As one of the most recognizable faces in all of Marvel, it’s no wonder that Iron Man now has a fair few MTG cards. Between the main set, Commander products, and Secret Lair, there are now eight unique Iron Man cards. Unsurprisingly, some of these are pretty powerful, too, although they’re not all made equal.
For better or worse, Iron Man, Modern Marvel gets the short end of the stick when it comes to power level. While it’s not the worst card out of the octet, this card is a long way from being the best. Despite this, Iron Man, Modern Marvel is easily the most expensive of the bunch, as it’s seen a wild scarcity-based price spike.
MTG Iron Man, Modern Marvel
Unlike all of the other Iron Man cards, Iron Man, Modern Marvel is the only one that’s found in the Welcome Decks. This alone makes getting this card rather strange, as, technically, it’s free to acquire. So long as you’re a new player or helping one learn the game, local game stores will give them out for free.
In theory, this should mean that the new mechanically unique Welcome Deck cards are incredibly cheap, since there’s no cost of admission. Sadly, as nice as this would be, supply is rarely able to meet demand, since Wizards can’t give out free products endlessly. As if this wasn’t bad enough, the Marvel Super Heroes Welcome Decks have also been hit by the ongoing delays.
Thanks to this production problem compounding scarcity, many Marvel Super Heroes Commander cards have been climbing in price. This is undoubtedly what’s been happening to Iron Man, Modern Marvel, as the MTG card itself is meh at best. While it can buff your board and draw you some cards, this Iron Man is by no means a super staple.
With this in mind, it’s no wonder that the play rate for Iron Man, Modern Marvel isn’t very impressive. On EDHREC, there are apparently only eight decks running this Iron Man at the helm at the moment. While it is slightly more popular in the 99, even then, there are only around 1,840 decks using this card.
A Not-So-Welcoming Price Point
Despite this low play rate, the price of Iron Man, Modern Marvel has been climbing ever since prerelease events began. Even at this point, however, this Iron Man variant wasn’t exactly cheap. At this time, a non-foil copy would set you back $12.19, while non-foils were priced at $29.99.
Notably, while it might seem topsy-turvy, foil copies of Iron Man, Modern Marvel are actually more common right now. Thanks to appearing in Collector Boosters, you actually have a chance of pulling these cards. Admittedly, that chance is very low, as there’s only a 1.9% chance to pull any of the five Marvel Welcome Deck mythics.
While these are pretty terrible odds, the Welcome Decks themselves are pretty much unobtainable right now. That being said, if you do want to pick up a copy of Iron Man, Modern Marvel, non-foil is weirdly the way to go. Currently, non-foil copies start at just $51.48, including shipping, while foil copies are priced at $56.94.
Realistically, at least one of these prices should drop sometime in the future. When the supply issues get resolved and the delay clears, Welcome Decks should become a lot more accessible. Hopefully, this will tank the price of Iron Man, Modern Marvel so more players can enjoy it. Unfortunately, while this should happen at some point, it’s unclear exactly when the delay will be resolved.
A Surprisingly Mixed Bag
For better or worse, Iron Man, Modern Marvel isn’t the only mechanically unique card in Marvel Super Heroes Welcome Decks. Each of the decks has its own unique mono-colored legend, in fact. Curiously, despite all of these cards being equally rare, their prices are all over the place.
Currently, Hulk, Brutal Brawler is the next most expensive Welcome Decks legend at $40, and it’s easy to see why. While this card does put itself in danger every turn, the upside of constantly buffing your board isn’t to be understated. So long as you can keep Hulk safe, it can definitely do work in go-wide and counter-focused decks.
Dropping sharply in price, Spider-Man, Web-Spinner is the next most expensive legend, but it’s surprisingly meh. Being a somewhat evasive threat with Double-Strike, there are technically synergies for Voltron decks here, but it’s hardly best in class. With this in mind, it’s little wonder this card is mostly seeing play in Spider-Man-themed decks right now. At $22, however, it’s a fairly expensive addition to these decks.
At just $13, Black Widow, Daring Operative is one of the most affordable Welcome Deck options, but it’s actually somewhat playable. In graveyard-focused decks, this Black Widow can pack a serious punch while also fueling your strategy. Looking ahead, it feels like this card could easily climb in price, but the future is nothing if not uncertain.
Last, and also least, Black Panther, Claws of Bast is just $5.81, and it’s easy to see why. By only buffing one creature per attack under specific circumstances, this MTG card simply isn’t very good. While this makes its low price somewhat understandable, it’s still incredibly rare, so there’s technically some potential.
Damn These Delays
Annoyingly, while prices are high right now, it’s unclear how much any of these legends are really worth. Since scarcity is the main driver behind things right now, we’ve got to wait until the delays end to know more. Sadly, there’s no telling when this might happen, as Wizards hasn’t provided any concrete details.
For now, it’s definitely worth looking out for Welcome Deck products and checking your Collector Booster pulls. After all, while these cards might look rather weak, they can be surprisingly lucrative.
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