Hello everyone, and welcome to my thoughts about The Financial Value of Alara Reborn! In this article, I’ll be talking about the values of each of the Mythic Rares and regular Rares in this set, along with some of the prominent Uncommons.
As with each of these articles, the spoiler information for this article is taken directly from MTGSalvation.com – all credit for card text goes to them, as does all blame if any of the cards were spoiled incorrectly. It looks like the full spoiler went up on Wednesday, so most of the texts should be correct…but as always, I like disclaiming just in case!
One quick note; Alara Reborn is a GOOD set. This is likely the best set we’ve seen since Future Sight, as far as expansion sets go. Wizards really pushed the power level of several cards in this set above-and-beyond, and for the first time – the highest dollar cards in a set with Mythic Rares are the NORMAL Rares! No Planeswalkers this time – so the higher-end chase rares will truly shine this set release.
Key to this article:
Starting Price: Our original presale price on this card, when presales went live on Tuesday.
Future Price: The price I believe this card will be a month from now (after people have had a chance to play with the card, and metagames are more firmly established).
Thoughts: My thoughts about this card.
Let’s get started, shall we?
MYTHICS
In general, the Mythic rares in this set are a lot less exciting than the Mythic Rares from previous sets, with (to me) one exception. You’ll know it when you see it – but in general, all the Mythics seem to be as-advertised.
Defiler of Souls – 3BBR
Creature – Demon (Mythic Rare)
Flying
At the beginning of each player’s upkeep, that player sacrifices a monocolored creature.
5/5
Starting Price: $3
Future Price: $3
Thoughts: Typical bulk Mythic rare. Will be popular in group games (as a potentially one-sided Abyss), and it might be a one-of in Five-Color Control, but it won’t make a big tournament splash.
Dragon Broodmother – 2RRRG
Creature – Dragon (Mythic Rare)
Flying
At the beginning of each upkeep, put a 1/1 red and green Dragon creature token with flying and devour 2 into play. (As the token comes into play, you may sacrifice any number of creatures. It comes into play with twice that many +1/+1 counters on it.)
4/4
Starting Price: $5
Future Price: $5
Thoughts: A big dragon that makes other dragons. This is also the prerelease card, and it’s already borderline – casual players again will like this, but it won’t be driven that high up in price.
Jenara, Asura of War – GWU
Legendary Creature – Angel (Mythic Rare)
Flying
{1}{W}: Put a +1/+1 counter on Jenara, Asura of War.
3/3
Starting Price: $10
Future Price: $6
Thoughts: Overrated. Three mana for a 3/3 flyer that dies to all three commonly-played common removal spells (Path to Exile, Terminate, Terror), as well as most Red burn if you play it for under five mana. Yes, it’s a Legendary Angel, so that’ll help it maintain value – but I don’t think this will live up to the tournament hype.
Karrthus, Tyrant of Jund – 4BRG
Legendary Creature – Dragon (Mythic Rare)
Flying, haste
When Karrthus, Tyrant of Jund comes into play, gain control of all Dragon creatures in play and untap them.
Dragon creatures you control have haste.
7/7
Starting Price: $3
Future Price: $3
Thoughts: Bulk Mythic Rare. Really, the mythics in this set are by-and-large less exciting than the rares this time around.
Lord of Extinction – 3BG
Creature – Elemental (Mythic Rare)
Lord of Extinction’s power and toughness are each equal to the number of cards in all graveyards.
*/*
Starting Price: $6
Future Price: $10+
Thoughts: Except for this guy. This guy is a one-hit kill in some decks. Remember that old Hermit Druid/Sutured Ghoul deck that abused Anger or Dragon pieces (from Scourge) to kill people in one hit? That deck relied on having bad creatures to fuel the Sutured Ghoul. With Lord of Extinction, you just need CARDS. Same with Oath – much, much better than Cognivore. Plus, five is a reasonable amount of mana for what will often amount to a 10/10+ creature in the right decks. There will be the right decks that want to play this guy, I believe, in Extended and Standard. I’m going to call Lord of Extinction my Sleeper Hit of Alara Reborn – if there’s one guy who has the POTENTIAL to explode in value from where he is now, it’s Lord of Extinction.
