Ahoy planeswalkers!
With Kaladesh Prerelease fast approaching, I wanted to devote one of my posts this week to trying to give the set’s limited environment a first look. So, here’s what I’ll be doing today: I’m going to look at each of the five colors with regards to removal and their top common and uncommon creatures, and undertake the necessarily contentious project of ranking them. Given how important artifacts are poised to be to the set, I will also offer my list of what I think the five best common or uncommon artifacts are for limited play.
REMOVAL
#1 – Black (Underhanded Designs, Essence Extraction, Make Obsolete, Die Young, Subtle Strike, Tidy Conclusion)
Black has a very good set of options for removal. Underhanded Designs and Tidy Conclusion are the only mono-color unconditional removal at uncommon or common, the three damage and incidental life gain of Essence Extraction is going to hit lots of creatures, Subtle Strike is a strictly better version of the already playable Borrowed Malevolence, and Die Young offers good gameplay options, giving the choice between killing something small and storing up energy or using stored energy to kill something big. Make Obsolete is a nice anti-servo sideboard card that can also swing a combat. It’s very close for me whether black’s removal is better or red’s is; I think red, with its more efficient spells, will be better in a fast format, whereas if the format is slower, Tidy Conclusion is going to be a very good common and a key signal of black being open.
#2 – Red (Incendiary Sabotage, Furious Reprisal, Harnessed Lightning, Spark of Creativity, Chandra’s Pyrohelix, Welding Sparks, Demolish)
Red has a lot of toys, and I think the instant-speed common removal of Welding Sparks is going to be very good in this format, with so many creatures with somewhat low toughness and with vehicles looking to be one of red’s key limited synergies (potentially boosting the damage output). A Forked Bolt type spell is nice to have in Chandra’s Pyrohelix, Furious Reprisal will often be able to take down two creatures, and a red wrath effect at uncommon is intriguing. The downside of red’s removal is that much of it will not be very good versus vehicles, many of which have higher toughness (Demolish might be playable in this format, but it’s not the most exciting artifact answer Wizards could have given red), and the crew requirements are typically cheap enough that it might prove difficult to choke your opponent on creatures that can crew; green, meanwhile, looks like it’s going to be able to get its creatures big pretty quickly, and red might have a hard time in that matchup.
#3 – White (Skywhaler’s Shot, Fairgrounds Warden, Impeccable Timing, Fragmentize, Revoke Privileges)
White has some powerful spells–Skywhaler’s Shot should be one of the best removal spells in the format, Revoke Privileges can shut many powerful creatures down, Impeccable Timing can cut down a reasonable number of creatures–but on the whole, white’s removal seems to be taking a step back from the likes of Gideon’s Reproach, Isolation Zone, and Angelic Purge from the last couple blocks. The density of removal compared to red feels thin, which is why I give red the advantage. Fragmentize might be the best answer to powerful artifacts, as it can take down some quite powerful cards, both vehicle and non-vehicle, with startling efficiency.
#4 – Green (Creeping Mold, Nature’s Way, Appetite for the Unnatural, Hunt the Weak, Take Down)
All green’s removal is, as usual, conditional, and while I don’t love the high cost of green’s common removal in Hunt the Weak, it synergizes extremely well with the color’s +1/+1 counter theme. Appetite for the Unnatural should be better in limited than Creeping Mold and will be very good against the many artifacts, and Nature’s Way looks to be among the best uncommon removal spells; it may prove even more potent that Clear Shot in Eldritch Moon limited.
#5 – Blue (Aether Meltdown, Shrewd Negotiation, Aether Tradewinds, Malfunction, Select for Inspection)
Aether Meltdown is efficiently-costed and the energy it produces is a nice bonus. Aether Tradewinds is only worthwhile if you can get a good ETB effect; that said, picking up some energy or getting to re-trigger a creature with fabricate does not look like it’s going to be a difficult proposition. Shrewd Negotiation could be very powerful, especially paired with a color with a lot of Fabricate like black or white. Malfuction should be a solid removal option, much as Sleep Paralysis was in Shadows block, while Select for Inspection could be great, with its incredibly efficient mana cost and the bonus upside of getting to scry. It is my nature to prefer more permanent solutions than those blue offers–hence, this ranking–but I should note that I think white, blue, and green are all very close, much the way I found red and black to be very close above.
