Zendikar Set Review - White
At long last, Zendikar is out! No more scraping for article topics, no more M10 drafts, and no more speculative Constructed testing. I had a great time at the Prerelease this weekend, and even got a draft in with some of the prize packs won. Not too many priceless treasures were opened, despite the aggregate turnout at Superstars totaling roughly 350 players on the weekend (by my rough estimate). That’s a lot of packs, and the only treasures I spotted were a Phyrexian Dreadnought and a Gaea’s Cradle. That did little to dim the excitement whenever I opened a pack of Zendikar, since every single time I immediately checked to see if I was the recipient of my very own Golden Ticket, as I’m sure most people were doing (and will continue to do basically forever). This promotion is awesome, although Wizards did stick to the “priceless treasures” part of the slogan. As funny as “perilous traps” would be in theory, I suspect opening a Legends Pit Scorpion or a Pit Trap from Ice Age would only create feelings of disappointment…exactly like a trap should!
I am fully reviewing Zendikar this week, with an eye to both Limited and Constructed. As much as I would like to start with Blue, it does make more sense to go WUBRG, since that is the color wheel and all. My reviews will go by color, with Artifacts and Lands at the end, and I will be posting them each day this week. The rating system is going to be a combination of what I used last time for Alara Reborn (such as this article) and the pointing system used by Wizard’s R&D for Limited.
Constructed
5.0: Multi-format All-Star. Bitterblossom. Tarmogoyf.
4.0: Format staple. Mutavault. Baneslayer Angel.
3.0: Archetype staple. Mulldrifter. Scion of Oona.
2.0: Niche card. Sideboard or currently unknown archetype. Fracturing Gust. (Bear in mind that many cards fall into this “maybe” category, although explanation of why is obviously important)
1.0 It has seen play once. One with Nothing. (I believe it was “tech” vs Owling Mine, although fairly suspicious tech at that.)
Limited
5.0: I will always play this card. Period.
4.5: I will almost always play this card, regardless of what else I get.
4.0: I will strongly consider playing this as the only card of its color.
3.5: I feel a strong pull into this card’s color.
3.0: This card makes me want to play this color. (Given that I’m playing that color, I will play this card 100% of the time.)
2.5: Several cards of this power level start to pull me into this color. If playing that color, I essentially always play these. (Given that I’m playing that color, I will play this card 90% of the time.)
2.0: If I’m playing this color, I usually play these. (70%)
1.5: This card will make the cut into the main deck about half the times I play this color. (50%)
1.0: I feel bad when this card is in my main deck. (30%)
0.5: There are situations where I might sideboard this into my deck, but I’ll never start it. (10%)
0.0: I will never put this card into my deck (main deck or after sideboarding). (0%)
Let’s get to business!
Constructed: 2
Needing Equipment to be good, and only pumping Kor creatures when it’s working pretty much dooms this guy. White has plenty of good 2-drops available nowadays.
Limited: 3.0
If you have enough Plains to reliably play Armament Master on turn 2, he is going to be pretty solid. The abundance of both Equipment and Kors makes his ability actually relevant, and even though he is a bit fragile, his ability is just an added bonus on top of a decent 2-drop.
Constructed: 2
I have a hard time seeing this actually get played, but it would be pretty brutal to play for 1W. Four creatures is just so many, and if your opponent knows you have this it becomes nigh-impossible to play for cheap. The effect is good, but five mana is just too expensive for Constructed.
Limited: 3.0
If the mana cost was 4W, this would merit a higher rating, but I dislike double-colored splashes. Against non-Green decks, you should be able to shoot down multiple guys, which makes this pretty solid. It is easy to play around, but later in the game keeping mana up isn’t much of a burden, so that doesn’t matter as much. In the 2HG, we managed to nap two Timbermaw Larva in the same attack, which was pretty sweet!
Constructed: 1
Glorious Anthem this is not.
Limited: 2.5
Warrior’s Honor and the like aren’t all that impressive, but they have their uses. However, having the option of this being Stir the Pride (well, kind of) at seven mana makes Bold Defense much better. +2/+2 and First Strike is pretty absurd, and should lead to a combat step blowout. Great in aggressive decks, not so great in controlling ones, although still mostly playable there.
Constructed: 3
If there is an aggressive White deck in Standard, Brave the Elements will be a key piece of it. Protecting all your guys from Volcanic Fallout or spot removal for just one mana is great, and it being non-targeted (unlike Bathe in Light) means that a sweeper plus a removal spell doesn’t work either. Efficient protection spells are few and far between, and all of them seem to find a home, and this doubles as a Falter to boot.
Limited: 3.0
If you have White creatures in your deck, you will play this, for the same reasons that it makes it in Constructed. Being able to keep up a stream of guys and trade this for a card that undoubtedly is more expensive is nice, and it doesn’t lose any potency going into the late game.
Constructed: 1
I’ve hurda few jokes about this new name for Beasts, and they don’t get any better with repetition.
