Unwavering Initiate is a common creature from Magic: the Gathering's Amonkhet expansion set. It features the Embalm ability, which means that it can be essentially "resurrected" from the graveyard. Embalm involves paying the creature's Embalm cost from the graveyard, then exile that card, and create a token of that creature. That token is a Zombie, as well, without a mana cost.

Unlike its cousin Trueheart Duelist that also has Embalm, Unwavering Initiate wouldn't see Constructed play. A 3/2 creature with Vigilance is plenty good for a 3 mana common creature. But 5 mana is a lot to pay for a 3/2 creature that doesn't do much else in Constructed. The Initiate is plenty good in Limited, however. Getting two lives out of one creature is always worthy of a look when filling out your mana curve in draft or sealed deck.

Oracle's Vault is a rare artifact from the  Magic: the Gathering Amonkhet expansion set. The Vault is also the Draft Weekend promotional card that was given out at the set's release. It is also included in the Liliana, Death Wielder Planeswalker deck. The immediate reaction from many Magic players was that this is a card that seems perfectly made for Atraxa, Praetor's Voice decks in Commander. Indeed, any useful card that creates counters that can be proliferated is good in Atraxa. This is definitely a useful card. But it's good for more than just that particular Commander to take advantage of to its fullest.

In recent years, Magic players have seen the power of being able to exile a card from the top of the library and be able to play it that turn. Even with the possibility that it will be a card that you can't cast and will lose "forever," the upside of essentially drawing a free card is very powerful. Oracle's Vault lets you do just that by paying 2 colorless mana and tapping it. But each time you do this, it gains a brick counter.

Once Oracle's Vault has amassed three brick counters, you're able to access its second tap ability. This activated tap ability doesn't require any mana to activate, and allows you to also exile a card to be able to play that turn. However, you don't have to pay that card's mana cost in order to play it. Not only is this great, but you don't have to remove any counters from the Vault to use this ability. Once there are three brick counters on the Vault, you can use this ability every chance that you get to tap it.

There are so many possibilities to break this card wide open in Commander. There are so many ways to untap artifacts, and this can get up to three brick counters in a hurry. You could play the majority of your deck in a turn in some artifact-happy decks utilizing the Oracle's Vault. There are some good combos between Oracle's Vault and Paradox Engine, for example. But, what about competitive 60-card Constructed play?

Is this card truly as good as it looks? It would seem that this card is on the verge of being at least Standard-playable, as 2 mana isn't a bad price to pay for that effect. It is 4 mana to cast, and doesn't have an immediate effect on the game, so it may be a bit too slow. But the raw power of this card is amazing.

How about Modern, where the Tron lands can create tons of colorless mana? Both Tron and Eldrazi decks could play Oracle's Vault, but there isn't really a place to fit it into those deck lists. Affinity probably doesn't want to pay 4 mana for this. It's just hard to say how this will work without other ways to throw brick counters onto this.

Being only a rare and also being a promo, Oracle's Vault is going to be hard to find and is one of those cool "sleeper" cards that may fit into a competitive combo deck some day. Its abilities are just too good to ignore. This is a really fun card to brew around.

One of two promo cards for Amonkhet Game Day, Trueheart Duelist is the card that all Game Day participants received just for playing. This uncommon Warrior may actually prove to be pretty good for a couple of reasons. The Duelist would be the first time Magic: the Gathering players would see the Embalm mechanic.

First, the Trueheart Duelist is a 2/2 creature that takes 1 colorless and a White mana (1W) to cast. The Duelist can block an additional creature each combat. This is relevant because the Duelist can potentially trade with two creatures at once in combat. But, tthe Embalm mechanic is where the beauty of this card comes in.

Embalm allows you to pay a creature's Embalm cost from the graveyard to exile the card  and create a token of that creature that's also a Zombie. This means you essentially can get two uses out of one creature.

On his own, Trueheart Duelist looks like a really good creature, especially in draft. Being a fairly efficient two-mana creature with the Embalm ability, Trueheart Duelist even found itself in a few budget  Standard decks. too.

Glorybringer is the first creature from Magic the Gathering's Amonkhet expansion set that revealed the Exert mechanic. It's also one of the two Amonkhet Game Day promotional cards. It's the rare card that all Top 8 players in Game Day events received as a prize.

Exert is an ability that you can choose to use when declaring attackers. As a result of using the Exert ability, that creature doesn't untap during your next untap step.  One cool thing is that if you find someway for that creature to gain vigilance (so it doesn't tap when attacking) or otherwise untap it, then you essentially pay nothing for the ability.

Glorybringer is one of the better Game Day promo cards that Wizards has chosen. A 4/4 flyer with haste isn't bad for 5 mana. His Exert ability is pretty decent, as well, dealing 4 damage to a target non-Dragon creature an opponent controls. Considering that this is a repeatable ability, it's decent enough.

