Locations
We continue or trek into the lair of behemoths with the Black and Red cards of Ikoria. Set is looking to change Magic because of companions alongside some powerful cards. Let us go over my rating process then dive in!
Check out the Other Parts:
White and Blue | Green, Lands, and Artifacts | Multicolor
I will not be going over cards that I believe will not see play in Standard and I will not be going over the Commander cards that will not see Standard play. For example, cards like Elspeth, Undaunted Hero (Planeswalker duel deck rare) and Archon of Falling Stars will be omitted since they are just Limited/Commander cards and saying, "This is just a Limited card" repeatedly gets old rather fast. Don't worry though, I will be covering all the rare and mythic cards in the actual Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths set. So, if you like a certain rare or mythic, it will be mentioned in the review.
Keep in mind I'm rating all these cards for Standard playability. I will mention Modern applications if I believe the card has some.
Each card will be listed by color, then alphabetically by name.
Each card will be given a rating of 1-5. If a card would receive a 0, meaning it will see no play in that format ever, its rating is left off the list.
Rating | Explanation | Standard Examples
0 - Will never see play in this format (0 ratings are not listed).
1 - Unlikely to see play. (Cubwarden)
2 - Could see fringe play, or occasional sideboard card. (Footfall Crater)
3 - Commonly played, staple in a single deck, or frequent play in several decks. (Essence Scatter, Thought Erasure, Scorching Dragonfire)
4 - Format staples. Sees play in multiple decks, one of the best cards in the format. (Hydroid Krasis, Narset of the Ancient Way, Witch's Oven)
5 - Format warping. If you're in these colors, you play that card. (Teferi, Time Raveler, Nissa, Who Shakes the World)
Now that we have that out of the way, let's begin!
Black
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2 - Cat Oven does not need any help, but this could slide in those decks if they decide to play Obosh, the Preypiercer and only odd spells. |
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3.5 - Another one for the sacrifice decks. I really do not think Cat Oven decks needed more options but here we are! |
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2.5 - Seems like a solid option for   flash decks. It progresses the flash plan while also being removal. |
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2.5 - Just give us Damnation please! Extinction Event is nice in that it exiles but I really wish it also exiled creatures in the graveyard so you could hit Cauldron Familiar. Even though it does not, it is still a Sideboard option against Even/Odd decks. |
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4 - Best removal spell in Standard since Fatal Push. Will see a ton of play in Standard as it is the premium removal spell. |
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3 - On curve your opponent should not have many creatures out and if they do, they are tiny so they should be easy to remove. Hunted Nightmare is an excellent aggressive card or even a decent Sideboard card for control decks that are not playing Red (for Robber of the Rich or Legion Warboss.) |
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2.5 - I love this card; a fixed instant speed Vindicate. The only downside is you are playing a midrange deck without Blue, so you are missing out on all the best midrange cards that Blue offers in Hydroid Krasis, Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath, Risen Reef, Growth Spiral etc. |
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3 - Solid card for Lurrus companion decks, especially with Witch's Oven. Gives you more pseudo Cauldron Familiar when Lurrus is out. |
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3 - The Black Squadron Hawk! Excellent in sacrifice decks, again don't think they need more options but here we are! |
Top 3 Black Cards
Heartless Act and Call of the Death-Dweller are obviously good but Whisper Squad you might doubt. It is just the Black Squadron Hawk and exceptionally good in the right deck, which is probably sacrifice decks. Keep your draft Whisper Squads!
Onto the Red cards
Red
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3 - A sweet removal spell for Arclight Phoenix decks, especially since it can hit planeswalkers. |
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2 - A   Cycling deck with Zenith Flare? Probably a meme but worth trying out, |
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2 - Mono-Red does not want this Phoenix and I do not see Gruul wanting it either. Not good enough. |
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2.5 - Cool removal spell that can loot away a combo card that you do not want or a land for another card. Seems strong if you are a control deck but I still value the exile from Scorching Dragonfire or Blitz of the Thunder-Raptor. |
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2 - Ridiculously cheap way to give your creatures haste and trample. If you do not have time for it or you are light on mana you can just cycle it away cheaply. |
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3 - Could see this in a mutate or midrange deck. Red midrange must decide if it wants Lukka or Embercleave and it must be Embercleave. Lukka can do some silly things by Polymorphing into huge monsters, especially in Historic. |
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2 - Storm's Wrath, on average, is better than Mythos of Vadrok but I could see a scenario where you don't want to kill your Planeswalkers but you do want to kill your opponents. Maybe in a Jeskai mirror match? |
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2.5 - Sick card for a cycling deck. I have already built a Temur Cyclone deck that cycles into things like Niv-Mizzet, Parun, Shark Typhoon, and Genesis Ultimatum. |
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3 - I like this turtle in a cycling deck and I also play it in the Unpredictable Cyclone deck. I really like that it is a turtle with haste even more! |
Top 3 Red Cards
Looks like Mono-Red Embercleave did not pick up any real tools in Ikoria and I could not be more thankful! Instead we got some support for instant/sorcery/Phoenix in Blitz of the Thunder-Raptor. Yidaro and Lukka are both interesting and I hope they both find good homes, especially Lukka. Spin that creature wheel!
That is it for today, tomorrow we'll be going over the Green, land, and artifact cards, don't miss it!
As always, thanks for reading,
Ali Aintrazi
Follow me @AliEldrazi
