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Ikoria Standard Set Review: Multicolor

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It is the last day for Ikoria! Today we are going over the largest section, the multicolored cards. We have a ton to go through so let us go over the grading scale and then dive in!

Check out the Other Parts:

White and Blue | Black and Red | Green, Lands, and Artifacts

I will not be going over cards that I believe will not see play in Standard and I will not be going over the Commander cards that will not see Standard play. For example, cards like Elspeth, Undaunted Hero (Planeswalker duel deck rare) and Archon of Falling Stars will be omitted since they are just Limited/Commander cards and saying, "This is just a Limited card" repeatedly gets old rather fast. Don't worry though, I will be covering all the rare and mythic cards in the actual Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths set. So, if you like a certain rare or mythic, it will be mentioned in the review.

Keep in mind I'm rating all these cards for Standard playability. I will mention Modern applications if I believe the card has some.

Each card will be listed by color, then alphabetically by name.

Each card will be given a rating of 1-5. If a card would receive a 0, meaning it will see no play in that format ever, its rating is left off the list.

Rating | Explanation | Standard Examples

0 - Will never see play in this format (0 ratings are not listed).

1 - Unlikely to see play. (Cubwarden)

2 - Could see fringe play, or occasional sideboard card. (Footfall Crater)

3 - Commonly played, staple in a single deck, or frequent play in several decks. (Essence Scatter, Thought Erasure, Scorching Dragonfire)

4 - Format staples. Sees play in multiple decks, one of the best cards in the format. (Hydroid Krasis, Narset of the Ancient Way, Witch's Oven)

5 - Format warping. If you're in these colors, you play that card. (Teferi, Time Raveler, Nissa, Who Shakes the World)

Now that we have that out of the way, let's begin!

