At long last, Wizards of the Coast has finally unveiled their vision for the future of Commander yesterday. Following the unprecedented bans in September of 2024, and all that followed, the format was left in a state of flux. Now, we finally have some concrete details about what to expect going forward, and what the future looks like.
Rather excitingly, it looks like the future of Commander has multiple unbans in store. Set to occur in late April Wizards hasn’t confirmed any exact dates or catch to watch just yet. Despite this, MTG players are already fervently speculating about what might get unbanned. Unsurprisingly, this speculation is already starting to cause plenty of price spikes.
Dockside Extortionist
There’s no question that Dockside Extortionist is a game-changing MTG card. For two mana, any red-aligned deck is able to create an obscene amount of mana. Should you flicker, reanimate, or copy this effect, you’ll likely have all the treasures you’d ever need. Considering that Treasures let you generate mana of any color, it’s safe to say Dockside Extortionist is pretty obscenely strong.
If you wanted to power up your deck, Dockside Extortionist was an auto-include in Commander if you had the money for it. That was the case until the card was banned in September of last year. Considering Dockside didn’t see play anywhere else, this caused the card’s price to crash incredibly quickly.
Now, many MTG players believe the Dockside Extortionist may return to Commander before too long. This follows the announcement of the new Commander bracket system and the Game Changers list. As the name somewhat suggests, this list contains some of the most powerful cards in Commander which each have the potential to warp games.
Beyond being a useful balancing tool, the Game Changers list is also an avenue for new bans and unbans. Allowing for exploratory changes that don’t affect the whole format, Wizards has already confirmed new unbans are in the works. So far, Wizards hasn’t confirmed any cards they’re watching, but players clearly have their suspicions.
While there’s no question that Dockside Extortionist is a powerful card, there’s no denying it fits the Game Changers vibe. Dockside can turn the tide of a game in an instant and enable some absolutely insane shenanigans. This effect may have been too strong for a casual-oriented Commander, but the new bracket system fixes that problem.
The Spike
Right now, there’s no confirmation that Dockside Extortionist will be unbanned during the late April Commander announcement. Despite this uncertainty, players have nonetheless been keen to invest in Dockside now the potential is back on the table. Unsurprisingly, this monumental demand has caused one hell of a sudden price spike!
Yesterday, copies of Dockside Extortionist were selling for as little as $10.44, which isn’t bad for a card that sees absolutely no play. Following yesterday’s Commander announcement, the price immediately jumped to $22.79. While this near-instant doubling is already rather impressive, some players have paid upwards of $39.95 for a copy!
Unsurprisingly, the other variants of Dockside Extortionist have also seen a similarly impressive price spike. The Double Masters 2022 variant, for example, has shot up from $11.84 to $21.71. The only oddity is The List variant, which hasn’t spiked from its $16.63 price point.
Currently, thanks to Dockside Extortionist having been reprinted twice, there’s still a fair amount of supply available on TCGplayer. We’re by no means in buyout territory just yet, but it may only be a matter of time. If sales continue at the volume we’ve seen so far, it’ll only be a matter of time before Dockside is all sold out.
The Future
As we’ve mentioned, this price spike isn’t confirmed or set in stone just yet. While it was under the format’s older management, Dockside Extortionist was banned for good reason. This card can completely warp games of Commander and unbanning it isn’t a step to be taken lightly. That being said, light steps are exactly what the Game Changers list is for.
If we’re honest, it does seem there’s a pretty good chance that Dockside Extortionist could be unbanned in April. As strong as the card is, it’s not a huge problem in high-powered Commander games. Due to this, it makes perfect sense to be on the Game Changers list, since that’s its whole point.
That said, there are no certainties in life, even with Wizards promising to listen to community feedback. Despite this slight doubt, it’s notable that Dockside Extortionist is a fairly low-risk spec. Even buying 10 or 20 copies will only set you back a few hundred dollars at most. Comparatively, Jeweled Lotus is still a $40 card, so requires substantially more investment.
Ultimately, I doubt this is the last we’ve seen of Dockside Extortionist, both in Commander and the MTG financial markets. As the bans draw close in April, it’s reasonable to expect another surge in demand that’ll cause more market movements. Whether or not this will actually end up happening, however, remains to be seen for now.