Hey everyone! We’re in for a treat with the Financial Analysis of Lorwyn — the entire set was spoiled at the beginning of this week on MTGSalvation.com. The spoiler came from an early shipment of Scrye magazines hitting the newsstands, so chances are that all wordings on the cards from Lorwyn at the spoiler on MTGSalvation are correct and final. With that in mind, and with complete information about all 301 cards in Lorwyn, I am able to paint a picture of the entire set at once without hidden cards/incorrect texts coming out at the prerelease itself.
I’m going to break up the sections in this article by color. I’ll give my thoughts about which rares are worth picking up, which are not, and which cards you should look for in foil (in the case of Uncommons or Rares). Sections will be divided into cards that I feel are worth picking up now, cards I feel should be traded while their value is high, cards that might go up in value but are a little more iffy, bulk rares (don’t touch these!), and good commons/uncommons (so you can fill out your playsets or get foils). On with the show!
White
Get These:
Hoofprint of the Stag ($1-$2): This card is being undervalued right now, because people don’t understand just how good it is. There are cards that turn one resource into another — such as Pursuit of Knowledge changing a draw phase into a one-sided draw-seven spell for three investments. Hoofprint of the Stag is not one of these types of cards! Your only investment is a second turn Hoofprint of the Stag itself. After that, each draw you make during the course of the game contributes to the Hoofprint’s growth. With no assistance, you can turn your three draw phases into a 4/4 flying creature on turn 5. With a typical Blue/White deck, you’re going to be doing things like casting Careful Consideration on turn 4 (to put four extra counters on Hoofprint of the Stag), and then making two 4/4 flying creatures on turn 5. This card is made for Blue/White, and has the potential to be the finisher for that deck since it makes creatures that are large enough to matter based on a strategy that you’re already playing.
Militia’s Pride ($1-$2): What really surprises me about Lorwyn is just how many cards are being undervalued right now. Take Militia’s Pride, for instance. For a weenie deck, you get the ability to add 1/1 creatures to your attack for every non-token creature you attack with. Note this again — you don’t just put 1/1 creatures into play. You put them into play attacking. Ability to swarm with a spell like this is significant. This suffers from the same problem as Favor of the Mighty, below — there are cards that have been similar to it before that have been stinkers, so people are dismissing it as “just another card like a bad one we’ve seen before” — that that is not the case here.
Thoughtweft Trio ($3-$5): The Champion mechanic is a lot like gating from Planeshift, except that you are removing a creature from the game instead of bouncing it to your hand. Except for comes-into-play abilities, their goal (putting a large creature into play at a discounted mana cost) is identical. Functionally, you don’t get to replay a championed creature like you get to replay a gated creature — but you also immediately have a creature in play after a removal spell, as opposed to having to replay a creature. So which Gating creatures got played the first time around? Cavern Harpy (as a combo creature in Aluren), and Shivan Wurm (7/7 trample for five mana). Some gaters that did not get played were Silver Drake (3/3 flyer for 3) and Horned Kavu (3/4 for 2). In short, gating was pretty much a failure. Will champion-an-X be any better? Lorwyn is geared a lot more towards getting early creatures out for a later gater (unlike Horned Kavu, which didn’t really have any good one-drops to return), and a 5/5 first-striking, vigilant creature for four mana is absolutely back-breaking in an aggro-on-aggro match. This is big enough to make a difference if your Kithkin deck is facing down a Goblin deck, so yes, Thoughtweft Trio will be one of the good Champion cards.
Trade These Away:
Ajani Goldmane ($3-$5): Are Planeswalkers any good? As with any new mechanic, it’s impossible to say without actually playing with them. My thoughts are that yes, Planeswalkers are good cards and will see a lot of tournament play. Planeswalkers will also be held at a premium at the prerelease, because they are such a new concept compared to other cards. Ironically, the Planeswalkers that are currently being valued the highest and the ones that are currently being valued the lowest are in inverse proportion to how I feel their final value will end up.
Compare Ajani Goldmane to Honden of Cleansing Fire. The Honden saw some play, but not a lot. Ajani’s first and third abilities (life gain and the generation of a Serra Avatar token) have synergy — the second ability (giving creatures +1/+1 permanently and vigilance) has nothing to do with the other two. Weenie decks have better options than Ajani for the second ability (such as Glorious Anthem). Control decks might have use for Ajani’s first and third abilities in the way that many U/W Urzatron decks in Extended run Sun Droplet to help stop aggro decks. However, there are better ways to gain life, and so Ajani doesn’t seem to be a great choice for Constructed right now. I’d trade these while the novelty of planeswalkers is high.
