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By: one million words, Pete Jahn
Jul 06 2018 1:00pm
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State of the Program for July 6th 2018
 
In the News
B&R Announcement: The July B&R announcement came out Monday. Nothing has changed in Standard - Chainwhirler is still legal. Nothing changed in Modern. In Legacy, Deathrite Shaman and Gitaxian Probe are gone. Those changes should be in effect on MTGO by now. The announcement is here.
 
Info on Core Set 2019 Events on MTGO: Alli Medwin (new digital product manager for MTGO – welcome Alli!) wrote an article on the Core Set events on MTGO.  The set should be available today, as this article is posted.  Alli’s article also previews the new avatars, and the changes to treasure chests. 
 
MTGO Customer Support Update: Customer support for MTGO now lives at mtgo-support.wizards.com. Use that site for reporting bugs, requesting reimbursement, sending feedback, getting help with account problems, or anything else for which you need customer service.
 
Core Set 2019 Prerelease Primer: If you want to learn about the format before spending your hard-earned TIX, check out this video.
 
Limited Leagues Ending MondayCore Set 2019 is here. Existing sealed and draft leagues end Monday. Get your matches in soon.
 
Rochester Draft of Amazing Old Sets: The Beta draft from GP Vegas was amazing. It was fun to watch, and a lot of people liked watching it. Wizards has learned from the experience, and is inviting 8 select players to the Pro Tour in Minneapolis to a giant Rochester draft. Each player will open 3 packs of Beta, plus one pack of Antiquities, one pack or Arabian Knights and one pack of Legends. This seems like a lot of cards, but remember that some of these packs only contain eight cards, and Beta packs contain an average of 5 basic lands. This should be fun to watch. Details here.
 
Core Set Survey: Wizards has posted a survey asking people about Core Set 2019. You can take the survey here
 
Streaming a PTQ with Pro-Caliber Assistance: Matt Nass streamed playing in a MTGO PTQ sitting side by side with Sam Pardee.  This ignited another twitterstorm over outside assistance on MTGO. Having a Platinum Pro providing assistance does not violate the MTGO CoC - I discussed this in detail in my April 6th article. I’m just reporting the controversy this week, because it could push Wizards to modify the CoC.
 
The Timeline
This is a list of things we have been promised, or we just want to see coming back. Another good source for dates and times is the calendar and the weekly blog, while the best source for known bugs is the bug blog which appears sporadically on MTGO.com. Not listed, but important: Wizards offers either one or two online PTQs each weekend, with qualifiers running the three days prior to the PTQ.
 

Upcoming Events
Dates
Scheduled Downtimes
July 25th (extended)
Constructed Leagues End

Sealed Leagues End

Core Set Magic 2019
July 6, 2018
Guilds of Ravnica
October 5, 2018
Ravnica Allegiance
January 2019
Next B&R Announcement
August 20, 2018
Ixalan Block Redemption
Out of stock – will return “soon”
Dominaria Redemption Ends
October 10, 2018
Core Set 2019 Redemption Ends
 

 
WotC Covered Events
Wizards will be streaming a number of events next year, including all four Pro Tours, the Magic Championship and World Magic Cup, along with 35 Grand Prix. Since Wizards does not schedule premier events on prerelease weekends and certain holidays, that means they will be streaming an event nearly every weekend. Here’s the schedule we have so far.
·       July 7–8: Grand Prix São Paulo  (also Paper Prereleases)
·       July 21–22: Grand Prix Sacramento
·       July 28–29: Grand Prix Minneapolis
·       Aug. 3–5: Pro Tour 25th Anniversary in Minneapolis, Minnesota
·       Aug. 11–12: Grand Prix Brussels
·       Aug. 18–19: Grand Prix Los Angeles
·       Aug. 25–26: Grand Prix Prague
·       Aug. 31–Sept. 2: Grand Prix Richmond (double-GP weekend)
·       Sept. 8–9: Grand Prix Detroit
·       Sept. 15–16: Grand Prix Stockholm
·       Weekend of Sept. 23–24: 2018 Magic World Championship and Team Series Championship in Las Vegas, Nevada (exact event dates TBD)
·       Oct. 6–7: Grand Prix Montreal
·       Oct. 13–14: Grand Prix Denver
·       Oct. 27–28: Grand Prix Lille
·       Nov. 3–4: Grand Prix Atlanta
·       Nov. 9–11: Pro Tour "Spaghetti" in Atlanta
·       Nov. 17–18: Grand Prix Milwaukee
·       Dec. 8–9: Grand Prix Liverpool
·       Dec. 14–16: World Magic Cup in Barcelona, Spain
 
