Magic players love charms.

From the original charms in Mirage all the way through the many different multicolored takes up through Khans of Tarkir, Magic players have always loved the flexibility and versatility they provide. It's hard to be able to handle everything that your opponent can throw at you in any given game of Magic, but charms give you the feeling that you can.

However, while many charms are great and see lots of play, they are not without their shortcomings.

You Can't Trade Too Much Efficiency for Versatility

Imagine this hypothetical card:

Can this card do almost everything? Sure!

But are you happy paying five difficult to cast mana to get any of these single effects? Not at all!

This extreme example helps to illustrate that how much many you are paying for an effect has a huge impact on the playability level of a card.

There's a pretty clear reason why Lightning Bolt is a multiformat staple, Lightning Strike sees occasional play when legal, and Open Fire has never been put in a Constructed deck and it doesn't take a degree in math to figure out.

So, What Makes a Great Charm?

As such, it's great to break down what makes a charm great.

When it comes down to it, one of the modes is going to need to be worth the mana you are paying for it. Two mana to deal four damage to a player is more than reasonable for a burn deck, which honestly makes Boros Charm's other modes rarely used. Three mana to draw two cards at instant speed is also very reasonable for draw-go control decks, which makes Archmage's Charm (and Esper Charm) both very solid cards. Something like Azorious Charm is also just a very solid two-mana defensive card that has the benefit of not being dead in non-creature matchups.

In all of these cases, the primary function of the card is pretty much in line with what you'd expect to pay for a non-charm card, plus upside.

The other charms that end up seeing play, albeit often more fringe play, are the ones that don't necessarily offer a great return on your mana investment, but do a great job at addressing a wide array of issues. While two-mana Shatter, Tormod's Crypt, or awkward damage aren't a great deal, the card can be flexible enough to warrant a slot or two.

Abzan Charm may be the best example of this, as no mode is worth three mana but it is flexible enough to be worth it because all three modes are open ended enough to have utility across most games of Magic.

The converse of this is something like Treva's Charm.

Destroying an enchantment is worth one mana (or maybe even less), Drawing and discarding a card is definitely worth less than one mana, and exiling an attacking creature is maybe worth two mana. At no point are you casting Treva's Charm, a three-mana difficult to cast card, and feeling happy for the your return on investment.

As such, with this groundwork laid let's rank the five charms in Streets Of New Capenna by breaking them down into their component parts!

5. Obscura Charm

I know I'm definitely going against the grain of the hype train here, but let's break down Obscura Charm:

The first mode on Obscura Charm doesn't really have a proper counterpart among Magic cards already printed, with something like Unearth or Can't Stay Away the closest approximation. While it can return permanent cards rather than just creatures, only being able to return multicolored cards severely limits the utility. Not being able to block is another major drawback, which diminishes the instant speed potential.

Unearth effects tend to play a lot worse than they look unless your deck is very graveyard-centric, and even then the value is gained from being able to spend one mana to get back a 3-drop. Three hard to cast mana to get back a 3-drop is very unexciting. Rather than trying to return a good card, just play another good card instead!

Add this onto three hard to cast mana for a Dispel / Envelop, which is very unexciting because what makes those cards so good is their efficiency, and a three-mana hard to cast Eliminate, which is fringe playable anyway, and you've got yourself the worst of the five new charms.

4. Caberetti Charm

Caberetti Charm comes in at number four here, as while I think it's a bit less powerful than Obscura Charm, it has the benefit of all three modes working well together in the same type of deck.

These aren't exact comparisons, as being able to hit planeswalkers with the first ability and especially trample on the second ability are huge upgrades. However, neither Outnumber nor Charge are Constructed playable cards, so they would need these buffs to even be considered for Constructed play.

You aren't thrilled to be paying three mana for any of these effects, but like Abzan Charm the spread here is super wide and all of these effects widely applicable enough to want in most average games of Magic (unlike something narrow like exiling a graveyard or countering an instant). If some sort of Naya tokens deck arises, having a few Caberetti Charm as flex cards to sneak in some removal that can also be a way over the top seems pretty reasonable.

3. Brokers Charm

Brokers Charm shares two of the three modes of Esper Charm, the most played of the five original Shards of Alara charms... so why is it only ranked in the middle of the pack of the New Capenna charms? The reality is that Blue/White/Black is just a color combination far more suited for a draw-go control style than Blue/White/Green.

The big draw to Esper Charm (and Archmage's Charm as well) is being able to draw two cards at instant speed for three mana. Most decks that want to do this are full of spells, not creatures, which really leaves the Ambuscade-like effect hung out to dry. Conversely, if you're playing a lot of creatures and operating at sorcery speed, then an instant speed Divination also probably isn't what you're looking for.

Killing enchantments is actually pretty good in Standard right now with how many good ones there are in Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty, but I think it's unlikely that there will be a deck that will have the correct mix of creatures and spells to want to play Brokers Charm.

2. Maestros Charm

Coming in at number two is the Grixis entry, Maestros Charm.

The first mode is very interesting, as Forbidden Alchemy saw a good amount of play when it was legal in Standard. Putting cards in your graveyard is a huge upgrade from just putting them on the bottom of your deck, as is looking at five cards instead of four. This pegs Maestros Charm as a bit of a graveyard enabler, as three-mana for a big Anticipate is much less exciting.

Sovereign's Bite is not a card you'd be likely to put in your deck, nor would you be happy to pay three mana for it, but as an option it's not a bad one. However, the biggest draw here is the Soul Sear effect of the last ability. Soul Sear saw fringe play during the time it was legal in Standard, as it can often mimic the effect of Hero's Downfall which is reasonably solid.

Like Azorius Charm, the combination of a very reasonable removal spell with a good way to cash it in if you don't need it is very solid, and with graveyard synergies the value only goes up.

1. Riveteers Charm

However, Riveteers Charm is the pick for best charm in Streets of New Capenna.

Soul Shatter is already an awesome Magic card. It's not a removal spell you necessarily want to play a bunch of copies of, but it often kills the biggest threat they have, while avoiding things like Snakeskin Veil or other protection spells.

And then we come to that second ability.

Most Light up the Stage or Reckless Impulse effects give you until the end of your next turn, while Riveteers Charm only gives you one turn to use the cards, but it's an instant so you can play it at the end of your opponent's turn and have all your mana available for the cards. This is a very powerful effect, but won't be as good in the early game as Reckless Impulse and Light up the Stage are for finding lands. But in the mid to late game, if your mana curve is reasonable this is going to be close to three mana to draw three cards, which is outstanding.

With a narrow but powerful graveyard hate third mode, Riveteers Charm brings good removal, good card draw, and some narrow utility together in one very nice package. You feel totally fine casting Soul Shatter or the card draw effect for three mana, making this the charm with the most efficient power as well as flexibility - everything a charm could ever want!

Spices, Not Meat and Potatoes

It is important to temper your expectations for charms a bit in Constructed.

Unless a charm is doing it's one thing very well, it's unlikely to be a four of in any decklist, and this is doubly so for three mana, three color charms. However, this isn't what you should expect out of them!

Charms are great at filling out different roles in your decks; adding two Riveteers Charm to your Jund deck gives you both two removal spells as well as two card draw spells, which does a great job to supplement your other kill spells and card advantage spells. While I only expect Riveteers Charm and Maestros Charm to see significant play in Standard, I think they all have a chance under the right circumstances.

So much to talk about with only five cards... I can't wait to see the whole set!