With the new set just released a few days ago, did you get a chance to play with a Conspiracy: Take the Crown draft this weekend? What were your thoughts of the new set and how it drafted? Crack any packs yet? What did you get?

New sets bring new cards and experiences, and that’s arguably more true of a Conspiracy set than others.

Let’s take a look at the red cards that tweak my Abe-dar.

Volatile Chimera — Red's draft triggers are nothing special. Most are more valuable in a Limited environment where you could draft more than one to get full value. But there is one that works quite nicely and is a lot of fun. Volatile Chimera! Are you drafting creatures that get cut? Maybe you have too many good dorks, or perhaps you wound up with a few good bodies later in the draft. Well grab at least three, and then you can turn the Volatile Chimera into one of them randomly. Take the fat Avatar of Woe. If you drafted it for your collection (you crazy rare drafter you!), but since you aren't playing Black, then there's a 1/3 in chance of turning your Volatile Chimera into the Avatar of Woe. Attack for 6 or tap and kill something. If there is Thorn of the Black Rose as one of the three creatures you have to flip it into, will someone attack into your, potentially, deathtouch 1/3? You might not want to play that Hexplate Golem you drafted for coverage, but you might want to turn this into it. You get the idea. 1 in 3 on this one is strong.

Incendiary Dissent — Giving a certain creature you drafted Firebreathing can be pretty useful especially en masse. If you managed to grab a few creatures with the same name (or a Spy Kit or two) you can have a nice Firebreathing horde, so you can pump many creatures to the level of trading with blockers or hitting for more damage. But as far as the powerful common cycle of color-oriented Conspiracies, this is clearly one of the weaker ones to make work. (Do note one cool thing about this in Commander Cube is that you can give your Commander Firebreathing, which can end the game much more quickly with Commander damage, especially on the right one.)

Crown-Hunter Hireling — As Red doesn't have a lot of card drawing, a 4/4 for 5 mana that replaces itself is pretty good. But our Mercenary only cares about one thing. Getting the crown. If you are the Monarch, it's not swinging. And if you want to attack Steve, but Sally is the Monarch, then he's only got one target in mind. That's what happens when you pay someone to do just one thing for you — get the crown. You clearly need a new legal team to get the next contract clearer. Remember that yes, this is your fault. Next time don't pay for the cheap Ogre labor. You get what you pay for.

Besmirch — The basic Threaten effect is pretty commonly played in Red at the kitchen table. Many people who play it use variants like a creature (Zealous Conscripts) or a card with an additional effect tied to it (such as Grab the Reins) or versions that go big (Mass Mutiny). Besmirch is another in that instance, and I like that you leave your foe with goaded creature that has to swing, but not at you, after you’ve had your way with it. You are smashing and then giving your foe a requirement to smash again! (Which will likely tap the creature, making them open, and perhaps hurt other board positions as things die). It’s a very powerful and yet subtle addition to the common Threaten effect.

And while those are all fun cards, they aren’t the top three from the set. So what is?

Top Three New Red Cards:

3. Grenzo, Havoc Raiser

Grenzo is really Neat-o. You get a 2/2 for 2 mana, and then all you have to do is begin the swinging with your team. There are a literal ton of Red decks that attack early and often. And when you smash you either can goad their stuff or rack up some “card flip into card play” triggers. All of that card quality, and a strong teammate as well. Mono-Red aggro. Boros aggro. Rakdos aggro. Gruul aggro. Izzet midrange. Gruul midrange. W/R tokens. Mono-Red Goblins. B/R Goblins. You get the idea. Grenzo is partners with the world!

2. Skyline Despot

Everyone likes Dragons, right? Right! It’s rare that you see a Dragon that’s not a winning condition. And with Red having a decided lack of card advantage and drawing, a free Dragon is going to combine the swinging-ness of Dragons with the card drawery of other colors. And if you manage to keep the Monarchy for a full round, then you are rewarded with your very own 5/5 Dragon token, replete with flying and stompery already attached. Now normally you’d want to swing with the big Despot, but there are times when either you can’t get through, or the wiser play is to hold it back. And since it has a serious lack of haste, you can play it, steal the crown, and then help to hold it by keeping that Despot back.

Let’s take a look at a potential quick build:

Izzet Despot ? Casual | Abe Sargent

• Creatures (12)
• 4 Guttersnipe
• 4 Skyline Despot
• 4 Wall of Tears

• Spells (22)
• 2 Capsize
• 2 Suffocating Blast
• 4 Fact or Fiction
• 2 Fanning the Flames
• 2 Mizzium Mortars
• 4 Rolling Thunder
• 2 Cyclonic Rift
• 4 Propaganda

• Lands (28)
• 13 Island
• 13 Mountain
• 2 Maze of Ith

Buy This Deck

And there is a quick Izzet build that are light on the creature count that can use the card drawing, flying, and face-smashing qualities of the Skyline Despot to win. You have several avenues to keep from being attacked — Propaganda, Wall of Tears, removal, and bounce. I tried to make everything in here an element of card advantage. Rolling Thunder takes out multiple creatures. Buy back Fanning the Flames for another hit. Use Mizzium Mortars on overload. Merely cast Fact or Fiction. Reuse Capsize. The kill/counter of Suffocating Blast. You get the idea. And this is a pretty obvious but useful shell for the Dragon as well. It illustrates the point quite nicely.

