The Core Set is back and it's about that time again, time to take a look through all of the cards from Core 2019. It's the start of the week and you know what that means, let's get started with a look at all of the White cards.
Aegis of the Heavens
This is a great defensive combat trick for not much mana. The other side of this is the small application of toughness matter in Core 2019 which could turn Aegis of the Heavens from a cheap defensive spell into a reasonable offensive spell, but more on that later.
Aethershield Artificier
A four mana 3/3 isn’t bad, you probably wouldn’t bat an eye if that was all Aethershield Artificier was. However, this ability that may seem narrow at first could actually provide a huge advantage when played correctly. Imagine dropping a Heart of Kiran and a couple of turns later using Aethershield Artificier to Crew it up subsequently giving it +2/+2 and Indestructible. Now you have a four turn clock (three if you can muster a measly 2 damage before hand) and a very hard to deal with attacker each turn. Abrade is still a thing so dealing with Aethershield Artificier is practically trivial but in lieu of a removal spell this two card dream team can easily seal a game for you. As a limited card I like the dwarf even if you don’t have any artifact creatures, you might have to work a bit for it in constructed though.
Ajani, Adversary of Tyrants
Well this is a great way to light a fire in the opening of a set review. Ajani, Adversary of Tyrants is obviously a limited bomb but I think could help shape standard for the years to come, he does revolve around creatures which is a bit of a downside but this guy in a white weenie strategy is devastatingly good. Four mana for 4 loyalty is great and it doesn’t take long to get to his ultimate, which is in the sweet spot of powerful without being win-more, and his recursion ability gives you so much versatility and power that it’s hard to ignore. Pair this with Dauntless Bodyguard and you can have two Indestructible attackers going in or just keep reusing the sacrifice ability to nullify any removal spells your opponent may have. Ajani can make the game very awkward for your opponent especially if you can protect him, he requires a little work but the payoff is immense.
Ajani’s Last Stand
I like the look of Ajani’s Last Stand but I am struggling to find a standard application for this four mana Enchantment. It’s essentially a slow four mana 4/4 with flying, it could show up early and therefore be easier to deal with or show up later in the game and be the creature that gets you there. I think the main issue here is why not just play Karn or Chandra or any of the other four mana bombs? Honestly, I don’t have an answer but there is a small caveat that could get Ajani’s Last Stand into standard and that’s the discard clause. Now, unless this is the only card in your hand when your opponent Duress’ you they will never take it and give you a free 4/4 flyer but it’s not out of the realms of possibility. Do you want to hinge your plans on this happening though? I don’t think so. In limited this is great mainly because it gives you the choice of when to sacrifice it so you can wait until the late game when your opponent is out of removal and flyers and then deploy the avatar, it does still require some hoops to be jumped through though so be careful.
Ajani’s Pridemate
Bears with upside are always good to have in limited and I’m sure there will be plenty of lifegain running around to help power up this guy.
Ajani’s Welcome
It’s like a Soul Warden but worse on a couple of levels. 1) it’s not a creature, 2) it only counts your creatures. The only upside to Ajani’s Welcome is that it’s harder to deal with than a Soul Warden but that’s little solace unless you’re churning out three or four creatures a turn or have multiple of the one mana enchantment. I think this only plays in limited but there could be a constructed token deck that might want this over Soul Warden in modern for example.
Angel of the Dawn
This is a perfect limited alpha-strike card, it sits around the top end of you curve and isn’t colour intensive making it easier to cast. The best part about Angel of the Dawn is that it gives your creatures vigilance, so even if you don’t win on the spot you still have blockers for the swing back. As a five mana 3/3 flyer it’s serviceable and can get the job done though it’s nothing special.
Cavalry Drillmaster
A two mana 2/1 would usually be fine for the early game, however Cavalry Drillmaster is the type of creature you want closer to the mid-game. The reason for this is because the +2/+0 and First Strike to a creature gives you the opportunity to hit for a decent chunk of damage, force a block from your opponent or draw a removal spell and all of the above are good options for you. I love this guy in limited mostly because he’s cheap and packs a wallop.
Cleansing Nova
This is the new five mana Wrath when Fumigate leaves us. Having the option between creatures or artifacts and enchantments is going to be very useful, though lacking the life gain is what gave Fumigate its panache. Artifacts especially have gained quite a bit of ground recently so Cleansing Nova’s versatility will probably be put to good use. Obviously a limited bomb and I think will take the place of Fumigate in standard soon.
Daybreak Chaplain
It’s a two mana 1/3 with Lifelink. It’s a great blocker and can stem the damage in a game every now and again.
Dwarven Priest
A midrange creature that is great in a token strategy. Dwarven Priest has the potential to bring you back into a limited game quite nicely given enough creatures and then to round him off he’s a good blocker too.