CREATURES
#1 – Green
Top uncommons: Armorcraft Judge, Fairgrounds Trumpeter
Top commons: Peema Outrider, Thriving Rhino, Kujar Seedsculptor
Rollicking Rosewaters, can I just play green forever? The uncommons are very good–I can see cases for Longtusk Cub and Arborback Stomper as top green uncommon, and Elegant Edgecrafters and Ghirapur Guide both have the potential to be very strong too. The +1/+1 counter theme is very strong in green and has extra support from white and black, so I expect Armorcraft Judge to be a very powerful card. Fairground Trumpeter starts off undersized, but it can get a lot of incidental boosts with all the Fabricate running around, to say nothing of the other spells that place +1/+1 counters. With servo tokens running around, trample seems likely to be important, and Peema Outrider as a 4/4 trample for four mana is apt to be a pretty powerful threat. Thriving Rhino has a good body as an energy-sink, and Kujar Seedsculptor has some nice flexibility (able to land as a 2/3 on turn two or bolster a more serious threat later in the game) and, again, works well with green’s +1/+1 counter theme.
#2 – White
Top uncommons: Aerial Responder, Wispweaver Angel
Top commons: Glint-Sleeve Artisan, Propeller Pioneer, Aviary Mechanic
Aerial Responder seems poised to be one of the most sought-after uncommons in the set, while the 4/4 flying angel promises to be a powerful finisher who can also generate extra value off of white’s fabricate subtheme. Consul’s Shieldguard also offers a quite powerful effect at uncommon along with a reasonable body, as does Fairgrounds Warden‘s pseudo-removal. Aviary Mechanic is fine early and can help you re-trigger Fabricate creatures or boost a Ninth Bridge Patrol late, while Glint-Sleeve Artisan and Propeller Pioneer are reasonable value creatures for their cost who come with the upside of choice via Fabricate.
#3 – Black
Top uncommons: Aetherborn Marauder, Ovalchase Daredevil
Top commons: Dhund Operative, Lawless Broker, Night Market Lookout
Black has aggressive creatures that frequently have quite nice upside. Aetherborn Marauder synergizes really nicely with black’s Fabricate subtheme and demands an immediate answer, or else its evasion and lifelink will take the game over. Ovalchase Daredevil might prove to be deceptively powerful–a 4/2 can trade with a lot, and it comes back to your hand any time you Fabricate or play an artifact card. Dhund Operative has an average body that becomes very good if you have an artifact in play, and the threat of deathtouch can hold back some of your opponent’s big threats or make them use removal on a two-drop. Lawless Broker has a solid, aggressive body for three mana with the upside of hopefully trading and then making one of your other threats more dangerous. I might be overrating the card, but Night Market Lookout looks like a potentially great card within this set, especially for a vehicles deck–Vampire Envoy in Oath of the Gatewatch showed how powerful this kind of effect can be, although it is attached to a rather fragile body in this case.
#4 – Blue
Top uncommons: Glint-Nest Crane, Long-Finned Skywhale
Top commons: Gearseeker Serpent, Vedalken Blademaster, Wind Drake
Blue looks to be reliant upon evasion to get the win, and it has a couple of good, evasive beaters in the Skywhale and the Gearseeker Serpent (which is reasonably-priced if you have one artifact in play and a bargain if you have two or more). A Wind Drake tends to be a fine creature that can chip in some solid damage (see Dawn Gryff in Eldritch Moon limited), and Vedalken Blademaster has an average body with nice potential upside from Prowess. Glint-Nest Crane offers potential card advantage and better knowledge of what cards you might draw and is a 1/3 flyer for two, which would already be a solid rate without the upside of generating potential card advantage.
#5 – Red
Top uncommons: Quicksmith Genius, Maulfist Doorbuster
Top commons: Spireside Infiltrator, Reckless Fireweaver, Salivating Gremlins
This is the least certain I’ve been of my picks, and I can see a case for Brazen Scourge and Wayward Giant to be included here; however, I also think they’re a notch below the top commons and uncommons in other colors. It’s very easy to find too many lands in limited, which can make Quicksmith Genius’s ability very valuable. Maulfist Doorbuster gives an energy boost and has a useful ability that will force your opponent to either remove it or play off their back foot for a little bit. Spireside Infiltrator has a reasonable body and a good ability for crewing vehicles, while Reckless Fireweaver and Salivating Gremlins have reasonable bodies, good synergies with vehicle decks, and outstanding synergies when paired with Fabricate creatures.
TOP FIVE ARTIFACTS
Late game mana-sinks that give you an edge over your opponent tend to be quite good in limited. I think I’ll feel better about any deck I build that has access to this card.
Goes best in: green, where you can get maximum value off of the +1/+1 counter synergies and will probably find a use for the extra energy.
Four our of five colors have reliable ways of making servos or thopters at common. Chief of the Foundry is going to make any go-wide strategy a whole lot better.
