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Rotating Standard into Commander Riches

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Hello, again!

We are a little over 6 weeks away from another Standard rotation (10/5/2018), so there is no better time to start looking at the best EDH targets from the rotating sets than now!

Although most of the cards I plan to discuss for EDH purposes do not see competitive Standard play, their supply should still increase some as Standard players rotate into store credit, future Standard staples (e.g., Teferi, Hero of Dominaria), or preorders for Guilds of Ravnica.

As peak supply is reached, prices will slide and the fruits will be ripe for the picking. Let's dive in!

Amonkhet


Throne of Geth was all over the place during Pro Tour weekend earlier in the month as new tech to cast around Chalice of the Void which of course got me thinking about cards that Throne of Geth might also benefit. It dawned on me that As Foretold interacts beautifully with both cards:

  • You can cast cards through your Chalice as long as Chalice isn't on zero
  • You can ramp your As Foretold two counters a turn with Throne of Geth

In theory, with some support from cards like Gitaxian Probe and Thoughtseize, plus Void Winnower off of a ramped As Foretold, you could lock your opponents out completely.

Additionally, and more importantly, As Foretold is absolutely silly in Commander. As a game progresses, As Foretold operates similarly to the way an Aether Vial does in Modern in that you simply outrun your opponents because of the free spell each turn. The kicker on this card, and I suspect it goes somewhat unnoticed, is that you can cast a spell once each turn, meaning you can play instants and flash creatures on your opponents turns as well.

Investment Plan

Between being mythic, having cross-format potential, and currently being at its lowest price since November 2017 (and still dropping some) I find this to be a perfect time to beginning acquiring a position in foils and/or non-foils. I view this as a $30+ card in six months, especially if it reaches its potential in another format.


Anointed Procession is a card I absolutely love. The card it brings to my mind is Doubling Season (which has multiple reprints yet maintains a $40+ price tag). While it only does one-half of what Doubling Season does, the tokens-matter strategy continues to gain momentum with each passing set in Commander (the support for it in 2018 has been otherworldly).

Don't get me wrong, this isn't to say Anointed Procession should be worth half of Doubling Season; but, with Najeela, the Blade-Blossom becoming a popular Commander over the summer and Anointed Procession already being in over 6,500 decks according to EDHREC, it stands to grow sizably in the long run.

Investment Plan

I believe non-foils (and possibly foils) should continue to decrease in value as players trade them in. It is important to remember this card is still fringe-playable in Standard, therefore it could take until October to see a real drop. I am targeting non-foils around $3 and foils around $8. The maturity for this card should only take six months or so before supply dries up (assuming no reprint).


Amonkhet is full of great Commander cards, but none are greater than Manglehorn. This card is the cousin to Reclamation Sage except it sees a ton of play in Vintage instead of Modern. This bodes extremely well for foils long-term, and thus, I immediately grabbed as many as I could find under $1.50.

Investment Plan

I recommend foils immediately as these are going to be harder and harder to come by once the Vintage appeal is realized. I also suggest non-foils, too, as a wonderful penny stock to add to the portfolio. If this dodges a reprint in 2019, it will easily ascend to a $2 or $3 uncommon and $10+ foil.

Hour of Devastation


Yes, Overwhelming Splendor is expensive to cast, but in a world where everyone cheats expensive game breakers onto the battlefield, this card is a superstar. Also, Estrid, the Masked just became a thing and Overwhelming Splendor is the type of card Estrid players can use to break games wide-open.

Investment Plan

I see this being a big gainer once more EDH players realize its potency in Estrid, the Masked decks, and thus I feel like this is a great one to add to your watch list between now and October 5th. I also do not anticipate a ton of supply from rotation on this one, meaning the plateau might already be upon us. I like foils under $4 given the mythic rarity and EDH appeal.

Aether Revolt


Only one card really stood out to me from Aether Revolt and that is Planar Bridge. Planar Bridge probably does not make the cut in the competitive 100, but for casuals, this is a fantastic way to cheat anything onto the battlefield. The market price on this one has slowly been creeping up over the past four months, and I believe it is in large part due to Saheeli, the Gifted being spoiled. Planar Bridge has already found its way into 4,500 decks according to EDHREC, and that number should continue to grow as more Saheeli data becomes available.

Investment Plan

Planar Bridge has a Masterpiece printing which is currently sitting at an 11x multiple of its pack foil. This feels unsustainable given the support it sees in Commander. As a result, I love pack foils in the near-term and grabbed two under $5 during research for this article. Non-foils are also interesting if you can find copies for $2 or less.

