Queen Kayla bin-Kroog – The Brother’s War
Date Reviewed: November 11, 2022
Ratings:
Constructed: 2.75
Casual: 4.00
Limited: 3.50
Multiplayer: 3.75
Commander [EDH]: 4.13
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 is bad. 3 is average. 5 is great.
Reviews Below:
We previously knew Kayla mainly as a historian of the Brothers’ War – as Urza’s wife, she saw most of it first-hand. Thirty years on from Antiquities, we’ll get to know her as a powerful card in Commander. After all, in that format, red and white haven’t always gotten to play with the graveyard at the same level as the other colors. Her ability is not really a conventional way to reanimate things, but it can get the job done, and working on artifacts is very notable since we mostly think of creatures in reanimator decks. The cost restriction looks like a disadvantage compared to black’s archetypical cards, but really it just means you have to choose your targets carefully. Grand Abolisher or Hushbringer are good options to protect and disrupt; alternatively, Relic of Progenitus keeps the playing field tilted your way. And on top of that, she plays very well with Lorehold cards (a faction that I maintain was better for red-white decks than three whole blocks of Boros cards).
Constructed: 2.5
Casual: 4
Limited: 3.5
Multiplayer: 4
Commander [EDH]: 4.5
Back we go in time, to the time when Urza and his brother took “sibling rivalry” to destructive new heights, and Urza’s wife makes for a fun start to The Brother’s War reviews. While her body is pretty unassuming at first, she offers an interesting sort of value effect, pairing a hand refresh with the chance to bring cards immediately into play if they’re artifacts or creatures that cost 1, 2, and/or 3 mana. She’s a potentially vicious little enabler, especially if you can get six mana for the four mana you spend on her ability, and while it’s locked to sorcery speed, you may still be able to play this on three, activate it on turn 4, and start exploding from there. I think she’s definitely a combo piece with potential…fortunately one in a set conducive to such, but just how much remains to be seen.
Constructed: 3
Casual: 4
Limited: 3.5
Multiplayer: 3.5
Commander [EDH]: 3.75
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