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Blue | Black and Gold | Red and Artifacts
Throne of Eldraine is nearly here! Along with it comes rotation so this is a big change for Standard. Core Set 2020 was one of the best sets for Standard with so many great and powerful cards that didn't make things miserable like War of the Spark. I hope Throne of Eldraine follows that trend. Let's go ahead and get started.
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 Silverwing Squadron (Brawl rare) and Lonesome Unicorn 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 Throne of Eldraine 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. (Light of the Legion)
2 - Could see fringe play, or occasional sideboard card. (Drowned Secrets)
3 - Commonly played, staple in a single deck, or frequent play in several decks. (Oath of Kaya, Thought Erasure, Lava Coil)
4 - Format staples. Sees play in multiple decks, one of the best cards in the format. (Hydroid Krasis, Risen Reef, Field of the Dead, Nissa, Who Shakes the World)
5 - Format warping. If you're in these colors, you play that card. (Teferi, Time Raveler, Narset, Parter of Veils)
Today we'll be going over the White cards, let's begin!
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3 - Knights seems really pushed in this set and I believe we will have a   or  Knight deck. If I am right, then Acclaimed Contender does an excellent Militia Bugler impersonation and will be great main deck or in the Sideboard for grindy matchups. |
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2 - Charming Prince isn't a knight and its abilities are all weak but having that many choices still makes me think it will see play. Smoothing out your draws, gaining life against burn decks, and even drawing you a card (if it blinks Acclaimed Contender or something similar) is all fine to really good depending on the blink. |
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2 - Possible sideboard card for a Knight deck against grindy matchups or maybe as a one-off main deck. It's just hard to play this card in your aggressive deck because if you get swept before you can cast it, it's going to be hard to cast. I just think Gideon is the better and more reliable card. |
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2 - Amazing in older formats and solid for Standard Sideboards. There are cards in this set that encourage you to play more than one spell a turn to trigger an ability and this just shuts that down. An excellent card against Izzet Phoenix if that deck resurfaces. |
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2 - I mean Healer's Hawk sees play and Faerie Guidemother is a good replacement for that card as it can give you a little jump mid game as well as being a 1/1 flier. |
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2.5 - Sideboard card at worst for the White weenie decks as it's a great way to deal with midrange creatures like Questing Beast or Rotting Regisaur. It can also see play over Law-Rune Enforcer but two-mana tap is a lot more than one-mana tap. |
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3 - A different Baffling End, just strange to see it in artifact form instead of being an enchantment. I'm glad that's the case though as it will dodge Mortify. |
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2 - Won't be a tier one strategy but it's definitely a card I look forward to building around, it pairs very well with Planewide Celebration as that gives you the multicolored token and can easily put you at or above 20 life. You'll just have to figure out how to get the other four card types (As land and enchantment is almost guaranteed) to trigger Happily Ever After. |
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3 - This is a powerful card that creates a lot of power and toughness, especially if Harmonious Archon isn't killed. While Harmonious Archon will be the biggest creature on the battlefield keep in mind that it will make even your opponent's non-Archon creatures 3/3s. |
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2.5 - Just a different Tocatli Honor Guard. I do think it's over all better than Honor Guard but 2 toughness means it dies to Flame Sweep and Shock like cards. |
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3 - Kenrith does a lot to not see any play, at the very least I think he will be great alongside Golos, Tireless Pilgrim to give your zombies tokens from Field of the Dead haste, get you cards, or just put you out of range of burn against aggressive decks. He's kind of like a different Zacama. |
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2.5 - If she was a knight or had 4 toughness, I'd rate her higher. This is not the Benalish Marshal replacement Mono-White aggro wanted. |
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2 - This should be playable in Sideboards of aggressive decks or even token strategies depending on the metagame. It doesn't do anything crazy but incidental life gain adds up in certain matchups. |
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3 - Five-mana wraths are staples of Standard formats and this comes with a finisher attached. Great for control decks especially since you can bounce it with Teferi and cast the wrath version of it again. Not excited about a staple being a mythic rare but I understand this card just being broken in Limited so they had to make it Mythic. |
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2.5 - No Adanto Vanguard thankfully but it's still a 3/1 creature for two-mana with upside, if we have a White aggressive deck I wouldn't be surprised to see Shepherd of the Flock in it. |
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3 - 1-drop for the knight deck, this will be a staple four of in that deck. |
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3 - Hero of Precinct One and Young Pyromancer type cards are always solid and Worthy Knight is no different. Another staple in the Knight deck. |
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2 - Depending on the metagame, Youthful Knight could be a main deck Knight as First Strike is good in the aggressive mirror matches but otherwise, I don't believe it will see play. |
Top 5 White Cards
White came out pretty good and it makes me really think Knights will be an archetype come Eldraine. I'm leaning toward Knights just because of Knight of the Ebon Legion, but we'll see what Red has to offer for knights later this week. My personal favorite card for White is definetly Kenrith, the Returned King. It not only reminded me of Zacama but also Obelisk of Alara. I love me some five color decks and I expect Kenrith to make in appearance in all of them in some number.
Tomorrow we'll be going over the Blue cards, don't miss it!
As always, thanks for reading,
Ali Aintrazi
Follow me @AliEldrazi
