Yes.
Hello everyone, and welcome to my thoughts about The Financial Value of M10! And the yes? It’s in answer to the question in this article’s blurb. Pound-for-pound, M10 is the highest-valued set printed in the past decade, coming out of the gates. If you followed my “Making 11th Edition series,” you’ll see while I wasn’t correct in everything (and why should I have been? That article was written long before the announcement of M10 or the advent of M10 being 50% new cards), I did hit on several principles that Wizards apparently agreed with:
1) You can load up a lot more popular/powerful rares into the base set than they had previously been doing,
2) Planeswalkers are an excellent selling point for a set, and…
3) People like having some degree of Tribal creatures (though I still advocate the return of Slivers in a base set at some point).
I’ll be writing three articles over the next two weeks; two of them will deal with the financial value of M10 (this one, and one next Friday), and both of those articles will be Premium. I will also have another article, on the free side of the site, which will talk about the design of M10. In this particular article, I’ll be talking about the values of each of the Mythic Rares and regular Rares in this set, along with some of the prominent Uncommons and Commons. Next week’s financial values article will deal with how M10 affects the values of other cards (both those rotating out of 10th Edition, and those still remaining in Standard).
As with each of these articles, the spoiler information for this article is taken directly from MTGSalvation.com – all credit for card text goes to them, as does all blame if any of the cards were spoiled incorrectly. Considering how far in advance this set was spoiled, I’m fairly confident in the current spoilers. I’m 100% confident in the spoilers of any reprinted cards…
One quick note: M10 has the greatest collection of Mythics yet seen in a Magic set. Though many are reprints, M10 will be the litmus test of how the value of Mythics affects card values in general, versus sets that previously were completely just “Rare.” Should be an interesting exercise!
Key to this article:
** : Cards with ** before their name are reprints.
Starting Price: Our original presale price on this card, when presales went live on Monday.
Future Price: The price I believe this card will be a month from now (after people have had a chance to play with the card, and metagames are more firmly established).
Thoughts: My thoughts about this card.
Let’s get started, shall we?
MYTHICS
Starting Price:$15
Future Price: $20
Thoughts: Ajani was making his way to $20, before being reprinted as a Mythic in M10. However, G/W Tokens is going to be one of the tier-one (if not the-deck-to-beat) decks in Standard, and Ajani is a large part of that. A combination of Ajani Goldmane and Honor of the Pure (which curves much better around Spectral Procession than Glorious Anthem did) will ensure that there will be lots of 2/2 and 3/3 token creatures running around early in the game.
Baneslayer Angel – 3WW
Creature – Angel
Flying, first strike, lifelink, protection from Demons and from Dragons
5/5
Starting Price: $9.99
Future Price: $14.99
Thoughts: Mini-Akroma. Baneslayer Angel is just about as efficient as a finisher (or top-end creature) as you’re likely to see, even if the Protection From abilities are largely irrelevant. While some say that this is comparable (even unfavorably) to Battlegrace Angel, the first strike ability really makes a difference if you’re looking to win a race in the air. Yes, there is a lot of single-target removal out there right now. Baneslayer Angel, though, left unchecked, will end the game on its own, no support needed. It races on both ends.
Starting Price: $4.99
Future Price: $4.99
Thoughts: Without Dragonstorm in Standard, Bogardan Hellkite is more of a casual card, though it might pop up in ramp decks from time-to-time.
Starting Price: $3.99
Future Price: $4.99
Thoughts: I still believe that Chandra is an underrated Planeswalker, but I couldn’t tell you which deck Chandra might fit into that Chandra didn’t fit into previously. Will have value because it is a Planeswalker, even if it isn’t played.
Starting Price: $12.49
Future Price: $12.49
Thoughts: An iconic fatty, and a big boost to Master Transmuter, which already had some constructed applications. Combine this with Fabricate, and you’ve got the start of a plausible tier-two combo deck.
Starting Price: $14.99
Future Price: $9.99-$14.99?
