Competitive MTG is not what it used to be. While the scene is still a thriving one with many enthusiastic players, the prestige of competitive Magic has dwindled since Covid threw its wrench into… well, everything. Grand Prix events are now a thing of the past, and while there is some semblance of them at Magic Con events, it’s just not the same as it used to be.
Prizing also seems to have taken a dip for MTG events, but Store Championships have thankfully remained somewhat generous. Gorgeous, textless promotional cards are up for grabs across the world as each LGS gets to host its own events. Some of these cards could go for hundreds of dollars, rewarding strong players with a token for their hard work.
While this is respectable in its own right, especially considering players are limited in going to tournaments, these Store Championship prizes have nothing on Lorcana’s Store Championships. Having started last weekend, these Store Championship events are offering prizes worth over $1000!
Crazy Lorcana Store Championship Prizes
$1000 worth of prizing certainly sounds like a lot for a Store Championship, regardless of the game. Considering that these events can be minuscule depending on the store, area, and day, winning $1000 worth of product for what could be an eight-person tournament is an absolutely incredible payout. Sadly, prizes from an event like this are something MTG players can only dream of.
For better or worse, when winning a Lorcana Store Championship, players aren’t handed a crisp $1000 bill. Instead, players who manage to win a Store Championship are given two, remarkably expensive things. The first of these is the gorgeous Stitch card that you can see above, while the second thing is a playmat using similar art.
As for the card itself, Stitch – Rock Star technically isn’t all too exciting. First released in the aptly named “The First Chapter” this Lorcana card is an ever-useful draw draw engine. Thanks to its Mutate-esque ability, this Stitch can also be played for a reduced cost, giving them expanded utility.
In terms of value, normal copies of Stitch – Rock Star aren’t much to write home about. On TCGplayer, there is no shortage of listings for Stitch at around $3, so they’re hardly a value all-star. This new variant, however, is significantly rarer and more collectible, pushing prices up to about $600!
Alongside getting a copy of the Stitch – Rock Star card, victorious Lorcana players also receive the aforementioned playmat. Also featuring artwork of Stitch, this playmat is similarly insanely expensive, with sales clocking in at around $400. While this may seem like an insane amount of money, Lorcana cards can go beyond the realms of TCG collectability. As Disney products, this playmat has an expanded and rabid audience who’s evidently willing to pay top dollar.
MTG Pales in Comparison
Sadly, compared to Lorcana, Magic: The Gathering simply doesn’t cut the mustard. Taking a look at past Store Championship prizes for MTG, while not always bad, the value is nowhere near the same level. On the high end, the recent textless Dauthi Voidwalker promo is currently worth around $100. The other recent Store Championship cards, however, are effectively worthless.
In theory, since Dauthi Voidwalker typically sells for around $13, this gorgeous textless variant should be more expensive, but that simply isn’t the case. Thanks to Lorcana fever, Stitch – Rock Star is in a league of its own that MTG can barely touch. If MTG players want to get anywhere close, they’ll have to attend multiple events or win two copies of Dauthi Voidwalker at a WPN event.
For better or worse, while winning $1000 from a Store Championship is no bad thing, there’s a chance these high prices won’t be repeated. The rush to acquire the latest Lorcana Store Championship promos is completely unexpected and unprecedented, allowing prices to spiral out of control. Now that this has happened once, the next rush of demand for Store Championship promos may be more tempered.
Regardless of what happens in the future, for right now, Lorcana is potentially an incredibly lucrative game. If you think you’ve got what it takes to take home the all-important prize, there’s never been a better time to play Lorcana than right now. Hopefully, MTG can create some of the same Store Championship fever in the future, as it’s seriously missing out right now.
Read More: Lorcana $1000 Store Championship Prize Support Blows Other Games Out of the Water!
Can Magic Make it Work?
As one of the first, and arguably best, TCGs ever created, Magic: The Gathering is absolutely legendary within the tabletop gaming space. Outside of this community, however, MTG barely ever makes an appearance without a $2,000,000 card to drive demand. For better or worse, Disney Lorcana and Pokémon completely outclass MTG in this way.
As massive cultural juggernauts with immense franchises surrounding them, there’s no doubting the impact and influence of Lorcana and Pokémon. With legions of devoted fans eager to collect what they can, these TCGs have a huge audience of non-players to drive up prices. This seems to be exactly what we’re seeing with Stitch – Rock Star right now.
Unfortunately, Magic: The Gathering simply doesn’t have the same pull, especially since the once-promised Netflix show is nowhere to be seen. While MTG has been pushing the boundaries and tempting more collectible-minded non-players thanks to Universes Beyond, Magic itself is still no cultural juggernaut. That being said, The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth proved, that there’s theoretically immense demand when Wizards really gets things right.
On its own, MTG still has a good deal of collectability that players can enjoy. Between the myriad foil and art treatments, serialized cards, and the Reserved List, there’s no shortage of ways to splash the cash. For Store Championship promos, however, many of these fail to achieve greatness, both in status and price tag.
Hopefully, the immense value of Lorcana will teach Wizards of the Coast an important lesson here. As much as bringing in outside IPs can expand the influence of Magic, it still needs a strong identity of its own. Without this, the game may flounder and fail to truly expand beyond where it is now.
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