Back when Outlaws of Thunder Junction was released, Slickshot Show-Off immediately became a household name. The powerful Bird Wizard became a staple of aggressive red decks in all forms. Its ability to end games in a flash made it a force to be reckoned with.
Yet, following the release of Bloomburrow, Slickshot Show-Off largely fell by the wayside. After all, red mages needed to make room for the Mice package that included Heartfire Hero, Manifold Mouse, and beyond. Following this, Slickshot Show-Off faltered in Standard and Pioneer, and its price plummeted as a result.
Thanks to Tarkir: Dragonstorm, though, Slickshot Show-Off has seen a complete resurgence. Its price tag has risen significantly as well, so if you think you might have any copies of the card lying around, now’s a good time to check.
Slickshot Show-Off
Slickshot Show-Off is a really strong card that does a lot for two mana. As a two-drop with two toughness, it is a little vulnerable to cheap removal like Burst Lightning. Fortunately, this is where its Plot ability comes in handy.
If you suspect your opponent is holding up removal, chances are, you’ll just want to Plot this bad boy. Not only does this waste your opponent’s mana for the turn, but it also means you may be able to protect Slickshot Show-Off on the following turn with a pump spell or protection spell of some sort.
On top of that, because you’re casting Slickshot Show-Off for free, you can follow up with a flurry of spells and potentially deal a boatload of damage at once. All these factors make Slickshot Show-Off an extremely scary card, assuming you have a high density of noncreature spells in the mix.
The problem is that for many months leading up to Tarkir: Dragonstorm, there was little incentive in Standard or Pioneer to fill your decks with that many noncreature spells. It was better to just curve out with Mice into Screaming Nemesis and keep the noncreature spells to a minimum.
This would all change, however, with the arrival of Cori-Steel Cutter. This premium equipment serves as the ultimate payoff for having access to lots of cheap spells. It’s capable of flooding the board with tokens by itself while applying lots of pressure.
Cori-Steel Cutter’s printing encouraged many players to flock to Izzet Prowess in Standard, a shell where Slickshot Show-Off shines. Slickshot Show-Off’s Plot ability even synergizes nicely with Cori-Steel Cutter, since you can Plot Slickshot Show-Off on turn two, then cast Cori-Steel Cutter on turn three, followed by Slickshot Show-Off and trigger Flurry right away.
Slickshot Show-Off and Cori-Steel Cutter also pair nicely together in Pioneer. Boros Prowess, utilizing both of these cards, recently won a Magic Online Pioneer Challenge, maximizing synergistic staples like Wizard’s Lightning that aren’t available in Standard. Prowess shells are still as popular as ever, so it makes sense why Slickshot Show-Off has spiked in price.
Slickshot Show-Off Price Spike
Back in November 2024, non-foil traditional copies of Slickshot Show-Off hovered around $11 according to TCGplayer market price history. For the most part, the price of Slickshot Show-Off would continue to decrease all the way until early April 2025, where the price would eventually settle at its lowest point of $3.38.
This price point wouldn’t last long, though. Cori-Steel Cutter was released on April 11th along with the rest of the cards in Tarkir: Dragonstorm, and by April 14th, the card was already ascending in value. Fast forward to May 2nd, and Slickshot Show-Off would peak at $11.43. This represents a 238% price spike over the last month, which is fairly large.
Extended art versions of Slickshot Show-Off followed a similar trend. At the beginning of the month, non-foil extended art copies of Slickshot Show-Off held a market price of roughly $5. Now, that number has ballooned to $11.30, which is very close to the price of normal copies.
Moving Forward
While Slickshot Show-Off has mostly trended upwards in value for the last few weeks, there are signs that its price could dip a bit in the near future. Regular non-foil copies have already dropped slightly to $10.95, 48 cents less than their peak on May 2nd.
The main reason for this is not that players are moving away from Izzet Prowess. In fact, Izzet Prowess made up over 35% of the field on day 2 of the Regional Championship in the U.S.
Instead, players are starting to shift their focus away from Slickshot Show-Off in favor of other threats that are better in the long game. Drake Hatcher is growing in popularity as a two-drop option in Standard that conveniently survives through an early Burst Lightning.
Meanwhile, other players are turning towards slower Prowess variants that are more focused on generating value with This Town Ain’t Big Enough. In this version of the deck, Slickshot Show-Off is out of place.
Ultimately, these adaptations could decrease the demand for Slickshot Show-Off over time. This is mostly speculative and could depend on how well Slickshot Show-Off ends up finishing at the various Regional Championships that are concluding this weekend. Just don’t be surprised if the card starts to gradually fall in price in the coming weeks.
