Bang for Your Buck: Investing in Cards for Eldritch Moon – White, Blue, and Black

Disclaimer: I can not be held responsible for any poor decisions I make in regards to any cards you might buy in response to my article. I’m going to post my thoughts and plead my case for each card I recommend, and if you agree then by all means head out to your local gaming store or buy cards online and try to snap up some good deals. I’m basing my information off of months of standard gaming experience as well as prices in my area and how they’ve reacted to the ever changing metagame. I can only hope that the decisions I make are good ones and that my gamble pays off after buying the featured cards. Prices I used are based on the iMTG IOS app, using TCG player.com’s mid-level price range.

 

It’s only been one weekend of Eldritch Moon standard but I’m already disappointed. Aside from UW Spirits and one BW Angel deck (that made the top 8), the sickening stranglehold of Bant Company decks continues from Shadows Over Innistrad. I’ll admit it’s still a little early to make the assumption that Collected Company decks will continue to be the best deck in standard, but it will definitely be the deck to beat. I think there are a lot of tricks we haven’t seen yet and some new strategies that will take a few weeks to develop, but until then you can be sure the majority of players will be sleeving up their good friends Reflector Mage and Duskwatch Recruiter.

It’s not so bad for the sake of my articles though. This means there is still a lot of untapped potential to be found from every other card not being played in Bant Company decks, and also some cash to be made from Coco deck staples while they are on top. This week is the perfect time to look into what decks might be on the horizon. Today I’ll be looking at white, blue, and black cards that might see more play in standard, as well as commenting on the last hurrah of both Origins and Dragons of Tarkir cards. First off, lets review what I talked about last time I did these articles in April.

 

Previous White, Blue, and Black Suggestions

• Archangel of Tithes – HIT. I said to sell at $22, and it was a good time to do so. Now it’s only $5.50.
• Gideon, Ally of Zendikar – HIT. While Gideon has recently gone down a little bit, I said I didn’t think his price would stay as low as $20.75. It’s currently around $21.25, but I expect it to go up again in the near future.
• Hidden Dragonslayer – Miss. I thought we’d see it more in sideboards, but it didn’t see any play last season. Only down $0.25 though.
• Harbinger of the Tides – Miss. I thought more people would pick this up for modern season which is right around the corner, but I guess I was too early. Down $1 to $1.25 from last time.
• Demonic Pact – HIT. I said it would be pretty good in BW pact decks and it did pretty well for itself, and it was also helped by the popularity of UB Tentacle control decks. Up to almost $4.75 from it’s previous $1.50. I was right on the money with this one.
• Painful Truths – Miss. Esper and Mardu never managed to get off the ground in standard so Truths’ price has dropped. Most people would rather just be playing Read the Bones it seems. Down half it’s previous value to $0.75.
• Ruinous Path – HIT. It didn’t go up as much as I thought it would from $1.25, but $1.50 is still an increase. The reprinting of Murder probably hurt its price a little bit. Still has a chance to go up though, just not as much.

 

I didn’t do great, but I did save save you some money if you cashed out on those Archangels at $22. If I wasn’t using them at the time I would have sold mine for sure. Most of the other cards were pretty much penny stocks though so it wasn’t a huge disappointment. With 2 sets due to rotate in a matter of months, it’s no surprise that standard wouldn’t be volatile. No thanks to UW spirits and Bant company decks doing well at the first major Eldritch Moon standard tournament, it looks like today’s white and blue cards worth mentioning have already hit their highs. Let’s see what we have left in white though.

 

White Suggestions

 

Thank GOD Avacyn has been pushed out of the limelight somewhat. Her price is a much more affordable $20.50 now and I think if you have been waiting to get her that now is the time to do so. She’ll see quite a bit of play in GW tokens, some BW Angel control decks, and Bant company decks, and it’s possible she’ll show up again in the coming weeks. She wont’ see those $40+ prices anymore, but before Kaladesh is released I wouldn’t be surprised to see her hit upwards of $30. She’ll definitely go up a few dollars before my next article.

 

I don’t see Eldrazi Displacer going up too much from it’s current $4.50 price tag, but it’s a powerful card in Bant company mirrors and has a lot of applications elsewhere. $6 is a real possibility, especially as we get closer to having a critical mass of playable cards with good ETB effects *COUGH*Spirit Queller*COUGH*. I don’t think it will get much lower than $4 this summer.

