Articles

THE ROSS RANT - FIFTH DAWN LIMITED REVIEW FOR MD5 DRAFT

Time for yet another Limited review, this time for 5D. I'm very much a cut-to-the-chase reviewer rather than a teller of tales, but I will start this review with a handful of brief paragraphs to lay some foundations.

First of all, for the many of you who won't have a clue who I am, I'm a relatively ancient (Mirage block) Sydney player who's attended a lone Limited Pro Tour (Chicago 98) and who recently missed out on a second throw of the dice by losing to Former State Champ Tim He in the semi-finals of the last Sydney Limited (MMD) PTQ, since which time my Limited rating has been hovering around the 1850s.

I like to rate cards I review rather than just type a few random sentences, which fail to provide a relative value. I use a simple report card grading system, which I humbly refer to as the Ross Rating:

A = Some good (first-pick removal/creatures/equipment)
B = Strong (high-pick removal/creatures/equipment)
C = Solid (unembarrassing removal/creatures/equipment you'll always maindeck)
D = Suboptimal (spells you'd prefer not to maindeck but can if desperate)
E = Sideboard
F = S#!t (unplayable)

Two notes before we begin:

1) You can infer from the above that my personal preference in draft (and note that this is a review of the set for MD5 draft purposes) is for creatures, removal of enemy creatures and enhancement of your creatures. If a card doesn't do one of those three things then it will struggle to rate above D, and rarely rate above C.

2) The Sunburst rant. Sunburst makes a simple rating system such as this far more difficult to apply. There are cards (most notably the Bringers, but Etched Oracle is also up there) that are insane in Sunburst decks, which are barely playable outside of one. The solution (?) I've come up with is to rate all Sunburst cards as if you had access to 3 colours of mana (or S3 in my patented shorthand). This is a better-than-average scenario for a typical MMD 2-colour-plus-splash deck but a probably-less-than-average scenario for a dedicated Sunburst deck. On the subject of dedicated Sunburst decks, I am currently under whelmed. I think too many of the cards are too slooow by definition as they cost 5 or more. Plus I think the archetype will suffer for two additional reasons: (a) all of the artifact mana-fixing cards in the first 2 packs are going to be taken higher than before by speculating non-Sunburst drafters; and (b) too many of the non-Rare Sunburst cards (e.g. Manta and Prism) are too attractive to non-Sunburst drafters. But time will tell.

Without any further ado, here are the cards. Artifacts in this article, colours to follow:

101. Anodet Lurker (5) Artifact Creature 3/3 Common
When Anodet Lurker is put into a graveyard from play, you gain 3 life.

A textbook D creature. 5 is generally considered too much for a 3/3 brick, and the life gain doesn't tip the scales back anywhere near enough. That being said, there will be times when you'll maindeck this guy because you're short of creatures and his presence will not be unwelcome on your side of the table (D+)

102. Arachnoid (6) Artifact Creature - Spider 2/6 Uncommon
Arachnoid may block as though it had flying.

Tapping 6 mana should result in a lot more than 2 extra points of power on your side of the table, even if you can deal them to fliers. A desperation sideboard option if you're wrecked by an air force in the first, but far from an optimal solution (E/F)

103. Arcbound Wanderer (6) Modular-Sunburst Artifact Creature 0/0 Uncommon

The only Arcbound creature in 5D and the first Sunburst card up for review and, frankly, I could be more excited. At S3, this is a 3/3 modular for 6 - worse than the Bruiser, which is not a glowing recommendation (D+)

104. Avarice Totem (1) Artifact Uncommon
5: Exchange control of Avarice Totem and target non land permanent.

I so want this to be playable. I have visions of it being a Crystal Shardesque nightmare, making your opponent reluctant to play a big threat while you have 5 untapped lest they find themselves on the receiving end of it. But the first problem is leaving 5 untapped, and the second is that unless you wreak enough havoc the first turn you're in possession of your new toy, the ball ends up in their court (F)

105. Baton of Courage (3) Sunburst Artifact Common
You may play Baton of Courage any time you could play an instant.
Remove a charge counter from Baton of Courage: Target creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn.

