New MTG Powerhouse Is Already Included in Multiple Formats — And It’s Nearly Sold Out

by

The popular card game Magic: The Gathering has entered a new phase with the recent release of its Avatar: The Last Airbender set. This, combined with card bans announced on November 10th, is significantly changing how the game is played in various formats. The November 10th bans had a major impact on the Standard format, effectively eliminating the previously dominant Izzet Cauldron deck. With the new Avatar cards now in play, the competitive landscape is shifting, and some cards are already standing out as particularly strong – perhaps even overpowered. Badgermole Cub is a prime example, but other rare cards like Wan Shi Tong, Librarian are also proving to be very powerful.

It’s fitting that Mythic Rare cards in Magic: The Gathering are often among the strongest in a set. While a card’s rarity doesn’t always guarantee its power, Wan Shin Tong, Librarian is both valuable and effective. It’s a great example of good card design – it performs well in many different game formats, can quickly turn the tide of a match, and is already a key component in numerous powerful combinations. Unfortunately, it’s currently very difficult to find, as it’s sold out in most places.

It’s Time to Welcome One of MTG’s Most Broken Blue Cards Ever

Wan Shi Tong, Librarian is a consistently strong card in many different game formats for a few key reasons. Here’s a look at those reasons:

  • Except for Standard, which doesn’t feature many tutor-like abilities, Wan Shi Tong can be played with success in most formats and at any time in response to a tutor trigger to immediately get a +1/+1 counter and allow you to draw a card.
    • Wan Shi Tong is OP in Commander and cEDH, as a turn cycle features four players, so several tutors will be used before your next turn, powering the creature up a lot. As such, it can easily replace or be added to Archivist of Oghma decks, and it’s yet another powerhouse for cEDH’s strongest and most consistent deck: Blue Farm.
  • Wan Shi Tong, Librarian, can be extremely powerful as a draw engine in control decks and combo decks, like Dimir Mill in Modern or Dimir Tempo in Timeless.
    • It can be used in combination with the notoriously OP Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student // Tamiyo, Seasoned Scholar to help proc it with its card draw abilities. Likewise, it can be a mana sink in longer games or landfall decks.
  • It enables some incredible combos with otherwise not-so-competitive cards, like Scheming Symmetry and Archive Trap.
  • It can be played in response to MTG‘s fetch lands, too, meaning that it grows bigger and acts as a draw engine even for more basic tutor abilities that are featured in most decks in the game.
    • Powerful staples like Crop Rotation also feed into Wan Shi Tong’s ability, making opponents think twice about whether they should play a certain card or pursue a given strategy.
  • Wan Shi Tong, Librarian, can become a stax piece of sorts alongside extremely powerful cards like MTG‘s Rhystic Study, Smothering Tithes, Orcish Bowmasters, and more.
    • Cards like Path to Exile are commonly used as removals, but they double down as power-ups for Wan Shi Tong if they force the opponent(s) to search their library.
  • Since it’s a Blue card, it’s easy to have interaction and counterspells in the deck, like Force of Negation, Fierce Guardianship if Wan Shi Tong is your commander, and Flare of Denial. It also pairs perfectly with the recent Edge of Eternities Quantum Riddler card.

MTG’s Decks Using Wan Shi Tong, Librarian

Wan Shi Tong, Librarian, thrives in the Commander format because the deck-building rules let you easily find and power up key cards. While he could be a powerful commander himself, he might actually be more effective as part of a 99-card deck. Cards like Sisay, Weatherlight Captain, can search for him and ensure he’s always available, and he pairs well with cards like Tymna the Weaver in ‘Blue Farm’ strategies, letting you draw cards very quickly.

Plus, the well-known Magic: The Gathering podcast, Play to Win, highly praised Wan Shi Tong, Librarian, giving it a 4.9 out of 5 from one host and a perfect 5/5 from another.

So, I’ve been checking out mtgtop8.com to see what everyone’s playing lately, and here’s what the stats are showing for Wan Shi Tong decks over the past couple of weeks:

  • Around 2.5% usage in Modern decks
  • Around 0.5% inclusion in Vintage decks
  • Around 22.6% usage in cEDH decks

It’s even more remarkable considering Wan Shi Tong, Librarian, was released just three days ago, on November 21st.

Why Wan Shi Tong, Librarian, is Unlikely to Be Banned in Modern

Although it’s probably premature to say, some players are wondering if Wan Shi Tong, Librarian might eventually be banned in the Modern format, given how powerful many cards already are. Considering that staples like Psychic Frog, Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer, Fatal Push, Force of Negation, Lightning Bolt, Urza’s Saga, and Phlage, Titan of Fire’s Fury are all still legal, a ban discussion about Wan Shi Tong might be happening too soon, or may not be necessary at all.

MTG’s Wan Shi Tong, Librarian, is Virtually Impossible to Get

As a card collector and a fan of ‘Avatar’, I’m keeping a close eye on the market, and let me tell you, Wan Shi Tong, the Librarian card is expensive. We’re talking around $50 to $60 on average – it’s quickly become one of the most sought-after and pricey cards in the whole set.

  • There are a few copies being sold for $70 on TCGPlayer at the moment, but it’s very hard to find elsewhere.
  • There are also six copies available on Card Kingdom at the time of writing, going for $60. Copies of the borderless version of Wan Shi Tong are mostly sold out everywhere, and that also goes for the foil variant.
  • Wan Shi Tong, Librarian, is out of stock on CoolStuffInc.
  • 9 copies of Wan Shi Tong, Librarian, are available on Star City Games at $65 each.

Currently, the card is very difficult to get without spending extra money on each copy. While this might not be a big issue for players building Commander decks in Magic: The Gathering, as they only need one, fans who play other formats are likely to struggle finding it.

Read More

2025-11-25 05:05