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By: one million words, Pete Jahn
Oct 09 2015 12:00pm
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State of the Program for October 9th 2015

In the News:

Format Changeover Happened October 7thThe Standard format has rotated. Theros block and M15 are gone, while Battle for Zendikar is now legal. The new mulligan rule is also a thing. For those of you who haven’t heard, if, after all mulligan are resolved and before starting play, anyone who takes a mulligan gets to scry once. 
 
MTGO Feedback Program: Wizards announced the MTGO Feedback program here. Basically, these are more surveys, but Wizards promises more info on the responses, and quicker responses to those responses.  The article also introduces Brandon Kreines, the new “Assistant Digital Product Manager for the Magic Online team.” 
 
Battle for Zendikar Expedition Lands on MTGO: The special Expedition lands will appear in online boosters at the same frequency as in paper packs. (Unofficial sources estimate that frequency at about one per 130 boosters.)   Expedition lands ae NOT required for BBFR redemption, and are NOT redeemable.
 
Battle for Zendikar Prerelease and Release Events: (repeat from last week) Wizards has provided details of the upcoming Prerelease and Release Events. The big change is that the prereleases do not use special guild or color packs. Instead, you just get 6 boosters and a random foil rare or mythic.   The lack of a special prerelease “entry object” means that you will NOT have to spend $5 at the store to enter. All you need is 25 TIX or 250 Play Points. 
 
Choose the Players for the Super League Last Chance Qualifier: Randy Buehler is running a special tournament on MTGO / Twitch.tv. The first ten competitors have been chosen. Two more players will come from an eight player Last Chance Qualifier. The participants for that event are four high finishers from previous seasons, plus four more chosen by the community. The article explaining the process is here. The ballot to vote for players is on the website. 
 
Commander Tuck Rule Coming November 11th:   Better late?
 
Problems Coming out of Downtime: The MTGO restart coming out of Wednesday’s downtime was a little rocky, but the program was up and stable after a couple hours.  
 
New Procedure for Paper Sealed Events:   (Not MTGO related, but it is a good example of Wizards listening to players and responding.) At high level paper sealed events, it used to be that players registered card pools, then passed them to another player. This is no fun when you open good stuff, then have to pass it. Under the new provision, player A opens their boosters while Player B watches. Then Player B opens their boosters while player A watches. Players register each other’s pools, then pass them back. This new procedure keeps players from adding cards to their pools, but also lets you keep what you open.   The article explaining the changes is here.
 

The Timeline:

This is a list of things we have been promised, or just want to see coming back.   Another good source for dates and times is the MTGO calendar and the weekly blog, while the best source for known bugs is the Known Issues List. For quick reference, here are some major upcoming events.   In addition, there are either one or two online PTQs each weekend.
 
Item: date and notes
·         MOCS Season 11: runs from September 30th through October 28th. Promo is an old bordered Sword of Feast and Famine.
·         Battle for Zendikar Prerelease: starts Oct. 9th.
·         Battle for Zendikar Release Events: starts Oct. 12th 64 players drafts run through October 21st, other release events run through October 28th
·         BFZ Packs as Prizes: Starting October 14th, constructed events will pay out BFZ packs as prizes.
·         Sealed Leagues: “Coming soon”
·         From the Vault: Angels: October 12, 2015. Details here.
·         Legendary Cube: Nov. 18th. Details here.
·         Oath of the Gatewatch Prerelease: January 29–February 1, 2016
·         Implementation of the ‘Tuck” Rule in Commander: Nov. 11th.
 

Random MTGO Suggestion of the Week

Right now, when I import a decklist into MTGO, and own different versions of some of the cards in deck, the program will give me the option of converting to copies of the cards I own. However, if the decklist contains cards I do not own at all, the program simply deletes those cards. For example, I imported a decklist and the program put Khans fetchlands in the deck. I don’t have any Khans fetchlands, but I do have Onslaught ones, so I clicked update. I didn’t notice it, but the decklist also called for four Anafenzas, and I only own three. When I updated to versions I owned, the program removed the fourth Anafenza without warning me, or explaining what it had done. All I knew was that I suddenly had a 59 card deck, and no idea what card was missing. I had the choice of pulling up the Notepad version of the deck and comparing card by card, or deleting the deck and reimporting, then trying to figure out which card I did not have. 
 
