Howdy everyone! If you’re going to a Future Sight prerelease (ours is in Richmond on Saturday and Roanoke on Sunday, featuring Stuffy Doll artist David Allsop!), chances are you’re going to be doing some trading. In this article, I’m going to talk about the cards that you’re going to want to pick up and/or trade away at the Prerelease this weekend.
Keep in mind that values fluctuate highly between prerelease date and release date. If you’re looking to trade away your Future Sight cards, you’ll get the highest trade value on virtually all of them this weekend, since people are eager to pick up the new and the exciting. Attend a prerelease!
As always, the information for these cards is taken straight from MTGSalvation.com. You can find their complete spoiler here. Full credit goes to them for the information for this article, and full blame goes to them as well if any of their information is wrong. Love you guys! *Wave*
No seriously, I do — without them, there wouldn’t be this.
Onto the cards!
White Rares
The Good:
Angel of Salvation ($4-$6 range): The flipside of Bogardan Hellkite. Preventing five damage is almost strictly worse than dealing five damage, but this also means that Angel of Salvation trumps Bogardan Hellkite. This will be popular with casual players. Convoke helps the cause.
Seht’s Tiger ($3-$5 Range): This is good in the way that Celestial Kirin was good — it’s a 3/3 creature with some an ability (Flash versus Flying) that will affect the game in certain situations — say, when an opponent taps out to Demonfire you, or as an answer to Persecute. However, Ivory Mask is harder to kill and more pervasive. Still, it’s not bad.
The Bad:
Everything else. This includes Barren Glory (another junky alternate win card), Daybreak Coronet, Imperial Mask (though this will have some value as a poor man’s Ivory Mask. It will be better once Constructed Two-Headed Giant becomes a widely-played format, which might be never), Intervention Pact (the weakest of the pacts), Magus of the Moat (0/3 is eminently killable), Oriss Samite Guardian (how are you going to reliably recur copies from the graveyard to get a lock? This isn’t as easy as Scepter / Chant), and Scout’s Warning (see Insist, Quick, Overpower, et al).
The Foil:
Blade of the Sixth Pride, Even the Odds. Get these in foil. Neither will have tremendous appreciable value as a non-foil though.
Blue Rares
The Good:
Magus of the Future ($2-$3 range): As stated in my preview article, the Magus cycles so far have been disappointing. The ones that don’t have a tap ability (and therefore no summoning sickness) are better than others, and so this one might have hope. I’d probably trade these at the prerelease while they are high, and then reacquire them down the road as a potential combo piece.
Nix ($2-$3 range): A situational counter, but one that has applications against Moxen, Suspend spells, Affinity, and the free spells like Pact of Negotiation and Force of Will. The foil version will be exciting for Vintage players.
Pact of Negotiation ($8-$12): I’m not going to lie — I’m not sure how good or bad this card is in any format. It’s either really, really good (especially for combo decks) or really, really bad (as in Disrupting Shoal range). My leaning is towards really good for Vintage and Legacy, and not-as-good in other formats.
Venser, Shaper Savant ($5-$7): This guy is really good. I would not be surprised to see his value going above the range listed above, once people get a chance to play with him. He’s half instant-speed Man-O-War and half Remand.
The Bad:
Linessa, Zephyr Mage (the weakest of the Grandeur cycle), Maelstrom Djinn (Mahamoti Djinn on morph), Take Possession (Did anyone play Blatant Thievery?)
The Watch List:
Spellweaver Volute: Much like Spellweaver Helix, this might be abusable in the right deck. I wouldn’t go out of my way to pick these up, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to unload them immediately either.
The Foil:
Delay: Delay will likely be the most valuable uncommon in the block, once all is said and done. This will be a staple of Blue decks, and is an amazing counter for virtually any deck that would want to run Blue and counterspells. Get a playset immediately, and pick up a foil playset if you play Blue or like top-end foils.
Narcomoeba: Friggorid got a bunch of tools this set. Is this one of them? Possibly — this works really well with dredge in any regards.
Black Rares
The Good:
Korlash, Heir to Blackblade ($3-$5): It’s also the prerelease card, so people will be able to easily obtain several copies (playsets) at the prerelease if they are so inclined. This is an absolute beast of a finisher for Mono-Black Control, and Mono-Black Control was missing just this sort of mid-range type of guy to finish with.
Shimian Specter ($10-$15): Compare to Cranial Extraction and Extirpate. This guy is Lobotomy tacked onto a Hypnotic Specter. It will be the most desired card in the set. Is it the best card in the set? Probably not — but given the previous values of cards that are similar in stature (Hypnotic Specter, Blizzard Specter, and the aforementioned Rares), I am confident in saying that this will be the most-demanded Future Sight card coming out of the gates.
