Friday, July 4, 2014

M15 Complete List Spoiled aka the M15 Set Review (Sort of)

     Well, they've uploaded the full list into the image gallery (scroll down) for M15, so I can actually give a decent prerelease guess at what are going to be good cards (more so for limited) and just cards I'm exited about.  Minor warning though as they don't appear to be in gatherer yet, just the gallery, so links are going to not exist in this article.  I suppose I should keep with the "probably better in limited" stack and mix in the favorite cards with those.

      Limited is a tricky thing to judge, as I've been wrong before on what was a good card I pulled.  I'm going to avoid talking about current rares though and focus on the uncommon and common cards.  Color wheel order is how we'll go about this.
      Ajani's Pridemate could be decent, but depends entirely on if you got any life gain, although at worst it is a 2/2 for 2.   Devouring Light and  Oppressive Rays both seem like good choices to help keep you alive, Oreskos Swiftclaw reprint was entertaining as well and makes for a good trade off in combat step.  Pillar of Light in an interesting card as I can't remember if/the last time we had a card that exiled a target based on toughness, Raise the Alarm and Sanctified Charge will be a good combo, just the Charge itself is a good card.  Wall of Essence, well this set in general with its wall mini theme is just entertaining and it is definitely a good card.  Warden of the Beyond is situational and I feel like in a limited format it is hit or miss to make it a 4/4 instead of its normal 2/2 Vigilance self.
      Blue has some funny cards, Aeronaut Tinkerer has a decent place provided you get an artifact (and who can say no to Ornithopter?),  Amphin Pathmage (did that just say "Creature- Salamander Wizard"!?) follows the classic "if it gives unblockable (or rather gives "can't be blocked" since they removed the keyword) it is a useful limited card" format, Chronostutter I'd say has its place but it feels like it costs 1 more than it should.  More wall shenanigans with Coral Barrier as you get a 3 toughness blocker and one of my new favorite tokens, the 1/1 blue islandwalk Squid.  Dissipate is a good reprint, Divination is sort of classic, Ensoul Artifact is one of my favorite new flavor cards that reminds me of the old days of silly flavor text.  Frost Lynx is a solid pick, Glacial Crasher is.....flavor fun and maybe more useful than I think, Invisibility is more wall shenanigans, Kapsho Kitefins will probably help someone win a game though I feel it won't be too consistent as it is a six drop, Mind Sculpt is great in a limited format, I remember milling someone in M13 one game for 21 cards because of drafting that card.  Turn to Frog, Void Snare and Wall of Frost are classic choices that are probably all good, though by themselves they won't be a win con.
     I'm gonna shorten the list for black hopefully, as I'm rather bad at reading it for MtG in limited.   Blood Host with Black Cat is probably a workable limited combo.  Caustic Tar might as well be a win condition by itself.  Child of Night and Endless Obedience are both solid choices, Eternal Thirst is good, Gravedigger reprint was something I was glad about, Mind Rot can be nasty early on in limited, Rotfeaster Maggot is probably useful but it's hard to tell (then again, walls in graves so....).  Sign in Blood is a card I've seen someone use to win with before, from both the life loss and the card draw decking them out, Stab Wound is a great reprint, Typhoid Rats makes a good chump blocker and Wall of Limbs might work in someone's deck but that is another "dumb luck draft" card dependent on what you get.
      When it comes to red and Act on Impulse, I'm not sure where it would fall in limited.  Altac Blood seeker seems decent, but situation dependent.  Blastfire Bolt I feel might be more useful in a more constructed setting but at worst it is "kill anything with toughness 5 or less" destroying equipment can be useful though.  Borderland Marauder is a decent aggro card, Brood Keeper is a fun card by itself,  Circle of Flame is the anti death by soldiers pull and probably a good limited card if not limited sideboard card, and Clear a path as a reprint fits in well since every color can pull a defender easily.  Cone of Flame reprint and Crowd's Favorite are two solid cards, especially since Crowd's Favorite is basically free.  Foundry Street Denizen might have it's place, but don't rely on it solely.   Generator Servant gives us a nice "anything can sort of have haste" ability which was lacking the last core set.  Same thing with Hammerhand, except it adds to that.  Inferno Fist is a nice Shock in a box Aura, Krenko's Enforcer is a decent 2/2 half unblockable due to intimidate card.  Lava Axe is generally solid to have one in color, Lightning Strike is our Lightning Bold nerf reprint for the set, so it is okay it seems.  Miner's Bane having trample is nice, Rummaging Goblin is a good card in color, Scrapyard Mongrel is to red what Aeronaut was for blue, and Stoke the Flames will probably be a useful card for your opponent's turn.
     Green has Ancient Silverback, and that is a nice thing.  Back to Nature is great, however I'm not sure what they were thinking with Carnivorous Moss-Beast's ability cost.  Elvish Mystic (aka not-Lanowar Elves) is a required core set card for green, Gathering Courage is nice for blocking, Hunt the Weak is decent in limited, Hunter's Ambush will have to be what we settle for in place of fog for green, and Netcaster Spider is a silly card in a good way.  Nissa's Expedition is a decent land ramp card, but it would have been nice to have Explosive Vegetation.  The Restock reprint was a bit out of nowhere but they did knock it down from a rare to an uncommon, so I can get away with mentioning it here.  Runeclaw Bear is the second greatest card ever (behind Grizzly Bears).  Satyr Wayfinder seems a bit too off for a reprint and also seems a bit......bad compared to other options they had, then again we have restock so it is debatable.  Verdant Haven and Wall of Mulch are the last good non-rares (excluding Titanic Growth) for green in limited, probably.
   As for the colorless cards (no non-rare multicolored cards), Brawler's Plate is nice to give anything in any deck trample, Gargoyle Sentinel is decent, and Hot Soup is probably decent as well.  Juggernaut is wall shenanigans again, Meteorite exists so Manalith doesn't?  Rogue's Gloves and Ornithopter may be okay splashes into a deck.  Evolving Wilds, Darksteel Citadel and Radiant Fountain are solid non-basic lands.
    As for the cycle cards, the paragon's are dependent, the "Staff of the" cycle are deck dependent, I ignored talking about slivers because in general, they're good only if you draft the group, though the deathtouch sliver is alright on it's own and Constricting Sliver as well (maybe) on it's own.
     As for rares in set, I'll be vague and just say I applaud the reprint of the pain lands they chose, and Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth is a silly card as well.  For now though I'll wait for a more....numerical summary on the set when it actually comes out.

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