Every time a new set comes out, there always seems to be a mechanic we are excited for, but maybe it doesn't pan out to be as powerful as we thought. Sometimes we think it will be good in constructed, and it ends up only being good in draft. There are other times when it is a sleeper, and we may have overlooked it when we were predicting what might be good. When we examine set design, sometimes we can also see the clear intent for the mechanics to be good in both the limited and constructed environments, and there are cards with power levels for each different environment. One might be watered down a bit to be more limited-friendly, and another might be that overpowered card that you need to be a bomb in constructed. There are a few ways to go about it, and we do what we can to identify which mechanics we should be mindful of in constructed, particularly in Standard, where the new cards affect the format more than other constructed formats. What we will do today is look at the mechanics that are prevalent with the new cards. There are some that are familiar mechanics, and I will still go over those. There are a couple of new ones that I think are quite interesting, and I have opinions on. Let's check out these mechanics, and give them some ratings!
Exhaust
You guys can tell that I am pretty excited about this one. The deck that I made for exhaust seems like it will run pretty smoothly. I believe that Exhaust is a mechanic that has cards that are intended for limited, and cards that are intended for constructed, and that the mechanic will be useful in both environments. One of the reasons that I believe it can be so good in draft is that you can almost consider the ability to act as another card later on in the game. You could have no cards in hand, but if you have two exhaust creatures, it is almost like you have two cards in hand that can make something happen. I'm excited for the mechanic, and I'm excited to draft the set and see if I can get a good bit of Exhaust cards going. I think it will be relevant in constructed because of the crazy value that you can get from some of the rares, and because there is one that allows for graveyard recursion.
Saddle
I think that saddle was a little bit underwhelming when it initially came out, and I expect it to remain that way here. It will probably be decent in limited like it was last time, but don't expect this to be a constructed-playable mechanic. I did see one rare card with saddle in the set that seemed alright, but it is five mana and we can simply do better for the mana cost in this format. I think it would be fine in draft, but constructed is going to demand better. The one constructed format that I could see it being played in is in EDH, but that kind of has an asterisk, and it still wouldn't be suited for competitive play. I believe that the mechanic is fun if nothing else, but it feels like it only got included partially in this set because of the crew mechanic for all of the vehicles.
Crew
Crew is one that we know people will be trying in both environments. I believe it will be good in both. The question mark that we have next to its relevancy in Standard is whether or not it will be too slow. Something that may prove to be helpful with all of the new vehicles is that they have a lot of enter the battlefield effects, so we are able to get value right away whether we are crewing or not. I think that inclusion is what will help it to be relevant. Much like Exhaust, this mechanic has cards that were clearly designed for both environments, and some of the limited vehicles would just be flat-out bad in Standard. I think that it also might bring you to play some other vehicles in constructed such as Hedge Shredder. What is the most fun to me is that almost every color has a good vehicle, and I think this can allow for some fun deck building in the format, and will be an interesting arms race to see which color combinations make the best vehicle deck.
Start Your Engines/Max Speed
Start Your Engines is my sleeper pick. I think that a lot of people aren't putting a ton of stock into it, and the mechanic will let you have great value in constructed. What is really nice to me is that you do not need a ton of cards with the mechanic on them to play said mechanic and get value from it. There are a few cards with the mechanic on them that can slot right into decks that are already good. I believe that it will also be relevant in limited as long as you ensure that you are making your opponent lose life. Sometimes we get into those stalemates on board in limited, and it can be hard to gain speed if that happens. For that reason mainly, I actually believe that this mechanic would be better suited for constructed, although I still believe in its viability in limited.
The main criteria I used for evaluation here was whether or not it would be fast enough for the format, how well it would fit in with what else is going on in Standard, and power level. I believe that Start Your Engines has the highest power level, with Exhaust in a close second. Start Your Engines is so powerful because it can be good on its own, where Exhaust feels like you want to play it with other creatures that have Exhaust. Saddle sadly won't live up to its name, and Crew is simply a mechanic that we always have to be prepared for in constructed formats.
