Moving closer to the end of my set review, moving on to blue, which might be the strongest color in the set? I’m not saying no, let’s put it that way.
Taigam, Master Opportunist: First, I had to read this several times to understand it. Then I started thinking about cantrips. This card is going to love cantrips. Could this possibly find a home in the current cantrippiest deck of all time, U/R Phoenix? That’s a deck that can trigger the flurry ability on a regular basis.
(as a side note, I can’t think about “flurry” without thinking about Dairy Queen and yes I know the McFlurry is McDonald’s not Dairy Queen but that’s just the way my brain works)
Or, consider this could find a home in Legacy in the U/B Delver shell, drop on turn two, then follow up with some combination of Thoughseize, Brainstorm, or Fatal Push? Never underestimate any card you can feed to a Force of Will in Legacy, also known as the “Stock Up Rule.”
Ambling Stormshell: It Turtle tribal a thing? This card really wants you to play Turtle tribal. And, jeeze, I can see why, even with the stun counters this guy is amazing.
Also worth considering is that there’s a card coming out in a future set, an amazing card, a spectacular card, dare I say a sensational card that combos well with stun counters and turns this into a draw six.
I speak, of course, of Turtle Man. He does whatever a turtle can. Very very slowly.
Dragonologist: I really wish dragonology was available to study when I went to college. I don’t know if you’ve seen but for people with at least a master’s in dragonology, they’re pulling in a healthy six figures. If only I’d accepted that scholarship to Erasmus B. Dragon University back in the day.
Oh, and this card, it’s okay. It finds other things besides Dragons, so that’s nice.
Dragonstorm Forecaster: “And the forecast calls for one of two very unimpressive cards. Or, possibly rain. Back to you, Bob.”
Marang River Regent: Doesn’t have flash or uncounterability, but trust me, this guy is gonna find a home in any kind of blue-based control deck that is based around a single finisher. Being able to use the draw-three multiple times is very attractive. Note that it bounces two permanents, not just creatures. I really, really like this card and he might make that style of control decks work again in Standard.
Spectral Denial: What, Power Sink is back? It is! Power Sink is back! With a marginally relevant extra ability but who cares! Power Sink is back, huzzah, huzzah, it’s a great day for America!
Bewildering Blizzard: The bewildering part is why anyone would pay six mana for this.
Winternight Stories: We’ve seen this “thirsty” card before. Sometimes it’s “discard an enchantment” or “discard an artifact.” We’ve seen variants in multiple different sets. So why is it rare all of the sudden?
Stillness in Motion: The fixed Doomsday no one was asking for? A new Dredge enabler? There’s a home for this. I’m just not sure where yet.
Temur Devotee: There’s a soft spot in my heart for 3/3 defender creatures for 1U in Limited formats. And this one does some mana fixing too. I’ll be drafting a lot of these way too high, I can tell already.
Unending Whisper: Like Whisper of the Muse (a good card!) but not good at all! What do you call a mechanic that gets the “we really don’t want to push this at all” treatment? (Harmonize, apparently)
Iceridge Serpent: Remember when this effect was stapled onto a three mana creature? So does nobody else, apparently. If you weren’t already sure that Dragonstorm was gonna be a “whoa whoa whoa let’s slow this party down set,” look no further than this.
Fresh Start: A perfectly cromulent bit of blue pseudo-removal that offers the Dress Down bonus, will undoubtedly find a home in some flavor of enchantment-based deck and oh lord we know about those already don’t we. O happy day.
The verdict on blue, much like most of the other colors so far: bombs at rare and mythic, but not much for constructed formats elsewhere. If this format was much princier, there’s be some purple in here, just saying.