Earlier this week, we got our first taste of the Lord of the Rings set coming this summer. The One Ring has made Mind over Matter spike, there’s other combos coming, but for my money, this might be the best value-add in the set:

Some cards have started to grow as a result of Tom’s preview, but there’s still a lot of planning that can be done and profits to be made when Saga-related cards start spiking in June.

A caveat here: We’re getting an Enchantment-themed preconstructed deck in Commander Masters in August, so some of these might be reprinted then, in the main LotR set, or even in a Secret Lair before then. These are the risks in the modern day, and while we can minimize the problems, sometimes a fresh wave comes along.

Power Conduit ($1.50 for the cheapest version, $22 for the most expensive) – This card has been a rollercoaster, allowing for multiple peaks and valleys as it interacts with new things.

Sagas really, really, REALLY want the ability to remove a counter. If you can remove a counter while the last chapter ability is on the stack, you won’t lose your Saga. From the Comprehensive Rules: “704.5s If the number of lore counters on a Saga permanent is greater than or equal to its final chapter number and it isn’t the source of a chapter ability that has triggered but not yet left the stack, that Saga’s controller sacrifices it. See rule 714, ‘Saga Cards.’ “

This means that we can re-use the final abilities of Sagas, as long as we can remove a counter at instant speed. Power Conduit is one way to do that, and it’ll do that for no mana, plus give you some +1/+1 counters if you’d like! I fully expect that you can buy these for under $2 for a little longer, with the goal of selling near $5.

Hex Parasite ($4 to $15) – This costs some mana, but works in the same way. 

Hex Parasite hasn’t ridden the same set of waves because it’s got a black color identity, and the only Saga commander we’ve had so far was GW. Make no mistake, though, a lot of cheap copies have already been scooped up. There’s still room for profit here, especially on the foils. I think a double-up to $30 is likely, as it was a third set rare from 2011. Barring a reprint, the supply here is tiny indeed. 

Resourceful Defense ($5 to $7) – There’s a lot of fun applications for this card, but it’s expensive to use. One thing that can happen, if you want it to, is that one Saga having its final chapter can trigger another Saga, and then a third, until all of them are done. You might enjoy those dominoes tumbling, you might not. If you have Myth Realized or MindUnbound, those are cards that would really like some spare lore counters, too. Either way, I’d expect the EA versions of this to hit at least $10, and possibly $15.

Scholar of New Horizons (both versions under $1) – This might be a great brick play, since it was in the precon retro border deck for Brothers’ War Commander. Again, we get to remove a counter and go get a Plains (note, not a basic version, so shocks/Triomes are options) because Sagas are mana hungry!

Historian’s Boon (all versions under $1) – Dominaria United Commander did have FEA versions of some cards, and that’s definitely where I want to be with these copies. The reprint risk is very high here, but at such a low buy-in, you can get a brick and not worry too much.

Chisei, Heart of Oceans ($1 to $11) – Removing a counter is generally good for Sagas, and while this isn’t at instant speed, it’s a way to keep using Sagas.

There’s other fun things that remove counters (Sanctuary Warden, Thrull Parasite) but there’s also some fun Sagas and accessories that deserve some attention too.

Hall of Heliod’s Generosity ($9 to $17) – Many copies have sold since the preview for Tom, but there’s still a lot left out there. Prices haven’t gone up much yet, and I especially think the retro foils from MH1 are the play here. It’s always good to recur your Sagas, but putting them on top is so wonderfully synergistic with Tom!

I fully expect the OBF version to hit $25, maybe even $35. A lot of copies were soaked up by other enchantment themes, and with Sagas constantly coming and going, the card will do a lot of work in this deck too.

Brilliant Restoration ($0.50 to $2) – There’s more than a few ways to bring back all enchantments at once, but this is the most recent and very inexpensive for premium versions. I generally prefer special frames over EA versions, but both of those should rise at the same rate because the two versions should have had roughly the same number printed.

Kiora Bests the Sea God ($3 to $6) – If Saga accessories are good, all the Sagas should come along as well. This is a strong candidate for a reprint soon, so I’m less eager to buy some copies, but I’m fully prepared for this to bump to $10+ if it’s not given new inventory. 

Phyrexian Scriptures ($2 to $9) – This had a List version that’s quite affordable, to go with Tom Bombadil being indestructible if you have the right amount of Sagas out on the board. Combining this and Power Conduit means you’re wiping the board every single turn, and that’s a glorious time indeed.

