The price of foil copies of Magic the Gathering card ‘From Beyond’ has surged from $1.80 at the end of May to over $18, according to data on card trading website MTG Goldfish. The non-foil version of the card has gone up in price too, but the foil price spike is massive, a sure sign that demand is coming from EDH players – new Eldrazi commanders printed for Modern Horizons 3 have created a home for this card.
From Beyond was first printed in the 2015 MTG set Battle for Zendikar. It’s an enchantment that costs three generic and one green mana. At the start of its controller’s upkeep it creates a 1/1 Eldrazi Scion creature token, which can be sacrificed to produce one colorless mana. Alternatively you can pay one generic and one green mana, sacrifice From Beyond, search your library for an Eldrazi, and put it into your hand.
A Magic the Gathering card that creates a body every turn and can act as an instant-speed tutor for an Eldrazi seems like it should be a lock-in for every MTG Eldrazi Commander deck. The reason From Beyond traded so cheaply before the new Eldrazi Modern Horizons 3 commanders released, was that no previous Eldrazi commander could run the card in its deck.
From Beyond has the MTG keyword Devoid, which means that, although it costs green mana to cast, it’s considered to be colorless for all game purposes. However, this does not change the color identity of the card. Color identity is determined by the color of the spell, plus any mana symbols printed on the card, and a few other sources of information: so From Beyond has a green color identity.
Colorless commanders can only include cards with a colorless color identity in their deck, and up until now. Since all the Eldrazi MTG commanders used to be colorless, none of them could run From Beyond. That was until June 14, when the Eldrazi Incursion Commander precon deck rocked up on the MTG release schedule.
Eldrazi Incursion’s two commanders, ‘Ulalek, Fused Atrocity’ and ‘Azlask, the Swelling Scourge’ both have all five colors in their color identity. They can run any card they like, so ‘From Beyond’ is fair game. The recent spike is the result of players snapping up copies of the card to upgrade their (already hideously expensive) decks.
This is just one of many price spikes caused by Modern Horizons 3 releases. On Wednesday we reported on the land Flagstones of Trokair surging in price, which at the time looked like it was caused by a Legacy tournament win. We now think that a new Modern ‘Boros Energy’ deck is the real culprit: it’s also caused a massive price spike for classic land-destruction spell Boom // Bust.
Market disruption aside, MH3 is a brilliant set. I’m onto my fifth sealed pool on MTG Arena – 24 wins across my first four pools, ready to crash and burn at any moment – and seriously constructing some new Historic or Timeless MTG Arena decks from the cards I’ve cracked.
If all the discussion of the price of paper Magic has you feeling queasy, check out our guide to MTG Arena codes and see if you’ve missed any free digital packs.
Source: Wargamer
