Academy Rector is also part of a spicy Commander combo that involves having it on the battlefield when you play Kaerveks Spite, which allows you to search your library for Barren Glory
Issued: 1998, Japan (illustration contest prize) Copies Known: Fewer than 40 worldwide Last Sale: $5.275 million (Logan Paul purchase, 2022) Significance: Holy grail of Pokmon TCG collecting Based on our studios experience, any authenticated Pikachu Illustrator card commands intense bidding wars among top collectors, often attracting international buyers from North America, Europe, and Asia
The graphic designer ate lunch over paper that they then scanned in (with a sheet of acetate to keep the food off the scanner bed)
Though that combo isn't quick enough to make Enduring Tenacity more than a bit player in Standard, it's the kind of card that life-gain and life-drain decks in EDH love to play with, as it's effectively a second copy of Sanguine Bond (albeit cheaper and slightly more vulnerable to exile-based removal)
All in all, I think Volatile Stormdrake will not only be a great budget replacement for the Reserved List-bound card, it will be one of the first cards of that description that might as well be the same thing
Guile, Sonic Soldier When it comes to Jeskai commanders, Guile seems to be on the low side of the power scale, but given that Jeskai has cards like Narset, Enlightened Master and Hinata, Dawn-Crowned, having a lower-power choice is nice
