The comments on each card are more relevant than the ratings alone and are designed to give you specific, actionable information about synergy pockets, sideboard dynamics, and corner cases. I'll dig in deep for cross-card synergies when it's important to the contextual value of the card. Overall format findings about tribal payoffs, strategic impact of instants, and mana curve implications will be interwoven in to the cards that exemplify them rather than as their own deep dives as I did for Ixalan (1, 2, 3).
Second Set Philosophy
In my experience, most reviews of the second sets of blocks approach the new cards as "changing" the first-set environment. Ever since the second sets became two packs instead of one, I think the better framing is that the new set defines a new environment. We should expect the format-specific nuances of Ixalan cards to potentially be entirely different, i.e. One With the Wind could very well be Spectral Flight in a format with only a single pack of Ixalan.
To whatever extent I compare cards or archetypes to triple-Ixalan examples, it's more to point to the most recent Limited format as a baseline, and less about an expectation that triple-Ixalan strategies and context will always directly translate to the Rivals of Ixalan format.
Mechanics
AscendIn a vacuum, I'm assuming that a normal deck will probably hit 10 permanents somewhere between turn 8 and 13, depending on the rate of trading creatures off and the curve of permanents versus instant/sorceries. Cards that support ramping to a faster ascension may speed this up slightly, as some cards create multiple permanents and some of the removal spells stay in play (Pacifism effects, walls). The latter also support the opponent's Ascend by leaving their creature in play, so the net Ascend value of these come from the differential of your Ascend focus against your opponent's Ascend focus.
There are 23 cards in the set with Ascend. The density of Ascend cards, the overall strong pre-ascension base rates, and the linearity of Ascend means that there should often be decks with 4+ Ascend cards and potentially a strong pull towards card and strategy synergies that support it. Probably less of "an Ascend deck" and more of a deck with a few Ascend synergy pockets and a gameplan that supports getting to a late game. These decks may often want 18 lands.
The ability is skewed very heavily towards Esper (4 White, 6 Blue, 5 Black, 2 Red {1 Rare, 1 Uncommon}, 2 Green {2 Rare}, 1 White/Blue, 1 Blue/Black, 1 Artifact, 1 Land), so the decks with meaningful Ascend pockets will likely be only within the 3 Esper color pairs.
Returning Mechanics
Enrage is on 9 cards across Naya colors, and for the first time we're seeing high-impact Enrage abilities, on each of the 4 rares/mythics as well as a high-impact uncommon trigger on Needletooth Raptor (deal 5 to a creature). Enrage enablers should be worth going out of your way for when you have the right payoffs, which was rarely true in Ixalan.
Raid is on only 5 cards, with no Black cards this time. The 3 nonrares are aggressive Blue and Red creatures, with Deadeye Rig-Hauler (3U 3/2 Raid Man-o-War) being the one that most needs timely enabling, but overall Raid should not be much of a consideration in drafting and deck construction. Blue and Red each also get an uncommon aura with pseudo-Raid.
Treasure is on 7 cards (2 Blue, 1 Black, 2 Red, 1 Blue/Red, 1 Artifact), so roughly the same density as Ixalan. With Evolving Wilds & Traveler's Amulet as multicolor common fixing, splashes in Sealed should be very common, and probably even Draft decks depending on the format speed.
Explore is only on 3 Green cards and 1 Black card, and the playable ones are only at rare. There are no explicit Explore payoffs in the set. So Lurking Chupacabra and Wildgrowth Walker now pretty bricked now most of the time, but the rares Path of Discovery (every creature explores on ETB) or Tomb Robber (discard cards to explore) could make them pretty spicy when that comes together.
Tribal synergies have been dialed up relative to Ixalan. In particular, while Ixalan had very few cards that benefited from more than a single creature of the type in play, Rivals of Ixalan has more cards that provide bigger rewards for having all of one's creatures be of the appropriate type.
Card-By-Card Ratings & Review
I'll grade each card on the standard A-F scale that Limited Resources uses, except that:- I'll also note a range of grades around the median grade, e.g. C (C- to C+), in cases where the value of a card is likely to vary significantly across different common types of decks.
- I won't give F grades to D cards pedantically. Edit: By this I mean, a bad playable is a D and not an F. LR overshoots and gives some unwarranted Fs to make a soapbox point on cards that might look decent to less experienced players, which is arguably reasonable given a broader audience.
- In fact it may very well be the pedantic Limited Resources F grades that most motivated me to embark on this writing. Well played.
Card text sourced from MTGSalvation, with some corrections; any errors are my own.
White Commons
Cleansing Ray
1W
Sorcery
Choose one -
•Destroy target Vampire.
•Destroy target enchantment.
D- / Sideboard C (C- to B-). This should be close to dead against about half of decks and thus not maindeckable, but both White and Blue have common enchantment-based removal (I'll use "Pacifism" throughout to refer to both Pacifism and Malfunction effects), which make good targets. Vampire bombs and rare enchantment bombs are great targets, but most Vampires are only decent targets. Notably, I could imagine not always siding this in against decks with just a few mediocre Vampires and 0-1 Pacifisms. Edit: Men From Modo were high on this and comfortable maindecking it (possibly in Sealed and not Draft), based on the fact that all colors except Red and Green had some good Enchantments, so it should have targets against every deck but Red/Green. There's an implicit assumption here that any deck with White or Black is likely to have multiple Vampires worth killing -- I think that's simply not true in a format that will be more tribally-focused than Ixalan. The card is also not in the C level against a deck with, say, a single Pacifism and maybe one mediocre Vampire and no other targets. I stand by D- as how I'd expect this card to perform against an average deck.
Divine Verdict
3W
Instant
Destroy target attacking or blocking creature.
C-. Would not have been great in Ixalan, and this set has better removal options, so this won't as often be a last resort. In this set, it looks like there are very few other 3-4-mana instants to "cover" this, which means you risk tempo blowouts when they play around it. I expect it to be worse than usual.
Exultant Skymarcher
1WW
Creature - Vampire Soldier
Flying
2/3
C (C- to C) Edit: C+ (C- to C+). Playable in a deck with 8 White sources but much more like a 4-drop. Solid at 10 White sources. 2/3 looks to be a medium-sized flier in this set (as compared to e.g. Ixalan where Wind Strider, Grazing Whiptail and Shining Aerosaur would trump this) and curves notably well with Sanguine Glorifier. This is your only White 3-drop at common other than Legion Conquistador, so if you aren't Conquistadoring and aren't heavy White, prioritize your other color's 3-drops. Edit: Everyone had this at C+ and they're probably simply right. There aren't actually that many 2/3 creatures and I'm increasing the relative value of all of the aggressive 2-drops the more I marinate on the set.
Legion Conquistador
2W
Creature - Vampire Soldier
When Legion Conquistador enters the battlefield, you may search your library for any number of cards named Legion Conquistador, reveal them, put them into your hand, then shuffle your library.
2/2
C (D to C+). With additional go-wide payoffs for Vampires in this set relative to Ixalan, this gets better, but a 2/2 may be slightly less likely to trade with as many other creatures than Ixalan, and there's nothing like Anointed Deacon or Pirate's Cutlass at common to trade these up. Overall I'd guess it fits a bit worse here. Note that the number of these per draft will be slightly higher than Ixalan.
Luminous Bonds
2W
Enchantment - Aura
Enchant creature
Enchanted creature can't attack or block.
B-. A return to reasonably-costed common hard removal is refreshing after Ixalan. Blue, Black, and Red also have strong hard removal options at common. Expect this to create a very different format than Ixalan. Enhancement auras notch down.
Luminous Bonds supports Ascend strategies, but also keeps your opponent's Ascend count high, so if you're not Ascending, this is a little worse than usual versus outright destroying the creature. There are no hard blowouts (flickering, maindeckable cheap enchantment removal) in this set, but Blue has a few non-blowout-rate ways to rebuy the Pacified creature. Worth noting that the presence of this card and Waterknot increase the stock of Siren's Ruse and Storm Caller in the third pack. Edit: Lords of Limited didn't put this in their Top 3 Blue commons. That just seems like fancy play syndrome to me. I get why they like the other cards, but they like the other Blue commons because of how well they fit in an (original) Ixalan-type format. The (many) commons like Waterknot is probably the biggest foundational difference between this format and Ixalan, and the presence of these commons, plus a little more Blue bounce in the format, puts the "Beard" aura-based strategy that they focused on in Ixalan very much in check.
Martyr of Dusk
1W
Creature - Vampire Soldier
When Martyr of Dusk dies, create a 1/1 white Vampire creature token with lifelink.
2/1
C. Edit: C+ (C to C+) Edit: Limited Resources and others gave this a C+ and set it as pretty clearly the best common White 2-drop, and I now believe they are right. If nothing else I should have elaborated on my low expectations, and that might have led me to realize they were a bit off. There aren't that many creatures that will prey on a 2/1 rather than a 2/2, and the 1-damage effects don't line up well against a creature that makes a token. This will trade with lots of stuff.
Moment of Triumph
W
Instant
Target creature gets +2/+2 until end of turn. You gain 2 life.
C.
Raptor Companion
1W
Creature - Dinosaur
3/1
C.
Sanguine Glorifier
3W
Creature - Vampire Cleric
When Sanguine Glorifier enters the battlefield, put a +1/+1 counter on another target Vampire you control.
3/3
C- Edit: C (C- to C+). This is your only common White 4-drop, so if you're Dinosaurs, you're looking at Knight of the Stampede in Green and Orazca Raptor in Red and may have a hole in the curve here if these aren't good in your deck. Edit: General consensus and further pondering should make this attractive in many Vampire curves, and a 3/3 is fairly big in this format.
Snubhorn Sentry
W
Creature - Dinosaur
Ascend; Snubhorn Sentry gets +3/+0 as long as you have the city's blessing.
0/3
C- (C- to C+) Edit: (D to C+). Interesting design. This looks like a solid maindeckable role-player to support other Ascend cards -- an 0/X blanking a 2/2 is better than e.g. Slash of Talons on that 2/2 if you're looking to hit 10 permanents -- or to side in when it lines up well against early offense. Edit: Limited Resources put this at D- / F. Needless to say, F is completely untenable, as any mediocre early defensive creature would be maindeckable over a 19th land, and the fact that this threatens to upgrade eventually will impact some games and give it a backup plan where the 0/3 blocker is less impactful. I also would be surprised to see this shape up at a median D-; to whatever extent that this format is Zendikar-like, this card is Kraken Hatchling-like. I'm notching down my floor range but still think this will see C- play in some decks, or maybe just end up being a decent sideboard card. While there are a lot of two-power aggressive creatures, LR is right to observe how many of the best of those two-power aggressive creatures have evasion.
Squire's Devotion
2W
Enchantment - Aura
Enchant creature; Enchanted creature gets +1/+1 and has lifelink.
When Squire's Devotion enters the battlefield, create a 1/1 white Vampire creature token with lifelink.
C- (C- to C+) Edit: C (C- to C+). Set reviews rarely consider how auras and equipment line up to various common creatures, but the depth of good targets is a key factor in the playability of the enhancement effects. So let's dig in. Among commons in this set:
- Great targets
- Soul of the Rapids (why are they printing this at common?)
- Sun-Crested Pterodon
- Good targets
- Exultant Skymarcher
- Kitesail Corsiar as a 2-3 curve against decks light on cheap removal or fliers
- Mist-Cloaked Herald
- Spire Winder
- Dusk Charger (note that Devotion powers Ascend)
- Vampire Revenant
- Hardy Veteran
- Decent targets
- Sun Sentinel as a 2-3 curve against small creature decks & when backed with some combat tricks
- Frilled Deathspitter with enablers, maybe
- Goblin Trailblazer
- Sun-Collared Raptor, sort of
- Giltgrove Stalker
I think the realistic floor is C- and it'll be there for most decks, but Soul of the Rapids in particular seems problematically good, plus there are several other good targets in a White/Blue flyer strategy, so I expect it to average out around C/C+ within that color pair. Edit: Limited Resources put this at C+ even though it rates its great targets as unplayable, and Lords of Limited were very high on this. Maybe I was a little cautious on how this fits in a normal creature. I've cautiously notched my rating up. But I do not think this is a better common than Luminous Bonds!
