By James Chillcott (@MTGCritic)

5 Winners of the Week

1. Whisperwood Elemental (Fate Reforged, Mythic): $9.15 to $12.15 (33%)

From last week:

“Green was already the default best color in standard before Fate Reforged rolled up and dropped this sweet threat onto the table. Though many were dubious at first, recent showings at big standard tournaments has demonstrated that Whisperwood Elemental is an excellent way to close out games fast if your opponent isn’t packing enough removal. In partnership with Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx, and various mana dorks, this heavy hitter provides especially tricky scenarios for both aggro and control decks who will often have trouble going just one for one with the lord of the groves.  With FRF not likely to be as opened as many other sets, there’s a good chance that this one falls off a bit heading into summer, only to rise again at rotation. As such you can sell now if you got in early and don’t need them to play with. Otherwise, you’re safe to hold into fall.”

More of the same. The card is seeing lots of play and you can hold to play or sell to profit as you desire.

Format(s): Standard

Verdict: Hold/Sell

2. Summoner’s Pact (Future Sight, Rare): $6.51 to $8.46 (30%)

Along with Amulet of Vigor, Primeval Titan, Pact of Negation and Hive Mind, pretty much all of the relevant cards in the Amulet Bloom deck have spiked by this point as it becomes more and more clear that the deck is Tier 1 despite being tough to master the play lines. Of the bunch, Pact of Negation and Summoner’s Pact are the least likely to get banned and the most likely to have additional applications in future decks. They’re also unlikely to be reprinted again any time soon since they both appeared in Modern Masters. As such there may be upside left to be found on both cards, with Summoner’s Pact potentially peaking around $15 in if stays relevant in Modern. I’m not holding any beyond my personal play set, but if you had some tucked away, I’d look to get out around $10 before mid-summer if possible.

Format(s): Modern/EDH

Verdict: Hold

3. Leonin Shikari (Darksteel, Rare): $6.55 to $8.23 (26%)

This card is spiking on Tiny Leaders speculation. The assumption is that the card is going to be great with friends such as Stoneforge Mystic, the 5 super swords and other white equipment specific beaters under 3 casting cost. It could push higher later as the supply is relatively limited, but for now should settle south of $10 until Tiny Leaders demand really gets beyond the speculation phase and enough players have their decks made.

Format(s): Tiny Leaders/Casual

Verdict: Hold

4. Genesis Hydra ( M15, Rare): $2.09 to $2.52 (21%)

I’ve got about 20 of these so I’d love to see this guy spike hard before rotating into irrelevancy but I’m not holding my breath despite this reasonable increase after showing up in the new versions of green devotion in Standard recently. It’s too low to be worth selling, but if it hits $4-5, my ears might perk up.

Format(s): Standard

Verdict: Hold

5. Garruk, Apex Predator: $11.09 to $13.36 (20%)

Having fallen down from $30 highs on release, Garruk is enjoying a mild resurgence as a solid answer for Abzan and Sultai builds looking to contain Ugin, the Spirit Dragon or grind out longer games in Standard. Below $10 he was midly sexy, as he isn’t likely to see a reprint anytime soon and could hit $15-20 in a couple of years on limited supply, but we might as well wait until rotation this fall to snap off some copies in the $6-8 range.

Format(s): Standard/Casual

Verdict: Sell

 3 Top Losers of the Week

This weeks losers are all just recently spiked cards that have fallen back a bit off recent highs as hype mellows. To wit:

1. Amulet of Vigor: $7.63 to $6.00 (-21%)

2. Wilt-Leaf Liege: $33.76 to $27.00 (-20%)

3. Doubling Season: $29.00 to $24.55 (15%)

Quick Hits

• Believe it or not, as of this morning we’ve already entered Dragons of Tarkir spoiler season. So far the most interesting card is probably Sidisi, Undead Vizier. StarCityGames.com continued their trend of providing tempting pricing on newly spoiled rares to get the hype train rolling, and some of us got our hands on pre-order copies around $1 this afternoon. Expect this one to settle in between $4-5 as people try to figure out if this Tasigur/Whisperwood good or just a trap card. My money is on “very good” as I don’t think we should underestimate just how much decks like Sultai Control will appreciate the ability to ramp out and drop this guy on Turn 3/4, sacrifice a mana dork that has outlived it’s usefulness and go search up the perfect answer to the current board state. As a 4/6 Deathtouch, this incarnation of Sidisi is also great at blocking all the usual suspects and fuels Delve spells. As such this is could be an easy 3-4 of in a few decks.

• Now is a pretty good time to be ordering yourself some playsets of KTK fetchlands for future use or profit in the $210-$220 range. as this is as low as it looks like they’re likely to go. We won’t be getting any more fetchlands until at least Modern Masters 2 and if I had to guess, they’ll actually be delayed until a spring or fall 2016 Return to Zendikar block, so get while the getting is good. Foils also look tasty at all-time lows.

• It’s possible that there are some Dragon cards you should be giving a 2nd look at given what’s coming in DoT. Cards like See the Unwritten and Atarka have room to spike if they end up great in a shifting metagame.

• If you’re looking for any big ticket items, you might want to check on inventory with FacetoFace Games or 401 Games in Toronto and Montreal. Many of the Canadian stores haven’t quite caught up on repricing their cards after a recent 20%+ currency shift and there are plenty of deals to be had if you’re paying in US dollars on your credit cards or via Paypal.

James Chillcott is the CEO of ShelfLife.net, The Future of Collecting, Senior Partner at Advoca, a designer, adventurer, toy fanatic and an avid Magic player and collector since 1994.

ADVERTISEMENT: Looking for a deck box to match your play style and personality? Look no further! Check out the Grimoire Beta Edition – a spell book looking deck box with stylish cover art that fits you