Death Gaara's AVR Sleepers

Hey all, today I thought we would talk about sleeper cards. What is a sleeper card? It is a card that really is not worth much and is not seeing much play. Stoneforge Mystic is an example of a sleeper card. When the card was released it was worth about $6. Eventually the card dropped to $4 as it did not have any standard applications. When Batterskull was announced, the price skyrocketed. This $4 card now became a $25 power house that would be seen in many top 8’s to come. That being said, not all sleeper cards will jump this high in price (this was just an example).  Basically what it comes down to is speculating what cards may shine in the future and are under appreciated at the moment. Now that we have some idea what a sleeper card is we will move on to our main topic today.  And that topic is……..sleepers in Avacyn Restored!


First up is Somberwald Sage

Let’s face it; right now this card is not that great.  Gut Shot, Doom Blade, Geist Flame, Galvonic Blast, Dismember and Go for the Throat all hit this card. It still does have some merits, such as a turn 3 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite (Turn 1 forest mana dork, turn 2 sage, turn 3 profit). It poses as a threat that must be dealt with or a huge guy will come down on the next turn. I would not look at this card in this light though. I see this card being a house especially after rotation when all of the free removal (Gut Shot) bites the dust. This card has serious untapped potential. I would grab a set as soon as possible. Right now you can pick up a playset on channelfireball for just under $6 (that’s what I did). Even if this card does not see top 8 status, it will always be good in EDH and a casual Timmy staple for years to come. You really can’t argue with a Black Lotus on a creature. This card is seriously undervalued at the moment and I would stock up on as many of them as I could find.

Next is Gisela, Blade of Goldnight

Wow this card is definitely under appreciated. I realize again that Elesh Norn is just better but seriously think. When Norn and the main cards holding this card back (Phantasmal Image and Dismember) rotate, this will be a huge Frites target. Unanswered it makes a 2 turn clock as it is. Lingering Souls in the Frites deck just got better with this cards printing.  3 mana for 4 powers worth of flyers that I can put in play again the next turn? Sign me up! This card is a huge threat unanswered and will definitely be a good choice for Unburial Rites. A smart Frites player knows that even removing a card like this will not help the opponent too long, as you can just hardcast Unburial Rites to bring it back and then flash it back later if it ever dies to more removal. I preorederd a Chinese playset for just under $20 (free shipping). That’s pretty cheap for a playset of good standard cards. Worst case scenario, this card will also make for many laughs at your EDH table.

The last card today is Ulvenwald Tracker

While not as likely as the other 2 I discussed earlier, this card still has many applications and merits. For 1 it can take out both Birds of Paradise and Somberwald Sage on its own. This card may get more relevant as time goes on because of one simple fact, Wizards is trying to make this game more based on creature combat than powerful crazy spells. Creatures are getting bigger and better every set, so as to be expected, the ability to make your opponent trade one of their weaker creatures for a little bit of damage on your one of your stronger creatures is powerful. This can be done at instant speed and gives green some removal options. This is relevant as control decks with green in them will have some reach and potential options once Beast Within rotates. Perhaps some sort of Bant control deck might come into light. At this early in the game with the new cards, it’s anybody’s guess. As far as outside standard applications, I don’t see this nearly as powerful as the other 2 cards in EDH. If this card does flop, you really won’t be out as much as the other two seeing as how a playset is around $4 shipped. I am sure this card will go down after more packs are cracked, but I would definitely pick up some if you see them cheap or just need another $1 or 2 to even up a trade.


Sleepers are just what they sound like, cards that may see some play and are currently under appreciated. While I don’t always expect my predictions to be correct, that is one of the most fun aspects of magic. Looking at a card and seeing some future potential that everyone else over looks. It is very possible that none of these cards will see play. But for the investment, it really wouldn’t hurt to take a chance. 1 Playset of each of the 3 cards I discussed today will run around $30 (this is assuming you by them outright and don’t even trade for them). This really is not much if you take into consideration how much you spend on drafts or a fat pack. Again, if worse comes to worst, 8 of the cards will be playable in a casual setting or some awesome EDH games. So really the most you can lose is $4. That’s all for this article, keep it real and have fun.

Good read. I've faced sombermage in sealed and it helped lay fatties real quick.

All good points. Another great read.

Thanks.

I agree with you on everything, but I think the trackers true strength lies in limited and block. I like all your post. Keep up the good work.

I agree with you on everything, but I think the trackers true strength lies in limited and block. I like all your post. Keep up the good work.

