My Review of Gatecrash

Scott Meinecke
Monday, January 28, 2013 - 10:15

I'm gonna do this review a little different than my other reviews. This time I'm going to give each card a rating for limited play & constructed play. For those who don't know, limited play is for drafting or sealed or simply the basic game. Instead of using bold & italics, I'm going to put an F next to cards that are my favorites & a D next to cards that I dislike & then I'll tell you why I like or dislike said card.

My rating system will be as follows:
5: Great card. Powerful. In limited it's referred to as a bomb.
4: Good card. Solid. Very playable
3: Pretty good card. It's ok. Maybe. Not sure : )
2: Not a very good card. Kinda weak. Barely playable.
1: Very weak card. Probably not playable. Sucks.

This rating is what I feel is the cards "playability" in each format, thus it's possible I could rate a card as F/1/1, meaning I love the card, even though I admit it will probably see little if any play. Maybe I like the concept of the card or how well it's themed to the set. See my other reviews to see what I mean. The first number will be its limited rating, followed by its constructed rating.

I try to tailor my reviews to new players as best I can, and I try to make it a fun read too, so here's hoping you like my odd, but fun, brand of humor.

Please note these are my "initial" impressions of each card. I've read no reviews. I've simply looked at these cards & come to my own conclusions. These "conclusions" will no doubt change with time, as I play & watch drafts. I welcome all comments & criticism. If you think I'm wrong, feel free to say so & tell me why. If you like my review, let me know that too. I could really use the ego stroke - lol. I'm not a pro. I'm mostly just a casual player, though lately I've been drafting more & have even been playing standard, though I usually get my butt kicked in standard - lol. I've played the game since around Invasion, so I have a pretty decent understanding of the game. Hope you enjoy my review.

Here's a link to a visual of all the cards:
http://www.draftmagic.com/gatecrash-visual-spoiler/

WHITE Limited/Constructed

AERIAL MANEUVER 4/2 Swift Justice is possibly the best combat trick out there. Aerial Maneuver is quite good though. I love combat tricks. They're fun, though they rarely see play in constructed. Flying & First Strike can be quite a blowout, both as a defensive play, as well as an offensive one. Good solid card.

ANGELIC EDICT 4/1 Okay, it costs 5 mana, so it's expensive, which is why I'm fairly certain it won't see constructed play at all, but a common sorcery that exiles a creature or an enchantment is really good, & the italics is hilarious. Shoule see plenty of play in limited.

ANGELIC SKIRMISHER 5/2 Nice! A 4/4 flyer for 6 is not great, but still good. For a rare, my first impressions were that this card is just okay, but in limited she should be really good. It's nice to see rares that are good, but aren't "too powerful". Actually, she "is" powerful; just not ridiculous. With all that said, I still rate her a 5 for limited.

ASSAULT GRIFFIN D/4/1 I don't like this card for a few reasons. I don't care for the art. It's a boring generic creature. It's called an "Assault Griffin", yet it has no abilities. I'd take the 2/3 Sunspire Griffin for 1WW over this, but notice I'm still rating it a 4 in limited play. How about this? Make it a 2/3, like Sunspire, but when it attacks (cause it's an "assault" griffin) it gets +1/0 & first strike. Ooh... now "that" is an Assault Griffin. As it is, I'm thinking more 3.5 than 4, but I'll refrain from using decimals here. : )

BASILICA GUARDS 4/1 The italics - lol. I'm assuming the Extort mechanic requires a payment for each card with Extort, meaning if I have 2 Basilica Guards in play, the 1 payment doesn't count for both cards. I think these guards should only cost 2. The reason I say that is, would they be too powerful at 2? I don't see how. It's a nice defensive card & the extort ability just makes them even more useful, which is also why they cost 3. I know.

BLIND OBEDIENCE 5/5 Without the Extort ability this card is still great. If your cards come into play tapped, your deck plays very slow & you're probably going to lose. Sure am glad this is a rare, cause this would wreck your opponent in limited if they have no way to destroy the enchantment. Sure glad Angelic Edict is a card ; )

BOROS ELITE F/4/3 I'm not certain this card will be great in constructed, since it's very easy to kill & battalion won't always work, but this is a really good card, which will see plenty of play, I'm sure. A weak creature which can be a powerful creature. Thus, it made my favorites.

COURT STREET DENIZEN F/5/3 Awesome, just awesome. Each color has a creature with an ability like this. I don't know if it'll make constructed, but this is a well designed card. Love the italics. Love the art. Love the ability. Combine this with Blind Obedience & your opponent will probably just concede - lol.

DARING SKYJEK 4/2 Another very neat card. The 1 toughness compensates for his 3 power & potential ability to gain flying. Battalion seems like a very nice ability. It won't be too easy to use, but it looks effective. Limited play already looks like a lot of fun with Boros.

DEBTOR'S PULPIT 3/1 The italics is cool. While the ability to tap a creature is very strong, especially in limited, I'm not sure why this is an uncommon, especially since it costs 5 & enchants a land. Guess it's harder to deal with, instead of a creature with this ability, but you have to give up the land too, essentially, to make it work. I think it's a decent card for limited though. Possibly a good card. Each color has its own unique land enchantment too, so this should be interesting.

DUTIFUL THRULL 4/2 He's a little Orzhov pest. His easy regeneration will make him very useful in limited. Constructed? Don't think so, but a 1 drop that can regenerate can be valuable, so who knows. I like seeing 1/1's for 1 that are interesting, playable & fun. Dutiful Thrull does all that.

FRONTLINE MEDIC 4/4 The great thing about Frontline Medic is he's good even without his Battalion ability. Granted, he'd probably only be an uncommon without it, but this is a good strong solid card. Being able to make your creatures indestructible is very powerful & giving a white cleric the ability to counter a spell is very cool. Maybe it's a 5, in either format.

GIDEON, CHAMPION OF JUSTICE F/5/5 Wow! Talk about a board wipe - lol. Gideon makes my favorites because, once again, Wizards makes a unique planeswalker. How they can keep coming up with interesting creatures all the time is beyond me. All his first ability does is hopefully give him lots of loyalty counters, which will make his second ability even more powerful & give you a chance to get to his ultimate. Course you're not going to use his ultimate unless you absolutely need to. Then again, getting rid of everything & still having Gideon with say 3-4 loyalty counters still on him would be quite insane. A 3-4 power indestructible creature each turn for you, with nothing else on the field? Wow!

GUARDIAN OF THE GATELESS 4/2 I like creatures like this. Just being able to block any number of creatures is a good ability, but getting strong with each one you block? Oh yeah. White is definitely ruling the battlefield in limited, as it should be. Then again, red will burn, black will destroy, green will bash & blue will control, so I shouldn't be surprised - lol.

GUILDSCORN WARD 3/1 Hmmm.... Will this be a decent sideboard card? Maybe it'll be a good mainboard card, since there's plenty of cards that are multicolored. I'm sure it won't see play in constructed, but it's an interesting card, for sure. I like it.

HOLD THE GATES 3/1 Seeing that this set is called Gatecrash, I was really hoping there'd be more cards that worked with, well, Gates. This is a decent card. It's not very powerful, but it's pretty effective. It's ability to possibly shut down your opponents attacks should be obvious. Don't think it'll see a lot of play, but probably some in limited.

HOLY MANTLE 5/2 Okay, so +2/+2 & basically unblockable. I'm trying to figure out what the difference is between having protection from creatures & being unblockable. Can anyone help me out with that one? Is it that a creature that has protection from creatures also can't block a creature, or is it that they can block a creature but won't take any damage from it? I think that's what it is. You'd think after playing this game for as long as I have I'd know this by now - lol. Oh, I almost forgot to say it. HOLY MANTLE BATMAN!

KNIGHT OF OBLIGATION 3/1 I love the italics but couldn't he be a 3/4. At 3/4 he'd be so good. Awesome looking art too. Oh well. At least the Extort ability looks like fun too. It's a suttle ability that doesn't appear to be all that powerful, but be very careful in limited. That constant 1 life loss & 1 life gain will add up fast & before you know it, it's game over.

KNIGHT WATCH 3/1 Again, I think this is a pretty decent card. Maybe it's deserving of a 4 rating, cause putting 2 creatures onto the battlefield with 1 spell is always a good thing. There is a painting called Nightwatch, by the way. I doubt that had anything to do with the naming of this card, as I'm sure they just liked calling it Knight Watch, as opposed to Nightwatch. I just thought I'd mention it, just to look like I know somethin' ; )

LUMINATE PRIMORDIAL 4/2 Here we have the first of the Primordial Avatars; 1 for each color. They're pretty interesting. Powerful, but not overly so, which is good. I'm a little surprised they cost 7 & not 6, seeing that they're rare, as they should be. Don't get me wrong though, I'm glad they cost 7. I agree with it. Here, exiling a creature is great. The lifegain is a slight drawback, but it's totally worth it. The only reason I gave him a 4 is his 7 mana cost, which I think will make him a little difficult to play at times, as well as for the lifegain drawback.

MURDER INVESTIGATION F/5/3 I love it. Another well designed card. I think it has a chance at constructed because you "gain" value when you lose the card, as opposed to losing 2 cards. Of course if your creature is exiled, then you lose 2 cards, so maybe not, which is why I rated it a 3. We have a card named Murder in magic now. It's only fitting that we now have a card named Murder Investigation. Perfect.

NAV SQUAD COMMANDOS 4/1 I never liked those generic 3/5 creatures for 5 mana. 3 power for 5 mana is just so darn weak. Sure, the 5 toughness is a nice defense, but it's just such a generic weak creature. Well now we have the Nav Squad. They're common too, just like those vanilla 3/5 creatures, but now they can become 4/6 & they untap too, which keeps them on defense as well. That's nice. Good solid card for limited. About time.

RIGHTEOUS CHARGE 3/2 I'm not sure why this is a sorcery. Maybe cause it might be a little too powerful as an instant? I just love the italics though. Because it's a sorcery your opponent will obviously see it coming, as you'll have to cast it before you attack, but it's still a powerful effect in limited & will probably win some games. Decent card.

SHIELDED PASSAGE 3/1 This card is decent. Lots of situations where it would be very useful to have it in your hand, even in constructed, but I'm sure it won't see the light of day in constructed. I kinda hope I'm wrong about that though, cause I'd love to see cards like this make constructed. Hey, nobody thought Feeling of Dread would make constructed, I bet.

SMITE F/4/3 I love Smite. You have to go all the way back to Stronghold to find the original card & Stronghold was a cool set, for sure. When your opponent blocks you destroy his creature. Awesome, & the italics is just hilarious. I miss the older thick borders though. They really should go back to that look, as far as I'm concerned. With such an emphasis on creatures now I'm not sure why Smite wouldn't play in Constructed, which is why I gave it a 3.

