Hour Of Devastation Set Review - Blue

Aerial Guide

Here we have Wind Drake 2.0, a 2/2 flyer for three, but Aerial Guide has a little more to offer. This is the three drop you want in you more aggressive blue deck in limited, it allows one of your creatures to get over any blockers that may be clogging up the ground quite nicely. It's easy to splash as well so you won't be complaining about colour commitments.

Aven Reedstalker

Aven Reedstalker is a creature/combat trick. You can use it to surprise your opponent by having a flash flying 2/3 blocker out of nowhere, or maybe just drop it at the end of their turn to have a creature with evasion to start attacking with. Another flash bird for the bird tribal deck.

Champion Of Wits

Three mana for a 2/1 is not a good trade off, even if it allows you to filter two cards. What Champion Of Wits does give you though is more value and card advantage on the back end when you Eternalise it. Now the Eternalise cost is seven mana which may be a bit unrealistic in limited and difficult in constructed, but being able to draw four cards and discard two from your hand can be pretty powerful. As I said though, I think the cost for all of this is a lot and most of the time filtering two cards will probably just be a byproduct of having this 2/1 creature.

Countervailing Winds

Usually three mana counter spells that give you opponent the opportunity to pay a cost to negate the counter are a bit to slow for play outside limited. Countervailing Winds however is a little different; it's not asking for them to pay two or three, but one mana for each card in your graveyard, so with all these Cycling cards, it shouldn't be hard to get it to paying four or five mana. With that being the case I do think Countervailing Winds will see constructed play, and with a bonus of having Cycling for two mana just in case you have two in you hand and need that extra card to make it harder to pay for.

Cunning Survivor

Cunning Survivor blocks well and is just out of range of a lot of the removal in both Amonkhet and Hour Of Devastation, meaning it's probably going to be around for a while. Slap a Cartouche on this guy and cycle a card and suddenly you could have a three power unblockable creature attacking each turn, which in blue is pretty good. You could get a lot of mileage out of Cunning Survivor in limited with all the Cycling cards about and even if you don't have many, it's a cheap good blocker that could get a couple of points through.

Eternal of Harsh Truths

Who likes value? Remember Ophidian, when you'd attack and your opponent would call your bluff and you had to make the decision between that one damage or a card? Introducing a strict upgrade to Ophidian. Eternal of Harsh Truths costs the same, has the same stats but doesn't make you choose between damage and cards, you get both. Oh and if he does become blocked that suddenly it shoots your opponent for two thanks to its Afflict mechanic, it's win win either way, and it's great at blocking as well. In limited you are going to be so happy to see Eternal of Harsh Truths in your pool, it's one of those creatures that you should always play even if you're just splashing for it.

Fraying Sanity

A couple of intricacies with this card, lets work our way down. "At the beginning of each end step..." it triggers at both theirs and your end steps effectively doubling the effect. "...enchant player puts the top X cards of his or her library into his or her graveyard where X is the number of cards put into his or her graveyard from anywhere this turn." Anywhere. That means creatures dying in combat, auras falling off creatures, oh and just playing cards from their hand. For three mana I think Fraying Sanity could be a fairly powerful card and in multiples it becomes silly, almost stopping your opponent from playing the game all together in fear of milking them self out. Another use for Fraying Sanity could be enchanting yourself with it. It sounds ridiculous but it could get you closer to those Embalm or Eternalise creatures in your deck for you to start bringing back, but obviously most players will want to enchant their opponents to reduce the amount of cards in their library. All in all, I think it's a great card in limited as it restricts your opponents options a little and because they are more likely to deck themselves a lot quicker. I would love to try this in constructed, especially in multiples as it could just get really stupid really quickly just for them playing magic.

Hour Of Eternity

I'm not such a fan of this card, it feels like a very "win more" or maybe even a "last ditch effort" card. Going on the scale it has, for five mana, and exiling a creature from your graveyard, you get a 4/4, not awful right? But there are probably better things. The pay off for Hour Of Eternity doesn't really come until you hit seven or even nine mana and at that point you've opened yourself up massively by tapping out, or almost tapping out at least, oh and you need multiple creatures to fuel it at that cost. You might play this in limited if you have a lot of creatures and need a late game plan but like I said, there's better.

Imaginary Threats

A bit of a weird one this. You not only allow but force your opponent to alpha strike, ideally when you're in a good position to be able to deal with all if not the majority of their creatures. It does come with the inability of their creatures to untap which is the real reason you would play this as if you can bait them into attacking with all their creatures without playing Imaginary Threats, then it turns into an instant speed Sleep. I'm very interested to see how good this is in both limited and maybe even constructed as the power level seems to be pushed slightly and at worst you can just Cycle it away for something better.

Jace's Defeat

Next up in the cycle of Defeats is Jace. Jace's Defeat is still narrow, only able to counter blue spells, but it's much less narrow that Gideon's Defeat for the sole reason that if you get into a counter war, most counter spells are blue making Jace's Defeat almost compatible to straight up Counterspell in that context. Obviously that's a bit of a hyperbole but there will be some cases where it is relevant. Most of the Defeats won't be limited playable all that much and sideboard at best in constructed.