If it does jump, I dont expect it to be too much. TBQH, I am not sure how much of my work you read, but I generally discuss cards 3 at a time. I needed a third card, and the trackers really do show a little promise. Right now we are spoiled with removal in any color and free removal due to phyrexian mana. I agree with your point on block (limited will not cause a cards price to rise). But after we lose alot of removal due to rotation, I could see this in some sort of GBW, Bant or Junk control (not the one I discussed) list playing a few. Instant speed removal is nice in green, and the ability to just slay a birds on the spot is nice. Like I said in the article, he is the least likely of the three to see a small jump IMO but it still might happen.

EDIT: Thank you for the compliments, I am glad you guys enjoy my work. I really hope these articles are helping community members in various ways such as deck building, buying, card evaluation and magic theory. My goal is for people to take something from everything I write. So I am glad to hear feedback at the end of each article.

Quote from: ChrisRodriguez on May 09, 2012, 02:37:52 AM

I agree with you on everything, but I think the trackers true strength lies in limited and block. I like all your post. Keep up the good work.

If it does jump, I dont expect it to be too much. TBQH, I am not sure how much of my work you read, but I generally discuss cards 3 at a time. I needed a third card, and the trackers really do show a little promise. Right now we are spoiled with removal in any color and free removal due to phyrexian mana. I agree with your point on block (limited will not cause a cards price to rise). But after we lose alot of removal due to rotation, I could see this in some sort of GBW, Bant or Junk control (not the one I discussed) list playing a few. Instant speed removal is nice in green, and the ability to just slay a birds on the spot is nice. Like I said in the article, he is the least likely of the three to see a small jump IMO but it still might happen.

EDIT: Thank you for the compliments, I am glad you guys enjoy my work. I really hope these articles are helping community members in various ways such as deck building, buying, card evaluation and magic theory. My goal is for people to take something from everything I write. So I am glad to hear feedback at the end of each article.

I have read all your post, and I have liked them all. I agree the tracker can get more play after scars and m12 rotate. I believe the tracker will get some fringe play in standard, but mostly in side boards or in some type of pod deck. As far as making a big jump in price I don't see that happening, but I do see it hitting the $2.50 to $3.00 range after m12 and scars rotate. A good read as always.

The read was awesome! Your articles are my favorite! I'm definitely gonna pick up a playset of each! I also think wolfir silverheart has great and unrecognized potential!

The read was awesome! Your articles are my favorite! I'm definitely gonna pick up a playset of each! I also think wolfir silverheart has great and unrecognized potential!

Thank you! I thought about that card actually. 8 damage on the board for just a 5 mana investment is powerful. I try to talk about different cards though, as not bore you guys with talking about the same cards. To all of you who haven't, I would also pick up a playset of this card. It should cost around no more than $7 a set ( I really cant see a huge jump in price as he is one of the foil cards in one of the the intro decks).

Also pillar of flames isn't too popular but amazing against zombies and undying creatures.

I pulled two champion of lambholt from my booster box and I am pumped to use it. I think this card is very underrated bc itll make your creatures unblock able if you boost her a bit.

I pulled two champion of lambholt from my booster box and I am pumped to use it. I think this card is very underrated bc itll make your creatures unblock able if you boost her a bit.

All about some naya human?

wolfir silverheart is up to $3 now, it was under a buck.

wolfir silverheart is up to $3 now, it was under a buck.

Although not mentioned here, check my prerelease discussion, where I analyzed the card and said it would be good. I foresaw the price increase, but wanted to discuss different cards for this article so the content stays fresh.

Quote from: cltrn81 on May 12, 2012, 01:46:02 PM

wolfir silverheart is up to $3 now, it was under a buck.

It'll go up one PT AVR is done. If its in the top eight.

8 damage for 5 mana. Yeah that's good. Plus it makes your mana dork a 5/5.

Quote from: Alex2911 on May 12, 2012, 02:08:39 PM

Quote from: cltrn81 on May 12, 2012, 01:46:02 PM

wolfir silverheart is up to $3 now, it was under a buck.

It'll go up one PT AVR is done. If its in the top eight.

8 damage for 5 mana. Yeah that's good. Plus it makes your mana dork a 5/5.

Bonding to a birds is just really powerful. Imagine turn 3 or 4 you play this and bond to a birds. The opponent must answer it there or be forced t deal with 4 in the air and 8 on the ground. Throw in some swords and I could easily see this as a deck.

Captain of the Mist and Deadeye Navigator are underrated currently. They work well together, deadeye is an infinite chump blocker, and near impossible to kill, and Captain is versatile. If Deadeye was a human it would be even better.