Top Trades: August 25 - September 1

Part in Friendship | Illustrated by Jarel Threat

Howdy, f0lks, and welcome to Top Trades, the weekly series where we check in with Cardsphere's most popular trades. So, what's been moving recently, and what are players picking up? Let's take a look.

Honorable Mention - The Lonely Mountain

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

Kicking things off for the week is our honorable mention, The Lonely Mountain, a card that is rapidly being adopted by red decks throughout Commander thanks to its incredibly low deck building cost.

The Lonely Mountain is a nonbasic Mountain land that enters tapped unless you control an Equipment and has ", : Create a 2/2 red Dwarf creature token. This ability costs less to activate for each Equipment you control. Activate only as a sorcery."

At its floor, The Lonely Mountain is a tapped Mountain; not stellar, but absolutely playable considering that it isn't always going to enter tapped. Compare that floor against the upside - potentially paying as little as to make a Dwarf each turn - and that's a pretty attractive offer for plenty of decks out there.

#5 - Thorin, Mountain-king

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

Coming in at number five is the first Thorin on our list, and that's Thorin, Mountain King.

For , this Thorin is a 3/4 legendary Dwarf Noble creature with trample and "When Thorin enters, attach any number of target Equipment you control to target creature you control. When one or more Equipment become attached to that creature this way, that creature deals damage equal to its power to target creature."

Thorin is a good-ol'-fashioned Equipment commander, plain and simple. Run it in a deck full of a Voltron-player's favorite toys and watch as Thorin's enters-trigger makes it the scariest creature in play.

#4 - Part in Friendship

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

Next up on our list for the week is Part in Friendship, an enchantment that helps you get the most out of your dying creatures.

For , Part in Friendship is an enchantment with "Whenever a nontoken creature you control dies, reveal cards from the top of your library until you reveal a creature card. If its mana value is less than or equal to the number of lands you control, put it onto the battlefield. Otherwise, put it into your hand. Put the rest on the bottom of your library in a random order. This ability triggers only once each turn."

While five mana can feel like a lot for something that only triggers once per turn, it's easy to miss just how much value comes out of this card, especially when things like Brainstorm get into the mix. Plus, since it's not only on your turn, Part in Friendship can reliably trigger up to four times a cycle, grabbing blocker after blocker.

#3 - Thorin Oakenshield

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

Moving on to this week's second Thorin, it's time to look at Thorin Oakenshield.

For , Thorin Oakenshield is a 3/2 legendary Dwarf Noble creature with trample, storied, and "As long as you have an enduring story, artifacts and creatures you control have ward ."

All together, Thorin is a pretty efficient creature that makes interaction against it (and the rest of your team) all that bit more difficult in the mid-to-late game. While it might not be dominating the Equipment scene, this two-drop is wholly worthwhile in its own right; pair Thorin with two more legendaries/artifacts/Sagas and watch as things heat up.

#2 - Dwarven Mauler

Number of Trades: 6 --- Number of Cards Traded: 11

Speaking of cheap Dwarves, our penultimate pick for the week is the most efficient of the bunch: Dwarven Mauler, a 2/1 Dwarf Warrior creature for just that reduces the cost of Equip abilities targeting it by .

While a 2/1 might not be the most attractive target for splashy Equipment, there's no doubt that a discount in the early game can by huge; in Cube and Commander, for instance, that makes Sword of Fire and Ice and the like free to attach. This all points to Dwarven Mauler as having a really clear early-game role: setup for some early swings, then hand off the Equipment when a more powerful creature demands it.

#1 - Supper for Spiders

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

Last but not least, it's time for our most traded card: let's look at Supper for Spiders.

For , this instant reanimates all creature cards that were put into your opponents' graveyards from the battlefield this turn, except they come back as Food artifacts ", , Sacrifice this artifact: You gain 3 life."

While Supper for Spiders isn't exactly handy when it comes to assembling an army of Dwarven Maulers or the like, it is a standout pick when it comes to snagging a board of value creatures right after a board wipe. Bring back the likes of Archivist of Oghma and Lotho, Corrupt Shirriff (creatures you would never really attack with anyway) and watch the value pile up.

Wrap Up

Well, folks, that's another Top Trades! The Hobbit continues to lead the way as Cardsphere's current most-traded set, with Dwarves in particular commanding a spectacular performance. Check back in next week for another Top Trades, and thanks for reading.