The Guildpact Prerelease is tomorrow, and there’s going to be a lot of Ravnica Block Sealed going on! As with every set, you want to know which cards are going to be hot, and which are going to be, shall we say, less than popular. In today’s column, I’m going to run you through the cards you should watch out for from Guildpact.
Before I get started, let’s see how I did with Ravnica. Remember, Ravnica was spoiled a lot further out than Guildpact, so I had a lot of empirical evidence thanks to preorders on the cards.
Ravnica Top-Selling Uncommons (Prior to the Prerelease):
1. Putrefy
2. Lightning Helix
3. Watchwolf
4. Telling Time
5. Psychic Drain
6. Moroii
7. Suppression Field
8. Dimir Machinations
9. Carven Caryatid
10. Recollect
11. Clutch of the Undercity
12. Perplex (which ended up being a common)
13. Devouring Light
14. Dimir Guildmage
15. Darkblast
Other Uncommons I recommended included Duskmantle, House of Shadow, Boros Swiftblade, Vigor Mortis, and Congregation at Dawn. As of Thursday, January 19th 2006, here are our top-selling Ravnica Uncommons:
1. Lightning Helix
2. Putrefy
3. Watchwolf
4. Devouring Light
5. Telling Time
6. Suppression Field
7. Darkblast
8. Carven Caryatid
9. Selesnya Guildmage
10. Boros Swiftblade
11. Remand
12. Moroii
13. Dimir Guildmage
14. Psychic Drain
15. Recollect
17. Vigor Mortis
19. Dimir Machinations
23. Congregation at Dawn
28. Clutch of the Undercity
31. Duskmantle, House of Shadow
So far, so good — most of the top cards were on that list, and the only two cards missed in the top fifteen were Selesnya Guildmage and Remand.
Ravnica Top-Selling Rares (Prior to the Prerelease)
1. Glimpse the Unthinkable
2. Circu, Dimir Lobotomist
3. Plague Boiler
4. Dimir Doppelganger
5. Loxodon Hierarch
6. Grave-Shell Scarab
7. Moonlight Bargain
8. Overgrown Tomb
9. Dimir Cutpurse
10. Watery Grave
11. Shadow of Doubt
12. Sacred Foundry
13. Gleancrawler
14. Char
15. Master Warcraft
Other rares I recommended: Temple Garden, Life from the Loam, Hunted Troll, Hunted Horror, Birds of Paradise, Hunted Dragon, Dark Confidant, Flame Fusillade, Sunforger, and Vinelasher Kudzu. As of Thursday, January 19th 2006, here are our top-selling Ravnica Rares:
1. Dark Confidant
2. Life from the Loam
3. Doubling Season
4. Sacred Foundry
5. Glimpse the Unthinkable
6. Temple Garden
7. Watery Grave
8. Dimir Doppelganger
9. Glare of Subdual
10. Privileged Position
11. Overgrown Tomb
12. Char
13. Hunted Dragon
14. Vulturous Zombie
15. Dimir Cutpurse
16. Loxodon Hierarch
18. Gleancrawler
23. Shadow of Doubt
25. Grave-Shell Scarab
26. Circu, Dimir Lobotomist
29. Master Warcraft
32. Vinelasher Kudzu
40. Plague Boiler
46. Hunted Horror
47. Sunforger
52. Hunted Troll
54. Flame Fusillade
57. Birds of Paradise
70. Moonlight Bargain
I already mentioned that Moonlight Bargain would plummet, because it was incorrectly spoiled on MTGsalvation at first (cost 2BB instead of 3BB), and that turned out to be the case. Doubling Season and Privileged Position speak to the power of the casual player…. But otherwise, the initial list were spot-on (especially the recommendations of cards that started out selling slowly, such as Dark Confidant or Life from the Loam), and both of those cards tripled in value from initial release. The only major Ravnica rare I missed was Glare of Subdual.