Austere Command ($2-$3): For the price of six mana, you get either Wrath of God, Purify, or one half of either. While this is very versatile, it is also a lot more expensive than other options available right now — such as playing with Wrath of God, Damnation, or Shatterstorm. If you need to kill weenies, six mana is too much to invest in a spell that can likely be duplicated with Pyroclasm. If you need to kill large creatures, chances are there won’t be more than one-to-two on the board for you to nail with the other mode of this card. I do think that this will be played a lot in block, so trade them away now, and pick them up while they lull before the Lorwyn block season.
Galepowder Mage ($2ish): This will be a very popular card with casual players. It is quite good in group games (to recur creatures with comes-into-play abilities), and in slower formats. In most Constructed tournament formats, this card is too slow — it only triggers on attacking (so you have to wait a full turn before using it), and it doesn’t pack enough punch for the body to either kill an opponent quickly, or keep from being gigged by Incinerate.
Mirror Entity ($2-$3): Another card which is great for casual play, but I just don’t see it making a Constructed splash — it dies as a 1/1 the turn you put it into play. In order to play it, and keep it out of Incinerate range, you need to have seven mana up. Not happening.
Purity ($2ish): The Elemental Incarnation cycle has some hits, and some duds. This one is a dud, as far as its ability goes — unless you desperately need to turn your own burn spells into life gain, your opponent will simply just not aim spells or abilities at your head. In this sense, it’s a super-high cost Ivory Mask. I will say this — it is also a 6/6 flyer for six mana, so at least as a body it’s a Dragon.
Possible Sleepers:
Favor of the Mighty ($1): This is the bulkiest looking of bulk rares, with shades of previous losers such as Earnest Fellowship. However, this might be an amazing way to deal with spot removal and the such for weenie decks. If you’ve got multiple creatures out that sit around the same cost (for instance, two for White Weenie), and your opponent is trying to spot remove your guys (and hasn’t dropped his big finishing monster yet), Favor of the Mighty is a way to make your team unblockable and virtually unkillable by anything targeted or direct damaging. Remember — it gives all creatures with the highest mana cost protection from all colors, not just one creature.
Don’t Touch These (Bulk Rares):
Arbiter of Knollridge
Brigid, Hero of Kinsbaile
Good Commons/Uncommons (Get These in Foil!):
Crib Swap (Afterlife, except better)
Goldmeadow Stalwart (Kithkins are a really good weenie tribe, and so this is a non-Legendary Isamaru for many soon-to-be White Weenie decks)
Knight of Meadowgrain (Great abilities and power/toughness to cost)
Oblivion Ring (Faith’s Fetters, for Lorwyn block)
Surge of Thoughtweft (Warrior’s Honor, as a Cantrip and at a mana less)
Wizened Cenn (Everyone loves +1/+1-giving Lords)
Blue
Get These:
Cryptic Command ($8-$10): Unlike the White command, the Blue one is all power. Rewind was played in Standard thanks to Urzatron. While the Urza lands aren’t around, there’s still a spot for a four-drop Counterspell — especially when that Counterspell is tied into a Boomerang, cantrip, or Deluge. UUU1 to counter target spell and bounce a permanent is really good, as was Dismiss. I expect this to be a staple for Blue in Standard.
Fathom Trawl ($2-$3): Which would you rather do — cast Tidings and get two lands and two spells, or cast Fathom Trawl and get three spells? There are arguments for either, but Fathom Trawl makes sure that you get action with your draw spell. I see Fathom Trawl getting played, as there’s no longer going to be a Thirst for Knowledge/Compulsive Research in Standard.
Jace Beleren ($5-$7): Jace is being undervalued right now. Jace is Phyrexian Arena for Blue. Phyrexian Arena was one of the most powerful Black cards in Standard. Jace doesn’t cause you to lose life. Jace instead asks that you allow your opponent to draw an extra card with you once every three-or-so turns so that Jace doesn’t get killed by an Incinerate. This card is insanely good for Blue. You’ll never use the 20-card mill ability, because you’ll be busy dropping Jace on turn 3, and then drawing two cards a turn for the rest of the game. Jace is going to end up being one of the top five rares in the set, and I predict will be twice the value listed above come States.
Sower of Temptation ($2-$3): This is literally Control Magic, but as a 2/2 flyer. This is being hideously undervalued right now — the Sower literally gives you control of another creature, no questions asked. This is the type of card that Blue control decks dream about, and everyone is thinking “but man, a 2/2 for four is just bad!” Yeah, just like Avalanche Riders, f, and Venser are bad? It’s not great against Red or Black. It’s total gangbusters against Green and White, and will be a part of the mirror-match in Blue-on-Blue. Worth twice what it’s currently going for, at the least. Get them now, while they are cheap.
