Theros Beyond Death: Set Review - Red
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.
Other colors
The akroan war
Jamie: 8/10 This seems quite scrumptious but also a little odd because you need to take a turn off of attacking to not lose your creatures. Just sending the opponents that you stole on the 1st verse.
TJ: 8/10 This card is super confusing and flavorful. Take their best creature, They all go to war for vengeance and get punished plus you get the swing back? If your life total is high or your board is better this card is lights out.
Melvin: Akroan War huh? Yeah, what is it good for? Absolutely nothing.
anax, hardened in the forge
Jamie: 7/10 Limiting mono red, value for death, limited value for tokens since can't block.
TJ: 8/10 Nothing too fancy, but very sweet. good for aggro or grindy decks.
Melvin: You'll have my sword, and my bow, and Anax.
arena trickster
Jamie: 6/10 Hill giant with upside, maybe getting very large in a deck with a lot of instants/flash spells.
TJ: 5/10 Seems fine if you ever cast an instant or two.
Melvin: He's the one that put Brawl behind a pay wall!
aspect of manticore
Jamie: 5/10 Nutter butter combat trick mayhaps, but risky since asking to be 2 for 1’ed.
TJ: 4/10 Really good text box, really bad mana cost.
Melvin: Good for when you want to spike the tournament.
blood aspirant
Jamie: 7/10 Build-around… smol creature sacrifice fodder to get big creatures through.
TJ: 8/10 In the right deck this card is b-a-n-a-n-a-s. being able to eliminate a blocker is also a really good tack-on.
Melvin: I have high blood pressure, so I take baby blood aspirant.
careless celebrant
Jamie: 6/10 Perfect red card.
TJ: 6/10 Will proudly play this anytime.
Melvin: If you're careless you'll regret it in the morning star.
dreamshaper shaman
Jamie: 7/10 5/4 for 6 decent... upgrade smol boi or enchantment into something bigger/better for 3 mana, random element but can be super powerful effect if playing big creatures.
TJ: 6/10 I don't even know what's going to happen. And that the fun of this card. The ceiling is on top of a mountain. The floor isn't super low. I'll give it a shot and get punished.
Melvin: I've just closed my eyes, climbed aboard the dreamshaper train.
dreamstalker manticore
Jamie: 7/10 Powerful build-around... enough instants and this is scary. Small butt though, so probably not a great attacker.
TJ: 8/10 Awesome include for the instants matter deck.
Melvin: I think it just wants hugs.
escape velocity
Jamie: 6/10 Red wants this.
TJ: 4/10 Eh. It’s a small boost. I'm not excited about it.
Melvin: It's like lightning greaves without the greaves.
fateful end
Jamie: 9/10 3 damage to any target plus a scry. I'm playing as many of these as I can get my hands on in any red deck.
TJ: 9/10 Versatile and adds scry, it's no lightning bolt but I'll take what I can get.
Melvin: I guess we know the fate of the furious.
final flare
Jamie: 7/10 Great removal... perfect to use with those enchantments lying around that would scry for x amount of mana or in a pinch remove opponents best creature by saccing your worst after blocks or something.
TJ: 6/10 The cost is high and it only hits creatures, but when you gotta kill something you gotta pay the price.
Melvin: In the restaurant industry, the 37th piece is always the final flare.
flummoxed cyclops
Jamie: 6/10 4/4 for 4 with reach.. decent stats. Probably not able to block a lot of times, but I'm really not interested in blocking in red anyways.
TJ: 4/10 When its good its lightly above average, when its bad it's trash. Only running this if I intend to turn sideways every turn.
Melvin: The flummoxed cyclops wondered why they kept making his character one dimensional in the X-men movies.
furious rise
Jamie: 7/10 Seeing more cards in red and having more choices is strong! I'm playing this in every red deck, tricks and buffs make this pretty easy to activate every turn.
TJ: 6/10 Conditional outpost siege is pretty sweet.
Melvin: Please stop making fast and furious movies. I don't have a joke here. Just stop.
hero of the games
Jamie: 6/10 3/2 for 3 fine anyways, but with combat tricks and a bunch of buddies, this is strong!