Guildpact
All spoiler information used by this article comes from MTGsalvation.com. As of 8 p.m. on Thursday night, there were forty-seven Commons, fifty-three Rares, and forty-six Uncommons spoiled — for a total of 146 out of 165 cards. The missing cards, according to the checklist on MTGsalvation.com, are Belfry Spirit, Benediction of Moons (spoiled but no rarity listed), Bioplasm, Bloodscale Prowler, Cry of Contrition (spoiled but no rarity listed), Cryptwailing, Crystal Seer, Gruul Scrapper, Hissing Miasma, Poisonbelly Ogre (spoiled but no rarity listed), Rabble-Rouser, Restless Bones (spoiled, but no rarity listed), Revenant Patriarch, Shadow Lance, Sinstriker’s Will, Skyrider Trainee, Spelltithe Enforcer, Stratozeppelid, and Vaccumelt.
Please keep in mind that none of these cards are taken into consideration when I recommend cards to trade for — Restless Bones, Benediction of Moons and Cry of Contrition look to be either Common or Uncommon, as they do not have rare-worthy effects.
Please keep in mind that this list is not a list of necessarily the most playable or best cards in Guildpact — although many of these cards are among the most playable (or best) cards. There are the cards that will be in the highest demand over the coming weeks — the cards which will have the highest value or will start low and probably go up in price once people realize they are quite playable. While I expect Gelectrode to see tournament play, it will be readily traded at a lower value this weekend. Mortify will not.
Please also note that this list is presented alphabetically. These are all cards I expect to be among our best sellers over the coming weeks, or cards that will be like Life From the Loam — sleeper hits of the set that you should buy now while their prices are low. I also include a price that I recommend you value these cards at — that way you can value them in comparison to pre-Guildpact cards.
Commons
There are likely no commons in this set that will trade at a premium — that is to say, no Sakura-Tribe Elders, Naturalizes, or Llanowar Elves. With that said, there are always commons in a set which have a premium as foils. In Guildpact, these cards are Repeal, Scab-Clan Mauler, Tin Street Hooligan, and Wild Cantor.
Repeal
Instant
XU.
Return target nonland permanent with converted mana cost X to is owner’s hand. Draw a card.
Scab-Clan Mauler
RG
Creature — Human Berserker
1/1
Bloodthirst 2, Trample.
Tin Street Hooligan
1R
Creature — Goblin Rogue
2/1
When Tin Street Hooligan comes into play, if Green was spent to play Tin Street Hooligan, destroy target artifact.
Wild Cantor
(r/g)
Creature — Human Druid
1/1
Sacrifice Wild Cantor: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool.
Uncommons
Most of the premium Uncommons are guild related. They fall along the lines of Lightning Helix and Putrefy from the previous set.
Conjurer’s Ban ($1)
WB
Sorcery
Name a card. Until your next turn, the named card can’t be played. Draw a card.
This is good for stopping Sorceries, since it stops spells on your opponent’s turn — Wrath of God, for instance. Also, it stops cards from being played, so you can name a land and keep your opponent from playing a land, potentially making the Ban a two-mana Solfatara.
Electrolyze ($1-$2)
1UR
Instant
Electrolyze deals 2 damage divided as you choose among any number of target creatures and/or players. Draw a card.
It’s Fire/Ice, except in one card.
Frazzle ($.50-$1)
Instant
3U
Counter target nonblue spell.
Easily splashed, and it’s close to a hard counter.
Izzet Guildmage ($.50-$1)
(r/u)(r/u)
Creature — Human Wizard
2/2
2U: Copy target instant spell you control with converted mana cost 2 or less. You may choose new targets for the copy.
2R: Copy target sorcery spell you control with converted mana cost 2 or less. You may choose new targets for the copy.
An efficient two-mana blue creature, and has possible applications with Lava Spike spliced with Desperate Ritual. Fork effects are always popular, and this guy is a walking Fork.
Mortify ($2-3)
1WB, Instant.
Destroy target creature or enchantment.
It’s Putrefy, except for enchantments instead of artifacts.
Shattering Spree ($.50-$1)
R
Sorcery
Replicate R (When you play this spell, copy it for each time you paid its replicate cost. You may choose new targets for the copies.) Destroy target artifact.
It’s Vintage-playable, as each copy is a separate spell which must be countered. It’s also a nice Affinity-killer in extended.
Skarrg, the Rage Pits ($.50-$1)
Land
Tap: Add one colorless mana to your mana pool.
RG, Tap: Target creature gets +1/+1 and gains trample until end of turn.
