Welcome 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 revealed cards from Shadows over Innistrad!
Wait a minute. Where did Ben Bleiweiss go?!
Like most things Ben doesn’t want to do, he makes me do them…
Just kidding!
Ben has been writing this column for over ten years now and has decided to pass it on to me. He’s been my friend and mentor for more than six years and I’m honored that he picked me to fill this spot.
For those of you who don’t know me, I’m Wes Wise. I’m the Pricing Coordinator for StarCityGames.com. I’ve worked for StarCityGames.com since 2010. I’ve bought cards, sold cards, graded cards, priced cards, you name it; anything that involves getting a Magic card to our customers, I’ve been a part of! I also appear in the StarCityGames.com Commander VS Videos (go #TeamWes!). I wrote financial articles for a short period of time a while ago. I previously stopped writing due to time constraints in my personal life, but I’m now very happy to writing again!
I will be adopting Ben’s method of reviewing:
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 midnight on the day of publication).
Future Price – Low: The lowest price I believe this card will hit while it is Standard-legal.
Future Price – High: The highest price I believe this card will hit while it is Standard-legal.
Let’s begin!
Archangel Avacyn // Avacyn, the Purifier
Rarity: Mythic
Starting Price: $20
Current Price: $20
Future Price – Low: $15
Future Price – High: $25
Thoughts: This card has a lot going for it. It’s an Angel, it’s got Avacyn in the name, and it’s got a lot more, but those first two things are all I need to swoon over a Magic card. While I don’t believe this card will dominate the new Standard format, I still think it’s a very solid card with tons of casual appeal that will hold value for a long time to come.
Rarity: Rare
Starting Price: $3
Current Price: $2
Future Price – Low: $1
Future Price – High: $2
Thoughts: It’s been described as an “Aether Vial for spells.” However, you have to put a counter on it every time you use it, and it’s pretty expensive to remove the counters. Also, unlike Aether Vial, the spell is cast, giving your opponents the ability to counter those spells. I love the idea of being able to eventually cast my expensive sorceries during my opponent’s turn, but outside of Commander, I don’t think it’s going to be playable.
Rarity: Rare
Starting Price: $2
Current Price: $2
Future Price – Low: $0.50
Future Price – High: $2
Thoughts: A three-mana 2/3 with flying seems fine as long as it has a neat ability, and this one does! Comparable to Mentor of the Meek, this card allows aggressive decks the opportunity to get some card advantage; however, rather than having to Force Spike yourself every turn to gain those cards, you can pop your Clue artifacts at a later time. I think WoTC is usually very careful not to make card advantage in aggressive decks too overpowered, and that’s why I believe that the mechanics of this card are great, but I don’t think there will be enough ways to support it in Standard.
Rarity: Rare
Starting Price: $4
Current Price: $4
Future Price – Low: $2.50
Future Price – High: $6
Thoughts: When I first read this card, I wasn’t terribly impressed. After thinking about it for a while, I think this card is better than I originally gave it credit for. I think it would fill a spot similar to Silkwrap and that’s currently a $3 uncommon. It gets around Avacyn’s shenanigans, can remove multiple creatures, and is pretty cheap to cast. Its drawback is that it’s a sorcery, which we’ll never be able to fix. It lets your opponent draw cards, but they have to spend their mana to do it, so I think I’m okay with that.
There is a huge gap between its high and low prices. That’s because removal is always extremely dependent on A) what other removal spells are in the format and B) what creatures they print that you’re trying to remove. The more cards they spoil that interact from your graveyard, like Relentless Dead, the more this card’s price goes up.
Unrelated to the price: A+ for flavor text.
Elusive Tormentor // Insidious Mist
Rarity: Rare
Starting Price: $1
Current Price: $1
Future Price – Low: $1
Future Price – High: $3
Thoughts: I love so much about this card. I love the flavor of the card, I love that it’s an outlet for madness, I love that it can be an unblockable 4/4! It’s a 4/4 for four with a lot of neat abilities that can ultimately make it hard to kill. Its ability to survive most removal spells is its biggest selling point for me. I hope there is enough Vampire or madness support to make this card playable.
