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By: one million words, Pete Jahn
Mar 02 2018 4:39pm
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State of the Program for March 2nd 2018
 
In the News
MTGO Championship Happening Now: MTGO Champs is this week. The promo video is here. The action is happening on Twitch as you read this. Unless, of course, you are reading this the week after it happened, in which case you can watch it on YouTube.
 
Magic 25 Previews Happening Now: Magic 25 will be launched, in paper and on MTGO, this month. Previews have begun. The Card Image Gallery is here.
 
Legacy Cube Returns: The Legacy Cube is back. Details here.
 
(The news is a bit skimpy this week – I spent all my free time playing Standard leagues. See the Opinion Section to see why.)
 
The Timeline
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 PTQs each weekend, with qualifiers running the three days prior to the PTQ.
 

Upcoming Events
Dates
Scheduled Downtimes
March 14th March 28th
Constructed Leagues End
April 18, 2018
Sealed Leagues End
April 23, 2018
Core Set Magic  2019
July 13, 2018
25th Anniversary Edition Masters
March 16, 2018
Next B&R Announcement
April 16, 2018
SOI and EMN Redemption Ends
April 28, 2018
Ixalan Redemption Ends
May 23, 2018
Rivals of Ixalan Redemption Ends
May 23, 2018

 
WotC Covered Events
Wizards will be streaming a number of events next year, including all four Pro Tours, the Magic Championship and World Magic Cup, along with 35 Grand Prix. Since Wizards does not schedule premier events on prerelease weekends and certain holidays, that means they will be streaming an event nearly every weekend. Here’s the schedule we have so far.
·       March 2–4: Magic Online Championship in Renton, Washington
·       March 10–11: Grand Prix Madrid
·       April 6–8: Grand Prix Seattle (double-GP weekend)
·       April 14–15: Grand Prix Memphis
·       April 28–29: Grand Prix Bologna
·       May 5–6: Grand Prix Dallas
·       May 11–13: Grand Prix Birmingham (double-GP weekend)
·       May 26–27: Grand Prix Washington, DC
·       June 1–3: Pro Tour Dominaria in Richmond, Virginia
·       June 9–10: Grand Prix Copenhagen
·       June 15–17: Grand Prix Las Vegas (double-GP weekend)
·       June 23–24: Grand Prix Pittsburgh
·       July 7–8: Grand Prix São Paulo
·       July 21–22: Grand Prix Sacramento
·       July 28–29: Grand Prix Minneapolis
·       Aug. 3–5: Pro Tour 25th Anniversary in Minneapolis, Minnesota
·       Aug. 11–12: Grand Prix Brussels
·       Aug. 18–19: Grand Prix Los Angeles
·       Aug. 25–26: Grand Prix Prague
·       Aug. 31–Sept. 2: Grand Prix Richmond (double-GP weekend)
·       Sept. 8–9: Grand Prix Detroit
·       Sept. 15–16: Grand Prix Stockholm
·       Weekend of Sept. 23–24: 2018 Magic World Championship and Team Series Championship in Las Vegas, Nevada (exact event dates TBD)
·       Oct. 6–7: Grand Prix Montreal
·       Oct. 13–14: Grand Prix Denver
·       Oct. 27–28: Grand Prix Lille
·       Nov. 3–4: Grand Prix Atlanta
·       Nov. 9–11: Pro Tour "Spaghetti" in Atlanta
·       Nov. 17–18: Grand Prix Milwaukee
·       Dec. 8–9: Grand Prix Liverpool
·       Dec. 14–16: World Magic Cup in Barcelona, Spain
 
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:
·       February 28–March 16: Legacy Cube
·       March 16–April 4: Masters 25
·       April 4–20: Modern Cube
 
Magic Online Format Challenges
These are high stakes events that happen every weekend.   They cost 25 Tix / 250 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:
 

Event Type
Start Time
Saturday, 8:00 am PT
Saturday, 10:00 am PT
Saturday, 12:00 pm PT
Sunday, 8:00 am PT
Sunday, 10:00 am PT

