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Top 5 Most Exciting Cards From Magic: The Gathering's Zendikar Rising Set


Magic: the Gathering revealed a ton of news today! We will be getting a D&D themed black-bordered set, a mobile app for Arena, new Secret Lairs, and more! In fact, there was so much news that a lot of the new cards got overshadowed.

You can watch the big reveal event below:

After reviewing all the newly spoiled cards, we've compiled a list of the 5 most exciting reveals from Zendikar Rising. Many of them are going to change formats forever, even affecting the mana bases of Vintage and Legacy decks. Without further ado, here are 5 of the most exciting cards from the Zendikar Rising set:

  1. Legion Angel

    At #5, we have Legion Angel! She's a 4/3 Flying Angel for 4 mana, which is a good-sized threat. White is notorious for not getting card advantage. Legion Angel may change that. She has exciting stats compared to Squadron Hawk's paltry 1 power, and Legion Conquistador's 2 power. Her only downside is that you'll only want to run 1 or 2 MD, since you will be grabbing the additional copies from your SB rather than your library. Be prepared to see plenty of these on the other side of the table! This might become white's Questing Beast.

  2. Omnath, Locus of Creation

    At #4, we have Omnath, Locus of Creation! Sure, the mana can be tough, but you're getting a ton of value. Omnath feels a lot like Crackling Drake at first look. Both require 4 colored mana, draw a card, and come in at 4 toughness. Omnath is going to be a huge value engine. Not only can you gain a ton of tempo advantage with life gain, using a fetch land like Fabled Passage will net you 4 mana (spit out those Ugins!). If you put this in an Elemental deck that gets a ton of lands each turn, you'll also be able to deal 4 damage to every opponent and kill most of their planeswalkers. Don't underestimate this card! If the mana restriction can be overcome, it will be a powerhouse. I expect to see many new Commander decks built around it soon.

  3. Lotus Cobra

    At #3, we have Lotus Cobra! Cobra is one of the most explosive ramp creatures you can run. Sure, we don't have regular fetches, but we still have cards like Fabled Passage, which will be able to net us additional mana. Cobra also lets us add mana of any color, which is going to make 3,4, and even 5 color decks possible in combination with other mana fixers coming to standard from Zendikar Rising.

  4. Bloodchief's Thirst

    At #2, we have Bloodchief's Thirst! Wow. Fatal Push finally has some competition. One downside is that this is sorcery speed, but you get lot in exchange for that. For 1 mana, you can still kill Tarmogoyf's and other pesky creatures. At 4 mana, you can destroy Planeswalkers and any creature. This card is going to put a lot of pressure on aggro decks. Typically, midrange and control decks would have to run something like Disfigure to combat quick starts from mono-red. While good against aggro, Disfigure is a dead card against bigger midrange creatures, and completely dead vs control. Bloodchief's Thirst helps bridge that gap by both destroying turn 1 Pelt Collector's and Scorch Spitter's, while also killing Ugins.

  5. Flip Lands

    At #1, we have flip lands! These lands are crazy! We are going to see them in every format and every deck, from Vintage to Standard! So how do these cards work?

    When you play one, they enter the battlefield as either side of the card. So for instance, you can have Riverglide Pathway enter in as a blue tapping land or the other side for a red tapping land. They have no downside (other than cards that care about being basics)! They always enter untapped! In Modern, this card is going to do crazy things to mana bases!Zendikar Rising is looking to be a pretty powerful set, and I'm excited to see what else gets spoiled this week!

    Read More: Zendikar Rising Reveals New Magic: The Gathering Party Mechanic

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