Weekly Winners 2019 - 04 | Ravnica Allegiance Edition

This week I can present a new feature: the extended view on the sets page! Also: Ravnica Allegiance is out! Because of those two reasons I bring you a special Weekly Winners!

 

Introducing Extended View

As of this week, we now give you the option to explore an extended view of sets. By activating the view (top right) on the page of a set, you can filter the set. You can set filters on rarity, price, foil price and daily/ weekly change. With this, you can make your own interest list for a specific set; allowing you to analyze prices and changes more easily.

Because of this new feature and because Ravnica Allegiance is released, I will bring you a special version of Weekly Winners that feature the top 3 winners from Ravnica Allegiance.

 

#1 Light Up the Stage $1.79 (+108.1%)

 

Good card draw in red is hard to come by. Or at least, that used to be the case. It almost always involved discarding cards, discarding your hand or giving your opponent some kind of benefit. Well, in the current Standard meta that's no longer the case. Cards like Light Up the Stage, Risk Factor and Experimental Frenzy are all legal and give insane amounts of card advantage.

Over the past days I've been playtesting several deckbuilds in Arena and Mono-Red has proven to be one of the best and most reliable archetypes. Playing mono-red feels like playing and Light Up the Stage is one of the reasons. In a fast, mono-red deck, Light Up the Stage reads as: : draw 2 cards. The spectacle cost is really easy to trigger when playing a lot of one mana spells and haste creatures. And even when those to exiled cards are not what you need, Light Up the Stage allows you to make tempo nontheless, since those two dead draws are now gone. Worst case you spend 1 card to filter 2 dead cards (f.i. when you are mana flooded).

Mono-red decks have the advantage in Arena Ranked, simply because the game is best of one, instead of the regular best of three. That means: no sideboarding. A big advantage, because life gain is terrible for Mono-red. Same counts for countering cards like Light Up the Stage and Risk Factor. Both cause the deck to lose steam and lose control over the battlefield. When that happens the deck is in top-deck mode and just has to hope to draw exactly the right cards to burn you to 0 or less life.

Light Up the Stage has proven powerful enough to double its price over the last week. And that is quite and accomplishment. Note that most pre-release prices are overhyped and tend to fall. Cards that move in the opposite direction have a story to tell.

Want some more context on this Standard deck? Check out this decklist:

 

#2 Biogenic Ooze $11.92 (+171.8%)

 

The brewing of new Standard decks is at its high in the week leading to the release of a set. You want to bring something good to the table on the day of release. Many cards are overhyped and overpriced in the 'prerelease' period. But there are always cards that went (partially) unnoticed before. Until a brewer builds a successful deck with it.

SaffronOlive tested a new decklist and was quite successful with it. And Biogenic Ooze plays a central role in that deck. Check out the video and decklist for more on that deck's strategy.

And also: Prime Speaker Vannifar is an Ooze. That means that Biogenic Ooze pumps your legend. And having a 3/5 instead of a 2/4 is relevant in a format that features lava coil. And having a say, 7/10 is better than having a 2/4; especially when your opponent just killed that nice fatty you tutored with Prime Speaker Vannifar.

And since Prime Speaker Vannifar is interesting for EDH, Biogenic Ooze is interesting for EDH as well. That will increase demand, on top of the demand in Standard.

Prime Speaker Vannifar	Buy on  CardKingdom $14.99
Biogenic Ooze	Buy on  CardKingdom $17.99

 

#3 Rhythm of the Wild $1.74 (+39.20%)

 

Wow. For an uncommon Rhythm of the Wild is pretty powerful. It certainly outpowers many rares and even mythics in the set. That's reflected in the play the card sees in Paper Standard and Arena Standard. Making your creatures uncounterable is relevant in the current meta. And that riot trigger allows you to either +1/+1 your creatures to strengthen your defenses/ board position; or lets you take the advantage by giving your creatures haste and dealing early damage.

Once a Rhythm of the Wild hits the table and is followed by teh right plays it quickly warps the battlefield to your advantage. But don't be too hasty in concluding that its too good to be true. Rhythm of the Wild has a sneaky drawback: it costs you a whole turn to play. To actually be able to use the riot trigger, you need to play it before you play your good dudes. To preferrably on turn 2 (with Llanowar Elves) or turn 3. This also means that it will be only in turn 3 or 4 that you land your first threat. Just a little too much land, or (God forbid) another Rhythm of the Wild and you'll find yourself in a position where you fall to far behind.

So, mix up your Rhythm of the Wild with cards that give your card advantage; creatures that create (or leave behind) a token, etc. Because once you get that machine running, you are unstoppable. But you do need time, and that's not easy in a fast meta.

Rhythm of the Wild
Ravnica Allegiance	Buy on CardKingdom $2.49

 

Cheap Pickups

 

Tarmogoyf $87.10 - Record low and bottoming out

 

Blood Moon $17.50 - Record low & bottomed out

 

Rishadan Port $20.87 - Record low & bottomed out

 

Jace Beleren $5.75 - Record low & falling hard

 

Jace Beleren	Buy on  CardKingdom $3.99
Tarmogoyf	Buy on  CardKingdom $99.99
Blood Moon	Buy on  CardKingdom $18.99
Rishadan Port	Buy on  CardKingdom $18.99
Tarmogoyf	Buy on  CardKingdom $49.99