This week in Magic - Week 36

I had a bit of madness at work last week and unfortunately wasn’t able to publish an article, which is unfortunate because FAR too many things happened in the Magic world. Ixalan spoilers are in full swing, dinosaurs are awesome, and Planeswalkers have finally been turned in legendary permanents. Let’s take a deep breath and dive into this week in Magic!

First and foremost, I have to mention Empress Galina. I had talked about how good she would be if the errata was true, and guess what? It was! I spec’d on a number of cards that would be effected by the errata, but I bought the most of these in foil and non-foil. The foils were already pretty rare because they are from Invasion, but now they will very hard to find at a good price. I suspect the prices will settle over the next few months, but if you decided to buy some of the cards I talked about back in week 25, you may have made out like a bandit.

Another sweet legendary matters card spiked, Yomiji, Who Bars the Way. While not earth shattering, it is a fresh and new way to interact with Planeswalkers. 7 mana is a heafty price to pay for a 4/4 that doesn’t really do a ton, but considering the uniqueness of the ability, I’d say these should hold over $2.

Opt is getting a reprint in Ixalan which means it will be Modern legal. Many players and investors stormed the internet and quickly bought out all the foils and most of the non-foils. Some of the community is divided as to if this will see play in any existing Modern decks, but the prospect of a new cantrip is exciting.

I’ve used Nacatl War-Pride in a few budget mono green Commander decks, but it has found new life with cat tribal coming to Commander. It was the target of a tribal buyout, and will hopefully settle around the $1 mark. It’s not really an amazing card, but it is a ton of fun!

Who doesn’t love some Flying Men? The namesake card of the flying men deck doesn’t actually get played in the deck, but that didn’t stop people from buying it out. I haven’t found any specific reason for the spike, as this isn’t a reserved list card, but it is still cool!

Tron lands have been going up and up, and it’s surprising that it’s taken this long. Urza's Tower (Mountains) is the latest on the list to spike, but I can see these lands all easily being over $10 each. Tron will always be a great deck, even if you hate it, so its not too late to get in on the action.

Finally, I thought I would mention at least one reserved list card because it’s one I still play. Tetsuo Umezawa has filled the role of a basic grixis Commander along with my girl Gwendlyn Di Corci. Chances are every legendary creature will be expensive in the future, so if you’ve ever wanted an original “Commander” you should probably act now.

Foils of the Week!

Foil Opt were obliterated from the internet in a matter of 30 min. It will be interesting to see where these settle. Foil Biorhythm is still banned in Commander (who knows why) but some people are ahead of the curve buying out the foils. Palace Siege got a reprint in Commander 2017, so maybe some people wanted the foil version? I don’t know why the foil spiked this week. Foil Door to Nothingness followed the Magic 2013 (M13) version thanks to 5c dragons. Finally, people realized that Logic Knot is a solid Modern card, so naturally the foils have been getting scooped up.

Cheap pickups of the Week!

Wizards announced here that they will errata 14 creatures to the dinosaur type in addition to the announcement of a dinosaur Commander. Players will soon start buying these older cards, so if you want to build this deck, or want to get ahead of the rush, you should keep an eye on the cards from the list. Shivan Raptor, Deathmist Raptor, Fungusaur, Magmasaur and Ridgetop Raptor are all on the list!

MTGStocks Mystery Chart of the Week!

The mystery chart from week 34 was Flusterstorm. This week is a card that is everything that I love to do in a Magic game.

Conversation of the Week!

In case you missed it, Wizards spoiled the beta for Magic Arena here. It looks like a fast paced, simpler version of the game and I’m pretty excited to play something like this on mobile. Chat was chat and bashed pretty much everything, but I think this is a great step in the right direction for a mobile game that can compete with other mobile TCG’s.

The best Commander card you’re not playing!

Ever play against an opponent who is very cocky and the whole table wants dead? One of my favorite things to do when face with this situation is to Render Silent. It’s funny to watch an opponent realize that they can’t cast anything else while everyone teams up to eliminate them.