Mythic Championship IV Winner Crowned:  Congrats to Thoralf Severin who outlasted 500 or so other players in a field full of Hogaak and Leyline of the Void with Tron.  Alvaro Fernandez Torres was in the finals, who was on Hardened Scales Affinity. 

Red Bull Untapped:  A soft drink that gives you wings is holding a Magic tournament for reasons I don't really understand, but they shared the top eight finalists with the world recently. Headlined by 2018 World Champion, Javier Dominguez, these eight players are getting together to battle it out for 60000 dollars.  You can see the competitors here, and watch the action here.  The article doesn't say when they are playing, so it might be going on now, or tomorrow, or maybe next year.  I have no idea! 

MPL Bracket Play:  The MPL is split in to 8 player brackets that will play round robin matches, and the top four will have a play off to determine the winner of each group.  Each division will get a featured week.  You can watch that on twitch.  You can read about it more here. 

Modern Horizons getting Extra Time:  The end date of Modern Horizons events has been pushed back from the 14th of August to the 28th of August.  Go play some sealed and maybe crack a Wrenn and Six!

I may need to outsource the opinion section.  As a person with agoraphobia, a lot of stuff really doesn't apply to me anymore.  The new Judge Academy?  Level 1 judge Joshua would have hated it, but the dude afraid of the outside who let his membership lapse?  He really does not have any strong opinions.  I don't feel it's great.  I've talked about it on twitter, but my feelings aren't strong enough to actually sit down and put words to website over it. 

The lack of communication about organized play and what its future might hold?  Doesn't matter to me, I no longer play in MCQs or have the dreams of the Pro Tour or Mythic Champion or whatever.  It sure would be nice if WotC would say something and help my friends out, but no strong feelings.  What about the MPL?  Did it achieve its goals for WotC or will changes be happening with it?  Will digital MCs ever have an audience?  It feels weird to embrace esports, but do it so haphazardly. 

I very much feel like the Neutrals from Futurama right now.   I have no strong feelings one way or the other.  Have I outgrown Magic?  Maybe, I still play an awful lot.  I stream, I interact with the game, but it's on different terms now. I would never go to a Magic Fest to actually play in the main event anymore, but to hang out with friends and maybe do a few side events. 

I know things are doing well for Magic, and that is exciting, but I also feel like I'm leaving it behind as I try to figure out what role it has in my life going forward.  I love the management work here at Pure, and can't imagine my life without the game, or the great writers and fans of the site, so leaving Magic is never been a thing I seriously considered. 

A thing I have seriously considered?  Opening MTGO and playing some commander. That's always great! 

Standard:
Looking at this deck, and my collection on MTGO and I sure wish that there were alternate art versions of every Planeswalker. The anime walkers are great, even if a bit expensive, but it is nice to have something a bit different. I truly wish that Wizards of the Coast had printed the stained glass walkers. With an actual stained glass style treatment. Would have been a heck of a Mythic Edition.

Jeskai Walkers

 

1 Lightning Strike 2 Opt 4 Shock 3 Spell Pierce 2 Cleansing Nova 3 Deafening Clarion 1 Jaya's Immolating Inferno 1 Lava Coil 2 Karn, Scion of Urza 4 Narset, Parter of Veils 3 Saheeli, Sublime Artificer 4 Sarkhan the Masterless 1 Teferi, Hero of Dominaria 4 Teferi, Time Raveler 1 Clifftop Retreat 3 Glacial Fortress 4 Hallowed Fountain	4 Interplanar Beacon 1 Island 1 Mountain 4 Sacred Foundry 3 Steam Vents 2 Sulfur Falls 2 Chandra, Awakened Inferno	Sideboard: 2 Legion Warboss 3 Dovin's Veto 2 Cleansing Nova 1 Deafening Clarion 2 Lava Coil 1 Prison Realm 2 Aether Gust 2 Fry

Legacy:
This deck to me is needlessly complicated. It may not actually be, as it seems that putting Vampire Hexmage in to play with Dark Depths as quickly as possible. I played this a while back when the format was a lot more affordable, and ran the ole spicy 0-5. The deck just never seemed to click for me.

