Force of Negation does one thing: on your opponent’s turn you can exile a blue card from your hand instead of paying, counter a noncreature spell, and exile it. No graveyard, no recursion. It’s been a Modern and Legacy staple since Modern Horizons (2019). Then Double Masters 2022 gave it a reprint — borderless, full-art — and more recently it’s shown up in other products. So you’ve got the original and the 2X2 version as the two main paper printings most people care about.

We’re not here to tell you to buy or sell. We’re here to report. The MH1 version is the one that defined the card. The 2X2 version added supply and a bling option. Below you’ll see both printings and the charts that go with them. Toggle regular vs foil. The story’s in the curves.

<figure style="margin: 24px 0;">
 <div style="display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; gap: 16px; justify-content: center;">
 <img src="https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/e/9/e9be371c-c688-44ad-ab71-bd4c9f242d58.jpg?1764758768" alt="Force of Negation — Modern Horizons" style="max-width: 260px; height: auto; border-radius: 8px;" />
 <img src="https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/1/8/1825a719-1b2a-4af9-9cd2-7cb497cd0317.jpg?1770635208" alt="Force of Negation — Double Masters 2022" style="max-width: 260px; height: auto; border-radius: 8px;" />
 </div>
 <figcaption style="font-size: 0.9rem; color: #e7d79c; margin-top: 12px; opacity: 0.95;">Left: MH1 (original). Right: Double Masters 2022. Same counter, two price tags.</figcaption>
</figure>

Why the Force still matters

Free interaction that only hits noncreature spells is exactly what blue decks want when they need to protect a combo or stop one. In Modern and Legacy, Force of Negation is a format staple. In Commander it’s in <a href="https://edhrec.com/cards/force-of-negation" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">tens of thousands of decks</a>. So demand has stayed high even as reprints added supply. The MH1 copy is the classic; the 2X2 copy is the one that’s easier to find in the wild. Check the charts below and decide for yourself. The Gazette will keep an eye on the Force.

Force of Negation — from Modern Horizons to Double Masters and beyond

Nobody wants to be the person who asks. Nobody wants to be the person who has to answer. "Did you pay the 1?" Three words. One Rhystic Study on the table. Every spell your opponents cast: draw a card unless they pay {1}. So either they pay the tax and you don't draw, or they don't pay and you draw. Either way, someone is mildly annoyed. It's been that way since Prophecy. It's in <a href="https://edhrec.com/cards/rhystic-study" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">tens of thousands of Commander decks</a>. It's one of the most recognizable cards in the format. And the price? Let's just say the table isn't the only thing that's tilted when you look at the chart.

<figure style="margin: 24px 0; display: flex; flex-direction: column; align-items: center; text-align: center;">
 <img src="https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/d/6/d6914dba-0d27-4055-ac34-b3ebf5802221.jpg?1600698439" alt="Rhystic Study — Jumpstart" style="max-width: 320px; height: auto; border-radius: 8px;" />
 <figcaption style="font-size: 0.9rem; color: #e7d79c; margin-top: 12px; opacity: 0.95;">Rhystic Study. You know what it does. You know what they say.</figcaption>
</figure>

This week in cardboard: we're all that guy

Hot take: Rhystic Study is the card that turned "did you pay the 1?" into a format-wide meme. There's no escape. You either run it and become the person asking, or you don't run it and watch someone else draw three cards a turn round the table. The reprints have come — Jumpstart, Secret Lair, and others — but the demand never really went away. We're not telling you to buy or sell. We're telling you to look at the chart below and accept that this enchantment has been winning the social game since before most of us knew what Commander was. *taps chart* This bad boy can fit so many drawn cards. Anyway, did you pay the 1? Stay toxic, gamers.

Hot take: "Did you pay the 1?" is the most loaded question in Commander

Amalia Benavides Aguirre came out of The Lost Caverns of Ixalan: a 2/2 Vampire Scout with ward—pay 3 life. Whenever you gain life, Amalia explores. When her power is exactly 20, you destroy all other creatures. The combo was straightforward — gain life, put +1/+1 counters on her, hit 20, board wipe and swing. In Pioneer it was enough for Wizards to act. She's now banned in Pioneer. She's still legal in Standard, Modern, and Commander. So the deck that ran her in Pioneer is gone from that format; the card itself is very much alive elsewhere.

