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Price Adjustments in Double Masters 2022 Mythics

Posted on by David Schumann

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Reprints tend to mean price adjustments. And Double Masters 2022 is full of sweet reprints! The many spoilers for Double Masters 2022 we got this past week inspired me to dig into the cards' reprint history and provide some perspective on what one can expect with regards to shifting prices.

It's important to keep in mind that estimated future values are heavily dependent on any additional reprints, or on the flip side, no major product availability issues. Those might drive prices higher than expected.

As there are a ton of mythics in this set, I have sorted them into five sections from high-dollar to bulk. Let's dive right in!

High-Dollar Mythics ($50+)

There was an error retrieving a chart for Imperial Seal

This vintage staple has been in need of a true mass reprint for some time now (the judge promo doesn't count). Given its price at announcement was sitting around $700-$750 thanks to scarcity, I expect it will likely be the marquee mythic of the set, and a whole lot more Commander players will finally get a chance to run this worse Vampiric Tutor.

A fair number will realize that sorcery speed and putting the card on top of the library makes a card much worse than staples Vampiric and Demonic, but that doesn't mean it won't be in demand. I could see this card dropping into the $70-$90 range and to be the "chase" mythic of the set.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Cavern of Souls

Five printings of this card cannot seem to keep its price down. It is fair to note that all but its The List reprints were upgraded to mythic, and given the size of The List options, it was essentially still mythic there, too. I expect we will see a price trend similar to the Ultimate Masters reprint with an initial price dip down to $50-$55 that eventually returns to around $60-$65.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Wrenn and Six

Wrenn and Six has seen a resurgence in demand in Modern thanks in large part to the powerful Kamigawa: Neon Destiny spell lands, especially Boseiju, Who Endures as a nigh-uncounterable answer to a lot of threats in Modern. I expect its price will dip below $50 as packs get cracked, but I imagine it will eventually break that $50 barrier.

Valuable Mythics ($25-$49)

There was an error retrieving a chart for Dockside Extortionist

The fact that this Commander bomb was not included in Streets of New Capenna (a crime-themed set) felt like a huge flavor miss. Though it makes more sense now as this much needed reprint will now help sell more expensive packs, and thanks to the upgrade to mythic rarity, the price won't tank as much. My estimate is it levels off in the $18-$25 range.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Mana Vault

Yet another mythic reprint of Mana Vault, this card's ubiquity means it will likely tank in value as supply hits the market and recover slowly after the big initial glut gets absorbed. I honestly expect this card to drop to around $20-$24 and bounce back to around $30.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Allosaurus Shepherd

While this is being reprinted at mythic, its price was heavily driven by scarcity. I expect this reprint will likely drive the price to under $15 if not $10. Shepard simply doesn't see much play outside of fringe Neoform strategies in Modern.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Consecrated Sphinx

While it currently sits in the $40 range, after its first big reprint in Iconic Masters, copies dropped to under $15. I could easily see this card initially dropping to $15-$20 before eventually rising back to $25.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Kozilek, Butcher of Truth

The powerful Eldrazi titans keep getting reprinted and keep returning to their original values. I do think that this printing will finally push Kozilek, Butcher of Truth below $50.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre

As mentioned above, the price on the original Eldrazi titans always bounces back. However, Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre got an additional printing in FTV: Legends which has always kep the price lower than Kozilek, Butcher of Truth

There was an error retrieving a chart for Mana Drain

I was surprised to see this included in the set given it was reprinted in Commander Legends just a couple years ago. The strictly-better Counterspell is sure to remain high value.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Food Chain

This is the first significant reprinting of this combo enabler, so while I expect the price to drop a lot initially, I expect it will recover to the $25-$30 range.

