Secure the Wastes is a neat Instant-speed spell card from Dragons of Tarkir. Originally, it was pigeonholed into White/Black Warriors decks as a way to dump lots of cheap tokens into play. The obvious Tribal synergies made it a decent card, but it had potential to do a lot more given the right Standard-format environment. Recently, Esper Control has found a home for it as an alternative finisher to its massive Dragonlords: Ojutai and Silumgar. It's still a fairly affordable card, at $3-4 a copy. Having been printed in an Intro Pack, Massed Ranks, has also tempered its price.

Being at Instant speed means that your open mana need not be wasted at the end of an opponent's turn. Even 1/1 creatures can end up becoming lethal threats if your opponent is finding their threats countered or destroyed. Blue/White Control decks, as well as Jeskai Ascendancy, Jeskai Tokens, and Bant Tokens have use for this card as a supplement to their strategies, as well. Since Secure the Wastes hasn't become yet widely accepted as a staple in any archetype, there's probably room for this instant's value to grow.

Secure the Wastes will survive the spring 2016 rotation, which will take Khans of Tarkir and Fate Reforged from the format, but not Dragons of Tarkir. If you're looking for a card people may still be undervaluing, this could be a good pick. It's probably not going to see any play in Modern, and especially not Legacy or Vintage. It's decent in Commander / EDH token happy decks, but it's not a staple in the format. Still, I like this as a decent value rare all the way until it rotates from Standard in late 2016. It should find plenty more homes before then.

The Zendikar's Rage Intro Pack for Battle for Zendikar is a Red and Green Landfall-themed deck. It features Oran-Rief Hydra as the cover rare, which is an effective card for the strategy. It also features R/G Landfall staples such as Makindi Sliderunner and Snapping Gnarlid, albeit in small numbers.

The second rare, Nissa’s Renewal is the better value rare in the deck, especially given the Landfall theme. Getting 3 Landfall triggers and 7 life off of a single card is extremely powerful. Also, two copies of Sylvan Scrying help you to grab your Blighted Woodland or Fertile Thickets - plus they are above-average uncommons value wise. You wouldn’t buy the deck just for these, and they’re not build around cards. But they’re good cards to have around, plus they are good in the deck.

Obviously, the number one thing to do with a Landfall themed deck is to replace the Evolving Wilds with the far superior fetchland Wooded Foothills, which lets you grab both Forests and Mountains. You may want to consider also getting a full playset of Cinder Glade, the red/green “tango” land from Battle for Zendikar. Having two basic lands in play usually won’t be an issue at all with this particular deck.

So how does this deck fare out of the box? Watch the video review to find out!

The Rallying Cry Intro Pack for Battle for Zendikar is a Red and White deck based around the Ally Tribe. The cover card for the deck is Hero of Goma Fada, an Ally that allows your creatures to become indestructible.. Joining him in the deck is Angelic Captain, who when attacking along with other Allies, becomes a force to be reckoned with! Does this Intro Pack offer a well-rounded approach to testing out the Allies archetype, or does it fall short?

Check out the video review to find out!

Value

Barrage Tyrant is pretty much a bulk rare, but in this deck he’s an All-Star. You definitely want him in here, and perhaps a second or third copy for redundancy isn’t a bad idea, either. Transgress the Mind is the real card of value in the deck, even being an uncommon, as discard spells that can exile are pretty strong in Constructed formats. It works really well with the Eldrazi Processors that care about your opponent’s cards being exiled, too.

Also, most of the common and uncommon creatures, while not worth big money, are good enough to fill out a budget Red/Black Devoid Aggro deck for Standard. Examples include Sludge Crawler, Forerunner of Slaughter, Dominator Drone, and Vile Aggregate.

Serpentine Spike is a pretty bad rare overall, but in the context of this deck, it’s playable. If you go about improving the deck, though, it’s one of the first cards to go.

Grade: A-