While we’re now in the midst of the Secrets of Strixhaven spoiler season, this set hasn’t affected the MTG markets just yet. That, however, doesn’t mean the markets aren’t moving, as Premodern is still making waves. Following the fairly recent ban of Parallax Tide, we’re still seeing spikes as the new metagame settles. Opalescence, for instance, is the latest Reserved List MTG card that has shot up in price.
MTG Opalescence
Following Parallax Tide’s ban back in early January, Enchantress decks have been on the rise in Premodern. The archetype is so good that, nowadays, there are two different ways to build the deck. Whether you’re using the Azorius Replenish graveyard combo or the more traditional Selesnya build, Opalescence is the core win condition in both decks.
By turning all of your enchantments into creatures, Opalescence allows your pillowfort-y enchantments to become the win conditions themselves. Thanks to this, Premodern Enchantress decks don’t need to run creatures to get over the finish line. This allows cards, like Decree of Silence, to essentially function as both a win condition and a lock piece, where it may otherwise be unplayable.
Sadly, outside of Premodern, Opalescence doesn’t see much play, only appearing in about 6350 decks according to EDHREC. While it rarely appears in some Commander decks, turning all of your enchantments into creatures in that format usually just gets them boardwiped. Despite this, the card still appears alongside some specific Commanders, like Zur, Eternal Schemer, who can reliably protect your enchantment creatures from removal.
The Spike
Near-mint copies of Opalescence haven’t seen a ton of demand, but there was a noticeable spike when Parallax Tide was banned. Between near-mint and lightly played copies, only 25 copies were sold between January 19th and 21st. Even though only a few copies moved on the market, the increase in demand was enough to cause a longer-term price spike. Opalescence is a Reserved List card, after all, meaning the available supply is quite limited.
Due to this naturally low supply, near-mint copies of Opalescence were already worth around $23 prior to the ban. Now, the cheapest near-mint Opalescence on the market will cost you $48. Currently, foils are even more ridiculous, selling for over $300.
Like many of these more expensive older cards, card condition can have a big impact on Opalescence’s final price point. Thanks to this, there are some bargains available if you’re comfortable with buying some worse-conditioned copies. You can find damaged copies of the enchantment for as low as $25, but there is a chance that these aren’t viable for tournament play. Fortunately, multiple moderately played copies are available starting at $31.
Tied to Premodern
Like many of the old, somewhat unplayed Premodern spikes, Opalescence’s secondary market price is entirely tied to the format. Considering that this card is a core inclusion in two popular decks, Opalescence is unlikely to go anywhere in Premodern. Thanks to this, Opalescence shouldn’t see a huge price drop anytime soon.
That being said, Enchantress strategies can be susceptible to metagame churn since they attack on an unusual angle. Premodern’s pre-ban era was evidence of this, as Enchantress decks weren’t nearly as popular or viable then. Due to this, there’s a non-zero chance that a future ban could upset the format’s metagame, pushing Enchantress strategies out.
Notably, Opalescence has spiked in the past, following the release of the Miracle Worker Commander precon in 2024. While prices did dip somewhat after the $43 peak, this surge in demand put a serious dent in supply. This, in turn, led to higher lasting prices, which could easily happen again now. That, however, is just a prediction, and since we can’t predict the future, we’ll just have to wait and see what happens.
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