Thoughts: The X-Box promo giveaway of Garruk will hurt the value of other versions of Garruk, since it is a “free” throw-in with a $10 Duels of the Planeswalker purchase. This pretty much caps the promo Garruk at $10, though people have shown that they are willing to pay more for non-foil versions of cards, if the promo is more widely distributed (see: Figure of Destiny, and several other release/prerelease cards). I don’t think that the M10 Garruk will drop to $10, but I would just keep in mind that you can get the foil promo version for that price, if you wish.
** Jace Beleren
Starting Price: $12.49
Future Price: $14.99
Thoughts: Dipped slightly since it’s being reprinted, but will rise again now that Jace is the best blue card-drawing card in Standard.
** Liliana Vess
Starting Price: $7.99
Future Price: $9.99
Thoughts: I expect Mono-Black Control (and/or Black/Red control) to be a strong contender in the new Standard, thanks to Tendrils of Corruption, Duress, Lightning Bolt, Haunting Echoes, Doom Blade, Mind Shatter, Thoughtseize, and Blightning all being around in the same Standard, at the same time. Liliana Vess has long been a fringe card in this sort of deck (showing up mostly in Death Cloud decks in Extended), but I think we’re about to see Liliana’s tutoring and discard ability put to good use in Standard.
Master of the Wild Hunt – 2GG
Creature – Human Shaman
At the beginning of your upkeep, put a 2/2 green Wolf creature token onto the battlefield.
Tap: Tap all untapped Wolf creatures you control. Each Wolf tapped this way deals damage equal to its power to target creature. That creature then deals damage equal to its power divided as its controller chooses among any number of those Wolves.
3/3
Starting Price: $5.99
Future Price: $7.49
Thoughts: Better than Creakwood Liege, and a rare Green removal spell. Mythic, so it should go up slightly in value, as people are currently valuing it as a rare, but the supply on good Mythics will dry up on the secondary market quickly.
Starting Price: $6.99
Future Price: $8.99
Thoughts: Will rise slightly in price as people realize that the Mythic version is around in shorter supply than the 10th Edition or Mirrodin versions.
Protean Hydra – XG
Creature – Hydra
Protean Hydra enters the battlefield with X +1/+1 counters on it.
If damage would be dealt to Protean Hydra, prevent that damage and remove that many +1/+1 counters from it.
Whenever a +1/+1 counter is removed from Protean Hydra, put two +1/+1 counters on it at the beginning of the end step.
0/0
Starting Price: $2.99
Future Price: $2.99
Thoughts: Feral Hydra and Ivy Elemental were fringe popular cards, and the Fungusaur ability is a fringe-popular casual ability. Combine the two, and you have a semi-bulk Mythic that will appeal enough to trade/sell well, but probably shouldn’t raise too much in value.
Sphinx Ambassador – 5UU
Creature – Sphinx
Flying
Whenever Sphinx Ambassador deals combat damage to a player, search that player’s library for a card, then that player names a card. If you searched for a creature card that isn’t the named card, you may put it onto the battlefield under your control. Then that player shuffles his or her library.
5/5
Starting Price: $2.49
Future Price: $1.99
Thoughts: Bulk Mythic. Costs too much to be playable, given the other options available in Standard (much less other formats).
** Time Warp
Starting Price: $2.99
Future Price: $4.99
Thoughts: Should hit $5, which is where Time Warp from other sets end up being when they are relevant. The question is – what deck plays this? Likely, it might be some sort of recursion deck in Extended; if so, look for this to rise higher than $5 if it does see play in that older format.
Vampire Nocturnus – 1BBB
Creature – Vampire
Play with the top card of your library revealed.
As long as the top card of your library is black, Vampire Nocturnus and other Vampire creatures you control get +2/+1 and have flying.
3/3
Starting Price: $2.49
Future Price: $3.99
Thoughts: The prerelease card, and that is the reason why the value on Vampire Nocturnus is currently $2.49 instead of $4-$5. It looks as if Wizards is going to make a big push for Vampire as a tribe (see the number of Vampires put into this set), and if that is the case, this will only go up in value as time goes on.
Xathrid Demon – 3BBB
Creature – Demon
Flying, trample
At the beginning of your upkeep, sacrifice a creature other than Xathrid Demon, then each opponent loses life equal to the sacrificed creature’s power. If you can’t sacrifice a creature, tap Xathrid Demon and you lose 7 life.
