Invasion Draft: Gold Uncommons Gary Wise Angelic Shield I really like this card, the Invasion version of multi-tasking. Protecting your creatures in combat, the Shield, like Fires of Yavimaya serves a function, improving your board situation, until such time as you see fit to use its ability to either save your own creature or remove your opponent's. I'd say this was a 3rd-5th pick, except for the fact it seems to go later. A 4th - 6th pick. Aura Shards An interesting sideboard card against the deck of a thousand enchantments, I don't know that card exists in this format. If you need a Disenchant-style effect and don't have enough Dismantling Blows, this could be a viable one, and it may surpass the Blow if you have no blue mana. A 9th-11th pick. Backlash One minor deck that seems to be gaining in popularity is a super-aggressive RB deck with Nightscape Apprentice (used for its first strike ability), Rogue Kavu, Maniacal Rage, Phyrexian Battleflies and the like. Backlash, which nullifies a blocker while dealing damage to one's opponent, it the perfect card in an aggressive deck like this one, but its also can be an important card in a slower deck that needs to find a way to finish against a Dragon, Vodalian Serpent or a Djinn. A 6th - 8th pick Cauldron Dance The bigger your creatures, the better Cauldron Dance gets. With paying kicker not being an option, your creatures have to be 'naturally' impressive, but that doesn't mean the card isn't good. Useable for an offensive assault or a defensive surprise, the Dance is a solid card that can win a game in the right situation. A 3rd - 5th pick Charging Troll Anyone who says Green's creatures in this set aren't that good haven't looked at the gold options, because Charging Troll is beastly. Size, speed, toughness, resilience, versatility-these phrases all apply to what may be the best non-rare creature in the set. A 1st -2nd pick. Cinder Shade Speaking of great creatures, me move along now to another game winner. If the Cinder Shade only had its pump ability, it would very playable, but throw in the sacrifice effect and it just becomes ridiculous. Barring a Protection from Black or regenerating blocker, the Shade automatically takes two creatures with it, unless it goes unblocked, in which case it'll carry you to victory. A 1st - 3rd pick. Fires of Yavimaya Man, gold is good. At the Toronto pre-releases, we have a three man teams tourney in which I get to play this thing right out of the gate. Fervor was always a strong Limited card but it was nothing compared to the Fires, an Enchantment that hurries one's creatures into combat and protects them once there. If there's any card in the format that will get me to draft RG, this is it. A 1st - 3rd pick. Heroes' Reunion OK, they can't all be winners. The Reunion could act as a Fog style effect as the 7 points of instant speed life could win the race, but it seems unlikely that a deck will need to go to such lengths. A 12th- 14th pick. Horned Cheetah There are some truly great GW gold cards in this format. This isn't one of them. 2/2 for 4? Give me a break. A 10th-12th pick. Hunting Kavu As I discussed in my last installment, 2/3 for three is a fair deal in this format, so the special ability makes this particular Kavu better than fair. In aggressive RG or 5cG, this one is good enough for your main deck. A 5th- 7th pick. Lobotomy Probably better in Rath cycle Constructed, Lobotomy is a somewhat slow card that will usually trade for a card your opponent didn't have to pay mana for. It does improve, however, against decks you know have many multiples or high cost power cards that you'll have trouble dealing with. A 7th - 9th pick. Ordered Migration If you think about it, five mana for two 1/1 flyers isn't a horrible deal. That's two evasion creatures, two potential blockers and an opportunity for card advantage. That said, get a third land type into play, this card goes from 'not horrible' to good, and get numbers four and five and you have one Invasions' more underrated cards. A 4th - 6th pick. Reviving Vapors Impulse costs 2, Healing Salve costs 1. How then does the combined effect cost 4? Not as efficient as the caster would like, the Vapors is none the less playable, essentially cycling through unwanted lands and finding the caster a useable spell. Don't pick it too high. A 7th - 9th pick. Riptide Crab A warm body that can fill a spot in one's deck, the Crab seems a little overcosted and about -1 power from being really good. A 7th - 9th pick. Samite Archer It's interesting, half the time the Archer sits in play as nothing more than a Kyren Sniper, and the other half of the time it's as dominant as any card in the format, it totally depends on what your opponent's deck looks like. Regardless of this consistency question, the Archer's 'ping' ability is a rare one in this format, especially in the UW color combo, so take it while you can. A 1st - 3rd pick. Seer's Vision Very similar to Lobotomy in power, the Vision doesn't have the explosive potential Lobotomy does, but is definitely more consistent, meaning you probably main deck it over its predecessor. A 7th - 9th pick. Simoon Sorry to be so repetitive, but 'Tremor' effects are strong and rare in this format. That Simoon is selective and allows you to keep your 1-toughness creatures makes it a very solid card. A 4th - 6th pick. Sleeper's Robe Here's a strong example of why UB is the most popular color combo in the format right now. Not only is this game breaker UB, most of the efficient ways of dealing with it (Repulse, Recoil, creature kill) also fall in the realm of that same color combo. If they don't have a way of dealing with this card, they'd better find one soon. A 2nd- 4th pick. Slinking Serpent In a color combination that is shallow on creatures, this 2/3 body is an acceptable one, gumming up the ground against a lot of decks while proving to be a powerhouse against Forest bearing Magic players. Don't be afraid to main deck it, but if you have the depth to board it out against non-green players, you may want to do so. A 5th - 7th pick. Smoldering Tar A great card, I like the Tar and Seer's Vision because you can cast them when you have the mana and use them when the time is right. Aside from Disenchant style effects, there's nothing that can stop this thing from eventually dealing lethal life loss, so try to prolong it by using other kill if you think it appropriate. A 1st - 3rd pick. Sterling Grove Generally unplayable in Limited play, where its inability to race or produce card advantage weakens it. It may be sideboardable if you have a card that will auto-win against certain decks like a Teferi's Moat against red. A 10th - 12th pick. Urborg Drake BU has no good creatures? Wrong. This thing is great, not only providing an evasion creature, but also a creature that can't be killed by any common spell in the set. So what if you have to attack? You don't want to be holding flyers back anyways. A 2nd - 4th pick. Vicious Kavu Another efficient BR creature, while not quite as good as Cinder Shade, this Kavu hits pretty hard, landing a four point punch on turn 4. In a color combo that wants to be aggressive but has mostly slow creatures, this is a fast creature you really want in your deck. A 3rd - 5th pick. Voracious Cobra I'm not quite as big a fan of this card as most people seem to be. Something about 2/2 for four mana. There's a lot out there (Vodalian Zombie, Tappers and every common kill spell in the set but Zap and Cursed Flesh) that stops it, but until they find it, you know you're safe on the ground. A 3rd - 5th pick (most would say higher). Yavimaya Kavu When I said I wasn't a big fan of the Cobra, I sure didn't mean I'd prefer this dork. Against heavy kill, this thing's a 1/1, and 4 mana is just too much to pay there. It takes a lot to make this thing 3/3 for four, but if you have 18 Yavimaya Barbarians in your deck, it could be pretty good. A 7th - 9th pick.