Maelstrom Nexus – WUBRG
Enchantment (Mythic Rare)
The first spell you play each turn has cascade.
Starting Price: $4
Future Price: $5
Thoughts: Might have a place in Five-Color Control, as it turns every card you play for the rest of the game into a two-for-one. Do you want to tap out to play this on turn 5? Maybe, maybe not – but the effect is insanely powerful.
Sen Triplets – 2WUB
Legendary Artifact Creature – Human Wizard (Mythic Rare)
At the beginning of your upkeep, choose target opponent. This turn, that player can’t play spells or activated abilities and plays with his or her hand revealed. You can play cards from that player’s hand this turn.
3/3
Starting Price: $10
Future Price: $8-$10
Thoughts: Might make Esper Control tier-one – if this lands and lives, you likely will win. Same with Five-Color Control – lets you play out your opponent’s hand, and also acts as an Orim’s Chant. Will it live a turn is the question. Slightly overhyped, but undoubtedly powerful.
Sphinx of the Steel Wind – 5WUB
Artifact Creature – Sphinx (Mythic Rare)
Flying, first strike, vigilance, lifelink, protection from red and from green
6/6
Starting Price: $6
Future Price: $10
Thoughts: This is Akroma, almost. It can’t be killed by Terminate, or most artifact kill spells (since it has protection from both Red and Green). Akroma is a $10+ card – this shouldn’t be at $6 just because it’s a Sphinx instead of a Legendary Angel. Players will pick up on this card given time – a big, iconic fatty.
Thraximundar – 4UBR
Legendary Creature – Zombie Assassin (Mythic Rare)
Haste
Whenever Thraximundar attacks, defending player sacrifices a creature.
Whenever a player sacrifices a creature, you may put a +1/+1 counter on Thraximundar.
6/6
Starting Price: $3
Future Price: $5
Thoughts: So, remember that front-page blurb? Cascade has opened up a lot of interesting possibilities, but one that people have started noticing is the interaction between Cascade and Suspend spells. If you hit a no-mana cost Suspend spell with Cascade, you get to play the spell immediately, for free. This raises some interesting deckbuilding choices such as the Hypergenesis deck. Hypergenesis was a largely-ignored spell out of Time Spiral, but is now getting really hot. With Cascade, and a deck full of 3+ mana spells, you can hit cascade on turn 3, play Hypergenesis, and unload a hand full of fatties on an unsuspecting (and largely helpless) opponent. Any cascade spell will do – Hypergenesis should be the only zero-cost spell in your deck, allowing you to “tutor” it every time.
I mention this here, because Thraximundar is one of the creatures you’d want to run in the Hypergenesis deck – hasty, and able to remove any early creatures your opponent might drop.
Pick up Hypergenesis now. That’s what Thraximundar teaches you!
Uril, the Miststalker – 2RGW
Legendary Creature – Beast (Mythic Rare)
Uril, the Miststalker can’t be the target of spells or abilities your opponents control.
Uril gets +2/+2 for each Aura attached to it.
5/5
Starting Price: $5
Future Price: $7.50
Thoughts: Huge and untargetable. Reminiscent of Kodama of the North Tree, but with troll-shroud and Aura-enhancing instead of pure shroud and trample. Potentially a beast (no pun intended) for control decks to deal with.
Rares
The Rares in this set are a lot more exciting than the Mythic Rares – so let’s get straight to them!
Aven Mimeomancer – 1WU
Creature – Bird Wizard (Rare)
Flying
At the beginning of your upkeep, you may put a feather counter on target creature. If you do, that creature is 3/1 and has flying as long as it has a feather counter on it.
3/1
Starting Price: $0.50
Future Price: $0.50
Thoughts: Bulk Rare.
Blitz Hellion – 3RG
Creature – Hellion (Rare)
Trample, haste
At end of turn, Blitz Hellion’s owner shuffles it into his or her library.
