With every new Magic: The Gathering set, there are cards that get lost in the shuffle. Whether it’s getting glossed over in preview season or not being given due attention in early deckbuilding, we see this happen again and again. This issue is particularly pronounced with MTG Avatar, where certain cards are absolutely dominating the charts in terms of price and performance, leaving the rest of the set in the shadows.
One new MTG card from the set that’s currently suffering this fate is Obsessive Pursuit. As one of the last Avatar cards revealed, it didn’t get hype levels bumping like earlier heavy hitters. Now that the set is here, however, it’s proving to be a very potent piece in constructed, with several impressive finishes to its name. Throw in a ton of utility in Commander, and this is a legitimate hidden gem from Magic’s latest set.
Obsessive Pursuit In Constructed MTG
Obsessive Pursuit is the latest in a long line of MTG cards that put a spin on the classic Phyrexian Arena effect. You get a full one mana discount on this one, which is huge, but you also don’t get the card draw directly. Instead, it comes in the form of Clue tokens that you need to crack later to see the benefit. To sweeten this fairly clunky deal, Pursuit also throws in a Luminarch Aspirant-esque counter-granting effect that scales with sacrifices.
Obsessive Pursuit hasn’t seen a ton of play in MTG Standard so far, but it has found a home in the emerging Golgari Earthbending archetype. This is essentially a grindy Self-Mill/Control deck, which aims to drag things out and finish with Season of Loss. Obsessive Pursuit pulls double duty here, providing a continual source of card advantage, as well as offering some unexpected synergy with the deck’s mana base.
Both Fabled Passage and Cryptic Caves show up here, as ideal targets for Badgermole Cub, since they can spring right back after being sacrificed. Icetill Explorer offers a similar synergy as well. Pursuit gives you some nice extra counters on top of that, turning Disruptive Stormbrood into a legitimate alternative win condition.
Standard isn’t the only place Obsessive Pursuit is putting up results. The card is also seeing play in Legacy Affinity decks. Pursuit’s applications in Affinity are obvious, but potent. Pumping out an artifact token every turn is great for keeping the costs of your Affinity spells down. Since Pursuit is an enchantment, it also dodges common sideboard answers to Affinity like Meltdown.
This alone would likely make the card playable in the deck, but the sacrifice element also comes into play. Between Lotus Petal, Mishra’s Bauble, and Urza’s Bauble, Affinity has no shortage of easy sacrifice fodder. This means the card can also stack up counters on your finishers like Kappa Cannoneer, to speed up Affinity’s already impressive clock.
A New Commander Multi-Tool
Over in MTG Commander, Obsessive Pursuit may actually be even better than it is in constructed. The slower pace of games allows more time for its Clue-based draw to kick in, after all. On top of that, it also offers several nice synergies for different decks.
If you’re building one of Avatar’s new Firebending Commanders, for instance, the card is absolutely ideal. You can use the Clues it creates as an outlet for your Firebending mana, avoiding the common pitfall of having nothing to spend it on. If you stack your triggers right, you can even still snag the extra counter, too. With how popular Fire Lord Azula has proven already, Pursuit has a clear home right out of the gate.
Delving a bit deeper into the format, Pursuit is also excellent in decks like Korvold, Fae-Cursed King. If your Commander cares about sacrificing non-creature permanents, then the constant flow of them from Pursuit will be greatly appreciated. It works great alongside Commanders that care about tokens, too, like Marneus Calgar and Chatterfang, Squirrel General. In all of these decks, the counters also open up the doors for surprise Commander damage wins.
Overall, Obsessive Pursuit is a card with a ton of play to it, in multiple formats. The fact that copies can still be had for around $0.30, then, is fantastic news. I expect we’ll see more eyes on the card in the weeks to come, going by its constructed results. Until then, however, it’s an excellent bargain pickup from an otherwise very pricey set.
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