As of now, 262/301 cards in Shadowmoor have been spoiled by the good folks over at MtgSalvation (http://mtgsalvation.com/shadowmoor-spoiler.html). Thumbs up to them.
Well, many people are going for the prerelease this Saturday, so they can have a chance to try out the new cards and own people with them. Or get owned. Since we would all prefer the former, here's some Shadowmoor advice for those who are not mugging.
In terms of bombs, Shadowmoor has A LOT. And I mean a lot. The number of really good commons, unfortunately, has decreased compared to Lorwyn, but there are a huge number of "dragons" (6 mana evasion board-controlling fatties) and game-winners to look out for. Keep an eye out for them
, they should be quite obvious even to the untrained eye.
But first, good commons...
WHITE
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| Creature - Kithkin Soldier |  |
First strike
Ballynock Cohort gets +1/+1 as long as you control another white creature. |
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| 2/2 |
Yeah, this one is pretty obvious if you're playing white. 3 mana 3/3 first strike is far better than any other common white got in Lorwyn (Springjack Knight anyone?) and this is a very solid creature to drop. Even if you don't control another white creature it's still better than a Grey Ogre. Safe. Not a firstpick obviously, but you should be picking this high at your second and third pack if you're going white.
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| Instant | |
| Prevent all damage target attacking or blocking creature would deal this turn. If that creature is black or red, destroy it. |
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This might actually be worth maindecking due to Shadowmoor's hybrid theme. Even if a player is going blue or green chances are he has some creatures with a red or black mana symbol at the top-right hand corner. Which means this is as good as a white Terror. If the guy's going monowhite, bad luck for you, but you can still use this to save your creature or save yourself from an alphaswing. Not bad by any means.
BLUE
Briarberry Cohort
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| Creature - Faerie Soldier | |
Flying
Briarberry Cohort gets +1/+1 as long as you control another blue creature. |
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| 1/1 |
Blue finally gets a solid creature. Amazing. Uh, Avian Changeling is good. This is potentially better. Anything else?
Cerulean Wisps
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| Instant | |
Target creature becomes blue until end of turn. Untap that creature.
Draw a card. |
Not a joke! This is a 1 mana untap cantrip, which is a decent combat trick. You can use it for the cantrip if you're desperate as well. Not a first pick (obviously) but I really think this is a decent card.
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| Sorcery | |
Draw two cards, then discard a card.
Conspire (As you play this spell, you may tap two untapped creatures you control that share a color with it. When you do, copy it.) |
Card draw is useful. This obviously doesn't have the power and versatility of Mulldrifter (and it doesn't even come close to Mulldrifter) but Conspire makes it very good when you have an empty hand and the board is stalled. The discard isn't really a problem, as in Limited you always have 23rd cards to drop. If only this was instant...
BLACK
Aphotic Wisps
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| Instant | |
Target creature becomes black and gains fear until end of turn.
Draw a card.
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The black counterpart. Evasion is ALWAYS good in limited. This one will be picked higher than the blue one, simply because fear > untap. Now you can power through a Isleback Kraken, or something. -.- It'll never be a dead card, at any rate.
Gloomlance
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| Sorcery | |
| Destroy target creature. If that creature is green or white, it's controller discards a card. |
Unconditional removal is GOOD. Weed Strangle v2.0. Judge for yourself how highly you value Weed Strangle. Maindeck this... but bear in mind it's no Violet Pall and should be treated as an inferior cousin. Oh, and sideboard this out faster than you throw Bog Hoodlums to the scrapheap if you find that your opponent is using Wilt-Leaf Liege. Ok, just kidding.
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| Creature - Elemental Warrior | |
| Wither (This deals damage to creatures in the form of -1/-1 counters.) |
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| 2/1 |
Very, very solid two-drop. In a set of high-toughness creatures with Persist, Wither has the potential to play a very big part in deciding the life and death of a rare 6cc creature. Wither is a very big deterrent to attacking to force a chump-block - usually it's a creature destroyed, now it's a creature destroyed and your 6/6 looking decidedly more vulnerable at a 4/4. Unfortunately 2 power + Wither creatures aren't very common at common (haha). This is probably one of the best.
RED
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|  |
| Sorcery | |
Burn Trail deals 3 damage to target creature or player.
Conspire (As you play this spell, you may tap two untapped creatures you control that share a color with it. When you do, copy it and you may choose a new target for the copy.) |
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Best common in the damn set. Period. This has the potential to kill two creatures on the other side, kill a single fattie, or even finish the other guy off by doing 6 to the dome. No other spell in Shadowmoor (as yet) has this versatility. The power of this is absolutely amazing. The Mulldrifter of Shadowmoor. Firstpick! Firstpick! FIRSTPICK!
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| Enchantment - Aura | |
Enchant creature
Enchanted creature has " : This creature deals 1 damage to target creature or player." |
A pinger is useful in Limited. Pity this isn't on legs. Puts your opponent on a 20-turn clock o0, and makes creature in question a 3/2 rather than a 2/2 when it's blocking. Deterrence, at least. And it's very gay on an untapper (duh).
