This series is an ongoing tribute to Erik “Hamtastic” Friborg.
We have two official announcements. First, we can confirm that this card will be back in M12.
This is a fine limited card. More importantly, it is interesting to look at how this card interacts with another card returning to Standard in M12:
will NOT be in M12. That is official. No Captivating Vampire in M12.
June 25th WarMark Sealed Overbooked: Wizards had scheduled four sealed PEs with 256 players each. The cost was just 5 warmarks, and each player was to get a sealed pool with 6 boosters featuring old and new Mirrodin: Mirrodin, Dark Steel, Fifth Dawn, Scars, Mirrodin Besieged and New Phyrexia. It proved popular: the four events were filled days in advance, so Wizards added 20 more events. They all filled early – I know they were full when I tried to sign up early Friday morning. 24 events with 256 players each – that’s over six thousand players, or 30k warmarks redeemed. That was also enough of a demand that Wizards will run another series of Warmark events in July. (Date to be announced.) Sign up early for those when they appear – I know I will.
The only downside is that this may cut demand for the one-on-one warmark entry Scars block constructed events. They were fairly reasonable when they were the only use for warmarks, but now that we may be able to use them in the July events, the constructed duels may be less popular.
From the Weekly WotC Blog Post: “Official support for multiplayer starts with this build. While we know that some issues still exist, they will be prioritized appropriately.” I don’t know what this means. People more familiar with the multiplayer rooms, please tell me what has changed. Thanks.
More from the blog: You can now redeem New Phyrexia sets.
Commander Coming to Online: Technically, it is here, but Lee Sharpe announced some rules changes to unify online and offline Commander. Read about it
here. The biggest change is that Commanders begin following the Legends rule – so if you and an opponent both have the same Commander, the Legend rule applies. Deck construction has changed as well – you build a 99 card deck with your commander in the one-card sideboard. Color identity is clarified, and certain cards – like
Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary are now banned as commanders, but are legal as cards in the deck. This is prep for the Commander decks, which sold out in paper, and are coming to online July 4
th.
Community Cup Planeswalker Format Events: will start at 9:00 AM PDT (16:00 UTC) Sunday, July 3rd, in the Premier Events room. All players who logged into Magic Online on June 15, June 16, and June 17 will be invited. You heed a Planeswalker format legal deck. The maximum size of this event is 2048 player. We will see if that works. Prizes: you get a pack for showing up, and 3 boosters of your choice for going 4-0. BTW, every account now has the Planeswalker cards. If you want the gold cards, just open the package. If not, don’t. (BTW, a number of people are lobbying Wizards to let them remove the Planeswalker cards. No word from Wizards on whether that will be possible – for now, know that if you open that package, you may never be able to get rid of the gold-bordered cards the pack contains.)
Brandon Tsark wrote about the Planeswalker format
here and
here. A list of the cards available in the various packs is
here. A word of warning – players can buy additional Planeswalker packs, and build decks that are based on having four copies of various rares. This means that there are Tier One decks that are only available if you spend a fair amount of money. Tsark says “you’re not really going to be competitive at all with just Planeswalker Pack I…” It really looks like, if you want to have any chance of getting prize packs, you need to spend money and time and then get lucky. If you want a single pack of M11, a couple weeks before M12 arrives, then join and drop. If not, or if you don’t want to have to deal with gold cards in your binder, then this might be something to skip.
I also looked at the most valuable packs online. MTGOTraders.com sells these packs for these prices:
- Planeshift $ 13.00
- Shards of Alara Foil packs $ 9.00 (although none in stock)
- Apocalypse $ 9.00
- Invasion $ 7.00
- Odyssey $ 6.00
- Masters Edition I $ 5.50
In short, it looks like you can spend about $50 to win maybe half that, or try taking a whack at missing the people with the big card pools and just playing a deck built out of what you get in a single Planeswalker pack. I opened the pack in my storage account and built the following decks.
I took them for a spin in the new players room, asking for Planeswalker games. I played a half dozen or more, and lost every one to players with multiple sets of Planeswalker cards. I was close twice, but close only counts in - as the old saying goes - horseshoes, hand grenades and nuclear warfare. Not MTGO.
I have not yet decided whether I will play in the event. I may enter a deck simply to get the free pack, but from my storage account. I can't see spending the whole day trying to lucksack my way through four rounds, just for a handful of Planeshift cards. Of course, YMMV.
Tournaments:
Thursday Night Magic the upcoming week (July 7th ): Scars block draft.
