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Excitement from Guilds of Ravnica is upon us. We've got a lot of preview cards coming and it's one of the best times of the year. Ravnica is a plane almost everyone enjoys going back to. It probably has something to do with the guilds since everyone can identify with at least one guild. That sense of belonging and seeing sweet new mechanics and cards for your favorite color combination is setting up for success. When Guilds of Ravnica becomes legal, however, we will lose Amonkhet block and Kaladesh block. That's a huge chunk of Standard. Today, I'd like to talk about the cards you should keep an eye on come Rotation and pick up if you think you might play them.
Let's look at some of the cards that will maintain their strength.
- Teferi, Hero of Dominaria
- Karn, Scion of Urza
- Rekindling Phoenix
- Search for Azcanta
- Settle the Wreckage
- Nexus of Fate
- Vraska's Contempt
- Cleansing Nova
These are powerful cards and some are pillars of the current format. Cards like Teferi, Search for Azcanta, Settle the Wreckage, Vraska's Contempt, and Cleansing Nova are going to continue being staples of control and, to a lesser extent, midrange decks. Red's 4-drop slot will open since it loses Hazoret the Fervent and Chandra, Torch of Defiance. The go to 4-drop will be Rekindling Phoenix, especially if Ravnica does not bring something better. I'm not too concerned with these cards since their price is already high and they are a known quantity.
The cards I really want to look at are ones that get were overshadowed or are strong but not quite there yet.
Sarkhan has a pretty huge deck restriction in that you need to play dragons. However, alongside Dragon's Hoard, and with Abrade rotating out of the format, a dragon deck really does have a shot. The best ones we'll have access to are Demanding Dragon, Verix Bladewing, and Lathliss, Dragon Queen, and that's only if we don't splash any other colors. Sarkhan and Dragon's Hoard providing any colored mana makes splashing a dragon like Nicol Bolas, the Ravager pretty easy.
Young Nicol Bolas saw play, especially the first couple of weeks after he was legal in Standard. After a month or so, his playability fell off and he was always just second to The Scarab God. Now that The Scarab God is out and we know we will be getting shock lands in Guilds of Ravnica, his playability goes up. With Steam Vents and Watery Grave, the Grixis deck will just be missing Blood Crypt, but Dragonskull Summit can do for now.
No more Glorybringer, and Demanding Dragon is the next best card. Honestly, Demanding Dragon wasn't even that much worse in this current Standard Metagame. Mostly due to the existence of Turbo Fog where Demanding Dragon was a five-mana 5/5 that was also a Lava Axe. He also trumped Glorybringer in combat.
Vance's Blasting Cannons didn't see much play mostly due to the existence of Chandra, Torch of Defiance. Chandra was just overall a better a card but with the Izzet Guild being in Guilds of Ravnica and Jump Start being a mechanic, I wouldn't be surprised to see Vance's Blasting Cannons in midrange decks just like Outpost Siege was.
On its own Heroic Reinforcements can deal four damage and leave two 1/1 bodies behind. When you start curving out with History of Benalia, Boros Challenger, or even Legion Warboss you really start packing a punch. Boros is in Guilds of Ravnica, so you'll have access to Boros cards along with Sacred Foundry. This means you will have a great mana base and new toys to play with.
Militia Bugler is an excellent card that hasn't quite caught on just yet. Maybe we didn't have enough creatures for it to really start working, but with Siege-Gang Commander and the recently spoiled Legion Warboss, Militia Bugler is looking better and better.
Speaking of our favorite Nacatl friend, Ajani is a solid planeswalker card that is just waiting for the right time to make a splash in Standard. He has solid abilities, he just needs some more 2 CMC creatures to work with. Ajani has the power to bring back disruptive creatures in your B/W deck like Kitesail Freebooter and/or bring back key pieces like Ajani's Pridemate or Famished Paladin if you have a way to gain life.
He also works well with your small knights or Dire Fleet Daredevil. I also imagine the Boros Legion or even the Selesnya Conclave can help him find some creatures to work with.
I said earlier that Demanding Dragon might be the go to card to replace Glorybringer but if you don't care too much about the flying aspect of your 5-drop, or you're playing Militia Bugler, Siege-Gang Commander is your homie. This card has always seen some amount of play while it's been legal in Standard. Mono-Red loses a lot of its powerful cards, so if people start playing less Goblin Chainwhirler because the deck doesn't have enough good Red cards, I would expect to see Siege-Gang Commander start popping up.
With Cast Out leaving us, Ixalan's Binding is the next best thing. While it's not as flexible as Cast Out, because it doesn't have cycling or flash, it is a lot more punishing on decks that rely on certain cards. Ixalan's Binding is great against cards like Teferi, Nicol Bolas, and other "build around me" cards.
Cards that deal four damage cheaply are few and far between. With rotation, we can say goodbye to Cut // Ribbons and Chandra, Torch of Defiance, so it's even harder kill this kitty cat. Another problem for the this Warleader was Hazoret the Fervent and other indestructible Gods since it needs to attack to trigger its ability. Boros's ability is Mentor which puts +1/+1 counters on smaller creatures, which is a great token ability. Leonin Warleader is excellent at making tokens alongside Legion Warboss.
With the rotation of Hour of Devastation, we lose one of the most versatile and cheap card we've ever had access to in Abrade. Sadly, we also lose some of the fun artifacts to build around like Paradox Engine and even Planar Bridge. Two artifacts that were impossible to play while Abrade was legal. Thankfully we still maintain a handful of artifacts that are powerful or just great to build around.
Treasure Map already saw some play, even with Abrade running around. Now that Abrade is gone, I expect a lot more decks to adopt Treasure Map, especially alongside Karn, Scion of Urza. Treasure Map is just a great Midrange tool that is strong but not overpowered. You can even use a treasure token in a pinch to cast your multicolored card like Nicol Bolas, the Ravager or whatever Ravnica hybrid card you need help casting.
Dragon's Hoard is similar to Treasure Map but it ramps you and fixes your mana all at the same time. Throw in a four to eight dragons and your mana rock starts to draw you cards in the mid to late game. That's a ton of value. Not only does it make your deck more consistent but it's also a great source of card advantage.
I can't wait to revisit this card now that Abrade is gone, I would love to copy some Nexus of Fates with Primal Wellspring. The Izzet League is also here when Guilds of Ravnica arrives. Copy card draw spells and burn spells to your heart's content, this is the card I am most excited to start playing. HYPE!
Another amazing artifact that was held back because of Abrade. It shuts down powerful planeswalkers like Teferi, Hero of Dominaria and Vraska, Relic Seeker. This is especially important for Teferi since decks that play him tend to rely heavily on the Azorius planeswalker. The Immortal Sun is a ton of value for the player controlling it and I expect it to pop up more in midrange decks now that Abrade will be gone.
I'm sure I've missed a few cards here and there, but hopefully I've got your noggins turning about the possibilities and potential of most of these. Are there any cards you are excited to revisit or play with once Guilds of Ravnica hits? Let me know in the comments below!
I'll see you all next time,
Ali Aintrazi
Follow me @AliEldrazi
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