Top Trades: November 3 - November 10

Liliana the Faultless | Illustrated by Marta Nael

Howdy, folks! I hope as many of you all as were able go to enjoy the Star Trek prerelease events this past week. So, with a new batch of cards making their way to Cardsphere, it's time to once again check out and see what cards folks are trading. Let's take a look!

Honorable Mention - Dark Matter Manipulator

Number of Trades: 11 --- Number of Cards Traded: 13

Continuing its run as last week's honorable mention is Dark Matter Manipulator, one of the better graveyard synergy pieces to have come out of a Standard set in recent memory.

For , Dark Matter Manipulator is a 1/2 Human Warlock creature that causes you to mill three cards when it enters. Additionally, Dark Matter Manipulator gets +2/+0 for each set of seven cards in your graveyard.

As a one-drop, Dark Matter Manipulator serves two roles. First off, it's an easy turn-one play that boosts your battlefield presence and keeps you on tempo. Second, it's a great way to set up resources for later turns, as plenty of strategies use the graveyard as essentially a second hand. So, while a 1/2 for one mana isn't much and three cards milled for one mana isn't much, the combined package of both effects, plus the added aggressive turn Dark Matter Manipulator can take if you fill your graveyard with enough cards, easily pushes the whole of this card into the realm of playability.

#5 - Replicator

Number of Trades: 5 --- Number of Cards Traded: 6

Kicking off our main pick from the week is our only Star Trek candidate, and that's Replicator.

For you get an artifact that creates a Food token when it enters and itself has ", : Create a tapped token that's a copy of target token you control." At worst, that basically means you get the ability to keep churning out Food after Food each turn, at the price of two mana. At best, Replicator can serve as an efficient engine for creating copies of monstrous tokens; anyone remember Stoneforged Blade?

#4 - Liliana the Faultless

Number of Trades: 5 --- Number of Cards Traded: 6

Moving back on over to the realm of in-universe sets, let's check out Reality Fracture's echoed version of Liliana.

For , Liliana the Faultless is a 1/1 legendary Human Cleric creature that causes you to gain one life whenever another creature or planeswalker you control enters. Additionally, Liliana has ", , Discard a card: Another target creature or planeswalker you control gains hexproof until end of turn."

First off, let's recognize just how powerful Liliana's triggered ability is. Throughout Magic, there have been lifegain decks built off of the likes of Soul Warden and Soul's Attendant, and now those decks can add Liliana as another potent one-drop to the mix.

As for that activated ability, this one is a bit more of a build-around. Discarding a card and spending mana in order to save a creature or planeswalker can be worth it in plenty of scenarios, but it's still a pretty high bar. That said, if you put Liliana in a deck that wants to be discarding cards (Orzhov Reanimator, perhaps?) then you've got yourself a game plan.

#3 - Garruk, Veiled Butcher

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

Next up is another legendary character from the Echoverse, and that's none other than Garruk, now the Veiled Butcher.

For , this legendary planeswalker brings with it the static ability "If a creature an opponent controls would die, exile it instead." He starts with five loyalty counters and has three loyalty abilities: his +2 gives up to one target creature -4/-1 until your next turn, his -2 has everyone sacrifice a creature, then you create a 4/4 green Beast creature token if you sacrificed a creature this way, and his -3 has each opponent discard two cards, then you draw a card for each opponent who didn't discard two nonland cards this way.

While Garruk doesn't have a traditional game-ending ultimate, make no mistake, this powerful planeswalker is easily a game-ending source of value all on its own. His loyalty ability easily kills many of Magic's versatile utility creatures (mana dorks, Esper Sentinel, Orcish Bowmasters, etc.), while his second and third abilities are both powerful ways to slowly strip your opponents of resources while pushing you ahead.

#2 - Brash Taunter

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

Here at our penultimate spot is a bit of a throwback pick, and that's Brash Taunter.

For , this indestructible Goblin brings with it a whole host of synergistic abilities. First, whenever Brash Taunter is dealt damage, it deals that much damage to target opponent. Second, Brash Taunter has the ability to fight target creature, at the cost of and tapping it.

While the fight ability won't kill much beyond the value creatures hanging around the commander table, the real value here is in its interaction with Brash Taunter's triggered ability. Fight something massive (say, an Apex Devastator), and Brash Taunter doles out as much damage as it takes right back at one of your opponents. Now that's a sneaky way to throw around some extra pain from a Goblin deck.

#1 - Starscape Cleric

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

Last but not least, our most traded pick of the week is exactly the kind of card that players look to when life gain strategies start popping up again, so let's all give Liliana the Faultless another quick shoutout. With that out of the way, on to Starscape Cleric.

For , Starscape Cleric is a 2/1 Bat Cleric creature with flying that can't block. It has the triggered ability "Whenever you gain life, each opponent loses 1 life," as well as offspring , an optional additional cost which debuted in Bloomburrow. If you pay the offspring cost, the you create a 1/1 copy of Starscape Cleric when it enters the battlefield.

Doubling up on Starscape Clerics with something like Liliana the Faultless in play means that whenever a creature you control enters then each opponent loses two life. Keep stacking up on effects like that, and you don't even need to go to combat to win the game.

Wrap Up

Well, folks, that's another week of Top Trades. Star Trek has started to make its way to the market, but it doesn't seem like much has caught traders' eyes yet. Instead, we're still living in the afterglow of Reality Fracture. Come back next week for another Top Trades, and thanks for reading!