The Major League Baseball playoffs have arrived, and with them comes another gimmick column from Gathering Magic. The connection of course, is that this particular gimmick has a named derived from baseball terminology. Therefore, with the release of Zendikar coinciding with the beginning of baseball playoffs there has never been a better time for Three Up and Three Down. For those of you unfamiliar with the basic premise, these are three Zendikar-focused predictions that will alter Standard Constructed formats, and what they will replace. For example, when Path to Exile was released in Conflux it immediately replaced Condemn as the preferred white creature removal. The purpose is to give players a better idea of cards that are going to be sought after, and others they should rid themselves of.

Eldrazi Monument over Overrun - If you have been lucky enough to pull this card in a sealed format then consider yourself the choir as I preach the Monument's virtues. With four or more creatures on the board it should win you the game outright with the +1/+1 alone. The fact that your creatures have flying will usually best the higher power bonus and trample of Overrun. Meaning it is unlikely your opponent can block more than one or two of your troops. Even if they can block them all, no worries yours are indestructible. You will at least take out a large chunk of their army without losing any of your own. Unless of course they Fog in which case you will still triumph. Because here is the biggest difference between Overrun type effects and Eldrazi Monument- it's repeatable. Turn after turn you'll be sending invincible flyers at the opposing force until all that's left is smoldering rubble. And if you still don't win then one card wasn't going to help you anyway. Sorry.

Pyroclasm over Volcanic Fallout - Two quick points. First, neither card is from Zendikar and both have been released for months. And second, this directly contradicts Three Up and Three Down Conflux as seen here. Neither fact changes this decision in any way. Pyroclasm wasn't included in Zendikar but also wasn't allowed to truly shine until Lorwyn was out of the picture. Now that Lorwyn has left and taken faeries with it, Volcanic Fallout loses much of its value. There is very little viable countermagic in Standard right now, unless you count Cancel (a card that has been printed in every legal set currently). That means the lack of counter-ability Fallout used to depend on really doesn't matter any more. But this choice is more than simply seeing one card lose value. Much more. Pyroclasm can sweep the board before turn three. Why is that important? Because turn one Birds of Paradise and turn two Lotus Cobra could change the way tournament Magic is played. Pyroclasm lets you take out both in one sitting and buys you enough time to set a defense before your foe recoups. If they even can. Pyroclasm will be to Bird/Cobra decks what Great Sable Stag was to Fae: devastating.

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Vampires over Elves - This shift is as much cultural as it is card-based. Vampires have become a hot commodity as of late, and we have a few million screaming thirteen-year-olds to thank. Clearly Wizards of the Coast did not want to be left in the cultural dust, especially when they have been championing vampires for longer than some of us have been alive. Yes, it's doubtful Zendikar would have been so blood-sucker friendly (nine cards compared to four in Lorwyn, Alara, and M10 combined) if not for this sudden surge in vampire popularity. The question is whether this is a good thing for Magic, or only a good thing for MTG sales. Simply put, the answer to both is yes.

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Vampires are a much better tribe than zombies. Zombies: dumb and plodding beasts so unintimidating that many of the zombie movies made these days are comedies. Vampires are sleek, sexy, ruthless, calculating and just plain cool. As far as color flavor is concerned vampires beat zombies hands down. Meanwhile elves are taking a plunge with the absence of the tribal-based Lorwyn-Shadowmoor block. Cards like Heritage Druid, Imperious Perfect, Nettle Sentinel and Wrens Run Vanquisher are gone without replacement. So too are the recent Elf-ball deck builds. Even with the addition of Elvish Archdruid and Nissa Revane competitive elf decks are vanishing. Mono-black vamp decks are slowly starting to pop up in replacement. Some trends are just too big to ignore and this is one of those trends. Consider yourself warned, WotC's infatuation with all things vampire has only just begun.

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Remember the full Zendikar visual spoiler is up here. Consider it a tool to better understand what Zendikar has to offer, both for Limited formats and Constructed play. Now you know, and knowing. . . um, nevermind.