Brokkos, Apex of Forever
2 - Not exciting but it is a free spell when you have a full playset of Cavalier of Thorns in your deck. That is where I could see Brokkos seeing play as a one off.
Chevill, Bane of Monsters
2.5 - 2-drop? Check! Ton of text? Check! Good card? Check! Will slot right into Abzan humans!
Death's Oasis
2 - Seems super slow and grindy, I just do not feel like current Standard is in a spot where slow and grindy is good.
Dire Tactics
3 - Super solid removal spell for the human deck!
Eerie Ultimatum
2.5 - Immensely powerful Ultimatum and it is hard to build around and you cannot just put it in your deck like you can Genesis and Inspired Ultimatum. However, if it does find a home in Standard, this card could easily be a 3 or 4.
Emergent Ultimatum
2 - Same problem as Eerie Ultimatum but Sultai decks just have better cards. Hydroid Krasis, Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath, and Casualties of War are all cards I would play over this.
Frondland Felidar
1 - I do not know why this is a rare, this card is just bad. Poor White cards.
General Kudro of Drannith
3.5 - Benalish Marshal was excellent, and this is going to be way, way better. Makes humans a very viable strategy in Standard and will see play in Modern humans.
General's Enforcer
3 - More solid cards for the Abzan Humans deck, makes your General Kudro indestructible.
Genesis Ultimatum
4 - This is the best Ultimatum as it requires no setup and is in ug colors which just happen to be the best midrange colors.
Illuna, Apex of Wishes
2 - Fun card but it has no enter the battlefield ability and can be juggled with Teferi. I like Genesis Ultimatum much more than this dinosaur.
Inspired Ultimatum
3 - Second best Ultimatum in the set. Great in a Fires of Invention decks and Jeskai Control decks, especially since Teferi can make it an instant.
Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy
2 - Kinnan seems super interesting. I just do not know where he fits as Simic decks already have a plethora of cards to choose from. He does work with cards like Guild Globe so he could be a sweet card to build around in Standard.
Labyrinth Raptor
2 - Weaker than Stormfist Crusader and Dreadhorde Butcher. You could play this card, but I'd play four of the other ones first in my aggressive decks.
Narset of the Ancient Way
3 - Another planeswalker for Jeskai Control and Fires of Invention decks. It just slots right into these decks. I do believe she is overhyped and Narset, Parter of Veils is just overall better.
Nethroi, Apex of Death
2 - This Mutate ability is bonkers. You can do some crazy things with it like grabbing 4 Agent of Treachery, 2 Agents and a Thassa, Deep-Dwelling, or just a bunch of small creatures.
Offspring's Revenge
2 - A baby Drakuseth is cute but you are better off just using Bond of Revival on your Drakuseth.
Quartzwood Crash
2 - Gruul already has plenty of tools and does not need Quartzwood Crasher. There is also no point to play Gruul Midrange when Embercleave exists.
Rielle, the Everwise
3 - Archlight Phoenix decks got a lot of support this set and Rielle seems to fit into them quite well. She also may enable other archetypes like cycling or even Song of Creation.
Ruinous Ultimatum
2 - Solid Ultimatum but Mardu is just not viable now and it is ridiculously hard to splash for Ultimatums. Every deck just has a ton of card advantage, counterspells, or is just extremely low to the ground.
Skull Prophet
2.5 - All two-mana creatures that produce mana are playable. Especially ones that can do something else besides add mana. Could see this in some sort of graveyard-based deck. 1 toughness really sucks though, especially since you will want to be tapping with this card a lot.
Skycat Sovereign
2.5 - If uw fliers becomes a deck, it is because of this card. This is an excellent flying tribal creature that can quickly get out of hand.
Slitherwisp
4 - If anything makes ub Flash viable, it is this card. Not only does it give flash decks burn reach, but it is also card advantage. The worst thing about ub Flash is its mana base though, two color decks struggle in current Standard.
Snapdax, Apex of the Hunt
2 - So close to Siege Rhino! I feel like it really needed Lifelink instead of Double strike. Again, Mardu just is not in a good spot now.
Song of Creation
1-5 - This card is either unplayable or just broken. I am not sure we have all the cards in Standard to make this card really broken but we might. I am sure this card will do busted things eventually before it rotates out of Standard.
Titans' Nest
3 - Giving all your spells Delve is great. This should find a home somewhere, free spells are powerful and while this does not make your spells free, it does make them cost a lot less.
Vadrok, Apex of Thunder
2.5 - Almost Mantis Rider! It does have upside too in that it can bring back Teferi or Narset. It can also just toss burn spells at your opponent's face. Card has a lot of potential and worst case it is a 3 mana 3/3 with flying and first strike.
Whirlwind of Thought
2 - Four-mana do nothing. In a world of Teferi and Narset, I do not like this card and do not thing it is good.
Winota, Joiner of Forces
3 - Giant meme spotted! Winota is probably the strongest thing you can do on turn four as can just end the game. However, if you do not have her then you deck is going to be clunky. Still fun to put Agent of Treacheries onto the battlefield on turn four.
Zenith Flare
2.5 - If there is a cycling deck, I can see Zenith Flare playing a big role in that deck as it can just end the game on its own.
Cunning Nightbonder
3 - Great card in any flash deck, this must be the mirror breaker. Important to note that it makes everything with flash cost one less. So, cards like Omen of the Sea and Ashiok's Erasure are reduced.
Fiend Artisan
3.5 - This is the best Tarmogoyf and Birthing Pod we have had since either of those cards in Standard and I would be shocked if it did not find a home in a tier one deck.
Gyruda, Doom of Depths
4 - I would say this is in the top four best companion in Standard right after Lurrus and probably beside Yorion/Keruga. Gyruda is an immensely powerful combo enabler that always starts in your opening hand. It preys on slow decks like ramp decks.
Jegantha, the Wellspring
3 - Great companion for decks like Niv-Mizzet Reborn or even Golos decks. Card seems sweet!
Kaheera, the Orphanguard
3 - Great Companion for elemental decks, Kaheera will see play as well.
Keruga, the Macrosage
4 - Keruga fits perfectly in Jeskai Fires, you will just have to play Bonecrusher Giant and/or Brazen Borrower to fill those 2-drop slots.
Lurrus of the Dream-Den
4.5 - This gets my vote for best companion as it is cheap and produces card advantage right away. Perfect home is a low curve cat oven deck for Standard. Pick up your Graffdigger's Cage as that stops both Lurrus and Gyruda.
Lutri, the Spellchaser
1 - I do not know why this card was made. Banned in commander and it is not good enough to play in Standard. The restriction is harsh, and the payoff is not good enough to go singleton in Standard. Only playable in Vintage when your deck is already restricted to singleton.
Obosh, the Preypiercer
3.5 - Another one that will see play and fits well into br sacrifice decks. Does not work with Cauldron Familiar but it does with Mayhem Devil.
Umori, the Collector
3 - My first deck with Umori would be an Abzan creature sacrifice deck with Fiend Artisan and Luminous Broodmoth. Reduces the cost of all your creatures and Fiend Artisan will always be huge since you're playing so many creatures.
Yorion, Sky Nomad
4 - Yorion will be the companion that is built around the most since the restriction does not limit you to certain cards. In fact, it just asks you to play more cards! Seems like a perfect fit for a ugx deck since ug has so many tools in Standard already.
Zirda, the Dawnwaker
2.5 - This gets my vote for worst companion for Standard. It's hard to build around and we don't have a great pay off that I can see.

Top 5 Multicolored Cards

  1. Lurrus, of the Dream-Den
  2. Keruga, the Macrosage
  3. Gyruda, Doom of Depths
  4. Yorion, Sky Nomad
  5. Obosh, the Preypiecer

It is not too much of a surprise that companions take up the top five cards of all the multicolored cards from Ikoirai. Starting with eight cards in your hand is extremely powerful, especially when that eighth card is one you have built around. I believe Obosh is better than Lurrus in the sacrifice decks as Mayhem Devil should be favored immensely against Lurrus sacrifice. In time, I would expect Obosh to be the sacrifice go to deck.

Well, that is it for Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths. An extremely powerful set that will change how we play Magic forever. Companions will have the same if not more of an impact as when we were first introduced to Planeswalkers back in Lorwyn. I'm excited to try them all out!

As always, thanks for reading,

Ali Aintrazi

Follow me @AliEldrazi

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