March of the Machine: The Aftermath is unusually both unforgettable and completely forgettable at the same time. Widely considered the worst MTG set ever, players aren’t going to let Wizards forget this mistake anytime soon. At the same time, however, the vast majority of the set’s cards have gone unloved and underappreciated.
Outside of a few bomb mythics and Tranquil Frillback, most of March of the Machine: The Aftermath, was meh. This was a real disappointment considering that Wizards had an opportunity to inject some real spice into Standard. Despite missing the mark upon release, it now seems that some Aftermath cards are returning with a vengeance.
Beyond just reappearing in Standard, cards like Urborg Scavengers are getting rather expensive. In the case of one extra premium variant, prices have even increased as much as 525%!
Urborg Scavengers
- Mana Value: 2B
- Rarity: Rare
- Card Type: Creature — Spirit
- Stats: 2/2
- Card Text: Whenever Urborg Scavengers enters the battlefield or attacks, exile target card from a graveyard. Put a +1/+1 counter on Urborg Scavengers.
Urborg Scavengers has flying as long as a card exiled with it has Flying. The same is true for First Strike, Double Strike, Deathtouch, Haste, Hexproof, Indestructible, Lifelink, Menace, Reach, Trample, and Vigilance.
On the surface, Urborg Scavengers seems to be just okay. Over time, this averagely costed creature can scale and do real work, but it appears rather slow. Even if you pick up Haste when it enters and attack that turn, you’re getting a 4/4 with two abilities for three. In the grand scheme of modern MTG, that’s pretty on rate.
For this reason, a lot of MTG players were quick to dismiss Urborg Scavengers. Not only was it fairly slow, but graveyard-focused decks had a lot of better targets to utilize. If putting big creatures in the bin was your goal, usually reanimating them is the next step. Exiling them out of the game, even to pump a card like Urborg Scavengers, isn’t the go-to option.
Thanks to MTG Foundations, however, this unusual game plan has been given some real legs. In this latest set, both Sire of Seven Deaths and Zetalpa, Primal Dawn were printed and reprinted respectively. Once again, this might not seem too exciting on the surface, but both these cards have tons of abilities. This makes them perfect fuel for Urborg Scavengers.
Despite firmly being considered in the meme category of decks, it turns out that “Urborg Pog” is a pretty legit deck. After some early milling, Urborg Scavengers can put in real work and run away with games. If you manage to put cards like Valgavaoth’s Lair into the bin, they can even be running amok with Hexproof!
The Spike
Typically, a new meme deck rarely causes immense price spikes like we’ve seen recently. Given this deck is for Standard, however, the extra attention is somewhat understandable. In 2025, Standard is getting six sets and three Regional Championship Qualifier seasons. As such, it has once again become the go-to competitive format in MTG.
For better or worse, the focus on Standard has made card prices rather volatile. When a new archetype pops up out of the blue, a lot of players are keen to jump on it. Even if it’s a bit of a meme, it’s nonetheless a meme that’s worth exploring as it could be a meta-breaker. Even if Urborg Pog doesn’t end up being the real deal, the interest in Urborg Scavengers right now is clear.
That said… On TCGplayer, you can pick up copies of Urborg Scavengers for as little as $0.25 right now. The card might finally have a home in a decent deck, but it’s yet to prove itself as a real meta-breaking force. Over the past few weeks, sales for the card have been slow, outside of a ludicrously high spike in late October.
You might be wondering, therefore, why we’re talking about Urborg Scavengers and calling it expensive. For that, we have to look at the card’s fanciest and rarest variant. Only found in Collector Boosters, the Halo Foil Showcase variant of Urborg Scavengers is unsurprisingly rather rare. This makes its price even more volatile, as usual.
After a huge spike in sales a few days ago, the Halo Foil price of Urborg Scavengers has shot up. Once selling for as little as $1.28, prices have jumped to around $8. Technically, one sale has pushed even higher to $19.69, but this is hardly an established trend.
The Fall
Ultimately, while this Halo foil variant is equal parts adorable and rare, Urborg Scavengers isn’t a super staple. This card has never really been popular in Commander and this is its first proper competitive debut. As such, any interest in it now may well prove to be shortlived.
Beyond being largely untested at the moment, $20 is obviously a lot to pay for a $0.25 card. While it’s not unheard of for rare variants to sell for significantly more, this is a real stretch. To make matters worse, you can’t really bling out your standard deck with these fancy foils due to potential issues.
With all this in mind, I definitely wouldn’t bank on buying into the Halo foil variant of Urborg Scavengers. Even if it’s expensive now, MTG players aren’t readily buying copies regardless of the price. Understandably, $20 is too rich for many players’ blood, so the seemingly lucrative market may stagnate for a while.
