Every now and again, a dominant powerhouse will get printed and completely change the landscape of a particular Constructed format. This is exactly what happened with the release of Ketramose, the New Dawn from Aetherdrift. Both Orzhov midrange and Orzhov Necrodominance shells became extremely popular archetype options in Modern that incorporated the new God quite well.
As expected, Ketramose holds a pretty hefty price tag. However, it isn’t the only Orzhov staple to see a significant price boost in recent weeks. One particular synergistic piece printed all the way back in Betrayers of Kamigawa has begun selling for huge amounts of money. This card finally has a real home in Modern, so it’s little wonder that its price has spiked so much.
Sickening Shoal
The card we’re referencing is Sickening Shoal. Sickening Shoal is a neat instant that belongs to a cycle of mono-color Arcane spells. Each of these spells has X in its mana cost, however, they’re rather inefficient if you choose to pay for X normally.
Thankfully, these spells all give you the option to pitch a card that matches their color from your hand to cast them for free. In most cases, the higher the mana value of the card you exile from your hand, the bigger of an effect the Shoal has.
Not all of the Shoals were created equal. Blazing Shoal, for instance, has been banned in Modern for quite some time. Being able to exile an enormous red card, such as Progenitus, from your hand to make a tiny Infect creature lethal out of nowhere was deemed too powerful for the format to handle. Meanwhile, Shining Shoal barely makes a dent in Constructed whatsoever.
As for Sickening Shoal, the card has mostly been utilized as a sideboard card for Vintage Bazaar of Baghdad Dredge decks up to this point. It’s popped up in Legacy a bit recently due to its synergy with Ancient Cellarspawn, but not in huge numbers.
The main reason Sickening Shoal has spiked, though, is due to demand in Modern. Orzhov Necrodominance has surged in Modern with Ketramose in the picture. Both Ketramose and Necrodominance make it trivial to draw a ton of cards over the course of the game. In order to ensure you have the time to maximize your extra cards, free spells are extremely important.
Soul Spike is the best of the bunch. The life gain helps counteract the life loss from Necrodominance and Ketramose. With Necrodominance, you can draw a bunch of cards on your end step, and before going to your cleanup step, you can cast Soul Spike for free pitching cards you would have to discard anyway.
This same synergy exists with Sickening Shoal. Sickening Shoal does a great job preventing threats like Ocelot Pride from running away with the game. Sure, you’re down on resources in the exchange, but, luckily, Ketramose and Necrodominance pull you ahead on cards easily.
Price Spike
All things considered, Sickening Shoal’s price spike is rather remarkable. Even though the card often only appears as a two-of in Orzhov Necrodominance shells, that proved to be enough for the card to balloon in price.
Aetherdrift was released on February 14th. It didn’t take long before Modern players realized how incredible Ketramose was. Soon enough, Orzhov Necrodominance became an elite force in the format, and Sickening Shoal sales began to spread like wildfires.
From the beginning of February until February 22nd, Sickening Shoal consistently sat between $10 and $11 according to TCGplayer market price. By February 26th, that number had risen to nearly $29.
Based on sales history, it’s very clear the card’s demand drove up the price by a huge margin. Only a few sales of Sickening Shoal went through on TCGplayer per day from the beginning of the month until February 22nd. Between February 22nd and February 24th, however, over 60 purchases were made.
The Future
While Sickening Shoal’s market price has not exceeded $31 yet, the card has sold for as much as $50 during that stretch. The card’s market price hasn’t gone down at all since, as it currently still rests at just over $30.
Sales may begin to taper off in the coming days, but Orzhov Necrodominance has shown no signs of slowing down. It feels like a ban to Temur Breach in some capacity is inevitable at the end of March, which could make Orzhov Necrodominance even more popular.
On top of that, Sickening Shoal has no reprints to speak of. Betrayers of Kamigawa was released over 20 years ago. The lack of Sickening Shoal copies in circulation only contributes more to the card’s inflated price. Foils, which are harder to come by, have sold for over $60 already on TCGplayer, despite those copies being in moderately played condition.
If you played back in the early 2000s, it’s worth checking your collection to see if you have any Sickening Shoals lying around. The unique removal spell has found a new home in a desirable format, and the deck doesn’t seem to be going anywhere anytime soon.