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By: JXClaytor, Joshua Claytor
Sep 06 2019 12:00pm
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State of the Program for September 6th, 2019
 
In the News

Throne of Eldraine Spoiler Season in Full Swing:  Trailer for the set is here. Article for the mechanics is here.  Card image gallery is here, and the schedule for spoilers is here.

Brawl Event on Arena: 
WotC released the contents of the Brawl precons this week and had an event on Arena for them.  Decks seemed to be well built and a lot of fun.  I enjoyed playing with them.  The event runs through the 9th, gives out some EXP and free cards, and you can find the lists here.

Next set names are out: 
Keeping the hype train rolling, we recently got a preview of the next four sets of Magic.  Well the names of them at least.  Core Set 2021 was a given, but we also now know about Theros: Beyond Death, Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths, and Zendikar Rising.

Conley Woods suspended for life: 
Woods, arrested in Sante Fe, New Mexico in July, was charged with rape and aggravated battery.

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 25, 2019
Constructed Leagues End
September 25, 2019
Sealed Leagues End
September 30, 2019
Next B&R Announcement
October 7, 2019
Modern Cube
September 4-26, 2019
Throne of Eldraine
September 26, 2019
Theros: Beyond Death
First Quarter 2020
Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths
Second Quarter 2020
Core Set 2021
Zendikar Rising
Third Quarter 2020
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:

Modern Format Playoffs September 7th
Legacy Format Playoffs September 8th
Legacy MOCS Prelim September 7th
Modern MCQ September 8th
 
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:
 
Event Type
Start Time
Saturday, 8:00 am PT 
Saturday, 10:00 am PT
Sunday, 8:00 am PT
Sunday, 10:00 am PT
 
The Hot Take Corner

It's been an incredibly slow news week, Labor Day of course took away one day for potential news as businesses and such were closed.  School has started up by now for most every kid in America, and Fall is fast approaching.  I did want to talk about the cards of Throne of Eldraine that have caught my eye so far, so if you don't want spoilers, skip this section!  



This card, wow, it's going to help Knights so much. In the Brawl event I would often have just a ton of Knights in play so this is a nice top of the curve spell to have that not only pumps your teams but helps you go wide with each Legendary spell you cast or activation of the artifact.  This is a nice Mythic I feel.



I think Adamant is a pretty neat mechanic, but this card is going to annoy the crap out of me by the second time it is played.  Yeah it might cost 2R, but it's probably not getting splashed as removal in many constructed decks, so really to me, this card reads 2R, Deal 4 damage to any target.  Mono Red gets a really nice one after rotation. 



As you can see, I recently won a secret Invitational, and Wizards of the Coast gladly printed a card of me in this set.  Seriously though, I love this card.  5/5s for three are a big deal, and in this case, it's a really good thing that Llanowar Elves are not welcome back in Standard.  Briefly glancing at 1/1s (this card even goes on an adventure to cast one, which allows you to cast the creature from exile) in the new Standard, there aren't a ton of exciting options to play so that may be the thing that truly holds this card back.  I really do not want to sleeve up Woodland Mystic.



I love how adding loyalty to Garruk is tied to the Wolf tokens dying.  I think that is a unique way to add loyalty, though we have seen something like this with Dovin, Grand Arbiter.  That ultimate, an emblem that gives your team an Overrun forever is pretty appealing to me as well. 



Food tokens are not what I wanted them to be, but they seem to be pretty good against aggro decks, and anything that is good against aggro is good in my book! The plus one does some really sweet things with Dreadhorde Invasion making 4/4 elk every turn.  The ultimate seems okay, but looks marginal at best to me right now. 

Of course the set is still being spoiled, and I am sure that other cards will catch my eye, so I will devote some more space to this as more cards come out. 

Cutting Edge Tech

Standard: Skipping Standard this week, with spoilers starting and rotation nearing Standard has entered a lame duck season.  I couldn't find anything new or groundbreaking this week, and I doubt I will anytime soon for Standard. 

Legacy:  Showing off the deck that won this week's challenge seemed to be a great idea. 


