The MTG card Greenbelt Rampager is spiking hard due to a new infinite combo players are anticipating in Modern Horizons 3. Regular copies are still very affordable, but have jumped from 30 cents to $1.20 – a rise of 300% – in just over a week, while foil copies have shot all the way from $0.80 to over $8.
Released in the 2017 MTG set Aether Revolt, Greenbelt Rampager is a 3/4 elephant that only costs one mana. But if you can’t pay two energy when it enters, it goes straight back into your hand, and you get to make one energy as a consolation prize. The idea is that this creature is undercosted in mana, but you need the energy resource in order to make it stay on the battlefield.
So why are players buying up this MTG card right now? Well, it’s not the new energy commander – they’ve got the wrong color identity. Instead, Greenbelt Rampager is spiking because it forms an infinite combo with a new card rumored to be in Modern Horizons 3.
At Wargamer, we don’t normally report on leaks unless there’s a clear public interest reason to, as we’re sympathetic to the idea that they devalue the hard work of creators. In this case, a leak has had a clear impact on a card’s secondary market value, so we think it’s worth making an exception.
An enchantment card revealed in horrible potato-cam quality a couple of weeks ago, Primal Prayers is a leaked card that lets you pay for creatures with energy instead of mana. Specifically, the enchantment makes two energy when it ETBs, and then lets you play creatures with mana value three or less for one energy. It’s like an Aluren, but with energy.
If you play Primal Prayers and have a Greenbelt Rampager in your hand, you can play Greenbelt Rampager for one energy, and it’ll return to your hand, replacing the one energy you paid. You can repeat this process as many times as you like, making it an infinite MTG combo.
There are plenty of ways to win the game from that position. With Beast Whisperer, you can draw your entire deck. With Earthcraft, you can make infinite mana. And with Witty Roastmaster or Impact Tremors, you can cut straight to the chase and just kill everyone.
Of course, while many of the Modern Horizons 3 leaks will no doubt turn out to be real, we have no way of independently verifying this one. You should treat the whole thing with a healthy dose of skepticism, and be extra wary of the idea of buying cards based on a leak.
For more content, check out our guide to the most expensive MTG cards. Or you can check out more price spikes, like this other green creature that’s been elevated by Standard.