Each time a new set of cards is released, there is great anticipation. Will there be any cards that I can use in my existing deck? What new and interesting cards will I be able to build a new deck around? What are the new mechanics and how will they work?

When a new block is released there is perhaps even more excitement as the flavor and focus of the block is revealed. In the case of Morningtide, the flavor of the block has already been established with Lorwyn and the focus of the set has already been spoiled by the game's head designer; Morningtide is a continuation of the tribal theme but with a focus on class rather than race. What then, is left to be revealed? The cards themselves, of course!

Lorwyn brought to Blue mages a host of flying Faeries that can be played at instant speed, a whole new take on the Merfolk tribe, and a number of useful tribal spells. We'll be looking closely to see how the second and final set of this tribal block has rounded out these tribes as well as the classes that represent Blue - Wizard and Rogue! But Lorwyn also brought a few powerhouse cards to the table, such as Guile and Cryptic Command. These are the type of cards that can make it into a Blue deck in a number of different formats, not just Standard. Will there be any new power cards introduced in Morningtide? Let's find out!

Declaration of Naught - UU
Enchantment (R)
As Declaration of Naught comes into play, name a card.
U: Counter target spell with the same name as the named card.

One of the problems that control decks face is hanging onto a fistful of counter spells and hoping that when the opponent unleashes a barrage of magical energy there will be enough mana available to deal with it all. Cards like Counterbalance and Declaration of Naught create the ability to invest resources earlier to allow cheaper counter magic later. In the case of Counterbalance there was generally the need to spend 1 to activate a Sensei's Divining Top to rearrange the cards on top of your library in order to counter a particular spell. In the case of Declaration of Naught, it'll only cost you U to counter the named spell.

For the sole fact that you can call your shot, Declaration of Naught is a cocky player's dream. It could be quite useful in picking apart certain deck archetypes and could be efficient if the named spell is expensive. In a way, playing this card is like pre-countering the named spell, except that you have to keep U open to activate the ability. The up front investment in the enchantment makes the countering cheaper later. With enough Blue mana available, this could work well against storm as well.

In practice, I think that the card is a bit narrow. You have to declare your target of denial when it this enchantment comes into play which means that the opponent can play around it, Trickbind it, etc. Depending on number of copies this can become useless.

I would imagine this card to be a bad choice in limited formats where you could expect your opponent to have multiple copies of very few cards. Then again, if you counter something that will win the game, the investment may be well worth it.

Grade: B

Dewdrop Spy - 1UU
Creature - Faerie Rogue (C)
Flash
Flying
When Dewdrop Spy comes into play, look at the top card of target player's library.
2/2

This card is simple but fairly effective. A 2/2 flier for three mana is about par for the course, but with flash this guy becomes particularly attractive. Playing creatures at the end of your opponent's turn is ideal for the Blue-based control deck and looking at your opponent's - or your own - next draw gives you a little touch of inside information. For a common, this is a quality package.

Grade: A

Disperse - 1U
Instant (C)
Return target nonland permanent to its owner's hand.

Quite simply, this is Boomerang-. It cannot target a land but also does not require two Blue mana making it easier to cast. At common, it seems like a logical addition to the bounce world. If you're using bounce, and never intended to target lands anyway, then Disperse is a better option than Boomerang.

Grade: B

Distant Melody - 3U
Sorcery (C)
Choose a creature type. Draw a card for each permanent you control of that type.
Oona's song is like a twisted dinner chime. All the faeries return home, but it is Oona who feasts - on the stolen dreams and rumors they serve her.

Ok, here we go! If I'm playing tribal, I want Blue on my side. Card advantage for the win!

Obviously, this card doesn't have much use outside of a tribal build, but is potentially a must for any Blue tribe.

Grade: A

Fencer Clique - 2UU
Creature - Faerie Soldier (C)
Flying
U: Put Fencer Clique on top of its owner's library.
3/2

Fencer Clique is an example of those classic creatures that show up in cheaply built control decks: a win condition that is difficult to destroy. However, of the various types of such creatures, those that go back on top of your library are the least desirable as they take away your next draw. Overall, this guy is ok but not great.

Grade: C+

Floodchaser - 5U
Creature - Elemental (C)
Floodchaser comes into play with six +1/+1 counters on it.
Floodchaser can't attack unless defending player controls an Island.
U, Remove a +1/+1 counter from Floodchaser: Target land becomes an Island until end of turn.
0/0

This card is an interesting concept. I have to admit that Wizards is waxing creative lately when it comes to card concepts, regardless of whether the cards play well. In this case, it feels like the Law of Diminishing Returns has crept into a card. Still, it's a 6/6 for six when it comes into play and can block as such. Otherwise, it's kind of like it has a fading/diminishing effect. It would have been fantastic with Islandwalk! As it stands, I think that it would be an interesting Limited card.

