (Devastating Summons). It also gained a decent amount of solid cards and role players. Aside from White, Red probably gained the most from Rise.
Green Cards
1. Awakening Zone is the stone nuts, in the right deck of course. The right deck at the moment is Polymorph. In that deck you can generate chump blockers while you set up and then once you do, the card conveniently gives you the token for you to morph into a giant monster. Or if you are not under much pressure it stores mana while you set up so that when you go off you have extra mana to counter the opponent’s attempts to thwart your victory. If Polymorph becomes the new Faeries deck, which I believe may happen for Standard, this card is the Bitterblossom of the deck. Like Bitterblossom, it should also see some play in decks where the effect is good enough but not as broken as it is in Polymorph decks.
2. Vengevine is good, but he is not Tarmogoyf good or anything. I talked about him a few weeks ago in the White deck splashing Green for Knight of the Reliquary, Stirring Wildwood, and Vengevine. He is very good in that style of deck, and I doubt that is the only deck he will excel in. He combines really well with Kor Skyfisher or Ranger of Eos, sometimes with Bloodbraid Elf, or even just with a late game Bird of Paradise or Noble Hierarch that comes along for the ride with a top decked creature. He may even make a card like Cadaver Imp playable. Just don’t forget he’s in your graveyard when casting creatures. Outside of Open the Vaults decks, I can’t think of a better card to pitch to Blightning since Wilt-Leaf Liege, and even that is debatable since a single Terminate does not put to rest for good Vengevine and all his havoc. He also looks interesting for decks running Survival of the Fittest. I would keep my eye open for broken combos involving this guy, not just in Standard but in older formats as well. I haven’t seen a good list yet, but Vengevine and Bloodghast in the same deck would allow for some really interesting attrition battles.
3. Momentous Fall produces an effect that is strong enough to merit Constructed play. Unlike Soul’s Majesty, this card is an instant, which makes a huge difference since you can cast it in response to a removal spell or during an opponent’s end step. Also unlike Soul’s Majesty sacrificing the creature is part of the cost, so there can be no shenanigans involving a removal spell in response to your Momentous Fall. I will gladly sacrifice my creature so that I can be the one initiating the blowout instead of my opponent. Also not to be overlooked is the fact that you gain life from the card, which helps compensate for spending four mana and basically a whole turn to draw cards. The input is 4 mana and two cards (the Fall and a creature from play), so the output probably needs to be at least 4-5 cards to make it worthwhile. The deck should also have multiple good targets for it, some being decent (Leatherback Baloth?) and at least a few being awesome (Omnath, Locus of Mana?). Or maybe Knight of the Reliquary will be involved. I have been brainstorming and have yet to figure out a good spot for this card, but it will happen. Someone will find the right use for this card and they will be rewarded for it.
4. Joraga Treespeaker is a card I am surprised a lot of people are evaluating positively. I have a feeling I am missing something, so I won’t make fun of the card, but here is how I see the card when compared to other options, saying Llanowar Elves or Arbor Elf. Each requires you to cast it on turn 1. Then on turn 2 Llanowar and Arbor give you access to 3 mana, whereas Joraga requires you to level him, and then you have access to 2 mana. Then on turn 4, the formers give you access to 4 mana and Joraga gives you access to 5 mana. So basically the tradeoff is going from 2 mana on turn 2 to 5 mana on turn 3 instead of 3 mana on turn 2 to 4 mana on turn 3. Plus there is the chance that you draw a one land hand and have to ship it with Joraga that you could otherwise keep with the other Elves. It may make the cut in Legacy or Extended combo elf decks, but I don’t see this guy being worthwhile as a generic mana producer in a Standard deck, especially since he only produces Green mana.
5. Haze Frog. No, I would never play this card, but I would never play anything lower on the list either.
Mul Daya Channelers is a reasonable card, but is about fourth in line to get into the club. At the three-slot, Leatherback Baloths is the low risk, reliable fatty; Omnath, Locus of Mana is the higher risk fatter fatty; and Elvish Archdruid is the reliable mana producer (with an elf bonus). The Channelers just aren’t worth the compromise, even with lots of shuffle effects. Decide which of the above things your deck wants to be doing and pick one of the three players ahead of the Channelers and you’ll be better served.
Realms Uncharted is a card that got me excited when I first saw it. The wheels immediately started turning, and I explored all the different combinations of 4-card piles I could think of. The end result: all the options are bad. There are not enough utility type lands to justify running this card. Zvi pretty much nailed it in his analysis of the mana in Rise of the Eldrazi, which can be found here, when he said it basically does two things badly. It costs too much to help you when you need mana and it only gives you more mana when you want cards. Lovers of Gifts Ungiven, don’t let the artwork on this card fool you; she’ll only take your money and waste your time.
