Previous Hour of Devastation Set Reviews

Limited:

White | Blue | Black | Red | Green | Gold, Artifacts, and Lands

Constructed:

White | Blue | Red | Green | Gold, Artifacts, and Lands

Ratings Scale

5.0: Multi-format all-star. (Jace, the Mind Sculptor. Tarmogoyf. Snapcaster Mage.)
4.0: Format staple. (Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy. Collected Company. Remand.)
3.5: Good in multiple archetypes and formats, but not a staple. (Jace Beleren. Radiant Flames. Shambling Vent.)
3.0: Archetype staple. (Jace, Architect of Thought. Zulaport Cutthroat. Explosive Vegetation.)
2.5: Role-player in some decks, but not quite a staple. (Jace, Memory Adept. Anticipate. Transgress the Mind.)
2.0: Niche card. Sideboard or currently unknown archetype. (Jace, the Living Guildpact. Naturalize. Duress.) Bear in mind that many cards fall into this category, although an explanation 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.)

Ammit Eternal

Constructed: 3.0

This being a Zombie is huge, as is the Ammit itself. There isn’t a ton of room for 3-drops after Diregraf Colossus and Lord of the Accursed, but a 5/5 for 3 that has a bunch of tribal synergies can add some good stats to the board. It might also be a good sideboard card for matchups with more expensive spells, or matchups where power and toughness matter a lot more. This is big, and hitting with it and getting it back to 5/5 doesn’t seem that hard to pull off. It also punishes the opponent for chump blocking, something Diregraf Colossus doesn’t do.

Bontu’s Last Reckoning

Constructed: 2.5

This set is not short on sweepers. This has the advantage of only costing 3 and killing every creature, not just small ones. What it doesn’t do is kill planeswalkers, and not untapping your lands is a serious drawback. I reckon this is worth testing, but I like Hour of Devastation a lot more. I can also see this out of the sideboard of a low-curve deck like Zombies, as it could take opponents by surprise.

Doomfall

Constructed: 2.5

Overpaying for each effect by 1 mana is rough, but doesn’t necessarily doom this. These two effects overlap such that one will almost always be good, and I like the idea of a couple of Doomfalls if you can construct a black midrange/control deck.

Dreamstealer

Constructed: 2.0

This card is dangerous, though it takes some work. It threatens to make the opponent discard a ton of cards with a pump spell, even if that does mean you are playing 3-mana 1/2s and pump spells in Constructed. Bringing it back as a 4/4 is a nice bonus, but it’s lacking haste or an ETB effect to really be great.

Hour of Glory

Constructed: 2.0

At 1 mana more than I want to pay for removal, Hour of Glory only becomes appealing if you really need to kill Gods dead. That seems like a niche situation, but one that could occur.

Liliana’s Defeat

Constructed: 3.0

A powerful sideboard card is a good thing to have, and mono-black isn’t flooded with options. This is efficient and a way to get an edge in the Zombie mirror, at the very least.

Razaketh, the Foulblooded

Constructed: 2.5

It’s going to be hard to unseat Griselbrand as a Reanimator target, though Razaketh can do some wacky things. Maybe there are some sweet combos here, and I’m sure in older formats there’s something worth doing. As a card you might cast, this misses the mark—it’s too expensive and doesn’t do enough immediately.

Razaketh’s Rite

Constructed: 2.0

Cycling cards have been strong in delirium decks, and this cycles cheaply and can find bullets late. I could see this as a 1-of in midrange/control decks, even if it’s on the expensive side.

Wretched Camel

Constructed: 2.5

Ifnir Deadlands and Desert of the Glorified both seem like solid additions to Mono-Black Zombies, and as such Wretched Camel might make an appearance as well. A 2/1 Zombie that 2-for-1s the opponent is a good deal for 2 mana, and this is within spitting distance of Constructed if you can reliably have a Desert around.

Top 3 Black Cards

3. Bontu’s Last Reckoning
2. Liliana’s Defeat
1. Ammit Eternal

Black has some ways to kill creatures and a big Zombie 3-drop. That’s a mixed bag, and I don’t see this spawning new archetypes as much as improving old ones. Bontu’s Last Reckoning has the most room to rise, and I can see it being an efficient option in the right metagame.