SYNDIC OF TITHES 3/2 Good. It's a bear with a lifegain/drain ability. Turning a generic 2/2 for 2 into a nice playable card. Constructed??? Eh... probably not.

URBIS PROTECTOR 4/1 Avacyn Restored had a 3/3 Flying Angel that came with a 1/1 Soldier for 6 mana. She was okay. This is the opposite, but better. The Angel is a 4/4. Nice. I'm curious what's with the word Gateless. I'm guessing there's a movement to destroy the Gates. Lets see, the set is called Gatecrash. I think I'm on to something ; )

ZARICHI TIGER 3/1 At 3 mana cost Zarichi Tiger would be a good card, but a 2/3 for 4 is too weak, even with his ability. I almost gave him a 2, but the lifegain ability is pretty nice. 2.5 : )

BLACK Limited/Constructed

BALUSTRADE SPY 3/1 Another 2/3 for 4, but the spy has flying, which makes him decent. Not sure why he's a vampire, but the mill ability is pretty nice. Should make for some interesting plays, as to whether to mill your opponent or yourself. Good card.

BASILICA SCREECHER 3/1 A 1/2 flyer for 2 is a little weak, but okay. With Extort, Basilica Screecher becomes very playable & quite useful, I'm sure. Nice italics too. I'm sure it'll see plenty of play in limited.

CONTAMINATED GROUND 4/2 Contaminated Ground is pretty sweet. Might even have a place in constructed, as the ability to turn an opponents non-swamp land into a swamp can really set him back. The 2 life loss makes it even worse. I really like this card. Bet it'll see a lot of play in limited, though maybe only in sideboard, cause if your opponent is playing swamps, then this card is just okay.

CORPSE BLOCKADE 3/1 Corpse Blockade is a really neat card. Love unique cards like this. Almost made my favorites. Just wish it cost 2 mana instead of 3. A 1/4 provides nice defense but it can't attack. The deathtouch ability is good, but you have to sacrifice a creature to give it deathtouch, which makes sense since it's a "corpse" blockade. Hence the really funny italics too. At 2 mana, I think it would see a lot of play. Not sure how much at 3 mana.

CRYPT GHAST 4/3 Oooh, a creature that doubles your swamp mana. That's powerful & Extort makes him even more interesting. Think of all the mana you'll have to use that ability with several creatures out with Extort. Could be devastating. Look at how cool & scary Crypt Ghast looks. He's just a 2/2 for 4 though, which makes him a bad "Syndic of Tithes" lol, but that swamp doubling ability is power. Crypt Ghast should be fun. Might make constructed too.

DEATH'S APPROACH 3/1 Another interesting card, which I like. I just don't know if it'll see much play though. Possibly as a sideboard card against a self mill deck? That could be fun. We call this "conditional removal" because if your opponent has no creatures in their graveyard, this card does nothing. Again though, love the italics.

DEVOUR FLESH 4/4 The card Tribute to Hunger did the same thing, but cost 3 mana, but "you" gained the life; not your opponent, so Devour Flesh isn't as good, right? Wrong. Devour Flesh should see lots of play, cause it's fast. On turn 2, your opponent often only has 1 small creature out. Devour Flesh basically kills it, setting your opponent back & often they may never recover. Devour Flesh is common. Beware of this card. I considered giving it a 5, in both formats. Also, I'm still laughing at the italics. Hilarious, just hilarious.

DYING WISH 4/2 Notice the cool interesting italics on this card. Nice. I like cards like this & I think Dying Wish will see plenty of play in limited, though cards like this often don't see much play, cause again, they're "conditional" removal. With Dying Wish though, you have a lot of control. You can put it on your opponents creature, knowing you're going to kill it, or if you get a big creature into play, you can enchant it & then sacrifice it, or simply use it as a mechanism to keep your opponent from killing it. Course if your creature gets Exiled, then Dying Wish won't work, which is its 1 drawback, but that's good. Nicely designed card.

GATEWAY SHADE 4/2 Nice to see another creature that works with Gates. Gateway Shade is a very cool card. Gateway Shade + Crypt Ghast. Ouch! Love the art here too. Don't "think" it'll make constructed, but a creature with a pump ability is powerful, so who knows.

GRISLY SPECTACLE 4/1 Okay, a good common card. Destroys most creatures for 4 mana & also mills them. The 4 mana cost will probably keep it out of constructed play, but in limited Grisly Spectacle should be good. More mill. What fun.

GUTTER SKULK D/3/1 It's Walking Corpse, but now he's a Zombie Rat, instead of just a Zombie. Oh joy. Let me go build my Rat deck, now that Gutter Skulk is finally here. C'mon guys. Seriously? A generic 2/2 for 2? Oh, but it's a rat. What's next, a zombie dog? A zombie fish? Zombie parrot? I could go on & on. Well, at least the italics is entertaining. I do like the Zombie Cat from Dark Ascension though. He's great. : )

HORROR OF THE DIM D/3/1 Now here's a card that I think is "not" well designed. How is Horror of the Dim a Dimir card? Calling it "Dim" isn't good enough, sorry. Simply because it's a black card with an ability that requires blue mana? Horror of the Dim is Rubbleback Rhino without Hexproof. He needs blue mana to get Hexproof. Thus, he should only cost 4, not 5. "Then" he'd be a better card, but still not so great & certainly not Dimir. Cool looking creature, but he needs another ability.

ILLNESS IN THE RANKS 3/3 A nice sideboard card, for sure. Selesnya can't be happy though. Token decks are taking a beating in this set though. Not sure why. I have no problem with this card though. It's basically the counter to Intangible Virtue & that's a good thing.

KILLING GLARE 4/2 A nice conditional removal spell. Killing Glare is quite expensive, the bigger the creature, but very effective in the early game, taking out important creatures that your opponent wants or needs. Cards like this always play well in limited. Possible sideboard in constructed, maybe.

LORD OF THE VOID 5/4 Well, he's not as powerful as Griselbrand (thank God - lol) but Lord of the Void is quite the bomb, isn't he. Nasty powerful dude that pretty much ends most limited games, unless your opponent can deal with him immediately. This is my kind of mythic. He's a little "hard" to cast in limited, but definitely worthy of a first pick in a draft. His high mana cost is what it should be, considering his power & ability. Cool card. I think he'll make constructed too. We'll see.

MENTAL VAPORS 2/2 And now we have the Dimir Cipher ability. An ability which could make unblockable creatures very powerful & if they have hexproof (like Invisible Stalker) quite ridiculous. Course there's an artifact in this set that deals with Hexproof, so this should get interesting. Without Cipher, Mental Vapors would be a total joke. With Ciper it "might" be playable, but it looks pretty weak, regardless. Hope I'm wrong.

MIDNIGHT RECOVERY 3/2 A little better? Possibly. I can see how this card could be good, but I can also see how it could be bad. Clearly Ciper is a dangerous ability & you can see it in the mana cost of these spells. If I'm constantly bringing creatures back from my graveyard I should easily win the game in limited. Constructed too, possibly. Can't wait to see how this plays.

OGRE SLUMLORD F/4/2 I wish Ogre Slumlord cost 4. I love this guy. He basically makes Typhoid Rats. That's just nasty. The 5 mana cost will probably keep him out of constructed. Course there's the card Pack Rat. Uh-oh. I wanna know what the "vile disgusting vermin" are that he has.

SEPULCHRAL PRIMORDIAL 5/2 Here's the black avatar creature, pulling a creature out of your opponents graveyard, to join him on the field of battle. In limited... bomb. In constructed... only possibly in sideboard, but then only if your opponent has a creature in their graveyard that you'd like to snatch. Nice card.

SHADOW ALLEY DENIZEN 4/3 I don't think she's quite as good as Court Street Denizen, but I like her. Another great looking card & I like 1/1 creatures for 1 mana with an ability. I guess her being a vampire is why she's able to give a creature intimidate. She instills fear as she walks down the alley. Very cool.

SHADOW SLICE 3/2 Even though this is an extremely expensive "Bump in the Night" this Cipher mechanic just might make this a powerful card. It's all gonna come down to how often the creature that gets this spell encoded on it is able to deal damage. It might have a better chance in constructed, since you have lots of creatures to choose from. Love the name & the art.

SLATE STREET RUFFIAN 3/1 Okay. He's a decent creature, but only because of his decent ability. Otherwise he's a bear for 3 mana. If he was a bear for 2 mana, with his nice decent ability, I "might" give him a 4/2 rating. He almost got a D because of it. That italics though - LOL. He's more like a 2.5 (even though I said I'm not going to use decimals. yeah yeah, whatever)

SMOG ELEMENTAL 4/2 Now you're saying a 3/3 flyer for 6? He's no good. Oh no. He's good. He might even have a place in sideboard in constructed, against decks with flyers. Giving your opponents flyers -1/-1 can be a death knell. I love the way he looks & that your opponents flyers are weaker cause there's all this smog all over the place. Good card.

SYNDICATE ENFORCER D/3/1 Even though they took a generic creature & gave it Extort, I just don't like this card. He'll probably see some play, because of his ability, & since the generic 4 mana cost creature is a 3/3, I guess making him a 3/2 is correct, but I really don't wanna bother with a 4 mana generic creature, while I try to get my Extort ability working. I'd much rather play a 2 or 3 mana generic creature. He looks cool though, doesn't he.

THRULL PARASITE F/4/4 Yes! Definitely one of my favorite cards in this set. A 1/1 for 1. His ability drains your life, which sucks, but he's quite a pain to the Simic & Rakdos, among others, but with Extort you have a symbiotic combo here. Like the italics says, he's basically a vampire tax collector. How cool is that? By the way, I hear that creatures with Undying just love this guy ; ) Symbiotic combo? : )

UNDERCITY INFORMER 3/1 I'm noticing a few 2/3 creatures in this set & I like it. His ability, while costly, can be quite effective. Having a sac outlet (ability to sacrifice a creature) can be a good thing. Undercity Informer might be worthy of a 4 rating. Time will tell.

UNDERCITY PLAGUE 3/1 Why the 6 mana cost guys? This is a rare. 5 would've been just fine. Hell, 4 might've been good, meaning not too powerful. I love what this card does, so I'm not giving it a "D", & even at 6 mana it "could" be quite deadly, but at 5 it probably "would" be & at 4? Still, it won't do anything again, unless your creature deals damage to your opponent, so I think 6 mana here for a rare is just too high. Yes, Shadow Slice costs 5, but it's a common.

