So, Zendikar’s been out for a while now, the Prerelease and the release events all resting peacefully in the past.  That doesn’t mean that there isn’t still plenty of Limited play going on, though.  Whether it be a sanctioned tournament at a store or other location, or merely a booster draft organized by your play group (which I highly suggest you try, if you haven’t yet; it’s a lot of fun!), you’ll want to know the cards to look for before you crack your first pack.  Some of this advice might be common knowledge to many of you, while others of you may still be waiting to dip your toes into the waters of competitive play.  No matter what your skill level, I would like to present you my opinion of the ten Zendikar cards which are the best ones to use in a Limited format.

Before I begin, I’d like to explain a little about Limited to those of you who are not quite familiar with the way the format works (as I was not more than a year ago).  Basically, your card pool is restricted to a particular expansion or block (depending on what time of the year it is).  For example, a Zendikar Limited tournament would be using Zendikar cards only.  A Worldwake tournament would incorporate cards from both that expansion and Zendikar (the one before it).  Tournaments for the third expansion in the block would be restricted to cards from only the three expansions of that particular block; the third expansion in Zendikar block, however, is meant to be drafted separately, which should be nothing short of confusing for everyone involved.  Anyways, you can build your Limited deck either by taking part in a booster draft or in a Sealed Deck tournament.  A booster draft basically starts eight people off with three boosters apiece.  Each player opens one booster, picks one card, and passes the rest to the person on their left.  Once everyone’s first pack is gone, the second pack is opened and passed right.  The third is passed left again.  Basically you wind up with a pile of cards, some of which you were lucky enough to snag right away, and others which you were forced to pick because there was nothing better left for you.  A Sealed Deck tournament involves boosters as well, but instead of drafting, you are simply given a number of packs to open and must craft a deck out of what you wind up with (termed your “card pool”).  The deck must be a minimum of 40 cards, which most people stick to, although it’s not entirely unorthodox to go with more.  Limited, then, works differently than Constructed (60-card minimum decks) in that the decks will be faster but a bit less fine-tuned.  You won’t have many copies of any one card (except for basic land), and you’ll want to make sure you have plenty of removal spells and solid creatures, because that’s basically the way you win in Limited.  This article will go over the ten most powerful creatures, spells, and even lands that show up in Zendikar.  By making sure your deck has the right combinations of these cards, you should have no problem doing well in whatever tournament in which you wish to participate.

Honorable Mentions

Some cards just didn’t quite make the cut for the top 10, but are worth the discussion nonetheless.  Windrider Eel and Plated Geopede are both pretty solid by themselves, but throw that Landfall ability on them and they become more worthy of being added to your deck than many of the other creatures in the set.  Plated Geopede is the better of the two, simply because of the fact that you can be swinging with a 3/3 first striker on turn 3, but if you’re at all playing blue, you’d better throw in your Eels, if you have them.  Adventuring gear grants that same Landfall ability to any creature you control, for a very nice discount price of 2 mana.  Grazing Gladehart is just a fantastic card; as long as you keep up with your land drops and have a reliable creature base, you’ll be able to outrun your opponent almost every time with this guy on the board.  Finally, Hideous End is great spot removal that can also help you finish off your opponent; the double-black mana cost makes it slightly less appealing than some of the other removal in the set, but still, the ability to off a creature and stabbing your opponent at the same time is not to be taken lightly.  Try to run these, especially if you’re concentrated in black.

#10: Sphinx of Lost Truths

If you decide to run blue, and you have this card, BY GOD USE IT.  I would even splash for it, if possible; there’s plenty of ways to get the right mana out for this guy, and he is so worth it.  A 3/5 flier is invaluable in Limited; the added card draw ability is essentially the super icing on the awesome cake.  Even if you can’t kick it, I would get this on the table as soon as possible.  Black has some recursion going on in this set, so if you’re playing blue-black you should have no problem discarding three cards in order to fine-tune your hand for the challenges ahead.  Kicked, this thing is atrociously good.  Zendikar also provides its disciples with other card-drawing spells and plenty of land fetch, so you shouldn’t have too much trouble having seven lands on the table if you draw the Sphinx late in the game.

#9: Bloodghast

This guy is seeing play all over the place right now, and it’s little wonder.  Especially in Limited, a creature that keeps coming back can all too often be a death knell for your opponent.  If it comes back in an insanely easy way (like as a result of you playing a land), well, that’s just not fair.  It’s going to die a lot, for sure; your opponent isn’t going to want to take two damage a turn, so they’ll probably be spending a blocker on this guy more often than not.  That’s good for you–it gives your other creatures a greater chance of getting through.  He’s not quite as great until your opponent is at half their life, but getting to that point isn’t really that hard if you have the right cards.  Black and red offer a myriad of life loss and direct damage options (a couple of which will be discussed at later points in this very article), and blue and green have plenty of creatures that can easily do lots of damage at once if your opponent isn’t careful.  You just need to make sure that your deck has the kind of speed that will make Bloodghast live up to its potential; the fact that it can’t block means that it won’t be of much help if you’re trying to stave off an assault rather than lead one.

