Kamigawa Neon Dynasty Set Review Notes (Last Update on 2/2/2022 @ 3:45 PM ET) (Patreon)

Kamigawa Review

White:

1 - Ancestral Katana - C+

This reminds me a bit of Pirate’s Cutlass, a card that really overperformed in its Limited format.  Now, this isn’t colorless, and it doesn’t equip for free – and it equipping at a discount  is also more conditional for sure – but I think this will still be a really nice Common. If you’re just Equipping this the old fashioned way it won’t be great, but if you have Warriors and Samurai around, the fact that this can just keep moving on to your best attacker for only one mana is going to feel pretty good, and it doesn’t hurt that it can still be Equipped the normal way when that works out for you.  Plus, Equipment have some additional upside in this format.  I’m giving it a C+.

2 - Ao, the Dawn Sky - A+

This whole cycle is great, of course.  Every card in it is a highly efficient flyer with a powerful death trigger.  Basically, they are pick your poison type cards.  If your opponent can’t kill them, they probably win the game just by attacking, and if they do kill them, you get a choice between two powerful effects.  Here, you get a 5-mana 5/4 with Flying and Vigilance – that would at least be a B.  THen, when it dies you have two great options.  If your board isn’t well-developed, you’ll probably go with putting nonland permanents on to the battlefield, and if your board is well-developed you’ll pump your whole board.  The latter is probably going to be more powerful most of the time, but the fact that you have an option that will do something even on an empty board is great.  This is an A+.

3 - Banishing Slash - B

This is a premium removal spell.  The set has a ton of artifacts and enchantments that are also creatures, so even if those creatures aren’t tapped, you can kill them – plus the additional flexibility of taking down other permanent types in addition to creatures is quite nice.  The additional upside will give you a 2/2 sometimes too, and when you’re doing that this will feel downright absurd!  It does cost double white, so it isn’t as splashable as some premium removal is, but its still a pretty high pick.  I’m giving it a B.

4 - Befriending the Moths - B-

Chapter I and II will very likely enable attacks you didn’t have before, and that’s a pretty big deal.  Especially because this eventually adds meaningfully to the board by giving you a 2/4 Flyer.  It will be a bit of a bummer to play on a completely empty board, but that won’t be happening that often.  This looks like a good Common to me, one you can first pick sometimes.  I’m giving it a B-.  Based on what I’ve seen people say about these Sagas in the comments of the first video in this set review, I think many people are underrating them, because they are thinking of them as too slow.  It is definitely important to keep in mind that you don’t get a creature for a few turns, but think of all the Sagas we’ve had in the past that were good – most of them don’t give you a creature at all!  You pay mana on a single turn upfront, and the initial effect might be great, but on the next turn you get another effect – and you still have all your mana available, and then on the next turn you get a creature.  I get why people feel like they might be too slow or whatever - if you just look at what you get initially and how long it takes you to get a creature they seem pretty bad – but most of them give you a ton of value for the cost, and usually the first Chapter is pretty meaningful.  If  this format ends up being blistering fast maybe they’ll end up too slow, but every color has so many sagas, that you have to imagine that in itself will slow the format down a bit.  So yeah, .Most of these are playable or better – and in the case of Befriending the Moths  – I think its definitely better than simply playable, as the B- grade shows!

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6 - Born to Drive - C+

If this was just an Aura, I wouldn’t be that impressed.  Its costly, dependent on your board state, and doesn’t do anything to keep you from getting blown out by removal. I would be likely to give it a D.  However, because the card has Channel, which effectively makes it into a pretty reasonable 3-mana spell that makes two 1/1 tokens that are good at crewing vehicles, it is a lot better.  In fact, I’d go so far as to say that you’ll probably channel this more than you cast it as a spell!  Still, once you have the Channel mode, it is nice that you have the Aura mode as a late-game possibility, because if you time it right on an evasive creature, an Aura like Born to Drive can end the game.  I thinkt he whole package here is a C+.

7 - Brilliant Restoration - B-

This is pretty hard to cast with quadruple white in the cost, but the effect does seem reasonably powerful in the late game, especially because this format has a ton of artifacts and enchantments, including many creatures.  So, if you’re reanimating like three permanents with this it will usually feel pretty good, and if you’re doing more than that you are probably going to win the game.  But we can’t over looked just how hard it is to get quadruple white mana.  Your typical Limited deck is two colors, and there are plenty of games where you never get the quadruple White you need.  So, the set up requirement – coupled with the mana requirement – really dings how effective this card can be.  It still has a pretty high ceiling – one high enough that I’m interested in taking it fairly early, but I don’t quite think it will feel like a bomb most of the time.  I’m giving it a B-.

8 - Cloudsteel Kirin - A-

So, take away the whole Equipment thing here, and we have a 3-mana 3/2 with Flying.  That’s a great rate in Limited, and enough for a B- on its own.  With Reconfigure in the mix, it is obviously even better, as it can lend Flying to a different creature, and give it the ability to keep you from losing or your opponent from winning.  That’s obviously a pretty powerful line of text, though keep in mind if your opponent ever kills the thing this is attached to, or blows up the Kirin, it goes away, and if you’re in a losing position – like at negative life – you’ll lose the game.  Still, the base level here is a very good card, and having that additional upside is enough for me to put this into the lower bomb range.  Your opponent has to kill the thing you put this on in the late game, and in the early game it is a great flyer.  I’m giving it an A-.

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11 - Era of Enlightenment - C+

This looks pretty nice overall. Like most of these saga-creatures, it is pretty slow at adding to the board – so getting in the late game will sometimes be a bummer, but at least this one has some use right away, even late, as Scry 2 can help you dry what you really need to draw.  The life gain can also help you survive the fact that you couldn’t add to the board right away too.  THen, it becomes a 2/2 with First Strike, and that’s a creature is relevant all game long in most cases.  While its a bit slow, the value this generates will feel pretty great – its spread out, but ultimately you get a 2/2 with First Strike that scries 2 and gains you 2 life, and that’s a pretty nice investment.  Seems like a quality Common for White.  I’m giving it a C+.

12 - The Fall of Lord Konda - C+

When you have a target for Chapter I, this is going to feel pretty darn good.  Unfortunately, Chapter II is practically meaningless, so the other two chapters really need to carry their weight.  But yeah, if you hit something with Chapter I and then get Fragment of Konda two turns later, you’ll feel like you’re doing a pretty good job, as you’ll end up with 2 cards worth of value.  However, when you can’t hit a thing with Chapter I, there is almost no reason to cast this, and that certainly hurts.  This format does have lots of ways to modify creatures, so 4 power will probably show up reasonably often, but probably still not often enough for this to quite do the job consistently enough to be anything more than a C+.  If you get a hit with Chapter I, it will definitely feel like a B – if you don’t, it’ll feel like a D at best, so there’s a pretty big chasm there.

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14 - Go-Shintai of Shared Purpose - B-

I like that the shrines this time around are creatures, as it is a lot easier to get value of them, and that’s certainly the case here.  A 4-mana ⅓ with Vigilance that lets you pay one to make a 1/1 during your end step is a card that I would always be pretty happy with in Limited.  Sure, the stat-line isn’t impressive, but cranking out a 1/1 every now and then is pretty nice.  If you combine this with some of the other shrines, it is going to get particularly silly.  It is probably ideal to wait to play this until you can use its ability in the same turn, that way you got something that added to the board either way.  The stat-line does hold it back a bit, but I think this still might be something you take with a pretty high pick.  I’m giving it a B-.

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16 - Hotshot Mechanic - C+

Wow, I guess they want Vehicle decks to be a thing again in constructed! In Limited, this is perfectly fine, but not nearly as impressive.  One mana 2/1s aren’t that great, especially because you can’t consistently get them on turn one.  They tend to be quickly overpowered.  However, the vehicle upside here is pretty nice, as this can crew just about everything – and that’s pretty sweet to get out of a one mana creature!  I’m giving this a C+

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19 - Imperial Subduer - C+

Tapping an opposing creature tends to be a pretty nice effect for aggro decks in Limited, as it can often enable some attacks you didn’t have without the tap.  This does have an additional restriction, in that your Warrior or Samurai has to attack alone to do it – but it still seems pretty nice.  The Subduer itself is a Warrior, so it triggers its own ability.  The Samurai/Warrior deck seems to have other payoffs for attacking with one creature at a time too, so this seems like a solid Common.  I’m giving it a C+.

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21 - Invoke Justice - B-

This whole Invoke cycle is made up of hard-to-cast but powerful cards, and that’s certainly what we have here.  Quadruple White is a real pain to get in your typical two-color Limited deck.  Now, this will generally be better in the late game anyway, but the way Limited mana bases tend to look, there are a decent chunk of games where you won’t ever get quadruple White, and obviously that’s a problem.  5 mana to reanimate a permanent and get four +1/+1 counters is a great deal – and if you do have this card, try to pick up fixing so you can run something like 12 white sources.   If this were easy to cast, it would probably be a B+ or an A-.  As it is, I think its probably just a B-.

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23 - Kyodai, Soul of Kamigawa - A

So, even if you don’t have the capability of paying for the five-color ability (and you probably won’t be able to), Kyodai is very powerful.  A 4-mana 3/3 with Flying and Flash is already like a B – those stats are good and allow you to ambush plenty of creatures.  The fact it also grants indestructibility to something else is pretty awesome, and could really allow you to generate some serious blow outs that will ultimately result in a 3-for-1.  You can of course also use it to protect a permanent for removal.  You may not always be able to take advantage of that ETB ability, but when you can its going to be awesome.  This is a bomb.  I’m giving it an A.

24 - Light the Way - D

We see cards with two modal effects like this a lot, and they are almost always underwhelming.  It seems like you’ll always be able to do something meaningful with one of the modes, but it just doesn’t work out that way all that often.  When you can use it as a trick to help your creature win combat, or help a creature dodge removal, or you rebuy an ETB ability it will feel good, but mostly this won’t give you a full card worth of value often enough.  I’m giving it a D.

25 - Light-Paws, Emperor’s Voice - B-

This is a two mana 2/2 that comes with some pretty impressive upside, as searching up Auras and putting them on him for free is pretty sweet.  Now, the Aura does have to have the right mana value and the right name for it to work out, and that won’t always be automatic, but I think this still has enough upside that I want to give it a B-.

26 - Lion Sash - B+

This looks pretty good.  It is very reminiscent of Scavenging Ooze, and that’s great company to keep.  You won’t always have stuff to exile with it early, and it will definitely do a lot more work in the mid to late game – but in those situations it will really take over the game, especially because you have the ability to move it around to other creatures.  I don’t quite think it is a bomb – largely becuase it is so vulnerable and inefficient at first.  I’m giving it a B+.