Modern
:  Thanks to Lotus Field this deck has started to see a surge in popularity.  I'm not sure what the best build is, but I love it, because it reminds me of Twiddle Desire from Extended years ago, revolving around Twiddle, Gilded Lotus and Mind's Desire


Pauper
:   I am a sucker for a deck that blanks a ton of removal and wins by recurring removal and countermagic with Devious Cover-Up.  It's weird to not see a copy of Curse of the Bloody Tome to speed things up.  



 
Winner's Circle

The Winner's Circle is where I will recognize winners of the past events on MTGO.

Legacy Challenge:  Sneak and Show is the winning deck this week, piloted by wingzerofnc.
Modern Challenge:  azax took Death's Shadow to first place
Pauper Challenge: Cracudo won with Jeskai Snow.
Vintage Challenge:  Condescend had a great outcome this week with Paradoxical Outcome.
Standard MCQ:  Playing Bant Ramp, djbmppwns qualified for the MC! 
Moden MCQ: Titanshift qualifed jakedurshimer.
Sealed MCQ:  Congrats to stainerson!
 

Around the Web

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

Wanna watch the Throne of Eldraine trailer and listen to Smash Mouth?  Well you're in luck!  Thanks Fancybear Person! 
Frank Lepore looked at four Modern decks

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: I cleaned up the tables this week, some have been expanded, some not, but for the most part, all cards listed should at least go by set order.  War of the Spark stuff seems to be coming down a little bit. 

Standard Cards Price Last Week Change % Change
Arclight Phoenix $16.18 $18.80 ($2.62) -14%
Assassin's Trophy $6.50 $5.33 $1.17 22%
Chandra, Awakened Inferno $34.96 $36.76 ($1.80) -5%
Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord $11.95 $15.89 ($3.94) -25%
Mu Yanling, Sky Dancer $5.09 $4.50 $0.59 13%
Leyline of the Void $4.29 $6.41 ($2.12) -33%
Yarok, the Desecrated $8.98 $8.82 $0.16 2%
Cavalier of Thorns $5.02 $5.23 ($0.21) -4%
Ajani, Strength of the Pride $5.67 $5.18 $0.49 9%
Kethis, the Hidden Hand $4.59 $5.08 ($0.49) -10%
Hydroid Krasis $6.15 $6.07 $0.08 1%
Deputy of Detention $5.61 $6.24 ($0.63) -10%
Teferi, Time Raveler $37.85 $47.77 ($9.92) -21%
Finale of Devastation $24.48 $15.27 $9.21 60%
Karn, the Great Creator $37.34 $30.95 $6.39 21%
Finale of Promise $20.19 $27.29 ($7.10) -26%
Dreadhorde Arcanist $12.69 $12.76 ($0.07) -1%
Blast Zone $8.46 $8.26 $0.20 2%
Modern Staples:  Wizards of the Coast is going to have to add Modern Horizons cards to treasure chests.  The set has just exploded since it came out of play rotation and the card legality moves that were made for the format.  This table has also been greatly expanded. Check it out! 

