Starting with Aether Revolt, I am going to try to
consolidate a lot of information, as I know my previous primers have been a bit
lengthy. I’ll be breaking down the colors with what I feel are the top three
uncommons from each color, and the top five commons of each color. There will
be a few honorable mentions splashed in as some colors are VERY deep in Aether
Revolt. I’d also like to add in I’ve made an email if anyone has questions or
suggestions on card choices or content they’d like to see this year: josh.limited.magic@gmail.com.
Feel free to drop me a message if you want to grab breakfast before the noon
flight on Sunday too!
These cards will be
in no particular order, as I want you to evaluate their individual strengths and
weaknesses and come to your own conclusions as to where these cards will fit into
your deck this weekend. Let’s take a
look at what I’ve found to be the top uncommons in white.
Thopter Arrest: Thopter Arrest is premium removal for white.
Being able to exile a creature is big game, as anyone who has played with or
against Oblivion Ring can attest to. This may sound crazy to some but I feel
this card is even better in Aether Revolt as casting this at sorcery speed will
turn off basically all of your opponents’ revolt cards. I’d be very happy to
find any number of these in my pool this weekend.
Airdrop Aeronauts: Anyone who has played MTG with me knows I
love my aggressive decks. This card really pushes that style of play,
especially in limited. A 4/3 flier for five mana is already a solid rate, and
the Revolt clause allows you to race without much care if a creature dies in
combat as five life coming back off a trade or loss of a Servo token can easily
make the difference in winning or losing a game. This card will be at its best
in a deck with 15-17 creatures, which is very easy to build in this format.
Deadeye Harpooner: I don’t think this card is as great as a
lot of people will make it out to be. The upside on this is high enough that I’m
willing to slate it in my top three uncommons as it can pick off a huge threat
from an opponent and leave a 2/2 behind. This card takes a little work to be
good but if you are able to put yourself in the scenario where this card is
good, it’s probably going to be very good.
Honorable Mention:
Aerial Modification: It’s very possible that this should be
the card in place of Deadeye Harpooner in the top three uncommons. This card can
greatly punish your opponent for tapping out, if you have a vehicle in play you
can enchant, this card represents a HUGE amount of damage as you now get to
swing in with the creature you would have been crewing the vehicle with and a
giant flying car. I expect a lot of heartache to come from decks utilizing
Consulate Dreadnought and Aerial Modification. Flying cars…. Man, 2017 is
great.
On to the commons, which are plentiful in playable cards
that I can’t wait to try out at the prerelease this weekend.
Dawnfeather Eagle: I’m really surprised that this card isn’t
an uncommon. This card is absolutely fantastic. Similar to Airdrop Aeronauts, a
3/3 flier for five mana is already a passable rate. You don’t even have to do
any work to make this cards ability great, simply play creatures and keep them
alive until turn five. I was a fan of B/W go wide decks and U/W skies decks in
Kaladesh limited and this card is a fantastic addition to both of those decks
and really any deck that plays creatures.
Conviction: This card feels really deceptive in its power
level, but I’m convinced that it is going to be great in this limited format.
Generally, the problem with aura cards is that you are setting yourself up to
give your opponent a two for one trade on their removal spells or in combat.
With Conviction, this is easily avoidable as you can return this back to your
hand if something were to go off script. +1/+3 is a decent rate to give your
creature and will give you quite an advantage over your opponents board. This
card is great as you can buy it back in the case your opponent plays a card
like Malfunction on the creature you suited up with Conviction. I also really
like the fact that this card can scale with your board, meaning you can suit up
a 2/2 in the early game and easily just buy this back from the board to cast on
a better creature later in the game.
The last use of this card I want to touch on as it is very
subtle, is the interaction it has with the Revolt mechanic. Bouncing this enchantment will give you Revolt on a stick which, I believe, has the potential to be very powerful in this format.
Caught in the Brights: This poor little gremlin never saw it
comin’… Aside from being incredibly flavorful, this card is great. Pacifism
effects are generally good in limited and this card comes in upgraded form.
Being able to exile the creature if you have the opportunity to attack with a
vehicle is great. This card plays very well with a card that just missed my list of top uncommons, Restoration Specialist. Even without flashy tricks, this card is
beyond playable and I’ll be happy to include it in any deck playing white this
weekend.
