Hello, folks! Are you ready to rock the Gatewatch fun? Are you ready to get your super team on? It’s time to jump in, save the day, and save Zendikar from all of those Eldrazi. Adventure world, unite!

This set looks pretty spicy for all things casual. We have a variety of fun-time reservations ready to rock and roll all night long. In particular, the set is rife with a bunch of new cards that do odd things as well as different takes on old classics.

Today, I thought it’d be cool to take a look at my choices for Top 10 Cards from Oath of the Gatewatch. I grabbed my top twenty and then pared it down. I even have a couple of honorable mentions here for you to consider as well. So let’s take a look and get our Gatewatch on.

Honorable Mention 1 — Immobilizer Eldrazi

I know this might be a bit outside of the box, but this is a brand new ability we’ve seen, so let’s unpack the activated ability we have here. In casual Magic generally, and in multiplayer specifically, creatures with higher toughnesses are pretty common. In fact, many of the best stuff running around is oriented toward the big side (Stoneforge Mystic, Restoration Angel, Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir, Consecrated Sphinx, Vampire Nighthawk, Gray Merchant of Asphodel, Feldon of the Third Path, Azusa, Lost of Seeking, Silklash Spider, Courser of Kruphix, Prophet of Kruphix, Brago, King Eternal, Kuldotha Forgemaster), and that’s in addition to creatures specifically designed and included for defense like Walls and other cards with defender. And they can’t block you when you activate the Immobilizer Eldrazi, and that’s a huge way to mess up with combat math.

Honorable Mention 2 — Stone Haven Outfitter

Casual players like Equipment—sometimes a little too much. Have you ever seen someone have like four Equipment in play but no creatures? They just walk into rocking too many Equipment cards in their decklists. Ever see a Commander deck with fifteen Equipment and twenty-five creatures? I have. Barring a specific Equipment theme and a lot of living-weapon-style creature/Equipment in there, it’s an odd thing, and it plays poorly. That’s why Stone Haven Outfitter can really do some yeoman’s work drawing cards and working with higher Equipment counts. It fits a need in casual Magic and will be warmly embraced alongside of cards like Stonehewer Giant or Puresteel Paladin.

10 — Zendikar Resurgent

Do you like mana? Do you like playing creatures? Do you want to draw cards and make more mana with just one card? If so, Zendikar Resurgent is for you! People are comparing it to Mirari's Wake and Mana Reflection. But it’s not those. It’s better. It’s both a mana accelerant for all of your lands and an engine to keep going. Play creatures with your (usually) doubled mana, and then draw cards to keep playing more creatures to keep drawing more cards. Because you gain both cards for your investment, the Resurgent is pretty saucy.

9 — World Breaker

Everyone likes the big, beefy green creatures that break things when they hit the battlefield. From Woodfall Primus to Terastodon, we’ve seen a lot of those creatures being played as ideal creatures to drop from a green ramp strategy or off spells like Natural Order or Dramatic Entrance. This joins that list and plays a nice role, especially since it exiles the target to prevent any recursive shenanigans. Now, it doesn’t have trample or the ability to come back to the battlefield post-death. But what it can bring to the party is the self-recursive ability to head back to your hand once it hits your graveyard. It’s a bit like a self-Genesis. So why is it back here at number nine instead of higher? Its nongreen nature does prevent some synergy with cards like Garruk, Caller of Beasts or other cards that cheat out only green creatures (Green Sun's Zenith, Natural Order, etc.).

8 — Mirrorpool

I like lands that have effects that can be used when you have either the mana or the need. Meanwhile, you tap them and use them for mana all nice and neat. Take a card like Mikokoro, Center of the Sea. Tap it for mana, and then, if you want to have everyone draw a card, it’s there, ready to be used. That’s where Mirrorpool lies. It’s not amazing. It’s not Volrath's Stronghold or Academy Ruins. But if you need to Fork a spell later in the game that you play, or if you need to Clone a creature you control, you can pay some mana, sacrifice Mirrorpool, and get that key effect in. Whatever best suits the board state is lingering, just waiting for you to use it.

7 — Kozilek, the Great Distortion

Kozilek is a big, fat beat stick. If you are ramping to it with lands like Cloudpost, Urza's Mine, or Eldrazi Temple, the net result of your ramp-age is to net a 12/12 with menace. Once your guy is on the battlefield, he can discard cards to counter stuff (if that’s your thing). And don’t forget that you gain one trigger of drawing some cards as you cast your Koz. If your foe finds an answer, you can still keep up the pressure with your cards (and it lingers in the graveyard for reanimation fun times). Now our good leader Koz won’t be the best choice off a Tooth and Nail or similar cheating effect. There are better beat-stick options from that. But if you are casting your stuff fairly off ramp or lands, Koz is pretty sexy keen as a nice answer due to drawing the cards.

