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Tiny Leaders Finance: Part 2

The man that knows the market is back to shine more of a light on the little format that could: Tiny Leaders! See what staples are going up, what cards people have forgotten about, and where you stand to make a little extra money on the trade floor!

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When last we left our pint-sized heroes, Ezuri, Varolz, Anax, Cymede, Alesha, and Ambassador Laquatus were fighting their way through dense underbrush on
their way to the Lost Temple of Angus Mackenzie. All hope was lost when a brilliant silver spaceship-hey, you know what? Just read last week’s article if you haven’t done so yet. It covers the
(brief) history of Tiny Leaders, explains all the rules, and pontificates on the future values of the most powerful wee commanders in Magic’s newest
format.

This week, I’m going to spend some time on the best cards in the format other than the leaders themselves. While the format is too young to have an
established list of staples, some incredibly powerful cards are already making their presence known on the nascent tournament circuit. I also think that
there’s still room for lots of discovery and innovation in Tiny Leaders. I’ll try to cover as many of the known staples as I can while also touching on
some of my own ideas for making a splash.

As I said last week, the future success of Tiny Leaders is far from certain. If you’re going to go out and buy a dozen copies of each card on this list, I
hope you’ve either got a heck of a bank account or a fairly accurate time machine. While I did buy a few copies of some of the foil commanders I
highlighted last week, this week’s article is more about trying to paint a picture of what the pool of Tiny Leaders playables looks like. My goal is to
inspire some of you to build decks (that will appreciate in value if the format takes hold) and to help the rest of you make more informed trades. Not only
can you target Tiny Leaders cards as throw-ins with serious growth potential, but you can put together a Tiny Leaders binder and use it to grind your way
into more valuable staples if you want to. See someone in your LGS building a Tiny Leaders deck? Now you have a list of cards to entice them with as you
work toward your own Magic goals.

That isn’t to say that some of the cards in this article aren’t good specs, of course. No one wanted foil copies of Smother a month ago. Today? Good luck
finding a NM copy of the FNM foil for under $12. I’ll cover my favorite spec buys as always, but when you’re dealing with a format this new the risk is
even greater than normal. Keep that in mind as we go forward.

Another thing you’ll notice: most of the cards that are good in Tiny Leaders are already good in Modern, Legacy, Standard, or Commander. Turns out, cards
that are good for three CMC or less tend to be cards that are good in general. No matter how big Tiny Leaders gets, other formats are always going to have
more of an impact on the price of a card like Liliana of the Veil, Snapcaster Mage, Noble Hierarch, or Thoughtseize. I’m going to bring up some of these
cards in today’s article, but only when they’re salient to another point I’m making. In other cases, I’m also going to skip over entire categories for the
sake of brevity. For example, nearly every good ramp spell already costs three mana or less, so there’s no need to re-hash how good Birds of Paradise is
here. Tutors and spot removal are both better than average in Tiny Leaders, but I’m only going to bring up a few examples of each for the same reason. That
said, let’s start with a card type that is very much affected by the constraints of Tiny Leaders:

Planeswalkers

Anyone who has played a game of Magic over the last decade knows how important planeswalkers are. They hit the board, impact the game immediately, and
provide their controller with a wealth of options until they’re finally dealt with. While having a good commander is important, so is having access to at
least one of the format’s planeswalkers. Aggressive decks like Ezuri can operate without them, but controlling decks need to at least stop and consider
what planeswalkers they want to have access to.

This is every planeswalker with a 3-CMC cost or less. Not the most inspiring list, is it? One of the reasons Esper is such a popular Tiny Leaders color is
because you have access to Ajani, Ashiok, Jace, and Liliana. Grixis gets you Ashiok, Dack, Jace, and Liliana, which is even better. Of course, Grixis mages
are stuck running Tetsuo Umezawa as their leader, so the tradeoff is real.

Planeswalkers are great in every format, of course, so it’s not like we’re uncovering some long hidden gems here. Tibalt is unplayable no matter how small
your leader is, and Liliana of the Veil is always going to matter more in Modern than in any semi-casual variant. Ashiok is especially good in Tiny Leaders
though, and the format should help prevent its price from tanking too much on rotation. In fact, Ashiok is arguably one of the best eight or ten cards in
the entire format, and foils might even go up from here. Jace Beleren is also a powerhouse in Tiny Leaders, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see demand for
the smallest Jace to tick up some as the format catches on. Dack’s foil price really can’t get any more crazy at this point, but normal copies should
continue to grow as Conspiracy becomes a more distant memory and Grixis gets (we hope!) a better leader.

