Locations
Though we didn't do a set review for Rise of the Eldrazi, we are back with our set review. This time around I sat down with Billy Postlethwait, one of the top 50 Magic players in the world and the current reigning WoW TCG World Champion. Along with him are Shane Myerscough, an ex-Pro player (well... he's been to one) and Jason Brown, a solid deck builder and Magic player with no real credits to his name. And of course myself. The humble host of ManaNation, Trick Jarrett.
Over the course of two lunches we reviewed the entire set. No ratings this time around, just observations and thoughts. In these reviews you will skipped cards, largely commons. These are cards that any comments end up being fluff or pointless and so we chose to skip them in our review. They're included here for completeness.
See our Review of Magic 2011 White & Blue
Black
Assassinate - Skipped
A 3/2 for 3 is a bit slow for Black, but without a drawback it will see limited play. It doesn't likely have much of a home in constructed as Vampires only seems to be getting weaker.
Black Knight - Skipped
It'll be played heavily in limited, a 6 life swing is big in limited. But it's underwhelming for Constructed. Of course expect to see it in multiplayer games as well, though those players should really be playing Drain Life or some other such spell.
We could see a strong Green/Black limited archetype for people trying to benefit from the new Fallen Angel and Mitotic Slime (talk about a ridiculously fun combo.) But otherwise this card is fairly unexciting. We have to think it was included for limited purposes due to the fact that this won't extend Bloodthrone Vampire's life in Standard, as Zendikar rotates along with Magic 2011.
Bog Raiders - Skipped
Vampire Nocturnus this is not. The problem is that while yes, he pumps other vampires, his secondary ability is a win-more ability. With five vampires on the board you should have a dominant stance already. Obviously it could break stalemates, but it just isn't a strong force and it doesn't buff as much as Nocturnus did. So why didn't Wizards include Nocturnus? We had a few theories. First, Vampires are a fairly new tribe and haven't had a number of buffing lords, so to give them a better chance in older formats they need more variety in lords. Secondly, they might be setting him up for something coming in Scars as Nocturnus was paving the way for Zendikar. We'll see I suppose, until then he's underwhelming though not bad.
Child of Night - Skipped
My notes say "> (greater than) Consume Spirit" - Otherwise there wasn't much to discuss it seems.
I initially really liked this card, but then I spoke with people smarter than me and had it explained to me why this is no Dark Confidant and why it's actually worse than Phyrexian Arena usually. The whole power of Dark Confidant was that it was a creature as well, so it could beat down or block and it was somewhat easier to get rid of when life came at a premium. As an enchantment, Black will struggle to get rid of it. It's worse than Phyrexian Arena because that one nets you a card at a fixed cost of 1 life, while this one varies depending on what is on top. Sure, with Crystal Ball this can be managed nicely, but without it, you will likely take more than 1 life per turn on average.
Deathmark - Skipped
R&D seems determined to keep Demons the pets of casual players, with the exception of Abyssal Persecutor, most demons in recent history have wavered between bad and horrible (basing this on their performance in constructed.) This one doesn't look to wander too far. It's got big opportunity and big cost. Sure the potential for a turn two 9/9 by use of its alternative casting method seems fun and exciting, but it just begs to be Pathed or killed in some other gruesome way. If he had some way to stay alive or defend himself against removal then the alternative casting cost would be very tempting. But to remove three of your creatures and six life only to have him killed makes for a sad and bad player.
Diabolic Tutor - Skipped
Disentomb - Skipped
Doom Blade - Skipped
Duress - Skipped
Possibly the best of the cycle of Titans. Has an immediate and forceful benefit for its cost, giving you three creatures and 10 power all for just six mana. Not to mention having some way to haste him and make even more tokens when he attacks. This guy is just a beast and definitely going to see competitive play.
Gravedigger - Skipped
This might see some Sideboard action for constructed depending how crazy the graveyard hijinx are over the next year. Leyline of the Void seems an obvious tool against graveyard abuse, but this one is also a strong candidate.
A strong limited card. 3/3 flyer for 4 = win.
Despite the brevity of the notes, we discussed this one in depth. It's one of the two best Leylines based on appearance, it and Red's Leyline of Punishment. This one has the obvious immediate application as a weapon against Vengevine, but it also is more limited as Punishment has immediate and direct effects against an entire deck rather than just one hated card.
