Out of Left Field

One of the beautiful aspects of Magic: the Gathering is how many different ways one can approach it, be it as a player, collector, or more. I personally like to see how far I can push and manipulate the game, while obtaining cards needed to do so at reasonable price points. And while it’s natural to get caught up in the hype machine and look towards the latest pushed cards, it may be easy to overlook some of the more niche, obscure picks that might fill these same roles or offer something fresh. 

My new column, Inconspicuous Scoops, is designed to help you navigate the ever-changing landscape of Magic, and discover some opportunities for new card interactions or cheaper pickups you may not have otherwise been aware of - so you can break the game without breaking the bank.

Ampersand Promos

While everyone is buying into Universes Beyond: Doctor Who and thinking of what else will be coming in future sets, there’s a completely different group of cards released over two years ago that’s worth looking into: AFR Ampersand Promos. These are the definitive bling versions of these cards, and after spending over two years at ludicrous prices since their release in July of 2021, they're finally starting to hit their lows across the board. Don’t get me wrong, many of these are not “cheap” - Tiamat is still $325 after peaking around $1,000 in late 2021 - however, some of them have reached the point where, if you’re in the market for them, now may be the best time to pick them up. The two that I think have the most potential to grow, in light of these relatively low prices, are Xorn and Treasure Vault.

Xorn is a bit of a sleeper - in a world of Doubling Seasons, the wording of “plus an additional treasure token” may not be appealing to some. But the card’s low mana value really lends itself to being extremely strong in decks that can use it. If you can manage to resolve this early game alongside something like Tireless Provisioner, Smothering Tithe, or any other way to consistently make treasures, it can and will get out of hand fast. $40 may seem steep, but these are elusive printings, and the character of Xorn is a monster tied to D&D, so I doubt we’ll see a reprint outside of other potential future D&D sets (though Secret Lairs are always possible), making this a relatively safe pickup at the moment for anyone that wants to upgrade their treasure deck. 

Next up, also making the most of treasure tokens, is arguably my favorite card from AFR, and that’s Treasure Vault, the Ampersand Promo of which is currently sitting at a little over $60, down from a high of $200. Not only is it a great way to turn infinite colorless mana into infinite colored mana, in most situations it’s just as good as other widely-played colorless utility lands like Reliquary Tower. However, Reliquary Tower has nearly thirty printings and Treasure Vault has basically just one. They obviously fill different roles, but the number of situations I have been in where Reliquary Tower came in handy is equivalent to the number of times I have cracked Treasure Vault for a tiny bit of extra mana that secured me a win the following turn. This is an extremely underrated land.

All in all, even if these two cards do end up getting reprinted at some point, it will almost definitely not be in this treatment. There’s bound to be a good deal of treasure-centric cards in The Lost Caverns of Ixalan, so if you want these Ampersand Promos, now's the time before their potential rebound.

Xorn	CardKingdom	TCGPlayer $41.23
Treasure Vault	CardKingdom	TCGPlayer $62.98
Tiamat	CardKingdom	TCGPlayer $300.68

Storm the Vault

Building off these picks, another card that is incredible with not just treasures, but clues, food, and even the upcoming junk tokens from the Universes Beyond: Fallout set, is Storm the Vault. 

Storm is a bit restrictive, as you need to be in at least two colors to play it. But if you’re running an artifact-centric deck in Izzet with any sort of token generation, it becomes an auto-include. There’s a reason Tolarian Academy is banned in Commander, so getting the same effect on an enchantment that also provides you with treasure tokens along the way seems like a solid deal. 

You can currently pick up non-foils for under $4 - compare this to Growing Rites of Itlimoc, the Gaea's Cradle version of this cycle of enchantments, at nearly $18 [before the announcement of the reprint - Ed.] Storm the Vault can make just as much mana in the right deck, and can arguably flip much more easily, what with all the mana rocks you’re bound to be running in Commander, plus it doesn’t get hosed by most board wipes. 

Yes, you can run it in fewer decks due to the color restriction, but $4 is still an absolute steal for this bomb of an enchantment. And as more and more relevant artifacts and artifact token generators get printed, Storm the Vault only grows stronger. Additionally, it’s a double-sided card, which historically have much lower reprint rates compared to normal ones, making for a safer pickup overall.