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28 - March of Otherworldly Light - B

This is premium removal.  It won’t usually be super efficient, as you’ll almost always be paying one more mana than your opponent did for what you exile, but it makes up for that by being able to deal with three permanent types, permanently getting rid of the thing you remove, and being an Instant.  In a pinch, you can even exile some cards in your hand to take something down.  That sort of effect isn’t quite as exciting in Limited as in constructed, as 2-for-1ing yourself is usually not the best idea in Limited.  You’d rather just pay more mana most of the time.  But if you find yourself in a situation where your opponent has a must kill and you just don’t have the mana, sometimes you’ll just have to bite the bullet, and that’s nice upside to have.  I think this is a B.

29 - Michiko’s Reign of Truth - D // C+

This is very build aroundy, and probably not going to be worth playing in any old deck.  The Chapter I and II will give a thing +1/+1 until end of turn no matter what, and sometimes that will be enough, but you kind of need it to do more than that to really feel good about.  SAme with the Portrait of Michiko – she is at least going to be a 1/1 since she’s an Enchantment, but again – you’re kind of hoping for more than that.  I think you’ll only play this in decks that get there on Artifacts and Enchantments.  I’m giving it a D in your typical deck – since it at least does something with 0 other Artifacts and Enchantments – and a C+ in a deck that gets there on those two permanent types.

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31 - Norika Yamazaki, the Poet - B-

A 3-mana 3/2 with Vigilance is usually reasonable playable, and this one comes with a very nice ability.  You won’t always have an Enchantment in your graveyard of course, but there are enough Enchantments in this set that you’ll have them reasonably often, and obviously casting one off of this ability is like drawing a card, and that’s pretty darn powerful.  Like with all of these, its great that they designed them so that they can trigger the ability on their own – but you can also use other Samurais/Warriors to trigger the ability if you’ve got them around.  I think this is strong enough to first pick in some weaker packs.  I’m giving it a B-.

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34 - The Restoration of Eiganjo - B

Chapter 1 on this is pretty underwhelming.  I mean, I like that it makes sure you hit a land drop, but paying 3 mana for such a small effect up front is a little rough.  The good news is, Chapter 2 is likely to add to the board a little bit – though the fact it brings the thing back tapped is a little annoying, and then chapter 3 adds to the board in a very real way.  The Architect of Restoration has enough going on that it is pretty relevant all game long.  You’ll usually at least be able to trade it for something and get a 1/1, and sometimes it will be able ot take over the game.  So…this is pretty slow, even for the Sagas that we have in this set, but I think the final value you get out of it is pretty nice.  I think this is a B.

35 - Selfless Samurai - B-

This looks like a very nice Uncommon.  A two mana 2/2 with Lifelink would be a solid card, a two mana 2/2 that can sacrifice itself to make something indestructible would be solid too – and this does both of those things plus in most ways it is better than just being a two mana 2/2 with Lifelink, since it can let larger creatures attack on their own and gain that useful keyword.  The whole package here is just great:  Solid stats, and two nice abilities.  I think you can first pick this in some weaker packs.  I’m giving it a B-.

36 - Seven-Tail Mentor - C+

This looks like a nice Common.  It will immediately add a counter to the board, which can really alter the way your turn goes in your favor, and you get another counter out of it when it dies.  Sure, it would be nice if it was like the Armorer from a few sets back and you got both counters right away – but I still think this is a quality card.  Having a useful creature type and also “Modifying” creatures gets some extra points too.  I’m giving this a C+.

37 - Sky-Blessed Samurai - C+

This seems like a reasonable payoff for Enchantment-heavy decks.  If you can cast it for 5 you’ll feel pretty good, and I don’t think that’s going to be a huge ask in White.  If you can get it down any cheaper than that, you’ll be really happy.  I’m giving it a C+.

38 - Spirited Companion - C+

Well, it looks like White got an Elvish Visionary! That’s always a pretty nice card in Limited – as adding something to he board and getting a card out of it feels pretty good.  I’m giving it a C+.

39 - Sunblade Samurai - C+

This is a pretty nice common.  If you have 5 mana, you can cast it as a fairly reasonable body with Vigilance – and if you’re having problem finding mana in the early part of the game, you can Channel it away to find another land.  And it even gains you some life!  It isn’t that far from being a 5-mana 4/4 with Vigilance that has cycling for 2 mana.  Flexibility like this really trumps the fact that neither half of this card would be amazing on its own.   I’m giving this a C+ – albeit a c+ that is about as close to a B- as you can get!

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42 - The Wandering Emperor - A+

We finally know who The Wanderer is after first seeing her in War of the Spark!  This time around, she packs a lot more power – which makes sense.  She’s a Mythic Rare this time, and she was Uncommon last time!  The fact she has Flash is quite powerful, especially because her +1 is the kind of thing that will make a lot of creatures just wreck another creature in combat.  A stats boost plus First Strike has a tendency to do that – you can basically use her as a combat trick on your turn, or use her on your opponent’s turn.  You can of course also her other two abilities immediately and at Instant speed that first turn, which is amazing.  You can kill an attacker or make a 2/2 to block a 1/1 or something.  So uh, yeah.  She’s insane.  She’s a 4-mana planeswalker who can pretty much do it all – she can kill stuff and protect herself – and that’s usually enough to be a bomb in Limited.  She’s an A+.

43 -  When We Were Young - C-

This trick has the potential to create some 2-for-1 blow outs, but its also pretty expensive, and we’ve seen similar tricks that always grant key words like lifelink not be all that impressive.  I think running one of these in your aggressive White decks with a decent number of artifacts and enchantments is fine, but I can see it getting cut a decent percentage of the time too. I’m giving it a C-.

Blue:

44 - Acquisition Octopus - C

3-mana 2/2s that draw you a card when they hit the opponent are always kind of alright.  If you can get a blocker out of the way, or give them evasion, they can do some work.  The nice thing with this verison of it, is that if the Octopus can’t get it done on its own, it can give that ability to another creature that is more capable of getting in there.  Seems like a solid card.  I’m giving it a C.

45 - Anchor to Reality - F // C

Your typical Tutor tends to not be great in Limited…and I think that’s mostly the case here.  You pay four mana,  use up the Anchor and an artifact or creature in play to search up an Equipment or Vehicle and put it on to the battlefield.  In other words, you are 2-for-1ing yourself.  Now, there are some scenarios where maybe you run this – like if you have an absurd bomb this either an Equipment or Vehicle – but that’s pretty much it. So, if you have some really high costed card that has either of those types, this starts to get pretty interesting, but that’s a very narrow use, and this shouldn’t really be played in your typical Limited deck.  I’m going to give it an F for what it will do in most decks, and a C as a build around grade.

46 - Armguard Familiar - C

This one was my preview card! And, as I said in the video where I revealed it – it looks like a very solid playable.  A two mana 2/1 with Ward 2 is already pretty close to passable, so adding the Reconfigure upside is really nice.  It is a nice little creature early, and in the late game it can lend a much-needed stats boost, as well as a little bit of protection, for a more relevant creature.  I’m giving this a C.

47 - Awakened Awareness - D

This is pretty flexible – although it isn’t that good at either thing it does.  If you’re looking for removal, you can just pay UU to make an opposing creature into a 1/1.  It still keeps all of its abilities, though.  If you want to pay more mana, you can use it to make one of your creatures big…but not really that much bigger if your creature is of a reasonable size at all.  Yeah, overall, this is either a bad removal spell or an overcosted Aura to pump one of your creatures, and while I value flexibility – neither option here is very appealing.  I think this is just a D.

48 - Behold the Unspeakable - B

This looks pretty  good to me.  While it of course doesn’t add to the board immediately, Chapter One will make it a lot harder for you opponent to punish you for that being the case, so you are very likely to still be in a decent position by the time you untap and get Chapter II, which will either draw you FOUR cards, or let you scry 2 and draw 2 – both of those outcomes are pretty great.  The creature it transforms into always won’t be that imposing - and in some cases it may not be able to stick around very, but it is likely to be able to do something at least, and I think that’s acceptable after what you got from Chapter II.  This is an Uncommon that really feels like it could have been a Rare. I’m giving it a B.

49 - Covert Technician - C

The combat trigger that the Technician has is unfortunately quite narrow.  If you aren’t augmenting it in some way, you’ll only be able to put 2 mana or less Artifacts into play with it, and while you’ll probably have some of those in Blue, there aren’t so many that you will consistently be able to actually put something into play with it.  Especially if you aren’t drawing extra cards.  It is still a 3-mana 2/4 with upside, and being an Artifact ANd a Ninja is useful too – but I think this is just a C.  Even if you manage to buff it, you won’t consistently have something to put into play with it.

50 - Discover the Impossible - D+

This doesn’t seem great.  It gives you some nice card selection, but most of the time you’re going to just be spinning your wheels – getting one card from casting it for three mana – and most of the time its just going to feel worse than Divination.  If you’re not adding to the board, you’ve got to be getting something pretty significant out of this.  The upside on cheap spells is nice, and will make it feel a little more efficient, but its still just one card.  I think you’ll find yourself cutting this card more than you’ll play it.  I’m giving it a D+.

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52 - Essence Capture - C

This is a card we’ve seen printed a few times now, and its always decent.  Once you get down to two mana, Counterspells get pretty interesting, and while it is unfortunate this one costs double blue, it is still fairly easy to get value out of it, as most decks will have 15+ targets, and the +1/+1 counter is a great thing to tack on.  It is still a counterspell, and you have to have mana up at the right time or it doesn’t do anything, and that always limits them.  I’m giving it a C.

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55 - Futurist Operative - C

This has a pretty neat design! It is a 4-mana ¾ when untapped, and an unblockable 1/1 when tapped.  Coming with the ability to untap is pretty nice too!  Even if we’re just talking about the Agent, you can choose to untap it after your opponent doesn’t block, which means they take 3 now, and you have a ¾ blocker during their turn.  One of the big applications of this card, though, will be setting up your Ninjutsu.  It does cost 4, which is certainly pricy to recast, but the fact that you know this will get past blockers means you can really find a nice way to utilize ninjutsu with it.  Now, there are some downsides too – if you don’t plan on untapping it, it is incredibly vulnerable, dying to virtually everything in the set.  It also only attacks for one, which is pretty dismal for a 4 drop.  It’s probably just a C.

56 - Guardians of Oboro - C

A 3-mana ¾ with Defender is kind of okay in a more controlling deck, and if you modify this one – or other creatures with Defender – they can attack.  That’s kind of cool, though not exactly an incredible payoff.  This seems fine.  I’m giving it a C.

