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Welcome back everyone, and I apologize for the extended delay! I hope my schedule is somewhat back to normal going forward and I can, at the very least, give you guys one article a month. Today we are going to go through some of the newer cards that were either recently released or new releases since our last article. Before we get started though, I wanted to throw out some cards that have gone up in value that were discussed in previous articles. The prices given are the average across multiple stores, and I will give you CSI prices as well, if available!
- Kari Zev's Expertise FOIL - $4.38 but 1 copy on CSI for $1.99 at time of writing!
- Varragoth, Bloodsky Sire - Non foil $6.21 (2 NM on CSI for $4.99) and $7.51 for the foil. No foil is available on CSI at time of writing, but keep checking for availability!
- Skylasher FOIL - $5.83. None in stock on CSI at time of writing.
- Hallowed Moonlight - $4.49 Non-foil and $22.99 for the foil
- Sage of Hours - $6.16 non-foil and $24.98 for the foil ($6.99 for the non-foil on CSI at time of writing)
- Frontline Medic Foil - $2.38 and $1.49 on CSI at time of writing (watch this card!)
- Battlefield Thaumaturge Foil - $4.75
- Dream Devourer Foil - $2.10 and $1.25 on CSI at time of writing (watch this card)!
) life gain/loss/aristocrats build. When your creatures die it hits each opponent instead of target opponent. This opens it up to be used in Commander deck as well! With a cost of only two, the upside far outweighs the negative of it being an easy target to remove.
It also has deathtouch! This opens up the opportunity to prevent our opponent from attacking with a larger creature they do not want to lose. We could also use this to ping those pesky control players when they put up walls to slow us down. They more than likely would much rather take the damage in the short term than lose a wall. At its current price I would personally trade into a playset of any copy of this, but look into the alternate art for value!
) ramp. Being able to slam a land card on their turn by kicking Joint Exploration is insane for an Uncommon!
Did I mention that even if you do not want to kick it, you can still scry two and then draw a card? For only two mana that's useful at any point of the game. I cannot tell you how many times I wish when I cast Opt that I could have scry two instead of one. This card allows me to do that for just one additional mana. I am not saying to stop playing Opt, but I am saying Joint Exploration offers more upside over the course of a game. I would not sleep on the foil copies of this and pick up a play set as soon as you can!
) decks in Pioneer. Rona's Vortex is currently $0.25 for the nonfoils and $0.50 for the foils. Already, for one mana at instant speed we can throw a creature or planeswalker back to the top of our opponents library. Then, going into the mid or later stages of a game where a card costing four or more would be played, we can kick this to throw it on the bottom of their library! I don't know about you, but I would personally be irritated knowing one of my bigger plays was basically thrown out of the game. It does not seem like much, but I think this is one to keep an eye on going forward.
Stronghold Arena is next, and I have no idea how this is so low in value! It is currently sitting at $0.36 for the non-foils and $0.50 for the foils. This is not only something to be used in Pioneer, but in Commander as well! For only two mana without being kicked, we now have a card that allows us to reveal and draw a card upon creature damage being dealt! Granted, we do lose life equal to its mana cost on the card drawn. However, if it is a land card we lose nothing! This is something that has to be considered in any deck to try and keep your hand filled and cards being played. Also consider if we have two of these out, we can do this twice! I would definitely consider trading into the prerelease foils and the promo packs if you have the trade available!
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Leaf-Crowned Visionary is next on our list. It is currently $4.34 for the non-foils and $4.89 for the foils. I would personally wait a bit to see if this one comes down more before trading into it, but it is a great card. This is literally the picture of a tribal Elf card. It is not only an Elf lord, but we have the availability to draw a card upon playing another Elf for one Green mana. Seeing as we are playing Elves, ramping will be a part of our strategy and paying one Green will not be taxing to us. This is something to look into playing in both Commander and Pioneer.
Walking Bulwark is a very interesting card that might see play in Pioneer. It is currently at $0.19 for the non-foil and $0.38 for the foil. This is one I could see fit in an Izzet (
) control and burn deck utilizing walls as creatures. Utilizing Electrostatic Field and/or Thermo-Alchemist as a pinging card for playing our instants and sorceries, we can use Walking Bulwark to attack with our walls as well for two mana. Walls that would most certainly be utilized in such a deck would be Aegis Turtle, Surge Mare, Dragon's Eye Savants, and Wall of Frost. Keep an eye on this one and trade into a playset of foils if you have some bulk to rid of!
That will do it for today's article, and I will do my best to get the follow up to this one ready for you ASAP!
