Nowadays, in most premier sets, most of the value is saturated in the rares and mythic rares. It’s unusual to see an uncommon go for more than a couple dollars. What’s even stranger is for an uncommon to sit as one of the 10 most expensive cards in its respective set. Yet, thanks to a recent price spike, Cut Down from Dominaria United fits this bill.
Cut Down isn’t a super flashy card by any stretch of the imagination. What it is, though, is a very solid one-mana removal spell for Standard. Shifts in the metagame have helped Cut Down increase both in format popularity and in price. Let’s take a closer look.
The Price Spike
- Mana Value: B
- Rarity: Uncommon
- MTG Set: Dominaria United
- Card Text: Destroy target creature with total power and toughness 5 or less.
Since the release of Bloomburrow in early August, Cut Down has been steadily climbing in price for the most part. According to TCGPlayer market price history, traditional, non-foil copies of Cut Down were worth roughly $1.62 three weeks ago.
By August 16, that number increased to $3.63. Fast forward to August 29, and the card ballooned to $5.70! For reference, that is a spike of over 250% in just three weeks. Of note, the promo pack variant is worth a bit less at $4.47, but this version has been increasing in price for a while all the same.
We’ve seen uncommon removal spells demand a high ticket in the past, such as Fatal Push back when Aether Revolt released. That being said, Fatal Push became a multi-format all-star, whereas Cut Down sees play almost exclusively in Standard. This begs the question: why does the card’s value keep going up?
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A Metagame Shift
- Mana Value: 1R
- Rarity: Rare
- Stats: 2/2
- MTG Set: Bloomburrow
- Card Text: Haste. Prowess (Whenever you cast a noncreature spell, this creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn. Valiant- Whenever Emberheart Challenger becomes the target of a spell or ability you control for the first time each turn, exile the top card of your library. Until end of turn, you may play that card.
Likely the biggest reason for Cut Down’s continuous spiking is the fact that the release of Bloomburrow gave rise to elite aggro decks with must-kill threats in the early game. Gruul aggro decks in particular have become incredibly popular. In the most recent Magic Online Standard Showcase Challenge, a major event on August 24 with 197 players, the top 16 consisted of six Gruul aggro decks.
This deck is fast, and you are hard-pressed to remove cards like Heartfire Hero and Emberheart Challenger on sight. Otherwise, you risk taking a boatload of damage from a variety of pump spells, including Monstrous Rage. Not to mention, you could easily get blown out by Snakeksin Veil if the opponent untaps with their potent creature.
In this sense, the efficiency of Cut Down is incredibly important. As versatile as Go for the Throat is, you really want access to one-mana removal too, so you don’t fall far behind against aggro decks (even if Cut Down is weak versus Domain ramp). Between the rise in Gruul and mono-red aggro, Convoke variants, and Rakdos Lizards, Cut Down has become much more essential.
Combine that with the fact that Cut Down is only available in one normal set, and you’ve got a valuable uncommon on your hands. If you drafted Dominaria United a bunch, make sure to check your collection. You may now have a nice stash of $5+ uncommons you didn’t even realize.
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