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Today we should be dipping into Urza's Block and Masques block to find our uncommon and common magical treasures. However, I think I should name this Part One and a Half. You see, I missed a bunch of cards last week in the uncommon slots. Cards like Jackal Pup, Dauthi Ghoul, Goblin Bombardment and Curiosity... and that is just from the Tempest Block. What I'm actually going to do is define a new type of uncommon, wrap up those uncommons from the Tempest and Mirage blocks and then go into Urza's Saga. If I have time, I will touch upon the sorrowful Masques Block and wrap things up with a Shadowmoor common and uncommon update. Does that sound good? I think it does. Let us keep going.… The reception to the first article in this series was overwhelmingly good. I didn't think as many people would enjoy my foray into card values so much. I hope to keep the excitement up as we keep going, but first I need to address the different types of uncommon and common magical treasures. Moreover, I need to introduce a third type of uncommon, known as a SOLID UNCOMMON. Here is the breakdown:
I have added the Solid Uncommons because, as mentioned in my introduction, I missed a bunch of solid cards that are just as worthy to trade as some of the others that cost just 25 or 50 cents more. In just a moment I will be presenting to you all of those cards I missed from both the Mirage Block and the Tempest Block. For commons, there are only two different types:
Should I add a Solid Common (like $0.49 to $.74)? Discuss that in the forum...
The Mirage Block does not have as many Solid Uncommons as you will see in the Tempest Block. However, these are all fun cards that I would encourage you to take inventory of, particularly the first one (on the left) in the visual list below. ***NOTE: Pricing for cards in today’s article were noted on 5/16/08***
Prosperity ($0.99) is worth the most of the five cards above while the rest are all $0.79. Prosperity is a great means to mill an opponent but it also has combo potential. It's the fact that this card is symmetrical for all players that keeps its price from sky rocketing past the Solid Uncommon slot. That and the fact that this card has been printed in Portal, Sixth Edition and, of course, Visions. (There is even an oversized version of the card!)
Nektrataal ($0.79) is a solid card in addition to being a Solid Uncommon. It is a 2/1 first striking creature that can take down one creature when it comes into play, Terror Style. It has been a popular card in deck building in both Standard and casual play and particularly loves being paired with Blink effects. This card would be higher in value if it was not for the fact that it has been printed in Eighth Edition, Ninth Edition, Battle Royale and Visions. Suq'Ata Assassin can dole out poison counters with a fearful approach, Serra's Blessing grants vigilance to all of your creatures and Suq'Ata Firewalker is a Timmy that has pseudo protection from Red. Again, these are all solid cards and may be valuable in a trade somewhere. You won't know unless you add them to your list and see if people start asking for them. Someone is going to need one or two more Prosperity cards to finish their collection and someone else is going to want an original playset of Nekrataals. Remember that adding these cards to your Have list might just score you a few more trades here and there*.
There are quite a few, sixteen to be specific, solid uncommon cards from the Tempest Block. I am going to show thumbnails for the top six and then present the rest in a grid. I know you love grids.…
Each of the above cards is worth $1.49 except for Goblin Bombardment which is only worth $1.25. I am surprised that Goblin Bombardment is not worth more considering its usability in infinite and broken combos. That and it has the word “Goblin” in it…. The Slivers are obviously going to be expensive considering Wizards brought back Slivers not once, but twice since Tempest Block. Dauthi Warlord ($1.49) is one of those crazy build-a-shadow-deck-and-put-me-in-it cards. With shadow making a comeback in Time Spiral, old shadow creatures like this from Tempest Block are more sought after, thus the good value. Curiosity is just an amazing one-drop Enchant Creature card, I mean Aura, that can net you amazing card advantage when paired up with unblockability, shadow or flying. It has been printed in Exodus, Eighth Edition and as an oversized card. It has even been Timeshifted into Green thanks to Planar Chaos. But despite all of the printings, it is still a Solid Uncommon. Moreover, Jackal Pup—another one of those cards I thought was a rare prior to writing this—was and still is great in a Sligh deck. What of the other Solid Uncommons from Tempest block? Here's the complete list of Solid Uncommons:
Ah! There's Forbid! I can't believe I forgot about Forbid. I thought it was worth a lot more. I cannot say that all Solid Uncommons (from the Tempest Block) should be added to your trade list, but if I were to pick a few from the above grid I would pick Chill, Forbid, Skyshroud Elite, Primal Rage and Worthy Cause. (Skyshroud Elite only because I'm sure it has its uses in Zoo builds somewhere in the world). I could talk about all of the above cards but I think you know why they are there. We will leave the Tempest block behind us now and move on to more exciting and broken blocks, like those of Urza's.
I will never forget when I first started researching this stuff to increase my trading inventory prior to being motivated to write this series. I wanted to increase the number of highly valued cards in my Haves list so my trade thread was more lucrative and thus bring in more people that would offer a trade. Ultimately, I had the hope of obtaining four copies of every rare card in Magic (except for anything before Mirage block because some of those cards are just too darn expensive). Anyway, I did a search for all uncommon cards worth more
than $1.50 for the Urza's Block and ... what! What is that? Goblin Lackey is
more than every rare from the Kamigawa Block (except Jitte)?! What?! It's worth
more than Below are your two All-Star Uncommons from the Urza's Block:
Goblin Lackey is a $11.49 card! And to my surprise, I owned
lots of them because I was a Now the question is… why? I mentioned last week that Goblins are an incredible force and near broken as a tribe. They have infiltrated almost every level of Magic from casual to the Eternal Formats (Type 1 and Type 1.5). Goblin Lackey is not only a one-drop, but a one drop that, if unblocked, can put a Goblin from your hand into play for free! Combine that with some of the more expensive Goblins that have been printed after Urza's Block and you have an amazing card. Burn and typical Goblin shenanigans should clear the way 85% of the time to get the Lackey through the lines. A-MAZ-ING CARD!!! Then there is Treetop Village ($3.99) which has actually gone up $0.50 since mid-April. Easily this is the best manland from Urza's Legacy. A 3/3 trampling APE that can lay low and add Green mana to your mana pool or become a ferocious attacker or meaty blocker for 1G. It is popular in Zoo builds of old and in Standard (thank you Tenth Edition). Funny thing is that when Tenth Edition rotates out of Standard, Treetop Village, if history repeats itself, will sink in value. Only time will tell. Thus, if you have them to trade, put them on your list. Do it now or never. Next up are the Star Uncommons. To recap, the Star Uncommons are valued between $3.75 and $1.99.
