The MTG card Doctor Octopus, Master Planner is spiking in price. This crafty villain from the Spider-Man set was priced at just $1.80 when the latest Marvel set released, but since then it has rapidly risen, so that now a copy costs $8.80 – according to MTGGoldfish.
This particular price spike has a pretty straightforward explanation. Doctor Octopus, Master Planner is a fantastic fit for the Doom Prevails precon, which has proven to be the most popular of the preconstructed Marvel decks by a long way. On EDHREC, Doctor Doom has twice as many logged decks as the precon commander in second place: Captain America, Team Leader. I guess it’s good to be bad!
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There’s a reason we included this card in our Doctor Doom precon upgrade guide, as he synergizes with his fellow doctor in multiple ways. Firstly, and most straightforwardly, he gives a big +2/+2 buff to all your other villains. You wouldn’t pay seven mana for that effect alone, but it does significantly boost your offensive output.
More importantly, however, Doctor Octopus has a similar effect to the Ten Rings card which we covered last week. He raises your max hand size to eight and draws you up to eight cards at the end of each of your turns. This is obviously great card draw in any deck, but it’s particularly good in Doctor Doom, where your strategy focuses on conniving and discarding lands. Often you’re going to be looting rather than straight up drawing cards with this commander, so having the means to completely refill your hand at the end of each turn is invaluable.
Also, if you’re building Doctor Doom in a really discard-heavy way, making good use of cards like Monument to Endurance or using Seismic Assault to turn lands into damage, then Doc Oc gets even better. You might be able to get down to just one or two cards in hand, then shoot up to eight, drawing an absolute ton.
Overall, while a seven drop can be a tall order in EDH, this Octopus gives enough oomph to more than justify his inclusion, which is why he’s found in 46% of Doctor Doom decks logged online. Just make sure you have a Swiftfoot Boots ready to protect your scientist. If he’s immediately answered with a Swords to Plowshares, that would be enough to turn anyone to a life of villainy.
Source: Wargamer