Storm the Vault	CardKingdom $4.49	TCGPlayer $4.00
Growing Rites of Itlimoc	CardKingdom $19.99	TCGPlayer $16.10

Timesifter

Shifting gears away from treasure and treasure-centric playstyles, I have a pick that serves as a niche budget upgrade for any deck with a high mana curve and some sort of top deck manipulation: Timesifter.

For five mana this card can completely warp and dominate the game, often in your favor, to the tune of multiple extra turns, if done right. Timesifter not only changes the game, it becomes the game - every action anyone takes will be done with this in mind, and it needs to be answered ASAP or all chaos breaks loose. Taking out the consistent given that your turn is guaranteed to happen in order every rotation absolutely turns the game on its head, and while it will make you public enemy number one, no one will realistically know when their next turn is, foiling any sort of traditional plan they could make. Playing with Timesifter is like playing Magic with Uno reverse and skip cards, and even if someone has an answer for it, there’s a good chance they may need to untap mana to cast their removal. And who knows when their next turn will be?

The ability to alter the game to such a degree makes it a prime include for any big mana decks, but the reason I bring it up now lies in the recently released Zhulodok, Void Gorger, where Timesifter isn’t even currently present on the EDHREC page. Timesifter is incredibly powerful for that deck in particular, where you can continually Cascade into value, spin Sensei's Divining Top to guarantee the next turn is yours, and rinse and repeat.

Yes, it is chaotic, but in the right deck it can provide a bit of controlled chaos - throwing off everyone’s turns this way gives you a unique playstyle in any color that may not traditionally have access to these types of extra turn effects. For a card that can have such a monumental impact on the game and can be run in every color combination, it’s a surprise that this is sitting at under $2. 

Timesifter	CardKingdom $1.79	TCGPlayer $1.60
Sensei's Divining Top	CardKingdom $24.99	TCGPlayer $23.77
Zhulodok, Void Gorger	CardKingdom	TCGPlayer $9.65

Estrid's Invocation

Taking a step away from artifacts and artifact-centric cards, I have one final pick in Estrid’s Invocation. If you’re running an Enchantress build and find yourself doubling up on your own permanents with stuff like Copy Enchantment or Mirrormade, then this is an auto-include - in fact it’s the best version of that type of card you have access to. At $10, it isn’t dirt cheap, but if you’re running an enchantment-heavy build with lots of Sphere of Safety or Collective Restraint effects, this can help turn your pillow fort into a pillow military-industrial complex. 

While this effect can be achieved with any copy enchantment effect, what sets Estrid’s Invocation apart is its versatility. You can have it come into play as say… Rhystic Study for one rotation while you gain card advantage, and then when everyone starts gunning for you, flicker it to double up on the aforementioned Sphere of Safety effects.

You may be asking - why highlight this card now? Well its lack of reprints, especially in the most recent Wilds of Eldraine: Enchanting Tales bonus sheet, make it stand out. With Doubling Season present alongside Hardened Scales, Parallel Lives, and Primal Vigor, Wizards showed it was not afraid to double up (no pun intended) on similar effects. So even though Copy Enchantment was reprinted, Estrid’s Invocation’s absence is noteworthy.

Wizards can technically put Estrid’s Invocation in any product whenever they want, as is the case with basically every non-RL card, but this bonus sheet would have been the perfect place for it, and the fact that it dodged a reprint makes me think it may be a bit before we see it again. That, on top of the fact that its only printing was in a Commander deck where Estrid herself was the face of the product, makes it a safe, and almost necessary, pick for any Enchantress builds in blue, even at $10.

Estrid's Invocation	CardKingdom $14.99	TCGPlayer $9.70
Copy Enchantment	CardKingdom $0.69	TCGPlayer $0.84

In Conclusion

Those are my picks for cards you may have forgotten or overlooked for the time being, but there’s plenty more where they came from in all the releases this game has seen. Don’t be afraid to get weird with your deckbuilding.

Until I shine a light on more of these unusual choices next time… Thanks for reading!

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