Despite Wizards’ claims that they don’t design cards around Pauper, the MTG x TMNT set has had some surprisingly strong commons. While recent sets have featured a strong uncommon or two, commons rarely get much love. In contrast, the TMNT MTG set has not just one powerful common card, but two of them!
While it’s still early days, Sewer-veillance Cam is already putting up impressive results and wowing players with its combo potential. For better or worse, this card has a real chance of breaking an MTG format or two, but it’s not even the most expensive common in the set. Instead, that honor goes to Utrom Monitor, despite it being a perfectly mediocre card for Affinity decks.
MTG Utrom Monitor
Like most commons, Utrom Monitor is straightforward. Best-case scenario, you’re getting a 3/3 flier for one mana, which is quite good. In older formats, thanks to cards like Mishra’s Bauble and Lotus Petal, getting this out on turn one is extremely easy.
Despite Utrom Monitor being a common, it is an Eternal Legal card, meaning it can only see play in Legacy, Vintage, Commander, and Pauper. While many of these formats have better options to choose from, Utrom Monitor is seeing a ton of attention in Pauper.
Affinity decks have been a massive part of Pauper since forever, and have caused multiple format bans over the years. The current build of the nostalgic archetype is a Grixis one, allowing Utrom Monitor to naturally slot into a top-tier deck. Thanks to this, there are already lists that include a full playset of the TMNT common. This is one of the most efficient threats for Pauper Affinity at the moment, which means that the card likely has a bright future in that format.
Generally, seeing Pauper play alone, however, is not enough to drive a newer card up to $5. In Utrom Monitor’s case, the card’s common rarity is a bit misleading. This card only appears in the Turtle Team-Up product. With only three copies found in each box, this still makes getting an entire playset rather cumbersome. At the same time, since it can only be found in this product, supply on the secondary market is scarce too.
The Spike
Thanks to Utrom Monitor being on Pauper players’ radar, the card has never dipped below $3, even in prerelease season. Unlike most MTG cards, Utrom Monitor went on to spike above its prerelease price, reaching a market average of $5.82. Since then, an influx of new supply has caused prices to drop somewhat, with new near-mint listings going for $5.
While this card hardly breaks the bank, there aren’t any deals available for it. Not only is this card brand new, but being a common, there aren’t any fancy variants of it either. Notably, this card doesn’t even have a Foil variant, and can’t be found in Collector Boosters. For now, this means that $5 is the cheapest you’ll be able to find a copy of this common for.
A Chance of Getting Cheaper?
In the grand scheme of things, Utrom Monitor is not a very good card. Affinity decks in Commander and Legacy have much better things to choose from, so this card’s appeal rides and dies on Pauper. Unfortunately, this makes predicting the card’s financial future difficult, as anything could happen.
Should Utrom Monitor become a staple in Pauper, there’s a good chance it’ll retain much, if not all, of its current price tag. Hell, if this card makes the archetype even more popular, it’s possible it might end up being even more expensive. That being said, it’s still very early days, as the TMNT MTG set has only officially launched today.
Since this official release has only just happened, there’s a good chance that supply will continue to flood the market in the coming days. If this happens, the price of Utrom Monitor could easily crash, especially since Pauper isn’t the most played MTG format. Unfortunately, even if this does happen, there’s no telling where the card’s price will end up settling.
At the end of the day, it’s too early to tell which way Utrom Monitor will end up going. Not only will the supply situation become evident in the coming days and weeks, but its competitive appeal too. As such, we’ll just have to sit tight and wait patiently for now, while watching this card’s price closely.
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