The update with versions you own feature is nice, but it would make far more sense to have it automatically load the versions you have when you import a deck. Absent that, then that feature should never delete cards (other than those it replaces) from the decklist.     
 
If you have a suggestion for an improvement to MTGO, send it to magiconlinefeedback@wizards.com. I sent this one.
 

Cutting Edge Tech:

Standard: We have seen the first events in the new Standard.   SCG ran an Open last weekend in Indianapolis.   This event happened just one day after Battle for Zendikar went on sale, so card availability may have had an impact.   That said, a lot of top finishing decks had playsets of rares and Mythics, so at least some players had what they needed. The Top 64 decks are here. If you want to play early, with minimal investment, look at the winning Atarka Red deck. It had two rare lands and one common creature from BFZ. For a better indication of where this format is going, check out Gerry Thompson’s 5 Color Bring to Light deck, or any of the Mardu Black decks that splash black into a three color deck, mainly for Crackling Doom.   For that matter, Abzan decks are splashing red, also for Crackling Doom and Kolaghan’s Command. Mana looks to be extremely good in this format.
 
Atarka Red
Brian Demars, Winner, SCG Standard Open Indianapolis
Creatures
4 Monastery Swiftspear
4 cards

Other Spells
2 Cinder Glade
1 Makindi Sliderunner
4 Abbot of Keral Keep
2 Chandra, Fire of Kaladesh
4 Zurgo Bellstriker
4 Atarka's Command
2 Lightning Berserker
4 Wild Slash
3 Temur Battle Rage
3 Become Immense
4 Titan's Strength
4 Dragon Fodder
2 Cinder Glade
28 cards
 
Lands
2 Windswept Heath
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Wooded Foothills
8 Mountain
1 Forest
19 cards

Become Immense
 
Modern:  The Top 8 of the SCG Modern Premier IQ in Indianapolis was a mixed bag, but the winning deck was an old favorite with basically no BFZ cards.
 
 
Legacy: The first major event without Dig Through Time happened, and blue decks were still present is solid numbers. The Top 32 from the SCG Legacy IQ in Indie had lots of Delver decks, but a higher than usual number of non-blue decks. The winner, however, was blue.
 
 

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 pretty stable at the moment. Next week, though, BFZ will be in the mix. This week, the main changes are the removal of Theros block cards.
 

Standard & Block Cards
Price
Last Week
Change
% Change
$11.08
$11.29
($0.21)
-2%
$6.96
$8.78
($1.82)
-21%
$17.48
$15.37
$2.11
14%
$8.83
$8.65
$0.18
2%
$7.66
$7.66
$0.00
0%
$20.54
$20.54
$0.00
0%
$6.45
$5.43
$1.02
19%
$7.18
$7.50
($0.32)
-4%
$11.46
$9.21
$2.25
24%
$41.79
$34.10
$7.69
23%
$6.91
$7.73
($0.82)
-11%
$8.95
$8.99
($0.04)
0%
$13.23
$13.88
($0.65)
-5%
$10.40
$10.22
$0.18
2%
$6.60
$6.57
$0.03
0%
$8.06
$7.84
$0.22
3%

Modern staples:  Modern prices were in flux. A few old Standard staples have moved here, now that Theros block has rotated. 
 

