Olivia, Mobilized for War. Cards such as Indulgent Aristocrat and Olivia’s Bloodsworn will make terrific additions to the Vampires curve. It’s worth noting that when they spoil good commons and uncommons, even though those cards aren’t going to be worth tons of money, they still do have a heavy influence on the price of rares and mythics that they will be played with.
Now for the good stuff!
Rarity: Rare
Starting Price: $2
Current Price: $2
Future Price – Low: $1
Future Price – High: $3
Thoughts: I loved Rattleclaw Mystic and I had very high hopes for that card, but I think we’ve all learned our lesson: mana creatures need to cost one. I still think this is a very good card with tons of playability, but I don’t foresee this card being expensive. It’s worth owning a set, but I’m fairly certain you’re fine waiting to pick them up in drafts or throw-ins during a trade.
Rarity: Rare
Starting Price: $3
Current Price: $3
Future Price – Low: $1
Future Price – High: $4
Thoughts: Drownyard Temple has been quite the buzz around the office this morning; it was actually the first thing Ben talked to me about when I walked in. Usually Ben and I are on the same page about cards, but this is one where we greatly differ. Ben absolutely loves this card. He keeps giving scenarios similar to this: Compulsive Research, discard Drownyard Temple, sit back with countermagic available, and if you have open mana, use Drownyard Temple to Rampant Growth yourself.
I think this is a very good and somewhat likely scenario that could come up in actual play. If this card had been printed in the early days when Draw-Go Control was the thing to beat, I think this card would absolutely be $10.
These days, I think the formats are just too aggressive for these shenanigans. I’m not saying this card is bad or unplayable. I think a couple of copies of this card will show up in the control decks for Standard and Modern. I also think there are tons of options that combo well with Drownyard Temple.
Cards like Aggressive Mining, Crop Rotation, World Breaker, and Dust Bowl all interact well with Drownyard Temple. Even in Standard it works really well with Pore Over the Pages. It also makes Constant Mists extremely annoying (moreso than it already is)!
Drownyard Temple card can see play in Legacy and Vintage as well. With cards like Smokestack being viable strategies, this is certainly a card that will fit in. Despite all of those cool interactions, I don’t think enough copies will be played in the decks that use Drownyard Temple to make it anything more than a $3-$4 card over the next few years. If/when this card drops to around the $1-$2 range, I think it would be a fine long-term investment.
Rarity: Rare
Starting Price: $1
Current Price: $1
Future Price – Low: $1
Future Price – High: $3
Thoughts: This card leads me to believe that they’re planning on printing enough Werewolves to make it a Tier 2 archetype. It’s a 2/2 with trample, so I would hope there will be ways they’ll pump each other. If you play effects like Giant Growth, you can also expand your army. Also, it gives you Wolf tokens when an opponent targets (presumably killing) another Wolf or Werewolf. Overall a solid card, but I want more information about the set before I jump on the Werewolf bandwagon.
Rarity: Mythic
Starting Price: $20
Current Price: $25
Future Price – Low: $10
Future Price – High: $30
Thoughts: When I first read this card, I was absolutely in love with it. The more I thought about it, the less I loved it. While I still think it’s a fantastic card with tons of casual appeal, I don’t think it will continue to be the $25+ card it currently is. I think Sorin, Grim Nemesis will be a card that sees play in Standard, but only a handful of decks will run it and they will only have a couple of copies. I could see it making its way into Modern, but likely a very small amount; maybe as a one-of here and there.
I think Sorin, Grim Nemesis has enough casual appeal that he will retain some value for a long time to come, but I don’t ever see him becoming a flavor-of-the-month Standard mythic.
Rarity: Rare
Starting Price: $3
Current Price: $4
Future Price – Low: $2
Future Price – High: $4
Thoughts: I’m a big fan of any cheap, efficient tutor. I think delirium will be fairly easy to obtain for any deck that wants it. I like the versatility of Traverse the Ulvenwald. It fills multiple roles within a deck and that always adds value to a card. Given that it can only search for basic lands, I don’t expect it to replace any current land search cards that are being played, but just allowing you to search for creatures should help it to find a home in some ramp deck. It will also have long-term value as a great Casual card.
The set is finally starting to round out nicely and it appears to have several high-dollar cards in it. I’m still holding out for an awesome cycle of rare lands, but according to some of the number crunchers, it seems unlikely at this point. If we don’t end up getting a rare cycle of lands from Shadows over Innistrad, then I would suggest aggressively picking up the Battle for Zendikar lands, as those would likely increase in value.
I hope you all enjoyed it! See you all next week!