Spoiler season of Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate is almost done and most of the set has been made public. And this week we will discuss some of the spikes occurring because of this set. We see some new support for dragons, gates, and other strategies that will get people to brew new decks.
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.
Lets start off with a card from Urza's Saga. Citanul Hierophants is an old card, printed in October 1998, that has never been reprinted since. For 4 mana you get a 3/2 Human Druid that gives all your other creatures ": Add ". The card is not being played in any 60-card format, but has seen some play in Commander in Emmara, Soul of the Accord and Ulasht, the Hate Seed for instance. It will not surprise you that with the spoilers from Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate happening something has come out driving the price up of this almost 24 year old rare.
Raggadragga, Goreguts Boss was spoiled and you can probably immediately see the interaction in the first line: each creature you control with a mana ability gets +2/+2. So your Citanul Hierophants is now a 5/4, but all your other creatures will also receive this buff. But if we read on, we also see the second ability of Raggadragga: Whenever a creature you control with a mana ability attacks, untap it. So you can swing with all your creatures, and because Citanul Hierophants gave them all a mana-ability you get to untap them giving then pseudo-vigilance. Meaning that you can still use those creatures to block with, pay for your combat-tricks, or play something in your second main phase for instance.
But obviously Citanul Hierophants can also simply function as ramp, and as soon as you have a bunch of mana available, Raggadragga has a third ability that can be of use. You can give a creature +7/+7 and trample, meaning that with Citanul Hierophants that creature will have +9/+9.
Similarly, this week we also see Cryptolith Rite jumping up to $16.56 (+20%). This card also gives your creatures a mana ability, is cheaper to cast, and is an enchantment and thus usually harder to remove. But it being a newer card with far more copies around, keeps the jump, so far, at bay.
This rare was only recently printed in Commander: Streets of New Capenna and now swiftly moving up. It can be found in the Obscura Operation Commander deck. But with the upcoming release of the Baldur's Gate precon Mind Flayarrrs, we think that Lethal Scheme may be picked up as an upgrade.
But this card is definitely good in itself. Because of convoke this card could be cast without paying any mana. Basically a free removal spell with upside, because each creature you tap to help you pay for it will connive, meaning you get to loot a card and put a +1/+1 counter on that creature. Pass the turn with your creatures up, you can still assign them as blockers, use Lethal Scheme to destroy a creature and as additional combat trick your creatures get bigger.
However, there is another catch. The Nitpicking Nerds talked about Lethal Scheme in their video last week where they talk about cards most worth buying. It would not be the first time where a card spiked because they talked about a card. It definitely put a lot of more eyes on the card.
Vengeful Ancestor is a 3/4 Spirit Dragon with the ability to goad a creatures when it enters the battlefield or attacks. It will also ping the goaded creature's controller when it attacks. The card is already often showing up in Kaima, the Fractured Calm or Isshin, Two Heavens as One decks. But since it is a dragon it will also often see play in any deck with a dragon-commander. It is not really a big surprise that Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate has a bunch of dragons and dragon-support in it. We have seen several being spoiled the past few days, and I am sure these will find a home in certain decks like Korlessa, Scale Singer, Ganax, Astral Hunter, and Miirym, Sentinel Wyrm.
But another new dragon from Baldur's Gate is Firkraag, Cunning Instigator and you can immediately see why this plays really nice with Vengeful Ancestor. Just like Vengeful Ancestor Firkraag forces attacking on the creatures of your opponents. So whenever you attack with Vengeful Ancestor, you get to goad two creatures. But whenever a creatures deals combat damage to one of your opponents while it was forced to attack (goad anyone?) you put a +1/+1 counter on Firkraag and get to draw a card. Seems there is plenty of value here!
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.
Blood Artist 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.
| Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath |
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| Blood Artist |
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| Tevesh Szat, Doom of Fools |
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