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| Instant | |
| Puncture Bolt deals 1 damage to target creature. Put a -1-/1 counter on that creature. |
| Cinder pyromancers count their success by counting their enemies' smoking holes. |
This is worse than Lash Out (1 less damage, no possibility of extra damage to the head) but Lash Out was so good in limited anyway that this still makes the list. It's a very mediocre card, but so was Violet Pall, where constructed is concerned anyway. This isn't a first pick, I should think.
GREEN
Hungry Spriggan
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| Creature - Goblin Warrior | |
Trample
Whenever Hungry Spriggan attacks, it gets +3/+3 until end of turn. |
1/1
3 mana 4/4 trample? Sign me up. Well, it's not as simple as that, and with all the -1/-1 counters having 1 toughness really sucks, but the possibility of beating down for 4 a turn is just good for a 3cc, even in Green. Did I mention that Green is ridiculous in SHA? This at COMMON? Jeez.
Thicket Elf*
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| Creature - Elf Druid | |
| When Thicket Elf comes into play, you may search your library for a basic land card and put that card into play tapped. If you do, shuffle your library. |
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| 1/1 |
This is the mana-fixing green common of Shadowmoor. Think... Fertile Ground. This is a very, very poor card compared to certain mana-fixers we've had (Llanowar Elves, don't even get me started on Birds) but in Limited you take what you can get. With hybrid splashing becomes more accessible and therefore more important, splashing for bombs becomes a much more viable strategy, especially with the sheer number of bombs running around. So, this makes the list.
Wildslayer Elves
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| Creature - Elf Warrior | |
| Wither |
| Illus. Dave Kendall | #133/301 | 3/3 |
Solid solid solid end.
HYBRID
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|  |
| Instant | |
Put target attacking or blocking creature on top of its owner's library.
Conspire (As you play this spell, you may tap two untapped creatures you control that share a color with it. When you do, copy it and you may choose a new target for the copy.) |
Very good. This is a very, very good combat trick. Owns Neck Snap to hell. You block with your creature, tap the blocking creature, you have unobstructed access to smack him around next turn. Watch out for this, if your opponent's playing UW and is fiddling around with four mana untapped.
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| Enchantment - Aura | |
Enchant creature
At the beginning of each upkeep, tap enchanted creature. |
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Pacifism this is not, it's more on the level of Weight of Conscience. Probably better, since it more or less prevents tap abilities from being played. Of course, there's the possibility of playing this on your own Q creature, although I can't really think of a Qer that's so good that you want to put this on it. Still, solid, slightly higher than Weight of Conscience. That's good enough for me.
Steel of the Godhead
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| Enchantment - Aura | |
Enchant creature
As long as enchanted creature is white, it gets +1/+1 and has lifelink.
As long as enchanted creature is blue, it gets +1/+1 and is unblockable. |
Not bad. For 3 mana you get evasion and lifelink, both of which more important in Limited compared to Constructed. Note that this is meant to be equipped to a hybrid UW creature, if you hadn't guessed that already. Very decent, since +2/+2 usually brings you out of most removal not named Burn Trail.
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| Creature - Faerie Rogue | |
Flying
,  : Tap target creature. ( is the untap symbol.) |
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| 1/3 |
One of the best commons in the set. Evasion, combat trick, psuedo-vigilance. Just find a way to pump its power (Steel of the Godhead anyone?) and you have a house.
Turn to Mist
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| Instant | |
| Remove target creature from the game. Return that card to play under its owner's control at end of turn. |
With all the -1/-1 counters and CoP effects running around, this is a great way to allow your creature to Persist more than once. Also serves as a poorer version of bounce, if you're really desperate. A great card, shutting down those pesky Wither creatures.
Fate Transfer
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| Instant | |
| Move all counters from target creature onto another target creature. |
This is very good with the multitude of creatures that come into play with -1/-1 counters (Grief Tyrant, etc). But I'm sure you'll find your creatures with -1/-1 counters before long, with all the spells and creatures making sure of that. This puts your 6/6 with four -1/-1s back at its former glory, and kills another guy in the process. For 2 mana, Instant, what's there not to like?
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| Creature - Merfolk Rogue Warrior | |
Whenever you play a blue spell, Gravelgill Duo gets +1/+1 until end of turn.
Whenever you play a black spell, Gravelgill Duo gains fear until end of turn. |
2/1
Can't believe I forgot this cycle. This makes something like... Memory Sluice... a 3/2 evasion enabler. Fear is good, +1/+1 is good.
Memory Sluice
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| Sorcery | |
Target player puts the top four cards of his or her library into his or her graveyard.
Conspire |
Not bad in Limited. A possible mill for 8, which obviously matters much more. Quite apart from the smaller deck size, it's also far more likely to mill a bomb away, compared to constructed (You milled my Damnation? I just drew another one). For 1 mana you can just play it first turn and hope. Cast and forget. Not bad.
