Valuable Bulk Cards Hidden In Your Holiday Packs - Bulk Up!

It's the holiday season, and you know what that means: gift bags filled with booster packs! The sets this year have been filled with valuable cards, and I'm not just talking about the rares, but the commons and uncommons too! I'm Tyler 'Savesya' Bucks, and today I'm going to showcase some treasure hidden in those holiday packs that might be worth more than the mythics or rares!

The pressure of opening packs during the holidays can be daunting because it always seems to draw a crowd. You feel their gaze land on every new card you reveal, and as the pack gets thinner, you're just hoping that you hit something valuable. Well after today, you can rest easy knowing that there's hidden gems even in the low rarity slots. Now that will ensure everyone stays in a jolly mood!

Sheltered by Ghosts

Kicking things off is an uncommon from Duskmourn: House of Horror, which is currently sitting at about $7?! If you ask me, it's for a good reason. For only two mana, Sheltered by Ghosts gives a buff to your creature, protection, lifelink, and exiles a nonland permanent until it leaves the battlefield. While spells like this usually make your opponents antsy to use their removal, the ward this Aura gives your creature makes them second guess firing off their kill spell. This card does it all, so be like Scrooge and try to find a few ghosts this season.

For a change of pace, the recommended commanders I highlight this week will all be on the pricier side to fit this high value theme. With that being said, throw Sheltered by Ghosts in a Calix, Guided by Fate deck. Honestly, the synergy between these two cards is crazy.

Sink into Stupor

If you've been really good this year, maybe you'll find some Modern Horizons 3 under the tree! Hopefully you'll find a Sink into Stupor hidden in those packs! This spell helps you in three different ways: first, it can basically counter a spell by bouncing it back to an opponent's hand; next, it can bounce a scary nonland permanent, so goodbye pesky planeswalker; finally, if you don't need to do any of that right now, you can just play it as a land!

Did you get to snag the Marvel Secret Lair? Lucky little you can throw Sink into Stupor in your Storm, Force of Nature deck. It's basically a "we have Cyclonic Rift at home" with that commander.

Patchwork Banner

Hey, do you have a kindred deck? Would you like help with casting things in that deck as well as pummeling your opponents? If so, Patchwork Banner is here for you! This artifact has been hovering around the $6 mark for a while and can be found in your Bloomburrow packs. It's just such a clean design and could honestly become a staple in the format, so the more you have of these the merrier!

You know what, let's burn things down and put this card in a Sliver Legion deck. Yes I know your Slivers are already getting a buff from you commander, but why not let your mana rock add to the power pile?

Hare Apparent

This next entry shouldn't be a surprise; I mean, it almost broke the internet when it was announced. Hare Apparent follows in the footsteps of spells like Shadowborn Apostle and Persistent Petitioners by allowing you to have any number of them in your deck. Much like those spells I just mentioned, it also is commanding a higher price even though it's a common, so even if you're not going to make a deck around this Rabbit Noble, you can get some good trading value with someone who is in search of 20 to 30 copies for their deck. (If you want to trade those cards online, give Cardsphere a try!)

Rabbits and Phyrexians go together like peanut butter and ichor jelly. If you happen to have a Mondrak, Glory Dominus laying around, as well as dozens of copies of Hare Apparent, go to town! Just see if anyone can be mad while looking at all those bunnies.

Fell the Profane

Looking back at Modern Horizons 3 with another MDFC, Fell the Profane is a removal spell for creatures and planeswalkers that can also be a land when you need it. While four mana is a lot for this effect, sometimes you just need to remove a giant commander, or a planeswalker that's about to ultimate. Having that ability attached to a land allows you to easily slot this into a deck.

Toshiro Umezawa would work perfectly with this instant! Being able to destroy a creature and trigger that flashback-esque ability would really be synergistic. Wait, Toshiro is only, like, $5. Okay, FINE! Put this in a Sheoldred, the Apocalypse deck!

I don't know if my budget-centric brain can't take this.

Into the Flood Maw

Next up, we have another piece of instant-speed removal with Into the Flood Maw. The gift mechanic is very useful in Commander since you can employ some politics to help take on an archenemy. Gifting your friend a fish and then bouncing somebody's game-changing permanent can start swinging the game back in your favor. Plus, at its base level, sending a creature to an opponent's hand isn't anything to scoff at.

Slotting Into the Flood Maw into a Bria, Riptide Rogue deck could be interesting. Bouncing your opponents' blockers while also allowing one of your other creatures to be unblockable can continue to ensure you are pushing damage through during your games.

Untimely Malfunction

Untimely Malfunction is a card I just adore. Two mana gets you a modal spell that can destroy an artifact, change the target of a spell, or cause two creatures not to block. If you've seen my first article for Commander's Herald (which you can read here), you would know that I love Abrade. While this card isn't a carbon copy of that spell, the feeling that it won't rot in your hand definitely seems similar. Having the ability to get rid of a disruptive artifact, open the way for a big attack, or even countering a counterspell (yes, you can do that) makes this card a real Swiss Army knife!

Slap this spell in an Urabrask deck! You get an extra red mana as well as deal a damage after you cast the spell, on top of keeping your commander safe since it's a lightning rod for removal.

Boros Charm

Rounding off the list with another modal spell! Boros Charm is back in Standard thanks to Foundations, and I'm so happy to see it in packs again. Dealing four damage, making your permanents indestructible, or giving a creature double strike are all incredibly useful in Boros strategies. All of that for only two mana is reasonable and lets you further your gameplan by still giving you the option to tap most of your lands to build up your board on your turn.

Najeela, the Blade-Blossom allows you to have multiple combats, so giving your creatures indestructible can let you attack with your army more freely. You could also give a creature double strike until the end of turn, so that it will hit twice with every combat.

The Wrap Up!

There you have it, valuable commons and uncommons from recent sets you might open during this holiday season! So, make your judgmental family members proud by pulling one of the cards on this list! Happy Holiday's, I hope it's filled with Magic and gatherings.