Progenitus

This card has protection for negative criticism, which is good because I don't really have much of that. On the flip side though, it also has protection from positive criticism, so I can't go into detail about why it's so good. Too bad, because I had some nice things to say about it, but protection from everything prevents me from saying anything targeted at this card.

Pros: Just look at it

Cons: "Everything" means everything

Rating: 5/5

Knight of Meadowgrain

Awesome bear is awesome. A 2/2 for 2 is pretty good. A 2/2 first striker or a 2/2 lifelinker for 2 is great. A 2/2 first strike lifelinker for 2 is amazing. It's just great value for the cost you're paying. This card is very powerful and scary to be on the wrong end of. The first strike means you've got a good chance of getting through most on-curve blockers and the lifelink means you're getting a return on your investment no matter what. It's a great card.

Pros: Uber-bear

Cons: Double white

Rating: 5/5

Time Spiral Split Seconders

Angel's Grace

What can I say about this card that hasn't already been said? It's an important part of Ad Nauseam decks and it's just pretty great all around. It's also great against storm decks since they've usually only got one shot in them anyway. The only issue I have is that it doesn't completely stop life loss, so if you have no way to get to 1 life before the end of the turn, you're out of luck. Still, it's a great card.

Pros: Stops you from losing the game

Cons: Doesn't stop life loss

Rating: 5/5

Stonewood Invocation

This is the runt of the litter. +5/+5 and shroud until end of turn is great, but for four, I wish "trample" was also on this card. At common, +5/+5 tends to cost at least 6 for instant-speed (see: Explosive Growth). At rare, similar cards give trample and other such niceties (see: Titanic Ultimatum). Again, I'd like this to have trample instead of shroud. Still, it's an okay combat trick that can't really be countered.

Pros: +5/+5 and shroud at instant-speed

Cons: No evasion

Rating: 2.5/5

Sudden Spoiling

I've talked about this card here. I don't think I need to elaborate on it any more. It's amazing.

Pros: Makes a field useless

Cons: Doesn't affect any tokens on creatures

Rating: 5/5

Trickbind

Stifle's big brother. For double the cost, it really does double the work. Some permanents (like Memnarch) can recover easily from having their first activation countered, but they are stymied if they can't activate for an entire turn. For the price that it's act, you can't really get much better.

Pros: Stops and locks activated/triggered abilities

Cons: Costs 2

Rating: 5/5

Word of Seizing

This is a card that I don't see enough of. Yes, it costs two more than Mark of Mutiny and one more than Ray of Command for what people think is basically the same thing. But, it's not the same thing. Not even close. Say your opponent has spent a while getting his Domri Rade up to 7 loyalty. What would you rather in your hand: this or Mark of Mutiny? Say your opponent just dropped an Akroma's Memorial and you survived. What would you rather: Ray of Command or this? I'm not saying it's amazing (it does cost 5 after all), but it's good enough that it deserves more play than what it gets.

Pros: Steals a permanent for a turn

Cons: Costs 5

Rating: 4/5

Phyrexian Obliterator

There are no words for this card. Whenever this hits the field, all I can think of is shrieking noises and the nearest flame-producing objects. The only drawback of this is that it costs BBBB, meaning it's probably only going in mono-black decks (except for those running Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth). Otherwise, this guy is amazing to have and terrible to face.

Pros: 5/5 trampler for 4, probably not going to take any damage

Cons: Quad black

Rating: 5/5

Time Vault

This is a great example of WotC's ability to plan ahead in ye olden days. In a vacuum, this card is okay. You have to trade off a turn in order to get an extra turn later on (basically turning the game into one where each player takes two turns in a row). However, later development broke this card. Things like Clock of Omens, Captain of the Mists, Voltaic Key, and Rimewind Taskmage made it so you no longer had to skip a turn in order to untap this. As a result, it's been banned in pretty much everything it can be banned in. That's really it's only downfall: it's only playable in Vintage.

