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MTG Battle for Zendikar Pre-Release Weekend - Top Preorders on Amazon

9/27/2015

by Richard Rowell, Gaming Successfully Staff

Battle for Zendikar hasn’t quite had the reception that Wizards of the Coast was probably hoping for. With most players just looking for their Ulamogs and Gideons, plus the crazy rare full-art Expeditions lands, there was a lot of disappointment. Sales have been there, though, as booster boxes are moving better than they were last week and fat packs are moving at the crazy $50-60 price tag, due to the 80 full art lands being included.

So what are players looking to buy from the set on Amazon? Let’s take a look at the Top 100 Single Cards and go in reverse order of sales rank. One hint: there are a lot of Eldrazi upcoming.

Desolation Twin $1.00-$1.50

One of the more powerful cards in the set, Desolation Twin can make 2 10/10 monsters for 10 mana. Problem is, you have to cast him to get the 10/10 token - you can’t cheat him in. There’s enough ramp with Eldrazi, though, that you’ll be able to cast him long before hitting 10 lands. Once this guy hits the board, along with his twin, your opponent better have removal to deal with them.

Void Winnower $5.00-$6.00

One of the more unique cards from Battle for Zendikar, the casual appeal of shutting down probably half of your opponents’ spells (all even-costed) and making lots of their creatures unable to block (again, any that are even-costed, including tokens with their CMC of 0) is pretty strong. It’s not really a surprise that players want this to cheat into play somehow. While not quite a win condition, Void Winnower is a card that players should have plenty of fun with.

Conduit of Ruin $2.00-$2.50

Tutoring up one of your best colorless creatures as a cast trigger is pretty cool. Making your colorless creatures cost 2 less to cast is also pretty cool. This is a great card for anyone who wants to build an Eldrazi deck - while perhaps not super competitively playable, it has a decent power level for casual play. Keep in mind that cheating this into play (not casting it) means you don’t get the tutor trigger. In any case, casual and Commander players should be finding homes for this guy upon release.

Gideon, Ally of Zendikar $30-36

Easily the most sought after Planeswalker in the set, Gideon, Ally of Zendikar looks like he’s going to be a major part of any Ally deck built from here on out. Creating those Ally tokens is pretty powerful and he can get in for decent damage on his own. The anthem (creatures get +1/+1) emblem is pretty good, too. The spread in pre-order prices shows that this Gideon could be the most expensive card in the set for awhile. He’s probably not worth more than $30, but plenty of players are anxious to get ahold of their copies.

Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger $18.50-$20.00

It shouldn’t be any surprise that the only true Eldrazi Titan in the set would be the set’s best seller so far. Ulamog isn’t quite as good in some ways as his Rise of the Eldrazi predecessor, but exiling the top 20 cards of an opponent’s deck is pretty powerful. It’s not Annihilator - forcing your opponent to sacrifice permanents - but he does exile two permanents upon casting him. It’s not quite clear just yet how valuable this Ulamog will prove to be in Constructed, but plenty of casual players will jam this into their Eldrazi decks.

What cards you most excited for in Battle for Zendikar? Any cards from BFZ you’re looking to pre-order, or will you wait for release?

Not sure what you’re looking to get from this set? Boxes and fat packs are definitely more expensive than usual. But if you’re looking for a great value and the beginning of a strong Standard deck, the Battle for Zendikar Event Deck is pre-ordering for under $30! Definitely the best current value from the set.

MTG Stock Watch - Divine Intervention from Legends

9/26/2015

by ElspethFTW, Gaming Successfully Staff

Since the inception of the Old School Magic format, which only uses cards from Fallen Empires and before, cards from early sets such as Legends and Arabian Nights have seen a lot of interesting price fluctuations. Being a casual format, cards you would never have thought of playing suddenly look quite interesting in that format. Since most of these cards are on the reserved list, cards that Wizards of the Coast promised to never reprint, they can make some very good investments.

Of particular interest lately is an 8 mana white enchantment (6WW) called Divine Intervention. It saw a decent increase recently before coming back down a bit before yet another surge. It hasn't spiked but is sitting between 10 and 15 dollars. What's particularly interesting about this card is its rather unique effect.

There are several cards in Magic that serve as alternate win conditions. But Divine Intervention, after it has two intervention counters removed from it, actually ends the game in a draw. From a competitive standpoint, this doesn't seem like a very fun card. It has seen some fringe play in Phelddagrif "group hug" EDH decks as a way to simply let no one win.

While it doesn't seem like you'll be seeing Divine Intervention becoming a staple anytime soon, seeing what a mediocre enchantment like field of dreams has done, it can't hurt to find a good condition copy or two of this. All you need is for the supply to dry up all of a sudden which with these very old cards can happen quite easily.

If anything this is just a cool gem from early Magic. It's a cool one to have and in EDH a great way to end a Commander game no one really wants to play anymore.

(Update 7-8-2017: Divine Intervention did later see a spike to $40 in March of 2016 before settling around $30-35. Being on the Reserved List, it's still a good investment.)

MTG Stock Watch - Field of Dreams from Legends

9/26/2015

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by ElspethFTW, Gaming Successfully Staff

Field of Dreams is an enchantment from Legends that has recently seen a crazy price increase over the past month, from $6 to $20 to $80. What tempted players to buy out this reserved list Enchantment? It costs a single blue mana to cast. What does it do? It has all players play with the top card of their decks revealed.

This doesn't sound all that exciting. However, as an artifact with a similar effect has shown, knowing what the next draw would be can provide plenty of useful information. The difference between this and the Modern-playable Lantern of Insight, however, is that you can sacrifice the Lantern to shuffle a target library. Field of Dreams has no such extra ability.

Having such a similar effect though, it would seem a few players thought it may have some potential and bought copies. Suddenly having such a low supply card see sudden interest, there was a buyout. Definitely don't see this as a great investment. It's actually a great chance to sell this card if you happen to have any laying around. If you manage to find these at their old price of 5 dollars or so, then you should probably give it a shot.

The only format in which this could ever actually be good is the Old School Magic format. It's a format that only allows cards printed from Fallen Empires and before. Because of this it's often called 93/94. Could there be a sort of Lantern control deck possible in that format using Field of Dreams as an alternate version? Who knows. Someone out there must be trying it.

(Update 7/8/17: Field of Dreams' price has slowly "returned to earth" to around $30. Because it's on the reserved list, however, it's still a good card to have around.)

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Budget U/R Tutelage - Magic the Gathering

9/26/2015

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By Kai Chang, Crazy About MTG

Hello Everybody! Crazy About MTG is here! I made this Budget U/R Tutelage deck after writing my article on U/R Tutelage on my own blog. The gist of the deck is to draw as many cards as you can to mill the opponent with Sphinx’s Tutelage, even if there are drawbacks to the card draw. Since most decks feature lots of multicolored spells, and I saw someone get ten or more cards into the opponent’s graveyard per card you draw. Two examples are really nice card draw cards that have small drawbacks are Dictate of Kruphix and Tormenting Voice, because Sphinx’s Tutelage only cares about how many cards you draw, not about the drawbacks. The idea isn’t card advantage, it’s about triggering Sphinx’s Tutelage. Comment your ideas for the deck below!

TappedOut Link: Budget U/R Tutelage!

Decklist:

Instant (11)

Enchantment (8)

Sorcery (14)

Artifact (2)

2x Pyromancer’s Goggles

Land (25)

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Magic the Gathering Card Review - Haunted Plate Mail (Magic 2014 & Magic 2015)

9/24/2015

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by ElspethFTW, Gaming Successfully Staff

Haunted Plate Mail was pretty cool in Limited when it was first released in the Magic 2014 Core Set. Sure, it wasn’t going to see much play in Constructed, but getting a free creature whenever you didn’t control any was pretty cool. Yeah, it could die to removal, but then again you could always just equip it to your best creature and give it +4/+4.

Quite a few players liked it in that Limited environment. Also, a Blue/White Trading Post deck ran two copies with some success back in 2013. That was an actual thing that happened. In Commander, while hardly one of the best Equipments you can run, there are plenty of players of Jor Kadeen, the Prevailer and Kemba, Kha Regent that have run it out there. It’s a bulk rare, but as they go an Equipment that can also be a creature is never a bad thing.

When the Mail was reprinted in Magic 2015, however, it was much more mediocre in that Limited environment. It was still somewhat playable, but it wasn’t a rare anyone wanted to see. It was fine in Sealed if you didn’t have any good creatures to play… but you’d never actually want to draft it, despite being able to fit into literally any color. Whatever the case, it’s a well-designed card that was just printed in one too many Core Sets.

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MTG Battle for Zendikar - The Allies of BFZ - Multi-Colored and Final Verdict

9/24/2015

by Richard Rowell, Gaming Successfully Staff

We've already run through and reviewed all of the Ally cards in all five colors, so now it's down to the final few, the multi-colored cards! Plus, we'll have a bonus card to look at! Without further ado, let's take this thing home and reach a final verdict!

Angelic Captain

Getting +1/+1 for each attacking ally is cool. As a curve topper in Limited, this is fine with minimal Ally support. In combination with the red Allies that give haste and menace, this Angel can do work. Tajuru Warcaller in Green pumps your team, and may be a better five-drop overall, but this is fine on its own.

Grade B

Drana's Emissary

This is easily one of the best Ally creatures in the set. Each opponent gets drained for 1 during each of your upkeeps - meaning you gain 1 life for each opponent that loses 1 life. It's a sweet little clock you get to put your opposition on, and clocks are great in what’s looking to be a very "durdly" Limited format with BFZ. And there are other drain effects in the set, too, that you can play alongside the Emissary. Put them all together and you have a winning draft strategy. It may not make the grade in Constructed, but there are Commander players happy to find the Emissary a home. I love cards that scale up in multiplayer. That being said, a white/black Ally drain deck isn’t impossible in Standard, probably just not anywhere in the top tier.

Grade A-

Grovetender Druids

The Druids were underwhelming to me when the card was first spoiled. Now seeing the whole set, paying the extra 1 for the rally trigger to make a 1/1 Plant token seems slightly better than it did knowing we have allies like Tajuru Warcaller around that can pump those tokens - since Rally triggers affect all your creatures, not only the Allies. I feel like this has a few things conspiring against it, though. It has to be in a very dedicated Ally strategy to be worth playing, plus you need something as good a payoff as Warcaller's +2/+2 or Resolute Blademaster's double strike for the tokens to be of much relevance. It's going to be fine in Limited for Ally strategies, as Green and White is a solid way to go with the deck (although Black/White Allies is looking better), but it's more of a complementary creature rather than a linchpin.

Grade C+

March from the Tomb

There's varied opinions on how good this actually is. If you're just playing the white and black Allies exclusively, this is probably well worth the 5 mana as you get back up to CMC 8 worth of Allies that can drain for a bunch. It's probably good if you play Allies at all. Reanimation spells are always fun. There's no drawback, either, other than being limited to solely Allies, so I think it's better than it's being credited for. Still it is narrow, but as Ally support, it's solid. You just have to set it up well. It’s going to do work in the right Limited decks and there’s possibility for some Standard play, too. Do remember that Rally the Ancestors is still around.

Grade B

Munda, Ambush Leader

Munda is a 3 / 4 with Haste and with the White and Red Allies around to give him some extra abilities, the Kor Ally is a decent Limited creature, and not a terrible rare to draft. He also has the ability to help you keep drawing Allies, which isn’t nothing. As I said in my spoiler review of Munda, he’s a bit worse Goblin Ringleader, as you don’t directly get card advantage from him. Were he a Ringleader, he’d be a mythic rare and probably loses a point of power and/or toughness. He’s a bit too balanced for most players liking and a bit weak for Constructed purposes, although there may be a corner case where Naya (white/red/green) Allies are good enough that this guy helps you set up a strong Collected Company play, but that seems a bit awkward.

