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| Artistic depiction of a blue mage. |
10 – Tap your mana with a smug grin when you cast this, because your opponent is about to be sad. These are the best of the best, and can often win you the game. A recent example is something like Kalitas or Gideon.
8-9 – Be happy you opened one of these. These are the cards that pull you into a specific archetype or are insanely good in a lot of decks. Thunderbreak Regent is a big dude who'd fit here.
5-7 – Every successful business needs some average joes, and every deck needs some average cards. Most of your deck are these cards. Stalking Drone, and Kor Shadowglider fit in this section.
2-4 – Not every business needs a hungover janitor who does lines in the back on his break, but sometimes you have to get one. These are the sub-optimum and sideboard cards. Loam Larva, Ancient Crab, and artifact/enchantment hate would go here.
1 – No business needs a homeless man covered in his own feces yelling at your customers about the dangers of Chemtrails. That's what these cards are. They're bad, and you shouldn't play them. Fugitive Wizard, and my favorite, Harvester Troll, belong in this bracket.
Blue has a lot of Zombie, clue, and spirit synergy, and looks like it's going to be a neat support color. Let's take a look at how each of these cards stack up.
I'm blue ba bum dee ba bum die:
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| After being a bug for a while, Delver of Secrets got back to researching how to be a bigger bug. |
Dan:
Limited: 7
A 3/2 flying for four is a strong bug to begin with, and that alone makes this guy playable. If you happen to flip him, he becomes a much more terrifying bug, and way harder to squish. Up until he flips he mills you for one per turn, so that can help you make sure Delirium is on, but it might get annoying after a bit, so make sure you have at least some cards that can flip him.
Gaige:
Limited: 7
It's this who's causing everything. I bet he has a "I <3 BUGZ" bumper sticker on his horse. He made himself a bug, and like the absolute worst STD that even effects Avacyn the Pure, he is causing bad bug things on everybody. Despite his horrible nature he is a good thing to summon. With control and enough instant and sorcery spells you might get to flip him right away, and if not you still have a 3/2 flyer.
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| "DO YOU LOVE ME, BROTHER?!" |
Gaige:
Limited: 8
At its base it is counter spell which is a good card. I mean it has to be because every set they print "Counter spell but different." BFZ had Scatter to the Winds, where at its core it is just a counter spell but it has bonus effects. You're probably wondering why it costs more with madness but to be able to discard this to cause an effect and be able to counter what ever they're playing is just too much. TOO MUCH.
Dan:
Limited: 5
The madness cost on this is weird, but it is nice to have a card that you can discard for some random advantage, I guess. This pairs well with the looter and rummager, so I'd look for them if you'd like to run this, but they aren't really necessary if you're going controlly.
Two-Headed Giant: 7
Having a controlling head with counterspells is always great, and I'd try to include this if we got it.
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| What does Tamiyo keep under those head buns? |
Dan:
Limited: 4
If you can be sure that the card you discard is a madness card, or if you desperately need things to turn on delirium, then starts to get pretty good. If you're just looking for cards, this is not the card for you. Although technically it is a card, so you did find a card, so good job.
Gaige:
Limited: 6
"Draw two cards then cast a spell." Sure you'll need mana and sure you will need madness in hand but with the ordering of the card you can draw into a madness spell and hope you have the mana up for it. Discarding will rarely hurt you in this format and card draw always helps.
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| Maybe you shouldn't have moved in next to a six armed abomination. |
Gaige:
Limited: 7
This card gives you ways to deal with a lot of things since it's nonland permanent. You can reset a planewalker's loyalty if it get's too high or get rid of an enchant creature or equipment if that's worth doing (it probably isn't). If you have a zombie on the field you can now play Russian Roulette and see if you gave them a flash creature or instant speed sorcery or actually got rid of something.
Dan:
Limited: 6
Bounce is great at this price, especially when it's any non-land permanent. If you can consistently have some zambonis on the field, this becomes more compelling, and you should probably run a copy. Don't feel bad siding it out if they have a shitload of madness, cause you don't want to give them an advantage.
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| Suspicious confirmed - he is indeed a vampire. |
Dan:
Limited: 5
As much as I love telling kids "no," I think this is way too expensive to be of much use. Even with three clues coming for the ride, I think the speed of this is so slow that vampires will have ate you by this point. If you are playing the most controlling deck and have tons of low cost blockers, this becomes playable.
Two-Headed Giant: 7
Since 2HG lends itself to the long game, this is worth checking out in there. Having one head leave up 5 mana and pass isn't as backbreaking as doing it in a solo match. It's also unlikely that neither of the opposing heads will play anything, so that helps as well.
Gaige:
Limited: 5
It's a bit expensive but if you have the mana late game you can stop something you hate and give yourself the ability to draw three times. Both of these things are good. It'll be hard to play if you're behind because to just sit there and play nothing on your turn may kill you but if it's a stalled board state this could turn the tides. If you're in the lead then just keep them oppressed with this so you not only win but take away their will to play magic.
Two-Headed Giant: 6
It does get slightly better in 2HG since you can sit back and let your friend drop all the creatures but you still have to keep up 5 mana and basically skip your turn to play this.