57 - Inspired Iteration - B+

This Saga impacts the board immediately with Chapter I, which is great – because many in this set do not! Bouncing a thing for four mana isn’t a great deal of course, but you get to do it up front before generating some very real value with the next two chapters, both of which give you an entire card’s worth of value.  Whether you get an Artifact back or draw a card, chapter II is going to feel pretty good, and chapter III gives you a pretty nice 3/3 Flyer.  Now…you probably shouldn’t expect the creature’s ability to do something consistently, but that’s fine, since you have a decent Flyer – and on the occasions when you do limit what your opponent can play, it will feel downright nasty!  I think this is a pretty high pick.  I’m giving it a B+.

58 -Invoke Gales - A-

As is the case with all the cards in this cycle, it is tricky to cast, but very powerful, and it is possible this is the most powerful of the bunch.  Stealing an opposing permanent is one of the most powerful things you can do in Magic, as you remove whatever your opponents best artifact or creature is and add it to your own board.  Untapping it might seem like a little thing, but frequently your opponents best thing will be tapped down, so getting it and being able to block with it right away actually matters.  5 mana is a very reasonable price for doing  this – the problem is the quadruple Blue cost, which is usually tricky to assemble in Limited.  That said, this is certainly powerful enough to take very, very early.  Provided you keep it in mind and Blue is open, you should be able to draft fixing and lean a little extra into Blue so that you have a greater-than-normal chance of getting quadruple Blue mana in your deck.  You probably need about 12 Blue sources to feel secure about it.  While this is certainly hard to cast, I do think it is doable enough, and the card is powerful enough, that it sneaks intot he lower bomb range.  I’m giving it an A-.

59 - Jin-Gitaxias, Progress Tyrant - A

He might be expensive, but Jin-Gitaxias definitely gives you your mana’s worth.  Because he counters instants and sorceries, it is going to be very hard for your opponent to kill him, which means you’ll usually be able to untap and take advantage of the fact that he gives you copies of your own instants, sorceries, and artifacts.  This format looks like it has enough of those things – especially Artifacts – that you don’t really need to build around Jin-Gitaxias, although he does get even better if you have a bunch of those things.  Either way he’s a bomb.  I’m giving him an A.

60 - Kairi, the Swirling Sky - A

So, a 6-mana 6/6 with Flying and Ward 3 is probably a B+ at the very worst.  Its just a massive creature, and one that you will basically always have to spend significant mana to kill, since the things that can kill a 6/6 in Limited usually cost 4 or more mana in the first place.  But then, when your opponent does kill this thing, you get a nice trigger that can either set your opponent back on the board, or get you some spells back from the graveyard.  The latter effect will give you a 3-for-1 if you have enough Instants and Sorceries.  This is an easy A.  If your opponent doesn’t kill it, it will kill them, and if they do kill it,t he value it gives you is still pretty likely to get you there.

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65 - Mobilizer Mech - C+

This is cheap to cast and has a fairly reasonable Crew cost, especially because it will essentially crew a second Vehicle, should you have one around.  And..you won’t always, in fact more often than not you probably won’t have more than one vehicle, but the times you do this is going to do some pretty silly stuff.  I’m giving it a C+.

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66 - The Modern Age - C+

So, looting a couple of times is decent card selection, though like with a lot of these, you’re going to kind of wish you were adding to the board right away, instead of having to wait a couple of turns.  As is this case with most of these creature-sagas, you get great value for your mana – in this case, a two mana ⅔ Flyer that loots twice – but the trade off is that you have to really wait for it.  Still, Chapter I and II are the kinds of things that are at least useful all game long, so this isn’t one where you really need to play it early or you’re going to be disappointed.  I think this is a C+

67 -  Moon-Circuit Hacker - C+

This is a very nice Common.  Ninjutsu for one is quite the deal, especially because it will be drawing you a card if you ninjutsu it in.  After that, you’ll only get to loot when it hits the opponent, but that’s okay – the initial use of the card will allow you to set up a 2-for-1, and that’s pretty nice.  It is sort of a more convoluted Elvish Visionary that comes with an additional power.  Seems pretty nice! I’m giving it a C+.

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69 - Moonsnare Prototype - C-

Without channel, this would be pretty close to unplayable.  A one mana mana-rock is kind of exciting, but having to tap both the Prototype and something else to make a colorless mana just isn’t going to be that great in Limited most of the time.  It might do something really early, but it is just a dud late.  But, this card helps mitigate against that because in the late game you can turn it into a Time Ebb-type effect.  Paying 5 for that effect isn’t amazing – and like with a lot of Channel cards neither card individually would be very good, but together? I think this ends up being a reasonable enough playable, albeit one you end up cutting a decent chunk of the time.  Modality really improves the card, though. I’m giving it a C-.

70 - Moonsnare Specialist - B-

This is a very good common.  We have seen 4-mana 2/2s that Bounce a creature be very good in the past, and that’s what we have here as a base line.  The Ninjutsu upside being tacked on means it can feel a little more like a Man-O’-War since you’re paying three mana, and being able to do it at instant speed may also enable you to break up an opposing block or something, which is pretty spicy.  This is potentially Blue’s best common.  I’m giving it a B-.

71 - Network Disruptor - C

This does enough to be a nice little one drop.  Tapping a permanent won’t always matter, but there will be turns where doing that allows you to get a much better attack in.  Meanwhile, being a one mana 1/1 Flyer in this set is better than normal anyway – both because of Ninjutsu and the plethora of ways that there are to modify creatures.  Its also an artifact, and that’s a nice thing to have too.  I’m going to start this at a C, but depending on how the format shapes out, it could end up as a C+.

72

73 - Prosperous Thief - C+

This looks pretty nice.  A 3-mana 3/2 that made Treasure when it hit the opponent would already be playable, so adding the Ninjutsu angle, and the fact that it is more generally a Ninja/Rogue payoff, and you have something even nicer!  I’m giving this a C+.

74 - The Reality Chip - B+

So, this is a two mana 0/4 that lets you know what the top card of your library is at worst.  That’s..not exciting, but not entirely unplayable either.  If you manage to Reconfigure the Chip though, you end up with the very powerful ability to play lands and cast spells from the top of your library – and that’s the kind of thing that will just generate insane value for you.  The downside is you lose the 0/4 who is actively adding to the board, but there’s a good chance that onc eyou Equip this, you’ll be able to add a ton to the board on your next turn, and that will help you overcome that.  It is a bit clunky – as paying two to play it and three to reconfigure it is a bit slow, but I think there is some pretty impressive upside here.  If you’re allowed to untap with this Equipped to something, its going to be tough for you to lose the game.  I’m giving this a B+.

75 - Reality Heist - D // B-

So..this is a super artifact-centric version of Dig Through Time.  Because you have to have a decent number of Artifacts in play to make casting it worthwhile and you need ot hit two of them in the top seven cards of your library, I think this probably has to have a build around grade.  This format, as I’ve been saying, has a ton of Artifacts, but this card needs you really be in on them.  You probably need 10+ artifacts in your deck to get there with it, and even in this format I don’t think that’s always going to happen.  There are enough artifacts in this format that this probably isn’t quite an F in your typical Blue deck – but its probably only a D.  If you get there on Artifacts, it will be a great spell for card selection and card advantage – probably as good as a B-.

76 - Replication Specialist - B

A 5-mana ¾ with Flying is kind of an alright rate, and the upside this gives you is pretty nice.  You won’t always be able to pay 1U to make a copy, but when you can this is going to do some absurd things for your board.  I’m giving it a B.

77 - Saiba Trespassers - C

This is a mediocre creature if you cast it that way, but it has the upside of freezing down two opposing creatures, and that’s something that can be pretty nice in the right situation, such as those where your opponent is dead as a result of not being able to block for a couple of turns.  That mode is certainly the more powerful one, but it is pretty situational, so the fact it can be a creature if that’s what you really need isn’t too bad.  This is a C.

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79 -

80 - Spell Pierce - F

We see this reprinted a lot, and while it tends to be a key sideboard card in constructed, it is pretty bad in Limited.  Most decks have very few things it can actually counter, and you also have to hope that when they do cast something you can counter you have your one Blue mana up and they can’t pay the 2 additional mana.  This just won’t do anything far too often.  Even as  a sideboard card, I’m not interested.  I’m giving it an F.

81  -

82 - Tameshi, Reality Architect - B

So, obviously you’re going to need to be returning things to your hand for her to be worthwhile – and I think that mostly means you’ll want her in a UW deck, since her activated ability will actually trigger that! Now, there are other moonfolk around who return lands to your hand, so sometimes you’ll get there without her ability, but she has a ton of internal synergy, as returning a land and reanimating an artifact or Enchantment will feel absolutely absurd sometimes.  She’s effectively a UW gold card for that reason.  Now, you won’t always have stuff to reanimate with that ability, but still – in the mid-to-late game it has a decent shot at bringing stuff back and drawing you a card, and that’s pretty great.  I think she takes some work and some time to really do her thing, but she’ll be a pretty great engine late.  I’m giving her a B.

83 - Tamiyo’s Compleation - B-

This is a more powerful take on this type of removal than we usually get.  Usually, the bummer with this type of Blue removal spell is that you simply lock down a creature and it doesn’t untap – you don’t stap activated abilities and static abilities – but you actually do with this, and that’s a massive upgrade.  Its nice that it can even turn off Equipment – as sometimes that will be worth doing.  It doesn’t happen very often, but I think Blue actually got a premium removal spell in this format! I’m giving this a B-.

84 - Tezzeret, Betrayer of Flesh - C+ // A-

This definitely feels like it needs the right deck to really excel.  If you aren’t in one of the artifact-heavy decks in the format, you just won’t be that impressed with this.  His +1 is faithless looting at worst, and that’s nice, but if you can’t use his static ability or his -2, or take advantage of his ultimate, you really won’t want to play this.  This format does have plenty of Artifacts with activated abilities – mostly Equipment and stuff – so the static ability will be nice, and his -2 can really protect him effectively if you have enough Artifacts.  But yeah, probably need a build around grade here.  The good news is, there’s enough artifacts around that he will probably never be a complete dud.  I would guess he’s a C+ in your typical Blue deck in the format, and can get as high as an A- if you have enough artifacts. I think that means you can take him pretty highly.