Here is the Constructed Tournaments breakdown for the week of June 22nd through June 28th. Wizards scheduled 212 constructed events (not including TNMO and online PTQs.) It looks like 139 of those fired. Here’s the breakdown. The number under “Scheduled” shows Dailies + PEs.
|
Format
|
Fired
|
Scheduled
|
% Fired
|
|
Standard
|
42
|
41 + 1
|
100 %
|
|
Legacy
|
14
|
24 + 3
|
56 %
|
|
Scars Block Constructed
|
41
|
38+3
|
100 %
|
|
Kaleidoscope
|
0
|
6
|
0 %
|
|
100–card Singleton
|
0
|
7
|
0 %
|
|
Pauper
|
24
|
29
|
83 %
|
|
Momir Basic
|
18
|
26
|
69 %
|
|
Standard Singleton
|
0
|
6
|
0 %
|
|
Classic
|
0
|
7
|
0 %
|
|
Extended
|
0
|
26
|
0 %
|
I got the total number of events from
the event calendar. I got the number fired from the list of results,
here.
Cutting Edge Tech:
Standard has not changed, yet. I will spend more time on Standard next week. In the meantime, here is another Standard deck that will survive the bannings.
I have also seen versions with Beast Within and other modifications.
Legacy had another SCG event, and another interesting deck won. Note that this was a paper tourney, so Masques block is legal. That's why it has Dust Bowl.
Neither Extended nor Classic fired any events, so no tech there.
Card Prices:
Standard prices are in flux. The big impact will probably be felt next week, when Standard players who hung onto their Jaces through the last couple days of online legality may dump them now. Ditto Stoneforge Mystic. The price on Jace is even more uncertain since MTGOTraders.com has none in stock as this is being written. I suspect Traders is waiting for people to dump theirs, but while none are available, the sell price is probably not being constantly adjusted. If you want a better idea of what Jace is worth, I would check out MTGOTraders.com this weekend once they have a few for sale.
|
Standard & Block Cards
|
Price
|
In Stock?
|
Last Week
|
Change
|
|
|
$ 39.75
|
N
|
$ 41.00
|
- $ 1.25
|
|
|
$ 26.95
|
Y
|
$ 25.50
|
+ $ 1.45
|
|
|
$ 16.95
|
Y
|
$ 16.50
|
+ $ 0.45
|
|
|
$ 12.25
|
Y
|
$ 10.75
|
+ $ 1.50
|
|
|
$ 22.95
|
Y
|
$ 28.00
|
- $ 5.05
|
|
|
$ 24.95
|
Y
|
$ 24.50
|
+ $ 0.45
|
|
|
$ 4.95
|
Y
|
$ 4.95
|
---
|
|
|
$ 12.95
|
Y
|
$ 12.95
|
---
|
|
|
$ 7.95
|
Y
|
$ 7.95
|
----
|
|
|
$ 29.50
|
Y
|
$ 28.95
|
+ $ 0.55
|
|
|
$ 4.75
|
Y
|
$ 3.75
|
+ $ 1.00
|
|
|
$ 15.50
|
Y
|
$ 18.95
|
- $ 3.45
|
|
|
$ 14.95
|
Y
|
$ 15.50
|
- $ 0.55
|
|
|
$ 15.90
|
Y
|
$ 18.95
|
+ $ 3.05
|
|
|
$ 6.50
|
N
|
$ 6.50
|
---
|
|
|
$ 8.50
|
Y
|
$ 8.75
|
- $ 0.25
|
|
|
$ 2.95
|
Y
|
$ 2.00
|
+ $ 0.95
|
|
|
$ 7.75
|
Y
|
$ 7.00
|
+ $ 0.75
|
|
|
$ 1.50
|
Y
|
$ 1.75
|
- $ 0.25
|
The speculation on “Modern” format cards have recovered, and are heading slightly up. A lot of staples are sold out. I have seen a number of people asking for Modern games online. This looks pretty promising for the format.
Big question – so far, we have no word on what the M12 lands will be. Will they be more of the same (e.g.
Dragonskull Summit)? Or might Wizards reprint the shock lands? Wizards has said that they will do so sometime, and that would impact prices. Well, probably won’t happen.