I don't know whether it's just an over-exuberant desire to finally rate a card better than D but this seems fine. A Giant Growth for 3 at full strength, but even at S2 it'll probably do the job. Add in the potential to leave a counter or 2 for later and you get at least a solid (C+)

106. Battered Golem (3) Artifact Creature - Golem 3/2 Common
Battered Golem doesn't untap during your untap step.
Whenever an artifact comes into play, you may untap Battered Golem.

An unembarrassing addition to your lineup. He'll kill virtually anything of the same cost in hand-to-hand combat and there should be enough artifacts floating around to enable him to do so reliably on offence rather than letting his drawback hold him back. There's even a slight chance that said drawback will prove a bonus with Viridian Longbow or similar (C+)

107. Blasting Station (3) Artifact Uncommon
T, Sacrifice a creature: Blasting Station deals 1 damage to target creature or player.
Whenever a creature comes into play, you may untap Blasting Station.

I think this is playable but nearly everyone I talk to doesn't and I don't feel strongly enough to go out on a limb. Just seems that giving most if not all of your creatures a 1 point death blossom can't be bad. I'll compromise by not ruling it out completely (D+)

108. Chimeric Coils (1) Artifact Uncommon
X1: Chimeric Coils becomes an X/X artifact creature. Sacrifice it at end of turn.

The second Cog under review and it's going to go the same way as the first... So much for these exciting new additions to our game! In general, players who can card-advantageously put opponent permanents into the yard tend to win Limited matches, so cards that actually help your opponent in this endeavour need to be much better than this (F)

109. Clearwater Goblet (5) Sunburst Artifact Rare
At the beginning of your upkeep, you may gain 1 life for each charge counter on Clearwater Goblet.

I am officially the world's biggest Sun Droplet fan. And this seems almost good enough to share the crown. Yes, it's a lot more to cast, and the life gain coming in one hit rather than two is a consideration, but the fact that that gain can be 3 or (much) more goes a long way towards evening up the balance in my book. I rate Sun Droplet a hands-down A pick, so this deserves at least a (B+)

110. Clock of Omens (4) Artifact Uncommon
Tap two untapped artifacts you control: Untap target artifact.

Possibly a constructed card? Possibly just crap (F-)

111. Composite Golem (6) Artifact Creature - Golem 4/4 Uncommon
Sacrifice Composite Golem: Add WUBRG to your mana pool.

The stats are adequate enough to maindeck him even if you have no use for the Sunburst. If you do, then, at the risk of stating the obvious, his stock goes up. He also seems to have the potential to make combat far more menacing than it should be if you're tapped out, putting damage on the stack and saccing for enough mana to cast all manner of tricks (C)

112. Conjurer's Bauble (1) Artifact Common
T, Sacrifice Conjurer's Bauble: Put up to one target card from your graveyard on the bottom of your library. Draw a card.

The first decent Cog we've come across and it's very decent. Basically, it's the cheapest spellbomb to cycle, which will have all of the 25-spellbombs-15-lands-evangelists salivating. But even for those of us with a more realistic view of spellbomb potency, maindecking 1 or 2 of these seems very sensible (C+)

113. Cranial Plating (2 Equip 1) Artifact - Equipment Common
Equipped creature gets +1/+0 for each artifact you control.
BB: Attach Cranial Plating to target creature you control.

The first undeniably high-pick card we've stumbled across and it is in every way an OMG bomb. At the very least, it will usually be more powerful than a Bonesplitter. Then it gets exponentially better in multiples. Finally, with BB open it has the potential to flit amongst your army at instant speed (A)

114. Crucible of Worlds (3) Artifact Rare
You may play land cards from your graveyard as though they were in your hand.

Possibly a constructed card? Possibly just crap (F-)

115. Door to Nothingness (5) Artifact Rare
Door to Nothingness comes into play tapped.
WWUUBBRRGG, T, Sacrifice Door to Nothingness: Target player loses the game.

