As of today, we’re only 43 days away from the full release of Magic: The Gathering’s next mainline expansion, Edge of Eternities. Considering Final Fantasy only dropped fully a few days ago, that’s a wild figure to take in. We’ll be getting a first look at the set this weekend at MagicCon: Las Vegas, which more than likely means a few preview cards. Before that happens, and before the market starts reacting to the new MTG hotness, we thought we’d break down the best cards to buy before Edge of Eternities previews begin.
For the most part, this set is shrouded in secrecy so far. There are still a number of clues we can look at, however, which predict certain themes and elements that may show up. A lot of great support cards for these themes are dirt cheap right now, and ripe to buy. If they get additional support, during this weekend’s reveals or beyond, that may not be the case for long. Our picks are largely geared toward Standard, with one sneaky Commander card thrown in for good measure.
5 | Muraganda Raceway
- Rarity: Rare
- Type: Land
- Card Text: Start your engines! (If you have no speed, it starts at 1. It increases once on each of your turns when an opponent loses life. Max speed is 4.)
Tap: Add C.
Max speed — Tap: Add CC.
While nothing has been officially confirmed, we’ve had a lot of hints that the Eldrazi may be returning in Edge of Eternities. The fact that Wastes got a reprint in Final Fantasy supports this theory further. If Magic’s favorite eldritch monstrosities do make a return, then cards that can help power them out will have a real shot in Standard. In this regard, Muraganda Raceway is a stellar pickup.
The big headline here is obviously the ability to become a better Ancient Tomb if you hit Max Speed. That gives you a significant mana bump towards casting big Eldrazi. It’s worth noting that this is an untapped colorless source even without Max Speed, however, which means it can contribute to Eldrazi costs and abilities just fine even when drawn in the late game.
This one definitely looks like a long shot, but I think it has real potential if we do get new Eldrazi support. At only $0.87 a copy currently, it’s not exactly a big risk to grab a playset, either. If you’re feeling particularly confident, the First-Place Foil version is relatively cheap too at around $5.40. Either way, Muraganda Raceway is definitely one of the best MTG cards to buy before Edge of Eternities.
4 | Repurposing Bay
- Mana Value: 2U
- Rarity: Rare
- Type: Artifact
- Card Text: 2, Tap, Sacrifice another artifact: Search your library for an artifact card with mana value equal to 1 plus the sacrificed artifact’s mana value, put that card onto the battlefield, then shuffle. Activate only as a sorcery.
As with Muraganda Raceway, this one is fairly speculative. Based on the presence of Tezzeret in the key art so far, and the revealed box for the Counter Intelligence Commander deck, it’s looking like artifacts could be a significant theme in Edge of Eternities. If this is the case, then support cards like Repurposing Bay have a real chance to shine.
Players have been trying to get an artifact deck to work for a while now, with some success. It hasn’t quite gotten there yet, however, despite a big wave of support in Aetherdrift. If Wizards gives the deck another push in Edge of Eternities, all of that could change. Suddenly artifacts could be the deck to beat in Standard, and a card like Repurposing Bay, which tutors for the best of them, could see a serious value bump.
Like Raceway, it’s cheap to pick up Repurposing Bay in any of its variants right now. Base copies are just $0.55, which is wild for a card so mechanically similar to Birthing Pod. Even the First-Place Foil is just $7.50, which is very affordable in the grand scheme of things. This is an easy pickup right now, along with the majority of other artifact support in Standard. Ridiculous financial anomaly Simulacrum Synthesizer aside.
3 | Jenova, Ancient Calamity
- Mana Value: 2BG
- Rarity: Rare
- Type: Legendary Creature – Alien
- Stats: 1/5
- Card Text: At the beginning of combat on your turn, put a number of +1/+1 counters equal to Jenova’s power on up to one other target creature. That creature becomes a Mutant in addition to its other types.
Whenever a Mutant you control dies during your turn, you draw cards equal to its power.
