Guilds of Ravnica Set Review - Artifact, Land and Planeswalker Decks

There aren’t that many artifacts in Guilds of Ravnica, 12 to be exact, so this first part is a short one but the land are still to come along with the planeswalker deck cards. Let’s begin on this last day of Set Review week.

Core 2019 Set Review - Artifacts and Lands

So we're here again. The end of the set review. It always feels sad when things end but that doesn't mean you can't enjoy them while they last and I hope you all have. Today we're looking at all of the artifact and lands from Core 2019, a lot of mechanical hijinks and mana mayhem to come your way, so why don't we get started.

Dominaria Set Review - Colourless, Artifact and Land

It’s the end of the week which means it’s the last in our look through all of the cards in Dominaria, Artifacts and lands. Before that however, there is one colourless card we’re going to take a look at.

Rivals Of Ixalan Set Review-Artifact and Land

It’s almost over, but I have one last bunch of cards for you guys: the artifacts and lands. Here we go.

Ixalan Set Review - Artifacts and Lands

The end draw nigh and all that's left to do is to have a look at all of the Artifacts and Lands, the bulk of the DFC's and return of a core set favourite. Let's get started!

Hour Of Devastation Set Review - Artifact and Land

Abandoned Sarcophagus

I love the look and feel of this card. It's flavourful, cheap (ish) and has a lot of potential. Abandoned Sarcophagus is a build around me through and through and if you can snap this up in limited and grab all the Cycling cards you can, you could get so much value out of it being able to turn all of you spells into card draw in addition to what they normally do. I am excited to try this in constructed but you do have to be a little careful not to throw away any spells you may need in the moment and lose them forever. It's just so much value to pass up in my opinion to not at least try it out.

Crook Of Condemnation

First things first, Relic Of Progenitus has nothing to worry about in modern as it's cheaper and it gives you a card, it does give your opponent the choice of what card gets exiled but it's a small price to pay. Crook Of Condemnation plays really well in limited against all the Embalm and Eternalise creatures so your opponent doesn't get the extra value out of them, it could backfire a little with the second ability but hopefully you can play around your own card well enough for that to be negligible. Constructed might like this card but as it stands, not many decks really rely on their graveyards, with the exception of Zombies, so I think it will sit in sideboards.

Dagger Of The Worthy

Equipment are good in limited and I think the Afflict will be great in limited as well. Two mana isn't much to cast and t is colourless meaning you'll probably play it in all of your decks, and only two to equip isn't asking for much either when it's giving you +2/+0 and Afflict.

God-Pharaoh's Gift

Gate To The Afterlife gave us a glimpse of a card from Hour Of Devastation and here it is, and it's very powerful. Both cards work nice in tandem, not only because On allows you find the other and put it into play but because you have to have at least six creature cards in your graveyard to activate Gate To The Afterlife and thus giving God-Pharoah's Gift a lot of gas to work with. The best part about God-Pharaoh's Gift is that it gives the creature token Haste, adding more things for your opponent to worry about, and makes it a base 4/4, sometimes you might trade down with the original creature but most of the time it will be adding so much value to them. It plays well in limited because it's more aggressive so you're more likely to be playing more creatures, and it's a bit too much for constructed.

Graven Abomination

An aggressive, but fragile, creature that can deal very nicely with any graveyard shenanigans your opponents might have. It will die but could trade up and you'll play it in every limited deck as it's colourless.

Hollow One

Hollow One is a good creature to pair with Abandoned Sarcophagus because it becomes cheaper for each card you Cycle, so you can have a free creature and then you can play the Cycles cards again for extra value. Other than that it plays well in limited as Cycling is a big part of the limited meta game that having a colourless, possibly free creature, is always good especially when just Cycling one card makes Hollow One a three mana 4/4.

Manalith

It's colourless and it fixes and ramps mana, every deck plays this in limited and no deck play it in constructed. That's about it really.

Mirage Mirror

This is an interesting one, it's colourless and therefore easy to play in any deck and it can become your opponents best threat on the board or an additional copy of a threat you have. In the right deck it could be very good but most of the time I think it's going to be a bit slow in limited and the fact that you have to pay for it every turn won't help.

