State of the Program for July 23rd, 2021
Bans: There wasn't even anything banned properly this week. Instead Brainstorm was added to the suspended list for the Historic format. You can read the reasonings for it here.
Super Qualifiers: This ran last week, but is very relevant for this weekend. For an upcoming championship on Arena, MTGO has added three super qualifiers, one on July 24th, which is Modern Horizons 2 Sealed. The next, July 25th, is Modern and the final one, July 30th is Pioneer.
Vintage Cube: It is back on MTGO for a couple of weeks, and you can see the changes to the popular cube format here.
Modern Horizons 2: Draft and Sealed leagues are back and are scheduled to run until September 9th, when Innistrad: Midnight Hunt comes to MTGO. Also the four limited premier events are switching from Forgotten Realms to Modern Horizons 2 based formats.
This is a list of things we have been promised, or we just want to see coming back. Another good source for dates and times is the
calendar and the weekly blog, while the best source for known bugs is the bug blog which appears sporadically on MTGO.com. Not listed, but important: Wizards offers either one or two online MCQs each weekend, with qualifiers for limited MCQs running the days immediately prior to the MCQ.
Upcoming Events
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Dates
|
Scheduled Downtimes
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September 8th, 2021 |
Constructed Leagues End
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Ends July 7th, 2021
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Sealed Leagues End
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Ends July 8th, 2021 |
Kaldheim Redemption
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Ends June 23, 2021
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D&D Redemption
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Begins August 11, 2021
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|
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2018 Magic Online Championship Series and other events
Complete details, including schedule, rules, and which online events qualify you for which online or paper events is
here. In addition, Wizards will be offering these special formats:
July 21st: Vintage Cube Featuring Adventures in the Forgotten Realms
August 4th: New Spotlinght Cube
August 11th: Returning Spotlight Cube
August 18th: New Spotlight Cube
August 25th: Legacy Cube Featuring Adventures in the Forgotten Realms
Magic Online Format Challenges
These are high stakes events that happen every weekend. They cost 30 Tix / 300 play points, and last a number of rounds based on participation (assume 5-8), plus a single elimination Top 8. Details, including prize payouts, are
here. Start times are:
Standard: With the Starcity events starting again this weekend, I guess I have to pay a bit more attention to Standard. I haven't really given the format any mind since shortly after Kaldheim was released.
Historic: I have been playing a lot of
Bard Class in Pioneer and it seemingly translates well to Historic. Take a look at this Legendary list!
4 Gallia of the Endless Dance
1 Grumgully, the Generous
1 Kari Zev, Skyship Raider
1 Klothys, God of Destiny
2 Oviya Pashiri, Sage Lifecrafter
2 Radha, Heart of Keld
1 Rhonas the Indomitable
2 Rhys the Redeemed
1 Samut, Voice of Dissent
4 Domri, Anarch of Bolas
4 Domri, Chaos Bringer
4 Mox Amber
5 Forest
4 Mountain
4 Rootbound Crag
4 Stomping Ground |
4 Bard Class
4 Birgi, God of Storytelling
4 Cragcrown Pathway
4 Targ Nar, Demon-Fang Gnoll
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|
Legacy:
Acererak the Archlich has found it's way in to
Aluren decks which makes sense because it seems like a perfect fit for the deck. You just need Aluren and the Archlich to win now, so you get to play more consistent things instead of stuff like
Cavern Harpy. The mana base seems cleaner as well.
Modern: Everyone is so used to the storm deck being Izzet Storm in Modern, but what if it were a
Lotus Field based
Twiddle deck that took advantage of the land and cheap untap effects in blue to go off?
Wish is a perfect addition to the deck in the Modern format. Not gonna lie though, I want to build this because I have two artist signed Twiddles in my collection. Just gotta find one more, or make a small change!
Pauper: I am not a brave person. I know what the top three decks in Pauper are right now, and playing against
Chatterstorm, Affinity (which is weird because I adore the deck in Pauper) and Delver is not something I want to do at the moment. However if I can find some courage, I am going to play this, because it looks like an incredible amount of fun.
Pioneer:
Jeskai Ascendancy combo sometimes shows up in Modern with some results, but it's starting to get a little bit more play in Pioneer.
Expressive Iteration seems to have helped this deck out a ton! I bet
Wish would be a card to consider here as well.
Vintage Legacy Part 2: I have been struggling to find Vintage decks that I like to write about so instead I found another Legacy deck that looked cool! I love the idea of cracking a
Lion's Eye Diamond and putting multiple creatures into Madness and then casting them.
The Winner's Circle is where I will recognize winners of the past events on MTGO.
