For better or worse, there are far too many cards in MTG for any one person to remember. At this point, there are over 31,000 MTG cards, and that’s just on paper. Thanks to this, it’s not uncommon for powerful and interesting cards to end up falling through the cracks. This, in turn, can lead to massive price spikes once MTG players realize they exist and have serious potential.
This is exactly what has just happened to Mudslide, a 30-year-old MTG card from Ice Age. After being rediscovered by MTG players and content creators alike, the value of this rare has shot up in price.
MTG Mudslide
For three mana, Mudslide can slow a game of MTG Commander to a complete crawl. By preventing the majority of creatures from untapping normally, this card can automatically hose a great deal of strategies. Technically, opponents can get around this by paying two mana per creature, but that just puts Mudslide on the same level as Propaganda.
Beyond just shutting down most attacks, this card also messes with decks that rely on creatures with activated abilities that require a creature to tap. While this is a major boon, notably, Mudslide is a symmetrical effect, so you’re at risk of being disrupted, too. Thankfully, there are a fair few ways to play around this, such as playing a high density of creatures with Flying.
In particular, Mudslide can work fantastically within Dragon Typal decks, such as those helmed by The Ur-Dragon. Similarly, any deck that uses a lot of creatures with Vigilance can use Mudslide since these won’t get tapped during combat. You can even use this card alongside a Seedborn Muse to get around paying the high untap cost yourself.
With so many strategies able to unlock the potential of Mudslide, this card definitely seems underplayed. Even now, Mudslide only appears in around 1,700 Commander decks. While this card is on the Reserved List, until recently, it wasn’t actually that expensive. That all changed, however, following a video by MTGGoldfish.
The Spike
Thanks to the increased attention from this video, many MTG players have been rushing to pick up copies of Mudslide. Prior to February 3rd, only nine near-mint copies of this card had been sold in the past month. As soon as the video aired, however, 41 copies were sold in one day, and 16 more have sold since then.
Unsurprisingly, the sudden increase in demand has been enough to cause a significant price spike to Mudslide. Previously, when MTG players barely knew this card existed, copies would routinely sell for around $2.34 on average. Considering the potential Mudside has, it was definitely a steal at this price point, but sadly, the market has moved on since then.
Currently, a near-mint copy of Mudslide will set you back $17.75; however, nothing has sold at this price point. Instead, the peak sale price so far is just $10.99, but that’s still a 369% price spike. Thankfully, if you don’t fancy paying quite this much, worse condition copies are slightly cheaper at the moment.
Sadly, prices are up across the board, with damaged copies starting at $9.98 and lightly played ones at $10.19. Unfortunately, if you do want a copy of Mudslide, there’s no escaping this new price point. Thanks to only having one printing and being on the Reserved List, there will never be more supply of this card.
Reserved List Rarity
In theory, even at $10 or $17, Mudslide still looks like an insane spec. After all, since it’s on the Reserved List, there will never be more supply to meet the growing demand. As more and more MTG players realize this card exists, demand could easily soar, pushing prices up dramatically.
With the sky being the limit for Reserved List cards, there’s definitely tons of potential. The real question, however, depends on whether or not MTG players want to unlock this synergy. Even if Mudslide is free in Dragon Typal and Flying-focused decks, most strategies need to be built around it. In many cases, the upside of Mudslide might not be worth its deckbuilding restrictions.
Beyond the effort required, even the upside of Mudslide is somewhat dubious, as Stax effects are often frowned upon. While these cards can easily be exploited and push you ahead, it comes at the cost of the table’s enjoyment. Ultimately, this may put a cap on the appeal and demand for Mudslide in Commander in the long term.
With this in mind, it feels like there’s a decent chance Mudslide will end up falling in price eventually. Demand might be high right now, but it feels unsustainable in the long term. Admittedly, while this typically leads to prices falling eventually, sellers have slightly more control over the Reserved List market, so anything is possible.
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