Weekly Winners 2023 - 18

We're back with some more Weekly Winners! Hot on the tail of the recently released March of the Machine, we're getting ready for the Aftermath!

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

Articles

Do you like foil cards? Then you need to read Harvey's Foil Etched Divisions article in his The Big Things series. He talks about the different foil versions we have seen nowadays and how they affect prices.

Corey has put out a new article in his Modern Times series. Discussing one of the most controversial cards in Modern.

If you want to receive an e-mail in your inbox when a new article is published you can enable it in your e-mail preferences and/or join the Discord.

Onto the Weekly Winners!

#1 Metamorphose $3.99 (+280%)

 

This Instant from Scourge can get rid of a permanent, but at what cost? Your opponent can put something into play from their hand. But there is a format where this is a bit more manageable and predictable, and that format is... The Dandân format! It's a game format for two players that uses a shared 80-card deck and graveyard. If you want to read a bit more about this format and the shared deck used, then I suggest you read the article from a few weeks ago.

This is definitely not the first week we've discussed this format, and I was a bit in doubt whether to discuss this card. But I also feel its my obligation to give an explanation whenever a seemingly random old card that is not on the reserved list is popping up. Something that will drive the price is that the last print was from 2003, with no reprints since.

Metamorphose	CardKingdom $1.29	TCGPlayer $3.99
Dandân	CardKingdom $3.49	TCGPlayer $4.00

 

#2 Norn's Choirmaster $11.14 (+273%)

 

This rare from Commander: Phyrexia: All Will Be One can be found in the Corrupting Influence commander deck. Being an Angel already is a big plus, since that's always a popular creature type to build around. Being able to Proliferate whenever your commander attacks can be pretty good in decks that care about it.

Shortly after this card was released it seemed to be an automatic include in commander decks around Atraxa, Praetors' Voice and later also in decks around, for example, Otharri, Sun's Glory. Obviously it also sees play in new decks from commanders from that same Corrupting Influence deck, Ixhel, Scion of Atraxa and Vishgraz, the Doomhive.

But with the release of March of the Machine it seems that Norn's Choirmaster also is a good upgrade to the Growing Threat commander deck which is led by Brimaz, Blight of Oreskos that tries to Incubate a lot. Being able to proliferate the counters on these Incubator tokens can be a very viable strategy. But also now with Elesh Norn the card may have gotten a significant boost, since she also cares about Incubating while sweeping the board. Note that Norn's Choirmaster is a Phyrexian as well, meaning The Argent Etchings will not kill it.

What is surprising is that thus far the Extended Art seems to be quite a bit cheaper than its regular print. May be worth picking up if you want to play with it.

Elesh Norn	CardKingdom $24.99	TCGPlayer $21.38
Norn's Choirmaster	CardKingdom $6.49	TCGPlayer $11.14
Otharri, Sun's Glory	CardKingdom $0.99	TCGPlayer $0.53
Norn's Choirmaster (Extended Art)	CardKingdom $5.99	TCGPlayer $4.78

 

#3 Nalfeshnee $4.00 (+123%)

 

This 4/6 Beast Demon from Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate can be found in the Exit from Exile precon deck. It enables you to double your spells cast from exile. Several weeks back Edgin, Larcenous Lutenist was announced in the Dungeons & Dragons Secret Lair drop. Edgin can let you Foretell your spells, meaning that when you actually cast the spell, it is cast from exile, meaning it will trigger Nalfeshnee. That's a pretty sweet interaction!

But we recently found another reason for the card to gain some extra traction in March of the Machine and that is Etali, Primal Conqueror. Etali exiles cards from the top of each opponent's library and you get to cast each of them without paying their manacost. With Nalfeshnee into play, you get to double up on all these spells. Seeing the powerlevel of some spells in Commander decks, this can definitely be game ending. We however see another creature in March of the Machine that interacts very well with Nalfeshnee and that card is Quintorius, Loremaster. This Elephant Cleric lets you exile cards from your graveyard, and can let you recast them later. Again doubling up.

Nalfeshnee	CardKingdom $1.49	TCGPlayer $4.00
Nalfeshnee (Extended Art)	CardKingdom $1.99	TCGPlayer $2.22
Quintorius, Loremaster	CardKingdom $0.49	TCGPlayer $0.31
Etali, Primal Conqueror	CardKingdom $7.49	TCGPlayer $6.17

 

#4 See Double $4.25 (+63%)

 

See Double is probably one of the most underrated cards from the March of the Machine set and people are catching up. It is a very powerful effect for just 4 mana that synergises well with popular Commander strategies. Copying a late-game spell in Commander can be absolutely backbreaking and win you the game instead of losing. When we compare it to, for example, Stunt Double that also sits at $3.31, then See Double is a strictly better card.

But it also sees play recently in Standard in Grixis Hellraiser decks where See Double sees play alongside Capricious Hellraiser. Grixis Hellraiser relies on the synergy between these two cards. Capricious Hellraiser is a 4/4 Phyrexian Dragon that can cost as little as if the controller's graveyard has nine or more cards in it. When it enters play, it exiles three random cards from the controller's graveyard, allowing them to cast a non-creature, non-land card exiled this way for free. So how do you do this combo?

1. Try to fill your graveyard, which is accomplished through cards such as Corpse Appraiser and Fable of the Mirror-Breaker.
2. Cast Capricious Hellraiser at a discounted rate.
3. Once a copy of Capricious Hellraiser is in play, it can be targeted by a See Double copy to create a clone. Additionally, if See Double is cast after another spell and the opponent has at least eight cards in their graveyard, it can duplicate the spell being cast.
4. The cloned Hellraiser activates its enter the battlefield ability by exiling cards from the graveyard. Exile the See Double, allowing for the process to be repeated.

You will end up with an army of Hellraisers that can swing for lethal. Recently SaffronOlive mentioned on Twitter that this deck is probably his favorite deck in Standard.

What also has probably helped See Double gain some popularity is that it was mentioned in a The Command Zone video where they discuss the best Commander cards of the March of the Machine set.

Capricious Hellraiser	CardKingdom $0.99	TCGPlayer $1.13
See Double	CardKingdom $3.99	TCGPlayer $4.25
See Double (Extended Art)		TCGPlayer $4.36

 

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.

 

Tamiyo, the Moon Sage $4.73 - Moving up!

 

Tamiyo, the Moon Sage has been identified by the MTGStocks Premium Penny Stocks feature as a card that has reached its bottom and is starting a consistent uptrend.

 

Serra Paragon $8.34 - Slowly moving down

 

Sarkhan Vol $5.93 - Slowly moving down

Serra Paragon	CardKingdom $10.99	TCGPlayer $8.34
Tamiyo, the Moon Sage		TCGPlayer $4.73
Sarkhan Vol	CardKingdom $7.49	TCGPlayer $5.93

 

That's it for this week. Make sure to check back next week for more Weekly Winners!