Over the past few months, Gandalf, White Rider has been on one hell of a journey. Climbing from under $2 in price to now nearer $8, this Wizard has been making a name for itself rather steadily.
This impressive price climb follows a double whammy of demand, which is rarely seen in MTG. Typically, the majority of MTG price spikes tend to be one-and-done affairs with little enduring support.
For better or worse, Gandalf, White Rider has bucked this long-established trend, causing an impressive price climb. Between new legends from The Hobbit and Reality Fracture, tons of decks have been wanting this Gandalf.
MTG Gandalf, White Rider
Released back in 2023, Gandalf, White Rider has undeniably fantastic flavor, as, after a brief nap, he can come back from the dead by going into your deck. Sadly, while this is fun flavor-wise, the actual card is kind of just okay, really.
By buffing your board and letting you Scry whenever you cast a spell, this Gandalf definitely has potential. To maximize this card, however, you need tons of spare mana to cast as many spells in one turn as possible.
Thankfully for fans of Gandalf, Commander has tons of fast mana, and there are plenty of cost-reduction cards, too. Alongside Commanders like
Elminster
Elminster
Whenever you scry, the next instant or sorcery spell you cast this turn costs {X} less to cast, where X is the number of cards looked at while scrying this way.
+2: Draw a card, then scry 2.
−3: Exile the top card of your library. Create a number of 1/1 blue Faerie Dragon creature tokens with flying equal to that card's mana value.
Elminster can be your commander.
, for instance, you can keep churning out spells while benefiting from Scry triggers.
More recently, Gandalf, White Rider is being found in
Gandalf, Party Guest
Gandalf, Party Guest
At the beginning of combat on your turn, you may cast an instant or sorcery spell with mana value X or less from your hand without paying its mana cost, where X is twice the number of legendary Wizards you control.
decks, since he ticks a lot of boxes. Not only is White Rider also a Wizard, supporting that typal edge, but buffing your board is relevant since you’re going wide, too.
With repeated cost reduction allowing you to buff your board a fair bit each turn, it’s no wonder these two Gandalf cards are popular together. This is when White Rider’s price spike started, in fact, and it’s only gotten better since then.
In Reality Fracture, we got Denzilore Fatehold, which dishes out counters across your board whenever you Scry or Surveil. This is the dream pairing for Gandalf, White Rider, since he turns every spell into a Scry trigger.
Beyond just keeping you Scrying constantly, Gandalf gives you even more buffs to dish out insane amounts of damage. Due to this, it’s no wonder that this Gandalf is being played in 56% of all Denzilore decks so far.
A Slow But Steady Climb
Thanks to The Hobbit and Reality Fracture combined, Gandalf, White Rider has been climbing for quite some time. This has allowed Gandalf to grow from being a near-bulk rare into a solid and semi-expensive support piece.
Before Gandalf, Party Guest was spoiled back in early July, Gandalf, White Rider used to sell for around $1.90 on average. Over the past few months, however, sales have been impressively consistent, with more than 350 near-mint copies having sold.
Admittedly, while sales have been consistent, around 350 copies selling isn’t a massive amount in the grand scheme of MTG. When this MTG card is only available in a Starter Kit, however, supply is much lower than usual.
Through this unusual scarcity, it hasn’t taken much for Gandalf, White Rider prices to ramp up. Now, if you’re after a near-mint copy, for instance, it’ll set you back $7.59. This marks a 299% price climb in the past few months, and it might not even stop there.
Unfortunately, if you’re after a copy of Gandalf, White Rider on a budget, there aren’t any enticing options available. Lightly played copies are selling for $7.57, while moderately played examples aren’t much better at $6.63.
Sadly for budget enthusiasts, the extended art version of Gandalf, White Rider offers no saving grace. Here, near-mint copies start at $11.29, and even damaged copies are $8.98.
A Solid Staple?
While Gandalf, White Rider has had a good run recently with back-to-back support, there’s no telling how long that’ll last. Until more sets and spoilers are revealed, we can only really wait and see what happens.
That said, since Gandalf cares about casting spells and supports Scry cards, future support feels inevitable. Hell, there’s a good chance we’ll get Scry support in Nauctis: The Sunken Realm, since that’s a very blue-aligned set.
Even if there’s nothing good in Nauctis, the chances of getting a Commander that cares about Scry eventually feel near-guaranteed. This could mean that Gandalf, White Rider becomes something of a staple in time, but that could take years.
In that time, there’s always the possibility that this Gandalf will end up being reprinted in a bonus sheet or precon somewhere. Admittedly, this doesn’t happen a lot to Universes Beyond cards, but stranger things have happened in MTG.
Ultimately, as is often the case with MTG finance, we can only really wait and see what happens here. Considering Gandalf’s slow and steady climb, however, I certainly wouldn’t count this card out anytime soon.
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