Sun Sentinel
1W
Creature - Human Soldier
Vigilance
2/2
C. Notable to have three White 2-drops at common. The only common 1-drop is Snubhorn Sentry, and in fact every color has exactly 1 common 1-drop, so hyper-low-curve aggressive decks won't happen often and you might not be as pushed towards playing a ton of 2-drops. This White 2-drop is probably the weakest due to lack of tribal synergy, but they do seem mostly interchangeable. Since it'll probably be common to not maindeck all of one's 2-drops, and these should swap in and out of the sideboard often.
Sun-Crested Pterodon
4W
Creature - Dinosaur
Flying
Sun-Crested Pterodon has vigilance as long as you control another Dinosaur.
2/5
C (C- to C) Edit: C- (C- to C). Waiting for another Dinosaur to be able to start pecking in damage isn't that bad for a controlling deck. For a midrange flier-based deck, there are likely to be fewer Dinosaurs in the mix, but this could still be a decent fit. Notice that it wears all of the auras very well, so that could notch it up in those decks. Edit: Limited Resources has it at D+, and I don't see that being likely to shape up right for a good blocker even as a 5-drop. The fliers in general seem well-positioned and this is the only thing that blocks them all well. Though, it doesn't block Giltgrove Stalker.
Blue Commons
Crashing Tide
2U
Sorcery
Crashing Tide has flash as long as you control a Merfolk.
Return target creature to it's owner's hand. Draw a card.
C+ (C to C+). I loooove me a Repulse, and even a Drag Down is above-average in a format with playable auras (including the Pacifisms). I think it's a C floor (sea floor) with 0 Merfolk and a C+ with a few. With enough Merfolk, it covers Hornswoggle terrifically by giving you something to do at the end of an opponent's turn where they didn't cast a creature.
Deadeye Rig-Hauler
3U
Creature - Human Pirate
Raid— When Deadeye Rig-Hauler enters the battlefield, if you attacked with a creature this turn, you may return target creature to its owner's hand.
3/2
C+ (C- to C+). Any aggressive deck should be able to make this happen. Midrange or Control decks can still keep this around a C+ if they have a decent density of evasive creatures, but a bad curve or a purely defensive deck makes this mediocre, though never truly unplayable, I suspect. This also rebuys Pacified creatures later in the game.
Kitesail Corsair
1U
Creature - Human Pirate
Kitesail Corsair has flying as long as it's attacking.
2/1
C+ (C to C+). Reverse Welkin Tern looks great in aggressive curves and with auras, and I suspect it's notably better than Welkin Tern in any deck that needs a 2-drop. Even in a slow, controlling deck that mostly needs a 2/1 to block, the ability to often poke in for 2 when there's no profitable block seems like it could add up, and many other Blue creatures are evasive by nature, meaning that there are likely other cards that will turn the corner from defense to attack at some point in the game.
Mist-Cloaked Herald
U
Creature - Merfolk Warrior
Mist-Cloaked Herald can't be blocked.
1/1
C- (D to C). A bad 23rd card in the typical deck, but could prove to be a staple in aggressive Merfolk decks. Enabling Raid seems relatively low-frequency and shouldn't justify this card. The uncommon lord Merfolk Mistbinder makes this 1-drop look a lot better, and Mist-Cloaked Herald also works well with the Green 1-drop, Jade Bearer. It wears Curious Obsession exceptionally well. So I'd say it's a C- with 1 or 2 copies of Curious Obsession / Merfolk Mistbinder / Jade Bearer, and probably a straight C if you end up with 3 or more of those cards.
Negate
1U
Instant
Counter target noncreature spell.
C (C- to C+). The return of a density of medium-cost hard removal means almost all decks will have a few tempo-positive targets, but there's not much else to do with unused mana on an opponent's turn. I think it'll be a marginal maindeckable in most decks, closer to C in controlling decks, and notching to C+ after Game 1 against appropriate bombs.
River Darter
2U
Creature - Merfolk Warrior
River Darter can't be blocked by Dinosaurs.
2/3
C-.
Sailor of Means
2U
Creature - Human Pirate
When Sailor of Means enters the battlefield, create a Treasure.
1/4
C+ (C to C+). Looks like a 1/4 blocks pretty much everything except a few green commons, and Treasure supports Ascend.
Sea Legs
U
Enchantment - Aura
Flash; Enchant creature
Enchanted creature gets +0/+2 as long as it's a Pirate. Otherwise, it gets -2/-0.
C (C to C+). This is basically a conditional -2/-0 flash aura that will occasionally upgrade to a permanent toughness boost to your own Pirate while achieving the same objective as the -2/-0 in combat. A flash +0/+2 doesn't look like it will save many Pirates from damage-based removal (Red spells deal 4). So I rate this as a split card between mediocre conditional removal (which supports Ascend) & a mediocre combat trick, which people tend to underrate, especially for a single mana. This also covers Negate when the opponent doesn't cast a Negate target. I think it's a C in a generic deck but a C+ in a controlling deck with some Ascend and a need for effective early drops. Needless to say this should move in and out of the sideboard a lot.
Secrets of the Golden City
1UU
Sorcery
Ascend. Draw two cards. If you have the city's blessing, draw three cards instead.
C- (D to C). If we define Divination as a C in a pure vacuum, then 1UU Divination is a D+/C-. One of the most important roles of Divination is drawing into a 4th land, so the risk of not being able to cast it on 3 lands is very serious. Laying some Hypergeometric realness on you, the chance of drawing at least 2 blue sources by turn 3 is:
- With 11 blue sources: 85% on the draw / 79% on the play
- With 10 blue sources: 80% on the draw / 74% on the play
- With 9 blue sources: 73% on the draw / 67% on the play
- With 8 blue sources: 66% on the draw / 59% on the play
- With 7 blue sources: 57% on the draw / 50% on the play
Soul of the Rapids
3UU
Creature - Elemental
Flying; Hexproof
3/2
C+ (C- to C+). Genuinely no idea what they're thinking with printing this. Even if it doesn't warp the environment, player perception of it is not likely to be good. They didn't even seed any nonrare ways beyond Golden Demise (Infest) to kill it. Green doesn't even have a Reach creature, and they printed straight-up Plummet instead of something that would sacrifice a Flier. So loading up on this should be a very real strategy.
With no synergy, this is mediocre but probably floors at C-; there are enough small fliers that take it down, but backed by bounce or removal, it can threaten to be a resilient win condition. I hope the ceiling is no higher than C+ with enhancement, but it's a perfect fit for Tilonalli's Crown, Squire's Devotion, Mark of the Vampire, and the uncommon Blue and Red auras. Have fun. Edit: Limited Resources gave this a D+, which is surprising. It does trade down with the few other fliers, which is why I think this will sit around C- in most decks against unknown matchups, but they didn't really consider the aura fits. I'm sticking with my grade, which is a little more nuanced than usual here, in that the average deck that happily plays this should be able to bring it to the C+ level through synergy.
Spire Winder
3U
Creature - Snake
Flying
Ascend; Spire Winder gets +1/+1 as long as you have the city's blessing.
2/3
C+ (C to C+). Better in slower decks with Ascend synergy, but any deck will get some value from the ability. Lines up well in this format, in the same way Exultant Skymarcher does. Non-attacking decks want this over the other 4-drop Blue common, Deadeye Rig-Hauler.
Sworn Gaurdian
1U
Creature - Merfolk Warrior
1/3
D+ (D to C-).
Waterknot
1UU
Enchantment - Aura
Enchant Crerature
When Waterknot enters the battlefield, tap enchanted creature. Enchanted creature doesn't untap during it's controller's untap step.
B- (C+ to B-). Double-blue is a real drawback here, but not nearly as harmful as it was on Secrets of the Golden City because this card gets cast later in the game. Still, in a deck with only 7 blue sources, it might floor at C+. All of the Pacifism caveats on Luminous Bonds apply, and this one also gets weakened by one untap effect (Cacophodon).
Black Commons
Canal Monitor
4B
Creature - Lizard
5/3
C-. This is your only common 5-drop in Black, and Vampires don't have a White common 5-drop, nor Pirates a Red or Blue common 5-drop, so prepare to let this Lizard into your heart often.
Dark Inquiry
2B
Sorcery
Target opponent reveals his or her hand. You choose a nonland card from it. That player discards that card.
C- (D to C-). There are enough bombs and tribal synergies where Coercion is a meaningful effect, but this rate may not be good enough for most decks if the format shapes up fast. In Ixalan, card values mostly ran closely together, which is probably less true here, but more true than a generic set, and that hurts this effect unless you manage to snag one of their very few high-power cards. Sideboard in as many as you can against Tetzimoc, Primal Death.
Dinosaur Hunter
1B
Creature - Human Pirate
Whenever Dinosaur Hunter deals damage to a Dinosaur, destroy that creature.
2/2
C.
Dusk Charger
3B
Creature - Horse
Ascend; Dusk Charger gets +2/+2 as long as you have the city's blessing.
3/3
C+ (C to C+) Edit: C (C- to C+). A pure Hill Giant has a lower floor, but again my instinct is even an aggressive deck will hit Ascend sometimes, and 5/5 is big. In the appropriate deck, I think I actively want these as my 4-drop. Edit: Limited Resources gave this a surprising D+. I think they might be underrating, relative to me at least: (1) the value of a 3/3 midgame blocker (2) the value of late-game upside on that card (3) the 5/5 size as a trump against almost all commons. Also, LR (not contentiously) hated the only other common Black 4-drop and the only common Black 5-drop. You gotta play something.
Dusk Legion Zealot
1B
Creature - Vampire Soldier
When Dusk Legion Zealot enters the battlefield, you draw a card and you lose 1 life.
1/1
C (C to C+). Good with Ascend, good for lining up against X/1s, good for going wide with Vampires. Specifically Pride of Conquerors and Legion Lieutenant get this to a solid C+.
Fathom Fleet Boarder
2B
Creature - Orc Pirate
When Fathom Fleet Boarder enters the battlefield, you lose 2 life unless you control another Pirate.
3/3
C.
Grasping Scoundrel
B
Creature - Human Pirate
Grasping Scoundrel gets +1/+0 as long as it's attacking.
1/1
D+ (D- to C-). Even aggressive decks that want Savannah Lions rely on its ability to block and trade up in Limited.
Gruesome Fate
2B
Sorcery
Each opponent loses 1 life for each creature you control.
F. I don't think any Vampire deck can go nearly wide enough for a conditional Lava Axe.
Impale
2BB
Sorcery
Destroy target creature.
B-. Feels like the dictionary definition of B-. Double-black matters a bit here and means your Blue/Black decks may benefit more from fixing.
Moment of Craving
1B
Instant
Target creature gets -2/-2 until end of turn. You gain 2 life.
C+ Edit: B-. This kills plenty here. Small kill spells like this fit more explicitly into your curve slots than bigger kill spells, and this will be more valuable in a deck that has a hole in its 2-drop creatures. White/Black won't have that hole. All other color pairs might. Take note: this is also your only Black combat trick. Edit: Limited Resources gave this a B- and Men From Modo & Lords of Limited were high on it too. On a second pass, I am totally on board with B- and could believe that this has at least a chance of outperforming Impale. I still think I take the first Impale before the first Moment of Craving, but probably not the second.
Recover
2B
Sorcery
Return target creature card from your graveyard to your hand.
Draw a card.
C- (D+ to C-). Bad 23rd in general, mediocre 23rd with a few bomb creatures. Ravenous Chupacabra at uncommon is a notable pairing.
Vampire Revenant
3B
Creature - Vampire Spirit
Flying
3/1
C (C- to C). Without synergy or in a more controlling deck, this is mediocre. Aim for the Dusk Charger instead.
Voracious Vampire
2B
Creature - Vampire Knight
Menace
When Voracious Vampire enters the battlefield, target Vampire you control gets +1/+1 and gains menace until end of turn.
2/2
C- (D to C-) Edit: C (D to C+). Seems quite bad if we're not attacking, as was the other Black 3-drop, Fathom Fleet Boarder. Edit: Limited Resources went C+ and I think I was too hesitant on this. It's pretty good in the right attacking deck, and the pump giving menace is probably just better than I considered. Marshall was thinking maybe B-, but I can't see that.