7/7
Starting Price: $1.50
Future Price: $2
Thoughts: Seven point of direct damage for five mana is reminiscent of Blistering Firecat, but I’m not sure that five mana for a hasty 7/7 that goes away is worth it – especially given some of the other fat that is going to be around post Alara-Reborn. Is this better than, say, Demigod of Revenge? Should be popular, probably won’t be a winner.
Cloven Casting – 5UR
Enchantment (Rare)
Whenever you play a multicolored instant or sorcery spell, you may pay {1}. If you do, copy that spell. You may choose new targets for the copy.
Starting Price: $0.50
Future Price: $0.50
Thoughts: Bulk Rare.
Dauntless Escort – 1GW
Creature – Rhox Soldier (Rare)
Sacrifice Dauntless Escort: Creatures you control are indestructible this turn.
3/3
Starting Price: $4
Future Price: $6
Thoughts: G/W got really, REALLY good with this set. GRW got even better – pick up your Cliffrunner Behemoth’s now! Dauntless Escort is on-curve, and stops the Wrath… and the Fallout… and any other mass-removal spells outside of Hallowed Burial. This is quite great, and at worst you’re beating with a 3/3 for three. Pick these up.
Deathbringer Thoctar – 4BR
Creature – Zombie Beast (Rare)
Whenever another creature is put into a graveyard from play, you may put a +1/+1 counter on Deathbringer Thoctar.
Remove a +1/+1 counter from Deathbringer Thoctar: Deathbringer Thoctar deals 1 damage to target creature or player.
3/3
Starting Price: $0.50
Future Price: $0.50
Thoughts: El Rare de Bulk!
Enigma Sphinx – 4WUB
Artifact Creature – Sphinx (Rare)
Flying
When Enigma Sphinx is put into your graveyard from play, put it into your library third from the top.
Cascade (When you play this spell, remove cards from the top of your library from the game until your reveal a nonland card that costs less. You may play it without paying its mana cost. Put the removed cards on the bottom in a random order.)
5/4
Starting Price: $1
Future Price: $4-$5
Thoughts: Ridiculously undervalued. One of the problems with control creatures is that you don’t necessarily want to tap out to play one. This guy gives you a 5/4 body, plus another spell. Two-for-one is great, especially if you hit Wrath of God (which will resolve before Enigma Sphinx), or another huge beater (Oona?) or Cryptic Command (Tap your guys, I’ll draw a card?) This will see play, and it is worth more than the $1 it is currently going for. Cascade is very powerful.
Fight to the Death – RW
Instant (Rare)
Destroy all blocking creatures and all blocked creatures.
Starting Price: $0.75
Future Price: $0.50
Thoughts: Bulk rare. For what it’s worth, this has done very well for us so far in presales. For group games, this seems like it could be backbreaking (take out multiple other people’s boards worth of creatures). For one-on-one play, doesn’t seem swell.
Filigree Angel – 5WWU
Artifact Creature – Angel (Rare)
Flying
When Filigree Angel comes into play, you gain 3 life for each artifact you control.
4/4
Starting Price: $1
Future Price: $1
Thoughts: A bulk rare, but an Angel – so it won’t go below $1.
Finest Hour – 2GWU
Enchantment (Rare)
Exalted
Whenever a creature you control attacks alone, if it’s the first combat phase of the turn, untap that creature. After this phase, there is an additional combat phase.
Starting Price: $1
Future Price: $2.50-$3
Thoughts: For years, Wizards has tried to get some variant of this effect played. Aggravated Assault. Relentless Assault. Savage Beating. I think that Finest Hour is the “extra attack phase” card that will finally be playable in constructed. What’s going for it?
1) It’s an enchantment, so you can use it multiple times.
2) It doesn’t cost any mana to activate.
3) It curves extremely well off the W/U/G deck, especially when combined with Rafiq (Rafiq is 3/3. Attack, it gets +2/+2 – one from Rafiq and one from Finest Hour. That’s ten points of double strike damage. Get another attack phase – another +2/+2, making Rafiq 7/7. That’s another fourteen points of double strike damage.