It’s too bad he doesn’t actually add Allies to your hand directly like Ringleader does for Goblins. There are enough Red and White Allies in the game now, plus relevant Changelings, that you could make a pretty sweet Commander deck with him. As of right now, he’s a candidate for General Insanity - a series where we take Legendaries that get no love and try to form a deck around them.

Grade: B-/C+

Noyan Dar, Roil Shaper

I like this Merfolk Legend too much for my own good. Awaken is a cool mechanic and animating a land for pretty much free is pretty cool. In Commander, he’s pretty sweet to build around. CMDTower has a pretty awesome start on a good Noyan Dar Commander list, actually. In limited, it's pretty easy to get value especially if you drafted a creature land and have Tidecaller around. I like this way too much.

As an Ally though, it's just a Rally trigger You want this in a blue/white Control build, not in Ally. If it made Elemental Ally lands I'd like the flavor more, although I’m not sure how lands would be Allies. Anyway, he’s good, just not as an Ally per se.

Grade B

Resolute Blademaster

Double strike is very good. 2/2 for 3RW doesn't seem too good but gaining double strike on a regular basis can diminish that downside. I probably wouldn't play this outside of Limited, but the double strike can just kill someone out of nowhere. There are enough Ally synergies, especially with the Red Allies that grant haste and menace, to simply overwhelm your opponent with a team of double strikers that can attack right away and need more than one blocker to stop. Probably doesn’t make the cut in Constructed, though.

Grade B

Skyrider Elf

At worst, this Elf is a 2 / 2 flyer for two. Being a 2-drop flyer is already worth playing this in Limited. At best, it's a 5 / 5 flyer for 5, which seems decent if you’re playing 5 colors. Having a flyer that rewards you for playing more colors seems sweet. It’s definitely worth playing in Limited, and it scales well, so the X in the casting cost plus Converge is more of a bonus in most cases. It does very badly in Constructed, though, if you want to cheat it in with Collected Company, because it’s just a 0/0 and dies. You have to cast it, essentially, unless you can throw counters on it at instant speed. Really, it’s Limited only, but it doesn’t need a critical mass of Allies to be good and it does have the synergies, so it’s playable.

Grade B

Veteran Warleader

Featured in the Zendikar vs Eldrazi Duel Deck, we now see that the Warleader could be OK, at least in Limited. He really only needs one other Ally you control to be good. Tap one with summoning sickness and get first strike, vigilance or trample. This seems fine. With 3 or 4 creatures on board he's decent. Probably not super constructed playable, though. Even if you could cheat him in with Collected Company, there are better creatures to play instead in that 3-drop slot in Constructed.

Grade B-

Verdict on the Multi-Colored Allies: B

We have a pretty sweet Commander in Noyan Dar, who is more of a Merfolk Tribal/Blue-White Control card than an Ally, though. He looks Constructed playable in a vacuum, too. Munda is a decent Legendary, although his Commander and Constructed prospects are both murky. The rest all seem worth splashing for, including March from the Tomb, which could bring back 4 or 5 guys. That’s a lot of triggers, especially if you give all those creatures haste with something like Chasm Guide. Drana’s Emissary is particularly sweet. Pretty good group of cards here, if not the most exciting.

Before we get to the final verdict on BFZ’s Allies, though, we have one more card to look at: the Ally tribal land!

Ally Encampment

Oh, yay, another tribal land. There is something interesting I noticed about it, though. It lets you cast an Ally spell of any color. It doesn't specifically say creatures. Does this mean we will get Tribal enchantments instants and sorceries for allies? Perhaps that's wishful thinking, but that possibility is there. Sacrificing the encampment to bounce an ally you control seems fine under the right circumstances. Again though it doesn't have to be a creature.

I bring this up because way back in Lorwyn and Morningtide, there were introduced Tribal cards. They were cards that benefitted a specific tribe and could be tutored up by tribal cards and benefitted Tribal strategies. You also had Shapeshifter or Changeling Tribal cards that counted as being every tribe at once. Mutavault was part of these changeling cards, and that creature land is a staple in Modern and Legacy Tribal decks.

So is Ally Encampment going to be the land that makes Allies more Constructed-playable than ever? Whether we get Ally Tribal Enchantments, Instants, and Sorceries or not, this is a rainbow land for Allies. The sacrifice effect to bounce an Ally can be relevant in the later game when you really need to save a key creature. In many ways, it's a lot like Sliver Hive, in that you need a crazy amount of dedication to your tribe to make this work. But when it’s good, it’s really good.

Grade A - one of the better tribal lands we’ve seen, and if non-creature Tribal spells get printed, this could get even better!

Final Verdict on Battle for Zendikar Allies: B

So rather than just taking individual grades and doing the math, it felt right to just give the entire Battle for Zendikar Ally tribe a solid B. Grading the cards on an individual basis, I feel like the set’s offerings provide us with a B-minus or C-plus, but with the amount of synergies among the Allies, I had to bump them up a few points. Also, having the Rally mechanic benefit all creatures you control and not simply Allies is a minor but non-negligible upgrade for these newer Allies. Many of the new Allies are slightly more functional counterparts of those from Zendikar and Worldwake. A few are slightly worse perhaps, but make up for being slightly worse with benefitting all of your creatures.

The Ally Encampment is probably the best thing that Allies got in the entire set. The Black allies and Drana’s Emissary form a pretty sweet draft/sealed deck archetype. There are also enough decent two and three mana Allies (as well as the 2/1 one-mana Envoy) that playing a Collected Company Allies deck seems legitimate. There is hope in Standard for Allies.

We also got a couple cool Commanders in Noyan Dar and Zada, and the latter could actually work his way into a decent Standard deck, too.

Beyond Standard, though, the only real thing that I feel Allies picked up is the Encampment. Collected Company Allies have won here and there in Modern, especially having Aether Vial to cheat in creatures. The Encampment makes the mana base more consistent. Also, Zulaport Cutthroat is essentially another Blood Artist, and there are sweet things some Modern decks could do with Blood Artists #5-8, as those combos revolve around creatures you control anyway, so the functional downgrade doesn’t matter in those cases.

As seems to be the case with Battle for Zendikar in general, it feels like the power level of Battle for Zendikar was scaled back a bit too much. A lot of these cards are functional reprints of older cards, and as I said, some of them are actually better and some are only slightly worse. Casual players will jam plenty of these into their existing Ally decks. Only time will tell, but it seems Wizards developed the Allies into more of a Limited archetype than a Standard-playable upper-tier strategy.

However, although many people seem disappointed with what the set has offered, there are plenty of optimists, too. Battle for Zendikar went to the extreme with the tribal flavor of Allies vs Eldrazi. I think they succeeded from a design standpoint, but did development perhaps scale back these guys to be balanced for Limited play and cost them Constructed playability? We shall see.

MTG Battle for Zendikar - The Allies of BFZ - Green

9/23/2015

by Richard Rowell, Gaming Successfully Staff

As we’ve been reviewing the Battle for Zendikar Allies color by color, they seem to be getting progressively better as we continue in WUBRG order. Green only has 4. But they’re all decent ones. So will Green prove to be the best of the five colors? Let’s find out.

Beastcaller Savant

A mana dork with haste is a plus. You can only use the mana for creature spells but honestly this may be okay. Harabaz Druid from Worldwake is tons better in Modern, as the Druid always produces at least one mana of any color to cast any spell. But for Standard purposes, the Savant should be fine, especially in a creature heavy deck, and certainly passable in Limited. You don’t have to even play the Savant in Allies for it to work. The haste is really the best thing about it, so it may have a chance to slip into Standard in the right deck (probably Allies).

Grade B/B+

Tajuru Beastmaster

5G for a 5/5 is OK. A Rally trigger that gives you an anthem until end of turn (+1/+1 to all creatures) is OK. At common, this is very okay. You won't be seeing this in Constructed, but at such a low rarity it was meant for Limited play, anyway, so who cares. Requiring only a single Green mana makes it pretty splashable, too, so if you just need a fatty to top off your curve, the Beastmaster is your guy. He’s a lot better with Allies, though - actually, a ton better.

Grade B

Tajuru Stalwart

The Stalwart with Converge is easily a 3/4 in a three color deck, something Allies tend to call for anyway. With +1/+1 counter shenanigans, it gets even bigger. It probably won't crack Standard, but potentially having a 3 / 4 for only 2G is definitely decent. In an Ally centric deck in Limited, this is definitely a strong pick. At common, it’s especially a good value.

Grade B

Tajuru Warcaller

As a mere 2/1 to begin with, the Warcaller seems fragile. But the +2/+2 boost her Rally trigger provides is the real deal. The Warcaller is easily a 4/3, and is so as she enters play, and possibly a 6/5 on some turns in a dedicated Ally strategy. This is definitely an Ally I want topping out my curve. She does require two Green mana symbols, which makes her a bit less splashable than some Allies, but her Rally ability is worth it if you’re going all in on Allies - which this set really wants you to do.

Grade B/B+

Verdict on the Green Allies: B

I might be grading the Green Allies a bit highly, as there are only four of them, and their high grade is mostly due to the fact that you don’t have to commit to Allies to play 3 out of the 4 of them. Beastcaller Savant is borderline Constructed playable, and all 3 others are good Limited plays. As far as Constructed is concerned, this batch is probably more like a C. Green isn’t the best color - that seems to be a relative tie between Black and Red - but it’s close.

Now that we’ve looked at all 5 colors, will the multi-colored Allies make or break the Ally tribe in Battle for Zendikar? We’ll find out.

MTG: Battle for Zendikar - The Allies of BFZ - Red

9/23/2015

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by ElspethFTW, Gaming Successfully Staff

Battle for Zendikar has given us more than a few Allies. Are they going to make the grade? So, far, we’ve looked at the rather average White Allies, the two Blue Allies (one of which is pretty cool), and the above average Black allies. So what does Red have in store for us?

Chasm Guide

Haste is good. Essentially having Haste herself and giving it to any Ally when they enter is pretty solid. A 3/2 for 4 isn’t great, but what she does makes for a playable creature. Rally the Ancestors and March from the Tomb have already been mentioned as being playable along the Guide in some Mardu Ally deck. As a replacement for Mogis’ Marauder, which gave intimidate, the popular Rally deck will get new life with Allies. The haste is probably better than the intimidate fueled by devotion to Black anyhow. March from the Tomb gets a lot better if the Allies it brings back suddenly have haste. I’m with the crowd on this one; this obviously is no Goblin Guide, but she’s solid.

Grade B

Firemantle Mage

Menace isn't quite as good as haste, perhaps. But with enough creatures on board, being unable to block any one creature with a single creature can leave opponents dead. Being able to get Menace on a regular basis is scary, and in combination with Chasm Guide, Allies have some serious acceleration. The fact that they curve well into one another in Limited helps matters, as well.

Grade B

Ondu Champion

Who doesn’t love trample? Who doesn’t love Minotaurs? Ondu Champion gives all creatures you control trample with his Rally effect, which is pretty nice. In a Limited format full of chump blocking Eldrazi Scion tokens and other little creatures that need to band together to be any good, Trample is especially useful. Those few extra points of trample damage here and there can prevent opponents from ever being able to drop their big Eldrazi bombs by virtue of simply being dead.

Grade B

Reckless Cohort

A red “bear” is fine, but the downside is meaningful. In an Ally deck, you won’t have to worry about this guy recklessly killing himself, but the drawback does downgrade him a bit overall. Limited player only and really only in Ally-heavy builds.

