They started spoiling commons, which are really going to tell us how the rest of the set will play, so let’s take a peak.

Desperate Stand

Desperate Stand- The aggressive R/W Heroic decks in draft are going to gobble this one up.  For a white and red you get an instant with Strive that says any number of target creatures get +2/+0, first strike, and Vigilance until end of turn. You may pay 1 red and 1 white for each additional target beyond the first.  This could be a massive combat trick to enable a massive blowout, trigger a whole load of Heroic triggers, and then just make combat a nightmare.  +2/+0, vigilance AND first strike is very powerful.  I like the card and can’t wait to try it out for myself.

Disciple of Deceit

Disciple of Deceit- Here’s something pretty neat.  For 2 mana (a blue and a black) you get a 1/3 gold creature with Inspired that says whenever Disciple untaps you may discard a card, you may then search your library for a card with the same converted mana cost, reveal it, and put it in your hand.  I think this ability is deceptively powerful to allow to discard cards you no longer need or want and dig up the stuff you want. I’m still not sold on the Inspired trigger because it feels like a lot of work in order to reap the benefit, but maybe it could finally prove to pay off with this card.

Font of Fertility Font of Fortunes Font of Ire Font of Return Font of Vigor

Font Cycle- There are 5 fonts that were spoiled, one for each colour. The one that will get the most attention is Font of Fertility which will prove to be similar in net effect as Farseek was.  It is a one mana enchantment and pay 1 green and 1 colourless and sacrifice it to search your library for a basic land and put into play, tapped.  This is exactly the sort of mana ramp and acceleration decks have been looking for since Farseek rotated out.  Yes, the net cost is three mana by the time you sacrifice it, but I bet there will be decks that would love nothing more than to play this on turn 1 and search for land later.  If nothing else, limited players will love this for fixing, and I can even see EDH players putting this to use to fetch basic lands.  All in all, this is a very good card at the common slot.  The other ones are all interesting and the Blue one catches my eye as well, but the green Font will certainly get the attention of everyone.

Godhunter Octopus

 

Godhunter Octopus- a 6 mana 5/5 limited star.  He’ll block for days, and with all the enchantments in play, his drawback should be fairly negligible.  That’s all this guy does, but some cards are built solely for limited. This is a fine card that fits in nicely with the rest of the set.

Golden Hind

 

Golden Hind- Well HELLO more mana ramp.  If you are in Green you are getting all sorts of ramp abilities across this block and the Hind just adds to it. This is a 2 mana  2/1 that taps to add 1 green mana to your mana pool.  He’s quiet, unassuming, makes you mana to ramp out bigger creatures, and in a pinch can take down a “bear” if you need him to play some D.  This is another solid card.

Harness by Force

 

Harness by Force- Mass threaten effect?  Wow…add in Battlefield Thaumaturge and this could be broken…HARD.  I can’t imagine this making an appearance at Standard, but this could be a fun addition to a draft deck.  I don’t think it’s quite first pick-able, but he will likely be relatively early in the pack.

Strength of the Fallen