2018 Magic Online Championship Series and other events
Complete details, including schedule, rules, and which online events qualify you for which online or paper events is here. In addition, Wizards will be offering these special formats:
·       (no special formats – play Core Set 2019)
·       August 1-August 8: Triple Zendikar
·       August 8-August 15: Pauper Gauntlet
·       August 15-August 22: Cube Spotlight Series (details TBD)
·       August 22-August 29: TBD
·       August 29-September 5: Triple Khans of Tarkir
·       September 5-September 28: Legacy Cube
 
Magic Online Format Challenges
These are high stakes events that happen every weekend. They cost 25 Tix / 250 play points, and last a number of rounds based on participation (assume 5-8), plus a single elimination Top 8. Details, including prize payouts, are here. Start times are:
 

Event Type
Start Time
Saturday, 8:00 am PT
Saturday, 10:00 am PT
Saturday, 12:00 pm PT
Sunday, 8:00 am PT
Sunday, 10:00 am PT
Sunday, noon PT

 
Opinion Section:  Rochester Kerfuffle
Wizards held a tournament to win seats at an amazing draft at GP Vegas last month. Each of the winners of a Dominaria sealed tournament got to draft actual Beta Magic packs. Beta was released back in 1993, and sold out almost immediately.  The competition to get a seat was fierce, and the final list of those winning seats was impressive. It included 4 Hall of Famers, several pros, and some very long time players. 
 
The event was Rochester, meaning that each pack was laid out on the table face up, and players took turns picking through that pack. Then they repeated the process for the next 23 packs. It made for amazingly good viewing – given how bad the first set was for limited. Drafting was conceived of fairly early, but sets were not designed with draft in mind until Mirage block, half a decade later. That said, watching these packs being opened was dramatic, especially for players like me that have played with those cards. You can watch the Beta draft here
 
Wizards is holding eight of these events at GPs and so forth, throughout the summer. The other Beta (meaning black bordered) event is at Gencon. It is not clear if that will be broadcast. The other six events are Unlimited – white-bordered, but these packs can still contain Power 9 cards. No indication that these events will be broadcast.
 
Wizards has announced that it will have hold – and broadcast – a special event at the Pro Tour in Minneapolis. This event – called the Silver Showcase – will be an invitation only draft with very high cash prizes.  The players invited to participate in the draft were the Magic pros with the highest Pro Points in each region of the world, plus four poker or Heathstone players with some links to Magic. The players will be opening 48 packs in total – three packs each of Beta, plus one each of Antiquities, Arabian Nights and Legends. This will also be broadcast. One difference: players will not keep the cards. The cards will be sold off, with the proceeds going to charity. You can read all about it here.
 
The reaction to this announcement was probably not exactly what Wizards expected. Shortly after people raved about broadcasting the Beta draft – me included – this announcement was met with considerable resistance. People of all types, but especially pro players, were upset. 
 
Here’s why.
 
Over the past few years, Wizards has cut the prize payout for the Pro Tour. Wizards has cut back on hotel rooms, air fare and other perks as well. Pro players have argued that you cannot make a living playing paper Magic now.  Back when Wizards had five Pro Tours per year, paid the top 128 players, and gave high level pros free entry into GPs and similar events that was different. Not anymore. Pro Tour Dominaria only paid out to the Top 64 players, and, as I listed above, the other perks were greatly reduced. 
 
A year ago, Pro Players were raising these issues under the hashtag #PaythePros. They raised a hue and cry when the payout for the 25th anniversary Pro Tour was announced, but Wizards said that the $150,000 or so cut from that Pro Tour would be used for a special event at Pro Tour Core Set 2019. Trust us, Wizards said – the event will be great.  You'll love it. 
 
So now we know what the money cut out of what pro Magic players can earn at the Pro Tour will be used for – a special tournament for four Magic players and four Hearthstone players which the other pros cannot qualify for or play in. (Although some pros have commented that the way to qualify would have been to quit Magic for its competitor a couple years ago. There is an unfortunate mix of bitterness and truth in that statement.)
 
