While it won’t be released until November, hype for Mystery Booster Commander Edition is already through the roof. In particular, there’s huge demand for new legends like Whtz, the Bibliophile, who make cards like Battle of Wits finally playable. As if that wasn’t exciting enough, we’re even getting a Nephilim legend, 20 years after the creature type first debuted.
As much as the new Nephilim Epochal might not be the most powerful legend in MTG, it does unlock this creature type’s potential. This, in turn, has caused a surge in demand for cards like Ink-Treader Nephilim, resulting in a major price spike.
MTG Ink-Treader Nephilim
Released back in 2006’s Guildpact, Ink-Treader Nephilim has long been an unpopular MTG card. While it can be incredibly powerful alongside cards like Crimson Wisps, the effect is symmetrical, allowing opponents to abuse it. Sadly, this means that a piece of single-target removal like Murder becomes a ridiculously cheap board wipe, setting you back massively.
Due to this, playing Ink-Treader Nephilim is inherently incredibly risky, which results in under 1,800 decks using this card. Notably, this number used to be a fair bit lower, as it didn’t have an ideal home, but Nephilim Epochal is changing that. Not only is this the first legendary Nephilim in MTG, but it can even tutor up other Nephalims with ease.
Thanks to finally making Nephilim Typal a thing, just shy of 275 new lists have already been created using Ink-Treader Nephilim. While this isn’t the biggest uptick in demand, it has still been enough to move the markets. Now, even though it’s still not very good, Ink-Treader Nephilim is surprisingly expensive if nothing else.
The Spike
Since it saw so little play in Commander, Ink-Treader Nephilim used to be worth just $1.45 on average. While prices have been consistently low for years, that all changed once Mystery Booster Commander Edition spoilers flooded the internet. As soon as Nephilim Epochal was spotted, sales shot up overnight, with just under 70 near-mint copies selling since then.
While this isn’t the biggest uptick in sales, thanks to the card’s age and rarity, it was still enough to clear out the supply on TCGplayer. As a result, prices for Ink-Treader Nephilim quickly began to shoot up, pushing the market average to $3.07. While this isn’t to be scoffed at, recent sales and new listings are significantly higher at $9.99 a piece.
If this near-mint price is a bit dear, you could alternatively pick up a lightly played copy for $4.72. Should you really not care about card condition, there are even some damaged examples for just $2.16. With supply being low across the board, however, even these slightly cheaper copies might not last long.
So Bad It’s Good?
Realistically, Ink-Treader Nephilim’s ongoing price spike feels somewhat dubious. While some MTG players are understandably excited to have a Nephilim Commander, the archetype is still lacking. With only six Nephilim in MTG, Nephilim Epocal doesn’t exactly fuel a strong deck core.
As if this wasn’t bad enough, the Nephilim cards that do exist are all rather unique. Subsequently, throwing them all into the same deck detrimentally pulls it in multiple different directions. Theoretically, you can play Nephilim Epochal as five-color soup; however, that’s not really in the spirit of a typal archetype.
If you’re determined to make Nephilim work, it’s better to use one of the old cards as a Secret Commander. Using Epochal’s tutor effect, you can reliably grab Ink-Treader Nephilim, for instance, while building your 98 around it. Admittedly, even this isn’t a perfect game plan, which makes Ink-Treader Nephilim’s future in the format rather suspect.
Ultimately, it feels like the hype around Ink-Treader Nephilim and Nephilim Epochal won’t last long into the future. Unless we get more Nephilim soon, this card type just isn’t strong enough to be viable and have staying power. That said, given that plenty of players love building around weird and objectively dangerous Commanders, nothing is guaranteed.
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