Decommission: Artifact removal is great in this format as
there is a deep emphasis on artifacts matter in this set. Enchantment removal
is hard to come by, making this card drastically better as there are a lot of
very good enchantments in this block. The Revolt ability is kind of like the
cherry on top of a sundae, not totally necessary but it certainly makes this
card look that much better.
Alley Evasion: Anyone who played a lot of Kaladesh limited
knows combat tricks were a sort of unsung hero of the format. The decks that
won often generally had 1-2 instant speed tricks to give them an advantage in
combat. This trend was a nod at the fact that there simply wasn’t much instant
speed removal you needed to worry about, and the cards that did remove your
creatures at instant speed were generally damage based instead of unconditional
removal. This made it easy to beat your opponents’ removal with a trick of your
own. I feel as though that trend will continue in Aether Revolt and the
versatility of this card makes it a great trick to play this weekend.
As can be seen from the cards listed above, white is of a
very high power level. With all of the experience I had with Kaladesh limited,
I know these cards will dramatically impact the power of this color and will be
one of the better primary or support colors for your sealed decks this weekend.
On to blue, whose role in Kaladesh was lackluster at best. I
hate to have to start by putting in this disclaimer but I feel an obligation to
tell you up front that blue in Aether Revolt isn’t very deep in playable cards
and continues to be rather lackluster. That isn’t to say that you simply can’t
play the color. I would just recommend looking for the cards in this list out of your
Aether Revolt cards. A few blue rares would be enough to put me in to this
color, just be prepared to have them supplement another color, which you are
bound to have better cards in. With that being said, I’d like to look at some
of the blue uncommons that caught my eye.
Illusionist’s Stratagem: This is a really versatile card
that I’d be happy to play if I ended up in blue. I’ll start by cautioning you
against playing this in green decks where you are looking to grow your team
with +1/+1 counters as all the work you put in on those counters dissipates if
you target that creature with Illusionist's Straragem. Outside of that non-bo this card can
be quite the beating. You can blink two creatures that may be tapped from
attacking, or cards that are locked down by cards like Malfunction or Caught inthe Brights. If you have any cards with enter the battlefield effects this gets
even better as not only are you drawing a card from playing Illusionist’sStratagem you get to double up on those enter the battlefield effects. This is
a really good thing to be doing in limited where the goal is to get the most
out of your cards for as little effort as possible.
Shielded Aether Thief: I’m usually pretty low on wall type
cards but this is so much more than your average wall. Beyond holding your opponents team at bay in a
lot of scenarios, this card has a lot of versatility in the energy production
it can create. If you don’t have anything spectacular to do with the energy
this card also gives you an outlet in the ability to draw cards. The fact it is
a 0/4 means your opponent can’t really justify using a removal spell on this in
most cases and it will be free to run wild. If they remove it: Great! You are
plus value on the card already. If they don’t and you get to draw even just one
card off of the activated ability, even better. You got far more value off your
two drop than is available in basically any other 2 CMC card in the set. I’m a
big fan of this card in U/G energy decks, which were quite powerful in Kaladesh
sealed.
Wind-Kin Raiders: A vanilla 4/3 flier for six CMC may not be
the card that catches your eye as one of the top three uncommons of the color
but the potential upside given to this card by the Improvise mechanic was
enough to peak my interest. I can easily imagine a world where this card just
breaks your opponents back on turn three by sequencing one of the many one drop
artifacts into Cogworker’s Puzzleknot into turn three Wind-Kin Raiders. You
will generally steal games with that sequence and that is more than enough to
get Wind-Kin Raiders in my list of uncommons I’m excited to try out.
Let’s take a look at what commons blue brings to the table
in Aether Revolt.
Aether Swooper: This card isn’t flashy but it does play a
role in your blue decks. Energy production is great as there are so many good
outlets you can dump energy into. This card is an early evasive creature that
can also utilize energy and leave a stream of artifacts to help with Improvise,
the Servos generated by this card can also be good on offense or can just be
chump blockers depending on how aggressive or defensive your deck is.
Bastion Inventor: This card is easily the replacement to
Wind-Kin Raiders and in the turn three scenario I described when talking about Raiders, Bastion Inventor
is almost the better option. Playing a 4/4 Hexproof creature on turn three is huge. Your
opponents will have to throw multiple creatures in front of this just to trade.
Moreover, this card is something I would easily pay five mana for, making this
great at basically all points of your curve. I expect a lot of good things to
be said about this card this weekend.
