MTGO Socials: Daybreak has set up forums for MTGO, which you can find here. In addition to the Forums, Daybreak has set up a Discord for MTGO.  You can get the invite here. MTGO has a Twitter account, and can now add an account for Facebook and Instagram. 

Two-Factor Authentication:  This is in Account Settings.  To turn it on you will be asked for your account password and a 6-digit code sent to the email associated with your account.  You can use either an email or authenticator based system.  This will help keep your accounts secure, you can read about the system here.

Redemption:  Redemption is up and running!  Remember that redemption runs now until supply is gone. Currently being redeemed is The Brothers' War (About Half-Gone) Phyrexia: All Will Be One, and March of the Machine.  As of May 23, 2023, Redemption Tokens are non-refundable! 

Challenge Schedule Changing:  Two Prelims on Friday nights are now becoming small Challenge events.This helps players in the Asia-Pacific region.  Saturday is also getting another Modern Challenge. Both of these are 32 player events. The Saturday 6 a.m. Standard Event is going back to a small event prize structure.   

All-Access:  To better help MTGO users that are using the client to prepare for Pro Tour Barcelona (the Modern Pro Tour on July 28th), All-Access is back!  Copies of the best card in the set for Modern, The One Ring are above 100 tickets per, and having All-Access tokens in this time period helps users who want to prepare.  There will be no Super Qualifiers during this All-Access period.  It's still $25.00 though.  This lasts until July 24th!

Freeform with Commander:  Open Play room on the client that puts custom rules into place that also gives you color identity rules!  This allows for commander varients to have a place on MTGO. You'll be able to play PreDH, Oathbreaker, Duel Commander, almost nearly any rule set of Commander you want!  There are some recent rules changes in popular formats that are not on MTGO yet, apparently commander damage is not a thing in Duel Commander and Oathbreaker allows partners but each partner gets their own signature spell so these changes might come later, they might not, but it's a step in a direction that I did not think was going to be taken.  You can read the article about it here.

Commander Legends Draft:  Until July 19th, the format will have keeper and phantom events on MTGO.  These will be 4 player draft pods. Prizes will be based on votes.  You can see the prizes here. 

Patch Notes: You can check out the notes for this update here.

It feels like it's been forever since I did a deck for each format, and this week I am bringing you two decks for Standard!  What a blessing! 

Standard:  I knew for sure as soon as I saw the deck I wanted to feature it this week. Yeah it's basically the Mono Black Aggro deck that is already in the format, but giving the deck a splash of color opens it up to a lot of methods to protect your decks that the Mono Black doesn't offer, and gives you outs to things that 1 for 1 removal doesn't give you outs to.

Dimir Aggro

 

3 Liliana of the Veil 3 Go for the Throat 4 Darkslick Shores 1 Island 8 Swamp 4 Underground River 2 Cut Down 2 Ertai Resurrected 4 Evolved Sleeper 4 Graveyard Trespasser 1 Kaito Shizuki 4 Make Disappear 2 Mirrex 4 Misery's Shadow 1 Otawara, Soaring City

4 Sheoldred, the Apocalypse 1 Sheoldred's Edict 4 Shipwreck Marsh 1 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire 3 Tenacious Underdog

Sideboard: 2 Phyrexian Obliterator 3 Disdainful Stroke 1 Negate 1 Spell Pierce 3 Duress 1 Cut Down 2 Gix's Command 2 Razorlash Transmogrant

A Second Standard:  To me, the most shocking thing isn't that Esper Control is doing well, it's that there is a lack of things one would consider staples in the deck in the format, and not having Wedding Announcement feels a bit weird to me for the deck.

Esper Control

 

1 Disdainful Stroke 1 Dissipate 2 Go for the Throat 1 Negate 4 Adarkar Wastes 3 Darkslick Shores 1 Island 1 Plains 1 Swamp 3 Cut Down 4 Deserted Beach 1 Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire 1 Farewell 1 Invasion of New Phyrexia 3 Make Disappear 4 Memory Deluge 2 Mirrex 1 Otawara, Soaring City 4 Raffine's Tower

2 Shattered Sanctum 3 Sheoldred's Edict 2 Shipwreck Marsh 3 Siphon Insight 3 Sunfall 2 The Celestus 4 The Wandering Emperor 2 Void Rend

Sideboard: 1 Disdainful Stroke 1 Negate 2 Duress 3 Chrome Host Seedshark 1 Farewell 2 Sheoldred, the Apocalypse 1 Siphon Insight 2 Sunset Revelry 2 Temporary Lockdown

Legacy: I am intrigued by these cheap value style Reanimator decks in the Legacy format right now. I did share a Grixis version from last week, and this week the Esper version seemed to come on strong.