Surgespanner ($2ish): At $2 value, Surgespanner is worth taking a chance on.
Trade These Away:
Guile ($2-$3): An essentially unblockable 6/6 creature for six mana — not a bad creature for Blue if you need a Dragon to finish with. The other ability — Spelljacking anything — is just a “win more” ability. If you’ve got an unblockable 6/6 guy on the table, and you’re countering spells, you’re going to win anyhow.
Mistblind Clique ($2ish): Mana Short attached to a 4/4 flying, flash creature. The only problem is — which Faeries do you want to play? They aren’t a particular strong tribe. This might have potential once the next set in the block is released, but it isn’t quite there yet due to lack of tribal support.
Scion of Oona ($2ish): The Faerie Lord, and has the same problems as Mistblind Clique above — not enough Faerie to make a Faerie deck work yet.
Possible Sleepers:
Forced Fruition ($1ish): Six mana for an enchantment that allows your opponent to draw seven cards seems like one of the worst cards ever printed. How about if it posed the card this way: Six mana for a card that says “If your opponent casts more than six spells for the rest of the game, they lose the game.” While six mana is a lot to set up this condition, I can see certain decks where you’d want to side this card in — for instance, if Mono-Black control doesn’t have a Korlash on the table already, what’s it do once you drop this? Cast Korlash and draw seven? Let you bounce Korlash and draw another seven? Deck itself? Cast Damnation and draw seven? I’m not saying Forced Fruition is the bee’s knees (otherwise it would be in the Get These section), but I can see it doing good things off the sideboard against certain decks. I don’t buy into it being comboed with Rule of Law, but you never know.
Surgespanner ($2ish): At $2 value, Surgespanner is worth taking a chance on. Are Merfolk going to be playable in Standard? Probably not, but if they are, this will be the centerpiece of that deck. It’s got the potential to be involved in some combo silliness, and so it’s worth looking at while it’s cheap. Could potentially be a complete bust, but I think that Merfolk will be a strong tribe in block, at the least.
Don’t Touch These (Bulk Rares):
Shapesharer
Wanderwine Prophets
Good Commons/Uncommons (Get These in Foil!):
Broken Ambitions (The first UX Power Sink since Condescend in Fifth Dawn)
Faerie Trickery (Dissipate/Hinder — both were staples in their respective Standards. So is this)
Familiar’s Ruse (Counterspell, with the additional cost of returning a creature to your hand. Will be stupid in decks that run comes-into-play creatures, such as a U/G deck with Mystic Snakes and Venser — and these decks are already in tier 1-to-2 contention)
Merfolk Reejerey (Merfolk Tribal Lord)
Mulldrifter (I see this being good — it’s Council of the Soratami or a 2/2 flyer + draw two)
Ponder (High-dollar Foil card. Not entirely a Portent replacement (it can’t target your opponent to arrange his top three cards), but mostly a replacement due to the removal of slowtrip. Great cantrip for Standard and Extended. See Opt.)
Scattering Stroke (Half a Mana Drain at twice the price still has uses)
Silvergill Adept (Multani’s Acolyte for Merfolk)
Black
Get These:
Boggart Mob ($2-$3): Will get played in the way that Goblin Goon got played, as the high-end creature in the Goblin deck. It’s almost strictly worse than Thoughtweft Trio in every way, except that it is slightly easier to cast (B instead of WW), and it is in a superior, much-more-established tribe. That goes a long way — while there are enough playable Kithkin in this set to make Kithkin a viable weenie tribe, there are more-than-enough Goblins to throw at Boggart Mob from previous sets.
Knucklebone Witch ($4-$5): A staple of Goblin decks, since it is so cheap, combos so well with sacrificial Goblins (Mogg Fanatic, Skirk Prospector), and can get pretty huge pretty quickly. May see play outside of Standard as well.
Mad Auntie ($2-$4): Goblin King, except it only affects your goblins. This is significant — in the mirror match, you trade off Mountainwalk (unblockability for both sides) for a boost only to your team. The regeneration is a throw-in — this would be played in Goblin decks just as a Glorious Anthem anyhow.
Oona’s Prowler ($4-$6): A 3/1 flyer for two mana, which makes it one of the most efficient weenie creatures in recent memory. Unless your opponent is going nuts with the madness cards, chances are they won’t want to throw away cards early to keep the Prowler from beating on them. The best Faerie, and playable in any Black deck that wants to also run Bad Moon. Likely to see play in any format that can sustain a viable Black Weenie deck, including Legacy (compare to Serendib Efreet).
