Weekly Winners 2024 - 05

Not a week where there's a lot going on price-wise, but as always we do have some interesting cards to talk about.

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

Deven's Is Standard Relevant to Magic Card Prices Again? offers a nuanced look at Standard's resurgence as a format that influences card prices, fueled by enjoyable gameplay and RCQ seasons. The article speculates on future market trends, highlighting the strategic importance of certain land cards within the evolving Standard meta, and discusses broader economic factors affecting the Magic market, including insights on the Reserve List. This analysis is crucial for players and investors looking to navigate the current landscape of card collecting and competitive play.

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Onto the Weekly Winners!

#1 Dream Chisel $4.99 (+101%)

Two weeks ago we already discussed this card when its foil price went up, but now we also see the regular print of Dream Chisel move up in value, while its foil price has mostly been stable since then. Nevertheless, the foil version of this card is almost six times more expensive than the non-foil print. Dream Chisel is an artifact that costs , that makes playing face-down creatures cheaper. 

Dream Chisel was printed in Onslaught making this rare over 21 years old, and also important to note, is that it hasn't been reprinted since. Playing your face-down creatures for one mana less is a huge adventage when, and especially nowadays, playing a 2/2 for mana is really underwhelming. Other cards that support face-down creatures are cards like Secret Plans and Trail of Mystery, and both of them have had several reprints already.

$0.30$0.49

Narrowing down why this card is spiking isn't exactly rocket science when you've been following preview season of Murders at Karlov Manor where face-down creatures have received some renewed attention. The new ability Disguise has popped up on some of the previewed cards. It allows players to pay to cast a card with the ability face down as a 2/2 colorless, typeless creature with ward . Disguise is a better version of Morph, which was considered a bit too weak for the current Standard environment, but are considered face-down creatures nontheless.

With new face-down commanders like Etrata, Deadly Fugitive we can see people try to build decks around this, and Dream Chisel is a card that will most likely see play in any deck that revolves around face-down cards as it is colorless.

Dream Chisel	CardKingdom $2.99	TCGPlayer $4.99
Secret Plans	CardKingdom $0.35	TCGPlayer $0.20
Trail of Mystery	CardKingdom $0.49	TCGPlayer $0.30
Etrata, Deadly Fugitive	CardKingdom $4.99	TCGPlayer $7.39

#2 Phyrexian Tower $99.99 (+89%)

Well, not really $80, but all versions of Phyrexian Tower are quickly moving up. The cheapest version is now around $38, but that still comes from around $20 not too long ago. And especially the Urza's Saga print went up quickly along with the print from The List. This is most likely due to both of them having the original art and the old card frame, which are prefered by a lot of players.

I think I first encountered Phyrexian Tower Nic-Fit decks where still somewhat part of the Legacy metagame. The most well-known "combo" is to sacrifice Veteran Explorer to your Tower, find two lands, and have five mana available for a large spell. Sure, it would also ramp your opponent, but in a format where dual lands are very prominent, a lot of decks didn't even always play basic lands while Nic Fit itself played several of them.

Phyrexian Tower is an amazing card in the right deck. You could argue that having to sacrifice a creature is a downside, but in decks that do run Tower, it's almost always only upside. You want to sacrifice creatures anyway, and getting some extra mana in return is icing on the cake. Being both an accelerant and a sacrifice outlet that's relatively hard to deal with makes the card a wanted part of the manabase in both casual and competitive formats.

Funnily enough when I tried to search for Phyrexian Tower on the internet, I mainly came across decks from the Timeless format on Magic Arena, which doesn't exist on paper. So would this have an effect on the paper price of this card? Very doubtful. That being said, I find it hard to pinpoint a good reason for why this card chose to move up in price all of the sudden. While it absolutely is a bonkers card, having a home in a lot of decks, you'd expect a more gradual increase in price.

Phyrexian Tower	CardKingdom $42.99	TCGPlayer $99.00
Phyrexian Tower	CardKingdom $42.99	TCGPlayer $38.49
Phyrexian Tower	CardKingdom $39.99	TCGPlayer $38.03

#3 Manabarbs $7.92 (+46%)

Good old Manabarbs went up this week. This enchantment punishes players for tapping a land for mana, and especially in a format like Commander where there are big expensive spells flinging around, that can add up pretty quickly. I find it really hard to pinpoint why this card is becoming more expensive all of the sudden. The last new commander we saw that could benefit from this ability is Ojer Axonil, Deepest Might.

$6.97$6.99

$7.92$4.49

But Ojer definitely isn't the only commander that likes to ping people. Yurlok of Scorch Thrash also likes to mess with people and mana. There isn't any real synergy per se, but it does fit within the same theme. And I guess the same is true for Zo-Zu the Punisher, who punishes players for putting lands into play. Then we also have Auntie Blyte, Bad Influence who grows whenever you are dealt damage, and that's exactly what Manabarbs does.

Manabarbs	CardKingdom $4.49	TCGPlayer $7.92
Manabarbs	CardKingdom $3.99	TCGPlayer $6.99
Yurlok of Scorch Thrash	CardKingdom $0.49	TCGPlayer $0.30
Zo-Zu the Punisher	CardKingdom $6.99	TCGPlayer $6.97

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.

Chandra, Awakened Inferno $4.55 - Moving up!

Chandra, Awakened Inferno has been identified by the MTGStocks Premium Penny Stocks feature as a card that has reached its bottom and is starting a consistent uptrend.

Magnus the Red $1.09 - Stabilizing

Mystic Gate $3.74 - Moving up

Chandra, Awakened Inferno	CardKingdom $4.49	TCGPlayer $4.18
Mystic Gate	CardKingdom $5.49	TCGPlayer $3.74
Magnus the Red	CardKingdom	TCGPlayer $1.09