State of the Program for May 10th, 2023
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.
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's redemption period has started, and March of the Machine will start on May 17.
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.
Pro Tour March of the Machine: Nathan Steuer added a Pro Tour Championship to their already impressive Magic: The Gathering resume. Defeating Cain Rainhard in the final match of the tournament, Nathan and their Rakdos Midrange deck took down Azorius Soldiers and Five Color Ramp before defeating Rakdos Reanimator in the final. Team Handshake had four members in the top eight of the Pro Tour. You can see the coverage of the event here.
March of the Machine: Aftermath: The 50 card microset is slated to release on May 12th in paper and May 10th on MTGO! You can see the card gallery to the set here. Boosters will sell for $2.49 on the client, it is not designed for limited play. Extended art and retro versions of the cards will be in Treasure Chests, these will update on the 17th. Aftermath is not redeemable. The alternate-art uncommons in the set will be in Magic Online Player Rewards pack on June 1.
Standard Rotation: With an eye towards making Standard a viable format for local game stores again, Wizards of the Coast said on Sunday that the format will go on a three year rotation instead of a two year one. With Wilds of Eldraine, the rotation that normally would happen will not happen. You can read the reasoning for this change here, but they did say cards will have more longevity, mechanics and archetypes could be built better and better environment building. You can read the reasonings here. Alchemy will stay on a two year rotation.
Vintage Cube: Ryan Spain, the Creative Director for MTGO has an update for the Vintage Cube, which is the most popular format on MTGO. He takes over from Carmen Handy. It has been blown up though. Ryan shows the changes, explains why they were made and shows the new philosophies behind the card pool. You can check out the article here. 80 changes were made!
Patch Notes: You can check out the notes for this update here. Also note, the Sunday Standard Challenge has had issues firing, and will go back to a small (32-player) event structure this weekend.
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 MCQs each weekend, with qualifiers for limited MCQs running the days immediately prior to the MCQ.
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Upcoming Events
|
Dates
|
|
Scheduled Downtimes
|
May 3, 2023 |
|
Constructed Leagues End
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June 20, 2023
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Sealed Leagues End
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June 20, 2023 |
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:
Ongoing - Vintage Cube Phantom
May 13 - Pauper Showcase Challenge
May 14 - Legacy Showcase Challenge
May 24 - Invasion Block Phantom
May 31 - Tempest Remastered Phantom
June 7 - Battle of the Planes Phantom
June 14 - Lord of the Rings Release
Magic Online Format ChallengesThese are high stakes events that happen every weekend. They cost 30 Tix / 300 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:
We are taking at look at the top eight of Pro Tour March of the Machine this week. Every deck in the top eight is represented here with Team Handshake's Rakdos Midrange taking four slots.
Rakdos Midrange:
Rakdos Reanimator:
5 Color Ramp:
Orzhov Midrange:
Azorius Soldiers:
The Winner's Circle is where I will recognize winners of the past events on MTGO.
Challenge Winners
Friday Modern - Yumas2 - Green Tron
Saturday Legacy - perez - Mono White Initiative
Saturday Modern - ls149950 - Hardened Scales Aggro
Saturday Modern - BlaQout - Amulit
Saturday Pauper - immvp - Orzhov Initiative
Saturday Pioneer - NJAMTG - Enigmatic Fires
Saturday Standard - Arianne - Rakdos Breach
Saturday Vintage - TaJoordan
Sunday Legacy - Sahakvic - Izzet Delver
Sunday Modern - christiano - Rakdos Scam
Sunday Pauper - Leobertucci - Golgari Initiative
Sunday Pioneer - NHA37 - Temur Creativity
Sunday Standard - Kritik - Domain Ramp
Sunday Vintage - Cherryxman
Other Event Winners
Standard Qualifier
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:
Teferi,Temporal Pilgrim
came off the list this week. We added a handful of new cards from March of the Machine to the list this week.
Modern Staples:
Magus of the Moon
set.
Eternal Staples:
Avenging Hunter
,
Kenku Artificer
and
Goliath Paladin
all came off the list this week.
