Magic Con Barcelona has finally concluded, and a ton of new content was announced on its first day. The community is still busy consuming and brewing around all the new cards we got to see and, of the sets that were talked about, most of the new reveals concern Doctor Who.
Full of wacky cards exploring unique game spaces, this Commander set has not failed to deliver. Its obvious that MTG players are excited to get their hands on some of the new cards. If they weren’t their existence wouldn’t be causing gigantic secondary market swings over the course of a few days.
If you’re looking to experiment with these new ideas on the cheap, you may have already missed your chance. Here are the biggest market spikes this week!
Timestream Navigator
Timestream Navigator is one of those MTG cards that’s one obvious step away from being broken. Any card that offers an ability to take an extra turn for four mana is one that players will keep an eye on. The reward for the investment is simply ridiculous!
So, when a new card comes along that can bypass the restriction of Timestream Navigator, the card becomes a lot better in that context, which should make the card a lot more desirable to players who want to abuse it.
River Song
In the opinion of many, River Song was the most interesting card spoiled during Magic Con Barcelona. Offering two incredible abilities for just three mana, River Song punishes opponents for Scrying in Commander, which is huge. What we’re concerned with, however, is her other ability.
River Song also forces you to draw cards from the bottom of the deck, which just so happens to exploit Timestream Navigator’s disadvantage, turning it into a powerful weapon. In order for Timestream Navigator to give you an extra turn for four mana, a few things need to line up.
First, Timestream Navigator needs to be able to tap. This generally means that, without additional setup, Timestream Navigator cannot enter the battlefield and take an extra turn in the same turn. Otherwise, you need to have City’s Blessing (control ten permanents). Once all this is done, Timestream Navigator will go to the bottom of your deck and take an extra turn. This prevents players from using graveyard shenanigans to abuse Timestream Navigator.
As mentioned already, River Song forces you to draw cards from the bottom of your library. This means that Timestream Navigator will be your next card drawn after being activated. As long as you can cast River Song and have six mana left over, this generates infinite turns.
All you need to do is activate Timestream Navigator during your upkeep. This will give you an extra turn and put Timestream Navigator back on the bottom of your library. River Song will force you to draw Timestream Navigator for turn. You can then cast Timestream Navigator, move to your next turn, and use its effect on your upkeep to repeat the loop.
Of course, this combo gets easier with more setup. Giving Navigator Haste, for example, prevents the need for it to survive until your next upkeep. With nine mana, some sort of Haste enabler like Anger, and City’s Blessing ready to go, you could cast River Song and Timestream Navigator and immediately start going infinite.
All in all, Timestream Navigator’s deadly potential when combined with River Song has caused the card to surge in price. Worth just $3 a few days ago, Timestream Navigator is selling for a wide range of prices currently. These generally range from $10-20, but the highest sold price that occurred the day that this article was written on TCGplayer was $17.97 in nonfoil.
Soldevi Digger
Astute MTG players may have already identified a theme here: Soldevi Digger also cares about putting cards on the bottom of your library. As such, this becomes the top of your library when used alongside River Song.
For two mana, Soldevi Digger allows you to recur the top card in your graveyard to the bottom of your library. This ability is repeatable, which can easily recur powerful threats and an endless amount of infinite combo cards.
To make things worse, Soldevi Digger only has one printing, and its from a really old set. While some players may believe that this Alliance card could see a reprinting thanks to River Song, that is sadly impossible. Soldevi Digger is a Reserved List card. Therefore, should this card prove to be truly powerful in River Song, it might get incredibly expensive.
For the time being, Soldevi Digger appears to have spiked from about $1.50 to about $4, with many copies starting to push for $5.
Read More: MTG Players are Going Nuts Over New Anime Treatments!
Flumph
This seemingly harmless jellyfish card from the Dungeons and Dragons world has begun to spike in price. This is thanks to a new breakout Modern deck that got a lot of press this past week. We covered the strategy in detail.
You see, Flumph happens to create an infinite combo when used alongside the new Modern staple Orcish Bowmasters. Orcish Bowmasters, upon entry, can target Flumph, pinging it. Flumph will draw a card for both players, which will trigger Orcish Bowmasters again. As long as your Flumph is Indestructible, this loop will force someone to deck out.
The decklist that popularized this combo happens to play a few extra cards in the maindeck to avoid being decked out in a majority of these situations. Of course, if this is not an option, you can find a second Orcish Bowmasters to ping your opponent while the other pings the Flumph.
Thanks to this new strategy, Flumph has spiked from being worth 50 cents to selling for about $3 on average. The card does seem to still be spiking, however.
Read More: Updated Infamous Archaic MTG Deck Dominates Pro Tour!
Subtlety
Once upon a time, this Evoke Elemental was worth a lot less than the others. As this weekend’s Pro Tour may have indicated, the Evoke Elementals have a seriously strong impact on the Modern format. Rakdos Scam, or Evoke as it was called at the Pro Tour, has the core of their strategy revolving around abusing the free Elemental spells, reanimating them right after they die to stick a big body on board and potentially make use of two triggers.
For a long time, Sublety was considered the worst of these, especially in a Scam sense. Because this card simply Aether Gusts a creature or Planeswalker on the stack (not in play), there’s no real use in Scamming it. That said, thanks to various avenues, the big ones being The One Ring and Lorien Revealed, Sublety has exploded in play, even surpassing Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer in representation at the Pro Tour.
Sublety experienced about a $8 spike this week, but has spiked from about $6 to $30 over the last two months! This is a massive representation of just how much Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth has impacted the Modern format, and could indicate even more changes in the future.