7/7
Starting Price: $2.49
Future Price: $4.99
Thoughts: A better version of Lord of the Pit, and a potential finisher for token decks that need to battle Ramp decks. This guy is pretty huge, and should appeal to casual players.
RARES
Ant Queen – 3GG
Creature – Insect
1G: Put a 1/1 green Insect creature token onto the battlefield.
5/5
Starting Price: $1.49
Future Price: $1.99
Thoughts: The release card, and a Sliver Queen that doesn’t produce Slivers (but Insects). Should appeal a lot to casual players. Might have applications in ramp decks.
Starting Price: $5.99
Future Price: $9.99
Thoughts: I think that people are used to Groundbreaker, which didn’t really have support in a Mono-Green deck, since Mono-Green A) wasn’t aggressive like Mono-Red, and B) couldn’t burn out blockers. Mono-Red, Black-Red and Green-Red burn decks are going to be all over Standard, and the potential to Bloodbraid Elf into Ball Lightning will push the value of Ball Lightning to the $10 range – not even counting the other great Red burn (Lightning Bolt, Earthquake) present in this set.
Starting Price: $12.49
Future Price: $12.49
Thoughts: It’s Birds of Paradise. Either you have them, or you don’t. If you don’t, they’ll pretty much run you this price, no matter what (non-ABU) set they are from.
Capricious Efreet – 4RR
Creature – Efreet
At the beginning of your upkeep, choose target nonland permanent you control and up to two nonland permanents you don’t control. Destroy one of them at random.
6/4
Starting Price: $0.99
Future Price: $0.69
Thoughts: Bulk Rare.
Captain of the Watch – 4WW
Creature – Human Soldier
Vigilance. Other Soldier creatures you control get +1/+1 and have vigilance.
When Captain of the Watch enters the battlefield, put three 1/1 white Soldier creature tokens onto the battlefield.
3/3
Starting Price: $3.99
Future Price: $5.99*
Thoughts: There has been a lot of experimentation with this in B/W and G/W token decks, and the jury is still out about whether those decks want to cap with Cloudgoat Ranger, or curve into Captain of the Watch… but early indications are that Captain of the Watch is where it’s at (since it pumps many of your other creatures – such as Cloudgoat Ranger tokens!). My only caveat is that after Lorwyn and Shadowmoor rotate out, and Spectral Procession, Cloudgoat Ranger, and Windbrisk Heights are gone, the enabling cards for token decks might quickly drop in price, as these decks fall from tier one. Keep this in mind as you decide whether you want to invest in Captain of the Watch.
Cemetery Reaper – 1BB
Creature – Zombie
Other Zombie creatures you control get +1/+1.
2B, Tap: Exile target creature card from a graveyard. Put a 2/2 black Zombie creature token onto the battlefield.
2/2
Starting Price: $2.49
Future Price: $3.99
Thoughts: See Lord of the Undead. A good, solid Zombie lord.
** Clone
Starting Price: $0.99
Future Price: $0.99
Thoughts: Clone has finally fallen into the bulk rare zone. It has less utility since Legendary Creatures were phased out of the base set.
** Coat of Arms
Starting Price: $6.99
Future Price: $6.99
Thoughts: Coat of Arms is as Coat of Arms does. I’m still surprised that these aren’t seeing play in the sideboards of Token decks for the non-mirror match. Maybe it will, if the curve goes Honor of the Pure / Spectral Procession / Ajani / Coat of Arms / Captain of the Watch, forgoing Cloudgoat Ranger.
Djinn of Wishes – 3UU
Creature – Djinn
Flying
Djinn of Wishes enters the battlefield with three wish counters on it.
2UU, Remove a wish counter from Djinn of Wishes: Reveal the top card of your library. You may play that card without paying its mana cost. If you don’t, exile it.
4/4
Starting Price: $1.49
Future Price: $0.99
Thoughts: Blue got a big kick in the pants in this set, and given how much targeted removal is around, Djinn of Wishes probably won’t survive past a first wish. Unlike Baneslayer Angel, even if it does stick around, it doesn’t guarantee a win on a board with parity, since the three cards you turn up might all be trash (versus a ten-life swing a turn with the Angel).