Ice Over: I’ll start by saying this is no Pacifism and is
certainly a weaker Malfunction. With that being said it doesn’t mean this card is bad, you just have to be weary of the
fact that your opponent will get a chance to attack with their problem creature
at least once before this becomes relevant. That doesn’t change the fact that
this card is playable, just be sure your target is already tapped when you cast
your Ice Over.
Leave in the Dust: Whenever I play blue in limited, I’m
always looking for cards that swing the tempo of a game in my favor. After all,
tempo is what blue is generally about in limited. This card fits that bill
perfectly, bouncing their big threat they play on turn four or five is
essentially a Time Walk and this version even comes with the ability to draw a
card. This card will be sure to leave your opponent in the dust if you are able
to cast it on a turn where your opponent taps out for a big threat.
Take into Custody: This card is pretty lackluster. As
mentioned when I began discussing blue, this color isn’t very deep. So this is
what we end up with as the fifth best common out of the color. Frost tapping a
creature isn’t the worst thing you can be doing but it is generally a temporary
fix to a much bigger problem. I don’t recommend using this into an Ice Over as
that is just a bad two for one in your opponent’s favor. With that being said,
this card can help you push the last points of damage through to close out a
game and, though situational, that feels like enough to justify Take into Custody’s inclusion in this list.
This honorable mention won’t be great in the context of limited
but I am a huge fan of this card for constructed play: Metallic Rebuke. This will
most likely find a home in standard as a functional reprint of Mana Leak. Decks
utilizing this card are bound to have a few artifacts lying around and this
card will be a great early tempo spell that I am happy will be entering in to
standard.
There are a few ringers in blue that you should really look
for when deciding if blue is really where you want to be when playing in your
prerelease events this weekend. If you are a blue mage at heart and can’t bring
yourself to play another color I encourage you to give blue a try and let
me know if you find a card that I may have underrated the power level of.
On to a color I am always happy to be playing in sealed in
this block, black. This card has a high density of removal and some really
good, efficient creatures low on the curve. I’m excited for Aether Revolt to
release as there are some creatures higher up on the curve that are introduced
in this set that I feel will make any deck playing black even better than it
was initially in Kaladesh. Let’s take a look at some of the top uncommons of
the set.
Gifted Aetherborn: This card is extremely efficient even as
a 2/3 for BB mana. Add the fact that Deathtouch and Lifelink are tacked on to the
card and we have a real heavy hitter on our hands. This card will profitably block
almost every two drop in the format, all while gaining you some life along the
way. You can certainly attack with this card, as your opponent won’t want to
throw anything in front of this a large percentage of the time. Another great
attribute of this card is that when you get later in the game, this will take
down their largest attacker and gain you a few life in the process. I think
this card will be at its best in aggressive R/B or W/B decks but it will
certainly find its way into any deck playing black.
Vengeful Rebel: Speaking of extremely efficient cards,
Vengeful Rebel is another great inclusion to any deck playing black. A 3/2 for
three mana, while not the most exciting, is a passable rate that I would play
regardless of the Revolt ability. The games where you cast this and get the
Revolt trigger will feel great. Being able to pick off a creature while
committing a creature to the board is big game and when doing it for three
mana, it feels a bit surreal.
Perilous Predicament: I’m generally really low on edict
effects in limited. Giving your opponent choices is usually not going to come
out in your favor. Why then, do I feel Perilous Predicament is different? Well,
your opponent can’t simply go, “Sacrifice two Servos?” you are guaranteed to
get a real creature out of the deal and even if you get the short end of the
stick and only get a Servo token as the artifact creature they sacrifice, you
are still getting more value out of this than you would be out of something
like a Devour Flesh. I can also assure you it will feel really good the turns
where you get a huge vehicle out of the way because they simply don’t have access
to a Servo to sacrifice.
I’d like to give a quick honorable mention to a card that
will be good in limited but is going to be an all-star in multiple constructed
formats, Fatal Push. If this is in my pool, and I’m playing black, it’s
definitely going to find its way into my 40 cards. The implications this card
has in standard and even modern are boundless. This is the card that easily has
caught my attention the most out of anything that was spoiled in Aether Revolt.
The commons black brings to the table in this set are
certainly no slouch. The power level of this color is truly remarkable and I’ll
be surprised if you don’t see a plethora of black decks at the top tables this
weekend.