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| Those lanterns are just the evolved form of Hedron Crawler. |
Gaige:
Limited: 6
I'm a little worried that in limited you won't be able to get clues, but there does seem to be a fair amount of pro-clue-cers. If you manage to flip him you now have a 3/2 prowess and he himself can start making you clues.
Dan:
Limited: 7
In the Mystery Machine deck that I talked about excessively in our Green Review, this guy is a hell of an include. His front side has alright stats for his cost, and once you flip him, a 3/2 prowess is super strong. Investigating on damage to a player is a great upside, and just a few hits will make him totally worth it. Bonus points if you have instants to pump him in combat.
Sidenote: If your U/G investigate deck is heavier on blue than green, feel free to call it Blue's Clues instead.
Sidenote: If your U/G investigate deck is heavier on blue than green, feel free to call it Blue's Clues instead.
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| "I deny the fact that this terrifying ghost tornado is about to hug me to death" |
Dan:
Limited: 5
This is a narrow counterspell, but chances are that your opponent will be playing a creature. If they aren't, man, I want to see what their deck is cause that's sweet. Any slow deck is fine including one of these, but after the first game, leaving up three mana looks super suspicious.
Two-Headed Giant: 7
If neither head is playing creatures, then something real fucky is going on. This will have a target, and you'll hopefully be able to leave up some mana as your teammate plays threats and such.
Gaige:
Limited: 5
If you manage to pull Broken Concentration run those instead because those are strictly better and although it's an extra blue you'll need, its the same CMC. If you're running a slow deck you can control what your opponent plays with this but it'll suck when they decide to play a planeswalker or a board wipe and this is the only counterspell in hand.
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| If the Witcher 3 taught me anything, it's Drowners out there. It's always Drowners. |
Gaige:
Limited: 6
A little on the costly side but harder to kill than other things. By letting them explore your drownyard you also get a clue when they enter the battlefield that you can draw a card with whenever it feels convenient to do so.
Dan:
Limited: 6
Just like the black zombie, it doesn't take a whole lot to convince me to play a 2/4 for four. He blocks most things on the ground, combats skulkers, and even gives you a clue just for letting him be a part of the party. He's a good include in either the Mystery Machine or in any controlly blue deck.
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| On the weekends he trawls for mall ass. |
Dan:
Limited: 6
This isn't bad. Two guys for four mana isn't bad, even if they are very small. His rating goes up if you get plenty of zombies, since you can make them all deathtouchy. If you have a way to bring this guy back from the yard onto the battlefield or to hand, he starts to get crazy good, since you get another zombie any time he enters the field.
Gaige:
Limited: 5
For a 2/2 and a 1/1 this is pretty expensive and if you want to give your zombies deathtouch you need an additional 3 mana. If you're able to run lots of zombies then you can probably give 1 or 2 deathtouch a turn and kill off whatever they have but keeping that much mana open early game can really hurt you unless your whole deck has flash.
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| I don't know how this got out of alphabetical order. Oops. |
Gaige:
Limited: 6
This zambie is all sorts of vanilla, but he's how I like my ice cream: cheap and with a toughness of 3. It will stop some early game damage if you're running a slower deck and would be an ok filler addition to any zombie deck you might be attempting. Give him skulk or something if you can, that would be neat.
Dan:
Limited: 4
Sea zombie is just filler if you didn't get any other two drops. You'll want him if you want to block and go late, but not if you plan on attacking. He is a zombie, so if your deck cares, well, you still probably don't want him. But who knows, maybe you have a zombie fetish.
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| Uh oh, tentacle monsters. I've seen way too much hentai to not know where this is going. |
Dan:
Limited: 7
An instant-speed bounce spell is just bonkers. Keep up the mana for a counterspell, and if they play a noncreature, counter it, or if they play a creature, bounce. By turn 6 or so, you should have three or four islands, and that's enough to bounce most things. Very late game this card can bounce everything, and since you can do it on their turn, it's a huge swing for you. Also note that as long as you have the one island to cast it, you can always ruin token strategies with this.
Two-Headed Giant: 9
Boardwipes are amazing in 2HG, and mass bounce is pretty good. Instant speed boardwipes or mass bounce? Fuckin'... forget it, man. This card is the tits. Wait until they both play a creature, bounce everything at end of turn, then you and your teammate get the first chance to re-establish a board presence. If you have counters you can keep them up and counter whatever bomb you returned to their hand. This card is Certified Baller™, and I'd highly recommend playing it if you open it.
Gaige:
Limited: 8
I hope you have lots of islands. Even if you don't this card is hella good. Against aggro decks where everything probably has low toughness, you should be able to hit a lot of things. Plus that instant speed will always give you that nice warm feeling in between your legs as you bounce everything after declared attacks.
Two-Headed Giant: 9
Now when you have two opponents staring you down with a butt ton of creatures that don't have a butt ton of butt, you get to set back the clock a lot of turns. With tokens they may just lose all those as well and if you're lucky they may have too many cards in hand and have to discards on their turn since they won't be able to play everything you just politely handed back to them.
