State of the Program for May 15th, 2020
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.
Upcoming Events
|
Dates
|
Scheduled Downtimes
|
May 27, 2020 |
Constructed Leagues End
|
June 24, 2020
|
Sealed Leagues End
|
June 25, 2020 |
Next B&R Announcement
|
Unknown
|
Theros: Beyond Death Redeem
|
Ends June 3, 2020
|
Ikoria Redemption
|
Starts May 13, 2020
|
Core Set 2021
|
Third Quarter 2020
|
Zendikar Rising
|
Fourth Quarter 2020
|
|
|
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:
Nothing special this week!
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:
Last week I said the companion of the week would be
Zirda, the Dawnwaker, and while it's not as broken as
Lurrus of the Dream-Den, it does allow you to do some super broken things, much like Lurrus does. In Standard and Pioneer, it makes cycling cards cheaper, which has helped lead to new decks in the formats. In Modern and Legacy it makes combos easier to pull off by making activated abilities a bit cheaper. You can see some of these new decks here!
Standard: Pretty sure that the cycling deck wants Lurrus, but Zirda isn't the worst companion to have here.
Legacy: I've played Magic since 1994, and it's 2020, and I still just have a very basic understanding of how Bomberman works. I'm 100% sure I've posted an article on this very site that explained how it works, and I have just forgotten how it did. I think it's something about sacing
Lion's Eye Diamond and bringing it back with
Auriok Salvagers to net 1 mana each activation and I reckon with Zirda, you net 2 now, but I don't know how the deck wins.
Modern: Zirda seems to want to be in combo shells, as Legacy and Modern have showed us here.
Pauper: I love companions so much and I want to start a petition to make other creature's companions with errata.
Delver of Secrets would be dope as one, maybe with a restriction of only have spells in your deck.
I don't know, I don't get paid to make cards, so it's probably way to good as a companion.
Pioneer: I asked Twitter if there was a cycling deck in Pioneer one day last weekend, and then went to mtggoldfish.com, and saw that there was indeed a cycling deck in Pioneer!
Vintage: I don't think Lurrus is long for Vintage. I have no idea how they are going to handle it in the format, but I look forward to seeing it's solution.
The Winner's Circle is where I will recognize winners of the past events on MTGO.
Challenge Winners
Saturday Legacy - TKC55 - Bant Snow
Saturday Modern - AvacadoToast - Lurrus Jund
Saturday Pauper - Leobertucci - Mono Black Control
Saturday Pioneer - wordy333 - Abzan Rally
Saturday Standard - kthanakit - Azorius Yorion
Saturday Vintage - ziofrancone
Sunday Legacy - silviawataru - Grixis Delver
Sunday Modern - Saviall - Green Tron
Sunday Pauper - Gabc - Affinity
Sunday Pioneer - RCMerriam - Abzan Rally
Sunday Standard - DeepFryer - Boros Cycling
Sunday Vintage - Ownforlife
Other Event Winners
Sealed Super Qualifier - bistromathtician and Poppi
Sealed MOCS - C_E.L
Sealed MOCS - Gerardo94
Modern Super Qualifier - In5ano and Slatorade
Sealed Super Qualifier - GoDennison and Moforino
Pioneer Super Qualifier - TheSaberVault and MindOfAKid
MTGOTraders YouTube: Did you know that MTGOTraders.com has a YouTube page with videos added Monday, Wednesday and Friday? Well if not, now you do, and you can find it here!
