The world of Magic: The Gathering finance is an unpredictable thing. Often cards spike for seemingly no reason at all, and others, despite their clear quality, go months or even years with no action. Much like the stock market of the real world, it’s a system that pretty much no one fully understands. Scapeshift, for example, has long been a powerhouse mythic with applications in a range of MTG formats, but it’s only now experiencing a serious price spike.
While some recent developments are clearly fueling this spike, it’s actually long overdue. Scapeshift is a beloved card, with just two real printings in its history. Over the past few months, it seems players have really woken up to this fact, resulting in the card’s price almost doubling. If you were hoping to pick up Scapeshift for its previous $35 price tag, you’ve likely missed the boat.
A Card For All Seasons
- Mana Value: 2GG
- Type: Sorcery
- Rarity: Mythic Rare
- Card Text: Sacrifice any number of lands. Search your library for up to that many land cards, put them onto the battlefield tapped, then shuffle.
Scapeshift is pretty much one-of-a-kind as far as Magic: The Gathering cards go. Tutoring a potentially huge number of lands directly into play from your deck is a terrifying effect, and one that got the (arguably less offensive) Primeval Titan banned in Commander. The amount of utility it offers is ridiculous, and there’s really no substitute for it elsewhere in the game.
The card lends its name to a land-based Combo deck, which is actually experiencing a resurgence in Modern right now. Combined with ramp cards, Aftermath Analyst, and Shifting Woodland, you can easily turn Scapeshift into an instant win condition. Elsewhere in Modern, it’s also a staple inclusion in Amulet Titan. This has been a consistent top-tier deck in the format for a while now, and Scapeshift lends it a ton of extra redundancy. The card even sees Pioneer play in an up-and-coming combo deck.
This has all been true for a while. What seems to be fueling the Scapeshift price spike we’re seeing today are some new developments in the MTG world.
The big one here is The World Shaper Commander precon from Edge of Eternities. The card is an obvious upgrade to that deck, capable of immediately ending the game with a fully Stationed Hearthhull, the Worldseed. Wizards didn’t include a reprint of Scapeshift here, so this has undoubtedly created a lot of new demand.
Avatar: The Last Airbender is another factor. We got an extensive first look at the set recently, which confirmed that it’ll feature Earthbending: an ability that cares about animating lands. Toph, the First Metalbender, in particular, seems very juicy with the right lands in tow. Scapeshift seems like a great card in a Toph deck, so there’s likely some hype there.
The Scapeshift MTG Price Spike
This new MTG demand has led to a pretty massive price spike for Scapeshift over the past few months. While the card was sitting around the $35-40 mark back in June, it’s now up around $60 on average, but can sell for $55 occasionally. This applies to both ‘real’ printings of the card, too: the original from Morningtide, and the reprint in Core Set 2019. The Borderless Special Guest version from Outlaws of Thunder Junction has undergone a similar rise, from $49 to $82.
Unlike many Magic: The Gathering price spikes, which are often sudden and explosive, Scapeshift’s has been more gradual. Sales for all three printings have been pretty consistent over the last three months, and the price has steadily increased in turn. You can point to a few outlier days where a lot of copies were sold, but ultimately the range isn’t huge here. Players have been picking up this card regularly since June, and the price has gone up as a result.
There are still 65 copies of the $80 Special Guest version up for sale, 63 of the Core Set 2019 one, and only 35 copies of the Morningtide version listed currently. This is a reasonable supply for now, but if sales continue at the current rate things are going to get hairy real soon.
Ever-Shifting Tides?
This new Scapeshift price spike makes a ton of sense, but is this an MTG card that can sustain it going forward? More than most spikes we see, I think the answer here is a clear yes.
The biggest reason for this is the nature of Scapeshift itself. It’s a tutor, which is a genre of effect that Wizards is moving away from at the moment. This means we’re unlikely to see a new card that does something similar, and certainly not one that does so on the same level. It also means that the card is unlikely to be reprinted regularly in the future. This isn’t the kind of card that will end up in a Commander precon, and things aren’t looking great for high-level reprint products right now.
The other aspect here is Scapeshift’s huge range of playability. As we mentioned above, this is a card that sees regular use in multiple competitive Modern decks. Scapeshift is also a moderately successful archetype in Pioneer, so that adds even more to its value. Perhaps more important than either of these, however, are the card’s applications in Commander.
Tutors are at their most powerful in that format, and Scapeshift is a great one. You can assemble combos like Urborg/Cabal Coffers, or even create a board of Zombies with Field of the Dead in high-bracket games. Lands-matter decks keep getting great support in new sets, too, like Icetill Explorer. This means the card will only get better as time goes on.
While this is a significant spike, it actually looks pretty sustainable based on all the evidence. Scapeshift being $60 may just be the new world order.
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