Raffine, Scheming Seer – Streets of New Capenna
Date Reviewed: December 22, 2022
Ratings:
Constructed: 3.50
Casual: 4.25
Limited: 5.00
Multiplayer: 3.50
Commander [EDH]: 3.88
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale: 1 is bad; 3 is average; 5 is great.
Reviews Below:
David
Fanany
Player
since
1995
Raffine has started to get some attention in various parts of Magic, particularly anywhere you can position yourself for larger attack triggers. The key is the additive nature of the connive triggers: a large enough value of X will often put you incredibly far ahead, on more than one axis at the one time. Her ability does require support from other cards, and as such is not always the most reliable way to draw cards or get counters. But in a deck designed to take advantage of her, scary things will happen; and adding a broad-purpose weapon to certain kinds of tournament decks, plus a new dimension for Esper decks in Commander, adds up to a lot of potential.
Constructed: 3.5
Casual: 4.5
Limited: 5
Multiplayer: 3.5
Commander: 4
This card was not part of my Top 10 List.
Raffine strikes me as being quite similar to Ledger Shredder, albeit with some quirks of her own. She only can trigger her conniving and potential growth once per turn…but it scales based on the number of creatures you have turning sideways, and it needn’t be herself. She’s much better at letting an army break through a weak point through buffing one especially threatening attacker, but she doesn’t offer the more “passive” benefits of Ledger Shredder. That said, a 1/4 with ward and evasion is solid, and while her mana cost is color-intensive, it’s surprisingly attainable in the right deck. She feels like a card on the cusp of doing things, but it depends on the format and the pieces available to her; still, an evasive, protected threat has always been good and will continue to be such.
Constructed: 3.5
Casual: 4
Limited: 5 (she’s going to win games on her own a surprising amount of the time)
Multiplayer: 3.5
Commander: 3.75
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