Limited: 2.0
White seems to want to be pretty aggressive, and Hurda Burdle most certainly isn’t. On the other hand, he pretty effectively hinders most ground-based offense, so I expect to play him often. In control decks, he should be pretty effective. I like overcosted defensive guys, so I might be a little biased (Ghosts of the Innocent was one of my favorite Ravnica block Limited cards).
Constructed: 1
You can make your own Baneslayer! (Evasion, protection, real Lifelink, and First Strike not included).
Limited: 2.0
It costs a ton and doesn’t grant evasion, and it is a creature enchantment. There are a lot of “ifs” required to get this to work, so I wouldn’t pick it highly, but Celestial Mantle can be pretty effective when left unchecked.
Constructed: 1
It’s the next Soltari Priest…or not.
Limited: 2.0
Two-power two-drops with a beneficial ability generally make the cut, and Cliff Threader is no exception. Some decks will have enough small guys to have the luxury of cutting him, but most won’t.
Constructed: 3
Six power of guys for five mana is not a bad deal, and if you can add a little Ajani Goldmaneor Honor of the Pure to the mix, so much the better. Cloudgoat Ranger saw a ton of Constructed play, and it looks like the Pledge is heir apparent to his throne. I would be surprised if there isn’t a decent White deck with all the new toys Zendikar is bringing.
Limited: 3.5
Easily a first pick, Conqueror’s Pledge is quite the threat. Kicking it is actually going to happen from time to time, which makes an already excellent card just a little bit better. Following the Pledge up with a Bold Defense is likely to end most games.
Constructed: 4
Wrath is back, and better than ever! Ok, maybe not better than ever, but that seemed like a good tagline. The departure of Faeries should make Day of Judgment better than Wrath was in its last few years of Standard existence, which is impressive. I look forward to playing with Wrath again, since it hasn’t been good for so long.
Limited: 4
I’m not totally in love with Wrath effects in Limited, but they are undeniably powerful. Once the opponent knows of its existence it loses a ton of value, but until then you should be able to get a pretty good advantage from your Day of Judgment, and even if they do know that can often buy you time when you don’t even have the Day in hand.
Constructed: 3
Sure to be the bane of Putrid Leeches and Vampires everywhere, Devout Lightcaster strikes me as a very effective sideboard card. Obviously the mana cost is quite prohibitive, but if all your lands are Plains, I don’t see a problem!
Limited: 2.5
Powerful color hosers are tricky in Limited, since they lose so much value against decks not of the targeted color. I would always play the Lightcaster in a deck with many Plains (11+), but I could see sideboarding it in a normal two color deck. The mana cost just is too difficult unless you get a good payoff, which will only happen against Black decks.
Constructed: 2
Meloku this is not, even though the comparison seems to be what most people bring up. Emeria is pretty efficient, but dying to Lightning Bolt is a pretty bad place to be in nowadays. It doesn’t seem outside the realm of possibility for Emeria to show up though, since turn five Emeria + fetchland is a pretty solid play, even if not quite exciting enough for most decks.
Limited: 4.0
One of White’s bombs, Emeria is going to be a first pick every time in the first pack. An efficient flier with a great ability is pretty hard to beat, even if Emeria loses a little luster later in the game. Still, you should almost never be empty-handed, since even late you should be sandbagging lands in hand.
Constructed: 1
There are too many good options (*cough* Baneslayer) for the Sovereign to hope for any game time.
Limited: 4
Four might be a tad high, but huge Lifelink creatures are generally pretty good. Add in Vigilance and it makes it even that much harder for your opponent to mount any sort of offense against this guy. Forty life is actually reachable too, which is pretty funny. If your opponents plan is to chump this guy and deck you, they might have another thing coming.
Constructed: 3
Iona looks like the new fatty of choice for decks that cheat on mana costs, since she can stop any potential answers (Path to Exile, Day of Judgment) or simply stop them from casting anything. Tooth and Nailing for her and Painter’s Servant is cute, but does suffer from the fact that it doesn’t stop you from losing to the spells they have already played. That might not matter, since a 7/7 flier quells most offense.
Limited: 1.5
Nine is probably too much, and most decks won’t be interested in assembling that much mana. If your deck has enough ramps and control cards, Iona is a pretty excellent finisher, but that takes some work. You can’t just throw Iona into any deck, even if she will be quite potent in a deck that can accommodate her.
Constructed: 3
Path to Exile is better, but second best isn’t bad. A two-mana sorcery speed removal spell is nothing to scoff at, and I would be surprised if Journey didn’t show up in Standard. I would much rather cast Journey in the first four or five turns than Path to Exile, so it might be a good addition to the standard four Path removal suite.
Limited: 4
Splashing for O-Ring was common, and I expect nothing less from Journey to Nowhere. I have already splashed it twice, and I have only done one draft and three sealed’s so far!
Constructed: 1
Without Flash, Kabira Evangel has no hope of seeing Constructed play, since the protection granted is really only useful for evasion purposes. Cards that interact with creature combat are notoriously terrible in Constructed, and unfortunately nothing has changed here.
Limited: 3
On the other hand, Limited is all about creature combat! Even in a deck not focused on Allies, a 2/3 for 3 is perfectly acceptable, and making some of your other guys hard to block is a nice bonus. In a deck heavily focused on Allies, the Evangel is a pretty high pick.