Grade B-

Shatterskull Recruit

3RR for a 4 / 4 with Menace is good at common. Exciting he is not, but he owes the Kor a debt of gratitude and is potentially going to take at least two creatures down with him. Any common that can give you a two-for-one is a solid card in my opinion.

Grade B

Zada, Hedron Grinder

As an Ally, Zada doesn’t really have any synergy with the tribe outside of being an Ally himself. I’ve already gone into how good he is as a Mono-Red Commander and how you can use Zada in Standard without ever needing another Ally on board. Remember, Become Immense is a thing, and giving your whole team +6/+6 is sort of unfair. Here’s that in-depth review of Zada.

Since then, the entire set has been spoiled, so now we get to see what Zada has to play with in Limited. There aren’t a bunch of useful spells, but the ones there are should be good enough. Tandem Tactics is fine, giving Zada and your team +1/+2 as long as you only choose Zada as your only target (gaining 2 life for each creature is a nice bonus). Lithomancer’s Focus gives your team +2/+2 and invulnerability from colorless sources until end of turn - not quite protection and certainly no God’s Willing. Sure Strike in Red for 1R gives +3/+0 and first strike until end of turn - solid enough. The best ones appear to be in Green, Earthen Arms and Infuse with the Elements. Earthen Arms essentially gives all your creatures 2 +1/+1 counters. Infuse is a Converge spell for 3G that gives a target creature X +1/+1 counters and trample until end of turn. Four colors of mana is not out of the question for an Ally deck. But even for just 2 or 3 colors, it’s a nightmare with Zada.

Since Zada does have some decent firepower in Limited, I can get behind him in an Ally deck. But he doesn’t have to see play in Allies. The only thing about Zada is you need to have a pump spell to fire off right away to get the most out of him. You do kind of have to build around him, but when you do, you’ll probably win quite a few games.

Grade: B+

Verdict on Red Allies: B+

Chasm Guide and Zada definitely look like Constructed playables, but as four-drops they will need to find their niches in Standard. In Limited, though, these Red Allies are all playable, with Cohort being the worst. Even Cohort is fine if all you’re casting are Allies. Black may have some great stuff, but so far, Red has the overall best cards. The Vampire theme in Black has proven a bit too cute for some players to stomach, so the alternative option to just bash face with Red is a welcome sight. Of course, Red and Black are probably going to be working together a lot when it comes to allies. Perhaps Mardu Aggro really will be a thing in Standard - finally.

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MTG Battle for Zendikar - The Allies of BFZ - Black

9/22/2015

by Richard Rowell, Gaming Successfully Staff

Battle for Zendikar gives Allies a new breath of life after a long absence from the Standard scene. Now with the tribe being reinforced in a big way, will they have enough of an army to make Allies a true contender in competitive play? Will they rise above the chaff and make a reasonable contender in Standard? What about for Modern and beyond? Let's find out. We’ll be going in WUBRG order, ending with the multi-color cards. One article for each color seems worth it to give these cards the attention they probably deserve.

With White, we had a C-plus bunch. Blue only had two, but one was super good and supplemented the Awaken theme as a viable draft strategy. As we’ll see with Black, there’s some value creatures here that are not only good in Limited, but could break into Standard in a big way.

Bloodbond Vampire

Gaining life is bound to happen with the drain effects that we’ll be seeing on some of these Allies. Bloodbond Vampire is set-up to benefit from the life gain. As a 4 drop 3 / 3 to begin with, it's not hard for this to become a 5 / 5 or 6 / 6. The incremental gains are better realized in Limited. It's pretty borderline when it comes to being constructed worthy, but it fits into Limited decks alongside its black brethren just fine.

Grade B-

Drana, Liberator of Malakir

From a raw power standpoint, the original Drana, Malakir Bloodwitch can take over a game in more ways than the Liberator of Malakir can. But purely as an Ally, the new mythic rare Drana is very powerful. Being a 2/3 flyer with first strike is awesome and the ability for her to pump your team during first strike damage means most of your team will often get a permanent +1/+1 boost before dealing their own damage. This makes for an awkward interaction with any card that gives all your creatures first strike, but most of the time, Drana will be the lynchpin in a successful alpha strike.

For a more complete look, check out my spoiler review of Drana, Liberator of Malakir. Apparently, I’m higher on her than a lot of people are but I think she’ll see quite a bit of play in Standard, and not just in Allies. That’s why she gets such a high grade. She’s got a lot of power for 3 mana, even if she’ll never compare to her Worldwake version.

Grade A-

Hagra Sharpshooter

A 2/2 for 2B and an ability is fine. When that ability costs 4B it better be good. Giving a target creature -1/-1 is not good. Even if it's repeatable, paying 5 mana for that ability is just not efficient. Sure you can use it during combat as a nifty trick but that's quite an investment. It's OK to round out a curve in an Ally deck in Limited. He can also pick off Eldrazi Scion tokens. But little else.

Grade C-

Kalastria Healer

While a lot more conditional than his friend Zulaport Cutthroat (who we’ll get to in a bit), draining each opponent when the Healer or another Ally enters play is fine. A 1 / 2 for 1B is fine, too. Yes, the Healer needs Allies to be good. It has potential to do plenty of work, though. Not only is this likely a centerpiece to any Limited Ally deck, but it could even be a part of some Standard Ally brew, as well.

Grade B+

Kalastria Nightwatch

4B for a 4/5 is plenty decent on a common. If you happen to gain life, it flies. Hard not to like this at common. While it’s pretty conditional and needs its Vampire friends alongside it to do work, it fits nicely on the curve and again, it’s only a common. The high rating I’m bestowing upon it considers that rarity a great deal. Not Constructed worthy.

Grade B

Nirkana Assassin

As a common a 2 / 3 for 2B that sometimes has deathtouch is decent. Gaining life is obviously a decent sub theme in black with this set. Being conditional deathtouch, opponents may block incorrectly and lose a guy they didn't mean to. Not constructed worthy but OK in Limited. I like it slightly better than Hagra Sharpshooter.

Grade C

Zulaport Cutthroat

Oh, look, a good creature. He's not quite Blood Artist as he doesn't create loss of life when opponents’ creatures die. But Cutthroat drains for 1 when any of your creatures die, himself included. This is not only good in an Ally deck. It's also good with Eldrazi Scions as you sacrifice them. Flavor fail. What a traitor. Then again, he is a Rogue, so he doesn’t really care what side he takes.

In multiplayer, this guy is super good as his effect affects each opponent. There are more than a few black Commander decks with infinite sacrifice loops that can use the Cutthroat. Heck probably even some crazy Standard or Modern deck will find a way to abuse him. This guy is good and Constructed playable.

Grade A-

Verdict on the Black Allies: B/B+

Black would seem to have the best of the Allies from what we’ve seen so far. The drain effects are pretty powerful. A couple of these guys are even Standard playable, especially Zulaport Cutthroat and Drana. Kalastria Healer is really good in the right deck and they have a curve-topping common that can fly. Combined with the White Allies, you have a pretty strong base for a Limited Ally deck. You’re going to pick the Black Allies pretty highly in Limited. Cutthroat, Healer, and Drana can all work with Collected Company, too. So there are some great pieces to brew with in Standard and Modern. Finally, we have some real hope for the archetype!

MTG Battle for Zendikar - The Allies of BFZ - Blue

9/22/2015

by Richard Rowell, Gaming Successfully Staff

Battle for Zendikar has given the Ally tribe a slew of new recruits to join the fray. But will they be enough to make Allies a true contender in competitive play? Do they have a shot at being a strong archetype in Standard? Has this set provided new Ally tech for Modern and beyond? Let's find out. We’ll be going in WUBRG order, ending with the multi-color cards. One article for each color seems worth it to give these cards the attention they probably deserve.

With White, we had a C-plus bunch. Blue only has two, so we’ll give these two as much attention as we can.

Coralhelm Guide

First of, 1U for a 2 / 1 is OK, especially at common. Being able to making a creature unblockable is also ok. Paying 4U for that ability isn't so OK. This reminds me of an Ally version of Amphin Pathmage from the Magic 2015 core set with a couple of elements switched around. The Pathmage was 3U for a 3/2 Salamander Wizard, but the ability to make a creature unblockable was only 2U. Basically you swap the Guide coming down 2 turns earlier for the cost of the ability. I’d prefer to play the Pathmage, honestly.

She’s probably filler in Limited, but the 5 mana unblockable ability could help you kill a player out of nowhere. At common, she won’t be hard to sneak into your draft deck.

Grade C (simply because unblockability out of nowhere can be good)

Halimar Tidecaller

As we’ll see with many of the best Ally cards in the set, Halimar Tidecaller continues a theme of not caring about what other Allies are on board. This is a very interesting creature. Not only does she recycle any card with Awaken to your hand, she gives your creature lands flying. Not only does she consider awakened lands, but also gives your regular creature lands like Lumbering Falls and Shambling Vent flying, too. I really like the Tidecaller as she also has decent stats: 2 / 3 for 2U. She’s kind of a niche card, but seems playable in the right deck. Any Rally triggers you get in addition are gravy. The Tidecaller also has a really good friend with Noyan Dar, Roil Shaper in the set. We’ll get to him later.

Having an Awaken “lord” at uncommon is pretty awesome. This is definitely a build around uncommon in Limited and possibly Standard playable if Awaken becomes a strong Standard theme. Usually this will just get you back this set’s Awaken version of Cancel, Scatter to the Winds. That’s usually going to be good enough. Coastal Discovery at 3U is an overcosted Divination, but it’s another potential target. Clutch of Currents is a sorcery speed Unsummon that also has Awaken. Rush of Ice is half of a Send to Sleep. Both of those are one-drops, so they will probably be common choices. The coolest target would be Part the Waterveil, except that it exiles itself upon resolving. So Tidecaller has some decent targets in Blue alone.

In Standard, Scatter to the Winds will definitely be a good target, as well as Ruinous Path in Black. It goes downhill from there in potential good targets, though Rising Miasma is Drown in Sorrow for one more mana and no Scry - it’s marginally playable. Mire’s Malice is an overcosted Mind Rot at 3B. White has the playable board-wipe Planar Outburst. But that’s about it. Encircling Fissure is a way overcosted Fog. Ondu Rising is an overcosted Lifelink enabler. Sheer Drop is a White Assassinate, which will be fine in Limited.

Red does have a 1R sort of Electrickery in Boiling Earth. That’s it for Red. Green has Earthen Arms at only 1G, which has good synergy with Awakening lands by putting 2 +1/+1 counters on any target permanent. That’s also the only one in the color. Finally we have Roil Spout. It costs 1WU to put a target creature on top of its owner’s library. This Time Ebb effect is properly costed and should be a good card in Limited. It’s even better if you use it on an opponent’s Awakened land.

A lot of the Awaken cards are familiar effects that cost one more mana and some are a bit too slow at sorcery speed. Others are clearly decent. Tidecaller definitely has cards that work with her, especially Earthen Arms. Having the ability to use the Awaken spells for their regular effect earlier in the game and be able to have a second chance to cast them for their Awaken cost later in the game is pretty solid. Whether this will be an effect worthy of Standard play remains to be seen.

Grade B+ (with the potential to get better with additional Awaken spells in the format).

