The answer was the story
The prolific price rise, and particularly the recent spike, may well have something to do with the upcoming The Hobbit set, releasing in August (check the MTG release schedule here)
You set one Banshee token in front of Amanda and the other Banshee token in front of Tony
1 Blood Pact
(Plus, it's only a one-of, so cutting it wouldn't really reduce the deck's cost meaningfully anyway.) The one rare that can be cut is Castle Locthwain, which, as we discussed, is very good and, outside of costing some wildcards, is mostly a free-roll in the deck but not all that important
Some people may enjoy different aspects of the game, or find enjoyment playing it differently, and that's okay