As the Worldwake spoiler season heats up, our coverage will focus more and more on the new set and a bit less on the thoughtful, game-rocking exposes you've come to expect from Gathering Magic.  That being said, nothing alters the game more than new cards and our inbox is overflowing with shiny, virgin, Worldwake spoilers.  If you're interested in following the most up to date Magic the Gathering, visual spoiler on the web you can head over to our spoiler pages.  You can also participate in the thoughtful discussions going on here, on the spoiler page and in our fourms that are just now starting to heat up!  Here are some of the highlights of last week's spoiler barrage (with commentary, of course!)

These first two cards were released just minutes ago so please forgive the especially quick judgments being presented here.  My first reaction is "Mythic?!"  but that's a seperate conversation.  My second reaction?  What a crazy, crazy EDH General!  This guy could be smashing faces particularly early in an EDH match.  He (she?) is perfect for just about any mono-green deck willing to create a massive amount of mana early on.  I have to admit, this card has me perplexed as to why it would be placed at mythic, but then again, we've yet to see 90% of this set.

Wow, and I thought the Celestial Colonnade was good!  This "person-land" is a 3/3 that gives a bonus just for playing!  Use it three or four times and you're looking at a 6/6!  Not a bad deal at all and will fit perfectly into any Jund deck.  Certainly the best man-land we've seen thus far, and in colors that are sure to be useful together for years to come.  Bank on these if you see them cheap early on.

Finally, some of those lower costing allies that make the strategy viable.  This guy will even help you get those higher costing allies out quicker (the biggest hurdle for current ally decks).  We'll have to see what allies will accompany this druid in Worldwake but for now, this looks like a good start.

Tapping or untapping creatures for very little cost has been the cornerstone of some of the greatest combos in the history of the game.  This card is a limited bomb and can really shut down an opponent's game under the right circumstances.  Heck you could even use it with the Harabaz Druid I mentioned earlier!  COMBO-COMBO-COMBO!  *ahem*  Moving on..  I very much expect this card to see play in some sort of combo deck in the very near future.

Ever since Tezzeret, the Seeker hit the scene in Shards, I've been waiting for a nasty, Mirrodin-esque artifact deck to both suprise and crush the current meta.  Alas, nothing like this has been seen in quite some time.  Artifacts seem to lose their luster in a world where any color of mana is just as easy to generate as colorless mana.  They really need to pack a punch if they're going to beat a card that has bonuses from costing RBG.  Lodestone Golem is a decent card for a decent price.  Used in tandem with another Lodestone Golem and you're really starting to hamper Bloodbraid Elf's card advantage generation.  The problem is that it also affects your spells so you'd want to put this into an all artifact deck, which just isn't available in today's meta.  Useful in extended where artifacts actually are a threat, but also quite useful in a deck that just wants to slow things down.  Lodestone Golem is a solid filler-rare that I'll gladly let hang out in my trade binder until artifacts are relevant again.

I'm no green wizard, but this card might just be in the running for "favorite green card ever" in my book. (yes, I keep a book of all my favorite cards under my bed..)  Six power for five mana is good enough, but in green, where cards like Overrun, Garruk Wildspeaker, and Beastmaster Ascension roam free?  This card can win a game on turn four or five.  One mistake newer players make is to look over a card like Spectral Procession or Cloudgoat Ranger because the creature's power is spread out over little bitty creatures.  When in fact, these creatures benefit much more from cards such as Glorious Anthem and Ajani Goldmane.  It allows you to keep your eggs out of the same basket.   I love the synergy of the forest banding together to quell the forces of darkness.  A limited 1st pick and a constructed staple for years to come.  Beastial Menace is a wonderful card on so many levels.

Why should green be the only color with a Scute Mob?!  Dragonmaster Outcast is the first 1-drop mythic ever and it looks to be a doosey.  Drop this thing turn one, accelerate a couple of extra lands out with Oracle of Mul Daya (or something similar) and you're in business.  Heck, just put lands out as you normally would, the fact that you're presenting a threat for one little mana you used back on turn one is hardcore enough.  We'll have to see what Worldwake offers in terms of land-ramping but needless to say, this mythic packs a huge threat for one mana.  I doubt he'll see much tournament play until we see those cards I mentioned (does anyone really care if you have a 5/5 flier on turn 7?) but the potential for this card is so great in the future that it would be difficult to call this a bad card.  If the price is low at release, pick a few up and wait for the boom.

Would you rather play Baneslayer Angel for five mana or Admonition Angel for six?  I think most of us would choose BSA.  For one less mana (which is a big deal when you're up around 5 or 6) you lose the landfall ability, 1 P/T but gain Lifelink, FS and Protection.  Don't get me wrong, EDH players are falling over themselves to put this baby into their casual decks, but I just don't see a reason to put this in over the Baneslayer.    Now, if some sort of land-blinking combo emerges I might be singing a different tune. Similar to Roil Elemental, the fact that I can get all of those permanents back for 1B, W, or RB just isn't solid enough for my tastes.  It might be worthwhile to blink some of your own allies or other cards with CITP abilities. Great in casual, but in today's meta it's tough to see me putting this in over 4X BSAs unless some sort of specific landfall strategy was being employed.

I think I'd rather play Bloodchief Ascension over this card.  Any ability that costs extra mana to activate even after a very specific event has to occur, doesn't sit well with me.   It might be fun to put out a ton of cheap vampires that cost two or less, do what damage you can,  play Infest and hopefully have three or four mana left over to essentially Drain Life your opponent for eight as a finisher.  I think I would like this card a lot more if Bloodchief Ascension didn't exist, but alas, it does and completing it's quest is child's play compared to the set of circumstances you'll need to get the highborn rolling.  Not to mention, an enchantment is much harder to deal with.

-  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -

This week is preview week over at the mother site so expect our Worldwake Spoiler to be updated frequently.  I am personally aware of several other sites with spoilers to spoil this week as well so expect the unexpected from Worldwake soon!