 
Opinion Section:  Challenger Decks
Wizards has released the decklists for the 2018 Challenger decklists. The article, and decklists, are here.   Once again, Wizards is trying to create a product that players can purchase for a reasonable (US $29.99) price and take to a store tournament like Friday Night Magic. Wizards has done this in the past, but the decks have been terrible. This time around, the decks are close replicas of Tier One archetypes, and include a lot more rares and Mythics. While not quite straight from a GP Top 8, these decks are decent, and can be upgraded with a few more copies of the chase cards. Actually, they are better than that. Vehicle Rush has 26 rares and 5 Mythics maindeck, and more in the Sideboard. It is nothing like the entry-level “tournament” decks Wizards has produced in the past.   Those used to have 2-3 Mtythics, a couple rares and chase uncommons, filled out with draft leftovers. Those decks were unplayable. These are different.
 
Right now, the Challenger decks are slated to appear in store in early April. I could see Wizards eventually selling these on MTGArena as well. They probably won’t appear on MTGO. The MSRP for this sort of precon is generally too expensive to justify the purchase: players could – in the past – save money by buying the entire deck as singles. That may be changing. These decks are pretty spicy. I have not been investing heavily in Standard recently, since most of what I play is limited or eternal formats, and mostly in paper. When I bought all the cards I didn’t have for all four decks, it cost me just over $100. That’s almost the cost of the precons. 
 
The big question is whether these decks are actually good enough. Do new players have a chance of winning at least a couple rounds at an FNM, or in the MTGO Leagues? Well, there is one simple way of finding out: try them. It’s time to burn some TIX. I will play four decks, as published, in Friendly Standard Leagues. 
 
The Friendly League should be a reasonable analog for a local game store tournament like FNM.   Pairings are based (generally) on record, and the mix of decks is the Friendly Leagues and comparable to the FNMs I’m familiar with. Some players will have netdecks, and some will be trying brews. Some will have perfect (e.g. expensive) mana bases, and some won’t. Some opponents will be really good, and some won’t. More importantly, since winners play winners, by the later rounds these decks will not necessarily be facing Tier One decks piloted by top-tier players, unless I am winning. 
 
I’m not a novice player by any means, but I have not been playing much Standard over the last year or so. That may make this a fair test. 
 
Hazoret Aggro
 
Overview: This basically the current red deck, minus the Earthshaker Khenras. Otherwise, it is really close to the deck Tyler Novak used to finish ninth at a recent SCG Classic. The sideboard is weaker, and some of the sideboard cards are really questionable, but it is pretty close to the Tier One version.   Oh – and the challenger deck has just one copy of Hazoret, one Chandra, one Glorybringer and no Rekindling Phoenixes.  That’s not optimal deck design, but Wizards is selling this for $29.99. You can’t expect the full-power version that costs, on average, ten times as much.  However, a fast red deck is a fast red deck, so I expect this to do reasonably well.  I would think Hazoret Aggro is a fine choice if you want to get into a Standard event at your local games store. Time to test that assumption.

 

 

Match One: I played against a UG Pummeler deck. I won the first game when my opponent misplayed; they could have pumped their Bristling Hydra to an 11/10 before activating (Hadana’s Climb) / Winged Temple. However, they were too careful to play around my removal and could only drop me to 2. I won next turn. To make up for it, I threw away game two when I forgot that Fanatical Firebrand is not Mogg Fanatic – the Firebrand cannot be sacrificed to deal damage when it is tapped. Game three neither of us screwed up, but I drew both my singleton Hazoret and the Glorybringer. 1-0
 
Match Two: I played against a RB Pirates deck that seemed pretty cool. Using Forerunner of the Coalition as a tutor to pull up toolbox Pirates is the kind of thing I love to do.  Game one was weird – we both drew a ton of lands. Eventually, they drew some nonland cards, while I did not. Games two and three my deck was faster, and I drew Hazoret both games. One copy is enough if you draw it. 2-0
 
Match Three:  I had two mulligans into slow starts against a WB Tokens deck that dropped a 1/3 turn two every game. This deck has problems fighting through a big pile of lifelinking tokens. I think that’s true of any fast Red deck now that it doesn’t have Rampaging Ferocidon. 2-1
 
