It’s no secret that crossovers are all the rage in MTG right now. The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth is on track to be the most successful MTG set ever, and it’s far from the last crossover MTG is going to see. In fact, a new Tomb Raider crossover was announced just this week!
Thanks to this abundance the new Lost Caverns of Ixalan Jurassic World crossover is far from the first one we’ve had inserted into a core MTG set. Transformers cards, for instance, were inserted into The Brothers’ War packs. Due to their exceeding commonality, these Commander-legal cards weren’t worth much outside of their rarer Shattered Glass variants.
For better or worse, this does not appear to be the case with the Jurassic World cards. The mechanically unique cards from this crossover are much more difficult to acquire than expected. Not only has this already upset players, but some of the more desirable mechanically unique Jurassic World cards are seeing massive spikes as a result!
Jurassic World’s Gone Extinct?
In case you didn’t read our previous article discussing the unexpected absence of the mechanically unique Jurassic World cards, we’ll give a quick rundown on the situation.
Basically, for each Jurassic World slot in a Set or Collector Booster, players are more likely to get a Basic Land than they are a mechanically unique card. There are 26 Jurassic World cards available, but six of those cards consist of Basic Lands and Command Tower. In each of the Jurassic World slots, players actually have a higher chance of opening a Basic Land than… anything else.
According to the Collecting The Lost Caverns of Ixalan article from Wizards of the Coast, Set Boosters should have approximately 2-3 Jurassic World cards per box, while Collector Boosters should have one card per pack. That said, there is an overwhelming 43% chance that players open a non-foil Basic Land in that Collector Booster slot. Another 11% chance to open a foil Basic Land means that players have a 54% chance of opening a Basic Land instead of a mechanically unique Jurassic World card in Collector Booster packs. Heck, in my personal Set Booster box, the only Jurassic World cards I opened were two 3/3 Dinosaur tokens.
This has made any copy of the mechanically unique Jurassic World cards much rarer than expected. In comparison, Transformers cards were everywhere since they were literally available in every Collector Booster pack. This is a stark difference that many MTG players did not appear to expect.
While there is no confirmation that this newfound rarity has directly impacted secondary market prices of the Jurassic World cards. Some of the more desirable cards have seen some ludicrous price spikes over the weekend.
Hunting Velociraptor
Of all the mechanically unique Jurassic World cards, Hunting Velociraptor appears to be experiencing the biggest secondary market spike, and it’s no wonder why. Hunting Velociraptor can seriously impact the power level of your Dinosaur Typal decks.
Granting all of your Dinosaurs an alternate casting cost, as long as you’ve dealt combat damage this turn, you can cast any Dinosaur you want for its new 2R Prowl cost. A three mana Ghalta, Stampede Tyrant is a pretty silly precedent. Imagine cheating out your entire hand of creatures alongside a Trampling 12/12 for just three mana!
This extends to Commanders as well. Gishath and Zacama Commander players can enjoy a very cheap Commander thanks to their new Prowl cost via Hunting Velociraptor.
Thanks, in part, to the unexpected rarity that mechanically unique Jurassic World cards seem to be experiencing, but mostly to the absurd power level of this card for Dinosaur decks, Hunting Velociraptor has jumped from $18.87 to $75 and climbing in just three days. Notably, this is just for the cheapest variant of the card. Foil Hunting Velociraptors are already approaching $100!
Update: It appears this bizarre spike to Hunting Velociraptor was indeed just a temporary one. The card has since normalized and is now selling for $15-25. Thank god.
Do note, however, that the official release of The Lost Caverns of Ixalan is this Friday. While product is currently available for players, another boost in supply could help mitigate this insane price spike somewhat.
Ravenous Tyrannosaurus
Hunting Velociraptor’s price spike seems to be in another realm from the other Jurassic World cards, but that has not stopped them from spiking as well.
Ravenous Tyrannosaurus is capable of doling out massive points of damage. Both excess damage dealt via its attack trigger and its literal combat damage scale with how well you can satisfy the card’s Ravenous clause. Typically, you won’t want to sacrifice your other very large Dinosaurs to this one, but that doesn’t mean that your Dino can’t convert early ramping tools like Marauding Raptor into something a lot more problematic for your opponents.
Hunting Velociraptor is certainly a lot more powerful than this Tyrannosaurus, but that hasn’t stopped Ravenous Tyrannosaurus’s secondary market price from spiking to $34 from $14 over the same three-day period.
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Welcome to…
This two-sided Dinosaur Typal enchantment is the third-most expensive Jurassic World mechanically unique card right now. Unlike Ravenous Tyrannosaurus and Hunting Velociraptor, this card has not spiked heavily overnight. In fact, all of the other mechanically unique Jurassic World cards seem to be sharing the same trend: their steep decline from their prerelease prices has stopped and, instead, they are beginning to creep back up.
While the price spikes on the rest of the Jurassic World collection are not currently making headlines, that doesn’t mean they should be ignored. If the accessibility of these Jurassic World cards truly prove to be an issue, it may be in your best interest to keep tabs on them, especially if you’re interested in acquiring them for yourself.
Welcome to…’s secondary market price appears to have stabilized around $15 at the moment, but recent sales suggest the card is quickly spiking towards $20. We could see some big spikes for the remaining mechanically unique Jurassic World cards yet.
There’s More Insane Power to See Here!
Considering the recent turn of events for MTG Jurassic World cards, I am personally surprised that Savage Order has not seen a steeper price increase. This Natural Order for Dinosaurs is incredibly powerful and, similarly to Hunting Velociraptor, can lead to a very early Ghalta, Stampede Tyrant. The card is currently worth about $15.
Of course, there are also the Jurassic World Emblem variants which are the chase rarity for the Jurassic World cards coming out of Collector Boosters. These only appear in 1% of Collector Booster packs and do not appear to have a consistent price tag yet.
Hopefully, this sudden price spike for Hunting Velociraptor happens to be a flash in the pan. Unless this card starts impacting competitive formats at a serious scale, Dinosaur Typal players are likely the only ones who will have any interest in this card at all.
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