You don’t need Rafiq to make Finest Hour work – but it fits so, so well in the W/U/G curve, that you can’t help but at least try it out.
Glory of Warfare – 2RW
Enchantment (Rare)
As long as it’s your turn, creatures you control get +2/+0.
As long as it’s not your turn, creatures you control get +0/+2.
Starting Price: $1.50
Future Price: $1
Thoughts: Despite what other people are saying, seems like a bad Glorious Anthem to me. If Volcanic Fallout weren’t around, I’d give this a nod over other creature-growing cards (Ajani Goldmane, Glorious Anthem) – but because you can get wrecked at instant speed, I’m just not feeling this one.
Identity Crisis – 2WWBB
Sorcery (Rare)
Remove all cards in target player’s hand and graveyard from the game.
Starting Price: $1
Future Price: $1
Thoughts: Probably better than Head Games in Five-Color Control. That makes it a one-to-two-of in the sideboard of one deck in the format.
Knight of New Alara – 2GW
Creature – Human Knight (Rare)
Each other multicolored creature you control gets +1/+1 for each of its colors.
2/2
Starting Price: $2.50
Future Price: $5
Thoughts: The release card. Probably would hit $7-$8 if it weren’t the release card – but it’ll still hit the $5 mark, because it’s both playable, and will be extremely popular with casual players.
Knotvine Paladin – GW
Creature – Human Knight (Rare)
Whenever Knotvine Paladin attacks, it gets +1/+1 for each untapped creature you control.
2/2
Starting Price: $2.50
Future Price: $2
Thoughts: I’m divided about Knotvine Paladin. In essence, it turns your pre-combat creature drops (the ones you would cast after combat anyhow) into +1/+1 – or a well-timed Spectral Procession into +3/+3 – so there’s a place for him. Is he good enough in the end though? Maybe – the W/G token deck was seeing some play. This seems like it would be a really good fit for a deck with Cloudgoat Ranger and Spectral Procession.
Lavalanche – XBRG
Sorcery (Rare)
Lavalanche deals X damage to target player and each creature he or she controls.
Starting Price: $2
Future Price: $4
Thoughts: Great for ramp decks. Wishes that Forge[/author]-Tender”]Burrenton [author name="Forge"]Forge[/author]-Tender didn’t exist. Still, this seems like it’s being generally underrated now – great for casual play, has a place in Standard, and has a big “Wow!” effect.
Lich Lord of Unx – 1UB
Creature – Zombie Wizard (Rare)
{U}{B}, {T}: Put a 1/1 blue and black Zombie Wizard creature token into play.
{U}{U}{B}{B}: Target player loses X life and puts the top X cards of his or her library into his or her graveyard where X is the number of Zombies you control.
2/2
Starting Price: $2.50
Future Price: $4-$5
Thoughts: Remember when Circu, Dimir Lobotomist was hitting $8-$10? Lich Lord of Unx is that type of card. It makes creatures, and it mills/kills your opponent. This combines three really popular casual elements – Zombies, Milling, and making creatures each turn (see Imperious Perfect). Should double in value before long, but it’ll be because of casual play, not tournament play.
Lightning Reaver – 3BR
Creature – Zombie Beast (Rare)
Fear, haste
Whenever Lightning Reaver deals combat damage to a player, put a charge counter on it.
At the end of your turn, Lightning Reaver deals damage equal to the number of charge counters on it to each opponent.
3/3
Starting Price: $0.75
Future Price: $0.50
Thoughts: Hey, had to hit another bulk rare eventually!
Madrush Cyclops – 1BRG
Creature – Cyclops Warrior (Rare)
Creatures you control have haste.
3/4
Starting Price: $1
Future Price: $3-$4
Thoughts: People look at Madrush Cyclops and see that it’s “only” a 3/4 for four (which also takes three colors). However, A) This has a place in any sort of combo deck that puts multiple creatures into play at once, and B) it curves really well with other fatties you play from turn 4 onwards. It’s better than a bulk rare, and I think in the end, it will see tournament play. Pick up a playset now, and not once people start playing with it.
