Two sets back, I was considering writing a set review and I considered it for a bit, then put aside the idea. While you can look at a lot of writers and say well, it's clear he likes writing set reviews, I'm not the same way anymore. It's really a very boring article to write, and so many predictions go awry.

I can't recall exactly how I'd come to the idea of writing a two-headed set review. I know now that the idea had been executed elsewhere, but I may have just came up with it in vacuum. I don't know. Either way, it's way more enjoyable as a writer to do it like this. Originally we had planned to do a Mirrodin review, as the Ferrett had implied the two-headed reviews seemed like a pretty worthwhile idea, but we got snagged on Mirrodin itself. The set looked like one where we'd make all sorts of horribly wrong predictions and end up regretting.

As it turns out in reading the logs of our discussions, we were actually right on about a large number of cards in the set, and probably wouldn't have regretted it at all. That's disappointing, but anyway, here's our two-headed review of Darksteel. I had, in fact, hoped to work with another writer, but sadly, if our last AIM conversation has any bearing on his current condition, I think he's passed out in a ditch somewhere. Maybe next time!

Unlike last time we are not switching the kicker each card - I will kick entirely for this article, and Nathan will kick for the next. It's better to do it the other way, we're just a little rushed lately, and it takes a lot longer to do it that way. And remember, the point of Two-headed reviews is to argue. So if you disagree, give us a shout in the forums and describe what you think is wrong.

-Iain

White

Auriok Glaivemaster
Iain - The effectiveness of one-drops has traditionally been at the mercy of their mid to late game power. A man that becomes little more than a chump blocker later on must stand on his ability to influence the game in other ways. One-power men in Mirrodin are somewhat more valuable due to Equipment, and the Glaivemaster becomes quite nifty a man when he's suited up with any old piece of armor or axe. This is still definitely a midpick, since White really can't afford too many that require Equipment to be good, especially small men who don't gain evasion.

Nathan - This looks pretty awful to me - Iain is right that any 1/1 creature can be valuable with Equipment, but you want your 1/1s to be useful in some other way when you don't have a piece. The Myr, Vedalken Engineer, and Disciple of the Vault all do something without a Bonesplitter, this does not. Though he allows for some explosive draws, you have to be pretty overloaded on Equipment by the third pack to want to pick Glaivemaster.

Echoing Calm
Iain - It was rather disappointing to see this as White's"echo," since all the other echoes are quite playable. Echoing Calm is basically for when you sit down against that guy who's running triple Arrest. Beyond that, the number of enchantment targets is low enough that it's rather unwise to board in enchantment-only removal unless you see a large number of enchantments. Note there are only three uncommon targets for Echoing calm in Darksteel - Frankly, this is Frantic Purification all over again.

Nathan - There are 2.5 enchantments in each of Mirrodin and Darksteel. Not playable, awful sideboard card, since even with as few as two Arrest, it's dead way too often.

Emissary of Hope
Iain - Two power fliers for three are generally useful in any format they show up in, and meet with varying degrees of success. The one toughness is less irritating now that fewer Longbows and Spikeshots are going around, while the ability is decent. It's not really all that powerful unless you're playing against high speed Affinity or Black decks, but in those situations it's going to be very relevant, and will all but singlehandedly win the race for you.

Nathan - The lifegain ability is rather relevant - as Wellwisher proved, repetitive life gain can shut down enemy evasion creatures as effectively as a spider. The one toughness is disappointing, but it should be disregarded for the most part, since there are less things that will kill a X/1 than in the last block, and Mistform Dreamer was still a fine pick then.

Hallow
Iain - Awe Strike has proven to be a rather useful spell that many players found they underrated. Hallow, on the other hand, looks pretty low use, since very few spells really do direct damage in Mirrodin Limited. Outside of Red, there's a pair of Black Drain Life-style effects, but generally this is the sort of card you're going to keep in your sideboard. It's a little stronger than Pay No Heed, but does not have the combat trick worthiness that makes Awe Strike surprisingly good.

Nathan - Pretty funny against your friends' elfball/balltron decks.

