Finally, after almost two weeks since the recent ban, or unban, announcement from Wizards of the Coast, trends unrelated to the two unbanned cards are starting to resurface in a larger way on the secondary market. Don’t get me wrong, we looked into a ton of Commander-related spikes on Monday alongside changes to Preordain and Mind’s Desire, but we really just scratched the surface for what the new Commander Masters content has done to the secondary market.
Even though the new Commander decks released alongside Commander Masters are unnervingly expensive, players do seem to be buying them because upgrades have spiked in price a ton. Ugin was a notable one seeing both competitive and Commander play that we looked at last week, but the list continues. Let’s take a look.
Calix, Guided by Fate
Definitely a frequent flier on these financial highlights, Calix, Guided by Fate from March of the Machine: The Aftermath returns again after a steep spike in early August. While the card does see Standard play in enchantment focused decks, thanks to the current problematic state of that format, it’s likely that spikes for this card are coming from other places.
Notably, two large items may be causing the shift in price for Calix. Firstly, this fits like a glove in the new Enduring Enchantments preconstructed deck. We’ve taken some time to review how each of the new Commander Masters decks play, and from our findings, this is the deck that needs upgrades the most.
Otherwise, Wilds of Eldraine is known to really like enchantments. Alongside the new Enduring Enchantment reprints that look incredible for Commander and the new enchantment adventure cycle that also looks insane in Commander, there are a ton of strong enchantment options coming to the format.
Thanks to all this, the Showcase version of Calix, Guided by Fate has increased from its nadir in mid-July at $10 to about $20. In comparison, the normal version of this card does have copies selling for $20, but you should be able to find one for $15 if you look around a bit.
Eldrazi-Based Increases
Calix, Guided by Fate appears to be the only upgrade related to the Enduring Enchantments deck, but there are multiple increases related to the other preconstructed decks appearing in the marketplace. In this section, we’ll go over the colorless spikes that the market is experiencing that we did not cover earlier this week.
Spawnsire of Ulamog is a powerful colorless threat that has two rather flashy activated abilities. The first one, with some help, can easily lead to some infinite combo situations. The second one isn’t too useful in Commander since we don’t technically own any cards ‘outside the game’ (this refers to sideboards), but Rule Zero could allow the pods who wish to experience the wackiness of this activated ability to do so. The Spawnsire also has Annihilator 1 which, while relevant, pales in comparison to other Eldrazi creatures.
Since mid-July, Spawnsire of Ulamog started spiking from $6.50. The card is currently selling for anywhere between $16 and $25 in decent condition. Foil versions of this card are even more expensive, selling for as much as $50.
Even though this is less impressive than some of the other Eldrazi options players have for the Eldrazi Unbound deck, Spawnsire of Ulamog has no reprints. This card was only printed in the Rise of the Eldrazi set released way back in 2010. In other words, there are not a lot of copies of this card available in comparison to newer cards, so a small increase in interest for a card like this can have a much bigger effect on its price tag thanks to supply and demand.
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Eldrazi Mimic looks rather unassuming compared to many other of its kind, but don’t let that fool you. This card was a big part of the deck that caused Eldrazi Winter in Modern, one of the most lopsided competitive formats in Magic history. Admittedly, the crazy lands like Eye of Ugin and Eldrazi Temple are largely to blame, but it takes two to tango, and being able to run out multiple copies of Eldrazi Mimic with your Eye of Ugin on turn one was a big deal.
Eldrazi Mimic’s ability to copy the power and toughness makes this unassuming abomination so dangerous. Running this out early and making a surprise 10/10 later in the game can swing life totals in unexpected directions. The ability to cast 4/4s in turn two with this card on turn one created a nasty clock during Eldrazi Winter.
Thanks to renewed interest, Eldrazi Mimic has increased from less than a dollar in mid-July to a market value of $4.18 today. That said, the actual prices these cards sell for has a broader net. There are copies of Eldrazi Mimic selling for $7, but alternatively, also copies selling for just $3. That said, some buyers are purchasing as many as 20 copies of the Eldrazi Mimic at lower prices.
Finally, all the non-reprinted Commander legal Eldrazi titans also seem to be seeing smaller price increases thanks to increased interest created by the Eldrazi Unbound Commander deck. These vary by version, but copies of Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre, are doubling in price from about the mid-July point. The Double Masters 2022 printing, for example, has increased from $21 to as much as $50 over that period of time. That said, you should be able to find non-foil copies of this card selling for around $30.
This card does seem to be seeing a rather recent spike in price judging from other copies. The original Rise of the Eldrazi version of this card has increased from about $26 to $35 in the same period of time, for example, but a majority of that spike seems to have happened very recently. Also be sure to watch out for potential spikes for Kozilek, Butcher of Truth.
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Sliver Swarm
Players may be confused why the Sliver section of this article is starting with Sundial of the Infinite. This card happens to be one of the best upgrades to the Sliver Swarm Commander deck, and its not close.
While very unassuming at first glance, even detrimental, Sundial of the Infinite has a deadly interaction with the Encore mechanic, which just so happens to be the mechanic that the face Commander, Sliver Gravemother, cares about. After you Encore, your tokens will generally disappear at the end of the turn, much like the Myriad mechanic. Sundial of the Infinite can get around that.
If you forcefully end the turn with Sundial of the Infinite before the endstep (or in response to the Encore ability that triggers there), your tokens won’t trigger to sacrifice themselves. This simply allows you to keep the Encored Slivers that you create. Instead of Encore being a flash in the pan of Slivers since destroyed, it is instead a permanent secondary army.
Since the spike for the sundial started, this card was worth about $7.30. Nowadays, the card is selling for $15 at its top-end, but can be found for a bit less than that. Notably, there are only two printings of this card currently, so it can be a bit tough to find.
All of the more expensive Legendary Sliver creatures have seen spikes thanks to Sliver Swarm causing a reemergence of interest for the creature type. This is already well-known by the majority of the community. That said, we’ll finish off this article with yet another recent spike to one of these cards. Sliver Overlord seems to be spiking towards the $60 mark, and as a legendary creature that can both search your library for any Sliver you like while completely obliterating the mirror, which may be surprisingly common at the moment, its no wonder why.
The card has spiked from $33 since the announcement of the Sliver Swarm deck contents, which follows the trend for many of the Sliver staples announced to be absent from the Sliver Swarm Commander deck. This spike is best highlighted when looking at the Premium Deck Series copy of the Overlord. The Scourge variant, nonfoil, typically sells for between $50 and $70, and the Secret Lair version is up from $36 to between $70 and $80.
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