Turbo Depths

 

4 Vampire Hexmage 4 Brainstorm 4 Crop Rotation 2 Not of This World 2 Duress 2 Inquisition of Kozilek 4 Sylvan Scrying 4 Thoughtseize 4 Mox Diamond 2 Pithing Needle 3 Bayou 1 Bojuka Bog 4 Dark Depths 1 Ghost Quarter 3 Misty Rainforest 4 Polluted Delta	1 Sejiri Steppe 4 Thespian's Stage 1 Tropical Island 2 Underground Sea 4 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth	Sideboard: 2 Abrupt Decay 2 Assassin's Trophy 2 Flusterstorm 2 Surgical Extraction 1 Engineered Plague 2 Pithing Needle 2 Liliana, the Last Hope 1 Dryad Arbor 1 Karakas

Modern:
For sure need to show off the winner of the most recent Mythic Championship, even if the deck is as old as time.

Tron

Thoralf Severin

2 Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger 3 Walking Ballista 4 Wurmcoil Engine 1 All Is Dust 4 Ancient Stirrings 4 Sylvan Scrying 3 Chromatic Sphere 4 Chromatic Star 4 Expedition Map 3 Oblivion Stone 3 Relic of Progenitus 4 Karn Liberated 2 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon 1 Blast Zone 5 Forest	1 Sanctum of Ugin 4 Urza's Mine 4 Urza's Power Plant 4 Urza's Tower	Sideboard: 1 Emrakul, the Promised End 3 Thragtusk 2 Dismember 2 Nature's Claim 1 Spatial Contortion 1 Warping Wail 4 Leyline of the Void 1 Veil of Summer

Pauper:  Goblins got a heck of a boost with the recent unification of the format. Goblin Grenade is a heck of a Magic card.  I still wish that WotC would have left Sinkhole alone, even if just for one legality cycle.  I would have loved it. 

Goblins

 

4 Foundry Street Denizen 4 Goblin Bushwhacker 4 Goblin Cohort 2 Goblin Heelcutter 4 Goblin Sledder 4 Mogg Conscripts 4 Mogg Raider 4 Mogg War Marshal 4 Sparksmith 1 Fireblast	4 Lightning Bolt 4 Goblin Grenade 17 Mountain	Sideboard: 3 Electrickery 2 Flaring Pain 3 Red Elemental Blast 3 Smash to Smithereens 4 Sylvok Lifestaff

Vintage:
I am probably retiring weekly Vintage coverage, because I feel like I have highlighted the most played decks. I may replace it with Brawl decks, or something. Enjoy this BUG list though!

BUG

 

4 Deathrite Shaman 2 Leovold, Emissary of Trest 1 Ramunap Excavator 1 Snapcaster Mage 2 Tarmogoyf 1 Ancestral Recall 3 Assassin's Trophy 1 Brainstorm 1 Dig Through Time 4 Force of Will 1 Gush 4 Mental Misstep 1 Spell Pierce 1 Demonic Tutor 1 Gitaxian Probe 1 Green Sun's Zenith 1 Ponder 2 Preordain 1 Time Walk 1 Treasure Cruise 1 Sylvan Library 1 Black Lotus 1 Mox Emerald 1 Mox Jet 1 Mox Sapphire	2 Narset, Parter of Veils 1 Bayou 2 Misty Rainforest 2 Polluted Delta 1 Strip Mine 3 Tropical Island 3 Underground Sea 2 Verdant Catacombs 3 Wasteland 1 Collector Ouphe 1 Force of Vigor	Sideboard: 1 Tarmogoyf 2 Yixlid Jailer 1 Assassin's Trophy 1 Ceremonious Rejection 1 Mindbreak Trap 2 Ravenous Trap 1 Grafdigger's Cage 1 Nihil Spellbomb 1 Pithing Needle 1 The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale 3 Force of Vigor

 

The Winner's Circle is where I will recognize winners of the past events on MTGO.

Pauper Challenge:  Heisen01 won with Jeskai Astrolabe. 
Modern MCQ:  rastaf won with Hogaak. 
Legacy Challenge:  astrozombie took first place with UW Stoneblade. 
Sealed MCQ:  Tetsubou qualified in sealed play. 
Vintage Challenge:  swiftwarkite won with Dredge. 
Modern Challenge:  JMM rose to the top with Izzet Phoenix. 
 

Around the Web

MTGOTraders YouTube:  Did you know that MTGOTraders.com has a YouTube page with videos added Monday, Wednesday and Friday?  Well if not, now you do, and you can find it here! 