Dragonskull Summit
Land
Dragonskull Summit enters the battlefield tapped unless you control a Swamp or a Mountain.
Tap: Add B or R to your mana pool.
Starting Price: $6.99
Future Price: $9.99*
Thoughts: Once Lorwyn block rotates, the Tri-Lands from Shards of Alara and this cycle of lands will be the main mana-fixing in Standard…give or take what shows up in Zendikar. The star is because of Zendikar – if the mana fixing there isn’t particularly strong, these guys will hold the $10-$12 price range. If the Zendikar mana fixing is good, I expect these to drop down to pain-land range ($4-$6 each).
Drowned Catacomb
Land
Drowned Catacomb enters the battlefield tapped unless you control a Island or Swamp.
Tap: Add U or B to your mana pool.
Starting Price: $6.99
Future Price: $10.99*
Thoughts: See Dragonskull Summit. The U/B dual is traditionally the one that holds the most value, followed by U/W, G/R, and a tie (at the bottom) between B/R and G/W in allied-color configurations. This might change considering that B/R and G/W are likely better Standard decks right now than U/B, or U/W.
** Earthquake
Starting Price: $1.99
Future Price: $2.99
Thoughts: Currently undervalued. This has strong value against token decks, kills Planeswalkers plus creatures on the ground, and can act as a finisher/clearer for ramp decks. Pick these up now; if they weren’t printed in several other sets in the past, they would likely hit the $5 range.
Elvish Archdruid – 1GG
Creature – Elf Druid
Other Elf creatures you control get +1/+1.
Tap: Add G to your mana pool for each Elf you control.
2/2
Starting Price: $4.99
Future Price: $7.49
Thoughts: Priest of Titania is a solid-selling $4 COMMON. Elvish Champion and Imperious Perfect? $5 and $2.50, respectively. What happens when you merge the +1/+1 with the ability to ramp mana to ridiculous levels? You get Elvish Archdruid, which is low at $5 right now, and will quickly climb in value. Get them while they are cheap – they will potentially be the card that keeps Glimpse of Nature decks viable in Extended post-Birchlore Ranger rotation.
** Elvish Piper
Starting Price: $4.99
Future Price: $4.99
Thoughts: Hovers in the $4-$6 range, depending on stock. I started it in the middle, and it should continue to hover there for the foreseeable future.
Gargoyle Castle
Land
Tap: Add 1 to your mana pool.
5, Tap, Sacrifice Gargoyle Castle: Put a 3/4 colorless Gargoyle artifact creature token with flying onto the battlefield.
Starting Price: $1.49
Future Price: $1.99
Thoughts: Should be a solid finisher for control. Probably not a four-of, but should have constructed applications, especially given how much Wizards has nerfed Land Destruction.
Glacial Fortress
Land
Glacial Fortress enters the battlefield tapped unless you control a Plains or an Island.
Tap: Add W or U to your mana pool.
Starting Price: $6.99
Future Price: $10.99*
Thoughts: See the other dual lands, Above.
Goblin Chieftain – 1RR
Creature – Goblin
Haste
Other Goblin creatures you control get +1/+1 and have haste.
2/2
Starting Price: $3.99
Future Price: $6.99
Thoughts: Extremely undervalued. The better ability on Goblin Warchief with the better ability on Goblin King. People are undervaluing Siege-Gang Commander right now because of “Stacking damage” changes, but Goblin Chieftain + Siege-Gang Commander = nine points of hasty damage that can throw at the opponent’s head for eight more damage. That’s pretty huge, and it curves well. Also good in Extended, and possibly playable in Legacy as well.
Great Sable Stag – 1GG
Creature – Elk
Great Sable Stag can’t be countered. Protection from blue and from black.
