Welcome back to my Daily Financial Value of Eldritch Moon series! From now until the full set is spoiled, I’ll be posting up regular daily updates with my thoughts about the officially-spoiled cards from Eldritch Moon!
I will be reviewing cards using the following system:
Starting Price: The first price we assign to this card as a preorder.
Current Price: The current price of the card at the time this article was written (usually by 5:00 pm the day before publication).
Future Price – Low: The lowest price I believe this card will hit while it is Standard-legal, post-release.
Future Price – High: The highest price I believe this card will hit while it is Standard-legal, post-release.
Rarity: Rare
Starting Price: $2
Current Price: $2
Future Price – Low: $1.50
Future Price – High: $3
Thoughts: Bruna, the Fading Light is a fantastic card with great flavor. It’s going to be an awesome Commander and I could see it being a one-of in a control deck as a way to produce two threats with one card late-game. That being said, I think that’s about the extent of its playability. If Bruna’s ability was an enters-the-battlefield trigger rather than a cast trigger, I could see it being viable in Reanimator, but no such luck this time.
Rarity: Rare
Starting Price: $2
Current Price: $2
Future Price – Low: $.50
Future Price – High: $2
Thoughts: An Eldrazi… Wish? I played back in the days of Burning / Cunning Wake decks and the Wishes were awesome. They were awesome because you got to have a Wish sideboard and it allowed you to pack a bunch of different answers for various situations you might find yourself in.
Best-case scenario right now, you can have a handful of fatties, an Eldrazi Conscription, and an All Is Dust. (Poor Warping Wail!)
It’s legit – I swear.
Coax from the Blind Eternities will get better over time if they continue to print Eldrazi cards in the future, but as it stands, I would expect it to stay in the dollar ballpark.
Rarity: Mythic
Starting Price: $25
Current Price: $20
Future Price – Low: $10
Future Price – High: $15
Thoughts: Being a giant Eldrazi mythic ensures that the floor can’t be too low on a card like Emrakul. People are comparing it to Mindslaver and I don’t think that’s a fair comparison at all. Sure, the cards have a similar ability, but when Mindslaver was in Standard, Cloudpost and Urza lands were also legal.
I can’t see a deck that would want to play more than one or two Emrakuls, so I don’t think its price can go anywhere but down from here.
Rarity: Mythic
Starting Price: $15
Current Price: $20
Future Price – Low: $15
Future Price – High: $40
Thoughts: Aggressively costed and stacked with abilities, this card is certainly going to see a lot of Standard play. Her cost and abilities could easily find her a home in any aggro, midrange, or control deck. I would recommend preordering Gisela if you’re able to. Shortly after Archangel Avacyn was released, she spiked up to $50, and I could easily see something similar happening with Gisela. The demand will be very high for her when she’s first released and she won’t be that readily available.
Rarity: Rare
Starting Price: $3
Current Price: $3
Future Price – Low: $2
Future Price – High: $4
Thoughts: The three-dollar range seems about right for Hanweir Battlements. It’s a good card that will see play in Commander and can even see some play in Standard. I don’t expect people to be loading playsets in their decks, so it’s unlikely that this card will spike up much past the three-dollar range. Overall, a safe and reasonable investment if you’re looking to pick some up.
Rarity: Rare
Starting Price: $2
Current Price: $3
Future Price – Low: $2
Future Price – High: $5
Thoughts: A Goblin Rabblemaster / Hero of Bladehold seems great. I don’t think this card is going to be format-defining and it doesn’t do that well when facing down a Gisela, but it’s likely that the card will see some Standard play. The worst-case scenario is that Hanweir Garrison sees basically no Standard play and becomes a one-dollar card, while the best case scenario is that it sees a ton of play and becomes $6-$7. Buying in at $3 seems like a pretty reasonable gamble if you like to play aggressive red decks.
For those of you who like to speculate, I’m not sold on this card being a good speculation target. If they hadn’t spoiled Gisela, I’d say go for it, but I’m pretty convinced that Gisela will be a format-defining card and you’ll be running into those everywhere; that will severely limit the playability of a card like Hanweir Garrison. They could be played together in an aggressive R/W deck, but I still wouldn’t feel very comfortable dropping a few hundred dollars on this as a speculation target.
Rarity: Rare
Starting Price: $1.50
Current Price: $1.50
Future Price – Low: $.50
Future Price – High: $2
Thoughts: There isn’t a whole lot to say about Thalia’s Lancers. It’s a solid card that will be a lower-dollar rare. It’s going to see play in Commander, but that won’t really affect the price on the non-foils that much. It could see some amount of Standard play, but again, I don’t think it will see enough play to get it to spike much past the $2 mark.
Rarity: Rare
Starting Price: $8
Current Price: $8
Future Price – Low: $4
Future Price – High: $10
Thoughts: Thalia, Heretic Cathar is a great card that will definitely see Standard play. That being said, $8 is a lot for a rare these days. If you’re going to preorder a rare at $8, you’d better be very confident that it’s going to be a Standard staple in a very popular deck. I don’t believe Thalia, Heretic Cathar meets this criterion, but it will be one of the better rares you could open out of Eldritch Moon.
Rarity: Mythic
Starting Price: $8
Current Price: $8
Future Price – Low: $3
Future Price – High: $5
Thoughts: I was so excited to hear that they made a legendary Werewolf, and when I read this I was really disappointed. I’m not saying the card is terrible or anything; I’m just saying I had much higher hopes for the first legendary Werewolf. Huntmaster of the Fells and I go way back, and I was in love with Arlinn Kord, but Ulrich just doesn’t do it for me.
I don’t foresee it being a Constructed powerhouse, and even as a Commander card it will likely get replaced the second they print another legendary Werewolf. I don’t see a ton of upsides to Ulrich that will make it worth bundles of money in the future. I’d avoid this card during preorder season, and if you really want one, pick it up in trades shortly after release.
Uncommons of Note
Rarity: Uncommon
Starting Price: $1
Current Price: $1
Future Price – Low: $1
Future Price – High: $3
Thoughts: Blessed Alliance is one of the better uncommon combat tricks they’ve printed in a while. It’s currently selling for $1, and over time I could see the supply drying up and it hitting the $2-$3 mark. I’m not suggesting you stock up on them, but just remember to take them out of your draft deck and toss them in your trade binder.
Before I wrap up, I also want to give Cryptolith Fragment an honorable mention, because that thing is sweet for Commander!
I’m looking forward to a fun-filled week of spoilers! So far they’ve started off on a really good note, giving us a ton of super-aggressive cards that should certainly make for an interesting Standard environment now and post-rotation. I’m hoping to see a lot more Zombies and Vampires, maybe even a Werewolf or two; after all, there has to be more on Innistrad than Angels, Humans, and Emrakul hanging out. I’ll see you all tomorrow!