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| Sorcery | |
As an additional cost to play Scarscale Ritual, put a -1/-1 counter on a creature you control.
Draw two cards. |
Decent. This is easily a 2-for-1. I don't have to explain why drawing two cards is good, do I? Just don't put it on your Persist creature.
Fists of the Demigod
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| Enchantment - Aura | |
Enchant creature
As long as enchanted creature is black, it gets +1/+1 and has wither.
As long as enchanted creature is red, it gets +1/+1 and has first strike. |
Good. At 2 mana it's the cheapest of the cycle, wither is really a bitch to deal with, and first strike is gravy. The +2/+2 is nothing to laugh at, especially for 2 mana. Compared to let's say, Kindled Fury (+1/+0 and first strike for R) this is a very good pumper for Limited.
Traitor's Roar
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| Sorcery | |
Tap target untapped creature. That creature deals damage equal to its power to its controller.
Conspire (As you play this spell, you may tap two untapped creatures you control that share a color with it. When you do, copy it.) |
Possible gamewinner. Tap down a fat creature that was frustrating your army, swing for the win. Conspire is there as another option, in case the guy has two big creatures on the other side. At 5 mana it's decently priced for Limited, just in time for the big bombs to start showing up.
Giantbaiting
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| Sorcery | |
Put a 4/4 red and green Giant Warrior creature token with haste into play. Remove it from the game at end of turn.
Conspire |
VERY SEXY. For 3 mana you get a 4/4 beater, with the option of trading two 1/1s for another 4/4. Insane, this is like... a better Glarewielder. What a gamewinner this is. No one expects 8 hasted damage to beat on their face after an alpha. Oh, and this is insane with Wort, the Raidmother. Double conspire = opponent starts shuffling for next game kthx.
Manaforge Cinder
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| Creature - Elemental Shaman | |
: Add or to your mana pool.
Play this ability no more than three times each turn. |
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| 1/1 |
Manafixing for Flame Javelin, and to a lesser extent, Beseech the Queen. Could have uses, allows easy splashing of other colors.
Manamorphose
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| Instant | |
Add two mana in any combination of colors to your mana pool.
Draw a card. |
Sets up things like Flame Javelin/Spirit Avatar cycle easier, the cantrip doesn't hurt. Keep it in your hand for your 3+ coloured mana symbol bomb. Or, if you need a cantrip, it's 0: Draw a card. Which isn't bad at all.
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| Creature - Goblin Warrior | |
Trample
Persist (When this creature is put into a graveyard from play, if it had no -1/-1 counters on it, return it to play under its owner's control with a -1/-1 counter on it.) |
This actually isn't bad. You put it in, trample for a few points, have it come back, trample for a few less points, die. Better 5ccs, especially in Shadowmoor, and this might be even a midpick, but the lack of good commons in Shadowmoor makes this look halfway decent-good.
Safehold Duo
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| Creature - Elf Warrior Shaman | |
Whenever you play a green spell, Safehold Duo gets +1/+1 until end of turn.
Whenever you play a white spell, Safehold Duo gains vigilance until end of turn. |
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| 2/4 |
This might even be a firstpick in a poor pack, strangely enough. It's a very solid 4cc (think Cloudcrown Oak, for example) that has easy vigilance with 5 toughness. Which is very good. Remember Changeling Sentinel? It was a mid-high pick despite its Vigilance being wasted on a 2 toughness body. Compare him to this (hybrid, easy pumping, compensated with just lack of Changeling) and you'll start feeling much better about this guy.
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| Creature - Elf Scout | |
| Persist |
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Grizzly Bears that can be played in white with Persist? Solid, at least.
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| Enchantment - Aura | |
Enchant creature
As long as enchanted creature is green, it gets +1/+1 and is indestructible. (Lethal damage and effects that say "destroy" don't destroy it. If its toughness is 0 or less, it's still put into its owner's graveyard.)
As long as enchanted creature is white, it gets +1/+1 and has flying. |
Good, good. Indestructible doesn't strike fear into the hearts of opponents because of the -1/-1 counter theme, but it's still not something tacked on for show. There's always the evasion to talk about. Note that I've ignored the other two (Runes of the Deus, the UB one) because they're too expensive, and discard isn't very useful in Limited. There's always a 23rd card to throw away.
Elsewhere Flask
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| Artifact | |
When Elsewhere Flask comes into play, draw a card.
Sacrifice Elsewhere Flask: Lands you control become the basic land type of your choice in addition to their other types until end of turn. |
2 mana cantrip, and manafixing. Very decent card.
Scuttlemutt
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| Artifact Creature - Scarecrow | |
: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool.
: Target creature becomes the color or the colors of your choice until end of turn. |
Good, good, good. Grey Ogres for all colors, gives easy manafixing, and has synergy with things like Lurebound Scarecrow (FINE, ALL SCARECROWS). Anyone want to try and play Scarecrow.dec in Limited? Firstpick Reaper King... lol.
That's it!
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