Grade: C+

Grimoire Thief - UU
Creature - Merfolk Rogue (R)
Whenever Grimoire Thief becomes tapped, remove the top three cards of target opponent's library from the game face down.
You may look at cards removed from the game with Grimoire Thief.
U, Sacrifice Grimoire Thief: Turn all cards removed from the game with Grimoire Thief face up. Counter all spells with those names.
2/2

To be honest, at first glance I overlooked this card. I got that it removed the top three cards of an opponent's library, but initially missed the fact that it does this each and every time it becomes tapped. What makes a Merfolk Rogue turn sideways? Well, attacking of course, but also...other Merfolk and Rogues. Drowner of Secrets taps other Merfolk and incidentally mills a card in the act. Stonybrook Angler, Summon the School, Mothdust Changeling and Pestermite can all get in on the tapping action as well. Merrow Commerce allows you to untap your Merfolk, so you could easily tap this guy two or more times per turn. That's some good milling action - and the cards are milled right out of the game.

Now, the other part of the special ability, of course, is that you can sacrifice the Thief to counter all spells that share a name with the cards that you've milled. Realistically, this is rarely going to result in multiple counters simultaneously. However, it's good against storm and big threats since trading a two-mana threat for something much bigger is a great trade.

But take another look. Grimoire Thief is Blue and a 2/2 for two. There's something you don't see everyday!

Ultimately, Grimoire Thief is a niche player, but a good one at that. When it comes to Merfolk, Rogues, and milling, Grimoire Thief will definitely get a look.

Grade: B+

Ink Dissolver - 1U
Creature - Merfolk Wizard (C)
Kinship - At the beginning of your upkeep, you may look at the top card of your library. If it shares a creature type with Ink Dissolver you may reveal it. If you do, each opponent puts the top three cards of his or her library into his or her graveyard.
2/1

My first look at Kinship reveals that it is very simply a mechanism for gaining an effect in tribal decks. Ink Dissolver appears to want to be part of either a Merfolk or Wizard mill deck, and I daresay it might be effective. With the likes of Grimoire Thief and Merrow Witsniper around, the Merfolk mill appears to be alive and well.

Grade: B

Inspired Sprite - 3U
Creature - Faerie Wizard (U)
Flash
Flying
Whenever you play a Wizard spell, you may untap Inspired Sprite.
T: Draw a card, then discard a card.
2/2

Inspired Sprite has all the trappings of a Faerie but appears to be more at home in a Wizard deck. The secondary ability is ok - it does allow you to filter your cards in search of the right card for the situation but there is no card advantage to be gained.

Grade: C

Knowledge Exploitation - 5UU
Tribal Sorcery - Rogue (R)
Prowl 3U
Search target opponent's library for an instant or sorcery card. You may play this card without paying its mana cost. Then that player shuffles his or her library.

Thievery! The Prowl ability makes the casting cost of this card reasonable. And how is Prowl best triggered? With evasion, of course. Faerie Rogues with flying are particularly good companions for this card. However, even for a converted cost of four mana, you'll want to make sure that you choose your mark wisely.

Grade: B

Latchkey Faerie - 3U
Creature - Faerie Rogue (C)
Flying
Prowl 2U (You may play this for its prowl cost if you dealt combat damage to a player this turn with a Faerie or Rogue.)
When Latchkey Faerie comes into play, if its prowl cost was paid, draw a card.
3/1

Meh. If you can get everything going on by paying the prowl cost and netting the extra card, then this is a decent addition to a Faerie or Rogue deck. On it's own, the Latchkey Faerie is pretty average.

Grade: C

Merrow Witsniper - U
Creature - Merfolk Rogue (C)
When Merrow Witsniper comes into play, target player puts the top card of his or her library into his or her graveyard.
1/1

A 1/1 for one that mills one. It all sounds...average

Grade: C

Mind Spring - XUU
Sorcery (R)
Draw X cards.
Fragments of thought refract and multiply, surging in a geyser of dizzying insight.

Mind Spring is slightly less mana efficient than Tidings, but the flexibility of drawing X cards has some great mid- to late-game potential. I prefer my card drawing at instant speed but this guy has enough flexibility to make me at least want to try it out. It's also an answer to the discard power of cards like Mind Shatter. Overall, I think it's a pretty good card, but somehow I'm still not that excited.

