Top Trades: March 24 - March 31

Vigor | Illustrated by Jim Murray

Howdy, folks, and welcome to Top Trades, the weekly series where we check in with the most popular cards here at Cardsphere. So, what's been moving lately? Let's take a look!

Honorable Mention - Cool but Rude

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

Kicking things off as our honorable mention for the week is Cool but Rude, a Class enchantment from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles that is relevant - and affordable - at just about every level.

For , you get Cool but Rude at its base level, which has the triggered ability "Whenever you attack, you may discard a card. If you do, draw a card." Sink in another and it jumps to level two, where it gains "Whenever you discard a card, this Class deals 2 damage to each opponent." Finally, add another and you get to Gamble at level three; "When this Class becomes level 3, search your library for a card, put that card into your hand, shuffle, then discard a card at random."

Each of these three stages synergizes with what came before it, and each of them is worthwhile on its own. Package it all together in one card, and you've got one of the best Class enchantments out there.

#5 - Vigor

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

Moving on to our main list, it's time for a throwback to the original Lorwyn: Vigor.

For , Vigor is a 6/6 Elemental Incarnation with trample and "When Vigor is put into a graveyard from anywhere, shuffle it into its owner's library." Additionally, Vigor comes with the powerful replacement effect "If damage would be dealt to another creature you control, prevent that damage. Put a +1/+1 counter on that creature for each 1 damage prevented this way."

With Vigor in play, your creatures aren't just immune to damage: they actively benefit from it. Pair this with something like Pyrohemia to burn down every opposing creature while you grow a massive army.

#4 - Drossforge Bridge

Number of Trades: 5 --- Number of Cards Traded: 18

Up next is a classic of Cube, Commander, and Pauper: Drossforge Bridge.

Part of Modern Horizons 2's Bridge cycle, Drossforge Bridge is an artifact land with indestructible that enters tapped and can provide either or [/mana]r[/mana]. A great way to bolster affinity strategies while also fixing mana in lower-power formats, Drossforge Bridge (as well as the rest of the Bridges) have been pretty popular inclusions consistently since their release.

#3 - Mutagen Man, Living Ooze

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

Coming in at third place is our second card from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles this week: Mutagen Man, Living Ooze.

Despite being named Living Ooze, Mutagen Man is - aside from its creature type - completely divorced from all things Ooze in the traditional sense of Magic. A 2/3 with trample for , Mutagen Man is a legendary Ooze Mutant that reduces that cost of activating abilities of artifact tokens you control by . Additionally, when it enters, you create X Mutagen tokens. (They're artifacts with ", , Sacrifice this token: Put a +1/+1 counter on target creature. Activate only as a sorcery.")

All in all, Mutagen Man is a fantastic midgame threat that can either immediately sacrifice all those Mutagen tokens in order to boost itself, or spread the potency around and build your army.

#2 - Tamiyo's Safekeeping

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

Moving on to our penultimate pick for the week, Tamiyo's Safekeeping is one of the best green tricks out there. For , this instant grants target permanent you control hexproof and indestructible until end of turn, plus you gain two life.

Flexibility is the name of the game with this card. Since it costs just one mana and is an instant, it's about as castable as spells go, being nearly always available. Moving to targets, hitting any permanent is a rare commodity in green, which usually only bolsters creatures. Lastly, the effect itself: hexproof and indestructible combine together to effectively negate pretty much any disruptive effect out there, save for the rare mass-exile or mass -X/-X effect.

#1 - Sprout Swarm

Number of Trades: 12 --- Number of Cards Traded: 22

Last but not least, a classic example of what can go wrong when you stick recursion and cost reduction on even the simplest of effects: Sprout Swarm.

For , Sprout Swarm is an instant with convoke and buyback which creates a 1/1 green Saproling token upon resolution. So, why all the fuss? Well, let's take a look at a card recently previewed in Secrets of Strixhaven: Witherbloom, the Balancer.

Cutting right to the chase, Witherbloom grants your instants and sorceries affinity for creatures, meaning that Sprout Swarm can become a one-card combo if you have enough creatures already in play. Assuming you've got four creatures, the affinity from Witherbloom will make it such that Sprout Swarm just costs to cast, buyback cost included. Then, because of convoke, you can use the newly created token to pay for the that's left when you cast your next iteration of Sprout Swarm, leaving you with an army of infinite tapped 1/1 Saprolings.

Wrap Up

This week was a smattering of powerful cards from across Magic, both traditional one-v-one as well as an up-and-coming combo piece in anticipation of what is sure to be a potent commander. Check back in next week for another Top Trades, and thanks for reading!