Esper Tempo Reanimator

 

4 Baleful Strix 3 Snapcaster Mage 4 Brainstorm 3 Daze 4 Force of Will 4 Swords to Plowshares 4 Ponder 3 Reanimate 4 Flooded Strand 1 Marsh Flats 1 Mystic Sanctuary 4 Polluted Delta 1 Scrubland 1 Snow-Covered Island 1 Snow-Covered Plains 1 Snow-Covered Swamp

2 Tundra 2 Underground Sea 2 Grief 2 Murktide Regent 4 Orcish Bowmasters 3 Prismatic Ending

Sideboard: 2 Plague Engineer 2 Force of Negation 2 Hydroblast 3 Surgical Extraction 2 Serenity 1 Stony Silence 2 Dress Down 1 Prismatic Ending

Modern:  I love the new look of the Creativity deck. It's still the same basic deck but swapping the blue for White countermagic in Reprieve.

Naya Creativity

 

3 Teferi, Time Raveler 4 Wrenn and Six 4 Lightning Bolt 4 Spell Pierce 4 Indomitable Creativity 3 Arid Mesa 1 Blood Crypt 3 Bloodstained Mire 4 Dwarven Mine 1 Mountain 1 Sacred Foundry 4 Scalding Tarn 2 Steam Vents 1 Stomping Ground 3 Wooded Foothills 3 Archon of Cruelty 1 Big Score

4 Fable of the Mirror-Breaker 1 Jetmir's Garden 4 Leyline Binding 1 Prismatic Ending 3 Reprieve 1 Xander's Lounge

Sideboard: 2 Flusterstorm 3 Hallowed Moonlight 2 Nature's Claim 3 Veil of Summer 1 Boseiju, Who Endures 1 Elesh Norn, Mother of Machines 1 Prismatic Ending 2 Strike It Rich

Pauper: White Aggro is always nice to see in Pauper.

White Aggro

 

4 Kor Skyfisher 4 Militia Bugler 4 Squadron Hawk 4 Thraben Inspector 2 Guardians' Pledge 4 Prismatic Strands 2 Ramosian Rally 4 Battle Screech 4 Journey to Nowhere 2 Idyllic Grange

18 Plains 4 Lunarch Veteran 4 Raffine's Informant

Sideboard: 3 Crimson Acolyte 4 Dust to Dust 2 Revoke Existence 3 Sunlance 3 Relic of Progenitus

Pioneer: The Boros Exile deck looks cool and takes advantage of the strong exile cards in the format.

Boros Exile

 

4 Bonecrusher Giant 4 Monastery Swiftspear 4 Soul-Scar Mage 4 Chained to the Rocks 4 Battlefield Forge 4 Inspiring Vantage 6 Mountain 4 Sacred Foundry 4 Kumano Faces Kakkazan 2 Needleverge Pathway 4 Pia Nalaar, Consul of Revival 4 Play with Fire 4 Reckless Impulse

4 Showdown of the Skalds 4 Wrenn's Resolve

Sideboard: 1 Jegantha, the Wellspring 2 Justice Strike 2 Rending Volley 2 Silence 2 Alpine Moon 2 Rest in Peace 2 Invasion of Gobakhan 2 Reidane, God of the Worthy

 

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

Challenge Winners

Friday Modern - yPrincipe - AmuLIT

Saturday Legacy - Ozymandias17 - Esper Control
Saturday Modern - pumpkinwavy - Rakdos Scam
Saturday Modern - adebevoise - Rakdos Scam
Saturday Pauper - Backoff - CawGate
Saturday Pioneer - ashame - Boros Aggro
Saturday Standard - FerMTG - Mono Black Aggro
Saturday Vintage - Miharu_Fuyumiya

Sunday Legacy - The3rdHorseman - Abzan Lands
Sunday Modern - ZYURYO - Elementals
Sunday Pauper - Walker735 - Affinity
Sunday Pioneer - DenebLyrae - Abzan Greasefang
Sunday Standard - Snapcaster-Bolt - Dimir Aggro
Sunday Vintage - Sprouts

Other Event Winners

Modern Showcase Qualifier
Pioneer Showcase Qualifier

Standard Staples: Portal to Phyrexia is off the list. One with the Multiverse is gone too. Ob Nixilis, Captive Kingpin was replaced on the list by Pia Nalaar, Consul of Revival. 

