Dragon's Maze EDH Set Review, Part 3: Enemy Color Guilds

We've got another long one today, with another 5 guilds. This time, we're looking at the enemy color pairs, such as Orzhov and the like. With over 30 cards to discuss, I'll just skip to the review, cool?

Orzhov

Divinity of Pride and Serra Ascendant were made before EDH hit a critical mass of popularity and WotC started printed cards aimed squarely at our format. This, apparently, is what DoP looks like with an EDH-minded "fix" in place to account for the 40 life start we get. In some ways, I appreciate they've given us a bit more of a hoop to jump through to power this guy up, but at the same time, it makes me feel like DoP is just "better", despite the fact that this guy has two great protection colors.

Either way, he's definitely going to see some play.

Bad. Ass.

Zombify target Enchantment? Target Planeswalker? Sure, we'll take that! This will likely be a staple of the format for years to come.

I like that they don't get the card back if they kill this guy. That's what makes stuff like Tidehollow Sculler pratically useless in the format. I'm still not sure this is worth playing in EDH, though. I can definitely see it in Karador or something similarly able to recur it ad nauseum, but beyond that it seems too weak.

Usually I'd rather just have Sadistic Hypnotist and some tokens.

Nope. If this guy didn't cost 5, he might be semi-playable in WB Tokens, but you're better off jamming Cathar's Crusade.

Ugh. I hate this card with a passion, but it's so rediculously on-them for my Vish Kal deck that I know it's going to end up in that deck. But do we really need another way to make Cabal Coffers the most-abused Land in EDH?

Quick mathematical comparison to Exsanguinate:Debt is worse than Exsanguinate at 5 mana, the lowest CMC you can cast it for (and not have it do nothing), but it achieves parity with Exsanquinate at X=2, which gives you a 4-point life drain for 6 mana with either spell. Debt becomes more cost efficient than Exsanguinate at the 7 mana CMC, or X=3. Once you have 10 mana, Debt is worth a 12 point life drain, compared to Exsanguinate's 8 point drain.

Uh, do I want to pay 6 mana for a Zealous Persecution, or two mana? Derp. That this card exists is almost insulting.




















Izzet

Our planeswalker for the set is the long-awaited and much-anticipated Ral Zarek. I have to think there were a lot of EDH players crestfallen the day he was spoiled. He's a good planeswalker, no doubt about it, but he's not very EDH-friendly. His +1 is terrible in a non-duel environment, and the Lightning Bolts he slings aren't nearly as reliable in EDH as they are in 60-card formats. Worst of all, his Ultimate is down right anathema to a large portion of the format's fan's as being a Turn Hog is one of the most antisocial things one can do.

Expeect to see him paired with Doubling Season for maximum funwreckery.

Ha ha, cute. If this made 5/5 Dragons instead of 4/4's I'd be happy to give this a shot, but it's just shy of being playable in my book.  That said, if there are any U/R decks out there just wishing they could play Overrun, here's your chance.

I'd love this as a 5 mana Instant, but that's probably unrealistic. As printed, I think this is worthy of niche play at most, but not much more than that.

LOL, no thanks. It's a cute design, and very flavorful, but power-level-wise, this is pretty abyssmal.

Turdsville.

5 mana to kill virtually any creature than can be targetted? Even Ulamog or Darksteel Collosus? In some color schemes this would be laughably bad, but in U/R, 5 mana for a Murder that can murder even Indestructable guys is actually a deal well worth taking.
















Golgari

Seems like an auto-include in Karador and Mimeoplasm for sure, as well as any other deck in these colors that seeks to exploit the graveyard as a resource.

If you've never played with Pernicious Deed, grab one of these, and you'll start to understand why Deed is so good. That said, I do like Deed better, because of the "rattlesnake" effect it has - the ability to just sit on the board and look menacing, quietly urging your opponents to attack each other instead of you. This doesn't have that effect. But it does have the (also highly desirable) effect of just flat out murdering every stinking thing on the battlefield.

VERY playable.

Turrible. Even decks that actively want to self-mill have dozens of more efficient options.

As much as I like a good Deathtouch blocker, this isn't all that compelling. Like, at all.

Well, it is strictly better than Recollect, if you're in the colors, but I haven't even seen Recollect played in a few years. I don't think this is "better" enough.