85 - Thirst for Knowledge - C+

Com

86 - Thousand-Faced Shadow - B+

Well, this is very nice.  You can play it early as a one mana 1/1 Flyer that helps you set up your other cards with ninjutsu, and then in the later part of the game it can come in with its ninjutsu ability and make a copy of one of your other attacking creatures, something that will virtually always be worth that 4 mana.  You do need another attacker of course, but that doesn’t seem like a big ask.  Things get really wacky when you return it to your hand via another creature’s ninjutsu, and then you can get its powerful trigger all over again!  This gets pretty close to being a bomb, especially becuase if you go the ninjutsu route you’re going to get value out of it no matter what! I think this is a B+.

Black:

87 - Assassin’s Ink - B

This is premium removal.  Even if you always had to pay 4 mana for it, it would be premium – so the fact that it lets you decrease the cost all the way down to only 2 mana is really nice.  It isn’t going to be easily splashable which is a little sad, but its still a great card.  I’m giving it a B.

88 - Biting-Palm Ninja - B+

So, at worst, this is a 3-mana 3/3 with Menace.  That’s a very efficient creature, and this also comes with Ninja – and obviously Ninjutsu upside – and both of those are well-supported in the set.  Removing a Menace counter to take away your opponents best nonland will sometimes be worth it – making this a creature that is also a discard spell means it will be a 2-for-1 that actually adds significantly to the board, and I like that.  I’m giving this a B+.

89 - Blade of the Oni - A-

This looks really strong.  A two mana 3/1 menace is something you would pretty much always play, so adding the powerful Reconfigure effect here is great.  4 mana to turn any creature into a 5/5 Menace Demon is no joke, as that’s the kind of creature that needs to be dealt with in most cases.  That’s going to be a significant upgrade for almost any creature. You can just keep putting it on things too if the first one dies.  Feels like a bomb to me, though in the lower range.  I’m giving it an A-.

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94 - Dokuchi Shadow-Walker - C-

This seems like the kind of Ninja who will only make your deck if you’re really loaded up with payoffs for Ninjas and Ninjutsu.  It just isn’t that impressive either way you play it, and I think most Black decks just won’t play it.  I’m giving it a C-.

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96 - Enormous Energy Blade - D

This isn’t very good.  The buff to power is a ton, and does make it so a whole lot of creatures can become good attackers, but because it taps the creature when it equips to it, you have to wait an entire turn to actually make that happen.  I think that’s too big of a cost when you’re already paying 3 to play it and 2 to equip.  This card definitely has a bit of potential, as +4/+0 can really be a big deal, but I have a hard time seeing it work out.  I’m giving it a D.

97 - Go-Shintai of  - B-

A 4-mana 2/2 with death touch is not a great statline, but obviously being able to pick off 1 toughness creatures when your opponent has one is definitely going to feel pretty huge, and there will be a decent number of them lying around.  Once you get to where you can kill X/2s, though, is where this thing can really get silly. Like the other Shrines in this set, this card is perfectly fine even if its your only shrine, and I’m glad they designed them this way, as opposed to the way we’ve seen them in the past.  Because yeah, the fail case of a 4-mana 2/2 that can trade with anything and pick off X/1s is a pretty good floor, while the ceiling is pretty amazing.  I think this is probably a B-.

98 -

99 - Hidetsugu, Devouring Chaos - A-

This new Hidetsugu is a pretty big improvement on the original card!  It has a pretty solid statline and two great activated abilities.  Giving up creatures to scry is sometimes something you really need – but the other ability is the one that really pushes things over the edge.  Not only do you get the chance to play the card he reveals, he also damages any target equal to the mana value of the card you exile! And, in an ideal world, you can set things up with the Scry so that it does something really significant.  Now, it isn’t all good.  Paying three mana for the effect will mean that you won’t really be able to play the card a significant chunk of the time, and while you can use the ability at Instant speed, you won’t be able to play the thing you reveal on your opponent’s turn unless its an Instant.   Still, the fact that it lets you repeatedly damage things is big, and will allow Hidetsugu to take over games.  Then, when you can actually play the thing that you reveal, it will feel truly busted!  Keep in mind, you can play a land off of it, it just wno’t do any damage.  Anyway, I think the whole package here gets Hidetsugu into the lower range of bomb status.  I’m giving it an A-.

100 - Inkrise Infiltrator - C

If this format didn’t have Ninjutsu, this would be a lot worse.  It doesn’t have the best starting stats, and the ability to buff it, while sometimes useful late, certainly isn’t especially efficient.  However, in a world where you want to play an early evasive creature that you can use to get in with a Ninja, well – its a solid playable.  I’m giving it a C.

101 - Invoke Despair - B+

This has a pretty tricky mana cost for Limited, but it does seem pretty good.  Your opponent will amost assuredly have a creature to sacrifice to this – but the other two permanent types are far less likely.  The nice thing is, if they don’t have one of the permanent to sacrifice, you still get some nice value by making them lose 2 life and drawing a card.  They will almost never have a planeswalker.  This format has enough Enchantments that they are reasonably likely to have one of those.  But they won’t have so many Enchantments that they can sacrifice a meaningless one most of the time – they’ll be losing something real.  So yeah, you get a 3-for-1 whether or not your opponent has all three permanent types, and that flexibility really makes this a really good edict effect.  There is still the fact that your opponent will likely have some expendable creature, but the rest of the card helps balance that out.  The Mana cost is really the only thing that holds it back.  I’m giving it a B+.

102 - Junji, the Midnight Sky - A+

Like the rest of this cycle, this is crazy.  A 5-mana 5/5 with Flying and Menace is efficient and incredibly difficult to block.  So, your opponent better kill it!  But..if they do, you just get to reanimate the best creature in a graveyard!  Now, that creature probably isn’t quite as good as Junji, but it still super powerful none the less.  The discard effect is generally going to be less good, but if your opponent is low on life, or you don’t have a creature to bring back, you’ll choose that option.  Yeah, this is an absurd bomb.  I’m giving it an A+.

103

104

105

106 - Leech Gauntlet - B-

A two mana 2/2 with Lifelink always makes the cut, and this one can reconfigure to give something else lifelink later in the game.  It is a little sad it doesn’t also give a stats boost, but the idea is that you’ll have something sizable enough to put it on late – and if you don’t this can still just sit around as a creature.  I think this is a B-.

107 - Lethal Exploit - B-

Two mana for -2/-2 at Instant speed isn’t exactly premium, though it can kill a lot of stuff.  And you can even use it combined with a block to take something down – though that’s always a little risky.  That said, I think you’ll be able to do -3/-3 with this often enough that it sneaks into the lower B range.  If it was always -3/-3 it would be a B.  And sometimes this will be even more than -3/-3 – though I think we have to accept the wide range of outcomes with this, and the fact that -2/-2 is probably going to happen a lot.  I’m giving this a B-.

108 - Life of Toshiro Umezawa - B

Now, this is a Saga that turns into a creature!  Chapters I and II are nice references to Umezawa’s Jitte, and once it transforms into a creature, it is a nice reference to Toshiro Umezawa.  But even apart from the fun references, this card seems quite good.  Chapters I and II give you options between the different modal Jitte effects, and they are pretty spicy.  On some boards this will allow you to outright kill two creatures with the first two chapters – on boards where you can’t do that, this will often allow you to attack with a creature who couldn’t before – and on eboards where you can’t do either, gaining a few life isn’t a bad consolation prize, especially because it turns into a reasonable creature in the end.  I think this is going to be worth first picking pretty often.  I’m giving it a B.

109

110 - Malicious Malfunction - D // C+

These cheap board sweepers are frequently pretty awkward in Limited.  Most decks have a decent number of creatures who will die to it, so finding an opening to cast it where it is purely beneficial can be hard.  Still, it is one of the best possible ways to deal with an aggressive opponent, and casting it in those situations can be completely game ending.  A card like that mostly feels like a sideboard card to me.  I think its a D in your typical Limited deck and a C+ out of the sideboard.

111 - March of Wretched Sorrow - B+

This is premium removal.  It won’t always be super efficient – in fact it usually won’t be, because you have to spend one more mana than the toughness the creature has – but the fact that you gain that life back is a big deal.  Casting this for 6 to kill a 5/5 is going to feel incredibly swingy!  Especially at Instant speed.  Like with all the Marches, you probably don’t want to be exiling cards to cast it too often, but it does give the card some extra punch – and there will be situations where it makes sense to do – like if you need to exile a card to do enough damage to kill a blocking creature, or to enable you to play another powerful spell on the same turn.  This is a B+.

112

113

114 - Nashi, Moon Mage’s Scion - B+

If you can hit your opponent with Nashi just once, you’re probably going to be pretty happy with your investment, as he effectively gives you an extra card that you cast for free.  Because he has Ninjutsu, making that hit happen is easier than it might be otherwise.  He doesn’t have the greatest stats and he has no evasion beyond Ninjutsu, so getting him in more than once will be hard to do in a lot of games, but he still seems really good.  I’m giving him a B+.

115 - Nezumi Bladeblesser - C+

If you can give it either of these keywords, you’ll be pretty happy, and if you can give it both, it will feel quite formidable.  Menace and Deathtouch are pretty nasty together, since you can kill both things that block it.  I think it has a high enough ceiling, and that it will be easy enough to get it one of these keywords at least that its a C+.

116 - Prowling Nezumi - C+

This looks quite nice.  The thing I really like is that its good whether or not you’re Ninjutsuing.  A two mana 3/1 that gives death touch to something when it ETBs is just a good rate.  You won’t always be able to take advantage of it of course, but most of the time it will change how your turn goes.  Then adding the Ninjutsu angle is a big deal, because you can  use it to give death touch to one of your blocked creatures out of nowhere.  I think this is a C+.

117 - Okina Reckoner Raid - C+

Giving us a one mana saga like this is pretty interesting! You obviously get insane value for the investment of one mana, as you drain 2 life and get a 2/2 with Menace that gives vehicles Menace! This is going to feel like a pretty good turn one play, and even in the late game this can do some work.  The life drain helps you survive until it becomes a creature, and its great that as soon as it transforms you can send in a vehicle in that is hard to block.  Having to wait for the body a couple of turns is going to be a little frustrating, though.  I’m actually pretty impressed with overall, at least for a Common.  I’m giving it a C+.

118 - Okiba Salvage - C

We see 5 mana reanimation spells a lot, and they tend to be kind of mediocre.  This is because you don’t often have something in your graveyard that is worth paying 5 mana to reanimate. In other words, you not only need a large enough creature, it also needs to be in the graveyard.  When you add +1/+1 counters to the mix, like this does, it does become easier to feel like you’re getting your 5 mana’s worth out of the card.  However, you do need to have an Artifact and Enchantment to get those.  I would be much happier with this card if it gave you one +1/+1 counter if you had an artifact, and another if you had an Enchantment, but it is all or nothing – and that certainly hurts it a little bit, even in a format where it seems getting one of each of those is fairly doable.  In the end, I think this is probably just a C.  If you have a couple of crazy good bombs, it does get better than that.

