A Final Fantasy card nobody was talking about a few weeks ago is now one of the most talked-about pickups in Magic: The Gathering Commander circles. Eye of Nidhogg, a Legendary Enchantment Aura from the Final Fantasy crossover set, has shot up 3,550% in price according to TCGplayer, landing at around $7.50 at the time of writing. The reason? It fits into the upcoming Silverquill Influence Commander precon from Secrets of Strixhaven like it was designed for it.
Why this card and this deck are a natural fit
Silverquill Influence is a white/black Commander deck built around a Goad strategy. For the uninitiated, Goad forces creatures to attack on their next turn, and they must attack a player other than the one who goaded them. It's a political mechanic that turns your opponents against each other while you sit back and benefit.
Here's the thing: Eye of Nidhogg costs one black mana and two generic, and it reads "Enchant creature. Enchanted creature is a black Dragon with base power and toughness 4/2, has flying and deathtouch, and is goaded." That last word is the key here. Slapping this aura onto any creature on the board instantly goads it, and that triggers Killian, Decisive Mentor, the deck's Commander.
Killian's ability fires when something is goaded, letting you goad another creature as well. So for three mana, you're goading two creatures, drawing a card, and threatening the table with a 4/2 flying deathtoucher. That's a lot of value packed into a single enchantment.
The best part? When the enchanted creature eventually dies, Eye of Nidhogg bounces back to your hand. You'll want to keep recycling it every few turns to keep the pressure on, and the card essentially pays for itself in chaos generated.
Secrets of Strixhaven precons and what else is in the set
Secrets of Strixhaven is bringing back five Commander precons for the first time since Tarkir: Dragonstorm. Each deck retails at $49.99 and is reported to be loaded with reprint value. The five decks cover each of Strixhaven's colleges: Silverquill, Witherbloom, Prismari, Lorehold, and Quandrix.
Silverquill Influence is the white/black option, and its Goad-heavy gameplan makes it one of the more politically engaging choices at the table. Goad decks tend to create memorable multiplayer moments, the kind where everyone is suddenly suspicious of everyone else and your life total stays untouched while the chaos unfolds around you.
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If you're picking up Eye of Nidhogg to slot into Silverquill Influence, grab it sooner rather than later. The price has already moved significantly and prerelease weekend for Secrets of Strixhaven is happening now.
What most players miss about Eye of Nidhogg's value
The card's bounce-on-death clause is what separates it from a typical one-shot Goad effect. Most Goad spells are instants or sorceries you fire once and forget. Eye of Nidhogg sticks around in your hand, ready to be redeployed the moment a new threat appears or a new target becomes politically useful.
Combined with Killian's double-goad trigger, you're looking at a card that can generate two Goad effects per cast, draw you a card, and then return to your hand to do it all again. For a three-mana enchantment, that's a significant amount of repeated impact across a long Commander game.
The price spike reflects that players have done the math. At $7.50 it's still an accessible pickup, but the trajectory is clear given how close the Secrets of Strixhaven prerelease is right now.
For more on what's hitting tables this season, check out our gaming news covering Magic and beyond. The full Secrets of Strixhaven set releases shortly after prerelease weekend, and there's plenty more to unpack across all five Commander decks. Keep an eye on the latest reviews as coverage builds out over the coming weeks.
