As of today, "Nissa, Worldwaker" is the hottest card in Wizards of the Coast's Magic: The Gathering--Magic 2015 Core Set as measured by total dollar amount sold through the TCGplayer.com website.  Magic 2015 continues the trend of packing Core Sets with half classic reprints and half exciting new cards like planeswalkers that the Standard format can take advantage of.
 
During the preorder season for Magic 2015 (up to July 11th) a number of cards stood out as the chase cards for the set.

Top 10 'Magic 2015' Prerelease Cards by Dollar Volume
$ Vol. Rank	Card Name	Average Price
1	Garruk, Apex Predator	$22.43
2	Nissa, Worldwaker	$17.55
3	Chord of Calling	$8.92
4	Ajani Steadfast	$13.92
5	Waste Not	$6.98
6	Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth	$7.05
7	Jace, the Living Guildpact	$12.57
8	Sliver Hivelord	$13.12
9	Llanowar Wastes	$3.49
10	Sliver Hive	$2.73

 
"Garruk, Apex Predator" stood out as the number one planeswalker in the set, and for a good reason.  He was the large, splashy flagship card of the set and he was the first planeswalker to have four abilities since Jace, the Mind Sculptor, and we know how that turned out.  "Nissa, Worldwaker" stood right beside him as another new planeswalker offering (one of four in the set including "Jace, the Living Guildpact" and "Ajani Steadfast," both of which also broke the Top 10).  Coincidentally, in addition to bringing in the most revenue, these two planeswalkers were also the priciest cards in the set during the preorder season!
 
A number of cards began to grow more popular once players had a chance to play with them at Prereleases and see what kind of decks they could utilize over the release weekend.
 

Top 10 'Magic 2015' Cards by Dollar Volume
$ Vol. Rank	Card Name	Average Price
1	Nissa, Worldwaker	$26.59
2	Chord of Calling	$9.56
3	Garruk, Apex Predator	$21.86
4	Ajani Steadfast	$12.71
5	Waste Not	$6.36
6	Jace, the Living Guildpact	$9.64
7	Scuttling Doom Engine	$3.63
8	Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth	$5.55
9	Genesis Hydra	$2.40
10	Sliver Hivelord	$10.95

The biggest change on the list is "Nissa, Worldwaker" climbing all the way up to the top and dethroning "Garruk, Apex Predator" as the number one planeswalker in the set.  This could be due in part to her constructed applications, such as Standard, where players want to try her out in Monogreen Devotion decks that run an excess of Forests.  Meanwhile "Ajani Steadfast" and "Waste Not" managed to maintain their Top 5 positions.
 
Two surprise cards that crept onto the list after the Prerelease were "Scuttling Doom Engine" and "Genesis Hydra."  Meanwhile "Jace, the Living Guildpact," "Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth," and "Sliver Hivelord" managed to hold their Top 10 positions.  Both new additions were cards that fit well into any green deck that might contain the Top 2 cards of "Nissa, Worldwaker" and "Chord of Calling."
 
These trends give us an idea of what cards players are considering for upcoming events.
 
--Frank Lepore is the editor of Magic.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 author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff of ICv2.com.