Constructed: 3
Now this is an Ally with potential. He might not be Knight of Meadowgrain, but the Knight’s tour of duty has ended in Standard. Vigilance plus First Strike makes a pretty mean low drop, and even if he is the only Ally you are playing, drawing multiples is just filthy. The Blademaster is even a Soldier, in case that deck becomes real!
Limited: 3.0
A solid 3, I have already been on the receiving end of some Blademaster beats. By himself he is awesome, which is really the key for most Allies, even if that makes the Ally deck harder to draft (what with the non-Ally decks taking your awesome Allies). Strap on a Trusty Machete and he practically eliminates the opponent’s combat step all by himself!
Constructed: 2
Leonin Skyhunter was an integral part of WW in years past, and this is a strict upgrade. Another good White beater, this guy won’t get kicked all that often, but the kicker is pretty nice. Sending a four power Kazandu Blademaster to the skies is pretty neat, since it gives White a bit of much-needed reach.
Limited: 3
Aggressive White cards are so good in this set, even if a bit mana-intensive. Good on turn 2 or turn 7, Aeronaut does naut disappoint.
Constructed: 1
Civic Wayfinder with Sphere of Resistance in play is just not exciting, especially since Wayfinder has always been borderline playable. Plus, every time I see this card I think his name should be “Kortographer”, and am disappointed that it isn’t.
Limited: 2.5
You rarely will cut the Kortographer, but most times won’t be too excited either. If you aren’t ramping to anything, which most White decks won’t, the additional land isn’t all that exciting. If you have a ton of Landfall, he does get better, but most decks don’t seem to fall into that category.
Constructed: 1
People will try, but this guy shouldn’t be in your Constructed decks. Cards that rely on other cards, particularly unimpressive ones like Equipment blah blah blah unplayable.
Limited: 1.5
Kor Duelist is likely to be either unplayable or pretty solid, since you will really only play him if he falls into the latter camp or if your draft went horribly, horribly, wrong. Hitting on turn three with a Machete is pretty busted, but that is definitely best-case scenario. Wrapter wouldn’t approve.
Constructed: 1
I don’t anticipate anyone getting hooked in this time around.
Limited: 3.0
If you are beating down, this guy is golden. Adding the pressure while making a guy unable to block for two turns is exactly the kind of card you want, making the Hookmaster a three-drop that is good on turn three or turn nine. On the flip side, if you are on the defensive, he can ease the pressure a little, giving you some breathing room. He is certainly much worse in a defensive deck, but still good enough to run under pretty much all circumstances.
Kor Outfitter
Constructed: 1
Unless an equipment with a tiny casting cost, huge equip cost, and awesome abilities comes out, I expect this guy to be outfitting junk binders for the foreseeable future.
Limited: 2.5
mana
Yet another White 2-drop, he is about as playable as most of the less exciting ones. Sure, sometimes you save a mana or two, but don’t be fooled into thinking that this guy is anything but a Silvercoat Lion.
Constructed: 2
I love value cards, and this guy just might be solid enough to make the cut. If Journey to Nowhere becomes common enough, the Sanctifiers could be a decent sideboard choice.
Limited: 3.0
What with all the awesome equipment and enchantment-based removal in the set, I would always like to pick up some Sanctifiers. Being able to maindeck enchantment/artifact removal that isn’t dead if they lack targets is awesome, so pick ‘em highly.
Constructed: 1
Again, only the lack of Flash separates this guy from playability and reality. As is, there isn’t much that you are bouncing profitably, making the Skyfisher a pretty lousy two-drop.
Limited: 3.0
The “drawback” is really only one until about turn 5, after which it just gives you another Landfall trigger or a way to pick up a guy with Paralyzing Grasp. Kor Skyfisher is pretty excellent, and a card you want as many of as possible.
Constructed: 2
A very conditional “2″, the Ritual will only see play if there is a Mono-White Control deck, a pretty unlikely event. Mono-White almost always lacks the right tools to interact with other control decks, although Emeria, the Sky Ruin certainly helps in that regard.
Limited: 0.5
Only in Mono-White, and only against a particularly suicidal aggressive deck could I see you sideboarding this one in. It can gain alot of life, but that mostly doesn’t matter, and it is really bad if you have non-Plains land in your deck.
Constructed: 2
I am hopeful that this works, since it would fit right into the kind of deck I like. On the other hand, it is also pretty good against the kind of deck I like, so maybe I should rethink my position. Ascension is cheap enough and powerful enough that it most likely will see play, although I would be very surprised if it ended up in any maindeck, since if you can stop aggro for four turns you probably have already won.
Limited: 3.5
Maybe I’m being optimistic, but I routinely make decks that try and avoid being damaged, so this card seems awesome. If you can hold them of for four turns (not even consecutive!), up to and including chump blocking if needed, you basically win the game. Beware them forcing you into some bad blocks and then blowing up or bouncing the Ascension, but barring that sort of nonsense Luminarch Ascension seems like an easy way to win the game.