Aether Poisoner: This card is comparable to Aether Swooper
in blue, but significantly better than Swooper in that this card has better
late game implications. You can easily churn out a 1/1 Servo with this card
which is a welcomed addition to the B/W go wide deck that was tearing it up in
Kaladesh limited. A 1/1 with Deathtouch for 2 CMC is totally playable by
itself, making this a great addition to any deck playing black in this limited
format.
Cruel Finality: This is a solid removal spell that can play
two roles since it was printed as an instant. It can be a clean removal spell
for any pesky x/1 or x/2 creatures your opponent has lying around. It can also
be a great combat trick, setting up good blocks or good attacks in what would
otherwise be an unprofitable scenario. The fact that you get a Scry off of this
card is great as you can easily set yourself up for a great follow up turn.
Defiant Salvager: This is a really dynamic card at a
passable rate; I was quite surprised to find this at common. The only reason I
see it at that rarity is the “Activate this ability only any time you could cast
a sorcery” clause. This is a down side as your opponent can cast a card like
Cruel Finality on this in response to the trigger and you can’t simply
sacrifice another creature or artifact in response. Regardless of that one
small downside, this card can easily close out games since you can activate the
ability multiple times a turn. Don’t even get me started on the implications
this card has with Revolt decks…
Fen Hauler: What an awesome top end for decks playing black.
This card pairs great with the Fabricate creatures of Kaladesh and punishes
your opponents relying on Servo tokens to block. I mentioned my excitement over
good top end cards black now has access to. This was certainly one of the cards
that came to mind in that statement. I think this will be a great closer and a
5/5 for 5 CMC is easily attainable in this format and that is a great rate for
a great body.
Resourceful Return: This is another unassuming card of the
set that does some really cool things. In studying up on Aether Revolt, I’ve
found there to be very few “vanilla” creatures in the set. This means you will
almost always buy back a spell and a creature. Buying back something like a
Vengeful Rebel is pretty unreal and will firmly put you in the driver seat of
most games (pun intended). You will almost always have an artifact lying around
meaning this is also going to net you whatever card happens to be on top of your
deck. All of this for two mana, you are definitely coming out ahead when
playing this card in your limited decks.
The best part about this color is how deep it truly is.
There are quite a few cards that didn’t make this list that I will be very
happy to play this weekend. I hope you are too!
On to red, which was very aggressive in Kaladesh, that trend
doesn’t seem to change with the inclusion of Aether Revolt. Let’s see if we can
get through the uncommons as quickly as they will get through your opponents
life total.
Hungry Flames: This is an above average rate for the effect.
Gone are the days of cards like Lightning Strike but this is a card that can
fill that void. Dealing three damage to a creature for three mana is about what
I would expect out of a red instant for three mana in this day and age. The Shock ability
tacked on isn’t significant, but it is certainly welcomed, making Hungry Flames
one of the top three uncommons of this set.
Scrapper Champion: This card is a little risky as a 2/2 at
this rate isn’t the most exciting thing in the world, but the risk drops
significantly each turn this guy survives. Heck, I’d probably still jam this
guy as a 2/2 Double Strike creature for four mana. This card just gets nutty
when you add in the energy clause. This card is great on defense as Double Strike
is just a better First Strike and this card is just insane on offense. Growing
into a 3/3 Double Striker the first time it attacks is pretty good. If you are
able to activate this ability twice your opponent is going to go into fits
trying to figure out how to profitably deal with this card.
Gremlin Infestation: I’ll start with the disclaimer that
this card is at its best in aggressive red decks. One problem the aggressive
red decks would run in to during Kaladesh limited was an inability to push the
last few points of damage through. This card takes care of that in a big way.
It doesn’t stop the artifact you enchant from being a threat so be weary of
that. I recommend putting this on a mid-level card that you can take a few hits
from if it is attacking, this card will be at its best on an artifact that isn’t
attacking you, and isn’t providing your opponent a huge amount of advantage.
Basically, if you are okay with your opponent having that artifact, suit it up
with Gremlin Infestation, keep attacking when it is profitable, and reap the
benefits of the incremental advantage that this card provides.
There are a lot of great uncommons that didn’t make this
list. I just couldn’t expand this article to talk about basically every red
uncommon. Same goes for the commons in red, but let’s take a look at what I
feel are the five most defining commons red brings to the table in Aether
Revolt.
