Welcome back for another History, Restapled, a Commander-focused column that attempts to validate a newer card’s status as a staple by looking at how cards that are similar, synergistic, or competing have fared in the past financially.
Outlaws of Thunder Junction is the new hotness, meaning most of its cards are still overpriced as the constructed environments adapt to the changes. So, for this edition of History, Restapled, I dug a bit before Outlaws to find cards holding a cheap price that are likely to rise in the not-so-distant future. The following four all-stars are an incredible value for roughly $1 each…
It took me a hot minute to really appreciate this card. The wording is a bit confusing, but once I realized it comes in untapped if you choose not to copy anything, I was all in. It’s incredibly flexible. Worst case, it’s an untapped colorless land; best case, you snipe someone else’s Dark Depths from their graveyard. Mid case, though, is that you clone a discarded fetchland or Strip Mine for use next turn, which I’d consider a win, even if only psychological—maybe they hold off on playing their Maze of Ith knowing your Wasteland is coming online soon. With only a few deck-building considerations of your own, Echoing Deeps gets its pick of the target litter.
Competition for land mimicry is scarce. Vesuva represents the cream of the slim crop, and its $15 price reflects how powerful and desirable the effect is (it’s been a minute since a reprint, too), even when the land doesn’t tap for mana. Thespian's Stage is the cheaper alternative at only $1.50, but has seen numerous reprints, including in the recent Universes Beyond: Doctor Who Commander precons. Still, if your deck wants to copy lands, it probably wants a higher probability of drawing that effect and more redundancy against hate. Echoing Deeps fills that role in the cheapest way possible.
STATUS: Archetype staple
| Echoing Deeps | | |
| Echoing Deeps (Borderless) | | |
This card stands to make you tons of artifacts and draw you multiple handfuls of cards with very little effort. Each artifact gets you a Clue that cracks with one mana—a Mentor of the Meek for blue artifact synergies—and the cost reduction Forensic Gadgeteer provides applies to all artifacts you control. (It would still be great even if it only reduced Clue costs!) And, look this next part isn’t the most salient aspect of the card, but I love that it’s a Vedalken Artificer Detective and can’t imagine many of those will be coming along anytime soon.
The regular print card is running roughly $2.50, but the dossier version is only $1.50. It’s a bit “Blue Man Group Nightmare”-y for my taste, but to save $1, to each their own. The card operates the same regardless of the art.
STATUS: Blue artifact staple
| Forensic Gadgeteer | | |
| Forensic Gadgeteer (Showcase) | | |
Rose takes very little effort to pop off. It fuels itself, providing Junk tokens on attacking and mana once those tokens are cracked. It’s also worded like Adeline, Resplendent Cathar in that it doesn’t have to attack itself to provide the benefit, either (and lord knows Commander players be attackin’). Sure, four mana for a 3/2 first striker is a pretty bad rate, but drawing three cards a turn and receiving a bit of mana alongside it for doing absolutely nothing cannot be beat. Hell, if you flip something worthless off a Junk token, pretend it was a Treasure that provided red mana.
For $1.25, Rose, Cutthroat Raider is by far one of the cheapest strong Universes Beyond: Fallout cards—Nuka-Cola Vending Machine, Silver Shroud Costume and the Bobbleheads are leading the pack in price and likely heightening the value of the decks. Grab the single now, before Fallout falls into the past.
STATUS: Underrated red staple
| Rose, Cutthroat Raider | | |
| Rose, Cutthroat Raider (Extended Art) | | |
Cards from the Ravnica: Clue Edition set were hella overpriced for quite some time. Turns out, not many people wanted to buy a mini box of a spinoff set that included its own little subgame. Who could have guessed? It’s a shame, because a lot of the cards are fun and powerful—things like Sludge Titan hark back to some favorite cycles, as well.
Apothecary White is one of the best of the bunch, though she creeps up on you a bit. Like Rose, Cutthroat Raider, she triggers off any attack and can produce three tokens a turn, in this case Food ones. That’s all well and good, but her second ability is where she truly stands out. It requires only one white mana; the X part references the number of Food tokens you tap. So, you can attack with her for three with vigilance, tap one white mana and the three Foods to make three untapped tokens right after combat. That’s a great rate, and it gets even better when you include the many, many Food-producing cards in recent sets. This is an incredible effect for only $1.
STATUS: Archetype staple
| Apothecary White (Borderless) | | |
Property Rights
Two of the four cards I chose are from Universes Beyond products. I’m curious if any cards from other IP have made their way into your decks, particularly as key components of a strategy outside UB. Personally, I get a kick out of drawing an opening hand and seeing Street Fighter characters chilling with Transformers and Warhammer 40K villains, to name only a few. But I know I may be in the minority. Which UB cards have become your universe, and beyond?
Further Reading:
Safe Bets as CEDH Grows