So that’s why the pros are upset – they were told by Wizards that the money being drained from the PT prize pool would be used to fund another tournament that would be great. The implication was that the pro players would either directly benefit or at least have a chance of qualifying for that event. The pros are a bit bitter about that. BBD wrote one of the more balanced and civil articles discussing these issues.  You can read it here.
 
Actually, BBD (and Magic Mikes, and many others) hit a number of points that I was going to discuss at length, so read his article. And one paragraph from the article really seems to sum it up:
 
WotC's head was in the right place. They wanted to make a cool event, which I respect, but they didn't stick the landing. The format feels like it was concocted in the last minute, as does the decision to invite players outside of Magic during an event hyped as a celebration of Magic's history.
 
Wizards is completely correct in trying to draw players from other digital games to Magic – especially Magic Arena. They are doing that by paying people like Day9 and Amaz to play Arena on their streams. That’s great. It’s also what Chris Cocks, WotC President and veteran digital game creator, was hired to do. He is trying to bring Magic – especially digital Magic out of the 1990s and into the online world of today. That’s great, and I wish him luck.  Getting celebrities that stream other games to play Magic on stream is probably a big part of that plan. Again, all to the good.

I also like the fact that Wizards saw how popular the Rochester beta draft was, and decided to capitalize on that. Doing another one – and broadcasting it – could have been great.   And if this event was put together quickly, then I can even see doing invites, rather than having a set of qualification tournaments. Having multiple large, high stakes tournaments requires a lot of organization, and that take months of planning to pull off. So, this probably had to be an invitation-only event.  The first four invites – the players in each geographical region with the highest lifetime pro points, make sense. 
 
I even support the idea of drafting additional packs.   Beta packs have a ton of basic lands – an average of 4-5 basics per pack. (Remember, back then, packs were the main way to get lands.) Adding a couple (8 card) Antiquities and Arabian Knights packs and a Legends booster means players are likely to be able to build real decks. In the Beta deck at Vegas, players were running up to 23 lands, simply because they had nothing else to play. So that’s all good – although it will make the Rochester draft really long.  
 
But here’s where this begins to break down. First off, Wizards decided to make the draft, in effect, phantom.  Players don’t keep the cards – they have to give them all back after the draft. Those cards will then be sold off, and the proceeds go to charity. I have no idea why Wizards made this choice – although my Machiavellian side thinks that Wizards was just trying to cut their costs.    If the players open $50,000 worth of cards (a conservative guess), then Wizards gets a $50,000 tax deduction.  The only other possible reason is to prevent “rare-drafting;” having players take cards because they were more valuable instead of because they fit the deck.  If this event were intended to showcase the best draft strategies in the format, that might make sense, but it makes no sense here. No one – and I mean no one – will ever play this format again. Moreover, a big part of the drama of the Vegas Beta draft was watching players have to decide between taking an off color dual land and a great removal card. That was a tough and meaningful decision, but since this draft is pseudo-phantom, that tension is lost.  
 
Another reason people enjoyed watching the Beta draft is that we could imagine, in some small way, that we could be doing something like that.   Magic players have all busted packs, and rejoiced when we open money. We could all dream of what it would be like to open Beta Power, or to draft a Beta Lightning Bolt.  But in this event, even if we imagine somehow qualifying, it wouldn’t matter. Even if you open something really nice, Wizards just takes it away after the draft. The event goes from being this chance to open amazing cards to something that feels a lot more like drafting a badly built cube. Making this event Wizards keeps the cards may likely be enough to keep me from tuning in. Stupid, stupid decision – unless, of course, Wizards could not afford not to have the offsetting tax write-off.   But if that is true, we are in trouble. 
 
The other problematic decision was to invite Hearthstone players. Sure, Kibler played Magic for a long time, and is now well known in the Hearthstone world. The same is true of Sivka and Amaz. Wizards should indeed create events to attract these players, and other celebrities, to play Magic. It’s important – but this is not the event for it.   This event will begin with a Rochester draft that will run probably close to two hours. Players will be opening cards that are outdated, do not represent Magic as it is now played. In many cases, these cards have been massively errataed, and some – the ante cards – cannot be played at all. Moreover, the limited play coming out of this draft will not be all that great. Early sets were not designed for limited, and that shows. The simple fact is that the nostalgia value of this event will be huge, but it will probably not be that exciting for non-enfranchised players. In many ways, this event will showcase some of the worst parts of Magic – slow drafts, boring limited play and – since this is a broadcast of a paper event – pretty much zero cool effects and flashing lights. It will not really appeal to the people who watch Kibler and Amaz play Hearthstone.
 
