The Magic: The Gathering card Wall of Shards has seen a substantial price increase over the past few weeks. When Tarkir Dragonstorm dropped last month, this snow creature cost $4.30, but now it’s priced at $9.90, and still seems to be climbing.
Printed in the positively ancient MTG set Coldsnap, Wall of Shards is – as the name suggests – a defender, but a pretty odd example of one. Firstly, it has flying, secondly it’s a snow permanent, and finally it has a cumulative upkeep cost, which you have to pay each turn or sacrifice it.
Instead of paying an increasing amount of mana, like most cumulative upkeep costs. though, Wall of Shards forces you to let your opponents gain life: one on your first upkeep, two on your second, and so on. That makes it significantly better than it looks, since there’ll never be a situation where you’re forced to sacrifice it against your will.
Still, there’s realistically only one place you’d play a card like Wall of Shards: a Defender EDH deck. And sure enough, it’s the new Tarkir Dragonstorm MTG commander, Felothar the Steadfast that has created this rise.
Like Arcades, Felothar has the requisite ability to let your defenders attack and deal damage with their toughness rather than their power. This makes Wall of Shards a two mana, flying 8/8, which means it’s going to be a long while before the little bits of life it hands out to players is a problem for you.
The cumulative upkeep effect also lets you spread the life out rather than dumping in on one player. When Wall of Shards has six time counters on it, you can pay everyone two life rather than giving one player eight, or dish it out however you prefer. I think it would be awesome to use this card as a political tool – striking deals to protect your board state in return for extra life.
While Wall of Shards sees plenty of play in Arcades decks, it’s even stronger in Felothar. That’s because, if you ever do reach a point – perhaps once you’re down to a 1 v 1 – where Wall of Shards is doing more for your opponent than for you, Felothar can remove it, and draw you an impressive eight cards in the bargain.
For more Magic price spikes check out this enchantment that turns one of the upcoming Final Fantasy commanders into an absolute juggernaut. Or check out our guide to the best MTG Arena decks, and come join our Discord.
Source: Wargamer