A combo card to be sure but payoffs don't get much bigger... You're probably never going to pick this *over* anything, and it obviously sucks out loud at my S3 default rating level. But if it somehow ends up in your Sunburst-inclined pile, do you play it? Probably (F)

116. Doubling Cube (2) Artifact Rare
3, T: Double the amount of each type of mana in your mana pool.

Possibly a constructed card? Possibly just crap. Actually, a bit more analysis will quickly show why. Essentially, you're not ahead until you can access 7 mana, and even then you're only up by 1 (F-)

117. Energy Chamber (2) Artifact Uncommon
At the beginning of your upkeep, choose one - Put a +1/+1 counter on target artifact creature; or put a charge counter on target non creature artifact.

This seems fine. A Dragon Bloodesque effect without the surprise but, more importantly, without the cost. Making your creatures bigger every turn is never a bad idea, but combining that growth with the synergy of modular/etc (and I haven't even mentioned non creature possibilities) makes this a definite (B)

118. Engineered Explosives (X) Sunburst Artifact Rare
2, Sacrifice Engineered Explosives: Destroy each non land permanent with converted mana cost equal to the number of charge counters on Engineered Explosives.

At the risk of swimming solo against the tide, I remain unconvinced about this card. Destroy target permanent(s) with a particular casting cost of 5 or less which also just happens to be equal to the number of colours to which you currently have access? You might luck into some card advantage but point removal this ain't (D/E)

119. Ensouled Scimitar (3 Equip 2) Artifact - Equipment Uncommon
Equipped creature gets +1/+5.
3: Ensouled Scimitar becomes a 1/5 artifact creature with flying until end of turn. (Equipment that's a creature can't equip a creature.)

Unspectacular but playable. Definitely on the expensive side for an equip effect that is so much more defence than offence, but redeemed by its ability to become a guy (and a flying one no less) in the late game (C)

120. Eon Hub (5) Artifact Rare
Players skip their upkeep steps.

Possibly a constructed card? Possibly just crap (F-)

121. Etched Oracle (4) Sunburst Artifact Creature 0/0 Uncommon
1, Remove four +1/+1 counters from Etched Oracle: Target player draws three cards.

The drop from S4 to S3 is massive, making it a first pick in Sunburst decks and nothing to write home about elsewhere. Assuming the S3 average, it's still playable as a Hill Giant, the more so if there are alternate means (e.g. modular) of getting the counter count up to 4 (D+)

122. Ferropede (3) Artifact Creature - Insect 1/1 Uncommon
Ferropede is unblockable. Whenever Ferropede deals combat damage to a player, you may remove a counter from target permanent.

Another card I like more than anybody else I talk to. Yes, the third turn is a bit late to be dropping a 1/1, but the thought of equipping and swinging is an alluring one, and the Arcbound Fiendesque saboteur effect is the icing on the cake. Sadly, I don't feel strongly enough to rate it any higher than (D+)

123. Fist of Suns (3) Artifact Rare
You may pay WUBRG rather than pay the mana cost for spells that you play.

Possibly a constructed card? Possibly just crap (F-)

124. Gemstone Array (4) Artifact Uncommon
2: Put a charge counter on Gemstone Array.
Remove a charge counter from Gemstone Array: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool.

A very slooow way to (eventually) get the mana you need to cast all those slooow Sunburst cards (F)

125. Goblin Cannon (4) Artifact Uncommon
2: Goblin Cannon deals 1 damage to target creature or player. Sacrifice Goblin Cannon.

Expensive point (potentially multi-point) removal but it has a good chance of doing the job if you get to untap (possibly even earlier...) Alternately, use it as a half-Fireball to the face to finish things off (B)

126. Grafted Wargear (3 Equip 0) Artifact - Equipment Uncommon
Equipped creature gets +3/+2. Whenever Grafted Wargear becomes unattached from a creature, sacrifice that creature.

A wise friend of mine opined that the explosion of good equipment in this set will very probably move all of the block's sideboard equipment kill into main decks, making this card a dicier proposition than it might first appear. Another argued that losing a piece of aggro-quipment like this is combat is usually bad news for the wearer in any case, so the 2-for-1 specter is not as dark as it might first appear. The conclusion? You would always play this, but it's probably best used to make your average bodies good rather than your good bodies better (B)

127. Grinding Station (2) Artifact Uncommon
T, Sacrifice an artifact: Target player puts the top three cards of his or her library into his or her graveyard. Whenever an artifact comes into play, you may untap Grinding Station.

