Last updated on November 5, 2025
Jin Sakai, Ghost of Tsushima | Illustration by Dominik Mayer
Jin Sakai, Ghost of Tsushima is building a team.
Recently arrived to Magic via the PlayStation Secret Lair, this new Esper Commander is assembling a rag-tag band of collaborators, just like he does in the Ghost of Tsushima videogame. As we reported last week, Jin Sakai has already spiked the price of Fallen Shinobi, and this week he's doing the same with a very old elemental shaman…
… with Ashling, the Extinguisher going up by 200% in US markets after becoming a popular inclusion in Jin Sakai decks.
Ashling, the Extinguisher's Price Spike
Jin Sakai, Ghost of Tsushima (Secret Lair) – art by Dominik Mayer
Ashling, the Extinguisher used to be a pretty expensive card a few years ago, reaching as high as $18 in 2022. But, since then, it had fallen out of favor among Magic players: It's of no use as a black commander, has no competitive edge, and was fairly unpopular in the 99 of casual commander decks. It never quite became bulk-bin material (in large part thanks to scarcity: it's a card with a single print, back from Eventide), and remained above $4 since the 2022 spike, but was hardly a card most players would run to buy.
That started to change about two weeks ago, with Ashling, the Extinguisher creeping up to $7.50 in a week, and then changed massively by the end of last week with another 100% jump, all the way up to the current $15 in US markets for near-mint copies.
Source: MTGStocks
You can still find copies for a lot less if you're okay with moderately or heavily played cards – but for near-mint, at the moment of writing minimum listed prices on TCGplayer are over the $20 mark.
Why Is Ashling, the Extinguisher's Price Spiking?
In two words: Jin Sakai. Or, well, maybe five: Jin Sakai, Ghost of Tsushima.
Jin Sakai, Ghost of Tsushima is proving one extremely popular Esper commander, and has already sent another Magic card sky-high:
“Jin Sakai, Ghost of Tsushima looks super fun,” wrote Tim in our review of the PlayStation commanders, noting how Jin incentivizes you to send lone attackers at each opponent by granting them unblockable, or giving them double strike for the turn.
(In the Ghost of Tsushima videogame, Jin is a samurai torn between charging head on and fighting foes honorably, as a samurai should, or using dishonorable stealth tactics, like a ninja would.)
In other words, Jin Sakai is a great saboteur: Creatures with triggered abilities that fire off whenever they deal combat damage to a player. If your opponents have blockers, then Jin Sakai, Ghost of Tsushima lets your lone attackers sneak past them; if there are no blockers, then Jin doubles the pain.
And now Ashling, the Extinguisher‘s has a found a nice home, seeing play in 1 out of 4 decks when Jin Sakai is in the command zone. With Jin in play, Ashling, the Extinguisher is either an unblockable edict effect, or two edicts if Ashling has double strike.
What Will Happen With Ashling, the Extinguisher's Price?
Fallen Shinobi – Illustration by Tomasz Jedruszek
As noted, Ashling, the Extinguisher‘s current spike is all about Jin Sakai, Ghost of Tsushima – it doesn't see much play anywhere else.
With our usual caveat that this is not investment advice (always do your own research, folks!), you could argue that Ashling, the Extinguisher still has room to grow: Jin is looking like a very popular commander, so if he keeps his momentum, or just with Ashling, the Extinguisher increasing its play rate in Jin decks, demand could go even higher than now.
On the other hand, Ashling, the Extinguisher‘s graph from three years ago, and its current lack of play anywhere else, may indicate this is just a fluke that will die down as hype does.
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