Ahoy there, mateys! There were a plethora of new rares and mythics spoiled overnight for Battle for Zendikar! Since we have a lot of ground to
cover, let me dispense with the platitudes and go full steam ahead to discuss the value of these cards!
Might as well start off with a bulk rare, right? With no other creatures in play, this is a 4/3 flyer for five mana, which is below the curve these days.
With one other Ally attacking, we’re looking at a 5/4 attacking flyer – still not great. Dies easily to removal, can’t play good defense, and needs two+
attacking creatures to even get to above-average stats – just not seeing this work out.
The latest Viashino Sandstalker variant. I’m usually not a fan of these, though having an artifact (or Eldrazi) creature in play to keep this around past
one turn is a lower hurdle to overcome than other variants I’ve seen. Still, four for a 5/3 haste that may end up bouncing to your hand each turn isn’t too
exciting. Bulk.
I covered Endless One in yesterday’s article. Since then, it’s doubled in price from $2 to $4. It’s quickly sold a lot of copies, and I don’t see the hype
on it slowing down at all 24 hours after the initial spoiler article which discussed it.
When this card was spoiled a couple of days ago (in a non-English language – remember, I never review those until the official English spoiler is revealed,
just in case there’s a mistranslation), many people were angry because they felt that this card was worse than Read the Bones. I disagree – there are few
cards left that outright allow you to draw three cards at four mana, much less outright draw three cards at three mana. This is a Sign in Blood +1 for
control decks, and one that a good number of decks are going to want to run. Seems like a fantastic card to cast either the turn right before or the turn
right after a Siege Rhino. Starting it at $1, but I feel it could quickly hit the $2 range before set release.
It’s interesting that there is a land that doubles as a tutor effect. It’s less interesting that in order to tutor, you need to both set yourself back a
land drop (Sanctum of Ugin is sacrificed) and cast a colorless spell with seven+ mana cost to begin with, and you can only fetch creatures. I’m not
discounting that this may see play, but you are really going to have to jump through some hoops to make the effect worth the slot in your deck. I started
this at $2, and it’s already down to $1 since late afternoon yesterday.
Quick question: Is Ugin’s Insight better in a control deck than Painful Truths? Painful Truths has downside (loss of life), but it costs two mana less than
Ugin’s Insight. There are many times you’ll scry for four (having a planeswalker in play), but hold on a second. There’s already a card very similar to
this: Foresee. Foresee cost one less mana and let you Scry 4 and then draw two. Even though Ugin’s Insight draws one more card, it also costs one more
mana. In the end, I just don’t think Ugin’s Insight is going to cut the mustard, and so I’m starting it at $1, and I’m expecting it to drop down further
into bulk range.
At some point, creatures are going to curve up well enough that Wizards re-releases Flametongue Kavu in a Standard-legal set. That hasn’t happened yet, but
Wasteland Strangler is a step in that direction. It’s going to be relatively easy to exile at least one card from an opponent if you really want to do so
in the new Standard (hooray for white exile-based removal enchantments!), making Wasteland Strangler a 3/2 Eldrazi that kills a mid-sized opposing creature
pretty reliably. Starting this at $2, and it will be a staple of Eldrazi decks or B/W control decks if those decks make it in Standard.
Now here’s the most quietly powerful card spoiled so far in the set. At the absolute worst case scenario, Woodland Wanderer is a 3/3 vigilance trample
creature for four mana (if you only have green or colorless mana available to cast it). At best case scenario, Woodland Wanderer is a 6/6 vigilance trample
creature for four mana. Either way, we have a creature that is reliably going to be larger than Siege Rhino (5/5 or 6/6), plays offense and defense, and
has pseudo-evasion. Woodland Wanderer is a tremendous body with two upside abilities and should see extensive Standard play. I think it’s also big enough
to make a splash in Modern as well. I’m starting it at $4 (current market price), but I would not be surprised if this ends up being the breakout rare of
the set.
Starting at $8. Oblivion Ring has been a Standard all-star all the way since Lorwyn, and most variants of Oblivion Ring have seen play in Standard
(Banishing Light, Journey to Nowhere). At four mana, Quarantine Field is a one-target Oblivion Ring. This makes it slightly worse (and less splashable at
WW) than Oblivion Ring. Then Quarantine Field can scale up to hit two+ targets – think of it as Oblivion Ring with multi-kicker 2. In the right match, this
is just devastating.
Violent Ultimatum (which had some insanely restrictive color requirements) saw some fringe Standard play back in the day. While Violent Ultimatum could hit
three lands (Quarantine Field can’t), Quarantine is easier to cast than Violent Ultimatum and scales past just hitting three permanents.
In short, this is an extremely versatile removal spell that can scale as the game goes longer. It’s tempered by costing one more mana than this effect
would usually run (four versus three), but the deck that would want to run this would likely want to be able to spot-remove two+ permanents in the
lategame.
See you all tomorrow for the next part of this series!