Pros: Lets you take extra turns

Cons: Vintage only

Rating: 5/5

NOTE: Props to Mark Tedin for having fun with this card's art. I really like the idea that, somewhere in the multiverse, there's a couple of aliens who do nothing but make hourglasses that keep time going.

Spoiler Tyme: The Best and the Worst

So, in apology for being away for so long (internet issues in small towns are fun), here are my top 5 and bottom 5 picks for M15.

Bottom #5: Flesh to Dust 

I have no doubt that this will be seen in Limited, but it's going to be one of those cards that you don't want too many of because of how much it costs. Outside of Limited, the only decks it'll be run in are those made by new players who don't quite understand tempo or value.

Pros: Kills a dude, prevents regen

Cons: Costs 5, no additional effect

Rating: 1.5/5

Bottom #4: Mass Calcify

I didn't like it when it first came out and I still don't like it now. One of the biggest problems in Standard right now is Elspeth, Sun's Champion and this doesn't deal with it. Control decks won't run it either since it blows up their nice guys. Also, it costs 7. The only place I see this in is a one-of in the sideboard of an Azorius control deck in case they're being raced by some weird non-white deck.

Pros: Semi-boardwipe

Cons: Doesn't kill white, costs 7

Rating: 1.5/5

Bottom #3: Research Assistant

Merfolk Looter is a good card. Merfolk Looter with a toughness boost would be a better card. Merfolk Looter with a toughness boost that costs 4 to activate is a terrible card. 

Pros: Merfolk Looter with a toughness boost

Cons: Merfolk Looter with a 4 mana activation cost

Rating: 1/5

Bottom #2: Soul of Ravnica

It's 7 mana to maybe draw 5 cards on a somewhat blue-intensive card. So, to get maximum value out of this card, you have to play a card of a different colour each turn, tap out for this, drop another land on turn 7, then tap out again to fill up your hand. And while you're in Magic Christmas Land, you will draw a Nalathni Dragon, a Shichifukujin Dragon, and three Moxes.

Pros: Card draw

Cons: Expensive card draw, really requires multicoloured cards

Rating: 1/5

Bottom #1: Carnivorous Moss-Beast

It costs seven to put a +1/+1 counter on this. SEVEN. I don't think I need to say anything outside of that.

Pros: Plant Elemental Beast

Cons: IT COSTS SEVEN TO GIVE IT A +1/+1 COUNTER

Rating: 0/5

Best #5: Nissa, Worldwaker

Ain't gonna lie, I hate Nissa Revane. I know she's good in elf decks, but I think her scope was too narrow and I don't like her. WotC seems to have gotten the message and made this version as universal as possible. She may only come in with 3 counters (which is why she's not higher on the list), but in a mono-Green deck, she costs 1. Her other plus one creates a issue that demands an answer since 4/4 tramplers can be a problem. Her ult may not directly win you the game that turn, but unanswered it will.

Pros: Potential 1-cost walker, creates tramply problems

Cons: Best in mono-green, ult lets lands get wiped easily

Rating: 4/5

Best #4: Sunblade Elf

Is this the harbinger of Naya zoo coming back into Standard? Maybe, maybe not, but it's still an awesome little creature. It's kind of like Wild Nacatl but less likely to be banned. The other nice thing about it is that it has a relevant ability in case of the game running late. A mass +1/+1 buff may not seem like much, but it's often going to leave you in a much better position in case of matched blockers.

Pros: Basically a 2/2 for 1, relevant late-game effect

Cons: Requires white, just a 2/2 for 1

Rating: 4/5

Best #3: Polymorphist's Jest

This + Circle of Flame will be hilarious. This is going to be a great trick, especially if your opponent thinks they're swinging into a large, but weak field with their creatures. I also like the fact that it changes their colour, which will nullify anthems effect like Hall of Triumph.