WIGHT OF PRECINCT SIX F/4/3 HAH! Now here's a Zombie that I can get behind, cause I definitely don't wanna be in front of him. If you're milling your opponent, this guy's a 5. He's a bomb. In constructed? Well, I got a question. Maybe someone can help me out here. They say Tarmogoyf is an awesome creature because he "can" become like a 7/8, even though he's usually around a 3/4 to a 5/6 for just 2 mana. A vanilla creature, yet he's in every format. Well this guy costs 2 mana & he can become, well, HUGE. I guess since it's only your opponents graveyard, where Tarmogoyf is all graveyards & since it's all types of cards & not just creatures. Still, if I mill my opponent on turn 1, this guy could be pretty big, pretty fast. I'm just sayin'.

RED Limited/Constructed

ACT OF TREASON 4/2 Another core card. Act of Treason has been around for a while & lately they've just made variants of it. Guess they just decided to go back to the original, but I see no need for it in Ravnica. A variant, sure, but this should just go in M14.

BOMBER CORPS 3/1 I wish Bomber Corps only cost 1. I think it would be a really good 1 drop, but maybe I'm under-estimating the power of Battalion & his ability to ping a creature or player. I still think I'm right though, cause when you can't attack with 2 other creatures, he's just a 1/2 for 2 & that sucks.

CINDER ELEMENTAL 4/2 Wow, they're bringing back Cinder Elemental. I remember when I first saw this card from Mercadian Masques & how cool I thought it looked. He's a very weak creature, but his ability is very good. Do you see any benefits for sacrificing him in addition to his ability? Hint: there's plenty.

CRACKLING PERIMETER F/4/2 So glad to see a card that really makes Gates interesting & desirable. I like the Gate cards all by themselves & I like all the cards that interact with Gates, but this one just might be my favorite. It appears to involve whatever Niv-Mizzet is doing & I can't wait to see the set Dragon Maze, because of it. Maybe my constructed rating will go up too.

EMBER BEAST 3/1 The italics on this Ember Beast is good. Check out the italics on the original one from Odyssey. It's better. Ember Beast is good. Maybe I should give him a 4, but since he's useless by himself, I think 3 is the proper rating for him, though Mogg Flunkies does pretty good in limited & he's useless by himself too. I love the difference though between the 2. Mogg Flunkies are too dumb to know when to attack or block. Ember Beasts are just too stubborn.

FIREFIST STRIKER 3/2 The ability to make a creature unable to block can be quite good in limited & I see that Nightbird's Clutches is being played in constructed now (about time - lol). The problem with this guy is I see no reason to make him a 2/1. His ability isn't "powerful", so why not make him a bear with a nice ability. For those of you who don't know, a bear is a generic 2/2 creature for 2 mana. The original was called Grizzly Bears.

FIVE-ALARM FIRE 5/5 Five-Alarm Fire will turn your aggro deck into a lethal assault weapon. Creature based decks are already ruling in standard & Black/Red Zombies is one of the strongest, if not "the" strongest. Because of that I kinda don't like this card, but judging this card on its own merit, how can you "not" like it. It's strong. It's a great name with all the fives in it. I'm just a bit worried it'll be destructive.

FOUNDRY STREET DENIZEN 4/3 First, read the italics. When you're done laughing, now read the card. Another card that "almost" made my favorites. Another 1/1 for 1 that, by itself, is weak, but he's a threat. A real threat if you can play him on turn 1, but no matter how much of a threat he can become, at the end of your turn he goes back to being just a little 1/1 red goblin. Perfect.

FURIOUS RESISTANCE 4/1 Love it. Make your ability to block into a serious threat. This card is limited in its use, so maybe I should just give it a 3 & I'm sure it won't see play in constructed. Cards like this never do, but I like cards like this. They involve strategy. Somewhat basic strategy yes, but still. "I won't attack with this creature this turn because I'll block with it instead & play Furious Resistance". That's it. Simple.

HELLKITE TYRANT 5/3 No clue if he'll be constructed playable, but surely he's a bomb in limited. Why do I say that? Cause a 6/5 flying trample is a bomb in limited. That's why - lol. Weird ability. Does this mean we're gonna see a lot of artifacts in the last set? I hope not. Perhaps he's for artifact decks in Extended or Modern, or maybe even in Commander. Either way, Hellkite is cool, though some players are getting tired of the "random dragon" in every set. Can't say I blame them. Wizards should consider taking a leave from dragons for a while. Keep them rare.

HELLRAISER GOBLIN 2/1 I guess he costs 3 cause he gives your creatures haste, which is a nice ability, but having them all "have" to attack each turn is quite a drawback. I hope I'm underestimating him & he turns out to be really good, but all out reckless assaults can end badly in drafts. Proceed with caution... if you can.

HOMING LIGHTNING 4/3 Thought about rating this a 5/3. 4 mana cost doing 4 damage to only a creature, while still good, isn't great. Compare with Searing Spear. However, being able to potentially take out multiple targets? That's power. In constructed I see this as a potential sideboard. Homing Lightning will see LOTS of play in limited.

LEGION LOYALIST 4/3 Look at this funny little goblin. How he swings that great big sword is anybody's guess. His battalion ability is cool, especially against token decks, obviously, so another possible sideboard card for constructed, but as a rare card he's kinda weak I think. I like him. Don't get me wrong, but I was a little surprised to see that he's a rare. I'd think uncommon. Here again I'm thinking 3.5.

MADCAP SKILLS 4/1 I'm trying to understand the italics with what the card does. I don't get the connection. Maybe I'm just a bit dense - lol. This will be quite a powerful aura in limited. If you get a couple of these on your creatures, your opponent will have a very difficult time surviving, for sure. Good strong common aura.

MARK FOR DEATH 4/2 An uncommon sorcery for 4. So it should be pretty good. "Target creature an opponent controls blocks this turn if able". Okay. "Untap that creature". Well, looks like he's blocking. "Other creatures that player controls can't block this turn". YIKES! (Hey, uh dude? Yeah, uh, it's been nice knowin' ya. I gotta go stand over there now... with everybody else. See ya.). Marked for Death. Ya think? : )

MASSIVE RAID 4/2 Ah, there's nothing like a massive raid to take out that one creature who's been bothering you all game. Or its controller (ah, lets see... We've got a board stall. I've got 9 creatures, you've got what, 10 creatures & are at 8 life? Yeah, that's game).

MOLTEN PRIMORDIAL 5/3 Ah, the red primordial avatar with his built in "act of treason" ability. Many times it'll be game over. Might even make constructed.

MUGGING 4/3 Okay, Mugging is a good solid common sorcery, but I really wanted to give it a 3 cause it's also kinda silly. Seriously, what is the point of its second ability? The creature that you just hit for 2 points of damage can't block this turn? This turn? So if the 2 points of damage didn't kill it then next turn he's just fine? Huh? Even the italics is saying wtf. I quote: Scream: muffled. Pockets: emptied. Neck function: NEVER THE SAME AGAIN. (Dude, you just got mugged. Nah I'm fine)

RIPSCALE PREDATOR 4/1 Okay, he's a big threat. Hard to block. Pretty boring, but at least he's somewhat hard to block. Nice big creature for limited. That's fine.

SCORCHWALKER 4/2 Lets face it, a 5/1 for 4 is kinda eh. Sure he can hit for 5, but any creature blocking him kills him, so he's not really much of a threat, but with his Bloodrush ability, "now" he becomes an interesting threat. Not too powerful, yet more powerful & thus more playable. I like it. Without bloodrush I think he'd be about a 2.5.

SKINBRAND GOBLIN 3/1 This is a pretty weak & boring goblin. Almost gave it a D, but his Bloodrush ability makes him playable. Otherwise, he'd pretty much suck.

SKULLCRACK 3/3 "Players can't gain life this turn" (Why not? I cracked "his" skull, not mine) "Damage can't be prevented this turn" (Right, cause I just cracked your skull) "The lawmage's argument was clever & well reasoned, but Blunk's response proved irrefutible" (Dam right it did) Hitting a player for 3 damage for 2 mana is a little weak, but with these added bonuses, Skullcrack becomes a very playable card. Maybe it's worthy of a 4 rating.

STRUCTURAL COLLAPSE 3/1 I like this card. Compare it to the 5 mana cost land destruction cards, like survey the wreckage. Survey should only cost 4 & if this card cost 5 it probably would see plenty of play. Still, even at 6, it's a pretty good card. Somewhat playable, at least.

TIN STREET MARKET F/2/1 I like Tin Street Market. I like that you're walking down the street, trading goods, which is why it made my favorites. It's wonderfully thematic. I just wish it didn't cost 5. It's too slow so I'm not even sure if it'll see much play in limited. However, when trading at a market, you'd think you'd "see" what you're trading for. Here's a thought. Add "or you can draw a card & then discard 2 cards". You wanna.... make that trade? Now it's awesome, but I'd still make it cost 4 at the most.

TOWERING THUNDERFIST D/3/1 Boo. This isn't Towering Thunderfist. This is big boring giant dude. Where is the Thunderfist? Please tell me. He's nothing but a big dumb 4/4 giant with the ability to have Vigilance. Big deal. So he "bursts" through the door, as the italics states cause he's a big 4/4 giant. Sure, but that's boring. How about this: When Thunderfist deals damage to a creature, he can deal the same amount of damage to another creature. Now "that's" a Thunderfist.

VIASHINO SHANKTAIL 3/1 Shanktail is a decent card & his ability is neat, but at 4 mana he seems just a bit too expensive. If he cost 3, I'd rate him a 4 for limited, but putting a combat trick on a creature in this manner is very cool. Bloodrush looks like it's gonna be fun.

WARMIND INFANTRY 3/1 So here we have red's version of a 2/3 creature for 3 mana & I like him. So why does the white creature, Zarichi Tiger, cost 4? Anyway, without Battalion he's weak, but still okay, as a 2/3 creature in limited puts up a decent defense, holding off many attacking creatures. I wish this guy had Thunderfists ability. Then he'd be very good, but he's still good. Nice creature.

WRECKING OGRE F/5/2 Oh those darn Bolrac Clan Ogres - lol. He made my favorites why? Cause he's awesome & because if there's no one around to fight, he'll start bashing buildings - lol. What's not to like? Could there be a theme here? Gatecrash? Bashing Buildings? I hope so. Sounds interesting.

BLUE Limited/Constructed

AETHERIZE D/5/5 Well, so much for token decks. Seriously? Return ALL attacking creatures to their owners hands? ALL? This ridiculously powerful card costs just 4 mana? I don't get it, but I'm sure blue players are very happy.

AGORAPHOBIA 5/3 Normally I would say this is a pretty good card, meaning I'd rate it a 3. It's nice to be able to shut down a creatures power, for sure, but being able to return this card to your hand makes Agoraphobia a great card, maybe even in constructed. Not totally sure about that though. For instance, if your opponent returns his creature to his hand, you can, hopefully, return this to your hand, ruining his day : )

CLINGING ANEMONES 3/1 Beautiful card. 4 mana cost seems a little steep for a defender & you'd think "jelly fish" would have some nasty ability, as in don't touch them, but it's still an interesting card with the evolve ability & we can all imitate nemo trying to say anemonemonemanees.

