Frank Lepore
7/13/2012 10:03:00 AM
As is usual with a new set release I try and come up with a list of ten of the cards I don't think are getting enough attention. Sometimes I'm way off and sometimes I'm right on the nose, but either way, the thing I most try to accomplish is providing you, dear reader, with a new perspective on some cards that you might not have had initially. Maybe you'll see a card in a new light, or discover an application you might not have thought of.


If you're looking for a list of the Top 10 M13 cards you're in the wrong place. You will find no Thundermaw Hellkites or Thragtusks here. Only some of the unsung heroes of the set that I would personally like to brew with based on the merit I see them possessing.

Without further ado...let's begin!

10. Magmaquake

High Mid Low

Magmaquake

$2.05

$0.43

$0.19

Store QTY Price   NR Store 3 $0.19 GameTimeCC 1 $0.24 Cloak and Dagger 1 $0.24 OldSchoolGaming 8 $0.24 Pack Fresh Magic 100 $0.24 CCGHouse 12 $0.24 The Card Nexus 8 $0.24 Static Age Games 2 $0.24 Happy Viking Games 1 $0.24 >> View all Prices for Magmaquake << Store.TCGplayer.com allows you to buy cards from any of our vendors, all at the same time! Shop, Compare & Save with TCGplayer.com! - [Store FAQ]

It goes without saying that the card this will most be compared with is Earthquake. Both cards are X casting cost red sweepers that can't hit fliers. But the similarities end there. While Earthquake was a Sorcery, at the cost of an extra red, Magmaquake is an Instant which is huge. The other key difference is that instead of damaging each player, Magmaquake deals damage to each Planeswalker. This is a fairly large difference that has both its pros and cons. While on the one hand you can never kill your opponent with a Magmaquake the same way you could with an Earthquake, you will also never have to fear playing Magmaquake the same way you might have had to with an Earthquake. This is significant, and helps the card fill a role very similar to, say, Black Sun's Zenith. The other difference is that it deals damage to all Planeswalkers. This is interesting. While it gets worse when you have your own Planeswalkers out (something you can clearly build around), it gets much better when your opponent has a Planeswalker out; if they happen to have multiple Planeswalkers it just gets ridiculous! I'm seeing this card as a red, instant speed Black Sun's Zenith that can take out opposing Planeswalkers, and you should too.

9. Disciple of Bolas

High Mid Low

Disciple of Bolas

$2.00

$0.59

$0.33

Store QTY Price   Phyrexian Games 10 $0.33 Web-Head Enterprises 1 $0.33 Web-Head Enterprises 2 $0.35 Geeks MTG 3 $0.43 IDeal808 31 $0.45 War Torn Front 1 $0.45 Untap Upkeep Draw 5 $0.45 Desperate4Cards 3 $0.45 Get There Games 6 $0.47 >> View all Prices for Disciple of Bolas << Store.TCGplayer.com allows you to buy cards from any of our vendors, all at the same time! Shop, Compare & Save with TCGplayer.com! - [Store FAQ]

I want to rate this card higher since I like it a lot, but it's hard to do. Don't get me wrong, it still cracks my top ten, so that says something. The obvious comparison is to Momentous Fall, however this card is able to simply look at power, where as Momentous Fall had different values for power and toughness. However, where Momentous Fall simply took a creature from you, this card leaves you with a creature in its place. Additionally, you get much more value from any sort of X/1, X/2, or X/3 creature since you will be both drawing cards and gaining the life off of the power while disregarding the toughness. The problem with the Disciple? Well, it doesn't have flash. If you were able to play it in response to removal it would be an insane mythic. However as it stands, to get the most value you're going to have to sacrifice a creature with reasonably high power...some people would ask, “if you have a large creature already, why would you get rid of it?” Well, I would gladly sacrifice something like a Thragtusk for five cards, five more life, and a 3/3. This card is going to take a little bit of work to get the full potential out of, but it definitely looks to be worth it.

