The Week of Metal:  Kaldheim previews started a bit early this time around, with the band Mastodon kicking things off by previewing the rest of the Pathways. Brazilian metal band, Angra, previewed Showdown of the Skalds.  Torche showed off Pyre of Heroes.  The next day more metal bands, in a paid partnership with Wizards of the Coast, previewed more cards.  Amon Amarth showed up the cool double faced God, Halvar, God of Battle.  It is a God, or an equipment!  Oceans of Slumber showed off the new Kaya, Kaya the Inexorable.  Rhapsody of Fire showed us Realmwalker and the final band, Smoulder dropped Magda, Brazen Outlaw, a Dwarf lord that cares about treasures, artifacts and dragons on us.  You can find the previewed cards here.  The schedule for previews is here, with the next one set to drop on December 24th. 

Set and Theme Booster Changes:  We are getting additional cards that are legal in Standard but also exclusive to Set and theme boosters.  Outside of four cards in the Kaldheim Commander precons, these boosters will be the only way to find them.  You can see the additional spoiled cards here.  The List, a list of cards that shows up in the last slot of a Set booster pack 25% of the time is also going through some Charles Bradley like changes.  You can check those out here.  

Modern Super Qualifier:  Added to the organized play schedule for Sunday, December 20th.   You can join with QPs, Play Points or Event Tickets.

Commander Legends Phantom Queue:  This one is ending early due to lack of participation.  There will be no new entries after Monday, December 21st.   
 

Standard: Gruul Adventures may have ended up being the best Standard deck after what seemed like endless bans.  Kaldheim is coming along at just the right time to shake things up. 

Cycling

 

4 Drannith Healer 4 Drannith Stinger 4 Flourishing Fox 4 Valiant Rescuer 3 Shredded Sails 3 Startling Development 4 Zenith Flare 4 Boon of the Wish-Giver 4 Go for Blood 4 Memory Leak 3 Footfall Crater 1 Mountain 4 Plains

4 Brightclimb Pathway 4 Needleverge Pathway 4 Riverglide Pathway 2 Shatterskull Smashing

Sideboard: 1 Lurrus of the Dream-Den 4 Seasoned Hallowblade 2 Redcap Melee 2 Revoke Existence 4 Glass Casket 2 Soul-Guide Lantern

Historic:  Apparently in the non-rotating formats, Lotus Field and Blood Sun decks are all the rage.  I tried to find one for each format this week, as long as it played one of the two cards. 

4 Color Field

 

4 Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath 4 Narset, Parter of Veils 4 Teferi, Hero of Dominaria 3 Commit // Memory 4 Growth Spiral 4 Tale's End 2 Sweltering Suns 2 Wrath of God 3 Blood Sun 3 Shark Typhoon 4 Breeding Pool 1 Forest 2 Glacial Fortress 1 Hallowed Fountain 4 Ketria Triome

4 Lotus Field 4 Raugrin Triome 3 Steam Vents 2 Temple Garden 2 Sea Gate Restoration

Sideboard: 3 Abrade 3 Aether Gust 1 Disdainful Stroke 2 Dovin's Veto 2 Mystical Dispute 1 Deafening Clarion 1 Shark Typhoon 2 Yasharn, Implacable Earth

Legacy:  I still can't imagine anything better than casting Buried Alive for three copies of Arclight Phoenix. 

Grixis Phoenix

 

4 Arclight Phoenix 4 Delver of Secrets 3 Dreadhorde Arcanist 4 Brainstorm 4 Dark Ritual 4 Daze 4 Force of Will 3 Lightning Bolt 4 Buried Alive 4 Ponder 1 Preordain 3 Thoughtseize 1 Badlands 2 Bloodstained Mire 1 Flooded Strand 1 Island

4 Polluted Delta 1 Swamp 3 Underground Sea 2 Volcanic Island 3 Opposition Agent

Sideboard: 1 Thassa's Oracle 2 Abrade 2 Flusterstorm 2 Surgical Extraction 4 Doomsday 1 Edge of Autumn 2 Null Rod 1 Cavern of Souls

Modern: I didn't think that there would be a control deck to use the Lotus Sun combo, but Field makes casting Cryptic Command easier, it turns off some problematic non tron lands like Ghost Quarter and Field of Ruin.  Blood Sun may actually be better against the fetchlands of the format, as it turns them off, where Blood Moon at least lets them tap for mana. 

