After getting myself thoroughly trashed in Sealed and Traditional Draft matches in MTG Arena, I have finally rid myself of all salty emotions I hold towards that one overpowered black legendary dragon. I am now, truly at peace with my inner self-

Oh, who am I kidding? I’m still salty at the consecutive turn-4 Ebondeath, Dracolichs I faced in a best-of-3 draft match.

Enough about my salty self – time to talk about the dual-colour classes in Adventures in the Forgotten Realms!

But first, a quick refresher:

The Mechanics of Class Enchantments

The most important thing about classes is how they’ll work on paper.

Functionally speaking, they’re similar to some creatures from the original Zendikar/Rise of the Eldrazi Block, with the Level Up mechanic. You can pay a fixed amount of mana at sorcery speed to add a level counter to those creatures, which may allow them to gain new abilities or change their power and toughness.

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However, unlike Level Up, Classes require you to pay varying amounts of mana in increasing quantities to gain additional effects, but as an upside, you get to keep the effects from previous levels, which can easily make these enchantments game-winning in their own right.

And unlike the Sagas from Kaldheim and Dominaria, these Enchantments are not affected by cards that double or remove counters from them, like Vorinclex, Monstrous Raider and Hex Parasite, since they are not tracked with counters.

The Multicolour Classes

Red-Green Bard Class

In alphabetical order, we have the class that lays some bitches and slays some witches (or do they slay some bitches and lay some witches? I can never tell). The bardic class is often tasked with being the one to tell grand tales of adventurers long past and the quests they’ve been on. Though you sadly won’t be able to slide into the pants of any opposing or ally Creatures anytime soon, the Bard Class will still give you plenty of legendary stories to tell.

At first level, your Legendary creatures gain a minor advantage in the form of a permanent buff of a +1/+1 counter. Though this effect seems to barely scratch the surface, it can easily snowball out of control if you can keep sticking legendaries to the battlefield. It’s easily exploited by Gruul’s archetype in AFR limited – Pack Tactics. This ability rewards you whenever you attack with Creatures with a total Power of 6 or greater. Two creatures with 3 Power each is much more achievable than 3 creatures with 2 power each.

At second level, your enchantment grants you one of the best things in Magic since sliced bread: Mana Reduction! At an additional 2 mana, all your Legendaries cost less to cast. This may not seem like much, but if you’re playing a legendary-heavy deck, some of your spells can turn from 4-drops into 2-drops, which allows you to spend more mana on activated abilities or casting even more legendary spells!

Finally, at level 3, the additional 5 Mana gives you a free Light Up the Stage that’s limited to only this turn. You’ll likely be playing a Mana curve where you activate this level up on turn 4 or 5, then get value from this ability the turn after.

It’s great for Storm-y decks that want to blow through large chunks of their deck at a time to cast a Chatterstorm for 7, but it also works well in ensuring you don’t run out of gas late game.

For Commander, I can certainly see a few Legendary-centric lists like Jodah, Archmage Eternal, The Ur-Dragon as well as Grumgully, The Generous who might want the additional cost reduction on their legendary creatures. But for this to make the cut, you would ideally need at least 12-15 Legendary Creatures in your deck (as well as your Commander).

Rienne, Angel of Rebirth might also like the multicoloured mana reduction, but it pales in comparison to the reduction of creatures like Morophon, the Boundless or Sisay, Weatherlight Captain when she cheats them out. Overall it’ll see some fringe play but I doubt it’s worth investing in now.

For Standard, Bard Class already sees some explosive play alongside long forgotten Legendary Creatures. At level 2, Gallia of the Endless can be played for free(!) and even Klothys, God of Destiny only costs 1. Radha, Heart of Keld then takes a swing after that, followed by mono-coloured Legendaries such as Purphoros, Bronze-Blooded. With the upcoming Innistrad expansion set, it isn’t out of the possibility that a Red-Green werewolves midrange deck might also pop up, which would certainly benefit from the Exile effects as well as the cost reduction.

White-Red Fighter Class

Ever wanted to punch something so hard it just disappears? Well with the fighter class, now you can! Utilising the “Imma beat the everloving sh*t out of you” powers from the barbarian with the added dexterity and overall nimble-ness from the ranger, the fighter offers a wide range of weapon proficiencies to beef up your bad boys. From bows to swords, shields to quills, your creatures will be strong enough to fight god or die trying.

At level 1, this card simulates the search abilities of Stoneforge Mystic and Steelshaper’s Gift. For 2 Mana, this card is pretty on-curve, and can easily lend a hand to set up its second level ability, or just providing you with an on-curve Maul of the Skyclaves.

