Welcome back to another edition of my pet project, where we grab all of heaths under priced cards. Fun? I sure think so
Steal of the week:
| I'll be honest. I haven't been that impressed with Hypercascade, and I play a lot of extended. For a combo deck, it's really easily stopped. Chalice at 0, or Cannonist, and they are stuck with a hand full of big guys, and cascade spells that do nothing. With that being said, if you are on the draw, and they go off before you can chalice for 0, theres really not a heck of a lot you can do. The deck does just steal wins sometimes. Will it be a viable player when real extended starts rolling around again? I don't know. However I do know that at 1 dollar, it's worth the risk. If Hypercascade does become the "breakout" deck of the season, you could see the price of this card shooting up to the 5-10 ticket range. |
 1.00 |
 .70 |
This guy hasn't picked up too much play yet outside of block, and even in there he isn't played a lot. So why is he on the list? He is REALLY REALLY good. He may or may not find a spot in a red green aggro deck. If he does, he'll at least double in value. If he doesn't, I challenge you to find a better creature for a red green deck at seventy cents. Really. Go ahead. This is probably the first "only" casual card I have put in. |
 2.00 |
This one is mostly speculative. With Wrath of God being gone, our best mass removal spell is Hallowed Burial. We then have the new m10 spell Planar Cleansing. Is that really better than Coup? Possibly. It's hard to say. Coup costs one more to clear the board, and doesn't hit planeswalkers. However, it *can* in theory chump for a turn or two for you to stabilize, and when it does hit, it gives you a win condition as well. For 2 bucks, count me in. Higher than that, it's not worth the risk. Also, it should be noted that this card sees very heavy play in block. |
Is it cheating if I do it every week?
With Badlands and Savannah at 14, Taiga at 17, Tundra at 24, and Underground at 31, there isn't a better time to jump into classic and pick up duals. Classic prices right now are so depressed it's really confusing me. However, I expect these prices to stay the same or go up pretty much forever. This will be more defined when there is a legacy/vintage split on MTGO. When that happens, I see the value of dual lands jumping by a large amount. Like the sac lands last week, we really have no real replacements for these, and we probably never will.
| Oh how the mighty have fallen. IPA staples like this were over 90 bucks in their heyday. Vindicates price has been depressed ever since it's rotation from extended, and it's lack of a deck in classic. Here is another card that could see a large upgrade once we have a classic/legacy split. Keep in mind this card can also hit planeswalkers. Is this a case of Vindicate now being out classed by Pulse? They are functionally almost the same card, except the difference in casting cost. A very good argument can be made that green is the MUCH better color to be in, with Tarmogoyf being the best creature ever. |
 32
|
 1.75 |
Ever wondering what the answer to the question turn 2 3/4 Tarmogoyf was? Well here it is. Threads is just such a silly card. As long as weenie decks remain the the best aggro deck, Threads will be a great way to deal with them. It's not a perfect card. It's easily killed by Pridemage, Krosan Grip and other such nonsense. However, when you are the control deck, and you can pose the question that needs answering to the aggro deck, you are in good shape. Coming in at just under 2 bucks, with Fae and Tezzerator looking like they could make noise in extended, nows a good time. |
| This one is a classic play. I believe it was Rukcus who introduced a goblin build using the new m10 goblin lord for classic. While the new goblin lord isn't QUITE Goblin Warchief, he could set Goblins for a breakout in classic. He has built in defense for Engineered Plague, and gets your men swinging off the vial. Even without the new goblin lord, Goblins is a viable classic deck, and Piledriver at just over 2 bucks is a steal! You wont see a dramatic price swing here I don't think, but he is quite a value at these prices. |
 2.25 |
 10 |
It's time. My guess is this card cant get much lower. It is played in TONS of extended and classic decks. I understand waiting for standard rotation, but we have months of standard with Muta yet, and your missing your play opportunities in every format if you don't have this card. I can name at least 5 or 6 decks in every format that play this card. It's that good. I do think it could drop another dollar or two when it rotates. But it honestly may not drop at all, it may go up. Lands tend to hold value much better than a lot of your other cards. Don't sleep on this one. |
| Say hello to the best card in standard and block. This guy will become even more dominating when we have a standard rotation. Also with m10 coming online, a lot less boosters are going to be popped of Shards of Alara block for drafting, and while Bloodbraid may never see a rise in value, he probably cant be found cheaper than what he will cost you right now. At 5 bucks for a set if you don't own yours swing in and get him. Personally, I cant begin to tell you how excited I am to start flipping Ball Lightnings up with this guy. |
 1.25 |
 .40 |
This is another extended play. I don't know if anyone noticed, but Desire is rotating from extended. TEPS will be gone. However... we still have all this crazy mana acceleration, and low casting cost draw spells. Now it's not quite as easy as subbing 4 Dragonstorm and 4 Hellkite in over 4 Desire and 4 somethings, but it's close. This is another risk reward play. Will Dragonstorm be a tier 1 deck in extended? Probably not. However, if i had put summoners pact on here before last extended season and told you there was this CRAZY combo with elves that could win turn 2-3 consistently you would of laughed at me. I have my playset just in case. I suggest you do the same. |
That wraps up this week. Pic is coming still I promise! Cant seem to find a small one that fits the requirements. Just imagine a 25 year old nerdy kid until then.
9 Comments
vindicate is not functionally the same as pulse...Vindicate can target lands, meaning it can randomly turn an opponent's mana-light draw into full on mana-screw, winning you games. I don't think either card is that great in classic, but given the choice, I'd choose vindicate.
They are pretty close to functionally the same thing IMO. Yes you can hit lands with it, but stone rain isn't usually that great of a classic card.... Thats my thinking on them being functionally almost the same. Thanks for pointing that out though.
Nah. Not functionally the same. Neither a brilliant in classic at the moment - but they are not functionally the same, and it would be difficult to say one is strictly better. I have playsets of each and play vindicate more than I play pulse - but that is totally about the deck and the meta.
If my local extended looks anything like the fairy-fest it was last season, i might just build:
4 Spellbreaker behemoth
4 great sable stag
52 other cards.
Thing is, the behemoth will just get nicked by a sower of temptation, and then i'll be screwed again.. Maybe I'll add oversoul of dusk as well. That'll teach them.
I think Bloodbraid Elf will be played in extended as well.
Mutavault will hit 5 or less after rotation. Classic has Mishra's Factory (which is at 3ish, a place where the vault won't go below), and it isn't played in extended except for in faeries. Heck, it's not played much standard right now due to five-color being king.
So now is NOT the time buy Mutavault.
I like the idea of these posts but the Mutavault pick is kind of flaky, everything drops when it rotates out of standard. Necrogenesis is a cool card but there's a guy dumping over 100 of them at $0.50ea, I picked up a playset because it's a cool card and I love suspend but I have to wonder if he knows something we don't.
Card speculation seems like a cool hobby though. Especially considering how volatile the online card market is.
I may be wrong on muta but it's already dropped 16 tickets. I just cant see it going below 8. To thoose who point at factory in classic being only 3 tickets, you do realize it's *only* 3 tickets, while being both a promo card and an uncommon in ME1? And muta is flat out better in quite a few decks. Folk and goblins come to mind.
Muta might drop some in value in 2 months when it rotates. But i'm fairly confident saying at 10 bucks its a good value. Maybe it hits 8 in two months, but your missing out in 2 months of playing with this fantastic land for a total of 8 tickets at a playset. It is played in more than fae in extended.
In my opinion Mutavault is only better in tribal decks like Goblins or Merfolk. For a non tribal deck I'd rather be playing Factories as they pump each other. Oh and Factories are only $1.50 not $3.