Hello, Magic players!
Thanks for visiting again! It’s
time for one of my favorite times in the Magic year; Prerelease time! I’ve been watching the previews closely in
anticipation of July 7th, and now that day is nearly upon us.
I’ve always enjoyed drafting Core sets. They’re usually a nice “back-to-basics” kind
of set with the addition of some specific mechanic to mix it up; before M10 or
so, most core sets were just ho-hum reprint packs, and so it was hard to have that different an experience from, say,
8th Edition to 9th Edition. Moreover, many of the cards from middle core
sets have had trouble seeing play (unless they were printed somewhere else),
while the new core sets are full of
playables for the four “C’s”: Casual, Cube, Commander and Constructed!
M12 was the first core set I’d drafted since Tenth Edition,
and I was able to perform very well in the Sealed portion of our LGS’ Release
tournament (2nd place in the final!), so I have high hopes for the
10 weeks of M13 Limited ahead.
With all my Constructed play over the last few weeks bolstered
by my negative opinion of AVR
draft, I feel a little rusty tackling the spoilers with a Limited-only
eye. We’ll give it a shot though; I’m
excited to step back into drafting for this set!
Below, I’ve chosen ten cards that, within the environment of
M13 Draft and Sealed, I believe to be the strongest commons and uncommons in
the set. Rares are usually more powerful
and splashier, and it’s usually pretty obvious which ones are great in Limited
and bad in Constructed and so forth. I
only choose commons and uncommons because, in general, this will be the vast
majority of cards you will play with and against, the “meat and potatoes,” if
you will. In a draft, there are only 24
rares (a couple extra with foil rares), but you’re bound to come in contact
with each common and uncommon in a given draft, and the chances are high you’ll
run into them in Sealed, too. In my
opinion, there are three criteria that make a card a powerful card in
Limited.
The first criterion is an overall power level. Efficient, flexible and/or aggressive, these
cards will find their home in many decks and will affect the game in a powerful
way when they’re cast. Secondly, a card
is strong in Limited if it has a presence even outside of the game. That
is, you want to play around it or remind yourself of it; you are less likely to
let yourself sink to 5, say, in a format with Lava Axe. Finally, a card is powerful if it plays well
with others. This goes along with the
power level, but it is subtler. Some
cards are good in the abstract, but some, perhaps “worse” at first glance, are
crucially powerful in a specific archetype or perhaps even central to it (say, Spider Spawning or Ichorclaw Myr, in recent
years).
With that, let’s take at our Meat and Potatoes, M13 Edition,
starting with an honorable mention that didn’t quite make the cut.
Honorable Mention
Vile Rebirth
 |
| And the piercing blue eyes of Siberian Husky. |
Woah, what a neat card, and the casting cost is just
right! Sporting great flavor and
mechanical design, this has potential in a variety of Limited, Constructed and
Tribal formats. In Draft, this serves a
narrow, but unique purpose. Reactively denying
your opponent’s reanimation is usually fairly weak, but this is a perfectly legitimate
combat trick. I like to think of it as a
Walking Corpse with flash for B. Most of
the time, this will be the case even after just a few turns. It’s a great blocker for that huge exalted
creature in a pinch, or it’s a great aggressive play after your opponent trades
creatures in combat. Its inexpensive
cost also facilitates its inclusion in your spell casting schedule for any
turn. It didn’t make the Top 10 because
it does require a dead creature, but
its versatility once that condition is met is pretty strong. I also love the flavor; considering the
flavor text, it’s possible this was slated for Innistrad (or another set within
the block) but didn’t make it into the final set.
10. Chandra’s Fury
 |
| She's Chandra-ing her lazerz! |
 |
| Bairn, baby, bairn! |
Scorch the Fields was a narrow (read: bad) card from Dark
Ascension that rotted in plenty of sideboards, only seeing use against the
Gather the Townfolk deck or as sideboarding against a must-answer land. So, pretty bad.
Chandra’s Fury combines both abilities, amps up the
one-sided Seismic Shudder to include anything and it’s an instant. It can
be used for either half of its effects for great effect. Any opponent should always tarry above 4
against a red deck and think twice about playing unbuffed 1/1 tokens into 5
untapped Mountains. It can be used to
shut down an offense or even to finish off an anemic defense. The fact that this card is common means two
things: first, you will see this
card, likely in multiples, and second, watch out for red decks post-board if
you’re playing wee critters.
