10. Knight of Infamy/Knight of Glory
Given that Exalted was going to appear in both white and black, new variants on Black/White Knight make good sense, and I think they turned out great. Uh...I guess I don't have much to say beyond that. They're nice cards.
9. Slumbering Dragon
I enjoy the way this card captures the flavor of a sleeping dragon that you have to sneak past without waking it up. I guess it plays well against Exalted too, but I mainly like it as a cool standalone card.
8. Sublime Archangel
I think anyone could have seen this one coming, honestly. The "Give all guys mechanic X" card is a time-honored tradition, and as it didn't show up in Alara block, it's not surprising to see it here. That being said, I got the chance to play with this card at the prerelease and it was definitely a whammy. I am very happy it exists.
7. Mind Sculpt
Actually, I liked Jace's Erasure better. The repeatable effect is more fun. But this is cool too. I like that the mill deck gets to exist. I also like that the old casual favorite Glimpse the Unthinkable gets to make a pseudo-comeback at a lower rarity. And the Jace reference here is pretty cool too.
6. Ring of Kalonia
I'm a fan of these new magic rings. Growing a creature incrementally every turn is very satisfying. Ring of Kalonia is my favorite of the cycle because I like how the pumping works with the trampling. Also, green creatures are, of course, the best creatures.
5. Krenko, Mob Boss
What's better than making Goblin tokens? Making even more Goblin tokens! Tokens are awesome and doubling is awesome. Krenko manages to singlehandedly make me want to play goblins. Tap him, make goblins, tap him again, make more goblins, tap him again, make even more goblins...throw enough goblins at a problem and eventually you can solve anything, right?
4. Predatory Rampage
Overrun is awesome, but it has this problem where it's extremely powerful in limited. So in M11, we got Overwhelming Stampede--on the surface, a splashier version of the same effect, but really it was an excuse to move it up in rarity. M13 continues the tradition by giving us Predatory Rampage, which eschews the "Kill them right now" plan for a slightly more cautious "Kill all their untapped creatures" plan. And you know what? I actually like that plan. It seems more fun and interactive than winning the game on the spot.
3. Switcheroo
Okay, first things first, that's an awesome name. The art and flavor text are awesome too. And it's good that Mind Control is taking a break from the limited environment. What interests me about Switcheroo is that it's a lot higher-variance than your straight Mind Control. The lows are way lower, since having nothing to swap is going to be pretty painful. But the highs are higher, too, even though on the surface it seems like they shouldn't be--stealing their creature and giving them nothing is a strictly better effect, right? But when you switch their dragon with your Merfolk of the Pearl Trident, it's so much more awesome because it's like you got away with something. It's value.
2. Roaring Primadox
Oh man, memories. I remember Stampeding Wildebeests. Return Wood Elves to my hand, get all the forests out of my deck, return Multani's Acolyte to my hand, draw a million cards, return Blastoderm to my hand, no fading for you...simple combos, but so much fun. Roaring Primadox continues the proud tradition for a whole new generation of players, and it comes pre-packaged in the same expansion as Elvish Visionary! Now with multicolor support, so you can splash in those Ravenous Rats or Attended Knights! Good times, good times.
1. Chronomaton
Remember the clockwork creatures from Mirrodin? Clockwork Beetle? Clockwork Condor? Remember how much they sucked? Clockwork creatures aren't cool because they wind down. They're cool because they wind up. And nothing winds up quite like Chronomaton. Simple, elegant, flavorful, and fun. It's a perfect package of all that is cute and lovable in a card.
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