Kefnet's Last Word

Control Magic effect are great, couple it with the new cycle of "lasts" for the gods of Amonkhet, each having a powerful effect but stopping your lands from untapping in your next untap step, and it becomes less powerful but arguably more balanced. Unlike Control Magic, other than it being a spell and not an aura, Kefnet's Last Word allows you to gain control of a creature, an artifact or an enchantment widening the variety and pushing the power level a bit. I'm still on the fence about this cycle of cards, the effects are great but not being able to untap your lands for a turn can set you behind a fair bit, I guess only time, and play, will tell but either way you almost always play this in limited as being able to use your bomb to steal their bomb is just a game winning combination most of the time.

Nimble Obstructionist

I love both sides of this card; on the front end it's an aggressive flying Flash creature for three mana which could fit nicely into a bird tribal deck along side Aven Mindcensor, and on the other side it's a decent stifle plus card draw for three mana. It's easy to splash so I'm sure you'll be seeing this a lot in both limited and constructed, probably more modern than standard but I'm sure it will have a place there too. I feel that most of the time in limited you will just use Nimble Obstructionist as a Flash 3/1 and that's fine, it can put some good pressure on or be a combat trick. I'm very interested to see what becomes of this one.

Ominous Sphinx

Who likes five mana 4/4 flyers? You would play this all day long if that's all it was, the fact that it comes with an ability just turns up the value on Ominous Sphinx quite a bit. Not only will it stand up to most creatures in limited, it can also benefit any other creatures you have by being able to make opposing creatures smaller just for Cycling cards. Almost like Archfiend Of Ifnir, Ominous Sphinx is that top end that you want I hit to wreck your opponent with, unlike Archfiend Of Ifnir the effect isn't permanent, it also doesn't Cycle, but Ominous Sphinx is uncommon so you'll be seeing it a lot more. You won't see it outside of limited however as it's pretty slow for an effect that has no staying power.

Proven Combatant

Not much to say for this one. A one mana 1/1 with Eternalise for 6. You may not play it on turn one all the time, but the times you do will feel so far away from being able to Eternalise it that you may even forget it's there. Even when you do Eternalise it, hopefully on then six for maximum value, a six mana 4/4 with no other abilities may feel a bit weak at that point. Despite all that I've just said about it, Proven Combatant does give you some extra value that a traditional one mana 1/1 won't making it the one to pick if it comes down to it, obviously only limited though.

Riddleform

I was a big fan of Halcyon Glaze back in Ravnica, a threat that wasn't easy to block as it had evasion and not the easiest to remove as it was an enchantment until you played a creature spell. Riddleform works slightly differently, to start with it comes down a turn earlier and is only a 3/3 instead of a 4/4, the flying remains but this time the flying creature is a Sphinx not an Illusion. Probably the biggest difference is that Riddleform triggers when you play noncreature spells, making it a little better for slower decks with more spells than creatures. The kicker here, and something that Halcyon Glaze didn't have, is the ability to Scry 1 for three mana. You may only get to look at one card but that's still really powerful as it's a permanent effect and not just a one off, so you can spend any left over mana to sculpt the top card of your deck for whatever the situation calls for. Riddleform will be a limited all star and I would love to try this out in constructed.

Seer Of The Last Tomorrow

The ever present "mill creature" in a set, the good thing is at least this one blocks well. For three mana, having a 1/4 isn't awful especially when it has an ability. One mana to mill for three is good enough but there is a theme of Cycling or Discarding cards in Amonkhet and Hour Of Devastating which is why Seer Of The Last Tomorrow makes you discard, it also gives you a chance to ditch those Embalm or Eternalise creatures for later use in limited.

Sinuous Striker

Sinuous Striker is an interesting card to me; three mana 2/2 with an ability that could allow it to trade up, sounds pretty normal. But when you add in that it has Eternalise suddenly it's ability becomes even more relevant because it's able to get itself into the graveyard rather than having I rely on your opponent blocking it. Also add into the mix that it's Eternalise cost of five mana, pretty aggressively costed, additionally makes you discard a card which could let you throw another Eternalise creature into the bin for later use starts turning an average 2/2 for three into a pretty good enabler, oh and it becomes a 4/4 which makes its ability even better. Sinuous Striker will do a lot of work in limited and maybe, just maybe will makes it's way into constructed.

Spellweaver Eternal

Spellweaver Eternal is a fairly flimsy creature at first glance, with it only having one toughness, but in a deck with a lot of noncreature spells to trigger the Prowess it could turn into a difficult creature to deal with. Add into that the Afflict 2 and it makes it even harder to block than the Prowess would have. The good thing about Spellweaver Eternal is that you can attack with a 2/1 making your opponent think it could be an easy block, and as soon as they do block you can drop a couple of instants to take the Eternal out of range of death by combat damage and your opponent also takes two for their troubles. I'm sure you're going to be happy with this guy in limited and in multiples they can really ruin combat math.

