Throughout the course of Secrets of Strixhaven’s spoiler season, MTG players were consistently wowed by the insane cards and Commanders. This set has given us tons of new casual and competitive delights that are sure to see tons of play. Despite this, the financial impact of the set has been surprisingly tame.
Even with five new precons to pick between, the MTG markets haven’t gone absolutely wild, as we’ve seen previously. For better or worse, this means many compelling upgrades to the new precons are still being slept on. While some of these cards have spiked in price slightly, for example, many are still fantastic budget upgrades to the Quandrix Unlimited precon.
MTG Broodlord
Like many of the X cost cards from the Warhammer 40,000 Tyranid Swarm precon, Broodlord started to climb in price in late January. Following the reveal of Quandrix Unlimited’s theme and Commander at the Nuremberg Toy Fair, many players were quick to invest. Technically, at this time, there was a threat of reprints; however, these were hardly guaranteed.
Due to Warhammer 40,000 cards, Tyranids especially, having Universes Beyond creature types, reprinting them is more difficult than usual. With this in mind, it’s no wonder that no Tyranid was reprinted in the Quandrix Unlimited deck. Considering many Tyranids play into the X cost theme of the new precon, this feels like a somewhat glaring omission.
This is especially true for Broodlord, which feels like a genuinely fantastic upgrade for Quandrix Unlimited. Not only is this an X cost card, fueling synergy with Zimone, Infinite Analyst, but it also plays into the deck’s +1/+1 counter theme. By buffing up creatures like Zimone, Kami of Whispered Hopes, and Goldvein Hydra, the value you can get from Broodlord is insane.
Despite this potential, Bloodlord hasn’t seen much attention, following the precon’s reveal. Spiking just 186% in three months, copies of this card can still be picked up for $1.59. This makes it an insane budget upgrade for the new Secrets of Strixhaven precon, for now at least. Since supply is fairly low, with only 67 total listings, it could easily spike in price again.
MTG Sporocyst
Currently selling for $12.50, Sporocyst isn’t nearly as much of a budget upgrade to the Quandrix Unlimited precon. That being said, it’s still one hell of an upgrade that’s easily worth the asking price. Its double X mana cost may be rather intensive, however, with enough fuel behind it, it’s an absolute godsend.
Even if you don’t trigger Ravenous with it, getting reasonably costed ramp in Commander is always welcome. Admittedly, two lands for five mana isn’t too fantastic, but once again, Zimone’s cost reduction comes in clutch here. Since Zimone can easily rack up counters, it’s incredibly easy to get one or two lands for next to nothing. Beyond cost reduction antics, Sporocyst being a 0/0 also enables synergy with Primo, the Unbounded.
Even outside of these specific synergies, just getting more lands into play is always useful in Quandrix Unlimited. Not only will it reduce the possibility of dud draws, but you’ve got more mana to dump into other X cost spells.
With this in mind, it’s easy to see why Sporocyst is a fantastic upgrade to the new precon. Even at its current price point, it’s potentially still got room to grow, too. With just 43 listings left on TCGplayer, it wouldn’t take much for a second price spike. Whether or not this will end up happening, however, remains to be seen.
MTG Termagant Swarm
Despite doubling in price over the past three months, Termagant Swarm is still a fairly cheap MTG card right now. Selling for around $2.40 on TCGplayer after doubling in price, this card is another very compelling upgrade to Quandrix Unlimited. That being said, it’s a bit of an unusual addition, as it’s not the most synergistic Tyranid.
While it can tap into synergies with Zimmone and Primo, the real benefit of Termagant Swarm is its staying power. Since Quandrix Unlimited loves going tall with massive creatures, board wipes are an ever-present threat. With Termagant Swarm in play, you’re not completely set back to square one, which is always valuable.
Admittedly, since Termagant Swarm only really threatens damage while having an X cost, it feels like a bit of a side-grade. Still, replacing Quandrix Apprentice with this card feels like a solid bet. As such, $2.40 for this card doesn’t feel too bad, especially since the 64 remaining listings could be snapped up fairly quickly.
MTG Tyrant Guard
Despite spiking slightly less than Termagant Swarm, Tyrant Guard is, arguably, a significantly better card. Offering a defense against board wipes, this Tyranid can save your board, rather than just replacing it. Considering that it can take Zimone a while to amass +1/+1 counters, saving her certainly seems like the stronger strategy.
Thanks to this utility, Tyrant Guard is a good bit more expensive than Termagant Swarm. Currently, this card is selling for around $5.30, after doubling in price in the past three months. Curiously, there’s even a fair bit more supply available, too, with 70 listings on TCGplayer offering 189 copies.
With this in mind, Tyrant Guard definitely seems like the better buy right now, especially if you only want one extra protection spell. In theory, this could also make it a compelling investment right now, but future demand is hardly guaranteed. Typically, we’d expect sales to spike following the precon’s reveal, but that hasn’t really happened.
MTG Ravener
Ravener is also a bit of a weird Tyranid, as it barely supports what Quandrix Unlimited has going on. While it does benefit from synergy with Zimone and Primo, its own abilities don’t really help the deck. Despite this, its potential for disruption shouldn’t be undervalued, as it’s essentially an X cost-removal creature.
When timed right, you can easily use Ravener to force your opponent’s Commander or key threat into combat. Ideally, this can completely disrupt your opponent’s game plan while annoying another opponent as well. This can make it a great bit of unexpected spice to the deck, if you have room for it.
Thanks to being a bit of an oddball upgrade, Ravener is also incredibly cheap right now. Selling for just $0.79 on TCGplayer, this card is a very compelling budget option. This is despite the card having technically 83% spiked in price from $0.43. While this is hardly the biggest spike, it did put a major dent in supply, with over 615 copies being sold in the past three months. In theory, this could lead to a second spike down the line, but, realistically, I don’t expect the remaining copies to sell out quickly.
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