Weekly Winners 2020 - 44

It's all EDH that drives the spikes this week. The Commander Legends spoilers are a big factor, but not the only one. And instead of the Cheap Pickups, I'll treat you to a display of Record Breakers this week.

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

 

See something interesting in the world of card prices? Be sure to pitch me a tweet: @MTGPeter

 

#1 Maralen of the Mornsong $40 (+508.83%)

 

Morningtide delivers yet another card that has spiked, due to new cards getting announced. This time it is Maralen of the Mornsong; and it has everything to do with the Commander Legends.

Last Tuesday Opposition Agent was spoiled. A particularly powerful card that has a ton of potential for EDH, but also for Legacy and possibly Vintage.

In Legacy, landing Opposition Agent in response to an activated fetch land, not only prevents your opponent from getting the land they wanted, they lose the fetchland in the process too. That means you can set back your opponent at least one turn, and that is a huge deal in a format where every turn counts. Aside from this, Opposition Agent has a 3/2 body, which means you can start swinging your next turn, setting a clock while building a lock.

But before you think I'm saying that Opposition Agent will be a format-warping card, do know that it is not a great card in the lategame, especially when you draw it when your opponent is ahead and already has a good board position. It might prevent them from getting an even better position, but Opposition Agent does not help in turning the tables. For it to shine, you'll need to have it first thing in the game. And that means you'll need to play 3 or 4 copies of it. Going for Opposition Agent means that you either need to go deep; OR put it in your sideboard against decks particularly vulnerable for land destruction.

But also don't underestimate the power potential of and builds around Opposition Agent. At the same time, Legacy features a ton of cheap removal and counterspells that can deal with it. Packing Daze, Lightning Bolt and/or Abrupt Decay might come in handy!

Back to our #1 winner: Maralen of the Mornsong. It spiked because of its fantastic potential in combination with Opposition Agent. Having those two in play at the same time means that your opponents can't draw cards and when they search their library (after losing 3 life), you control them and exile their best cards. For a commander, a mana cost is pretty cheap and doable in your first turn, and totally possible in your second turn.

And the ability of Maralen of the Mornsong itself allows you to draw Opposition Agent with its first activation, giving you a 100% guarantee of that line of play every single game. But there is a huge downside too! After playing Maralen of the Mornsong, your opponents get to search their libraries for any card. One guess what they will find? Indeed, a good removal or counterspell, to deal with your Opposition Agent. And with a toughness of 2; it tends to die to many, many different kinds of removal. A successful (c)EDH deck that runs both cards better have a good strategy of dealing with that!

 

Maralen of the Mornsong	CardKingdom $14.99	TCGPlayer $40.00
Daze	CardKingdom $0.99	TCGPlayer $1.13
Lightning Bolt	CardKingdom $2.99	TCGPlayer $1.94
Abrupt Decay	CardKingdom $6.49	TCGPlayer $5.86
Opposition Agent	CardKingdom $24.99	TCGPlayer $50.99

 

#2 Insight $13.20 (+493.33%)

 

To find an explanation why Insight spiked I really had to dig deep. And I'm still not totally convinced that I have found the/all the cause(s) to this spike, but I'll share what I have found. If you have something to add, let me know on Twitter or Reddit.

First of all, Insight is not a card that sees much play at all. It sees only fringe play in EDH, and that is not a high bar to clear. Some people run it in some decks, that's about it. Before it spiked it was a $0.40 card. Its price started to move on October 20th in both the AVG and the market prices. On the 26th we saw a big spike to over $4.

One (part) of the explanation of why this card started moving could be the fact that some (!) people run it in brews with Verazol, the Split Current in EDH. It is a nice card if you want to build around a kicker theme. As people compare lists, Insight might pop up and turn some heads.

A slight headturn is all that is in order if you ask me. Insight is insanely good if you play multiplayer EDH in a playgroup that is heavy on green. In any other environment, the card is totally useless. So if conditions are perfect in your playgroup, Insight might get you ahead!

And that brings me to another possible reason the card spiked. PleasantKenobi shared a video this week that features a 4 player game where all players have a deck commanded by Omnath, Locus of Creation. One of them plays Insight and praises the card for being good with only 1 opponent on green, and even better with multiple. Check out the video to see for yourself. Mark 18:22.

I am not totally convinced that this video with 20k views is solely responsible for the spike. But hey, I was not able to find much else. What might have happened is that the cards were already low on stock because of people brewing with it; and some extra attention pushed the cards to become out of stock and causing a spike.

 

Omnath, Locus of Creation	CardKingdom $16.99	TCGPlayer $14.44
Insight	CardKingdom $1.49	TCGPlayer $4.45

 

#3 Krark's Thumb $19.12 (+233.10%)

 

In my seven years of writing the Weekly Winners, I have never, ever happened upon a spike that is so rich of flavor as this one, this week in 2020.

Why did Krark's Thumb spike you ask?

Maybe because of the dude that lost his thumb?

Right! Krark's Thumb spiked because of the announcement of Krark, the Thumbless in the video from Gavin Verhey below. Mark 3:25.

Krark, the Thumbless is fun in flip-a-coin builds and in spells matter decks. And you know what makes flipping coins easier and better? You got it: opposable thumbs. Giving Krark his thumb back increases your chances of winning.

As Rachel Weeks (@wachelreeks) pointed out on Twitter this week: you are the moral winner of any game of you use Bludgeon Brawl to equip Krark's Thumb and Krark's Other Thumb to Krark, the Thumbless.

 

Krark's Thumb	CardKingdom $13.99	TCGPlayer $19.12
Bludgeon Brawl	CardKingdom $0.35	TCGPlayer $0.45
Krark's Other Thumb	CardKingdom $0.25	TCGPlayer $0.25
Krark, the Thumbless	CardKingdom $3.99	TCGPlayer $19.00

 

Record Breakers

Instead of the Cheap Pickups, I present you with the record breakers of this week: the cards that have never been higher, but don't really pop up in our interest pages because they creep up slowly. You might learn that you are richer than you thought!

 

Furnace Of Rath $10.13 - ALL TIME HIGH

 

Trickbind $6.65 - ALL TIME HIGH

 

Smokestack $8.06 - ALL TIME HIGH

 

Timber Protector $9.80 - ALL TIME HIGH

 

Smothering Tithe $19.19

 

Smothering Tithe	CardKingdom $21.99	TCGPlayer $19.19
Trickbind	CardKingdom $4.99	TCGPlayer $6.65
Timber Protector	CardKingdom $13.99	TCGPlayer $9.80
Smokestack	CardKingdom $8.49	TCGPlayer $8.06
Furnace Of Rath	CardKingdom $6.99	TCGPlayer $6.03

 

Coming Soon

To whom it may concern