Some Magic cards have the ability to offer significant benefits at the expense of a deficit. Mental Misstep, for example, is an absurdly efficient counterspell, but it can only counter things with a mana value of one. Regardless, since this card technically didn’t cast mana, Mental Misstep ended up catching a lot of bans. Spell Snare, while not on a ban list, is a similar, but much weaker, spell getting a lot of attention.
Thanks to the ever-evolving Modern metagame, some spells are becoming a much better fit for it. Spell Snare is incredibly powerful if there are enough things for it to hit. The card has seen massive price increases across variants. Here’s why.
Spell Snare
- Mana value: U
- Rarity: Uncommon
- Card Type: Instant
- Text on the card: Counter target spell with converted mana cost 2.
Spell Snare has seen explosive price increases across variants this week. The spell has risen in popularity following the recent changes to the Modern format. There are a ton of two-mana spells for Spell Snare to counter.
Some high-impact spells that this card deals with are Ajani, Nacatl Pariah, Amped Raptor, Springheart Nantuko, Underworld Breach, Psychic Frog, and much more. The point is, that there are enough spells for Spell Snare to counter to warrant a spot in some main decks. It’s challenging to beat the efficiency of countering a spell for one mana.
According to trends on TCGplayer, Spell Snare began increasing in price about a month ago. The card has been printed four times, and all of its variants are increasing in price. That said, they are going up by different amounts. Here are all the price spikes between variants, from most expensive to cheapest:
- Dissension: $1.75 – $17 (Consistent $17-28 outliers, but look for $7 if you want these)
- Battlebond: $0.60 – somewhere between $3.50-5
- Modern Masters: $0.90 – $2.50 ($6 outliers are seen here)
- List Reprint: $0.60 – $3 ($4 outliers seen)
Foil iterations of Spell Snare saw a rather explosive price increase due to scarcity. None of these were printed before foils were made more easily accessible, which means that they are surprisingly hard to come by. Some foil Spell Snares are listed for as high as $96 on TCGplayer!
Keep an Eye on Changing Metagames!
Even though Modern is currently in a strange spot, considering the menace that is Nadu and Winged Wisdom, there are a lot of metagame developments still occurring. The bird will leave the room when the time comes, allowing for things to progress properly. That said, players aren’t letting the bird’s presence get them down, and Spell Snare’s heightened popularity is a perfect example of that.
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