State of the Program for September 10th, 2021

By: JXClaytor, Joshua Claytor
Sep 10 2021 11:00am

919 views

State of the Program for September 10th, 2021

In the News

MTGO Convention Series: This as well as the All Access Token, returns on September 15th. These events have a 56 player cap, and I saw a fair number of them actually reach the cap during the last one.

Pauper Ban: Chatterstorm and Sojourner's Companion were removed from the Pauper format on Wednesday. You can see the reasoning for that here.

Preliminary events: The Prelims for Standard and Pauper haven't fired in a while, so they are being cancelled until further notice.

Innistrad: Midnight Hunt Previews: The preview season is ramping down, right before we ramp back up for Crimson Vow! You can check out the card galleries here and here.

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 MCQs each weekend, with qualifiers for limited MCQs running the days immediately prior to the MCQ.

Upcoming Events	Dates
Scheduled Downtimes	September 15th, 2021
Constructed Leagues End	Ends September 14th, 2021
Sealed Leagues End	Ends September 15th, 2021
Next B&R	Unknown
D&D Redemption	Begins August 11, 2021

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:

Pioneer Chaos Drafts - Until downtime

Modern Horizons 2 - Until downtime

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:

TIME (PT)	SATURDAY	SUNDAY
12:00 a.m.		Vintage Challenge
2:00 a.m.	Pauper Challenge
4:00 a.m.	Legacy Challenge	Modern Challenge
6:00 a.m.	Standard Challenge	Pioneer Challenge
8:00 a.m.	Modern Challenge	Legacy Challenge
10:00 a.m.	Vintage Challenge	Pauper Challenge
2:00 p.m.	Pioneer Challenge	Standard Challenge

Cutting Edge Tech

This week I am going over Standard 2022 decks because the set comes out next week and this will gives us a decent enough start to the new season post rotation. I never really got a chance to talk about the cards I am gonna miss when they rotate, but that's okay, there may not have been enough for a proper section. I'm not gonna miss much.

Izzet Dragons: Dragons were basically already established in the format before rotation, and they didn't lose much with the sets that do go. This should be a player in the early days of the format.

Izzet Dragons

by Richard Nguyen

2 Disdainful Stroke

6 Island

7 Mountain

4 Alrund's Epiphany

1 Behold the Multiverse

1 Crush the Weak

2 Den of the Bugbear

4 Dragon's Fire

4 Expressive Iteration

2 Galazeth Prismari

4 Goldspan Dragon

2 Hall of Storm Giants

2 Inferno of the Star Mounts

2 Iymrith, Desert Doom

4 Prismari Command

4 Riverglide Pathway

1 Saw It Coming

2 Sea Gate Restoration

2 Shatterskull Smashing

3 Spikefield Hazard

1 Surtland Frostpyre

Sideboard:
2 Disdainful Stroke

4 Negate

3 Burning Hands

2 Crush the Weak

2 Thundering Rebuke

2 Wandering Archaic

Golgari Learn: My friend and teammate came up with this, and it's not to bad. I'm not sure it will have legs post rotation, but it might!

Golgari Learn

by LordDrakewater

6 Forest

12 Swamp

2 Baleful Mastery

4 Darkbore Pathway

4 Eyetwitch

2 Feed the Swarm

3 Hunt for Specimens

2 Lolth, Spider Queen

3 Maskwood Nexus

2 Necroblossom Snarl

4 Plumb the Forbidden

4 Sedgemoor Witch

4 Shambling Ghast

3 Skeletal Swarming

1 The World Tree

4 Witherbloom Apprentice

Sideboard:
1 Containment Breach

1 Environmental Sciences

1 Mascot Exhibition

1 Necrotic Fumes

3 Pest Summoning

Bant Party: It was said that Bant Party was the most winning deck in the Standard 2022 format.

Bant Party

by Shimz

4 Archpriest of Iona

4 Barkchannel Pathway

4 Branchloft Pathway

1 Brightclimb Pathway

1 Cragcrown Pathway

2 Darkbore Pathway

1 Hall of Storm Giants

4 Hengegate Pathway

4 Jaspera Sentinel

2 Lair of the Hydra

4 Linvala, Shield of Sea Gate

4 Luminarch Aspirant

4 Masked Vandal

1 Needleverge Pathway

4 Squad Commander

4 Tajuru Paragon

4 Tazri, Beacon of Unity

4 Temple of the Dragon Queen

4 The Bears of Littjara

Golgari Elfball: I'm not sure how much elves are improving in a set when Humans are in Green and Werewolves overlap as well.

