A couple hours ago, a handful of promos for a variety of upcoming MTG events were revealed. Players can get their hands on these cards by participating in their local Store Championship, Commander Box League, Magic Academy event, or Standard Showdown.
While some of these promos are intriguing, the Standard Showdown choice in particular has everyone laughing. Let’s just say the timing of this reveal was far from ideal…
Standard Showdown
That’s right. Winners of any Standard Showdown event taking place between August 1 and September 18 will receive a Monstrous Rage promo for their troubles. Ironically, Monstrous Rage was banned on June 30 after wreaking havoc on the Standard format for many months.
Wizards acknowledged that this may seem odd but stated that the promo was in the works long before the ban took place. This isn’t surprising at all, it’s just very amusing how the timing worked out.
From a Constructed standpoint, the good news at least is that Monstrous Rage is a staple of mono-red aggro in Pioneer. In this sense, the card has plenty of appeal even if it’s not Standard legal anymore.
Still, it can certainly feel bad playing in a Standard tournament and winning, only to receive a prize that can’t be played in the associated format. This is especially true considering that the upcoming Regional Championship Qualifiers are Standard, while there are no competitive paper Pioneer tournaments to speak of in the near future.
On top of that, it’s not like the reprint value of Monstrous Rage is anything special. The card is worth just over $1. There are a lot of other card choices that would have been stronger options for this promo, though hindsight is always 20/20.
Store Championship
Next, we have the Store Championship promos. Fortunately, all three of these cards see significant play, which is a big step up from some promos we’ve seen in the past.
Just for playing in your local Store Championship, you’ll receive an alternate art copy of Bitter Triumph. As just a two-mana flexible removal spell, Bitter Triumph falls short of Go for the Throat in Standard and Pioneer due to the associated life loss. Where this card gets its edge is as an easy discard outlet.
One of the strongest plays you can make is to use Bitter Triumph to both kill an opposing creature and set up some reanimation shenanigans. As such, Bitter Triumph often shows up in Rakdos Reanimator decks in Standard and Abzan Greasefang decks in Pioneer.
Bitter Triumph is worth roughly 60 cents according to TCGplayer market price, which isn’t much. Nonetheless, participation promos rarely break the bank, and at least this one is competitively viable.
This moves us to the top eight promo: Slickshot Show-Off. This card was once a dominant force in both Standard and Pioneer. Since the printing of Emberheart Challenger in Bloomburrow, Slickshot Show-Off’s stock has fallen considerably. The bans to Monstrous Rage and Cori-Steel Cutter in Standard doesn’t help, either.
Yet, Prowess decks still make an appearance in Standard and Pioneer, and this Bird Wizard leads to many explosive starts. It’s also become a staple of Izzet Prowess in Modern, which has surged since the printing of Cori-Steel Cutter.
Its $9 price tag reflects its power. Slickshot Show-Off actually holds more reprint value than Charming Scoundrel, Preacher of the Schism, Reality Smasher, or any other Store Championship top eight promo over the last year.
In fact, Slickshot Show-Off is more valuable than the winner’s promo, Fable of the Mirror-Breaker! Fable is yet another winner’s promo that isn’t Standard legal, which isn’t perfect for a tournament series designed for Standard play. People will undoubtedly appreciate Fable more than Goddric, Cloaked Reveler, though, and Fable continues to be a staple of Pioneer Rakdos midrange, Modern Jund Creativity, and beyond.
Fable is worth $7 in its cheapest, non-foil form. As a Store Championship winner’s promo, the promo version is bound to be in limited supply. For a multi-format staple like Fable, demand could be through the roof, too, so expect this to be worth a lot more than the original.
Commander Box League
For Commander and Limited enthusiasts, you can get your hands on a Palladium Myr promo by participating in a Commander Box League event. Commander Box League is a unique format where players build 60-card Commander decks out of the packs from a play booster box. For more information, check out format details here.
Commander Box League runs from July 25 to July 31. Palladium Myr is a solid mana rock for Commander, and while it’s worth under 70 cents due to its multitude of printings at uncommon, it’s a nice addition to a fun, casual event. Players can receive Palladium Myr promos at their Two-Headed Giant Commander Night or Commander party events as well while supplies last.
Magic Academy
Finally, we have a Trinket Mage promo to share. This card can be obtained during Magic Academy events from August 1 to September 18 by purchasing any intro product. These include Starter Kits, Beginner Boxes, or Starter Collections. Buying a Bundle or six play boosters from a given set will also suffice.
Much like Palladium Myr, Trinket Mage is an uncommon with a decent number of printings, and isn’t even worth 40 cents. Fortunately, it remains a strong Commander card thanks to its ability to tutor up Sol Ring.
You’ll have plenty of chances to pick up these promos when Edge of Eternities makes its way to your local game store soon enough. Don’t miss out!
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