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| Dammit Jace what did she find? I just want to know what happened. |
Gaige:
Limited: 8
Having played this in some pre-prerelease deck testing, it's already epiphanied its way into my heart. For 1 mana you can just dump a card into the graveyard for delirium and for 2 mana you'll get one card at least. Obviously the more mana you can throw into X the better it gets and the hard the choice will be for your opponent but playing this with any amount of mana is helpful. Plus having this at instant speed means you can play it at the end of their turn with whatever mana you have left over after countering all their spells.
Dan:
Limited: 7
This cards gets better the more you can pay for X, but it still isn't bad if you can only do three or so. You can arrange your piles to make sure you enable delirium as well. If an opponent plays this on you, make sure you check out their yard, too. They might just be playing it for cheap to try and enable delirium, and I'm sure someone will try to sneak it past their opponent.
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| It's actually kind of cute. |
Dan:
Limited: 8
This is another card that I'm grossly overrating I'm sure, but the payoff is gigantic. A 1/3 flier for two is already a playable card. It blocks well, and it can get in for a bit of damage fairly easy. Doubling down on your first investigate each turn is huge. In a deck where you're already generating a ton of clues it's not as great, as at some point you'll hit a critical mass and not be able to eat them all. But most decks will just have a couple of incidental investigates, and this card makes those insanely good. You know what they say, two clues on field is worth one in the bush. Or something. I will almost always play this.
Gaige:
Limited: 8
You had me at 1/3 flyer for 2. Then by giving me double clues you give me a double boner. Even though it's only the first time each turn, you may only be investigating once a turn and that second clue is huge regardless. This would go great in a UG clue deck and would still be pretty good in a control deck that has potential to get clues.
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| Yeah, flux those muscles. |
Gaige:
Limited: 8
Blue blink is interesting because it's both great in a control deck and against a control deck. Blink out of their removal and have you're spirits crushed as they blink out of yours. It will be great though to only have to leave 1 mana up and dodge any removal they have against your bombs.
Two-Headed Giant: 8
It's not any worse in 2HG but sadly it is only creatures you control so keep that in mind.
Dan:
Limited: 6
Totally blanking removal for one mana is hilarious. It's frustrating to your opponent, and makes you feel like General Patton with your strategic genius. This gets even better as you get more spirits, because then, worst case scenario, you can just use it at the end of their turn to make your guy bigger and put them on a quicker clock. I wouldn't mind playing multiple of these, because your opponent will be afraid to do anything if you have one blue mana up, which isn't too hard to do.
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| The memory of getting laid on prom night was the most painful to lose. |
Dan:
Limited: 3
If you have this, Manic Scribe, and a few of the blue Vessels, you better go live the mill dream. Somewhere in the world this weekend, someone is going to die to this, and I just hope it isn't me. But anyways, unless you're totally committed to mill, don't play this, because you'll just feed their graveyard stuff.
Two-Headed Giant: 4
So there's some value in the fact that you can use this on you and your teammate to make sure delirium is online. Not a lot, but some. If you both can't live without delirium, and one of you has great cards to recur from the yard, then you can consider this. Of course if you totally commit to mill, that's a valid strat in 2HG as well, so feel free to play it if you wanna go all in.
Gaige:
Limited: 3
I guess you can play this if you 1. want to draw a single card for 5 mana or 2. just need an enchantment card to discard for delirium. That's about all it's usefulness. If you're running a clue deck you might want to run this in hopes that you hit some of their big stuff but I wouldn't. Mind you I'm a bad magic player so do whatever feels right.
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| It's like the dudes putting these zombies together has no idea how to make them move efficiently. |
Gaige:
Limited: 8
Never forget. Having skulk might not do a whole lot since there will be plenty of things to block him, but there is no downside to having it. It will allow you to swing past Avacyn and other big things. Dat second effect tho. This is the card that will save your life. After a few too many shitty draws, you can just dump your whole hand and try again. You can only do it at the beginning of your upkeep but that's ok. This card can bring you back from a board lock or from a lot of bad draws.
Dan:
Limited: 8
I hope you guys don't forget about him like his father did, cause he's great. This body at four mana is acceptable, and skulk helps him avoid much bigger guys. He can only be effectively blocked by fat butts, so he can do some good damage. Pitching your hand is crazy if you have madness, and even if you don't, you can get rid of a crappy all-land hand and roll the dice on getting some better stuff.
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| 10/10, will put in my homunculus deck. |
Dan:
Limited: 5
Homunculus is one of the best creature types, because they look so goofy. That's already one point in this guys favor. Beyond that though, he is a 2/1 for two, which is as aggressive as blue usually gets. Skulk helps, since he'll sneak under the big boys, but that tiny butt means he'll die to any token or 1/x. But if you need filler and would like to attack fairly often, he isn't too bad.
Gaige:
Limited: 4
Skulk on just about anything other than a power of 1 seems like it won't do anything. This guy especially because all it takes is any token to trip and fall in his path and he falls apart. Sure he's cheap and sure he's easy, but just like McDonalds you don't want any unless there is nothing better.