Golgari Elfball

by CovertGoBlue

9 Snow-Covered Forest

3 Snow-Covered Swamp

4 Canopy Tactician

4 Circle of Dreams Druid

4 Darkbore Pathway

4 Elvish Warmaster

4 Harald, King of Skemfar

4 Jaspera Sentinel

4 Lair of the Hydra

4 Sculptor of Winter

4 Tajuru Blightblade

3 The Tarrasque

2 Tyvar Kell

3 Vorinclex, Monstrous Raider

4 Woodland Chasm

Jund Midrange: I'm not sure how I feel about Jund with Midnight Hunt coming out, but I think it may be safer to start from scratch with the new set. I do love the mana base in this deck though!

Jund Midrange

by Yuya Murayama

4 Blightstep Pathway

2 Branchloft Pathway

2 Brightclimb Pathway

4 Cragcrown Pathway

4 Darkbore Pathway

4 Deadly Dispute

4 Esika's Chariot

4 Extus, Oriq Overlord

4 Goldspan Dragon

2 Hive of the Eye Tyrant

4 Immersturm Predator

4 Jaspera Sentinel

2 Lair of the Hydra

4 Magda, Brazen Outlaw

4 Prosperous Innkeeper

4 Shambling Ghast

4 Temple of the Dragon Queen

Sideboard:
2 Check for Traps

2 Flamescroll Celebrant

1 Lithoform Blight

2 Mortality Spear

2 Price of Loyalty

2 Ray of Enfeeblement

2 Skyclave Shade

2 Valki, God of Lies

Orzhov Aggro: An aggro deck will round out the look at Standard 2022 decks.

Orzhov Aggro

by Sylvain Boissieux

7 Plains

5 Swamp

3 Agadeem's Awakening

2 Bloodchief's Thirst

4 Brightclimb Pathway

2 Cave of the Frost Dragon

4 Codespell Cleric

3 Crippling Fear

4 Elite Spellbinder

2 Hive of the Eye Tyrant

4 Kitesail Cleric

4 Luminarch Aspirant

3 Rally the Ranks

3 Righteous Valkyrie

3 Shaile, Dean of Radiance

2 Shineshadow Snarl

4 Silverquill Silencer

1 Taborax, Hope's Demise

Sideboard:
1 Bloodchief's Thirst

1 Flunk

1 Lolth, Spider Queen

3 Reidane, God of the Worthy

1 Righteous Valkyrie

2 Skyclave Apparition

2 Soul Shatter

1 Taborax, Hope's Demise

3 Vanishing Verse

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 a decade and a half now, and have never been overcharged or disappointed.

Standard Staples: This list is gonna be a bit smaller next week, and then a bit larger the week after. Fun times waiting on rotation!

Standard Cards	Price	Last Week	Change	% Change
Demilich	$13.73	$17.17	($3.44)	-20%
The Book of Exalted Deeds	$10.39	$9.77	$0.62	6%
Acererak the Archlich	$21.85	$19.73	$2.12	11%
Tasha's Hideous Laughter	$4.09	$9.62	($5.53)	-57%
Iymrith, Desert Doom	$6.37	$5.31	$1.06	20%
Minsc, Beloved Ranger	$9.34	$9.20	$0.14	2%
Ebondeath, Dracolich	$7.23	$6.70	$0.53	8%
Old Gnawbone	$11.61	$8.65	$2.96	34%
Tiamat	$5.27	$5.43	($0.16)	-3%
Xanathar, Guild Kingpin	$5.52	$5.70	($0.18)	-3%
Den of the Bugbear	$8.74
Lolth, Spider Queen	$6.36
Brazen Borrower	$20.54	$22.95	($2.41)	-11%
Bonecrusher Giant	$4.09	$6.51	($2.42)	-37%
Korvold, Fae-Cursed King	$15.17	$13.67	$1.50	11%
Lurrus of the Dream Den	$18.10	$18.09	$0.01	0%
Shark Typhoon	$12.60	$9.99	$2.61	26%
Raugrin Triome	$5.79	$7.09	($1.30)	-18%
Valki, God of Lies	$16.90	$20.35	($3.45)	-17%
Goldspan Dragon	$9.91	$9.82	$0.09	1%
Prismari Command	$23.47	$26.35	($2.88)	-11%
Magma Opus	$7.01	$7.33	($0.32)	-4%
Professor Onyx	$9.12	$8.50	$0.62	7%
Velomachus Lorehold	$12.78	$13.57	($0.79)	-6%
Beledros Witherbloom	$6.74	$6.70	$0.04	1%
Extus, Oriq Overlord	$7.52	$7.67	($0.15)	-2%
Galazeth Prismari	$5.94	$5.91	$0.03	1%
Kroxa, Titan of Death's Hunger	$9.68	$8.48	$1.20	14%
Scourge of the Skyclaves	$9.91	$10.39	($0.48)	-5%
Skyclave Apparition	$17.80	$19.30	($1.50)	-8%

