(Bitter Chill | Julie Dillon)

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Your Favorite Nightmare

Hello, everyone! It’s your friendly neighborhood Jesguy here, and welcome to the Wilds of Eldraine Blue Set Review!

We're back in Eldraine this set, and we're forgetting The Courts and Knights and instead traipsing through the plane's Wilds to see what goodies it has to offer!

Let's get going before we get too lost out here. It's quite easy to get distracted and lose your way-

Oh, hey, look: a house made of cookies!

Mythics

Asinine Antics

First card of the set, and we are staring off with a doozy!

Asinine Antics is Polymorphist's Jest on steroids. Yes, it costs more, but that cost is well worth it. While Cursed Roles don't take abilities away, turning every creature you don't control into a 1/1 is massive on both offense or defense. Is someone trying to alpha strike you? I doubt they can when all their creatures are 1/1s! Are you trying to alpha strike someone whose board is a bit out of control? Swinging into a board filled with 1/1s is super easy! You might even be able to spread some pain to another opponent or two while you are at it!

I have seen Polymorphist's Jest turn around plenty of games in my lifetime, and so one that's more flexible, hits every opponent, and can permanently make creatures into 1/1s gives me pause so I can give it the respect it deserves.

There is nothing asinine about these antics.

Virtue of Knowledge

Here it is, one of the chase mythics of the set: Virtue of Knowledge!

Everyone loves Panharmonicon, so a blue version of it with upside is something no one can hate. Adding a blue mana lets this version of the 'harmonicon trigger off of any permanent entering the battlefield, not just artifacts or creatures, so that's a huge upgrade right there. On top of that, Virtue of Knowledge also has a nifty little one-shot version of itself stapled to it for free. This is excellent in the early to mid game when you don't want to commit an entire turn to casting Virtue of Knowledge itself, but are more than happy evoking a Mulldrifter or casting a Wood Elves to copy their effects.

Any deck that makes excellent use of Panharmonicon will be interested in Virtue of Knowledge. This will often end up best in Blink decks, but any deck whose commander has a powerful effect, like Gyruda, Doom of Depths, or already copies triggers, like Yarok, the Desecrated, will be in the market for this enchantment.

If this is the kind of card I get for supporting knowledge as a virtue, I am all in!

Rares

Elusive Otter

So this card isn't technically mono-blue. Is that cheating? Maybe? Do I care? Not in the least. This is my review, and I wanted to talk about an Otter, dammit! 😤

The Adventure half of the Otter is quite good, letting you sink a bunch of mana into it in order to distribute a ton of counters among your creatures. While this isn't anything game-changing, when combined with effects like Hardened Scales and Branching Evolution, it can get out of hand real quick. The prowess on the Otter itself won't mean much, but if you load it up with counters, its second ability definitely will. Having a large threat that is also evasive is nice indeed!

Overall, I think the only real home for Elusive Otter are +1/+1 counters decks. It gives you a creature early that can grow into a threat while also having a potent spell should your draw it late game. Thumbs up on this Otterly adorable fellow.

Extraordinary Journey

While pricy, Extraordinary Journey is an interesting take on blue removal, and it leaves around a relevant enchantment, too!

Four mana to temporarily exile a creature and draw a card is a high cost to pay. It feels even harder to swallow at six and eight mana... so why don't I hate it?

Most games, Extraordinary Journey will be just some palatable removal. Then, in other games, you will run into some of the most popular commanders and this enchantment will draw a bunch of additional cards! When your baseline is decent removal that has the ability to recoup the investment later in the game, I tend to go a bit easier on you in the grading department.

I don't think Extraordinary Journey is absurdly strong or even super good, but I like the fact that it's removal that has the ability to reward you when you go up against some common decks and strategies. Hopefully we see more spells like it moving forward!

Farsight Ritual

Farsight Ritual is a nice Dig Through Time and Memory Deluge variant, albeit a bit more narrow.

While I can't see Farsight Ritual dethroning its two siblings who are at an inclusion rate of over 94,000 decks and 11,900 decks respectively, it does have some homes. Any commander that can take advantage of the bargain ability will adore Farsight Ritual. Kels, Fight Fixer, for example, is always looking for ways to sac token creatures. Artifact decks are always happy to have an additional way to bin cards, like Mycosynth Wellspring or Ichor Wellspring. And enchantment decks... well, they don't need help drawing cards, so this won't likely show up there.

While I don't think Farsight Ritual is as powerful as its contemporaries, I think it does have a home in some popular archetypes. That said, I wouldn't play it unless you are in one of those strategies.

Horned Loch-Whale

Seems quite good for Limited and Constructed formats, but I lacks the "oomph" for what we want in EDH.

Removal is always welcome, as is a solid body, but outside of being a decent inclusion in flash decks, Horned Loch-Whale just doesn't have a home. It isn't even part of the illustrious sea monster gang of Kraken, Leviathan, Octopus, or Serpent.

Sadly, this Whale blows.

Ingenious Prodigy

If I'm being honest, I really don't want to talk about this card.

It's cute, and the design is neat, but it is SO slow, and will often just end up being a bit vanilla creature that will be blocked by everything, or a small creature that will peck in for absolutely minuscule amounts of damage.

Phyrexian Arena isn't as good as it used to be, and one that is more easily killed isn't looking too hot. Maybe +1/+1 counter decks could want this, but I'm not sure. I'm extremely low on this one.

