The past few weeks have been abuzz with talk of Worldwake. Players and writers have jumped on each card as it’s been revealed to dissect the impact it might have on the various Constructed formats. Now that the spoiler is fully available, and the prerelease is tomorrow, I thought I’d take a break from speculation about Treasure Hunt or Jace or Abyssal Persecutor and the like to take a look at the building blocks of the set — the commons — and talk about how the Zendikar Limited format will change when the world wakes up. I know I’m not alone in hungering for some new cards to draft!
I obviously haven’t had a chance to play with any of these yet, but these are my first impressions based on the spoiler information available. Not all of the card information here is confirmed, but I tend to trust the folks over at MTGSalvation this close to prerelease time. Without further ado…the cards!
White
Apex Hawks
2W
Creature – Bird
2/2
Multikicker 1W (You may pay an additional 1W any number of times as you cast this spell.)
Flying
Apex Hawks enters the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter on it for each time it was kicked.
The best White decks in all Zendikar draft have been aggressive, particularly W/R and W/U. This card fits great into either of those archetypes as a two-power evasion creature for three mana, as well as potentially a huge threat later in the game. With landfall creatures like Steppe Lynx and Plated Geopede making up some of the best early threats, even the most aggressive decks in the format have had incentive to play 18 lands. Apex Hawks gives those decks an excellent mana sink in the mid to late game without clogging up beatdown draws with an expensive card early in the game. My initial instinct is that either this or Fledgling Griffin is the best White common in the set, though you may take Iona’s Judgment over either depending on what sort of cards your deck needs at that point.
Battle Hurda
4W
Creature – Giant
3/3
First Strike
Apparently Hurdas get a lot better when they train for battle rather than to travel with Caravans. Despite the upgrade from the 1/5 lifelinker in Zendikar, though, this still isn’t a top of the line creature. Zendikar draft is a fast format, and unless Worldwake changes that drastically, five mana is approaching the top of the curve for most decks. He’s too small to hold off big Green creatures, and too slow to hold off the bear brigade. I wouldn’t be embarrassed to have this guy in my deck, but I wouldn’t be happy about it.
Fledgling Griffin
1W
Creature – Griffin
2/2
Landfall – Whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control, Fledgling Griffin gains flying until end of turn.
This is basically White’s version of Surrakar Marauders, which was one of the best early drops in triple Zendikar Limited. I’m pretty sure I would play just about any number of these, since they help you curve out and get your beatdown going right away while still remaining significant evasion threats as the game progresses. I expect this to be either the #1 or #2 White common in the set for most decks.
Guardian Zendikon
2W
Enchantment – Aura
Enchant land
Enchanted land is a 2/6 white Wall creature with defender. It’s still a land.
When enchanted land is put into a graveyard, return that card to its owner’s hand.
These enchant lands are hard to evaluate. A 2/6 defender at this price is pretty attractive, but it comes with vulnerability to enchantment destruction, and I have to imagine the value of Disenchant effects going up significantly now that they have both quests and Zendikons to combat. It can also be dangerous to cast these cards too early, because if your opponent does have creature removal they can set you back in your mana development. Yes, you get the land back, but that may not be enough to make up for the tempo loss. It’s also important to note that these only return if the land goes to the graveyard. If the animated land gets returned to your hand or exiled, it’s gone. Imagine casting this on your land in the early turns to stave off a beatdown and having your opponent Journey to Nowhere the enchanted land — now you’re out the land and the enchantment. Seems like a serious risk, so I’m hesitant to get too excited about these.
Iona’s Judgment
4W
Sorcery
Exile target creature or enchantment.
It’s creature removal that doubles as enchantment kill, which is certainly attractive, but it costs five mana. To me this feels like a card that is perfect for pack three of a draft, because by then you know what the holes are in your deck and what you need to fill them. If you open this and Apex Hawks and have two Journey to Nowhere but need to fill out your curve or find a finisher, you can take the Apex Hawks, but if you’re starved of removal, this is a great solution to any number of problems. I may be completely off base with this evaluation, and this card may be an easy first pick, but I’m inclined to think five mana is too much for it to be a real powerhouse.