If "Down" cost BB, it'd be pretty good, but 7 mana is just too much to ask to get both of these effects. Not worth it.
















Boros

What is there to say? If you're playing R/W aggro, and fear Wrath effects, then you'll absolutely want this card in your deck. Now, I do prefer Boros Charm, because it is A) an Instant, so they won't see it coming and play around it, B) a great Sunforger target, and C) protection for all your permanents, not just creatures.

That said, this is still a boon to Boros aggro decks and will definitely get plenty of play.

Bad Master Warcraft effect on an overpriced stick? Nope.

Seems great in a Gisela burn deck, but not very good outside that niche archetype.

This is so much worse than Lightning Helix it isn't even funny. Yet, if you ask me which of the two I'd rather have as part of my Sunforger package, I'd pick this one all day long.

Need a foil of this, by the way. Beautiful.

Blech! Give me Glory of Warfare or Cathar's Crusade any day. This is jank.

Surprisingly good (if a bit boring) utility spell. Hull Breach as an Instant for 1WR  is pretty fantastic, actually. Also, yet again, Sunfoger-able. This is probably the most playable of the uncommon split cards in the set, even if it isn't the most exciting.

















Simic

A Clone with built-in Followed Footsteps is absolutely playble. Don't expect the 6 mana price tag to be much of a deterrent. This would be playable at 7 mana; at 6 it's great. I can't wait to jam this into everything I can.

As much as I dislike countermagic, this is certainly an impressive and exciting specimen. As a Mana Drain for the budget/casual player, this is definitely going to be a format staple, but the multi-color CI means (thankfully) it won't be jammed into every Blue deck in the format.

Neat, I guess. Most decks would probably rather pay 1 extra for Costal Piracy, as it does the same thing, but without the extra hoops to jump through. But I'm sure there are Edric and Experiment Kraj decks out there that'll make use of this.

Meh. Reprint this with Trample later, and we'll talk.

Seems  overcosted and bad at first, but as a Simic-ified variant of Faith's Fetters that can dodge removal (for an admittedly steep cost), it might get a bit of play here and there. U/G does actually have more removal options than you'd think, though, if you look hard enough.

U/G has about a million ways to pump guys or draw cards better than this. Maybe not on the same card, mind you, but the sheer wonky-ness and inefficiency of this card makes it look like utter garbage to me.

















Okay, so we're down to the wire. We just have the 10 Guild Champions to look at, then a quick look at the Artifacts and Lands, and we're done!

Dragon's Maze EDH Set Review, Part 2: Ally Color Guilds

Okay, we've got 5 guilds to cover in this segment, so it's going to be a lengthy post. After much deliberation (about 10 minutes worth), I decided to just "rip the bandage off" as it were, and wrap this up in three more posts. This one concerns the 5 "freindly colored" guilds, you know, White/Blue, Blue/Black, etc. The next part will be enemy colored guilds, like the Orzhov and whatnot. The final post will cover the Guild Champions - the 10-card cycle of Legends for each guild, and the sets very minor Artifact and Land offerings.

So, since we've got a lot of ground to cover, I'll forego further preamble and begin.



Azorius

..."naming Sphinx's Revelation."

This is virtually a vanilla 2/4 in EDH, which of course makes it terrible in our format of choice. Trade these to Standard players.

Not a bad counterspell for EDH, especially against Maelstrom Wanderer. GAAIV players will like it.

Seems good in Limited but pretty bad in EDH.

This has some interesting multiplayer applications, because it bounces any creature that deals any kind of damage, to any recipient. If you can maneuver your opponents into a massive red zone brawl against each other, you can really blow them out with this.

That said, 99% of the time I'd rather just have Aetherize, Evacuation, or even just a Wrath of God.

Yay, another boring Hexproof guy. Friggin' sweet art, though! Gorgeous!

Way to weak for EDH.






















Dimir

In EDH, this is basically the most expensive Mind Twist ever. You're better off just running that, or one it's many variants that are all more mana efficient than this.

Now this is going to see some play. Pretty much every deck in the format has to build in ways to draw extra cards, or risk falling behind after a sweeper or two. A great way to capitalize on opponents' Phyrexian Arenas, Rhystic Studies, or Consecrated Sphinxes.

