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Nezahal, Primal Tide - A Magic the Gathering (MTG) Card Review

6/20/2018

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by  R.A. Rowell; Co-Owner of Intent-sive Nature & the Brand Shamans network
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Nezahal, Primal Tide is a rare from Rivals of Ixalan, a gigantic 7 mana Elder Dinosaur Legendary Creature. Early on, Nezahal was seeing play in Standard Blue White Control as a top-end finisher. He was also a smart buy for investors early on, as his stock has appreciated nicely in the past year.

So, let's look at Nezahal, Primal Tide as a creature. First of all he's a 7/7 for seven mana. He also can't be countered. He also allows you to have no maximum hand size which is great and control them. Whenever an opponent casts a noncreature spell, you draw a card. That's hand advantage, which is perfect for a control deck.

Also, Nezahal has another ability, which allows you to discard three cards and exile Nezahal and return it to the battlefield tapped under its owner's control at the beginning of the next end step. This allows Nezahal to dodge removal, which is very powerful.  


For some time in mid-2018, Nezahal was only retailing for about a dollar. But, in late June, his prices moved up to close to a dollar-fifty. That was important because whenever you see a card move up  that quickly, it typically indicates that the card is in extremely high demand. Whenever a card is under $2 and seeing Standard play and is seeing a rapid increase in price, it means that demand is quickly outstripping supply. This means there's going to be a major price change soon.

At that point, major vendors like Card Kingdom listed Nezahal for $2.50. Meanwhile, the cardalso listed on Amazon for around the same price. However, the TCGplayer market took time to catch up.  At the time, it was going to be in Standard for quite a while. But, it was clear that it also would see play in Commander. At the time, I said that the ceiling on this card may not be that high, perhaps three or four dollars. Indeed, by mid-2019, it was a $3 card at retail. People that bought in under $1.50 back then are probably fairly thrilled today.

As a player, Nezahal has been a great card to have if you really like to play control. It's also great if you just like to collect Dinosaurs. All in all, it was a good card to have in your Standard collection. Of course, with Rivals of Ixalan leaving Standard in October 2019, what would happen to Nezahal? Fortunately, by the time War of the Spark rolled around, Nezahal was no longer seeing Standard play. Nezahal then became a purely Commander card, which is always good. It also helped that Arixmethes, Slumbering Isle came along from Commander 2018, as that deck loves to have a copy of Nezahal. Other Commanders who have taken a liking to Nezahal, Primal Tide include Jodah, Archmage Eternal, Braids, Conjurer Adept, Azor, the Lawbringer, Raff Capashen, Ship's Mage, and more.

Overall, Nezahal, Primal Tide has been a nice little find for those lucky enough to dig him out of the dollar bin. But, it doesn't look like this Elder Dinosaur is going anywhere. His abilities that give you an unlimited hand and some sweet extra draw power will benefit many Commanders for years to come. I'm happy that I called him as a good investment, as he probably isn't going to disappoint for some time.


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How to Get the Most Value From A Magic the Gathering Booster Pack: Rivals of Ixalan #1

5/29/2018

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by ElspethFTW, Gaming Successfully Staff
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Ever opened a bad Magic the Gathering pack? Anyone who plays Magic has. Ever opened a really good pack? That doesn’t happen as often, but when it does, how do we properly value it? Truth is, we must learn to value the trash with the treasure. Magic cards are assets, after all. This is why we started cracking virtual packs, in an exercise to learn how to get the most value from good, bad, and meh Magic the Gathering booster packs.

Thus far, our virtual booster packs have ranged from horrible with our first trip to Dominaria, fairly below-average with upside with Ixalan, to amazing with a very profitable set of six Battlebond packs.  Today, we’ll open a set much like Ixalan and Dominaria, in that they’re legal in Standard until October 2019. Like Ixalan, Rivals of Ixalan is at peak supply. The difference with this set is that there’s more demand for cards in this set. Also, like Ixalan, the set has cards with upside.

Let’s see if we get our Sea Legs and discover some valuable buried treasure...

Commons
Cleansing Ray
Dark Inquiry
Divine Verdict
Exultant Skymarcher
Kitesail Corsair
Legion Conquistador
Naturalize
Sea Legs
Stampeding Horncrest
Traveler's Amulet

Uncommons
Forsaken Sanctuary
Needletooth Raptor
Reaver Ambush

Rare
Ghalta, Primal Hunger


How about that! It’s our best Standard pack yet with a $7 rare! Actually, as of 5/29/18, it has a TCGPlayer market price of $6.66! Hope you’re not superstitious…

The great news is that with this pull, everything else is gravy. So unlike our Ixalan pack, where we looked at the commons first, we’ll look at the grand prize first instead.

