Weekly Winners: Pioneer Brew Special

Last Monday Wizards came with their Banned & Restricted Announcement that was moved up 3 weeks all of the sudden, leading to most people to suspect an "emergency" banning. And that's exactly what happened. Field of the Dead was banned in Standard, and Arcum's Astrolabe was banned in Pauper. This however wasn't the only news Wizards came with, since they announced a new format: Pioneer. This has had quite the effect on card prices from recent sets, which this instalment of Weekly Winners will focus on. Don't forget that we have a list of the top 100 most expensive Pioneer legal cards up!

 

#1 Aetherworks Marvel $7.89 (+484%)

 

A few days ago, Peter wrote about the sudden spikes due to Pioneer already mentioning Aetherworks Marvel shooting up to over $10. The price has come down a bit, but is still our number one winner.

It's not a huge surprise that people expect Energy decks to do well. The Energy mechanic was hugely underestimated by Wizards, dominating Standard in 2016/2017. The deck tried to generate as many Energy counters as possible to activate Aetherworks Marvel and try to cheat Emrakul, the Promised End or Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger into play. It quickly led to the banning of Emrakul, the Promised End in January 2017 to try to tone down the power of the deck. No longer being able to cheat out the spaghetti monster couldn't stop the rampant power of the deck, leading to a ban of Aetherworks Marvel itself in June 2017.

Without the engine to cheat out creatures to overpower the opponent, the players and brewers found a new way to abuse Energy counters, and Standard was again dominated by Energy Decks. The cards Attune with Aether and Rogue Refiner were banned from Standard in January 2018. Especially Attune with Aether was deemed to powerful because it produced "free" Energy counters and enabled decks to play four colors.

Since the Energy mechanic seemed so troublesome in Standard, it is no wonder that people assume it may do well in the fresh new Pioneer format where all the cards mentioned above are (still) legal. This also meant that Emrakul went up to $28.49 (+33%).

 

 

Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger	CardKingdom $27.99	TCGPlayer $27.54
Emrakul, the Promised End	CardKingdom $32.99	TCGPlayer $28.49
Aetherworks Marvel	CardKingdom $6.99	TCGPlayer $7.89
Attune with Aether	CardKingdom $0.35	TCGPlayer $0.22
Aetherworks Marvel	CardKingdom $9.99	TCGPlayer $38.47
Rogue Refiner	CardKingdom $0.35	TCGPlayer $0.34

 

#2 Siege Rhino $4.00 (+406%)

 

Just like our #1 winner, Siege Rhino has dominated Standard for several years, making it responsible for victories at the Pr Tour Battle for Zendikar, Pro Tour Khans of Tarkir, and the 2015 World Championship. But we have also seen it appear in Modern in (usually) Abzan Midrange decks. Again no wonder that it has spiked interest from brewers, speculators, and players for the new format.

When we look at other cards that may support the Abzan Midrange archetype, we can see some very powerful removal and disruption cards that see play in other eternal formats as well. These cards have also appeared on our Interests list this week, which isn't all too surprising. Examples of these cards are:

• Liliana, the Last Hope - $48.93 (+53%)
• Thoughtseize - $24.00 (+60%)
• Deathrite Shaman - $10.42 (+263%)
• Abrupt Decay - $8.00 (+168%)
• Collective Brutality - $14.49 (+12%)

Besides the support it will get, a 4/5 trampler for 4 mana that drains for 3 life, is nothing to sneeze at. If you combine this with cards like Smuggler's Copter, that was banned from Standard in January 2017, you can end up with a very competitive deck. No wonder Smuggler's Copter shot up to $7 (+280%) this week.

 

 

Siege Rhino	CardKingdom $2.99	TCGPlayer $4.00
Collective Brutality	CardKingdom $14.99	TCGPlayer $14.49
Smuggler's Copter	CardKingdom $5.49	TCGPlayer $7.00
Assassin's Trophy	CardKingdom $22.99	TCGPlayer $21.45

 

#3 Dig Through Time $6.34 (+343%)

 

I've seen several people come up with decks containing blue saying "Watch me getting Dig Through Time banned in Pioneer". This card is definitely one of the cards that have a potential to be banned sooner or later. Maybe not in the initial Ponieer metagame, but as soon as a support card gets printed that fills the graveyard efficiently while advancing the game plan, I can see it getting axed along with its cousin Treasure Cruise.

Both Treasure Cruise and Dig Through Time were printed in Khans of Tarkir in September 2014. Only a few months later, January 2015, Treasure Cruise was banned in Modern, Legacy, and restricted in Vintage. Dig Through Time was however only banned in Modern at that time, but also got the axe in Legacy several months later. Turns out Delve simply was too good to be left alone, and this type of insane card filtering and/or drawing for only or was format breaking.

Keep in mind that the dual-colored fetchlands are banned in Pioneer, meaning it is slightly harder to fill up that graveyard. This is also why people are not convinced Deathrite Shaman is as good in Pioneer as it was in Legacy and Modern. That being said, a lot of brews I've seen that contain blue anyway try to include at least one copy of Dig Through Time. For example, the decklist of our #1 winner contains two copies.

Along with Teferi, Time Raveler and Narset, Parter of Veils in the card pool, and some disruption spells I've mentioned previously in this article, I can see Dig Through Time find a solid spot in several types of Esper lists. Also with Torrential Gearhulk, now $11.61 (+246%), we can recast our Dig Through Time and I can definitely see decks with both of these.

 

Dig Through Time	CardKingdom $5.99	TCGPlayer $5.98
Treasure Cruise	CardKingdom $0.35	TCGPlayer $0.25
Torrential Gearhulk	CardKingdom $6.99	TCGPlayer $11.61
Teferi, Time Raveler	CardKingdom $21.99	TCGPlayer $18.54
Narset, Parter of Veils	CardKingdom $2.49	TCGPlayer $2.72

 

Cheap Pickups: Pioneer legal cards

Please note: for our 'record low' we consider the price of the card over the past 7 years. Many cards have been even cheaper (a) decade(s) ago. Also note: some cards are still going down, and might be even cheaper pickups next week.

 

Karn, Scion of Urza $9.04 - Record low and going down

 

Carnage Tyrant $6.71 - Record low

 

Karn, the Great Creator $8.98 - Record low

 

Finale of Promise $5.15 - Record low

 

Carnage Tyrant	CardKingdom $6.99	TCGPlayer $6.71
Karn, Scion of Urza	CardKingdom $9.99	TCGPlayer $9.04
Karn, the Great Creator	CardKingdom $7.99	TCGPlayer $8.98
Finale of Promise	CardKingdom $4.49	TCGPlayer $5.15