Welcome back, readers!

It's that time of the year again...rotation! Not only does WoTC give us a brand new set with lots of toys, but prices of many old Standard staples drop (often by a huge amount), and we get the opportunity to trade "hot new" overpriced Standard cards for rock bottom-priced eternal cards.

But that's another subject for another article. This week we'll delve (an appropriate pun) into Khans looking for the hidden Legacy gems. The key part of that statement is "hidden"--We all know the fetchlands are eternal staples, so I don't need to go into much detail there.

I will say that if you crack them the first week or two, it'd likely be worth trading them off. If we look at almost every other recent rare mana fixing land we see that the pre-order/initial price was always higher than the actual price a month later. This phenomenon goes all the way back to the Zendikar fetches which started out at $25/$15 (blue/non-blue) and found their way down to $15/$10.

As always let's first define our the characteristics we look for when determining how Legacy-playable the cards are.

1. Power -- In order for any card to see Legacy play it either needs to match or surpass the power of an existing card, or provide a completely unique effect.
2. Converted Mana Cost -- The lower the better. While this is important in all formats, it is especially so in one as efficient as Legacy.
3. Pitchable to Force? -- While this obviously isn't a deal breaker, blue cards should be scrutinized more simply because blue is the most powerful color.
4. Similarity to Staples -- Does it do something similar to a card that already sees play?

Now that we've got that out of the way let's look at some of the interesting cards from Khans.

Clever Impersonator

1. The power level on this card is very high. He does cost the same as a Jace, the Mind Sculptor, so in most cases why not just play JTMS instead? However, he can copy anything, making him extremely versatile.
2. The CMC is again the exact same as JTMS. Four mana is quite a lot in Legacy so the card needs to do a lot to be worth it.
3. He's blue so you can pitch him to FoW.
4. This card is and isn't similar to other cards. We've had Phyrexian Metamorph available for a while and that one can copy creatures or artifacts for three mana (and two life), but the extra mana (and the fact that he's double blue) gives you a whole lot of versatility. The only sad thing is that like all clone effects he doesn't allow you to copy your opponent's permanent when brought into play via Show and Tell.

Dig Through Time

1. This is a scry 7, draw two spell at instant speed. That's insanely powerful. The normal cost is also insanely high (eight mana) but the fact that it has delve means that in certain decks it really just costs two. The fact that to pull this off you have to remove six cards in your yard from the game does mean that it's not likely going to be a four-of in many (or likely any decks).
2. The CMC is either ridiculously unplayable or stupidly broken...completely depending on the number of cards you don't care about in your yard when you cast it.
3. Pitchable to FoW.
4. This card is somewhat similar to Lim-Dul's Vault as a way to get some solid library manipulation at instant speed (and for two mana...sometimes). The fact that it has a draw two thrown in is ridiculous. In fact, the only problem it really has going for it right now is just how many decks run cards to keep graveyards in check (Rest in Peace, Relic of Progenitus, Deathrite Shaman), thus potentially limiting your delve stockpile.

Stubborn Denial

1. When first reading this I immediately jumped on the "so it's a more restrictive/bad Force Spike" train and brushed it aside. However, any format that runs Tarmogoyf with blue cards might want to reconsider it. Now it does have to fight with Spell Pierce at the one blue counter target non-creature spell slot. However, unlike Spell Pierce (in the right deck), it gets better as the game goes on, whereas Spell Pierce gets worse.
2. Similar to Spell Pierce in cost, though less impressive in abilities the first couple turns, but better than Spell Pierce once you have ferocious.
3. Pitchable to FoW.
4. Again, see Spell Pierce.

Treasure Cruise

1. Eight mana to draw three cards at sorcery speed; no thank you--oh wait, it has Delve... Well I guess if I can get a lot of cards in my graveyard that I don't care about, then casting Ancestral Recall at sorcery speed is still pretty ridiculous.
2. Similar to Dig Through Time, its CMC is either unplayable or bonkers depending on what your graveyard looks like.
3. Pitchable to FoW (noticing a pattern so far).
4. Ancestral Freaking Recall.

Bloodsoaked Champion

1. Any creature that can be recurred from the graveyard repeatedly should be reviewed carefully.
2. One mana for a 2/1 with no evasion isn't spectacular, but it's still respectable.
3. The first non-blue card on our list...you can try to pitch it to FoW, but it'd be illegal.
4. Very Gravecrawler-ish. His ability does cost more and like Gravecrawler it can be used repeatedly in the same turn (which is always awesome). But, whereas Gravecrawler needs another zombie to be active, this guy just needs you to have attacked with something (anything).

