Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths Set Review - Gold
Both Jamie and TJ are using a rating scale of 10 for this set. Jamie is basing hers on limited play, while TJ is giving more of a holistic rating. Melvin is just being Melvin.
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Jamie: 9/10 the instant speed is backbreaking for your opponents! Better with a bit of self-mill, but just a solid late game card and very splashable.
TJ: 8/10 An instant speed reanimation spell with fight as well means that this could be an absolute blowout in combat. Splashing is pretty easy in this format.
Melvin: Me at the Indian buffet when they reopen.
boneyard lurker
Jamie: 8/10 strong, can just cast for double green of double black for mutate cost so a fine pickup early in a draft too.
TJ: 7/10 mutating it makes it easier to cast. and the effect is really strong for a 4/4 for four.
Melvin: Almost as scary as Twitch lurkers.
brokkos, apex of forever
Jamie: 8/10 being able to cast from graveyard is awesome. 6/6 for 5 is great value but the mana cost is a bit restrictive. Fixing is a plenty though, so this is still first pick!
TJ: 8/10 as long as you have a non-human creature on the battlefield you've got access to a 6/6 trample. great way to upgrade cards but it won't do much to dig you out from behind.
Melvin: Apex of how long I’ve been in quarantine.
Channeled force
Jamie: 6/10 cash in your hand for new cards, can be a bit awkward to hold cards just to remove something.
TJ: 5/10 a bit expensive but a very powerful effect if you can keep cards in your hand. not sure how many cards it needs to be worth it.
Melvin: This is the fifth card in Magic to begin with the word “Channel”, so I guess this is Channel No. 5. and that’s nothing to sniff at.
chevill, bane of monsters
Jamie: 7/10 solid effect but takes a bit of setup. Great in a removal abundant deck, 1/3 deathtouch is fine too!
TJ: 8/10 a deathtouch 1/3 is already worth looking at. add to that the ability to turn their creatures into lifegain and card draw. putting it on a weaker creature can make the decision to chump block a bit more difficult for the opponent. also makes your removal spells even better.
Melvin: Seems like it might be a good time to Netflix and Chevill.
death’s oasis
Jamie: 5/10 mana cost is not enticing, don't like casting this and not getting value right away. Recurring recurrsion is intriguing though, plus it scales up with the game... bigger creatures dying equals bigger creatures returning. I'd be more interesting in playing in a deck with lots of good ETB creatures.
TJ: 7/10 My biggest concern with this deck would be running out of cards in hand. But having a sac outlet, life gain, and card advantage on a single card is a lot of good value
Melvin: You can celebrate like there was a champagne supernova if this card works well for you more than once in a game.
dire tactics
Jamie: 6/10 cheap, efficient removal. Obviously better in a humans deck without the drawback, but probably just fine otherwise too.
TJ: 7/10 cheap powerful removal. if you control enough humans this becomes an 8 or 9.
Melvin: looks like someone is jumping to conclusions. Or maybe just theirs.
Eerie ultimatum
Jamie: 6/10 restrictive mana cost, but powerful effect. Would love in a self-mill deck
TJ: 8/10 This format doesn't seem like it's fast. When you cast this you'll crush the battlefield with pretty minimal effort going into it. works with cyclers and self mill.
Melvin: I was hoping for a superior ultimatum, but if you think this one’s the best, huron your own.
emergent ultimatum
Jamie: 7/10 opponent having a choice in this makes it a wee bit less enticing. Solid 2 for 1 though, and getting some of your best creatures out is a solid bet.
TJ: 7/10 As long as you have three good cards in your deck then this card is excellent. casting two spells for free is a lot of value when you consider that it's a tutor as well.
Melvin: I do all my e-merging with an app on my phone.
frondland felidar
Jamie: 7/10 great stats alone, so ridiculous in a vigilance tribal deck.
TJ: 7/10 good on it's own, better with friends.
Melvin:If it breaks out into song, it might actually be a Lalaland Felidar instead.
General kudro of drannith
Jamie: 7/10 makes the humans deck enticing. Best with 10+ humans and a go wide strategy.
TJ: 8/10 on its own it’s a 3/3 that can help manage your opponents graveyard. add to that that the General will remove giant creatures and anthem your creatures. this card can take your side of the battlefield to the next level.
Melvin: “I will not rest until every beast is destroyed and our precious Quaker Oats are safe.”
general’s enforcer
Jamie: 7/10 bffs with General Kudro, obvi. 2/3 for 2 is just fine by me.
TJ: 7/10 not sure how often the static ability will be relevant. but having a mana sink to recycle creatures into tokens is powerful. especially if your opponent can use their graveyard.
Melvin: I’m glad to see Raiders’ fans are still out there.
genesis ultimatum
Jamie: 6/10 setup cost is very high. You can grab lands and creatures and enchantments, but whiff on instants and sorceries. If a creature heavy deck, this could be worth trying. The RNG factor makes me lower on this than other ultimatums.
