The Lost Caverns of Ixalan drops on November 17, where the last Standard expansion of the year offers plenty for competitive and casual players alike. While the first introduction to Ixalan was less than memorable, Wizards of the Coast did right this time by offering an abundance of individually powerful cards while also providing synergy with various Vampire, Pirates, Dinosaurs, and Merfolk cards. Storywise, The Lost Caverns of Ixalan focuses on the depths of Ixalan’s core, where resources and treasure are aplenty, as various factions look for a lion’s share as they recover from the Phyrexian invasion that concluded with March of the Machine.
As it’s a headline Standard release, The Lost Caverns of Ixalan features a wealth of products with Draft, Set, and Collector Boosters with Bundles, Gift Bundles and four fantastic Commander Precons to collect upon release, meaning there’s something for everyone with the last big expansion of the year.
With daunting Dinosaurs and dastardly Pirates dwelling around Ixalan’s core, let’s look at some of the cards you’ll hope (and be thrilled) to open on The Lost Caverns of Ixalan’s release day and beyond.
10 Pitiless Plunderer (Special Guests)
A card first seen in Rivals of Ixalan is Pitiless Plunderer, an unseemingly decent Uncommon that was intended to benefit the Limited environment at the time. However, the prevalence of Treasure tokens in Commander over the following years made cards such as Pitiless Plunderer highly desirable amongst Commander players. For context, Rivals of Ixalan wasn’t a massively popular release, which left circulation less than desirable and Pitiless Plunderer’s stock slowly rising over the years.However, with the release of The Lost Caverns of Ixalan, Pitiless Plunderer returns as part of the Special Guests, which is a new sub-series of reprints that offer flavorful artistic revisions based on a given theme. And since Lost Caverns of Ixalan cares about Pirates, reprinting this Uncommon is a rather appropriate fit and one that Commander players will be looking to acquire upon release. Granted, Pitiless Plunderer won’t be one of the most impressive value hits you can open from this release, but there will be Commander players who will want this card for their builds — especially in foil.