Modern Musings: Guilds of Ravnica Spoiler Review Part 1

Hey everyone! Welcome to another Modern Musings!  This week I’m going to look at all the juicy spoilers that we have so far and pick out the cards that I think will best fit into Modern.  As always, I’m going to be ignoring reprints that already exist in Modern, so no shocklands will be on this list.  Let’s get to it!

I figured that we’d start off with what I think is pretty incontrovertibly the best card in the set for Modern.  I’d be very surprised if you haven’t already seen this card somewhere already.  It warrants note that this card is absolutely nuts.  If you’ve every played against Path to Exile, then you know that the drawback for this card is definitely worth the upside.  The fact that this also hits lands means that you can hit your opponent’s crucial lands while also taxing their mana base if you’re also running things like Field of Ruin or Ghost Quarter.  I think that this card alone will revive Jund and Abzan and make them far more resilient than they were before.

A second side note about this card hitting lands is that if is truly prolific, it could very well push Tron into tier 2 territory.  This will be especially true if it’s combined with Ghost Quarter or Field of Ruin.  I cannot stress enough that having the ability to destroy any permanent for 2 mana is pretty absurd.  This card should see heavy play across multiple formats.

While most cards are going to look a little bland when compared with the powerhouse that is Assasin’s Trophy, but Beast Whisperer is not to be underestimated.  Once upon a time, Elf Combo was considered the best deck in Extended and prompted the banning of Glimpse of Nature, and while 4 mana is a steep price to pay for this effect, when used in tandem with Beck // Call, we might get a pretty close approximation to the once overpowered Elves deck.

Goblin Cratermaker is, I think, the second best card we’ve seen so far in the set and makes Goblin Legionnaire look a bit like a chump.  His first ability is already pretty good, killing a good number of problematic creatures in Modern.  But his second ability is absurd.  Having the ability to destroy an Arcbound Ravager or a Krark-Clan Ironworks, on an activated ability of a creature with a relevant creature type is quite powerful.  Heck, he can even blow up Eldrazi or an Ugin, the Spirit Dragon.  Wizards has really been pushing Goblins in Modern the past couple of sets, and this plus the new Rabblemaster makes me wonder how close Goblins really is to being a viable deck.

March of the Multitudes is probably not modern playable, as Secure the Wastes exists and is probably better in most ways.  However if you have three creatures of the corresponding colors, you can cast this for just X, and surprise your opponent with a bunch of lifelink blockers or a big/lethal attack if you cast it on their end step.

Mausoleum Secrets is the first cheap tutor we’ve gotten in a while and it’s also probably one of better ones.  When looking at conditional tutors like this, It’s important to look at the worst case scenarios first.  What if this card tutors for zero?  What can you get?  Living End, Ancestral Vision, and Restore Balance come to mind first, which could breathe new life into the As Foretold decks.  The fact that this is instant speed really makes me think that this could be quite good a few decks.  Decks that run Goryo’s Vengeance I think will be taking an especially hard look at this card as a way to smooth over their inconsistency.

This card I’m a little less sure on how effective it will be in Modern, as you need a whopping 6-7 creatures in your graveyard before he’s a reasonable cost.  However, his effect is pretty nice, returning a land from the graveyard to the battlefield.  This is actually just pretty good value with something like Horizon Canopy or Field of Ruin.  It could even combo with something like Crypt of Agadeem, a card that saw some Standard play, and then faded into obscurity.  I’ll be interested to see if this guy makes any waves.

The last card that we have for today is Runaway Steam-Kin.  It seems that the Izzet guild is continuing with the theme of wanting to cast a lot of spells.  While this card could probably fit into Storm, It effectively gives the same amount of mana that a Baral, Chief of Compliance or Goblin Electromancer gives you in that deck, so I’m not sure we’ll see a replacement there.  That being said, there might be some other kind of red deck that could abuse this, maybe even with Hardened Scales.  Upon writing this I realize that this would probably be a pretty good addition into the Nivmagus Elemental that floats around.

Anyway, that’s all the spoilers for this week. Guilds of Ravnica is shaping up quite nicely, and I can’t wait to see the rest of the set!