Modern Staples:

Modern Cards	Price	Last Week	Change	% Change
Auriok Champion	$3.54	$6.68	($3.14)	-47%
Steelshaper's Gift	$4.99	$5.74	($0.75)	-13%
Engineered Explosives	$27.13	$36.18	($9.05)	-25%
Cavern of Souls	$15.13	$18.73	($3.60)	-19%
Mishra's Bauble	$31.26	$33.24	($1.98)	-6%
Aether Vial	$9.88	$12.85	($2.97)	-23%
Horizon Canopy	$5.24	$7.16	($1.92)	-27%
Liliana of the Veil	$11.81	$14.33	($2.52)	-18%
Polluted Delta	$8.51	$9.96	($1.45)	-15%
Wooded Foothills	$8.26	$8.66	($0.40)	-5%
Flooded Strand	$9.02	$9.63	($0.61)	-6%
Bloodstained Mire	$7.15	$9.42	($2.27)	-24%
Windswept Heath	$5.95	$6.61	($0.66)	-10%
Thoughtseize	$6.84	$8.02	($1.18)	-15%
Elvish Reclaimer	$4.58	$5.94	($1.36)	-23%
Inkmoth Nexus	$3.26	$5.04	($1.78)	-35%
Force of Negation	$59.29	$69.94	($10.65)	-15%
Wrenn and Six	$64.18	$57.61	$6.57	11%
Prismatic Vista	$10.95	$9.64	$1.31	14%
Sunbaked Canyon	$22.00	$19.88	$2.12	11%
Seasoned Pyromancer	$28.73	$22.46	$6.27	28%
Fiery Islet	$9.10	$12.05	($2.95)	-24%
Urza, Lord High Artificer	$5.85	$8.80	($2.95)	-34%
Force of Vigor	$45.88	$42.76	$3.12	7%
Giver of Runes	$5.74	$5.52	$0.22	4%
Flusterstorm	$33.71	$35.61	($1.90)	-5%
Archmage's Charm	$19.35	$24.73	($5.38)	-22%
Silent Clearing	$6.83	$6.98	($0.15)	-2%
Kaya's Guile	$5.76	$4.76	$1.00	21%
Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer	$105.67	$105.44	$0.23	0%
Urza's Saga	$41.41	$39.57	$1.84	5%
Solitude	$20.90	$19.88	$1.02	5%
Endurance	$57.90	$57.58	$0.32	1%
Grief	$13.01	$11.74	$1.27	11%
Murktide Regent	$22.23	$23.29	($1.06)	-5%
Sanctum Prelate	$10.12	$9.85	$0.27	3%
Fury	$17.03	$15.47	$1.56	10%
Chalice of the Void	$33.61	$37.24	($3.63)	-10%
Surgical Extraction	$10.79	$12.25	($1.46)	-12%
Karn Liberated	$6.46	$5.60	$0.86	15%
Emrakul,the Aeons Torn	$12.60	$15.16	($2.56)	-17%
Kozilek, Butcher of Truth	$12.66	$12.40	$0.26	2%
Ensnaring Bridge	$8.60	$8.59	$0.01	0%
Teferi, Time Raveler	$41.48	$40.17	$1.31	3%
Gemstone Mine	$8.05	$9.88	($1.83)	-19%
Jace, the Mind Sculptor	$4.62	$5.11	($0.49)	-10%
Scalding Tarn	$7.56	$8.24	($0.68)	-8%
Verdant Catacombs	$5.02	$5.50	($0.48)	-9%
Misty Rainforest	$4.56	$5.58	($1.02)	-18%
Arid Mesa	$3.15	$3.34	($0.19)	-6%
Marsh Flats	$2.18	$2.22	($0.04)	-2%

Eternal Staples: Tropical Island

fell off the list this week.

