Weekly Winners 2023 - 11

I remember a time when I really had to choose the cards carefully when talking about Legacy. Those days are over! Legacy does drive prices, as we'll see in this week's Winners. We're also looking at cards going up because of Commander, Modern, and the upcoming Lord of the Rings set.

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

Articles

In New Horizons Matt talks about the Secret Lair Winter Superdrop 2023 and where he sees the prices and popularity of these cards going. Definitely an interesting read for anyone who wants to know about these special Secret Lair art cards.

In A Penny Saved Ryan talks about cards that can be found in Premium features. Good if you want to get a sneak peak on what cards come up!

We're looking for writers interested in covering the Legacy and Vintage formats! If you think you got what it takes and love Magic as much as we do, head on over to our Write for Us form and drop us a message with your pitch and a writing sample or links to prior work.

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Black Lotus Auction Update

As we reported on March 9th a Gem 10 Alpha Black Lotus signed by Christopher Rush went up for auction. The final sales price of the auction ended up being $540,000.

"This record sale reinforces the Alpha Black Lotus as an investment-quality asset, fortifies its claim as a true work of art, and shows exactly how important Magic: The Gathering is to the culture of gaming and trading card games," said Jesse Craig, Vice President of Sales at PWCC Marketplace. "It’s extremely unlikely we see one of these signed copies available for purchase again in the near future. They are crown jewels for a collection. They will remain under lock and key and treated as the museum-caliber pieces they are."

And while this is a record number, in 2021 a similar card sold for $511,100. So with recent inflation, one could argue that this card actually sold for less than back then.

Onto the Weekly Winners!

#1 Undermountain Adventurer $2.99 (+278%)

 

Have you heard about the Initiative mechanic? Pretty sure you have, because we've discussed it several times in the past few weeks on Weekly Winners. In Legacy, but also in Vintage, these mono-white Initiative decks were running rampant, and on March 6th Wizards decided to ban White Plume Adventurer in Legacy for being a too efficient way to get the Initiative. With this banning, players have been quick to adopt Undermountain Adventurer as an alternative. The result has been a dramatic price increase of 278%, skyrocketing from a mere $0.79 to $2.99. The Initiative decks seem to be shifting from to .

So why wasn't Undermountain Adventurer considered earlier for these decks? Because MTGO often lags behind on the available card pool for Legacy, and Undermountain Adventurer wasn't added to the platform until March 8th. MTGO is where most brewing in Legacy seems to take place, and while it doesn't always reflect the paper metagame, it does show the raw power of these decks. And while Caves of Chaos Adventurer already was on MTGO, it did matter that Undermountain Adventurer was added to the digital game only two days after the banning of White Plume Adventurer. Undermountain Adventurer is just as expensive mana-wise as Caves of Chaos Adventurer, but can act as a mana dork when necessary. It having vigilance is just icing on the cake.

Caves of Chaos Adventurer	CardKingdom $1.49	TCGPlayer $1.55
Undermountain Adventurer	CardKingdom $0.79	TCGPlayer $2.99
White Plume Adventurer	CardKingdom $6.49	TCGPlayer $4.52
Undermountain Adventurer (Extended Art)	CardKingdom $1.29	TCGPlayer $5.83

 

#2 Wake the Past $4.98 (+117%)

 

Frankly, I'm a bit surprised that card has been this cheap, because it can definitely be a game finisher in numerous decks. At seven mana it is a high cost, but in Commander games it definitely isn't an exorbitant one. It was printed in Commander 2021 and thus has existed for some time already. Wake the Past already saw play in decks around Alibou, Ancient Witness who also went up substantially recently but had just missed the Weekly Winners back then.

It appears that once again Urtet, Remnant of Memnarch is the culprit. It turns out being able to bring all your artifacts, including Myrs, back from the grave is a huge thing.

What's a little bit wild here is that the regular version of Wake the Past costs almost $5 on average, while the Extended art version seems to hover below $2.