Maelstrom Pulse – 1BG
Sorcery (Rare)
Destroy target nonland permanent and all permanents with the same name as that permanent.
Starting Price: $15
Future Price: $20
Thoughts: The chase card of this set. It’s as good as advertised. Playsets are going to hit $75-$80 quickly – pick them up while they are still under that mark.
Mayael’s Aria – RGW
Enchantment (Rare)
At the beginning of your upkeep, put a +1/+1 counter on each creature you control if you control a creature with power 5 or greater. Then you gain 10 life if you control a creature with power 10 or greater. Then you win the game if you control a creature with power 20 or greater.
Starting Price: $0.75
Future Price: $0.50
Thoughts: This card is totally, totally cool, and generally not playable. If you have a twenty-power creature, you should have already won the game, and you’re just TRYING to win with this card instead.
Meddling Mage – WU
Creature – Human Wizard (Rare)
As Meddling Mage comes into play, name a nonland card.
The named card can’t be played.
2/2
Starting Price: $12.50
Future Price: $17.50-$20
Thoughts: The chase card of this set, for older formats. The biggest story about reprinting Meddling Mage is that Meddling Mage is now playable in Extended again. This is huge, and I expect Meddling Mage to hit its former $20 mark by the time Extended rolls around in January – but it might hit sooner if W/U makes a comeback in Standard.
Mycoid Shepherd – 1GGW
Creature – Fungus (Rare)
Whenever Mycoid Shepherd or another creature you control with power 5 or greater is put into a graveyard from play, you may gain 5 life.
5/4
Starting Price: $3
Future Price: $5-$6
Thoughts: Big, above-the-curve power/toughness, and has a nifty ability when it (or your other creatures) die. It’ll see Standard play, and it is currently being undervalued.
Necromancer’s Covenant – 3WBB
Enchantment (Rare)
When Necromancer’s Covenant comes into play, remove all creature cards in target player’s graveyard from the game, then put a 2/2 black Zombie creature token into play for each card removed this way.
Zombies you control have lifelink.
Starting Price: $0.75
Future Price: $1.50-$2
Thoughts: I like this card – it seems like the type of card that a Black/White deck (which is typically a board control deck) would want to play to “finish the game,” much like Angel of Despair used to be the top-end of the curve in that deck. Right now, B/W is mainly aggro-tokens, but if B/W control pops up, this could be a very serviceable finisher.
Nemesis of Reason – 3UB
Creature – Leviathan Horror (Rare)
Whenever Nemesis of Reason attacks, defending player puts the top ten cards of his or her library into his or her graveyard.
3/7
Starting Price: $2.50
Future Price: $5
Thoughts: Back in the day, when Invasion and Masques were what made up Standard, there was a U/B control deck that was built around Evil Eye of Orms-by-Gore. Evil Eye was a great choice of creature, because A) it got past most defenders, but B) it had such a high toughness, that aggro decks couldn’t easily burn it out. Nemesis of Reason dodges Terror, but dies to Terminate and Path to Exile. However, it also can break through Bitterblossom (since it decks by attacking), and has a huge, huge toughness compared to most other Black/Blue creatures. This guy has me excited for control decks, because it’s just the type of creature that Black/Blue didn’t have in the five slot recently.
Predatory Advantage – 3RG
Enchantment (Rare)
At the end of each opponent’s turn, if that player didn’t play a creature spell this turn, put a 2/2 green Lizard creature token into play.
Starting Price: $0.50
Future Price: $0.50
Thoughts: Bulk Rare. Better in group games than duals.
Retaliator Griffin – 1RGW
Creature – Griffin (Rare)
Flying
Whenever a source an opponent controls deals damage to you, you may put that many +1/+1 counters on Retaliator Griffin.
2/2
Starting Price: $0.75
Future Price: $1
Thoughts: Should be popular with casual players. Don’t think it’s going to make the cut in Standard, since it dies to Volcanic Fallout. This would have actually been better as a 1/3 or a 0/4, for that reason.
