Welcome back to my Daily Financial Value of Shadows over Innistrad series! From now until the full set is spoiled, I’ll be posting up regular daily updates with my thoughts about the officially-spoiled cards from Shadows over Innistrad!
I will be reviewing cards using the following system:
Starting Price: The first price we assign to this card as a preorder.
Current Price: The current price of the card at the time this article was written (usually by 5:00 pm the day before publication).
Future Price – Low: The lowest price I believe this card will hit while it is Standard-legal, post-release.
Future Price – High: The highest price I believe this card will hit while it is Standard-legal, post-release.
Rarity: Rare
Starting Price: $1
Current Price: $1
Future Price – Low: $0.50
Future Price – High: $1
Thoughts: While I do like a double reanimation spell for Casual play, I don’t expect Ever After to see very much competitive play. A control deck might run Ever After as a one-of to be able to produce two threats in one turn, but that’s about as good as it gets for Ever After in Standard or Modern. Any Reanimator deck would want significantly cheaper spells that allow for an explosive start rather than a six-mana value spell. This card is likely to live happily Ever After as a bulk rare.
Rarity: Rare
Starting Price: $1
Current Price: $1
Future Price – Low: $0.50
Future Price – High: $1
Thoughts: In yesterday’s article I discussed that Zombies went in a different direction from what I originally anticipated. They’re now pushing a U/B Zombie deck and I don’t think it will be a popular deck in Standard. The blue Zombies that they’re spoiling just aren’t aggressive enough. I’m sure it will make for a wonderful Draft format, but as we all know that won’t increase the value of U/B Xombies. I expect this card to be a bulk rare.
Rarity: Rare
Starting Price: $1
Current Price: $2
Future Price – Low: $0.50
Future Price – High: $1
Thoughts: This is a future bulk rare. I could see it being played as a one-of in a control deck just for an additional finisher that can provide blockers in the early- to mid-game, but I don’t expect it to see enough play to actually become valuable. I’d avoid this card unless you just like Zombies… or Floorboards.
Rarity: Rare
Starting Price: $1
Current Price: $1
Future Price – Low: $0.50
Future Price – High: $1
Thoughts: Inexorable Blob definitely has Casual appeal, and as a 3/3 for three I could see it making its way into some fringe Standard decks, but it’s unlikely. I’d expect Inexorable Blob to be bulk. As an Ooze and token producer it does have room to increase in value years from now, but I’m not overly excited about this card at all.
Rarity: Mythic
Starting Price: $4
Current Price: $3
Future Price – Low: $2
Future Price – High: $4
Thoughts: I’m very excited about Seasons Past. I’ve heard people comparing it to All Suns’ Dawn, but I don’t think that’s accurate at all. I fully expect Seasons Past to be similar to Praetor’s Counsel. That being said, Praetor’s Counsel has never been an extremely expensive card. They started at around $3 and eventually went down to $1.50. Despite a reprint in Commander 2014 they have risen back up to $3. I believe that to be the worst-case scenario for Seasons Past.
Where Seasons Past and Praetor’s Counsel differ is their playability in Standard. At eight mana, Praetor’s Counsel was virtually unplayable. A few copies of Seasons Past could end up seeing play in a ramp deck as a way to refill your hand. You could theoretically get back a land, ramp spell, sweeper, and a beefy creature or two. I don’t expect it to see enough play to spike the price at all, but I certainly think the foils can be $7-$10 because of its playability in Commander.
Rarity: Mythic
Starting Price: $5
Current Price: $3
Future Price – Low: $2
Future Price – High: $4
Thoughts: The initial hype of Ulvenwald Hydra is being severely damaged by one phrase: “It’s a bad Primeval Titan.” I think that’s an unfair comparison. Most green fatties, no matter how good they are, will look bad when compared to Primeval Titan; that card is completely busted. It’s like saying, “Yeah, broccoli is okay, but I prefer Oreos.”
That being said, try to stay away from this trap when evaluating cards in the future. If you try hard enough, you can almost always say, “Card X is a worse/better Card Y.” Sometimes it is relevant to compare two cards, but just make sure you’re not stretching too far.
Ulvenwald Hydra could see some Standard play, but it’s unlikely. If it had trample instead of reach, I’d be more confident in its ability to crush my opponent, but as it stands I’m not terribly excited.
Outside of Standard, Ulvenwald Hydra is only really playable in Commander, but I would wager it’s pretty awesome in Commander. Much like Seasons Past, I don’t expect this card to be more than $5 anytime soon, but the foils can easily hit $10+.
Pack Value
Mythics of Note ($4+)
|
Card |
Price |
|
$25 |
|
|
$40 |
|
|
$5 |
|
|
$5 |
|
|
$5 |
|
|
$30 |
|
|
$20 |
|
|
$20 |
|
|
$20 |
|
|
$8 |
|
|
$25 |
|
|
$6 |
|
|
$10 |
|
|
Total |
$219 |
Rares of Note ($2+)
|
Card |
Price |
|
$2 |
|
|
$8 |
|
|
$5 |
|
|
$3 |
|
|
$2 |
|
|
$2 |
|
|
$6 |
|
|
$2 |
|
|
$2 |
|
|
$4 |
|
|
$5 |
|
|
$3 |
|
|
$3 |
|
|
$4 |
|
|
$4 |
|
|
$6 |
|
|
$6 |
|
| $2 | |
|
$6 |
|
|
$2 |
|
|
$2 |
|
|
$2 |
|
|
$2 |
|
|
$6 |
|
|
$4 |
|
|
$2 |
|
|
$2 |
|
|
$2 |
|
|
$2 |
|
|
$3 |
|
|
$9 |
|
|
$3 |
|
|
$20 |
|
|
$2 |
|
|
$3 |
|
|
$4 |
|
|
$4 |
|
|
Total |
$149 |
The equation I use to determine pack value is: 2R + 1M (each rare is printed twice against each mythic) / (2x total number of rares + number of mythics) = Pack Value.
((2*149)+219)/136 = $3.80 per pack or *36 = $136.80 per box.
I hope everyone has a good weekend! Join me on Monday as I wrap up the Shadows over Innistrad Financial Series!