Welcome all to prerelease week here on the Daily Dose of Hour of Devastation. This week I’ll be here helping you choose which cards you should be playing at your local prerelease this upcoming weekend. To start off, you will be receiving four packs of Hour of Devastation and two packs of Amonkhet. This means most of your deck will be derived from the newest cards that you haven’t played with before. Today I’m going to have a look at 10 Commons from the set that you might just want to give a second look at if you are looking to add some great new cards to your 40-card deck at prerelease.
Act of Heroism – If you haven't seen past Top 10 lists here on the Daily Dose, I’m a big fan of versatile combat tricks. On the surface this might seem like a defensive combat trick, but it can be very effective on the attack as well. There will still be plenty of exert creatures kicking around that will want to be untapped so that they can attack every turn. Being able to use this as a surprise 2-for-1 removal spell as well on defense can change the flow of a match in a hurry.
Sandblast – Five damage should be enough to take care of any threat that your creatures aren’t able to deal with. At three mana, it's slightly less costed than the usual four mana at the common slot for a similar type spell. This should help you play multiple spells while having this available to use in the mid-to-late game.
Aerial Guide – There are some points in a drawn-out game where the only path to victory is through the air. Aerial Guide will help you take any other large ground creature and turn it into a flying machine. I was a big fan of Eddytrail Hawk in Kaladesh Limited to get damage through in the air. With no Energy restrictions, you have a greater chance to consistently get more damage through.
Striped Riverwinder – Limited formats can often be longer games where the player with the biggest creature wins. Having a big creature like Striped Riverwinder that can’t be removed outside of combat by your opponent can help you win that battle. As a great bonus, like Greater Sandwurm, you can cycle it in the early game if you need to get some immediate action for the battlefield.
Lethal Sting – Being able to outright destroy a creature in the common slot usually has a higher mana cost, like Certain Death and Tidy Conclusion. Most Black removal spells also have two Black mana in the casting cost, where Lethal Sting will allow you to use this card in more decks. There's a good chance that you could also be playing some creatures in your deck that will take advantage of having -1/-1 counters put on them, turning this negative into a positive.
Torment of Venom – Two-for-one value spells are always on top of the list of cards that I want in my deck. Whether your opponent chooses to lose three life, another nonland permanent, or discard a card, they're all wins in my book. Having this as an Instant spell is a huge plus as well.
Open Fire – Even at three mana for something we've seen in the past for one mana (way too powerful) and two mana (just right), this is a spell you want in your arsenal. Being able to hit players with this will allow you take care of any potential Planeswalker threats that may surprise you at the prerelease.
Bitterbow Sharpshooters – Creatures with reach are important when you're playing a Green deck as you won’t be playing with many flying creatures yourself. Often, reach creatures need to stay back and play defense, not allowing you to get in enough damage to win the game. Thanks to Bitterbow Sharpshooters, you can get in for four damage while being able to block any potential threats through the air.
Traveler’s Amulet – Being able to search your library for a basic land for two generic mana will allow you to play three colours with confidence, if that’s where the cards fall in your deckbuilding. Cards like this and Evolving Wilds will allow you to play the most powerful cards from multiple cards rather than searching hard to find playable cards in certain colours.
Survivor’s Encampment – Here's another card that will allow you to branch out and splash some cards from different colours that you might want to play. Who knows, you might even benefit from it being a Desert later in the game as well.
So there you go everyone, 10 new Hour of Devastation Commons cards to help drive your deckbuilding at the prerelease. Which common card do you think is the best of the bunch? Let me know in the comments below! Thanks again for joining me on the Daily Dose, where tomorrow I will continue my look into the prerelease weekend with the 10 Best Uncommons to look out for at prerelease.
