Every few years, I take a set off. Time, desire, burnout, something or other, the reasons vary. I skipped Ikoria because it was the beginning of the pandemic and there was enough stressful decisions to make with insufficient information that I didn’t need to spend my free time doing the same. BRO had a different problem arrive: Lil Narset. For me Magic is a hard game to dabble in; either I’m listening to podcasts, tracking my W/L, and trying to get better… or I’m out. So with Narset now looking like this…

(i.e., not fussing every 35 minutes)…it’s time to get back in the saddle!

Best Commons are my favorite way to track signals. It’s a card that’s not just powerful, but also fits in multiple archetypes. If you see it 4th-thru-6th-ish, it’s a pretty good signal that the color might be open. Usually it’s going to have less than four mana value, unless you really would run as many as you get. Let’s look at our contenders:

white

This is pretty sweet. Charge of the Mites is either removal (note: it does NOT say attacking or blocking creature!) or board presence, which is sweet. The glider has a ceiling of a 2-mana 2/4 flyer + Anthem, which is absurd. Planar Disruption is a strictly better Pacifism. Justiciar is a 2-drop with upside, though the poison might make lifelink weaker than it normally is. Indoctrination Attendant has serious possibilities: 4 mana for 4/5 of stats, toxic, and–if you can abuse the self-bounce–even more shenanigans. Finally, the duelist has first-strike on the attack which is remarkably annoying.

I think the removal (Planar Disruption) and the–uh–other removal (Charge of the Mites) will be happy in any deck. The last spot will shift between artifact synergies, toxic, and enablers vs. payoffs. If I had to choose, I’ll go with the duelist.

black

Good gravy that’s a murderous lineup, even for black. Very efficient removal, a shockingly relevant 1-mana “trick”, great low drops, and a very aggressive 4-drop that replaces itself. I think black is the home of generating poison counters that might then veer into sacrifice/corruption/win-with-ten-counters. That said, I think the Testament Bearer has a very real possibility to reach the “Yes I will play all of these I can”. Good blocker, the 1/1 tokens can’t block. Yes there is a fair amount of x/1 hate, but then you get to draw your card!

blue

Blue… what is the deal with blue? There’s some proliferate, some oil, some counterspelling. Like usual, I suspect that blue’s toolbox of tricks will become more apparent once we get a sense of gameplay. If it’s super fast, a flexible blocker like that Raptor goes up in value. If we’re durdling, the Anticipate + Proliferate might go up in value. I’m just going to throw three darts and see where they land.

Looks good to me!

green

Green brings the beef and I respect it for it. Contagious Vorrac is already being called the Inspiring Overseer of the set which certainly seems possible. Aside from that, I think the Basilisk will have utility in any deck (good toxic enabler, good defender) and the efficient fight spell all look like early frontrunners.

red

Can you tell I’m running out of time before the pre-release? I can! To me red cements the “assertive early, assertive often” nature that I think we’ll see. That’s a lot of scary low-curve things. Under the test of, “would it be possible to have TOO many?” I think both Hexgold Slash and the cantrip-y nature of Blazing Crescendo are simply too efficient to ever cut. For the third, I think the single-mana cost of Free from Flesh and the oil upside is going to be everywhere. Block with great caution! Great art on Hexgold Slash too.

of note

All of the Skullbombs, with the exception of black, I think are solid C+s. The floor of “cycling: 2” is pretty high and while they might not be a fit in every deck, no deck would cut them. Also keep an eye out for Dune Mover. While it’s not a full skittering surveyor, it’s more of a Full Card’s Worth of Value and smoothing land draws is very real upside. Imagine keeping two lands and this fella.

Alright, see you at the pre-release!