Hello all, aReNGee here with another edition of Preconstruced Notions. Twelve cards this time, but they’re mostly meme cards. Be sure to check out the official Spoiler Gallery to see any you’ve missed! Below, we’ll cover the rating scale I’m going to use:

Constructed Rating

5

Faction staple, probably meta defining. Will see play or at least consideration across all decks of that color combination. Examples: Torch, Slay, Tavrod, Sandstorm Titan

4

Archetype staple. Sees play or at least consideration in the majority of decks of that archetype that can play it. Examples: Oni Ronin (in non hostile metagames), Champion of Cunning, Unseen Commando

3

Deck Staple. Will see play or at least consideration in one or more decks. A fairly broad category, but cards that rank 3 or above are always worth thinking about including. Examples: Wisdom of the Elders, Seek Power, In Cold Blood

2

Situational card. Could be a staple of a lesser played archetype, a sideboard card to help handle an archetype, or just a card you don’t want until you really want it. Examples: Sabotage, Devoted Theruge, Unseal

1 or less

This card is not going to be played in constructed.

Card Reviews (in order of spoiler gallery)

Constructed Rating: 2

Gotta go fast! 3 cost 3/3s are kind of close in aggressive decks, and Scout is a welcome addition. Giving units charge could be a key part of some combo or just a cool bonus in an aggressive deck. If you’re aggressive it could be worth a shot, and there aren’t too many Praxis 3s, but this unfortunately competes with Merchants at the same cost and I don’t expect it will win often.

Constructed Rating: 0

How many different ways do we need to be able to copy something? The weird templating on the weapon lets you copy the unit with Aegis, which, great. For 7 you can play one of the other expensive copiers and get two copies, and this isn’t worth playing for 5. Look elsewhere for your Mirror Image effects.

Constructed Rating: 1

Some people are very excited about this card – it is a very big dude. However, its also a very large, very vanilla unit that doesn’t block well initially and is somehow weak to Torch despite costing 4. Yes, he can attack next turn and become an 8/8 – but you paid 9 power for the privilege, and you’re in real trouble if he dies to Annihilate. Probably really good in draft, but too slow and fragile for constructed.

Constructed Rating: 1.5

Somehow the powers of Crownwatch Longsword, Reality Warden, and Vanquish combined to form… well, basically a Crownwatch Longsword. Playing Vanquish when you want extra power is good, and randomly hosing the void is also strong, but at the end of the day this is a Crownwatch Longsword, which is not a constructed playable card. It’s possible that the added benefits tip it over the edge, but this should be evaluated as a weapon first and everything else afterwards. It’s not enough stats for my tastes, especially in a world of Hooru Pacifiers.

Constructed Rating: 2

One or more, the most disappointing cap of all time. If you hit the opponent with 11 other units, you still only gain +1 atk, so this will never be better than a 3/4 the first time it attacks. 3/4s are pretty good, and Overwhelm is a good skill for pushing damage, but this is not better than the other options available at 3 and unlikely to be the staple 3 drop of fire based aggressive decks. It is a playable oni, so maybe we see it in Kyojun Oni decks.

Constructed Rating: 2.5

Bracers of Bull’s Strength. Get it? Jokes aside, 4 is a lot of attack – you usually need to wait for 4 cost to get this amount of damage on a weapon. Placing this on a flyer and racing seems like a winning strategy, and sometimes playing one more and casting Copperhall Blessing where Copperhall Blessing would be useful is a welcome addition. It’s a lot more reasonable to plan to pay one or two for Spellcraft than three or more. You’ll only see this in aggressive Justice based decks, but those have been doing pretty well at the moment (Pacifier antisynergy nonwithstanding).

Pigs: 0

Constructed Rating: 1

No pigs? Punt. Oasis Sanctuary++ is not a good baseline, so you’re only playing this as a fast Lightning Storm. Given the printing of Hailstorm… That’s not going to happen at 4 cost. Should be pretty good in draft, however.

Constructed Rating: 0

The only thing more horrifying than the thought of playing this card in Constructed was its reveal article. Plus, we already had this effect in Worn Shield. The power creep on unplayable weapons is real.

Constructed Rating: 0

Just play Tranquil Scholar.

Constructed Rating: 1

Welcome to the year of the vanilla 2/2 for 2! There are a lot of cards in this set that demand you connect with a vanilla 2/2. Giving every unit you draw +1/+1 or more is quite the feat, but assuming that you’ll ever get this through and have it survive long enough to draw more than a unit is also quite the feat of mental gymnastics. The Warcry 2 drops do this sort of thing better, and will have comparable results to even your good outcomes. The possibility of dropping a weapon on this and going to town exists, but so does Slay.

Constructed Rating: 2

This card is nuts with Wump – 12/12 for 5 is a good deal. Without Wump it will be pretty difficult to push the Little Brothers through and turn on your 8/8, although the Little Brothers do generate some value when chump attacking and can help push your other units in for damage. If you can find a cheap way to silence Big Brother or sneak the Little Brothers through, this can make the cut in a Yeti deck.

Constructed Rating: 2

Why does this ask you to discard a spell?!? That’s quite the drawback, and prevents this from really going off. However, its a repeatable effect and does generate card advantage, so its not out of the realm of playability. Having options are good, and there aren’t too many Elves worth considering, so maybe it does something in Elf tribal. It’s interesting that most of the Elves care about spells, except for their leading light Ashara, who cares about shooting people.

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