Strategic Planning

Not entirely sure I like this card, I feel that blue shouldn't be doing this. Sifting through cards on top of your library is blue but taking one of those and throwing the others away as opposed to putting them on the bottom of your library feels inherently green. Other than flavour issues, this card is fine, I would still prefer Anticipate if only just for the instant-ness of it but I'm sure there will be a constructed application for Strategic Planning. In limited it's good, allows you to get through your deck quicker and find Embalm and Eternalise creatures.

Striped Riverwinder

Obviously a great top end in limited, albeit a tiny bit expensive but the Hexproof gives it a pass. The bit I'm more interesting in is the constructed application for this in the modern deck Living End as it's another addition for the deck that Cycles for one mana and when it does land is very hard to deal with. I'm sure it will see it's way into Living End in the months to come but until then you're just going to have to be happy to play this seven mana 5/5 in limited.

Supreme Will

Mana Leak was a great card and now we have it back, albeit with an additional mana attached, but with that additional mana comes and additional mode to this new Mana Leak. Supreme Will gives you a slightly worse Mana Leak attached to a slightly better Anticipate, balancing the whole thing out quite nicely. It may not seem like much but being able to see one card deeper than Anticipate with Supreme Will's second half is powerful as it widens your choice by that little bit increasing the chances to find the answer you need or just giving you another option in the late game when you don't need the Mana Leak half anymore. It's almost like Supreme Will has super Cycling and I'm sure both halves will see a lot of play in both limited and constructed for the months to come.

Swarm Intelligence

This card looks like a lot of fun, getting to Twincast every instant or sorcery you play for no additional costs I've heard this card most compared to Eye Of The Storm, though were Eye let you keep them stored away only triggering when you played another instant or sorcery spell, Swarm Intelligence gives you the benefits upfront. As much as I like doubling my spells, at seven mana this is a causal card that won't see competitive constructed play and shouldn't see limited play, you'd probably do better just playing a land as your deck is not going to be suited to abuse this card.

Tragic Lesson

When I first saw this card I honestly thought it was a bit meh, three mana to draw two cards and put yourself a mana behind. After some thought I have come to actually quite like it. I give you a situation; your opening hand had three lands and a Tragic Lesson, the other three cards aren't important really, on your forth turn you draw you card and you miss the land drop, now what you can do is main phase Tragic Lesson to dig for lands, if you find one that's great and you discard a card, if not then you return a land and play that land again. Yes, you are a mana, and essentially a turn, behind but you did just draw two cards for two mana which is still quite good. Add into the mix that there are a few lands with enter the battlefield triggers like Aether Hub or Sunscorched Desert that you can get extra mileage out of with Tragic Lesson. All in all though, instant speed Divination is pretty good and will be played a lot in limited as it's easily splashable and I'm sure we'll see it in constructed soon.

Unesh, Criosphinx Sovereign

Unesh is a bomb in limited. It's a 4/4 flyer for six that could get you some great card advantage out of it. It also makes all your other Sphinxes cheaper maybe making room for a sphinx tribal deck at some point, but the first thing I thought when I saw the cheaper Sphinx part is playing a second Unesh and getting the trigger again. Now yes, giving your opponent  choices if usually a bad thing, but back in the day we had a card called Fact Or Fiction and almost everyone was notoriously bad at splitting the cards that were revealed from it, so there will be times when you opponent, or you if played against you, find a situation where there isn't a good split and Unesh's controller gets a jackpot of cards. I could see it sneaking into constructed as it is a creature with a decent card advantage ability attached but it will obviously be a beating in limited all the time.

Unquenchable Thirst

There have been many cards with this effect through the years; Ice Over, Dehydration and Encrust, and for two mana, keeping a creature tapped is a pretty good trade off. The problem with the cards above is that they don't tap the enchant creature, just stop it from untapping. If you control a desert, or have one in your graveyard, Unquenchable Thirst does give you the added bonus of tapping the enchanted creature making it slightly more efficient than most of the previous iterations. You'll play this in limited, even if you don't have many or any deserts, as it's pretty much removal for the blue decks.

Unsummon

It's back, the premium blue removal spell, well temporary removal spell. You're always going to play Unsummon as it's cheap and you can almost guarantee to hit a creature in every game you play. It's even seen it's way into constructed so it could be making a comeback.

Vizier Of The Anointed

More card advantage, this time with a cheaper creature and fewer decisions. When a card gives you the option to tutor through your library it usually goes into your hand, but in keeping with the theme of Amonkhet and Hour Of Devastation Vizier Of The Anointed allows you to find an Embalm or Eternalise creature and put it straight into your graveyard ready for whenever you need it. It may not seem it but this ability is a lot of value for two reasons, first it gives you a creature to return later on and, thanks to Vizier's second ability, bets you a card, secondly it thins your deck increasing the chances of finding your bombs or the answers you may need. One card fewer may not seem like much but when you think about it every card adds up and soon your deck might be five or six cards fewer than when you started, after your opening hand and draw steps of course so the chance increases each turn and this accelerates it. A limited all star and will do a lot of work while also blocking really well.

And that's the end of our look at all the blue cards from Hour Of Devastation, tomorrow we'll be looking through all the black cards so stay tuned to Game Changers for more coming up.