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120

121

122 - Soul Transfer - B+

This is great.  Even if you never have an Artifact and Enchantment together, you have a 3-mana spell that can exile any creature.  That’s the mode you’ll almost always choose if you have to choose, though having the other option tacked on is certainly premium removal.  When you do have an Artifact and Enchantment in play, this will feel absolutely insane, as you’ll get a very efficient and powerful 2-for-1.  If you were always getting the 2-for-1, I think I would say this was a bomb, but as is, I think I want to give it a B+.

123

124 - Tribute to Horobi - B

Well, this is a weird card.  Giving your opponent a couple of 1/1s is not usually something you want to be doing, and there will definitely be times where your opponent can utilize those tokens effectively.  In fact, because you want to gain control of them when you get Echo of Death’s Wail, your opponent knows you probably aren’t that interested in blocking them! So they are likely to chip in for a few damage – and, if your opponent blows this up after Chapter II you’re going to feel really bad.  However, if things go according to plan – and I think they will more often than they won’t – you eventually gain control of those rats and get a 3/3 Flyer with Haste who can sacrifice a creature to draw a card.  That’s insane for the amount of mana you invest.  And yes, like with all of these sgas, you’re sort of stuck in a situation where you aren’t sure you can beat the clock, but this one is so cheap to cast, and has such a powerful ceiling that I really like it overall.  I’m giving it a B.

125 - Tatsunari, Toad Rider - B+

This 3-mana 3/3 has a ton of upside.  If you can manage to cast an Enchantment you’re going to end up with 6/6 worth of stats that is very difficult to block, and that even drains your opponent when you play Enchantments!  It is definitely kind of a build around, as it really needs Enchantments to excel, but because it has such a reasonable baseline you can even play this in a deck with only one Enchantment and feel pretty good about it.  And..this set has a lot of Enchantments, so getting enough of them in your deck isn’t a very big ask.  If this ends up being very easy to get going, it will be a bomb – but I do think the set up is enough that it falls a little short.  But yeah, it has a very reasonable floor and an impressive ceiling.  I’m giving it a B+.

126

127

128

129 - You Are Already Dead - C

This has a really interesting design.  I’m normally not big on this type of effect, as actually doing some damage to something often takes up some resources, so spells that can only remove damaged creatures are often not all that playable.  However, in this case they lowered the mana cost to ONE, and they added a cantrip.  At that point, we’re talking about a card that is certainly playable.  Keep in mind that it does need a damaged creature to target, so it isn’t really the kind of cantrip you can cycle whenever you want.  You won’t usually generate a 2-for-1 with this, because of the resources you gave up to damage the creature in the first place, but the cantrip pretty much makes up for that, and on occasions where you can get a 2-for-1, this will feel downright amazing.  It is still a super situational removal spell, but it is definitely priced to move, and I think you’ll end up playing the first copy in most Black decks.  Playing more than that is probably asking fo trouble due to its situational nature.  I’m giving it a C.

Red:

130 - Akki Ember-Keeper - C

This is a nice little two drop.  It has passable stats and a nice ability that makes sure your board stays populated when your modified creatures die.  I think you’ll play this in a lot of Red decks, though it probably won’t ever be incredible.  I’m giving it a C

131 -

132 - Akki War Paint - D

You know me - I have a hard time getting behind Auras in Limited that don't give you some sort of value to offset their risk.  This does give a pretty nice boost for the cost, and the set has payoffs for "modified" things, but I still have a hard time getting behind this.  I'm starting this at a D.

133 -

134 - Atsushi, the Blazing Sky - A

A 4-mana 4/4 with Trample and Flying is already great, and Atsushi also makes sure that you always get some kind of value out of it, even if it dies immediately.  If you can make use of both cards it reveals, you are getting a 3-for-1, and if you really need mana or fixing the Treasure can help you there.  Basically, this puts your opponent in a situation where they are going to die to a 4/4 Flyer or give you a ton of value, and that’s a nice choice to give them! Obviously enough, this is a bomb.  I’m giving it an A.

135 - Bronzeplate Boar - B

I like the Reconfigure mechanic a lot, and this is another pretty good card with it.  Early, this is a 3-mana 3/2 with Trample, a card that would often make the cut anyway – and then later in the game it can give +3/+2 and Trample to something else – that’s the kind of boost that makes virtually any creature into a threat.  I think this is worth taking pretty highly.  I’m giving it a B.

136 -

137 -

138 -

139 -

140 -

141 - Fable of the Mirror-Breaker - B+

This looks pretty good to me.  Ulnike a lot of these sagas, it adds to the board immediately with a 2/2 token – and one that can make you some treasure, which is certainly pretty nice! Chapter II’s rummage effect will sometimes come in handy too, and then when you get to chapter 3 you get a pretty powerful creature in Reflection of Kiki-Jiki.  Sure, you need another creature around that’s worth copying, but you frequently will just have something else you can make a copy of that will really change the way you attack that turn.  You can even copy the 2/2 that you got with Chapter I, although that isn’t the most exciting thing ever.  Either way, this Saga adds to the board right away, gives you some card selection, and then you get a creature who is generally going to be a real problem for your opponent.  You get a ton of value for the mana you invest, and while you have to wait for your returns – getting a good portion of them in Chapter I is a pretty big deal.  I think this is a B+.

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143 -

144 - Go-Shintai of Ancient Wars - B-

This looks pretty good.  A 3-mana 2/2 with First Strike is already passable, and the fact you get to do some additional damage to the opponent or (more rarely) a planeswalker if you have spare mana lying around is pretty nice.  Obviously it gets spicier if you have more Shrines around.  I think this is a B-.

145 - Goro-Goro, Disciple of Ryusei - B+

Well, this is a two mana 2/2 with some silly upside! Granting haste to everything is a nice enough upside to have on such a creature, but where it gets really interesting is in its ability to make Dragon tokens if you have some modified creatures.  That’s not a huge ask, and it means that this is a two mana 2/2 that can really take over games where you can get that ability going.  It does die to a whole lot, and needs a bit of effort to really be amazing, but I think he’s still a B+.

146 - Heiko Yamazaki - C+

A 4-mana 3/3 Trampler isn’t a very good rate, but this comes with a nice enough “lone attacker” Samurai/Warrior pay off, as this format has a lot of artifacts.  You’ll be able to make use of it often enough for this to make the cut in most Red decks.  I’m giving it a C+.

147 - Invoke Calamity - B-

You’ll get the most value out of this if you’re casting stuff from your graveyard, so it does require at least a little bit of set-up.  Of course, it costs quadruple Red, and by the time you have that kind of mana, your graveyard is pretty likely to be stocked. As with all of these cycles, though, that mana is also a hefty downside in Limited, as getting quadruple of a single color can be tough in your typical 2-color Limited deck.  The payoff here is good for sure, but I think the other cards in this cycle give you more for the difficult mana cost.  Still, this is probably worth first picking sometimes, difficult mana cost and all – I’m giving it a B-.

148

149 - Kami of Industry - C-

This doesn’t seem great to me.  There will be too many situations where you either have no Artifact to reanimate, or you have one that you can bring back but it doesn’t really do anything on the board at the stage of the game yo’ure in. A five mana 3/6 as a baseline doesn’t help the card out either, even though that isn’t disastrous.  I think the idea is that in the BR deck, you can easily sacrifice whatever it is you bring back, but I still have a hard time seeing this work out often enough.  I think this is a C-, at best.

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151

152

153 - Lizard Blades - B+

This looks really good.  Both modes on this are actually pretty efficient.  A two mana 1/1 with double strike is perfectly fine, and an Equipment that equips for two and grants Double strike is pretty nice too! It doesn’t offer a stats boost, but Double Strike is a strong enough keyword ability that giving it to most creatures will immediately make it into a serious problem for your opponent.  I’m giving this a B+.

154 - March of Reckless Joy - B-

This looks pretty good.  Even if you only pay 3, you are basically getting an Instant speed divination, which is a pretty darn good deal, and the more mana you pump into it, the more card selection you get.  You won’t ever get more than 2 cards though, so it almost seems like paying 3 is going to give you the most value.  I like that you don’t need to invest a ton of mana into this to make it really do something nice – but you still have the option to pump a bunch of mana into it if you’re desperate to find a particular card.  I think this is a B-.

155

156 - Peerless Samurai - C+

This is a nice little Common.  A 3-mana ⅔ with Menace is a decent starting point, and adding an “attack alone” payoff to the card is nice, and the one you get here is going to be pretty relevant, especially if you play the Samurai on turn 3.  It is likely to help you either double spell or play a 4-drop on turn 4, and either of those are pretty appealing.  I’m giving this a C+.

157

158 - Reinforced Ronin - C+

This seems like a nice little card.  Even if we don’t look at some of the synergies this card has, it would probably be pretty solid.  You can play it and get in for 2 when you can, and when you can’t, you can effectively cycle it away with channel.  However, there are several things in this set that make this better than all of that.  First, it isn’t too bad with ninjutsu, since you can have it come down out of nowhere, and its returning to your hand anyway.  Second, it is good with “attacks alone” Samurai stuff, because it can come down and get those benefits immediately, making it a much more problematic attacker than it would otherwise be.  And third, its an Artifact, and there are various cards in this set that do a thing when an Artifact enters the battlefield, and it can trigger them repeatedly.  So yeah, overall, seems like it will be pretty nice.  Cycling as a fail case is pretty decent.  I’m giving this a C+.

159 - Scrap Welder - C+

It is hard for any 3-mana 3/3 with upside to be bad – and this certainly isn’t.  This set has a whole lot of Artifacts in it, so using its ability will definitely happen – but it is a bit of a finicky ability, that doesn’t add to the board permanently in any way.  I think this is probably just a C+.

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161 -

162 - The Shattered States Era - D+

I like most of these creature-sagas a reasonable amount.  Most of them are at least playable..but I don’t love this one.  5 mana for a Threaten is costly.  That type of effect is always so situational.  Sometimes it will let you attack in ways you couldn’t before – and unlike a lot of Threatens you do eventually actually add to the board with this one – but I still don’t love it. Chapter II will only be meaningful on like half of your board states.  You do ultimately get a 3/3 with Trample and Haste, but I think the inconsistent effectiveness of Chapters I and II, combined with having to wait to get a creature that isn’t even that impressive by turn 7, when it will usually come into play. I think this is probably just a D+.  If it does work out, it will be as a top-curve card for really aggressive decks, but I have a hard time seeing it.

