The graveyard as it exists today in Magic functions a lot differently than a mere pile of spent resources.

Many remark that dredge decks are nothing like the Magic that Richard Garfield designed, but I contend that they are simply an imminent outcome of complexity, and one that I welcome to the game. This is not to say that I'm a lover of dredge, but I approve of the deck more than most, largely because when the graveyard acts as a relevant resource, the game is more engaging for there are more things to consider with every decision.

Threshold was a mechanic that drove players to consider the number of cards in either player's graveyard in a way that was not previously relevant, and Khans of Tarkir is bringing graveyard counts back in a big way. The Sultai Brood are bringing back (introducting?) the delve mechanic to Standard and allowing players to use their graveyard as an extension of their mana pools.

While the Sultai Brood do provide a graveyard emphasis, they bring significant power to the table in the more conventional sense as well.

Specifically, I expect the following card to be doing plenty of traditional beating down in the coming months.

Rakshasa Deathdealer

I'm not going to say that this is a better Putrid Leech, but I definitely like the card more. We'll call them strictly different. Leech had the advantage of not requiring mana to pump, but the downsides of costing life as well as only being able to be activated once per turn. On top of the upsides that Raksasha Deathdealer has on the pump ability itself, it can also be regenerated.

Most decks that want to play this card are probably playing Llanowar Wastes and/or Mana Confluence, which is definitely awkward when you intend to spend all of your mana every turn. I wouldn't be surprised to see it show up in slower decks though, as throwing down a bear to trade with opposing creatures early and having a one-card Voltron later isn't anything to scoff at.

Either way, this card is preselling for just over $1, and as a regular rare in a set with fetchlands, I don't see any money to be made here in the short term. If the price on regular rares dips as much as many expect it to, then this could definitely be one to look at when Theros is rotating out.

Raksasha Vizier

I suppose this card is interesting with delve. It strikes me as being a lot more work than Nemesis of Mortals to set up though. It might be funny to pants somebody by boarding Nighthowler out of your self-mill deck for this guy if you suspect your opponent will bring in Tormod's Crypt, but then they just have the option of not Crypting you.

That said, a 4/4 is still better than a 0/0. I don't expect this card to be worth anything, but it might see small amounts of play.

Sidisi, Brood Tyrant

The Sultai's Khan is somewhat difficult to evaluate. It is very unfortunate that Sidisi only makes one 2/2 no matter how many creatures are milled per iteration. I've seen comparisons to Hero of Bladehold and Grave Titan, but both of those creatures were better at not dying when they attacked.

If it's worth it to splash blue in Golgari self-mill, I don't believe this is the card that makes it so. Sidisi is by no means a weak card, but she does compare unfavorably to the other hay-makers of the format.

$4 isn't the steepest buy-in, but I would be surprised to see much of a gain on this one if it isn't just a straight loss.

Sultai Ascendancy

My nomination for the weakest Ascendancy by a country mile.

I've written previously that Jace, the Living Guildpact's power was going to be dependent on a powerful graveyard mechanic, and this card is no different. Delve is not that mechanic. Some minimal card selection along with minimal delve enabling in incremental fashion is not exciting. Elspeth, Sun's Champion provides immediate payoff in a way that is often stronger going longer anyway.

I'd stay away from this one unless you can buy it for less than bulk.

Sultai Charm

Sultai Charm, on the other hand, probably isn't the worst in its cycle. It is inefficient at everything it does, but there are definitely mono-colored creatures worth killing and targets like Hall of Triumph and Banishing Light worth naturalizing.

I don't think that I would maindeck four, but one or two seems totally reasonable. Some people are considering this one for Modern, which seems like a stretch to me, but this will 100% be played in good Standard decks.

Villainous Wealth

I have literally zero idea how good this card will be in Standard.

I do know that every Sultai Commander deck wants this, however. It's kind of like having another copy of Genesis Wave. There are random elements to this card and it's very mana intensive, but it could very well show up in Sylvan Caryatid + Courser of Kruphix Standard.

