So much hype surrounds Magic: the Gathering‘s spoiler season. That hype generally translates to card prices as well, often causing lots of inflation of preorder card prices. Generally speaking, this means card prices will trend downwards after the release of a Magic set.
I expect no different from Magic’s newest set, Innistrad: Midnight Hunt, but there are a lot of promising cards in the set, some of which are currently undervalued and have the potential to go up in price.
This is Part 2 of MTG Rocks’ Financial Set review of Innistrad: Midnight Hunt. Each day leading up to Midnight Hunt‘s official release, MTG Rocks will be releasing financial set reviews covering some of the most anticipated cards from our first Innistrad set of the year. There will be traps (cards that are overpriced and will sink in value), as well as sleeper hits (undervalued cards that have the potential for financial growth).
Read Part 1: Midnight Hunt Financial Set Review: The Meathook Massacre & More!
Wrenn and Seven
The Wrenn and Seven alternate art card is currently the most expensive card from Innistrad: Midnight Hunt, demanding a price tag of around $34.00. Its regular art version is the most expensive of all the regular bordered cards, preselling at about $28.00-$30.00 at the time of this article.
There’s a lot going for Wrenn and Seven. There are very few Planeswalker cards with four loyalty abilities, and as we’ve seen with Jace, the Mindsculpter and Chandra, Torch of Defiance this generally means these kinds of Planeswalkers will have potential.
Wrenn and Seven is already popping up in Standard 2022 decklists. All Standard ramp decks are going to want some number of Wrenn and Seven. Wrenn and Seven is also being included in some Gruul (red-green) Aggro decks because the Planeswalker makes massive Treefolk creature tokens that can then be copied with Esika’s Chariot.
Because Wrenn and Seven is five mana, unlike the above-mentioned Planeswalkers, this may prevent Wrenn and Seven from seeing play in older formats like modern. But unlike Chandra and Jace, Wrenn and Seven has a lot more potential in Commander. Commander is all about mana-ramp and that is exactly where Wrenn and Seven shines. Its +1 ability can add lands from your library to your hand. Its 0 ability enables you to ramp. And its ultimate ability is practically game-ending. Expect Wrenn and Seven to be a Commander staple moving forward.
Wrenn and Seven is definitely one of, if not the chase mythic from Innistrad: Midnight Hunt. Come release, I could see it drop to $25.00, but I don’t expect this card’s price to drop too much, simply because of how popular it will be in Commander. Once it is out of print, I could even see this card raising in value in the long term.
Fateful Absence
Fateful Absence is a bit of an homage to a card from our last trip to Innistrad, Declaration in Stone. Let’s break down and compare these two spells in their functionality and their financial courses.
Both are efficient, two-mana removal spells in mono-white that replace their targets with clue tokens. Declaration in Stone, while at sorcery speed, was great for removing multiple creatures, especially creature tokens as their controller wouldn’t get any clues in that case. Declaration also had the massive upside in exiling its targets, which is relevant when there are graveyard synergistic sets like Innistrad.
Fateful Absence, on the other hand, derives most of its power from being instant speed. It is a massive difference allowing you to cast this on your opponent’s turn and in combat. It can even be used on your own creatures in response to an opponent’s removal spell in case you need the clue.
Declaration in Stone was a premier removal spell during its stay in Standard and consequently saw prices between $5.00-$10.00. I don’t think we can expect the same out of Fateful Absence. This is not because it isn’t as good. I actually like it more.
But the reason it won’t see price ceilings as high as its predecessor, Declaration in Stone, is because there are so many good removal spells in Standard at the moment like Vanishing Verse, Cathartic Pyre and Infernal Grasp to name a few.
Fateful Absence is currently preordering for about $4.00 for its normal version and this seems like a fair price for the card. I wouldn’t be surprised if it dropped to $3.00 once Midnight Hunt is officially released, but it is already seeing some play in Azorius (blue-white) control decks, so it should hold around its current price. Whereas the best course of action when considering preordering cards is to just wait, I think picking up Fateful Absence between $3.00-$4.00 is a fine buy.
Moonveil Regent
Moonveil Regent has a home already waiting for it in Standard 2022. Izzet Dragons remain almost entirely intact coming out of rotation, and early dragon decklists for the new Standard format are already making room for Moonveil Regent. Some dragon decks are actually replacing Galazeth Prismari with the Regent, as it serves as an upgrade to the deck in a few ways.
Galazeth was good at ramping into cards like Alrund’s Epiphany and will continue to see inclusion in dragon decks that are more focused on casting instants and sorceries. But Moonveil Regent makes the deck more aggressive. Not only does it have more power, but it also deals damage when it dies. It can also serve as card-draw, although in a two-color deck this is mostly relevant when top decking.
Moonveil Regent is currently preordering for $10.00. As far as Standard goes, it has a lot of competition in the four-drop slot for dragon decks. It does, however, have some impact on the Commander format. Dragon decks like The Ur-Dragon, and multicolor decks like Niv Mizzet Reborn will both love this card. The future of Moonveil Regent’s price may entirely depend on whether it gets enough traction in Commander.
Read More: Best Red Cards to Buy that Survive Rotation for MTG Standard 2022
