Wilds of Eldraine set is finally out, and I would like to share my opinions on which cards I think are going to make a splash in Leviathan decklists.
Honestly looking at the full cards from the regular set + commander, I don’t see many cards that I think will see a lot of play, let alone be staples for Leviathan decks. Most likely this set will have a smaller impact than the previous set did.
With that said, in every set there are always at least some cards that will be good additions to certain decks/archetypes, and Wilds is no exception to that.
Let's get started with a few honorable mentions in my view
Honorable Mentions
I don't think this iteration of Ashiok is anything special, but since Wizards said that we will only be having one Planeswalker per set I feel like I should mention all planeswalkers in the reviews since it will be more of a rare card type going forward.
Ashiok, Wicked Manuipulator does have some very unique effects though, in particular the static ability that lets you exile cards from your library instead of paying life. This could be as simple as activating a Polluted Delta or going crazy with a Bolas Citadel. In commander games where the library is 99 cards, exiling your whole deck should be a small concern, so I am sure some cool interactions and combos will come up for this planeswalker.
Another pretty neat ability is the -2. Usually Token generation in planeswalkers is limited to one token per activation, but this makes two tokens with growth potential, while staying at a healthy 3 loyalty, even being able to activate for two more tokens the next turn.
I don’t know which commander this planeswalker might find a home on, but I'm eager to see how players can try to break it.
So this Viper is an inefficient bounce spell attached to a baby Eidolon of the Great Revel. Nothing busted here, but I can see some aggressive Blue-Red shells could try to make use of the extra value, such as Ghyrson or Balmor. Pretty neat card.
There are not many aura focused decks in the Leviathan reports around the world. Probably the most common one would be Light-Paws, which does not include green. But this card seems to have a high ceiling in the right deck, becoming up to a 10/10 trampler for only 2 mana. Maybe this set role mechanic could push an aura deck into the Leviathan spotlight, we already got a few examples of Sythis deck being pretty strong.
A quick side note before I go to the next 2 cards in the honorable mentions.
I’ll be honest. None of the legends from this set caught my eye the same way that, for example, Aragorn, King of Gondor did from Lord of the Rings. Aragorn is already seeing a good amount of play and results in Leviathan reports, and I am not expecting the same from any legends from this set (maybe the Leviathan brewers will prove me wrong).
Even if that is the case, I still would like to cover at least the couple legends I liked the most from the set. Hence the next two cards here:
I think Ellivere is a strong card. For anyone that has played against any type of Boggles/Auras deck before, you know how strong All That Glitters effects can be, and this lady puts a role that replicates this effect on ETB and attack.
The added card advantage when your enchanted creatures deal damage is also nice, and can help mitigate the inevitable card loss you will get when your critters get removed while enchanted.
Is this going to be an all-star? I don't think so, but I think it will be a decently good deck if built right and probably very fun to play.
I am really cheering for an Adventure tribal deck to be good in Leviathan, and if there is a chance for that it would be with this Giant lady.
The body is decently sized, as a 4/4 trample for 4 mana, and the adventure side of this card can probably be counted as a draw 2 or 3 cards if the density of adventure cards is right. Having a draw 3 instant in the command zone could be interesting for a midrange deck.
We also got some frequently used adventure cards in Leviathan, such as Bonecrusher Giant // Stomp or Brazen Borrower // Petty Theft. Most of the new set Adventure cards are not as good, but having some card advantage and cost reduction on the Command Zone might push them to be playable.
I don't have very high hopes, but the concept is interesting and maybe I would be willing to give it a shot in a future KrakenFest.
Ok I will admit, I only added Quick Study here as a venting mechanism. I remember back in 2012 playing UW Control in Modern and praying to the gods that an instant speed divination be printed. Well, here it is… just 11 years too late.
Today we have cards such as Archmage’s Charm and Flame of Anor which do this effect in a much more flexible way, so even the more dedicated “draw-go” controls decks will probably not use Quick Study. A shame… Now I will be waiting for our 2 mana draw 2 instant in 2033, when it is once again irrelevant.
Heavy Hitters
This is currently the most expensive card of the set, and in my opinion the best card from WOE for most formats including Leviathan. Using it as a 4 manas tutor to hand is obviously much weaker than other similar options (looking at you DT), but if your deck can consistently play it with the Bargain cost it becomes an incredibly versatile card. Just from the top of my head I can think of The One Ring, Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, or Damnation depending on the situation you are in.
If you are playing a multicolored deck the range increases, just remember that triple back casting restriction.
Overall I think this card will do some pretty good work, and it is a good push towards mono black, or heavy black decks in the format.
This card is worse than Craterhoof Behemoth just because green is a better suited color for the ramp and tutors required for this type of card. Even so, this effect is a very strong game closer, and I would say with the pass of time and new cards being printed it is inevitable that we will get more ways of accelerating/cheating this into play and winning on the spot.
From the Virtue cycle, I believe this might be the one that will see some play in monored and spellslingers. Not because burn decks are actively looking to play a 5 mana card advantage enchantment, but because it can replace any lower tier burn spell from the deck and provide some great gas in the late game, transforming all of your burn spells into great card advantage engines, that find more card advantage as you cast them. I think it is a pretty easy inclusion as a 2 damage card with upside.
Black and White virtues from this same cycle might also see some play as well.
I really like this card. 3/2 body trample for 2 mana provides decent pressure for midrange decks trying to get on the board early, and the interaction between not dying to any non-exile removal is great when you are trying to grind out opponents.
I can also see this card being a good value engine with sac outlets, though it is a pretty slow one at that.
Ok, conflicting feelings on this one. For one side this card lacks the usual indestructible clause, which is good as it gives insurance against wrath effects. On the positive note, granting a permanent +1+1 and ward 1 is really nice.
Only those that played versus Raffine decks can know how annoying that ward 1 can be. This could be leveraged in decks that care about enchantments, or Wilson variants replacing another protection effect.
The Restless Ox is here to represent the whole land cycle. These enemy colored lands are much better than their Baldur’s gate counterparts.
Each of them have a cheaper activation cost and a useful attack trigger. The Bivouac in particular might be a good fit (if entering tapped can be tolerated) in Winota decks, as it is a non-human with a cheapish activation of 3 mana.
This cycle is a bit more on par with the power level of the original worldwake manlands, which I think is really welcome to the format. These are not an auto-include in any deck, but are versatile enough that we will see them playing once in a while.
Finishing thoughts
As I mentioned in the intro, this set has a lower power level and with that I believe the picks for best cards become less obvious (like orcish bowmasters) and more subjective. That is why I fully expect that there will be a lot of different opinions as to which cards are best, or not good on this set.
All discussions and comments are welcome, just make sure to be respectful of others even if you disagree on something.
I hope to hear from you readers, which cards from this set caught your eye? Are you testing with any of them?
See you all next time !