Weekly Winners 2023 - 38

A week where most movement comes from Commander, and one potentially because of Pioneer and Standard.

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

The past few months we've been focusing on putting out more quality content, and I'd love to share the next few articles with you, since they're worth a read:

• Harvey discusses the market trends of well known cards, examining their price fluctuations and speculating on their future values in the MTG landscape in the latest edition of Over and Under.
• In History, Restapled Steve examines the financial and gameplay value of new and existing Commander staples, focusing on cards from Wilds of Eldraine and the The Lord of the Rings sets.
• Matt analyzes the Commander: Wilds of Eldraine decks, emphasizing their accessible price points, thematic richness, and focus on reprints, while also highlighting the standout cards, in his latest iteration of New Horizons.

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Onto the Weekly Winners!

#1 Ghoulish Impetus $4.99 (+138%)

This rare from Commander Masters doesn't seem to really be spiking, but driven by actual demand and organic growth. The gradual rise in price shows that the supply is slowly dwindling rather than people flocking to get their copies. What's interesting is that the card was preselling for $30 and came crashing down around the release of the set.

For only three mana you can enchant a creature with this Aura, and I'd suggest you pick an opponent's creature. Sure, you're giving that creature +1/+1 and deathtouch, but you'll also make it Goaded. I'm sure most Commander players are aware of this keyword, but as a quick reminder: a Goaded creature has to attack a player (not a planeswalker or battle) other than you if it can. The controller of a Goaded creature still chooses who the creature attacks. That means that when you enchant an opponent's creature, it has to attack one of your other opponents. An Aura goes to the graveyard when the enchanted creature dies, but in this case it will return to the battlefield at the next end step, from where you can now attach it to a different creature.

It seems like it's gaining traction because players want to build decks around Eriette of the Charmed Apple. While Eriette and Ghoulish Impetus don't necessarily have great synergy, since Eriette already makes sure enchanted creatures can't attack you, Ghoulish Impetus does count towards to the second ability of Eriette. And since it keeps coming back, that will help with draining your opponents as well.

For probably the same reason we see Ondu Spiritdancer moving up, ending up high in the Interests. This Kor Cleric also cares about enchantments, and falls within the color identity of Eriette.

Ghoulish Impetus	CardKingdom $7.99	TCGPlayer $9.95
Ghoulish Impetus (Extended Art)	CardKingdom $7.99	TCGPlayer $14.95
Ondu Spiritdancer	CardKingdom $14.99	TCGPlayer $20.08
Ondu Spiritdancer (Extended Art)	CardKingdom $15.99	TCGPlayer $17.67

#2 Virtue of Persistence $13.85 (+65%)

Maybe I don't play Commander enough, but when I first saw this card I immediately thought it would be a popular one for the format. And frankly I was kinda suprised to see this card down to $6. Being removal early and a bomb later felt pretty good in my humble opinion. 

But Commander may not be the main reason for the card moving up the past week. The enchantment is seeing a lot, and I mean a lot, of play in multiple competitive Standard decks. And notably, it now also sees some play in Pioneer decks, specifically discard decks.

Especially in constructed, and somewhat faster formats, being able to get rid of a creature on turn two and gain two life, while also doubling as a win condition in the late game, is very powerful. I do realize that spending seven mana to play the enchantment side, and then doing nothing for an entire turn cycle, may not be what you want to do. But when unanswered, it can really snowball out of control.

Virtue of Persistence	CardKingdom $17.99	TCGPlayer $13.99
Virtue of Persistence (Showcase)	CardKingdom $17.99	TCGPlayer $11.77

#3 Hylda of the Icy Crown $4.00 (+81%)

The Ice Queen from Wilds of Eldraine is moving up somewhat this past week. It seems like people are brewing around her in Commander. Jason already mentioned her in his last article as a card that's seeing some movement. Hylda is a 3/4 creature that does some pretty broken stuff whenever you tap an opponent's creature. When you do, and you pay "the ", you either get to make a 4/4 token, put a +1/+1 counter on each creature you control, or you get to scry 2 and draw a card. Those are some pretty strong effects, but it does need some set up.

$0.47$0.49

$2.73$2.49

Fortunately, Hylda's Crown of Winter, does exactly that! But there are plenty of cards that can tap creatures your opponents control, like Verity Circle, Blustersquall, or good old Opposition. Being able to generate tokens that quickly and get some card selection is pretty powerful. Also, when you look at YouTube, you'll find plenty of videos in the past week where people are brewing with her.

Opposition is especially interesting with Hylda. You can tap her with Opposition, and then target an opponent's creature to tap it down. Hylda will trigger, you pay and create a 4/4, which you can now tap with Opposition to target another creature your opponent controls. After which you can pay again, rinse and repeat. You now get to make a bunch of 4/4 tokens as long as you have mana to spend.

Hylda of the Icy Crown	CardKingdom $5.99	TCGPlayer $4.40
Hylda of the Icy Crown (Extended Art)	CardKingdom $10.99	TCGPlayer $9.40
Hylda's Crown of Winter	CardKingdom $0.49	TCGPlayer $0.54
Blustersquall	CardKingdom $0.49	TCGPlayer $0.47
Opposition	CardKingdom $2.49	TCGPlayer $2.73

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.

The Balrog, Flame of Udun (Extended Art) $2.99 - Moving up!

The Balrog, Flame of Udun (Extended Art) has been identified by the MTGStocks Premium Penny Stocks feature as a card that has reached its bottom and is starting a consistent uptrend.

Morophon, the Boundless $9.99 - Slowly moving down

Jace, the Mind Sculptor $24.20 - Slowly moving down

The Balrog, Flame of Udun (Extended Art)	CardKingdom $2.49	TCGPlayer $2.70
Morophon, the Boundless	CardKingdom	TCGPlayer $8.24
Jace, the Mind Sculptor	CardKingdom $22.99	TCGPlayer $23.00

 

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