Movers and Shakers - Seeker of Skybreak

Seeker of Skybreak | Art by Alex Horley-Orlandelli

Unless you happen to have an affinity for Elves first printed in Tempest, you likely haven't thought about Seeker of Skybreak in a while. This Elf costs , is a 2/1, and can to untap a creature.

Notably, though, this doesn't have the same wording that many other untappers do. Other creatures with this effect, like Ioreth of the Healing House and Vizier of Tumbling Sands, are usually only able to target other creatures with their ability.

With this unrestricted untapping ability, Seeker of Skybreak puts itself in rare air. It joins Aphetto Alchemist and Tidewater Minion as part of the limited group of creatures in Magic that can untap themselves over and over again without consequence, setup, or additional mana investment.

So What?

Seeker of Skybreak can untap itself over and over again. But why does that matter? Well, some of you may remember just a few years ago when Unctus, Grand Metatect released. Aphetto Alchemist and (to a lesser extent) Tidewater Minion became extremely popular due to their combo potential with this commander!

When paired with this Phyrexian Vedalken, the Alchemist and the Minion let us loot infinitely to empty our library entirely. This spiked the price of both creatures precipitously, and even got Aphetto Alchemist enshrined eternally at Commander Spellbook!

All that's to say that with a recent printing in Marvel Super Heroes, Seeker of Skybreak is now part of a similar combo! When played alongside and equipped with Hawkeye's Bow, Seeker of Skybreak can lead us to a combo-centric victory.

For (and an additonal to equip), Hawkeye's Bow is an Equipment that lends a creature +1/+0 and reach. Additionally, whenever a creature that's wielding this bow becomes tapped, it deals one damage to each opponent.
When we equip Seeker of Skybreak with Hawkeye's Bow, each time we tap the Elf we'll be taking a small chunk out of our opponents' life totals. By repeatedly tapping and untapping the Seeker, we'll be able to trigger Hawkeye's Bow's ability over and over again to kill our opponents on the spot! Much like Unctus and Aphetto Alchemist, this combo has also gotten its own page on Commander Spellbook.

What's This Doing to Seeker of Skybreak's Price?

Seeker of Skybreak has seen a huge price jump in recent weeks as a result of this combo. According to Cardsphere's data, copies of Seeker were selling for about $1.00 before Marvel spoilers started rolling in. It was rare to see copies of the card sell for more than $1.26!

But as Hawkeye's Bow got spoiled, prices started creeping up! Prices climbed slightly at first, up to about $1.80. But as the community realized the awesome combo potential that this Equipment held when paired with the Elf, prices jumped even higher to about $4.00 per copy!

Index prices even reached as high as $7.17 before dropping back down a little bit to about $5.91, where Seeker of Skybreak sits comfortably (at least for the time being). Hawkeye's Bow, on the other hand, has had a far less exciting price trend. The Equipment has stayed solidly below $0.50, and is even trading as low as $0.27.

Where Is This Card Seeing Play?

The astute among you may be wondering why this article isn't centered on Aphetto Alchemist. Well, it's due to that blue creature's rarity. While Aphetto Alchemist is an uncommon, Seeker of Skybreak has seen several printings at common.

In fact, Hawkeye's Bow's printing has spawned a brand new Pauper deck focused around combining these two cards to win through an infinite combo!

This Gruul () combo deck seeks to rummage through its deck as fast as possible to find both of these permanents and deal infinite damage to your opponent before they've got a chance to develop their game plan properly. Players are also including some copies of Hangar Scrounger as a backup combo.

This color combination gives access to great card advantage tools, like Malevolent Rumble and Bitter Reunion, while also getting access to some of the best interaction in Pauper, like Lightning Bolt and Nature's Claim. Some versions of the deck tend to go all in on playing the combo as fast as possible, including mana acceleration like Simian Spirit Guide and Lotus Petal.

Seeker of Skybreak isn't seeing too much play outside of this Pauper list, though, as the combo is relatively fragile. Creatures and artifacts are both easy to remove, and the need to equip Seeker with the Bow makes combo vulnerable to even a single piece of well-timed interaction.

What Might Happen to this Card's Price Long-Term?

While it's impossible to tell the future, I'm not sure that Seeker of Skybreak's current price is sustainable. The combo that it's a part of doesn't seem resilient enough to break into the upper echelons of Pauper. The decks that sit at the top of the meta pack enough removal (in the case of madness and affinity) or enough countermagic (in the case of Faeries and Terror) to effectively dispatch one or both parts of this combo before the we get a chance to "do the thing."

But, this can still be a fun second-tier Pauper deck! This commons-only format has always been centered on self-expression, and if putting a bow from a world-famous movie franchise on an Elf that really wants to get a tan is how you want to play Magic, then go for it.

What do you think about Seeker of Skybreak's price? Is it going to stay at this high mark? Or will it come tumbling down soon enough.

If you've got any thoughts on this card, or any card that's seen a sharp jump in its price recently, feel free to drop me a note in the comments below! I'll be back next week with another Movers and Shakers!