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commandertheory · 5 years ago

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M20 Commander Set Review

For each new set, I write an article discussing the new legendary creatures and the nonlegendary cards that I think will be relevant in Commander.

The Commanders of Core Set 2020

There are a lot of cheap multicolor creatures that generate value (Harmonic Sliver, Knight of Autumn, Qasali Pridemage, Renegade Rallier) in these colors, as well as a ton of strong sac outlets like Evolutionary Leap, Birthing Pod, and Greater Good. Basically, you’ve got everything you need to make a sweet recursion engine, plus you can use all the sac outlets you’re already running to enable sac fodder combos like Karmic Guide/Reveillark, Karmic Guide/Saffi, Reveillark/Saffi, Sun Titan/Saffi, Sun Titan/Gift of Immortality, Boonweaver Giant/Gift of Immortality, Renegade Rallier/Saffi, etc etc etc.

Sample list: Rienne, Angel of Rebirth

I’m really not a fan of ETB commanders since they all run the same cards (blink engines, sacrifice+reanimation engines) and if you don’t draw your engines they don’t do anything. Say what you will about the original Kaalia, but at least she fixed the weaknesses of her tribe; this Kaalia just gives you a handful of cards you can’t cast.

She is, however, quite good in the maindeck of a Kaalia 1.0 deck.

Self-mill is super important in this deck. The more you mill, the more likely it is you’ll have some fodder to exile, so I’d run Mesmeric Orb, Hermit Druid, Deadbridge Chant, Life from the Loam, Undercity Informer, and Altar of Dementia, for sure.

Legendary lands are great in this deck, and there are a ton of cheap legends in these colors that interact with the graveyard, like Storrev, Teshar, and Meren. There are also some great sac outlets on legendary creatures, like Yawgmoth, Krav, the Unredeemed, Sidisi, Undead Vizier, God-Eternal Bontu, and Izoni, Thousand-Eyed. Finally, there are just a ton of value commanders in these colors like Azusa, Captain Sisay, Reki, Tymna, The Gitrog Monster, as well as a ton of powerful planeswalkers like Elspeth 3.0, Ugin 1.0, Liliana Dreadhorde General, etc.

Sample list: Kethis, the Hidden Hand

Cheap red cantrips and looting spells are very good here, since they’re card neutral and usually mana-neutral. Other cards that trigger when you cast noncreatures, like Monastery Mentor, Saheeli Sublime Artificer, and Young Pyromancer are also solid. I really like Bident of Thassa, Coastal Piracy, and Kindred Discovery in a deck with so many evasive tokens, and Cathars’ Crusade, Coat of Arms, and Shared Animosity will help you kill people really quickly.

There are a couple of Spirit token generators that are worth running because they’re so efficient that they are either mana neutral or mana negative, like Midnight Haunting and Promise of Bunrei. Tectonic Reformation is good for dumping excess lands and helping you find more gas.

Jeskai Ascendancy does literally everything.

Sample list: Kykar, Wind’s Fury

These rewards are not good enough to incentivize committing to Elementals. Shooting something once and a Retreat to Kazandu will not make you feel smart for forsaking the other 300 creature types in Magic.

It doesn’t help that the most powerful part of the card has nothing to do with Elementals, as the smart way to build this guy seems to be Tatyova + Red. It’s also a little weird that the best reason for adding Red to this deck’s color identity is Omnath, Locus of Rage; if you really want to make 5/5s, why not run that Omnath as your commander?

I think this is a combo commander masquerading as a value commander. You can spin your wheels for a while by controlling the board with Reclamation Sage and Shriekmaw, but eventually you’re going to draw some combination of Peregrine Drake/Great Whale/Aluren/Cloud of Faeries and Shrieking Drake/Cavern Harpy/Dream Stalker/Cloudstone Curio/Deadeye Navigator and get infinite mana and bounces for your other ETB creatures. Or you can just draw Palinchron.

Sample list: Yarok, the Desecrated

There are some solid flying token generators in monowhite (although probably not as many as you’d expect), as well as hate bear flyers like Hushwing Gryff, Linvala 1.0, Aven Mindcensor, Remorseful Cleric, Selfless Spirit, flyers that generate value like Pilgrim’s Eye, Bygone Bishop, Skyscanner, and anthem flyers like Archangel of Thune, Celestial Crusader, and Angel of Jubilation.

Because Sephara has 7 power, you also have the option to try to go for a Voltron win using haste granters and cards that grant double strike.