Modern Cards Price Last Week Change % Change
Auriok Champion $9.27 $9.87 ($0.60) -6%
Engineered Explosives $9.68 $11.01 ($1.33) -12%
Walking Ballista $8.98
$8.98
Cavern of Souls $14.19 $18.14 ($3.95) -22%
Noble Hierarch $9.86 $11.87 ($2.01) -17%
Mishra's Bauble $23.39 $18.37 $5.02 27%
Aether Vial $11.53 $11.17 $0.36 3%
Sword of Fire and Ice $9.21 $10.68 ($1.47) -14%
Mycosynth Lattice $7.62 $6.12 $1.50 25%
Trinisphere $8.98 $8.49 $0.49 6%
Kolaghan's Command $8.32
$8.32
Collected Company $5.34
$5.34
Liliana, the Last Hope $10.60 $9.02 $1.58 18%
Collective Brutality $10.24
$10.24
Horizon Canopy $14.02 $12.01 $2.01 17%
Tarmogoyf $9.62 $8.13 $1.49 18%
Liliana of the Veil $28.11 $28.96 ($0.85) -3%
Past in Flames $6.98 $7.29 ($0.31) -4%
Snapcaster Mage $10.59 $10.44 $0.15 1%
Eidolon of the Great Revel $9.95 $11.55 ($1.60) -14%
Polluted Delta $9.11 $7.92 $1.19 15%
Wooded Foothills $8.61 $7.73 $0.88 11%
Flooded Strand $7.24 $7.58 ($0.34) -4%
Bloodstained Mire $7.73 $7.18 $0.55 8%
Windswept Heath $4.94 $5.42 ($0.48) -9%
Cryptic Command $7.23
$7.23
Thoughtseize $6.63
$6.63
Sword of Feast and Famine $8.19 $6.53 $1.66 25%
Inkmoth Nexus $3.58 $6.04 ($2.46) -41%
Force of Negation $50.37 $59.08 ($8.71) -15%
Wrenn and Six $133.27 $106.15 $27.12 26%
Prismatic Vista $24.11 $24.52 ($0.41) -2%
Sunbaked Canyon $13.37 $9.84 $3.53 36%
Seasoned Pyromancer $21.62 $16.50 $5.12 31%
Fiery Islet $8.16 $6.36 $1.80 28%
Urza, Lord High Artificer $37.31 $20.46 $16.85 82%
Ranger-Captain of Eos $13.26 $11.71 $1.55 13%
Hexdrinker $7.53 $7.84 ($0.31) -4%
Plague Engineer $25.20 $12.72 $12.48 98%
Force of Vigor $15.98 $4.64 $11.34 244%
Collector Ouphe $14.26
$14.26
Giver of Runes $12.50
$12.50
Silent Clearing $6.43
$6.43
Waterlogged Grove $5.36
$5.36
Ice-Fang Coatl $5.59
$5.59
Vendilion Clique $6.79
$6.79
Bitterblossom $6.64
$6.64
Chalice of the Void $18.71 $19.24 ($0.53) -3%
Oblivion Stone $5.68
$5.68
Karn Liberated $28.71 $25.09 $3.62 14%
Batterskull $10.80 $15.25 ($4.45) -29%
Surgical Extraction $22.95 $26.09 ($3.14) -12%
Phyrexian Obliterator $6.03
$6.03
Dismember $7.06
$7.06
Thought-Knot Seer $5.55
$5.55
Jace, Vryn's Prodigy $5.52
$5.52
Meddling Mage $6.15
$6.15
Life from the Loam $6.62
$6.62
Rest in Peace $5.95
$5.95
Fulminator Mage $12.91 $11.98 $0.93 8%
Mox Opal $48.43 $45.24 $3.19 7%
Wurmcoil Engine $11.22
$11.22
Ensnaring Bridge $20.50 $19.93 $0.57 3%
Gemstone Mine $16.13 $15.01 $1.12 7%
Jace, the Mind Sculptor $46.37 $42.21 $4.16 10%
Stoneforge Mystic $7.77 $13.08 ($5.31) -41%
Scalding Tarn $18.31 $15.24 $3.07 20%
Verdant Catacombs $11.23 $10.49 $0.74 7%
Misty Rainforest $12.10
$12.10
Bloodghast $7.22
$7.22
Arid Mesa 5.97
$5.97
Marsh Flats 5.71
$5.71
Eternal Staples:  This table has also been expanded, Entomb with the banning of Mental Misstep has had a bit of a boost.  Fastbond hasn't had it's price upped enough yet. I went ahead and added some more Legacy staples as well this week. 

Eternal Format Cards Price Last Week Change % Change
Dark Depths $16.67 $23.77 ($7.10) -30%
City of Traitors $30.96 $29.78 $1.18 4%
Monastery Mentor $10.43 $13.00 ($2.57) -20%
Sylvan Safekeeper $12.31


Force of Will $35.64 $31.67 $3.97 13%
Land Tax

$13.25

$13.38 ($13.38) -100%
Lion's Eye Diamond $5.34


Unmask $14.11 $12.87 $1.24 10%
Misdirection $11.77 $12.46 ($0.69) -6%
Rishadan Port $7.35 $8.44 ($1.09) -13%
Daze $2.79 $3.48 -$0.69 -19.83%
Entomb $9.48


