Welcome back to part three of my Dark Ascension spoiler review. We've already covered a lot of new cards, but they keep on coming!
I want to start by picking up on Falkenrath Aristocrat, which was the subject of most feedback from part two...
| Falkenrath Aristocrat | ||
 | This card is not good enough to see play in the current environment for a number of reasons. Firstly, it is weak to a lot of the removal spells that are seeing play; Vapor Snag, Wring Flesh and Virulent Wound are all fine answers to it, and Gut Shot will also kill it unless they have a creature to sacrifice (and even then the Gut Shot has still traded for a creature). Next we can look at the body; a four power creature with haste for four mana seems exactly what a red and black deck would want, right? Except that the lack of play for Koth of the Hammer and Hero of Oxid ridge show that this is not the case (and don't even require compromising a mono-red mana base to support). So is the addition of flying enough to put Aristocrat into the picture? Well, no. Right now Standard is dominated by Moorland Haunt and equipment, and there are plenty of first striking spirit tokens that will require a Human sacrifice to even allow an attack with Falkenrath Aristocrat to be a trade (albeit for the human). Avacyn forbid the spirits have a sword, as Aristocrat can't attack (or block) at all then! The cards on the spoiler indicate that the number of flying tokens in the format is not going to drop, and will likely increase as black gets in on the token supporting theme. Then there is the previously mentioned competition from Olivia Voldaren, who outclasses the Aristocrat on pretty much every front for decks that plan to have red and black mana, but not a large supply of creatures they are willing to sacrifice. So, terribly positioned and unplayable in Standard then. But my rating was wrong, because it is meant to be a rating of the card in general, not just this particular season. So what would Standard need to look like for Falkenrath Aristocrat to be good? I think we're waiting for rotation at the very least, as there are too many good answers seeing play in large numbers right now, and the competition from Koth and Hero is too strong. There also needs to be a decrease in swarm decks that play a lot of flyers, so Falkenrath Aristocrat can reliably connect, or at least be threatening to trade for a whole card. At this point the Aristocrat could see play as the top of the curve in an aggressive red black deck, aiming to deal a hasty final blow before midrange strategies can deploy their more expensive trumps. The deck would need a number of cheap (preferably human) creatures to provide early damage and protect the Aristocrat. Thus, the new rating. | |
| Constructed: | Marginal | |
So what is this rating system I'm using? Let me remind you:
| Limited | |
|---|---|
| Bomb: | This is a card that will single-handedly win games. A clear first pick in draft. |
| Staple: | A good card that you will always run in your colour, and would consider splashing. |
| Playable: | A card that will normally be played when in that colour, a possible splash on occasion. |
| Marginal: | A situational card that will usually be left on the sidelines. May have an important role in fringe archetypes. |
| Unplayable: | This card should basically never be played. |
| Constructed | |
|---|---|
| All-star: | A format-defining card that is a key piece in one or more top level decks. |
| Linchpin: | A unique or highly specialised effect that will demand a new deck, or elevate an existing deck to new heights. |
| Staple: | This is a card that will play an important role in multiple decks, or as an effective sideboard card. |
| Playable: | A solid card that will perform well without drawing particular attention to itself. |
| Marginal: | This is a narrow card that might one day be "tech" against a similarly narrow strategy. |
| Unplayable: | Not scientifically proven to cause cancer, but there is an awful lot of anecdotal evidence pointing to a link. Avoid just in case. |
| Thalia, Guardian of Thraben | ||
| Constructed: | Playable |  |
| The latest in a long line of "hate bears"; random creatures for most of the time, but which completely shut down certain strategies (see Gaddock Teeg, Ethersworn Canonist, Meddling Mage, etc). The first strike is a nice secondary ability to have that adds a decent bit of value for when the Thorn of Amethyst effect isn't relevant. The fact that your own non-creature spells are also affected does need to be kept in mind, especially in Standard where the obvious deck to include Thalia (blue white Moorland Haunt strategies) would definitely notice their own Vapor Snag, Gut Shot, Mana Leak, Runechanter's Pike et al costing one more mana. In larger formats where the storm mechanic lurks this may see more play, where the better quality body might prompt main deck inclusion where Ethersworn Canonist is usually reserved for the sideboard. | ||
| Limited: | Playable | |
| There are lot of creatures that Thalia can attack through early and then hold off once she starts to become outclassed. She will be at her best against the flashback decks, but most white decks will want to run at least a couple of flashback spells themselves and Thalia does not work well with the plan of two-drop, three-drop, Travel Preparations plus flashback. | ||
| Beguiler of Wills | ||
 | Constructed: | Marginal |
| If you can play out at least a couple of creatures in your first few turns, and your opponent does too, and you can afford to spend a whole turn adding a 1/1 to this creature battle, and you are playing blue, and your 1/1 survives a turn cycle, then you can maybe steal a creature. That's a lot of ifs. The good news is that if you can meet all these conditions, the effect will continue to get larger as you gain control of more creatures. Even better, killing Beguiler of Wills doesn't end the control effect, so you won't be getting blown out by a mid-combat Gut Shot. This would have been a sweet card during the Squadron Hawk battles of last season, but I think the format is just too hostile to X/1 creatures to justify spending this much mana on one. | ||
