State of the Program for October 7th, 2022
Modern Cube: *From last week* Carmen Handy and Aaron Sorrells have a look at the newest build of the Modern Cube here. You can see the changes and full card list here.
The Brothers' War: *From last week with new information* Previews for the set started Thursday, and you can see the card gallery here. Urza and Mishra lead Commander Decks this set. A subset, like Expeditions on the Mystical Archive exists for Artifacts. Lodestone Golem and Wurmcoil Engine lead the way so far. The basic lands in the set feature Mechs. Meld also makes a return to the game. Cards based on the Transformers franchise of animated shows and toys will be in the set as well. You can see the Transformers cards here.
MOCS Season 2 Showcase: 8 Magic Online players battle for $70,000 and invites to the World Championship. There will be coverage of this Modern Cube and Pioneer event on twitch and you can read the Viewer's Guide here.
30th Anniversary Information: A whole lot of stuff came out this week, some, like the 30th Anniversary Edition, social media hated. Others, like the Secret Lair Countdown, others loved. Let's break it down as best as one can. 30th Anniversary Edition is a reprint set inspired by Beta. It is, in Wizards of the Coasts words a "commemorative, collectible, non-tournament-legal product celebrating 30 years of Magic." It goes on sale on November 29th, from 30thEdition.wizards.com and costs 999. In this display you get 4 packs of 15 cards, 13 of these cards are in the modern frame, and two cards are in the retro frame. You also get a token. You can read product information here, and see the card image gallery here. These will not be coming to MTGO.
In addition to this product, we got the list of play promos, Loyal Retainers, Exalted Angel, Chord of Calling, Tarmogoyf (in the Future Sight frame in Japanese!) (Beast Whisperer) and (Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose) highlight the promos. You can see the full list, and what set they are associated with here.
New Releases: Dominaria Remastered got new information, Shadows over Innistrad Remastered was announced for Arena, and the 30th Anniversary Countdown Secret Lair will be available on November 1st for 149.99. Universes Beyond is getting some new properties as well. Joining The Walking Dead, Stranger Things, Arcane, Street Fighter, Fortnite, Warhammer 40k, Transformers, Lord of the Rings, Doctor Who, will be Post Malone, Final Fantasy and Assassin's Creed. It is unknown how those cards will appear, be it a full set, Commander decks, or Secret Lairs.
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
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Dates
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Scheduled Downtimes
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October 18, 2022 |
Constructed Leagues End
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Ends November 16, 2022
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Sealed Leagues End
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Ends November 17, 2022 |
Next B&R
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Unknown
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New Capenna Redemption
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Ends October 12, 2022
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Dominaria United Redemption
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September 28th
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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 - Modern Cube
October 12 - Chaos Draft
October 19 -
CubeCon Cartographia
October 26 - Carmen Handy's Magic 30 Cube
November 2 - Innistrad Flashback
November 9 - Throne of Eldraine
Magic Online Format Challenges
These 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:
Standard: Willy Edel's Domain deck looks like it's a lot of fun.
Leyline Binding and
Herd Migration appear to be the big Domain payoffs, but I would argue making it easier to cast
Tear Asunder or
Unleash the Inferno for their full value is better. The Standard format seems to be all about
Fable of the Mirror-Breaker and
Wedding Announcement, so having as many ways to take care of them while also taking care of creatures is great.
Pauper: It looks like Cawgate is evolving to a Boros Shell. I'm not sure if
Rally the Peasants is better, but it's important to note the deck change as a new version comes up and ditches blue.
Pioneer: Edel was going to be featured again this column with a sweet
Red Green aggro deck, but instead, this
Bard Class list from the Super Qualifier is getting the spot instead. It just looks so cool and it's been a while since we last saw the enchantment in the format!
4 Gallia of the Endless Dance
1 Grumgully, the Generous
1 Klothys, God of Destiny
1 Oviya Pashiri, Sage Lifecrafter
1 Radha, Heart of Keld
3 Zurgo Bellstriker
3 Domri, Anarch of Bolas
1 Domri, Chaos Bringer
4 Xenagos, the Reveler
4 Oath of Nissa
4 Mox Amber
2 Forest
4 Karplusan Forest
3 Mountain
4 Stomping Ground
4 Bard Class
4 Birgi, God of Storytelling |
1 Boseiju, Who Endures
4 Cragcrown Pathway
1 Esika's Chariot
1 Lair of the Hydra
1 Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance
4 Targ Nar, Demon-Fang Gnoll
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The Winner's Circle is where I will recognize winners of the past events on MTGO.
Challenge Winners
Saturday Legacy - tarksar1990
Saturday Modern - Arrias - Living End
Saturday Pauper - cicciogire - Dimir Terror
Saturday Pioneer - HippoxDragon - Abzan Greasefang
Saturday Standard - Misplacedginger - Rakdos Mid
Saturday Vintage - GGoggles
Sunday Legacy - John1111 - Izzet Delver
Sunday Modern - _StN_ - Izzet Murktide
Sunday Pauper - INSIST - Boros Cawgate
Sunday Pioneer - Super Qualifier
Sunday Standard - Bryzem1 - Esper Midrange
Sunday Vintage - kasa
Other Event Winners
Pioneer Qualifier
Pauper Super Qualifier
Pioneer Super Quailifer
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:
Modern Staples:
Eternal Staples:
Pioneer Staples:
Pauper Staples: The prices of
Snuff Out, no matter the set are absurd.
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 |
Dominaria United |
$139.66 |
$138.54 |
$1.12 |
1% |
Dominaria United Booster |
$3.16 |
$3.21 |
($0.05) |
-2% |
Innistrad: Crimson Vow |
$89.39 |
$81.74 |
$7.65 |
9% |
Innistrad: Midnight Hunt |
$206.93 |
$207.81 |
($0.88) |
0% |
Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty |
$190.07 |
$182.48 |
$7.59 |
4% |
Streets of New Capenna |
$125.51 |
$125.60 |
($0.09) |
0% |
Treasure Chest |
$2.42 |
$2.56 |
($0.14) |
-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.
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 $27,033.
I spent a lot of time on Magic Spellslingers this week, almost ten hours on the game. It's everything I wanted Arena to be. Fun, fast paced, unique gameplay set in the Magic Universe, but not a fancy redoing of the paper game. It's closer to Eternal and Hearthstone than anything else. The characters and voice acting are full of flair and personality. The only real flaw that I can think of is the crafting system, which does have you leaning on teammates to get the most out of it. It's free to play, and something you should really check out.
This series is an ongoing tribute to Erik “Hamtastic” Friborg.