While Dwarf and Treasure themes dominated early financial shifts caused by The Hobbit, different archetypes are now causing some waves. Recently, Bear Typal has become the new hotness, with all kinds of supporting cards suddenly spiking in price. Considering this, it’s rather shocking that Ayula, Queen Among Bears, is spiking in price.
MTG Ayula, Queen Among Bears
As far as Bear Typal support goes, Ayula, Queen Among Bears is one of the absolute best pieces available. Buffing Bears as they enter, or just turning them into outright removal, Ayula makes even the smallest Bears into instant threats. As a result of this, Ayula is primarily played in Bear Typal Commander decks.
While this has always been a cult classic theme, The Hobbit has caused a sudden surge in popularity. Not only is Beorn the Fierce driving Bear Typal demand, but it synergizes effortlessly with Ayula. By allowing you to take down bigger creatures through Beorn’s buff, or turn 2/2 bears into deadly 6/6s, these two work fantastically together.
If that weren’t enough, The Hobbit’s vast Bear Typal support has also helped Ayula out in the command zone. Since Ayula’s ability triggers on tokens, this card is particularly synergistic with Dancing from Dark to Dawn. Alternatively, for removing opposing creatures, Gigantic Big Bear is essentially an uninteractable death sentence when played with the Queen Among Bears.
With these synergies in mind, it’s not shocking that Ayula sees play in about 3,360 Beorn the Fierce decks according to EDHREC. Throw in another 2,500 copies of The Hobbit upgrades in Ayula decks, and it’s no wonder this Bear is getting expensive.
The Spike
Over the past month, about 640 copies of Ayula’s base Modern Horizons 3 variant have exchanged hands, tripling the demand seen in the previous two months. Thanks to this, Ayula’s previous $1.44 market price from a month ago is long gone. With prices for this variant now starting at $4.93, Ayula, Queen Among Bears has experienced a 230% price spike.
Thankfully, if you’re still in the market for a copy of Ayula, there is a cheaper variant avaiable. So long as you don’t mind the Pip-Boy-inspired artwork, the reskinned nonfoil Ruzka, Terror of Point Lookout Fallout copy of Ayula starts at $3.07. If you’re looking for some bling, however, the Surge Foil copy of Ruzka is the most expensive Ayula on offer, starting at $70 after a massive 564% price spike over the last month.
Another Temporary Fad
While many of the other spiking Hobbit themes have more staying power thanks to Treasures being an Evergreen mechanic, the same is not true for Bear Typal. Despite having surprisingly strong individual support cards, it’s rare that new support pieces get printed. Due to this, once MTG players have their fill from The Hobbit, demand for Ayula will likely fall before too long.
All of that said, despite Bear Typal seeming like a temporary fad, it’s truly impossible to tell the future for anything, including MTG. With this looking like a genuine, player-inspired spike, it could take a long time for supply to return to the marketplace, keeping prices high. Thanks to this, only time will tell what happens with Ayula, Queen Among Bears, but if you wait long enough, she will probably get cheaper.
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