Constructed: 1
Horned Turtle hasn’t seen play since he was called River Kaijin, so I don’t have high hopes for Makindi Shieldmate.
Limited: 2.5
I love Horned Turtle in Limited, and trading being able to attack for some nice Ally triggers seems quite acceptable. Unless you have a few Allies, I wouldn’t be too excited about picking him up, but once you do he becomes pretty good.
Constructed: 1
This is barely a Limited combat trick, much less one good enough for Constructed. It isn’t even close enough that I can say that it “narrowly escaped” Constructed playability.
Limited: 1.5
A decent and pretty unexciting trick, I wouldn’t plan on starting this most of the time. It gets much better if you have multiple Journey to Nowheres, since you can bounce the Journey with the trigger on the stack for fun and profit.
Constructed: 1
Another card that will never see the light of day in Constructed. A shame, since every time I play this I intend to call it “giving my guy Red Bull”, and now I only get to say it in Limited.
Limited: 2.0
This gets much better the more you know about your opponent’s removal options, since if it sticks it is pretty awesome. Dragon Scales was unreal in Onslaught, and even though Nimbus Wings is no Dragon Scales, it might still be sweet. There is alot of bounce in this set, so it might be more of a sideboard option against removal-light decks.
Constructed: 1
More like NOble Vestige, amiright?
Limited: 1.0
You don’t really want to be running this guy, since he is most certainly not the second coming of Kabuto Moth. But wait, maybe I’m underrating him, much like Kabuto Moth was initially underrated! I think I’ll take that risk, and leave my rating at 1.
Constructed: 1
I don’t think there’s an Ondu risk of him seeing any Constructed play (at this point, I bet most of you are hoping the rest of the cards are awesome in Constructed, so I spend my time talking about them instead of thinking of terrible puns).
Limited: 1.5
I wouldn’t play the Cleric unless you have a ton of Allies, but he can be quite good if you do. Gaining two or three life and pumping even just one other guy is probably worth a card, particularly if your opponent has a number of x/1 creatures (like most Red decks, for example).
Constructed: 1
Moooo.
Limited: 1.5
This guy is the definition of vanilla, yet probably makes the cut a good portion of the time. Not exciting in the least, the Ox can block reasonably well and is quite tasty.
Constructed: 2
Condemn is back, and might actually be decent this time. Condemn was pretty unexciting last time around, but creatures are more prevalent now, and Faeries is not. The better Pitfall Trap becomes, the worse it gets, since people will actually start playing around it. Paying full retail on it is acceptable though, even if not exciting. Plus, most people don’t play around anything, so I foresee plenty of Leeches and Bloodbraids getting Trapped.
Limited: 3.5
Removal is as removal does. Not killing fliers is a dagger, but that just wouldn’t make sense from a flavor perspective, and this set is all about the flavor. Pitfall Trap is cheap enough that you can’t really lose value, even if they play around it, so it is definitely good removal. In a particularly aggressive deck it might not be at it’s best, but even aggressive decks get attacked.
Constructed: 1
As soon as that awesome equipment arrives, so many Kor Outfitters will be going on Quests for the Holy Relic!
Limited: 0.0
There is no equipment nearly awesome enough to warrant waiting until you cast five guys to go get it.
Constructed: 1
Serra Angel hasn’t been playable for a decade, and this is much worse than good ol’ Serra.
Limited: 4.0
Another card worth splashing, the Shepherd is pretty dominating. Very few non-Green monsters can attack profitably, and even a smaller Serra is still a Serra, so I expect this guy to Shepherd plenty of (lost) opponents.
Constructed: 1
Instead of renaming Healing Salve and making it slightly worse, why don’t they rename one of the other boons and make it a bit worse, say, by limiting it to two cards instead of three?
Limited: 1.0
Not Giant Growth by a fair stretch, the Blessing is on the lower end of playable tricks. It is cheap and good against Red removal, but pretty bad in most other situations. Damage not stacking really hurt combat tricks, and this wouldn’t have been even that exciting before the rules change.
Constructed: 3
This guy is a beating, and I am surprised at how many people dislike him. Sure, he doesn’t have much staying power, but it really isn’t that hard to average 3 damage a turn in a deck full of fetchlands. The only deck I think he is an auto-include in is Extended Zoo, but he has been quite formidable there. Standard might be a little iffier, mainly because games go so much longer and there is more blocking, but in Extended the Lynx will be a common sight.
Limited: 1.0
Landfall is a lot less exciting in Limited, at least on the aggressive guys. Plated Geopede is at least a great beater, but a 2/3 vanilla guy isn’t even that impressive. I would stay away from Lynx in all but the most aggressive decks.
Constructed: 1
I have pondered what number of life would be needed to make a strictly lifegaining card playable in Constructed, and the number was more then 8. Add in the delay in this triggering and we have a no-go.
Limited: 0.5
I don’t foresee ever siding this in, but perhaps against a very aggressive deck with alot of direct damage finishers. Eh, even then probably not.
Constructed: 1
Ajani sets the bar pretty high on creature enhancements, and the Charge doesn’t come near to making it. Again, cards that interact with blocking are pretty lame in Constructed.