Mass Removal

In most formats, wrath effects are crucial to maintaining the proper balance between aggressive and controlling strategies. White has had the best of these
spells historically, with cards like Wrath of God, Day of Judgment, Supreme Verdict, and Terminus acting as multi-format staples. What do most of these
spells have in common though? A CMC of four to six. In the world of Tiny Leaders, it’s black and red that have the best board sweepers.

At first glance, you’ll notice that almost all of these cards are conditional. The Pyroclasm variants are stronger than average in Tiny Leaders, but Anger
of the Gods and Slagstorm are going to be better most of the time. Anger of the Gods is already fairly expensive thanks to Standard and Modern playability,
but I could see both foil and non-foil copies of Slagstorm rising in price thanks to Tiny Leaders.

If you want a truer wrath, Pernicious Deed, Black Sun’s Zenith, and Toxic Deluge are the best the format offers. Foil copies of Black Sun’s Zenith have
already spiked thanks to Tiny Leaders, and Toxic Deluges are becoming hard to find. Pernicious Deed was reprinted in Conspiracy, so the increased supply
and strict color requirements should keep the price in check. Martial Coup and Starstorm would both be primed for jumps as well, but they were just printed
in Commander 2014 so their sub-$1 price tags should last another year at least.

On the artifact side, Engineered Explosives, Ratchet Bomb, and Powder Keg are all worth a look. Engineered Explosives is the best of them, but its
effectiveness is limited outside a three-color deck, and it’s already relatively pricey thanks to Modern and Legacy play. Ratchet Bomb is almost always
going to be better than Powder Keg, and even though its upside is severely limited by two fairly major printings I can’t see it staying at bulk and bulk
foil prices for long. Powder Keg is the worst of the three most of the time, but some decks will want both, and the card is on the reserved list. Player
Rewards foils are just $3 right now, and there’s some growth potential there.

If you’re looking for a rogue option, why not Planar Collapse? It’s from an ancient and under-printed set, and I can see controlling Tiny Leaders decks
running it as a sideboard option against aggressive and tokens strategies. It’s more conditional than any of the other cards on this list, but it does what
you want it to more often than not in this format.

Utility Creatures

This list shouldn’t shock anyone-nearly all of these cards already see a ton of play in Cube, Commander, Modern, or Legacy. Order of Whiteclay is the only
relatively new card on this list, and it’s a good one in Tiny Leaders. $3 is a sold out price on StarCity, but I’ve been able to track down enough $1
copies that I doubt the price will spike too much beyond the $3-$5 range. That estimate could prove laughably conservative if Tiny Leaders explodes, but
I’m not willing to take that risk.

I can’t imagine Tiny Leaders is creating too much more demand for multi-format all stars like Stoneforge Mystic and Snapcaster Mage, but sometimes it
doesn’t take much to cause a run on a card that is already in high demand. Snapcaster Mage is surging due to Modern interest and the knowledge that it
won’t be reprinted in Modern Masters II, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Tiny Leaders demand helps things along. Stoneforge Mystic isn’t as volatile right
now, but the card has done nothing but climb in value for a year or so now, so I wouldn’t be surprised if it starts to rise in price again. Both cards are
at their best in a format like Tiny Leaders where card advantage and efficiency are magnified.

Banisher Priest and Fiend Hunter are fairly mediocre in Commander where large board wipes are common and life totals are huge, but they’re wonderfully
efficient in Tiny Leaders. Both cards were printed fairly recently, but the foils still have some serious growth potential. Azorius Guildmage is another
card that is far better in a fast format like Tiny Leaders, and I like foils of these as a long-term hold as well.

True-Name Nemesis also warrants further discussion here. The card is at its absolute best in a format like Tiny Leaders, and nearly every blue list I’ve
seen has a copy somewhere in its maindeck. True-Name Nemesis will eventually find its way back toward $40, and it’s possible that Tiny Leaders will
accelerate that push a little bit. If you can still find a copy in the $20 range and you don’t have one yet, I’d make the plunge.

Card Draw

The standard Dimir Commander card draw suite – Phyrexian Arena, Mystic Remora, and Rhystic Study-are very good in Tiny Leaders as well, but the cards on
the above list get significantly better with the format shift. Dark Confidant is fantastic without the possibility of taking more than three damage in a
shot, Mentor of the Meek triggers off of nearly everything, Sylvan Library is green’s best card advantage engine, and the casting either of the two X
spells feels like being the only grown-up playing in a middle school dodgeball game.

Sylvan Library’s foil spiked last week, and I have no doubt that Tiny Leaders was part of the reason why. Commanders’ Arsenal foils are relatively
underpriced considering how scarce they are, but at this point I doubt Sylvan Library can go much higher. And if Dark Confidant jumps in price, Tiny
Leaders won’t be the reason why. Blue Sun’s Zenith and Mentor of the Meek were both recently reprinted in Commander pre-cons, so stay away from non-foils.
Foil copies of Mentor have room to grow though, and I wouldn’t be surprised if that one jumps a little. Sphinx’s Revelation probably won’t see a real surge
until it begins seeing more play in Modern. It’s great in Tiny Leaders, and I like it as a long-term hold regardless.

