Today I’m going to talk about some Rivals of Ixalan cards that caught my eye.

I’m going to consider only Constructed uses; Limited is just a different animal. I like the fact that in this set we’ve got lots of cards that feel quite unique. New toys!!

New tribal cards are pushed enough that I think we’re finally going to see some tribal action in Standard thanks to them. I think Merfolk and Vampire are the strongest tribes for Constructed and the ones that will probably show up for Standard play. After all, at Pro Tour Ixalan we saw a group of players doing well with a Vampire deck! Dinosaur could also be a player if the metagame is right for cards like 《Hour of Devastation》. Pirates are the ones that are less likely to be good, since I just don’t see them having tools against decks like Temur Energy or Ramunap Red.

Let’s go through the cards:

《Huatli, Radiant Champion》

《Huatli, Radiant Champion》 isn’t the typical planeswalker that goes will in midrange shells. The easiest comparison here is 《Vanquisher's Banner》, since I expect those cards to have a similar impact in the game. As long as you have some creatures on the battlefield, the loyalty of this planeswalker is going to be very high and the effect is going to be at least decent. The problem here is that you have a lot of creatures you are likely in a good spot anyway, and if they get destroyed 《Huatli》 is not going to save your day.

I don’t think this card is very good, but if we see a White/Green deck based on cats and tokens like the one we saw at Pro Tour Ixalan. 《Huatli》 could be good there, since all three abilities would be useful.

《Kumena, Tyrant of Orazca》

《Kumena, Tyrant of Orazca》 is strong enough to be a very important card for the Merfolk Standard Deck. 《Kumena》 is a worse 《Cryptbreaker》, which can still very good. Surviving to removal like 《Abrade》 and 《Shock》 is important against Red decks now, and the stats are also great against cards like 《Rogue Refiner》 or 《Servant of the Conduit》. Merfolk decks are likely going to be aggro, but this card is going to give them another angle of attack.

《Silvergill Adept》

《Silvergill Adept》 is nothing new, but the card has already proven to everyone how good it is. A great addition to Merfolk decks. Between this and 《Kumena, Tyrant of Orazca》 I expect Merfolk to be able to play a decent late game.

《Nezahal, Primal Tide》

《Nezahal, Primal Tide》 is here to end some control mirrors in Standard, as you can tell by the “can’t be countered” line. Control decks aren’t very popular right now, but if they get enough tools to beat Temur Energy we might see this cool Dinosaur in their sideboard. Even though it feels like a 《Leviathan》, remember you can’t put it into play with 《Quest for Ula's Temple》!

《Ghalta, Primal Hunger》

This HUGE creature plays well with both 《Rhonas the Indomitable》 or 《Bristling Hydra》. It might be too clunky for Constructed play, but the possibility of landing a 12/12 on turn 4 is very appealing to me.

《Timestream Navigator》

《Time Walk》 effects are always worth a second look, since they often end getting played. This one doesn’t seem great to me, since it requires the creature to survive. It does combo with 《Saheeli Rai》 though!

《Blood Sun》

《Blood Sun》 has enough power to be a big card for Eternal formats. It turns down all the fetchlands and all the 《Wasteland》/《Ghost Quarter》 effects. It’s also a cantrip, so drawing 2 isn’t the end of the world. Ironically, it could be good in decks like Tron, where it protects your lands instead of making them useless. I can’t really tell exactly how good this card is, but I’d be surprised if 《Blood Sun》 just ends being very bad.

《Wayward Swordtooth》

《Wayward Swordtooth》 is like a worse 《Azusa, Lost but Seeking》 that can pick up a sword and fight after its job has been done. I like this card, since it’s going to be relevant in both early and late stages. It doesn’t have a home in Standard, but that might change once Rivals of Ixalan joins the format.

《Paladin of Atonement》

《Paladin of Atonement》 has enough power level to be played in Standard. Once in play, this makes it quite unprofitable to make small attacks making this paladin a great tempo play. This plays quite well with both 《Shefet Dunes》 and fetchlands.

《Mist-Cloaked Herald》

《Mist-Cloaked Herald》 is clearly worse than 《Kumena's Speaker》, but if Merfolk need some extra 1-drops this one is good enough to see play. Since Merfolk don’t really have many ways to interact, evasion is very important for this card. This also becomes very threatening as soon as it picks up some +1/+1 counters.