Limited: 3.0
Now this is a finisher I can get behind. Windborne Charge is going to swing many a game, since it represents at least eight damage out of nowhere, and you still get hit if you only have one removal spell.
Constructed: 2
I’m not completely ruling this out, but Baneslayer Angel is pretty tough to compete against in the five-drop slot. If it triggered each upkeep, I would be much more optimistic, but having to wait a whole turn really makes it a tough sell.
Limited: 4.0
A five-mana 4/4 with only upsides, World Queller is pretty awesome. It punishes them so hard if they have a permanent type that you don’t, eating all sorts of Enchantments, Planeswalkers, or Artifacts. Worst comes to worst, you just choose not to use it!
Top 5 White Cards for Constructed
White got some pretty good tools in this set, even if most of them are for the dreaded aggro decks. Day of Judgment is a welcome addition to Standard, and Journey to Nowhere might be a solid card in both aggro and control. The other offerings are of an aggressive bent, with a good variety of different pieces. White aggro getting a good big threat (Pledge), a good disruption spell (Brave), and a slew of competitive 2-drops (Blademaster and others) probably makes that deck a real competitor.
Join me tomorrow as I continue on with Blue in Zendikar!
Personally I see a lot of value out of Luminarch Ascension. It’s solid and can end games quickly. In the right constructed deck, I see it as a total blowout. It’s like Bitterblossom, only you have to find more ways to protect it. A resolved second-turn Ascension with Path/Day of Judgment backup will usually spell game over.
Comment by Richard K — September 27, 2009 @ 11:00 pm
The best thing i saw all weekend was this guy’s mono-white ally deck. He went Blademaster, Ondu Cleric, Ondu Cleric, Ondu Cleric, Ondu Cleric. His life total maxed out at 83 before he was completely beaten. I bet he wished he could “Ondu” those picks in his draft (I can make bad jokes too :D)
Comment by Enzo — September 27, 2009 @ 11:05 pm
Just being nit picky for the sake of it. You missed out on Kor Hookmaster, which I actually used to some degree of success this weekend.
Comment by Alex — September 27, 2009 @ 11:24 pm
In my “limited” experience of Zendikar limited, Pitfall Trap doesn’t seem to be so useful because whenever someone tries to use it against me, I need to point out that they can’t use it on my flyer. However, I could just be getting lucky by having good flyers thus far in Zendikar limited. Noble Vestige, on the other hand, has seemed worthwhile for my opponents thus far. I’d put it closer to 2.
Comment by Moobah — September 27, 2009 @ 11:39 pm
No credit for the awful Hurda pun? Certainly I was the first to subject you to that.
Comment by Riki — September 27, 2009 @ 11:58 pm
I think you are underrating World Queller for constructed. Seems like an excellent top of the curve for a white aggro deck, and it also eats stray planeswalkers, artifacts, enchantments, etc. Combining it with Elspeth is pretty good too.
Comment by Jim Varney — September 28, 2009 @ 12:09 am
Just for completions sake, I’d love to hear your take on Hookmaster.
Comment by R_Elder — September 28, 2009 @ 12:14 am
Agreeing a bit with Alex on Pitfall trap - at least where sealed was concerned. Will I still play it? Of course - it kills things. But it was disappointing more than once as a lot of the bombs in the set seem to have flying.
Comment by Matthias — September 28, 2009 @ 12:20 am
Kor Skyfisher: Constructed - 1?
I tried him in landfall agro and he´s nice to have there to fuel your engine.
I don´t like the idea of running lots of lands in agro, even if it´s there to fuel landfall, you can play this guy on turn 3 or 4, pick up your land and then replay it, loosing no tempo, or pick up a Ranger of Eos to get some extra lynxes/or whatever onedrop you have.
Not saying Landfall agro will be a dominant deck but if it does become succesful he´s def. a contender.
Comment by DepecheMode — September 28, 2009 @ 12:28 am
Oops, somehow I missed the hookmaster completely. Fixed.
World Queller might be good at eating things, but if your five-drop survives, wouldn’t you rather have Baneslayer most of the time? Granted, against a barrage of Planeswalkers, the Queller may be better, but in most other circumstances it seems like the Angel takes the cake.
Pitfall Trap missing on fliers is pretty bad, but the card still is a fine piece of removal.
@riki
True enough, you did beat me to the punch on the hurda nonsense, but I will submit that I would have gotten there either way. I believe in Law and Order they call it inevitable discovery.
Comment by lsv — September 28, 2009 @ 12:29 am
I had to check three or four times, but you definitely skipped Kor Hookmasters, which is by far my favorite white common (and beats out every uncommon) from Zendikar. I’m even trying to brew up an esper ’sleeper control’ deck for standard, trying to maximize stall effects into wraths. . . was looking forward to this article based on the title just to hear if you thought it had a shot in constructed.
Comment by B19 — September 28, 2009 @ 12:41 am
I enjoyed this article, Luis, and look forward to the next few!