Just be warned, though: An opposing Consecrated Sphinx can force you to deck yourself and kill you on the spot, if you don't have mana open and some Instant-speed removal handy. Be very careful with this guy, if you think a Sphinx might appear!

Junk.

More junk.

Playable, but there are better removal options in U/B.

Better than the W/U one, but still not very good. Again, U/B has tons of good removal options.





















Rakdos

Complete and utter troll card. If you play this, you are a troll. Period.

Now, this on the other hand, is a legitamate griefer card. I don't like it, and I'm going to hate playing against it, but I have to admit it's a solidly on-point addition to any Griefer deck in these colors.

This is a griefer card too, but I'm not sure it's quite good enough to make the cut in most decks.

If this could hit a player, it'd be great, but as-is, it's just terrible. I keep hoping to see some cute trick with it, involving Stuffy Doll or Boros Reckoner to turn a Wrath into a one-shot kill, but that's probably too cute to be feasible.

LOLWUT

Fairly playable in greifer/punisher decks. Also pretty playable in ANY deck that just wants to punish a notorius Consecrated Sphinx abuser.



















Gruul

While I might wish that this had Trample, Double Strike is a fine ability and I'll happily play this in my Stonebrow deck.

As a Mythic, I don't really see why the grow ability needs the sorcery speed restriction. I don't think it would have been overpowered without it.

Either way, it's solidly playable.

I've tried playing with Heartbeat of Spring/Mana Flare enough to know that this is a trap card. Being a creature instead of an Enchantment actually makes it even worse. You'll play this, hoping it tables, but inevitably one player will just make a ton of mana, play a bunch of bombs, and then end his turn by killing this guy, meaning you spent 5 mana, a card and a turn fueling someone else's huge turn.

That said, it's a lock for group hug decks in these colors.

I can't tell if this is a terrible Overrun or a mediocre Overrun... what I can tell you is, I'd rather be playing Overwhelming Stampede.

I would rather play Flametongue Kavu and/or Spitebellows over this, even without the "at random" rider. With the rider, it's nerfed so far into unplayability, it's almost sad.

This is a really random and janky reprint. I can appreciate it's synergy with Bloodrush, on paper at least, but it's still janky.

Not the most compelling or powerful of cards, but don't underestimate Double Strike.

I normally hate mana dorks in EDH, because they just add more value to your opponents' sweepers by also adding some mana denail to their spells. They're the epitome of "high risk/low reward" in EDH.

I'm not sure the added-value damage this guy does is quite enough to upgrade the "reward" status enough to balance out the risk, but I like it on paper enough to try this guy in my Stonebrow deck. He should easily do 6 or more cumulative damage before eating a Damnation.











Selesnya

This is one of the high-value cards of the set, second only to Ral Zarek at the moment. Whether the hype will live on or die down is anyone's guess, but for now this is my EDH assessment: We'd all love to have one in our Rhys or Ghave decks, but badly enough to pay 20 bucks? I'm leaning towards "not so much". If it drops to a more reasonable $10 or so, then picking one up for a dedicated token deck is more doable.

As exciting and powerful as this card looks to be in 60-card formats, I can't see it being all that compelling in EDH. a 5/5 Trampler isn't the most useless thing in the format, but it still has a decent chance of just sitting around doing nothing. It's a very awesome card, just not for our format of choice.

 Junk.

Oh look, almost Armadillo Cloak. The significant difference between this and the orginal Cloak (aside from AC's way more awesome flavor text) is that you could always put Dillo on an opponent's guy to effectively neuter it as an attacker. You can't do this with Unflinching Courage.

Still, this is a neat sort-of reprint, because it basically allows us to play TWO Armadillo Cloaks in our Enchantress decks!

Now, this is a token-maker I can appreciate. It's 10 power for 4 mana, spread across 4 creatures, which makes it hard to answer 1-for-1. Also, it looks like it'd play well with Rhys and Trostani, and it's BFFs with Deadeye Navigator or Conjurer's Closet.

Weaksauce, even in a token deck.






















Well, that wraps up our look at the 5 allied-color guilds. Next, we soldier on with the enemy-color guilds.

Enjoy! 

