Top Trades: July 15-July 22

Naga Fleshcrafter | Illustrated by Valera Lutfullina

Howdy, folks, and happy Thursday! The week is just about up, and that means it's time for Top Trades, the weekly series where we check in with the some of the most popular cards here at Cardsphere. So what have people been trading this week? Let's take a look!

Honorable Mention - Sazh's Chocobo

Number of Trades: 8 --- Number of Cards Traded: 13

Kicking off this week is Modern's newest favorite Bird, Sazh's Chocobo.

For , this 0/1 brings with it one simple, powerful triggered ability; "Whenever a land you control enters, put a +1/+1 counter on this creature." At first glance, this doesn't exactly read like much, especially in a format dominated by the power-crept designs of Modern Horizons 3 and friends, but then you remember fetch lands exist, and a suddenly Sazh's Chocobo's breakout success becomes understandable. Assuming you're able to play (and crack) a fetch land each turn, then a Sazh's Chocobo cast turn one becomes a 2/3 on turn two, then a 4/5 on turn three, and so on. Backing this up with multiples means you'll never be without a relevant creature, exactly the kind of efficient combat threat that decks like Modern Zoo are built around.

#5 - Naga Fleshcrafter

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

Moving on to our main list from the week, let's start things off with the one card from a set other than Final Fantasy that we'll be talking about: Naga Fleshcrafter.

Starting with the base rate, Naga Fleshcrafter is a 0/0 Snake Shapeshifter for that enters as a copy of any creature in play. Not a bad rate, but not terribly special considering other contemporary clones (Mockingbird, Flesh Duplicate, etc). So, where's the intrigue? With Naga Fleshcrafter's Renew ability, that's where.

For , you may exile Naga Fleshcrafter from your graveyard to put a +1/+1 counter on target nonlegendary creature you control. Until end of turn, each other creature you control becomes a copy of that creature (you may only activate this ability any time you could cast a sorcery).

A well-timed activation of Naga Fleshcrafter's Renew ability will win games, no doubt about it. Picture this: you're playing a Simic big mana deck in Commander. You have a bunch of early-game mana dorks, plus one big creature you managed to resolve the turn prior (an Eldrazi the likes of Void Winnower, perhaps). Suddenly, for , all your dorks becomes massive threats, handing you the game. Not too bad, especially for a card with a base rate that's a decent clone effect.

#4 - The Wandering Minstrel

Number of Trades: 7 --- Number of Cards Traded: 8

And with that out of the way, it's time we return to our regularly scheduled programming: more Final Fantasy. Next up, The Wandering Minstrel. This one's a doozy with a lot of text, so let's get to it.

For , The Wandering Minstrel is a 1/3 legendary Human Bard creature that causes all lands you control to enter untapped. Additionally, at the beginning of your combat, if you control five or more Towns, you create a 2/2 Elemental creature token that's all colors. Last but not least, you can pay to give all other creatures you control +X/+X, where X is the number of Towns you control.

The Wandering Minstrel is a particularly interesting card because of that first line of text: allowing lands you control to enter untapped. Ignoring that text, the rest of this card is a solid contender for a five-color Towns Commander deck. Fun? Certainly. High power? Not likely. Adding back in that top line, however, and now more competitive builds enter the picture, decks that have no interest whatsoever in the rest of The Wandering Minstrel's text.

A two-drop that allows for some of Magic's most broken lands to enter untapped is a huge boon to multicolor lists of any sort, so it's not hard to imagine a five-color goodstuffs deck that simply runs this in the command zone as a way to dig a little bit deeper into Magic's 30+ year catalogue of mana.

#3 - Fire Magic

Number of Trades: 7 --- Number of Cards Traded: 8

Coming in at third place is a standout example of Final Fantasy's new modal mechanic, tiered. So, how does it work, and how does it make Fire Magic a potent spell?

Tiered is a lot like spree from Outlaws of Thunder Junction, except tiered forces you to choose exactly one additional cost, rather than one or more. Turning to Fire Magic, tiered means that although this spell has a mana cost of , you're presented with three additional costs to choose from: , , and . In that same order, these costs mean that Fire Magic either deals 1, 2, or 3 damage to each creature.

Magic is a game all about flexibility and timing, so the scaling power of Fire Magic should not be underestimated. A one-mana board wipe (even a limited one) can be a game-ender, especially with the bevy of one-toughness creatures dominating older formats (Orcish Bowmasters, Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer, etc).

#2 - Joshua, Phoenix's Dominant

Number of Trades: 7 --- Number of Cards Traded: 9

Our penultimate pick for the week combines two more hallmarks of the Final Fantasy crossover expansion: double-faced legendary creatures, and Saga creatures. So, let's break down Joshua, Phoenix's Dominant.

On the front face, Joshua is an aggressive creature with a self-synergistic bit of card selection. A 3/4 legendary Human Noble Wizard for , Joshua allows you to discard up to two cards when it enters, then you draw that many cards. Later on, you can pay and tap Joshua to transform it, exiling it in the process so that way it returns to the battlefield untapped. This also matters because the backside, Phoenix, Warden of Fire, is a 4/4 legendary enchantment Sage Phoenix creature with flying and lifelink. Since it's a Saga, it'll gain a lore counter when it enters, triggering the first of three chapters.

The first (and second) chapters of Phoenix, Warden of Fire cause it to deal 2 damage to each opponent. Not terribly significant, but damage is damage; even incrementally, it'll get you to the finish line. The third chapter is where things get interesting, however, as Phoenix allows you to return any number of creatures with total mana value six or less from your graveyard (such as those you discarded with Joshua's enters-trigger) to the battlefield. Then, you can exile Phoenix and return it to the battlefield (front face up), starting the cycle anew.

All in all, Joshua, Phoenix's Dominant does a whole lot of stuff, but it packs it all into one reasonably efficient and self-contained package, meaning that it doesn't need any support in order to play a significant role in any game that it's played.

#1 - Cloud, Midgar Mercenary

Number of Trades: 8 --- Number of Cards Traded: 8

Last but not least, we come to a card that I've been waiting to talk about for a while, and that's one of Final Fantasy's many face characters: Cloud, Midgar Mercenary.

For , Cloud is a legendary 2/1 Human Soldier Mercenary which, upon entering, allows you to search your library for an Equipment to put into hand. Additionally, as long as Cloud is equipped, if a triggered ability of Cloud or an Equipment attached to Cloud would trigger, it triggers an additional time.

So, why am I so excited about this card? Vintage! The format of Black Lotus and friends is rarely talked about here at Top Trades, with very few cards being able to break into the upper echelons of 60-card constructed, but Cloud managed to pull it off. You see, equipping Cloud with Skullclamp will both kill Cloud instantly (triggering Skullclamp), as well as doubling Skullclamp's trigger. This means that Cloud isn't just a threat that can be backed up by some of Magic's best Equipment, but it can also be a massive source of card advantage in a pinch.

Wrap Up

We finally did it, folks! We had a breakout card from beyond Final Fantasy make it to our list, plus a new contender for Magic's most broken format, Vintage. Check back in next week to see if the prerelease of Edge of Eternities does anything to shake Final Fantasy's hold from our roster, and thanks for reading!