[Editor's Note: This was originally published on the Asgard Games website in September 2012. Sharing here for archival purposes.]
The Return to Ravnica pre-release is next weekend. By
now, you’ve probably seen many of the cards on various sites, and
heard some opinions about the quality of some of the more notable
cards. Today, I’m going to look at a few of the off the radar cards
that I think will be important in the upcoming Standard format.
The Gate Cycle (Azorious Guildgate, Golgari Guildgate, Izzet
Guildgate, Rakdos Guildgate, Selesnya Guildgate)
RTR marks the highly anticipated return of the original Ravnica block
shock lands, so much of the focus has been on those, but I think these
lands are just as important! Others have already and accurately noted
the affect these will change the Pauper mana bases, and the importance
of them in Limited should be readily apparent. In Standard, these
will be the 9-12th dual lands in a two color deck if you are playing a
color combination of one of the RTR guilds. This adds a level of
consistency to two color decks that should not be overlooked. Current
RB Zombie decks run only 8 dual lands, and therefore occasionally lose
to not having red mana to play the red spells in hand. The “enters the
battlefield tapped” drawback is much less of a drawback than most
people think, and I’ll happily play 4 Golgari Guildgates in my BG
Zombie list if it means I don’t have to play any basic forests.
Unfortunately, these only help half of the two color combinations, so
Gruul, Boros, Simic, Dimir, and Orzhov decks will have to find other
ways to make the mana work, or just not be played at all.
Rakdos Cackler
The power level of creatures being printed is getting higher by the
set, but this card is still very solid. It gives mono black aggro 12
one-drop two-power creatures, and the “can’t block” drawback hasn’t
caused Gravecrawler to see any less play. The fact that it also fits
into red decks can only mean that it will see that much more play in
the new Standard.
Centaur Healer
With Wurmcoil Engine, Timely Reinforcements, and Batterskull rotating,
there isn’t as much life gain available to deckbuilders. This guy
could show up out of the board as a speed bump in GW decks as they
build up to Thragtusk mana.
Giant Growth
The original pump spell is back, and it’s still incredibly efficient.
Luckily for everyone, all of the infect cards are rotating! The
difference between one and two mana is huge for cards like this. While
Selesnya Charm will see more play because of its flexibility, the
“Green Brute Force” still has a place, especially with Fencing Ace.
Jace, Architect of Thought
Patrick Chapin wrote an entire article on Star City Games about how
good he thinks this guy is. Gerry Thompson and Brad Nelson each have
taken to Twitter declaring this the second best Jace ever after they
played with it. And yet, most people I talk to still seem to think
this card isn’t very good! Personally, I think it is much better than
Vraska (a card with 2 abilities that don’t actually do anything), and
it’s clearly better than Jace, Memory Adept. Even if you just use the
-2 ability twice, it’s 4 mana for 4 cards. He’s not going to control
the game like JTMS or Gideon, but that’s not his purpose. Like Jace
1.0, it’s best to look at it as a card drawing spell that occasionally
draws you much more cards. Also, the +1 is deceptively powerful. It
can blank an entire battlefield of Lingering Souls, and if you have
any creatures in play to protect Jace, they become much better at
doing just that. Don’t forget that the “ultimate” ability lets you
search your own library, too. You can Bribery their best creature, and
get a second Jace from your deck and use it right away! Comparing this
(or any planeswalker) to Jace, the Mind Sculptor isn’t fair, so don’t
let that cloud your judgment on this guy.
Martial Law
This is the real Dungeon Geists. Playing this againt an aggro deck
forces them to commit more creatues to the board, letting you punish
them with Supreme Verdict. I can actually see UW decks playing the max
4 copies of this, and just 2-3 Verdicts. Control decks will have to
find a different way to win in the mirror than just a single creature
or two, either going with Entreat the Angels or a milling strategy.
These are just the cards I think are being overlooked right now.
Obviously, cards like Lotleth Troll, Abrupt Decay, Dreadbore, and
others are going to be big players as well. And don’t confuse my
recommendation on these cards as a speculation based on card pricing,
since card value isn’t strictly related to how good a card is (but if
you can get Jace at less than $20, it’s probably a good deal). That’s
all I have for now, I hope you enjoy your Return to Ravnica.
Ty Thomason
@ceciliajupe on Twitter.
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