There’s no question that Stranger Things season 5 is one of the hottest topics in pop culture right now. Tons of burning questions have been set up by the first half of the season, forcing fans to wait for Christmas Day to watch the thrilling conclusion.
Stranger Things’ penultimate season is so popular that it’s even affecting the MTG secondary market. After years of waiting, the reappearance of the show’s beloved characters on the screen seems to have revived their Commander popularity somewhat.
MTG Stranger Things
Released back in 2021, MTG Stranger Things was the second Secret Lair crossover that offered mechanically unique cards. Not only was this extremely controversial at the time, but it also introduced the first instance of a new Partner group. Despite these cards working best together, there are a few Stranger Things cards that are stronger than the rest.
The arguably best of the Stranger Things cards is Eleven, the Mage. It’s difficult to get 11 cards into your hand in the first place, but if you manage to, you’ll be rewarded with free casts whenever you attack, which is certainly worthwhile. At worst, Eleven will also work towards her own condition by drawing you extra cards.
Since Eleven does all her work during combat, she’s a semi-popular inclusion in the new Fire Lord Azula Commander deck. If you manage to pull off Eleven’s condition, you’ll get to double whatever spells she casts for free. Eleven can also cast Sorceries through this ability, allowing you to bypass timing restrictions. Azula doubling instant-speed cantrips also works towards maximizing Eleven’s ability quicker.
Mike, the Dungeon Master, another surprisingly powerful card from the Stranger Things crossover, is a great addition to Legends matters decks. Capable of reviving a creature that died on the same turn for two mana, Mike is a powerful way to protect Commanders with larger mana values while recurring any enters effects they might have. For this reason, Mike is quite popular in SpongeBob SquarePants Commander decks and notably creates a five-colored Partner combination when used alongside Eleven, the Mage.
Many of the other main characters from Stranger Things are playable as Partner Commanders to one another, but these two certainly seem a cut above the rest. Despite that, however, after Stranger Things season 5 hit the scene, all of the MTG Stranger Things cards experienced a demand and price spike.
MTG Stranger Things Price Spike
After Stranger Things season 5 started airing on November 26th, every single MTG Stranger Things card saw a noticeable uptick in demand, which translated to a price spike. Demand generally surged for a few days following the new season’s release. Despite this, the price spikes they caused have persisted to this day, and the amount each card increased varies widely.
The card that seems to have experienced the biggest price spike percentage-wise is, bizarrely, Dustin, Gadget Genius. Mostly seeing fringe play in artifacts matters decks like Shorikai, Genesis Engine, Dustin doubled in price thanks to the Stranger Things spike, jumping from $2.35 to $4.90. Outliers for the card have sold for as high as $6.
While a few other Stranger Things cards have doubled in price as a result of this trend, most of the cards have seen smaller spikes. More expensive Stranger Things cards, like Eleven the Mage and Mike, the Dungeon Master are only spiking a few dollars as a result of their popularity increase. Mind Flayer, the Shadow is a bit of an exception to this, spiking $9.50 from $13 to $22.50, becoming the most expensive card that’s part of the Stranger Things crossover.
Fortunately, if you’re looking to save some money, there are much cheaper options available. Stranger Things was one of the few Universes Beyond Secret Lairs that successfully received an in-Universe reprint. All of those cards are significantly cheaper than their Stranger Things counterparts, available for under a dollar each. If you don’t want to spend $22 on Mind Flayer, Arvinox, the Mind Flail, a mechanically identical alternative, is available for just 25 cents.
A Temporary Surge
Price spikes caused by pop culture outside of MTG are not something the game has often experienced. For that reason, it’s a bit difficult to predict what happened since there are no past examples. That said, we have seen temporary demand increases like this before.
At the moment, the Stranger Things cards are showing signs of their spikes slowing down, but there’s a good chance they might resume for a time. The second part of Stranger Things season 5 is less than a week away, after all. Considering that it will mark the end of the Stranger Things series, the finale should be extremely exciting.
Once Stranger Things is done and players move onto new things, however, the Universes Beyond cards will likely drop. Because there are mechanically unique alternatives for these cards available for super cheap, it’s clear that the only draw to these cards is the characters that they represent. That said, the Stranger Things cards are also much rarer than their in-universe treatments, which is something to consider.
As usual, it’s impossible to predict anything in the world of MTG, and that’s especially true for a price spike like this. Stranger Things could go on to be a beloved cast of characters, keeping demand for these cards healthy. That, admittedly, seems unlikely, but we’ll have to wait and see.
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