Gallant Cavalry
We see this type of creature in almost every set, 4 power split over two bodies but the kicker this time is that they both have vigilance. Two 2/2’s may not last long but if you can keep them around then the ability to attack and block can be invaluable in limited.
Herald of Faith
If left alone this angel can really close out a game for you. Not only is it a five turn clock but every time it attacks it gains you 2 life making it progressively harder for your opponent to interact positively with your life total. A great limited top end creature but with no immediate impact it won’t see any constructed play.
Hieromancer’s Cage
Welcome back Oblivion Ring. Obviously it’s nowhere near as good seeing as it costs one more mana but it could be the next best thing to Cast Out when that leaves standard. It feels clunky but you have to play the cards you’re dealt right?
Inspired Charge
Great reprint for limited for those times when you need to force enough damage through to take the game or even the battlefield up a bit. Four mana is a lot but as an instant I can see this easily being your 23rd card.
Invoke the Divine
Artifact and enchantment removal is getting a push recently and with Invoke the Divine being one of the better cards it makes sense that it got a reprint despite how recent the last printing was. The nice part is that it’s not only removal but lifegain as well and a decent amount at that, it’s going to be a sideboard staple for the years to come.
Isolate
At first glance this looks like an odd card. There will be some applications in limited and standard but not enough to justify dedicating more than one or two slots to Isolate, the real home for this is in modern. Isolate was almost solely created to deal with Death’s Shadow and it does it really well - one mana removal for one mana creature is fair in my opinion - but don’t overlook how well this card could deal with any low to the ground zoo variants that could pop up. No more Kird Ape, bye bye Wild Nacatl, so long Savannah Lions.
Knight of the Tusk
Knight of the Tusk looks like a great late game blocker, and it is, but thanks to the vigilance it can turn into a fairly decent attacker too. Without a removal spell this elephant riding knight will stick around for a while and make combat quite difficult to navigate for your opponent. I wouldn’t go more than one in limited because they don’t really have an impact on the game other than holding off ground attackers but one at the top end is ok.
Knight’s Pledge
Throughout Dominaria there is a semblance of an enchantment matters theme, that’s the only reason I could imagine Knight’s Pledge would see constructed play. As for limited, it’s two mana for +2/+2 which is a good rate though one of probably enough as they can have diminishing returns. Auras draw the dreaded two for one so multiple copies of a card like this can result in not having a target to enchant.
Knightly Valor
I’m not the biggest fan of auras for the two for one reasoning but auras like this do help that argument a bit. Five mana is a lot to pay but when a card offers +2/+2 and vigilance that cost becomes a little bit more reasonable. The cherry on top however is the additional 2/2 knight with vigilance Knightly Valor gives you which helps make this five mana aura playable. It’s another card that I would only play one of in limited due to the cost and diminishing returns but leaving a creature behind does make it easier to land the second copy later.
Lena, Selfless Champion
A six mana 3/3 isn’t the best of stats for a creature, though thanks to Lena’s ability you’re pretty much guaranteed four powers worth of creatures for six mana making it slightly better. Because Lena’s ability specifies non-token creatures you have to put a fair bit of work in, initially I thought she would fit in in a white weenie style deck but upon reflection I think Lena more suits a ramp deck. The benefit of this is that you can get to Lena quicker thanks to cards like Llanowar Elves but also the creatures helping you ramp to this six mana legend mean that Lena will produce more tokens. Lena also gives you a contingency plan against a mass removal spell in her second ability along with it just being a free sacrifice ability, also take note that her token making ability triggers when she enters the battlefield not when you cast her. Lena is a limited great and will sit at the top end of your deck nicely giving you a good late game burst of creatures. In constructed, I can see a couple seeing play in a green white ramp deck but you’ll want to be able to get three or four tokens out of her each time so she might be a bit more build around me than first thought.
Leonin Vanguard
A one mana 1/1 that has the potential to grow bigger will definitely see play in constructed. The thing that I love about Leonin Vanguard is that it asks for three creatures so it gets +1/+1 and you gain 1 life but it doesn’t ask for three other creatures, Leonin Vanguard itself counts as one of those creatures. If you can find your way to dropping three Leonin Vanguards by turn two the life gain alone will start putting you out of range quickly along with having three 2/2’s. This will fit well into a white weenie deck that I am interested in exploring with a lot of cards that have already come up.
Leonin Warleader
I love this guy. Four mana for 4 power is good enough, anyone would play Leonin Warleader in limited no questions asked. What could push it into constructed is its ability. Sure, you have to wait a turn to attack but when you do that 4 power turns into 6 power, 2 of that you net back via Lifelink. A perfect top end weenie creature.
Loxodon Line Breaker
Standard, a three mana 3/2. Loxodon Line Breaker will see limited play.
Luminous Bonds
Premium white removal for limited. It’s easy to splash and makes light work of taking down your opponent’s larger creatures.
