Tempered in Solitude: Digital Card Pricing vs Physical Market Behavior

Tempered in Solitude: Digital Card Pricing vs Physical Market Behavior

In TCG ·

Tempered in Solitude card art from Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty, red enchantment featuring a solitary samurai motif

Image courtesy of Scryfall.com

Digital Card Pricing vs Physical Market Behavior

Tempered in Solitude is a small, spicy spark in the red archetype from Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty. With a modest mana cost of {1}{R} and the enchantment type, it channels the classic red tempo vibe: leverage aggression, flip the top of your library, and maybe surprise your opponent with a hasty payoff. The card’s rarity is uncommon, and its modern digital footprint—accessible across MTG Arena, MTGO, and other digital ecosystems—gives it a unique angle on pricing that intertwines with the broader conversation about how digital markets diverge from the physical one 🧙‍♂️🔥. On Scryfall, you’ll see prices like USD 0.09 for nonfoil, USD 0.23 for foil, and even a slim USD 0.03 in Tix, illustrating how digital value can sit at a different staircase than paper value. This isn’t just a numeric quirk; it’s a reflection of supply, demand, and the economics of playability across formats 🎲💎.

Digital pricing dynamics

In the digital space, prices react quickly to deck archetypes, meta shifts, and the ebb and flow of new players entering Arena or MTGO. Tempered in Solitude thrives in red tempo and various aggro lists that reward early pressure and sharp decision-making. Because digital cards have virtually unlimited print runs—there’s no single warehouse stock to exhaust—the price curve often responds to the everyday pulse of playrates and tournament trends rather than the slower, physical market cycles. The 0.09 USD nonfoil price is a telling snapshot: a card that’s accessible enough to see frequent play, yet not so in-demand that it commands a glossy premium. In digital environments, foils tend to carry a heftier premium due to aesthetic appeal and collector desire, hence the ~0.23 USD foil price that sits alongside the nonfoil baseline 🧙‍♂️⚔️.

Physical market behavior

Paper markets carry a tapestry of friction and delight: sealed product supply, store allocations, foil premiums, and the ghost of reprints that can crater or crown a card’s value. Tempered in Solitude’s Kamigawa Neon Dynasty printing is a reminder that even uncommon cards can swing with the tides of reprint risk and stockouts. Paper prices must factor in card condition, grading, and the long arc of collector interest—elements that the digital world largely sidesteps. The physical market also rewards rarity in a different way: foil versions, signed copies, and display-worthy border crops can cement paper value in ways digital counterparts rarely replicate. For a card that interacts with “attack alone” moments, a single influential game in a competitive paper league can reverberate into card-spread chatter and local shop conversations, often producing slow, observational climbs or dips as buyers weigh immediate playability against future reprint risk 🔥🎨.

Strategic implications for players

Tempered in Solitude rewards decisive plays and careful chewing of the top card of your library. When you attack with a lone creature, you exile the top card and may play it that turn. The tempo payoff hinges on your ability to convert that top-card reveal into immediate impact—whether it’s a crucial spell, a delayed threat, or a surprise off-turn play. In digital formats, you can micro-prototype these sequences faster, testing early game aggressions and late-game reach in a few clicks, while friends around the table count mana and compute threats. That immediacy translates into pricing signals as well: players who discover a reliable throughput are more willing to invest in a foil or a premium variant—especially when that top-card play can chain into multiple turns of pressure. In the physical world, a well-timed attack-driven sequence can turn a match into a memorable highlight reel, fueling anecdotal demand that occasionally nudges price prints in the longer arc 🧙‍♂️💥.

Art, lore, and collectability

The Neon Dynasty era is a love letter to samurai lore and volcanic landscapes, and Tempered in Solitude carries its own flavor text about master samurai meditating in the Sokenzan Mountains. The text—“Many master samurai make pilgrimages deep into the Sokenzan Mountains, where they train and meditate in silence, hoping to commune with a lava kami.”—pairs with Chris Cold’s evocative illustration to create a piece that feels both retro and modern. Collectors don foil variants to capture the art’s shimmer, and the card’s nonfoil version remains a sensible option for budget-minded players who value gameplay flexibility over display. The digital price floor at around 0.09 USD reflects its practical utility in decks and sideboards, while the foil’s uplift at 0.23 USD mirrors the premium collectors place on glimmering peeks at top-deck potential 🧙‍♂️💎.

As players, we ride a curious line between the digital and physical experiences. Digital pricing rewards accessibility and quick iteration, while physical market dynamics reward tactile rarity and local shop culture. Tempered in Solitude sits nicely at that crossroads: a red enchantment with a clever attack-triggered ability, a modest but meaningful price point, and a flavor hit that resonates with longtime MTG fans who remember the samurai legacies of Old Kamigawa—and the neon-lit energy of Neon Dynasty 🔥⚔️.

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Tempered in Solitude

Tempered in Solitude

{1}{R}
Enchantment

Whenever a creature you control attacks alone, exile the top card of your library. You may play that card this turn.

Many master samurai make pilgrimages deep into the Sokenzan Mountains, where they train and meditate in silence, hoping to commune with a lava kami.

ID: 2cfd0693-6dba-4c0d-8c42-859d7bf38c40

Oracle ID: f4aedfd3-4414-493c-bbba-75db301c0737

Multiverse IDs: 548470

TCGPlayer ID: 262190

Cardmarket ID: 607328

Colors: R

Color Identity: R

Keywords:

Rarity: Uncommon

Released: 2022-02-18

Artist: Chris Cold

Frame: 2015

Border: black

EDHRec Rank: 10584

Penny Rank: 9618

Set: Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty (neo)

Collector #: 165

Legalities

  • Standard — not_legal
  • Future — not_legal
  • Historic — legal
  • Timeless — legal
  • Gladiator — legal
  • Pioneer — legal
  • Modern — legal
  • Legacy — legal
  • Pauper — not_legal
  • Vintage — legal
  • Penny — not_legal
  • Commander — legal
  • Oathbreaker — legal
  • Standardbrawl — not_legal
  • Brawl — legal
  • Alchemy — not_legal
  • Paupercommander — not_legal
  • Duel — legal
  • Oldschool — not_legal
  • Premodern — not_legal
  • Predh — not_legal

Prices

  • USD: 0.09
  • USD_FOIL: 0.23
  • EUR: 0.09
  • EUR_FOIL: 0.18
  • TIX: 0.03
Last updated: 2025-11-16