Glorybringer would be the Stormbreath Dragon for each Standard format he  appeared in for the eighteen months he was around. Being a 4/4 creature with haste and flying, plus being able to take out a problem creature made him relevant at the top-end of pretty much every aggressive Red deck. He was well worthy of this promo printing. Not only was Glorybringer a creature that many Standard players slotted into the top of their mana curves, but he's even crossed into Modern, too! He is going to be a fun Dragon to play with for years to come.

 Lovisa Coldeyes is one of those Legendary Creatures from Coldsnap  that has proven to be a pretty cool "build-around-me" Commander. Like a fine wine, Lovisa has aged pretty well, since the creature types that she assists with her ability tend to get new support on a regular basis. While not a super popular Commander, not a lot of players today probably have ever heard of her.
 
She's not that exciting on her own, a vanilla human who's a 3/3 for 5 mana. But she grants each creature that a barbarian, berserker or Warrior +2/+2 and haste. Notice that this would apply to your opponents creatures as well, but that's a minor downside if you give Lovisa enough support. But as this isn't Commander, and Lovisa is just another card in a 60-card deck, let's see how this Red/Green deck looks overall.
 
Skarrgan Pit-Skulk isn't a household name. But it's a solid, efficient creature for only one mana. If you cast him after an opponent has been dealt damage that turn, his Bloodthirst ability activates and he comes into play with a +1/+1 counter on him. He's a good little Warrior, and he only gets better with Lovisa Coldeyes.
 
Burning-Tree Emissary doesn't benefit from Lovisa's ability, considering that he's  a Shaman. But providing you one Red and one Green mana when he enter the battlefield makes him well-worth playing in an aggressive deck like this. Ordinarily this would be a cool reprint, although the Emissary was just reprinted at common in Modern Masters 2017. Still, two copies of this guy are quite welcome in this deck.
 
Kruin Striker is a great creature for a deck featuring Lovisa. Not only is she a warrior, but whenever another creature enters the battlefield under your control, the Striker gets +1/+0 and trample until end of turn. With Lovisa in play, the Striker becomes a 5/3 with trample under this scenario. That's quite a lot of power for only two mana. While not a common fixture in Lovisa Commander decks, in a 60-card Constructed   deck, this is a good choice.
 
Radha, Heir to Keld is a classic Elf from Time Spiral, so this is a welcome reprint. Not only does she add two red mana to your mana pool whenever she attacks, but can also tap herself to give you a green mana. Add to that Radha's a Warrior, and you have a solid inclusion in this deck.
 
Talara's Battalion is one of the cards in this deck that was actually worth a few dollars before this reprint. Originally printed in Eventide, this Elf can't be cast unless you've cast another green spell that turn. Honestly, though, this isn't that big a deal when you consider the Battalion is a 4/3 with trample for only 1G. Lovisa and these Elf Warriors are going to be fast friends, although you won't see them in a Lovisa Commander deck, obviously. But this is a card that's been worth more than many people realized.
 
Relentless Hunter is a 3 mana Warrior with an ability for 3 mana to gain +1/+1 and Trample. She has great synergy with this deck, although she's hardly exciting.
 
Zo-Zu the Punisher is a crafty Goblin Warrior that punishes players for playing lands, dealing two damage to a player whenever that player lays down a land. The idea here is that the Might deck will be able to deal enough combat damage to the opponent that taking 2 damage here and there won't be that much of a drawback.
 
Ambassador Oak is a particularly cool card in a Lovisa-powered deck. Not only is he a 3/3 Treefolk Warrior himself, but he brings a 1/1 Elf Warrior token into play along with him. With Lovisa in play, that's a 5/5 and a 3/3 with haste for only 3 colorless and one Green mana (3G). This is definitely one of the better creatures in the deck.
 
On the other hand, Cloudcrown Oak is a bit underwhelming, a 3/4 with Reach for 4 mana. While he isn't "bad" per se, and is perfectly fine in a Treefolk deck, it seems like there could have been a better choice here. My thought is that the Reach here is to combat the fliers that the Mind deck can create with Talrand, Sky Summoner. They're nice role players in this deck, but hardly exciting.
 
Gorehorn Minotaurs is essentially a bigger version of the Pit-Skulks, 4 mana 3/3 Warriors with Blodthirst 2. They fit the theme of the deck, of course, but are often just big dumb beaters that can potentially be 5/5 when cast.

Rubblebelt Raiders is a Warrior originally from Gatecrash that can be cast with either Red or Green mana. While the Raiders didn't see much competitive play in Standard, this is a creature that can get really big in a hurry. Whenever the Raiders attack, you put a +1/+1 counter on it for each attacking creature you control! While this ability sounds awesome, the Raiders don't have trample, so they can be chump-blocked all day. Still, in this deck, this is a nice creature to combine with Lovisa's ability.

