Are you ready for new Standard? I know I am! Deck choices are getting thinner and thinner, so card prices have been shifting towards what people are actually going to play tonight. Now, let me intervene for a moment to introduce this week's top movers.
Intervention Pact. It slices, it dices, it...gains you life? I have to believe that this is part of some jank brew involving my previously mentioned Madcap Experiment/Blightsteel Colossus combo. A Jeskai package with this could be fun, but it's also a ton of cards to line up for a 11/11 that can be path'd. Is Intervention Pact good? Only because no one expects it, but it doesn't really win you the game directly. That is, unless you have a deep, deep synergy with something like Aetherflux Reservoir...
From the start I've felt that all the gearhulks were incorrectly priced. Even as of this writing I think they have more prices jumps to make. Verdurous Gearhulk has trampled its way to the top of the leaderboard. Probably the coolest list I've seen involving the Green Giant is here. Some are touting him as the best new card in Standard. Only time will tell, but considering the last 5 mana 8/8 trample had an upkeep of GGGG, I'd say it looks good to me!
Alternate art cards can be hit and miss. Duel Decks: Ajani vs. Nicol Bolas Countersquall has been doing very well for itself. I couldn't find space to talk about it in previous weeks, but it has surpassed the $4 mark, which is interesting because the original art is less than $2.50. It sees play in a variety of Modern Grixis decks and has the potential to be an even more expensive card, except most decks run it as a one of. Still, it's really cool to see a counterspell of this style sleeved up.
Non-foil fans or owners, you can skip this paragraph and move to the next one. As an old school Magic player, there is really only one Birds of Paradise art that I prefer, that's the original. That being said, my favorite foil is the media promo Birds of Paradise. Unfortunately no one agrees with me, as the 7th edition foil Birds of Paradise is $275. The 8th edition is no slouch and jumped to almost $70 this week. Combustible Gearhulk is case and point that foils matter. The non-foil version has stayed flat at $5 for a few weeks now, but the foil is over $20 now. It had spiked briefly to $60, then settled. Combustible just so happens to be my favorite, and of course you know I love foils, so this makes me happy. Also, if you have a foil Diabolic Intent hidden somewhere, you should probably go find it. That's a $65 foil.
Finally, I want to talk about the state of Magic as it pertains to today. Everyone has their own opinion on how cards should be priced, what format should cost what, etc. Keep in mind that the Magic secondary market is really what sustains the game. If cards didn't hold value, then people wouldn't put money back into the game. Just because we may not agree with some things, doesn't mean that we are correct. Wizards is taking a chance with Kaladesh and trying to lower the overall cost of playing Standard since the cards rotate so quickly. The side effect of that is people that invest in the staying power of cards or this set are not happy. The plus side is we get a set with cheap rares that are really strong in the new Standard. There are millions of Magic players to keep happy, and inevitably some won't be happy with any directions the company takes. Personally, I'm still just as big of a fan of Magic today as I was before Kaledesh was spoiled. More so even since I'm getting back into Standard. Good luck out there as we get into a brand new set!