This card allows your creature to break through, plus it helps enable bloodthirst.
Souls of the Faultless ($.50-$1)
BBW
Creature — Spirit
0/4
Defender.
Whenever Souls of the Faultless is dealt combat damage, you gain that much life and attacking player loses that much life.
Wall of Souls and Wall of Essence have always been very popular cards and have sold well.
Wreak Havoc ($.50-$1)
2GR
Sorcery.
Wreak Havoc can’t be countered by spells or abilities. Destroy target artifact or land.
An uncounterable Pillage? Oh yeah.
Rares
Rares are where the money is, and there are plenty of rares worth trading for out of Guildpact. Let me state up-front that all three of the new dual lands are going to be highly desired cards — probably the top three cards out of Guildpact, in fact. These lands are:
Godless Shrine (White/Black)
Steam Vents (Blue/Red)
Stomping Grounds (Red/Green)
Treat all three of these lands as $20 bills.
Okay — with those no-brainers out of the way, let’s get to the rest of the rares!
Abyssal Nocturnus ($2-$3)
1BB
Creature — Horror
2/2
Whenever an opponent discards a card, Abyssal Nocturnus gets +2/+2 and gains fear until end of turn.
This will be big with casual players — and quite amazing in group games with cards like Unnerve. It might have competitive applications as well.
Angel of Despair ($5-$6)
3WWBB
Creature — Angel
5/5
Flying. When Angel of Despair comes into play, destroy target permanent.
Vindicate + 2BW for a 5/5 flyer. It compares favorably to Desolation Angel, which saw competitive play.
Burning-Tree Shaman ($7-$10)
1RG
Creature — Centaur Shaman
3/4
Whenever a player plays an activated ability that is not a mana ability, Burning-Tree Shaman deals 1 damage to that player.
It’s an efficient creature even without the pinging ability, and one that fits the curve perfectly in Red/Green decks. The ability is extremely relevant right now, given that it seriously hurts Glare of Subdual, Greater Good, Sensei’s Divining Top, Meloku the Clouded Mirror, and several other highly-played Standard cards.
Culling Sun ($2-$3)
2WWB
Sorcery
Destroy each creature with converted mana cost three or less.
This will be important in block, as it shuts down token decks. It also might see play in Standard as Wraths 5 through 8 against weenie decks. Wrath of God effects always sell/trade well.
Debtor’s Knell ($2-$4)
4(w/b)(w/b)(w/b)
Enchantment. At the beginning of your upkeep, put target creature card in a graveyard into play under your control.
This will be huge with casual players, along the lines of Privileged Position and Doubling Season. It takes the ability of Reya Dawnbringer, then allows you to target an opponent’s graveyard, and for a cheaper cost. Reya Dawnbringer has held value quite well.
Giant Solifuge ($4-$6)
2(r/g)(r/g)
Creature — Insect
4/1
Trample, haste. Giant Solifuge can’t be the target of spells or abilities.
A mana-efficient beater. Playable in both Red and Green, which increases its desirability. It compares well to Blistering Firecat and Skizzik.
Ghost Council of Orzhova ($5-$10)
WWBB
Legendary Creature — Spirit Lord
4/4
When Ghost Council of Orzhova comes into play, target opponent loses 1 life and you gain 1 life.
1, Sacrifice a creature: Remove Ghost Council of Orzhova from the game. Return it to play under its owner’s control at end of turn.
The Grave-Shell Scarab of this set. If White/Black becomes a force, this will be the key kill card for the deck. If not? Well, it’ll still be a powerful, yet less-sought after card — hence the large dollar value range.
Hatching Plans ($2-$3)
1U
Enchantment
When Hatching Plans is put into a graveyard from play, draw three cards.
The sleeper card of the set, just like Life from the Loam. I don’t know how it will be broken, but it will be broken. Get them while this is being figured out and they are still cheap.
Invoke the Firemind ($3-$5)
XUUR
Sorcery
Choose one — Draw X cards; or Invoke the Firemind deals X damage to target creature or player.
Braingeyser plus Blaze in one. $3-$5 is the range that popular X spells end up hitting, usually… And this will be popular.