Slaughter Pact ($2-$3): I believe this card will be undervalued. Snuff Out was good. This card allows you to tap out, and kill a haste guy / nastily Moldervine Cloaked guy as an instant, and then pick up the slack the next turn.
Tombstalker ($2-$3): Look, if the Delve cards in this set don’t get Dredge, as a mechanic, played in Standard, nothing will. If someone (paging Bennie Smith!) makes a dredge deck that works, this guy is golden — easily a turn 3 play as a 5/5 flyer. I’d pick up a playset while people are figuring out what to do with him.
The Bad:
Bitter Ordeal (remember, its cards that went to the graveyard from play), Gibbering Descent (the typical Black junk rare that does too little for too much mana).
The Watch List:
Bridge From Below: There’s a fringe Tier 3 combo deck involving Nantuko Husk and Nether Traitor. This deck uses Gravepact as a BBB1 spell to support the deck. Bridge From Below might be the piece that deck needs to push through to viable usage.
Magus of the Abyss: I’m very reluctant to suggest anyone pick up any Magus at this point, but this one has a decent body for the mana cost, and is splashable. Casual players will love this guy in group games, and will try to figure out how to turn it into an artifact or give it Protection from Black (hint: Ashnod’s Transmogrant).
The Foil:
Death Rattle: A good sideboard card, or a good main-deck card if dredge fuels Delve.
Lost Hours: The replacement for Duress for combo decks — splashable (unlike Distress or Castigate), cheap, and effective.
Street Wraith: Vintage players are already heralding this as an automatic four-of in combo decks as it thins your deck down to fifty-six cards at the cost of only life (and not mana). Vintage players love their foils.
Yixlid Jailer: This will also be desired as a non-foil, since it shuts down so many mechanics and decks.
Red Rares
The Good:
Magus of the Moon ($3-$4): Is this better than Blood Moon? Well, Blood Moon can’t beat down, but Magus of the Moon is more fragile. I know that several aggro-Red players will be happier to main-deck a 2/2 Blood Moon than a Blood Moon that can’t damage an opponent. This might go higher – $3-$4 is the range for the original Blood Moon.
Tarox Bladewing ($3-$4): It’s got a decent size for the body, and I think that Grandeur will be a popular mechanic with causal players (look at the value of Mirror Gallery). With that said, trade these away to casual players if you’re looking for something a little more tournament worthy.
Thunderblade Charge ($3-$5): When Hammer of Bogardan was reprinted in Sixth and Eighth Editions, people realized that it was not very efficient for its mana cost, and that time had obsoleted it as a viable burn spell. I think this will cause an initial prejudice against Thunderblade Charge, which has two advantages over the Hammer — 1) It costs RRR2 to recur, not RRRRR3, and 2) Radha exists.
The Bad:
Molten Disaster: All right, I’m giving this guy his own section. Evan talks, in his article today, about this being a house in Urzatron. Like Urzatron wants to have triple-Red in play? Compare this to Flamebreak, which cost RRR to three damage to all players and non-flyers. Both Flamebreak and a kickered Molten Disaster stop Regeneration (since it will have split second), but to get the same effect out of Molten Disaster that you got out of Flamebreak, you need to spend RRR3. How is this better than Sulfurous Blast (RR2, two damage to everything with the option for three?). It’s not. Trade these off to the multitudes who value it highly.
Pyromancer’s Swath (the typical Red bulk rare), Scourge of Kher Ridges (This will be a $3-$5 casual card, so trade these off), Shah of Naar Isle (thar be steep drawbacks mateys!), and Steamflogger Boss (of course, maybe we’ll see a Contraption some day!)
The Watch List:
Pact of the Titan: Everyone and their mothers are going to be building Djinn Illuminatus / Pact decks. I’m sure (Pandemonium) that someone (Pandemonium) will find a deck (Pandemonium) that taps seven to cast the Djinn, untaps, casts a Red enchantment from Time Spiral (Pandemonium) and then goes infinite with Pact of the Titan. In-and-of itself, Pact of the Titan is pretty mediocre. That it has combo applications makes it a possibility for play.
The Foil:
Emberwilde Auger (might make the cut in Red aggro), Ghostfire (sideboard against White Weenie, if Sulfur Elemental isn’t enough), Rift Elemental (for Block), and Storm Entity (possible Extended usage alongside Slith Firewalker).
One last Red Note:
Grinning Ignus plus Urza’s Incubator = Infinite mana. Locket of Yesteryears plus Intuition (getting Grinning Ignus) = Infinite mana. Grinning Ignus plus Ruby Medallion = infinite storm count. I’d get this guy in foil as well — he is comboriffic!