The 6 CMC, 5 toughness, 4 power, 3-cost activation, draw 2, discard 1 is super cute. I think this deck is mostly counterspells, cheap cantrips to sculpt your hand, mana acceleration, and ways to grant him haste, and I don’t think it’s that hard to fix the list so that the proportions of different mana costs make it easy to find Exodia without gumming up your development.

Black has 15 ways to pay life without restriction (i.e., without requiring you to pay mana, tap the card, or do anything else), most of which you could justify playing in this deck.

You don’t even have to worry about protecting this guy, as once he resolves and turned your life outlet into a Yawgmoth’s Bargain, he’s done his job and you will probably win that turn.

Sample list: Vilis, Broker of Blood

Like Sephara, the 7 power pushes me towards a Voltron strategy, and Red has waaay more haste granters than White does. The free board control is a nice way to help your deck interact with your opponents even as you devote most of your resources to the Voltron plan.

The combination of 17 life per swing and the ability to kill anything with Drakuseth’s flame breath makes Basilisk Collar an attractive addition to this deck, but I’m not sure I’d run equipment that only granted deathtouch or only granted lifelink.

Most Green hydras become playable when they cost four less, so it’s not hard to fill out the tribal theme. The rest of the deck is ramp to help you get Gargos down early and effects that target your creatures to enable Gargos’s trigger. Effects that grant Gargos hexproof or indestructible are great because they protect him from spot removal while also getting you a fight trigger, and cards like Hunter’s Insight, Hunter’s Prowess, and Soul’s Majesty, while normally great when you have an 8-power commander, get even better when they also let you eat an opponent’s creature.

Sample list: Gargos, Vicious Watcher

This guy is useful if there’s a specific land you want access to every game. Imo, the best lands to build a deck around are Volrath’s Stronghold, Academy Ruins, and Hall of Heliod’s Generosity, but the one people seem to be most interested in is Maze’s End.

In addition to helping you get to the End every game, Golos can help you hit 10 gates pretty quickly if you run a bunch of blink effects (in this case, I think I would run the instant-speed ones, rather than build around repeatable blink engines). Note that although there is a danger of hitting multiple Gates if you activate his ability, potentially preventing you from winning with Maze’s End, you do get to be unlucky once, thanks to the 11th Gate, Gateway Plaza. You can also reduce the danger by running additional land drop effects or by waiting to activate him until you’ve blinked him, activated the Maze, or otherwise thinned your deck of Gates to reduce your odds of a bad flop.

I’m not sure what the rest of the deck will look like once you fill out the blink spells and extra land drop effects. Bog standard 5C control with a little bit of land recursion?

The Maindeck Cards of Core Set 2020

In this set review, I’ll be using two five-point rating scales to evaluate the nonlegendary cards, one that measures how many decks a card is playable in (we’ll call that “spread”), and one that measures how powerful it is in those decks (”power”). Here’s a brief rundown of what each rank on the two scales means:

Spread

1: This card is effective in one or two decks, but no more (ex: The Gitrog Monster).

2: This card is effective in one deck archetype (ex: self-mill decks).

3: A lot of decks will be able to use this card effectively (ex: decks with graveyard interactions).

4: This card is effective in most decks in this color.

5: Every deck in this color is able to use this card effectively.

Power

1: This card is always going to be on the chopping block.

2: This card is unlikely to consistently perform well.

3: This card provides good utility but is not a powerhouse.

4: This card is good enough to push you ahead of your opponents.

5: This card has a huge impact on the game.

Spread: 2

Power: 3

The 0 ability will not be that hard to pull off in Karlov or Kambal or Oloro, but even in those decks, it’s not that much better than a Tragic Arrogance or an Hour of Revelation, and those cards will always work.

Spread: 1

Power: 2

At first, I was ready to dismiss this guy, but then I realized that he’s joining the ranks of a very strange sort of combo enabler. Most things that produce tokens when things die say “nontoken”, but Bishop is one of a handful of cards that specify a creature type (the others being Rotlung Reanimator, Xathrid Necromancer, and Requiem Angel). This means that if you can overwrite the type of the token (via Conspiracy, Xenograft, Arcane Adaptation, or by editing the token maker’s text with Artificial Evolution), you get infinite sac fodder (note that xenograft and arcane adaptation don’t work with Requiem Angel). It’s also worth noting that Divine Visitation serves as an additional overwrite effect for both Bishop of Wings and Requiem Angel, although it doesn’t combo with the Reanimator or Necromancer.

Unfortunately, we don’t currently have a critical mass of this type of creature converter, nor do we have a critical mass of the creature overwriters, but both categories are worth paying attention to because they bring this creature sacrifice combo deck closer to viability.

