Geoff Fletcher is the man in the know at the mo, coming off a 1st place finish at the biggest PTQ in New Zealand history last Sunday. Share Geoff's knowledge and improve your game for this weekends Zendikar Limited PTQ in Wellington!
Zendikar Limited Review And Guide to Drafting
by Geoff Fletcher
A new season brings a brand new block and a thankful departure from the overly simplistic uncommon centric world of M10. I’m currently optimistic that Zendikar will be a world ruled by strong mechanic based themes and synergy; not just running as many of the ultra good uncommons and rares as you can while maintaining vaguely sensible mana. For those of you who want to check out the thought process behind my card evaluation procedure please check out my M10 drafting article for white and read the introduction, the information from which all still holds true in my belief. Thanks to several strong linear mechanics, namely allies, landfall and general aggressive nature of the cards.
White:
Armament Master
This card has great potential but does need quite a lot to go right for it to be particularly good. At 2 mana for a 2/2 it’s a perfectly acceptable bear in what is a relatively fast format by the looks of it, so it is ok anyhow. To get crazy though, you first need a good number of both Kor and equipment and to draw these in a timely fashion, but if you can pull this off a win is likely.
Rating 5.6
Arrow Volley Trap
This card is very strong indeed primarily due to the format in which it exists. In this format defending is pretty rough, and there are many low toughness creatures with evasion meaning the role of this trap is in high demand even if it goes 1 for 1. Due to the fact many creatures are pretty useless when not attacking the Arrow Volley will often 2 for 1 and when it does it will often win a race or turn the game around. The trap part of this card will pretty much never activate and the high cost can make it a little easy to spot but having one in the deck means you can bluff this to good effect. I can see a lot of games coming down to whether a player chooses to play around this or not and its impact on the format will be noticeable for sure. This is a pretty high pick, worth grabbing in picks 2-4 and provides a great defence for slower decks or way to ensure pulling ahead in a race.
Rating 7.3
Bold Defense
Without Kicker this is pretty lame since it costs too much for what it does. With Kicker this still costs too much but can act as a poor man’s Overrun, or totally wreck an opponents alpha strike. Neither mode here offers a good deal for mana but the versatility of both make this card a reasonable include in decks that need a trick or way to push through. This card is a bit better in sealed where the Kicker cost will be easier to get to and ground stalling becomes more likely. This isn’t a high pick but it can make your 23 around 2/3rd of the time you pick it, take this 8-10th.
Rating 4.6
Brave the Elements
The restriction to only help white creatures really cuts the usefulness of this card for sealed and a bunch in draft compared to constructed. That said this is a cheap trick that can gain a bunch of tempo, save a bomb or push a bit of damage through, and thanks to costing 1 it’s very easy to save mana for. Overall this isn’t that exciting but offers a solid mid-late pick.
Rating 4.7
Caravan Hurda
If this cost 3 it would be really decent for this format but at 5 it’s such a terrible deal. The one power means it can kill very few relevant creatures and ensures the lifelink does not mean a great deal. This can’t really kill decent attackers and is slow and cumbersome to cast alongside having no way to prevent evasion making it a poor late game blocker. This is a poor card indeed and should never be played unless absolutely necessary. Pick this whenever you can’t avoid picking it.
Rating 3.7
Celestial Mantle
This clunks pretty hard, not helped by the fact the ability only goes active when your opponent takes damage. However this will win a game or two especially in sealed. This is a classic high variance card that will probably divide opinion a great deal but what I believe it really comes down to is whether your deck needs to or can afford to take this kind of gamble. The card could lose you enormous tempo and get you 2 for 1ed but it may just take down some otherwise un-winnable scenarios. If you are in a situation where you need things to go right in order to win you could try this out to see if it gets there or play this if your opponent is fairly slow with little removal. This isn’t a high pick but sometimes could be a decent option to have at your disposal.
Rating 4.0-6.8 (depending on opponents removal count)
Cliff Treader
This card is surprisingly good since this is a very aggressive format where random 2/1s are a lot better than normal, and when it actually has evasion it’s really strong. This can either go on D to provide early speed bumps for a controlling build or more likely aid in reaching critical mass for a very attacking strategy. This isn’t a high pick but is solid any time from 6th-10th.
