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White and Blue

Yesterday we covered the Blue and White cards from War of the Spark and today we continue the Set Review with the Black cards and Lands from WAR.

Each card will be listed by color/guild, then alphabetically by name.

Each card will 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 (Sphinx's Decree, Crafty Cutpurse (Most Rivals of Ixalan cards)).

1 - Unlikely to see play. (Amplifire)

2 - Could see fringe play, or occasional sideboard card. (Crushing Canopy, Disdainful Stroke)

3 - Commonly played, staple in a single deck, or frequent play in several decks. (Thought Erasure, Shock)

4 - Format staples. Sees play in multiple decks, one of the best cards in the format. (History of Benalia, Wilderness Reclamation)

5 - If you're in these colors, you should almost assuredly be playing that card. (Teferi, Hero of Dominaria)

	2 - A super fun card to brew around and it seems that the best shell is a Explore shell. However, after playing the card it doesn't feel broken by any means and is most likely just a worse Experimental Frenzy in Standard.
	3 - A very powerful card that allows you to reanimate all your creatures and palneswalkers but also your opponent's. This card is so much better than Primevals' Glorious Rebirth since you don't need two colors or 7 mana. It also combos with The Wanderer or Gideon's Sacrifice, redirecting all the damage to a creature or planeswalker or just reducing it to 0.
	2.5 - 3 mana for three cards is a very good rate, even if you have to do it over the course of three turns. If you are coupling Davriel with other discard like Thought Erasure or Nicol Bolas, the Ravager your opponent is going to have no cards very quickly. Dimir / Grixis might be the much needed counter to Esper in this format and Davriel can slide into either build.
	2.5 - A different Gifts Ungiven but for your graveyard and if you happen to control a Nicol Bolas Planeswalker, you get to Regrowth four cards. This is absurdly powerful, especially since we have ways to mill ourselves if we want with things like Ashiok, Dream Render and Enter the God-Eternals.
	3 - Dreadhorde Invasion is no Bitterblossom but it's still a decent way to mimic Forcefield and/or to give you a sacrifice outlet every turn. It can also just quickly get out of control when you amass a lot in one turn against aggressive decks with something like, Enter the God-Eternals or Commence the Endgame.
	2 - Super narrow card but excellent for your Sideboard if a Planeswalker deck breaks out. Could also be a singleton in a planeswalker deck to quickly ultimate one of your own planeswalkers like Nicol Bolas, Dragon-God.
	2 - A good rate for a Black 2-drop that can give you card advantage as the game goes on. I don't think it makes zombies a viable archetype on its own but it's worth testing with Liliana, Untouched by Death.
	2.5 - This spell reminds me of Black Sun's Zenith. Being able to pay 3 mana and kill off three x/1 creatures against something like Mono-White is super sweet, only problem is Mono-White plays a lot of creatures that are hard to destroy like Adanto Vanguard and Dauntless Bodyguard. Being able to scale up however against decks like Golgari or Gruul Midrange will give it the nod over Cry of the Carnarium of those decks become more popular than Mono-White aggro.
	2.5 - Bontu is one of the harder Gods to get working. It either does nothing or essentially wins the game on the spot. Not a fan of cards that propel you to victory if you're already winning and don't do much if you're behind and Bontu seems very much like that. I'd personally rather play Midnight Reaper instead of relying on Bontu. Though a one of Bontu is a nice way to just close a game out, I just wouldn't rely on her.
	2 - Two bodies for 2 mana is solid, especially against aggressive decks. It's not flashy but Lazotep Reaver doesn't need to be, you get what you pay for and it could just be good enough in the right aggro/midrange shell.
	3 - Liliana is a great card but no deck can really abuse her and all her abilities at the moment. If you're playing a control deck, you can get to Liliana but you can't really abuse her static ability. If you're a sacrifice deck, it's pretty hard to get to 6 mana so you can't really play many of her. She's an excellent card and I'm sure she'll find a home but it's just very hard to fully abuse her.
	2 - A two in Standard, a four in older formats where you have three-mana Lilianas. Diabolic Edict is probably okay for a control deck trying to deal with a Carnage Tyrant but other than that, I don't really see this card getting much play. Especially since we have access to other Black removal spells that aren't as narrow.
	2 - A sweet board clear in the right deck, excellent against Mono-White as she doesn't destroy creatures. You just can't always rely on her to fully clear the battlefield and that kind of sucks for a 5 mana spell as that's what you're looking to do with Massacre Girl. I suspect she'll be more of a Sideboard card than a main deck one.
	2.5 - Exiling the creature is the keyword here. Removing Rekindling Phoenix for good and also being great against indestructible creatures like Adanto Vanguard or even Gideon Blackblade. I expect Ob Nixilis's Cruelty to show up here and there in main decks and in Sideboards to deal with the aforementioned cards and things like Arclight Phoenix if it comes back.
	2 - Solid removal spell for planeswalkers out of the Sideboard. A great tutor target for Mastermind's Acquisition as well as 5 mana is a fine price to pay to kill a planeswalker like Teferi or Nicol Bolas, Dragon-God.
	1.5 - This card won't see any play until Moment of Craving rotates out of Standard. That's if we don't get a better card than Sorin's Thirst which I hope we do as this spell is hard to cast and doesn't kill Adanto Vanguard reliably.
	1.5 - A strict upgrade from Bone Splinters. I love how you can just pay more mana if you have nothing to sacrifice or if you don't want to sacrifice anything. Great in a Aristocrats type of deck.
	2 - A card that any deck can sideboard to punish Mono-Blue and even Mono-White to a certain extent. A land that destroys curious obsession and other 1-drops from the Mono-Blue menace that can't be countered is a welcome addition to Standard.
	1.5 - Losing a land and 2 mana to give your spells flash is a big cost. I wish we had just gotten Alchemist's Refuge instead. Possibly playable in a deck that also runs Crucible of Worlds but I think you're just better off running Teferi, Time Raveler.
	2.5 - This is what the planeswalker deck needed to stabilize and help it cast it's plethora of planeswalkers. Interplanar Beacon could've easily been a rare but I'm glad it's not. It's a sweet card that enables a very fun archetype in super friends.
	2 - This card looks better than it is. Currently in Standard it's pretty hard to take a turn off just to proliferate but maybe the metagame will or a control deck can find a way to buy enough time and abuse Karn's Bastion.
	2.5 - Creature lands are always underrated and the same is true for Mobilized District. It will take awhile but eventually Mobilized District will find a home, especially since it's the only creature land we have access to in Standard.

Top 5 Black and Land Cards

1. Dreadhorde Invasion
2. Liliana, Dreadhorde General
3. Command the Dreadhorde
4. Mobilized District
5. God-Eternal Bontu

I find it pretty funny that the top three cards are all Dreadhorde cards, I guess that's fitting since we are in a war. Overall, the Black and land cards are weaker than the Blue and White cards but that's to be expected when you combine two colors versus combining Black and land cards. Make sure to tune in tomorrow where I'll cover the Red and Artifact cards from War of the Spark!

As always, thanks for reading,

Ali Aintrazi

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