Match Four:  This round I faced a URB Improvise deck with Tezzeret. I mulliganed a no-lander into four lands and two mediocre creatures. I scryed a land to the bottom, then drew six more lands.  I did eventually reduce them to under 10 life, but by then they dropped a second Herald of Anguish. I really seemed to feel the difference between Earthshaker Khenra (which I didn’t have) and Ahn-Crop Crasher. The Crasher is slower, more expensive and worse. Obviously Wizards had to make some cuts for a $30 product – I just noticed it here. After sideboard, they played a lot of Contraband Kingpins. I had problems with a 1/3 last match – a 1/4 lifelinker on turn two is worse. 2-2
 
Match Five: I played against a full-power UB Control deck.   We played three games. In the first and third games, I mulliganned a bad hand into two lands, and my opponent hard cast The Scarab God before I drew my third land either game. I was playing a Tier One deck, and I think I could have pulled this out if I had been able to cast my cards. 2-3
 
Conclusion: A caveat – in over 20 years of tournament Magic, I don’t know that I have ever brought a red deck to a tournament. I have tested red decks a ton, but mainly just to know my enemy. The mediocre results could be pilot error. I felt the deck lacked speed and reach, but that could easily be because I like midrange and control decks better than something like this. The deck would be a lot better with another Hazoret (or three) and I want more Chandras. I also spent some time looking at Harsh Mentor and wishing they were Earthshakers. Still, the deck performed reasonably well against the field, and it has an obvious upgrade path. For anyone wanting an entry level deck who likes this sort of thing, I think it does its job. I also think I am underrating this because it is just not something I like playing. 
 
Vehicle Rush
 
Overview: This deck is basically Mardu Vehicles, and has most of the components of the archetype.   It skimps a bit in the mana base, and plays a lot of Dwarves instead of Planeswalkers. It does have playsets of Heart of Kirans and Scrapheap Scroungers, though, which are keys to the archetype. This deck does not have the Planeswalkers or Rekindling Phoenixes in, for example, Blake Miller’s GP Memphis deck, but it has a ton of value for something that retails at US$29.99. A ton. I really like this, and I could see buying it when it comes out. I don’t have real-world Heart of Kirans.

 

Match One: I was battling against RG Monsters. Game one I ran them over with Dwarves, without vehicles. My removal took out their smaller creatures, and Rhonas was unable to block the pedestrians. Game two the monsters showed up, and Glorybringer ate my team. Game three they had lot of removal, but I dropped a turn two Heart of Kiran and turn three Scrapheap Scrounger. The Scrounger got killed several times, but kept coming back and kept crewing the Heart. Fun games. 1-0
 
Match Two:  UG Merfolk. Not a lot to say – I outran him. Scrapheap Scrounger, Toolcraft Exemplar and Unlicensed Disintegration all did work in two very quick games. 2-0
 
Match Three: RWG Planeswalker Control. Game two the opponent played 2 Abrades, 2 Cast Outs, two Chandras, three Sweltering Suns and a Thopter Arrest – which is a lot of removal. I managed to permanently kill the first Rekindling Phoenix and the first Chandra, but once he got the second Chandra ticking up while my board was empty, it was all over. 2-1
 
Match Four: I battled UW Cartouches. The games were very close, but I won in two. I used a lot of tricks involving Bomat Courier and other things to keep Scrapheap Scrounger play. Not a lot more to say. 3-1
 
Match Five: My opponent had a full-throated Grixis Energy deck. I fought through a ton of removal, counters, Chandras and The Scarab God. I managed to get rid of a Scarab God by casting Skysovereign to deal three damage, then Magma Spray to exile it. I also killed several Chandras. It was not enough. Once Chandra #3 started revealing extra cards, I could not keep up. Close, no cigar. 3-2
 
Conclusions: No surprise, but Heart of Kiran is a good Magic card. The combination of an immune to sorcery flyer and Scrapheap Scrounger gives this deck enough legs to battle through a lot of removal and problems. Veteran Motorist was good – it let Heart of Kiran attack through several Rekindling Phoenixes. Overall, I think this one scores. I would expect that new players could indeed take this to an FNM and not be pummeled. With practice and some understanding of how the cards work, such players could expect to go 2-2 much of the time and better on occasion. This deck won’t beat the $500 decks in the hands of the local FNM level bosses, but it really is playable out of the box. It also rewards practice – the deck has considerable complexity, and players’ results will improve as they learn how to pilot the deck. That’s true of Magic in general, and this deck in particular.   The deck will also improve a lot when the pilots trade for another Hazoret and/or Chandra. As an entry product, this one gets five stars.
 
