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First Pick At RTR

If you’re excited to jump into Return to Ravnica Draft or Sealed, then check out GP Nashville finalist Ari Lax’s Limited review of the new set.

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From my last Limited set review:

The takeaway here should be about what each color looks like in context of a deck. What points on the curve you are weak at, if you have common finishers or card advantage to support a control deck, and what spells synergize best with your game plan.

I’m going to go guild by guild in this review, mentioning potentially helpful splashes from time to time. I think that the fixing likely makes this format one where most decks are three colors but that most reasonable decks will be two with one splash. If you get a ton of fixing or few playables, being solidly three colors is not out of the question. Green also might throw a wrench in this idea as it has two extra fixers at common, both of which are fairly insane if you want to play four or even five colors. It is also possible the format moves towards a base-splash-splash configuration as the mana suggests, but the number of splashable cards and single color playables seems low enough that this isn’t the direction I see it taking.

Guild curve layout will also be split by color, as overlapping colors makes everything extremely cluttered and there are only a couple multicolor cards per guild at lower rarities. As multicolor cards don’t really have a full curve, they are separated for each guild with notes about mana costs by them.

Azorius

Common
1            
2 2/2
(Keening Apparition)		 2/1 Detain
(Azorius Arrester)		 2/1
(Crosstown Courier)		 1/4 ~ 4/1
(Frostburn Weird)		 1/3 Flying
(Concordia Pegasus)		 0/4
(Doorkeeper)
3 3/2
(Selesnya Sentry)		 2/2
(Stealer of Secrets)		 2/2 Flying
(Vassal Soul)		 2/X Flying
(Tower Drake)		 2/3 Flying
(Sunspire Griffin)		 1/1 Flying + 1/2
(Seller of Songbirds)
4 1/1 Flying + Populate
(Eyes in the Skies)		 2/2 Flying
(Runewing)		 2/4
(Hussar Patrol)		 2/5
(Armory Guard)
5 2/2 + +2/+2
(Knightly Valor)		   1/4 Bounce
(Voidwielder)		      
6 3/3 Flying Detain
(Isperia’s Skywatch)		        

Removal: Avenging Arrow, Sundering Growth, Keening Apparition, Trostani’s Judgment, Cancel, Paralyzing Grasp, Hussar Patrol
Tricks: Rootborn Defenses, Swift Justice, Downsize, Inaction Injunction, Mizzium Skin, Voidwielder
Other: Inspiration

First thing to note for all guilds is that you only have a few on-guild multicolor commons. Most of the payoff for being on guild is going to come at the higher rarities. This isn’t Alara block, where you were looking for the Putrid Leeches and Qasali Pridemages. On the common level, you should be focused on building a cohesive game plan.

Looking at Azorius, it seems we are trying to build the usual W/U Skies deck.

The blue common creatures are fairly lackluster on the low end, but fortunately white really helps out there. That said, Azorius Arresters is likely misleading in the two-drop slot. Odds are you don’t want to burn a detain on their two, especially when the main purpose of the 2/1 body in the all fliers deck is to trade with their Grizzly Bears.

Keening Apparition seems very good in Azorius mirrors and just ok elsewhere. As usual, there’s a ton of enchantment removal in those colors. Elsewhere, it’s just a bear.

I was shockingly impressed by Dramatic Rescue at the Prerelease. The life gain and cheap removal are huge against Rakdos, there are a ton of tokens so it is hard removal against versus Selesnya, and it resets scavenge against Golgari. That’s all in addition to the card just being a solid tempo play in a tempo archetype.

I was also very impressed by Knightly Valor. Breaking critical size numbers was very important (more on this as I go). It also brick walled any attempts I had at combat. I would almost want to call it a common Serra Angel.

Also worth noting is that W/U has four removal spells at common that can answer rares: Trostani’s Judgment, Avenging Arrow, Paralyzing Grasp, and Cancel. That’s on top of detain as a mechanic and bounce via Dramatic Rescue and Voidwielder. You aren’t losing to giant rare dudes any time soon.