| Limited: | Bomb | |
| It's going to die a lot, sure, but look back at the list of criteria from the constructed review... looks a lot like a description of limited games, doesn't it? This is going to ruin a lot of games, so I'm glad it's a mythic rare, but that won't stop me from slamming it when I get the opportunity. | ||
| Fiend of the Shadows | ||
| Constructed: | Marginal |  |
| The whole "sacrifice a human" thing seems like a strictly limited mechanic. At the point that you have the mana base to both cast this and generate the number of Humans you would want to support the ability, there are just so many better options (mainly named Sorin, it appears). So what we're usually going to have access to is a 3/3 specter (a creature that makes the opponent discard in some way when it damages them), with an upside in mirror (or near mirror) matches. This is likely going to be a card for control decks, or a sideboard option for a black aggro decks against control, but ultimately is not that exciting. | ||
| Limited: | Staple | |
| A very respectable body; any way to gain repeated card advantage is a high draft pick. This is the kind of card that will quickly take over a game by reducing your opponent's options dramatically if you can get through with it. | ||
| Mikaeus, the Unhallowed | ||
 | Constructed: | Playable |
| There are a number of six mana cards ahead of Mikaeus for inclusion in a black deck, but that is not to say there is no hope of him shambling onto the Standard scene. I'm intrigued by the thought of playing him in a black infect deck, where he makes Inkmoth Nexus into a 2/2 with undying (it will return to the battlefield as a land with a +1/+1 counter on it if it dies). He also does good work with Phyrexian Crusader (Zombie Knight) and amusingly with the Germ tokens often found in these kinds of decks. The counters also work well with the proliferate effects that these decks often run. The No Mercy effect for Humans is also more relevant than you might think, hitting Snapcaster Mage, Delver of Secrets (and Insectile Abberation), and basically all of the blue white Humans deck (duh!) among others. You still need a very good reason to be playing anything over Grave Titan or Wurmcoil Engine, but there are enough facets to Mikaeus that he might make an appearance. | ||
| Limited: | Bomb | |
| It's difficult to find anything interesting to say about Mikaeus other than point out that there do seem to be a lot of insane bomb rares in this set. Hopefully the fact that most of them are at mythic rarity so far means they won't be consistently ruining otherwise enjoyable games. | ||
| Flayer of the Hatebound | ||
| Constructed: | Marginal |  |
| I'm struggling to be impressed by the undying creatures for constructed so far. This might be because it is as near as makes no difference a rerun of persist, but so far lacking the character of a Kitchen Finks or Murderous Redcap. Flayer of the Hatebound comes closest so far, offering to smack a creature or player for five (or more!) when it returns from the graveyard, then repeat the trick for any other creatures that come back. This could lead to board states where you are dead to attackers, but can't kill them either or the Flayer triggers will get you, but that is definitely the best case scenario. The main problem with Flayer of the Hatebound is that the 4/2 body is too small for the mana investment, even if it does mean it is more likely to die in combat and trigger. Is a 5/3 plus Lava Axe good enough for six mana? Compare with Inferno Titan, which provides a 6/6 body, three damage to distribute as you wish, and another three each time it attacks. And firebreathing. The most likely play for Flayer is in a Birthing Pod deck, which seems to be the strategy that benefits most from the undying mechanic. Here again, it must compete with Titans for the spot and also have a seven to find with the Birthing Pod trigger. | ||
| Limited: | Staple | |
| Flayer of the Hatebound is comparable with Rage Thrower, with the same body and mana cost, but with a substantially better ability. Hitting creatures is usually going to be more profitable, and you'll be hoping for a three for one in most situations. | ||
| Hellrider | ||
 | Constructed: | Marginal |
| If you can craft situations where Hellrider is dealing five or more damage on an attack it's probably worth talking about, as just adding haste to Hill Giant is nowhere near the level we want to be at in constructed. Some sort of token strategy with Rally the Peasants is the most likely, although those decks are more likely to want blue or black support than red. If you're just attacking with the usual array of mediocre red guys Hero of Oxid Ridge probably gets the nod over Hellrider. | ||
| Limited: | Playable | |
| Unlike Flayer of the Hatebound this cannot target creatures, which otherwise have put it straight up into bomb territory. The aggressive red black deck has proved strong in triple Innistrad draft, with a ton of tiny men and all of the removal. Hellrider is exactly the kind of card this strategy wants to follow up with as it's creatures start to get outclassed in combat to force through that last bit of damage. | ||
| Pyreheart Wolf | ||
| Constructed: | Unplayable |  |
