After five months without a new precon, it’s safe to say MTG players are excited for Lorwyn Eclipsed. Beyond ending this miraculously long wait, both the new precons offer exciting themes with robust game plans. These decks are also packed with compelling reprints, but that doesn’t mean that upgrades are off the table.
Since their reveal, we’ve seen multiple compelling upgrades spike dramatically in price. Not only is this trend far from over, but the spikes seem to be getting even more intense. Obelisk Spider seems uniquely determined to prove this point, having spiked over 1000% in just seven days.
MTG Obelisk Spider
First released back in 2017’s Hour of Devastation, Obelisk Spider isn’t a hugely popular MTG card. According to EDHREC, the card only sees play in around 16,400 decks, the majority of which are Spider Typal lists. As useful as this card is alongside Shelob, Child of Ungoliant it’s hard to say this archetype gets the best out of Obelisk Spider.
While Obelisk Spider is a bit of a self contained value engine, this card naturally works best within a -1/-1 Counter themed deck. Usually, this has Obelisk Spider being played alongside Hapatra, Vizier of Poisons, but now the Blight Curse precon offers the perfect home. Not only can this deck use the counters Obelisk Spider creates, but activating its second ability is trivial.
Since Obelisk Spider doesn’t care about whether -1/-1 Counters go on your own or your opponent’s creatures, it works wonders with Blight. Given this is a pretty major theme within the Blight Curse deck, you can drain each opponent remarkably consistently.
Notably, while Blight Curse has no shortage of Blight and Wither effects, Obelisk Spider also has some combo potential. Alongside Hapatra and Yawgmoth, Thran Physician, Obelisk Spider can offset the life loss to go near-infinite. Alternatively, while off color, using Sinking Feeling with Channeler Initiate creates an infinite loop of -1/-1 Counter generation and removal, which Obelisk Spider turns into infinite damage.
Even without these combos, Obelisk Spider can provide a ton of value to any -1/-1 Counter-themed MTG Commander deck. With this in mind, it’s no wonder that over 1,600 new decks have been created using it on EDHREC.
The Spike
While Spider Typal decks have provided a somewhat steady stream of demand, Obelisk Spider has always been a fairly cheap card. Since being released almost a decade ago, this card has never been worth more than $0.50. That peak was back in 2023, too, as more recently the card has been selling for just $0.37.
Once it was revealed that Obelisk Spider wasn’t reprinted in the Blight Curse precon, sales unsurprisingly ramped up incredibly quickly. Well over 500 copies have been sold in the past week, putting a massive strain on the available supply. At the moment, there are only 22 near-mint non-foil listings left on TCGplayer for the original Hour of Devastation printing.
Due to this low supply, prices have also shot up, and copies of Obelisk Spider are now selling for $4.48. This marks a 1110% price spike in an incredibly short time frame. Given how high similar precon upgrades are spiking at the moment, this price spike might not stop here, either.
Thankfully, those in the market for a copy of Obelisk Spider and looking for a bargain aren’t entirely out of luck. Worse condition copies from Hour of Devastation start at $2.78 right now, with a good deal available for $3. While this isn’t an immense saving, it’s a lot better than the card’s reprint from The List.
Currently, due to lower supply, listings for The List printing of Obelisk Spider start at $13.50. Somewhat unsurprisingly, while sellers have ramped up prices, no copies have actually been sold at this price point. This may not remain the case for long, however, if demand continues and prices keep climbing.
The Future
As with all precon-based price spikes, there’s a strong chance that Obelisk Spider will end up crashing over time. As new sets and precons get released, the attention of MTG players will inevitably drift elsewhere, after all. Even if this doesn’t return much supply to the market, demand should still decrease, causing prices to fall.
Before then, in the much shorter term, there’s a very real chance that Obelisk Spider will keep climbing. Looking back at some of the other recent precon-based spikes, we’ve seen them continue to climb after our coverage. Grave Sifter, for instance, has jumped from $1.79 to $9.55 in just one day.
With similar spikes happening to Rumbleweed and Flamekin Harbinger, there’s a good chance it’ll also happen to Obelisk Spider. Realistically, this humble Spider hitting $10 isn’t out of the question, provided demand keeps up. Whether or not this will happen, however, is unknown at the moment.
Ultimately, while we can look back at past trends, it’s impossible to predict the future of MTG. As such, we’ll just have to wait and see what happens over the coming weeks and months.
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