#8: Explorer’s Scope

This is one of the best utility cards in the set, especially in Limited.  For a very low price of 2 mana (I love the cheap Equipment in this expansion), you allow yourself the opportunity to either see what you’re going to be getting next turn, or to thin your deck and activate all of your Landfall abilities at the same time.  There’s no real reason not to use this card if you have it; pretty much every Landfall ability in the set is worthwhile anyways, so chances are you’ll have plenty of opportunities in your deck for this card to be great.  The best part is that it’s colorless, so it will fit into any deck you build!  Even if you don’t have many Landfall cards to work with, the card advantage that the Scope offers should be enough to convince you to run at least one.

#7: Harrow

The best land-fetching card to be released in a long time (actually, reprinted, since it originally popped up in Invasion), Harrow just plain makes your deck better.  It essentially allows you to splash for pretty much anything; don’t go crazy and build a spectrum deck or something and expect to win, but if you’re running two main colors and a third minor one, this card will help you really get things going.  Although you have to sacrifice a land to it, it replaces that land and gives you another one while double-activating all of your Landfall abilities.  At the same time, it fixes your mana so that you should pretty much be able to play anything you draw into.  This card is awesome in Limited and should be just as awesome, if not more so, in all forms of competitive and casual play.

#6: Burst Lightning

Hands-down the best removal card in the set.  At its worst, it’s a Shock (classic, cheap direct damage), and at its best it’s cheaper than playing Flame Javelin for all colorless mana.  This card is a fine example of why Kicker is so great; no matter when you draw it, it’s good, and later in the game it can be a winner.

#5: The Fetchlands

If you know at least one of the colors you’re going to be running, and you open a matching Fetchland, you’d better damn well use it.  These cards are just awesome, no matter when you draw them.  Early in the game they fix your mana, and later in the game they can serve as an extra Landfall activation.  Life is precious in Limited, but you won’t regret paying 1 to activate these cards.  In a booster draft, I would try to pick one of these early, if you’re lucky enough to get one passed to you.  I would especially advise you to pick one if it fetches Swamps, because black is the most powerful color in the set.

#4: Bloodseeker

One of the best Vampires ever printed, and one of the best black cards in the set, Blood Seeker is a force to be reckoned with no matter when he hits the table.  These are incredibly frustrating to play against; as I’ve mentioned, life is precious, and while 1 per creature may not sound so bad at first, trust me, it’s BAD.  The fact that these things are cheap enough to get multiples out early in the game makes them a must-have for any deck running black, even if it’s just splashing.  You’ll find that this card will simply win games for you; even if it just serves as a lightning rod for your opponent’s removal spells, it means that they’ll have one less option for dealing with your other creatures.

#3: Lotus Cobra

Some people may want to argue that this card deserves to be higher on the list, but I just feel that this thing is going to be removal fodder as soon as it hits the board, so it’s at #3.  Still, this is an astoundingly good card.  It will speed up your game like crazy, especially if you’re able to utilize one of the many methods to get multiple land drops in one turn.  At the very least, you’ll be able to play all of your spells a turn or two earlier than you would otherwise.  This card is especially good when you consider the fact that it essentially cheapens kicker costs.  I feel that this card will be more highly utilized in Constructed, as there will be more ways available to protect it, but it’s still damn scary in Limited.  If you get your hands on one, use it.  You won’t be disappointed.

#2: Ob Nixilis, the Fallen

This guy pretty much ruined my day at the Prerelease.  He is scary, scary, scary good.  I’m shocked that a bomb like this only costs 5 to play, especially since you can wait for your land drop until after you play him, essentially paying 5 for a 6/6 that sucks 3 life from your opponent right away.  There are barely any ways to deal with this guy; granted, you’re not going to draw into him all the time, and since he’s a Mythic your chances of pulling him are slightly diminished, but if you see one of these among your card pool, run black.  I shouldn’t have to tell you twice.

#1: Vampire Nighthawk

This is probably the only card that I would even consider picking over Ob Nixilis, and depending on the situation I might just do that.  Besides that awesome converted mana cost, what truly makes this card awesome is the three toughness.  All of a sudden it’s going to take more than a Burst Lightning to knock this guy out of the air.  His three keyword abilities are the perfect combination for a game-winning or game-saving card.  If you can pump him up (and there are more than a few ways to do that in Zendikar), the Nighthawk might win you the game all by himself.  Basically, if this in a pack, you ARE going to run black, just like you would with Ob Nixilis.  Except if you pass up this card, I will actually send goons after you to make sure you reconsider.

Afterword

Well, that’s it for the list!  I know it’s a little late getting out there, but I hope that most of you will still find this helpful.  I would imagine that this list would retain at least two or three of these cards once Worldwake comes out.  Zendikar is one of the best sets for Limited that I’ve seen in a while, offering a wealth of opportunities.  Get out there and grab ‘em!