Leonin Battlemage
Iain - The +1/+1 effect is decent, but when compared to the Auriok Bladewarden he's replacing, Leonin Battlemage is a rather flimsy investment. Certainly he's a bigger man, but his additional ability is likely to go off perhaps once or twice in a game. While it will definitely be a useful trick from time to time, the card should be generally viewed as a 2/3 for four mana that taps to give a small bonus. This, overall, is a generally weak card that probably shouldn't be picked too high. Granted - White is pretty weak in this set anyway.

Nathan - This guy is pretty wild, and it's unfair to compare him to Auriok Bladewarden, who is good without Equipment, and a bomb with a Bonesplitter. If you use Battlemage before attacking, then cast a spell in your first main phase, he can give +2/+2 on offense every turn. It's awkward, but comparable to Serra Advocate, who was simply a"can't believe this is in Limited" kind of card. Battlemage is probably outclassed, but he's definitely solid and I'd never exclude him from a White deck.

Leonin Shikari
Iain - How many times have you thought to yourself, I wish I could move Equipment as an instant? How many times have you wished that Lightning Greaves would live up to it's namesake and leap to the defense of your men? How often has your opponent virtually gained a two for one using his Icy Manipulator by tapping down your equipped men?

Well, Shikari solves all those problems and offers some additional trickiness, making him a rather high pick if you have a lot of Equipment useful for those sorts of situations. Of White rares in the set, there's nothing I'd rather open than Leonin Shikari. But that's not saying much, considering how bad the White rares are.

Nathan - I'd much rather have a Pristine Angel, especially if I had no Equipment, but even if I had plenty. Moving Equipment around at instant speed is obviously an excellent combat trick - so good that no one questioned making the equip cost in sorcery speed. Some Equipment though, like Viridian Longbow and even Loxodon Warhammer, are too expensive to make full use of this ability. Plus the fact that you can move Equipment after attacking to your blockers means that it isn't always necessary. It might be best with Greaves, and possibly toughness-boosting Equipment like Leonin Scimitar and Vulshok Battlegear, but it remains to be seen what the best possible tricks with Leonin Shikari are.

Loxodon Mystic
Iain - This is a rather odd card to evaluate. It's clearly overpriced for what it does, as though White was broken in Mirrodin draft or something. Huh? Anyway, 3/3 men for five are basically considered to be alright in Mirrodin Limited - you don't really want them, but they'll make your deck in a pinch. The tapping ability is relevant, but nothing special - usually tappers are low-cost men that remain useful in the late game by keeping down larger men. In this guy's case, he is one of your high cost threats, which seems a little bit backwards.

In a deck high on evasion but lacking removal, he will be very useful for tapping down your opponent's spiders and archers. Overall he's a solid card, just surprisingly weak for his casting cost.

Nathan - Also, as you mentioned, it can act as an Icy and shut down a creature and a piece of Equipment simultaneously. It does seem rather strange since it's a tapper that costs five, and the point of tappers is to get a small guy that can hold off a much larger one. The strange thing about Mirrodin is that a 3/3 will sometimes be the largest thing on the table, and sometimes it'll be dwarfed by a Goblin Dirigible with Vulshok Gauntlets on it. Loxodon Mystic makes itself useful in both situations, and it's large enough not to be shrugged off by a Pyrite Spellbomb. It's a much better card than it looks at first glance, but it's too big to fit into the more aggressive White builds, so it may go late to people looking to play the late game.

Metal Fatigue
Iain - This could go from anywhere between a Turnabout on creatures and half a player's lands to completely useless. Since it's primarily a sort of Falter, I wouldn't necessarily put too much stock in this card in your maindeck. While it seems like some colors will end up with less colored men because of Mirrodin, I am still not of the opinion this will consistently tap down all of your opponent's men. With that in mind, I'd probably avoid maindecking this.

Nathan - Me too, especially since most players now seem to understand that they can't depend upon Artifact Creatures as the only line of defense. I'd feel very stupid holding this if my opponent has a Tel-Jihad Archers. That said, it's a good sideboard card against decks without many colored creatures.

Pristine Angel
Iain - Generally, as formats go, you're willing to pay four mana for a 2/2 flier with an ability, five mana for a 3/3 flier with an ability, and six to seven mana for a 4/4 flier with an ability. Depending on the abilities, of course. In the same formats, Dive Bomber was rated much higher than Mercurial Kite, even though in a lot of places they would end up as the same power.