On the subject of Cancel, you have two four-drop instant speed creatures and Inspiration. Leaving it open can easily be profitable.

Uncommon

1 2/1 Flying
(Faerie Impostor)		 2/1
(Dryad Militant)		 1/1 Flying
(Judge’s Familiar)		    
2 2/2
(New Prahv Guildmage)		 1/1 Double Strike
(Fencing Ace)		      
3 3/1 Flying Detain
(Lyev Skyknight)		 2/2
(Security Blockade)		 0/6 Flying
(Hover Barrier)		    
4 3/3 Flying
(Skymark Roc)		 2/1 Unblockable
(Soulsworn Spirit)		 2/2 Detain
(Azorius Justiciar)		 2/3
(Phantom General)		 1/3
(Aquus Steed)
5 2/5
(Bazaar Krovod)		        
6 3/4 Flying
(Skyline Predator)		        

Removal: Arrest, Soul Tithe (?), Skyline Predator, Syncopate, Fall of the Gavel, Azorius Charm
Tricks: Blustersquall
Other: Azorius Keyrune

New Prahv Guildmage, Lyev Skyknight, Skymark Roc, Azorius Charm. As I said, you get paid for being on guild at the higher rarities. I don’t really think any of these cards needs much explanation as to why it’s insane, except to mention that I would expect to use the lifelink part of Charm almost as often as the removal option.

Effects like Aquus Steed have historically been insane. See Silvergill Douser. I’m not sure how much the price of the effect changes things, but this is probably just a fine brick wall in a deck with a bunch of things to do with open mana.

Phantom General is probably fairly mediocre. I don’t want a ton of Eyes in the Skies in my deck, and I don’t want a ton of four-drops on top of them if I do.

Fall of the Gavel is similar to Dramatic Rescue. Decent effect plus life gain equals win the race. I would be more likely to play it than other similar cards (e.g., Rewind).

I have no idea if Soul Tithe is good or not. If anywhere, it’s good in the tempo deck where it kills their three-drop beater, but it scales very poorly as the game progresses. I’m not beyond trying it, but I don’t think it will make my deck often.

The take home: Azorius is all about traditional U/W Skies values of tempo and evasion, only it has a ton of support in the form of added life gain, lots of x/4 blockers, and the detain mechanic. You also have about a million tricks, making draw go very profitable.

Izzet

Common

1              
2 2/1 ~ 3/2
(Gore-House Chainwalker)		 +2/+2
(Pursuit of Flight)		 2/2
(Goblin Electromancer)		 2/1 Haste
(Rakdos Shred-Freak)		 2/1
(Crosstown Courier)		 1/4 ~ 4/1
(Frostburn Weird)		 0/4
(Doorkeeper)
3

2/2 ~ 3/3 First Strike
(Splatter Thug)

2/2
(Stealer of Secrets)		 2/2 Flying
(Vassal Soul)		 2/X Flying
(Tower Drake)		 2/1
(Viashino Racketeer)		 0/4
(Lobber Crew)
4 5/2
(Cobblebrute)		 2/2 Flying
(Runewing)		          
5 4/3
(Batterhorn)		 1/4 Bounce
(Voidwielder)		          
6 5/4 Haste
(Tenement Crasher)		 3/3 Flying Detain
(Isperia’s Skywatch)		      

Removal: Cancel, Paralyzing Grasp, Annihilating Fire, Electrickery, Explosive Impact, Essence Backlash
Tricks: Downsize, Inaction Injunction, Mizzium Skin, Voidwielder, Dynacharge, Traitorous Instinct, Chemister’s Trick
Other: Inspiration

I have no clue what to make of Izzet at first glance. The creatures seem to be all over the place, especially in red. Lobber Crew versus Splatter Thug. What are you actually trying to do?

The line I see is just durdling around with tricks/answers until you Chemister’s Trick them as a Falter and kill them with some random red monsters. Inspiration seems very important here, as do Cancel and Essence Backlash. Frostburn Weird also seems to be clutch, letting you turn an early defender into a lethal threat. Lobber Crew might even be your best non-removal common, letting you block while chip shotting them into alpha range.