TJ: 7/10 You get to draw whatever doesn’t go onto the battlefield. This card is powerful but a bit prone to variance. hopefully you don’t get 3 lands and two bears.
Melvin: Oh look, you can see Spock coming back to life in the bottom corner.
illuna, apex of wishes
Jamie: 9/10 6/6 trampling flyer is great. Can play a bit easier for mutate cost, which is what you want anyway! Powerful effect, replaces itself right away.
TJ: 9/10 wow. card advantage on top of a flample 6/6 what more could you need?
Melvin: Illuna’s first wish should have been for corrective eye-wear.
inspired ultimatum
Jamie: 7/10 powerful but that mana cost is woof! I would spec on this but not try to force it without proper fixing. Maybe can get away with in a deck with lots of cycling to find the lands you need to cast it.
TJ: 7/10 drawing five cards is wild. this card buys a lot of time via life, removal, and cards.
Melvin: More like on-spired. Hmmm, this joke might not be on point. Maybe I’m not at my peak.
kinnan, bonder prodigy
Jamie: 7/10 lovely with the crystals and the green mana dork. Powerful late game mana sink
TJ: 8/10 Mana sinks seem really powerful in this format with so many lands and crystals. getting a boost early on from any non land mana sources gets you a step ahead.
Melvin: You’re not supposed to take the claw out of the game machine! Kinnan’s activated ability is nicknamed “Smack my Beast Up.”
labyrinth raptor
Jamie: 6/10 great in menace tribal, not horrible as a 2/2 menace for 2. Although, won't reliably cast on turn 2.
TJ: 6/10 powerful aggressive cards. requires two creatures to block and will take one of them before combat even begins. if you can find a way to upgrade this creature at all the effect is incredibly powerful.
Melvin: All my labyrinth jokes are related to David Bowie, who was more a glam rock singer than a raptor.
lore drakkis
Jamie: 8/10 great to pick up early in draft, don't need to be UR as can cast for mutate cost. Getting back a spell is POWERFUL. As a repeatable effect, this card is busted.
TJ: 8/10 two mana to buy back a removal spell is good enough for me.
Melvin: I used to have a Drakkis Noir spray for date nights.
narset of the ancient way
Jamie: 8/10 mana cost restrictive, obviously super powerful in a heavy spells deck. See a walker, draft a walker.
TJ: 9/10 gain life and mana, removal creatures and draw cards, and win the game with the ultimate. This card is powerful if you have any protection on the board when you play her.
Melvin: Stop kicking the mana symbols! You can’t be three mana again after, you know… last time.
necropanther
Jamie: 7/10 returning a creature to the battlefield is good stuff. Take early in drafts and you won't be disappointed!
TJ: 7/10 cats with stats. that’s some real good card advantage in black/white.
Melvin: When they say “Wakanda forever", there are some pretty powerful and soul-binding implications.
nethroi, apex of death
Jamie: 9/10 fantastic body, mutate ability is absolutely busted.
TJ: 9/10 deathtouch and lifelink make this card an absolute tank. If you manage to mutate it you'll have a tank surrounded by your entire graveyard of goodies. oof
Melvin: What is dead may never die, but rises again harder and stronger.
Offspring’s revenge
Jamie: 2/10 not a limited card? This is Nightmare Shepard without the body.
TJ: 4/10 unless you have a lot of powerful ETBs I'm not really seeing the appeal. being a 1/4 makes the body of the creature much less relevant to only get once a turn.
Melvin: Time for less kitten and more killen.
Parcelbeast
Jamie: 9/10 drawing an extra card every turn on a stick. Sign me up.
TJ: 9/10 draw a card every turn. or accelerate your mana. this card is wild good.
Melvin: This beast comes straight from the Amazon. Usually in 24 hours.
primal empathy
Jamie: 8/10 pump up creatures or draw an extra card every turn. Yes please.
TJ: 8/10 continuously grow your board, if you've got the biggest board then you get to draw cards. lot of value for three mana that will break down any board stall.
Melvin: When I remember how bad the Transformers movies were, I get Optimus Primal Empathy.
quartzwood crasher
Jamie: 7/10 great body, would be better in trample tribal.
TJ: 7/10 It's a super powerful creature. Getting a single hit in with this creature could change the tide of the game.
Melvin: Quartzwood crashers are also wedding crashers, and funeral crashers, and birthday party crashers, and kitchen crashers, and pretty much anything directly in front of them.
regal leosaur
Jamie: 6/10 perfect in a weenie strat, great value to pump team for 3
TJ: 7/10 three mana for an anthem or two mana for a bear is a great rate in colors that want both effects. I'll always want this in my red/white decks.
