Sure, we’re a month into Dominaria United, but I’m going to let at least another five months go by before I buy any of that. I’m certain there will be great deals, I just have to let them find the bottom.

Instead, what I want to do is a fun exercise with artifacts and The Brothers’ War: What are the top artifacts in Commander and which ones are ready for a bump? It’s true that some of these will be cards we’ve mentioned before, and some of these might get the ‘retro frame artifacts’ treatment, being one of five hundred numbered copies too.

I can’t predict what will be in that subset of cards, this Artifact Archive, but this will be a good list of cards that might go up because they are good and they are popular. If something feels likely to be an inclusion for that subset of cards, I’ll mention that.

One warning about the EDHREC ranks: This is a database created by the most enthusiastic of people, and has a bias towards preconstructed deck inclusions. Don’t get too wrapped around the handle of this data, but do allow it to inform some of your decisions.

Timeless Lotus (cheapest version is $20, most expensive $35, 3200 decks on EDHREC) – One of the things we noticed right away was that there were no Extended Art or other Showcase version for this, Karn’s Sylex, and Weatherlight Compleated. This seems to scream out that the special version is coming, because not even Wizards would print a special version and then in the next big set give us a retro frame version. 

I will likely be all over the retro frame versions when they come out, being a great mana rock but keep in mind that it can only be in five-color decks. I imagine that the popularity of this card has a lot to do with five-color Dragon decks and Jodah, the Unifier being in the same set.

Herald’s Horn ($7 to $20, 77,000 decks) – We are getting a special foil version for the Year of the Tiger later this year, and there’s a Surge foil in the new Warhammer 40k decks. That’s two very good foils but in the same frame. Putting this in as a retro frame card is very likely, but if it’s not, watch out on both foil versions. This is a very popular card despite never getting large-quantity printings.

Whispersilk Cloak ($3 to $12, 76,000 decks) – This is in the all-foil Heads I Win, Tails You Lose deck coming soon, thanks to printing delays. It should have arrived a whole lot sooner, but for our purposes, it’s not that big a deal. Not a new frame, but also not really reprinted in a major way for several years now. I expect the first premium version of this to do very well.

Panharmonicon ($5 to $40, 71,000 decks) – We’ve got the Secret Lair blueprint version, and we already have a retro frame version from the Time Spiral Remastered set. It’s not impossible for Wizards to give us a second retro frame, but we also just got an Extended Art foil and an etched foil from Double Masters 2022, so being in the Artifact Archive is not happening. I don’t want to spec on 2X2 yet, but I’m tempted by the blueprint version, being as rare as it is.

Isochron Scepter ($11 to $40, 68,000 decks) – Amazingly, this has never had an alternate frame. It’s got a super-sweet Eye of Sauron thing going on with the FNM version from way back when, but this is a prime candidate for inclusion in The Brothers’ War set. If it dodges that reprint, we’re off to the races.

Phyrexian Altar ($29 to $500, 67,000 decks) – At least three times, Wizards has reprinted a card whose original was in the retro frame: Time Spiral’s Timeshifted sheet, Mystery Boosters, and the judge promo Animate Dead. There might even be more, there’s so many cards to keep track of these days! I don’t think they would put a new retro version of Altar out there, given the history and the recent printing, but again, I’m still waiting for 2×2 to hit its floor.

Altar of Dementia ($8 to $20, 62,000 decks) – This was originally in Tempest, has its first foil in Conspiracy of all things, and has kept its price due to a total lack of reprints. If this is in the Artifact Archive, I’d expect it to be pretty cheap at the end of things, and then I’m content to swoop in and buy up some copies.

Helm of the Host ($16 to $33, 55,000 decks) – Extremely popular for an artifact with a crazy-high cast and possibly the highest equip cost of anything people play in Commander, this is so very ready for a reprint and I fully expect it to do well in a retro frame. Don’t buy any of these, even for personal use, until after we get the full list in BRO.

Thousand-Year Elixir ($5 to $81, 48,000 decks) – I’ve got a couple of decks that love this card, but it’s only had the one foil printing, way back in Lorwyn. It’s also got a price that’s high due to scarcity, just like Altar of Dementia. It’ll always be a niche card, but very very good in that niche. Retro version is very likely here, and hopefully the cheapest copies get down to a dollar.

Alhammarret’s Archive ($8 to $25, 45,000 decks) – This is a card that makes a table gnash their teeth and turns a free-for-all into an Archenemy battle. Doubling up on card draw and life gain is a tough bargain to pass up, and this has only gotten a Mystery Booster reprint and a Commander 2021 set of copies since its debut in Magic Origins. I’m doubtful that this will be reprinted, and it doubles up two effects that decks love to do, so wait for the list to come out and then move in.

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.