Monday:  Alex Ullman broke down the recent Pauper Challenge.
Tuesday:  The Goblin Lore Podcast spoke with Chase about mental health in a two part episode. 
Wednesday:  Tournament reports are fun, tournament reports where Burger King has issues are even more fun.  Check out LSV's winning report.
Thursday:  To toot my own creative horn, I am messing around with different content ideas for Legitmtg.

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 a decade and a half now, and have never been overcharged or disappointed.

 

Standard Staples: Cavalier of Gales enters the list for the first time in a while.  Cards that are soon to be rotated are still depressed, and I have noticed that cards out of the oldest legal sets come the fall have started to settle down as well.  Outside of a couple of cards from War of the Spark, Standard seems to be pretty affordable right now. 

Standard Cards	Price	Last Week	Change	% Change
Arclight Phoenix	$25.90	$24.33	$1.57	6%
Teferi, Time Raveler	$22.19	$21.13	$1.06	5%
Hydroid Krasis	$14.99	$15.54	($0.55)	-4%
Kaya, Orzhov Usurper	$9.41	$11.20	($1.79)	-16%
Prime Speaker Vannifer	$4.65	$5.44	($0.79)	-15%
Seraph of the Scales	$5.05	$6.25	($1.20)	-19%
Finale of Devastation	$14.43	$15.40	($0.97)	-6%
Karn, the Great Creator	$21.32	$25.61	($4.29)	-17%
Finale of Promise	$43.72	$43.85	($0.13)	0%
Dreadhorde Arcanist	$12.20	$12.79	($0.59)	-5%
Skarrgan Hellkite	$6.21	$6.50	($0.29)	-4%
Assassin's Trophy	$9.45	$8.50	$0.95	11%
Chandra, Awakened Inferno	$18.89	$21.88	($2.99)	-14%
Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord	$15.54	$15.46	$0.08	1%
Mu Yanling, Sky Dancer	$6.14	$5.38	$0.76	14%
Leyline of the Void	$16.82	$11.29	$5.53	49%
Yarok, the Desecrated	$8.20	$7.94	$0.26	3%
Omnath, Locus of the Roil	$6.87	$7.54	($0.67)	-9%
Cavalier of Thorns	$5.89	$6.26	($0.37)	-6%
Blast Zone	$8.37	$7.29	$1.08	15%
Cavalier of Gales	$5.89

Modern Staples:  Seems like a lot of stuff from Hogaak moved down, while the key parts to Tron moved up.  With the Mythic Championship over, Modern should settle down for the time being, unless Wizards of the Coast makes an announcement for pro level Modern play anytime soon. 

Modern Cards	Price	Last Week	Change	% Change
Cavern of Souls	$15.32	$15.26	$0.06	0%
Chalice of the Void	$22.41	$23.74	($1.33)	-6%
Engineered Explosives	$12.60	$12.00	$0.60	5%
Ensnaring Bridge	$20.72	$19.10	$1.62	8%
Gemstone Mine	$18.33	$18.36	($0.03)	0%
Horizon Canopy	$12.97	$13.90	($0.93)	-7%
Jace, the Mind Sculptor	$22.46	$27.14	($4.68)	-17%
Karn Liberated	$21.50	$17.41	$4.09	23%
Liliana of the Veil	$22.32	$26.88	($4.56)	-17%
Liliana, the Last Hope	$7.57	$11.24	($3.67)	-33%
Auriok Champion	$12.13	$12.63	($0.50)	-4%
Mox Opal	$40.98	$35.42	$5.56	16%
Scalding Tarn	$15.73	$14.82	$0.91	6%
Surgical Extraction	$29.41	$32.55	($3.14)	-10%
Mishra's Bauble	$14.08	$10.99	$3.09	28%
Snapcaster Mage	$7.21	$8.61	($1.40)	-16%
Trinisphere	$6.76	$6.56	$0.20	3%
Force of Negation	$28.89	$36.51	($7.62)	-21%
Wrenn and Six	$90.38	$90.51	($0.13)	0%
Prismatic Vista	$8.08	$9.28	($1.20)	-13%
Sunbaked Canyon	$5.76	$7.37	($1.61)	-22%
Seasoned Pyromancer	$16.95	$20.47	($3.52)	-17%
Fiery Islet	$4.70	$5.38	($0.68)	-13%
Urza, Lord High Artificer	$14.94	$12.25	$2.69	22%
Ranger-Captain of Eos	$10.18	$7.14	$3.04	43%
Hexdrinker	$6.00	$7.86	($1.86)	-24%
Plague Engineer	$14.46	$13.12	$1.34	10%
Altar of Dementia	$17.44	$19.10	($1.66)	-9%
Mycosynth Lattice	$14.75	$17.37	($2.62)	-15%
Bloodghast	$7.21	$14.08	($6.87)	-49%
Aether Vial	$11.27	$14.08	($2.81)	-20%
Gravecrawler	$9.61	$13.61	($4.00)	-29%
Polluted Delta	$12.34	$14.01	($1.67)	-12%
Verdant Catacombs	$13.95	$12.09	$1.86	15%
Tarmogoyf	$9.46	$10.11	($0.65)	-6%
Noble Hierarch	$7.91	$10.03	($2.12)	-21%
Force of Vigor	$8.37