6 — Sphinx of the Final Word

The Sphinx has two roles. When you include it in any deck, you are going to rely on it to give you what you need. First, you play it, and you then intend to swing a few times and win. There are a handful of classic creatures that perform this role admirably: Iridescent Angel, Simic Sky Swallower, and such. This Sphinx joins that number with flying, hexproof, and the inability to be countered when you cast it. That’s a solid amount of reliability, and it can see you through. The other role it does is to keep your sorcery and instant spells from seeing the backhand of a Counterspell and its friends. Nope! So it’s a foil against counter–control strategies and a finisher. Note that it will probably see play in a lot of counter–control strategies, making it one puzzled Sphinx.

All right, top-five time!

5 — Chandra, Flamecaller

Did you know that this is the sixth iteration of Chandra we’ve seen? (There were Chandra Nalaar, Chandra Ablaze, Chandra, Fire of Kaladesh, Chandra, Pyromaster, Chandra, the Firebrand, and now this one.) Chandra has been one of the most disappointing entries in the Planeswalker canon. Her cards tend to be among the underpowered ones. Take the first five ’Walkers all the way back in Lorwyn. Two of those are really useful as tools (Jace Beleren and Garruk Wildspeaker), two are really strong for casual play (Liliana Vess and Ajani Goldmane), and the last is Chandra Nalaar, the not-that-great at 5 mana. Chandra Ablaze is weak. The adequate Firebrand version is in a strong set of ’Walkers as well. Shoot, even her transform-’Walker version printed as recently as Magic Origins is the weakest of the cycle. Chandra shoots things, but not that well, or for too much mana—until now. Not only is the Flamecaller the only non-Pyromaster version of the ’Walker good enough to make the cut in a lot of decks, but she can really enjoy being added to control builds. You can discard your hand and draw that many cards plus one, make some creatures to swing immediately, or –X a creature and take it down. All three are immediately useable, and she sports a variety of options for the board position. Now here’s the real question: Is Chandra, Flamecaller the best mono-red ’Walker of all time? Let’s play her and find out! (And if she isn’t, who would be?)

4 — Linvala, the Preserver

I’m a real fan of Linvala’s second iteration. For Casual Land, she’s virtually perfect as long as you are dialing it in against multiple opponents at once. In a four-way match, how likely are you to be the player with the most life? Let’s be generous and say 25% of the time. And how likely are you to have the most creatures? Is it 25% of the time? So the chance that you are both is something like 8.25%. When you drop Linvala, you’ll get the creature 75% of the time and the life-gain 75% of the time. So that’s both around 58% of the time. Meanwhile, you’ll only miss on both triggers around 8.25%. So that’s a very reliable return on your investment. Since you control when you play it, you can time it for massive impact. This card should play better than it looks.

3 — Matter Reshaper

Has anyone else noticed how much the art of Matter Reshaper looks like two Slivers either fighting, screwing, or combining with each other for some reason? Cover up one half of the art with another card, and I hope you’ll see what I mean. 3/2s for three that can attack, block, and gain you a card upon death are pretty rare. And since this Twinned Sliver Eldrazi has no color identity, you can slide it into every Commander deck ever printed. Get ready.

2 — Goblin Dark-Dwellers

Playing spells is awesome. Gaining value from a creature is awesome. Playing the Dark-Dwellers and netting a free, cheap spell on top of a 4/4 menace body is pretty good. Casual players like their creatures with enters-the-battlefield triggers. Well, this is a big ol’ trigger, a big ol’ booty, and a big ol’ board presence. What’s not to love?

1 — Eldrazi Displacer

A card doesn’t have to be a major hitter in order to be a big player in Magic. And despite the hype that the Displacer has received for Standard pre-release, I don’t want to shy away from making that call from Casual Land either. My goal here is not to hew to what others are saying, or to head away, but instead to give my own take on the set, without regard for anyone else. And the Eldrazi Displacer is special. As we’ve seen, casual players really like creatures with enters-the-battlefield abilities. We have three creatures in my Top 10 alone that have abilities that will work when blinked out with the Displacer. Since it’s a repeatable powerhouse that’s Flicker on a stick, as long as you can churn out the colorless mana, the Displacer is a major threat moving forward. Commander? Sixty-card casual? Canadian Highlander? Tiny Leaders? Cube? I don’t care what you are running moving forward, the Eldrazi Displacer is in play for a large number of decks.

Other cards that made the Top 20 list I had included Prophet of Distortion, Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim, Crush of Tentacles, Call the Gatewatch, and Vile Redeemer.

There’re a lot of good, solid, utility cards in here, such as Overwhelming Denial, Void Shatter, Flaying Tendrils, and Bearer of Silence. Need another 1-drop to go with your aggressive black strategy? How about Reaver Drone? Need another death trigger for your sacrifice deck? Sifter of Skulls to the rescue! Need to keep your stuff alive? Then Make a Stand! Reflector Mage is perfectly fine.

So what are your favorite cards from Oath of the Gatewatch? What are you looking forward to trying out at Magic night at your place?