CCC: Guilds of Ravnica Set Review - Red

We're excited to continue Coast to Coast Casual (CCC), a blog series written by East2West, published on MTG Cardsmith.

I will be going over most cards in this set excluding most commons and uncommons. Each card will be given a ranking between 1 and 10 based on how playable I believe it to be in Standard, Modern, Commander, and Draft respectively.

1. - Unplayable
2. - Bad card tribal
3. - Uninteresting
4. - Could see play but doubtful
5. - Playable
6. - Seems deece
7. - If you have the room run it
8. - Make the room to run it
9. - Spicy
10. - Why aren't you playing this?

Red

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Arclight Phoenix is a solid card for any spellslinging deck in almost any format. In Standard and Draft any Izzet deck would be happy to have this creature since it can almost always be free casted. In Commander it's cool but nothing impressive so although it's playable personally I wouldn't. For the Modern meta I think this card could see play, it's gotten out turn 1 or 2 easy enough, I'm just unsure if it's a truly viable strategy.

Erratic Cyclops lives up to the name. A super solid creature for spell decks Erratic Cyclops essentially has power equal to your available mana. It can be buffed as a combat trick to for amazing effect. In Standard and Draft it's a 0/8 body which is a great blocker (Watch out for white's toughness based removal though). In Modern I can see this being a win con for some powerful storm type decks. And in Commander, the world of insanely high mana cost and of great ramp this guy is gonna take names.

In all formats Experimental Frenzy has some disturbing text, you can't play cards from your hand and you can only play the top card of your library. It's a cheaper, weirder Future Sight that can totally lock you out of a game. The reason this is playable though lies in alternate ways to cast spells. In Standard (and Draft) right now Surveil and Jump-Start respectively work well with this. Surveil lets you fill your grave with Jump-Start cards as well as letting you control your top. You can cast Jump-Start cards from the grave making it a good way around the drawback. In Modern there aren't as many ways I could find to effectively use this enchantment but maybe someone else will. In Commander this card is amazing since Shared Fate is a thing. This can make a super jank, super fun game of Commander with some crazy politics. Also Zedruu is a thing.

I wanted to highlight Goblin Cratermaker just really quickly. It's a solid Goblin with amazing abilities and I think this is going to be an auto include in most Goblin decks. Also it's ability hits Eldrazi so this little guy can actually kill 5 of the 6 Eldrazi Titans. There's not much to say about this guy but I know I'll be keeping an eye on him.

First pickable, combat trickable, probably enjoys pickles, Legion Warboss is an amazing card. Sort of the weaker cousin of Goblin Rabblemaster he still manages to be amazing. In Standard and Draft he's an easy slot into most red aggro decks. He's also an auto-include into any Goblin deck in Standard. In Commander and Modern he's good and I think he'll see play but there are also better choices (like the aforementioned Goblin Rabblemaster.) so he may be overlooked.

Browbeat is one of my all time favorite cards, Risk Factor brings my dream of 8 Beat Burn to life! In Standard this is a better Divination in the right shell and I wholeheartedly expect to see this card in most red decks. In Modern and Draft this is just a powerful card, obviously better in Draft but Modern is a place where I think Risk Factor will find a steady home. Commander is Risk Factors big weakness. High life totals means this is almost always going to be a pseudo Char. I'm super excited for this card and I'm certainly gonna get a playset.

Repeatable Pyretic Ritual on a stick? Seems deece. In Standard I think this will sort of just slide into any Mono-Red deck and it even opens the door for some sort of combo. In Modern this could possible give birth to a new Mono-Red Storm deck but I don't know it that will even be playable so for now it's score remains a speculative six. In Commander and Draft Runaway Steam-Kin is just decent, it can enable certain things but there may very well be better options to slot into your deck. All in all Runaway Steam-Kin is an interesting card that I think will breed new decks as well as slot into old decks.

Bring on the final entry next: Green

Go back to the beginning of the series: White

East2West is an aspiring writer from NJ currently seeking fame and fortune on the internet. She's been playing Magic since Zendikar block (the original one) and is a commander player with one deck for each two color pair and one for each single color. The only non EDH deck she plays is her own personal Pauper brew, Pauper Eggs. Follow her on her newly created and probably soon to be underused twitter @East2WestMTG.

CCC: Guilds of Ravnica Set Review - Black

We're excited to continue Coast to Coast Casual (CCC), a blog series written by East2West, published on MTG Cardsmith.

I will be going over most cards in this set excluding most commons and uncommons. Each card will be given a ranking between 1 and 10 based on how playable I believe it to be in Standard, Modern, Commander, and Draft respectively.

1. - Unplayable
2. - Bad card tribal
3. - Uninteresting
4. - Could see play but doubtful
5. - Playable
6. - Seems deece
7. - If you have the room run it
8. - Make the room to run it
9. - Spicy
10. - Why aren't you playing this?

