Since Monday, the MTG financial markets have been moving incredibly quickly. Expected bans combined with unprecedented unbans have completely shifted the landscape of the Modern format. This alone would cause many cards to spike in price, however, these major changes have also spurred renewed interest in Modern.
Over the past few days, more MTG players have been signing up for Leagues and Challenges than we’ve seen in months. While these tournaments are held on Magic Online, it’s clear that many MTG players are hugely excited to play Modern right now. Unsurprisingly, this has caused a rush to buy Modern staples new and old, especially the recently unbanned cards.
Beyond the four unbanned cards themselves, many new would-be staples have also seen substantial price increases. Demilich, for instance, has suddenly shot up from $1 to $13 in just a few days. Similarly, Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student has also seen a substantial price spike. While they were already fairly expensive to begin with this Tamiyo flip-walker has now hit $50!
Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student
- Mana Value: U
- Rarity: Mythic
- Card Type: Legendary Creature — Moonfolk Wizard
- Stats: 0/3
- Card Text: Flying
Whenever Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student attacks, investigate. (Create a Clue token. It’s an artifact with “{2}, Sacrifice this artifact: Draw a card.”)
When you draw your third card in a turn, exile Tamiyo, then return her to the battlefield transformed under her owner’s control.- Tamiyo, Seasoned Scholar
- Card Type: Legendary Planeswalker — Tamiyo
- Card Text: +2: Until your next turn, whenever a creature attacks you or a planeswalker you control, it gets -1/-0 until end of turn.
−3: Return target instant or sorcery card from your graveyard to your hand. If it’s a green card, add one mana of any color.
−7: Draw cards equal to half the number of cards in your library, rounded up. You get an emblem with “You have no maximum hand size.”- Starting Loyalty: 2
Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student has always been a pretty powerful Planeswalker, or rather flip-walker. From the moment they were spoiled, it was clear Tamiyo would have legs in Legacy thanks to cards like Brainstorm. Playing these cards on curve essentially gets you a two-mana Planeswalker, which has historically been rather nuts.
Once flipped, Tamiyo, Seasoned Scholar isn’t the most obscene Planeswalker ever printed, but they’re nonetheless useful. Should you spend four turns ticking up to and then casting their ultimate, you basically win the game. Even if you don’t get to that point, however, Tamiyo can offer needed spell recursion or mild anti-aggro protection.
Since their release in Modern Horizons 3, Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student has been a mainstay in Legacy, but not in Modern. She has seen some play in Temur Breach lists and Jeskai Energy Control, but flipping her wasn’t as easy. Thanks to the recent unbans in Modern, however, the strength and popularity of Tamiyo have been supercharged.
For starters, Faithless Looting can now flip Tamiyo instantly, provided you’ve already drawn for the turn. While this may enable some future shenanigans, such a shell hasn’t emerged in the Modern metagame just yet. Instead, the renewed interest in Tamiyo stems from their role in Temur Breach.
Now that Mox Opal has been unbanned, Temur Breach is potentially one of the best decks in Modern. Capable of turn two kills, this deck gets increased redundancy by using Tamiyo since they provide a Clue alongside additional effects down the line. Given the potential of this now-improved archetype, it seems there’s been a rush to pick up the deck’s components, Tamiyo included.
The Spike
Prior to the newly increased demand, Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student was already a fairly expensive MTG card. Prices may have been steadily declining, but you’d be hard-pressed to find a copy for less than $17. Sadly, these low prices now seem like a world away, as this card’s cost has almost tripled in just three days.
Thanks to an insane volume of sales, starting post-bans on December 16th, Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student is now in very short supply. On TCGplayer, only 14 non-variant copies remain available for purchase. Unsurprisingly, this low supply has caused prices to increase sharply, as sellers look to capitalize on the immense demand.
Over the past few days, the price of Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student has been increasing non-stop. Currently, the market price for Tamiyo now sits at around $38 for a near-mint example, but actual sales are far higher. With so few copies left on the market, MTG players have spent upwards of $49.99 on this card.
Unsurprisingly, the borderless variant of Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student has also seen a significant price spike recently. Starting out at around $19, this variant has now sold for upwards of $45. Since this is currently lower than the price of non-variant copies, you might be able to save some money buying this edition. You also get some absolutely stunning art alongside this discount, which is always nice.
It’s also worth noting that foil copies of Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student are currently cheaper than non-foil versions. This isn’t too surprising given that foil cards can often cause problems at tournaments due to pringling. If you’re willing to risk it, foil Tamiyos currently start at $44.
The Future
Currently, the future of Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student is nebulous, to say the least. Modern is currently in a state of huge flux and there’s no telling where the meta will settle. Even if Temur Breach looks powerful at the moment, there’s a non-zero chance it’ll end up being crushed.
Should Temur Breach, and other decks that include Tamiyo perform well, however, then this current right might just be the start. Given how little supply remains on the market currently, the ceiling for Tamiyo could be astronomical.
Ultimately, the final resting price of Tamiyo all depends on how well they perform, which is up in the air right now. Even if they are a new Modern staple, they might not be worth $50 in the long run. A huge spike in sales has jacked up prices now, sure, but prices tend to simmer down after a while. Maybe the current $38 market prices will end up being the new normal after all.
Thankfully, even if Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student doesn’t break the bank, they’ll still be useful. This card is popular in Legacy for good reason and will always command a decent price tag as a result.