| No matter how crazy the board situation you dream up to maximise the ability, the fact that Pyreheart Wolf doesn't have haste means that your opponent has a full turn to respond to it. Undying suggests that maybe killing it is not an answer, since it will come back and still be able to attack, but any opponent who knows what they are doing will just kill it at the beginning of your combat step. The red creatures that are seeing play already have some form of evasion, so Pyreheart Wolf is an unnecessary inclusion. | ||
| Limited: | Playable | |
| Anything that grants all your creatures a form of evasion is worth playing, and especially when the effect is on a creature itself. This effect looks like it will work with flyers very effectively, since they are so tough to block in the first place. Undying means that even if your opponent concentrates on blocking the Wolf you will still get two evasive attacks in. Just be aware that playing this will start a race, so there may be times when your opponent is being overly defensive (in a manner that is beneficial to your plan) where you may not want to play out the Wolf. | ||
| Feed the Pack | ||
 | Constructed: | Marginal |
| This is the kind of card that requires a deck built around it, and at least it is templated to not shoot you in the foot if your opponent tries to interfere (it is a may ability, you choose and sacrifice the creature as the ability resolves). There are a couple of outstanding candidates to feed to the pack, most notably Tree of Redemption and Ghoultree will provide food for a lethal number of (apparently vegetarian) wolves. The trick will be in making the deck work in those games where it doesn't draw the six mana enchantment. | ||
| Limited: | Staple | |
| I wouldn't be terribly upset to be first picking this, and if I'm in green or already have a couple of larger creatures in another colour it will always merit serious consideration. You will get a use out of it the turn it is played, so there is nothing like the problem with Back from the Brink where you have to skip a turn of action to gain access to card advantage later. In green we can realistically hope for Villagers of Estwald to go with this, and it also combines well with Fortress Crab in blue and Thraben Purebloods (!) in white. | ||
| Lambholt Elder / Silverpelt Werewolf | |
 | |
| Constructed: | As attractive as Silverpelt Werewolf is, Lambholt Elder is so weak that it is a real stretch to justify playing it. If you could guarantee that it transforms immediately a 4/5 that draws a card is a great deal for three mana, but I think we need at least eight Moonmists before this is tempting enough. |
| Marginal | |
| Limited: | The 1/2 side is well below par, and is unlikely to be useful in combat without some sort of enhancement. The massive shift in power between the two sides is frustrating from a consistency point of view, but Hanweir Watchkeep has shown that the strong transformation is often worth coping with a weak initial version for. |
| Staple | |
| Vorapede | ||
| Constructed: | Playable |  |
| This has too many abilities to have no constructed application, although I think the power is just below the level where people actually become overly excited about it. The amount of green in the mana cost is a concern, but this is another undying creature that looks fantastic with Birthing Pod. Being a five that you want to sacrifice is a great quality as the goal is usually to chain up to a Titan, and being left with a 6/5 with vigilance and trample is something a lot of people are going to be interested in. | ||
| Limited: | Staple | |
| This is a very generously costed creature that will always make a base green deck. The combination of abilities mean that it can dominate creature combat on both attack and defence. | ||
| Wolfbitten Captive / Krallenhorde Killer | |
 | |
| Constructed: | The 1/1 for one mana is usually Wizards's way of trying to push an aggressive archetype for constructed playability (witness Glistener Elf, Goldmeadow Stalwart, Steppe Lynx and so on). Now that Reckless Waif has a partner at one mana there could well be the critical mass of good Werewolves. The key is that Wolfbitten Captive itself is a decent card before flipping; unlike the Waif, which really needs to transform to reliably get damage in. Bounce is obviously a pain when you go to the trouble of transforming your creatures, and the proliferation of Vapor Snag alone may be enough to keep RG Werewolves out of the meta game. An even bigger obstacle than this, though, is that Ratchet Bomb for zero is going to Plaguewind you from potentially every other deck in the tournament. This is the limitation that must be overcome to make this deck work, and may just be too large a hurdle before Standard rotates. |
| Playable | |
| Limited: | Wolfbitten Captive is a strong first turn play but, unlike Darkthicket Wolf (or even Krallenhorde Killer), every time it tangles in combat the ability has to be used to save it. The risk with this is that you end up funneling too much mana into the Captive and neglect your board position. The transformed Krallenhorde Killer is still likely to trade with whichever two or three drop your opponent plays, so using turn two to pump and flip it is probably not the best use of your time when you have the option of playing a "real" two drop. Far better to play a second creature on turn two and attack with both, on turn three with the option to pump depending on their blocks. Still, later in the game the ability of Krallenhorde Killer will cause real problems for your opponent, and combine fantastically with other combat tricks in hand which they may fail to consider. |
| Playable | |
Today's cards are a pretty solid bunch for limited, but largely narrow constructed cards with very specific uses. It does appear that Birthing Pod is one of the main decks to gain from this set so far, as undying fits very well into a deck that is primarily focused on gaining lots of incremental value.
Steve