《Zacama, Primal Calamity》

《Zacama, Primal Calamity》 is not 《Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger》. However, it’s probably the biggest thing you can ramp into in Standard. The combination of the three abilities makes it quite hard to lose after playing this card, since they are good in different situations. If we have a Ramp deck in Standard, this is likely going to be the finisher.

《Slaughter the Strong》

Traditionally cards like 《Slaughter the Strong》 have been quite bad for Constructed play. The time might be right for it now. It plays quite well with the Vampire strategies and is also a clean answer to 《Hazoret the Fervent》.

《Dire Fleet Daredevil》

I don’t think the text on 《Dire Fleet Daredevil》 is very good. 《Snapcaster Mage》 is great because it gives you extra redundancy of your best effects. Here, you can’t really choose which effects are you getting, and they might just be completely useless to you. That said, you don’t really need a lot to make a 2/1 first strike for 1R playable.

《Moment of Craving》

《Bomat Courier》 does not like this card.

《Radiant Destiny》

《Radiant Destiny》 could make Vampire decks good. 《Glorious Anthem》 effects are great for Constructed if you have enough creatures to make them worthy. Vigilance doesn’t seem very important in this card, but 《Always Watching》 taught us a lesson.

《Jadelight Ranger》

《Jadelight Ranger》 is a great card. All of the outcomes are quite good for a Merfolk deck, and I fully expect it to see play. I also think the card is good enough to see play in non-Merfolk deck, but that might not happen until 《Rogue Refiner》 rotates out.

《Merfolk Mistbinder》

《Merfolk Mistbinder》 is one of the payoffs of being a Merfolk Deck. 《Kumena's Speaker》 into 《Merfolk Mistbinder》 is a very powerful start in terms of racing. The big question here is if these tribal decks are going to be able to put a fight against decks full or removal spells.

《Silent Gravestone》

I like to have some decent graveyard interaction in Standard. What I don’t like is the fact that 《Silent Gravestone》 doesn’t stop 《God-Pharaoh's Gift》 ability, since it doesn’t ask for a target. For older formats, this also works the same way as 《Blood Sun》 for Tron; 《Silent Gravestone》 could conceivably see play in Dredge to protect them against cards like 《Surgical Extraction》 or 《Deathrite Shaman》.

《Baffling End》

《Baffling End》 will likely see play since it’s a clean way to deal with cards like 《Earthshaker Khenra》 and 《Longtusk Cub》. The drawback isn’t very likely to matter a lot, but I expect some post-board games to be won by Temur Energy riding a 3/3 Dinosaur token.

《Skymarcher Aspirant》

The newest 《Savannah Lions》. 《Skymarcher Aspirant》 has a relevant creature type to go with solid stats, so, if Vampires are good, I expect this to be a 4-of.

《Ravenous Chupacabra》

Having no restriction makes 《Ravenous Chupacabra》 very likely to see constructed play. While it’s less powerful than 《Hostage Taker》, it’s better against aggro decks where you just want to deal with their creature. It’s also the best Chupacabra in the game.

《Thrashing Brontodon》

《Thrashing Brontodon》 is the new 《Qasali Pridemage》. The stats are quite good and I can easily see this cool Dinosaur replacing cards like 《Naturalize》, since it’s never going to be a dead draw.

《Legion Lieutenant》

《Legion Lieutenant》 is a reason to splash Black in Vampire decks. This little guy is even better than 《Radiant Destiny》 at pumping our team, since it comes with a body attacked to the effect. I’m not sure if the current Standard has enough good dual lands to make this reliable, but 《Unclaimed Territory》 should help.

《Fanatical Firebrand》

《Mogg Fanatic》 is back! I think 《Fanatical Firebrand》 is good enough to see play in Ramunap Red as the third one drop to go with 《Bomat Courier》 and 《Soul-Scar Mage》. What I like about this card over the other one mana creatures available for Standard is the fact that it’s not that bad in the late game. Topdecking this is always guaranteed to deal 1 damage to our opponent. This can be very relevant in a deck that often loses or wins a game by 1 life.

Sample Deck

That’s it for today. Now it’s time to try to build decks with the new cards!

I Think W/B Vampire aggro could look like this:

Thanks for reading!

Javier Dominguez