Mother of Runes ($3.49) is surprisingly and unsurprisingly a card that has never been reprinted in a new expansion. There is something about one mana 1/1 creatures that can give protection of a color of your choice… every turn… that seems amazingly powerful and worthy of not being printed again. Mother of Runes should have been a rare, but I am glad it was not. That means I have enough to build a few decks and have a few extra for trade. Note that there is a DCI promo of Mother of Runes, which goes for around $15, and also note that Mother of Runes went up $0.50 since mid-April (it was $2.99).
Voltaic Key ($3.49) is great at untapping cards like Thran Dynamo ($2.99) and other artifacts that tap for lots of mana. Moreover, tapping for two or more mana is an amazing ability. Combined with aggressive casting costs and the right decks and suddenly we have an uncommon that is worth more than your average rare card. I don't want to take too much time on the rest of these cards so I'll wrap this up quickly. Faerie Conclave ($2.99) is the second best manland from Urza's Legacy because of a little keyword known as flying. Avalanche Riders ($2.49), despite being promo'd once or twice, will always be a great and valued card. There’s something about haste and blinking the Riders to destroy multiple lands at once…. Fog Bank ($2.49) is a solid card for any combo deck looking to keep weenies at bay. Engineered Plague ($1.99) will be a sought after card as long as there are tribes. And lastly there is Titania’s Chosen ($1.99), a green Elf that gets +1/+1 counters whenever anyone plays a Green spell. You can thank the popularity of Elves, another mainstay tribe in both tribal blocks, for the spike in value for Titania's Chosen . Next up: Our new Solid Uncommon section! Below is a grid
for your review showing the uncommons from Urza’s Block that range from $0.75 to
$1.75.
I will be honest in saying I really do not have much of anything to say about these cards. You have two great Enchant Creature cards (I mean Auras), an enchantment that was also shifted into White and likes that Ertai guy, a broken recursion spell, a Blue sorcery that likes Stasis, a Blue instant that can turn the tides and a sorcery that generates potentially a lot of Goblins. All are reasonably costed and all are good cards. In addition, all are Solid Uncommons too! If I was to pick just one Solid Uncommon to add to my trade thread, I would pick Blanchwood Armor. It is my favorite of the bunch and someone might want the original version of it for their Green Stompy deck.
Since you like grids so much, I am bringing you two more before the end of this article. The first is of the top commons from Urza’s Block.
What!? Are those All Star Commons I see? It is… and three of them too! Let me give them thumbnails:
Priest of Titania ($3.49) is fantastic at fueling early to mid-game fatties as long as you have a deck of Elves and a few non-Elf fatties. In addition, as mentioned earlier Elves have been a central tribe in both tribal blocks, which makes this Priest that much more valuable. Expect the value of the Priest to go up and never down (unless they ban Elves or something).
Duress ($2.49) is a player's best defense against Combo decks, so it’s no wonder it is fetching what it is. I am sure you are all familiar with Thoughtseize, a rare card from Lorwyn. Thoughtseize is a Duress with more options (Duress would not be able to pull a creature normally) that costs you two life. Thoughtseize is going for around $20 right now. Duress is a common card that does nearly what Thoughtseize does except it doesn’t cost any life to play it and it just can’t opt for a creature card from your opponent’s hand. Duress = Solid Discard Spell… almost better than Hymn to Tourach. And now the other cards from the grid. Rewind ($1.25) is like a free counterspell that works really well with Heartbeat of Spring, but it was printed in Eighth Edition, Ninth Edition and Urza’s Saga. Exhume is a good graveyard shenanigan. Dark Ritual has already been talked about in part one. Finally, Goblin Matron is just as broken as that Goblin card from last week that did something similar. Urza’s Block has quite a few gold mines in both commons and uncommons. I would go on with the Masques block, but it appears I have run out of time. Below is a quick list of the valuable commons and uncommons from Shadowmoor. I will make note of price increases or decreases from week to week.
Kitchen Finks and Plumeveil both jumped up 100% while Wilt-Leaf Cavaliers jumped up 50%. Kitchen Finks appears to be an absolutely amazing card in any deck that can utilize it. Persist plus Life Gain apparently equals a powerful uncommon. So powerful that it is now worth almost $3.00. That's all I have for Shadowmoor this week. Thanks again for walking with me on this foray into card values, magical commons and magical uncommons. I hope this has helped you out in some way, whether it’s for your personal knowledge or for your trading habits. Please feel free to discuss any of this, my writing, the card values, etc. in the forum thread provided at the bottom and top of this thread. John Streetz
You can discuss this article in the MDV forums
here.
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Spotlights from 2008: |
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Rancor ($2.99) is the best recurring enchantment from
Urza’s Legacy. It is cheap to cast, combos with Enchantresses and gives trample
and +2/+0 to its host. Rancor is also a sought after common in Pauper. Go
figure…. Oh, and the DCI promo of this card is going for around $15.