The red removal being burn also supports this line. Explosive Impact is still a Lava Axe, Essence Backlash is free damage, and blue adds Voidwielder and Isperia’s Skywatch to sneak a guy in on occasion.

It is worth noting that a lot of the Izzet cards seem very at home as a splash third color in Rakdos or Azorius. Both of those are very tempo heavy decks that would greatly benefit from the red reach and Chemister’s Trick (Azorius) or the blue bounce and Pursuit of Flight’s bonus activation (Rakdos).

Uncommon

1 1/1 ~ 2/2
(Rakdos Cackler)		 2/1 Flying
(Faerie Impostor)		 1/1 Flying
(Judge’s Familiar)
2 2/2
(Nivix Guildmage)		    
3 2/2
(Guttersnipe)		 0/3
(Izzet Staticaster)		 0/6 Flying
(Hover Barrier)
4 4/3 ~ 5/4
(Bloodfray Giant)		 2/1 Unblockable
(Soulsworn Spirit)		 1/3
(Aquus Steed)
5 4x 1/1s
(Goblin Rally)		    
6 3/4 Flying
(Skyline Predator)		    
7 6/2 First Strike Haste
(Minotaur Aggressor)		    

Removal: Skyline Predator, Syncopate, Street Spasm, Izzet Charm
Tricks: Blustersquall, Teleportal
Other: Pyroconvergence, Izzet Keyrune, Thoughtflare

Guttersnipe seems nothing short of insane in this deck, and I would expect Street Spasm to get into actual Plague Wind range with the plan of stalling and drawing cards. Also, Pyroconvergence is a thing. There’s a reason it costs five when Burning Vengeance only costs three.

Izzet Staticaster is probably much less impressive than pingers have been in past formats (notice the lack of x/1s), but as an 0/3 it can do other jobs much better. I expect it will do a lot more virtual killing of x/4s on defense and attacking x/2s or x/3s than anything else.

Not much to say about the other cards. Mostly they are just slightly better versions of common effects. Izzet gains much less than Azorius from the uncommon slot. Just more ways to profitably do nothing.

Rakdos

Common

1 1/1
(Drainpipe Vermin)		        
2 2/1 ~ 3/2
(Gore-House Chainwalker)		 +2/+2
(Pursuit of Flight)		 2/1 Haste
(Rakdos Shred-Freak)		 1/1 ~ 2/2 Regen
(Grim Roustabout)		 1/4 ~ 4/1
(Frostburn Weird)		 1/1 Flying
(Daggerdrome Imp)
3

2/2 ~ 3/3 First Strike
(Splatter Thug)

2/3 ~ 3/4
(Dead Reveler)		 2/1 Swampwalk Scavenge
(Sewer Shambler)		 2/1
(Viashino Racketeer)		 0/4
(Lobber Crew)
4 5/2
(Cobblebrute)		 4/4 Defender?
(Ogre Jailbreaker)		 0/4 Shade
(Perilous Shadow)		  
5 5/3 ~ 6/4
(Spawn of Rix Maadi)		 5/4
(Golgari Longlegs)		 4/3
(Batterhorn)		 2/6
(Catacomb Slug)
6            
7 5/5 Scavenge
(Terrus Wurm)		          

Removal: Annihilating Fire, Electrickery, Explosive Impact, Launch Party, Stab Wound, Auger Spree
Tricks: Dynacharge, Traitorous Instinct
Other: Mind Rot, Deviant Glee, Skull Rend

I really want this deck to be extremely aggressive, but I’m just not sure the support exists. Your common two-drops aren’t that oversized, and there are a lot of x/4s to brick wall your unleash three-drops. To be fair, Rakdos Shred-Freak is almost exclusively a gold card, as who else can support the double-colored cost reliably in time to make the card worth playing? (Note that the same only somewhat applies to Frostburn Weird, as I’m perfectly fine with that card as a three-drop in Azorius.)

