A very interesting week, with far too many interesting movers to discuss them all! Just in time for FNM, I'll now tell you about the cards that will be the talk of the town tonight!

 

#1 Dulcet Sirens $9.25 (+1,221.43%)

 

When a card spikes with more than 1.000% I absolutely have to cover it. But this time I'm not doing it because the story behind it is so interesting or special. Dulcet Sirens's spike is a great opportunity to explain a bit about price dynamics and to warn you about spikes you should not buy into.

Dulcet Sirens has a fairly unique ability. It is by far not the only card that can force a creature to attack, but it is the only creature that has exactly this ability. And a fun one at that. With Dulcet Sirens, you can force one opponent to attack the other. How many massively multiplayer games could have ended sooner if opponent X simply attacked opponent Y, just like he could and should have done? Those days are over when you get your Dulcet Sirens into play.

Unique and fun does not mean a card is powerful. Dulcet Sirens is by no means an auto-add in Commander decks, or in any other (competitive) format. And it does not warrant a 1000% spike or a $9.25 price tag.

It is not part of a new combo. Or a fantastic new strategy.

The reason it spiked is because it has the word morph printed on it. And in this case, the card could have done fine without it.

Ever since it was clear that the new Commander 2019 decks would have a morph theme and Kadena, Slinking Sorcerer was spoiled cards with that keyword spiked. Some for good reason, because they fit into a Commander strategy, some just because they have morph.

Dulcet Sirens is an example of the latter. It spiked to $30 and has been crashing down ever since. It did not warrant a price that high, or its current price. This is simply a buyout to drive up the price of anything morph-related.

When you see stuff like this happen, use your brain. Read the card. Check out if you really think it's good. Especially in the wake of a new commander product!

 

#2 Sudden Substitution $17.97 (+860%)

 

Commander is really experiencing its (annual) gold rush! It is brewing season and its all about the cards from C19. Very few magic players autonomously try to brew new decks while they shut out the world around them. Most, if not all, keep themselves busy with lurking forums, socials, sites and YouTube to find the newest and best strategies for their Commander deck. And if you are ahead of the curve, you can save a ton of money by buying early.

This week, the Professor from Tolarian Community College featured Sudden Substitution in his 'lecture' about the top 5 best cards from Commander 2019. One of the results was a spike on its price, and the increase in price of other cards featured.

And, in this case, it is safe to say that Sudden Substitution is a powerful, interesting, fun and versatile card for Commander, but also for casual. But $17.97 is too steep for this card. The market price is currently going down, expect the AVG to follow suit.

Check out the Professor himself explaining it to you in his own words. Around the 7:00 minute mark.

 

#3 Stoneforge Mystic $69.95 (+94.63%)

 

Ah yes, Stoneforge Mystic is finally free! After it got unbanned it was sold out everywhere in mear minutes. I have never seen a card being bought out so fast.

To no one's surprise Stoneforge Mystic is one of our three winners. The card is great, sees stable play in Legacy and will be key card in Modern once again.

As its spike and the reasons for it are nothing new, I would like to take the opportunity to show you something interesting that might deepen your knowledge on price dynamics. Check out the graph on the card page itself. There you will be able to see the market price of Stoneforge Mystic.

When a card spikes with real, organic demand behind it, it will have a price development as you see with Stoneforge Mystic. There is an initial spike, a small drop in price and after that a plateau. Cards with actual demand behind them settle into their new price quicker.

Compare it to Knucklebone Witch, our #1 winner from week 32. In that case you see a spike, but the market price lags behind it, so people are not willing to pay the higher price. It only creeps up over a period of weeks, as the AVG price dwindles. This will continue until both find their balance.

 

Other interesting winners

This week was very interesting and it featured some other interesting cards gaining in price. Not in the tens or hundreds of percentage points, but still enough to share with you.

Wrenn and Six $99.95 (+11.06%)

 

Wrenn and Six is just $0.05 shy of breaking the $100 mark. It sees play in Legacy, Modern and Vintage. It has quickly found its way as a staple and it is here to stay!

 

Scalding Tarn $100.05 (+5.32%)

 

Scalding Tarn fell under its $100 mark halfway through August. But this week it is back at its old price. The MM17 printing is surprisingly the most expensive one.

 

Jace, the Mind Sculptor $138.69 (+5.32%)

 

As the original printing is falling up and down around the $140 mark, the other printings are steadily creeping up to around the same value.

 

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.

 

The First Sliver $10.99 - Record low and going down (market price bottomed out)

 

Carnage Tyrant $7.45 - Passed record low, creeping up

 

Temporal Manipulation $47.24 - Record low, going down, low volume

 

Temporal Manipulation	CardKingdom $44.99	TCGPlayer $47.24
Carnage Tyrant	CardKingdom $7.49	TCGPlayer $7.45
The First Sliver	CardKingdom $10.99	TCGPlayer $10.99