Green Rares
The Good:
Baru, Fist of Krosa ($4-$5): The best of the Grandeur cycle. It’s essentially five for a 5/5 trampler that gives your other creatures Stampede. In addition, the Grandeur ability is great — discard a card to put a 4/4 to 7/7 creature into play, free of charge! A solid card for Green decks.
Heartwood Storyteller ($3-$4): This is, in my opinion, the sleeper rare of the set. It looks inconspicuous — 2/3 for three mana, and an ability that doesn’t do anything right off of the bat. However, it’s amazing against any sort of control deck. Counter my spell? I’ll draw a card. Volcanic Hammer Heartwood Storyteller? I’ll draw a card. Wrath of God? I’ll draw a card. This is a card-drawing machine for Green decks and one that is subtly great. Pick up a playset while it’s cheap.
Magus of the Vineyard ($2-$3): Of the fifteen Magus in this block, Magus of the Vineyard most approximates the impact on the game of its original card. You play it on the first turn, and your opponent gets to 3 or 4 mana on their turn, and then you do the same. It won’t die early, your opponent might or might not want to let it stick around, and it works well with buyback cards.
Rites of Flourishing ($4-$5): This might go higher, based on casual appeal. It’s Howling Mine and Exploration on the same card (except your opponent gets to go exploring as well). Good for Enchantress decks, but just plain fun in group games. This might well be the chase casual card of the set, in the same way that Doubling Season was.
Summoner’s Pact ($4-$5): Or perhaps higher. This is a very good rare, in multiple formats. Storm-based combo decks have not run Elvish Spirit Guide successfully for a while in Vintage or Legacy, and Summoner’s Pact gives those decks a way to up their storm count, thin their deck, and fetch Spirit Guides in one fell swoop (see Land Grant). In Standard, you can search out that Giant Solifuge against an empty hand, come on in for four, and pay the “Echo” of four the following turn. It’s really good in Green Aggro decks, and decent for combo.
Tarmagoyf ($2-3 or much, much higher): I’m of two minds about Tarmagoyf. Unassisted, it’ll be a 0/1, 1/2 or 2/3 for two mana. Assisted, and by assisted I mean with Dredge, discard, or shenanigans, it’ll be a 4/5 or 5/6 for two mana. I think this guy will initially be dismissed, and will be broken by the Japanese. Pick up a playset before Regionals — it has the potential to be broken.
The Bad:
Force of Savagery (trade these off — you don’t want to be forced to play with Veteran Armorer or Gaea’s Anthem), Murganda Petroglyphs (as we all learned from Kamigawa Block, if you can’t pronounce it, it’s probably bad.)
The Foil:
Llanowar Mentor (I don’t personally think this is that good a card, since you have to wait two turns (one for Llanowar Mentor to lose summoning sickness, and one for your Llanowar Elf token to lose summoning sickness), but casual players will love being able to generate an elf a turn for Tribal decks. Ravaging Riftwurm also has potential — three for a 6/6 is worth investigating.
Gold (All Rares, all good):
Glittering Wish ($4-$6): Glittering Wish is costed aggressively, which puts it in line with Burning Wish, Cunning Wish and Living Wish. Unfortunately, it has two drawbacks — A) It’s not splashable, and B) there aren’t as many situational Green/White gold cards that you’d want to fetch as, say, Sorceries, Creatures or Instants. In Extended, you can get, of note, Anurid Brushhopper, Armadillo Cloak, Aura Mutation, Aura Shards, Glare of Subdual, Heroes’ Reunion, Loxodon Hierarch, Mirari’s Wake, Mystic Enforcer, Phantom Nishoba, Saffi Eriksdotter, Selesnya Guildmage, and Watchwolf with ease. With a splash, the list expands to Meddling Mage, Pernicious Deed, and the such. Actually, I may have convinced myself that this is better than it initially looked to me….
Jhoira of the Ghitu ($3-$5): Will appeal to casual players, who will be able to suspend Darksteel Colossus, Denying Wind, or any other funky spell and circumvent the mana cost on ridiculously expensive things. Trade these off, because I think that Suspend 4 on everything is a little too long to set up a storm-based combo turn.
Sliver Legion ($8-$12): Coat of Arms plus five-Color Sliver Lord = free money. Trade these to casual players. Sliver Overlord was at $4 before Time Spiral pumped a billion slivers into the environment. Now it’s selling for a cool $15. Sliver Legion will jump high, will cool off in about a six months to a year, and will jump up to ridiculous values again once Slivers are brought back down the road as a mechanic in the future (be it in two years or in five years).
Artifacts (All Rare)
The Good:
Nothing so far. Keep in mind that there are three artifacts that have yet to be spoiled as of 9:00pm on Thursday, April 19th.
