A Magic: The Gathering card that previously cost mere cents to buy recently saw a price jump of over 1,000% on some secondary TCG markets. The more expensive versions of Dandân could be bought for around a dollar until April 2, when its value suddenly jumped to $11.40 on MTGGoldfish. TCGPlayer and MTGStocks recorded similar (though slightly less dramatic) rises – and the latter posed the theory that a single MTG YouTuber had caused the spike.
It turns out Dandân is more than just a Magic: The Gathering card; it’s also one of the more obscure MTG formats (obscure enough that, as of writing, MTG head designer Mark Rosewater has never heard of it). Its design is credited to Nick Floyd, and it’s also commonly known as ‘Forgetful Fish’.
Forgetful Fish is a two-player format where players compete using the same 80-card MTG deck. Dandâns are the only way to deal direct damage, and most of the game revolves around finding clever ways to alter board conditions in your favour so your Dandâns can do their thing before your opponent’s can.
This format was a topic of discussion for YouTuber Rhystic Studies on April 2. The channel shared a video titled ‘The Story of Forgetful Fish’, explaining the format’s history and comparing it to some of the best card games out there, such as Exploding Kittens and Coup. The video has been viewed over 93,000 times, and it seems like too much of a coincidence that the price of Dandâns started spiking around the same time – as MTGStocks pointed out on April 7.
The value of Dandân has plateaued slightly in recent days. MTGGoldfish estimates it’s currently worth something more like $4.29. It’s a steep drop from that initial 1,000% climb, and the hype is likely to fade further over time – but for a little while, Dandân crested the waters and had a little moment in the sun.
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