Grade: B+

Mothdust Changeling - U
Creature - Shapeshifter (C)
Changeling
Tap an untapped creature you control: Mothdust Changeling gains flying until end of turn.
1/1

I've seen a lot of birds that are better. Changeling does mean that you can include it in a number of different tribal decks but I think that overall this is a throwaway card. That is, unless you're wanting to tap something...

Grade: D

Negate - 1U
Instant (C)
Counter target noncreature spell.
Masters of the arcane savor a delicious irony. Their study of deep and complex arcana leads to such a simple end: the ability to merely say yes or no

With the release of each new set, that initial reading of the spoiler list is an interesting exercise. Many cards are frankly overlooked, and many cards are underestimated, requiring additional analysis and meditation to grasp the value on offer. However, in every set, certain cards jump out at you. To a certain extent, it probably has a lot to do with your play style, your active decks and the cards that you happen to be looking for at a given time. In my case, Negate is the Blue card that jumped off of the page on my first reading of the spoiler.

My first thought: Yes! I'll take it!

When discussing this with a friend the comment was made that this card is too narrow. I disagree. Negate is a well-costed hard-counter spell that is not so narrow as to be too difficult to include in the right deck type. Cards like Muddle the Mixture were very narrow, but Negate only whiffs against one type of spell: creatures. In a Standard format that is heavily creature-oriented, I can already hear the protestations. After all, some mono-Blue control builds are running Remove Soul! But hear me out.

Negate only requires one Blue mana to cast making it an easy addition to U/X control decks. With all of the creature hate in both White and Black, this card is a natural fit. If your deck can handle creatures once they hit the board - something mono-U is not good at which explains why Remove Soul is a good fit for those archetypes - then your counter magic is really reserved for non-creature spells anyway. In that case, 1U for a hard-counter is a very playable card.

As a common, Negate won't cost you much either. I know I'll be grabbing a playset.

Grade: A

Nevermaker - 3U
Creature - Elemental (U)
Flying
When Nevermaker leaves play, put target nonland permanent on top of its owner's library
Evoke 3U
2/3

Evoke gets me the bounce effect? For 3U??? Sure, you control your opponent's next draw but I just don't see this as a great card.

Grade: C

Notorious Throng - 3U
Tribal Sorcery - Rogue (R)
Prowl 5U
Put into play X black 1/1 Faerie Rogue creature tokens with flying into play, where X is the damage dealt to opponents this turn. If the prowl cost was paid, take an extra turn after this one.

Ok, THAT'S kind of cool. Faerie Rogues seem to be the way to go, and Notorious Throng allows you to expand the hoard. Taking an extra turn (for only 2 colourless mana) means that I can attack with all of these tokens before my opponent can even untap again. That's a powerful finishing blow.

Grade: A

Research the Deep - 1U
Sorcery (U)
Draw a card. Clash with an opponent. If you win, return Research the Deep to its owner's hand.

Reusable card draw - great with library manipulation. In extended or earlier environments this will work well with Sensei's Divining Top, of course. Sorcery speed is always the drawback for me.

Grade: B

Sage of Fables - 2U
Creature - Merfolk Wizard (U)
Each other Wizard creature you control comes into play with an additional +1/+1 counter on it.
2, Remove a +1/+1 counter from a creature you control: Draw a card.
"There is no secret that cannot be sold."
2/2

Sage of Fables is obviously pretty good for your tribal Wizards. It is similar in feel to the tribe-fortifying creatures available to racial tribes in Lorwyn, such as Merrow Reejerey and Scion of Oona. However, it does have an interesting and very Wizard-esque ability: you can trade brute force for cards.

Grade: B

Sage's Dousing - 2U
Tribal Instant - Wizard (U)
Counter target spell unless its controller pays 3. If you control a Wizard, draw a card.

It's ok. Mana Leak for the Wizard deck and for your extra one mana you get a card, which is nice. It's unplayable outside of a Wizard deck.

Grade: C

Sigil Tracer - 1UU
Creature - Merfolk Wizard (R)
1U, Tap two untapped Wizards you control: Copy target instant or sorcery spell. You may choose new targets for the copy.
2/2

Using your creatures for the greater good doesn't seem like the worst plan ever. Copy an instant or sorcery spell? That's handy in a counter war, and really handy when your opponent is hammering you with discard. You get to return the favour and you don't need any cards in hand to do it.

Still, as with many cards in the Lorwyn block, this is intended for use in a tribal Wizard deck and nowhere else.

