The Big Score is a strange MTG ‘set’ if we can even call it that. Once planned to be Outlaws of Thunder Junction’s Epilogue release, it was bizarrely mushed into the main set before release. Ultimately, The Big Score occupied the same space as The List and contained 30 mythic rare cards. Somewhat unsurprisingly, not all of these were winners.
As much as it might have given us Vaultborn Tyrant and Simulacrum Synthesizer, it also gave us some real duds. Some of these, such as Memory Vessel are probably never going to see much, or really any, play. For others, like Collector’s Cage, however, it was just a matter of time before the right deck came along.
Luckily for the few preexisting fans of Collector’s Cage, that right deck has now finally arrived. More than just being an interesting new brew, this deck is capable of putting up serious results. Most recently, the new Selesnya Tokens deck, featuring Collector’s Cage, won the Standard RCQ at SCG CON Atlanta.
Collector’s Cage
So, in case it wasn’t already obvious, Collector’s Cage is a key part of the new Selesnya Tokens deck in Standard. Often found as a four of, it’s safe to say this card is core to the deck’s strategy. A bit like Fight Rigging before it, this Hideaway card ideally allows you to cheat a needed card in early, and for free.
All you have to do to get this free card is control three other creatures each with a different power. Thanks to Selesnya Tokens generating a ton of tokens, this isn’t a hugely unreasonable ask. Collector’s Cage even gives out a +1/+1 token to make the whole thing easier too.
Should everything go according to plan, you can feasibly play and activate Collector’s Cage on turn three. More realistically, you’ll be reliably getting the Hideaway card on turn four. This might not seem super special, but when you’re cheating in Overlord of the Mistmoors or Virtue of Loyalty, it’s undeniably fantastic.
Currently, Selesnya Tokens is hardly the most popular deck in Standard, but it’s nonetheless powerful. As mentioned, a Collector’s Cage-powered list recently won the latest Stanard RCQ, so it’s got real legs. Considering that Standard has been rather stale as of late, this impressive result is even more exciting than usual.
The Spike
Thanks to the excitement of new innovation in Standard, it’s little wonder that the price of Collector’s Cage is increasing. The price spike may not be as monumental as some others that we’ve seen recently, but it’s nonetheless impressive. Since December 1st, the price of Collector’s Cage has increased by around 250%.
Given Collector’s Cage hasn’t seen much play in any format, before now, the card has always been fairly cheap. On December 2nd, this card was selling for only $1.64, making it one of the cheapest Big Score cards. Fast forward a little over a month, and now prices have jumped up to around $5.75.
While this price spike is already rather impressive, it may soon increase even further. Near-mint listings for Collector’s Cage start at $5.82 at the moment and quickly get much more expensive. Out of the 42 listings left available, only three are priced at below $8. Looking at recent sales, it seems some players are already happy to pay more than this, likely via TCGplayer Direct.
Sadly for anyone looking to pick up the pieces of Selesnya Tokens for cheap, the price of Collector’s Cage has spiked across the board. The Extended Art variant, for instance, is now also selling for around the $5 mark. Currently, the Showcase variant is even more expensive, with near-mint copies starting at almost $13!
The Future
All in all, it seems that Collector’s Cage is definitely deserving of its new price tag. That being said, it may not stay that way forever. The one-month price graph for the card already shows a slight stagnation in recent days. Should Selesnya Tokens not continue to put up tournament-topping results, we may even deep prices dip before long.
Right now, it’s admittedly too early to predict the long-term financial future of Collector’s Cage. Should players keep buying the quickly dwindling supply, an even more massive price spike could be caused. Ultimately, we’ll have to wait and see what happens.
That being said, it’s worth noting that Aetherdrift does feature Brightglass Gearhulk. Offering great stats and a potentially useful tutor effect, this card could supercharge some Selesnya archetypes. Whether or not this card will actually break the Standard metagame, however, remains to be seen.