Sunset Pyramid

Some of the artifacts from Amonkhet and Hour Of Devastation gain brick counters, Sunset Pyramid removes them. Two mana to draw a card is a good trade off and when all of those brick counters have gone you can still pay two mana to Scry 1 which is still very good. It will only see play in limited as it's way too slow for constructed but it could get you some nice card advantage in limited.

Traveler's Amulet

It's back, it fixes mana making it easier to play three or more colours in limited and it's cheap.

Wall Of Forgotten Pharaohs

This is nice little blocker that's great for limited mainly because it's colourless but also because it gets some extra damage in each turn, slowly chipping away. You do have to have a Desert but as we've established, you will probably have one. Worst case scenario, it blocks almost everything and lives.

Visage Of Bolas

Lastly, an Artifact appearing in the Bolas intro deck, one that lets you find Nicol Bolas, The Deceiver and helps you cast it as well. You will have another couple of turns waiting to get to eight mana but in the mean time it will fix your mana nicely.

Onto the lands

Crypt Of The Eternals

Other than the basic lands, this is the only land in Hour Of Devastation that isn't a Desert. What it is is good mana fixing, it does gain you a life and it doesn't come into play tapped meaning you can use it straight away. You'll play this in limited when you're in either at least two of these colours or maybe all three helping you curve out in all your colours nicely.

Desert Of The Fervent, Glorified, Indomitable, Mindful and True

All of these lands make up the cycle of Cycling Deserts in Hour Of Devastation. They all come into play tapped, tap to add a colour and if you don't need them you can pay two to Cycle it. It's going to help massively in limited when you need a Desert in your graveyard to help your other cards with power or effect boosts, but other than that they are useful all the time as they can thin your deck out, possibly giving you better options when you need them. I could see some of these lands making it into constructed but I think right now they might be a bit under powered when compared against both the mana base we currently have and the card draw spells.

Dunes Of The Dead

Dunes Of The Dead is a fine land, it doesn't fix your mana or ramp you,  but if you can find a way to destroy it it will give you a 2/2 zombie for your troubles. It will then also give you a Desert in your graveyard which can result in bonuses and additional effects for other cards. You play it in limited especially when you're in one or two colours as it won't hinder you as much.

Endless Sands

Endless Sands is a bit of a weird land, you can use it to protect your creatures, maybe after they've blocked to save yourself some damage, but you then are a creature down and you can only do it once per turn. The good thing is, if you have a lot of enter the battlefield triggers you can get a lot of value out of Endless Sands when you bring them all back. The set up might be a bit too much for constructed and maybe even limited but even exiling two of your creatures with it and bringing them back whenever you want for four mana, you've gotten a nice bit of value out of a land.

Hashep Oasis

I love lands that are also spells and in Hashep Oasis you get a Giant Growth on a stick, granted at three times the cost (four if you include itself) and at the loss of a Desert, but being able to reuse it will be invaluable. It's an on board trick so your opponent has more chance of being able to play around it but it's still a big power/toughness boost that's hard to deal with and could easily give your creature enough power to close out a game. Sacrificing a Desert won't be too hard as you will have a couple in limited and it counts itself so you could always sacrifice it in a pinch.

Hostile Desert

Manlands in the past, and present, have been very good, giving you a creature that hides from removal very well and is always an on board threat turns out to be quite powerful. Now we have Hostile Desert, a colourless 3/4 manland that only takes two mana to activate which sounds insanely good, you do have to exile a land from your graveyard which is the downside, but in limited you're going to have picked up a couple of Cycling lands or maybe even spell lands to fuel Hostile Desert. I could see this being a player in constructed as most of the manlands before have but you do have a couple more hoops to jump through to get your worth out of it.

Ifnir Dreadlands

I think this will be the most played of the spells lands purely because it has a permanent effect on the board. Four mana, five if you include itself, may sound a lot but it reduces an opposing creature's power and toughness by two which is a big deal in combat. It plays fantastically in limited and I think could see some constructed play as well being a good utility land.

Ipnu Rivulet

Unfortunately, in a cycle of these kinds of cards the blue one usually turns out to be the weakest, nothing's changed. It is cheapest to activate which is a plus but milling just isn't always that's good, except when you point it at yourself as opposed to your opponent. If you can abuse your graveyard as a resource then Ipnu Rivulet could be a viable card, being able to fill your graveyard with Embalm, Eternalise, Flashback and so on, I just think it might be a bit weak and there are other cards that do this better.

