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When Wizards of the Coast first released Magic: the Gathering Arena in open beta, one of the most powerful sets in Magic had already been dominating tabletop games. Kaladesh and Aether Revolt introduced the Energy mechanic, and like most artifact-based sets, it dominated multiple formats. Once Magic Arena officially came out, however, the Kaladesh block did not release because it was too powerful for the smaller card pool available at the time. Now that Magic Arena has been out for a few years, Wizards of the Coast decided that now was the time to reintroduce these powerful sets of cards with Kaladesh Remastered.

Now that more than 300 cards are being added to Arena, it can be hard deciding what to spend wildcards on. Since the cards are entering the Historic and Brawl formats, players don’t need to chase as many cards as they might if it was entering Standard again. Certain cards, like Standard all-star Smuggler’s Copter and the eternally powerful Walking Ballista, are not returning, which makes deciding what to craft a little easier.

Let’s take a look at what cards are worth spending your precious wildcards on from each color and rarity. Keep in mind that synergies are still being discovered and there may be some Historic breaking combo discovered by the next major tournament. Also, not every rarity and color has a card that could be crafted, as Kaladesh Remastered omitted many cards. These suggestions are just that — suggestions based on card power and currently played decks.

Kaladesh Remastered Cards

White

  • Mythic – Angel of Invention
  • Rare – Sram, Senior Edificer
  • Uncommon – Refurbish

Angel of Invention was an easy pick when God-Pharaoh’s Gift was reintroduced to Magic Arena in Amonkhet Remastered. The deck relied on Refurbish to cheat God-Pharaoh’s Gift into play on turn three or four. Then, God-Pharaoh’s Gift returns Angel of Invention to play to pump your board and quickly build an army. Since the crux of the deck is back on Arena, it should not be surprising to see this deck return as well.

Sram is included because of the strength of W/U Boggles right now. Sram, Senior Edificer acts as a weaker Kor Spirit Dancer by providing another engine for card draw in the list. It’s a little niche, but it’s an efficient and relatively cheap deck to build on Arena.

Blue

  • Mythic – Torrential Gearhulk
  • Rare – Disallow
  • Uncommon – Glimmer of Genius

While blue was a bit weaker than white, it still has a few powerful cards to bring to Historic. Torrential Gearhulk is a powerhouse by not only being a beefy body but by also granting control decks a free spell. Pair it with Disallow in a more draw-go-styled control list and the two could start dominating the format. Disallow is in a weird position right now on Magic Arena since there are a good number of efficient two-mana counterspells in the format. The versatility that Disallow brings to the Historic format might mean that it sees a fair amount of play. Glimmer of Genius is just an efficient spell. The Energy aspect is relatively irrelevant; it’s more or less a four mana Scry 2, draw 2.

Black

  • Mythic – N/A
  • Rare – Glint-Sleeve Siphoner
  • Uncommon – Fatal Push

Oddly enough, Black doesn’t have a great Mythic but makes it up with Fatal Push. As one of the best removal spells printed in Magic’s history, Fatal Push will see play as it kills most major threats. While not having access to fetch lands hampers it a little bit, decks like Jund Sacrifice and Mono-Black Gift have plenty of ways to trigger the Revolt ability. There’s a reason Fatal Push was bumped up to rare in Ultimate Masters — it’s just too good.

With Glint-Sleeve Siphoner, it is just an efficient early game beater with an occasional card draw effect. It might not be necessary to craft, but it has a Dark Confidant-like effect that can’t be ignored. The Siphoner could see play outside of Energy-based decks because of this ability.

Red

Mythic – Chandra, Torch of Defiance
Rare – Kari Zev, Skyship Raider
Uncommon – Harnessed Lightning

The mythic choice for Red was an easy one — Chandra, Torch of Defiance is arguably the best red planeswalker printed so far. She has four abilities and each one can be relevant to the game. She will quickly find a home Jeskai Control or a top-end spell for Mono-Red decks.

Kari Zev and Harnessed Lightning are both very good cards in very specific decks. While Kari Zev saw a good amount of play in Mono-Red lists during its original printing, it might be hard to find a home when there are better two-drops in Historic. Harnessed Lightning is good, but only if an Energy-based deck makes its way into Historic. They’re good to keep an eye on, but maybe hold off on crafting them until someone figures out what to do with them.

Green

  • Mythic – N/A
  • Rare – Greenbelt Rampager
  • Uncommon – Blossoming Defense
  • Common – Attune with Aether

Although Green doesn’t have a good Mythic worth crafting, it makes up for it with another powerful uncommon in Blossoming Defense. This card does it all if all you want is a cheap way to dodge removal while giving your creature +2/+2. It is the ultimate threat for green decks against targeted removal, and it will forever make your opponent hesitate if you have one green mana open.

Both Attune with Aether and Greenbelt Rampager fall under the ‘if Energy is good again’ umbrella. If a deck comes around, both of these are potential targets to craft given their ability to quickly gain energy. Magic Arena might just be waiting for the right combination of Energy-based cards to come together before a deck starts forming.

Multicolored

  • Mythic – Saheeli Rai (Not really though)
  • Rare – N/A
  • Uncommon – Winding Constrictor

Saheeli Rai would be the immediate choice given its dominance during the Kaladesh Standard season in the Copy Cat deck. Unfortunately, and smartly, Wizards did not print Felidar Guardian, so the entire deck is basically dead. All players had to do was have both cards on the battlefield and use Saheeli’s second ability to create a copy of Felidar Guardian. When the token enters the battlefield, its ability lets players exile a permanent that they control and immediately return it to the battlefield. Now that there is a new Saheeli, you can keep making infinite new copies until there are enough Guardians in play to overwhelm your opponent. Two-card combos are terrible for the health of Magic, but if Wizards ever prints a similar card to Felidar Guardian, expect something to get banned.

Winding Constrictor could see play in some type of G/W/b counter deck, but until that happens, it is just a good card without a home.

The multicolored spot is weird for Kaladesh Remastered, as it has some powerful cards, but they fit better into Brawl on Magic Arena. Kambal, Consul of Allocation, and Rashmi, Eternities Crafter are powerful, and Kambal could potentially see play in some sideboards, but they aren’t worth crafting quite yet.

Artifact

  • Mythic – Aetherworks Marvel
  • Rare – Panharmonicon
  • Uncommon – N/A

Anyone who played during Kaladesh Standard can tell you that Aetherworks Marvel is a dangerous card. While Energy might not have the same support it did at the time, being able to cheat cards into play is too good to ignore. The first time you cheat an Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger into play feels too good to be true.

Panharmonicon is another incredibly powerful card that might fit better into Brawl. Doubling up on enter the battlefield effects is good, but players likely won’t need more than one copy ever.

Land

  • Rare – Whatever enemy colored Fast Land you need
  • Uncommon – Aether Hub
  • Common – N/A

Lands are tough, especially when the five enemy Fast Lands were printed. These lands, Concealed Courtyard, Spirebluff Canal, Blooming Marsh, Inspiring Vantage, and Botanical Sanctum all enter the battlefield untapped if you control two or fewer other lands. So even if it’s the third land when you play it, it only checks to see if there are two others in play. These lands will quickly gain popularity in Historic, so it’s good to have a good number crafted.

Aether Hub is almost good enough to play, partially if there’s a light splash of Energy cards like Glint-Sleeve Siphoner.


Hopefully, this list helps with trying to decide what cards to craft now that Kaladesh Remastered is back in Magic: the Gathering Arena. If there’s something you think we missed, let us know in the comments below.