Standard Cards	Price	Last Week	Change	% Change
Cityscape Leveler	$21.54	$23.11	-$1.57	-7%
Titania, Voice of Gaea	$5.05	$5.18	-$0.13	-3%
The Stone Brain	$8.88	$7.09	$1.79	25%
Brotherhood's End	$9.10	$9.98	-$0.88	-9%
Leyline Binding	$14.06	$15.79	-$1.73	-11%
Sheoldred, the Apocalypse	$13.01	$14.96	-$1.95	-13%
Timeless Lotus	$3.64	$5.31	-$1.67	-31%
Nissa, Resurgent Animist	$36.82	$41.75	-$4.93	-12%
Pia Nalaar, Consul of Revival	$7.03
Memory Deluge	$21.12	$24.77	-$3.65	-15%
Brutal Cathar	$4.47	$5.94	-$1.47	-25%
Adeline, Resplendent Cathar	$4.47	$5.51	-$1.04	-19%
Sheoldred	$5.66	$5.20	$0.46	9%
Invasion of Tarkir	$6.94	$7.95	-$1.01	-13%
Urabrask	$11.32	$8.18	$3.14	38%
Chandra, Hope's Beacon	$4.79	$5.43	-$0.64	-12%
Invasion of Gobakhan	$7.76	$7.41	$0.35	5%
Elesh Norn	$8.10	$7.38	$0.72	10%
Jin-Gitaxias	$6.00	$5.68	$0.32	6%
Vorinclex	$11.00	$12.65	-$1.65	-13%
Boseiju, Who Endures	$21.46	$23.04	-$1.58	-7%
Otawara, Soaring City	$10.64	$12.04	-$1.40	-12%
The Wandering Emperor	$9.64	$9.90	-$0.26	-3%
Atraxa, Grand Unifier	$13.80	$21.68	-$7.88	-36%
Elesh Norn, Mother of Machines	$11.00	$10.69	$0.31	3%
Jace, the Perfected Mind	$7.24	$7.94	-$0.70	-9%
Ledger Shredder	$10.57	$16.96	-$6.39	-38%
Unlicensed Hearse	$5.30	$6.99	-$1.69	-24%
Stormcarved Coast	$5.81	$7.54	-$1.73	-23%
Wedding Announcement	$23.26	$26.56	-$3.30	-12%

Modern Staples:  Nothing happened this week in the Modern list! 

Modern Cards	Price	Last Week	Change	% Change
Engineered Explosives	$6.34	$9.38	-$3.04	-32%
Orvar, the All-Form	$17.84	$27.17	-$9.33	-34%
Polluted Delta	$10.66	$11.90	-$1.24	-10%
Wooded Foothills	$5.30	$5.51	-$0.21	-4%
Flooded Strand	$6.56	$11.69	-$5.13	-44%
Bloodstained Mire	$6.69	$6.58	$0.11	2%
Windswept Heath	$5.34	$6.00	-$0.66	-11%
Thoughtseize	$6.82	$8.79	-$1.97	-22%
The One Ring	$121.16	$111.13	$10.03	9%
Orcish Bowmasters	$45.06	$35.34	$9.72	28%
Delighted Halfling	$2.89	$5.00	-$2.11	-42%
Force of Negation	$19.17	$29.11	-$9.94	-34%
Wrenn and Six	$11.21	$15.30	-$4.09	-27%
Sunbaked Canyon	$12.74	$12.33	$0.41	3%
Seasoned Pyromancer	$9.11	$8.74	$0.37	4%
Force of Vigor	$15.39	$21.39	-$6.00	-28%
Flusterstorm	$9.00	$9.73	-$0.73	-8%
Archon of Cruelty	$6.75	$7.89	-$1.14	-14%
Dress Down	$4.48	$6.48	-$2.00	-31%
Grist, the Hunger Tide	$7.03	$7.74	-$0.71	-9%
Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer	$21.51	$16.63	$4.88	29%
Urza's Saga	$23.83	$24.34	-$0.51	-2%
Solitude	$14.38	$17.79	-$3.41	-19%
Endurance	$23.63	$23.07	$0.56	2%
Grief	$29.68	$27.31	$2.37	9%
Murktide Regent	$10.38	$15.84	-$5.46	-34%
Fury	$26.15	$24.22	$1.93	8%
Esper Sentinel	$6.71	$8.21	-$1.50	-18%
Subtlety	$17.92	$14.89	$3.03	20%
Chalice of the Void	$12.57	$11.90	$0.67	6%
Emrakul, the Aeons Torn	$4.38	$5.57	-$1.19	-21%
Teferi, Time Raveler	$10.78	$12.52	-$1.74	-14%
Scalding Tarn	$6.27	$7.69	-$1.42	-18%
Verdant Catacombs	$2.15	$2.80	-$0.65	-23%
Misty Rainforest	$5.09	$6.69	-$1.60	-24%
Arid Mesa	$2.12	$2.42	-$0.30	-12%
Marsh Flats	$1.49	$1.07	$0.42	39%

