Because Ascension is such a large set, I'm going to split white into two parts. Stay tuned (or whatever the online equivalent to "tuned" might be) for the rest of white, Ascension, and slowly, all of our sets. I'll review cards every way I know how - power level, storyline relevance, development tidbits, and how they make me feel. If you are unfamiliar with the cards, please open up a spoiler and have it handy, because I'm not about to retype all the cards as well.

Well, time for me to begin!

Adept Apothecary (Formerly Master Apothecary until WotC stole the name) - This would be a killer card in limited, protecting your army from harm so long as he's untapped, and recharging his healing skill right before your turn. I don't know how useful the Protection from Sorceries would be compared to protection from a given color, but it does make him invulnerable to a good number of kill spells. Coupled with the ability to heal himself, he could be very hard to kill. Still, compared to other stuff in AS, he hasn't seen much play to my knowledge.

Ageless Angel - This was a popular card of sorts back in the early days, though I'm not sure why. It's interesting at all, but the ability is next to useless and there are many more efficient uses of 2WW. In limited, where enchant creatures are more useful, this could perhaps have it's uses.

Ancient Monk - Like any other Channeler in Ascension, he gained this creature type after the advent of Channel with Rebirth. As he is, he's a Echoless, less flashy Radiant's Dragoons. I mean, would you rather be protected by a Monk, or bloody Dragoons conscripted by a lunatic angel? Not a bad card for defensive purposes, and could fill most roles the Dragoons have filled in decks.

Apprentice Apothecary - Nothing overly exciting, though a bear with an ability can't ever be a bad thing. I'd rather have a Patrol Hound or somesuch, but the Protection can be a nuisance, especially in Limited when the opponent can't choose to use instantaneous creaturekill if they don't have any.

Armor of Moonlight - This is a big, 350 card set. As such, cards like this have to make it in. Such is the order of the universe. Had we not put Armor of Moonlight in the set, the cosmic imbalance would have been devastating and the world economy would have crashed. Not an overly exciting card, but decent in limited as many such creature enchantments are.

Art of War - This could be a fun card to play, but has always seemed to get replaced by the more resilient Holy War. Beeferizing one of your creatures, or all of them when attacking, can be a scary effect, but the inherent fragility of Enchant Creatures has people shy away from this one. A potential bomb in limited, if you get enough creatures to support it.

Banish Magic - A slower but more permanent Disenchant. 99% of the time, Disenchant is better. But you take what you can get, and this was what we had for a long time. Personally, I use the more expensive but ridiculously versatile Debunk, from Maelstrom.

Blessed Wall - Important both in play and in the story. In play, this has been used much like Moat, holding back opponent's ground assaults while you do whatever you want to. The flavor text makes perfect sense on the card, and got me thinking in early drafts of the story. A city within impenetrable walls would think itself invulnerable, and have a tremendous advantage. I placed the Blessed Walls around La'adia (the distinguishing feature having formerly been a Silver Castle, see next article). Moreover, when deciding how the occupant of Verthandi's throne would be determined, I happened upon the idea of magical means - some magical force which chooses the best possible ruler. And where better to keep such an important piece of state machinery than in the indestructible walls which kept the city safe?

Caretaker - Jazzfan and I got into a massive argument over this card. I advocated making it a 1/2 because the ability wasn't all that good, comparing it to Soul Warden. He said it wasn't as good usually, but was sometimes better, citing Wrath of God type effects. We raged back and forth for HOURS like this, and this is one of the rare times I relented, sacrificing this card to get my way for another (I forget which). After some time passed and this proved to indeed be weak, we made him 1/2 as I had suggested, making him a decent first turn defensive play, capable of holding most other 1 drops at bay.

Chamber Guard - Veteran Bodyguard+. Not bad, but most White players have hidden behind a cheaper Ancient Monk or more reliable Blessed Walls. Another potential bomb in limited.

Charm of High - Our charms never caught on as well as the Mirage, Visions, or Planeshift ones, mostly because they aren't splash able and the effects aren't as exciting. Still, this is a versatile card, saving your life, a creatures, or making a nice little combat trick. Very solid in limited, might even make some sort of impact in constructed if anybody attempted it (though I somehow doubt it).

Cherub - A slow moving dork maker. If he made flying dorks, maybe, but as he is he's not too good. I've seen him played in a fun deck or two, but it never worked out too well. Don't think to deeply on how the ability actually works, and if you do just remember that it wasn't my idea.

Circle of Protection - More versatile than the as of then unprinted Story Circle, but more expensive to use. With enough mana, you can make yourself invulnerable to any but colorless damage, which is never a bad thing. The mana requirement can be quite limiting, usually only allowing for 2 to 3 activations a turn if you don't cast anything else. A decent addition to a slow deck, though I've yet to see somebody try it.

