This week in Magic finance, the biggest gainer was technically Arena of the Ancients, with the Chronicles version being bought out and spiking from $1 to a currently unknown price (TCG shows $28, but that's mostly due to a lack of supply), while the Legends printing doubled up from $15 to $30. As far as I can tell, this is essentially a TikTok buyout. Over the past few weeks there have been several short videos—and at least one article covering those videos—about how Arena of the Ancients is a “game changer” that can go in almost any deck as a way to hate on opposing commanders. Personally, I'm not sold. While Arena of the Ancients does tap down all legends, it doesn't stop commanders with activated or enter-the-battlefield abilities, and it also taps down your commander. Still, this does show just how big of an influence short-form content can have on the Magic market.

Speaking of Commander, the Prophecy uncommon Entangler shot up to $8 this week as a popular addition to Anti-Venom, Horrifying Healer Commander decks. If it ever gets a reprint, it should drop back down toward bulk, since outside of Anti-Venom specifically it doesn’t really see play, but for now, expect to pay a premium if you need a copy of the enchantment.

Last week we discussed Mortuary and how it doubled from $7 to $15. Well, this week the enchantment just kept climbing and is currently sitting at $45 TCG Mid, although the most anyone has actually paid for a copy is around $40. We’ll have to see where prices settle—currently there are only nine near-mint copies listed for sale, with some at meme-ishly high prices like $10,000. Considering the current prices, ending up in the $30–$40 range over the short term seems possible, although that’s mostly just a guess. The big lesson here is to buy (or at least hold on to) old cards that have never been reprinted, because when their time to shine comes, prices can get crazy.