Join the Ranks
3W
Instant
Put two 1/1 white Soldier Ally creature tokens onto the battlefield.
This is a card that is obviously incredibly deck dependant. If you have a heavy ally deck with multiple Umara Raptors and Kazundu Blademasters, this card is absolutely gross and is easily a first pick. For other decks it’s pretty much unplayable. I’d say if I had 6+ aggressive allies I’d take this over any White common, but less than that and its stock drops fast.
Kitesail Apprentice
W
Creature – Kor Soldier
1/1
As long as Kitesail Apprentice is equipped, it gets +1/+1 and has flying.
With the new equipment coming in Worldwake, this guy and Kor Duelist might be okay, but in general they’re unreliable. Again, a very deck dependent card, and one you’re very likely to get late anyway so it’s not really worth using an early pick on this. I wouldn’t play this without 3+ quality equipment.
Marsh Threader
1W
Creature – Kor Scout
2/1
Swampwalk
Good curve filler and good evasion creature against the best color. Black is better at blocking than Red, with cards like Giant Scorpion, so this is somewhat more valuable than Cliff Threader.
Rest for the Weary
1W
Instant
You gain 4 life.
Landfall – If you had a land enter the battlefield under your control this turn, you gain 8 life instead.
Clearly better than Sunspring Expedition, which was already an okay sideboard card against super aggressive vampire decks. Keep an eye out for this late, to keep it open as an option against those decks.
Veteran’s Reflexes
W
Instant
Target creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn. Untap that creature.
A decent trick that can act as a mini Giant Growth on offense or a mini Inspirit (am I dating myself here?) to ambush an attacker. I’d be happy playing one in my decks. It gets much better if you have 2/2s like Fledgling Griffin rather than 2/1s like Marsh Threader because so many games involve two-power creatures battling it out early on, and you want to be able to save your creature with it against a block to gain tempo advantage.
Blue
AEther Tradewinds
2U
Instant
Return target permanent you control and target permanent you don’t control to their owner’s hand.
Superb against opposing removal, and a great way to get extra value out of enters the battlefield abilities or Landfall. A bit expensive, but a great way to deal with any of the Zendikons, creature enchantments, quests, and whatever else. I expect the versatility of this will be significantly undervalued early on, but I’m pretty sure I’m usually going to want at least one of these in most of my Blue decks.
Calcite Snapper
1UU
Creature – Turtle
1/4
Shroud
Landfall – Whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control, you may switch Calcite Snapper’s power and toughness until end of turn.
Convertible Turtle! This guy will be just awesome for holding the ground, and the fact that he can beat down on demand is fantastic. The double whammy of being able to hold off the bear brigade and meaningfully contribute to offense makes this guy a top pick for any Blue deck in my book. This will definitely help slow down games, which can make strategies with more expensive cards more viable.
Dispel
U
Instant
Counter target instant spell.
A decent sideboard card against decks heavy with removal like Hideous End and Disfigure. This is the stuff blowouts are made of. Rarely worth maindecking, but definitely pay attention and pick them up for your sideboard.
Enclave Elite
2U
Creature – Merfolk Soldier
2/2
Multikicker 1U
Islandwalk
Enclave Elite enters the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter on it for each time it was kicked.
Not nearly as exciting as Apex Hawks, but this is at least a card that isn’t embarrassing to maindeck that can be a serious force against other Blue decks. I wouldn’t pick this one high, but I’d be content to fill out my curve with it.
Halimar Excavator
1U
Creature – Human Wizard Ally
1/3
Whenever Halimar Excavator or another Ally enters the battlefield under your control, target player puts the top X cards of his or her library into his or her graveyard, where X is the number of Allies you control.
