Over recent weeks, we’ve seen multiple cards from The Big Score spike in price. This has already happened to Pest Control, in fact, following its appearance in Esper Pixie Standard decks. As if one price spike wasn’t good enough, Pest Control is now back with a vengeance, jumping another 350%!
Pest Control
As we remarked the first time Pest Control had a price spike, this card is a rather unusual board wipe. Against the right opponent, it can be completely one-sided and devastating, which seems obscene for just two mana. Despite this, for the longest time, Pest Control has been a wildly unpopular MTG card.
All this has been changing recently, however, thanks to Standard and now Modern. At first, this card was picked up by Espier Pixie decks in Standard for the mirror match. When played at the right time, this cheap spell could completely ruin an opponent’s day, so it’s little wonder it became a valuable piece of tech.
Since then, Pest Control has broken out in Modern, making compelling appearances in Esper Oculus and Reanimator decks. Now this card has arrived in Modern, it’s only a wonder that it didn’t happen sooner, as it makes a ton of sense. Currently, Pest Control singlehandedly deals with the two best decks in Modern with relative ease.
Following the format-shifting bans back in December, Modern is now largely ruled by Boros Energy and Temur Breach. Both of these decks rely heavily on cheap creatures and artifacts costing one mana or often even less. This means that dropping a Pest Control at the right time can completely hose them.
Despite being an obvious board wipe to use, adding Pest Control to existing Esper decks hasn’t guaranteed automatic wins. There’s no doubt Esper Oculus and Reanimator are doing better now, but they’re still struggling for wins.
In spite of this somewhat lackluster performance, there has nonetheless been a huge surge of interest in Pest Control. Unsurprisingly, this has caused quite a spectacular price spike.
The Spike
As mentioned, this is the second time that we’re covering a price spike to Pest Control since 2025 began. Originally, the first price spike we saw was rather tepid, with Pest Control only jumping by around 137%. Last we left off, this card was selling for $4.42, which didn’t seem to be at the time.
Now, however, near-mint copies of Pest Control are selling for upwards of $20. This may seem like a lot, but the rush of demand for this card has been nothing short of obscene. Thankfully, despite the $20 peak price, slightly cheaper copies are available as listings currently start at $18.35.
For those looking to save a little bit of money, a handful of lightly played copies are available for slightly less. These cheaper cards, however, are in incredibly short supply as there are only three lightly played listings on TCGplayer. Considering these start at $15.81, you’re not exactly getting the most spectacular savings either.
Regardless of what condition you’re looking at, copies of Pest Control are now incredibly scarce. On TCGplayer, there are currently only 21 near-mint copies available for purchase across all the card’s variants. Given that Pest Control hails from The Big Score, this remarkable rarity isn’t even too surprising.
Thanks to their implicit rarity and desirability, we’ve long seen cards like Vaultborn Tyrant selling for $31+. Notably, however, this expensive Commander staple is far more readily available, with over 100 copies available for purchase. This raises some important questions about the future of this Pest Control price spike.
The Future
Ultimately, the future of Pest Control’s price is an interesting nut to crack. On the one hand, this card is in demand for good reason, since it’s exceptionally useful in multiple formats. Despite this, we can’t help but think that prices are currently overinflated compared to what they should be.
As usual, with price spikes, a lot of MTG players have been keen to jump on the breakout bandwagon. Anyone looking to try out this new card will need a playset, which puts an immense amount of strain on the available supply. When supply is already scarce thanks to the card’s rarity, that quickly causes prices to skyrocket.
From here, it typically doesn’t take long for prices to stabilize as early investors start to sell their haul. While this usually keeps things balanced, there’s a non-zero chance that demand has continued undeterred. Even though it’s 600% more expensive than it used to be, dropping $20 on a single card is hardly new for Modern players.
In the short term, there’s a real possibility that Pest Control will remain expensive, or even see another price spike. Looking further ahead, however, there’s a very real chance that demand for this card could completely fall away. Currently, MTG players are already starting to suspect major bans to Modern in March, which could shift the market.
If key cards from Boros Energy and Temur Breach get banned, as players hope, Pest Control won’t be needed anymore. Should this happen, prices would likely drop back down to Standard-driven demand levels of around $5. Additionally, the Oculus archetype had a terrible weekend in competitive events, which could cause demand to drop for Pest Control. Subsequently, this price may be somewhat optimistic, especially given the rate at which the Standard metagame can change.