Pros: Turns a field into frogs for a turn

Cons: Doesn't stop any additional pumps (such as +1/+1 counters)

Rating: 4/5

Best #2: Radiant Fountain

Some of you may cry "foul" for me putting this seemingly "meh" card so high on the list, but I have my reasons. 2 life may not seem like much, but it's 10% of your initial health, so it's actually more than you think. It also comes into play untapped, which again, my not seem like much, but it keeps you on tempo and allows you to play out your curve nicely.For a land that comes in untapped and gives you an effect, is there anything else you can feasibly ask for?

Pros: Comes in untapped, gains 2 life

Cons: Doesn't produce coloured mana

Rating: 4.5/5

Best #1: Aetherspouts

This is going to be a problem and I believe it will be a bigger issue than Cyclonic Rift for a lot of decks. Why? Well, Rift costs 7 to get the full effect, this costs 5. And while Rift hits everything, it also allows your opponent to replay everything. This doesn't. If I'm swinging in for lethal with 6 creatures, I don't want to be told that I'm going to either have to spend 6 turns getting all those creatures back or never seeing some of those creatures for probably the rest of the game. At least with Rift, I may be able to throw down a couple creatures in my second main phase to try and recover from this. The only weakness of this card is that it requires the creatures to be attacking, which is something that not all creatures do, but for your mana investment, this thing is amazing. Oh, and one more thing, notice the lack of targeting, meaning is eats through hexproof and shroud quite easily.

Pros: Tucks or tops all attacking creatures

Cons: Only hits attacking creatures

Rating: 5/5

Runners-Up (Bad): Kird Chieftain, Blastfire Bolt, Vineweft

Runners-Up (Good): Ajani Steadfast, Garruk, Apex Predator; Military Intelligence 

Quickie Time!

Since I haven't been keeping the site up-to-date lately sorry about that, legal stuff going on IRL), I figure I'd put up a few quickie reviews today. 

 Guided Strike

Not a bad combat trick, especially with the cantrip. Pretty good for its cost.

Pros: Decent combat trick, cantrip

Cons: Only gives +1/+0

Rating: 3.5/5

Withstand

A bad combat trick, even with the cantrip. Pretty weak for its cost.

Pros: Cantrip, Dawnfluke

Cons: Costs 3

Rating: 0/5

Flight

Does what it says on the package. No bonuses, just flying.

Pros: Gives flying

Cons: Gives no other bonuses

Rating: 2/5

Guard Gomazoa

Pretty boss blocker. Dies too easily to removal, but is still a great chump.

Pros: Amazing blocker

Cons: Fairly removable

Rating: 3/5

Ogre Savant

A wee bit too expensive for a conditional Unsummon on a 3/2 in my opinion. Okay in Limited, but that's about it.

Pros: Unsummon of a dude

Cons: Unsummon is conditional, 3/2 for 5

Rating: 1.5/5

Black Lotus

Pretty good. Bad top deck if you have no cards in hand.

Pros: 3 mana for 0

Cons: Kind of pricey, bad top deck

Rating: 5/5

Evil Eye of Orms-by-Gore

We need more Eye creatures. Not that great since it's basically just unblockable, but locks your creatures out from attacking and it's only 3 damage. Fun to Donate.

Pros: Basically unblockable

Cons: Locks your own creatures, 3/6 for 5

Rating: 2/5

Mind Stone

This card should be an EDH staple. Why? Well, it's a mana rock that comes out fairly quickly for starters and those are pretty nice. The other reason is that it's instant-speed colourless card draw. There are other colourless cards out there that draw you cards at instant-speed (Chromatic Star and Brass Secretary are good examples), but most of them only have one use: breaking to draw a card. This little guy can be used as mana acceleration until you don't need it anymore. In short, this card is pretty awesome and I have no major complaints about it.

Pros: Taps for mana, sackable for a card, colourless

Cons: Requires a mana for card draw

Rating: 5/5

Note: The reason I picked this art? First, the Descartes quote makes this extremely classy. Second, it's a brain on a stick!

