Sphere of Influence: July 31st, 2026

Shared Animosity | Art by Lander Strijbol

We're in the thick of preview season right now for The Hobbit, so I want to try and get ahead of the trends with some powerful creature type-matters cards on today's edition of Sphere of Influence. This article is going to be a little bit painful for me, because I personally would love to see a few of these cards stay low in price...

My name is Tyler 'Savesya' Bucks, because I make budget decks for EDHREC as well as my YouTube channel, and a few of the cards I'll be talking about today caught my eye while I was adding them to a few decks recently. As I read them, I thought to myself, "This is going to get expensive, isn't it..?" So, now I'm turning that dreadful realization into some useful info for you! Let's not waste any more time and get right into this list.

Metallic Mimic - $1

Since the Hobbit set is looking to be centered around several key creature types, Metallic Mimic could start rising in price since it's a powerful two-drop for any typal deck. It works specifically well with The Great Goblin, who wants to deal out damage to an opponent whenever the members of his army grow with counters. I personally think this is one of the best Goblin commanders we've ever seen, so if others agree with me, then this Shapeshifter will begin to rise in price (be on the lookout for a budget article on The Great Goblin from me on EDHREC soon).

Shared Animosity - $3.50

As I just mentioned, we're getting a lot of creature type-matters cards in this upcoming set, which is why Shared Animosity may become more sought after. Since both Dwarves and Goblins are in red, any decks being built around those two factions will be reaching for this one. Plus, there's an Enchanting Tales art that shows both Dwarves and Goblins, as well as a Lord of the Rings version that players may want in their lists (Shared Animosity & Shared Animosity).

Warren Soultrader $15

Let's keep Goblins on our mind by taking a look at Warren Soultrader. Sure, this creature is already fetching a high price, but we're about to have our second surge of Rakdos Goblin decks this year, so we're close to seeing another big spike for this one. Since the goal for a lot of those lists is to flood the board with tokens, you can quickly turn them into mana in order to push your advantage forward. If you've been thinking about trading this creature in, now may be the time.

Elvish Warmaster - $2.50

Alright, let's change our focus to another creature type from Middle-ethe hobbitarth with Elvish Warmaster. Thranduil, the Elvenking has already taken the internet by storm, and those decks will be hungry for powerful Elves with activated abilities. Whether the Warmaster is on the field, or in your graveyard, it's going to be adding value to your game. While paying seven may seem high for that effect, Elf decks are infamous for ramping out of control, so I don't think they'll be too worried about that cost.

Until Next Time

So, there you have it, four cards that may start rising in price and playability thanks to The Hobbit set! If you're looking to pick any of these up, or trade any of them in, be sure to add them to your Wants or Haves lists here on Cardsphere. Since this set looks to be a powerful one, there's a good chance that we're going to get even more shakeups to the value of classic cards once these packs hit shelves, so be sure to stay tuned for the next edition of Sphere of Influence to help keep up with the trends!