Eternal Format Cards	Price	Last Week	Change	% Change
Hullbreacher	$40.59	$55.08	($14.49)	-26%
Opposition Agent	$17.01	$17.91	($0.90)	-5%
Jeweled Lotus	$17.49	$16.40	$1.09	7%
City of Traitors	$19.88	$19.93	($0.05)	0%
Allosaurus Shepherd	$37.42	$41.94	($4.52)	-11%
Muxus, Goblin Grandee	$10.70	$9.82	$0.88	9%
Force of Will	$53.05	$50.29	$2.76	5%
Karakas	$9.36	$9.13	$0.23	3%
The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale	$20.66	$18.79	$1.87	10%
Demonic Tutor	$6.52	$7.68	($1.16)	-15%
Food Chain	$4.42	$5.69	($1.27)	-22%
Unmask	$11.16	$7.39	$3.77	51%
Misdirection	$13.46	$13.30	$0.16	1%
Rishadan Port	$11.96	$8.95	$3.01	34%
Snuff Out	$16.86	$13.15	$3.71	28%
Submerge	$11.81	$12.60	($0.79)	-6%
Daze	$12.22	$11.74	$0.48	4%
Entomb	$6.62	$6.23	$0.39	6%
Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow	$9.89	$13.31	($3.42)	-26%
Stifle	$3.81	$5.19	($1.38)	-27%
Mox Diamond	$29.80	$22.45	$7.35	33%
Wasteland	$25.84	$28.51	($2.67)	-9%
Ancient Tomb	$15.58	$13.20	$2.38	18%
Lotus Petal	$23.32	$31.84	($8.52)	-27%
Grim Monolith	$10.89	$10.43	$0.46	4%
Exploration	$14.53	$12.40	$2.13	17%
Gaea's Cradle	$37.14	$38.53	($1.39)	-4%
Carpet of Flowers	$22.20	$16.09	$6.11	38%
Gilded Drake	$10.92	$10.43	$0.49	5%
Black Lotus	$10.01	$10.03	($0.02)	0%
Volcanic Island	$11.38	$8.45	$2.93	35%
Underground Sea	$10.32	$8.12	$2.20	27%
Null Rod	$14.71	$14.94	($0.23)	-2%
Doomsday	$22.56	$18.67	$3.89	21%
Paradigm Shift	$8.37	$9.18	($0.81)	-9%
Mindbreak Trap	$5.22	$7.56	($2.34)	-31%

Pioneer Staples: I wonder how many rotating cards are going to stay on the Pioneer list long term. I imagine Brazen Borrower

and Korvold, Fae-Cursed King

will from Eldraine, with Bonecrusher Giant

falling off and coming back on. Lurrus of the Dream Den

and Shark Typhoon

will probably be it for Ikoria, Core Set 2021 might see Stormwing Entity

come back every so often. Kroxa, Titan of Death's Hunger

is probably going to be the only Theros addition for some time.

Pioneer Cards	Price	Last Time	Change	% Change
Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger	$4.06	$7.27	($3.21)	-44%
Collected Company	$6.09	$5.18	$0.91	18%
Eidolon of the Great Revel	$9.47	$7.70	$1.77	23%
Youthful Valkyrie	$9.28	$8.90	$0.38	4%
Spirebluff Canal	$6.30	$5.02	$1.28	25%
Kaya, Orzhov Usurper	$16.17	$16.33	($0.16)	-1%
Karn, the Great Creator	$28.08	$27.60	$0.48	2%
Blast Zone	$6.80	$6.24	$0.56	9%
Finale of Devastation	$9.53	$9.71	($0.18)	-2%
Omnath, Locus of Creation	$27.21	$34.93	($7.72)	-22%

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
Forgotten Realms	$168.74	$166.89	$1.85	1%
Forgotten Realms Booster Pack	$2.62	$3.34	($0.72)	-22%
Core Set 2021	$38.09	$39.59	($1.50)	-4%
Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths	$54.92	$54.62	$0.30	1%
Kaldheim	$121.27	$116.69	$4.58	4%
Strixhaven: School of Mages	$140.80	$143.65	($2.85)	-2%
Theros Beyond Death	$71.24	$76.93	($5.69)	-7%
Throne of Eldraine	$106.04	$110.18	($4.14)	-4%
Treasure Chest	$2.31	$2.44	($0.13)	-5%
Zendikar Rising	$100.82	$107.28	($6.46)	-6%

