Sphere of Influence: October 25, 2024

Welcome to Sphere of Influence, a pre-FNM look at some potential movers and shakers that are worth picking up before their prices increase.

It’s Halloween season, and Magic has plenty of cards that fit the season’s spooky vibes. Here are a few well worth grabbing…if you dare!

Phyrexian Obliterator

Ultimately, this card reads a lot scarier than it is - if it was a four-mana 5/5 unblockable creature, it would evoke far less terror, but that’s how the card ends up playing. It’s a heck of a lot of fun, especially when paired with green fight spells to destroy an opponent's creatures and make them sacrifice permanents in the process. Or, throw in a Gray Merchant of Asphodel to take advantage of that sweet, sweet quadruple devotion.

Phyrexian Obliterator was running nearly $40 two years ago, but a reprint in Phyrexia: All Will Be One drove that price down to $7. It won’t get much better than this.

Hell’s Caretaker

In 2021, when Magic cards were spiking due to pandemic-fueled abundances of disposable income and nostalgia, the version of Hell’s Caretaker from The Dark shot up to $150. That’s not to say the card is any good; it has certainly been power-crept out of regular play due to being quite slow and squishy. Still, Living Death on a stick isn’t something to dismiss outright, and the card appears in the recent Mystery Booster 2 set for $2. Give it a try - and, if you’re really picky about which version you play, The Dark’s Hell’s Caretaker has dropped to $40.

Deathbringer Liege

This Eventide anthem/removal combo platter ran upwards of $15 until two years ago, when a big reprint in Double Masters 2022 drove the price down to only $1, where it sits today. The card is certainly a victim of power creep, but offers Orzhov Commander players a repeatable way to muck with the board (even more than usual, as is the case with Orzhov) and buff Blood Artists and Zulaport Cutthroats for some extra damage. Grab one for a lower-power deck.

Consuming Aberration

This monstrosity was never expensive but seemed more impressive when it was first released in Gatecrash - especially in Commander where its ability effortlessly scales up. If this card was printed today, it would cost three mana and contain some evasive keywords like flying or menace, so players have to accept the card’s vanilla nature. But for less than $1 you can’t get much beefier a fatty for Commander.

Scare Tactics

Has anyone ever built a Halloween-themed Commander deck? I love this one by One More Mana and would get a kick out of hearing about others!