After weeks of interesting spikes and record-breaking eternal staples things seem to slow down a bit. But, just like every week we have three interesting winners for you!
Crimson Wisps's spike this week is a bit of a mystery. Normally such a spike is accompanied by the publishing of an article, podcast, video or stream that features the card in a good way. Maybe I've missed it. Also when doing my research on the card I could not find any forum or social media posts that speak of the card, or its spike. Usually, our interest lists spark questions on a variety of (finance) forums and socials.
As I don't like to leave you hanging without an explanation, here is my take on the reasons of the spike. Most likely, Crimson Wisps spiked because of the new (and hottest) commander from War of the Spark: Feather, the Redeemed. There are quite some decklists going around that run both Crimson Wisps and Expedite. That last card has not seen a price increase and has been steady around the $0.15 mark. It's market price has gone up with a few cents, a signal for an increase in demand for the card.
Crimson Wisps and Expedite can grant your creatures haste and lets you draw a card. With Feather, the Redeemed you get Crimson Wisps back every time you cast in on one of your creatures. That allows you to draw an extra card each turn. That's some nice card advantage.
Don't be fooled by the steepness of Crimson Wisps's spike. There is not always a connection between the power of a card and how hard it spikes. Remember that a card with the exact same text did not move at all: Expedite. Cards like Crimson Wisps have a high potential to spike because the card is from a set that did not have a big print run. Which means that however it is a common, it is much rarer than Expedite. With less copies available, the card is bought or sold out much faster causing a spike.
Things are getting a bit repetitive! Balefire Liege spiked because of Feather, the Redeemed. It makes your creatures bigger, perfectly fits the colors and it lets you do damage and gain life. And since you can get your cards back after playing, Balefire Liege is going to give you a ton of value.
The London Mulligan is being tested on MTGO in all formats. One of the cards that takes advantage of that new mulligan rule is Serum Powder. The best article about the power of Serum Powder is written by Frank Karsten for Channel Fireball. Check it out here. The TLDR is: with a deck that runs 4 Serum Powder, your chances of drawing a specific card in your opening hand increase by 15% for the first mulligan, 11% for the second and 7% for the third mulligan you take.
We don't know if the London mulligan rule will stick. If it does, Serum Powder will quite possibly gain more value. But if the new mulligan doesn't survive the test phase, everyone that bought it will have paid top dollar for a not so interesting card.
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.
Entomb $9.27 - Record low and going down
Vexing Devil $7 - Record low and going down hard