Second Sun Control
 
Overview:  This is an attempt to do a budget version of UW Approach. This could, in theory, give control players an affordable means of playing Standard. In theory. UW Approach has not fared very well recently.  I did find a version that 5-0ed a Competitive League in the middle of last month. You can find it here. That deck is notably different. It has more sweepers (3 Fumigate, 3 Settle the Wreckage) and main deck Essence Scatters. This deck does not even have Essence Scatters in the sideboard. This deck runs Kefnet the Mindful instead of Torrential Gearhulk, which is more than just cost savings. The deck is also missing Disallows, or even Cancels. Things like Kefnet do help in digging through the deck to find Approaches, but I have some real concerns that the deck cannot handle fast creature decks. Aether Meltdown is not Essence Scatter – and I cannot see how the energy it produces could be used. I’m really pessimistic about this build – let’s see how it does.


 

 

Match One: My opponent arrived riding RG Dinosaurs – and big ones. Game one I was on the play with Opt, Censor, Renewed Faith, Supreme Will and Approach in hand. I hit with Censor and Supreme Will, and cycled my way into lands and a second Approach. Casting back to back Approaches on turns seven and eight did get me a win. Games two and three, my opponent managed to resolve a mana dork early, then started dropping monsters. I think the best example of why I lost this matchup was that I had to deal with a Gearhulk with a Cast Out – post trigger. I also had to answer a Regisaur Alpha with Aether Meltdown, which does not stop RA from giving all the other dinos haste. I fought as hard as I could and I died with the second Approach in hand each game, but I never had time to cast it. I also never found a sweeper despite digging like mad – 4 total copies total is just not enough. 0-1
 
Match Two: He was playing the red deck, with Earthshakers and at least one Rekindling Phoenix. He was on the draw, so even though I countered stuff with Censor and Supreme Will on turns two and three, they were still too fast. Game two I brought in the four Regal Caracals. They had apparently sided out their removal, and scooped when I resolved Caracals on turn five and six.  Game three they played around Settle the Wreckage so hard that I lived for three turns longer than I should have. That let me dig deep enough to find a Fumigate, but it was not enough. I died on their turn seven, when they cast exactly enough hasty creatures to kill me.  I had Approach in hand, plenty of lands plus two cycling lands in hand, but it would not have been enough. Even if they hadn’t drawn those creatures, he was really close to being able to recur the Earthshakers. 0-2
 
Match Three: Pirates. Or maybe just cheap red stuff. They were on the play and led with Rigging Runner.  I payed a land, tapped. On their turn two, they cast Built to Smash on the Rigging Runner, then a second Runner. They also cast Shock, Lightning Strike and Repeating Barrage. Dead. I sideboarded out the Kefnet, 2 of the Cast Outs, a Censor, one Aether Meltdown and so forth, for the Renewed Faiths, Caracals, and a Spell Pierce. For game two they played their creatures and I could not keep up. I died on turn five with a Caracal and several Glimmers in hand, but no fifth land.   The deck was way, way, way too slow, even when facing what was basically a pauper deck. 0-3
 
Match Four: My opponent played a nicely foiled UB Control deck. They also played The Scarab God into a Censor, and later Torrential Gearhulk into a second one. They had played a Search for Azcanta on turn two, but I managed to nail it with Cast Out the turn before it flipped. I cast Second Sun, and they responded with a second Gearhulk and hit me Commit, then Memory to shuffle away the Approach. I could only respond by casting Aether Mutation on the Gearhulk, making the Mythic critter a very slow clock. We did nothing for a while, but eventually I drew another Second Sun and had a Supreme Will as backup. That was game.  I sideboarded out the Mutations, two Fumigates, the Renewed Faith and the Farm // Market for the Negates, Spell Pierces and – because I was worried about him removing my Second Suns – the Glyph Keepers. Not sure that’s right, and I’m not sure that the Lobotomy effects are any good in Standard, but it seemed reasonable.  
 
