With the recent announcement of soulbound reward cards coming in as well as current reward cards being put out of print, I wanted to look at previous reward cards as well as print rate to see just how high some of these prices can go. We know from previous history that there is some great price appreciation to be had and many high level players in the game have used this strategy to level up their decks. I decided to pick one card from each rarity and compare it to a previous reward card to see what the high end of price appreciation can be. Now is a great time to be in the game and things should only improve with land on the way, so use the link to join: https://splinterlands.com?ref=bluedevil0722
1. Common: Blood Maker Vs. Vampire
Little background on the vampire to start here. It is a five mana archer with life leech which gets up to 4 ranged damage as well as flying at the highest level. It only has one health the whole time however which really makes it a glass cannon and equalizer ruleset user. The blood maker gets 4 ranged damage as well as cripple and scattershot. Both have high speeds relatively as well. Seems like a pretty good comparison to me given they are heavy archers with unique ruleset niches with the blood maker being more well rounded in my opinion. You can get a vampire at 0.18 cents currently whereas the blood maker is at .01 cents. That would be an 18x at the prices however print run matters. The vampire had 400,000 printed compared to what will be approximately 4 million for the blood maker. 10x on print rate but a 18x price appreciation seems like a good investment to me especially if you believe in the game long term and more players joining.
2. Rare: Dhampir Infiltrator vs. Silvershield Assassin
Easy comparison of all here. Rare double strike sneak monsters here. The dhampir is four mana and the assassin is at seven mana. The assassin gets poison and the infiltrator gets affliction at higher levels with the assassin getting the edge at max level with the third melee attack. The infiltrator gets the edge in splinter however, as it is dragon so it can be paired with several other sneak monsters rather than just the life splinter. Currently, you can get infiltrators at 5 cents whereas the assassin is at 1.33 a BCX. That would be a 26x so let us look at print rate. We have the infiltrator at around 1 million and the assassin at 100,000 printed. Another good ratio in my opinion and could easily see this card being a 50 cent per BCX card in the future based on the stats and usability.
3. Epic: Spirit Shaman vs. Revealer
Mid mana magic monsters both with stun is the equality here. The difference is the shaman has divine shield as well as redemption ability compared to the revealer with immunity and reflection shield. The other difference is the revealer gets a second magic attack at level three compared to max level for shaman. Price wise we have the revealer at .20 cents and the shaman at 1.87 currently. That is a 9x value boost compared to the print rate multiplier being at 8.75x. One of the closer comparisons here between price and scarcity however I think the revealer is a better card overall and matches a bit better with his the death team in certain rulesets.
4. Legendary: Countess Sinash vs. Spirit Miner
Some real speed monsters here with one magic and one ranged. The miner boasts the dodge ability and blind which is a real dangerous combo compared to sinash with opportunity, blast, and affliction. One is a DPS champ who cannot be hit until is gets in the first position or blasted away while the other is really tough to hit and makes the speed meta significantly better for his whole team offering variability as a neutral monster. The price multiplier is at 4.49x compared to the print rate multiplier of approximately 4x. This is less of a slam dunk as the lower rarity cards in my opinion however again, if you believe in more players joining this game it would make sense this price will see increased value especially if you were lucky enough to get them at a dollar a month ago.
Some of these lower cost reward cards offer some really nice opportunities at current prices in my opinion and I think these comparisons shed some light on that. It is an interesting time being in the game and with print rates being lower than expected on these cards along with land incoming to offer more usability for cards, a card holder seems like a good place to be right now. Please upvote or comment if you enjoyed this breakdown and have any other comparisons from new to old version reward cards.