Once again this week, the Magic: The Gathering market has recorded numerous 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.
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 spikes are, once again, those that synergize with the new Marvel Super Heroes commanders.
Change of Plans: up from €7 to €10. The card has become an incredibly interesting option for Doctor Doom, King of Latveria, which is perfectly suited to maximize its potential.
Tower Winder: up from €4 to €6, thanks to the rising popularity of The Serpent Society.
Portal to Phyrexia: up from €30 to €50 on CardTrader. It remains one of the best 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 premier additions for Ultron, Artificial Malevolence.
Meanwhile, the market is starting to move in anticipation of the release of The Hobbit. Treasure-based strategies look to be one of the core themes of the set, and several cards are already benefiting from the hype.
Magda, Brazen Outlaw: up from €2 to €5. She generates Treasures and tutors Dragons directly from the library, qualities that make her one of the best partners for Smaug the Magnificent.
The Reaver Cleaver: up from €8 to €12. This equipment is capable of generating absurd amounts of Treasures.
Rain of Riches: up from €1 to €6. In addition to creating Treasures, it generates card advantage by granting cascade to spells cast using mana produced by Treasures.
Mastermind Plum: up from €2 to €6. It creates Treasures and converts them into card advantage. The price is also being driven up by low supply, as the card can only be found in Ravnica: Clue Edition.
Blazing Sunsteel: up from €2 to €7. The spike is tied to a combo with Smaug the Impenetrable: by equipping the dragon and pairing it with cards like Pyrohemia or Pestilence, every instance of non-combat damage taken generates Treasures while simultaneously allowing you to deal massive damage to your opponents.
Modern
Among competitive format cards, Plunge into Darkness stands out, skyrocketing from around €1 to €10. This surge was driven by the new Jund Cosmogoyf Combo decklist, which emerged at Pro Tour Amsterdam and is growing increasingly popular on Magic Online. It remains to be seen whether this spike is here to stay or if the price will settle back down in the coming weeks.
In addition, Gemstone Caverns continues its upward trend, rising from around €30 to €40 in paper and from 1 to 4 tix on MTGO. The land is finding a home in numerous archetypes across the format, including Broodscale Combo, Storm, Eldrazi Ramp, and even the new version of Cosmogoyf Combo, where it is often run as a four-of.
Pauper
In Pauper, we have a notable increase for Manor Gate, which went from €2 to €4 following recent 5-0 finishes by Abzan Gates in competitive Leagues.
Magic Online
MTGO has also seen its share of interesting moves, as the emergence of Cosmogoyf Combo has caused several cards to spike:
Cosmogoyf: up from 0.008 to 0.3 tix.
Spoils of the Vault: up from 0.04 to 0.3 tix.
Rite of Consumption: up from 0.5 to 1.5 tix. The card is being played in an alternative version of the combo that is gaining traction on Magic Online, having reached the Top 16 in the Modern Challenge on July 29th.
The rise of Ugin's Labyrinth also continues, climbing from 7 to 15 tix as Eldrazi strategies grow more widespread.
Soulless Jailer is also trending upward, climbing from 0.04 to 0.5 tix. The card has become a staple in the sideboards of Eldrazi, Eldrazi Ramp, Broodscale Combo, and Tron due to its effectiveness against archetypes like Reanimator and Storm.
Finally, Hardened Academic jumped from 0.01 to 1 tix, thanks to its inclusion 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!
