Bloodwater Entity
This card has a lot of potential in my opinion. It's a cheap creature with evasion and Prowess making it good at blocking and attacking, but being able to put any instant or sorcery in your graveyard back on top of your library for three mana gets you so much extra usage out of a spell that would normally only be played once typically. In a deck like blue/red control specifically I think it could be a big player in constructed as that deck already loves playing spells multiple times with Torrential Gearhulk. It could be a bit win more but the only way to find out would be trying it out which is what I intend to do. It's great in limited, even if you don't get the extra value of putting a card back on top of your library, just as a 2/2 flyer.
The Locust God
Another card that seems great for blue/red control, but just in general a massively powerful card. Six mana is a lot but the power level of The Locust God may be enough to see it play in constructed because it gains so much card advantage, board advantage and it doesn't die. Obviously a bomb in limited and would usually close out a game quite nicely, as far as constructed, I'm confident it will see play.
Nicol Bolas, God-Pharaoh
It's the bit, bad God-Pharaoh himself, Nicol Bolas and boy is he powerful. Starting right at the top, he does cost seven mana which is a push but you know you're getting power and value in bucket loads because it's Nicol Bolas and his first ability definitely delivers. Not only does it thin you opponents deck, possibly increasing the chance they deck out, it also gives you a free spell from their deck. Free spells are value anyway you cut it because you haven't paid for it at all and in this case Nicol Bolas has gained loyalty so it's two pluses. His second ability lets you go after their hand, one card is good, two cards is much better and exiling then is just the cherry on the cake. Oh and that's a plus ability as well. The first minus ability is probably what you'll be going for most of the time as it realistically could close out a game in limited and doubles up as removal for pretty much anything. Finally his ultimate, twelve loyalty is a lot but so is this effect. It's the best Wrath ever, it misses all of your stuff only targeting there's and again it exiles them ensuring no returning hijinks. I think flavour wise and power level wise, this guy is a home run. You want a big, splashy, powerful planeswalker, here you go.
Obelisk Spider
This guy is a limited all star. It blocks fantastically, not only dealing damage but leaving a lasting -1/-1 counter on it as well, and can net you life just for those wounded creatures dying and not only yours, but more importantly puts small clock on your opponent.
Resolute Survivors
A similar creature to Obelisk Spider but a bit more aggressive, Resolute Survivors wants you to attack and Exert your creatures. Note, it doesn't just trigger when you Exert Resolute Survivors but any Exert creature. It will do some work in limited especially in a deck that can abuse the Exert mechanic.
River Hoopoe
I think River Hoopoe could be a a bit of a sleeper hit for constructed. It's cheap and blocks well while having evasion but on top of that, it gives you a life and draw engine. In limited it will do its job very well, I think it will see constructed play and could turn out to be very effective.
Samut, The Tested
Samut's back, in planeswalker form. As I've said, the key thing for a planeswalker to be is splashy, planeswalker are another resource given to you and they need to have an impact. Samut hits that for me; she's flavourful and powerful. In an aggressive deck you won't to spend you first couple of turns building up your board and getting in some damage in the process, sometimes your opponent blocks or has removal, which is why it would be good to be able to drop Samut on turn four to help either make one of your remaining creatures a lot more awkward in combat or possibly clear out a blocker for the attack. Her ultimate is big and powerful and all the things it should be as well, tutoring for free creature and/or planeswalkers is great, but it is a bit win more. All in all, I like Samut. She's great in limited and could see play in constructed but at the moment I think there are slightly better options.
The Scarab God
The Scarab God is another fantastic creature for a control deck to have because it creates issues on so many fronts; it attacks there life, increases your board position and gives you immense, increasing information. An obvious limited bomb and game winner but I think constructed will love this card, it's only five mana as well so it's fairly easy to get to. My only problem would be that it's a creature and therefor easier to deal with but on the plus side it does keep coming back.
The Scorpion God
The last of our three returning Gods, The Scorpion God. First off, a five mana 6/5 is insane and it just keeps getting better, three mana to permanently decrease the size of any creature you want is incredibly powerful and to top it all off it can net you card advantage. Another bomb in limited and I'm certain The Scorpion God will see constructed play in a midrange Jundish deck.
Unraveling Mummy
Unraveling Mummy is going to be a massive limited all star. It's like a guildmage with two colour related abilities but in a more creature specific way in a zombie tribal way. Now the zombie in question does have to attacking but that brings me onto another thing with Unraveling Mummy, it's another card that teaches you how to play. It gives you two good abilities and forces you to use them when you should be, for example; if you have a Giant Growth in your hand, the right way to play would be to attack, wait for your opponent to declare blockers casting the Giant Growth before damage is dealt ensuring you have maximum information before deciding your course of action. Unravelling Mummies abilities, depending on the situation should also be used before damage is dealt but after blockers have been declared, or not in some cases, to make sure you use either, or both, to get maximum value.
