Setting Sail for Theros: Gatecrash

Alright first off I would like to reiterate that I'm leaving some cards out on
purpose, so the cards I left out of the last list were Abrupt Decay, Rakdos Cackler,
and a few others. I did however forget Golgari Charm which had I remembered would
have been included with the honorable mentions because I really like what all the
card does. Now that those issues are out of the way let's take a look at the cards given to us in Gatecrash.



1) Boros Charm

In my previous article I wrote about the importance of being able to survive early 
wrath effects like Supreme Verdict with cards like Rootborn Defenses. However, where Defenses can only serve as wrath protection Charm does so much more. It'll help keep your guys alive while also dealing four to your opponent at the end of turn taking a  fifth of their initial life total. Even on occasion the double strike can be a powerful mode if it can deal more than the four damage just playing the spell would. Boros Charm was a highly played for any WR based aggro deck and I wouldn't expect that to change as long as it is standard legal.

2) Duskmantle Seer

When Seer was first revealed I was very excited for it, it's a new creature with a 
Dark Confidant like ability with a body that can help put the game away more 
effectively. The major difference between Seer and Confidant is that you opponent 
also benefits from the ability by allowing them to also reveal their top card and 
taking a few points of damage. So while you're digging for answers and taking a few 
points of damage each turn, your opponent is doing the same thing and could just 
top deck the win spell out of nowhere thanks to the damage you sustain through each 
activation. And damage can quite certainly be a problem, but if scry continues to be
a mechanic that is carried throughout the block then you should be able to sculpt 
the top of your deck and take fewer points of damage as the game goes long. So if UB
turns into one of the control decks of choice I can easily see this as a two-of in 
these lists as a way to help dig for answers and serve as a finisher alongside 
Aetherling.

3) Domri Rade

Domri Rade, where do I start with this card? I had high hopes for this card from the
beginning and while it is a very good card it unfortunately took until the last few 
months of the format for it to have a proper home with a winning record, and I hope 
that it will continue to have a home. It just does everything an aggro deck could 
want, it helps draw into more threats, has a pseudo removal ability with its minus, 
and his ultimate is just game winning. What more could you want than practically a 
non-removable Akroma's Memorial. The only problem with this card is that he's going 
to be fighting for slots against the new planeswalker on the block Xenagos, but 
despite appearing to work for the same deck types I think they belong in different 
homes. For Xenagos I think it'll do better in a big green deck alongside a Garruk, 
Caller of Beasts or two, while Domri just needs to stay in the fast paced GR aggro 
lists and maybe you can squeeze in a Xenagos or two. Either way now that he's 
reached the top tables I wouldn't expect him to go away.

4) Boros Reckoner

After an amazing start in the format, Reckoner decided to take a break from being 
the real dominant force that it was. With so many ways that were non-damage based 
kill spells it was easy to see why it went on the back burner, but now with most of 
the non-black no damage kill spells gone besides Supreme Verdict and Azorius Charm along with a few others I believe that Reckoner will reign supreme again. Because when you think about it there are going to be so many of the common board wipes in the form of Anger of the Gods and Mizzium Mortars that even if you can't cast Charm to save your Reckoner that they will take some form of bullet off of Reckoner's ability. So thanks to Innistrad leaving the format I think Reckoner will take his place back as a power house of an aggro card.

5) Legion Loyalist

Now Loyalist is one of the cards that i feel a lot of you will have a bit of 
contention with making this list, when possibly a better option also came out in the
set in the shape of Foundry Street Denizen. And I must say that Denizen certainly is
a wonderful card, but his ability means that you need to have a good amount of red 
creatures and he can be chump blocked for days. Loyalist on the other hand while not having the ability to grow, does offer several abilities that have a good impact in  most board states if you can hit battalion. And thanks to him having haste you can 
build up a decent force until you're ready to alpha strike and just slam him on the 
table and swing all in. Thanks to battalion now our entire team has first strike and trample. First strike allowing your force to hopefully easily survive most blockers, and trample making it so your opponent takes some damage even through chump blockers. Oh, and did I mention that the last bit of battalion takes care of the most pesky blockers in the form of instant speed tokens created thanks to cards like Call of the Conclave or Advent of the Worm. There is a lot of utility that gives 
this card a lot of merit and if you plan on running a deck with decently sized 
creatures in it and red is one of the colors I would hope that you plan on including it in your lists.

6) Merciless Eviction

On the last article I mentioned a lack of non-damage dealing wrath effects for the 
coming standard format, and I wasn't entirely right. Merciless Eviction is going to 
be a real deal if either one of the main control decks for the format is WB. There 
are several threats still in the format that are going to be hard/annoying o deal 
with. One is Voice of Resurgence that's quite keen on leaving behind and friend and 
of course there are the gods. All of the gods have the pesky problem of being 
indestructible. Luckily Merciless Eviction has this nice ability where it can exile 
all creatures, not only that but it can also exile all enchantments meaning that the gods don't have to be creatures for Eviction to hit them. So thanks to being able to handle several different types of permanents in a very different fashion Merciless Eviction will be a very strong wrath in the coming format.