Possibly a constructed card? Possibly just crap. Although there are some who point out that you need only need 7 or so artifacts to mimic the often suicidal milling efforts of an opponent's Arc-Slogger. As a result, I'll reluctantly credit it as potentially sideboardable if game 1 goes long (E/F)

128. Guardian Idol (2) Artifact Uncommon
Guardian Idol comes into play tapped.
T: Add 1 to your mana pool.
2: Guardian Idol becomes a 2/2 artifact creature until end of turn.

Obviously comparable to a mana myr and as good or better in enough ways to make it as high a pick (B+)

129. Healer's Headdress (2 Equip 1) Artifact - Equipment Common
Equipped creature gets +0/+2 and has "T: Prevent the next 1 damage that would be dealt to target creature or player this turn."
WW: Attach Healer's Headdress to target creature you control.

Although it's a clear second place to Cranial Plating, there's plenty of interesting stuff going on here. Healing has been undervalued in this block ever since Pearl Shard was forgotten amongst its sexier brethren (well, at least 3 of them) and this creates a healer with an impressively sized arse. In a white deck it becomes even better, obviously, especially if it finds its way onto a guy who doesn't tap to attack (B)

130. Heliophial (5) Sunburst Artifact Common
2, Sacrifice Heliophial: Heliophial deals damage to target creature or player equal to the number of charge counters on Heliophial.

Another slooow Sunburst card. Anybody noticing a trend yet? 7 mana for an S3 Lightning Bolt is decidedly unimpressive but it will do the job if you're not spoilt for choice (D)

131. Helm of Kaldra (3 Equip 2) Legendary Artifact - Equipment Rare
Equipped creature has first strike, trample, and haste.
1: If you control Equipment named Helm of Kaldra, Sword of Kaldra, and Shield of Kaldra, put a 4/4 colorless Avatar Legend creature token named Kaldra into play and attach those Equipment to it.

Haste is great but Lightning Greaves would not be as popular if it cost 2 to equip. Trample is only really useful if the body you're equipping is impressive to begin with, which leaves First Strike to cast the deciding vote. And the final tally is (D)

132. Horned Helm (2 Equip 1) Artifact - Equipment Common
Equipped creature gets +1/+1 and has trample.
GG: Attach Horned Helm to target creature you control.

I rank this third out of the five. Compared to Leonin Scimitar, the gain of trample isn't usually enough to justify the cost increase. Essentially, from here down, this cycle becomes a colour-dependent one, meaning that this is quite playable in a green deck (hence the rating) but doesn't cut it elsewhere (C)

133. Infused Arrows (4) Sunburst Artifact Uncommon
T, Remove X charge counters from Infused Arrows: Target creature gets -X/-X until end of turn.

Only the second bona-fide bomb in 33 cards, so this set isn't exactly full of explosive draft goodness. But, even at S3, this card has much bang for buck, and at S4 it becomes degenerate (A)

134. Krark-Clan Ironworks (4) Artifact Uncommon
Sacrifice an artifact: Add 2 to your mana pool.

Possibly a constructed card? Possibly just crap (F-)

135. Lantern of Insight (1) Artifact Uncommon
Each player plays with the top card of his or her library revealed.
T, Sacrifice Lantern of Insight: Target player shuffles his or her library.

I have had much philosophical debate about this card with a certain acquaintance and I still believe it has a little something to offer. Depending on how many cards are left in your opponent's library, this can be almost as good as a Vex (a spell which I regard as at least a strong sideboard option). It's certainly by no means a strong card, but if you have, say, some of those funky white Cog guys, or maybe even an Affinity deck, then this might be worth a slot (D/E)

136. Lunar Avenger (7) Sunburst Artifact Creature - Golem 2/2 Uncommon
Remove a +1/+1 counter from Lunar Avenger: Lunar Avenger gains your choice of flying, first strike, or haste until end of turn.

