The MTG card Seeds of Innocence has spiked in price, rising from $5.50 a couple of weeks ago to $25 today – according to MTG Goldfish – an increase of 355%. This very old card, from the 1996 set Mirage, is a green board wipe that only hits artifacts. It destroys every artifact on the field, but their controllers do get a bunch of life back as a consolation prize.
It looks like a new Bloomburrow commander is the driving force behind this price spike. The elemental cat, Ygra, Eater of All, is shaping up to be one of the most coveted MTG commanders of the new set. Her eye-catching ability turns all other creatures into Food, which means they’re automatically also artifacts.
That means once you have Ygra on the battlefield, if you cast Seeds of Innocence, you won’t just be taking out your opponents’ Sol Rings and Signets, but all of their creatures as well. Though your own critters are going to be caught in the crossfire, a Ygra deck is likely built with disposable (or indestructible) creatures in mind, keeping important cards alive with Gyome Master Chef or profiting from their destruction with Marionette Apprentice.
Plus, Ygra gets much stronger when you cast your board wipe, gaining two +1/+1 counters for each food that goes to a graveyard. Since she already starts out a mighty 6/6, that means you only need to destroy eight other creatures to ensure an instant kill with commander damage. At that point, all the free life gain isn’t going to matter.
It seems like, rather than a lifegain themed food deck (see the Food and Fellowship Commander precon deck), Ygra is poised to benefit heavily from mass artifact destruction, which might make her a seriously annoying commander to play against.
Ygra’s reveal earlier this spoiler season sparked a bit of a debate online, in fact. Should food (and blood, clues, treasures, etc) all have had the artifact MTG card type in the first place?
It’s worth mentioning that Seeds of Innocence is on the Magic: The Gathering Reserved List. That means there’ll (probably) never be a reprint. The card’s low supply and Reserved List status has probably made it more susceptible to spiking.
For more Magic content, check out our MTG release schedule guide, or our list of every MTG set in order.
Source: Wargamer
