Kaladesh Spoilers: Limited Review for September 6
Welcome to the second day of spoiler discussions for Kaladesh! Today we get to review two new planeswalkers and some sweet energy cards.
I'll be reviewing these cards from the standpoint of how well I expect them to perform in Limited. We can't rate the cards completely accurately without knowing the entire set, but we can evaluate the cards in an "average" limited format. You can find all the latest spoilers on the Kaladesh page. Please note that if I haven't yet reviewed a card, it's probably because the official spoiler for it has not been released yet.
Grading scale
A: This card will often be the best card in one's deck. I'd consider splashing it where possible. (Tireless Tracker, Gisela, the Broken Blade)
B: This card is rarely cut from a deck that can cast it. In draft, it signals that a color or archetype is open. (Forgotten Creation, Murder)
C: Cards like this make up the majority of limited decks. You're neither excited nor embarrassed to have them in your deck. (Moorland Drifter, Thraben Foulbloods)
D: I'm not putting this in my main deck unless I have a specific reason or I'm low on playables. (Merciless Resolve, Prophetic Ravings)
F: This card will have little or no impact on the game if I draw it or is strictly sideboard-material. If I cast this card, please stage an intervention for me. (Harness the Storm, Deploy the Gatewatch)
White
Wispweaver Angel
B
Unlike Panharmonicon which does nothing by itself, Wispweaver Angel offers a flying body in the air along with the ability to reuse an ETB (enter the battlefield) effect. At worst, it can untap a creature to give it pseudo-vigilance for a turn.
Blue
Metallurgic Summonings
D
You'd have to heavily build your deck around Metallurgic Summonings to make either half of it worth the investment in a five mana enchantment. I'm going to wait to see someone else win with this before trying myself to make it work.
Torrential Gearhulk
B+
Torrential Gearhulk gives huge incentive to put extra instants in your deck to combo with it since even a card as mediocre as Aether Tradewinds becomes great when you get to cast it for free with a 5/6 attached. When you have to cast Torrential Gearhulk with no instant in your graveyard, you're likely still going to be able to ambush an attacker with it, and that makes the worst case scenario still great.
Black
Fortuitous Find
C
A single Fortuitous Find is great insurance for a slow deck with expensive bombs in it. Some games this spell will get stuck in your hand and you'll wish it was a creature, but when it gets back two cards your opponent spent removal getting rid of it will feel incredible.
Morbid Curiosity
C+
If even just one Pacifism effect is common in the format, Morbid Curiosity is likely going to be a high pick. I'd gladly take the Opportunity to turn almost any random four drop into free cards, and the upside of sometimes sacrificing a creature that isn't usable for anything else is huge.
Red
Chandra, Torch of Defiance
A+
If you play Chandra, Torch of Defiance and add mana to cast a two drop, you can easily have two or three blockers defending your five loyalty planeswalker as early as turn four. From that position, winning is almost trivial with the huge advantage gained from your choice of extra cards, extra mana, or an extra Flame Slash.
If you have to cast Chandra when you're losing, she's still a removal spell and that's fine too.
Harnessed Lightning
B
Harnessed Lightning is cheap, efficient, and also particularly resilient to combat tricks. If your opponent pumps their creature out of range, you don't have to spend any energy at all. Just save the three counters for your next card that needs it.
Lathnu Hellion
B
Lathnu Hellion's downside is almost nonexistent. It pays for itself the first turn and by the time it requires an investment Lathnu Hellion has already dealt eight damage! If your opponent decides to trade off with it instead, you're still getting significant value.
Madcap Experiment
F
Madcap Experiment is usually going to cost more mana than the artifact it gives you for free and also will Lava Axe your face on occasion. Leave this one to SaffronOlive and his Against the Odds series.
Green
Arborback Stomper
C+
It's not exciting, but it is efficient. Any green deck should be happy to play at least three Arborback Stomper. Good luck getting that many when they're Uncommon though.
Armorcraft Judge
B-
Fabricate creatures are the obvious enablers for Armorcraft Judge, and their rate of occurrence in the format will determine how high of a pick this creature is.
Longtusk Cub
B-
Bears with upside are pretty great in Limited, and Longtusk Cub is no exception. It's nice that you can pay energy even when you're tapped out, so as long as you have energy reserves, your opponent has to worry about how much you can buff Longtusk Cub.
Nissa, Vital Force
A
Nissa, Vital Force is extremely difficult to evaluate. Paying five for a Nature's Spiral and having Nissa die is pretty bad, but her +1 ability does a great job of protecting her. Even given the option to ultimate on turn six, you'll often be better off keeping the 5/5 around. It's unclear what the best way to utilize Nissa's abilities are, but she's a Planeswalker, and will win the game often enough that you should almost always pick her and play her.
Multicolor
Voltaic Brawler
B
Voltaic Brawler is completely absurd. It costs two mana and attacks as a 4/3 twice before becoming a 3/2 unless you have extra energy sources. If that sounds incredible, that's because it is. The only downside is that you have to play both red and green in order to use it.
Colorless
Animation Module
B-
Why choose between fabricate giving counters or tokens when you can have both? With Animation Module, any fabricate creature that you choose to give counters will allow you to pay a generic mana to get a Servo token too. For four mana, you can get a counter and a token again which is a pretty good deal for a repeatable effect. It also lets you increase your energy counters at a rate of one for three mana, but that seems like a much less exciting deal.
Bomat Bazaar Barge
C+
Say hello to the colorless Shaman of Spring. This Vehicle also replaces itself with a card and provides two net additional power on the board. Bomat Bazaar Barge isn't as incredible as it seems at first glance, but I think it's still good in most decks. I can't wait to combo all the Vehicles with Speedway Fanatic.
Decoction Module
C+
I prefer Aetherstorm Roc as an energy generator since it comes with a flyer. The additional ability to save your creature in combat or reuse a powerful ETB effect seems useful, but four mana is a lot to pay for the effect.
Fabrication Module
B-
Fabrication Module is the hardest of the three to evaluate. Four mana for one energy and one +1/+1 counter seems a little overcosted, but it can make creature combat difficult for your opponent. Additionally, creatures like Lathnu Hellion and Voltaic Brawler can trigger the ability while also giving you a creature on which to put the counters.
Conclusion
There's still one Planeswalker left to discover, and I can't wait to see the rest of the spoilers as they are revealed. Please join me for more spoilers and more Limited review tomorrow. Reach out to me on Twitter @JakeStilesMTG or in the comments below with your thoughts on the new cards.
