by Dan Kramer
Dan Kramer starts off the week by reviewing the Red cards of the new set in terms of their value for Limited. Pick orders included!
Drafting with D.K. #6: Scars Review – White
Drafting with D.K. #6: Scars Review – Blue
Drafting with D.K. #6: Scars Review – Black
Red (27)
Name: Arc Trail
Cost: 1R
Type: Sorcery
Rules Text: Arc Trail deals 2 damage to target creature or player and 1 damage to another target creature or player.
Rarity: Uncommon
Arc Lightning is a nuts card, and this is as close as you’ll get… with a 1 mana discount to boot. 1st pick.
Name: Assault Strobe
Cost: R
Type: Sorcery
Rules Text: Target creature gains double strike until end of turn.
Rarity: Common
Cute for Casual, not for Competitive of any sort. 14th pick.
Name: Barrage Ogre
Cost: 3RR
Type: Creature – Ogre Warrior
Pow/Tgh: 3/3
Rules Text: {T}, Sacrifice an artifact: Barrage Ogre deals 2 damage to target creature or player.
Rarity: Uncommon
This guy will fluctuate between decent and really good depending on the artifact content of your pile. Doesn’t help your metalcraft either. And… say it with me now… if only damage still stacked! 4th – 6th pick.
Name: Blade-Tribe Berserkers
Cost: 3R
Type: Creature – Human Berserker
Pow/Tgh: 3/3
Rules Text: Metalcraft – When Blade-Tribe Berserkers enters the battlefield, if you control three or more artifacts, Blade-Tribe Berserkers gets +3/+3 and gains haste until end of turn.
Rarity: Common
Hill Giant with a free Ball Lightning thrown in? Sign me up. 5th – 8th pick.
Name: Bloodshot Trainee
Cost: 3R
Type: Creature – Goblin Warrior
Pow/Tgh: 2/3
Rules Text: {T}: Bloodshot Trainee deals 4 damage to target creature. Activate this ability only if Bloodshot Trainee's power is 4 or greater.
Rarity: Uncommon
I overestimated the amount of equipment that will let the Trainee get there initially, especially since most of them are rare. But if you’ve got 2 or more, this guy will make it and occasionally be a house. 5th – 8th pick.
Name: Cerebral Eruption
Cost: 2RR
Type: Sorcery
Rules Text: Target player reveals the top card of his or her library. Cerebral Eruption deals damage equal to the revealed card's converted mana cost to that player and each creature he or she controls. If a land card is revealed this way, return Cerebral Eruption to its owner's hand.
Rarity: Rare
Yes, there are times where this card will require lots of mana to hit, and will not always get you out of a jam. But there are also times it’s just going to Plague Wind and bolt your opponent’s face at the same time. I’ll take my chances. 1st – 3rd pick.
Name: Embersmith
Cost: 1R
Type: Creature-Human Artificer
Pow/Tgh: 2/1
Rules Text: Whenever you cast an artifact spell, you may pay {1}. If you do, Embersmith deals 1 damage to target creature or player.
Rarity: Uncommon
This Mr. Smith will be better against certain decks, but is always a fine little pinger. 3rd – 5th pick.
Name: Ferrovore
Cost: 2R
Type: Creature – Beast
Pow/Tgh: 2/2
Rules Text: {R}, Sacrifice an artifact: Ferrovore gains +3/+0 until end of turn.
Rarity: Common
Playable man who doesn’t quite serve the same purpose as his predecessor Krark-Clan Grunt. He’s much more akin to an Atog. Just a 2/2 until he can someday threaten lethal. 7th – 10th pick.
Name: Flameborn Hellion
Cost: 5R
Type: Creature – Hellion
Pow/Tgh: 5/4
Rules Text: Haste
Flameborn Hellion attacks each turn if able.
Rarity: Common
I saw a number of players underrate this card in sealed, as if the “attacks each turn if able” was actually some sort of drawback. Who WOULDN’T want to be swinging with their 5/4 hellion?! In draft, though, you don’t want to be stuck with too many 5’s and 6’s. 6th – 9th pick.
Name: Furnace Celebration
Cost: 1RR
Type: Enchantment
Rules Text: Whenever you sacrifice another permanent, you may pay {2}. If you do, Furnace Celebration deals 2 damage to target creature or player.
Rarity: Uncommon
Sure there are some tricks you can do with this that involve Replicas or such, but not enough to make it a viable archetype. 14th pick.
Name: Galvanic Blast
Cost: R
Type: Instant
Rules Text: Galvanic Blast deals 2 damage to target creature or player.
Metalcraft – Galvanic Blast deals 4 damage to that creature or player instead if you control three or more artifacts.
Rarity: Common
Did you need me to tell you that Burst Lightning is good? Didn’t think so. 1st – 3rd pick.
Name: Goblin Gaveleer
Cost: R
Type: Creature – Goblin Warrior
Pow/Tgh: 1/1
Rules Text: Trample
Goblin Gaveleer gets +2/+0 for each Equipment attached to it.
Rarity: Common
I guess he hits hard if you’re super aggro with multiple equips. But I’d rather not. 12th – 14th pick.
Name: Hoard-Smelter Dragon
Cost: 4RR
Type: Creature – Dragon
Pow/Tgh: 5/5
Rules Text: Flying
3{R}: Destroy target artifact. Hoard-Smelter Dragon gains +X/+0 until end of turn, where X is the artifact's converted mana cost.
Rarity: Rare
Thank you sir, may I have another? 1st pick.
