Wizards of the Coast has been churning out newMagic: The Gatheringcards and sets all year, thanks to the new release cycle coming from the addition of Universes Beyond sets to Standard and other formats, leading to a total of six expansions in 2025 alone, with a seventh at the start of the year in the form of the non-Standard legal reprint of Innistrad cards. Coming next is the Edge of Eternities set, which is scheduled to be released on August 1 alongside the typical battery of products for new expansions, including two Commander decks. TheCommander decks forMTG’s Edge of Eternitieshad their card lists revealed just a few days ago, which prompted a massive increase in price for two cards.
This is not unusual forMagic: The Gathering, and something similar happened with theFinal FantasyCommander decks, especially since there were four new ones with a lot of possible combos to explore. Edge of Eternities takes fans of the game to space, and it includes a plethora of spaceships, alien races, planets, and other classic science-fantasy elements. This applies to the set’s two Commander decks as well, with World Shaper being dedicated to the Eumidian insect race and sacrificing lands and other permanents, and the Counter Intelligence deck offering a counter-based loop with artifacts and Station cards.
Magic: The Gathering’s World Shaper Commander Deck Makes a Jumpstart Card Spike to Five Times Its Value
A clear upgrade forMagic: The Gathering’s Edge of Eternities Commander deck that revolves around sacrificing permanents, World Shaper, is Zask, Skittering Swarmlord. This card costs 5 mana total for a Legendary insect creature with power and toughness equal to 5, and then it has a few other effects:
These are all powerful effects for the World Shaper deck because it has plenty of Land and insect cards, and the final ability on Zask, Skittering Swarmlord can make the face commander of the deck, called Hearthhull, the Worldseed, charge its Station counters faster. This is because the new Stationmechanic inMTG’s Edge of Eternitiesapplies charge counters on a permanent equal to the power of the creature that one taps to activate the ability.
MTG: Zask, Skittering Swarmlord’s Price Surge Explained
Zask, Skittering Swarmlord comes fromMTG’s Jumpstart packstied with the Foundations set released in November of last year, which makes it arguably harder to come by than regular cards. The average price for this card went from around $5 before the deck lists came out to over $25, and now the card issold by very few users on TCGPlayer.
Magic: The Gathering’s Edge of Eternities Counter Intelligence Deck Makes an Old Card Surge to Over $10
The secondMagic: The GatheringCommander deckassociated with the Edge of Eternities set is Counter Intelligence, and its big focus is on +1/+1 counters and charge counters. The former make creatures bigger, making it easier to win the game by attacking opponents and having a great state of the board, whereas charge counters are used on multiple artifacts and the face commander, Inspirit, Flagship Vessel. One could argue that Kilo, Apogee Mind is a better commander due to its proliferate and haste, but they are pretty interchangeable.
Considering the deck’s game plan, an obvious upgrade for it is Power Conduit, originally from Mirrodin. This artifact costs 2 mana, and by tapping it and removing a counter from a permanent they control, players can then put a +1/+1 counter on a creature or a charge counter on an artifact. With how many creatures and artifacts (often a combination of both) are in the deck, Power Conduit is never a dull card, and it can dramatically improve the board state in many ways.
For example, players can remove a charge counter from Inspirit to remove its creature status, or they can power up one of their creatures to then put more charge counters on Inspirit to turn it into a creature. This card also pairs perfectly with the new Insight Engine artifact, which can draw players an incredible number of cards the more charge counters it has on itself, making for yet another amazing proliferatecombo inMagic: The GatheringCommander games.
It’s worth noting that this card has three variations at the moment - one that is a reprint from The List, one from Mirrodin, and one from a Streets of New Capenna Commander deck, but it hasn’t been in Standard for a hot minute. SinceMagic: The Gathering’s Standard formatis getting a lot of reprints from the many sets being released, with the biggest chunk coming from Foundations, it’s not impossible that Power Conduit is reprinted in Edge of Eternities, but that remains to be seen.
Magic: The Gathering’s Price Spike for Power Conduit Makes Perfect Sense
For now, all versions of Power Conduit skyrocketed from about $1.50 all the way to$10 on TCGPlayer. This card started surging in price in June, which is when Wizards of the Coast revealed The Seriema, the first spacecraft card from Edge of Eternities. Now that spacecrafts areplayable as Commanders inMagic: The Gatheringalongside vehicles, and considering that Counter Intelligence is all about counters, the price of Power Conduit is the highest it has been for the past year.
Much like Zask, this is a relatively hard-to-get card, so those interested in playingMagic: The Gathering’s Commander formatmay want to grab a copy if they are eying the Counter Intelligence deck. Yet, the card may dip in price before or immediately after the August release of Edge of Eternities, so it may be equally wise to wait.