The Cruelty of Gix ($1 to $3) – Read Ahead is a very powerful ability with this deck, and it’s easy to imagine a scenario where the last ability is powerfully degenerate, given how Commander decks operate. These two black Sagas haven’t had a chance to shine, but I think Tom will bring out their best play patterns and really increase the prices.

The Elder Dragon War (bulk to $1) – All of these abilities are worth doing over and over again, so you decide which useful thing to repeat: pyroclasm, rummaging, or making Dragon tokens.

The Kami War ($0.50 to $2) – Again, this is a broken Saga doing broken things, and when you build the deck right you’re going to do those things on a loop! Enjoy!

Cliff (@WordOfCommander at Twitter and BlueSky) 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.

You may or may not have noticed that a certain subset of Phyrexia: All Will Be One cards has been lighting it up lately: the Oil-Slick foils, available only in the special boosters found in the Compleat Edition Bundle.

That bundle came with one special pack, along with 12 Set Boosters. That special pack is what I’m focused on right now, and let me explain why I’m starting to buy cards much earlier in the ONE cycle than I would have otherwise.

Let’s start out with some math. There’s one booster, which has ten foil lands and two foils mythics. Twenty mythics are possible, so there’s a ten percent chance of getting a specific mythic in your pack, and a 1 in 400 chance of getting a double-up. In terms of collation errors if someone landed a god pack of all mythics but no lands, that image would have been all over Twitter.

With ten percent odds, you’d think these oil-slick cards would be crazy common. After all, looking at the C2R2, no mythic with special treatment is at even one percent odds to come out of a Collector Booster. These special Bundles are, well, special. Special expensive and special rare. Vendors report that they haven’t been able to get all they wanted, and the bundles are reselling nicely on all the platforms. Oil-Slick foils are rarer than the special variants, and rarer than the step-and-compleat foils as well, just due to the lack of bundles out there. 

Getting 12 Set Boosters is good, but a pack of 10 lands that are going for at least $4 each is a great bit of value, on top of the two mythics. 

Oil-Slick has a big advantage over the variants from the CBs: the Collector Boosters are going to be available for quite a while yet. Months, perhaps years, at a very reasonable price. The Compleat bundles are getting a big markup and lots of these cards are disappearing into collections, which will eventually lead to prices going up.

I don’t think we’ll ever see any of the big cracking operations pop up with a couple hundred copies of any Oil-Slick mythic, and once the current wave of bundles is gone, that’s probably most of the inventory that will ever be available. So right now, I think prices are at their lowest, and it’s time to get some copies. Definitely personal-use copies for any of your decks, plus a couple of extras for later growth.

There’s only 20 to choose from, so this isn’t a comprehensive list, but here’s the stars I see:

Sword of Forge and Frontier ($45 right now on TCGPlayer) – If you haven’t played with this card yet, it’s pretty bonkers. It’s hard to argue with the simplicity of just ‘draw a card’ but this is potentially better in Commander. I’m a huge fan of Sword of the Animist, and the 9th entry in the Sword cycle is a very elegant design. It’ll be rare in a pod for there to be no one you can hit, and once the hits start, they will keep coming. 

My biggest concern is that there will inevitably be a retro foil version of this at some point, but that’s probably a ways off. For now, you’re going to see copies soaked up relatively fast, and this version will be $60 before the end of April.

Ichormoon Gauntlet ($35) – You will be hard-pressed to find a more auto-include card for planeswalker superfriends decks. This is the best version of a very good card, before the ‘add a counter’ ability is overlooked. It doesn’t take much for this to get out of hand quickly. I fully expect to see the supply on these dwindle fast, and the price to go up accordingly.

All Will Be One ($19) – I’ve said before that this is a card I want to have when the combos pop up. There’s a LOT of amazing things you can do with this card, and no wrong way to play it. Sure there’s instant win combos, such as Quest for Pure Flame, but there’s also fun with planeswalkers, proliferate, or cards that put counters everywhere.

AWBO will be a cheaper pickup in nonfoil, if you want to wait, but since supply is near maximum right now I strongly advocate grabbing a few copies for the inevitable rise. When this hits, it’ll hit big, easily doubling in price.

Solphim, Mayhem Dominus ($20) – Finally, while all of the Dominus cards are good in their respective decks, the red one begs to be built around, and is in the best color to do it. There will be combos with this card, my favorite being Heartless Hidetsugu and my second favorite is Toralf, God of Fury. (Honorable mention: Manabarbs. stings) Wonderfully, though, you don’t need to work too hard at this. Anything that deals damage is going to be a winner, with the added bonus that every new set will give new ways to abuse the card. I’m looking forward to watching this grow over time.

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Cliff (@WordOfCommander at Twitter and BlueSky) 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.