Thanks to the revised 2025 release calendar, there’s a lot going on in MTG right now. Tarkir: Dragonstorm is just around the corner, with previews due to begin officially this week. There’s also a brand new Secret Lair Superdrop releasing around this time next week. As if that wasn’t exciting enough already we’re even getting surprisingly early Final Fantasy spoilers!
Out of all the sets being released this year, Final Fantasy is easily Commanding the most attention. Tarkir: Dragonstorm may be a return to nostalgic form for in-universe sets, but there’s no challenging the might of Universes Beyond. With this in mind, it’s little wonder that the Final Fantasy MTG set is already causing some rather impressive price spikes!
Sister Hospitaller
Hailing from the Warhammer 40,000 Forces of the Imperium Commander deck, Sister Hospitaller is, honestly, not that amazing. While it can reanimate any threat in your graveyard and gain you life, it’s hardly the strongest card in MTG. As far as reanimation engines go, in fact, six mana is way too expensive to be viable in most formats.
Due to their cost, Sister Hospitaller basically only sees play in Commander. According to EDHREC, Hospitaller appears in around 11,000 decks, which isn’t bad, but it’s by no means a staple. That being said, it is possible to abuse flicker effects and combos with this card to make it worth running.
For example, playing Sister Hospitaller alongside Junji, the Midnight Sky, and a sacrifice engine nets you infinite death, enters, and lifegain triggers. Should you throw a card like Blood Artist into the mix, then this infinite combo will win you games on the spot. As good as this three, technically four, card combo is, however, that isn’t the reason Hospitaller is spiking.
Instead, it seems this card is gaining traction thanks to its synergy with Terra, Herald of Hope. Since Terra cares about power, rather than mana cost, she can reanimate Sister Hospitaller for just two mana. From here, Hospitaller can reanimate anything in your graveyard, giving you two bodies for the price of one.
While we don’t know what Final Fantasy’s Revival Trance deck will look like, there’s a non-zero chance that Sister Hospitaller will be a good upgrade. We noted this ourselves during our article about Terra, Herald of Hope upgrades, however, Karmic Guide did edge them out slightly. Despite arguably not being the best budget upgrade, Sister Hospitaller evidently still has plenty of potential.
The Spike
Considering that the Final Fantasy MTG set isn’t releasing until June 13th, this price spike may seem rather early. As much as it pays to be prepared there is such a thing as being too early. In this case, however, being too early might have saved you some decent money, since Sister Hospitaller has been almost entirely bought out.
Currently, on TCGplayer, there are only 12 near-mint copies of Sister Hospitaller left available for purchase. Prices for these variants now start at $8.99, which is a massive increase from past weeks. This time last month, you could pick up copies of Hospitaller for just $0.46, so we’ve come a long way since then.
Technically, the market Market Price for Sister Hospitaller still stands at around $1.77, at the time of writing. So far, however, MTG players have been willing to pay upwards of $4.60, which is the titular 900% price spike. While this price spike seems pretty clear-cut the sales graph above tells a different story.
Rather than naturally being driven by supply and demand, Sister Hospitaller has been all but bought out ahead of the Final Fantasy set. Clearly, investors are expecting Hospitaller to be a popular upgrade that players will pay a pretty penny for. While there’s no guarantee this will work, Sister Hospitaller is already somewhat rare.
Even though the Warhammer 40,000 decks sold incredibly well, the cards are still somewhat scarce. As we’ve seen, this can leave them open to buyouts since there’s only so much on the market.
The Future
Worryingly, this price spike could theoretically last until the Final Fantasy MTG set releases in June. There’s basically no chance that Sister Hospitaller will be reprinted between now and then so new supply isn’t going to magically materialize. Unless MTG players go digging into their collections, no more copies are going to hit the market.
Even if demand doesn’t persist until the release of the Final Fantasy MTG set, this scarcity could keep prices high. This could result in quite a big payday once the set’s release rolls around, in theory. In reality, however, MTG players may just look toward other cards, such as Karmic Guide.
Due to these other options, there’s a non-zero chance that the price of Sister Hospitaller will actually fall. If no one is interested in buying at this increased price point, then the market basically demands a price reduction. As savvy as this investment may seem, it’s useless if you can’t actually sell the cards you’ve invested in.
Ultimately, we’ll just have to wait and see to find out whether or not this targeted buyout was a sound strategy. If Sister Hospitaller really does turn out to be an amazing upgrade, then this price spike could just be the start. Thankfully, whatever happens, we won’t have to wait long to find out. The Final Fantasy MTG set is scheduled to launch on June 13th, which isn’t too too far away now.
