Top Trades: October 28-November 4

Welcome everyone, and happy Thursday! I hope the week has been going well for all of you. It's time for Top Trades, the series where we check in to see what's moving around the most on Cardsphere. So, which cards have been traded the most this week? Let's take a look!

Honorable Mention - Enduring Vitality

Number of Trades: 5 --- Number of Cards Traded: 5

This week's honorable mention is Enduring Vitality, a Cryptolith Rite-esque effect stapled on to a Glimmer from Duskmourn's "Enduring" cycle.

For , you get a 3/3 Glimmer enchantment creature with vigilance and the unifying triggered ability from all of Duskmourn's "Enduring" cards. This means that when Enduring Vitality dies, if it was a creature, you get to bring it back to the battlefield as a noncreature enchantment. So, what do we do when Enduring Vitality isn't a 3/3 Glimmer with vigilance anymore? Keep on making mana.

Enduring Vitality's static ability - the one we still get to keep when it isn't a creature - grants all creatures you control the ability ": Add one mana of any color." Mana's pretty useful in Magic, especially when you can use it to cast creatures which - get this - can keep the train going by making even more mana. Now that's value.

#5 - Maha, Its Feathers Night

Number of Trades: 5 --- Number of Cards Traded: 5

First up on the main list of Top Trades this week is eerily reminiscient of Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite: Maha, Its Feathers Night.

Unlike Elesh Norn, Maha here doesn't directly buff your team's power, but for blocking purposes it might as well do just that, and that's all thanks to the near-boardwipe level static effect Maha brings with it. "Creatures your opponents control have base toughness 1." That's on top of an already powerful 6/5 legendary Elemental Bird creature with flying, trample, and ward - discard a card, all for the relatively low cost of .

Just like good ol' Elesh Norn, Maha is effectively a boardwipe on a stick, but unlike Elesh Norn this Bird costs a significant less to cast and is an aggressive, protected clock in and of itself. Keep an eye out; a resolved Maha will frequently end the game.

#4 - Fanatic of Rhonas

Number of Trades: 6 --- Number of Cards Traded: 7

Next up on our list is one of the biggest mana dorks Magic has made in a while, and that's Fanatic of Rhonas from Modern Horizons 3.

At base rate, Fanatic of Rhonas is for a 1/4 Snake Druid with ": Add ." Not bad, but not particularly good in a world where things like Llanowar Elves exist. Where things really start to get interesting, however, is when you're able to have ferocious online.

Ferocious is an ability word which means that something extra is granted so long as the condition of controlling a creature with power four or greater is met. For Fanatic of Rhonas, ferocious grants this Snake Druid the ability to add instead of just the usual . So, how are we going to get the ball rolling on ferocious? Well, you can either do it the traditional route - control some other big creature - or you can make Fanatic of Rhonas have four power itself, perhaps through its eternalize ability?

That's right! For just , you can exile Fanatic of Rhonas from your graveyard in order to create a black token copy of it (that's also a Zombie) with power and toughness 4/4, immediately unlocking ferocious.

#3 - Valley Floodcaller

Number of Trades: 7 --- Number of Cards Traded: 7

Coming in halfway through this week's list is Valley Floodcaller, an Otter that tops off an already universally good ability with a not-insignificant creature type effect. So, let's break it down.

For , Valley Floodcaller is a 2/2 Otter Wizard with flash, immediately providing you with the flexibility to cast it whenever you see fit. Holding up mana for interaction that you don't end up spending? Great! Cast it on an end step. How about an upkeep? That works to! Need an emergency blocker? Valley Floodcaller has you covered.

Once Valley Floodcaller actually hits the field, you can immediately benefit from its game-warping first line of text; "You may cast noncreature spells as though they had flash." Build around Valley Floodcaller's first ability enough and now you have a card that can enable instant-speed wins with relative ease.

Adding on to the main attraction is Valley Floodcaller's triggered ability, which causes each Bird, Frog, Rat, and Otter you control to get +1/+1 until end of turn whenever you cast a noncreature spell, in addition to untapping all those creatures. Storming off with a series of cantrips? Well Valley Floodcaller essentially gives your board prowess in the right builds, making small armies big and big armies huge.

#2 - Masked Vandal

Number of Trades: 7 --- Number of Cards Traded: 11

Our penultimate pick this week is another selection with creature type synergies, and that's Masked Vandal.

For , Masked Vandal is a 1/3 Shapeshifter with changeling, allowing it to slot into any and every creature-type-matters deck out there. Quite the ubiquitous typeline.

Beyond just the useful creature types, Masked Vandal also packs plenty of value via its enters-the-battlefield trigger. When Masked Vandal enters, you may exile a creature card from your graveyard. If you do, exile target artifact or enchantment an opponent controls.

Since Masked Vandal's trigger is conditional on exiling a card from your graveyard, it's not without reason to imagine a bit of a build-around here. Not around just Masked Vandal, but definitely a deck with enough ways of stocking the graveyard so that way this card is never offline. Once that hurdle has been jumped, now the fun begins - dealing with any artifact or enchantment, even those with indestructible...The One Ring, perhaps?

#1 - Sheltered by Ghosts

Number of Trades: 10 --- Number of Cards Traded: 13

Here we are, folks, our most traded card of the week - Sheltered by Ghosts!

First up, let's break down the card. For , Sheltered by Ghosts is an aura that can enchant a creature you control, granting that creature +1/0, lifelink, and ward . Not bad, but where this card really shines is as a removal piece, because when Sheltered by Ghosts enters, you exile target nonland permanent an opponent controls until Sheltered by Ghosts leaves the battlefield.

Sheltered by Ghosts' mana value of just two puts it right next to good ol' Journey to Nowhere in terms of sheer mana efficiency, but unlike Journey to Nowhere you need to control a creature before Sheltered by Ghosts can put in any work. The tradeoff, however, is that you get a bit of a two-for-one; your creature gets better and better, plus you can remove any nonland permanent an opponent controls, not just a creature.

Wrap Up

This was a week of value picks - commons and uncommons that pull important weight in maintaining the tempo of the game, a massive mana dork, plus an honorable mention keeping the theme of playing at or above curve alive and well. Tune in next week for another installment of Top Trades, and thanks for reading.