What Wizards should have done is split these events. They should have done a Rochester of old packs on camera for the enfranchised players and paced that with nostalgia. That would have been a great way to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of Magic. And then done a separate event featuring modern Magic packed with celebrities like Amaz and Kibler.
 
Here’s what I would have done. (Caveat – this would cost more. Maybe Wizards can’t afford it – and that’s sad.)
 
Event one: a Rochester draft, like that described in the Silver Showcase event. Streamed, and with a broadcast crew like the one that did GP Vegas. People like Aaron Forsythe – a long time Wizards R&D member who won Pro Tours back when these cards were legal in the event, and tells great stories when the action slows or people shuffle.   A coverage crew that really knows these cards.  
 
I would not make the event phantom. The players keep the cards. The reason we watch people opening old packs on YouTube is because we can imagine being that person. Making this phantom negates that whole aspect, and sucks. 
 
As for players, I am fine with the first four picks – the players with the highest lifetime pro points in each region. That’s totally reasonable, and the people that meet that criteria make sense on many levels. That leaves four picks.   Here’s who I would invite for the following slots.
 
Kai Budde: back when Kai put endless  hours into Magic, he was unstoppable. At his best, he was neck and neck with Finkle for best ever.   More importantly, Rochester draft used to be how Pro Tour Top 8s were played, and Kai has won more Pro Tour Rochester drafts than anyone else, ever.   He is a literal no-brainer – as was not inviting him to this event.
 
Randy Beuhler:  Randy was a dominant Pro Tour player, and would have racked up a much more impressive list of GP and PT wins had he kept playing.   However, following the debacle of combo winter, Wizards hired him to prevent disasters like Urza’s Saga. He did, as head of R&D and so forth for a decade. He would be playing on the Pro Tour now, but his wife still works for Wizards so he is not eligible to play in high-level sanctioned events. The Silver Showcase is not sanctioned, so he can play. Moreover, Randy has championed Old School Magic, and created the Super League series which has done a ton to popularize Eternal formats. Wizards should have said “thanks” to Randy by letting him crack old packs at this event.
 
LSV (or Marshal Sutcliffe?): This slot would honor a player for their contributions to content creation.   Limited Resources is one of the largest Magic podcasts, and it is aimed squarely at limited.  The Silver Showcase is a limited event, after all.  Inviting one of the hosts to participate would be a big thank you, as well as showing that Wizards appreciates content creators.  LSV is the best player, as well as being heavily invested in older formats. He is an obvious choice – but I could justify inviting Marshall, instead.   Marshall created Limited Resources, and if Wizards wanted to spread the love beyond pros and former pros, I would consider inviting him instead. One big reason for picking Marshal would be that then LSV could be in the booth, doing commentary. 
 
Chris Pikula:  Chris is another old pro player who drafted these sets. Chris was great then, and still plays.  He has just missed induction into the Pro Tour Hall of Fame many times. (in the years I had a HoF vote, I voted for him every time.) He not only knows the old cards and formats, but he also lead the fight to get cheaters out of the game. That was huge, and pretty much saved the Pro Tour back then. (I remember the bad old days, and knew at least one playtest group that had played in multiple PTs and Worlds that started playtest games with 8 cards in hand, because they knew they were going to draw extra cards early every game, so starting with 8 cards was just “easier.”)   Chris was also a content creator, mentor and all-around great guy. He also deserves to be part of something like the Silver Showcase.
 
Those would be my picks – but I could justify a dozen more players that would also be worthy of being invited to an event celebrating Magic’s creation.   It is really tough cutting the list to eight. 
 
And what about adding Richard Garfield to the list? That would change the vibe somewhat – but it would be interesting. Although, thinking about it, I would rather have him commenting on the event.  
 
As for the other event – I would invite the Hearthstone players, plus Dave Williams and some other poker pros, and a few other well-known streamers to play Magic Arena. I would also include other celebrities that play serious Magic – Pro Football players, Hollywood actors, etc.   The main criteria is name recognition in other fields. The secondary criteria is being able to play Magic passably well. They do not need to be pro-level players; just good enough to be able to put on a show. In fact, not mixing pros into the player pool will mean that you don’t humiliate the celebrities by having them trounced repeatedly. 
 
