Weekly Winners (10)

06 Mar
by Peter

We have two hot topics in the casual magic market right now: dragons and Tiny Leaders. Both move prices around a lot this week, which you will see reflected in this week's winners. But, I'm also happy that we can add a little Modern and Legacy flavor this week! So, like every week, just in time for FNM, I present you the cards that will be the talk of the town tonight.

 

Want to help me out? Pitch me a tweet when you see something interesting @MTGPeter

 

#1 Tetsuo Umezawa +115.4% ($45) 

Tetsuo Umezawa

Honestly, I never thought I'd see the day that Tetsuo Umezawa would be a $45 dollar card. But today is that day. The big reason for this is the up and coming Tiny Leaders format. And when I see the price jump on Tetsuo Umezawa, my enthousiasm about the format is curbed. For those of you not familiar, Tiny Leaders is a kind of "mini-EDH", with a few exceptions to the commander rules. The most important one: all cards in your deck may cost only 3 mana or less. Which means that the amount of legendary creatures you can choose from is severely limited. 

Building a deck in a new format can be very entertaining. In my playgroup we play a format called Pauper+, a constructed modern format in which you can use only commons, but you may add 5 uncommons and 1 rare or mythic. It's nice to be able to play a format that doesn't allow you to netdeck and forces you to rethink cards you deemed unusable. I'm telling you this because Tiny Leaders is kind of the same thing: it opens new possibilites and lets you build a deck in a completely new environment. And that's fun! 

So far, so good one could say. But, (huge but), creating a new format comes with challenges, and in Tiny Leaders, the availability of enough tiny commanders is a huge challenge. Tetsuo Umezawa spiked to $45 because it is the only 3MC legendary creature that has a RBU color identity. To add insult to injury, it is from the Legends set, which was printed on a very limited scale, escpecially when you compare it to current printruns of sets. So, if you want to play RBU, you need to play Tetsuo Umezawa. In regular EDH you have 13 commanders to choose from. No wonder Tetsuo Umezawa now has a $45 price tag.

It actually gets a little worse. Since there is no sultai-identity Tiny Leader, the format creators (fellow MTG players, not WoTC) allow players to use the 'Sultai' legendary creature. A proxy 2/2 vanilla legendary creature, since there is no BGU tiny leader available. It just doen't exist.

Tiny Leaders is fun to play, and it offers players new possibilities, but the recent effect on card prices show that this new format needs to overcome some obstacles to become (and stay) a sustainable and affordable format. I hope it does. 

 

#2 Pendelhaven +88.7% ($18) 

Pendelhaven

Pendelhaven (the Legends printing) is, just like Tetsuo Umezawa, an example of the impact of limited print runs on the price of cards. When you compare the price of the timeshifted version, you'll notice a $10 price gap. The FNM promo is also $8 below the Legends price. That's how much a limited print run matters. 

Pendelhaven is played in both Legacy and Modern, and in both formats the card is played in a infect strategy. It allows you to quickly deal 10 damage to a player, and in the case of infect, this means your opponent is dead. Pendelhaven is used as the first pump of a creature like Blighted Agent, after that it gets +1/+1 from Noble Hierarch's exalted ability and then you continue by pumping the creature with other spells. In Legacy both invigorate and berserk are used to quickly amount to lethal damage. 

 

#3 Scourge of the Throne +77.8% ($13.99) 

Scourge of the Throne

Dragons are hot! Dragons of Tarkir spoilers are upon us and we see new dragons every day. And this has a huge effect on other, dragon related cards. Old, new, EDH or just casual, it doesn't matter. Dragons are on the rise and they will soon burn your wallet!

Scourge of the Throne has a very nice casual multiplayer flavor that allows you to attack a second time, when you attack the player with the most life. Casual multiplayer needs these type of effects, especially when you are in a playgroup (like mine) with people that all use insane decks, which almost always amount to multiple board wipes, an inablity to cause any damage or getting everything you have either stolen or traded for garbage you don't need.

Well, with Scourge of the Throne you can beat the multiplayer politics by using the card to attack the player with the most life, which will gain you some friends. Which will soon turn into enemies again when you attack them in the second run. In other words, Scourge of the Throne is a fun card to play in the age of dragons we are in now.

