Phyrexia: All Will Be One is shaping up to be another strong Magic: The Gathering Limited set with nonlinear gameplay and plenty of creative deckbuilding options through the 10 color pairs.
Blue in Limited is traditionally an excellent support color and has a sense of inevitability. If a game continues long enough the Blue deck will take over with powerful late-game threats. Blue in ONE takes that standard game plan and applies it to the Artifact-centric design of the set. Blue plays well with Artifacts, oil counters, and Toxic. Blue doesn’t fully support For Mirrodin! but that mechanic does have some support pieces to splash Blue for.
- White/Blue (WU): Artifacts
- Blue/Black (UB): Corrupted and Proliferate Control
- Blue/Red (UR): Instant and Sorcery matters with Oil counters
- Green/Blue (GU): Stompy Toxic, Proliferate, and ramp
The color excels by using Proliferate to increase the number of poison and oil counters. This will be helpful for turning on Corrupted as fast as possible and necessary for winning the game with poison counters. It’s unlikely that only dealing combat damage with Toxic creatures will lead to a victory. Artifacts will likely be around in every Blue deck, making the WU support cards applicable to other archetypes, further making Blue a flexible color.
Blue Common and Uncommon ONE Draft honorable mentions
Blue contains a handful of powerful cards that have narrow applications. These cards are still valuable in Limited but will find more success coming out of the sideboard against certain matchups.
Reject Imperfection is a three-mana counterspell that will Proliferate when it counters a spell that costs three or less. Counterspells are decent in Limited, but get better after sideboarding when you know what threats are in the opponent’s list.
In a similar vein, Bring the Ending synergizes with Corrupted builds. It’s an unconditional counter if Corrupted is turned on, otherwise, it counters a spell unless an opponent pays two mana. Again, this kind of spell improves when you have more knowledge about what cards your opponent has.
Thrummingbird is a neat two-mana 1/1 with Flying that triggers Proliferate when it hits an opponent. This card is horrible in certain matchups that can effectively block in the air. However, if your opponent has shown they can’t deal with Flying, Thrummingbird can come out of the sideboard and be relatively solid.
Best Blue Common and Uncommon ONE Limited Draft cards
When prioritizing Blue cards in Limited it’s important to consider getting the best value for the mana investment. Blue doesn’t have the big bodies found in Green or the breadth of creatures in White, but it’s wonderful at disrupting the opponent and turning the corner when the opponent has run out of steam.
Here are the best lower-rarity Blue cards in ONE Limited.
Chrome Prowler
There’s plenty to like about this Chrome Prowler, a solid three-mana 3/2 creature with several upsides. It is an Artifact that is highly relevant in ONE. When it enters the battlefield, you tap a creature an opponent controls. This ability on its own is usually a solid way to clear a blocker. Adding on Flash increases its overall effectiveness. It can tap an opponent’s threat on their turn or come down and act as a surprise blocker.
Experimental Augury
Anticipate with upside is a good card. Having a cheap way to Proliferate at Common is important in a set loaded with counters, from poison to oil. Experimental Augury is a nice piece of Instant-speed card selection. Without Proliferate this card would still find a home in Blue decks. With that ability tacked on, it becomes much more playable in ONE.
Gitaxian Raptor
Gitaxian Raptor is a flexible three-mana Flying creature that comes with three oil counters to help enable any relevant effects. Gitaxian Raptor can remove an oil counter to give the base 1/4 creature +1/=1 until end of turn. This is a decent effect that can help Gitaxian Raptor threaten to trade in combat on top of its already hefty toughness stat. You can also use the ability aggressively by cashing in the three oil counters all at once to swing in with a 4/1 creature. It’s a nice Common creature that can be a worthwhile threat.
Ichor Synthesizer
This is another Common way to get oil counters on a permanent while also being a solid evasive threat that Blue decks are looking for. Ichor Synthesizer will quickly rack up oil counters from a combination of Proliferate and casting noncreature spells. When it gains four oil counters, it becomes a 3/3 unblockable creature. It’s a powerful creature that will eventually demand an answer or it will win the game.
Meldweb Curator
Meldweb Curator is a nice four-mana 3/4, making it in line with a normal playable Common in Limited. Its ability to enter the battlefield and put a spell from your graveyard on top of your library is valuable. It’s an effective way to reuse Proliferate spells, card draw, or removal. It will be a nice blocker on the ground, further gaining value through the game.
Mesmerizing Dose
Mesmerizing Dose is a three-mana Aura that taps down a creature and prevents it from untapping during its controller’s untap step. This is a bread-and-butter ability for Blue in Limited and it’s just as effective in ONE. The only drawback is that it doesn’t interact with counters, allowing creatures to still remove or gain oil counters could end up being big in the format. Stapling Proliferate on this spell just makes it better, giving that additional hit of value every Blue player craves.
Serum Snare
For players looking for Blue disruption then Serum Snare should be near the top of their lists. This two-mana bounce spell can deal with problematic nonland permanents. Bouncing permanents is great in ONE because it can reset the number of oil counters on certain spells, reducing their effectiveness. Be careful about bouncing spells with powerful enter-the-battlefield abilities, however. If you target a permanent with a mana value of three or less then you get to Proliferate, which is useful for Blue decks.
Trawler Drake
Trawler Drake stands out as a significant Uncommon payoff for the Prowess-style theme within Blue. It starts off as a three-mana 1/1, which isn’t good. It can rapidly grow through Proliferate triggers and casting noncreature spells. As an evasive threat, Trawler Drake will need to be dealt with eventually or it will grow and start taking chunks out of the opponent’s life total. It’s vulnerable to bounce spells so don’t rely on this card being your only finisher.
Unctus’s Retrofitter
Blue has some support for Toxic but it mainly comes in the form of Proliferate. Unctus’s Retrofitter is a decently sized three-mana 2/3 creature with Toxic 1. The real value comes in its ability to turn an Artifact you control into a 4/4 creature as long as Unctus’s Retrofitter is on the battlefield. This is a solid way to turn a utility Artifact into a combat threat. A 4/4 in Limited is hard to deal with and will pressure the opponent in combat.