Ramunap Ruins

Ramunap Ruins is a good land for getting the last couple of points through, it's a lot of mana for two damage but being reusable will make it worth while. I could see it seeing some constructed play as it's direct damage but I think it may cost a little too much, as for limited it's a slam dunk and another problem for your opponent to have to deal with especially in the late game when it becomes a very real threat.

Scavenger Grounds

Thematically, Scavenger Grounds will play well in limited with all the Embalm and Eternalise cards running around but be careful because it does get your graveyard as well. This is a card that will see more play in modern as it just reads "2 mana, sacrifice: Exile Graveyards." which is great against decks like Dredge.

Shefet Dunes

I love this land for limited, it encourages you to go wide instead of tall and play more creatures just making it harder for your opponent to deal with them, and a temporary Anthem effect every turn is brilliant. Again a virtual five mana might be a bit much but even using this once can get you so much value in limited.

Survivor's Encampment

It's Springleaf Drum in land form and will do a lot of work for you in limited when you need to fix your mana. It can even get you to the Aftermath side of a card that you didn't expect to need to play just for a creature. Play this always in limited as even if you don't need the coloured mana it's still a land that comes into play untapped.

And finally,

Woodland Stream and Cinder Barrens

These two lands are going to appear in the intro decks and well give them some good colour fixing as they are both dual lands. They both enter tapped but do give either blue/green or red/black respectively and is just what they need.

So that brings us to the end of our look through all the Hour Of Devastation cards, I hope you've enjoyed it as much as I have and we'll be doing it all again soon with the release of Ixalan; Prereleases on the 23rd and 24th of September with the release the following week.
Until then however, keep checking back to Game Changers for more gaming news and updates.

Aether Revolt - Artifact and Land

So its the end of the week and the end of our look through all the cards in Aether Revolt, and what a way to end it, with  a look through the largest card type in the set, the Atifacts. So let's begin...

Aegis Automaton

The fist artifact we're looking and also the first in the "Automaton" cycle. Aegis Automaton is a nice defensive creature, its cheap and will do some blocking. It also has a good ability to get extra use out of your "enter the battlefield" creatures while also triggering Revolt, though it may be at a fairly expensive cost, and because it has no power, it makes it perfect for use with your Improvise spells. It sits solidly in limited with no constructed application.

Aethersphere Harvester

Aethersphere Harvester is an incredible Vehicle. There may be an abundance of things to spend your third turn doing, but this is definitely up there. It nets you energy and has a low crew cost which makes it perfect for fasts and slow decks alike. As a creature, Aethersphere Harvester will do so much work both on the offensive and defensive with its 3/5 body, and could pull you back into a game late on with its second ability to gain lifelink. Limited bomb and might see some constructed play with all its versatility.

Augmenting Automaton

This is the black "Automaton". Not much to talk about here, a one drop creature with a great mana sink pump ability. If dropped early, Augmenting Automaton is a nice way to spend those turns when you have nothing else to do in an aggressive deck, a good way to force some damage through or force a block. Its the perfect card a black deck likes to see as its can get pretty big after a while and could end up dominating some ground stalls in limited.

Barricade Breaker

Almost the definition of All In. Barricade Breaker gives you a lot if you're willing to give a lot. Seven mana is a lot but if you can utilize the Improvise on it, it could come down and be smashing face early. However because it has to attack each turn, your opponent has more opportunity to get rid of it, leaving you feeling pretty bad about yourself. All this said it still has the potential to just win you a game when played in limited and for that reason you should probably play it, way to expensive for constructed though.

Cogwork Assembler

A solid creature with a fantastic ability, Cogwork Assembler will cause havoc for your opponent. In the late game its one of the best mana sinks you could hope for, putting seven mana into it to get another Cogwork Assembler to attack with, or in your opponents turn to block with, could turn a game. When you're able to duplicate your Vehicles and crew them, that's when it gets out of hand, imagine double Aethersphere Harvester crashing in every turn plus gaining you two energy to gain six life back.

