MTG Saga rules change could raise Doubling Season prices significantly
On Wednesday, Wizards of the Coast printed an article detailing a sequence of rules adjustments coming to Magic: The Gathering. Those new rules will launch alongside the upcoming Secrets of Strixhaven set on April 24. In addition to including the Book artifact sort, which retroactively classifies 44 playing cards from all through the historical past of Magic as Books, there’s additionally a “small change” to how Sagas work — one that may show vital for anybody fortunate sufficient to have the Double Season enchantment
“The mechanism that adds lore counters to Sagas now better matches planeswalkers and battles,” the submit reads. “Specifically, we’ve made the ability that causes Sagas to enter with lore counters on them an intrinsic ability. We did the same for the ability that allows the controller of Sagas with read ahead to choose a number of lore counters.”
More broadly, Sagas inform a narrative of an occasion or sequence of occasions in an enchantment with a number of chapters, usually anyplace between three and 5. You pay the preliminary value, and the primary chapter prompts. Then, you add a lore counter firstly of your flip to activate the subsequent chapter. Once each chapter is full, you sacrifice that card. A choose few “read ahead” Sagas will let you choose which chapter it begins with.
The new rules change clarifies a long-answered question in regards to the Doubling Season card, which doubles the variety of tokens and counters you create in the event that they’re triggered by an impact. Senior Magic editor Matt Tabak clarified on Bluesky in June 2025 (proper after the discharge of the Saga-heavy final fantasy set) that Doubling Season would not influence a Saga getting into or the turn-based motion of including lore counters as a result of neither is taken into account an “effect.” At least, that was the case.
According to the brand new submit, “Doubling Season will now double the number of lore counters a Saga enters with.” TMNT‘s Double Season reprintwhich seems to be the most affordable model of the cardboard, nonetheless has a market worth of $26.58. Other prints lookup above $40 or $50. At least one model of the cardboard prices a whopping $544.16. Given this rules change, I believe we are able to safely count on to see these numbers climb.
What instantly involves thoughts for me — the fortunate proprietor of a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles reprint of Doubling Season — with this rule change are Sagas like Summon: Titan. I play this card rather a lot, significantly on Magic Arena. It’s a strong card in mill-focused landfall decks, however it may well additionally work very well in any sort of Saga-focused or extra broadly enchantment-focused methods. My favourite is a red-white-green deck filled with highly effective enchantment creature Sagas from the remaining fantasy set: Titan, Bahamut, Knights of the Round, Fenrir, and many others. Titan’s greatest weak spot on this deck is that pretty usually, after I play it and mill 5 playing cards, my opponent targets it with direct elimination, so I by no means get the payoff of returning all of the land playing cards in my graveyard to the battlefield.
With Doubling Season on the sector, Titan triggers each of the primary two chapters back-to-back. If you have spent the primary few rounds milling playing cards into your graveyard, that may result in an explosive surge from lands in spherical 5 after you drop Titan. Keep in thoughts that the FINAL FANTASY set additionally has highly effective summoners like Yuna, Hope of Spirawhich drags an enchantment out of your graveyard to the battlefield on the finish of each flip.
The one large query I’ve about this new rules change, nevertheless, has to do with Terra, Magical Adept. For 4 colorless, one purple, and one inexperienced mana (six whole), Terra prompts Trance and transforms into the Esper Terra Saga. For three turns in a row, she creates a token copy of a goal nonlegendary enchantment. If it is a Saga, you possibly can add as much as three lore counters on it, however you finally must sacrifice it on the finish of the flip.
Now, say Doubling Season is already on the board alongside one thing like Summon: Knights of the Round or Summon: Bahamut — two very expensive-to-cast however very highly effective Sagas. Not solely do you make two copies of Terra’s goal due to Doubling Season, however, in idea, you possibly can add as much as three lore counters (then double it?) to every. Between these two theoretical copies of Summon: Bahamut with the utmost variety of lore counters added, they destroy as much as 4 goal non-land permanents, trigger you to attract 4 playing cards, they usually every deal harm equal to the overall mana worth of permanents you management to every opponent. Even if this busted combo would not work, it is undoubtedly an thrilling construct I’m desirous to check out — and one which’s authorized in Standard one way or the other.
It’s formally doubling season, of us.