Benalish Sleeper

A 3/1 for 1W is nothing to write home about, and symmetrical edict effects are not high on the list of reliable removal. However,e taken together this creature does provide both board presence and synergies with an aristocrats or tokens strategy. Overall the card is a bit clunky, so I doubt it stays long, but I’ll be interested to see if it plays.

Final Grade: C

Guardian of New Benalia

Well there’s a sight for sore eyes. This is the premier aggro 2 drop from DMU, with stats, utility, and resilience to boot. In the pantheon of white 2 drops, this one gives Seasoned Hallowblade a run for its money.

Final Grade: A

Resolute Reinforcements

While this soldier(or pair of soldiers) might seem unassuming at first glance, this card can do good work. Raise the Alarm is finally a creature, unlocking all the benefits that white has to offer, like blink strategies or bringing back small creatures from the graveyard. Overall it’s not a glamorous addition, but it will definitely find a home.

Final Grade: B-

Take up the shield

This combat trick is just barely enough to catch my eye. In the same mold as Feat of Resistance, it blanks a removal spell while providing a nice life point swing and growing your creature. With a heroic theme and a +1/+1 counters theme in my cube, this might do just enough to earn a spot. The fact that it’s 2 mana rather than 1 is a massive miss though, and the grade reflects that.

Final Grade: C-

Argivian Cavalier

Argivian Cavalier is the newest addition to white’s collection of “get an extra body” 3 drops, and sports the new keyword Enlist. Just last set we got Mage’s Attendant in the same mold, which is likely the more powerful of the two. But I wonder if the new cavalier displaces older inclusions like Attended Knight or Sandsteppe Outcast.

Final Grade: C+

Serra Paragon

An absolute house of a card, Serra Paragon is somewhere between Lurrus and Sun Titan. It synergizes with go-wide white weenie decks, aristocrats, and even grindier strategies. Plus it’s got solid stats for a four mana flier, dodging bolt, cut down, and most other damage-based removal. Absolute slam dunk.

Final Grade: A+

Danitha, Paragon of Hope

Here’s a great curve topper for the enchantment/equipment deck. A very respectable body(4 power first strikers can brawl) who can attach an aura or equipment out of your hand or, vitally, your graveyard. Danitha will demand an immediate answer from the opponent, or they risk taking a lot of damage quickly. Her biggest problems are her high mana cost and lack of protection like ward or hexproof, keeping her out of the true bomb category.

Final Grade: B

Battlewing Mystic

Battlewing mystic has me really excited to try it. I love tempo, I love self-discard, I love options. In the world of tempo, a 2 power flier for 2 mana is a great baseline. Add to that a kicker effect that makes it relevant in the later stages of a game, and the total package has a lot to like. Given that I support madness and self-discard synergies, this is a no brainer.

Final Grade: B+

Founding the Third Path

This is a weird one. Lots of specific or conditional effects, it’s not a locked-in value saga like we’re used to seeing. Still, in the right deck Founding will smooth your curve by providing pseudo-fixing in chapter 1, filling your graveyard, and then giving you another bite at the apple in chapter 3. That said, it can also be a complete dud if poorly timed or not built around. This is a wait and see card.

Final Grade: C

Joint Exploration

Cantrips aren’t hard to come by in this set, but Joint Exploration is likely the best of the bunch. A Preordain that costs one more but is an instant is already fine, see Deliberate. But the cheap kicker that lets you ramp on the opponent’s end step is what makes this card shine. Anyone who has played Growth Spiral knows the power of a card like this.

Final Grade: B

Aether Channeler

Ah shit, here we go again. Man-o’-War is dead, again. Aether Channeler is a tempo or flicker deck’s dream, with options to make it work on almost any board state or in any curve. While it won’t win any games on its own, this mage will get value for days when paired with typical flicker payoffs like Soulherder. Great addition.

Final Grade: A-

Haughty Djinn

Here’s a great card in a tight package. It screams what it is meant to do, and boy does it deliver. Great blocker early, great threat later, and the whole time it discounts the spells that make your deck tick. I can’t see this getting cut any time soon.

