For better or worse, the new Reality Fracture precon, Multiverse Reforged, is very… interesting. Contrary to expectations, this is a unique Polymorph deck that revolves heavily around the Jace face Commander. While this strategy can definitely prove powerful, its top end is somewhat suspect, as it’s a mishmash of different threats and archetypes.
Due to this, many of the best cards within the Multiverse Reforged deck are actually better out of it. Commanders like the new Niv-Mizzet, Ghost Counsel, for instance, are way better in a dedicated lifegain-focused deck. While this archetype isn’t exactly new, thanks to Niv-Mizzet’s uniquely powerful ability, he’s just caused a major price spike!
MTG Words of Worship
On the surface, Words of Worship is a pretty terrible MTG card. In a pinch, if you’re facing down a huge attack, it could save you, but that situation is rather unlikely. Given that Words of Worship is in white, it’s more likely that you’ve got lifegain covered, but need card draw. While this makes this decades-old enchantment a tough sell, it still has some uses.
Within Azorius Commander decks, like
Hope Estheim
Hope Estheim
Lifelink
At the beginning of your end step, each opponent mills X cards, where X is the amount of life you gained this turn.
and
Will, Scion of Peace
Will, Scion of Peace
Vigilance
{T}: Spells you cast this turn that are white and/or blue cost {X} less to cast, where X is the amount of life you gained this turn. Activate only as a sorcery.
, Words of Worship can easily repurpose excess card draw. Similarly,
Oloro, Ageless Ascetic
Oloro, Ageless Ascetic
At the beginning of your upkeep, you gain 2 life.
Whenever you gain life, you may pay {1}. If you do, draw a card and each opponent loses 1 life.
At the beginning of your upkeep, if Oloro is in the command zone, you gain 2 life.
can easily exploit this card draw to lifegain conversion, and technically goes infinite with enough mana. Sadly, even though there is some synergy here, Words of Worship is far from a popular MTG card in Commander.
According to EDHREC, barely over 2,750 Commander decks are running Words of Worship. Looking at current trends, however, the new Niv-Mizzet, Ghost Counsel might just provide a substantial play rate boost. Thanks to drawing cards whenever you gain life, Niv-Mizzet turns Words of Worship into an obscene card draw engine.
Essentially, with Niv-Mizzet, Ghost Counsel in play, Words of Worship lets you draw five cards for one mana. With more mana to spare, you can even keep paying its cost, too, netting four cards each turn. As if that’s still not enough, however, you can even go infinite by using
Skirge Familiar
Skirge Familiar
Flying
Discard a card: Add {B}.
to discard one of the four surplus cards for one mana.
With this insane potential, it’s no wonder that Niv-Mizzet, Ghost Counsel decks are already adopting this card. Even then, with only around 150 of the just under 900 Niv-Mizzet decks using this enchantment, it still feels seriously underrated. Despite not being as popular as it arguably should be, this slight demand increase has still caused a serious price spike.
A Scarcity-Induced Spike
Curiously, while Niv-Mizzet has caused a decent bump in demand for Words of Worship, there have been incredibly few sales. On TCGplayer, only 17 near-mint copies have sold since the reveal of the Multiverse Reforged precon. While this doesn’t seem very impressive, it’s entirely down to the card’s implicit scarcity.
Thanks to being 24 years old at this point, copies of Words of Worship in perfect condition aren’t exactly common anymore. Given that this card has long been pretty bad, too, it makes sense that players haven’t been preserving it. This, in turn, has created the perfect opportunity for a price spike, as minimal demand has cleared out the market.
Currently, there are just four near-mint copies of Words of Worship for sale on TCGplayer. Prices for these start at $10.99, which is a 379% increase from the past sale price of $2.29 before Niv-Mizzet was revealed. Thankfully, while lightly played copies are also selling for around $10, there are some budget options left on the market.
Provided you don’t care about card condition, you can pick up a damaged copy of Words of Worship for just $3.12. Alternatively, a heavily played example will only set you back $3.24, which isn’t terrible when it used to cost $1.65. Notably, while these worse copies are solid budget options right now, it’s unclear how long they’ll last.
Strong But Suspect Synergy
In theory, given how good Words of Worship is within Niv-Mizzet, Ghost Counsel decks, this card should cost more. Right now, a 17% inclusion rate feels pitiful, making it seem like players just don’t know about this card. If that changes soon, the price of Words of Worship could skyrocket.
As much as Words of Worship could keep spiking as players pick up the remaining copies, nothing in MTG is guaranteed. At $10+, this isn’t exactly a small investment anymore, and this card is only really good in one deck. Because of that, the price of Words of Worship feels tied to interest in the new Niv-Mizzet.
If Niv-Mizzet falls out of favor when new sets like Star Trek come along, Words of Worship could theoretically tank in price. Saying that, if players have been the ones picking this card up, they might not immediately pull apart old decks when a new Commander comes out. If that happens, supply might not return to the market for a while, and this price spike could last a long time.
On top of this, it’s worth noting that a reprint would absolutely decimate the price of Words of Worship. Since scarcity is driving this spike, a reprint anywhere would add tons of new supply and easily satisfy market demand. Whether or not a reprint happens is entirely unknown right now.
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