Hey all, it’s Chroberry back again with another jam-packed edition of the Cool Stuff We Bought This Week! This week will be a double feature, with our usual snazzy stuff, plus some cards from the new set, Ravnica Allegiance!

Ravnica Allegiance is now in full swing, with heavy hitters like Hydroid Krasis making huge waves in Standard and Prime Speaker Vannifar doing a nice stand-in for Birthing Pod in Modern and EDH. Allegiance is an all-star set, featuring a ton of exciting new cards, along with the added value of the Shocklands.I could speak volumes about how good this set is in so many ways, but my favorite aspect of the set is just how great the card art is this time around.. The art direction of this set was on point, and perhaps the best part of pack opening week. I was able to snap some pics to share with you guys this week, so without further ado, let’s take a look!

This may seem a little inconsequential to some, but I have to say that I just love the packaging and box art of the display box. That crisp blue on the packs just does it for me, I guess! Lavinia‘s updated look adds an air of authority and prestige to the box lid, and it definitely stands out on a shelf.

Here’s a sample of what cracking a box could yield. Some nice foils, including the sometimes Lightning Bolt in Skewer the Critics, 2x Kaya with one being foil, and a few shocks. I even see the Prime Speaker herself hiding in the back of that pile of mythics. Perhaps most impressive is the six total Mythics, if you count the foil Kaya, in only one box. Sweet box!

Oh yeah, these were in the same pack as well. If only I could get this lucky when opening packs for myself! When our staff gets together for pack opening to fill our preorders and build the inventory, we get to say our favorite running joke: whoever opens value past box MSRP, or cracks a sweet foil, gets to keep their job. Needless to say, I’m still here at ABU Games.

My next box yielded some more sweet foils, including this awesome copy of Teysa Karlov! Now on her third unique printing, this new Teysa brings new life (or death?) to BW Sacrifice decks everywhere. I absolutely love the art of this card in foil as well. Although, this card has an unfair advantage, as cards with stained-glass touches in the art tend to look gorgeous in foil. Gift of Orzhova from Gatecrash exemplifies this the best.

It wouldn’t be a Ravnica pack opening without showing off some foil Shocks! We didn’t get too many of these, but I personally opened this Breeding Pool and had to get a picture of it. Simic foils look great, and this art lends itself to a stunning foil version. While not my favorite guild overall (IZZET ALL THE WAY, BAYBEE), I think Simic have the coolest looking watermark on foils.

Last but not least, here’s a foil Thanos. Well, maybe not quite. If you’re bad at flipping coins, you could hit the big goose egg when attempting to wipe your opponent’s board. When you do go for the snap, make sure to use your Krark’s Thumb for bad luck protection. Just be careful out there, as you have to flip for your creatures too if they’re not the noted types!

That about does it for Allegiance until I get to see some more of it through buylists, so let’s move on to some other goodies! I said this would be a double feature, and this week delivered hard on sweet cards!

Let’s start off with a pack of foil plant boys, with two different playsets of Vengevine. The top row shows off the 2013 World Magic Cup promo, while the bottom row is the classic version from Rize of the Eldrazi. Gun to my head, I gotta go with the latter, as Raymond Swanland is far and away my favorite Magic artist of the modern era. They both look pretty good, though.

Here’s a rare sight, a whole playset of Near Mint Judge Foil Imperial Recruiters. While reprinted in Masters 25 as a mythic with all new art, this version shows off the classic Portal: Three Kingdoms illustration in foil. As you may know, the original P3K printing was only available in white border non-foil, with this being the first premium printing of the card. There was a time where one of these would run you $300+ a piece if you were lucky enough to find one for sale.

Speaking of $300+ cards, here’s a box topper Liliana of the Veil from Ultimate Masters. We’re still seeing a lot of these boxes get cracked, and people seem to be very eager to send in their spoils. I estimate these to stay in stock for maybe 24 hours at most if we ever get one in, almost a blink and you’ll miss it sort of item. If you’re looking for the rarest version of this card, however, take a trip over to our foreign section to take a peek at our Japanese foil playset from Innistrad. You only need one kidney, right?

Rolling right along with the wallet pounders, here’s an Arabian Nights Drop of Honey. A pretty unique and powerful effect for only one measly green mana! Certain decks in Old School, as well as the Lands deck in Legacy, love to bring this one out of the board to punish creature strategies. Not the cleanest answer, but it’ll deal with a True-Name Nemesis in a pinch. Luckily you’ve still got some cash left over from that kidney sale, as this card will run you well over a grand at Near Mint.
“Hey Chris, how much would you pay for a Drop of Honey?”
*searches our site for Porphyry Nodes*
“Well, about $5.99 I guess.”
*canned laughter*

Last, but certainly not least, here’s the craziest thing I saw this week. FIVE, COUNT’EM, FIVE Near Mint The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale. All in the same buylist, no less. Thankfully, you’ll only need one of these for Legacy Lands, or a Stax EDH list if you’ve got the means, as Crop Rotation and Sylvan Scrying can search this up for you. I’ll let you look at the price yourself.

That does it for this week! Join me next Friday to get another sweet dosage of cool Magical Cards. As always, you can follow me on Twitter @chroberry or Instagram @chroberrymtg if you want to see extra goodies and spoilers for next week’s article. Peace!