Top Trades: November 18-November 25

Happy Thursday everyone, and Happy Thanksgiving to all the my readers in the United States. With the week just about over, it's time for Top Trades, the weekly column here at Cardsphere where we check in with the most popular cards from the past week. So, what do traders have their eyes on? Let's take a look!

Honorable Mention - Boltwave

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

Continuing last week's trend of burning through Cardsphere's trading desk is none other than Magic's newest, truest burn spell: Boltwave.

Other than being a sorcery (as opposed to an instant), Boltwave checks just about every box a burn spell could ask for. Efficiently costed? Yup! Just pay . Does it deal damage to players? Yes, and then some - Boltwave hits each opponent! But does it do more than just the base rate of two damage that we're used to settling for from cards like Shock? You bet it does - Boltwave is Lightning Bolt-level damage: three whole points.

#5 - Glissa Sunslayer

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

Alrighty folks, starting us off on our main list from the week is Glissa Sunslayer, a potent threat across various midrange decks in Standard that is seeing some new life thanks to a resurgence in Elf-typal strategies. So, what does Glissa do?

First off, Glissa's role as an aggressive threat. For , Glissa is a 3/3 legendary Phyrexian Zombie Elf with first strike and deathtouch. This means that, outside of being blocked by a creature with first strike, double strike, or indestructible, Glissa is almost never going to die in combat - instead, it will readily destroy whatever creature is standing in its way. Sure, this isn't quite unblockable, but it often plays out similarly, as Glissa is among the hardest creatures to trade with in combat.

Beyond just being an effective 3/3 creature for combat purposes, Glissa is also a significant value engine, as Glissa brings with it an ability that triggers each time it deals combat damage to a player: either draw a card and lose one life, destroy target enchantment, or remove up to three counters from target permanent. All of this forces your opponent into an uneasy situation, turn after turn. Do they block and lose a creature in order to deny three damage and the value generated from the triggered ability, or just let it through in the hopes that keeping a creature around for one more turn might be an out?

#4 - An Offer You Can't Refuse

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

Speaking of tricky trades, number four on this week's list is a powerful counterspell that, thanks to Foundations, is going to be in Standard for a long time: An Offer You Can't Refuse.

For the low cost of just , An Offer You Can't Refuse is an instant that counters any noncreature spell. The tradeoff? That spell's controller creates two Treasure tokens.

Overall, An Offer You Can't Refuse is a bit of a tricky spell to evaluate at first, especially in 1v1 formats. Two mana is a lot to give your opponent, but the fact that An Offer You Can't Refuse has so many applications and costs so little is often more than enough to justify its inclusion. Rarely will you ever feel good about giving your opponent resources, but countering a game-winning threat for such a low cost certainly won't make you feel bad.

#3 - Authority of the Consuls

Number of Trades: 7 --- Number of Cards Traded: 8

Next up on our list is another one-mana card that goes hand-in-hand with the controlling environment within which spells like An Offer You Can't Refuse shine brightest, and that card is none other than Authority of the Consuls.

For , Authority of the Consuls is an enchantment with two abilities: creatures your opponents control enter the battlefield tapped, and whenever a creature an opponent controls enters, you gain one life.

Individually, neither of these two lines of text are terribly potent, but taken together they produce exactly the kind of marginal value that control decks seize upon. Having creatures enter tapped both slows down aggro decks that are otherwise full of hasty threats, while simultaneously opening up combat for a turn thanks to potential blockers being taken out of the equation. The life gain, while incidental, is frequently enough to slowly add a turn to the game, clawing back just enough time to mount a comeback if things are dire and your opponent is playing low to the board.

#2 - Kiora, the Rising Tide

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

Our penultimate pick of the week is another card from Foundations that's making waves (pun very much intended) across Standard: Kiora, the Rising Tide.

For , Kiora is a 3/2 legendary Merfolk Noble with two potent triggered abilities. First, upon entering, you get to loot twice - drawing two cards, then discarding two cards. Second, whenever Kiora attacks, if there are seven or more cards in your graveyard, you may create Scion of the Deep, a legendary 8/8 blue Octopus creature token.

At first glance, Kiora is simply an incredibly self-synergistic tempo threat, and plenty of decks in Standard are using it for just that. Card selection upon entering that also brings you closer to the threshold required for the combat trigger is a powerful setup, especially when that combat trigger can result in a 8/8 creature token as quickly as the turn after Kiora comes down. However, this isn't where Kiora stops. Standard is currently full of Reanimator strategies at the moment, meaning that Kiora can often pull double-duty as a discard outlet through which you can put even scarier creatures into your graveyard. Discard a Valgavoth, Terror Eater, then Zombify it and make an 8/8 Octopus on the next turn? Yes please.

#1 - Archfiend of the Dross

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

Speaking of game-ending creatures, I'm proud to present to you this week's most traded card: Archfiend of the Dross, a card which threatens everyone at the table. Why? Becomes if you don't win quickly, it will be the reason that you lose.

For , Archfiend of the Dross is 6/6 Phyrexian Demon with flying and the triggered ability "Whenever a creature an opponent controls dies, its controller loses 2 life." That's an incredibly powerful creature, one that can quickly close out a game in your favor. So, what about the part that works to end the game in your opponent's favor?

Well, beyond just being a cheap Demon with a lot of upside, Archfiend of the Dross also has a fatal catch; it enters with four oil counters on it and at the beginning of your upkeep you have to remove one. When the last is removed, you lose the game. This effectively only gives you three combat steps with the Demon under your control, so make them count.

Wrap Up

Happy holidays, everyone! This week was a bit of a calmer one here at Cardsphere, but two decks in particular did shine through our picks: tempo and Reanimator. Foundations brought with it a whole host of support cards, and it looks like they are already pulling their weight. Tune in next week for another installment of Top Trades, and thanks for reading!