If you’ve paid any attention to Magic news over the last week or so, you might have missed out on the news that there’s a new version of the Collector’s Edition coming out, called the 30th Anniversary version. Or the news before that, telling us that there’s going to be a Universes Beyond set for Final Fantasy and Assassin’s Creed. Or the news before that, where there’s a new set of Transformers cards coming with The Brothers’ War. Or the news before that, where we’re getting a Secret Lair for $149.99 with thirty cards as a countdown. Or the news before that, with Dominaria Remastered as an upcoming set full of reprints. Or the news that just came out, regarding the 40k Secret Lair drop.

My point is, there’s a whole lot of new sets and teasers for upcoming things. It’s an enormous amount to keep track of, and I’m someone who writes 5-6 articles a month about Magic!

The Collector Booster/Secret Lair era has changed some of what I do, and today, I want to go over the rules. This stuff applies to sealed product and single specs alike. I’ll explain my view on each as we go, but I’ve resolved that this is the only time I’m spending my money.

#1: Underpriced/Arbitrage opportunities

There’s frequently deals to be found between different stores, different continents, or special sales. Once you get access to those sorts of things, getting 10 or 20 percent off of retail puts cards in an amazing light. If you’re a ProTrader, and active in our ProTrader Discord, you can be part of great group buys, but there’s other access paths as well.

There’s often arbitrage opportunities if you can manage the logistics of international shipping. Not every store will ship across an ocean, but the strength of the dollar against other currencies means that you can gain some impressive deals on cards. It feels like cheating, to buy cards with such a lower price, but again, the shipping internationally can eat up a lot of those margins. Do your research and plan well before embarking on such an endeavor.

#2: We are 7-9 months removed from the initial product run

In the last couple of years, I’ve learned this lesson the hard way: The time to buy is not when the set moves on from being the drafted set in stores and Arena. The time to buy has become several months later, when supply has trickled to max and interest is at its lowest. Here’s a recent example of buying low and reselling high:

To be fair, in January 2021, I did write about this as a pickup at $1.50 foil. Easy pickings, given the EDH numbers then and what it’s at now. 

This is exactly the pattern, though. I made other purchases at that time that continued to track downwards, and I could have gotten in even cheaper on things like Felidar Retreat and Ruin Crab. 

#3: The Quick Flip/Presale

One of my longest-running tenets has been to never preorder anything, but there’s been some occasions where buying early and flipping right away is a valid strategy. This is especially true with sealed product.

The time before the official release is a wild, wild time. Singles are put at prices that reflect crazy amounts of hype, combined with the low amount of vendors who’ll put up singles ahead of time. If you know you’re going to be cracking a lot of product, you can safely put up one or two rare foils. 

An aspect of this that gets less press and more stress is for those who presell a product, the margins can be very lucrative. Here’s the TCG graph for DMU Collector Booster Boxes, a set that officially released on September 9: 

If you were a seller on TCG who could list preorder product in late July, something like 8-10 weeks before street release, you could sell boxes for $80 more than they are currently selling for. That’s a pretty crazy margin, especially if you’re buying at a distributor price and reselling at this inflated retail price.

Only a certain percentage of sellers are allowed to presell, though, and you have to be a certified Hobby Shop. Still, you could sell product on the day of release, when it is still higher, and recoup a tidy markup.

Singles are, of course, the best thing to sell right away as everything is at its maximum price. So flipping quickly is an art form if you don’t have presales going on; your best bet might be local sales that take place offline.

There is one other aspect to buying at the right price: Selling at the right price. 

I presume that 15% of my sale price on TCG or Ebay is going to get eaten up by fees and shipping and taxes. The precise amount can vary, of course, but that’s the rough estimate I keep in my head. 

An example of money that could be made is in the Secret Lairs that have appreciated. For instance, the ‘Foil Compleat Edition’ of five Praetors in Phyrexian language sold for $40 when initially offered. Right now on TCG, they can be had for just under $80. Presuming I sell at $80, that’s $40 + $12 in costs, an estimated profit of $28 per copy sold at that price. 

Totally fair to make that profit, but I confess that I’m holding out for more. I’ve got two copies listed for just under $100 with shipping, and a few more sets ready to sell once those have been sold. 

It’s not a quick flip, I just want more profit, and that’s an estimation we all have to make. It doesn’t cost me much besides storage to keep holding on, watching the price go up. There’s plenty of Secret Lairs that have gone up in value, and as long as Wizards keeps to their policy of not reprinting specific Secret Lairs, they can go nowhere but up…even if they are ascending at a snail’s pace.

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.

This will not be your usual math article, because I don’t have many complex calculations to do. Wizards has given us direct numbers here, and as a result, we’ve got very good data on what will happen with the important cards from Unfinity.

So let’s get into the weeds, parse some numbers, and figure out how rare these shocklands will be.

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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.

