Outlaws of Thunder Junction’s release has caused Grim Hireling’s price to triple. However, if you are going to pick it up, we’ll help you get the best use out of this amazing Treasure card.
Grim Hireling is one of the best black-mana Treasure engines in MTG, and its price has exploded recently, seeing an increase of 194%. Following the release of Outlaws of Thunder Junction, Grim Hireling has spiked from $10 to a median price of $29.44 on TCGPlayer, an all-time high for the card.
The huge increase in Grim Hireling’s price comes from two closely related sources. Outlaws of Thunder Junction’s introduction of the Outlaw mechanic, and the Most Wanted Thunder Junction pre-con deck.
The new Outlaw type provides synergy for several underrepresented Creature types, including Rogue, which Grim Hireling belongs to. Thanks to gaining synergy with other Outlaws – many of which benefit from Treasure production – Grim Hireling suddenly has a whole heap of support to work with.
Most Wanted is one of four Outlaws of Thunder Junction pre-con Commander decks, and it revolves entirely around Outlaws and building up a Treasure stockpile. Grim Hireling is absolutely crucial to this deck’s gameplan, and really should have been included as a reprint.
Grim Hireling and Prosper, Tome-Bound
Grim Hireling has historically seen the most use under the Commander Prosper, Tome-Bound, thanks to its inclusion in the Prosper-led Planar Portal pre-con deck. Prosper is an all-time great Rakdos Commander, enabling exceptionally powerful exile and Treasure strategies, which Grim Hireling fits neatly into.
However, with Grim Hireling now fetching such a high price, longtime Prosper players will find it worth evaluating whether to keep this card in the deck or move it over to new Commanders who can put it to better use.
While Prosper can make good use of Grim Hireling, that use depends on the build direction for the deck. Prosper can follow a number of directions, with some players focusing on Creature-based aggro, while others will rely on pingers and spellslinger. As Grim Hireling relies on Creatures dealing combat damage to build up a stockpile of Treasure, non-aggro Prosper players should consider moving the card elsewhere.
Thankfully, there are two great new Thunder Junction Commanders who can get the best use out of Prosper, both of which debuted in the previously-mentioned Most Wanted Deck: Olivia, Opulent Outlaw, and Vihaan, Goldwaker.
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Grim Hireling’s new Commanders
Olivia, Opulent Outlaw
Olivia, Opulent Outlaw is a surprisingly straightforward Commander, moving away from the character’s previous vampire typal strategies and strictly buffing Outlaws instead. Olivia should be built almost exclusively around Outlaw Creatures in order to streamline her strategy and provide the most value.
Olivia goes hand-in-hand with Grim Hireling, as her first ability also generates Treasure when successfully dealing damage. With both of these characters on the board and enough Outlaws to swing with, you can gain up to three Treasure tokens for every opponent you successfully damage.
Olivia can also sacrifice Treasure created by any source, not just to her own ability, in order to put +1/+1 counters on all your outlaws. With just a single successful combat step, Olivia and Grim Hireling can easily build up enough Treasure to activate this Commander’s secondary ability multiple times in the same turn. This can build up such a powerful board of Creatures that opponents will be overrun by the time your next turn comes around.
Vihaan, Goldwaker
Vihaan, Goldwaker is Most Wanted’s alt Commander, and gives Olivia a solid run for her money in how well it puts Grim Hireling to work. Instead of using Treasures to buff Outlaws, Vihaan converts Treasure tokens into Creatures, building up an army in no time at all. Grim Hireling directly contributes to the size of your board when working with Vihaan building up a hoard of Creatures that come in with haste, ready to attack and generate yet more Treasure.
Grim Hireling also works as a great source of removal in Vihaan, trading in your Treasures to take a tricky Creature off the field. When used in conjunction with other power cards in the deck like Pitiless Plunderer and Mahadi, Emporium Master, those Treasures will all be replaced before the turn is over.
Whichever Commander you decide to play Grim Hireling in, this card is swiftly becoming a cornerstone of Treasure strategies and is unlikely to drop from its newly-acquired price point any time soon.
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