Underplayed Multipurpose Mana Rock Unexpectedly Doubles in Price

Last updated on March 10, 2026

Laser Screwdriver | Illustration by Hector Ortiz

Magic's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles crossover just released, and with how quick things move in Magic these days, we'll probably soon enter the Secrets of Strixhaven hype phase… but one of the cards moving up in the MTG card market today has nothing to do with those sets.

Sonic Screwdriver, a mana rock from Doctor Who, has been going up steadily… and it's following in the footsteps from another very similar mana rock from the same Universes Beyond set: Laser Screwdriver.

Sonic Screwdriver Price Spike

The Tenth Doctor – Illustration by Luisa J. Preissler

Sonic Screwdriver is a mana rock that costs three mana… which is a category that doesn't tend to shine in Commander, given how clunky they are compared with mana rocks that cost 2. Sonic Screwdriver comes with a lot of other uses, though, plus it can generate any mana you need without jumping any hoops (doesn't come into play tapped, doesn't ping you on tap, etc.)

And it looks like Magic players have found some of those extra uses very useful, because regular near-mint copies are more than four times as expensive as they were 30 days ago, with a sharp increase from less than $2 to well over $3 in the last week:

Source: MTGStocks

Currently, the lowest listed prices have backtracked a bit, with a few near-mint regular copies posted at about $3, although the majority of listings are at $4 or above.

Why Is Sonic Screwdriver Price Spiking?

Heliod, the Radiant Dawn – Illustration by Victor Adame Minguez

Sonic Screwdriver sees a bit of casual commander play (usually with some variation of Doctor Who commanders, like The Tenth Doctor partnered with Rose Tyler), but its current price spike doesn't seem to be related to casual play. In particular, there seems to be very little interest in brewing with new commanders from Lorwyn Eclipsed or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

There seems to be a bit of growing interest for it in cEDH decks, though. Sonic Screwdriver sees competitive play with Heliod, the Radiant Dawn in the command zone, and has gotten a few solid results in the last couple of weeks.

And Sonic Screwdriver‘s price spike comes a couple of weeks after another multi-use mana rock from Doctor Who, Laser Screwdriver saw a similar push upwards: it has stabilized at arond $2 in the last few weeks after a spike in February and, like it's sonic counterpart, this screwdriver is no longer a bulk-bin card:

Source: MTGStocks

Three mana may be a bit too much for most mana rocks… but versatility seems to pay off!