Spread: 2

Power: 3

This isn’t worth it if you are just holding up two white to save some guys in case someone wraths, but it could be good if your deck has easy access to a sac outlet. G/W decks can combine it with Eternal Witness for a recursive loop, while W/U decks can use Archaeomancer.

Spread: 4

Power: 3

Love seeing White getting ways to remove things that aren’t just more O Ring variants. I’ll happily play this for the ETB trigger in many White decks, but it’s especially good if you have a way to blink or reanimate it; it’s especially good in B/W with Animate Dead, Dance of the Dead, and Necromancy. When Cavalier dies, get back your reanimate enchantment from graveyard, use that to bring this guy back, get his ETB trigger again, rinse and repeat. With a sac outlet, it’s 1B: Beast Within.

In monowhite, it also works pretty well with Gift of Immortality and a sac outlet, since you can keep sacrificing it and returning it with the Gift to Beast Within a ton of permanents and recur a bunch of artifacts/enchantments. Then if your opponents ever kill it for real before the Gift returns itself, you can get back the Gift to use on another creature.

Spread: 1

Power: 1

Kynaios and Tiro of Meletis have huge asses relative to their mana cost, and might be interested in trying for big butt voltron. They’re also on color for Assault Formation, High Alert, uncommon Huatli, Treefolk Umbra, and Arcades, the Strategist.

Spread: 4

Power: 2

If you’re running enough steal effects to reliably get the end step trigger, you can go ahead and run this guy (Thada Adel seems especially good, since stealing Sol Rings helps you cover this guy’s huge mana cost). He also works really well with blink/reanimation engines. However, if you’re not running any engines and he’s one of your only steal effects, then I dislike him because he compares so poorly to Gilded Drake.

Spread: 4

Power: 2

The fact that Blue has other cards that do the same thing without preventing sac outlet recursion makes me low on this card. Also, unlike the other Cavaliers, abusing its ETB trigger doesn’t do much unless you also have access to some shuffle effects, since you’re going to be seeing a lot of the same cards over and over.

However, this is decent in Yennett, since it can set up the top of your library and is itself an odd card.

Spread: 2

Power: 1

I’d probably run this in Naban, might run it in Azami, wouldn’t run it in Inalla.

Spread: 4

Power: 3

This card seems pretty sweet. Getting to drop the first card after a board wipe is a huge upside, and although it’s no Cyclonic Rift, it seems like a decent way to reset the board while putting you a little ahead of everyone else.

Spread: 2

Power: 2

The first option is terrible, but the second could be useful. March of the Machines is a liability on your opponents’ turns because it opens them up to board wipes, but this card offers a one-shot March by turning all your mana rocks and crappy tokens into copies of your biggest artifact creature. Also, if your Urza deck is having trouble winning the game, you could use this to make all your 0-mana artifacts into Karnstructs and kill everyone.

Spread: 2

Power: 2

Crystal Shard/Erratic Portal redundancy for bounce combos (e.g., Archaeomancer variant and Time Warp variant).

Spread: 2

Power: 1

The main purpose of running an Archaeomancer variant is so you can combo off with Time Warp effects; adding extra value and P/T for extra mana does not make the card better; it makes it significantly worse because the cost of operating a bounce engine loop goes up significantly.

However, this can itself be the engine if you have a cheap blink spell like Essence Flux. Rasputin Dreamweaver and Lavinia of the Tenth sometimes run these types of cards and it’s not a huge burden to run extra turn effect, so there may be a pretty low-cost way to set this combo up.

Spread: 1

Power: 2

A cheap, evasive Pirate works well in both Edric and Beckett Brass.

Spread: 2

Power: 2

Although this can always hit commanders, I still think this is a bit too situational to be worth running in most decks. However, if your commander needs Stifle effects really badly (Lord of Tresserhorn, for example), it’s nice that there’s extra utility stapled to this one.

Spread: 2

Power: 2

It’s not a very interesting card, but the rate is good; I’d run this if I had a cheap blue commander with flying.

Spread: 4

Power: 3

So the base case is really good, as there is lots of sac fodder (and ETB floaters) in black, as well as some powerful creatures with CMC 3 or less (such as Fleshbag/Merciless Executioner/Plaguecrafter).

If you’re in Blue/Black, there’s also combo potential with Phantasmal Image or Mirror Image, since these creatures can enter the battlefield as the Cavalier, get sacrificed to a sac outlet, then bring themselves back with their own death trigger. Repeat for infinite of whatever your sac outlet generates (as well as infinite free Bone Splinters).

