A few days back, eyes weary from reading up on all the possible Rise of the Eldrazi dirt, I slowly dozed off in front of my computer screen.  During this unintentional nap I had a strange and vivid dream.  The dream was mundane for the most part, myself in my bedroom, thumbing through a brand new booster of Magic cards.  Fairly typical stuff, right?  But the booster pack itself was very memorable.  I awoke with a start, and gazed dreamily out the window for a few seconds.  Could it be I had just opened a pack of RoE?  Despite the set not debuting until late April, I did indeed.  The following is all the detail I can remember....

<dream sequence>....the reasons behind this column are threefold.  First, to give an idea how to handle Rise of Eldrazi in sealed formats.  Second, provide a final preview for those who may not have been lucky enough to attend a release event.  And third, to highlight some cards that would not otherwise get enough attention to value them properly.  This is an actual booster pack of Rise of the Eldrazi, and these are initial reactions to each card as they are pulled.  To save time, and your interest as a reader will we be skipping directly to the uncommons section of the booster.  You can assume there was some green creatures, red direct damage, and white removal.

Kor Vampire Hunter - Not a bad way to start our venture into the dangerous lands of uncommons.  A two-drop straight out of the White Knight mold, with one minor difference.  When you cast this Kor, one of your opponent's vampires is not long for this multiverse.  Coming into play creature destruction is usually reserved for black and red.  Shriekmaw and Flametongue Kavu being the best examples of that.  However this guy is packed with flavor and much like the White Knight himself, even with no vampires to slay it's a good bargain for two.  Outside of limited play the KVH won't see a lot of main-deck action, but like the Kor Firewalker before him there will always be room in the sideboard.

Peldor the Everwatchful - Our first look at a non-mythic Eldrazi.  Creatures with amazing power/toughness have been printed before, but never the rate we are seeing in RoE.  The set itself looks to have around ten Darksteel Colossus clones.  How will this effect the way fans play limited?  If half the packs contain some monstrous Eldrazi, games might start coming down to simply 'who can draw their bomb sooner'.  Not exactly the strategic game we all want MTG to be.  But dire implications aside this is a great card.  Huge yes, but at a fair price (like Fusion Elemental in Conflux).  Because Eldrazi are colorless it is hard to imagine one as white, but the abilities are hard to argue with.  Vigilance is something special when talking about a 6/10, because who would want to leave that in to block?  Sacrificing all other creatures you control is pretty rough, but there needs to be some drawback, right?

Tazeem Skyguard - The final uncommon in our pack reveals much more than a flying merfolk.  There is also a first look at a new ability - Leveler!  Basically it works like a multikicker you can cast each turn.  Sort of a combination between a quest and an ally, a leveling creature is awarded +1/+1 counters when you accomplish something.  Not super creative, but fun to play around with.  Especially with a deck designed to abuse it.  Only one question remains, if merfolk are perfectly happy underwater, on land or in the sky what is so Mer about them?

Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief - I remember seeing this nasty vampire on the cover of the Invading Spawn intro pack.  She looked enticing then, and even more so now that I can see the whole card.  She is a walking Bloodchief Ascension like Butcher of Malakir is a Grave Pact.  However, the legendary status makes WotC able to massage her stats into something a little more appealing.  In RoE, four mana buys you a 4/4 and a completed BA in one drop.  During limited play Drana will be winning games by herself from day one, especially if you drop her early.  Within the context of a Vampire build, she loses some of her appeal.  The other four-drop in the build (Vampire Nocturnus) is a bit more imposing.

Gideon, Student of the Order -What luck!  On my very first booster of RoE I pull a mythic foil, and it's a planeswalker to boot!  Always the most collectible and arguably the best cards from each set, planeswalkers have changed MTG drastically these past few years.  Among the most influential walkers have been the previous two mono-white releases.  Gideon looks to carry that torch.  He certainly can handle any creature problems you might be having, and the ultimate ability should get pretty interesting in a set full of colorless Eldrazi.  A departure from the more supportive white walkers of the past, Gideon may not have the tournament pedigree, but that won't stop him from becoming a fan favorite....dream sequence>

After a quick eye rub, and some deep thinking, I realized I was more excited for RoE than ever before.  And I can't wait for the real thing come April 23rd.

(Ed Note - The cards depicted are purely fictional only the art is real.  The purposes of this article are entertainment and to scope recently revealed RoE artwork.  Results when opening your own packs of RoE will vary greatly, especially because you will be pulling actual cards, not Gathering Magic mockups.  If you'd like real spoilers check out our Rise of the Eldrazi spoiler page! Best of luck to you.)