This Old MTG Card Just Exploded 1,983% Thanks to Avatar — And Lorwyn Might Push It Even Higher

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With Magic: The Gathering having a card history of over 30 years, it’s not unusual for certain cards to seem weak or be ignored until a new strategy or deck type emerges that makes them powerful. When new sets are released, older cards often unexpectedly increase dramatically in value. This already happened with Magic: The Gathering‘s Avatar set; for example, the price of Fist of Suns rose sharply after Avatar Aang // Aang, Master of Elements was revealed, as the two cards work together to make casting spells free.

Magic: The Gathering thrives on strong card combinations, and the new Avatar set, being a larger release with cards also available in Jumpstart Boosters, offers plenty of opportunities for powerful plays. While expensive cards like Badgermole Cub and Wan Shi Tong, Librarian are key combo pieces, players have also discovered some unexpectedly valuable cards within the set’s new ally-themed cards. The Avatar set is significantly boosting ally decks, and the card Sea Gate Loremaster has seen a huge price increase – jumping from just 48 cents to $10 – with potential for further growth thanks to the upcoming Lorwyn Eclipsed release.

MTG’s New Ally Package in Avatar is Making an Old Card Go From $0.50 to $10

Sea Gate Loremaster is a merfolk wizard ally that costs 5 mana (4 generic and 1 blue). It’s not very strong as a creature (1/3), but its ability is powerful. You can tap it to draw cards equal to the number of allies you control, including itself. In a deck built around allies, even one Sea Gate Loremaster can draw you a lot of cards. With 115 ally cards available in the Avatar set out of 211 total cards, this is definitely achievable. Card draw is very important in Magic: The Gathering, and Sea Gate Loremaster is a unique, albeit somewhat unusual, way to get extra cards.

Why Sea Gate Loremaster is OP in Ally Decks

This card works really well with new cards from the Avatar set, like Katara, the Fearless, or Great Divide Guide. Katara is a powerful creature that lets you use the abilities of your ally cards twice – for example, Sea Gate Loremaster would draw you double the usual number of cards. Great Divide Guide is another strong pairing, letting you tap your ally cards to create mana of any color. This can quickly boost your mana, letting you play Sea Gate Loremaster early or even for free, and ramp into bigger plays.

The Sea Gate Loremaster is proving to be a valuable card, especially alongside strong allies like Aang or Katara, making it a popular pick in Eternal formats – and its rising price reflects that. But it’s not just that; as a Merfolk, it’s also a key piece for players building Merfolk-themed decks in the Lorwyn Eclipsed set.

Magic: The Gathering’s Lorwyn Eclipsed Could Make Sea Gate Loremaster Spike Even Further

The Lorwyn block consisted of four sets—Lorwyn, Morningtide, Shadowmoor, and Eventide—which together featured 56 cards related to merfolk, broken down as follows:

  • Lorwyn – 24 total
    • 20 creatures (mostly Blue, White, or Blue/White merfolk)
    • 2 sorceries
    • 1 land
    • 1 enchantment
  • Morningtide – 8 total
    • 8 creatures (Blue and White merfolk)
  • Shadowmoor – 15 total
    • 15 creatures (mostly Blue and Blue/Black merfolk)
  • Eventide – 9 total
    • 9 creatures (mostly Blue and Blue/Green merfolk)

I’m so excited – they’ve officially revealed a merfolk card in the Magic: The Gathering Lorwyn Eclipsed set! It’s a really cool double-sided card called Sygg, Wanderwine Wisdom // Sygg, Wanderbrine Shield. And, even better, they’ve confirmed an elemental-type instant that’s a ‘kindred’ card, which pretty much means we’re getting even more merfolk in this set! I can’t wait to build a deck!

The upcoming Lorwyn Eclipsed set will include shock lands in Magic: The Gathering, which will make it simpler to play spells requiring hybrid or multiple colors in both Limited and Standard formats.

There are a surprising number of merfolk cards in the game – 306 in total! While not all of them explicitly say “merfolk” on the card (only 60 do), many support merfolk creatures and strategies. Cards like Aquatic Incursion, Judge of Currents, Svyelun of Sea and Sky, and Vodalian Wave-Knight could be very strong in a merfolk Commander deck in Magic: The Gathering. It’s even possible to build a deck that combines merfolk with other ally creatures.

MTG’s Merfolk Cards Could Be an Ace Up Lorwyn Eclipsed’s Sleeve

In fact, there are four more cards in the game with this subtype combination. They are:

  • Coralhelm Guide
  • Noyan Dar, Roil Shaper
  • Seascape Aerialist
  • Umara Entangler

Only Seascape Aerialist works well with other ally cards, giving all your ally creatures the ability to fly whenever it or another ally enters play. However, the introduction of the Avatar card in Pandora’s Box has significantly increased the number of ally cards in the game—over half of the total pool, in fact. With Lorwyn Eclipsed being a highly anticipated Magic: The Gathering set for 2026, we might see even stronger merfolk cards added, potentially making Sea Gate Loremaster even more powerful.

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2025-12-03 01:35