Hello everyone, and welcome back to Insider Trading! In this week’s article: a look at the older Super-Uncommons in Magic. Yeah, we’ll pay a visit to Force of Will in a few paragraphs – because if there’s a list of Super Uncommons (those Uncommons which have risen to the price level of mid-range chase rares), it’ll be the dual pair of Mana Drain and Force of Will (the Super Uncommons that all other Super Uncommons wish they could be).
But before we get to the list, three quick notes:
1) I will be talking, in-depth, about Magic Core Set: 2010 (or secret agent M10) next week,
2) I promise I haven’t forgotten about the Grand Prix article; it’s just a lot of research, and I’ll get that one written when I can do justice to the concept, and
3) The $5,000 Standard Open in Richmond had a whopping 326 Players! And surprise, surprise, what card was being played quite a bit?
First Place: Esperlark (3x Path to Exile Main, 1x Path to Exile Sideboard)
Third Place: R/W Kithkin (3x Path to Exile Main)
Fifth Place: G/W Planeswalker (4x Path to Exile Main)
Seventh Place: Five-Color Control (1x Path to Exile Main)
Top 8: 10x Path to Exile Main, 1x Path to Exile Sideboard
Ninth Place: White Weenie (2x Path to Exile Main, 2x Path to Exile Sideboard)
Tenth Place: R/W Kithkin (1x Path to Exile Sideboard)
Thirteenth Place: Boat Brew (4x Path to Exile Main)
Sixteenth Place: Five-Color Control (2x Path to Exile Main, 1x Path to Exile Sideboard)
9th-16th: 9x Path to Exile Main, 3x Path to Exile Sideboard
Total (Top 16): 19x Path to Exile Main, 4x Path to Exile Sideboard
Played in: 5 Archetypes (Esperlark, Kithkin, G/W Planeswalker, FIve-Color Control, Boat Brew)
And this is just the beginning of the amount of play Path to Exile should see over the upcoming nearly-two years it will be around in Standard. Again; pick them up now before the current just-released set supply dries up, and the price on them starts rising.
And now, on to this week’s main show! In last week’s article I included the Start/High/Current price for all of the Uncommons. In this week’s article, I’m only including High and Current – StarCityGames.com shopping cart doesn’t track back before around Invasion-time, so I can’t give an accurate start price for set releases pre-2001!
Mercadian Masques/Nemesis/Prophecy
Story Circle (Mercadian Masques) (High: $5/Current: $2.50): Story Circle has been reprinted in 8th, 9th and 10th Edition, each time as a Rare. Had it only appeared once, it might have been higher. Since this is the most common version of the card, it is the lowest priced of the three.
Urza’s Saga/Urza’s Legacy/Urza’s Destiny
Engineered Plague (Urza’s Legacy) (High: $3/Current: $3): If Engineered Plague were currently Standard or Extended legal (it rotated out of Extended with 7th Edition), I think it would have hit Super Uncommon status – it would have wrecked Elves, Faeries, and been a pretty big hit against Kithkin. However, it isn’t around now, so this is all speculation.
Faerie Conclave (Urza’s Legacy) (High: $4/Current: $3): During the height of Landstill being the big dawg in Legacy, Faerie Conclave hit its height. Nowadays, it’s mainly a 2-3 of in some builds of Faeries.
*Goblin Lackey (Urza’s Saga) (High: $15/Current: $12.50): The first Super Uncommon in this week’s article. Goblin Lackey is so good, it got banned out of Extended. It’s the lynchpin of the dominant Goblin decks whenever it’s been legal.
*Mother of Runes (Urza’s Legacy) (High: $4/Current: $4): Goes up every year, as it’s the most efficient creature at doing what it does (protecting your other creatures from getting killed).
*Tinker (Urza’s Legacy) (High: $4/Current: $4): Another card banned in multiple formats due to power level. One of the most powerful cards in Magic’s history (likely in the top 50), and would be a $10 Uncommon if it were legal as anything other than a one-of in Vintage.
*Treetop Village (Urza’s Legacy) (High: $5/Current: $4): Why is Treetop Village a Super Uncommon, whereas Faerie Conclave is not? Treetop Village is simply more playable in a wide-variety of Green decks (that want to tap out to attack) versus Faerie Conclave (which requires a Blue player to tap down three lands to attack).
