Sphere of Influence: August 16, 2024

Welcome to Sphere of Influence, a pre-FNM look at some potential movers and shakers that are worth picking up before their prices increase.

The post-rotation Standard is beginning to take shape, so I thought we could look at some popular cards from that format that are both affordable and have some utility outside of Standard alone. Let’s get into it…

Fountainport

This utility land reminds me of Trading Post in its level of versatility; fittingly, the card has found its way into a number of Standard decks, almost entirely independent of strategy. At the bare minimum, it taps for colorless, and every player wants to use extra mana late in the game to make a token and draw a card—think of Fountainport like having a companion.

With enough printings, I’d expect Fountainport to stay pretty cheap, perhaps hovering around the price of a bulk rare for a time. I still think it’s worth picking up at least one for its current $1.50 price, though, if only to toss into a Commander deck as basically a free-roll. Considering how often Rogue’s Passage and Reliquary Tower get played, there seems to exist a healthy appetite for colorless utility lands that are far worse!

Sword of Once and Future

I doubt any future Sword of X and Y will beat Sword of Feast and Famine or Sword of Fire and Ice in utility (though Sword of Forge and Frontier is up there), and Sword of Once and Future is the same. Its abilities are weaker, even if its protections are relevant, and it’s doubtful anyone would tutor up this Sword if others were available. Still, the cycle is popular and always has the potential to facilitate a blowout based on which colors it hoses—and blue is quite the color to hose in Commander.

Sword of Once and Future is worth roughly $4, a mere fraction of the price of others, and those looking to complete the set will certainly be picking them up when supply diminishes and prices start increasing. While this card continues to offer some level of utility in Standard, it’s definitely worth grabbing at least one while they’re in rotation.

Emberheart Challenger

The design of this tiny Mouse Warrior is quite elegant, and in the right Standard deck it can net a fair amount of card advantage with little effort (the haste and prowess aren’t bad, either). In Commander, it fares a bit worse, as it’s unlikely you’ll want to trigger its valiant ability on someone else’s turn since you can only cast the card until the next end step, not your next end step. But, let’s not forget it’s a Warrior, and there are plenty of synergies that exist in Magic’s history around the creature type. I’d expect this to remain a utility player, and $2 feels fine for it.

Get Lost

I think we’ve yet to see the floor of this card. Two mana is a very affordable price for destroying the most relevant card type in Commander and the most pesky one (and also planeswalkers), even if it leaves your opponent with two Map tokens—which they may not be able to use, in the absence of another creature. In Standard, Get Lost is a removal staple that only significant power creep, or a Standard-legal reprint of Path to Exile, can overcome. Its price of $3 is less than it’s been, and decks only need two or three to take full advantage.

Dawn of Dusk

I know Bloomburrow only just came out, but it wouldn’t be Magic: the Gathering if another set wasn’t right around the corner—in this case, Duskmourn: House of Horrors. A few cards have been previewed so far. Any that look promising to you?