163 - Simian Sling - C+

This compares really favorably with Tormentor’s Helm for Kaldheim.  It gives the same stats boost and the same ability that punishes blocking.  The difference is this is a bit more expensive to Equip – or in this case Reconfigure, but the fact you can just play t his as a creature is a huge upgrade.  They’ve given us a lot of nice one drops of late, and this looks like one to me.  It can attack effectively early, and then when it can no longer do that, you can suit up another creature who can take advantage of the ability more effectively.  The set is loaded with payoffs for Equipment too.  I’m giving this a C+.

164 - Sokenzan Smelter - C+

This is a two mana 2/2 with some pretty nice upside.  There are artifacts aplenty in this set, so having an expendable one around to turn into a 3/1 with Haste isn’t going to be super hard.  That said, you also won’t always have an Artifact that is worth sacrificing either.  I’m giving this a C+.

165 - Tempered in Solitude - B-

This is a great payoff for attacking with a creature alone, something that will of course be well-supported within the RW color pair.  Attacking alone basically draws you a card here, so even if you offer up an attack that will be a trade at best, you’re probably still coming out ahead.  Now, I’m not sure how great this will be in a deck without other reasons to also attack alone – so outside of RW it may not be quite as impressive, but I can see this thing generating some pretty impressive card advantage, and for that reason I’m pretty high on the card going into the format.  I’m starting it at a B-.

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167 -

168 - Twinshot Sniper - B

This is very good.  Even without Channel, this would be an excellent card, as it will let you add a decent body to the board while taking down an opposing creature.  Going after the opponent's face is really nice upside too.  But, then you add Channel to the mix, and you make a far more flexible card.  I mean, most of the time you’ll want to cast this because of the 2-for-1 potential, but sometimes you’ll have to fire this off as a straight up removal spell for less mana.  This is going to be a first pick in a lot of packs.  I’m giving it a B.

169 - Unstoppable Ogre - C

The enter the battlefield trigger on the card won’t always do something for you, but there will be a decent number of situations where it allows you to attack more effectively with your board.  It would definitely be nicer if it made something unable to block when it attacks, as obviously then you know you’re attacking, so stopping a blocker is more meaningful.  But this seems fine.  I’m giving it a C.

170 - Upriser Outlaw - C

Its a little bit sad that the Outlaw doesn’t count itself, as modifying it would be incredible if it did!  Still, Red has lots of ways to modify creatures, so this will definitely gain in size.  The fact it doesn’t raise its toughness is a little bit sad, though, as it will always be relatively easy to take down.  Still, playing this on turn two and then getting a modification going on turn three will make this hit pretty hard early! Overall though, I think its probably just a solid playable.  I’m giving it a C.

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Green:

172 - Azusa’s Many Journeys - C+

So, the Saga side of this isn’t the most exciting thing in the late game.  You probably won’t be able to play the extra land.  Gaining 3 life doesn’t hurt, and might help you get to the point where this becomes a creature, but I’m not super impressed with the creature in the later game either.  That said, in the early game, this has a decent shot at ramping you and then giving you a nice creature for the board a couple of turns later.  So yeah, this is a card where the effectiveness will vary wildly depending on what part of the game it is.  Early it will be very nice, in the mid-to-late game it won’t be very impressive.  I think I want to start this at a C+.

173 - Bamboo Grove Archer - C

This is a very good defensive creature.  A two mana 3/3 with Reach will slow the board to a grinding halt in the early game, and the fact that you can use it as a Plummet sometimes is nice upside.  It isn’t exactly the kind of card all decks will want, but grinder Green decks will probably be happy to play a few of these – while aggro decks probably aren’t playing it at all.  I’m giving it a C.

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175 - Blooming Stag - B

This looks like a strong Uncommon.  Your deck will have enough Enchantments and Creatures in it that you will virtually always hit with the ETB ability, so you are ending up with a 5-mana 4/4 with Reach that draws you a very real card.  Its nice that if you do miss, or you are in a situation where you’d rather have 4 life than a card, it can do that too.  And yeah, a 5-mana 4/4 Reach that gains you 4 life on ETB would also be a nice card.  This looks like a high pick to me.  I’m giving it a B.

176 - Boon of of Boseiju - C

This looks like a solid trick.  It will often give a significant buff for the cost, and untapping your attacking creature can matter sometimes too, since it enables it to hang back and block.  The untap part also means you can try to use it to ambush an opposing attacker, but that’s generally a riskier way to use this sort of thing, since your opponent is more likely to have mana up.  I went pretty deep on tricks in one of my Nizzanotes videos if you want to hear more about that, but suffice it to say, you want to use this on an attacker probably 90% of the time, especially because it has the upside of lethal out of nowhere! It is still a trick, and a conditional one, but I think any aggressive Green deck will be pretty happy with a couple of these.  I’m giving it a C.

177 - Boseiju Reaches Skyward - C+

I’m always pretty concerned about a 4-mana card that doesn’t immediately add to the board in any way – and that’s certainly what we have going on here.  Ultimately it will add to the board, and usually with quite the formidable creature, but like with a lot of these – it taking a couple of turns can be a bit brutal in games where you need something that does something more immediately.  Still, if you are able to draw the two lands, and then transform this a couple turns later, it will suddenly reshape the board pretty often.  I’m giving it a C+.

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179 - Coiling Stalker - C+

If you Ninjutsu this in, you end up paying two for a 2/1 that puts a counter somewhere.  Note, by the way, that “somewhere” can be on itself, too!  Now you obviously also returned a thing to your hand, so it isn’t all upside, but still, it seems like a reasonable deal.  And it is the kind of creature that is a pretty real problem if your opponent can’t get blocks in front of it.  I’m giving it a C+.

180 -

181 - The Dragon-Kami Reborn -  B-

This seems…a bit awkward. Chapter I and II won’t do much right away – though gaining life does help soften that blow.  And then, once it transforms, you’re reliant on making Dragons or the Egg die to get the rest of the card to do its thing.  Now, if you can make that happen, it will feel pretty good.  But if your plan is just to have the Egg die, keep in mind you’re not really netting a card in the end.  You are, however, certainly getting a discount on the card.  And since you get to have two things with the Hatching counters, you’re decently likely to have something pretty nice to put into play.  But still,  Ideally, you want to have the Egg and some other Dragon die to reap the rewards, and that’s not going to be super easy.  There’s a lot of upside here, but I can see this card not really panning out super consistently.  I think I want to start it at a B-.

182 -

183 - Fang of Shigeki - C

One mana 1/1s with Deathtouch are always playable, mostly because they have the ability to trade up with just about anything.  This one also comes with Enchantment and Ninja upside, though in Green probably only the former matters.  Still, you probably won’t ever cut the first few copies of these from your Green decks.  I’m giving it a C.

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185 - Generous Visitor - B

This looks like a really good one drop.  This set has a ton of Enchantments across the board – but especially in Green – so you end up with a one drop that can add a whole lot of +1/+1 counters to the board over the course of a game.  And sure, it is quite fragile on its own, but even if you only get a single counter out of it, you’re getting good value – and sometimes this will be capable of just taking over games.  I think this is worth taking with a high pick.  I’m giving it a B.

186 - Geothermal Kami - C

I like Commons like this.  It is a fine 4-mana 4/3 in a worst-case, but it comes with an effect that can be pretty sweet in some situations.  Returning something like a Saga you want to go back to chapter one on, or an Aura you wanted to move anyway – will be particularly nice, and the fact this tacks on 3 life is nice too.  This is a solid playable.  I’m giving it a C.

187 - Go-Shintai - B-

This looks quite good.  On its own, it is a two mana 1/1 Trampler that you can put a counter on every end step for one mana, and that’s definitely a quality card.  Even without other Shrines, I don’t imagine you’ll ever cut this from your Green decks.  I’m giving it a B-

188 -

189 - Greater Tanuki - C

This seems pretty nice. In the early game you can use it to fix and ramp your mana, and in the late game it can be a big beater that helps you close things out.  It isn’t super incredible at doing either thing, but effectively being a split card with a worse Rampant Growth on one side and a worse Colossal Dreadmaw on the other gives you a decent option all game long.  I’m giving it a C.

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191 - Heir of the Ancient Fang - C

This is a 3-mana ⅔ that will sometimes be a 3-mana ¾.  That seems fine, though it certainly isn’t anywhere close to exciting.  I’m giving it a C.

192 - Historian’s Wisdom - C

This is an Aura I can get behind playing in Limited.  That’s because it will replace itself pretty often, as +2 power on your biggest creature has a pretty decent shot at drawing you that card.  That means you are no longer in danger of getting 2-for-1’d like you would be with a typical Aura.  Now, it is still a little tricky to use, you have to be careful not to get blown out the turn you cast it, and it isn’t game-breaking or anything – but it seems perfectly solid.  I’m giving it a C.

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194 -

195 -

196 -

197 -

198 - Kappa Tech-Wrecker - C+

Wow.  They really did it…this is a ninja turtle! Anyway, a two mana ⅓ with Deathtouch is always playable.  Being able to trade for everything is a big deal, and this comes with Ninjutsu and the ability to naturalize something when it hits the opponent.  I’m giving this a C+

199 - Kodama of the West Tree - B

This is a 3-mana 3/3 with  text box loaded with upside! Hard to go wrong there.   Even if it just had Reach, it would probably be at least a C+ – but giving modified creatures trample, and letting you search up basic lands is pretty nice.  Obviously, you’re going to need to do some modifying to take full advantage of the card, but that’s not a huge ask in this set.  I’m giving this a B.

200 - Kura, the Boundless Sky - A+

We’ve seen the rest of this cycle throughout the week, and they have all graded as bombs – and that isn’t changing here.  Although, I do think Kura got the worst stat-line of the bunch – but that’s only compared to completely absurd Dragons!  A 5-mana 5/5 with Flying and Deathtouch is obviously a great rate, and can end the game on its own – and if your opponent ever kills Kura, you’re going to get some sweet value.  It will probably make the most sense to make the creature token, as this gives you an immediate board presence that will also be a headache for your opponent.  Basically, you are paying 5 mana here for two 5/5s at least, and the token might be even bigger! The land ability is something you will only do on very rare occasions, where maybe getting the right land lets you cast another bomb or something.  So yeah, it has the worst stat-line, but its ability to put a huge token into play when it dies might just be the best of allt he options in this cycle.  Kura is an A+.

201 - March of Burgeoning Life - F

The other Marches are all pretty good in Limited.  THis one…not so much, for obvious reasons.  Having duplicates of creatures that this is worth using on just isn’t that likely, and it isn’t even like it does a whole lot when you do, as you’re just tutoring a very specific creature into play – and usually paying one more mana than that card costs.  This is probably just an F.

