The MTG Standard format is in a weird spot right now. On the one hand, since the meta is still developing, it’s a hugely exciting time for players and brewers alike. At the same time, however, the format feels like it’s on a knife-edge, as each potentially dominant deck is only barely contained by the others.
Currently, there’s no telling how long this awkward sense of balance will last, but this uncertainty isn’t scaring players away. This can be seen clearly in the MTG financial markets, which have been dominated by Standard-based price spikes recently. For better or worse, these don’t appear to be slowing down, as new Standard staples are continuing to impress.
MTG The Legend of Kuruk // Avatar Kuruk
It didn’t take long for The Legend of Kuruk to make an impact in Standard. First appearing in Dimir Bounce lists, both sides of The Legend of Kuruk offer fantastic utility in this MTG deck. At the very least, getting two Preordain effects, even for four mana, is great for filtering your deck.
After this, if your opponent lets Karuk flip, he turns into a value engine that threatens to overwhelm the board. Since Dimir Bounce consistently plays tons of spells, Avatar Kuruk can churn out Spirit tokens with worrying ease. These 1/1 Spirits might not seem like much, but since they can’t be blocked by non-spirits, they’re a surprisingly potent win condition.
While The Legend of Kururk started out in Dimir Bounce, it’s now also seeing healthy play within the new Izzet Lessons deck. Thanks to cost reduction spells like Artist’s Talent and Gran-Gran’s Lesson shenanigans, this deck can cast tons of spells quickly.
Much like Dimir Bounce, this makes flooding the board with almost unblockable Spirit tokens a breeze. Notably, however, Kuruk isn’t required to make this deck work, as Seth Manfield proved when winning the latest Magic World Championship. While this is a point against Kuruk’s current popularity, it’s worth noting he’s not just good in Standard.
In Commander, The Legend of Kuruk has a decent amount of combo potential, thanks to his extra turn-granting ability. To really get the most out of this, you’ll need to use a card like Spark Double to copy him, then Thassa, Deep-Dwelling to bounce that copy. While you do still need 20 mana between lands, creatures, and artifacts to make this work, the potential is definitely exciting.
The Spike
Since The Legend of Kuruk // Avatar Kuruk hasn’t even been out for an entire month, its price graph on TCGplayer looks a little odd. As usual, pre-sale prices were incredibly high, as mythic cards are always pumped up to the moon. Once the set launched, this price quickly crashed, all the way down to $1.93 at its lowest.
While The Legend of Kuruk did linger in this dip for a little while, it didn’t take too long for it to start climbing. At first, the demand from Dimir Bounce decks and Commander pushed it to around $4.50 in price. Following the emergence of Izzet Lessons, however, the card’s price has shot up dramatically.
At its peak, The Legend of Kuruk // Avatar Kuruk hit $14.79, but it has since fallen to $10.48. Given the recent slight uptick in price, there’s a chance Kuruk could hold here for some time. Whether or not this will actually be the case, however, remains to be seen.
For now, there sadly aren’t any compelling deals or cheap copies of Kuruk available. The alternative art Borderless variant, for instance, is currently selling for around $20 on TCGplayer. Even worse condition copies of this version are selling for $17.84, so around $10 for the default card is the best you’re going to get.
The Future
As always, it’s impossible to predict the future of MTG, especially right now, when Standard looks so volatile. That said, The Legend of Kuruk is seeing a lot of experimentation across multiple archetypes in the metagame. Thanks to this, there’s a strong chance that the enchantment will find a long-term home, helping keep its price point healthy. That said, since Standard is so unpredictable, The Legend of Kuruk could also have its play drop off.
Unfortunately for Kuruk, this could easily happen once Lorwyn Eclipsed is released. While we’ve only seen a few spoilers from this set so far, it does look pretty powerful. In theory, this could be enough to push Kuruk out of the metagame, but it’s far too early to know that.
Ultimately, while The Legend of Kuruk // Avatar Kuruk does have potential in Standard, its long-term prospects are a complete mystery. Since he’s not really a dominant force in the metagame, the enchantment could end up going either way. Hopefully, considering how expensive the format is already, Kuruk won’t end up getting more expensive anytime soon.
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