Over and Under - Terror of the Peaks and Everybody Lives!

For the first time in what feels like an eternity, the constant deluge of Magic previews has taken a pause, giving us just enough time to look back and think about the news as it's happening, rather than weeks or months in advance. The news this time? Doctor Who! 

Universes Beyond is taking us across all of time and space this month, thanks in no small part to a partnership between BBC and Hasbro which is giving rise to a bevy of new cards, released across Collector Booster boxes and Commander decks. So, what does this portend for the market? Come along as we take a look. But first, it’s time for our reviews from last month. 

Review: Crackle with Power 

First up, let’s look back at last month’s overvalued pick, Crackle with Power. Among our cheaper contenders for overvalued cards, clocking it at no pricier than $10, Crackle was an excellent case of a card spiking in value thanks to the release of a key synergy piece, namely Rowan, Scion of War. While this story has happened countless times before, Crackle was especially interesting because it provided a window into the oft-forgotten implications of the cEDH marketplace, while also being a gentler spike. 

First, the price dynamics of a “gentle” spike. Crackle with Power has been on a +100% price tear recently, creeping up from mid-August through early October. What makes this “gentle” isn’t the magnitude of the price change, but rather the amount of time it’s continued for. Especially in the case of Standard-printings, most cards spike in a timeframe measured in days, not weeks. They then plateau for a bit, trending sideways until their inevitable correction (often in an equally paced manner). Crackle demonstrated a sustained price change, lending credence to its newly increased price floor. 

Secondly, the cEDH question. Crackle with Power isn’t seeing much action outside of experimental competitive Commander lists, which makes this sustained price action all the more interesting. Plenty of cards which see cEDH play are staples of other formats - tutors, fast mana, you name it - so to see this end of the Commander spectrum take full responsibility for a noticeable price action is impressive. However, it’s for this exact reason that Crackle seems like a card primed for price attrition. Good, certainly. A staple? Far from it. 

Review: Doubling Season 

Alright, on to our next review: last month’s undervalued pick, Doubling Season. Despite being a far more expensive card than Crackle with Power, I actually have far less to say about this one. Since our last check-in, the price of Doubling Season (from Wilds of Eldraine: Enchanting Tales) has largely stabilized, the first step in allowing for any sort of upwards momentum. The floor was quickly reached on Doubling Season, and with the recent sales data courtesy of TCGPlayer displaying an uptick on purchase rates, I wouldn’t be surprised to see its price trend upwards in the weeks to follow. You just can’t keep this one down. 

Alright, review out of the way, it’s time for the new stuff. First up, the overvalued pick of the month. 

Terror of the Peaks

Terror of the Peaks is a fabulous example of a “wait and see” Magic card for value hunting. Coming in off of the tail-end of Core sets, this casual Commander icon is nearly $35 and has never seen a reprint. Expensive? Check. Good in Commander? Double check. Due for a reprint? Oh boy. 

Unlike Doubling Season, a Commander all-star with a long reprint history, Terror of the Peaks only has the supply from its initial release propping its price up, a price that has long since plateaued, eroding slightly after a summer high and gradually creeping downwards. All of this points toward Terror of the Peaks having potential price dynamics very much akin to that of Fierce Guardianship or Deflecting Swat - expensive in the moment, only to crater when more copies come to market. 

Dodgy Little Hobbitses by Jason Alt

Now, we haven’t seen any immediate indicators of a reprint for Terror of the Peaks, but given the recent flurry of reprints stemming out of Wizards of the Coast, I certainly wouldn’t be confident in expecting a further consolidation of value here. If you’ve got copies you aren’t playing, it might be time to let Terror of the Peaks go. 

Next up, it’s our undervalued pick. 

Terror of the Peaks	CardKingdom $42.99	TCGPlayer $33.85
Terror of the Peaks (Extended Art)	CardKingdom $69.99	TCGPlayer $62.99

Everybody Lives!

Time to talk Doctor Who. Normally I’m pretty hesitant about discussing the prices of cards before they’ve had a decent chunk of time to circulate through the market, but for this release there are most definitely enough interesting circumstances to warrant an early discussion. 

First off, before I get into what makes the Universes Beyond: Doctor Who product an interesting case, let’s talk about the actual card itself. There are plenty of excellent cards coming our way courtesy of the Doctor Who Commander release, but Everybody Lives! is among the most potentially ubiquitous of the new cards, so the price dynamics here are going to be largely representative of the “best case” for the Doctor Who singles. 

Everybody Lives! is a wrap up of two cards in one - part Heroic Intervention, part Angel's Grace - and it really lives up to the name of keeping everyone (and every creature) alive for the turn. If this follows in the footsteps of Heroic Intervention, then we could potentially be looking at another casual staple on our hands. This is not the next Dockside Extortionist by any means, but it’s a card that a lot of players are going to have to look at and ask themselves “why wouldn’t I run this?” 

The Big Things - Everything is Priced In by Harvey McGuinness

This is where the Universes Beyond predicament comes into play. If this was a normal (i.e. in-universe) release, then Everybody Lives! would most certainly be overpriced. It’s a fabulous card, but I’d have a hard time arguing that it should be worth more than Teferi's Protection. But Doctor Who isn’t Magic, which means it’s a lot harder to see reprints of the cards contained within. Enter supply side economics. 

Everybody Lives! is a great card with a price floor that is most certainly going to be held up by the limitations on its print run. Sealed product prices are already starting to reflect a slashing of supply across the market, something which is having ripple effects on individual card prices as well. Blink and…well, chances are you’ll miss out on an affordable Everybody Lives! to slot in. 

Everybody Lives!	CardKingdom $17.99	TCGPlayer $21.45
Everybody Lives! (Extended Art) (Surge Foil)	CardKingdom	TCGPlayer
Everybody Lives! (Extended Art)	CardKingdom $27.99	TCGPlayer $23.88

Wrap Up 

For the first time in a while, cards are being priced primarily off of day-to-day news, not in anticipation of spoilers for products months in advance. This provides us with an excellent opportunity to look at what's hitting shelves now and also what might have stuck around longer than it should (I’m looking at you, Terror of the Peaks). If you can still find an affordable Doctor Who product - Commander deck, Collector box, etc. - it’s certainly worth considering the purchase. Blink and you’ll miss it. If you can’t, no worries, there is still plenty of value to be had in selling some cards which have so far dodged the reprint bullet.  

Come back again next month, where we’ll see what’s over, and what’s under. 

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