Sages of the Anima – 3GU
Creature – Elf Wizard (Rare)
If you would draw a card, instead reveal the top three cards of your library. Put all creature cards revealed this way into your hand and the rest on the bottom of your library in any order.
Starting Price: $0.50
Future Price: $0.50
Thoughts: B-B-B-Bulk Rare!
Soulquake – 3UUBB
Sorcery (Rare)
Return all creatures in play and all creature cards in graveyards to their owners’ hands.
Starting Price: $0.50
Future Price:$0.50
Thoughts: This is NOT Upheaval.
Sovereigns of Lost Alara – 4WU
Creature – Spirit (Rare)
Exalted
Whenever a creature you control attacks alone, you may search your library for an Aura card that could enchant it and put that card into play attached to that creature. If you do, shuffle your library.
4/5
Starting Price: $0.75
Future Price: $1
Thoughts: Eventually, Wizards is going to print a card that will abuse Auras enough to make Auras tournament playable. This guy isn’t that card – six mana is a lot to ask. I think Wizards solved the “two attack phase problem” this set, so eventually they’ll print an aura guy that solves that deck, as well.
Spellbound Dragon – 3UR
Creature – Dragon (Rare)
Flying.
Whenever Spellbound Dragon attacks, draw a card, then discard a card. Spellbound Dragon gets +X/+0 until end of turn, where X is the discarded card’s converted mana cost.
3/5
Starting Price: $1.50
Future Price: $3
Thoughts: Underrated. This isn’t a 3/5 flyer for five – this is a 7/5 or 8/5 (or larger) flyer for five, with the added bonus of letting you Merfolk Loot for free every turn. This is a great card to play in Five-Color Control (draw into Cryptic Command, discard Cruel Ultimatum?), or just in a U/R deck, as a finisher. Another undervalued card that you should pick up now.
Spellbreaker Behemoth – 1RGG
Creature – Beast (Rare)
Spellbreaker Behemoth can’t be countered.
Creature spells you control with power 5 or greater can’t be countered.
5/5
Starting Price: $4
Future Price: $7.50-$8
Thoughts: Insane. Believe the hype – if Rumbling Slum was a $4-$5 card when it was standard legal, this is easily worth double that base value. Stops a lot of control, smashes face, and takes names. End of story – if you are playing W/R/G or R/G aggro, get a playset of these.
Thought Hemorrhage – 2BR
Sorcery (Rare)
Name a nonland card. Target player reveals his or her hand. Thought Hemorrhage deals 3 damage to that player for each card with that name revealed this way. Search that player’s graveyard, hand, and library for all cards with that name and remove them from the game. Then that player shuffles his or her library.
Starting Price: $7.50
Future Price: $12.50
Thoughts: Cranial Extraction hit the $15 mark while it was Standard Legal. B/R control will be very much in demand because it is generally cheap to build (Blightning and Terminate are commons), making this one of the few “money” cards in that deck. This is Cranial Extraction with an upgrade – not quite as splashable, but three (or more) free damage is three (or more) free damage. Should hit $50-$60 a playset by the time Regionals rolls around.
Time Sieve – UB
Artifact (Rare)
{T}, Sacrifice five artifacts: Take an extra turn after this one.
Starting Price: $1
Future Price: $1
Thoughts: Comboriffic, but probably a bulk rare. I wouldn’t think too much about this card.
Unscythe, Killer of Kings – UBBR
Legendary Artifact – Equipment (Rare)
Equipped creature gets +3/+3 and has first strike.
Whenever a creature dealt damage by equipped creature this turn is put into a graveyard, you may remove that card from the game. If you do, put a 2/2 black Zombie creature token into play.
Equip {2}
Starting Price: $0.75
Future Price: $1
Thoughts: Bulk Equipment, which tends to stay around the $1-$1.50 mark when it’s rare.
