Top 10 Underrated Return to Ravnica Cards for Standard: RTR
Cunderstructed
These buildings sure are tall.
When wondering down the bustling thoroughfares of Ravnica’s
districts and neighborhoods, you are surrounded by the dominant, omniscient
spires of the guilds who control the plane.
They’re easily recognizable, even from far off, and the machinations and
power inherent within these paragons is warping and overt. Everyone knows they’re there, and some people
like them being there. These icons of
control, power and reliability give them a lot of appeal, after all. You can trust them. You can work well with them.
As you meander through the dizzying stone pillars of the
city, it’s easy to look up and see what’s above you and accept that, well,
that’s the big thing in town. It’s not
wrong to trust the mainstream, but have you ever considered lowering your gaze
to the myriad denizens that nudge past you while you stand idly in the
street? Each has potential and power on
its own, and when these low-profile beings are given their chance, they can be
as powerful as those established fixtures.
Why deny them that chance?
Return to Ravnica as a set is filled with a wide variety of
cards and, like with any other set, as it becomes spoiled, several cards shoot
heads and shoulders above the rest as the “chase” cards of the set. Lately, planeswalkers almost always rise to
that role, as well as cheap, efficient creatures and broad, flexible
spells. Their price climbs and climbs
and before long, the average Magic player can’t afford them. Does that mean he or she can’t compete?
Why, certainly not!
As per usual here at Untap Target Player, I like to keep
things a bit offbeat. There are 249
cards to peruse for this set, and with the shrinking of Standard to just five
sets, the format is replete with possibilities.
I’ll admit that Lolteth Troll is probably the best non-mythic creature
in Standard, and Abrupt Decay is the most efficient piece of removal Standard
has seen since Lightning Bolt, but we’re looking at the cards that aren’t enjoying
the limelight as much. The key to
playing a good Standard game, like in Limited, is to know the possibilities of
what could come up. Knowing every card
is ideal, but even just understanding strategies and card synergies is
important, too. Surprise your opponent
by efficiently maneuvering the underrated spells highlighted below.
As of the very moment that this article is published, Scars of Mirrodin is gone and Ravnica will have fully returned. If you’re here to make an unusual deck for Standard, or even
just to make a deck that isn’t the
same as your buddy’s, we’re here to help.
Without further ado, let’s look at the Top 10 Cunderstructed
cards from Return to Ravnica!
First, an obligatory honorable mention.
Nivmagus Elemental
Stigma Lasher walked under some power lines. |
I love the design of this card. Frankly, design-wise, it might be my favorite
card in the set, and I went nuts when it was spoiled.
Originally, I thought it could just be the new
Tarmagoyf. A cheap creature that costs
no mana to pump is very good (see Lolteth Troll), and so I just about
insta-ordered four of them in the firm belief that he would quickly rise to
double-digit amounts. The ability to
turn any instant or sorcery in your hand into a permanent pump spell seems
amazing. I pictured game states of
casting this on turn 1, then turn 2 I’d cast and flashback Artful Dodge and
bash you with a 3/4. On turn 2!
In mono-blue or Izzet, that
seemed strong. Quickly it could move out
of the range of toughness-based removal, and your opponents would need an
answer quickly. You could siphon the
power from a botched counterspell into this fellow, or turn a one-shot burn
spell into continual damage. All on a
one-mana guy!
With the sunset of cantripping library manipulation, Delver
seems set to slide back into more of a niche deck role. I’m sure it’ll still get played for a while,
but before long, the void would need to be filled with something more
reliable. The Nivmagus fit that bill.
Or so I thought.
After reading the card a little more closely and really
considering realistic board states, I came to the conclusion that this card had
as much potential as a six-year-old symphonist, but that it would often require
overcommitment and would thus loose a bit of its raw power. Conversely, Delver requires literally nothing; no card loss, no mana, just a
deck built to capitalize on the plan and a bit of lucksacking. I still feel that Nivmagus Elemental is
vastly underrated, especially with flashback spells, but he might just end up
being too cute to function effectively.