Leyline of the Void ($3-$5)
2BB
Enchantment
If Leyline of the Void is in your opening hand, you may begin the game with it in play. If a card would be put into an opponent’s graveyard, remove it from the game.
If you play Extended, get four of these immediately. Leyline of the Void will be the most important Extended sideboard card, as it shuts down multiple decks. It is also good against Greater Good and Dredge. It’s innocent-looking, but very important for Constructed.
Mimeofacture ($3-$4)
3U
Sorcery
Replicate: 3U. Choose target permanent an opponent controls. Search that player’s library for a card with the same name and put it into play under your control. Then that player shuffles his or her library.
The closest thing to Bribery that’s available in Standard. Will be popular with casual players for group play.
Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind ($10-$15)
2UURR
Legendary Creature — Dragon Wizard
4/4
Flying
Whenever you draw a card, Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind deals 1 damage to target creature or player. Tap: Draw a card.
An aggressively costed dragon with a great special ability. Niv-Mizzet will see play in Constructed, will be popular with casual players, and goes infinite with Curiosity. Niv-Mizzet’s value depends on just how good Blue/Red ends up being in Standard.
Orzhov Pontiff ($3-$5)
1BW
Creature — Human Cleric
1/1
Haunt.
When Orzhov Pontiff comes into play or the creature it haunts is put into a graveyard, choose one — creatures you control get +1/+1 until end of turn or creatures you don’t control get -1/-1 until end of turn.
The best -1/-1 temporary effect since Holy Light — except it’s even better. It sometimes even comes back for seconds. It’s more powerful than it looks, and it might take people a little while to realize that a little effect can have a big result in the game.
Quicken ($2-$3)
U
Instant
The next sorcery spell you play this turn can be played any time you could play an instant. Draw a card.
The most important Vintage card to come out of this block. Quicken works well with a multitude of cards, the least of which is Yawgmoth’s Will. Add Demonic Tutor, Gush, Balance, Mind Twist, Time Walk, and Tinker to the list of restricted cards that work extremely well with the mana-efficient and self-replacing Quicken. If Quicken ends up getting played in Standard — with something like Compulsive Research, Tidings, or Wrath of God — expect it to hit the $5-$6 range. This could be a major sleeper.
Rumbling Slum ($6-$10)
1RGG
Creature — Elemental
5/5
At the beginning of your upkeep, Rumbling Slum deals 1 damage to each player.
One of the best fatties ever printed, and one which works quite well with the guild-specific bloodthirst mechanic. If Red/Green becomes a force in Standard, this will top out even higher than $10.
Skeletal Vampire ($2-$3)
4BB
Creature — Vampire Skeleton
3/3
Flying.
When Skeletal Vampire comes into play, put two 1/1 black Bat creature tokens with flying into play.
3BB, Sacrifice a Bat: Put two 1/1 black Bat creature tokens with flying into play.
Sacrifice a Bat: Regenerate Skeletal Vampire.
This guy is going to be undervalued, but is a very respectable and hard-to-kill finisher. Compares well with Kokusho — six mana for five power worth of flying. In addition, it is difficult to kill since it comes into play with its own mana-free regeneration mechanism, and can make more creatures.
Stitch in Time ($2-$5)
1UR
Sorcery
Flip a coin. If you win the flip, take an extra turn after this one.
This card will either be really good or really bad, but will not have a middle ground. I am conflicted about whether to recommend it, but I am including it here because there is a chance it will be really good and you will not regret picking these up. Trade for them if you can get them cheaply, or trade them away if people are valuing them as a new Time Walk.
Teysa, Orzhov Scion ($3-$4)
1BW
Legendary Creature — Human Advisor
2/3
Sacrifice three white creatures: Remove target creature from the game. Whenever another black creature is put into a graveyard from play, put a 1/1 white Spirit creature token with flying into play.
This will be popular with casual players, and potentially works as a splash if Black Weenie with a White splash becomes popular. However, it also has applications in combo with Darkest Hour and a sacrifice outlet — all the creatures it makes will be Black, and those creatures will die and make more black creatures. Teysa plus Darkest Hour plus Goblin Bombardment plus any other creature equals infinite damage.
Have fun at the Prerelease tomorrow, and may you open dual lands in each of your Guildpact Boosters!