If anyone is still skeptical about Pioneer, the newest format in Magic, you are about to be proven wrong. For the third week in a row, our interest page is full of cards that are part of the newest and hottest Pioneer brews. Like every week, just in time for FNM, I'll now tell you about the cards that will be the talk of the town tonight!

 

#1 Bloodsoaked Champion $3.10 (+484.91%)

 

With a Pioneer meta presence of 4.90%, the Mono-Black Aggro deck is the #2 most played deck in the new format. It is just 1.07% behind Mono-Green Devotion, with a meta presence of 5.97%. Bloodsoaked Champion is one of the 4-offs in that deck and is spiking as a consequence.

After three weeks of brewing and the first Pioneer Leagues on MTGO, the metagame is taking shape for the first time. Spikes are all around as players (and speculators) don't want to miss out on getting the best deals for the best decks possible. Please note that this spike is due to organic demand, not due to speculative demand. That might (sadly) follow later when this deck proves to be a stable tier-1 deck in the format.

Bloodsoaked Champion plays a recurring role in the Mono-Black Aggro deck. Together with Gutterbones and Scrapheap Scrounger, the card keeps coming back after it dies. A nifty trick, especially when you sacrifice it when Rankle, Master of Pranks deals combat damage. That each player sacrifices a creature hits you much less than your opponent. And on top of that, discarding Bloodsoaked Champion works just the same.

By doing this, Mono-Black Aggro can create quite some card advantage and take over dominion over the battlefield. Check out the complete decklist below.

Looking ahead, there is no way of knowing where Bloodsoaked Champion's price is going. It all depends on factors that are as of yet unknown. The main question is: how popular will Pioneer get?. When Pioneer really takes off, $3.10 for a key rare in a tier-1, competitive deck in a non-rotating format is cheap as hell.

But will Pioneer take off the way Wizards intends? Time will tell. The key factor being fun. Will the new format be fun to play and replay, over and over again with smaller meta-changes than Standard? And will Wizards be able to prevent from printing format warping cards in 7 distinct constructed formats? If so, the only way for any Pioneer key card is up.

 

Bloodsoaked Champion	CardKingdom $3.49	TCGPlayer $3.10
Scrapheap Scrounger	CardKingdom $0.35	TCGPlayer $0.53
Gutterbones	CardKingdom $2.99	TCGPlayer $2.58
Rankle, Master of Pranks	CardKingdom $11.99	TCGPlayer $9.00

 

#2 Shivan Reef $26.99 (+376.01%)

 

Not all Pioneer spikes are driven by organic demand. Shivan Reef spiked to an unbelievable $26.99 this week. This price tag could be warranted if it was part of a new format, but never reprinted since Apocalypse. As you might know, Shivan Reef has been reprinted many times.

In Magic, mana is the lifeblood of the game. Getting your mana base right is one of the first things a young Magic padawan should learn when mastering the game. When valuing a land that produces mana, there is this checklist?

• Does it produce two, three or any color mana?
• Does the land come into play untapped?
• Does the land deal damage when you activate it?
• Does the land have another drawback when activating?
• Does the land give me restrictions in spending the mana?
• Does the land have basic land types (and is it fetchable)?
• Does the land have other positive of negative characteristics?

The best lands that produce multiple colors are the classic Dual Lands like Volcanic Island (IE). Close behind that come lands like Shivan Reef. They come into play untapped, you are free to spend any amount of mana for 1 damage. City of Brass is better. But since Pioneer does not have access to those cards, Shivan Reef is the best you can get. Apart from Steam Vents of course.

That brings us right back to that crazy $26.99 price tag on Shivan Reef. A rare land, that is not even the best land you can get in a format and that has had so many reprints is just not worth that money. Shivan Reef is a big staple in EDH too, but again, it is reprinted so much, that the supply is quite big enough.

Shivan Reef from Apocalypse is just a buyout. The other printings have only moved a little and might pick up some more value.

Shivan Reef
Apocalypse	CardKingdom $6.99	TCGPlayer $26.99
10th Edition	CardKingdom $5.99	TCGPlayer $3.48
9th Edition	CardKingdom $5.99	TCGPlayer $3.50
Magic Origins	CardKingdom $5.99	TCGPlayer $3.22
Duel Decks: Elves vs. Inventors	CardKingdom $4.99	TCGPlayer $3.71

 

#3 Oko, Thief of Crowns $44.99 (+34.70%)

 

After getting banned in Standard, Oko, Thief of Crowns is back up and just 1 cent shy of the $50 mark. Actually, Oko netted the biggest absolute win in dollars this week.

Oko, Thief of Crowns' price history is quite interesting and pretty unique. Leading up to the banning in Standard, people were losing trust in the long term stability of the card. The willingness to pay top dollar for it dwindled and took the price down.

With that, Oko, Thief of Crowns' price looks a lot like a real stock of a company that is caught up in a scandal or has a judicial investigation going on. The uncertainty it brings affects the trust of shareholders and lowers the price. And when the results turn out to be less bad than expected, prices can shoot up.

This is the first time I have seen a price development quite like this with a Magic card. Since Oko, Thief of Crowns was not banned in any other format, it is still playable in 6 constructive and competitive formats. And it is still just as good as before.

 

Oko, Thief of Crowns
Throne of Eldraine	CardKingdom $44.99	TCGPlayer $44.99

 

Cheap Pickups

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.

 

Chulane, Teller of Tales $8,06 - Record low and going down

 

Nurturing Peatland $5 - Record low, bottoming out

 

Thalia, Guardian of Thraben $14.39 - Record low, market price crashing, currently $5.21

 

Thalia, Guardian of Thraben	CardKingdom $8.99	TCGPlayer $9.61
Nurturing Peatland	CardKingdom $9.99	TCGPlayer $9.99
Chulane, Teller of Tales	CardKingdom $5.99	TCGPlayer $8.06