Once Tarkir: Dragonstorm was finally available to play on MTG Arena and Magic Online, we quickly saw a number of elite options emerge as multi-format staples. Cards like Rakshasa’s Bargain are making an impact from Standard down to Legacy.
As players continue to tinker with the new cards and explore different exciting archetypes for them, it should come as no surprise that card prices will fluctuate. One particular card has already risen significantly in price over the last week, and it only seems to get more popular each day. If you’re a fan of spell-slinging archetypes, you’ll definitely want a playset in your collection.
Cori-Steel Cutter
It didn’t take long for players to catch on that Cori-Steel Cutter is the real deal. As an equipment, Cori-Steel Cutter isn’t exactly anything special. However, you’re rarely going to be paying mana for the card’s equip cost.
Instead, the goal is to trigger Flurry and start pumping out 1/1 Monks with Prowess. Cori-Steel Cutter shines brightest in decks with a high density of cheap noncreature spells. That way, not only is it trivial to trigger Flurry turn after turn, but you can also grow your Prowess creatures and threaten lots of damage in short order.
Take Izzet Prowess in Standard, for example. This deck is capable of extremely explosive draws with Stormchaser’s Talent and Slickshot Show-Off. These cards naturally pair well with Monstrous Rage, efficient cantrips, and burn spells, so Cori-Steel Cutter is a natural inclusion in the deck.
What makes Cori-Steel Cutter so difficult to play against is that, assuming the opponent can trigger Flurry repeatedly, your one-for-one removal spells simply aren’t that good against it. Red aggro decks in Standard and Pioneer, while very strong, are typically weak to a high volume of removal. Cori-Steel Cutter is an army in a can, which can singlehandedly tilt midrange matchups in your favor.
Cori-Steel Cutter is so strong that it’s even starting to see play in Modern and Legacy. Both of these formats offer free spells like Mishra’s Bauble that enable you to trigger Flurry the turn you play Cori-Steel Cutter, which is a huge boon. It doesn’t take much before Cori-Steel Cutter runs away with the game.
The Spike
Given how much demand there is for the card, it’s not too shocking to see Cori-Steel Cutter go up in price by a pretty significant margin in such a short amount of time. While the graph above makes it look like the card dropped in price a bunch just to rise back to where it was, it’s important to remember that pre-sale prices are often heavily inflated prior to a set’s release.
By April 3rd, the Thursday preceding prerelease weekend, Cori-Steel Cutter was down to $2.16 in its traditional, non-foil form, according to TCGplayer market price. The card would rise a tiny bit between April 3rd and April 7th, but the major spike took place from April 8th to April 10th.
This makes a ton of sense, as April 8th was the first day that Cori-Steel Cutter would be available for tournament use on Magic Online. As content creators and brewers flock to the platform, it wouldn’t take long before players could get a sense of what the most impactful Tarkir: Dragonstorm cards were.
Cori-Steel Cutter definitely fits that bill. By April 10th, Cori-Steel Cutter ballooned to $13.30, which represents a 516% price spike in one week’s time. Even the spike from April 8th to April 10th alone showcased a 300% jump, which is quite large for such a small window.
The borderless variant of Cori-Steel Cutter followed a very similar path. On April 8th, Cori-Steel Cutter in its borderless, non-foil form held a market price of $3.29, which is nearly identical to the $3.32 the traditional variant held on the same day. By April 10th, that number would increase to $13.09. Once again, this is super close to the $13.30 price tag for the traditional version of Cori-Steel Cutter on the same day.
The Future
The sheer demand for Cori-Steel Cutter is currently through the roof. However, it does seem like we may have reached a plateau as far as the card’s price is concerned.
For both traditional and borderless non-foil versions of Cori-Steel Cutter, the market price has dipped a couple bucks between April 10th and the time of writing this article. The card has clearly lived up to the hype (and then some), but it’s hard to imagine this rare equipment spiking much harder until we see it in action in a major tournament setting beyond just Magic Online Challenges.
For now, make sure to check your Prerelease Kits and Booster Boxes for any copies of Cori-Steel Cutter you may have opened, and expect more Tarkir: Dragonstorm price shifts to occur in the coming weeks.