7) Skullcrack

How convenient was it for WoTC to give players a very powerful control card in the 
form of Sphinx's Revelation, and then just a set later give a perfect trump to it. 
Sure in most cases the card draw is more important than the life gain, but if the 
aggro deck was doing their job any control player is going to be trying to use their 
Revs to get them back into the game by filling their hand and gaining some much 
needed life points. This is where Skullcrack comes in by not only dealing three to 
your opponent, but it stops any life gain a silly Rev would try and give. And the 
card go further than that because it has some little know rules text where it makes 
it so damage can't be prevented this turn. This means that if there is any 
possibility of Maze's End being a real deck this also shuts down that deck's fogs 
and riot controls. So not only is it a burn spell, but it's a burn spell with can 
you guess it? Utility. And utility has been a big part of cards from this set and 
there are a few more still to come.

8) Crypt Ghast

Now Crypt Ghast hasn't had the major tournament performance that I think it has a 
chance of. The problem is that he no longer can do his job of powering out a turn 
five Griselbrand thanks to rotation, but in my opinion mono-black or mono-black 
splashing either blue or white control is going to be a power house post rotation. 
There are several new cards like Erebos, Whip of Erebos, and Read the Bones that are going to make any black based control a force to be reckoned with. And with Crypt 
Ghast helping power out spells at a better rate also allowing it gives you the 
extort triggers which can help keep you alive with all the life you can plan on 
loosing with cards like Thoughtseize and Read the Bones.

9) Simic Char

Once again utility is a big deal for this card. The first mode makes it a two drop 
Giant Growth, which in my opinion is the least used mode for the card but that 
doesn't mean it isn't a good effect. The second mode I think is where this card 
shines. With Boros Charm it makes all your permanents indestructible, Simic Charms makes all of your thinks hexproof. While this might not be as overtly powerfull as 
indestructible, a lot of black focused control decks will now be relying on tons of 
spot removal thanks to the loss of mutilate so against those types of decks hexproof
is just as good as indestructible. And with indestructible now becomming a keyword, 
Simic Charm can save your creatures from Turn//Burn where Boros Charm cannot. 
Finally the last mode of Simic Charm is a simple bounce spell. It certainly isn't as
big as the hexproof, but with big creatures like gods being indestructible I'd 
rather just Time Walk my opponent by bouncing creature formed gods larger creatures instead of just killing the threat. Because as long as the creature doesn't have a powerful enter the battlefield efect bouncing the creature can be better than killing it since now your opponent has to think whether they want to redo their turn or play something else. In my opinion a simic aggro/midrange list has some potential and if the deck does become a thing I'd expect this card to be a major part of the 
success.

10) Nightveil Specter

Specter is another card that I had high hopes for but never took off. In my opinion 
it never had its time because all the spots in the esper control lists were filled 
with better alternatives, but now that alot of the mana fixing is gone and the 
better options like Restoration Angel are gone I think this card will show up in UB 
control lists. Even if your opponent isn't the same colors as you, if a land is hit 
off of the ability you can play that land and start playing their spells. Another 
option for off color players is running Chromatic Lantern which was made 
specifically for cards like this with its Dimir flavor text. And if you do share a 
color with your opponent you can just simply start playing their spells right away 
allowing for some incremental card advantage while also taking spells away from your
opponent. Now of course this all hinges on him actually dealing damage to your 
opponent, but once he starts ticking away it should be easy for him to keep going. I
really think he has some potential and by throwing him in a deck like I talked about above with Duskmantle Seer and Thassa it's an easy way to hit a quick devotion.

Honorable Mentions:
11)Ghor-Clan Rampager

This is another card that like Sphinx's Revelation from last week that people should
know what it does by now, and they should know that it's good. Expect to be seeing 
this even more now that four drops like Huntmaster of the Fells are no longer in the
format.

12)Rubblebelt Raiders

Rubblebelt Raiders is in the honorable mentions section because it is both improved 
and hurt by rotation. The good news is that thanks to a lot of the more aggressive 
four drops leaving the format this card will have time to shine. And with personal 
experience I can easily recommend this card because of how good it performed in the 
mono-green list that I have locally become known for. Now on to the other side of 
the coin where rotation hurts it, and that is no more Rancor. without Rancor this 
card can be easily chump blocked for days meaning that even if it is consistently 
growing, that increased power doesn't mean anything. Luckily though we were gifted 
with a god that so happens to grant trample, and even though it isn't a recurring 
threat like Rancor. Nylea does a good job at providing the way in that Rubblebelt 
Raider needs, and in return Rubblebelt Raiders hits her devotion instantly. This 
card has a lot of potential and if you can cheat trample onto it I think it's going 
to be a great card in this new format.

13)Dimir Charm

Dimir Charm suffered the same problem that Duskmantle Seer and Nightveil Specter had where is wanted to be a deck with too few spots as it was. The reason why this 
didn't make the list when Seer and Specter did was because I usually like to talk 
about the creatures that will be the meat and potatoes of your deck. So why is this 
card good? Well its first mode is kind of dead against a lot of the big cards in the format now. The other two modes though I’m a big fan of. Starting off the second  mode kills half of the big mana creatures in the format and without Farseek this is going to be a big deal against midrange decks. As for the third mode, when combined with Duskmantle Seer and Nightveil Specter it can easily allow you to starve you opponent of resources as Seer and Specter slowly tick away with damage and their 
abilities. While not exactly a four of in every list I hope that if a UB list becomes big that this is at least a two of in any list.

So that's it for Gatecrash, and it was certainly interesting making the list by trying to balance aggro cards with control cards thanks to the set be very aggressive. Stay tuned for later this week when I take a look at the last set of the block, Dragon's Maze.

Thanks for reading,
Zack

He just keeps dancing!