Let’s not beat around the bush here and get right into the preview card at hand…

…I will admit that when I first saw the Baloth Woodcrasher I was rather underwhelmed but as I have been living with him for the past few days he has gotten more and more exciting to me. I was immediately certain that he is first-pick material in Zendikar draft but I am actually thinking this fattie could see Constructed play in both Block and even Standard.

For the price of a Craw Wurm you get a green creature that outclasses Force of Nature – just play one land and this guy becomes every bit the tramply monster that Force is without having to pay that usurious upkeep. And it has more upside. Just think of how well this – and all the Landfall spells – plays with the newly minted enemy colored fetch lands. Basically you have a 12/12 green dragon – or should I say “draggin’” since he does not fly. But trample will get you there.

Here are a few of the cards that I will no doubt be markering up on the back unloved commons as a test deck for the Top8Magic mock tournaments for any upcoming Standard events.

I have already mentioned that the fetch lands like Misty Rainforest give the Baloth a double bonus as does Terramorphic Expanse. With land matters as a theme in this set there are sure to be additional lands like Teetering Peaks which offer some additonal bonus as well. Don’t forget about cards like Rampant Growth that let you ramp into your Baloth early and help push him over the top in the later stages of the game.

Knight of the Reliquary is a card that could become very exciting in the new Standard thanks to the landfall mechanic which will let you activate landfall at instant speed. You can protect your landfall critters from damage based removal and it also gives you a boost for casting the traditionally unwieldy 6-drop.

Soul’s Fire is another card that I will toy with for sure. Soul’s Fire has already found its way into multiple Constructed decks since it has been printed and with landfall it seems to me like a card we could be seeing some more of. It is not hard to draw up a turn where your Baloth Woodcrashers becomes a 16/16 or 20/20 but even as a 12/12 you can easily find a way to deal 20 damage between trample and Soul’s Fire.

Admittedly 6-mana is a lot to get my head around but I have to assume that this new format will enable the landfall mechanic with additional ways to put multiple lands into play each turn which will both ramp your Baloth out and send him Woodcrashing over for the win.

As I mentioned earlier this guy is a one man Overrun in Limited and don’t expect me to be passing him very often but don’t be surprised if you find yourself on the wrong side of a draggin’ in Constructed as well.