<figure style="margin: 24px 0; display: flex; flex-direction: column; align-items: center; text-align: center;">
 <img src="https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/9/a/9acf80a5-f2ca-45b4-aca8-fbc690e35401.jpg?1724700069" alt="Amalia Benavides Aguirre — The Lost Caverns of Ixalan" style="max-width: 320px; height: auto; border-radius: 8px;" />
 <figcaption style="font-size: 0.9rem; color: #e7d79c; margin-top: 12px; opacity: 0.95;">Amalia Benavides Aguirre — explore on life gain, destroy all other creatures at 20 power.</figcaption>
</figure>

What the ban means

Pioneer lost the Amalia combo. Players who had the deck either switched to another format or shelved the strategy there. Demand for the card in Pioneer vanished for that format; demand in Commander and Standard (and to a lesser extent Modern) remains. We're not calling a top or a bottom. We're reporting: the chart below shows the LCI printing. If you're playing her in another format or just tracking the aftermath of the ban, the data's there. Until next time — may your life gain be modest and your power counts be 19 or 21.

Amalia Benavides Aguirre — Pioneer ban and where the explore combo stands now

Solitude is a 3/2 Elemental for five white that flashes in, exiles a creature, and gives its controller life equal to that creature’s power. Or you evoke it by exiling a white card from your hand and get the exile effect without the body. In Modern it’s been a format staple since Modern Horizons 2. In Commander it’s in <a href="https://edhrec.com/cards/solitude" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">thousands of decks</a>. One printing in MH2 — no reprint yet — so the price has had room to move.

<figure style="margin: 24px 0; display: flex; flex-direction: column; align-items: center; text-align: center;">
 <img src="https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/4/7/47a6234f-309f-4e03-9263-66da48b57153.jpg?1763472875" alt="Solitude — Modern Horizons 2" style="max-width: 320px; height: auto; border-radius: 8px;" />
 <figcaption style="font-size: 0.9rem; color: #e7d79c; margin-top: 12px; opacity: 0.95;">Solitude — Modern Horizons 2. Flash, lifelink, exile. Or evoke and skip the body.</figcaption>
</figure>

We’re not here to tell you to buy or sell. We’re here to point at the chart. One card, one printing. Toggle regular vs foil and see where it’s been. If Wizards ever reprints the elemental cycle, that’s when the floor might shift. Until then, the solitude is real — and so is the price.

Solitude — the MH2 elemental that still punishes creatures

Fable of the Mirror-Breaker did too much. Saga chapter one: make a 2/2 Goblin that makes Treasures when it attacks. Chapter two: discard up to two, draw that many. Chapter three: flip into Reflection of Kiki-Jiki — a 2/2 that copies your creatures with haste. In Pioneer it was the card that held red midrange together. So Wizards banned it. In Modern and Commander it’s still legal, and it’s still in <a href="https://edhrec.com/cards/fable-of-the-mirror-breaker" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">tens of thousands of decks</a>. The price didn’t collapse. It just shifted to formats that can still play it.

<figure style="margin: 24px 0; display: flex; flex-direction: column; align-items: center; text-align: center;">
 <img src="https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/6/d/6dee0388-a78d-4b3c-a0c5-25655e14115e.jpg?1657724400" alt="Fable of the Mirror-Breaker — Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty" style="max-width: 320px; height: auto; border-radius: 8px;" />
 <figcaption style="font-size: 0.9rem; color: #e7d79c; margin-top: 12px; opacity: 0.95;">Fable of the Mirror-Breaker — Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty. Banned in Pioneer; everywhere else, still doing the work.</figcaption>
</figure>

What actually happened

When the ban hit Pioneer, a chunk of demand disappeared. But the card had already become a staple in Modern and Commander. So the curve did what it always does: it found a new floor. We’re not calling a top or a bottom. We’re saying: look at the chart below. Toggle regular vs foil. The story’s in the data.

Why it still matters

Three mana for a saga that ramps, filters, and then turns into a combo piece is a lot. In formats where it’s legal, that’s exactly why people play it. If you’re in the market for a copy for Modern or Commander, the Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty printing is the one most people have. Check the chart and decide for yourself. The Gazette will keep watching. Until next time — may your Goblins multiply and your mirrors break in the right direction.

