It seems like people are anticipating the Spider-Man release and more Avatar previews, and it shows. It's been a bit of a slow week, but fortunately there's still plenty to talk about.
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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Check out our other great content from this week.
Checking in With Doctor Who Collector Boxes by Harvey McGuinness
More Commander Staples From Edge of Eternities by Steve Heisler
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Onto the Weekly Winners!
#1 Equinox $2.38 (+150%)
This white Aura from Legends has shot up in price, and it's because of the Avatar: The Last Airbender hype. Equinox lets you enchant a land and then tap that land to counter any spell that would destroy one of your lands, which sounds pretty niche unless your friends play a lot of mass land destruction. The card has sat around a dollar for years because, frankly, there just isn't much demand for protecting your lands from removal in most games.
The reason for the spike is Toph, the First Metalbender, who has been causing more price movements lately. Since Toph turns all your nontoken artifacts into lands, Equinox can suddenly counter any spell that would destroy your artifacts, which means that you would have repeatable artifact protection for just one mana. While you need to keep a land untapped to activate it, the ability to counter board wipes or targeted removal is quite powerful in the right build.
The card went from around $1.50 to over $10. Being from Legends means supply is naturally limited, but the effect is so narrow that demand could dwindle quickly if it proves that it's not powerful enough.
| Equinox | | |
| Toph, the First Metalbender | | |
This blue Human Artificer creature from Conflux has been moving up steadily this week. Master Transmuter lets you return an artifact to your hand and cheat a different artifact from hand into play for just one blue mana and a tap, which has always been a powerful effect in the right shell. Transmuter definitely sees some Commander play and is also used in combos.
The reason for the price moving up is a bit hard to pinpoint, but the best guess is Lady Octopus, Inspired Inventor, who's shaping up to be one of the more intriguing commanders from the upcoming Marvel's Spider-Man set. Lady Octopus builds up ingenuity counters when you draw cards, then lets you cast artifacts for free based on those counters. Master Transmuter provides perfect redundancy for this effect, being another way to cheat in big artifacts.
What's driving sustained interest is how Master Transmuter fits into multiple combo lines beyond just the Spider-Man synergies. Players are talking about interactions with The Eternity Elevator and various infinite combinations involving Filigree Sages and Urza, Lord High Artificer. We've finally done it! We've broken Urza!
The ability to repeatedly cheat expensive artifacts into play opens up all sorts of possibilities, and as more players discover these interactions, demand continues climbing.
| Master Transmuter | | |
| The Eternity Elevator | | |
| Filigree Sages | | |
| Urza, Lord High Artificer | | |
Blast from the past! Oath of Druids is an enchantment that was originally printed back in 1998 in the Exodus set. For you get to put the first creature you find from the top of your library into play, but only if a target opponent controls more creatures than you do. All other cards that you reveal have to be put in the graveyard. When we look at the price of the Exodus print shooting up and there still being copies from newer prints being below $4, it seems like people are only interested in the old card frame. Which generally means: Premodern players!
Oath of Druids decks seem to be doing fairly well in the format. The only creature it plays is Terravore, and for this card we see the same price pattern. The old frame version will cost you at least $10, while the newer printing is about $0.30. And when the original Lhurgoyf is in play, you try to protect it by frustrating your opponent and denying them mana. Old school land destruction like Stone Rain and Winter's Grasp have to destroy their mana and Sphere of Resistance has to make sure your opponent won't be able to play spells or double-spell anymore.
But there's another format where Oath of Druids still sees play, and that's Vintage. The goal there is to cheat a Atraxa, Grand Unifier into play and dominate the board with the card advantage it generates. Even if cards like Oath are reprinted into oblivion, these old frame cards will remain far more popular and sought after than the newer ones and the price will likely stick as long as formats like Premodern and Vintage remain popular.
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.
The Fire Crystal has been identified by the MTGStocks Premium Penny Stocks feature as a card that has reached its bottom and is starting a consistent uptrend.
| The Fire Crystal | | |
| Emrakul, the Promised End (Retro Frame) | | |
| Temporal Manipulation (Future Sight) | | |