Black

---

I don't understand this card, honestly I don't. Repeatable lifelink creature that can remove a card from a grave on cast but deals you three when returned to hand. I mean I feel like I'm missing something with this here but I honestly don't see this as playable in most formats. In Draft it's okay, it's playable since lifelink even though it's a low bar it certainly meets it.

Doom Whisperer is just a good card all around. A flying threat with decent stats that tramples and provides reasonably costed topdeck control. In Standard and Draft this is just an amazing choice for top end. In Modern it's a little slow but I honestly can see this being playable in certain control shells. Commander is Doom Whisperer's new territory. Essentially every black deck will want to run this, 40 starting life means Doom Whisperer filters your deck insanely efficiently while filling the graveyard. Hooooo boy this is gonna cost a lot in the near future.

I think Gruesome Menagerie can put up numbers I just don't know if it will. In all formats there are plenty of solid targets this can hit, the issue seems to be it's restrictions. With other spells like Unburial Rites they can hit massive creatures allowing you to sort of circumvent their mana costs. With Gruesome Menagerie you're pretty restricted but reanimating multiple creatures sort of makes up for this drawback. I'm interested to see what this card can do and I'll definitely be keeping my eye on it.

Weird Demonic Tutor that can only hit black cards. Not sure what deck really wants this in Standard or Draft but it's playable in really any black based creature deck. In Modern I can see this as a piece in Dredge allowing you to tutor up cards with startling efficiency. As for Commander this should basically just be an auto include into any graveyard deck featuring black, honestly.

Card draw engine in black, nothing that new or innovative but it can be good. In Modern there are just better options while in Standard I'm just not sure what deck wants to run this. In Commander this is a good choice for black creature based decks given high life total and the massive amount of board wipes present in the format. In Draft this is a valuable ability on a solid body, while certainly not first pickable if I'm in black and this comes around I'd take it.

Okay Ritual of Soot is kind of really good. In Standard and Modern this hits almost everything. This card can shut down so many top tier decks it's almost a second Damnation. Orzhov Board wipes is an archetype I think can happen and this is a step in that direction. In Commander it's another board wipe so why not, fill your deck with higher cost creatures or low cost guys that have an upside on death and boom, value. In draft this can either kick ass or suck hard. The Draft format for Guilds of Ravnica has some aggro possibilities but from my experience it's a grindier format so late game Ritual of Soot can set you back more than your opponent. Be careful with it in draft.

Coming up next: Red

Go back to the beginning of the series: White

East2West is an aspiring writer from NJ currently seeking fame and fortune on the internet. She's been playing Magic since Zendikar block (the original one) and is a commander player with one deck for each two color pair and one for each single color. The only non EDH deck she plays is her own personal Pauper brew, Pauper Eggs. Follow her on her newly created and probably soon to be underused twitter @East2WestMTG.

CCC: Guilds of Ravnica Set Review - Blue

We're excited to continue Coast to Coast Casual (CCC), a blog series written by East2West, published on MTG Cardsmith.

I will be going over most cards in this set excluding most commons and uncommons. Each card will be given a ranking between 1 and 10 based on how playable I believe it to be in Standard, Modern, Commander, and Draft respectively.

1. - Unplayable
2. - Bad card tribal
3. - Uninteresting
4. - Could see play but doubtful
5. - Playable
6. - Seems deece
7. - If you have the room run it
8. - Make the room to run it
9. - Spicy
10. - Why aren't you playing this?

Blue

---

Not a whole lot to go over here, it's too slow for most formats but is first pickable in draft. In Commander Sphinx tribal is becoming kind of a thing so one more solid Sphinx is a pretty cool thing for those players.

Same CMC as Citywatch Sphinx but so so so so sooooo much better. It's power and toughness are lower but it can be flashed in, it's a flying threat, it surveils, then it bounces a creature! Dream Eater is a gosh darn express train to value town and I love love love it!. Too slow for Modern but I think this will see play in Standard as a finisher, in Commander since it's just solid, and this is 100% first pick in draft.

Drowned Secrets is fun for me but all in all it's not great. Mill in Modern might want this but I think the two drop slot is better filled by Glimpse the Unthinkable. In Standard Mill doesn't seem to be a thing rn, the Standard meta is leaning heavily aggressive from what I've seen so I doubt this will be played. Commander is Commander, that means 100 cards and since this is a target player affect it's basically unplayable. Now in Draft this a total build around and I highly recommend it, it can work and you'll have fun playing it.

