The Magic: The Gathering card Catalyst Stone has spiked in price by 611% thanks to synergy with the new Avatar set. This card was priced at $2.60 when Avatar came out, and since then it has skyrocketed all the way up to $18.50. The foils have seen an even bigger jump in price. Previously at $15, you'll now have to fork out $62 if you want one.
Released in 2001 in the MTG set Odyssey, Catalyst Stone is a neat cost reducer for flashback cards. Your own flashback costs are lowered by two generic mana while costs paid by other players cost two more.
This is a pretty niche effect, which is why the card's remained so cheap over the years, despite never getting a reprint. It would only really work in some bizzaro alternate world where flashback had become a dominant strategy, at which point I can imagine players side-boarding it in as a hate piece.
But it is good with commanders that give your own spells flashback. And the latest set on the MTG release schedule provides the most powerful and flexible example of this effect we've ever seen in Iroh, Grand Lotus.
During your turn, Iroh gives all the instants and sorceries in your graveyard flashback, with a cost equal to their mana cost. That alone would be good justification for playing Catalyst Stone, indeed this artifact is usually played alongside Lier, Disciple of the Drowned - a mono-blue MTG commander with a similar effect.
But Iroh doesn't stop there. He also gives any lessons in the graveyard a flashback cost of one mana, and with Catalyst Stone on the field, that means they're free. And free spells are like catnip to Magic: The Gathering players - they can't get enough of them.
True to its name, Catalyst Stone can fuel some truly enormous turns. You'll probably want to play a lot of wheel effects or sell-mill with Iroh to fill the graveyard. With this synergy you can then cast them all on the same turn for free.
Not all of the lesson cards are spectacular, but Avatar The Last Airbender did introduce a lot of worthwhile options. And if you throw some classic spell-slinger cards into the mix, things start to get nutty.
For instance, you could play Hullbreaker Horror and bounce your opponents' whole board. Sadly, the flashback only works during your turn, otherwise you could use the Hullbreaker to counter everyone's spells and block them from doing anything impactful. You can have a field day with Niv Mizzet, or win the game with Guttersnipe.
My favorite option though is to play Thousand-Year Storm, which copies each instant and sorcery for every other instant and sorcery you've already played that turn. If you can't find a way to win the game after dropping Iroh, Catalyst Stone, and this enchantment, my guess is you just got Bojuka Bogged or you built your deck wrong!
Avatar feels like a bomb set so far, with many impactful cards and mechanics that are fuelling these price spikes. Let us know what you think of it on the Wargamer Discord server, or check out our MTG release schedule guide to find out what's coming up next.