Top Trades: February 17-February 24

Welcome, everyone, and happy Thursday! The week's just about up, and you know what that means - it's time for Top Trades, the weekly column where we check in with some of the most eye-catching cards from the past week here at Cardsphere. So, what are people picking up? Let's take a look.

Honorable Mention - Ketramose, the New Dawn

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

Continuing its rollercoaster ride is the newest three-drop to dominate Modern: Ketramose, the New Dawn.

For , this 4/4 God with menace, lifelink, and indestructible can only attack or block so long as there are seven or more cards in exile; but that's not the only incentive it provides for exiling things.

Ketramose brings with it an ability that triggers on your turn whenever one or more cards are put into exile from graveyards and/or the battlefield, resulting in you drawing a card and losing 1 life. Pretty decent value, but thanks to a blend of exile and mill effects that are already Modern-relevant (Psychic Frog, Darkblast, and Solitude, to name a few), "decent" can readily become "absurd."

#5 - Brightglass Gearhulk

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

Starting off our main list for the week is another Aetherdrift pick, this time a callback to a different plane - Avishkar, courtesy of Kaladesh's original Gearhulk cycle. They're back, and they're pulling up in in an ally-colored cycle. So, what about Brightglass Gearhulk?

For , Brightglass Gearhulk is a 4/4 Construct artifact creature with first strike, trample, and an enter-the-battlefield trigger which is like if Ranger of Eos was turbo charged. That is, when Brightglass Gearhulk enters, you may search your library for up to two artifact, creature, and/or enchantments with mana value 1 or less, reveal them, put them into your hand, then shuffle.

All in all, Brightglass Gearhulk does a lot of what big creatures need to do right now to be viable: provide an immediate bonus in case it dies, then pack a wallop when it does stick around.

#4 - Hullbreacher

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

Speaking of creatures that pack a wallop, let's take a look at one that was so impactful it got banned in the format the almost never bans anything - let's take a look at the banned-in-Commander Hullbreacher.

For , Hullbreacher is a 3/2 Merfolk Pirate with flash and the text "If an opponent would draw a card except the first one they draw in each of their draw steps, instead you create a Treasure token."

Initially pitched as a way to deal with the mass of drawn engines throughout Commander (*cough* Rhystic Study *cough*), Hullbreacher very quickly became a plague in its own right, often winning games through the miserable combination of any wheel effect (Timetwister, Wheel of Fortune, etc.), and then an in-response Hullbreacher flashed in over the top. The result? You have a fresh seven cards in hand, your opponents have none, and now you have twenty-one treasures. All for the cost of, usually, six mana.

The big problem here wasn't just that Hullbreacher was too good at its job, exploiting cards that your opponents frequently wanted to play as well, but rather that - when broken with wheel effects - it couldn't deterministically end games. Games would continue to go on with Hullbreacher in play, its controller drawing all the cards and having all the mana, but nothing else happening. A two-card combo that ends the game is usually fine in the upper tiers of Commander, but a two card combo that just made everyone else miserable wasn't something the format could tolerate.

#3 - Mystic Sanctuary

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

Would you believe it, next up on our list is another banned blue card! Well, it's a banned card with a blue color identity, I should say. Here's Mystic Sanctuary, a common that was so good it got cut from both Modern and Pauper.

Mystic Sanctuary is a nonbasic Island land that enters tapped unless you control three or more other Islands, as well as the triggered ability "When Mystic Sanctuary enters the battlefield untapped, you may put target instant or sorcery card from your graveyard on top of your library."

To start off the discussion, I'll just say this - you know you're in for some potent effects when the best part of a land isn't that it can enter untapped. For many lands, such as the Verge cycle (e.g., Floodfarm Verge), mana production is their entire calling, and by entering untapped they're able to maximize their usefulness. Not so with Mystic Sanctuary. Instead, we're working with something else: a fetchable triggered ability.

In this sense, Mystic Sanctuary is a lot like the Surveil cycle from Murders at Karlov Manor, a set of lands which had legitimate mana-production concerns (they entered tapped) but have nonetheless gone on to dominate formats because of how relevant the "End step: Fetch to surveil," play pattern was. Mystic Sanctuary took this a step further, not just allowing you to peak at what the future holds, but to relive the best moments of the past thanks to the ability to sculpt your next draw from out of your graveyard. Consistency is important in Magic, and Mystic Sanctuary was just too consistent.

#2 - Unstoppable Plan

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

Another blue card? Look's like this week's theme isn't just a set or a format.

For , Unstoppable Plan is effectively a less-powerful blue twist on Commander all-star, Seedborn Muse. Rather than untapping everything along with your opponents on each of their turns, as per Seedborne Muse, Unstoppable Plan is an enchantment that allows you to untap all of your nonland permanents once more per turn cycle - on your end step, that is. So, is it worth the three mana?

In 60-card formats, Unstoppable Plan does too little, too late. And without being a creature it really suffers from its minimal impact on the board. In Commander, however, this effect is perfectly paced for its mana investment. Seedborn Muse is a kill-on-sight creature, and while Unstoppable Plan certainly isn't a Seedborn Muse, it can easily replenish all the mana spent on it in the same turn that it comes down. Tap a Sol Ring and an Arcane Signet to cast it, then watch as they untap in your end step to free up interaction later on.

#1 - Tamiyo's Safekeeping

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

Alrighty folks, here we are, the last card on our list - a pick that is, get this, neither blue nor deriving demand from Commander! Instead, we turn to green, the color responsible from some of Pauper's most potent decks.

For , Tamiyo's Safekeeping is an instant that grants a permanent you control indestructible and hexproof until end of turn, as well as gains you two life. Now, two life isn't nothing, but it certainly isn't the reason Tamiyo's Safekeeping is getting played. Instead, its because it's one of the most efficient ways to secure a win that the format has to offer right now.

Among the top tier decks in Pauper, the premier green option is Broodscale Combo, a deck that seeks to combine Basking Broodscale and Sadistic Glee to generate infinite colorless mana and make an infinitely large Basking Broodscale. However, a single infinitely large creature can still die to a removal spell, which is where Tamiyo's Safekeeping comes in - as defense against the bevy of efficient battlefield interaction which seeks to counter Broodscale.

Wrap Up

Blue may have been the color of the week, but thanks to Tamiyo's Safekeeping we got a solid reminder that there are whole decks out there that can happily play not just without it, but against it.

Check back in next week for another installment of Top Trades, and thanks for reading!