Top Trades: November 25-December 2

Happy Thursday, everyone, and welcome to December! I hope you're ready for this month's first installment of Top Trades, the weekly column where we check in with the most popular cards here at Cardsphere. So, what do we have to kick off the month? Let's take a look!

Honorable Mention - An Offer You Can't Refuse

Number of Trades: 5 --- Number of Cards Traded: 9

This week's honorable mention is one of the most efficient counterspells to see a Standard-set debut in years, and that is none other than An Offer You Can't Refuse.

For , this instant can counter any noncreature spell, with the downside balancing factor being that the countered spell's controller creates two Treasure tokens in exchange. Does giving an opponent resources ever feel good? No, not really. But can saving the game for just outshine that downside? Of course it can.

#5 - Floodfarm Verge

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

Speaking of counterspells, starting off our main list of Top Trades this week is a key include for just about any control deck in Pioneer at the moment, as well as many of the format's most color-hungry goodstuff piles. Let's talk about Floodfarm Verge.

This is the blue-white installment of a cycle of rare lands from Duskmourn, each of which enter untapped and can immediately tap to add mana of one color, while the secondary color is locked behind the condition that either of two basic land types is controlled. In Floodfarm Verge's case, this land adds immediately, and - once you control either an Island or a Plains - can also be tapped to add .  Needless to say, the fact that this multicolored land enters the battlefield untapped is a significant plus, adding it to the ranks of most-played nonbasic lands across Standard and Pioneer right now.

#4 - Weather the Storm

Number of Trades: 5 --- Number of Cards Traded: 10

Next up on our list is a card that started off as a piece of anti-Storm sideboard tech, but has since then grown to be a versatile and double-edged sword, being run in both maindecks and sideboards across the Pauper format: Weather the Storm.

At the cost of , this instant has two lines of text "You gain 3 life," and "Storm." Put these together and you have a spell that can rapidly grow into the most efficient source of lifegain Magic has ever produced. As a piece of sideboard tech, Storm players continue to run across Pauper, and nothing sets them back more than a well-timed Weather the Storm suddenly gaining their opponent 15+ life in from a single cast. On the other hand, some Storm decks have even begun running this card in their mainboards, serving as a backup which can reinforce their lifetotals so as to recoup after plans fall by the wayside.

#3 - Hired Claw

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

Our third pick for the week is a cheap and aggressive threat that is packing a serious punch in decks across Standard right now, Bloomburrow's very own Hired Claw.

For just , Hired Claw is a 1/2 Lizard Mercenary with "Whenever you attack with one or more Lizards, Hired Claw deals one damage to target opponent." Don't underestimate how valuable these single points of damage can be, especially since the Lizard typal theme from Bloomburrow heavily synergizes with dealing damage consistently. Speaking of which, on to Hired Claw's activated ability.

As long as an opponent has been dealt damage this turn, you may pay to activate Hired Claw's ability, putting a +1/+1 counter on it. This can only be done once each turn, but it can be done at any time in a turn, meaning that you can activate it after Hired Claw's attack trigger has resolved but before it has the chance to be blocked.

Taken together, Hired Claw has all the characteristics of an early game threat that can carry itself into the midgame as the game goes on. Early damage, a consistent way to grow itself, and the ability to synergize with a broader gameplan - all valuable assets, especially at just .

#2 - Hedge Shredder

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

For our penultimate pick of the week we're once again faced with a powerful Standard card from Duskmourn: Hedge Shredder.

This Vehicle costs to cast and has a crew cost of 1, but once you turn it into a creature it is a beast on the battlefield. A 5/5, Hedge Shredder has "Whenever Hedge Shredder attacks, you may mill two cards," and "Whenever one or more land cards are put into your graveyard from your library, put them onto the battlefield tapped."

Like most of the best threats nowadays, Hedge Shredder synergizes with itself - the triggered ability to reanimate lands can occur from any source of milling, but that's not the same thing as guaranteeing that you'll have access to a mill effect. For that, all you need to do is pay the extra cost of crewing Hedge Shredder and then attacking with it.

#1 - Rockface Village

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

Drumroll please as we announce this week's most traded card...Rockface Village! Yes, you heard it here folks, Lizard typal is back with a vengeance, and it looks like more than just Hired Claw is being caught up in the fray. So, what's the appeal of this uncommon land?

First off, Rockface Village enters the battlefield untapped and with no cost - no paying , or sacrificing an untapped land, or anything of that sort. Sure, the only unrestricted mana ability it has just produces , but as we'll see in a moment this is more than made up for by the other abilities of Rockface Village.

Speaking of which, let's talk about those two other abilities. First off, mana. Beyond just , Rockface Village can also be tapped to add , but that mana can only be spent on creature spells. Not a terribly significant restriction, if you ask me, especially for the red decks which are primarily concerned with casting a ton of cheap, red creatures in the early game.

Finally, you can also pay and tap Rockface Village in order to grant a Lizard, Mouse, Otter, or Raccoon creature you control +1/+0 and haste until end of turn. While each of these buffs may seem insignificant at first glance, these extra bits of damage can quickly add up (just ask Hired Claw). Many of Standard's most efficient red creatures fall into these creature types, enabling Rockface Village to provide consistent value over the course of the game with relatively low deckbuilding cost.

Wrap Up

This week was a pretty calm one driven mostly by developments in Standard, with a dash of Pioneer thrown in and a hint of Pauper. It seems like Foundations has calmed down a bit, and now things are back to the wide world of Bloomburrow and Duskmourn trading. Check back in next week for another installment of Top Trades, and thanks for reading!