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Hello, readers and welcome to another edition of the Daily Stock Watch! I was just talking about recently about good sideboard cards in Modern that are making impact in tier one decks. With three Human decks making it to the top eight of the recently concluded MTGO Modern MOCS, I'd like to feature one of the new cards from those lists on today's segment. I think that it is a very timely meta call that also makes it favorable for the Humans deck in mirror matches, Jund, or even against Hollow One (although I haven't really tested against it yet with this creature in the deck).
From the lists that I'm pertaining to (which I will show you in a little while), a pair of Auriok Champions has made its appearance to give additional firepower to an already prominent deck. It has been a good addition, in my opinion, because the meta has been full of creature-based strategies lately in the likes of BR Hollow One, Aura Hexproof, and the dreaded Creatures Toolbox deck. The life gain could help in the attrition wars while its protection from black and red could help in defending the fort against the likes of Gurmag Angler, Tasigur, the Golden Fang and a pesky hoard of Bloodghasts. It also survives a plethora of popular removals such as Anger of the Gods, Lightning Bolt, and the suddenly popular Izzet Staticaster. The fact that it is also a white creature that fits nicely in the curve of the deck makes it a really good card choice. If the meta tends to shift to a more black and red approach, I don't see any trouble for this card in making it to the main deck and removing Bob from the spotlight.
Just how good is this card again? Let's check out the winning decklist from MTGO's Modern MOCS event.
Humans
Xathrid Necromancer would have been another good spec target if only it consistently makes an appearance in these winning lists. The fact that it is only good in matchups where mass removal is mostly feared makes it a less appealing candidate for a gradual price spike. Nonetheless, I still think that it could be good in the long run if this Humans deck makes it further without getting the banhammer on any of its core pieces. For now, I'd like to focus more on the financial gains that Auriok Champion would be getting from these exposures.
Human Staples
I don't see any of these guys losing their slots in the main deck for the Humans deck anytime soon, but they could definitely use some company. Kessig Malcontents, Phantasmal Image, Dark Confidant, Dire Fleet Daredevil and Thalia, Heretic Cathar have all made cameos in the continuous evolution of this archetype, and Auriok Champion might just make it to the main cast soon. It's also easy to forget how expensive this card was prior to its Iconic Masters reprint, but getting back to that level might take a few more years to happen again -- but we could always make a case of starting out early before that trend begins.
At the moment, you could find lots of copies of Auriok Champion from StarCityGames, TCGPlayer, Card Kingdom and ChannelFireball for anywhere between $3.99 to $4.99 for normal copies from IMA. The Fifth Dawn version has stayed above $10, and should be kept with you if you never let go of them. A consistent dose of this card in the winning Human lists for the coming weeks should help pad its value somehow, so getting them for $3 should be a good thing. It could easily be a $6-$10 card in the future once supplies go dry and Humans become the ultimate alpha deck of the format. It's another one of those cards that's hard to go wrong with.
And that’s it for today's edition of the Daily Stock Watch! See you again next time, as we continue to speculate on cards that might be on the rise, or try to get rid of the ones that are at risk of losing value. As always, feel free to share your opinion in the comments section below. And if you want to keep up with all the market movement, be sure to check in with the QS Discord Channel for real time market information, and stay ahead of the hottest specs!