Kamahl, Pit Fighter is a staple in Lovisa Coldeyes decks, and it's not hard to see why. Not only is he a Barbarian, a creature type that Lovisa boosts, but he has haste on his own, and has 6 power. The downside is that he has only a single toughness. That seems awfully fragile for a 6 mana creature. However, he can tap to deal 3 damage to a target creature or player. That's a powerful tap ability, and one that he can use immediately, even without the assistance of Lovisa's haste-granting ability. He's fragile, but he's exactly the kind of creature you'd expect to see in a deck centered around Lovisa Coldeyes.

The final and largest creature in the deck is Boldwyr Intimidator. He's a whopping 7 mana to cast, but this Giant Warrior is a lot of fun. His first ability is that Cowards can't block Warriors. Hmm, since when was Coward a creature type? Turns out that his second ability makes a creature into a Coward until end of turn. For only a single mana, that's pretty cool. Since this deck is primarily Warriors, that could prove extremely helpful. Also, the Intimidator has another ability that can turn a target creature into a Warrior for 2R. This guy is a great addition to this deck, and so it's little surprise that a lot of Lovisa Coldeyes Commander decks play this guy, too.

Overall, the creature selections make sense from a purely tribal standpoint. But outside of the raw power, none of them are all that exciting. Like with the Mind deck, the Might deck really seems to revolve around the face creature of the deck, in this case Lovisa Coldeyes. If you don't have Lovisa on the board, you have to depend on pure power and toughness to bash through the Mind deck's defenses before they can out-tempo you with their spells.

So, with this in mind, do the non-creature spells allow this deck to go over the top and pit direct damage against card advantage? Let's see.


Might Deck: Non-Creature Spells

Firebolt is basically a better version of Shock. It costs a single mana to deal 2 damage to a target creature or player. But, it can also be cast again from the graveyard with Flashback, for a hefty cost of 4R. While 5 mana is a lot to deal 2 damage, it is well worth it if it is all you need to win the game. It can do the job.

Guttural Response is actually a fairly sought after uncommon, originally printed in Shadowmoor. It gained new artwork for these Duel Decks. So why is it so good? For either a Red or Green mana, you counter target Blue instant spell. The Mind deck is loaded with Blue instants, so this is a natural choice. But it also just happens to be good in Modern, a format in which there are plenty of Blue instant spells flying around. It's good for this deck, and a good $1-plus card to have in your collection.

Rampant Growth is straightforward: get a basic land card into play tapped and shuffle your deck. It's a good way to accelerate your mana to get your creatures out more quickly. It's just a solid card that sees play in all kinds of formats.

Sylvan Might is a nice pump spell. It costs 1 and a Green to give a target creature +2/+2 and trample until end of turn. The trample is especially important in this deck, as many creatures in the Might deck don't have trample. Without trample, all the power in the world doesn't matter if an Elemental or Drake token is sitting in its path ready to block. It also has flashback for 2 colorless and 2 Green (2GG), which is especially useful late in the game.

Call of the Herd is an old-school card that was perfectly fine back in the day - 3 mana to make a 3/3 Elephant creature token. You can then cast it again with Flashback from the graveyard for 3 and a Green. While this is a fair card, it's hardly exciting. While it fits the theme of the deck, there are far more powerful token generators out there that could have taken this slot in the deck.

Increasing Savagery, on the other hand, is very good. For 4 mana, you get to put 5 +1/+1 coutners on a target creature. It also has Flashback for 7 mana. The cool thing is that if it's cast from the graveyard, you put 10 counters on that creature instead. As long as you target a creature with trample, the game is probably going to be over once this is cast.

Harmonize lets you draw 3 cards for 4 mana. In Green, that's awesome. This card has been reprinted to death, but it's a really nice card to have around in your collection. It's still worth around $1.

Beacon of Destruction is nowhere as good of a card as Beacon of Tomorrows is in the Mind deck. While this Beacon shuffles into the deck like its extra-turn taking counterpart, all this does for 5 mana is deal 5 damage to a target creature or player. Sometimes this 5 damage will be extremely relevant. But you could probably do better than this.

Roar of the Wurm is 7 mana to create a 6/6 Wurm token. That hardly seems exciting. However, its Flashback cost is only 3 and a Green for the same ability. It's hardly a bad card, but not the most exciting thing to have at the top of your mana curve.

From a value standpoint, outside of a couple of $1 uncommons, this deck looks pretty bad. Fortunately, the final non-creature spell in the deck is at least a good one. In fact, Coat of Arms may be the best card in the deck outside of Lovisa Coldeyes. Despite being printed so many times, Coat of Arms has retained a $5+ price tag again and again. What this artifact does is give each creature a +1/+1 boost for each other creature that shares at least one creature type with it.

This math can get pretty confusing. The beauty of this card is not only does it boost each of your Humans for each other Human on the battlefield, but it also boosts each Warrior for each other Warrior as well. So, if you have two Human Warriors and a Human Shaman on the battlefield, they each gain +2/+2. While Coat of Arms can benefit your opponents, as well, the tribal synergy in the Might deck is strong enough that once this hits the board, it will be difficult for most other decks to compete with the raw power you'll suddenly have at your disposal. Of course, if the Mind deck has a bunch of Elemental and Drake tokens on the board already, that could prove to be a problem, as well.


