The Magic: The Gathering card Stormchaser’s Talent has seen a pretty decent price spike over the past month. In early November the card was valued at $2.30 – according to MTG Goldfish – but since then it has doubled, up to $5.60 as of November 29.
This belated spike, four months after Bloomburrow came out, makes Stormchaser’s one of the least successful Talent cards of the MTG set, but it’s looking like they’ll all get there eventually: each one just provides so much value!
Compared to Stormchaser’s, cards like Caretaker’s Talent and Innkeeper’s Talent rose in price first because their effects are more universally useful. Any token or +1/+1 counter can use them, whereas Stormchaser’s Talent is much more niche. Indeed, instead of widespread use, it’s the arrival of a very specific Standard/MTG Arena deck that has led to this card’s price rise.
That deck is Temur Prowess, a combo deck that relies heavily on the card Valley Floodcaller, alongside Stormchaser’s Talent.
The key to this deck is that Enduring Vitality lets all your creatures tap for mana, and Valley Floodcaller lets them untap each time you cast a non-creature spell. The deck therefore profits from having lots of token makers and non-creature spells to make an ungodly amount of mana each turn. Plus, many of the tokens it produces are prowess otters that can grow to an enormous size, especially if you’re able to combo off.
Stormchaser’s Talent is brilliantly flexible in this deck. Not only does it make you a creature for one mana each time you cast it, its ability to bring back spells when you level it up lets you access all the tools you need, and even go infinite. Plus, sometimes you’ll unlock the class card’s third level, which can supply you with all the otters you will ever need.
It would take many, many paragraphs to cover all the ins and outs of this rather complex deck, but I’ve hinted at a combo enough times that I’d feel I was letting you down if I didn’t explain it. Here goes…
If you have Stormchaser’s Talent on board, an Enduring Vitality, plus four birds/otters/frogs/rats without summoning sickness, including a Valley Floodcaller, you’re all set for instant victory. Simply cast the two mana version of This Town Ain’t Big Enough (for the both of us) on your Stormchaser’s Talent, bouncing enemy permanents if it pleases you. Since you spent two mana and gained four, you’re now up two mana.
Now replay Stormchaser’s Talent for one (you’re now up a net five mana and have a total of seven mana) and level it up, returning This Town Ain’t Big Enough to your hand. You’re left with an extra mana, an extra creature, and plenty of triggers from your prowess creatures and Floodcaller.
You can repeat this combo to gain infinite mana, remove your opponent’s entire board, gain infinite otter tokens, and produce a bunch of infinitely large creatures. It’s going to be tough for your opponent to contend with that.
Of course, that situation requires quite a few pieces, and it’s far more common that you’ll only play part of the combo to generate some value, before smashing your opponent up with some seriously big otters, or rats summoned with Song of Totentanz. Ryan C’s primer is an extremely handy guide to this deck, if you want a fuller understanding.
For more Magic: The Gathering content, check out our MTG release schedule guide, or take a look at our list of the best MTG commanders.