Talion's Messenger

Talion's Messenger is a card that I don't want to spend too much time on. Not because it is bad, but because it's quite good and knows where it wants to go.

Faerie decks are the best an only home for a card like Talion's Messenger. It's a solid body at a good rate, it loots, and it grows your fliers. Not much more to say except put it in your Faerie lists and profit!

Twining Twins

Like Twining Twins, Elusive Otter can't go into mono-blue decks, but I wanted to be sure to give it a nod.

Unlike Elusive Otter, though, I don't have a whole lot to say about Twining Twins. A Flicker is always welcome, but not many decks need a flicker that's attached to beat stick of a body. Blink decks, don't need or want this, and it isn't even in blue and black for Faeries to play it.

Flying decks may want Twining Twins as a way to have a solid body with some interaction, but I can't see it fitting in anywhere else. That's enough T'whining from me though. Let's get to the next card.

Sleep-Cursed Faerie

A one-mana flying 3/3 is an incredible stat line... for other formats. For us, Sleep-Cursed Faerie is practically a vanilla creature.

Some Faerie decks may be interested in Sleep-Cursed Faerie, Falco Spara, Pactweaver decks too... but I just don't think it does enough. It's cute, for sure, but at the end of all this, what do you get? A marginally hard-to-kill flier that you had to sink a bunch of time or mana into? Nah, I'm not feeling it.

For a card like this? I sleep.

Commons and Uncommons

Chancellor of Tales is pricey at four mana, but is perfect for any deck based around Adventuring. Copying Adventure spells is twice as nice, especially when included in decks that care about them, like Gorion, Wise Mentor, Beluna Grandsquall, or Kess, Dissident Mage!
Picklock Prankster is a nice inclusion for Faerie decks, giving you a cheap, vigilant flier that also nabs an instant, sorcery, or another Faerie! A real wheel-greasing card!
Tenacious Tomeseeker is another Archaeomancer variant, which is why it's worth a mention. It isn't as good as the 'mancer itself despite the cheaper mana cost. That said, it's always notable when another one of these effects shows up.

Ancillary Cards

Archmage of Echoes is an excellent card for any Wizard or Faerie deck, full stop. Doubling up on your creatures is always good, but doubly so when you are copying effects like Aether Channeler or Tome Raider!
Faerie Slumber Party is a card I like quite a lot, even if six mana is a bit more than I'd like to pay for this effect. It's very reminiscent of Martial Coup and Necrotic Hex, as it's a sweeper that helps mitigate the inherent downside of wiping the board on your turn. Flying decks and Faerie decks in particular will be more than happy to attend this slumber party, and I expect to see it put in numbers there. Don't sleep on this one!
Malleable Impostor is just a Stunt Double that also always counts as a Faerie and always has flying. I don't say that to take away from the card, just to point out how simple of a design it is. Yes, it can only copy your opponents' creatures, but that's rarely an issue, as your opponents will be playing good cards and will be giving you plenty of targets.
Misleading Signpost is one of my favorite cards in the past year. Flavorful, fun, and most importantly: playable, this card joins the ranks of awesome three-mana rocks that you should definitely try out in your deck. Sometimes it merely ramps you. Other times it tells Blightsteel Colossus that it's going the wrong way. I love it.
Rowdy Research is a card I almost missed in my initial perusing of the set, and I'd have been remiss if I skipped over it! This cheeky little card is awesome. Seven mana is a lot to pay for a Jace's Ingenuity, but you're never paying that much. If you've got a bunch of fliers that can swing, sweet! Cheap refill on your turn! If one of your opponents decided to swing out... well, you get to reap the benefit! While I don't think Research is as good as Lórien Revealed or Mental Journey, it seems fun for aggressive decks to help recoup some cards.
Shadow Puppeteers is an excellent card for any flying deck, or deck that has a lot of small fliers. Being able to pump your measly 1/1 Spirit or Bird tokens into 4/4 Dragons is big game, and the flavor of this is on point. It's pricey, but I like these Puppeteers a bunch.
Storyteller Pixie, like Chancellor of Tales, is excellent in any form of Adventure deck, simple as that. If you're playing a lot of Adventures, play this Pixie.

The Wicked Slumber? More Like Wicked Snoozefest

And there we have it..? Was that all we had for blue cards in Wilds of Eldraine? That felt a tad...anemic.

I won't lie, I like this set as a concept, but just by looking at the cards here in blue, the only real hits feels like the two mythic rares and the ancillary cards, the latter of which aren't even in the main set!!

Perhaps I've been getting spoiled with the sets I've been able to review, but this one feels like a dud, for blue at least. There are a lot of neat designs but the majority of the cards either aren't powerful or they don't provide us with new tools.

Regardless, I am more than happy to let this set pass me by and only pick up a few cards from it, like Virtue of Knowledge. After the last half year, my wallet needs a break.

What about you though? How do you feel about this set? Are you thoughts in line with mine, or do you feel differently? Were there any cards I missed or misevaluated? Be sure to let me know down below!

Until next time, get some good sleep!

You can reach me on Twitter (@thejesguy), where you can always hit me up for Magic- or Jeskai-related shenanigans 24/7. Do you have any comments, questions, or concerns? Please don’t hesitate to leave them below or get in touch! Stay safe, wear your mask, wash your hands, and keep fighting the good fight. I support you. No justice, no peace.

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