Thoughts on the Might Deck

From a thematic standpoint, the Might deck is fine. It does rely heavily on Lovisa Coldeyes and its burn spells to keep you in the game against the Mind deck's card advantage engine, but it can compete. Value-wise, this deck isn't all that great. It's synergistic from a tribal perspective, but it's a deck that has plenty of room for improvement.

The alternate art Lovisa Coldeyes is awesome, though, and will teach a lot of Commander players that she exists. Guttural Response is a nice reprint, and there are some other useful cards in here like Coat of Arms and Harmonize that are worth having.


Overall Analysis of Mind VS Might Duel Decks

The Mind deck is definitely my favorite of the two Duel Decks. Jhoira is a great Legendary, and this Duel Deck has rekindled interest in her as a Commander. There are a lot of good reprints in the Mind deck, as well, especially Beacon of Tomorrows. So what about the Might deck? While I love Lovisa, she works better as a Commander, not really as part of a 60-card deck. It was a cute concept, though, and I'm sure players appreciate another chance to get Coat of Arms. These are definitely not the better Duel Decks to be released in recent years and are definitely a disappointment. But I will say I do appreciate the crafting that went into the Mind deck. I feel that the Might deck was underpowered, not just in terms of monetary value, but gameplay value, as well.

Would I buy the Mind vs Might Duel Decks? Personally, I would look to acquire the alternate art single cards as singles. I'm not sure that the $25 MSRP is worth it. Granted, you can usually find these Duel Decks for $20 at big box stores and online. Even the decent Nissa vs Ob Nixilis Duel Decks, which contains two very good planeswalkers, can be had for $15! The Blessed vs Cursed Duel Decks have two extremely good cards, and can be had under $20 as well.

If you manage to get ahold of the Mind VS Might Duel Decks at a price point around $15, then you actually make out with Beacon of Tomorrows, Coat of Arms, two really nice looking foil promo Legendary Creatures, three copies of Rift Bolt, and a copy of Desperate Ritual, plus some semi-valuable collection filler. The rest is a bunch of essentially free cards.

Would I buy these Duel Decks for $25? Absolutely not. Around $20? It's doubtful. At about $15 or under? I'd consider it.    Otherwise, I can just buy the cards I'd want  from this deck as singles.

It's not hard to find a copy of the Duel Decks: Mind vs Might for under $20 on Amazon.

You can also find a copy of Mind vs Might for between $15-20 on TCGPlayer.
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War-Name Aspirant is a decent creature with the Raid mechanic. She's a 2/1 Human Warrior for 1R. Her Raid ability is that it enters the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter on it if you attacked with a creature that turn. A 3/2 for 1R is very good, obviously. Also, it can’t be blocked by creatures with power 1 or less, which is not an irrelevant thing. At the time, Sylvan Caryatid and its 0 power was a very popular creature in Standard. So, the Aspirant could get through Caryatid for 2 or 3 damage without any hassle.
 
This gal did see some Standard play in some builds of Red Deck Wins, although most of the card's success was seen in Magic Online Daily Events. To be fair, this was a pretty good card at the time and scanning Top 8 deck lists probably doesn't do it justice. She was also an extremely solid creature in Limited.
 
After leaving Standard, War-Name Aspirant mostly sees play in Commander. The Warrior is listed in about 100 EDH decks according to EDHREC. Primarily, the Aspirant is played in the Warrior Tribal focused decks led by Lovisa Coldeyes and Najeela, the Blade-Blossom. Also, one of the better one-vs-one Commanders, Zurgo Bellstriker, has played a copy of War-Name Aspirant. Other Commanders who have recruited the Aspirant include Zurgo Helmsmasher, Lovisa Coldeyes, and Alesha, Who Smiles At Death.  As one of the better creatures with Raid from Khans of Tarkir, it's nice to see that War-Name Aspirant still sees some play, even if it's fairly limited.
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Mindswipe is a fascinating permission spell. It costs XUB, where X is the amount of mana your opponent has to pay in order to have the targeted spell not countered. However, Mindswipe also deals X damage to that spell’s controller, whether or not that mana is paid. So not only do you have a permission spell, but you also have a pseudo-Fireball. It’s a counter-spell that can kill someone, even if the permission cost is paid. The greater the X cost that you pay, the better this card gets.
 
There’s an older card from the Dissension set similar to this called Overrule It was XWB to cast, with the same permission effect, except that you gained X life instead of dealing damage. Again, you gained that life whether or not the spell became countered. A counter-spell that can also deal damage whether or not that spell gets countered is a very good card. You don’t usually see permission spells that get more powerful as the game goes along. So, was this card a key to making counter-burn a real deck in Standard again?
 
