Weekly Winners 2022 - 17

Just like last week we see Pioneer making waves in Magic finance. The format is quickly becoming more popular and people seem anxious to be also playing it in paper again. But besides that we also see movement because of commander and legacy, meaning we have a diverse week with lots of stuff going on!

Like every week, just in time for FNM, I'll now tell you about the cards that will be the talk of the town tonight!

Come discuss this week's price movements with us on Reddit.

 

#1 Cavalier of Thorns $13.93 (+356%)

 

Pioneer is really starting to drive prices more and more. Cavalier of Thorns was a card we saw a lot when it was legal in Standard, but is now showing up in Pioneer builds. These decks ramp quickly and try to churn out big threats. Cavalier of Thorns is both a big creature with Reach, will help you ramp and when it dies you can recur something from the graveyard by putting it back on top of your deck. This is a powerful effect!

These ramp decks on Pioneer heeft been doing really well on MTGO lately and has been topping a recent Pioneer League as well. Cavalier of Thorns also sees some commander play, but I don't think this has anything to do with the current price spike.

The Cavalier cycle saw quite some play in standard, like I already mentioned with the Cavalier of Thorns. When we look at Pioneer, we also see Cavalier of Flame being played in Fires of Invention decks. Which is not really that unsurprising, since they work really well together.

 

#2 Deekah, Fractal Theorist $6.29 (+152%)

 

This card already sees quite a bit of commander play, which is not weird since it was printed in a commander set: Commander 2021. But lately it has been picking up some steam. This actually already started two or three weeks ago, but it barely missed the top Weekly Winners for us to really talk about it.

Deekah, Fractal Theorist plays really well in decks where you can chain or copy a bunch of instant or sorcery spells. For each instant or sorcery spell cast or copies you get to creature a 0/0 creature with X +1/+1 counters on it where X is the spell's mana value. This can really add up, especially in commander where spells can have an insane mana value. Being able to make these tokens, but also other tokens, unblock-able can really sneak in some nice damage.

I think the main reason for this card to really go up now is that because if wat mentioned on The Command Zone as a budget upgrade to the Maestro's Massacre commander deck from New Streets of Capenna. This video can be found over at YouTube.

 

#3 Manabond $50.00 (+74%)

 

We recently discussed this card a few weeks ago when it spiked to $26.41, but this week we see it spiking up and up again to $50. Manabond is not on the reserved list mind you, so it could still be reprinted! I often skip cards that I recently discussed, but since the card went up again by this much I figured we should at least mention it. It has nothing to do with me loving Legacy and can't pass up the opportunity to mention it. Really! Really really! No, really. Right?

Since we already discussed this card a few weeks ago, and there isn't a real new reason, I'll re-use some of the texts I have written back then and give you this Winner as a freebie, meaning I will pick a fourth one this week.

Manabond is not new to the competitive scene and has already seen quite some Legacy play in the past in Lands decks. So if it is not new and the power was already known, but a new archetype, referred to as "8 Mulch", is doing really well. The name of this deck comes from the fact that the deck plays two different copies of the effect that the card Mulch in Mulch itself and Winding Way.

You can imagine that in a deck that plays these two cards to find you a bunch of lands you can use Manabond as your primary engine to get them onto the battlefield fast. The main payoffs to win the game in this deck are Field of the Dead and (of course) Urza's Saga. Both of these cards can be recurred with Life from the Loam and thus are very hard to permanently get rid of. In these decks we also see a newer card from Neon Dynasty, Roadside Reliquary, included that can easily get you some card draw and is easily enabled with Urza's Saga.

 

#4 Academy Manufactor $8.50 (+64%)

 

This artifact from Modern Horizons 2 sees some play in Modern, but to be fair, this week it seems to be that commander is pushing the price of this card. The card plays well in decks around Prosper, Tome-Bound for instance. But it is also included in new builds around New Capenna commanders like Jinnie Fay, Jetmir's Second and Ognis, the Dragon's Lash.

But the card was also mentioned, just like our #2 winner, on The Command Zone. And when I say mentioned, I actually meant played since it appear in two decks featured on the latest Game Knights episode. It was played in a Bjorna, Nightfall Alchemist / Elmar, Ulvenwald Informant deck, and also in a deck around Jolene, the Plunder Queen. We all know by now that when a card is mentioned or played in a Command Zone video the price can sky rocket.

But Academy Manufactor can also act as an upgrade to the Obscura Operation commander deck.

 

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.

 

Glacial Fortress $4.94 - Moving up!

 

Glacial Fortress has been identified by the MTGStocks Premium Penny Stocks feature as a card that has bottomed for a bit but is now starting an uptrend.

 

Kodama of the West Tree $6.04 - Slowly trending down

 

Ebondeath, Dracolich $5.00 - Slowly trending down

 

Kodama of the West Tree	CardKingdom $9.99	TCGPlayer $6.07
Ebondeath, Dracolich	CardKingdom $6.49	TCGPlayer $4.83
Glacial Fortress	CardKingdom $6.99	TCGPlayer $4.94