Top Trades: August 26 - September 2

Tezzeret, Cruel Captain | Illustrated by Chris Rahn

Howdy, folks! I hope everyone's week has been going well so far. We're getting closer to the weekend, and that means it's time for Top Trades, the weekly series where we check in with the most popular cards here at Cardsphere. So, what's been moving around the most? Let's dive in.

Honorable Mention - Weapons Manufacturing

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

First up is out honorable mention, a card that's been getting a good deal of attention since Edge of Eternities first released, and that's Weapons Manufacturing.

For , this enchantment says:

Whenever a nontoken artifact you control enters, create a colorless artifact token named Munitions with “When this token leaves the battlefield, it deals 2 damage to any target.”

Weapons Manufacturing is a good ol' fashioned Commander player's dream. It doesn't help you out at all with getting the ball rolling on Munitions production, nor does it readily provide you with a way to blow up your Munitions once you do have them. However, with the right support, this can easily be a source of a deceptively dangerous amount of artifacts as the game goes on.

#5 - Slime Against Humanity

Number of Trades: 5 --- Number of Cards Traded: 18

Kicking off our main list for the week is another card Commander players near and far have come to love, and that's a standout common from Murders at Karlov Manor, another in Magic's growing roster of cards that let you run any number of them in your deck.

So, outside of the "any number" clause, what does Slime Against Humanity actually do? It makes a pretty big Ooze, that's what. More specifically, this sorcery creates a 0/0 green Ooze creature token, then places X +1/+1 counters on it, where X is two plus the number of cards in exile and in your graveyard that are Oozes and/or named Slime Against Humanity.

The result of this snowballing is a pretty lackluster Ooze being created at first, but - as any dedicated kindred deck will show you - each incremental addition will quickly outpace the previous. Two, four, six, those are just the stats for more Ooze created by this spell alone, never mind any other support pieces you'll be running.

#4 - Tempest Hawk

Number of Trades: 5 --- Number of Cards Traded: 31

Following in near identical fashion is another member of Magic's roster of "any number" spells, albeit this time from a more recent set: Tarkir: Dragonstorm.

For , Tempest Hawk is a 2/2 Bird with flying that, whenever it deals combat damage to a player, allows you to search your library for another Tempest Hawk and put it into your hand.

Slime Against Humanity may have the edge on Tempest Hawk when it comes to sheer size (I mean, you'll never be resolving a Tempest Hawk that's bigger than a 2/2), but, in true white go-wide fashion, Tempest Hawk easily has the edge on Slime Against Humanity by the sheer breadth of the army it can assemble. Resolving one Tempest Hawk means you essentially have access to each other copy of it in your deck, given enough time and a clear path to your opponent's life total, that is.

#3 - Tezzeret, Cruel Captain

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

Alrighty, now it's time to jump from casual Commander and to the realm of more broken cards. So, what is Tezzeret up to now?

For , Tezzeret, Cruel Captain is a planeswalker with four starting loyalty, the standard three loyalty abilities, and a pretty unique static effect. "Whenever an artifact you control enters, put a loyalty counter on Tezzeret." That's where the ability to grow him stops. So, like Sarkhan the Mad before him, let's see these downticks (and a zero-loyalty ability) in action.

At a cost of no loyalty counters, you can untap target artifact or creature. If it's a creature, put a +1/+1 counter on it. For three loyalty, you can search your library for an artifact with mana value one or less to put into your hand. For seven loyalty, you can have an emblem that puts three +1/+1 counters on an artifact you control at the beginning of your combat, then it turns into a 0/0 Robot artifact creature if it isn't already a creature.

So, what to make of Tezzeret? Coming from someone who likes casting him in cEDH, ultimates are cool and all, but that's not where his power comes in. Rather, the ability to tutor up some of Magic's most broken artifacts consistently (Lion's Eye Diamond, Sol Ring, and Esper Sentinel come to mind), especially when combined with an ability to untap the likes of Grim Monolith and The One Ring, make Tezzeret into exactly the flexible, consistent, grindy value engine that cEDH is full of right now. Who knew a Voltaic Key that could find artifacts to untap would be good?

#2 - Zuran Orb

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

Speaking of low- and no-cost artifacts, let's switch Commander gears once again to cover a unique artifact that has use cases at just about every bracket.

Zuran Orb is an artifact for that allows you to sacrifice a land to gain two life. Pretty simple, right? Well, simple effects without limitations can be broken easily, and Zuran Orb pushes that notion further ahead.

Looking to Magic's newest set, the first thing that comes to mind is Icetill Explorer, a creature that allows you to play lands from your graveyard. Couple that with Zuran Orb, and you've got a surefire way to hit both Landfall and sacrifice triggers turn after turn. Meanwhile, in competitive Commander, Zuran Orb is a linchpin piece for the Lumra, Bellow of the Woods deck, which seeks to loop casting its commander over and over again by controlling no lands when Lumra enters.

#1 - Razorkin Needlehead

Number of Trades: 8 --- Number of Cards Traded: 9

Last but not least, it's time for yet another Commander pick that has carved its niche into cEDH and lower brackets as well: Razorkin Needlehead.

For , you'll get a 2/2 Human Assassin with first strike, during your turn only, as well as the triggered ability "Whenever an opponent draws a card, this creature deals 1 damage to them."

In every bracket except for cEDH, Razorkin Needlehead has become a potent figure in red's expanding repertoire of attrition effects. From Eidolon of the Great Revel to Roiling Vortex and now Razorkin Needlehead, red is and always has been the color of damage.

Meanwhile, Looking to cEDH, Razorkin Needlehead continues to maintain a slot in Ob Nixilis, Captive Kingpin decks, where its precise one-damage is perfect for triggering Ob Nixilis and securing card advantage turn after turn.

Wrap Up

This week was a diverse roster of cards with one thing in common: Commander. From casual favorites to cEDH breakouts, the full breadth of the format had representation here, and from strategies of all types, too. Come back next week to see what's being traded, and thanks for reading!