Unfortunately, as good as Mindswipe is on paper, it never really saw much competitive Standard play. It did work its way into a Top 8 Jeskai Control deck as a four-of. Also, some Jeskai Tempo decks like this one would run a single Mindswipe. But beyond that, it didn't see much top level play. Mindswipe never really made its way into Modern decks, either.

Yes, Mindswipe is a solid card. But, you have to dump lots of mana into it in order to get full value from it. It wasn't played much in Standard. While the damage is a nice bonus, most of the time you may only get in between one and three damage. While it seemed like a nice counter-burn option, it didn't really find a home in most decks that would want it.
 
Unsurprisingly, though, Mindswipe does see a fair amount of play in Commander decks. It's also unsurprising that the Commander who takes the best advantage of this card is Mizzix of the Izmagnus. This is because Mizzix makes X spells very good, since her experience counter ability makes instants and sorcery spells cost 1 less for each experience counter that you have. It's a very powerful card in that deck.
 
Also, Mindswipe sees some play in Melek, Izzet Paragon spellslinger decks, in which Melek can actually copy Mindswipe and deal double the damage as well as giving you a second chance to counter that spell in case the cost was paid initially. While these aren't the only two commanders that have used Mindswipe, these are the two that will take advantage of this counterspell the most.
 
In Commander, though, having Mindswipe as part of your counter-magic suite, where mana is much more plentiful, can allow you to both stop a crucial spell and deal a fair amount of damage. Mindswipe  may not be ever efficient enough for competitive decks, but for what it is, it's a good card.
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Spawn of Thraxes is a Dragon creature card in Magic the Gathering that can do a ton of damage in a Mono-Red deck. Of course, for Standard play, a seven mana casting cost was far too much for Red Deck Wins to muster. Still it wasn't hard to see the Spawn seeing Commander play. Indeed, after being a decent Limited bomb, this Dragon found his way into a lot of Mono-Red Commander decks. 
 
Being able to deal damage equal to the number of Mountains you control to a creature or player makes the Spawn's effect versatile. He can take out a problem creature or deal a substantial amount of damage to an opponent. This isn't necessarily an efficient way to spend 7 mana in most Constructed decks. But, in Commander, you're not going to mind paying 7 mana to deal a ton of damage late in the game after you've played most of your Mountains. 
 
Two Commanders that take full advantage of Spawn of Thraxes' ability are Feldon of the Third Path and Zirilan of the Claw. Feldon can create token copies of any creature card in your graveyard. This means you can create a Spawn token for only 3 mana as many times as you want, getting that effect and also getting a 5/5 creature token with flying and haste for that turn. Zirilan can search him right out of the deck for three mana, and in this case he also gains haste. However, he has to be removed from the game at the end of the turn. In both cases, one summon is almost always going to be worth it.
 
How much is Spawn of Thraxes worth? Being a promo that had a high supply and relatively low demand, Spawn of Thraxes' price is probably never going to exceed much more than $1. Still, this Dragon is a great addition to many Red Commanders' toolboxes. He may not win the game on his own, but he can deal a great amount of damage for often as little as three mana. If you're sorting through bulk bins and happen to find a copy, Spawn of Thraxes is worth picking up on the cheap for your collection, especially the foil alternate art promo version from the Journey into Nyx prerelease. ​

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Heroes' Bane wasn't an exciting pre-release promo card for Magic the Gathering's Journey into Nyx set. As with many pre-release promos at the time, they were chosen with an eye on making them playable in Limited - drafts and sealed deck. For Limited purposes, Heroes' Bane is pretty good. Also, being a Hydra, Heroes' Bane isn't bad for the ever-growing popular Hydra Tribal Deck.
 
While a 4/4 for 3GG isn't marvelous, being able to double its power for 2GG as many times as you have open mana can make it extremely scary. Granted, it doesn't have trample on its own. Without help, it can be chump-blocked all day. But were it to gain trample and be played alongside say Xenagos, God of Revels or perhaps a Hunter's Prowess, it can kill a player very suddenly. It had some potential, that's for certain. Red-Green Monsters and Mono-Green Devotion were seriously good Standard decks at the time. With the amount of mana available to those decks, it seemed that it just might work at the top end of the mana curve.
 
Some Standard players indeed tried to make Heroes' Bane work. Cory Weber made the Top 8 of the 2014 Colorado State Championships with a copy of Heroes' Bane in his Devotion to Green deck. Early in 2015, Andreas Pettersson included a copy in his Devotion to Simic deck, which made the Top 8 at the Scandinavian Open in Stockholm. While this is pretty much the extent of any competitive play for Heroes' Bane, this was a card that people did try in their Standard decks.
 
Even well after its time in Standard, people still find uses for Heroes' Bane. As with many of the Hydras in Magic, Heroes' Bane shows up in plenty of Commander decks. While he sees play alongside a great many different Commanders, it should be little surprise that Xenagos, God of Revels is at the top of the list. While he made few waves in competitive play, Heroes' Bane has proved to be a versatile creature. ​

 Snapping Thragg is an interesting Beast creature card from Onslaught. It's a 3/3 for 4R (4 colorless, 1 Red) which is not all that great. However, when it deals combat damage to a player, you may have it deal 3 damage to a target creature that player controls. You can make a player force a block just so you can't kill one of their creatures, which is decent enough.
 
