As time, and sets, have passed,Magic: The Gatheringplayers as a whole have gotten better and better at evaluating the quality of each new card that gets printed. Unfortunately, this means that the best cards in each set tend to be pricey right out of the gate, making it difficult to get in on a great card while it’s still a sleeper hit.
Difficult, but not impossible. We’ve scoured the scorching sands of Outlaws of Thunder Junction to bring you cards that haven’t caught fire yet price-wise, but may very well do soon. If you’re looking for some great pickups at reasonable prices, these singles are a surefire slam-dunk.
10Colossal Rattlewurm
‘Pushed’ Doesn’t Come Close
Every new Magic set has a card that really puts the increasing power level of the game into perspective. For Thunder Junction, that card is Colossal Rattlewurm. A four mana 6/5 with trample is borderline playable alone, and Rattlewurm also comes with two very relevant upsides to boot.
Conditional flash is nice, but the real power here comes from the two mana Desert ramp option that can be used from the graveyard. This is efficient enough to encourage green decks in both Standard and Commander to throw in a few Deserts, especially paired with those truly staggering stats.
9Assimilation Aegis
Keep Your Enemies Close
Cards like Oblivion Ring have flickered in and out of Standard playability over the years, but Assimilation Aegis takes the concept to a whole new level. It gets rid of any threat for three mana as usual, but then lets you use said creature against your opponent by equipping the Aegis to one of your own creatures.
This is a brilliant addition to any kind of Tempo or Control deck, and is particularly effective againstthe likes of Reanimator, where big creatures come down far earlier than they should. Expect to see this card a lot in Standard, and even more in Commander, going forward.
8Kaervek, The Punisher
I’ve Got Friends On The Other Side!
As you’ve probably noticed, most of the ‘whenever you commit a crime’ cards from Thunder Junction come with a pesky ‘once per turn’ clause attached. Kaervek has no such limits, however, letting you use his potent recursion effect to turn your graveyard into a second hand.
There are many uses for this, including chaining removal and discard spells, or just recasting your fallen creatures for extra value. Given how Midrange-heavy Standard is at the moment, and his potential as a Mono Black commander, Kaervek is a safe investment at his current low price.
7Enemy Fastlands
Put Some Spring In Your Step
There are few guaranteed bets in the world of Magic finance, butpowerful dual land cyclesare the exception to this rule. The enemy-colored Fastlands are part of this proud tradition, being excellent reprints from Kaladesh with applications in Standard, Modern, and beyond.
In Modern, Fastlands are great budget alternatives to Shocks and Fetches, and in Standard they’re probably the best dual lands in general. Pick these up now while the reprint has their price pinned down and you certainly won’t regret it in the long run.
6Akul The Unrepentant
Show And Tell’s 5/5 Cousin
Akul the Unrepentant has an awful lot going for him. Not only does he have great art, a great creature type, and great stats for the cost, but he also comes with a great ability that can cheat out the biggest creature in your hand for no mana at all. Admittedly you do have to sacrifice three creatures instead, but that’s easier done than said in many strategies.
Dropping an Akul on turn fourlets an Aggro deckswitch gears from going wide to going tall at the drop of a hat, throwing your opponent’s well-laid plans into disarray. It’s almost guaranteed to make a splash in Commander, the home of big creatures, but there’s a surprising number of good targets for it in Standard, too.
5Another Round
Blink And You’ll Miss It
Blink effects have long been a favorite of Magic players, ever since Restoration Angel was cutting things up in Standard. Most only let you bounce a creature once, however, to keep the chaos in check. Another Round casts off those restraints entirely: if you’ve got the mana, it’s got the bounces.
In a ramp or combo shell, it’s not difficult to funnel huge amounts of mana into this effect. Pair it with a few creatures who can deal damage or blink each other, such as the aforementioned Restoration Angel, and you may easily end a game on the spot with this card. Another Round is a bit of an ironic name, really, since your opponents likely won’t be seeing one after you cast it.
4Magda, The Hoardmaster
For The Hoard!
Just like the original Magda, the Hoardmaster is here to make Treasures and summon Dragons; and she’s all out of Treasures. Or at least she often will be, owing to the once-per-turn clause on that ability. No such restriction applies to her Dragon summoning, however, which can allow for some out-of-nowhere wins inTreasure-centric decks.
So many cards make Treasure incidentally now that Magda can easily overwhelm an unprepared opponent with chunky damage in the air: a threat that holds as much weight in Standard as it does in Commander. For just two mana, Magda is a card that feels as much at home in Combo as it does in Aggro, and its current low price tag doesn’t quite reflect that.
3Lavaspur Boots
Let’s Kick Things Into Gear
It’s not the most exciting card at first glance, but Lavaspur Boots actually has some serious potential in a wide range of formats. In Standard, granting any creature the trifecta of haste, +1/+0, and ward one for just a single mana feels surprisingly good, turning even mediocre creatures into pressing, immediate threats.
Naturally the same is true in Commander, but, surprisingly, things don’t stop there. Since it’s a one-mana artifact, Boots is a card you can search up with Urza’s Saga in formats like Legacy and Modern, before equipping it to an Esper Sentinel to make an already annoying card all the more annoying. For an uncommon, that ain’t bad at all.
2Kambal, Profiteering Mayor
Grab A Piece Of The Action
Sick ofthose pesky Token decksblotting out the sky with their endless hordes of annoying 1/1s? Then Kambal is the card for you. He acts as a kind of safety valve against such shenanigans, since he can, once per turn, copy any batch of tokens your opponent creates, no matter how large.
In the token-rich Commander format, this can do some serious work, especially paired with the life drain effect that triggers whenever you make a token through any means. Kambal may not do much outside of Commander, but he’s flexible and powerful enough there to be worth picking up regardless.
1Stoic Sphinx
A Coup De Grace For Control Decks
What walks on two legs in the morning and no legs in the evening? A Magic player after a run-in with Stoic Sphinx, of course. Eschewing the typical ponderous nature of the creature type, Stoic Sphinx is a seriously aggressive beater, capable of rounding the corner for Control decks thanks to its evasion and built-in protection.
For decks that play largely at instant speed, it’s not difficult at all to keep the Sphinx’s hexproof up for as long as possible, thus preventing your opponent from dealing with it. It’s not as flashy or flexible as most Control finishers, but Stoic Sphinx’s simplicity makes it no less effective.
