New MTG cards and developments commonly cause cards forgotten to time to see sudden price increases. That certainly seems to be the case for Gustha’s Scepter, a Reserved List card from all the way back in Alliances. A new MTG format is starting to rise in popularity, and Gustha’s Scepter is one of the most broken cards in it. Why is Gustha’s Scepter spiking in price, and why are there ban conversations about the seemingly useless artifact in the Rush format?
Gustha’s Scepter
- Mana Value: 0
- Rarity: Rare
- Card Type: Artifact
- Card Text: If Gustha’s Scepter leaves play or you lose control of it, put all cards under Gustha’s Scepter into your graveyard. (tap): Put any card from your nad face down under Gustha’s Scepter. You may look at that card at any time. (tap): Return any card under Gustha’s Scepter to your hand.
Gustha’s Scepter is a really strange card. Essentially allowing cards to be Grief-proof temporarily, there’s certainly some play for this card in the Legacy. That doesn’t mean it’s a good idea to play this; quite the opposite, we would expect. The card is instead spiking because of a new MTG format called Rush.
Rush is a new MTG format involving players drawing five fresh cards every turn. You put your original hand on the bottom of the deck and draw five in your draw step instead of just drawing a card. Otherwise, players start the game with ten life and have a 30-card deck. There’s also an 8-card sideboard meaning this is a traditional best-of-three format.
In this lens, Gustha’s Scepter suddenly becomes a broken Magic card. Any cards in your hand that you don’t want to lose due to the nature of Rush’s draw step can be kept safe. The mana value of zero allows players to start preserving their cards as quickly as possible, creating a huge advantage in cards rather quickly.
Because of the sudden increase in the popularity of the Rush format, Gustha’s Scepter is skyrocketing to the moon. worth just a dollar a week ago, Gustha’s Scepter is now routinely selling for $8! Part of this massive spike is connected to Gustha’s Scepter’s appearance on the Reserved List. This means that the Scepter can never be reprinted, so what we have is what we get.
A New Commander
While some players point towards the Rush format as the reason for Gustha’s Scepter’s price spike, there is also a new Commander that synergizes well with Gustha’s Scepter. Flubs, the Fool wants your hand to be empty in order to start providing cards to you. Gustha’s Scepter can help keep your hand empty to make the most of this strange Commander.
Notably, Flubs, the Fool is the Box Topper for Bloomburrow, so it may be a bit more difficult to acquire than players think. Despite it being a Box Topper, Flubs is only Commander legal, which is an odd choice. This is another factor that may be causing the rise of Gustha’s Scepter on the secondary market.
Other Applications
- Mana Value: 2WR
- Rarity: Mythic Rare
- Stats: 2/3
- Card Text: Flying, Vigilance. The first card you foretell each turn costs 0 to foretell. Whenever you exile one or more cards from your hand and/or permanents from the battlefield, create a 1/1 white Spirit creature token with Flying.
Outside of Rush, Gustha’s Scepter has some niche applications for Commander. The card is surprisingly synergistic with Ranar, the Ever-Watchful, a Kaldheim Commander that can create Spirit tokens whenever you exile one or more cards from your hand.
The card could also have some weird Affinity applications in Legacy, protecting payoffs from cards like Grief. That said, you need to open this in your hand and be going first for it to do anything. Therefore, we highly doubt this is a legitimate way to use Gustha’s Scepter.
Either way, it’s cool to see a new unofficial format create a bizarre superstar. Gustha’s Scepter may soon get banned in Rush, which would likely make this spike rather redundant. Still, now that the spotlight is on this odd artifact from Alliances, maybe players will find more ways to use it.
Read More: New Relentless Rats Bonus Card Could Sell For $100+