The ability here isn’t terribly exciting, but the numbers are. A 1/3 for two is a serious stop sign for the 2/1-happy decks out there. I know my good buddy Goblin Shortcutter would be none too pleased to see this guy on the other side of the table. He fills a similar role to Kraken Hatchling, except he’s better at holding off multiple attackers because he threatens to actually do damage back, but he’s worse at carrying an Explorer’s Scope. Not a high pick, but a definite role-player that will help slow the format down a little.
Mysteries of the Deep
4U
Instant
Draw two cards.
Landfall – If you had a land enter the battlefield under your control this turn, draw three cards instead.
In triple Zendikar, I’m not sure if this card would have been terribly exciting. Most if not all of the decks in that format were tempo oriented, and five-mana card drawing effects aren’t terribly exciting in a format where you can easily be dead by then. With a little help from Convertible Turtle and friends, however, I think Blue decks in ZZW may be able to stave off the rush well enough to try to take control of a the game and win via card advantage.
Surrakar Banisher
4U
Creature – Surrakar
3/3
When Surrakar Banisher enters the battlefield, you may return target tapped creature to its owner’s hand.
This is a card that’s hard for me to evaluate. At five mana and only being able to return tapped creatures, he’s a bit slow for any kind of aggressive strategy, so he seems to be yet another card designed to help Blue players slow down the game. The fact that he is a beating against anyone trying to use Zendikons aggressively seems like a big plus if those are popular, as is the fact that he can reset big allies, though you’ll have to think twice about letting them come back down and trigger more allies!
Treasure Hunt
1U
Sorcery
Reveal cards from the top of your library until you reveal a nonland card, then put all cards revealed this way into your hand.
With a higher land ratio typical in Limited than in Constructed, this card is more likely to do gross things, and card advantage is at a premium in Limited play, so this will still be a hot card. Between this and Mysteries of the Deep, I expect a grind-‘em-out style of play to become much more common for Blue decks in ZZW Limited.
Twitch
2U
Instant
You may tap or untap target artifact, creature, or land.
Draw a card.
Solid trick with a card tacked on that can always cycle, at least. If you miss your curve for one turn, you can try to stall your opponent as well. Mid-late pick.
Wind Zendikon
U
Enchantment – Aura
Enchant land
Enchanted land is a 2/2 blue Elemental creature with flying. It’s still a land.
When enchanted land is put into a graveyard, return that card to its owner’s hand.
Definitely more attractive than the White Zendikon since it’s a solid mid-late game attacker, so you’re not just throwing it down and hoping it sticks. This seems like a good card for aggressive Blue decks, which is a bit out of sorts with most of the rest of the Blue cards in the set, but should fit well with the beatdown archetypes of triple Zendikar that people are used to. Keep in mind that all of these effectively have Haste if you cast them on a land that was in play to start the turn.
Black
Bojuka Brigand
1B
Creature – Human Warrior Ally
1/1
Bojuka Brigand can’t block.
Whenever Bojuka Brigand or another Ally creature enters the battlefield under your control, you may put a +1/+1 counter on Bojuka Brigand.
This guy spells trouble. Sure, he can’t block, but in a B/R beatdown deck you really don’t want to be blocking anyway. We’ve already seen how powerful Oran-Rief Survivalist can be in multiples, and that’s in a color that doesn’t have any other common allies. A few of this guy, and a few Nimana Sell Swords, and perhaps some Highland Berserkers and Tuktuk Grunts for good measure, and you have the makings of a serious beatdown. Even better, by pack 3 you know how powerful this guy is going to be in your deck, so you can draft him accordingly. I don’t expect Black beatdown to drop in power much at all, thanks in large part to this guy.
Brink of Disaster
2BB
Enchantment – Aura
Enchant creature or land
When enchanted permanent becomes tapped, destroy it.
I think this card is a trap. It looks like creature removal, but Black decks in this format mostly want to remove blockers, not attackers, so this really doesn’t excite me at all. It’s like casting a Paralyzing Grasp on an untapped creature — it just stays back to block all game. My instincts tell me this card is borderline unplayable, so I’d avoid it if I were you. I could see sideboarding it against decks packing creatures with activated abilities, but wouldn’t maindeck it.
