As usual, as soon as a new precon has been revealed, upgrades for that deck have spiked in price. This time around, the recently revealed World Shaper deck is to blame for the latest market movements. Offering a unique half-land, half-sacrifice theme, this deck may cause some unusual spikes in the coming weeks.
Kickstarting this latest wave in the financial waters is Zask, Skittering Swarmlord. While this isn’t an old card, its synergy within the new World Shaper precon is undeniable. Already, Zask has shot up in price; however, this might just be the start of what’s to come.
Zask, Skittering Swarmlord
For better or worse, Zask, Skittering Swarmlord is an MTG card that you’d absolutely expect to be reprinted in the World Shaper precon. As alluded to, Zack does pretty much everything that this precon could want. Not only does it synergize with the deck’s handful of Insects, but it lets you cast lands and Insects from your graveyard.
You only have to look at Hearthhull, the Worldseed once to see why this ability would be useful in the deck. This deck has a penchant for sacrificing lands to gain additional value. By having Zask in play, you can simply replay these lands so you don’t lose any momentum.
On top of supporting the deck’s main core, Zask also works wonders alongside Titania, Protector of Argoth. If this synergy doesn’t give you enough power, Baloth Prime and Rampaging Baloths together can get you two 4/4s each turn easily. As if all that somehow wasn’t enough, Zask, Skittering Swarmlord can temporarily grant Deathtouch to an Insect if needed.
While Zask is a fantastic upgrade for the World Shaper precon, it’s also a pretty compelling Commander in its own right. Typically, Zask is a firm second choice for Insect Typal decks, just behind Grist, the Hunger Tide. Much like the World Shaper precon, Insect Typal decks tend to have a strong sacrifice and land destruction theme.
The Spike
According to EDHREC, Zask, Skittering Swarmlord is far from being an immensely popular MTG card. Only used in 13,000 decks as either the Commander or in the 99, Zask is by no means a staple. Despite this, Zask wasn’t a one-dollar bulk rare before this latest surge in interest.
This time last month, Zask, Skittering Swarmlord was selling for around $5.25 on average on TCGplayer. Considering how little it gets played in Commander, this price tag may seem remarkable; however, Zask is actually rather rare. Thanks to only being printed in Jumpstart 2022, there aren’t a lot of copies of Zask floating around.
Due to this, a recent surge in sales has led to an almost complete buyout of Zask, Skittering Swarmlord on TCGplayer. Before yesterday, there were around 150 copies available for purchase for around $5. Now, however, there are only six listings on TCGplayer, although one listing does have over 70 copies available.
This might sound all well and good, however, prices for copies of Zask have really shot up. Outside of one $14 copy, the starting price is now at least $25. While this might seem steep, recent sales show a lot of copies have been moving at this price point. Some copies have even sold for as much as $35; however, these appear to be outliers.
Notably, if you’re after a copy of Zask, there aren’t any sneaky deals to be had. Worse condition copies have all been bought up, and there aren’t any foils either. Potentially, this might mean the spike is just beginning.
The Future
In theory, thanks to the low supply, there’s a chance that Zask, Skittering Swarmlord is going to get really expensive. For better or worse, many Jumpstart cards have a history of being seriously costly. Ashcoat of the Shadow Swarm, for instance, is $45 right now, thanks to the Rat support we got last year.
Similarly, Jumpstart Foundations is also the source of some surprisingly expensive MTG cards. Scythecat Cub is $43, Rev, Tithe Extractor is $30, and Generous Pup is $18 right now. As we’ve seen before, as soon as there’s demand for any of these cards, their values can skyrocket.
Last year, Ashcoat even managed to hit $80 thanks to hype around the new Rat cards. In theory, the same could happen to Zask, although that does seem less likely if we’re honest. Unlike Rats, Insects are hardly a massively popular archetype in Commander right now. Maybe that would change with more support, or a Relentless card, but that remains to be seen.
With this in mind, we wouldn’t at all be surprised if the price spike to Zask doesn’t stick for too long. While it’s unlikely to crash down to its past lows, it may not stay this expensive for too long. A resting price around $15 seems more likely, if you ask us, but it could be lower.
Before then, there’s a real chance that Zask, Skittering Swarmlord will spike a lot more. Near-mint copies of this card may realistically sell for $50 due to the low supply. Just don’t expect any peak to last forever.
Stick with us here at mtgrocks.com: the best site for Magic: The Gathering coverage!