Invasion Draft: Gold Commons

Gary Wise
Five Color Green

With this seventh installment of my series on Invasion draft, we happen upon what may be the single most defining draft deck in the environment: 5Cgreen. While in the past, drafting more than the status quo two colors has been an option, never before has a set urged and inspired drafters to branch out into third, fourth or even fifth color the way Invasion does.

5Cgreen is all about three kinds of cards. The first of these provide mana stability. Cards like Harrow, Fertile Ground and Nomadic Elf single handedly allow the expanding of a mana base' horizon. The second of these are the bombs, power cards like the Dragons and Masters that can single handedly win a game, presuming their casters have the mana needed to optimize them. The third are those cards like Ordered Migration, Kavu Scout and Worldly Counsel that only realize their full potential when all five basic land types are in play. It is these cards, which usually go later in a draft then their value to this deck would suggest, that can flesh out a five-color deck and make it as efficient as any in the format.

There are a number of benefits to drafting the 5cGreen deck. Foremost amongst these is the ability to take the best card available in any given pack, but there is a down side to this strategy, especially in Rochester Draft. When everyone sees what you are picking, they know when you've taken cards they want for their decks. This means that when it comes to the cards you want for your deck, they are going to be less than co-operative. Opening yourself up to this kind of hate drafting can be devastating to a deck whose balance relies on so many factors. In the end, it will be your ability to politic, even more than your ability to discern the best card for your deck, which will decide how successful this strategy will be for you.
Gold Commons

Armadillo Cloak
When Invasion was originally released, it was widely believed that GW was the strongest two-color combination in the format, and this card is the culprit. Only once the UB bounce variant was established did this change. With the most popular color combo in the format being UB, unless the GW player gets their share of fast Pro Black creatures, the Cloak isn't going to be as effective as they desire. That said, the Cloak is a game breaker that is essential to the success of the GW deck. A 1st - 3rd pick.

Frenzied Tilling
Against a UB or BR deck, this card is nothing more than an over costed Rampant Growth. That said, the card becomes absolutely crucial in the 5CG mirror match. A great sideboard card, its good enough to main deck. A 7th-9th pick.

Galina's Knight
The pro-Knights are all extraordinarily efficient. In a format where efficient fast creatures are scarce, they fill the two-slot admirably while giving opposing colors fits. While red is one of the lesser played colors, UW is one of the more popular color combos, so that disadvantage is nullified. Galina's Knight is, however, amongst the weaker of the knights because of two things: first, UW generally beats down through the air, and second, any creature can have protection from red if Crimson Acolyte is in play. A 6th-8th pick.

Llanowar Knight
The perfect target for Armadillo Cloak, Llanowar Knight is one of the better Knights in that it is key to defeating the UB deck. Fast, efficient and hard to stop, the Knight is almost as important for the WG archetype as Obsidian Acolyte. A 4th-6th pick

Plague Spores
Obviously a strong spell, the one problem I have with the Spores is that it's a 6cc spell in an environment where it's very easy to have too many 6 cc spells. Try to keep a close watch on this when deciding if you should draft it. A 2nd -4th pick.

Recoil
An incredibly solid card, Recoil isn't quite as strong as Repulse because of its inability to cope with Protection from Black creatures and the fact that its variety of card advantage often will trade for a useless land, especially once people figure out how important it is to hold two lands in case of Probe. That said, Recoil is a crucial card for the UB deck, whose creatures don't matter so much as the spells that clear their path. A 2nd-4th pick.

Shivan Zombie
With RB's being able to beat down being crucial, this is the most efficient 2-mana creature available. With its Protection from White ability letting it cut through decks that bother setting up a defense, the Zombie should come relatively late, with only 1-2 players playing base RB decks per table. A 5th-7th pick.

Vodalian Zombie
Probably the second best Knight after Llanowar, the Zombie is a crucial card in the UB archetype in that the combo has very few efficient creatures, especially fast ones. In a deck that will try to kill with Faerie Squadron or Duskwalker, the Zombie does early damage and wins the race by stopping fat Green creatures. Fortunately, the Zombie shouldn't go too early thanks to the sheer number of powerful spells in its two colors. A 5th - 7th pick.

Wings of Hope
With the two most popular archetypes from Dallas being UB and GW, it is interesting that the Wings are great against one and horrible against the other. Terrible against bounce-laden decks, the Wings will stop the Green hordes indefinitely, allowing its caster the necessary time to deal 2 points of damage through the air, be it with the enchanted creature or another flyer. A 6th - 8th pick.

Yavimaya Barbarian
A fast creature in a fast color combo, the Barbarian gets things started, leading the way for RG's larger haste creatures. In addition, its unique in that it's a RG creature that gets around Vodalian Serpent. A 5th - 7th pick.
The Sac-Lands (Ancient Spring, et al)

The debate rages as to whether these are playable. While I've heard a number of pros say they feel otherwise, I think that playing a sac land within your two main colors that produces mana of your splash is a very reasonable strategy. Additionally, I believe in using these lands aggressively. Players often underrate the importance of temporal advantage in limited play, but getting down that crucial creature one turn early can really alter the course of the game. Don't be afraid of experimenting with these lands in practice drafts to better learn how, and when, to use them.