Swampert is a beefy 110 HP Stage 2 that holds up beautifully on display, and it follows the exact same raw versus graded split, with clean ungraded copies trading around $30, while graded 10 examples have climbed past $4,000
Investment experts like those at Splint Invest emphasize rarity and condition: graded PSA 10 cards appreciate 40-60% annually, while sealed ETBs from Mega Evolution double in 6-12 months
But Bennie, you might respond, in a four-player game youre not going to necessarily lose if you stumble on mana in the first few turns of the game, and my deck having a higher percentage of powerful spells means once I turn the corner, Ill be able to impact the game more down the road. Which may be true if your opponents are merciful, and you get lucky
Vincent Proce's art sells this mix of living and dead incredibly, as, while some faces are clearly living or dead, there are too many who could fall either way, implying nobody would know which mouths to trust 7 Ad Nauseam Ad Nauseam is terrifying for a whole number of gameplay reasons, with entire "Adnaus" decks based around playing it for an easy win
For legendary creatures I'll still assign one letter grade, but also talk about the card's viability as a commander or in the 99
