Image courtesy of Scryfall.com
Morkrut Behemoth: A Dive into Grading, Authenticity, and Collector Value 🧙♂️
When you flip through a backlog of MTG cards, a few names still pop with the quiet glow of potential hidden in plain sight. Morkrut Behemoth, a Zombie Giant from Innistrad: Midnight Hunt, is one such creature. It isn’t a flashy rare that rockets into supernova price spikes, but its design—a five-cost, color-black behemoth with a cunning tax to cast and the ever-looming menace—speaks to the bones of modern collectible magic: reach, risk, and the artful tension between power and cost. For graders and collectors alike, this card is a great case study in authenticity, condition sensitivity, and why even a common can carry a story worth tucking into a binder 🧪💎.
Card snapshot: what you’re really getting with Morkrut Behemoth
- Name: Morkrut Behemoth
- Set: Innistrad: Midnight Hunt (MID)
- Mana cost: {4}{B} (five mana, one black)
- Type: Creature — Zombie Giant
- Power/Toughness: 7 / 6
- Rarity: Common (foil and nonfoil available)
- Oracle text: As an additional cost to cast this spell, sacrifice a creature or pay {1}{B}. Menace (This creature can’t be blocked except by two or more creatures.)
- Illustration: Milivoj Ćeran
- Flavor: "Let's see my brother's stitched-up little toys compete with this." — Ghoulcaller Gisa
In terms of gameplay, this is a classic sacrifice-friendly evaluation: you can pay mana to avoid sacrificing a creature, but you’ll seldom want to leave a sacrificial outlet unused in decks that lean into aristocrats, sacrifice-tribal, or zombie-centered strategies. The 7/6 body with Menace means it often demands command attention on the battlefield and, in many cases, can close a game if left unchecked. For grading and authenticity, what’s important isn’t just the stat block but how the card was printed and surrounded by its era’s production quirks. The Midnight Hunt line features a distinctive black border and a modern frame from 2015 onward, with artwork by a long list of artists that collectors come to recognize—Milivoj Ćeran being a standout storyteller in ink and shadow 🎨🔥.
Grading and authenticity: what graders look for with this card
Grading MTG cards, even commons, hinges on four pillars: centering, edges, corners, and surface. For a card like Morkrut Behemoth, you’ll want to verify:
- Centering: A strong candidate will breathe evenly on all sides; anything close to 60/40 or better (front face) is desirable for a grade higher than “authentic/lightly played.”
- Edges and corners: Look for whitening near the corners, small dings, or chipping along the border. If the foil version exists, foil damage or, conversely, foil curling can complicate grading—foil requires extra care, especially since it’s more prone to surface scratches and rainbow-wash changes.
- Surface: Check for scratches, scuffs, or ink smudges. Because this card comes from a modern set, the surface should be clean, with consistent ink saturation across the image and text blocks. A foiled surface, if present, should show uniform foil reflection without pooling or edge-lifted foiling.
- Back and print consistency: The back of a genuine MID card should align with standard card stock marks, with a uniform black border and no misprint—this includes a consistent color, font weight, and spacing on the Gatherer/oracle text reference lines.
As a common card, the market often sees drafts in near-mint to lightly played condition. In the price data from Scryfall, you’ll notice the baseline value sits around a few pennies in non-foil form, with foil variants nudging a touch higher. This fluctuation makes it a wonderful testing ground for graders: the difference between a near-mint copy and a well-used copy isn’t just about aesthetics—it’s about which copy will travel into a modern cube or commander deck and which will sit in a binder with a quiet smile 🧙♂️.
Authenticity pitfalls and how to verify potential fakes
Counterfeits remain a risk at any price point, though they’re far more common in high-demand or extremely old printings. For a MID common like Morkrut Behemoth, here are practical checks to keep in mind:
- Text accuracy: Compare the oracle text and mana cost to trusted references (Scryfall, Gatherer). The exact clause “As an additional cost to cast this spell, sacrifice a creature or pay {1}{B}. Menace” should be clean, with no extra punctuation or misaligned brackets.
- Fonts and card stock: Authentic cards from modern sets use consistent font shapes. Any odd spacing or glyph distortion around the border or text is a red flag.
- Set symbol and collector information: MID uses a specific set symbol and collector numbers. The card’s collector number is 114, and the set is Innistrad: Midnight Hunt. If the symbol or numbering seems off, pause and verify against official sources.
- Color and border integrity: Black-border cards from this era maintain steady color consistency and edge color; a border that looks unusually pale or uneven can indicate a counterfeit.
Grading and authentication are not just about the card alone, but the packaging and provenance. If you’re buying single cards online, request clear photos of both the front and back, any proof of purchase, and, if possible, a grading company slab number. A well-documented card sells itself with confidence, and that confidence is what sustains a healthy market for mid-tier MTG staples 🧭💎.
Value, demand, and where this card shines in a collection
Even though Morkrut Behemoth is labeled common, it occupies a delicious space in Commander and casual zombie-themed decks where late-game inevitability matters. The card’s life in a deck-building context—paired with sacrificial themes—creates demand that persists, even as the base price remains modest. In markets that favor foil variants, you’ll see a slightly higher premium on foil copies, which often makes the card a win for collectors who chase shimmer as much as strategy. The flavor text and Milivoj Ćeran’s artwork add a dark, intriguing vibe to any collection that appreciates the gothic horror of Innistrad’s universe 🎭⚔️.
Practical tips for preservation and smart collecting
Preserving a modern MTG card, even a common, benefits from a thoughtful routine. Store in a clean, dry environment; use ice-cold, acid-free sleeves and semi-rigid top-loaders to minimize edge wear; for display, consider a soft, UV-filtered case to maintain color fidelity and surface integrity. If you’re aiming to upgrade to a higher grade someday, keep the card in a solid binder with interleaving for protection, and handle only with clean hands. A little care now means a longer life for your little zombie giant as it joins the ranks of your veteran collection 🧙♂️🔥.
Commander flair, casual play, and the collector’s narrative
In the broader magic narrative, Morkrut Behemoth isn’t just a card; it’s a waypoint in a modern collectible arc. It sits alongside other Midnight Hunt cards that explore the tension between life and death, ritual, and the costs we pay when power comes with a price tag as heavy as a five-mana commitment. For die-hard players, it’s a reminder that even a common can pull double duty—stamping authority on the battlefield and anchoring a deck’s sacrifice engine with menace and presence ⚔️🎨.
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