The upcoming Magic: The Gathering set Murders at Karlov Manor has caused a new price spike. Dream Chisel, an artifact MTG card from Onslaught, has jumped up in price by 392% in the past few weeks. In mid-January, this card was valued at $1.20, according to MTG Goldfish. But now it’s a far more considerable $5.90. Meanwhile, the foil version of the card has gone from $9.50, all the way up to $28.
The reason for this particular MTG price spike is not hidden. It’s plain to see that it’s the Disguise mechanic, or more specifically, the Disguise precon Commander deck, Deadly Disguise, that’s boosting these prices.
Dream Chisel, as well as looking like an alternate reality musical instrument, makes all your face down creatures cost one mana less. It’s a really efficient way to make all your Disguise creatures much more affordable, and we expect it’ll really speed up this deck’s play pattern.
You might’ve expected a Dream Chisel reprint in the Deadly Disguise precon deck, since it really does feel like an essential card for the strategy. Deadly Disguise is led by the new MTG Commander Kaust, Eyes of the Glade, and the whole point of the deck is to play as many Disguise and Morph creatures as possible and then fire them at your opponents.
It would’ve definitely been a much more welcome inclusion than a random Neheb reprint, we have to say. However, despite the Murders at Karlov Manor precon decks having a superb reprint value, the Chisel was conspicuously absent from the decklist.
Dream Chisel is a pretty old card now, as you can probably tell just by looking at it. It’s only ever been printed in the 2002 MTG set Onslaught, which may mean relatively low numbers of this card are floating about, making it more susceptible to price shifts.
Onslaught introduced the Morph mechanic, which saw players dropping face-down creatures as 2/2s that could flip up to surprise opponents. The new Disguise mechanic is basically Morph v2. It works the same way, but it’s a little better, since your disguised creatures get the benefit of MTG Ward.
It’s worth noting that now, when a creature is facedown, you’ll have to double check whether it’s morphed, disguised, or just a MTG Doctor Who Cyberman!
Check the MTG release schedule to see all the key dates for Murders at Karlov Manor and other upcoming 2024 sets. And to stay on top of the constantly shifting meta, check out our guide to the best MTG Arena decks.