Modern Cards
Price
Last Week
Change
% Change
$32.21
$32.00
$0.21
1%
$21.58
$21.13
$0.45
2%
$25.45
$24.51
$0.94
4%
$22.38
$24.89
($2.51)
-10%
$29.54
$28.37
$1.17
4%
$19.07
$18.78
$0.29
2%
$48.06
$46.93
$1.13
2%
$29.49
$30.87
($1.38)
-4%
$14.28
$17.52
($3.24)
-18%
$32.20
$29.55
$2.65
9%
$19.32
$19.15
$0.17
1%
$20.40
$19.29
$1.11
6%
$98.93
$97.78
$1.15
1%
$23.02
$24.17
($1.15)
-5%
$29.30
$31.08
($1.78)
-6%
$21.83
$20.90
$0.93
4%
$39.72
$34.07
$5.65
17%
$25.07
$24.76
$0.31
1%
$20.85
$19.75
$1.10
6%
$49.23
$47.51
$1.72
4%
$5.48
$5.32
$0.16
3%
$21.75
$23.50
($1.75)
-7%
$16.71
$18.37
($1.66)
-9%
$29.17
$31.01
($1.84)
-6%

Legacy and Vintage: Eternal format cards are about even, but Containment Priest is a bit surprising. That’s a significant hit. Was Containment Priest only played in Dig Through Time decks?
  

Legacy / Vintage Cards
Price
Last Week
Change
% Change
$33.61
$29.82
$3.79
13%
$105.62
$105.54
$0.08
0%
$21.80
$26.31
($4.51)
-17%
$21.15
$21.64
($0.49)
-2%
$46.36
$46.69
($0.33)
-1%
$28.74
$28.74
$0.00
0%
$20.62
$22.30
($1.68)
-8%
$25.87
$24.88
$0.99
4%
$22.15
$21.58
$0.57
3%
$120.24
$120.24
$0.00
0%
$26.32
$26.01
$0.31
1%
$43.12
$41.20
$1.92
5%
$15.06
$15.95
($0.89)
-6%
$171.72
$171.26
$0.46
0%
$67.02
$67.02
$0.00
0%
$21.75
$21.99
($0.24)
-1%
$21.05
$21.83
($0.78)
-4%
$23.88
$23.72
$0.16
1%
$21.34
$22.20
($0.86)
-4%
$21.58
$21.58
$0.00
0%
$68.92
$68.79
$0.13
0%

Set Redemption: You can redeem complete sets on MTGO. You need to purchase a redemption voucher from the store for $25. During the next downtime, Wizards removes a complete set from your account and sends you the same set in paper.   I will add BFZ once the prices settle down.
 

Complete Set
Price
Last Week
Change
% Change
Battle for Zendikar
coming
n/a
n/a
n/a
Dragons of Tarkir
$134.79
$129.14
$5.65
4%
Fate Reforged
$51.05
$50.02
$1.03
2%
Khans of Tarkir
$97.66
$92.96
$4.70
5%
Magic Origins
$112.18
$107.34
$4.84
5%

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.  I’m still amazed that, other than some Mercadian Masques cards and maybe Liliana and Wasteland, MTGO is reasonably affordable in every format.   At least, for a certain meaning of affordable.
 

Name
Set
Rarity
Price
Rishadan Port
MM
Rare
$ 171.72
Misdirection
MM
Rare
$ 120.24
Black Lotus
VMA
Bonus
$ 105.62
Liliana of the Veil
ISD
Mythic Rare
$ 98.93
Wasteland
TE
Uncommon
$ 69.26
Wasteland
TPR
Rare
$ 68.92
Show and Tell
UZ
Rare
$ 67.02
Tangle Wire
NE
Rare
$ 64.84
Tarmogoyf
FUT
Rare
$ 52.98
Tarmogoyf
MMA
Mythic Rare
$ 49.33
Tarmogoyf
MM2
Mythic Rare
$ 49.23
Griselbrand
AVR
Mythic Rare
$ 48.06
Doomsday
WL
Rare
$ 46.36
Mox Sapphire
VMA
Bonus
$ 43.12
Jace, Vryn's Prodigy
ORI
Mythic Rare
$ 41.79
Scalding Tarn
ZEN
Rare
$ 39.72
Ancestral Recall
VMA
Bonus
$ 33.61
Auriok Champion
5DN
Rare
$ 32.21
Horizon Canopy
FUT
Rare
$ 32.20
Mox Opal
SOM
Mythic Rare
$ 32.16
Force of Will
MED
Rare
$ 31.52
Ensnaring Bridge
ST
Rare
$ 30.78
Ensnaring Bridge
7E
Rare
$ 29.60
Ensnaring Bridge
8ED
Rare
$ 29.54
Grove of the Burnwillows
FUT
Rare
$ 29.49
Mox Opal
MM2
Mythic Rare
$ 29.30
Voice of Resurgence
DGM
Mythic Rare
$ 29.17
Food Chain
MM
Rare
$ 28.74
Blood Moon
MMA
Rare
$ 26.38
Mox Jet
VMA
Bonus
$ 26.32
Gaea's Cradle
UZ
Rare
$ 25.87
Mox Ruby
VMA
Bonus
$ 25.63
Blood Moon
9ED
Rare
$ 25.45
Blood Moon
8ED
Rare
$ 25.45
Scapeshift
MOR
Rare
$ 25.07

