Hey everyone! Welcome back to week two of the Financial Value of Battle for Zendikar! Today we’ll take a look at a bunch of the rares and mythics
that were spoiled over the weekend/on Monday. Then, I’ll discuss the cards that have sold the best so far from this set!
Having mass-removal artifacts is a tricky proposition because they can quickly cut too far into the color pie for black, white or red (or give blue and
green access to effects they shouldn’t normally have). As such, Aligned Hedron Network is a very flavorful card, but it misses a huge number of targets in
Standard. Could be a decent sideboard card, but not getting Siege Rhino makes me think this’ll be bulk price.
Back in the day, we started Sliver Hive at $4, and it sold really well during the preorder cycle of M15. Ally Encampment is the Ally version of
Sliver Hive. Given that Allies are less popular than Slivers and given that Battle for Zendikar will see print a lot more than M15, I’m starting Ally Encampment at $2. Even if Allies become a deck, this card is so narrow (Standard only, one deck it’ll be played in) that I
don’t think it’ll go much higher than this.
Now this is a good Eldrazi! There is no power/toughness where Endless One really stands out (one for a 1/1, two for a 2/2, etc), but the versatility on
Endless One is fantastic. Earlygame, it’s a body. Lategame in ramp, it’s a fatty. It’s also a zero-drop for decks that want a zero-drop, and it immediately
replaces all usefulness of Shifting Wall in those decks. Starting Endless One at $2, and I think it’s either going to hold value, or go up slightly to the
$2.50-$3 range before the preorder cycle is done.
Mind Control saw virtually no Standard play, and this is a harder-to-cast Mind Control that requires playing multiple colors to get more than minimal
effectiveness. I’m sure that there are some decks that’ll play Exert Influence as a one-of or off the board (five-color control), but generally this is a
bulk rare.
I’m starting Noyan at $1, but I think Talrand showed that this type of creature doesn’t have a lot of potential in Standard. The benefits that Noyan has is
that it has a larger body (4/4) and it can make lands into much larger creatures if you keep putting +1/+1 counters on the same land. There is talk that
this has combo potential with Monastery Mentor and Jeskai Ascendancy (since the lands that Noyan hits gain haste, so you can keep tapping them and
untapping them for mana, even if they were played this turn), but I don’t think Noyan will make Standard play.
Five mana Tumble Magnet that lets you scry if you’re playing Five-Color Control? No thanks – bulk rare.
At the time this was spoiled, the Worldwake Version (also mythic) was at $16. I looked back at the price history of Dragonmaster Outcast, and it
started at $6, quickly rose to $7.50, and then stayed in the $5-$6 range. I’m going to put the reprint at $5, which is where it eventually settled in
Standard last time. This time, there’s an entire Dragon block (Khans/Fate/Dragons) powering this up, which should offset the fact that the price probably
should be lower than $5 just on the sole merits of reprint (not counting playability).
Top Selling Cards
Here’s a list of the best-selling cards we’ve had for sale. I’ll list the Top 5 mythics, Top 5 rares, and then commons/uncommons/basic lands of note!
Top 5 Selling Mythics
#3 – Undergrowth Champion
#4 – Ob Nixilis Reignited
Top 5 Selling Rares
#1 – Zada, Hedron Grinder
#2 – Fathom Feeder
#4 – Cinder Glade
#5 – Prairie Stream
Top 5 Selling Uncommons
#1 – Hedron Archive
#2 – Titan’s Presence
#3 – Stasis Snare
#4 – Retreat to Kazandu
#5 – Trangress the Mind
Top 5 Selling Commons
#1 – Mist Intruder
#2 – Kozilek’s Channeler
#3 – Eldrazi Devastator
#4 – Gideon’s Reproach
#5 – Incubator Drone
Top 5 Selling Basic Lands
#1 – Island #255
#2 – Mountain #265
#3 – Plains #250
#4 – Forest #270
#5 – Forest #271
Now that the last five images on the basic lands have been spoiled (all 25 have proper images now), it’ll be interesting to see which basic lands end up
selling the best. To note – Swamp #261, Swamp #260, Swamp #264, and Island #258 are very close to Forest #271 for the slot of fifth-best selling basic
land.
See you all tomorrow!