TJ: 6/10 Does cool stuff in the aggro deck and is on par without more creatures.
Melvin: May the odds be ever in your favor.
heroes of the revel
Jamie: 7/10 Strong, PERFECT with a butt-load of combat tricks and little duders
TJ: 8/10 Card enables itself and swings for 7 with a single trick.
Melvin: Because "Heroes of the Storm" had left a bad taste in some people's memories.
impending doom
Jamie: 5/10 Seems solid as heck in aggro decks, but the attacks if able is a drawback surely, and the 3 damage isn't anything to sneeze at. Be careful out there!
TJ: 6/10 Was going to attack anyway.
Melvin: I know what to do if I look up and see mistletoe. But what do you do for a sword?
incendiary oracle
Jamie: 6/10 This is sneaky good with exile clause- things that care about escape can't block this effectively. Fire breathing bear isn't too shabby either.
TJ: 6/10 Mana sink plus exile. Card is a solid medium plus to add to the deck.
Melvin: "Try our new Incendiary Oracle: for all your burning questions"
infuriate
Jamie: 5/10 Filler, get a bunch of these though, and WHAM thats a lot of damage. Price is right for a combat trick.
TJ: 4/10 Unexciting trick.
Melvin: Please describe the feeling of a turn 2 Oko in any format from your opponent.
iroas’s blessing
Jamie: 5/10 Decent removal BUT possibility for your creature to be killed as you are enchanting it, so its risky! Gotta be wary of open mana.
TJ: 8/10 Removal plus buff. seems excellent. I'll draft is all the time.
Melvin: Get off your Iroas and fight!
irreverent revelers
Jamie: 4/10 Seems like decent filler. There are some powerful artifacts. Not super excited about a 2/2 haste for 3 though.
TJ: 5/10 Haste is good. Versatile to hit artifacts. still not exciting.
Melvin: For these folks, every day is a Satyrday!
nyxborn brute
Jamie: 3/10 That booty too small.
TJ: 2/10 Costs too much to die to a breeze.
Melvin: "Nyxborn Brut: the Essence of Cyclopes" available at your local perfume counter.
omen of the forge
Jamie: 7/10 Great removal that turns into scry later + enchantment synergies. Great!
TJ: 8/10 Any. Target. Even when it's bad it's good.
Melvin: It looks like he barfed up lava into his hand.
oread of mountains’s blaze
Jamie: 5/10 Filler, semi-expensive rummage is fine.
TJ: 4/10 Fills the curve and spends extra mana. It's fine.
Melvin: What a dancer! She can really valakut a rug!
ox of agonas
Jamie: 7/10 Perfect to curve out on and refill hand. The escape cost is MASSIVE though.
TJ: 10/10 Card is solid as a rock. can't wait to see this in dredge. refills the hand and puts card in the graveyard for the escape cost. I like this a whole bunch.
Melvin: I like to let my Ox of Agonas escape just in time to have a slightly red to pink center but a good sear.
phoenix of ash
Jamie: 9/10 Haste, flying, can be pumped + escape for a second round of these threats plus a counter.
TJ: 9/10 Flying, haste, mana sinks, recurs from graveyard, comes back even bigger. This card is messed up in the best way.
Melvin: How can it rise from its ashes if it's always just ashes?
portent of betrayal
Jamie: 4/10 Generally not a fan of these effects.
TJ: 3/10 Unless you have the sacrifice deck. then 5/10.
Melvin: I get a portent of betrayal every time I watch a new Star Wars trailer.
purphorors, bronze-blooded
Jamie: 8/10 Pushes into mono red-- giving haste is great, and sneak attack ability-- pushes into heavy red and a bit expensive.
TJ: 8/10 Haste is real good. No idea how good that activated ability is in limited. But it seems pretty fun.
Melvin: More like bronze-bodied! ggggrrroowl!
purphoros’s intervention
Jamie: 10/10 Great removal or a finisher late game. Sign me up.
TJ: 10/10 Best as a removal spell. But pretty amazing as a final charge creature.
