A little busy there for a bit… but also a little too busy playing Magic to talk about Magic. Not the worst problem to have but it is a little ironic sitting there thinking of fun posts to make… then just hitting “Join Draft” instead.

But I come not to bury Caesar. There are new magic cards to stare at and figure out what will be good. Often this gets immediately trumped by… actually… playing with the cards. Regardless, it’s still a good exercise to familiarize with the cards.

Best commons are often the good-enough removal cards, efficient creatures, and cards that fit the powerful archetypes. My heuristic is that a “best common” is one that you would gladly play as many copies as you can get.

white

I think Inspiring Overseer is going to be a slam-dunk solid card: evasive threat that also cantrips for a reasonable price. The Speakeasy Server is a 5-drop, and usually there’s only so many 5-drops a deck can support. But a nice body (of a relevant tribe) that comes with some significant lifegain to stabilize might be an exception to that rule. Raffine’s is a nice 2-drop that either loots away a land or comes in as a 3/2.

The removal is an interesting twist for white. Clearly taking a page from my inspirational idea of Apologetic Removal, these are very interesting. The cheaper Hold for Ransom looks great for attacking decks (UPDATE: apparently *you* get to sacrifice and draw the card! Even better!), Buy Your Silence answering almost anything though at a steep mana cost at sorcery speed.

Finally, this set has a “collect em all” in Gathering Throng. These vary in power, but they’ve never been a 3/1 before. The Citizen is also a relevant tribe. I definitely have my eye on this one too.

preliminary finalists

blue

Some look familiar, some look… very strange. Revenge of the Drowned is always between great and playable. Suit Up taught us that stapling “Draw a card” to a transform trick makes it great. Witness Protection doesn’t just showcase my new art crush Dominik Mayer, but it is a pretty impressive removal spell at one mana. Bind the Monster was great!

Now we get to the weird stuff. Expendable Lackey is a citizen (potentially relevant) and could be great in an aggressive deck where we don’t care if it dies and/or the unblockable fish (lol) is a real thing. Rooftop Nuisance is our first look at the Casualty mechanic. If we sacrifice something–like the lackey–then we clone the spell. Which means two cards are super-tapped and we draw *two* cards. Make Disappear uses the same mechanic for either an underpowered Mana Leak or overpowered Mana Leak.

If there’s a lot of sacrifice fodder, the Casualty cards are going to be great. I’m going to need to see it first.

Preliminary Finalists

Black

Let’s take a look at our traditional black removal! Murder is a common now, which wow. Having double-pips is a hidden tax in multi-color set, but I think that’s a tax I’m willing to pay for instant-speed unconditional removal. Deal Gone Bad is more expensive, but depending how helpful milling yourself is, it could be very good. Incriminate is a novel twist on the edicts. Letting the opponent choose ANY creature is a weak card. But if you get to choose their two best… that could be a different story.

The creatures are all shockingly aggressive. A 2-drop 3/2, a Virus Beetle, and a 3/1 that will trade and also net you 1.5 cards? Sheesh! I’m going to go with Virus Beetle, the value-town 3-drop, and our good friend Murder.

preliminary finalists

red

Lighting Bolt at sorcery speed? Yes please! The creatures are an interesting mix. Exhibition Magician provides either width or fixing, which sounds lovely. Plasma Jockey disables a blocker (though dies to literally any other available blocker). The Mayhem Patrol is… really interesting and brings up Blitz. How to value blitz? It turns a creature into a quasi-combat trick that cantrips. Hmm. Nice flexibility for the aggro decks, where you cast for board presence early and use to close out the game late.

The non-removal spells are a little strange. Sticky Fingers gives evasion, generates treasure (which if you’re aggressive doesn’t do a lot for you), and then if it dies you draw a card. Never underestimate cards that only cost 1-mana, but I legit have no idea what to make of this.

Speaking of 1-mana, I *loved* Storm Strike! Priced to move, the scry is highly relevant. Not as good as a full cantrip of course, but shockingly good. I will be keeping my eye on Daring Escape for sure.

preliminary finalists

green

Jewel Thief as a 3/3 doing all the things is obviously great. Glittermonger churning out treasure looks like Sailor of Means on steroids, but upping the mana-value to 4 does matter. Then the aggressive creatures! Social Climber is statted aggressively but gains life defensively. Attended Socialite (with the angry cat) can attack impressively I suppose.

Most Wanted is strange. It’s a quasi-combat trick with the Flash but without giving much toughness it isn’t much of a trick. And then it creatures treasure. (Seinfeld voice) what’s the deal with all this treasure?!

Capenna Express. Huh. Well isn’t THAT interesting. 4-mana vehicle with crew 3 isn’t a good card. But if you have a pile of otherwise idle treasure… then it becomes a lot more interesting. Not best common interesting, but certainly interesting.

preliminary finalists