Melvin: I was always more a fan of the Regal Donatellosaur.
rielle, the everwise
Jamie: 3/10 perfect with a bunch of cathartic reunions, but otherwise not super exciting. Too much setup for limited.
TJ: 6/10 turning my cycle cards into "draw two" seems really powerful for a pretty low cost. even as a 2/3 I would want this effect.
Melvin: Everwise? I suppose she does have a lot of Rielle-world experience.
ruinous ultimatum
Jamie: 4/10 powerful effect, but the mana cost is tough.
TJ: 8/10 what an absurd magic card. by the time you can cast this it's unlikely that your opponent has many resources in hand to recover with. leave them nothing once you take everything from them.
Melvin: “Get Ruinous’d, Opponent!”
savai thundermane
Jamie: 6/10 3/2 for 2, boros loves this. Lots of cyclers in set, this is an easy include.
TJ: 6/10 swings will. and turns your cyclers into removal. with all the one mana cyclers this will be a fun way to spend three mana.
Melvin: Look, if you pet them for too long, they build up a ton of static electricity. Just don’t touch a doorknob immediately after.
skull prophet
Jamie: 6/10 mana dork + mill is perfect for golgari decks in draft/sealed.
TJ: 7/10 it's mana when you need it. self mill when you don’t. and if neither is good it's still got enough power to trade up in combat.
Melvin: Prophesying the future is a great way to get ahead.
Skycat SOVEREIGN
Jamie: 7/10 build your own cat army. Flyers are good anyways, so not too hard to draft other flyers to pump this sweetie.
TJ: 8/10 starts super weak but as a mana sink it's really powerful because it doesn't rely on a second resource or tapping.
Melvin: So it gets pumped by its own activated ability with no tapping requirement? That’s purr value.
slitherwisp
Jamie: 4/10 not easy to build around in limited, restrictive mana cost.
TJ: 5/10 It's not amazing but I still like a 3/2 with flash for three.
Melvin: I almost got sorted into Slitherwisp but the stupid hat put me in Phelddagrif.
snapdax, apex of the hunt
Jamie: 9/10 stats are silly good, being able to target planeswalkers such a nice bonus.
TJ: 9/10 aggressively costed. gains life, attacks hard, and removes, this has it all.
Melvin: What do I think of the Apexes? They’re Grrrrrrrreat!
song of creation
Jamie: 7/10 good in theory, be careful not to mill yourself! You will end up drawing so many card and not be able to play all of them.
TJ: 4/10 in limited. seems like it would end up being a trap more often than anything where your spells cost too much to really take advantage of the card draw. 8/10 in constructed.
Melvin: I don’t care if it’s a song of creation. The cubicle walls are only 5 feet high and you’re just making a PowerPoint presentation.
Sprite Dragon
Jamie: 6/10 nice payoff in the spells matters deck.
TJ: 7/10 gaining counters instead of temporary boost like prowess means this card will stay relevant throughout the game. for the low investment of two mana this card has a lot of potential.
Melvin: I’m more of a ginger ale dragon guy.
Titan’s nest
Jamie: 1/10 not a limited card!
TJ: 2/10 This doesn't seem like it's doing much in limited. at best it's a four mana scry engine at upkeep.
Melvin: Looks cozy to me.
trumpeting gnarr
Jamie: 8/10 making an army of 3/3's great value!
TJ: 7/10 army in a can if you can mutate it. I like making creatures.
Melvin: So it’s an orange creature with weird yellow hair that’s extremely loud and has “Trump” in the name? Seems familiar…
vadrok, apex of thunder
Jamie: 7/10 restrictive mana cost, but awesome mutate ability. Great stats.
TJ: 7/10 If you have good removal in the card this is brilliant. But even as a first strike flier for three mana this is pulling a lot of weight.
Melvin: I’m out of Thundercats jokes. Wake me up when we get to Smurfs.
whirlwind of thought
Jamie: 5/10 paying 4 mana to get no benefit right away isn't my cup of tea. BUT this can be powerful in a spells matters deck with cheap spells. Worth a shot!
TJ: 6/10 Seems better in limited than it's temur sibling. But it needs to be in the right deck. If you manage to build a control in limited with plenty of removal this will do well I think.
Melvin: Oh shoot, it’s dragonling season again. Get the spray.
winota, joiner of forces
Jamie: 7/10 powerful effect but need the perfect blend of humans and nonhumans for this to truly shine.
TJ: 6/10 In the right deck this is an 8+ but in everything else I think it's a bit better than alright.
Melvin: All hail the Winota Rider!
zenith flare
Jamie: 5/10 great payoff for the cycling deck-- but need 10 +cheap cyclers for this to be effective.
TJ: 4/10 I am skeptical of what this card will be able to do. But being able to target your opponent could turn this into a powerful piece of reach as well as removal.
Melvin: The thirty-seventh piece of flare is always referred to as the Zenith and is proudly displayed at the top of the suspender.
