Now that Universes Beyond has been around for a while, nothing is that surprising in MTG anymore. We’re getting crossovers galore nowadays, and it seems that only a few things are off limits. That being said, it still throws me for a loop that Magic: The Gathering has crossed over with Hatsune Miku.
Beyond just having one crossover, Miku has had four dedicated Secret Lair drops up until this point. As if that wasn’t enough, recently, it has been leaked that Miku is gearing up for an encore. If these leaks are to be believed, we’ll be getting an entire Hatsune Miku-themed Commander precon in the future.
So far, there’s no information on when this precon will actually be released, or what the full decklist looks like. To date, we’ve only seen three cards from this upcoming precon, in fact, but MTG players are seemingly already loving it. Just a few days after it was first leaked, this upcoming precon is already starting to cause price spikes.
MTG Miku, Divine Diva
Released as part of the Hatsune Miku: Electric Entourage Secret Lair drop Miku, Divine Diva is a reskin of Elspeth Tirel. Sadly, as far as Planeswalkers go, this Elspeth is really not that great. While it can technically wipe the board the turn after it drops, its other abilities are at odds with that.
Elspeth Tirel can do real work within a go-wide token deck, as that works with both her +2 and -2 abilities. Going down this route, however, makes her ultimate ability basically pointless, since you’ll undo your own work. At that point, spending give mana just for a few tokens and lifegain every other turn seems like a bit of a waste.
Thanks to this, Elspeth Tirel doesn’t see a great deal of Commander play. According to EDHREC, she’s most popular within Child of Alara lists, and she’s hardly a staple there. Thankfully, for those who do like this card, Elspeth should have a new home soon. This is thanks to the leaked Hatsune Miku deck, which will, naturally, want more Miku.
From the looks of things, the unreleased Hatsunu Miku will be helmed by Trostani, Selesnya’s Voice, reskinned as Miku, Song of the People. Should this be the face Commander, as expected, then this Miku deck will likely go wide with tokens, using the Populate ability. This, in turn, makes Elspeth Tirel a strong fit for the deck, and Miku, Divine Diva an even better one.
Somewhat unsurprisingly, thanks to looking like a great fit already, demand for Miku, Divine Diva has shot up. As a result, this Secret Lair MTG card has skyrocketed in price, and that may well just be the start.
The Spike
Somewhat unsurprisingly, given how meh the card is, there’s been no uptick in demand for Elspeth Tirel. On TCGplayer, only a handful of near-mint copies have been sold recently, which hasn’t impacted the price at all. Currently, a near-mint non-foil copy will only set you back $2.99, which has been the going rate for yonks.
For better or worse, the same lack of a spike cannot be said for Miku, Divine Diva. Despite being the exact same card, the flavor here has pushed up demand and prices massively. While this is great for those holding onto copies of this Secret Lair card, you’ll have to pay a pretty penny if you’re after a copy.
Currently, the cheapest copy of Miku, Divine Diva on TCGplayer is going for $70.50. Notably, this is a $30 spike over what the card used to sell for, as it hovered around $30-$40 since release. While prices have already jumped since then, recent sales have peaked at $129, and many new listings are over the $100 mark.
For now, while supply is low, $100 isn’t the going rate for non-foil copies of Miku, Divine Diva. Sadly, the rainbow foil variant, however, is quickly approaching that mark. Having similarly spiked from around $40, near-mint foil copies are now going for $93. Should sales continue at the current rate, however, even this price point might not last long.
A Lucrative Trend?
For better or worse, this isn’t the first time that we’ve seen a Secret Lair card spike like this. When the Goblin Storm precon was leaked, for instance, there was an immediate surge in demand for the Goblin & Squabblin’ drop. Since the precon and drop had art by Wizard of Barge, the perfectly matched flavor pushed prices through the roof.
Now, there’s a very real chance that the same thing will happen to other Hatsune Miku MTG cards. Currently, there’s actually quite a lot of these, and a few of them could genuinely fit into a go-wide Selesnya precon too. Miku Voice of Power, Miku, Font of Pop, Harmonize, and even Beloved Princess could all fit in the deck.
Should past trends continue, there’s a very real chance that some, if not all, of these cards will spike in the future. That being said, investing in them now could be slightly premature. While Secret Lair cards don’t get reprinted with the same art, new reprints could have new art.
Due to this, there’s technically a chance that cards like Miku, Divine Diva, or rather Elspeth Tirel, could be reprinted with a new reskin. If this does happen, any money spent investing now could be a waste, as any hypothetical demand wouldn’t be realized. While the chances of this happening feel low, this did technically happen with the Goblin Storm precon and Goblin Lackey.
Ultimately, as always, while we can look at past trends, we can’t properly predict the future. As such, we’re just going to have to wait and see what happens in the coming months.
Stick with us here at mtgrocks.com: the best site for Magic: The Gathering coverage.