Vedalken Heretic – GU
Creature – Vedalken Shaman (Rare)
Whenever Vedalken Heretic deals damage to an opponent, you may draw a card.
Starting Price: $2
Future Price: $4
Thoughts: This is the cheapest (mana) that this type of creature has ever been, but can it hit? Maybe not in Standard, but this guy seems pretty decent for Vintage (where it can land turn one and start hitting against most non-creatured decks), and Legacy (where it fits the right colors that you’d want for Standstill-type decks).
Wargate – XGWU
Sorcery (Rare)
Search your library for a permanent card with converted mana cost X or less and put it into play. Then shuffle your library.
Starting Price: $1.25
Future Price: $1
Thoughts: Kind of bulky, in both value and mana cost. Worst comes to worst, you pay WGU to tutor a land of your choice into play (like Crop Rotation, without the sacrifice). Don’t forget it gets lands – that’s the redeeming feature of this card.
UNCOMMONS
Anathemancer – 1BR
Creature – Zombie Wizard (Uncommon)
When Anathemancer comes into play, it deals damage to target player equal to the number of nonbasic lands that player controls.
Unearth {5}{B}{R}
2/2
Starting Price: $0.50
Future Price: $0.50-$1
Thoughts: There hasn’t been a good Price of Progress variant in a while – but three mana for 3+ damage (plus a 2/2 creature) seems really good. I think this is a sleeper card right now – late game, it still hits for 5-6 damage, and then comes back a second time to hit for 5-6 damage. Pick these up now.
Behemoth Sledge – 1GW
Artifact – Equipment (Uncommon)
Equipped creature gets +2/+2 and has lifelink and trample.
Equip {3}
Starting Price: $2
Future Price: $3-$4
Thoughts: Loxodon Warhammer for W/G, except better – +2/+2 is a lot better than +3/+0, because it dodges removal, and prevents chump blocking. There are a lot of good W/G creatures to throw this on – or just play a deck with 4 Path to Exile, 4 Sledge, 4 Warhammers, and a ton of token creatures. This is a huge card for W/G to get.
Bloodbraid Elf – 2RG
Creature – Elf Berserker (Uncommon)
Haste
Cascade (When you play this spell, remove cards from the top of your library from the game until you reveal a nonland card that costs less. You may play it without paying its mana cost. Put the removed cards on the bottom in a random order.
3/2
Starting Price: $1.50
Future Price: $3-$4
Thoughts: Amazing aggro card. A 3/2 haste creature with another free creature (or burn spell) thrown in is freaking great – 3/2 Haste plus Incinerate? 3/2 Haste plus Blightning? 3/2 Haste plus Terminate? 3/2 Haste plus Wooly Thoctar? 3/2 Haste plus Noble Hierarch? 3/2 Haste plus Shock? 3/2 Haste plus anything? This is a solid, solid card that will be played a TON in Standard.
Double Negative – UUR
Instant (Uncommon)
Counter up to two target spells.
Starting Price: $0.50
Future Price: $0.50
Thoughts: Great for group play, and for control-on-control. You probably won’t be countering two spells that often.
Intimidation Bolt – 1RW
Instant (Uncommon)
Intimidation Bolt deals 3 damage to target creature. Other creatures can’t attack this turn.
Starting Price: $0.50
Future Price: $1
Thoughts: This is a mechanic that has been heavily explored in the World of Warcraft TCG, but not as much in Magic. This is a very strong mechanic, and one that is being undervalued. Playing Kithkin on Kithkin? Kill one of their guys, and shift the attacking momentum back in your favor. Playing control versus creatures? Stop all of their guys for a turn, while you kill one of their bigger threats. Currently overlooked.
Lorescale Coatl – 1GU
Creature – Snake (Uncommon)
Whenever you draw a card, you may put a +1/+1 counter on Lorescale Coatl.
2/2
Starting Price: $1.50
Future Price: $2-$3
Thoughts: A build-around-me card that, that fits right into the colors that would want a card that has this effect. I’m sure you can find ways to make this guy go nuts with your Blue card drawing. Can get out of hand quickly.