CLOUDFIN RAPTOR 4/3 Maybe I'm undervaluing this card. Maybe I should give it a 5/4 rating? It's very easy to turn it into a 1/2 flyer or even a 2/3, maybe even a 3/4. That's really powerful for 1 mana. Good card, regardless, & so cool looking too.

DILUVIAN PRIMORDIAL 5/2 Nice! I don't "think" it's constructed playable, but I'm not totally sure. Obviously 7 mana cost creatures are usually not, unless you reanimate them for less. Angel of Serenity is one such card, as an example. With Diluvian, if nothing else you'll get a 5/5 flyer for 7. In limited, that's still good.

ENTER THE INFINITE D/1/5 I really don't like cards like this. It's quite silly, don't you think? So you have every card in your deck now, meaning if you can't win on your next turn, then maybe your deck just totally sucks - lol. Seriously though, what's the point? I guess there's a risk involved, but I doubt it, since I'm "certain" that any constructed deck designed to do this will almost certainly guarantee a win when it's cast. Also, this plus Omniscience is really stupid. It kinda defeats the whole purpose of the game, in my opinion. Am I wrong?

FRILLED OCULUS 4/2 Similar to Darkthicket Wolf, Frilled Oculus is a good Simic creature. His pump ability is cheaper, but he only pumps to a 3/3, instead of a 4/4, so the Wolf is a little better, but his 3 defense makes him a little harder to deal with, regardless. Nice card. A staring contest with a Homunculus? lol

GRIDLOCK F/4/2 Makes my favorites only because of the theme. Don't get me wrong, I like the card too. I just don't think it'll be as good as Blustersquall, but it does tap non-land permanents & not just creatures, so maybe they're about equal.

HANDS OF BINDING 5/3 Okay, lets see. You tap a creature for 2 mana. You encode this spell on your creature. Whenever your creature deals damage, he now effectively has this ability, tapping a creature again & allowing you to encode the spell again (I think). That's the part I'm not certain of. Can you encode the spell "again"? I hope not cause if you can, YIKES!!! Even if you can't, I see lots of power here, especially in limited. Maybe in constructed, but I'm not sure, so I give it a 3. I'll say 4.5 for limited. (these "changes" are adjustments I'm making, as I'm proof reading. hope you like them)

INCURSION SPECIALIST 4/2 I like creatures like this. He's weak. I wish his toughness was 4, since his mana cost is 2, but being able to turn him into a 3/3 unblockable creature is very cool. Thus, he's an "incursion specialist". The fact that you have to cast 2 spells on your turn to make it happen is, well, cool. Maybe a 3.5 though.

KEYMASTER ROGUE 4/2 Seems like a win win, with his ability; returning one of your creatures to your hand, which you'll usually use as a bonus, instead of a drawback. He knows the secret passages, so he's unblockable & what's this talk of an invisible door? Interesting. 3 power? Unblockable? With a bounce effect? Yeah, that's good.

LAST THOUGHTS 3/2 As long as the encoded card doesn't have Cipher too, this card will be fine. If it does, then I'd give this a 4/4, probably. To me, the way it reads it sounds like it duplicates itself, thus allowing you to encode it again on another creature. Surely that's not it... I hope. Yes, I could look it up, but I like doing it this way.

LEYLINE PHANTOM 3/1 Okay, so it's a very slow creature, seeing that it can't attack the turn you play it, so it can only attack every other turn & you have to pay for it every other turn as well. Couldn't it have hexproof? It is, afterall, a phantom. That would make it better, I think.

METROPOLIS SPRITE 3/1 I like this little faerie rogue, but unless you can pump up her power & toughness, she's just okay. Love the italics though.

MINDEYE DRAKE 4/2 Here's a nice defensive minded Drake with a good mill ability. 5 mana cost. 5 toughness. 5 cards milled. Sweet. A 2/5 flyer will play very well in limited too. Your opponent will be like "do I really want to kill this thing".

RAPID HYBRIDIZATION 3/3 I would think this card would have a Simic logo on it. It sounds simic, doesn't it? This is one of those cards that could be really good, but sometimes it might not be all that good. Because of that it almost made my favorites - lol. Rapid Hybridization + Aetherize & bye bye token. Heck, Rapid + Unsummon.

REALMWRIGHT 4/4 Okay, I'll choose swamps. Then I'll play Crypt Ghast. Your turn. : ) I'm pretty sure Realmwright will play well in both formats. It is just a 1/1 creature, basically, so maybe I should rate it a 3. I'm not sure.

SAGE'S ROW DENIZEN 4/2 Blue's 2/3 creature for 3. I like this Vedalken creature better than Crosstown Courier. He'll mill you fast. He's common, so multiple copies in play will be a serious problem for your opponent. Curious why he's not Dimir. There are Dimir mill cards in here. Ya got me.

SAPPHIRE DRAKE 4/2 Quite possibly the coolest looking Drake ever. Look at this guy. He's awesome. 6 mana is steep, but a 4/4 flyer is a 4/4 flyer & being able to possibly give some of your other creatures flying too is nice. Cool card.

SCATTER ARC 3/3 It's a little expensive, but when it works it'll be great, cause countering your opponents spell, followed by you drawing a card is called advantage "you". So... when your opponent is playing blue & he has 4 untapped mana on your turn, you might wanna rethink casting that noncreature spell. I have no clue what the italics means.

SIMIC FLUXMAGE F/4/4 Now here's a great card. It's not gonna overpower anyone. It's not a "bomb", but it's a well designed card. I don't give it a 5, cause it shouldn't be too hard to deal with, but in another sense I give it a 5 cause it's not overpowered. Kinda tricky, I know. Very versatile. Highly playable & 100% Simic.

SIMIC MANIPULATOR 4/4 He looks so cool. Almost made my favorites because of how well designed he is & how he's very weak, but can be very powerful. I like that he's vulnerable. A creature like this takes some skill to make him strong. That's good.

SKYGAMES 4/1 The blue land aura gives a creature flying. In limited this is good. Really good. In constructed, nah. It's not worth the investment, unless there's something I don't know about. Now I'd just like to know what these "skygames" are. Sounds like Harry Potter.

SPELL RUPTURE 3/3 Oooh... a potentially good counterspell, but also a possible dead card in your hand. It might be better in your sideboard, until you see what type of creatures you're up against. Just a thought.

STOLEN IDENTITY 4/3 Love the art. Possibly a very powerful card. Certainly playable, regardless, even at 6 mana. One more card that can be used with Biovisionary too. Now this is a 6 cost rare with Cipher that I agree with. It's still steep though, but it's worth it, most likely.

TOTALLY LOST 3/1 Eh, it's good, but I prefer Griptide & Grasp of Phantoms. Yes, it can return a nonland permanent, as opposed to just a creature, so it might play really well. We'll see, but 5 mana is a little steep. I think 4 with double blue would've been better.

VOIDWALK F/5/3 Voidwalk is great. Might even make constructed. Bouce your creature that has an effect when it enters the battlefield to play it again, or your opponents creature, to force him to have to play it again, or a token, to get rid of it. My favorite ability of blue is its ability to bounce cards. Voidwalk sets up a possible recurring bounce ability. Gotta love it.

WAY OF THE THIEF 4/2 Like Tricks of the Trade, but even better if you control a gate, but worse if you don't. If you don't control a gate, this card is a 2, just so ya know.

GREEN Limited/Constructed

ADAPTIVE SNAPJAW 4/1 The italics - ROFL. Like Scorchwalker, creatures like this usually don't do well, but also like Scorchwalker, Adaptive Snapjaw does play well because of its ability. I don't think he's as good as Scorchwalker, but he's potentially better, in that he can become quite large. How about an 8/4 or a 9/5? Now we're talking.

ALPHA AUTHORITY 4/3 Nice! Hexproof & harder to block. Yep, he's the Alpha male alright. Good aura. I'd consider it in a constructed deck, maybe.

BURST OF STRENGTH 4/3 Ah the subtlety of this card. It's just a +1/+1 counter that also untaps the creature. Big deal. Ah yes, so many uses, so little room to explain. Undying creatures that have counters no longer have undying. Some creatures can use counters in different ways. As a defensive combat trick, you all of a sudden have a blocker that your opponent didn't think you'd have. Creatures with tapping abilities can reuse their ability. Rakdos creatures with those counters can't block. There's a few more I'm sure, but you get the idea.

CROCANURA 4/1 At first I gave this a 3. I was like a 1/3 with Reach for 3 mana really isn't that good. It's... okay. Then I thought about it some more. He can grow. What if he becomes a 2/4 or a 3/5. Adding Evolve turns these generic boring average creatures into more interesting & potentially a greater threat. Go Simic.

CROWNED CERATOK 4/2 Speaking of counters, here's Green's creature that effects all other creatures you control that have counters on them. Like Sapphire Drake, this guy is good all on his own, which is why with his ability he's a solid 4 in my book.

DISCIPLE OF THE OLD WAYS 3/2 Nice common creature. Simply giving it first strike capability is all it needs. Normally I'd think a creature like this is constructed playable, but maybe not as much anymore. Isn't the italics awesome? Gotta go 3.5 here too.

EXPERIMENT ONE F/4/3 How can I not put Experiment One in my favorites. This thing is hilarious. He grows & at 3/3 he can regenerate too, but then he's a 1/1 again. It's pure Simic, for sure. Fun card & it should see plenty of play in limited. Maybe constructed too.

FORCED ADAPTATION 4/2 A very cool aura. Lots of versatility here. My initial impressions are that the Simic will have the most influence on the game & it's cards like this that make me think that. I could be wrong. The reason I give it a 2 for constructed is that most auras never see the light of day in constructed, because when your creature dies, you lose the aura too. That's 2 cards. That's not good. Even in limited auras are a bit risky, but usually worth it.

GIANT ADEPHAGE 5/3 Another Mythic that I like. Not overly powerful, yet very powerful, especially in limited, obviously. Notice that once you copy him, if they both hit next turn they both make copies. Now you have 4. I'd say game over. I think he's usable in constructed, but probably only if you're using tricks to get him into play.

GREENSIDE WATCHER 3/3 I'm not sure why they made him a 2/1 for 2, instead of a 1/1 for 1. Guess they wanted something a little less similar to Arbor Elf. Kinda wish he was a 2/2 though, since he costs 2. Still, he's useful, for sure. I'm just not certain "how" useful he'll be, in either format. The more Gate interaction cards they have the better.