Spread: 2

Power: 3

If this were just swampfall - draw a card it would be quite playable, but the ability to control the board really pushes this over the top. I would happily run this in any monoblack deck.

Spread: 1

Power: 1

I’ve considered running Necromancer’s Assistant in Hogaak as a way to get delve fodder while providing a body for convoke; this is a solid upgrade for that role.

Spread: 1

Power: 4

Sorcery speed all but guarantees your opponent is going to draw the card they tutored for before you get the thing you wanted, which is a nightmare scenario.

Fortunately, reader stormcrowlegend pointed out that this card is awesome in my Circu Citadel Combo list, since top-of-library tutors are actually better than tutors that put cards into your hand if you’re in the middle of comboing off with Bolas’s Citadel. Plus, you can use Circu to mill your opponent’s top card once they stack it with Scheming Symmetry.

Spread: 1

Power: 2

I’m a little skeptical that this is going to be good in Edgar because that deck favors a low curve and this is one of the most expensive Vampire lords, but it could push out a worse 4-drop.

Spread: 1

Power: 2

I don’t like this in Horde of Notions or Omnath, Locus of Rage, since they have better options for ramp and their elementals are big enough that they don’t care that much about the anthem. Marath is better at going wide with elementals, but I’m still skeptical that you would play this card when your deck has access to all the great anthems in Naya colors.

However, I think this card could make sense in Valduk, since he doesn’t have access to green, and he ideally makes a bunch of elementals each turn, so the buff could go pretty wide.

Spread: 1

Power: 2

There aren’t that many elemental token generators out there, and this card is cheap, makes elementals every turn, and kills them off. I think Omnath, Locus of Rage might play her just for the double Bolt action, and the -2 won’t be totally dead in a deck that favors land ramp spells over permanent-based ramp.

Spread: 1

Power: 2

Six mana is a lot, and although the -3 is nice, the -X is not very relevant and the emblems are more annoying than powerful in a 40-life format. I think she’ll create a lot of ill will among your opponents without being strong enough to adequately protect you from them.

Spread: 3

Power: 3

This card rips. It sculpts your hand on the way in so you can avoid flood and dump reanimation targets, grants itself and the rest of your team haste if you’ve got extra mana lying around, casually hoses planeswalkers, and burns the heck out of your opponents. This card is going to be best in decks that can abuse both the ETB and dies trigger (Feldon of the Third Path being the deck it is most suited to), but I think I’d happily run this card for the ETB and activated ability in most monored and Red/White lists.

Spread: 3

Power: 2

Only discarding mountains and red cards means that I would only be comfortable running this in monored decks, but I’d probably run it in every monored deck. It prevents you from flooding out, it’s a discard outlet for decks that care about it (such as Feldon of the Third Path), and it gets rid of worse rummaging effects that you’re probably running, like Tormenting Voice and its ilk or Throes of Chaos.

Spread: 3

Power: 2

This card seems generally good in monored lists, and specifically good in Neheb 3.0, where you can farm the discard trigger pretty easily. I’d also run this in both Beckett Brass and Neheb 1.0, since he’s one of the best Pirates and one of the best Minotaurs.

Spread: 1

Power: 2

It might be solid in Omnath 2.0 since it represents 3 lightning bolts in addition to the 1/1s. It could also be good in Zada, Purphoros, and other Red decks that just need a lot of bodies.

Spread: 1

Power: 2

There are only 10 guys that are really worth getting back in Horde of Notions, but Omnath 3.0 can easily grow this guy big enough that he can get back practically anything.

Spread: 4

Power: 2

A five-mana ramp spell is pretty far below the curve for Green, and I still don’t understand why it exiles itself for its Reclaim effect when the White and Black members of the cycle are way more combo-riffic but aren’t similarly nerfed. The self-mill is nice, but it’s not enough to bridge the gap between this card and the many more powerful Green value creatures at a similar price point.

Spread: 3

Power: 3

It’s no Weathered Wayfarer, but this card still kicks ass. If your deck has any lands that are important to its functioning (e.g., Gaea’s Cradle, Volrath’s Stronghold), this card is a must-have. It’s especially good in decks like Gitrog and Lord Windgrace that can recur lands from the graveyard or get value when they go there.

Spread: 1

Power: 2

I think I like this guy in Sidisi 1.0 and Tana, since he can help you get them down on turn three and then, conditions permitting, taps for two on turn four.

Spread: 1

Power: 2

Until Wizards atones for Ulrich, the only deck that will want this is Tolsimir, Friend to Wolves.

