It’s that time of year again, when hope springs eternal and Standard is rotating! Granted, this Standard season is weird because there’s not a lot of in-person play, plus Throne of Eldraine and its successors really overshadowed lots of other cool things to do. 

Whenever it’s rotation season, I like to look at Standard cards for their Eternal (Modern, Pioneer, Legacy) or Casual (Commander and to a lesser extent, Cube) appeal. If it’s seeing play in one of those realms and there’s a lot of copies about to be put on the market, I’m interested. With that in mind, let’s look at some cards!

One thing to keep in mind is that these are cards I like at rotation, when hopefully their prices slide by 10-20%. I’m not advocating you run out and get them now, only that you put these on your radar. I’m listing current prices, and while I’m hopeful that they get cheaper, they are unlikely to get a whole lot cheaper. The pandemic is also a factor, as people might have sold off their Standard decks already, or aren’t bothering to trade/sell the cards they have because there’s nowhere to go play.

There’s more than a few unknowns, but I’m operating with a hope that things come back and this acts like other rotation seasons.

Oko, Thief of Crowns ($14 up to $100ish) – I know, Oko is banned everywhere, but this is a Simic card of undeniable power. This is already the most powerful color combination in Commander, and you’re picking up a premium planeswalker at its lowest price. You’ve either seen it in play, and seen how it wrecks a lot of board states, or you’ll just have to trust me that it’s amazing.

It’s also worth noting that the borderless foil version of Oko is back down to the $100 range. In fact, there’s one all the way down at $90. Oko is unlikely to get banned in Commander, so put that fear aside. Given the wide range of bans it’s already suffered, reprints are pretty unlikely unless they go for Secret Lair: Format Warpers or something like that. I don’t think it’ll slide all the way to $10, but this is a card with a lot of potential and a very good pedigree.

EA and FEA Castles ($1.50 up to $20+) I don’t like buying the regular versions of any of the five Castles, but the Extended Art versions are a good pickup, in regular or foil. Sure, they were available for cheaper last year when supply was at max, but they are all played in enough decks and have such a low drawback that they are worth it. I’m bigger on the nonfoils here, because I think they have more room to grow, but as people sell off their manabases, I want to be there to hand them cash.

Syr Konrad, the Grim ($1 to $4) – Brace yourself, as this card is in more Commander decks online than The Great Henge. There’s no Standard play for this Knight-who-I-always-think-is-a-Zombie, but clearly, there’s a demand for the uncommon. 

On TCG, it doesn’t take a whole lot of copies to sell before you’re looking at $7, and then your next plateau is $10. Now’s the time to get a few for a later double-up.

Fabled Passage ($6 up to $40) – Given the large number of old-border foils being handed out at your friendly LGS, that’s the version I want most. It looks great and the pedigree is real: nearly 70k decks online with this also being the only option for a fetchland in Pioneer. I think you should pick up the cheapest NM versions you can find, anything under $8 feels right to me. 

It’s notable that the FEA versions, both the Eldraine and the Core Set printings, have never really stopped tumbling and can be had for a whole lot less now than early on. Picking up a sweet version of a mega-staple at its lowest price can’t really be wrong, can it?

Drown in the Loch ($3 to $8 or $20) – Seeing play as a 2-4 of with Ragavan and DRC in Modern Grixis decks, this has a lot of potential. Rogues is a top-tier deck in Standard, and this is one of the key pieces. I expect the nonfoils to drop a little as people sell off what they can, but a complicating factor here is the Secret Lair drop from April, which should be arriving in late August. There’s a Mystical Archive version of DitL and that one is preselling for nearly $20 right now. We will see what demand is like when the cards arrive, but being a good card in a very popular deck is often a formula for big paydays. I’d stay away from the pack foils, as the SL version will likely soak up a lot of attention. Buy the cheapest copies when they hit the floor.

Ayara, First of Locthwain ($3 up to $27) – Another card in 13k decks online, Ayara is not going to go away from dedicated black decks. There’s no Eternal appeal here, and not a lot of cubes have this sort of mono-black devotion. I will say, the Historic deck that chains Ayara into Obliterator into Gray Merchant is a whole lot of fun to play! The basic nonfoil has crept upward this past year, meaning that the casual demand is real. Ayara’s mana cost meant she wasn’t used in any of the sacrifice-themed decks, and if she trends down a little, there’s definitely some long-term profit to be had.

Torbran, Thane of Red Fell ($1 up to $35) – Mono-red is rotating and he’s in 13k decks on EDHREC. The EA and FEA versions have a higher price already, and I’m looking to buy in when they dip lower. No one is going to be selling FEA versions at rotation, but these regular copies should go a bit lower and then be a very appealing target for buying a brick into buylisting a brick. There’s some risk of reprint in a Commander deck–this is exactly the sort of card one would put into a precon–but that risk is baked into lots of things now.

