Weekly Winners 2022 - 49

A somewhat slow week. The full Dominaria Remastered set was spoiled, but since it's only reprints, we'll mainly see prices going down because of it. Nevertheless we have a fun mix cards to discuss this week, two from commander and one from constructed play.

Like every week, just in time for FNM, I'll tell you about the cards that will be the talk of the town tonight! Come discuss this week's price movements with us on Discord and Reddit.

 

A Penny Saved

Last week Ryan posted an article in his monthly "A Penny Saved" series where he focuses on lower cost cards that he likes. He gives a little peek at features you may also encounter when you subscribe to MTGStocks Premium. The article can be found here. Go check it out!

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#1 Brutal Cathar $8.44 (+124%)

 

Anyone who played Standard when Brutal Cathar came out is familiar with this card. Back when it was released, white weenie decks were one of the best, if not the best, decks in the format. This 2/2 human soldier werewolf is a potential repeatable removal creature. Because it has Daybound, it will turn into its werewolf side when it becomes night, but when it turns back to its human side during daytime its ability will trigger again and you get to remove another creature. The main drawback for Brutal Cathar is that when it's removed from the battlefield, it will return the exiled creatures back to the battlefield. This is especially painful when you are swinging with the team and it eats a removal spell, so not only will you have one less attacker, but the opponent has their potential blockers back as well.

Brutal Cathar is still Standard legal, but the driving factor behind these prices right now seems to be Pioneer, where this creature is played in several popular decks like White Weenie, Selesnya Angels, and Bant Humans.

Brutal Cathar (Showcase)
Innistrad: Midnight Hunt: Extras	CardKingdom $6.99	TCGPlayer $4.09
Innistrad: Double Feature		TCGPlayer $7.99
Innistrad: Midnight Hunt	CardKingdom $6.49	TCGPlayer $6.07

 

#2 Triplicate Titan $3.73 (+69%)

 

Nice! Here is a rare artifact creature card from Commander 2021. When we look at the steep mana cost, you would be surprised that this may see play. Usually when you spend 9 mana in commander it should have a huge impact, or be a game winning play, but in this case you get a flying, vigilant, trampling 9/9. Which is nothing to sneeze at, but it still dies to Doom Blade. However, when it does, it leaves behind three Golem creatures.

As we have seen the past few weeks, artifacts are in hot demand because of the artifact-centric The Brothers' War set and its commander decks. And the cards from the Universes Beyond: Transformers set are drawing attention to artifacts as well. We see Triplicate Titan being played, for example, in Megatron, Tyrant and Ultra Magnus, Tactician decks. The first one of those can get you quite a lot of mana in your postcombat main phase, making it easier to cast massive spells like Triplicate Titan. And since Triplicate Titan also has evasion, the next hit may get you even more mana. Ultra Magnus, Tactician allows you to put an artifact creature onto the battlefield from your hand tapped and attacking whenever Magnus itself attacks. Hello, free 9/9!

The Titan also seems popular in decks revolving around Mishra, Tamer of Mak Fawa, Liberator, Urza's Battlethopter, and Ashnod, Flesh Mechanist.

Triplicate Titan	CardKingdom $1.99	TCGPlayer $3.43
Ultra Magnus, Tactician	CardKingdom $2.79	TCGPlayer $1.25
Megatron, Tyrant	CardKingdom $3.99	TCGPlayer $3.25

 

#3 Species Specialist $6.65 (+19%)

 

Species Specialist has always been a good commander card when included in a more tribal-focused deck that supports black. It's versatile and nets you some nice extra cards whenever creatures of the chosen type die. So even when your board gets wiped, you end up with cards to quickly rebuild. But it can also fit nicely in decks revolving around sacrificing your own creatures for value.

The card is moving up this week because of two new cards found in the Jumpstart 2022 set. The first one, Ashcoat of the Shadow Swarm, cares a lot about its fellow Rat creatures. Attacking or blocking with Ashcoat will buff your other rats, and since they tend to be cheap creatures, that can add up to a lot of damage. And this is exactly where we see Species Specialist being useful, because it gives you the extra draws whenever they die.

The second creature from Jumpstart 2022 that seems relevant to Species Specialist's spike is Zask, Skittering Swarmlord. This creature doesn't care about rats, but about other vermin: insects. Just like rats, these decks tend to play a lot of cheap insects, and even Zask itself cares about insects dying. So why not draw extra cards for it?

Zask, Skittering Swarmlord		TCGPlayer $9.87
Ashcoat of the Shadow Swarm		TCGPlayer $40.00
Species Specialist	CardKingdom $6.49	TCGPlayer $6.14

 

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.

 

Valiant Veteran $2.49 - Moving up!

 

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

 

Cascade Bluffs $3.64 - Moving down

 

Jace, Vryn's Prodigy $7.80 - Slowly moving down

 

Valiant Veteran	CardKingdom $2.29	TCGPlayer $2.49
Cascade Bluffs		TCGPlayer $3.64
Jace, Vryn's Prodigy	CardKingdom $8.49	TCGPlayer $7.80

Make sure to check back next week for more Weekly Winners!