Rishadan Pawnshop #2 – M10 Old and New

by Jeremy Fuentes

I have so much to say about M10. I don’t know why Wizards tried to pass off old cards with new names as “new cards.” And do we really need two versions of Grizzly Bears (none of which are actually Grizzly Bears) in the same set? And why is Glory Seeker a Lion and Savannah Lions a Soldier? And why do some guys pump Soldiers and not Knights while most good weenies are printed as Knights?

So much to talk about, I don’t know where to start! However, my bosses told me that if I don’t start somewhere, and soon, that I’d be replaced. I guess in this economy, even a pawnshop owner can’t take a vacation…

I guess the best place to start is with an overall market watch review. Given M10 is “half” reprints, you should already know where many of the cards stand as far as playability and value.

You should already know these are the most exciting rips:

Ajani Goldmane Ball Lightning Birds of Paradise Darksteel Colossus Jace Beleren

You wouldn’t mind opening any of these:

Bogardan Hellkite Chandra Nalaar Coat of Arms Earthquake Haunting Echoes Howling Mine Hypnotic Specter Liliana Vess Platinum Angel Siege-Gang Commander Time Warp Traumatize

And you almost feel like slicing your wrists when you see these:

Clone Elvish Piper Manabarbs Mesa Enchantress Mind Shatter Mind Spring Might of Oaks Nightmare Polymorph Royal Assassin Shivan Dragon Underworld Dreams Warp World

The exciting thing about M10 is that there are new, never seen before rares that will be included alongside your old favorite cash rares and wrist-slicing nemeses.

Obviously Good
First we start with the cards that we know are obviously good. They shouldn’t lose much value and if they find Tier One decks, they have the possibility to go up in value.

Baneslayer Angel – Luis says it’s good, so who am I to argue? Hahaha, but seriously, Baneslayer Angel is a very solid card with great abilities and a bargain mana cost. The fact that it’s mythic will definitely push the price up, but if it found a competitive deck for a home, then I could see her flying high past $15 (they are currently $12-13).

Honor of the Pure – This card isn’t as much a chase rare as much as it is extremely solid. The downside is that BW Tokens gets flushed down the toilet, but the upside is that Kithkin becomes that much more dangerous. I love this card and think it should be a solid tournament staple. Pre-sells have the new Crusade Anthem hitting almost $10 a pop.

Elvish Archdruid – This is the only lord I put in the “obv good” section because it is the only one that currently has a competitive deck that it could fit right into and immediately help. The Merfolk lord could bring the namesake archetype back out of obscurity, but that remains to be seen. Pre-sells for Elvish Archdruid are ranging from $5-6 each.

Dual Land Cycle – As much as I wish these shared the basic land types of the duals they correspond with, I feel that this cycle is very fair and balanced. At $7-10 each, they are quite affordable (compared to the Ravnica duals when they came out) and could possibly increase in value after the filter lands come out.

Hype Kills
I think these cards are likely to drop in value. Their current prices are inflated due to hype, but they aren’t going to warp any formats anytime soon.

Great Sable Stag – Another alleged “Faerie killer,” I don’t think that this card is really necessary and quite frankly, might be too narrow to be a staple. Sideboard cards rarely hit the heights of chase rares and I don’t think the Stag will. Great Sable Stag is currently fetching $4-5 in pre-sell auctions.

Silence – Orim’s Chant is versatile because you can buy a turn against an aggro player with the kicker. Silence (the can’t play spells half of Chant) is more of a combo-stopper than a Time Walk. Depending on how strong combo will be in Standard, Silence could maintain its price. If there is no strong combo, expect it to fall accordingly. Silence is currently pulling $8-10 online.

Cards to Watch
Welcome to the sleeper section! While not all of these cards may have sleeper upside price wise, they have a decent chance of seeing play later given help in future sets. These are “break even” (or close to “break even” if you get a power uncommon or common) rares in the set, price wise.

Captain of the Watch – It’s one mana more expensive than Cloudgoat Ranger (a Standard staple), but Captain provides an awesome ability, almost like a mini Ajani Goldmane. I personally think the extra mana will force him to take a back seat to Cloudgoat, but this might change when LOR/SHM rotates out. Captain of the Watch is currently around $3-4 online.

Cemetery Reaper – Wizards claimed they would be getting back to their roots more with M10 and the full cycle of lords seems to show that. Though as far as I can remember, Zombies was never a dominant archetype in Standard, Cemetery Reaper seems to be a solid card. They didn’t give blue a dominant tribe until Lorwyn, so maybe now it’s black’s turn? Cemetery Reaper is running around $2 in pre-sells.

