It seems that Universes Beyond sets are drawn to one another. This isn’t the first time that we’ve seen two Universes Beyond sets playing off each other, and it surely won’t be the last. Final Fantasy and The Lord of Rings may be worlds apart in flavor, but there’s clearly some mechanical synergy.
Specifically, both these sets have some rather compelling cards that care about counters. So long as you don’t mind the flavor mismatch, there’s good reason to lean into this synergy. Many MTG players seem to be doing exactly this already, as Arwen, Mortal Queen has been spiking in price recently.
Arwen, Mortal Queen
In Final Fantasy, the compelling new counter-based Commander is Tidus, Yuna’s Guardian. Helming the Final Fantasy X-themed Counter Blitz precon, Tidus can move one counter above each combat. While this might not seem like much when using +1/+1 counters, he has fantastic synergy with Keyword Counters.
This is where Arwen, Mortal Queen comes in. When Arwen enters, she gets an Indestructible Counter, which can be exchanged later on as needed. Granting a buff, a Lifelink Counter, and temporary indestructibility, Arwen can do a lot of work, all on her own. At the very least, Tidus can move around the Lifelink Counters once Arwen has used and exchanged the Indestructible one.
At the very least, this synergy and counter-distribution make Arwen, Mortal Queen a worthy upgrade to the Counter Blitz precon. As if she wasn’t good enough already, however, there’s even more synergy thanks to Tidus’ Proliferate ability. This can double any counter on a creature, including Arwen’s Indestructible Counter.
Should you get to Proliferate and create more Indestructible Counters, you’re given quite a few options. Either you can use Tidus to move the new counter around next turn, or you can exchange the extra copy for the aforementioned other tokens. Going down this route turns Arwen into a counter-producing machine, as you’ll get an Indestructible Counter, Lifelink Counter, and +1/+1 counter with each Proliferate trigger.
To sweeten the deal even further, Arwen, Mortal Queen is great to attack with to trigger Tidus’ Proliferate ability. Since she has the Indestructible Counter by default, there shouldn’t be much risk in sending her in. Ideally, this should enable Tidus to consistently provide the maximum amount of value each turn.
The Spike
Given how much synergy there is between Tidus, Yuna’s Guardian and Arwen, Mortal Queen, it’s a wonder this price spike isn’t more impressive. While copies of Arwen have been selling since Tidus was revealed back in February, demand hasn’t been astronomical. That being said, as we’ve gotten closer and closer to release, there has been an uptick in sales.
This increase can most clearly be seen in the regular printing of Arwen, Mortal Queen. While this variant hasn’t seen the biggest price spike, only 101% in the past month, there have been over 200 sales in that time. While the sales volume for the Extended Art variant has been significantly lower, the price spike is actually more impressive.
Toward the end of April, Extended Art copies of Arwen, Mortal Queen were selling for just $3.10 on average. This price has remained fairly consistent over the past six months or so, with only a spike to $4.50 happening in late March. Now, however, it seems that the supply for this card has reached a tipping point, as Arwen has spiked dramatically.
Currently, the market price for a near-mint Extended Art copy of Arwen, Mortal Queen on TCGplayer is $9.87. Notably, there are listings currently available for slightly cheaper than this, around $9, but the supply is limited. Right now, on TCGplayer, there are only 20 near-mint copies of this variant left available.
Thankfully, not every variant of Arwen, Mortal Queen is that expensive, as the regular printing is just $5.94, including shipping. As usual, worse condition copies are also slightly cheaper on average, however, the supply for all variants is rather limited. Due to this, it may only be a matter of time before we see prices increase further.
The Future
Considering how low the supply of Arwen, Mortal Queen is getting, it does seem there’s a good chance this price spike will continue. As mentioned, Arwen is a fantastic upgrade for the Counter Blitz precon, which doesn’t technically release for a couple of weeks. That being said, there’s no way to tell how many interesting players have already bought their copies during this spike.
Potentially, as we’ve discussed before, there’s a non-zero chance that many MTG players won’t want to upgrade their precons. While the Final Fantasy Commander decks are hardly best in class, they are deeply flavorful. Thanks to having new art throughout and 25 new cards, upgrades can stick out like a sore thumb.
This may be more of a problem for Arwen, Mortal Queen, in particular, who is a Lord of the Rings card. Even if they have fantastic synergy, it might be a step too far for some. Ultimately, we’ll just have to wait and see what happens as the release date of the Final Fantasy set gets closer.
Even though it’s unclear how many more purchases will happen, Arwen, Mortal Queen does have a trick up her sleeves. Thanks to being a Universes Beyond card, it’s rather unlikely she’ll be reprinted anytime soon. While reprints are technically possible, potentially with a new name and art, Wizards has been slow to reprint Universes Beyond cards.
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