The last time that I made a pre-release pick post and linked it over to Reddit, I received some very mixed reviews. The most vocal pointed out that it was a bit pointless to be selecting cards the way that I was for a sealed format, and some thought it was silly of me to pick Karn as the mythic pick of the set (choosing mythics isn't real hard when it comes to plainswalkers).
So I thought I would try something different for the M2010 pre-release. This time, instead of choosing five cards by their rarity, I would go through each of the colors and pick a common, uncommon, and rare from each that you're going to want to either put into your decks, or watch out for. This will give you a little bit more flexibility than my previous articles, so let's begin!
White
Griffin Rider
Griffin Raider by itself is a cheap 1/1 creature. When you add in the very easy to access white griffins, he suddenly becomes a 4/4 flyer for two mana. White players will want to get a few of these guys and a few griffins to make the most of their card investment.
Oblivion Ring
There's a couple neat white uncommons in this set, but they just can't hold a candle to Oblivion Ring. White's answer to creatures, plainswalkers, enchantments, land, or any other permanent that is causing you trouble needs to be picked up as early as you can.
Gideon's Avenger
From my experience with playing with Gideon's Avenger in the Duels of the Plainswalkers game, he is brutal. In a hyper aggressive format like sealed or draft, a 2/2 creature that gets +1/+1 for each creature your opponent attacks with is going to get out of control very quickly. At the bargain cost of WW1, there's few better picks.
Blue
Phantasmal Bear
Phantasmal Bears have the potential to be a surprise for your opponents, especially if you can pick up a bunch. Typically players scoff at creatures that die just from being targeted by something, but a small army of 2/2 bears for 1 mana can really overwhelm your opponents.
Mind Control
I've lost more games to Mind Control than I care to admit. To finally be able to drop your bomb and then have it taken away from you and used against you is one of the worst things that can happen to you in a limited environment. In a draft, try to snap these up before your opponents do, you might want to consider even hate drafting them if they're not in your colors.
Djinn of Wishes
Blue is hurting a little bit for big rares, but the Djinn of Wishes works fine. 4/4 flying by itself isn't bad at all, but then you toss in a 4 mana ability to cast your top deck spell for free and you've got a way to cheat out things bigger than you can afford. It's mostly luck as there's little deck manipulation this time around, but you could strike gold early and if not, hey, 4/4 flying creatures aren't a bad thing.
Black
Doom Blade
Doom Blade is the king of instant speed removal. So long as your target isn't black, 1B is all it takes to ruin an opponent's bomb and plans to win. If you're playing against a black deck, you'll want to remember to sideboard this one out.
Sengir Vampire
It's been awhile since I've seen Sengir Vampire. He was a pain to deal with back in the days of Revised, and he's going to be a pain to deal with in limited. You're paying for a 4/4 flying vampire here, and that should be good enough. If somehow you manage to get the +1 counters on him, all the better, but don't count on them.
Vengeful Pharaoh
I really like the Vengeful Pharaoh. Yes, three black is a little rough to get, but he's worth it. By himself he's a 5/4 deathtouching monster. Once he dies, he continues killing things from the grave if they're able to land a hit on you, and then he comes back for round two. Surely to be a big annoyance for players. Hope you're on the right side of this card.
Red
Gorehorn Minotaurs
Two red and two colorless for a 3/3 isn't a great deal, but that's not what you're aiming for here. You're trying to deal a point of damage to your opponent before casting so you can bring out a 5/5 for four. That's a much better deal that's going to have your opponent in a tight spot.
Fireball
Fireball has been around forever and is one of those cards that defines Magic. I've snuck in plenty of alternative ways to get one red mana into an otherwise all black deck just to be able to dump everything into one huge fireball to end the game. Players sitting across from me will want to wonder if I can take them out next turn, no matter what colors I'm playing.
Flameblast Dragon
Dragons don't get to see much play in Standard. They're expensive, easy to remove, and require a bit of extra mana to get full use of them. In limited though, cards like the Flameblast Dragon act as a wrecking ball, taking out whatever blockers your opponent has and then slamming into their faces for five damage.
Green
Garruk's Companion
I'm not going to lie, green has its work cut out for it for limited in this set. In a draft, you might be able to pick up some cards like Llanowar Elves alongside of our friend here, Garruk's Companion to have some real threats on the board early.
Cudgel Troll
Cudgel Troll will help you out midgame with it's regeneration abilities. Being 4/3 isn't bad, too. Again, players may be passing their green in drafts, so snagging a couple of these can really spell trouble for your opponents.
Skinshifter
The card you're looking for as a green player is the Skinshifter. For a 1G, you get a 1/1 that can quickly transform into whatever you need him to be: a 4/4 Rhino to crash into opponents, a 2/2 bird to fly overhead, or a 0/8 wall to stop that titan from running over you.
Artifacts
Manalith
This is a no-brainer, as the only common artifact in the set, Manalith wins best common pick. It's not a bad card, to boot. Mana ramping comes in handy in limited formats, and this will even allow you to sneak in cards that you wouldn't normally be able to (see my Fireball post above).
Swiftfoot Boots
Not even thinking about the implications of something that's just as good as Lightning Grieves for Commander, Swiftfoot boots will protect your bombs from being hit by spells like Mind Control and Doom Blade. If you get one in sealed, do yourself a favor and toss it in your deck. You won't regret it.
Quicksilver Amulet
Speaking of the bombs in your deck, how about cheating them out? How about cheating them out on your opponent's turn so they don't have summoning sickness to worry about? Quicksilver Amulet is an amazing card that I expect to see in decks in the future, and it certainly will help you out in limited.
Well, that's it for our picks. Hopefully this appeases the Reddit MagicTCG community a bit better than my last Magic article. As a last piece of advice, when playing in limited, follow the BREAK rule when deciding what cards to take: Bombs, Removal, Evasion, Aggro, and Krap. Take cards in that order, BRE is what will win you games, AK is what will keep your opponents on their toes. Good luck to everyone this weekend, and I'll see you at the tables!
