Magic’s various metagames very much resemble the ecosystems we see in nature. In an ideal world, a new threat rises, the rest of the meta adjusts to combat it, the threat shrinks from power, and a new world order is established. Rinse and repeat until a new set is released. Currently, the new Modern Horizons 3 Eldrazi cards are quickly becoming such a threat in older formats. Right on cue, the MTG meta is adjusting to combat this by slotting in Consign to Memory, a super-flexible counterspell that can stop the spaghetti monsters in their eldritch tracks.
Consign To Memory MTG
- Mana Value: U
- Rarity: Uncommon
- Card Type: Instant
- Card Text: Replicate 1 (When you cast this spell, copy it for each time you paid its replicate cost. You may choose new targets for the copies.) Counter target triggered ability or colorless spell.
Consign to Memory has a lot of text, but for the most part it’s fairly simple. You can pay a single blue to counter a colorless spell, or counter a triggered ability. You can also pay extra colorless mana to do so multiple times via Replicate. Why would you want to do that? Well, there are a few reasons.
Firstly, and most applicable, in this case, Using both halves of Consign to Memory lets you counter both an Eldrazi and its cast trigger. Normally the cast triggers on Eldrazi will be going off regardless of whether you counter their source or not, but Consign gets around that for just one generic mana.
Secondly, if you have the mana for it, Consign lets you counter a stack full of triggers all at once. Decks like Nadu rely on their triggers to win, and this can shut them down at a very reasonable rate. As long as they don’t have a Shuko out, of course. It can also counter the abilities of the MH2 Elementals, Grief in particular, as well as the new multi-format terror Phlage, Titan of Fire’s Fury.
All of this flexibility has earned the card a spot in a huge range of decks, from Modern to Legacy, and even Vintage. Because of this, the card is now spiking in price, despite being an uncommon from a recent, massively opened set. Last week, Consign sat around $1, but now it’s nearer $3.50: a spike of over 250%. Double those numbers for a foil copy.
A Silver Bullet For Eldrazi
With the MTG meta the way it is now, it’s hard to make a case for not including Consign to Memory in the sideboard of any deck running blue. It’s simply too good against the best decks in most formats. Eldrazi decks are used to getting guaranteed value, even when playing into counterspells, but Consign flips that dynamic on its head. Suddenly, Control decks have legitimate answers to their tentacled oppressors that don’t feel like mere half-measures.
While Eldrazi is almost certainly the big driver for this card’s price at the moment, it’s far from the only deck it plays well against. Artifacts are also, typically, colorless spells. This means Consign to Memory can deal with cards like Chalice of the Void and Phyrexian Dreadnought in Legacy. To say nothing of the countless Moxen and other problem artifacts it can hit in Vintage.
All of this applies to Commander, too. Eldrazi decks are seeing a renaissance there post-MH3, and the format is notorious for the sheer volume of mana rocks it supports. There are also plenty of triggered abilities you’d rather shut down if you could.
To cut a long story short, the card is a multi-format staple. The new $3.50 price tag is definitely warranted, and I could see it going higher still unless a major meta-shift takes place soon. That said, it is still an uncommon, so I wouldn’t bank on it going much higher than $5. No matter how good it is in eternal formats.
Read More: New MTG Format Causes Forgotten Reserved List Card to See 689% Price Spike