What would be nice, though, is something to improve demand. Look at everything that is not in stock.
|
Modern Cards
|
Price
|
In Stock?
|
Last Week
|
Change
|
|
|
$ 11.75
|
N
|
$ 9.75
|
+ $ 2.00
|
|
|
$ 5.00
|
N
|
$ 5.00
|
---
|
|
|
$ 6.50
|
N
|
$ 5.25
|
+ $ 1.25
|
|
|
$ 3.25
|
N
|
$ 3.25
|
---
|
|
|
$ 5.95
|
Y
|
$ 5.95
|
---
|
|
|
$ 5.50
|
Y
|
$ 4.75
|
+ $ 0.75
|
|
|
$ 6.50
|
N
|
$ 5.95
|
+ $ 0.55
|
|
|
$ 0.75
|
Y
|
$ 0.90
|
- $ 0.15
|
|
|
$ 8.00
|
N
|
$ 8.00
|
---
|
|
|
$ 7.50
|
Y
|
$ 7.50
|
---
|
|
|
$ 6.00
|
N
|
$ 5.50
|
+ $ 0.50
|
|
|
$ 10.00
|
N
|
$ 9.95
|
+ $ 0.05
|
|
|
$ 2.00
|
N
|
$ 1.95
|
+ $ 0.05
|
Legacy prices are dropping slightly. Only Force of Will fell much, despite a lot of people playing in the MED sealed events. About the only significant effect those events seem to have had, besides refilling some inventories, is cutting the price of Hymn to Tourach.
|
Legacy Cards
|
Price
|
In Stock?
|
Last Week
|
Change
|
|
|
$ 123.00
|
Y
|
$ 140.00
|
- $ 17.00
|
|
|
$ 48.00
|
Y
|
$ 48.00
|
---
|
|
|
$ 73.26
|
Y
|
$ 71.28
|
+ $ 1.98
|
|
|
$ 26.00
|
Y
|
$ 26.00
|
+ $ 2.00
|
|
|
$ 42.00
|
N
|
$ 43.00
|
- $ 1.00
|
|
|
$ 42.00
|
Y
|
$ 41.00
|
+ $ 1.00
|
|
|
$ 15.00
|
Y
|
$ 15.50
|
- $ 0.50
|
|
|
$ 7.50
|
Y
|
$ 7.75
|
- $ 0.25
|
|
|
$ 13.75
|
Y
|
$ 14.50
|
- $ 0.75
|
|
|
$ 12.75
|
Y
|
$ 12.75
|
---
|
|
|
$ 13.00
|
Y
|
$ 13.50
|
- $ 0.50
|
|
|
$ 4.75
|
Y
|
$ 4.75
|
---
|
|
|
$ 14.50
|
Y
|
$ 14.50
|
---
|
|
|
$ 8.00
|
Y
|
$ 9.00
|
- $ 1.00
|
Note: cards which are staples in both Legacy and Classic may appear in either list. If you don’t see a card in one list, check the other.
Classic is also showing a slow decrease in cost. Lack of interest?
|
Classic Cards
|
Price
|
In Stock?
|
Last Week
|
Change
|
|
|
$ 94.00
|
Y
|
$ 94.00
|
- $ 2.00
|
|
|
$ 34.00
|
Y
|
$ 35.00
|
- $ 1.00
|
|
|
$ 27.00
|
Y
|
$ 28.00
|
- $ 1.00
|
|
|
$ 16.00
|
Y
|
$ 16.50
|
- $ 0.50
|
|
|
$ 18.00
|
Y
|
$ 19.00
|
- $ 1.00
|
|
|
$ 11.75
|
Y
|
$ 12.50
|
- $ 0.75
|
|
|
$ 23.95
|
Y
|
$ 23.95
|
---
|
|
|
$16.00
|
Y
|
$17.00
|
- $ 1.00
|
|
|
$ 12.00
|
Y
|
$ 11.00
|
+ $ 1.00
|
|
|
$ 12.00
|
Y
|
$ 12.50
|
- $ 0.50
|
|
|
$ 24.00
|
Y
|
$ 25.00
|
- $ 1.00
|
The Top Ten:
As requested, here’s a list of the top ten most expensive non-foil, non-promo cards on MTGO. As always, I am skipping promo and foil versions of these cards. This week – Natural Order joins the fray, and Jace drops further.
|
Most Expensive Cards
|
Price
|
Set
|
Last Week
|
|
|
$ 123.00
|
MED 1
|
# 1
|
|
|
$ 94.00
|
Mirage
|
# 2
|
|
|
$ 73.26
|
Apocalypse
|
# 3
|
|
|
$ 48.00
|
Tempest
|
# 4
|
|
|
$ 43.56
|
Apocalypse
|
# 6
|
|
|
$ 42.00
|
Future Sight
|
# 5
|
|
|
$ 42.00
|
Weatherlight
|
# 8
|
|
|
$ 40.00
|
Visions
|
n/a
|
|
|
$ 39.95
|
Worldwake
|
# 7
|
|
|
$ 34.00
|
Urza’s Destiny
|
# 9
|
|
|
$27.95
|
Mirrodin Besieged
|
# 10
|
Deck Prices:
Time to price out a few more decks. This week, I’ll do the Standard and Legacy decks I featured in Cutting Edge Tech. Past week’s decks are also listed, to save everyone from having to click old articles. Decklists are either linked or were featured in the article.
