Weekly Winners 2019 - 23

This week was not as hot as last week, but interesting nonetheless. Some very interesting and surprising cards saw spikes this week. So, just in time for FNM, I'll now tell you about the cards that will be the talk of the town tonight!

 

#1 Pale Bears $2.24 (+239.39%)

 

Usually, cards under $3 don't get included in the Weekly Winners. The cheaper the card, the heavier its spike in percentage points. Especially when a card is from an older set. Just a very small change in demand can make a card show up in our interests. And most of the time the height of the spike does not correspond with how interesting that card is.

But this week is different. Pale Bears spiked this week, but there is a nice story to tell. On first glance Pale Bears is a particularly uninteresting card. It really is one of those cards you reluctantly add to your limited deck when you have nothing better to stick into that 3 mana slot. It has islandwalk which could come in handy when you are playing against a blue deck by chance, but that's about it.

For a card like Pale Bears to spike, something particularly interesting has to happen. Modern Horizons has brought us Ayula, Queen Among Bears. Nice! A bear queen. With it, bear tribal can become a thing, and in particular in Commander. Over the years many bears have been printed, and quite some other cards that interact with the bear creature type.

But like everything in Commander, when you want to fill a tribal deck, you need quite a number of cards from a creature type to even have enough to make a deck. And Pale Bears is one of those bears. Since it is a very old, limited available and forgotten card there is not much supply of it. Any increase in demand will drive up the price. So, I'll know what I'll be doing after finishing this article: I'll be digging into my collection to check if I have some Pale Bears roaming around.

If you want to know more about the deck strategy, check out this article on it on SCG and this article on TCG.. The decks seem really interesting and fun to play. And also: a lot of the bear cards are quite cheap to buy at this time. So check it out when you are looking for a budget strategy.

 

Fallen Askari	CardKingdom $0.25	TCGPlayer $0.20
Ayula, Queen Among Bears	CardKingdom $0.99	TCGPlayer $0.99

 

#2 Teferi's Puzzle Box $22.45 (+213.55%)

 

Our #2 this week brings back some sweet memories. Teferi's Puzzle Box was one of the first rares I ever pulled from a booster, right around the time I started playing Magic. And I was so happy when I pulled it! It was a huge thrill to find the card that was actually shown on the booster wrapper it came from.. I had no idea what the card really did, or what impact it would have on my game, I instantly added it to my favorite deck.

I found out the hard way that Teferi's Puzzle Box is only good in a deck that has a specific use for it. It quickly went from my deck into my binder. And it has stayed there ever since. And 2019 might be the year I'll pull it out. Not to sell it, but to use it in a deck with the newly printed Narset, Parter of Veils. With both Narset and Teferi's Puzzle Box you force your opponents to keep discarding their hand, but drawing back only one card. A soft lock that buys you time to dig for bigger spells to play.

This combo sees play in Thopter decks as well. Check out this decklist to explore the way it is used.

 

Teferi's Puzzle Box	CardKingdom $12.99	TCGPlayer $22.45
Narset, Parter of Veils	CardKingdom $3.99	TCGPlayer $3.79

 

#3 Crucible of Worlds $14.99 (+144%)

 

This is the third time this year that Crucible of Worlds is featured in the Weekly Winners. This winter, it got mentioned in the Cheap Pickups twice. And this week I can report that it has spiked. Card like Crucible of Worlds don't stay low in price, unless it gets a reprint.

Crucible of Worlds is up in price due to several minor circumstances. First off, the card did not see a reprint in Modern Horizons. Its price started to move when everyone learned that there would be no reprints of Modern legal cards at all in Modern Horizons. Outside this, the card sees play in Modern, Vintage, Legacy and Commander. And it is an interesting card for multiplayer casual as well. A multiformat staple that is very popular and really strong in the right kind of deck.

 

Crucible of Worlds
Fifth Dawn	CardKingdom $32.99	TCGPlayer $61.00
10th Edition	CardKingdom $32.99	TCGPlayer $30.65

 

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.

 

Rishadan Port $18.68 - Record low and bottoming out

 

Imperial Recruiter $142 - Record low bottomed out

 

Prime Speaker Vannifar $5.29 - Record low and bottoming out

 

Imperial Recruiter	CardKingdom $169.99	TCGPlayer $142.49
Rishadan Port	CardKingdom $17.99	TCGPlayer $18.68
Prime Speaker Vannifar	CardKingdom $5.99	TCGPlayer $5.29