Dragon's Maze EDH Set Review, Part 1: Monocolor, Rare Split Cards

Dragon's Maze is officially and completely spoiled now, which means it's time again for the ol' EDH set review. The structure of this set, containing all 10 guilds, means the structure of this review is a little awkward. I'm kicking things off with the handful of monocolored cards that are worth looking at, and then the 5 Rare split cards. This is an awkward grouping, but the split cards have two halves from two different guilds, so it was all I could come up with.

Anyway, let's get the show on the road, shall we?

This really isn't a terribly exciting or powerful card, yet it will obviously get played in Populate decks. At worst, it's 6 power for 5 mana, with potential for a good deal more.

Possibly playable in some Teysa 1.0 decks.

I'm really digging this one. In many groups, where mono-colored decks are shunned, this will often be a two-for-one or three-for-one. Seems reasobly good for a two mana Instant.

Also, it's a good Sunforger target. This should see plenty of play, as long as your playgroup is multi-color saturated.

This is, officially, the worst Rare in the set. Thought opening all those Search the City's was bad? Try pulling this as your Foil Rare for a box.

Morphling on crack? Possibly. Will it see play in EDH? Definitely. Will it be any good? I'm not convinced, but I can see it's potential. It is damned hard to kill.

I'm equivocating a bit, here, but honestly I expect this thing to be snap-jammed into a million blue decks at first, then eventually pulled out of half of them for not doing enough. In the other half, it'll be an MVP.

One of the very, very few commons I feel like mentioning, and only because this is a great addition to my UR Instants and Sorceries Matter deck, and will likely see play in many similarly themed decks. Talrand, for example, will probably be happy to play this.

You really need to be commited to that theme, but if you are, this should be stellar.

It's no Crypt Ghast, but it's still pretty good. This is going to be murder in B/W token builds. Kill this on sight, lest every spell get an Exsanguinate kicker.

A not terrible peice of GY hate. Instant speed and they won't see it coming. The life gain is a nice bonus. Good way to hose Mimeoplasm, Dredge, Karador or Hermit Druid decks and gain some life in the process.

Terrible. There are a TON of ways in Black to draw cards that don't require me sticking a tiny creature AND being in top-deck mode. Trade this to Standard players.

And, this is the most annoying card in the set. Still, every set has to have one nod to the fans of Chaos decks, and as far as "wacky red Enchantments" go, this one is fairly amusing and interesting. Still annoying, though.

A bit too Spike-ish for EDH probably, but aggressive Goblin decks might still play it. It's an interesting way to design a Bloodrush creature with pseudo-Buyback on paper, but not something I'm interested in playing with in any format, save maybe Limited.

Nice anti-Blue card, but more of a constructed/sideboard card for 60-card formats. Not impactful enough to make much of a splash in EDH.

Seems like a shoe-in for any deck with +1/+1 counter theme. Animar, Kraj, Zegana, and many Edric decks, for instance, will likely play this.

Like all the rare split cards, this one is a bit expensive to Fuse, but well worth it if you can afford it. Seems tailor made for Kresh decks.

Protip: Pair this with Charnelhoard Wurm for fun and profit.

This is possibly the best of the rare splits for EDH, but the rare exception in that your mostly going to be playing it for the more expensive half. 6 mana is an awful lot to pay for a Zombify that also grants haste, but the added versatility of it being a split card, plus the fact that it can target creatures in opponents' graveyards as well as your own, I think, more than makes up for the extra cost.

Fused, this can absolutely blow out an opponent who's going in for an alpha strike. Seems unlikely they'd walk into the trap, though, if you're sitting there with 6 mana open and cards in hand.

My big complaint is that I wish Willing was a standalone card so I could play it in Vish Kal, but alas it is not (I am aware that Vault of the Archangel is a card, but opponents see that coming).

This one is obviously getting some competative attention, as a possible replacement for Glimpse of Nature, to get Elf combo decks back online in Modern.

As such, my gut tells me to try and trade these to Modern players or speculators, at least for now, as I don't see this having a lot of application in EDH.

Catch is neat, as a Threaten variant that can hit any type of permanent, but the release half is the sort of effect I generally dislike playing with, or against. It's definitely playable, but I don't like it.


















Okay, that's Part 1 down - now I have to figure out how I'm going to structure the rest of the review. We'll be back as soon as I figure that out.