Profane Command ($5-$6): There are two really good Commands, and this is one of them. If it were an Instant, it’d be amazing — but as a sorcery, it is merely really good. Forget the fear ability (which will almost never be used) — for BBX, you get to kill a creature and bring a creature back, or kill a creature and Demonfire your opponent, or Demonfire your opponent and bring a creature back. Do you want to play this over Consume Spirit? Yes — while you don’t gain life for “X” like you would with Consume Spirit, you get the bonus of bringing back Korlash, or killing Tarmogoyf in the same stroke as heavily damaging your opponent.
Thoughtseize ($20): Right now, Thoughtseize is $20. It’s going to be higher before Lorwyn is released. It’s the best card in the set, and it’s a staple in every format in Magic, and it will be played as a four-of in every format in Magic. It is Duress in every way that matters. Extended decks will run 12 one-mana Black Discard spells now (Duress, Thoughtseize, Cabal Therapy). Vintage decks will pack this as a four-of. I don’t understand why Wizards chose to make this card Rare (as opposed to Uncommon or Common, like virtually every other card ever printed with this effect), but because of that this will be the chase card of this set. It will not go down in value once it hits $20, until it rotates out of Standard in two years. I can’t stress enough how solid a value this card will hold.
Trade These Away:
Liliana Vess ($4-$6): It pains me to tell you to trade away Liliana Vess, and it will be a staple in casual games for years to come. However, it is not great for tournament play. The magic of Jace Beleren (see above) is that it comes down on turn 3, and immediately can jump to 5 Loyalty counters. With Liliana, you’re waiting for turn 5 — and your effect is either a discard (of the opponent’s choice, which will probably be Dodecapod with the way that Standard has been shaping up lately), or a Vampiric Tutor followed immediately by an Incinerate aimed at Liliana. You don’t want to use the discard effect for three turns to get a one-sided Living Death on the fourth — you want to use Liliana to Vampiric Tutor over and over. If you’re going to activate Vess to Tutor only to have her eat direct damage, you might as well just play Diabolic Tutor on turn 4, have the card go straight to your hand, and then cast it on turn 5, rather than dropping Vess on turn 5, and getting the card on turn 6.
Possible Sleepers:
Dread ($2ish): Is it possible to have a 6/6 evasion creature for six be undervalued? I guess I think so — it is a way to win a damage race against certain decks. Turn 4 Damnation, turn 6 Dread makes for a tough fight for a weenie deck, since Dread can block almost anything on turn 6, and then swing with impunity in later turns. On the other hand, if you’re low on life by the time Dread hits the table, its ability won’t matter. This is going to be a popular casual card, just as No Mercy was. At the least, this will hold value for that reason.
Don’t Touch These (Bulk Rares):
Cairn Wanderer
Colfenor’s Plans
Nettlevine Blight
Good Commons/Uncommons (Get These in Foil!):
Eyeblight’s Ending (Rend Flesh all over again)
Fodder Launch (For killing the really big guys, your opponent. Unfortunately, a sorcery)
Nameless Inversion (This card is going to propel Haakon, Stromgald Scourge back into Tier 1 playability. With Haakon out, you can recur Nameless Inversion over and over and over as a Knight until you run out of mana. This turns Haakon, which can recur itself, into a machine gun. Expect this and Haakon to make several States appearances in Mono-Black control)
Prowess of the Fair (Anti-Wrath tech for Elf decks)
Shreikmaw (Better than Nekrataal, which in itself is a respectable sideboard card)
Red
Get These:
Chandra Nalaar ($5-$7): Unlike Lilana Vess, Chandra Nalaar has several relevant effects to the game. First, Chandra’s first and third abilities have synergy — in effect, you deal two damage to your opponent, and then blow them and their team away for ten damage. Since Chandra will have an effective seven loyalty when Chandra comes into play (six plus one for the point of damage ability), it’s extremely difficult to outright take her off the table. On top of this, the second ability is relevant as well — Chandra can hit the table and start taking care of creatures. Chandra can work either as creature control or as a finisher, and does a decent job of both. A winner.
Hostility ($2-$4): Hostility doesn’t have evasion of any sort like the other Incarnations (Fear, Flying, Trample, Block-by-three-or-more-creatures), but it does have Haste. This allows it to swing in for six immediately, which makes it one of the most cost-effective Haste creatures ever printed that doesn’t involve dying at end of turn (Hi Ball Lightning!). The ability on Hostility is pretty important — it turns your burn spells into triple-burn spells against players. For instance, normally Incinerate would deal three damage to an opponent. With Hostility in play, it can deal nine damage (puts three 3/1 haste creatures into play). Moreover, these tokens stay in play! Hostility followed by a burn spell and Hostility can make your opponent go from twenty to zero in a flash. Some might look at Hostility as a win-more card, but it’s not — it’s a card that changes your Burn spells in a Red-based control deck from “finish me eventually” to “finish me now.”