Verdict on the Blue Allies: B-/B+

While the average of these two is technically a B-minus, I bump the verdict all the way up to a B+ on the strength of Tidecaller, who I could probably give an A-minus just for being one of the best uncommons in the set. Having either of these two can force a somewhat awkward Blue splash if you’re going all in for Allies. But there are enough decent Awaken cards in Blue that you don’t even have to be on Allies for either of these cards to make your Draft deck. The Guide isn’t really good enough for Standard play, but Tidecaller may be. In any case, you want to pick Tidecaller as early as possible. Just being an Archaeomancer with a bit narrower focus is good enough, but giving Awakened or otherwise animated lands flying is just too much fun. Just make sure you have Noyan Dar in play for maximum effect!

MTG: Battle for Zendikar - The Allies of BFZ - White

9/21/2015

Comments

by ElspethFTW, Gaming Successfully Staff

Has Battle for Zendikar finally given the Ally tribe enough to be a true contender in competitive play? Do they have a shot at being a strong strategy in Standard? Did they get any new toys for Modern and beyond? Let's find out. We’ll be going in WUBRG order, ending with the multi-color cards. One article for each color seems worth it to give these cards the attention they probably deserve. We begin with White.

White

Angel of Renewal

Here’s a 4/4 flyer for 5W that gains you 1 life for each creature you control. That would seem to have good synergy with the “if you gained life” creatures in the set. It’s a bit worse than Goldnight Redeemer from Avacyn Restored, which gained 2 life for each other creature. This Angel does count itself. Conclave Phalanx from Ravnica was a 2/4 for 4W but it had Convoke and gained you 1 life for itself and each of your other creatures. Angel of Renewal is an Ally hybrid of those two. It’s OK. It only gives you a single lifegain trigger, so you can’t abuse it, but that’s fine for purposes of Limited play in this set.

Grade: C+ (gets better than that with a dedicated Ally strategy in Limited)

Cliffside Lookout

This is a worse Sunblade Elf. That could become a 2 / 2 if you controlled a plains, so the 4W anthem was gravy. This is just a 1/1 with the only upside being able to trigger Rally. You can play it in Limited, and it’s a relevant one-drop in the late game. But it's not good enough for constructed.

Grade C-

Expedition Envoy

A 2/1 for one white seems to be a new thing in each set that is released now. This one is a vanilla ally though. Playable yes. Exciting no. But Savannah Lions is still a card. It's a good Ally one drop nonetheless. Hada Freeblade is a bit better in Modern, though, even though it’s a 0/1, because it can grow to a 2 / 3 upon playing just one other Ally once the Freeblade is on board.

Grade: B (for Standard Allies), C (for Modern Allies or non-Ally applications. There are better options.)

Hero of Goma Fada

Indestructible is a cool keyword and I'm happy to have this topping out my curve in limited, but it needs a good number of allies to be good. It does make all creatures indestructible with its rally trigger, but you still need allies. It's pretty underpowered stat wise (4/3 for 5) to be much good in Constructed. First picking it in draft pretty much pushes you into allies. so not sure this is what I want to see in my first pack.

In Modern, Kabira Evangel giving protection more often than not will be more valuable, and he’s only 2W, so he can be cheated in with Collected Company and Aether Vial. This isn’t quite as good as Frontline Medic was in Return to Ravnica Standard, either, as the Medic only needed two other creatures attacking along with itself. Having the ability to sacrifice itself to become a permission spell for Rakdos’s Return and Sphinx’s Revelation was also quite relevant at the time. This doesn’t see Eternal play, unless someone wants to jam it into an Ally-themed Commander deck.

Grade: C-

Kor Bladewhirl

A 2/1 with a Rally trigger that gives your creatures first strike seems fine. It's very Limited playable. Whether this is good enough for standard play, I feel like it's not. One of the better kor Allies, though. It is, in fact, better than its Red predecessor, Highland Berserker from Zendikar. Bladewhirl has one more toughness and gives all creatures you control first strike, not only Allies.

Grade: B-

Kor Castigator

3/1 for 1W and can't be blocked by Scions… Awfully limited in scope, but he’s a slightly better Oreskos Swiftclaw, and that saw actual Limited play. 3 power is nice, and with enough Rally triggers this can be okay, but it’s an option to round-out a curve, not any sort of Ally staple. Were this more like Daring Skyjek, which had the ability to gain Flying with Battalion (attacking alongside two or more other creatures) I’d really like it. Alas, R&D probably felt that was too good at common with Ally synergies.

Grade: C

Kor Entanglers

Tapping opponent creatures is a fine effect. Strapping it to a 4/3 that costs 4W is mediocre. Yeah there are decently cheap ways to make Rally happen. This is fine in limited. However, Court Street Denizen did this on the cheaper side for white creatures in Gatecrash and it’s better than the one shot tap and freeze for a turn of Kor Hookmaster. It’s more Kapsho Kitefins than those, though, and I’d rather have Kitefins because it counted any creature. In any case, too slow for Constructed.

Grade: C

Lantern Scout

Lifelink isn't bad, but it's hardly going to win you games on its own. I really like this in limited with how many white allies are decent in draft. It also has nice synergy with all of the Black “drain” creatures in the set. In constructed, though, I'm not sure it makes the cut. Still, it’s one to watch, and if black/white Ally Drain can be a deck, this would be a key contributor.

Talus Paladin is strictly better in Modern and beyond, as its a 4-drop, but also grows with +1/+1 counters for each trigger. So it’s really a 3 / 4, too. Lantern Scout is cheaper, though, and does give all creatures lifelink, not only Allies. Also, it could be cheated in with Collected Company, so there’s that. Modern sideboard for Collected Company Allies against burn, perhaps?

Grade: C (if it remains a Limited-only card), B (if there’s a Standard deck for it)

Makindi Patrol

Vigilance is cool but is that worthy of a Rally trigger? In Limited, maybe. In Constructed, certainly not. In all fairness, the Patrol is a slightly cheaper more functional reprint of the 3G 1 / 4 Joraga Bard.

Grade C

Retreat to Emeria

While not technically an Ally card, the Landfall trigger lets you make an Ally token. It also can give your creatures +1/+1 until end of turn. Gideon, Ally of Zendikar does these things better for a similar mana investment. This Retreat is fine in limited to make chump blockers and get some random rally triggers. Not really a constructed card.

Grade C- (mostly because it's splash-able in limited)

Serene Steward

This is one of those “whenever you gain life” cards, which is cool. Each time that you do, you get to pay one White mana and put a +1/+1 counter on a target creature. It’s not exciting, but a mini Cradle of Vitality is hardly awful. The Steward will find a home in the White/Black/X Drain decks likely to emerge in BFZ Limited (more on that later).

Grade: B- (in the right deck, even better)

Unified Front

Were this 3W spell at instant speed, I’d like the Converge bit a lot more. Alas, it is at Sorcery speed. It takes 4 different colors to get this card up to its full potential, then. Still, 4 1/1 Ally tokens that can create 4 Rally triggers can create some nice combinations in the right situation. That’s probably why this is sorcery speed. 4 colors in Allies is definitely not hard to do, and casting it for just 3 different colors is probably worth the investment. It’s basically Spore Burst with greater upside - as Saprolings don’t necessarily offer the benefits of Ally triggers - and that was Domain (counting basic land types).

Grade: B (in Limited, especially. It may even be playable in the right Standard deck.)

And no, I didn’t forget about that White planeswalker. I was simply saving the best for last.

Gideon, Ally of Zendikar

Not only can Gideon become an Ally, benefiting from old school Ally triggers from “back in the day” but he also creates Ally tokens, which trigger both old and new Ally triggers. Becoming an ally with his loyalty ability sadly does not trigger Rally - which would honestly be silly - as he doesn’t actually re-enter the battlefield. The anthem emblem is cool and is not something that has to be limited only to Allies, either. He fits into a few strategies, actually. Allies certainly want him around. He’s a cool, solid planeswalker.

Grade: A+

Verdict on the White Allies: C/C+

Averaging out all the grades gives us a C, but I bump it up a few points to count Ally synergies. There are some functional upgrades from older Ally counterparts and having Rally affect all of your creatures and not just Ally was a good design and development move for the archetype. Together in Limited, these could form the backbone of a very playable Ally deck. I don’t see tons of upside here beyond Gideon, though. Unified Front I think is pretty decent even at Sorcery speed. Token generators are usually pretty playable. It may be one of the better Converge cards in the set, actually.

How do you feel about the White Allies and how they match up with their past and present Ally counterparts?

Comments

MTG Rotation Report - Magic 2015 Core Set - Legendary Creatures

9/21/2015

by Richard Rowell, Gaming Successfully Staff

As the October Standard rotation inches close, it’s time to see what cards from last year’s Core Set are going to be solid pickups. As really nothing from the set has remained all that valuable, with Nissa Worldwaker still leading the way in value, most of the cards in the set are pretty strong pickups right now. M15 is not really a set full of eternal playables, unless we look to EDH. Chord of Calling and Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth are probably your best bets for long-term growth, as both are played in Modern, and the latter is a staple Black land in Commander.

We’ve already touched on the M15 Planeswalkers and found that Ajani Steadfast is probably the best sleeper of the bunch, with Liliana Vess being her usual solid EDH-able self and Nissa, Worldwaker finding plenty of homes in Mono-Green lists. Now we’ve on to the 6 Legendary Creatures of the M15 Core Set. One is already well on its way to being a format all-star, another is a tribal auto-include, and the others are - well - durdling.

Let’s take a look!

LEGENDARY CREATURES

As the five mono-colored Legendary Creatures from this set weren’t printed as Intro Pack foil rares, there is some real upside here. Sliver Hivelord is already really good and will probably only get better with time. Being the mythic rare, we’ll start with the rising star.

Sliver Hivelord

Current price: $8-9 / $23 foils
Post-rotation price: $7-8 / $20 foils
Future value: $15-20 / $40-50+ foils
Standard: Fringe Slivers
Eternal playability: Playable in Modern, Fringe in Legacy, Not relevant in Vintage.
Commander in 50+ decks, Staple in Sliver Overlord and Sliver Queen

While Sliver Overlord, Sliver Queen, and Sliver Legion are all super good Sliver commanders, the Hivelord is the easiest to obtain currently. Making all Slivers indestructible is obviously very good, so he’s worthy of being a Sliver general even if he’s perhaps the 4th best available. As it is, they all work together so whether this is your commander or part of a Sliver tribal deck, you want to have this in any case.

Being a mythic rare, the Hivelord should reach the price point of its companions eventually. It’s fringe Modern playable so continued success of Collected Company Slivers could mean something for its price, even being a 5-drop, simply because of that static indestructibility. Foils could go absolutely bonkers at some point, though with how popular the tribe is. It will eventually be the premier money card of the set, no doubt.

Onto the rare cycle of legendaries!

Avacyn, Guardian Angel

Current price: $.50 / $3 foil
Post-rotation price: $.50 / $3 foils
Future value: $1-2 / $5-7 foils
Standard: Not competitively relevant
Eternal playability: Not relevant in Modern, Legacy, or Vintage.

Commander in 5 decks. In the 99: Seen in ~200.

Key contributor in Linvala, Keeper of Silence, Avacyn, Angel of Hope. Honorable mention in Eight-and-a-half-tails, Gisela, Blade of Goldnight, Kaalia of the Vast, Aurelia, the Warleader, and Mayael the Anima.

The second coming of Avacyn looks pretty underwhelming on the surface, but her protection abilities for creatures and players aren’t bad at all. The fact that she can protect key creatures (except herself) from removal and protect players from one-shot kills makes her useful in the format. She’s a fringy Commander, and she’s far better as one of the 99, but Angels are always popular. This is probably a case where you find a foil or two and stash them away, then find they doubled in price a few years down the road.