Consulate Dreadnought

It's big. Very big. Unfortunately its a bit of an "all eggs, one basket" card. You can drop it on turn one and then spend all your later turns creature the power needed to attack with this 7/11, but it gets to a point where the creatures you're using to crew it are probably better off attacking themselves or being used for other means. It does pose a threat in limited, but just make sure you can turn it on consistently.

Consulate Turret

Free energy and damage in exchange for energy. Consulate Turret could get you a lot of damage in an energy centric deck but at other times it may be being used to Improvise as three energy is quite a lot. It does power itself though which does make it worth playing in limited but only if you don't have much else.

Crackdown Construct

Crackdown Construct plays very well with the artifact creatures in the "Automaton" cycle as you have a reusable effect to use while making Crackdown Construct bigger. There are plenty of non mana abilities in Aether Revolt to make this guy pretty big turn after turn, you'll definitely like seeing multiples of Crackdown Construct in your limited pool.

Daredevil Dragster

Daredevil Dragster if the perfect Vehicle for the aggro decks as it hits hard and ends up drawing you cards. A low mana cost and even lower crew cost make this Vehicle interesting and will put a spanner in the works if left alone.

Filigree Crawler

A solid artifact creature, Filigree Crawler is the card you put in your deck after you realise you have way to many five drops and hardly any four drops. It will block and get you another guy that will probably block as well, that's not bad but its nothing to write home about. Limited all the way.

Foundry Assembler

Another meh artifact creature in the shape of Foundry Assembler. A 3/3 for five is alright but you can get 5/5's for five in green pretty easily. If you can power this guy out quick then it might be worth it but otherwise, I would give it a pass even in limited unless I had nothing else.

Gonti's Aether Heart

Gonti's Aether Heart is an interesting artifact. With the enticing promise of an additional turn, obviously you want to find ways to abuse it. However, it will only be effective if you can get that extra turn with a set up to either win or severely cripple your opponent. My fear is that with the six mana you have to put into Gonti's Aether Heart that wont leave much to set up with or play to get you the energy needed to even take the extra turn. The moment you play this it becomes a big target that most opponents will try and find an answer to sharpish. This may seem play in constructed in a very niche combo deck, but I'm not sure if this will show its head, or heart, in limited unless its a very fun deck trying to get the most out of Gonti's Aether Heart.

Hope of Ghirapur

Hope of Ghirapur is a great answer for control decks. It fits in most types of decks as its colourless and for one mana isn't asking much at all. It wont do much damage, but it doesn't need to, just one and you then have the choice to sacrifice it and keep your opponent from playing anything but creatures for the next turn, or keep it and swing in next turn. On top of stopping tricks from your opponent its also another free sacrifice to trigger Revolt and, like I said earlier it can fit into pretty much anything, so I'm sure it will see a lot of play in constructed as well as limited.

Implement of Combustion

The "Implement" cycle is a neat one. All of them sacrifice for the cost of a single coloured mana to get an effect and all have a separate effect of drawing a card when they are put into the graveyard from play. Implement of Combustion is the red Implement that, for a single red mana, pings - shoots for one - your opponent and draws you a card while doing it. These Implements will be invaluable as they all replace themselves, aid Improvise and generally have ok abilities. Don't be surprised if you see them in constructed and for sure in limited.

Implement of Examination

The blue Implement, almost typical really, draws you a card for a single blue mana, and then draws you a card when it hits the graveyard. For three mana, being able to draw two cards is nothing new, but you do get to choose when you want those two cards with Implement of Examination. The initial three mana might be a bit slow but if put in the right deck, I'm sure this Implement could be very powerful in both limited and constructed.

Implement of Ferocity

Another one drop Implement, Implement of Ferocity gives a creature a +1/+1 counter and draws you a card. The effect is fine for limited, but this is one that probably wont break into constructed, but that's also attributed to the fact that you can only sacrifice it at sorcery speed.

Implement of Improvement

Implement of Improvement is very good. You can drop it turn one and just wait until you need the two life or the card. I could easily see this in a UW control deck in constructed and it would be very annoying in multiples in limited, gaining lots of life and drawing lots of cards is quite fun.

Implement of Malice

The black Implement is another one that you can only sacrifice at sorcery speed, but it could get some fringe play in constructed just for messing with your opponents hand and getting you a card while doing it. Don't hold your breath though, even if you do get hit by one of these it probably wont do that much to hinder your plans.

