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!

 

See something interesting in the world of card prices? Be sure to pitch me a tweet: @MTGPeter

 

#1 Ethereal Forager $4.23 (+230.47%)

 

Ever since the Covid pandemic hit, we're forced to live without paper tournaments and other live venues that are so important for our game. In some sense, we are lucky that this pandemic hit us in 2021, and not in 2001. We can at least keep playing our favorite game through MTGA, MTGO and videocalls. I wonder what 2001-eque 'phone-magic' would have been like, in the parallel universe where we had to fight the pandemic in the zeroes.

Last year around this time, many people predicted that the magic markets would crash. Some even pondered if this was going to be the end of it all: with LGSs going bankrupt and everything. My prediction back then was that not much at all would happen. I'm very happy that it turned out that I was right (for now).

But in another way, some things actually did happen, and they did have a big effect on the magic markets. Not a crash, but a lack of organized play has affected the price development of many cards in a very, very significant albeit invisible way.

Before Covid, I usually had to make very hard choices about what cards to include in the Weekly Winners. I wanted to do the biggest gainers, but wanted to keep things fresh and cover all formats, if the data allowed it.

The past year was different. We've seen new sets released, but there was not as much brewing and speculating as normal. No big tournament results mean fewer breakthrough decks in eternal formats. And on top of that we might see some papersclerosis: big new format changes happen online, and with no competitive paper scene, why would I pay money to own the latest tier-1 deck in Standard, without any means to actually play the deck on FNM or tournaments?

The cards I can choose from are very limited. Most of the time its EDH that drives the market nowadays. Oh yeah, and the older cards going up in price due to speculation/ investment.

You might wonder why I'm writing this huge intro... Well, here's why: this week is different! This weekly winners happens to be (by pure chance) to be an all Legacy edition. The three winners are all related to my favorite format of all. So without further ado, I'll present the #1 winner this week: Ethereal Forager.

Of all mechanics printed of the past years, Delve is one of the strongest, especially in Legacy. We've seen multiple bannings, with Dig Through Time being exhibit #1. Because Legacy has access to almost all powerful one mana spells, running Delve cards prove to be a very good tactic. And don't forget about Phyrexian Mana, when trying to fill your graveyard with cards to delve away.

One of the most interesting things about Legacy (and Magic in general) is that all zones are important. And in Legacy graveyards tend to be much more than just stacks of cards that you've played and/or died. For decks like Dredge, the graveyard is the main thing, with players actually putting the cards in front of them, instead of at the left (or right) side of their libraries.

Ethereal Forager fits both categories. It makes use of cards you've already played and recycle them into something new. But on top of that, you get the cards back in your hand. And those cards are things like: Force of Will, Daze and Dismember.

Landing an early Ethereal Forager and returning counterspells or removal cards to your hand sets a clock for your opponent, all the while you can (try to) hold them off casting an answer.

With the recent bannings in Legacy, the format needs new decks and a new meta. Ethereal Forager had been popping up in Mono-, and lists. In all cases played next to 4 copies of Delver of Secrets.

 

Ethereal Forager
Commander 2020	CardKingdom $1.99	TCGPlayer $4.23

 

#2 Stifle $22 (+197.30%)

 

Traditionally, Stifle has been a kind of an up-and-down card in the sense of the playrate. It has a quite stable price for a card that is sometimes seen a lot in Legacy, and in other periods of time is almost absent. And it seems that we are now entering a new Stifle-rich period. At least: it's spike to a whopping $22 suggests that. Do keep your eye on its Conspiracy counterpart, that is still at $5, but is trending up as well.

One thing that puzzles me about Stifle, is that Temur Delver (with Dreadhorde Arcanist) was the deck it saw most play in. That deck cannot be played after the recent bannings.

It seems that the 2 to 4 copies of Stifle that the Mono-, and lists run make up for that loss, and then some.

For those of you unfamiliar with the card, let me tell you that Stifle is very powerful in the right environment. With it you can counter any activated or triggered ability. So an planeswalkers' ability, Wasteland (after its owner has sacrificed it), a fetchland, a delver trigger. Stifle does a job as a counterspell and as a removal spell. But it is very dependent on the meta. When it lacks potent targets, it becomes overwhelming and a burden to your deck that must be streamlines to survive Legacy games.

 

Stifle
Scourge	CardKingdom $11.99	TCGPlayer $22.00
Conspiracy	CardKingdom $7.99	TCGPlayer $5.23

 

#3 Allosaurus Shepherd $115 (+8.59%)

 

Allright... I took a bit of liberty declaring Legacy the big overarching reason for all three spikes. But having said that, Allosaurus Shepherd's price hike this week is certainly also caused by Legacy. This week, the card broke through its $100 ceiling and is now even $115 - ($100 market).

We've seen more Elves on the move with the popularity of Lathril, Blade of the Elves, and Allosaurus Shepherd is one of them. The card does not see that much play, but I believe that the price of the card is the main culprit. For $100, you better be sure you really want to run it.

There are two reasons I'm stating that its price increase is caused by Legacy as well. First, before the last bannings, Elves were the #4 deck in Legacy, with 4% at the meta. In comparison, the top three decks have a meta of 9,3%, 7,2% and 4,1%. With the top two decks running cards that are now banned, it could propel Elves to a #2 position. But things are not that easy. The end of Temur Delver and UBRG in their previous means that other decks get more oxygen. And those decks might have good matchups against Elves.

The second reason is the fact that most Elves decks run 4 copies of Allosaurus Shepherd. So an uptick in play means an uptick in demand. With a low supply (Allosaurus Shepherd saw print in Jumpstart only) the price is bound to go up.

Will it stay there? We have to wait and see how the meta is going to shape up. Elves used to be a popular deck because it was (within Legacy) a budget option. With 4 Allosaurus Shepherd and 4 Gaea's Cradle ($1090 each) it no longer fits that category. Not at all actually, it is now the second most expensive deck to build, right after Lands.

 

Gaea's Cradle	CardKingdom $1199.99	TCGPlayer $1090.00
Allosaurus Shepherd	CardKingdom $109.99	TCGPlayer $113.97

 

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.

 

Tarmogoyf $57 - Trending down slowly

 

Jace, the Mind Sculptor $56.99 - Trending down

 

Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver $5.50 - Trending down slowly

 

Tarmogoyf	CardKingdom $59.99	TCGPlayer $57.00
Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver	CardKingdom $4.99	TCGPlayer $5.50
Jace, the Mind Sculptor	CardKingdom $59.99	TCGPlayer $56.99