Another week, another batch of winners in the MTG Finance world. We’re right on the cusp of the official Modern Horizons 3 preview season now, and players are starting to buy into cards that could come back into the fold once it hits. This time around, these predictions aren’t completely baseless speculation as we’ve seen many, many leaks.
Alongside Modern Horizons 3’s market movements, Outlaws of Thunder Junction continues to grow its multi-format influence. This is especially true for our headline MTG card today, Freestrider Lookout. Despite being dismissed initially, this card is proving to be more than a flash in the MTG pan.
Read More: Leaked Modern Horizons 3 Uncommon Could Be The Best Card In The Set!
Freestrider Lookout MTG
You’ve probably seen Freestrider Lookout around a fair bit by now. The card is seeing play in a range of decks, including Midrange lists in Standard and Pioneer. It even helped give lesser-seen Modern Valakut decks a new power piece. It’s simply a very efficient way of ramping and stacking Landfall triggers, on a body that’s not embarrassing in combat.
As a result, the card has been picking up a head of financial steam over the past week. The card has gone from around $0.80 to around $4 on average: a roughly 500% spike. Some sales have even taken place at the $7-8 mark, though these are outliers for now.
It’s not too often that decks like Modern Valakut pick up new pieces, particularly pieces that also play well in Standard. For this reason, Lookout’s price could climb higher yet, though I wouldn’t expect to see much movement above $10. It’s a great card, but Thunder Junction is also a very popular set.
Read More: MTG MH3 Common Eldrazi Spoiler Enables Multitude of Infinite Combos!
Nerd Rage
Freestrider Lookout isn’t the only MTG card spiking this week. From a spike most players were expecting to one I doubt many were at all, let’s look at Nerd Rage. This Fallout Aura has gone from around $0.50 to around $4, which is a jump of around 800%. Foil and Surge Foil versions of the card are spiking even harder, up into the $12-16 range.
Despite the dramatic increase, the reason behind this spike is a bit of a mystery. What we do know is that the card is seeing a lot of play in Commander. In Enchantment-focused decks ranging from Eriette, the Beguiler to Zur the Enchanter, Nerd Rage is undeniably useful.
By getting to draw two cards right off the bat, Nerd Rage helps to avoid the usual pitfalls of Aura-based decks. In addition, ramping up your maximum hand size is very desirable in the format. Just look at the enduring popularity of Reliquary Tower if you want proof.
That said, it’s still quite a large jump for a Commander-only card. Other factors, like the very specific name, which makes reprinting the card difficult, and the fact that it’s from the Fallout Commander decks, which many are speculating on at present, are likely driving it.
Read More: Iconic MTG Legend Leaked to Return in MH3 After 26 Years!
Leyline Dowser
Back into the realm of constructed play, Leyline Dowser has had a hell of a week. The card has been climbing for around a month now, and it’s still going strong. Driven by play in various Legacy lists, including some Delver variants, the card has gone from a bulk rare to a rare with a bulky price tag.
The card has gone from around $2 to around $4 over the past week, doubling its already-inflated price. There are sales all the way up to $6 as well, hinting at more growth still to come. Any card good enough to see play in Legacy is worth keeping an eye on, and Dowser has found a few homes in the format so far.
It’s worth noting that ‘Leyline’ is a fairly generic MTG term, which means that this card could be reprinted in a future set fairly easily. For now, though, the card has just one printing and some serious playability behind it. The result? An expensive rare that no one saw coming.
Read More: MTG MH3 Leaks Showcase New Boros Escape Titan!
Eldrazi Temple
Finally, let’s take a look at a card that’s been steadily climbing for the past month. We’ve known that Eldrazi will be a core theme of Modern Horizons 3 for a while now. We’ve seen a lot of the new Eldrazi, too, thanks to the leaks. It’s no surprise, then, that Eldrazi Temple, a Sol Land for the type, is seeing some serious spikes.
There are actually quite a few printings of this card, but even the cheapest one has still doubled in price, from $1 to $2, since the start of May. Some editions, like the original Rise of the Eldrazi printing or the Commander Masters version, are going for $6-8. With the reveal of Ugin’s Labyrinth, a new colorless Sol land that rewards you for playing Eldrazi-sized creatures, Eldrazi Winter may be coming to Modern once again.
This spike isn’t surprising, then, but it is one to be cautious about. Eldrazi decks are getting so many new pieces in Modern Horizons 3 that there’s a very real chance the archetype takes off. And last time that happened, Eye of Ugin, one of the lands that enabled it, caught the ban hammer. Grab some Eldrazi Temples if you’re an Eldrazi loyal, but don’t be surprised if they’re banished from the format before long.
Read More: $750 ‘Black Lotus VIP’ MagicCon Tickets Sell Out In Minutes!
