2001)

Now that a spoiler list is available for
Apocalypse, there will likely be many articles discussing
the merits of various new cards. However, nowhere else are
you likely to find an article exclusively focusing on the
commons, the most important cards in the set. The
following discussion of notable commons is based on the
cards from e-league's rumored spoiler.
If you haven't seen the e-league Apolcalypse spoiler, free
free to go check it out at e-league.com. Don't worry if
you haven't seen it because I am including the text of all
cards I discuss for ease of use. Kudos to e-league for
posting the rumored Apocalypse Spoiler and so quickly
entering the spoiler into Apprentice format. I'm a little
sad that, in the process, they removed the ´´Commons´´
selection from the Format choices in Apprentice. I assume
they did so because they didn't have time to program that
aspect in, so I'm hopeful that will be fixed in time. To
the powers that be, please do so!

Creature Enchantments

Some of the most powerful commons in Apocalypse seem to be
creature enchantments. When Armadillo Cloak in Invasion
began to show up in Top-tier pro-tour decks, people began
to question the conventional wisdom that creature
enchantments are poor card choices. While it remains true
that they can may ´´card disadvantage´´ if your creature is
killed, as Armadillo Cloak demonstrates, the risk may be
worth it if they are powerful enough. Several creature
enchantments may be powerful enough to warrant being played
in constructed decks. More importantly, they represent
some of the most notable commons in the new set for Commons
Format.

Bloodfire Infusion AP-C Enchant Creature 2R
Bloodfire Infusion can enchant only a
creature you control. ; R, Sacrifice enchanted creature:
Bloodfire Infusion deals damage equal to the enchanted
creature's power to each creature.

= This enchantment has the ability to make your largest
creature a veritable ´´Wrath of God´´ by killing off all
creatures on the board. With so few cards in Commons
Format capable of such a feat, this is a welcome addition.

Quicksilver Dagger AP-C Enchant Creature 1UR
Enchanted creature has, ´´T: This creature
deals 1 damage to target player. You draw a card.´´ The
dwarves call their quicksilver techniques ´´improvisational
weaponsmithing.´´

= Plant this enchantment on a hard-to-kill creature and
it becomes a card-drawing machine and kill mechanism.
Quicksilver Dagger is powerful enough to build a deck
around it, perhaps a Counter-Burn deck with defensive walls
such as Flowstone Wall and Stinging Barrier.

Soul Link AP-C Enchant Creature 1WB
Whenever enchanted creature deals or is
dealt damage, you gain that much life. They danced like
puppets to a tune only Yawgmoth could hear.

= Put this on Crypt Rats and let the fun begin. Explode
the Rat for a mere 2 damage with 2 other creatures in
play: It deals 10, is dealt 2, You take two, but gain 12
life. Net: +10 life.

Squee's Embrace AP-C Enchant Creature RW
Enchanted creature gets +2/+2. ; When enchanted
creature is put into a graveyard, return that creature to
its owner's hand.

= A Giant Strength and a triggered Raise Dead rolled
together into an enchantment! Between Squee's Embrace and
7th Edition's Breath of Life, white seems to be gaining
more and more cards involving graveyard recursion. This
card will work well with Goblin Legionnaire [see below] or
other red or white creatures with useful comes into play
abilities, like Ghitu Slinger.

Instants and Sorceries

Temporal Spring AP-C Sorcery 1GU
Put target permanent on top of its owner's
library. One splash of the spring's water knocks you clear
into last week.

= Although this is a ´´bounce´´ spell, unlike Boomerang and
other blue bounce, it does not mean inherent card
disadvantage because using Temporal Spring to target your
opponent's permanent does not returning the permanent to
the owner's hand; instead, the targeted card will replace
your opponent's next draw phase. In this sense, it's Green-
Blue's near-equivalent to Recoil. Also note that Temporal
Spring can be used to get your most powerful creatures out
from under disabling creature enchantments like Pacifism.

Jilt AP-C Instant 1U
Kicker 1R ; Return target creature to its
owner's hand. If you paid the kicker cost, Jilt deals 2
damage to another target creature. ´´You're not my
Hanna!´´ -Gerrard, to Yawgmoth

= In a Blue-Red counter-burn type deck, this card is
great creature control, buying time early on while bouncing
and burning later in the game.

Lay of the Land AP-C Sorcery G
Search your library for a basic land card,
reveal that card, and put it into your hand. Then shuffle
your library. Victory favors neither the righteous nor
the wicked. It favors the prepared.

= Finally, an inexpensive green sorcery that will get you
the basic land you need without having to spend your whole
turn's available mana obtaining it. Unlike Harrow and many
other land-fetch spells, Lay of the Land can be used to fix
a land-light hand. Perhaps most importantly, this card is
likely to make green-based multi-color decks much more
viable in Commons Format.

