Spoiler Highlight: Lightstall Inquisitor on Standard & Pioneer

Sometimes a new card appears that does something slightly unexpected for its color, type, cost, or all three. A few years ago, the idea of White gaining pseudo-discard effects would have seemed unlikely, but they've gradually emerged: Elite Spellbinder (which, by the way, is a reference to Vendilion Clique, which was or still is one of Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa's favorite cards), Anointed Peacekeeper, Invasion of Gobakhan, and the most recent Lightstall Inquisitor.

Most "discard" effects in White are actually taxing—a way to make the opponent pay more mana for the card they want to cast. This appeared long before Thalia, Guardian of Thraben in the color but became popular as an inherent part of this color starting with Dark Ascension. But, to date, few creatures interact with both the opponent's hand and a taxing effect, and none of them cost a single mana.

Lightstall Inquisitor is therefore a standout on its own. A Ravenous Rats with a lower cost and a more decent body, with the consequence that the opponent can still pay more to play the exiled card, an aggressive drop to punish Midranges, perhaps even other Aggro, but without causing too much fanfare and without being in the most common type for taxing effects in current Magic: Human.

This is a card that definitely has legs in both Standard and Pioneer, despite not appearing to be in the Tier 1 slot in the latter case, so let's explore the new creature's potential in both formats.

Lightstall Inquisitor isn't exactly a Hopeless Nightmare, but it can be just as much of a headache for your opponent if you delay them for too many turns, and it's an excellent complement to Tinybones Joins Up in Standard Bounce decks, which have been opting for a more aggressive, lower-cost take since the bans.

Inquisitor does a bit of everything this deck wants: it's an aggressive one-drop to pressure from the first turn, you don't care much if it gains the Spiteful Hexmage's Role token, it can be bounced and reused on the second turn with Nurturing Pixie, delays your opponent's turns whenever it enters, punishes Midranges with a higher mana curve, and it's the kind of card we want to reveal with Dark Confidant.

Lightstall Inquisitor is also a very decent Angel one-drop in terms of body and ability. While there are better deck options in Pioneer, as it's an archetype focused on Kayla's Reconstruction and Collected Company, Standard lacks these cards in the new season and may follow a Angels Aggro shell, running Giada, Font of Hope and Youthful Valkyrie with Lightstall Inquisitor and Resplendent Angel, perhaps Wojek Investigator, and Lyra Dawnbringer at the top of the curve, along with new Warp cards like Astelli Reclaimer and Starfield Shepherd.

Cardside(1 Lyra Dawnbringer || 1 Astelli Reclaimer || 1 Starfield Shepherd || 1 Resplendent Angel)

The creature could also matter if a new White Aggro strand emerges that doesn't rely on a creature type. Without Boros Convoke, Standard now lacks a go-wide Aggro deck that can benefit from aggressive one-drops like Lightstall Inquisitor. This deck may or may not include other colors, but one of the advantages of a card like this is activating Lumen-Class Frigate the same turn the artifact enters, boosting the power of all creatures for the rest of the game.

Despite its first creature type being among the top archetypes in the current Metagame, there is fierce competition for the one-drop slot in Selesnya Angels.

Despite not being angels, Llanowar Elves and Elvish Mystic are almost mandatory in an archetype with so many three-mana creatures that tries to play Collected Company as early as possible, and Lightstall Inquisitor doesn't offer enough to compensate for the mana loss.

There are still slots for it, but we'll need a good reason to run it instead of Inspiring Overseer when the latter offers extra life to trigger Resplendent Angel with Bishop of Wings or more draws instead of delaying the opponent's mana? And before Overseer, why use it instead of Youthful Valkyrie?

The only viable reason would be to disrupt the opponent's more proactive plays or protect your creatures from sweepers by taxing them with , but since we didn't choose the exiled card, it's hard to justify including Inquisitor in the maindeck, even with the possibility of gaining four life for one mana with Bishop of Wings.

In the sideboard, we have a similar problem: there are better options if we want to lock down sweepers like Reidane, God of the Worthy or even Elite Spellbinder / Anointed Peacekeeper, or a card that makes our creatures indestructible.

Selesnya Company also prioritizes mana dorks as one-drops for similar reasons to Selesnya Angels, but there might be some feasibility in testing Lightstall Inquisitor in a more aggressive and proactive list, trying to tax the opponent's cards more while establishing a clock.

Not unlike Standard, Inquisitor can be a viable card in Bounce lists, but it competes with Hopeless Nightmare. The archetype, unlike the line it has followed in Standard, is geared towards Esper colors and more focused on a long-term midrange plan with Yorion, Sky Nomad, which is counterintuitive to what the card proposes. Not to mention that its body lacks evasion and additional abilities to function as a threat alongside Stormchaser's Talent.

The same problem occurs with Boros Wizards, which could take advantage of its creature type: it's hard to imagine this card replacing Soul-Scar Mage or Monastery Swiftspear when they interact with the spells sequencing that are common in this archetype, and perhaps it wouldn't even be worth the slot before Clever Lumimancer. In this case, it could see play in the Sideboard if we need more bodies on the board with disruption, but it will probably still be accompanied by or compete with cards like Invasion of Gobakhan.

That's all for today!

If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment!

Thanks for reading!