3/3
Starting Price: $4.99
Future Price: $3.99 or $7.49
Thoughts: I’m split on this card; on one hand, it dies to Lightning Bolt (which will be everywhere) and Path to Exile. On the other hand, it destroys Faeries (which might not be a tier one deck at this point, because of how hard Aggro was pushed), and it’ll be good if/when Black-based control decks emerge as a force. I’d tend to think this will fall in the Paladin en-Vec range ($3-$5), and not in the “chase rare” range, when all is said and done… but I can see a world where this ends up being a mini-Chameleon Colossus ($7.50 instead of $10).
Guardian Seraph – 2WW
Creature – Angel
Flying. If a source an opponent controls would deal damage to you, prevent 1 of that damage.
3/4
Starting Price: $2.49
Future Price: $2.99
Thoughts: Great against Red burn decks (or even red Aggro decks), and large enough to avoid a Lightning Bolt (If not a Flame Javelin). Relevant as a sideboard card, since Story Circle got the axe, and Forge[/author]-Tender”]Burrenton [author name="Forge"]Forge[/author]-Tender is going away soon.
Starting Price: $5.99
Future Price: $9.99
Thoughts: Very undervalued right now. This was a solid $10-$12 card when it was previously Standard-legal – and it shouldn’t be at half that price right now, given that it has a place in a deck (Black-based control) that is a contender.
Hive Mind – 5U
Enchantment
Whenever a player casts an instant or sorcery spell, each other player copies that spell. Each of those players may choose new targets for his or her copy.
Starting Price: $0.99
Future Price: $0.59
Thoughts: El rare de bulk.
Honor of the Pure – 1W
Enchantment
White creatures you control get +1/+1.
Starting Price: $4.99
Future Price: $9.99*
Thoughts: Simply insane, given the current metagame where White-based Kithkin, and White-based token decks are already in the upper-tiers of competition. This curves better than Glorious Anthem, and fits right into decks that already were doing well. The * is because of the upcoming rotation of Lorwyn block later this year, and because Honor of the Pure is a promotional card given out for people who buy booster boxes at their local stores… but with that said, this is an absolute monster, and it makes previously tier 1.5 and tier 2 decks into the dominant decks in the current Standard format.
** Howling Mine
Starting Price: $3.99
Future Price: $4.99
Thoughts: Started low, will go up to $5 shortly.
Starting Price: $3.99
Future Price: $3.99
Thoughts: Will Hypnotic Specter finally find a place in Standard? The answer is probably no, but it’ll still be sought after as a popular card with people who once played it, or like frustrating opponents at the casual table.
Indestructibility – 3W
Enchantment – Aura
Enchant permanent
Enchanted permanent is indestructible.
Starting Price: $0.99
Future Price: $0.59
Thoughts: Bulk Rare
Kalonian Behemoth – 5GG
Creature – Beast
Shroud
9/9
Starting Price: $1.25
Future Price: $0.99
Thoughts: Big fatty, but doesn’t trample. Bulk rarish.
Lightwielder Paladin – 3WW
Creature – Human Knight
First strike. Whenever Lightwielder Paladin deals combat damage to a player, you may exile target black or red permanent that player controls.
4/4
Starting Price: $0.99
Future Price: $0.59
Thoughts: Bulk Rare.
Lurking Predators – 4GG
Enchantment
Whenever an opponent casts a spell, reveal the top card of your library. If it’s a creature card, put it onto the battlefield. Otherwise, you may put that card on the bottom of your library.
Starting Price: $0.99
Future Price: $0.59
Thoughts: Bulk Rare
Magebane Armor – 3
Artifact – Equipment
Equipped creature gets +2/+4 and loses flying.
Prevent all noncombat damage that would be dealt to equipped creature.
Equip 2
Starting Price: $0.99
Future Price: $0.59
Thoughts: Bulk Rare
Magma Phoenix – 3RR
Creature – Phoenix
Flying. When Magma Phoenix is put into a graveyard from the battlefield, it deals 3 damage to each creature and each player.
3RR : Return Magma Phoenix from your graveyard to your hand.
