MTGO Pick-Up of the Day: Sphinx of the Final Word

by Richard Rowell, Gaming Successfully Staff

Sphinx of the Final Word is a mythic rare from Oath of the Gatewatch. While its been a relatively good success in Commander, only a few decks in Standard have given the seven mana flyer a shot. However, this is a solid creature. So when I saw them available on MTGOTickets bots for 0.25 tix ($0.25) a piece, I had to pick up four copies.

Recently, the Sphinx has seen sideboard play in a Green & Blue Crush of Tentacles deck. When a card is usually relegated to the sideboard, this isn't usually a good thing for its value. But there are several reasons to be optimistic about this Sphinx. Yes, it costs seven mana, but it can't be countered and also has hexproof, meaning your opponent's spells can't touch it. Also, the major draw to this card is that your instant and sorcery spells can't be countered as long as Sphinx of the Final Word is on the battlefield under your control. Seems like a pretty strong control deck finisher, doesn't it?

These haven't been worth much in paper Magic, either, and being a mythic rare from Oath of the Gatewatch, it's hard to say where the future value of this card ends up. In paper Magic, they're worth picking up at least a copy just because of their usefulness in a lot of Commander decks. But card values aren't really driven by Commander nearly as much on Magic Online. So why the pickup?

Mythic rares are usually worth a lot more than 0.25 tix a piece. Sure, some of the truly garbage ones can settle around 0.10 or so. But as this is a set that will continue to be redeemed on Magic Online for some time, due to the number of very strong cards in it, people will need to continue to buy copies of the Sphinx in order to complete their sets. Also, if this card sees any play at all in the future, it could easily reach 1 ticket per copy, or more, considering that this is a mythic rare. People tend to hold onto the mythics that they draft online, so there aren't quite as many copies out there as you might think. Also, Commander players do exist online, so there is going to always be some demand for this card.

I'm only sitting on  a play set of the Sphinx for speculation purposes, but I would definitely recommend picking up a copy or two in case this card does end up seeing some more play. It's hit 0.8 tix or so before, and could well do so again. Really, the worst case scenario on this card is that I only get about half of my event ticket back, being that it's a mythic rare from a currently Standard legal set. I'm happy to sit on these until a price spike happens, and being a playable mythic rare from a set that's only rarely drafted anymore, I'm happy to sit and wait.

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