Evaluating the Shards: Shards of Alara - Blue

Hi everyone. I’m John Paul and this is the limited side of magic, the place where cards that don’t see constructed play get a chance to show off and gain respect.

My friends and I have been playing draft with the set: Shards of Alara and it’s been fun discovering new techs and playing with different builds. It gave us a rough understanding of the cards that we play with and now I’m here to share with you some thoughts about these cards when it comes to limited(draft/sealed) magic.

I’ll be rating each card with numbers from 1-5. (1 as the lowest and 5 as the highest)

1 - unplayable

2 - sb material / playable in some situations

3 - playable

4 - a must in a deck / a bomb in specific situations

5 - bomb

So here’s what I think of the blue cards of SOA and their respective ratings:

Call to heel – not really my kind of bounce spell since it has a downside when used against opponent’s crits. However, I think it’s decent enough to make it as a pseudo removal if you’re lacking or don’t have any. (2)

Cancel - in limited, countermagic is not really that useful since most of the threats would already be on board when this spell comes out. On the other hand, it could be useful in protecting your bombs from removals and other threats. (2)

Cathartic adept - I don’t think Shards of Alara has enough components to support a milling spree. (1)

Cloudheath drake – a 3/3 flyer for 5mana with a potential to gain vigilance is a very decent creature. The only downside is; it’s an artifact, which makes it vulnerable to naturalize and the likes. (3)

Coma veil - not really useless since it can stop those annoying artifacts from untapping. This will definitely go to my sideboard if I have enough removals. (2)

Courier’s capsule - if you’re on the artifact route, this could be useful. If not, then it’s just another draw spell which could be played through installment. (2)

Covenant of minds – costs too much (2)

Dawnray archer- the abilities compliment each other quite well. A good addition to exalted creatures. (3)

Esper battlemage – If paired with the right colors, It’s ping effect and prevention ability could be very annoying. (4)

Etherium astrolabe – plain crap. (1)

Etherium sculptor – a good accelerator if you’re playing with artifacts. (2)

Fatestitcher - tappers are valuable in limited. This one is even better because of the option to untap creatures. Don’t forget about it’s unearth ability. It could win games, especially if you’re opponent is not paying attention to your graveyard. (4)

Filigree sages – a 2/3 for 4 mana is overcosted. It’s untap costs a lot also. (2)

Gather specimens – leaving 6 mana open just to gain control of a possible threat is not worth it. (2)

Jhessian outlook – vanilla 2/1 for 2 mana? Crap. (1)

Kathari screecher – a 2/2 flyer + unearth. Very much playable. (3)

Kaderekt leviathan – evacuation + a huge body? Perfect. (4)

Master of etherium – a very good addition if you’re taking the artifact route. (3)

Memory erosion - just another decoration in your pile of unplayable cards (1)

Mindlock orb - crap (1)

Outrider of jhess – probably the weakest creature with the exalted ability. But if you’re in it for the ability, then it’s enough to enter the cut. (3)

Protomatter powder – costs too much to activate. (1)

Resounding wave - its cycling ability is what makes it great in limited. Bounce 2 permanents and draw a card in one package. What more can you ask for? Another good thing is that it can’t be countered if you cycle it. \m/ (4)

Sharding sphinx – this is definitely a bomb. Every time you hit your opponent with an artifact creature, you get a mini me version of the sphinx absolutely free! Isn’t it sweet? (5)

Skill borrower – It’ll be a 1/3 vanilla most of the time since the top of your library won’t be the same until your next turn. (2)

Spell snip – crap (1)

Sphinx’s herald – searching for sphinx sovereign isn’t worth the risk of sacrificing 3 creatures.(1)

Steelclad serpent - even with the drawback, its huge body can serve as a good blocker.(3)

Tezzeret the seeker – can be very explosive when used with the right deck, but not the kind that could win most games. (4)

Tortoise formation - costs a lot for a combat trick. (2)

Vectis silencer – probably just a filler if your lacking creatures. (2)

These are just my opinions based on experience. If you think otherwise, please don’t hesitate to share your ideas. Thanks.