Corrupted Zendikon
1B
Enchantment – Aura
Enchant land
Enchanted land is a 3/3 black Ooze creature. It’s still a land.
When enchanted land is put into a graveyard, return that card to its owner’s hand.
This seems like it could be a good card in a game between two removal heavy Black decks that comes down to attrition, but a 3/3 just isn’t big enough to threaten most decks later in the game. It can just get blocked by a Turtle or something of the sort, along with all of the other risks I’ve discussed with the Zendikons. My instincts say to pass on this one.
Dead Reckoning
1BB
Sorcery
You may put target creature card from your graveyard on top of your library.
If you do, Dead Reckoning deals damage equal to that card’s power to target creature.
This is an interesting combination of removal and Bone Harvest. The requirement to have a dead creature makes it so it’s not a good removal spell in the early game, and keying off the size of the creature means that it’s not at its best in a low curve rush deck, so I’m hesitant on this one. It seems like a card that’s again good in attrition fights, because it’s removal that improves your upcoming card quality but isn’t good until later in the game. My gut tells me that this is another card that will on balance turn out to be worse than it looks at first glance, because it will sit in your hand and do nothing (or very little) so often.
Jagwasp Swarm
3B
Creature – Insect
3/2
Flying
Three power worth of evasion for four mana. It’s no Bladetusk Boar, since flying is worse than Intimidate, but it’s solid. It’s not amazing, but it’s a good roleplayer; I’d expect to always play this if I’m Black in sealed, and I’ll often find myself drafting it, but not especially high.
Mire’s Toll
B
Sorcery
Target player reveals a card from his or her hand for each Swamp you control. Choose one of those cards. That player discards that card.
I think this card is much better than it first appears. Hand destruction in Limited is powerful when it gives card advantage, like Mind Rot, or when it can preemptively deal with serious threats. The problem with specific discard like Duress is that you can often miss, which makes it difficult to maindeck. This card is easily played main, and assuming your opponent played first and plays a creature each turn from two onward, if you’re heavy Black, this is effectively Coercion for one mana on the forth turn. That’s a very powerful effect, especially combined with the information it gives you. This will be a late pick because it’s not a traditional creature-or-removal Limited style card, but I think it’ll be a very good card to look out for — it will be seriously undervalued early on.
Pulse Tracker
B
Creature – Vampire Rogue
1/1
Whenever Pulse Tracker attacks, each opponent loses 1 life.
A 1/1 that has to attack to do his job is in a world of hurt in Limited. I could see this guy seeing play in super aggressive vampire decks, but in general I think he won’t cut it. He may be a pseudo 2/1, but he doesn’t trade with a 2/2 and he’ll get shut down too quickly.
Quag Vampires
B
Creature – Vampire Rogue
1/1
Multikicker 1B (You may pay an additional 1B any number of times as you cast this spell.)
Swampwalk
Quag Vampires enters the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter on it for each time it was kicked.
Similar to the Blue merfolk — not embarrassing to maindeck, but not exciting unless your opponent is playing Swamps. Curve filler.
Ruthless Cullblade
1B
Creature – Vampire Warrior
2/1
Ruthless Cullblade gets +2/+1 as long as an opponent has 10 or less life.
This guy seems sweet. Two power for two mana, plus the ability to get bigger later in the game to punch through blockers. I expect this guy to be a major player in Black beatdown decks from here on out — probably the second best Black common in the set.
Tomb Hex
2B
Instant
Target creature gets -2/-2 until end of turn.
Landfall – If a land entered the battlefield under your control this turn, that creature gets -4/-4 until end of turn instead.
The best Black common. It’s a pseudo-sorcery -4/-4 because of landfall, with the ability to -2/-2 as an instant if it comes up. Efficient creature removal is Black’s thing, and Tomb Hex doesn’t disappoint. You’ll want as many as you can get — it even works against other Black decks!
