ConnexionThe Biggest Magic: The Gathering Crashers and Climbers This Week - January 22, 2026
It’s a new year for Magic: The Gathering, and it’s shaping up to be a busy one with no fewer than seven sets on the roadmap. Still, if you’re looking for great cards from 2025 and before, there are some great price drops to be had at TCGplayer to see in the new year, as well as some climbers across great cards.
That’s to say nothing of Stranger Things Secret Lair cards creeping up in price, too. Come with us for a trip to the Upside Down, with this week’s Climbers and Crashers.
Climbers
Kicking off with a card from the (at the time of writing) current set, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Badgermole Cub was always destined for big things.
It was one of the most sought-after cards from previews onward, and earthbends while also helping you gain bonus mana when tapping a creature to cast. Very handy, and now climbing in price again to around $55 market value.
Icetill Explorer is a card I’m still waiting to find a good price on for my Edge of Eternities World Shaper precon, and it’s now up to $22. It lets you play additional lands, and play them from your graveyard.
Aetherdrift won’t live long in the memory, but Lumbering Worldwagon just might. This vehicle is climbing in value to almost $3 from under a dollar a few weeks ago, and grows in power as you play more lands.
Next up, our promised detour to Stranger Things. Series star Eleven, the Mage is now around $20, and lets you have eleven cards in your hand. You can also play instants and sorceries for free if you attack with her, and she can be one of two Commanders.
Will the Wise has the same ‘Friends forever’ keyword, and triggers an investigation from each player (or they pay life) and then lets you investigate, too. It’s a cool nod to the show’s first season, and will set you back around $12 - but that is climbing.
Crashers
The first two Crashers on our list are a little different because they’re not out yet. Necroskitter and Cream of the Crop appear in the new Commander Decks for the Lorwyn Eclipsed set, and haven’t been reprinted in years.
That means as soon as these decks arrive, both cards will plummet in value. If you have either, it might already be too late to sell.
Aang, at the Crossroads has dropped to just over a dollar, having been considerably more than that during Avatar preview season, and gives you a classic moment from the show as well as the transformed version on the back.
Even cooler, Aang, Swift Savior is borderless and is now under $20 and dropping. Pay 8 mana to transform him into Aang and La, Ocean's Fury, powering up attacking creatures while also giving you a 5/5 with reach and trample.
Finally, a selfish pick as someone who has watched The Ur-Dragon from afar for a while. This 10/10, five-color Dragon is expensive mana-wise, but is dropping financially. It’s now around $26, and it lowers the cost of your Dragon spells even when it’s in the Command Zone.
Lloyd Coombes is an experienced freelancer in tech, gaming and fitness seen at Polygon, Eurogamer, Macworld, TechRadar and many more. He's a big fan of Magic: The Gathering and other collectible card games, much to his wife's dismay.
