Now that they’re out in the wild, the new Final Fantasy Commander precons are proving to be tons of fun, as expected. These decks are some of the most flavorful we’ve seen in years, but that hasn’t stopped MTG players from upgrading them. Throughout recent weeks, we’ve seen plenty of upgrade-based price spikes, especially to the Counter Blitz precon.
Offering plenty of +1/+1 counter-based synergies, this precon might just be the fan-favorite, given all the market movements. Somewhat unsurprisingly, this movement hasn’t stopped now that the Final Fantasy precons are out in the wild.
Danny Pink
Originally printed in the Doctor Who Paradox Power precon, Danny Pink has the potential to be an insane card draw engine. On their own, this card will maybe get you a card per turn, so long as it’s safe to swing. While you do need a steady supply of smaller creatures to make that happen, consistent card draw is always welcome.
Thankfully, while their power ceiling is fairly low on their own, Danny Pink gets much better very quickly. Combined with a Commander that can readily dish out +1/+1 counters, Danny can provide an obscene amount of draw. Thankfully, both the new Commanders in the Counter Blitz precon help to facilitate exactly that.
Once per turn, both Tidus, Yuna’s Guardian and Yuna, Grand Summoner can put +1/+1 counters on a creature. So long as Danny Pink is in play, this means free, consistent card draw. That said, the once-per-turn nature of both Tidus and Yuna does rather limit things somewhat.
While Tidus and Yuna don’t offer the best synergy to maximize Danny Pink, the rest of the deck does a much better job. Sphere Grid, for instance, can apply a ton of +1/+1 counters if you’re dealing a lot of combat damage. Similarly, the freshly reprinted Path of Discovery can provide a ton of value if you get lucky when Exploring.
On top of these effects found within Counter Blitz, Danny Pink also works wonders with Proliferate effects. Provided you’ve built up a board full of +1/+1 counters, a single Proliferate trigger can completely refill your hand. Thankfully, Proliferate is a common upgrade angle for Counter Blitz, so you won’t have to compromise on the deck to go down this route.
The Spike
Unlike some of the immense Final Fantasy price spikes we’ve seen recently, Danny Pink’s climb is rather tame. Over the course of the past month, the market price for normal near-mint copies of Danny Pink has only doubled. While this doesn’t seem super impressive, Danny was already somewhat expensive to start with.
Back at the beginning of May, a single near-mint copy of Danny Pink would set you back around $4.50. Now, however, the price has climbed all the way up to $ 9.16 on average. While this isn’t so bad for a decent precon upgrade, sadly, new listings are currently much more expensive.
Following an immense amount of sales in mid-May, there are very few copies of Danny Pink available for purchase. Right now, on TCGplayer, there are only 10 regular copies across all conditions. Prices for these copies now start at $15, which is technically a 328% price spike.
Unfortunately, the other variants of Danny Pink aren’t any cheaper at the moment. While the Extended Art variant has a similar market price at $9.86, listings are even more expensive. Prices for these copies start at $19.22, and some MTG players have even spent as much as $19.99.
If you really feel like splashing the cash, there are even Surge Foil copies of both Danny Pink variants. Sadly, these aren’t much of an option at the moment as the incredibly low supply has jacked up prices significantly. While normal Surge Foil copies are listed for over $45, no sales have actually happened at this price.
The Future
Looking ahead, it feels like the prices for Danny Pink are flying a little close to the sun right now. While this card is definitely worth a decent amount of money, the $15 to $20 range seems a bit much. The low supply might justify this price point, but +1/+1 counter-focused decks have no end of options.
Due to this, it’s little wonder that sales for Danny Pink have slowed down recently. When the price is too steep, MTG players can easily look toward other options for card draw, especially in blue. In theory, this should keep a partial lid on the card’s price; however, that remains to be seen.
Evidently, from the number of copies currently available on TCGplayer, the supply for Danny Pink is somewhat limited. This may cause prices to rise over time as Wizards prints more and more +1/+1 counter-based Commanders. As discussed, Danny has a lot of generic synergy, especially with cards and Commanders that put counters on each creature.
Potentially, this could make Danny Pink a good investment if you buy in at the right time. As a Universes Beyond card, Danny is somewhat difficult to reprint, although it’s definitely not impossible. Nonetheless, if you see copies of Danny going for cheap, they might be worth adding to your binder.
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