Wild Ricochet ($2ish): Okay, first take Deflection or Shunt. In the right environments, Shunt and Deflection are perfectly fine sideboard choices. Next, take Twincast and Fork. Twincast and Fork both were decent, but both only gave you more of what you already had, or what your opponent had first. Now, combine Twincast with Deflection (or Fork with Shunt) and keep the spell at four mana, and you’ve got something that has the potential to be really special — a Fork/Deflection Hyrbid that is a sideboard staple. This can hit cards that have multiple targets (such as Fire/Ice) and change all the targets. I can imagine the turn that ends with you using Wild Ricochet to grab your opponent’s Careful Consideration — and then have you copy it yourself so you draw eight cards in one turn off your opponent’s card. Don’t underestimate how powerful this card will be coming off the board against certain decks.
Trade These Away:
Ashling the Pilgrim ($2ish): Suffers from the same problems that Mirror Entity has — you need to have an impossible amount of mana up to keep him from dying the turn he comes into play. Moreover, he’s Legendary, so multiples do not help one another. Technically, Ashling can turn into a huge monster, and then finish the game by blowing up the world. The cost to do so is too high, and you can only pump him twice a turn or he’ll kill himself.
Nova Chaser ($2-$3): Ten power on a trampler is really frightening. Unfortunately, you need to both Champion an Elemental to get it into play (and most elementals that you’d want to play on purpose are more expensive than Nova Chaser, not less), and the two-toughness makes Nova Chaser pretty pathetic against both White (which has a ton of first-striking weenies now) and Red (which will burn it away any three ways to Tuesday). This is good against Green, but that’s about it. The body looks great, but it is too fragile — I’d rather invest one more mana to play Spectral Force and have a creature that can’t be killed by damage or blocked effectively, then playing this. If it had haste, it’d be great — but it doesn’t, so it’s not.
Incendiary Command ($2-$3): The worst of the commands. You get Pyroclasm, a bad Lava Axe, a bad Stone Rain, and Winds of Change for five mana — that’s not a great deal. If you want five to the dome, you want Beacon of Destruction (which can also hit creatures). If you want Pyroclasm, you want it at two mana (Pyroclasm and Rough/Tumble). It’s not often that you want to pay five mana to cast Pyroclasm and add in a free four points of damage, or the cycle through two-to-four cards.
Possible Sleepers:
Incandescent Soulstoke ($2ish): The Elemental lord, but not a tribe that necessarily needs a creature that gives other creatures +1/+1. It’s the second ability that matters, as you can do stuff like drop Spectral Force or Verdant Force into play early — even if they are only lasting a turn. Still, look at this like Sneak Attack for Elementals — it has potential, and it will be popular with casual players.
Don’t Touch These (Bulk Rares):
Ashling’s Prerogative
Hamletback Goliath
Heatshimmer
Sunrise Sovereign
Good Commons/Uncommons (Get These in Foil!):
Boggart Shenanigans (May replace Goblin Sharpshooter as the kill card of choice in Extended Goblins)
Flamekin Bladewhirl (Jackal Pup for Elementals, which are a pretty strong tribe)
Lash Out (Volcanic Hammer you and your creature)
Smokebraider (If Elementals take off as a tribe)
Tarfire (Almost strictly better than Shock)
Green
Get These:
Dauntless Dourbark ($3-$4): This guy is plain good. If your first turn is an elf, Dauntless Dourbark is a 4/4 creature, without drawbacks, on turn 3 (three forests, plus it counts itself as a treefolk). It is Blanchwood Armor as a creature, and it compares to Korlash. It’s not as good as Korlash (it is Green so it can be killed more easily by removal, and it does not regenerate), but it is bigger than Korlash (since it counts itself and other Treefolk), and it scales in size as the game progresses. This is an extremely solid creature for Green, and one that people might overlook since they are used to cards like this being more like Caller of the Hunt and Chameleon Spirit, and less like Korlash.
Garruk Wildspeaker ($4-$6): Three of the planeswalkers are really good, and Garruk is one of those. At the worst, he accelerates you from five mana to seven (once you untap and take your next turn). This isn’t irrelevant, when you’re talking about playing a deck with big Green monsters. Moreover, his second ability is Call of the Herd’s flashback cost, paid only once — you pay four mana for an immediate 3/3 creature, with the potential for, at the least, two more 3/3 creatures at zero mana the next couple of turns assuming Garruk isn’t killed. The third ability, Overrun, also has a place as a way to win the game — in short, all three parts of Garruk work well together. You get more mana to play guys, you play more guys, you make all your guys bigger. Quite good, and will be played a lot.