Goes best in: white, which has the most ways of getting servos into play (as well as having several good ways to retrigger enter-the-battlefield effects).
A one-drop equipment that can equip for free can give a nice tempo advantage in the early game and help give your creatures an edge in the late game, and every color has at least a few artificers at common or uncommon. (Tom Ross, who I naturally admire since he just took 8Rack to a top-eight finish at Star City Games Orlando, also has this card fingered for standard, and I think he might be right.)
Goes best in: white and green, surprisingly, have the highest concentration of artificers at common and uncommon; an early pair of goggles can put white’s artificers nicely ahead of curve or make green’s already big creatures even more imposing. It looks like it will be possible to prioritize artificers in any color, so Inventor’s Goggles could do a lot of work for a lot of people in this format.
With all of the tokens that might be running around, trample is going to be a very relevant ability. The ability to attack with a 5/4 trample on turn four (or three, if you have Speedway Fanatic) is going to be relevant, and the trample means this card works especially well with such combat tricks as Built to Last and Rush of Vitality.
Goes best in: red. Many of red’s creatures have nice abilities, but their bodies don’t feel like they match up well with some of the other colors. Red is also, however, the color with the most vehicle synergies, so I suspect that relying on vehicles is going to be crucial for a lot of red decks in this format.
Woodweaver’s Puzzleknot/Glassblower’s Puzzleknot
Let me start by saying that it’s very possible that I’m underestimating vehicles, and that maybe Ballista Charger or Bomat Bazaar Barge should be on this list. That said, I like the puzzleknots that give energy a lot. Scry can be a huge edge in the late game, while incidental life gain plus green’s strong energy theme make these the two best puzzleknots by a large margin in my opinion.
Best in: green and blue, clearly.
Honorable Mention: Ovalchase Dragster in white. White has two creatures that can make this card terrifying: Consul’s Shieldguard can make it indestructible, while Gearshift Ace can give it first strike. Both make the vehicle’s one toughness far less of a liability, and if you can get in multiple attacks this card, that can make your opponent’s day quite unpleasant.
What do you think? What am I underrating? What am I overrating? Just how wrong am I? Comment if you feel moved to do so–I’m curious what folks think!
Behold, Planeswalker! 
I feel like some of your color evaluations are off because many of them are cards that enable additional value from other cards. In those cases I would always weigh the card being enabled higher than the enabler. An example in green being the Armorcraft Judge. On a blank board he has no value other than being a 3/3 for 4 which just isn’t good enough. Armorback Stomper on the other hand is always relevant. 5/4 trample for 5 seems good, then you add 5 life gain to it for fun. It’s like a mini Pelakka Wurm.
I feel like you missed some of the most important artifacts in limited.
Prophetic Prism is an amazing fixer, adds to your artifact count for some of the cards that count that, and even cantrips. This will be a staple in midrange and late game oriented decks allowing splashes for powerful bombs.
Whirlermaker is another great engine that cranks out a 1/1 flyer every turn in late game. This provides a lot of fodder to block vehicles, crew vehicles, or just get in for growing amounts in the air. It’s slow, but I see lots of ways to generate beefy X/4s on turns 2 and 3 in this format. It’s a card that will require an answer in many cases or you will lose to it.
The puzzle knots you picked out I think are really mediocre. The green puzzle knot I think it the worst one. Green and blue have lots of ways to generate energy even at 2 mana. I counted 4 creatures, 1 sorcery, and 1 enchantment which are all playable that generate 2 or more energy at 2 mana or less. The blue puzzle knot is arguably mediocre due to the ability to scry 2 twice off it. The life gain from the green one however only serves to put you behind on board.
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Hi Shoe! Thanks for popping in with such a long, thoughtful response!
You’re right that I missed the boat badly a few times here, and the puzzleknots were particularly egregious. As I’ve been practicing building sealed decks on magicdrafting.com, I’ve also found I usually can’t convince myself to play the Fabrication Module because it competes with vehicles and removal for non-creature slots, and it feels like it’s going to be a moderately fast format (I’ve been building a lot of curves that end at 5, with several decks tempting me to play 16 lands instead of the usual 17).
Likewise, I agree I should have had Stomper as a top uncommon. I think you’re right in general that I went a little overboard looking for cards with synergy-based power. That said, I still think Armorcraft Judge is #2 in green because I think this is going to be a pretty synergistic format. I also don’t think it’s going to be that hard to get value off of the judge–green, white, and black all have a lot of ways to get +1/+1 counters into play. The judge doesn’t have the guaranteed value of Cloudblazer, but I think it will end up offering that kind of value more often than not.
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