Dominaria Remastered is an interesting set. We’ve ridden the Remastered train before, last year with Time Spiral Remastered. This time, though, we’re not getting an extra sheet in Retro frame, but we’re getting Retro and/or Borderless versions of the rares and mythics in boosters. 

I’ll break down the exact odds next week, but for this week, I want to look at the mythics of the set, because the rares don’t have much value as it is and surely won’t for a while after this printing.

I’m including the EDHREC data because Commander is the format that drives most prices these days, but please remember that EDHREC data is skewed. It’s only the most online people who bother to list their deck, while a whole lot of people take inspiration from those lists but might not make purchases. Cards that were in preconstructed decks are also overrepresented, mainly from people who start with a precon and then do some form of upgrading.

Lyra Dawnbringer ($7 for the cheapest version, up to $30 for the most expensive, listed in 15,000 EDHREC decks as commander and card) – Amazing card, busted in Limited, but honestly Giada is a better Commander for Angels. I fully expect Lyra to be a buck or two for the cheapest, and given the play pattern, I don’t think I’d ever be buying copies.

Serra Avatar (under a dollar up to $80 for the Junior Super Series promo, 5700 decks) – It’s had a couple of strategic reprints, and the JSS has a very unique foiling to it. Bulk all the way, don’t look back.

Test of Endurance ($19 to $55, 4500 decks) – I’ve written before about reprint equity. Some cards are expensive because they have not had a reprint, they are pricey because of low supply, not high demand. Test of Endurance will not recover from this, it’ll get cheap and fall hard. If it was a Pioneer card, there might be a deck, but no, this will be very cheap and I’m never buying in.

Force of Will ($90 to $327, 103,000 decks) – Let’s have a graph and look at what happened to the EMA version when the Double Master reprint came along:

It fell about $50, down to $75, and recovered nicely. It’s already dipping down on news of this reprint, and this is a staple that absolutely can recover. Given the sheer range of premium versions out there (Judge foil, Invocation, Box Topper, Borderless, Retro) I think I’m more inclined to buy up basic versions that get to the $40-$50 range. 

Have another graph, that shows the foil from EMA, and recognize that you either buy the cheap ones low and wait for them to go up, or you go after a premium and cross your fingers:

Time Stretch ($22 to $110, 9100 decks) – This had one reprint since Odyssey, which was Tenth Edition. No new copies since 2007 but has a surprising amount of EDH decks. Most extra turns cards exile themselves now, but not this one, it’s too old for that tech. We’ve got a whole lot of spells-costing-less effects going around too, and so I’m feeling good about this. Keep in mind that this is a casual player’s dream, and a whole lot of opened copies are going to stay in decks. 

I think this price falls pretty hard, but I will be interested in any version that gets sufficiently cheap.

Urza, Lord High Artificer ($45 to $105, 23k total decks) – Yes, Urza LHA is getting a second Retro treatment since his introduction in Modern Horizons 1. It’s a deep dive to find all the cards that have been double-dipped that way, but let’s appreciate that the retro reprint in MH2 barely bumped the original:

This reprinting will dent his price, but that will simply present a buying opportunity. Again, I don’t want to have to pick between premium versions, and I’ll be content buying copies in the $10-$20 range.

No Mercy ($30 to $180, 11k decks) – Pure scarcity reprint, and not a card I’ll buy unless it gets crazy cheap.

Vampiric Tutor ($40 to $110, 195k decks) – The graph here is very relevant:

Put into EMA, the price recovered quickly and then Commander Legends came around, giving us Extended Art of this incredible art. I believe this will dip under $20, and when it hits bottom, I’ll be going after a few copies for the long term. 

Yawgmoth, Thran Physician ($35 to $270, 40k decks) – This is different from Urza, because this retro was in Time Spiral Remastered, and that’s a far lower number of copies going around. The demand is there, from Commander players and from combo players alike, so I’ll be patient for this to hit $10-$15 and then I’ll get in for some copies.

Last Chance ($21 to $40, 2300 decks) – Was in Lil ‘Giri drop from MTGVegas this summer, and dropped a lot since then. The card is one of many that does the same thing, and this will be the first time it’s gotten a significant reprinting. I expect this to drop a long way and very quickly.

Sneak Attack ($16 to $30, 20k decks) – Too many reprintings for this card, even if it’s a Cube staple. Another card where the value will dissipate quickly.

Worldgorger Dragon ($5 to $185, 9100 decks) – Yes, there’s an infinite combo with this card, and that’s been most of its appeal. It’s great in a Torpor Orb meme deck, and should they print a Commander with the Torpor Orb text then this will spike, but really, I’m staying away even though this borderless art is amazing.

Kamahl, Fist of Krosa ($4 to $80, 5k decks) – Sure, infinite mana get you infinite damage here, but Ezuri is 

Nut Collector ($8 to $85, 2700 decks) – Squirrels are a meme tribe, but this is a solid card in token decks. I expect this to be cheap, and when it’s super low in a few months, I’ll want to buy a few copies.

Sylvan Library ($40 to $200, 142k decks) – I think the best plan here is the regular versions when it’s down to $20, because it’ll recover. Too many people want this, because it’s really busted in Commander, and the price will be returning to its plateau.

Hunting Grounds ($14 to $45, 1600 decks) – While a neat card, this has a single printing and I’m expecting the bottom to fall out of this. It’s more work than you think to get seven cards in the yard, and in this color pair. Bulk or close to it.

Gauntlet of Power ($5 to $70 , 18k decks) – Decent card, will be bulk.