Masked Admirers ($4-$6): Another card that will rise sharply in value as people realize just how good they are. Getting a 3/2 body for four mana isn’t the best deal, compared to things like Dauntless Dourbark or other larger bodies Green can pump out. Add in the cantrip ability, and Masked Admirers still isn’t a great deal — I wouldn’t play Striped Bears as a 3/2 creature. It’s the third ability that ties it all together — whenever you play a creature, you get back a 3/2 creature that draws you a card. In the late game, this is monumental — your late draw of Llanowar Elves, instead of being G, 1/1 is now GGGGG2 (broken up as GGG, GG2), 4/3, draw a card. This guy will work well in dredge decks, and will frustrate control players to no end, as he keeps coming back and back and back again.
Timber Protector ($2-$3): Mark Rosewater premiered this card as the first preview spoiled by Wizards of the Coast. Due to his wording in the article, the preview went over like a lead balloon. Since then, there have been several Treefolk revealed that are worth playing, including Dauntless Dourbark; Doran, the Siege Tower; and Treefolk Harbinger. Also, Deadwood Treefolk and Heartwood Storyteller are on the cusp of playability. Timber Protector acts as both a Lord (to give your other treefolk +1/+1) and as a get-out-of-jail-free card against any sort of mass-removal against Treefolk. 4/6 isn’t bad for five, especially when it makes your other Treefolk into indestructible monsters. This is worth more than what it’s currently going for, and will only get better as this block is finished out.
Vigor ($2-$3): If I had a choice between playing this or Cloudthresher, I’d most likely go with this. It makes blocking nearly impossible for your opponents (since your creatures will all go nuts), makes your other creatures invulnerable to direct damage (including board sweepers), and can beat for six (as a trampler) for six mana. Without any sort of wacky combos (such as playing Pyroclasm yourself to give all your Elves +2/+2 all at once), Vigor is a great finisher that helps your already-established board position close out the game.
Wren’s Run Packmaster ($2-4): This is the prerelease card, and it’s also going to be the finisher in the Elf deck, outside of Overrun. It suffers the same problems as the other champion-a-creature guys, but it can make its own army, plus it comes from a tribe where you’d be playing cards of that creature type anyhow (see: Llanowar Elves, Wren’s Run Vanquisher).
Trade These Away:
Epic Proportions ($2ish): It’ll be overshadowed by Might of Oaks and Stonewood Invocation, both of which give more of a bonus and the second of which saves your creature from removal. This will appeal to casual players (who also love Mythic Proportions and Verdant Embrace), but won’t be great for tournament play.
Eyes of the Wisent ($6-$8): Make no mistake — Eyes of the Wisent is a very good card. It’s not $7-$10 good, which is the upward trend it’s taking right now. Eyes of the Wisent is great as an anti-control card off of the sideboard — but I wouldn’t main deck it against everything or you’re asking to have pre-game mulligans against any sort of aggro deck. This card is the evolution of Hidden Gibbons (which still sees sideboard play), and it is going to be a sideboard staple — but it is not a sideboard staple in the way that Pithing Needle was. It’s going to be a $4-$5 card just like Hidden Gibbons was back in the day, or like Defense Grid before Defense Grid got reprinted in multiple sets. Trade these off while they are on fire, and trade back for them in a few weeks, when the hype dies down. You want a playset, but not at the prerelease pre-hype price.
Immaculate Magistrate ($2ish): Will appeal heavily to casual players, who have made Ambush Commander, Heedless One, and Elvish Vanguard into consistent $3-$4 cards for us (we are sold out of these cards usually) over the years. Not so much for tournament play.
Primal Command ($2-$3): Natural Spring plus half a spruced-up Plow Under plus Feldon’s Cane plus Summoner’s Pact. Five mana is too much mana to pay for this. Best-case scenario, you’re tutoring for a creature and setting your opponent back one draw step. Worst-case scenario, you’re gaining seven life and shuffling your opponent’s dredge cards back into their library. It’s this close to being good, but it’s mediocre and should be traded while the entire Command cycle has a lot of hype surrounding it.
Possible Sleepers:
Cloudthresher ($2ish): The problems with Cloudthresher are twofold — it is very heavily Green (quadruple-Green to cast), and it’s a six-mana body without evasion. It does kill small flyers immediately (and large ones when it blocks), and it does deal two points of direct damage immediately. It’s an elemental (which matters), but how does it compare to the watermark of the big, beefy elemental in Standard (Spectral Force)? Not as good, but not worth discounting entirely either.
