The Timeshifted MTG card Dandân has spiked by 112%, reaching its highest ever cost of $14 on May 10. The card has had a pretty flat value of about $4 for months, but began to trend upwards in March to about $6.60, before suddenly doubling in value this week.
Of course, if you’re au fait with the most obscure reaches of the Magic: The Gathering hobby, you can list every MTG plane off by heart and spell Asmoranomardicadaistinaculdacar backwards, then you’ll already know it’s not a new MTG commander or top MTG Arena deck that’s caused this very old card to suddenly get pricier. Instead, Dandân’s been boosted by renewed interest in the weirdest MTG format ever.
Dandân, or ‘Forgetful Fish’ is a game mode where both players share an 80-card deck and a graveyard. The deck contains ten copies of Dandân, six copies of Memory Lapse, a range of other blue control spells, and no other creatures. This fun format has surprising depth. It’s all about controlling the top of the library, predicting your opponent’s moves, and playing mind games.
Why is Dandân in the limelight? It’s YouTubers that have caused the surge of interest. Specifically, The Professor from Tolarian Community College recently hosted Rhystic Studies on his Shuffle Up & Play series, to showcase a game of Dandân. The video has 135,000 views at time of writing, and it came out on May 6 – the same day Dandân really shot up in price. Case closed.
This is not the first time Dandân has risen to prominence, only to be slowly forgotten again. In April 2023, the card shot up to $10 after Rhystic Studies posted his own video on the format. And in August 2022, it saw its first spike, possibly triggered by this Commander’s Herald article on the format? Both times, the card had an initial rapid jump in price, but gradually slunk back down to a lower price point: we expect something similar to happen here.
So can you still take advantage of this price spike if you don’t have any copies of Dandân already? Perhaps. Last time, we saw a range of popular Dandân cards rising with the tide, from Predict to Crystal Spray, so it’s worth taking a look at these. Memory Lapse is obviously a mandatory card for the deck, but it has had so many reprints that only the blingy ones are likely to see much movement.
For more Magic: The Gathering content, check out our list of the best MTG planeswalkers, or take a look at any MTG Arena codes that are still up and operational.