Fable of the Mirror-Breaker — banned in Pioneer, still everywhere else

Greasefang, Okiba Boss is a 4/3 Rat Pilot for {1}{W}{B}. At the beginning of combat on your turn, you return target Vehicle card from your graveyard to the battlefield. It gains haste. At the beginning of your next end step, you return it to its owner's hand. So you're reanimating Parhelion II, Esika's Chariot, or another big vehicle, swinging for a pile of damage, then bouncing it back. The deck has been a Pioneer fixture since Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty — not always the top of the meta, but always one wrong block away from killing you. We're not here to call it tier one or tier two. We're here to show you the card and the data.

<figure style="margin: 24px 0; display: flex; flex-direction: column; align-items: center; text-align: center;">
 <img src="https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/5/6/56a0d43b-4d38-40a7-be6c-8324ab3bf773.jpg?1654568449" alt="Greasefang, Okiba Boss — Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty" style="max-width: 320px; height: auto; border-radius: 8px;" />
 <figcaption style="font-size: 0.9rem; color: #e7d79c; margin-top: 12px; opacity: 0.95;">Greasefang, Okiba Boss — reanimate a Vehicle, swing, bounce.</figcaption>
</figure>

Why Greasefang still shows up

Pioneer's had its share of bans and shifts. Greasefang decks typically run discard and self-mill to get a Parhelion or similar into the graveyard, then cast Greasefang and attack. The line is simple; the answer is "kill the rat or the vehicle, or die." That keeps the deck in the conversation even when other strategies take the spotlight. Paper and MTGO both see Greasefang lists in challenges and leagues. The card itself is a rare from Neon Dynasty — not a chase mythic, but the engine of a real deck.

Bottom line

We're not telling you to buy or sell. We're telling you to look at the chart below. The rat's been racing for a while. May your vehicles hit the yard and your combat steps be lethal.

Greasefang, Okiba Boss — Pioneer's vehicle reanimator and why the rat still races

Sheoldred, the Apocalypse did one thing and did it brutally: you draw, you gain 2 life; they draw, they lose 2. In Standard she was the card that warped the format. Every deck that could run black thought about her. Every deck that drew cards had to play around her. She’s rotated out of Standard now — but she’s still legal in Pioneer, Modern, Legacy, and Commander, and she’s still in <a href="https://edhrec.com/cards/sheoldred-the-apocalypse" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">tens of thousands of Commander decks</a>. So the price never really crashed. It just found a new floor.

<figure style="margin: 24px 0; display: flex; flex-direction: column; align-items: center; text-align: center;">
 <img src="https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/d/6/d67be074-cdd4-41d9-ac89-0a0456c4e4b2.jpg?1674057568" alt="Sheoldred, the Apocalypse — Dominaria United" style="max-width: 320px; height: auto; border-radius: 8px;" />
 <figcaption style="font-size: 0.9rem; color: #e7d79c; margin-top: 12px; opacity: 0.95;">The main-set printing. Still doing the work in every format that allows her.</figcaption>
</figure>

What actually happened

When Dominaria United dropped, Sheoldred was the mythic everyone wanted. Four mana for a 4/5 with deathtouch and a symmetrical life swing on every draw. In Standard she dominated. Then rotation came — and instead of the usual post-rotation dump, demand from Pioneer, Modern, and Commander kept the price high. There are multiple DMU printings (main set, borderless, showcase, promos), but the standard booster version is the one most people crack and buy. So that’s the one we’re charting. The story’s simple: format-defining card leaves Standard, other formats keep wanting it. The curve below tells you the rest.

Why she still matters

The card is legitimately powerful. In any format where people draw cards — and that’s all of them — she’s a threat. In Commander she’s a staple in black decks that want to punish draw or gain life. In Pioneer and Modern she’s still a real card in the right shells. So even with Standard demand gone, Sheoldred isn’t going away. If you’re in the market for a copy, the main-set DMU printing is the one most people buy. We’re not telling you to buy or sell. We’re telling you to look at the data.

Conclusion

Sheoldred rotated. The price didn’t collapse. That’s what happens when a card is good in every non-rotating format. Check the chart below — toggle regular vs foil — and see where the main printing sits. The Gazette will keep watching. “Gix failed. I shall not.” Neither did her price.