Red
Bull Rush
R
Instant
Target creature gets +2/+0 until end of turn.
Decent against Kraken Hatchlings and the like since it’s so cheap, but not really a card I think I’d generally want to play with. I love Slaughter Cry, and this is no Slaughter Cry.
Claws of Valakut
1RR
Enchantment – Aura
Enchant creature
Enchanted creature gets +1/+0 for each Mountain you control and has first strike.
If Zendikar didn’t give you enough reason to play Mono Red already! This is a card, much like Spire Barrage and Molten Ravager, that will be pretty terrible for other decks but insane in Mono Red. As such, you can often expect to be gifted it late if you’re fortunate enough to be mono. By pack 3 you’ll have a good enough idea if it will wheel, so don’t pick it early if you don’t have to.
Cosi’s Ravager
3R
Creature – Elemental
2/2
Landfall – Whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control, you may have Cosi’s Ravager deal 1 damage to target player.
I think this card is likely to be better than it looks. Often, Red decks can get in a ton of damage quickly but struggle once the opposing defense is able to set up. This gives a consistent damage source that ignores blockers, an effect I have come to love in Red in this format (in the form of Hellfire Mongrel thus far). I wouldn’t pick this guy early by any means, but I’d be happy to have one in my deck.
Crusher Zendikon
2R
Enchantment – Aura
Enchant land
Enchanted land is a 4/2 red Beast creature with trample. It’s still a land.
When enchanted land is put into a graveyard, return that card to its owner’s hand.
Four power — with trample, no less — starts to get interesting for one of these enchantments, but I don’t think that’s enough to make this card a serious contender.
Goblin Roughrider
2R
Creature – Goblin Knight
3/2
Solid body. Curve filler. Not much more to say.
Grotag Thrasher
4R
Creature – Lizard
3/3
Whenever Grotag Thrasher attacks, target creature can’t block this turn.
Now this is a Sea Snidd worth paying for. The ability to take a blocker out of the combat each attack is fantastic for a beatdown deck, since it’s often a single large creature on the opposing side that keeps your team from being able to turn sideways. It’s still a 3/3 for five, so it’s not a super high pick, but I’d definitely be happy to have this lizard in my decks — even in multiples.
Roiling Terrain
2RR
Sorcery
Destroy target land, then Roiling Terrain deals damage to that land’s controller equal to the number of land cards in that player’s graveyard.
Demolish wasn’t good. This isn’t either.
Searing Blaze
RR
Instant
Searing Blaze deals 1 damage to target player and 1 damage to target creature that player controls.
Landfall – If you had a land enter the battlefield under your control this turn, Searing Blaze deals 3 damage to that player and 3 damage to that creature instead.
Why, hello there Lash Out! This card is awesome, and easily the best Red common. It’s a little greedier on the mana than Burst Lightning, so no one can steal it to splash, and it’s a touch harder to play in the aggressive Vampire decks that want to play Lacerator on turn one, but I suspect the pressure on the mana will be worth it. Easily a first pick in any deck that can cast it.
Skitter of Lizards
R
Creature – Lizard
1/1
Multikicker 1R (You may pay an additional 1R any number of times as you cast this spell.)
Haste
Skitter of Lizards enters the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter on it for each time it was kicked.
This is no Aven Hawks, but it’s the next best thing. Raging Goblin, Goblin Chariot, and a non-ally Tuktuk Grunts all in one, this is a great addition to any base Red deck. It gets a bit hairier to cast if you’re solidly two colors, but Red has shown to be the really greedy color in this block when it comes to playing a lot of Mountains. I’d take Goblin Roughrider over this if I’m evenly split in two colors, but I’d take this card if I’m playing at least ten Mountains.
Green
Arbor Elf
G
Creature – Elf Druid
1/1
T: Untap target Forest.
Mana acceleration is just what Green decks in Zendikar needed, and this fellow delivers. Keep in mind that he can untap your Zendikons too! This guy will help enable the big creature Green decks that struggled so much in ZZZ draft, and will probably be at his best in G/U where you can make up for your mana density with card drawing.