At level 2 is when things get interesting. A cost-reducer for Equip abilities has only been seen twice prior, once on Fervent Champion and another time on Nahiri, Storm of Stone. This ability makes light work of many Equip costs since the majority are within the 2-3 Mana range. Unfortunately, this ability is also in the same ring as Halvar, God of Battle, who can just as easily attach Auras and Equipment for the low, low cost of free rather than make you go through some weird cost-reducing shenanigans. 

At level 3, your Creatures gain 1 instance of the Provoke mechanic, except they can’t force the opponent’s creature to untap and block it. Forcing favourable trades is perfect for such an aggressive deck, but the main qualm I have with this ability is that it’s a “win more, lose less” ability. If you’re already ahead, this ability only helps you get further ahead by giving you favourable blocks around Deathtouch creatures or chump blockers. This ability is functionally useless if you’re behind since you probably won’t want to trade creatures to lose board advantage. 

In Commander, this Class comes along as a supporting tool for the already plentiful Boros equipment decks in Commander. Commanders like Wyleth, Soul of Steel, Akiri, Fearless Voyager as well as Ruhan of the Fomori, Syr Gwyn, Hero of Ashvale and even Zurgo, Helmsmasher could all benefit from the combat redirection, cheapened equip costs and tutor effect. However, with the abundance of such effects in the Commander format, often at cheaper or with less colour-intensive mana costs, this card may end up relegated to budget builds and fringe play, especially given how much of a mana investment the level 3 ability is. One good Krosan Grip and you’re finished.

In Standard, this card might see play in some Boros Equipment Aggro decks utilising cards like Maul of the Skyclaves and Fireblade Charger to swing in for 4 damage by turn 3, and then doubling up with Fervent Champions and Sword of the Realms. Other than that, this current meta has no openings in the 2 mana slot for most Boros decks. Mono red aggro needs to cast their Robber of the Rich or Stomp and Boros Winota uses it for Seasoned Hallowblade.

White-Blue Monk Class

Ever wished you could achieve Nirvana and punch your opponents so hard they turn to dust? Well, then the path of the monk is for you! Punching hard but staying low, your spells fly faster than your fists, allowing you to easily chain combos that will make your opponents dizzy from the action.

At level 1, you become the ally to all white-blue Foretell decks in Kaldheim Limited. Your ability to just make stuff cost 1 less is critical to going off on later turns. Many, many support pieces for second-spell tribal exist in Standard today. Cards like Clarion Spirit, Monk of the Open Hand and Bloodsky Berserker all feed off of casting your second spell each turn. The added flexibility also allows you to cast multiple threats and answers to your opponents’ Creatures on any turn.

At level 2, you get an on-curve Callous Dismissal effect. You can return any non-Land Permanent (including yours), which makes for a strong tempo play. The main problem with this ability is that you simply cannot use this ability on curve. Turn 2 you play Monk Class, turn 3 you either play a 3-drop, 2 2-drops or level up and play a 1-drop. The latter of which puts you behind on tempo because you’re wasting a turn not developing your board state. 

Thankfully, level 3 makes for a powerful late-game ability. At a cheaper cost than all of the other classes, levelling up to level 3 is only a meagre 3 Mana, making for a total 7 Mana investment. This ability also comes at a reasonable price, since it copies Red’s “impulsive draw” effects by Exiling cards and allowing you to cast them so long as they aren’t the first spell you cast in a turn. Though this may appear rather weak for most blue decks, being able to comfortably refill your hand and proc your first ability more frequently is certainly a plus.

In Commander, decks like Vega, the Watcher and Ranar, the Ever-Watchful would love the additional card draw and cost reductions. This card is also good in any Azorius+ colour identity since the explosive power of this Enchantment allows you to refill your hand very easily late game, and breaks you out of top-deck mode when you’ve run out of gas in your hand.

In Standard, this card likely won’t make waves now due to the prevalence of Throne of Eldraine and the higher power level of older sets like Ikoria, Theros Beyond Death and Strixhaven. But when the dust settles after rotation comes, this card might see play in a Grand Master of Flowers control build. Certain combo decks may also enjoy the versatility of the class, but it might be hard for them to ramp up to 5 mana to trigger the class’ level 3 ability.

