Weekly Recs - 07/22/24
Get these powerful staples before they creep back up in price!
Get these powerful staples before they creep back up in price!
Weekly Recs
Highlighting five cards that could be worth picking up. (Note: These are sent to subscribers first and then posted a week later)
Black Market Connections
1 year ago - $19.78
Today: $8.59
When this card was released in the Battle for Baldur's Gate precons, everyone was chasing after the deck. You could not get this card for under $30. Now on its second reprint, and hovering just under $10, I suggest you buy it now! Black Market Connections is one of the most powerful black cards that has been printed in recent memory. In a game where you start at 40 life, if you can get this down early, you can start drawing an extra card and creating an extra mana each turn for just 3 life. Some people like to full send (aka pay 6 life to get all 3 benefits), and while I am a little skeptical of doing so, in the right deck a 3/2 changeling can be powerful. The Reaper King is a great changeling commander, for instance, as this is basically pay 3 life and destroy target permanent. Black Market Connections will not stay this cheap for long.
Types of decks to put it in
- Any black deck
- Changelings/Tribal
Reconnaissance
1 year ago - $9.99
Today: $1.59
The wording on Reconnaissance can be a bit weird if you get a copy without the updated reminder text. How combat works today is not like how it worked back when this card was released. The combat phase can be divide into 5 steps: beginning, declare attackers, declare blockers, damage, end of combat. In the end of combat phase, you can pay 0 (!) to untap all of your creatures. In go tall decks, you power up one creature but after combat, you may be wide open for a crack back. The same issue can happen in go wide decks where you want to attack with a ton of small creatures, but you have nothing left for blocking. Slamming a Reconnaissance gives you pseudo-vigilance on every creature.
Types of decks to put it in
- Voltron
- Aggro
Eldrazi Conscription
1 year ago - $10.97
Today: $4.28
Eldrazi Conscription can be a win condition in enchantress decks. Enchantress strategies spend a lot of time drawing cards and putting value engines onto the board, but struggle closing out games. If you tend to lean on lots of auras in a voltron enchantress build, you can cast Eldrazi Conscription to really power up and swing in for the kill.
Types of decks to put it in
- Enchantress
Valakut Awakening
1 year ago - $5.03
Today: $7.22
Wheel decks led by The Locust God love Valakut Awakening because it allows you swap a bad hand for a potentially better one. While there are plenty of these affects, what makes Valakut so good is that it is an MDFC. If you need a land drop, play the back side! In mono red or card draw based strategies, I would use this as a replacement for a land. The utility this card can give you is insane, as in the early game it can be a land drop but in the late game it can draw you into what you need!
I would not be surprised if this card was above $10 in the near future, as Modern Horizons 3 brought renewed focus onto MDFC cards and Valakut Awakening is top tier.
Types of decks to put it in
- Mono red
- Card draw
- Wheels
Orim's Chant
1 year ago - $9.16
Today: $0.93
Orim's Chant is very similar to Silence, a cEDH all star. Both cards can stop an opponent from either winning on their turn or stopping your opponents from stopping you from winning on your own turn. While I'm not advocating for cEDH, as that format is often cost prohibitive and this is a budget focused newsletter, the comparison point is here to demonstrate Orim's Chant's potential power.
Types of decks to put it in
- High power competitive decks
- Stax
End step
Power can be had for very cheap this week! Cards like Black Market Connections, Valakut Awakening, and Eldrazi Conscription will likely creep back up to over $10, while Orim's Chant and Reconnaissance will likely stay cheap for awhile. Regardless, these cards fit in a wide range of decks!