With five different precons to pick between, Wizards has spoiled MTG players with Secrets of Strixhaven. That said, as always, each of these precons has room for improvement and can be elevated with upgrades. Thanks to this, it’s common to see tons of MTG cards spike in price shortly after the latest batch of precons is revealed.
This time around, however, we’ve not seen an immediate rush of demand to pick up any missed reprints. Instead, we’ve only seen a handful of solid spikes so far, most of which are thanks to the same deck. It’s still early days, but the Silverquill Influence precon definitely looks like a fan favorite right now.
With this favoritism in mind, it’s little wonder that Light-Paws, Emperor’s Voice has been climbing in price recently. It’s still early, but this Enchantment Typal staple is already up 253% in a matter of days.
MTG Light-Paws, Emperor’s Voice
Released in Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty, Light-Paws, Emperor’s Voice doesn’t need much introduction. While it does have a wall of text, it’s actually fairly simple, not to mention a staple in Commander. Not only does Light-Paws see tons of play in Enchantment-focused decks, but it’s a fantastic Commander for the archetype, too.
Essentially, with Light-Paws, Emperor’s Voice in play, you get to double the rate at which you play Auras. This makes Light-Paws a fantastic option for Voltron decks that want to get as many of these into play as quickly as possible. While it doesn’t follow the usual Voltron game plan, the new Silverquill Influence deck still wants to overload opponents with Auras.
Since Light-Paws, Emperor’s Voice only cares about playing Auras, not where they end up, it’s a fantastic fit for the precon. The only downside is that Light-Paws can only attach the extra Aura to itself, but even that’s not the end of the world. Since you get to search your library for what goes on Light-Paws, you can simply choose a beneficial Aura, so long as the mana costs align.
Despite this strength, or perhaps due to the slightly unusual play pattern, Light-Paws, Emperor’s Voice didn’t make the cut for Silverquill Influence. This, in turn, makes the card a fantastic upgrade, especially since there are a fair few easy cuts, too.
Unsurprisingly, given Light-Paws, Emperor’s Voice is a popular MTG card; it didn’t take long for players to clock the potential. Thanks to this, Light-Paws has been selling like hot cakes recently, leading to an impressive price spike. Technically, it’s still a fairly cheap MTG card right now, but it might not stay that way for long.
A Not-So Budget Bomb Anymore
Previously, one of the best things about Light-Paws, Emperor’s Voice was that it was reasonably inexpensive. Picking up this card for under $1 used to be no trouble at all, and it rarely soared much beyond that. Back in early March, for instance, copies were going for around $1.10, which isn’t bad at all, considering its popularity.
Following the reveal of the Silverquill Influence precon on April 1st, however, demand skyrocketed overnight. Since the deck’s reveal, over 150 near-mint copies of this card have been sold, putting a huge dent in supply. Now, there are just 28 near-mint listings left on TCGplayer, causing prices to shoot up quickly.
Currently, the cheapest default frame near-mint copy of Light-Paws, Emperor’s Voice you can buy is $4.28. While this isn’t hugely expensive in the grand scheme of MTG, prices have been ramping up quickly alongside steady sales. Thanks to this, it’ll likely take less than a dozen near-mint sales before Light-Paws is a $5 card.
Thankfully, if you’re still in the market for a copy of Light-Paws, Emperor’s Voice, the extended art variant is slightly cheaper. With near-mint examples starting at $3.31, including shipping, this is currently the cheapest option. Unfortunately, worse condition examples of Light-Paws have already been bought out, so they don’t offer much potential for savings.
If you really want to go all out, there are a couple of chase variants of Light-Paws. The showcase frame variant, for instance, is selling for $6.70, while the Secret Lair variant is $10. On top of these, the foil multiplier is particularly strong right now, since there’s no problem with their playability in Commander.
A Long Time Coming?
Realistically, while Light-Paws, Emperor’s Voice benefits from being a modern MTG card that saw widespread printing, it’s also rather popular. Thanks to this, it’s rather impressive that this card has managed to be so cheap for so long. Even if it’s not a super staple in Commander, demand is fairly consistent, and new support isn’t uncommon either.
In theory, this could mean that Light-Paws, Emperor’s Voice’s current price spike will last, or even climb, going forward. Since new Aura support feels inevitable, it feels incredibly likely that this will happen. That being said, because of its staple position within the archetype, it’s easy to see this card being reprinted, too.
Whether it appears in a future precon or on a bonus sheet, a reprint of Light-Paws, Emperor’s Voice could bring the price right back down. For better or worse, there’s no telling if, or when, such a reprint might happen. As such, we’ll just have to wait and see what the future holds, since, long term, it really could go either way.
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