Top Trades: November 25 - December 2

Airbender Ascension | Illustrated by Shiren

Howdy, folks, and welcome to December! The month is getting started, the week is wrapping up, and all in time for Top Trades, the weekly series where we check in with some of Cardsphere's most popular cards. So, what's been moving? Let's take a look!

Honorable Mention - Redirect Lightning

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

Returning to Top Trades as our honorable mention for the week is Redirect Lightning, an up-and-coming staple of red interaction across Commander, all the way up into cEDH.

With a base mana cost of and an additional cost of either or pay five life, Redirect Lighting is a Lesson instant that reads "Change the target of target spell or ability with a single target." For the world of competitive Magic, this essentially reads as "Counter target counterspell," since the redirect effect allows Redirect Lightning to change the target of a counterspell from its initial choice back to Redirect Lightning. Once Redirect Lightning resolves, the counterspell will be left without a target, leading to it failing to resolve.

This counterspell-for-a-counterspell effect is already the primary use case for Deflecting Swat in cEDH, and Redirect Lightning's mana cost of just ... well, most of the time, is just good enough to make the cut. It might not be free, but it's as close as you can get.

#5 - Airbender Ascension

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

Kicking off our main list for the week is Airbender Ascension, white's contribution to the the Ascension cycle of enchantments from Avatar: The Last Airbender.

For , Airbender Ascension is an enchantment that, upon entering the battlefield, allows you to airbend up to one target creature. (To airbend a spell or permanent, put that card into exile. As long as it remains in exile, the card's owner may cast it for .) Additionally, Airbender Ascension has two other triggered abilities: the first puts a quest counter on it whenever a creature you control enters, and the second allows you to exile up to one target creature you control, then return that creature to the battlefield under its owner's control. This ability triggers only if Airbender Ascension already has four or more quest counters on it.

Airbender Ascension is an all-around great inclusion for any deck that really cares about generating value off of enters or leaves the battlefield triggers. Paying two mana to almost bounce a creature a la airbend is a pretty neat tempo play, and getting four counters on this card should be pretty trivial in any go-wide deck.

#4 - Earthbender Ascension

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

Up next is green's contribution to the Ascension cycle: Earthbender Ascension.

For , this enchantment brings with it two pretty wordy triggered abilities. First, when it enters, earthbend 2, then search your library for a basic land card and put it onto the battlefield tapped and shuffle. (To earthbend, choose a land you control. That land becomes a 0/0 creature with haste that's still a land. Put a number of +1/+1 counters on it equal to the earthbend number. When it dies or is exiled, return that land to the battlefield tapped under its owner's control.) Secondly, whenever a land you control enters, put a quest counter on Earthbender Ascension. When you do, if Earthbender Ascension has four or more +1/+1 counters on it, put a +1/+1 counter on target creature you control. It gains trample until end of turn.

Earthbender Ascension feels a whole lot like a card that's great in either Commander or Limited, but not really anywhere else. Putting four counters on this card is a going to take a while, and once you do the payoff isn't exactly huge. That said, it does already bring a land with it (as well as a 2/2 creature, depending on what you choose to earthbend), so you're guaranteed some lasting value regardless of whether or not the four quest counters are ever reached.

#3 - Kediss, Emberclaw Familiar

Number of Trades: 7 --- Number of Cards Traded: 9

Speaking of Commander, it's time for a throwback: this next pick is from Commander Legends.

For , Kediss, Emberclaw Familiar is a legendary 1/1 Elemental Lizard creature with partner and "Whenever a commander you control deals combat damage to an opponent, it deals that much damage to each other opponent."

As far as partner commanders go, Kediss is certainly among the fairer ones out there. It isn't bad by any margin, but it also isn't broken. Adding red to the color identity of any deck is always a strong starting point, especially if that deck's strategy is any sort of Equipment or Aura-based deck (exactly the kind of combat-matters gameplan that Kediss's triggered ability already supports). All in all, this little Lizard has one mission: to help your other commander punch three times as hard. For two mana, I'd say that's certainly worth thinking about.

#2 - Firebending Student

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

Aaaaand now we're back to Avatar: The Last Airbender for our penultimate pick.

Firebending Student is a 1/2 Human Monk creature with prowess and firebending X, where X is its power. (When a creature with firebending attacks, add an amount of to your mana pool equal to that creature's firebending number. Until end of combat, that mana doesn't empty from your mana pool as steps and phases end.)

Despite having barely any text on it, Firebending Student is emblematic of a low-cost creature that packs a big punch (anyone remember Monastery Swiftspear). Two mana is just on the upper-end of aggressive threats, and the combination of prowess with a scaling firebending ability means that a bevy of well-timed combat tricks and burn spells can turn a single Firebending Student into a game-ending creature all by its self.

#1 - Origin of Metalbending

Number of Trades: 8 --- Number of Cards Traded: 13

Last but not least, we come to our most traded card of the week. Another Avatar: The Last Airbender card, it's time for Origin of Metalbending.

For , Origin of Metalbending is a Lesson instant that allows you to choose one of two modes: either destroy target artifact or enchantment, or put a +1/+1 counter on target creature you control and it gains indestructible until end of turn.

Despite not being a terribly splashy card for its namesake, this instant's flexibility brings its potency up a level, resulting in a great sideboard addition that's already seeing play in a handful of Standard decks. Taking out an artifact or enchantment is rarely useful, until all the sudden it's that one match up where it can be life or death. Alternatively, an extra +1/+1 counter and indestructible for a turn is a great combat trick that can easily double as removal.

Wrap Up

This week's Top Trades was once again, unsurprisingly, dominated by cards from Avatar: The Last Airbender. Magic's most recent crossover expansion has spread out across formats, from Standard to Modern to cEDH, and the popularity of these designs isn't decreasing any time soon. Check back in next week for another Top Trades, and thanks for reading!