Magic: The Gathering's newest Standard set, Streets of New Capenna, has proven itself to be powerful in multiple formats. From a rare land cycle that sees play in Commander to cards like Ledger Shredder that are seeing play in Pioneer, the set has competitive cards and expensive pick-ups for both strategists and collectors alike. Although keeping and reselling these cards is perfectly normal, players might be wondering how to show off their valuable pulls in decks, competitive or casual.
Real-world price in Magic is often tied directly to a card's power, with rares and mythics fetching high prices if they’re being played in lots of decks. After Standard rotates, some of the cards will see price drops, but some of most expensive cards from the set stay at the top, like The Immortal Sun from Rivals of Ixalan or Finale of Devastation from War of the Spark. However, outside of Magic: The Gathering's expensive specialty Secret Lairs, the card aspect that’s been most causing prices to rise are foils, borderless cards, etched foils, and retro frames. Gilded foils, new to Streets of New Capenna, have a low pull rate and aesthetically pleasing foil process while the retro frames lean into the art-deco theme of the plane.
Every family leader has had a gilded foil, and many of the planeswalkers from the set have both retro frame and etched foil alternate versions. These alternate styles do help drive down the cost of their standard counterparts, but players who pick up these styles out of boosters might wonder what the value of the card is outside of its monetary value. The cards available in Streets of New Capenna are playable all the way back to Modern, and each card has specific homes in the format-rich world of Magic: The Gathering.
Magic: The Gathering - Ob Nixilis, The Adversary Is A Strong Planeswalker
Ob Nixilis, The Adversary is in a strange place gameplay-wise in Magic: The Gathering. Although having copies of the card means that one removal spell like Hero’s Downfall won’t kill it fully, sacrificing a creature is a real cost and can leave both copies open to attacks. The card is powerful if it stays on board and the etched foil has earned its market price at $161 on TCG Player.
Still, he’s not generically good due to his red-black mana cost. Jace the Mind Sculptor and Liliana of the Veil, two of the most powerful planeswalkers of all time, are single-colored and can be played in a larger variety of decks. Black-red decks may want Ob Nixilis but he hasn’t found a home in Magic: The Gathering's competitive Pro Tour eternal formats like Pioneer or Modern just yet. Right now, the etched foil is best put in Commander decks that can use Ob Nixilis’ last ability early by sacrificing a big creature and Cube formats where it may replace Daretti, Ingenious Iconoclast.
Raffine, Scheming Seer Is A Powerful Legendary Creature In Magic: The Gathering
Raffine, Scheming Seer is likely the strongest family leader, allowing any creature to grow larger and generate absurd amounts of card advantage for a low cost. The ward cost also makes it hard to deal with in lower-powered formats with less removal. Gilded foils for Raffine are currently going for a market price of $76 on TCG Player and rank second in price after Ob Nixilis.
Like Ob Nixilis, Raffine has very specific homes that it can go into, but many 60-card constructed decks in Magic: The Gathering Pioneer and back have great rare land cycles that can help cast the card on turn three. Discarding can often be an extra benefit to those decks due to free spells like Bloodghast and themed cards like Asmoranomardicadaistinaculdacar. Rafinne is also great in commander as a leader for a more aggressive take on Obscura, letting players experiment with new cards that don’t fit into traditional Esper decks.
Ziatora, The Incinerator Is A Commander With A High Mana & Monetary Cost In Magic: The Gathering
Ziatora, The Incinerator is a powerful effect, and can head a commander deck built around it in multiple different ways. Whether or not players care about the treasures, the damage, sacrifice, and ramp values of the card make it a definite include in any 100-card Riveteers deck. What’s holding Ziatora back from being broken or banned in Magic: The Gathering's 60 card formats is that it requires another creature to be on the battlefield. Many of the best targets for reanimation from the graveyard like Griselbrand and Archon of Cruelty can take over a game the minute they hit the battlefield, and Ziatora isn’t fast enough compared to those cards.
The gilded foil for Ziatora is worth slightly less than Raffine, but it’s still quite valuable at $68 on TCG Player. As both the leader of a Commander deck and as part of the 99, the ramping aspects of the card help players get to big, splashy spells like Craterhoof Behemoth and Rise From the Dark Realms. Gilded foils will shine brighter in Commander as well because 100-card casual Commander decks in Magic: The Gathering can be a better place to show off expensive cards than competitive tournaments.
Magic: The Gathering's Elspeth Resplendent Is Good In Planeswalker-Focused Commander Decks
Elspeth Resplendent hasn’t found a home in sixty-card competitive formats, mostly because many of the white decks have been aggressive and don’t want to play five-mana spells that augment their creatures. Although the board presence gained from using her -3 ability is strong, sometimes it won’t hit a relevant creature and leave itself open for attack. Still, the place for the gilded foil Elspeth Resplendent is in Commander, a format that rewards different playstyles centered around planeswalker abilities.
In commander, Elspeth most likely fits into “superfriends” archetypes where playing as many Magic: The Gathering planeswalkers as possible from War of the Spark or otherwise and using effects like Doubling Season and Atraxa, Praetor’s Voice to let them use their “ultimate” abilities early. Elspeth specifically works better with Doubling Season, allowing it to use its ultimate that turn and leave behind twice as many tokens. The price might be a bit high, but the combination of art and powerful effect might be enough to show off the TCG Player-valued $61 etched foil.
The mix of powerful spells and collectible foils in Streets of New Capenna make it a great set to open, draft, play sealed, and experience Standard with. As alternate styles become more plentiful, many options will be available for people who want specific card effects for a reasonable price. Although many TCGs like Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh! have expensive cards worth lots of money, and these MTG cards still achieve double-digit prices in paper, there are versions available for much less than the gilded and etched foils for players with lower budgetary restrictions. While preconstructed decks or decks made from cards in set boosters for Magic: The Gathering will always be enough to play with friends, seeking out or showing off expensive pulls can make players' decks stand out.
Source: TCG Player