Don’t Touch These (Bulk Rares):
None! You go Green!
Good Commons/Uncommons (Get These in Foil!):
Imperious Perfect (Will replace Elvish Champion the same way that Mad Auntie replaces Goblin King, since the Perfect only gives bonuses to your elves. It also makes, effectively, 2/2 elves each turn. Both abilities are very good.)
Leaf Gilder (Llanowar Elves on the warpath!)
Sylvan Echoes (Clash may be worth playing — if so, this will be a staple of that deck)
Treefolk Harbinger (Amazing with Doran, works for fixing your mana)
Woodland Guidance (Early Harvest plus Recollect, on a Clash)
Wren’s Run Vanquisher (Watchwolf for a Elf deck. Best of this cycle, because it beats the other three, and Elves are an extremely viable tribe).
Gold
Get These:
Doran, the Siege Tower ($8-$10): There’s already deck where this guy fits (G/W/B control), so the strange color combination on Doran isn’t horrible. First turn Birds, second turn 5/5 (effectively) is crushing, especially since he now makes your Birds a 1/1 creature. In fact, Doran may single-handedly cause a resurgence in the price of Birds, since a third-turn Doran is backbreaking, and Forest/Birds/Swamp–Plains is the most reliable way to a better world of living. This is one of the most interesting, well-designed cards in the set, and one of the most powerful. You don’t get 5/5 creatures that are almost all plus-side (all your opponent’s creatures that have a higher power-than-toughness are now neutered) ever. Unique as both an offensive powerhouse, and a defensive mastermind. Would be a $15-$20 card easily if it weren’t three colors.
Gaddock Teeg ($12-$15): This compares favorably, believe it or not, to Meddling Mage. Meddling Mage can stop any spell. Gaddock Teeg can stop every non-creature spell above three mana, plus every X spell. A Gaddock Teeg on the board shuts down a ton of strategies, including Black control (Damnation, Tendrils of Corruption), Wrath of God, and a host of Vintage, Extended, and Legacy combo decks. Gaddock Teeg will allow White/Green to be a contender in Vintage, as it shuts down Force of Will, Smokestack, Tendrils of Agony, Misdirection, and other key spells for several decks. Hyped, and deserving of that hype.
Wort, Boggart Auntie ($3-$4): This was our preview card. It’s really good, especially in Standard. It’s not going to get played outside of Standard and block (I don’t think), but it helps you recover from Wrath of God, or attack with impunity. This is the top of the curve of a Goblin Deck (along with Siege-Gang Commander), and one that can, on its own, take you from a stalemate or losing position to a winning one.
Trade These Away:
Brion Stoutarm ($4-$6): I think people will be valuing these higher than $5 at the prerelease, which is around the price they’ll settle at when all is said and done. It suffers from the same problem as Ravenous Baloth, a problem that Loxodon Hierarch didn’t suffer from — the Hierarch gave you four life independent of being a 4/4 creature. Brion doesn’t do squat if you can’t either connect in combat or throw a creature. If it hits the board and immediately died, it was just another 4/4. If the Hierarch hit the board and died, you were up four life. Big difference. A good card, but will trade great at the prerelease.
Nath of the Gilt-Leaf ($4-$5): I keep going back and forth about this guy, but I think that he’s being slightly overvalued right now. The 4/4 body makes him big enough to beat and not die, and his ability is not irrelevant. However, I think that if you’re this late in the game you want to be dropping more of a finisher, which this guy is not. Good, will have a place somewhere, but not a high-dollar rare.
Possible Sleepers:
Horde of Notions ($2ish): Ignore the color restrictions on Horde of Notions for a moment. Would you pay five mana for a 5/5 creature with Haste, Vigilance, and Trample? Absolutely! What about five-mana to reanimate any Elemental? Good deal! Well, making it a five-color, five-mana creature certainly dampens this enthusiasm — see Cromat for an example, or Atogatog for an extreme example. This is the great body for the cost, and the ability could be relevant in a long game. Difficult to cast, but a great reanimator target, and one that can bring the rest of the army with him.
Sygg, River Guide ($2-$3): Been compared to Eight-and-a-Half-Tails, which is apt. Worse, since it can’t hit non-Merfolk creatures. Perfectly acceptable for a Merfolk deck, but I don’t think Merfolk have enough to work with in this set alone. Wait until Morningtide (the next set) to see how Merfolk do. Probably it’s worth to pick up a set of Sygg while they are low, on the chance that Merfolk turn out to be worthwhile.