Instead, Rakdos is probably better off stretching into the mid game due to the fact it has access to multiple monstrous five-drops to go with the oversized three-drops. The four-drops aren’t bad either, with multiple high power bashers and a Shade. You also have the required removal to make this a plan, mostly to clear any fliers or things that would trade with your huge creatures.

Unleash is definitely a may, especially on Grim Roustabout. Sometimes you will curve out and get them with some removal, but your deck is not always balls to the wall aggro. That said, there may be a Deviant Glee, Pursuit of Flight, Daggerdrome Imp variant that really wants to push things towards that end game. See also Sewer Shambler in black matchups.

I’m not as high on Stab Wound as everyone else. My thought: why don’t they just block with the guy? In its defense, it does kill a Guildmage.

Skull Rend is a loosely playable card, but I noticed a lot of games where players had cards in hand going late. Mind Rot will likely make the cut before it, but keep this card in mind for sideboards.

Uncommon

1 1/1 ~ 2/2
(Rakdos Cackler)		 1/1 Scavenge
(Slitherhead)		  
2 1/2 ~ 2/3 Deathtouch
(Thrill-Kill Assassin)		 2/2
(Tavern Swindler)		 2/2
(Rix Maadi Guildmage)
3 3/2 ~ 4/3
(Hellhole Flailer)		 2/2
(Guttersnipe)		  
4 4/3 ~ 5/4
(Bloodfray Giant)		 4/2
(Slum Reaper)		 2/2 Flying
(Dark Revenant)
5 3/3 Haste
(Rakdos Ragmutt)		 4x 1/1s
(Goblin Rally)		  
6 3/3 Flying Scavenge
(Zanikev Locust)		 3/1 First Strike
(Rakdos Ringleader)		  
7 6/2 First Strike Haste
(Minotaur Aggressor)		    

Removal: Street Spasm, Assassin’s Strike, Slum Reaper, Ultimate Price
Other: Pyroconvergence, Rakdos Keyrune

Interesting. A bit more early game, but more so mid game beasts. And again, not many overly large two-drops.

Rix Maadi Guildmage seems insane despite having such conditional abilities. How is your opponent ever supposed to do anything but chump block with this card in play? This card turns off all of the x/4s that would otherwise brick your three-drop unleash creatures. That said, all the Guildmages are insane, so I have no clue what I expected.

Rakdos Keyrune seems significantly better than most of the others. Not only is 3/1 first strike a huge thing in combat in this set, but hitting your relevant five-drops a turn earlier will also be a huge swing. To be fair, Rakdos has a ton of good threes, but Keyrune might be one of the best.

Looking at this all together, black seems to be fairly light on removal in this set compared to past sets. It’s possible that a base red splash Izzet and Rakdos deck is where it is at given this. That deck loses access to Perilous Shadow but has much better Ogre Gatebreakers. The blue card draw also seems very strong with the additional common removal of Auger Spree.

Golgari

Common

1 1/1
(Drainpipe Vermin)		        
2 2/2 Scavenge
(Drudge Beetle)		 2/1 Haste
(Rakdos Shred-Freak)		 1/1 ~ 2/2 Regen
(Grim Roustabout)		 1/1 Flying
(Daggerdrome Imp)		 0/2
(Gatecreeper Vine)
3

3/3
(Centaur’s Herald)

2/3 ~ 3/4
(Dead Reveler)		 3/2
(Stonefare Crocodile)		 2/1 Swampwalk Scavenge
(Sewer Shambler)		 1/4 Defender Reach Regen
(Trestle Troll)		 0/3
(Axebane Guardian)
4 3/3 Scavenge
(Korozda Monitor)		 4/4 Defender?
(Ogre Jailbreaker)		 2/2 Deathtouch
(Sluiceway Scorpion)		 0/4 Shade
(Perilous Shadow)		 2/4 Reach
(Towering Indrik)
5 5/4
(Golgari Longlegs)		 3/4 Hexproof
(Rubbleback Rhino)		 2/6
(Catacomb Slug)		  
6            
7 6/7
(Axebane Stag)		 5/5 Scavenge
(Terrus Wurm)		    
8 4/4 + Populate
(Horncaller’s Chant)		        