Another card (like Etched Oracle) that tumbles down the hit parade if you're not playing Sunburst. Being faithful to my S3 assumption, your outlay of 7 mana will only buy you a 5/5 brick who has to become permanently smaller each and every turn it wants to do anything interesting. Not the game-breaker that 7 mana demands (D)

137. Mycosynth Golem (11) Artifact Creature - Golem 4/5 Rare
Affinity for artifacts. Artifact creature spells you play have affinity for artifacts.

Even if you're packing 23 other artifacts as well as some of the lands, this guy probably won't be Mr Excitement. His problem is that the majority of your opening hand and draws will have to have made their way onto the board in order to enable his appearance, after which you will generally have the mana to comfortably pay for the remaining threats you draw, even without this guy making (some of) them substantially cheaper (D)

138. Myr Quadropod (4) Artifact Creature - Myr 1/4 Common
3: Switch Myr Quadropod's power and toughness until end of turn.

It's like they started with an Aquamoeba and tweaked it until it was barely playable (D)

139. Myr Servitor (1) Artifact Creature - Myr 1/1 Common
At the beginning of your upkeep, if Myr Servitor is in play, each player returns all cards named Myr Servitor from his or her graveyard to play.

Even if you're zealous enough to secure multiples of these from the 8 packs of 5D on offer, you still have to get one or more into your yard *and* get another one of these fragile little guys to survive until the beginning of your upkeep. Admittedly, if you manage to do all that then it could be fun (F)

140. Neurok Stealthsuit (2 Equip 1) Artifact - Equipment Common
Equipped creature can't be the target of spells or abilities.
UU: Attach Neurok Stealthsuit to target creature you control.

We're down to the 4th out of 5 now (nice of Wizards to name them alphabetically by power level :-)) This is strictly a blue card, but a blue card capable of Shikari-plus-Greaves shenanigans once you can afford to leave UU open every turn, which is worth a slot in my blue deck (C)

141. Opaline Bracers (4 Equip 2) Sunburst Artifact - Equipment Common
Equipped creature gets +X/+X, where X is the number of charge counters on Opaline Bracers.

At S3, this will provide the same boost as a Vulshok Battlegear, costing more to cast but less to equip. And while it's true that the equip cost tends to be the more important of the two, this feels too clunky (not to mention potentially random) to maindeck as a rule. Not terrible, though, if you're upping your equipment count for Den-Guards, etc and the rest of your gear is better (D)

142. Paradise Mantle (0 Equip 1) Artifact - Equipment Uncommon
Equipped creature has "T: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool."

Seemed better when I first saw it but has since settled down to be solidly maindeckable. Generally not as good as a myr for ramping purposes, but obviously better for fixing later on (C+)

143. Pentad Prism (2) Sunburst Artifact Common
Remove a charge counter from Pentad Prism: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool.

Another alphabetic coincidence puts this next to the Mantle, and they are much of a muchness. Already, there has been far too much hype about the 5/5 Manta wet dream on turn 3, and not enough reasoned discussion about the fact that myrs would be nowhere near as valuable if they could only be used twice. Like the Mantle, its late game potential to solidify your splash(es) and/or enable your Sunburst means it will rarely fail to make your deck (C+)

144. Possessed Portal (8) Artifact Rare
If a player would draw a card, that player skips that draw instead. At the end of each turn, each player sacrifices a permanent unless he or she discards a card from his or her hand.

Possibly a constructed card? Possibly just crap (F-)

145. Razorgrass Screen (1) Artifact Creature - Wall 2/1 Common
Razorgrass Screen blocks each turn if able.

Horrible card. Debatably sideboardable if and only if your opponent has smashed you with a low quality weenie rush deck (E/F)

146. Razormane Masticore (5) Artifact Creature 5/5 Rare
First strike. At the beginning of your upkeep, sacrifice Razormane Masticore unless you discard a card from your hand. At the beginning of your draw step, you may have Razormane Masticore deal 3 damage to target creature.

