Weekly Winners 2025 - 50

We're talking a lot of Standard today. And while cards from the Izzet Lesson decks are still moving up, we found some different cards 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.

Articles

Check out our other great content from this week.

Secret Lair Countdown: An Encyclopedia of Value? by Matt Grzechnik

Back to Basics Vol 2: Chaos in the Vault by Bill Bingham

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Onto the Weekly Winners!

#1 Flourishing Defenses $22.99 (+4498%)

While this is our number one winner of the week, it's also a really last-minute addition to this article! A few new Lorwyn Eclipsed previews hit yesterday, and one card in particular sent players scrambling for an old Shadowmoor enchantment. Flourishing Defenses sat around fifty cents for years, but within minutes of High Perfect Morcant's reveal, prices shot past twenty dollars.

The enchantment creates a 1/1 green Elf Warrior token whenever a -1/-1 counter is placed on any creature, which pairs disgustingly well with the new Elf Noble from Lorwyn Eclipsed.

High Perfect Morcant makes each opponent blight one whenever an Elf enters, forcing them to put a -1/-1 counter on one of their creatures. With Flourishing Defenses on the battlefield, you get an Elf token each time that happens. That Elf entering triggers Morcant again, creating another round of blight triggers and more tokens. The loop continues until your opponents run out of creatures to place counters on, leaving you with a massive army of Elves while their boards are decimated.

Supply dried up almost immediately once the combo was spotted. Near-mint copies that were abundant at bulk prices yesterday are now sparse, with sellers asking north of twenty dollars and finding buyers. Foils have climbed even higher to almost $300. We all however know that this is the initial spike and very unlikely for this price to hold. Since Flourishing Defenses is from Shadowmoor there's also a chance that it will be reprinted in the set or in any of the Commander decks.

Flourishing Defenses	CardKingdom $9.99	TCGPlayer $22.99
High Perfect Morcant	CardKingdom	TCGPlayer
High Perfect Morcant (Extended Art)	CardKingdom	TCGPlayer

#2 Caltrops $19.99 (+384%)

This artifact from Urza's Destiny has absolutely smashed its way up the charts this week. For years it sat around a few dollars, but after Wizards previewed Bruce Banner during the Marvel Super Heroes showcase, demand went through the roof.

The combo is straightforward: have Caltrops and The Incredible Hulk on the battlefield, then attack. Caltrops deals damage to Hulk, triggering his enrage ability to put a counter on him and create another combat phase while untapping him. Rinse and repeat until your opponents are done for.

Wizards even called out this synergy during the livestream, which sent players scrambling to pick up copies. While the regular copies already made an impressive jump, foils have gone completely wild, with Urza's Destiny foils pushing over $200. But outside the Hulk combo, Caltrops already saw some play. It provides some protection against token strategies and small creature decks, even if it is symmetrical. Cards like Ghyrson Starn, Kelermorph and Death Pits of Rath can turn it into a real card. But obviously most players picking this up right now are thinking about those infinite combat steps.

Whether the hype remains over the next six months before Marvel Super Heroes releases remains to be seen, but for now, this long-forgotten uncommon is having its moment.

Caltrops	CardKingdom $34.99	TCGPlayer $21.65
Caltrops	CardKingdom $34.99	TCGPlayer $19.99

#3 Splash Portal $2.03 (+194%)

This one-mana sorcery from Bloomburrow has been moving up over the past few weeks. For months it sat around fifty cents, but recent Standard developments have pushed it past two dollars. The card works as a flicker effect that draws you a card when targeting Birds, Frogs, Otters, or Rats. While that restriction sounds narrow, it's been finding homes alongside some powerful enters-the-battlefield effects.

The main driver behind the spike is Quantum Riddler in Izzet and Simic strategies. You can warp the Sphinx in on turn three, then immediately hit it with Splash Portal to keep it around permanently while drawing at least two cards in the process. Thundertrap Trainer gives you another Otter to target, letting you dig deeper while replacing the spell. 

Supply on this uncommon is getting thin, with only a few hundred near-mint copies left on the market. There aren't any fancy variants to help boost availability either. That said, Splash Portal needs specific conditions to really shine. It either needs a very good enters effect to exploit or a loophole like warp to break the rules. Commander typal decks have picked up copies too, especially in Otter and Rat builds, but Standard remains the primary reason for movement.

Splash Portal	CardKingdom $2.49	TCGPlayer $2.03
Quantum Riddler	CardKingdom $69.99	TCGPlayer $48.73
Thundertrap Trainer	CardKingdom $5.99	TCGPlayer $3.15

#4 The Legend of Kuruk $13.83 (+112%)

While we could have discussed this card last week, we didn't get around to it. The Legend of Kuruk has been climbing since the World Championship. This Saga might seem slow at first glance, since it's a four-mana Saga that doesn't flip until turn six. But Standard's current pace gives it some room to work.

The front side provides solid card selection with scry two and a draw for the first two chapters, then transforms into a 4/3 creature that makes Spirit tokens whenever you cast a spell.

Dimir Bounce has adopted Kuruk as both a value engine and closer. The deck runs cheap interaction and permanents you want to get back to your hand multiple times, making those Spirit tokens pile up quickly. Entity Tracker (0053) into Kuruk on curve is particularly strong. The waterbend ability to take an extra turn for twenty mana sounds ambitious, but in a deck loaded with artifacts and creatures, it's theoretically reachable although unlikely to come up a lot in Standard.

However, being able to Preordain twice gives you quite an advantage. Commander players also spotted the combo potential. Once flipped, clone Kuruk with something like Spark Double to dodge the legend rule, then blink the copy with Thassa, Deep-Dwelling to reset the exhaust restriction. Treasure and Clue generators make reaching twenty mana easy in those shells. That's quite the setup, but that generally won't stop Commander players!

The Legend of Kuruk	CardKingdom $13.99	TCGPlayer $13.00
The Legend of Kuruk (Borderless)	CardKingdom $17.99	TCGPlayer $22.10
Thassa, Deep-Dwelling	CardKingdom $34.99	TCGPlayer $31.68
Spark Double	CardKingdom $13.99	TCGPlayer $7.96

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.

Lord of Extinction $4.10 - Moving up!

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

Edward Kenway $5.55 - Moving down

Norman Osborn $5.46 - Moving down

Lord of Extinction	CardKingdom $1.29	TCGPlayer $4.11
Edward Kenway	CardKingdom $8.49	TCGPlayer $5.63
Norman Osborn	CardKingdom $6.49	TCGPlayer $5.13