Jeskai Field

 

3 Snapcaster Mage 4 Teferi, Hero of Dominaria 4 Cryptic Command 2 Force of Negation 4 Lightning Bolt 1 Nexus of Fate 3 Tale's End 4 Serum Visions 3 Blood Sun 3 Shark Typhoon 4 Flagstones of Trokair 1 Hallowed Fountain 1 Island 4 Lotus Field 1 Mountain

1 Plains 2 Raugrin Triome 1 Sacred Foundry 4 Spirebluff Canal 4 Steam Vents 4 Cleansing Wildfire 2 Valakut Awakening

Sideboard: 2 Platinum Emperion 2 Teferi, Time Raveler 4 Aether Gust 2 Mystical Dispute 1 Settle the Wreckage 4 Madcap Experiment

Pauper:  To me this isn't as exciting as cascading in to land destruction, but this list looks like a lot of fun regardless.  

Wall Cascade

 

4 Axebane Guardian 1 Fyndhorn Elves 1 Llanowar Elves 4 Mulldrifter 4 Overgrown Battlement 4 Quirion Ranger 4 Saruli Caretaker 3 Tinder Wall 2 Ulamog's Crusher 1 Vivien's Grizzly 4 Lead the Stampede 3 Winding Way 14 Forest 4 Annoyed Altisaur

4 Boarding Party 3 Tuktuk Rubblefort

Sideboard: 1 Bloodrite Invoker 3 Drift of Phantasms 1 Galvanic Alchemist 1 Orochi Leafcaller 3 Scattershot Archer 2 Moment's Peace 1 Pulse of Murasa 1 Reaping the Graves 1 Weather the Storm 1 Freed from the Real

Pioneer:  I guess this is the original Lotus Field combo deck.  Loving the inclusion of Baral into these lists now. 

Lotus Combo

 

4 Arboreal Grazer 3 Baral, Chief of Compliance 3 Fae of Wishes 4 Vizier of Tumbling Sands 4 Dig Through Time 4 Hidden Strings 1 Mastermind's Acquisition 4 Pore Over the Pages 4 Strategic Planning 4 Sylvan Scrying 1 Blast Zone 4 Botanical Sanctum 4 Lotus Field 4 Temple of Mystery 4 Thespian's Stage

4 Yavimaya Coast 4 Bala Ged Recovery

Sideboard: 2 Niv-Mizzet, Parun 2 Shifting Ceratops 1 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon 3 Anger of the Gods 1 Approach of the Second Sun 1 Peer into the Abyss 1 Shatter the Sky 1 Thought Distortion 1 Void Snare 1 Omniscience 1 Tormod's Crypt

Vintage: This was the cheapest Vintage deck that wasn't Dredge that I could find on mtgo. 

Hatebears

 

2 Containment Priest 4 Leonin Arbiter 2 Leonin Relic-Warder 2 Remorseful Cleric 2 Simian Spirit Guide 4 Spirit of the Labyrinth 4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben 2 Thalia, Heretic Cathar 1 Mental Misstep 4 Swords to Plowshares 2 Stony Silence 1 Black Lotus 1 Mana Crypt 1 Mox Emerald 1 Mox Jet 1 Mox Pearl 1 Mox Ruby

1 Mox Sapphire 4 Ghost Quarter 1 Karakas 10 Plains 1 Strip Mine 4 Wasteland 4 Archon of Emeria

Sideboard: 2 Containment Priest 2 Leonin Relic-Warder 1 Remorseful Cleric 1 Tomik, Distinguished Advokist 1 Path to Exile 4 Deafening Silence 2 Stony Silence 2 Grafdigger's Cage

 

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

It looks like Graciasportanto had themselves a great Saturday!

Challenge Winners

Saturday Legacy - kanican - Bomberman
Saturday Modern - Lucabireskusku - Omnath Piles
Saturday Pauper - LiturgiskaKniga - Wall Cascade
Saturday Pioneer - Graciasportanto - Oops! All Spells
Saturday Standard - Graciasportanto - Dimir Rogues
Saturday Vintage - Lord_Beerus

Sunday Legacy - musasabi - Esper Vial
Sunday Modern - Hamuda - Hammer Time
Sunday Pauper - Beicodegeia - Dimir Monarch
Sunday Pioneer - WaToO - Sultai Rec
Sunday Standard - IwillCRUSHyou - Esper Dance
Sunday Vintage - Zar0s

Other Event Winners

Around the Web

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

Mike Flores wrote about the combos that made him fall in love with Magic.

