Sphere of Influence: August 2, 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.

Bloomburrow has arrived just as prices from Modern Horizons 3 have settled into where they will likely be for some time. While the focus is on the new Redwall-esque animal warriors released this weekend, grab a few powerful and flexible cards from previous sets that are sitting at affordable prices.

Volatile Stormdrake

A sorcery speed Reality Shift wouldn’t necessarily be everyone’s top choice for blue removal in Commander, but we’ve certainly seen a lot, lot worse. However, put that theoretical removal spell on an MDFC, and suddenly it doesn’t seem so bad. Flexibility often trumps efficiency when building Commander decks to face the unknown calculus of which decks are in your pod.

Volatile Stormdrake isn’t technically a modal card, but it might as well be—and a great one, at that. Two mana lets you steal your opponent’s best creature, then sacrifice it, in exchange for giving them a 3/2 flier with very limited hexproof. Notably, this gets around indestructible and allows you to benefit from any death triggers that creature, or the rest of your board, may have on hand. The Stormdrake also provides four energy and allows you the option of using them to pay for the captive’s mana value, in which case you keep it. There are no shortage of amazing targets in Commander with mana value four or less, and if there aren’t, the card still reads like a Nekrataal variant.

The card has largely sailed under the radar so far, and $2 is a low enough price to grab one even for speculation purposes alone. Don’t be surprised, however, if it begins an ascent to mono-blue staple status, with a matching price.

Venser, Shaper Savant

Since its printing in Future Sight, Venser, Shaper Savant has hovered around the periphery of multiple formats, never quite finding a perfect home; its ability is slightly over-costed and its body is flabby, at best. Yet, in decks where cards like Chord of Calling offer the chance to search up toolbox utility, Venser can act as a wholly unexpected combat trick or last-minute Remand to deny a combo victory.

And, if you can believe it, there just so happens to be a toolbox deck dominating Modern that runs both green and blue cards. A fine, feathered friend named Nadu, Winged Wisdom has revitalized the archetype and given homes to obscurities like Shuko and Outrider en-Kor—why not Venser, too? For $1, you can, and might soon, do a lot worse.

Quintorius Kand

In terms of power creep, Quintorius Kand isn’t pushing any boundaries or breaking any formats, but the card fuels itself by allowing casts from exile and draining life with each one. Plus, its ultimate holds back-breaking potential. All this behind the guise of an excitable exploring elephant a la Indiana Jones.

Pioneer is the ideal home for Quintorius. Its mana cost prices it out of Modern, and Standard can’t quite offer enough synergy to make an entire deck worthwhile. Alongside Trumpeting Carnosaur and Beanstalk Giant, Quintorius deals lots of incidental damage on the way to amassing a huge army, and cards with channel fill the graveyard to be recurred with Quintorius’s ultimate. The card is currently $2 apiece, and a playset will secure the opportunity to play the deck to your heart’s content, especially if—nay, when—new cast-from-exile cards get printed.

Cadaverous Bloom

Bloomburrow looks like it’s full of winners, but the hype is strong even for a banger of a set. Which cards are you psyched about, but which do you think have been far overblown? I’ve heard a lot about Dour Port-Mage, for example, but I’m skeptical it will bust Modern wide open like Up the Beanstalk did. How do you all feel?