Its Morph ability, which costs 4RR to flip, is definitely sub-par. Beast Tribal is definitely an archetype in Commander. Honestly, though, this card may be a bit too weak to honestly deserve a card slot in that sort of deck. The Snapping Thragg will pop up in a Morph-themed Animar, Soul of Elements EDH deck from time to time, but that's about it.​

After being a decent sideboard card in Standard from its days in Worldwake, Dragonmaster Outcast was relegated mostly to casual play and Commander. In Battle for Zendikar, Dragonmaster Outcast popped up again in Standard as a one-of in the sideboard of many Grixis Control decks. Being able to pop out 5/5 Dragon tokens every turn is an extremely powerful ability for a one-drop. Yet the price of the Battle for Zendikar reprint hung around just $3 for years. It shouldn't stay that low for long.

While the price trend on TCGPlayer was trending downwards back in 2016, it was doing the opposite on Magic Card Market in Europe, and still is. It's also popping up in more Commander decks than ever. This is due to the massive supply available because of how many Battle for Zendikar packs have been opened. As a mythic rare that is definitely playable, now is probably the time to make sure to have a copy or two of this card stashed away.

The Outcast was once a $15 card when the Worldwake printing was the only one available. While it may not reach that level again, it's not out of the realm of possibility that Dragonmaster Outcast becomes a $10 card again some day.

As the final revealed mythic rare from Magic the Gathering's Journey Into Nyx spoiler season, Prophetic Flamespeaker looked like a winner. But was he going to sell the set? First of all, anything that has double strike and trample is already good. Add to that having a great effect that activates upon doing combat damage to player, and you definitely have a winner.
 
Being able to exile the top two cards of your deck with the chance to play them that turn is perfectly useful. Yes, you'll burn through some cards. We would see this sort of ability useful around this time with Chandra, Pyromaster, and much later with the release of Abbot of Keral Keep - although these cards only exiled one card at a time.

Also, there were a lot of ways to make this guy truly threatening during that time in Standard. In particular, Titan's Strength, which gives a target creature +3/+1 until end of turn, could make this guy a bit ridiculous, especially considering his trample ability. Plus, Titan's Strength lets you Scry, so you can put a card you don't want to be exiled by the Flamespeaker's effect to the bottom of the deck. So, the potential to hit for 8 damage and accelerate your deck was just plain absurd.
 
While it wasn't quite clear at the time how exactly Prophetic Flamespeaker would play out, he was simply too good not to see play. At the time, I could imagine a red/black deck Bestowing a Herald of Torment onto him and making him a 4/6 flyer! The most likely scenario I envisioned at the time was becoming part of some Red/Green aggro deck that finds ways to consistently pump their Flamespeakers. This was during the Standard heydey of Ghor-Clan Rampager, a creature you could discard from your hand to give an attacking creature +4/+4 and trample until end of turn. Obviously, the Flamespeaker didn't need the trample, but becoming a 5/5 with double strike is extremely powerful.
 
Such Aggro decks would play a lot of cheap creatures anyway, so the top-deck exiling could be advantageous - especially with all the Scrying you're probably doing anyway. It's also important to note that if his exiling reveals a land card, you'll want to be sure that you can use that land that turn or you will lose it forever.
 
It seemed with both Chandra's Phoenix and Boros Reckoner leaving Standard that following October, there was going to be a lot of brewing going on around this card. In my opinion at the the time of his release, the guy had a bright future ahead of him. I even considered that he could be the Voice of Resurgence of the set.
 
None of that happened. What happened? Channel Fireball even had a Devotion to Red deck in which  Prophetic Flamespeaker would play a key role. What was the problem?
 
The problem lies in Prophetic Flamespeaker being so fragile. He has only 1 power, and 3 toughness. Objectively, he was great. But, getting him to actually activate his ability could prove difficult. Channel Fireball also admitted at the time that he wouldn't make it in Modern with Lightning Bolt running amok.

Despite being relatively fragile, Prophetic Flamespeaker did see some Top 8 play during his time in Standard. On Magic Online, he popped up in some Red Deck Wins lists in Theros Block Constructed. He also popped up as a playset in a winning Jund list in a Magic Online Modern Daily event, although this appeared to be a fluke. It would pop up in some top 8 lists at State Championships in Boros decks, but for the most part, it wasn't a card that really did as much many players hoped it would.
 
