Since my last writing, we've gotten quite a few more goodies spoiled from Khans of Tarkir. There are a lot of things to be excited about from Khans, but the card currently hogging most of my attention is Mantis Rider.

Take a mana and a toughness away from Lightning Angel and this is what you get. The immediate reaction I've seen from many players is that they would gladly pay the extra mana for the extra toughness. Lightning Strike, Bile Blight and Anger of the Gods are all strong reasons for this.

That said, your three drop dying to Lightning Strike and Bile Blight is something I consider an acceptable loss.

The biggest issue on that list is Anger, a card earlier in spoiler season I believed would be huge in Standard post Khans. Since then we've had a five mana Wrath spoiled, but I'm starting to believe that Anger won't be as popular as I initially believed for a different reason. It turns out that a lot of things are just Anger proof.

First and foremost, arguably the biggest player from Theros just shrugs off the super-Pyroclasm:

This guy seems pretty good, too. If, you know, winning the Pro Tour can be considered pretty good:

That, and there seems to be a lot of four toughness happening in Khans. Take a look at this lot that gets the better of Anger:

You can expect to see all three of these cards making splashes in Standard, perhaps even waves. And these are just the three mana options that trump Anger. There are plenty of four+ mana things to be doing that don't sweat three damage.

Even if there is a ton of Anger going around, Mantis Rider is still good for three damage. Not so against spot removal, but, again, getting 1-for-1'd is a consequence of playing Magic.

With Desecration Demon rotating out, Arbor Colossus stands out as the only huge roadblock for Mantis Rider. Banishing Light or, if we can make it work, which I'm not convinced we can, Chained to the Rocks can take care of that.

For everything else, there's Stoke the Flames. Stoke just kills almost everything, and Mantis Rider can attack and then tap for Stoke mana, which is more relevant than it may seem.

I would be inclined to make a Mantis Rider deck based around red, as my nod to Stoke the Flames no doubt suggests. Haste creatures and burn just happen to play well together, and, off the top of my head, red provides the most serviceable action on two.

Searing Spear is likely an auto-include with Magma Jet being another reasonable option. If the mana works, Eidolon of the Great Revel isn't out of the question, and Mogis's Warhound and Everflame Eidolon look like serviceable options to me. Goblin Rabblemaster is pretty unquestionably the go-to additional three drop here. Throw in some Stormbreath Dragons, maybe a Sarkhan or two, and fill out the curve how you will and we've got ourselves a stew going!

It's tough to say exactly what a Red Rider deck would look like without knowing the other options we're yet to get at the low end of the curve, so I'll leave filling in the blanks to you and Future Ryan.

With all of this talk about 4/4s and Stoke the Flames, it makes me wonder how good having five toughness must be in post-Khans Standard. Polukranos, World Eater and Reaper of the Wilds weren't exactly slouches previously, but they just might be top of the food chain if Anafenza, Brimaz, King of Oreskos and other x/4 creatures are commonplace. It's also nice that they fit right in with the Courser of Kruphix and Sylvan Caryatid engine.

Polukranos seems like a reasonable spec target, coming in just under $10. There isn't a ton of room to grow, so I wouldn't go nuts, but definitely get your set now if you don't have it.

Reaper of the Wilds, however, is worth next to nothing. There is essentially zero downside to picking up a set if it ends up being as good as I imagine it will be and it's a really low risk to speculate aggressively on as well. It is in the Jace vs. Vraska Duel Deck, for whatever that's worth.

The other potentially strong creature that showed up in high numbers at the Block PT is Prognostic Sphinx. There has been a lot said about Professor Sphinx, so I don't see a need to do the topic to death. It's not the most exciting card, but it's definitely playable. Not picking up a set while they're under a dollar seems ill-advised.

And Now for Something Completely Different

There is another card in Khans that looks somewhat underwhelming, but I nonetheless have a lot of interest in. The mana cost alone will deter most from even reading the text box, but I think this one is worth a second look:

As a Sorcery, this would certainly be unplayable. There would be just too much going against it. Being an instant doesn't add anything to the card when you're under the gun, as the zombies come into play tapped, but it sure makes a difference when it comes time to beat down. In that way, Empty the Pits gets by Anger of the Gods and End Hostilities.

The casting cost is still problematic. Paying for X twice really limits your zombie making potential. That said, delve is huge here. How hard is it to get 6 cards in your graveyard? How hard is it to get 6 cards in your graveyard when fetchlands are legal? How hard is it to get 12 cards in your graveyard when you're playing Commune with the Gods? I don't actually see the double X being too prohibitive. As a matter of fact, the quad black looks a lot tougher to me. Luckily, they just reprinted this oddball:

Of course, it's a legendary land, so you can't play too many. Fortunately Satyr Wayfinder makes it a lot easier to find Urborg while simultaneously boosting our delve count. If quad black is relatively easily attainable, and we have all these sweet self-mill cards, then it won't surprise me at all to see Empty the Pits show up on end step and just kill people.

The biggest drawback is that none of the self-mill cards actively search for instants or sorceries, and you really don't want to play too many copies of a card that is more mana-greedy than Cruel Ultimatum. I guess it's good that they printed this guy then:

The biggest factor against Empty the Pits' playability is that it might be win-more in the self-mill deck. If I were playing the deck, I'd probably find room for at least one.

Now, the real reason that Empty the Pits stands out as a spec target is that it's an amazing Commander and casual card. Zombies? Check. Huge effect? Check. Mythic rare? Seems to be. If you can get foils on the cheap, I would recommend it. A couple copies to play with doesn't seem ill-advised either.

~

With less than half of Khans of Tarkir spoiled, we are pretty far from knowing everything, but it would be surprising to see much in the way of cards more powerful than what's already spoiled.

So far there isn't anything that solidifies my belief in Master of Waves, though it does seem that every wedge has a base color. I wouldn't give up on devotion just yet, but if things continue the way they've been trending, then I hope you already have your Temples and Mana Confluences.

Thanks for reading.

-Ryan Overturf
@RyanOverdrive on Twitter