Anatomy of a Bulk Rare - Dust Stalker from Battle for Zendikar (MTG)

by  R.A. Rowell; Co-Owner of Intent-sive Nature & the Brand Shamans network

Battle for Zendikar is a set chock full of aggressive creatures, most of them Eldrazi. While quite a few have gone on to competitive success, one that hasn’t quite found his place is a 5/3 for 4 mana, Dust Stalker. On the surface, he looks like a powerful creature. He does have the drawback of needing to return to his owner’s hand if you control no other colorless creatures. However, he has haste, and in a deck full of Eldrazi, his drawback is rarely an issue. Overall, he’s a pretty efficient creature.

However, as we are taking a look at Dust Stalker on Anatomy of a Bulk Rare, we have to see where he’s gone wrong. The obvious thing about the Stalker is that he doesn’t have Trample or any other secondary keyword other than Devoid (which just makes him colorless). By no means does this mean he’s bad. But for 4 mana, especially in Standard, you need to get more value out of him, especially in an aggressive deck. Even after Magic Origins and Dragons of Tarkir rotated from the Standard environment, he never really caught on. However, some budget-conscious tournament players have played Dust Stalker with varied success. But there aren’t enough people willing to commit to keeping around four copies for his price to rise much about $0.50 at retail.

In fact, so few people want to own Dust Stalker that many vendor buylists exclude him completely. This doesn’t mean you can’t sneak him into a buylist order to a vendor as an unlisted bulk rare. But major vendors really don’t need him. So what is there to make of him? Is he worth keeping around? Actually, yes. Over time, more casual players looking to build an aggressive red and black Eldrazi deck will latch onto this guy. So he does have a future. But I'd never expect him to be worth much.

As we have said before in this series, not all bulk rares are created equal. While this isn’t of the competitive ilk of Fathom Feeder, it’s definitely no Serpentine Spike. Battle for Zendikar, like many sets, is actually full of rares just like Dust Stalker, cards that over time people will find uses for and suddenly they won’t be bulk any more. I will take Fathom Feeder over Dust Stalker any day, but the Stalker is just one of those creatures that newer players will see, love, and just need to have. There’s nothing wrong with that, and while he may never get you more than 10 cents from a vendor buylist, he’s fine to hold onto.

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