Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy | Ikoria Lair of Behemoths
30, May, 25

New Through the Ages Reprints Reveal Spicy $14 cEDH Staple

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At long last, we’re finally at the end of the spoiler season for the Magic: The Gathering Final Fantasy crossover. By the end of the day, Wizards will update the set’s card image gallery, and all will be revealed. Before then, we’ve still got a few final spoilers to see, and it appears Wizards has saved some spice till last.

This morning, a trio of Through the Ages cards have been revealed by Wizards of the Coast. While some of these reveals arrived slightly earlier than expected, that doesn’t diminish their quality. In this latest batch, we’re getting a pair of cEDH staples and a Standard powerhouse too!

Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy

Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy

To kick things off with the big ticket item, Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy has been reskinned as Seymour Guado. Flavor-wise, this definitely isn’t the worst Through the Ages reprint we’ve seen, yet players aren’t totally happy. The use of a CGI screenshot in place of classic concept art is definitely an odd look, even for a Bonus Sheet.

Thankfully, even if the look of Seymour Guado isn’t to your tastes, Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy is a great reprint to see. Currently, Kinnan sells for around $14 on TCGplayer thanks to being a true Commander and cEDH staple. Sadly, since they were reprinted at mythic rarity, this new printing may not significantly lower the price.

When looking at the card itself, it’s easy to see why Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy is so popular in Commander. Whether they’re your Commander or in the 99, Kinnan offers fantastic ramp and an ability that uses the extra mana. This makes them an all-in-one threat, even if their color identity is somewhat limiting.

Thankfully, this limited color identity doesn’t stop Kinnan from being popular, especially in cEDH. In this format, Kinnan’s ability to cheat out massive threats early and consistently has them consistently putting up strong results. Due to this, there should always be a healthy amount of demand for Kinnan, which should keep their price up.

Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir

Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir

Similarly, Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir largely sees play in cEDH and Commander. For this reprint, Teferi has been reskinned as Edea Kramer from Final Fantasy VIII. Much like Kinnan’s reprint, this once again uses classic CGI art, which looks… interesting. As much as it’s not to my tastes, this art is bound to be nostalgic to some Final Fantasy fans out there.

In terms of value, Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir isn’t much to write home about. Since this card’s debut in Time Spiral, it has seen four reprints, and copies can now be picked up for under $1. As if this low price point wasn’t disappointing enough, this new reprint should bring prices down even further.

Not only is Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir’s reprint as Edea Kramer a rare find, but the looks will also play a factor. Online, it seems a lot of MTG players don’t love this art, which may cause this variant to be the cheapest yet. Since Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir is already a sub-$1 card, however, it’s not like it can get too much cheaper.

Value aside, Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir is a powerful MTG card, especially in Commander. Not only does this Teferi let you hold up mana to play creatures at the optimal time, but he’ll delay your opponent, too. For this Stax-y reason, Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir is a fairly popular card in cEDH, since that format loves those effects.

Loran of the Third Path

Loran of the Third Path

Last, but not least, Loran of the Third Path is being reprinted as Garnet Til Alexandros 17th. Once again, this Through the Ages reprint uses more CGI art, from Final Fantasy IX this time. As mentioned, this unique art treatment doesn’t appear to be to everyone’s taste, which could mean Garnet ends up being cheaper than usual.

Speaking of value, copies of Loran of the Third Path are currently worth around $2.50 on TCGplayer. While this isn’t a huge amount of money, Loran is a very popular card, being played in over 179,000 Commander decks. Alongside this, the card also sees significant play in multiple Standard archetypes.

While Loran of the Third Path is a very good card, its price has been kept down by a surprisingly quick series of reprints. Despite debuting in 2022’s The Brothers’ War, Loran has already been reprinted in two Commander precons. Now that she’s being reprinted once again in a Bonus Sheet, her value may fall even more.

To make matters worse, while Loran of the Third Path’s artifact destroying antics are strong in MTG, they’re a complete flavor fail here. While this isn’t that surprising, given some of the other Through the Ages misses, it’s definitely still disappointing. Considering the flavor of the main set and Commander decks, it’s very strange that these cards are so poorly mismatched. 

The Truth Is Out There

Considering the spoiler season for Final Fantasy ends today, it’s not a surprise we’ve seen these reprints. That being said, it does appear that they’ve been revealed earlier than expected. Rather than appearing through official channels, MTG players bizarrely discovered these reprints for themselves.

While browsing the official MTG website, players discovered that the art for some cards has been updated behind the scenes. When hovering over cards like Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy in articles about the Commander Brackets beta, players saw the new Through the Ages reprint. 

By sleuthing through different Commander decklists and articles, players have found the three Through the Ages reprints highlighted today. One card, however, is still missing. In total, Through the Ages will contain 64 cards, yet we’ve only seen 63 so far. Thankfully, we shouldn’t have to wait too long for this final card to be revealed, at least. 

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