Post by Mr. B

1Pqguf…CTad Unverified · twetch

magic is all about playability

the most popular format is commander, which allows MOST cards from the inception of the game

some of these cards can get reprinted, but others are on the "reserve list", which means they won't get printed anymore

that haven't added any cards to the RL in couple decades, so most of those cards have already gone 20-30 years without a true reprint

up until about 2010, they made exceptions to the rule for special foils given out to judges, which is the case for the two in the pic above (Judge Foil - Reserve List)

only a few JFRL cards out there, and an even smaller subset that are playable in commander

as for the cards off the RL, they can still maintain value if they're highly playable

for example, the cheapest mana vault you can find is about $50 for a damaged foreign white border copy

the value for non-RL cards comes in rare versions of playable cards. not sure what the goin rate is at the moment, but there's a Fallout variant of Mana Vault that goes for $2k+ last I checked

If the tcg market continues to thrive, I think the new card value is going to in "universe beyond" special prints of highly playable cards - see also, Spongebob Squarepants Smothering Tithe.

the big risk for a lot of cards is WOTC reducing the playability by printing more powerful cards or by banning the playable cards or other cards that synergize well (see Mana Crypt, Dockside Extortionist ban 2024)

happy to share more info if you're interested

240 818 sat
13fdCb…ux1P Unverified · twetch

But for example in Pokemon it’s not just about playability when it comes for most collectors, like a lot of the older cards are much weaker than newer cards despite being the same character but primarily collected based on overall pull rates, low pop, and good arts in addition to fan favored characters.. What’s an example for such a Magic card?

What the chain says
Block
964 421
Time
2026-08-29T13:05:54Z
Signer
13fdCbw4tqZV6ziV93yqKr9gYRAsVxux1P
App
twetch
Type
reply
Content type
text/markdown

Fields the transaction did not carry are omitted. Open the payload to see the bytes as stored.

Signed by 13fdCbw4tqZV6ziV93yqKr9gYRAsVxux1P Unverified

Replies (6)

13fdCb…ux1P Unverified · twetch
Replying to@13fdCb…ux1P

And rarity tears

1Pqguf…CTad Unverified · twetch
Replying to@13fdCb…ux1P

those cards are pretty rare

unplayable, but maintains value

the ones that exist will fall into one of three main categories

old and nostalgic (juzam)
old and banned (lotus)
new and created as collectible (lotr)

also, the original "alpha" and "beta" variants of cheap cards tend to carry a premium - lightning bolt is a <$1 card, but a damaged alpha version is a few hundred bucks

Attached imageAttached imageAttached imageAttached image
1Pqguf…CTad Unverified · twetch
Replying to@1Pqguf…CTad

originally, there were 3

rare
uncommon
common

then they added mythic

however, rarity tier won't give a good estimation of value, aside from maybe a ceiling

note the badgermole cub, both rated "M" for mythic (bottom left)

left one is about twice the price of the right because it's a borderless foil, while the right is the standard print

unlike pokemon in this regard which tells you the variant in the rarity

Attached imageAttached image
Mr. B 1mo

And rarity tears

241 254 sat
1Pqguf…CTad Unverified · twetch
Replying to@1Pqguf…CTad

if you're looking for a speculative bet, this might be worth a look

not sure what the population is, but it's the only foil version of any of the "banned for cultural offensiveness" cards, and you can find them for a fair amount cheaper than its Alpha/Beta counterparts

foils can be had for under $75 while the black border OG cards are in the hundreds

most similar cards (special foil of Alpha/Beta/early set) have seen the foils rise much closer to the OG value (Swords to Plowshares, City of Brass)

historical significance, resurgence in crusade-esque beliefs, might help here too

Attached image
13fdCb…ux1P Unverified · twetch
Replying to@1Pqguf…CTad

The black lotus is nice as simple as it is.. But I know it costs too much

Continue thread →