Once again this week, the Magic: The Gathering market registered numerous price spikes, driven primarily by the impact of the new Marvel Commander decks, anticipation for The Hobbit, and the post-Pro Tour Amsterdam evolution of Modern.
Just to be clear, the prices I am referring to are for English-language prints, while the price displayed below the card images corresponds to the lowest offer available on Cardtrader, regardless of the card's language. Let’s take a closer look at the most interesting spikes.
Commander: Marvel and The Hobbit Lead the Market
The cards experiencing the most significant price spikes are once again those that synergize with the new Marvel Super Heroes commanders.
Change of Plans : up from €7 to €10. This card has become a very hot inclusion for Doctor Doom, King of Latveria, which maximizes its potential.
Tower Winder : up from €4 to €6, thanks to the growing popularity of The Serpent Society .
Portal to Phyrexia : up from €30 to €50 on CardTrader. It remains one of the premier artifacts to cheat directly into play with Tony Stark // The Invincible Iron Man.
Cyberman Patrol : up from €4 to €15. This is one of the absolute best additions for Ultron, Artificial Malevolence.
The market is also beginning to move ahead of the release of The Hobbit. Treasure-based strategies look to be one of the set's major themes, and several cards are already riding the hype wave.
Magda, Brazen Outlaw : up from €2 to €5. She generates Treasures and tutors Dragons straight out of the deck, qualities that make her one of the best partners for Smaug the Magnificent.
The Reaver Cleaver : up from €8 to €12. An equipment capable of generating massive amounts of Treasures.
Rain of Riches : up from €1 to €6. In addition to creating Treasures, it lets you generate card advantage by cascading whenever you cast spells using mana produced by Treasures.
Mastermind Plum : up from €2 to €6. It creates Treasures and translates them into card advantage. The price is also supported by low supply, as the card is exclusively available in Ravnica: Clue Edition.
Blazing Sunsteel : up from €2 to €7. This spike is tied to its combo with Smaug the Impenetrable. By equipping the dragon and pairing it with cards like Pyrohemia or pestilence, any non-combat damage suffered generates Treasures while simultaneously dealing massive damage to your opponents.
Modern
Among competitive format cards, Plunge into Darkness stands out, surging from around €1 to €10. This growth was driven by the new Jund Cosmogoyf Combo list, which emerged at Pro Tour Amsterdam and is gaining traction on Magic Online. It remains to be seen whether this spike will consolidate or if the price will cool down in the coming weeks.
Additionally, Gemstone Caverns continues its steady climb, rising from around €30 to €40 in paper and from 1 to 4 tix on MTGO. This land sees play in numerous top-tier archetypes, including Broodscale Combo, Storm, Eldrazi Ramp, and even in the new version of Cosmogoyf Combo, where it is often run as a full playset.
Pauper
In Pauper, Manor Gate is on the rise, going from €2 to €4, fueled by recent 5-0 finishes from Abzan Gates in Competitive Leagues.
Magic Online
There has been plenty of action on MTGO as well, where the new Cosmogoyf Combo has caused several cards to skyrocket:
Cosmogoyf : up from 0.008 to 0.3 tix.
Spoils of the Vauly : up from 0.04 to 0.3 tix.
Rite of Consumption : up from 0.5 to 1.5 tix. This card is featured in an alternative version of the combo that is picking up steam on Magic Online, having recently reached the Top 16 in the Modern Challenge on July 29th.
The rise of Ugin's Labyrinth also continues, jumping from 7 to 15 tix on the back of surging Eldrazi strategies.
Also trending upwards is Soulless Jailer, which went from 0.04 to 0.5 tix. The card has become a staple sideboard option for Eldrazi, Eldrazi Ramp, Broodscale Combo, and Tron, thanks to its effectiveness against archetypes like Reanimator and Storm.
Finally, Hardened Academic rose from 0.01 to 1 tix, seeing play as a four-of in both Modern Hollow One lists and Standard Mardu Discard.
Thanks for reading, and see you in the next Magic market update!
