With Wizards of the Coast announcing that they wanted to make core sets more profound and more competitive with the release of Magic 2010, we all knew that Magic was in for a big change. Looking at the cards in that set and seeing that numerous cards were powerful enough to become staples in Constructed meant that we would be getting more cards than usual every year to play in Standard. They reprinted cards from M10 in M11, and they’re reprinting cards from M11 in M12; the power level is diluting. While planeswalkers were the big thing in Magic 2010, Titans were the new big things in 2011; now that they’ve reprinted both, we’re left with just a few new big cards to look at in the form of Garruk, Chandra, and Jace.

When we look at a set and look at new cards that come out in it, there are three things that we need to look for in a set: financial power level (where their price is and if we think they are going to go up or down), Constructed power level, and Limited power level. While the set and all formats still have quite some time to evolve, here are what I feel are the top five in each of these categories, and a brief description of why.

Financial Value

This grouping is to show which cards should be invested in based on presale prices and where I think the cards will end up in a month or two.

Jace, Memory Adept – While this is no Jace, the Mind Sculptor, I feel that any planeswalker that has a +1 ability to draw a card is going to be a staple in any control deck.

Current preorder price – $37.99

Eventual card value – $49.99

Chandra, the Firebrand – Chandra got a huge upgrade in this version of the card, and I can see her seeing a ton of Constructed play. Her +1 ability became strictly better, her minus ability is much more useful and versatile, and her ultimate seems much more reasonable to achieve; therefore, this Chandra is quite powerful.

Current preorder price – $31.99

Eventual card value – $39.99

Grave Titan – While this card is a reprint, I feel that at its current pricing, the card is going to see a lot more play than it used to once we rotate out of the Land of Zendikar. Grave Titan is the most powerful Titan in a vacuum and will be able to demonstrate that once Valakut rotates and Primeval Titan only goes and searches for lands, not damage.

Current preorder price – $9.99

Eventual card value – $19.99

Grand Abolisher – This card harks back to the less interactive Magic from times past, but with a new twist. I feel that this card is going to be seen in all three Constructed formats, and once people start working it into new decks, its price will rise.

Current preorder price – $6.99

Eventual card value – $12.99

Grim Lavamancer – While I had a hard time putting this card in the top five, I looked at its current price and realized that a card that was hyped up so much in spoiling should be worth way more than $4.99. This is a card that is already a big card in Legacy, is going to make a big splash in Extended, and may even be good enough for Standard in the correct deck. While only a rare, I don’t know how much this card’s value can go up, but I do know that it will in fact go up.

Current preorder price – $4.99

Eventual card value – $6.99–$9.99

Constructed Playability

While Legacy and Extended still have some time to adapt to these cards, Standard only has three months with all of these cards with Zendikar and M11, and therefore needs to be addressed much more urgently. Therefore, these rankings are based on how significantly they are going to impact Standard. These are also going to be all of the new cards, not including cards that were already in the format.

Rampant Growth – While this is a narrow card that is going to see the bulk of its play in Valakut, it is going to make the deck much better, and I feel that it is going to have a big impact in the format.

Oblivion Ring – This is a card that most players have been asking to reprint for quite some time. It is not a super-overpowered card, but it is one of the few ways to consistently deal with planeswalkers.

Jace, Memory Adept – I will reiterate: A planeswalker that has a +1 ability to draw a card is going to find a way to see Constructed play, and in a control-based deck, the +0 ability can be used in a combo with the next card in the list.

Visions of Beyond – This card is mediocre for its normal ability, but if you can get its extra ability and actually cast Ancestral Recall, the possibilities are endless. Well, they do end, but drawing three cards is quite awesome anyway.

Timely Reinforcements – This, I feel, is the sleeper card in the set and may be a bit overlooked by most players, but this card may make a control deck possible. If you can get both of these abilities off on the card, it is going to put you fairly far ahead in the game and allow you to get into a later game against the aggressive decks and stand a chance against them.

Limited Playability

Judging Limited is quite a tricky thing to do, because everyone has his or her own little differences in opinion based on play style and draft style. I feel that the best way to present the best Limited cards is by showing the three best commons/uncommons of each color. The reason I am only going to talk about commons and uncommons in this article is that commons and uncommons are the basis of Limited decks. A good Limited deck might have a great rare or two in it, but most of its good cards are going to be common and uncommon.

White

Oblivion Ring – A removal spell for all permanents is exactly the card that you want to be getting in a draft deck to deal with whatever your opponent throws at you.

Serra Angel – One of the oldest cards in Magic is still one of the best, and is a card that can singlehandedly win the game. I rank removal spells over creatures for the most part, but in this case, I feel that this creature is the cream of the crop.

Pacifism – Yet another old card that is showing us that some things don’t need to change to be good. Taking care of an early creature against an aggressive deck, a pestering evasion creature, or even a bomb such as a Titan can prove very useful and give you huge advantages in games.

Blue

Mind Control – This card is another reprint that is not getting any better or worse. It is a removal spell, except you get the creature and can beat your opponent with his best creatures.

Azure Mage – This card might not look like anything big or scary, but in a format that is fairly slow and has fairly low card power, there are going to be many turns in the game in which you have nothing better to do other than to put 8 mana into this guy and draw two cards every turn.

Chasm Drake – While this card might look a bit expensive, this guy will get in a lot of damage very fast. Put this guy in a Blue/Green deck with a few giant guys, and you will be flying overhead for loads of damage at a time.

Black

Vampire Outcasts – I don’t know what about this card makes me think of Vampire Nighthawk, but I feel that this card swings a game just about as much. 4 mana for a 4/4 lifelinking creature that is only an uncommon puts it slightly over a generic removal spell.

Doom Blade – Bury it! That is all.

Sengir Vampire – A card that has always been a rare switched to the uncommon spot made me excited, and I am excited to play with this card again after years and years.

Green

Overrun – While this card is quite color-intensive, this card is going to win more games than not. Even with just a few Llanowar Elves, Overrun is a game-changer and is quite a bomb.

Cudgel Troll – I have been a huge fan of this guy in previous formats, and the Regeneration on him puts him over the edge of good to ridiculous.

Giant Spider – With a considerable number of flyers in this format, I feel that the generic 2/4 with Reach allows you to stabilize the board against a deck with a bunch of flyers and lets your other Green fatties do the hard work while Giant Spider sits back and holds down the fort.

Red

Fireball – A card as old as Magic is still known as the best uncommon in the format, and is one of the only cards in the format that screams “two for one.”

Incinerate – A generic removal spell for most of the creatures in the format and is the only way to deal with Cudgel Troll, which used to be nearly impossible to kill.

Volcanic Dragon – Slightly expensive for what it does, this is one of the only creatures that Red has to offer that is big enough to put away games.

Artifact

Manalith – This card might not seem all that great, but in a format with a bunch of cards that you would want to splash, having a card that adds any color as well as ramps your mana could be huge in a deck.

Swiftfoot Boots – This is a small cost for this equipment, and makes you wonder which of the abilities that it gives a creature is better. Both the Haste as well as the Hexproof can make any normal creature a card that must be dealt with.

Crown of Empires – While I am still not 100% sold on this card, I think that this mana-intensive Icy Manipulator might be good enough to still make an impact in a deck that needs to slow down your opponent.

With any new set, there will be a lot of testing and brewing to be done, and cards will change in value, both in playability and monetarily. I know that I am excited to play with a bunch of these cards and see how this set will impact Magic, as every new set does!