Looking down from the roof of Standard is Collected Company. How do you make any creature deck in Standard better? Just add Company and start winning more games. Even the human aggro deck now plays the card unless you’re all-in with one-drops and a plan of trying to go under the midrange decks. Five of the Top 8 decks at GP Tapai and four in Pittsburgh have the efficient green instant---maybe Eldrich Moon will shake things up.

With a new set being spoiled every day, you have to be anxious not only for these new cards but also for some sweet speculation targets that you can obtain before the new cards are all known. Let’s do just that today. I'll look at my top 10 picks for current Standard cards that stand to gain with the new set release.

10. Drownyard Temple

The more cards that are legal in Standard, the better Drownyard Temple looks. With more delirium cards being printed we are going to have the best chance of this card seeing an increase in play. We’ve already seen it in the blue-red Pyromancer's Goggles deck at the beginning of this format, but I think we could also see it emerge in a deck with Thalia and The Gitrog Monster.

For its part, as my only honorable mention, Gitrog seems well positioned to take over as a key finisher in a delirium control deck.

9. Traverse the Ulvenwald

For many of the same reasons as Drownyard Temple, Traverse the Ulvenwald looks poised to break out in Standard. I think cards like these would pair well in a deck looking to cast Emrakul, the Promised End. Our Eldrazi Queen is worthy of our sacrifices to cast her and Traverse can give you a tool box to help set up the earliest possible Emrakul.

8. Deathcap Cultivator

In any ramp deck you will be looking for mana creatures and Deathcap Cultivator is the best it gets in Standard right now. At near bulk prices, this card won’t be any cheaper either. In the past, I always wanted at least one mana accelerant in my Collected Company deck as well. That way, you can cast your Company a turn early to get the party started early. This would work well especially if the archetype wants to utilize black mana.

7. Risen Executioner

I’ve talked a lot about Risen Executioner in the past. Despite it falling some in price, if you followed my recommendation you should have made some money the first time. Maybe this isn’t the lord we’re looking for, but if it turns out to be it will easily double up. I wouldn’t go deep here but I’m still sitting on a play set or two.

6. Diregraf Colossus

My impression is that Diregraf Colossus is the lord we’re looking for. Unfortunately you have to cast the zombies to build your army of the dead, but this is still an extremely potent card. If we could find a way to chuck zombies in the yard, we could see Colossus living up to his name.

5. Relentless Dead

There hasn’t been a good way to abuse Relentless Dead yet, but maybe we didn’t need to look further than Nantuko Husk. Having a zombie-sacrificing engine would pair well with Relentless Dead so we could abuse the dies triggers. The key to this mythic rare is figuring out how to play it and what shell to include it in. There are many ways to exile it, but that hasn’t stopped cards like Hangarback Walker so it shouldn’t stop Relentless Dead either.

As a shop owner I know I’ve already preemptively increased the prices on all of these zombie cards and I wouldn’t be surprised to see other dealers do the same.

4. Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger

I heard from one of my dealer friends that his company sold nearly a hundred copies of Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger in the past couple of weeks. Now that’s movement! Despite that fact, we haven’t seen the price of this Eldrazi start to ascend yet.

With more Eldrazi nonsense in Eldrich Moon though, I think Ulamog is waiting to break into tier one. Additionally, I think this Eldrazi is a great long-term hold because of his potency in the Modern Tron deck.

3. Eldrazi Displacer

While I don’t see a reason for Eldrazi Displacer to pair well with Eldrich Moon, this white Eldrazi has been quietly increasing in value. We don’t need much for Displacer to continue to grow. Basically any enters-the-battlefield effect pairs well with the blinking ability. It doesn’t get much better than Flickering Reflector Mage, but I’m sure there could be other awesome interactions.

This is another card that seems really good to have in a couple years too. It’s starting to see play in older formats and those staples are best obtained while they’re still in Standard.

2. Prized Amalgam

Although no Dredge deck has broken out in Modern utilizing Prized Amalgam, we’re close to a real deck there. What I want is for us to get one creature that interacts favorably from Eldrich Moon and then we will be off to the races. The initial stats are already solid and it has a great creature type to be included in our theoretical breakout zombie deck.

1. Mindwrack Demon

You might be surprised to see Mindwrack Demon at number one on my top 10 list, but this mythic rare has plummeted since its release and is ready to shine. With stats to tangle with Archangel Avacyn // Avacyn, the Purifier, this demon is ready to rack up some wins for you in Standard.

What better way to put cards in your graveyard for delirium than with a 4/5 flyer attached? If we want to accelerate into Emrakul, I think Mindwrack Demon might be the engine we’re looking for.

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Nearly every card that made the top 10 is super cheap. That makes getting in easy. With some of these cards being predictably filled with long-term value, that makes them even better to bet on. Are there other cards you think might break out once the new set releases? Let’s start the discussion in the comments or on Twitter!

Until next time,
Unleash the Force!

Mike Lanigan
MtgJedi on Twitter