Initiate of Wax isn't very impressive at first glance but I can see this having a home in standard. Two resources for two bodies is solid and it has the ability to come down and pump the team in a go wide Candlekin strategy.

Light the Votives will hopefully be shedding some light on one of my old favorites from pre rotation. Diamond Sapphire prophecy with escalation is a powerful strategy I plan on testing out. I would be very surprised if this doesn't end up being a format staple while it’s legal.

I personally think this is the best card spoiled so far. This card is very subtly powerful and is on par with Arcane Focus for adding consistency to your deck. It’s a guaranteed shard if you need it or just replaces it self for a piece of action. Between this and coins the Hex dev’s are really guiding standard to a more consistent place. I look forward to playing this as a four of in every diamond deck I build going forward.

On the surface this looks like yet another three cost counter but this is nothing to scoff at. Dedicated control strategies like DS “Burgle Durdle” will be considering this a strict upgrade to Deny. An unconditional interrupt that can smooth out your draw should be highly valued in constructed.

In a vacuum this card is definitely not of constructed caliber but is worth keeping an eye on as this is a card that combos with a Deathseeker loop to drain out the opponent.

Straight up combat tricks rarely make it into constructed play but +4/+4 for 1 is a very efficient going rate. I wouldn't be surprised to see a few copies of this floating around in an aggressive gnoll deck at least early on in the format. If we get some ways to give Gladiator to other troops like Rune Ear Hierophant or Surging Wildfire this card could make for some very quick wins. I’d keep this one in mind to drive your WR blitz piles up the ladder.

Call me crazy but Hogarth isn't impressing me from a competitive standpoint. This card is sweet but I just can’t imagine a situation where it’s better than Psychic Ascension for a control finisher which is what this is going to be competing with. It’s harder to enable and will have a harder time snowballing advantage.

This card has piqued my interest and mite make it into certain decks in standard. A 3 cost 3/1 that generates card advantage and can protect itself is good deal. Against blood decks the full value side is valuable as it dodges strangle and rot cast with its base stats while being able to bounce to dodge a herofall.

Nogg Nogg big. Nogg Nogg expensive. We see what good ramp get before play card. Dodge strangle good.

Demented Ascension has my eye for sure. This allows for a sweet finisher for non-sapphire based control decks. This card will live or die by the enablers that surround it for sure but you better believe I’m gonna be trying my hardest to make this work.

STANDARD HAS A SWEEPER AGAIN!!! It goes without saying that this card is going to be a staple while it's in the format. The permanent minus on this keeps persistent threats like Sunsoul Phoenix dead which also a bonus.

Boglam is an interesting one. The fact that it leaves bodies behind on defense that can eventually close out the game with shard drops is appealing. The question will be if control decks want a 5 drop that's dedicated to winning the game when they already have glory and darkheart that pull double duty with beatdown and interaction.

Mordrom’s Gift is a nice present for the Kaigu midrange decks. These decks used to play copies of Rise Again and this is just a strict upgrade. It will be interesting to see how this shakes out against Rotten Rancor for the value reanimation of choice. The Major Orb of Fleshcraft plays nicely if added to a recurrable body like a Freak of Nature or Rotpaw Gang.

Promiscuous Succubus has potential to get frisky with some sacrifice outlets. The front half is a reasonable body being a 3/2 Flier for 3 that offers two death cry triggers for the Blightbark tribe. On top of this a 6/6 flier is no small body either. It’s important to remember that the troop gains the death cry to summon the demon. Who’s going to live the dream and get this on a scrounge 4 Deathseeker first?

Uruunaz is back with a brand new edition, deadly like a...troop you brought back with lifedrain for free. While not the guaranteed two for one like his predecessor this card is still great. This will be a prime reanimation target while it’s legal. It’s hard to beat a big evasive body that brings friends with him.

Everyday this Pippit is being a solid generic catch all with a body attached. While I don’t think this alone will enable the the SW “flash” deck we all wanted so badly in set 6 standard it is a step in the right direction. This is a reasonable body with a very relevant deploy at quick speed so there isn’t much to not love about this card. It’s important to note that the deploy is not just a Transmogrifade like it may appear at first glance. This ability targets any card making it a great catch all.

There’s not much to say about this card that the text box doesn't, this is just a great troop. It’s an aggressive troop with some recursion and pseudo Lazgar’s Vengeance bolted on. Expect to see this troop in turning sideways in combat steps for its duration in standard.

I love non-standard shards so I may be biased here but I think Boomball is great and look forward to playing it. I don’t expect this to be a 4 of but I could easily see 1-2 copies ending up in a “flash” deck like we discussed with Pippit Hustler. A quick speed strategy wants three things: Quick troops, efficient interrupts, and to make it resource drops. This card satisfies two of those three things.

At this point in spoiler season it’s pretty safe to assume we’re gonna see WR dual shard for Gnolls to power the beatdown deck that’s getting pushed. Feralfuel Packhunter is going to be gas in this strategy being an aggressively costed 3/2 with crush for only two resources that buffs our team as a result.

Frothfang Cackler will also likely make an appearance in the aforementioned WR beatdown deck. Adding 3 power to our crushing Feralfuel Packhunter to push through some extra damage or being an on board trick that makes combat messy for our opponent. The opportunity cost for having access to this is pretty low coming attached to a speedy 2/2 body.

I’m very excited to play with this card. There is a shortage of playable dwarves in standard so I love seeing the tribe get a new addition. A 5/3 for 4 that lets our previously played actions beat down is very appealing. With the runecrafter transforming them in combat we get to attack with runes we created in our first main phase. It’s also worth noting that the Rune Golems hang around until reverted even if the Runecrafter dies making it pretty easy to get your value out of it.

The rune mechanic is shaping up to be a really sweet mechanic. Runesnatcher allows us to grab some extra values from our runes or by stealing the opponent's while leaving a reasonable body behind. I would be hard pressed to see this as a four of since it’s deploy is conditional but I plan on starting my first attempt at a runic deck with a few of these included.

I think these card is subtly powerful, while just a 1/1 for 1 on paper this card can pack a punch in certain situations. Gladiator makes this a 2/1 on offense which is really all you can ask for out of your beat down decks 1 drops. The payment power on this being quick speed also represents an onboard trick your opponent has to respect when picking blockers. It also lets you get an additional attacker in to trigger assault and give some of its power to an unblocked trooped.

Sorcerous Sculpting is a card that has some potential. Being able to effectively replace itself with the random action,troop, or charges gem is appealing. Time will tell how good this is it has my eye at the moment but I’m not chomping at the bit to build around it.