State of the Program for May 31st, 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, and March of the Machine.
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.
Bans: Fable of the Mirror-Breaker
, Invoke Despair
and Reckoner Bankbuster
were banned from the Standard format on Monday. Remember the new goal for bannings in on a once a year schedule, and will happen before previews for the fall set begin. In addition there will be a banned and rescricted update on the third Monday after a set release. The next update to the list is set to happen on August 7th, and you can read the artile about the banning here.
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.
Lord of the Rings: The previews for the next set, Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-Earth have started after the weekly Twitch show did a deep dive on the mechanics and previews of the cards. This set will be Modern legal, and on June 13th Daybreak will have an article telling us what will be on MTGO. You can check out the mechanics article here, and the galleries for regular, variant and commander cards as well!
All-Access: Starts on the 31 and lasts until June 14th. There will be two super qualifiers and four showcase challenges during the token's life! In addition, top 16 players and players that complete the swiss portion of the event with an x-2 record will get a set of Aftermath, and those in the top 4 will get a premium set!
Patch Notes: You can check out the notes for this update here.
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
|
June 14, 2023 or earlier |
|
Constructed Leagues End
|
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 - Invasion Block Phantom
June 2 - Legacy Super Qualifier
June 3 - Modern Showcast Challenge
June 4 - Pioneer Showcase Challenge
June 7 - Tempest Remastered Phantom
June 14 - Battle of the Planes Phantom
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:
I was never great. I had streaks, but as I look back on my travels and events, I was a local scene end boss. I was never really a threat to do well on the Pro Tour, or Grand Prix. I was at my best in PTQs, and there is nothing wrong with being that low end boss.
It was just never what I wanted.
The road trips that look back fondly at are through rose colored glasses. We had 8 people in a hotel room in Boston. 10 in a hotel room in Columbus that we didn't get kicked out of because I had a mutual crush on the hotel's live in manager. We sleep head to toe in beds, and wear out copies of Linkin Park CDs on the way to and from events.
I almost peed in a bottle in the cramped back seat of a car in Nashville. We were running late and couldn't stop like civilized people. My friend Jacob got a really bad sunburn on the way to a Champions block constructed GP in Minnesota and somewhere in Iowa we stopped at a truck stop, him hurting and slathering aloe all over his burned arm look for relief in the middle of the aisle.
That bottle was not paid for and put back on the shelf.
Grand Prix Atlanta, at Dragon Con, my boss got in to a wreck on the way back to the hotel, and a Gen Con ended with me selling my collection, quitting my job in Owensboro and going back home because I was so lonely in the city. It was the only time I truly lived by myself and it was misery to me.
I'm not sure what I'm doing now. It felt like the goal for competitive play was to make it to the Pro Tour, but with my damaged brain, and motion sickness and huge dislike for travel now, getting invites for RCs seems like a bit of a waste. I guess I could, in theory, sell the slot, but I'm not confident I would make it that far now anyways.
The game has gotten faster, and I've built a ton of Commander decks featuring Universes Beyond characters. Yeah you might top 2 your RCQ, but have you ever cast Rick, Steadfast Leader and won against your New York friends on Spelltable?
Checkmate, grinders!
Standard: Due to the bannings I won't be running a deck for Standard this week! Let's see how the format goes from here!
Legacy: ManaTraders monthly series is Legacy this month. I have no relationship with that format, and have never really had one, but this is probably what I would play, mainly because I already own most of it. Thanks commander collection!
Modern: One Part Rakdos, one part Rakdos Sacrifice, this deck looks like it could be super fun!
Pauper:
Pioneer:
The Winner's Circle is where I will recognize winners of the past events on MTGO.
