Neiggghh! We have three related Magic: The Gathering price spikes to talk about today. Three-fifths of the cavalier cycle from Core Set 2020 are rising in value, thanks to synergies with the new Lorwyn precon. These elemental knights and their mighty steeds have galloped up by as much as 600%, and each one has at least doubled in value.
That's because these cards work beautifully with the new Lorwyn Commander deck Dance of the Elements. Each one has an effect when it enters and when it dies. This is obviously perfect with Ashling, The Limitless. She lets you Evoke an elemental in for cheap, instantly sacrificing it, and then gives you a temporary token copy which will itself be sacrificed at the end of the turn.
In other words, that's two triggers for the ETB and dies triggers, extracting just about as much value as you possibly could from these cards.
The cavaliers that have spiked are in Mardu (R/W/B) colors, and of the three, Cavalier of Flame has seen the biggest jump by far (mainly because it was the cheapest to start with) moving from $1.60 to $11.50. Cavalier of Flame lets you wheel, and deals a big bunch of damage to your opponents when it dies.
If you get to do this twice in the turn, you'll not only be able to shape the perfect hand, you'll also be able to fill your graveyard with lands and make the damage output way scarier.
Cavalier of Night has jumped from about $4 to $10.60. This card fits in nicely because it can sacrifice elementals that you may want to die anyway to delete opposing threats. Then when the cavalier dies it brings back cards to retrigger ETBs. You can even resurrect the same thing that you sacrifice. I'm thinking about dropping Eclipsed Flamekin or Risen Reef in the yard twice just to bring them back in on the same turn.
Cavalier of Dawn, meanwhile, has no particular synergies and there's no special reason why doubling up its abilities is particularly good. It just has strong effects, and it's moved up from $3 to $10 as a result. The ability to remove any kind of nonland permanent is very valuable in EDH, and if you're getting rid of the two best cards owned by two different players, then granting them each a 3/3 golem in return is hardly a cause for concern.
This MTG precon deck isn't exactly stuffed with artifacts and enchantments to bring back, but there's a few of each, so it's feasible you'll have some targets for the second effect too.
It's probably worth considering the elemental cavalier cards that haven't spiked too. Thorns is perhaps the most useful in a five-color deck for its ability to go digging for lands. But it's already included in the precon, so there's been no jump in desire for this card.
Gales is the only card in this cycle to be reprinted in the Jumpstart set. It's a great card draw spell, basically brainstorming you, but I'm not sure that hitting the ability twice is that much better than hitting it once, and its death trigger is very anemic.
I have fond memories of this cycle, and the core MTG sets from around this time. Which is your favorite of the bunch? Let us know on the Wargamer Discord.