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| Griselbrand's zombie cousin, Griselbones. |
Gaige:
Limited: 8
I'm not really sure what's going on in that art. It's just a guy with wings and like 30 arms all with blades attached to them. That's pretty terrifying and he's pretty terrifying. By the time you're able to play this you should be pretty low on cards, because hopefully you've been playing a land and spell every turn (or close to every turn). He flies which is great, and in control, you can make him stronger just by playing things at instant speed to increase his power and toughness. Plus if you dump him in the graveyard, discard three things and trigger delirium all while getting him back.
Dan:
Limited: 8
Griselbones is a fatass flier, and most decks would love to have that. In most games by the time you're able to play him he'll be entering as a 4/4 or so. That is not bad at all for five mana, and if you topdeck him late, he's massive. Once he dies you can recur him at a huge cost. That cost is much, much less if you have madness, as you can totally just cast a spell or two to bring him back. Either way, chances are that that will mostly empty your hand, so he'll enter as a giant tapped 7/7.
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| It's like that scene from Titanic, now with more ghosts. |
Dan:
Limited: 7
I'm rating this one super high just because of how many options it gives. Let's check em:
- It's a madness enabler.
- It can buff your guy and give it evasion.
- It can save your guy if they target him with a spell
- You can put it on their creature to bounce it.
- You can take advantage of ETB effects with it.
That's a lot of shit for a common, and I think this one will be pretty good.
Two-Headed Giant: 7
6. You can target your teammate's creature with it.
6. You can target your teammate's creature with it.
Gaige:
Limited: 7
Normally I don't like enchant creatures because I just assume that as soon as I enchant something they'll kill it. This will give your dude flying and +1/+1 and on top of that you can now bounce it back to hand whenever they try and do anything to it. The bouncing back to hand part alone is what makes this card. Plus madness things, that's nice too.
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| "At least I finally get to take his sweet hat." |
Gaige:
Limited: 5
This hits any permanent. Obviously. I know. You can read. If you can't I'm not sure what you're doing here because a lot of this is reading. But yes, it hits any permanent so if you want and it seems the best way to screw over your opponent you can put a land on top of their library. If they're top decking and their board state isn't scary this will set them back a turn. If their board state is scary then obviously put the scariest thing on top dummy. Plus you investigate. "How did this man drown? Ah yes, it looks like he drowned when he went and then stayed underwater." Thanks Steve for all those clue finding lessons.
Dan:
Limited: 6
This is very expensive to play, but there's a chance that this just ruins their day. It does say any permanent, which gives it a lot of flexibility. If they just slammed a bomb, put it back on top and waste their mana and blank their next draw. If they're flooding out or mana screwed, put a land back on top to make sure they don't get what they want next turn. Overall I think that putting a single copy in a slow deck is not a bad idea, because even the worst case scenario if just setting them back a turn isn't so bad. Oh, also you get a clue.
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| He's just holding a spoon and those are Brain Puffs Cereal™ |
Dan:
Limited: 4
This is sideboard stuff, and it's particularly good for the board. Sorceries that can be cast at instant speed with madness are probably going to be killer, and this is a great way to get rid of them. With there being a lot of good commons at sorcery speed like Shamble Back, Alms of the Vein, Angelic Purge, and Murderous Compulsion, there's a good chance that the delirium might even get another card from their deck as well.
Two-Headed Giant: 6
I'd be comfortable main decking this. One of their heads is probably playing sorcery speed removal or one of the sorcery speed bomb cards, so this can really ruin their day at a very low cost.
Gaige:
Limited: 5
It's a great sideboard against control decks with lots of sorcery spells, or if they have some bomb sorcery that you see game 1. You may think delirium won't do anything because how likely are they to have repeats of cards? Well they probably don't have any copies but remember this does allow you to look at their hand and look through their library so you know what they have to play, and what they have in their deck period.
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| I'm glad mind-readers aren't really, cause there's some dark shit going on in mine. |
Gaige:
Limited: 6
I want to say more for control decks than anything but I could just say that about any card in blue so just start assuming that from now on. It could save you some damage and could turn a creature trade into only their dying. Plus you get another clue which puts you only one clue away from finding Blue!
Dan:
Limited: 5
One copy of this can lead to a blowout combat, and I'd be fine playing it. Investigate makes this playable. With investigate, I like to imagine the following: "Alright, so if this card cost one more mana and instead said 'draw a card,' would I play it?" And I think I would play a 3 cost -4/0 draw a card. I realize that's not a perfect comparison, since you can just wait as long as you like to pay the extra two mana for a clue, but it helps me get a very rough idea.
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| Since we discovered Byway Courier is a lady, Jace is now the Fred of the Mystery Machine crew. |
Dan:
Limited: 9
Jace does a bunch. Like a standard Jace, he can bounce a dude. He enters at five loyalty, so he can do it twice in a row as you build up some sort of board, and he doesn't even die. He can also Scry then draw, which is a crazy powerful ability. His emblem means you win, and if you've drawn that many cards, you probably have already anyways.
Two-Headed Giant: 10
Bounce their biggest threat, draw a card, do whatever. You have your teammate to help defend your gigantic card advantage machine. If you ever manage to ult, the emblem effects both opponents. This kills the spirit. I see no reason to ever not run a Jace, and if you open him, one of your heads should run blue to make sure you can use him.