Challenge Winners
Saturday Legacy - Diem4x - Izzet Delver
Saturday Modern - Boucha - Temur Rhinos
Saturday Pauper - Mikhathara1994 - Chatterstorm
Saturday Pioneer - Kazuga - Reborn Control
Saturday Standard - AndyAWKWARD - Sultai Ultimatum
Saturday Vintage - Replaced by showcase
Sunday Legacy - Replaced by showcase
Sunday Modern - bobthedog - Jeskai Control
Sunday Pauper - Mogged - Affinity
Sunday Pioneer - SoulStrong - Rakdos Arcanist
Sunday Standard - nekonekoneko - Mono Green Aggro
Sunday Vintage - GGoggles
Other Event Winners
Legacy Showcase - Theo_Jung - Jeskai Standstill
Vintage Showcase - Kihara_Works
Note: all my prices come from the fine folks at
MTGOTraders.com. These are retail prices, and generally the price of the lowest priced, actively traded version. (Prices for some rare promo versions are not updated when not in stock, so I skip those.) You can get these cards at
MTGOTraders.com web store, or from their bots: MTGOTradersBot(#) (they have bots 1-10), CardCaddy and CardWareHouse, or sell cards to MTGOTradersBuyBot(#) (they have buybots 1-4). I have bought cards from MTGOTraders for a decade and a half now, and have never been overcharged or disappointed.
Standard Staples: We added a new card from Forgotten Realms to the list, as well as welcomed two old cards from Ikoria back to the list.
Elder Gargaroth is gone.
Modern Staples: With Modern Horizons 2 coming back to MTGO, some of the lower end cards have started to fall off the chart.
Eternal Staples:
Pioneer Staples: I just noticed that I called
Arclight Phoenix Arcbound Phoenix for a while now. That has been changed. I also added
Youthful Valkyrie to the list as it seems to see more Pioneer play than Standard.
Standard Legal Sets: This table tracks the cost of a single copy of every card in each Standard legal set, plus Treasure Chests and the current booster pack. I’ll keep tracking these because they are interesting (at least to me). This is being kept as a small tribute to Pete!
Complete Set |
Price |
Last Week |
Change |
% Change |
Forgotten Realms |
$133.89 |
$117.55 |
$16.34 |
14% |
Forgotten Realms Booster Pack |
$3.36 |
$3.40 |
($0.04) |
-1% |
Core Set 2021 |
$43.27 |
$39.56 |
$3.71 |
9% |
Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths |
$42.73 |
$37.09 |
$5.64 |
15% |
Kaldheim |
$178.76 |
$186.42 |
($7.66) |
-4% |
Strixhaven: School of Mages |
$119.01 |
$112.77 |
$6.24 |
6% |
Theros Beyond Death |
$74.21 |
$81.40 |
($7.19) |
-9% |
Throne of Eldraine |
$116.06 |
$118.26 |
($2.20) |
-2% |
Treasure Chest |
$2.53 |
$2.63 |
($0.10) |
-4% |
Zendikar Rising |
$89.51 |
$85.52 |
$3.99 |
5% |
The following is a list of all the non-foil, non-promo cards on MTGO that retail for more than $25 per card. These are the big ticket items in the world of MTGO. The list is interesting, at the least. This is interesting to me because a lot of these cards have been reprinted more than once, and they are still commanding a high price.
Black Lotus |
1E |
Rare |
170.62 |
Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer |
MH2 |
Mythic |
125.47 |
Cavern of Souls |
UBT |
Mythic |
102.05 |
Snapcaster Mage |
UBT |
Mythic |
101.17 |
Karakas |
UBT |
Mythic |
96.37 |
Liliana of the Veil |
UBT |
Mythic |
91.59 |
Mox Jet |
1E |
Rare |
91.11 |
Force of Negation |
MH1 |
Rare |
90.75 |
Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth |
UBT |
Mythic |
76 |
Ancestral Recall |
1E |
Rare |
72.87 |
Mox Emerald |
1E |
Rare |
68.38 |
Mox Sapphire |
1E |
Rare |
65.72 |
Time Walk |
1E |
Rare |
63.96 |
Wrenn and Six |
MH1 |
Mythic |
58.24 |
Endurance |
MH2 |
Mythic |
57.8 |
Wasteland |
EXP |
Mythic |
54.38 |
Valki, God of Lies |
KHM |
Mythic |
53.75 |
Urza's Saga |
MH2 |
Rare |
52.55 |
Purple-Crystal Crab |
PZ2 |
Common |
50.18 |
Dark Depths |
UBT |
Mythic |
49.42 |
