Throne of Eldraine (ELD) comes out this week on MTG Arena and next week on paper. That makes this the perfect time to brush up on Magic‘s latest set.
When it comes to playing Limited, you’ll want to know the top common and uncommon ELD cards that can push you to victory.
Top Blue commons and uncommons
When it comes to Blue in ELD, there are four archetypes to focus on. Blue-White cares about artifacts and enchantments, Blue-Green wants to ramp, Blue-Red wants to draw cards, and Blue-Black gets empowered by cards in the graveyard.
To fulfill these diverse decks, Wizards of the Coast has a lot of cards that fit into two or more of them—and the best ones can go into any. Here are the top Blue common and uncommon cards for Limited in ELD.
Charmed Sleep
Charmed Sleep is your classic Blue removal card, and as a common, it should be easily found and likely must-drafted for Blue players. This enchantment locks down a creature and prevents it from doing much of anything other than passive abilities. The two Blue mana in this card’s cost pushes players to devoting themselves more heavily into Blue, a design choice by Wizards linked to the Adamant mechanic.
Hypnotic Sprite
The Adventure mechanic allows for a lot of flexibility and Hypnotic Sprite is a clear winner from this design approach. Individually, Mesmeric Glare is a mediocre card. But with an attached 2/1 flyer for just two mana, it’s a superb discount that functions as a safety valve in the late game and a cheap beater everywhere else.
Wizards has had a hard time making counterspells relevant in Limited, primarily because sometimes you just never find a spell to counter. Hypnotic Sprite is a prime example of how adventuring gets around this drawback—just staple the counterspell onto a creature.
Animating Faerie
Turning artifacts into 4/4 creatures is a new thing for Blue, but one that should make an impact in ELD limited. With several cheap artifacts in the set, this ability eases any issues player have running them. The fact that it’s tacked on to a solid flyer is just the icing on the cake.
Faerie Vandal
For Blue-Red decks, Faerie Vandal is the all-star that spells certain doom for enemies. With flash, you can easily play this on your opponent’s end step and set up a 2/3 attacker next turn. Then, keep drawing cards to pump this roguish beater into a powerhouse.
Don’t forget, the ability triggers each turn. So if you can draw two cards on an opponent’s turn, you can pump this guy up twice as fast.
Queen of Ice
Tell your opponents to let go of any offensive strategies because Queen of Ice is here to slow down the ground game and set you up for success. Even against giants, this crafty noble can lock something down for turns on end. Freeze up the battlefield, then attack in the air for the victory.
Syr Elenora, the Discerning
Any creature that replaces itself by drawing a card is worth consideration and Syr Elenora does that and more. It has some soft protection from abilities and spells and it can get quite powerful, especially if you pair her with some card draw. It’ll be pretty common to see this discerning knight galloping around the battlefield beating in some heads.
Into the Story
Drawing cards at instant speed is another powerful ability and drawing three is just about one of the best things you can do in any Limited game. Tack on a discount—primarily aimed at Blue-Black decks—and it’s hard to see this card not being constantly played. Just make sure to have a defense against aggro decks and you’ll be all set to storybook your opponent into a value dungeon.
Worst Blue Limited cards
Mythical Dispute
Paying three to counter a spell if your opponent taps out is a pretty heavy price. The discount only targets other Blue decks, leaving Mythical Dispute as a sideboard-only card that’s maybe playable against other Blue players. Even then, this is a mediocre card at best. If Hypnotic Sprite is a fix for counterspells in Limited, Mythical Dispute is an example of why it doesn’t work.
Merfolk Secretkeeper
It’s rare to see a card get worse by having an adventure on it, but here we are. This would maybe be playable if the adventure half was an enter-the-battlefield trigger on a one drop, but as it stands, it just does nothing in either state.
Folio of Fancies
This is perhaps the worst Limited card in Blue throughout the ELD set. Folio of Fancies is possibly a powerful constructed card, but there’s a ton of risk in letting your opponent draw cards. Blue-Black does want to fill up the graveyard, but not like this.
