One of the many unique themes associated with Final Fantasy MTG is the emphasis on Birds. More specifically, there are a multitude of Chocobo cards in the set that are actually quite powerful with the right support elements.
Because Final Fantasy MTG brought tons of extra Bird support elements to Commander, we’ve already seen a handful of Bird-themed cards from other sets rise in price. Even super old Birds like Keeper of the Nine Gales have ballooned in price as a result.
Today, we have a more recent printing to share that has followed suit. Choco, Seeker of Paradise fans should definitely look to pick one of these bad boys up.
Perch Protection
This time around, the card that has spiked is Perch Protection. This six-mana Instant was printed back in Bloomburrow Commander in the Group Hug-style Precon centered around Ms. Bumbleflower. Thanks to its extremely generous Gift ability, Perch Protection made for a perfect inclusion in a Group Hug shell.
Outside of these types of decks, though, Perch Protection isn’t the most efficient effect. Creating four Bird tokens is nice, and obviously, using Perch Protection as a pseudo-Teferi’s Protection can swing games. That being said, paying six mana for four Bird tokens isn’t a great deal, and letting an opponent take an extra turn is a hefty cost to get all that this card has to offer.
However, if you have ways to maximize your Birds, then Perch Protection becomes a solid, versatile token producer. Prior to Final Fantasy MTG’s release, Perch Protection most commonly showed up in Kastral, the Windcrested Commander decks (excluding Bloomburrow Commander legends that were featured in the same Precon), according to EDHREC.com.
This makes a lot of sense, because Kastral gives you the ability to buff all of your Bird tokens whenever you connect in combat. Now that Choco, Seeker of Paradise has been printed, Perch Protection has another elite Bird Commander to synergize with.
In the case of Choco, the more Birds you attack with, the more cards you get to look at and thus the more Lands you’ll get to put into play. As such, any card that makes a lot of Bird tokens is a surefire inclusion in a Choco deck.
Considering that Choco is one of the most popular Commander options among Final Fantasy MTG legends, it isn’t too surprising that Perch Protection has a lot of new appeal. It’s price increase easily reflects this.
The Spike
For most of the last month, Perch Protection steadily maintained a price tag of roughly 83 cents. It wasn’t until last week that the card started to rise in price in any significant manner. However, over the last seven days, Perch Protection in its non-foil, traditional form has risen in price every single day.
This could be in part due to a rise in demand. Between June 7 and June 10, over 60 separate sales were made for traditional copies of Perch Protection. This is more than double the number of sales that went through in the prior four days.
With Final Fantasy MTG officially releasing just a couple days later, perhaps players were looking to speculate on Bird-themed cards like Perch Protection. With other Bird cards already spiking, this wouldn’t be too surprising.
As demand increased, Perch Protection rose from its original 83 cent mark to $3.79, where it rests at the time of writing this article. This represents a 357% price spike.
Inconsistencies
Notably, while the price of Perch Protection has continued to rise, there are some factors that suggest this may not be a long-term trend. First and foremost, there are variants of Perch Protection that can be purchased at a lower price.
The non-foil extended art version of the card, for example, currently sits at $2.48. While extended art copies did follow a similar pattern as traditional copies, starting a big jump on June 10 for a few days, this iteration of Perch Protection has already dropped from $2.92 on June 15 to its current $2.48 price tag.
One other aspect of the traditional Perch Protection variant that’s worth noting is the fact that many price listings feature costly shipping fees. Many of the current sales listings boast prices below $2 but require a shipping fee of over $4. At the same time, the cheapest sales listing with shipping included sits at $5.23, which is an even higher point than the current $3.79 market price suggests.
Even extended art copies of Perch Protection that can be purchased for $2.23 come with a $1.31 shipping fee attached. It’s very possible that as the hype for Bird Commander decks dies down, demand drops, and so does both the price for Perch Protection and the associated shipping costs. Ultimately, this suggests that you may be able to pick up Perch Protection for cheaper than its current market average.
For now, these inconsistencies are worth keeping in mind. There’s no denying Perch Protection’s synergy with Choco, Keeper of Paradise and other Bird payoffs, but don’t be shocked if Perch Protection’s price falls in the coming weeks.
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