Magic the Gathering expansion sets tend to be top-heavy.  Meaning the rare and mythic cards are more valuable, more playable, and all around better than their uncommon and common brethren.  However, Rise of the Eldrazi pushes these differences to the extreme.  Perhaps never before has a set been released with such an astonishing gap between the haves and the have-nots.  From Level up to Eldrazi creatures, the rares in RoE are so much better than everything else it seems unfair, especially when most of the commons are simply watered down versions of their respective rares.  Add in the fact that 'utility card' is almost a bad word within the final Zendikar expansion, and you have a Top 5 made up entirely of rares.  There simply are no Path to Exile or Bloodbraid Elf equivalents in this set. (Ed Note: Final tally for GatheringMagic's Top 5s - four mythics and six rares.  Point taken.)

1. Eldrazi Conscription - The best limited card in the set may also be the best card period.  If you have played against it you have lost, and if you played with it you won.  For all intents and purposes you are getting a hasted Eldrazi to swing with.  After the annihilator resolves and the 10+ trample damage has been inflicted, the game is over.  Match after match during the Seattle Pre-Release was decided by this aura alone.  Powering it out with Eldrazi tokens on turn five or six is easy, and in limited there is always a creature to enchant.  With an almost complete lack of removal in that format there is little worry you'll be wasting your 8 mana, and if there is concern simply wait until they are tapped out.  One visit to the red-zone is all you will need.  Just a devastating spell, in fact this might be the best limited card ever.

2. Vengevine - Card advantage is something green can struggle with, so too is spot removal.  Vengevine takes care of both concerns in one neat little package.  This card is an aggro players best friend, a creature that is always putting the pressure on.  Certainly not for every deck, Vengevine fits so well in certain builds that you'll forgive the lack of versatility.  Even without the second ability, the 4 CMC is a good deal for a 4/3 hasted nasty, and with Elf-ball type decks Vengevine becomes a Bloodghast on HGH.  Never mind that WotC is making a conscience effort to slow the game down, because now VV is that much faster than its contemporaries.

3. Kargan Dragonlord - The Level up X ability has been controversial since the first preview a month ago.  Not because the concept is derivative, or that it changes the classic card design (a-la flip creatures in Kamigawa).  The controversy has been over one thing and one thing only, that Level up tends to suck in formats outside limited.  Well, that might be true of some of the lesser levelers in RoE, but not with KD.  Sure it dies to Doom Blade or PoE, but so does Baneslayer Angel, and I heard that card is pretty popular.  The fact remains that the best Leveler yet printed can be an 8/8 flying trampler attacking on turn five, with no mana ramp.  In fact, potentially it could be a 12/8 flying trampler that same turn.  Of course that is a lot of mana commitment, but with a Doom Blade you're still out only one card.  This is not the All-in Red strategy for 2010, when death for your creature means death for you.  This is just plain good.

4. Consume the Meek - CtM is the first of two rare spells in Rise that benefit exponentially from being instants instead of sorceries.  Gathering Magic has been holding out for a true black sweep for as long as Gathering Magic has existed.  While Consume the Meek is no Damnation, it is a damn sight better than mini-sweeps like Infest or Marsh Casualties (good cards in their own right).  The reason is two-fold.  First, CtM checks only for mana cost, like a mass-Smother.  This allows you to do away with armies of elf tokens, creatures equipped with #1 on this list, or out of control Scute Mobs.  Second, with instant speed you can wait for your opponent to commit fully, then wipe out their army before you take any damage.  If you too have been waiting for a black sweep with real playability then its time to exhale, one has finally arrived.

5. Momentous Fall - As a sorcery Momentous fall wouldn't have cracked the Top 25, but the ability to 'answer' removal with instant speed makes MF easily one of the best cards in RoE.  If you manage to cast it on a dying Ulamogs Crusher then you just gained the equivalent of a Cruel Ultimatum in card advantage and life.  Green does not exactly lack in fatties to point this at, so finding a target won't be much of a problem.  Even a dying Bloodbraid Elf will net you an instant speed Harmonize and two life in addition.  If you can't find creatures of your own, then steal your opponent's with Threaten effects and get your cards/life that way.  Momentous Fall is a card that would never seen print with pre-Magic 2010 damage rules, but if those changes continue to bring us this type of boon we should all be happy.

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