GYRE SAGE F/3/3 She Evolves & can then cast green mana & as she continues to evolve, she can produce more green mana. However, she's weak at first & thus vulnerable, which is why I gave her a 3 in both formats. She "can" be very strong. A 4. Even a 5, possibly, which is why she's one of my favorites. She's balanced. She's interesting & she's cool.

HINDERVINES 3/1 LOL - Why not? They've got a damage prevention card for everything else, so why not this one. This isn't that bad actually, since your creatures will still do damage. Well, hopefully just yours, even if not all of yours. Exactly how these "vines" stop creatures "without" counters on them but can't stop those "with" them is anybody's guess, but please don't say because they're bigger. Please. Surely I don't have to explain the obvious problem there.

IVY LANE DENIZEN 4/3 I think each color has one 2/3 creature. Ivy Lane costs 4. I still think he should only cost 3, but his ability is very good, as it really accelerates the evolve mechanic, so I don't mind the 4 mana cost here as much as I do with Zarichi Tiger. It's just that when you play him you get a 2/3 creature & nothing else, initially, unless you can then play a green creature immediately. If he stays in play, now he's good. At 3 cost, he'd be a solid 4. As is, he's like a 3.5/2.5 kinda. As a side note, I also like that we get to see what Drake-Skin Gauntlets & Ceratok Chestplates look like : )

MIMING SLIME 4/2 While Slime Molding is generally better, Miming Slime "can" be better at times. You could get a 5/5 creature out for 3 mana, or maybe a 6/6 even & with the evolve mechanic, who knows what Miming Slime could potentially be when you play it. I really like the card Gutter Grime, so it's nice to see some Ooze creatures in every set that has followed Innistrad. Good card.

NATURALIZE 4/4 One of the staple sideboard cards. I see little problem main decking it sometimes too. I'm okay with Naturalize being in this set, as opposed to a core set, since being able to destroy artifacts &/or enchantments is pretty important, but why not keep Naturalize in core sets & simply create variants, like they've done before. Doesn't that make more sense? What might Ravnica's version of Naturalize look like? What might its name be?

OOZE FLUX F/3/3 I don't think this is a very good rare. I'd think it's an uncommon if I didn't know, but I very much like this card because of it's fun versatility & interesting design. I like what you're doing (you, the player). That's why it's in my favorites. It's not great. It would be better at 3 mana cost than 4, obviously, but it's an effective card. It does kinda provide a little insurance for your creatures too, if they have counters on them. So "maybe" it could work in a constructed deck too. Then again, weakening your creatures to put a token creature out might backfire in your face, big time. Bounce. Say no more.

PREDATOR'S RAPPORT 3/2 Say it Domri Rade. Say it loud. Love that italics. I like the card Hero's Reunion; a 2 mana instant that gains you 7 life. It's much better than Angel's Mercy. Then there's Gnaw to the Bone. An amazing lifegain card which worked really well with Spider Spawning decks. While Predator's Rapport probably won't normally gain you as much life as Gnaw can, it certainly can gain you a lot. Lets have some fun here. Lets just pretend that I get out 2 Rhox Faithmenders. Hey don't laugh, my opponent in standard did this to me & then played Thragtusk & gained 20 life. I was not amused. Now lets get Worldspine Wurm in my graveyard. That's a realistic possibility. Now lets Unburial Rights it into play. You see what's coming, don't you. I then play Predator's Rapport for 3 mana, targeting my Worldspine Wurm. 15 power + 15 toughness = 30 life. Rhox doubles it to 60 & the second Rhox doubles it again to 120. That's a 120 point lifegain for 3 mana. As ridiculous as that is, I gotta make this deck, just to see if I can make it work - LOL. Hey, now I got a 15/15 creature in play too. Good luck with that. By all means, go ahead & kill it.

RUST SCARAB 3/1 What does an enchantment have to do with society? Anyway, Rust Scarab is a decent creature. Possibly worthy of a 4 rating with that 5 toughness & his ability to be able to destroy artifacts or enchantments, but I'm seeing this as a 22nd or 23rd card in your deck, or a good sideboard option too, but I like combining a big creature with a potential Naturalize ability. Hey, better than a generic 4/5.

SCAB-CLAN CHARGER 2/1 I can't give this Centaur a D, because of its bloodrush ability, but I kinda want to. A 2/4 centaur for 4 is weak. The bloodrush here is decent, but not all that, so I'm disappointed with this guy. How about a 3/4 for 4 with a bloodrush cost of 3? Well, it's better.

SERENE REMEMBRANCE 1/1 I'm sure there's a use for this cool looking card, beyond the obvious, but this will often be the last card picked in a draft, I'm sure. Maybe it'll work against a mill deck? Kinda? Oh wait. You can target anyone's graveyard. Nevermind. This is a good card. Maybe not for limited, but definitely a sideboard for constructed. Lets go 2/4. (I purposely left my initial rating, so you'd see how easy it can be to misread a card). Taking cards out of your opponents graveyard & shuffling them back into their libraries can be devastating against certain decks. Nice card. Possibly a good sideboard for limited too.

SKARRG GOLIATH 4/2 Someone needs to tell this guy that his neck is coming apart - lol. A very well designed big creature. Very powerful with a potentially very powerful combat trick instead. Bloodrush is cool, for sure & +9/+9 & Trample for 7? Well that tends to win games, I'd say. Will a constructed deck try to use its bloodrush ability for the win?

SLAUGHTERHORN 3/1 Good decent creature, but if they made it a 3/3 they'd have a Giant Growth Bloodrush effect. Guess they like that it's a "little" different. That's fine, but his 2 toughness weakens him just a bit.

SPIRE TRACER 3/1 Because he's a little difficult to block I gave him a 3, but this is a fairly weak creature, however... with evolve, bloodrush, etc. & other pump effects, Spire Tracer could be a little diamond in the rough. Wouldn't that be cool.

SYLVAN PRIMORDIAL 5/3 It's Primeval Titans little brother : ) This guy looks like a lot of fun, cause destroying noncreature permanents is fun. Course that's if you can get to 7 mana in limited. If you do, enjoy : ) Not quite sure in constructed, hence the 3 rating.

TOWER DEFENSE 4/2 Oh wow! Talk about a wonderful defensive card. Tower Defense is it. You basically just turned all your creatures into Hover Barriers on steroids (cause they attack back too). Now that's fun. It is just a 1 time combat trick, so maybe 3.5 instead.

VERDANT HAVEN 3/1 One of the most beautiful cards in the set. It's a decent card. The lifegain is a nice extra bonus & of course getting an extra mana is good, but for a cost of 3 mana? Darn. 2 mana & I'd go 3.5. As it is, maybe 2.5. It's still "playable", because mana is mana & life is life, but it's just a tad expensive, in my opinion.

WASTELAND VIPER 4/3 Ah, deathtouch. It's such a powerful combat trick. This will be used for its bloodrush probably just as often as it's used to put it in play, cause deathtouch is deathtouch & its nasty & opponents don't like it. I also like that he's a 1/2, so you can't ping him. Wasteland Viper. Good.

WILDWOOD REBIRTH 3/1 Eh. Nothing wrong with this card. Maybe it'll see a fair amount of play, maybe it won't. I'm not sure. For me though, I like returning a creature from my graveyard to my hand. I played a card to get a card, thus I didn't lose anything except its 2 mana cost. Yes, Disentomb costs 1 black, but it's a sorcery. This is an instant, so it's fine. I think people should play cards like this in limited more than they do. Certainly as a sideboard option if your opponent is playing plenty of removal.

GOLD Limited/Constructed

ALMS BEAST 4/1 Without its drawback Alms Beast would be a 5/4. A 6/6 for 4 is insane, hence the drawback. Then again, I'm still mind boggled over Desecration Demon, though apparently it's not ruling in constructed. Go figure. This drawback could be huge, but it might not be bad at all. Getting a big 6/6 creature out on turn 4 can take over games, even if your opponent does gain some life along the way. I like Alms Beast because it's somewhat of a challenge to get it to work. If I see it, I'm drafting it & taking the chance. Simple as that.

ASSEMBLE THE LEGION F/4/2 I just love the way this card looks. It's awesome. That & what it does is why it's one of my favorites. In limited, it "can" take over games. In constructed it's probably too slow, since it doesn't do anything the turn you play it. If you got a muster counter & a soldier when you played it, then maybe. However, this is Boros, all the way. Muster Counters. Awesome.

AURELIA, THE WARLEADER 5/5 Oh my god this card is powerful. Sure, she's a 3/4 for 6 & she's mythic, which is weak & certainly not mythic. She's got flying, vigilance & haste. Cool, but still not mythic. Not even close. With her ability, at the very least she attacks twice when you play her, unless of course she's killed during her first attack, but the sheer power of this ability will quite often simply win the game. I'll be shocked if she's not a strong performer in constructed. A Legendary Angel. Yeah, I'd say so.

AURELIA'S FURY F/5/5 An awesome burn spell. Love it. Such versatility. You can at least tap creatures, if you can't kill them & you stop your opponent from playing noncreature spells for the turn too. Great card. Unique, once again. Amazing.

BANE ALLEY BROKER F/3/3 Her face looks familiar. Cool abilities, for sure. Just not certain how good she'll be. Maybe great, or maybe just decent, but certainly playable, I'd think. I also like that she's a 0/3. Her 3 defense clearly represents her skill at evasion, being that she's a rogue, & obviously not that she actually can withstand 2 points of damage. That's very cool. So I see you met my girlfriend... What?

BIOVISIONARY 2/3 Hmmm... Hmmm... Oh look, it's Gold's 2/3 for 3 creature ; ) So lets see, there's Clone, Cackling Counterpart, Stolen Identity. Am I missing anyone? Yeah, Phantasmal Image, but that's not in standard anymore, thank God. I hate that card. A 2 mana clone. What? Oh, but it's an illusion. Yeah yeah. Whatever. It should've cost 3 mana. Should I put this in my favorites? Well, I like the italics. I like that we have yet another alternate win condition. Oh, as a fun idea for the Modern format (maybe just for fun), check out the card Bloodbond March, from the original Ravnica set. You might wanna... get 4 copies of that & Biovisionary. ; )

BORBORYGMOS ENRAGED 4/2 I'm guessing no for constructed, but I could be wrong. His ability is very cool & I'm really glad he costs 8 mana. That's why I give him a 4 rating for limited, instead of a 5, cause 8 mana cards aren't highly valued in limited either, though I'd still, probably, first pick him. It's either get rid of him or get ready to have your face smashed in - lol.

