Top Trades: August 5-August 12

Anticausal Vestige | Illustrated by Chase Stone

Happy Thursday, everyone, and welcome to Top Trades - the weekly series where we check in with the most popular cards here at Cardsphere. So, what picks have folks been eyeing the most this week? Let's find out.

Honorable Mention - Icetill Explorer

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

Kicking things off as our honorable mention is a card that just keeps the hype train going, and that's Icetill Explorer.

For , Icetill Explorer is a 2/4 Insect Scout that allows you to play lands from your graveyard, play an additional land each turn, and causes you to mill a card whenever a land under your control enters. Reading all three of these abilities together, you've got a potent packages that provides you with everything you need to strip just about every land out of your deck, all the while keeping you with a freshly stocked graveyard should you need it for anything else.

While it isn't a combo that'll immediately win you the game, Icetill Explorer plays so well with fetch lands that I can't forget to mention them here. Being able to play a fetch land, crack it, then replay that same fetchland from your graveyard and crack it again is a surefire way to guarantee you hit both land drops every, single, turn.

#5 - Anticausal Vestige

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

Moving on from our green pastures to Magic's favorite colorless land, er, world-eaters, let's take a look at the number five card on our list: Anticausal Vestige.

For - or a warp cost of - this 7/5 Eldrazi brings with it a powerful leaves-the-battlefield trigger, allowing you to draw a card, then put a permanent card with mana value less than or equal to the number of lands you control from your hand into play tapped.

Anticausal Vestige is exactly the kind of big, spooky, feels-good Eldrazi that you can expect to see played more broadly in mid-to-low power Commander games. No mass destruction or extra turns in sight, just a flexible way to cheat powerful threats into play that scale with the length of the game.

#4 - Unable to Scream

Number of Trades: 7 --- Number of Cards Traded: 10

Coming up next is our first (and only) non-Edge of Eternities card for the week, and that's the quasi-removal enchantment Unable to Scream from Duskmourn: House of Horrors.

For , this enchantment makes enchanted creature into a 0/2 Toy artifact creature (in addition to its other types) that loses all abilities. Additionally, if enchanted creature is face-down, it can't be turned face-up.

Unable to Scream does a whole lot of work for just , especially considering the fact that white is normally the color which packs the heavy weight of cheap enchantment-based removal effects. Does it stack up terribly well against the likes of Sheltered by Ghosts? Only sort-of, but if you aren't in white then that's not a competition to concern yourself with.

#3 - Timeline Culler

Number of Trades: 8 --- Number of Cards Traded: 11

Here at the third spot on our list is a card that just will not stop being cast, and that's Timeline Culler, a 2/2 that can't really die.

For (or and two life, assuming the warp cost is paid), Timeline Culler is a 2/2 Drix Warlock with haste. Additionally, Timeline Culler can be cast, using its warp cost, from your graveyard.

Now, a 2/2 for two mana - or even one - isn't terrible powerful. Those are some normal stats for a creature, especially in black. Where things get interesting, though, are when sacrifice loops come into play. Pair Timeline Culler with Phyrexian Altar and you can cast it a number of times equal to half your life total (roughly), a base engine that can be augmented to create more potent combos.

#2 - Breeding Pool

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

It seems that there's been a shock land on our list just about every week since Edge of Eternities released, and this week is no exception. So, what's up this time? Breeding Pool.

A land with both the Forest and Island land types, Breeding Pool asks a simple question as it enters: "Do you pay two life?" If you do, it'll enter untapped. Otherwise, Breeding Pool enters tapped.

Simic strategies aren't exactly the strongest thing in Standard right now, but shock lands are always in demand; they are the second-most powerful dual lands in the game, after all. As such, Breeding Pool's demand this week is mostly spillover from Modern, Pioneer, and Commander... so, most of the game's players.

#1 - Quantum Riddler

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

Last but not least, we've come to our most traded card of the week: a top-end threat for many a blue deck; let's get the rundown on Quantum Riddler.

With a warp cost of , Quantum Riddler is a 4/6 Sphinx for with flying that draws a card when it enters. Additionally, it carries with it a replacement effect that causes you to draw an additional card whenever you draw a card, so long as you have no cards in your hand.

Despite its name, Quantum Riddler is a pretty simple card: two mana to draw a card can be helpful at almost any point in the game, and that's exactly what the warp cost on this card functions as (almost like cycling). Once you've stabilized and have the mana available, spending five mana to pay for Quantum Riddler in full with net you another card thanks to that triggered ability, potentially two if you're late enough in the game to be in top-deck mode.

Wrap Up

Well, folks, we have Duskmourn's Unable to Scream to thank for breaking Edge of Eternities' nonstop dominance over Top Trades these past few weeks. Come back next time to see how much things continue to shake up, and thanks for reading!