Magic: The Gathering has just revealed what is likely to be the biggest chase card of its upcoming set, Edge of Eternities. This set brings all sorts of famous and retro land cards back into the TCG, and sure enough, it's a very old, very valuable land that I'm talking about today: Ancient Tomb. Yes, this $110 land from 1997 is back!
Revealed via the official MTG Discord on July 14, this expensive MTG card is part of Edge of Eternities' 'Stellar Sights' bonus sheet, an assortment of cards that can be found within booster packs, featuring lands from throughout the game's history
As with other Stellar Sights lands, there are two versions of Ancient Tomb, one that shows a strange metal being encased in a planet's core, and a more abstract 'poster' version that is only found in collector boosters.
In case you're unfamiliar with this card, and why it's on the EDH list of gamechangers, Ancient Tomb is a land that taps for two colorless mana. A Sol-land, you could say.
The great thing about it is you don't have to do any other set up. You don't need to have four other lands like Temple of the False God. You don't have to lose a card from your opening hand like Gemstone Caverns. You don't need to have anything else in play like other top-tier lands Gaea's Cradle or Tolarian Academy. All you have to do is pay two life every time you tap it.
Now, that sounds painful, but I'm sure you've heard the mantra 'life is a resource'. In a high-powered Commander game, Ancient Tomb is brilliant - accelerating you towards your win condition and putting you a land up on your opponents for a fairly inconsequential cost. In a more casual EDH game it's basically unfair, especially given how rare land destruction has become.
It's worth noting that this is not the first recent reprint Ancient Tomb has received. It also appeared in the Lord of the Rings release, reskinned as Balin's Tomb. However, it was one of dozens of box toppers players had the potential to find, so had zero impact on the card's price.
It's unlikely that this reprint will lower Ancient Tomb's cost by much either. There are 45 of these Stellar Sights cards available, and they only appear in one out of every eight play boosters, which is much rarer than we're used to for these bonus sheets. And even though you are guaranteed one in every collector booster, with 45 to choose from, the chance of opening a specific mythic is going to be pretty low.
What cards are you most excited from in Edge of Eternities - the new or the old? Come chat with us about the new MTG set in our Wargamer Discord.