BOROS CHARM 5/4 Boros Charm is just sick. Are you kidding me? 4 damage to a player or your creatures are indestructible or 1 of your creatures gets double strike? I would've lowered it to 3 damage to a player. I think 4 is quite steep, but maybe in limited it won't be, but with Vexing Devil, Bump in the Night & others, I kinda see red burn + creatures like Hellraiser ruling the day. Check out Aurelia in the italics. Is she coy or what?

CALL OF THE NIGHTWING 3/1 If you Cipher an unblockable creature, especially one with Hexproof (*cough* invisible stalker) "maybe" Nightwing would be a good card, but a 1/1 flyer for 4 is weak & if you don't get another one, it's pretty useless. Even 2 isn't very good. Of course, I'm assuming this effect can be cumulative, so 2 encoded creatures each make another flyer + 2 more encoded targets? If that's how it works, this could get ugly... couldn't it.

CARTEL ARISTOCRAT 3/3 A very interesting card. I'm not quite sure how to rate her. A sac outlet is technically a drawback, but we all know it can also be an asset. She "can" be hard to kill. I'm gonna change it to a 3/2, cause I don't "think" she'll make consturcted. I do like the look of the card though & the italics. Very cool.

CLAN DEFIANCE F/5/5 Like Aurelia's Fury, Clan Defiance is amazing. I almost misread this card & thought it was "just okay". Holy crap this card is powerful. Red/Green... it's the new burn. Glad it's a sorcery. Glad it's rare. Once again, its versatility & uniqueness is more why it made my favorites than the fact that it's really powerful. Though that helped too ; )

CONSUMING ABERRATION F/5/2 ROFL! Consuming Aberration is quite possibly the biggest creature in magic. This guy is hilarious. 4 copies in a multi-player game with multiple ways to bring him back. How much fun is that! I think he's gonna be a lot of fun in limited, but man I hope somebody plays him in a constructed deck. I'll fall over laughing if I see it, but it'll be sooo worth it. His mill ability is pretty powerful. Maybe he will be good in a constructed mill deck. Too bad Glimpse the Unthinkable isn't back - lol.

DEATHPACT ANGEL F/5/3 I'm guessing Deathpact Angel won't rate highly as a mythic, but I like her a lot. Great design. Powerful, but not necessarily too powerful, which is possibly why she won't see play in constructed, but she might. Because she can get exiled, her 6 mana cost & the vulnerability of the 1/1 cleric may keep her relegated to limited though. To me, this is more what a "mythic" should be; a "potentially" powerful creature/card. Should be a bomb in limited.

DIMIR CHARM 4/4 Dimir Charm is great. It appears that every charm but Rakdos is great for limited. Rakdos Charm is very situational, sadly. Dimir Charm will certainly see lots of play.

DINROVA HORROR 4/2 Yeah, this is what I'd expect would be in a Dimir public office basement. A 4/4 Horror that scares the willies out of you. So for 6 mana you also get to return any permanent to its owners hand (the concept of fear) & then they also have to discard a card (the concept of them dropping something as they flee), so you "could" target one of your own permanents; just as long as you don't mind discarding a card. Again, I'm glad to see a horror creature that's a little more... interesting. He should play very well in limited.

DOMRI RADE 4/3 I'm not totally sold on Domri yet. He could be great. Possible card advantage can be awesome, let alone drawing creature cards, which is really strong in limited. His built in Prey Upon ability is very cool. I don't care for his ultimate. It's too "timmy" as they like to say in magic, referring to players who love huge creatures or ridiculously powerful abilities like, oh I don't know, "creatures you control have double strike, trample, hexproof & haste". Stuff like that. ; )

DRAKEWING KRASIS 4/2 He should be good in limited, since a 3 flying trample for 3 is power, though his 1 toughness will make him quite vulnerable, which definitely balances him out; especially since he's a common. Doubt he'll see any play in constructed, but he looks cool & he's a very effective beater, for sure.

DUSKMANTLE GUILDMAGE 4/4 That first ability may prove to be too powerful. The combos that are available with it are quite ridiculous, I'm fairly certain. That concerns me, but I like the card. It's still cool. Lets just hope I'm wrong & that ability plays great. Good thing Glimpse the Unthinkable wasn't reprinted ; )

DUSKMANTLE SEER 5/3 I don't think I've ever seen a 4/4 flyer for 4 that didn't have a drawback to compensate. This isn't necessarily a positive ability, but it sure is an interesting one. Might be a good sideboard card, especially against reanimator decks that want to put big creatures in the graveyard? Of course, while I rate it a 5 for limited, it could backfire on you too. If you get him, I'd definitely stick with cheap cards, but then... what if you don't draw him in the game. It's an interesting dilemma, isn't it. Maybe a 4 or a 4.5 is more correct.

ELUSIVE KRASIS F/4/3 Love it. An 0/4 unblockable Fish Mutant that Evolves - lol. Awesome.

EXECUTIONER'S SWING 3/2 True, it's conditional removal, but it's a fun card & it "can" be very effective, just like Avenging Arrow can be. You gotta love the Orzhov (read the italics). The Azorius arrest you or detain you, whether you're guilty or not. The Orzhov? Screw that. They just chop off your head.

FATHOM MAGE F/4/3 I absolutely love Fathom Mage. Beautiful card. The evolve mechanic is awesome here. Here you've got a 1/1 for 4 mana. Yuck! She can get bigger with each creature you play & whenever she gets a counter put on her you draw a card. Yep... awesome. Will she make constructed? I'm not sure, hence the 3 rating. Seems like it might be too easy to get rid of her, so maybe not, but she should do quite well in limited. How about Common Bond or Forced Adaptation on Fathom Mage? How about Increasing Savagery? Hmmm... maybe she will make constructed : )

FIREMANE AVENGER 5/3 I like Firemane Avenger a lot. I just don't know if she'll be good enough for constructed play, but I'm sure she'll be quite powerful in limited. Her power level seems a bit low. I know that sounds funny, seeing that she's a 3/3 flyer for 4, but consider Call of the Conclave, a 3/3 for 2 & Loxodon Smiter, an uncounterable 4/4 for 3. They're not flyers, yes, but I think she should at least be a 3/4, getting her out of range of lots of burn spells. Her built-in Lightning Helix ability though is great. It's just that sometimes you won't be able to trigger it.

FORTRESS CYCLOPS 3/1 He's not bad. Pretty good, actually. Just not great. Now he should have Thunderfists ability to get Vigilance. That would make him a 4, for sure. Still, he's a good solid uncommon. 3.5 is what I'd give him, actually.

FOUNDRY CHAMPION 4/2 In limited, he's very strong. I wish his mana cost was 5 though. 6 mana cost is pretty steep for just a 4/4, though it's pretty justified, all things considered, but because of it I doubt he'll see any constructed play. Maybe as a sideboard card, if your opponent is playing lots of creatures, but even then I doubt it. He'll be plenty of fun in limited though, when you're lucky enough to open him.

FRENZIED TILLING 3/2 I started playing around Invasion. Frenzied Tilling was a card I remember well. Nice to see it brought back. Might see some play, since destroying Gates might be important. Plus, possibly getting a second land into play that turn can be quite good too.

GHOR-CLAN RAMPAGER 5/3 A 4/4 Trample for 4 mana with an ability. I've never seen that before. I'm perfectly fine with it though, on a rare creature. He could see play in constructed, but I'd guess little if any. In limited, he's a bomb. The bloodrush probably won't get used much, since you'll want to get him on the field, but it's nice to have that option available, as I'm sure it'll come up from time to time. Strong card.

GROUND ASSAULT 5/4 I might be a little off here. Maybe it's a 4/3. It is a strong card, but it only affects creatures & it is a little conditional, though not much. It'll usually be able to destroy most creatures, so it'll definitely see lots of play in limited. I "think" it'll see some play in constructed too, if only as a sideboard card possibly.

GRUUL CHARM 4/3 Gruul Charm is one of the more interesting charms. It's abilities don't seem all that great, at first glance, but I think they're very strong. Actually, the Boros Charm seems more like what the Gruul Charm would be. This actually looks more Boros. Am I missing something? Boros fire arrows, so they hit flyers. They're tactical masters, so creatures can't block. Gruul bash, don't they? Wouldn't it be funny if they accidentally got these 2 cards mixed up? Is it possible they did it on purpose, to see what the reaction would be? That sounds more like what might've happened here. Then again, maybe I'm just a dumbass - lol.

GRUUL RAGEBEAST 5/3 Yeah, more Prey Upon abilities. I love Prey Upon. I love that they're utilizing it on other cards now too. Gruul Ragebeast is a blast. See... Gruul smash. Kinda like Hulk. Come to think of it, Hulk is green. Huh. ; )

HIGH PRIEST OF PENANCE F/4/4 I think High Priest of Penance is great. I love the art. I love the italics & I love the ability, cause when you look at it, you immediately want to figure out how to keep him alive, so he can keep destroying stuff. Making him indestructible should work. Hmmm...

HYDROFORM F/4/3 Love this card. It's so good, cause you can use it on offense or defense, as a combat trick. Sure, you risk losing one of your lands, but that's good. That's the risk. A great Simic card.

KINGPIN'S PET 3/2 Man this guy is ugly, but his italics is hilarious. I really don't like the art, but maybe I'm not supposed to? Without Extort, I'd rate him a 2/1. Ah, maybe 2.5. Thanks to extort though, he'll see plenty of play.

LAZAV, DIMIR MASTERMIND F/4/4 Oh, the Dimir are at it again & Lazav is just the guy you want for your mill deck, since milling equals putting a card into a graveyard. I think if he shapeshifts into Thragtusk you won't gain 5 life, since he's already "on" the battlefield. If I'm right, & I'm pretty sure I am, then he's not as great as he could be, but he's still plenty good. Cool ability &, as usual, phenomenal art. I think I'm right with the 4/4 rating. Do you agree?

MARTIAL GLORY 4/2 Totally Boros. Totally fun. 1 creature beats down. Another creature (or the same one) blocks brilliantly. Offensive. Defensive. Beatdown. Protection. Perfect.

MASTER BIOMANCER F/5/4 Another awesome looking card with a really cool ability. What's also great about this Mythic is he's not overly powerful, in & of himself. He's just a 2/4 for 4. His 4 toughness though offers him some decent protection, making him a little harder to get rid of & in limited his ability will quickly take over a game, as each of your creatures enters the field with at least 2 +1/+1 counters on them. Talk about smash. In constructed I "think" he'll see play.

MERCILESS EVICTION F/5/5 Dam! Another serious board wipe. Not as powerful as Gideon, mind you, but still powerful, nonetheless. The 6 mana cost is totally justified & I'm still certain that despite that high cost it'll see play in constructed, since it's a highly versatile card that totally gets rid of whatever type of nonland permanent you need to get rid of. Wrath of God is a great card. It costs 4 mana & it destroys all creatures. This exiles them. Great card.