Game two they led with a turn two Arguel’s Blood Feast, which I thought was probably game. However, they stalled on three lands. When they tapped mana to use the Blood Feast EoT on my turn four, I killed the Feast with Cast Out. Same with the second one. They were stuck for a while. I was holding Negate and Spell Pierce and cycling and Glimmering to make my land drops – and they weren’t. Finally, I cast a trial Glyph Keeper. They responded with Essence Scatter! (Do people really side in Essence Scatter against real UW Approach decks?) I Negated the Essence Scatter and he conceded with the comment “don’t you just have it all.” That cracked me up. 1-3
 
Match Five: (because I figured I had this play this out.) I faced a UW cycling with Drake Haven. We battled a bit, and I cast Approach. They let it resolve and waited with untapped mana. When the Approach got close to the top of my Library, they milled it with Ipnu Rivulet – and hit a second copy for good measure. I had the third in hand, but they had a counter.  I figured they had it, but since my only maindeck counters are Censor and Supreme Will and he had a lot of lands, it was never going to get better.   Games two and three were long, drawn out battles. I might have been able to win game three, but I had been multitasking (including working on this article) and I timed out. 1-4
 
Conclusions: This deck is not ready for FNM. It really feels like Wizards didn’t have enough time to finish it. For example, the deck generates lots of energy, but has nothing to do with it. Maybe Wizards had initially included a Confiscation Coup, but cut it – I don’t know. I also would have like a Hieroglyphic Illumination or two – in the mid to late game, it’s better than Censor.   And then there’s Kefnet. I get that it helps dig for Approach (a bit), but I was never close to being able to use it. I would have gladly traded it for a Drake Haven, a second Settle the Wreckage or even a singleton Search for Azcanta.  Finally, I do not understand how Wizards could have built a control deck for this metagame and not included a single Essence Scatter anywhere in the 75. In short, not recommended.  
 
Counter Surge
 
Overview: This is a decent GB constrictor deck.  It not dissimilar to the Sultai Constrictor deck Aaron Barich took to the Top 8 of GP Memphis, but without Hadana’s Climb.  It is missing the Servant of the Conduit, which seems strange, and chase cards like Jadelight Ranger, which is not. It has 17 rares and 3 Mythics, which is a lot of value for $29.99. It can’t have everything. However, without Servants or Bristling Hydras, I’m not sure it will deliver enough energy to keep Glint-Sleeve Siphoner fed. That said, I like decks like this, and I am looking forward to playing it.

 


Match One
: I faced an interesting mono-black deck with Panharmonicon. That card is pretty good when matched with all the comes into play creatures they had.   Kitesail Freebooter nabs two cards. Dusk Legion Zealot draws two cards. Ravenous Chupacabra kills two creatures.  The Skyship deals three, twice. And Gonti is disgusting. They were having way more fun than I was. I couldn’t have that, so I sideboarded in the Slice in Twain and an Appetite for their artifacts and pulled out game two. Game three, though, I could not keep up with their card draw. Close, but the deck is just not that great when behind. Glint-Sleeve helps, but I could not produce enough energy to keep drawing cards.
 
Matches Two-Five: Coming, but I simply ran out of time. I conceived the idea of doing this on Monday, and built the decks late Tuesday night, after getting home from game night. I might have been able to get all ten matches in Wednesday and Thursday, but the stupid UW Approach deck took a long time to lose.  I’ll play them out, and I may report results in the comments or next week.
 
Conclusion – Counter Surge: I like the concept, and casting Riskar with a Winding Constrictor in play is fun. However, I was invariably short of energy and this affected the mana. I had Aether Hubs in play, but could not cast, for example, Walk the Plank because I didn’t have the energy to power the Hubs. I think the deck really needs Servant of the Conduit. Most of the rares are fine, and Hour of Glory is almost Vraska’s Contempt, but I don’t understand why the Dreamstealers were included. They really should have been Bristling Hydras. Bristling Hydra was included in the Ixalan Planeswalker deck, so they have a precedent. Dreamstealers just didn’t do enough – but maybe that was because I never had a chance to dump counters on them. I’m a bit down on the deck, but remember that I have only played one match with this deck – a match that I lost, and that I can’t play more matches now. I might just be salty.
 
