Following Wizards of the Coast’s recent announcement, Commander has undoubtedly entered a new era. The Commander Bracket System, even with its quirks and flaws, has paved the way for a more accessible and approachable future. This system has also opened the floodgates for potential unbans that have been a long time coming.
While Wizard hasn’t named any cards, they have confirmed that unbans are on the table. Somewhat unsurprisingly, this was more than enough to get MTG players speculating about what might get changed soon. This speculation, in turn, has already caused all manner of price spikes which show no signs of stopping.
Sylvan Primordial
Hailing from Gatecrash, Sylvan Primordial really does it all. For seven mana, you’re all but guaranteed to wipe three noncreature premenants off the board, while ramping you at the same time. Either of these effects would be seriously powerful on its own, but to push it over the top, Sylvan Primordial can happily target lands.
Thanks to offering land destruction, you’ll never struggle to have three valid targets whenever Sylvan Primordial comes down. This makes it especially worrying early game if you can cheat it out using reanimation or cost-cutting shenanigans. Not only do you deny your opponents resources, but you get three extra Forests for your trouble.
With this strength in mind, which gets even worse if you flicker it, it’s little wonder that Sylvan Primordial was banned in 2014. Since then, players have occasionally requested the card be unbanned, but Wizards hasn’t budged. Technically, this is still the case, although the Commander Bracket System does open up new opportunities.
Specifically, the Game Changers list has opened up new avenues for unbans that don’t affect the entire format. Only playable in decks tier three and above, Wizards can somewhat safely unban cards without fear of ruining the format. Potentially, this makes Sylvan Primordial a genuinely viable unban, although Wizards hasn’t confirmed that just yet.
Technically, Sylvan Primordial is playable outside of Commander, but it isn’t very good there. Not only is it often too slow for competitive formats, but the card’s effectiveness is seriously weakened with only one opponent.
The Spike
If anything is going to get unbanned, according to Wizards, it’ll happen in late April. Despite this still being well over a month away, players clearly aren’t waiting around to speculate. Unsurprisingly, this early action has already caused Sylvan Primordial to see a fairly impressive price spike.
Previously, when Sylvan Primordial was just a boring banned Commander card, it routinely sold for just $1.18. Prices fluctuated here and there, hitting a low of $0.91, but for the most part, it was cheap. Technically, this is still mostly the case; however, there has undoubtedly been some impressive movement that could go further.
Currently, the TCGplayer market price for Sylvan Primordial has increased by around 227%, as it’s now selling for $3.87 on average. This average, however, is a little optimistic, as the low supply currently has copies starting at $4.52, including shipping. From the lowest low to current listings, Sylvan Primordial has seen a 396.7% increase.
Notably, while the price of Sylvan Primordial has shot up, the surge in demand has been rather short-lived. Following the Commander announcement there was unsurprisingly a flurry of activity, but this hasn’t persisted. Still, this has been more than enough to drain supply a good deal, causing the increased prices we’re seeing.
The Future
Despite activity dying down, this is nonetheless a fairly impressive spike considering it’s purely powered by unconfirmed speculation. That being said, the ceiling for this card is much higher. Not only are we over a month out from any unbans happening, but Sylvan Primordial is surprisingly scarce too.
Having only been printed in Gatecrash, Sylvan Primordial is hardly the most accessible MTG card in existence. Right now, only 37 near-mint copies are available on TCGplayer. Should demand pick back up, these copies will likely sell out incredibly quickly, leading to a much higher price spike.
For now, it’s worth remembering that absolutely nothing is confirmed, as Wizards hasn’t mentioned any cards they’re watching. That being said, Sylvan Primordial does seem like a fairly safe unban. At higher levels of play, this card isn’t too out of line, so it might deserve a spot on the Game Changers list.
As mentioned, even if plausible, there’s no guarantee Sylvan Primordial will be unbanned. Despite this, it’s still a decent fairly low-risk spec since copies were so cheap. Investing $20 into buying a dozen pre-spike wouldn’t break the bank, and the returns could be huge. It remains to be seen, however, if these returns will actually be realized.
Ultimately, as always, we’re just going to have to wait and see where the spike goes once the future arrives. Should Sylvan Primordial end up being unbanned, the current price may end up looking remarkably affordable. If it stays on the banlist, however, then those investing now may have just wasted their money. It could really go either way.