MIND GRIND 4/3 Awesome mill card. Really cool design & concept. I like that it's also a great multi-player card too. Very cool.

MORTUS STRIDER 3/2 This guy seems a little weak, considering he costs 3 mana, though I do like his ability. I wish it said "whenever Mortus Strider leaves the battlefield return it to your hand". I guess they didn't want it to be immune to being exiled. Okay, but then I think it should only cost 2. He should work fairly well in limited. Don't think so with constructed though. Too bad, cause it's a cool card.

MYSTIC GENESIS D/3/1 I really wanted to put this card in my favorites, cause I love the name, the italics, the art & the ability. Maybe I'm wrong but the mana cost is just ridiculous. At 4 mana I think it would be a pretty good counterspell. At 3 mana, I'd put it in my favorites. Why shouldn't it be 3? It's a rare counterspell, therefore it should be "better" than your typical counterspell. Question: What would you rather use? Mystic Genesis or Syncopate? At this mana cost, I'd take Syncopate. About the italics though. The Simic should most definitely team up with the Golgari, but they probably can't stand all those dead things squirming around & the smell & the muck - lol.

NIMBUS SWIMMER 4/2 Fun. Fun fun fun. Look, it's a flying leviathan. It's a flying fish. What fun. Maybe we should run. The interesting thing about cards like this is the later the game goes, the more deadly he is to cast. Imagine him as an 8/8 flyer. Fun.

OBZEDAT, GHOST COUNCIL F/5/4 Awesome card. Quite nasty in limited, but still not ridiculous. I like that he's a 5/5 creature for 5 mana, outside of his cool ability. The recurring life gain/loss though is just too cool. Glad he costs 5 & not 4, like other Legendary Guild creatures, though they probably could've made him a 4/4 for 4, but they probably made him a 5/5 since the original Ghost Coulcil was a 4/4. Creepy looking, aren't they.

ONE THOUSAND LASHES 5/2 One Thousand Lashes is to Pillory of the Sleepless as Arrest is to Pacifism. 1 more mana to shut down their activated abilities, in addition to not allowing them to attack or block. Pillory was great in limited, I'm sure (didn't play that format then. just played casually) & Lashes should be great too. With Extort, this life loss is gonna be deadly. Bad pun intended? : )

ORDRUUN VETERAN D/4/2 I like everything about this Minotaur except one thing & that one thing is why I gave him a D. His 1 toughness. 1 toughness??? He's a freaking Minotaur Soldier!!! He freaking left the Gruul to join the Boros Legion!!! How in the Wookie does 1 point of damage kill this badass warrior??? Lately I've been using the word Wookie, instead of swearing. I like it. It's fun : )

ORZHOV CHARM F/4/3 I love love love the Orzhov Charm. Even though I don't think it's as powerful as some of the other charms, it's still powerful & versatile. I love that it protects your creature & all auras attached to him. That's huge. The life loss to destroy a creature is totally worth it & with all the fun 1 cost creatures in this set, as well as previous sets, Orzhov Charm should see lots of play. I say it'll make constructed too. A very cool card.

PARANOID DELUSIONS 4/3 This card is also very cool. In one sense it's weaker than Dream Twist, yet it can potentially be way stronger than Dream Twist. It can flat out mill your opponent all by itself. Well, with the help of a creature with this spell encoded on it of course. Really good card. Actually, it's potentially a really nasty card.

PRIMAL VISITATION D/2/1 I love the way it looks. I like giving my creature +3/+3, but that 5 mana cost makes this kinda weak. Oh, but it also gives that creature haste you say? Uh-huh. You mean that creature that I had to play this same turn, before I then also played this 5 mana aura to give it haste. Right. Okay, I'll cut this card some slack. In the late game, in limited, it could prove to be useful, so maybe I should consider a 3 rating, but only in the late game will this card be playable & therefore I doubt it'll make many decks.

PRIME SPEAKER ZAGANA 4/2 I think this card has some uses, but when I look at the picture & read the ability, I feel like I'm looking at 2 different cards. I don't see this Merfolk being some possible huge gigantic creature. The card draw seems to fit & the counters work too, obviously, but a 6 mana cost mythic? Seems too steep for a mythic. I "think" that'll keep it out of constructed. However, in the right deck, both limited & constructed, she can be a total blow out. Example: 5/5 + draw 5 cards? Even if she enters the field as a 3/3 you still get to draw 3 cards. The problem is when you have no other creatures in play, or just a 1/1, then she's not so good, is she.

PSYCHIC STRIKE 3/2 Okay, so I'm countering the spell & milling my opponent 2 cards. That's not bad, but it's not great either. It's a common card though, so it's fine. I'm just trying to think of something that would make this nice counterspell a little more interesting. Ah, how about this: "you may also put that many cards into your graveyard as well". It's more interesting now, isn't it.

PURGE THE PROFANE D/2/1 Mind Rot costs 3. You're telling me that a gold version needs to cost 4, simply cause you gain 2 life? No. If it cost 3, it would be a nice discard lifegain spell. Now it's a weak discard lifegain spell. Purge the Profane should cost 3. There's no reason to have it cost 4. None.

RUBBLEHULK 4/3 This card is a rare mainly because of it's Bloodrush ability, I think. It's potentially a lethal ability that wins the game, even in constructed possibly. It's also fun to play him in limited as like a 10/10 for 6. Whoo-hoo! : )

RUINATION WURM D/3/1 Oh come on. This thing doesn't have trample? Even though it's a 7/6 for 6, which is good, it's not gonna see much play, I don't think, cause it doesn't have any ability to go with its big body. If not trample how about something Gruuly like "bloodrush played on Ruination Wurm costs 1 less mana". Yeah. Something like that.

SHAMBLESHARK F/4/3 Haha. How can you not love Shambleshark? It's a Crab. It's a Shark. It's a Fish. It's walking around, holding 2 weapons & it's gotta big belly. What's not to love? Plus, with flash & evolve, this guy is highly playable. Wonderful wonderful common creature. As Simic as Simic can be.

SIGNAL THE CLANS D/3/3 Am I missing something? "If" you reveal 3 cards with different names? If? So if you "don't" then you "don't" get to do anything, so "why" would you reveal them if they don't all have different names & why would you even cast this spell, since it won't do anything, unless they have 3 different names? I think this card is worded horribly, but since you can get a creature for 2 mana, it should play just fine. I wish, however, that you had to reveal 3 creatures of 3 different clans. Wouldn't that make more sense since you're "signalling the clans"? Just sayin'.

SIMIC CHARM 4/4 Nice. Grow it, protect it, or return it. Excellent card. A pretty straightforward charm spell.

SIMIC FLUXMAGE F/3/4 Combining Fluxmage with Fathom Mage looks awesome. I'm sure there's plenty of other cool effects with him too. Such brilliant design here, getting rid of his +1/+1 counters by giving them to another creature, making it easier to get more +1/+1 counters on him. How cool is that. Plus all the other fun things you can do by putting a counter on a creature, like I talked about earlier.

SKARRG GUILDMAGE 5/3 Creatures you control gain trample. Ouch! Turn a land into a 4/4 creature. Double ouch! Skarrg Guildmage doesn't mess around, does he. Attack!

SKYKNIGHT LEGIONNAIRE 5/5 The awesome Skyknight from the original Ravnica. If you're building a red/white deck, you want him. He's perfect in any format, as far as I'm concerned. Evasion, aggression & Boros all the way. You might disagree with the 5 rating. If you do, that's fine. I'd accept a 4 or a 4.5.

SOUL RANSOM 5/5 Wow! First it took 6 mana to take control of an opponents creature. Then it was 5 & everybody loved that card. Now it's 4? That's scary. My opponent can force me to sacrifice it, but look at the cost he has to pay to do it. I'd be like, sure... go ahead... make me sacrifice your creature that I now control. Please. No really, I want you to. This card seems really sick. Oops, I misread it. Okay, so I don't sacrifice his creature. I sacrifice Soul Ransom. Not sure how I misread that - lol. But I still draw 2 cards & he has to discard 2 cards. Sounds good to me.

SPARK TROOPER 5/5 It's Ball Lightning with lifelink for 1 more white mana. It was nasty then & it'll be nasty now, with or without lifelink. Although it's not hard to kill it before it does damage, which is good.

SUNHOME GUILDMAGE 3/2 I thought the Boros Guildmage would be better than this. He's still good, but his abilities seem a little weak, especially considering the mana cost to use them. They'll still work in limited, but I don't think he'll see much constructed play. I'm disappointed, especially after seeing how powerful the Gruul Guildmage is.

TREASURY THRULL 4/2 A nice combination of effects, combining the neat Extort ability with a recurring card ability. Treasury Thrull is a nicely designed card & thus almost made my favorites. He should be a lot of fun to play in limited, for sure. I gave him a 2 for constructed since I guess it's possible he could see some play.

TRUEFIRE PALADIN 4/3 Truefire Paladin is really good, but I wish he already had first strike. Then I think I'd rate him a 5/4. Since Paladins are supposed to be great protectors, how about the second ability be "all your creatures get 0/+2". You D&D players know how much sense this makes. Well, you "old" D&D players do : )

UNEXPECTED RESULTS F/5/5 Maybe the randomness of this card should make me rate it a 4/4, but for 4 mana, I'm either going to get a free spell, granted maybe one that costs less than 4, or I'm gonna be able to play an additional land & get Unexpected Results back. I think this card is great. I love the randomness of it, along with its potential power. This is a fun card. Can't wait to play it. Yeah, I'm going with 4/4.

URBAN EVOLUTION F/5/4 I love Urban Evolution. Great card. Being able to play an extra land is what really makes this card great. Course the name really wouldn't make much sense if you couldn't play an additional land now, would it ; )

VIZKOPA CONFESSOR 2/1 I didn't give this card a D, but I thought about it. I didn't because it is an interesting card. It's ability is somewhat unique, so I'd be somewhat contradicting myself if I said I "dislike" this card. Problem is, I kinda dislike this card - lol. The 5 mana cost seems too steep & the life loss to only be able to exile 1 card also seems pretty steep, but then he's got Extort, so you can get life back, so maybe it's an okay card. Maybe.

VIZKOPA GUILDMAGE 5/4 Ouch! This guildmage is nasty. This guy has Extort Plus. He's in the advanced Extort class & he aced it. 3 mana. My guy's got lifelink. 3 more mana. You lose life equal to my lifegain. Actually, all of you lose that much life. Opponents faces: : (

WHISPERING MADNESS 5/5 I'm going out on a limb here & guessing this card will be very popular. I just see lots of constructed potential with it & for limited it's awesome for mill, as well as reanimator effects. Maybe I'm wrong & I should only give it a 3/3, but I "think" it's gonna be a power card.