Kaladesh


I am unsure how Rashmi, Eternities Crafter non-foils are still sitting near bulk status. This is one of the better cards for Commander purposes in all of Kaladesh, yet its usage rate is only around 5,000 decks. The sheer amount of card advantage Rashmi, Eternities Crafter provides, especially in creature decks, is hard to beat.

She pairs well with cards mentioned earlier in this article: As Foretold and Aether Vial, and I also imagine she will be an auto-include for Estrid, the Masked players moving forward. Finally, remember that Ravnica Allegiance will feature the Simic guild, so it is entirely possible she finds a new home if a new Simic commander is introduced.

Investment Plan

I will be picking up Rashmi, Eternities Crafter non-foil copies for bulk and foil copies under $6 wherever I can. I anticipate this card has huge upside long-term, especially with the prospect of Simic being featured in 2019.


Padeem, Consul of Innovation is an interesting paradox from my research. Out of all the cards I have discussed in this article, Padeem, Consul of Innovation is in the second most decks (behind only Anointed Procession) according to EDHREC. Yet, the card itself is still a bulk rare.

This highlights a few things for us:

  1. The power of Inventions vs. Invocations on their respective print runs
  2. The popularity of Kaladesh as a set in general
  3. The opportunities that are always present in bulk rare bins!

Padeem, Consul of Innovation should be the biggest percentage gainer in the next three to six months, as players will realize the EDH potential for artifact strategies. Anything that gives all artifacts hexproof is good enough for me to invest in, and the potential for card advantage is just gravy.

Investment Plan

Rotational supply will have minimal impact on Padeem, Consul of Innovation given it is already bulk status, so avoid non-foils until the existing supply glut clears. The real play here is the pack foil. Copies are still under $2 and should see significant appreciation over time, so long as Padeem does not reappear as a character in future storylines (i.e., he dodges a reprint).


You can find discussion on my picks (and other MTG finance tips) weekly by following me on Twitter (@ChiStyleGaming). Additionally, you can hear about all of these specs in advance of my articles being posted by becoming a QS Insider and joining the discussion on the QS Discord channel! Thanks for reading!

10 thoughts on “Rotating Standard into Commander Riches

    1. Great call, David. I completely forgot about Parallel Lives (note: Parallel Lives is trending around $12-15 for NM copies in non foil, so the upside is definitely present in Anointed Procession).

    1. My take on Japanese (or any foreign print) for EDH is that they are okay pickups if you need the card that spiked/is spiking for play, but that they are tougher specs to profit on overall. The reason is because most EDH players are casual with Magic and play groups don’t usually enjoy having to look up what cards do; thus, they don’t target foreign language cards as frequently (unless the English version is a last resort to acquire the card at a lower price). You’ll often notice after a card spikes that the foreign copies are still priced at or below the price before a spike occurred (see: Birds of Paradise Buy-a-Box promos in Japanese, they lagged behind English copies significantly).

      That said, there is a niche for certain foreign cards (more notably in foil than nonfoil) because of the way the different text interacts with the art and more importantly, the rarity. An example of this is Atraxa in Japanese (she was reprinted in Anthologies which is only released in English, so original C17 prints of Atraxa in Japanese are harder to find and the JPN text is awesome visually).

      Overall, some collectors will definitely pay a premium for the right card because of their collectability and the visual appeal (see: Russian foil Monastery Mentors or Japanese Search of Azcanta BaB promos as examples). But, in most cases, the collectors willing to pay these prices are not the same people looking to use the selected card for EDH (the latter will almost always prefer English copies).

  1. I like all of your picks except Rashmi. Ive faced Rashi many times, and the only time I ever see it win is when they cast Mind’s Dilation, which is more a credit to Mind’s Dilation. It just seems to do less than youd expect. While picking them up at bulk seems fine, I am still not sure if this commander will continue to see play as its already dropped off quite a bit. Otherwise the rest of your list looks great, and ill definintely be pikcing up some of those myself.

    1. Hey, Peter! Thanks for the reply! I actually wasn’t considering Rashmi as a commander but more in the context of her being part of the 99. I agree, she isn’t very good as a general (though probably fun to build around), but as support for other generals I think she can flourish.

  2. I feel like it might be important to note that As Fortold doesn’t replace CMC for the purposes of bypassing Chalice of the Void, which is probably why it hasn’t made more of an impact in eternal formats and prison decks.

    1. This is a VERY important callout and misinterpretation of the text interaction on my part. I forgot Chalice is based on CMC explicitly and you are right As Foretold wouldn’t let you play around it. Apologies and thanks for pointing that out. I am working to get that piece amended.

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