Despite being dormant during spoiler season, MTG Avatar is really moving the finance markets right now. Recently, we’ve seen a number of new Commanders cause impressive price spikes across a variety of archetypes. Curiously, while Earthbending is the mechanic moving mountains in competitive formats, many of these Commander-based spikes are thanks to Firebending.
MTG Electro, Assaulting Battery
Electro, Assaulting Battery has a very simple yet very effective MTG ability that Firebending loves. So long as Electro is in play, any red mana you generate with Firebending, or any other source, won’t disappear. At worst, this ability is always useful, as it allows you to generate and hold any spare mana before you untap.
At the very least, this can give you a pseudo ramp effect that could allow you to cheat out a threat early. While this is already an effective ability, it’s even better when used in conjunction with Firebending. Since this mechanic should be limited to only generating mana during combat, breaking that can create tons of value.
If you’re after value, cards like Fire Lord Azula and Fire Lord Zuko can provide that in droves. Thanks to their powerful Firebending abilities, they can provide oodles of mana for you to cast spells or ramp with. Miraculously, this is just the floor for Electro’s utility, as he’s also got two other abilities that each pack a bunch.
By generating a red mana whenever you cast an instant or sorcery, Electro, Assaulting Battery is truly a mana machine. While he’s surprisingly not that popular, there’s no denying his effectiveness in the 99 of Spellslinger decks. Thankfully, if you don’t want to go down this route, Electro is still more than capable of dishing out hurt from the command zone.
If you want to save your mana, rather than spend it, Electro, Assaulting Battery turns into a massive bomb. When leaving the battlefield, this card could theoretically one-shot and opponent if they’re not careful. While this is obviously powerful, admittedly, having 40+ mana floating in reserve isn’t exactly easy. Still, the strengths of Electro have been getting recognized recently.
The Spike
Curiously, despite having obvious potential, especially in MTG Commander, Electro, Assaulting Battery has been fairly cheap for a long time. Typically, this card has been selling for between $2 – $3 on average since its release. In November, the lowest average price was $2.29, which seems like a great deal, especially now.
Following the release of MTG Avatar, there’s been a steep rush of demand to pick up copies of Electro. Around 50+ sales have been happening each day, with recent days surpassing 140 copies sold. Unsurprisingly, this surge in demand has put a significant dent in the available supply, pushing prices up.
Currently, the market price for Electro, Assaulting Battery on TCGplayer sits at $6.86. Curiously, despite the influence of TCGplayer Direct causing $19.90 sales, this market price figure is lower than current listings.
At the moment, non-foil near-mint copies of Electro, Assaulting Battery start at $7.20. For better or worse, this price point has only been reached recently following the immense surge in sales. Unfortunately, there aren’t even any sneaky deals to be had at the moment, as the Extended Art variant of Electro has also been spiking.
While the market price figure for this card hasn’t climbed as high, new listings still start at $7, including shipping. Given the sheer number of sales that have been happening recently, there’s a good chance that this price will continue climbing. In fact, looking ahead, things do seem to be fittingly bright for Electro, Assaulting Battery.
The Future
Since the spike to Electro, Assaulting Battery is currently ongoing, it’s unclear where this MTG card may end up. On Reddit, some MTG players suspect Electro could hit $20, which is definitely a possibility. The real question is, however, where the price of this card will settle in a few weeks or months’ time.
While prices will likely slip back from their inevitable peak somewhat, Electro could easily hold its value long term. Mana retention effects like these are always useful, after all, and Electro does a lot more beyond that. Unfortunately, while this ability is definitely powerful, it’s hardly the first of its kind.
Since this type of effect is fairly popular, Wizards of the Coast could power creep Electro out of relevance in the future. Thankfully, there’s no guarantee of this happening, of course, and Commander’s singleton nature helps mitigate the problem. On top of this, it’s also worth remembering that Electro is technically a Universes Beyond card.
For most UB cards, reprinting them is rather difficult, since it requires additional resources alongside a suitable home. For Electro, Assaulting Battery, however, one of these problems has already been solved by Through the Omenpaths. In theory, nothing is stopping Wizards from repritning Bayo, Irritable Instructor in the future, when needed.
Ultimately, with a few pros and cons on either side, this price spike could end up going either way. Due to this, as always, we’ll just have to wait and see what happens in the future.
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