Challenge Winners
Friday Modern - Nammersquats - Izzet Underworld Breach
Saturday Legacy - aslidsiksoraksi - Lands
Saturday Modern - HouseOfManaMTG - Izzet Underworld Breach
Saturday Modern - Xerk - Yawgmoth Counters
Saturday Pauper - Leobertucci - Golgari Initiative
Saturday Pioneer - Sunbird17 - Hidden Strings
Saturday Standard - Rohzhey - Mardu Midrange
Saturday Vintage - vwxyza648204
Sunday Legacy - MahfuzVanGogh - Dredge
Sunday Modern - LasVegasChaos - HammerTime
Sunday Pauper - Videgain - Dimir Ninjas
Sunday Pioneer - Diem4x - Rakdos Midrange
Sunday Standard - Solidsnake408 - Azorius Soldiers
Sunday Vintage - Fantaman95
Other Event Winners
Pioneer Qualifier
Limited Super 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: Fable of the Mirror-Breaker is now on the Pioneer list.
| Standard Cards |
Price |
Last Week |
Change |
% Change |
Cityscape Leveler |
$32.81 |
$33.34 |
-$0.53 |
-2% |
Portal to Phyrexia |
$6.88 |
$6.92 |
-$0.04 |
-1% |
Titania, Voice of Gaea |
$6.80 |
$6.77 |
$0.03 |
0% |
One with the Multiverse |
$8.33 |
$8.32 |
$0.01 |
0% |
The Stone Brain |
$7.17 |
$7.62 |
-$0.45 |
-6% |
Leyline Binding |
$17.58 |
$18.46 |
-$0.88 |
-5% |
Liliana of the Veil |
$5.51 |
$5.67 |
-$0.16 |
-3% |
Sheoldred, the Apocalypse |
$25.75 |
$27.75 |
-$2.00 |
-7% |
Serra Paragon |
$4.74 |
$4.99 |
-$0.25 |
-5% |
Nissa, Resurgent Animist |
$66.36 |
$56.49 |
$9.87 |
17% |
Ob Nixilis, Captive Kingpin |
$10.94 |
$15.07 |
-$4.13 |
-27% |
Memory Deluge |
$20.44 |
$13.72 |
$6.72 |
49% |
Brutal Cathar |
$10.55 |
$12.24 |
-$1.69 |
-14% |
Adeline, Resplendent Cathar |
$7.01 |
|
|
|
Invasion of Gobakhan |
$11.62 |
$19.61 |
-$7.99 |
-41% |
Knight-Errant of Eos |
$8.86 |
$15.95 |
-$7.09 |
-44% |
Faerie Mastermind |
$8.28 |
$8.76 |
-$0.48 |
-5% |
Wrenn and Realmbreaker |
$4.46 |
$7.60 |
-$3.14 |
-41% |
Sheoldred |
$6.81 |
$11.63 |
-$4.82 |
-41% |
Invasion of Tarkir |
$10.76 |
$8.68 |
$2.08 |
24% |
Urabrask |
$6.20 |
$6.04 |
$0.16 |
3% |
Elesh Norn |
$6.52 |
$6.82 |
-$0.30 |
-4% |
Boseiju, Who Endures |
$27.86 |
$28.84 |
-$0.98 |
-3% |
Otawara, Soaring City |
$12.18 |
$12.11 |
$0.07 |
1% |
The Wandering Emperor |
$10.28 |
$9.40 |
$0.88 |
9% |
March of Otherworldly Light |
$5.38 |
$5.42 |
-$0.04 |
-1% |
Atraxa, Grand Unifier |
$43.01 |
$50.45 |
-$7.44 |
-15% |
Elesh Norn, Mother of Machines |
$7.79 |
$6.85 |
$0.94 |
14% |
Jace, the Perfected Mind |
$7.27 |
$6.20 |
$1.07 |
17% |
Ledger Shredder |
$7.83 |
$8.17 |
-$0.34 |
-4% |
Unlicensed Hearse |
$10.59 |
$11.56 |
-$0.97 |
-8% |
Raffine, Scheming Seer |
$4.12 |
$2.56 |
$1.56 |
61% |
Stormcarved Coast |
$13.10 |
$12.04 |
$1.06 |
9% |
Wedding Announcement |
$31.36 |
$24.94 |
$6.42 |
26% |
Modern Staples:
Lord of Atlantis
has swum back on to the list.
Eternal Staples: A handful of popular Baldur's Gate cards are back on the list this week!