Red Commons
Bombard
2R
Instant
Bombard deals 4 damage to target creature.
B-. Or maybe this is the dictionary definition of B-.
Brazen Freebooter
3R
Creature - Human Pirate
When Brazen Freebooter enters the battlefield, create a Treasure.
3/3
C.
Buccaneer's Bravado
1R
Instant
Choose one —
• Target creature gets +1/+1 and gains first strike until end of turn.
• Target Pirate gets +1/+1 and gains double strike until end of turn.
C- (D to C-). The first mode is a very poor rate, but playable as a last-resort trick in a deck that wants one and has a few Pirates. There are a few Pirates with evasion where double strike will matter in a Lava Axe way, but there are no Pirates with Trample and only a few with Menace, so big combat blowouts from the double strike mode will not be common. Tilonalli's Crown is the actual combo. #SeaMurBattleRage
Fanatical Firebrand
R
Creature - Goblin Pirate
Haste
T, Sacrifice Fanatical Firebrand: It deals one damage to target creature or player.
1/1
C- (D to C-) Edit: C- (D to C). For a 1-drop, this is decent. Most decks don't want 1-drops, but this one can at least snipe some relevant X/1s: at common, Raptor Companion, Kitesail Corsair and Vampire Revenant. Floor is still likely below C- but a little Pirate synergy or an aggressive deck could get you there, and it's definitely a good sideboard consideration. Edit: Limited Resources gave a flat C, I think the upper range is definitely there.
Frilled Deathspitter
2R
Creature - Dinosaur
Enrage — Whenever Frilled Deathspitter is dealt damage, it deals 2 damage to target opponent.
3/2
C. The Enrage ability is somewhat similar to partial haste that can't be blocked, and it is a vehicle to convert Tilonalli's Crown to an even Lava Axier Lava Axe mode, especially if it can get through unblocked the first turn the Crown hits. With a few Enrage enablers, I think this cracks C.
Goblin Trailblazer
1R
Creature - Goblin Pirate
Menace
2/1
C+. Here's your Buccaneer's Bravado target.
Mutiny
R
Sorcery
Target creature an opponent controls deals damage equal to its power to another target creature that player controls.
C+. Kind of like an Edict, but still hits a more median creature on a bigger board, which is a meaningful improvement. Instead, it's dead against a single-creature board. This introduces interesting decisions on playing around this card and even in creature size choices while sideboarding. One-mana removal is strong and casting this and a 3-drop on Land 4 should often be a good tempo swing, and one that is difficult for the opponent to play around. I think it's just a C+ in most sorts of decks unless the format shapes up to have a lot more creature size disparity than I'm guessing.
Orazca Raptor
2RR
Creature - Dinosaur
3/4
C.
Shatter
1R
Instant
Destroy target artifact.
F / Sideboard D- (F to C-). No meaningful nonrare targets in this set. Even against something you'd really like to kill like a Captain's Hook or The Immortal Sun, it's going to do close to nothing else, so it will need to fit into a long-term gameplan that would be otherwise ruined by those bombs. The opponent having a Pirate's Cutlass or an Ixalan Vehicle would help a little. But this is a bad sideboard card even when it's good.
Stampeding Horncrest
4R
Creature - Dinosaur
Stampeding Horncrest has haste as long as you control another Dinosaur.
4/4
C. Haste feels like a meaningful bonus on a body this big.
Sun-Collared Raptor
1R
Creature - Dinosaur
Trample
2R: Sun-Collared Raptor gets +3/+0 until end of turn.
1/2
C- (D to C). Ember-Eye Wolf in Shadows made it to mediocre playable, but the pump rate is worse. Trample is a big improvement, though, and the Lava Axe mode it threatens should push this to mediocre playable in aggressive decks. Edit: Men From Modo gave this an implied D/D- but Limited Resources were up on it. I like my C- and it has the right in-color common synergies to be a decent playable.
Swaggering Corsair
2R
Creature - Human Pirate
Raid — Swaggering Corsair enters the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter on it if you attacked with a creature this turn.
2/2
C (C- to C).
Tilonalli's Crown
1R
Enchantment - Aura
Enchant creature
When Tilonali's Crown enters the battlefield, it deals 1 damage to enchanted creature.
Enchanted creature gets +3/+0 and has trample.
C (C- to B-). Note that this kills X/1s, so already we have modal enhancement / conditional removal, which is a flexible set of modes. Also note that this is the 3rd time in the Red commons that I'll be saying that this has a Lava Axe mode, and when the density of Lava Axes is this high, there is probably at least a Tier 2 fallback plan archetype that will make use of them and have serious reach.
Combining this with Buccaneer's Bravado makes for a double++ Lava Axe for four mana total. This can work even on a 1-toughness Pirate by casting the Bravado first. #SeaMurBattleRage.
Again, the value depends a lot on how it pairs up with creatures. Among commons:
- Great targets
- Soul of the Rapids (have fun)
- Sun-Crested Pterodon
- Good targets
- Frilled Deathspitter
- Hardy Veteran
- Overgrown Armasaur
- Spire Winder
- Exultant Skymarcher
- Decent targets
- Any midsize creature
Edit: And there are a lot of nice Uncommon pairings the more I think about it.
Still, I'd be looking to sideboard it out in many matchups where the opponent has few X/1s.
Worth noting that the rare Enrage creatures all benefit greatly from Enrage enabling, so those will make this more attractive. Edit: Limited Resources gave this a D/D+. I'm not surprised this is the biggest gap, though LR did miss the removal angle, which would have notched it up for them, and their review didn't have in scope the #SeaMurBattleRage combo or the discovery of the broader context of Red as a Lava Axe deck. I am standing by my original rating.
Green Commons
Aggressive Urge
1G
Instant
Target creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn.
Draw a card.
C- (D+ to C-). This set is after my Invasion-loving heart. A pump this small is a lot worse with modern creature sizes, but most modern limited formats have some formats where the creatures will line up in combat where +1/+1 breaks it. Ixalan, for example, had lots of small creatures, and that's still partly true here. This is a backdoor Enrage enabler if the opponent blocks it with exactsies. I wouldn't hate this as my 23rd card in any deck, and it does eventually cycle. I don't think there's any deck where this gets great, but the key will be seeing how creatures line up and siding this in or out often. Edit: Limited Resources gave this a C+, hm. I hope it proves to be, but I'm still a little skeptical that it will line up well with these creature sizes. I'm staying.
Colossal Dreadmaw
4GG
Creature - Dinosaur
Trample
6/6
C (C- to C+). Some decks won't want 6s, but most decks will take this as a C, and Knight of the Stampede is a good pairing. If you're doing that, this is the common Dinosaur you'll most want to ramp to with that.
Giltgrove Stalker
1G
Creature - Merfolk Warrior
Giltgrove Stalker can't be blocked by creatures with power 2 or less.
2/1
C (C- to C). This will sneak past a lot of creatures against some decks and be eagerly sideboarded out against others.
Hardy Veteran
1G
Creature - Human Warrior
As long as it's your turn, Hardy Veteran gets +0/+2.
2/2
C.
Hunt the Weak
3G
Sorcery
Put a +1/+1 counter on target creature you control. Then that creature fights target creature you don't control.
C+ (C to C+). The issue with Pounce in Ixalan was that Dinosaurs weren't a good Green deck in that format and that much of the other creatures had similar power and toughness. There's no reason Dinosaurs will necessarily fit badly into this format, and one +1/+1 counter makes a big difference. Savage Stomp was still good in many Merfolk decks.
I don't think there will be Green decks that wouldn't mind one copy of this, and decks with Dinosaurs will probably want a few. One very common target for this, Overgrown Armasaur, brings Enrage synergy, too. Beware Bombard, Crashing Tide, Moment of Triumph and Moment of Craving.
Jade Bearer
G
Creature - Merfolk Shaman
When Jade Bearer enters the battlefield, put a +1/+1 counter on another target Merfolk you control.
1/1
D+ (D- to C-). The rate is good when you have another Merfolk, but that means you're casting your 1/1 on a middle or later turn. I think this will still be in D+ range in the median Merfolk deck and only jump to C- in the lowest-curved ones with Mist-Cloaked Heralds and Merfolk Mistbinders.
Jadecraft Artisan
3G
Creature - Merfolk Shaman
When Jadecraft Artisan enters the battlefield, target creature gets +2/+2 until end of turn.
3/3
C (C- to C). This ability played in aggressive decks a little better than it read the last time we saw it.
Jungleborn Pioneer
2G
Creature - Merfolk Scout
When Jungleborn Pioneer enters the battlefield, create a 1/1 blue Merfolk creature token with hexproof.
2/2
C (C to C+).
Knight of the Stampede
3G
Creature - Human Knight
Dinosaur spells you cast cost 2 less to cast.
2/4
C (C- to C+). 2/4 stops the early attackers well, so this should be actively good and a foundational enabler for a high-end Dinosaur deck, which the set seems to support.
Naturalize
1G
Instant
Destroy target artifact or enchantment.
D- / Sideboard C- (D to C). Not maindeckable, but unlike Shatter, there are additional rare bombs this hits and many more incidental good targets, notably the Pacifisms. Against a deck with only 1 Pacifism and no other known targets, this would be around a D unless we needed to protect a key creature in a long game. Against 2 Pacifisms, it gets closer to D+/C-. 3 Pacifisms, I'm actively looking to bring it in. But generally I'll want a better target with a few Pacifisms or enhancement auras as a fallback before I cut a good card for it.
Orazca Frillback
2G
Creature - Dinosaur
4/2
C.
Overgrown Armasaur
3GG
Creature - Dinosaur
Enrage — Whenever Overgrown Armasaur is dealt damage, create a 1/1 green Saproling creature token.
4/4
C (C to C+).
Plummet
1G
Instant
Destroy target creature with flying.
D- / Sideboard C- (D+ to C). Very few of the bombs in this format die to Plummet. Some White/Blue decks will have enough good targets for this to hit the C level, but against a deck with just a few known decent fliers, this may not be better than the card it's replacing when it doesn't have the upside of hitting a bomb.
Colorless Commons
Gleaming Barrier
2
Artifact Creature - Wall
Defender
When Gleaming Barrier dies, create a Treasure.
0/4
C- (D- to C). This could prove deceptively strong in defensive decks. 4 toughness blocks all midsize creatures, and if an aggressive opponent spends an early pump spell to take the wall down, we get our tempo back through ramp. This is also "removal" that ramps to Ascend (see Snubhorn Sentry).
Orazca Relic
3
Artifact
T: Add C to your mana pool.
Ascend; T, Sacrifice Orazca Relic: You gain 3 life and draw a card. Activate this ability only if you have the city's blessing.
D+ (D- to C-). A mana rock replacing itself eventually is a nice feature, but a 3-mana rock is usually bad without a lot of 5+ mana cards to ramp to. That deck may or may not exist here, and this would be likely only a mediocre playable even in that deck. I don't think Ascend makes you want to play mana rocks over land, but if there's an Ascend deck that would otherwise play 18 land, 17 land + Relic may be slightly better. But, missing these should never ruin a deck.
Strider Harness
3
Artifact - Equipment
Equipped creature gets +1/+1 and has haste.
Equip 1
D+ (D to C-). Usually bad but the floor can't really be lower than D. As a bad playable, it can pull a Fires of Yavimaya impression and add additional incidental value to other combats, which is a fair amount of value for a card to potentially give, and the rate isn't that bad. I am more willing than others to play this sort of thing as my 23rd card. Edit: Limited Resources gave a D-, so, yep.
Traveler's Amulet
1
Artifact
1, Sacrifice Traveler's Amulet: Search your library for a basic land, reveal it, put it into your hand, then shuffle your library.
C- (D+ to C). The presence of a few good double-colored commons might push this towards occasionally playable in two-color decks, but it's probably still bad in most. This plus Evolving Wilds enables single-color splashes quite well, so there could be decks that want to grab one or two of these.
Evolving Wilds
Land
T, Sacrifice Evolving Wilds: Search your library for a basic land card, put it onto the battlefield tapped, then shuffle your library.