8. Staff of Nin

High Mid Low

Staff of Nin

$1.48

$0.83

$0.17

Store QTY Price   NR Store 2 $0.03 Phyrexian Games 4 $0.47 Phyrexian Games 1 $0.49 SlackMTG 1 $0.66 TJ Collectibles 2 $0.69 Mythic Vault 1 $0.69 Mox Mania 2 $0.70 The End Zone 3 $0.70 Mythic Realm 4 $0.70 >> View all Prices for Staff of Nin << Store.TCGplayer.com allows you to buy cards from any of our vendors, all at the same time! Shop, Compare & Save with TCGplayer.com! - [Store FAQ]

Staff of Nin is a card that excites me a lot to be honest. It's a very unassuming card, but it is definitely a powerful one. Control decks are always looking for recurring forms of card advantage and this one is that two-fold. Three-fold? No matter! There are a good number of folds here, let's put it that way! Six mana is a lot, make no mistake. In today's environment we could get a Titan for that much, but unlike a Titan, Staff of Nin allows us to play a much longer game and is less susceptible to removal. On the other hand, it technically is its own removal. It can take out things like Birds of Paradise, Arbor Elf, Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, Spirit tokens, and other annoying one toughness guys, or just pick away at the opponent. When you couple it with something like Geist Flame or Tragic Slip, it becomes much better. One of the best parts of the Staff is that drawing a card every turn is free! Compare this with the other card drawing artifact in the set, Jayemdae Tome, and you'll begin to see why this is a much better value. I wouldn't be surprised to see Staff of Nin is a lot of slow, grindy control decks in the near future, giving their controllers a form of slow inevitably, one card at a time. And in multiples? Whew!

7. Faith's Reward

High Mid Low

Faith's Reward

$2.05

$0.70

$0.45

Store QTY Price   NR Store 1 $0.45 Cape Fear Games 1 $0.47 GameTimeCC 1 $0.47 Cloak and Dagger 7 $0.48 CCGHouse 12 $0.48 Alter Reality Games 4 $0.48 Cape Fear Games 8 $0.49 Legit MTG 1 $0.49 GameTimeCC 16 $0.49 >> View all Prices for Faith's Reward << Store.TCGplayer.com allows you to buy cards from any of our vendors, all at the same time! Shop, Compare & Save with TCGplayer.com! - [Store FAQ]

Faith's Reward is another card that has been spoken of in comparison to another similar card: Second Sunrise. There are a couple key differences to the two cards, however. For one thing, while Second Sunrise costs two white mana, Faith's Reward costs only a single white, but one more colorless. This means while it is more expensive, it is easier to cast, potentially allowing more colors to take advantage of the effect. Another key difference is that now it only returns the permanents in your graveyard. There is no longer symmetry here, which is a benefit. The final difference is another big one. Where Second Sunrise would only return specific permanents, Faith's Reward returns all permanents; this is huge in that it allows you to return any Planeswalkers that may have died during your turn. I can envision situations where your opponent has to attack your Gideon Jura, During blocks you trade one or two of your creatures for theirs but they still manage to kill Gideon. Then, for four mana you get your fallen creatures and your Gideon Jura back at the end of their turn. I can't imagine that to be anything less than backbreaking. And this says nothing of the potential combo applications the card might have similar to Second Sunrise...

6. Trading Post

High Mid Low

Trading Post

$2.05

$0.49

$0.26

Store QTY Price   MTG Deals 14 $0.26 The End Zone 1 $0.35 HVCCM 3 $0.35 Static Age Games 1 $0.35 Phyrexian Games 8 $0.37 The Card Nexus 7 $0.37 BuyItNowMTG 1 $0.38 Card Titan 12 $0.38 Cloak and Dagger 7 $0.39 >> View all Prices for Trading Post << Store.TCGplayer.com allows you to buy cards from any of our vendors, all at the same time! Shop, Compare & Save with TCGplayer.com! - [Store FAQ]

Trading Post hasn't been compared to anything as far as I know, but if I had to name a card I would say it's similar to Staff of Domination (which is funny, because we already went over a Staff...). The applications for this are so varied and versatile that I think it could be another amazing tool for control decks. How good is being able to discard a random land or useless Mana Leak in the late game for four life? How about paying a mere one life for a blocker to prevent five damage? If you happen to lose a Trading Post, a Gilded Lotus, a Staff of Nin, whatever, you can simply sacrifice a goat to get it back at instant speed. The last ability actually seems the most useless in context, unless of course you're running something like Ichor Wellspring in the next couple months. Even then, being able to sacrifice the Trading Post to itself to draw another card might be all you need. Also, with a single Sorin, Lord of Innistrad emblem, you begin to pump out 1/1 goats. I think Trading Post has an immense amount of potential to match its immense amount of abilities.