Pioneer Staples:
Tasha's Hideous Laughter
and
Bonecrusher Giant
came off 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 |
$122.44 |
$127.57 |
($5.13) |
-4% |
| Dominaria United |
$99.15 |
$101.64 |
($2.49) |
-2% |
| Innistrad: Crimson Vow |
$88.93 |
$80.25 |
$8.68 |
11% |
| Innistrad: Midnight Hunt |
$102.63 |
$99.95 |
$2.68 |
3% |
| Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty |
$111.10 |
$112.81 |
($1.71) |
-2% |
| March of the Machine |
$194.36 |
$214.36 |
($20.00) |
-9% |
| March of the Machine Booster |
$3.29 |
$3.16 |
$0.13 |
4% |
| Phyrexia: All Will Be One |
$239.80 |
$238.35 |
$1.45 |
1% |
| Streets of New Capenna |
$50.60 |
$47.94 |
$2.66 |
6% |
| Treasure Chest Booster |
$2.28 |
$2.41 |
($0.13) |
-5% |
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 |
238.32 |
| Mox Jet |
1E |
Rare |
107.18 |
| Ancestral Recall |
1E |
Rare |
93.05 |
| Time Walk |
1E |
Rare |
69.23 |
| Nissa, Resurgent Animist |
MAT |
Mythic |
66.36 |
| Mox Sapphire |
1E |
Rare |
65.74 |
| Mox Emerald |
1E |
Rare |
59.78 |
| Mox Pearl |
1E |
Rare |
54.17 |
| Liliana of the Veil |
UBT |
Mythic |
53.49 |
| Nissa, Resurgent Animist |
MAT |
Promo |
51.58 |
| Mox Ruby |
1E |
Rare |
49.67 |
| Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth |
UBT |
Mythic |
44.34 |
| Cavern of Souls |
UBT |
Mythic |
43.68 |
| Karakas |
UBT |
Mythic |
43.62 |
| Atraxa, Grand Unifier |
ONE |
Mythic |
43.01 |
| Force of Will |
MED |
Rare |
39.36 |
| Demonic Tutor |
UBT |
Mythic |
38.79 |
| Dark Depths |
UBT |
Mythic |
36.05 |
| Pramikon, Sky Rampart |
C19 |
Mythic |
34.72 |
| Timetwister |
1E |
Rare |
34.59 |
| Wasteland |
ZNE |
Mythic |
34.53 |
| Aether Gale |
C14 |
Rare |
33.82 |
| Cityscape Leveler |
BRO |
Mythic |
32.81 |
| Snapcaster Mage |
UBT |
Mythic |
32.7 |
| Flooded Strand |
ZNE |
Mythic |
32.18 |
| Kozilek, Butcher of Truth |
UBT |
Mythic |
31.43 |
| Wedding Announcement |
VOW |
Rare |
31.36 |
| Gaea's Cradle |
UZ |
Rare |
31.35 |
| Urza's Saga |
MH2 |
Rare |
31.29 |
| Fable of the Mirror-Breaker |
NEO |
Rare |
31.08 |
| Staff of the Storyteller |
ONC |
Rare |
28.04 |
| Boseiju, Who Endures |
NEO |
Rare |
27.86 |
| Sheoldred, the Apocalypse |
ONE |
Promo |
27.47 |
| Breath of Fire |
PZ2 |
Common |
26.55 |
| Volcanic Island |
ME3 |
Rare |
26.36 |
| Blightstep Pathway |
KHM |
Rare |
26.11 |
| Sheoldred, the Apocalypse |
DMU |
Mythic |
25.75 |
| Mox Diamond |
TPR |
Mythic |
25.7 |
| Jace, the Mind Sculptor |
MS4 |
Mythic |
25.14 |
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 started writing some recaps and strategy content on my personal site. I was feeling really burned out in regards to Magic writing, and needed to write some stuff that I wanted to, what I was used to, what I did. I like State of the Program but this was Erik's and Pete's long before it was mine. I'm not doing a good job for them, but I'm trying at least?
This series is an ongoing tribute to Erik “Hamtastic” Friborg.