1.Subterranean Tremors

I think this may be my favorite Earthquake variant of all time. I want to get a chance to run it first but yeah. It has a lot to offer. Now I’ve always have a serious love for the thing. I have played Earthquake and pals in a lot of places. From Earthquake-fueled Standard decks to running utter jank like Torrent of Lava; I adore the Earthquaking of Magic. And sure, we don’t hit players, but you didn’t with Magmaquake and other good ‘Quake variants. It sort of reminds me of the big spells of the Martial Coup era where you could build your X card up enough to make it more powerful. And we have a 4-damage sweeper that becomes a Shatterstorm as well. That’s a potent answer for the many artifact-heavy decks in casual land or Commander. And finally, if you invest enough mana, you’ll get an 8/8 creature token as well. Imagine all three: 8 damage to ground pounders, death to all artifacts, and an 8/8 creature of game winning size for you. Doesn’t that seem like a powerful combo?

I want to show you a decklist, but want to know a secret? I built the previous decklist around this card too. Here, let me make the changes to get it to work:

Izzet?s Subterranean Depot ? Casual | Abe Sargent

• Creatures (12)
• 2 Spellheart Chimera
• 2 Stormchaser Mage
• 4 Fog Bank
• 4 Skyline Despot

• Spells (22)
• 2 Capsize
• 2 Suffocating Blast
• 4 Fact or Fiction
• 2 Fanning the Flames
• 2 Mizzium Mortars
• 3 Cyclonic Rift
• 3 Subterranean Tremors
• 4 Propaganda

• Lands (28)
• 13 Island
• 13 Mountain
• 2 Maze of Ith

Buy This Deck

Yup, that’s pretty simple. Swap out some burn for the Tremors, put in the flying Fog Bank for Wall of Tears, and then inject in the flying Chimera, and we are good to go. And this deck is just as happy letting the Despot fly and smash over the ground as the Tremors break off stuff.

You have to respect this stuff!

And like any Conspiracy set, have the fun is with these cool reprints, right? Right! So what does Red Reprinting have to bring to the table?

Top Red Reprints:

3. Hamletback Goliath

Creatures that grow as your foes do stuff is great. The Hamletback Goliath is a powerful creature that you can set and forget, and then harvest much later for a big beefy swing. Are your foes playing creatures? Then it grows quickly. Are you playing creatures? Then it grows quickly. I’ve seen one full round of play pass and then you have a 20/20 Goliath or similarly swollen Giant. Goliath for the Win.

2. Gratuitous Violence

Smash away my friends, smash away. Drop this enchantment, and begin to double that damage. Lots of early doubling damage effects, like Furnace of Rath, doubled damage for everything and everyone. They were the Howling Mines of damage doubling. But the Violence is different, because only your creatures deal double damage. Plus, until now, we’ve never had a reprint of this solid card, so a whole new era of Magic benefits. As does my card stock. Smash away!

1. Burning Wish

The Wish cycle is one of the most iconic cycles for Magic’s history. Even today, it has a lot of value. And Burning Wish is a good option, but I wish the other strong Wishes (Living Wish, Cunning Wish) were here as well. Ah well, if wishes were horses. Anyway, the Burning Wish is a powerful card, and one of the key cards we’ve seen in various deck concepts down through the years. In casual land, there’s a lot of value for this card. A lot of value indeed. Get removal, reanimation, discard, card drawing, damage dealing, life gaining, land fetching or whatever you want. A Wish for the people.

And that’s it for Red. What about the multicolored cards though?

Gold

We have six new gold cards for your consideration as well. And five of them are eminently playable. Here they are, in my order from 5th best to 1st.

5. Adriana, Captain of the Guard

Another in a long line of Boros beats that lead the team to smash others, like Tajic, Blade of the Legion or Iroas, God of Victory or Agrus Kos, Wojek Veteran and so forth. Adriana is a bit different with melee wanting to stretch out and attack many players version ganging up on one. She wants to go wide not big. And giving everything melee really plays into the typical Boros stuff like Assemble the Legion or Rise of the Hobgoblins.

4. Queen Marchesa

I like to subtitle this set Rise of the Assassin. Who doesn’t want to get a little stabby with the knife when things don’t work out? As Thorn of the Black Rose mentions, assassination is her favorite form of bureaucracy. And the card is good too. You get the requisite Monarch making that replaces herself. She can haste-swing from nowhere, and then has the deathtouch “stay-away-from-me” disease. Plus if your foes start taking the Monarchy away, she’ll respond in kind with the Assassin making. She’s got a lot to recommend her.