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 you can own is $ 23,815.  That’s up about $30 from last week. We should have BFZ prices in the mix next week..      
 

Weekly Highlights:

Gah, work. This weeks is insane, and not getting better. Until Friday. I have the day off to play in the GP grinders, and the weekend to play in the GP itself.   Unless I open three or more Expeditions – in that case I’ll play in side events. 
 

Last minute update – Wizards changed the rules on deck registration in sealed events. I get to play for sure.

PRJ
 
“One Million Words” and “3MWords” on MTGO
 
 
This series is an ongoing tribute to Erik “Hamtastic” Friborg.

6 Comments

Duel Decks by Treamayne at Mon, 10/12/2015 - 00:34
Treamayne's picture
5

As always, great info.

Pete, since you keep up with MTGO, any idea what happened to Duel Decks? Is it me, or have none of the DDs since Jace vs Vraska been released on MTGO? Did they discontinue the DD for MTGO?

Yes they stopped doing duel by Paul Leicht at Mon, 10/12/2015 - 00:53
Paul Leicht's picture

Yes they stopped doing duel decks a while ago. The numbers were not good from what they said. And this year they aren't giving us the commander decks either since apparently the numbers aren't good for them as well.

agree by one million words at Mon, 10/12/2015 - 10:27
one million words's picture

The big problem with the duel decks is that the price of commons, and cards in general, is so very low that you can generally buy the entire duel deck for much, much less than the MSRP. I remember on duel deck that cost $25, but had cards that totaled far less than $10. Not a very smart buy.

It's always easier to put a duel deck together yourself, instead of buying it.

Which is why the price point by Paul Leicht at Mon, 10/12/2015 - 13:00
Paul Leicht's picture

Which is why the price point should be lower. Deciding that all precons must be priced at $20 or higher is just stupid imho. Creativity in this matter would not go unrewarded.

Oh and there was a time when you could buy say Garruk vs Liliana and profit by selling off a few of the chase cards. They have not always been easier to obtain out of the box. In fact some like GvL had cards you could not obtain elsewise.

Thank you both. If C15 really by Treamayne at Wed, 10/14/2015 - 03:47
Treamayne's picture

Thank you both. If C15 really doesn't get an MTGO release, I (and likely many others) will be extremely unhappy.

It was bad enough that Conspiracy wasn't on MTGO, but at least some of those cards got released on MTGO with Vintage Masters. I could vaguely understand why a draft set like that couldn't get a digital release when they can't get the client working normally, much less with weird draft interactions.

What possible reason could they have for keeping C15 from those of us that only play digital? I find it difficult to believe that the unlimited numbers and continued sales of C11,13 and 14 (since all are still in the store) haven't covered the cost of digitizing the product and made a handsome sum on top.

The new cards made for C15 by TheKidsArentAlright at Wed, 10/14/2015 - 03:51
TheKidsArentAlright's picture

The new cards made for C15 will be distributed as part of the prize packs for the Legendary Cube draft, so they'll still be available online. They will not, however, just be selling the entire C15 decks in the store as they have previously. Why are they doing it this way? Your guess is as good as mine.