We had a MARVELous weekend of Standard this week with GP Omaha, GP Manila and GP Amsterdam. In the top 32 decks, Marvel was 50% of GP Omaha, 50% of GP Amsterdam and 34% of GP Manila, but there were also some sweet surprises. We’re still in somewhat of a stable time in the market, so let’s see what cards made the list this week.
Dun dun dun dun dun dun, who's bad? Sindbad. Clearly the target of a very quick and specific buyout, friend of this week in Magic, Sindbad shows his face. I have doubts about the true price, as browsing Ebay history shows a slew of them sold for a reasonable price. Still, considering where the price used to be, it's selling for around $25 right now, meaning the buyout worked pretty well. I don't anticipate it staying that high, as the demand seems to be relatively low.
There has been a string of reserved list cards spiking lately, and Citanul Druid is the most recent winner. I played green a lot back in Legends, but I never played this, to my recollection. I think this was purely an investment spike, rather than a gameplay or speculation spike, as a 1/1 for 2 that grows with each artifact cast by an opponent seems pretty bad in a game that has access to Tarmogoyf. Still, more and more older cards are disappearing by the minute at a faster rate than we've seen in the last few years.
Well, Ethersworn Canonist made last week’s list, but this week it exploded even more. It sees play in the new Legacy Miracles deck that doesn’t play Sensei's Divining Top and that deck has been doing very well lately. This was a pretty big buyout, and it’s still happening to an extent. If you wanted one of these for casual reasons, your window has slammed shut with a loud thud.
Predict has been played in Legacy and Vintage, but it is being played in legacy Miracles, sometimes as a 4 of. I think most people thought Miracles would die after Sensei's Divining Top was banned, so when it started putting up results, people quickly jumped on the train, hence the quick and violent card spikes.
You wanted more sweet Legends cards? Deal! Hellfire is super, super sweet! I mean, this card screams old school Magic. Compared to today’s standards, it’s a pretty bad 1 sided board wipe, especially since Damnation was reprinted and we just had a 3 mana black board wipe spoiled. Still, who wouldn’t want to cast this in Commander just to see your opponents stare at its awesomeness?
Street Wraith is no stranger to the charts, and definitely no stranger to competitive Magic. You will find tons and tons of playsets in Modern, in fact Street Wraith is currently in 15.5% of Modern decks. The spike this week could be attributed to the fact that Death's Shadow decks are the best decks in Modern, and people are constantly moving into it. Also, Living End decks have been gaining popularity, so that could be another reason for the spike.
Some people haven’t been playing long enough, but for a long time, Thoughtseize was a very expensive card. The spike this week can also be attributed to the success of Death's Shadow decks, as the standard used to be 2x Death's Shadow and 4x Inquisition of Kozilek, but people have been jamming 4x Thoughtseize, because why not? Let’s not mince words here: Thoughtseize is THE most powerful hand disruption card we have access to as Mind Twist is basically banned in everything.
Foils of the Week!
The foil version of Horror of the Broken Lands shot well over $5 this week as Living End players quickly move to foil new additions. Another Living End card, foil Faerie Macabre saw some staggering gains. This one really rang my bell, foil Temple Bell shot over $10! It’s the only foil version, with other printings being in Commander product, but this still baffles me. Speaking of Living End, would you have guessed that foil Living End rose to over $75?? Lastly, a Legacy reanimator card, foil Stronghold Gambit more than doubled in price this week.
Cheap pickups of the Week!
As Foretold came out of the gates swinging but has fallen flat since release. It might get cheaper over the coming weeks, but if you have plans on ever casting it, I’d probably pick it up now before something in Hour of Devastation makes you wish you did earlier. Oh how the mighty have fallen. Gideon of the Trials was hype city when he was spoiled, now you can basically pick them up for around $10 each. They are seeing very fringe play currently as people are still trying to break him, but let’s not forget this is a 3 mana walker. If you have the chance to get a play set now for $40, do it and put them in the back page of your binder. Also, now is a good time to buy into Invocations, Inventions and Expeditions. Many of them are near all-time lows and the coolness has worn off on some people. These cards will fetch a solid price in the future, so acquiring them cheaply now is a good move.
MTGStocks mystery chart of the Week!
Last week’s mystery chart was Living End, as some people had guessed. This week, I’ll stay with the popular request and keep you guessing like a drill sergeant with convoluted cadence…
Conversation of the Week!
This week, I’d like to talk a little about Commander leagues. I’ve been a part of many over the years, and they always seem to fizzle out. My favorite format is a league that awards points for various in game achievements. The problem that always seems to get in the way is that I’ve been too good at being a “points hoarder,” meaning I specifically would build a Commander deck to get as many points as possible. This would usually result in a run away and people complaining that players shouldn’t play or build in that way. I found it a challenge to look at a number of ways to earn points and maximize my deck build, rather than just take an existing deck to a league. One league awarded points based on a succession of CMC or the alphabet, so for example, if someone cast a 2 drop, then a 3 drop, if a player cast a 4 drop, they would get 3 points. A 5 drop in that order would then net 4 points, so on and so on. Same with the first letter of the spell being cast. A, then B, then C. I made a 5 color deck using a whole slew of split cards because they had multiple casting costs AND multiple names which gave me a great points advantage. I’ve also played in leagues with points only being given to knocking out a player, or killing someone with Commander damage. Those too tend to fizzle for the same reasons, as I think most players would rather build a deck the way they want instead of feeling constrained to a points system. I’m not sure what the best format for a 4 player Commander league is, so if you have had good experiences with one, feel free to let me know!
The best Commander card you’re not playing!
Last week’s card was a build around me, and this week’s card is an even more fun build around me. Ashling's Prerogative. You might look at this sideways because you didn’t know it existed. At one point, I had an entire deck with only odd CMC because I felt even CMC was more powerful. It turned out to be so fun and hilarious that I shifted from mono red to W/R with Jor Kadeen, the Prevailer at the helm. I wanted to run white so I could reliably find my Ashling's Prerogative every game. Now that I’ve given you the tools, go out and build your own even or odd deck!