If Wizards wants the spectacle of having the players all together, they could bring computers to the Pro Tour. Wizards has done that before.  Then have the invitees play on Magic Arena. The tricky part would be figuring out the format.   If Arena supports eight player drafts with players drafting against each other, then do that.   If not, have the players battle using precon decks, or precons plus 50 assorted wildcards.  Anything – except giving the streamers special accounts with every card unlocked. The biggest problem, to me, with MTG Arena is unlocking cards, so giving streamers lots of everything will seem unfair, and give new players a totally unreasonable idea of what MTG Arena is.   Giving the competitors accounts with everything new players get, plus any precon decks sold in the store, plus 10 extra wildcards  in each rarity would breed creativity as well as presenting MTG Arena as it actually is.
 
That’s what I would do, if I was 1) in charge of that part of Wizards and 2) had just a couple hours during my commute to think this through.   If I actually was in that position, I would take more time. I just wish Wizards had as well.    
    
Cutting Edge Tech
Standard: Core Set 2019 cards are now legal in Standard, but the only results we have are from the previous Standard. Core Set 2019 becomes legal of paper play next Friday, so the first big Standard events will happen a week from tomorrow. So no updates until then, unless we get some interesting results from a Standard league before then.
 
Brawl: Since Brawl is also a Standard format, I’ll wait to feature decks once M19 cards are appearing in the decklists.
 
Pauper: Lots of blue in the Pauper Challenge last weekend, but a few other archetypes appeared.   
 
 
Modern: Over 1,500 players brought their Modern decks Barcelona. What they did not bring was sufficient graveyard hate. The results were – well, this:
 
 
Legacy: Gitaxian Probe and Deathrite Shaman are banned. This will shake up the metagame for Pro Tour M19, and elsewhere. These cards were still legal last weekend, so here is the top finishing deck that does not run either card.
 

 

 
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 mixed again this week. Without anything at the GP countering the dominance of Goblin Chainwhirler, people are down on the format.      
 

Standard Cards
Price
Last Week
Change
% Change
Carnage Tyrant
$12.86
$11.67
$1.19
10%
Chandra, Torch of Defiance
$9.36
$8.66
$0.70
8%
Hazoret the Fervent
$5.82
$5.59
$0.23
4%
Heart of Kiran
$4.44
$3.02
$1.42
47%
History of Benalia
$8.76
$9.07
($0.31)
-3%
Karn, Scion of Urza
$24.35
$24.32
$0.03
0%
Lyra Dawnbringer
$6.44
$8.12
($1.68)
-21%
Rekindling Phoenix
$23.03
$30.70
($7.67)
-25%
Search for Azcanta
$7.69
$6.06
$1.63
27%
Teferi, Hero of Dominaria
$22.77
$23.74
($0.97)
-4%
The Scarab God
$6.78
$8.66
($1.88)
-22%
Torrential Gearhulk
$4.73
$4.87
($0.14)
-3%
Vraska, Relic Seeker
$5.85
$6.04
($0.19)
-3%
Vraska's Contempt
$6.17
$8.02
($1.85)
-23%
Walking Ballista
$13.15
$11.30
$1.85
16%

Modern staples: Modern prices were mixed again this week. Overall, they appear to be climbing.  
 

Modern Cards
Price
Last Week
Change
% Change
$19.08
$19.08
$0.00
0%
$27.19
$25.16
$2.03
8%
$26.50
$25.43
$1.07
4%
$19.94
$19.23
$0.71
4%
$28.16
$24.53
$3.63
15%
$49.98
$47.39
$2.59
5%
$27.21
$30.09
($2.88)
-10%
$54.19
$51.56
$2.63
5%
$26.80
$25.46
$1.34
5%
$37.88
$32.53
$5.35
16%
$21.35
$21.36
($0.01)
0%
$38.39
$39.95
($1.56)
-4%
$37.92
$36.09
$1.83
5%
$55.27
$55.81
($0.54)
-1%
$27.65
$23.63
$4.02
17%
$26.58
$26.56
$0.02
0%
$30.98
$30.71
$0.27
1%
$17.33
$17.46
($0.13)
-1%

Legacy and Vintage: Legacy and Vintage prices continue to follow a very slow downward slide, like everything else. 
 

