Overwhelming Splendor – $4.99
It seems trite to say that Overwhelming Splendor is good in Commander, but man oh man is Overwhelming Splendor good in Commander. That won’t help the short-term price of this card very much, though, so let’s see if we can figure out a potential application for this effect in a competitive arena.
I see three potential combo pieces here: Academy Rector, Curse of Misfortunes, and Enduring Ideal. None of these strategies is likely to be Tier 1 or even Tier 2, but some sort of Saffron Olive or Building on a Budget-style deck is certainly in the cards. I bet Overwhelming Splendor ends up as a bulk mythic, but I’m going to pick up a few sets of each potential combo piece just in case. If a deck takes off—even in a very limited sense—those are going to be the cards that end up spiking.
Champion of Wits – $1.99
Champion of Wits is a splashable three-drop that provides solid curve-smoothing early on and excellent card advantage later in the game. It’s also a superb graveyard enabler. Oh—and if you really want to get cute, combine it with instant-speed pump for a boatload of free cards. I’m pretty sure it fits into U/R Emerge right now, and if a B/G Zombie deck ends up being a thing, this is a possible inclusion there as well.
That said, I’m not sure a 2/1 for three is where you want to be right now, and I may be overrating Champion of Wits’s power and versatility. But this is the sort of card that has the potential to be a $10-$12 Standard staple if it ends up being just a little bit more powerful than the current consensus thinks it is. There’s risk here, but the reward is really high. I’m grabbing a set.
God-Pharaoh’s Gift – $0.99
I dismissed God-Pharaoh’s Gift the first time I saw it, but now I’m not so sure that it’s as unplayable in Standard as I thought. Gate to the Afterlife is a decent card by itself, and getting out God-Pharaoh’s Gift that way lets you pay just five mana for it on a handy installment plan. That’s not bad for some serious late-game inevitability! I’m not saying this is going to be a pillar of the format, but if it sees play in a deck or two, I won’t be shocked.
Of course, you’re never going to want more than one or two God-Pharaoh’s Gifts in your deck, so the price isn’t going to end up higher than $2 or $3 at max. It’s not a great spec for anyone who wants to go deep, but it’s a solid collection pick-up at just a dollar.
Refuse // Cooperate is not the kind of card that tends to see much Constructed play. You basically just want it as the last spell in your hand when your burn deck is facing down something with a bunch of five- and six-drops, which gives it a pretty limited scope. It might end up seeing a little bit of sideboard action, but I doubt that’ll keep it from being a bulk rare.
Resilient Khenra – $0.99
Nobody believes in Resilient Khenra, huh? Okay, I’ll make a case for it. Green decks have to play a bunch of two-drops, and this one isn’t half bad. If you curve out right, it lets you deal an extra couple of damage early in the game. Later on, it comes back as a 4/4 that can pump one of your attacking creatures. Again, this is out of the two-drop slot, and it’s splashable. That’s the sort of action I like!
Are there better green two-drops right now? Probably! Will that change? Maybe! Cards with this much potential usually start out in the $2-$3 range, though, and I’m reminded of when Sylvan Advocate was previewed and we all underrated it because it was sorta…boring. Resilient Khenra might always be a bulk rare, but it’s got the sort of multi-deck potential I’m always looking for.