True-Name Nemesis $10.26 $12.21 ($1.95) -16%
Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow $17.09


Mox Diamond $21.57 $21.41 $0.16 1%
Altar of Dementia $13.38


Grindstone $7.36


Wasteland $22.82 $25.85 ($3.03) -12%
Ancient Tomb $10.99 $10.32

Academy Rector $6.11


Grim Monolith $21.63 $22.19 ($0.56) -3%
Back to Basics $7.68 $8.88 ($1.20) -14%
Exploration $15.09 $14.62 $0.47 3%
Show and Tell $13.56 $13.81 ($0.25) -2%
Gaea's Cradle $11.80 $11.45 $0.35 3%
Sneak Attack $8.59


Time Spiral $5.88


Carpet of Flowers $10.07


Ancestral Recall $1.57 $1.78 ($0.21) -12%
Black Lotus $7.04 $6.54 $0.50 8%
Mox Emerald $2.27 $2.25 $0.02 1%
Mox Ruby $1.97 $2.20 ($0.23) -10%
Mox Pearl $1.83 $1.52 $0.31 20%
Mox Sapphire $2.09 $2.34 ($0.25) -11%
Mox Jet $2.68 $2.81 ($0.13) -5%
Timetwister $1.29 $1.32 ($0.03) -2%
Time Walk $1.08 $1.19 ($0.11) -9%
Volcanic Island $10.19 $6.28 $3.91 62%
Badlands $4.41 $4.39 $0.02 0%
Tropical Island $5.47 $5.19 $0.28 5%
Bayou $2.81 $2.96 ($0.15) -5%
Tundra $1.71 $2.27 ($0.56) -25%
Savannah $1.69 $1.49 $0.20 13%
Scrubland $0.95 $1.07 ($0.12) -11%
Plateau $0.41 $0.74 ($0.33) -45%
Taiga $0.75 $0.67 $0.08 12%
Underground Sea $8.96 $7.27 $1.69 23%
Sol Ring $6.08


Pauper Staples:  I readded a couple of Modern commons that see play mainly in that format, because the table for Modern cards got to be a bit much this week with the redesign. Welcome back Manamorphose and hi there Ideas Unbound

Pauper Cards Price Last Week Change % Change
Serum Visions $3.17 $1.95 $1.22 62.56%
Standard Bearer $4.33 $4.38 -$0.05 -1.14%
Ninja of the Deep Hours $1.19 $0.88 $0.31 35.23%
Lava Spike $1.05
$1.05
Skred $3.48 $2.27 $1.21 53.30%
Utopia Sprawl $1.53
$1.53
Flaring Pain $1.78 $2.15 -$0.37 -17.21%
Swirling Sandstorm $1.48 $1.11 $0.37 33.33%
Pyroblast $3.69 $3.52 $0.17 4.83%
Hydroblast $3.55 $4.03 -$0.48 -11.91%
Mystic Remora $13.99 $14.45 -$0.46 -3.18%
Serene Heart $1.33
$1.33
Spidersilk Armor $2.68 $4.14 -$1.46 -35.27%
Ancestral Mask $6.70 $6.23 $0.47 7.54%
Cho-Manno's Blessing $4.27 $4.42 -$0.15 -3.39%
Peat Bog $2.04 $1.72 $0.32 18.60%
Snuff Out $1.63
$1.63
Reverent Silence $2.37
$2.37
Flame Rift $1.06
$1.06
Moment's Peace $2.07 $3.17 -$1.10 -34.70%
Rhystic Study $3.03 $4.20 -$1.17 -27.86%
Drafna's Restoration $4.66 $5.12 -$0.46 -8.98%
Thorn of the Black Rose $4.50 $3.15 $1.35 42.86%
Palace Sentinels $2.38 $2.36 $0.02 0.85%
Custodi Squire $3.76 $3.76 $0.00 0.00%
Ash Barrens $2.84 $3.86 -$1.02 -26.42%
Manamorphose $3.32
$3.32
Ideas Unbound $1.19
$1.19
Lotus Petal $17.95 $15.92 $2.03 12.75%
Mogg Conscripts $1.57
$1.57
Exhume $2.33 $1.68 $0.65 38.69%
Pestilence $3.08 $3.47 -$0.39 -11.24%
Priest of Titania $1.27
$1.27
Impulse $1.19 $1.10 $0.09 8.18%
Quirion Ranger $2.15 $2.27 -$0.12 -5.29%
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 2019 $108.90 $99.70 $9.20 9%
Dominaria $25.86 $26.37 ($0.51) -2%
Guilds of Ravnica $57.21 $57.30 ($0.09) 0%
Ixalan $16.20 $16.23 ($0.03) 0%
Ravnica Allegiances $57.82 $58.86 ($1.04) -2%
Rivals of Ixalan $15.09 $15.54 ($0.45) -3%
Treasure Chest $2.40 $2.41 ($0.01) 0%
War of the Spark $189.05 $190.15 ($1.10) -1%
Core Set 2020 Booster $2.81 $2.95 ($0.14) -5%
Core Set 2020 $151.34 $151.00 $0.34 0%
Modern Horizons $434.38 $340.45 $93.93 28%


