How's it going everyone? I'm glad to be writing again!

Let's talk about the future, or perhaps the present. The fact is, Jund is NOT going away! While the Eldrazi have come to make an impact (which I'm sure they will), whatever concoction one can come up with will probably fall to the wayside of all the other potential banes to the cascading beast. When I read a spoiler for a set, I try to envision how I could use this card in any one format. It's a great way to plant seeds and hopefully come up with a treasure, that can beat the current deck of the month. What I'm going to do, is try to focus on how Rise of Eldrazi will effect Jund's reign. Also, I'll look at Zendikar Block in a few of my examples. Let's look at some potential ideas of tomorrow as I gaze into my crystal ball...

Eldrazi

All Is Dust - Clearly a game changer. Whether you're running a colorless deck of Eldrazi guys or even something mixed in with Tezzerator ingredients. This card is clearly a breaker and I'm not sure I need to say much more. Painter's Servant would've been really fun to see in this set.

Eldrazi, in general, looks pretty difficult or even impossible to cast but the interesting thing about many of the Eldrazi spells are the "When you cast" caveat that makes it almost worth trying. Add to that, the Annihilator ability and these guys are ridiculous!!!

Artisan of Kozilek - With a "recurring" ability that works whether or not Artisan hits play makes this guy pretty good. A 10/9 also makes him pretty tough to deal with.

Emrakul, the Aeons Torn - Timewalk seems good, Uncounterable seems attractive, Annihilator 6 is huge. An interesting thing about the shuffle ability is that it makes the card useful as a deck saver in many ways. Shuffle ability + Sphinx of the Lost Truths would seem like a pretty interesting build for a deck that has been thinned and could use a refill.

Kozilek, Butcher of Truth - While there have been cards that let you draw 3 for 5cc, drawing 4 for 10cc probably isn't optimum. The other things make these guys so attractive.

Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre - Look at what I've said above.

I've featured these guys because they're really the best of the bunch. In decks such as Polymorph or Summoning Trap, a game could be finished before it really even starts. In the matchup vs Jund, my summoning trap build is about 40/60, which isn't all that good. However, any time I was able to cast summoning trap early, I won. Ulamog is indestructable, Emrakul has pro colored spells, either of these 2 guys spell "g-a-m-e-o-v-e-r" for most decks. Obviously, I don't have to tell you that Polymoph or Summoning Trap is going to come out in droves early on, only time will tell if they succeed. One of the great things about Summoning Trap (other than the obvious) is that anyone running countermagic will have to think twice about casting against a summon spell.

[cardlist]4 Noble Hierarch

4 Lotus Cobra

4 Knight of the Reliquary

1 Iona, Shield of Emeria

1 Artisan of Kozilek

1 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn

2 Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre

1 Kozilek, Butcher of Truths

1 Baneslayer Angel

2 Day of Judgment

4 Explore

4 Summoning Trap

2 Negate

2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor[/cardlist]

A deck like this can get VERY explosive draws. While it's difficult for any deck to beat a turn 4 15/15, Jund still has an above average level of victory vs this. Jund has the removal that is as efficient as removal comes, when it's tied in with cascade. Naya has at least a 50/50 win percentage due in part to the speed that is almost on par with Jund. While most versions don't run Path to Exile, Naya has the unfortunate lack of permanent play. Which means Annihilate wrecks it if it can get there. Also, if you're running All is Dust, once again Naya just doesn't play enough permanents. U/W has little chance vs this list because of indestructible big dudes. Summoning Trap also means that U/W doesn't want to take the chance of countering a Hierarch or something too early. RDW (mono-red) can certainly outrun the deck, unless Summoning Trap resolves.

On a separate note, Spawnsire of Ulamog has an interesting ability, other than making 20 Eldrazi Spawns, what can make that kind of mana...

Now, in limited, any of these guys are relative Bombs. However, it's pretty darn difficult to cast them. You really can't control what you open in sealed, however in draft, don't get too Bomb happy.

White

Figure of Destiny was a pretty powerful ally. White has added some guys who work similarly to the uber-1 drop, however, fall short in the efficiency area. Leveling up is not as bad as I had anticipated, I really though they'd be very slow and NOT worth really considering. However, they do allow for bad land draws or using flood results. Not great early on, but huge if allowed to get ahead. You already knew that though, didn't you?

Gideon Jura, is obviously a bomb in limited, but will he see play in constructed? Look at him as a 6/6 for 5cc. Look at him as 3 potential removal spells. Nuff said!

I wanted to talk briefly about Wall of Omens. Wall of Blossoms was a very popular card in it's day. There has been a small bleep on the deck radar caused by some light success of G/W "Selesnya" builds.

Blue

Since Lorwyn, and the dreaded Faerie days, Blue really hasn't been too overpowering. Rise is no different! While there are some tricky cards, none really seem to broken in any way.

