Kamigawa Neon Dynasty Set Review: Black
All ratings follow the Limited Resources ratings scale as listed below:
5.0 – The best of the best.
4.5 – Incredible bomb, but not unbeatable.
4.0 – Good rare or top tier uncommon.
3.5 – Top tier common or solid uncommon.
3.0 – Good playable that basically always makes the cut.
2.5 – Solid playable that rarely gets cut.
2.0 – Good filler that sometimes gets cut.
1.5 – Filler, gets cut about half the time.
1.0 – Bad filler, gets cut most of the time.
0.5 – Very low end playables and sideboard cards.
0.0 – Completely unplayable.
Clawing Torment 2.0
Similar to Demotion from guilds of Ravnica, this one mana aura permanently removes a blocker, kills X/1 creatures, and deals a damage each turn to your opponent. This only goes in the most aggressive decks that want this effect and is a strong sideboard card if you see multiple small creatures that it can kill.
Okiba Reckoner Raid 2.5
While this one mana saga seems innocuous, double drain that leaves behind a 2/2 menace that also happens to grant your vehicle’s menace stacks up damage quite quickly.
This effect is always hard to evaluate, but if you can make repeatable tokens, this can turn into a doom blade, but the setup cost is too high for my liking to include in my decks.
Inkrise Infiltrator 2.0
An evasive two-drop that can easily enable ninjutsu attacks and can pack an extra punch in the late game as a mana sink for two additional damage.
Lethal Exploit 2.5
A strong instant speed removal spell that scales with each modified creature you control, this is the best tool black has for surviving the early game in this format.
A new twist on Deadly Dispute, this instant speed sacrifice divination tacks on some lifegain this time around. Blanking removal spells and sacrificing small creatures is fine, but this card just doesn’t seem super impressive.
Return to Action 2.0
We’ve seen combat tricks like this before, such as Supernatural Stamina, but tacking on lifelink to the trick makes this even better.
Virus Beetle 2.0
Ravenous Rats, but an artifact, is a nice value creature that can be rebought with ninjutsu for even more value.
I am not a fan of putting Grey Ogres in my limited decks, and sure this does get a power boost when attacking or when reconfigured onto a creature, but this will just trade down. It’s a fine 23rd card, but I would not be happy about it.
Debt to the Kami 1.5
Three mana edicts are always mediocre. However, this is a way for black to deal with problematic enchantments. There are specific scenarios where I can envision bringing this in from the sideboard, especially if you have a lot of other targeted removal spells that allow this to get the last enchantment an opponent controls.
Kaito’s Pursuit 1.5
Mind Rot is always fine in sealed, and the rogue and ninja bonus text of gaining menace is cool and all, but I would not play this in the main deck very often.
A fine creature on curve, gaining deathtouch when you have an artifact and menace while controlling an enchantment makes this a real threat for trading up and applying significant pressure if you can meet both criteria.
Three mana targeted discard spells are usually fine to bring in from the sideboard when an opponent has a bomb that you really don’t want to see hit the battlefield, and the fact that this is not a complete dead draw when top decking is a bit more enticing. Or if their hand just stinks and you’d rather put two +1/+1 counters on a creature or vehicle you control, that is fine too.
This defensive card blocks quite well and can even generate a bit of treasure when creatures die fits very well into the red-black artifacts decks but otherwise feels very out of place in the format.
A common payoff for controlling an artifact and an enchantment, the base rate of 4 mana 3/4, is wholly unexciting if you cant meet the criteria, missing out on the card draw and life gain.
Mukotai Ambusher 2.0
The base rate of 3/2 lifelink for 4 is quite underwhelming, but a ninjutsu cost of 2 is a bit more tolerable, but this will trade down on later turns. A little bit of lifegain never hurts, though.
Twisted Embrace 3.0
This set’s four mana double black removal spell is on an aura, which makes it a tad less reliable to cast, especially if you have no artifacts or creatures in play and end up dying as a result. However, it’s still very strong, giving +1/+1 to the creature or artifact it enchants, as long as it’s in creature form. Yes, you can put this on an uncrewed vehicle as an insurance policy, and worst-case scenario, a noncreature artifact.
A creature-type matters Gravedigger for ninjas and rogues, the 5 mana 3/3 body is fine but unexciting, and putting any creature on top of your library is serviceable, but the play pattern of blanking your draw step with known information can completely change how your opponent will play, which puts you completely in the palm of their hand.
Similar to Ninja of the New Moon from MH1, this big ninja gets a significant discount when put into play from hand. 5 damage is a large chunk of damage and can keep attacking quite well on later turns. Casting this for six, however, is extremely unexciting.
Dockside Chef 2.5
A powerful sacrifice outlet, this little one drop can generate a lot of card advantage from eating value creatures and turning them into delicious cards.
Dokuchi Silencer 2.5
This deadly ninjutsu creature can destroy any creature or planeswalker at the cost of a creature card from your hand. While this is a steep cost, cheap value creatures that you can pick up with other ninjutsu abilities can fuel future activations if you can get a second attack in.