Jace, the Mind Sculptor |
MS4 |
Mythic |
48.87 |
Demonic Tutor |
UBT |
Mythic |
47.61 |
Teferi, Time Raveler |
WAR |
Rare |
47.59 |
Mox Pearl |
1E |
Rare |
47.46 |
Gaea's Cradle |
UZ |
Rare |
46.73 |
Force of Will |
MED |
Rare |
45.51 |
Force of Vigor |
MH1 |
Rare |
44.03 |
Mox Ruby |
1E |
Rare |
43.44 |
Dauthi Voidwalker |
MH2 |
Rare |
42.3 |
Heavenly Qilin |
PZ2 |
Common |
40.34 |
Mox Diamond |
TPR |
Mythic |
38.89 |
Wasteland |
ZNE |
Mythic |
38.02 |
Noble Hierarch |
UBT |
Mythic |
37.58 |
Karn Liberated |
UBT |
Mythic |
37.32 |
Liliana, the Last Hope |
MS4 |
Mythic |
36.75 |
Ignoble Hierarch |
MH2 |
Rare |
36.61 |
Verdant Catacombs |
EXP |
Mythic |
33.69 |
Cavern of Souls |
UMA |
Mythic |
32.99 |
Celestial Colonnade |
UBT |
Mythic |
32.93 |
Chalice of the Void |
A25 |
Mythic |
32.43 |
Earthshaking Si |
PZ2 |
Common |
31.71 |
Chalice of the Void |
MS2 |
Bonus |
31.68 |
Chalice of the Void |
MMA |
Rare |
31.67 |
Chalice of the Void |
TSR |
Bonus |
30.96 |
Timetwister |
1E |
Rare |
30.92 |
Marisi, Breaker of the Coil |
C19 |
Mythic |
30.87 |
Platinum Emperion |
UBT |
Mythic |
30.84 |
Chalice of the Void |
MRD |
Rare |
30.47 |
Jeska's Will |
CMR |
Rare |
29.82 |
Wasteland |
TE |
Uncommon |
29.7 |
Wasteland |
EMA |
Rare |
29.37 |
Karn, the Great Creator |
WAR |
Rare |
29.3 |
Allosaurus Shepherd |
JMP |
Mythic |
29.07 |
Wasteland |
TPR |
Rare |
28.94 |
Cavern of Souls |
ZNE |
Mythic |
28.52 |
Lotus Petal |
MS2 |
Bonus |
28.32 |
Mox Diamond |
ST |
Rare |
28.18 |
Murktide Regent |
MH2 |
Mythic |
27.58 |
Hullbreacher |
CMR |
Rare |
27.26 |
Teferi, Hero of Dominaria |
MS4 |
Mythic |
27.2 |
Scalding Tarn |
EXP |
Mythic |
27.15 |
Brazen Borrower |
ELD |
Mythic |
27.07 |
Creeping Tar Pit |
UBT |
Mythic |
26.76 |
Force of Will |
MS3 |
Mythic |
26.53 |
Seasoned Pyromancer |
MH1 |
Mythic |
26.49 |
Fulminator Mage |
UBT |
Mythic |
26.34 |
Mishra's Bauble |
CSP |
Uncommon |
26.02 |
Retrofitter Foundry |
PZ2 |
Rare |
26 |
Ancient Tomb |
ZNE |
Mythic |
25.85 |
Lotus Petal |
TPR |
Uncommon |
25.8 |
Lotus Petal |
TE |
Common |
25.75 |
Bitterblossom |
UBT |
Mythic |
25.68 |
Demilich |
AFR |
Mythic |
25.3 |
Mana Vault |
UBT |
Mythic |
25.28 |
Polluted Delta |
ONS |
Rare |
25.24 |
Kozilek, Butcher of Truth |
UBT |
Mythic |
25.2 |
The big number is the retail price of a playset (4 copies) of every card available on MTGO. Assuming you bought the least expensive versions available, the cost of owning a playset of every card on MTGO is approximately a number that I cannot figure out still. I have actually asked Pete to do this for me, because Open Office is weird, and I have no idea what I am doing, and I am pretty close to just being a dog in a labcoat.
Nevermind, ignore all of that, Pete got it done for me, because he is just the dang best. The big number this week is $26,860. Last week it was $26,590. A very small increase of 270 but an increase! Going to be interesting to see what Modern Horizons 2 coming back does for things!
I typically start writing this article on Monday, after I get done cleaning up the update for the day. I've sadly begun not sleeping well, so I get up with enough time to work on the content for the day, and then push everything else back. With the Forgotten Realms set coming out this week, I have been super busy thanks to the second job. I typically work 20 hours a week, and as of this writing, on Wednesday, I've already worked 20. On top of that, I have begun to rededicate myself to exposure therapy, and I have been dealing with the mental and physical issues that those bring. I pushed the article off this week due to bad time management and poor sleeping habits that are forming now, but hey at least I got to watch TikTok for 3 hours a night.
It's not even that good!
This series is an ongoing tribute to Erik “Hamtastic” Friborg.