Many MTG players identify Wizards of the Coast’s recent Commander legends set as a bit of a flop. This, admitted by MTG creator Mark Rosewater himself, is partially due to the prestige that the Commander Legends name acquired from its first set. Ironically, one of the most underrated Planeswalkers in recent history is emerging from this set in Eternal formats. It turns out some of MTG’s most robust strategies are struggling to compete against a literal hamster.
Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes
Minsc & Boo are a real force to be reckoned with. This card is literally all over the place in Legacy, seeing play in multiple archetypes. This card has it all – an incredibly scary Hamster that scales and a removal option that draws many cards at the price of Boo. The scariest part about this is that if Boo, for whatever reason, dies, he will come back at the beginning of your next upkeep!
Minsc & Boo came out of the gates swinging on the secondary market. As is a common trend for Planeswalkers in spoiler season, Minsc was seemingly overpriced at a hefty $45 for his full art iteration. As excitement for Baldur’s Gate waned overall, this card dropped as low as $4.75 in mid-July. Come August, full-art Minsc & Boo are back up to $15, with current copies selling at $20.
Baldur’s Gate Underestimated
It turns out there are a few sleepers that players missed in this set! Black Market Connections is not in the core set but instead in the Party Time Commander deck that was released alongside the set. At its lowest point in early July, this card ran an asking price of about $13.50. The average price for this card is approximately $25.50, with recent sales nearing closer to $30!
This is primarily a Commander-driven price increase. Many tribal Commanders will be released in Dominaria United’s Legends Retold promotion, and Black Market Connections is a great way to create Changelings while also doing a bunch of other stuff. Between drawing cards, creating creatures that fit into your tribe, and ramping, it’s easy to see why this card has doubled in price since it bottomed out.
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A Financial Opportunity?
Alongside the explosion of Minsc & Boo and Black Market Connections, Battlebond lands reprinted in Baldur’s Gate are seeing a steady price decline. These are some of the best lands a Commander deck can play, so the constant drop these cards suffer is surprising. There is a very good chance that this is directly linked to the current flood of Baldur’s Gate cards in the market and is likely to go up as Baldur’s Gate ages.
Because of how poorly Baldur’s Gate was received, it is not a set being opened very much. This could cause scarcity in the secondary market once it rotates out of print. This is already occurring with another MTG set that was poorly received. At that time, unique cards to this set, like the rotation of D20 dragons, will likely see a surge in price. Alongside that, pending reprints, these lands will likely see a price increase as well. Before Morphic Pool’s reprint in Battle for Baldur’s Gate, the card was worth as much as $40! You can find this card for about $7-9 now.
It does look like this card may drop a bit more in the short term, but as long as there is some demand for these lands, they will likely rebound over time. Now may be the best time to pick these up. To top things off, Commander staples are exploding in price now, indicating it as a primary market influence.
Innovation Spreads Like Wildfire
Minsc & Boo’s impressive price spike is primarily due to the innovation of the Legacy community. This card is widely regarded as a significant threat, and players are getting their copies to prepare for the onslaught. Minsc & Boo are popular in Commander too. Not only can they be your Commander themselves, but they are also incredibly versatile, as demonstrated earlier. Catching these constructed innovations early can be a great way to get ahead of the MTG marketplace and save yourself a pretty penny!
