A blue draw spell from the latest Magic: the Gathering set has risen dramatically in value and is now worth several dollars despite only being an uncommon. That's the crux of our story today, but if you were playing in 2025, you might be getting a sense of déjà vu since a similar sleeper hit uncommon blue draw spell spiked in value back then. Last year, we were talking about Stock Up from Aetherdrift, but today we'll be looking at Flow State from Secrets of Strixhaven.
For two mana, one of which must be blue, Flow State allows you to look at the top three cards of your library. You can put one into your hand, and the rest go on the bottom. So far, this is identical to the effect of Anticipate,an unremarkable draw spell that has been part of the game since Dragons of Tarkir was released in 2015.
What makes Flow State a (at time of writing) $4 (£2.96) card, while Anticipate is worth only a few cents, is the fact that if there are any instants or sorceries in the graveyard of the caster of Flow State, then instead of adding one card to their hand, they get two cards instead. This makes it twice as good at drawing cards as Anticipate, although it lacks the ability to be cast at instant speed.
Flow State is also highly comparable to Stock Up. The latter costs an additional mana, in return for searching the top 5 cards of the deck rather than simply two. It even commands a similar price tag at $4.17 (£3.09). Stock Up was previously worth a bit more, but its price recently fell as it was reprinted in Secrets of Strixhaven's Mystical Archives bonus sheet.
In terms of impact, though, neither Flow State or Stock Up currently hold a candle to Expressive Iteration, a two mana blue and red draw spell which searches the top three cards of its controller's library, puts one on the bottom, adds one to the hand, and temporarily exiles one, allowing it to be played prior to the end of the turn. The amount of card advantage that Expressive Iteration could provide for only two mana got it banned in both the Pioneer and Legacy formats.
Do you think Flow State and Stock Up will end up getting hit with the ban hammer like Expressive Iteration? Give us your takes in the Wargamer Discord.
Of course, the game's best draw spell will always be Ancestral Recall, printed way back in Alpha in 1993. Take a look at our list of all MTG sets for a tour through the game's history.