Standard
Elves costs $163.
Rot from Within costs $ 16 on June 22nd - or $19.99 in the store.
Soul Sisters, the cost was $199 on May 30th
Shrine of Burning Rage, (Winner, PTQ Madison) was $141 on May 25th.
Caw-Blade, Standard. The cost was
$ 518 on May 11
th.
Legacy
Paulo’s Blue Control costs $1,608 on May 30th
Landstill BUG, Legacy, (Winner, Bazaar of Moxen), was $ 1,559 on May 25th.
Classic
Noble Fish cost $1,344 on May 30th .
Hermit Druid Combo, Classic (4-0,
here.) cost: was
$ 949 on May 25th
.GG Oath, Classic. The cost was
$ 1,126 on May 11
th.
I will plan on doing a couple more decks each week, time permitting. (This is time intensive.) I may do some block decks, once New Phyrexia prices stabilize. I also plan to go back and look at the changes in deck costs over time, at least for Classic and Legacy. We will see.
Weekly Highlights:
Personally, I haven't played much Magic, except for a bunch MED sealed events and few drafts. MED sealed was halfway decent this week - but no Force of Will. Still, I have a couple more duals, and some strange foils. Anyone need a Foil Bazaar of Baghdad?
PRJ
“one million words” on MTGO.
16 Comments
The M12 visual spoiler confirms that the lands are the same old batch from M10 and M11. Bummer, I was really hoping to get enemy colored versions in that template.
Hi Pete,
I asked last week for some card prices but I don't think you saw it (or didn't agree with my suggestions :) ).
This week I'll repeat some requests: Vesuva, Vendilion Clique, Orim's Chant and Pernicious Deed.
I'll make some new ones: Hypergenesis, Living Death, Solemn Simulacrum.
Most of the ones I suggest are in my opinion interesting to get a "pulse" on Modern and Overextended (some are explicitly chosen because they are in one format but not on the other).
The invitational card I believe is going to be interest to watch next week as it has been officially spoiled this week in M12.
I'd also like to see deck pricing (like you have for legacy) for Modern and Overextended. Maybe do a 12-post build as there are those as 100% legal in Modern and still 100% competitive in Overextended.
Thank you for the articles,
Ivo.
The main problem with adding cards is that it takes time. I was rushed this week. I'll add them when I can, and I may take a few off, like Isochrone Scepter. I'll have to adjust for M12 in any case.
I was hoping Wizards would say something about where Modern / Overextended was going before starting including those decklists. Right now, we don't have tournaments (other than the CCC, which was unified) to pull decklists from, so finding the "standard" or "optimal" builds could be iffy. Again, if I get a chance, I may add them. I will if Wizards gets behind one of the formats.
Thank you Pete - I understand it is extra work (particularly for decklists). I think it is perfectly fair if for now you just include some cards.
I suggested 12 post for a reason - it is a top tier deck in Overextended and some builds are 100% legal in Modern. Modern being mostly a subset of Overextended, I find it EXTREMELY unlikely that 12 post would not be competitive in Modern.
There are also other decks with barely any Overextended cards (or easy replacements) such as the UW Jace/Stoneforge deck, so the values of such decks would be representative for both formats.
Ivo.
Solemn Simulacrum is in M12 and also one of the commander decks. I see the price dropping.
It may go down, but as it wasn't particularly inflated it may actually go up. It is a strong card likely to show up in standard decks. With Meddling Mage this didn't happen, but that was because Meddling Mage was previously rather scarce - Mirrodin was drafted a lot, so I'm thinking the M12 supply may actually not be as large as the upsurge in demand from being in multiples in standard decks - possibly in more than one top deck even (which is not guaranteed, but I think is likely).
Ivo.
"The speculation on 'Modern' format cards have recovered, and are heading slightly up. A lot of staples are sold out. I have seen a number of people asking for Modern games online. This looks pretty promising for the format. "
I think a bias is being shown here. :) So let me interject! Many of the staples for Modern are also staples for Overextended, which also has an active and rising playerbase. Games are very easy to come by. Overextended also has up and running PREs, with prize support! I have played in several of the Tuesday events, and can attest to it's wildly diverse meta, and fun. I enjoy the format so much, I even organized an event of my own in that format.
