Image courtesy of Scryfall.com
Kobold Taskmaster Price Trends in MTG's Secondary Market
If you’ve ever cracked a Masters Edition III pack and found a Kobold Taskmaster staring back, you know there’s a certain nostalgia heat that only red Kobold tribe memories can ignite 🧙🔥. This little two-drop, a common creature with a spicy attack buff aura—“Other Kobold creatures you control get +1/+0”—is the kind of card that doesn’t win a tournament by itself, but it quietly fuels Kobold-themed shells and budget decks with a spark of synergy. Released on 2009-09-07, in the black-bordered era of Masters Edition III, this card carries both a retro design charm and a practical if modest game effect. Its fantasy flavor text—“The Taskmaster knows that there is no cure for the common Kobold.”—taps at a playful sense of kobold stubbornness and mischief that MTG fans love 🎲.
On the secondary market, price is a story told in small increments, especially for a common reprint from a Masters set. The card sits in a tier of evergreen red commons that are easily accessible but rarely headline-grabbers in modern meta decks. The ME3 printing, while beloved by collectors for its nostalgic frame and curated reprint slate, also means that mass availability dampens volatility. In this case, the current signal is modest: the market data shows a TCGPlayer-style “tix” price around 0.05 in MTGO terms, with USD/foil values not prominently listed in the snapshot you provided. That tells a familiar tale for low-variance, red-common kobolds: the card remains affordable for casuals and nostalgic players, even as it appears in box openings and vintage drafts that celebrate a particular era of the game 🧙♀️💎.
What’s driving the price shape right now
- Rarity and print history: Common creature in a Masters reprint set means widespread availability, but it also creates a crowded market for nonfoil modern-price checks. With ME3 being a curated fold of older cards in a modern frame, supply tends to outstrip occasional demand spikes from newer formats, weighing down the low end of prices.
- Deck-building utility: The ability to boost “other Kobold” creatures makes it a valuable piece in Kobold tribal or Kobold-heavy builds, mostly in casual or EDH settings rather than mainstream competitive Pioneer or Modern. Its literal buff helps any Kobold you bring to the party—the more Kobolds you field, the bigger the payoff, even if the payoff is a modest +1 power boost across the board ⚔️.
- Foil vs. nonfoil dynamics: In ME3, both foil and nonfoil exist, but the common slot tends to ride closer to the nonfoil price ceiling unless there’s a strong nostalgia or collector push. The data you shared doesn’t surface a strong USD foil premium, suggesting a typical, comfortable niche for players chasing a budget Kobold shell.
: The EDHREC rank sits around the mid-teen thousands, which is respectable but not a driver of price spikes. In other words, it’s a card that often remains under the radar for high-roller collectors while remaining a sólido option for budget-minded commanders and Kobold enthusiasts 🎨. : The card’s digital footprint—MTGO presence and the ME3 reprint—helps it maintain a baseline demand across formats that still value retro frames and accessible red effects. That digital footprint often cushions price volatility compared to cards that rely only on physical-demand peaks.
For the savvy collector, the Kobold Taskmaster’s price story can be read like a map: low volatility, modest upside, and steady demand driven by Kobold-themed builds and the nostalgic pull of Masters Edition III. The absence of a dramatic USD price spike in your data suggests that, unless a Kobold clan resurgence sweeps through casual play, this particular Taskmaster will continue to march to a measured drumbeat, trading in the penny-to-dollar zone that keeps it accessible to players building red-centered decks on a budget 🧙🏽♂️.
Strategic takeaways for players and collectors
- Budget-friendly inclusion: If you’re assembling a Kobold tribal list, you can slot Kobold Taskmaster in as a reliable 2-drop with a broad buff to your tribe, especially in formats where you’re not chasing high-end combos. Its buff-to-all-Kobolds makes it a fit for fun, low-cost synergy decks rather than hyper-competitive builds 🔥.
- Collectibility via flavor and art: The Randy Asplund-Faith artwork on ME3 carries a certain vintage glow—perfect for display or aesthetic-focused binder pages. The flavor text adds a wink to old-school Kobold lore that resonates with long-time fans who remember the early days of red Kobold chaos 🎨.
- Investment lens: Given the ME3 reprint and the common rarity, price appreciation would more likely come from collector interest or format-shift nostalgia rather than meta-driven demand. If you’re eyeing a long horizon, monitor ME3 reprint reappearances and any new Kobold-focused products that might nudge demand upward.
- Market-cross-checks: While the provided tix price gives a snapshot, keep an eye on broader markets—TCGplayer grids, Card Kingdom price histories, and even EDHREC discussions can reveal if a Kobold-focused deck variant gains steam and nudges the price slightly upward.
“Sometimes the smallest buff can tilt a whole tribe’s strategy. Kobold Taskmaster reminds us that in magic, synergy isn’t about one big punch—it’s about a chorus of little boosts that turn a crowd of kobolds into a surprisingly coordinated chorus line.” 🧙♀️
Interested in exploring more about this card’s place in modern and casual play? Check the linked resources below for deeper dives, competitive angles, and community-driven decks that put Kobold Taskmaster on the map in playful, budget-friendly ways. And if you’re browsing gear for real life adventures between games, a rugged phone case—because advantage in the real world is just as important as advantage in the game world—could be a fine companion on the road between tournaments and coffee shops ☕️🎲.