Memory Jar

Do you remember a time when you hand a full hand? This card remembers. This card us considered one of the best in Magic and I think it's pretty obvious to see why. It's massive amounts of instant-speed card advantage for you on a stick! Let's say you're late into a game and you've only got a couple cards in hand that aren't exactly that useful right now. Break this open and you've got seven brand new cards that you can use this turn whereas your opponent only gets to look sad at all the non-Instant cards she's about to lose. Some of the other "combos" that people toss around: Megrim/Liliana's Caress, Underworld Dreams, Library of Leng, and Geth's Grimoire. All in all, a stellar card.

Pros: Draw seven at instant speed, massive card advantage if used on your turn

Cons: Seals your current hand (if it exists) in exile, must discard hand at end of turn

Rating: 5/5

Swords to Plowshares

This card is pretty good I guess . I mean it's only... okay I'm not going to do the whole "this things isn't that good and I'm going to use stupid people's arguments to prove it" shtick again. This card is amazing and no one will be able to tell me otherwise. The lifegain is negligible but the exile is not. You will always gain the upper hand from using this, trust me. If you have the space and can run 4 copies of this, run 4 copies of this. Seriously. Fo' realz.

Pros: Exile for 1

Cons: Lifegain for the creature's controller

Rating: 5/5 

Akroma, Angel of Wrath

In honour of International Women's Day today, I thought I'd look at what many (myself included) see as the iconic woman of Magic. Sure, you could easily make arguments for Hanna, Ship's Navigator, Braids, Cabal Minion, or Mirri, Cat Warrior but I think that Akroma is usually the first woman people think of when they hear "women in Magic". So, is this card worthy of being the embodiment of women in Magic?

In short, yes. In long, yesssssssssssssss. This card is really great. It's fast, it hurts, and it has protection from most removal. The only real problem that I have with this card is the triple white in the cost. I'd rather see this at 7WW as opposed to 5WWW. That way, this card could show up in more than just mono-white 60-cards and white-heavy EDH decks. Other than that, this card is amazing.

Pros: Almost too many keywords, powerful
Cons:Triple white in cost
Rating: 5/5

Tarmogoyf

This is an okay card. I mean, it's no Cognivore, but it'll do in a pinch. It's a fast drop and it can get fairly powerful, but it has some problems. 

First off, there are ways to get rid of it. Good cards have no way to actually get rid of them because, if they did, they wouldn't be good. That's why cards like Norin the Wary and Progenitus are the best cards in Magic. This card has a bunch of different way to deal with it: Doom Blade, Terror, Unsummon, Vindicate, Bazaar of Wonders, and Threads of Disloyalty to name a few. If you've got a permanent that can end up in your graveyard somehow, it's a dead card because you're just going to waste mana casting it just for it to be destroyed.

Second, it has no evasion. Cards like Aven Envoy and Zodiac Rooster are better because they have some sort of evasion at least. Cards with no evasion can easily be blocked and therefore have no point in swinging, even if the opponent is going to lose a creature or two. They could have some sort of buff spell in their hand and it's not a good idea to risk losing your creature to some Typhoid Rats with Daring Leap cast on it.

Thirdly, it's not a relevant creature type. There's absolutely no support for "Lhurgoyfs" outside of the generic cards like Coat of Arms and Door of Destinies. If you don't have the tribal support for something, it's just going to stand out there on its own with no help from anything else. It won't synergize with your deck at all and you might as well be running other random cards that don't interact with anything else in your deck like Putrid Lecch or Xantid Swarm.

Finally, while this card can grow, it has a power cap. At best, this can be an 8/9 whereas something like Boneyard Wurm can be much bigger depending on how many creatures you have in your graveyard and Kodama of the Center Tree, which is dependent on the number of Spirits you.control. Also, to ensure that you're getting the most out of this card, you'll have to overload your deck with a bunch of different types of cards and make sure they end up in your graveyard.

 All in all, an alright card if you've got the spot.

Pros: Fast drop, can grow over time

Cons: No evasion, dies to removal, not a relevant creature type, power cap

Rating: 1.5/5

See how stupid some of these "that's not a good card because x" arguments can be? Seriously, this card is great. 5/5.