Wydwen, the Biting Gale ($2-$3): Many players have touted this as the future finisher for Blue decks, but I don’t see it. There are a lot better four-drop creatures for Blue and Black to play with right now (Korlash, Venser), so I don’t see where this will fit. It doesn’t hit hard enough, and it doesn’t affect the board outside of combat.
Don’t Touch These (Bulk Rares):
None.
Good Commons/Uncommons (Get These in Foil!):
All the Gold cards in this set are Rare. Sorry folks!
Artifact
Get These:
Deathrender ($2-$3): Pick up a playset of these. Bennie Smith has a lot of good things to say about this card, and I’ve seen decks built around Deathrender. It has a lot of Constructed potential as a reanimation engine with Deadwood Treefolk — which just happen to be part of the Treefolk tribe. I’ll let Bennie talk more about this in an upcoming column, but there is a very real chance that Deathrender will double or triple in price as people start building decks around it — just like what happened with Bridge from Below (although, this is not as good as Bridge, but it is the key card to an engine just the same.)
Trade These Away:
Thorn of Amethyst ($2-$4): Trade these to Vintage players — they will need them for Stax decks as Sphere of Resistance numbers five-through-eight. The foil versions of Thorn of Amethyst will go for a lot of money to Vintage players as well. As far as other formats go — not as good. Too many creature decks around in Standard, and Trinisphere is better as a hoser for combo decks in other formats.
Possible Sleepers:
Rings of Brighthearth ($2-$3): Mirari, except for abilities. This works well with Planeswalkers (while you don’t get double loyalty counters since loyalty adjustment is a payment, you do get twice the effect of what you’re paying for), and there are other activated abilities that you’d want to double as well (Seal of Fire, Quicksand, Horizon Canopy’s draw-a-card effect). It’s cheap enough to drop in the early game when doubling such things can matter, which is what might make it work.
Don’t Touch These (Bulk Rares):
Colfenor’s Urn
Dolmen Doorway
Thousand-Year Elixir
Twinning Glass
Good Commons/Uncommons (Get These in Foil!):
Springleaf Drum (Paradise Mantle, more-or-less. Very good acceleration and fixing for non-Green decks)
Wanderer’s Twig (Wayfarer’s Bauble that color-fixes rather than accelerates.)
Land
Get These:
Ancient Ampitheatre (R/W Giant), Auntie’s Hovel (B/R Goblin), Gilt-Leaf Palace (B/G Elf) ($5-$10): It hasn’t sunk in with a lot of people that the Ravnica block Dual Lands are finally going to be out of Standard. This makes color-fixing fall on the shoulders of the 10th Edition Pain Lands, the Coldsnap lands (which I’ll get to in a minute), Gemstone Mine, the Future Sight lands, and the Time Spiral storage lands. If you’re playing cards in a tribe, these Lorwyn lands are the best of the bunch. For Gilt-Leaf Palace and Ancient Ampitheatre, these are essentially your only non-pain land choices for mana-fixing at the non-Gemstone Mine level. For the Hub, Hovel, and Glen, you also have the Coldsnap lands, which are identical to these lands if you’re not tribal. In block, these lands will be very valued. In Standard, the off-color lands are quite good, and the Goblin land will see a ton of play, as the B/R Goblin deck is a very good deck. The allied color lands from the weaker tribes (Sacred Glen/Faeries and Wanderwine Hub/Merfolk) are not better than alternate choices you have within those colors from other sets (Nimbus Maze, Dreadship Reef, and the such).
Trade These Away:
Sacred Glen (B/U Faerie), Wanderwine Hub (U/W Merfolk) ($5-$7): See above.
Possible Sleepers:
Mosswort Bridge, Windbrisk Heights ($2ish): What does it take to get a free spell? In the case of Mosswort Bridge and Windbrisk Heights, either ten power worth of creatures, or three attacking creatures. The potential for these cards is strong, as you can literally have any spell underneath the Hideaway land and play it for free. However, the conditions to be met for all five are harsh, and only these two have a realistic chance of being played. The Red and Blue cards are win-more, and the Black one is too hard to achieve.
Don’t Touch These (Bulk Rares):
Howltooth Hollow
Shelldock Isle
Spinerock Knoll
Good Commons/Uncommons (Get These in Foil!):
Shimmering Grotto (Prismatic Lens on a land. Great fixing, not great acceleration)
Vivid Crag/Vivid Creek/Vivid Marsh/Vivid Meadow/Vivid Thicket (really good mana-fixing lands that are better than Tendo Ice Bridge, which saw play)
I hope everyone has a great prerelease — if you’re at the Richmond or Roanoke prereleases, come up and let me know your thoughts about Lorwyn! Have fun this weekend, and may your trades all be ones that you are happy with!
Ben