Sheoldred, the Apocalypse — the Phyrexian that ate Standard (and your wallet)

Teferi's Protection is a three-mana white instant: until your next turn your life total can't change, you gain protection from everything, and all permanents you control phase out. It was printed once in Commander 2017 — no foil in that set — and has since appeared in a handful of reprint products. It's one of the most requested cards in the format: a one-card reset that blanks wraths, combat, and targeted removal. <a href="https://edhrec.com/cards/teferis-protection" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">EDHREC</a> ranks it among the top white cards in Commander. Below: the card, a short reprint history, and a price chart for the C17 printing.

<figure style="margin: 24px 0; display: flex; flex-direction: column; align-items: center; text-align: center;">
 <img src="https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/7/7/77f130c7-0138-4a1a-9f67-62d2c302dc48.jpg?1579814165" alt="Teferi's Protection — Commander 2017" style="max-width: 320px; height: auto; border-radius: 8px;" />
 <figcaption style="font-size: 0.9rem; color: #e7d79c; margin-top: 12px; opacity: 0.95;">Teferi's Protection — phase out your board, protection from everything.</figcaption>
</figure>

Reprint history

Commander 2017 was the only standard booster-style source for years. Wizards has since put Teferi's Protection in Secret Lair products and other premium releases, which added supply but also gave collectors and foil chasers new options. The original C17 copy remains the reference for many players; nonfoil only from that set means foil demand is satisfied by later printings. The chart below reflects the C17 version. We're not calling a top or a bottom — we're presenting the data so you can see how the card has moved. Toggle other printings on your preferred marketplace if you're comparing versions.

Why it matters

Teferi's Protection does something almost no other card does: it makes you and your board temporarily untouchable. That kind of effect will always have demand in Commander. When new reprints drop, they can shift where players buy; the chart shows you the trajectory of the original. We'll keep an eye on future reprints. Happy building.

Teferi's Protection — from Commander 2017 to reprints and why it still costs a bundle

Nobody asked. Here we go.

Sol Ring is a one-mana artifact that taps for two colorless. It's in <a href="https://edhrec.com/cards/sol-ring" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">basically every Commander deck</a>. It's the format. The social contract says "we all run it so it's fine" — and also "maybe we shouldn't have all run it." The Drake meme: "Running Sol Ring" (yes) vs "Not running Sol Ring" (no). We are all the yes-Drake. Every single one of us.

<figure style="margin: 24px 0; display: flex; flex-direction: column; align-items: center; text-align: center;">
 <img src="https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/0/4/04002706-2236-4b79-bdea-4f263e43cb9c.jpg?1767730264" alt="Sol Ring — Lorwyn Eclipsed Commander" style="max-width: 320px; height: auto; border-radius: 8px;" />
 <figcaption style="font-size: 0.9rem; color: #e7d79c; margin-top: 12px; opacity: 0.95;">Sol Ring. One mana. Two mana. Forever.</figcaption>
</figure>

This week in cardboard: we've had this argument before

Hot take: if Sol Ring cost {2}, it would still be good. It would still be everywhere. It would just be slightly less "I had it in my opener, I win." We're not saying Wizards will ever change it. We're saying the discourse will outlive us all. The chart's below. May your opening hands be fair and your ramp be slightly less broken.

Hot take: Sol Ring should cost two mana (it won't, but imagine)

No More Lies from Murders at Karlov Manor is a {W}{U} instant: counter target spell unless its controller pays {3}. If countered that way, exile it instead of putting it into the graveyard. It's a Mana Leak with upside — and it's been climbing in play and price since MKM landed.

Why it matters

Azorius control and tempo decks in Standard and Pioneer want cheap interaction that doesn't let key spells hit the graveyard. No More Lies does both. The exile clause matters against flashback, recursion, and delve. At uncommon, supply is there, but demand has been steady. The chart below shows the move.

<figure style="margin: 24px 0; display: flex; flex-direction: column; align-items: center; text-align: center;">
 <img src="https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/1/e/1e0c695d-62f9-4805-9e2f-7032e8464136.jpg?1706242217" alt="No More Lies — Murders at Karlov Manor" style="max-width: 320px; height: auto; border-radius: 8px;" />
 <figcaption style="font-size: 0.9rem; color: #e7d79c; margin-top: 12px; opacity: 0.95;">No More Lies — counter and exile. Azorius staple from MKM.</figcaption>
</figure>

Bottom line

We're not telling you to buy or sell. We're pointing at a card that's seeing real play and showing the price data. Scroll down for the chart.

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