Draft Picks in RotE

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tapanmeister

6 June 2010

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Edited by squire1

This is tapanmeister's analysis Rise of the Eldrazi, color by color. We've included his section on White below but you may read the rest at his blog.

Rise of the Eldrazi - A 249 card set at the end of a block, with new "level up" and "rebound mechanics", along with the new Umbra's and Eldrazi tokens.

Grading Scale:

5 - I will take this card every time, regardless of what colors I am in. 4 - This card will be taken every time, if I am in this color (or on first pick: think trusty machete) 3 - This is a great card for the color, but I don't feel too bad passing up. 2 - Mostly filler. If I need to maindeck this card, I don't weep about it. 1 - This is either for sideboard/conditional cards, or cards I'd rarely see myself maindecking. 0 - Razor Boomerang. (editor's note- Razor Boomerang is the best card ever)

White

• Caravan Escort - 2. This guy is nice because his level up cost is colorless, and he seems better than the Irikal Outrider.
• Dawnglare Invoker - 3-4. Part of the 8 mana ability cycle, the mass tapping ability wins games all by itself, and a 2 power flier for three is fair enough as it is.
• Demystify - 1. Support. Demystify is (solid) sideboard material. The art here is much better than it was in Onslaught.
• Eland Umbra - 1. Umbras make auras worth using, basically negating twoofers: the problem which has traditionally plagued them. This, along with Crab Umbra are the worst in the set.
• Glory Seeker - 1. Bear. One way to guarantee an 0-3 draft is to maindeck these guys.
• Guard Duty - 3. The funniest form of "removal" I've seen in awhile, the best at common for white. The funniest part about Guard Duty is that you may end up using it on your own creatures.
• Harmless Assault - 2. You'll find this card lurking in the bottom three of draft picks.
• Hyena Umbra - 2-3. I initially overrated this card. For one mana, you get Lance, +1/+1 and Regeneration for one low, low price.
• Ikiral Outrider - 2. Once again, leveling up with colorless is really handy, and this guy stalled me out in a game at the pre-release. Then again, that's all he did. Worst of the levelers.
• Knight of Cliffhaven - 3. Maybe its my Zendikar draft mentality that makes me love this chick more than she deserves. She starts out as Glory Seeker (and they are both at common: guess who gets the nod?), and with a 3 pump, she flies and gets a bigger ass. I love chicks with a big ass.
• Kor Line-Slinger - 3. Tappers have always been fun. Pick highly, he completely disrupts your opponents game.
• Lone Missionary - 2. Why not gain 4 life? I wish this card had been in Zendikar... However this does synergise with Survival Cache. Pair em up.
• Makindi Griffin - 3. Lightkeeper of Emeria unkicked, or a strictly better version of Pillarfield Ox? you be the judge. (Hint - he's really good.)
• Puncturing Light - 2-3. Removal is removal, even when it is conditional, and ineffective versus some of the massive creatures in this set.
• Repel the Darkness - 2-3. This is a good cantrip. Twitch on steroids.
• Smite - 2. This was good removal in Stronghold. It's not hard to find a blocker in white, and this doesn't have the non-black clause which plagues cards like Corpsehatch or Vendetta. This card is underrated because players have a tendency to pass it.
• Soul's Attendant - 2. I ran two of these at the pre-release. Whenever my opponent attacked with Rapacious One, I gained twice the life. It was amazing. A little life gain can make all the difference sometimes, LSV's review does not do this guy justice.
• Stalwart Shield-Bearers - 1. Hahaha, someone PLEASE draft the defender deck! You don't want to? Haha, fine, I'll do it and brag about it later.
• Totem-Guide Hartebeest - 2. This guy tutors for an aura, and has a 5 toughness butt, beating the spread of red burn, and making a Vendetta quite unprofitable. The problem with the Aura deck in limited is that its linchpin cards are rare. So unless you already have opened a few of them (Umbra Mystic or Kor Spirit Dancer), this guy is just filler.

Top 5 White Commons

1) Dawnglare Invoker 2) Knight of Cliffhaven 3) Makindi Griffin 4) Kor Line-Slinger 5) Puncturing Light

Uncommons

• Affa Guard Hound - 2. You get a 2/5 blocker for 3 at instant speed. Flash knights like Benalish Knight are some of my favorite cards. This card is missing first strike, along with any maindeck appeal.
• Emerge Unscathed - 2. Rebound is nice. The problem with this card is that its primary use would be for sneaking in damage (like Distortion Strike), not saving a creature. White has fliers, it can already sneak in for damage. At best you'll 1 for one some removal spell like Flameslash, or Vendetta (which you might want to let resolve anyway).
• Kabira Vindicator - 2-3. He's an Ox when you cast him. Thats fine, he gets bigger later. The level up cost isn't ridiculous either.
• Luminous Wake - 1. This card would be nuts were it not an aura. So crazy. I misread it at first and thought it was nuts. Now I don't. Its crap.
• Mammoth Umbra - 3. This is up there with Hyena Umbra. +3/+3, Vigilance and regenerate for 5. While it may be affordable in this set, it still gets eaten alive by Narcolepsy, annddd.....
• Oust - 3. This ended up being better than I thought. The three problems are very obvious: your opponent gains life, you can only cast at sorcery speed, and you still have to deal with the creature again in 3 turns. However, it deals with umbras, levelers AND eldrazi in an efficient fashion.
• Soulbound Guardians - 1. I like the art, I don't like the card. Then again, if I were drafting the defender deck...
• Survival Cache - 3-4. Its like Divination, but you gain 4 life. This card is amazing. At worst, you gan 4 life. At best, you have an opportunity to draw two cards as well. In white. Thats just plain awesome.
• Time of Heroes - 2-4. Time of Heroes isn't a first pick. This and Venerated Teacher have variances in their card values based on the amount of levelers you maindeck, but Time of Heroes one more so, since you don't get a Gray Ogre out of the deal.
• Wall of Omens - 3-4. This and Overgrown battlement should always have a place in your deck. 4 toughness stops everything early on, and your opponent will feel like a jackass Flameslashing this, leaving you with +1 card advantage.

Top White Uncommons

1) Oust 2) Survival Cache 3) Wall of Omens 4) Kabira Vindicator

I'm disappointed by White in this set, fortunately it's rares make up for its weakness in commons and uncommons. It pairs badly with green, since it fails to fuel green's ramp/token generation, and requires heavy mana-investment in levelers, putting it at odds in that pairing.

If you would like to read the complete article including tapanmeister's reviews of all the colors from Rise of the Eldrazi check out Tapanmeister's blog