Cassie LaBelle wrote about the ten most expensive Magic cards you've never heard of.

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: I don't believe anything is changing about this list until Kaldheim comes out. 

Standard Cards	Price	Last Week	Change	% Change
Brazen Borrower	$15.52	$15.51	$0.01	0%
Questing Beast	$7.64	$6.30	$1.34	21%
Bonecrusher Giant	$5.59	$4.68	$0.91	19%
The Great Henge	$8.28	$7.13	$1.15	16%
General Kudro of Drannith	$6.55	$7.36	($0.81)	-11%
Shark Typhoon	$12.85	$12.44	$0.41	3%
Vivien, Monsters' Advocate	$7.80	$7.59	$0.21	3%
Lurrus of the Dream Den	$9.55	$9.42	$0.13	1%
Teferi, Master of Time	$6.50	$8.05	($1.55)	-19%
Terror of the Peaks	$17.36	$17.29	$0.07	0%
Liliana, Waker of the Dead	$13.60	$14.83	($1.23)	-8%
Elder Gargaroth	$30.30	$34.08	($3.78)	-11%
Kroxa, Titan of Death's Hunger	13.49	12.15	$1.34	11%
Klothys, God of Destiny	8.16	7.9	$0.26	3%
Heliod, Sun-Crowned	9.15	7.56	$1.59	21%
Ox of Agonas	5.9	6.01	($0.11)	-2%
Scourge of the Skyclaves	$26.01	$29.11	($3.10)	-11%
Turntimber Symbiosis	$19.19	$19.53	($0.34)	-2%
Agadeem's Awakening	$12.74	$13.53	($0.79)	-6%
Skyclave Apparition	$14.43	$14.67	($0.24)	-2%
Shatterskull Smashing	$6.48	$6.44	$0.04	1%

Modern Staples:  After a long absence, Noble Hierarch is back on the list.  Tarmogoyf has fallen off the list.  Flagstones of Trokair enters the list as well. 

Modern Cards	Price	Last Week	Change	% Change
Auriok Champion	$24.30	$23.39	$0.91	4%
Steelshaper's Gift	$17.81	$16.22	$1.59	10%
Engineered Explosives	$5.19	$5.38	($0.19)	-4%
Cavern of Souls	$19.44	$20.20	($0.76)	-4%
Noble Hierarch	$5.29
Mishra's Bauble	$9.52	$9.71	($0.19)	-2%
Aether Vial	$20.27	$20.11	$0.16	1%
Horizon Canopy	$13.85	$12.64	$1.21	10%
Liliana of the Veil	$12.09	$11.10	$0.99	9%
Polluted Delta	$9.07	$11.27	($2.20)	-20%
Wooded Foothills	$6.44	$6.06	$0.38	6%
Flooded Strand	$5.11	$6.06	($0.95)	-16%
Bloodstained Mire	$7.27	$6.42	$0.85	13%
Windswept Heath	$5.79	$5.09	$0.70	14%
Thoughtseize	$8.19	$8.12	$0.07	1%
Cryptic Command	$5.79	$5.12	$0.67	13%
Field of the Dead	$25.01	$21.97	$3.04	14%
Elvish Reclaimer	$17.61	$19.56	($1.95)	-10%
Force of Negation	$90.53	$77.06	$13.47	17%
Wrenn and Six	$65.61	$66.70	($1.09)	-2%
Prismatic Vista	$13.73	$12.23	$1.50	12%
Sunbaked Canyon	$13.86	$15.02	($1.16)	-8%
Seasoned Pyromancer	$54.40	$36.75	$17.65	48%
Fiery Islet	$8.50	$9.31	($0.81)	-9%
Urza, Lord High Artificer	$9.23	$10.38	($1.15)	-11%
Plague Engineer	$11.29	$12.65	($1.36)	-11%
Force of Vigor	$19.05	$15.80	$3.25	21%
Collector Ouphe	$5.54	$5.13	$0.41	8%
Nurturing Peatland	$4.73	$4.73	$0.00	0%
Ice-Fang Coatl	$8.33	$7.42	$0.91	12%
Giver of Runes	$10.48	$14.69	($4.21)	-29%
Hexdrinker	$5.55	$6.33	($0.78)	-12%
Flusterstorm	$8.62	$8.52	$0.10	1%
Archmage's Charm	$7.88	$10.88	($3.00)	-28%
Ranger-Captain of Eos	$9.06	$9.28	($0.22)	-2%
Silent Clearing	$4.76	$6.25	($1.49)	-24%
Chalice of the Void	$11.54	$10.72	$0.82	8%
Surgical Extraction	$19.65	$17.50	$2.15	12%
Dismember	$5.74	$5.84	($0.10)	-2%
Karn Liberated	$5.42	$5.45	($0.03)	-1%
Ensnaring Bridge	$9.15	$8.97	$0.18	2%
Boil	$9.38	$10.87	($1.49)	-14%
Flagstones of Trokair	$6.30
Gemstone Mine	$14.08	$11.65	$2.43	21%
Jace, the Mind Sculptor	$8.02	$7.55	$0.47	6%
Scalding Tarn	$16.10	$15.35	$0.75	5%
Verdant Catacombs	$14.60	$10.68	$3.92	37%
Misty Rainforest	$16.30	$15.09	$1.21	8%
Arid Mesa	$4.78	$4.77	$0.01	0%
Marsh Flats	$5.09	$4.49	$0.60	13%

