Avacyn Restored Limited Review: Blue

Hello everyone and welcome to the review of Avacyn Restored in limited, prerelease time is over and it's time to check out how i think Avacyn Restored limited will do as a stand alone draft format, much similar to Rise of the Eldrazi from 2 years prior, i will explain the ratings down below as always and give my utmost thoughts on each color of the set, remember this limited review will only cover Uncommons and Commons in the set, rares will be a seperate entity and covered in one article.

A - Very Good, draft this at all times in this color.
B - Easily playable, focuses heavily on the color in question
C - Middle of the Road, splashable and semi playable.
D - Sideboard Material, for tough matchups only.
F - Never play this, ever.

Without further ado let's begin.

#42) Alchemist's Apprentice - C, the first card in this color and it's showing it's a middle of the road material card, sure it's a 1/1 for 1 and a blue, but you can sacrifice as a response to removal and get a card out of it, not a bad deal honestly.

#43) Amass the Components - B, Being able to draw three cards and effectively place a useless card from the hand onto the bottom of the library is key here, but something to keep in mind is if your going to be using Miracle cards, it only applies to the first card of the turn, still a good draw spell.

#46) Crippling Chill - C, 3 mana for a instant speed lock down for a full 2 turns, plus you get a free card to replace it, something blue is quite good at doing in limited this time around, though the rarity is a little off balance since it's a common, should have been uncommon instead.

#49) Dreadwaters - D, In this format a mill spell like this is only good if you got a deck focused around it, but for X where X is the number of lands you control is not bad, considering most of the time you'll have about 6 lands when you cast it, so X will usually be about 4 to 6, keeps it out of the F range.

#50) Elgaud Shieldmate - C, one of the better soulbond dudes, 2/3 four mana and a hexproofer, not bad considering this is blue, but again soulbond is iffy since of course it relies on 2 creatures instead of just the one.

#51) Favorable Winds - B, Heavy blue players are going to love this enchantment, considering it gives all your fliers +1/+1 for a mere 2 mana, if i didn't know better i swear this was the replacement for Intangible Virtue.

#52) Fettergeist - D, 3/4 for a 2 and a blue, but you gotta pay 1 mana for each creature you control, sure it is good alone, but what if you control 7 creatures, then you gotta basically pay all resources just to keep it alive, this is kinda bad honestly for a uncommon.

#53) Fleeting Distraction - C, giving a creature -1/-0 until end of turn and being able to replace itself are nice, this is a interesting reprint since the last time we saw this was 2 years ago in Rise of the Eldrazi, how fitting this comes back for another limited format.

#54) Galvanic Alchemist - C, being a 1/4 body with soul bond is kinda nice, since you can throw this up as a brick wall for a few turns, but the trick is soul bond you instantly pair this and gets somewhat better, since at any time you can pay 2 and a blue for either creature and untap it, however being said i'm not favoring this new mechanic at all.

#55) Geist Snatch - B, Being a counter spell which costs 4 mana is ok i suppose, but when you get to put a 1/1 blue spirit as well on the battlefield, it makes it a little more desirable as a counter spell, the only problem is it counters creatures only, otherwise it'd be the perfect counter spell for this format.

#56) Ghostform - B, having a 2 mana spell that makes 2 creatures unblockable is kinda nice, even if they are 2/2's in this format, you still get 4 points of free damage if they are 2 power, minimum damage dealt with this is mostly 2, since there are a few 1/1's in this format.

#57) Ghostly Flicker - C, Honestly with this i'm not exactly sure why i gave it a C on my rankings scale, sure it's good for abusing enter the battlefield effects like the new one soul bond, which is somewhat good, but other then that, maybe it has it's uses in limited as a potential addition for this color.

#58) Ghostly Touch - B, Lock down effects in limited are superb here, with this being no exception of course, 2 mana enchantment that when the creature enchanted with this attacks it taps or untaps target creature, so making synergy seem more valuable here for something.