Leech Gauntlet 2.0
A strong reconfigure creature, this life linking bear has a lot of late game value when attached to a larger creature to swing a race in a significant way.
X/1 creatures beware; this saga is coming for you. Two activations of Umezawa’s Jitte, a very nice callback to the namesake, that leaves behind a ⅔ creature that can add mana for spells.
Nezumi Prowler 2.5
3/1 for two is a nice aggressive rate. In addition, the ninjutsu ability to give lifelink and deathtouch to any creature can allow for a chump attack to trade up and eat a bigger creature while also swinging a race with some lifegain.
This equipment is unique, as it has a one turn effectiveness delay by tapping the equipped creature, denying you a blocker, which is quite a tempo negative. However, this is good for decks that can produce a lot of tokens that don’t mind being tapped for a turn before smacking in for a large chunk of damage.
Gravelighter 2.5
A strange Fleshbag Marauder, this card takes a bit of setup to be used effectively. However, if you can set up a scenario where you can trade off a two-drop and curve into this, becoming a 2/2 flier that draws a card instead, you’re going to be quite happy with the result.
Another functional reprint, this mini sweeper may be quite good in some matchups out of the sideboard, but the creature sizing in black in the format would lead me away from playing this in the main deck.
Unforgiving One 2.5
An evasive menace threat that can return value creatures if you have modified creatures. This solid creature can turn on ninjutsu early and late and can bring back a virus beetle and other similar cards for a bit of extra card advantage.
Assassin’s Ink 3.5
They printed Hero’s Downfall at uncommon in the last limited set, and here it is again, with its cost discounted by one if you control an artifact and an additional one if you have an enchantment.
Go-Shintai of Hidden Cruelty 2.5
One of the weaker Shrine creatures, 4 mana for a 2/2 deathtouch is not the rate I want to be spending for that effect. The shrine’s ability to kill creatures with toughness x or less, where x is the number of shrines you control, really asks you to be a dedicated shrine deck to be more than just a sniper of small creatures.
The Long Reach of the Night 2.5
This is a strangely worded saga; this either double edicts your opponent or Mind Rots them over two turns before transforming into an evasive threat that cares about your opponent’s dead creatures. It’s a fine card that taxes your opponent’s resources but can be too slow in some scenarios to be impactful in a relevant way.
Okiba Salvage 2.5
Five mana reanimation spells are a common staple of limited. This has a minor bonus of putting two counters on the returned permanent if you have an enchantment and an artifact.
Premium instant speed X damage gain X life removal spell? Sign me up.
This vehicle hits hard and grows quite quickly if you have the fodder to sacrifice to its ability.
This two-mana saga can provide some serious card advantage but also gives your opponents early creatures to enable ninjutsu and blow you out. It’s a powerful threat but is significantly worse against blue decks in the format.
3/3 menace for three that when it deals combat damage to a player, you can remove a menace counter to discard their best card? Oh, and it has ninjutsu as well? Sold.
Soul Transfer 3.5
Another card in the “control an artifact and enchantment” matters theme. This powerful removal spell exiles a creature or planeswalker or returns a creature or planeswalker from your graveyard to hand. Even if you can only choose one mode, this card is highly efficient.
This card has a lot of text, but what it boils down to is “cast an enchantment, get a 3/3 legendary frog token.” The frog token drains for one life when you cast another enchantment spell. You can pay 1 U/G to make this card and the frog blockable only by flyers or reach creatures. It’s a lot of value that provides multiple forms of reach damage and is a must-answer threat.
Hidetsugu, Devouring Chaos 4.5
Four mana 4/4 with built-in card advantage and direct damage-based removal that you can even set up itself? Heck yeah, I’m interested. Using the built-in sacrifice outlet to scry two can set up the card that is revealed off this creature’s second ability, which is red, and deal with problematic creatures is some sweet synergy.
Invoke Despair 2.5
A strange and hard to cast triple edict, this card does not pay you off for warping your mana base to cast it and have your opponent sacrifice their worst creature, artifact, and enchantment. If they can’t meet the criteria, you draw a card, and they lose two life, but that does not make this card any better.
Blade of the Oni 4.0
3/1 menace for two is a powerful ninjutsu enabler on its own. The reconfigure ability to make anything into a 5/5 demon with menace is an extremely potent threat that makes any creature into a monster. Also, the art is incredible.
This unique ninja steals cards from the top of each player’s deck and can cast one of them by paying life rather than its mana cost. If left unchecked, a bit of bolas’ citadel, a little bit of thief of sanity in this rat ninja, can run away with the game.
Five mana 5/5 menace flier that dies into a reanimate from any graveyard is, first off, hard to kill in combat, and secondly, bringing back the best creature in a graveyard as a parting gift is something any opponent should dread facing down in a game of limited. Sure there are cases where your opponent is at two life or only has two cards in hand, and choosing the second mode from its death trigger may be more beneficial, but the flexibility of this card makes this a top-tier card in the set.
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