5. Diabolic Revelation

High Mid Low

Diabolic Revelation

$2.05

$0.49

$0.20

Store QTY Price   ShipToU 1 $0.20 HVCCM 1 $0.20 NR Store 3 $0.30 Comic Asylum 8 $0.35 IDeal808 40 $0.35 Cloak and Dagger 1 $0.35 Pack Fresh Magic 60 $0.36 GameTimeCC 16 $0.36 White Lion Games 4 $0.39 >> View all Prices for Diabolic Revelation << Store.TCGplayer.com allows you to buy cards from any of our vendors, all at the same time! Shop, Compare & Save with TCGplayer.com! - [Store FAQ]

A lot of people heralded this card as simply a Commander card and I just don't think that's the case. We're playing a format with Gilded Lotus, and not a lot of maindeck ways to deal with it. A turn five Lotus will net you nine mana, or four tutors on turn six. Any four cards in your deck! That's so huge. I'm not sure who it was, but I heard someone compare this to Blue Sun's Zenith, and that seems very apt: for the eight mana, let's say, you either draw five random cards off of a Zenith, or you draw three very specific cards off of a Diabolic Revelation. I think there are two things to consider here. 1) Eight mana is not a lot for a control deck in the late game, and we were very often casting Blue Sun's Zeniths for five to seven cards. And 2) Mana Leak is rotating. This means that we no longer have to keep eleven mana up if we want to cast Diabolic Revelation for eight; the only Counterspell we will have to worry about is Negate (which should rarely be maindeck in large quantities) or Dissipate. While the latter is more likely it sees very little play right now and might be too expensive for excessive inclusion. Only time will tell, but I truly believe the effect of Diabolic Revelation is too powerful to ignore.

4. Rhox Faithmender

High Mid Low

Rhox Faithmender

$5.95

$4.39

$3.40

Store QTY Price   Wooburg 1 $3.40 The Magic Arena 1 $3.45 Phyrexian Games 2 $3.47 PJG Cards 1 $3.49 TheStuffSeller 1 $3.49 RainbowDash 1 $3.50 Static Age Games 1 $3.55 Geeks MTG 1 $3.58 lgs ABCB 1 $3.70 >> View all Prices for Rhox Faithmender << Store.TCGplayer.com allows you to buy cards from any of our vendors, all at the same time! Shop, Compare & Save with TCGplayer.com! - [Store FAQ]

I have to be honest: people are complaining that control decks are dead, but I think control decks received a lot more toys than aggro decks in this set and I think the next Horned Turtle is definitely one of them. Rhox Faithmender might not look like much, but a 1/5 blocks practically everything. Then take into consideration that every hit he dishes out will gain you two life and you have a creature that is really difficult to get around without overcommitting. We have a few months of cards like Pristine Talisman and Timely Reinforcements (which will gain you twelve life!) but cards like Drogskol Reaver, Vault of the Archangel, and Blood Artist are going to be around for quite some time! Is it - dare I say it - Chalice of Life's time to shine as a win condition in control decks? Perhaps not, but this card seems to have just the right stats to see some competitive play. You might say he's competing with Restoration Angel at four mana, but I would strongly argue that the two are not going to perform the same roles in the least. I can't even imagine the amount of life this guy would gain in a deck with Seraph Sanctuary and Entreat the Angels. Or a hit with Griselbrand. He's definitely a card that needs a home, but if Stonehorn Dignitary can see a good amount of play for his defensive capabilities, I think his Rhino brother can as well.

3. Sands of Delirium

High Mid Low

Sands of Delirium

$1.98

$0.79

$0.44

Store QTY Price   Happy Viking Games 7 $0.44 GameTimeCC 7 $0.48 CCGHouse 12 $0.48 Magical Ogre 7 $0.49 Static Age Games 1 $0.50 Untap Upkeep Draw 1 $0.55 Geeks MTG 3 $0.57 Cloak and Dagger 5 $0.60 Mythic Realm 3 $0.62 >> View all Prices for Sands of Delirium << Store.TCGplayer.com allows you to buy cards from any of our vendors, all at the same time! Shop, Compare & Save with TCGplayer.com! - [Store FAQ]

Ah, Nephalia Drownyard 2.0. Or is it Millstone 2.0? No matter. The point is milling your opponent has been a viable strategy for as long as I can remember. Furthermore, control decks (there goes that archetype again) have been looking for things to dump their mana into at the end of the opponent's turn since there was...well, mana. If that card is a win condition it's even better! Like some of the other cards I've had on this list, this card is definitely a late game card, but when you're able to mill seven to eight cards a turn, things begin to add up real quick. Let's say we start on turn seven. You opponent has only drawn a card for each of his turn and we'll say he was on the play. This means he would have 47 cards left in his deck. Assuming you don't miss your lands drops we're looking at a potential progression of seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, up to 45 cards, not including the five he would have drawn over those turns. That's a five turn clock at instant speed that cannot be removed with conventional removal (save for, say, Oblivion Ring). That is quite powerful, and it says nothing to the shorter lifespan if you happen to start milling later or if they have card drawing, etc. Sands of Delirium is a great win condition for a slow grindy control deck, maybe in conjunction with Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas or Diabolic Revelation to search it out. As I mentioned Nephalia Drownyard sees play now; while it has the advantage of being simply a land, never underestimate the power of an activation cost of X.