202 -

203 - Orochi Merge Guardian - C+

This can accelerate your mana, and when it gets modified it can do it even more quickly!  Being able to play your 4 mana cards a turn earlier than your opponent is pretty nice! Mana dorks do of course always have the downside of being pretty mediocre in the later part of the game, but the upside they give you early tends to make them pretty nice.  I’m giving it a C+.

204 -

205 -

206 - Shigeki, Jukai Visionary - B

This has a very cool design.  In the early game, you can use it to help you ramp your mana, and then once you’ve ramped your mana enough, you have a pretty nice Channel effect that will allow you to get back a whole bunch of permanents.  That’s the kind of play that really helps you win the long game.  And, because it is also useful in the early game, I’m pretty happy with this overall.  I’m giving it a B.

207 - Spinning Wheel Kick - C+

This is a neat take on this type of Green removal.  It has a way higher ceiling than most cards like it, but it also has a pretty disappointing floor.  You have to pay 4 mana to do the damage to one thing – and at Sorcery speed.  That’s something we have gotten pretty regularly for about 3 mana of late and at Instant speed.  It not being an Instant matters for sure too, because with this type of spell you have to pick your spots carefully, as a removal spell will utterly blow you out.  So yeah, the floor here…not great.  However, if you pay 6 for this, and it lets you take down TWO creatures, you’re going to feel pretty awesome, and in the extreme late game it can do even more work than that.  I…don’t quite think it is premium, though.  The baseline is too inefficient and clunky, and the requirements that a card like this already asks you for – that is, having a creature with high power, and your opponent not being able to interact in response – those things it asks for you are already a big enough hurdle.  I think its a C+.

208 -

209 - Storyweave - C

This is a really interesting design.  The +1/+1 counter part of it can be a passable combat trick for sure, although the more powerful mode is assuredly the one where you accelerate your Saga and make a larger Enchantment creature.  For pretty much every saga in the set, this will immeidatley make it into a creature with those two extra counters, and doing at Instant speed can let you ambush your opponent.  Now, that use won’t always be possible – and as always we have to look at what this card will do on average – but I think it will do something nice with one of these modes often enough that it is at least a decent playable.  I’m giving it a C.

210 - Tales of Master Seshiro - B-

This looks really good to me.  Chapter I and II actually give a fairly significant buff.  +1/+1 counter + Vigilance for a turn is pretty sweet, because it not only enables a better attack, it allows you to alter how a race is going.  Now, sometimes paying 5 for chapter one is going to feel pretty rough – like if getting the counter and vigilance doesn’t do much for you, but at the stage in the game that you play this, it is pretty likely to be useful.  Then, you end up with a pretty nice creature – with haste and Vigilance – which will mean it can swing right away, unlike most of these saga-creatures.  I think this might be Green’s best Common.  It gives you a ton of very real value up front, and then a very nice creature.  I’m giving it a B-.

211 -

212 - Teachings of the Kirin - B

This looks pretty good.  You immediately add something to the board which is not something most of these creature-sagas do, and because of that you’ll also likely have something to put a +1/+1 counter on with Chapter II.  Then, once it transforms, it can attack and gobble up cards in graveyards for value – and because it milled you three cards, it will have a good shot at being able to do one of the things it can do.  Now, a 1/1 that becomes a 2/2 won’t always be incredible by the time it comes into play as a creature, and that does hold the card back some, but I still think its quite good overall.  I’m giving it a B.

213 - Weaver of Harmony - B

An Enchantment creature lord looks to be pretty formidable in this format, and the fact that this can copy Enchantment abilities is pretty sweet, especially when it comes to Sagas.  Now, you can’t end up with two copies of the enchantment creature a saga gives you, since they are just on double-faced cards and not tokens, but you can copy other chapters, and do some other wacky things with Enchantments in this set.  This looks like a B to me.

214 - Weaving Bracelet - C

The usual 3-mana ¼ Reach spider we get tends to be a C-.  They aren’t great, but you end up playing them in grinder Green decks.  Adding the additional Reconfigure upside here is nice, though not anything special.  I’m giving it a C.

Multicolored:

215 - Asari Captain - B-

On its own, on a board with no other creatures, this is a 5-mana 5/3 with Haste.  That’s…uhm.  Okay, but not anything special.  It will often be bigger than that, though, and can do some serious damage out of nowhere – and it of course also offers that bonus to your other lone attackers.  But I can’t help feeling like this is a little over costed at 5 mana.  Still, like pretty much all signposts these days, this will really decks together in its color pair, and in some weaker packs it will even be worth taking with a first pick.  I’m giving it a B-.

216 -

217 - Eiganjo Uprising - C+

This is a weird card.  It will be good if you can win the game win you cast it, but it will pretty much be a dead card if you can’t.  The good news is, Haste + Menace on all of your tokens does stand a pretty reasonable chance at helping you do lethal.  If you use it and can’t kill your opponent, it won’t accomplish much, since they get almost as many tokens as you do.  You do add one more token than they do, so you do come out ahead, but if you are at parity or behind, casting this is going to feel pretty bad in a lot of situations.  It will definitely close out some games, but you have to factor in how mediocre it is in other situations.  I think its probably a C+.

218 - Enthusiastic Mechanaut - B-

This has good stats and a nice keyword for the cost, and reduces the cost of Artifacts.  Obviously, that’s what UR is all about in this set, so this will set you up nicely in that deck.  I think this is a B-.

219 - Gloomshrieker - B

This is pretty good.  It will set you up for a 2-for-1 most of the time, and the fact it has Menace even means it can be a little bit of a problem as an attacker.  The one downside here is that sometimes you won’t really want to play this on turn three, because you don’t have a permanent in your graveyard.  It is costed as more of an aggressive creature, but most of the time you probably won’t want to play this if you aren’t taking advantage of the ETB.  The good news is, most of the time you’ll be able to.  I’m giving this a B.

220 - Shiga, Okiba Gang Leader - B

This looks pretty darn good, between the great stats and the Vehicle recursion.  Obviously, you need some Vehicles in the graveyard to really get there with this, but there are enough of them in this set, that I can see Shiga doing the job a significant chunk of the time.  Even just doing it once is immensely powerful, since you not only get a quick swing in, you also get it back in your hand.  I’m giving Shiga a B.

221 - Hidetsugu Consumes All - C-

You are not super likely to destroy anything with Chapter I – and you should also keep in mind that its symmetrical!  Then, Chapter II’s effect also isn’t that great – there is some graveyard stuff in this set, like there always is, but it isn’t a huge theme in this set, so exiling graveyards isn’t that meaningful.  You do, of course, eventually get a creature out of the deal – but it isn’t that impressive of one, frankly.  The alternate win mode on the card is very much a “win more” effect, as if you do 10 in a turn, there’s a good chance you’re winning anyway, and the creature, while reasonably efficient, isn’t that great, especially because he won’t be showing up until turn 6 or so.  This card has a neat design, but it definitely isn’t the kind of Mythic Rare you first pick – in fact, I don’t think its even close.  I think its probably just a C-.

222 - Hinata - B

This has great stats and a couple of great static abilities.  You do have to have Jeskai mana to cast it, which isn’t going to be the easiest to make happen.  If it were in one of the green shards or wedges, it would be a little easier.  It is both difficult to cast and not exactly game-ending when you do manage to.  Sure, it has the nice stats that are relevant all game long, and the abilities matter too – but the abilities will have waning value as the game goes on.  I still think you can take this highly and try to get fixing together, but it probably isn’t very close to being a bomb.  I’m giving it a B.

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224 - Isshin, Two Heavens as One - C+

There are a lot of creatures who trigger stuff when they attack in this format, especially when it comes to Samurais attacking alone.  Being Mardu is a bit of a hurdle of course, in a format not overloaded with fixing outside of Green, but the upside is nice.  I do think it takes enough effort to make him work, in addition to the mana requirements, that I’m not super pumped about the idea of taking him early, since you need to line up not only fixing, but also plenty of cards to take advantage of his ability.  I’m giving him a C+.

225 - Jukai Naturalist - B-

A two mana 2/2 with lifelink is pretty nice, and reducing the cost of Enchantments is pretty nice too! As it often is, GW is about Enchantments in this set, so that will definitely be coming up.  I’m giving this a B.

226 -  Kaito Shizuki - B

This has a really neat design.  Its triggered ability makes it so that your opponent can’t damage it on their first turn after you play it, and its other abilities are pretty nice!  Typically, you’re probably going to play it and use the +1, since you won’t have any fear of Katio dying on that next turn, and then you can start making Ninjas to protect the planeswalker too!  If you play this on turn three, it will really take over the game.  However, in the later game, its abilities look increasingly unimpressive.  I don’t quite think its a bomb since it won’t help you out a whole lot if you’re at parity or behind.  Instead, its just a really good card.  I’m giving it a B.

227 - The Kami War - A

This is very powerful.  It immediately exiles a permanent, and then bounces a permanent the next turn, and then turns into a pretty frightening creature that returns stuff to your hand and makes it hit really hard.  The downside is, of course, that it costs mana of all 5 colors.  Something that is tough to produce consistently in pretty much every Limited format.  Still, this is the kind of card that will win you the game when you can cast it.  Chapters I and II should get you to at least parity in most cases, and then the Dragon Spirit can win you the game.  This type of card is always awkward to grade, because we have to take into account how consistently you can actually cast it.  If we don’t look at the fact it costs 5 colors, paying 6 for this would be a stone cold bomb – and I guess, in the end, I will give it that bomb grade, but with the major

228 -

229 - Naomi, Pillar of Order - C+

I don’t love the stat-line here, but if you can consistently generate 2/2 tokens with it, its going to feel pretty good.  That said, a 5-mana 4/4 will frequently be an underwhelming attacker, so counting on it doing its thing more than twice is probably a little too optimistic.  Now, this set does have a lot of Equipment and Auras – both things that this card also synergizes with, so maybe it will be a good attacker more often than I think – but it still has the not insignificant set-up cost that demands you have both an artifact and enchantment around in the first place.  Which, while doable, does further limit a card that has a pretty ugly floor as a 5-mana 4/4.  It is definitely going to generate some serious value in decks that really get there with it, but right now I’m not ultra impressed with this signpost Uncommon.  I’m giving it a C+.

