Final Fantasy Commander Makes Forgotten Shadowmoor Common Soar 800%

Last updated on April 29, 2025

Y'Shtola, Night's Blessed – illustrated by Magali Villeneuve

Y'shtola, Night's Blessed, face commander of Scions & Spellcraft – one of the upcoming Final Fantasy Commander Precons – has already become quite a popular Esper Commander, even if this MTG set is not even out yet.

And one of the cards that Magic brewers are most excited to try Y'shtola with is an oft-forgotten common from Shadowmoor: Helm of the Ghastlord, which was worth barely cents until Y'shtola, Night's Blessed got revealed last February, but has climbed 800% in US markets and sits at about $2 now according to MTGStocks.

Source: MTGStocks

Y'shtola, Night's Blessed, the upcoming Esper commander from Final Fantasy, is a match made in heaven for this old Dimir Aura. Y'shtola's ability deals 2 damage to each opponent whenever you cast a noncreature spell. Importantly, she deals direct damage (not just life loss), which perfectly triggers Helm of the Ghastlord’s abilities.

Final Fantasy Shatters Records

Helm of the Ghastlord – Illustrated by Franz Vohwinkel

Final Fantasy looks like a Magic set that will break a lot of records. Chris Cocks, CEO of Hasbro (owners of Wizards of the Coast) recently revealed that Final Fantasy has already become the best-selling MTG set of all time – even though it's not out yet!

And Y'shtola, Night's Blessed seems to be following a similar path: Although she won't be printed until early June, she is already among the 500 most popular commanders in EDHRec, putting her in the top 20%.

Some of Y'shtola high-synergy cards, like Deadly Rollick, are fairly obvious: Commander staples that you get cast for free are great no matter the scenario, but anything costing more than 3 mana becomes even better with Y'shtola, Night's Blessed on the board. And all the more so when the drawback is losing life yourself, like with Snuff Out: Y'shtola's second ability triggers during each step if any player – including yourself! – has lost 4 or more life that turn, so you're happy to pay 4 life to cast Snuff Out for zero mana.

Interest in Y'shtola is also drawing attention to more forgotten cards, like Helm of the Ghastlord. This Dimir aura has seen little competitive play since it was printed in Shadowmoor, and is rarely seen in Commander outside of some occasional appearances alongside Nekuzar, the Mindrazer. But, with Y'shtola, interest in Helm of the Ghastlord has shot up: Although it seems to be a worse Curiosity given the 4-mana cost, such cost becomes a plus to trigger Y'shtola's last ability.

Savvy Magic players immediately noticed the potential, with the MTG finance subreddit noting Helm of the Ghastlord was a great spec the next day Y'shtola got released. Although it's a common, Helm of the Ghastlord has never been reprinted since Shadowmoor; low supply and suddenly high demand now made its price rise sharply.

A Pillowfort Commander

The majority of brewers seem interested in using Y'shtola, Night's Blessed as a Pillowfort commander alongside staples like Propaganda and Ghostly Prison. As noted, her second ability triggers at the end step if anybody has lost life during that turn. This means that, if you get attacked and survive until the end of your turn, Y'shtola will draw you a card. There's also interest in Delney, Streetwise Lookout and the 2-power synergy (although Delney and the +1/+1 buff from Helm of the Ghastlord are a bit of a non-bo). 

And, of course, there's a lot of interest in Curiosity-style effects, which synergize perfectly with the Esper commander. The original Curiosity is at the top of the list, since it remains the very best of its kind. But other, more expensive versions, like Ophidian Eye or Helm of the Ghastlord, are also very common in these early Y'shtola builds, where the extra mana cost triggers her third ability.

Curiosity-like effects trigger whenever the enchanted creature deals damage for any reason (not just combat damage), which is trivial to do with Y'shtola, Night's Blessed and any nonpermanent spell costing more than 3 mana.

What Will Happen With Helm of the Ghastlord's Price?

Cloud, Planet's Champion -illus. Magali Villeneuve

With the usual caveat that this is not investment advice (doing your own research is priceless!), the hype for Y'shtola and Final Fantasy as a whole will only go up next week, when the official reveal season starts. As noted, Helm of the Ghastlord is a common MTG card, but that has only been printed in once and is therefore relatively scarce.

On the other hand, there may be a flood of offers as soon as savvy players realize that this former draft chaff is now moderately expensive.

And there's always the possibility that Wizards of the Coast decides to reprint it in the Scions & Spellcraft Commander Precon, given the excellent synergy with its face commander.

At any rate, if you drafted Shadowmoor a lot, check your bulk commons; you may have a fistful of dollars in there!

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