Okay, I have some free time now, so let’s go to blue now. Here are my picks for the top and best cards of blue in Rise of the Eldrazi.

COMMON:

Back in the old school Magic days, we feared battling against blue-based opponents with 2 islands untapped during our turn. We were so nervous about casting that game-winning card of ours, for fears that the opponent has a counterspell named – Counterspell. Well, that’s all over now. But here ye’ here ye’! It seems like this new 2cc counterspell might just bring back that fear of 2 islands untapped.

First of all, thank you for viewing and my apologies if I’m not active in the blog and Standard Environment right now, ‘coz I’m pretty much busy.

I’ve just seen the full Rise of the Eldrazi spoiler, and though the artwork is awesome, and some cards are useful, I don’t see it as much exciting as when I was playing during the Ravnica-Time Spiral era.

So, I’ll be discussing the most notable useful and/or fun cards of the set, in my opinion of course, and by that, the opinion of a now-casual player who still enjoys discussing, studying, and playing the game.

I’ll be starting off with white.

COMMON:

Kor-Line Slinger does something a creature like her should, defend, and do it effectively without having to engage in combat and maybe sacrificing itself. Sure, maybe tapping a creature with power 3 or less might not be that of use, but if your opponent decides to pump one, you can use this and hold on for a while. It’s like Master Decoy, and it could prevent some early-game advantage of some aggressive weenie decks. For a common, it’s good enough.

Okay, these are my top picks for Conflux (that are not as much as Noble Hierarch) rares that still have hopes of a better future.

This “advanced” miller card is already a sideboard against 5cc control decks. I mean, if your opponent was using that deck with only Progenitus as their creature, this card would be really lovely. And it’s not just a good sideboard against 5cc control, it might just be a game winner. Even though this sucks against aggro decks, against other decks, the ability to mill and take a creature from your opponent’s deck is a bargain for me.

Control decks love using this. Maybe it looks like an expensive cost for a Wrath of God, but if you think of it, Wrath of God costs 4 mana, and Martial Coup will most likely be used with 7 mana or more, so, what’s the 3 mana left for? 5 1/1 soldier tokens! I mean, sure, Spectral Procession gives away 3 1/1 flyers for 3 mana, but 5 1/1s for 3 mana is already a sweet bargain. And if your opponent didn’t have any Dauntless Escort to defend their creatures, the board will be cleared of any blockers. And not just control decks, even mid-range control decks use this one simply because it sweeps the board and gives you a fresh start with some soldiers.

I’ve already seen this being played in Extended decks, along with Tarmogoyf and a lot of discard. But what about Standard? Well, this card is also being used in B/R decks, probably because Blightning is good with it. But when M10 comes out, this card might just be used more times. Why? Well, maybe it’s because we are all aware the Duress might just be reprinted. I’ve read in lots of forums, and the art of Duress certainly doesn’t fit much with other Divine VS Demonic cards. So, if there would be other discard creatures or spells around there, Nyxathid might just find a decent home.

This is a good card. When I saw this in the previews last time, I think I was overhyped, thinking that this would explode in Standard. I guess not. But the Standard environment right now has lots of variety, the Shards have really made an impact. So, it’s fair to say that this card can still be seen in Jund aggro decks supported by Scarland Thrinax, Sprouting Thrinax, Necrogenesis, and now Jund Hackblade (!!). And it still fits well with Kederekt Parasite for some odd reason.

I was so happy when I saw that this artifact help Koji Takanashi win this year’s Tokyo Regionals with the Turbo Fog deck. Right when I got the Conflux visual spoiler, I loved Font Of Mythos. I know it would be fun in casual play, and I wanted to use it in Standard. However, I don’t actually know how to defend myself once the opponent starts drawing lots of cards too. So, I was really delighted to see Font of Mythos being supported with “fog” cards. Doesn’t it feel good when the card you were supporting all this time makes a splash in Standard (winning 1st, in Japan!)?