Quite the mix this week, so make sure you don't miss this one. Cards are moving because of Commander, Pioneer, Standard, Modern, and Legacy!
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.
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This sweeper from the Innistrad: Crimson Vow set can be cast for two costs. The cheaper one is three mana and will destroy all creatures with mana value two or less. The other one is six mana (including as an additional color) and will destroy all creatures. It's been popular lately for several reasons. It sees play in Standard, Pioneer, and recently also in Modern.
In Standard it seems to be doing well in Golgari Midrange decks where you want to push the game into the midgame, meaning you have to survive the first turns to get there. Being able to sweep those cheap creatures away from your opponent goes a long way. It also sees play in Pioneer Rakdos Vampires, usually in the sideboard. And maybe the archetype sounds familiar, because we talked about this very archetype in the Weekly Winners of last week. The only difference however, is that the archetype was up and coming in Modern. Seth Manfield won the Pro Tour with a Rakdos Vampires deck in Pioneer, which also played two copies of Path of Peril in the sideboard.
Last week the cards spiking because of that deck were Vein Ripper and Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord, but it seems like more cards from the deck are following suit.
Another victim of the Voja, Jaws of the Conclave craze. Voja really seems to be a popular card that people want to build a deck around. Where last week we talked about Damning Verdict moving up, and three weeks back it was Hollowhenge Overlord that spiked because of it. Now this week Arwen, Weaver of Hope is moving up, and probably rightfully so. Whenever you build a Voja deck, it's probably going to be built around a +1/+1 counters matter theme. But besides that, Voja cares about two more things: Wolves and Elves. And while Arwen, Weaver of Hope isn't a Wolf, she definitely is an Elf and she makes sure your creatures enter the battlefield with +1/+1 counters on them.
Sit down and listen kids, because grandpa's got a story for you! Years and years ago, Counterbalance was a card we saw a lot in Legacy. As you can see, you get to counter your opponent's card if the mana value of a spell matches the mana value of the card you have on top of your library. So in formats like Legacy, especially back when it was a fast format where you didn't try to play four- or five-mana spells on turn two, having a Counterbalance in play gave you a pretty decent chance to counter your opponent's spells without knowing what was on top of your library. But this enchantment gets a lot better when you can manipulate the top of your library, especially at instant speed. That's where Sensei's Divining Top came in. Countertop was an archetype before Sensei's Divining Top was banned in Legacy, which got a lot better when Miracle cards where released in Avacyn Restored - cards like Terminus and Entreat the Angels. On April 24, 2017 the Top was banned, and promptly destroyed the archetype. Sure, Azorius Control still existed, but Counterbalance wasn't really played anymore. It was often played in a deck with Jace, the Mind Sculptor, when it was still really expensive, for card advantage, manipulation of the top of your library, and ultimately as win condition.
But lately Counterbalance seems to be gaining some attention again. Not just in Legacy, but also in Modern we see people tinkering with it. In Legacy we see the card being included in Temur Murktide decks. These decks play one or two in the mainboard, with another one in the sideboard. It's good against decks that play spells with a relatively low mana cost, but with cantrips like Ponder and especially Brainstorm you can manipulate the card on top and hopefully get some succesful triggers out of it. Mishra's Bauble also adds to this, to know what card your opponent is about to draw and thus you can try to put a card on top with the same mana value. Worse case it's a blue card that can be pitched to Force of Will.
But in Modern we now see some decks popping up that play the full playset in Azorius Control. And... this decks look a lot like the Legacy deck from way back! Terminus, Entreat the Angels, and Jace, the Mind Sculptor! Jace can manipulate the top of your library, and put those Miracle cards back onto your deck in case you draw them. But it also plays Opt and Omen of the Sea to change the top card at instant speed.
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.
Contest of Claws has been identified by the MTGStocks Premium Penny Stocks feature as a card that has reached its bottom and is starting a consistent uptrend.
Arjen has been playing Magic since Ice Age and has mostly played the Legacy format. Ten years ago he founded MTGStocks because he and his friends wanted to buy Magic singles at the right time to play with.
The changes around the Commander format are really having an interesting effect on the market. Fortunately, Pioneer and Modern are also making sure that things are moving.