Later on, Prophetic Flamespeaker made another appearance in Modern as part of an All-in Red deck that had a strong finish at a Star City Games Modern event in Las Vegas in December of 2015. Then, the Flamespeaker would appear in a couple of Dragon Stompy Legacy decks in April of 2016 as a three-of in the main deck. In fact, in one event, two similar lists placed first and second. Armed with Sword of Fire and Ice and/or Umezawa's Jitte, the Flamespeaker actually was able to get in some attacks. Then, outside of popping up in some Commander lists, the Flamespeaker basically disappeared from view.
 
Prophetic Flamespeaker is the perfect example of an objectively powerful card that simply never found the legs to be consistently part of a competitive strategy. He would latch on as a part of existing decks, and while the deck would win, it seems that he didn't actually improve the deck enough to become a permanent fixture. With powerful creatures continuing to be printed all the time, there just isn't really a slot for the Flamespeaker to fit into anymore.
 
Still, Prophetic Flamespeaker is a good creature with the ability to potentially finish off an opponent with the right pump spells. He also can provide some powerful card advantage if the deck is able to support casting spells quickly. Prophetic Flamespeaker was indeed powerful on paper, but in practice, he never really panned out competitively. For a card that's worth roughly a dollar, he's a fun creature to try out and brew with in Kitchen Table Magic decks. Sadly, many people have forgotten about him.​

Hooded Hydra is a mythic rare from Khans of Tarkir that never saw the competitive play it needed to be the really nice sleeper some players thought it would be. Clever Impersonator was a bigger hit in Commander than the Hydra, but in the right deck, Hooded Hydra is pretty sweet. It seemed like a solid enough pickup at $1.50 with the rotation of Theros block, but it slipped into dollar bin obscurity for those who didn't plan on using him in Commander.

At one time, there was speculation that the Hydra could be pretty good as a big beater in a deck fueled by Whisperwood Elemental and Mastery of the Unseen. Being able to manifest it and flip it for only 2 green mana for a 5/5 seemed like awesome value. It seemed like a good candidate to find a place in the Hardened Scales decks that were a thing in Standard for awhile. Neither scenario emerged, though. By February 2016, Hooded Hydra became a $1 card, an all time low price, around which it stayed for some time, before creeping slowly towards $2.

What makes Hooded Hydra a good buy at $2 or less? We’ve seen how good getting X tokens for X +1/+1 counters can be. Hangarback Walker is a perfect example. While obviously not as splashable as Hangarback Walker, it doesn’t take much of a mana investment for this to be good. Plus, if it enters as a Morph creature, it gets an additional 5 +1/+1 counters when it’s flipped face-up. The Hydra will always at least replace itself.

The good news for Hooded Hydra is that it’s very Commander playable. Since he creates Snake tokens for each +1/+1 counter he has when he dies, he’s become a staple in Kaseto, Orochi Archmage EDH decks. Being a Snake tribal deck, more Snakes are always welcome. Rosheen Meanderer, a Red/Green Commander who loves Hydras in their X casting cost, loves this Hydra too. The Giant’s ability gives 4 colorless mana to pay for any X casting costs. That makes Hooded Hydra at the very least a 4/4. Other commanders that can use Hooded Hydra on a regular basis include Seshiro the Anointed (Snake Tribal), Ulasht, the Hate Seed (Hydra Tribal), and Vorel the Hull Clade (+1/+1 counter mayhem.)

With even foils around $3, Hooded Hydra is a pretty good pickup just based on how playable it is in Commander. While it could be quite a long time before Hooded Hydra ever sees a jump in price, it’s a safe buy if you plan to play him in Commander.

Aqua Madoor should be familiar to many Yu-Gi-Oh duelists. Originally printed in the first English set, Legend of Blue-Eyes, as a rare, Aqua Madoor has 1200 ATK and 2000 DEF. In the early days of the game, 2000 DEF was a formidable amount. This was a monster that many old-school duelists used to stall their opponent from making a successful attack until they could tribute him to bring out a more powerful monster, such as Summoned Skull or Blue-Eyes White Dragon.

Even being such an old card, printed at common several times, Aqua Madoor even made an appearance in the Yu-Gi-Oh GX anime. The normal-type Spellcaster was even reprinted at Secret Rare in Legendary Collection 3: Yugi's World Mega Pack, the first ever foil printing of this card.

My first experience with Aqua Madoor was in the Starter Deck: Pegasus, my introduction to the Yu-Gi-Oh Trading Card Game. I really liked to play him in face-down defense position, since opponents would often attack him blindly and take battle damage. While he's pretty underwhelming by today's standards, Aqua Madoor was a very useful monster back in the day for many duelists.

Originally printed in Urza's Saga, Abundance is a very good Enchantment that was reprinted in Magic the Gathering's Tenth Edition Core Set. While legal in Modern, 4-mana enchantments don't really see play in the format. Still, Abundance is a great card that many Commander and Cube players were happy to see reprinted in  Duel Decks: Nissa vs Ob Nixilis.

