This time, Corpora examines why the Magic Origins cards that generated the most sales were hot.

A little bit of housekeeping, before we dive into some of these numbers: the prices of newer Magic cards are largely dictated by the tournament success they see in decks.  There are big tournaments almost every weekend, and their results cause prices to jump around and leapfrog each other.  So why do we always reference the week after a Pro Tour, specifically?

No tournament has more of an effect on prices than a Pro Tour.  It's the consensus best players in the world competing for a prize purse that dwarfs all others, giving players unrivaled incentive to be adventurous with their card selection and to fine-tune their decks.  The stakes are so high and the players are so strong at a Pro Tour that the likelihood of a "fluke deck" performing well is extremely unlikely.  The results are solid.

Top 25 'Magic Origins' Cards (after Pro Tour)

by Dollar Volume

$ Vol.

Rank

Card Name

Average

Price

1

Hangarback Walker

$13.31

2

Abbot of Keral Keep

$5.84

3

Jace, Vryns Prodigy

$32.89

4

Nissa, Vastwood Seer

$27.75

5

Liliana, Heretical Healer

$25.54

6

Exquisite Firecraft

$6.09

7

Demonic Pact

$6.88

8

Thopter Spy Network

$4.75

9

Chandra, Fire of Kaladesh

$10.39

10

Languish

$7.90

11

Goblin Piledriver

$8.20

12

Kytheon, Hero of Akros

$12.01

13

Days Undoing

$12.73

14

Archangel of Tithes

$10.80

15

Sword of the Animist

$2.63

16

Woodland Bellower

$5.06

17

Starfield of Nyx

$5.38

18

Evolutionary Leap

$2.35

19

Alhammarrets Archive

$3.33

20

Shivan Reef

$1.93

21

Sphinxs Tutelage

$1.16

22

Harbinger of the Tides

$3.05

23

Pia and Kiran Nalaar

$1.93

24

Llanowar Wastes

$2.11

25

Managorger Hydra

$2.14

Hangarback Walker (#1) topping the list should be no surprise to anyone who followed the Pro Tour coverage from Vancouver.  The breakout deck of Pro Tour: Magic Origins was undoubtedly the blue/red Ensoul Artifact deck, piloted to a second-place finish by Player of the Year Mike Sigrist.  Of all the archetypes to appear in the top 8, blue/red was the only brand-new deck -- it simply can’t exist without Magic Origins additions Hangarback Walker, Whirler Rogue, and Chief of the Foundry.  Players tend to gravitate towards new ideas. This idea in particular is what fueled Demonic Pact's (#8) rise to the top 10 -- Pro Tour: Fate Reforged winner Antonio Del Moral León was seen winning an on-camera feature match on the back of the black enchantment, sporting a deck that couldn’t exist without the card.

Abbot of Keral Keep (#2) and Exquisite Firecraft (#6) didn't lend themselves to an entirely new deck, but rather pushed a preexisting archetype, mono-red, into tier-one status.  Abbot of Keral Keep in particular lends mono-red decks a very unique effect, as it's powerful in all phases of the game.

The top five is rounded out by Jace, Vryn's Prodigy (#4), Nissa, Vastwood Seer (#5), and Liliana, Heretical Healer (#6).  The only one of these to see any top 8 play was Nissa, but by this point, the creators of Magic have learned well the golden rule: folks love their planeswalkers.  For completion's sake, Chandra, Fire of Kaladesh (#9) lands safely in the top 10, while Kytheon, Hero of Akros (#12) secures its spot in the top 15.

Wrapping things up, Sphinx's Tutelage (#21) has the distinction of being the only uncommon to crack the top 25.  Since the list is ranked by product revenue and not simply “which card sold the most copies,” the fact that it cracks the top 25 at all is impressive.  The card is the cornerstone for last weekend's Grand Prix-winning deck, so it's one to keep an eye on.

Jon Corpora is a Creative Producer at TCGplayer.com. TCGplayer.com is the largest collectible card marketplace on the web, with hundreds of brick and mortar sellers listed.

The opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff of ICv2.com.