C (C- to C+). See above, but this is the better version for sure. I would play Evolving Wilds in most two-color decks with a double-color spell or two.
White Uncommons
Baffling End
1W
Enchantment
When Baffling End enters the battlefield, exile target creature an opponent controls with converted mana cost 3 or less.
When Baffling End leaves the battlefield, target opponent creates a 3/3 green Dinosaur creature token with trample.
B-. I'm not rating this differently from Silkwrap, but notable that this is a second Pacifism in White, so Cleansing Ray is likely to get sided in against you sometimes and I guess you'll slightly upgrade your opponent's creature when that happens. This is a Pacifism that helps your Ascend without helping your opponent's Ascend, for the little bit that's worth.
Blazing Hope
W
Instant
Exile target creature with power greater than or equal to your life total.
D- (D- to C-). This is prohibitively narrow. Being one mana matters very little for a card that can only be cast in the very late game (if at all). Legion's Judgment seems much, much better in most cases, for example. I don't think this card can be maindecked and I don't think it can be sided in 95+% of the time. I can imagine a few very specific situations where this could be a C- sideboard card: against the very, very big dinosaurs, and maybe in matchups where the board will be locked up and the opponent has only one good win condition that will be able to break through at all. That narrow use case may create interesting opportunities for the opponent to play around the card.
Everdawn Champion
1WW
Creature - Human Soldier
Prevent all combat damage that would be dealt to Everdawn Champion.
2/2
C+.
Famished Paladin
1W
Creature - Vampire Knight
Famished Paladin doesn't untap during your untap step.
Whenever you gain life, untap Famished Paladin.
3/3
C+ (D+ to B). Low floor, but even a few lifegain spells makes this decent, and many Vampire decks will have enough tokens where this can trigger often and give this vigilance. This is probably a C+ in the median White deck. Combo and brutal 2-3-curve with Squire's Devotion. Breaks through Waterknot in a deck with enablers.
Forerunner of the Legion
2W
Creature - Vampire Knight
When Forerunner of the Legion enters the battlefield, you may search your library for a Vampire card, reveal it, then shuffle your library and put that card on top of it.
Whenever another Vampire enters the battlefield under your control, target creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn.
2/2
C+ (C- to B-) Edit: B- (C- to B). Without targets that are well above replacement, this is pretty weak. In a deck with a lot of Vampires and somehow no worthy target, it's fine. Even a single good target bumps this up, and Anointed Deacon is definitely included, and Sanctum Seeker-level bombs could push this just barely into the B- range. Edit: Limited Resources gave it a B-/B. I'm moving up a little but not to a median B. And, yes, Vampiric Tutor is absolutely the right way to refer to this card. Also, Paladin of the Bloodstained is a sweet target because it lets you double-trigger; I forget if I heard this somewhere or if it just occurred to me.
Imperial Ceratops
4W
Creature - Dinosaur
Enrage - Whenever Imperial Ceratops is dealt damage, you gain 2 life.
3/5
C-. It's a 3/5 quasi-lifelink.
Majestic Heliopterus
3W
Creature - Dinosaur
Flying
Whenever Majestic Heliopterus attacks, another target Dinosaur you control gains flying until end of turn.
2/2
C (D+ to C). Pretty bad rate nowadays for a deck not overflowing in targets, and even in the best case scenario deck, it won't always have a big impact on the board. But, Dinosaur decks are lacking in good common 4-drops.
Pride of Conquerors
1W
Instant
Ascend; Creatures you control get +1/+1 until end of turn. If you have the city's blessing, those creatures get +2/+2 until end of turn instead.
C+ (D to B-) Edit: C (D to B-). This is somewhere in the C range for any creature-heavy deck, as even the outside possibility of the bonus gives this early-game trick some late-game legs, but this card specifically offers a lot of power to a deck with as many Vampire tokens as possible, and the card density is there. I wouldn't start off by picking it highly, but this could be the linchpin of a potent strategy. Edit: Limited Resources is on D+ and I'm notching down a little as a proper Bayesian, but I'm still optimistic on this card. Notably, I think the +1/+1 side is a solid case even if that's all it is much of the time.
Skymarcher Aspirant
W
Creature - Vampire Soldier
Ascend; Skymarcher Aspirant has flying as long as you have the city's blessing.
2/1
C (C- to C+). This is a small bonus. Half of the common fliers trump a 2/1. That being said, there aren't too many 2/3s on the ground, so a 2/1 for 1 with a little upside should be playable even in slower decks.
Blue Uncommons
Aquatic Incursion
3U
Enchantment
When Aquatic Incursion enters the battlefield, create two 1/1 blue Merfolk creature tokens with hexproof. (They can't be the target of spells or abilities your opponents control.)
3U: Target Merfolk can't be blocked this turn.
D (D- to C-). The card is very weak without bigger Merfolk to target, and Blue/Green is less likely to benefit from the boost towards ascension (no Green nonrare ascend cards). My instinct is that a card this weak can't be played to ramp to Ascend in the vast majority of decks. A lot has to go right for a deck where this is C- to come together and the ceiling doesn't go much higher. Keep an eye out for board stalls where a slow unblockable win condition is what you need, and it could notch up a bit after sideboarding.
Curious Obsession
U
Enchantment - Aura
Enchant creature
Enchanted creature gets +1/+1 and has "Whenever this creature deals combat damage to a player, you may draw a card.
At the beginning of your end step, if you didn't attack with a creature this turn, sacrifice Curious Obsession.
C- (D+ to C+) Edit: C (D+ to C+). Blue aggressive decks have good, evasive targets where the drawback is unlikely to matter, and the power bump can help a creature break through potential blockers or meaningfully increase the clock. Soul of the Rapids, Mist-Cloaked Herald, Kitesail Corsair, Spire Winder and Slippery Scoundrel (Obsession helping a lot in achieving Ascend) are all compelling in-color targets. Some of those decks will have enough targets and bounce to make this a solid playable, but I think it's around C- in a median Blue deck. There aren't any instants that tap creatures to break this, but Watertrap Weaver could do it. Edit: Limited Resources and Lords of Limited were both a lot higher on this. I think I stayed a little low at first because of a generic "weaker in non-attacking decks" heuristic, but on a second pass, there aren't going to be that many Blue non-attacking decks.
Expel From Orazca
1U
Instant
Ascend; Return target nonland permanent to its owner's hand. If you have the city's blessing, you may put that permanent on top of its owner's library instead.
C to C+.
Flood of Recollection
UU
Sorcery
Return target instant or sorcery card from your graveyard to your hand. Exile Flood of Recollection.
D (F to C-). The most notable targets are probably just Red or Black removal spells. There is enough good removal that heavy-removal decks will happen, so this could sneak in when the mana works in a Blue/Red or Blue/Black deck, but I suspect this is in the D range in 80% of Blue decks. Edit: Limited Resources gave it a pedantic F and it's clearly not.
Hornswoggle
2U
Instant
Counter target creature spell. You create a Treasure.
C (C to C+) Edit: C- (D+ to C). Exclude, but it always draws Lotus Petal. Without other Instants (e.g. Crashing Tide in a Merfolk deck) to cover it, or without a splashing or ascension reason to really want Treasure, I'm not excited about it. Edit: Limited Resources gave it a D+ and they've convinced me to move to C-. Rereading my original description, nothing really justified it at C. I think I legitimately simply biased myself by mentioning one of my favorite cards, Exclude.
Riverwise Augur
3U
Creature - Merfolk Wizard
When Riverwise Augur enters the battlefield, draw three cards, then put two cards from your hand on top of your library in any order.
2/2
C- (C- to C). The notable shuffle effects are Traveler's Amulet, Evolving Wilds, Legion Conquistador, and the Forerunners, so there is only occasional value to be had there. Otherwise, mostly a marginally better Striped Bears, which is actually an OK creature size here. Edit: Limited Resources noted that it synergizes with Explore, which is notable even with fewer Explore cards. They got it up to C+, which seems too optimistic. I'm actually still inclined to stick at C-.
Silvergill Adept
1U
Creature - Merfolk Wizard
As an additional cost to cast Silvergill Adept, reveal a Merfolk card from your hand or pay 3.
When Silvergill Adept enters the battlefield, draw a card.
2/1
C+ (D- to B-) Edit: B- (D- to B). I feel like this will be overrated. To be able to cast this on Turn 2 over 75% of the time, you need 7 other Merfolk in your deck (78%/82% play/draw). Silvergill Adept is very bad at full cost, and that makes it a bad midgame draw. Given that the best-case scenario is not gamebreaking, I think it's in the C+ range with 7 other Merfolk, a C- with 5 other Merfolk (65%/70%) and into the B- range at 10 other Merfolk (90%/93%). Edit: Limited Resources gave this a straight B, which is a pretty big gap. I believe they could be right, though I think the median deck that plays this will keep it at B-. In my analysis above, maybe 10 Merfolk is more a B than B-, or maybe 13-Merfolk decks will happen all the time. I do worry about how poor a draw it is in the midgame, especially before one hits 5 mana.
Siren Reaver
3U
Creature - Siren Pirate
Raid — Siren Reaver costs 1 less to cast if you attacked with a creature this turn.
Flying
3/2
Slippery Scoundrel
2U
Creature - Human Pirate
Ascend; As long as you have the city's blessing Slippery Scoundrel has Hexproof and can't be blocked.
2/2
C (C to C+) Edit: C- (D to C). Longshot reach in aggressive decks, and a slow delayed win condition in slower decks. Aura synergies make it great once it is turned on, but turning it on is still slow. Edit: Limited Resources gave it a D/D+ which is a little aggressively low, but my C didn't hold up on a clear-headed reread anyway. C- seems more right than D+ to me.
Black Uncommons
Arterial Flow
1BB
Sorcery
Each opponent discards two cards. If you control a Vampire, each opponent loses 2 life and you gain 2 life.
C- (C- to C). Kicking into Blightning is nice, and Mind Rot gains some value in slowing down Ascend. I would be fine maindecking this with several Vampires and 9 black sources.
Forerunner of the Coalition
2B
Creature - Human Pirate
When Forerunner of the Coalition enters the battlefield, you may search your library for a Pirate card, reveal it, then shuffle your library and put that card on top of it.
Whenever another Pirate enters the battlefield under your control, each opponent loses 1 life.
2/2
C (C- to B-). Very similar to the Vampire Forerunner, though there is nothing on the level of Anointed Deacon. In fact, there are relatively few good targets.
Golden Demise
1BB
Sorcery
Ascend; All creatures get -2/-2 until end of turn. If you have the city's blessing, instead only creatures your opponents control get -2/-2 until end of turn.
B+ (B- to B+). Infest hits a lot of creatures in this format and can be completely ruinous to the smaller tribes, and being able to decline creature trades to build towards making it one-sided is very powerful. The Ascend is enough for me to maindeck it even in small creature decks. Edit: Limited Resources gave this a C+, which I can't get behind. I think this will enable archetypes (e.g. this could prove a push towards Green/Black creatures that survive this, or be one of the few big swings for building towards Ascend) and will just play great as Infest in a format of aggressive 2-drops. Vampire decks run a lot of risk of killing their own creatures, but Black has a good amount of 3+ toughness creatures.
Mausoleum Harpy
4B
Creature - Harpy
Flying
Ascend; Whenever another creature you control dies, if you have the city's blessing, put a +1/+1 counter on Mausoleum Harpy.
3/3
C.
Oathsworn Vampire
1B
Creature - Vampire Knight
Oathsworn Vampire enters the battlefield tapped.
You may cast Oathsworn Vampire from your graveyard if you gained life this turn.
2/2
B- (C- to B). There should be enough lifegain to get value here, and a deck with multiple Vampire lifelinkers should be able to navigate to games where this can be cast multiple times. C- with zero lifegain but even a few sources should push it to C/C+ as a 2/2 body is worth a fair amount in this format. In the more dedicated decks, the lifegain also gives you the time to recur and trade this off for value.
Pitiless Plunderer
3B
Creature - Human Pirate
Whenever another creature you control dies, create a Treasure.