Ghalta, Primal Hunger is a really big Dinosaur. But our 12-mana behemoth friend didn’t get to be $7 because of Dinos. He’s part of a deck called Mono-Green Stompy in Standard.  Ghalta costs X less to cast where X is the total power among creatures you control. It’s not hard with that deck to have a lot of powerful creatures in play. There’s three copies of Ghalta in that deck, hence the high demand.

But there is a problem with Ghalta. While this isn’t the only Standard deck that plays him, and a lot of kitchen table and Commander players want him too, what brought him up from $3.50 was that deck. And that Stompy deck is losing about half the deck in October 2018. That means his value won’t get much higher, and it’s already on the way down. If you don’t plan on using him soon, he’s a strong trade candidate. Even if you don’t trade him, you’ve still opened a great pack.

Now, what about the other cards? Do any of them stand out? Not really.


The Uncommons

Forsaken Sanctuary is the best uncommon at a $0.11 market price. This is the white/black dual land’s fourth printing. It was previously printed in Shadows Over Innistrad, Amonkhet, and Commander 2017. Dual lands of any kind are always sought after, so this is a good card to keep on hand.

Reaver Ambush has seen play in Esper Approach as removal. At only $0.07, you may not think much of it. But for only 3 mana you can exile a creature with power 3 or greater. That’s not a bad piece of removal, and it could become more valuable.

Needletooth Raptor is a Dino with a neat Enrage ability. Enrage is an ability that activates whenever that creature is dealt damage. This guy deals 5 damage to a target creature whenever he takes damage. That’s pretty solid. He’s only worth a nickel, really, though. Unless you collect Dinos, he’s pretty much bulk, though.

The Commons

Legion Conquistador is easily the best of the commons. Problem is, it’s already been printed in Ixalan. The fact that you need four to get full value for this card is the only reason it’s $0.04

Sea Legs is actually a pretty cute Enchantment with Flash that’s great in a Pirates deck. It gives a Pirate +0/+2 and a non-Pirate -2/-0. It’s a neat combat trick. It’s also $0.02...

Dark Inquiry, Exultant Skymarcher, and Cleansing Ray are all bulk. Traveler’s Amulet is a useful card but it’s been printed enough to be worth only $0.03.

Any value that Kitesail Corsair had was destroyed with its reprinting in Battlebond. It’s a penny Pirate and bulk. Divine Verdict and Naturalize are good Limited cards that have been printed into dust. They’re each a penny and nice for new players starting to build their own decks, but not much else.


The market value of this pack? $7.11

Ghalta, Primal Hunter $6.66
Forsaken Sanctuary $0.11
Reaver Ambush $0.07
Needletooth Raptor $0.05
Legion Conquistador $0.04
Dark Inquiry $0.03
Cleansing Ray $0.03
Traveler's Amulet $0.03
Exultant Skymarcher $0.02
Sea Legs $0.02
Stampeding Horncrest $0.02
Divine Verdict $0.01
Kitesail Corsair $0.01
Naturalize $0.01

The lesson we learned here? A great rare in a pack may well be at the height of its value. If you see a card on its way down and the best deck it’s in is on the way out of Standard, it’s time to trade it for something better, like a Dominaria dual land or two, for example.

This is our best Standard-legal pack so far! Stay tuned for more virtual pack cracking for value!


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Legion Lieutenant – Magic the Gathering Financial Card Review

4/7/2018

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by RGFoxx, Gaming Successfully Staff
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Vampires are an extremely hot tribe in Magic the Gathering right now because they won't stop printing good new Vampires. Legion Lieutenant is a good Vampire "Lord" at uncommon. Giving +1/+1 to all your Vampires is nothing new, such as with Captivating Vampire and Stromkirk Captain. But this is a nice cheap way to do it at two mana.

And here's why this guy is on my radar: anyone who wants to build a Vampire deck. If you want to build White/Black Vampires in Standard, you want four of these. If you're build some janky Vampire Lords Tribal deck in Modern, you want four. If you're just someone who just wants to build a kitchen table Vampire deck, you want four of these. If you're building a White/Black/X Vampire Commander deck, you want one.

Also, this guy was so popular when he was spoiled that during preorders, the Lieutenant's price spiked to $2.50. It eventually settled to about $0.75 and has been ticking upwards ever since. Ordinarily, I wouldn't get that excited about an uncommon, but he's unique in that he's a two-drop Lord for a very popular Tribe. Being $2-3 in a short time isn't impossible.

I'm not super high on the Legion Lieutenant foils right now, though. Most of the demand for those happened during preorders, as they shot up to $15 for a bit. That isn't to say you shouldn't buy one for your Commander deck, but I wouldn't personally invest deeply in foils until I see a trend that says otherwise.

Overall, for the price Legion Lieutenant is a great value at about $1. Vampires are always popular trade binder fodder, at the very least. This is just a solid investment for any Magic player who likes to collect tribal staples or just popular Tribes in general, but it's also a great $1 card for evening out trades or swapping pieces for spare parts needed for decks.

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