White
| In (3) | Out (3) |
White’s update this time is pretty minimal, mostly just adding some value creatures and trimming things we were less happy about.
Adds
Packbeast is a solid card that both cantrips while pretty easily being above rate and just generally large. Fortress Kin-Guard might not be the flashiest 2 drop we’ve ever seen, but the option to be either slightly above vanilla rate, or being 2 bodies in one is some nice flexibility. Focus Fire is the oddest inclusion here but we feel that it will generally be useful even with an empty board on your side and only getting better with a bigger board.
Cuts
Pegasus Guardian is ok on the front half, though not spectacular, the back half is a bit too high on the curve for us to be happy with that mode of it, so it’s being removed. Sandsteppe Outcast has been a stalwart inclusion for years but we’re swapping like-for-like with Kin-Guard here to avoid the two conflicting. Holy Cow simply was not great and we’re sure most folks won’t miss it or the goofy pun of a name.
Blue
| In (4) | Out (4) |
Blue is getting a bunch of new toys from Edge of Eternities and getting some older cards cleaned up.
Adds
Cryogen Relic is one we anticipate being here for a long time. The use of the precious “leaves the battlefield” wording means this pairs with flicker, self bounce, it being removed, whatever it is, you get that bonus card. Cryoshatter is coming in for the fact that it’s another 1 drop piece of pseudo-removal that blue loves, with the added upside of being able to deal with mana dorks and the like just as well as bigger threats. Mechanozoa is coming in as with the ever rising amount of ETB effects, stunning and tapping in some ways can be more useful than just bouncing creatures. This one even gets two uses of that trigger, so we’re hoping it works out well. Starbreach Whale mimics some past includes like Watcher in the Mist, but with a mode that allows you to make use of it if you haven’t got anything else to do on some early turns.
Cuts
Geyser drake has been unimpressive and not well liked, out it goes. Bubble Snare is getting cut to make room for another blue removal spell. Aethersnipe is an old favorite but at this point is really showing its age in a lot of ways. Compulsive Research was trimmed as we felt the density of the “generic draw 2s” was high enough without it.
Black
| In (3) | Out (3) |
Just a minor quality upgrade for black (pay no attention to the lost darling please).
Adds
Resentful Revelation was just a strict upgrade over Ransack the Lab. These sorts of updates are boring but functional. Diregraf horde was recently cut but we heard folks who were disappointed at its removal and added it back in. While Black “spells matter” isn’t a fully supported thing, Black Mage’s Rod is a nice clean card that provides slower decks a way to chip in some damage while durdling around.
Cuts
Nezumi Linkbreaker has the double sin of being not that much of a stand out and also adding yet another weird token to the pile needed. Rager is likely our most controversial cut here, but we talked about it and it is at this point just the worst 3 mana cantrip creature.
Red
| In (6) | Out (6) |
Red gets just a tiny bit bigger and loses cards we feel are generally lacking or have enough representation already.
Adds
We’re adding a couple of old/older cards in Furnace Strider and Ironhoof Boar, which, we hope, help to diversify the role red plays in conjunction with other colors, while still being clearly red in their aggressiveness. That is to say not every Rx deck needs to be all 2-drops, all go-wide tokens. But speaking about that, Shock Brigade is an amazing addition that any deck with sac outlets or mass pump spells will love. Seize Opportunity comes in as a flexible card that can still push damage with a big attack, or if needed, transform into “Reckless Impulse at home”. Finally, two great burn spells (for a total of +1), for both big and small targets. Now Red can really kill that Murmuring Mystic.
Cuts
Forbidden Friendship dies for the sin of having a unique token, and being an effect we have in multiples. Red Herring and Yavimaya Steelcrusher are among the least interesting 2 drops we run. Harried Spearguard and Rift Bolt are coming out as the worst-in-class, along with Ambitious Assault which almost requires another color to get the extra bonus.
Green
| In (8) | Out (8) |
Green is currently in a great place, so why are we making changes? Well, it has some room to give for sidegrades focusing on different archetypes and for adding a couple of classic cards.
Adds
River Boa is a clean card that will be a pain for some decks to deal with while being a difficult blocker in others. Temperamental Oozewag is coming in as a counters + other modifications lord that also manages to pump itself. We’ve been aware of the Ainok Wayfarer model of creature for a minute now and we’ve wanted to include it so we finally made room for it. Sylvan Might is part of a plan to make the golgari color pair a bit more cohesive. We’ll be adding in more ways to self mill, so having cards that are reasonable to get milled makes sense. Speaking of cards good from the graveyard, Champion of Dusan is a reasonable body that provides value when it dies or is milled over. Sagu Wildling might not be exciting on its own and the Omen version of Lay of the Land might not be either, but together we think they provide a solid card. Flesh Burrower is a decent defensive option if you need to trade up with anything, but also works great paired with tramplers on big proactive decks. Entourage of Trest is coming in as a way to give green a stab at persistent card advantage in the form of the Monarch.
Cuts
Jade Avenger was a bit odd feeling and didn’t encourage gameplay we felt that green was aiming for. Hazard of the Dunes was a recent include but we ultimately felt it was one of the more lacking counters cards. Tuskguard Captain is mostly making way for Oozewag who we generally just liked more. Massive might is exiting for a similar trick. Bloom Hulk is getting the axe as it was some amount of the time going to be a very boring 4/4 and that fail case wasn’t incredible. Lead the stampede is getting cut as it wasn’t as reliable as we’d like. Nature’s lore is coming out as we’re slightly refocusing how we want to approach ramp in green. Finally Silverback Shaman is exiting as we wanted to trim something higher up the curve and this one was the least exciting to us.
Colorless
| In (1) | Out (1) |
Adds
Pinnacle Kill-Ship is goofy but it helps the ramp deck to stabilize by killing the biggest threat, and eventually ends games. Send those elves to space!
Cuts
Bauble is just a mediocre ramp+fixing spell which is probably not needed anymore since our fixing is great and our ramp is plenty.
Multicolor
| In | Out |
Adds
We’re adding Expanding Ooze to the Golgari section, it’s not exactly in line with the other aims of the color pair, but we heard the pretty warm reaction it got as well as folks’ interests in seeing a bit of counters support across other colors.
Cuts
We’re taking out Infuse with Vitality, a real underperformer.
Lands
| In | Out |
We’re adding in the surveil lands from Spider-man, which should come as no surprise. What might surprise some folks is the removals, we’re axing most of the draw lands but the Dimir one is staying in as part of the 10 lands in the uneven cycle, replacing Dismal backwater, the dimir gain land.