Blue-Black Rogue Class

Ever wanted to have a tragic, sad or otherwise horrifically dark backstory, keeping to yourself in a long cloak that obscures your figure while standing in the corner of the local tavern, occasionally glancing around the room like you’re looking for somebody? Well, then the Rogue class is the class for you! A class that is known for their deceptive tactics, devilish schemes, quick fingers and even quicker minds. Unlike the rogues of Zendikar Rising, this class relies more on thievery and stealth tactics rather than mill strategies, which leaves it in a very interesting space both for Commander and Standard.

At level 1, your attacks become a mini Thief of Sanity – you Exile their top card. That’s it. I would say something about this being incredibly effective against blue decks, or decks that like to manipulate the top of their Libraries, but ultimately this is a mediocre control tool at best and just a horrifically inefficient 2 Mana payoff the rest of the time.

At level 2, you have an evasive payoff for your Rogues, allowing them to hit their target more frequently. Given that a majority of relevant Creatures with the Rogue subtype in Standard already have evasive abilities like Deathtouch and Flying, I feel that this ability is just a waste of 3 mana. 

At level 3, your first ability finally bears fruit, as you can effectively mini-Gonti, Lord of Luxury your opponents and steal their bombs and removal spells to your advantage.

For 5 more mana than a normal Gonti, Lord of Luxury. 

At Sorcery speed. 

Assuming you can even attack at this point.

I can’t recommend a card less. It has a horrific rate for Standard format, it burns your mana during turns that are crucial to creating a dominant board state, and this Enchantment only gives you a minor upside, and for it to even give you your payoff you need to sink 9 Mana into the card, which is an egregious rate even for Commander. 

It’s a hard pass for me even in Commander. Anowon, the Ruin Thief has better threats and payoffs, Morophon Rogue Tribal would have an even greater access to better cards (see Bident of Thassa/Coastal Piracy) and even the new Xanathar, Guild Kingpin has no use for such a card. Unless you’re in the market for a bulk Rare that will see play in fringe budget deck lists, I would stay clear of this Class.

Blue-Red Sorcerer Class

Well it wouldn’t be a Magic Set without mention or reference to any kind of mage or wizard or spell caster, and the Sorcerer Class is no different! Unlike Wizards who have to train and update their skills and Warlocks must surrender themselves to their unholy patrons, Sorcerers are just naturally gifted with the expertise to wield magic like they’re an over-60 Asian woman with reading glasses and permed white hair at the mahjong tables. 

For 2 Mana, you get Faithless Looting. Though it’s at quite a bad rate since its not easily repeatable through Flashback costs and costs 1 more coloured Mana, the effect is still quite good to clear any crappy Lands in your hand in favour of more gas.

At level 2, all your creatures become an Izzet version of Vodalian Arcanist, which to be frank, isn’t necessarily a bad thing. You can easily chain this ability with small token producers like Krenko’s Command, Hordeling Outburst and Molten Rebirth to easily climb to level 3, or simply as spell slingers. Extra Mana is always a nice thing, but given the difficulty in setting up this card, its nice that they made the level up cost only 2 Mana.

At level 3, you have access to a Sentinel Tower that’s tied to the spells themselves. It works off the Storm mechanic, so cards like Chatterstorm, Grapeshot and Ignite Memories all increase in potency with this card, though copies don’t count towards the damage dealt. Simultaneously, the damage is dealt by the spell and not the Class. So even if your opponent targets the class with a spell like Naturalize, you can still proc the ability by casting Opts and Shocks to generate a Storm count with the Naturalize on the stack. You can easily bag 10+ damage a turn if this card is not left in check.

For Commander, this card will likely see play in decks helmed by Veyran, Voice of Duality, Galazeth Prismari and Elsha of the Infinite. Any spell slinger deck can always use this as an additional win condition, if not as a value-engine that allows them to comfortably pay for their spells late game.

In Standard, it’s hard to see that Izzet makes its way back into the metagame, especially given the power and speed of aggro decks in the format, but given the right support, Izzet Blitz/Storm might make its way into the meta.

End Step

Overall, Class cards represent a new step in Wizards’ design philosophy, showing that they’re open to playing around with new mechanics and interactions to make gameplay fun and interesting. Though I feel this might be a hard concept to replicate in the future, given the tedious and Mana-intensive level-up abilities, as well as the unique flavour these cards bring. 

I would say my personal pick for the best card out of the bunch is certainly Ranger Class, given its versatility and low casting cost. It doubles up as an on-curve body that transforms into a good payoff late game.

Well then! I hope you enjoyed my brief writeup of the Class cards for AFR! I’ll see you once again when I introduce our participants for our Budget Commander League!