The enchantment MTG card Merrow Commerce has seen a major price increase, going from a price of $5 on MTG Goldfish to $15 in the span of just seven days. The reason for this 200% price spike is simple; it’s a Merfolk tribal card. Merfolk are having a bit of a moment in Magic: The Gathering currently, thanks to the release of loads of new Merfolk cards in Lost Caverns of Ixalan.
Merrow Commerce is an enchantment card that lets you untap your Merfolk at the end of your turn. As a baseline, the card gives all your mermen pseudo-vigilance, but it’s also great with the few MTG Merfolk cards that have tap abilities.
The interesting thing about this MTG card’s recent surge in price is that it’s actually way better with the old popular Merfolk MTG commander – Kumena, Tyrant of Orazca – than it is with the new commander Hakbal of the Surging Stream. Sure, it’s nice to be able to hold up blockers with Hakbal, but with Kumena you can use all the Merfolk tapping shenanigans twice as often.
And when Kumena came out in 2018, Merrow Commerce did see a bit of a price jump. It went from a $1 card to a $4 card and has basically stayed around that level until now.
The new price spike might be related to the fact that people are playing both Merfolk cards in the same Commander decks. Indeed, of the 1,900 Hakbal decks on EDHREC, 91% of them play Kumena too (and the other 9% are missing a trick, methinks). It looks like only 30% of Hakbal decks are actually playing Merrow Commerce, however, but given the popularity of this precon, that might well be enough to have given the card its boost.
We also highly suspect that there’s a not insignificant number of players who bought the Explorers of the Deep deck and have since converted it to a Kumena deck, to try something a little different without investing in a whole bunch of new cards. And that there’s probably a resurgence of interest in the Merfolk MTG creature type overall, leading to plenty more decks for Merrow Commerce.
In the 10 days since Lost Caverns of Ixalan released, there have been 335 Kumena decks submitted to EDHREC, and 86% of Kumena decks contain Merrow Commerce, so we reckon we’re onto something.
Merrow Commerce isn’t the only Merfolk that’s spiking – there’s one that’s also rising thanks to its place in EDH, and another that’s been given a boost thanks to Modern, alongside a bunch of other Ixalan cards.
For more Magic price stories, check out our list of the most expensive MTG cards. And for some digital freebies you may have not unlocked yet, check out the full list of remaining MTG Arena codes.