Rating 6.3
Conqueror's Pledge
This card is just excellent. Forget Kicker, 6 soldiers for 5 mana is just really good especially in this aggressive environment where the numbers either work for an alpha-strike next turn or soak up a load of damage. If you ever use the Kicker you will just win although hitting 11 mana before the game ends seems massively unlikely. Since white decks in this format have a load of aggressive early drops they will often find themselves looking for critical mass in the mid to late game and this is the perfect get there card.
Rating 8.8
Day of Judgement
Wrath is back to plunder your hard earned dollar in this slightly worse, potentially less offensive to the American Bible Belt incarnation. However they will still believe that even calling a game magic and pretending to be a wizard is evil as it evokes occult power (see Potter lynching and attempted assassination of J.K. Rowling). Despite this Vampires that get their jollies by abstaining from sex are somehow a good thing. Anyway this card is obviously good since you know its coming and your opponent doesn’t. Especially in a format as ‘hard out’ into its aggression as this a player will often commit all their cards to the board seeking nothing but to race ASAP before you too can wreak all-sorts of evasive/landfall carnage on their life total. If you let them play out then pull the trigger with 1-2 reasonable dorks in hand it will often just hand you a win. This is one of the few cards that can actually just flip a match on its head in this format and let the slower player take advantage and as such it may even be the #1 card.
Rating 9.3
Devout Lightcaster
One part do nothing horrendous Grey Ogre, another part awesome super lethal ninja. A great card if your opponent has black but pretty shaky for the main-deck. This is a really good pick if you already have enough playables, but in this format print runs often seem pretty quirky and there can be a number of all then nothing type picks. Against black this will be a total beating and may even pretty much win on its own. Grab this when you’re ready but not before.
Rating 3.5-8.9 (depending on how much black opponent plays)
Emeria Angel
Flat out excellent this combines evasion an token generation in a very efficient although relatively easy to remove package. By making this on turn 5, maintaining priority then land-dropping you will always get at least one bird from it. Having only 3 toughness is not nearly as bad as it appears in this format since a whole bunch of the removal hits either 2 or 4 meaning it would have to increase a lot to do better. This is an easy first pick and may be a little better than Shepherd of the Lost in the right deck but it’s pretty close between these two.
Rating 9.2
Felidar Sovereign
This card is very good since if you can cast it and sensibly attack once it will put you in good shape to win the game. That said the stats here only just compete with Craw
Wurm in a format where the game can end before the big-boys become relevant. This card almost certainly still merits a first pick but I’m not sure if it’s a true bomb here or particularly better than a card like Journey to Nowhere.
Rating 8.3
Iona, Shield of Emeria
This just costs too much to really be super good in a format as aggressive as this. In sealed it’s a bit better. If you have a very controlling deck this may be solid and when you cast this it should win you the game unless you’re massively behind but there are just so many games that you’ll never see 9 mana in I’m not sure I can recommend this highly.
Rating 5.5
Journey to Nowhere
Awesome, cheap removal that can kill anything, with the minor downside that this may itself be solved eventually. In this format Kor Sanctifiers and Mold Shambler definitely add a bit of risk to playing this but overall it’s still excellent and a solid 1st pick. This and Kor Skyfisher interact very nicely turning this into a Cage of Hands style effect that you can use to neutralise an early threat then get back and hit a late bomb. When used in this combo the card becomes flat out insane seriously watch out for this.
Rating 8.5
Kabira Evangel
This is really dull on its own but the backend of 3 makes it acceptable since it can block a number of early beaters. When you have 4-6 more allies this gets pretty good, helping to push damage through but only when you have a large number of allies does this really shine. This is not a high pick but it can be if you already have a load of allies, otherwise pick it up late 6th-9th pick.
Rating 5.8
Kazandu Blademaster
In this format this is freaking awesome since most early creatures have low defense meaning they can’t block this or attack past it thanks to vigilance. Just on its own this is excellent but with a number of other allies this gets ridiculous pretty fast and dominates the board all on its own. This is a great first pick, and depending on my ally count and overall commitment to white I can even take this over Journey to Nowhere.
