Phyrexia: All Will Be One has proven to be an impactful set for constructed MTG. Atraxa, Grand Unifier is skyrocketing in price because of its impact in multiple formats. Mercurial Spelldancer may create innovation in one of the oldest Legacy archetypes, and The Mycosynth Gardens has given Amulet Titan another shot at glory in Modern. While these are all causing financial flux, there are some other Phyrexia: All Will Be One cards that are reviving some tier two archetypes in various formats – impacting the marketplace in full force. Here are some of the hottest cards on the market this week!
Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon
Skithiryx was one of the more popular characters from the original New Phyrexia block that did not see their character return in Phyrexia: All Will Be One in any way. Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon, is known as one of the best Infect creatures the game has ever seen. There isn’t a lot to the creature, but what it’s capable of doing is very powerful. For five mana, you get a 4/4 with evasion that has Infect. Additionally, Skithiryx can grant itself Haste and Regenerate when necessary. While Skithiryx is too expensive mana value-wise to see any competitive play, the card is an excellent asset to the new Commander decks focused around Toxic and Corruption synergies, like the new Ixhel deck that was released alongside Phyrexia: All Will Be One.
Over the past year, Skithiryx has more than doubled in price. Originally starting around $15, Skithryx really started to take off around December. While the market average seems to value this card around $30, recent sales suggest that the card is starting to push $40. There are three printings of this card, but all three of its printings are limited in supply somewhat, meaning that scarcity could affect this card’s price tag.
Summoner’s Pact
We already mentioned that The Mycosynth Gardens has massively increased in price after its influence on Amulet Titan led it to multiple top finishes in small and large tournaments alike over the weekend. While many players were enamored with the deck’s new turn-two kill lines, The Mycosynth Gardens really shines in making the deck’s combo game plans much more consistent.
Summoner’s Pact is a common tool used in Amulet Titan to find missing pieces to complete the combo. Whether you need an extra land drop to generate enough mana to play your Primeval Titan through cards like Arboreal Grazer or Azusa, Lost but Seeking or need to find the Titan itself, Summoner’s Pact is a flexible card that allows you to find the missing pieces to your combo and execute them immediately.
To reflect the excitement of Amulet Titan’s power-up, Summoner’s Pact has more than doubled in price. At the beginning of January, Summoner’s Pact was only worth about $2.25. The card is now selling for more than $5, but current sales suggest you can pick it up for less than that. This has a good amount of reprints, so only a huge increase in interest will make this card tick. Should interest decline after the metagame adjusts to Amulet Titan, we will likely see this card find its appropriate price point.
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Proliferate Cards Going Up
Stronger cards from MTG’s history that utilize the Proliferate mechanic are all seeing increases in price. These price increases are more related to Commander than Constructed but are seeing play all over the place within the format. From the new Superfriends support to all of the new Oil and Poison counter mechanics, there isn’t much Proliferate can’t do right now.
Contagion Engine
Contagion Engine has been a hot card the past month and is selling for a large variety of prices right now. At its nadir over the past year, occurring at the beginning of January 2023, the card was worth about $7.50 on average. You can still find copies of Contagion Engine selling for $12, but there are also copies selling for as much as $25, more than triple the card’s price about a month ago. Contagion Engine is a card that can function on its own while also being a disgusting enabler to decks that care about Proliferate. Combining this with the new Blue Dominus, for example, creates four Proliferates per turn.
Inexorable Tide
If you need more instances of Proliferate, how about one every time you cast a spell? Inexorable Tide’s price ebbs and flows like its namesake. Every time some support pops up for something that the Tide can synergize with, it will see an explosive increase in price. With the overwhelming amount of support introduced in Phyrexia: All Will Be One, this card price is going up once again. Inexorable Tide is an effect that works best in long games, so Commander is where this card will really shine. If your games aren’t taking a ton of turns and Inexorable Tide isn’t directly leading to your early victories causing this, then this card may be too slow.
Inexorable Tide was only worth about $5 a year ago. Since then, the card has more than doubled in price, and current price trends suggest that the Tide is still in the middle of a solid spike. The card is currently worth about $11, but recent sales suggest the card is starting to push towards $13.
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Archive Trap
Astute Modern players may notice that, besides the rise of Amulet Titan, another tier two archetype has been putting up many results lately: Dimir Mill. This is another archetype that existed long before the ‘forced’ rotation caused by the Modern Horizons sets and, as such, was set back by the influx of new powerful cards. It turns out that Mill got a powerful new toy in Jace, the Perfected Mind. Both Jace’s Ultimate and his minus abilities heavily reward the mill strategy. This archetype has topped some MTGO preliminaries and challenges over the weekend.
Archive Trap, one of the more exclusive cards present in the Dimir Mill shell, is beginning to see a rise in price in response to the archetype’s rising popularity. This card only has two printings, with its reprinting being a part of The List (which isn’t really a full reprint). As a result, this card is tough to come by, which could mean the card’s price could be affected easily.
For now, however, Archive Trap has not seen a huge price change. The card has, potentially, risen a few dollars on average after an increased interest, but interest is still growing. This callout may be more of a ‘if you want this card, you may want to consider getting it soon’ instead of how much the card has already risen in price.
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