Weekly Winners 2023 - 50

We have price changes because of Pioneer, Legacy, and Commander. This is an interesting week to catch up on the prices and see how the new meta is shaping up!

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

• In Edward's article, he discusses the recent bans in Magic, focusing on their impact on the Modern and Pioneer formats. He highlights the vitality of older formats and suggests key cards for investment, including those benefiting from nostalgia-driven popularity. Additionally, he analyzes the potential changes in the Pioneer meta following recent bans and unbans, offering insights into deck strategies and card values. 
• Corey's analysis dives into the repercussions of the recent bans in Modern Magic, particularly focusing on Fury and Up the Beanstalk. He discusses how these changes might reshuffle the deck-building strategies and the potential rise of new decks in the format. For a comprehensive understanding of the Modern landscape post-bans and investment opportunities, Corey's insights are invaluable. Read about it in What Happens Next?
• Adam's article offers a creative twist on deck building with Pantlaza, Sun-Favored in Commander. He introduces innovative card interactions and strategies, encouraging players to explore beyond traditional deck archetypes. His approach redefines conventional gameplay, inspiring enthusiasts to experiment with overlooked card synergies. For a fresh perspective on maximizing Pantlaza's potential, Adam's Hidden Gems article is a must-read.
• Gregory takes an insightful dive into the nuanced world of speculating on cards, highlighting the challenges and strategies behind successful card speculation. He emphasizes the importance of understanding the evolving meta, card types, and the risky but potentially rewarding world of foil cards. His insights aim to guide players in making informed decisions when speculating, balancing the excitement of potential gains with the realities of the market in The Not-So-Art of Speculating on MTG.
• In his MTG Holiday Gift Guide, Harvey shows you the best sealed Magic products to give as a gift. And the singles prices to watch after the holidays!

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Onto the Weekly Winners!

#1 Return to the Ranks $9.99 (+429%)

Let's kick off this week with a rare from Magic 2015 (M15) that was considered bulk before now. Costing around $1 a week ago, it's now a lot more expensive. Return to the Ranks is a sorcery that can return creatures cards from your graveyard with mana value two or less. The number of creatures depends on how much mana you want to spend on it, but this cost can also be paid by Convoking.

The reason for the jump seems to be a new combo in Pioneer with a card printed in The Lost Caverns of Ixalan. Amalia Benavides Aguirre, a new legendary creature in the Orzhov colors, combos with Wildgrowth Walker as soon as you gain life or Explore with both in play. When that starts you will keep Exploring, until Amalia will hit 20 power at some point, and kill the Wildgrowth Walker along with all other creatures other than Amalia herself. You can now attack with your 20/20 Amalia after gaining more than 50 life. This however is not necessarily a clean kill, and that's why cards like Dina, Soul Steeper found their way into the deck as well. With Dina on the battlefield, you'll kill your opponent with her triggers.

Along with cards like Chord of Calling and Collected Company to find the combo, the deck also utilizes Return to the Ranks to have a more graveyard-centric approach in pulling off the combo. Since all pieces are mana value two or less you can get all combo pieces out of the graveyard at the same time if they happen to end up there. The deck has impacted the price of the Walker as well, with the foil version shooting up most.

Return to the Ranks	CardKingdom $2.99	TCGPlayer $9.99
Wildgrowth Walker	CardKingdom $0.79	TCGPlayer $0.71

#2 Triumph of Saint Katherine $20.00 (+161%)

Slightly over a year ago we discussed Triumph of Saint Katherine when it spiked, and four weeks ago we mentioned this card as a cheap pickup when it was identified by the MTGStocks Premium Penny Stocks feature. But this week it's jumping in price again. When it jumped before, a lot of cards from the Universes Beyond: Warhammer 40,000 were spiking left and right as the product proved to have a lot of powerful cards. The card can be found only in the Forces of the Imperium Commander deck..

For you get a 5/5 lifelinker. That is a lot of mana, but fortunately you can Miracle it in for only . When this creature dies you get to exile it along with the top six cards of your library, then shuffle that pile of seven cards and put it on top of your library, making sure you'll soon draw it again with potential to Miracle again as well.

This deck took first place in the Legacy Eternal Weekend championship five days ago and includes three copies of Triumph of Saint Katherine. While Up the Beanstalk was banned in Modern, it's still very much legal in Legacy, meaning that if a card can trigger it, it's potentially playable. And Triumph does exactly that. It can be cheated in for , triggering the Beanstalk at the same time. Two mana for a beater with lifelink, drawing you a card, and potentially giving you information about the top of your deck.

Triumph of Saint Katherine	CardKingdom	TCGPlayer $20.00
Triumph of Saint Katherine (Surge Foil)	CardKingdom	TCGPlayer $40.99

#3 Shadowgrange Archfiend $3.67 (+60%)

This Demon from Commander: Innistrad: Crimson Vow went up 60% this past week. And if you look at the chart, it's spiked a few times already since 2022, with it's first big spike in July of that year. The spike was big enough to have been covered in the Weekly Winners as well back then. And while Shadowgrange Archfiend hasn't reached its all time high of $7.31 yet, it has been going up. After the card's first spike, the price dwindled back to around $1.50, then briefly spiked again, eventually settling around $2. The card can be found in the Vampiric Bloodline deck.

When this creature enters the battielfield, each opponent has to sacrifice their most buff creature, and you gain life equal to the greatest power amongst these sacrificed creatures. However, you need to pay for it, or pay its Madness cost as you discard it from your hand. The Madness cost is only , but also eight life. When played at the appropriate time, the eight life is easily offset, especially in Commander where there can be some really big fat creatures on the battlefield.

$2.50$2.49

Now let's get into why it spiked. Shadowgrange Archfiend seems to be going up because of Commander play. It was already included often in decks around Anje Falkenrath or Volrath the Fallen, which are both, unsurprisingly, creatures that care about discarding cards. But with the printing of The Ancient One in the Lost Caverns of Ixalan set, we have a new commander that works well with Shadowgrange Archfiend. The Ancient One also cares about discarding cards, but there's some extra spice there. The Spirit God also makes target player mill cards equal to the mana value of the discarded card. With a mana value of seven, Shadowgrange Archfiend can mill quite a few cards. You can target an opponent, or you can also mill yourself to get the Descend 8 needed for The Ancient One to attack or block.

Shadowgrange Archfiend	CardKingdom	TCGPlayer $3.67
Shadowgrange Archfiend (Extended Art)	CardKingdom	TCGPlayer $3.06
The Ancient One	CardKingdom $2.49	TCGPlayer $2.50
Anje Falkenrath	CardKingdom $0.99	TCGPlayer $0.98
Volrath the Fallen	CardKingdom $0.79	TCGPlayer $0.99

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.

Master of Ceremonies $4.40 - Moving up!

Master of Ceremonies has been identified by the MTGStocks Premium Penny Stocks feature as a card that has reached its bottom and is starting a consistent uptrend.

Tooth and Nail $2.20 - Stable

Darkslick Shores $5.82 - Slowly moving down

Yes, this card can be bought cheaper from Phyrexia: All Will Be One, but this version I'm surprised has gotten so low.

Master of Ceremonies	CardKingdom $5.49	TCGPlayer $4.40
Tooth and Nail	CardKingdom $2.79	TCGPlayer $2.20
Darkslick Shores	CardKingdom $6.49	TCGPlayer $5.89

 

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