As we get closer to New Year’s Eve and begin to reflect back on 2023, it’s also important to look forward to all that 2024 has to offer. So far, there has been a lot of information revealed in regards to various sets and products that are going to be released early on in the year. For instance, we got an initial glimpse at Murders at Karlov Manor, the first premier set of 2024. Before this set is released, we also have the release of Ravnica Remastered in January. Every card in this vast set of reprints has already been spoiled, showcasing just how close we truly are to the new year of MTG content.
The reality is, this is just a small subset of what 2024 has in store. To add to all the MTG cards and products that will become available in the coming months, today, an intriguing set of promos was announced in celebration of the Chinese New Year. Coming up on February 10, festivities regarding the Year of the Dragon will be upon us. In recognition, a handful of promos will be available in various parts of the world. Let’s take a look at exactly what these promos are and where they will be available.
Promos Available Globally
The group of promos that were recently revealed are specifically designed with the Lunar New Year and APAC League in mind. The APAC League, specific to the Asia-Pacific region, began back in 2022. Each year, the promos that would be featured closely resembled the animal directly associated with the Chinese New Year. As such, to celebrate 2022’s Year of the Tiger, cards like Temur Sabertooth were made into promos. Similarly, for 2023’s Year of the Rabbit, cards like Rabbit Battery were utilized in the making of promos.
The APAC League events run throughout the entire year and use the Standard format, featuring four qualifier seasons that feed into a championship event in December. As we will see, there are promos associated with each of the qualifying seasons. While these events are specific to the APAC region, there are some promos that will be available in other parts of the world, as well.
Running through March 31, there will be Lunar New Year Celebration events featuring three promos as part of the APAC league. All promos will have English, Japanese, and Chinese Simplified versions available. In Japan specifically, certain in-store Standard and Limited events will have access to these promos. Elsewhere in the world, Standard Showdown events taking place from February 9-18 will be the place to find these promos. This will be your chance to get your hands on a copy of Dragonlord’s Servant, Sarkhan Unbroken, or the 4/4 Dragon token Sarkhan makes.
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Qualifying Season Promos
From there, players in the APAC region will have the opportunity to obtain four more unique promos, one for each season. The first season starts with the addition of Outlaws at Thunder Junction to Standard, with the featured promo being Steel Hellkite.
Season two is featured alongside the release of Modern Horizons III, and events can emphasize the Standard, Modern, Draft, or Sealed formats. The promo for Season two will be a beautiful full-art Mountain.
Season three events are exclusively Standard once more with the addition of Bloomburrow, this time showing off Korvold, Fae-Cursed King as the promo of choice. Lastly, season four events will only be Standard as well, with Dragon Tempest rounding out the promos.
Players in the APAC region should check with their local game stores to see when and where events will be run. More information regarding the championship events that these qualifier events feed will be made available later.
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Promo Reprint Value
From a reprint equity perspective, these promos have a pretty wide range of value between them. With regards to the promos that are available globally, Sarkhan Unbroken is a fairly decent card to see reprinted. Sarkhan Unbroken was originally printed in Dragons of Tarkir back in 2015. Outside of its appearance in “Masterpiece Boosters” from the War of the Spark Mythic Edition booster boxes, the card has not been reprinted.
Between its lack of reprints and an intriguing ultimate ability in Commander (especially alongside Doubling Season), the card maintains a hefty price tag of $15 according to TCGplayer market price. Unfortunately, Dragonlord’s Servant is an uncommon worth under 50 cents, showing the large disparity between the two promos.
This disparity becomes even more evident when looking at the qualifying season promos. Steel Hellkite is worth under 50 cents, while Dragon Tempest is worth roughly $4. Comparatively, Korvold is worth roughly $11, making it by far the most appealing out of the qualifying season promos.
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High Value Potential Regardless
Even though some of the promos may not have heavy reprint value, they still may end up being worth a decent amount of money. This is especially true for those specific to the APAC region. Looking back on the Year of the Rabbit promos from 2023, these otherwise cheap cards held pretty high price tags. For example, Ethereal Armor, traditionally under 50 cents, sits at about $37. Arcbound Ravager, another promo from last year, sits at roughly $48, significantly more than in its cheapest traditional variant.
Importantly, the Year of the Rabbit promos for 2023 were only available in foil. It’s unclear if this will remain the case for all of the 2024 promos or not, but this could contribute to the price of the promos being quite high. Even the basic Mountain promo could go for a large chunk of money, especially with its gorgeous full-art frame. If you are lucky enough to get your hands on any of these promos, definitely continue to monitor the price of these goodies.
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