Throughout recent years, the collectibility of MTG has slowly been pushed to new heights by Wizards of the Coast. The much-mired 30th Anniversary Edition is an obvious example of this. However, premier sets haven’t been exempt from the game’s growing collectibility. With new card styles, booster fun treatments, and lucrative promotions, every new MTG set seems to be a cacophony of different styles and colors. Unsurprisingly, given MTG’s history, some of these promotions have created immensely expensive cards that sell for over $1000 each! Due to this success, it should come as no surprise that March of the Machine features its own lucrative MTG promotion. This new promotion could even be the most valuable one to date for a premier set!
Serialized MTG Cards Return in March of the Machine
First appearing on reversed copies of Viscera Seer, MTG’s serialized cards recently reappeared in The Brothers’ War. Returning for the Retro Artifact bonus sheet, these serialized cards could be found numbered from 1 to 500. As with the serialized copies of Viscera Seer, these cards were anticipated to be incredibly expensive. In fact, based on math alone, The Brothers’ War’s Serialized Retro Artifacts should have been worth upwards of $25,000! Unfortunately for MTG fans looking to make some serious cash, even the rarest retro artifacts didn’t sell for that much.
While The Brothers’ War’s serialized cards weren’t as valuable as many players were expecting, the promotion was nevertheless a success. After all, who wouldn’t get excited at the idea of opening a Collector Booster to find a $1000 card inside! As enticing as that prospect was, MTG players did raise some concerns about the artificially collectible cards Wizards was creating. Unfortunately for concerned MTG players, it seems serialized cards are here to stay, as they’re returning for March of the Machine. Being used, once again, for the premier set’s bonus sheet, these latest serialized cards may be the most valuable yet!
To amp up the set’s themes of being a Multiversal battle for the future, March of the Machine’s bonus sheet brings back some of the game’s best and most iconic legendary creatures. Dubbed “Multiverse Legends,” only two cards from this bonus sheet have been spoiled so far. These cards are the fantastically powerful Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer, and Atraxa, Praetors’ Voice. Reprinted in their home plane’s Booster Fun treatment frame, these cards are available in a quartet of different styles. The four treatments available for each of these cards are regular, Foil Etched, Halo foil, and serialized.
Potential Promotion Pricing
Currently, Wizards has not yet announced just how many copies of each Serialized Multiverse Legends card will be available. Following past serialized runs, it’s likely that 500 numbered copies of each card will be found within Collector Boosters. However, it is entirely possible that the number of serialized cards will be more limited this time. After all, we have very recently seen just that in Secret Lair 295. Released to commemorate MagicCon: Philadelphia, this surprisingly raunchy Secret Lair was comprised of 295 numbered copies of Shivan Dragon. Given out to fans at MagicCon: Philadelphia, this serialized run clearly shows Wizards are willing to experiment with this promotion.
Without knowing the extent of the serialized run for the Multiverse Legends booster sheet, predicting prices is more art than science. That being said, it seems incredibly likely the latest serialized cards will be the most expensive to date. After all Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer typically costs around $75.65 on average on TCGplayer. This is around $13 more than The Brothers’ War’s most expensive Retro Artifact card Mox Amber, used to be. Previously selling for around $62 on TCGplayer, serialized versions of this card have since sold for $1999. Extrapolating this out as a 3224% price increase, it’s possible serialized copies of Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer could be worth $2500!
While serialized copies of Multiverse Legends cards are poised to be incredibly expensive, this booster sheet should drive down the price of standard variants of these cards. For example, Mox Amber was originally priced at around $62 before its Retro Artifact reprint was spoiled. Following this, the card’s price tumbled, eventually settling around the $24 mark where it sits today. It stands to reason the same price decrease could happen to Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer.
Contentious Continued Collectibles
As if the collectability of March of the Machine wasn’t already being pushed enough, the set features even more collectible products. Following in the footsteps of Phyrexia: All Will Be One, the upcoming set features a trio of Secret Lair drops. Releasing in April as part of the seasonal Superdrop, the first of these drops have already been spoiled and announced. Dubbed “Showcase: March of the Machine Vol.1,” this Secret Lair drop utilizes art styles and card frames from across Magic’s multiverse, similar to the Multiversal Legends promotion.
Beyond offering an eclectic mix of art and card frames that evoke each card’s home plane, the “Showcase: March of the Machine Vol.1” Secret Lair drop offers seriously compelling value. Usually, however, the value of this Secret Lair drop isn’t propped up by just one or two cards. The cheapest card in the drop, or instance, is Questing Beast, which sells for around $5.30.While this is a hair under the $6 threshold for Secret Lair price viability, it is hardly a complete dud. In total, the cards from this Secret Lair are worth roughly $43.73 on average. Subsequently, should Showcase: March of the Machine Vol.1 cost the typical $30 price, it’ll be a very compelling deal!
Despite the value that is being offered directly to fans, not everyone was entirely pleased with the array of art on display. Reddit user u/Complete_Unit, for instance, complained it “seems like Kaladesh Masterpieces are no longer safe,” to r/MTGFianace users. While this concern was echoed throughout the post’s comments, elsewhere, other Reddit users were overjoyed by the Secret Lair and Multiverse Legends’ use of card frames.
“Wait…THAT’S SO COOL. Bringing back all the old styles is so cool. I’m in love with this set so far.”
u/JA14732
“These new chase cards are probably gonna end up being controversial to some people, but I have never been more excited for a way to make MY commander even more unique – love these.”
u/The_Giant_Moustache