Jalira, Master Polymorphist

Current price: $.25-.50 / $1.50 foil
Post-rotation price: $.25 / $1.50 foils
Future value: $.50 / $3-5 foils
Standard: Not competitively relevant
Eternal playability: Not relevant in Modern, Legacy, or Vintage.

Commander in 40+ decks. In the 99: Seen in 160+ decks. Honorable mention in Yasova Dragonclaw.

This gal has had some real potential. With more and more ways to generate token creatures being printed all the time, Jalira’s Polymorph effect seems like it could become more and more abusable. Thopter Spy Network has already helped her cause quite a bit. As it stands right now, though, she’s a true bulk rare with only a glimmer of hope with her $1.50 foils that there may be real demand brewing here.

Right now here are the best targets people are playing her to find: Artisan of Kozilek, Blightsteel Colossus, Inkwell Leviathan, It That Betrays, Pathrazer of Ulamog, Phyrexian Ingester, Reef Worm, Scourge of Fleets, and Stormtide Leviathan.

That’s not a bad list of threats, honestly. Chasm Skulker can be sacrificed and unleash a whole bunch of tokens. Nuisance Engine can make you a Pest token every turn. There are plenty of other creatures with enter the battlefield effects that are easily sacrificed once their usefulness is up, too.

Like Yisan, the Wanderer Bard, Jalira is a build around me Commander. But because she can’t hit legendary creatures with her ability, what she can potentially hit for value is limited. She makes a fun deck, certainly, but unless you hit one of your top end threats early on, Jalira probably gets overpowered. Unlike Yisan, mono-Blue doesn’t quite have the same array of tools to ramp into things that get stuck in your hand. Yisan is a ticking time bomb that is still good even if you happen to reset his verse counters. Jalira doesn’t quite offer you the same card advantage engine since you still have to sacrifice something and what you get isn’t necessarily guaranteed.

Of the five mono-colored Legendaries in Magic 2015, Jalira is probably my least favorite, as she’s probably not going to ever be much in the way of a competitive Commander. She does have her uses in the 99 to sacrifice away things for better things. Yasova Dragonclaw in particular likes to steal creatures, so once the turn is about to end, Jalira can get further value by replacing the opponent’s creature with one of your own. There are other cool interactions you could make with a repeatable Polymorph, but it’s nothing to bank on. Keep your foils, but I wouldn’t hold my breath on the Master Polymorphist, as awesome as her effect can be on paper.

(Aside: With how many crazy Eldrazi were printed in Battle for Zendikar, it’s possible a few like Desolation Twin and any of those that are colorless or blue that create Eldrazi Scion tokens could sneak into Jalira decks. Will that be enough to raise Jalira’s tier? Doubtful, but it’s possible.)

Kurkesh, Onakke Ancient

Current price: $.25-.50 / $1.25 foil
Post-rotation price: $.25 / $1.25 foils
Future value: $.50 / $3-5 foils
Standard: Not competitively relevant
Eternal playability: Not relevant in Modern, Legacy, or Vintage.

Commander in 40+ decks. In the 99: Seen in 160+ decks. Staple in Daretti, Scrap Savant and Slobad Goblin Tinkerer. Key contributor in Bosh, Iron Golem. Honorable mention in Feldon of the Third Pat and Mishra, Artificer Prodigy.

Kurkesh is a cool Legendary Creature. Daretti, Scrap Savant and his friends from his preconstructed Commander deck has given Red Artifact decks a lot of fuel. The Ogre Spirit fits right into that plan by giving you a very cheap way to copy the activated abilities of artifacts. Sounds like an awesome guy to have as your commander, right? Turns out that Daretti and Slobad are just better options. That isn’t to say Kurkesh is no good. He’s plenty good. What he does for only a single Red mana is actually kind of bonkers. I could go on forever with how much card advantage having this guy in play creates.

However, right now most of the key cards in Red artifact decks aren’t really worth all that much because the supply so far outweighs the demand. I’d be surprised if Kurkesh is pushing $1 in a year or two. I can see foils being $3-5 quite easily as Avacyn, Guardian Angel and Ob Nixilis, Unshackled are already around that price point and Kurkesh actually does more for his archetype than either of those cards do. I’m being a bit too conservative here, perhaps. Slobad can make things indestructible, he has one printing - Darksteel - and his foils are $8. But his non-foil is barely near $1. Bosh Iron Golem’s effect smashes people in the face and his one foil printing - Mirrodin - is $4. I feel there are enough copies out there that $5 seems like a reasonable ceiling for now. Still, I like this guy much like Yisan, and you don’t have to build around him quite as much to make him super good.

Ob Nixilis, Unshackled

Current price: $1 / $4
Post-rotation price: $1 / $4 foils
Future value: $3-5 / $10-15 foils
Standard: Fringe Abzan Control
Eternal playability: Not relevant in Modern, Legacy, or Vintage.

Commander in 36+ decks. In the 99: Seen in 800+ decks. Staple in Ob Nixilis of the Black Oath. Key contributor in Endrek Sahr, Master Breeder, Visara the Dreadful, Maralen of the Mornsong (lol), Kothophed, Soul Hoarder, Mogis, God of Slaughter, Kaalia of the Vast and many others.

Ob Nixilis Unshackled is just painful in Commander. In a format that loves tutors, he punishes opponents for playing them. He also has a ridiculously good combo with Maralen of the Mornsong on board. Since she forces each player to search their deck for a card instead of draw during their draw step, they lose the 3 life from her ability, then lose 10 more and are forced to sacrifice a creature. To add insult to injury, he gets a +1/+1 counter each time a creature dies. It’s not fun to play against this guy, at all.

6 mana was just a bit much for Standard with a guy that doesn’t affect the board all too much. By that point in the game, most fetches have been played and sinking 6 mana into a 4/4 isn’t what you’re trying to do. But in Commander, he’s a flyer with trample that can get pretty big with enough creatures dying. This guy can potentially one-hit KO players with Commander damage. That’s no joke.

Being such a good card in Commander, it may take a couple of years, but he could be a $3-5 card. People are paying $2 or more on Amazon already. Foils are already at $4 and being such an important card in mono-Black it’s likely he’ll see foils shoot up in the $10 range. He’s not quite Rune Scarred Demon, who’s a $6 non-foil, so $3 is reasonable. But Rune Scarred Demon foils are only $8 because he was an intro pack foil. Ob Nix doesn’t have that holding him back, and this doesn’t seem the kind of creature that gets reprinted, especially now that Ob Nixilis is back to being a planeswalker in Return to Zendikar. He’s a solid long-term investment.

Yisan, the Wanderer Bard

Current price: $.50 / $2.50 foil
Post-rotation price: $.50 / $2.50 foils
Future value: $1 / $4-5 foils
Standard: Not competitively relevant
Eternal playability: Not relevant in Modern, Legacy, or Vintage.

Commander of ~70 decks. In the 99: Seen in ~300 decks. Honorable mention in Captain Sisay and appears in many others.

Yisan is definitely a build-around me commander that is essentially much like Birthing Pod. Mono-green keeps getting great tools, so Yisan should only keep getting better, finding better and better things the further he gets into his verses. Toolbox decks only get better as the years go along, so perhaps I’ve been conservative in my estimates of him basically doubling in price. As bulk rares go, this is one to hang onto, as the dime from buylisting isn’t worth the potential payoff if Yisan’s popularity in Commander suddenly skyrockets.

Having a card like Evolutionary Leap from Magic Origins to sacrifice away utility creatures seems pretty good, and that’s not a card that’s yet become all that adopted in the deck. The variance of that card may be problematic unless you have something like Sylvan Library or Sensei’s Divining Top to check the top of your deck - but it’s still an option. Battle for Zendikar has some goodies that the deck should like, such as the mythic Greenwarden of Murasa who’s essentially a double Eternal Witness.

I really like Yisan’s future, so if you pick up one bulk Legendary Creature from the set, this would be my pick to be a sweet long term sleeper.

Report Card:

Avacyn, Guardian Angel: B
Jalira, Master Polymorphist: C
Kurkesh, Onakke Ancient: A
Ob Nixilis, Unshackled: A
Sliver Hivelord: A
Yisan, the Wanderer Bard: A

I give Avacyn such a high grade for the mere fact that she's an Angel, a second version of an iconic Angel, at that. Her value is tied up mostly in her collectible value with her Commander and casual usefulness secondary. Jalira is the only one of the other five that I'm not jazzed about, but she could easily get better as more sets are printed (BFZ could help her a lot with the billions of Eldrazi that could be sweet Polymorph targets.) The others are all already good and Kurkesh is a pretty decent commander simply overshadowed by the true awesomeness that is Daretti, Scrap Savant. I'd be holding onto any of these commanders, and I'll take any copies at under a quarter for the long haul.

MTG Battle for Zendikar - Key Common and Uncommon Reprints

9/20/2015

by Richard Rowell, Gaming Successfully Staff

With all of Battle for Zendikar revealed, there have been some interesting cards revealed as reprints. Besides Dragonmaster Outcast and Felidar Sovereign, neither of which should make many waves in Constructed, a few commons and uncommons are in BFZ that may well have an effect on the Limited and Standard formats.

Altar’s Reap

Last printed in Standard: Magic 2014
Also printed in: Conspiracy

This was a Standard-playable card when it was first introduced in Innistrad. Then again, Morbid triggers aren’t around in the format any more. Sacrificing a creature, then drawing two cards for 1B isn’t too bad, though. It will definitely be a strong pick in Limited. On Magic Online, it does see some play in the all-common Pauper format and the new Ob Nixilis art is pretty awesome, so I see players wanting this version.

Anticipate

Last printed in Dragons of Tarkir

While this seems like an awfully fast reprinting, Anticipate is an excellent card in Limited. It’s also seeing some play in Esper Dragons and Blue/White control in Standard, and some fringe play in Modern including some Scapeshift and Control builds. This reprints ensures that Anticipate will remain in Standard for an extra year. Financially, this means DTK foils, which are around $7, will be adversely affected. The new art is excellent.

Bone Splinters

Last printed in Standard: Avacyn Restored
Also printed in Duel Decks Speed VS Cunning, Modern Masters 2015

There are enough expendable creatures in this Limited format, and perhaps even in Standard, where this one-mana sorcery should actually see a good amount of play. You do have to sacrifice a creature, but it kills anything for just one mana. It’s at least going to be strong in Limited, but I see some Standard decks using it.

Dispel

Last printed in Standard: Return to Ravnica
Originally printed in Worldwake

A very popular card in Modern, Dispel gets some sweet new Jace art. It’s a great card for control decks, and while it’s typically been a sideboard card in Modern, it’s a good card to have back in Standard for those worried about Instant speed threats.

This reprint will definitely have an effect on its previous foil printings. Return to Ravnica foils are up to $10 on average, and the original Worldwake printings are around $6. The former seems to have the more desirable art, so we’ll see how the new Jace art, which is very good, affects those foils.

Goblin War Paint

Last printed in Standard: Magic 2012
Also printed in Modern Masters 2015

A pretty good Aura in Limited, giving a creature Haste and +2/+2 is pretty meaningful. It’s interesting that this is a card that was actually first printed in Zendikar to begin with. It may not see a ton of Standard play, but it’s definitely a good pick in Limited.

Pilgrim’s Eye

Last printed in Standard: Worldwake

Also printed in: Duel Decks: Venser vs Koth/Commander 2013/Commander 2014

Bumped up to uncommon for BFZ, Pilgrim’s Eye is decent mana fixing in Limited, and sees a good chunk of play in Commander, too. As an uncommon, it won’t be nearly as relevant in Limited, though. It’s still good, but it’s not the first uncommon you’ll want to take from most packs. Doesn’t really see Standard play anyway.