Comment by LotusHead — September 28, 2009 @ 12:42 am
Thanks for the fix, sometimes I need a good slap on the wrist to make this rogue player put his head straight on.
Comment by B19 — September 28, 2009 @ 12:44 am
Nice article, good explanation of ratings. I think I have to side on the world queller side of this argument. I am not saying that baneslayer is worse, but it definetly offers little utility. Take luminarch’s ascention as an eg. World queller will get rid of that pesky enchantment, while baneslayer will be unable to compete as soon as luminarch can get activated. Control likes options, aggro likes power. Both die to spot removal, both should get there if you have board control and with wrath back in the format board control should be something you can achieve with a creature light deck. On a total side note against control if you summoners trap a world world queller into play against control you can chose land and stop them from ever hitting 4 mana.
Comment by Jason — September 28, 2009 @ 2:11 am
keep the puns coming!
Comment by chad — September 28, 2009 @ 3:53 am
Good article I look forward to the rest of the series.
However I think i’m going to have to disagree with you on Conqueror’s Pledge. I really don’t think cloud goat, windbrisk hieghts or even ajani goldmain would have seen very much play if spectral procession hadn’t been printed.
Spectral changed the trigger on windbrisk heights from “if you are winning anyway” to “if your 3 drop get’s to attack this turn” Ajani Goldmain was trash before Spectral was printed, Cloudgoat was too expensive.
Spectral was the “heart” that allowed a bunch of whinny teenagers to create Captain Planet. I don’t think Pledge is good enough in aggro without another reasonable costed token producer that just happens to trigger a land that let’s you play it for 2 mana.
Likewise Ajani Goldmane doesn’t make for a very good 4 drop in an aggro deck if he isn’t making 3 2/2s Flyers on turn 4 or as a follow up to the wrath that just wiped you first 3 turns worth of creatures.
I think White Weenie this year (if it turns out to be any good) will have a curve that stops at 4. Maybe Ranger of Eos maybe Elspeth but if your going to go up to 5 your going to play Baneslayer over this anyway.
Comment by KJ_4247 — September 28, 2009 @ 4:00 am
Good article I look forward to the rest of the series.
However I think i’m going to have to disagree with you on Conqueror’s Pledge. I really don’t think cloud goat, windbrisk hieghts or even ajani goldmain would have seen very much play if spectral procession hadn’t been printed.
Spectral changed the trigger on windbrisk heights from “if you are winning anyway” to “if your 3 drop get’s to attack this turn” Ajani Goldmain was trash before Spectral was printed, Cloudgoat was too expensive.
Spectral was the “heart” that allowed a bunch of whinny teenagers to create Captain Planet. I don’t think Pledge is good enough in aggro without another reasonable costed token producer that just happens to trigger a land that let’s you play it for 2 mana.
Likewise Ajani Goldmane doesn’t make for a very good 4 drop in an aggro deck if he isn’t making 3 2/2s Flyers on turn 4 or as a follow up to the wrath that just wiped you first 3 turns worth of creatures.
I think White Weenie this year (if it turns out to be any good) will have a curve that stops at 4. Maybe Ranger of Eos maybe Elspeth but if your going to go up to 5 your going to play Baneslayer over this anyway.
BTW I love your blog!
Comment by KJ_4247 — September 28, 2009 @ 4:08 am
I’d like to mention that Luminarch Ascension should shine the most in control mirror. Drop it on turn two, barring immediate countermagic or enchantment removal, you can just sit back and win the game with it in the same manner as Bitterblossom.
Comment by ShinyMan — September 28, 2009 @ 5:19 am
Sooo…. many….. puns. Props for finding something amusing to do with umpteen iterations of “constructed unplayable”. Nice article.
Comment by jshapiro — September 28, 2009 @ 6:08 am
Not a huge fan of the number rating system, particularly for Limited. But ignoring that, good stuff.
I enjoyed the puns and lame jokes the most. Seriously. They made the article for me.
Comment by Lauren Lee — September 28, 2009 @ 6:59 am
I liked the article. Keep up the good work LSV and I look forward to reading the ratings of the other colors at some point this week.
Comment by Anthony Liberati — September 28, 2009 @ 7:28 am
Entertaining review, Luis! Thanks for that. I think I like Steppe Lynx for limited more than you do; I played 2 at my prerelease and was quite happy with them, but of course I did have the super aggro deck, and had 18 lands, AND had explorer’s scope. Regardless, 2/3 is such a clutch number on the attack though, as there are a LOT of 2/2s and 2/1s out there. And in a format where landfall and other shenanigans turn almost every single game into a race anyway, I’d rather have racing cats than racing turtles.
Comment by Shyft- — September 28, 2009 @ 7:35 am
I strongly disagree with your rating for Kor Duelist. Granted, as I believe it is, that Adventuring Gear is the best first pick common card in draft, this guy will come along great. In my first Zen draft, I collected three of him, two Adventuring Gears and two Explorers Scope. I don’t consider getting four useful equipments unlikely (you also have Trusty Machete at uncommon). Anyhow, the result was that I won one game hitting for 10 on turn 3, and another game by hitting for 18 on turn 4. At the very worst, he’s a 1/1 for one that will help you curve out nicely.