Kirins

Yay! Flying horseys! Before I start on each card, I want to remind people that even though these all require a Spirit or Arcane spell, there are a lot more Spirits than you probably think there are (white has 89, blue has 66, black has 86, red has 41, green has 64, and there are 2 colourless ones; not including cards with Changeling), so that won't count against them.

Bounteous Kirin

Easily the worst flying horsey. Its effect isn't that bad but the cost is way off. This should not cost 7, plain and simple. Even if it's a moderately beefy green flier.

Pros: Moderately beefy green flier

Cons: Weak effect, too expensive

Rating: 0.5/5

Celestial Kirin

As long as you limit yourself to not casting Spirit or Arcane spells with a CMC of 4, you're golden with this card. I've made an EDH around it and it's pretty fun. If only there was a 0-cost Spirit or Arcane spell I could put in there...

Pros: Wraths with regularity

Cons: Makes you want to avoid the number 4

Rating: 4.5/5

Cloudhoof Kirin

Mill can be fun, and this card is really effective at it. The only real thing I have against this is that milling itself isn't that strong usually, so you be having fun with this, but you might not be winning.

Pros: Super easy mill

Cons: Mill is weak

Rating: 4/5

Infernal Kirin

Another card that makes me want a 0-cost Spirit or Arcane spell. It's very much like Celestial Kirin in that it's pretty awesome and you have the added bonus of not needing to avoid the number 4!

Pros: Super effective control

Cons: Dies to Murder

Rating: 5/5

Skyfire Kirin

I really, really, wish they had added "that creature gains haste" to this card's effect line. It can still be fun with different sack effects or standing haste-giving effects (like Burst of Speed), but otherwise this card was really hobbled by that omission.

Pros: Temporary creature steal

Cons: Doesn't give stolen creatures haste

Rating: 2/5

The other allied colour cards (Time Spiral)

So, I didn't even realize that Strangling Soot was part of a set, but apparently it is. Time Spiral had a 5-card set where each card had a flashback cost that was an allied colour.

Ancient Grudge
So good, it got reprinted. To start, it's Shatter, which is a great card and then they added flashback for cheaper on top of it. It saves the Gruul player from needing 8 card slots to deal with artifacts by having 4 of this card.

Pros: Great value
Cons: Doesn't cost 1 both times
Rating: 5/5

Momentary Blink
Another example of a great card that got made better. Flicker was a decent card, but it didn't save the permanent in flickered because it was Sorcery speed. This card was sped-up and given twice as many uses. Its flashback cost is a little expensive, but considering the value you'll get out of it, it doesn't bother me that much.

Pros: Sped-up Flicker
Cons: Flashback cost is a bit high
Rating: 4.5/5

Mystical Teachings
An Instant-speed tutor in blue that doesn't put the card on top of the library? Awesome. An Instant-speed tutor in blue that can pull Instants or Creatures? Awesomer. It does cost a little much both times, but since it's basically an Instant-speed Diabolic Tutor (not really, but kind of) with flashback.

Pros: Instant-speed Instant/Creature tutor
Cons: Expensive
Rating: 4.5/5

Thrill of the Hunt
And, we come to the runt of the group. I really wish this card was +2/+2 or +3/+0 instead of +1/+2. It's just not that useful in most situations. At least it doesn't cost too much.

Pros: Buff
Cons: Tiny buff
Rating: 2/5

The Eventide Untappers

This set is pretty awesome, although some are much better than others.

Ballynock Trapper

Being able to tap down creatures is very important for an aggro deck and being able to do it more than once per turn is really good, Tap a dude, cast a dude, tap down another dude, swing. It can also be used defensively to lock down potential attackers. I'd have liked to have seen this at CMC 3 instead of 4 though. It comes in a turn too late for my liking.

Pros: Very repeatable blocker removal

Cons: Costs 4

Rating: 2.5/5

Cinder Pyromancer

This is the second-best out of the set. It fits in really well into a red burn deck. It basically adds an extra damage to each of your red spells. It's like a universal mini-Pyromancer's Gauntlet, only it doesn't cost 5. I would have liked it with haste, but I can't have everything I want.