Aether Chaser: This is the easiest card of the cycle to
generate a 1/1 Servo in my opinion. You can attack quite freely with this card
if you cast it on turn two as a 2/1 first striker is going to eat any two drop
your opponent may throw at you with very few exceptions. A 2/1 with first
strike for two mana is already passable, as was seen with Gearshift Ace in
Kaladesh. I think this card is going to be great in any deck playing red this weekend, in
basically any number of copies.
Destructive Tampering: Even at sorcery speed, the ability to
destroy an artifact is pretty big in this format. There are a lot of artifact
creatures and vehicles that can just wreck you in this format so having access
to a card like this is great. If you find yourself in a winning position, this
cards second mode can outright win you the game and is great for red decks in longer
games where the ground game tends to get gummed up with a large number of
creatures on either side of the board. I think this card should be an auto
include in red decks this weekend.
Embraal Gear-Smasher: This card comes at a good rate, even
as a “vanilla” creature it would still come at a good rate. Adding on the ability to push
through damage and this card gets much better. I really like the interaction
with this card and Servos that are playing defense. If you don’t have much
incentive to attack you can simply keep Embraal Gear-Smasher and a Servo back,
block with the Servo and then activate Gear-Smasher’s ability to sacrifice the blocking Servo and hit your
opponent for a few points of damage. This card also plays very well with the
Revolt mechanic. This is enough versatility to make this card a potential all-star
in decks playing red this weekend.
Precise Strike: Aside from the awesome flavor text, this
card is another great combat trick to add to your arsenal of spells. First
strike can be very powerful when given at instant speed and this card will
assure that you come out ahead of your opponent in combat in most cases. At a
single R mana, this card is very difficult to play around and will make
blocking difficult for opponents. It’s also a way to push damage in the rare
cases where your attacks will put your opponent to one. There are more than
enough cards in this color that will help you get that last point of damage in,
so I wouldn’t worry too much about that interaction, however.
Shock: Speaking of cards that can get that last point of
damage in, Shock is making a return in Aether Revolt. I personally find this
card to be a bit better than Galvanic Bombardment which recently made an
appearance in Eldrich Moon. Shock is a more versatile spell in limited
than its gavlvanic counterpart as you are generally only going to have access to one, perhaps two
copies of the card. Having the option to hit a creature or player is important
and since you were rarely getting the +x damage clause of Galvanic Bombardment,
Shock should be viewed as a strict upgrade.
Red is a terrific color that has come a long way in terms of
sealed play. Aggressive decks are very real in this format and I have a feeling
red will be a lynch pin in this format that should not be taken lightly.
Our last stop on the traditional color pie is green. This
color was great in Kaladesh so I anticipated it would be toned down in
comparison to the power level we saw in Kaladesh. I couldn’t have been more
wrong… I have respect for basically all of the mono-colored slices of the color
the pie in this format, but they may as well put a note in your prerelease box
that says play green or you’re going to have a bad time. There are an insane
amount of playable cards in this color, so much so that it took me as much time
to make a list for green as it did basically all of the other colors combined.
With that in mind, most of the green cards in your pool will be playable so if
you are having a difficult time deciding what to cut, I highly recommend this
list as a base point to determine what you should be keeping. Let’s take a look
at what I believe are the top uncommons green has to offer.
Lifecraft Awakening: The late game potential behind this
card is phenomenal. You can greatly upgrade a Servo that is blocking mid-combat,
you can also generate a surprise giant blocker out of any artifact you may have
lying around. I really like the ability to turn an artifact into a giant
blocker if you opponent makes an attack with all of their creatures only to
have you attack back with newly “awoken” artifact. I think this card will steal
games and has the potential to give you a victory where defeat would have
otherwise been right around the corner.
Maulfist Revolutionary: The rate on this creature is great;
I would happily play as a 3/3 with trample for three mana. Add Proliferate and
this card goes bananas. Green is already all about getting counters on
creatures and the fact that this card gets a proliferate trigger on entering the
battlefield and leaving it is really big game. I picture this card with DurableHandicraft, Thriving Rhino, Peema Outrider, Kujar Seedsculptor and many more of
greens great counters matter cards and I start to salivate. This card is going
to be fantastic.
Ridgescale Tusker: Speaking of greens great counters matter
cards, how good is Ridgescale Tusker? The “vanilla” rates on this guy are
already acceptable and add in the ability to grow your whole team and this guy
just gets even better. The synergy this adds is big game and I have a feeling
this will outdo Riparian Tiger and Arborback Stomper as the five drop of choice
in green decks.