*Voltaic Key (Urza’s Saga) (High: $6/Current: $4): Reached its height during the days of the Tolarian Academy deck. Currently having an increase in value due to the errata given to Time Vault… and the fact that Voltaic Key is no longer restricted in Vintage.
Tempest/Stronghold/Exodus
*Ancient Tomb (Tempest) (High: $6/Current: $6): As we go back in time, you’ll find that some of the Uncommons on this list are Super Uncommons that are of a power level that would not be printed nowadays. Ancient Tomb is one of those – Wizards shies away from lands that produce more than one mana with minimal drawbacks, and so as time goes on, there likely won’t be newer cards printed that obsolete/drop the value of some of the older cards. This is why, someday, Mother of Runes might not break the $10 barrier (because Forge[/author]-Tender”]Burrenton [author name="Forge"]Forge[/author]-Tender comes close to being enough of Mother of Runes to make Mother of Runes not the only option).
*Crystalline Sliver (Stronghold) (High: $7.50/Current: $7): Crystalline Sliver might not have been a $7 Uncommon if the original FNM Crystalline Slivers hadn’t been stolen, and left out of distribution (until a re-release on the GP Circuit last year); the extra circulation of Crystalline Slivers may have brought the price down to the $5 range. However, there weren’t nearly enough foil Crystalline Slivers released to repress the price of the non-foil one, so Crystalline Sliver continues to rise in value (towards its counter-Sliver high of $7.50)
Jackal Pup (Tempest) (High: $4/Current: $1.50): Once upon a time, Jackal Pup was considered the be-all-end-all of one-drop Red creatures, the “power level that Red creatures could never hope to attain again” or somesuch. Nowadays, I’m not sure that a 2/1 Goblin for R with no drawbacks would even see much play, because there are so many other good alternatives (Mogg Fanatic, Figure of Destiny, and Kird Ape spring to mind) that the power-level of aggressive creatures has passed Jackal Pup.
Price of Progress (Exodus) (High: $3/Current: $3): A rising star. Legacy gets more and more popular, and the ability to deal 6-10 damage early in the game is undeniably powerful. Might end up being a Super Uncommon if I revisit this list in a couple of years.
Propaganda (Tempest) (High: $3/Current: $3): Would likely be a $5 card if Ghostly Prison weren’t printed. However, Ghostly Prison and Propaganda take enough of the weight off of one-another that neither of them is prohibitively expensive.
*Reanimate (Tempest)(High: $5/Current: $4): Arguably one of the most powerful single-target reanimation spells ever printed. Comes at a steady price in life, but a key part of Reanimation in Extended, for a long time.
*Wall of Blossoms (Stronghold) (High: $5/Current: $3): Green gets all the best two-mana walls – Wall of Blossoms, Wall of Roots, and Vine Trellis. This is one of the most powerful comes-into-play-and-you-draw-a-card creatures of all time, as the four-toughness stopped many aggressive decks in their tracks. This is also a card that was a fan favorite, and many would love to see get reprinted down the road – and it isn’t so powerful that reprinting it would be out of the question, if you wanted to push Magic in that direction.
*Wasteland (Tempest) (High: $15/Current: $12.50): The first Super Uncommon on this list that is an auto-include in any collection. Yes, many of the other cards are playable in multiple decks, or are extremely powerful. Wasteland is the first card I’ve listed that can be played pretty much in any deck, regardless of color, and do what it’s supposed to do – destroy lands. It’s unlikely we’ll ever see any land destruction this powerful again (Ghost Quarter is about as far as Wizards will push this mechanic over the past decade), and Wasteland is likely going to rise to Force of Will-levels of value as Legacy becomes more and more popular.
Mirage/Visions/Weatherlight
* Buried Alive (Weatherlight) (High: $4/Current: $4): See last week’s article, under Odyssey block.
*Enlightened Tutor (Mirage) (High: $6/Current: $6): One of the best tutors of all time.
*Gemstone Mine (Weatherlight) (High: $7/Current: $4): For a long time, Gemstone Mine was considered one of the best budget choices for a five-color land, because most of the other ones were Rare (City of Brass, Undiscovered Paradise) and more expensive. Then, the supply soaked up, and it was reprinted as a Timeshift (Rare). Its price spiked the second time around, and has come down some since – but it is still very popular.
*Mystical Tutor (Mirage) (High: $5/Current: $5): See Enlightened Tutor. All right, I’ll say a little more – Mystical Tutor gets Yawgmoth’s Will in Vintage, but doesn’t get as many good things as Enlightened Tutor does in Legacy (where both tutors are unrestricted). Therefore, Enlightened Tutor (the four-of in a silver bullet deck) is more expensive than Mystical Tutor (the more powerful card in a format with restricted, rather than banned, cards).
