Outlaws of Thunder Junction’s spoiler season has officially begun with a bang. Not only do we have plenty of new, exciting, and seriously powerful cards to admire, but there are adorable critters too! As if all these weren’t enough, the set also has a bounty of fantastic reprints thanks to the Breaking News bonus sheet!
In case you’re somehow still not satisfied, worry not as Outlaws of Thunder Junction has even more! Found alongside The Big Score MTG cards in place of The List, there are also Special Guests. First seen in The Lost Caverns of Ixalan, these ragtag group of reprints each receive stellar new art that fits the set’s theme.
In total, Outlaws of Thunder Junction contains ten reprinted Special Guests. Within this assortment, as always, there’s a mix of good, bad, and just a little bit of ugly. Thankfully, outside of
Port Razer
Port Razer
Whenever this creature deals combat damage to a player, untap each creature you control. After this phase, there is an additional combat phase.
This creature can't attack a player it has already attacked this turn.
’s ugly mug, there’s still a lot to be excited about!
The Good
To kick things off with the good stuff, three of the new Special Guests in Outlaws of Thunder Junction are fantastic MTG reprints. The best out of this bunch is
Prismatic Vista
Prismatic Vista
{T}, Pay 1 life, Sacrifice this land: Search your library for a basic land card, put it onto the battlefield, then shuffle.
which sells for around $27. While this is already an enticing reprint, alternative art and border versions of this card routinely sell for $37!
Since the new Special Guests card is a reprint, it’s likely the established price may fall a bit once the new supply arrives. That being said, since Prismatic Vista sees healthy multiformat play, it’s possible the new gorgeous art could demand a premium. Supporting this theory, the Special Guests variant of
Crashing Footfalls
Crashing Footfalls
Suspend 4—{G} (Rather than cast this card from your hand, pay {G} and exile it with four time counters on it. At the beginning of your upkeep, remove a time counter. When the last is removed, you may cast it without paying its mana cost.)
Create two 4/4 green Rhino creature tokens with trample.
currently sells for $5 more than normal copies.
Next up in the expensive order,
Stoneforge Mystic
Stoneforge Mystic
When this creature enters, you may search your library for an Equipment card, reveal it, put it into your hand, then shuffle.
{1}{W}, {T}: You may put an Equipment card from your hand onto the battlefield.
is also getting another reprint. As a staple in Modern, Vintage, and Commander, there’s little question that this new Special Guests variant will be in demand. Due to this, the lowest available price of $18 is likely the bare minimum of what this new gorgeous variant will go for.
Slightly below Stoneforge Mystic,
Scapeshift
Scapeshift
Sacrifice any number of lands. Search your library for up to that many land cards, put them onto the battlefield tapped, then shuffle.
is the last of the expensive Special Guests. Selling for around $16. Scapeshift doesn’t see an immense amount of play, only really supporting Valakut and graveyard-focused strategies. That being said, Scapeshift may soon become a lot more popular.
Provided their preconstructed deck can make them work, Yuma, Proud Protector works wonders with Scapeshift. Allowing you to create a boatload of 4/2 plant tokens, these two cards are practically made for each other. For better or worse, this means there’s a real chance Scapeshift could be reprinted in the Commander deck. If that happens, the price of this somewhat niche card would likely plummet hard.
The Bad
While there are a few good Special Guests to get excited about, sadly not every MTG card is a value powerhouse. Since this is a running trend with The List and Special Guests, we can’t really say we’re too disappointed. That said, with
Brazen Borrower
Brazen Borrower
Flash
Flying
This creature can block only creatures with flying.
being the only other card above $5, the rest of this list certainly isn’t great.
Starting this damning decent in value,
Desertion
Desertion
Counter target spell. If an artifact or creature spell is countered this way, put that card onto the battlefield under your control instead of into its owner's graveyard.
is the next most expensive card at just $2. While this card can steal some threats in Commander, it’s hardly an in-demand or ubiquitous staple. Technically, the same is true of the $1.50
Desert
Desert
{T}: Add {C}.
{T}: This land deals 1 damage to target attacking creature. Activate only during the end of combat step.
land being reprinted.
While the Desert land may not be exceptionally popular right now, the new art is nonetheless enticing. Considering Outlaws of Thunder Junction has quite a few cards that care about Deserts, there’s a real chance for a price spike. Should this new Special Guests card be somewhat limited in supply, it may even end up eclipsing the $8 Arabian Nights variant!
Below the new printing of Desert, sadly the four remaining Special Guests aren’t much to write home about. Saying that to immediately contradict ourselves, both
Notion Thief
Notion Thief
Flash
If an opponent would draw a card except the first one they draw in each of their draw steps, instead that player skips that draw and you draw a card.
and
Morbid Opportunist
Morbid Opportunist
Whenever one or more other creatures die, draw a card. This ability triggers only once each turn.
see a fair amount of play. Due to this, the new gorgeous variants could command a premium over the existing cheapest variants.
For better or worse, it’s unlikely the same will be true for
Mystic Snake
Mystic Snake
Flash
When this creature enters, counter target spell.
and
Port Razer
Port Razer
Whenever this creature deals combat damage to a player, untap each creature you control. After this phase, there is an additional combat phase.
This creature can't attack a player it has already attacked this turn.
. Being neither competitive for Commander staples, the demand for these cards is nebulous at best. Due to this, even with new art, it seems very unlikely that the new art will break the bank.
The Curious Distribution
Since each of the new Special Guests features some gorgeous artwork, we can’t really any truly ugly. Well, outside of
Port Razer
Port Razer
Whenever this creature deals combat damage to a player, untap each creature you control. After this phase, there is an additional combat phase.
This creature can't attack a player it has already attacked this turn.
at least, since they look like they’ve eaten an entire lemon. Thanks to this welcome detail, we can instead talk about how Special Guests can be found in Outlaws of Thunder Junction boosters.
For Murders at Karlov Manor, a Special Guest or The List card could be found in one out of every eight Play Boosters. Thanks to The Big Score being fused into the main set, Outlaws of Thunder Junction is changing this ratio. This time around, there’s a one in five chance that a Play Booster will contain a List or Special Guests card.
Thanks to the increased odds, there could be more Special Guests cards floating about than usual. Due to the added content in the List slot, it’s tough to tell for sure. For better or worse, this is surely going to affect the price of these new reprints by potentially providing additional supply. Right now, it’s unclear exactly how much of a dent will be made in current prices. Considering the past trends of The List and Special Guests MTG cards, I sadly wouldn’t expect too much.
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