Rarity: Rare
Starting Price: $3
Current Price: $3
Future Price – Low: $2
Future Price – High: $3
Thoughts: Yay! Another Ghostway! Cards like this are always super fun, and fun Magic cards sell! I don’t see this card being format breaking or spiking in price anytime soon, but I think it’s capable of being a solid $1.50-$2 card for a long time to come. This card was also printed in the Blessed vs. Cursed, which will ultimately hurt its value, but I’m still convinced this card can stay above bulk.
Geralf’s Masterpiece
Rarity: Mythic
Starting Price: $5
Current Price: $5
Future Price – Low: $2
Future Price – High: $3
Thoughts: I like this card a lot! I think it’s very comparable to Skaab Ruinator in that it’s a blue mythic with a neat ability. I think it has the ability to see some Commander play, but I don’t see it dominating any formats, nor do I think there will be any significant demand for it.
Rarity: Mythic
Starting Price: $3
Current Price: $3
Future Price – Low: $2
Future Price – High: $4
Thoughts: A four-mana 4/5 with flying and trample can only be so bad. I believe this card could easily see play in a deck similar to the Mulch deck from original Innistrad. With delirium being on so many of these cards, it makes sense to have cards that do things similar to Mulch to fuel your graveyard and activate delirium.
Rarity: Mythic
Starting Price: $13
Current Price: $20
Future Price – Low: $8
Future Price – High: $20
Thoughts: Remember the B/R Zombie deck from the previous Innistrad Standard? I think Shadows over Innistrad will provide all of the tools to create another Zombie deck and this creature will be a four-of. Also, with tons of awesome Zombies in Modern, like Gravecrawler and Geralf’s Messenger, I think there is room for this creature to make his way into Modern as well.
Rarity: Rare
Starting Price: $1
Current Price: $1
Future Price – Low: $0.50
Future Price – High: $1.50
Thoughts: I’d expect this card to stay at bulk or slightly above bulk. This card can get out of hand very quickly, but it already loses fights to some of the commons and uncommons already spoiled.
Thing in the Ice // Awoken Horror
Rarity: Rare
Starting Price: $1
Current Price: $8
Future Price – Low: $2
Future Price – High: $10
Thoughts: It seems I disagree with the rest of the Internet on this one. There is so much hype around this card right now, so many options and possibilities; people saying it will be played in Legacy and Vintage and a staple in Modern! I definitely believe that this card can see play in multiple formats; however, I don’t think it’s quite the format-altering creature some people are hyping it to be.
I’m reading a lot of scenarios that require very specific hands or playing it on turn 2 and making it a giant attacking monster on turn 3, and I really don’t think it will play out as well as theorized. I just don’t see wanting to cast it and burn through all my cantrips, only to have someone Doom Blade my egg basket. I would also hate to be in a topdecking war with my opponent, knowing that I had this card in my deck. Don’t get me wrong, the hype train is at full speed for Thing in the Ice, but I think it’s a “sell it while it’s hot” situation.
More importantly, this is a good time for a chat that I’ve been wanting to have with the Magic community. I greatly encourage everyone to have their own opinions and think for themselves. Buyouts, hype, $50 Mortivores – all these things are possible because people let others dictate their own opinions. So by all means, disagree with me. I encourage it! I just want to make sure you think a card is worth money because you’re willing to pay that much, not because someone else told you it should be worth that much money.
Tamiyo’s Journal
Rarity: Rare
Starting Price: $1
Current Price: $1
Future Price – Low: $0.50
Future Price – High: $1.50
Thoughts: I don’t see this card seeing any play outside of fringe casual and Commander play. I like the flavor of the card, but that’s not enough to sell me on it.
I don’t see any spoiled commons or uncommons breaking $1 so far, but I do want to give a shout-out to a new pair that I’m sure we’ll be seeing in Standard:
Heir of Falkenrath and Incorrigible Youths – This deadly duo can have you swinging for seven on turn 3!
Shadows over Innistrad is one of the most-hyped sets in recent memory. Because of that hype, a lot of these cards will hold a premium during preorders and during the first few weeks of the set. That being said, I think it’s also worth noting that I do not expect all of the Shadows over Innistrad rares and mythics to take a huge hit after the first few weeks like Battle for Zendikar did. I believe that Battle for Zendikar was so heavily opened with people chasing Expeditions that it significantly drove the Battle for Zendikar prices down.
Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you all tomorrow!