As I said earlier, it's tough to spec on regular rares from this set. There will be tons of these around. I'd get a set for playing on the cheap and pick up as many foils as you can though. The biggest threat to the price of the foil is it getting banned in Commander, which they very well might do. Because, you know, this card is obviously more powerful than Sol Ring.

Black Cards

Bloodsoaked Champion

The worst thing that I could say about this card is that it's an upgrade over Rakdos Cackler. This card will be played, and Monoblack Aggro is probably better than devotion after rotation. It remains to be seen whether Monoblack Aggro will be the best Thoughtseize deck post-rotation, but it very well could be.

I don't think that this card is the best to pick up at $4 as a regular rare, but it does give me faith in all of these as specs:

Debilitating Injury

At a glance, this is just worse than Bile Blight. It might be played in a constellation deck with Eidolon of Blossoms and Doomwake Giant though. It is also relevant in Black Aggro mirrors, though it doesn't kill Herald of Torment or Master of the Feast, so it might just be good if being an enchantment matters. This will probably show up in constructed decks, though it's not the most exciting card. And it's a common.

Despise

When this card was originally printed, it really, really sucked. It was fine in block and wasn't in Caw-Blade.

Ultimately, though, the power level of this card is going to be contextual. When your opponent is killing you with Tempered Steel, Despise doesn't do much. When your opponent's deck is jammed full of Courser of Kruphix, Xenagos and Elspeth, however, the card suddenly has a certain charm.

Ultimately, Despise will live in the shadow of Thoughtseize, but it will see play. It might be largely relegated to sideboards, but owning a few copies is definitely worthwhile. They won't be worth anything though, as they're both a reprint and not good enough for Modern.

Empty the Pits

The biggest problem with this card is that it will be very difficult to cast more than one of for good effect, and therefore including more than one in a deck can be a liability. I do, however, still believe that this card will see Standard play and it does have casual appeal. There will be a lot of them out there and people won't need many copies, so that will definitely limit the card's price.

My plan is to pick up a set right now, which will both enable me to play with the card in Standard, lend out to at least one other person, and then buy in if the card ends up being largely neglected.

I mean, it makes Zombies. Casuals love that stuff. Maybe I'm crazy.

Grim Haruspex

At first I was pretty excited about this one. Then I remembered Anger of the Gods. Then I remembed that Magma Spray was reprinted and isn't unplayable.

This card is fine, but it strikes me as worse than Mogis's Marauder and Herald of Torment. It's probably worse than Master of the Feast, too. Does seem good for Cube.

At any rate, I don't intend to buy in here. Maybe after the full block is out and if it looks good for post-rotation is the time to consider it as a spec.

Murderous Cut

This messes with your Dark Confidants and your Tarmogoyfs in eternal formats. I don't see it making a huge splash there.

In Standard, you'll often be paying more for this than Hero's Downfall. I could see playing one or two in a deck that wants Bloodstained Mire and/or Polluted Delta. I'm not all that excited about this uncommon.

Raider's Spoils

So, this card is kind of like a black Bident of Thassa. I don't know if the threshold is there for playable warriors to make this work, though Tormented Hero and Bloodsoaked Champion are both warriors.

I'm just going to say that someday, some kid is going to crush some tournament with this card. There are absolutely conditions under which this is playable.

~

While Khans didn't deliver much in the way of exciting delve cards, the Sultai Brood still bring with them a healthy number of playable cards.

It is my belief that Villainous Wealth has the greatest monetary potential of any card in this wedge. Bloodsoaked Champion is probably the most relevant Standard card of the lot, though even still you're likely to lose money on that one at its current price. Sidisi and Empty the Pits are worth paying attention to as well, though I believe that many hold opposing views to my own on both cards.

That does it for my set review. This weekend I will absolutely be battling at the prerelease, and the Sultai Brood looks like a solid wedge to pick for whatever they're calling their sealed-deck training wheels packs these days.

Best of luck to everybody at the prerelease and thanks for reading!

-Ryan Overturf
@RyanOverdrive on Twitter