Gaige:
Limited: 9
He is a planeswalker in limited. I think as a base any planeswalker in limited just started at an 8/10 and then either becomes a 9 or 10 based on what they do. Jace does some stuff. Oh look he does control stuff. I'm not gonna break down the abilites because we've established you can read but all of them are good. His +1 might be boring but being able to sort of pick what you draw and then just drawing is good. Yes he's good. Play him if you are lucky enough to get him.
He is a planeswalker in limited. I think as a base any planeswalker in limited just started at an 8/10 and then either becomes a 9 or 10 based on what they do. Jace does some stuff. Oh look he does control stuff. I'm not gonna break down the abilites because we've established you can read but all of them are good. His +1 might be boring but being able to sort of pick what you draw and then just drawing is good. Yes he's good. Play him if you are lucky enough to get him.
Two-Headed Giant: 10
You now have anything you need to support playing Jace including another player who is filled with blockers and spells. He is still a planeswalker and will take the heat off of your face so slap him down and doing something effective.
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| "Oh, the curtain covered in eyeballs? Probably not an issue." |
Gaige:
Limited: 7
It's cheap as is, but if you can madness this it only costs 1. Use in combination with Ghostly Wings to block a dude, then discard this to return your blocker to hand so he lives and pay this madness cost to take another creature out of combat. You have successfully blocked two creatures for 1 mana.
Dan:
Limited: 6
Bouncing a guy at instant speed is wonderful, and two mana is an alright price to pay for it. If you can pop this off for its madness cost reliably, it becomes great, and I'd definitely play a copy or two. If someone asks you what the card does at the prerelease just say "Shh, there's nothing to worry about." and pick their creature up and hand it to them.
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| My favorite part is that he himself is a lamp as well. |
Dan:
Limited: 4
He's a looty with a booty. In a zombie deck he's a good blocker that can let you loot, possibly playing a cheap madness card, if you have extra mana. A 3/5 blocks most things, so he'll be annoying, but beyond that he's boring. I'd play him for filler, but wouldn't look to prioritize him ever.
Gaige:
Limited: 4
He fits into zombie decks pretty well and in blue you probably want a fatter butt than front. He is expensive but you can loot with him if you have more zombies. If you need bigger zombies then sure, run this. If not let him sit in your sideboard. He won't mind.
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| Think how much time he could save with a word processor. |
Gaige:
Limited: 3
If I were to play this or to recommend playing this it would have nothing to do with the mill part of this. Sure it's annoying that they will have to mill but that probably won't do a lot for you. I would say put this in if you just need a 2 drop to keep you safe for a bit while you start board control. If he manages to stay alive and you do get the delirium that can be very annoying.
Dan:
Limited: 2 or 8
If you see two or more of these and want to be that guy, run them all and live the mill dream. If one sticks on the field, it's a fairly quick clock, especially if they've self-milled already. If you have two or more, they're going to have a bad time. If you don't fully commit to mill however, this guy just fuels their delirium and graveyard stuff, so don't play it.
Dan:
Limited: 4
If you can throw this down instant speed with madness, it becomes a crappier anticipate. The option to turn on delirium and GY stuff is a nice one, but I wouldn't look to include this unless I knew I could use the madness to cast waterfall-face.
Gaige:
Limited: 6
I respectfully disagree that this is a crappier anticipate. In this limited environment I will probably want something in the graveyard and I will probably have madness things if I'm playing blue. I will probably be able to play this for it's madness cost and if not it's pretty cheap to begin with.
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| Thar be dragons on the moon. |
Gaige:
Limited: 6
This is a card I will gladly discard because I would almost rather have this in the graveyard. He is expensive, but can give something else big flying for a turn. Then when he does die he can give all you have flying which you can either use to fuck shit up with blockers or to fuck shit up with attackers depending on board states.
Dan:
Limited: 6
He gets a high-ish rating because he's super swole. His flying ETB is a nice upside, and might help you get a bit more damage through, but he's also coming down crazy late in the game. There's a good chance they already have a flying blocker at that point, so it might not do anything. His exile effect is also good, but again, that's very late by the time you can use it, so it better close the game out. Overall he's good if you need an expensive guy, but I wouldn't include him in every deck.
Dan:
Limited: 6
Him I would include in most blue decks. A 2/1 for three in the air can do damage, and prowess makes him a tricksy nibilis indeed. If you have instant speed things to activate this guy, he can present a speedy clock, and since he's a common, there's a good chance you could be beating them with multiple.
Gaige:
Limited: 7
Flying: good. Prowess: better. Dick: half chubber. It would be nice if he was a two drop but you can't have everything. Fly above stuff and then play instants to do more damage. Sorcerys work as well but you'll have to do it before combat and then you won't be able to trick your opponent into thinking you have spookier things than you do.