All in all, I don’t think you made the right risk vs. reward calculation (I don’t think you considered the great, and not unlikely reward).
Comment by Sigurd — September 28, 2009 @ 8:15 am
About the Kortographer, I was calling it that all weekend, starting at our midnight prerelease. It is actually rather effective in both WU and WR landfall/equipment beats (both of which I played) and W/G ramp.
No one ever questioned my pronunciation.
Comment by aflindst — September 28, 2009 @ 8:30 am
I now feel a bit vindicated in my choices in White in my first DCI tournament, a sealed Prerelease. I ended up U/W with eight flyers and seven allies. I included Emeria Angel (once got three 1/1 flyers), Kor Aeronaut, Kor Skyfisher, Ondu Cleric x2 (once got to 28 life on four allies in battlefield), Pillarfield Ox x2 (as blockers), and Shieldmate’s Blessing. I left out Landbind Ritual, Noble Vestige (put in first match then realized it wasn’t good), Steppe Lynx (as too few chances of playing two lands in a turn), Sunspring Expedition, Quest for the Holy Relic x2, and Windborne Charge. (Off topic as it’s outside of white, my favorite play was milling an opponent with my lone Hedron Crab.)
Comment by Vysion — September 28, 2009 @ 8:34 am
This was really enjoyable to read, I laughed a lot - the great thing about them is that they always caught me completely off guard, the ox one especially
Comment by PV — September 28, 2009 @ 9:03 am
@Sigurd: I had one in my Sealed pool and did not play it in my white deck because I opened one equipment. He calls it unplayable or really solid, which takes both of our experiences into account, and 1.5 feels about right for those conditions. (”This card will make the cut into the main deck about half the times I play this color.”)
Comment by Riki — September 28, 2009 @ 9:31 am
If all my lands are plains, I DEFINITELY see a problem…
Comment by MH — September 28, 2009 @ 9:31 am
2 Hurdas and Sunspring Expedition turned out to be an excellent sideboard plan in my RW control deck against mono red featuring Valakut.
Comment by Lpettro — September 28, 2009 @ 10:01 am
@Riki: Yes, I only noticed the explanation for the limited 1.5 rating afterwards. I think our different experiences point to the fact that the rating system used here is kind of awkward: Only statiscal inclusion (and color/archetype determination in draft, for the higher points) determines a card’s worth.
As a general, truistic remark, card value is quite different in sealed and draft. This seems even more radically true with Zendikar in my experience, as there is A LOT of synergy to gain across many different strategies (several of which are not color dependant).
Comment by Sigurd — September 28, 2009 @ 10:09 am
By and large agree with everything here. I’m going to disagree with the skyfisher though. While it was never a tournament card, the whole point of cloudstone curio is to replicate the downside of skyfisher.
It’s certainly not something I’d put in a “toss all the good cards of this archetype” deck, but with some proper building, I’d expect this card to find a home.
Comment by Sucros — September 28, 2009 @ 11:15 am
What’s up man? Great article. I gotta say the Lynx seemed to be a little better than you gave it credit for in limited simply by being a 1 drop. With the right equipment and and a fetchland I saw him swinging for 8 on turn 3 and that isn’t all that hard to pull off. He should be a 2 at least. Other than that you are dead on man. Good job.
Comment by TangentDYN — September 28, 2009 @ 11:16 am
My thoughts as I read along:
Caravan Hurda: The only “Hurda” in Gatherer is a Giant. I have no idea where you got “Beast.”
Conqueror’s Pledge: 11 mana? Seriously? Would Darksteel Colossus be playable in ZEN with all the Harrow, etc. land accel action?
Iona: “doesn’t stop you from losing the spells they have already played.”
I think you mean losing TO the resolved spells?
Ondu Cleric: link broken.
Quest: I find it amusing how “Constructed” doesn’t have a “0″ rating.
Comment by J. Wong — September 28, 2009 @ 11:43 am
re: Steppe Lynx
If you have enough ways to ensure his usefulness (Scope, 18+ lands, other equipment that makes him a threat even if you run out of lands) then I could see Lynx being pretty good. Also, if you are really aggro, it might be fine, but I just see it running out of steam pretty easily. I suspect it needs a bit more playing to determine.
re: rating system
I like the wizards rating system for the most part, but sometimes it can be a bit awkward. On the other hand, I feel that my comments on the card should help in interpreting the value I have assigned to it, since ideally comments are the most important part of each evaluation.
Glad everyone enjoyed the puns (or at least those who didn’t are staying quiet!), since they probably aren’t going anywhere.
Comment by lsv — September 28, 2009 @ 12:49 pm
I find you amusing.
Comment by JohnnyBiceps — September 28, 2009 @ 12:49 pm
As a frequent player of WW, i at first thought Brave would be a great tool for the soldier deck against things like Volcanic/Jund Charm. But with Honor, Ajani, and Armorsmith, your guys are pretty resistent to 2 damage sweepers. Though if WW becomes highly played, it’s definetly a strong SB card for the mirror match. Also, while Baneslayer is a better 5 drop than Pledge in a bubble, with all the spot removal being so common I think any WW deck in Standard would do better right now topping it’s curve off with Pledge. Having 6 power of dudes with things like Honor, Ajani, and Sword/Armorsmith to support it is also disgusting. I’m already missing Windbrisk Heights.
