Top Trades: April 7-April 14

Howdy folks, and happy Thursday! Another week, another Top Trades – the weekly column where we check in with the cards that people are trading the most here at Cardsphere.

So, what’s been moving? Let’s take a look!

Honorable Mention - Mistrise Village

Number of Trades: 9 --- Number of Cards Traded: 10

Starting us off as this week’s honorable mention is Mistrise Village – a potentially untapped, colored-mana producing utility land with impressive defense capabilities.

Starting with the untap condition, Mistrise Village enters the battlefield tapped unless you already control a Mountain or Forest. While this does hold it back from being useful on turn one, it also means that an impressive number of decks can make it enter untapped from turn two onwards. Checking to see if you have any of two different land types is a big deal; don’t discount the flexibility.

So, you’ve played Mistrise Village and it’s untapped, now what? You can either tap it for mana – – or you can activate its other ability, “, : The next spell you cast this turn can’t be countered.”

Ask anyone who has ever played cEDH before and they’ll tell you how scary effects like Silence are – most games end on the stack in that format, and Mistrise Village is a cost-effective way to push through some of the more grueling counterwars for which cEDH is known.

#5 - Betor, Kin to All

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

Alrighty, time to kick off the main list, and now with a card more common in casual Commander tables: Betor, Kin to All.

For , you get a 5/7 legendary Spirit Dragon with flying and one triggered ability that takes a whole paragraph to write out:

At the beginning of your end step, if creatures you control have total toughness 10 or greater, draw a card. Then if creatures you control have total toughness 20 or greater, untap each creature you control. Then if creatures you control have total toughness 40 or greater, each opponent loses half their life, rounded up.

Now that’s a doozy. In all seriousness though, Betor comes down and is almost enough toughness on its own to trigger the card portion of the ability, requiring only three other toughness from your creatures – something which you should already have at the point you’re casting mana-value five spells, especially in green.

Betor is starting to pick up steam in toughness-matters Commander decks, both as the commander as well as in the 99. It doesn’t take a whole lot to build around this creature; just run other creatures and you’ll likely get to at least the total toughness 20 trigger, provided the game goes long enough. Alternatively, throw it in as another win condition in a defender deck (maybe Doran, the Siege Tower), and you’ll get very close to 40 toughness very fast.

#4 - Inevitable Defeat

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

Next up is a card that brings back fond memories from Magic’s very first visit to Tarkir, Khans of Tarkir.

For , Inevitable Defeat is an instant that can’t be countered, exiles target nonland permanent, gains you three life, and causes that permanent’s controller to lose three life. So, why the nostalgia? Let’s briefly revisit Crackling Doom.

For , this instant deals two damage to each opponent and causes those players to each sacrifice the creature with greatest power from among creatures they control.

Outside of these two cards both being Mardu removal spells, they’re both excellent examples of copy-paste design, something which Magic frequents when it comes to designing three-color cards. A bit of each color gets rolled into a card, leading to something that feels like it incorporates everything in its color identity without getting complex or muddled.

As for the actual competitive viability of Inevitable Defeat, I don’t think it’s worth running most places. Four mana for a glorified removal spell is a whole lot to ask, and the upside which got copy-pasted here – while relevant and interesting – isn’t often necessary.

#3 - Glacierwood Siege

Number of Trades: 10 --- Number of Cards Traded: 11

Also packing plenty of nostalgia from the original Tarkir block (this time bringing back a mechanic from Fate Reforged) is Tarkir: Dragonstorm's cycle of Sieges - enchantments which, as they enter, ask you to pick from either of two options - setting the stage for future value plays as the game progresses.

So, what about Glacierwood Siege grants it the spotlight? Let's take a closer look.

For , Glacierwood Siege is an enchantment that asks you to pick between Temur and Sultai as it enters. If you pick Temur, then it has the triggered ability "Whenever you cast an instant or sorcery spell, target player mills four cards." Meanwhile, if you pick Sultai, it has the static ability "You may play lands from your graveyard."

At three mana, both options are very near-rate - an impressive quality, considering the normally significant mana premium required for modal cards like this. As for the modes themselves, milling isn't a particularly viable competitive strategy anywhere, but what makes Glacierwood Siege great is the ability to target yourself with the trigger. Whether it's delve or escape fuel, there are plenty of ways to make milling your own deck useful, and the Temur option here does it fantastically.

As for playing lands out of your graveyard, this option is great in decks already committed to the self-mill plan, as it provides another out to make consistent land plays as the game goes on - a real concern for some slower decks in low-bracket Commander.

#2 - Cori-Steel Cutter

Number of Trades: 12 --- Number of Cards Traded: 12

Moving up the list to our penultimate pick for the week, it's time to talk about a competitive sleeper hit from Tarkir: Dragonstorm, an equipment making rounds in some of Standard, Pioneer, and even Modern's more aggressive red lists - Cori-Steel Cutter.

For this Equipment artifact has an equip , grants equipped creature +1/+1, trample, and haste, and has the triggered ability "Whenever you cast your second spell each turn, create a 1/1 white Monk creature token with prowess. You may attach this Equipment to it."

At first glance, +1/+1, trample, and haste are all fine benefits, but not exactly the kind of stuff your write home about when it comes to powercrept Equipment. But, like the Living Weapon mechanic from New Phyrexia, the ability to immediately equip to a creature for free is an incredibly valuable one, and thanks to Cori-Steel Cutter's triggered ability that will be the case most games. Just cast this artifact, follow it up with any spell (Lightning Bolt, if you're really feeling Red Deck Wins), and then watch as the Cori-Steel Cutter equips to your newly-created Monk token.

#1 - Tempest Hawk

Number of Trades: 13 --- Number of Cards Traded: 45

Last but not least, with an impressive 45 cards traded this week, we've come to our most traded card and white's newest installment in the cohort of cards which decks can run any number of: Tempest Hawk.

For , Tempest Hawk is a 2/2 Bird with flying, the aforementioned clause exempting it from deckbuilding restrictions, and "Whenever this creature deals combat damage to a player, you may search your library for a card named Tempest Hawk, reveal it, put it into your hand, then shuffle."

Alright, let's be honest - the self-synergy here isn't nearly as impressive as Hare Apparent, but the base rate of a 2/2 flyer for three mana certainly isn't bad. I'd call this the Bracket 1 version of Hare Apparent; there's plenty of fun to be had in casting identical creatures turn after turn, filling your hand to the brim with search triggers after each combat step. You could even get funky with it and use them as discard fuel to reanimate later, if you pair it with the right outlets.

An army of Rabbits in a trenchcoat? Not quite, but still fun all the same.

Wrap Up

Well folks, that does it – another Top Trades, another list full of Tarkir: Dragonstorm cards. This set sure has felt like a homerun, and it looks like the traders here at Cardsphere would agree.

Stop by next week for another edition of Top Trades, and thanks for reading!