Kaladesh is quite a top-heavy set loaded with powerful mythic rares, but there are also many cards flying under the radar that will be role players in Standard. These are the cards that you may forget about when building your deck for #SCGINDY, but could be the vital piece you were missing. These cards aren't the absolute best cards in Kaladesh—we all know that Chandra, Torch of Defiance and Verdurous Gearhulk are quite powerful—but these are the Top 10 sleepers from Kaladesh. #10 Verdant Crescendo We're kicking off the list with a card you may not realize will be legal in Standard. The rotation of Explosive Vegetation is a big hit to ramp decks, but Verdant Crescendo will do its best to help. You only get one basic land instead of two with this new ramp spell, but the second land has been replaced by the ability to tutor your library or graveyard for a powerful Planeswalker (one that we will get to later on in this list). #9 Armorcraft Judge
This one is quite a speculation, and may end up not seeing any play at all, but I think Armorcraft Judge is powerful enough for Standard. There are no shortage of ways to put +1/+1 counters on creatures these days, and many of them are quite powerful on their own, such as Nissa, Voice of Zendikar, Verdurous Gearhulk, Collective Effort, Thalia's Lieutenant, and Olivia, Mobilized for War. Combine this with a set full of cards with Fabricate and ways to use energy to put counters on creatures, and Armorcraft Judge has some serious upside. #8 Flame Lash
U/R Thermo-Alchemist was a successful deck this past season, and I could see Flame Lash being a new addition to the deck moving forward. Midrange creatures are quite powerful and sometimes it's hard to get damage in on the ground, which is where cards like Flame Lash can come in and finish the game. Although four mana is more than you usually want to pay for a burn spell, dealing four damage to a creature or player at instant speed is worth the price. #7 Arborback Stomper
Arborback Stomper brings back memories of Thragtusk, which absolutely dominated Standard when it was legal. The Stomper has an extra point of toughness and Trample, both beneficial qualities, but does not leave behind a 3/3 beast when it leaves the battlefield (the best part about Thragtusk). Still, five life is a huge amount and Arborback Stomper is a very real possibility when building a sideboard for a green deck. I could even see maindeck inclusion in both ramp strategies and in an Eldritch Evolution deck. #6 Nissa, Nature's Artisan
Although the Planeswalker Deck headliners were not built with Standard applications in mind, I think people are sleeping on Nissa, Nature's Artisan. Her plus ability allows a ramp deck to not only gain quite a bit of life, but also leaves her with an absurd amount of loyalty after using her plus ability only once. Her minus ability is a better Divination, and if the ultimate ever comes into play, it's probably game ending. Add to this the fact that there's a tutor for her in Verdant Crescendo and I could see a world where Nissa, Nature's Artisan sees Standard play. #5 Built to Smash
Giving an attacking creature +3/+3 for one mana is a rate that is not common anymore, so I bet Built to Smash will help small creature decks get under midrange strategies. Rubblebelt Maaka saw a good amount of play in Standard when it was legal because of its Bloodrush ability, and Built to Smash is very similar but also has the upside of giving an artifact creature trample. #4 Cultivator's Caravan
Cultivator's Caravan is quite an interesting card, as it's a mana accelerant that can be crewed to turn into a 5/5 creature. I could see this card being quite the role player in three or four-color emerge decks as a way to fix mana and count as another card type for delirium. The synergy with Ishkanah, Grafwidow is particularly exciting, as Cultivator's Caravan can help you curve from three mana to five mana and play the legendary spider a turn earlier, while Ishkanah or the three tokens can crew the Caravan. Cultivator's Caravan is also a good card to emerge in the late game if you have the ability to crew it and make it a creature first. #3 Wild Wanderer
Wild Wanderer is an easy card to overlook, but has plenty of nice synergies in this Standard format. On the surface, it's a four-mana 3/2 that allows you to search your library for a basic land and put it onto the battlefield tapped, which isn't exciting, but is certainly playable. Emerge decks value creatures that can acquire mana resources highly, such as Primal Druid and Pilgrim's Eye, and unlike those two, Wild Wanderer allows you go put a land directly onto the battlefield immediately. The three power is also quite relevant with vehicles, as it's the perfect number to crew Cultivator's Caravan and Skysovereign, Consul Flagship. #2 Revolutionary Rebuff
It's been a while since we've had a solid counterspell in Standard, but Revolutionary Rebuff is a much needed addition to blue control decks. The difference between countering the spell unless your opponent pays two mana instead of three like the commonly known Mana Leak undeniably makes Revolutionary Rebuff weaker, but not to a point that I don't expect it to see plenty of play. It will also be interesting to see how much the nonartifact clause comes into play, as it will feel bad to have a Rebuff in your hand when your opponent is casting a Gearhulk. Even with these downsides, I expect Revolutionary Rebuff to be one of the most commonly played cards in Kaladesh Standard. #1 Aether Hub
One of the very best cards in the set, Aether Hub tops the list as the biggest sleeper in Kaladesh. Aether Hub has the ability to go in a wide variety of decks, and if the deck is focused on energy enough, it may be one of the best cards in the deck. Having the ability to make mana of any color as well as colorless mana has never been as important as it is now with the powerful Eldrazi from Oath of the Gatewatch in Standard. A colorless land that can help your mana fixing for a turn and also gives you an energy counter? Aether Hub is exactly what this format needed! — Todd Stevens, @ToddStevensMTG |
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