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| "Put it down, Janice, it's just a fish." |
Gaige:
Limited: 7
Hopefully you'll be running green with this but if not this can do enough on it's own. Get a bunch of flyers and Erdwal Illuminator and everytime you hit you can get two clues. If you are playing green play Confront the Unknown to finish them off by showering them in clues. "MYSTERY SOLVED SO HARD THAT YOU'RE DEAD NOW"
Dan:
Limited: 7
This is what the Mystery Machine has been waiting for. This is really the engine that can get that deck going. It makes sure you have tons of clues to always be able to cash in, and plenty of clues for payoff on the pump spell that cares about how many you have. It also works well with Tamiyo's journal, because then you'll just be picking cards you want out of your deck and wrecking face. Once some of your dudes die, no biggie, just eat them and poop another clue. If this gets going, green/blue will most likely win the long game, and I'd try to play that deck if I got this.
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| "I'm having a difficult time reading the mind of this rock" |
Dan:
Limited: 5
With a buttload of instants and sorceries, this reads a lot like "draw two and turn on delirium," and that's tasty. I wouldn't think about playing this until I'm over 8 of those though, and that kind of deck doesn't happen all the time.
Gaige:
Limited: 6
In the right deck this could be great. In the wrong deck don't play this. You get up to two instant and sorcery cards in hand and then rest get to trigger delirium. Don't let dumping things in the graveyard spook you too hard and prevent you from playing this when having the right support for this.
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| "Jace looks so cute in his new leather coat. I wonder if he'll ask me to the Innistrad ball." - Tamiyo's Journal |
Gaige:
Limited: 7
This card is solid and the ordering makes it better. You pay 5, draw three, and untap three lands. After that you then discard a card. What this means for you is that if you draw into a madness card with cost two, you can then discard that and use your two untapped lands to cast it when you go to discard. You should be able to make some big plays with this.
Two-Headed Giant: 9
Taking a close look at this card you can see it says "untap up to two lands." Guess who probably has two lands? Your partner (I hope). You can use this to have your partner cast a spell, then you cast this and untap his lands so he can cast another spell this turn he might not be able to cast. And you still get all the goodness of this card on top of that.
Dan:
Limited: 7
I think this is great. You get to fill your hand up, look at what you drew, untap two appropriate lands, and then cast that madness card that you totally planned for and untapped two appropriate lands for. Right? You did plan for that, didn't you? Worst case scenario it's draw three discard one for three mana, and even though you have to wait until turn five to play it, that's still not bad at all.
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| Aww, that giant zombie looks so sad. |
Dan:
Limited: 5
If you're A) in a rush and want to eliminate blockers to swing in quickly or B) defending, and want to lock down a huge threat, this is a good playable. Tap down the scariest thing, get a clue, and swiggity swooty at that booty. Or I suppose you can chill, and not get hit in the face.
Gaige:
Limited: 4
Yuck. Sorcery speed. It will however let you tap a guy down, swing through and prevent it from untapping next turn. It's something I would probably side board and put in game two depending on how their deck runs. Investigate is a nice bonus but there are other control cards I would rather use (if I get them, which I won't).
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| This card totally rattles my chains in the good way. |
Gaige:
Limited: 9
Even if you only have a couple spirits you should be able to hit something with either hexproof or flash in another spirit. At it's very most primitiveness it is a 2/1 flash flyer you can flash in to block a creature you want dead. This card is super spooky and not just because of him rattling his chains.
Two-Headed Giant: 9
Like all other things we mention for 2HG, this can also target your teammates spirit creatures so if they are running white or one of the 3 non-white or blue spirits you can flash this in to give those hexproof.
Dan:
Limited: 8
The worst case, a 2/1 flying flash for two, is a pretty kickass case. Any blue deck would run that, cause it's really good. At best though, this is a huge enabler for the spirit deck. You can blank a removal spell, you can flash him in end of turn to get unexpected damage in, and then you can even flash in more dudes after. My standard deck has been testing him for a while, and him plus Topplegeist is one hell of a play. I'd highly pick this, not only because it's great, but because I really need a playset. Tell me if you open a promo one - I want.
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| RECKLESSLY TELESCOPING. FOR SCIENCE! |
Dan:
Limited: 7
Loot for days, you crazy old man! Loot is bonkers in this set. Draw a card, then play a dude/spell. Normally looting is good, but madness pushes him over the edge (both in score and in him literally being a crazy person), and being able to just ditch something to turn on delirium is a nice option too. I'd play him in any blue deck, but once you have some madness or graveyard stuff, then he gets even better.
Gaige:
Limited: 8
I don't have much more to say on this than you should play it. Look at it, draws you cards and gives you madness triggers. Why would you not play this? I mean if you're not playing blue sure, but why else?
Two-Headed Giant: 8
Help your teammate out when he draws 5 lands in a row and doesn't need any of them. If one of your opponents is top decking, use this in combination with Gone Missing to put a card back on top of their library and make them draw and discard it so it's gone more permanently.
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| I like the zombie maker rivalry side-story on these cards. I'm team Gisa. |
Gaige:
Limited: 7
This is the card that gets your control deck creatures. When you're playing UR control with burn and counter spells to just keep their creatures down, you can use this as a finisher to just crap zombies all over the board. With a cost of 6 in a control deck, I'd think you'd have a lot in your graveyard and with all the discard potential you may have a small zarmy come onto the field.
