Price Trends: Magic: The Gathering Cards Climbing in Price - 8/20/24
Peter Day
We want you to have the best information available when you price cards on the TCGplayer Marketplace. So to help you get the most from your inventory, we’ve put together a downloadable CSV report of Magic: The Gathering cards that have dramatically increased in Market Price in the past 30 days.
(Note: This report only considers Near Mint copies of cards with at least five sales between July 15 and August 15, 2024.)
Here are ten highlights from that report. First, we have the five cards that gained the most value in the past 30 days after starting with a Market Price of $5 or less.
Top 5 Price Increases—MTG Cards $5 or Less
- Set: Alliances
- Increase: +$8.85
- Current Market Price: $10.92
Gustha’s Scepter has synergy with Flubs, the Fool, a new commander that just released on August 2 in Bloomburrow. Using the Scepter, players can squirrel away the cards in their hand, letting them become empty-handed on demand to trigger Flubs’ card draw more consistently.
Gustha’s Scepter has only been printed once (as a rare in the 1996 set Alliances), and it’s part of the Reserved List, so its price was extremely sensitive to the sudden surge in demand.
- Set: Commander: Innistrad: Crimson Vow
- Increase: +$10.53
- Current Market Price: $14.10
Molten Echoes has always been a reasonably strong card for red typal Commander decks, but it gets especially dangerous with the new Bloomburrow commander Bello, Bard of the Brambles. Not only does Molten Echoes duplicate the Elementals animated by Bello, but each of those Elementals draws a card when they hit an opponent thanks to Bello’s ability. Plus, Molten Echoes is as low in mana cost as possible while still qualifying to be animated by Bello itself.
Molten Echoes has only been printed twice, both times at rare, so there isn’t much supply to meet the current demand.
- Set: Dissension
- Increase: +$10.65
- Current Market Price: $13.39
We’re 3 for 3 on low-reprint rares that have great synergy with a new Bloomburrow commander!
Ms. Bumbleflower is a new legendary creature that causes target opponent to draw a card whenever you cast a spell. The design encourages highly political Commander games, as you offer your opponents card draw in exchange for favors. But Psychic Possession ensures you get at least as much as you give, by letting you draw a card whenever the enchanted opponent draws a card. With Ms. Bumbleflower and Psychic Possession both in play, you can draw a card every time you cast a spell.
Psychic Possession was only printed once, as a rare in the 2006 set Dissension.
- Set: Jumpstart
- Increase: +$10.96
- Current Market Price: $12.39
C-c-c-combo breaker! Angelic Arbiter isn’t rising in price due to synergy with a new commander. In fact, it isn’t really rising in price at all.
Although copies have sold for close to $20 since the start of August, the card’s three other printings (all with the same artwork) still have a Market Price below $2. Even the Jumpstart version has Near Mint copies listed for $2 at time of writing.
We're including this card as a helpful reminder that the Price Trends report is intended to serve as a starting point for your research. While it highlights recent changes in Market Price, it's important to remember that these trends can fluctuate.
- Set: Universes Beyond: Warhammer 40,000
- Increase: +$11.60
- Current Market Price: $14.42
We’re back to Bloomburrow! Just like Molten Echoes, Thunderhawk Gunship is a powerhouse when paired with the new commander Bello, Bard of the Brambles. Bello lets you attack with the Gunship without bothering to crew it, and the Gunship repays the favor by giving all your animated artifacts and enchantments flying, for an evasive alpha strike on one or more opponents.
Thunderhawk Gunship is yet another rare that has only been printed once, so it’s gained a lot of value from this newfound synergy.
Next, these are the five cards that gained the most value in the past 30 days after starting with a Market Price over $5.
Top 5 Price Increases—MTG Cards Over $5
- Set: Urza's Legacy
- Increase: +$25.16
- Current Market Price: $87.07
Deranged Hermit was one of the first Magic cards ever printed to mention Squirrels, and the first to reward players specifically for having them. So it’s no surprise that the card has gotten more attention with the release of all the Squirrel-focused cards in Bloomburrow like Camellia, the Seedmiser.
Deranged Hermit also belongs to the Reserved List, so even though it’s not the nuttiest payoff for loading up on Squirrels, just the presence of Squirrel cards in Bloomburrow is enough to make Hermit a target for speculators.
#4 Ashcoat of the Shadow Swarm
- Set: Jumpstart 2022
- Increase: +$40.01
- Current Market Price: $80.44
Ashcoat of the Shadow Swarm belongs in most Rat commander decks, either as the Commander or part of the 99. Bloomburrow introduced a pile of new Rat typal support, so players are looking for Ashcoat to power up their new Rat decks. And unlike other notable Rats like Marrow-Gnawer, Ashcoat has only been printed once, as a singleton in just one of the over 100 different Jumpstart 2022 pack variations.
- Set: Revised Edition
- Increase: +$42.08
- Current Market Price: $671.91
As a member of the reserved list and one of the original Dual Lands, Underground Sea is a storied piece of Magic: The Gathering history. A $40 swing doesn’t indicate anything special in a card this expensive and eternally desirable.
#2 Sauron, the Dark Lord (Borderless Poster)
- Set: Universes Beyond: The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth
- Increase: +$46.77
- Current Market Price: $102.54
This version of Sauron almost doubled in price in the first half of August, seemingly due to the supply of this 2023 card naturally drying up over time. There hasn’t been any big spike in the number of copies sold, or any day when the number of copies per buyer rose above 3.0. The copies that were listed for less than $100 have simply sold out—which could be the fate of all the Borderless Poster cards from one of the bestselling Magic sets of all time.
#1 The One Ring (Borderless Poster)
- Set: Universes Beyond: The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth
- Increase: +$68.00
- Current Market Price: $333.35
Speaking of, the Borderless Poser version of The One Ring has also crept up in the past 30 days, though this spike was preceded by a particularly heavy sales day on July 6th. The One Ring is easily the strongest and most desirable card from Tales of Middle-earth, and it’s unclear whether Wizards of the Coast will (or even be able to) ever reprint it. With that fear thick in the air, more fans are shelling out for this version, the most expensive One Ring card that isn’t serialized.
By selling these cards online, you can reach a broad audience of customers who are willing to pay what these cards are truly worth. Download the August 2024 Price Trends Report to review every Magic card that went up in value this month. Then list those cards on TCGplayer so your inventory can do more for your business.
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