Top Trades: July 29-Aug 5

Pinnacle Emissary | Illustrated by Alejandro Pacheco

Howdy, folks! Welcome to Top Trades, the weekly series where we check in with the most popular cards here at Cardsphere from the week prior. So, what are eager players and collectors scrambling for? Let's take a look.

Honorable Mention - Umbral Collar Zealot

Number of Trades: 14 --- Number of Cards Traded: 16

Starting off this week as an honorable mention is a card that is continuing its dominating run from last week when it also popped up as a main-list pick for the week: Umbral Collar Zealot, an unrestricted sacrifice outlet with a lot of potential.

For , Umbral Collar Zealot is a 3/2 Human Cleric that has the activated ability "Sacrifice another creature or artifact: Surveil 1."

Being able to sacrifice a creature without being restricted by timing clauses or any sort of additional costs is the pinnacle of sac-outlet efficacy. "Block first, sacrifice later" is an unofficial motto for this card, and that only scratches the surface.

Looking to the actual effect of Umbral Collar Zealot's ability upon resolution, surveilling is an excellent way to rapidly churn through your library. Sure, surveil one isn't the most efficient way to go about it, but sacrifice a critical mass of creatures - the exact aristocrats strategy Umbral Collar Zealot already slots into - and suddenly you have your pick of the graveyard.

#5 - Weapons Manufacturing

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

Speaking of things to sacrifice, don't forget that Umbral Collar Zealot can also sacrifice artifacts, like the Munitions tokens that Weapons Manufacturing creates.

For , this enchantment brings with it one triggered ability. "Whenever a nontoken artifact enters the battlefield, create a colorless artifact token named Munitions with 'When this token leaves the battlefield, it deals 2 damage to any target.'"

Weapons Manufacturing is an interesting build-around card because it does nothing on its own, but it can be game-winning when fully supported. The Munitions tokens it creates can easily deal a lethal amount of damage if enough artifacts resolve (or are simply flickered a la Brago, King Eternal), but that still doesn't answer the question of how you're going to get that leaves trigger onto the stack. However, once you answer it (...Umbral Collar Zealot), then you'll be off to the races, blowing up the competition along the way.

#4 - Pinnacle Emissary

Number of Trades: 10 --- Number of Cards Traded: 12

Next up is another Edge of Eternities pick that is keeping the artifacts-theme going, and that's Pinnacle Emissary.

Carrying a base mana cost of and a warp cost of , Pinnacle Emissary is a 3/3 Robot artifact creature with "Whenever you cast an artifact spell, create a 1/1 colorless Drone artifact creature token with flying and 'This token can block only creatures with flying.'"

Despite the tokens having a blocking restriction, Pinnacle Emissary is nonetheless an evasive army in a can. Follow it up with some bits and baubles (maybe even in the same turn, assuming you've warped it in and have more mana available for subsequent spells), and Pinnacle Emissary will quite readily provide you with a massive set of flying Drones.

#3 - Seam Rip

Number of Trades: 10 --- Number of Cards Traded: 15

Turning away from our artifacts theme (for a brief moment), our third pick for the week is an efficient piece of removal, reminiscent of Portable Hole. So, how good is Seam Rip?

For , Seam Rip is an enchantment that, upon entering, allows you to exile (until Seam Rip leaves the battlefield) target nonland permanent an opponent controls with mana value two or less.

Enchantments aren't a terribly easy card type to interact with once they resolve, so Seam Rip is usually a fairly long-lasting answer to any mana-value two-or-less nonland permanent that's bugging you. So, how broad is that slot of threats? Fairly wide. In competitive Magic, early game threats have been dominating Standard recently, and Seam Rip serves as another option for the slower decks out there to snag some safety.

#2 - The Seriema

Number of Trades: 11 --- Number of Cards Traded: 12

Alrighty, back on to the artifacts from Edge of Eternities, this time via the set's newest specialty subtype: Spacecraft.

At their core, Spacecraft are a whole lot like Vehicles, except their version of crew, station, can only be done at sorcery speed, and it puts charge counters on the Spacecraft equal to the stationing creature's power, meaning that the threshold for a station cap to be met carries over from turn to turn, as opposed to the every-turn crewing that Vehicles need. Now, on to The Seriema.

For , The Seriema is a legendary Spacecraft artifact that tutors for a legendary creature when it enters. Additionally, once it has met a station cap of seven or greater, it becomes a 5/5 creature with flying and "Other tapped legendary creatures you control have indestructible."

Since you can keep activating a Spacecraft's station ability regardless of how many charge counters are already on it, The Seriema effectively allows wise players to make their legendary creatures indestructible simply by tapping them on their turn. Beyond that outlet, non-vigilant legendary creatures will similarly be indestructible once they head to combat, as they'll be tapped by the time they're declared as attackers.

Couple all of these bonuses with an immediate tutor effect, and The Seriema is the perfect support for any and all legends-matters strategies out there.

#1 - Stomping Ground

Number of Trades: 12 --- Number of Cards Traded: 13

Last but not least, what else could it be on our journey through outer space, but a return to home: Stomping Ground, one of the shock lands reprinted in Edge of Eternities.

Stomping Ground is a classic of Magic stretching all the way back to the very first Ravnica block. A land with both the Mountain and Forest types, Stomping Ground enters tapped unless you pay two life.

Play Magic long enough and you're bound to bump into the shock lands. They're the core of Modern and Pioneer mana bases (and Standard when they're legal), only being pushed out of Legacy and Vintage by the game's very-first dual lands. Presenting the player with all the decision-making agency they need in order to have the land enter untapped, rather than it being dependent on conditions like sequencing, is simply the peak of contemporary mana design.

Wrap Up

Well, folks, it's been Edge of Eternities' second week at Cardsphere, and so far it's two for two on dominating Top Trades. Check back in next week to see if it can keep the momentum going, and thanks for reading!