Coming this October, Snapcaster Mage: Tokyo Drift. Everyone's making the obvious comparison to Snapcaster but there are some significant differences here. Snapcaster is a creature (obviously) so it's body can be super useful as a chump for some decks. On the flip side Mission Briefing allows you to surveil, making it a little more flexible. Plus Mission Briefing allows you to pay alternate casting costs which Snapcaster Doesn't meaning that I could see this being played in Eternal formats as extra Force of Wills. All in all Mission briefing is playable in all four of these formats and I expect to see it killing me in the near future.

Murmuring Mystic is actually my favorite card in this set. It's weird Young Pyromancer and it's a total bomb in draft. Easily my first pick in any pack it's in this card can just take over board states in an instant (or sorcery). The Jump Start ability gives Murmuring Mystic extra value, plus the tokens are flying making this a great finisher. In Standard and Modern it's too slow and there are better choices at a CMC of four but in Commander I can def see it in most spellslinger decks as a generator for blockers or as an alternate win condition. Murmuring Mystic is an insane card that I am so excited to force everytime it shows up in my packs.

Spellslinger players are probably drooling over this. Omnispell Adept is super powerful but the issue here remains a high mana cost and having to wait one turn due to summoning sickness. That wait allows your opponent a whole turn to respond to this. For that reason in both Modern and Draft I can see this being played but I don't expect to see it put up crazy numbers. In Standard I have hopes, there are plenty of great targets but with the amount of good removal in the meta we shall see how this goes. In Commander Omnispell Adept shines like a diamond, most decks will want a copy due to the sheer power of that activated ability. Compliments to the chef.

This card instantly reminds me of Cackling Counterpart. The fact that it hits only creatures you control are what kind of turns me off of it. Clone effects are often good because they can copy your opponent's best creature at a lower casting cost. I can see it being playable in Standard and Draft but since Cackling Counterpart never had a place in Modern I think this will be soon forgotten to those players.

Selective Snare is a very powerful tool in control decks. With enough mana on board this can shut down most tribal decks making it really good in a Standard environment with any tribal themes. In Modern there are better bounce spells but I can see it being sideboarded in against tribals. In Commander tribal strategies are extremely popular and even when they're not you can bounce multiple creatures under multiple players control if they share a creature type (nudge, nudge. Name Human). As for draft it's fine, not first pickable but it's certainly something I like to have at least one of in any blue deck.

Check back soon - up next: Black

Go back to the beginning of the series: White

East2West is an aspiring writer from NJ currently seeking fame and fortune on the internet. She's been playing Magic since Zendikar block (the original one) and is a commander player with one deck for each two color pair and one for each single color. The only non EDH deck she plays is her own personal Pauper brew, Pauper Eggs. Follow her on her newly created and probably soon to be underused twitter @East2WestMTG.

CCC: Guilds of Ravnica Set Review - White

We're excited to continue Coast to Coast Casual (CCC), a blog series written by East2West, published on MTG Cardsmith.

I will be going over most cards in this set excluding most commons and uncommons. Each card will be given a ranking between 1 and 10 based on how playable I believe it to be in Standard, Modern, Commander, and Draft respectively, I'm not familiar enough with the eternals to give that score. We'll be going in classic WUBRG order. Let's get started.

1. - Unplayable
2. - Bad card tribal
3. - Uninteresting
4. - Could see play but doubtful
5. - Playable
6. - Seems deece
7. - If you have the room run it
8. - Make the room to run it
9. - Spicy
10. - Why aren't you playing this?

White

---

Off the bat this card is a home run when it comes to Commander and Brawl. Your opponents decks are most likely tailored around a legend which makes this an amazing removal piece. In Standard it gets a good score due to the fact that Dominaria as a set has a legendary focus with Mox Amber being the target I expect to see Bounty Agen used on most often. As for Modern it doesn't look great given that most Modern decks don't rely on legends, I can however see it as a sideboard piece so it isn't totally hopeless.

This is another card that I think is going to have the most definite impact in commander but even then it doesn't seem great. This card is great for weenie decks, it gets rid of your opponents big bads while leaving your tiny dudes standing. It's the toughness focus that is both interesting and a huge drag on it's score. In Modern most of the top end decks don't run creatures with toughness high enough for this to hit. I was excited about it until I remembered that Eldrazi titans have indestructible. Standard however interests me the most. Arcades the Strategist seams like it could become an actual thing depending on future sets and this seems like good hate. In the current meta I give it only a four since it mostly will be a dead draw due to that the number hittable creatures run right now is very low. Still hold onto these just in case, that's why I give it a possible future score. Sidenote: Collar the Culprit gets a similar review to the above.

Conclave Tribunal is a card I think can be really powerful in Standard. Casting this at full cost in Standard isn't great but it ain't that shabby. Casting this with even just a single convoker makes it an Oblivion Ring and casting it for a single white (or less) is a god tier feeling that's not hard to achieve. In modern it's still not that bad but there are just better options. I wouldn't be surprised to see it in a couple lists but I'm not expecting it either. As for commander it will see play but in most decks it will be a slightly more flexible Oblivion Ring or Banishing Light but it's generally higher cost is what keeps it at just simple playable.