Without going in to really any detail I feel as though it is
important to mention that the following uncommons are cards you should always
play if you are in green: Peema Aether-Seer and Narnam Renegade.
As if the uncommons weren’t enough of an addition to this
already great color, let’s take a look at some of the commons poised to make an
impact this weekend.
Druid of the Cowl: A decent body and the ability to ramp,
this card is a very welcomed addition to green decks as the only way to ramp in
the early game previously was Servant of the Conduit which was an uncommon.
Having access to Druid of the Cowl enables green decks to do some really nasty
things more consistently than they previously could, like cast a turn three
Peema Outrider, which is usually pretty back breaking in most games.
Lifecraft Cavalry: It was hard for me to put this card on the
list due to its competition vying for a place in your deck as a five drop. I
decided to include it only when thinking on its relation to Riparian Tiger,
which I actually think is worse than Lifecraft Cavalry. I believe that the
longer a game goes the easier it will be to trigger Revolt. This means by the time
you cast Lifecraft Cavalry, you will have a 6/6 on offense and defense instead of only on
offense AND only if you have the energy to spare to make the tiger great. My current
inclination on ordering on the top four green five drops is as follows:
Ridgescale Tusker, Arborback Stomper, Lifecraft Cavalry, and then RiparianTiger. Be conscious of this order when building your green decks this weekend.
Natural Obsolescence: This card is certainly not Naturalize
(which would be welcomed into this format with open arms). It is, however, one
of the best options to remove a problematic artifact from the board. There aren’t
many ways to shuffle your library in this format meaning once you have removed
the artifact the odds of it resurfacing are slim to none if that is your opponents’
only copy of the card. I can’t decide if this is better than Appetite for the Unnatural or not but due to its casting cost of one less mana, I’m inclined to believe
that Natural Obsolescence is the better option of the two.
Scrounging Bandar: This card is good on its own but it gets
significantly better if you have a card like Maulfist Revolutionary in your
deck. Being able to spread a counter over to another creature on the upkeep
following the turn you played Scrounging Bandar is pretty great. You can easily
hang on to this creature and use its ability later in the game to give you a
size advantage when you and your opponents’ creatures are at parity. I think
this is right on the level of Kujar Seedsculptor, which is a great two drop.
Aether Herder: I really like this cycle of creatures. The
two energy they make on entry is good and the ability to spread out into
multiple creatures is great. I’d prefer to play Peema Outrider over this card
but this is certainly passable as a four drop and a card that I would put in my
deck if I’m having a hard time filling
out my last 1-3 slots of my deck this weekend.
Green is very good at splashing a third color if you have
access to a multicolor bomb. With this in mind, I feel it is important to
mention Unbridled Growth as what is probably the best option for enabling a
splash. This card would be almost unplayable without the final clause of
sacrificing the enchantment to draw a card. This can occur at instant speed
making this a great Revolt enabler. If you are looking to play a third
color, this is definitely a card you should be looking to play.
I think that it goes without saying that green is a great
place to look when deciding what colors you should play at your prerelease
events this weekend. I’d like to briefly transition over to the multi-colored cards
of the format, which are very few in number.
When it comes to the multi-color cards I feel as though they
shouldn’t determine your selection of what colors to play. Obviously, if you
open a Tezzeret or Ajani, you’ll be best served to try to find a way to include
these in your decks. Outside of some of the bomb rares, the uncommons are
playable if you are already intending on playing that color pair, but I wouldn’t
try to force a color combination to include these cards.
This leaves us with one of the crucial pieces of the format,
artifacts. Before we dive in to the uncommons I want to mention that I am very
critical of artifacts that cost four or more mana. Cheaper artifacts get a bit
of a free pass in my book with the introduction of Improvise as these cards can
serve multiple purposes and, therefore, gain a few extra points of value. Let’s
take a look at some of the uncommons I feel will be your best options for
prerelease weekend.
Daredevil Dragster: This is an efficient rate both on CMC
and Crew cost. I’m slightly opposed to the sacrifice trigger happening after
two activations, I really wish it were three or even four attacks or blocks but
the trade is great. You can pick off two creatures blocking, push through eight
points of damage or do some combination of these things. You get two cards out of
the deal in the end which is also great. Add in the ease at which you can get a
Revolt trigger off of this card when drawing two extra cards and we have a real
winner of a card.