So, Pristine Angel is definitely playable and you'd be happy to open her - but her ability is a bit frustrating. Her second ability basically makes her a more expensive Serra Angel, of course. But her other ability makes her an excellent blocker while pretty poor on offense, unless you have a lot of instants to untap her, thus making her unblockable.

I wouldn't exactly call her a bomb in most decks, especially since she works against Equipment, but she's definitely a good flier and a high pick.

Nathan - She's a windmill slam, pickable over all but the best uncommon or two. She's not usually going to be invincible when she attacks, but she doesn't need to be - as an invincible blocker she should give you plenty of time to draw either an instant or removal for your opponent's blockers (and I would say Spiders, but most spiders in this block can't hold off even a tapped Pristine Angel). Her second ability does make her a Serra Angel, since you should rarely go a turn without playing a spell, and even if you do, your opponents will fear an instant. I don't know why she would be"bad on offense," even without instants, since 4/4 flyers have always been good attackers regardless of what kind of protection they have. Who cares if you can't equip her?

Pteron Ghost
Iain - Definitely a solid card, given the reliance most White decks have on their Equipment. By providing you with a Welding Jar that doubles a man to carry the axe into your opponent's face, the Ghost definitely has value in any White deck. Moves up if you've got access to a lot of quality artifact men, just as welding jar does.

Can't say much about a card that basically reads"Welding Jar that swings", can I?

Nathan - Welding Jar is only good when you can draft multiple Myr Enforcers/Frogmites, since it both pumps them out fast and protects them. Pteron Ghost only protects them, so it goes in a completely different kind of deck. I have never seen the five pieces of Equipment deck with Leonin Abunas lose, and while this is no Abunas, it looks pretty good with a Loxodon Warhammer attached. Goes up with the number of pieces of Equipment you have, not really exciting with a high number of artifact creatures - I'd just as soon play another creature.

Pulse of the Fields
Iain - Lifegain is generally pretty bad in Limited, just as it is in Constructed. Pulse of the Fields is best when placed in a control deck that can stabilize the board, when facing off against an aggro deck. Assuming your deck meets those criteria, it becomes a very potent sideboard card. Otherwise, I'd avoid this card like the plague unless you're rare-drafting.

Nathan - One shot life gain is bad, but renewable life gain is pretty good. It isn't clear how renewable this is. It seems like if you are winning, you shouldn't need this, and if you are losing, this can save your ass. But if you pay three mana a turn casting this, you won't have much time getting your ass out of the gutter. It should go dead way too often to count on, even as a sideboard card.

Purge
Iain -"Destroy target artifact creature" is a very handy ability to have in a pinch. Every Mirrodin deck has a couple Myr and usually a few larger artifact men that Purge can trade with pleasantly - Useful especially if your opponent is trying to stack Arcbound counters onto an artifact man. The ability to target Black creatures is better, given the Black men in Darksteel are better, but still, it's the weaker half when evaluating the card.

I would consider this a much higher pick in White decks without Green or Red. In decks that have existing artifact removal, it moves down a little due to being slightly redundant. It's not true removal and shouldn't be evaluated as such.

Nathan - Arcbound creatures make removal useful if they've stacked everything on a Cobalt Golem, but not if they still have Arcbound creatures out. In any case, Purge looks extremely useful to W/U and W/B decks that would have hardly any other way of removing an artifact creature. I want to say that Purge will help make those archetypes more viable, but with more players putting stock in large, colored creatures, it looks to me like useful removal but rarely a game turnaround.

Ritual of Restoration
Iain - Raise dead is generally considered to be an okay card you don't really want in your deck, but that you can play in a pinch. Ritual is likely to have less targets than Raise Dead would. Overall, I'd probably say I would want this in some decks, especially ones with bomby artifacts like Loxodon Warhammer that have to be dealt with. Note I said plural - I would not run this card unless I had multiple bombs or was short on playables.

Raise Dead is generally a card bad players think is good. Keep that in mind when you evaluate it.

