Welcome back to Day 2 of the Ikoria Limited set review. Today I will be taking a look at all of the Blue and Black cards and evaluating them 1-5 based on how I expect they will perform in Sealed and Draft. Please keep in mind that I will be ignoring ALL aspects of Constructed play.

Rating - Explanation

1- Ideally not making the cut in any of my Limited decks.

2- Not good, but a necessity for curve filling and smoothing out draws.

3- Value cards I am happy to fill my deck with.

4- Cards to get excited about and Premium Removal.

5- Reserved for cards that will win the game if left unanswered.

Check out the other parts here:

White | Red and Colorless | Green and Lands | Multicolor

1 - Outside of Two-Headed Giant, I would be surprised if I ever played this card.

2 - Reasonable ability that will remove ability counters if it's not outright killing something. A bit expensive so I can see cutting it in most decks.

4.5 - I am always happy to see instant speed removal spells. The mana cost is reasonable even if you are not getting to use the menace counter. Reasonable 1st or 2nd pick.

3 - Two-mana deathtouch creatures are always welcome in my deck. I doubt the lifelink will be used much, but it is nice to have the option.

3 - Can be extremely useful in any deck that generates tokens. Also a nice ability to use for chump blocking or in response to removal. Will turn a lot of negative exchanges into positive ones.

1.5 - I doubt most decks will have enough 1- and 2-drops to make this playable. Even cards like Serrated Scorpion don't have deathtouch on their own as they might normally, so this card won't make the cut.

3.5 - Great value on turn four. As close to a bomb as a common can come.

4 - The mutate cost is very reasonable. This card is 1st pickable, and will raise the value of all cheaper mutate cards.

2 - A 1 for 1 that is only good in a bomb heavy deck. Instant speed makes it better, but it won't make the cut in most decks.

2.5 - Always happy to have instant card draw in my deck. Keep this in mind when holding countermagic or removal.

3 - With the mutate mechanic, creatures that are weak to Dead Weight may outgrow this card before you draw it. It will still be good, but not as good as it has been in previous sets.

5 - It will not be hard for this card to get value. The high mutate cost makes me want to cast it normally and use cheap mutates to make the trigger happen sooner. I want to place most mutates on a small creature to make it larger, but this one's a bit of the opposite. He is very good, so make sure to protect him.

2.5 - A bear with big upside to fill your curve. I would also consider this card with Mutual Destruction to ensure you have a reasonable sacrifice target. It also allows you to always have a good mutate target.

3 - Not as strong as the Blue mentor, but there is a fair amount of lifelink in the format with the added ability counters.

2 - Great card to stop the aggressive mutate decks. Many decks will want to mutate 1-2 drops on turn three and four. Remember if you kill it in response, the creature will still come into play!

4 - As close to a one sided board clear as we can get. It will be difficult for an opponent to notice you are setting up for this card. Playing a 3-drop on four is perfectly normal if you don't have a 4-drop!

1 - WHY ARE THE CUTE CARDS NOT PLAYABLE?!?!?

4 - Great stats for the cost. The flexibility of keywords makes this card very good. It will adapt to your different needs in each game.

4 - The low cost and instant speed will make this card very playable. Killing creatures as they place ability counters on them will create a lot of value. Even if you can't kill the creature outright you can still use it mid-combat to remove things like deathtouch and kill the creature anyway.

4 - The downside on this card is almost nonexistent. The opponent might not even have a creature to get the deathtouch counter, and even if they do, they still need to double block Hunted Nightmare creating a likely 2 for 1 scenario.

3 - With a lot of mutate synergy I am happy to put this in my deck, but if it is likely to trigger only 1 or 2 times, this card will be an early cut. Looking forward to playing this in Two-Headed Giant though!

3 - I think this card will perform better than its stats suggest. With the addition of mutate, boardstates will be going taller rather than wider. This should increase the value of any removal spell.

3 - Normally I undervalue this type of card because of how bad they can be after a few turns of the game, however, this one has cycling!

3 - Removal that requires sacrifice is always difficult because you might not always have a creature you are willing or able to sacrifice. With all of the creatures that create 1/1 soldiers it shouldn't be as big of an issue as it is in most sets. Just make sure you consider this when cutting down to your final 40 cards.

4 - Not going to lie - I had to read this card three times. Three-mana instant creature removal is always worth taking. The added cost is nice if you have the free splash mana, but it is not needed for the card to be good.

2.5 - Reasonable curve filler that will help smooth out draws. I can see this being good in an Orzhov deck with payoffs for building a wide board.

1 - "Dear Wizards, You forgot to add a keyword to this card - deathtouch." The only reason to play this card is if you have a bunch of deathtouch counters and want small bodies for them.

2 - I have a bit of a soft spot for this card. Unlike most spells of this type, Suffocating Fumes is an instant and one sided! Excited to three for one someone with this card.

2 - Typically not happy to run these five-mana return spells. Filler in most decks unless you have multiple bombs it can target.

2 - The lifelink counter is a really interesting addition. I am looking forward to seeing how this card performs in a racing scenario.

2 - Cheap trick that allows you to trade up or protect a valuable creature from removal. I would only play this card if I had creatures worth protecting.

3 - The free deathtouch counter makes this card playable when you cycle it. Look for ramp and trample cards if you decide to try to play this card.

1 - A very low impact card that only rewards you when you fill your deck with other equally bad cards. Ideally this will never be played.