Damnation

Economics forum

Posted on Nov. 14, 2013, 10:54 p.m. by HarbingerJK

Okay why is Damnation $34.99 on Cardkingdom and Wrath of God 10E $12.99? They are the exact same card but literally one's black and one's white. Is it because there are many reprints of wrath? Or is it that there are so few black boardwipes that effect everything like that?

zandl says... #2

Both of the reasons you listed are valid.

Damnation has had one printing (currently at $27.51 on tcgplayer's mid price). Wrath of God has had 15 playable printings (the cheapest of which being $5.69).

November 14, 2013 10:57 p.m.

zandl says... #3

Well, okay. Damnation has a Player Rewards promo printing, but those are rather difficult to come by as they are quite rare.

November 14, 2013 10:58 p.m.

HarbingerJK says... #4

yeah those don't count lol

November 14, 2013 11 p.m.

brokendwarf says... #5

You'd figure WotC would reprint at least 1. They could've put it in one of the commander decks like Wrath of God

November 14, 2013 11 p.m.

zandl says... #6

Triple-post

Also, Damnation is Black's only straight-up board-wipe, whereas White has innumerable ways to wipe the battlefield clean, many of which have been reprinted severeal times themselves: Day of Judgment , Planar Cleansing , Supreme Verdict , Rout , etc.

November 14, 2013 11 p.m.

HarbingerJK says... #7

yeah there's usually some kind of draw back for black boardwipes, -2/-2 with Infest only destroying 3 cmc creatures Consume the Meek etc. etc.

November 14, 2013 11:02 p.m.

zandl says... #8

Also, it's important to know that valuing cards based on one major retailer's prices isn't too reliable. Individual companies (especially larger ones, i.e. CardKingdom, StarCityGames, Troll&Toad, etc.) are out to make money.

When in doubt, look it up on magiccards.info and look for tcgplayer's prices near the bottom. It amasses all prices from hundreds of sellers and finds the averages.

http://magiccards.info/pc/en/85.html

November 14, 2013 11:02 p.m.

GoldGhost012 says... #9

Damnation 's really the only black boardwipe spell that doesn't involve sacrificing or -X/-X.

Plus Card Kingdom isn't always the greatest resource to use.

Is it strange that black has a lot of hard single-creature removal (i.e. Doom Blade , Go for the Throat ), but very little hard boardwipes, while white has a lot of hard boardwipes (i.e. Wrath of God , Day of Judgment ), but very little hard single-creature removal?

November 14, 2013 11:03 p.m.

HarbingerJK says... #10

@GoldGhost012 and white has very little single-creature removal but lots of boardwipes

November 14, 2013 11:04 p.m.

zandl says... #11

I wouldn't go so far as to say cards like Infest and Consume the Meek only have drawbacks. Consume the Meek is (A) an Instant and (B) a spell that doesn't kill your big control finishers.

Black Sun's Zenith can deal with indestructible creatures, even. And they are a lot of fun interactions that come with dealing with counters, as with Melira, Sylvok Outcast .

November 14, 2013 11:05 p.m.

HarbingerJK says... #12

okay maybe not drawbacks but limitations

November 14, 2013 11:06 p.m.

Ohthenoises says... #13

I LOVE Toxic Deluge . It makes me SO happy.

November 14, 2013 11:08 p.m.

GoldGhost012 says... #14

One may be able to make the argument that it's the best boardwipe in black. Certainly one of the top 5.

November 14, 2013 11:12 p.m.

zandl says... #15

I think the flavor and lore of Black lends itself more to mass decay and rot as opposed to White's belief of wiping the slate clean. A card that fits perfectly into what White embodies as a color is Armageddon .

November 14, 2013 11:13 p.m.

HarbingerJK says... #16

zandl that's probably the most comprehensive reason for it I've heard lol

November 15, 2013 12:12 a.m.

Blizzicane says... #17

Don't forget Black also has Life's Finale as a board wipe as well.

November 15, 2013 12:14 a.m.

We also cannot forget others such as Living End (which had a modern combo) and Living Death . Of course they cannot be seen as complete board sweeps, but they do the job

November 15, 2013 12:38 a.m.

This discussion has been closed