Shifts in the world of MTG finance tend to come in waves. This week, for example, a range of notable Artifact-related price spikes have occurred, propelling some previously forgotten cards into the spotlight. If you just can’t bear the thought of playing colored cards in your deck, then you’ll want to keep a close eye on these.
Most of today’s spikes affect eternal formats, but there are some hits for Standard too. As players continue to refine lists post-Pro Tour, this was only to be expected. If you’re looking to keep on top of the latest market developments, then read on. We’ll have you caught up in just a few paragraphs.
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Eon Hub
The biggest Artifact price spike for today is undoubtedly Eon Hub. Chances are you don’t recognize this card, even if you were playing when it first debuted in 2004. This is a bizarre tech card from way back in Fifth Dawn. For five mana, it sits in play and causes players to skip their Upkeep steps. Over the last couple of days, the card has gone from selling for around $1 to as much as $12 in some cases, representing a price jump of over 1,000%.
Why has this happened? Likely this spike is a response to the popularity of Obeka, Splitter of Seconds in Commander. Obeka has been creating her own ripples in the MTG finance world, thanks to her ability to give you extra upkeep steps when she gets in for damage. This card, then, is a perfect counter to such decks and is therefore getting a similar price boost. The fact that Eon Hub has never been reprinted is also a big factor here. If you want a copy, it’ll have to be a Fifth Dawn one.
For these reasons, $12 doesn’t seem like an unreasonable price tag. Upkeep synergies could well see more support in the future, and unless Eon Hub gets a reprint, this original printing will remain one of the best answers. Some listings are even as high as $30, though those aren’t real market prices, so take those with a pinch of salt for now.
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Urza’s Workshop
Next up on our Artifact price spike journey is Urza’s Workshop. This card is a bit of a dual callback, referencing both the legendary Urza lands and Mishra’s Workshop in one neat package. Practically, it taps for one colorless mana at a base but can tap for more if you control a few Urza’s lands and Artifacts. Thanks to some leaks, and official spoilers, from Modern Horizons 3, demand for this Brothers War Commander card is going through the roof.
Urza’s Cave, a new Urza’s land, has already been confirmed from the set. This immediately gives Workshop more utility and power, in Tron-style decks in both Legacy and Commander. For this reason, the card has shot up from around $5 to around $8: a spike of over 50%. This jump is for the Extended Art version of the card, which was previously much more affordable, and could ultimately lead to it matching the $10-12 price tag of the regular version.
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Kappa Cannoneer
This one’s not much of a surprise. We’ve covered Kappa Cannoneer before when the card’s price jumped a huge amount thanks to a MH3 leak. Since then, it’s been officially spoiled by Wizards, and the spike is still going strong. Last time we checked in, it was sitting around $5, and that has since jumped to $10-12, with some sales in the $16-18 range as well. This represents a spike of 100-300%. Not quite as big as its 600% jump last time, but still very significant, particularly given the card’s new higher price.
The reasoning behind this spike is fairly straightforward. As we’ve seen already, Artifact price spikes are cropping up all over the place at the moment, thanks mainly to Simulacrum Synthesizer. This is a new staple in Modern, Legacy, and Standard, enabling some unbeatable boards in Artifact-centric strategies. Kappa Cannoneer was already seeing play in Legacy Affinity decks, but now that it’s set to be legal in Modern, demand for the card has just exploded.
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Standard Spikes
To close things out, let’s look at some spikes happening in the world of Standard. Fomori Vault may be a bit of a sneaky inclusion here, in retrospect. While the card is Standard-legal, its price jump is mostly driven by Modern and Legacy demand. All the new Artifact decks cropping up can make great use of the card as a card selection engine, and as a result, it’s jumped from $8 to around $10. This is only a 25% spike, but it’s likely to continue, given the card’s power level and the ‘Super Mythic’ rarity of cards from The Big Score.
Non-Artifact cards are seeing some movement, too. Three Steps Ahead was picked up as an Azorius Control staple at the Pro Tour. As such, it’s now seeing wider play in both Standard and Pioneer Control decks. The card has jumped from around $4 to around $7 over the last week, which is a near 100% jump. This makes perfect sense for such a flexible, splashable card. It’s even seeing scattered play in some of the Artifact decks we’ve been going on about in this article, which may fuel the fire further.
Finally, there’s been some minor movement on Gisa, the Hellraiser. This is a classic finisher card, with the potential to totally take over a game if left unchecked. The card is currently seeing play in a range of Midrange decks in Standard and in some other surprising shells, such as Mono-Black Discard in Pioneer and Yawgmoth in Modern. For this reason, the card is creeping up in price, going from around $8 to around $9 over the last few days. This isn’t a huge jump, only about 10%, but the card already had a respectable price tag.
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