Planeshift Limited Review: Blue Gary Wise Ok, the UB half of UBR took a bit of a hit with Planeshift. Where before we were getting a third pack full of Excludes, Probes, Squadrons and Repulses, those powerhouses are now replaced with cards like Hunting Drake, Confound and Raging River, all of which are very strong, but also much more situational. Fortunately, where UB slipped a little, WU gained. Where before WU couldn't keep up, with Confound being joined by Pollen Remedy as two of the best tricks in the set, you suddenly have a deck that is very capable of holding down the ground while winning in the air. What does this mean? Well, frankly, where blue was at one time a color you only wanted as your base when playing it with black, now it can work with either of its neighbors. This means that with your early blue selections comes versatility in your options that didn't exist before Planeshift entered the environment. When drafting blue, be careful to get enough attackers for your deck. Both BU and UW are steeped in manipulative spells that allow for a high degree of control, but without some way to beat your opponent, it's only a matter of time until they top-deck their way out of the unwinable board situation. That's too much stress for a 5 round tournament, let alone a 17 round one. Commons Arctic Merfolk Standing on its own merits, this card is not one you want in your deck, but there are some things that could change that. If you have a couple of Hunting Drakes or other creatures with strong coming into play effects, the Merfolk is suddenly capable of earning its keep, either trading (albeit in a temporally inefficient manner) with a bear or turning into card advantage later on thanks to the Drake, Flametongue Kavu or whatever other trick is available. Don't drafts these over anything you consider to be consistent. Confound This card I like. I said a lot about what this thing could do in the Planeshift previews, but I think I underestimated how powerful it was. Back then, I said that it was a 5th-7th pick, but considering the caliber of the rest of the blue commons in the set, it should definitely be going earlier than that most of the time. Countering everything from Pollen Remedy to Barrin's Spite for card advantage at an efficient cost, Confound is a card that you definitely want in your blue decks, though you should probably try to avoid going above two. Escape Routes There are many creatures that you really want to be able to return to your hand for repeated use of their coming into play abilities. Unfortunately, the Routes can't target the best of them, Flametongue Kavu and Hunting Drake. An interesting card, the big problem here is that fact that Escape Routes costs so much to activate. Yes, it can totally solidify the table and its very cool with Ravenous Rats or Tidal Visionary, but more often than not you won't want it in your deck, with the six mana needed for its first activation being too much to keep up with those fast bear decks. Hunting Drake The second best of the commons listed here, against the occasional deck, the Drake is a mere 2/2 for 5, but more often than not it's a Time Walk that leaves a 2/2 flier in its wake. Capable of destroying opposing creature enhancements like Armadillo Cloak, the only argument against the Drake goes that against UW, WB or UBW decks, the Drake is a liability, potentially returning your own creatures and only providing a 2/2 flying body for five. Fortunately, in this environment, there are cards like Tidal Visionary and Sway of Illusion that can correct such problems, so the Drake is not only always a main deck card, it's a very high pick as well. It's especially important to get one in your UB decks, where it can trade with a Llanowar Knight, and combined with Cavern Harpy, this thing can get ludicrous. Rushing River Probably the third best common in Planeshift, Rushing River provides a huge time advantage at instant speed for the affordable cost of 2 ManaBlue Mana and, if you desire, sacrifice a land. The key here is the sheer number of applications that make the River useable. Kill a creature enchantment, remove two blockers, slow down your opponent's offensive, protect your creatures from kill, set up Exclude, remove unwanted Enchantments and artifacts from play... the list goes on and on. Essentially, what I'm saying is take it and then take it again. The more the merrier. Sea Snidd Ok, first off, let me say that I'm not a fan of 3/3 creatures for 5 without evasion-based abilities. That said, there a number of reasons that having the Snidd in your deck isn't the worst thing in the world. First and most obvious is that it provides a 3/3 body in a color that lacks large bodies. Add to that the fact that it's very easy on the mana and can help diversify it once its in play. Throw in the potential to color screw opponents and allow Vodalian Serpents to attack and you have a card that you shouldn't be picking high that can find a place in your deck. Sisay's Ingenuity The color alteration ability is an important one in this format. Despite the fact Tidal Visionary is a 1/1 for 1 and as a result is extraordinarily vulnerable and virtually useless in combat, it is generally regarded as a very solid card that should make it into every blue deck. Instead of the 1/1 body, the Ingenuity draws its caster a card, which is probably better than the 1/1 body, but the issue here is the high activation cost of the Ingenuity. The result of that activation cost is that