1/4
C- (D+ to C-). Seems like mostly a bad Sailor of Means. No sacrifice outlets in the set (relevant to this card and the two previous cards). Helps maintain permanent count for Ascend.
Ravenous Chupacabra
2BB
Creature - Beast Horror
When Ravenous Chupacabra enters the battlefield, destroy target creature an opponent controls.
2/2
B+. Strictly better than Impale, recurs with Recover or Blue bounce spells. Edit: Limited Resources is a flat A. I could see A-.
Reaver Ambush
2B
Instant
Exile target creature with power 3 or less.
B-. Playtest name = REALLY Vanquish the Weak?
Sadistic Skymarcher
2B
Creature - Vampire Soldier
As an additional cost to cast Sadistic Skymarcher, reveal a Vampire card from your hand or pay 1.
Flying, lifelink
2/2
B- (C to B-). Unlike Silvergill Adept, the base rate is fine here. Edit: Men From Modo were down on this, and I'm not really sure why. If unopposed, this should perform well in most of the races in this format, and it'll often enough be unopposed. Dropping it for 3 mana is really good.
Red Uncommons
Charging Tuskodon
3RR
Creature - Dinosaur
Trample
If Charging Tuskodon would deal combat damage to a player, it deals double that damage to that player instead.
4/4
B-. This can hit hard and combine with other Red reach effects to turn a game around. You can probably get people by using instant-speed removal on their single blocker.
Daring Buccaneer
R
Creature - Human Pirate
As an additional cost to cast Daring Buccaneer, reveal a Pirate card from your hand or pay 2.
2/2
C- (D+ to C). Less unacceptable than Silvergill at full price, but the best-case scenario of a one-mana difference on a Grizzly Bear is a very low ceiling. C- for 7 other Pirates (72%/78%), C for 10 other Pirates (85%/89%). Edit: Limited Resources is on C+. They seem to be favoring a 2/2 a lot higher than a 2/1, among the one-drops, based on other reviews. I'm not sure how that will sort out.
Forerunner of the Empire
3R
Creature - Human Soldier
When Forerunner of the Empire enters the battlefield, you may search your library for a Dinosaur card, reveal it, then shuffle your library and put that card on top of it.
Whenever a Dinosaur enters the battlefield under your control, you may have Forerunner of the Empire deal 1 damage to each creature.
1/3
C+ (D to B). Without a good target or multiple Enrage creatures, the stats here are not good enough to maindeck, though it should still be a strong sideboard card against X/1s. Green offers Overgorwn Armasaur and Colossal Dreadmaw at common, which are unexciting but playable targets that could get this to C-/C with a few other Enrage synergies. Needletooth Raptor at uncommon is a powerful target and makes the Forerunner a C+ on its own, and even further with more Enrage synergy. With multiple Needletooth Raptors, or some of the rare bomb Enrage Dinosaurs, of which there are many, this card perhaps could go as high as a B.
Needletooth Raptor
3R
Creature - Dinosaur
Enrage - Whenever Needletooth Raptor is dealt damage, it deals 5 damage to target creature an opponent controls.
2/2
B (C to A-). C with absolutely no enablers, which would be hard to do, and this should be B in the median red deck. This helps Fanatical Firebrand a lot and definitely Tilonalli's Crown. Enough of these and the ceiling is realistically in the A range.
Pirate's Pillage
3R
Sorcery
As an additional cost to cast Pirate's Pillage, discard a card.
Draw two cards and create two Treasures.
C- (D+ to C-). With a few high-impact 5+ drops, this could make the cut. Ramping while simultaneously digging to big creatures may be better than it looks.
Reckless Rage
R
Instant
Reckless Rage deals 4 damage to target creature you don't control and 2 damage to target creature you control.
B (B- to B+). With literally zero creatures that survive 2 damage, this is still a usable removal spell since it's only 1 mana, and every deck will have at least a few creatures that survive it. Most decks will have many, and the tempo gain here is great and not requiring too much setup. A few of the higher-rarity Enrage payoffs push this into overdrive.
See Red
1R
Enchantment - Aura
Enchanted creature gets +2/+1 and has first strike.
At the beginning of your end step, if you didn't attack with a creature this turn, sacrifice See Red.
C- (D+ to C+). Compare to Maniacal Rage; +2/+1 first strike is quite a bit better than +2/+2, and here the option of attacking with a different creature to hold back an impenetrable first-striking blocker is powerful. This is actually perhaps among the biggest "Raid" payoffs in the set to unlock that line in a deck with evasive creatures. And playing it as a better Maniacal Rage is a good fallback. Sun-Collared Raptor is a nice common target, Goblin Trailblazer is a solid one, any 1-drop curve hits pretty hard, and Charging Tuskodon is an exciting one at uncommon. It has some antisynergy with Enrage creatures. I think most Red decks will be fine playing this.
Shake the Foundations
2R
Instant
Shake the Foundations deals 1 damage to each creature without flying.
Draw a card.
C (C- to C+). Maindeckable as long as it doesn't kill too many of your own creatures, perhaps mostly for the upside against Vampire decks and engineered combat blowouts, and less for the lower-value Enrage triggers. With good Enrage synergy, I'd be happy to have one.
Storm Fleet Swashbuckler
1R
Creature - Human Pirate
Ascend; Storm Fleet Swashbuckler has double strike as long as you have the city's blessing.
2/2
C+ (C to C+). Great Tilonalli's Crown target once it's on.
Green Uncommons
Cacophodon
3G
Creature - Dinosaur
Enrage — Whenever Cacophodon is dealt damage, untap target permanent.
2/5
C-. This heals Waterknot and Famished Paladin and might generate some mana occasionally.
Cherished Hatchling
1G
Creature - Dinosaur
When Cherished Hatchling dies, you may cast Dinosaur spells this turn as though they had flash, and whenever you cast a Dinosaur spell this turn, it gains "When this creature enters the battlefield, you may have it fight another target creature."
2/1
C (C- to C+). With no sacrifice outlets, it may sometimes be tough to get this to die when you want it to. Even without a lot of big Dinosaurs, it could have interesting bluffing possibilities. The ceiling feels low overall relative to the setup. Edit: Limited Resources gave this a C-/D. It could definitely be a C-, but clearly not a D.
Crested Herdcaller
3GG
Creature - Dinosaur
Trample
When Crested Herdcaller enters the battlefield, create a 3/3 green Dinosaur creature token with trample.
3/3
B-. Compares to Bestial Menace.
Enter the Unknown
G
Sorcery
Target creature you control explores. (Reveal the top card of your library. Put that card into your hand if it's a land. Otherwise, put a +1/+1 counter on this creature, then put the card back or put it into your graveyard.)
You may play an additional land this turn.
F. To do my diligence on the F: 40% of the time it's a land that costs G and doesn't use your land drop, but you have to have a creature in play. This is good for perhaps turns 3-5. 60% of the time it's a Sorcery-speed Battlegrowth with Scry 1, which is occasionally good if it enables an attack, also probably in the midgame, and maybe playing an extra land from your hand. So the window of getting an acceptable rate is whatever percentage of turns 3-5 the +1/+1 counter would enable a good creature matchup, then it drops off hard. Edit: Limited Resources gave this a D and I am genuinely shocked that I gave something an F that they didn't. I think their analysis was flawed. They felt the 40% case of, essentially, G: put a land into play from your deck untapped, pulled this up to something they'd be OK playing occasionally. I think the 60% case is too weak and that they didn't properly account for the 40% case only being playable after one controls a creature.
Forerunner of the Heralds
3G
Creature - Merfolk Scout
When Forerunner of the Heralds enters the battlefield, you may search your library for a Merfolk card, reveal it, then shuffle your library and put that card on top of it.
Whenever another Merfolk enters the battlefield under your control, put a +1/+1 counter on Forerunner of the Heralds.
Strength of the Pack
4GG
Sorcery
Put two +1/+1 counters on each creature you control.
B-. The rate seems fair, but the effect is big. Green has some token generation and a creature-based format is more likely to have board states that get broken by permanent Anthem effects like this, especially when players are avoiding trades for ascension purposes.
Swift Warden
1GG
Creature - Merfolk Warrior
Flash
When Swift Warden enters the battlefield, target Merfolk you control gains hexproof until end of turn.
3/3
Thrashing Brontodon
1GG
Creature - Dinosaur
1, Sacrificing Thrashing Brontodon: Destroy target artifact or enchantment.
3/4
B-.
Thunderherd Migration
1G
Sorcery
As an additional cost to cast Thunderherd Migration, reveal a Dinosaur card from your hand or pay 1.
Search your library for a basic land card, put it onto the battlefield tapped, then shuffle your library.
C (D+ to C+). The 3-mana case is not a disaster in a deck that wants to ramp, and 7 Dinosaurs makes it a reliable 2-drop (78%/82%). The ceiling still feels low on an unreliable Rampant Growth, but a deck with 10 Dinosaurs (89%/93%) that really wants to ramp, it could be a C+.
Multicolored Uncommons
Atzocan Seer
1GW
Creature - Human Druid
T: Add one mana of any color to your manan pool.
Sacrifice Atzocan Seer: Return target Dinosaur card from your graveyard to your hand.
2/3
C+ (C to B-) Edit: B- (C+ to B). Unexciting in most decks and probably not a pull to the color pair, but lends additional support to 3-color along with the common fixing and plays nice with a few powerful high-drop Dinosaurs. Edit: Limited Resources gave this a B and convinced me it's more of a pull to the color pair. I think I underrated the value of late-game conversion to a big creature stapled to a mana creature.
Deadeye Brawler
2UB
Creature - Human Pirate
Deathtouch
Ascend; Whenever Deadeye Brawler deals combat damage to a player, if you have the city's blessing, draw a card.
2/4
B- (C+ to B). 2/4 Deathtouch alone seems to line up well, and the Ascend payoff is worth the effort as it's hard to trade profitably with the Brawler in combat.
Dire Fleet Neckbreaker
2BR
Creature - Orc Pirate
Attacking Pirates you control get +2/+0.
3/2
B- (C+ to B). This is a lot of immediate damage in a Pirate beatdown deck. Edit: Limited Resources gave it a C+ and I stand by my B- with a B ceiling, mostly on the back of the speed/reach that I think will play well with the rest of Red. This card also wears a Crown well.
Jungle Creeper
1BG
Creature - Elemental
3BG: Return Jungle Creeper from your graveyard to your hand.
3/3
B-. 3/3 is a meaningful creature size point, so this could trade with a lot of good cards. The other Black and Green 3-drops are mediocre in non-tribal decks.
Legion Lieutenant
WB
Creature - Vampire Knight
Other Vampires you control get +1/+1.
2/2
B (C+ to B+). The Vampire lord that Ixalan wished it had. With the Vampire token density in this set, the Lieutenant should do a lot of work and be a strong pull to the archetype.
Merfolk Mistbinder
GU
Creature - Merfolk Shaman
Other Merfolk you control get +1/+1.
2/2
B (C+ to B). Similar but with slightly less token support and no lifelink-based payoff.
Raging Regisaur
2RG
Creature - Dinosaur
Whenever Raging Regisaur attacks, it deals 1 damage to target creature or player.
4/4
B (B- to B+). Strong on natural rate and another powerful Enrage enabler. Edit: Limited Resources is a B+ and they're probably right. Everything about this card lines up great.
Relentless Raptor
RW
Creature - Dinosaur
Vigilance
Relentless Raptor attacks or blocks each combat if able.
3/3
B- (B- to B). This is probably just good on its own, with few creatures big enough to trump it, and it wears auras well.
Resplendent Griffin
1WU
Creature - Griffin
Flying
Ascend; Whenever Resplendent Griffin attacks, if you have the city's blessing, put a +1/+1 counter on it.
2/2
C+ (C+ to B-). 2/2 is a little small in the air and trades down more than it trades up. Edit: Limited Resources gave a C- which felt exaggerated. Overall I am more optimistic than them on Ascend overall.
Storm Fleet Sprinter
1UR
Creature - Human Pirate
Haste
Storm Fleet Sprinter can't be blocked.