Pros: Mini universal Pyromancer's Gauntlet

Cons: No haste

Rating: 4/5

Merrow Bonegnawer

Eating graveyards can be really advantageous and this card is really apt at that. However, it's not always a good effect and that really holds this card back. I think this would have done better with giving out temporary -1/-1 instead.

Pros: Really efficient at eating graveyards

Cons: Effect has limited usability

Rating: 2/5

Merrow Levitator

This card fits into the same vein as Ballynock Trapper. It essentially does the same thing, except that it can't be used defensively. It sort of removes blockers from the equation by making your creatures flying, but without the defensive capability, it's just not that great. If it cost one less, then it might be better.

Pros: Hands out flying

Cons: Only hands out flying

Rating: 2/5 

Nettle Sentinel

THIS IS NOT A DRAWBACK! This card is the star of so many green aggro decks it's not even funny. A pseudo-vigilance 2/2 for 1. There's not really another card like it. Most other 2+ power creatures that cost one have some sort of drawback (like sacking a land or creature) or are rare. The fact that is at common is ridiculous.

Pros: 2/2 vigilance for 1

Cons: Doesn't fly

Rating: 5/5

Unsummon

A staple of blue decks everywhere. This card is really great, but 99% of the time, Vapor Snag will be better since it adds a twang of damage onto a great spell. Still, if you don't care about the damage, this card will always serve you great.

Pros: 1-drop, instant

Cons: Doesn't deal damage

Rating: 5/5

Theros Gods

With the release of Theros, there is no longer just the Church of Jace for people to worship at. Now, there are 5 new gods for the masses! But which one is the best?

Erebos, God of the Dead

Being able to lock out your opponents from lifegain is a fairly nice, if not situational, effect. However, what really makes this card shine is the Greed-esque effect. Sure, it costs 2 mana instead of one, but it's indestructible Greed on a potentially 5/7! I'd say that's a pretty great card.

Pros: Indestructible Greed

Cons: Costs 2 instead of 1

Rating: 5/5

Heliod, God of the Sun

Mass vigilance for 4 is pushing it cost-wise, but considering it's indestructible, I'll let that slide. The token generation is also nice, but it's a little too expensive. I'd rather see it at Kher Keep costing of 3, but since you can attack with the tokens, it's not too bad. Basically, that's all I've got to say about this card: "it's not too bad".

Pros: Mass vigilance, token gen

Cons: Token gen is costly

Rating: 3.5/5

Nylea, God of the Hunt

Golly gee Batman! Do you mean that I can have a Primal Rage that costs twice as much with the ability to use Barkshell Blessing for 4 times as much?! Sign me up! Seriously though, this is the worst god. I don't think it's going to see much play outside of Limited/Standard and even then it's just going to be for the trample, not the +2/+2. The fact that it doesn't even give trample to itself is just another kick in the face.

Pros: Gives trample

Cons: Gives trample to everything else, secondary effect is way too overcosted

Rating: 2/5

Purphoros, God of the Forge

This is Krenko, Mob Boss' new deity of choice. This is just a great card for red. The first ability is worth it alone, but the repeatable Banners Raised effect is great too and it's worth the 3 mana. Finally, red has something to be proud of!

Pros: Shocks opponents when creatures ETB, mass buff

Cons: Argument could be made that the mass buff is too expensive

Rating: 5/5

Thassa, God of the Sea

If this isn't proof that WotC is purposefully trying to make blue the best colour ever, I don't know what is. First, this costs 3 whereas every other god costs 4. Second, the first ability doesn't require creatures to be good (black has that too, but it's usefulness can be dubious). Thirdly, its second effect makes it so your creatures connect 100% of the time. Finally, it's a 5/5 for 3. White and black have to pay 1 extra to get a 5-power god, but blue gets to be special? I hate R&D sometimes...

Pros: Scrying on upkeep, makes things unblockable

Cons: None because it's a blue card

Rating: It's a blue card, ergo 5/5