This week was another interesting week! The good results of the Jeskai archetype in last weekend's SCG Open has pushes the prices of many cards in the deck. Once again, just in time for FNM, I present you the cards that will be the talk of the town tonight.
Dragonlord Ojutai is on a roll. This week it broke the $30 mark and seems to be settling in price around $25. The card sees play in four different standard decks. 9 different decks if you care to also count the decks where the card is only sporadically used in. Dragonlord Ojutai is strong in current standard, especially when played alongside Stratus Dancer, which can protect Dragonlord Ojutai even when attacking with it.
If you want to read more on Ojutai centered decktech, read this great article by Peter Rawlings.
The reason the card went up so much is the dominance of the Jeskai archetype in Standard. In the SCG Standard Open last weekend, 10 players out of the top 25 were playing Jeskai. The deck did not win the tournament, but did prove to be a very strong deck.
Crackling Doom is, just like Dragonlord Ojutai being played in the Jeskai Standard deck. It also sees play in Mardu and Bring to Light. Crackling Doom is a card that allows you to deal with big threats that are normally hard to handle. An untapped Dragonlord Ojutai for instance, has hexproof. Since Crackling Doom does not target, but forces you opponent to sacrifice, Ojutai will end up in the graveyard. Of course, it also deals with other big threats.
The downside of Crackling Doom is the same as the upside. Every card that allows your opponent to choose something is risky. Simply because he will always choose the thing that is in his best interest, and to your disadvantage. Crackling Doom won't be able to swing the game your way if your opponent has several fatties on the board and you have none. But when the boardstate is balanced, Crackling Doom allows you to tip it in your advantage.
Mantis Rider is the #3 winner and is also played in the Jeskai deck. It's easy for anyone to see why Mantis Rider is considered a good and powerful card. A 3/3 for 3 mana, and three good abilities is just good value for your mana. The card is a piece in an aggressive strategy. It can get you ahead fairly early in the game, and you can keep attacking with it all the while you deal with your opponent's creatures. Either by countering them of burning them.
The big downside of Mantis Rider is the fact that is needs 3 different colors of mana. Which forces you to play a color greedy mana base, making you more vulnerable for a mana screw. But, by playing a mana base with 12 fetches, you should be fairly sure you have those three types of mana by turn 3.
Cheap Pickups
You might wonder how 'cheap' $149.90 for a single card is. Well, compared to the price you had to pay for a Tarmagoyf last march ($207), it's a pretty good deal. It is actually an all time low for the Modern Masters 2015 printing.