Explore
1G
Sorcery
You may play an additional land this turn.
Draw a card.
More mana acceleration! Using your second turn to ramp to four isn’t as powerful and using your first to ramp to three, but in the mid-late game this effectively cycles. Keep in mind this can let you double up on landfall, which can make creatures like Territorial Baloth and especially Baloth Woodcrasher simply monstrous.
Feral Contest
3G
Sorcery
Put a +1/+1 counter on target creature you control. Another target creature must block it this turn if able.
This card looks awesome at first glance, but it doesn’t say “must block it,” so it’s less exciting than I initially thought. This gives Green decks a way to deal with troublesome non-combat creatures like the spellcaster allies, though keep in mind that creatures with activated abilities can just tap before blocking and they won’t be forced to block. My initial assessment is this card is worse than it looks, since often your opponent will just be able to double block and 2-for-1 you, but I’m certainly going to try it out.
Gnarlid Pack
1G
Creature – Beast
2/2
Multikicker 1G (You may pay an additional 1G any number of times as you cast this spell.)
Gnarlid Pack enters the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter on it for each time it was kicked.
Grizzly Bear, Hill Giant, or slightly-worse-than-Durkwood Boars. This card isn’t terribly exciting, but it’s perfect for filling whatever hole in your curve you need. A solid roleplayer — middle tier pick.
Grappler Spider
1G
Creature – Spider
2/1
Reach
Now this is a card that Green decks need! Not only does it give Green another two-drop, which is great, it also provides a way to stop those Welkin Terns that isn’t anemic on offense. Oran Rief Recluse is great, but Green decks have often been forced to play multiples of the 1/3 for three to handle fliers, which can lead to really awkward aggressive draws. This lets Green decks beat down and still have a way to deal with the air.
Graypelt Hunter
3G
Creature – Human Warrior Ally
2/2
Trample
Whenever Graypelt Hunter or another Ally enters the battlefield under your control, you may put a +1/+1 counter on Graypelt Hunter.
A great complement to Oran-Rief Survivalist, although you’re giving up a pack of those to get this guy. Trample isn’t really all that relevant here unless you end up with multiple copies of Join the Ranks and can smoosh your opponent with a massive Hunter.
Groundswell
G
Instant
Target creature gets +2/+2 until end of turn.
Landfall – If you had a land enter the battlefield under your control this turn, that creature gets +4/+4 until end of turn instead.
It’s no Vines of Vastwood, but it’s better than Vines at busting through blockers on the cheap. Four power for one mana is no joke, either. This card will likely make aggressive Green decks significantly better — it will be their number one card to look out for in pack 3 if their curve is set.
Nature’s Claim
G
Instant
Destroy target artifact or enchantment. Its controller gains 4 life.
Fine sideboard card if you didn’t manage to pick up some Relic Crushes in the first two packs.
Snapping Creeper
2G
Creature – Plant
2/3
Landfall – Whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control, Snapping Creeper gains vigilance until end of turn.
Good defensive Green card. Unspectacular, but solid in a deck like U/G and not bad elsewhere.
Vastwood Zendikon
4G
Enchantment – Aura
Enchant land
Enchanted land is a 6/4 green Elemental creature. It’ still a land.
When enchanted land is put into a graveyard, return that card to its owner’s hand.
Six power that’s effectively hasted is no joke. I’m not sold, but I’m tempted.
Artifacts
Hedron Rover
4
Artifact Creature – Construct
2/2
Landfall – Whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control, Hedron Rover gets +2/+2 until end of turn.
Unlike the Scrabbler, this guy is bigger than average for his cost when he landfalls. He also blocks and kills Bladetusk Boar. I think this guy will be underrated, and will prove to be pretty solid.
Kitesail
2
Artifact – Equipment
Equipped creature gets +1/+0 and has flying.
