Here’s How to Get Surge Foils in Magic, Plus Are They Valuable?

Last updated on October 18, 2023

Banish to Another Universe | Illustration by David Astruga

There’s never been a more complicated time to collect Magic: The Gathering cards than 2023. Foil-etched cards, textured foils, Secret Lairs, Universes Beyond, Lord of the Rings, Fortnite, and now Doctor Who?  You’ll be forgiven if you have no clue what's been going on with Magic releases recently.

How is anyone supposed to know what comes in their pack these days? What foils can you expect in any given pack? More importantly, where can you get those sweet Surge Foils? Here’s everything you need to know about Surge Foils in MTG.

What Is a Surge Foil in MTG?

Surge of Righteousness | Illustration by Marco Nelor

Surge foils are a new type of premium foil MTG card introduced in the Universes Beyond Warhammer 40,000 Commander Decks.

How Do You Identify a Surge Foil?

Surge foils are easily identified by their rippling foil effect across the entire card, as opposed to the underprinting common to traditional foils.

How Do You Get Surge Foils?

Surge foils are available in a number of products. The Warhammer 40,000 Commander Decks were each released with a “Collector’s Edition” which contained an entirely surge-foiled deck. In The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth, Surge foils appeared in roughly 1% of Collector’s Boosters, as well as a guaranteed Surge foil box topper when you purchased a Draft, Set, or Collector’s Booster Box. Finally, Surge foil cards appear in Magic: The Gathering – Doctor Who Collector Boosters.

What Types of Packs Have Surge Foils?

Collector’s Boosters are the only packs that contain Surge foils at this time. The Warhammer 40,000 Commander Collector’s Edition precon decks also have entirely surge foil versions.

What Sets Have Surge Foils?

Surge foils were introduced in Warhammer 40,000 Commander, returned in the Collector’s Boosters from The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth, and again in the Collector’s Boosters from Doctor Who.

What Are the Odds of Opening a Surge Foil?

Surge foils appear randomly in Collector’s Boosters for Doctor Who and The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth.

A Doctor Who Collector’s Booster contains one Traditional Foil basic land with a 1-in-3 chance of being a Surge foil. It also includes one random Traditional Foil card each from the four Doctor Who precons, plus one Doctor card, all of which have a 1-in-10 chance of being a Surge foil. In addition, each Doctor Who Collector Booster includes three guaranteed Surge foils: one extended-art new-to-Magic card, one extended-art reprint, and one more Surge foil wildcard (which can’t be a TARDIS showcase card or basic land). In addition, while each booster is guaranteed 1 traditional foil TARDIS showcase variant, 1-in-10 of these will be a Surge foil, and 1-in-3 of the tokens in packs will be Surge foils.

Previously, The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth Collector Boosters included Surge variants of Realms and Relics cards. These only appear in about 1% of packs. They were also distributed as box toppers when you purchased a LotR Draft, Set, or Collector Booster Box.

Are Surge Foils Valuable?

Some Surge foils are very valuable! The Realms and Relics series of Surge foils from The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth were exceptionally rare and relevant cards for their respective formats. The Cavern of Souls from that series is pushing $380 currently.

On the other hand, some are not very expensive at all. The surge foil basic lands from Warhammer 40,000 Commander all sit at around half a dollar, about average for a foil basic these days. They were widely available, and the decks included a couple dozen each.

Surge Foils vs Regular Foils

Traditional foiling on a card uses an underprinted foil layer on certain details during the card’s printing process. Surge foils have this glossy, rainbow finish applied all over a card instead.

Surge Foils vs Etched Foils

Foil-etched cards were released in Commander Legends, and feature white text on a dark background. Etched cards sparkle in the light, and are sometimes considered “tougher” than a traditional foil (meaning they won’t bend or warp as easily).

Surge Foils vs Textured Foils

Textured foils look just like etched foils, except their text is raised ever-so-slightly to give the card some depth. Running your thumb across the face of the card is usually enough to determine whether or not your card is textured or etched.

Can All Cards Be Found as Surge Foils, Or Only Certain Ones?

Only a few sets have cards with Surge foil printings, and the spread of surge foils depends on the set. The Warhammer 40,000 Commander Collector’s Editions were completely surge-foiled decks with 100 cards each. The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth set included 78 extended-art and showcase variant cards with surge foil versions, available in Collector Boosters. Finally, cards from Doctor Who Commander decks can be found as traditional and surge foils in their respective Collector Boosters.

Do Surge Foils Warp or Bend More Than Regular Cards?

All evidence suggests that surge foils don’t bend or warp any more than traditional foil cards.

The process of printing and foiling a card changes set-to-set and warping depends heavily on the location where they were printed. Cards begin to “pringle” when the cardstock expands or contracts based on their environment. Too humid and the card will bend towards you as it contracts, or not humid enough and it’ll bend away from you as it expands. Cards warping “towards” you means the card is too humid, warping away from you means the card is too dry.

Ultimately, the warping on surge foils will depend on the original environment they were printed in. Should you find yourself with some heinously warped surge foils, you can attempt to correct the curling by making your own Magic card-sized dehumidifier. My colleagues at Draftsim have covered how to accomplish this extensively, and I suggest reading our guide.

Are Surge Foils Tournament Legal?

Yes! Surge foils are tournament legal.

Wrap Up

Surge of Salvation | Illustration by Dominik Mayer

WotC described the surge foils as a “fan favorite,” but I think they might be calling the race a little too soon. The surge foils sure are special, with their ethereal waves of rainbow foiling, but any longtime fan knows nothing gold can stay. Remember the From the Vault series? That special foiling has yet to return to a card, despite also being described as a “fan favorite.” I’m certain that within a year’s time, we’ll have forgotten all about surge foils in favor of whatever new hotness they’re printing. Why don’t we get some nice purple foiling for the Covenant cards on the inevitable Secret Lair: Master Chief we all know is coming?

How do you feel about all these new foils? Are surges here to stay, or will they be abandoned as soon as another head of marketing takes over at Wizards? How do they stack up against the traditional and foil-etched cards? Let me know in the comments, or over on Draftsim’s X/Twitter.

Thanks for reading, happy pulls!

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