Weekly Winners 2024 - 02

There's a lot going on around Standard at the moment. While two of our winners come from that format, we also have one moving because of Pauper.

Like every week, just in time for FNM, I'll tell you about the Magic: the Gathering cards that'll be the talk of the town tonight! Come discuss this week's price movements with us on Discord.

Articles

• In Harvey's insightful article Secret Lair Shakeup, the shift in the printing strategy for Secret Lair products is examined, highlighting how this change from print-to-demand to set quantities could impact the market, both in logistical and psychological terms, particularly addressing the potential effects on scarcity and desirability among players and collectors. To delve deeper into this intriguing shakeup and its implications on the game's future, check out the full article.
• In The Best Magic Set of 2023 for Commander, Steve dives into the intricacies and unique mechanics of the set he picked as the "Best Of" for 2023, discussing its synergy with established Commander strategies and its potential to redefine deck-building norms. 
• In Corey's article Sideboard Pickups for Modern in 2024, he provides a thorough analysis of key sideboard cards in Modern's current meta, examining their recent market trends and strategic relevance. This piece is a treasure trove for players looking to optimize their Modern decks with effective sideboard choices that can significantly influence gameplay and tournament success.
• Gregory's article The Value of Tokens in Magic delves into the often-overlooked financial potential of tokens, providing insightful tips on recognizing and capitalizing on the value of these seemingly minor components. This piece is essential for players and collectors keen on maximizing their returns from every aspect of their collection.

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Onto the Weekly Winners!

#1 Mirrex $49.22 (+470%)

Mirrex is $50! Did I clickbait you yet? Time for some nuance, because you and I both know that Mirrex is not worth that high of a pricetag. Upon closer inspection, it seems like Promo Pack: Phyrexia: All Will Be One has shot up the past week. And while the regular and extended art version of the card are "only" a little below $10, we can't deny that they have a clear uptrend as well.

Mirrex is a utility land that generates , but the turn it's played it can make any kind of mana. The power of this land mainly lies in its last ability to create 1/1 Phyrexian tokens with Toxic 1. The tokens can't block, but this land can consistently make a creature every turn. Especially in decks that like to keep their mana open anyway, like control decks which tend to be more reactive than proactive, Mirrex provides a mana sink in case there's nothing interesting enough to react to. And since you don't have anything better to do, you might as well make a token that needs to be dealt with. 

When we go to the card's page, we see in the Decks section that there's quite a list of decks the card is currently played in. Standard is most prominent, but it also sees play in Pioneer and occasionally in Modern. Since we're in the middle of a Standard Regional Championship Qualifying (RCQ) season, it appears that people are trying to get their hands on copies to be able to compete in these events. It sees play in multiple copies in popular decks like Selesnya Toxic and Azorius Soldiers.

Mirrex	CardKingdom	TCGPlayer $49.22
Mirrex	CardKingdom $9.99	TCGPlayer $10.70
Mirrex (Extended Art)	CardKingdom $9.99	TCGPlayer $8.40

#2 Preacher of the Schism $5.91 (+269%)

To stay within the same ballpark as our previous winner, we also have Preacher of the Schism moving up quickly. When this year started this was nothing more than a bulk rare, and now it's moving towards $10. A 2/4 with deathtouch is already an annoying creature to deal with. With four toughness it's relatively hard to answer in combat or with burn spells, and can even stonewall larger creatures. But Preacher of the Schism doesn't want to stay back as blocker. It wants to attack! When it attacks you may get to make a 1/1 lifelinker or you get to draw a card for the mere cost of one life.

And while we see the card being tinkered with in Pioneer, it's most notably found in Standard decks. Rakdos decks usually play them as a four-off. Esper decks also play several copies.

Preacher of the Schism	CardKingdom $3.99	TCGPlayer $5.91
Preacher of the Schism (Extended Art)	CardKingdom $3.99	TCGPlayer $6.00

#3 Crimson Acolyte $3.99 (+299%)

And now the winner of the week because of a format we don't often talk about in this series: Pauper. Crimson Acolyte went up pretty quickly because it's seeing quite a bit of play in the format all of the sudden. This common from Invasion is a 1/1 with protection from red, and can also give other creatures the same protection. To remind yourself of what protection from a certain quality does, always think about the mnemonic acronym DEBT. The permanent or player cannot be damaged, enchanted (or equipped), blocked, or targeted by cards with that particular quality.

The current deck to beat in Pauper is Mono-Red Kuldotha, named after Kuldotha Rebirth. The deck has a lot of firepower, and tries to go wide with Kuldotha to get damage in, along with cards like Goblin Bushwhacker and Goblin Blast-Runner. A lot of decks in the meta that play started playing playsets of Crimson Acolyte in their sideboards as a way to stonewall attacks and to protect their creatures from burn. Crimson Acolyte is quite an old card, being printed in 2000, and has never received a reprint since. This makes it relatively easy to drive the price up, since the supply is very low compared to recent sets.

$1.19$2.79

In a similar way we also see Obsidian Acolyte played in the same kind of decks as an answer to black cards. It's not going up at the same rate, but there's definitely movement there. The same can be said about Standard Bearer, that is also part of the sideboard package.

Crimson Acolyte	CardKingdom $1.99	TCGPlayer $3.99
Obsidian Acolyte	CardKingdom $0.59	TCGPlayer $0.72

Cheap Pickups

Please note: for our 'record low' we consider the price of the card over the past seven years. Many cards were even cheaper (a) decade(s) ago. Also note: some cards are still going down, and might be even cheaper pickups next week.

Den of the Bugbear $4.76 - Moving up!

Den of the Bugbear has been identified by the MTGStocks Premium Penny Stocks feature as a card that has reached its bottom and is starting a consistent uptrend.

Virtue of Knowledge $5.25 - Stable

Repercussion $3.21 - Moving down

Den of the Bugbear	CardKingdom $5.99	TCGPlayer $4.70
Virtue of Knowledge	CardKingdom $7.49	TCGPlayer $5.24
Repercussion	CardKingdom $2.99	TCGPlayer $3.22