This Week in Magic - Week 3

Hopefully everyone got a chance to get in on some Aether Revolt pre-release action. Aether Revolt is live and legal now! Financially, AER leaves something to the imagination, but it looks like a ton of fun. Plus, Standard has yet to be hashed out, so only time will tell how much value this set will hold. Also, the ban list is live, so we will see some fireworks in Modern and Standard.

 

Spreading Plague is a card that I've seen across the table in many a Commander game. It's really, really gross and basically makes you answer it before you play any additional creatures. It saw huge gains this week, and it's essentially a casual only card. I am glad that old tech is find a new home, but this card can get pretty oppressive, especially with the recently released 4 color Commander decks. Still, I like the thought of playing this in a multi-color deck then wiping the board with your 3, 4 or 5 color creatures.

 

Walking Ballista, theHangarback Walker of Aether Revolt, has done well for himself in the price market. We saw how Hangarback was initially fairly low, then sky rocketed. It may not be exactly like Hangarback, but it's very similar. I'm not certain on how many copies we will see, but it's likely to be some number, I imagine. It's nice to see some cards gaining value in AER. I want Standard to be cheap, but not dirt cheap.

 

Fiery Confluence, clearly the best confluence (mono red player here) has seen some extraordinary gains. I love all of the Confluences as they aren't Commands...but they are. I remember initial reaction was to compare the Confluences to the Commands, so most people shrugged them off. It turns out having several options for not a lot of mana is really, really good. Fiery Confluence does it all, if by all you need to burn everything to the ground, including players.

 

Junún Efreet, a card I used many time to combat Hypnotic Specters, nearly tripled in price, and it's not even on the reserved list! I guess a 3/3 for 3 is just about the bee's knees. Oh...you also have to pay BB for him every. Single. Turn.  He sure is needy. That being said, cards like this remind me of the old days playing Magic. I really miss how awkward the colorless mana numbers used to be.

 

Herald of Anguish, the latest baddie demon dude, has risen in popularity. In a series of usually expensive demon finishers, this one really stands out due to his cost reduction. It's a brutal way to close out a game in the later stages. I don't know that he will see a considerable amount of play, seeing I think Demon of Dark Schemes is better, but who knows. Maybe he'll find a home in an artifact based deck that can ramp him out as soon as turn 5.

Cheap pickups of the Week!

Honestly, most of Aether Revolt is dirt cheap right now. While people feel out what cards are going to be the next big hit, many rares are sub $1. I really like all of the Expertise cards, as casting a spell for free is an effect we don't get too often. I'd pick up a play set of each and sit on them for a while. 

Foils of the Week!

If you're the lucky owner of a foil Infernal Tutor, go cash in your lottery ticket! It went from around $80 to over $400! Thanks to Frontier, Narset Transcendent nearly doubled in price and is hovering around $50.  Sudden Shock saw an increase in both play (Modern) and price ($9.) Strionic Resonator, which does some crazy things, jumped to nearly $14. 

Conversation of the Week!

It's been a crazy week of work, so trying to keep up with everything this last week and a half has been tough. That said, I'm really wondering just how deep Wizards will go with Inventions. Will we see enchantment Inventions in Amonkhet with a Blood Moon reprint? Will they stick to artifacts? How many sets can they keep pumping out these lottery tickets?   

The best Commander card you aren't playing!

This week, the best Commander card that you're not playing is Head Games. Man...what can I say about doing rude things other than sometimes it's absolutely hilarious!! Ok, this card can be really mean, but hey, sometimes people need to learn a lesson, right?