The past few days have seen nearly thirty spoilers from leaked from various sources or outright released from WotC.  With that kind of volume, and more coming every day a person could miss some of the real gems of Worldwake.  That is why Gathering Magic takes time to analyze some of the more interesting spoilers revealed, and occasionally unleash never before seen cards.  The following are some of the more interesting cards, some you may have even missed when they came out.  Others are more prominent cards too interesting to stay quiet about.

Anowon the Ruin Sage – A legendary vampire, and player in the Zendikar storyline has been released.  Anowon is much more useful than his predecessor Kalitas Bloodchief of Ghet.  For starters, he costs two less mana to cast, and also… well really that is the only thing.  Kalitas was too expensive for any format other than EDH, and Anowon costs a relatively affordable five mana.   That doesn’t mean Anowon is perfect however, he has a tough road to walk.  Not quite good enough to be included in mono-vampire tournament decks, and too specific for limited play (you don’t get much bonus here because he only triggers at the beginning of your upkeep).   Anowon is still very cool and playable, just don’t expect him to be a $20 rare or first picked at FNM too often.

Death’s Shadow – Ah, so this is what a 13/13 for one mana looks like. Interesting.  Black has scored some very cool and very good cards this week (three of them here), but this might be the top of the bunch.  Certainly not useful on turn one or two, Death’s Shadow can turn a game on turns four and five.  At nine life you get a 4/4 one-drop and the opportunity to use any remaining mana for a second game-changer like Bloodbraid Elf or Mind Sludge.  Unlike Phyrexian Dreadnought you’re not losing anything you have not already lost.  Its creature type (and its anti-life gaining drawback) may keep it out of vampire decks, but Death’s Shadow is so good it could find itself in Jund builds or as a lynch-pin to MBC.

Abyssal Persecuter – As stated earlier it has been a good week for black creatures.  Worldwake has vampires coming out of its ears, yet still found the time to drop this little guy on us.  Apologies, there is nothing little about Abyssal Persecutor.  Least of all his drawback.  Of course I doubt it will be much of a drawback in practice.  Threatened with the idea of less than zero life AP will still draw out removal from your opponent, and black has a few ways to deal with its own creatures, so….  Yeah, this is a must have from Worldwake.  Besides Jace, the demon has generated more buzz than any one card.  And finally as far as EDH cards go, Abyssal Persecutor ranks along with Rite of Replication as best in the set so far.

Novablast Wurm – Speaking of EDH, here is a question: have you been looking for a good sweep in your Gaddock Teeg deck but can’t find a way around your general’s restriction?  Here you go.  Not only great in casual formats, Novablast Wurm has a chance to be the best limited format card in Worldwake.  A top pick in almost any scenario.  A 7/7 unblockable creature that takes care of any other pests that might dare attack you.  Novablast Wurm also signals the return of gold cards after….  wait for it…. two entire sets!  That is about as long as WotC can keep its pants on in the multi-colored bedroom these days so perhaps we should be grateful.  Besides, this is what gold is meant to do, produce extraordinary cards with a splash of colors together.

Hada Freeblade – Allies are back in Worldwake and in a major way, especially in white.  Post Zendikar players enjoyed drafting the occasional ally deck and wondering if they would be ’rounded out’ come Worldwake.  That question has been answered, but here is another one.  Why are all these new ally cards white?  Yes, white is the color of allegiance usually, but allies were supposed to be neo-Slivers.  Representing the coolest attributes of each color working together in one deck.  This is the third white ally and only blue and green have seen even one other.  On the bright side, mono-white allies could be pretty fun as an outside competitive build.

Quest for Ulas Temple – Blue hasn’t exaclty been gifted the best quests on Zendikar thus far.  Yes, Archmage Ascension we are staring at you.  So the first reaction to this off the wall enchantment might be negative.  Let us not be too hasty however, because there are a few real doozies coming into play with the aid of Ula’s Temple.  For starters, in standard formats we have Inkwell Leviathan, Nemesis of Reason, or even Lorthos the Tide Maker.  Not bad for starters, just try to ignore Kraken Hatchling and Steelclad Serpent.  Once we jump into extended this really get wild, Deep-Sea Kraken, Tidal Kraken, and even Simic Sky Swallower are all in play.  Legacy gets pretty crazy too, because let’s face it, when doesn’t legacy get crazy?  Enough rambling, here are the goods, build a deck with 12 islands, 4 QUTs and as many huge Kraken-Leviathan-Octopus-Serpent cards as you can find.  Starting on turn three your dropping free bombs on every turn.  Enjoy!

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Don’t forget to check the ever-updating Worldwake Spoiler page.  And don’t forget the Gathering Magic forums for even more speculation.

Like this article? Try these:

1. Worldwake Spoiler Wrap-Up 1/7/10
2. Worldwake Spoiler Wrap-up 1/15/09
3. Leaf’s Worldwake Top 5
4. Reinhart’s Worldwake Top 5 and Prerelease Wrap-Up
5. Worldwake Visual Tidbits