Top Trades: November 18 - November 25

Iroh, Grand Lotus | Illustrated by Fahmi Fauzi

Howdy folks, and happy Thanksgiving for all those who celebrate!

The week is wrapping up, November has just about changed over to December, and it's time to dive into Top Trades, the weekly series where we check in with the most popular cards here at Cardsphere. So, without further adieu, let's take a look!

Honorable Mention - Redirect Lightning

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

Continuing its role from last week as red's newest premier piece of interaction is Redirect Lightning, an instant that, like its name suggests, redirects a single target.

For and either of two additional costs (pay five life or pay ), Redirect Lightning is an instant Lesson that reads "Change the target of target spell or ability with a single target."

Five life may be a steep cost, but one-mana interaction (especially outside of blue) is always at a premium. Less mana means more flexibility with casting windows, an especially valuable characteristic for anything responsive. It's no wonder that Redirect Lightning is already a popular inclusion for high-power Commander decks.

#5 - Iroh, Grand Lotus

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

Kicking off our main list for the week is Iroh, Grand Lotus, a build-around Commander for Lesson spells that also has enough generic value to be a strong inclusion in plenty of higher-power Temur decks.

For , Iroh is a 5/5 legendary Human Noble Ally with firebending 2, as well as two static abilities which are each only active during your turn. First, each non-Lesson instant and sorcery card in your graveyard has flashback. The flashback cost is equal to that card's mana cost. Second, each Lesson spell in your graveyard has flashback . (When a creature with firebending attacks, add an amount of equal to the firebending number. Until the end of combat, that mana doesn't empty from your mana pool as steps and phases end.)

Normally, Temur is the go-to color combination for big creature builds in Commander. Animar, Soul of Elements, Surrak Dragonclaw, Miirym, Sentinel Wyrm, the list goes on. Iroh may have the heavy mana cost of some of those commanders, but for that investment you get something very unique: a Temur deck built around instants and sorceries. Take the best spellslinger aspect of Izzet, then blend in the resiliency and late-game dominance of green: now that's a Temur deck I can get behind.

#4 - Bender's Waterskin

Number of Trades: 9 --- Number of Cards Traded: 21

Next up on our list is another card that's going to be popular across Commander, albeit a much less powerful inclusion: Bender's Waterskin.

An artifact for , Bender's Waterskin has ": Add one mana of any color." Additionally, Bender's Waterskin untaps at the beginning of each other player's untap step (in addition to your own). The result? A reliable source of mana each turn, enabling you to comfortably tap out on your turns while guaranteeing one mana will always be held up for interaction on each of your opponent's turns.

All in all, three-mana mana rocks will never unseat the classic swatch of Signets and Talismans which round out Commander decks these days, but Bender's Waterskin is a solid contender for any low-bracket Commander deck looking to play some rocks beyond those two-drops.

#3 - Firebender Ascension

Number of Trades: 10 --- Number of Cards Traded: 13

Here at the halfway point is red's contribution to the Ascension cycle from Avatar: The Last Airbender, an unlockable trigger-doubler that's going to be a favorite of aggressive red decks.

Firebender Ascension is an enchantment for that, when it enters, creates a 2/2 red Soldier creature token with firebending 1. That Soldier token pulls double duty while Firebender Ascension is in play, as this enchantment also has the triggered ability "Whenever a creature you control attacking causes a triggered ability of that creature to trigger, put a quest counter on this enchantment. Then if it has four or more quest counters on it, you may copy that ability. You may choose new targets for the copy."

While it may take a minute for that Soldier to unlock Firebender Ascension's four quest counter requirement on its own, there are so many creatures with attack triggers in red alone that I can readily see this card unlocking the turn after you play it.

#2 - Planetarium of Wan Shi Tong

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

Coming in at second place this week is a card that has all the makings of a a fun and powerful build-around effect for Commander, it's Planetarium of Wan Shi Tong.

For , this legendary artifact has two abilities. One, the activated ability ", : Scry 2," and the other, "Whenever you scry or surveil, look at the top card of your library. You may cast that card without paying its mana cost. Do this only once each turn."

Magic has slowly been adding more and more scry/surveil synergies beyond the typical graveyard effects that surveil decks have always liked. From Elminster to Matoya, Archon Elder, these decks have become gradually stronger and more popular along the way, with Planetarium of Wan Shi Tong now arriving as a great add-on to any and every contender.

#1 - Badgermole Cub

Number of Trades: 14 --- Number of Cards Traded: 14

Wrapping up our list for the week is our most traded card, a two-drop that's dominating Standard and quickly becoming a staple of big-mana Commander decks across the format: Badgermole Cub.

For , Badgermole Cub is a 2/2 Badger Mole creature that causes you to earthbend 1 when it enters. Additionally, Badgermole Cub has "Whenever you tap a creature for mana, add an additional ." (To earthbend, choose a land you control. That land becomes a 0/0 creature with haste. Put a number of +1/+1 counters on it equal to the earthbend number. When it dies or is exiled, return it to the battlefield tapped.)

Right away, the most exciting part of Badgermole Cub is that it immediately serves as a quasi-mana dork, causing a land you control to suddenly double in mana production. Things snowball quickly if you control multiple copies, as each effect stacks: two Badgermoles result in each land creature adding an additional , etc.

Moving beyond the card's role in a vacuum, Badgermole Cub also serves as a mana-doubler for any green deck running your typical mana dork package. Birds of Paradise, Elvish Mystic, Llanowar Elves, all of these suddenly go from being one-drops that add one mana to being mana-positive (one-drops that add at least two). Now consider that Llanowar Elves is Standard-legal, and you can imagine how a playset of Badgermole Cubs alongside a playset of Elves is a reliable two-turn curve that enable huge plays by turn three.

Badgermole Cub has all the makings of a card that is always going to see some play, somewhere. How long it ravages Standard is still up in the air, but at the very least this will be a Commander all-star for as long as the format plays big green spells.

Wrap Up

This week continued to show the popular and powerful cards from Avatar: The Last Airbender. While this week's list was more Commander-focused than the last, there was still some Standard representation, especially through the likes of Badgermole Cub. Check back in next week for another Top Trades, and thanks for reading!