3/3
Starting Price: $1.49
Future Price: $1.99
Thoughts: I know there are quite a few people who are high on this card (Ken Adams is one of them), but I just don’t see where this fits. Ramp decks often don’t want to take a mandatory three damage when trying to stabilize, and there are better choices if you’re going aggro (Siege-Gang Commander, for instance). Also, there are a couple of relevant Exile effects going on (Path to Exile foremost among them, but also Oblivion Ring and Unmake), so there’s no guarantee that Magma Phoenix will even recur. You’ll hear this a lot … but Baneslayer Angel is the new Standard for a five-drop finisher.
** Manabarbs
Starting Price: $0.99
Future Price: $1.99*
Thoughts: Always goes up around Nationals time, when people realize it crushes mid-range, control and ramp decks. Then it drops down for a year, and goes back up the year afterwards. It’s a strange cycle, but this has been one of the best-selling U.S. Nationals cards for two-years running now. It’s amazing how quickly it is forgotten afterwards.
Merfolk Sovereign – 1UU
Creature – Merfolk
Other Merfolk creatures you control get +1/+1.
Tap: Target Merfolk creature is unblockable this turn.
2/2
Starting Price: $1.99
Future Price: $2.99
Thoughts: Another Merfolk Lord, but not as impressive as the Reejerey, or Lord of Atlantis. Still, it’s a tribe that needs help, so this’ll be sought after by casual players.
Starting Price: $0.99
Future Price: $0.59
Thoughts: Bulk Rare.
Starting Price: $1.49
Future Price: $0.99
Thoughts: Bulk Rare, and probably should have been phased out of the base set. Put this out of its misery for M11, please.
** Mind Shatter
Starting Price: $1.99
Future Price: $2.49
Thoughts: Mind Shatter should see play in Black-Based control decks, so it will likely be more used the second-time around than the first-time out.
** Mind Spring
Starting Price: $0.99
Future Price: $0.99
Thoughts: It’s a shame that this card never really lived up to any potential, but I don’t see it being a player in the new Standard; and it hasn’t found a place in Extended at all.
Mirror of Fate – 5
Artifact
Tap, Sacrifice Mirror of Fate: Choose up to seven face-up exiled cards you own. Exile all the cards from your library, then put the chosen cards on top of your library.
Starting Price: $0.99
Future Price: $0.59
Thoughts: Bulk Rare.
** Nightmare
Starting Price: $1.99
Future Price: $1.49
Thoughts: Mostly a bulk rare, but of interest to casual players.
Open the Vaults – 4WW
Sorcery
Return all artifact and enchantment cards from all graveyards to the battlefield under their owners’ control.
Starting Price: $0.99
Future Price: $1.99*
Thoughts: I’d pick these up while they are cheap, because this is the type of card that either ends up being a big-time bulk rare, or ends up exploding in price as it is broken in half, and dominates because the Replenish effect is ridiculous. For a $1-$2 investment per-card, it’s better to be safe than sorry.
Starting Price: $13.99
Future Price: $14.99
Thoughts: Pithing Needle does what Pithing Needle needs to do – and people will want to hunt it down for the new wording, which is kind-of cool.
Planar Cleansing – 3WWW
Sorcery
Destroy all nonland permanents.
Starting Price: $1.99
Future Price: $2.99
Thoughts: After the shock of seeing Wrath of God vanish from Standard has worn off, people will look at this as a Wrath alternative, and realize it’s quite good against Token-based decks, since it takes out enchantments, planeswalkers, and creatures. It’s kind-of pricy, and it doesn’t cycle (hello Akroma’s Vengeance), but it has a place in the current Standard metagame.
** Polymorph
Starting Price: $0.99
Future Price: $0.59
Thoughts: Bulk Rare, though someone will try Polymorphing Progenitus and Darksteel Colossus into play.
Rootbound Crag
Land
Rootbound Crag enters the battlefield tapped unless you control a Mountain or a Forest.
Tap: Add R or G to your mana pool.
Starting Price: $6.99
Future Price: $9.99*
Thoughts: See above, for dual land price thoughts.
Starting Price: $3.99
Future Price: $3.99
Thoughts: A casual staple, and steady in value even after all these years.
Sanguine Bond – 3BB
Enchantment
Whenever you gain life, target opponent loses that much life.
