I have a bias: I love Izzet and cannot help but build decks in those colors whenever possible. But I promise that the latter half of this list was based on what I thought were the strongest cards in Bloomburrow. It being so skewed toward Izzet is just because the Izzet cards are really good.
I said that black had some of the best cards in Bloomburrow, and I was not kidding. Some are eerily close to historically powerful cards and are within a cost range that most decks can use. The best of the red cards aren’t as clear cut, but it’s astonishing how aggressive they’ll be in the right deck.
It’s good to be back with these. I haven’t reviewed a Magic set in a little while, but Bloomburrow is too dang charming. So, I’ve looked over all of the cards and narrowed my selection down to the best ones. Three per color, and three for multicolored.
The Wilds of Eldraine arrives very soon. It will go live on Arena less than a day after this post goes up. And I’ve looked over every single card, made a list of the best thirty or so, and then narrowed it down to only ten.
March of the Machines is now on Arena. And, if you’ve been around here for a little while, you know what that means: first impressions! Every set, I like to try out cards and strategies I think will be important, relevant, or just goofy in Constructed formats. And after lots of testing, I’ve got five impressions for March of the Machines.
It’s been a long journey getting here. We’ve looked at a lot of Phyrexia cards and seen a few themes and a few potential decks. Now, we round things out by looking at the artifacts and lands.
Unlike some sets, the Planeswalkers are probably the least interesting additions in the multicolored section for Phyrexia: All Will Be One. Sure, the often-flexible mana cost and storyline aspects are intriguing, but I was mostly underwhelmed by them. The random legendary creatures and cheap aggro options, though? Those look like a ton of fun.
Like I said in the red Phyrexia: All Will Be One article, green got a worrying amount of powerful new cards. And most aren’t even high-mana-cost bombs. They’re just strong mid-range/aggro options with good abilities and reasonable mana costs. There’s nothing like a Questing Beast here, but it’s still scary.
Sadly, my favorite color of Magic, red, probably got the worst of the lot in Phyrexia: All Will Be One. Very few cards are powerful enough to see play outside of that one combo for Commander (which I didn’t even include on the list because the core card’s not great by itself). But a few cards seem like fun and might get their time in the spotlight.
I’ve been playing a lot of Mono-Black Devotion in Explorer lately, so I’m particularly excited about the new cards in this color. Strong removal and interesting ways to steal life from your opponent are a winning combination, and between that and some spicy reprints, this’ll be exciting.
And we’re back! On a Thursday, no less! I said this was a special event, didn’t I? Next week, starting Monday, we’ll be going over the remaining colors (and more) one article at a time, basically until the release of Phyrexia: All Will Be One.
And here I thought The Brothers’ War was a powerful set. Phyrexia: All Will Be One is ridiculous. They put Phyrexian mana, poison counters, and a lot of superb cards from older sets into this one.
