It’s 1:31AM as I write this and I couldn’t be happier to be up and beaming about all of the new cards I picked up.  Courtesy of The Guardtower, I just picked up 2 booster boxes and 2 Fat Packs from the 2011 Core Set.  So what did I do?  Naturally I ripped all of those bad boys open quicker than a Ritalin-dependent child on Christmas.  So shall we take a look at my 10 favorite cards?  Oh yes, let’s do.  Aaaaaand coming in at #10?

#10 – Dragonskull Summit

Black and red is easily one of my favorite combos so it only makes sense that this would make its way into a lot of my decks.  Unfortunately, it’s a bit pricey to buy so I was more than happy that my beautiful girlfriend bought me one for my birthday and also that I was able to pull one out of my Fat Pack.  Not too shabby!  That is, unless some irritating creature has on a pair of those fancy Trailblazer’s Boots.

#9 – Roc Egg

When I played in the prerelease tournament last weekend I was unfortunately put to a decision on this.  Knowing my deck was weak on fliers, I definitely second guessed sending my Nantuko Shade in knowing that I’d crack this little guy open to reveal a pissed off 3/3 bird within.  It’s a fun card all around what with the artwork and its effect and I’m curious to see how I can work it into a white green deck.

#8 – Time Reversal

While I’m not exactly sure how I’ll work this into any decks yet, I’m definitely curious to play around with it.  Perhaps on a bad draw it would be helpful in levelling the playing field a bit, but it could also be devestating when an opponent finally finds that key combo card they’ve been looking for.  I could see some especially comical plays with it if someone managed to finally scry their way to a fitting card only to have it swept away from them in the roil of a well-timed Time Reversal.

#7 – Destructive Force

I’ve never been big on land destruction decks and I can’t really say that I will be in the future, but this card fascinates me.  Aside from truly emobdying the chaotic spirit of red (we both sacrifice 5 lands?!), it also presents an interesting setup for victory.  On the one hand you’ll lose 5 lands, but also if you can manage to win the race to put one or two fatties on the board against your opponent, you can not only clear the board of any chump blockers or other distractions, leaving your big boy creatures ready to slaughter, but you also severely impact your opponent’s ability to deal with them in any meaningful way.  It’s like a red, poor man’s Day of Judgement.

#6 – Primevil Titan

Green’s never been a stranger to mana acceleration, but Primevil Titan makes Llanowar Elves look dinky by comparison.  Sure 6 for a 6/6 trample is nothing to scoff at, but throw in an extra two forests and the utility makes for a nice ancillary act of defiance.

#5 – Ajani’s Mantra

Gaining 1 life at the beginning of your upkeep might not seem like a big deal, but it is for me.  In the tournament I already pulled Ajani Goldmane and Ajani’s Pridemate.  Combining the three allows you to pump up Pridemates +2/+2 like clockwork each turn almost.  I’d love to build a deck around this combo.

#4 – Mana Leak

Sure it’s just a common, but that shouldn’t undermine its utility.  Assuming you can hold off on using it until your opponent casts something overly expensive, you can ruin their day for a fairly meager 2 mana.  Granted, it won’t do much good if your opponent has enough to pay the cost to be the boss, but if you’ve got them all tapped out it can be a very efficient removal spell.

#3 – Viscera Seer

While scry’s coming back in a big way, black doesn’t have a whole lot of it.  Viscera Seer handles this, but appears to have a steep cost for the privilege with the sacrifice of a creature.  However, if you choose to sacrifice something like Reassembling Skeleton, then you’ve got a nice scry engine.  Especially useful if you’re looking to combo with Dark Tutelage for card advantage.

#2 – Redirect

Honestly the artwork was a big draw for me on this one.  It just looks hilarious and I can actually hear facepalms from future opponents as I play this to redirect a lava axe back into someone’s face.  No you catch!

#1 – Demon of Death’s Gate

Look at this big nasty mofo.  I can’t wait to throw him in a black white deck only to shrug off the 6 life/3 creature alt cost with some Drudge Reassembling Skeletons to bring the worst of the underworld home to roost.  Having the theoretical ability to drop this evil bastard on turn 2 is mind boggling. Making it even better is I managed to pull the foil version!

BONUS! – Birds of Paradise

Aside from being a great cheap flying blocker, the ability to add one of any color you want is awesome.  Plus, I got the alternate art, foil promo card for buying a box tonight!

So there you have it.  My 10 favorite cards from the Fat Pack.  What cards did you end up with?

Related posts:

1. How I Organize My Magic The Gathering Cards
2. MTG 2011 Core Set Just Around the Corner
3. Returning to Magic: The Gathering…
4. My First Magic the Gathering Tournament
5. Mechanics from the Rise of the Eldrazi Expansion