Starting Price: $0.99
Future Price: $0.99
Thoughts: Will be of interest to casual players, but doesn’t really have tournament applications, yet – unless you think of playing a B/W deck where you effectively give any of your lifelink creatures double-strike (think Baneslayer Angel or Battlegrace Angel)
Starting Price: $1.99
Future Price: $0.99
Thoughts: I think that Shivan Dragon has finally seen the last of its days as an iconic creature, and is now relegated to the bulk bin. There are better dragons out there at this point, and he’s been outclassed (much like Baneslayer Angel clearly outclasses Serra Angel).
Starting Price: $5.99
Future Price: $8.99
Thoughts: Currently undervalued. It’s going to be played heavily in the new Standard (Ramp decks, Red-based control decks, Red-based burn decks, and Goblin decks), and people are mentally devaluing it because of the new damage-on-the-stack tricks. However, compare this to Cloudgoat Ranger, or Captain of the Watch – you get the same number of creatures, but they are all Shocks, and not just dumb dorks that can attack. That is big, and considering you can drop this, untap, and burn someone out is huge. Get them now, because these were peaking at $10 last Standard season (pre-PTQ season).
Silence – W
Instant
Your opponents can’t cast spells this turn.
Starting Price: $7.99
Future Price: $12.49
Thoughts: A huge, needed spell to replace Orim’s Chant for combo decks (both to disrupt them, and to allow them to go off undisturbed). Better than Orim’s Chant in multi-player games, since it lets you go off against a table full of players. The “Creatures can’t attack” clause is irrelevantly missing, given what you want this card to do (allow you to disrupt/enable combo decks).
Sunpetal Grove
Land
Sunpetal Grove enters the battlefield tapped unless you control a Forest or Plains.
Tap: Add G or W to your mana pool.
Starting Price: $6.99
Future Price: $9.99*
Thoughts: See dual lands, above.
** Traumatize
Starting Price: $5.99
Future Price: $5.99
Thoughts: Combo this with Haunting Echoes for all sorts of blast from the past fun! A casual staple.
** Twincast
Starting Price: $6.99
Future Price: $5.99
Thoughts: Will drop slightly in value, as Sanity Grinding decks aren’t quite as good in a metagame filled with discard and burn.
Starting Price: $3.49
Future Price: $2.99
Thoughts: I think the market has finally seen the saturation point of Underworld Dreams, and the price will finally start dropping a bit, from the $4 it’s previously enjoyed, to the $2.50 – $3 range.
** Warp World
Starting Price: $0.99
Future Price: $0.59
Thoughts: Bulk Rare.
UNCOMMONS
Acidic Slime – A good utility creature. ($0.49 start, potential to hit $0.99)
Act of Treason – Threaten, under a different name ($0.49)
** Black Knight – Great artwork, iconic creature, good in the current Standard metagame ($0.99)
** Celestial Purge – $0.99 to start, may drop to $0.75 or $0.50 because of market saturation,
having been printed twice this closely together.
** Deathmark – Simply the most efficient removal spell if you want to kill a Green or White creature ($0.99)
** Diabolic Tutor – Hopefully still with the 10th Edition artwork. Mono-Black control will be a player in the new Standard, and this might see tournament play, in addition to casual play ($1.49-$1.99)
** Dragon’s Claw – Mono-Red will also be a big player in both Standard and Extended; this is built to combat burn decks ($0.75 start, $0.99 if Red Deck Wins a lot).
Elite Vanguard – Savannah Lions, as an Uncommon ($0.99 start, potential to hit $1.49 – $1.99 once Lorwyn block rotates, and White Weenie decks aren’t all about tokens)
** Fabricate – A casual staple – and potentially a card that might make Esper a decent choice for Standard ($0.99)
** Flashfreeze – See Deathmark, especially now that good countermagic is going to be at a huge premium ($0.99).
Harm’s Way – The White Shock, but better. This can often two-for-one an opponent, and it completely messes up combat math. Currently underpriced – should be good enough to see main-deck play ($0.49 start, I see this landing at about $0.99, with a ceiling of $1.49)
** Megrim – A casual favorite ($0.99).
Nature’s Spiral – A “fixed” Regrowth, but try as we may, we can’t shake that you really want to get back Instants and Sorceries with Regrowth effects ($0.99 to start, $0.49 later on).