9. Griffin Protector
 |
| Hyehhehhyehhhyehh... |
Ahh, nice Griffin. A 2/3 flyer for 3W? Fairly average, right? What’s that, Mr. Griffin? You like tokens? Good boy!
I love free pumps, and they add up quick. If you’ve never played with Exalted or
Landfall before, you will quickly find out how powerful free pumps are,
especially ones you can build around!
Griffin Protector supports your token generation, and on a hard-to-block
stick! A good topdeck and a great
finisher, he can hit hard, even if you just cast a creature every turn. Bringing in a creature at instant speed (see
Vile Rebirth) also acts like a little combat trick! This common, while acceptable filler in any
deck, is viciously powerful in token decks and flash creature decks. Don’t underestimate him, or you might be Griffin food.
8. Knight of Glory/Knight of Infamy
 |
| "It don't matter if you're Black or White!" |
7. Flames of the Firebrand
 |
| Eenie, meenie, miney, FRSHSHHHHSHH |
Chandra is not a subtle woman. Nevertheless, she hones her goggles-guided aim
for this spell. Flames of the Firebrand
lumps three great cards together and gives you the option of whatever you need;
Lava Spike your opponent, Arc Trail two targets, or just squash three little
creatures like bugs. The flexibility and
fair cost of this spell garner something else that Red desparately needs; card
advantage. On three, you can smash a
1/1, a 2/2 and then swing with your own 1/1
and 2/2. Now that’s comedy! This is what
red wants to be doing with their mana, and its broad appeal will make it an
auto-slam for any red deck in the first few picks of a pack and provide great
utility and flexibility for a Sealed Pool, even as a splash.
6. Vampire Nighthawk
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| I am the terror of the night! |
5. Talrand’s Invocation
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| Fly, my pretties! |
Token production can be great in Limited and Constructed. Making two tokens is better. Making two evasive, non-1/1 tokens is
great. Putting four evasive power on the
board in blue is awesome, not to mention synergetic with myriad different
strategies in the format; token, instant matters (Talrand himself,
Archaeomancer, etc.) A strong turn four
attack plus these two blue blokes is just what a blue deck needs; it fits in
most any deck and can count as a creature and
a spell, depending on what you need more of when crafting your deck. Think of it as a flying Moan of the
Unhallowed, a great Limited card in its own right, where flight is gained in
exchange for flashback. Not too bad, and
it’ll just about always be a strong play either on turn 4 or off the top to
save you from an otherwise lethal combat or to land those final points of
evasive damage. Keep your eye on the
skies…
4. Murder
 |
| Great Sword, Watson! |
The very name echoes the simple and vicious nature of this
spell. Wizards had been beating around
the bush for a long time on this one; an all-inclusive instnat kill spell in black.
We’ve had Terminate, or perhaps Death’s Caress in recent history, but this one
is beautiful in its three little words.
The fact that nothing except
the occasional Hexproof creature will dodge this removal is very powerful;
unlike Chandra’s Fury, where you could play around it to an extent, there is no way to play around Murder. If your opponent has two Swamps and another
land up, he could be tried for Murder.
The only tough part about Murder is making sure you use this precious
card against the right target…
3. Primal Huntbeast
 |
| Geez, at beast he could have hunted for something more interesting. |
Yes, a French Vanilla probably doesn’t belong this deep on
the list, but hexproof is a very relevant ability in this game of tapping,
killing, and bouncing. Primal Huntbeast
in itself is a fairly bland card, but it is strong in this format because of
everything that doesn’t kill it. In a vacuum, Primal Huntbeast dies to Wrath
effects, sacrifice abilities, and just normal old combat. However, in this format, very few non-rares
can kill Primal Huntbeast outside of combat.
Pumping him up even a little bit is a secure investment, and he holds
any number of enchantments and Equipments well.
He also combos sublimely with a particular one…
Suffice it to say that Hexproof has proven its usefulness in
Standard, whether it’s on a white/blue legendary Spirit or a Forest-loving
Treefolk. That format has access to
plenty of board wipers that can hit them; think of how much better an augmented
creature your opponent can’t target is!
Miles better than previous offerings like Gladecover Scout and Sacred
Wolf, this can fight well in its own right; it just helps that you can’t burn
it to death.
2. Arctic Aven
 |
| Ceiling Bird is watching you die. |
Let me make you a deal.
How about I give you a Turn 3 Insectile Aberration that, in exchange for
two turns, can guarantee you the flip?
Oh, and I’ll throw in Lifelink?