What's great about Abundance is that it allows you to be able to not draw a land if you want to. It also allows you to draw a land if you do want. In a format like Commander, Abundance can be invaluable. Getting mana-screwed (not enough land to play your spells) or mana-flooded (too many lands and not enough spells)  are common issues in the format. This Enchantment offers very useful card selection, although, it is a bit mana-intensive for a highly competitive format like Modern.

Despite not seeing play in top tournament play, Abundance is a highly sought after card due to having such a useful effect. Green decks often have access to more than 4 mana on turn 4, so this can come down as early as turn 2 in some decks. Abundance was a nearly $4 card before the Duel Deck reprint and it's still creeping back up. While you can't expect to see this card in a top 8 Modern deck, Abundance is a great card that you shouldn't overlook in a trade binder.


Read more Magic the Gathering Modern articles here.

Dragon's Maze is widely considered to be one of the weakest Magic the Gathering sets ever released in terms of power level. However, there are some very good cards in the set, including undoubtedly the best in the set: Voice of Resurgence.

After being a staple in many Standard decks, Voice of Resurgence has moved into many Modern decks. As a card you definitely want to have four copies of in your collection, this powerful Elemental creature is getting harder to  find. No one really wants to open Dragon's Maze packs to find them, either.

Fortunately for everyone, Voice of Resurgence has been reprinted in Modern Masters 2017 for all to enjoy. Who doesn't like making a free token whenever your opponent casts a spell on your turn or when it dies? Cards that replace themselves are good enough, but against the many control decks in Modern, Voice of Resurgence is a very powerful force.

As one of the better creatures ever printed in Magic, it's good to see this guy become a lot more available! Along with Tarmogoyf, of course... (yes, 'Goyf was reprinted yet again in MM2017...)

Burning-Tree Emissary and Magma Jet were huge players back in their days in Standard. While it's not a lot, the Emissary sees occasional play in Modern Zoo decks. Also, Magma Jet still sees some Modern play in Skred Red. Both were previously printed exclusively at uncommon. But in Modern Masters 2017, both cards are reprinted at common.

These are two cards expected to have an immediate impact in the all-common Pauper format. Burning-Tree Emissary is a solid value creature that essentially pays for itself by giving you one Red and one Green mana when he enters the battlefield. This should help speed up some of the Aggro and "Stompy" decks in the format. Casting him and potentially two other one-mana creatures in a turn is a huge tempo swing. Also, while Pauper already has premier burn spells in Lightning Bolt and Lava Spike, among others, Magma Jet will probably see play in decks that value the Scry 2, such as Izzet Delver, a top deck in the format.

Kudos to Wizards for making these two very useful cards more readily available and even eligible in Pauper!

 First printed in Rise of the Eldrazi, Mortician Beetle always seemed like a decent card, but one that shouldn't have been printed at rare. However, it's been a dollar rare for quite some time. According to EDHREC, Mortician Beetle sees a fair, but not great amount of play in Commander. But due to the potential power of the Beetle's effect, it does see a fair amount of casual play.

The Beetle allows you to put a +1/+1 counter on it each time a player sacrifices a creature. This allows for the Beetle to grow quite large, especially in Commander, where sacrifice themes are rampant. But this is hardly a popular card in Modern, despite there being decks that could take advantage of its ability. It doesn't have trample, though, and it doesn't fly, so it basically just becomes a big dumb beater. Still, it can potentially kill out of nowhere.

For Modern Masters 2017, it was decided to reprint this creature at common. This makes sense, as in Rise of the Eldrazi, the sacrifice theme was extremely important to the set. Having a creature like this at common or even uncommon would have unbalanced what is considered to be one of the best draft formats in Magic the Gathering history. Now being more readily available, it's likely we'll see Mortician Beetle pop up in more Commander decks.

The other impact of this rarity change means that Mortician Beetle is now legal in the all-common Pauper format. While there isn't currently a top deck that could use the Beetle in what's actually an extremely competitive format, Mortician Beetle could see play in new brews based around Tortured Existence, a good card that's been in the format for years.

This is a good reprint, although it's a bit disappointing for people that bought Rise of the Eldrazi foil Mortician Beetles for their Commander decks. Still, this is a card I didn't expect to see at common, and it's hard not to like it at that rarity.

Originally from Dark Ascension, Falkenrath Aristocrat was quite a boss creature back in her Standard days. She was a part of several top decks during her time in Standard. Nowadays, she's pretty much just a casual card, although she shows up alongside Marchesa, the Black Rose, Olivia Voldaren, and others in Commander. In Modern Masters 2017, her rarity was downgraded to rare from mythic rare.

As an aside, Falkenrath Aristocrat still sees a lot of play in the European Highlander format in a deck known commonly as 4-Color Blood. It's a 100-card singleton format like Commander, except without a Commander. It's a cool format, actually, so she'll still being seeing play there.

While she wasn't an expensive card as of her reprint, around $3, she'll now be extremely cheap. She doesn't really see any play at all in Modern, but she's still a decent card to have at rare. But without a huge amount of competitive demand (outside of European Highlander), she'll be a very cheap card before long.