Last summer, we had a really interesting experience, highlighted by one of the most profitable experiences a body can have: Buying a very cheap card and then buylisting it for a lot more a short time later.

I’m talking, of course, about Expressive Iteration:

If you bought in at fifty cents in May, you had the chance to sell to a buylist at five bucks in mid-July. That’s a phenomenal return, especially given how little respect some uncommons get. So what I want to do right now is look at what uncommons are popular, both in Commander and Constructed formats, and see if there’s money to be made.

One note before we get into this: I’m going to be listing the number of decks that have a card on EDHREC. Please keep in mind that the inclusion rate isn’t a guarantee, as it’s a great dataset, but one with limitations. There’s a lot of people who upload entire preconstructed decks and then tweak those decks, giving precon numbers a boost. Also remember that not everyone bothers to upload a deck at all, which if a lot of casual players want a card, the price will move while the rate stays low.

Rumor Gatherer ($0.20 for the cheapest version, $1.30 for the most expensive, currently listed in 16,000 decks on EDHREC) – I like what this card offers: Draw a card every time you have 2+ creatures enter the battlefield, plus scry 1 for every other creature that enters and doesn’t draw you a card. That’s a whole lot of value crammed into one card, and especially if you have fun things to do on other turns that gives you a pair of tokens, like Raise the Alarm.

Iteration was not cheap for very long and this card has been out for a few months. It was included in one of the CLB decks and that’s going to keep the price of the regular nonfoil down for a while to come. However, this was a promo pack card for SNC and that’s the version you need to be looking at, because it’s just over a buck for single foil copies and slightly more in higher quantities. This many decks in this short a time is a wonderful sign.

Slip Out the Back ($1.50 to $2, 8900 decks) – One-mana ‘save your creature’ tricks are always going to be nice to have, as we’ve seen with stuff like Tamiyo’s Safekeeping. Hexproof and indestructible are very good keywords, and will get you through most of the problems in a Commander game. Getting a +1/+1 counter is probably better than two life, and phasing has no workaround. I can Massacre Girl a board away through a Safekeeping, but I’m just going to shrug when it’s phased out. This is why Teferi’s Protection is so good, too!

The foils and the nonfoils are about the same price, which means I probably want the foils. I’d rather have the shiny versions, as those aren’t put into Commander decks as the nonfoils are.

Rocco, Cabaretti Caterer ($0.10 to $1.70, 4k decks as Commander and Card) – Rocco is a Chord of Calling you can cast from the command zone. It doesn’t have convoke, nor is it an instant, but my goodness, having a toolbox commander like this is a powerful tool. He’s in as many decks as he is at the head of those decks. I don’t think we’ve had a legendary three-color with such a powerful ability, one that just requires mana to be good. We also have a version worth picking up in bricks: the gilded foil version is available for under two bucks.

I don’t think this will light up anytime soon, but I really like getting a premium treatment for such a useful card in large quantities.

Roadside Reliquary ($0.15 to $2.50, 10k decks) – Lands that give you something to do when you’re out of gas have a real appeal in Commander. Cryptic Caves is in 15k decks, and both these cards are amazing in something like Lord Windgrace, giving you card advantage coming and going. Foils are almost 20x the price of regulars here, indicating how strong the casual demand is. 

Yes, you want to be in on those foils. A reprint is nearly inevitable for a utility land like this, and I want to stay out of the fallout there. Instead, I’m okay buying these at two for $5 and being patient until they hit $10 in about 18-24 months.

Containment Construct ($0.30 to $3.50, 12500 decks) – I’m extremely tempted by the nonfoils here, and deciding what to buy is an exercise in predictions. The Construct is amazing in decks that have a way to make the discard happen regularly, like Anje Falkenrath. What I’m thinking about is that eventually, something will get printed that turns this into a mega-combo-enabler. Will it be a Commander precon that likely would include this card?

If I think the combo is some random Standard inclusion, then I want a giant stack of nonfoil copies. Thirty cents jumping to a retail of even $2.50 means I’ll make around 6x my money back. If I think it’ll be in a precon, I want the foils as protection from that extra set of copies.

Relic of Legends ($1.50 to $3, 2700 decks)

Elas Il-Kor, Sadistic Pilgrim ($0.20 to $2.50, 2200 decks)

Tear Asunder ($0.60 to $1.75, 624 decks)

Finally, here’s the three cards from DMU that I think have the best chance to give us huge returns. Relic is going to be a mana rock for a wide variety of decks, including things that want the commander to be tapped. Elas is just good, capable of lots of gain and lots of loss, while Tear Asunder is a straightforward exile spell.

Elas is the only one with a special version as yet, having a textured foil of his Showcase art available, so that’s where I’d want to be. For the other two, I’d feel better about having foils but it’s not quite as urgent a need. Having a stack of these cards on the cheap is going to pay off nicely in the long run. 

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.