Final Grade: A

Tolarian Terror

On the scale of 1 to Murktide Regent, this common represents itself pretty well. Getting it down for 2 or 3 mana is always going to cause the opponent problems, since they will have to trade evenly on mana just to remove it. Lack of evasion of any sort is a bit rough, but that never stopped Gurmag Angler either.

Final Grade: B

Cult Conscript

If you want to bash faces and sac creatures, have I got the guy for you. At just 1 mana on the front side and 2 on the back, this skeleton is just what you need to keep your board stacked with fodder. Admittedly, Black gets a lot of these recursive one drops these days, but that doesn’t make Cult Conscripts bad. It has a more relevant reanimation clause than something like Gutterbones for instance, which gets brick walled by good blockers. I think the conscripts will be a great fit.

Final Grade: B

Urborg Repossession

A clean 2 for 1 in the deck that wants to utilize the graveyard? Sign me up. While the base rate isn’t great, having the ability to bring back any permanent when this is kicked adds real power here. Plus, the lifegain goes a little way toward easing the fact that you have to fire this off at sorcery speed. It’s not a bomb, but it’s a solid effect in a small package.

Final Grade: B-

Phyrexian Vivisector

Another solid roleplayer for the aristocrats or grindier Bx decks. The body is unexciting, but the fact that it triggers off of itself means you don’t mind chump blocking with it if you need to. Get some value, smooth your draws, and keep the deck ticking. 

Final Grade: C+

The Raven Man

Yeeeeeesssss. I know it’s slow, I know the tokens can’t block, I know the body is weak. I don’t care. “If a player discarded a card” is the best line of text it could’ve had on it. Madness and self-discard decks need engines to earn value, and to this point that has been mostly enchantments like Drake Haven or expensive creatures like Bone Miser. This by comparison is much closer to something like Wharf Infiltrator which I also love. Bring on the crows.

Final Grade: A-

Balduvian Atrocity

Does anyone remember Crypt Champion from Dissension? No? Ok, well take my word for it, the card was gas. The Atrocity here is its modern counterpart, with a little more flexibility and a lot less risk. Getting a 2/3 Menace for three is a decent baseline, but the kicker is what makes this card. Get your best 3 drop back from the yard with haste, and have a decent body left over next turn. So yes, it really is a Rakdos gold card, but I’m still pretty high on it. 

Final Grade: B

Braids, Arisen Nightmare

Now here is a sac outlet that I can get behind. Decent body, lots of options, and a meaningful advantage whether they choose to sacrifice something or not. It’s not perfect however; only triggering on your end step limits the amount of sacrificing you can do, and you can’t sac stuff in response to removal like you can with Visera seer or Carrion Feeder. Still, Braids offers a unique way to exploit creatures with death triggers and fuel your graveyard.

Final Grade: B+

Braids’ Frightful Return

Wow DMU has been very kind to the Bx sacrifice decks of the world. This saga is a bit overpriced for what it brings to the table in terms of effects, but the fact that you can skip chapters is a big deal. As a 3 drop you can immediately buy back a creature and then cash in next turn for a clean 2 for 1, or you can slow roll it and get full value. I like these effects enough to give this saga a shot, at least for a little while.

Final Grade: B

Phoenix Chick

Starting Red off in a strong way, this is one hot chicken. Flying and haste ensure that it gets in for a few points of damage in the early turns, and its recursive ability keeps it relevant late into the game. It also doesn’t mind getting pitched or sacrificed for value, which is a plus.

Final Grade: B+

Electrostatic Infantry

Another great addition to the spellslinger deck, I really want to get this guy in combat. The infantry excels in the heroic deck too, where trample makes pump spells get really scary.  Monocolored Sprite Dragon anyone?

Final Grade: B+

Twinferno

“Guys, check it out, I double bolted!” -Me before dying to a green 8/8. Actually though, this is a cool card. Doubling the best instant or sorcery in your hand can be a really big deal. Plus, in a cube where Temur Battle Rage is good, this has a pretty decent fail case.

Final Grade: C+

Keldon Flamesage

This one I’m less convinced by, though it’s still certainly strong. The enlist ability without having any evasion is pretty underwhelming, as is a 2/3 body on a 3 drop. But if you can enlist or boost its power in other ways(pump spells, equipment, etc.) hitting a big spell can be a real tempo swing. It probably doesn’t make the most consistent plays, but this ability will feel great when it works.

