Zendikar Priceless Treasures

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OH MAH GAWD ! Do we have news for you. Perhaps one of the most newsworthy items every posted to this blog.

It all started out late last night when an employee at Kidforce Collectibles telephoned Kelly Reid of one of our fav websites, Quiet Speculation. The question regarded a very interesting card which they had just pulled out of a booster pack. The card in question was a card which did not belong to the new set - it was 'Candelabra of Tawnos' a rare artifact from the Antiquities expansion which happens to be going for about $50 on eBay right now.

Kidforce claimed that the odd card was in the booster pack slot where the Basic Land sits, and rotated 180 degrees. They further indicated that his rare and a foil were still there. Many calls of 'Shenanigans !' were heard throughout the forums as well as the usual social networking sites - some even provided by me as shown here in my Twitter feed . .


After I had my chuckle, I rolled into bed and as I slipped into slumber, I recalled a specific update to the official MTG tournament rules that indicated something along the lines of cards opened in packs not belonging to that set aren't limited legal, and if deck swaps are done, you keep the cards not belonging to the set . . .

MAGIC: THE GATHERING® TOURNAMENT RULES
Effective October 1, 2009
Excerpt - 7.3 : Card Use in Limited Tournaments
Other than basic land, only cards from the expansions of the boosters opened (and only cards opened in that player’s pool) may be used in a player’s deck. For example, in a Magic 2010 Sealed Deck tournament, any card in a booster other then the Magic 2010 game cards received by the player and basic land may not be used in a player’s deck during that tournament.



Fast forward to this morning . . .

Reports from stores around Europe and North America are reporting similar events of opening up booster packs and finding 'priceless treasures' similar to Kidforce's Candelabra of Tawnos. At the time of posting, reports of cards like Ancestral Recall (worth >$1,000), Bayou (worth $35), Lion's Eye Diamond (worth $25), Lich (worth $35), Taiga (worth $200), Mox Diamond (worth $40), and Underground Sea (worth $150). All cards appear to be original - not printed, thus complying with the WoTC Reserve List policy.

Well apparently this seems to be a worldwide promotion hatched by Wizards of the Coast . . . brilliant ! This will make more players want to open packs and also create an interest in other formats other than standard. Sure opening up one of these cards would be akin to winning the lottery but there are reports that one player found two such cards in one Zendikar Booster Box (36 packs per box). NOTE : It is rumoured that ONLY the very first shipment of Zendikar has these treasures. To this end, I think that I may purchase additional product even though I had already pre-ordered. The downside to this is that the price of booster boxes may be going up by a bit. 'Get thee to a Pre-Release - this is one heck of a chance to open up cardboard awe'!


We leave you with this very witty post by Magnus Magicus from the boards . . .
I do wonder....if they put Priceless Treasures in boosters...would they put Deadly Perils in as well? So you open up a booster and it has some white powder instead of a basic land....

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In less dramatic news, WoTC posted the Zendikar FAQs yesterday - here is a quick summary ->




GENERAL NOTES

Theme: Full-Art Basic Lands

Returning Keyword Ability: Kicker (represents an additional cost)

Keyword Ability: Intimidate (A creature with intimidate can't be blocked except by artifact creatures and/or creatures that share a color with it. )

Ability Word: Landfall (A an ability that triggers whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control.)

Theme: Allies (Nearly every Ally has an ability that triggers whenever it or another Ally enters the battlefield under your control.)

Theme: Traps (Trap is a new subtype that appears on instants. Although the subtype Trap has no specific rules meaning, each Trap has an alternative cost you can pay to cast it if a certain condition has been met.)

Theme: "Quests" ("Quests" is the nickname for a set of Zendikar enchantments that reward you for certain achievements while playing the game.

Theme: Caring about Basic Land Types (The Zendikar set contains a number of cards that refer to Plains, Islands, Swamps, Mountains, and/or Forests, including a cycle of "fetch lands" such as Arid Mesa.)

Theme: Bloodthirsty Vampires (The Zendikar set contains a number of Vampires that get better if an opponent has 10 or less life.)


CARD-SPECIFIC NOTES
Many cards from Adventuring Gear to World Queller have specific explanations, notes or clarifications about rules.
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Zendikar Release Promos

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Big news from Digga on the forums . .

