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.

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After the new year Magic fans huddled around their computer screens waiting anxiously for what we all thought was going to be a barrage of new Worldwake spoilers.  Turns out WotC isn’t quite ready to begin revealing much more than tidbits regarding its latest set.  Given that fact, now is a great time to take a look back all the way to last week and take a closer look at a few new cards we do know are in Worldwake.  The flood gates are opening soon, and these four will be swept away by the rush of ‘new stuff’.  However this ‘new stuff’ doesn’t promise to be quite as telling as these four cards.

overrun, elf style

Joraga Warcaller - Two things immediately come to mind at first glance of this powerful new elf.  First, we have a multi-kicker card at last and can see how WotC intends to separate the mechanic from the simpler ‘kicker’ now prevalent in Zendikar.  Warcaller rewards players the more times they pay the kicker cost.  When we ask how multi-kicker is different than replicate, this is the answer.  These kicker rewards are a difference that is meaningful.  That isn’t to say there won’t be pointless multi-kicker cards in Worldwake, but at least WotC is trying something new.  Second, this is <gasp> an elf lord!  Not in creature type, but certainly in practice.  Does this mean elves are more of a force in Worldwake than in Zendikar?  Will Nissa Revane meet her true potential and will elves become viable in Standard again?  Joraga Warcaller is only a hint, a very strong hint that there will be support for the green tribe in WWK.  As for the general playability of Warcaller, that depends on just how large that influx of elves is.  If there are enough one-drop elves or <gasp again> elf token generators then JW becomes a top-tier finisher and could help elfball become viable again.  Obviously casual elf builds will love this card, especially ones with Elvish Archdruid to take advantage of the multi-kicker ability.   Elf decks could be rolling with five or six +4/+4 elves on turn four.  Time to start getting excited.

yet another dual land

Celestial Colonnade – Not sure where to begin with Celestial Colonnade.  Our initial reaction is to reach towards the heavens and scream “Aaaaalllllllaaaaaarrrraaaa!”  Why?  Because this will be the fifth cycle of allied dual lands to enter the standard rotation.  Zendikar alone has no need for all three +  dual land cycles, but Alara sure does.  If you have read almost anything Gathering Magic has written this past year you should know how we feel about gold cards.  But if this is your first visit, to put it simply: we are not fans.  Much of that has to do with how easy it is to play three or four colors in the modern game.  Jund is already an easy mana-base to produce, and now there are possibly more red/green and black/red duals coming.  Oh, and like everything else in Jund, these are two-for-ones.  There is a point to this rant, and that point is another cycle of dual lands exists only to keep the Alara block viable after Lorwyn.  Worldwake’s mana is just another of Alara’s babysitters.  Enough is enough WotC, why not do away with basic lands entirely!?  Of course as a standalone card (not a harbinger of things to come) Celestial Colonnade is pretty cool.  Five mana rents you a Serra Angel for your trouble.  Clearly this is what is meant by Worldwake and the other lands will be similar.  Pretty cool in a vacuum, but a little sad for the lost art of mana-fixing.

incentivet to play mono-color?

Leatherback Baloth – Remember Woolly Thoctar and how amazing it was to see a 5/4 with no drawback at 3 CMC?  Now remember the idea that three separate colors represented a challenge in playing this beastie, making the lovable Thoctar not too overpowered.  Snap back to the present and take a look at our new friend the Leatherback Baloth.  A 4/5 with no drawbacks for three measly mana, and all one color!?  Sounds pretty crazy.  But maybe not as crazy as you might think.  If MTG showed us anything in 2009 is was that powerful creatures alone don’t win games.  Card advantage wins games, versatility places in the Top 8, and removal takes home trophies.  In a year that saw the most competitive fatty ever (Baneslayer Angel) fall easily to a build (Jund) without a single creature better than 4/4 a theory was confirmed: powerful creatures are not nearly as useful as we might have thought.  With that in consideration, is Leatherback Baloth so unreasonable?  Is it really any better than Vampire Nighthawk?  The answer to both is a mild, ‘not really’.  One last Ponder before we move on, is LB part of a cycle?  If so, what can we expect from the other colors, especially red who already has Ball Lightning?  Looks like we’ll have to wait and see.

better than fireball?

Comet Storm – Finally, the card that allows you to ‘do as much damage to as many different targets as you want’  is here.  That was the description on the back of the Red Worldwake Intro Pack.  Sounds fantastic, if that were all the description included.  Added, almost laughably so, after the initial line is this caveat ‘with your only limit being the amount of mana you have.’  Oh, well then!  This isn’t exactly the second coming of Fireblast, but that doesn’t mean Comet Storm can’t be fun.  Fun being the key word here because despite its instant speed and mythic status Comet Storm won’t be touching tournament MTG with a ten foot pole.  Spending five mana to deal two damage to two different targets isn’t winning any Grand Prix.  However, in formats more friendly to larger effects and bigger mana pools CS can be quite the deal.  For ten mana you can deal seven damage twice, and for fourteen mana you could deal a total of 22 damage at instant speed.  EDH fans take note because my Timmy side is excited for sure.  The Johnny side is not so enthusiastic and would like to point out that Comet Storm is Mythic for some unknown reason, a title even a tournament friendly card like Banefire didn’t earn.  A parting thought – why does red have so many giant spells in each set?  Red is the fast color, looking to burn an opponent before they react.  Why then are cards like Chandra Ablaze, Warp World, and Bogardan Hellkite dominating Red’s arsenal?

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For these and every other Worldwake update be sure to keep it locked to the Gathering Magic spoiler page.

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