Make a Stand
Another good limited combat trick to survive that alpha and enable to swing back next turn. One is fine, more than one might turn out ok but I wouldn’t risk it.
Mentor of the Meek
This guys is a card advantage engine in limited. Weenie strategies love Mentor of the Meek and it’s so easy to splash that it almost makes not playing him a crime. Seriously, if you haven’t played this guy try him out once and you’ll understand.
Mighty Leap
Great combat trick and it allows you to get over the top when you need to.
Militia Bugler
This guy seems great, both in limited and possibly in constructed. An easily splashable creature that can do well in combat and also help find another creature. It’s card selection with a body and that ain’t bad. I’m intrigued to see exactly where this fits in for constructed, my guess is it’s actually going to get closer to modern than standard.
Novice Knight
A brilliant early drop blocker that, given the right situation, can turn into a decent aggressive creature. Enchantment and equipment matters cards have been a plenty recently so this guy should fit in nicely if a deck like that makes it to constructed. Other than that Novice Knight will play well in limited, be it in the slower more defensive decks or the “build your own creature” decks with more equipment and auras.
Oreskos Swiftclaw
We’ve seen this loads of times before, it’s a great early game creature that will trade up when it needs to. Can be a bit fragile though. Limited only.
Pegasus Courser
Pegasus Courser is a great tempo creature as it can help one of your bigger creatures over the top of any ground blockers. I’m sure I’ve said this several times before in set reviews, it’s a very straight forward creature.
Remorseful Cleric
A two mana 2 power flyer with a free sacrifice ability? This guy will see play in constructed for sure. Cleaning out your opponent graveyard can be very useful when they might have recurring creatures or the ability to reanimate something. Until the point of needing that though you have a decent flyer to put pressure on with.
Resplendent Angel
Resplendent Angel is going to be an all-star in limited and constructed. Just as a three mana 3/3 flyer it’s easily good enough to jam four into your deck, but wait there’s more. You can pay six mana to give Resplendent Angel +2/+2 and Lifelink which along with turning it into a four turn clock plays well into the first ability of giving you 4/4 angels. Get ready to see a lot of these in weenie and control decks throughout standard, my advice would be preorder your playset now.
Revitalize
This is a strict upgrade on the Cycling ability of Renewed Faith, you gain one more life but the operative “Cycling” keyword was what made Renewed Faith important. I don’t see Revitalize making it’s way out of limited play, unless the Lich’s Mastery deck takes off in which case Revitalize becomes a two mana draw four. Gaining life in limited is usually quite mediocre but with the card draw this could be worth it, I wouldn’t put multiples in my deck though.
Rustwing Falcon
A one mana 1/2 flyer, no more needed to be said.
Shield Mare
The first of the Mare cycle in Core 2019. Shield Mare, if played in the right deck, can offer you a great advantage. Against red decks it’s a three mana powerhouse that they have to waste a removal spell on and even then you gain 3 life, so maybe it lives in the sideboards of midrange decks of anywhere. From a limited standpoint it’s fine, nothing special, sometimes it will walk through blockers but most of the time it will eat a removal spell and net you 3 life.
Star-Crowned Stag
I love tempo creatures and Star-Crowned Stag is a great tempo creature. It sits well in the middle of your curve which allows you to aim for more of a late game attacking plan by keeping your opponent’s best blocker tapped while your best attacker gets through. Limited only but this guy will do work for you there.
Suncleanser
Wizards aren’t being shy about printing cards in Core 2019 for specific formats. Suncleanser is a card that has definitely been designed for modern, specifically as a hoser against Infect. All the signs point to that which isn’t a bad thing as sometimes certain decks can get out of hand very quickly and cards need to be designed to do something about that. Ability aside, this two mana 1/4 blocker will do work in limited keeping the ground creatures at bay and could see some sideboard play in constructed, depending on if energy becomes a thing again.
Take Vengeance
It’s kind of like Gideon’s Reproach but as a sorcery it’s almost strictly worse. This is a limited removal spell and even then I could see cutting it for something a bit more proactive.
Trusty Packbeast
Artifact recursion can be useful in the right build and Trusty Packbeast is a cheap way of achieving that while also giving you a body to chump with. I’m not the biggest fan of this type of creature but it does serve a purpose and at worse is just an on curve creature in limited.
Valiant Knight
The knight lord is here and it’s pretty good. At four mana and easy to splash I can see this guy being a mid game staple for knight tribal especially when you can alpha the turn after and give your knights Double Strike. With its lack of immediate impact Valiant Knight probably won’t see constructed play but it will be a powerhouse in limited.
I think this has gotten things off to a great start, check back tomorrow for a look through all of the Blue cards in Core 2019. Remember to tweet @gcgamingtank with your thoughts on Core 2019. Keep coming back to Game Changers for gaming news, updates and set reviews.
Happy gaming guys!
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