At this point, it’s no secret that MTG Avatar is an incredibly powerful set. We’ve seen multiple competitive archetypes gain key cards across several formats, which is always impressive. On top of this, the set’s Commanders are already putting up a good fight both competitively and casually.
Out of all the new Commanders, Fire Lord Azula has quickly risen through the ranks to become the most popular option. Considering she can effortlessly copy spells, while providing extra mana to cast them, this is a no-brainer. Unsurprisingly, this impressive surge in popularity has also caused several price spikes already. For better or worse, it seems Azula’s hot streak is far from over.
MTG Twinning Staff
After just one quick glance at Twinning Staff, it’s no wonder this MTG card is spiking in price right now. The synergy that it has with Fire Lord Azula is obscene, as it effortlessly copies all your copied spells. Since all you need to copy a spell in the first place is to have Azula attacking, exploiting this card is effortless.
Realistically, for three mana, that’s all Twinning Staff needs to do when you’re playing Azula. While the activated ability can be useful in other decks, you shouldn’t be struggling to copy spells while using Azula. With this in mind, it’s no wonder that Twinning Staff is currently seeing play in 49% of Azula decks.
Outside of Azula, Twinning Staff remains fairly popular in Commander, albeit within the card’s rather specific niche. It’s only really spell copying and spell-focused decks that are after this card. This does account for over 68,000 decks on EDHREC, though, so there’s a healthy amount of demand for it.
The Spike
Speaking of demand, it’s clear to see that Fire Lord Azula has caused one hell of a spike recently. According to EDHREC, 5000 Azula decks are after a copy of Twinning Staff, and supply can’t keep up. Both the original Commander 2020 printing and the Streets of New Capenna Commander reprint are almost sold out at this point.
Curiously, while there have been over 750 sales across both variants in the past few months, supply wasn’t that plentiful to begin with. Thanks to working wonders within its original precons, there weren’t a ton of copies on the market. This ultimately left the card open to a pretty major price spike. Now, near-mint copies of Twinning Staff are going for upwards of $33.68, including shipping.
Considering Twinning Staff was selling for $5.55 just a few weeks ago, this sudden 506% price spike is undeniably impressive. For better or worse, this Commander 2020 variant is actually the cheaper of the two printings right now. Copies from the Streets of New Capenna Commander decks are selling for $35!
Sadly, even if you’re not fussed about quality, there aren’t any sneaky deals to be had here. Unfortunately, neither of the precons containing Twinning Staff are worth it from a value perspective, even after this price spike. That said, you do have a better chance of breaking even now, so it may be worth keeping one eye open.
The Future
Looking ahead, a reprint of Twinning Staff does feel inevitable. If, or rather when, Wizards creates another Commander deck built around spell copying, this would be an easy reprint. While there’s no guarantee of this happening, especially not anytime soon, it is something Wizards has literally done before.
Until that happens, there’s a good chance Twinning Staff will remain more expensive than it used to be. While $35 is perhaps a bit steep, since it’s only really powerful in a niche, it definitely has potential. In theory, this potential could easily be amplified if Wizards doesn’t get around to reprinting it soon.
While not quite as common as token or trigger doubling effects, we’ve still seen a lot of spell copying recently. Should this trend continue, and one of the new MTG cards be as strong as Azula, Twinning Staff could easily spike again. If this happens before a reprint, the already limited supply will likely skyrocket in value.
For now, there’s no telling what will come first between a new synergistic Commander or a reprint. In theory, these two things may arrive at the same time, in fact. Ultimately, we’ll just have to sit tight and let the future play out.
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