Overall Conclusion:   Wizards has tried to make decks that can introduce players to Standard events before, and they have been awful. Those decks would struggle to go 1-3. I know, because I wrote an article like this for them as well. This time is different. Wizards has built decks that really could be played to a decent record at FNM events. With the exception of the UW deck, the Challenger decks are fun to play. Players will not only play them, they will bring them back to another FNM. They give players some ideas on how to upgrade the decks. And even without upgrading the decks, sometimes, in the words of one opponent, it’s nice to “just have it all.”
 
I can honestly say that, for the first time in a long time, I am considering buying a non-Commander PreCon and adding a few cards to build a Standard deck. I don’t know that I have ever done that before.  Wizards may have got this one right. It has never been cheaper or easier to get into Standard.  
 
Now we will see if someone like Frank Karsten takes one of these decks to a GP and does well.   I remember that at least one pro (Frank? GerryT? someone...) did arrive at a GP with a Precon, still wrapped in plastic, and played it. I remember the discussion among judges, because he removed the package insert, wrote his name and DCI number on it and circled the decklist.  (Yes, I think we accepted it.) That did not go well, but I could see someone making Day Two with one of these, with a lot of skill and a fair amount of luck. And maybe some byes. 
 
Cutting Edge Tech
Standard: We had a Standard GP last weekend. Attendance was down, compared to recent Modern GPs, but the format looked pretty good. The Top 8 decklists are here, and the 9th-32nd decklists are here. The format looks a lot better than it has in a long time. Considering how bad the format has been, that’s not saying much, so I will put it another way: the format looks good enough that I might want to play Standard. It’s been quite a while since I have said that.
 

Modern: I had this section done, then realized I was pulling info from a pre-Jace event. Irrelevant. I’ll have some real tech next week.
 
Pauper: We had a Pauper Challenge last weekend. Here’s the winning deck.


Legacy
: If you are wondering why True-Name Nemesis is so expensive, it is because of decks like this.

 

 

 
Card Prices
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 over a decade now, and have never been overcharged or disappointed.
 
Standard Staples: Standard prices are mixed, but overall up this week. I dropped Heart of Kiran off the list because it dropped under $5. That was a plus for me, because I didn’t own any, and had to buy them for the precon challenge I described above. 
 

Standard Cards
Price
Last Week
Change
% Change
$13.63
$11.23
$2.40
21%
$25.66
$28.37
($2.71)
-10%
$6.85
$4.78
$2.07
43%
$7.67
$6.39
$1.28
20%
$12.53
$18.60
($6.07)
-33%
$6.28
$3.54
$2.74
77%
$36.34
$30.59
$5.75
19%
$6.46
$6.65
($0.19)
-3%
$5.91
$5.24
$0.67
13%
$35.94
$35.61
$0.33
1%
$15.62
$15.20
$0.42
3%
$7.92
$10.74
($2.82)
-26%
$8.17
$6.37
$1.80
28%
$14.63
$11.10
$3.53
32%

Modern staples:  Modern got a huge shake-up with the bannings, and now Masters 25 is going to shake up (meaning depress) the market. I pulled prices on Tuesday, so more changes are coming. These prices are based on early info and a lot of supposing. More next week. 
 

Modern Cards
Price
Last Week
Change
% Change
$19.33
$27.12
($7.79)
-29%
$25.17
$26.52
($1.35)
-5%
$23.46
$25.40
($1.94)
-8%
$17.84
$24.99
($7.15)
-29%
$35.02
$27.66
$7.36
27%
$17.13
$23.69
($6.56)
-28%
$30.79
$30.05
$0.74
2%
$27.62
$27.65
($0.03)
0%
$23.52
$21.41
$2.11
10%
$34.53
$32.91
$1.62
5%
$44.31
$43.01
$1.30
3%
$25.80
$29.17
($3.37)
-12%
$73.71
$71.35
$2.36
3%
$67.74
$71.81
($4.07)
-6%
$51.27
$42.49
$8.78
21%
$48.45
$46.31
$2.14
5%
$26.09
$24.02
$2.07
9%
$26.72
$28.41
($1.69)
-6%
$15.72
$15.92
($0.20)
-1%
$31.76
$33.14
($1.38)
-4%
$47.09
$47.66
($0.57)
-1%

