Gustha's Scepter costs 0 mana. That alone is reason to give the card a second look. Never underestimate a card that gets around the Magic the Gathering resource system. It costs mana to cast cards. Any card that breaks that rule is inherently broken as it spits in the face of one of the fundamental rules of the game. Personally, I try to have at least 4 of any card that costs 0 mana or can be cast for free in some way. If a card has an alternate casting cost that allows it to be cast without mana, I always make sure to keep those in my collection. Typically those types of cards are conditional but Gustha's Scepter always costs 0. There are decks that simply want you to chain together 0 cost artifacts like Jhoira Weatherlight captain, meria scholar of antiquity, or fblthp lost on the range. There are only a certain number of artifacts that cost 0 so sometimes you have to play cards like this to reach that threshold. Even ignoring those decks, gustha's scepter does actually have an effect. You can use it to store cards under it so that the cards are not in your hand but you still have access to them. This can matter for decks around the hellbent mechanic or decks that want a certain hand size. It can even be used in wheel decks to hold certain combo pieces as you wheel for the other pieces. Of course, if the scepter is destroyed the cards go to the graveyard. That is a real risk but one you are willing to pay in certain decks. Recently, the card has gone up in price. Is it because players have finally realized the innate power level of 0 mana cards? Do people finally understand that a card that can be cast for free, and is also on the reserved list, should not be bulk? No, instead, the card is spiking because of a new commander in Bloomburrow. There is a lot of hype around the new set and some reserved list cards are moving because people seem anxious to build decks with these new cards. In Gustha's scepter's case, the card is increasing in price because of Flubs, the fool. Flubs is a strange commander but is pretty unique and interesting. First, flubs is an exclusive buy a box promo. That fact alone draws attention to the card. I am not sure if flubs would be as popular or as hyped if it was just in the regular set. Being an exclusive promo offers the card a unique prestige and marks the card as special. I also think Flubs is an interesting look at society's views on art, plagiarism, artificial intelligence, homage and inspiration. The art for flubs is based on a public domain piece of art on a tarot card. Obviously, flubs the fool is meant to reference the tarot card known as the fool. The art is clearly an homage to a famous piece but the art is very similar. if the art was not in the public domain would it just be plagiarism? If the artist had the original artist's permission would that be just a source of inspiration? If an artificial intelligence spit out this image would it still be art? Does the fact that a human intended this to be a reference to another piece of art what makes this acceptable? If machines had intent would their creations be considered art because art is emotion? What makes it acceptable? Where is the line? How different does the work have to be to be considered unique? Is anything unique at all? Those thoughts aside, the scepter synergizes with flubs perfectly. It was almost like the cards were made in conjunction to work together. The card has such a niche use and this commander takes advantage of that tiny effect in the best possible way. This just goes to show that even the most narrow of effects can eventually find a home in a specific deck if the effect is unique enough. The scepter is over five bucks right now and some copies are going for as high as 13 dollars. With the number of decks it can see play in, plus the fact that it costs 0, plus the fact that it is a top card with a high synergy in a new popular commander, will this card continue to go up? I certainly do not think it will ever be bulk again. I would be surprised if this card dropped below five dollars again.