Final Grade: B

Squee, Dubious Monarch

Finally, Red has a go-to 3 drop that makes hasty tokens. Getting in for – What’s that? There are already 4 versions of this card? And two of them are better you say… I see. Well in that case on to the next I guess. In all seriousness though, this has to be one of the best versions of Goblin Rabblemaster we’ve gotten thus far. Having haste and recursion makes Squee a huge threat, and a versatile card.

Final Grade: A-

Strength of the Coalition

One type of card that DMU did right by was pump spells, and Strength of the Coalition is no exception. While G for +2/+2 is not spectacular, kicking this feels like a massive tempo swing and has clear blowout potential. I love that it synergizes with GW counters decks and also go-wide strategies. If the kicker was 1 generic cheaper, it would be a true all-star.

Final Grade: B

Tail Swipe

Green instants are moving from strength to strength here. Tail swipe outshines most Prey Upon variants by being an instant and giving you options for when to deploy it. I love fight spells in general because they encourage risky plays and big swings, so this will be right at home.

Final Grade: B

Llanowar Loamspeaker

Mana dorks in the two mana slot are pretty well defined at this point, but there is always room for improvement. The Loamspeaker not only fixes and ramps you, it also provides extra threat as the game progresses, which other dorks usually lack. Three toughness is also a nice baseline.

Final Grade: B+

Quirion Beastcaller

I like casting creatures, and I like creatures that grow with +1/+1 counters. I like creatures that make removal awkward and provide a bonus to the rest of your board. Quirion Beastcaller literally does all of those things at the incredible price of just 1G. Get her out early and watch her roll.

Final Grade: A-

Urborg Lhurgoyf

The original Lhurgoyf finally gets a new card rebalanced for today’s magic landscape(Those other knockoffs don’t count). The low mana cost and the inclusion of cheap kicker effects makes this an efficient beater that also drives drafters in a distinct direction. Unfortunately this iteration only counts its controller’s graveyard, and lacks evasion. On the whole though, I’d be surprised if this doesn’t solidify the Sultai graveyard theme in my cube even further.

Final Grade: B+

Hexbane Tortoise

This one is in the maybe category for me. I love the fact that this is an easy curve filler for the Gx auras or midrange deck, and that it has enlist to make use of mana dorks in combat. On the other hand, ward 2 is not hexproof, and 2 toughness means the turtle is probably trading with almost anything in combat. Compare it to something like Dungrove Elder and maybe you see what I mean.

Final Grade: C

Defiler of Vigor

A big threat like this with a meaningful ability to discount spells is hard to beat. As a 5 drop this makes things like Acidic Slime look positively quaint. It rewards you for playing creatures in green, then makes those creatures bigger too – seems good.

Final Grade: A

Vohar, Vodalian Desecrator

I love to loot, and I love to reuse things from the graveyard. Even better if I can do it for cheap and all on one card. Bam, enter Vohar. There are only two things holding this merfolk back. First, the second ability’s sorcery speed activation. Second, its activation cost makes the spell a bit clunky. Those issues aside, I can live with that. Easy include.

Final Grade: B+

Elas il-Kor, Sadistic Pilgrim

Another really efficient card for what you’re getting out of it. As a 2/2 Deathtouch you can be happy with the body, and in tokens, aristocrats, and grindy decks the life gain/loss will really add up. Good luck to the players that need to fight through this.

Final Grade: B+

Balmor, Battlemage Captain

I think this is my favorite card of the set. Explosive and flashy, Balmor can turn the screw on basically any opponent’s board state. Cantrips, pump spells, burn spells, you name it and Balmor makes it look good. Put him in a tempo deck and run the table.

Final Grade: A-

Jhoira, Ageless Innovator

This Jhoira is a fickle one. I like that she can come down early and provide some real mana advantage, even letting you splash off-color artifacts. She does a bit of an Aether Vial impression most of the time. Of course it comes at a real cost; she’s slow, and offers no threat without other supporting cards. The body is decent, and being able to block and flash in an artifact probably makes her good enough. Looking forward to seeing how she plays.

Final Grade: B