A Japanese magazine released what is widely considered as credible information on the Commander 2017 decks slated to be released on August 25th. In April, it was revealed by Wizards that these decks would be tribe-based, and many of the cards from one deck, Five-Color Dragons, was unofficially leaked in May, but now we have confirmation on the remaining three color schemes and tribes: White-Green Cats, Grixis Wizards and Mardu Vampires.

With the decks arriving in just a few weeks, players and speculators have been scrambling to react, and the market is already moving in anticipation. Each tribe has seen cards increase in price, and there’s also been an increase in demand for more generic tribal cards that can fit in many or all of these decks. Today, I’ll identify and explore the cards that have seen their value increase.

The most notable increases have been in foil versions, which are desirable to the most hardcore Commander players and collectors. Foils also come with a built-in resistance to being reprinted in the Commander decks – and if a card is included, its foil version could see even greater appreciation as players attempt to foil out their decks.

Most of these cards have seen slight price increases, which doesn’t indicate a spike, but rather a modest increase in demand that could indicate further increases. I expect that many of these cards will see further appreciation as the Commander release approaches, and beyond, so my goal is to help your make your own judgments as to what cards could be prime speculation targets.

Tribal Spikes

The Onslaught foil of Slate of Ancestry has been $7 for months, and it’s starting to creep higher, but this week the Ninth Edition version grew from under $5 to almost $8, which indicates increased demand for the card, and because the price has surpassed the original printing, a desire for the newer card frame.

Both foil printings of Brass Herald have seen price increases this week, with the Apocalypse printing growing from $1.75 to $2.50, and the Eighth Edition reprint growing from $2.50 to over $3, which is another sign that cards with new card frame printings are more desirable and likely to be better specs in general.

Foil Seventh Edition Coat of Arms grew from $25 to $35 this week, while the many new card frame printings haven’t budged from their average around $11. This bucks the trend of the older card frame being less desirable, which can be explained by the Seventh Edition version having unique artwork, which the market clearly demands more than the Eighth Edition artwork that has been replicated on all subsequent printings.

Door of Destinies has seen its Morningtide foil printing start to move upwards, to over $14. It holds a large premium over the Magic 2014 printing, which has actually seen a slight decrease down to $8, which demonstrates that, with card frame and artwork equal, players demand older printings. There is also a Morningtide prerelease version with its own unique artwork, and it’s trending upwards, from $8 to $8.50 this week, and it might offer the best returns going forward.

Foil Urza's Incubator briefly grew from $30 to $35 this week before falling back down, which demonstrates that the price of foils tends to be volatile in general, and prices will often move up and down wildly based on supply and condition. There’s certainly some renewed interest in the card, which has actually fallen from the $40 it demanded at the time of Hour of Devastation’s release, so there could be some profits to be had going forward.

Shared Animosity could have applications in the Dragon, Wizard and Mardu Vampire decks, so its foil version has seen strong growth this week, from $15 to $25. Morningtide cards are old and in short supply, and the price increase looks stable, so I expect this price is the new norm and it will only continue to grow.

Alpha Status can be used in any green tribal deck, such as the new Dragons deck, but it looks especially good in the Cat deck, which explains its growth this week from $2 to $2.30.

Foil Tsabo's Decree saw a big spike in June, from $3.50 to over $17, which could easily have been from the knowledge that the upcoming Commander release would be tribal, making the card better in Commander than ever. The price fell back to $13, but this week saw it trend upwards, now sitting at $14.

Five-Color Dragons

The Dragon Commander deck being five colors means it is capable of including any dragon or dragon-related card in Magic, and that's increased attention on Dragons across the board. There are some specific foils that have seen their prices starting to move upwards.

Grixis Wizards

The Timeshifted Time Spiral artwork on Voidmage Prodigy is in much higher demand than the original printing, which explains its foil version nearly doubling from $5 to $9 this week, while the Onslaught version actually fell in the price.

White-Green Cats

Foil Uktabi Wildcats saw a massive spike this week that brought its price from $3 to nearly $9.

Mardu Vampires

Commander is an important part of Magic finance, and there’s plenty of money to be made by paying attention to the market. What cards are you eyeing as specs to capitalize on the upcoming release?