Seasoned Dungeoneer
and
Caves of Chaos Adventurer
took their place.
Exploration
is also off the list.
Pioneer Staples:
Arclight Phoenix
came off the list.
Blightstep Pathway
is back on the list!
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 |
$141.58 |
$138.86 |
$2.72 |
2% |
| Dominaria United |
$110.88 |
$108.93 |
$1.95 |
2% |
| Innistrad: Crimson Vow |
$61.83 |
$62.38 |
($0.55) |
-1% |
| Innistrad: Midnight Hunt |
$92.62 |
$88.73 |
$3.89 |
4% |
| Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty |
$136.88 |
$124.27 |
$12.61 |
10% |
| March of the Machine |
$210.46 |
$201.09 |
$9.37 |
5% |
| March of the Machine Booster |
$2.97 |
$3.24 |
($0.27) |
-8% |
| Phyrexia: All Will Be One |
$289.23 |
$276.44 |
$12.79 |
5% |
| Streets of New Capenna |
$57.91 |
$55.07 |
$2.84 |
5% |
| Treasure Chest Booster |
$2.34 |
$2.32 |
$0.02 |
1% |
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 |
241.49 |
| Mox Jet |
1E |
Rare |
108 |
| Ancestral Recall |
1E |
Rare |
93.05 |
| Atraxa, Grand Unifier |
ONE |
Mythic |
74.62 |
| Time Walk |
1E |
Rare |
71.85 |
| Mox Sapphire |
1E |
Rare |
66.9 |
| Mox Emerald |
1E |
Rare |
57.16 |
| Mox Pearl |
1E |
Rare |
54.17 |
| Liliana of the Veil |
UBT |
Mythic |
53.49 |
| Fable of the Mirror-Breaker |
NEO |
Rare |
52.9 |
| Mox Ruby |
1E |
Rare |
49.24 |
| Force of Will |
MED |
Rare |
49.18 |
| Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth |
UBT |
Mythic |
44.03 |
| Cavern of Souls |
UBT |
Mythic |
43.68 |
| Karakas |
UBT |
Mythic |
43.11 |
| Atraxa, Grand Unifier |
ONE |
Promo |
42.63 |
| Aether Gale |
C14 |
Rare |
39.97 |
| Demonic Tutor |
UBT |
Mythic |
38.79 |
| Cityscape Leveler |
BRO |
Mythic |
36.67 |
| Dark Depths |
UBT |
Mythic |
36.05 |
| Wasteland |
ZNE |
Mythic |
34.84 |
| Brazen Borrower |
ELD |
Mythic |
34.48 |
| Pramikon, Sky Rampart |
C19 |
Mythic |
33.83 |
| Timetwister |
1E |
Rare |
33.56 |
| Snapcaster Mage |
UBT |
Mythic |
32.7 |
| Boseiju, Who Endures |
NEO |
Rare |
32.24 |
| Flooded Strand |
ZNE |
Mythic |
31.5 |
| Kozilek, Butcher of Truth |
UBT |
Mythic |
31.43 |
| Sheoldred, the Apocalypse |
ONE |
Promo |
30.59 |
| Sheoldred, the Apocalypse |
DMU |
Mythic |
30.43 |
| Gaea's Cradle |
UZ |
Rare |
29.62 |
| Urza's Saga |
MH2 |
Rare |
29.06 |
| Mox Diamond |
TPR |
Mythic |
28.08 |
| Karn, the Great Creator |
WAR |
Rare |
27.5 |
| Breath of Fire |
PZ2 |
Common |
26.55 |
| Jace, the Mind Sculptor |
MS4 |
Mythic |
26.33 |
| Staff of the Storyteller |
ONC |
Rare |
25.99 |
| Cavalier of Thorns |
M20 |
Mythic |
25.33 |
| Staff of the Storyteller |
ONC |
Promo |
25.1 |
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.
I might be taking next week off, I might not be! Make sure to check the site!
This series is an ongoing tribute to Erik “Hamtastic” Friborg.