Spread: 2

Power: 2

Most token decks and elfball decks ought to be able to make use of the first ability. As for the second, Anthousa and Gargos explicitly reward you for targeting your creatures with spells, and Rhonas the Indomitable decks tend to run lots of fight/punch spells to make use of his deathtouch and indestructbility.

Spread: 2

Power: 3

This card is really useful for assembling combos, but the rate is not great. If you’re just trying to toolbox, I’d run one of the many more efficient green creature tutors instead.

Spread: 3

Power: 2

This may be a good option for monogreen decks that can’t easily deal with creatures, and of course you’ll run it in Gargos.

Spread: 1

Power: 2

Bird tribal is terrible and Spirit tribal doesn’t exist, so there’s not much room for this card. If we ever get an apology commander for Kangee, this card will probably make the cut.

Spread: 2

Power: 2

The format has gravitated away from 5-mana do-nothing enchantments over the years, but there are certainly a lot of BG decks that can farm its trigger.

Spread: 1

Power: 3

I think it may be good enough for the Everything Tribal deck I cooked up recently. It generates value by itself and the deck has a ton of other Elementals in the form of changelings.

Spread: 2

Power: 2

This could be sick nasty in commanders that can easily discard a ton of cards, like Neheb 3.0, Varina, Malfegor, Borborygmos 2.0, and Kozilek 2.0.

Spread: 2

Power: 2

Nahiri the Lithomancer, Balan, and Nazahn will probably run this because they can cheat it onto something. Sram might want this because it’s a cheap equipment, and he draws so many cards that eventually you’ll find your Puresteel Paladin or Sigarda’s Aid to cheat the equip cost.

Spread: 3

Power: 3

I’ve enjoyed using Voltaic Key as an additional mana rock in decks with lots of rocks that tap for two or more mana; this provides some redundancy and the second ability may be useful in decks built around the Kozileks and Ulamogs.

Spread: 2

Power: 3

Amazing in mono-brown lists, and rad in mono-white/red lists trying to fill in the gaps with artifacts. It also seems very good in Jhoira, Weatherlight Captain, since it drops your chance of whiffing down to almost zero.

Spread: 1

Power: 2

Combos with Teshar, a sacrifice outlet, and a 0-CMC artifact creature.

Spread: 4

Power: 3

I would find room for this in any monocolor deck and in select other decks that care about lands (such as the Gitrog Monster or Lord Windgrace).

Spread: 1

Power: 2

Monocolor decks are running too many basics to get 7 lands with different names, and the heavy multicolor decks that have lots of different lands are going to be unwilling to give up a land slot for something that only produces colorless. Monobrown decks, which run almost 100% utility lands and don’t care about colored mana, are in the best position to use this.

Spread: 2

Power: 3

Lotus Vale sees play in a surprising number of decks, including Titania; Hokori; Gitrog; Teferi, Temporal Archmage; Lord Windgrace; Muldrotha; and Derevi. Estrid the Masked can also get extra value out of her untap ability if she’s masked a land that taps for a bunch of mana,

This card is mostly an upgrade, so I imagine it’ll replace or complement Vale in those decks.

Wrapping Up

Please let me know if you think I missed any relevant cards or if you disagree with any of my ratings. Thanks for reading!

#set review #edh #commander #mtg #m20

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housebeleren · 5 years ago

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The Mythic Cycles of M20

Hooo boy, Core Set 2020 is upon us. Previews are in full swing, and predictions are running rampant about what the new Standard format is going to look like, as well as what cards will see play in other formats.

So far, I’m stoked for the design of M20. There are some phenomenal reprints, some powerful new cards, and a surprisingly nuanced take on a core set limited environment. Not to mention, Chandra realness for the gawds, henny! Seriously, I’m loving the Chandra focus, & look forward to seeing what they do with it.

With that in mind, today I want to take a look at the Mythic card cycles that have been previewed so far, and try to get a sense of what cards are going to be powerhouses in each format.

Mythic Planeswalkers

I’m always torn about having so many Planeswalkers in the core set. It just adds so much to the format. On the other hand, I am beyond stoked to see more designs for Vivien, Sorin, and Yanling. Living for it, really. Let’s do a quick rundown of each ‘Walker by format relevance.

Limited

Chandra, Awakened Inferno - This ends games. She’s the Liliana, Dreadhorde General of the format, & is a true bomb.

Ajani, Strength of the Pride - This takes over games. If they can’t remove him right away, he’s going to snowball fast.

Mu Yanling, Sky Dancer - Yanling’s biggest weakness is her low starting loyalty, and she’s a weaker topdeck than some of the others. But if you get her out turn 3, she can generate a huge early advantage.