3. Leovold, Emissary of Trest

When you drop Leo the . . . Emissary you force your foes to play fair. No, you can’t draw a bunch of extra cards, just the one you are supposed to. No, you can’t target my stuff with your spells or abilities. That’s mean. All right fine, I’ll let you, but I draw a card instead, okay? Meanwhile, you’ll note that Leo has no White in him. Why not? Because unlike White, he doesn’t seek to force everyone to play by the same rules, just everyone else. That’s a key distinction for Leo.

2. Daretti, Ingenious Iconoclast

For me the planeswalkers are one and two in the new section of gold, and the only reason Daretti is here is become you have to have an artifact theme and be in Rakdos, not exactly known for its heavy pro-artifact ways. But if you sacrifice an artifact, you can destroy another or any creature. And that’s a reliable form of control at any kitchen table. Meanwhile you are spewing out 1/1 defenders for the battlefield as well, so you have fodder, blockers, and more. The abilities work really well.

Daretti?s Discount Service! ? Casual | Abe Sargent

• Creatures (16)
• 2 Magmaw
• 4 Goblin Welder
• 4 Glaze Fiend
• 4 Pia and Kiran Nalaar
• 2 Bosh, Iron Golem

• Planeswalkers (2)
• 2 Daretti, Ingenious Iconoclast

• Spells (18)
• 2 Promise of Power
• 1 Memory Jar
• 1 Mindslaver
• 2 Cranial Plating
• 4 Ichor Wellspring
• 4 Mycosynth Wellspring
• 4 Sensei's Divining Top

• Lands (24)
• 6 Mountain
• 6 Swamp
• 4 Akoum Refuge
• 4 Great Furnace
• 4 Vault of Whispers

Buy This Deck

This deck layers the Black part of Esper’s artifact–friendly ness (such as Glaze Fiend) over the Red “sacrifice an artifact” theme. Then you have a bunch of ways to sacrifice the artifacts made by Daretti and Pia and Kiran Nalaar, among others. Sacrifice them for damage, or damage, or damage. Or for destroying a creature/artifract. Or for bringing back a dead artifact for another round of sacrifice the monkey.

Layered into here are the artifact lands for more options, a few fun artifact based tricks, one each of Memory Jar and Mindslaver for mad recursive fun, and more.

Iconoclast away!

And that leaves us . . . 

1. Kaya, Ghost Assassin

I like her for a few reasons. You can immediately ultimate and get a Syphon Mind effect. Or you can Flicker something and lose some life, or a variant on Syphon Soul folks. And since she begins with high loyalty, all three are in play from the very beginning. That’s a palpable amount of maximum flexibility and power. There is a lot of value in Flicker, Syphon Mind, or Syphon Soul at a multiplayer table. But my favorite thing about her is that you can Flicker her. You can drop her loyalty with the other two abilities, or she can take some damage, and then you reset her to her max loyalty for two life. This also Flickers her for a full turn, so she can’t be attacked back. Even a slow Flicker, is still a Flicker, right? Right . . . 

Kaya Blink ? Casual | Abe Sargent

• Creatures (21)
• 1 Angel of Despair
• 1 Cloudchaser Eagle
• 1 Grave Titan
• 1 Sun Titan
• 2 Glimmerpoint Stag
• 2 Karmic Guide
• 2 Nekrataal
• 2 Recruiter of the Guard
• 3 Flickerwisp
• 3 Phyrexian Rager
• 3 Shriekmaw

• Planeswalkers (3)
• 3 Kaya, Ghost Assassin

• Spells (10)
• 2 Death Denied
• 2 Faith's Reward
• 2 Otherworldly Journey
• 4 Conjurer's Closet

• Lands (26)
• 13 Plains
• 13 Swamp

Buy This Deck

And here’s the proof in the pudding. The Orzhov colors have a ton of strong creatures with enters-the-battlefield effects. I only touched the surface here. But Karmic Guide, Nekrataal, and more are all solid examples of what I want to do here. I also layered in the new Recruiter of the Guard, which can get Shriekmaw, Flickerwisp, and more. Get the Wisp to Flicker it and grab another card. We have a few high end cards like Angel of Despair or Sun Titan in here as well. Faith's Reward is great when someone tries to sweep the board. All of your stuff comes back with a whole new slate of triggers. You’ll see a few other tricks here as well.

Kaya is the real deal.

There are a few gold reprints as well. Most of them are decent uncommons to shape the draft like Juniper Order Ranger or Pharika's Mender. None of them really push me into a happy place with their newly slated home. But we certainly have a useful tool with a card like Coiling Oracle here. But most aren’t anything special.

And that’s it. We’ve got good Red and Gold cards rocking the block!

Anyways, check us out tomorrow when we finish with Green!

And get ready to steal some crowns.

Check Out the Other Conspiracy Set Reviews:

1. Blue and Artifacts
2. White and Lands
3. Black and Conspiracies