2/2
B- Edit: B. Wears auras and hits pretty hard on its own. Could end a game quickly with Red reach. The aggressive 3-drop slot is a slight hole for both Blue and Red, so this is a little more important. Edit: Limited Resources gave it a flat B and they're just right. I think Blue/Red lines up well as an aggressive deck. Also... this wears a Crown.
1UR
Creature - Human Pirate
Haste
Storm Fleet Sprinter can't be blocked.
2/2
B- Edit: B. Wears auras and hits pretty hard on its own. Could end a game quickly with Red reach. The aggressive 3-drop slot is a slight hole for both Blue and Red, so this is a little more important. Edit: Limited Resources gave it a flat B and they're just right. I think Blue/Red lines up well as an aggressive deck. Also... this wears a Crown.
Colorless Uncommons
Enemy Taplands (Forsaken Sanctuary, Foul Orchard, Highland Lake, Stone Quarry, Woodland Stream)
C+. These should, as always, be welcome draft picks in decks that use both colors. There are a few double-color spells that should make these even more welcome. With the common mana fixing, helps support splashes; many draft decks will end up with a little Treasure, 1 Evolving Wilds and 1 late-pick off-color tapland and can keep an eye out for a cheap splash.
White Rares
Bishop of Binding
3W
Creature - Vampire Cleric
When Bishop of Binding enters the battlefield, exile target creature an opponent controls until Bishop of Binding leaves the battlefield.
Whenever Bishop of Binding attacks, target Vampire gets +X/+X until end of turn, where X is the power of the exiled card.
1/1
B-. Probably just worse than a normal Fairgrounds Warden due to its fragility. Unexpected winner over Vampire's Zeal of the LeastRelevant Vampire Tribal Bonus award of the block.
Paladin of Atonement
1W
Creature - Vampire Knight
At the beginning of each upkeep, if you lost life last turn, put a +1/+1 counter on Paladin of Atonement.
When Paladin of Atonement dies, you gain life equal to its toughness.
1/1
C+. This is OK once it's grown once, which it will do quickly most of the time if played early, and good after it's grown twice and can keep gaining value. It's weaker later in the game, but all 2-drops are.
Radiant Destiny
2W
Enchantment
Ascend; As Radiant Destiny enters the battlefield, choose a creature type. Creatures you control of the chosen type get +1/+1. As long as you have the city's blessing, they also have vigilance.
B (C- to B+). The least tribally-focused decks or controlling decks don't want this, but it should be good in most aggressive decks and great especially in a focused Vampire deck. Check your creature types during deckbuilding, as you'll sometimes want to pick Soldier.
Slaughter the Strong
1WW
Sorcery
Each player chooses any number of creatures he or she controls with total power 4 or less, then sacrifices all other creatures he or she controls.
C+ (C to B-). I misread this multiple times as "Destroy all 5+ power creatures", and it's not that, so, read it. I think I'd always maindeck this and expect to find opportunities to make favorable trades before casting it. It guides deckbuilding decisions, too, as if you can keep an Exultant Skymarcher and a Sun-Crested Pterodon, those will beat whatever your opponent keeps. 0-power walls are nice with it, especially properly-timed Snubhorn Sentry. Seems doable.
Sphinx's Decree
1W
Sorcery
Each opponent can't cast instant or sorcery spells during that player's next turn.
F.
Temple Altisaur
4W
Creature - Dinosaur
If a source would deal damage to another Dinosaur you control, prevent all but 1 of that damage.
3/4
C+ (C- to B). I misread this one at first, too; it's not Lymph Sliver, it's borderline indestructibility in most cases. This makes, e.g., 4/2 Dinosaurs almost as good as 4/4 Dinosaurs.
Zetalpa, Primal Dawn
6WW
Legendary Creature - Elder Dinosaur
Flying, double strike, vigilance, trample, indestructible
4/8
C- (D to C+). 8 is a lofty ramp target, especially with fewer Treasures in this format, but Knight of the Stampede can help get there. Two copies of that would make me happy to run this. Beyond that, there may be some slower matchups where it could come out of the sideboard.
Blue Rares
Admiral's Order
1UU
Instant
Raid — If you attacked with a creature this turn, you may pay U rather than pay this spell's mana cost.
Counter target spell.
C-. This will just be Cancel so often, yet its existence could lead to extra very narrow decision points around timing of Instants.
Crafty Cutpurse
3U
Creature - Human Pirate
Flash
When Crafty Cutpurse enters the battlefield, each token that would be created under an opponent's control this turn is created your control instead.
2/2
D. 99+% unplayable. This has no prospects for stealing anything worthy of its cost, with the following theoretical exceptions: Crested Herdcaller (maybe), Tilonalli's Summoner (kind of), Brass' Bounty (dubious), Golden Guardian (good luck), Rekindling Phoenix (maybe), Polyraptor (maybe... you know you want to), Elenda the Dusk Rose (maybe). If you somehow play against a deck with 2 or more maybes, enjoy a fun D+ sideboard card. From Ixalan, it actually hits Queen's Commission & Call to the Feast pretty hard, and maybe Raptor Hatchling.
Induced Amnesia
2U
Enchantment
When Induced Amnesia enters the battlefield, target player exiles all the cards in his or her hand face down, then draws that many cards.
When Induced Amnesia is put into a graveyard from the battlefield, return the exiled cards to their owner's hand.
D-. There's no reasonable incidental way to blow up the enchantment to get value.
Kumena's Awakening
2UU
Enchantment
Ascend (If you control ten or more permenants, you get the city's blessing for the rest of the game.)
At the beginning of your upkeep, each player draws a card. If you have the city's blessing, instead only you draw a card.
C+ (C- to B-). It fuels its own Ascend, so it shouldn't grant the opponent too many of the total cards it draws in a longer game. I want this in Esper decks with other Ascend cards, and I think it's a bad playable in any deck.
Nezahal, Primal Tide
5UU
Legendary Creature - Elder Dinosaur
Nezahal, Primal Tide can't be countered.
You have no maximum hand size.
Whenever an opponent casts a noncreature spell, draw a card.
Discard three cards: Exile Nezahal. Return it to the battlefield tapped under its owner's control at the beginning of the next end step.
7/7
C- (D to C). It's big and its abilities help protect it and can draw you a few cards, so it seems like an OK finisher for control decks.
Release to the Wind
2U
Instant
Exile target nonland permanent. For as long as that card remains exiled, its owner may cast it without paying its mana cost.
D-. Maybe I'm missing something, but it seems like just a flicker effect for 3 mana. I suppose this gets into bad playable territory after sideboard against enough enchantments and Dinosaur tokens.
Seafloor Oracle
2UU
Creature - Merfolk Wizard
Whenever a Merfolk you controls deals combat damage to a player, draw a card.
2/3
B (C- to B+). Pretty big Merfolk payoff and the final member and leader of the synergy parade that could make Mist-Cloaked Herald strong. Adds value to Giltgrove Stalker, too. Other than that, compared to Ixalan, it seems harder to get Rivals of Ixalan Merfolk through, so you'll want to prioritize River Sneak, One With The Wind, Shaper Apprentice, Storm Sculptor, Watertrap Weaver and Wind Strider in pack 3. This meanas you won't get bomb-level action from a Seafloor Oracle if you're cut from the right, so don't force it in that situation.
Black Rares
Champion of Dusk
3BB
Creature - Vampire Knight
When Champion of Dusk enters the battlefield, you draw X cards and you lose X life, where X is the number of Vampires you control.
4/4
B+ (C+ to A-). Good on its own, great with a few Vampires, and should crack into A territory in a dedicated deck and strongly pull towards prioritizing Vampires.
Dead Man's Chest
1B
Enchantment - Aura
Enchant creature an opponent controls
When enchanted creature dies, exile cards equal to its power from the top of its owner's library. You may cast nonland cards from among them as long as they remain exiled, and you may spend mana as though it were mana of any type to cast those spells.
D- / Sideboard D+. 99% unplayable. Closest comparison is Fruit of the First Tree, except you lose 40% of the cards you draw (lands), don't gain life, and can't cast it on your own creature. This does too close to nothing on a creature with 3 power or less. Worst case scenario is that you don't have removal and can't threaten to trade with the creature profitably on-board, in which case this does nothing for a while. Medium case is it effectively Pacifisms a creature that you can trade with until you draw removal to crack the piñata. Best case is you have removal for the creature right away. This is bad, but could replace another bad card after sideboarding in a removal-heavy deck against high-power creatures 1% of the time. Edit: I'm mostly joking, but if you can kill the enchanted creature with the ping from Tilonalli's Crown...
Dire Fleet Poisoner
1B
Creature - Human Pirate
Flash
Deathtouch
When Dire Fleet Poisoner enters the battlefield, target attacking Pirate you control gets +1/+1 and gains deathtouch until end of turn.
2/2
B (C+ to B+). 2/2 Ambush Viper alone is a C+ and every deck will have at least a few targets. The attack bonus plays two modes that cover all the bases well, as a +1/+1 surprise pump (in a color with no real combat tricks) will swing many combats against small creatures and the deathtouch takedown while adding another deathtoucher to the board will be a high-tempo ~1.5-card swing against big creatures.
Mastermind's Acquisition
2BB
Sorcery
Choose one —
• Search your library for a card, put it into your hand, then shuffle your library.
• Choose a card you own from outside the game and put it into your hand.
C- (D+ to C+). Diabolic Tutor gets most of its value from having a game-swinging tempo-recovering bomb to search up. There are a few. You're about to meet one. Golden Demise is another compelling target at uncommon in slow/wide matchups but the average performance of this card should still be mediocre. Being able to pull from the sideboard is interesting and the best use there seems like getting an expensive creature, e.g. having a Zetalpa, Primal Dawn in my pool makes me pretty happy to run the Acquisition as long as I have a few other reasonable options. Another value-adding wish targets are cheap and narrow unmaindeckables like Blazing Hope, Cleansing Ray, Shatter, Naturalize, Blood Sun, and maybe stuff like Recover. This could end up with a lot of options in the right pool, but I still suspect this peaks at C+ and settles around C- in the average pool.
Tetzimoc, Primal Death
4BB
Legendary Creature - Elder Dinosaur
Deathtouch
B, Reveal Tetzimoc, Primal Death from your hand: Put a prey counter on target creature. Activate this ability only during your turn.
When Tetzimoc, Primal Death enters the battlefield, destroy each creature your opponents control with a prey counter on it.
6/6
A+. Well, can't imagine beating this one too often. Don't skimp on the black sources when you have one.
Against one, all you can do is bring in all of your counterspells and Dark Inquiries. The good news is that these work really well since the play pattern with Tetzimoc will almost always give you a warning, and the Tetzimoc player will have trouble playing around a counterspell after they've already spent tempo spreading counters. This is a case where counterspells and Dark Inquiries really should not be wasted on other cards. And oh, wow, we've found the sideboard use for Tocatli Honor Guard, haven't we.
Tomb Robber
2B
Creature - Human Pirate
Menace
1, Discard a card: Tomb Robber explores. (Reveal the top card of your library. Put that card into your hand if it's a land. Otherwise, put a +1/+1 counter on this creature, then put the card back or put it into your graveyard.)
1/1
C (C- to B-). When you don't want lands, you can convert extra cards in hand to a +1/+1 counter and scrying nonlands to the top, as long as you have enough mana to cycle through the lands. But then you're in a state where you're drawing dead cards (lands) less often, so the rate of growth here is not going to be that fast. When you want lands, this is a way to find them a little faster, but investing cards and tempo into a small creature while doing so is a tough spot when you're hurting on lands. You could dump your hand to this and then Buccaneer's Bravado it. Wildgrowth Walker or Lurking Chupacabra are legit best buds. I think it takes some of this synergy to make me want this, though I suspect it's always at least mediocre.
Vona's Hunger
2B
Instant
Ascend; Each opponent sacrifices a creature. If you have the city's blessing, instead each opponent sacrifices half the creatures he or she controls rounded up.
B- (C+ to B+). The bonus mitigates a lot of the late-game Edict downside, and it can be a big payoff even in decks where it won't happen often, so I want this even in a low-curve deck with no Ascend support. I think I p1p1 it over Impale today, but could easily be wrong.
Red Rares
Blood Sun
2R
Enchantment
When Blood Sun enters the battlefield, draw a card.