The Good Stuff

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	173.37
Cavern of Souls	UBT	Mythic	122.08
Karakas	UBT	Mythic	110.2
Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer	MH2	Mythic	105.67
Mox Jet	1E	Rare	94.44
Liliana of the Veil	UBT	Mythic	94.2
Snapcaster Mage	UBT	Mythic	92.6
Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth	UBT	Mythic	84.96
Ancestral Recall	1E	Rare	84.15
Mox Sapphire	1E	Rare	69.51
Time Walk	1E	Rare	67.03
Mox Emerald	1E	Rare	65.5
Wrenn and Six	MH1	Mythic	64.18
Force of Negation	MH1	Rare	59.29
Dark Depths	UBT	Mythic	55.13
Demonic Tutor	UBT	Mythic	54.35
Force of Will	MED	Rare	53.05
Endurance	MH2	Mythic	51.22
Purple-Crystal Crab	PZ2	Common	50.18
Mox Pearl	1E	Rare	50.16
Force of Vigor	MH1	Rare	45.88
Jace, the Mind Sculptor	MS4	Mythic	45.33
Urza's Saga	MH2	Rare	45.17
Wasteland	EXP	Mythic	44.25
Mox Ruby	1E	Rare	43.95
Engineered Explosives	UBT	Mythic	41.83
Teferi, Time Raveler	WAR	Rare	41.48
Karn Liberated	UBT	Mythic	41.36
Hullbreacher	CMR	Rare	40.59
Heavenly Qilin	PZ2	Common	40.34
Chalice of the Void	TSR	Bonus	40.14
Chalice of the Void	MS2	Bonus	37.81
Mox Diamond	TPR	Mythic	37.76
Allosaurus Shepherd	JMP	Mythic	37.42
Liliana, the Last Hope	MS4	Mythic	37.26
Gaea's Cradle	UZ	Rare	37.14
Kozilek, Butcher of Truth	UBT	Mythic	35.8
Scalding Tarn	MH2	Rare	35.55
Misty Rainforest	MH2	Rare	35.32
Noble Hierarch	UBT	Mythic	35.23
Flusterstorm	CMD	Rare	35.08
Chalice of the Void	A25	Mythic	34.89
Cavern of Souls	UMA	Mythic	34.77
Flusterstorm	MH1	Rare	33.71
Chalice of the Void	MRD	Rare	33.61
Marisi, Breaker of the Coil	C19	Mythic	33.57
Celestial Colonnade	UBT	Mythic	32.83
Engineered Explosives	UMA	Rare	32.82
Chalice of the Void	MMA	Rare	32.48
Force of Will	MS3	Mythic	32.33
Earthshaking Si	PZ2	Common	31.71
Force of Will	2XM	Mythic	31.62
Retrofitter Foundry	PZ2	Rare	31.57
Force of Will	EMA	Mythic	31.43
Mishra's Bauble	IMA	Uncommon	31.33
Mana Vault	UBT	Mythic	31.31
Mishra's Bauble	CSP	Uncommon	31.26
Flusterstorm	PZ1	Rare	31.03
Force of Will	VMA	Rare	30.86
Mishra's Bauble	2XM	Uncommon	30.82
Platinum Emperion	UBT	Mythic	30.82
Verdant Catacombs	EXP	Mythic	30.59
Timetwister	1E	Rare	30.06
Reanimate	UBT	Mythic	29.91
Verdant Catacombs	MH2	Rare	29.81
Mox Diamond	ST	Rare	29.8
Mox Diamond	V10	Mythic	29.48
Wasteland	TPR	Rare	28.99
Seasoned Pyromancer	MH1	Mythic	28.73
Court of Cunning	CMR	Rare	28.63
Teferi, Hero of Dominaria	MS4	Mythic	28.28
Wasteland	EMA	Rare	28.21
Karn, the Great Creator	WAR	Rare	28.08
Wasteland	ZNE	Mythic	27.87
Scalding Tarn	EXP	Mythic	27.81
Engineered Explosives	MMA	Rare	27.65
Engineered Explosives	2XM	Rare	27.62
Flusterstorm	IMA	Rare	27.62
Engineered Explosives	MS2	Bonus	27.58
Fulminator Mage	UBT	Mythic	27.4
Omnath, Locus of Creation	ZNR	Mythic	27.21
Engineered Explosives	5DN	Rare	27.13
Creeping Tar Pit	UBT	Mythic	26.92
Jeska's Will	CMR	Rare	26.14
Dockside Extortionist	C19	Rare	26.04
Wasteland	TE	Uncommon	25.84
Cavern of Souls	ZNE	Mythic	25.58
Bitterblossom	UBT	Mythic	25.15

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 $25,650.

In Closing

It was a greater than normal struggle for me to write this article this week. Last Friday I was diagnosed with ADHD and I am currently waiting for providers to get back to me in regards to care and new treatments. I've noticed me getting more distracted recently, and I'm not sure if that's because I was told I had it and now I am aware of things or what.

This series is an ongoing tribute to Erik “Hamtastic” Friborg.