I’ve jumped into Tarkir with both feet, and it’s been a blast. I have enough experience now to have an opinion on overrated and underrated cards, which illuminates what this format is about nicely. Let’s get to it!

Overrated

While this card is solid, it falls short of what most people expected from it, partially because Abzan lags behind the other clans.

I like the Dragon split cards a lot, but the Dawnbreaker hasn’t been riling much up for me. Neither mode is that impressive, and I think there are better ways to spend your mana.

Cards like this are pretty much always bad, and certainly the burden of proof is on them given that. Ringing Strike Mastery fails to do so, and most of the times I’ve seen this cast, it’s been terrible.

There are definitely decks that can use this, but you need to be good at taking advantage of the tempo it creates. I like it in Jeskai or an aggressive Temur deck, and haven’t been as impressed in Sultai control.

Some decks can manage the additional cost easily here, but most can’t, and this hasn’t impressed. Abzan being weak hurts it for sure, and overall it’s not worth building around.

Maybe this is another casualty of the Abzan deck being bad, but I’ve shooed this fly enough to not ever be interested in playing it.

This may look like a strong build-around, but the counters theme is weak enough that I’d avoid it.

While I would still play this most of the time, it’s far from a bomb, and not even better than the good commons.

This is fine, but not really worth three colors of mana. I’ve been unimpressed so far.

This is barely worth two colors, let alone three. The Brushmaster has been mediocre, and I’ve avoid playing it.

Underrated

I love this card. It’s a solid counter early without a Dragon, and if you have one, stays relevant pretty much the entire game. Dispelling Exhale is how blue decks stop themselves from falling behind, and even covers your bases against 7-drop bombs.

When I call this the blue Swords to Plowshares, I’m not even exaggerating THAT much. Fresh Start handles just about every creature, and for just two mana (at instant speed, no less).

This really is just Sphinx’s Revelation, and I rarely pass it these days. I love Bewildering Blizzard, and think it’s only time before everyone else comes around on it too.

I thought this looked pretty bad when I first saw it, but I’ve now played it in both aggressive Mardu decks and Jeskai flurry decks. I’m a convert, and now recommend taking this if you are in either of those archetypes.

The premier Mardu common is in fact good, and I see these come around way too late.

Likewise, the Leopard does the job well enough for every red clan, and I’ve not been cutting these from my deck recently.

This is my favorite green common, and it seems criminally underdrafted. Hitting land drops and enabling graveyard synergy is a lot for just two mana, and the Wayfarer is great at all of that.

I’ve been milled out by this and milled others out, leading me to conclude that the Temur mode is a real thing. You do have to build around this, but it’s worth it.

I get this 5th pick enough to mention it, since this is one of the best uncommons in the set. Mini-Lightning Helix on a stick is great, and this can even prompt a discard if there are no good targets in play.

The Grappler has been absurd for me - it’s very strong as both a combat piece and as a source of card advantage. Note that it copies anything, so all you have to do is cast this plus another spell and you are in business.

Monuments

These are all excellent, and have played way better than I expected. Pick these up early and often.

Format Summary And Clan Rating

Besides the individual cards, I want to talk a bit about the format, and where I see each clan.

Clans, in order:

Sultai

Temur

Mardu

Jeskai

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.

Abzan

I’ve been really unimpressed by Abzan, and would generally recommend not drafting it. Its themes and its cards just aren’t good, and it takes a lot to get me into Abzan.

The blue-green clans are my favorite, as the card quality is very high and the themes overlap well. I love starting with UG cards (fitting, here on the UG blog...), and then going into Sultai or Temur (or both).

Mardu and Jeskai are both solid, but not as strong as Sultai or Temur in my experience. Starting Red-White and making the jump into blue or black is a reasonable plan, and I don’t mind it if I open a Shrieker or something.

Overall, this format has been a blast. It’s not the fastest, but Mardu and Jeskai can beat down, with Temur able to rumble too. The long games are interesting, the mana is good, and I’ve been enjoying it greatly.

LSV