Here's bomb number 3 at the 46 card mark, which is still not a fantastic strike rate. This card is, however, arguably more stupid than the first two combined (A)

147. Relic Barrier (2) Artifact Uncommon
T: Tap target artifact.

And they're coming thick and fast now. Obviously comparable to an Icy and a better deal in at least 2 ways despite the restricted range (A)

148. Salvaging Station (6) Artifact Rare
T: Return target non creature artifact card with converted mana cost 1 or less from your graveyard to play.
Whenever a creature is put into a graveyard from play, you may untap Salvaging Station.

They could have made this far more interesting by lowering the cost or printing some better Cogs. But since they did neither, you don't need to be a genius to conclude that this is woefully over costed (F)

149. Sawtooth Thresher (6) Sunburst Artifact Creature 1/1 Common
Remove two +1/+1 counters from Sawtooth Thresher: Sawtooth Thresher gets +4/+4 until end of turn.

Better than the Wanderer, the Sunburst guy with whom it shares its casting cost, not just because it's a bigger body at S3, but because its ability, even as a one-shot, is always threatening in combat (C)

150. Silent Arbiter (4) Artifact Creature 1/5 Rare
No more than one creature may attack each combat. No more than one creature may block each combat.

My first impressions of this guy were not great, but the more I think about him, the more he resembles a Sun Droplet and, consequently, the more I like him. Like the Droplet, he can slow down an enemy offence that's getting out of hand (and probably stop it altogether if there's no air force), but unlike the Droplet, this guy has the potential to actually improve matters on your attack step as well (B)

151. Skullcage (4) Artifact Uncommon
At the beginning of each opponent's upkeep, Skullcage deals 2 damage to that player unless he or she has exactly three or exactly four cards in hand.

Invites comparison with Relic Bane, which has been an absolute wrecking ball for me in this block to date. Not as good, because your opponent gets to control the pain to a significant extent, but the cost of that control is not insignificant. In other words, if they're not taking 2, they're holding back (C)

152. Skyreach Manta (5) Sunburst Artifact Creature 0/0 Common
Flying

Has not been smaller than 3/3 for me so far and I have yet to play anything even remotely resembling a Sunburst deck (A)

153. Solarion (7) Sunburst Artifact Creature 0/0 Rare
T: Double the number of +1/+1 counters on Solarion.

At S3, it starts out as a 5/5 brick for 7. Pentavus it ain't, and there are numerous matches where siding out Pentavus is the correct choice because games 2 & 3 finish well short of 7 mana just like game 1 did. At the risk of repeating myself, 7-drops should win you the match, not win you the match after you untap several times and your opponent runs out of chump blockers and/or artifact removal (D)

154. Sparring Collar (2 Equip 1) Artifact - Equipment Common
Equipped creature has first strike.
RR: Attach Sparring Collar to target creature you control.

The cycle bottoms out here. Rarely worth it unless you have access to the RR and even then it's not stellar. Its stock edges upwards in a hardcode Nim.dec and, as always, if you've got Cubs or Den-Guards crying out for gear then you could do worse (D)

155. Spinal Parasite (5) Sunburst Artifact Creature - Insect -1/-1 Uncommon
Remove two +1/+1 counters from Spinal Parasite: Remove a counter from target permanent.

To quote the brains trust that is Destiny's Child: no, no, no, no, no. At S3, this is a 2/2 for 5 with an ability that is an exciting combination of rarely useful and frequently suicidal (F)

156. Staff of Domination (3) Artifact Rare
1: Untap Staff of Domination.
2, T: You gain 1 life.
3, T: Untap target creature.
4, T: Tap target creature.
5, T: Draw a card.

I have heard rave reviews for this Swiss army knife in Limited, but I can only get enthused about it as a sideboard option if the first goes long. It seems to have what I call the Tel-Jilad Exile Syndrome (or T-JES) which means it's a great card if you're in control with much mana at your disposal and heart-breaking if you've only just dropped your 4th land after a stall and you're getting beaten up with weenies wearing Equipment. But, even in that situation, at least the Exile can block (D/E)

157. Summoner's Egg (4) Artifact Creature 0/4 Rare
Imprint - When Summoner's Egg comes into play, you may remove a card in your hand from the game face down. When Summoner's Egg is put into a graveyard from play, turn the imprinted face-down card face up. If that card is a creature card, put it into play under your control.

