The MTG card Bloodchief Ascension has doubled in value in the latest Magic: The Gathering price spike, going from $4.92 in late February to $9.96 today (March 15). Based on TCGPlayer prices, it’s up 102% in just the last month.
This card, from the original Zendikar MTG set of 2009, works by gaining quest counters and then unlocking a potent ability. Whenever a card is placed in an opponent’s graveyard from anywhere, you may have that player lose two life while you gain two. That makes it particularly powerful for squeezing extra value out of MTG Mill or Discard decks. And specifically, it’s great in the Mothman deck from the new MTG Fallout Universes Beyond set.
That’s because the Mothman’s habit of spreading around rad counters – which both damage and mill – makes bringing Bloodchief Ascension online a complete walk in the park, after which you get to deal three damage (and gain two life yourself) for each dollop of radiation you apply.
We’ve now seen multiple Magic: The Gathering cards blow up in price thanks to this one Fallout Commander precon, Going by EDHREC numbers, The Wise Mothman is certainly the most popular of the face commanders from the Fallout set, with 2,594 decks logged so far, but Caesar, Legion’s Emperor is only a short way behind, with 1,775 decks submitted by users.
The Mothman is also not the most popular MTG commander in the set overall – that prize goes to Mr House, who’s already racked up an impressive 2,945 decks.
Yet it’s only the Wise Mothman who seems to have moved the price of various MTG cards – first bumping the price of Mesmeric Orb, and now Bloodchief Ascension.
That might be because this cryptid card has the most innovative mechanics. Caesar brings very little that’s unique to Mardu (aside from a focus on the Soldier MTG creature type), and similarly Mr House works with all the dice-rolling and treasure making cards that are already extremely popular.
In other words, the best and rarest cards for a Mr House or Caesar deck were already likely to be very expensive – stuff like Ancient Copper Dragon for the former, and Myrel Shield of Argive for the latter. Meanwhile, the unusualness of the Mothman’s mechanics has meant that some underloved cards, which turned out to be quite short in supply, have now become very desirable, and much more pricey.
While you might be considering picking up Bloodchief Ascension or Mesmeric Orb to upgrade your Mothman deck, do bear in mind that you don’t need to buy the most expensive MTG cards to have fun in EDH. Stick with us, and we can teach you how to build a great budget Commander deck that will wow your pals with great plays and an even greater price point.