Avacyn Restored Limited Review: Red

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

#125) Aggravate - D, for a 5 mana spell you'd kind of expect a little more out of it, one of the uncommons you would side board in for if your facing a lot of 1/1's other then that not really a essential card in this stand alone format.

#127) Banners Raised - D. Another real sideboard material card in this color, sure it gives things +1/+0 but when you are already running some seriously powerful dudes in this format, it kinda makes this a useless card.

#128) Battle Hymn - F, One of the bad cards of this set, a specific ritual effect type card where the requirement is solely based on creatures, you gotta at least have 3 creatures to make this worth playing, let alone have a deck filled with creatures.

#131) Dangerous Wager - C, Got a empty hand other then this, play this, get 2 free cards for no downside since you are always going to be dropping some threats and emptying your hand by turn 5, this is one of those utter value cards a lot of players like.

#132) Demolish - D, A specific land pissing you off in this format, which there really isn't a lot of them, or rather just hit a color screw on the opponent and force them to discard, keep this a situational side board card.

#134) Falkenrath Exterminator - A, Probably one of the best two drops red has at the moment in limited, sure you'll be either A) Using this for it's ability, or B) Hitting hard and fast with the stacking of counters, either way draft this high, trust me.

#135) Fervent Cathar - B, While limited has it's quirks this guy i feel is a great addition to this color, a 2/1 hasty target creature cannot block this turn guy is something not a lot of players like in this format, essentially getting through for 2 extra points of damage plus your main attackers seems like it's gonna get ugly real quick.

#136) Gang of Devils - C, so at first you are probably thinking, vergil why is this a C on your scale, i'll tell you why, even though it is a 3/3 for 6, when it dies it basically does a Incinerate when it dies, that is why, being able to kill 2 or even 3 things when it dies is just insane, a lot of red players are going to be either playing this or holding it in hand for the right moment.

#137) Guise of Fire - D, sure auras that can Skullclamp a creature are nice and all, but your going to be using this as removal in this format for a 1/1's, even the flying 1/1's that blue produces, just because they are a pain in the ass in this format, other then that keep this for situational purposes.

#138) Hanweir Lancer - C, Honestly soul bond is still unpredictable to me at least, sure it's a 2/2 for 3, giving first strike to itself and another creature, honestly even if you did draft a 3 drop in this set in this color i'll still take maybe 10th pick, pack 2.

#139) Havengul Vampire - B, You know you are good when you got a 2/2 for 4, that also gains +1/+1 counters when things die and he deals damage, he gets mighty big, mighty fast in this format, which is saying something.

#140) Heirs of Stromkirk - B, i originally looked at this card and went, holy crap that is a 4 drop intimidate 2/2, the only reason it goes so high on my scale is due to the intimidate factor, plus it gets bigger each time damage is dealt, 5 swings from this will make any player beg for mercy.

#142) Kessig Malcontents - A, Honestly if you were going to draft humans, you'd scoop up as many of these as possible, great 3, 3/1 it deals damage equal to the number of humans you control when it enters the battlefield, pretty much another reason why humans are so good in this set.

#143) Kruin Striker - A, Humans just seem to get all the nice little cards of this set, this is so a A on the scale simply due to the fact it gets +1/+0 and trample when another creature enters the battlefield under your  control.

#144) Lightning Mauler - B, Honestly why is this not a A, well simply due to the fact that it has the set mechanic, Soul Bond which is very susceptible to removal as a response to the soul bond card entering the battlefield, the hasty feature is nice though on a 2/1 2 drop.

#145) Lightning Prowess - D, Middle of the road, sideboard material card, sure it has it's uses but the haste feature that red often likes is a essential factor for not getting the F rating here.

#146) Mad Prophet - C, I love Merfolk Looter and any card that emulates it in any color these days needs to have some form of love shown to it, but on a 2/2 hasty 4 drop, yeah please i'll dump something i don't like outta my hand and get a better card.

#147) Malicious Intent - F, This is the worst common in red, period, avoid this at all costs, i don't care about it, in fact if i was using a numbers scale, this would get a 0 on that scale, it's that bad.

#149) Pillar of Flame - B, Shocking folks on turn 1 and basically taking them down to 18 is a effective way to start a match, plus it deals with pretty much every 2 or lower toughness creature in the format, which there are plenty.

#150) Raging Poltergeist - D, Honestly if you have no choice to take this on your last pack, pick 15, then take it, it's just gonna sit in the sideboard, who would want a 5/1 that costs 6 in this format and dies to everything 1 toughness or higher.

#152) Riot Ringleader - A, If i was to say Red/White humans was the best format deck in limited, i'd be right on the money a effective 3 drop that's a 2/2 and when this attacks all your humans automatically Battle Cry, nasty i tell you.

#153) Rush of Blood - B, usually when i say extra damage you say "What", well this particular spell is mighty useful, sure it's a neat combat trick as your attacking and they are declaring blockers, 3 mana though to give a creature essentially double it's power for a single turn, really sweet.

#155) Scalding Devil - B, Again, limited is showing why i love this format, a 2 drop 1/1 that hits for 1 for 3 mana, doesn't need to tap, can be used as a response to combat damage, instant speed abilites are always welcome here.

#156) Somberwald Vigilante - D, sure it's a 1/1 for 1, but the ability to deal a single, i repeat a Single point of damage when it is blocked kinda is iffy, but if you need the 1 drop slot filled in limited, take it, it may be useful.

#157) Stonewright - B, Being able to Firebreath someone with a lot of mana open for 2 creatures is sick, even with soul bond, probably the better soul bond of the color honestly, even as a 1/1 for 1 mana it's still a nice card.

#158) Thatcher Revolt - A, Can i just give this a A+ please, seriously, best common in red, period, expect to always draft this first pick, even just for splashing, mana cost perfect, 3 1/1 humans with haste, three dudes yo.

#159) Thunderbolt - B, Sure this is a great burn spell in this format, but not the absolute best burn spell for the format, sure it hits flyers hard and fast, sure it hits players for a decent chunk for it's cost, still a great addition to your deck if your going red.

#160) Thunderous Wrath - A, If i was to tell you the single best burn spell in the set was this card, you'd probably laugh at me, but hear me out, Miracle is probably the best limited mechanic for this set, being able to top deck this and hit for 5 on that turn is sheer lunacy, let alone the fact that this is also a great 6 drop spell if you need a game ender card.

#163) Uncanny Speed - D, Personally i would sideboard this, just because it's a 2 drop spell that has no real use till creatures are on the field, but it's still a fine situational card for this format.

#165) Vigilante Justice - C, Personally this fits right into the human deck at the 4 slot, since most human players are going to be running maybe 10-12 humans so that's maybe 7 points of damage without Thatcher Revolt, still a great enchantment to add to an already great format.

Well that's all she wrote for red, next on the agenda is Green, the final main color of the set, see you next time.