Grade: C+

Slithermuse - 2UU
Creature - Elemental (R)
When Slithermuse leaves play, choose an opponent. If that player has more cards in hand than you, draw cards equal to the difference.
Evoke 3U
3/3

Wow! Slithermuse erases your opponent's card advantage for four mana and you don't even need to treat it as a creature. With all of the discard in the Standard format, this card may be a very useful addition.

Grade: B

Stonybrook Banneret - 1U
Creature - Merfolk Wizard (C)
Islandwalk
Merfolk spells and Wizard spells you play cost 1 less to play.
1/1

Nice for the Merfolk and/or Wizard deck. You needed me to tell you that?

Grade: B

Stream of Unconsciousness - U
Tribal Instant - Wizard (C)
Target creature gets -4/-0 until end of turn. If you control a Wizard, draw a card.

It's not the worst card ever, but only really being useful in a Wizard deck limits the possibilities. The -4/-0 effect is almost incidental: this card replaces itself for U and prevents some damage in the process. Still...average.

Grade: C

Supreme Exemplar - 6U
Creature - Elemental (R)
Flying
Champion an Elemental (When this comes into play, sacrifice it unless you remove another Elemental you control from the game. When this leaves play, that card returns to play.)
10/10

Shut...UP! A 10/10 flying Elemental for only seven mana! Champion hardly seems like a drawback here. 10/10 puts your opponent on a short clock.

Grade: A

Thieves' Fortune - 2U
Tribal Instant - Rogue (C)
Prowl U (You may play this card for its prowl cost if you dealt combat damage to a player this turn with a Rogue.)
Look at the top four cards of your library. Put one of them into your hand and the rest on the bottom of your library.

It's a fairly weak card filter to get you what you need. At least it doesn't cost much.

Grade: C

Vendilion Clique - 1UU
Legendary Creature - Faerie Wizard (R)
Flash
Flying
When Vendilion Clique comes into play, look at target player's hand. You may choose a nonland card from it. If you do, that player reveals the chosen card, puts it on the bottom of his or her library, then draws a card.
3/1

Eh? Is this really necessary? 3/1 flash flying for three mana isn't bad though. The ability is a bit random but chances are it will help you remove the greatest threat to you at that moment.

Grade: B+

Waterspout Weavers - 3UU
Creature - Merfolk Wizard (U)
Kinship - At the beginning of your upkeep, you may look at the top card of your library. If it shares a creature type with Waterspout Weavers, you may reveal it. If you do, each creature you control gains flying until end of turn.
3/3

Kinship is a pretty synergistic ability for the tribal deck. I think I like it. And flying Merfolk or Wizards smells like alpha strike...

Grade: B

What did 28 new Blue cards bring to the table? While Morningtide is specifically about tribal classes, my initial reaction is that the race of Faeries got a few nice additions, adding to the power that is already there. Merfolk continue to head down the milling path. But what about classes? Blue Rogues seem to be a powerful force and combined with some of the other Rogues out there, especially in Black, it would seem that Rogues could emerge as an effective tribe. Wizards, on the other hand, don't really do that much for me and feel a bit weaker overall. And for those that aren't interested in the tribal scene? Well, I imagine that this is not your block. Still, there are a couple of nuggets in there though nothing quite as powerful as the likes of Cryptic Command in Lorwyn.

Overall, Morningtide does a good job of reinforcing the tribal approach to deckbuilding but brings very little to the table for the classic Blue mage.

What do you think? Do you disagree with my analysis of a particular card? Did I overlook some hidden power? I guarantee that I did, and I invite you to tell me all about it in the forum.

Until then,
Amadeus

Brad Lohnes, masquerading in the MDV forums as Amadeus, is a casual player from the early days of Magic. After a ten-year hiatus from the game he stumbled upon it once again. This has sparked a passion to fathom the depths of this complicated pass-time while continuing to enjoy it at its most basic level. Originally from Canada and having lived in New York City for several years, Brad now lives in New Zealand with his wife, dog and cat. He is a software engineer and enjoys traveling, hiking, and writing.

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How to Win with Milling: A Guide to a Slow Painful Death
Memories of an Old Magic Player 10: The Outsiders Journal #3.
The Apprentice Magician, Part Three.
Class-Wars Deckbuilding Contest Results!
Tribal Coffee: The Smaller Tribes.
[Mini-Article] Controlling the Game: Without Blue.
Raiding the Dollar Bins: Return of the Vault Ninja.
A Fresh Perspective: Stasis - Part One.
More Evil Than Evil.
Memories of a Jarhead.