Magic: The Gathering – Top 10 cards we’re sad to see go in the Ixalan rotation

5. Bedlam Reveler

I feel like my time with this card has been far too short. I use it now in a sweet UR Control deck, and it goes very well with his buddies Cryptic Serpent and Enigma Drake. All three creatures have the ability to turn the game in your favor when they come down, and while they are not Torrential Gearhulks… they also aren’t $20 each.

Bedlam Reveler is one of my favorite cards since I got back into Magic. It comes down easily in a spells deck, it’s big, it gets bigger with battle tricks thanks to Prowess, and it fills your hand right back up after you play it, potentially triggering Madness cards in the process. What more do you want with a Red card?

4. Always Watching

Another card that has never really gone out of style. With Always Watching, every creature you own is stronger and you never have to tap when you attack. Alright, rock on! It’s the ultimate offensive and defensive enchantment, especially for a White Weenies deck or anything that enjoys going wide.

Recently, this card has been granted a whole new purpose in life with the introduction of Exert in Amonkhet and Hour of Devastation. By allowing Exert creatures not to attack, Always Watching could turn cards like Glory-Bound Initiate into 5/5 lifelinks and Gust Walker into 4/4 flyers on turn 3. That’s just incredibly dumb.

3. Tireless Tracker

More Green creatures, more +1/+1 counters. This card has been a force ever since it was released though. Tireless Tracker creates card advantage with its landfall clues (a sick combination), it beats down opponents pretty hard at 3/2 for three mana, and it only gets bigger if it’s not dealt with. Winding Constrictor helped secure this card a new role all over again when Aether Revolt came out, and now it sees play in Temur Energy, the most powerful deck in Standard, at least until Ixalan comes out.

Since I started playing, Standard has been plagued with cards since that have been dubbed “too powerful,” but this is one excellent card that manages to find a perfect balance. Never broken, always a solid option to turn to. Tireless Tracker could be the best all around card over the last two years.

2. Stormchaser Mage

Prowess has easily been my favorite “new” ability since I got back into Magic. They didn’t have this back in my day, and I’ve exploited it to plenty of wins. Stormchaser Mage has been my champion for quite a while, and even after Monastery Swiftspear and Abbot of Keral Keep rotated out, I’ve found plenty of ways to use him.

He’s currently sitting in the sideboard of my Enigma Drake deck, and I drop in a playset if I never need to get more aggressive. Professional players used him as a solid counter to Smuggler’s Copter back when it was legal, but sadly, he hasn’t seen much play since.

That’s fine. I use him a lot and will be really sad to see him go.

1. Thraben Inspector

The little common that could. At every turn, Thraben Inspector has shown us exactly how to design a good Magic card, one that stands on its own as a Standard staple, and one that fits into a lot of different themes. On its own, it comes down on turn 1, blocks smaller creatures well, and even creates card advantage with its Clue Token.

In other decks, it supplies an artifact for cards that gain bonuses of off them like Toolcraft Exemplar and Inventor’s Apprentice. It can power weaker vehicles, and it even played a large part in helping Smuggler’s Copter get banned. In White Weenies, it works very well with Thalia’s Lieutenant, Oketra’s Monument, and Always Watching. Like Sylvan Advocate, a 2/3 vigilance is never a card to scoff at, especially for one mana.

I’ve had a playset of these in play non-stop since it came out. He’s not the strongest card in Magic, but you’d be hard pressed to find a common that has overperformed the way Thraben Inspector has.

Honorable Mentions

Just a few quick ones…

A sad victim of circumstance, overreaction, and appeasement politics. I agree with most of the bans that Wizards of the Coast issued over the last few years, but not Reflector Mage. This card is a little busted, but it’s hardly unbeatable.

Plus, I remember this was the first time I felt ahead of the curve against my friends. I won plenty of games off of this card back before anyone else realized how good it was. Oh… memories.

I apologize for the lack of Blue. I didn’t start toying with Blue until Kaladesh came out, and while I like the color even more in Amonkhet and Hour of Devastation, I never really played it in any of these rotating sets.

If I had a favorite Blue card, it would be Thing in the Ice. The card always feels great to flip, and I currently have it sitting with Stormchaser Mage in my Enigma Drake sideboard. Thing in the Ice has always seemed like a broken, lingering threat just waiting to dominate Standard, and while it never found a true home, it was also something that gamers always had to prepare for.

Awesome, awesome card, but I appreciate it more now since it was the last one I spent over $20 on. Since then, I’ve stuck to cheaper Magic cards since life and kids have started settling in around me.

All solid, all playable, all sadly rotating out. This is the end of an era for creature lands, and I’m sad to see each of these go.

Article source: https://www.technobuffalo.com/2017/09/10/magic-the-gathering-top-10-cards-were-sad-to-see-go-in-the-ixalan-rotation/