Sphere of Influence: August 9, 2024

Welcome to Sphere of Influence, a pre-FNM look at some potential movers and shakers that are worth picking up before their prices increase.

Bloomburrow is here, and its myriad Mice, Lizards, and Otters are ready to rock. I’ll tackle that set next week; for now, pay attention to this list of cards that you’ll want to grab for future brews—and to put a stop to the shenanigans of others.

Leyline Binding

It takes a bit of elbow grease and a fair number of Fetchlands, but the juice of a one-mana removal spell at instant speed is worth the squeeze. The card really shines in Modern, where Fetchlands run rampant, and remains fairly difficult to remove for most of the meta, especially pre-sideboard.

Its price has fluctuated a fair amount in its lifetime, at one point reaching almost $20. Thankfully, a reprint in Outlaws of Thunder Junction: Breaking News has dropped that price to a measly $2, or $4 if you’re adamant about grabbing the original version from Dominaria United. That’s a heck of a price for a card with so much flexibility and power—even the right Commander deck could make great use of one.

Blood Moon

This notoriously hated card does one thing, and does it well: hosing greedy decks. Of course, Blood Moon can often be entirely irrelevant in the match-up, but when it’s good, it’s the best card in your deck. A mere $8 is a small price to pay for such a powerful hate piece across multiple formats, so pick up at least one, and watch as you shed friends at a rapidly escalating pace.

Goblin Bombardment

One of the better free sac outlets in Commander, Goblin Bombardment rose to roughly $10 when it was in short supply. A reprint in Modern Horizons 2 dropped the price to less than a quarter for awhile, and the card is beginning to creep back up, having recently reached almost $2.

There’s no way it will soar to the heights it once was—there are far better sac outlets now—but this one stands strong as a permanent type that’s hard to remove and a way to deal direct damage to opponents and their creatures. Give it a try in a Commander deck with even just a handful of creature tokens, and you’ll be impressed.

Caustic Bronco

Dark Confidant this is not—let alone the fact that Dark Confidant is barely as good as Dark Confidant used to be—yet Caustic Bronco represents a Bob trigger on every turn with the potential to turn the tables and force opponents to lose life. The card made its way into Standard decks before rotation, even popping into Pioneer, and I’d expect players to gravitate to what’s familiar when the rest of the Standard format is in such flux. Bronco is currently only $1 and probably won’t top double digits anytime soon, but stranger things have happened in past Standards.

Full Moon?

It’s been awhile since I’ve sleeved up a Blood Moon of my own, though I see it tearing up streams in the right decks. Have any of y’all cast it recently in Modern? Does it strike as much fear into the hearts of five-color players as it once did? Let me know!