Bosium Strip from Weatherlight - A Magic the Gathering Card Review

by  ElspethFTW, Old School Duelist

Back in April 2015, Bosium Strip was one of several speculation targets that saw an absolute explosion in price. Being a rare from Weatherlight, an old set that has many cards on the reserve list (meaning they can't be reprinted), the supply of this unique artifact is drying up quickly. It was a bulk rare as recently as the last week of March 2015, and as of April 2nd approached $8 a copy if you're looking for it in a lightly played or near-mint condition.

So is Bosium Strip any good? It could be, as what it does is pretty unique. The Strip has a casting cost of 3 colorless mana and has a tap ability that costs 3 colorless mana. Until the end of the turn, if at any time the top card in your graveayrd is an instant or sorcery card, you can play it as if it were in your hand. If you decide to do so, you exile that card from the game. It's a sort of flashback, similar to what the highly popular Snapcaster Mage does.

Three mana for that ability isn't really that bad when you consider Snapcaster Mage costs 1U (1 colorless, 1 Blue) to cast. Also, because it's colorless, you can play it in any color. While there isn't any Commander deck that plays it on a regular basis, it can fit into a wide variety of combo strategies in red, blue, and black. If you have any way to untap artifacts every turn (something very familiar in Commander with cards like Voltaic Key) then Bosium Strip can help you to recycle cards that would otherwise never have a chance to be recast.

With an infinite mana combo, the Strip becomes extremely powerful. It's even better when an Enchantment like Omniscience is involved, reducing all of your casting costs to zero.. While the Strip itself doesn't immediately lend itself to combos, it can serve as a useful utility piece to do things you may not have otherwise had the chance to do. Just keep in mind that the order of your graveyard is extremely important. With all of the Delve cards that exist in the game now, however, selecting what to keep in your graveyard is easier than ever..

Will Bosium Strip soon become one of the most valuable cards in Weatherlight? There are plenty of damaged and heavily played copies still available for fairly cheap if you're looking to play it in a deck. But as it's on the Reserved List, finding a very good condition copy is going to become harder and harder with the recent buyout. If you happen to have any copies or can find them in bulk rare binders or bins, definitely pick them up as they should have at least some Commander value in the future.

Also, Weatherlight is not one of the most valuable sets in Magic. The most expensive card in the set until Bosium Strip's sudden spike was Winding Canyons at about $7. Null Rod, Gemstone Mine (which was reprinted in Time Spiral), and Firestorm, were the only others over $5. Lotus Vale and Mana Web are about $3-5. The Strip is one of a handful of rares from this set to see a sudden leap in price, but ended up settling around the $3 mark long-term. It shouldn't ever see massive demand unless it sees play in an extremely popular Commander deck.

There are some Commander decks that have played with it, including some led by Jace, Vryn's Prodigy, Melek, Izzet Paragon, and Mizzix of the Izmagnus. But it's a staple for none of those Commanders. It will keep some value simply due to the fact it should never see a reprint because of its unusual mechanic (concerning graveyard order) and of course being on the Reserve List.

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