Treasure Keeper: I mentioned I was very critical of 4+ CMC
artifacts. This card far exceeded my expectations on power level. A 3/3 for
four mana is a decent rate but the ability on this card is pretty insane. As
long as you aren’t highly concentrated on one drop spells, this card should be
an auto-include. Getting to Cascade can be very powerful and I feel as though
this card will be very widely played this weekend.
Consulate Dreadnaught: Speaking of filling up on cards that
cost one mana, enter Consulate Dreadnaught. This card is the real deal and a card that really deserves some respect. This card will be at its best in decks that have
access to a few cards with the Improvise mechanic but I feel it has a home
basically anywhere. Crew 6 is a bit steep, but it is attainable, and you are
rarely taking a turn off just to get this card in to play. Add the fact that
several enchantments will animate this to beat the Crew cost and you have
access to a true game ender. Personally, I can’t wait for the opportunity to
cast an Aerial Modification on this card, better yet; I want LSV to have that
opportunity so that he may give Aerial Modification the respect it deserves.
On to the commons, which are mostly all very good and will
be welcomed additions to many decks this weekend. I want to emphasize that you
still want to play 13-17 creatures in the format so be careful not to overload
on too many of these flashy non-creature artifacts.
Consulate Turret: This card is very good at providing
inevitability and is great with improvise. Making energy for nothing but the
initial casting cost is a great ability. Adding an energy sink for when you
happen to have three energy floating around is also great. I think this card
will be at its best in decks starving for energy but it’s a fine choice even if
you only have 1-2 other cards that want the energy that Consulate Turret
generates.
Pacification Array: Cards that tap down creatures are always
at a premium. I realize this is an uncommon in a list of commons, but I had to
throw it in somewhere. This card is great and should be an auto include in
every deck regardless of if you have access to Improvise or not. This
essentially shuts down vehicles as your opponent has to give up way too much
tempo to Crew only to have the vehicle tapped down by Pacification Array.
Renegade Map: This card is much better when you have access
to cards with the Improvise mechanic but it is suitable even without them. It
can fix your mana, enable a splash, and help you pay for those Improvise cards
which is enough in a card. It is a terrible late game top deck so I would limit
its inclusion to a single copy.
Universal Solvent: This card does universally solve whatever
your opponent is doing. This card also plays very well with Improvise and can
answer anything your opponent may throw at you in the late game which is great.
This is, I believe, the only truly universal removal spell hitting pesky
artifacts, creatures, lands, enchantments, and planeswalkers. I would be very
happy to play 1-2 of these in my decks this weekend.
Mobile Garrison: This card is really efficient. I like the
ability to untap whatever I used to Crew this guy up and the ability to give
pseudo-vigilance to a giant attacker. The rates on this card are perfect. I’m
happy to pay three generic mana to commit this to the board and Crew 2 is
extremely easy to facilitate. This is a top notch vehicle that I would be happy
to include as a one of in any deck.
Before I move in to the last category I want to cover as far
as Aether Revolt cards go, I want to give a quick mention to the power of Servo Schematic in Improvise decks. Aether Revolt will compose 66% of the format
meaning you won’t always have access to Cogworker’s Puzzleknot. These cards are
interchangeable but they both serve a huge role in decks trying to cheat big
threats into play using the Improvise mechanic.
The last thing I want to touch on is the importance of the
Implement cycle of cards, which are listed below. These cards enable Improvise and are
generally good on their own, netting you a card while adding a spell-type benefit in the process. This makes these all at a premium in decks playing the
corresponding color and I think you will be best served by including at least
one copy of these cards when they are available.
I apologize that this article turned out to be a bit longer
than I anticipated. I feel as though Aether Revolt brings a lot to the table
and needs to be covered in depth to give you access to the best cards come
prerelease weekend. I had anticipated adding what I feel are the top 10 most
improved cards from Kaladesh, as well as the top 10 bomb rares of Aether
Revolt. I will try to get an article out on that topic by Friday if my schedule
permits it. Thanks for giving this a read. I’d love to hear your opinions on
these choices and also any topics you would like to see covered in 2017. I plan
on starting up a video series via MTGO and will try to remain diligent on those
videos, while still writing up articles to give you the most competitive edge
in your magical ventures.
Happy Battles,
Josh
