The Magic: The Gathering card Torch the Tower has seen a sudden 350% price spike over the past week-and-a-bit. On November 29, this Wilds of Eldraine burn spell cost just 50 cents, but since then it’s risen sharply.
To first address the elephant in the room, yes I am writing a price spike story about a Magic: The Gathering card that only costs $2.25 currently. But that’s because Torch the Tower is a common, so if you opened up any packs of Wilds of Eldraine you probably have at least half a dozen of these clogging up your bulk box. If you’re not using these cards, now is the time to fish them out.
One of the best red draft commons of its MTG set, Torch the Tower has since found plenty of play in other formats, most notably Standard and Pioneer. It’s a removal spell that can deal two damage or three, depending on whether you Bargain away a token, artifact, or enchantment. It also exiles the creatures it kills, preventing any unpleasant death triggers or graveyard recursion.
Similarities to Scorching Dragonfire, now also Standard-legal thanks to a reprint in Duskmourn. Dragonfire is more consistent than Torch the Tower, but the difference between one mana and two is huge. It helps that many decks have ‘incidental’ tokens like Food that you can sacrifice to the spell without it feeling like a huge loss.
Torch the Tower is seeing tons of play in many of the best Standard and MTG Arena decks, which – combined with Pioneer play – is likely the reason for this spike. In Standard, for instance, both variants of the super successful prowess decks want copies for the sideboard – mainly to use in mirror matches. While midrange decks have now surpassed them, they’re still among the most popular archetypes in the meta.
The new Floodcaller Combo decks also run the card, as you can sacrifice some of your enchantments to Bargain it when the moment calls for it.
As for Pioneer, the card sees play in the MTG format’s very best decks, including spell-slinging Izzet Phoenix decks and Rakdos Midrange.
While regular copies of this common are ‘only’ $2.25, foils have seen an even more precipitous spike, going from 60 cents to $3.60. That’s pretty darn pricey for a common!
Interested in Magic: The Gathering price news? Then I recommend our guide to the most expensive MTG cards. You can also check out our MTG release schedule guide to see what Magic sets are coming up next.
Source: Wargamer