Comment by Ryan — September 28, 2009 @ 1:10 pm
At first I was annoyed when I noticed that you and Conley did basically the same thing (only his is on another site). After two or more weeks of everyone doing basically the same thing… Then, I thought, this would be a great time to compare your thoughts head to head. It turns out that Conley thinks that some of your “1s” in Constructed could be “2s.” I think this could be because he is known as a rogue deck builder so he tries to see the value in each card. Finally, he didn’t have Pledge in his top 5, but had Luminarch Ascension in at 5th. Excellent reviews both.
Comment by David — September 28, 2009 @ 3:18 pm
Maybe I’m slow but how is Windborne Charge worth eight damage?
Comment by Scott — September 28, 2009 @ 4:14 pm
Is it possible that a pure life gain card (Sunspring Expedition) is at least marginally playable in this set? During a sealed in which I played a U/W deck that basically stalled until it hit a large flier I found myself siding it in and not being overly disappointed. Obviously not great, but maybe upgrade from a 0.5 to a 1.0 or 1.5 because it just might be useful to the slower limited decks.
Comment by Matthias — September 28, 2009 @ 4:16 pm
Yeah, you shafted Luminarch Ascension…..
Shafted
Yo dawg, Im happy fo Day of Judgement and all yo, but
Luminarch Ascension is the greatest card of all Time yo!!!!!!!
of ALL TIME!!!!!!!
Comment by Conley #1 — September 28, 2009 @ 4:39 pm
@ Scott: Most of your guys in an aggro deck that wants Windborne Charge will be at least 2 power. 2+2+2+2=8.
Comment by Alex — September 28, 2009 @ 4:44 pm
“Aeronaut does naut disappoint.” clearly the best line ever written on a magic site…
Comment by psymunn — September 28, 2009 @ 5:20 pm
Zendikar Set Review - White…
Your story has been summoned to the battlefield - Trackback from MTGBattlefield…
Trackback by MTGBattlefield — September 28, 2009 @ 5:22 pm
Journey to nowhere is the nuts in limited- I drafted green black- and splashed white for the 4 i picked up- plenty of mana fixing in the set-
Comment by Zach — September 28, 2009 @ 6:27 pm
i think the skyfisher and the hookmaster deserve better ratings. they actually go well together, and a 2/3 flying 2 drop isn’t bad at all. I’d run it alongside knight of the white orchid to help accel the mana to Emeria’s requirements, or ondu cleric in a heavy Kor deck.
Comment by Gatch — September 28, 2009 @ 10:16 pm
You know, I heard a herd of hurda heard a herd of hurda herd a herd of hurda…
Comment by Chris — September 29, 2009 @ 8:41 am
Luminarch makes limited awful. I played against a guy at the prerelease. 2-0ed him, and wondered how he was at the undefeated table. He flips a luminarch. I got to see him play the next round. Luminarch made him auto-win. It was so awkward. Somebody on the play with an ascension should have a tough time losing in limited. You just untap and play a hookmaster, journey, or leave pitfall trap mana into anything and you can make infinite angels. The only way this is balanced is because of the amazing kor sanctifiers.
Comment by The_Engineer — September 29, 2009 @ 10:56 am
Your review is quite good. However, I completely disagree with Skyfisher. I’ve tested it, and I believe it will become a staple in aggro decks that can run white.
First, the drawback is hardly a drawback. Aggro decks have low land count / low curve as is, so it’s no big deal to stay on two land going into turn 3. It still allows you drop 1 or 2 creature or Honor of the Pure next turn, which is generally what you want to do anyways.
Plus it can be abused. For example, you can play Journey to Nowhere early on to take out an annoying creature, then bounce Journey late game to take out a much bigger problem like Baneslayer Angel.
Don’t want to bounce Journey? Bounce Devout Lightcaster on turn 5 to take out yet another black permanent, such as Bloodchief Ascension.
I actually think Kor Hookmaster is quite good too. He’s also a great bounce candidate to tap a creature down for yet another couple turns as you gain tempo.
Comment by Joe — September 29, 2009 @ 11:38 am
“Aeronaut does naut disappoint”
*slow clap*
Comment by randomz — September 29, 2009 @ 6:08 pm
[...] : http://strategy.channelfireball.com/featured-articles/zendikar-set-review-white/ nero: http://strategy.channelfireball.com/featured-articles/zendikar-set-review-black/ blu: [...]
Pingback by » Blog Archive » Articoli interessanti su Zendikar — October 1, 2009 @ 3:16 am
[...] at Channel Fireball they are working on reviewing all of Zendikar one color at a time. White, blUe, Black, Red, [...]
Pingback by Friday Repeats: Reviews, articles and stuff that bears repeating. « Gaabriel – Nerdy Lady — October 6, 2009 @ 2:57 pm