Now that the Avatar: The Last Airbender MTG set has been officially released, the markets are finally moving. This isn’t a surprise at all, considering that there are tons of fantastic constructed and Commander cards. One Commander in particular has been quickly rising through the ranks to become the most popular MTG Avatar option.
Considering she’s already caused a fair few price spikes, Fire Lord Azula hardly needs an introduction at this point. Offering competitive copying options and Firebending too, this Commander has usurped Toph as the top choice recently. To go along with this, it seems Azula is causing even more cards to spike thanks to her immense power.
MTG Ashling, Flame Dancer
Released in Modern Horizons 3, Ashling, Flame Dancer has never really been that popular of a Commander. While she is definitely powerful, she needs a lot of building around to truly make her work. Sadly, doing this is easier said than done, since copy shenanigans are mostly in Izzet.
Despite this drawback, Ashling does see play as a Commander thanks to her mana retention ability. More commonly, though, you’ll find Ashling within the 99 of many Commander decks, especially those with copy engines. Thankfully for Ashling fans, Avatar: The Last Airbender has a fantastic new one of these.
Capable of copying any spell, so long as she’s attacking, Fire Lord Azula’s potential is absolutely obscene. Not only is getting value out of her very easy, but there are even infinite combos that can effortlessly be tapped into. No matter how you’re using her, Ashling, Flame Dancer is an easy auto-include to Azula decks.
Getting to Rummage, damage opponents, and get extra mana for basically free when playing Azula is incredible value. As if that wasn’t good enough, her mana retention ability allows the Firebending mana to stick around until the end of the turn, too. Speaking of Firebending, this ability has also caused Ashling to see strong play with another Avatar Commander.
While not as popular as Azula, Fire Lord Zuko’s Firebending ability can generate obscene amounts of mana. Getting to keep this after combat ends is obviously incredibly useful, making Ashling a godsend. Even if you don’t use any of her other abilities, at worst, she’s a 4/4 for four, so playing her isn’t bad at all.
The Spike
Percentage-wise, Ashling, Flame Dancer hasn’t actually spiked an obscene amount. Over the past few months, near-mint non-foil copies of her have only gone up by 174%. While this isn’t as impressive as some other spikes, it’s impossible to deny that Ashling is on the rise right now.
A few months ago, near-mint non-foil copies of Ashling were selling for around $2.43 on average. Considering she was released as a Mythic in Modern Horizons 3 and sees decent Commander play, this seems surprisingly cheap. Thanks to Avatar and Firebending synergy, however, the price has steadily been climbing to $6.68 at the moment.
Unsurprisingly, the default variant of Ashling isn’t the only one to be spiking at the moment. The Retro Frame variant, for instance, has also steadily been climbing, albeit at a slower pace. So far, this variant has only climbed by 79% in price, from $2.56 to $4.59. Notably, while this price has been climbing naturally, TCGplayer Direct sales have been for upwards of $18.07.
Should you like your card variants expensive, there’s also the Borderless Portrait version, which sells for around $10 on average. Like the others, this variant has also spiked recently, although only by 39% since it was fairly expensive to begin with.
Unfortunately, while TCGplayer Direct has caused some high-priced sales, the slow speed of this spike means there aren’t many deals to be had. Outside of the Retro Frame variant, which is currently cheaper, worse-condition copies have already been bought up. Thankfully, at least, there is a decent amount of supply available for the default variant.
The Future
Like most Commander-based price spikes, it’s hard to be too optimistic about the future of Ashling, Flame Dancer. As tastes change, spikes like this tend to fall off over time, but that might not happen here. It should happen to some extent, mind you, but doubling effects are fairly common nowadays.
Thanks to this, it feels like there’s a non-zero chance that Ashling may spike again in the not-so-distant future. While there’s no guarantee of this, it’s nonetheless worth considering going forward. After all, if supply doesn’t return to the market following this spike, then future spikes can be even more volatile.
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