** Ornithopter – For Affinity, and casual players. ($0.99)
** Overrun – G/W tokens is going to be the #1 deck in Standard come Nationals – Overrun is a key part of making that deck great. ($1.99)
** Pyroclasm – Now appearing again, competing with Volcanic Fallout ($1.99)
** Relentless Rats – The need to have dozens of these for an effective Relentless Rats deck keeps the value afloat ($2.99).
Wall of Frost – An effective anti-aggro tool. Wizards is pushing the power level of Walls, and this one is quite good against Red aggressive decks. ($0.49)
** Whispersilk Cloak – Big with the casual crowd ($0.99).
Wildstorm – A fixed Hurricane – should be good as an anti-B/W tokens tool (though G/W tokens, with more ground-pounders, is the better deck right now). ($0.49)
COMMONS
Burning Inquiry – Part Goblin Lore, part Ideas Unbound. Might have potential – worth picking up a foil playset early, if you’re into combo decks and the such. ($0.25)
Doom Blade – A better Terror, which was bounded by a $0.49 price because it was printed in so many sets. I can see this hitting the $0.99 range, once the initial rush of opening M10 has stopped, and the supply starts drying up. ($0.49 start, potential to hit $0.99 six months down the road).
** Duress – Starting at $0.99, but a huge re-addition to Extended. B/R control and Mono-Black control are going to be strong decks in the new Standard. This will probably hit the $1.49 range come Extended season, with the potential to climb back to the $1.99 range (which is ridiculous for a common, but might not be unprecedented even within this set!) come January. ($0.99 start, $1.99 ceiling)
** Elvish Visionary – A solid $0.25 common, with a $1+ foil version. ($0.25)
Essence Scatter – The new Remove Soul, but under a different name. Should see a decent amount of play, given the lack of other counter-options, and the further move towards creature-based decks. ($0.49).
Ice Cage – The Blue Pacifism. Might be in the $0.25-$0.49 range, depending if there are creatures that are capable of easily targeting other creatures (versus having to waste your own targeting spells to get rid of Ice Cage). ($0.25-$0.49).
** Lightning Bolt – The iconic Red burn spell. Starts at $0.99, only goes up from there. Will be huge in Extended, where mono-Red burn was already a contender. ($0.99 start, $1.99 ceiling come Extended season).
** Llanowar Elves – Elves are Elves. Black-Bordered Elves have sold through for us at $0.99 – I don’t see this time around being any different. ($0.99)
** Naturalize – The staple Disenchant effect ($0.25).
** Negate – Ended up at the $0.50 range towards the end of Morningtide’s stay in Standard, and should stay at the $0.50 range. ($0.49)
** Ponder – Will start down a little because it is being reprinted, but should hit back to the $0.75-$0.99 range in no-time flat. One of the best Blue spells in Standard, come the Lorwyn-Block rotation. ($0.50 start, $0.99 ceiling).
** Rampant Growth – Ramp will need acceleration, and this is one of the best. A staple ($0.25).
Sign in Blood – This is a targeted Night’s Whisper that is slightly harder to cast. It’ll likely end up in the $0.49 range. ($0.49)
** Soul Warden – Originally a Common in Exodus, and moved to Uncommon for 9th and 10th Edition. Now a common again – starting it at $0.25, but I anticipate it will end up in the $0.49 range. ($0.25 – $0.49 ceiling).
** Tendrils of Corruption – Starting at $0.25, but should hit $0.49, as I anticipate Mono-Black control being a deck with legs. It hit $0.75 when Urborg was around, during Time Spiral times. ($0.25 start, $0.49 ceiling).
** Terramorphic Expanse – Mana fixing on-the-cheap ($0.49, and one of the few good multi-purpose shuffle effects around, with another purpose).
Vampire Aristocrat – Phyrexian Ghoul/Nantuko Husk, but in a more palatable tribe. ($0.25 start, $0.49 ceiling).
See you all in seven days for part two of this series, where I examine the effects M10 has on the other cards in Standard (and elsewhere in Magic). See you then!