One of the most appealing factors about The Hobbit set was the release of a ton of typal support for unique creature types. Dwarf decks in particular got some major upgrades, making the archetype significantly stronger in Commander. As more and more players have flocked to the strategy, some older synergistic tools have continued to climb in price. Now, even with Reality Fracture waiting in the wings, another typal tool in Bearded Axe has experienced a big spike.
MTG Bearded Axe
By itself, Bearded Axe’s bonus is nowhere near worth the mana investment. After all, given that this equipment doesn’t actually grant any beneficial abilities or evasion, you really need a huge stat boost to make its inclusion worth it.
With this in mind, it isn’t too surprising that the card has had a minimal impact for most of its existence, especially in Constructed. Even in Commander, many dedicated equipment-themed legends like
Cloud, Ex-SOLDIER
Cloud, Ex-SOLDIER
Haste
When Cloud enters, attach up to one target Equipment you control to it.
Whenever Cloud attacks, draw a card for each equipped attacking creature you control. Then if Cloud has power 7 or greater, create two Treasure tokens.
or
Captain America, First Avenger
Captain America, First Avenger
Throw ... — {3}, Unattach an Equipment from Captain America: He deals damage equal to that Equipment's mana value divided as you choose among one, two, or three targets.
... Catch — At the beginning of combat on your turn, attach up to one target Equipment you control to Captain America.
, don’t commonly play this card. The only decks that tend to utilize Bearded Axe are those that feature a high density of both equipment and Dwarves.
As a result, before the release of The Hobbit, Bearded Axe saw much of its play in
Bruenor Battlehammer
Bruenor Battlehammer
Each creature you control gets +2/+0 for each Equipment attached to it.
You may pay {0} rather than pay the equip cost of the first equip ability you activate each turn.
and
Giott, King of the Dwarves
Giott, King of the Dwarves
Double strike
Whenever Giott or another Dwarf you control enters and whenever an Equipment you control enters, you may discard a card. If you do, draw a card.
shells.
Depala, Pilot Exemplar
Depala, Pilot Exemplar
Other Dwarves you control get +1/+1.
Each Vehicle you control gets +1/+1 as long as it's a creature.
Whenever Depala becomes tapped, you may pay {X}. If you do, reveal the top X cards of your library, put all Dwarf and Vehicle cards from among them into your hand, then put the rest on the bottom of your library in a random order.
decks also got unique value from this equipment’s extra bonus buff for vehicle output. These decks weren’t super popular, however, so Bearded Axe’s demand wasn’t very high.
With equipment and Dwarves both being major Boros components in The Hobbit, however, Bearded Axe has seen a new lease on life since the set’s release. Legends like
Thorin, King of Durin’s Folk
Thorin, King of Durin’s Folk
Whenever Thorin or another Dwarf you control enters, create a Treasure token.
Other Dwarves you control get +1/+0 for each artifact token you control.
and
Dain of the Ancient Halls
Dain of the Ancient Halls
Vigilance, haste
Whenever Dáin attacks, he deals damage equal to the number of Dwarves you control to each opponent.
both heavily reward you for going wide with Dwarves, which lines up perfectly with Bearded Axe’s payoffs. This equipment also synergizes perfectly with
Dwalin, Weaponmaster
Dwalin, Weaponmaster
First strike
Whenever Dwalin enters or attacks, put a hone counter on each Equipment you control. (Each hone counter on an Equipment grants +1/+0 to equipped creature.)
‘s go-wide equipment theme and helps enable
Thorin Oakenshield
Thorin Oakenshield
Trample
Storied (If you control three or more artifacts, legendaries, and/or Sagas, you have an enduring story for the rest of the game.)
As long as you have an enduring story, artifacts and creatures you control have ward {1}.
‘s Storied ability.
Even though this card only appears in 14,000 decks according to EDHREC, over 5,000 feature one of those five Hobbit Commanders at the helm. This has led to a big increase in demand, and Bearded Axe’s price spike has followed suit.
The Spike
Bearded Axe’s initial wave of demand fell in line with The Hobbit Prerelease events, with peak demand coming August 14th-16th after the set’s official release. The 114 near-mint copies sold during this three-day period alone outnumbered Bearded Axe’s sales during the whole month of July.
With The Hobbit as the new hotness, Bearded Axe’s demand stayed quite high in the following weeks, with 812 near-mint copies having sold since August 16th. As a result, this card’s supply has drained significantly due to sustained interest, despite being just an uncommon.
Now, only 21 near-mint Kaldheim listings remain on TCGplayer, starting at $2.15. This represents a 571% spike since the card’s lowest point of $0.32 over the last three months.
Notably, Bearded Axe has no other variants or reprints to speak of, making it difficult to find a great deal. Your best bet for a cheaper option is to buy a copy in worse condition, since lightly played variant printings start at $1.30. Still, these deals are few and far between, and could easily dry up quickly.
Might Not Last
Despite Bearded Axe’s steady demand as of late, there’s reason to believe this won’t be a long-term spike. After all, nearly all of this card’s appeal stems from its Dwarf-themed Commander hype, which is specifically tied to The Hobbit. Cards with limited versatility driven by specific synergies typically see their prices drop as hype dies down, and Bearded Axe is unlikely to be an exception.
Plus, with Reality Fracture Prerelease already here, The Hobbit’s impact on the financial market is bound to start dwindling in the short term. Unfortunately, Bearded Axe doesn’t really overlap thematically with any of the hyped Reality Fracture cards, further decreasing its long-term appeal.
Still, as we’ve come to know, we can’t predict the future with any degree of certainty. Perhaps Bearded Axe’s lack of reprints will keep supply low longer than we expect, preventing its price from falling anytime soon. As such, we really just have to wait and see how things play out.
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