Nathan - You don't ever want to have to run this, but it can be okay, especially in W/R where you'll be putting a lot of your own artifacts in your graveyard yourself. Pyrite Spellbomb is what I'd think about returning if I see this in the last few picks, but like any card like this, you're considering if your deck will make it painless enough to play it, not if your deck will make it good.

Soulscour
Iain - Giant, unplayable effect. Nothing worth noting or mentioning - You will be able to cast this in one out of twenty-five games.

Nathan - It might be worth playing if it read"win the game," though you want to be running few lands in this set and Insurrection was sometimes uncastable even with eighteen lands. But it's a symmetrical effect - one even more difficult to break than Wrath of God in Limited, and there is no way that it is worth setting up your deck to break the symmetry of a ten-mana card. It is worth noting that it looks pretty cool in Constructed, though, unless things speed up in slow-as-sin standard.

Steelshaper Apprentice
Iain - A very disappointing rare, the Steelshaper Apprentice's ability is admittedly better than the loathesome Auriok Steelshaper, but that doesn't really make it a good card. I don't personally consider Fabricate a decent card unless my deck is absolutely amazing at stalling the ground, or has cards that win me the game once searched out and played. Well, this is a five mana Fabricate that can only go for Equipment. It could be crucial if your Equipment cards are limited in number, I don't value this card as being worthy of it's rare slot or worthy of most of my decks.

Nathan - Oh my, this is slow. Since it has to tap, it's even slow if you have more excess mana than you should ever have. The only thing to recommend it is that it can pull of the incredible indestructible creature thing, a la Echo Tracer, but only every other turn. It's interesting, and I'd like to recommend it, but it seems like it was designed as 1WW and it was too good, and the extra mana just kills something that has the tap symbol. It's probably completely awful in draft, but if I get it in sealed I'd like to try it out.

Stir the Pride
Iain - This card being an uncommon makes up for Turn the Tables being a rare. This card's effect comes in two flavors - good, and completely insane. The effect on the surface resembles a weaker (but easier to cast and set up) Overrun. Any mass power bonus is generally pretty good, since it allows you to break up ground stalls through multiple positive trades. If you reach the seven mana to entwine it, you don't get quite as much out of it as, say, entwining Grab the Reins, but the effect is definitely not negligible.

I would rate this as my second to fourth highest pick of cards in White, depending on the number of men in my deck and whether I have spells like Raise the Alarm floating in my card pool. Also works with Nuisance Engine and so on, but I don't need to point that out, do I?

Nathan - Until you hit seven mana it's just a good but very expensive combat trick. It could win the game, but probably not until you're able to entwine it anyway. At seven mana it's a huge swing and a likely game winner, I agree, but only if you have a pretty good force already, and if it's been sitting in your hand since turn 1, you could have one less creature. I wouldn't rate it as high as Iain, since Roar of the Kha hasn't been as good as it first seemed, and I don't see why this is too much better. But I'd love to get it in my draft deck if the rest were solid.

Test of Faith
Iain - The ability to grant a creature a permanent bonus of three power and toughness for two mana is very valuable, as in effect it is worth a full card. The ability to perhaps negate a piece of Red removal while bolstering the strength of the creature, is extremely good. This card offers access to both a valued, potent combat trick and extremely high synergy with Spikeshot Goblin, Neurok Spy, any evasion creature or hell, the entire series of Arcbound men.

In Rochester, if you knew your first opponent was Red, this card would move up to pretty much the top. Once you flash this card, a Red opponent is going to have to consider his removal against your ability to make a midsize evasive threat into a giant evasive threat. In other situations, while it remains a highly playable card, I'd still take Stir the Pride, Leonin Shikari, and Pristine Angel over it.

Nathan - When your opponent is not playing Red, though, you'll have to depend on bumping your creatures into one another - which happens strikingly more seldom in this block than in the past. When it does happen, it's often a 1/3 and a 2/3 running into each other, not two 2/2's trading. It's an excellent card, but it's going to be somewhat difficult to use to get optimal effect.

Turn the Tables
Iain - I have difficulty getting over the fact that this card is a rare. In my head, Mirrodin block is filled with so many cards that frankly, seem to be completely in the wrong rarity slot. That being said, the effect is basically Repentance combined with a Fog. However, it's just as expensive as Soul Nova, so there's not going to be much surprise to it. In fact, it's generally going to end up being weaker than Soul Nova, since there's no way to coax a two for one out of this card.