I thought later sets were supposed to expand upon earlier mechanics in unexpectedly enticing ways? So in 5D we get a single, barely playable Arcbound guy and a single, completely unplayable Imprint spell. Unless I'm missing something, the idea is you take one of your guys who costs a lot more than 4 and let your opponent decide if and when he comes into play (F)

158. Summoning Station (7) Artifact Rare
T: Put a 2/2 colorless Pincher creature token into play.
Whenever an artifact is put into a graveyard from play, you may untap Summoning Station.

The set should be nicknamed 7D, not 5D, short for 7-drop. This gives you a (note: non-artifact) bear whenever Disciple of the Vault triggers, and a bonus one whenever you go a full turn cycle without a Disciple trigger. At the risk of stating the obvious, though, there are likely to be far more Disciple triggers between your first land and your sixth than there are after your seventh, generously assuming you even make it that far (F)

159. Suncrusher (9) Sunburst Artifact Creature 3/3 Rare
4, T, Remove a +1/+1 counter from Suncrusher: Destroy target creature.
2, Remove a +1/+1 counter from Suncrusher: Return Suncrusher to its owner's hand.

It costs 9 and doesn't have Affinity. It could say "win target game" for all I care (F)

160. Suntouched Myr (3) Sunburst Artifact Creature - Myr 0/0 Common

A Cathodion without drawback at S3, which is nothing to sneeze at. But since this is one of the few inexpensive Sunburst cards, the S3 assumption is less likely to be the case on turn 3 when you'd like this guy to hit the ground running. As a result, my inclination is to downgrade him to (D+)

161. Synod Centurion (4) Artifact Creature 4/4 Uncommon
When you control no other artifacts, sacrifice Synod Centurion.

This guy's great. A Myr Enforcer who always costs 4. You'd probably like at least 2 accompanying artifacts as a buffer against being two-for-oned, which is obviously not going to happen as frequently as you'd like, but if you can bluff a Tooth/Scale/etc they'll hopefully just point their artifact kill directly at the Centurion anyway (B+)

162. Thermal Navigator (3) Artifact Creature 2/2 Common
Sacrifice an artifact: Thermal Navigator gains flying until end of turn.

A solid guy with a solid ability. Fills the curve and might occasionally star in the end game, particularly if he pulls on some gear (C+)

163. Vedalken Orrery (4) Artifact Rare
You may play non land cards any time you could play an instant.

It's a great effect but is it worth a card and your 4th turn? Visions of dropping houses on top of unsuspecting attackers will often require unrealistically utopian combat conditions (try saying that five times fast) to pull off. I won't dismiss it entirely though because I'm tempted to try it (D+)

164. Vedalken Shackles (3) Artifact Rare
You may choose not to untap Vedalken Shackles during your untap step.
2, T: Gain control of target creature with power less than or equal to the number of Islands you control as long as Vedalken Shackles remains tapped.

This is an intensely blue card in the same way (or even more so) that Spire Golem is an intensely blue card. That being said, it's significantly better than the Golem, and the Golem is fantastic (A)

165. Wayfarer's Bauble (1) Artifact Common
2, T, Sacrifice Wayfarer's Bauble: Search your library for a basic land card and put that card into play tapped. Then shuffle your library.

The second of the impressive 5D Baubles. Slightly more expensive than a myr, but the resulting ramp is less fragile to artifact kill and pingers, and the fixing far more precise (B+)

So, once more from the top, for those of you who like lists, approximately ordered within each band, but don't sweat the details:

Razormane Masticore (5) Artifact Creature 5/5 Rare (A)
Vedalken Shackles (3) Artifact Rare (A)
Infused Arrows (4) Sunburst Artifact Uncommon (A)
Skyreach Manta (5) Sunburst Artifact Creature 0/0 Common (A)
Cranial Plating (2 Equip 1) Artifact - Equipment Common (A)
Relic Barrier (2) Artifact Uncommon (A)

Synod Centurion (4) Artifact Creature 4/4 Uncommon (B+)
Silent Arbiter (4) Artifact Creature 1/5 Rare (B+)
Clearwater Goblet (5) Sunburst Artifact Rare (B+)
Wayfarer's Bauble (1) Artifact Common (B+)
Guardian Idol (2) Artifact Uncommon (B+)

