Now that we’re finally in 2026, the spoiler season for Lorwyn Eclipsed is just a few days away. Beginning on January 5th, Wizards isn’t waiting around to get the ball rolling, and MTG players aren’t either. As new spoilers have been revealed and Commanders leaked, players have been quick to jump on potential trends.
This, as usual, has caused all manner of price spikes in the past few weeks. In particular, we’ve seen a lot of -1/-1 Counter support spike in price, thanks to the reveal of the Blight mechanic. On top of appearing in the main set, Lorwyn Eclipsed even has a precon deck, Blight Curse, built around this.
Somewhat unsurprisingly, this has pushed demand for -1/-1 Counter cars to the extreme.
MTG Crumbling Ashes
First printed in Eventide, Crumbling Ashes looks like the perfect card for any -1/-1 Counter-focused deck. In a focused deck, there should be no shortage of targets for its ability, making it an effortlessly repeatable kill spell. When combined with something like Harbinger of Night, which also spiked in price recently, nothing is safe.
While Crumbling Ashes isn’t obscenely popular in Commander, appearing in only 13,000 decks, this effect is easy to exploit. Commanders like Masacre Girl, Known Killer, Kapatra, Vizier of Poisons, and Volrath, the Shapestealer can easily create Crumbling Ashes targets. As much as these cards are great with Crumbling Ashes, however, the Blight Curse precon might struggle.
While we’ve not really seen any of this deck’s tricks just yet, the downside to Blight kind of kills Crumbling Ashes. Since your opponents get to choose where to put the -1/-1 counters, you can’t guarantee you’ll kill their biggest threats. You might even be left without targets entirely, should opponents put the counters on unneeded 1/1 tokens or creatures.
Thankfully, while there is the potential for anti-synergy, Crumbling Ashes isn’t a terrible card when using Blight. With the threat of removing any creature on your upkeep, opponents will have to think twice about where to place counters. Additionally, should you maintain control of the board, opponents may have no choice but to put their prized creatures in the firing line.
Realistically, even while there’s not the most synergy between Blight and Crumbling Ashes, players are still excited. In the past few weeks, over a hundred copies have been sold, causing an impressive price spike.
The Spike
This time last month, Crumbling Ashes wasn’t a terribly expensive MTG card, but it did have some value. Selling for around $3.87 on average, near-mint non-foil copies did have a little bit of demand behind them. After all, in a focused -1/-1 Counter strategy, this card offers obscene value for just two mana.
Following the reveal of High Perfect Morcant on the 11th, demand suddenly shot through the roof. Over 50 copies were sold in three days, and demand has remained surprisingly consistent since then. Now, there are only 13 listings for near-mint non-foil copies left on TCGplayer, offering 50 copies in total.
Should you want to pick up one of these copies, prices now start at $19.16. This marks a 395% price spike in just one month. While this is definitely impressive, there’s no telling how long this price spike will last.
Unfortunately, if you’re after a copy of Crumbling Ashes, there aren’t many cheaper copies left available. Since this card has only had one printing, much of the worst-condition supply has already been bought up. Now, the cheapest copy of Crumbling Ashes, regardless of condition, is a $13.99 lightly played example.
The Future
Looking ahead, it’s anyone’s guess which way this price spike will end up going. Realistically, there are a handful of different possibilities, but none are that optimistic. In an ideal world, for investors at least, the Blight Curse precon will have plenty of cards that fix Blight’s downside. On top of these hypothetical synergy-unlocking cards, Crumbling Ashes would have to not be reprinted, too.
Should the stars align, and both of these hypotheticals end up happening, the price of Crumbling Ashes could surge once more. Supply is already limited, so a fresh wave of demand could push the price remarkably high. Admittedly, while this is technically possible, it doesn’t feel very likely.
If the Blight Curse precon does help to get around Blight’s downside, it feels like Crumbling Ashes would be reprinted. Hell, even without any extra potential synergy, there’s a non-zero chance Wizards will reprint this card anyway. If this happens, the demand for copies of Crumbling Ashes will be easily satisfied, likely causing a price crash.
Ultimately, while I’m not exactly optimistic about Crumbling Ashes, I can’t predict the future. Thankfully, we don’t have to wait long to find out, though, as Lorwyn Eclipsed’s spoiler season starts and ends next week.
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