Removal: Launch Party, Stab Wound, Aerial Predation, Sundering Growth
Tricks: Chorus of Might, Druid’s Deliverance, Giant Growth
Other: Grisly Salvage, Mind Rot, Deviant Glee

Similar to Izzet, I have no clue what Golgari’s game plan is. Looking at the other guilds, there isn’t really much trading going on in this format. Scavenge is also fairly light on targets in these colors. What are we going to do, make our giant monsters bigger? Daggerdrome Imp is the only real evasion guy. You can tron up something huge, but green already has access to giant creatures. The ability doesn’t add up to anything you couldn’t already do.

The biggest issue if you go straight Golgari is going to be finding an end game. If you just stall forever and hope your giant monster does the trick, odds are you will be buried in card advantage, colded by a removal spell, or die to a rare. Which of the cards here really ends a game? The reason the big creatures work in Rakdos is that they are part of an earlier assault on your opponent’s ability to build a board that profitably blocks. By the time an Axebane Stag lands, this probably isn’t the case.

There are a lot of great defensive guys, notably Trestle Troll and Towering Indrik, so it seems like Golgari may be the best base for the many color green deck. Grisly Salvage is also key, letting you dig for splash color lands early and monsters late. Sluiceway Scorpion is also very good here, both as a defender and a graveyard active card to get value off of Salvage.

I suspect that Launch Party is one of the more important cards in the archetype, letting you cash in scavenge guys or Gatecreeper Vines. It is also your only common removal spell, though Aerial Predation seems absolutely insane when it is good. On the subject of Vine, 0/2 isn’t repeatedly blocking anything. It will find you a land and then gain you some life. Not that this makes it bad, but don’t count this as a creature.

Before I forget to mention it, this seems like the ideal deck for Mind Rot, if not an ideal format for it. Games aren’t that fast, tricks to hold back are plentiful, and there are a decent number of high-end drops people need lands for.

Uncommon

1 1/1 ~ 2/2
(Rakdos Cackler)		 2/1
(Dryad Militant)		 1/1 Scavenge
(Slitherhead)		  
2 1/2 ~ 2/3 Deathtouch
(Thrill-Kill Assassin)		 3/1
(Brushstrider)		 2/2
(Tavern Swindler)		 2/2
(Korozda Guildmage)
3 3/3 Haste
(Dreg Mangler)		      
4 4/2
(Slum Reaper)		 2/2 Lure Scavenge
(Golgari Decoy)		 2/2 Flying
(Dark Revenant)		  
5 3/3+
(Gobbling Ooze)		      
6 3/3 Flying Scavenge
(Zanikev Locust)		      
7 5/5 Reach
(Archweaver)		      

Removal: Assassin’s Strike, Slum Reaper, Ultimate Price, Golgari Charm, Rites of Reaping
Other: Seek the Horizon, Treasured Find, Golgari Keyrune

Not the most insane bunch, but there’s some highlights. Black gives Zanikev Locust, a real win condition, and Assassin’s Strike, real removal. Green gives Golgari Decoy, who is probably nothing short of insane if your deck is all monsters. Korozda Guildmage also seems nothing short of unbeatable, both putting guys in your graveyard for scavenge and making the eventual target of them have evasion. 

All the removal I didn’t mention above seems very average. I was fairly unimpressed by Ultimate Price at the Prerelease, where it failed to kill Guildmages or most of the relevant rares. Savage Surge is decent, but at the end of the day it’s basically a Neck Snap or Rebuke. Rites of Reaping is fine, but there isn’t the same two for one potential previous iterations of the card had at sorcery speed and, similar to Ultimate Price, it doesn’t kill most of the larger creatures.