Smite the Monstrous

Last printed in Khans of Tarkir
Also printed in Duel Decks Heroes vs Monsters, Innistrad

Smite the Monstrous is another card that’s still in Standard at the moment, but will be gone after the next rotation. Smite barely sees any play in Standard, but is quite good in Limited. In the BFZ Limited format, this will be prime removal: destroying a creature with power 4 or more at instant speed is strong. It does cost 3W, but that’s fine for limited.

BFZ Awaken Land Deck!

9/20/2015

By Kai Chang, Crazy About MTG

Hello Everybody! Crazy About MTG here! I'm back with one of the many BFZ-inspired decks. This first one is a BFZ Land Awaken deck. The main idea is to get lots of land creatures on the battlefield with Noyan Dar, Roil Shaper, the Awaken mechanic, and Manlands. In this deck, there's lots of ramp to quickly have enough lands even when you turn a bunch into creatures. There's also a lot of combat tricks that have Awaken in this deck to slow down the enemy until you get Planar Outburst, which will destroy all of your opponent's creatures and almost none of yours. I had to make the deck on MTG Goldfish instead of TappedOut because TappedOut didn't have all the BFZ cards ready to use yet.

MTG Goldfish Link: BFZ Land Awaken Deck (For some reason, on the deck page, it doesn't show the basic lands)

Deck:

Spells (5)
3 Sylvan Scrying
2 Retreat to Kazandu

Others (31)
2 Blighted Woodland
1 Clutch of Currents
1 Earthen Arms
1 Encircling Fissure
4 Halimar Tidecaller
2 Lumbering Falls
1 Seek the Wilds
2 Shambling Vent
3 Roil Spout
3 Kiora, Master of the Depths
2 Noyan Dar, Roil Shaper
4 Planar Outburst
2 Nissa's Renewal
3 Part the Waterveil

Lands (24)
7 Forest
9 Island
8 Plains

MTG Finance - Stock Watch - Swamp #238 from Shards of Alara

9/18/2015

by Richard Rowell, Gaming Successfully Staff

Today, we'll be taking a look at a commonly played land from Shards of Alara: Swamp #238... Wait, what?

One of the most important things about Magic: the Gathering is having lands to play your spells. This is why full art basics from Zendikar, Unglued, Unhinged, and now Battle for Zendikar are such good investments. It's why foils are even more so. It's why fetchlands fetch such a premium. Shock lands retain good value because they're the best nonbasic mana-producing lands in Modern. But remember that some decks are mono-color and therefore need a crap-ton of basic lands.

Enter Swamp #238 from Shards of Alara.

Kudos to MTG Goldfish tracking the trending price winners and catching this one. Turns out this has been a fairly "expensive" basic swamp for a bit, though. It was about $1 before a couple of recent price jumps.

How about the foil?

Admittedly Chippy does some awesome artwork on basic land arts, and it's not unusual to see some players buy up basic lands of particular arts. Turns out this already gorgeous art is already popular in foil, and has been for quite some time. It hasn't dropped below a TCG Player mid of $4.31 since Goldfish started tracking cards!

If you think this is interesting, check out this Swamp from New Phyrexia:

The non-foil doesn't nearly approach the foil here, but notice that this has been over $3.50 for some time, too. Because foil basics apparently are bought in bunches to fill up mono-colored decks, you tend to see some interesting price fluctuations.

There are a handful more over $2, and this is just looking at Swamps! I'll say one thing: I can never look at basic lands the same again! Some players really, really like particular arts on their basic lands. While I don't necessarily suggest raiding your local game store for the non-foil basics over $1, it's just a good idea to watch what basic lands are actually worth some money. Most buylists don't consider them, but you can always EBay them, Heck, you can even try to trade them off on PucaTrade!

So remember, if a particular land art looks super sweet in foil, look up the pric.e. It may be worth more than you'd ever expect.

MTG Throwback Thursday Review - Reroute from Ravnica

9/17/2015

by Richard Rowell (ElspethFTW), Gaming Successfully Staff

Reroute is an interesting little red instant from Ravnica: City of Guilds. For 1R, it allows you to change the target of one target activated ability with a single target to another target. You can also draw a card. In Ravnica, there were a good number of activated abilities, so at the time, this could be a fairly nifty trick coupled with a can-trip effect.

It is so incredibly situational, though, and while there are certainly still plenty of activated abilities running around in Constructed formats these days, it’s not worth the card slot as it might have been in sideboards back in Ravnica block. It probably wasn’t used much back then, even with the added benefit of a card draw, since you needed the situation to arise that you’d actually want to use this effect to draw that card. Even in Commander, Reroute has only been seen in 50 of over 13000 potential decks, according to EDHREC. It’s a forgotten little uncommon that simply doesn’t have much value in today’s game.

MTG Finance - Stock Watch - Forgotten Ancient

9/17/2015

by Richard Rowell, Gaming Successfully Staff

Forgotten Ancient has been seeing a lot of interest lately with the amount of Elementals and +1/+1 counter interactions being spoiled in Battle for Zendikar. In particular, the Archenemy printing has been showing the most price movement, shooting up and down as TCG Player sales are made. The Planechase versions have seen some movement, as well, but not as dramatically. However, the Scourge versions are the one I’d watch most closely, especially the foils. This is a pretty old set we’re talking about, and they’re the only foil printings.

Right now, all three non-foil versions are hovering around the same $3-4 range. But Scourge foils are finally creeping up towards $10. This is a great EDH card. Basically, any EDH / Commander deck that wants to have lots of +1/+1 counters floating around wants this guy. The fact that anyone casting a spell makes a counter makes this sort of like an old-school Managorger Hydra. But his second ability lets you move any number of those counters to any number of other creatures during each of your upkeeps.

As such, the Ancient is a key contributor to Experiment Kraj and Vorel of the Hull Clade decks, who love their counters. Skullbriar of the Walking Grave also loves the fact that the Ancient can give him additional fuel, since Forgotten Ancient can donate some of his counters. Animar Soul of Elements, Daghatar the Adamant, Ghave, Guru of Spores and Ulasht, the Hate Seed particularly appreciate the extra counters, as well. There are others that benefit from his counters, too.

If you can still pick up non-foil copies of any printing for $3 or less, go for it. Otherwise, if you want one for your collection or deck, you’ll want to hit up the foil. These have a chance to go nuts due to the low supply. While I highly doubt this sees any Constructed play, as it’s only legal in Legacy, Vintage, and Commander, I think the EDH demand alone should make this a really nice long-term speculation, especially the foils.

MTG Finance - Stock Watch - Monastery Mentor from Fate Reforged

9/16/2015

by Richard Rowell, Gaming Successfully Staff

Today, with Battle for Zendikar spoilers in full swing and many players speculating on what cards are going to suffer or gain considerably with the Theros block rotation, I would like to take a look at a very good Magic: the Gathering card.

Monastery Mentor is a very good Magic: the Gathering card, and a mythic rare from a middle set that is widely known as having some Ugin Spirit Dragon guy in it and some Grand Master that somehow gives burn spells lifelink. Then there's this guy, who's played in Legacy and Vintage. And he's a $15 card.

I ask myself, OK, this guy is a 4-of in any deck that wants to play him. He makes tokens with Prowess for the low cost of casting any non-creature spell in the history of ever. The Mentor himself also has Prowess. I sit and ponder how this guy isn't running over Modern yet. We know how good Abbot of Keral Keep has proven to be. Monastery Swiftspear is one of the best one-drop creatures in Magic the Gathering history. Prowess is really, really good.

Why is he only $15? That doesn't really sound cheap, and frankly it isn't. But honestly, it's not like the Mentor is dominating Standard right now. He was a $25 card for awhile, but then he hit a low of $14 and is only creeping up slowly because some players realized that playsets of this guy should be at least $100 come rotation. That's probably conservative.

Mentor will probably stay one of the best creatures in Magic for long after it rotates out of Standard. All you need are cheap non-creature spells, something that Battle for Zendikar doesn't have in abundance, which is why people are overlooking Mentor as something that will gain. But Khans block has plenty of cheap non-creature spells and if Red/White Aggro with Zada the Grinder of Many Hedrons is to become a force, they will need cheap token creatures to bash face. Abbot and Mentor will be happy to oblige.

Here's what really gets me though. Buylists are pretty bullish on this guy, usually paying $10-12 a copy and no one is selling. This means those people that have them want to keep them. When you have 10-20% spreads between buylist and retail on a Standard playable card, especially one that's a mythic rare strong in a Eternal formats, that usually screams price jump. So if you don't have a playset of Monastery Mentor, go get your copies on PucaTrade or at your local game store. They're a lot easier to get than they probably should be. You'll be glad you got them.

MTG Battle for Zendikar Spoilers - Dragonmaster Outcast Reprint

9/16/2015

by Richard Rowell, Gaming Successfully Staff

Dragonmaster Outcast is pretty fragile and a removal magnet, but for a single red mana just getting a single 5/5 dragon mid-game is worth it. The reprint at mythic won't cripple his price the way Felidar Sovereign seeing reprint at rare did for that casual hit, but the BFZ copies will be much cheaper. No longer will he be just a $15+ mythic rare from Worldwake that only sees play in Dragon EDH decks.

The Outcast was pretty fun for me when I was able to make a clone of him with Riku of the Two Reflections in Commander. While that was probably not the best deck to try and jam him into, I must add that this was in 2011 when I had just gotten the Commander 2011 Mirror Mastery deck. Plus, he was actually effective. I actually got at least four Dragons out of him and some damage through before a board-wipe came. In a multiplayer game, usually there are a lot bigger threats at the table for opponents to worry about. Then, suddenly, you have a couple of extra 5/5 dragons. It’s an effect that sort of creeps up on you, provides a clock that opponents have to worry about, and can provide really good value. Just being a target for precious removal is worth the one mana, as it’s a piece of removal that won’t hit one of your bigger threats.

The best Commanders that Dragonmaster Outcast seems to complement are Karrthus, Tyrant of Jund (who gives those Dragon tokens haste), Atarka, World Render (who gives them double strike), and Kolaghan, the Storm’s Fury (which allows your Dragon tokens to potentially pump your team by a considerable margin.) Pretty much any Dragon deck running Red will find a way to give the Outcast a home.

How about Constructed? If you play this on turn 6 and it survives an upkeep, you’ll be getting a 5/5 flyer for only a single Red mana. It probably won’t survive, though. Having a one-drop you have to hold until turn six isn’t really optimal in 60-card Constructed. There was a time, however, when he was a sideboard option in Deciever Exarch/Twin combo decks against Control. You could drop him on turn one, force a removal spell to be played, or he’d just sit there and make you a flier or two eventually. He’s one of the few one drop creatures you ever like to see late game. Perhaps a deck will find room for the Outcast in BFZ Standard.

How would you use Dragonmaster Outcast today, or how have you gone about using him in the past?

MTG Battle for Zendikar Spoilers - Woodland Wanderer Rare Card Review

9/16/2015

by Richard Rowell, Gaming Successfully Staff

What’s this? A Converge card that I like? Such madness! Woodland Wanderer is actually a pretty good creature. It’s only a 2/2 for 3G to start with, but it has vigilance and trample, keywords that go a long way towards making a creature Constructed-playable. But with Converge, it’s at worst a 3/3, and in any three-color deck, it’s usually going to be a 5/5. Splash a fourth color and you have a 6/6 trampling vigilant nightmare for 3G. The power creep is real, folks.