Vivien, Arkbow Ranger - Hard to cast on curve makes her one of the weaker picks for Limited. You’ll still play her, since her abilities are generally useful for Limited decks, but the others are better.

Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord - I doubt the Vampire deck will come together in Limited, and if it doesn’t, Sorin isn’t worth much.

Constucted

Chandra, Awakened Inferno - See above. She ends games. The can’t be countered clause is more relevant in Constructed and makes this a fantastic foil against Control decks.

Ajani, Strength of the Pride - I’m sure this will find a home in Standard.

Mu Yanling, Sky Dancer - If mono-Blue is still a thing going forward (or after rotation), I suspect Yanling will have a part in it.

Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord - This Sorin provides some much needed interaction for the Vampires deck, and I can see him having a home there until rotation.

Vivien, Arkbow Ranger - I’m sorry, I don’t know what deck wants this.

Commander

Ajani, Strength of the Pride - Ajani knocks Chandra off the top spot for EDH recognition. There are plenty of decks with incremental lifegain triggers that will enjoy his first two abilities, and the fact that he can ult right away if you have high enough life is bonkers for decks like Ayli or Oloro that will be more than happy to use him as a 4 mana Plague Wind.

Chandra, Awakened Inferno - This Chandra is surprisingly durdley, but the fact that her +1 scales for multiplayer goes a long way to making this playable. But despite the similar mana cost, she’s no Sun’s Champion.

Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord - There are tribal Vampire decks out there that would run this, though the most competitive ones may find it’s too slow.

Mu Yanling, Sky Dancer - As tempting as her ultimate is, it’s going to be real hard to get there, as even with Doubling Season, it takes her 3 turns to go off. But at least her tokens are real things, if she gets there.

Vivien, Arkbow Ranger - Again... I still really don’t have a clue what deck wants this, and her ultimate is a total blank for EDH. Whomp whomp.

Legendary Wedge Creatures

Can I just say, “FUCK YEAH!” These are super exciting Legendary creatures, and they were clearly designed for Commander, but some will also see play in Standard. Also, we got a bonus one with Rienne as the Buy-a-Box Promo, so I’ll add her to the mix as well.

Limited

Omnath, Locus of the Roil - Okay, hear me out. Of all the Limited themes, I think Elementals will be one of the easiest to achieve, and any deck running these colors will incidentally have some. Since he doesn’t require 3 colors on turn 3, he’s a touch easier to cast, plus Green is generally the best at splashing anyway. Even alone, he’s a threat that keeps getting bigger each time you drop a land, and if he has any buddies with him, he’s going to run away with the game. I think he’s a pretty reasonable bomb.

Kykar, Wind’s Fury - Kykar a 3/3 Flier for 4, and that’s solid in my books. You’re also likely to have enough noncreatures in your deck to get a few triggers out of this, at which point you’re way ahead.

Yarok, the Descrated - Casting Yarok shouldn’t be too hard at 5 mana, and a 3/5 Deathtouch, Lifelink will gum up the board pretty sufficiently to start getting value out of it. There are some phenomenal ETB creatures in this format, particularly in Blue, which has Cloudkin Seer, Frost Lynx, and Octoprophet, all at Common. I predict Yarok will be great in Limited.

Kaalia, Zenith Seeker - The biggest strike against Kaalia is her casting cost. It will be difficult to reliably cast her on turn 3, and even if you do, she’s not even remotely busted. Her ETB is almost entirely just flavor text in Limited, though with some Uncommon dragons in the set, it’s not inconceivable that you’ll hit value off her once in a blue moon.

Kethis, the Hidden Hand - Kethis is a big ‘ol meh in Limited. Hard to cast for a creature that’s barely above curve for Green. Honestly, I’ll pass.

Rienne, Angel of Rebirth - Lol jk. Rienne isn’t a thing. She ain’t in packs!

Constructed

Kykar, Wind’s Fury - Ooo, I bet there’s going to be some disagreement here. However, I think Kykar has the best shot of making it in Standard. Jeskai tokens is almost a thing with Saheeli & Hero of Precinct One anyway, and could really be a thing after rotation, when the main things that punish it (ahem Chainwhirler) rotate out. Though losing Heroic Reinforcements will be a big blow to the deck, so hopefully something replaces it or we get a reprint.

Kethis, the Hidden Hand - I’m reaaaally unsure about this one, but if there’s ever a Standard format that can make this work, it’s this one. This is some sort of an Abzan superfriends build, and we even have the Legendary sorceries like Urza’s Ruinous Blast to support the theme for a few months. This card has until the Fall rotation to shine, when all of Dominaria leaves, but I suspect there will be something here til then.

