Magic: The Gathering's latest set is a return to the medieval realm of Eldraine. Leaning heavily into a nightmarish fairytale aesthetic, Wilds of Eldraine explores the magical plane in the wake of the Phyrexian invasion. This set features a handful of new and returning mechanics and centers primarily around the use of enchantments and adventures.
Keeping track of each set's most desirable and useful cards in preparation for a friendly Booster Draft tournament can sometimes feel overwhelming. Both longtime Magic fans and those diving into draft for the first time should keep their eyes out for some of the best blue cards.
10 Curiosity
With the overarching theme of enchantments and auras in the Wilds of Eldraine set, this one-mana enchantment has no trouble fitting right in. Curiosity lets players enchant a target creature and draw a card whenever that creature attacks. Its simple and effective abilities encourages players to take risks and rewards them with vital card draw advantage.
Curiosity’s greatest strength is that it's affordable and easy to get out on the field. When used alongside creature cards with evasive abilities, such as flying or menace, this card can quickly become a convenient source of card draw even if the attached creature does little damage.
9 Picklock Prankster
Picklock Prankster is a worthwhile two-mana creature card with flying and vigilance. Its adventure, Free the Fae, lets players put either an instant, sorcery, or Faerie card into their hand upon milling four cards. These key features work together to make this card a solid choice for players looking to make a tribal Faerie deck with an abundance of instants and sorceries.
Giving players the opportunity to find the right cards in their library by self-milling helps give Picklock Prankster an edge over similar Faerie cards. In a deck splashed with black, which often incentivizes players to use their graveyard as a resource, this card could shine in Wilds of Eldraine's draft.
8 Sleep-Cursed Faerie
Costing only a single blue mana, Sleep-Cursed Faerie gives players a creature advantage early in the game. This card comes into play tapped with three stun counters on it. Players can pay two mana to untap it at instant speed and get rid of a stun counter until they're completely removed.
Once the stun counters are off, Sleep-Cursed Faerie is fairly effective as a 3/3 creature with flying. It becomes even more evasive thanks to its ward feature which forces opponents to pay two mana if they want to hit Sleep-Cursed Faerie with a targeted spell or ability. Overall, this card is a solid choice in for those playing blue decks in theWilds of Eldraine draft.
7 Leyline of Anticipation
Leyline of Anticipation is a unique enchantment that lets its controller cast spells at instant speed as though they had flash. Additionally, if it's in a player's opening hand, they are able to start the game with Leyline of Anticipation on the battlefield.
For two blue and two colorless mana, this card can easily shake up a game before it even begins. Having the ability to surprise an opponent with Leyline of Anticipation on the field can make them wary of putting valuable creatures in harm's way. Ultimately, this card could help players build up quite the dangerous board state.
6 Spell Stutter
With a converted mana cost of just two, Spell Stutter is Wilds of Eldraine's updated take on the fan-favorite Counterspell. Spell Stutter counters an opponent's target spell at instant speed unless they pay two colorless mana plus an additional one mana for each Faerie the original caster controls. This can become pretty devastating for players facing a Faerie-focused deck.
Not only does this card inhibit an opponent's plans, it also drains their mana. Although many Magic fans would love to see a reprint of the comparable Spellstutter Sprite, Spell Stutter will hopefully make for a decent substitute in the meantime.
5 Farsight Ritual
Farsight Ritual gives players the ability to look at the top four cards of their deck and put two of them in their hand and the rest on the bottom of their library. It also features Bargain, one of Wilds of Eldraine's new mechanics, which gives players the option of sacrificing an artifact, enchantment, or token as an additional cost of casting the card in order to look at the top eight cards instead.
It costs two blue and two colorless mana to play and works at instant speed. For any deck that needs more card advantage, Farsight Ritual is an ideal solution.
4 Talion's Messenger
Talion's Messenger is a gift to anyone playing a Faerie tribal deck in the Wilds of Eldraine draft. With a converted mana cost of three, this creature card lets players draw a card and discard a card whenever they attack with one or more Faeries. It then gives those Faeries a +1/+1 counter every time a card is discarded that way.
On their own, flying creature cards are already a real threat to players who don't have creatures with the reach ability in their decks. Talion's Messenger amplifies that threat by continually adding to a Faerie's power and toughness. This card would work wonderfully in just about any Magic format.
3 Virtue of Knowledge
Costing four colorless and one blue mana, Virtue of Knowledge is an intricate and valuable enchantment. This card copies a triggered ability whenever a permanent entering the battlefield causes an ability to trigger. Additionally, its attached adventure copies an activated or triggered ability that player controls at instant speed for only two mana.
Virtue of Knowledge would no doubt benefit from cards with "enter the battlefield" and other similar triggered abilities. It could also do well splashed in a red/white deck thanks to Wilds of Eldraine's new Celebration mechanic which is a triggered ability that rewards players whenever two or more permanents enter the battlefield during their turn.
2 Rhystic Study
Players will never have to worry about drawing enough cards with Rhystic Study on the board. Most popular in the MtG Commander format, this reliable enchantment lets players draw a card every time an opponent casts a spell unless they pay one mana. This card is a staple in blue decks and works wonders for only three mana.
Although known for being a thorn in an opponent's side, Rhystic Study's abilities are much more manageable and balanced in Wilds of Eldraine's draft environment with the heavy focus on enchantment interaction. Its stunning new fairytale artwork and overall notoriety has made it one of the most expensive cards from the Wilds of Eldraine set.
1 Asinine Antics
Asinine Antics is quite the powerful card. Costing two blue and two colorless mana, this blue sorcery takes advantage of Wilds of Eldraine's new Roles mechanic by letting players enchant their opponent's creatures effectively turning them into 1/1 creatures. Significantly lowering the power and toughness of opposing creatures would easily change the course of combat.
If that weren't enough of a reason to grab this card during draft, Asinine Antics can even be cast with flash if its controller pays an additional two colorless mana. Having the ability to cast this sorcery at instant speed helps to make this card a must-have for blue decks.