Rating 8.4
Kor Aeronaut
Another great WW card this is a great deal for the mana with the posibility to grow in value late. It’s actually tough to choose between this and Kor Skyfisher thanks to the synergy between Fisher and other good white car but this is a great tempo creature and can be picked 1st-4th quite easily.
Rating 7.9
Kor Cartographer
The worst Solemn Simulacrum ever but it’s still okay as filler creatures go. This interacts very well with landfall and since chump blocking is often decent in a very aggressive format his is better than expected as many races are pretty tight. This isn’t a high pick but taken 8th-12th can help hold the fort and even ramp to some decent expensive cards.
Rating 5.2
Kor Duelist
This isn’t really good unless you have 3 or more equipment but 1/1s aren’t as bad as normal in this format due to the aggression and number of playable x/1s. Don’t pick this high but if you do have a lot of equiping it may be worth running in your 23.
Rating 3.6
Kor Hookmaster
2/2s are actually decent in this format. This combined with the come into playability to really cramp an opponent’s aggression or prevent them defending themselves make this a really solid card that in multiples can win many a race. When not racing this can be a bit dull but in this format 85%+ of games degenerate into pure Banzai lunacy as the multitude of evasive or attack pumping abilities kick in and make blocking tantamount to suicide anyway . This is a solid high pick and should be snapped up 3rd-6th where possible.
Rating 6.5
Kor Outfitter
FYI: recurring theme 2/2s aren’t that bad in this format. 2-drop aggression defines this format in a world where the best or only form of defence is offence. What would normally be a sub-par Bear becomes pretty respectable and worth a 5th-9th pick.
Rating 5.2
Kor Sanctifiers
This card is very decent due to there being a good number of solid targets for the ability and the relevance of toughness 3 to hold back the early attack. Targets include Journey to Nowhere, Paralysing Grasp, Savage Silhouette, Stonework Puma and Khalni Gem. Even when not kicked this is a reasonable way to spend 3 mana. This makes a great pick 5th-7th.
Rating 6.1
Kor Skyfisher
Maybe the best common creature in the set, the stats for cost are awesome here. The come into play initially struck me as a disadvantage but the more I play this card the more I feel it’s actually a positive. Cool things you can do include gaining landfall, reusing the mana if you don’t have a land drop to get 2x 2-drop on turn 4, or getting back your Journey or Paralysing Grasp to set to a better target or even reusing the kicker creatures. This card is very solid at any point in the game and overwhelmingly strong at its best. I’m happy to grab this first pick and having several of these and several Journey gives you a deck its hard not to 3-0 drafts with.
Rating 7.8
Landbind Ritual
Terrible crap, life gain alone is almost never enough.
Rating 0.3
Luminarch Ascension
I initially though this was probably only okay but having played it twice I can say it’s the ‘stone nuts’. Why? Because it offers unparalleled inevitability and if cast early give the opponent more or less no chance if you have 1 removal and a couple of blockers. Bar enchantment removal which doesn’t exist in some colour combinations once you have this you can trade as badly as you want since as soon as it activates you won’t care. What’s really nasty here is this effectively activates in 3 turns since after gaining the 4th counter you can generate a bunch of angels in the opponent’s endstep.
Rating 9.0
Makindi Shieldmate
This is a lot better than it looks is since the stats let you block most early attack while buying time. Later with 6-10 allies in the deck the opponent will not easily be able to attack through this or it can pump the others as it arrives. This isn’t a great car by any stretch but neither is it a bad one. Grab this 6th-12th , depending how many alies you have.
Rating 4.5-6.0(depending on ally count)
Narrow Escape
This card is okay and can be nice if you have bombs but is otherwise pretty average. The problem is in this very aggressive format is that you need to spend most of your mana every turn in order to keep up in a race making it hard to leave 3 mana up. If you can manage to stall the game hard with the likes of Kraken Hatchling etc. then this is pretty solid.
