Weekly Winners 2025 - 23

Universes Beyond: Final Fantasy will officially release next week, but is impacting prices right now! We fortunately also got to talk about Legacy, because a card received a much-needed buff.

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.

Hidden Gems for Vivi Ornitier by Adam Berg

Cards to Watch In Modern Right Now - June 2025 by Corey Williams

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Onto the Weekly Winners!

#1 Barbara Wright $2.20 (+405%)

Trying not to make the header overdramatic, so I'm mentioning the price of Barbara Wright's regular print, but the percentage rise of the extended art version. Because for this card, while the regular print is definitely moving in price, the fancy variants are moving especially rapidly. Barbara Wright was printed in the, you guessed it, Universes Beyond: Doctor Who set. Which was released less than two years ago.

For the reason of the spike we'd have to look at a different set from Universes Beyond: Final Fantasy. Reading Barbara's text gives a clear indication on where we'd have to look, since she gives Sagas the read ahead ability. With powerful new Sagas like Summon: Bahamut it's not really surprising that people are trying to get their Saga support in.

Barbara Wright	CardKingdom $2.49	TCGPlayer $2.53
Barbara Wright (Extended Art)	CardKingdom $3.49	TCGPlayer $15.00
Barbara Wright (Surge Foil)	CardKingdom	TCGPlayer $17.00
Summon: Bahamut	CardKingdom $29.99	TCGPlayer $24.01

#2 Slaughter $8.30 (+119%)

Sometimes the most forgotten cards get their moment to shine, and this uncommon from Exodus sure is having its moment. Slaughter has been under 50 cents for forever. That is until Y'shtola, Night's Blessed was previewed and made it spike.

Slaughter costs four mana to destroy a nonblack creature, which is high for a removal spell. But with the Buyback ability you can pay four life to get it back. By losing four life you trigger Y'shtola and you get to draw a card. But you also cast a noncreature spell of mana value four, meaning she deals two damage to each opponent and gains you two life. Plus, you now have Slaughter back in your hand, meaning you can do it all over again as long as you have four mana available.

Slaughter only has one printing, which was released in 1998, and is thus almost exactly 27 years old. The supply is relatively low compared to the way larger playerbase we have now. This makes the card more scarce and driving the price up happens more easily.

Slaughter

CardKingdom $6.49

TCGPlayer $8.38

#3 Urza's Saga $50.00 (+22%)

I hear you asking: "Arjen, has Urza's Saga really spiked that much to warrant being a winner?" Probably not, but I'm definitely not wasting an opportunity to talk about Legacy. That said, I don't really think Legacy needed Urza's Saga to get stronger, but here we are. Wizards came with a rule change for Universes Beyond: Final Fantasy, and in this case it relates to how Sagas behave when they lose their abilities.

Urza's Saga used to die when Blood Moon entered play. It would strip away its chapter abilities and immediately kill it as a state-based action. But the new rules changed how Sagas work when they lose their abilities. They just sit there as regular permanents instead of dying. So when Blood Moon hits your Urza's Saga you get to keep a Mountain that still has that second chapter ability. That means you can still be pumping out Construct tokens every turn while Blood Moon is in play.

The spike happened almost immediately after the rules change came online. And while the jump is not that high, people seem to think this rules change matters. I don't see this card coming down anytime soon as long as it doesn't receive a meaningful reprint.

Urza's Saga	CardKingdom $54.99	TCGPlayer $50.00
Urza's Saga (White Border)	CardKingdom $54.99	TCGPlayer $57.00
Urza's Saga (Showcase)	CardKingdom $54.99	TCGPlayer $50.39
Blood Moon	CardKingdom $9.99	TCGPlayer $6.92

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.

Archfiend of Ifnir $1.07 - Moving up!

Archfiend of Ifnir has been identified by the MTGStocks Premium Penny Stocks feature as a card that has reached its bottom and is starting a consistent uptrend.

Lier, Disciple of the Drowned $1.21 - Moving down

Emrakul, the Promised End $18.93 - Moving down

Archfiend of Ifnir	CardKingdom $2.29	TCGPlayer $1.05
Lier, Disciple of the Drowned	CardKingdom $2.29	TCGPlayer $1.25
Emrakul, the Promised End	CardKingdom $22.99	TCGPlayer $18.78