It’s rare, but not impossible, for uncommon MTG cards to reach fairly impressive prices on the secondary market. When this happens, players typically refer to the cards in question as ‘Mythic Uncommons.’ We’ve seen a new member of this proud MTG tradition emerge this past week in Monstrous Rage. This once-humble Wilds of Eldraine uncommon has shot up by over 280% recently. It’s not the only card shaking things up in Standard, either. Caretaker’s Talent, following in the footsteps of its illustrious green cousin, is up over 220% itself.
Monstrous Rage (+300%)
Though the current Monstrous Rage spike is unusual for an MTG card of its kind, it’s not actually that surprising when you look at its overall performance. The card sees play in all manner of Standard Aggro decks, from Mono-Red to Rakdos to Gruul. It fills a very similar role in Pioneer, and it even shows up in Modern, too. Prowess decks in that format love the immediate burst damage Rage provides, but also the lasting benefit in the permanent Aura token.
Thanks to all of this success, the card has risen in price from a reasonable $1 to around $4, representing a jump of approximately 300%. That’s a fairly significant move, especially for an uncommon. It’s worth noting, however, that the card only has a single printing from Wilds of Eldraine last year. Being an uncommon, it didn’t get any alternate treatments or additional printings, either. This means supply is somewhat limited, and therefore periods of high demand, like the one we’re seeing now, can cause spikes.
Is Monstrous Rage likely to hold its MTG secondary market value? That’s a tricky question to answer. As red combat tricks go, it’s probably the best one we’ve seen in a long while, going by its multi-format success. It’s also difficult to reprint in Standard since the Role Aura tokens are Eldraine-specific. That said, the fact that it’s an uncommon does mean its value is entirely tied to the success of aggressive archetypes. Commander won’t be swooping in to save this one any time soon. I’d predict a temporary rise to $5 on this one, then a drop back to $1-2 once it rotates out of Standard.
Caretaker’s Talent (+230%)
Caretaker’s Talent is a very different beast. This is a superb support piece for token decks of all stripes. Particularly in Commander, where it’s seeing most of its play currently. Players are experimenting with the card in Standard too, however, with copies showing up in Jeskai Artifacts and Mono-White Poison lists.
Most players were quick to acknowledge this card’s potential in Commander. We even gave this card a spot in our Best Commander cards from Bloomburrow list. Commander is a huge driver for card value these days, so it makes sense that this card is spiking so hard. Specifically, it has jumped from around $1.20 to around $4. This is a 230% increase and a serious move for what was previously a bulk rare.
This follows on from the Innkeeper’s Talent spike last week, where a new infinite combo took the card to an absurd $14. I don’t foresee Caretaker’s Talent going the same way, since there’s no serious Standard demand as of yet. That said, the relatively low supply of this card compared to many other Bloomburrow rares, since it has no special treatments, could keep it on the rise for a while yet.
Caretaker’s Talent feels to me like the very definition of a safe bet. Unlike Monstrous Rage, its value isn’t predicated on performance in a dynamic format, but rather on Commander. Token decks likely aren’t going anywhere fast, and as long as they exist, so will this card’s value. It will likely continue to grow steadily as more players add it to their decks and supply becomes constrained.
Read More: MTG Reserved List Card Jumps From $32 to $100 in Under 24 Hours!