All in all, it really looks like Golgari needs a third color for win condition support. Either that or some really good rares. Even then, the deck really seems like it needs to splash some form of card advantage.

Selesnya

Common

1                
2 2/2 Scavenge
(Drudge Beetle)		 2/2
(Keening Apparition)		 2/1 Detain
(Azorius Arrester)		 1/3 Flying
(Concordia Pegasus)		 0/2
(Gatecreeper Vine)
3

3/3
(Centaur Healer)

3/3
(Centaur’s Herald) 		3/2
(Stonefare Crocodile)		 3/2
(Selesnya Sentry)		 2/2 Flying
(Vassal Soul)		 2/3 Flying
(Sunspire Griffin)		 1/1 Flying + 1/2
(Seller of Songbirds)		 0/3
(Axebane Guardian)
4 3/3 Scavenge
(Korozda Monitor)		 1/1 Flying + Populate
(Eyes in the Skies)		 2/4 Reach
(Towering Indrik)		 2/5
(Armory Guard)
5 5/4
(Golgari Longlegs)		 3/4 Hexproof
(Rubbleback Rhino)		 2/2 + +2/+2
(Knightly Valor)		    
6 3/3 + Populate
(Coursers’ Accord)		            
7 6/7
(Axebane Stag)		            
8 4/4 + Populate
(Horncaller’s Chant)		            

Removal: Aerial Predation, Avenging Arrow, Keening Apparition, Sundering Growth, Trostani’s Judgment
Tricks: Chorus of Might, Druid’s Deliverance, Giant Growth, Rootborn Defenses, Swift Justice, Common Bond

Let’s get the obvious out of the way. That’s seven populate cards at common, though one is an eight-drop. I’m going to assume the normal plan for Selesnya is going to be make a million Birds or Centaurs and shove with giant armies of creatures. The backup plan is just big dudes and tricks, of which you have a decent amount of both.

Making Centaurs is probably stronger than making Birds (see Centaur Courser versus Suntail Hawk). This means that the second most important common in this color combination is arguably Centaur’s Herald, with the most important being the one that just makes two Centaurs. Not that Seller of Songbirds is bad in any way; it’s just the second best option for tokens.

Axebane Guardian and Gatecreeper Vine are also likely to be very relevant. Not only is doing multiple things a turn bigger for this deck as your two-drops make 3/3s, but you have multiple awesome on-color six drops to cast.

You aren’t heavy on removal, but you shouldn’t need it beyond killing rares and fliers. The matchup you need to watch is likely Azorius, and it helps you get to free roll a removal spell in Aerial Predation there.

Uncommon

1 2/1
(Dryad Militant)		 1/1 Flying
(Judge’s Familiar)		 1/1 Scavenge
(Slitherhead)		  
2 3/3
(Call of the Conclave)		 3/1
(Brushstrider)		 2/2
(Vitu-Ghazi Guildmage)		 1/1 Double Strike
(Fencing Ace)
3 2/2
(Security Blockade)		      
4 2/2 Detain
(Azorius Justiciar)		 2/2 Lure Scavenge
(Golgari Decoy)		 2/3
(Phantom General)		  
5 3/3+
(Gobbling Ooze)		 2/5
(Bazaar Krovod)		    
6        
7 8/8 Vigilance
(Risen Sanctuary)		 5/5 Reach
(Archweaver)		    

Removal: Arrest, Soul Tithe (?), Savage Surge, Selesnya Charm
Other: Selesnya Keyrune

Talk about bomb uncommons.Golgari Decoy is great, as mentioned above. Phantom General is amazing when it breaks the 3/3 to 4/4 jump in a format all about that and doubles up Birds. Arrest is the same thing it always is. Multicolored? Well, we have the biggest two-drop in the format that also happens to make a Centaur token, the best Guildmage, and a Charm that does actually anything you want it to. Need that rare dead? Done. Need to win a combat? Done. Need something to populate? Sure, we can do that too.