Onto the Aftermath cards
Farm To Market
Aftermath cards kind of work like modal cards in a way, they give you more options than a normal card would by splitting it up into essentially two cards. Having a removal spell on the front end and card filtering on the back end is a great choice for limited as it can take out a threat and in the late game can find you more action in exchange for those excess lands that you don't need. I don't think it's a player in constructed though as it's just not that powerful.
Consign To Oblivion
On the front end you get a nice temporary removal spell for any non land permanent, on the back end you get an over costed Mind Rot. If you can cast both sides in limited it's an obvious choice but it's pretty costly all together at seven mana, I would argue that you could get away with just using it as a bounce spell for two mana.
Claim To Fame
I think Claim To Fame is going to be a big player, it's good in limited as you are more likely to have more low end creatures to bring back and it's good in constructed as you can gear your deck more toward abusing it and getting maximum value. Especially in a deck like Death's Shadow in modern, it's on par with casting the decks namesake and already gets you value if it hits a Tarmogoyf, and then for another two mana it gets to swing in straight away. I can't wait to see the impact Claim To Fame will have on the meta game.
Struggle To Survive
Struggle To Survive is a good removal spell for limited, mainly in the late game to get more value out of it. If you do get to play it in the late game for the added bonus then you might get to use the Survive side to replenish your deck regain any cards that could be useful in the rest of the game, or just to make it less likely you would deck.
Appeal To Authority
I like this card, it's a nice aggressive card on the front end and a plain value card on the back end. Played together in the same turn Appeal To Authority a very powerful in limited, only needing two other creatures in addition to its target to rival Giant Growth and acting as a decent way to force through some damage.
Leave To Chance
Leave to me seems like a great combo piece, being able to replay all your spells can give you a good storm count or maybe net you more mana or more cards. Other than that it can be used as a combat trick, allowing you to block and then return your creatures so they take no combat damage. On the back end you have Chance that can turn any dud cards into useful ones, including the ones you may have returned from Leave. As a whole, Leave To Chance is an alright card with a lot of potential, it's a weird one for limited as you need to be able to either abuse returning your permanents like with Trials or enter the battlefield triggers, or rebuild quick enough that it isn't a detriment. Constructed won't see it as it's just a bit meh for standard and maybe a bit too slow for modern.
Reason To Believe
Reason is a fairly powerful card, one blue mana to Scry three can get you a lot of information. Believe is potentially powerful and if played directly after you cast Reason then you may get a choice of what creature you want to put into play. That's obviously best case scenario, worst being a blind flip and hoping for a creature and if not you've just cast a five mana draw one spell. In the right deck, ie a deck that can get maximum value like a midrange ramp deck, Reason To Believe could be a great card but I think it requires a bit too much set up, in limited it's fine but will hit a lot less of the time.
Grind To Dust
I like Grind To Dust especially in a limited format that has a lot of -1/-1 counters running around. It could easily take out a creature with any existing counters on it and if you get to cast Dust it could easily be a Wrath Of God. I don't think it'll see play in constructed as it's a lot for possibly very little.
Refuse To Cooperate
A bit of a weird one here as I'm not entirely sure where it really goes. All together seven mana to be able to hit your opponent for however much their spell costs, provided they play a spell that is, and then you can copy it and use it for your own machinations. The problem is it's a very reactive card but even in a control deck, you're spending seven mana for a little bit of damage and most probably the second half acting as an additional counterspell. I could see it appearing in a sideboard of a control deck and maybe in limited if you really need some damage and maybe a trick but you'll probably cut it a lot of the time.
Driven To Despair
I love Driven To Despair for limited as it's a lot of value for four mana. It makes your creatures simultaneously really hard to block and must blocks, being able to hit both sides of Driven To Despair in the early game with a bunch of creatures is pretty much game over because your opponent will have to take a couple of turns to get set back up whereas you've just gained a load of cards. I don't think it will see constructed play but it does have potential.
Nicol Bolas, The Deceiver
This is a very powerful planeswalker for the intro decks. It does cost eight mana but the effects are so impactful that it's worth it; giving your opponent the choice of a card, a creature or life isn't the best as they will always choose the best thing for them, but you can instead minus Nicol Bolas to remove a creature and draw a card is great. The ultimate is a little overkill but in multiplayer it's fantastic and will easily make you public enemy number one.
So that's all of the multicoloured and Aftermath cards in Hour Of Devastation and being us almost to the end. Stay tuned to Game Changers for the last instalment taking a look at the Artifacts and Lands.
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