Sphere of Influence: July 3rd, 2026

Valley Rotcaller | Art by Valera Lutfullina

Well, we made it to July everyone. Marvel Super Heroes is in the rear view mirror, and the Hobbit set is already on the horizon. However, before we get too ahead of ourselves, let's take a look at some cards that could be rising in playability and price right now due in part to all those comic book characters entering our favorite formats.

My name is Tyler 'Savesya' Bucks, and it's time to jump into a special birthday edition of Sphere of Influence (today is my birthday, I hope you caught that subtle hint).

Cid, Timeless Artificer - $6

When Cid, Timeless Artificer first got spoiled, the line of text that everyone focused on was "a deck can have any number of cards named Cid, Timeless Artificer", which is a very fun build-around. However, I'd like to point out a small point I made in an EDHREC article back in June of 2025: "With this set, and all the Marvel cards to come, supporting Heroes will become more valuable as time goes on." Since then, we've gotten over 300 Hero cards, which means you could throw a few copies of this creature into your new decks centered around the good guys to act as an anthem for your team.

Valley Rotcaller - $2

The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl has taken the Commander format by storm, and while Valley Rotcaller can't join her ranks due to color identity, there has still been an uptick on Squirrel decks in general. Chatterfang, Squirrel General is the 10th most built commander this past week, which shows that the desire for great cards with that creature type are being very sought after. That's why the Rotcaller could start growing in price: its ability to drain the table after you've doubled your Squirrel army may just close out the game.

Fireblast - $1

Let's keep this Marvel-centric train rolling with a card that many Bruce Banner players have started reaching for. Fireblast offers up a "free" way to deal out some damage, at the cost of losing a few lands. While that might seem risky, that's what this legend's whole gameplan is about, chain combats together to lower the tables' life totals as fast as possible. So, even though you'll lose two Mountains in this exchange, dealing that little bit of extra damage to The Hulk could be the difference between winning a game or just passing the turn.

Thousand Moons Smithy - $2

Finally, let's close things out by looking at another card that has become even more playable thanks to Marvel. Thousand Moons Smithy asks that you tap down your creatures in order flip it over into a land, which works very well with the white/blue cards from this latest set, especially Captain America, Living Legend. When you pair this artifact with things that either like being turned sideways, or could just become untapped right away, the cost to flip this into a land becomes far easier to achieve.

Until Next Time

Thank you for spending this time with me today as we look at some fun cards that may begin to rise in price and playability. If you're looking to pick any of these up, be sure to add them to you Wants list here on Cardsphere. Also, if you have any of these in your collection, you can add them to you Haves list in order to get them out to more players who are looking to brew with these singles.