MTG Artifact that can kill top meta deck triples in price

MTG players have discovered that the three-mana Artifact Trinisphere is an excellent early-game counter to the meta-topping Ruby Storm deck.

2024 has seen many previously cheap Artifacts shoot up in price due to Commander combos. Universes Beyond: Fallout’s The Wise Mothman Commander caused a stir when that set was released, due to providing MTG players with an interesting new avenue for mill decks.

Subsequently, the Artifacts Altar of the Brood, Mindcrank, and especially Mesmeric Orb gained a dramatic price boost thanks to enabling Mothman decks to hit huge heights of power.

Trinisphere is a similar, unassuming Artifact that is rapidly gaining in price. However, where the previously-mentioned Artifacts became much more expensive due to boosting Mothman, Trinisphere is better served as a counter to the current MTG meta than as a combo piece.

Trinisphere has suddenly ballooned in price due to its ability to drastically slow down the Ruby Storm deck. From price of around $20, Trinisphere has shot up to a listed median price of $64.96 at TCGPlayer.

Many Storm decks rely on cost reduction and cantrips to build the Storm count as high as possible before dealing a devastating final blow.

Ruby Storm makes good use of mana generation and impulse draw to churn through the deck and rack up the Storm count. Trinisphere makes this game plan much harder to pull off through setting otherwise cheap costs to three mana apiece.

This unusual tax effect is incredibly impactful in the game’s early rounds, helping to stall Ruby Storm for just long enough to prevent the deck from running away with the game right away.

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While Trinisphere is a highly useful tax for Ruby Storm players, its effects are board-wide, affecting every player including the card’s controller.

As a result, Trinisphere is a poor fit for many decks that would otherwise use it to great effect against Ruby Storm. Tron players and other archetypes that don’t include many low-mana cards will be the best home for Trinisphere as a result.

With Ruby Storm likely to continue growing in power thanks to MTG bringing the Storm ability back to the forefront, players are frantically looking into ways to keep this deck from utterly dominating the competitive scene.

Ral, Monsoon Mage is a crucial part of this deck’s gameplan, which is the biggest part of why that excellent Planeswalker has also skyrocketed in price following Modern Horizons 3’s launch. Ral is going to be taking a starring role in MTG’s story for at least the near future, with another Storm-based Ral Planeswalker having leaked for the Bloomburrow set.

As long as Ral Zarek is around, the Storm mechanic is likely to feature heavily, so MTG players hoping for Ruby Storm to disappear soon will be out of luck.

Ruby Storm isn’t the only overpowered deck type to be doing the rounds in MTG. Simic combo decks revolving around the new Nadu, Winged Wisdom Creature from Modern Horizons 3 are also seeing a huge amount of success in multiple formats.

These Modern Horizons 3 decks are cleaning up thanks to their easy combo potential. Nadu is already slotting in cards to prevent opponents’ interaction, claiming victory in a single explosive turn. Ruby Storm is likely to continue shoring up its win-cons, so having a much-needed gate like Trinisphere in the early game can be crucial for players who aren’t making use of these MH3 power cards.

Both Nadu and Ruby Storm are further proof that ignoring Horizons sets can be lethal for Magic players looking to retain a competitive edge. While this can unfortunately lead to a degree of FOMO, there’s no question that decks with and without Modern Horizons 3’s busted new cards are worlds apart in terms of power.