The Double Feature Double Whammy

Earlier this year, Wizards ran an interesting experiment with the Double Feature set, basically asking if they could sell us the same cards twice in a row. At this point, we can say that the results are in: we love super rare Silver Screen foils and are paying quite a premium for them, while the regular versions and even the showcase foils are languishing in price.

Generally speaking, the rarest versions of cards are the most expensive. There’s been some exceptions to this rule, most notably with the VIP product from Double Masters 1, where the borderless non-foils were rarer. In this era of four (or more) versions of a card on release, it’s good to know that the Showcase/EA foil will always be the most expensive, even if it’s a narrow margin.

Double Feature, being a set that wasn’t bought at a high volume and without Collector Boosters, is a rarer version of all the cards that came out in Midnight Hunt and Crimson Vow. The Silver Screen foils are almost all more expensive than the assorted Showcase/EA foils, and also represent a ceiling for the MID/VOW foils.

With all this in mind, there’s a set of cards I’m eyeballing to see where the value is at, both for the Silver Screen foils and perhaps the Showcase/EA foils.

One caveat before we begin: I’m giving you the EDHREC inclusion numbers, but remember that those are the most invested players and there’s a bias towards the preconstructed decks. It’s a good data point, but not the only one we need to consider.

Welcoming Vampire ($4 for the least expensive, up to $20 for the priciest version, 29k decks) – It’s impressively easy to engineer a way to trigger this not just on your turn but on opposing turns as well. The Showcase foil, with the nicely-done Fang Frame, is available for $6. Right now, if you want to spec on this card (which I do), you’re looking at the DF foils and wondering what’s the height they can reach. If those foils hit $30 or $40, what’s the Showcase foil going to be at? From a percentage standpoint, do you want to sink $100 into five DF foils or 18 Showcase foils? I think I’m in on the Double Feature foils because the volumes are just so darn tiny. In this case, there’s about thirty foil copies available from Double Feature, as opposed to roughly five times that many copies available for the Showcase foil.

To be clear, I think that both will go up over time, and buying in at $6 and selling in a year or two at $12-$15 for the Showcase is quite likely.

Dreamroot Cascade ($6 to $25, 41k decks) – All ten of the lands have a big jump to the DF foil and I’ve got two conflicting thoughts here: First, I MUCH prefer to play with the color version because it’s much easier to tell what colors they tap for. Second, these are all over the place in Pioneer, which is a nice bonus to the Commander demand. There is a reprint risk for these lands too, but that’s just baked into everything right now. Nothing is stopping Wizards from going in and making these the next Secret Lair, as they did to shocklands and fetches.

With the gap being what it is, and my preference, I’d likely be going for the Extended Art foils. I have confidence that all versions will trend upwards from here.

Shipwreck Marsh ($3 to $20, 62k decks) – This rotates out of Standard in the coming fall and even though this is super popular in Commander and Pioneer, rotation and Standard is still a thing to be aware of. Same reprint risk as Cascade above, but the lower buy-in for regular copies is very very tempting. 

I like getting in at very low prices and just being patient. A minor bump upwards will pay off well, where for the expensive versions, it’ll take a while but get there too.

Necroduality ($10 to $45, 10k decks) – As a proud Zombies player, I adore this card and I have Double Feature foils everywhere in that deck. This launched at a very high price but has come down nicely.

Yes, this doesn’t play well with Legendary Zombies like Grimgrin, but this is an enchantment version of Miirym! The Tribal decks don’t always get love this strong, and this is a centerpiece for any Zombie deck.

Extended Art foils can be had for a third the price of the DF foils, but the quantities are much different. There’s not going to be a combo deck with this in any Constructed format, so you’re going for Commander players and that means I’m targeting these scary, dark, blue-tinged foils.

Chandra, Dressed to Kill ($16 to $95, 4500 decks) – Chandra, however, has a much different path to follow. This version of our favorite pyromancer has a low mana cost and some great abilities for use in Pioneer, where she’s showing up as a three or four in a lot of aggro decks. When that’s the basis for demand, I want the regular nonfoils. I haven’t yet seen evidence that people are chasing playsets of DF foils for Pioneer play. Yes, those foils are super expensive, but with these quantities, it only takes a couple of players to pump the price all the way up.

Infernal Grasp ($1 to $14, 59k decks) – As an uncommon, this has a higher drop rate but this kill spell is all over the place in Commander. We’ve got a promo already of the card in the ‘Summer Vacation’ subset and this was a promo in the FNM frame as well. Quantity is not a problem at all, but above all else, a black spell looks great in the Double Feature foiling. There’s no question what looks better, but will Commander players drive the $14 DF foil higher first, or will they push up the FNM promo frame from $3 to $7? 

Considering the prices involved, I’d rather be in on the promo frames, as there’s a lot of space between those and the much rarer versions.

Triskadekaphile ($0.50 to $6, 20k decks) – Alternate win conditions are a popular thing in Commander, and this one does what players love to do anyway: draw lots of extra cards. Yes, it’s fragile and vulnerable and you don’t win until your next turn, but that hasn’t stopped this card from being a bit valuable and included in a surprising number of decks. 

We had a chance to buy in at $4 but $5 or $6 is still plenty appealing. This will get hot somehow, it’ll get featured on a video, and we’ll clean up nicely. I want the DF foils all the way here, no chance for the regulars unless you’re going to get a huge stack at bulk rates and planning to buylist them out for a good gain.


Cliff (@WordOfCommander) has been writing for MTGPrice since 2013, and is an eager Commander player, Draft enthusiast, and Cube fanatic. A high school science teacher by day, he’s also the official substitute teacher of the MTG Fast Finance podcast. If you’re ever at a GP and you see a giant flashing ‘CUBE DRAFT’ sign, go over, say hi, and be ready to draft.