Eternal Staples:  Retrofitter Foundry is back on the list. 

Eternal Format Cards	Price	Last Time	Change	% Change
Avenging Hunter	$6.24	$7.84	($1.60)	-20%
Kenku Artificer	$12.42	$14.99	($2.57)	-17%
Goliath Paladin	$9.53	$6.66	$2.87	43%
Displacer Kitten	$6.34	$6.47	($0.13)	-2%
Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes	$7.80	$10.09	($2.29)	-23%
Seasoned Dungeoneer	$8.95	$12.09	($3.14)	-26%
Caves of Chaos Adventurer	$8.16	$6.53	$1.63	25%
Hullbreacher	$7.38	$7.77	($0.39)	-5%
Opposition Agent	$15.90	$16.84	($0.94)	-6%
Jeweled Lotus	$10.03	$8.34	$1.69	20%
City of Traitors	$16.77	$16.17	$0.60	4%
Muxus, Goblin Grandee	$15.81	$15.19	$0.62	4%
Helm of Obedience	$13.63	$16.90	($3.27)	-19%
Force of Will	$31.63	$44.70	($13.07)	-29%
Urza's Bauble	$15.18	$20.21	($5.03)	-25%
Hydroblast	$6.57	$6.58	($0.01)	0%
Pyroblast	$4.41	$6.48	($2.07)	-32%
The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale	$9.66	$10.42	($0.76)	-7%
Phyrexian Dreadnought	$8.24	$8.84	($0.60)	-7%
Unmask	$13.98	$14.85	($0.87)	-6%
Misdirection	$10.83	$10.52	$0.31	3%
Snuff Out	$12.18	$19.89	($7.71)	-39%
Submerge	$4.34	$5.56	($1.22)	-22%
Daze	$4.21	$6.31	($2.10)	-33%
Entomb	$4.90	$5.32	($0.42)	-8%
Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow	$9.14	$9.08	$0.06	1%
Retrofitter Foundry	$5.55
Stifle	$5.55	$6.48	($0.93)	-14%
Mox Opal	$6.21	$8.43	($2.22)	-26%
Mox Diamond	$31.68	$30.68	$1.00	3%
Wasteland	$10.70	$13.95	($3.25)	-23%
Ancient Tomb	$12.15	$16.18	($4.03)	-25%
Lotus Petal	$11.62	$11.69	($0.07)	-1%
Grindstone	$12.55	$15.37	($2.82)	-18%
Powder Keg	$15.20	$14.00	$1.20	9%
Grim Monolith	$16.58	$17.16	($0.58)	-3%
Gaea's Cradle	$27.21	$27.33	($0.12)	0%
Gilded Drake	$12.13	$12.21	($0.08)	-1%
Show and Tell	$20.76	$18.12	$2.64	15%
Natural Order	$6.12	$7.52	($1.40)	-19%
Black Lotus	$12.00	$14.91	($2.91)	-20%
Volcanic Island	$16.50	$20.42	($3.92)	-19%
Underground Sea	$10.99	$9.65	$1.34	14%
Null Rod	$16.35	$17.17	($0.82)	-5%
Doomsday	$14.06	$15.78	($1.72)	-11%
Paradigm Shift	$12.32	$12.32	$0.00	0%

Pioneer Staples:  Indomitable Creativity has fallen off the list. Leyline of the Void came off the list as well. Shacklegeist went back to the spirit realm.  Prismari Command has come off the list.

