Invasion Draft: Blue Commons

Gary Wise
White/Blue

While you always want to have an aggressive approach to your draft decks, the archetypical WU deck can only be referred to as controlled aggression. Stabilize the ground, attack through the air, WU does this by keeping it's opponent's largest attackers tapped while using hard to kill evasion creatures like Glimmering Angel to sweep in for the win.

There are many ways in which the WU deck can stabilize: The first and foremost of these is Vodalian Serpent, which functions like a Circle of Protection: Green. Throw in cards like Ardent Soldier (which becomes ultra-effective with a Wings of Hope), whose toughness is high enough to stop an opponent's initial assault, and you have the time you need to finish them off in the air. Throw in nice little bonuses like the ability to fully utilize Dismantling Blow and strong gold utility cards like Angelic Shield and you have one of the better color combinations in the format.
Blue Commons

Barrin's Unmaking
Never a very good card, there will be times when you're using cards like Tidal Visionary or Blind Seer that will make it more effective. If you have a couple of Excludes and no way to kill that Dragon, desperate times may call for desperate measures. A 13th-15th pick

Dream Thrush
Combine Scryb Sprite, Birds of Paradise and Rishadan Port and you get... this. OK, so the Thrush didn't get the best end of any of those deals, but it is a solid utility card that helps your mana, provides you with an evasion creature and helps you keep your five color opponent color hosed. The Thrush's value can fluctuate depending on how many Vodalian Serpents you plan on playing: All of a sudden, your BR opponent has an Island and is looking at a 6/6 attacker. An 8th to 10th pick, higher if you're three colors.

One of the best blue commons

Exclude
This is obviously one of the stronger commons in the set, allowing you to counter your opponent's most important creature (you hope) and draw a card. Any card that gains you card advantage off an opposing Dragon must be good, and with the lack of versatile counter magic in the set, you're almost assured of its resolving. A 2nd-4th pick.

Faerie Squadron
Is this blue's best common? While it's easy to merely look at this as a 3/3 flyer for 5 mana, there are a few drawbacks that need to be pointed out. 3UU is a lot to pay for a 3/3 flyer with no abilities, especially a blue one. Additionally, if you do anything that tries to remove it from play, like Liberate, it automatically comes back as a 1/1. That said, it's still a 3/3 flyer. A 1st-3rd pick.

Metathran Zombie
UB. Well obviously, this one is completely unplayable without black mana. While Drudge Skeleton was never a great card, the Zombie comes in a format where one might have to wait for the appropriately colored mana to cast their golden bombs. That means that this little guy, who is better in every way then Urborg Skeleton, save the color requirements, is definitely playable in a base UB deck. A 8th-10th pick.

Opt
Now this is one of my favorite cards in the set. Not that it's overly powerful (by any means), but when you've drafted a weak deck with a few quality cards, Opt can be very forgiving. I've played as many as 6 in a deck, but I'd recommend trying to keep it to one or two, unless your cards are good enough to avoid using it all together. A 9th-11th pick.

Phantasmal Terrain
Flavor text should read: "And the drafter was frustrated, for he was stuck with the Terrain." 15th pick.

Probe
UB. Probe may be my favorite card in Invasion as of right now, thanks to its versatile nature. Looking a little mana flooded and desperate for a 4 drop? Cast Probe to get a creature. Have nothing impressive to do turn 5 except gain huge card advantage? Cast Probe to do so. Worried about your opponent's Dragon and have no way to stop it? Wait for them to get to two cards in hand and cast Probe. Playable in UW, this card is a UB monster. Make sure you get one. A 3rd-5th pick.

Prohibit
On the other end of the spectrum sits Prohibit. While it may look good at first, Prohibit is essentially the blue Turf Wound, a card that you probably don't want in your main deck but that is sideboardable for when you're playing first. The reason for this? When drawing first with two mana open, they cast a 3-cc spell. If you say go one turn 4, they cast a creature for five. You're always lagging behind, and that means that you're either wasting turns or not using the card in hand. Playable, but don't take it too high. A 6th-8th pick.

Repulse
See, Rescind was always decent in draft and it allowed you to bounce OR draw a card. What does this make Repulse? Great, that's what. A very strong card in either beatdown or control, you're usually gaining a card or two advantage as well as some temporal advantage. A great card. A 2nd - 4th pick.

Shimmering Wings
You could conceivably play this in a GU fatty deck, but I personally don't believe in crossing colors in this format. Giving up gold cards for Shimmering Wings is not a good idea. That said, if you need some anti-flying board stuff, this isn't the worst way to go. A 12th-14th pick.

A good Gray Ogre

Shoreline Raider
BU. Basically, this little fellow is a good sideboard card against Red, Green and sometimes Black that also serves as a 2/2 body for three mana. Solid enough to serve as filler in most decks. He's better in BU because WU is better at locking down the ground against RG style decks without it. A 7th-9th pick.

Stormscape Apprentice
UW. Well this is either the best blue common in the set or a 1/1 for 1 that Ebony Charms each turn. In other words, only play this in a UW deck. The Apprentice is great for so many reasons, including its ability to tap your opponent's most important creature, it's knack for filling your 1cc slot and the fact that you could conceivably get it relatively late if you're the only UW mage. A 1st-3rd pick.

Tidal Visionary
UB. This guy sucks, right? Surprise...he doesn't. While not an automatic main deck card, you definitely want one as a sideboard against Black spells like Plague Spores and Agonizing Demise, or in a BU deck against black creatures. Throw in how well it works with cards like Teferi's Moat, Tsabo's Assassin, the Djinns and the 2cc protection creatures, and you have a very versatile card that may be viable. An 8th-10th pick.

Tower Drake
UW. In UW, this creature is a defensive fortress that can't be killed by direct damage. In UB, it's a 2/1 flier. Period. In other words, the Drake's draft value radically changes depending upon what your second color is, but regardless, it's definitely a solid card that will make one's deck. A 2nd-4th pick.

Traveler's Cloak
I have to admit, the jury's still kind of out on this one. Yes, if the Cloak resolves it's kind of card advantage, but only as long as your opponent doesn't Dismantling Blow it during combat. If your deck is bad, you could do worse, but you don't want it main. A 9th-11th pick.

Vodalian Merchant
Without a lot of reanimation in the format, this little fish doesn't do enough. A 13th-15th pick.

Vodalian Serpent
Circle of Protection: Green? Probably the next best thing. At 6/6 for 6 mana (Don't even think about not paying the kicker), this is a wall that the largest Green creatures won't get around. Throw in the added bonus of it being a devastating attacker against Islands and you have a very solid card, especially if you have Dream Thrush. A 5th-7th pick.

Worldly Counsel
Well, this is obviously going to be best in a 5 color deck, but I wouldn't scold anyone for playing it in a 3 color one. The two mana is probably too much to pay for the choice of two cards (twice as much mana as Opt) but if you need to thin your deck, it's an acceptable choice. A 9th-11th pick, moves up to 6th-7th in 5cGreen.