Is it kosher to mention the overextended (non-commercial) website? A huge number of articles and winning decklists are to be found there.
I don't want to start a Modern vs Overextended debate, I just wanted to point out that many of the cards that are out of stock are popular/useful in both formats, most significantly the shocklands.
how is it a bias if people online are asking for modern games?
though to be honest modern does look more fun
Because there are also people online asking for overextended games and that didn't get mentioned. But the "bias" remark was more that Overextended is driving the prices as well (if not more).
Vesuva has gone up since I started watching and it wasn't used in the Modern decks of the CC but has been featured pretty intensely in the decklists of the overextended PRE. What do you think is more likely?
Not to mention that given there are actually PREs for Overextended, it isn't just "speculation" there, people need the cards to play in the event.
Ivo.
Disclaimer: I'm biased towards Overextended as I think the format is better and the starting point makes more sense than the rather arbitrary "card frames" reason for Modern.
I think the main reason I haven't gotten excited by Overextended vs Modern is that the Fetch Lands (in Odyssey etc) feel like the main difference. Both formats are viable casually. I think there might even be room for both if extended is taken out of the picture entirely.
Nice article, as always.
Whatever happened with the Bruce & Tammy Friborg Fund? I looked for an update but couldn't find one.
Raffle winners as far as I know went out recently. I had someone claim a prize while I was working my shift at mtgotraders. I'm not sure if Heath will let it be known how much money we raised, I hope he does, I think we did a really a great thing for the Friborgs. (By we, I mean the mtgo community.)
I cant put a finger on why, but this week's article feels like you are hitting some sort of a stride in it's presentation. Good Job.
For those that eye the price lists, Look for Jace, The Mind Sculptor to continue a on a slow fizzle in its price for a little while longer. It won't deflate at the same rate as it has up to this point, but it should loose another 2-8 tickets in it's value. I am interested in how JTMS handles the EXT season.
Another card of interests is Stone Forge Mystic. This card will bounce big in extended season.
DONT BELIEVE THE HYPE!!! While I must say that the creation of the "OverExtended" or "Modern" format is awesome, I feel it is a product of the shortened Extended format rotation schedule. I think it is awesome when players make a format through their casual play. This very type of viviparous birth to magic formats is the reason we have pauper, all the multi-player formats and really standard itself started from the demand of the players. So, if you like modern... go for it! HOWEVER I just hate it when I am looking for a Legacy game and end up not seeing the description of over extended. Trust me it is annoying to the Legacy players too! As far as the cards go, the bump has happened. Unless the format takes off and starts seeing queues for it in sanctioned events or at lease a large amount of PREs sponsored by Bot Shops, the increased value of these cards in your collection is still casual.
"HOWEVER I just hate it when I am looking for a Legacy game and end up not seeing the description of over extended. Trust me it is annoying to the Legacy players too! "
Just as I hate it when a Legacy player can't be bothered to read the description, which I make in bright green letters with gold bunting, and stands out in the list of games. Trust me, it is annoying to me as well.
What ever happened to only being able to join an event as early as 2 hours before start time? when did that change? also, phyrexian obliterator went from 10 tix to 16 real fast. that should be noted. other than that thanks for the info and keep up the good work. freed from the reel was the reason i started to read the articles on this site so i'm very happy that your taking over where hamtastic left off.
I played in the planeswalker event and managed to 4-0 with 1 basic pack of cards, you can make a decent elves deck out of that which usually kills on turn 4 or 5, especially since most people were playing green and your elvish got forest walk most of the time, i am not really sure why the format exists but that is another topic. What i found strange is that people kept saying we gotta get 3 packs of planeshift if we go 4-0, and then after the event was over they had a special chat room to request your packs and you got them right then which was very cool, and alot of people requested planeshift, i tried to tell them that they were delusional, but no one listened, now i see where they got the info. I realize that you are just pulling the information off what the site says, but there is no chance planeshift packs are the most valuable, first of all ipa drafts payout pa, ipa, ipaa, so there is never anyone sitting around needing a planescape pack, second of all the packs arent crackable like me1 because they have no money cards to speak of, the best cards are in apo. No one i can find will buy planeshift for anywhere near that, most bots wont take it at all, the upside is that a few well placed classified ads netted me 6 draft sets of ipa after piecing them together. the only correct things to take in circumstances like this is me1 if your going to crack the packs or ipa as a draft set, which when the drafts are firing sells in the low to mid 20's. Just my two cents, the articles are great though and extremely informative, i know they have to be very time consuming so thanks for what you do, i read them every week.