The Good Stuff
The following is a list of all the non-foil 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 335.16
Mox Sapphire 1E Rare 162.52
Wrenn and Six MH1 Mythic 133.27
Mox Emerald 1E Rare 119.06
Mox Ruby 1E Rare 116.24
Ancestral Recall 1E Rare 101.18
Mox Jet 1E Rare 95.53
Mox Pearl 1E Rare 84.36
Karn Liberated UBT Mythic 73.73
Time Walk 1E Rare 71.6
Liliana of the Veil PRM Mythic 69.37
Timetwister 1E Rare 53.93
Teferi, Time Raveler PRM Rare 53.61
Mox Opal MS2 Bonus 52.11
Liliana of the Veil UMA Mythic 50.59
Force of Negation MH1 Rare 50.37
Jace, the Mind Sculptor EMA Mythic 50.22
Mox Opal MM2 Mythic 49.56
Jace, the Mind Sculptor A25 Mythic 49.12
Liliana of the Veil UBT Mythic 48.91
Mox Opal SOM Mythic 48.43
Jace, the Mind Sculptor VMA Mythic 48.04
Engineered Explosives UBT Mythic 47.56
Jace, the Mind Sculptor WWK Mythic 46.37
Karn, the Great Creator PRM Rare 45.07
Dark Depths V16 Mythic 43.46
Lord Windgrace PZ2 Mythic 39.34
Teferi, Time Raveler WAR Rare 37.85
Karn, the Great Creator WAR Rare 37.34
Urza, Lord High Artificer MH1 Mythic 37.31
Unmask V16 Mythic 36.87
Force of Will MED Rare 35.64
Jace, the Mind Sculptor MS4 Mythic 35
Chandra, Awakened Inferno M20 Mythic 34.96
Liliana of the Veil MM3 Mythic 34.08
Black Lotus PRM Rare 34
Dark Depths UBT Mythic 33.75
Noble Hierarch UBT Mythic 33.47
Liliana, the Last Hope MS4 Mythic 31.27
City of Traitors EX Rare 30.96
Cavern of Souls UMA Mythic 30.57
Mox Sapphire PRM Rare 30
Karn Liberated UMA Mythic 29.64
Dark Depths UMA Mythic 29.28
Karn Liberated NPH Mythic 28.71
Narset, Parter of Veils PRM Uncommon 28.66
Liliana of the Veil ISD Mythic 28.11
Avatar - Aeon Chronicler VAN Rare 27.84
Cavern of Souls UBT Mythic 26.85
Snapcaster Mage UMA Mythic 25.3
Plague Engineer MH1 Rare 25.2
Ancestral Recall PRM Rare 25
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.


 
In Closing

I spent the week playing Brawl and getting scammed in the online Pokemon TCG.  Lessons were learned, money was lost, but not to much, and it's been an otherwise fine week.  Throne of Eldraine looks so cool right now, and I can't wait to play with it! 

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