Inspiring Statuary

Giving all your non-artifact spells Improvise could make a lot of your spells very easy to play if you have a lot of artifacts to tap. The best part about Inspiring Statuary is that it instantly becomes a sudo mana-rock, an artifact that can tap for mana, because it is an artifact and doesn't have any ability besides it static effect of granting Improvise. I would love to see this in constructed, even if it is in a niche deck, it looks like fun. You could probably just about get away with this in limited but it is more of a build around me card.

Irontread Crusher

A solid aggressive Vehicle. Irontread Crusher is very hard to deal with in combat and baring some artifact destruction spells, could take over a game. Its colourless so it can sit in whatever colours you have and only takes three to crew, which hopefully will be simple to hit with one creature. In limited multiples of these can be game over for your opponent as long as you can crew them, in constructed its probably too slow with no immediate impact.

Lifecrafter's Bestiary

An odd little artifact is Lifecrafter's Bestiary. The free Scry is great and the addition of the draw effect could help you immensely to get towards whatever it is you're looking for. The only problem is I cant think of a deck that wants it. Most creature based decks want to be fast which means they wont want Lifecrafter's Bestiary because it disrupts the curve with the draw ability. Most decks that do have the mana probably don't have many creatures to be casting. I would love to see a deck abuse this and in multiples you get multiple Scrys to dig through your deck, but as it stands, I don't think you will be seeing this in constructed and I'm not even sure about limited.

Merchant's Dockhand

The effect may look good, but Merchants Dockhand is bad. Its cheap and that's about all the good points, it wont do much in the sense of attacking and blocking, in addition to four mana it asks for itself and other artifacts to be tapped and all of that for one card seems a bit much. You might do some neat things in limited with Merchant's Dockhand but I don't think you'll be seeing it in constructed.

Metallic Mimic

With a name like Metallic Mimic I would have thought we'd be in for a Sculpting Steel type card. Instead we have a weird restricted anthem effect on a weak creature. Limited might be the best place for this as in constructed you want something more proactive that puts the counters on when IT comes into play not when its already in play and you have to play other creatures to get the bonus.

Mobile Garrison

A versatile Vehicle now, Mobile Garrison essentially has sudo vigilance. That's if its your only/best target when it attacks but it can also allow for some replication of tap abilities. If you have a creature or an artifact with a tap ability, you can use it, attack with Mobile Garrison and untap the creature to use the tap ability again. This neat little interaction is confined to limited as this effect isn't good enough for constructed.

Night Market Guard

Simple. Night Market Guard will probably trade up, and in the best case scenario with two creatures. If dropped early, it could get in for some damage and then sit back and become a problem for your opponent as they try to attempt to navigate this duo blocker. In multiples they could be very tricky but only in limited, this effect doesn't have much of an impact for constructed.

Ornithopter

Its Ornithopter. Its free and it fly's, if you can find a way to pump this, say for example Tezzzeret's Touch, suddenly you have a flying 5/5 that cost you three mana. Ornithopters make for great blockers and in this meta game will help with Improvise, especially for something like Metallic Rebuke, turning it into a mana leak or, if you control two Ornithopters, even better.

Pacification Array

Another early drop artifact, Pacification Ray will do a good job of holding up any opposing creatures and maybe sometimes tapping them down for you to force some damage through. It sits nicely in any deck in limited as its not expensive to cast or activate. Doesn't really do much in costructed.

Paradox Engine

A good looking combo card, but unfortunately doesn't untap your lands, so if you have a lot of mana creatures or a lot of Improvise cards and artifacts, you probably aren't doing much with Paradox Engine. Maybe you'll get somewhere with it in limited, in constructed however, it may look good, but it probably wont be as good as you think.


Peacewalker Colossus

Peacewalker Colossus is a vehicle that is alright sitting back and not being crewed at all. In fact it can do all the crewing for you. This 6/6 can hit the table on turn three and then spend the rest of the time turning you other vehicles into threats for two mana and in multiples, they can target each other to creature two 6/6's to swing in with. Obviously an absolute bomb in limited and I'm sure will have a home in constructed, especially with cards like Metalwork Colossus hanging around.