Dan:
Limited: 6
See, now here's a sorcery zombie-token maker that makes the zombies enter tapped. This set just can't decide if zombies should be tapped or not. Anyways, if you're in self-mill zombies or a control deck with a lot of spells, this bumps way up, since it can be a legitimate win condition. If you're getting four or more zombies our of this, you done well, and if you manage to get over six, I don't really see how you can lose unless you accidentally spill your Mountain Dew on your cards and ruin them and have to concede.
Note: Not good in decks without instants and sorceries.
Note: Not good in decks without instants and sorceries.
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| Has our prince finally meandered his way to Innistrad? |
Dan:
Limited: 4
I like my turtles low cost with a small waist low power and a big behind. This guy does indeed have that booty I've been dreaming of, but this turtle can also take a bite out of crime. Don't feel bad to run him out to block for a while, since he'll kill most things that run into him, but I wouldn't want to put him into my deck unless I knew I had quite a few ways to make him able to swing.
Gaige:
Limited: 4
For drafting I might pull this if I'm lacking in big guys but I'll probably avoid it. Normally a creature that is big and has some sort of downside at least is cheaper in mana cost but this is still a 6/6 for 6. As much as I would love for turtle god of Innistrad be good, and it's just ok. Control can use him as a hard to deal with blocker for a while in the later game.
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| Yeah that flavor text will help me sleep at night. |
Gaige:
Limited: 8
It's a little more mana than what I like to spend for a juicy booty but this is the card that will keep you alive against pretty much anything. Lightning axe can hit it, but not many other single spells will kill this. He can ping for 1 if your opponent doesn't have anything in the sky and can keep you safe against any flyers if they do.
Dan:
Limited: 8
This is going to be the Vampire Envoy of this set. Totally innocuous low power flier that ends up being a house. He blocks over half the cards in the set and lives to tell the tale. His low power makes him able to block skulk. He flies, so he shuts down spirits. Fuck man, he's a spirit himself, so he goes great in that tribal as well. I get the feeling that most of my blue decks will feature the Silent Butt, and I wouldn't expect these to get passed to you super late.
Dan:
Limited: 8
Well this is as good as blue gets. Four cost removal sounds good to me, and it's even splashable. Sure, they can bounce their dude to get rid of this, so be aware of that, but in most matchups I think this will be one hell of a card, so pick this highly, and then sentence your opponents best creature to be tapped down in the pear-wiggler for the rest of the game.
Gaige:
Limited: 7
Just completely take one of their creatures out of the game. Enchantment removal is limited (ha get it, limited) so it will be super hard to deal with. It won't fall off flip creatures when they flip, but be careful what you put it on to make sure there aren't any flip effects that can hurt you even while it's tapped down like Avacyn.
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| Why always creepy children? |
Gaige:
Limited: 7
13 cards is a lot of cards when your opponent is probably starting the game with 7 in hand and a deck size of 40. It makes mill a real possibility and if you can get this off multiple times, even if you don't mill them, they are gonna be startled at how much stuff they can't use now that it's in the graveyard. Sure you gave them delirium but you also took away waaaay more.
Dan:
Limited: 9
This card is not going to be fun to play against. The first cast already fucks them up, and if they had self-milled beforehand, they don't have much left in library. Let's say you cast this on turn 6. They drew seven at the start, have drawn at least five since then, and for fun let's say they put five in the bin from some self-mill stuff. You cast this, and they only have 10 cards in library. For those of you keeping score, that is way less than 40, and if you're playing defensively, just sit and block until you can either return him to hand or skulk in to return him to hand, cast it again, and win.
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| "What should his hands be made of?" "How about a bear trap, a harpoon, and a garden claw?" |
Dan:
Limited: 6
He's great filler in a zombie deck, and then good in any other blue deck. If you want to attack, he taps a big guy down, and if you want to block, he taps a big guy down. He enters tapped, but the next turn a 2/3 is not terrible, and he'll be able to block some stuff or do a bit of damage. Frost Lynx was always pretty good, and Frost Zombie enters tapped in exchange for more toughness, so I think he'll be good as well.
Gaige:
Limited: 7
For zombies or control this can be a pretty good early game drop. Tap down one of their guys and so you can swing in, and then he doesn't untap so you won't take damage from having your creatures tapped out. It's a bummer that he comes in tapped but I guess it would be too good if he didn't. He's more filler than anything but definitely not the worst filler you could have.
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| "But why does it need a tail?" |
Gaige:
Limited: 8
A recurring 3/1 flyer that also gives you madness triggers. Sure it comes in tapped so you can't use him as a flash blocker, but just do it before damage discarding Fiery Impulse to kill whatever is attacking you anyways, and then you can swing in or just keep him up as a blocker. Coming in tapped slows him down, but he is a zombie. They are slow.
Dan:
Limited: 7
A 3/1 flier puts them on the ropes if they can't block it, so he's set to give em stitches from the getgo (what does that even mean?), and his ability is really nice. If you have madness, it's a cheap madness enabler, and you get a 3/1 flier back tapped. He's a tasty resilient threat, and he's even a zombie just for tribal fun.