Name: Koth of the Hammer
Cost: 2RR
Type: Planeswalker – Koth
Loyalty: 3
Rules Text: +1: Untap target Mountian. It becomes a 4/4 red Elemental creature until end of turn. It's still a land.
-2: Add {R} to your mana pool for each Mountain you control.
-5: You get an emblem with "Mountains you control have '{T}: This land deals 1 damage to target creature or player.'"
Rarity: Mythic Rare
Mmmm Planeswalker… And, early on, a little like my favourite M11 Limited card, Awakener Druid, so extra props. Ultimate spells GG. 1st pick.
Name: Kuldotha Phoenix
Cost: 2RRR
Type: Creature – Phoenix
Pow/Tgh: 4/4
Rules Text: Flying, haste
Metalcraft {4}: Return Kuldotha Phoenix from your graveyard to the battlefield. Activate this ability only during your upkeep and only if you control three or more artifacts.
Rarity: Rare
Weighing in on the hotly contested podcast debate, I’m one of those rooting for this guy to be a constructed star because I love recursive creatures. In limited, you can’t go wrong with his stats. 1st pick.
Name: Molten Psyche
Cost: 1RR
Type: Sorcery
Rules Text: Each player shuffles the cards from his or her hand into his or her library, then draws that many cards.
Metalcraft – If you control three or more artifacts, Molten Psyche deals damage to each opponent equal to the number of cards that player has drawn this turn.
Rarity: Rare
Uh, too much text. Me get headache. 14th pick.
Name: Kuldotha Rebirth
Cost: R
Type: Sorcery
Rules Text: As an additional cost to cast Kuldotha Rebirth, sacrifice an artifact.
Put three 1/1 red Goblin creature tokens onto the battlefield.
Rarity: Common
Three 1/1s for 1 mana sounds nice, but not at that price. 12th – 14th pick.
Name: Melt Terrain
Cost: 2RR
Type: Sorcery
Rules Text: Destroy target land. Melt Terrain deals 2 damage to that land's controller.
Rarity: Common
Could be boarded in to punish splashes, but not what you want to be playing. 12th – 14th pick.
Name: Ogre Geargrabber
Cost: 4RR
Type: Creature – Ogre Warrior
Pow/Tgh: 4/4
Rules Text: Whenever Ogre Geargrabber attack, gain control of target Equipment an opponent controls until end of turn. Attach it to Ogre Geargrabber. When you lose control of that Equipment, unattach it.
Rarity: Uncommon
Can’t say this card is bad, but for a 6 mana investment, I want less situational of an ability. 7th – 10th pick.
Name: Oxidda Daredevil
Cost: 1R
Type: Creature – Goblin Artificer
Pow/Tgh: 2/1
Rules Text: Sacrifice an artifact: Oxidda Daredevil gains haste until end of turn.
Rarity: Common
Curve filler, much worse than his black counterpart, but still the envy of Goblin Pikers everywhere. Unless you’re facing an Engineered Plague on Artificers. 10th – 12th pick.
Name: Oxidda Scrapmelter
Cost: 3R
Type: Creature – Beast
Pow/Tgh: 3/3
Rules Text: When Oxidda Scrapmelter enters the battlefield, destroy target artifact.
Rarity: Uncommon
This card is not unlike Flametongue Kavu in this format, which means he’s awesome. 1st pick.
Name: Scoria Elemental
Cost: 4R
Type: Creature – Elemental
Pow/Tgh: 6/1
Rarity: Common
Five mana for a 1 toughness vanilla dude with all the -1/-1 counters abound is not a sound investment. Trust me, I’m a Finance major. 12th – 14th pick.
Name: Shatter
Cost: 1R
Type: Instant
Rarity: Common
I feel this card is not as good as it was in the original Mirrodin, but you’ll still always have reasonable targets. 4th – 6th pick.
Name: Spikeshot Elder
Cost: R
Type: Creature-Goblin Shaman
Pow/Tgh: 1/1
Rules Text: {1}{R}{R}: Spikeshot Elder deals damage equal to its power to target creature or player.
Rarity: Rare
Recursive pinging in a format with a large number of low-toughness utility creatures is pretty nutters, and a nice homage to the original Spikeshot Goblin. Like Spikey the first, nuts with any equips. 1st pick.
Name: Tunnel Ignus
Cost: 1R
Type: Creature – Elemental
Pow/Tgh: 2/1
Rules Text: Whenever a land enters the battlefield under an opponent's control, if that player had another land enter the battlefield under his or her control this turn, Tunnel Ignus deals 3 damage to that player.
Rarity: Rare
The only thing amusing about this card in limited is its name. Outside of that, it’s a Goblin Piker. 10th – 14th pick.
Name: Turn to Slag
Cost: 3RR
Type: Sorcery
Rules Text: Turn to Slag deals 5 damage to target creature. Destroy all Equipment attached to that creature.
Rarity: Common
Slow removal spell still gets the job done. Remember you can cast this on an indestructible guy or one whose toughness is greater than 5 just to get rid of any equipment on it. Similarly, you can still kill a Darksteel Axe’d guy, even though the Axe will stick around. Just… again… watch the curve. 5th – 8th pick.
Name: Vulshok Heartstroker
Cost: 2R
Type: Creature – Human Shaman
Pow/Tgh: 2/2
Rules Text: When Vulshok Heartstroker enters the battlefield, target creature gets +2/+0 until end of turn.
Rarity: Common
A Gray Ogre that sometimes can force through a couple of points is nothing to write home about. 10th – 12th pick.
Kar Yung Tom (KYT) is the Digital Content Manager for Face to Face Games. He oversees the F2FTour.com and Magic F2F websites. He is also the lead host of the First Strike podcast.