Dead Drop

1. Making a player sacrifice two creatures isn't horrible. As many RUG players will tell you, when they think their opponent has Liliana they'll drop extra creatures just to keep their Mongeese alive.
2. Ten mana for double Diabolic Edict...again, no thanks. But as you've probably noticed, delve makes this card a lot more interesting. It really is a shame this is sorcery speed as it would give black a hilarious solution to "Sneak Attack in Griselbrand, draw 14, sneak in Emrakul, enter attack step). The good news is, if you're playing black and it isn't storm based...you're likely gunning for the mid- to long game when delve really shines.
3. Not blue, not pitchable.
4. People already play Diabolic Edict and Innocent Blood (especially to get past those pesky True-Name Nemesis's). This spell can do a lot more work than those cards, assuming you can find enough cards to delve.

Empty the Pits

1. I'll be honest and admit I almost wrote this one off too, and then I noticed it was an instant. Putting in an army of 2/2's at instant speed is pretty darn powerful. It's not as good as 4/4 flying Angels, but it's still not too shabby.
2. The CMC is pretty rough on this one (even with delve). Quadruple black is a tough color combination to hit, even with the near perfect mana of Legacy. But this is still a very powerful effect and is amazing against late game decks. Imagine casting this against Miracles after they've used up a couple Terminus's. Counterbalance isn't gonna stop a spell whose CMC is likely 10-16.
3. Nope.
4. I think this will get tried out. The biggest concern I see is that non-storm black decks are usually graveyard synergistic (with Gravecrawlers, Nether Spirit, Ashen Ghoul, or whatnot) and/or run the Life from the Loam engine, so the hate people would normally bring in against these decks is also good against this card.

Grim Haruspex

1. Drawing a card when a creature you control dies is a pretty powerful effect.
2. Three mana for a 3/2 isn't all that spectacular. Usually for three mana I'm casting something and naming my opponent or showing something that costs a lot more or letting the Council decide what to exile (with me being head of said council).
3. Nein.
4. This could provide an engine with a low enough cost for something like Zombardment to give it a shot. If you have a sacrifice outlet, this guy, and a recursive creature you can get some solid card advantage.

Murderous Cut

1. It's a kill spell with no restrictions.
2. Five mana to kill any creature. Pretty lousy (you could run Hero's Downfall if you really needed to), but one mana is pretty awesome. As with all the other delve cards, this one's power level is strictly dependent on how much graveyard hate is being thrown around.
3. Nope.
4. This will likely be tried out in a Jund-like midrange deck, though I have the suspicious feeling that Lightning Bolt already kills most of the things you'd need this for. Although nailing a Griselbrand with it would probably feel pretty spectacular.

Necropolis Fiend

1. Tombstalker saw some play. This guy gives you one less power and a cool but likely limited-time-use ability for one more card from your graveyard.
2. Again, without delve, completely unplayable, with delve up in the air.
3. Nada.
4. Not as good as Tombstalker at closing out the game, but pretty solid way to control the board against creature based decks.

Howl of the Horde

1. Twincast, Reverberate and Fork haven't seen play in quite awhile, but the ability is always powerful.
2. Three mana for this effect means you're paying one extra, but three mana for this effect twice means you're paying one less mana and one less card for it. It really is a shame that it only copies your spells, but I guess that attacking with a creature and casting this in response to your opponent going EoT Brainstorm would be a bit too unfair.
3. Negative.
4. I'd love to see it get played, and it has potential, but sadly the decks that usually want to attack with creatures don't usually cast a lot of post-combat spells (with the exception of Burn playing Goblin Guide and Eidolon of the Great Revel). Again you have to pay the mana for the spell you want to copy as well, so the total mana spent on your turn is likely going to be four plus.

Jeering Instigator

1. Threaten effects rarely if ever make their way into Legacy.
2. The first part being said, this guy is a goblin which is one of the top tribes of Legacy (right behind Elves). While Goblins previously could get Stingscourger to bounce a creature, playing this guy face down on turn 3 is really gonna limit what your Show and Tell opponent is willing to drop down on their turn. I really want to see someone use this guy on a Show and Telled Emrakul on camera.
3. Aucun.
4. Similar to Stingscourger. Sometimes way better, sometimes worse.

Deflecting Palm

1. Eye for an Eye never saw Legacy play--it also didn't prevent the damage to you.
2. Two different colored mana for this effect is on par with existing spells that do half of this spells job.
3. Geen.
4. Nothing like it is really seeing play currently.

And there you have it. All the cards from Khans I think might show up in Legacy. Anything significant you think I missed? Sound off in the comments.