Weekly Winners 2019 - 22

A very interesting week with nice and interesting winners and cheap pickups. Modern Horizons is having a big effect on the markets and is the price cause of all three of this week's winners.

 

#1 Thran Turbine $6.96 (+351.95%)

 

Although I've been running Thran Turbine in decks for over a decade and I believe that Thran Turbine is one of the most underappreciated cards in Magic, I'm still very surprised that it is this week's Weekly Winner. On first glance Thran Turbine does not seem to be that interesting at all. Yes, you get every upkeep, but the mana pool is emptied at end of the step and you lose access to it right away. And before you think you could use it to play instants, think again. The mana gained cannot be used to pay for spells.

The use for Thran Turbine is very limited. But in the right deck, it can be a -pun intended- powerhouse for your strategy. Any Casual or EDH deck that revolves around activated abilities from your permanents can benefit a great deal from Thran Turbine. I therefore play a playset of them in my Rebel '99 deck. Check out Arjen's article on that deck to get more info on how you can make good use of the card.

Back in the day, we used Citanul Flute to take advantage of Thran Turbine. It came in quite handy to cycle a card for free, since cycling costs . It gave a new chance to draw Fluctuator and combo out. Fast forward to 2019 and we have a new toy to tinker with. And who else than the namesake of the set all before named cards originate from? That's right, I'm talking about Urza, Lord High Artificer.

With Urza, Lord High Artificer in play, Thran Turbine produces three mana each turn, since it can make with Urza in play. That means that for just CMC, you already have of the mana needed to activate Urza's ability. And with that workaround, you are able to use Thran Turbine to pay for spells.

Sure, there are many other mana artifacts out there that are, in general, better than Thran Turbine. Those artifacts can actually help cast Urza, Lord High Artificer in the first place. Thran Turbine could be good in a right deck build, but that's far from sure. And since Thran Turbine is not modern legal, the uptick in demand comes from EDH, not from modern players.

The reason the card could spike this high is twofold. First, Thran Turbine is from an old set with a small print run, so supply is low, and any change in demand will cause the card to spike. Second: speculators identified this card ticking up and jumped on it.

 

Thran Turbine	CardKingdom $1.29	TCGPlayer $6.96
Urza, Lord High Artificer	CardKingdom $54.99	TCGPlayer $54.94

 

#2 Diffusion Sliver $3.64 (+304.44%)

 

Slivers are getting a lot of love in Modern Horizons. This caused the spike of no less than 11 slivers this week! And on the top of the pack, we find Diffusion Sliver. And that is quite strange to be honest. One would expect to see a Sliver on the top of our interests that is either new, or has some crazy interaction with a newly printed Sliver.

Well, with Diffusion Sliver it is actually the complete opposite. This week Unsettled Mariner was spoiled. And since it is a changeling, it is also a Sliver! And that means that for instead of your opponents now have to pay instead of . Unsettled Mariner's upside is that it also works for spells that target you (and it is 2/2 instead of 1/1). But looking at it from a Sliver perspective; Unsettled Mariner is not really better than Diffusion Sliver, one could argue it is actually worse.

Unless you can only play 1 copy of each Sliver, like in EDH! For EDH sliver decks, Unsettled Mariner is a great addition. Currently, Diffusion Sliver does not see a lot of play in EDH, and it not added as a staple in every Sliver deck either. But building a counter-oriented strategy did get easier with a 'functional reprint' of Diffusion Sliver in the form of Unsettled Mariner.

Another theory (which is nothing more than my personal speculation) is that Sliver enthusiasts thought: "what a great card for my EDH deck!", when seeing Unsettled Mariner. And that one friend with legendary encyclopedic knowledge of cards printed replied: "why don't you just run Diffusion Sliver? It makes your opponent pay ".

 

Diffusion Sliver

CardKingdom $3.49

TCGPlayer $3.64

 

#3 Higure, the Still Wind $14.99 (+287.43%)

 

The spike of this card can only have happened because of a speculative buyout. Higure, the Still Wind sees no play in any format, including EDH. With just 14 known decks on EDHREC.com running it, the card sees play in only 0.006% of all EDH decks. No play in modern, none in eternal formats.

Modern Horizons features some new, interesting Ninjas, and Higure, the Still Wind can make them unblockable. That's nice for both the ninjutsu ability, but also for additional abilities on Ninjas. On forums, socials and chats there has been no talk about Higure, the Still Wind, at least not to the amount that is needed or seen before a spike of this magnitude.

Looking at those facts, the only likely possibility is that this is a buyout, and one that succeeded in driving up the prices of all copies. But I might be missing something huge. Like a new combo, or a big YouTuber that featured the card and I did not see it or find it. If so, let me know and I will add it to the article.

 

Higure, the Still Wind
Betrayers of Kamigawa	CardKingdom $6.99	TCGPlayer $14.99
Planechase 2012	CardKingdom $6.99	TCGPlayer $12.27
Planechase Anthology	CardKingdom $6.99	TCGPlayer $15.00

 

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. Also note: some cards are still going down, and might be even cheaper pickups next week.

 

Sarkhan, Fireblood $7.80 - Record low and bottoming out

 

Ugin, the Ineffable $5.97 - Record low bottomed out - overhyped in prerelease.

 

Nirkana Revenant $6.74 - Record low and going down

 

Nirkana Revenant	CardKingdom $6.99	TCGPlayer $6.74
Ground Rift	CardKingdom $0.25	TCGPlayer $0.20
Ugin, the Ineffable	CardKingdom $5.99	TCGPlayer $5.97

In other news...

Alpha edition Black Lotus has reached a new all time high! And for all of you that would buy one if you had the money, check out this article on other overindulgent things you could do with $20k+. But sure, a Black Lotus is an investment, and it seems to be a good one. Beats building 4 backyard Hobbit Holes... Right?!

 

Black Lotus $22.000 - Record High

 

Black Lotus
Alpha Edition	CardKingdom $59.0	TCGPlayer $22000.00