The Bad:
Akroma’s Memorial: Casual players are going nuts over this card. In the Forge[/author]“]Darksteel [author name="Forge"]Forge[/author] / Mycosynth Lattice / Mirror Gallery casual pantheon, Akroma’s Memorial will be right up there — making all your guys into flying, first-striking, trampling, vigilant, hasty, pro-Black / pro-Red monsters is really cool. In fact, I wouldn’t count out this card as a possible sideboard card against Black/Red decks (either/or) in either Standard or Block. However, it doesn’t make your guys larger, and a 2/2 Akroma is less impressive than a 6/6 one. Trade these off — their value will be really high at first, but not to tournament players.
Coalition Relic: Probably will see play in block, as it’s a great mana-fixer. It’s not as good elsewhere, as Ravnica has so many mana-fixing cards already.
Darksteel Garrison: Again, will be popular with casual players (equipment plus anti-LD plus an extra ability equals a fun card to play around with), but too slow for constructed, unless you’re really, really wanting to combo / fight against Boom / Bust.
Veilstone Amulet (the typical junky artifact rare), Whetwheel (probably as exciting as Millstone and Ambassador Laquatus, which is to say the $2-$3 range to casual players).
Land
The highlight of Future Sight, from where I’m sitting, are the lands contained therein. Because of this, let me examine them all:
Rare Lands
As a general note, it’s hard for me to valuate the price at which several of these lands will end up. I can compare them to previous incarnations (at least, as close as they come to previous incarnations), but that won’t tell you their true value. There’s a huge price difference between, say, The Ninth Edition painlands, the Ravnica Shocklands, and the Odyssey filter lands. All three cycles are rare, but one is in the $4-$10 range per-card, one is in the $12-$25 range per-card, and the other is in the bulk rare-$3 range per-card. I’ll do my best to estimate values here, but caveat emptor on these — I could be wayyyyy the hell off.
Keep also in mind that all the great mana-fixing lands from Ravnica block are not available in Block Constructed, which is the next PTQ season. These five lands might jump highly in demand as color-fixing tools for Block.
In general, I’d recommend picking up a full playset of all five of these lands, if you can. I’m ranking them from best to worst below.
Nimbus Maze ($10-$15): This is reminiscent of the Tainted lands from Torment, except better. This compliments Blue/White well, especially when combined with Hallowed Fountain, which will not drop below $25 no matter how many we get in stock (and sell out of immediately afterwards!).
Graven Cairns ($4-$8): This is Shadowblood Ridge on crack. Unfortunately, Black/Red is probably the least-popular color combination for dual lands right now — Sulfurous Springs is not in demand.
River of Tears ($5-$10): Although this will be more valuable than Graven Cairns monetarily, that’s more of a function of color, rather than ability. In many instances, this is another land that is strictly better than Island for Blue decks (especially against Boiling Seas and Cryoclasm).
Grove of the Burnwillows ($3-$5): Cute with Kavu Titan, but not-that-good when you’re trying to be aggro and feeding your opponent life. I think this one will end up being a flop in the end, so if you’re able to trade this one for any of the three above lands, do it.
Horizon Canopy ($3-$5): Brushland is the second-least popular painland, so I can’t see this one eclipsing it in value. Casual players don’t like taking damage from their lands, without alternative. Competitively, being able to cycle your lands off of the board to draw more threats late-game seems nifty. Will non-White/Green decks use this just as a Mind Stone?
The Uncommon Lands
Dryad Arbor will cause the most problems of any card in this set at the Future Sight prerelease, as players will try tapping it for mana the turn it comes into play (and since it’s a creature, it has summoning sickness).
Zoetic Caverns is interesting in that you can drop it as a creature turn 3, and flip it up turn 4 as a mana-accelerant for turn 5. I think it has a place (since it’s either a generic 2/2 or a generic land) as lands #22-26 in control decks.
Okay, onto the colored uncommon lands.
Llanowar Reborn (Free +1/+1 to a creature)
New Benalia (A free peek for aggro or control)
Tolaria West: I’ve talked about this card already, and I think it’s ridiculously good. Fetch Chalice of the Void, your missing Urzatron piece, any of the five Pacts from this set — these will go for a premium non-foil, and the Foil version will be in very high demand.
These aren’t as good, but are probably worth having playsets of:
Dakmor Salvage (for Dredging, of course!)
Keldon Megaliths (Hellbent hasn’t worked yet, but this is the best Hellbent card in Magic that doesn’t rhyme with Demonfire.)
I hope everyone has a great time at the prerelease, and come say hi if you’re in Richmond or Roanoke — I’ll be working the retail booth and buying cards at both StarCityGames.com shows!
Also, I’d love to hear your thoughts in the forums or via e-mail.