Hello and welcome back to the weekly set retrospective! This week, we will take a look at the second half of Future Sight, a set so full of money cards that I had to split up the analysis! Let's dive in:

$3.25

The Moon Man sees a little bit of Legacy play in decks like Imperial Painter (which is nearly unplayable, due to the nonexistence of Imperial Recruiter). It also gets a little bit of Modern attention. The Modern market is nascent right now, but I predict that we'll see a deck that uses this guy much like the Hustle N' Flow decks used Destructive Flow to punish greedy manabases. It's a tier-2 strategy, but we could see it pop up early next year.

$1.25

Nonbasic lands have to be at least a buck, so it seems. The Maze is almost completely worse than our current checklands like Glacial Fortress. That said, it'll always come in untapped, which gives it a slight edge in Modern over the Fortress. I don't think we'll ever see Nimbus Maze played in serious decks, which makes me think that it's overpriced at just a buck. Toss this one away for Commander and be done with it.

$12.50

Pact is a seriously good card in the right context. In Legacy, you can Merchant Scroll for it. In Vintage, it's another free counter for Ad Nauseam decks. When it was in Standard, you could transmute Tolaria West to get some counter backup. It's a great card and it sees some play in the Legacy Hive Mind decks. I'm keeping an eye on it for Modern, as well. it shone in the Blazing Shoal deck which is now gone, but Pact can still back up a host of other combo decks. This could be one of those groaner cards that you have to shell out $20 for when Modern PTQ season comes around.

$2.50

Swath is part of a Modern combo deck that uses the red Rituals and Grapeshot, plus this card. I don't know if it'll go anywhere with the recent Modern bannings, but it is a consistent turn-four deck. People played Dragonstorm in previous seasons not because it was fast, but because you knew that you'd win on the fourth turn in every game. The price on Swath is all over the place on Ebay; this is a card I'd be consistently scheduling bids on. If you can get a set for $5-8 like some go for, that's money in hand when Modern season rolls around in January.

$1.50

Again, I don't know if we'll ever play River over the current checklands. Even the Faeries decks that would want this in Modern can fall back on fetchlands and filter lands before they look at River. This card's price is driven by the Commander market and not many copies seem to be moving.

$2.50

Keep a long-term eye on the free spells for Modern. Jessie Slaughter Pact is a fine card in several strategies; it's Gaddock Teeg removal, it'll let you tap out for Mystical Teachings to kill something, and you can certainly transmute for it. I think its price is a little high right now, but people are going to eventually need copies of it. I'd hold onto mine for the time being.

$7.00

Anything "Sliver" is going to be a little more expensive, and this is just about the best five-color Sliver to slam down. All your Slivers get Coat of Arms, which means that the game is probably over for the opponent. With Gemhide Sliver, it's not hard to cast this guy in Commander, either.

$7.00

This card is anywhere from $5 to $9 on Ebay, which makes no sense to me. Pick a price and stick with it! Pact gets played in Elf combo decks and conceivably in other combination decks that might need something like Elvish Spirit Guide. People love love love this card, and you'll do a brisk business in these by helping Modern Elf players stock up.

$75.00

The world's most expensive vanilla dude is all over the place in price these days. It's a sure bet to hold onto these for Modern season. That season rolls out in January, when we'll still be in Innistrad block. Wish all you want, but R&D is not stupid enough to put Goyf in the same block as Forbidden Alchemy. That pushes back a reprint possibly for years, and this is a tournament staple monster. I'd expect these to hit a full hundred by the time the PTQ season starts up. Simultaneously, I'm not sure I'd be buying these up right now. The reason is that you have a lot of cash tied up in them and you'll only see a 33% profit if these hit $100. Better to put your money into things like shocklands and the like.

$8.00

Sometimes, we forget that R&D printed two ridiculous two-drops in Future Sight. This is the less famous one, but Tombstalker is impressive in his own right. It's a good beater for distruptive decks utilizing Hymn to Tourach in Legacy, for example. I'm unsure if it will do much in Modern, but Tombstalker is a serious Plan B in a burn deck, if that's what you need. This has very poor interactions with Dark Confidant that prevent it from being a true eternal-format superstar.

$2.50

Venser is the ultimate in bounce, since he'll even manipulate the stack. People combined him with Riptide Laboratory in the older Extended format, but that's no longer available in Modern. I think people will realize that Venser is just too overcosted to be anything but casual. Modern decks can splash colors so easily that Vensering something because you're just monoblue isn't an issue. A single Breeding Pool means that you can Beast Within anything you need to deal with. This wizard is fine to trade away, I doubt he'll get any more upward motion.

That's Future Sight! I hope you enjoyed the set review. I'm also serious that you should look for underpriced cards in Ebay, especially in this set. Simply place a $9 bid on each Pact of Negation, for example, with a scheduler, and you'll win a few here and there to stock the trade binder.

Until next week,

Doug Linn