We’re right on the cutting edge now, with a card that only fully released four days ago. Jenova is one of the many, many legendary creatures from Final Fantasy. It’s also an Alien, which is likely to be hugely relevant in Edge of Eternities. As a set themed around interstellar travel, it would be frankly disappointing if we didn’t get some decent Alien support.
Type line aside, Jenova is just a solid card at a base line. Four mana for a 1/5 isn’t amazing, but it does start placing counters immediately, and potentially drawing cards too. It’s a decent engine for Golgari decks, and one that could easily start seeing play in decks like Aristocrats, where sacrifice outlets can enable the draw early. Making creatures Mutants is another fun typal edge, and one that may well be relevant in Edge of Eternities too. If not, the upcoming Marvel crossover sets will definitely have some uses for it.
While prices on a lot of Final Fantasy cards are skyrocketing right now, Jenova has gone in the other direction. Regular copies are comically cheap at $0.43, and you can get the snazzy Karo ARAI Borderless version for just $4.23 to boot. Final Fantasy prices are very much still in flux, so this may be one of the Edge of Eternities spec cards that’s best to buy sooner rather than later.
2 | Omenpath Journey
- Mana Value: 3G
- Rarity: Mythic Rare
- Type: Enchantment
- Card Text: When this enchantment enters, search your library for up to five land cards that have different names, exile them, then shuffle.
At the beginning of your end step, choose a card at random exiled with this enchantment and put it onto the battlefield tapped.
Another thing we know about Edge of Eternities, thanks to a leak back in January, is that the set will feature a cycle of five new mythic rare lands. It’s also likely that lands in general will be a mechanical focus for the set, given the World Shaper Commander deck. The Landfall theme in Final Fantasy could well have been setting the stage for this too. Lands will very likely matter in this set, which means land support cards will too.
There are a number of good options in this category, but for our money the most exciting right now is Omenpath Journey. This is an obscure enchantment from The Big Score, which lets you tutor five different lands into play very, very slowly. Handily, this will let you grab all five of the new mythic rare lands if you want to. You can also use it to fix your colors, snag some utility lands, or even just ramp. In any case, it offers five additional Landfall triggers for four mana.
This is quite a slow card, and it hasn’t seen much success in any format so far. A heavy land theme could give it a chance to break out, however, and if it does the gains could be huge. We’ve seen cards like Vaultborn Tyrant, Simulacrum Synthesizer and Sword of Wealth and Power soar to great heights because of the innate scarcity of Big Score cards. If this happens again here, its current price tag of $2 will sound very cheap indeed.
1 | Gallifrey Council Chamber
- Rarity: Rare
- Type: Legendary Land
- Card Text: When Gallifrey Council Chamber enters, Surveil 1. (Look at the top card of your library. You may put that card into your graveyard.)
Tap: Add C.
Tap: Add one mana of any color. Spend this mana only to cast a Time Lord or Alien spell or activate an ability of a Time Lord or Alien.
So far we’ve focused purely on Standard, but the very best of the MTG cards you can buy before Edge of Eternities is actually a Commander piece. We spoke above about the high likelihood of Alien receiving some typal support in the set. If it does, Gallifrey Council Chamber will become a slam-dunk auto-include for a hot new deck that a ton of players will likely want to try out.
In an Alien deck, this is essentially an untapped, five-color Surveil land. You can even use the mana on abilities too, which is a concession few of these typal lands make. Sure it’s not fetchable, but the upsides here are still massive if Alien is your core creature type.
Obvious Alien Typal staple status aside, Gallifrey Council Chamber also isn’t blessed with huge supply. The card was only available in the Doctor Who Commander precons or Collector Boosters. These aren’t opened nearly as much as main sets, which means any demand for the card will be immediately reflected in its price. Right now, you can pick up regular copies of the card for $0.22 and Surge Foils for $1.76. Given how likely it is that Aliens play a big role in Edge of Eternities, both of those prices feel like a steal.
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