Uncommons are sometimes the cards that can make or break a set. The Zendikar uncommons certainly make this set. Here are what I believe to be the best twenty Zendikar uncommons. This is an expansion on my Zendikar Top 10 Uncommons article, so if you’ve read that, feel free to only check out 11-20. The rest is old news. Anyway, let’s look at the uncommons of Zendikar!

#20 Gomazoa

This card’s a good blocker. It’s re-usable and can really waste some cards your opponent’s try to attack with. It’s great at getting rid of tokens. Of course, you have to wait a turn to use this card’s ability. However, the defense provided by this card is a great help.

#19 Kor Duelist

This card is one of those Kor cards that will be pretty powerful in a Kor deck. It’s a good one drop that can get a powerful boost from being equipped. The equipment you attach to this card should be something that boosts its power. I do feel that this card works against Armament Master a little, since it would take an equipment away from Armament Master.

#18 Needlebite Trap

This card is good, but very dependent on your opponent. Luckily green, white, and black have cards that gain life in Zendikar. This card is a little tough to use for the (what I call) trap cost. Still, a very effective card.

#17 Baloth Cage Trap

This card is alright, but in the Zendikar block it will be great. This set had a lot of cheap artifacts that people are slipping into their decks. That means that this card can give you a 4/4 beast without much trouble at all. Only two mana! Of course, since this card is very dependent on your opponent it comes in low on the list.

#16 Pitfall Trap

This card is useful at almost any time in a game. If you have just a strong defense you’ll usually only have one creature attacking you (the one that is stronger than all of your defenses). This card takes that card out. Not only that, but it is extremely useful in the beginning of the game. If this were used against an exalted deck it would be awesome. Though I suppose it isn’t too likely.

#15 Quest For The Gravelord

Here’s a card I have mixed feelings about. This card gets counters when a creature goes to the graveyard from play. Once this has happened three times this card can give you a 5/5 zombie giant. It’s a nice card to drop on the first turn and it can really pay off later on. It just feels sort of average though…

#14 Mark Of Mutiny

This card is like Threaten, but it puts a +1/+1 counter on the creature you take. This is great because there’s a card like this in the set. It’s bad because once you lose that creature you give your opponent a stronger creature than they had before. However, this card is still good because it is usually used to win a game rather than simply get an extra attacker in.

#13 Aether Figment

An unblockable creature is always useful. This card is a nice consistant one damage on your turn, but if you get it later in the game you can have a nice 3/3 that’s unblockable instead. It will cost five mana, but around the end of the game you can really use some unblockable damage so it’s well worth it.

#12 Quest For The Gemblades

This card is a win/win. Essentially you just want to throw creatures at your opponent. If you get blocked you get this card ready to put those four +1/+1 counters on a creature. If you aren’t blocked, then you get to damage your opponent. Either way you win! Green is known for things like Giant Growth and other powerful instants to strengthen creatures, so if your opponent does let some 1/1’s through then you boost them up and make them think twice. A great quest card.

#11 Baloth Woodcrasher

This card is a creature that can perform like a rare. The landfall can make it more powerful than just a 8/8 if you trigger it more than once (which is easiest to do in green). Big creatures are hard to stop, so don’t take them lightly.

#10 Quest For Pure Flame

Red decks rejoice, here’s another card that will make your life a lot easier. This card can double the damage dealt by a source you control. You have to deal damage to an opponent four times for this ability to be available, but it’s certainly no problem for a deck loaded with things like Lightning Bolt and Burst Lightning. This one is going to win some games. I guarantee it.

#9 Primal Bellow

Another card that will be celebrated in a monocolored deck, this card will certainly be a favorite in green decks that focus on overwhelming power for victory. This card is one that will be a game ender, much like the last. However, because this card works much more consistantly and without as much difficult as the last it ranks just slightly higher up.

#8 Akoum Refuge, Graypelt Refuge, Jwar Isle Refuge, Kazandu Refuge, & Seijiri Refuge

Lands that produce two colors of mana are awesome. These are like all the old uncommon lands that tapped for two colors of mana, except these lands give you one life when they come into play. It’s a small step up, but they are the best two color uncommon lands out there right now.

#7 Kazandu Blademaster

A powerful ally card, this one grows bigger each time another ally comes into play. Of course, other ally cards do the same thing. What makes this one special? Well, this card has first strike and vigilance. That makes this one tough ally. It comes into play as a 2/2 and only gets bigger from there. For only two mana this card is one of the best ally cards of the set.

#6 Quest For The Holy Relic

This is a card that just wants to be used with Armament Master. You have to cast creatures to build this card up, but that’s exactly what you need to make full use of this card’s ability. It’s white for a reason. This card will help cement Kor as a powerful tribal creature type in the years ahead. Trust me. Watch out for Kor.

#5 Gatekeeper Of Malakir

This vampire needs to be in a monoblack deck to be truely effective, but can work well outside of one too. It’s just tougher to pay three black mana in a multicolor deck. Anyway, this card comes out as a creature and if you kicked it you get to force a player to sacrifice a creature. A great creature that has usefulness at any point in a game.

#4 Trailblazer’s Boots

With so many nonbasic lands in Zendikar, how could this card not make the list? Nonbasic lands are very useful in many decks. Not only that, but many players use more nonbasic lands than basic ones. This card will definetly make players reconsider what lands they use in their decks. Unblockable damage is never appreciated (if you’re the defending player).

#3 Brave The Elements

I was surprised when I saw this card. It’s so powerful! The only cards that are similar to this one are Reverent Mantra and Akroma’s Blessing. The first doesn’t work as well (but has a cheaper alternative cost) and the second costs more mana. Once again we have an uncommon card that will certainly help Kor decks and will be a major problem for people facing monowhite decks.

#2 Vampire Hexmage

This card is useful because of the set its in. It’s useful in general, but perhaps nowhere more useful than within Zendikar. This card can get rid of the quest counters on various enchantments, +1/+1 counters, and also is capable of killing a planeswalker. All that for two mana? Sounds nice. Oh, and by the way, it has first strike. Point for vampires.

#1 Vampire Nighthawk

A great card. It works great offensively and defensively. It’s got three abilties and was the card everyone wanted at the prerelease for their black decks. This card will be in almost every black deck for a while and will deliver results 99% of the time. This is the best uncommon of Zendikar. Point for vampires (they’re gathering quite the army of sweet cards).

Thanks for reading!