This Week in Magic - Week 30

Last week I was on vacation in Puerto Rico, so I’ve been playing catch up this week. We have PT Kyoto going on as I type this, and it's going to be very exciting watching all the pros draft sweet decks, but mostly I want to see everyone play mono red in Standard! Let's dissect what all has been happening, this week in Magic!

Thanks to Legacy Bomberman and some massive buyouts, both printings of Urza's Bauble grew at an astronomical rate. It looks like the brother’s war is back in action! Urza's Bauble verses Mishra's Bauble. Well, it’s a one-sided war, even after the spike. Still, I expect tons of copies to flood the market, quickly dropping the price back down to around $2. All that said, it was an exciting spike to watch.

A card that I’ve used in both Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind and Nekusar, the Mindrazer decks, Mindmoil hit the charts this week. It plays very well with The Locust God, so that may be some of the source of this buyout. Being able to puke out tokens while quickly churning through your deck is a powerful strategy. Mindmoil also works well to quickly find combo pieces in your deck and definitely doesn’t see much love. I had thought I featured it as a best Commander card you’re not playing, but I hadn’t gotten to it yet. Shucks!

God-Pharaoh's Gift has been the source of many sweet Standard brews lately. It has also been featured in a few sideboards as well. It’s a very powerful effect, and Standard is the format slow enough for a 7 mana card to shine (that isn’t cheated into play.) I think this is strong enough to see some hilarious play in Commander, bringing back copies and copies of creatures like Terastodon and Angel of Despair to continually beat down your opponents.

Angel of Invention FINALLY got some traction. I had been holding onto a playset of foils because I love tokens and couldn’t believe this was cheap for so long. I actually featured this as a cheap pickup back here. There are a whole slew of keywords on this card and it can be quite powerful once it resolves. Keep in mind, this is a mythic, so there won’t be as many copies running around in the near future, so I expect these to linger a bit at a higher price.

Coastal Piracy spiked alongside Mindmoil to probably supplement The Locust God decks. It's similar to Edric, Spymaster of Trest, but a bit harder to interact with. I'm not sure this enchantment has quite as much room on the speculation train, but seeing how there are only two versions, it's likely this winds up being harder to find than one expects. Although I wouldn't think this has any competitive implications, so we'll just have to wait and see.

Champion of Wits flew under the radar for most people, myself included, but has become an all-star in Standard. It's a great way to get a look at some additional cards, but it's also a terrific card for emerge creatures. The only downside is that because mono red has become so popular, any deck that stumbles or doesn't have much early game interaction will fail. It is possible that Champion of Wits sees play outside of Standard in the future, so when this drops in price, it might be wise to get a few copies.

And rounding off this week, I had to mention a very cool card. Imprison doesn't see play in any format that I have seen or heard of, but the art alone is reason enough for me to love it. It's the exact definition of an obscure card, and we should all bath in the glory of what one was. I'm not sure why this spiked, but it is a reserved list card and a 1 drop, so all bets are off.

Foils of the Week!

Some pretty neat foil spikes this week. It would see the The Locust God deck builders have already zeroed in on foils, as foil copies of Whirlpool Drake and Whirlpool Rider have spiked. Foil Quest for Renewal hit the charts this week and reminded me how much I love all the quest cards. Some foil versions of non-foil winners have also spiked, including God-Pharaoh's Gift, Angel of Invention and Champion of Wits. Considered a foil, Chrome Mox has taken a jump in price, and rounding out the foils this week, Arcbound Ravager finally went up. It looks like those specialty cards are finally starting to go up in price.

Cheap pickups of the Week!

Well, the secret is far from out by time you read this. Mono red is THE best deck in Standard. Day 1 metagame for PT Kyoto came in at a whopping 25% for mono red. I had a whole list of cards last week that were cheap, but things have changed. Instead, the theme of the day is Zendikar Expedition! Most of these have hit an all-time low and it's only a matter of time before they start going up for good. Also, take a look at the planeswalkers we have in Standard. short of Chandra, Torch of Defiance, they are very affordable. Heck, even our buddy Gideon, Ally of Zendikar is at an all-time low.

MTGStocks mystery chart of the Week!

Two weeks ago, Tendo Ice Bridge was the mystery chart. It stumped most, but a few sluths figured it out over on Reddit. This week, a powerful card and a wonky chart. Good luck!

Conversation of the Week!

I think by now most of us have seen the upcomming schedule for pro tours and GP's, but if you haven't, head over here and here. The bombshell came when Wizards announced both Modern and Legacy will be making a showing on the big screen! I think it's super exciting to see a Modern Pro Tour again, but a Legacy GP will be even more enjoyable to watch. I'm not sure if Wizards is doing this because the fans have been dying for it, or some other reason. Regardless of why, what matters is we have much to look forward to in the coming months!

The best Commander card you're not playing!

This week, the best Commander card you're not playing is Sire of Stagnation. As an eldrazi lover, I really, really wanted to jam this in my Modern U/B processors deck, but it just never quite made the cut. 6 mana for a card that doesn't immediately do something is pretty bad in Modern. That said, in Commander this card rips. This triggers off of all lands entering, so if your opponent casts something like Boundless Realms, you profit while they cry.