Yeah, baby! Jumpstart is almost here and the internet is buzzing with analysis, speculative deck techs, and hype. The format is new, unique, and looks really solid at a glance. The best thing? We’ve seen most of the cards by now, so it’s time to rank them up from worst to best. Let’s group them by color and jump right into it!
Tier E - Red
Here in Jumpstart, Red is all about fire. As in garbage fire. Every Timmy’s favorite color had so much potential for cool stuff like massive creatures and epic damage to the face... But instead, Wizards are heavily relying on smaller creature themes like Goblins, Devils, and… Minotaurs? The Spellcasting and Seismic decks sound great on paper, but easily get outclassed by pretty much every other color in the set.
Red will always be fun, but if you’re looking for value, Jumpstart will disappoint you. Pass.
Tier D - White
Just yesterday we were discussing the mighty Angels of Jumpstart and we stand by every word we said - the winged ladies are absolutely, positively awesome. There’s also the majestic unicorn Emiel the Blessed who blinks, provides +1/+1 counters, and looks stunning while at it. Talk about good hair day!
That being said, there are three more colors in the set who are even better.
Tier C - Blue
Yo, listen up, this is a story about mana that is all Blue… Okay, okay, we won’t be doing this to you. But the song is already stuck in your head and probably will be for the rest of the day. You’re welcome.
Blue is packed to the brim with cool stuff like sphinxes, djinns, and the flying-themed Above the Clouds decks, making Blue the perfect complementary color to pretty much every other deck. There’s also a much-welcome reprint of Rhystic Study which, much to the annoyance of pretty much everyone, is a massive Commander staple and still fetches a $20 price for a copy.
Da-ba-dee, da-ba-daa.
Tier B - Black
One of the Jumpstart decks in Black is Liliana! Need we say more!?
Oh, we do? Okay then.
Black packs a punch, that’s for sure. Despite everybody’s favorite planeswalker and her necromancy spells that are so good, Wizards had to remove them from MTG Arena. We’ve got some massive value cards such as Tinybones, Trinket Thief, Exquisite Blood, and even the return of Sheoldred, Whispering One. These cards will provide fun gameplay at an event and boost your collection after it, which is exactly what we want to see from a format like Jumpstart. Amazing.
Tier A - Green
Whoa, that’s what we’re talking about! Have you seen the Green in Jumpstart?
Where to even begin. There are Cats. There are Dinosaurs. There are Elves. There’s even Dinosaur Elves!
Green is all about getting those creatures online, pumping them up, and smashing. Great on their own, great when combined with different colors and even greater when combined with the same color. If you’re looking for value, Green is the best by a long shot. New cards such as Allosaurus Shepard are already making an impact in Commander, and reprints of valuable staples such as Craterhoof Behemoth and Oracle of Mul Daya will finally do something about those ridiculous prices. All in all, Green is where it’s at.
...and for everything Jumpstart and MTGA, EarlyGame is where it’s at!