Legacy and Vintage: Legacy and Vintage are both mixed, as we wait for the effect of Masters 25. The full list will drop Friday. Prices will drop shortly thereafter. Long term, thought, prices probably won’t be affected much, at least for playable cards. Also, Ancestral Recall (the VMA version) has dropped to $4.97, so if you have ever wanted to play the second best card draw spell ever, grab it now.  (The best is Contract from Below, which is just stupid.)
 

Legacy / Vintage Cards
Price
Last Week
Change
% Change
$31.90
$31.92
($0.02)
0%
$19.50
$18.89
$0.61
3%
$19.42
$18.20
$1.22
7%
$22.74
$22.35
$0.39
2%
$20.05
$19.28
$0.77
4%
$36.67
$40.43
($3.76)
-9%
$33.82
$35.04
($1.22)
-3%
$25.62
$26.70
($1.08)
-4%
$40.52
$40.47
$0.05
0%
$20.29
$20.62
($0.33)
-2%
$31.26
$32.10
($0.84)
-3%
$26.51
$26.37
$0.14
1%
$76.62
$75.96
$0.66
1%
$15.43
$16.21
($0.78)
-5%
$16.62
$17.03
($0.41)
-2%
$32.01
$34.42
($2.41)
-7%

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).   
 

Complete Set
Price
Last Week
Change
% Change
Aether Revolt
$72.73
$70.16
$2.57
4%
Amonkhet
$76.77
$83.40
($6.63)
-8%
Ixalan
$73.47
$73.85
($0.38)
-1%
Hour of Devastation
$73.94
$74.04
($0.10)
0%
Kaladesh
$99.58
$102.27
($2.69)
-3%
Rivals of Ixalan
$87.82
$74.80
$13.02
17%
Treasure Chest
$2.47
$2.57
($0.10)
-4%
Ixalan Booster
$3.96
$4.03
($0.07)
-2%
Rivals of Ixalan Booster
$2.60
$2.85
($0.25)
-9%

 
 
The Good Stuff
The following is a list of all the non-promo, non-foil cards on MTGO that retail for more than $25 per card. These are the big ticket items in the world of MTGO.  Jace, TMS has slipped to fourth place, behind the Black Lotus with the good art, True-Name Nemesis and Liliana of the Big Price Tag.
 