Legacy / Vintage Cards
Price
Last Week
Change
% Change
$29.73
$26.91
$2.82
10%
$25.68
$25.40
$0.28
1%
$15.47
$15.63
($0.16)
-1%
$14.29
$12.86
$1.43
11%
$31.21
$31.10
$0.11
0%
$31.17
$29.45
$1.72
6%
$14.72
$17.17
($2.45)
-14%
$32.54
$32.54
$0.00
0%
$14.00
$15.97
($1.97)
-12%
$52.29
$53.02
($0.73)
-1%
$13.54
$19.34
($5.80)
-30%
$30.01
$29.78
$0.23
1%
$20.16
$20.11
$0.05
0%

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).
 

Complete Set
Price
Last Week
Change
% Change
Aether Revolt
$57.24
$54.42
$2.82
5%
Amonkhet
$47.10
$48.02
($0.92)
-2%
Core Set 2019
coming
next
week
coming
Dominaria
$94.57
$97.68
($3.11)
-3%
Ixalan
$83.62
$83.90
($0.28)
0%
Hour of Devastation
$29.28
$29.27
$0.01
0%
Kaladesh
$40.55
$36.68
$3.87
11%
Rivals of Ixalan
$75.03
$80.42
($5.39)
-7%
Treasure Chest
$2.15
$2.20
($0.05)
-2%
Dominaria Booster
$2.33
$2.98
($0.65)
-22%

 
 
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 not seeing many changes over time. It is slightly smaller this week, but not a lot. 
 

Name
Set
Rarity
 Price
Black Lotus
 1E
Rare
 $   80.38
Mox Opal
 MM2
Mythic Rare
 $   59.97
Mox Opal
 SOM
Mythic Rare
 $   59.37
Horizon Canopy
 FUT
Rare
 $   55.81
Mox Opal
 MS2
Bonus
 $   55.27
Horizon Canopy
 IMA
Rare
 $   54.98
Horizon Canopy
 EXP
Mythic Rare
 $   54.19
True-Name Nemesis
 PZ1
Mythic Rare
 $   53.97
True-Name Nemesis
 C13
Rare
 $   52.29
Engineered Explosives
 5DN
Rare
 $   51.49
Engineered Explosives
 MMA
Rare
 $   51.31
Engineered Explosives
 MS2
Bonus
 $   49.98
Mox Sapphire
 1E
Rare
 $   45.80
Liliana of the Veil
 MM3
Mythic Rare
 $   40.49
Liliana of the Veil
 ISD
Mythic Rare
 $   38.39
Karn Liberated
 NPH
Mythic Rare
 $   38.13
Liliana, the Last Hope
 EMN
Mythic Rare
 $   37.92
Karn Liberated
 MM2
Mythic Rare
 $   37.88
Mox Emerald
 1E
Rare
 $   37.74
Mox Jet
 1E
Rare
 $   37.67
Dark Depths
 V16
Mythic Rare
 $   37.19
Mox Ruby
 1E
Rare
 $   36.77
Unmask
 V16
Mythic Rare
 $   36.68
Ancestral Recall
 1E
Rare
 $   36.58
Force of Will
 MED
Rare
 $   36.18
Misdirection
 MM
Rare
 $   32.54
Force of Will
 MS3
Special
 $   32.02
Force of Will
 EMA
Mythic Rare
 $   31.68
Surgical Extraction
 NPH
Rare
 $   31.56
Wasteland
 TE
Uncommon
 $   31.30
Exploration
 UZ
Rare
 $   31.21
Force of Will
 VMA
Rare
 $   31.17
Surgical Extraction
 MM2
Rare
 $   30.98
Ensnaring Bridge
 7E
Rare
 $   30.40
Mox Diamond
 TPR
Mythic Rare
 $   30.10
Ensnaring Bridge
 MS2
Bonus
 $   30.06
Unmask
 MM
Rare
 $   30.01
Scalding Tarn
 EXP
Mythic Rare
 $   30.00
Black Lotus
 VMA
Bonus
 $   29.73
City of Traitors
 EX
Rare
 $   29.72
Ensnaring Bridge
 ST
Rare
 $   29.62
Ensnaring Bridge
 8ED
Rare
 $   29.19
Noble Hierarch
 CON
Rare
 $   28.41
Collective Brutality
 EMN
Rare
 $   28.16
Jace, the Mind Sculptor
 WWK
Mythic Rare
 $   27.77
Noble Hierarch
 MM2
Rare
 $   27.65
Cavern of Souls
 AVR
Rare
 $   27.25
Ensnaring Bridge
 A25
Mythic Rare
 $   27.21
Cavern of Souls
 MM3
Mythic Rare
 $   27.19
Jace, the Mind Sculptor
 VMA
Mythic Rare
 $   27.11
Scalding Tarn
 MM3
Rare
 $   27.06
Jace, the Mind Sculptor
 EMA
Mythic Rare
 $   26.90
Jace, the Mind Sculptor
 A25
Mythic Rare
 $   26.80
Mox Diamond
 ST
Rare
 $   26.80
Underground Sea
 ME4
Rare
 $   26.78
Scalding Tarn
 ZEN
Rare
 $   26.58
Celestial Colonnade
 WWK
Rare
 $   26.50
Underground Sea
 ME2
Rare
 $   25.86
Time Walk
 1E
Rare
 $   25.83
Mox Pearl
 1E
Rare
 $   25.75
City of Traitors
 TPR
Rare
 $   25.68
Gorilla Shaman
 ALL
Common
 $   25.62