Mage Slayer – 1RG
Artifact – Equipment (Uncommon)
Whenever equipped creature attacks, it deals damage equal to its power to defending player.
Equip {3}
Starting Price: $0.50
Future Price: $1
Thoughts: Berserk equipment. Stops chump blocking, stops Bitterblossom, lets you hit for double damage, even more-so than trample. Currently underrated, because people aren’t used to the effect of “do damage when you attack.”
Marisi’s Twinclaws – 2{rw}G
Creature – Cat Warrior (Uncommon)
Double strike
2/4
Starting Price: $0.50
Future Price: $0.50
Thoughts: Overhyped. Red/Green and Green/White both got creatures that are much better than this for the four-slot of aggro decks, and you need other cards to make this guy work. I’d rather have a 5/5 uncounterable beast or a 5/4 life-gaining machine (or Rafiq, or Chameleon Colossus) than a 2/4 double-striker.
Mind Funeral – 1UB
Sorcery (Uncommon)
Target opponent reveals cards from the top of his or her library until four land cards are revealed. That player puts all cards revealed this way into his or her graveyard.
Starting Price: $0.75
Future Price: $1.50-$2
Thoughts: How does this compare to other milling cards? If you’ve got a 60 card deck with 25 lands, you’ll have a land about every 2.4 cards. That means that if you cast Mind Funeral, chances are you’re looking at around a 10-card mill. Remind you of anything? Glimpse the Unthinkable is very, very comparable to this card – and while Glimpse costs one less mana, it’s a $10 rare – so for people who are running U/B mill, this is a no-brainer auto-include.
Nulltread Gargantuan – 1GU
Creature – Beast (Uncommon)
When Nulltread Gargantuan comes into play, put a creature you control on top of its owner’s library.
5/6
Starting Price: $1
Future Price: $3-$4
Thoughts: Terminate, Path to Exile and Terror all deal with this guy on turn 2, which is when you’d play him off of an elf. On the other hand, 5/6 on turn 2 is insane – that’s Tarmogoyf territory. And if you’re running anything with tokens, Nulltread Gargantuan is a 5/6 with no drawbacks. It’s also great if you want to reuse 187 creatures (Viridian Shaman, or Wistful Selkie, or Mulldrifter) – but a 5/6 body this early is crazy good, when the drawback is steep – but not so steep as to make this unplayable.
Unbender Tine – 2WU
Artifact (Uncommon)
{T}: Untap another target permanent.
Starting Price: $0.50
Future Price: $0.50
Thoughts: There has to be a point where there is a critical mass of Icy Manipulators to make a traditional W/U control deck a contender. Right now, there’s Scepter of Dominance, Unbender Tine, and Icy Manipulator – could you throw all three of those in a deck, combine Wrath of God and Counterspells, and go to town? This seems like the best of the four, because it has “haste” – you play it on turn 4, and can use it immediately.
Zealous Persecution – WB
Instant (Uncommon)
Until end of turn, creatures you control get +1/+1 and creatures target opponent controls get -1/-1.
Starting Price: $0.75
Future Price: $1
Thoughts: Back breaking in the B/W on B/W matchup. Backbreaking with B/W against any other types of token-based aggro, or against Faeries. It does exactly what you want it to do, and at a very, very low cost. Pick these up – they are going to be played in Standard.
COMMONS
Terminate and Qasali Pridemage – these are the two non-foil Commons in this set that are worth more than bulk price ($0.75 and $0.50 to start, respectively). Terminate will likely hit $1 – and the Pridemage will stay at $0.50, but will see play in more than just Standard.
Have fun at the prerelease, and happy preordering! Get the cards while they are still cheap, because there are a lot of bargains to be found in this set, and a lot of the cards are being undervalued and underhyped. This set has a very, very high ratio of good-to-bad cards, so if you’ve been holding off on buying 4x Complete sets – Alara Reborn is a good investment for getting a full playset for Standard, Extended, and Legacy.
Ben Bleiweiss
General Manager of Acquisitions, StarCityGames.com