Weekly Winners 2021 - 35

Spoiler season from Innistrad: Midnight Hunt has started, and we immediately see the effects on current prices. Some transform werewolves from older sets have spiked up overnight. Weirdly enough we also have two cards this week that people speculate may have something to do with a card from that set, but interestingly that's a card we've known about for quite some time now. Interesting stuff as always, and just in time for FNM!

Like every week, just in time for FNM, I'll now tell you about the cards that will be the talk of the town tonight!

Come discuss this week's price movements with us on Reddit.

 

#1 Ulrich of the Krallenhorde $13.98 (+389%)

 

Fresh from the press, Ulrich of the Krallenhorde has spiked and this has everything to do with the start of spoiler season of Innistrad: Midnight Hunt. The first new cards have been spoiled and we see a slight variation on transform cards where Humans turns into Werewolves when a certain condition is met. In the earlier sets these conditions (mostly?) revolved around whenever a player cast no spells in a turn, or a player cast at least two spells in a turn. In Innistrad: Midnight Hunt we also see cards that have the same kind of transform triggers, like in Arlinn, the Pack's Hope, but there are also new variations in, for example, Enduring Angel where it transforms based on life total and as a replacement effect.

It seems like that now we are certain that Innistrad: Midnight Hunt has these transform werewolves, the more powerful ones from the older sets were quickly bought out in the hopes that they may be playable in Modern or Pioneer. We also see Huntmaster of the Fells shoot up since yesterday with 183% to $29.99. This card was popular when it came out and saw some brief Legacy play, but also now it sees some fringe Modern play. In the same style we also see Mayor of Avabruck ($7.80, +83%) and Arlinn Kord ($9.90, +82%) move up.

But with the addition of more werewolves that can transform, it becomes a more viable strategy for commander to build around. Is the printing of Tovolar, Dire Overlord the werewolf commander the community has been waiting for? Arlinn, the Pack's Hope definitely is a strong planeswalker around this tribal. She ramps, creates wolves, and can let you play your creatures as though they had flash, making it easier to sequence your transforms.

 

Mayor of Avabruck	CardKingdom $5.49	TCGPlayer $7.80
Huntmaster of the Fells	CardKingdom $13.99	TCGPlayer $29.99
Ulrich of the Krallenhorde	CardKingdom $2.79	TCGPlayer $13.98
Arlinn Kord	CardKingdom $6.99	TCGPlayer $9.90

 

 

#2 Laelia, the Blade Reforged $9.72 (+172%)

 

There are plenty of reasons why Laelia, the Blade Reforged could be getting some extra attention. We recently discussed it in Weekly Winners - 16 this year when Phyrexian Devourer spiked. Since then Laelia has been popping up occasionally on the Interest lists. She is being used as upgrade to two commander decks from Adventures in the Forgotten Realms. The first one is Planar Portal, that also was mentioned on The Command Zone not too long ago. The second one is Draconic Rage. But we also see her included in decks revolving around Prosper, Tome-Bound, Wulfgar of Icewind Dale and Targ Nar, Demon-Fang Gnoll.

But what's also somewhat interesting is that Laelia, the Blade Reforged is not only a warrior, she's also a spirit. With two sets coming up that traditionally revolve around the spirit tribe, it may get some more toys to play with. We expect more spirits to show up in Innistrad: Crimson Vow and in Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty. Not only that, but in Innistrad: Crimson Vow we know one of the commander decks is called Spirit Squadron, where we could see some new toys. We do have to make a side note here that usually these spirits in the Innistrad sets have mostly been in the colors and , meaning that these spirits may not be compatible in decks around Laelia, the Blade Reforged.

 

Laelia, the Blade Reforged	CardKingdom $3.99	TCGPlayer $9.72
Laelia, the Blade Reforged (Extended Art)	CardKingdom $3.99	TCGPlayer $8.99
Targ Nar, Demon-Fang Gnoll	CardKingdom $0.25	TCGPlayer $0.25
Prosper, Tome-Bound		TCGPlayer $3.50
Wulfgar of Icewind Dale	CardKingdom $5.99	TCGPlayer $2.75

 

#3 Torpor Orb $19.99 (+34%)

 

This artifact from New Phyrexia has become a popular sideboard card in Modern. Since it is colorless it can fit in any kind of build, and for only you get a powerful effect that targets a wide range of decks. It works wonders against the Elemental Incarnation cycle from Modern Horizons 2, several of which see a bunch of play in Modern. Since they all have an Evoke cost with an "enters the battlefield"-ability, Torpor Orb is a cheap way to stop them. It works well against the 5-color elementals decks and somewhat against decks playing Archon of Cruelty.

Torpor Orb already has been known to be played in Legacy sideboards, so this definitely isn't a fancy new tech. It also seems to see a bit more play in commander, where this obviously can be a very powerful effect. It is a popular card in decks revolving around Phage the Untouchable for example, and recently in Oswald Fiddlebender decks.

Some have argued that it may also have become a bit more popular due to Champion of the Perished being printed in Innistrad: Midnight Hunt, but I don't think this is a driving factor.

 

Archon of Cruelty	CardKingdom $7.49	TCGPlayer $9.10
Torpor Orb	CardKingdom $13.99	TCGPlayer $19.99
Champion of the Perished	CardKingdom $2.99	TCGPlayer $12.25

 

 

#4 Kaya, Orzhov Usurper $8.51 (+29%)

 

We see Kaya doing well in Modern Abzan and Orzhov stoneblade decks. With Reanimator decks showing up more often in Modern, Kaya can deal with those pesky cards in the graveyard. Her minus one ability works pretty good against a larger range of cheap cards. For example, it works great at stopping cards like Pithing Needle that we see in a bunch of sideboard across multiple formats. But we also see Kaya get a little bit of play in Legacy in sideboards.

And again I've heard the Champion of the Perished argument being brought up again. People feel this is a powerful card that will probably show up in a format. If not in Modern, then perhaps we see it in Pioneer. Kaya, Orzhov Usurper swiftly deals with this new creature from Innistrad: Midnight Hunt.

 

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.

 

Sword of Hearth and Home $14.15 - Trending down slowly

Not necessarily a very cheap card, but more to bring attention to the fact that this sword in the series is slowly going down. May be interesting for the people who were waiting to pick up a copy.

 

Gauntlet of Power $8.59 - Trending down slowly

 

Tyvar Kell $5.23 - Trending down

 

Gauntlet of Power	CardKingdom $8.99	TCGPlayer $8.59
Sword of Hearth and Home	CardKingdom $16.99	TCGPlayer $14.15
Tyvar Kell	CardKingdom $6.99	TCGPlayer $5.23