Well, unless your opponent using a Fists of the Anvil. Then again, if you opponent is casting Fists, you should probably plow right through him anyway.

Nathan - I don't mind that this card is a rare as much as I mind it costs the same as Soul Nova, which means people are already playing around it. It's just strange how mediocre it is, since"destroy target attacking creature" shouldn't cost more than three, and this is even more situational. I guess it's a combination Fog and removal, but I usually came out ahead or near even casting Chastise even when my opponent had multiple attackers. You'll get it late, and you might want to pick one up if you don't have any evasion defense or other removal.

Blue

Carry Away
Iain - Now that's what I call a bad sounding name. For some reason it makes me want to sing"Fly me to the Moon," which is definitely nothing positive...

Anyway, Equipment is definitely nothing to sneer at. While stealing Equipment isn't quite as surefire as stealing men, the power of this card in swinging the game cannot be denied. It is a little inconsistent in that not every deck has a lot of Equipment in it, but most decks usually have a couple, and people will almost never end up playing bad Equipment. This is definitely a potent card, and especially valuable if your opponent has a piece of bomb Equipment, like Sword of Fire and Ice or Loxodon Warhammer.

But you didn't need me to tell you that. It's cheap, effective, a little inconsistent but well worth the risk.

Nathan - I like the name; when you cast this on Loxodon Warhammer you can picture the big dumb elephant raising his empty hands while a goblin"carries away" his weapon. I usually took the risk of running Turn to Dust, which recently has become more risky as certain archetypes began to draft Equipment later, but Carry Away is good enough that it'll remain worth the risk even if it's dead sometimes, since as a two-for-one it should be stealing a vital card. -1 excellent card for your opponent, +1 excellent card for yourself.

That's a different league of card advantage than drawing two random cards off Thoughtcast, and should be evaluated much differently. Also, the only playable enchantment removal cards that I can think of are Altar's Light, Creeping Mold, and Elf Replica. I wouldn't be surprised if Carry Away wins games for people alone.

Chromeshell Drake
Iain - Like all Affinity cards, the Drake need be evaluated based on your deck so far, or how you intend to draft your deck. If you are forcing the"Aggro Affinity" archetype (of whatever colors), Chromeshell Drake is going to cost five or less and likely put two cards into your hand. That's very good. Since this is the primary mold of Blue, I would definitely say this is a strong card, but if you're running Blue for some other reason, the Drake isn't quite as hot. Keep in mind though, that with it's triple Blue casting cost, you're going to want it less if Blue isn't your primary color.

This isn't a bomb, of course, but it pushes the concept of"workhorse card" to the edge of being a bomb. The possibility of getting a three power flier for three mana alongside three cards is there, of course, and that would be a bomb, any way you slice it.

Nathan - 4/4 flyers are bombs - even Goblin Dirigible is a bomb, even if it's a very vulnerable and difficult card to use, just because it can turn games around. 3/4 flyers are near bombs unless you can get them on the cheap, in which case they are absolutely game winning cards. This is awesome in an Affinity deck and useless everywhere else. Like Broodstar, except not as extreme.

Echoing Truth
Iain - It's cheap, it's relatively effective without echoing. and works extremely well against opponents who have multiples of the same card - especially large men like Fangren Hunter or Tel-Jihad Archers. It's also pretty effective against any token production card, like Pulse of the Tangle or One Dozen Eyes. So basically, it's a Boomerang in most of the ways you care about, with an easier casting cost and the potential to evenly remove multiple tokens at a time. Also, it's cheap enough to go under Isochron Scepter, which is worth noting.

Nathan - This is very cheap bounce - disregarding the echo, this is a non-land Boomerang for 1U, and will possibly become a Constructed staple. The problem with it for Limited is that bounce is worse in Mirrodin block than it has ever been. Regress, for example, would be a high pick in almost any other block. The main reason is that there is only really one playable creature enchantment, so there's no chance of getting tempo plus card parity by bouncing an enchanted permanent. Bouncing an equipped creature does almost nothing, since equipping another creature is easy. Bouncing a piece of Equipment is an okay combat trick, but it hasn't panned out. Don't pick this early, even though it seems like it should be an excellent Limited card, but try to get it if you don't have either Aether Spellbomb or Regress.