Wake the Past
Commander 2021	CardKingdom $0.99	TCGPlayer $4.98
Commander 2021	CardKingdom $2.29	TCGPlayer $1.78

 

#3 Mind Over Matter $89.99 (+125%)

 

Mind Over Matter is an enchantment from the Exodus set, released in 1998. This powerful card lets players tap or untap cards on the battlefield by discarding a card, and has been part of many great combos in Magic: the Gathering history. One famous combo uses Temple Bell or Otherworld Atlas, allowing players to draw a lot of cards and find the pieces they need to win the game. Another popular combo is with Azami, Lady of Scrolls, where players can draw even more cards by tapping their wizards. Mind Over Matter is an exciting card, and players keep looking for ways to use it whenever new cards are released.

The upcoming The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth set is getting Magic: the Gathering players excited, and one card that stands out is The One Ring. This Legendary Artifact has a unique ability, letting you gain protection from everything for a short time and draw cards at the cost of life. When players found out about the combo with Mind Over Matter, the demand for the older card went up quickly. In just one week, Mind Over Matter saw a big price increase of 125%, going from $39.94 to $89.99. This shows how much players like the enchantment and how eager they are to try the new set and use The One Ring in their decks.

Here's how the combo works:

1. Have both Mind Over Matter and The One Ring on the battlefield.
2. Tap The One Ring and put a burden counter on it to draw a card.
3. Discard a card to activate Mind Over Matter's ability, targeting The One Ring to untap it.
4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 as many times as desired, drawing cards for each burden counter placed on The One Ring.

While you'll lose life on your next upkeep for each burden counter on The One Ring, the card advantage generated by this combo can help you find other cards and combos to win the game before the life loss becomes an issue. Additionally, the protection from everything granted when The One Ring enters the battlefield could help you survive until your next turn to execute your game-winning plan.

The One Ring		TCGPlayer $60.00
Otherworld Atlas	CardKingdom $1.99	TCGPlayer $1.10
Mind Over Matter	CardKingdom $44.99	TCGPlayer $89.99
Temple Bell	CardKingdom $4.99	TCGPlayer $3.97

 

#4 Fiend Artisan $14.69 (+28%)

 

Let's discuss a card a little bit further down the Interests list that I think is worth mentioning. Fiend Artisan has experienced a 28% price increase, jumping from $11.46 to $14.69. This versatile card has seen play in various formats, including Standard and Legacy Elves decks since the shakeup of the Legacy bannings. The current price spike is likely due to its recent inclusion in two Modern decks showcased by popular Magic streamers. Aspiringspike has been using Fiend Artisan in a Jund Sacrifice deck featuring Tyvar, Jubilant Brawler as well as in a Tyvar Goblin build. Additionally, Andrea Mengucci played the Fiend Artisan Jund Sacrifice deck on his stream, drawing even more attention to the card. The increased visibility and success of these decks have driven up demand for Fiend Artisan, leading to its recent price increase.

This recent spike in Fiend Artisan is not the first time that Aspiringspike's deck choices have caused an increase in demand for specific cards. For instance, his inclusion of Tomb of Urami in one of his decks led to a surge in the card's popularity in August 2022. Additionally, his use of Ledger Shredder had a similar effect last May. Aspiringspike's influence on the Magic community showcases the power of popular players and content creators in shaping the game's meta and card prices.

Fiend Artisan
Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths	CardKingdom $12.99	TCGPlayer $14.69
Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths: Extras	CardKingdom $17.99	TCGPlayer $30.59
Promo Pack: Ikoria	CardKingdom $13.99	TCGPlayer $25.84

 

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.

 

Pyromancer's Goggles $4.45 - Moving up!

 

Pyromancer's Goggles has been identified by the MTGStocks Premium Penny Stocks feature as a card that has reached its bottom and is starting a consistent uptrend.

 

Mystical Tutor (Retro Frame) $8.18 - Slowly moving down

 

Dark Depths $6.96 - Slowly moving down

Pyromancer's Goggles	CardKingdom $3.49	TCGPlayer $4.45
Dark Depths	CardKingdom $11.99	TCGPlayer $6.96

 

That's it for this week. Make sure to check back next week for more Weekly Winners!