 
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 $ 17,260. That’s up $210 from last week, and does not include Core Set 2018 cards. 
 
In Closing
This weekend will be the Core Set 2019 paper prerelease. I expect I will be drafting Dominaria  at FNM, then doing M19 events all weekend. I may even be able to do some Core Set prelease leagues on MTGO between paper events.  
 
PRJ
 
“One Million Words” on MTGO 
 
This series is an ongoing tribute to Erik “Hamtastic” Friborg.
 

12 Comments

Limited leagues by Sensei at Fri, 07/06/2018 - 15:20
Sensei's picture

If you're reading this its probably too late but those leagues end TODAY

Pro Tour Minneapolis by Sensei at Fri, 07/06/2018 - 15:34
Sensei's picture

PT 25A should not be referred to as PT M19

- M19 will have few if any cards in Modern/Legacy decks
- There are no limited rounds

Very nice opinion section! PS by Cauchy at Fri, 07/06/2018 - 17:09
Cauchy's picture
5

Very nice opinion section!

PS a couple of weeks ago you meant the “median” not the “mode”.

re by Hearts at Fri, 07/06/2018 - 23:50
Hearts's picture
4

Wasnt one of those Pete Jahn names to get invite the one who fabricated wpn events with fake names in the old ELO-rating system to get invites to the pro tour ?

that was bob maher. by JXClaytor at Sat, 07/07/2018 - 01:18
JXClaytor's picture

that was bob maher.

re by Hearts at Sat, 07/07/2018 - 08:17
Hearts's picture

Yes.

In 2006, Maher was inducted into the Magic: The Gathering Hall of Fame as the vote leader in the Class of 2006.[7]
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Maher_Jr.

Thats what wotc do with cheaters in this game...

what is your point? by JXClaytor at Sat, 07/07/2018 - 18:15
JXClaytor's picture

what is your point?

re by Hearts at Sun, 07/08/2018 - 03:28
Hearts's picture

Yes, what is/are my point(s) ?

Ooh ooh lemme take a shot at by Paul Leicht at Sun, 07/08/2018 - 05:38
Paul Leicht's picture

Ooh ooh lemme take a shot at guessing this one:

1. the world is a terrible place, and everyone is out to get you.
2. Wizards are vile and evil schemers.
3. Watch out for the thief, he's in cahoots with the priest of mask to steal ALL of the cookies.

Did I miss any?

Oh wait there is 4. You want Pete Jahn's attention and he refuses to respond to your incessant trolling so you interact (reluctantly I imagine) with those who do, hoping to eventually elicit some response from Pete. Which is never coming because trolls don't get fed by the master.

There I think that covers them all.

I am a big fan of how I asked by JXClaytor at Sun, 07/08/2018 - 15:45
JXClaytor's picture

I am a big fan of how I asked what the point was and then was asked the same thing by them.

I struggle with things daily.

Rhetorical mind games. :/ But by Paul Leicht at Wed, 07/11/2018 - 03:33
Paul Leicht's picture

Rhetorical mind games. :/ But hey hope all is well on your end. I'm off twitter so haven't been keeping up.

Well said Paul Lecht. Still by MichelleWong at Tue, 07/10/2018 - 06:46
MichelleWong's picture
5

Well said Paul Leicht. Still smiling because of your checklist...