I honestly thought we were going to get a new one. I couldn't see any other reason to slow roll the Planeswalkers in M11. Alas we get the original and sadly she just seems to be too slow and not generally good enough for the current format.
It's a Megrim style effect, and unless you're in a constructed format with punishment for cards in hand such as The Rack, this style deck is a trap for the pilot. It just won't be strong enough without a bit more jet fuel in the mix.
It was generally liked by those in the discussion, obviously must be aware of Green opponent's who might gripping an Obstinate Baloth a little too tight. The main problem seen with this is, what constructed deck is going to run this over Vampire Nighthawk? Is the ETB Discard better than Flying, Deathtouch, Lifelink?
Mind Rot - Skipped
Oh Nantuko Shade, how I remember the good times we had. Bashing face was never quite so sweet since you've been gone. But will it return? The major problem is that the age of mono-color decks seems to be long gone. Multicolor is far too powerful in the current format to allow Nantuko to really spread his wings. Perhaps with the departure of Shards we'll see mono-black control return and allow Nantuko to properly introduce himself to the young folks who don't really know him yet.
This is one of those cards that feels like it slipped out the side door of R&D. One of those zany Mark Rosewater or Erik Lauer experiments that broke loose and made it out into the public. It's not going to see play in Constructed and likely not in limited. It could find a home in some random casual decks, perhaps a Pestilence themed Vorthos deck?
Nether Horror - Skipped
Expensive! In the same set where Nantuko Shade makes it's return, you give us a more expensive to cast and more expensive to pump version. Meh. Color us unimpressed. It'll go in Limited because pumped flying is strong, but even then it's expensive!
This card takes the cake for most flavorful card of the set. To briefly explain, a Lich is a fantasy creature who is undead like a zombie, but it's very intelligent usually a wizard who doesn't want to die. Think Voldemort from Harry Potter. To survive they lock a piece of themselves (usually their still beating heart) into a box to be kept safe. Only by destroying the box can you kill the Lich. So yeah - very flavorful.
The main problem is that Indestructibility means less these days, Path to Exile and other RFG removal spells have greatly diminished the meaning. That being said... I so want to play this guy and break the format with him. A 3 mana 5/5 just seems ridiculously fun to windmill slam.
It's a form of Limited removal, but it is awful in any form of constructed.
Very flavorful, he works the way new players feel like Regeneration should work. There's the possibility this guy could be part of a combo for his ability to recur from the graveyard, but otherwise likely just a casual timmy card.
Relentless Rats - Skipped
Rise From the Grave - Skipped
WTF. The only way we could see this card getting designed is that it actually started out as "~ cannot block the turn after it enters the battlefield." But after play testing and going through the rules folks it probably got kicked back as confusing or problematic so they simplified it to "ETB tapped." The card isn't truly horrendous, a 4/5 for 5 is... meh-ish, but it's just sort of weird and makes us scratch our head.
Royal Assassin - Skipped
Still good. Black benefits from the card draw and the life loss is minimal. Such a strong card.
Really like this for limited, and it might find a place in constructed for its ability to kill mana dudes (Hierarch or Birds) and in the late game tap a crucial defender.
Unholy Strength - Skipped
It seems okay, another great thematic card. There is potential for some fun hijinx with cards like Reassembling Skeleton.
Red
At first we were going to skip this card, but the fact it got moved to Common actually makes a fair bit of importance. You're going to see this a lot more in drafts, where as you might see one or two in an 8-man, now you'll regularly see 3 or 4. This means Red is going to be much better and stealing your creatures and you have to be wary of such tricks when facing them.
While we were a fan of the pseudo-firebreathing, the overall cost for the guy was too much to make him constructed viable.
It's a worse, though easier to cast, Ball Lightning. But the ease of casting makes no difference for constructed as this guy is only going to be going into Mono-Red, so at that point why not Ball Lightning?
Seems fine.
The guys did not like this dude, however they noted that he has the hots for Chandra - her ability to ping makes this guy decent. Same with teaming him up with Cunning Sparkmage or Prodigal Pyromancer.
Canyon Minotaur - Skipped
She seems to be better in the new Standard, M11 gives a lot of cards which support or benefit from her as opposed to her successor. The problem is she relies on creature decks and doesn't really fit well into a control style deck.