2. Talrand, Sky Summoner

High Mid Low

Talrand, Sky Summoner

$5.14

$1.44

$0.99

Store QTY Price   Magical Ogre 16 $0.99 Mindtakers Gaming 1 $1.00 Most Good Hobby 1 $1.00 Pwnage Games 6 $1.00 GameTimeCC 7 $1.03 Brute Force Games 15 $1.03 On The Stack Games 3 $1.05 Multiverse Gaming 4 $1.14 Tweaks Cards 3 $1.15 >> View all Prices for Talrand, Sky Summoner << Store.TCGplayer.com allows you to buy cards from any of our vendors, all at the same time! Shop, Compare & Save with TCGplayer.com! - [Store FAQ]

I put Talrand as high as I did because I believe he is beginning to catch on. While that might mean he should be lower (as he is less of a “sleeper”) it could also mean he should be higher, as if he is still a sleeper, he is one of the better ones. Nonetheless, this guy will find a home, and it will be a good one. This guy has already been doing some hard work in decks that contain things like Gitaxian Probe, Gut Shot, and Mental Misstep; speaking of which, can you imagine how backbreaking it is to get your Vapor Snag on this guy countered by a Mental Misstep? “No, I'll keep him around and add a 2/2 flier, thank you very much.” While Talrand and his army are susceptible to things like Day of Judgment and Whipflare, the card advantage he can potentially generate is nuts. Especially at little cost (I mean, you simply have to play the spells you were going to play anyway...). Talrand's greatest versatility lies in the fact that he can be the centerpiece of an aggro deck (with cards like Delver of Secrets and tempo generators) or a control deck when you might play him on turn six with counter back up. While Talrand is a card that needs other cards to benefit, can anyone really argue that they wouldn't already be playing said cards anyway? I didn't think so...

1. Void Stalker

High Mid Low

Void Stalker

$1.35

$0.27

$0.14

Store QTY Price   White Lion Games 4 $0.14 Cloak and Dagger 2 $0.14 GameTimeCC 1 $0.14 Pack Fresh Magic 81 $0.15 OldSchoolGaming 8 $0.15 GameTimeCC 21 $0.15 Cloak and Dagger 2 $0.15 IDeal808 46 $0.15 XtremeGames 8 $0.18 >> View all Prices for Void Stalker << Store.TCGplayer.com allows you to buy cards from any of our vendors, all at the same time! Shop, Compare & Save with TCGplayer.com! - [Store FAQ]

People are kind of, sort of talking about this card, but nowhere near the amount I would expect. This guy kind of does it all: he beats down early, he can chump block, and he can remove any creature (barring pro blue or hexproof) from the board. I just don't get why a Journey to Nowhere on a stick - that has no risk of being disenchanted - isn't getting the love he deserves. He's good in aggro decks to get in some damage and make sure they don't play something that straight up halts your strategy; he's good in control decks where he can block one creature and remove another in the same turn. And the best part? If you have some way to bounce him while his ability is on the stack (or blink, with Restoration Angel or Cloudshift), the opponent's creature still goes away while your Void Stalker goes back to your hand. This is similar to the Mangara of Corondor trick. If this guy cost three mana? No way. If he had one power? Nope. But as it stands his ability seems way too good for the attached body, and I'm willing to be it's only a matter of time before this guy starts showing up everywhere!

Well, that's it for my Top Ten Sleepers of M13! I know some of you are going to assuredly disagree with me, and some of you are going think some of my choices aren't sleepers. And I'm sure some of you are going to be hateful and tell me I'm stupid (pro tip: don't be that guy). All of these are fine, and I'm willing to accept them. After all, we can't always agree, and if we did, what would the point of trying to provide new information? I would never be able to convince you of something since we would already be predisposed to agreeing with one another!

...but I digress! I hope I've given you some things to think about and maybe you've seen some of these cards in a new light. Maybe comparing them to older cards might have helped, and maybe you think they‘re all junk! Either way, thanks for reading and hopefully we can discuss it civilly in the comment section! Hopefully I'll see you guys at the TCG Open in Orlando this weekend, and if you run into Jackie Lee or myself, be sure and say hi! Maybe you'll even be running some cards in this list! Hey, a guy can hope, right?

Frank Lepore
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