#59) Gryff Vanguard - D, Honestly i would expect more of a 3/2 with flying, enter the battlefield you can trip of course, but that i feel is one of the only things that save this particular card from the F rating, is the replacement effect, sideboard this if you are having troubles with flyers in limited.

#60) Havengul Skaab - C, for a bomb it's pretty good, when it attacks you bounce something you control, a creature anyways and you get a chance to abuse it's enter the battlefield effect if it has one, but for a 4/5 for 6, it's quite a limited material bomb.

#62) Into the Void - D, 4 mana Unsummon that hits two creatures at sorcery speed, not good enough, this is so sideboard material, blue is starting to feel like a more support color in this set.

#63) Latch Seeker - B, This particular format is going to have a lot of 3 drops, this is one of those excellent 3 drop dudes, 3/1 unblockable, throw a piece of equipment on this and you are golden.

#66) Mass Appeal - C, Honestly something that works with only humans for this particular format is going to get a middle of the road rating, sure it costs 3 mana, but it's a Divination at sorcery speed only for a specific creature type, maybe in limited you'll get to play this once.

#67) Mist Raven - B, Abuse of entering the battlefield effects in this set seems to be very apparent, 4 mana for a 2/2 flyer that bounces a creature when it enters the battlefield, not a bad thing, since this format seems to be a quick format, based upon what's been seen so far.

#69) Nephalia Smuggler - A, it's a piece of late game material waiting to happen, sure it may be a 1 drop 1/1 but when it comes down to it, most players are going to be using this guy for his ability more so then anything, considering soul bond is around.

#70) Outwit - B, A very specific counter spell which hits spells that target a player, but it's a counter spell regardless for 1 blue, yeah most blue players are going to always keep a mana open in case of a Miracle spell like Thunderous Wrath pops up.

#71) Peel from Reality - C, there are way too many bounce effects in this set, is this the bounce abuse set or something, besides this being a reprint, it's a instant speed 2 drop spell that hits a target creature you control and a target creature a opponent controls, it's a decent combat trick at least.

#72) Rotcrown Ghoul - B, 5 drops that hit for 1/8th of a library in limited are huge, considering when they are common as well, the only reason it didn't get a A on this scale is due to the simple fact it only triggers when it dies.

#73) Scrapskin Drake - D, 2/3 flyer that can only block flyers is the reason that this is a D on the scale, sorry but when your not able to block little 1/1's on the ground by turn 3, you got something wrong here, sure it's a great sideboard card, but other then that don't expect too much outta it.

#74) Second Guess - B, Late game counter spells anyone, this is what blue is known for in limited a lot of the time, being able to drag the game out to a near halt while controlling the board, plus this counters the second spell cast this turn, so you can essentially put this on the stack and go nuts.

#75) Spectral Prison - B, Lock down auras in here are very nice, considering it forces the opponent to waste a spell to get rid of it, meaning you'll be able to open up much faster and easier even if you are facing a blue player in this format, still a great aura for limited.

#77) Stern Mentor - B, A decent soul bond effect where it mills, is a good 4 drop that's a 2/2 and it both creatures consistently hit 4 cards at a time, if both are paired, a creature that's really good in limited and i gotta examine this guy further someday.

#80) Tandem Lookout - B, Soul bond with a Jon Finkel effect is very nice, considering there is no Black to  worry about in the mana cost for this guy, being able to attack, get a card or two and have a slight advantage is always nice, blue seems to have the better of the soul bond guys.

#82) Vanishment - A, the only Miracle card that's a uncommon in this color, 5 mana for it's base casting cost but 1 blue for it's Miracle cost and it's at instant speed, the new Unsummon of the set, truly there hasn't been a better unsummon till now.

#83) Wingcrafter - B, Being able to throw flying in the early game is super exciting, with this being a 1 drop card and a 1/1 at that, makes it so that you can effectively play this and play your next creature, attack for 1 in the air and go nuts in the very early game in this color.

Well that's it for this edition of the Limited Review, Black is next on the list, as always i will take a look at the Rares and Mythic Rares in another article.