Welcome back all! With Eternal Masters just around the corner in early June, let's look at some possibilities and hopes for each colour. The methodology here will be simple. Over the next two weeks, I'll look at Top 8 lists from Vintage and Legacy and Commander primers from MTGSalvation and go from there.
I'll also bear in mind that this is a Limited format, so there likely won't be any duplication in styles of cards (no duplicate mass land destruction seems likely). Let's take a look at five cards in each colour (as well as lands and artifactcts/colourless) that could badly use a reprint.
White
White is a nice support colour in Commander and Legacy, with excellent spot removal, sweepers and some killer planeswalkers. Let's take a look at some needed reprints.
With a single printing in a previous Conspiracy set, would help foil True-Name Nemesis in draft and affords us a few new copies. Sees play in Commander as well in some more controlling lists. |
Wildcard/Commander Pick:
The feared turn one play in Commander is quite fair in a 20 life format, and there aren't a ton of copies available out there for trade. Simply drop it at Rare and call it a day. |
Blue
The best colour in Magic has a few staples that we'd like to have back.
Like its colleague the Imperial Recruiter, there have only been two printings of this, one in a Commander product and the other a Judge Foil. It's high time for a reprint, perhaps in the uncommon or rare slot, as it's unlikely to see a reprint in a Standard or Commander product. |
Another deck-defining staple that needs a reprint yesterday. Sees abundant play in Legacy, some corner play in Commander and would make collectors excessively happy with a foil reprint. |
A more unlikely entry, but it seems plenty of play in Legacy, Modern and Commander. Would make for a very swingy Limited format though if there are any efficient counterspells or burn spells. |
Wildcard/Commander Pick:
Black
Black is a staple colour in Commander with its abundance of tutors, fast mana and utility creatures (that invariably die to Skullclamp). Wizards will have the easiest time of all picking a handful of cards to reprint, so let's speculate!
Its last printing was a Judge Foil ages ago. Demonic Tutor has seen a recent printing and this card's rarity and value increases by the month. A staple in Commander and would definitely see some play if allowed in Legacy. |
Yes, there are a ton of these in circulation. No, that isn't an excuse to leave it aside for Eternal Masters. Print it at Uncommon if you must, but print it again. More foil copies of Dark Ritual are a must. |
Its also had a reprint in the Premium Deck Series: Graveborn, but remains a four-of in decks using it and is hovering close to $20 each at the moment. Would love to see a reprint if only to give Ad Nauseam players a little breathing room. |
Wildcard/Commander Pick:
Red
Red suffers in Commander from the higher life total, but there are tons of potential staples here for constructed formats. Let's take a look at a few possibilities.
I refer here to any number of the "Bolt" variants, which could be the original, or Lava Spike or Rift Bolt. While they aren't onerously expensive at the moment at only around $5 each, a reprint at the common slot in Eternal Masters would be a relief, if only because it would flood the market a little more. You can also include Chain Lightning in this list as it's consistently around $20 or so on the secondary market. |
Another fun card that lets you cheat an early Chalice of the Void or fuel an Ad Nauseam combo deck in Modern, SSG could use a reprint. They'll probably want to place it at Uncommon though so people aren't exploding their hand with it as a pseudo generic mana enabler. |
Wildcard/Commander Pick:
They have said they'd release some Commander options into the wild here and red is a nice support colour in the format. Deretti is a popular option for artifact builds and can get especially nasty once he ultimates, bringing back Mindslaver and essentially locking players out of the game. The art on the original is fairly good so there isn't a need to "correct" this issue either. |
Green
We probably won't be seeing Tarmogoyf making a comeback here, but there are still some nice green cards that are abundandly played in Commander and some more aggressive Legacy builds. Let's wish upon an Eternal star once again...
It's Uncommon and a real bomb in Limited, so expect a bump to Rare if in this set. Sees play in Infect as a finisher and in the odd Commander deck, but would be a welcome reprint overall. |
Fantastic mana-enabler that also helps your creatures in combat and a staple in Infect strategies as well, the Hierarch sees play in Commander wherever it can fit. Would love to see it back in play. |
Wildcard/Commander Pick:
Hovering close to $40 these days, the inevitable finisher off a Tooth and Nail sees play in all allowed Commander variants. It's in dire need of a reprint, so let's get that done, shall we? |
Artifacts/Colorless and Lands
Mana Crypt is too ambitious (though I'd love to be surprised) and Sol Ring likely too strong for a draft format. Ancient Tomb at Mythic or Rare would add a little punitive push and be a welcome addition for those of us on the hyper-greedy end of the spectrum. |
Only one foil version and the regular version tops $50 on a regular basis. It's time, so don't put it off any longer. Makes a nice speed bump in Limited as well. |
It's an Uncommon so it can be reprinted. Its colleague Pendelhaven has been already, but its more valuable brethren's price keeps increasing. There's also only one foil copy, so killing two birds with one stone would do us all a world of good. |
Wildcard/Commander Pick:
Yes, its lesser expensive cousin Ashnod's Altar is still around, but this one has the added benefit of producing coloured mana and is becoming prohibitively expensive in its foil version. |
With official Eternal Masters previews coming soon, I hope that some of my wishlist will be heard by the powers above. If not, perhaps EMA can become a yearly (or staggered yearly) occurence to refill our card collections with those loved and loathed staples of years gone by.
Until next time, let's be eternally grateful there is no Comet Storm hitting our fellow players out of these packs.