We’re heading in to week 1 Standard and I will definitely be tuning in to SCG Cincinnati to get a glimpse of all the tasty brews people have come up with. Expectantly, many Hour of Devastation cards have made the list this week as players and investors are on the hunt for the next breakout card. Let’s see what our biggest market movers were this week in Magic!
“You’re kidding, right?” That was my thought when I saw that Polar Kraken topped the lists this week. Don’t get me wrong, I have tons of love for the kraken and made a tribal Commander deck with Kruphix, God of Horizons at the helm based on the creature types found on Whelming Wave. Polar Kraken is a reserved list card and rightfully so. First we had Force of Nature, then we got Colossus of Sardia, then the almighty Leviathan. Mr. Kraken came from a time when big creatures came with a huge drawback. I’ve never seen it played in anything other than The Mimeoplasm, so this spike is a mystery to me.
I’ve been playing HOU Standard on mtgo this week, and the namesake card, Hour of Devastation is every bit as terrifying as I expected. As far as I’ve seen, red is the most played color at the moment and this sweeper is devastating. Keeping in mind that this is a rare and not a mythic, I don’t expect it to peak over $10.
Intruder Alarm has been found in some wonky creature based Commander combos and recently has been spotted in Modern elves. With only two printings, it doesn’t take much interest for this card to quickly spike. Still, if you’re able to pick these up for cheap (under $7) it might not be a bad idea.
The obvious go to wipe right now is Bontu's Last Reckoning, but I would be cautious investing in these. Most people that I know who have ran this, end up moving away from it. The skipping a turn clause is a huge price to pay, even in a format like Standard. These cycle of cards really needed to be paired with mana rocks or the ability to untap lands.
Want to know another way to take advantage of a potential errata to planeswalkers? Use Willow Satyr! The art may leave something to be desired, but it's still unique. I love the way old cards have a billion lines of text too. Even if the errata never happens, this card is reserved list, so it will more than likely stay around where it's at right now.
Lastly, Saffron Olive has done his handywork yet again. He did another against the odds deck, and as usual, people freaked out. His deck features Solemnity and Phyrexian Unlife to basically get maximum value from Solemnity. It doesn't matter if the deck is good or not, because the damage is done. If you wanted your Phyrexian Unlife cheap, you're fresh out of luck now.
Foils of the Week!
I’m not sure why foil Hickory Woodlot decided to break the charts this week, but you probably should sell if you have them. Foil Coastal Piracy spiked as well, and maybe someone is buying out Mercadian Masques foils. Older set foils are becoming more and rare. Thanks to the potential planeswalker errata, foil Yomiji, Who Bars the Way went up. Supreme Will is already being tested in Standard, but apparently people really think it’s going to take off, as the foils have been disappearing quickly. Finally, foil Stone Rain spiked, and this just furthers my motivation to complete my 1x foil set of 7th Edition. In my opinion, they are the best looking foils ever printed.
Cheap pickups of the Week!
I originally had written that The Scarab God was a cheap pick up after seeing it in action Monday, but it is quickly gaining momentum. It’s a great control finisher and might some serious play. Pick up your Abrade now before they become a $2+ uncommon. There are a number of Hour of Devastation cards that are on the cusp of being great, so now might be a good time to get cards before they take off. Cards like Neheb, the Eternal, Torment of Hailfire and Earthshaker Khenra might see an uptick in play and are seriously cool, underrated cards. Also, go buy Fraying Sanity. The card is fun, hilarious and powerful. Look at all the other mill cards printed and notice that even ones that don't see play are expensive. Casual people love mill!
MTGStocks mystery chart of the Week!
Last week was mystery chart was Supreme Verdict. This week, a slightly more challenging chart. Good luck!
Conversation of the Week!
I would be remiss if I didn’t talk about the most recent announcement this week. What this amounts to is Wizards will be reducing the amount of data that comes from undefeated (5-0) decklists online, thus shrouding the Standard meta in a bit of a cloud cover. They are reducing the amount of decks published and increasing the variety of decks. This is clearly a move to reduce the time it takes to solve Standard, and in some respects this will work. The unfortunate backlash will be that super teams have more of an advantage going into events since there will be less data available to the average player. On the plus side, more rogue brews will be published, giving us little guys a chance to get some spotlight!
The best Commander card you’re not playing!
The best card you're not playing is the definition of a build around. Sundial of the Infinite is the card you need to build around. I used to play this with Zirilan of the Claw at the helm, and it was awesome. You wait until the end of turn trigger, then end the turn. Bam, you get to keep the dragon around. Sundial of the Infinite works in many, many ways, so get out there and brew!
