Ever since we knew Commander Masters was coming, we’ve known the themes of the four Commander decks that are being sold alongside the set. After this week’s previews, we know what’s in the preconstructed decks, and it’s time to review what they left out. Some of these were a big surprise, and others were at least a little defensible. For some of these cards, there’s already been a run on the card, and that’ll be addressed too.
Please keep in mind for all of these cards, they dodged a reprint in Commander Masters but that doesn’t mean they won’t get tagged again in an upcoming Secret Lair or special set or who the hell knows. All bets are off, considering how cards can be reprinted twice in an eight-week period. (The Great Henge and Sword of the Animist come to mind!)
There’s also a chance that these don’t spike until players get the Commander decks in hand. Hard to tell what’ll happen, but if these are getting bought, built, and played, at least some of these will rise in value.
Eye of Ugin ($35 for the currently cheapest version ranging to $100 for the current most expensive) – I called this on the MTG Fast Finance podcast in late March, at least Expedition versions, to hit $100 because people would want to upgrade their copies. I didn’t even consider the idea that they would leave this card out entirely, which is why every version has gone up. I’d be selling into this hype.
Emrakul, the Promised End ($50 to $130) – There’s ways to abuse this card, but I’m really surprised that they left this out of the deck. It’s gone up twenty bucks since the deck was previewed, and it might not be done rising. Again, with that kind of increase, I’m keeping one personal copy and selling all the rest.
Sanctum of Ugin ($1.50 to $8) – There hasn’t been a run on this yet, and there will be. Getting nonfoils now is good, especially if you’re hoping for a brick/buylist exit. It won’t be hard to lock in gains once people start moving on to the new targets.
Conduit of Ruin ($2 to $10) – Two really good abilities, and they left the card out of the deck. Tough choices to be made, I know, but damn. Stock up while you can.
Ugin, the Spirit Dragon ($16 to $80) – Ugin is a tremendously unfair card in colorless decks. There are few feelings in Magic like exiling all the annoying stuff on the board but keeping every single one of your precious cards. He’s been printed a whole bunch, but Mythic Edition being down to $75 after being sold for $200 on release is hard to argue with, at least for personal copies. One vendor has a wall of 73 copies at $75, so this price might stick for a while. Note that this was the eBay snafu Mythic Edition, with the War of the Spark uncut sheets going out to folks.
Sliver Hive ($25 to $250) – One of the most egregious omissions from all four decks, what the hell were they thinking? It’s a perfect five-color land, for fixing and for Sliver multiplication.
Sliver Overlord ($55 to $275) – They couldn’t reprint all the five-color Slivers, so the ones that got left out are climbing. Overlord is traditionally the Commander for the deck, due to fun interactions with Amoeboid Changeling (make their creature a Sliver, then perma-steal it) and the ability to go find the Sliver you need.
The First Sliver ($40 to $50) – Available as low as $25 just in February, it’s about doubled because the cascading goodness is super fun. Only thing better than getting a Sliver is getting one of its friends.
Root Sliver ($3 to $30) – This missed a reprint, but if you hate getting your Slivers countered, as most players do, this is your guy. Original foils and SL foils still available, though the Legions foil from 20 years ago has that OG frame that boomers like me love.
Shadow Sliver ($1 to $10) – Is this bad if you want to block? Yes. Does it evade every damn thing they want to do? Also yes. Bounce or sacrifice it as needed, thank me later.
Kindred Summons ($6) – I adore this card in swarm decks. You need a real critical mass to do this right, and that’s what Slivers excel at. Do you have five Slivers in play? Well now you’ve got five more and five new abilities! Important to note that the tokens you have totally count, so go to town with this card.
Coat of Arms ($16 to $100) – This is another card that hearkens back to the era of ‘It’s good for everyone at the table, but REALLY good for me.’ Yes, other typal decks will love you, but the buff your little chitterers get is second to none.
Idyllic Tutor ($5 to $60) – A cheap tutor for the deck and they didn’t want to reprint it. Weird.
Weaver of Harmony (75¢ to $2) – A buff and a copy ability? Get in cheap while you can. I advocate for the Neon frame, because it looks so much cooler.
Argothian Enchantress ($25 to $250) – Last seen in Eternal Masters, this would have been a great way to goose the value in the deck, but now you can go grab copies while they are relatively cheap. There’s been a lot of sales under $30 lately, so watch out for further movement.
Karametra, God of Harvests ($2 to $12) – I’d go for the Secret Lair copies here. If you’ve never played with repeated land-finding this way, I strongly suggest you do so. Enchantments are hungry for mana, and you’ll have enough creatures to make this worthwhile.
Inexorable Tide ($12 to $25) – One of our mods described a different card as ‘dodging reprints like it’s Neo in the Matrix dodging bullets’ and given that we just had a proliferate mechanic in a set, plus this planeswalker deck, it’s pretty amazing. There’s a lot of copies out there, but when regular copies are pushing $20 in two weeks, don’t say I didn’t warn you.
Farewell ($10 to $25) – Bonus points if you play a different-language version, because they are all amazing to shout as you exile everything but your totally-not-going-to-take-over-now planeswalkers. We’re far enough past NEO that this is a good spec, but a very reprintable one. Tread carefully.
All Will Be One ($11 to $30) – Now it’s possible that the designers of the deck just didn’t have access to this card, but I don’t care. It’s one of the most disgusting things you can do in superfriends/proliferate, tossing damage around in big and small chunks. I’d suggest Oil-Slick first.
Arena Rector ($13 to $50) – Again, they didn’t want to include a tutor for this card type? Bless their hearts. All versions are up a little since the preview, but there’s still plenty of meat on this bone.
Ascend from Avernus (50¢ to $2) – There aren’t a lot of ways to mass reanimate planeswalkers, and this one is going to need lots of mana, but it’s very much worth it. Remember, you get them ALL back. Go get your FEA copies now.
Comeuppance ($8) – A niche card, yes, but one dear to my heart. Teferi’s Protection is more versatile, I agree, but this one is a fog plus a reverse damage plus a damn sweet name. Just try it out, you’ll see what I mean. Especially when people look at your open mana, some of it blue, and think you’re holding up countermagic so they go to attack, and BOOM, you got them.
Heart of Kiran (50¢ to $6) – Once upon a time, it was $25 when it ruled Standard. Now it can be yours for less than bubble gum. Very useful card in the deck.
Whirlwind of Thought (25¢ to $4) – You’re playing a lot of noncreature spells. Make them all cantrip. Important to note that this was in March of the Machine’s precons, so focus on the FEA versions from Ikoria in the $4 range.
Cliff (@WordOfCommander) has been writing for MTGPrice since 2013, and is an eager Commander player, Draft enthusiast, and Cube fanatic. A high school science teacher by day, he’s also the official substitute teacher of the MTG Fast Finance podcast. If you’re ever at a GP and you see a giant flashing ‘CUBE DRAFT’ sign, go over, say hi, and be ready to draft.