Hoverguard Observer
Iain - This is one of those cards that doesn't take a lot of explain. It's a 3/3 flier for four mana - those are excellent, pretty much no matter what the format. If you're in Blue, this is likely to be a high pick , barring a bomb rare. There is little in the set I'd pick over something so efficient a threat - You plan on playing Somber Hoverguards turn 2-3, this thing is going to come out turn 3 almost every time due to Myr. Good stuff.

Nathan - Pretty crazy. The only mean thing you could say to Ascending Aven is that it dies to Shock. The extra point of toughness is pretty important when two points of damage is standard. Also, having such a big flyer for so cheap in a format without many big non-artifact creatures is game-winning. I can't think of many ways to stop this thing.

Last Word
Iain - There are always going to be Constructed cards that don't fit into your Limited decks. Last Word is countermagic, which comes in two varieties for Limited - okay and unplayable. Even Counterspell itself isn't the hottest, and it's a fair bit more playable than this. That's not to say countermagic isn't somewhat playable in Mir Limited - I've found Override and Assert Authority to be rather decent in quick Affinity decks, since opponents rarely have a ton of ways to deal with a quick Somber Hoverguard or whatever. But at 2UU, Last Word isn't useful.

Nathan - Counterspell is pretty hot in Limited, but having to keep more mana open seems even harder to do in Limited and the four mana makes cards like Discombobulate unattractive. But four-mana hard counterspells are excellent sideboard cards against decks with expensive, hard to deal with bombs, since they aren't dead even if your opponent doesn't draw them. If you got the early game won, but your opponent beat you by busting out fatties, you should consider siding in hard countermagic.

Machinate
Iain - Card"draw" spells are tricky to evaluate in a Limited format. Machinate is likely to dig you deeper to your bombs, if you have at least a couple artifacts in play. At about three artifacts the card is fine, with it becoming very solid at five or six. It allows you to dig for answers you may not have many copies of, for example, a Shatter you need to destroy your opponent's Sword of Kaldra.

When drafting this card, keep in mind the consistency of your deck. If you have a limited number of removal effects or less Equipment, you will want to be able to dig for them. Remember though, Machinate is basically a very bad tutor otherwise, so it's nothing worth drafting high.

Nathan - It's a pretty expensive Impulse, but Impulse effects can be pretty useful in Limited, where your card quality varies wildly. It's only good in Affinity builds, though, where you're going to have enough artifacts to pump out a large one, and where you're going to be looking for something to take advantage, like Myr Enforcer.

Magnetic Flux
Iain - This is a relatively decent card that allows you to sail over for the win, but for the most part, you shouldn't be looking to draft cards like this. It's essentially (like Metal Fatigue), a limited-use Falter effect. It can certainly win you games, but it can also show up in your opening hand and be dead for the entire game. That's not quite so hot. Worth looking into as a sideboard card or perhaps in decks with almost all artifact men, but overall, this one depends heavily on your deck's artifact count more than any other Affinity-style card.

Nathan - A three mana Jump! Sometimes it's worth having a mass Jump effect, but there are too many common flier blockers in this block (Wizard Replica), and your artifact creatures are too fragile to try and use this. I don't think I'll ever side it in either.

Neurok Prodigy
Iain - I tend to make comparisons to older cards in an attempt to tether people to earlier ideas. The truth of the matter is, older cards are a good basis of knowledge only when considering a card in vacuum. Any card should be considered primarily within the format it's actually in, but never the less, it's just a way of gauging power.

Neurok Prodigy automatically brings up thoughts of Skywing Aven (a common from Torment, if you don't know), which was considered one of the best commons in that set. It's likely, in fact, that Prodigy is the stronger card, pardoning the fact you will likely want to drop him after you bring out a Hoverguard or other, large flier. So he's somewhat out-classed there, but still definitely one of Blue's stronger commons in this set. When giving up something like a mid game artifact land or a spellbomb, you're probably getting the better end of the deal that way.