Eternal Staples:  Power Nine seemed to be on the move this week. 

Eternal Format Cards	Price	Last Week	Change	% Change
Back to Basics	$9.19	$8.72	$0.47	5%
City of Traitors	$26.01	$26.11	($0.10)	0%
Force of Will	$21.23	$25.57	($4.34)	-17%
True-Name Nemesis	$26.57	$28.94	($2.37)	-8%
Underground Sea	$7.03	$7.27	($0.24)	-3%
Wasteland	$23.10	$24.94	($1.84)	-7%
Mox Diamond	$16.44	$16.80	($0.36)	-2%
Grim Monolith	$22.63	$23.57	($0.94)	-4%
Land Tax	$14.00	$14.22	($0.22)	-2%
Exploration	$14.65	$14.21	$0.44	3%
Show and Tell	$14.33	$14.08	$0.25	2%
Monastery Mentor	$14.65	$13.27	$1.38	10%
Unmask	$13.17	$13.15	$0.02	0%
Misdirection	$12.74	$12.74	$0.00	0%
Gaea's Cradle	$12.48	$12.32	$0.16	1%
Dark Depths	$14.34	$11.37	$2.97	26%
Rishadan Port	$9.84	$10.46	($0.62)	-6%
Ancestral Recall	$1.84	$0.98	$0.86	88%
Black Lotus	$8.85	$9.57	($0.72)	-8%
Mox Emerald	$2.53	$1.24	$1.29	104%
Mox Ruby	$1.71	$2.14	($0.43)	-20%
Mox Pearl	$1.86	$1.46	$0.40	27%
Mox Sapphire	$3.65	$2.97	$0.68	23%
Mox Jet	$2.29	$1.68	$0.61	36%
Timetwister	$1.64	$0.92	$0.72	78%
Time Walk	$2.02	$0.88	$1.14	130%
Volcanic Island	$11.03	$8.63	$2.40	28%
Badlands	$3.25	$3.99	($0.74)	-19%
Tropical Island	$4.16	$3.57	$0.59	17%
Bayou	$1.77	$2.50	($0.73)	-29%
Tundra	$1.79	$2.08	($0.29)	-14%
Savannah	$0.78	$1.13	($0.35)	-31%
Scrubland	$0.98	$0.64	$0.34	53%
Plateau	$0.53	$0.50	$0.03	6%
Taiga	$0.79	$0.54	$0.25	46%

Pauper Staples:  Added a couple of cards to the list that I missed last week, they seem pretty important to include on this list. 

Pauper Cards	Price	Last Week	Change	% Change
Lotus Petal	$11.90	$11.70	$0.20	1.71%
Drafna's Restoration	$6.04	$6.40	-$0.36	-5.63%
Thorn of the Black Rose	$6.64	$6.19	$0.45	7.27%
Daze	$4.79	$4.41	$0.38	8.62%
Spidersilk Armor	$4.40	$4.26	$0.14	3.29%
Skred	$2.28	$3.76	-$1.48	-39.36%
Rhystic Study	$3.50	$3.70	-$0.20	-5.41%
Palace Sentinels	$4.38	$3.70	$0.68	18.38%
Manamorphose	$4.43	$3.70	$0.73	19.73%
Pyroblast	$3.58	$3.47	$0.11	3.17%
Hydroblast	$3.47	$3.35	$0.12	3.58%
Ancestral Mask	$3.60	$3.35	$0.25	7.46%
Exhume	$2.79	$2.82	-$0.03	-1.06%
Cho-Manno's Blessing	$3.76	$2.72	$1.04	38.24%
Standard Bearer	$2.74	$2.68	$0.06	2.24%
Pestilence	$2.68	$2.63	$0.05	1.90%
Ash Barrens	$2.66	$2.62	$0.04	1.53%
Flaring Pain	$2.57	$2.39	$0.18	7.53%
Impulse	$2.31	$2.34	-$0.03	-1.28%
Moment's Peace	$1.96	$1.98	-$0.02	-1.01%
Custodi Squire	$4.20	$1.95	$2.25	115.38%
Peat Bog	$1.79	$1.91	-$0.12	-6.28%
Quirion Ranger	$1.59	$1.80	-$0.21	-11.67%
Serum Visions	$1.95	$1.77	$0.18	10.17%
Accumulated Knowledge	$1.66	$1.71	-$0.05	-2.92%
Ninja of the Deep Hours	$1.76
Mystic Remora	$15.75