this card should really only be played when either a) you're short on cards and want a mana efficient cantrip to help get you to your bombs or b) you have a lot of color-based abilities in your own deck that will flourish with the Ingenuity's color manipulation. Sleeping Potion This card is better than people think. Sure, against the prototypical GW deck, it dies to an Apprentice or the like, but against RB it's effectively a two casting cost, 10th pick creature kill spell. Very simply, very few cards in the RB and UB decks actually target without being used up, so the Potion does its job either by removing the creature in question or trading for a higher pick than itself. Try to avoid main decking it, though if you manage to draft an aggressive blue deck, it isn't a horrible to remove that crucial blocker. Strormscape Familiar These are going to start sounding awfully repetitive. Like the other Familiars, the importance of this card relies almost solely on the other cards in your deck. When compared to the other Familiars, this one stacks up pretty well, with the fact it flies boding well in addition to the fact that its ability lends itself particularly well to White and Black creatures. Don't pick it over solid creatures or creature kill, but it'll usually be decent in your deck. Uncommons Allied Strategies Its amazing mow much difference the potential for one card makes. It seems pretty apparent that you wouldn't play a 5cc sorcery that draws two cards, but throw in that extra card and it makes all the difference in the world. Obviously best in a five color deck, Allied Strategies could be the center of as thesis on time management vs. card advantage, but in any deck that reliably gets three basic land types into play, it's a worthwhile addition. Ertai's Trickery I like this card for the fact that allows you to counter a big spell as your opponent plays it in the same turn that you cast a big spell of your own. At a mere one mana, the Trickery will almost without fail have a use against all comers, the question is whether they draw their kicker cards while you have the Trickery and vice versa. Not optimal for your main deck, its definitely a viable sideboard option against all those Pouncing Kavus, Magma Bursts and Probes out there, and if you're short a card for your main deck, you could do worse. Gainsay This one's simple. Obviously strong against any deck with blue spells and obviously weak against any deck without them. Barring the remote possibility you get five Blind Seers, you'll want this in your sideboard, but once there, it'll do wonders for your mirror matches. Shifting Sky This card is interesting. Allowing your gaters to come into play without gating, protecting your non-black creatures from Banish effects or nullifying opposing Acolytes, the Sky is a card that can really hose important individual cards and that you should therefore try to get for your sideboard. Stormscape Battlemage So what we have here is a Dark Banishing that recurs itself with the help of Cavern Harpy and which is capable of killing Obsidian Acolyte, all the while leaving a 2/2 body behind. Sounds good to me. Yes, the white ability is a decent one, but the WU mage will never get this guy, as the UB player will value it much higher. Of course, if you can pay both kickers, you have an ongoing loop with the Harpy that actually sees you gain life in the process of eliminating opposing creatures, but let's not get greedy. The Nekrataal effect should do just fine. Rares Dralnu's Pet When I first saw this card, I thought it would be amazing, but I was quickly disappointed. Banishable, bounceable and expensive, the Pet is hard to cast thanks to the Blue ManaBlue Mana in its casting cost and the Black Mana in its kicker and if dealt with becomes a huge liability. This is not to say it isn't playable as a Grey Ogre who occasionally gains flying and size, but you're playing a luck-based game when you cast this with the kicker, so you'll probably want to stick to skill. Planar Overlay A very interesting card, the Overlay just doesn't seem to measure up in limited play. It could conceivably be a good sideboard card against those Harrow decks that get one and only one of each basic land type in play, but other than that, you probably won't want to be running this unless you have too many Warped Devotions in your deck. Planeswalker's Mischief The only reason I can think of to play this is to give your opponent a headache reading all that text. Such tricks are beneath you, don't bother trying. Sunken Hope Another powerful limited application card, Sunken Hope could be good with a high number of coming into play effects but more often than not, you won't want to be trying it. That said, Ravenous Rats and other bounce should be excellent here, as is Hunting Drake, Flametongue Kavu or any other such card, so give it a try before you automatically put it in the board. Waterspout Elemental Well, at least the set has one powerhouse rare in blue. Like the 3/4 flying body wasn't enough, the Elementals kicker ability is a lot more useful than people realize. The first time I played this card, I had a Voice of All in play holding off an 8-creature army while my opponent was at 4. I attacked for 2, cast the 'spout with kicker, cast the Voice again and said 'go'. After my opponent took his two turns, I won the game. You won't always want to kick this little thing, but there will be situations where that Wash Out ability is definitely a winner.