Weekly Winners 2021 - 24

The Modern Horizons 2 effect still hasn't come to an end. People are still busy brewing, and it shows this week. Not only do we see movement because of commander, but also because of new archetypes in both Modern and Legacy.

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!

 

Sealed Product

Before we get started we are happy to announce that we are now indexing sealed product prices as well. There are two ways where you can see those. First, you can follow the "Sealed" link in the navigation bar where you will be taken to an overview of all sealed product we track. Second, you can see the products of a particular set when you are on a set page. If we have sealed products for this set, a tab called "Sealed" will be shown and you can see what product we track and view the details from there.

We hope this will add more value to you, and will be useful! The feature is in its initial stage, and we expect to expand and tweak it as we go along. If you do not see the Sealed navigation item, make sure you do a good refresh!

 

#1 Violent Outburst $3.61 (+219%)

 

I don't think this is a huge surprise for anyone. Since Modern Horizons 2 we have seen several new cards entering Modern that enable a Cascade strategy. This has been touched upon as well in our previous articles, but the printing of Shardless Agent obviously fuelled this strategy. Temur Living End seems to be the most popular amongst these decks playing Violent Outburst at this moment.

These decks revolve around Living End, and this card definitely isn't new to Modern. How does the deck work? We try to get as many creatures in the graveyard as we can while generating value. Cycling is a great way to pitch expensive creatures, since they replace themselves in your hand. We also see Waker of Waves appear in the list, since we can discard that as well, and it can put another card (hopefully a creature!) in the graveyard.

So what's next? We try to resolve a Violent Outburst or Shardless Agent and start flipping our library until we find a nonland card that costs 2 mana at most, because both spells with Cascade in this deck have a converted mana cost of 3. In this deck, there is only one spell that adheres to this restriction, and thus we are guaranteed to find it. Living End will be played, each player's board gets wiped and all creatures from all graveyards will be put into play. If all went well, you will have bigger and more dangerous creatures on the board now than your opponent. Swing for the win! Also note that Violent Outburst is an instant, and thus can be cast on your opponent's end-step, making sure you can attack immediately on your turn.

A few days ago Gabriel Nassif played this deck on MTGO. Watch the video below:

 

Living End	CardKingdom $5.49	TCGPlayer $5.80
Shardless Agent	CardKingdom $3.49	TCGPlayer $3.11
Waker of Waves	CardKingdom $0.25	TCGPlayer $0.25
Violent Outburst	CardKingdom $1.29	TCGPlayer $3.61

 

 

#2 Sanctum Prelate $61.49 (+52%)

 

This card recently got reprinted as a Buy-a-Box promo in Modern Horizons 2 making it Modern legal. The card already saw play in Legacy Death & Taxes and Maverick decks, but now that its Modern legal it seems to be picked up for Modern Death & Taxes and Modern Humans as well. The effect of Sanctum Prelate is really strong when you can lock out a certain converted mana cost. Keep in mind that it affects you as well, but since these decks are usually very creature heavy it probably doesn't impact you as much as your opponent's deck.

Sanctum Prelate sees play along with other new cards from Modern Horizons 2, like Solitude, Kaldra Compleat, and Sanctifier en-Vec.

 

Sanctifier en-Vec	CardKingdom $3.49	TCGPlayer $3.47
Kaldra Compleat	CardKingdom $22.99	TCGPlayer $18.00
Solitude	CardKingdom $24.99	TCGPlayer $22.70
Sanctum Prelate	CardKingdom $39.99	TCGPlayer $61.49

 

 

#3 Retrofitter Foundry $26.28 (+38%)

 

This artifact from Commander 2018 already saw some competitive play in Legacy Ninja decks, but is now also showing up in a new Legacy Artifact Aggro list. This deck has become a thing since Modern Horizons 2 since it includes multiple cards from that set.

This definitely is a list to keep your eye on if you like artifact based decks. But we also see Retrofitter Foundry show up in commander decks based around Losheel, Clockwork Scholar, Alibou, Ancient Witness and Osgir, the Reconstructor.

 

Retrofitter Foundry	CardKingdom $21.99	TCGPlayer $26.28
Urza's Saga	CardKingdom $42.99	TCGPlayer $38.73
Esper Sentinel	CardKingdom $23.99	TCGPlayer $21.91
Nettlecyst	CardKingdom $3.99	TCGPlayer $3.10
Thought Monitor	CardKingdom $5.49	TCGPlayer $3.99

 

 

 

#4 Reflect Damage $14.99 (+266%)

 

While this is technically the biggest winner of the week, I decided to add it as an extra one at the bottom of this article. I was a little bit on the fence about this card whether it should really be discussed or not, since I tend to stay away from cards that only go up because it is on the reserved list. But occasionally they should be addressed and mentioned.

So is there any other reason, besides being on the reserved list, that this card went up? Yes, kind of, it seems that it is gaining some traction in commander in General Ferrous Rokiric decks that was printed in Modern Horizons 2. Does this card, along with this commander, warrant a price like that? Probably not, but that's where the reserved list effect comes into play. It sees a little bit more play, and immediately everyone runs to buy (or buy out) the card quickly driving up the price.

 

 

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.

 

Valki, God of Lies $16.29 - Slowly trending down

 

Scalding Tarn $45.97 - Trending down

More of a reminder that fetchlands are trending down. If you need any of them from Modern Horizons 2, make sure you keep track of them.

 

Tinybones, Trinket Thief $31.91 - Trending down

 

Scalding Tarn	CardKingdom $47.99	TCGPlayer $45.97
Tinybones, Trinket Thief	CardKingdom $29.99	TCGPlayer $31.91
Valki, God of Lies	CardKingdom $18.99	TCGPlayer $16.29