Unassuming blue Magic the Gathering card Consign to Memory has spiked in price by 300%, rising from $1.30 on July 23 to $5.20 on July 30, according to market data on MTG goldfish. Demand seems to be coming from Modern decks, where this versatile card is a sideboard swiss army knife that answers common threats and allows players to avoid the downside of powerful cards.
Making its debut in the MTG set Modern Horizons 3, Consign to Memory is an instant that costs one blue mana. It counters a colorless spell, or a triggered ability. It also has the MTG keyword Replicate 1; as you cast it you may pay one mana of any color any number of times, and copy the spell for each time you pay the cost.
When leaked images of Consign to Memory appeared on Reddit in May, MTG fans immediately spotted that it was a strictly superior version of Ceremonious Rejection, which has the same cost but can only counter a colorless spell, and cannot be replicated. That already saw sideboard play in MTG Modern decks, as a cheap answer to problematic artefacts such as The One Ring.
Consign to Memory is leagues better than Ceremonious Rejection, because as well as the hard counter for colorless spells, it can counter triggered abilities. By replicating the spell once, you can counter both an Eldrazi and its “on cast” triggered ability. When playing against the potent elemental incarnations from Modern Horizons 2, Consign to Memory counters their powerful enter-the-battlefield abilities.
Countering triggered abilities also allows players to dodge certain downsides of cards. The elemental incarnations, and the Theros titans (such as the recent Phlage, Titan of Fire’s Fury), have triggered abilities that cause them to be sacrificed after they enter the battlefield unless they’ve been cast a particular way. Using Consign to Memory you can counter those abilities, and get these powerful creatures onto the battlefield at a reduced cost.
Pre-order prices for Consign to Memory started at $4, dropping when Modern Horizons 3 arrived on the MTG release schedule in June and staying low until they began to rise again on July 23. They’ve since outstripped the early speculative prices.
Thinking of revamping your Timeless or Historic MTG Arena decks with Consign to Memory? We’ve got a guide to all the MTG Arena codes that are still working to get free boosters from earlier sets.
Source: Wargamer