Temur needed a creature like this, and it got one. Abzan didn’t need a creature like this, but it got one anyway. Hardened Scales didn’t need this, either, but popping an extra +1/+1 counter on him seems ridiculous. It’s pretty easy to get the three colors of mana, with Rattleclaw Mystic hanging around, and the newly spoiled Beastcaller Expert able to give an off-color fourth color of mana to benefit him. What Standard was losing with Polukranos, World Eater, it’s pretty much getting back with Woodland Wanderer - although losing the Monstrosity ability is not irrelevant.

This appears to be one of the best Standard-playable creatures from Battle for Zendikar. What do you all think?

MTG Battle for Zendikar Spoilers - Drana, Liberator of Malakir Review

9/16/2015

by Richard Rowell, Gaming Successfully Staff

How refreshing: a Constructed-playable ally that costs less than 5 mana! We’ve seen how Zada, Hedron Grinder could be good, but Drana, Liberator of Malakir can fit into far more decks. Like Zada, Drana could care less about what Allies are on the battlefield alongside her. If she deals combat damage to an opponent, each of your attacking creatures - herself included - get a +1/+1 counter. Due to her having first strike, the rest of your team gets the buff before they even deal damage. Being a flyer, as well, you’re looking at a very solid 3-drop that could fit into a ton of Constructed strategies.

Is she better than the original Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief? As someone who has pretty much single-handedly won Commander games with her before, it’s hard to say. The original Drana is probably the better mono-black Commander, as being able to drain a creature and gain that power as a flyer until end of turn is simply nasty. Of course - little known tidbit - that Drana was originally meant to be a mythic rare, but was powered down slightly to fill a rare slot in the set. The Bloodchief didn’t really catch on in Standard, but the new mythic rare Liberator of Malakir most certainly should. Of course, you can play them together in Commander.

In Standard, the +1/+1 counter pump seems pretty relevant for Abzan Aggro decks that want to pump their Hangarback Walkers and is a great complement to Anafenza the Foremost. Drana’s presence may make Hardened Scales a more relevant card, too, pushing what’s been a Green/White deck into Black, as well - which also introduces the mythic Anafenza into that deck. Scales doubles Drana’s ability, as well as Anafenza’s. Perhaps Drana was the missing piece for that deck to be a top tier contender. Drana helps Abzan stay relevant - that’s for certain.

The other cool thing about this Drana is that she’s a 3-drop, making her playable with Collected Company, an Abzan variant that has seen some success. She might even creep her way into Modern, a format where Collected Company is even more powerful.

Being a legendary mythic rare that will probably see at least 3-of play in more than a few decks, this should be one of the more valuable mythics in the set. Her Commander value is going to be pretty good, as well, giving Vampire tribal a huge weapon, plus giving Alesha, Who Smiles at Death another two-power creature to play with. This is going to be a fun creature to play with.

What do you think of the new Drana? Do you think she’ll make Allies a worthy contender, or is she simply good enough on her own to be a part of some of the best decks in Standard?

MTG Battle for Zendikar Spoilers - Ugin's Insight Rare Card Review

9/16/2015

Ugin's Insight is being called the "fixed" Dig Through Time. It's not at instant speed and doesn't have the advantage of being able to Delve away your graveyard to cast it for cheap. But 5 mana to draw 3 cards was fine on Jace's Ingenuity. Ugin's Insight lets you scry X, as well, where X is the highest converted mana cost among permanents you control. On turn 5, that number could easily be 3 or 4, so Scry 3, draw 3 seems pretty decent.

Where this card really becomes powerful is when you have much larger permanents on board, such as Ugin the Spirit Dragon himself (with a CMC of 8) or any of the bigger Eldrazi cards. You can dig pretty deep for this card and send away anything you're not going to want to draw to the bottom. Dig is probably going to be strictly better during its time in Standard, but this is a pretty decent card to help you dig for combo pieces or otherwise set up your draws in the late game. Perhaps this could help set up See the Unwritten plays, but you need to have a decently sized creature on board already to get the full power out of this card.

The best applications for this sorcery, like many cards in Battle for Zendikar, are in Commander. Braids, Conjurer Adept and Narset, Enlightened Master are two that have come up a lot already. With Braids, you'll get to at least Scry 4 and make sure you're drawing better artifacts, lands, and creatures than your opponents. Narset is a bit better, as she's a 6-drop, getting you Scry 6. You can try to draw 3 cards that you don't really want to hit with Narset. Then, you get to maximize her ability to cast any of the top four cards for free as long as they're non-creature spells. It's powerful card filtering that can simply win you the game. There are tons of other commanders that will love this ability, of course, but those are the most obvious two.

What do you think of Ugin's Insight? Do you think it's Standard playable? How would you go about using it?

MTG Rotation Report - Magic 2015 Core Set EDH Review - Planeswalkers

9/15/2015

by Richard Rowell, Gaming Successfully Staff

As the October Standard rotation looms, it’s time to see what cards from last year’s Core Set are going to be solid pickups. As really nothing from the set has remained all that valuable, with Nissa Worldwaker leading the way in value, most of the cards in the set are pretty strong pickups right now. It’s not really a set full of eternal playables, unless we look to EDH. We’ll start with a couple of honorable mentions, which are in fact very much Eternal playable.

Chord of Calling sees considerable Modern play, and as such, is probably not going to fall all that much at Standard rotation. It does also see considerable Commander play - in over 2000 decks according to EDHREC. There’s always going to be plenty of demand for this card, and as it’s a reprint, it’s the less expensive version. At $8 it’s a good pickup as it’s not going to stop seeing play. Future value I’d say is $12, but could go up as more players demand playsets, so this is a pretty strong buy.

Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth has shown up in over 5000 of a possible 31000 decks on EDHREC, so it’s pretty clearly a staple in the Commander format. It’s also occasionally seen in Modern. It may fall a bit from its current $8-10 price tag, but should rebound to $15 again eventually. Wait until after rotation for a bit if you need your copies.

Now onto the good stuff. From here on out we’re breaking things down into planeswalkers, Legendary Creatures, regular creatures, instants/sorceries, and artifacts/enchantments. It’s going to be a long series, so grab your favorite snacks and drinks and enjoy the ride!

All stats from EDHREC.com

PLANESWALKERS

Nissa, Worldwaker

Current price: $9-10
Post-rotation price: $6-7
Future value: $10-15 / $40-50 foils
Standard: Lots of R/G Devotion and some Abzan play. Has petered out as Khans block as continued.
Eternal playability: Not relevant in Modern, Legacy, or Vintage

In the 99: Seen in about 500 decks. Staple in Nissa, Vastwood Seer and Titania, Protector of Argoth. Key contributor in Omnath, Locus of Mana, Freyalise, Llanowar’s Fury, Kamahl, Fist of Krosa, and many others.

Nissa, Worldwaker is an excellent planeswalker for any mono green deck. She makes your lands into 4/4 Elemental creatures with trample, untaps up to four of your Forests every turn, and can empty your deck of lands and turn them all into 4/4 Elementals with trample. This set of abilities is super awesome. It’s sort of what Anthoussa, Setessan Hero from Theros wanted to do, but Nissa does it far, far better.

As a 5-mana planeswalker that’s been pretty much pushed out of Standard, she probably won’t plummet much as spikes clear out their binders simply because most of them are probably sold by now. She may fall to as low as $6, but she’ll probably rebound to $10 over time, and perhaps even $15 (especially if all planeswalkers become legal as commanders in the future).

Nissa has the black SDCC foil printing that’s currently running about $80-90. But most people will just be looking to the regular foil, which is currently $25. I’d wait and see if it drops a bit, but as a mythic planeswalker that sees considerable EDH play, I’d be in on those as they could appreciate quite a bit.

Garruk, Apex Predator

Current price: $8
Post-rotation price: $5-7 / $20 foils
Future value: $8-10 / $25-30 foils
Standard: Saw lots of hype, had some Abzan/Sultai Control play. Only fringe play as rotation nears.
Eternal playability: Not relevant in Modern, Legacy Vintage

In the 99: Seen in about 350 decks. Honorable mention in Pharika, God of Affliction, Tasigur, the Golden Fang, Skullbriar, the Walking Grave, Sliver Hivelord, Sliver Queen, and Jarad Golgari Lich Lord, among others.

While the 7-mana Garruk has actually had some moments in Standard, he’s just a bit too costly for competitive play. He does a lot of things, though, and they’re all good things. As such, he fits into a wide array of Commander decks, especially in Golgari colors. It’s a bit interesting to see so many Sliver lists include him, but it’s probably because that emblem is so mean and nasty. I mean, come on, give +5/+5 and trample to any creature that attacks target opponent? That is just super horrible.

The casual demand for this Garruk should keep him from completely tanking. $5 seems a reasonable floor. I also don’t see him getting much past $10 unless he becomes a staple in some very popular deck. Foils are already at a decent multiplier at $20 and as he’s not going to be as much a staple as Nissa, Worldwaker, his foil price could take awhile to increase past $25.

Liliana Vess

Current price: $7 / $12 foils
Post-rotation price: $7 / $12 foils
Future value: $8-10 / $15-20 foils
Standard: Fringe play in Control decks
Eternal playability: Not relevant in Modern, Legacy, Vintage

In the 99: Seen 2900+ times in 14500+ possible decks. Staple in pretty much every mono-black Commander deck ever.

I shouldn’t have to say much about the original Liliana. She already has 5 printings, including an alternate art Duel Deck printing (a 6th if you count the Duel Deck Anthology version as well). Still, her cheapest version is $7, and it’s the one from Magic 2015. If you want Liliana Vess for your Commander deck, this is the version to get. $7 probably is her floor and if you can find her cheaper, by all means pick her up. The worst that will happen is that she stays around $8. These are the cheapest set foils, too. One of the best holds in Magic the Gathering.

Ajani Steadfast

Current price: $6-7 / $13 foils
Post-rotation price: $5-6 / $12 foils
Future value: $8-10 / $15-20 foils
Standard: G/W Hardened Scales is best fit at present
Eternal playability: Not relevant in Legacy or Vintage, Borderline for Modern

In the 99: Seen in 500+ decks. Key contributor in Daghatar the Adamant, Dragonlord Ojutai, Brimaz, King of Oreskos, Nahiri the Lithomancer, and Jazal Goldmane. Honorable mention in Angus Mackenzie, Narset, Enlightened Master, Anafenza, the Foremost, Sliver Hivelord, and Odric, Master Tactician, among others.

Having only one printing, I like Ajani Steadfast’s chances of falling to about $5-6 at rotation, then slowly rebounding over the next couple of years to be a $8-10 walker. His abilities would seem to fit into a good number of mono-white decks. The fact that he can pump all your creatures with a +1/+1 counter and increase your planeswalker loyalties by 1 at the same time is a really unique ability, and he can potentially do that at least twice before having to be sacrificed. That’s a really solid deal for 3W.

Like Garruk, Apex Predator there should be enough long term casual demand to keep this guy’s price from tanking, but he is open to so many more decks. He’s a really great choice for any Super Friends strategy, as well as those crazy about +1/+1 counters.

Chandra, Pyromaster

Current price: $3-4 / $12-15 foils
Post-rotation price: $2-3 / $10-15 foils
Future value: $5-7 / $15-20 foils
Standard: Mono Red, Black/Red Dragons, Mardu Dragons, R/W Aggro.
Eternal playability: Not relevant in Legacy or Vintage, Playable in Modern Jund

In the 99: Seen in 460+ decks. Staple in Chandra, Fire of Kaladesh. Key contributor in Jaya Ballard, Task Mage and Zurgo Bellstriker. Honorable mention in Heartless Hidetsugu, Ashling the Pilgrim, Narset, Enlightened Master, Purphoros, God of the Forge, Keranos, God of Storms, among others.

