Unsurprisingly, given Smaug is one of the all-time greats when it comes to hoarding treasure, The Hobbit has tons of Treasure-focused cards. Considering three new Smaugs look like slam-dunk Commanders for the archetype, it’s no wonder demand for Treasure staples is up considerably.
While many Treasure staples are already well-known and, thankfully, widely reprinted, there are a few offbeat options. Mastermind Plum, for instance, has yet to achieve true staple status; however, it appears it’s on its way there. Thanks to a fresh wave of demand from the new Smaug cards, the popularity and price of Plum have just jumped.
MTG Mastermind Plum
While Mastermind Plum is technically capable of creating treasures on its own, realistically, that ability isn’t why you’re playing the card. The reliance on attack triggers without in-built evasion is never great, and Plum doesn’t even generate Treasures very quickly. Thankfully, you don’t ever need to use this ability to make Plum worthwhile, as its second ability provides more than enough value.
So long as you have plenty of Treasures from other sources, Mastermind Plum is a constant card advantage machine. Whether you’re turning cheap spells into cantrips or automatically replacing massive threats, it’s hard to go wrong. The only thing you have to watch out for is the steady life loss, but even that is easily offset and rarely damning in Commander.
With all this in mind, it’s no wonder that Mastermind Plum already sees play in Treasure-focused decks. That said, its play rate within this archetype is surprisingly low, considering it could easily be an auto-include. Appearing in just 20,900 decks, according to EDHREC, this card is hardly ubiquitous, but it’s not a staple, either.
Curiously, while it’s still early days, the new Smaug cards haven’t caused a massive explosion in Mastermind Plum’s play rate. So far, only 99 prospective Smaug the Impenetrable lists are eyeing up this card on ECHREC. Similarly, there are only 40 Smaug, Wicked Worm lists using this card so far, which feels criminally low, given its potential.
Despite this seemingly slow start, many MTG players have been raving about how good this card is. With the MTG finance subreddit also picking up on the hype recently, it appears speculation is the main driver behind the price spike. While this does make this spike a little suspect, given Mastermind Plum’s power, it could very much have legs.
The Spike
Beyond being a capable and compelling engine for Treasure-focused decks, Mastermind Plum is also rather scarce. Available exclusively within the Ravnica: Clue/Cleudo Edition, there’s not exactly a ton of supply on the market. Despite this, Mastermind Plum actually used to be rather cheap, selling for just $1.51 on average.
Sadly, while this past price point was a steal, it’s now also long gone, following a massive surge in sales over the past few days. With over 400 copies changing hands in four days, there’s now very little left on the market. Out of the 16 remaining listings, prices now start at $7.49, representing a 396% price spike.
Unfortunately for anyone looking to pick up a copy of Mastermind Plum, there aren’t any budget options remaining. Worse-condition copies have either all been bought out or are bafflingly listed for more right now. Frustratingly, it’s also unclear which way this price spike will go, making picking up copies now a bit of a gamble.
The Future
On the one hand, Mastermind Plum does genuinely feel like an underplayed MTG card. Even if you ignore its first ability entirely, the value from consistent card draw is insane for a deck with abundant mana like Treasures. Just because this card arguably deserves to see more play, however, doesn’t mean it will.
Right now, it’s unclear how much love there is for The Hobbit and the many Smaug cards it contains. If the set doesn’t perform as well as expected, or players just don’t like this card, the speculative demand may not be realized. If this happens, then the price of Mastermind Plum could easily crash before too long.
Even if the price of Plum does increase, there’s no telling where it might end up. Since its origins are rather unusual, it could have serious potential, but that’s hardly guaranteed. Now that Mastermind Plum is already the most expensive suspect card from the Clue crossover, predicting its future is incredibly nebulous.
Ultimately, as is often the case with MTG price spikes, we’ll just have to wait and see where Mastermind Plum ends up. Hopefully, it shouldn’t take long for things to become clear, since The Hobbit prereleases begin on August 7th. Once this date rolls around, demand for the Smaugs and their support prices should become a lot clearer.
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