Name
Set
Rarity
 Price
Black Lotus
 1E
Rare
 $ 108.46
True-Name Nemesis
 PZ1
Mythic Rare
 $    80.43
True-Name Nemesis
 C13
Rare
 $    76.62
Liliana of the Veil
 MM3
Mythic Rare
 $    75.66
Jace, the Mind Sculptor
 EMA
Mythic Rare
 $    74.87
Jace, the Mind Sculptor
 WWK
Mythic Rare
 $    74.56
Jace, the Mind Sculptor
 VMA
Mythic Rare
 $    73.71
Liliana of the Veil
 ISD
Mythic Rare
 $    67.74
Force of Will
 MED
Rare
 $    64.19
Mox Sapphire
 1E
Rare
 $    62.04
Tarmogoyf
 FUT
Rare
 $    58.30
Ancestral Recall
 1E
Rare
 $    56.86
Tarmogoyf
 MMA
Mythic Rare
 $    55.56
Mox Ruby
 1E
Rare
 $    54.13
Mox Emerald
 1E
Rare
 $    52.32
Tarmogoyf
 MM3
Mythic Rare
 $    51.77
Liliana, the Last Hope
 EMN
Mythic Rare
 $    51.27
Mox Opal
 SOM
Mythic Rare
 $    49.57
Mox Opal
 MM2
Mythic Rare
 $    49.13
Mox Opal
 MS2
Bonus
 $    48.45
Mox Diamond
 TPR
Mythic Rare
 $    47.86
Tarmogoyf
 MM2
Mythic Rare
 $    47.09
Wasteland
 TE
Uncommon
 $    46.88
Karn Liberated
 NPH
Mythic Rare
 $    45.94
Mox Jet
 1E
Rare
 $    45.12
Karn Liberated
 MM2
Mythic Rare
 $    44.31
Wasteland
 TPR
Rare
 $    43.77
Mox Pearl
 1E
Rare
 $    41.03
Misdirection
 MM
Rare
 $    40.52
Force of Will
 EMA
Mythic Rare
 $    40.31
Dark Depths
 V16
Mythic Rare
 $    37.38
Exploration
 UZ
Rare
 $    36.67
The Scarab God
 MS3
Special
 $    36.62
Time Walk
 1E
Rare
 $    36.56
Wasteland
 EXP
Mythic Rare
 $    36.47
Rekindling Phoenix
 RIX
Mythic Rare
 $    36.34
The Scarab God
 HOU
Mythic Rare
 $    35.94
Unmask
 V16
Mythic Rare
 $    35.88
Force of Will
 MS3
Special
 $    35.72
Horizon Canopy
 FUT
Rare
 $    35.08
Collective Brutality
 EMN
Rare
 $    35.02
Horizon Canopy
 EXP
Mythic Rare
 $    34.91
Horizon Canopy
 IMA
Rare
 $    34.53
Force of Will
 VMA
Rare
 $    33.82
Ensnaring Bridge
 7E
Rare
 $    33.35
Surgical Extraction
 NPH
Rare
 $    32.90
Underground Sea
 ME2
Rare
 $    32.36
Wasteland
 EMA
Rare
 $    32.01
Black Lotus
 VMA
Bonus
 $    31.90
Surgical Extraction
 MM2
Rare
 $    31.76
Engineered Explosives
 5DN
Rare
 $    31.64
Engineered Explosives
 MMA
Rare
 $    31.50
Rishadan Port
 MM
Rare
 $    31.26
Blood Moon
 9ED
Rare
 $    31.03
Underground Sea
 ME4
Rare
 $    30.82
Engineered Explosives
 MS2
Bonus
 $    30.79
Containment Priest
 C14
Rare
 $    29.83
Containment Priest
 PZ1
Rare
 $    29.56
Scalding Tarn
 EXP
Mythic Rare
 $    29.18
Blood Moon
 8ED
Rare
 $    29.15
Ensnaring Bridge
 MS2
Bonus
 $    28.61
Noble Hierarch
 CON
Rare
 $    28.59
Blood Moon
 MS3
Special
 $    28.47
Scalding Tarn
 MM3
Rare
 $    27.99
Ensnaring Bridge
 8ED
Rare
 $    27.85
Ensnaring Bridge
 ST
Rare
 $    27.62
Gorilla Shaman
 ALL
Common
 $    27.19
Scalding Tarn
 ZEN
Rare
 $    26.72
Show and Tell
 UZ
Rare
 $    26.51
Noble Hierarch
 MM2
Rare
 $    26.09
Cavern of Souls
 MM3
Mythic Rare
 $    25.95
Kolaghan's Command
 DTK
Rare
 $    25.80
Chandra, Torch of Defiance
 KLD
Mythic Rare
 $    25.66
Leovold, Emissary of Trest
 PZ2
Mythic Rare
 $    25.62
Cavern of Souls
 AVR
Rare
 $    25.17

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 $ 20,445. That’s up a paltry $65 from last week, but that includes a lot of price drops for cards slated for reprint in Master 25.
 
Weekly Highlights
Another super-hectic week with a number of 12 hour work days (plus commute), but I got to play a ton of Magic anyway.  I’m in a sealed league, a draft league, and played through three and a fifth Standard leagues. And I want more.
 
My plan for this weekend is to watch the MTGO Champs while playing MTGO.  
 
PRJ
 
“One Million Words” on MTGO
 
This series is an ongoing tribute to Erik “Hamtastic” Friborg.

2 Comments

The decklists managed to get by stsung at Fri, 03/02/2018 - 15:05
stsung's picture

The decklists managed to get messed up. I generated all of them again. You can use that code and add them to the article.

http://stsungalters.com/temp/state.html

thanks! by one million words at Fri, 03/02/2018 - 15:35
one million words's picture

thanks!