#deranged hermit

[googlyeyesonmagiccards]

I LOVE squirrels!

[magicwithclass]

Deranged Hermit

{3}{G}{G} • Creature — Elf • 1/1 • Echo {3}{G}{G} (At the beginning of your upkeep, if this came under your control since the beginning of y

Mtgstocks has price data on cards from 2013 forward. A lot of price data before this era has been lost to time. For some reserved list cards price lows do not accurately reflect reality as data may not exist from the 90s and early 2000s. I know that deranged hermit must have been a bulk rare at one point but mtgstocks has the lowest price point for this card at five dollars. That means even in 2013 this card was not true bulk. It has held a price point of over five dollars for the entire history that prices has been tracked. The card has also never dipped below 5 dollars during this time. Thus, deranged hermit was always a mid tier reserved list card. There are many reasons for this. First, squirrels are Mark Rosewater's favorite creature type. He fought for years to get squirrels back into black border and has been a major ally for these little guys. Even when squirrels were considered too silly for tournament magic, Rosewater put Squirrel support in an unset. With the head designer publicly fighting this hard for squirrels, is it any wonder that there has been much speculation over this card for many years? Deranged hermit is a decent card as well. For 5 mana you are getting 5 bodies. If you pay the echo cost thanks to the lord ability you are getting 4 2/2 squirrels and the hermit. That rate is fair and even if you do not pay the echo cost you still get the pump until your next turn. This card can function as both an army in a can and a miniature overrun all in one. Modern horizons 2 brought back squirrels in force and the support was at a higher power level since the cards were from a direct to modern product. This fact combined with the reserved list spikes of 2021 created an interesting event, in which, for a short time, deranged hermit, was a penny away from 300 dollars for a near mint copy. That is an insane price for any card. Had squirrels become a legitimate deck in modern, deranged hermit, may have kept a large price tag but 300 dollars was an exaggeration. Modern horizons 2 did have a prominent golgari squirrel commander in chatterfang, but one edh deck was not enough to sustain that price. The hype eventually died down and the reserved list crashed and soon deranged hermit plummeted back down. Bloomburrow has brought more attention to deranged hermit. The set has a prominent squirrel theme and squirrels is the main animal tribe in golgari colors. Furthermore, squirrels have a token theme associated with food. Deranged hermit produces squirrel tokens so the themes do intersect. Will 2024 be a repeat of 2021? Will the card spike to a ridiculous price only to retrace when the hype for bloomburrow dies down? Is this just a buyout because many investors see that players are showing an interest in squirrels again? Time will tell. I have a single copy of this card that I bought for about 6 dollars. I always wanted more copies but the card has never been true bulk so I never moved in on the card. I believe the window has closed. I do not believe we will see deranged hermits for less than 10 dollars moving forward even after attention is on the next flavor of the month. I would not pick up a copy for more than fifteen. I do think the price will eventually go down before stabilizing. I wonder if bloomburrow will cause any other reserved list animal cards to spike? I would speculate on bird support as there are some birds and flying matters cards on the reserved list. There is also another squirrel support card on the reserved list that has some upward movement but it seems like deranged hermit is the big winner with this set.

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Deranged Hermit

Artist: Kev Walker TCG Player Link Scryfall Link EDHREC Link

[mtg-cards-hourly]

Deranged Hermit

Artist: Kev Walker

[peculiarflavor]

Rejected Flavor Text:

“Me? Deranged? Maybe so, but you should get a load of the guy two trees over. He clothes himself in discarded bird nests and calls himself lord of the boll weevils.”

[mtgalterations]

Deranged Hermit by Dewil