Zendikar Rising spoilers are complete, and the brewing can now really begin! And this week we see the results of that already. All three winners are related to the landfall mechanic in Zendikar Rising.
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!
See something interesting in the world of card prices?
Be sure to pitch me a tweet: @MTGPeter
#1 Admonition Angel $14.49 (+81%) - ALL TIME HIGH
This week the keyword landfall is the real winner. All three winners this week are related to the ability that sees a return in Zendikar Rising. From a design standpoint, landfall is a great keyword to add to a set. It is an easy to understand ability, that allows new players to add synergy to their decks, without the need for elaborate schemes. It gets better when you build a complete strategy around it.
In EDH, there were already some landfall and "land matters" decks out there. But with the addition of Omnath, Locus of Creation a new power tool is added to that format. The set also features another possible commander in EDH that has landfall: Moraug, Fury of Akoum. The latter will obviously fit into a more aggressive combat oriented deck, where Omnath, Locus of Creation has wider possibilities as a commander with the gain life, mana generation and global damage abilities. But also note that quite a bit of brews with Omnath, Locus of Creation feature Moraug, Fury of Akoum too.
Let's get to the actual #1 winner this week: Admonition Angel. A card that sees some play in EDH already, mostly in Angel themed decks and with Kaalia of the Vast. Admonition Angel has a powerful landfall ability that granted the card a $5+ price tag without seeing much play. But with this return of landfall and an alternative win Angel, Angel of Destiny, we've got two triggers for people looking into powerful angels/landfall cards for their new brews.
Admonition Angel is also getting a reprint in Zendikar Rising: Commander decks, attracting a lot more attention to it. I do really wonder what this will do with the price of the original printing, since reprints usually mean a card is falling in price, not going up.
Wow! Oboro, Palace in the Clouds went totally through the roof this week. It was already on a steep rise last Friday, and I almost included it in the Weekly Winners. But it just kept on stacking value. From Tuesday on, the card seems to have found a new plateau.
The connection with landfall cannot be more obvious! You can return Oboro, Palace in the Clouds back to your hand for , without the need to tap it, which means that you can tap it to return itself to your hand. Whenever you need that landfall trigger but don't draw a new land, you can return and replay Oboro, Palace in the Clouds.
But Oboro, Palace in the Clouds is not coming from nowhere. It already had a $20 price tag, since it sees play in multiple Modern decks, including a mill deck that uses Hedron Crab and its landfall ability to mill their opponent (check out the decklist below). But it sees far more play in Uro Piles. And top that off with play in EDH, in decks commanded by Tatyova, Benthic Druid.
I really love cards like Terrain Generator. When they first get printed, you think: "meh, how is this good, like, ever?" But then, years after, some new set is printed and makes the card suddenly much more relevant. Always keep and eye out for cards with unexpected abilities. Their day will come. Probably.
Outside of ramping, Terrain Generator works well with landfall too. That keyword is good, but it is even better when you get additional land drops during your turn. Well, Terrain Generator makes that a reality.
Also note that I haven't included the DD:ANT printing of Terrain Generator in the graph above. That printing spiked to a insane price of $26.30, probably due to a fluke listing above $30 somewhere. It will come down and settle around the same price of the other printings.
Cheap Pickups
Please note: for our 'record low' we consider the price of the card over the past 7 years. Many cards have been even cheaper (a) decade(s) ago. Also note: some cards are still going down, and might be even cheaper pickups next week.
Glimmervoid $5.99 - Record low and trending down
Spellskite $5.95 - Record low and trending down
Vendilion Clique $13.04 - Record low and trending down