All lands lose all abilities except mana abilities.
Sideboard C. This stops only the following things, in approximate order of relevance: Evolving Wilds, Golden Guardian's backside, Conqueror's Galleons' backside, Legion's Landing's backside, Thaumatic Compass' backside, Journey to Eternity's backside, Arch of Orazca, Profane Processions' backside, Hadana's Climb's backside, Search for Azcanta's backside, Vance's Blasting Cannon's backside, Path of Mettle's backside, Arguel's Blood Fast's backside, and technically part of Field of Ruin.
Evolving Wilds is a pretty solid hit, and the first few rares are ones that can dominate a game. If I have 0 Evolving Wilds or can side them out with minimal loss to my deck, this is a sideboard card somewhere in the C level against a deck with one of the first few rare bombs that is likely to otherwise dominate the matchup and/or a few Evolving Wilds.
Brass's Bounty
6R
Sorcery
For each land you control, create a Treasure.
D (D- to C). 95% unplayable. There are even fewer mana sinks in this set than Ixalan. Very few reasons to ever want this: Revel in Riches >> Zacama, Primal Calamity > Azor, the Lawbringer >> Deadeye Plunderers > Tilonalli's Summoner >> Captain Lannery Storm. If Revel is somehow decent otherwise in the deck, this seems playable, and maybe it's a C- with Zacama?
Dire Fleet Daredevil
1R
Creature - Human Pirate
First strike
When Dire Fleet Daredevil enters the battlefield, exile target instant or sorcery card from an opponent's graveyard. You may cast that card this turn, and you may spend mana as though it were mana of any type to cast that spell. If that card would be put into a graveyard this turn, exile it instead.
B. Kind of lines up great on Turn 2 in this format and should get good value against most decks later. I think I want this p1p1 this over Bombard.
Etali, Primal Storm
4RR
Legendary Creature - Elder Dinosaur
Whenever Etali, Primal Storm attacks, exile the top card of each player's library, then you may cast any number of nonland cards exiled this way without paying their mana costs.
6/6
B+.
Form of the Dinosaur
4RR
Enchantment
When Form of the Dinosaur enters the battlefield, your life total becomes 15.
At the beginning of your upkeep, Form of the Dinosaur deals 15 damage to target creature an opponent controls and that creature deals damage equal to its power to you.
A. Gaining a bunch of life and then getting to Visara things down is pretty busted. You'll still die sometimes without a reasonable starting board, but as long as you have some defense for the first few Form turns and can then pivot to aggression before the one-shot unblockability this gives to the opponent's creatures kills you, this should turn around the vast majority of games it hits the board.
Silverclad Ferocidons
5RR
Creature - Dinosaur
Enrage — Whenever Steelclad Ferocidons is dealt damage, each opponent sacrifices a permanent.
8/5
C (C- to C+). The Enrage trigger doesn't seem like a big pull towards enablers, but Tilonalli's Crown on this is a great fit. A few of those and some Knights of the Stampede and this is a solid high-end.
Tilonalli's Summoner
1R
Creature - Human Shaman
Ascend; Whenever Tilonalli's Summoner attacks, you may pay XR. If you do, create X 1/1 Elemental creature tokens that are tapped and attacking. At the beginning of the next end step, exile those tokens unless you have the city's blessing.
1/1
B (C+ to B+). In a deck that has other Ascend cards (which will largely come from non-red colors), this is one of the uniquely fast ways to bridge there in the midgame. With no other Ascend cards, making 4 tokens will always lock them in and is about the minimum payoff you'd want anyway assuming the Summoner dies. That's a pretty strong rate, plus the late-game upside, and potential absurdity in the few cases where this survives combat: no creatures on the opponent's side, Bombard etc. post-blocks (takeaway: often double-block this), Sheltering Light, Sure Strike, Dive Down (definitely worth looking for these, and possibly worth bluffing against good opponents, but, they're probably forced to block anyway). Even in the purest defensive deck, this looks like a good enough rate to want, and in a deck with other Ascend or go-wide synergies, this looks excellent.
Green Rares
Deeproot Elite
1G
Creature - Merfolk Warrior
Whenever another Merfolk enters the battlefield under your control, put a +1/+1 counter on target Merfolk you control.
1/1
B- (C- to B). Solid with several Merfolk and probably peaks around B in a dedicated deck. This makes the weak Merfolk token cards a lot more attractive, potentially even Deeproot Waters.
Ghalta, Primal Hunger
10GG
Legendary Creature - Elder Dinosaur
Ghalta, Primal Hunger costs X less to cast, where X is the total power of creatures you control.
Trample
12/12
B- (C+ to B+). It seems like a normal deck should be able to usually push for game states where this becomes castable by turn ~8-9, and it's big enough that it's worth the risk. In a deck with other high-power creatures, this could reliably come out a few turns faster and could be a near-bomb, but enough of the common removal shuts it down where I don't think it can crack the A range. This makes me want Orazca Frillbacks and of course Knights of the Stampede.
Jadelight Ranger
1GG
Creature - Merfolk Scout
When Jadelight Ranger enters the battlefield it explores, then it explores again. (Reveal the top card of your library. Put that card into your hand if it's a land. Otherwise, put a +1/+1 counter on this creature, then put the card back or put it into your graveyard. Then repeat this process.)
2/1
B.
Path of Discovery
3G
Enchantment
Whenever a creature enters the battlefield under your control, it explores.
B (B- to B+). I think this is good to great in any Green deck. Adding a counter to each new creature or drawing a card, always while digging to more creatures, is powerful and well worth four mana. It adds value to all token cards and makes Wildgrowth Walker and Lurking Chupacabra
Tendershoot Dryad
4G
Creature - Dryad
At the beginning of each upkeep, create a 1/1 green Saproling creature token.
Ascend; Saprolings you control get +2/+2 as long as you have the city's blessing.
2/2
A-. This completely runs away with the game if not dealt with, and Pacifisms won't do it, so it will play at A level against some decks. Since the Saprolings shrink back down if it's killed, there's a window of a few turns before it totally ends the game. This Ascends almost entirely on its own in enough time, so the play pattern leading up to casting it should skew strongly towards drawing out removal.
Wayward Swordtooth
2G
Creature - Dinosaur
You may play an additional land on each of your turns.
Ascend; Wayward Sawtooth can't attack or block unless you have the city's blessing.
5/5
C. Durkwood Baloth-ish, kind of like a 6-ish-mana 5/5 that you can preplay if you have nothing better to do, but slowrolling the card might be worth it to not signal your need to not trade your creatures. Green has few ways to enable Ascend quickly. It can Hunt the Weak while it's hanging around, which is something. In Limited, getting value from an additional land play is unlikely on Turn 3 and then quickly drops off to exceptionally unlikely. I think it will average out to about a Colossapede in most Green decks.
World Shaper
3G
Creature - Merfolk Shaman
Whenever World Shaper attacks, you may put the top three cards of your library into your graveyard.
When World Shaper dies, put all land cards from your graveyard onto the battlefield tapped.
3/3
C. Getting a few lands is a small bonus relevant mostly to ramp decks. Self-mill doesn't seem to do much beyond Jungle Creeper, but that's some synergy. Small bump to Evolving Wilds.
Multicolored Rares
Hadana's Climb
1GU
Legendary Enchantment
At the beginning of combat on your turn, put a +1/+1 counter on target creature you control. Then if that creature has three or more +1/+1 counters on it, transform Hadana's Climb.
///
Winged Temple of Orazca
Legendary Land
(Transforms from Hadana's Climb.)
T: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool.
1GU, T: Target creature you control gains flying and gets +X/+X until end of turn, where X is its power.
B-. The front end is a good rate, a little slow in terms of board impact, but most Merfolk decks should be able to drop this on a turn where it changes combat most of the time. The backend should swing a race pretty often if you've got a decent board presence. I can imagine the backend being worse than the frontend if you've been building up a single creature and it gets bounced or removed, so think carefully about whether or not you want to flip it.
Journey to Eternity
1BG
Legendary Enchantment - Aura
Enchant creature you control
When enchanted creature dies, return it to the battlefield under your control, then return Journey to Eternity to the battlefield transformed under your control.
///
Atzal, Cave of Eternity
Legendary Land
(Transforms from Journey to Eternity.)
T: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool.
3BG, T: Return target creature card from your graveyard to the battlefield.
B. The backside will crush any game where you have time to use it and aren't vulnerable to evasion, which is many, but not all, slower matchups. It's worth working for. There are no sacrifice outlets in the set, and no in-color creatures which can sacrifice themselves, so you'll have to trigger this by blocking most of the time. I think I'd always happily maindeck it in a Black/Green deck and potentially splash it, but be open to sideboarding it out, particularly against White or Blue decks with enough Pacifisms and evasive creatures.
Path of Mettle
RW
Legendary Enchantment
When Path of Mettle enters the battlefield, it deals 1 damage to each creature that doesn't have first strike, double strike, vigilance, or haste.
Whenever you attack with at least two creatures that have first strike, double strike, vigilance, and/or haste, transform Path of Mettle.
///
Metzali, Tower of Triumph
Legendary Land
(Transforms from Path of Mettle.)
T: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool.
1R, T: Metzali, Tower of Triumph deals 2 damage to each opponent.
2W, T: Choose a creature at random that attacked this turn. Destroy that creature.
D (D- to C-) / Sideboard C. OK... one last pass of the spoiler... In order of frequency, White and Red creatures with these abilities across both sets:
Fanatical Firebrand, Sun Sentinel, Strider Harness, Stampeding Horncrest*, Sun-Crested Pterodon*, Nest Robber, Brazen Buccaneers, Hijack, Sure Strike, Vampire's Zeal*, Swashbuckling, Encampment Keeper, Sunrise Seeker // Relentless Raptor, splashed Storm Fleet Sprinter, Charging Monstrosaur, Otepec Huntmaster*, Imperial Lancer*, Rigging Runner, Emissary of Sunrise, Dusk Legion Dreadnought, Glorifier of Dusk, Steadfast Armasaur // Radiant Destiny (will trigger it on its own after ascension), Captain Lannery Storm, Captivating Crew, Tilonalli's Skinshifter, splashed Regisaur Alpha, Goring Ceratops, Bishop of Rebirth, Rekindling Phoenix, splashed Angrath, splashed Zacama, Gishath, Vona
That's a lot of not-great cards. The reliable, good-card ways that can eventually flip it on their own are rare: Radiant Destiny, Regisaur Alpha. I'd guess the average White/Red deck will have 2-3 of these cards and it would be hard and probably bad to have more than 6, so the chance of ever flipping this should be well under 10% in a normal deck, maybe 20% in a denser deck, maybe 30% in a focused deck that is likely playing a lot of subpar creatures to try and live the dream.
The backend is great for decks with a chance to get there, but since that probability will always be low even if you're trying really hard, this is mostly a one-shot deal 1 to (almost) every creature. Sometimes that card is definitely in the C range after sideboard, particularly with some Enrage synergy, but I'd be unhappy to maindeck it unless I had an unusual set of enablers, and even then it's not good.
Profane Procession
1WB
Legendary Enchantment
3WB: Exile target creature. Then if there are three or more cards exiled with Profane Procession, transform it.
///
Tomb of the Dusk Rose
Legendary Land
(Transforms from Profane Procession.)
T: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool.
2WB，T : Put a creature card exiled with this permanent onto the battlefield under your control.
A-. Powerful but slow frontside that would skew me towards a more defensive early creature set. Most game states where you're not already far behind should give you time to use it, but it won't win every game. The backside is often a funny downgrade, as you'll already have creatures in hand to cast after tapping out to exile stuff, but, still, this is a 6-for-1.
Protean Raider
1UR
Creature - Shapeshifter Pirate
Raid — If you attacked with a creature this turn, you may have Protean Raider enter the battlefield as a copy of any creature on the battlefield.
2/2
Siegehorn Ceratops
GW
Creature - Dinosaur
Enrage — Whenever Siegehorn Ceratops is dealt damage, put two +1/+1 counters on it. (It must survive the damage to get the counters.)
