After continually falling in price over the past year, the MTG card Pest Control is now back up, surging in value over the past month. This removal spell cost just $2.50 on Christmas Day, but since then its price has risen by 196% to $7.40.
A low-cost removal spell released in the Big Score section of the Outlaws of Thunder Junction MTG set, Pest Control is a two mana spell that can destroy all non-land permanents which cost one or less. And if there’s none of those around, you can at least cycle it away to get a replacement card.
Right now, Pest Control seems most useful in Standard against token decks or aggro decks stuffed with one-drops like Jeskai Convoke. But of course, with its restrictive casting cost, it can only realistically be played by white/black decks in the format.
A new one of those – Esper Self Bounce – has risen to prominence recently. This deck relies on playing and then returning enchantments to hand, and its unstoppable value engine has made it one of the best MTG Arena decks in the last month, that surge in popularity triggering multiple price spikes. It seems players of this archetype are now packing a couple of Pest Controls into their sideboards, and this is the main reason its value is going up.
What’s interesting is this is not a deck you’d necessarily expect to see playing Pest Control, since it has all sorts of important one mana permanents you’d like to preserve. Dropping a board wipe onto your own Optimistic Scavenger or Stormchaser’s Talent, for instance, would be ruinous. It seems like a few Domain decks are also running Pest Control now, too , and they would probably choose to sideboard the card in against Esper.
But that’s the secret to this price spike. While it can be useful for dealing with Jeskai’s critters, or a multitude of Manifold Mice when mono red aggro comes out swinging, Pest Control is more typically seen when an Esper Self-Bounce deck fights another Esper Self-Bounce deck. At that point, you get into a pretty horrendous game of chicken, each player daring the other to commit to the board and face the other player’s sweeper.
If we’re considering the health of the Magic: The Gathering format, it’s probably not ideal that the best way to counteract one of Standard’s best decks is monopolized by that very same deck. But who knows, if Self-Bounce continues to shine, perhaps we’ll see some flavor of Orzhov Midrange rise to greatness to battle it.
For more news, check out our guide to the most expensive MTG cards ever sold, and our breakdown of the 2025 MTG release schedule.
Source: Wargamer
