Image courtesy of Scryfall.com
Tracking Print Frequency Across Expansions
In the world of Magic: The Gathering, the journey of a planeswalker like Liliana is less a straight line and more a map of twists, turns, and reprint rumors. For collectors and players alike, tracking how often a card appears across expansions isn’t just about price—it's about watchful examination of design trends, set architecture, and the storytelling arc of a character. 🧙♂️🔥💎 In this case study, we zoom in on Liliana, Death Wielder, a formidable legend from the Amonkhet era, to illustrate how a single card’s print history can inform your understanding of reprint cycles and market cadence. ⚔️🎨
Card snapshot: a glance at the face of the issue
- Name: Liliana, Death Wielder
- Mana Cost: 5BB
- Type: Legendary Planeswalker — Liliana
- Set: Amonkhet (AKH); Release date: 2017-04-28
- Rarity: Mythic
- Foil Availability: Foil only print in this design; nonfoil not printed in AKH for this exact card
- Loyalty: 5
- Abilities:
- +2: Put a -1/-1 counter on up to one target creature.
- -3: Destroy target creature with a -1/-1 counter on it.
- -10: Return all creature cards from your graveyard to the battlefield.
- Legalities: Modern, Legacy, Vintage, Commander legal; Standard and several other formats not legal.
- Artist: Clint Cearley
- Price snapshot: Foil price around USD 6.35 (EUR ~8.67 at the time of data)
What stands out here is the combination of a high-cost, high-impact set of abilities with a single, nonrepeatable printing in AKH’s run for this exact name. The card’s power is mirrored in its foil-only aesthetic in this release, which is a specific design choice tied to the era’s approach to mythic artifacts and planeswalkers. This is a story about scarcity as much as it is about power, and scarcity often feeds how we interpret print frequency. 🧙♂️💎
Reprint reality: what the data tells us
From the data snippet attached to Liliana, Death Wielder, we see a clear flag: reprint = false. In practical terms, that means Wizards had no subsequent reprint of this exact card name in later expansions after AKH. For trackers, that’s a meaningful signal: while many Lilianas populate the MTG landscape over the years, this precise iteration has not been rerun in a later standard print or Masters set as of the dataset. The card’s fate as a mythic foil from a single printing window stands in contrast to other Lilianas that have seen multiple reprints across years and formats. ⚔️
Of course, the broader Liliana lineage is lengthy and diverse: Liliana of the Veil (a seminal and famously valuable card), Liliana, the Last Hope, and other Liliana variants have peppered different sets with varying frequencies. What matters for a print-frequency analysis is this: a single AKH release with foil emphasis, and a lack of subsequent reprints, makes Liliana, Death Wielder a prime example of a card that offers both nostalgia and limited accessibility in nonfoil modern print runs. For collectors, that can translate to a short-term scarcity premium and a longer-term magnet for nostalgic playgroups who revel in the spin of risk and reward. 🧙♂️🔥
Why this matters for players and collectors
Print frequency isn’t just a curiosity—it shapes deck-building decisions, price dynamics, and even how you table talk with your local meta. Consider these angles when you’re evaluating this specific Liliana in a modern context:
- Deck viability: In formats where Liliana’s presence is legal, her -2/-1 utility and graveyard reanimation potential can anchor black-based control or fortress builds. But with a long gap between reprints, the card’s supply can stay predictably tight in foil, nudging prices upward for high-demand playgroups. 🧪
- Foil prestige vs. nonfoil scarcity: AKH’s foil emphasis makes the foil version a standout collectible, which can affect casual buying decisions beyond raw power. A foil-only printing also emphasizes the collector’s market for premium copies. 🔥
- Market cadence: When a card shows as not reprinted across expansions, price pressure can ripple through secondary markets as fans seek pristine originals. Keeping tabs on Foil price movements and EDH demand can offer predictive signals for future value shifts. 💎
- Format legality reality: The card’s legality in Modern, Legacy, Vintage and Commander means it remains relevant in casual and high-powered multiplayer settings, even if Standard play is off the table for this one. ⚔️
How to track print frequency like a pro
If you’re curious about how to monitor a card’s presence across expansions, here are practical steps you can follow, using Liliana, Death Wielder as a concrete example:
- Check the canonical print data: Look up the card on a trusted database (like Scryfall) and note the set, rarity, and whether it’s a reprint. For our subject, AKH marks the original imprint with a mythic foil emphasis and a “reprint: false” status in the data. 🧭
- Examine the “prints” search: Use the card’s oracle_id (e1b6cc44-41b6-43d0-9fe9-722cebb1c47b) or related URIs to see all printed variants across expansions. This reveals if a second printing exists under a different name or different print run. 🔎
- Cross-check legality across formats: Note which formats the card is legal in, as reprint strategies often target specific formats (Commander loves Lilianas; Standard may not). The data shows this Liliana is legal in Modern, Legacy, Vintage, and Commander, among others. 🧭
- Observe price trajectories: Track foil vs. non-foil prices in USD and EUR; foil values often reflect scarcity and demand for premium copies. The foil price footprint here sits around USD 6.35, painting a story of collectible appeal rather than mass-market depreciation. 📈
- Follow related cards in the same cycle: Related cards like “Liliana’s Influence” (a sorcery in the same thematic orbit) can inform how the Liliana arc travels between expansions and interacts with synergy engines—useful for both deck-building and pricing discussions. 🧩
Lore, art, and the design philosophy behind the print run
Clint Cearley’s artwork for Liliana, Death Wielder captures a moment of ominous command—the signature black mana aura wrapping the planeswalker in necromantic resolve. The AKH frame, with its 2015-era style and security-oval stamp, anchors the card in a mythic, world-building era. Thematically, Liliana’s title as a “Death Wielder” resonates with a design philosophy that embraces graveyard synergy and bold, direct removal. That synergy is not only a gameplay hook but a storytelling tool, reinforcing the dark grace that has defined Liliana’s arc across multiple expansions. 🎨⚔️
When you study how often a card reappears, you’re really studying how Wizards tells a character’s story through time, set by set. Some legends get a long, wandering tour; others, like this Liliana, stay iconic in a single, dazzling moment.
As a collector, you’re not just chasing power; you’re chasing the moment when a card’s print history mirrors the broader narrative of the multiverse—an echo across space and time. And while you map prints, you might as well map your on-the-go MTG life too. To that end, a sturdy MagSafe card holder with a polycarbonate shell can be a small but stylish companion for every Magic day out—slotted cards, sleeves, and all—so you can keep the battlefield and the binder close at hand. 🧙♂️🎲
For readers who want to keep digging into the data, Scryfall’s pages and the linked EDHREC correlations offer fertile ground for deeper dives into deck-building and variant printing histories. The marriage of lore, mechanics, and market behavior is what makes keeping tabs on print frequency across expansions a hobby with real rhythm. And hey, if you’re chasing memorable moments at the table, you’ll find that Liliana’s latest chapter continues to echo in your games, one foil at a time. 🔥💎
If you’re curious to swing by the same space that inspired this exploration, you can also check out a practical product to complement your MTG setup. It’s a neat companion for travels, tournaments, and casual days alike.