Five Most Exciting Reprints from Innistrad Remastered
On the horizon is the next Remastered set right in its usual slot in the release schedule. This time last year, we had Ravnica Remastered, and now we shift over to another iconic and familiar plane: Innistrad. So, for today’s article we’ll highlight five exciting reprints that more than add to the financial value of
Let’s dig in.
The Meathook Massacre
Let’s start with a classic: The Meathook Massacre. This was the standout single from
Meathook’s outsized financial value relative to the rest of the set is nothing new, and its heavy use in Modern, Pioneer, and Commander have kept its price steady and with minimal downward trends over its history.
Aside from a List reprint, and
Expectedly, its price will likely fall considerably, post-release. I see Meathook settling somewhere around $20 overall. The card definitely has considerable demand, but if recent print runs are any guide, I would imagine the boost to the supply side of the market will dampen the price considerably for this staple piece.
Cryptolith Rite
This particular card is very peculiar in this day and age: a contemporary, rare card with no reprint outside its original set,
One could say Shadows Over Innistrad was “overshadowed” by
Rite sees significant play in cEDH, particularly acting as a powerhouse in decks like
The sheer lack of supply, and its mild increase in popularity in cEDH among particular archetypes, have kept its price trending upward slowly for a long time. I would guess that a reprint of this size and significance will drag its price down below $10 - maybe around $7 or $8 once the dust has settled.
Hermit Druid
This was most certainly a reprint I did not have on my bingo card for this set, but boy am I happy to see good ol’ Hermit Druid get a reprint, especially with foil variations and some fresh, new art. Prior to this Remastered release, Druid was commanding around $22 a copy and had a recent, small spike around the September/October timeframe this past year.
This spike is no coincidence, as it coincides precisely with the controversial Commander format banned list update. Prior to the update, in cEDH, turbo decks were sort of the boogeymen of the format (Rograkh partnered with
It’s kind of neat seeing the card choices in these Remastered sets pull more cards thematically consistent with the planes we’re revisiting, in addition to simply reprinting iconic cards from relevant sets and blocks. Hermit Druid is a shining example of a card that conceivably could be part of the Innistrad sets, but in reality hasn’t been reprinted outside of the List since its Judge promotional variation.
I look forward to what the limited environment will be with Hermit Druids running around!
Edgar Markov
We wouldn’t be back on Innistrad if there wasn’t an homage to Edgar Markov. Thankfully, we finally see a widely available reprint of the most popular, and arguably most powerful Eminence commander from the
Despite a light reprint as a Judge promotional card, Edgar has been a financial sore in the wallets of Commander players for years. A reprint of this scale will understandably work wonders for the secondary market, providing some ease to folks wanting to build Vampire-typal decks for the Commander format.
With its original copy sitting still at just over $90, it’s not hard to imagine its price falling by at least $30 (and likely more) in the face of such large-scale printing.
However, I could just as easily see a situation where demand for Edgar spikes because it's seen as more accessible, which could leave its price relatively unchanged or even cause it to move upward despite such a massive shift in supply. I expect the former to be more likely than the latter, but this card by comparison to the other cards on our list is far-and-away the most popular and played card seeing a reprint in this set.
Liliana of the Veil (Retro Frame)
Ahh yes, Liliana of the Veil - the best planeswalker of its day, and the chase card in the original Innistrad set. Unlike many of the cards discussed in this article, Liliana has seen ample reprinting opportunities since its original release, though its original printing with the iconic Steve Argyle artwork still sits around $20. It’s good to see this artwork return, which hasn’t had a real widespread reprinting event since
There isn’t a ton of speculation to be had with Liliana - after all, she’s been reprinted to the ground at this point. However, if there is an opportunity for speculation, it would be for the retro frame version of this Remastered reprint, as this particular artwork has never been released in a retro frame variant before.
Nevertheless, Lili is iconic, and this version of Lili is nostalgic and a welcomed reprint that players will never be unhappy to crack from a pack.
Some Closing Thoughts
The new year has started off relatively slow in terms of new products, Secret Lairs, and other Magic-related news. With an upcoming slate of Universes Beyond product releases spanning everywhere from Marvel to Final Fantasy, original in-universe sets and remastered products will be noticeably fewer and farther between, making Remastered sets like this more than just reprint opportunities, but also opportunities to celebrate and cherish iconic sets, blocks, and characters from the Magic universe with fewer instances to do so going forward.
Beyond this, Remastered sets offer an incredible value proposition to players and collectors in reprint equity alone, making them one of the best sets to crack packs for, in comparison to many other more contemporary products.
Speculate safely, and happy hunting!
Further Reading:
Corey Williams is an Assistant Professor of Economics at Shippensburg University in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania. He considers himself a macroeconometrician with his research body reflecting work in applied macroeconomics and econometrics. Corey is an L1 Judge who started playing Magic around Eighth Edition. He enjoys Modern, Commander, cEDH, and cube drafting. Outside of Magic, he loves running, teaching, and the occasional cult movie.
