Edge of Eternities may only have two precons, but there’s a lot to love in both of them. World Shaper offers a land-based sacrifice theme that is unlike any other precon we’ve seen. The newly revealed Counter Intelligence, meanwhile, offers compelling support for established archetypes and some truly fantastic reprints.
In fact, Counter Intelligence has some of the best raw reprint value within a precon that we’ve seen in a long time. Offering over $84 worth of usable value, this deck almost pays for itself twice over. While this sounds like a fantastic deal, getting this precon for the MSRP may be easier said than done.
$84 of Value
Technically, it’s not uncommon for a new MTG precon to be worth over $80. Since decks contain 100 cards, and MTG isn’t free, total values will often be surprisingly high. What’s a lot more rare is an abundance of high-priced reprints that can actually be sold for decent money. This is where Counter Intelligence excels.
Within the deck, there are five fantastic reprints that are worth well clear of $10. If you’re just after the new cards in the deck, each of these could easily be flipped to regain your full purchase price. On top of these stellar reprints, there are four additional cards that are worth between $6 and $4.
Here’s a quick breakdown of all the relevant reprints in Counter Intelligence and their current prices.
- Tekuthal, Inquiry Dominus | $15.46
- Darksteel Reactor | $14.80
- Ripples of Potential | $12.20
- Cyberdrive Awakener | $11.92
- Swan Song | $10.79
- Jhoira, Weatherlight Captain | $5.89
- Phyrexian Metamorph | $4.89
- Alibou, Ancient Witness | $4.39
- Cloud Key | $4
While these reprints may seem like a slam dunk, admittedly, they’re not bulletproof. Four of the deck’s five most expensive cards have never been reprinted before. This will likely be a major problem for the deck’s top two most valuable reprints in particular. Tekuthal has only been printed as a mythic so far, and Darksteel Reactor is 21 years old.
For both of these cards, the fresh Edge of Eternities reprint could cause their price to crash hard. While both of these cards are strong, Darksteel Reactor in particular, don’t expect them to stay expensive forever. Sadly, this may mean that the Counter Intelligence deck isn’t such a bounty of good value as expected.
Expected Equilibrium
Notably, while the Counter Intelligence precon has an MSRP of $44.99, you may struggle to get it for that price. On TCGplayer, this deck is already selling for $52 on average. Now that we know what the deck actually contains, this price is likely going to spike in the coming days and weeks.
Typically, the price for a precon on the secondary market tends to reflect the value of the cards inside. After all, if a deck like Counter Intelligence offers tons of positive value, players will buy it up for the free money. Due to this, the precon is either going to get a lot more expensive, or the reprint prices will crash hard.
Notably, while the value of the reprints in Counter Intelligence is already strong, we don’t know how expensive the new cards will be. Potentially, these cards may drive up the deck’s value even more, as there are some compelling gems in there. Ultimately, we’re just going to have to wait and see what the future brings.
Speaking of the future, it’ll be worth watching the price of this deck closely if you see it out in the wild. While the main reprints might not be worth $80+ forever, they should still be fairly valuable. If you end up finding Counter Intelligence somewhere like Costco for a discounted price, it could be well worth picking up.
A Few Misses
While the Counter Intelligence precon is definitely good, it’s not perfect. Between reprint equity and Wizards leaving room for improvement, a few key cards have been excluded. One of the most notable omissions in this regard is Power Conduit. Offering a way to put Charge Counters on artifacts and +1/+1 counters on creatures, this card is perfect in Counter Intelligence.
Notably, Power Conduit has been steadily climbing in price recently, all on its own. While it’s a bit too slow for most Station cards, it’s definitely playable and increasing in popularity. Now that it hasn’t been reprinted, its current market price of $8 ish may soon shoot up. Already, in fact, recent sales have reached as high as $11.
Thankfully, not all of the obvious mises are so expensive. Darksteel Citadel, for instance, is only worth around $1 thanks to a plethora of reprints. Given the artifact synergies present in Counter Intelligence, this land should be on your radar if you’re looking to upgrade.
Speaking of land, Academy Ruins may also be worth picking up. Currently, this card sells for around $6 thanks to a recent reprint in Aetherdrift Commander. Potentially, we could see a smaller spike here due to the card’s artifact synergy; however, there is plenty of supply.
Lastly, but by no means least, Filigree Vector could have been an easy reprint, which was glossed over. As a March of the Machine Commander card, this upgrade has a lot of synergy with Counter Intelligence and could spike as a result. Whether or not that will happen, however, remains to be seen.
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