230 - Oni-Cult Anvil - B-

Because it can sacrifice itself, it is – at worst, this is a two mana 1/1 token that drains the opponent one life.  That’s not exactly exciting, but that’s pretty much the fail case here.  This can also be a pretty sweet engine, since you can just keep giving up the same 1/1 every turn to drain the opponent one life, since it allows you to sacrifice tokens, and that’s pretty spicy – it will feel al little bit like getting Cauldron Familiar and Witch’s Oven together – and you have it all on one card! It is obviously a bit slow at what it does, but the engine aspect seems pretty sweet to me.  I’m giving it a B-.

231 - Prodigy’s Prototype - B-

This looks like a powerful signpost Uncommon.  It isn’t that hard to crew, and it spits out creature tokens that can crew it when it attacks – just in case you were going to have a problem crewing it in the first place.  Obviously it synergizes well with other vehicles too.   I’m giving it a B.

232 - Raiyuu, Storm’s Edge - B

This is pretty good. A 4-mana 3/3 with First Strike is already decent, and this gives you a pretty big bonus for attacking with only a single Samurai or Warrior, since you get another combat phase – and presumably one where you probably attack with more than just one creature.  Notably, Raiyuu can do the attacking all on his own to give you that combat phase, so you don’t even necessarily need a bunch of warriors or Samurai to make it happen.  Its also important that that second combat phase will happen even if the lone attacker dies.  So yeah, this is definitely worth taking with a first pick.  I’m giving it a B.

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234 - Satoru Umezawa - A-

This new Umezawa is very powerful.  Adding a card selection and drawing effect to every ninjutsu is a great payoff, and Satoru would be a very strong build around if that’s all that was going on here, but all of your cards gain ninjutsu too, so it isn’t even a build around!  So yeah, now you get a huge effect when you ninjutsu things, one that certainly trumps any sort of downside that comes with having to bounce a creature to your hand.  There’s some upside there too – because you can rebuy ETB abilities or even cheat a creature into play for way less mana!  I think Satoru is a bomb.  I’m giving it an A-.

235 - Satsuki, the Living Lore - B-

So, there are a lot of Sagas in this set, including some at Common, and GW is the color pair that is the most into Enchantments, so Satsuki looks like she can do some pretty nice stuff for you.  Accelerating your Sagas is a big deal in this set since they all eventually become Creatures, so getting them to add to the board as quickly as you can is quite good.  And then, her death trigger will stand a reasonable chance at getting you something back from your graveyard.  She definitely takes a little bit of work to get going, but because GW will fairly organically end up with the kinds of cards she’s good with, I don’t think she needs a build around.  I’m giving her a B-.

236 - Silver-Fur Master - B

This is quite the signpost Uncommon for the UB Ninja deck.  Buffing all of your Ninjas and Rogues and decreasing the cost Ninjutsu is quite impressive, and sometimes you’ll be able to Ninjutsu this in and buff some of your creatures to either do more damage to your opponent or make it so your creature or creatures win combat.  This is strong enough that I would consider taking it with a first pick.  I’m giving it a B.

237 - Spirit-Sister’s Call - B-

If you have creatures who give you value with an ETB or death triggered ability, or some tokens lying around, it seems like this will be able to generate some pretty nice value for you.  If you don’t, this is going to be less attractive, as you’ll typically just be upgrading one of your permanents a little bit, and there’s also no guaranteeing you have something good to sacrifice and something worth getting back, and that’s pretty rough on a 5-mana Enchantment.  The good news is you can get that new permanent right away, so it does something to the board immediately.  This has a pretty impressive ceiling, but I think it will be far too inconsistent to get anywhere close to being a bomb.  I’m starting it at B-.

238 - Tamiyo, Compleated Sage - A-

Well, looks like Tamiyo is a Phyrexian now which is kind of sad – but hey, at least she’s pretty powerful! You can either straight up pay 5 mana for her as a 5 loyalty planeswalker – or pay 4 mana and 2 life to play her as a 3-loyalty planeswalker.  Both options are fairly appealing.  Her +1 does a good job of protecting her and disrupting your opponent, and her -X can also do a good job of that.  Her ultimate is also quite good, as decreasing the cost of all of your spells and being able to tap her notebook to draw a card is awesome.  She can get to that ultimate pretty quickly if you pay all mana for her, too.  She won’t always be able to stick around, but it does seem like her +1 and -X will do a pretty good job of making that happen.  I’m giving her an A-.

caveat that actually casting this will be very tricky, and you shouldn’ ttry to play it unless you got enough fixing – so be careful.

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Artifacts:

242 - Circuit Mender - B-

This is a nice little card.  A 3-mana ⅔ that gains you 2 life is already kind of playable, especially i a set with lots of artifact payoffs, and then it even replaces itself when it dies!  Its large enough to enable a 2-for-1 every once and a while – and if you combine it with blink or bounce it gets even sillier, because it lets you draw the card when it leaves the battlefield, and that means if it leaves in any way! Combining it with Ninjutsu could be especially back-breaking.  This is a great Uncommon, and its colorless! I’m giving it a B-.

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247 - High-Speed Hoverbike - B-

This looks quite nice.  It is easy to Crew, has good evasive stats, and it even has Flash and the ability to tap a thing down when it ETBs.  It doesn’t do any of those things super impressively, but it does a whole lot for the mana investment.  I’m giving this is a B-.

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249 - Mechtitan Core - C+

Without the ability, this is a pretty mediocre vehicle.  The ability is obviously a very cool reference to Voltron and the like, and it does give you quite the formidable creature token.  One that is hard to block effective, and one that can attack immediately as a 10/10 that will gain you 10 life.  The nice thing is, if the token ever leaves the battlefield, you get back everything you exiled except the Mechtitan Core – which is pretty cool flavor!  So, how good is this?  I’m pretty skeptical that its anything special.  This set does have lots of artifact creatures and vehicles, but having the five mana and 4 things to exile it is still pretty big set up, especially because this card’s baseline is pretty unimpressive.  Still, if you get to use that effect, there’s a good chance you win the game.  I think in the end, I like this at C+.  Sometimes it will perform pretty amazingly – but other times its going to be a 2-mana 2/4 vehicle, and that’s not something special.

250 - Mirror Box - F

In the past, Kamigawa has had a whole lot of legendaries – so far, though – we haven’t seen any that aren’t Rare or Mythic.  And if that’s true, this card won’t be very useful.  Even if there are a lot of Uncommon legendaries in the end, your chances of getting enough of them to actually make this worthwhile is very, very low, even with the additional upside of pumping copies and stuff.  I think this is just an F.

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255 - Reckoner Bankbuster - B+

This looks really good.  The casting cost is great for a 4/4, and the Crew is a little bit high, but it more than makes up for that with its activated ability, which will net you some cards, give you a creature token that can crew it, and even fix your mana a little bit.  It may take a few turns to get going, but at times where you don’t have those turns, you’ll probably also just be able to crew it. I’m giving this a B+.

256 - Reito Sentinel - D

This doesn’t look great to me.  Milling doesn’t seem to be a major component of this format for the most part, whether you’re miling yourself or someone else.  BG definitely has some graveyard stuff going on, and that’s probably where this will be at its best, but I’m still not overly impressed with a 3-mana 3/3 Defender.  The cool thing you can do with it in the extreme late game is start using its ability to draw whatever you want to every single turn, but I’m always skeptical that type of strategy will end up working out in Limited.  It doesn’t very often!  I’m starting this at a D.

257 - Runaway Trash-Bot - D // C

Obviously enough, you need to really get there on a graveyard-centric artifact/enchantment deck or this is going to be a pretty disappointing card.  If you do get there, this looks like a pretty reasonable payoff.  As long as it is like, a 2/4 you’re going to feel alright, especially because its likely to grow from there.    I do think it really needs a build around grade, though.  Its probably a D in your typical deck in the format, and a C in  a deck that plans on having permanents of those types in the graveyard.

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260 - Surgehacker Mech - B+

This looks pretty good.  On its own, it will do 2 damage to an opposing creature or planeswalker when it comes down.  This means it impacts the board immediately in most cases, and sometimes it will kill much larger things.  Crew 4 is definitely high, even for a 5/5 with Menace, but the ETB ability helps soften the blow there, and a 5/5 Menace does hit pretty hard.  This is going to feel a bit like Flame-Tongue Kavu in Vehicle form, and I’m all in on that.  I’m giving it a B+.

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263 - Striding Skyscraper - C+

You probably want to be casting this for 6 consistently to play it in your deck – but I actually don’t think that’s a huge hurdle in this format.  There’s lots of things that modify your creatures, and playing a 6-mana 8/8 with Trample and Hexproof when its untapped is pretty spicy!  I think this will probably be a nice playable for just about any deck that isn’t super aggressive.  I’m giving it a C+.

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Lands:

266 - Boseiju, Who Endures - B+

I always loved the old version of this cycle – because they are all essentially basic lands with upside, and that’s what we have this time too – although I think this cycle is even better than the one in original Kamigawa! This is essentially a Forest that can also blow up some problematic permanents.  Of course, it ahs the downside of maybe helping your opponent fix or ramp – but oftentimes blowing up a permanent of one of those types will be well worth it.  This format has a ton of artifacts and Enchantments – so many that this will feel like Path to Exile or Assasin’s Trophy in many games. In other words, its a land that is also premium removal.  That makes it a pretty nice pick.  I’m giving it a B+.

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271 - Otawara, City in the Clouds - B

Another great land.  If you need an Island early, it’ll do that for you, and then in the late game it can be a pretty nice bounce spell.  The flexibility this offers is just really good – so good that I’m giving this a B.

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275 - Secluded Courtyard - D  // C+

So, this set does have a bit of a tribal element, but I think it will still be a bit difficult to make this actually produce mana of any color consistently enough that I don’t love this card in most Limited decks in this format.  If it is producing colorless almost all the time, it isn’t worth it, because that makes your mana base way worse.  You need a critical mass of creatures with the same type – and that’s doable – but it isn’t a forgone conclusion.  I’m going to say this is a D in your typical Limited deck in the format, and a C+ in a deck with enough creatures with the same type – and that number is probably something like 7.

276 - Sokenzan, Cradle of Uprising - B

As we’ve seen with this cycle – this is pretty nice! Its a land when you need one of those early, and if you draw it late it basically turns into a spell.  A couple of 1/1s for 4 mana isn’t exactly efficient – but sometimes you’ll be able to decrease the cost – and even if you don’t do that, you have to remember that this is basically a split card.  As long as it does something for you you’re going to be happy, and adding to the board is definitely something.  I think this is a B.

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278 - Takenuma, Abandoned Mire - B

Like all of these, this is pretty nice.  Having a land with no downside that can return a creature from your graveyard to your hand in the later part of the game seems pretty nice.  I do think that effect is a little less exciting than what the other cards in this cycle offer, but it is still a land you should value pretty highly.  I’m giving it a B.

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