Ever since the first cards from Secrets of Strixhaven were previewed, it was clear this set had tons of potential. Thanks to this, it’s hardly surprising that we’ve seen so many price spikes throughout the set’s spoiler season. As if that wasn’t enough, we’re even seeing cards from the main set itself spike, now that they’re finally playable.
MTG Professor Dellian Fel
When Professor Dellian Fel was first spoiled, many MTG players weren’t all too enamored by it. This isn’t a bad card, by any means, but realistically, all of its abilities are fairly tame. At best, you can get a Sanguine Bond effect with its ultimate, but that’s hardly game-breaking in the grand scheme of MTG.
Similarly, while strong, Professor Dellian Fel’s +2, 0, and -3 abilities are all useful, but nothing insane. Thanks to all of this, it was quickly assumed this card would only ever be a generic value piece in Golgari-aligned Commander decks. While Dellian is already finding his footing in that format, he’s really outdoing himself in competitive formats.
While not format-breaking, the value and utility that Professor Dellian Fel provides is exactly what Golgari decks have been looking for. When slotting into the old Golgari Demons shell, for example, Dellian’s life gain helps offset Unholy Annex, and his removal keeps the hyper competitive competition in check. With the card draw smoothing out longer games, too, every mode comes in clutch here.
Sadly, judging by the Pro Tour, at least, the emerging Golgari archetypes in Standard aren’t top-tier just yet. Despite this, Professor Dellian Fel has found its way into over 100 Standard decks so far. As if this wasn’t enough to draw interest, it’s also popping up in Pioneer Golgari Midrange decks, too.
The Spike
Like the vast majority of brand-new cards, Professor Dellian Fel started off being incredibly expensive during its pre-sale period. Following the prerelease events and the set’s full release, however, this price crashed dramatically. Thanks to this typical trend, Professor Dellian Fel was briefly available for $6.37 exactly one week ago.
Since then, just shy of 900 near-mint copies of Professor Dellian Fel have been sold. Unsurprisingly, this insane sales streak has caused prices to surge, as near-mint listings now start at $20.67, including shipping. Currently, this makes Professor Dellian Fel the second most expensive MTG card in the entire Secrets of Strixhaven set.
Unfortunately, and somewhat unsurprisingly given the speed of sales, all of the cheaper, worse-condition copies have already been bought up. Similarly, the other variants of Professor Dellian Fel have also spiked, with the borderless variant currently selling for $41.
Up and Down and Up Again?
As much as Professor Dellian Fel has a lot going for it, predicting this MTG card’s future isn’t easy. Thanks to getting seven new sets per year, Standard is nothing if not a volatile format, so Golgari decks could easily lose their footing. Alternatively, the upcoming MTG ban announcement could take Izzet down a peg, leaving Golgari room to thrive.
Right now, it feels like Standard could go either way, but Pioneer should be slightly more stable. While this format could help prop up Professor Dellian Fel’s price slightly, Pioneer isn’t getting much support. Without a major tournament circuit to prepare for, the need for physical copies of Pioneer decks is low right now.
Even outside of competitive MTG, Professor Dellian Fel is a decent planeswalker for Commander. Given the card’s current play rate on EDHREC, however, this format definitely can’t sustain the current price alone. As a result, it does feel like Professor Dellian Fel will end up falling back somewhat before too long.
Ultimately, as much as we might try to predict things, accurately fortelling the future of MTG is more art than science. As such, we’ll just have to keep an eye on this card’s performance and its price, too.
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