Still, I hold a candle for this guy in the hopes that one day, he’ll be
given his true chance to glow.
And now, to the top 10!
10. Centaur Healer
Venerable Monk, just horsing around. |
In RTR Standard’s infancy, you will be smashed. A lot.
Aggro decks naturally arise first whenever Standard changes
drastically. Mana bases smooth out and
new cheap creatures become available, so aggressively costed decks can often
overpower cuter, perhaps more original decks of perhaps an intrinsicly higher
caliber. The Healer is a super
efficient, on-curve creature for any deck in need of any of its uses. It’s a nice aggressive fellow to lay down the
beats, it couples nicely with any life gain strategy, and it provides a nice
wall so stop early beats from the likes of either side of a Geralf’s Messenger,
a Rakdos Cackler and it can survive piddly burn effectively. The three life is quite relevant, erasing a
Delver smack or a Searing Spear.
Alongside Restoration Angel and Thragtusk, you have a nice safety net to
play your deck safely, whatever the end game is. I know that, as I rebuild my Selesnyeva deck,
this guy will happily slide in.
9. Shrieking
Affliction
Binaca! BINACA! |
Ok, for those of you don’t know, this is what Megrim should be.
Stage 1. |
Megrim is a favorite card amongst Timmies; just about
everyone in Magic has at one time had a Megrim deck. Just about as many people have been vastly
disappointed when the deck worked in the wrong order or was otherwise
ineffective at killing the opponent while protecting yourself long enough to do
them in.
Then, we got Liliana’s Caress.
Huh? Megrim is evolving! |
Liliana’s Caress was just about strictly better, being one
mana cheaper and using life-loss, not damage, as its output. Megrim fans rejoiced at Megrim copies #5-8,
but there was still something wrong.
What if you didn’t have discard in hand, or you didn’t have the
enchantment in hand when you had discard ready?
This major flaw cuts into discard decks time and time
again. An opponent with an empty hand
blanks the discard in your hand, so how do you kill them? The Rack is good, sure, but this is more
efficient and harder to kill, as well as Standard
legal. For just one mana, you can
punish opponents who play out their hand too fast. No discard required, just play it out and
find your win condition – a great choice for an aggressive black deck where
your opponent has to play their hand to stay alive. It’s niche,
but I like it, and I know that R&D is heading in the right direction
if this is the improvement they are pushing.
8. Ash Zealot
I AM PASSIONATE ABOUT FIERY REFUSE!” – Frieda Cinderwind, ash zealot |
Ash Zealot is exactly what mono-red, a
soon-to-be-revitalized archetype, wants to be doing on turn 2. Playing this guy and swinging safely into
nearly any early combat will give this guy semi-evasive qualities. The rider at the end is not completely
irrelevant; in an occasional game, you might get a Lava Spike or two out of it,
but his combat stats are what make him a nice one. If you are not careful, this will kill you in
a hurry. Being a human is also a
blessing, and the R/W Human archetype popular after AVR
just got another powerful tool. Don’t
underestimate this thing. Without an
answer, it’ll take a third of your life without blinking.
7. Collective
Blessing
Ever wanted to Overrun FOREVER? |
Frankly, there isn’t a deck that can cast this that won’t
want it. Pick your foil singleton, as I
think that’d be about all you’d play, but they are kind of funny in
multiples.
6. Volatile Rig
“A hornet stung it! RUN!!!!” – Professor Ilva von Gret, last words |
I LOVE THIS CARD. THE FLAVOR!
This card, despite the fact it shares neither a color nor a
watermark with Izzet, is very heavily Izzet in flavor. The Rig embodies one of my favorite casual
creature types, Juggernaut. Although
this is a Construct, the principle is the same – an undercosted, colorless
beatstick that dissuades blocking with either a French vanilla ability (like
trample) or a triggered effect (like Galvanic Juggernaut or this guy). Volatile Rig is at a nice point on the curve
and is, in my opinion, a really nice build-around card. It’s also a neat sideboard card against
creature heavy decks. It’s best if you
can trigger its death on command, for sure.