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:
Standard Cards |
Price |
Last Week |
Change |
% Change |
Brazen Borrower |
$20.97 |
$21.97 |
($1.00) |
-5% |
Korvold, Fae-Cursed King |
$5.65 |
$5.59 |
$0.06 |
1% |
Questing Beast |
$5.68 |
$6.10 |
($0.42) |
-7% |
Alela, Artful Provocateur |
$6.24 |
$6.19 |
$0.05 |
1% |
Chulane, Teller of Tales |
$5.24 |
$5.25 |
($0.01) |
0% |
Fabled Passage |
$13.52 |
$12.04 |
$1.48 |
12% |
Bonecrusher Giant |
$7.02 |
$5.60 |
$1.42 |
25% |
The Great Henge |
$5.37 |
$5.77 |
($0.40) |
-7% |
Assassin's Trophy |
$8.69 |
$8.90 |
($0.21) |
-2% |
Fiend Artisan |
$23.65 |
$16.98 |
$6.67 |
39% |
Vivien, Monsters' Advocate |
$6.36 |
|
|
|
Lurrus of the Dream Den |
$3.95 |
$6.65 |
($2.70) |
-41% |
Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy |
$5.60 |
$6.52 |
($0.92) |
-14% |
General Kudro of Drannith |
$6.78 |
$8.42 |
($1.64) |
-19% |
Lukka, Coppercoat Outcast |
$18.03 |
$19.43 |
($1.40) |
-7% |
Chandra, Awakened Inferno |
$12.63 |
$11.19 |
$1.44 |
13% |
Leyline of the Void |
$7.40 |
$6.60 |
$0.80 |
12% |
Vivien, Arkbow Ranger |
$8.28 |
$9.81 |
($1.53) |
-16% |
Yarok, the Desecrated |
$5.67 |
$5.29 |
$0.38 |
7% |
Cavalier of Flame |
$5.83 |
$6.98 |
($1.15) |
-16% |
Lotus Field |
$7.23 |
$11.26 |
($4.03) |
-36% |
Kaya, Orzhov Usurper |
$5.69 |
$5.37 |
$0.32 |
6% |
Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath |
$55.24 |
$53.89 |
$1.35 |
3% |
Heliod, Sun-Crowned |
$7.57 |
$7.90 |
($0.33) |
-4% |
Kroxa, Titan of Death's Hunger |
$17.10 |
$19.56 |
($2.46) |
-13% |
Klothys, God of Destiny |
$6.25 |
$5.66 |
$0.59 |
10% |
Teferi, Time Raveler |
$46.28 |
$53.74 |
($7.46) |
-14% |
Finale of Devastation |
$15.83 |
$13.24 |
$2.59 |
20% |
Karn, the Great Creator |
$26.83 |
$21.41 |
$5.42 |
25% |
Dreadhorde Arcanist |
$14.24 |
$15.10 |
($0.86) |
-6% |
Blast Zone |
$12.97 |
$12.96 |
$0.01 |
0% |
Niv-Mizzet Reborn |
$5.04 |
$5.16 |
($0.12) |
-2% |
Modern Staples:
Eternal Staples:
Pioneer Staples: The best enchantment ever printed,
Demonic Pact has finally made 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 Week |
Change |
% Change |
Core Set 2020 |
$206.50 |
$200.58 |
$5.92 |
3% |
Guilds of Ravnica |
$51.65 |
$52.92 |
($1.27) |
-2% |
Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths |
$110.16 |
$109.65 |
$0.51 |
0% |
Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths Booster |
$3.28 |
$3.23 |
$0.05 |
2% |
Modern Horizons |
$334.91 |
$324.14 |
$10.77 |
3% |
Ravnica Allegiances |
$59.30 |
$61.45 |
($2.15) |
-3% |
Theros Beyond Death |
$128.46 |
$128.65 |
($0.19) |
0% |
Throne of Eldraine |
$136.79 |
$133.61 |
$3.18 |
2% |
Treasure Chest |
$2.30 |
$2.24 |
$0.06 |
3% |
War of the Spark |
$171.59 |
$174.09 |
($2.50) |
-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.
Nevermind, ignore all of that, Pete got it done for me, because he is just the dang best. The big number this week is $25,450. Last week it was $25,095. We've got another increase, this time of 355. Super cool!
Some events on mtgmelee.com, some more Animal Crossing, not much really happened this week, I just floated, and that's not really a good thing I guess. Looking forward to CapeFearGames FNM on mtgmelee tonight!
This series is an ongoing tribute to Erik “Hamtastic” Friborg.