Ice Age/Alliances/Coldsnap/Homelands
*Counterbalance (Coldsnap) (High: $4/Current: $4): Got Sensei’s Divining Top banned in Extended, and is currently the front-running dominant deck in Legacy. A reusable counterspell is a ridiculously powerful effect.
*Elvish Spirit Guide (Alliances) (High: $6/Current: $5): I had thought that the printing of Simian Spirit Guide would lower the demand on Elvish Spirit Guide, because in many cases, they are functionally identical (you want to add one extra mana to your pool early). However, Elvish Spirit Guide continues to sell out for us at $5, and likely will hit $6 again before the end of the year.
*Force of Will (Alliances) (High: $30/Current: $27.50): Force of Will has been called the glue that holds together Vintage, since it keeps any one first-turn kill deck from being completely degenerate. Either way, Force of Will has been the poster child of expensive Uncommons, and the forefather of other cards on this list. I don’t include Mana Drain on this list, because pre-The Dark sets were so short printed, that a lot of their value is as much due to availability as power level. Force of Will is out there in huge quantities (the print run on Alliances was pretty high).
Of the 43 sets that I cover in these two Super Uncommon articles, here are the ten most valuable cards (every expansion set from Ice Age through Conflux):
1) Tarmogoyf ($35) – Rare, Future Sight
2-TIE) Elspeth, Knight-Errant ($30) – Mythic, Shards of Alara
2-TIE) Grindstone ($30) – Rare, Tempest
2-TIE) Phyrexian Dreadnought ($30) – Rare, Mirage
2- TIE) Reflecting Pool ($30) – Rare, Tempest (the Shadowmoor Version is $25)
2- TIE) Sliver Queen ($30) – Rare, Stronghold
7- TIE) Force of Will ($27.50) – Uncommon, Alliances
7- TIE) Mox Diamond ($27.50) – Rare, Stronghold
7- TIE) Tolarian Academy ($27.50) – Rare, Urza’s Saga
10 – TIE) Several cards at $25 (Flooded Strand, Gaea’s Cradle, Grindstone, Polluted Delta, Thoughtseize)
It’s amazing to me that an Uncommon (Force of Will) is worth so much, and that most would agree that it has a higher ceiling if Legacy gets pushed heavily by Wizards (I would say $35-$40 if Legacy was more than just a Grand Prix a year, easily).
The value of every Rare in Alliances: $49.50
The value of Force of Will: $27.50
The four chase rares in Alliances don’t even add up to the value of a single Force of Will:
Lake of the Dead: $7
Kjeldoran Outpost: $5
Thawing Glaciers: $5
Helm of Obedience: $4
Total: $21.00
In fact, if someone offered to trade me four sets of Alliances that were only missing Force of Will in exchange for four Force of Will, I would likely turn down that trade.
*Pyroclasm (Ice Age) (High: $4/Current: $3): Pyroclasm has been printed more times than any other Uncommon on this list so far – Ice Age, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, Deckmasters, and Portal I – but still maintains a $2.50-$3 value across sets. That is the sign of a Super Uncommon – no matter how many times it’s reprinted, the value remains steady. Speaking of which, the card which inspired this list, and is appropriately last-but-not-least:
*Swords to Plowshares (Ice Age) (High: $5.50/Current $4): Printed in Alpha, Beta, Unlimited, 3rd, 4th, Ice Age, Anthologies, battle Royale, Coldsnap Theme Decks, and as a Promo card. Swords go for $4-$5 depending on the season, and have not dropped in price in years – in fact, they only go up in price. And this is where I see Path to Exile years from now – the one-mana White staple that is played in Vintage, Legacy and Extended, alongside, or in place of, Swords to Plowshares.
And this is where I end my list of Super Uncommons! There are plenty of other sets I haven’t covered (the Base sets, the older more-rare sets such as Legends, Antiquities, Arabian Nights, and the beginner level sets such as Portal 1,2,3 and Starter 99), but many of those sets have card values based on rarity (as in hard-to-find) as much as playability. Maybe I’ll take a look at them in another article some time from now – but I’m happy to end the list on the high note of Force of Will and Swords to Plowshares, with all the other Uncommon love wedged in-between.
Ben