Why the new Magic expansion could be the highest-selling set ever

Magic: the Gathering fans, get your wallets ready—"Expeditions" are coming

Magic: the Gathering fans, get your wallets ready—”Expeditions” are coming.

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The popular trading card game’s upcoming expansion, Battle for Zendikar, is already slated to be one of the game’s most exciting releases ever, and many are pegging it to be the highest-selling set ever. Per its namesake, players will be returning to the plane known as Zendikar to battle against the Lovecraftian Eldrazi.

Originally introduced in 2009’s Zendikar expansion, players closely associate the world with full-art basic land cards (an aesthetic upgrade that collectors adore), along with “priceless treasures“—which in 2009 meant extremely expensive cards redistributed through Zendikar’s booster packs. Battle for Zendikar‘s “priceless treasures” appear to be a beast of a completely new nature.

Wizards of the Coast

Dubbed “expeditions,” these cards are foil, full-art variants of some of the most powerful land cards available to players. That power, however, comes at a price—some of the current cards slated to become expeditions already sell close to $100. Full-art, foil variants have some experts guessing that the expeditions will sell for hundreds at launch. Others estimate over $500 due to collector demands.

Alongside the announcement of a return of full-art basic lands, and a new cycle of dual lands that some are calling “slowlands,” Battle for Zendikar now appears poised to be the most-opened set of all time. The odds of opening any of these rare land cards, which could sell well into the hundreds, has fans salivating.

Battle for Zendikar releases on Oct. 2, and will have prerelease events on Sept. 26 and 27.

Image via Wizards of the Coast

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