Four mana is expensive and the inability to split the damage as you'd like is less than optimal.
This thing is going to live in Multiplayer, otherwise not much elsewhere.
Perhaps the set defining card for Red, Combust should read "Destroy Baneslayer and laugh about it." A big card and important for Red as it returns them to a footing equal to all the other colors.
While 
is tough to hit, it's not impossible and the power of this guy is enough that decks will be playing him in constructed. The fact that he's 4/4 means a lot too, he becomes much worse as a 3/3.
Demolish - Skipped
It's the new 'Wildfire' but it has a few key differences. First off, this doesn't hit Planeswalkers, so there is a definite spot for this in the sideboard of UWR Planeswalkers aka Super Friends. Also, it seems a sign that R&D is beginning to toy with mass land destruction again. They had removed Armageddon because it took a lot of fun out of the game for those who got hit by it, but the format has shifted so much that they're ready to test mass land destruction and see what sort of effect it has on player perception. At 7 mana it's a safe test, the card won't go nuts and be in every deck.
Earth Servant - Skipped
A very solid 2 drop and Red needs all the good 2 drops it can get to really be effective. This guy is a house in limited and constructed, and he's a Goblin on top of that! Sadly damage still doesn't stack in combat.
Fiery Hellhound - Skipped
Too expensive for what you get. It's like a Furnace's of Rath but only for instants or sorceries, and that limitation makes it much less effective. Sure a fair bit of the damage from Red decks is dealt by sorcery and instant spells, but that's usually earlier in the game and by the time this guy gets out most of it will have been done already. Sure it might be what allows you to get there, but what else could you cast at the five slot?
Fireball - Skipped
We were all glad to see Fling return, the main application though is for Planeswalker killing. If you're facing two planeswalkers, then you can attack one and then fling the creature (after damage) at the other one. It's just a fun idea really, you fling it at anything that needs killing or hurting.
Goblin Balloon Brigade - Skipped
One of the Lords to return from M10, he's great but it seems Goblins are a bit weak as a tribe right now so he's waiting in the wings, sharpening his axe.
Goblin Piker - Skipped
Goblin Tunneler - Skipped
So much Johnny. So very much for Johnny. I immediately saw this and had visions of Kiki-Jiki'ing him to tutor out artifacts from my EDH deck, but there really isn't much of a home for him elsewhere. A 4/4 flyer for limited isn't bad of course, but his ability is nearly pointless there. You don't want him to die in limited, you want him to bash face and win.
Incite - Skipped
Lava Axe - Skipped
Like Leyline of the Void, possibly one of the best cards in the format. This is a big piece for Red Deck Wins to get there and truly be tier 1 as it handles the proble posed by Kor Firewalker and other such spells. Will it prove enough to put Red over the top? We'll have to wait and see.
Lightning Bolt - Skipped (though we're glad it's back.)
Wasn't good before, won't be good now. Sure, can be used in limited as a flier, but otherwise... *shrug*
This one seems good now and will likely prove awesome when Scars rolls around. It's what Goblin Ruinblaster was for Zendikar, this one focuses on the relevant card type - artifact.
Sadly it is still outclassed by Sparkmage, the fact that it doesn't have Haste makes it infinitely worse. New players may see it as better given that it's a 1/1, but the truth is that this guy should never get into combat except to win the game or stop you from losing and in those cases the 1 power means almost nothing.
A key element for combo decks using red and a necessary piece of fuel for it. I love when red gets mana rituals!
The hard truth about Pyroclasm is that most decks' creatures have outgrown it. Sure you get mana dudes and other small guys, but 2 toughness is so rarely in constructed that this guy is getting dated.
Forks have never quite gotten there. In red spells decks they would usually rather have other spells rather than risk having an empty grip and this guy.
This thing is going to wreck families in limited. Bashing face and flinging damage like it's nothing. Sadly though, that's where it ends. It's too expensive for constructed.
Thunder Strike - Skipped
Volcanic Strength - Skipped
Vulshock Berserker - Skipped
This seems like it's destined for kitchen tables and casual decks around the world, but the random effect is likely never going to break through in constructed and is probably going to be out-classes by other options in limited.