Training Grounds - Are there any creatures worth casting this card?

Black

Vampire decks were arguably the 2nd best deck in standard. I do believe Vampires got better with this set:

Arrogant Bloodlord - 4/4 for 3 is a very good purchase. However, his drawback can be a bit too much. Now it is "end of combat", what would your opponent sacrifice that you wouldn't want them to sacrifice? Not much.

Bloodthrone Vampire might be pretty good with something that generates creatures or with recurring creatures.

Cadaver Imp is better than Gravedigger, but still not something that is constructed-worthy.

Consume the Meek is NO Damnation, but it isn't bad either. I'm not too sure I see a very practical need for this in standard because there's plenty of better black (or other color) removal.

Speaking of better removal, Consuming Vapors is one of my favorite cards in this set. There have been several decent (sacrifice) spells that have similar effects. What I like about this card is the Rebound ability, which in turn allows you to gain life twice and kill TWO creatures for the price of 4. Also, One black mana makes this splashable in virtually ANY deck. Jund could use this card, but I'd be hard pressed to Bituminous Blast into this card when my opponent only has 1 guy to kill :( Vampires could definitely use this card, but Tendrils is arguably a better card (I think Vapors is better, in most situations). Zendikar Block Vampires improves dramatically with this card.

Inquisition of Kozilek seems quite better than Duress and maybe Thoughtseize as well. I'd be surprised if this card doesn't show up often.

Many spoilers had Last Kiss as a "target creature or player" card. Unfortunately, it's not :(

Pawn of Ulamog is an interesting card. A vampire, which catches my eye, and the ability to explode for the owner who can sac a guy every turn. Teamed up with the Monument, who knows what can happen.

Vendetta is better than Disfigure. Nuff said.

[cardlist]3 Bloodghast

4 Gatekeeper of Malakir

4 Vampire Nighthawk

3 Pawn of Ulamog

4 Kalastria Highborn

2 Malakir Bloodwitch

4 Vendetta

3 Urge to Feed

4 Consuming Vapor

3 Mindsludge

2 Eldrazi Monument[/cardlist]

Red

Devastating Summons, two words "All In"... I'm sure one or two of you readers (thanks for reading mom) know what I mean.

Staggershock - For almost the same reason as Consuming Vapors, this card isn't too bad.

Tuktuk the Explorer - I really like this guy! 1/1 haste for 3cc is hardly even close to being good, but the 5/5 for 3 AND colorless would certainly NOT be something I'd say is bad. He could fit into Jund, he could fit into Naya. The question is, how many?

Green

Awakening Zone just seems ridiculous to me. An easy turn 2 play for the accelerated forest dwelling deck, it can really get out of hand.

Beastbreaker of Bala Ged is a Grizzly Bear at WORST. Have 3 extra mana and now he's out of Lightning Bolt range. I thought the Level Up cards would slow the game tempo down considerably, but alas, I believe I was wrong. While they do prevent you from playing another permanent, the level up cards make up for it with a pretty big boost. At 5 mana, a 4/4 probably wouldn't see much constructed play. However, one cant deny the potential in a deck with a bit of acceleration or at a point where your living off of the top of your deck.

Joraga Treespeaker is an example of a pretty good level up guy. When you cast him on turn 1, you don't lose much tempo in leveling him up on turn 2 as you can tap for GG. That's all you'd need and that's the only thing that makes him worthwhile.

Khalni Hydra, there's a lot of talk about a new Stompy (mono green) build lurking in the standard weeds coming soon...

Overgrown Battlement is pretty good. The 4 toughness blocks virtually all NON-Putrid Leech creatures in the Jund deck. And, provides a boost of mana when necessary.

Realms Uncharted - I really like this card with a card like Grim Discovery. Sheesh, this has the potential to really break something.

There is a TON of hype over Vengevine. It's not too difficult to achieve, but how often will you want to give up tempo to return this guy?

The rest

If, you're able to use Sarkhan once, I believe he's worth it. Is it Jund worthy? I'd say it's easily possible when you have a Sprouting Thrinax. One dragon can wreak havoc, hitting a guy for 5/5 then hitting him again for 5. Not bad.

I don't really think there's much to say about the artifacts or even the lands. Eldrazi Temple explains itself as a decent card (for Eldrazi only) Evolving Wilds equals Terramorphic Expanse. I was really hoping for an "Eldrazi's Workshop".

It goes without saying, that Rise of Eldrazi will make an impact on todays current environment. I don't know that there's too much of a drastic change coming over the horizon, but I do think that there will be quite a bit of carnage early on as people are testing their new ideas. Vampires improved quite a bit and I think creature combo or perhaps a combo of a different type may show its face very soon.

I hope that I've helped identify some potential with our newest set. My last question is, do we have another $50+ Mythic Rare in this set?

Thank you so much for reading!