It’s Top 10 time again and we have some sweet unique cards to include on this one. Let’s jump right into Hour of Devastation and the cool new tools it has to offer us.

10. Supreme Will and Abrade

 
Alright, I cheated and put Supreme Will and Abrade tied for number 10 on the list. Both of these uncommons are on another level than previous versions of the same effect. Abrade is a strict upgrade to Shatter as basically a hybrid with Lightning Strike. Sure, you can only hit creatures, but that’s quite alright. With Supreme will, we get to have Mana Leak and Impulse as options for a mana more than their original costs, and that’s pretty amazing. Supreme Will seems like a mini Cryptic Command and might even be good enough for Modern.

Financial Value

Financially, I think both of these cards are great investments. We’ve seen uncommons hold strong prices lately and I think these two are going to be the next in that list.

9. Ammit Eternal

It’s been a while since we’ve had a beasty three drop like Ammit Eternal in Standard. I know it’s not Knight of the Reliquary good, but it’s probably Anafenza, the Foremost good, and that was a Standard staple. I could almost see it in a tempo or control strategy because this Zombie Crocodile Demon plays well with removal spells. When I’m pondering Ammit Eternal, I always think of Blind Creeper from back when I started playing, but Ammit is much better.

Financial Value

I’m going to take a bold stance on this guy and say he’s going to go up in price. He’s sitting right below $2 right now and might dip down to $1.50 right after release, but once we figure out how to play with him, I think he will jump up a couple bucks.

8. Oketra’s Last Mercy

Play against Oketra's Last Mercy once and you’ll know why it made it onto the top 10 here at number eight. At the prerelease, I dealt forty damage because I had to play through this ridiculous spell. You are basically getting Resolute Archangel, but without the dumb creature part. The difference is that this spell costs an insane three mana! Anytime Wizards gives us a way to cheat on mana, like spells from this cycle, pay attention – because they’re always powerful. Sure some of your lands won’t untap, but that’s perfectly okay.

Financial Value

It blows my mind that this is a bulk rare right now. Between Commander and a couple copies for control decks in Standard, I think this should definitely be at least $2 if not a little higher. Grab these cheap when you see them. They should trade really well also.

7. Bontu’s Last Reckoning

A three-mana Wrath of God! Seriously, Wizards, what were you thinking with Bontu's Last Reckoning? That’s just not fair. Bontu's Last Reckoning is much better than Hour of Revelation, but we have lots of options for sweepers from this set.

Financial Value

A price of $5 is definitely not enough money for Bontu's Last Reckoning, so yeah, these are good to get a hold of. I think the lands not untapping isn’t a big deal at all, especially late in the game. Once players realize the drawback isn’t that bad, they’ll start jumping on board with these cards and the prices will go up.

6. Hour of Devastation

Players will be casting the title card from this set  for a long while to come. Red doesn’t get cards like this often at all. For five mana, you get five damage to creatures and planeswalkers. That’s efficient and powerful. The added perks of not damaging your Bolas and their dudes losing indestructible is sweet too. The art is sick as well.

Financial Value

I’ll be hording Hour of Devastations from Hour of Devastation because they will go in so many Commander decks. Not only that, though – I think this sweeper is great in Standard. Prerelease foils are in double digits and regular copies are sitting at $7. After the initial release dip in price, just cycle through obtaining and moving these as much as possible. I’ll have an aggressive buy price on this one for sure.

5. Samut, the Tested

Alright, so let me be straight with you here, Samut, the Tested is definitely not the best planeswalker we’ve seen by far. However, the more I see her, the more she’s growing on me. The reason I have such a high opinion of her is one part the weak set she’s from and the second part is that she can jump right into a preexisting archetype. Red Green Gods isn’t exactly breaking the meta right now, but maybe Samut is what we needed to push the strategy into the higher tiers of playability. Additionally, I do like the two damage -2 ability.

Financial Value

Samut is starting off at the bottom of the price chart for planeswalkers at under $4 so she doesn’t have much room to drop. She’s not Tibalt after all. If Samut sees any play whatsoever, she will double in value overnight. I think that makes her one of the best cards to obtain from this set.

4. Solemnity

At number four we have one of the most unique cards from this set and the hardest to say, Solemnity. The reason why I’ve ranked this card so highly is because of its unique effect. This enchantment reminds me of Rest in Peace or Stony Silence because of how efficiently it disables counter strategies.

Financial Value

Solemnity should be able to hold value for years to come. It might be a little lower or a little higher than its current $5 price tag, but I like the future stability of its price.

3. Razaketh, the Foulblooded

If you’ve read my recent articles, number three on this top 10 shouldn’t surprise you at all. I’m hyped for Razaketh, the Foulblooded because I see huge potential within that demon’s text. There are so many options for how to utilize this 8/8 flyer, and all of them will likely be good.

Financial Value

For the price of Razaketh to really take off and not just grow steadily from the Commander crowd, we need it to see play in Standard or Modern, possibly even Legacy. I think Griselbrand is still better, but Razaketh fits into different strategies than Griselbrand, and they also could work well together. Still, I think $5 is quite affordable for this amazingly potent ability on this card.

2. Nicol Bolas, God-Pharaoh // not The Locust God

Just like some of the other cards on this list, Nicol Bolas, God-Pharoah of Amonkhet has better standing in my mind now than where it was initially. When I first saw the card text, I was disappointed because it was more balanced than what we thought it would be. With that being said, as I write about it and think about how the abilities will interact with opponents, Nicol Bolas is reminding me more and more of Karn Liberated. Both of them mess with your opponents hand and can deal with threats in play. Bolas also gets free spells to cast once the board is clear. I think all of that sounds hard to deal with, especially when he has nine possible starting loyalty.

Financial Value

Hour of Devastation is the first set in a while that I think has underpriced planeswalkers. Nicol Bolas might be like $18, but between casual appeal and competitive playability, I actually think we’re going to see a price increase. Maybe, he will follow the price decline of nearly every other ‘walker, but I think he’s way better than our initial opinions.

1. Ramunap Excavator

Lastly, at number one, we have Ramunap Excavator! Okay, I hate the name, but the ability on this efficient three-drop is insane. We know that Crucible of Worlds is insane, and a creature with this ability will also be crazy good. I think Excavator could see play in all formats because of this ability.

Financial Value

It might take a while for the price to move up on Ramunap Excavator, but I think of all the cards in the set, this guy is the best bang for your buck. Even despite the terrible name, this should be one of the easiest cards to move in the set because of the overall demand it is likely to see.

Well, that’s all for me today. As always, let me know what changes you’d make to the list in the comments below. What do you think of the price predictions as well? Did I miss a card you thought has a lot of potential? Let me know below.

Until next time,
Unleash the Force!

Mike Lanigan
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