Kaalia, Zenith Seeker - I’m honestly not sure about this one, but there’s a chance that she’ll find a home in some sort of Angels build, which has been on the fringes since Guilds of Ravnica.

Yarok, the Descrated - Muldrotha the Gravetide decks have been chugging along as a variant of Sultai Midrange for quite some time now. The deck is going to lose the Explore package it relies on so heavily right now, but it’s possible that some form of this could resurrect with Yarok.

Rienne, Angel of Rebirth - I’m not sure what deck this could be, but it’s too powerful of an effect to ignore. If she were Mardu I’d say she’s a slam duck for the Aristocrats deck, but in Naya I’m just not sure there’s a home.

Omnath, Locus of the Roil - Elementals strike me as the next Dinos. There will almost be enough of a deck there to make it in Standard, but it will probably always be just shy of what it needs to be top tier.

Commander

Yarok, the Descrated - No questions here. Yarok is the best new general to come out of this set, hands down. It’s this set’s Muldrotha, and I’d be shocked if it isn’t the most popular Legendary creature here.

Kykar, Wind’s Fury - This one is a little less certain, but what makes me pretty convinced it’s real is the third ability. Sacrificing a Spirit to make a mana is mostly flavor text in Limited & Standard, but in EDH this has potential to fuel some pretty potent spellslinging.

Rienne, Angel of Rebirth - Rienne was pretty clearly designed for Commander, so I’m not surprised to put her here. She’s a unique twist on Naya decks and I think people will have fun brewing around her.

Kethis, the Hidden Hand - Again, super tentative about Kethis. There’s something really interesting here, and I’m getting a whiff of combo potential. I don’t know exactly what it is yet, but it involves Paradox Engine, Saffi Eriksdotter, a sac outlet, and a bunch of mana dorks. Worst case scenario, it’s an Abzan deck & therefore not hard to break.

Omnath, Locus of the Roil - People have wanted a Temur elemental deck for a long time, and now it’s here. And honestly, he’s pretty good. It’s not going to be hard to have “Landfall: Draw a Card” turned on pretty quickly in these colors. Elementals are a little on the derpy end of tribes for EDH, but I suspect it will be a fun deck to play, if not super competitive.

Kaalia, Zenith Seeker - I’d have ranked Kaalia higher if it weren’t for the fact that she’s overshadowed by, well... herself. Kaalia of the Vast is a known busted general, and the main place I see Zenith Seeker is in the 99 of that build. That said, if I were to rebuild my Kaalia deck, I’d do it with the new version, to make it a little more fun.

Cavaliers

I’ve gotta admit, I’m a sucker for cycles like this. Titans, Avatars, now Cavaliers. No matter how lame, I’m 100% down. I will say, however, that the lack of symmetry involving the Red cavalier not having a simple keyword ability (Haste? Trample? First Strike? No?!?!) is making me a little crazy. But that said, let’s see how they’re gonna do.

Limited

Cavalier of Gales - I might be crazy here, but on base stats alone, the Blue cavalier is the best by far. Its ETB isn’t quite as useful as the White one, but its shuffle effect on death is way more useful and provides some degree of inevitability for your deck. I’d always run this

Cavalier of Dawn - Being able to destroy any permanent is big game, but leaving behind a 3/3 matters more in Limited than any other format. The death trigger is rarely going to matter, but the base stats make this a monster that’s going to be hard to attack through, and the flexibility on the ETB trigger is still excellent.

Cavalier of Night - It won’t be hard to have a cheap creature to sacrifice in exchange for your opponent’s best creature, and the best part is, once this dies, you’ll get it back! That, and the Lifelink on a creature this big makes racing nigh impossible.

Cavalier of Thorns - This is the best showing the Green cavalier will have, and it has a lot to do with being a giant fucking monster with Reach. Seriously, nothing is getting through this guy. His ETB is mostly fluff, since he’s likely to be close to the top of your curve anyway. But his death trigger is reasonable for Limited. Redrawing your best card in the graveyard can be significant, so I’d still run this every time.

Cavalier of Flame - Gahhhhh why don’t you have Trample?! Or Haste?! Anyhoo... the difficult thing in Limited is you’re often only going to have a couple of cards to chuck to this, and chances are only a one or two will be lands, making the death trigger... meh. (Though it does make Evolving Wilds better.) Most of the time, it’s going to be a 6/5 with firebreathing, which is still excellent. Make no mistake, all of these are Limited bombs, so you should pick all of them when you can. But be careful, none of them are splashable.

