The Adversary Cycle of Midnight Hunt: A MTG Financial Set Review

Innistrad Midnight Hunt is officially out today. This is when a large supply of single cards will be hitting the secondary market and, for the most part, driving down the preorder prices. But there is still a lot of room for fluctuation.

This is Part 5 of MTG Rocks’ Financial Set review of Innistrad: Midnight Hunt. Each day leading up to Midnight Hunt‘s official release, MTG Rocks has released financial set reviews covering some of the most anticipated cards from our first Innistrad set of the year. There will be traps (cards that are overpriced and will sink in value), as well as sleeper hits (undervalued cards that have the potential for financial growth).

Read Part 4: Werewolf Day: A Midnight Hunt Financial Set Review

#5) Spectral Adversary

I wish this card was better because I love blue-white spirits in Modern. But while Innistrad is known for its spirits amongst other tribes, and has given us amazing spirits in the past like Spellqueller Spellqueller Flash
Flying
When this creature enters, exile target spell with mana value 4 or less.
When this creature leaves the battlefield, the exiled card's owner may cast that card without paying its mana cost. and Rattlechains Rattlechains Flash
Flying
When this creature enters, target Spirit gains hexproof until end of turn.
You may cast Spirit spells as though they had flash. , Wizards of the Coast took a very different approach with spirits with this trip to Innistrad.

The Disturb mechanic is insane in Draft, but it hasn’t picked up much steam in constructed formats. Spectral Adversary, while not a Disturb card itself, just doesn’t have the support it needs to shine in Standard. Being a blue-white spirits player in Modern, this card will not be making my deck. The only home I can think of for it would maybe be in Pioneer Spirit decks.

Consequently, I think this card may end up adjacent to the bulk bin in the next coming weeks. Spectral Adversary is about $3.00-$4.00 at the time of writing. Maybe we’ll get more support in Crimson Vow, but as things stand, I could see Spectral Adversary going lower in the weeks to come.

#4) Primal Adversary

This card seems like this would be good in a werewolf-themed set like Innistrad: Midnight Hunt. While Gruul Werewolf decks have become one of the top contenders in the Standard format, not many of them are including Primal Adversary. In the three-drop slot, most lists are opting for Tovolar, Dire Overlord Tovolar, Dire Overlord Whenever a Wolf or Werewolf you control deals combat damage to a player, draw a card.
At the beginning of your upkeep, if you control three or more Wolves and/or Werewolves, it becomes night. Then transform any number of Human Werewolves you control.
Daybound , and Reckless Stormseeker Reckless Stormseeker At the beginning of combat on your turn, target creature you control gets +1/+0 and gains haste until end of turn.
Daybound (If a player casts no spells during their own turn, it becomes night next turn.) , pushing Primal Adversary to the sidelines.

If Primal Adversary is to see any play in, it would be in Standard because I don’t think it’s powerful enough to be viable in older formats. Because it’s not getting Standard play, I’d expect its $4.00-$5.00 price tag to drop further.

Read More: The MTG Marketplace: Biggest Winners, Losers and Trends of 9/20/2021

#3) Tainted Adversary

If you can “kick” Tainted Adversary’s ability even just one time, a 3/4 Deathtouch that brings along two 2/2 zombies is a great rate. That’s why this card is seeing play in new Orzhav (white-black) zombie decks in Standard.

I don’t think this card is good enough to see play in Modern. But it is a solid Standard card and there may be room for a zombie deck in Pioneer. Plus we have another Innistrad set this year in which we will inevitably get more zombie support. So for all these reasons, I think its current $5.00 price mark makes Tainted Adversary a good buy.

#2) Intrepid Adversary

Some people have been trying to include this in Modern Human decks, because if you can put it into play “for free” with Aether Vial Aether Vial At the beginning of your upkeep, you may put a charge counter on this artifact.
{T}: You may put a creature card with mana value equal to the number of charge counters on this artifact from your hand onto the battlefield. then it is effectively a two-mana lord effect (pumping your entire team +1/+1). But how good is Intrepid Adversary when you don’t draw Aether Vial? I don’t think it is. The difference between two and four mana is huge, and I don’t think a four-mana lord effect is good enough for Modern.

Where this card is exceptional is in Standard. Mono-white aggro decks, although some of them are now splashing into Boros colors, are running a full four copies of Intrepid Adversary. I think we can expect to see this card in most white-based aggressive decks in Standard moving forward. For that reason, I think its current $5.00 price tag is a justifiable purchase.

#1) Bloodthirsty Adversary

Bloodthirsty Adversary has been compared to Goblin Darkdwellers Goblin Darkdwellers Menace (This creature can't be blocked except by two or more creatures.)
When this creature enters, you may cast target instant or sorcery card with mana value 3 or less from your graveyard without paying its mana cost. If that spell would be put into your graveyard, exile it instead. which I find to be a pretty fair comparison. Although, I think Robber of the Rich Robber of the Rich Reach, haste
Whenever this creature attacks, if defending player has more cards in hand than you, exile the top card of their library. During any turn you attacked with a Rogue, you may cast that card and you may spend mana as though it were mana of any color to cast that spell. is a close second. Robber was included in Standard mono-red aggro decks because it is a 2/2 Haste with upside, and that is exactly what Bloodthirsty Adversary is.

The reason I rank Bloodthirsty Adversary as #1 on my list is speculative. We are a few weeks away from Innistrad: Crimson Vow spoilers. This is a dedicated vampire set, and if we get enough support, it could push Bloodthirsty Adversary into the spotlight.

Bloodthristy is currently about $4.00, which if we compare it to Robber of the rich, is a good baseline price. But I think this is an amazing price to buy them at before people get hyped up by Crimson Vow cards.