The MTG card Phyrexian Vindicator is rising in price. This impressive creature card was worth just $2.80 by mid-September, but copies now go for $6.70, and the price still seems to be going up.
Released in the MTG set Phyrexia All Will Be One, Phyrexian Vindicator costs four white mana, so it's almost impossible to play outside of a mono-white deck. But if you can pay its mana cost you get a ton of bang for your buck, with a flying 5/5 that can't be killed by damage and in fact reflects any damage dealt to it back to any target you like.
This makes it one of the best MTG cards for the 99 of a deck headed up by Anti-Venom, Horrifying Healer. This is the fourth most popular MTG commander in the Spider Man set - not bad for a monocolor card - and just like Phyrexian Vindicator it can't be killed by damage, turning anything it takes into +1/+1 counters.
This means, in an Anti-Venom deck you want to play all kinds of cards that force blocks, auras like Pariah that make creatures take damage instead of you, and artifacts like Inquisitors Flail that make your commander take more damage.
Phyrexian Vindicator is an excellent back up plan therefore, as basically the only other card in your deck aside from Stuffy Doll that will make a good target for all those spells. In fact, if you manage to play some mass damage effects like the recent card Dawnsire, Sunstar Dreadnought, you can use the Vindicator to straight up murk a player.
Interestingly, while the regular version of this creature is nearing $7, you can still get a showcase version for $5.50. Given how scarcity and playability are usually key to a card's price, and not looks (this isn't Pokemon), I'm never sure to what extent this is to do with people not liking the alternate art.
It could also be that every collector booster comes stuffed with several showcase rares, and if enough get opened, everything from collector boosters that's not a chase card starts to drop in value.
Check out the most expensive MTG cards in our dedicated guide, or come join the conversation on the Wargamer Discord.