Gargoyle Castle – This card reminds me of the Mono Blue Control deck from the Kamigawa days that finished the opponent off with just Meloku and Stalking Stones. The problem is that if you go in on a Gargoyle Castle, it costs you the land too. If they bounce the creature, you already lost the land. As long as we have Mutavaults in the format, I don’t think anyone would give the Gargoyles a second thought, Goliath, Hudson and Brooklyn be damned. You can find these online for around $2 each.

Goblin Chieftan – He’s kind of like a Goblin Warchief and a Goblin King rolled into one. I’m not sure there are enough quality goblins in Standard to put a real Goblin deck together just yet, but I’d bet that people would surely try. I still think that Goblin Warchief is a better in the Eternal Format Goblin decks, so unless he gets some help in the younger formats, he’ll likely settle down a little from his current $3-4 price.

Guardian Seraph – There are always lots of nice midrange cards that come out that are faux aggro stoppers, but don’t end up doing much in Constructed play (see Blinding Angel, Stoic Angel). I personally don’t think this card has a place in Standard yet, but keep an eye out. It is a well designed card that has a solid ability and for $2 a pop could be a steal later.

Master of the Wild Hunt – Master might be too slow or just ill-placed in green, but I still think this card could be a strong finisher. Unfortunately he falls to the trifecta of Lightning Bolt, Nameless Inversion and Agony Warp. But he still pops out dudes for free every turn and could take over a game given just a few turns. The pre-sell price for this mythic has a wide range at the moment, currently anywhere between $3-6 each.

Merfolk Sovereign – Merfolk have definitely been more relevant than Zombies in recent years, but fell off a bit since losing Lord of Atlantis. I’m not sure Merfolk Sovereign is enough to push the other blue tribe back into the Tier One swimming pool, but having an unblockable, now super-pumpable Wake Thrasher might be a good start. Pre-sells are running around $2-3 each.

Open the Vaults – This little insider tip comes courtesy of our very own Jon Loucks, and is the only true “sleeper” of the section (and not so much a “break even” rare, currently). After playing a little with the Artifact/ Time Warp deck on MWS, I realized that it’s actually fairly consistent and decently fast. Just pray everyone else is playing Great Sable Stags because I don’t think that this deck can beat Faeries. If the deck overall becomes consistent at beating everything else, then Open the Vaults could see a jump in price along with Time Sieve, Tezzeret, and Time Warp. You can get a playset of Open the Vaults online for less than $2 right now.

The Rest of ‘Em
Most of these are bulk rares. Some of them are just dollar rares that I don’t expect to see much play (if any) in Constructed.

Ant Queen
Capricious Efreet
Djinn of Wishes
Hive Mind
Indestructibility
Kalonian Behemoth
Lightwielder Paladin
Lurking Predators
Magebane Armor
Magma Phoenix
Mirror of Fate
Planar Cleansing
Protean Hydra
Sphinx Ambassador
Sanguine Bond
Vampire Nocturnus
Xathrid Demon

Power Uncommons and Commons, of Course
No Rishadan Pawnshop market watch review would be complete without a power uncommon/ common section, and just let me say M10 is chocked full of them! The majority of the value is in the foils, but to be honest, more often than not, I’d rather pull a Lightning Bolt than a junk rare. That being said, here’s the list.
Black Knight – Reprinted for the first time in a while and available in foil for only the second time ever.
Doom Blade – Almost strictly better than Terror. Could even see some play in Extended (if not force Affinity players to play Welding Jars).
Duress – Foil Duress is so money and you don’t even know it.
Elite Vanguard – Savannah Lions in uncommon. Nice.
Harm’s Way – Could test the knowledge of new M10 rules early on, but white combat tricks are always nice.
Lightning Bolt – I’m so excited to try to open a foil Lightning Bolt, considering the judge foil copies were already fetching more than $25 and were only legal in Eternal formats.
Llanowar Elves – Foil Llanowar Elves are worth more than junk rares.
White Knight – I wish it was Silver, but I’ll take White over nothing.

Overall, I’m really excited to start playing with this set. Sure I’ll miss Wrath of God and a lot of the other reprints leaving the Core Set, but the new cards should add some spice to older formats and the midseason change to Standard might be just what the doctor ordered to jumpstart my summer slump.

Now time for a forums firestarter! Post a story of a new rules interaction that went against you or in your favor OR post a story of a new card that saved you or killed you. I’m looking forward to reading them. Be sure to stop by the shop next week!

Peace
Jeremy Fuentes

Bonus
A Michael Jackson Tribute Top Five
1) Rock With You
2) I Want You Back
3) Smooth Criminal
4) Bad
5) Beat It

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