Eternal Staples:  No real changes this week to the list.

Eternal Format Cards	Price	Last Week	Change	% Change
Dark Depths	$5.22	$5.32	($0.10)	-2%
Oko, Thief of Crowns	$21.73	$22.58	($0.85)	-4%
City of Traitors	$21.55	$18.71	$2.84	15%
Sphere of Resistance	$6.22	$6.38	($0.16)	-3%
Monastery Mentor	$5.73	$7.72	($1.99)	-26%
Allosaurus Shepherd	$48.07	$48.75	($0.68)	-1%
Muxus, Goblin Grandee	$4.98	$5.11	($0.13)	-3%
Force of Will	$48.61	$46.99	$1.62	3%
Karakas	$10.70	$10.56	$0.14	1%
The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale	$41.48	$42.16	($0.68)	-2%
Demonic Tutor	$9.07	$8.75	$0.32	4%
Echo of Eons	$10.04	$9.98	$0.06	1%
Unmask	$8.01	$8.20	($0.19)	-2%
Misdirection	$11.62	$11.62	$0.00	0%
Rishadan Port	$11.93	$12.92	($0.99)	-8%
Entomb	$7.61	$7.13	$0.48	7%
Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow	$33.92	$42.81	($8.89)	-21%
Mox Diamond	$16.50	$17.15	($0.65)	-4%
Wasteland	$36.39	$39.88	($3.49)	-9%
Ancient Tomb	$18.05	$17.93	$0.12	1%
Lotus Petal	$22.52	$21.44	$1.08	5%
Earthcraft	$6.72	$6.68	$0.04	1%
Academy Rector	$5.06	$5.32	($0.26)	-5%
Grim Monolith	$15.88	$14.32	$1.56	11%
Exploration	$14.07	$14.28	($0.21)	-1%
Gaea's Cradle	$28.22	$28.90	($0.68)	-2%
Carpet of Flowers	$34.32	$33.29	$1.03	3%
Gilded Drake	$8.45	$8.36	$0.09	1%
Black Lotus	$12.36	$9.58	$2.78	29%
Tropical Island	$9.87	$10.67	($0.80)	-7%
Volcanic Island	$13.34	$11.79	$1.55	13%
Underground Sea	$14.49	$13.11	$1.38	11%
Sol Ring	$10.05	$10.09	($0.04)	0%
Null Rod	$10.05	$6.45	$3.60	56%
Doomsday	$20.22	$20.22	$0.00	0%
Mindbreak Trap	$19.68	$22.56	($2.88)	-13%

Pioneer Staples:  Collective Brutality is off the list. Bomat Courier is on the list as well this week. 

Pioneer Cards	Price	Last Time	Change	% Change
Soul-Scar Mage	$8.77	$7.34	$1.43	19%
Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger	$8.39	$6.69	$1.70	25%
Collected Company	$6.10	$5.86	$0.24	4%
Assassin's Trophy	$5.82	$6.89	($1.07)	-16%
Mana Confluence	$5.73	$5.66	$0.07	1%
Eidolon of the Great Revel	$7.62	$7.81	($0.19)	-2%
Bomat Courier	$5.01
Kaya, Orzhov Usurper	$5.20	$5.82	($0.62)	-11%
Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath	$81.56	$77.12	$4.44	6%
Teferi, Time Raveler	$37.36	$36.71	$0.65	2%
Finale of Devastation	$4.87	$5.07	($0.20)	-4%
Karn, the Great Creator	$39.96	$36.93	$3.03	8%
Dreadhorde Arcanist	$12.25	$11.36	$0.89	8%
Blast Zone	$13.94	$14.80	($0.86)	-6%
Omnath, Locus of Creation	$17.15	$17.52	($0.37)	-2%