WOJEK HALBERDIERS 4/3 Wojek Halberdiers are very cool. Watchwolf was a gold common 3/3 creature for 2 mana. These guys are the same, but are 3/2 with their battalion ability, which can give them first strike. So in one sense they're a little weaker than Watchwolf, but they can be a little stronger. Excellent.

ZAMECK GUILDMAGE F/3/4 Another one of the coolest looking cards in this set. His first ability is a little mana intensive to make it work well, but his abilities are really cool. I'm guessing lots of 1 & 2 drop creatures & he'll be very strong, especially in constructed. We'll see. Really really great card. Maybe I should rate him a 3.5/4.5?

ZHUR-TAA SWINE 4/1 Zhur-Taa is a very good common creature. A nice big body, or an effective combat trick. Without bloodrush he's a 3. Maybe just a 3.5 with bloodrush. I'm sure he won't see constructed play. Poor Gurley though, huh (love that italics)

HYBRID Limited/Constructed

ARROWS OF JUSTICE F/4/3 Arrows of Justice will usually be better than Avenging Arrow, since you can kill the creature before it deals any damage, but of course you won't be able to kill every creature, but most, so good enough. They can target pickpockets blocks away (italics). That's pretty dam impressive. Also, it's awesome that you can play this card in any red deck or any white deck. Hybrid cards are just cool, aren't they?

BECKON APPARITION 3/2 I like Beckon Apparition. It's similar to Moorland Haunt, which is a great land card. I'm guessing it'll see some play, but not a lot.

BIOMASS MUTATION F/5/3 I love this card for 2 reasons. The art & what it does. It'll usually end games in limited, as it's a total bomb. It's also just fun to turn all your creatures into giant monstrosities.

BIOSHIFT F/3/5 The italics here is just cracking me up. This is one of those cards that I think will work better in constructed, as you will tailor your deck to maximize this ability. For instance, move counters onto Fathom Mage to draw cards, or move them off of her, so she can keep evolving & thus keep drawing cards. Stuff like that. Bioshift should be good in limited too. It'll just depend on whether or not you get enough cards to make it work. I'm somewhere in the middle on rating this. I keep going back & forth from 3/4 to 4/5. Maybe my 3/5 rating is right.

BOROS RECKONER F/5/3 A Minotaur Wizard? Is that even possible? The italics is awesome. He'd be better as a 3/4 or a 3/5 (His power/toughness, not his rating). It would better utilize his ability & not require him to use his first strike ability as much. He's still great, regardless, but he'd be better in constructed with a greater toughness, I think. He made my favorites though cause he's a hybrid boros minotaur wizard who's electrically charged. Brilliant.

BURNING-TREE EMISSARY 4/4 Here's a card that I think is real good, even in constructed. Can you imagine if you have 4 in your starting hand with 2 lands. On turn 2, you can cast all 4. In limited, you could get 2 (doubt you'll get 3), but a 2/2 for 2 + 2 mana can be a very powerful effect, even with just 1 in your hand. Sure seems good to me.

COERCED CONFESSION 3/2 Nice! Mill + possible card draw. The 5 mana cost lowered my rating by 1 point, but it's a very good card still. 3.5 for limited, I think.

DEATHCULT ROGUE 4/3 So he's "almost" Phantom Warrior - lol. He'll play well in standard, except when your opponent also has a rogue & maybe he'll see play in constructed, but Deathcult Rogue is a nice card.

GIFT OF ORZHOVA F/5/3 Spectral Flight was shown to be an Aura worthy of constructed, at least when it was put on a creature with hexproof. +1/+1 flying & lifelink is very powerful in limited. Even though hexproof creatures aren't quite as powerful as they once were, thanks to the Spotlight card, Gift of Orzhova made my favorites because I think this is a great Aura & I love that the Orzhov will remind you of who gave it to you.

IMMORTAL SERVITUDE 3/4 The potential of what this card can do is unreal. It's all in how you design your deck. Unless your opponent is exiling your creatures you could potentially have an endless flow of creatures coming back from your graveyard (well okay, not endless - lol). It's only the ability to exile that keeps this at a 3/4, instead of a 4/5. Great card.

MERFOLK OF THE DEPTHS D/2/1 Merfolk of the Depths is almost useless. Only its flash ability & its 4 power make it somewhat playable. 6 mana for a 4/2? C'mon. If you want to make some big merfolk, fine. Make these guys 4/4 with flash with a mana cost of 5. Now they're strong. Big bad Merfolk come up from out of the sinkholes & put a whuppin on your ass. heh heh heh

NIGHTVEIL SPECTER 4/3 This is a cool card. Imagine if you can have it ping yourself for a point of damage, thus effectively drawing you a card. It's still basically doing that, though you may draw cards that you can't play. Still, Nightveil Specter is very cool. I also just noticed that this is Hybrid's 2/3 for 3 creature. Hah!

PIT FIGHT 4/3 Prey Upon as an instant. Should be fun. Could make constructed. "Before you attack me with your creatures, your Goblin is going to have to fight my Minotaur. All by himself". Goblin: "well this sucks"

RUBBLEBELT RAIDERS 4/2 Rubblebelt Raiders + Bioshift. Oooohh. It has potential. What if you can give your Raiders trample? Potential, potential, potential. I like it.

SHATTERING BLOW 3/4 Shattering Blow is an excellent sideboard card, especially for constructed play. Exiling is always better than destroying, so this card will see lots of sideboard play. Course, how a "shattering blow" is "exiling" an artifact & not "destroying" it is anybody's guess. Anybody? : )

ARTIFACTS Limited/Constructed

ARMORED TRANSPORT F/2/1 Speaking of Artifacts, I love Armored Transport, even though it's kinda dumb - lol. If creatures block it, it's immune to damage they cause, but if it blocks creatures, which it can, it's easily destroyed. What??? LOL. It's a 2/1 for 3. Why not just make it a 2/2 or a 2/3 & say it's immune to damage from creatures? Oh wait, now I'm improving a card that I put in my favorites? I think I'm losing it.

BOROS KEYRUNE 3/2 Boros Keyrune is pretty good. They can't make it a 2/1 double strike. I get it & Rakdos Keyrune has first strike. How about a more tactical Keyrune. A 2/3 that can only be blocked by 2 or more creatures. I think that's a little better.

DIMIR KEYRUNE 5/2 I could be wrong, but I see this Keyrune as just sick in limited. Maybe it's just good & not great, but unblockable means 2 damage every turn, right? Well, it doesn't have hexproof, so I guess I should just give it a 4. Nice Keyrune though, for sure.

GLARING SPOTLIGHT 4/4 Invisible Stalker, Geist of Saint Traft & others are all outside right now, picketing. They are calling for the complete & utter destruction of The Glaring Spotlight. They are told that, as a compromise, while it will be destroyed at times & can be exiled (Shattering Blow), it will "not" be completely & utterly destroyed, except of course when its exiled, but even then it can be replaced by another one. Both sides are unwilling to compromise any further. Because of its second ability, it's entirely possible that Glaring Spotlight will prove to be a 5/5 powerful artifact. Tune in for updates.

GRUUL KEYRUNE 3/2 A 3/2 trample won't always be effective, but it's pretty good for limited. If only he could pump to a 4/2 or even a 5/2. Then I'd really like him.

ILLUSIONIST'S BRACERS 3/3 LOL (sorry, I'm laughing at the hilarious italics). I'm clueless how to rate this card. I like it. It's a cool effect, but will it see much play in limited? I'm guessing it'll only see some, but constructed??? Guess it depends on the ability, though the 3 equip cost doesn't excite me.

MILLENNIAL GARGOYLE D/2/1 Okay, pretend you don't see Millennial Gargoyle's power & toughness. Is there anyone who would think this is a 2/2 creature, especially since it also costs 4 mana? It's a Gargoyle. It's made of freaking stone! You'd think it would be hard to kill. If you want to keep it as a 2/2, how about this. Prevent the first 3 points of damage that would be dealt to Millennial Gargoyle each turn. See? I just utilized the fact that it's MADE OF STONE!

ORZHOV KEYRUNE 4/2 A 1/4 lifelink is really good. Excellent defensive creature. Nice Keyrune.

PROPHETIC PRISM 4/4 Prophetic Prism is a great common card. It draws you a card & fixes your mana. What's not to like. I think it's playable in any format. Does it deserve a 5 rating?

RAZORTIP WHIP 3/2 I like Razortip Whip. I'm not sure if it'll be really good in limited or just okay. I'm guessing that since it can only hit a player & not a creature that it won't see much play, but it's still a pretty neat card. So, 2.5 probably.

RIOT GEAR D/2/1 An equipment that gives your creature +1/+2 is fine. There's nothing wrong with strengthening your creature like that, but a mana cost of 2 and an equip cost of 2 is too expensive for what it does. 1 of those numbers has to be a 1. I'd make the equip cost a 1.

SIMIC KEYRUNE 4/3 A Keyrune creature with hexproof. It's Keyrune's 2/3 creature for 3, sort of. This Keyrune will be a pain to deal with, thanks to that 3 toughness. Just watch.

SKYBLINDER STAFF 3/1 I like Skyblinder Staff. I like the name. I like the picture. I like the ability. I like the italics. I just don't like that 3 mana equip cost (wish it was 2). I think that'll keep it from seeing some play, although it's really a sideboard card, so maybe it'll be sided in at times, regardless. I hope so. Skyblinder Staff. Great name.

LANDS Limited/Constructed

GUILD GATES 4/2 The Guildgates are good. Are they seeing constructed play? I haven't see them yet. Here's hoping that when Dragon's Maze comes out, Guildgates will be useful in constructed, cause I really like the concept of a Land - Gate.

SHOCK LANDS 4/5 Almost every constructed deck plays with them. I don't. I turn them in for store credit - lol. I was hoping for a new rare Ravnica dual land, but I don't blame them for simply reprinting these. They're great.

THESPIAN'S STAGE 3/4 A very interesting land, to say the least. I don't know if it'll be much of a big deal in limited, but I'd think it'll see constructed play. It'll all come down to which lands it can copy, obviously. Cool name too, though isn't Thespian's "Stage" more of a place than a land?

Okay, so there's Gatecrash. Another very cool set of cards.

Here's how my rating system broke down: (assuming I counted right)

Favorites: 42
Dislikes: 16

Limited:
5: 46
4: 106
3: 76
2: 13
1: 1

Constructed:
5: 16
4: 27
3: 64
2: 71
1: 64

Yeah, the count isn't 100% accurate, but I'm not gonna try to count them again - lol

Some boring cards, some bad cards, but overall I'd say it's an excellent set of cards that should be a lot of fun to play, both in draft, sealed, casual & standard. So what are you waiting for. Go play : )