Pioneer Cards	Price	Last Time	Change	% Change
Den of the Bugbear	$4.94	$6.64	-$1.70	-25.60%
Hall of Storm Giants	$5.38	$6.47	-$1.09	-16.85%
Brazen Borrower	$11.32	$13.17	-$1.85	-14.05%
Shark Typhoon	$8.04	$11.05	-$3.01	-27.24%
Mana Confluence	$9.01	$10.86	-$1.85	-17.03%
Blightstep Pathway	$9.06	$13.78	-$4.72	-34.25%
Hengegate Pathway	$5.17	$7.55	-$2.38	-31.52%
Spirebluff Canal	$5.03	$5.83	-$0.80	-13.72%
Inspiring Vantage	$7.57	$6.36	$1.21	19.03%
Cavalier of Thorns	$5.07	$3.83	$1.24	32.38%
Lotus Field	$11.83	$14.49	-$2.66	-18.36%
The Meathook Massacre	$15.06	$15.05	$0.01	0.07%
Fable of the Mirror-Breaker	$25.22	$29.12	-$3.90	-13.39%
Magma Opus	$7.30	$8.00	-$0.70	-8.75%
Karn, the Great Creator	$11.14	$12.15	-$1.01	-8.31%
Emeria's Call	$17.00	$16.89	$0.11	0.65%
Omnath, Locus of Creation	$8.30	$10.71	-$2.41	-22.50%
Skyclave Apparition	$5.87	$6.38	-$0.51	-7.99%
Sea Gate Restoration	$15.20	$14.71	$0.49	3.33%
Roiling Vortex	$14.92	$10.85	$4.07	37.51%
Agadeem's Awakening	$5.43	$8.23	-$2.80	-34.02%

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 Time	Change	% Change
The Brothers' War	$94.86	$96.34	($1.48)	-2%
Dominaria United	$57.85	$65.35	($7.50)	-11%
Innistrad: Crimson Vow	$65.97	$72.50	($6.53)	-9%
Innistrad: Midnight Hunt	$84.72	$96.52	($11.80)	-12%
Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty	$88.01	$97.10	($9.09)	-9%
March of the Machine	$159.80	$155.43	$4.37	3%
March of the Machine Booster	$2.27	$2.30	($0.03)	-1%
Phyrexia: All Will Be One	$164.35	$178.09	($13.74)	-8%
Streets of New Capenna	$43.16	$50.42	($7.26)	-14%
Treasure Chest Booster	$2.34	$2.54	($0.20)	-8%

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	266.23
The One Ring	LTR	Mythic	121.45
Mox Jet	1E	Rare	116.72
Ancestral Recall	1E	Rare	101.38
The One Ring	LTR	Mythic	96.61
The One Ring	LTR	Mythic	94.49
Time Walk	1E	Rare	74.65
Mox Sapphire	1E	Rare	71.87
Mox Emerald	1E	Rare	70.25
Mox Pearl	1E	Rare	60.26
Liliana of the Veil	UBT	Mythic	55.91
Mox Ruby	1E	Rare	53.03
Orcish Bowmasters	LTR	Rare	52.92
Orcish Bowmasters	LTR	Rare	46.26
Cavern of Souls	UBT	Mythic	43.68
Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth	UBT	Mythic	43.39
Karakas	UBT	Mythic	42.29
Demonic Tutor	UBT	Mythic	38.79
Nissa, Resurgent Animist	MAT	Mythic	36.82
Dark Depths	UBT	Mythic	36.05
Timetwister	1E	Rare	35.51
Mox Diamond	V10	Mythic	32.36
Mox Diamond	ST	Rare	31.68
Force of Will	MED	Rare	31.63
Kozilek, Butcher of Truth	UBT	Mythic	31.43
Mox Diamond	TPR	Mythic	31.42
Wasteland	ZNE	Mythic	30.69
Grief	MH2	Mythic	29.68
Snapcaster Mage	UBT	Mythic	29.09
Flooded Strand	ZNE	Mythic	27.97
Breath of Fire	PZ2	Common	27.9
Gaea's Cradle	UZ	Rare	27.21
Unmask	V16	Mythic	26.57
Fury	MH2	Mythic	26.15
Pramikon, Sky Rampart	C19	Mythic	25.23
Fable of the Mirror-Breaker	NEO	Rare	25.22
Aether Gale	C14	Rare	25.16

 

In Closing

The Explorer Anthology on Arena killed my excitement about new cards coming to the client.  At least the Pioneer Creativity deck will exist, and Thespian's Stage will be on Arena, to play well with the zero copies of Hidden Strings on there. 

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