This week in Magic: An Origins Top 5 list!

Thursday, July 9th, 2015

Welcome to another “This week in Magic.” I hope you didn’t miss us too much. Sometimes, you just run out of things to say, and for me, it happened. However, thing are different this week because Magic Origins will be making it’s debut this weekend in pre-release form. How many of you will be in attendance? I hope you all raised your hands.

For this week’s topic we’re going to go cover a Top 5 list of commons and uncommons you want to see in your sealed pool. First let’s go over what exactly you’ll be getting at the pre-release. Each pre-release box will contain six normal Magic Origins booster packs and a seventh pack with the colors of the planeswalker you chose before the event. Also in that box will be a special spindown life counter, and a story booklet. Yes, this is different compared to previous pre-releases. In past events you got five boosters and a seeded booster. Here you are getting one more booster to up the count to six total and a seeded booster. Oh, and don’t forget the promo card in the seeded pack.

Okay, I’m sure by now you’ve grown tired of my blabbering. Without further ado, here are the Top 5 commons and uncommons you want to see in your pool.

Number 5 – Shaman of the Pack

Whether it’s Sealed or you’re Drafting, I think GB Elves will be a thing; granted you have the cards needed to build the deck. This card will should be one of those bombs the deck plays. Of course, barring any kind of set backs, even casting this card may make your opponent cringe in pain.

It’s casting cost is not unreasonable sitting at 1GB, the only thing I wish it had was an extra point in toughness, but I guess we can’t have everything. If your game plan is going well, shouldn’t matter that it only has a two for a butt.

Number 4 – Zendikar’s Roil

Here is a name that should make player’s a little giddy, “Zendikar.” The last time players visited this plane, all kinds of hell broke loose. We had Eldrazi running around and a man named Jace made a name for himself and got himself banned from a couple of establishments including the Modern format.

It may be a bit costly, but if you’re playing a card like this, the idea would be that you’ve already got access of plenty of lands. Toss in a few of those ramp spells plus Nissa and you have a deadly combination at your disposal.

Hmm, I can only help but wonder what matches would be like if you had a couple of these bad boys active. Imagine the look on your opponent’s face?

Number 3 – Ravaging Blaze

From my initial standpoint, this card looks like it could have been a rare. Luckily for us, it’s not. By itself, Ravaging Blaze is a solid removal spell for red. While, I’m not a fan of the double red, I am a fan of the potential this card has if you’re able to satisfy Spell Mastery. Late game, this could be the one card that wins it all for you. Not only could you remove a potential blocker, but you’re also dealing your opponent damage.

This makes me think. I wonder if future builds of Mono Red in Standard would play a couple copies of this spell. Combined with a creature like Monastery Swiftspear, and you could be swinging for the fences within a couple of turns.

Oh, there I go again, talking about red, red, red…

Number 2 – Fleshbag Marauder

“Old school” players will remember this lovely thing back when Shards of Alara first came out. Back then it was a solid draft pick, and most likely it will be the same this time around. Don’t be fooled by the one toughness. Based off of my own experience, this guy will hit the battlefield with both players already having at least one creature. In that instance, you can either sac the Marauder or sac the creature you already have in play. If you’re lucky enough, your opponent won’t have a follow up and your Fleshbag will get in for three.

In my experience, most edict spells tend to come at a timely manner – most of the time when you’re facing down a really big creature you have nothing left to deal with it. Call it luck, or whatever you want, but this card has just proven to be a solid play over and over again.

Number 1 – Bounding Krasis

By far, this is probably the best card in the set Limited wise. Let’s break it down. First of all, it’s a “Fish Lizard.” It’s part Fish. It’s part Lizard. What more needs to be said about that?

You’ll never get many complaints about a 3/3 for three mana. You’re getting what you paid for. However, in this instance, you’re getting more. Not to mention that the color combination of 1UG is not difficult to put together.

So how much more are you getting? For starters, it has flash. Does your opponent want to swing with their 1/1 or 2/2? No problem. Too bad I just flashed my 3/3 into play. So, not only do I get to block and kill your creature, but on the next turn I get to swing for three (if they end their turn afterwards).

What makes this creature really special is it’s ability to tap or untap a targeted creature at instant speed. This could be one of your own creatures or your opponent’s. I feel that this little guy is going to determine a lot of games. So, break out that salt because you’re going to need plenty of it.

Well that’s it for this week. I hope you enjoyed my list and hope you don’t think it was too off. However, I would love to hear what your Top 5 commons and uncommons would be in a sealed event. Do you think I’m completely bonkers or do I bring up some good points? Let me know in the comment section below!

About the author

Simeon is now the Community Manager for Battleground Games & Hobbies. If you have any questions or inquiries, then you can reach him at Sims@battlegroundgames.com. He is also an avid gamer who loves to play board games and video games. He graduated college with a degree in Political Science, and now serves the public by writing about games. You can check that out here. Don’t forget to “like” him on Facebook as well. It’ll update you on all of his newest content. Best of all, you can follow Simeon on Twitter (@SimeonCortezano) for some real time hilarity. Thanks for reading!

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Tags: magic origins, Magic the Gathering, MTG, Pre-release, Simeon Cortezano, Top 5
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