Other X Spells

I could have kept going here because nearly every X spell is worth considering in Tiny Leaders. One of the format’s biggest quirks is allowing players to
‘cheat’ the mana requirements with spells that have X in the mana cost, and because of that, it’s possible to brew up a viable green-based ramp deck in
Tiny Leaders. All five Zeniths are playable, and I’m a big fan of foil copies of White Sun’s Zenith at just $3.

The hydras are also worth a second look here. As one of Magic’s most beloved tribes, they’ve all got a bunch of 60-card casual value. Primordial Hydra is
especially notable, having been printed twice (and again as a promo) while still maintaining significant value. Protean Hydra is a little worse, but the
buy-in is low enough that I’m intrigued.

Combo Pieces

With 49-card maindecks, my Tiny Leaders thoughts immediately gravitated toward combo. It’s not easy to pull off though. The singleton restriction is harsh,
and the best combo in the format is probably the three-CMC restriction’s combo with the banned list that eliminates nearly all of the possible two-card
wins.

Dark Depths, Thespian’s Stage, and/or Vampire Hexmage is the easiest combo to pull off and is the most powerful thing you can do on the first few turns of
a Tiny Leaders game. Dark Depths is the financial choke point as always though, and Legacy is still the format that controls the value of that card. Beyond
that, Power Artifact/Grim Monolith is a must-play in Ambassador Laquatus since you get an instant kill with your commander in play. Both of those cards are
reserved list staples, and Power Artifact has an absurd amount of room to grow in price.

If you want to build a more dedicated combo deck, Storm (with a Brain Freeze kill) and Doomsday (with a Lab Maniac kill) look like the most powerful
strategies right now. Most of the best storm cards are legal in Tiny Leaders, though the singleton rule hurts the deck more than most. Doomsday is a more
finicky combo, but it’s also more conducive to the constraints of the environment. Regardless, I can see Doomsday and/or foil copies of Brain Freeze making
a small run as the interest level rises.

Peacekeeper and Phyrexian Dreadnought are more speculative additions to this list of Tiny Leaders combos. Peacekeeper is worth a look in decks running
Alesha, Who Smiles at Death – your Peacekeeper has to survive the attack, which isn’t easy, but if so, you can lock your opponent out of attacking while
bringing her back each combat if you don’t pay the upkeep. Phyrexian Dreadnought is already an interesting card with manifest being legal, and 12/12s
aren’t easy to come by in a format with a severe mana restriction. Both cards are on the reserved list, so they’re worth an additional look or two
regardless of how janky they seem at first glance.

Lands

Lands don’t fall under Tiny Leaders’ CMC restriction, but the other quirks of the format put anyone who doesn’t have the appropriate duals and fetches at a
severe disadvantage. The speed of the format (more Legacy than Commander) means that you can’t just sit around and play a bunch of Vivid lands and
Guildgates, and its singleton nature makes it much harder to cheat your fixing with the Ravnica shocklands. Granted, you only need one copy of Underground
Sea instead of four, but its impact is very much magnified by the nature of Tiny Leaders. I doubt this will affect the prices of any dual lands, but it’s
worth thinking about as a potential pitfall for the format.

After shocks and duals, Creeping Tar Pit and Celestial Colonnade are the lands I’ve seen popping up the most. They’re very hard to kill, and they make for
effective finishers in Azorius, Dimir, and Esper control decks, especially the ones that go nearly creatureless. Both cards are already quite expensive,
but I could see Creeping Tar Pit grow a bit. Keep an eye out for a Modern Masters II reprint though.

Gaea’s Cradle is one of the two or three most powerful cards in the entire format, and it fits perfectly into Ezuri, the format’s best aggressive deck.
Much like the other cards on this list, I can’t see the price going up much more, but the fact that a $180 reserved list card is a format staple in Tiny
Leaders is a frustrating financial barrier to entry.

Targeted Removal

Nearly all of the good targeted removal is legal in Tiny Leaders, and cards like Path to Exile and Lightning Bolt are just as good here as they are in
every other format. The cards on the above list are significantly better in Tiny Leaders than they are in most of the other formats though. The two
overload cards help cheat the format’s CMC ban, and both are also strong cards in Cube and Commander. I love both foils and non-foils as long-term holds.