Legacy Weapon ($1 to $50, 2000 decks) – Already bulk, and not going to change.

Urza’s Incubator ($45 to $400, 36k decks) – I will be fascinated to see where this goes. Clearly the price is gonna drop off, but how far? Single-creature-type decks are more popular than ever, and this is a breathtaking card, even if it makes the spells cost less for your opponents too. Given that the only sweet version is the original foil, I’ll be hoping that the premium versions in DMR get to a cheap price, but I will be interest in any version once the prices settle in a few months.

Dark Depths ($15 to $200, 18k decks) – I’m staying away from this. It’s a combo card in Cube and Legacy, and has had enough reprints to keep the price stable. This printing should drive it under $5 and probably lower.

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.

Wizards of the Coast has had two big products get ordered recently, and this is before we get into any new Superdrops. The 30th Anniversary Countdown (hereafter known as the Countdown) set was 30 known cards, each packaged singly, with a 30% chance of being foil. The 30th Anniversary packs (which I’m gonna call the Anniversary set) was basically a reprint of Beta packs, with a little bit of editing, twice the dual lands, and a retro frame slot.

The Countdown was sold for $150 each, where you knew the floor was 30 specific nonfoils. The Anniversary packs, where you could open a Lifelace and a retro Chaoslace or perhaps Mox Sapphire and retro Black Lotus, were sold for $1,000 as a set of four packs.

One of these sets sold out in an hour, and the other was pulled after 39 minutes of apparently very lackluster sales. The question is why, and it’s worth thinking about in the context of future purchases and special sets.

It’s a touch simplistic to presume that guaranteed value is the only reason that the Countdown sold out, but that is where we need to start this discussion. Anniversary packs at $250 are easily the most expensive packs ever sold by Wizards, even the VIP from the first Double Masters was under $100 at the time. People expect a lot of their packs these days, after years of Booster Fun treatments. 

More to the point, though, it’s a contrast between an expensive and potentially profitable lottery ticket and buying $7 for $5 worth of pennies. We knew from the outset what the cards were in the Countdown, including the art and frame variations. We could easily establish a baseline based on current prices, including the most expensive card, Chrome Mox. 

These copies from Eternal Masters were $90 around the time of the announcement, and have fallen to around $70, close to the price for the Countdown. We are at max supply for that copy, and while you can crack for singles and make around $30 all told, I’m being patient with my copies.

Chrome Mox was just the most expensive card in the Countdown set, but it gave us a floor. When the entire set was revealed, we could do the math and see how singles were a bit over $200 at the time, and figured it would drop some once it came out, which it has. 

Even better, because any card is 30% to be foil, the value has nowhere to go but up! There’s a decent chance that the average Countdown kit is worth *more* than its cost, even accounting for the race to the bottom. TCGPlayer is bearing this out, with sealed sets selling for $200. After taxes, fees, and shipping that’s not a lot of profit, so I’m being patient, as I said, but this is when supply is maxed. 

Contrast this with the Anniversary packs, and the enormous gap between what might get opened. I spoke of opening two Laces, or two Lotuses, and that’s a delta measured in several thousands of dollars. We clearly love gambling, as Magic players we’ve been conditioned to rip open packs and look for that sweet sweet value. 

We’ve always had the chance that packs will contain cards which will be worth a lot less, even plenty of Foil Extended Art mythics aren’t worth the cost of a Collector Booster. However, that’s opening a $25 pack, or opening a dozen from a $200 box of those. Wizards is asking those players to fork over a grand for the chance to open a piece of Power or a dual land, when those duals can be had in NM for a lot less than $1000!

Also, none of these are ‘real’. We’ve had this discussion all over the place, especially in the context of gold border cards being ‘legal’ for Commander play. As game pieces, these are too expensive for what they are doing.

However, in those 700 words, I didn’t mention the collectors at all. These duals, these new Power cards, they aren’t going to be mistaken as actual A/B/U cards. Instead, these are new collectibles, rare as hell. That’s a different animal entirely, and that’s what you have to look at for Wizards’ thinking behind ‘wtf did they think would happen’?

A majority of Magic players are collectors too. We want to collect sweet versions of cards and then play with them too. The value of the card, its collectibility, is validating to us, giving us a rush of dopamine when we gaze upon that backwards-printed Viscera Seer and realize that I have only one of a hundred of these in the entire world. 

Not only do we get that feeling of joy, of satisfaction, but we also get to show it off in some way, most likely in a Commander deck or a sweet Cube. We get to experience the unique sensation of displaying a rare and valuable collectible, and the recognition of others who know how rare a card that is. 

This is why the serialized cards are performing so well: We love this stuff, and sports card manufacturers have been blazing this trail for a long time. We’re going to see more super-expensive packs, but we aren’t going to see this enormous gulf in the $250 packs. We’ll see one-of Unlimited Lotus Replica in foil with a rainbow Richard Garfield signature, packaged with a sleeve and slabbed case. 

The Anniversary packs were apparently pulled after 39 minutes of underwhelming sales. The lows were too low on these packs for Magic collectors, but don’t forget that Magic collectors have had 30 years to get their actual Power and dual lands. There is value in having these collectibles, but the whales who would be the market here weren’t going after anything better, just different. 

Fundamentally, I think that was the error here. Wizards thought there was a market for expensive packs, and there is, but the ratios were off. I won’t be surprised when there’s an announced run of 200 packs, with a selection of limited cards, and the packs are $1000 each.

This run at higher-end collectibles missed, but having this happen in the midst of the very successful serialized cards demonstrates that the market is there. Get ready for more.

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.