Equip 2
I think this is going to be worse than it looks because of how fast the format is, but I can certainly see playing one in an aggressive deck to get over turtles when the ground stalls out. This may actually be at its best in Green decks, since it can double as a way to stop fliers a la Spidersilk Net as well as giving you a way to get your big creatures over the ground stall.
Pilgrim’s Eye
3
Artifact Creature – Thopter
1/1
Flying
When Pilgrim’s Eye enters the battlefield, search your library for a basic land, reveal it, and put it into your hand. Then shuffle your library.
This little guy seems pretty awesome. A 1/1 flying body is relevant, at least, and it provides color fixing that can enable splashes. Pack 3 is a little long to wait before you pick up your mana fixing, but you can rest that much easier fist picking a Burst Lightning knowing that even if you aren’t red you can pick up one of these guys in Worldwake to make casting it that much easier. Also blocks Surrakar Marauder, which can be a big deal for U/W decks.
Walking Atlas
2
Artifact Creature – Construct
1/1
T: You may put a land card from your hand onto the battlefield.
This guy seems pretty sweet in that he enables you to either double dip on landfall on your turn or trigger it on your opponent’s turn — and that’s on top of his ability to ramp you, albeit starting on the third turn. I can definitely see this guy getting played in Green decks, and G/U decks in particular, but probably not much outside of that. He certainly makes Timbermaw Grove more exciting, though. And he can always block a Surrakar Marauder.
Lands
Bojuka Bog
Land
Bojuka Bog enters the battlefield tapped.
T: Add B to your mana pool.
When Bojuka Bog enters the battlefield, exile all cards from target player’s graveyard.
I think Piranha Marsh is typically not worth playing because it enters the battlefield tapped, and that at least does something. I suppose this could be a sideboard card against someone with lots of Soul Stair Expeditions or Emeria, but that seems like a real stretch.
Halimar Depths
Land
Halimar Depths enters the battlefield tapped.
T: Add U to your mana pool.
When Halimar Depths enters the battlefield, look at top three cards of your library and put them back in any order.
Good with Treasure Hunt — probably wouldn’t play it otherwise.
Khalni Garden
Land
Khalni Garden enters the battlefield tapped.
When Khalni Garden enters the battlefield, put a 0/1 green Plant creature token onto the battlefield.
T: Add G to your mana pool.
Now this is actually decent, since it provides a chump blocker. I probably still wouldn’t play it, or at least not more than one, since drawing an enters-the-battlefield-tapped land when you need an untapped one is just huge, but this is at least an effect I can get behind.
Quicksand
Land
T: Add 1 to your mana pool.
T, Sacrifice Quicksand: Target attacking creature without flying gets -1/-2 until end of turn.
Grim Discovery’s stock just went way up. This is a fantastic card that I could easily see picking very early on. Deals with Intimidate creatures, works as a combat trick, etc, all the while actually letting you cast your spells. I love it, even if it isn’t 1997 anymore.
Sejiri Steppe
Land
Sejiri Steppe enters the battlefield tapped.
When Sejiri Steppe enters the battlefield, you may have target creature gain protection from the color of your choice until end of turn.
T: Add W to your mana pool.
I’d probably play 2+ of these in a base-White beatdown deck. This effect is awesome for pushing damage through. If you have enough playables to fill out your spells, be on the lookout to pick these up.
Smoldering Spires
Land
Smoldering Spires enters the battlefield tapped.
When Smoldering Spires enters the battlefield, target creature can’t block until end of turn.
T: Add R to your mana pool.
See above. Helps you punch past any non-turtle ground stall (since turtle has shroud!). I love Goblin Shortcutter to perhaps an unhealthy degree, and this is Shortcutter on a land. Awesome.
…
Phew… that’s it! I hope this helps you out this weekend at your pre-release — and beyond! I’ll be gunslinging this weekend in Chicago, thanks to the people at Pastimes, so if you’re in the area, come by and challenge me to a game or just say hi. Hope to see you there!
Until next time…
bmk