Weekly Winners 2022 - 36

Dominaria United has been officially released today on paper, meaning we can now start seeing some trends on prices depending on how much product of the set is being opened. But until then we also already see some movement this week for several reasons. Some are about commander, others are because of the reserved list, and some because of constructive play. This week we were able to talk about a card from each of these.

As I mentioned in last week's article, the coming weeks of Weekly Winners will be a bit off of schedule because I am on holiday and not always sure if, how, and when I can write the articles. This week I was able to write you one from rainy Fort Collins, CO. A bit later than usual, and a bit concise, but I hope still welcome! Enjoy.

Like every week, but unfortunately not 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 Martyrs of Korlis $35.00 (+192%)

 

This uncommon from Antiquities shot up overnight from about $12 to $30. I was not really aware of the existence of this card. Now I am sure there are plenty of you who did know this card exists, but for the rest of you, lets quickly glance over the card. It is a Human 1/6 create for with one single ability: As long as Martyrs of Korlis is untapped, all damage that would be dealt to you by artifacts is dealt to Martyrs of Korlis instead.

While we just discussed the card's characteristics, there is something else pretty important to know about this. And that is that it is on the Reserved List. Prices of these cards are easily manipulated and we see more instances of Reserved List cards going up lately. Occasionally it is Reserved List season, meaning these cards get bought up more. Martyrs of Korlis is no different, and does not actually see play anywhere.

Martyrs of Korlis
Antiquities	CardKingdom $7.49	TCGPlayer $35.00

 

#2 Defiler of Vigor $8.56 (+46%)

 

We see both the regular version and the extended art of version of Defiler of Vigor go up with about 46% the past week. For we have a 6/6 Phyrexian Wurm with Trample. When this card is on the battlefield it can help us reduce the mana cost of our other green permanent spells by letting us pay 2 life, and make the spell cheaper. But also whenever you cast a green permanent spell, you get to put a +1/+1 counter on each creature you control.

As you can imagine this can get quickly out of hand. We don't see this card getting much love currently in Standard or other constructed formats. The spike of Defiler of Vigor seems mainly driven by commander. And why not? Because in Commander: Dominaria United we got a commander that supports Wurms in Baru, Wurmspeaker. And that is exactly where we find Defiler of Vigor when we look at EDHRec.

 

#3 Leyline Binding $12.08 (+29%)

 

This rare from Dominaria United is quickly becoming a staple in multiple formats, and you know what that means: the price is going up! It is one of those cards that probably was somewhat undervalued during the prerelease prices. It started selling around $3 in the end of August, and now is $12. Keep in mind though that Dominaria United is only released officially today, meaning the real paper copies still have to start coming in which could drive the prices down again.

In the right deck, Leyline Binding could be very cheap removal for nearly anything nonland for just 1 mana. A powerful removal spells when you make sure you have sufficient land types in your deck to feed the cost discount.

When we look at the preliminary Standard metagame we see that Leyline Binding is being played in 5c Zur, Eternal Schemer, 5c Soul of Windgrace, Azorius Control, and Esper Midrange. In Modern we see it appear in Crashing Footfalls strategies, Omnath, Locus of Creation decks, and 5c Archon of Cruelty. In Pioneer it sees play in 5c Fires of Invention decks for example.

 

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.

 

Castle Garenbrig $5.00 - Moving up!

 

Castle Garenbrig has been identified by the MTGStocks Premium Penny Stocks feature as a card that has reached its bottom and is starting a consistent uptrend.

 

Tevesh Szat, Doom of Fools $6.25 - Stable

 

Liliana, the Last Hope $10.91 - Slowly trending down

 

Liliana, the Last Hope	CardKingdom $12.99	TCGPlayer $10.91
Castle Garenbrig	CardKingdom $7.49	TCGPlayer $5.00
Tevesh Szat, Doom of Fools	CardKingdom $8.99	TCGPlayer $6.25