Nathan - Why would you drop another flyer before Neurok Prodigy? I don't get that. Seems to me you want to get Prodigy out on turn 3. Prodigy seems less like the indestructible flyer that Skywing Aven was, since Aven could use any card to return itself and could therefore bump uglies with X/2s every turn, but with Prodigy you're not likely to want to discard many of your artifacts, and you'll be using the ability far less often. It's absolutely a worse card, but it's nearly as difficult to destroy, so long as you don't abuse his ability. Get him out, start hitting with him, use his ability if he's targeted with removal (which won't happen often), but if your opponent lays a flying blocker he becomes a lot less useful. So get him out on turn 3 and make use of him while you can.

Neurok Transmuter
Iain - A very quirky card. By itself, it negates artifact removal on your silver men and allows your colored men to get away from Terror, which is useful but a rather passive solution. When combined with your own removal, it inversely grants them the power it takes away from your opponents, as well as allowing some cards like Magnetic Flux to function in wildly different fashions. With that in mind, it's a midpick if you don't have the cards to abuse it, but a rather high pick if you do. Of special note is its synergy with Ogre Leadfoot.

Nathan - Transmuter seems like a pretty cool card, since he's not totally undersized or overcosted, but has a lot of potential uses. Usually you'll be using the first ability, especially if you're U/R for example, and have a lot of artifact destruction and artifact sacrifice. He also looks very good with Arcbound creatures, since if you don't have another artifact creature out, he can allow a dying Arcbound to move his counters onto a non-artifact creature, or even the Transmuter himself. Might actually be a pretty high pick if you're U/R, as Iain suggested.

Psychic Overload
Iain - First and foremost this card gets ahead of earlier versions of it by tapping the creature down when it hits. This means it can be used as a tap effect, regardless of whether your opponent's ability remove it, which gives it properties closer to Arrest than Inertia Bubble. That's good.

On the other hand, while the untap effect is expensive to use, it isn't confined to the player's upkeep or anything of the sort. This ends up meaning the Overload is like a Pacifism that temporarily becomes useless sometimes. Not altogether too reliable if you're using it to tap down men, but still likely a pretty good card that will make the cut in weaker decks, or be useful to board in against artifact light decks.

Nathan - Though a lot of cards in this set have activated abilities that don't require a tap symbol, which makes Arrest even more important than it normally would be. There also is hardly any enchantment removal, another point in Arrest's column, and something that makes Psychic Overload worth consideration, even though it is very, very weak compared to Arrest.

Pulse of the Grid
Iain - A solid card that rewards being the aggro deck as a Blue player. Catalog is playable, if fairly weak, in 8th Edition draft. Given that Pulse of the Grid has a recursive effect and is likely to net card advantage over time, it's likely to be even stronger.

Keep in mind that this is another one of those cards which is heavily in love with Affinity. As long as you can drop a lot of cheap cards early on, you'll be able to get below your opponent in cards in hand - which Affinity style decks are quite good at doing. You want to draft this high if you're Blue with heavy Affinity, otherwise, it shifts down to a midpick. The card has to Pulse to be good, otherwise it's pretty bad.

Nathan - Yeah, Catalog is pretty damn bad, but in a deck that unloads its hand very quickly, like a spellbomb/Frogmite heavy Affinity, this should get both get returned pretty easily and allow the player to unload his new goodies before using it again. Other Blue decks shouldn't get the opportunity as often.

Quicksilver Behemoth
Iain - I wish the art was a bit clearer in the scans I've seen - this thing looks like a floating saucer with a core of red energy. I'm guessing his is one of those times where .jpg compression really messes with the ability to discern the artwork of card.

But, murky artwork isn't the only thing I'm having trouble figuring out. This card is a real smack of confusion to figure out. If you have six artifacts on the table, it's generally a little stronger than Myr Enforcer, since it can be replayed to remain on defense through its ability. If you have less than five artifacts, though, the cost to replay it becomes too expensive to be reliable. So where do you evaluate a card which is completely centered around Affinity? You don't. You have to know how many artifacts you're going to have in your deck before you can choose where to draft this.