This art appears on the pre-release / launch party poster with Rampaging Baloths. Unfortunately, we have only partial text on the one card.


The safe / unobscured card we already know from a previous post . . .

Rampaging Baloths, 4
Creature - Beast, Mythic Rare
Trample
Landfall - Whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control, you may put a 4/4 green Beast creature token (onto the battlefield)
6/6

And the new card . . .

Valakut, the Molten Pinacle
Land, Rare
Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle enters the battlefield tapped.
Whenever a Mountain enters the battlefield under your control, as long as you control 5 other Mountains, Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle deals 3 damage to target creature or player.
: Add to your mana pool.

EDIT : This post was updated only 15 minutes with full card information - the following was speculation previously posted (so disregard eh.)

We can deliberate some assumptions for Valakut :

* Valakut is not a common. As it is safe to assume that Valakut is the Release / Launch promo card, it will be either a rare or a mythic rare.

* We may also assume the following card text given the partial wording . . . "Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle enters the battlefield tapped."

* There is a conditional line starting with "W", and we think it safe to say that the word here is 'When'.

* The 'When' is not likely to be associated with a 'kicker' cost as this would be another line above the conditional.

* T: Add R (or RR?) to your mana pool. Valakut obviously produces red mana '' given the standard mountain card frame.


Some Valakut Speculation . . .

'When Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle enters the battlefield, acrifice it unless you return a land you control to its owner's hand.'

'When Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle enters the battlefield, you may search your library for a Plains card and put it onto the battlefield tapped. If you do, shuffle your library.'

'When Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle becomes tapped, it deals 1 damage to target creature or opponent'.

> Pipe in and provide a speculation in the comment thingy below !

Zendikar Box Promo

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Yet another Zendikar spoiler update for you. If you follow me on Twitter, you will have caught this MTG news yesterday afternoon . . .

Wizards sent out an eMail to the WPN crew that they will be providing a special and limited promotion (Promo Card!) for those who purchase Zendikar booster boxes. This was similar to what they did with the promo Honor of the Pure that was provided with a Magic 2010 (M10) booster box purchase. Let's have a look . . .

Day of Judgement, 2WW
Sorcery, Rare
Destroy all Creatures

"I have seen planes leveled and all life rendered to dust. It brought me no pleasure, even to a heart as dark as mine."
-Sorin Markov
Illus. Kev Walker #*9/249

The eMail : "Greetings all, Many of you have had much success with the Magic Full Box Promotion for Magic 2010 (where we provided you free promo cards to give to any customer who ordered a full display box of the new Magic set at your store.) You’re no doubt eagerly anticipating the upcoming Full Box Promotion for Zendikar as well. We’re so excited about it, in fact, that we just can’t wait to share with you the promo card you’ll be getting, so please find attached to this email: the card image for ”Day of Judgment” - the perfect tool for all your creature-destroying needs."

First off, this promises to be a $15 to $20 card. Secondly, I'm just a little peeved that Wrath of God was not re-printed in the M10 Core Set. Thirdly, is it just me or are there a LOT of mass removal cards in standard right now ??. Anywho, chances are, yours truly will be gunning to get a set of these.

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Zendikar Slow Cooker

In other Zendikar spoiler news, the Modus Operandi for Wizards during the run-up to Zendikar previews has been rather different than from previous spoiler seasons.

We now have 'slow spoiling' of cards on Wizards and other Magic the Gathering fan sites. This strategically is better for all parties involved in our opinion. WoTC has a love / heate relationship with spoiler sites - they love the hype created in the community but hated losing control over the release of spoilers.

This new provedure allows for increased returning traffic to all the involved sites, allows for spoiler nutters to crank the speculation engine, and allows for a more controlled dissemination of spoilers.

Let's have a look at the slow cooked Zendikar spoilers to date . .

Sorin Markov (vampire) Planeswalker
WoTC 'You Decide' slow spoil


Chandra Ablaze Planeswalker
WoTC 'You Decide' slow spoil


Warren Instigator (Goblin Creature)
The Magic Show slow spoil


Vampire Nighthawk
ManaNation slow spoil

Lastly, before you go, I want to give a shout-out to all my peeps at the OMG Games $2,500 standard open tournament in Toronto going on right now - you should feel lucky that I'm not there kicking MTG butt and taking names. (who am I kidding - I'd get knocked out in the first round I think)