Something for Nothing: Value Town

You know what I like the most about playing Magic?

Sure, drawing cards is cool. Summoning creatures is cool. Heck, even casting spells is cool.

But do you know what's even cooler?

Doing all that stuff... for free.

When you get to do stuff without any additional cost, that's what I like to call, "taking a ride to value town." Here, check this card out.



Lurking Predators is straight up value town. You pay a total of 6 mana up front and then watch the creatures fly for no additional cost. It's not uncommon to go from an empty board to a board full of monsters by the time it comes around to you with this out.

Do you know why?

Because, as it turns out, your opponents like to play Magic, too. So, against all better judgment, they will cast spells into the damn enchantment! And creatures pop out.

In other words, value town is about getting something extra for doing what you were going to do anyway. How about this gem?



Rampaging Baloths is all about value town. The creature is a decent deal by itself, but getting more and more creatures for doing what? Playing lands? I was planning to do that anyway, thankyouverymuch.

A quick way to find value town cards is to do a search over at MagicCards.info for "whenever."

"Whenever" is code for "value town." It's the best word is Magic. Cards will pop out that do something over and over for no additional cost. Whenever "this" happens, do "this."



Young Pyromancer and Monastery Mentor are the new breed of value town creatures, and they are so good they show up in Vintage decks. They spit out creatures for stuff you were going to do anyway. The "condition" to turn these cards into token-generating machine guns is to what? Play spells? Oh, lookie here. My deck just so happens to be full of spells.



Seriously, some of the best cards in Commander are cards like this. Take a look at Aura Shards and Mirari's Wake. Both of these are, "whevener" cards and therefore speed boats to value town. Buckle up.



If you aren't playing with jerks, the Commander format can create the types of games that give decks time develop. Value town cards really shine the longer the game goes on. That's why a card like Black Market is so powerful. It gets better and better for something that happens all the time: creatures dying.



It's also why Consecrated Sphinx is so good. The thing triggers whenever your opponents draw cards! You know what happens nearly every turn? Your opponent draws a card. People like drawing cards, so they often have ways of drawing more than one card per turn. And to make it really crazy, you don't just get to draw one card when it triggers. Oh no. Two cards. Two! It's a rocket to value town.

Cards that accumulate incremental value for you, just for sitting out there, are powerful engines. Take a look at the cards in your deck. Are they doing something "extra" for the stuff that is going to be happening anyway? If not, consider some alternatives. Paying a few extra mana up front for the gift that keeps on giving makes good sense. Unless, of course, the card is horribly undercosted. That's even better.

Welcome to Value Town

Population: You