Abrupt Decay and Threads of Disloyalty are both extra good here, with the format’s restrictions negating their drawbacks almost entirely. Both of those
cards see more play in the established Eternal formats though, so their prices shouldn’t move much. Smother has already spiked, and as I said earlier, it
is very hard to find foils for under $10. Plaguebearer is my dark horse pick for Tiny Leaders-it’s cheap to play, hails from a long-forgotten set, and
kills practically everything in the format without much of an effort. I’m not sure if it has the legs to spike much past $3-$4, but $0.75 is way too low.

Equipment

Skullclamp and Umezawa’s Jitte are banned. Batterskull costs too much. That leaves Basilisk collar, Champion’s Helm, and the four ‘fair’ swords as the top
tier of equipment in the format. Basilisk Collar isn’t great on its own, but the lifegain is more relevant than normal, and the card combos pretty well
with cards like Spikeshot Elder, Goblin Sharpshooter, and Cunning Sparkmage. I can see that card seeing a small spike in popularity, especially the foil,
which feels very underpriced to me compared to the regular version.

Champion’s Helm doubled in price last week, so I’m staying away. Short term, the price has already gone up, and long term, it’ll be reprinted in another
Commander pre-con. It’s a fine card in the format, but Lightning Greaves does a similar job at a much better mana cost in decks that don’t care about the
+2/+2. The Swords’ popularity hinges more on standard Commander, though I’ve long liked Feast and Famine as an underrated card with casual growth
potential.

Board Control & Miscellany

If you’re an aggro player, it’s not hard to figure out what cards are good in Tiny Leaders. Other than Hero of Bladehold and Hellrider, it’s hard to name a
recent aggro staple with a CMC greater than three. Control players have it a little harder, which is why I’ve focused more on that side of the spectrum in
this article.

All of the cards on this list are playable elsewhere, but I could see a few of them seeing a bit of a resurgence in Tiny Leaders. Cards like Trinisphere,
Winter Orb, Ensnaring Bridge, and Tangle Wire are liabilities in Commander because your two or three opponents are almost always going to gang up on you in
order to try and get out from under your prison. In a duel, they’re fantastic ways of locking the game down. Tangle Wire and Winter Orb have a little room
to grow too. Inquisition of Kozilek is a strictly better Thoughtseize in Tiny Leaders, but don’t buy in yet-it will almost assuredly be reprinted in Modern
Masters II, tanking the price. Staff of Domination is quite possibly the most powerful card on this list, and even though I haven’t seen a good Tiny
Leaders deck making use of it so far, I’d be shocked if it doesn’t end up as a control deck toolbox staple.

Beyond that, Tiny Leaders is filled with all the cards you’d normally expect to see in a game of Legacy. Enlightened Tutor, Mystical Tutor, Sensei’s
Divining Top, Ponder, Preordain, Brainstorm, and Counterspell are all present and accounted for.

As Reddit user Taylorleb put it in a post on the Tiny Leaders Subreddit

, the most important concept to understand is that Tiny Leaders isn’t ‘small Commander’ as much as it is ‘high variance singleton Legacy.’ Whether you’re
building a deck or speculating on the next big staple, make sure to keep that in mind. Stick to cards that are quick, efficient, and powerful and you’ll do
just fine.

This Week’s Trends

– Cards with the most trading floor buzz right now: Whisperwood Elemental, Voice of Resurgence, Eidolon of the Great Revel, Snapcaster Mage, Garruk, Apex
Predator, Liliana of the Veil, Doran, the Siege Tower, and good old Tarmogoyf. The Modern stuff is pretty clear and Doran’s ascendance is Tiny
Leaders-related. Why Whisperwood Elemental? It’s because of decks like this one:

G/R Devotion
Robert Berni
1st Place at Star City Games Standard Open on 02-14-2015
Standard
Magic Arena

Creatures (31)

Planeswalkers (2)

Lands (23)

Spells (4)

Sideboard

Magic Card Back


Most of the cards in this build have been staples for a long time, but Whisperwood Elemental has been searching for a home since it was released. There’s
not a top of upside left at its current price near $10, but it could hit $15-$18 if Green/x devotion keeps stealing market share on the Standard scene.

– Have you seen Tom Ross’ Soulflayer deck yet? It might not be the
best thing in Standard, but it’s certainly among the most fun. Soulflayer is a high risk, high reward spec, but they’re just $1.09 each right now. I’m in
for a playset.

– The next From the Vault Set was announced! It will be FTV: Angels. These releases used to be far more limited, and these days the print run is
large enough to dramatically lower the prices of most of the cards they contain. Restoration Angel, Iona, Shield of Emeria, Avacyn, Angel of Hope, Linvala,
Keeper of Silence, Platinum Angel, and Baneslayer Angel are the most expensive cards whose values could be significantly impacted by this release. If you
have any of these cards that you’re not using, now is a good time to sell.