Healer's Headdress (2 Equip 1) Artifact - Equipment Common (B)
Grafted Wargear (3 Equip 0) Artifact - Equipment Uncommon (B)
Goblin Cannon (4) Artifact Uncommon (B)
Energy Chamber (2) Artifact Uncommon (B)

Pentad Prism (2) Sunburst Artifact Common (C+)
Paradise Mantle (0 Equip 1) Artifact - Equipment Uncommon (C+)
Battered Golem (3) Artifact Creature - Golem 3/2 Common (C+)
Thermal Navigator (3) Artifact Creature 2/2 Common (C+)
Conjurer's Bauble (1) Artifact Common (C+)
Baton of Courage (3) Sunburst Artifact Common (C+)

Composite Golem (6) Artifact Creature - Golem 4/4 Uncommon (C)
Sawtooth Thresher (6) Sunburst Artifact Creature 1/1 Common (C)
Skullcage (4) Artifact Uncommon (C)
Ensouled Scimitar (3 Equip 2) Artifact - Equipment Uncommon (C)
Horned Helm (2 Equip 1) Artifact - Equipment Common (C)
Neurok Stealthsuit (2 Equip 1) Artifact - Equipment Common (C)

Ferropede (3) Artifact Creature - Insect 1/1 Uncommon (D+)
Suntouched Myr (3) Sunburst Artifact Creature - Myr 0/0 Common (D+)
Etched Oracle (4) Sunburst Artifact Creature 0/0 Uncommon (D+)
Myr Quadropod (4) Artifact Creature - Myr 1/4 Common (D+)
Anodet Lurker (5) Artifact Creature 3/3 Common (D+)
Arcbound Wanderer (6) Modular-Sunburst Artifact Creature 0/0 Uncommon (D+)
Blasting Station (3) Artifact Uncommon (D+)
Vedalken Orrery (4) Artifact Rare (D+)

Solarion (7) Sunburst Artifact Creature 0/0 Rare (D)
Lunar Avenger (7) Sunburst Artifact Creature - Golem 2/2 Uncommon (D)
Mycosynth Golem (11) Artifact Creature - Golem 4/5 Rare (D)
Heliophial (5) Sunburst Artifact Common (D)
Helm of Kaldra (3 Equip 2) Legendary Artifact - Equipment Rare (D)
Sparring Collar (2 Equip 1) Artifact - Equipment Common (D)
Opaline Bracers (4 Equip 2) Sunburst Artifact - Equipment Common (D)

Staff of Domination (3) Artifact Rare (D/E)
Engineered Explosives (X) Sunburst Artifact Rare (D/E)
Lantern of Insight (1) Artifact Uncommon (D/E)

Arachnoid (6) Artifact Creature - Spider 2/6 Uncommon (E/F)
Grinding Station (2) Artifact Uncommon (E/F)
Razorgrass Screen (1) Artifact Creature - Wall 2/1 Common (E/F)

Myr Servitor (1) Artifact Creature - Myr 1/1 Common (F)
Avarice Totem (1) Artifact Uncommon (F)
Chimeric Coils (1) Artifact Uncommon (F)
Salvaging Station (6) Artifact Rare (F)
Summoning Station (7) Artifact Rare (F)
Summoner's Egg (4) Artifact Creature 0/4 Rare (F)
Spinal Parasite (5) Sunburst Artifact Creature - Insect -1/-1 Uncommon (F)
Gemstone Array (4) Artifact Uncommon (F)
Suncrusher (9) Sunburst Artifact Creature 3/3 Rare (F)
Door to Nothingness (5) Artifact Rare (F)

Doubling Cube (2) Artifact Rare (F-)
Fist of Suns (3) Artifact Rare (F-)
Crucible of Worlds (3) Artifact Rare (F-)
Krark-Clan Ironworks (4) Artifact Uncommon (F-)
Clock of Omens (4) Artifact Uncommon (F-)
Eon Hub (5) Artifact Rare (F-)
Possessed Portal (8) Artifact Rare (F-)