Near the beginning of April, all five Secrets of Strixhaven Commander precons were revealed in their entirety. While each deck incorporates a unique theme, there’s no doubt that the Silverquill Influence precon is the most interesting. Thanks to this, a handful of Silverquill upgrades that didn’t earn a reprint have seen their prices increase. It appears that Vampiric Link is the latest card to be affected.
MTG Vampiric Link
All things considered, Vampiric Link isn’t a massive powerhouse. Even if you enchant a massive creature, without some incredible synergies, using a card to grant a stackable Lifelink effect is not that interesting.
Fortunately, Killian, Decisive Mentor, the leader of the Silverquill Influence precon, pays you back in a cool way. Once you get this Commander in play, you can enchant an opponent’s big bomb with Vampiric Link and Goad it in the process. Then on the opponent’s turn, Killian will provide card advantage when that threat attacks, and you’ll gain life when the creature deals damage. Despite feeling like a rather mediocre upgrade, this aura has already been added to 985 Killian Commander decks according to EDHREC. The enchantment has also earned a shout from some major content creators as an upgrade for Silverquill Influence.
Notably, while the Silverquill Influence precon is the new hotness, Vampiric Link does see some Commander play elsewhere. Besides its typical usage in aura-themed decks, this enchantment makes its mark alongside some noncombat damage Commanders. Black Waltz No. 3 and The Lord of Pain, for example, both have triggers that make Vampiric Link quite potent. Being able to circumvent the life loss with Greven Predator Captain also has some value.
Beyond just its Commander appeal, Vampiric Link even has a lot of appeal as a Pauper sideboard card. The unusual application of neutralizing a Guttersnipe or a Kessig Flamebreather with this card is quite crucial in the format. Vampiric Link is very different than Lifelink, and it shows in its applications.
The Spike
Despite Vampiric Link being a decently popular Commander card before Silverquill Influence, it was never that expensive. From April of 2025 to the April 1st of this year, near mint, non-foil copies from both Planar Chaos and The List firmly sat below $2.
Once the full decklists for Silverquill Influence were revealed, however, players immediately flocked to pick up copies of Vampiric Link. A whopping 46 Planar Chaos copies sold on April 1st alone, despite zero copies selling the day before. This surge in demand caused a quick supply shortage, with only 15 near mint, non-foil English Planar Chaos listings available. As such, it isn’t too surprising that the cheapest of the bunch sits at $5, which marks a 240% price spike over the last month.
While the supply for Planar Chaos Vampiric Link is dwindling, The List is even worse. With only four listings available, this variant has pushed up to $9.51, including shipping. Sadly, this means finding a good deal on English copies of Vampiric Link. even in worse conditions, is a challenge.
Instead, turning towards non-English Planar Chaos copies of Vampiric Link is the best way to save money. Both near mint Chinese and lightly played Japanese copies are available for $1 or less. If you don’t mind the language barrier, this can be a rather cheap way to pick up the card.
The Future
Like many Precon-driven price spikes, there’s a decent chance that Vampiric Link will eventually become cheaper. Once a new Commander precon comes out and players turn their attention elsewhere, demand for this card will plummet. This is true under normal circumstances, but the release of Marvel Super Heroes is just over two months away. With many precons confirmed, Marvel is bound to take the market by storm.
Still, while a price decrease does seem quite plausible, Vampiric Link will likely maintain at least some general demand. Red burn and Madness decks don’t seem to be going anywhere in Pauper, barring a surprise ban. There is some unique versatility for this card in Commander, too, since it can stack with Lifelink.
So, while we expect Vampiric Link to ultimately decrease in value, it may take some time, and the change may not be drastic. At the end of the day, though, perfectly predicting MTG price spikes is incredibly difficult. Ultimately, we’ll have to wait and see how things play out.
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