 

Thanks to the printing of Hanweir Garrison, I think this card just got much better. As long as burn is out of the metagame and we’re being overrun by Collected Company and token decks, the Militia Captain might not be a bad choice for some decks. I’ve been using it in my RW tokens deck and it’s been remarkably easy to flip so far in EMN standard so far. Once flipped, it becomes a very efficient beater. My guess is up to $3 from $1 in a few months, but this is probably a longshot.

 

Penny Stocks

I kind of like Bygone Bishop ($1.50). I think the popularity and power level of UW spirit decks (and its variations) will help the card to find a place and push it’s value up a little bit. It’s not a bad card, but just has problems finding a home. Always Watching ($2) is another card that can go up depending on the metagame, so it might be a good idea to get your playset before human decks become popular again.

 

Blue Suggestions

 

While $32 is still rather pricey for me, when this card gets down to about $20-$25 before rotation I’d pick some up. I might see more play in modern/legacy in the near future so grabbing a playset for $100 seems like a smart investment, especially when these cards were $100 each themselves just a few months ago.

 

Penny Stocks

I still feel bullish on Crush of Tentacles during the next cycle. Burn is much more playable now than before and there are a lot more fun spells to use in UB Crush Control as well. Not a huge increase, but I could see it go up a dollar to about $2.50. I’m also still feeling confident that a card like Dimensional Infiltrator ($.50) will see more play in both UR Eldrazi decks and in UW flyers. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a slight bump in a few months.

 

 

Black Suggestions

 

That BR vampires deck was pretty damn scary during SOI standard, and with a handful of playable vampires from EMN joining the fray, I think a lot of people will be dusting off their Dranas ($6) and realizing just how powerful the deck can be. It certainly has great removal and card advantage, but the best 60 cards haven’t been found yet. It’s fast enough to beat Bant Company, and I think it could be a great competitor against UW Spirits as well. If the deck cracks Tier 2, expect Drana to hit about $9-10.

 

Besides being a strong card in a devoted delirium deck, I think this card would be a great fit for reanimator as well. A deck like that would want a big body to block early assaults from strong creatures, and it also fills up the graveyard as well which is synergistic. I also think this might be a good card in UB Zombies since you can bring stuff like Relentless Dead and Prized Amalgam back relatively easily. At $2.50 it’s the lowest I’ve ever seen it, and I have a strong feeling that it will see play in one deck or another sometime this summer. It’s printing in the duel deck will keep it’s price down somewhat, but $5 is easily attainable if it sees play. It won’t rotate in a while either, so it’s a good investment.

 

 

Penny Stocks

 

A competitive zombie deck is JUST around the corner, so I expect playable zombies to go up in value when the deck breaks into the meta. I’d quietly grab a playset of cards like Diregraf Colossus ($2) now. Relentless Dead has already shot up to $13, but should probably stabilize around $10 I think.

I really want Reanimator to be a thing this standard, especially with all of these great delirium enablers and if it does become playable you can be sure that Ever After ($.75) will be a 4 of. It could easily double or triple in price so I’d grab a playset right now if you think you’d enjoy playing that sort of deck.

I still think Ruinous Path ($1.50) is a good card to have going forward into rotation, even if Murder was reprinted. If the standard format ever shifts back to planeswalker based combat like Naya walkers or Sultai midrange, I think this card will see a lot more play. Keep an eye on it.

 

Coming Up Next

 

I’m sure we can all agree that the metagame is still young and eventually an answer to Collected Company decks will be found. There was quite a large number of playable Tier 1 and Tier 2 decks in Shadows Over Innistrad standard, and I expect that we add a few more archetypes to that mix with Eldritch Moon. I think we are still a few weeks away from any kind of real change happening, but I assure you it WILL happen.

Aside from worrying about the current metagame, what are your thoughts on the first three colors? Do you think there will be any other movers or shakers in standard over the next month or two, or will modern season end up muting the results? We’re still not done with these article either, so check back before the weekend for our next three colors: Red, Green, and Artifacts. Thanks for reading.