MTG Finance seems to have lost its mind. The gold rush to predict the unbanned Commander card has set the entire market on fire. Everyone is rushing to buy the card that they believe will be unbanned in the near future. If they guess correctly, they could be in for quite the windfall. Biorhythm is the next card in a long line of speculative choices that resulted in price increases.
See, after the absurdly controversial bans made to the Commander format not too long ago, Wizards of the Coast officially took over the role of monitoring the Commander format. This happened after the Commander Rules Committee faced immense backlash. This inexcusable behavior forced them to hand over the reins to Wizards for their own safety.
Now that the Commander ban list is in new hands, the potential for an unban is definitely on the table. The three-year stasis that this format experienced is officially over.
Biorhythm
In our opinion, if unbans actually do happen in the Commander format, Biorhythm is one of the more likely cards to be unbanned. Some players expect cards like Tolarian Academy to get unbanned. That, for me, seems absolutely ridiculous.
There is a long series of expensive effects that saw bans in Commander because, back in the day, they were incredibly efficient ways to end the game. Nowadays, we have whacky two-card death combos that only cost three mana. In comparison, Biorhythm seems harmless.
That said, if someone actually manages to resolve this behemoth of a spell, the game is probably over. Some setup is required, but it’s easy to knock multiple players out with this spell’s resolution. The fall of the table should come shortly after.
Even comparing Biorhythm to the legal Expropriate, which just saw a Special Guests reprint, highlights how dated this ban is. Expropriate is another game-ending spell that costs less to cast and requires much less setup to win the game with. That said, while Expropriate will sometimes act as a massive catch-up tool if you’re really behind, Biorhythm will basically always end the game.
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The Spike
Biorhythm’s spike has been on the subtle side of things in comparison to the very loud Tolarian Academy-esque spikes, but the card has still risen in price a fair bit. Only 58 cents pre-spike, Onslaught copies of Biorhythm are now commonly selling for about $3.50, but there is a string of sales on TCGplayer that feature this card selling for as much as $7.
Eighth edition Biorhythms are selling for a little less than the Onslaught ones, but foil copies of Biorhythm from Eighth edition are beginning to approach the $30 mark. Should Biorhythm really get unbanned, foil copies are likely to skyrocket, albeit temporarily.
Lead by Example
A similar MTG card to Biorhythm already got unbanned in Commander. Three years ago, when Golos, Tireless Pilgrim left the Commander format, Worldfire was unbanned. A similar, game-ending spell on resolution, Wildfire is difficult to cast, but dooms the game should it fail to meet a counterspell.
Before Wildfire’s banning, the card was only worth a dollar. It quickly rose to $8 post-ban after an initial spike to $25. That said, the card experienced spikes during Lost Caverns of Ixalan and Bloomburrow that have now resulted in it costing $30 apiece.
This is the financial speculation that MTG players are chasing, but it also contains a lesson. Should something like Biorhythm actually receive an unbanning, don’t rush after the card immediately. It will likely see a massive spike until players realize that the card is a rather clunky eight-mana spell that ends the game on the spot. Not only is it massive counterspell bait, but ending a game of Commander out of the blue may not be the experience that some MTG players are after.
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