2/2
B (B- to B+). This can't get started on its own, and while White and Green don't have Enrage enablers other than Hunt the Weak (which is a nice one here), combat tricks and permanent enhancement auras will get this rolling, and every White/Green deck should have some of these. The common pump spells are +2/+2 and +1/+1, so when facing this card, block accordingly and plan to disrupt a Hunt the Weak if possible. Red Enrage enablers make thus hum well enough that I'd be happy to splash this card or the Red Enrage enablers. Excellent Forerunner target and wearer of Tilonalli's Crown.
Storm the Vault
2UR
Legendary Enchantment
Whenever one or more creatures you control deal combat damage to a player, create a colorless Treasure artifact token with "T, Sacrifice this artifact: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool."
At the beginning of your end step, if you control five or more artifacts, transform Storm the Vault.
///
Vault of Catlacan
Legendary Land
(Transforms from Storm the Vault.)
T: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool.
T: Add U to your mana pool for each artifact you control.
D. Frontside is worse than Trove of Temptation, backside is Island.
Colorless Rares
Awakened Amalgam
4
Artifact Creature - Golem
Awakened Amalgam's power and toughness are each equal to the number of differently named lands you control.
D+ (D- to C+). 90% unplaylable. Usually bad and sometimes OK. Off-color dual lands could be marginal playables with this card. A D in a two-color deck with a few other lands, a C- in a 3-color deck with good fixing and a few dual land / Evolving Wilds, and maybe it hits C/C+ in a 4-to-5-color deck with multiple dual lands and Evolving Wilds / Traveler's Amulet. I do think that deck can happen sometimes. During gameplay, this card is a reason to sometimes not crack Evolving Wilds.
Captain's Hook
3
Artifact - Equipment
Equipped creature gets +2/+0, has menace, and is a Pirate in addition to its other creature types.
Whenever Captain's Hook becomes unattached from a permanent, destroy that permanent.
Equip 1
C (D to C+). Maindeckable blowouts: Thrashing Brontodon, Expel from Orazca, Perilous Voyage. Sideboard blowouts: Naturalize, maybe Shatter and Demolish. Flavor Win blowout: Hostage Taker.
In a vacuum, the rate seems only decent, and only if you're aggressively using the Menace. Any amount of risk of destruction notches this down pretty fast. Making a new Pirate synergizes well with Dire Fleet Neckbreaker. There are also a few other cards that bemoan the lack of a sacrifice outlet in the set, and this is kind of one for Journey to Eternity or Cherished Hatchling.
Golden Guardian
4
Artifact Creature - Golem
Defender
2: Golden Guardian fights another target creature you control. When Golden Guardian dies this turn, return it to the battlefield transformed under your control.
4/4
///
Gold-Forge Garrison
Land
(Transforms from Golden Guardian.)
T: Add two mana of any one color to your mana pool.
4, T: Create a 4/4 colorless Golem artifact creature token.
B+ (B- to A-). The backside will win a ground game quickly from all but the weakest board states or against heavy evasion pressure. Big creatures or a medium creature plus a small pump spell (the only kind in the set) enable a card-free flip, or you can also get a card-free flip by blocking and fighting a smaller creature of yours, perhaps a creature already chump-blocking. In a pinch, fight two of your 2/2s, and you'll probably catch up. On 6 mana, you may be able to flip it and make a token immediately. All this with the fallback mode of a 4/4 defender for 4. I think the floor here of B- is in the most aggressive decks with no card-free flip possibilities, but in most decks this will be closer to its ceiling.
Silent Gravestone
1
Artifact
Cards in graveyards can't be the targets of spells or abilities.
4, T: Exile Silent Gravestone and all cards from all graveyards. Draw a card.
Sideboard C. Only <5% of the time, though.
So close... to the end.. ok, one more spoiler pass. In order of relevance:
This Meddling Mages: Recover, March of the Drowned, the backside of Journey to Eternity, Grim Captain's Call, Boneyard Parley, the trigger on Dire Fleet Daredevil, the sacrifice ability on Atzocan Seer, the trigger on Bishop of Rebirth, one ability on the backside of Conqueror's Galleon, the ability of Deadeye Tracker, the ability of Deathgorge Scavenger, Flood of Recollection.
This Tormod's Crypts: Jungle Keeper, Oathsworn Vampire, Deathless Ancient, Repeating Barrage, Rekindling Phoenix, World Shaper's death trigger, Angrath's ultimate, kinda Search for Azcanta
There could be Black/Green decks with a few copies of the first few cards on each of these lists that make this worthwhile.
Arch of Orazca
Land
T: Add C to your mana pool.
Ascend; 5, T: Draw a card. Activate this ability only if you have the city's blessing.
Mythics
Trapjaw Tyrant
3WW
Creature - Dinosaur
Enrage — Whenever Trapjaw Tyrant is dealt damage, exile target creature an opponent controls until Trapjaw Tyrant leaves the battlefield.
5/5
B+ (B to A-). B with no enabling -- and White doesn't have any. A strong pull towards pairing with Red. The second-nut Forerunner target. (Soon)
Timestream Navigator
1U
Creature - Human Pirate Wizard
Ascend; 2UU, T, Put Timestream Navigator on the bottom of its owner's library: Take an extra turn after this one. Activate this ability only if you have the city's blessing.
1/1
D+ (D+ to C-). This rate isn't good and extra turns are overrated, but there is a little synergy with the gold Uncommon Ascend cards if the path is clear for them.
Twilight Prophet
2BB
Creature - Vampire Cleric
Flying
Ascend; At the beginning of your upkeep, if you have the city's blessing, reveal the top card of your library and put it into your hand. Each opponent loses X life and you gain X life, where X is that card's converted mana cost.
2/4
A-. Coupling a personal Howling Mine with life swings is a great way to ensure there's time to use the cards, but this might just kill them first anyway. Strong pull towards Ascend enablers.
Rekindling Phoenix
2RR
Creature - Phoenix
Flying
When Rekindling Phoenix dies, create a 0/1 red Elemental creature token with "At the beginning of your upkeep, sacrifice this creature and return target card named Rekindling Phoenix from your graveyard to the battlefield. It gains haste until end of turn."
4/3
A-. Can't imagine beating this if it ever revives once, but Pacifisms keep it in check. There are a few ways in most colors to kill the token at merely a two-for-one and tempo loss.
Polyraptor
6GG
Creature - Dinosaur
Enrage — Whenever Polyraptor is dealt damage, create a token that is a copy of Polyraptor.
5/5
C+ (D to B). Knight of the Stampede makes this real, and if you find a few and have even one enabler, this goes over the top of almost everything. I have enough of an inner child that I'm biased towards crowning this (pun intended) the nut Forerunner target.
Angrath, the Flame-Chained
3BR
Legendary Planeswalker - Angrath
+1: Each opponent discards a card and loses 2 life.
-3: Gain control of target creature until end of turn. Untap it. It gains haste until end of turn. Sacrifice it at the beginning of the next end step if it has converted mana cost 3 or less.
-8: Each opponent loses life equal to the number of cards in his or her graveyard.
4
B+. Killing one small creature and then doming the opponent, Threatening for a big life swing and then threatening further doming, or just defending this while incrementally taking down the opponent's hand and riding the reach to victory while occasionally killing a small creature are all strong lines worthy of the investment when the board is near parity. There will be board states where you're getting crushed by a creature with CMC > 3 where this swing isn't big enough, or where it just trades with one card and one attack step.
Azor, the Lawbringer
2WWUU
Legendary Creature - Sphinx
Flying
When Azor, the Lawbringer enters the battlefield, each opponent can't cast instant and sorcery spells during that player's next turn.
Whenever Azor attacks, you may pay XWUU. If you do, you gain X life and draw X cards.
6/6
A. Note that this can still die to an Instant the turn you cast it or the upkeep before you attack with it... but there aren't any. It gets to block the turn it comes down with no fear of tricks. With no other board and a threatened life total, there may not always be time to cash in the 3+ cards from the first attack, but this will still win most games it lands in.
Elenda, the Dusk Rose
2WB
Legendary Creature - Vampire Knight
Lifelink
Whenever another creature dies, put a +1/+1 counter on Elenda, the Dusk Rose.
When Elenda dies, create X 1/1 white Vampire creature tokens with lifelink, where X is Elenda's power.
1/1
B- (C+ to B+). This has a low floor on an emptier board, and it won't always hit the ceiling if there aren't many trades going on or if you're light on removal. The median impact might not be amazing, but the upside is there with some work that I think most White/Black decks will be able to put in. Great with other power enhancers, such as the pump spell or especially Captain's Hook, which can act as a sacrifice outlet and then iterative excellent enhancement of the ensuing tokens.
Huatli, Radiant Champion
2GW
Legendary Planeswalker - Huatli
+1: Put a loyalty counter on Huatli, Radiant Champion for each creature you control.
-1: Target creature gets +X/+X until end of turn, where X is the number of creatures you control.
-8: You get an emblem with "Whenever a creature enters the battlefield under your control, you may draw a card."
3
B (C+ to B+). Seems to offer mostly medium-impact lines, such as coming down for an attack-enabling pump and then threatening more of those, or ticking up towards an emblem a few turns later. The emblem is definitely beatable in fair games with certain draws. Strong skew towards token cards. Decks with a low creature count probably won't splash this.
Kumena, Tyrant of Orazca
1GU
Legendary Creature - Merfolk Shaman
Tap another untapped Merfolk you control: Kumena, Tyrant of Orzaca can't be blocked this turn.
Tap three untapped Merfolk you control: Draw a card.
Tap five untapped Merfolk you control: Put a +1/+1 counter on each Merfolk you control.
2/4
B (B- to B+). B- floor with so few other Merfolk in a deck that you'll never control three and won't always have the ability to peck in for unblockable damage, which basically means this card won't be splashed. In a dedicated Merfolk deck, maybe 12+ Merfolk, drawing cards should be an option most of the time and opens gameplans of building towards repeated use of the last ability. Hitting five Merfolk is probably harder than it looks without a lot of the token generators, and the rates here are not great if the opponent is doing anything that Merfolk can't block well. This might just play out as a 2/4 semi-unblockable in a board stall.
Zacama, Primal Calamity
6RGW
Legendary Creature - Elder Dinosaur
Vigilance, reach, trample
When Zacama, Primal Calamity enters the battlefield, if you cast it, untap all lands you control.
2R: Zacama deals 3 damage to target creature.
2G: Destroy target artifact or enchantment.
2W: You gain 3 life.
9/9
B- (D to B+). 9 is doable in the dedicated Knight of the Stampede / ramp decks and this is a killer payoff easily worth splashing. I'd p1p1 it over Bombard today.
Azor's Gateway
2
Legendary Artifact
1, T: Draw a card, then exile a card from your hand. If cards with five or more different converted mana costs are exiled with Azor's Gateway, you gain 5 life, untap Azor's Gateway, and transform it.
///
Sanctum of the Sun
Legendary Land
(Transforms from Azor's Gateway.)
T: Add X mana of any one color to your mana pool, where X is your life total.
B- (C- to B). The base rate of 2 to cast, 1 to loot seems strong, though I'll admit my comparison point is Jalum Tome. I'd want this card in all but the fastest decks. This will probably flip in 10% of games and have a low impact, which is a crazy thing to say about such an absurd line of text on the backside, but there are few high-payoff mana sinks. If you have a few 6-8-drops, you probably looted away the lands to cast them, so the backside could be your plan for that sometimes. 5 life is nice when you need it, though.
Some of the few cards that are exciting with tons of mana: Sun-Collared Raptor, Fathom Fleet Firebrand, Tilonalli's Summoner, Jungle Delver, Waker of the Wilds, Thundering Spineback, Shapers of Nature, Deadeye Plunderers and by far the sweetest way to win this game is Sanguine Sacrament compounding unbeatable life total decking.
The Immortal Sun
6
Legendary Artifact
Players can't activate planeswalkers' loyalty abilities.
At the beginning of your draw step, draw an additional card.
Spells you cast cost 1 less to cast.
Creatures you control get +1/+1.
A (A- to A). Seems like the best card in almost every deck. A little worse in the most low-curve or low-creature decks, but I don't think I'd ever pass this.
