Top 10 Ravnica Allegiance Mythics & Rare Crafts!
It's that time, and we're right back at it again. A new set is the best way to start off a new year. In this article I will be bringing up my 10 favorite crafts from Ravnica Allegiance that I can see being major players in the standard meta. We won't be talking about the Uncommons and Commons in this article as we already know Sharktocrab is the best card to ever exist. Just kidding
As a disclaimer, these are cards I would personally craft exclusively for Ravnica Allegiance and aren't in any specific order. Also, this is NOT a limited review. I am not saying these cards are must crafts over Teferi, Hero of Dominaria or other proven staples. Feel free to swing by my channel sometime and we can discuss things in greater depth!
The Shocklands
Why are they called shocklands? It's because you ping yourself for two life to make these lands untapped. Also, anytime and everytime there is any kind of real estate to be had, I will always tell you to craft these as your mana base is so important and essential to you winning whether it be an aggro, combo, midrange, or control. Doesn't matter what archetype you're in, your lands are key. These lands count as two types of basic lands thus meaning all your Glacial Fortress and Rootbound Crag can come into play untapped, which is huge. Now with all the shocklands available we can look to having a perfect manabase. This means that three-colored decks can finally have the best mana. This also allows us to play color combinations we were afraid to play before due to mana inconsistency like Esper (WUB), Bant (WUG), and Mardu (WBR).
Spawn of Mayhem
This card is bonkers. A three mana 4/4 Flample (Flying+Trample) isn't a joke and at the beginning of your upkeep you get to ping them for one and potentially buff this card? I believe that means Spectacle is ready to go! This card will definitely get some play just on its stats alone but seeing as it's not legendary means this card in multiples just snowballs real quick.
Seraph of The Scales
This card already comes down with an amazing stat line with a plethora of abilities. Maybe Mardu Angels can be a thing? But either way, being able to give itself vigilance and deathtouch is great but adding Afterlife 2 to it makes it absurd in value. This will require an exile effect in order for you not to leave behind tokens. On top of that the art is gorgeous.
Angel of Grace
I swear I'm not shilling even if this is the Goldfish spoiler. This card is the truth. The amount of times we'll be able to flash this in and have the opponent committing their resources to get lethal only to be disheartened by the Angel's Grace ability is insane. I can imagine it getting pretty annoying if we keep resetting our health total to ten multiple times as the opponent may need to keep committing to lethal attackers, which could end poorly if we play settle or if we can find the time to sweep the board. This card can be played out of a midrange deck as all we need is that one extra turn to kill our opponents on the crackback. This card will be played in any archetype as long as it runs white mana.
Absorb
As we've already seen from most of the Rakdos cards and Skewer the Critics, there will be tons of ways to smack your opponent for damage. Absorb comes at a much needed time for a control mage as we'll be needing to counter threats and the three life we've gained will be like countering a Skewer or Lighting Strike type of card down the line. Obviously this will battle with Sinister Sabotage as the Surveil is so crucial. They say Surveiling is about half a card but in the right matchups; the lifegain will be a full card so technically you're walking away with some sweet card advantage.
Warrant//Warden
Warrant // Warden was the card I was lucky enough to have a spoiler but man when I saw this card I couldn't stop thinking about how good this card is. It/s finally going to give control mages a clean way to deal with indestructible threats... I'm looking at you Adanto Vanguard, but also allowing us to get around dying effects like my previously mentioned Seraph of the Scales's Afterlife 2. Remember we can still shuffle these threats away with effects like Field of Ruin if need be. Ontop of that, we're able to turn what would be a dead card in a control match into a 4/4 Fligilance (Flying + Vigilance) threat to close out games.
Bedevil
Hero's Downfall was a four of card when it was standard and I believe that is 100% going to still ring true with this card. This is a main deck way to answer artifacts that can also instant speed kill a planeswalker or creature.This is about as good as removal can get for this cost. Wherever this card finds a home, it will be a key card.
Gruul Spellbreaker
This card has had a ridiculous amount of buzz since it's reveal and for all the right reasons. Settle the Wreckage is no longer an answer to your hexproof tank, Carnage Tyrant, as Settle requires your opponent to target a player and YOU and this Spellbreak have hexproof . Ontop of that it having Riot makes our opponents a little more cautious about tapping out when they're at a low health total.
Judith, the Scourge Diva
Judith is a beautiful card in all ways. From the art to what it does. It's an anthem effect for the team but also doesn't die to Cast Down as it's legendary. Its second line of text also means our opponents must kill this before going for a board wipe as Judith will then ping our opponent for every creature destroyed. Rakdos just has so many good aggressive cards and this will be somewhere in the fold of all that.
Thrash // Threat
This card is the truth. Allowing big green stompy decks a way to fight planeswalkers? This can kill a planeswalker with a Carnage Tyrant so we can continue our gameplan of smashing our opponent's health total. Also if this card is top decked when you have no creatures?...it can become..well...a threat hehe. Gruul is getting some big players this set. Especially when everything is paired with Rhythm of the Wild
Conclusion
Ravnica Allegiance seemed a bit weak at first glance but ended up rounding itself out with some crazy powerhouses. This standard has already been amazing so I'm even more excited to see what new decks are added to the roster of already sweet decks. I also can't wait to see these cards get added into existing decks. Anywho, if you haven't done so, check out my Top 10 crafts for Uncommons and Commons if you haven't, and if you have any cards you think should be on this list, feel free to let me know! I'd love to see what your picks are.
See you all soon!
- TheAsianAvenger
