Final Fantasy Commander Boosts Bulk MTG Rare by 3000%

Last updated on May 15, 2025

Vivi Ortinier – illustration by Toni Infante

Final Fantasy x MTG really has a penchant for making an old, extremely obscure Magic card spike in price. Two weeks ago there was an 800% price increase for Helm of the Ghastlord thanks to Y'shtola, Night Blessed. Two days ago it was Final Fantasy saga creatures pushing Moonmist through the clouds. And now it's a wizard from this upcoming MTG set who's bringing a forgotten rare into the spotlight.

Propped by one of the Final Fantasy characters revealed last Saturday, Quicksilver Elemental – a blue creature from Mirrodin that, until now, was positioned extremely high in the Magic Cards You Have Never Heard About ranking – just went from zero to hero in the last couple of days.

Source: MTGStocks

Jumping from about 50 cents to close to $15 for mint copies in US markets, Quicksilver Elemental‘s 3000% increase dwarfs the “modest” 1500% spike we saw from Moonmist just two days ago, and makes Y'shotla's Helm of the Ghastlord 800% increase seem like pocket change.

So, who's behind Quicksilver Elemental‘s crazy price spike now?

Vivi Ornitier, Black Mage and Commander Staple

Vivi Ornitier from FF 9 – Designed by Hideo Minaba

Easily recognizable by his oversized floppy hat and glowing yellow eyes, Vivi Ornitier is a wizard and part of the main cast from Final Fantasy IX. He is shy, clumsy, and afraid of his powers (and probably introduced lots of gamers to the concept of existential dread, as Vivi wrestles constantly with the unsettling realization that he and his kind were manufactured as expendable foot soldiers).

In Magic, Vivi Ornitier has kept his wizard creature type and looks ready to jump into the limelight and steal the show right away. Revealed on the Final Fantasy x MTG debut showcase last saturday, Vivi may end up being one of the most powerful Final Fantasy cards for Commander, with players even wondering if Vivi will be relevant in cEDH either in the 99 or as an Izzet commander, thanks to its zero-cost, mana-generating ability. 

“What really makes this interesting,” notes u/lonewolf210 in the cEDH subreddit, “is that [Vivi's mana ability] can be blue mana too. There are tons of ways to generate extra red mana but pretty much none for blue.” And Vivi Ornitier basically turns any red pump spells into a blue-or-red ritual. If you thought Monstrous Rage was overtuned, wait until Vivi turns into . The Vivi hype's so high that it has already become the fourth most-expensive card in the set itself, for its regular version.

But Vivi's on-demand transmute-pumps-into-rituals activated ability has a catch: It's only once per turn. That's where Quicksilver Elemental comes in.

Quicksilver Elemental, Vivi's Infinite Best Friend

A really obscure blue creature from the original Mirrodin, Quicksilver Elemental lets you copy all activated abilities from the target creature by paying . So, right off the bat, you can pay one mana, copy Vivi's ability, and generate three mana (you don't get the extra +1/+1 tokens or Vivi's ping, though, since that's a triggered ability; Quicksilver Elemental only copies the activated abilities).

The copied ability is also capped once per turn, but here's the kicker: Quicksilver Elemental can copy any ability again.

“Each time you copy Vivi’s ability, it’s a new instance of the ability and so it resets the “once per turn” clause,” explains u/Reyemile, one of the financial-savvy MTG players that saw this spike coming. “So you can spend one blue mana to make three (Quicksilver’s power) mana as many times as you want.”

In other words: As long as you have the mana, Quicksilver Elemental can keep making infinite copies of any activated ability… and with Vivi's ability, infinite mana.

What Will Happen With Quicksilver Elemental's Price?

Y'shtola, Night's Blessed – Illustration by Magali Villeneuve

“Quicksilver Elemental‘s a 23 year old rare that has been only printed once,” notesu/VenusianConqueror, “that is the best card in what will probably be the most popular and powerful commander from what is already magic's most successful set of all time, this is gonna spike HARD.”

Financial-savvy players who correctly predicted this spike noted that scarcity is indeed one big factor here: Quicksilver Elemental has never been reprinted since Mirrodin. Helm of the Ghastlord, the obscure card that spiked thanks to Y'shtola, Night Blessed two weeks ago, has kept its high price even though its an common, while Quicksilver Elemental is a rare and from a much older MTG set. And as a very meme-y card (until now!), many owners may not have been too careful about it, making near-mint copies all the harder to find.

On top of that, Vivi Ornitier‘s hype couldn't be higher, with several threads in the cEDH community discussing how to brew top-tier Commander decks with him, and Vivi getting a dedicated Discord channels.

“Brother, this is going to be a new staple for spell slinger,” says u/PolishNerd420 about Vivi Ornitier in one of the most-upvoted replies to a thread wondering if, once Final Fantasy is out, Vivi will drop from its current pre-release price of around $70. “Three drop, ramp for free, turns into a massive creature really fast, chip damages everyone for every tiny spell cast. Not to mention it’s a FF character.”

“It's one of the most recognizable FF characters,” agrees u/Ythio about Vivi's demand, “The artwork is cute. It's going through the roof no matter what is written on the card.”

With the usual caveat that this is not investment advice (doing your own research is priceless!), if you want to brew or play with Vivi you may want to keep and eye on Quicksilver Elemental.

And if you were around by Mirrodin‘s time, you may want to check your bulk bin; good ol' Vivi may have transmuted some of your old quarters into a nice chunk of money!