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 2021	$122.16	$126.80	($4.64)	-4%
Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths	$75.04	$72.95	$2.09	3%
Theros Beyond Death	$166.66	$158.83	$7.83	5%
Throne of Eldraine	$144.51	$140.15	$4.36	3%
Treasure Chest	$2.34	$2.35	($0.01)	0%
Zendikar Rising	$125.89	$129.08	($3.19)	-2%
Zendikar Rising Booster Pack	$3.27	$2.97	$0.30	10%

The Good Stuff

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	125.68
Snapcaster Mage	UBT	Mythic	101.48
Force of Negation	MH1	Rare	90.53
Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath	THB	Mythic	81.56
Liliana of the Veil	UBT	Mythic	76.51
Ancestral Recall	1E	Rare	74.29
Karakas	UBT	Mythic	73.85
Mox Jet	1E	Rare	73.6
Cavern of Souls	UBT	Mythic	70.06
Wrenn and Six	MH1	Mythic	65.61
Hullbreacher	CMR	Rare	63.62
Time Walk	1E	Rare	61.72
Mox Emerald	1E	Rare	61.22
Seasoned Pyromancer	MH1	Mythic	54.4
Karn Liberated	UBT	Mythic	51.38
Dark Depths	UBT	Mythic	50.87
Noble Hierarch	UBT	Mythic	50.79
Force of Will	MED	Rare	48.61
Allosaurus Shepherd	JMP	Mythic	48.07
Dockside Extortionist	C19	Rare	44.28
Jace, the Mind Sculptor	MS4	Mythic	42.82
The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale	ME3	Rare	41.48
Lord Windgrace	PZ2	Mythic	40.7
Karn, the Great Creator	WAR	Rare	39.96
Mox Pearl	1E	Rare	39.9
Platinum Emperion	UBT	Mythic	38.01
Mox Sapphire	1E	Rare	37.99
Teferi, Time Raveler	WAR	Rare	37.36
Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth	UBT	Mythic	37.32
Timetwister	1E	Rare	37.31
Force of Will	MS3	Mythic	37.02
Force of Will	2XM	Mythic	36.47
Mox Ruby	1E	Rare	36.39
Wasteland	TE	Uncommon	36.39
Force of Will	EMA	Mythic	36.29
Liliana, the Last Hope	MS4	Mythic	35.48
Force of Will	VMA	Rare	35.28
Demonic Tutor	UBT	Mythic	35.15
Carpet of Flowers	UZ	Uncommon	34.32
Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow	PZ2	Rare	33.92
Opposition Agent	CMR	Rare	32.07
Purple-Crystal Crab	PZ2	Common	31.36
Celestial Colonnade	UBT	Mythic	31.08
Life from the Loam	UBT	Mythic	30.51
Elder Gargaroth	M21	Mythic	30.3
Wasteland	TPR	Rare	30.21
Wasteland	ZNE	Mythic	29.77
Wasteland	EXP	Mythic	29.37
Wasteland	EMA	Rare	28.37
Gaea's Cradle	UZ	Rare	28.22
Teferi, Hero of Dominaria	MS4	Mythic	26.41
Auriok Champion	IMA	Rare	26.26
Scourge of the Skyclaves	ZNR	Mythic	26.01
Cavern of Souls	ZNE	Mythic	25.46
Bitterblossom	UBT	Mythic	25.28
Heavenly Qilin	PZ2	Common	25.25
Creeping Tar Pit	UBT	Mythic	25.19
Field of the Dead	M20	Rare	25.01

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 $26,457.  Last week it was $25,957.  Still a small gain of $500, and I expect some losses after the first of the year due to Kaldheim coming out. 
 

In Closing

I did some webcam commander on Sunday and just had a wonderful time playing Magic for myself.  Tried to stream some on Wednesday, but each time I started my nephew called to play video games with me.  I love Magic, I really do, but I love my nephew more, so playing Fortnite was the thing to do.  I don't have my son on Christmas this year, which is a bummer, but I'll have him soon after for a week.  I'll write State of the Program and have it out on Christmas day, but I will not be writing one for the next week. 

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