Nemesis, Part One

Gary Wise

The following is a preliminary look at the White cards in Nemesis for limited play. The list is in alphabetical order

Angelic Favor - A very solid kill spell, the Favor kills everything except the most important creatures in the environment. Stinging Barrier is immune to it, and without the use of another card, Snorting Gahr, Blockade Runner and any creature that controls the table with a tap ability is safe. Essentially, the Favor is a race winner, taking out aggressive creatures and fliers, helping you control the table 8/10

Avenger en-Dal - One of the best white cads in the set, the Avenger is a 'must kill' creature who, much like Ballista Squad, brings an opposing offense to complete stop, doing so while fitting nicely between your first turn casting of Ramosian Sergeant, and its third turn activation. Obviously very fragile at 1/1, you may want to hold it back a few turns to make sure they don't have a Barrier or Kris Mage. 8.5/10

Blinding Angel - An incredibly strong card, the only common creature in the environment that can safely block it is Fledgling Drake. If you don't have one of them or a similarly large flier, some strange sideboarding options like Crumbling Sanctuary, become viable. 9.5/10

Chieftain en-Dal - Not of much use in classic white control decks, when drafting a deck, likely WG or WR, with an aggressive mentality, this card can be very strong, especially if you have creature boosting instants like Ramosian Rally or Invigorate. 6.5/10

Defender en-Vec - Interesting that a card that looks this defensive can actually be so strong in an aggressive situation. The Defender allows an all out onslaught with creatures that would not otherwise survive while holding down your opponent's attackers with its 2/4 body. Initial attitudes towards this card have been cold, but I think it will gain popularity. 6.5/10

Defiant Falcon - Flying is a strong ability, but in an environment without many size increasing creature enchantments and a number of pingers, the extra one toughness the Ramosian Lieutenant gets makes it preferable. Nonetheless, the Falcon does have its advantages as a late game threat, and it IS still a rebel searcher, one that you'll know the strength of when you open your third pack. 8/10

Defiant Vanguard - Yet another strong White card, the Vanguard not only searches for Ballista Squad, Cho-Manno and Pious Warrior, but when it's retrieved every rebel from your deck, it trades with an attacking creature. Not quite as versatile as the Ramosian Captain, the Vanguard is nonetheless an excellent first pick. 8.5/10

Fanatical Devotion - A marginal main deck card, the devotion is very similar to Martyr's Cause except it doesn't protect its controller from direct damage. 6/10

Lashknife - It seems like this card is missing 1-2 lines of text. If you don't draft it, you don't have to play it. 2/10

Lawbringer - Which part is the bonus: the fact that this card is free, or the fact that it's a main deck color destroyer? Lawbringer can stop a Two-Headed Dragon, kill a random red creature after dealing lethal damage to an attacker or just beat down for two. The best thing about it is that by the time you open Nemesis, you'll know just how many ways to fetch it you'll have, adjusting its draftability to your deck. 7.5/10

Lightbringer - With the absence of Arc Mage, and the strength of remove-from-game effects against black's regenerators, the Lightbringer may be even stronger than its cousin. This card will be huge when two black decks meet if one is playing white, killing black creatures that can't be targeted by Snuff Out, Vendetta and Sever Soul. 7.5/10

Lin Sivvi, Defiant Hero - This card is good enough that no other white card could be given a rating of 10. Searching for less mana than any other rebel searcher, without its graveyard ability, this Legend would be merely amazing. This card may have been close to fair if they'd made the graveyard ability require it to be tapped, but at it doesn't, it isn't. 10/10

Netter en-Dal - While the Netter does fill a niche as a one casting-cost creature, the Netter doesn't do enough to really make it worth a spot in your deck. 3.5/10

Noble Stand - Most comparable to Noble Purpose, the only advantages this card has over its predecessor are that you gain the 2 life before damage and that your opponent won't be able to aggressively attack your walls. A solid card, you don't want more than 1-2 in your deck. 6/10

Off Balance - Just doesn't do enough. 2/10

Oracle's Attendants - A very solid card that will allow you to dominate combat, acting in much the same way that Crenellated Wall does while providing opposing weenies to attack. A very solid first pick. 9/10

Parallax Wave - An interesting card, the Wave will bring the race to 20 points of damage to an end, giving you a couple of turns to win the game. While it's pretty expensive at 4 mana, it's pretty versatile, also allowing you to trade fading counters for blocking creatures, phasing out your attackers after putting damage on the stack. 7.5/10

Seal of Cleansing - A very solid card, the seal isn't quite as effective as its instant cousin, but is a strong fundamental card in any deck. 7/10

Silkenfist Fighter - While 1/3 for 2 mana seems like a good deal, fast defensive creatures aren't all that good against anything except fast offensive creatures. In other words, it's pretty useless against a control deck. Its ability doesn't look like it will come into play too often, as one point just won't make enough of a difference. 5/10

Silkenfist Order - While this fatty doesn't slow down the fast attackers, it does provide a very large wall until such time that the control player is ready to get aggressive. Three points per turn is a lot of damage and when it starts piling up, the chump blockers start lining up. 7.5/10

Sivvi's Ruse - A potential breaker that can get you card advantage in the right situation, the Ruse can be solid regardless of whether your opponent is playing red. With suitable substitutes, this card probably isn't this card that high a pick, but if you draft it, you want it main deck. 7/10

Sivvi's Valor - A marginally playable card, the Valor just doesn't compare well to Orim's Cure, and the Cure gets around the table a lot of the time. 5/10

Spiritual Asylum - The hardest White card in the set to get a handle on, it seems unlikely that this card will et much play in limited - 3.5/10

Topple - Another White kill creature elimination spell that won't kill too many Stinging Barriers or Waterfront Bouncers, Topple deals with one of White's biggest problems, Green fatties. Be careful when casting it though: it can be countered by making another creature larger than your target. 8/10

Voice of Truth - The weakest of the five Voices, this one compares poorly to the other Voices for two reasons: Your playing White results in one less potential opponent doing so (In draft, not in Sealed deck), while the Protection from White ability deprives the White deck of synergy, with protective cards like Cho-Manno's Blessing and Orim's Cure being useless when trying to protect our creature. 7.5/10