Nathan - I like this card, since it allows Affinity decks to get their hands on a Myr Enforcer sized card that not everyone at the table is trying to grab. It's like Leonin Scimitar for WW/E - no one else is going to want to touch it, but it'll be very good for you. It doesn't matter that it may be worse than Myr Enforcer in some respects, Myr Enforcer is extremely good for a common, and so is this (in the right deck).

Reshape
Iain - Fabricate is a pretty bad card, and this is just plain worse. The mana difference means yes, in some situations you can whip out the tutored artifact faster than via Fabricate, but in a lot of cases it you can't tutor for it. The fact it costs an artifact as well is just plain painful - I'm baffled as to why this isn't an instant or is even a rare. It's not Tinker at all, and please don't reference Tinker.

Nathan - It's just a card they printed to"show" how good Tinker was, and how badly it needed to be fixed.

Retract
Iain - No.

Nathan - Okay.

Groffskithur - Hi. [Couldn't resist. - Knut]

Second Sight
Iain - Effects like this have to do a lot to make up for the inherent card disadvantage. Index is"alright" because it's so cheap you can open with it, and keep worse hands, and"mulligan" by stacking the top of your deck. I say that in quotations because I've never run Index and don't plan on it, but I'm sure there's people out there who've run it to good effect.

Second Sight is three times the mana, so it loses even that. It can effect an opponent as well, but that's really only an irritation. You want to use the Second Sight on yourself early to set up your draw, but at its price, that's giving up a card and a turn.

Not good enough.

Nathan - Index is not alright: no one has run it to good effect, but some people have with Trickery Charm and Sage Owl. What makes this card seem even borderline playable to me is that you can bury your opponent's next two draws in lands, and set yourself up to win in the next two turns, it can help you win. Don't play it early, since both of you are going to see your next five cards anyway, and your opponent may have enough gas in his hand to endure the duds you're setting up for him. Seeing your opponent's next five cards is also very useful information, so I don't think that the half of this card that affects the opponent is a minor irritation at all - it may be worth playing (barely), and only because of that.

Synod Artificer
Iain - A card totally based on you having things you can untap. Got a Charbelcher, a Serum Tank and some other friendly nonsense? Artificer might become playable. If not, take something else over it - It's not really what I would call a Limited card, since it uses up mana and a card to granted some flexibility to your tap artifacts. That's not too high demand an ability.

Nathan - Cute, a Candelabra of Tawnos dude with an extra ability. Combo material, but no purpose for Limited (even contains the non-creature clause to be sure of it!)

Vedalken Engineer
Iain - On the other hand, this guy is pretty damn good. Basically, he's got all the power of a Myr, most of the time. Sure, he's useless when casting your Somber Hoverguard, but for other Affinity he sits at power parity. However, he gives you that same boost with every artifact spell you have, which given a decent artifact count, is quite good.

He also produces any color mana, which becomes relevant if you have, for example, splashed Pewter Golems and Skeleton Shards in your deck. I'm not saying he's really better than Myr, but he's a Blue myr with access to some additional abilities to make up for his downside of being unable to help with colored spells. Mana myr have proven to be pretty good, and I think this guy will as well.

Nathan - He's better than Myr, or at least more explosive. Casting a five mana artifact creature on turn 3 is pretty damn exciting. This guy even makes Mindslaver a breeze to cast and use. He won't always be better than the Myr, but he's a lot more scary. Once he hits the table, your opponent will be cringing - you'll see the worried faces you haven't seen since you took a post-Explosive Vegetation turn, and this is on turn 3! Don't neglect using him for activation costs - he makes Hematite Golem a lot scarier and more manageable.

Vex
Iain - As I noted above, counter magic is usually quite risky in Limited formats due to it's reactive nature, so you really only want to run the very best counterspells in Limited. Vex, on the other hand, is not a even a good counterspell - If it cost U, it might be okay, but otherwise you can't justify running this awful, awful spell.

Nathan - It's basically Arcane Denial, just more expensive, and while counterspells can be useful in Limited, Arcane Denial never would be.

So there we go, thirty-six cards down and over a hundred left to do. There are another four articles planned in this series, which should run over the next couple of weeks. Join us next time, when we slog through the murky depths of Black and Red, one color that seems to have gotten a little better and another that seems to have stayed pretty much the same... Or perhaps became even better. Should be interesting.

-Iain Telfer