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
Core Set 2019	$98.62	$93.28	$5.34	6%
Dominaria	$23.21	$23.82	($0.61)	-3%
Guilds of Ravnica	$65.01	$63.59	$1.42	2%
Ixalan	$16.71	$17.04	($0.33)	-2%
Ravnica Allegiances	$97.64	$106.43	($8.79)	-8%
Rivals of Ixalan	$15.35	$15.28	$0.07	0%
Treasure Chest	$2.34	$2.29	$0.05	2%
War of the Spark	$170.99	$177.57	($6.58)	-4%
Core Set 2020 Booster	$3.48	$3.00	$0.48	16%
Core Set 2020	$147.03	$145.07	$1.96	1%
Modern Horizons	$254.96	$265.41	($10.45)	-4%

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.  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	325.55
Mox Sapphire	1E	Rare	166.73
Mox Ruby	1E	Rare	116.24
Mox Emerald	1E	Rare	115.75
Ancestral Recall	1E	Rare	101.18
Mox Jet	1E	Rare	95.53
Wrenn and Six	MH1	Mythic	90.38
Mox Pearl	1E	Rare	84.37
Time Walk	1E	Rare	71.6
Liliana of the Veil	PRM	Mythic	69.37
Karn Liberated	UBT	Mythic	68.91
Lord Windgrace	PZ2	Mythic	59.49
Timetwister	1E	Rare	50.66
Liliana of the Veil	UMA	Mythic	48.92
Finale of Promise	WAR	Mythic	43.72
Engineered Explosives	UBT	Mythic	43.28
Liliana of the Veil	UBT	Mythic	43.14
Dark Depths	V16	Mythic	42.43
Mox Opal	MM2	Mythic	41.83
Mox Opal	MS2	Bonus	41.27
Mox Opal	SOM	Mythic	40.98
Unmask	V16	Mythic	36.99
Surgical Extraction	PRM	Rare	35.03
Narset, Parter of Veils	PRM	Uncommon	34.05
Black Lotus	PRM	Rare	34
Dark Depths	UBT	Mythic	33.15
Noble Hierarch	UBT	Mythic	31.66
Liliana, the Last Hope	MS4	Mythic	31.27
Cavern of Souls	UMA	Mythic	30.66
Karn, the Great Creator	PRM	Rare	30.57
Karn Liberated	UMA	Mythic	30.51
Mox Sapphire	PRM	Rare	30
Surgical Extraction	NPH	Rare	29.41
Teferi, Time Raveler	PRM	Rare	29.21
Force of Negation	MH1	Rare	28.89
Surgical Extraction	MM2	Rare	26.92
True-Name Nemesis	PZ1	Mythic	26.57
Avatar - Aeon Chronicler	VAN	Rare	26.28
Liliana of the Veil	MM3	Mythic	26.21
City of Traitors	EX	Rare	26.01
Arclight Phoenix	GRN	Mythic	25.9
Cavern of Souls	UBT	Mythic	25.34
Snapcaster Mage	UMA	Mythic	25.28
Ancestral Recall	PRM	Rare	25

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 $16,420 .  Last week this number was at $16,245.  It's went up!  (Inserts Stonks Picture here). 
 

In Closing

Prices were completed on Thursday August 1st, 2019.  The bulk of the article was researched from Monday to Thursday, and written on Thursday.  Time spent not doing that was spent on streaming some Standard and playing World of Warcraft, at least until I got the pathfinder achievement finally. 



This series is an ongoing tribute to Erik “Hamtastic” Friborg.