If there’s one thing MTG players love, it’s typal decks. From Elves, to Goblins, to Merfolk, to the many animals of Bloomburrow, decks like this are never out of style. Consequently, cards that support said decks are often quite valuable. This week, we saw that manifest in real-time with Patchwork Banner, a new MTG typal support piece from Bloomburrow. The card has jumped up in price by a staggering 416%. Elsewhere in the finance world, Wildfire Awakener is a hot commodity too, seeing gains of 300% thanks to one of Bloomburrow’s spiciest Commanders.
Patchwork Banner (+416%)
- Mana Value: 3
- Rarity: Uncommon
- Text: As Patchwork Banner enters, choose a creature type. Creatures you control of the chosen type get +1/+1. Tap: Add one mana of any color.
Patchwork Banner is about as generic as typal cards come in MTG. It works with any creature type, and has no specific color requirements. Its two abilities are also universally useful, regardless of the type you choose to run. Sure, Goblins and Mice may get more out of the +1/+1 anthem effect than the likes of Dragons or Dinosaurs, but no type is going to turn its nose up at it. That goes double for the mana ramp/fixing here, which is always welcome in Commander.
As a result, the card has shot up from its original price of around $0.60 to its current value of around $2.80. That’s a 416% spike, and I’d say it was more than warranted for a card of this caliber. As much of the recent action in the MTG finance world has taught us, Commander is a huge factor when it comes to card pricing. Patchwork Banner is a terrific card for the format, as close to an auto-include as you can get for many decks. For this reason, it will likely always be in demand.
Based on this, it’s actually surprising that it’s taken so long to pick up in price. Will it hold out where it is? I think it’s likely. It may even rise a little further until it hits the typical $5 ‘uncommon ceiling.’ Or until the card is reprinted down the line. The design is generic enough to slot into future Standard sets and Commander precons, so this is almost certainly an ‘if,’ not a ‘when.’ This makes Patchwork Banner a solid short-term spec, but a poor long-term one.
Wildfire Awakener (+300%)
- Mana Value: X1RW
- Rarity: Rare
- Stats: 3/2
- Text: Convoke (Your creatures can help cast this spell. Each creature you tap while casting this spell pays for 1 or one mana of that creature’s color.) When Wildfire Awakener enters, create X 1/1 red Elemental creature tokens with “Whenever this creature becomes tapped, it deals 1 damage to target player.”
Our next spike has nothing to do with typal decks, but everything to do with Bloomburrow. In addition to all of the creature type goodness, Bloomburrow has also been a stellar set for token strategies. Just look at the action on Caretaker’s Talent if you’re unconvinced. The set also introduced one of the best token Commanders we’ve ever seen in Baylen, the Haymaker, which has led Wildfire Awakener to explode in price.
You’d be forgiven for thinking Awakener was a card custom-printed for Baylen decks. It’s just that perfect for them. Not only does it play well with existing token boards thanks to Convoke, but it can also build you a board itself if you’re behind. The tokens it creates also get to ping players when Baylen taps them for its effects, which is a lovely bit of synergy. Basically, if you’re playing a Baylen deck, you should be playing this card.
Baylen is the most popular new Bloomburrow Commander at the moment according to EDHREC, so the demand is very real. For this reason, Wildfire Awakener’s 300% jump from around $0.30 to around $1.20 over the past week or so feels more than warranted. There are plenty of sales at around the $3 mark, too, which indicates that there’s still room to grow for the Awakener.
The card only has one printing in a Commander product and isn’t trivial to reprint thanks to Convoke. If Baylen sticks around as a top choice, this card will keep going up. And all signs at present point to that being the case.
Read More: Surprisingly Rare Bloomburrow Commander Card Spikes 360%
