Top Trades: July 28 - August 4

Consign to Memory | Illustrated by Ben Hill

Howdy, folks, and welcome to the first Top Trades of August! So, what are the most popular cards being traded on Cardsphere this go around? Let's take a look.

Honorable Mention - Malevolent Rumble

Number of Trades: 6 --- Number of Cards Traded: 8

Kicking things off as our honorable mention this week is the little green pseudo-cantrip that does a little bit of everything: Malevolent Rumble.

For , Malevolent Rumble is a sorcery that reveals the top four cards of your library, then lets you pick a permanent card from among them. You put that into your hand and the rest into your graveyard. Then, you create a 0/1 Eldrazi Spawn creature token with "Sacrifice this creature: Add ."

A blocker, a mana, a card; Malevolent Rumble turns into a whole host of flexible value that can power you ahead throughout the game. Run it alongside our most traded card from this week to really make the most out of it.

#5 - Glimpse the Impossible

Number of Trades: 4 --- Number of Cards Traded: 4

Starting our main list this week is another powerful common out of Modern Horizons 3: Glimpse the Impossible.

For , this sorcery has you exile the top three cards of your library, and you may play those cards this turn. At the beginning of your end step, if any of those cards remain in exile, put them into your graveyard, then create a 0/1 Eldrazi Spawn creature token with "Sacrifice this creature: Add " for each card put into your graveyard this way.

Red often gets impulse spells that provide temporary access to card advantage. What red doesn't get nearly as often, however, are spells that provide guaranteed value regardless of whether you use the cards you've impulsed. Glimpse the Impossible does exactly that, providing up to three Eldrazi Spawn tokens as an insurance policy against your ability to cast the exiled spells.

#4 - Consign to Memory

Number of Trades: 5 --- Number of Cards Traded: 7

At fourth place is our third Modern Horizons 3 pick of the week, and that's Consign to Memory.

For , this instant with replicate lets you counter target triggered ability or colorless spell. Whether that's stopping an Eldrazi titan or just fizzling your own Phyrexian Dreadnought's enters-trigger, Consign to Memory is an absurdly flexible spell that is popping up all over the competitive and casual scenes.

#3 - Mastermind Plum

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

Here at the halfway point is Mastermind Plum, a potentially potent source of card draw for any deck with a high enough Treasure synergy.

For , Mastermind Plum is a legendary 2/2 Human Wizard creature with two triggered abilities. First, "Whenever Mastermind Plum attacks, exile up to one target card from a graveyard. If an artifact card was exiled this way, create a Treasure token." Second, "Whenever you cast a spell, if mana from a Treasure was spent to cast it, you draw a card and you lose 1 life."

As far as abilities are concerned, the real contender is that second trigger. Exiling potential graveyard-based threats is nice, but you're rarely going to have an artifact to exile when Plum attacks. However, that card draw trigger is strong enough on its own to slot in quite nice alongside decks that already make a horde of Treasure, such as Smaug, Wicked Worm.

#2 - Battle of Wits

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

Mystery Booster Commander Edition has been fully revealed to us now, and tucked away amongst the many rulebreaker cards is one legendary creature that might as well say "You can finally play Battle of Wits in Commander."

Whtz, the Bibliophile is a legendary Homunculus that allows your Commander deck to contain any number of cards, provided that Whtz is your commander. (Otherwise, your deck is limited to 100 cards.) Battle of Wits is an enchantment for that causes you to win the game at the beginning of your upkeep if your deck contains 200 or more cards. Need I say more?

#1 - Writhing Chrysalis

Number of Trades: 6 --- Number of Cards Traded: 14

Capping things off as our most traded card for the week, and our fourth card from Modern Horizons 3, is Writhing Chrysalis, a card that many drafters will remember as among the most devastating picks in Limited.

For , Writhing Chrysalis is a 2/3 Eldrazi Drone creature with devoid and reach. It has the cast trigger "When you cast this spell, create two 0/1 colorless Eldrazi Spawn creature tokens with 'Sacrifice this creature: Add .'" Additionally, it has the triggered ability "Whenever you sacrifice another Eldrazi, put a +1/+1 counter on Writhing Chrysalis."

Kicking things off, Writhing Chrysalis is three bodies for four mana. That's a pretty solid rate for a common, regardless of the rest of the text on the card. Digging deeper, the mana returned by those tokens is actually a pretty huge deal: use it to immediately refund half the cost of Writhing Chrysalis the turn you play it or wait another turn for a potentially +2 ritual. Seven mana on turn five is pretty easy with Writhing Chrysalis, and that's a dangerous advantage.

Then you remember the sacrifice trigger. If you play Writhing Chrysalis and immediately sacrifice both Spawn, then you have two colorless floating and have effectively spent for a 4/5. All this to say, it's pretty clear why Writhing Chrysalis is a popular pick in Pauper these days.

Wrap Up

That's that, folks. August is here, and with it a reminder that Modern Horizons 3 has Magic at all levels, even over a year later. Check back in next week for another Top Trades, and thanks for reading!