Ancient Stirrings may see some play in formats older than Standard, and may see some play once Scars of Mirrodin exists, but for now the card is not playable. If you are looking for a land, why not Rampant Growth instead? If you are looking for a non-land colorless card, either you will fail too often to find it or you will find it because you have so many colorless cards in your deck, in which case your deck sucks. This is a card with (currently) weak applications. It is like Commune with Nature, but not as good. Finding the right creature for one mana, in the right deck (i.e. Elves) can be good enough, but finding the right colorless card… not so much. Lovers of Impulse, take off the beer goggles, this is neither instant nor gives you what you are looking for.
Growth Spasm feels like it should be good, since everyone remembers casting Kodama’s Reach and being happy about it. But the difference is that unlike Kodama’s Reach, instead of getting a second land out of the deal you get your choice of a chump blocker or a single one-time use of a colorless mana. Take away the ability to splice spells off the card and you got yourself a top-notch target for that Sharpie pen just waiting to have ‘Awakening Zone’ written across it in big black letters.
Green got a few really good cards and a bunch of cards that are deceptively bad. Also Spore Frog now has flash and costs five times as much mana. I’m pretty excited about that.
Overall Set Analysis
In reverse order, with 1 being the best card in the set. Keep in mind this analysis is aimed primarily at Standard but with some of the other Constructed formats in mind as well.
10. See Beyond. This card just barely breaks the top 10 because there aren’t a lot of decks that have cards they want to shuffle back in. Most decks are just fine with shuffling a card back in, which will probably make this card a mere role player in specific decks.
9. Vengevine. A very powerful card that is good against Jund, but he is not format-warping, and he is not the centerpiece of a broken deck yet. I can see him getting much better if better support cards are printed in future sets. It won’t take much, just something better than what we have now.
8. Staggershock. An excellent burn spell that any Red mage should be happy to cast. Just remember to rebound it, because rebounding is a may ability.
7. Consume the Meek. Now we are starting to get into the format-warping cards. This card demands that you play differently and deck-build differently in order to not get beat by it. There is almost never a time when it is dead, and many times where it is outstanding.
6. Wall of Omens. Many people pick this as the best card in the set, and it is certainly very good, but I just don’t see the deck for it outside of Blue-White control. And that archetype was already Tier 1 before the Wall and I’m not sure how much the Wall improves its tougher matchups. Nonetheless this card forces people to build and play around it or risk losing to it.
5. Awakening Zone. Remember Faeries before and after Morningtide? Exactly. The deck practically did not exist prior to Morningtide’s Bitterblossom, but thereafter everything changed. The same is true of Polymorph decks and Awakening Zone.
4. Kargan Dragonlord. This is exactly the type of card Red has been looking for. In non-Jund matchups, Red decks need substantial creatures, i.e. ones that don’t die at end of turn. Hellspark Elementals and Hell’s Thunders can only do so much against decks that advance their boards and/or are able to gain life. Kargan demands an answer or can win a game in short order regardless of the opponent’s life total.
3. Student of Warfare. I can hardly express how good this card is in aggressive White decks and how awesome it feels to fetch two of them with Ranger of Eos. Steppe Lynx and Student of Warfare can produce such a fast clock, and Student holds equipment better than anybody. White decks just put their opponents on a clock that’s almost a turn faster, while also gaining a better late game strategy — Rangering for two Students.
2. Oust. The brand product eliminates harmful bacteria and odors from the air in a single spray. Similarly this card eliminates harmful creatures and resets board positions for a single mana. Then it often puts the creature exactly where you want it to be: back in the opponent’s hand in a couple of draw steps. It’s been a While since white had a good way to stop a first turn Birds of Paradise or Wild Nacatl, and this same card doubles as a great way to handle just about any creature they accelerate into either.
1. Emrakul, the Aeons Torn. Whether your plan is to Summoning Trap into him, Polymorph into him, Explosive Revelation the opponent for 15, or just hard cast him via Spawn tokens and mana acceleration, this card threatens to take over a game in a single turn. Not only that, but few cards in the format can answer him, especially if he is hard cast. Even outside of Standard he has ready-made homes for himself that welcome him with open arms. I can only imagine how fun it must be to drop him into play via Hypergenesis in Extended or via Sneak Attack in Legacy! This powerhouse is the real deal and is poised to annihilate opponents in every format! He not only wins games in 1-2 swings, but he makes sure he wins in dramatic fashion with no permanents left on the opposing side of the table. The flavor text on Emrakul might as well be ‘Flawless Victory!’
Hopefully this set analysis helps you to put the new cards into perspective. By reading my thoughts alongside those of other writers, you’re in a better position to evaluate the cards for yourself and choose the right ones for your deck while avoiding the wrong ones. Let me know in the forums which evaluations you agree or disagree with.