Other Changes

---

White

Raffine's Informant for Parish-Blade Trainee

• Raffine's Informant is good with a variety of strategies: aggro, blink, counters, mini-reanimator, and potentially even control (for the looting, can be bounced). Parish-Blade Trainee doesn't quite do enough compared to the other white 2-drops, and really relies on other creatures to be beneficial.
  Vesperlark for Stonehorn Dignitary
• Stonehorn Dignitary is certainly a good card, but having yet to receive a border update and being abysmal when combined with Soulherder and other blink cards, it may be too good. Vesperlark continues its combo legacy while also being a flier and working well in blink decks. At some point, Felidar Guardian will also come in to make it a legitimate combo (Vesperlark + Felidar Guardian + sac outlet + artist), though it doesn't combo with anything else. Regardless, it's a good synergy piece.
  Banishment for Faith's Fetters
• Banishment is a single-target removal spell 90% of the time, but can be used as a board wipe against token decks, though it does only removes one type of token]]. Faith's Fetters is good, but doesn't actually remove the creature, which would be nice if paying 4 mana, and can't be cast at instant speed.
  Touch the Spirit Realm for Pacifism
• Touch the Spirit Realm is both removal and a blink enabler (or temporary removal). Pacifism's time has finally come.
  Fight as One for Momentary Blink
• Momentary Blink really only exists in blue/white, and Touch the Spirit Realm, another blink-enabler, is being put into blink strategies, so there are enough of this effect. Fight as One is a fantastic combat trick that, as a ceiling, protects two creatures and kills two of theirs. It also starts to push towards a heroic/combat trick/boggles deck, which can come together with some equipment. I want to keep enablers low, as it's not a fully supported archetype, but I like providing options and putting a little more focus on really good combat tricks.

Blue

Wash Out for Aetherize

• Wash Out is one of the few peasant board wipes, but competes with Aetherize. Though it's not instant speed, it's more desirable in match-ups where the opponent isn't attacking (control mirror, attrition, slow-aristocrats, board stalls). Aetherize is also a feels-bad blow-out card that isn't really telegraphed, so this is probably the right switch.

Black

Cauldron Familiar for Gifted Aetherborn

• Cat-Oven combo with Witch's Oven. Good, but not unbeatable, and has redundancy with Abiding Grace. It slots perfectly into the Orhzov archetype, and works well in Rakdos aristocrats. Though it's infamous in standard format, it's unlikely to come together in draft and harder even still to assemble it during your games without the redundancy of duplicates. Without Witch's Oven, Cauldron Familiar can still drain your opponent and can be sacrificed for value. It has the downside of implementing an additional token, but it has additional synergies if Food becomes more prevalent in the future. As for Gifted Aetherborn, to be honest, it's a bit boring. Black already has a good, cheap, french vanilla creature in Vampire Nighthawk, and there's already six other deathtouchers in Black. Few decks actually want Gifted Aetherborn, so it tends to become a boring glue piece for any deck that plays it.

Red

Roil Eruption for Strangle

• See previous notes regarding burn spell changes
  Lightning Strike for Krenko's Command
• See previous notes regarding burn spell changes

Green

Contortionist Troupe for Wren's Run Hydra

• Though I'm replacing an X for another X spell, there are some pros and cons to replacing Wren's Run Hydra for Contortionist Troupe. Wren's Run Hydra both has reach and can be a good pump spell, but only has a one-time use. Contortionist Troupe is lacking in reach and large impact, but its gradual value can help break board stalls and spread-out the love. It also has more interesting decisions, requiring the juggling of different power across your creatures.

Gold

Cartel Aristocrat for Markov Purifier

• Cartel Aristocrat is an interesting inclusion. It's not what you'd typically think of for either mini-reanimator or attrition, but it can consistently attack, is an annoying blocker, and is a free sac-outlet, while still being a 2/2 for 2. Markov Purifier is still a great card, but there aren't enough lifegain cards to make it consistent, outside of self-triggering.
  Grumgully, the Generous for Rhythm of the Wild
• Though Rhythm of the Wild can also provide Haste and doesn't allow creatures to be countered, having the effect on a creature is such a big difference.

Colorless

Containment Construct for Bloodline Pretender

• There is a fair amount of discard across colors (looting, Channel, Reinforcement, Cycling), so Containment Construct could be a build-around, or just a value piece. I'm moving away from a tribal focus (incidental tribal is fine), as that is tough to get the density for and has limited payoffs.. As a payoff, Bloodline Pretender was only alright. If someone is leaning into a tribal deck, they really need something that will make it worth it.
  Cranial Plating for Bonder's Ornament
• Artifacts are starting to appear in the colored sections (mainly Red), so a payoff like Cranial Plating is fun to use. It can probably go in any color, as long as they have enough artifacts. I'm removing Bonder's Ornament, as it always brings up the question of “how many are in here?”, and a 3 mana value rock isn't really strong in this environment.
  Chromatic Star for Prismatic Lens
• Colorless will have roughly 6 ramp cards, so I want to limit it a little bit to prevent midrange and control from having as much power. Prismatic Lens is good, and may return, but it doesn't replace itself, only ramps and fixes. For 2 mana, it's not as good as the slot needs. Chromatic Star is a really good glue piece, as it replaces itself and fixes mana for a low deck-building cost. It also adds the decision point of “do I crack this when I need fixing, or when I need a card?”
  Witch's Oven for Thunderstaff
• See notes regarding Cauldron Familiar. Witch's Oven isn't necessarily great on its own, but in a more defensive strategy, you can chump-then-sac to get some extra life. Also helps with artifact generation if they're leaning into Cranial Plating. Thankfully, it's only one mana. I don't think Thunderstaff is doing quite what I want it to. It's sitting halfway between a control strategy and a go-wide deck, while only benefiting in a matchup against other go-wide decks. That matchup is rare, so it probably doesn't make the main deck too often.