The rotation of the Standard format is scheduled for September 17, 2021, alongside the release of Innistrad: Midnight Hunt. Rotation happens once a year to shake up the format and make way for the next year’s sets.
This year we will be losing Throne of Eldraine, Theros: Beyond Death, Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths, and Core Set 2021. But that doesn’t mean these cards are useless now. The best of them will continue to be played in other formats like Pioneer, Modern, and Commander.
When cards rotate out of standard is often the ideal time to buy them. This is because their ineligibility in Standard creates a drop in demand. However, as top-performers continue to see play in older formats, they can actually increase in price because they are no longer in Wizards of the Coast‘s printing circulation (excluding reprints). This makes rotation the perfect time to buy a lot of cards.
This article will cover some of the best cards to pick up from Theros: Beyond Death around the time of rotation.
Honorable Mentions
When people talk about Theros: Beyond Death, at some point Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath will be brought up and how it essentially warped our beloved game, resulting in its banning in the Standard, Historic, Pioneer, and Modern formats.
But there are a ton of other great cards from Theros: Beyond Death. So many, in fact, that we felt obligated to mention a few extra in this article:
Wizards of the Coast 
Wizards of the Coast -
Wizards of the Coast
Nyxbloom Ancient is a Commander powerhouse. It’s a big, seven-mana bomb, allowing you to triple your mana and make some borderline degenerate plays. It is an easy decision to include in ramp decks and decks with X-mana payoff spells.
Idyllic Tutor was originally printed in Morning Tide back in 2008. At one point it was a $35.00 card. It finally got a much-needed reprint in Theros: Beyond Death and now there is a more affordable option that costs about $3.00-$4.00. Why is it such a great card? Because Commander players love tutors, that’s why. Idyllic Tutor is the perfect, or some may say idyllic card for enchantment Commander decks.
Dryad of the Ilysian Grove is another excellent source of mana ramp. It works especially well paired with Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle in Modern decks like Scapeshift and Amulet Titan because, in addition to its ramp ability, it can also turn all of your lands into Mountains.
Thassa’s Oracle
Maybe you’ve heard of this Merfolk Wizard from the news recently. That’s because it was banned in Historic back in May. This is because Wizards of the Coast printed Tainted Pact in the Stryxhaven Mystical Archives.
Together, Tainted Pact and Thassa’s Oracle allow players to exile their entire library consisting of singleton cards and automatically win with Oracle’s enter the battlefield ability.
But this combo existed before historic. It started as a tried-and-true combo in Commander. And it still is! Thassa’s Oracle will continue to play the role of a key combo piece in many of the formats it is legal in. That’s why it is a great pick-up come rotation.
Destiny Spinner
People are starting to recognize Destiny Spinner as a Commander staple. It’s perfect for green, creature-based decks that want to make sure their threats hit the field. It can be a budget replacement for Allosaurus Shepherd but works just as well when played together with the elf shaman as an additional copy of this anti-counterspell effect.
Destiny Spinner is also the win condition in recent Modern enchantress decks (Enchantment-themed decks based around drawing cards from effects like Enchantress’s Pressence). Sanctum Weaver can make loads of mana and Destiny Spinner is a great place to spend it.
Destiny Spinner has already risen in price over the last few months from $1.00 to almost $3.00. If it becomes anywhere near as ubiquitous as Eternal Witness in the Commander format, it could possibly reach prices around $5.00.
Heliod, Sun-Crowned
Heliod, Sun-Crowned is perhaps best known for its synergy with Walking Ballista. Simply give Ballista lifelink with Heliod’s ability, and for every +1/+1 counter you spend with Ballista, you deal one damage, gain one life and replace the spent +1/+1 counter with Heliod. This results in infinite damage and infinite life gained.
This combo was the heart behind a once-dominant deck in Modern. It only recently took a dip in popularity with the metagame shakeup via Modern Horizons 2, but it is still a very powerful combo deck that could make a comeback in the future.
The Heliod-Ballista combo is strong in Commander too. But even without his 0/0 Construct companion, Heliod makes a great addition to any deck revolved around gaining life.
Kroxa, Titan of Death’s Hunger
This elder giant was overshadowed for some time by its brethren, Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath. Since Uro’s bannings, Kroxa has been given more room to shine.
It currently sees play in many decks across formats including Pioneer‘s Rakdos sacrifice and Young Pyromancer decks, as well as Modern decks like Jund and Death’s Shadow.
Kroxa is a beefy threat, whose recurring nature will make it difficult for all opponents to deal with. While at one point it was about $8.00, it is currently priced at around $23.00-25.00, but this may push higher the more red-black decks include Death’s Hunger.
Shadow
Shadowspear is a versatile card. It helps punch through opposing blockers via trample. It recovers life against opponents’ aggressive strategies. And it can assist in removing more sticky threats that have hexproof or indestructible.
Shadowspear recently doubled in price. This is almost entirely because of Modern Horizons 2 and the printing of Urza’s Saga. The notorious land enchantment can tutor Shadowpear from your deck and put it directly onto the battlefield, where it serves as a piece of great equipment for any constructs made with Urza’s Saga.
Because of this synergy, Shadowspear is now a common inclusion in Modern decks like Affinity, Food, and Hammer Time. Shadowspear is already close to $20.00 at the time of this article, but given time, the legendary artifact may go up further in price.
