Final Fantasy is still impacting prices, but we also have to discuss a resurfacing Modern archetype.
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
Check out our other great content from this week.
When Everything Is Rare... by Harvey McGuinness
Potential Modern Playables in Final Fantasy by Corey Williams
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Onto the Weekly Winners!
Trying not to clickbait you too much with that title, since it's mainly the Coldsnap version of Allosaurus Rider spiking that much. But we definitely see movement on the other prints as well. This creature can be cast ror seven mana, or by exiling two green cards from your hand as alternative cost, meaning it could come down on turn one. We can look at the rest of the card text, but that's not really relevant to the story behind the spike.
This Elf Warrior tends to spike every few years for pretty much the same reason: doing well in Modern. The first time that happened was in May 2019. Back then the sorcery Neoform was printed in War of the Spark which... sparked... a new archetype in Modern: Neoform Combo.
When casting Neoform you have to sacrifice a creature, then you put another creature from your library onto the battlefield that has a mana value of one plus the sacrificed creature's mana cost. In short, this means that you can do a turn-one land, and then turn two put Allosaurus Rider onto the battlefield and immediately sacrifice it to Neoform to find a creature with mana value eight, like Griselbrand. The deck also plays Chancellor of the Tangle for a potential turn-one fatty. Besides that the deck plays Birthing Ritual and Eldritch Evolution for similar effects.
The Neoform Combo deck started to show up again in Modern, and as it's gaining traction it means that the important cards are moving up. Allosaurus Rider absolutely is one of them, but we also see Chancellor of the Tangle moving up and especially the foil version spiked dramatically.
| Allosaurus Rider | | |
| Chancellor of the Tangle | | |
| Eldritch Evolution | | |
| Birthing Ritual | | |
This Streets Of New Capenna uncommon has been climbing the charts this week. Before the spike it was a three-mana instant that wasn't getting much attention. The reason for the sudden interest is the Commander: Final Fantasy precon deck Counter Blitz, which focuses heavily on counters.
Contractual Safeguard lets you choose any kind of counter on a creature you control and then put that kind of counter on each creature you control. When you're running a deck that cares about counters, it can pump your entire board for just three mana. But the real value comes from the Addendum ability. If you cast it during your main phase, you get to put a shield counter on target creature instead, and then spread that protection to all your other creatures.
The card works especially well with Tidus, Yuna's Guardian who is the commander of the Counter Blitz deck. Tidus can move counters around before combat, which means you can always ensure that your biggest threat has that shield counter protection.
| Contractual Safeguard | | |
| Tidus, Yuna's Guardian | | |
Let's discuss this older rare from Invasion that hasn't had a reprint since. It's an enchantment that puts a "Tabernacle-esque" effect on all creatures, but instead of paying you have to pay one life. It won't surprise you to hear that the reason for the spike is a card from the Final Fantasy sets. In this case it's Y'shtola, Night's Blessed who cares about players losing at least four life. If a player wants to keep their board around, they have to pay life under Vile Consumption, which will get you a card.
Vile Consumption has seen commander play before, but only appeared frequently in Sygg, River Cutthroat decks. And if we read that Merfolk Rogue we can see a similarity to Y'shtola. It also wants players to lose life to draw a card, and since it also fits the color identity of Y'shtola it won't surprise you that Sygg is also moving up.
| Vile Consumption | | |
| Y'shtola, Night's Blessed | | |
| Sygg, River Cutthroat | | |
| Sygg, River Cutthroat | | |
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.
Bruna, the Fading Light has been identified by the MTGStocks Premium Penny Stocks feature as a card that has reached its bottom and is starting a consistent uptrend.
| Eladamri, Korvecdal | | |
| Progenitus | | |
| Bruna, the Fading Light | | |