Poor Chandra, Pyromaster. She’s probably the best Chandra that Standard has ever seen, and probably the third best that Commander has ever seen (behind Roaring Flame and Chandra Ablaze). She’s even playable in Modern, although she’s far from being a staple. Her 0 ability is really good for decks that want to play hard and fast. There are quite a few of those in Commander, but she’s not really going to last long. Her ultimate is nice, and some Keranos and Melek lists include her, but she’s far from being an auto-include.

What really kills Pyromaster is having three core set printings. She may never be much more than $5 barring a crazy spike from a Top Modern deck that plays multiple copies of her. You can probably have her for $2 after rotation, as she still sees enough play that copies will be entering circulation rather quickly.

Jace the Living Guildpact

Current price: $2.50 / $8 foils
Post-rotation price: $2 / $6-8 foils
Future value: $3-5 / $10-15 foils
Standard: Fringe Sultai Control
Eternal playability: Not relevant in Modern, Legacy or Vintage

In the 99: Seen in 200+ decks. Key contributor in Stitcher Geralf. Honorable mention in Sidisi, Brood Tyrant. Also seen in Narset, Enlightened Master, The Mimeoplasm, Damia, Sage of Stone, Brago, King Eternal, and Oloro, Ageless Ascetic.

Poor, poor Jace the Living Guildpact. Heck, this guy pre-ordered for only $15 as a JACE PLANESWALKER, and that price only held for about a week. He was $10 at release, then barely saw any play. The only reason Jace, Architect of Thought got so cheap was because of a Duel Deck printing and even then I’m not sure why he’s only two dollars, come to think of it.

So this may be the worst Jace. Yet, his ultimate is a better version of Timetwister. That's a power 9 card by the way - which believe it or not is legal in Commander should you happen to have a $500 lying around. This version is actually better than the $500 2U sorcery - as only you draw the 7 cards; your opponents are left to top deck. His card filtering ability seems good for delve but running him in Standard never seemed optimal. It seems he was designed to fill a certain niche that Wizards thought he'd fill in standard. Turns out fetches and Sidisi were enough for Delve to be overpowered anyway. The -3 bounce a non-land seemed fine, but it wasn’t enough to save this 4-mana planeswalker from the bulk bin. He's not a horrible planeswalker, really. There was just no place for him in the metagame.

Honestly, the Commander environment hasn’t welcomed the Living Guildpact with open arms, either. Only Stitcher Geralf and Sidisi, Brood Tyrant seem to want to have much to do with him, with a variety of other Commanders who are looking for some consistent card filtering jamming him in a bit awkwardly. None of these decks really want to Timetwister, unless the board position is such that it’s actually advantageous. He’s sort of a planeswalker without a home.

All that being said, this Jace could see more play than he does. I’m surprised to not see more Tasigur lists running him, or Sidisi, Brood Tyrant for that matter. It feels like more blue/black Zombie decks should want him, too. THat’s why I think this single-printing planeswalker may hit $5 one day with foils creeping towards $10. Worst case, he sits where he is. Unfortunately, if Architect of Thought sees about 5 times the play and still has a $2-3 price tag, that doesn’t speak well for this guy. The single printing could help his cause, but this isn’t where I’d put my money unless you have a real need for him.

Report Card:

Ajani Steadfast: B
Chandra Pyromaster: C
Jace, the Living Guildpact: C-
Liliana Vess: A
Nissa, Worldwaker: A-

This is a pretty good set as far as planeswalkers are concerned with Liliana Vess already being a staple in the Commander format. Ajani and Nissa should find enough homes to remain decently priced and continue to be relevant. Chandra Pyromaster will probably be more at home in Modern than Commander, so her financial future isn’t great. Lastly, the Jace has some nice things it can do, but it doesn’t fit into a lot of things. He’s probably slightly underrated as a walker, but he’s easily one of the weaker ones out there.

Next up: the six Legendary Creatures of Magic 2015.

MTG Battle for Zendikar Spoilers - Noyan Dar, Roil Shaper

9/15/2015

by Richard Rowell, Gaming Successfully Staff

The Awaken mechanic in Battle for Zendikar definitely adds quite a twist by providing an alternate casting cost to several instants and sorceries in the set. Getting a useful effect, plus a 3/3 or 4/4 beater with haste along with it, seems pretty good even despite a considerably higher cost. Ruinous Path and Planar Outburst seem quite playable as Awaken versions of Hero’s Downfall (albeit at Sorcery speed) and End Hostilities. But what if you could turn any instant or sorcery into one with Awaken 3?

Enter, Noyan Dar, Roil Shaper, a 4/4 Legendary Merfolk Ally with a casting cost of 3WU. His ability reads:

Whenever you cast an instant or sorcery spell, you may put three +1/+1 counters on target land you control. If you do, that land becomes a 0/0 Elemental creature with haste that's still a land.

Wow, that seems good. As underwhelming as Allies have been with the recent spoilers, this card is actually rather cool. A 4/4 for 5 mana isn’t incredible, but he has Ally support around him. The question is: can this guy be Standard-playable? It doesn’t take much to get value out of him, of course. Any instant or sorcery can turn one of your lands into at least a 3/3. The opportunity cost here is pretty low.

In Limited, Noyan Dar is going to be pretty good, as who doesn’t want to bash some people in the face with lands? You only have to get around to animating one or two lands to make playing him worth it, and if one of those is a man-land, then you’ve definitely gotten your value.

In Commander, I really like the Merfolk Legendary. Sygg, River Guide makes for a pretty solid Merfolk Tribal deck, but a blue-white control deck with Ally support seems legitimate. A lot of the great Allies are in White to begin with. Jwari Shapeshifter is probably the best in blue. This seems like a legitimate Commander to me. It does, of course, leave you pretty open to boardwipes - something that you’ll always have to contend with. But when we know all this set has to offer, this seems like a fun brew to play around with.

The other thing here is that there are plenty of man-lands in Commander to choose from. You can even choose to put 3 +1/+1 counters on a land that already has counters on it. Forbidding Watchtower and Faerie Conclave get a lot scarier when they get counters piled on top of them, and Celestial Colonnade goes to town. Some Esper Control brews in Commander may consider Noyan Dar to make their Creeping Tar Pits (which are unblockable) even scarier.

The saddest part is that Noyan Dar, like Zada, Hedron Grinder, is a creature that you really don’t need to play in an Ally deck and in fact doesn’t even really work well in an Ally deck. Still, Noyan Dar looks like a solid mid-range card for some control decks. The Tazeem lullmage is probably going to end up being a bulk rare, but a decent Commander.

MTG Finance - 3 Cheap Khans of Tarkir Cards to Watch

9/14/2015

by Richard Rowell, Gaming Successfully Staff

Khans of Tarkir has a lot of underpriced cards right now, but with a new Standard format approaching with the exit of Theros block and the entrance of Battle for Zendikar, there are three in particular that seem like very solid, low-risk targets to acquire right now. Two of them see heavy play in EDH / Commander already and the third could become a sweet sleeper.

Clever Impersonator ($2.49)

This mythic rare has been one of my favorites in the set since its release. Considering that it’s been played in 1800+ Commander decks (according to EDHREC), apparently I was right to like one of the best Clone variants ever printed. For 2UU, you can copy any nonland permanent on the battlefield. In a new Standard where tons of big creatures are probably going to be flung around, the Impersonator at the very least will be a sideboard option to have a cheap answer. Even if Clever Impersonator ends up not seeing tons of Standard play, the Commander demand is definitely there. Foils are already $10-12, so while the non-foils probably won’t appreciate as quickly unless competitive demand fuels a supply shortage, there’s pretty much no money at all to lose here.

Utter End ($1.00)

This 4 drop removal spell does see Standard play in Mardu Dragons, but with Hero’s Downfall rotating out of Standard, this is the next best thing at Instant speed to deal with problem creatures and planeswalkers. Its price ceiling is held down by the existence of a full art Game Day foil, but like Clever Impersonator, Utter End sees a ton of Commander play (1000+ decks). Being that it can exile any nonland permanent helps get around any indestructibility, too. While it’s not quite Vindicate, 1BW to destroy any permanent, adding the Instant speed and replacing the destruction with exile may still keep this Constructed worthy. Again, as a dollar rare, it’s pretty much impossible to lose money here. The Game Day foil at $3-4 may be worth looking at, as well, as this is the version most targeted by Commander players. The set foil is barely $3, either. It’s not impossible for this to become one of the premier removal cards in the format for some period of time. Either way, you can’t really lose with its Commander playability keeping it above bulk status.

Hooded Hydra ($1.50)

This is yet another mythic rare that just needs to see a bit of competitive play to become a really nice sleeper. It’s not quite as much of a Commander hit as Clever Impersonator and Utter End, but in the right deck it’s pretty sweet. We know how good getting X tokens for X +1/+1 counters can be - see Hangarback Walker. While obviously not as splashable as the Walker, it doesn’t take much of a mana investment for this to be good. Plus if it enters as a Morph, it gets an additional 5 +1/+1 counters when it’s flipped face-up. The best case scenario for this Hydra is probably that a Mastery of the Unseen deck emerges that can manifest it and flip it for GG, getting a 5/5. Again, the Hydra will always at least replace itself and it seems like a good candidate for Hardened Scales decks. Of the three cards here, the Hooded Hydra probably holds the greatest risk. But even foils are only $3. There is potential this card is a total dud, but the power level seems there for at least one crazy spike in its lifetime, and it is definitely a Commander playable.

These are easily the most obvious investments for me in Khans of Tarkir that aren’t tri-lands, tap lands or fetch-lands. It’s probably likely all three of these will at least double in price during their time in Standard, and perhaps even more. Whatever the case, you won’t be stuck with much of a loss, if any, if these don’t make a move in competitive play.

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MTG Battle for Zendikar Pre-Release Weekend - Top Preorders on Amazon

MTG Stock Watch - Divine Intervention from Legends

MTG Stock Watch - Field of Dreams from Legends

Budget U/R Tutelage - Magic the Gathering

Magic the Gathering Card Review - Haunted Plate Mail (Magic 2014 & Magic 2015)

MTG Battle for Zendikar - The Allies of BFZ - Multi-Colored and Final Verdict

MTG Battle for Zendikar - The Allies of BFZ - Green

MTG: Battle for Zendikar - The Allies of BFZ - Red

MTG Battle for Zendikar - The Allies of BFZ - Black

MTG Battle for Zendikar - The Allies of BFZ - Blue

MTG: Battle for Zendikar - The Allies of BFZ - White

MTG Rotation Report - Magic 2015 Core Set - Legendary Creatures

MTG Battle for Zendikar - Key Common and Uncommon Reprints

BFZ Awaken Land Deck!

MTG Finance - Stock Watch - Swamp #238 from Shards of Alara

MTG Throwback Thursday Review - Reroute from Ravnica

MTG Finance - Stock Watch - Forgotten Ancient

MTG Finance - Stock Watch - Monastery Mentor from Fate Reforged

MTG Battle for Zendikar Spoilers - Dragonmaster Outcast Reprint

MTG Battle for Zendikar Spoilers - Woodland Wanderer Rare Card Review

MTG Battle for Zendikar Spoilers - Drana, Liberator of Malakir Review

MTG Battle for Zendikar Spoilers - Ugin's Insight Rare Card Review

MTG Rotation Report - Magic 2015 Core Set EDH Review - Planeswalkers

MTG Battle for Zendikar Spoilers - Noyan Dar, Roil Shaper

MTG Finance - 3 Cheap Khans of Tarkir Cards to Watch

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