Image courtesy of Scryfall.com
Placing a Fairy-Tale Double Face in MTG History
In the grand tapestry of Magic: The Gathering’s evolving history, some sets feel like a return to a beloved story, while others push the engine forward with a fresh twist. Wilds of Eldraine sits squarely in that first camp—revisiting fairy-tale vibes, courts, and questing heroes while weaving in a modern design language that long-time players recognize. Conceited Witch // Price of Beauty is a prime example of how that fusion works in practice: a black creature on the front, a spell on the back, and a whole narrative about vanity, power, and shifting fates. It’s one of those cards that invites you to read the lore, feel the flavor, and then notice the clever engineering behind the scenes 🧙♂️🔥💎.
Two faces, one moment in time
The front face, Conceited Witch, is a Creature — Human Warlock with menace and a respectable body at 2/3 for two generic and one black mana ({2}{B}). Menace isn’t just a mechanic; it’s a vibe—your opponent eyes the board and suddenly remembers that sometimes a single witch’s whisper can swing a game when you’ve got the right follow-up. The flavor text—“She wasn't much for self-reflection.”—speaks to a character who believes she’s the star of her own tale, even as the tale twists around her. The art by Anna Pavleeva reinforces that mood: a poised, calculating presence that hints at the price of vanity. The card’s color identity remains starkly black, leaning into efficient disruption and creature combat pressure often associated with black’s take on ambition and danger 🧙♂️.
The back face, Price of Beauty, costs {B} and is an Adventure—your familiar mechanic from Eldraine’s fairy-tale mythos. It reads: “Create a Wicked Role token attached to target creature you control. (Then exile this card. You may cast the creature later from exile.)” That last clause is the real hook: you invest a small mana payment to attach a role to one of your creatures, and then exile the spell with the option to retrieve the creature later. It’s a clever tempo tool that can protect (or reposition) your threats while keeping a surprise pathway open. The “Wicked Role” token is a narrative flavor beat: a creeping influence that tugs your creatures into a darker, more dangerous narrative arc. This is the sort of design that shows how double-faced cards can deliver a micro-saga on the battlefield while offering practical, repeatable value in a game with tremendous tempo considerations 🎲⚔️.
Timeline placement: where this card sits in MTG history
- Eldraine’s fairy-tale arc: Wilds of Eldraine continues the exploration of classic fairy tales in a magic-rich setting. The Adventure mechanic itself isn’t new, but Eldraine’s execution makes it feel like a natural evolution of the earlier Throne of Eldraine design, where you could flip the script between a creature and a spell to shape the next turn.
- Adventures as a design language: Conceited Witch // Price of Beauty is a modern reminder of how Adventures let players plan for the future—to force your opponent to respect a threat now, while keeping the back half ready to reshape the board later. This card embodies the flexibility that players crave in the current era: you can pressure with the front while preparing a delayed, targeted advantage via the back.
- Black’s role in tempo and value: The front face’s body and menace provide early-game press, while the back face’s exile-and-return mechanic mirrors the meta-shift toward disruptive value plays. It’s not just about slamming a big bomb; it’s about weaving threats and responses into a single, cohesive package that remains relevant in games of many lengths 🔥🎨.
- Art, flavor, and collector curiosity: Anna Pavleeva’s dual-artist approach—front and back illustrated by the same creative hand—anchors the flavor of the set. The Witch’s vanity and the Price of Beauty’s “price” concept echo through the “Wicked Role” token, a token type you’ll remember when you see it on a battlefield. In terms of collector value, the card’s rarity is common, which makes the composition feel accessible, yet the full narrative resonance elevates it beyond a mere value pick.
Flavor, design, and the cultural pulse
Conceited Witch // Price of Beauty sits at the intersection of magic’s enduring appeal and its ability to tell a little story every time you draw. The front face’s menace aligns with black’s archetypal drive to convert risk into advantage, while the back’s exile-and-cast-retrieval mechanic evokes a fairy-tale cautionary tale—the vanity that binds you to a dangerous bargain. The token mechanic—a “Wicked Role” conjured and attached to a creature you control—turns a seemingly simple spell into a narrative thread that can shape a game state across turns. It’s a playful reminder that MTG’s world-building isn’t just about spells; it’s about the stories those spells tell together, in real time 🧙♂️🎲.
“She wasn't much for self-reflection.”
That line isn’t just flavor; it helps anchor the card’s place in the broader Eldraine mythos where vanity often leads to tangled fates. The art and the name pairing invite players to think about perspective: who gets to claim the spotlight, and what price must be paid to keep the narrative moving? In this sense, the card is a microcosm of MTG’s ongoing dialogue about power, responsibility, and the stories we choose to tell about ourselves 🎨⚔️.
Gameplay takeaways and where it shines in the history of your decks
- Tempo and protection: The front’s 2/3 body with menace gives you early removal pressure and an intimidating threat that’s hard to ignore. Pair it with cheap removal and aggressive plays, and you’re applying pressure on two fronts.
- Adventure value: The back face is a versatile tool for dealing with stalling boards or flashing in a key creature later from exile. It’s the kind of design that rewards planning and hand-reading, a hallmark of well-crafted Adventures cards.
- Edh compatibility: In EDH/Commander circles, adventures can enable interesting drag-and-drop board states, especially when you have creatures that benefit from “re-entry” or protection strategies. The common rarity keeps it accessible for casual players and budget-minded commanders alike.
- Artistic and collectible resonance: The two-faced storytelling with a single artist adds a cohesive aesthetic, enriching the set’s narrative footprint for collectors and lore enthusiasts.
If you’re thinking about how to incorporate this pair into a deck, imagine a midrange black shell that leverages early board presence and then pivots into a late-game exile-loop or a blink-style strategy that replays a creature with new eyes. It’s a design that invites you to read the battlefield like a fairy-tale script—one that can end with an unexpected twist or a satisfying victory lap 🧙♂️💎.
For readers who like to dive deeper into the ecosystem around Conceited Witch // Price of Beauty, check out related pieces like On an Adventure, and explore how tokens like Wicked // Cursed interact with battlefield control and card-draw engines. The card’s low price point on nonfoil copies and its foil availability make it a delightful addition to themed Commander groups, especially those that lean into fairy-tale aesthetics and mischievous tricks.
As you gaze across MTG’s timeline, this double-faced card stands as a compact milestone: a reminder that the modern game still loves a good fairy tale, especially when it’s told with crisp mechanics, evocative flavor text, and a dash of mischief. The set’s ongoing celebration of storytelling in gameplay means more delightful surprises like this one are likely to keep appearing as the multiverse evolves. And who knows what other vanity-bound bargains future adventures will tempt us with 🧙♂️🔥💎⚔️🎨🎲?