As exciting as a Marvel-themed MTG set might sound on the surface, Marvel Super Heroes has been surprisingly unimpactful. Outside of a few potentially problematic cards, the set seems just okay, and the precons have continued this trend. The recently revealed Doom Prevails precon, for instance, looks a bit meh at best, even if it does include a few gems.
Thankfully, while much of Marvel Super Heroes may have failed to excite, some new cards are legitimately exciting. Hawkeye’s Bow, for instance, unlocks a brand new turn two kill in Pauper of all places. While we’re a ways from the set releasing and finding out if this combo has potential, it has already caused an impressive price spike.
MTG Seeker of Skybreak
Originally released back in 1997’s Tempest, Seeker of Skybreak has long been a fairly popular MTG card. While it doesn’t have a huge competitive history, only seeing occasional Pauper play, this card is somewhat common in Commander. Not only are there plenty of fantastic creatures with tap abilities to exploit in the format, but Elf Typal decks love this card.
At the very least, untapping a mana dork like Marwyn, the Nurturer or Elvish Archdruid can massively accelerate your game. Alternatively, there are a fair few infinite combos that Seeker of Skybreak enables, if you want to exploit this card’s potential. Alongside Illusionist’s Bracers, for instance, you can double Skybreak’s trigger to untap itself and any other creature infinitely.
While Seeker of Skybreak has plenty more combos beyond this one, Marvel Super Heroes will be adding one more. When equipped with Hawkeye’s Bow, you can simply use Skybreak to repeatedly untap itself, dealing one damage every time. So long as your opponents can’t stop you, this lets you deal infinite damage, presenting a surprisingly easy win condition.
At the very least, dropping Hawkeye’s Bow on turn one and Seeker of Skybreak on turn two sets up a turn-three kill. If you throw in some fast mana like Simian Spirit Guide or Lotus Petal, however, you can easily pop off on turn two. Notably, all of these cards are legal in Pauper, which has gotten MTG players seriously excited.
With genuine potential in the format, many MTG players can’t wait to try out this Seeker of Skybreak combo. As such, we’ve already seen a significant uptick in demand for this classic Elf long before Marvel Super Heroes is released. This, in turn, has caused a significant price spike in less than one week.
The Spike
While Seeker of Skybreak’s last major reprint was in Seventh Edition, it has never been a particularly expensive MTG card. According to EDHREC, this card only sees play in around 36,700 decks, so there’s always been enough to go around. As such, picking up a copy of Seeker of Skybreak for around the $1 mark has long been possible.
As of last week, it was even possible to pick up a near-mint 7th Edition copy of Seeker of Skybreak for just $0.94. Sadly, however, this once-affordable price point is now long gone, as prices have shot up dramatically after 199 sales. Now, the cheapest near-mint 7th Edition copy of Seeker of Skybreak will set you back $5.96, including shipping.
Thankfully, while prices for copies of Seeker of Skybreak are up across the board, some printings are slightly cheaper. The Battle Royale Box Set printing is only going for $5, for instance. Curiously, the original Temptest printing is slightly cheaper still, selling for around $4.
Sadly, while it used to be the cheapest option available, the recent Mystery Booster 2 reprint is remarkably selling for over $20. Thankfully, if you don’t want to spend quite this much, damaged copies are going for around $2, while lightly played examples are $3. Given how quickly sales have ramped up, however, these cheaper copies might not last long.
The Future
While it does look like the Seeker of Skybreak combo has some potential in Pauper, right now, its future is unclear. Until Marvel Super Heroes is released and Paper players can test it out, we’re in limbo right now. That being said, given this card’s low toughness and susceptibility to removal, stopping it from popping off is hardly impossible.
Even if Seeker of Skybreak can be stopped, it’s unclear if it’ll carve out a home in the format or not. Sadly, this makes predicting the financial future of Seeker of Skybreak rather difficult, since it’s currently tied to Pauper. Should this combo not cut the mustard, any additional demand will likely die out, causing a price crash.
On the flip side, if Seeker of Skybreak does succeed, then the current spike might just be the start. Since supply is so low right now, any additional demand could completely deplete supply, causing prices to soar. Whether or not this will end up happening, however, currently remains to be seen.
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