Soul Spike is getting its first new paper printing in 20 years. Wizards of the Coast is bringing the roughly $18 black instant back in Strange School, a Reality Fracture-inspired Secret Lair drop announced on October 13. Players who need the card will have an alternative to its increasingly scarce Coldsnap printing, though a limited release won’t necessarily make the original cheaper.
Originally released in July 2006, Soul Spike has had no other paper printing since Coldsnap. Its value reflects both that limited supply and competitive demand. Polygon’s Chris Guest reports an approximate market price of $17.57 for a non-foil copy, with original foils costing substantially more.
The card’s appeal isn’t obvious from its mana cost alone. Soul Spike is a seven-mana black instant that deals four damage to any target and gives its controller four life. That’s an expensive drain spell, but you can exile two black cards from your hand instead of paying its mana cost. The same effects then cost no mana, at the expense of card advantage.
That tradeoff makes particular sense in Modern’s Necrodominance decks. The powerful enchantment lets players pay life to draw an abundance of cards; Soul Spike turns extra black cards into damage while restoring some of the life spent drawing them. Guest describes the combination as particularly nasty, and it has helped keep Soul Spike relevant in competitive Magic.
Other older cards have drawn secondary-market attention for different reasons. Previously overlooked cards have found new uses in Commander, while Reality Fracture has already helped push older planeswalkers up in price. Soul Spike’s situation is more straightforward: a competitively useful card has gone two decades without another paper version. Its return gives players another option without necessarily lowering the price of existing copies.
The five-card Strange School drop, whose title also includes 怪異学校, contains only mono-black cards:
- Attrition
- Bitter Ordeal
- Ophiomancer
- Sign in Blood
- Soul Spike
Guest considers Soul Spike arguably the most interesting inclusion, but it isn’t the only valuable reprint. Bitter Ordeal’s original Future Sight printing, with its distinctive “future” frame, commands roughly $26. Attrition costs approximately $19. Those two cards and Soul Spike alone cost considerably more than Strange School’s $29.99 non-foil asking price. The traditional foil edition costs $39.99.
Japanese artists and illustrators have given the cards macabre, manga-inspired artwork. The black-and-white aesthetic fits Hexhaven, Reality Fracture’s sinister take on Strixhaven, and is another selling point in Guest’s assessment.
Wizards also announced Duality Distorted, a second Reality Fracture-themed Secret Lair drop. Its four cards are:
- Thoughtseize
- Desperate Ritual
- Pyroblast
- Tribute to the World Tree
Duality Distorted brings back several established Magic artists to reinterpret their earlier artwork, pairing the illustrations with retro frames that Guest describes as desirable. Pricing matches Strange School: $29.99 for non-foil or $39.99 for traditional foil.
Both drops will be sold individually through the Secret Lair Chaos Vault. They’ll also be available in three larger packages incorporating the Reality Fracture Secret Lair Bundle, ranging from $159.98 for the non-foil package to $234.99 for the Everything Edition. The latter includes both foil and non-foil copies of Strange School and Duality Distorted.