Conscripts - White's answer to Deranged Hermit, though not nearly as cool. Sure, he doesn't have echo and doesn't pump them, but 5 1/1's is a fairly decent yield for one card. Can break you out of a creature race, especially in limited or when backed up with a Crusade style effect. Note the mention of the Silver Castle in the flavortext (see Blessed Walls, above).

Cuthbert, Rose General - The reason nobody ever played Conscripts. Because, while 5 1/1s for 3 is cool, 5 2/2 First Strikers sounds better. He has seen surprisingly little play for how obviously abuseable he is. As for the storyline, Cuthbert is our least developed character to date. Jazzfan had his name in some flavor text, and we did put him in the story, but his character wound up being so minor that it surprised both Zazdor and myself.

Desert Rider - VERY annoying for a red mage, saw a good deal of sideboard play before people realized that Red wasn't really a threat. With Red's recent gains, this guy should see a resurgence. Also immune to Pestilence or Earthquake type effects, and a First Striker to carry him through combat. A solid creature all around.

Drill Major - hey look, it's Tribal! A fun card with Cuthbert or Conscripts, by himself he isn't nearly as bad as his lack of play makes him out. He's an efficient pumper - the only problem is the prevalence of good 3 drops in AS white.

Empirical Helm - this is about ¾ of an Empyrial Armor. At about 2/3 of the cost. Let me translate - THIS IS A GOOD CARD. Atop a Golden Mane Pegasus, this thing allowed early HGML White Weenie to do very well for itself, before Drawgo first reared its ugly head. Still a more than solid card.

Equanimity - Spot creature kill for W is never a bad thing, nor is removing the creature from the game. This card's slowness and the increased lifegain makes it inferior the Swords to Plowshares, but it is still mana-efficient enough to be a playable card.

Faithful Ward - Circle of Protection for creatures. A limited bomb and potentially useful in constructed, though still the mana cost is inhibiting.

Faithfulness - Not as good a pump spell as Empirical Helm nor as good a kill spell as Equanimity, the versatility of this card makes it almost playable. Sometimes. A solid play in limited, and you could do much worse in constructed.

Fragile Alliance - the basis for a very fun slow deck of mine in days past (I may rebuild and review at some point, perhaps soon). Its really one of those 'crap rares' that someone breaks one day. Play it early, activate it often, gain massive card advantage. If your opponent kills it, you gain 5 life, which is a good deal anyway. Most players can't figure out how to deal with it, and leave it out long enough to net you a good deal of card advantage.

Friar Jaredei - believe it or not, this guy was actually one of my favorite characters from AS, the old Crusader who gets caught up in a quest AGAIN. In play, he can be a scourge to any creaturekill strategy, himself with protection, and turning all of your plains into healers. Plus, he even gains you some life if he's got nothing better to do.

Golden Mane Pegasus - Yes, he's good. Probably too good. Originally he was 1/1, but I objected "That's just Welkin Hawk. You can't do a direct reprint, that's no fun." So someone made him a 2/1, and thus White Weenie was born. Who knows, with WotC's new idea that White should have the cheapest small fliers, he might even be almost balanced. Maybe.

Grace - In the beginning there was Crusade. And it was good. Then came Serra's Blessing. And if it was good, the players did not notice. And then came Glorious Anthem, and the Angels did sing in it's flavortext. And then HGML thought Serra's Blessing was a decent effect, and tacked it on to Glorious Anthem. And it was very good, and White Weenies grew strong and graceful. Do I really need to tell you that this is a very good card?

Healer's Gift - a fun trick in response to a Wrath of God or any similar mass destruction spell, or even a devastating bout of combat. May possibly gain a ridiculous amount of life and gain you some time off of excess permanents.

Healith - I never liked them. Jazz and Zaz and many of the members seemed to, but the Aliths (other than the Bastion cycle that I helped make, because they are craziful). Maybe, in limited, you might happen to find a use for the ability, but I've never heard a documented case of it.

High Revival - Wrath of God…sorta. So nothing is actually KILLED (another argument against Caretaker being fair at 1/1), but the card is splashable and does sweep the board. The fact that it can't be entirely countered is a definite plus, but blue counter decks usually have no reason to counter it, and by the time they do they can probably counter it every turn you cast it. I think the main problem with this card, though, is just that the word "Shuffle" is nowhere near as cool as "Destroy".

Well, that's the first half of white, and that's a long article as is. Tune in next week for, well, something. I'm not sure what yet. Another deck, another story thing, the rest of white, maybe something I haven't even thought of yet. I hope this has been helpful, or at least gotten you thinking.