Rating 4.1
Nimbus Wings
Enchant creatures risk big card disadvantage in the face of removal, so to be playable they have to be pretty good. This really doesn’t cut it but the more I’ve tried other enchantments in this format the more I liked them due to the extreme tempo bias and lack of much hard removal leading me to believe this may be okay if you lack tricks and have a lot of pace.
Rating 3.6
Noble Vestige
Un-aggressive, with bad cost and bad stats, this really is a clanger in this format. The fact the ability cannot protect creatures makes this card awful, don'’ play it.
Rating 2.5
Ondu Cleric
This looks really bad on initial inspection but can be insane in decks with 6+ allies or multiples actually helping to race a great deal. This isn’t a good card unless you’re serious about allies but then it’s pretty good. Take this 6th-9th pick when you’re in allies.
Rating 4.5-6.5 (depending on ally count)
Pillarfield Ox
Vanilla badness. I prefer the Kor Cartographer a good deal because he accelerates you and can offer to speed aggression. This provides an adequate wall for a while but if they do have any larger creatures becomes redundant fast. The low power means you will seldom trade with anything relevant.
Rating 3.7
Pitfall Trap
A solid piece of removal in a more defensive deck, this is also great in a race especially against green. The trap cost is relevant surprisingly often in both early and late game. This is a decent high pick worth grabbing 3rd-6th.
Rating 6.7
Quest for the Holy Relic
Too slow, too irrelevant. In some weird ‘Magical Christmas-land’ scenario where you have multiple Machetes then this could be okay but generally steer clear.
Rating 0.5
Shepherd of the Lost
Freaking awesome. This is better in this format than almost anywhere else and it would be good anywhere. 3 Toughness dodges a lot of removal and the 3 power with first strike means you take down almost all-common creatures without trying. The opponent can just be locked out if they don’t have removal. This is a clear first pick and I will often try to splash this even if it’s not in my colours.
Rating 8.8
Shieldmate's Blessing
This is a lot better than it looks since it offers real tempo in a super aggressive format. Many creatures have more power than toughness often allowing this to act as removal for a pretty low price since you’re opponent will believe they have a trade but will just lose they’re creature.
Rating 6.1
Steppe Lynx
This card is most often excellent, one of the best cards for racing and provides a very good 1 drop in a format where having a 1 drop can be awesome in that it lets you be the beatdown when it’s much harder to defend than attack. This card gets even better with Harrow or the fetch lands but you should always remember it does have its limitations like not being able to defend at all and being useless if you get behind. Overall this is great drafted in the right deck and should be a high pick probably 3rd-6th.
Rating 6.4
Sunspring Expedition
This card is horrible as life gain on its own is no good, don’t draft this.
Rating 0.7
Windborne Charge
This card is an excellent finisher if you have a very aggressive white deck, which it seems is the direction that white should generally head in. This card often goes far later than it should and is great at just giving white the reach it doesn’t otherwise have. Grab this 6th-9th when you’re in heavy white.
Rating 6.4
World Queller
This is a great card and certainly worthy of a first pick but is sadly a bit worse in this format than it would be elsewhere. The reason for this is that the Queller’s ability takes time to affect the game but when it does the opponent’s equipment, enchantments and even late game fatties could be at risk depending on your strategy. Even the Queller’s stats are welcome in a colour devoid of fat. Grab this whenever you’re in white but especially if you can slow the game down to make the ability count.
Rating 8.7
Summary:
Overall white has a pretty strong showing for Zendikar limited and is the kind of colour I like to draft. It is able to be very aggressive, packs solid removal and tricks while being a little bit underrated by other players in my opinion. White has plenty of evasion and even good synergy between its commons with things like the bounce ability on Kor Skyfisher. White’s only real weakness is a big one though, which is its total lack of end game permanents with Pillarfield Ox being its largest common creature! To make up for this you can either pair white with a colour like green to get larger creatures or use the other colours to gain removal and evasion to force through damage. I can see myself drafting a bunch more white this season as it has already brought me some reasonable success. Next time I’ll be looking at blue and what that has to offer but until then happy drafting.
