Image courtesy of Scryfall.com

Data-Driven MTG Market Intel: A closer look at a Gorgon in a reprint-heavy ecosystem 🧙‍♂️🔥

If you’ve spent any time tracking MTG prices, you know the secondary market loves breathing room—cards bounce between casual staples and niche picks, and reprints can be the great equalizer or the quiet cul-de-sac for a given archetype. A perfect case study sits in a multicolor rare from a Duel Decks reprint: a 4/5 Gorgon with a toolbox of pips and a edges-of-the-tournament lineage. It’s not the hottest card on the block, but it has a disciplined, data-friendly story worth unpacking. Let’s dive into how a card like this informs secondary market dynamics, from supply implications to playability across formats, and how collectors and players alike might read the tea leaves today 🧭💎.

Card snapshot: what you’re really buying

• Name: Reaper of the Wilds
• Mana cost: {2}{B}{G} (CMC 4)
• Type: Creature — Gorgon
• Rarity: Rare
• Set: Duel Decks: Jace vs. Vraska (ddm), released 2014-03-14
• Power/Toughness: 4/5
• Keywords: Scry
• Oracle text: Whenever another creature dies, scry 1. {B}: This creature gains deathtouch until end of turn. {1}{G}: This creature gains hexproof until end of turn.
• Print status: Nonfoil in this printing; reprint presence in other sets exists but this version is nonfoil only

Juggling two colors—black and green—this card sits in a curious spot in the market. It’s not a marquee commander pick, but its utility in scries-as-the-die-roll economy and flexible combat tricks give it a niche in both EDH/Commander and Modern-legal builds. Its deathtouch and hexproof-or-till-end-of-turn faucets add a deceptively robust layer of protection and tempo, especially in metas that reward card selection and counterplay. And the scry trigger on every other creature death invites graveyard interaction, aristocrat kits, and sac-focused shells to lean into value from the board state itself 🎲⚔️.

Why secondary markets care about this print in particular

Price action in this niche tends to reflect a handful of predictable forces. First, a Duel Decks reprint often means broader accessibility and higher print runs than some single-set rarities, which can suppress price volatility in the short term. In this case, Scryfall’s data points show a USD price around $0.22 and EUR around €0.14 for the base nonfoil. The absence of a foil version for this print keeps some collectors away from higher-price foil chase trends, but it also crystallizes a clear, budget-friendly entry point for newer players building B/G strategies in Commander or casual Modern games. The Tix price sits around 0.72, reflecting a modest but non-negligible interest in the MTG Arena/online ecosystem where card availability and deck-building budgets clash with demand.

Beyond pure price, the card’s EDH/Commander footprint matters. With an EDHRec rank hovering around the low-to-mid ranges in the tens of thousands, it’s not a perennial staple, yet it remains a believable play for flexible B/G decks that want to leverage scry triggers and a late-game inevitability from a large, resilient body. In Modern and Legacy, Reaper of the Wilds is legal and can slot into midrange or graveyard interaction decks, albeit as a longer-tail option rather than a core engine. This kind of profile—legal in many eternal formats but not a slam-dunk in standard—often translates to a steady, slow-burn price pattern that moves more on archetype viability and supply shifts than on chase-card hype 🔥.

Market signals: what the data is quietly telling us

• Supply dynamics: Reprints; nonfoil only in this printing. Higher print runs tend to cap price spikes, but the card’s popularity can still rise if it slots into a strong synergy line in commander or a modern/good-staple shell.
• Demand drivers: Scrye-friendly utility and a robust body. The death-dieback mechanic of scry adds value in token/board-sweep-heavy metas, especially when paired with sacrifice or aristocrat engines.
• Format fluidity: Legal in Modern, Legacy, Pioneer, Commander, and Vintage—this broadens demand, particularly for budget-conscious players who want to experiment with B/G midrange without breaking the bank.
• Collector’s perspective: The set’s reprint status and nonfoil status keep the card accessible, which is appealing for new collectors seeking a low-cost entry that still carries notable artwork by Karl Kopinski.
• -Artistic and design value: Kopinski’s Gorgon remains a standout piece for fans who appreciate a vivid, predator-crafted creature with a tactical edge. It’s a reminder that MTG’s card art is as collectible as the mechanics themselves 🖼️🎨.

“In markets, the scry mechanic is a quiet bell that signals a card’s long-game utility. When every creature dies spawns a line of card draws, you bake resilience into your deck’s engine.”

From a gameplay standpoint, Reaper of the Wilds rewards patient play and board-state awareness. It encourages players to orchestrate their sacrifices with intention, turning even small events into card-sorting opportunities that tighten line-of-play decisions. For the data-minded hobbyist, that translates into a predictably steady demand profile, with occasional upticks when new commanders or archetypes awaken around green-black strategies 🧙‍♂️💎.

Practical tips for collectors and deck builders

• Track reprint cycles and set-loss risk. Even with a perpetual-print status in some modern formats, a future reprint in a high-profile set could distort price momentum. Staying aware of announced product lines helps you time acquisitions.
• Leverage a budget-conscious Commander lineup. If you’re assembling a midrange B/G shell, this card’s relatively low price point and broad format legality make it a neat plug-in option without straining the budget.
• Consider art-driven purchases. For fans of Kopinski, owning the card carries more than gameplay value; it’s a piece of MTG’s broader art history—an important note for display-focused collectors 🖼️.
• Balance supply with gameplay needs. If your deck evolves toward heavy sacrifice triggers, the deck’s value can grow beyond the card itself as you leverage scry outcomes during unfolds of combat and cleanup steps ⚔️.

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