The good news is that we are still alive with the same number of children. The bad news remains the same: the precipitous decline in free time results in a pretty hard choice between occasionally playing a game of magic versus writing about Magic. I’ve been reduced to Bo1 on the Arena phone client, THAT’S how desperate I’ve become.

But after the somewhat disappointing Wilds of Eldraine (mostly due to high expectations of how much I loved OG Eldraine) it’s time to dust off the old card evaluation skills. Since I love drafting “The Hard Way”, picking out the best commons can be a big help in finding the open lane. Usually these are efficient removal and solid 2-3 mana cost creatures. Recently though, Wizards has been doing a good job of seeding ‘glue cards’ that might not look that powerful, but every deck desires. Let’s see what we can find.

white

Two removal spells (one Pacifism+ the other a little clunkier but more guaranteed in a world with Crafting). The creatures are a spread: efficient 1/2 plus a counter, raw power (5/4 worth of stats for 3), expensive with plainscycling, and a utility artifact that also goes wide. I think Petrify will be solid, even with opponents able to craft away the card. Tinker’s Tote will happily go into every white deck I can imagine. And while the Glorifier does require more work (it’s not usually being cast on turn three), regularly putting five power on the battlefield for only 3-mana is hard to ignore.

blue

Inverted Iceberg looks like a lovely glue card that every deck will be delighted to run. Craft! Graveyard! Cantrip! Artifact! Both scouts look incredibly solid. Guaranteed explore (one with an extra artifact!) at that price is great. Don’t sleep on the runners-up: wrestler is going to make combat math a nightmare, if the format is slower the islandcycler will be great, and bounce is also good bounce.

black

It’s going to be hard to say no to the efficiency of Join the Dead. The Mephitic Draught does require sacrifice or craft, but I think every black deck will easily clear that bar. And any deck with swamps will want as many wind drakes that fill your graveyard for basically free.

red

For some reason, the mountaincycler stands out to me more in red. I think it’s the ideal top end, trades land for more card draw, and is only 6 instead of 7. Aside from that, take the direct damage. Tally-ho!

green

Check. I really like Over the Edge (explore twice or disenchant) but since it can be a blank if you don’t have a creature, it’s second tier. I remain unconvinced about 7-mana landcyclers until proven otherwise. A 3-mana bite spell is solid, but that’s just expensive enough that I think you won’t want more than two per deck. So that leads us to a defensive 2-drop (that turns into a 4/3) and two cards that will help it turn into a 4/3. Gotcha.