When it was first released, some players speculated that The Meathook Massacre would follow in the footsteps of The Great Henge
The Great HengeThis spell costs {X} less to cast, where X is the greatest power among creatures you control.
{T}: Add {G}{G}. You gain 2 life.
Whenever a nontoken creature you control enters, put a +1/+1 counter on it and draw a card., a card that reached $50.00 during its legality in Standard. Well, those players were right. The Meathook Massacre is currently the most expensive card legal in Standard today (excluding fancy foil treatments). And it keeps rising in price!
The Meathook Massacre
As seen in the graph below, the regular art version of The Meathook Massacre recently jumped to about $53.00. The extended border copy is a staggering $70.00. And the Double Feature printing is $80.00 at the time of writing.
Considering what Meathook cost at the release of Innistrad: Midnight Hunt ($16.00), these current prices are astounding.
Read More: Is This the Most Fun or Most HATED Commander in MTG?
Why Did The Meathook Massacre Rise in Price?
The Meathook Massacre’s high prices are due to its playability in both Commander and Standard.
In Commander, Meathook is commonly used in decks like Toxrill, the Corrosive
Toxrill, the CorrosiveAt the beginning of each end step, put a slime counter on each creature you don't control.
Creatures you don't control get -1/-1 for each slime counter on them.
Whenever a creature you don't control with a slime counter on it dies, create a 1/1 black Slug creature token.
{U}{B}, Sacrifice a Slug: Draw a card., Yawgmoth, Thran Physician
Yawgmoth, Thran PhysicianProtection from Humans
Pay 1 life, Sacrifice another creature: Put a -1/-1 counter on up to one target creature and draw a card.
{B}{B}, Discard a card: Proliferate. (Choose any number of permanents and/or players, then give each another counter of each kind already there.), and Tatsunari, Toad Rider.
But the majority of The Meathook Massacre’s recent demand can be attributed to Standard, where it has become a bit of a format staple. Let’s take a look at a few Standard decks featuring The Meathook Massacre:
Orzhov Control
This black and white control deck uses The Meathook Massacre to clear the way for powerful planeswalkers like The Wandering Emperor and Lolth, Spider Queen
Lolth, Spider QueenWhenever a creature you control dies, put a loyalty counter on Lolth.
0: You draw a card and you lose 1 life.
−3: Create two 2/1 black Spider creature tokens with reach and menace.
−8: You get an emblem with "Whenever an opponent is dealt combat damage by one or more creatures you control, if that player lost less than 8 life this turn, they lose life equal to the difference.", to sit on the battlefield and accumulate card advantage.
Read More: It’s Finally Affordable! What Caused This OG Modern Staple to Fall From Favor?
Rakdos Artifacts
Rakdos Artifact decks can actually use Meathook as a finisher. Once you make enough Construct tokens with Oni-Cult Anvil
Oni-Cult AnvilWhenever one or more artifacts you control leave the battlefield during your turn, create a 1/1 colorless Construct artifact creature token. This ability triggers only once each turn.
{T}, Sacrifice an artifact: This artifact deals 1 damage to each opponent. You gain 1 life., The Meathook Massacre can sweep the field and deal your opponent damage equal to the number of your creatures that were killed.
Read More: Standout Kamigawa Card Breaks Out Across MTG Formats and Rises in Price
Golgari Control
This deck makes sure the board is always clear of creatures. In addition to The Meathook Massacre, Sarulf, Realm Eater, and Culling Ritual sweep the board of creatures, while Binding of the Old Gods and Boseiju, Who Endures, take care of trickier permanents.
Read More: The MTG Marketplace: Biggest Winners, Losers and Trends of 3/21/22