Now this is what I call a sideboard staple. In Standard this gets rid of History of Benalia, Search for Azcanta, Legions Landing, Mox Amber, Seal Away, Ixilan's Binding, and even Conclave Tribunal. If it's not clear this is going to take names in Standard. In Modern it's playable but I think there are better options and more established removal of this sort so although it can be played I'm not holding out hope. In commander this is one in a long line of lists of just good removal. It is nigh impossible for this to be a dead draw in a multiplayer format and since this exiles the target(s) instead of just destroying it gets around the recursion that remains ever present in the format.

Dawn of Hope is interesting but not all that exciting to me. In both Standard and Modern it's too slow to have any real playability since it doesn't effect the board the turn it comes down and it requires additional payment to have any impact. In Commander however this can be a sort of worse version of Well of Lost Dreams and I can certainly see multiple decks wanting to run this. In Draft this is strictly okay, this is a slowish draft environmental and in the right decks this can be a majorly effective engine. In the end it's good but it's nothing to really write home about.

Demotion is actually a much better removal spell than it might seem. Yes, whatever creature you hit with it can still attack but Demotion shuts off activated abilities. That's incredibly playable! In Standard there are a solid amount of high CMC creatures whose payoff are their powerful abilities and this just shuts that down. I think it may be more of a sideboard piece though. In Modern this just won't see play, I think there are times where it could make a fine addition to a deck but I can't imagine anyone actually opting to run it. In Commander it's not that playable but a lot of popular commanders have good activated abilities so I'm actually going to start running this in my control deck. As for Draft this is a really good choice for any aggressive or midrange deck running white. It shuts off your opponents big blocking bodies so you can get in as much damage as possible. Highly recommend.

This one is one that I'm honestly unsure on. In Standard and Modern I think this might be too hard to get out in time for it to be effective but in a token deck this can be a devastating finisher. Divine Visitation truly shines in Commander where so many decks want to run this. As for Draft this can go either way. If you pick this just make sure token is an open archetype since otherwise this is just an unplayable card.

Light of the Legion is just a super solid creature. With a large body and the mentor ability this is super playable in Draft and Standard and I expect to see this on the top end of some white decks as a finisher. In Modern it's a little too slow and at six mana there are just better options. In Commander this is a definite card to just fill an empty slot. It's not format warping but it fits in most any deck so I'd say give it a shot.

This guy confuses me. His ability is alright but I honestly feel like this doesn't fit as rare. He certainly shouldn't be uncommon but he seems to fit in this nebulous space between rarities. In Standard and Modern I can't see him seeing much play. In Commander I have hope but even still it seems unlikely. In Draft his body is big enough to be viable and when he comes down he can buff some dudes. Draft is where Venerated Loxodon will shine most but I think he might still be only a second pick.

Check back soon - up next: Blue!

East2West is an aspiring writer from NJ currently seeking fame and fortune on the internet. She's been playing Magic since Zendikar block (the original one) and is a commander player with one deck for each two color pair and one for each single color. The only non EDH deck she plays is her own personal Pauper brew, Pauper Eggs. Follow her on her newly created and probably soon to be underused twitter @East2WestMTG.

Trick Or Treat

October is synonymous with Halloween and Trick or Treating, and it's no exception here at MTGCardsmith! This month we'll be looking for, and featuring, cards that force your opponents to make some agonizing decisions!
Check out these examples!
Fatal Lore
Fact or Fiction
Shrike Harpy

Think you can make your opponent squirm in their shoes? Can your design make the battle hardened sweat at the table? Show us your best Trick or Treat cards and you might just see it on the Featured Card spot on the front page!

Featured Cardsmiths

KrampisZman
KrampisZman began his Cardsmith run making Bidoof cards! We could not have guessed at the time that he would not only go on to make amazing cards not related to the oft maligned Bidoof, but he would also use his skills to make his favorite Pokémon a part of our MTGCardsmith world by fashioning a Bidoof Set Symbol! His sense of humor, combined with his creative cardsmithing have made him one of our Featured Cardsmiths of the Month! Check out the cards we've highlighted, as well as the rest of KrampisZman's amazing collection!



fellwynd
One of our long time Cardsmiths, fellwynd has a penchant for working on card sets. He was one of the main collaborators who helped complete the AtheraCollaborationSet, and he is quietly working on another set, Revia. Take some time to flip through the 700+ cards he's made so far and show this Featured Cardsmith some love!


Each month we're excited to highlight just a couple of Cardsmiths that have helped make MTGCardsmith the best interactive online Card Creator. We hope you'll take some time to check out their creations!