Squandered resources is a powerful card with a powerful effect. I am actually shocked that this card flew under the radar for as long as it did especially since there was a blog, site, or other form of media that carried the name squandered resources. The card was actually under a dollar until the end of 2016 so there was a time since prices were formally recorded that you could have picked up this card for absolute bulk prices. If every good card on the reserved list has been picked dry and there is nothing left to speculate on then how do you explain squandered resources being 60 cents less than ten years ago? Did no one see the potential in a 2 mana ramp card that is also a free sacrifice outlet. There are many decks that want lands in the graveyard or can easily recur lands so a free sacrifice engine is absolutely paramount for those decks to function. Zuran orb and sylvan safekeeper are cheaper options but redundancy is important and this offers the effect on an enchantment. The payoff is also stronger. Never underestimate extra mana even at the cost of a resource especially if you can easily get the resource back or you are using that sacrifice to you advantage. Many decks can make excellent use of squandered resources in their combos. The gitrog monster, muldrotha the gravetide, and lord windgrace decks all benefit from having lands enter the graveyard and can put them right back into play. Even so, the number of commander decks that use this card on edhrec is astonishingly low. I would think any landfall deck that utilizes combos that sacrifice all lands only to bring them back with aftermath analyst or world shaper would need to use squandered resources. Very few cards let you sac all your lands in a single turn and leave you mana positive but squandered resources has combos and synergies. The card was five bucks after 2016 and reached almost 20 dollars during the initial buyout of 2018. By 2021 the card was about seventy five dollars as a all time high. So why is the cars going up now? Why is there a renewed interest on a reserved list card that has spiked a number of times? In short, the necrobloom. The necrobloom is the second strongest commander released in modern horizons 3. A little birdy can tell you what the strongest commander in the set is. The necrobloom is also highly competitive and is potentially cedh. The card wants lands in the graveyard to dredge and some decks have a land in graveyard theme. Is it any wonder that squandered resources can fit into a necrobloom cedh deck? Desert decks and a jund graveyard commander deck also got a boost in 2024 so it was a good year for squandered resources. Currently, the card is approaching fifty dollars. That is higher than in 2018 but I do not think it will reach its market high. However, this has become a soft staple in necrobloom decks, appearing in over 20 percent of decks. That deck is competitively viable, popular, and new so I think squandered resources will probably hold onto a higher price tag for the foreseeable future. Will it go back down when the hype dies or will you have to squander your resources getting a copy of this card?