Constructed

Cavalier of Night - Black decks in Standard will almost always have sac fodder for this, and rebuying dead creatures is a phenomenal deal. I would run this as a 1 or 2 of in Aristocrats decks, no question.

Cavalier of Dawn - There’s no doubt that the unconditional removal is fantastic, and I can definitely see this having a home in Standard. Whether there are artifacts & enchantments to buy back is another question, which is why I put the Black one first.

Cavalier of Flame - In Standard, the rummaging is even more useful than it is in Limited, and you’re more likely to be able to get value out of its death trigger. When Red decks want to pivot to midrange, I can see this as a definite sideboard inclusion.

Cavalier of Gales - This card is in a weird spot, where I predict God-Eternal Kefnet will just generally be better in all situations. Still, it’s got some potent abilities, and there’s a shot it sees some play.

Cavalier of Thorns - Yeah... I’m just not seeing it. The ETB trigger is too minimal to risk running this out only to have it killed before it gets a chance to do anything. And its death trigger is mediocre.

Commander

Cavalier of Dawn - I’d consider this a new format staple. It gets rid of any threat on the board, and this is the format where you’ll have plenty of Artifacts & Enchantments to buy back when it dies. Plus, the combo potential is off the charts, since it can go pseudo-infinite with Animate Dead and a sac outlet.

Cavalier of Night - A lot of the same goes here. Black decks will have plenty of fodder for its ETB, and there’s plenty to resurrect when it dies. One fun combo is with Pit Keeper or Cadaver Imp, both of which can return it back to your hand when it dies, then serve as sac fodder for when you recast it.

Cavalier of Flame - EDH is the primary home for this guy, as wheel effects are always in demand. Decks like Lord Windgrace in particular will enjoy this card, since they’ll be able to maximize the death trigger.

Cavalier of Gales - Brainstorm is good. And there might be flicker decks like Brago or Aminatou that will run the Cavalier just for that, though there are plenty of better options if that’s what you’re looking for. The shuffle trigger is unfortunate, and the Scry 2 on death is barely a thing in EDH, so I’m not very hopeful for this guy.

Cavalier of Thorns - Bad E-Wit is bad. I’d run E-Wit, Greenwarden of Murasa, Den Protector, Seasons Past, Regrowth, Noxious Revival, Wildest Dreams, and a whole host of other garbage before I’d run this. Why couldn’t they have made his ETB a full tutor? And why couldn’t they have not had him self-exile on death? No one knows.

Leylines

Haha psych! Yes, I titled this post “The Mythic Cycles”, but I’m going to include the Leylines & Temple Lands as well, because they’re also excellent and important. So yeah. Leylines are back! The Blue, White, & Black ones are reprints, and the Red & Green are new, all with phenomenal new art by Noah Bradley. Love seeing these, and as always, some will see extensive play, and some will see none whatsoever (I’m looking at you, Red & Green ones).

Instead of going over each one, let’s just do this lightning-round style!

Limited - Don’t play any of these. They’re all universally terrible in Limited.

Constructed - Sanctity and Void are already all-stars in Modern & sometimes even Legacy, and I could see Sanctity also making an appearance in Standard whenever Burn is good. Anticipation is completely undermined by Teferi, Time Raveler also being in the format, since he’s pretty much just better always. Abundance and Combustion will not see play in any 60 card format, as Abundance is overshadowed by Nissa, Who Dominates Standard, and Combustion is just bad.

Commander - The real news here is that Anticipation and Void are both getting much-needed reprints, as these see fairly consistent EDH play. Sanctity is mediocre in EDH, but a few enchantment heavy decks like Estrid or pillow fort Marchesa make occasional use of it. Abundance could see play in a mono-Green deck with tons of dorks, like Freyalise or Ezuri. Combustion is still bad.

Scry Temples

Oooh those are sexy. I have no shame to admit that I love these lands. They’re so elegant in design, and such perfectly evocative concepts for artists to illustrate. These new artworks are gorgeous, though they do all look like they are intended to represent Theros, and it would have been interesting to put them on a different world. That said, if we get a return to Theros with the ally-colored lands later this year, I will 1000% stop my bitching and just be happy.

As for ratings, what’s the point? 10s, 10s, 10s across the board!

Seriously though, these lands are made for Standard and will be a critical part of the format once the Checklands rotate out, and I love having these on hand for EDH as well, where they’re about the most useful of all taplands.

So that’s it. All done with the major cycles from Core Set 2020. What’d I get wrong? What’d I get right? Only time will tell, hennnny.

#MtG #core set 2020

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