Consume Strength AP-C Instant 1BG
Target creature gets +2/+2 until end of
turn. Another target creature gets -2/-2 until end of turn.
As Multani's troops invaded Urborg, the decay of the swamp
became a feast for the living.

= Consume Strength provides incredible tempo advantage by
killing a small opposing creature while growing your own
creature for the attack. As an instant, it is a powerful
combat trick that allows a Bear to take out a Jade Leech.

Orim's Thunder AP-C Instant 2W
Kicker R ; Destroy target artifact or
enchantment. If you paid the kicker cost, Orim's Thunder
deals damage equal to that artifact or enchantment's
converted mana cost to target creature.

= Disenchant has always been good. Orim's Thunder is
Disenchant meets Agonizing Demise in that it allows you to
kicker the card to deal damage.

Opposing Color Creatures

Razorfin Hunter AP-C Creature - Merfolk Goblin
UR 1/1 T: Razorfin Hunter deals 1 damage
to target creature or player. No one knew if they'd been
lurking under the sea all along, or if they'd been created
by Phyrexia's overlay.

Goblin Legionnaire AP-C Creature - Goblin Soldier
RW 2/2 R, Sacrifice Goblin
Legionnaire: Goblin Legionnaire deals 2 damage to target
creature or player. ; W, Sacrifice Goblin Legionnaire:
Prevent the next two damage that would be dealt to target
creature or player this turn.

Putrid Warrior AP-C Creature - Soldier
WB 2/2 Whenever Putrid Warrior deals
damage, choose one - each player loses 1 life; or each
player gains 1 life. ´´I do not like it,´´ said
Grizzelgom, ´´but I will take every soldier I can get.´´

Gaea's Skyfolk AP-C Creature - Elf Merfolk GU
2/2 Flying The grace of the forest and the
spirit of the sea.

Llanowar Dead AP-C Creature - Zombie Elf
BG 2/2 T: Add B to your mana pool.
Just as leaves fall from the branches of a living
tree, so too do the dead leave the elfhame.

= Although I have listed all of the opposing color
creatures in the new set, I only consider the first three
listed to be noteworthy. Razorfin Hunter, another ´´Tim,´´
is a powerful addition to the red-blue commons arsenal of
creatures that tap to deal one damage to a target. Along
with Fireslinger, Stinging Barrier, and the various
incarnations of Prodigal Sorcerer, a powerful blue-red deck
can be built that would likely also include various burn
spells and counterspells. Goblin Legionnaire is a powerful
new creature whose versatility should immediately remind us
of the powerful Mogg Fanatic from Tempest. It's a likely
addition to Commons Format Rebel-burn decks, even though
it's creature that is not a Rebel. Finally, Putrid Warrior
is noteworthy for its unusual ability which is powerful for
its casting cost: if you keep blockers out of the way,
this two-mana creature can deal three damage each turn to
your opponent.

Other Notable Creatures

Bloodfire Dwarf AP-C Creature - Dwarf R
1/1 R, Sacrifice Bloodfire Dwarf: Bloodfire
Dwarf deals 1 damage to each creature without flying.
For them, the only honorable death is one that leaves a
crater.

= Another creature that is reminicient of the Mogg
Fanatic, in the right situtation, the Bloodfire Dwarf can
take out a 2/2 and a hord of 1/1 ground creatures.

Penumbra Bobcat AP-C Creature - Cat 2G
2/1 When Penumbra Bobcat is put into the
graveyard from play, put a 2/1 black Cat creature token
into play. This cat has two lives and it's hunting for
more.

= The common incarnation of the Penumbra mechanic, the
Bobcat gives birth to a token copy of itself when it goes
to the graveyard from play. The card advantage provided by
this card is strong. Consider using Bob[cat] in a Green-
Red deck using Bloodfire Infusion!

Phyrexian Rager AP-C Creature - Horror 2B
2/2 When Phyrexian Rager comes into play, you
draw a card and you lose 1 life. It takes no
prisoners, but it keeps the choicest bits for Phyrexia.

= Black has always paid life for powerful effects and
Phrexian Rager is a powerful common example of this
decidedly black characteristic. The Rager is merely
average as a 2/2 creature for three mana, but it's a
cantrip so it replaces itself at the cost of its caster
losing 1 life. You won't mind losing the life if you can
draw into Soul Link.

Conclusion

Commons constitute the most easy cards to obtain from any
new set, so they are the cards most readily available to
all players. Also, here at Commons Corner, we revel in
building decks composed of all commons, ostensibly for
playing Commons Format, but also just for fun during casual
play. Hopefully, this review of commons in Apocalypse will
inspire you to build a new deck or revise an old deck
utilizing these powerful cards.

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