Premodern has experienced a big boost in popularity over the last few months. Thanks to the format being introduced to Magic Online, more games of Premodern are being played more than ever. The sheer influx of data caused Premodern’s first banning in three years, despite no new cards entering the format.
Thanks to this shakeup, many unique old tools have been spiking in price lately. Now, it appears that the potent mana sink Plaguebearer is next in line.
MTG Plaguebearer
Printed all the way back in Exodus, Plaguebearer isn’t the most powerful card on the surface. Most of the card’s appeal comes from its activated ability being repeatable. Thanks to this, you can technically use it to remove problematic threats turn after turn. The problem, of course, is that this ability isn’t the most efficient.
Even killing creatures with mana cost two or greater requires a whopping five mana investment on top of Plaguebearer’s initial casting cost. As such, Plaguebearer doesn’t realistically help answer the big monsters you expect to face down in Commander. Given its unreliability, it’s no wonder that this creature doesn’t even crack the 1,000 Commander deck threshold according to EDHREC.
In Premodern, however, Plaguebearer offers significant utility thanks to the format’s cheap threats. Being able to answer Mishra’s Factory for one mana is a big deal, as is killing Phyrexian Dreadnought for three mana. With this in mind, Plaguebearer has a lot of appeal as a one-of in Survival of the Fittest shells out of the sideboard.
Additionally, Plaguebearer makes for a nice inclusion in the NicFit archetype. Thanks to the power of Veteran Explorer, these decks often have plenty of mana to sink into Plaguebearer’s ability. Once you add in more niche archetypes like Mono-Black Zombies, it makes sense why this card’s demand would be on the rise.
The Spike
For the last year, Plaguebearer has remained quite cheap. Naturally, this 28-Year-Old Zombie’s supply has been very low, but its lack of demand has kept the card’s price consistently below $1.50. While demand hasn’t exactly skyrocketed by huge amounts, the gradual uptick, coupled with minimal supply, has proved enough to cause a spike.
Yesterday, on March 13th, five near mint copies sold for $12, representing a 796% price spike since the card’s lowest point of $1.34 one month ago. As things currently stand, picking up a near-mint copy is even harder, as there are only three near-mint listings available starting at $19.99.
The good news, at least, is that cheaper copies are available in worse condition. There are seven listings for heavily played copies, with the lowest checking in at $3.25 with shipping, and damaged copies are at $2.19. This stark difference isn’t too shocking, considering that near mint supply for such an old card is typically scarcer and more vulnerable to demand surges.
The Future
Like most Premodern-based spikes, predicting what will happen to Plaguebearer’s price in the long run is extremely hard. On one hand, Premodern’s popularity doesn’t seem to be decreasing anytime soon. With supply as low as it is for near mint copies, there’s reason to believe Plaguebearer’s value could keep going up.
On the flip side, however, Plaguebearer’s narrow applications might prevent the Zombie’s demand from rising any higher. Not only does Plaguebearer see minimal play outside of Premodern, but it also isn’t a staple in any of the top decks in the format. Plus, in the decks it does see play in, it almost always appears in small numbers in the sideboard as a non-essential element.
If that weren’t enough, it’s not out of the question that Plaguebearer earns a reprint in the future. This Zombie is not on the Reserved List, and any appearance on an upcoming bonus sheet would completely tank its value. Nonetheless, there’s no indication that a reprint is on the horizon.
Given these unpredictable factors, it’s impossible to know how the future of Plaguebearer’s value will fluctuate. For now, we’ll just have to wait and see how things play out.
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