We have made it to the final article for Adventures in the Forgotten Realms. Today we will see the strongest and most synergy-oriented cards in the set. Let's wrap this set up so we can get to the game play!
This article is the last of four, and in it I will be evaluating every Multicolored card and scoring them on a scale of 1-5. These ratings are purely based on Limited formats and have no bearing on Constructed play. I would also like to note these ratings are based on how I believe the card will perform in an AVERAGE Sealed or Draft deck. Often this means a lower score for cards with great potential in a highly synergistic deck.
Rating - Explanation
1- Ideally not making the cut in any of my Limited decks.
2- Not good, but a necessity for curve filling and smoothing out draws.
3- Value cards I am happy to fill my deck with.
4- Cards to get excited about and Premium Removal.
5- Reserved for cards that will win the game if left unanswered.
Multicolored
Adult Gold Dragon - 3.5 - I like this dragon a lot. It has a great set of abilities and can easily close out a game if left unanswered. This is a very strong card, but not so strong that a game stops being fun - the best sort of bombs for Limited. | |
Bard Class - 1 - There are simply not enough legendary creatures in the set to make this playable. It seems like a fun card for home brews and casual games. | |
Barrowin of Clan Undurr - 3.5 - Barrowin is the type I card that is low impact when it is first played, but it starts to snowball into insane amounts of value if left on the battlefield. Thieves' Tools will be a great card in Barrowin's colors that will help trigger his ability. | |
Bruenor Battlehammer - 3.5 - Bruenor is one of the main payoffs in the equipment deck. This enables the deck to be less picky on which equipment it runs, and it makes them so much easier to manage. Most of these signpost cards are only great if they have a ton of synergy, but the creature is decent on its own if the deck happens to be in these colors. | |
Drizzt Do'Urden - 4 - This card is great. It offers a lot of board presence for very little investment. Anytime a card gives two creatures for the price of one it's worth playing. It is unlikely that the second ability will get more than one trigger, but it is still great even without it. | |
Farideh, Devil's Chosen - 3.5 - I might be way more excited about this card than I should be. Rolling dice in this set seems really fun, and drawing extra cards in Magic is also very fun - For you at least. The extra abilities are nice, but nothing to get excited about. I can't wait to draft 2 of these and pick up every awful dice roll card I can... | |
Fighter Class - 3.5 - Fighter Class is one of the bigger pay off cards for the equipment deck. The first level getting an equipment means that the deck doesn't have to have too many to make it good. This is decent with three equipment and gets better the more you have. This will be a fun build around. | |
Gretchen Titchwillow - 3 - Titchwillow is an interesting card. The last few sets had cards like Growth Spiral and they really helped ramp decks from losing too many cards in the process. These cards have been good in Limited, so I think that Titchwillow will be similar. This 0/4 body will stop aggressive decks from running away with the game, and she will provide card advantage in the mid-late game. An overall great addition to any deck. | |
Hama Pashar, Ruin Seeker - 3 - Hama is another one of the theme bosses designed to do a ton of work in one particular deck. She is a filler body that helps the curve of a deck when needed, but we really only want to play her when we have A LOT of venture abilities. Venture seems to be one of the lower payoff themes, so make sure you don't play too many bad cards to try to make Hama work. | |
Kalain, Reclusive Painter - 3 - Without any treasure spells this creature is worth playing. She offers 2/3 worth of stats on her own with some flexibility for ramp and fixing. The more treasures the deck can make, the better this card gets. When in Red / Black there is no reason not to pick this creature up. | |
Krydle of Baldur's Gate - 3 - Krydle is a great 2-drop. A 1/3 creature is decent stats for 2 mana to block some of the more aggressive decks. He also offers a bit of reach in the late game. This is not the type of multicolored card I am interested in splashing, but it is worth playing when in Blue / Back. | |
Minsc, Beloved Ranger - 3.5 - This is an interesting card. It is a bit hard to play, but once cast it creates a huge change in board state. 4/4 worth of stats over two bodies for 3 mana is a really good rate. It also is important to note that he can pump more than just the hamster, so this works well with goblin tokens as well. With all of the treasures in the format this shouldn't be unrealistic to cast. | |
Monk Class - 3 - Unlike most of the multicolored cards in this set this one is good in any deck. This requires very little synergy to be good. It offers great card advantage for a cheap cost. This is the sort of card I would consider splashing. | |
Orcus, Prince of Undeath - 5 - Wow, this card is nuts. This huge threat can come with a built-in board clear or a ton of extra card advantage. Definitely one of the biggest bombs in the set. | |
Rogue Class - 3.5 - Rogue Class offers some great long term card advantage. Do not try to get to level three early by sacrificing your early board presence. Allow Rogue Class to build up a few cards and focus on unlocking them when you have free mana to spend on it later in the game. | |
Shessra, Death's Whisper - 2 - Such cool art wasted on a very underwhelming card. 4 mana is a lot for a 1/3 with a bad ETB effect. Getting to draw with extra life is decent, so this might be worth playing if the deck has some of the better Green commons that gain a fair amount of life. I will not play this in most decks. | |
Skeletal Swarming - 4 - This card offers so much value over time. It generates a ton of bodies that will be hard to deal with, and the enchantment itself is hard to destroy. This is worth splashing if given the chance. | |
Sorcerer Class - 1 / 3 - This Class card is pretty neat. The first level helps smooth draws for the early game and works well later in the game to redraw lands. The second level is the least exciting, but the third level more than makes up for it. Turning all spells into bonus damage to an opponent is great. This means all draw spells and removal will eventually kill the opponent. I like this Class card. | |
Targ Nar, Demon-Fang Gnoll - 3 - This is a great aggressive card. The Pack Tactics creatures all reward early creatures that attack well. This will work well with a large volume of creatures and a few combat tricks. These decks will be able to end games quickly. | |
Tiamat - 1 - The casting cost on this card is insane. Casting in Limited is never easy and rarely worth doing. Even though this isn't realistic in Limited I still intend to cast it with all the treasures in the format... ACHIEVEMENT. | |
Trelasarra, Moon Dancer - 3 - Trelasarra is worth playing with even with minimal lifegain cards. With a few of the repeatable lifegain triggers, the value of this will go way up. Overall, this is a great synergy card that can be played early and gets stronger as the game goes on. | |
Triumphant Adventurer - 4 - This is a very cool card. First strike with deathtouch is really neat. This almost ensures a venture each turn if played early enough. Keep in mind it can be double blocked, so it is not guaranteed. | |
Volo, Guide to Monsters - 4 - It will not take many triggers for this to be insane. Getting to copy even small creatures can be a huge advantage. This is definitely worth splashing when given the chance. | |
Xanathar, Guild Kingpin - 5 - Another neat card that is great on its own without needing a bunch of synergy. This creature is big and offers a ton of card advantage. It allows you to take opponents cards and mana to run away with the game. Though I will say, after you have spent your mana it might be worth it to always leave their mana on top to ensure they never get to play spells again. I like to be mean. |
The multicolored cards do not seem as powerful as they were in the last few sets. Most of them require a concentration of theme synergy to be good. Splashing stronger mono-colored cards will be more common than splashing multicolored cards. This set seems very flavorful and I cannot wait to get in and explore the world of DnD again - I've missed it!
If you guys would like to see the live set review videos you can find them on my YouTube channel. They have more in depth discussion about each card and why it got its rating.
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