Whenever an MTG spoiler season is underway, players are always on the lookout for new combos. Not only are these always fun to play with, regardless of the format, but they can have huge financial implications, too. If you manage to get in early, underprinted old combo pieces can skyrocket in price.
For better or worse, this is exactly what we’re seeing thanks to a recently revealed Reality Fracture spoiler. Through the new Empower Jace mechanic, an old, practically forgotten Planeswalker, Kasmina, Enigma Sage, has suddenly become relevant again. Now, this card has shot up over 446% in value already, and it might not stop there.
MTG Kasmina, Enigma Sage
Released as part of 2021’s Secrets of Strixhaven, has long been a pretty unpopular Planeswalker. While it does have a lot of party tricks, being three mana with a minus ability that protects itself, it’s not perfect. Since the +2 will only Scry, and the ultimate is ages away, Kasmina is too slow for competitive formats.
Even in Commander, Kasmina, Enigma Sage has a huge target on her back, as if you ultimate her, you basically just win. So long as you have
Enter the Infinite
Enter the Infinite
Draw cards equal to the number of cards in your library, then put a card from your hand on top of your library. You have no maximum hand size until your next turn.
in your deck to find, closing out the game with a
Thassa’s Oracle
Thassa’s Oracle
When this creature enters, look at the top X cards of your library, where X is your devotion to blue. Put up to one of them on top of your library and the rest on the bottom of your library in a random order. If X is greater than or equal to the number of cards in your library, you win the game. (Each {U} in the mana costs of permanents you control counts toward your devotion to blue.)
win. While this win condition doesn’t require many pieces, sadly, it’s not exactly easy, as no one should realistically let you get to this point.
Thankfully, due to
Jace’s Machinations
Jace’s Machinations
Until end of turn, you may activate loyalty abilities of Jace planeswalkers you control on any player's turn any time you could cast an instant.
Empower Jace 8. (Put eight loyalty counters on a Jace token you control. If you don't control one, first create a blue Jace planeswalker token with "[−1]: Surveil 1" and "[−3]: Draw a card.")
, you can now effectively cheat your way around Kasmina’s loyalty requirement. Since all other Planeswalkers also get her abilities, the Jace Token that gets created will have enough loyalty to instantly use Kasmina’s ultimate. With a bit of turn one ramp like
Llanowar Elves
Llanowar Elves
{T}: Add {G}.
, you can do all of this by turn three with decent consistency.
With this in mind, it’s no wonder that MTG players have been brewing around Kasmina, Enigma Sage in Pioneer. While it’s still early days, there’s some hope that this turn three combo could be genuinely powerful in the meta. There’s no doubt it’s fast enough; the only question is how survivable it is.
Even with this key detail yet to be proven, MTG players haven’t waited around to invest in Kasmina. Since Jace’s Machinations was revealed and this combo discovered, sales have shot up dramatically.
The Spike
With Kasmina only seeing play in under 8.000 Commander decks, and having no competitive demand, it has long been a budget MTG card. On TCGplayer, you used to be able to pick up copies for as little as $0.93. While even this price point does seem a little high, Kasmina only has one printing, and as a mythic, she’s not exactly common.
Thanks to this rarity, it has only taken around 360 sales in the past few days to clear out most of the near-mint supply. This, in turn, has driven prices up dramatically, with $5.08 now the cheapest near-mint listing. For what it’s worth, since this seller has 50 copies up for purchase, it looks like they’re capitalizing on current demand.
Unfortunately, while there are a handful of cheaper foil listings available for Kasmina, these aren’t perfect for tournament play. With so few cheap copies remaining on the market, too, it might not be long before these are bought up as well. This only leaves the borderless printing of Kasmina, Enigma Sage, but that’s seen an even bigger price spike.
Originally selling for $1.24 before
Jace’s Machinations
Jace’s Machinations
Until end of turn, you may activate loyalty abilities of Jace planeswalkers you control on any player's turn any time you could cast an instant.
Empower Jace 8. (Put eight loyalty counters on a Jace token you control. If you don't control one, first create a blue Jace planeswalker token with "[−1]: Surveil 1" and "[−3]: Draw a card.")
was revealed, this printing has now spiked to $17. This marks a 1,270% price spike in just four days, and given how good the art looks, it’s easy to see why it’s in demand.
The Real Test
As much as the new combo with Kasmina, Enigma Sage looks good, it’s only a theory right now. It’ll only be when Reality Fracture becomes legal on September 25th that this deck will really be tested. Not only is this a ways away, but it’s definitely possible to poke holes in this deck’s game plan.
Unless the new Kasmina Combo decks lean hard into control to protect their vital pieces, it could easily get blown out of the water. Not only are counterspells a serious problem, but even burn could remove Kasmina or affect the Jace Token’s loyalty. With this in mind, the combo may end up relegated to being a part of a larger deck, as it could be too glass cannon-y on its own.
Ultimately, we can only really wait and see what’ll happen to the price of Kasmina, Enigma Sage, going forward. Hopefully, it shouldn’t take too long after the set’s release to get an answer, so we shouldn’t be waiting long, at least.
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