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.

Every once in a while, it’s good for me to be transparent about the purchases I’ve made. Generally, you can expect that I’ve been making purchases of things I pick, or at least I tell you what price I’m looking for. I want to tell you about the things I’ve picked up that I didn’t necessarily write about. 

I’m also going to make a distinction between the things I buy for speculative purposes (the things I intend to resell later for profit) and the things I’ve purchased for my own Commander decks. 

Did buy: Most Dragons for my Ur-Dragon deck

As a five-color deck, I get to have my pick of all the dragons ever printed. My deck is heavy on the slam and roar and attack, nothing too fancy. Because of The Ur-Dragon’s ability (and btw he’s overdue for a reprint in some way) to lower casting costs on Dragons, it’s really easy to overlook what it does. 

Especially when I’m adding Iymrith, Desert Doom for $18 and Ebondeath, Dracolich for $15 in borderless foil. It’s possible that those drop down another buck or two, but I’m not going to sweat that too hard. Vendors and dealers have gotten their allocations and are cracking like mad, so there’s still space for the chase versions to go a little lower when individuals get their sealed product this week, and usually put it on the market the second weekend of availability. 

Ebondeath is a card I might go a little deeper on if the borderless foil starts knocking on $10. It’s recursive, which is good, but it’s also a Dragon Zombie, an intersection of two extremely popular tribes. $15 is a bit high for my taste when I don’t have any special reason to like a card, but recursive threats in good tribes catch my eye.

Didn’t Buy Yet: Tiamat

There was a point this past weekend, on 7-23, when Tiamat in borderless foil could be had for $50. It seems odd to me that the chase mythic of the set would be a five-color Commander, which hasn’t yet been the case with other Commanders. The foil is back over $70 this week, but I’m expecting this price to tumble back down. Right now, we’re still seeing people buy this card in a hurry to upgrade their Commander decks. I respect that, but I’m not going to spend $70 when a couple weeks’ patience will save me $25 or more. 

If you don’t believe me, allow me to share the graph from a card sought after much harder than Tiamat at the beginning, and also in a set that’s relatively underpowered: Phyrexian Foil Vorinclex.

There’s a whole lot of copies under $160 for this card, there’s not just one outlier making things difficult for the algorithm. The hype has died down, and while I know I could get the best price by waiting three months, I’m willing to pay Tiamat’s price in about 3-4 weeks because I really want to play with the Dragon God.

Did buy: 2x Champion’s Helm (Invention) at $60

Granted this was about a month and a half ago, and the price is a little higher now, but there aren’t a lot of cheap Inventions left in the world. This one is near and dear to my heart, as I have lots of Commanders who love hexproof. This has had exactly two printings: Commander 2011 as a nonfoil, and then this as the only foil version out there. There’s a lot of good Equipment out there for Commanders, but one mana for a big buff and that wonderful, wonderful feeling of hexproof is high on the list for me. 

Did buy: 16x Foil Unholy Heat under $4

There’s more copies out there on TCG under $4, but I don’t like buying single cards and having to unpack them from shipping. It’s worth a little more money from me to get several at once, rather than save 15% but have 16 different envelopes to open. That’s something I do–if you don’t mind getting more letters, then rock on.

Unholy Heat has taken Modern by storm. Dragon’s Rage Channeler already pushes you to want delirium, Mishra’s Bauble doesn’t really cost a card in enabling that status, and if you get there, the rate on Unholy Heat is the best ever. And it’s an instant, and can even take out planeswalkers! I have high hopes for this card, common or not. 

I don’t think these are going to spike or anything, but this is the cheapest they will be going forward. Go ahead and get the ones you want/need.

Did buy: 12x FEA Path of Ancestry for about $4 each

I’m unlikely to go deeper on this, because I worry that Commander Legends 2 will have this as a reprint next year. We aren’t going to get CL2 in 2021, but it seems a lock for 2022. Path is a five-color utility land that really rewards tribal decks, and even though the basic one comes in most Commander decks, there have only been two foil versions. Over on EDHREC, it’s registered in 53k decks, proving what a staple it is. 

Didn’t buy: FEA Hobgoblin Bandit Lord at $3.20 each

While I adore this card and what it does for Goblins decks, I’m not ready to stock up on things from AFR. We’re only a week in, and it’s got plenty of time for the price to trickle farther downward. I do note that there are cheaper individual copies out there, and CK has a set of 8 for $2.50 each, which is a more appealing price. Even with all that, the first week of a set is not the time to be purchasing the long-term specs, so I’m staying away for now.

