We are in the middle of the Modern Horizons 2 spoiler season and all spikes we see this week are related to that. I am really surprised about the amount of powerful cards we see in this set and can't wait for paper play to start again, followed by a B&R announcement for Modern with all the new "free" spells. However, the spikes mostly revolve (again) around commander play, and since we see a lot of squirrels we will feature a special Squirrels section!

Like every week, just in time for (digital) FNM, I'll now tell you about the cards that will be the talk of the (digital) town tonight!

 

#1 Upheaval $24.94 (+902%)

 

A spike of over 900%. Upheaval is not a card unknown to most Magic players, since it is on the commander banned list. For only you can let everyone pick up their entire board (including you). But especially in commander that isn't that steep of a cost, and is viewed as too powerful and too un-fun. The most played alternative is probably Cyclonic Rift which lets all your opponents pick up their entire (non-land) board for .

So why did the card go up? It was reprinted in Modern Horizons 2, making it Modern legal. People think this may see play in Modern in some blue Tron deck. The thing is, only the Odyssey version of the card has spiked. You can pre-order the MH2 copy for less than $3 and even the From the Vault version is only $1.50. It seems that since the Odyssey print is the only one in the old border, people are snagging up copies in the hope that it's the most wanted version. Also note that the market price only barely went up to $3.

Moral of the story: if you want one, this spike does not prohibit you whatsoever, just get a different version of the card.

 

Upheaval
Modern Horizons 2		TCGPlayer $2.75
From the Vault: Annihilation	CardKingdom $0.99	TCGPlayer $1.53
Odyssey	CardKingdom $3.49	TCGPlayer $24.94

 

 

#2 Dakkon Blackblade $16.98 (+838%)

 

Guess who's back? Back again! Dakkon's back. Tell a friend. Both the Chronicles and Legends version went up significantly this week. Dakkon already saw some fringe play in commander, but he has now returned in Modern Horizons 2 and this time as a planeswalker. With the printing of Dakkon, Shadow Slayer we see a new card featuring Dakkon show up, immediately spiking interest in the older cards of him.

The reason mainly seems to be people who want to build a commander deck around the Dakkon character. Now also having him as a planeswalker, spiked the interest in him and driving up the price. Do note that Dakkon Blackblade is not on the reserved list. The Legends printing obviously has a high price tag, because well... it's from Legends, but barring a reprint the Chronicles version may not hold this price tag. And to be honest, even without a reprint I don't see it holding this price.

 

Dakkon Blackblade
Legends	CardKingdom $179.99	TCGPlayer $699.99
Chronicles	CardKingdom $2.99	TCGPlayer $16.98

 

 

#3 Sanity Grinding $20.50 (+635%)

 

And another spike because of a Modern Horizons 2 print where we see two new cards revolving around mill. We are talking about Fractured Sanity and (to a somewhat lesser extend) Mystic Redaction. What is immediately noticeable in Fractured Sanity is its mana cost: , which is pretty restrictive making it mostly only playable in mono blue decks, or at least decks that heavily rely on blue. However, when we look at Sanity Grinding we see that the card cares about the number of blue mana symbols in the top ten cards of your library.

Sanity Grinding already saw some play in Bruvac the Grandiloquent commander decks, where we most likely see the new MH2 cards show up as well. Keep in mind that it is an Eventide rare. When this set came out, there was a recession going on and relatively little packs were opened compared to other sets around that time. These cards spike quite easily, and since it has not received a reprint since, the price is easily manipulated

 

Mystic Redaction	CardKingdom $0.35	TCGPlayer $0.75
Fractured Sanity	CardKingdom $6.99	TCGPlayer $15.95
Bruvac the Grandiloquent	CardKingdom $39.99	TCGPlayer $35.00
Sanity Grinding	CardKingdom $3.99	TCGPlayer $20.50

 

 

Special Squirrel Edition

For the people who are new to Magic: squirrels are popular. Like really popular. Every time a squirrel gets printed there is a renewed hype around it, and especially in commander-land. Turns out that for Modern Horizons 2 Wizards has been paying extra attention to this tribal. We have seen multiple cards spoiled that are, or have something to do with, squirrels.

 

So what does this mean? It means a lot of existing cards revolving around squirrels as well have gone up. Let's look at the most popular ones we have seen go up the past week.

 

Nut Collector $49.99 (+109%)

 

Deep Forest Hermit $4.95 (+102%)

 

Druid's Call $18.96 (+90%)

 

Deranged Hermit $125.99 (+26%)

 

Cheap Pickups

Please note: for our 'record low' we consider the price of the card over the past 7 years. Many cards have been even cheaper (a) decade(s) ago. Also note: some cards are still going down, and might be even cheaper pickups next week.

 

Muxus, Goblin Grandee $16.75 - Trending down

 

Panharmonicon $10.00 - Stable

 

Grove of the Burnwillows $6.00 - Stable

 

Panharmonicon	CardKingdom $9.99	TCGPlayer $10.06
Grove of the Burnwillows	CardKingdom $6.99	TCGPlayer $6.00
Muxus, Goblin Grandee	CardKingdom $21.99	TCGPlayer $16.75