MTG Lord of the Rings is hours away from release, and while most cards in the Magic: The Gathering set are seeing the expected fall in their anticipated value, there’s one card that is spiking hard. The nine different printings of the Nazgul are fast establishing themselves as some of the most expensive MTG cards in the Lord of the Rings set, behind only the powerful, standout cards: Orcish Bowmasters and The One Ring.
The Nazgul cards began spiking on June 16, during MTG Lord of the Rings prerelease. Each one started off at around $3, but now the most expensive Nazgul sits at $18.75 (an increase of 547%) and the least expensive is $9.99 (a 242% price spike). Mechanically the Nazgul are identical; they’re the same card, they just have different artwork.
Presumably that means the popularity of the artwork itself is the key factor deciding the difference in cost. Currently, the version by Antonio J. Manzanedo is the most expensive, while the variant by Wonchun Choi is the least pricey.
Nazgul has an unusual effect, as it’s one of the few MTG cards that lets you break deck building restrictions of whatever format you’re playing in. Most formats let you play just four copies of a card (or just one in EDH) but you can instead put nine Nazgul in your deck, one for each of the different artworks. It’s similar to cards like Seven Dwarves or Persistent Petitioners.
Presumably, this has something to do with the price spike. It seems likely that players are looking to collect one of every Nazgul, so they can have the complete set in their decks. You just know anyone building a Nazgul deck won’t want duplicate artwork. The card’s uncommon, too, which makes each variant fairly difficult to get hold of.
And there’s a perfect Nazgul MTG commander just waiting for those players: Lord of the Nazgul’s looking like one of the most popular commanders in an MTG set completely stacked with legendary creatures. On EDHREC, there are already 457 submitted decks for the guy – that’s more than any version of Gandalf or Frodo has gotten.
For more price spike stories, check out what’s going on in Pioneer right now. A game-winning combo has caused a bulk rare to skyrocket 1500% – though it may be a flash in the pan. And don’t miss our MTG Arena codes guide for free packs!