In Limited?
Arctic Aven is one of a cycle of “multi-colored” creatures
that benefit from controlling a basic land type other than the one required to
cast it. The others are very strong, too,
offering trample, regeneration, haste and unblockability in their respective
allied color combinations. However
Arctic Aven is wings and claws above the rest for three main reasons.
First, Arctic Aven is good even if you don’t have a
Plains. A 2/1 flyer for 2U is perfectly
acceptable, albeit unexciting. A
non-Plains white source (like a Glacial Fortress) can still help you gain its
ability, though. The others are subpar filler
without basic land support and, as such, rarely should be included as anything
else if you don’t have the matching basic land type already in your deck.
Secondly, Arctic Aven is naturally evasive, an essential
piece of a good creature. Sure, so is
Harbor Bandit (the blue/black one), but you gotta pay for his…the Aven’s got a
deal with Pain Train Airlines, because he flies for free, y’all.
Thirdly, he is the most efficient of them; a 3/2 flyer for
1WU (effectively) is way above curve and is nearing Constructed efficiency (see
Talon Trooper). Its lifelinking ability
helps dampen your opponent’s attacks and its three power puts an intimidating
clock on your opponent to find that answer.
Besides, this is a great addition to white/blue, a proven archetype in
draft settings across history.
On a broader note, this cycle thrills me because of its natural reward for good deckbuilding and
drafting. Worldwake had a cycle like
this, too (though I don’t believe nearly as good) and they were still very fun
to play. They make great inclusions in
casual deck thanks to their simple, innate synergy and that little pinch of fun
we get from casting an undercosted creature with an often relevant activated
ability. They will slide directly into
my Cube the moment I get my hands on them, and they will reward good deck
building and play throughout their entire Limited career.
1. Rancor
 |
| "I've got a bad feeling about this." |
Me too, Luke. Me too.
Reprint of the set right here. Many have long opined that Rancor is the best
enchantment ever printed, and few out there will be able to argue that once it
returns to Standard. In Constructed,
this thing is an unstoppable force, turning any creature you have into a
reasonable threat. In Limited? Well…
Rancor is a cheap, powerful and constant threat to any deck,
creating unprofitable trades for your opponent, pumping your evasive creatures
or protected creature (like the aforementioned Primal Huntbeast) and just about
always guaranteeing you profit, all
for G. Rancor does so much work, and
every single deck that can cast it can benefit from it in Limited. It’s so powerful that several cards in this
set were printed specifically with Rancor in mind, namely its single,
undeniable answer: another reprint from Urza’s Block, Erase.
 |
| You will never be able to draw it fast enough. |
There’s my Meat and Potatoes List, M13 edition! I feel fairly confident about these picks and
hope you find it helpful as you suit up for your Prerelease this weekend. I will not be attending a Prerelease, as this
Saturday is a milestone birthday for my father and I’d like to spend that time
with him on his special day. However, I
will be participating in the fun the following weekend, looking to put this
list to the test.
On a final note, I advanced my Pack to Power this weekend in
a somewhat silly way. Ben, a like-minded
trader from BluegrassMagic, had a pack-to-power of his own. He understood the trials of it and assisted
me with what he could. Here was Trade
#4.
Lost:
Restoration Angel - $11.99
Plains # 232 Full Art (Zendikar) - $0.75
Gained:
*Foil* Geralf’s Messenger - $9.99
Dungeon Geists - $1.99
FNM *Foil* Slave of Bolas – $0.99
Net Change - +$0.73
Little did I
know that Restoration Angel had increased in price; Ben threw in the Slave of
Bolas at the end, but if he hadn’t, I would have lost on this trade.
I knew I wanted to trade the Foil Geralf’s Messenger flat
for another Restoration Angel, which is climbing higher and higher. Right after Trade #4, George, a frequent
patron of our LGS, obliged with a straightforward trade.
Lost:
*Foil* Geralf’s Messenger - $9.99
FNM *Foil* Slave of Bolas – $0.99
Gained:
Restoration Angel - $11.99
Net Change - +$1.01
Whew! I know that
Restoration Angel is going to only go up, so having him ready to trade is a
good deal. Otherwise, trading a Zendikar
Plains (effectively) for a Dungeon Geists seems like profit to me! Can’t wait to keep working on it…
Total Pack Value - $19.44
Thanks again for reading, and feel free to leave a comment
and subscribe if you like what you saw!
Until next time, don’t forget to untap!
- Matt
