Top Trades: July 21 - July 28

Elite Interceptor | Illustrated by Lindsey Look

Howdy, folks, and welcome back to Top Trades, the weekly series where we check in on the cards moving the most copies on Cardsphere. So, what cards are catching traders' eyes this week? Let’s take a look.

Honorable Mention - Hex Magic

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

Our honorable mention this week is Hex Magic, a cheap redraw spell that’s been finding homes pretty quickly.

For , Hex Magic is an Arcane sorcery that exiles all the cards from your hand, then lets you draw that many cards. Until the end of your next turn, you may play the cards exiled this way.

Psuedo-wheels like these are the kind of effect that is always going to get some attention, especially in Izzet shells that are happy to churn through cards and keep the gas flowing. The big thing here is that this isn’t a true wheel: you’re not losing access to the cards you pitched, just setting them aside for a turn cycle while you dig deeper. That makes it a lot easier to use in spellslinger decks, prowess decks, and Commander lists that want to see more cards without fully cashing in their hand. Three mana is a pretty clean rate for that kind of setup, and that alone is enough to get people trading for copies.

#5 - Formidable Speaker

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

At number five, we’ve got Formidable Speaker, a green tutor that's also got a creature stapled to it.

For , Formidable Speaker is a 2/4 Elf Druid. When it enters, you may discard a card. If you do, search your library for a creature card, reveal it, put it into your hand, then shuffle. It also has “, : Untap another target permanent.”

There’s just a lot to like here. Turning your worst card into your best creature is already a nice deal, especially in Commander decks with silver-bullet creatures, toolbox packages, or combos. After that, the untap ability gives this real staying power. Mana dorks, utility lands, artifacts, and creatures with tap abilities all get a lot better when you can reuse them. This is exactly the sort of flexible, all-powerful green card that brewers tend to scoop up whenever it's cheap.

#4 - Erode

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

Coming in at number four is Erode, a card that's eerily close to a Path to Exile reprint.

For , Erode is an instant that destroys target creature or planeswalker. That permanent’s controller may search their library for a basic land card, put it onto the battlefield tapped, then shuffle.

One-mana removal that kills basically anything relevant is always going to turn heads. Yes, that drawback matters, but look at how popular Path to Exile has been across formats and you'll quickly realize that such a drawback is easily outweighed by that low, low mana cost. The exchange rate here is excellent: if you’re trading one white mana for the board's best threat, a lot of decks are going to be perfectly happy with that.

#3 - Elite Interceptor

Number of Trades: 6 --- Number of Cards Traded: 9

At number three this week is Elite Interceptor, a small white creature that does a nice job of giving you more cardboard than you paid for.

For , Elite Interceptor is a 1/2 Human Wizard that enters prepared. Its prepare spell, Rejoinder, is a sorcery that lets you tap or untap target creature, then draw a card.

This is the kind of card that plays better than it looks. Up front, it’s a cheap body that can block early, hold a piece of Equipment, or just keep your curve low. Later on, it turns into a spell that replaces itself while either messing with combat or enabling one of your own creatures. That’s a lot of flexibility for a one-drop, and flexible one-drops tend to travel well. Whether players are looking at it for Cube, aggressive white decks, or just as a tidy little value piece, this card has plenty of opportunities to play well.

#2 - Hawkeye, Young Avenger

Number of Trades: 6 --- Number of Cards Traded: 10

Just missing the top spot is Hawkeye, Young Avenger, a new creature that is joining the ever-growing list of damage-doublers, -triplers, and oddball-increasers.

For , Hawkeye is a 2/4 legendary Human Archer Hero creature with reach. It has "If a source you control would deal noncombat damage to an opponent or a permanent an opponent controls, it deals that much damage plus X instead, where X is Hawkeye’s power."

That text gets out of hand in a hurry. Pingers get much scarier, burn spells hit way above rate, and any repeatable damage engine starts asking some pretty serious questions. Commander players, especially, tend to lock onto cards like this fast; if something turns all your incidental damage into a real threat, it’s going to get tested.

#1 - Hare Apparent

Number of Trades: 9 --- Number of Cards Traded: 29

In the top spot this week, we’ve got Hare Apparent, which continues to prove that normal deckbuilding rules are, at best, a suggestion.

For , Hare Apparent is a 2/2 Rabbit Noble. When it enters, create a number of 1/1 white Rabbit creature tokens equal to the number of other creatures you control named Hare Apparent. And, of course, it also has the line, “A deck can have any number of cards named Hare Apparent.”

That last line is doing most of the heavy lifting here. The first Hare is whatever; the second one starts the snowball; by the time you’re a few copies deep, the card is doing a pretty good impression of a self-contained army. Players love cards that reward them for committing fully to the bit, and Hare Apparent absolutely does that. It scales, it multiplies, and it asks you to ignore one of the game’s usual constraints in the process. That’s a pretty reliable recipe for a lot of copies changing hands.

Wrap Up

That does it for this week’s Top Trades. From casual Commander build-arounds to competitive staples, this list was a smattering of Standard's best (and quirkiest) offerings. Thanks for reading, and I’ll catch you next week.