 

Other interesting movers:

 

Karrthus, Tyrant of Jund 

Karrthus, Tyrant of Jund

 

Scion of the Ur-Dragon 

Scion of the Ur-Dragon

 

Crucible of Fire 

Crucible of Fire

 

Utvara Hellkite 

Utvara Hellkite

 

 Scourge of Valkas 

Scourge of Valkas

 

Outpost Siege 

Outpost Siege

 

Flusterstorm 

Flusterstorm

 Want to help me out? Pitch me a tweet when you see something interesting @MTGPeter


More from Peter:

Weekly Winners 2021 - 36

Just like last week, the Commander: Innistrad: Midnight Hunt spoilers are the main factor of influence on the markets this week. There are enough cards spoiled for the brewing to commence and we expect a lot more movement in the coming weeks!

Like every week, just in time for (digital) FNM, I'll now tell you about the cards that will be the talk of the (digital) town tonight!

Catalyst Stone Daybreak Ranger Oboro, Palace in the Clouds

Weekly Winners 2021 - 13

This week we saw a lot of interesting movement. Most of it caused by Strixhaven spoilers, but the old frame fetchlands spiked as well.

Like every week, just in time for (digital) FNM, I'll now tell you about the cards that will be the talk of the (digital) town tonight!

Deserted Temple Mox Tantalite Windswept Heath

Weekly Winners 2021 - 12

For the first time since the COVID pandemic hit, our interest page looks like normal for a change! Many (huge) spikes from different sets and eras. I choose to see this as an omen of better times ahead!

Like every week, just in time for (digital) FNM, I'll now tell you about the cards that will be the talk of the (digital) town tonight!

Chain of Smog Illumination Magma Sliver

Weekly Winners 2021 - 10

Somewhat of an odd week. Not really any spikes that has one really obvious or notable reason and of course still a lot of older cards moving up.

Like every week, just in time for (digital) FNM, I'll now tell you about the cards that will be the talk of the (digital) town tonight!

Selective Memory Pearl Medallion Zombie Master

Weekly Winners 2021 - 08

The most interesting week in a long, long time! Maybe I'm a but biased due to my love for Legacy, but this week that format is the biggest driving factor behind the three weekly winners.

Like every week, just in time for (digital) FNM, I'll now tell you about the cards that will be the talk of the (digital) town tonight!

Ethereal Forager Stifle Allosaurus Shepherd

Weekly Winners 2021 - 07

An interesting week, again driven by old card speculation and EDH. But we also have a special edition of Cheap Pickups, with a new way to look at cards that are (still) cheap pickups, but might go up later.

Like every week, just in time for (digital) FNM, I'll now tell you about the cards that will be the talk of the (digital) town tonight!

Shivan Dragon Sapphire Medallion Elvish Champion

Weekly Winners 2021 - 05

A strange and eventful week in the world of finance. Where you'd expect tons of cards to spike due to new brews, we mainly see a new hausse of reserved list cards being bought out. And also non-reserved list cards that happen to be MTG classics.

Like every week, just in time for (digital) FNM, I'll now tell you about the cards that will be the talk of the (digital) town tonight!

Bad Moon Death Cloud Elvish Champion

Weekly Winners 2021 - 04

Kaldheim is ready for release! The coming weeks will be filled with new brews, gameplay and strategy. This week marks the end of this spoiler season, with some interesting movers to report on.

Like every week, just in time for (digital) FNM, I'll now tell you about the cards that will be the talk of the (digital) town tonight!

Desolation Tergrid, God of Fright Coordinated Assault

Weekly Winners 2021 - 02

Kaldheim spoilers are full speed upon us! There has been no shortage of products or spoilers over the past months, but some good old Magic distraction is very welcome!

Like every week, just in time for (digital) FNM, I'll now tell you about the cards that will be the talk of the (digital) town tonight!

Rhys the Exiled Pox Ashnod\'s Altar

Weekly Winners 2021 - 01

After the Kaldheim leaks, the official spoilers have now begun! And one spoiler in particular makes its mark on the Weekly Winners.

Like every week, just in time for (digital) FNM, I'll now tell you about the cards that will be the talk of the (digital) town tonight!

Magus of the Vineyard Into the North Kaervek the Merciless