Melvin: Talk about hot and bothered.
satyr’s cunning
Jamie: 2/10 I'm not excited about 1/1s that can't block but seems like it will be fine in sacrifice decks.
TJ: 1/10 This card bores me.
Melvin: Uh oh. That satyr better hoof it on out of there.
skophos maze-warden
Jamie: 8/10 This can get very swole!
TJ: 6/10 Red aetherling. plus cards that reference other cards are sweet.
Melvin: He's waiting for either Jennifer Connelly or David Bowie.
skophos warleader
Jamie: 6/10 This can be powerful late game to turn into a huge menacing threat. 4/5 for 5 is just fine too.
TJ: 5/10 Menace is good but that cost is large of sacrificing.
Melvin: This looks like my Tauren warrior in full raid gear from WoW.
stampede rider
Jamie: 6/10 Filler, decent stats.
TJ: 6/10 Natural trample is real good with auras.
Melvin: Yeah, she's drunk.
storm herald
Jamie: 5/10 Super powerful build around but probably not going to work that well in limited. Still a 3/2 haste is good enough to make any red deck.
TJ: 4/10 When it's bad, 8/10 when it's good, 10/10 when it's funny.
Melvin: I don't need a storm herald. I kinda figured it out with all the rain and the lightning and wind.
storm’s wrath
Jamie: 8/10 Seems insane in red green if your creatures are bulky enough to survive the wrath effect. Also can take care bigger creatures on opponents side of the board if you smorc and they block a ton. Will be a card to watch out for.
TJ: 8/10 Wraths are good, if you don’t want to cast it then you are probably winning
Melvin: Wait, is it Halle Berry, or Alexandra Shipp? Which timeline are we in?
tectonic giant
Jamie: 7/10 Powerful effect, but smallish body. Will want good equipment and a healthy amount of combat tricks to make this truly shine.
TJ: 8/10 Card is wild for 4 mana. digs for card draw, attacks for 6 sometimes, and can't be removed easily.
Melvin: Nice tecs. He must work out a lot.
thrill of possibility
Jamie: 4/10 Filler, spells matters deck want this, a way to fill the graveyard when that matters. Unexciting.
TJ: 3/10 I generally only run these when I need a final card.
Melvin: I hope he has a license to thrill.
the triumph of anax
Jamie: 5/10 Seems great in RG beats. The fight is not a may though, so WATCH OUT.
TJ: 6/10 Card does it all. repeated beating ending in a removal spell. noice
Melvin: Is this my favorite card featuring Anax? I'm split. It might get the chop.
underworld breach
Jamie: 1/10 Too much to ask... gets sacrificed right away. Have to pay 2 mana plus an expensive escape cost. Wouldn't include unless insanely strong creature quality or big mana producing capabilities.
TJ: 10/10 hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha. This card is trash in limited but my rating stands. look forward to seeing this see play relative to how old the format is.
Melvin: I think I saw this in the original "Ghostbusters". This is where the roof explodes on the station.
underworld fires
Jamie: 1/10 Doesn't seem like it was meant for limited, but fine sideboard against a deck with a ton of x/1s. Could be tricky for after combat though to finish stuff off.
TJ: 1/10 Maybe useful in the sideboard. But not really digging this.
Melvin: Less underworld fires, more underworld fries!
Underworld Rage-Hound
Jamie: 4/10 Not in love with the small butt and has to attack each combat. Maybe with a lot of combat tricks or good equipment this will be strong.
TJ: 3/10 This card does exactly what it's supposed to and nothing else. sometimes it'll be trash. sometimes it's win the game.
Melvin: Just rope it for a while and it'll probably just rage-quit.
Wrap in flames
Jamie: 3/10 Can include to force damage through, decent sideboard against decks with a lot of 1 toughness creatures I guess. Expensive, not really looking to play this.
TJ: 4/10 I like this effect more than some. being able to create the way for a final attack can be nice. But if you are going to run it, keep it at a single copy.
Melvin: Another option is to wrap it in rich, creamy nougat.
