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Throne of Eldraine Standard Set Review: Blue

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Check out the other entries:

White | Black and Gold | Red and Artifacts


Welcome back everyone! Yesterday we went over the White cards from Throne of Eldraine and today we'll be going over all the Blue cards from the fairytale set. Strap in and let's begin, before we start though, let's go over how I will be grading cards.

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 Silverwing Squadron (Brawl rare) and Lonesome Unicorn 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 Throne of Eldraine 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. (Light of the Legion)

2 - Could see fringe play, or occasional sideboard card. (Drowned Secrets)

3 - Commonly played, staple in a single deck, or frequent play in several decks. (Oath of Kaya, Thought Erasure, Lava Coil)

4 - Format staples. Sees play in multiple decks, one of the best cards in the format. (Hydroid Krasis, Risen Reef, Field of the Dead, Nissa, Who Shakes the World)

5 - Format warping. If you're in these colors, you play that card. (Teferi, Time Raveler, Narset, Parter of Veils)

Brazen Borrower
4 - This could very easily be the best card in the set, its power level is on par with Vendillion Clique. It's just an excellent card in tempo, midrange, and even control decks. Having Flash itself means it's great at pressuring opponent's or planeswalkers and can even be used as a removal spell. Just a very solid card.
Emry, Lurker of the Loch
3 - Emry is solid in an artifact deck. Thankfully, Mox Amber is leaving the format, or we'd have to deal with another combo deck. Still, this Merfolk at worst creates card advantage and at best combo kills your opponent.
Fae of Wishes
2.5 - While I don't think Blue needs a spell like this, I'm very glad we got a replacement for Mastermind's Acquisition. I look forward to brewing many decks with this card in mind. I love that you can cast it early as a 1/4 if you are up against an aggressive strategy or have too many in your hand. It's also Duress proof which is nice.
Faerie Formation
1.5 - I want to say this could see play in a big mana deck, but Hyrdoid Krasis just seems better than this card in almost every way. Even if I wanted more of that effect, Gadwick, the Wizened and Finale of Revelation are better.
Folio of Fancies
2 - I can see this as a control mirror breaker or in a fringe big mana deck. Don't expect this to be tier one but could see some play.
Frogify
2 - Another enchantment that helps to deal with Gods or creatures that are hard to kill. Just another Kasmina's Transmutation.
Gadwick, the Wizened
2.5 - Blue Sun's Zenith on a body with even more text is bound to see play in Standard at some point. Could be when we get devotion in Theros. If this card saw no play, it would be because Narset, Parter of Veils is very popular.
Hypnotic Sprite
2.5 - Solid inclusion in the Simic Flash deck. While the creature part doesn't have Flash, it only costs 2 mana.
The Magic Mirror
1.5 - Way too slow to play and to get going, not to mention Teferi, Time Raveler just resets it and Narset shuts it down completely. Cool card but probably only for Commander.
Midnight Clock
2 - Artifact decks typically empty their hand quickly so I can see this being an inclusion in those decks or just as a wish target for Karn, the Great Creator. Still only fringe because the card isn't that good and Teferi / Narset.
Mirrormade
2 - We've seen Copy Artifact and Copy Enchantment, now we get both in one card. Great card for Commander and could see some fringe play in Standard, but Teferi makes artifacts, creatures, and enchantments that cost 3 or more without an enter the battlefield ability close to unplayable.
Mystical Dispute
2.5 - A great Sideboard card for Blue mirror matches, a different Gainsay of sorts.
Shimmer Dragon
2.5 - Great finisher in an Artifact deck, does compete with Tezzeret, Master of the Bridge but having Hexproof and drawing cards is big game.
So Tiny
2 - If you're play a Simic or Mono-Blue deck then you'll want to consider So Tiny as a removal spell, it's a fine card to have against tiny aggressive strategies.
Stolen by the Fae
2.5 - Amazing card alongside Teferi and could be an inclusion for Simic Mass Manipulation decks as an alternate win condition.
Vantress Gargoyle
2.5 - Seems like a decent pay off for a mill strategy. That strategy is just very rarely good enough. Even when we had Visions of Beyond and Jace's Phantasm it was not good enough.
Witching Well
2 - Artifact decks play some strange cheap artifacts to get things going, could see a fringe deck with Witching Well with Tezzeret, Master of the Bridge and Mystic Forge.
Workshop Elders
1.5 - Just too expensive for what it does. Keep this one to Commander.

Top 5 Blue Cards

  1. Brazen Borrower
  2. Emry, Lurker of the Loch
  3. Hypnotic Sprite
  4. Mystical Dispute
  5. Shimmer Dragon

Overall, the Top 5 Blue cards are not as powerful as the White cards but Blue could have the best card in the set in Brazen Borrower. That card should see play in Eternal formats it's so good. My personal favorite card is Fae of Wishes and I'm excited to brew multiple decks around it.

Tomorrow we'll be going over the Black and multicolored cards, so tune in!

As always, thanks for reading,

Ali Aintrazi

Follow me @AliEldrazi

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