The Magic: The Gathering card Beacon of Immortality has become a mainstay in one of the most distinct EDH decks from the Final Fantasy UB release. Now, 10th edition copies of the card have doubled in value, going from $9.50 to $18.80 in just under a month.
This expensive instant card, originally from Fifth Dawn, has the dramatic effect of doubling its caster's life total. Then, Beacon of Immortality gets shuffled away into their deck, so they can't find a way to reuse it from the graveyard.
While it would be pretty terrible in current Constructed formats, in EDH this card has some obvious potential. Starting at 40 makes this kind of effect much better. While you won't be able to use it until fairly late in the game, if you have other cards that can keep your HP topped up, Beacon of Immortality can increase your life to a ridiculous degree.
But you need a way to leverage that. Otherwise you're just prolonging the game and delaying the inevitable. And for many cards that synergize with life gain, gaining one often has just the same effect as gaining 40.
Enter Hope Estheim, an Azorius MTG commander from the Final Fantasy Magic: The Gathering set. A playable character in FFXIII, in Magic, Hope is a super cheap legendary wizard who mills everyone out based on how much life you gained during your turn.
With Estheim in your command zone, you now want to be gaining as much life as possible and Beacon of Immortality goes from an interesting curiosity to potentially one of the most valuable win conditions in your deck. If you get your life total high enough and start milling the rest of the board nice and early, then this instant will often just win you the game right away.
Of course, if you play this deck, it behooves you to know that mill strategies make some Commander players irrationally angry. That hasn't stopped the 3,905 fans who submitted their own version of this deck on EDHREC though, and if you like this kind of thing, it shouldn't stop you.
For more Magic news, check out our world class MTG release schedule guide. And if you want a place to chat about new Edge of Eternities cards are the deck you're currently brewing, why not come on down to the Wargamer Discord?