Kaladesh Spoilers: Limited Review for September 8
Hello readers, it's time for even more spoiler discussions of Kaladesh! Today among other things, we get to talk about a handful of interesting commons and one of the most broken Mythics in the set.
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)
Cycle
Thriving Cycle
C
The first question this cycle asks is: is this card okay without a +1/+1 counter? Thriving Rats and Thriving Turtle are fairly bad for their costs, but the other three in the cycle are passable in a Limited deck.
The second question is: how easy is it to enable the +1/+1 counter? All five cards in the cycle will usually be safe to attack with if you play them on curve. If you play them late however, their potential to attack to get their counter quickly drops off. For example, if you play Thriving Turtle on turn four, you can bet that you'll never turn it into a 1/4.
The final question is: how good is the energy gained? Thriving Ibex and Thriving Rhino can potentially attack every single turn if you keep supplying them energy, growing into huge threats your opponent has to deal with. The other three likely aren't going to be interested in repeat activations. We also don't have any information about which colors in Limited are the most in need of energy. If there's a large enough gap in which colors care about energy, it could escalate members of this cycle from merely good to top tier Commons.
The ratings: C+/C/C-/C+/B-
White
Angel of Invention
A
Counters or tokens? Greed or glory? Angel of Invention asks you to answer the question wisely: does your opponent have removal?
If your opponent can't remove a 4/3 flyer, picking counters is clearly the correct choice. You get an unstoppable beater in the air with a Glorious Anthem stapled onto it, in case draining for four a turn isn't enough.
If your opponent is packing removal, you'd rather get your two Servo tokens than nothing at all. Try to play Angel of Invention while your opponent is tapped out, so you at least get one turn of attacks while your creatures are being buffed.
So when the time comes and you don't know what's in your opponent's hand, what are you going to pick? When your opponent doesn't have removal, the Servo tokens and a 2/1 flyer will probably still be enough to win, but the temptation to go big is still there. As the quote asks, "What's the most you ever lost on a coin toss?"
Black
Lost Legacy
F
Don't play this card. No, nope, never. Don't think about your friend who (supposedly) once exiled six Timberpack Wolf with an Infinite Obliteration. Think about how silly you'll look when Lost Legacy is a Peek without the card draw.
Red
Incendiary Sabotage
B
The setup cost on Incendiary Sabotage is a little high, but given that it's an instant, it will often allow you to engineer a situation where it's a one sided wrath. As long as I have the Servo tokens or Puzzleknots available to sacrifice, I'd play this card in my red Limited deck and find a way to make it work.
Green
Wildest Dreams
B-
Wildest Dreams gives you three mana for one card, five for two, or very occasionally seven for three. In Limited, this cost is relatively high, and you can only really count on this card if your deck is defensive. You need to be able to take a turn off to cast this spell and survive to make use of the recycled cards. When those conditions are met the card is pretty great, but think before jamming this spell into an aggressive Green-Red deck.
Multicolor
Kambal, Consul of Allocation
B-
Kambal, Consul of Allocation is a nice utility card when you're playing White-Black, but his power level isn't overly high, and I'd never consider splashing him. In any situation where your opponent has five spells they want to cast, the first one of those spells is likely going to be pointed at Kambal, but a three mana 2/3 that sometimes demands removal while draining for two is still a pretty good deal.
Colorless
Aether Hub
D+
Aether Hub feels less like a three color enabler and more like a utility land you can play if the colored requirements in your two color deck aren't that stringent. Getting just a single energy doesn't seem extremely valuable though, so I'd likely only play one of these in a two color deck.
Cultivator Caravan
B-
Cultivator's Caravan is primarily a mana rock, but it sometimes upgrades your creature force. It also blocks quite well given its five toughness and means you can leave a lowly 3/1 back to block your opponent's 4/4s.
Key to the City
B
Key to the City is a win condition and a looter (technically a rummager like Rummaging Goblin) and comes at the low cost of two mana up front and two each time you'd like to use it. This card does little or nothing when you're losing, but in a board stall, this artifact is one of the best cards you can possibly have. I hope there's artifact removal at common or this thing is going to feel awful to lose to.
Conclusion
Kaladesh seems great, and it turns out that Wizards is still awesome at designing Magic sets. I can't wait to draft this set. Please join me for more spoilers and more Limited reviews tomorrow. Reach out to me on Twitter @JakeStilesMTG or in the comments below with your thoughts on the new cards.