Adventures in the Forgotten Realms is officially released today, so we’re able to buy those cards from vendors. As always, I’m expecting most cards to take a tumble as they become widely available, especially because they seem underpowered compared to other sets currently in Standard.

Underpowered usually means cheap, and AFR has one of the lowest aggregate values I’ve seen at release. As a result, people are expecting less of this set to be opened, and that makes sense, especially with Modern Horizons 2 right there, pouring value into your wallet if you’re buying as a distributor. 

So if a set is under-opened…that means it’s likely under-valued! Time to look at AFR from a long-term perspective, looking for cards that will likely have some casual appeal. What can we get cheaply now, and if stores are reopening and events are happening in paper, what might be good in a few months when Standard rotates?

Tasha’s Hideous Laughter ($10) – Modern Mill is a real thing, and this is a four-of in that deck. It’s not a great card for Commander, as that’s a land where lots of big-mana spells are at, but mill cards have always had their fans. It’s both severely irritating and glorious fun! This is a card that I’m hoping will fall to the $1-2 range, but that’s likely too much hope. Casual and Modern demand will likely keep this close to $5, and that’s more than I want to pay. In three months, when the set is at maximum supply and we’re all drooling over the first of two Innistrad sets, perhaps it’ll be $3, and that’s when I’d like to acquire a lot of this card. I’m going for the basic versions, mind you; a card bought four at a time asks for the regular nonfoils.

Old Gnawbone ($21) – I get why people think this card is awesome. When you hit someone for some damage, you get a bunch of Treasures! What’s not to love? The problem is, if you are hitting someone for a bunch, you’re already winning, you’re already ahead. I don’t need more mana when I’m already getting in for damage! This is very much a win-more card, and Commander is a format that loves to win more. The price on this will drop by at least half, and likely farther for the basic editions. It’s a big green flyer, and there aren’t a lot of those, but the ability is not as good as it seems. I’m expecting this to really fall over the long term, probably to $5 or less.

Circle of Dreams Druid ($9) – This is already great, though the mana cost is a big deal. It’s a fixed Gaea’s Cradle, and the last fixed version of that, Growing Rites of Itlimoc, has a curve that we would do well to anticipate: 

I’m not saying this is a $20 card right now, especially in the basic nonfoil, but it is a card that when it’s cheap (Not if, when!) we want to stock up on. I’m hoping it drops to under $2, but casual demand might keep it higher than that. There’s a chance it shows up in Modern and Legacy Elves, but those decks already have access to Elvish Archdruid, a strictly better card in 100% Elves decks. Not sure how many more they’d want to run, but the kitchen table crowd will keep this from being bulk.

Tiamat ($19) – This is a fantastic card, and one I can’t wait to play with. However, it’s a very specific tribal card (albeit one of the best tribes) and works best as a Commander, or as a member of the 99. The most important detail though is that the basic version has fallen in price, and Thursday night a copy was sold on TCG for $17.50. The fall is real, and ongoing. The borderless foil copies are going to fall some too, there was a copy that sold on Facebook during the prerelease for $150 but there’s copies on TCG right now for $50 or less. That’s the trajectory it’s on, and it will bottom out like every other card, probably at $7-$10 for the basic and $30 for the borderless foil.

Demilich ($18) – The good news is that this is going to be in some of the most popular decks around, the assorted UR spells/blitz/burn lists that are lighting it up in Legacy and Modern. There have been some lists that use this as a four-of, which is the kick a card like this needs, but at least it isn’t legendary. Please keep in mind that its attack trigger isn’t a free cast, you still need to pay the mana. I think there will be enough builders to keep this near $10, but it’s already sliding and it might well end up closer to $5. Arclight Phoenix took a long while to claw back up to $10, and this is nicely analogous.

Teleportation Circle ($1) – This will be a bulk rare, but it’s one that I’m going to go in on once it’s officially bulk. Conjurer’s Closet was $7 before the Double Masters reprint:

Yes, this is not an artifact but it costs one less. Flickering things is already a big thing in white decks, and there will be a time where this card buylists for decent money. I’m not too proud to buy at a dime and sell for a dollar.

Treasure Vault ($8) – I’ve got my eye on this as an untapped artifact land. There’s only two legal in Modern right now, this and Darksteel Citadel. It’s not making waves in decks with Arcbound Ravager yet, but if this gets cheap and then a real affinity deck takes off, this will have a chance to shine very very brightly. 

Granted, I don’t think that happens anytime soon, but I think the Vault will be down to a couple of bucks and at that point, I want to have some copies in reserve.

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.