Considering we’re in the midst of its spoiler season, it’s safe to say Duskmourn is all the rage right now. With new powerful cards boosting archetypes, and some creating even weirder ones, there’s a lot to be excited about. This has also set the MTG finance world turning as players try to predict the next best deck.
While Duskmourn is stealing the spotlight, recently Alchemist’s Talent from the Bloomburrow Commander decks has seen a huge price spike. This seems to have absolutely nothing to do with Duskmourn at all. Instead, Alchemist’s Talent is just a great card that’s now commanding an impressive $30 price tag!
Alchemist’s Talent
- Mana Value: 3R
- Rarity: Rare
- Text: (Gain the next level as a sorcery to add its ability.)
- Level 1 – When Alchemist’s Talent enters, create two tapped Treasure tokens.
- {1}{R}: Level 2 – Treasures you control have “{T}, Sacrifice this artifact: Add two mana of any one color.”
- {4}{R}: Level 3 -Whenever you cast a spell, if mana from a Treasure was spent to cast it, this Class deals damage equal to that spell’s mana value to each opponent.
Simply put, Alchemist’s Talent is a fantastic MTG card in any deck that cares about Treasure Tokens. While it’s arguably not the best ramp engine since it costs four mana, its effects are well worth the price of admission.
Due to the added cost of reaching Level 2, Alchemist’s Talent is technically a six-mana ramp spell. While Alchemist’s Talent can pay for itself somewhat, you might not want to crack its Treasure Tokens early. After all, once you jump through the hoop of hitting level two, each token gets twice as effective.
Considering the prevalence of Treasure Tokens in Commander, having them create twice as much mana is a huge boon. Keeping this card in play can massively accelerate a deck’s game plan and enable all kinds of shenanigans. Even if Treasures aren’t your deck’s sole focus, you only have to create six to recoup the initial investment.
Essentially, Alchemist’s Talent has Commander staple written all over it, and that’s ignoring its optional Level 3 ability too. Despite this power, the card is currently only in around 4500 Commander decks according to EDHREC. This seems to indicate the card’s latest price spike is due to lacking supply mixed with increased demand.
A 300% Spike
- Mana Value: U
- Rarity: Rare
- Text: (Gain the next level as a sorcery to add its ability.)
- Level 1 – You may look at the top card of your library any time.
- {3}{U}: Level 2 – As long as you’ve cast a spell this turn, you may play cards from the top of your library.
- {2}{U}: Level 3 – Spells you cast from anywhere other than your hand cost {2} less to cast.
At the start of last week, the price of Alchemist’s Talent sat at a still respectable $9.27. Even at this price, it was the most expensive card in the Animated Army Commander deck from Bloomburrow. Since then, the price of this card has almost tripled in price.
Current listings for Alchemist’s Talent start at $26, but recent sales have pushed as high as $29.94. With only 10 listings for the card left on TCGplayer, it’s entirely possible this price will increase more as time goes on. Notably, Alchemist’s Talent is only available as a non-foil card.
The non-foil exclusivity of Alchemist’s Talent is actually part of the problem causing its price spike. For whatever reason, the card is only found in the Animated Army deck and can’t appear in Collector Boosters. Due to this the supply for the card is rather limited compared to the majority of other Commander cards.
This isn’t the first time that a Commander-exclusive Bloomburow Talent has spiked in price. Back in early August Fortune Teller’s Talent spiked up to $7. Since then, the price has steadily declined to $5.76, but that still makes it a rather expensive card. Nonetheless, it shows the peak in price may not last forever, but it likely won’t crash completely.
Read More: Textless MTG Duskmourn Reprint Sees 316% Price Spike