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     Looking at the Apocalypse spoiler I thought I only of one thing. That thing that came to my mind was that of the Limited environment. Now I know people have written so many articles about how bad Apocalypse is going to make limited, especially booster drafts, but it is in fact completely the opposite of everyone's first speculations.
     We all know that this new set to finish out the Invasion block is all about opposite/enemy colors, and that the 2 previous sets (Invasion and Planeshift) are all about the allied colors. Well, why would something like bringing together enemy colors make the game so unbalanced and bad for limited? Well, it will not be bad for limited. The playing in limited know will so greatly improve that you don't even know.
     Now most of the time when people site down at a table to draft, they are most likely already decided on what colors they are going to draft. These color combinations are most of the time B/R, B/R/U, U/B, W/G, G/R, and W/U. Now just look at this. These are all of the allied colors that are coming in here. Sometimes you will even get the draft where you draft straight green or straight black. But what about looking at how powerful each color is when mixing them with each and every color, even those that are enemies.
     Now, Blue is a very good and solid color to draft, it has some nice creatures and some nice cards that keep creatures off the board. Now let's look at green. Green has speed and good mana efficient creatures, not to mention those big fatties that green has always been known for. Now you will rarely see someone drafting G/U because of the fact that it is to hard to do in the current limited environment. Now simple cards such as "Gaea's Skyfolk" bring green and blue together with this 2/2 flier for "UG." Also both blue and green have been known for its many walls and why not make a U/G wall in the form of "Jungle Barrier." For "2UG" it is a 2/6 wall that lets you draw a card when it comes into play. This is an amazing card for limited. Not only can it suck in a lot of damage from those big creatures, but it can deal 2 damage to a creature and it lets you draw a card on top of it. WOW!
     Now green is also known for all of those creatures that they can play as instants such as "simian grunts" and "Fleetfoot panther." And we all know about blue's counterspells. So why not bring together these 2 abilities in the form of "Mystic Snake." This card is a very good surprise card in limited since it is both an instant creature and a counterspell. It is a little costly at "2UG" for a 2/2, but it does at least get the job done if need be. You may not think of Mystic Snake as a very solid card, but it is definitely a card worth taking since it is a very power spell since it can counter something and it ends up staying in play as a 2/2 creature on your side to boot. A very nice addition to any draft or sealed deck in my opinion.
     Next we have one of the most powerful U/G cards in limited and it comes in as "Temporal Spring." This "1UG" common spell lets you put any permanent back on top of its owners library. Not only does it get it out of play, but it forces your opponent to draw the same card his next turn. This is especially good if you are trying to buy time so your opponent doesn't draw his one card that ends the game. And since this card is a common, this will make G/U a new favorite among the colors that are being drafted, and plan on seeing a lot of Temporal Springs being played.
Now, I know I named off all the U/G cards, but they were all worth mentioning. This is just a small example of how good the enemy colors will be when they join forces. Now let's look at some of these other cards that are of opposing colors. I will first start off of course with one of the most talked about cards that is being printed, "Vindicate." Now this card is really just that good. For only "1BW" you can get rid of any permanent on the board. Yeah! 3 Mana for the ability to get rid of anything from a pesky Dragon to that annoying Smoldering Tar that is eating away at you every turn. This card is just that damn good.
     Another one of G/U's best cards is that of Aether Mutation. I know I didn't mention this in the U/G section, but this card really is in a league of its own. For "3UG" (a little high, but it is worth it), you can bounce a creature and put X 1/1's into play depending on the creature's converted mana cost. Now remember, you don't have to bounce an opponent's creature, but you could bounce your own creature that has a very useful come into play effect. Not that Mystic Snake comes to mind again. How about you counter something, bounce your 2/2 and get 4 1/1's, then counter another spell. This card is so good, it will even be played in Constructed I believe. 
      One of the more amazing commons that is being printed in Apocalypse is "Consume Strength." This card has the potential to kill 2 creatures for 1 card. For a measly "1BG" a creature gets +2/+2 and another creature gets -2/-2. This card can get rid of a pesky 2/2 creature that has been bugging you for several turns then you can pump up your guy in surprise to kill off that big 4/4 creature that is coming your way. This is a great surprise card when going through that complicated attack step. If played right this card will make all that complication a lot easier.
     Wow! How could they print "Prophetic Bolt?" I mean, counter-burn has always been a very good deck, but why not we just put all of counter-burn's card drawing and burn into one spell, so they have more room for cards. Now we all know how good lightning blast and impulse are. But why would someone but together these 2 cards for only "3RU?" This is only one blue more than lightning blast, a bargain if I have ever seen one. "End of your turn take 4, and I'll look at the top 4 cards of my library to see if I can find another one of these broken Prophetic Bolts!" What a very broken card.
     Now I could go on for hours and hours about how each one of these cards is so good, or why it isn't that good at all. But I am just trying to state that the addition of the enemy colors coming together in Apocalypse, it will make limited so much better because you won't have 8 people fighting over 3 different color combinations. Now we will have a full 10 different color combinations that will be viable to play, not to mention if you play more than 2 colors. 
     So when Apocalypse comes out, we will see people drafting a little slower because they will have to predict and get ready for that Apocalypse pack, so you will also see people getting a little better at limited because you will now have to have a little bit of insight before you open up that 3rd pack. I know you have to have some insight now, but knowing that your third pack will have opposing colors, you have to know what you are getting into. So take your time and draft what you think will work the best. Or just draft your favorite colors and hope for that Vindicate or Spiritmonger.
     If you have any questions or comments about anything, you can reach me at Brian.Motumbo@verizon.net.