Note that Risen Sanctuary is one of the few cards I marked as having vigilance. That’s because most of the others aren’t attacking and not trading. The card itself isn’t a big upgrade from Axebane Stag, but it’s a card nonetheless.

Colorless

I am extremely happy that Guildgates are not bouncelands. We can finally get real on color fixing instead of just having everyone first pick Izzet Boilerworks despite playing Esper colors because it is a two for one. If you are two colors you don’t need them to play Magic, meaning a splash color Guildgate will be much better.

The artifacts all seem average. Civic Saber is somewhere between a Bonesplitter (great) and a Bone Saw (not great at all). I wouldn’t start it in most decks, but if creature sizing is really important, go for it (i.e., you are all 3/3s and need to beat a 4/4). I can see Codex Shredder being good in grindy decks, especially those with Grisly Salvage, but that’s about it. Street Sweeper is a six mana 4/6, which actually is a bit exciting to me as there A) aren’t a lot of six-drops and B) four power is the breaking point for most blockers. Still, it’s a vanilla 4/6 for six. Woooo.

Summary

Azorius — U/W Skies/Tempo pushed to the max. Not sure what else you were expecting, except you have a ton of removal. Multiple flash creatures to back up counterspells and lots of incidental life gain.

Izzet — The durdly control deck, aka the obvious favorite of Izzet mages everywhere. Lots of tricks that are splashable into Azorius or Rakdos decks if they have the desire and fixing. 2UR open means your creature will be Essence Backlashed.

Rakdos — Burly brawlers. See Innistrad Draft green-white, Scars Block Dinosaurs, any Gruul or Golgari deck in old Ravnica.

Golgari — Splash a bunch of good cards, open really good rares, or do approximately nothing.

Selesnya — Make some Centaurs, and make more Centaurs. Combat with them gets really iffy, as they have two one-mana tricks (Giant Growth and Swift Justice) and will be maindecking Fogs with populate.

Solid common playables count by guild:

Azorius: 24 (last card out is Keening Apparition)

Izzet: 22 (last card out was Pursuit of Flight or Cobblebrute)

Rakdos: 21 (last card out is Ogre Jailbreaker)

Golgari: 21 (but all of them are mediocre and non-evasive)

Selesnya: 25 (populate helps a lot here)

From this, we can tell black is probably the shallowest color in the set and white the deepest. The best uncommons are also in the white guilds. Rakdos makes up for being black by having the overall highest top end of commons, but Golgari mixes a shallow color with one relatively low in power level.

Removal at the common level is fairly sparse outside of Azorius, and even then that is mostly conditional. This is because black only has Bone Splinters and a three cost Dead Weight. Value it accordingly.

Curve seems both less and more important, if that makes sense. There aren’t many early drops that can fight and there are six come into play tapped lands, so getting an early start could mean a lot of damage. On the other hand, there are a ton of good blockers and there is little removal to clear them with, so your Gore-House Chainwalker is quickly going to become a dead card. If they have more than two toughness it is a bit better as they don’t die to the three common 2/4s for four in combat, but breaking the x/4 barrier is a key to being aggressive.

A lot of the rares seem very powerful compared to the rest of the set. Prepare by having synergy and a good spread of answers on your side. Mind Rot is one answer I’m especially fond of, but the various counterspells or detaining the problem card will also work.

Standard Testing Follow-ups

I’ve been messing around with some of my favorite decks from the gauntlet I posted over the last few weeks. Here are the lessons I’ve learned so far:

I’ve been really enjoying the new format. It seems like there are a ton of options to brew with, and none of the decks seems especially overpowering bar maybe Junk Value. Most importantly, all the decks do really cool things. I’m looking forward to jamming it a ton more after the Pro Tour. Until then, guess I’m testing Valakut mirrors.

–Ari Lax

@armlx

My guild is House Dimir. It’s all about information. I want it, and they shouldn’t have it. Thoughtseize, Vendillion Clique, and Gitaxian Probe are some of my favorite cards. Even when I’m playing aggro, it’s all about knowing how far I need to go before my reach kicks in and forces them to guess.