Planar Bridge

Another good looking card that may just ask for too much investment to get the pay off you want. Yes, you can get anything you want whenever you want, but it costs eight mana to do so and that's if you can find the mana and the time to cast Planar Bridge. Again, you might have some fun with this in limited, but its way too slow for constructed. Great for Commander though.

Prizefighter Construct

An aggressive artifact creature here. Prizefighter Construct costs a lot and probably wont last long, it dies to pretty much anything especially Shock. Only play this in limited if you really need a five drop.

Renegade Map

This is another great way to enable Revolt for free and it fixes your mana while doing it. Renegade Map is for those three/four colour decks in limited  that have a lot of good stuffs going on but also have a tight mana base. Probably wont get into constructed though as there are other cards that do this effect much better.

Reservoir Walker

This is your top end artifact creature. It has all the three's; Gain three life, gain three energy and its a 3/3. It probably wont shine particularly in combat but its already done its thing by entering the battlefield. Strictly limited.

Servo Schematic

Servo Schematic is the perfect card to couple with an Improvise spell. It gives you two artifacts for the price of one and, if you can find a way to sacrifice it which wont be too hard, it gives you one on the way out as well. I don't think this has a place in constructed because its kinda slow for what it does, but great in limited just because it can give you two creatures.

Treasure Keeper

More free spells. Treasure Keeper is aggressively costed and will do good work attacking and blocking and when it does you get your next card with converted mana cost three or less. Its strong and it replaces itself in some way or another, what more could you ask for. I would love to see it in constructed but I think its lack of immediate impact and kinda high mana cost will hinder that,

Universal Solvent

Universal Solvent is a long play kinda card. You drop it on turn one and then wait for the perfect target, be it the giant creature your opponent just played or that pesky planeswalker, Universal Solvent will deal with it. Definitely constructed playable and will be blowing stuff up soon I'm sure.

Untethered Express

Raging Ravine is back in vehicle form. Untethered Express takes over games, you start with a 4/4, but as soon as you can turn it sideways it becomes a 5/5 and just continues to get bigger and bigger the more you attack. With such a low crew cost, this vehicle is primed for the hyper aggressive deck that just wants to do all the damage, the mana cost of four might slow it down a bit, but I'm sure you'll see this in constructed at some point.

Verdant Automaton

The green Automaton, Verdant Automaton is another great mana sink, and this time it keeps its power toughness bonus. Ideally you want this on turn two so you can have something to do at the end of you opponents turn in those slow games, but late game is fine as well as it can easily provide the answer to a ground stall. Another creature that can take over a limited game, but not a place in constructed as its too slow

Walking Ballista

I loved Triskelion back the day and Walking Ballista is definitely on the same power level as Triskelion. Its a powerhouse in limited at all times, it dodges removal as you just shoot creatures or your opponent in response and it will be rocking constructed for the months to come. Be aware of this card as it can just be slammed late game as a 5/5 or something and wreck your entire board, or become an incrementally growing threat.

Watchful Automaton

A nice ability attached to an average creature, Watchful Automaton is good in those slower decks with the time to find what it needs. It will probably die in most combat situations but it can cycle you through your deck and maybe get a little damage in early if you're lucky.

Welder Automaton

Probably the most aggressive of the "Automaton" cycle, Welder Automaton gives you the ability to shoot your opponent for one at the end of each of their turns if you have four mana lying about. This damage can wrack up pretty quickly and the two power on turn two isn't bad either, so against those slower decks, Welder Automaton has the opportunity to do a big chunk of damage. Its not bad in the late game either as it comes down for cheap and in a ground stall if you can activate it twice, it can provide the key to victory.

And the only land worth talking about in Aether Revolt

Spire of Industry

Spire of Industry is a nice mana fixer as most decks nowadays are playing some amount of artifacts. Even if you don't have an artifact it can still give you colourless, but if needed it can be a City of Brass. Playing Spire of Industry in limited allows you to splash some cards in colors you may not be maining, but don't go to far with color splashing unless you have multiple color fixers as the cards can get bogged down in your hand and really slow your game down.

So that's been a look through Aether Revolt color by color, I hope you've enjoyed it as much as I have and maybe even seen some cool cards you want to mess about with. I'll be taking a look at Amonkhet and probably doing another set review closer to April but until then, keep checking back to Game Changers for more gaming news and updates.