Auras: now with 100% more "suck it!"

I played in a Rise of the Eldrazi release event on Sunday, and decided ahead of time that I'd illustrate whichever card stepped up as the MVP of my sealed pool. I went 3-1 with a lot of help from ...



Drake Umbra. See Howard Lyons' original art here.

It was my first chance to play with this set, and after shucking/sorting the boosters the strange, new landscape left me woozy. When the fog cleared I chose a black/white build heavy on removal and levelers. I had some spawn action in two Dread Drones and a Corpsehatch which made me feel OK about including a tag team of cheaper Eldrazi: Crushy and Artsy. An Evolving Wilds and Prophetic Prism prompted me to ask the pool: is there anything off-color here worth splashing? A card with only a single colored mana in its cost, good for mid to late game, with enough pop to justify mussing up my land a bit?

A large chunk of wins came from the singleton splash - some loser creature suited up all sleek and blue, burying the opponent's earthbound defenses in mountains of steaming drake feces. And that's why Drake Umbra was my Old Spice Player of the Game!

Othwerwise, I was able to cast the bigs when I got them, but they only came up a few times and were quickly neutralized. Runner-up MVP was Gloomhunter. It turns out flying is still pretty good!

I like this set a whole lot.