The rare Magic the Gathering card ‘Field of the Dead’ has doubled in price in under a month, according to data on card trading site MTG Goldfish. The cause of the price spike, which has pushed it over $50 for the first time, seems to be two cards from Modern Horizons 3 – ‘The Necrobloom’, and ‘Nadu, Winged Wisdom’.
Field of the Dead is one of the best MTG lands ever printed, despite having a seemingly unassuming text box. It enters the battlefield tapped, can tap for one colorless mana, and whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control, if you control seven or more lands with different names, you create a 2/2 black Zombie creature token.
That can disgorge a massive army of zombies when paired with the right Magic the Gathering cards: a relatively low-powered example is the recently printed Aftermath Analyst from Murders at Karlov Manor, which can sacrifice itself to put every land in your graveyard onto the battlefield at once.
Field of the Dead was trading for around $22 before June, but since then – and particularly since Modern Horizons 3 appeared on the MTG release schedule on June 14 – it has climbed steadily, hitting $50 on Thursday.
Although Modern Horizons MTG sets are legal in Modern, Field of the Dead is banned in the format, so the new demand isn’t because of a new Modern deck arctheype. But two interesting new MTG Commanders were printed in MH3, and Field of the Dead plays beautifully with both of them.
The Necrobloom is a 2/7 Plant creature that costs one generic, one white, one black, and one green mana to cast. It has a static ability that gives land cards in your graveyard the MTG keyword Dredge 2, which means you can return a land to your hand instead of drawing a card by milling two cards.
Necrobloom also has a triggered ability very similar to Field of the Dead – whenever you play a land, you create a 0/1 Plant creature token, unless you control seven or more lands with different names, in which case you can create a 2/2 black Zombie creature token.
Field of the Dead is a natural fit for Necrobloom. Necrobloom pays you off for playing land cards and recurring land cards from the graveyard, and so does Field of the Dead. With both in play you’ll get double the rewards from your land shenanigans.
Nadu: Winged Wisdom is a powerhouse new Commander that has already caused multiple price spikes. It grants all your creatures a static ability that means, the first two times they are targeted by a spell or ability each turn, you reveal the top card of your library. You put the card onto the battlefield if it’s a land, and into your hand if it’s not.
Nadu decks put lots of lands into play, so they can easily trigger Field of the Dead’s token generation. Then the Zombie tokens from Field of the Dead generates can be targeted by spells or effects, triggering more card draws or landfalls.
Cracked a Necrobloom and want to get some more cards to fill out your deck? Sadly we don’t have physical packs to give away, but we do have a guide to all the MTG Arena codes that still work, to help you bulk up a Brawl deck with free digital cards.