Even though it’s a coin-flip card, the risk of wiping the board will be
something your opponent will have to mentally contend with. Oh, and Trading Post.
5. Rakdos Cackler
4. Inaction
Injunction
Halt! Stop doing...nothing! |
If we have learned anything from the most recent Standard
monster, cheap blue cantrips are pretty bananas. Thought Scour, just a shade better than Reach
through Mists, has enjoyed playset-level prevalence in U/W Delver. Although this is a sorcery, it does affect the board state, makes a
nice Snapcaster target and is cheap and effective at what it does, even if it
just Time Walks you in the early game.
I’m putting it this high on the list for one main reason; Inaction
Injunction, if just a little bit better, such as being an instant or one mana
cheaper, would see top-tier play. We’ll
see if its minor drawbacks will be enough to keep it benched. In a world of Izzet decks that care about
instants and going through your deck and with Azorius decks building tempo, I
bet we’ll get Injunctioned a time or two or a hundred.
3. Izzet Charm
Charming, izzet it? |
The most mainstream card on this list, Izzet Charm will be
the go-to Charm for a lot of decks and will be an invaluable tool at any point
in the game. I put it at #3 on an otherwise
offbeat list to emphasize how much
this will affect the metagame. Your
opponents will need to worry about the first two modes at most any point in the
game, and the Faithless Looting at instant speed is relevant for you late game
as you dig for an answer or for a threat.
The only thing that would have made it more busted would be to hit a
player. Regardless, this is arguably the
most effective Charm in the set and one of the best Charms ever printed. It’s good in every matchup, even without
targets, which makes it relevant any time.
2. Desecration Demon
Choose... |
And finally…
1. Soul Tithe
Death AND taxes. |
I want you to take a moment and look at Soul Tithe.
…
Your opponent will have to pay EACH turn to keep whatever
you targeted alive. Nine times out of
ten, though, they won’t pay. What does
that mean?
This is a white near-Vindicate for 1W. No nasty “kill your Oblivion Ring and blow you
out.” Just end it. If your opponent is willing to pay the mana
cost, you’ve either played it wrong or it is their only means to survive or
win. Either way, Soul Tithe is a very,
VERY powerful enchantment. Oblivion
Rings still have their place, but not like this guy. Obviously, you can’t hit tokens and a few
oddball permanents, but this will be the go-to answer for white for the
foreseeable future. Mark my words.
And that’s the list!
I stand firmly by this list; you’ll see each in Standard or my name
isn’t Mr. Target Player!
Well, bad example, but you get the idea.
I’d love to discuss this with you all, so feel free to leave
a comment about what you’ve read today.
See a use for a card I just breezed past, or do you think my choices
were pedantic and near-sighted? Be sure
to follow my blog if you’d like to keep updated with my weekly posts.
Thanks again for visiting!
From here on out, it’s deck-building time!
Don’t forget to untap!
- Matt H
Pretty interesting list. I agree with some others not so much, maybe it's that I have been trying most of them in rogue decks that would need a more direct effect than this cards provides. Example I was playing some white wennie thingy and using Mana tithe on sb, on game 2 I had a very weak hand and when my opp played a Garruk P. Hunter, he could just pay the 5 mana and keep putting 3/3s (fortunately it was sac'd) The ultimate best of new cards is that some people don't know how to react to them just yet, ha.
ReplyDeleteSoul Tithe is pretty poor late game, I've come to that conclusion too. It may really just be a win-more card after some testing (this was written before the release), as it only really hurts them if they miss on land, cheat something in by reanimating it, etc. I'd probably put the Demon in first in retrospect.
ReplyDelete