Drafting Rise of the Eldrazi – Best Commons

Rise of the Eldrazi is now officially out, and the DraftMagic.com crew has managed to get a few drafts under their belts over the past week. Obviously as players start to break into a new format, their evaluations of cards change, getting the chance to actually see how overhyped cards can underperform, while quiet sleepers can turn into mega bombs overnight. Here we look at some of our favorite common picks from recent drafts, hopefully giving you some perspective on cards to look for in your next Rise of the Eldrazi draft.

Jeff G: 
These are the commons that I want to open to get into a color.  Not surprisingly they are almost all removal. 

• Blue: Narcolepsy – This card kills everything and only for two mana.  It’s an enchantment, and I have come to really appreciate anything that is an instant in this set.  That being said, its base power level is better they any other removal spell in Rise of the Eldrazi. 
• Black: Induce Despair – This card does everything that Narcolepsy doesn’t its and instant that kill all early to midrange guys.  Are you going to kill an Eldrazi, I doubt it? But the fact that it ignores Totem Armor and can kill black creatures puts it above Vendetta. 
• Red: Staggershock -  An instant that can hit both creatures and players and come back for seconds.  Has a built in 2 for 1 and can burn someone out at the end of the game for 4.  Card is just great. 

Roberto: 

• White: Knight of Cliffhaven is the little bear that could, acting as an aggressive two-drop but also soaring through the air as a Serra Angel. 
• Blue: Narcolepsy is probably the best common in the entire set; it deals with umbras as easily as it deals with Eldrazi. 
• Black: Zulaport Enforcer. Now note that my love for this card doesn’t exactly have me picking him over solid removal like Induce Despair or Vendetta, but this guy has ended more games for me than any other common in the set.  This guy is the scariest level-up common creature in Rise of the Eldrazi, especially when backed by the game-changing Venerated Teacher. 
• Red: Flame Slash.  Although many people will go with Staggershock as their favorite red common, I prefer this solid piece of removal. For two less mana you get a card able to kill many of the 3-4 toughness creatures in the set, and this card will swing tempo in your favor every time. 
• Green: Kozileks Predator is one of the most versatile creatures I’ve ever seen for four mana.  The 3/3 body fights well, while Eldrazi Spawns fuel Might of the Masses and Wildheart Invoker.  They also power out your Ulamogs Crusher or can simply chump-block for two turns if needed.  Super-versatile. 
• Notable Mention: Venerated Teacher.  While I won’t call it the best blue card or the best of any color, this 2/2 is perhaps the best card to build a deck around. The biggest blowouts I’ve seen so far all came from the Teacher powering out twelve mana worth of levels for just 2U. 

Jon A:

• White: Knight of Cliffhaven. It’s been mentioned above, but this is exactly what you are looking for in a leveler, decent base power to start, and something that quickly becomes a problem as you level-up. 
• Blue: Narcolepsy is my obvious pick here, but I want to point out how currently under-drafted Regress is. This card is absurdly good, allowing you to undo several turns worth of your opponent’s board investment. 
• Black: Induce Despair is probably the strongest black common in Rise of the Eldrazi (and BTW, I have cast it for -9/-9, so don’t rule out killing Eldrazi), I am in agreement with Roberto that Zulaport Enforcer is very, very strong. A five mana 3/3 is just ok, but if it reaches the 5/5 Intimidate level, rarely will anything be able to race. Not to mention it can’t even be killed by 2 of the best removal spells! 
• Red: Emrakuls Hatcher. I’m going to go in a different direction here, and go with this rather interesting card. While all the spawn generators are strong, this one in particular gives you four bodies from one card, and can assist in some serious acceleration in a color which rarely gets any. 
• Green: Wildheart Invoker. While I am a huge fan of both Kozileks Predator and Overgrown Battlement, I feel like the invoker here is very strong. Four power seems to be the important number in this format to be able to break through most of the walls, and a four mana 4/3 is a pretty good deal to begin with. Add in the invoker ability when you get to eight mana, and you will quickly push through even the most impressive defenses. 

Matt:
My choices would be very similar to those already listed above, so instead I’ll mention a couple other high-pick commons for me. 

• Green: Stomper Cub.  It seems to me that in this format, with its hordes of ground-based dudes, abilities such as Trample and Flying are more broken than usual.  Other sizable creatures can be staved off by chump-blocking with spawn tokens, to the benefit of an opposing control deck.  Cub walks right through them and keeps the clock going. 
• White: Dawnglare Invoker.  If it weren’t for the low toughness, this would be my pick over Knight.  Once you hit eight mana, your opponent essentially loses until they can remove it. 
• Blue: Regress.  Very close behind Narcolepsy.  In a format featuring slow, high-costed cards, cheap bounce like this can provide absurd tempo.  Not to mention the prevalence of Auras and level-up creatures, which this deals with very nicely.