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| Apparently lanterns follow lightning as well. |
Dan:
Limited: 6
This is the kind of card that ends a game, and flash makes it even better. He's a good flier that'll do a bunch of damage, and he can even surprise block to kill something. I'd play him in blue dicks, and I'd really be looking to get a copy or two if I have some spirit-matters stuff.
Gaige:
Limited: 6
Versatile and spooky. This is your really expensive way to deal with Topplegeist or any medium flyer really. It can also be your way to end the game. I wouldn't call it a "finisher" necessarily but you can definitely do some end game damage with it. Plus it allows you to keep mana up for instants during combat and then play it at the end of their turn when you didn't need to play anything.
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| But that all changed when the Fire Nation attacked... |
Gaige:
Limited: 7
Definitely better in control and definitely killable, but this is the card your opponents will ignore until there is only one or two ice counters left on it and in the meantime it can keep you safe from some ground stuff including skulk things. It's cheap but not really worth playing unless you have the spell support for it, unless you want just a block of ice on the board. If you do manage to flip it though, then you win.
Dan:
Limited: 5
As much as I think this card will be a constructed house, I don't think he's amazing in limited. An 0/4 will block a ton of stuff, but isn't killing anything. But having to cast five spells to flip it is no easy task, and your opponent can always just wait until you cast that 5th, and then just kill him in response. Don't get me wrong, the potential is huge, but I don't think it'll happen most of the time.
Two-Headed Giant: 7
Bounce is so strong here that he goes up a bit. The chances of them having a low power creature to block each turn goes up too, so I'd definitely include him if I can scrounge up enough spells.
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| Dang, what's up with all these books? |
Dan:
Limited: 5
With enough instants and sorceries, this gets going and gives you a ton more fuel. That won't happen all the time, so you'll have to build around this. But if you are going all the way with it, you can follow the yellow book road all the way to a full hand a and a game win.
Gaige:
Limited: 4
This might be something you play alongside Thing in Ice and you probably wonder why my rating for this is so much lower considering they both require instants in sorcerys. Is it because I'm bad at magic? That's part of it. The other part is that at least Thing in Ice is also a creature that can block skulk or something smallish for a couple of turns. This has no ETB and does nothing until you play instants and sorceries.
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| This is something a super annoying guy I used to work with would have done. |
Gaige:
Limited: 7
Can confirm flavor text (our flavor text). I still work with that person and they would definitely just start putting their hands through the doors being all "Hello I saw the lights on so I thought I'd just stop by and hangout until you all leave or go to bed and then just a little longer than that until you physically remove me from the premises." Any way this card is pretty good. If they don't answer the 2/2 and let it hit them, then they are going to get hit by a 3/3 until they can remove it or can do enough damage to you to spook you into using him as a blocker.
Dan:
Limited: 7
Great name, so that alone convinces me to play him, puttin' him on par with Charging Badger. But he's actually a lot better. He comes down fairly early, and if you can clear a path for him to flip, he's a wicked fast beater. The opponent has to answer it or he's going to get The Shining'd.
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| It's a Memory Lapse in a jar! |
Dan:
Limited: 4
This card could also be altered to be Richard Nixon's head in a jar from Futurama, so I'm glad this set gave us two cards for that option (the other being Brain in a Jar). More often than not you'll target yourself with this to self-mill for delirium/graveyard zumbies, and draw a card. That's OK, but pretty boring, so I'd only put this in if I really needed delirium.
Gaige:
Limited: 5
This can be sideboard or main board if you feel you really need card draw and this is all you have. You can use it to dump 3 of your own into the graveyard or 3 of their's and just have this in the graveyard to get delirium. Plus drawing a single card. It's like a weird clue for 1 cheaper.
Gaige:
Limited: 8
There are a fair amount of things toughness 2 or less that are worth taking, like Sin Prodder. Don't forget to read the card and realize you just get to keep this until it dies or until they play their own Welcome to the Fold. Now if you have something to give you cheap (hopefully free) discard and you have some mana open then you just take whatever you want and make it your own. Tell the card you are it's real father/mother and raise it as your own so you turn in against them and win the game. Just don't get separation anxiety when you have to give it back after you've won.
Dan:
Limited: 8
Dag yo, if you get this for madness, you can take a big dude. Taking control of a guy is always nice. It's sad that they made this toughness two or less for the default casting, because I want to steal everyones Silent Observers. But anyways, if you can madness this at instant speed and take control of something huge, you get one hell of a swing on your next turn.
Now that you've checked our reviews of the worst color in magic (and before you say it's the best consider this: if it's the best, then why wasn't it on Siege Rhino?) you're one day away from being familiar with the whole set, and one day away from losing all weekend if you decided to take our advice.
Disagree with a rating? Agree with everything and want to have a sleepover? Have that alter of Vessel of Paramnesia ready to go? No matter the reason, we'd love to hear from you, so drop a comment below or send a message using the form on the sidebar!
Disagree with a rating? Agree with everything and want to have a sleepover? Have that alter of Vessel of Paramnesia ready to go? No matter the reason, we'd love to hear from you, so drop a comment below or send a message using the form on the sidebar!
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