With the release of Phyrexia: All Will Be One right around the corner, I wanted to outline what I think will be the best commons of each color.
White
Planar Disruption, aka Pacifism 5.0, looks like it’s too strong to fail. Two mana to shut down anything seems strong enough to merit a first pick going into the set.
Duelist of Deep Faith seems like the two-drop of choice for any aggressive white deck. It looks great for pushing damage in an aggressive Boros deck, as well as enabling corrupted for the semi-toxic decks. I think this small Soldier will be a sleeper.
Compleat Devotion in the right deck should almost always draw you a card. If the small-creature toxic decks are a real thing, this will be the trick that will allow them to finish games.
Blue
Mesmerizing Dose is the go-to blue removal spell. Blue looks to be a bit slow and will likely rely on more defensive cards to bridge the gap into the late-game.
Experimental Augury is exactly the type of card you want in any blue proliferate deck. Not only will it trigger all of your “when you cast a noncreature spell” payoffs, it will also find you the card you need, and proliferate along the way. Not to mention, it will be great to pair with the next card with the same casting cost, allowing you to keep both options available with two mana open.
Bring the Ending will be great at Quench-ing any early-game threats, as well as having a late-game failsafe of just straight-up Counterspell. It shouldn’t be difficult to get your opponent to three poison counters with all the proliferate blue provides. You can even use Prologue to Phyresis to get the ball rolling on that front.
Black
Anoint with Affliction is a premium removal spell at common. It should answer most early threats of concern and hopefully any late-game threats, provided you can count to three.
Blightbelly Rat is an unassuming Rat, but I do think getting a creature on the battlefield by Turn 2 will be important this set. Hopefully you can have this goopy Rat touch the opponent so it has something to proliferate on when it dies of natural causes (or the next card).
Annihilating Glare is very similar to Eaten Alive from Innistrad: Midnight Hunt. It’s a good use for sacrificing a Phyrexian Mite token or something neutralized, while paying five is also fine as well.
Red
Volt Charge looks like the best red common to me. The ability to target face or even planeswalkers is a huge boon, and throw proliferate on top for a little garnish. *chef’s kiss*
Hexgold Slash should be able to take care of most threats of concern. Shock is always good in Limited. I don’t anticipate this proving otherwise.
Free from Flesh has some very silly applications, like Necrosquito, Trawler Drake, or Evolving Adaptive. It can also be great on a lot of other creatures as well. The floor of a +2/+2 trick for one isn’t all that bad for an aggressive deck.
Green
Contagious Vorrac does a lot for three mana. Three for a 3/3 and grab a land is great, and you have the option to proliferate even if you don’t miss.
Lattice-Blade Mantis is quite the beating. Four mana for a 5/4 with vigilance is the type of threat that needs to be addressed before you get sent to the shadow realm.
Plague Nurse is a bit situational, but if you have a couple of other toxic creatures, it changes the game state entirely. No longer can your opponent just trade blows, as they will take a lethal injection from the good Nurse on the back swing.
There’s also Ruthless Predation. Fight spell good!
Hopefully this helps you get an edge on the competition in the first days of Phyrexia: All Will Be One Limited events. Lose and Learn, Learn and Win!
