Thoughts: The card reads: “Flying; At the beginning of each combat, choose first strike, vigilance, or lifelink. Creatures you control gain the chosen ability until end of turn.”

Many people underestimated Angel of Serenity when it first came out. This was because the Angel didn’t “blink” creatures if it died—it returned them to their owners’ hands, which prevents an alpha-strike. Angel Skirmisher (*which might not be the proper name—this card was spoiled in German) has a similar twist; the “choose an ability” on this card triggers at the beginning of combat, whereas most cards of this ilk trigger during upkeep. This is important because it acts like a pseudo-haste—the Skirmisher can immediately impart lifelink (to swing the game), vigilance (to shore up defense), or first strike (to force through damage), all of which are situationally useful in an aggressive deck. I started Angel Skirmisher at $2, but I think that it may be just good enough to reach Standard play.

Thoughts: Card text reads: “At the beginning of each end step, if you control four or more creatures named Biovisionary, you win the game.”

Bulk rare. Alternate win condition cards rarely end up maintaining any sort of value beyond bulk, and I don’t see anything that makes Biovisionary any different. Even with Phantasmal Image in Modern, there are better ways to combo out to win the game than having to keep four of the same creature alive on the board.

Thoughts: Probably a little too slow for Standard (at least, until Bonfire of the Damned rotates) but should be very popular for Commander players. I see this dropping to the $1 range if it doesn’t see Standard play but potentially hitting the $3-$4 range if someone fits this into ramp (I just don’t think it’ll happen).

Thoughts: Lord of Extinction is a $10 mythic. While this is also one of the Prerelease cards, it combines the best of Lord of Extinction with Circu, Dimir Lobotomist and Mind Funeral. All of these cards are high-priced casual favorites, and so I think Consuming Aberration has a lot of long-term potential for casual value; but in the short term, it may take a dip when the Prerelease supplies hit. This is a card I would recommend stocking up on for a year or two down the road, after Gatecrash is out of print; but until then, there should be plenty to go around.

Thoughts:
Most attempts to reprint Flametongue Kavu fall short of being played. I see no exception for Foundry Champion, which I believe will end up as a $0.50 bulk rare shortly after release.

Thoughts: I’m not sure what to make of Gideon, as the design on this planeswalker is unlike any other design we’ve really seen in the past. My gut is telling me that it will make the grade in Standard (it combos well with Jace, the Architect and Tamiyo, the Moon Sage) to form a new Superfriends-style deck; but I don’t think there’s a lot of room for growth in value. In this case, I think Gideon would maintain a $25-$30 value; if it doesn’t see play, I’d expect Gideon to drop to $10-$15 quickly, just as Vraska did.

Thoughts: Fantastic Commander for the Commander format, but I’m not sure it’ll make the cut in Standard. Having to rely on opposing creatures dying is tough, and many black/blue cards that have tried this mechanic in the past have been lackluster. On the other hand, hexproof is extremely valuable with the cipher mechanic, and so a Black/Blue Cipher Control deck may emerge, which will be a viable Standard deck. It’s too soon to tell on this card because of how few cipher cards have been spoiled, so I expect to be revisiting Lazav in the coming days.

Thoughts: This is the buy-a-box promo. I compare it to Vampire Nighthawk—the Nighthawk was great because of deathtouch and lifelink and not for being a 2/3 flyer for three mana. Hypnotic Specter couldn’t make the grade in Standard a couple of years back, and randomly taking cards out of your opponent’s hand on turn three seems about at the same power level as playing off of the top of your opponent’s deck on turn three. The problem is getting Nightveil Specter to connect, and a 2/3 flyer for three mana is fragile in the current state of Magic.

Thoughts: Very powerful card and might be the card that finally pushes black-centric control to tier one. It’s big enough to matter; the ability can swing the game on its own (just like with the old Ghost Council); and it dodges sorcery-speed removal. I think Obzedat will see a lot of Standard play and has the highest ceiling for going up in price of any card that has been spoiled so far. I believe this is on the power level of cards like Geist of Saint Traft, Olivia Voldaren, and Falkenrath Aristocrat, as far as Standard potential goes.

Thoughts:
Bulk Rare. I’m really not digging the bloodrush ability for Constructed play.

Thoughts:
I still don’t personally believe in this card, but it has been a strong seller at $4, $5, and $6 for us so far. When Return to Ravnica came out, there was a wide gap between the mythics that ended up being playable (Jace, Architect of Thought, Sphinx’s Revelation, Armada Wurm, Angel of Serenity) and those that were not (Epic Experiment, Jarad, Niv-Mizzet, Vraska). The playable ones continued to rise in price, and the unplayed ones plummeted quickly. I see this card ending up in the $3 range post-release still.

Thoughts:
Bumped because it is not the Prerelease card for the Boros guild. I’m still not sold that it’s going to make an impact (since it doesn’t have haste), but I’m also willing to concede that a Lightning Helix a turn is a mighty effect.

Thoughts:
People are banking on this for combo potential and casual play; I think it’ll settle right back down at $1 once the set is released.