Medium-Value Mythics ($15-$24)

There was an error retrieving a chart for Bitterblossom

Admittedly, this was one of the harder cards to analyze. Its current price sits around $35, despite being both a judge promo and a secret lair drop. However, most of the demand is from Commander players, and even then it shows up in only 3% of decks on EDHREC.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Concordant Crossroads

A lot of this cards' value is based on its last major printing being in Chronicles, which was 27 years ago. Its price was in the $15-$20 range before the pandemic, which jacked up its price along with those of so many other older Commander cards.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Emrakul, the Aeons Torn

The most powerful Eldrazi titan and the only one banned in Commander. Despite being a prerelease promo, it still commands a $30+ price tag.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Seasoned Pyromancer

I honestly had no idea this card was nearing $50 prior to it being spoiled in this set. However, its price is so heavily tied to the availability of Modern events that barring a big return to in person Modern GPs (or Magic Fests), I see this card sitting closer to $22 longer term.

Low-Value Mythics ($4-$14)

There was an error retrieving a chart for Divine Visitation

This card is beloved by casual Angel players and token players alike, and despite seeing virtually no Standard play maintained a $7+ price tag for over a year before spiking up into the $10+ range where it has sat since.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Liliana, the Last Hope

This one is the card I think is most likely to jump up a level, should the Modern format get some major events in the next year or so. She is typically found in Modern's BGx Rock decks, including Jund, and in some Pioneer decks.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Elenda, the Dusk Rose

Vampires are a beloved tribe in Commander, and Elenda, the Dusk Rose is a powerful commander that allows players to make giant Vampire token armies when creatures die. This card managed to stay above $5 its entire life despite seeing almost no Standard play when released. It has since climbed into the low $20s. I expect this reprint will likely put it at around $8 long term.

There was an error retrieving a chart for As Foretold

The fact that this card had already plummeted from a $30 spike down to around $8 and sat there for 7 months makes me feel confidant that it will be at the low end of this range (if now fall into the bulk category below).

There was an error retrieving a chart for Dragonlord Dromoka

A solid Commander card whose value has mostly been driven by that format alone means it will likely remain above bulk status. I expect this one to be near the upper echelon of this stratus.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Monastery Mentor

Being a recent judge promo from 2019, copies were already sitting at $15 before this card was spoiled. I expect the price to now drift down to $8-$10.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Warrior's Oath

I expect we will see this card's price trajectory mimic that of Imperial Recruiter, which was a $350 card prior to being reprinted in Masters 25, which has copies sitting at $8. This is too much of a niche card whose value is so heavily influenced due to extreme scarcity that any decent influx in supply tanks it.

Bulk Mythics ($0.5-$3)

There was an error retrieving a chart for Mizzix of the Izmagnus

This is definitely one of the bulk mythics of the set. While Mizzix was a popular Commander back in the day, with the continued power creep of creatures, it is getting harder and harder to justify choosing an older legendary creature as your Commander.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Nicol Bolas, God-Pharaoh

This card was sitting at under $7 prior to its spoiling, and just doesn't see enough play in any format to be above $3. It does too little for too much mana, and its plus ability is often useless the turn you cast him.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Lord of Extinction

While it has finally recovered in price from it's Ultimate Masters reprint, another one will likely push it to the $3 range, given it sat around $5-6 for over a year post UMA.

Aminatou, the Fateshiftergraph name="Cavern" set=""]

Given preorders for copies moving at $7.75 and that Aminatou has been drifting downward on EDHREC.com's list of top Esper Commanders, it just doesn't seem likely that she stays above $3, especially given that the original C18 copies are already around $3.50.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Ezuri, Claw of Progress

With pre-sales at $6.50, there is virtually no chance this card maintains a price above $3. What surprises me most about this inclusion is that Ezuri, Claw of Progress was just released as a Judge Promo last year and that promo is already down 20% as of being spoiled. I expect it will drop to less than $20.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Ghave, Guru of Spores

Back when the original Commander decks came out,Ghave, Guru of Spores was a very popular Commander for token and Aristocrats-style decks. Unfortunately those days seem to be long gone, making this a clearly sub-$2 mythic when supply hits the market.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Sedris, the Traitor King

With the original Shards of Alara copies selling at $3.50 right now, this will easily drift to $2 or less after sets release.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Karador, Ghost Chieftain

One of the most popular Reanimator archetype commanders, another reprint simply puts the nail in the financial coffin of this card.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Uril, the Miststalker

While copies were sitting in the $20 range prior to being spoiled, the price is already down to $10. Being the 13th-most-played Naya commander doesn't bode well for its long-term price. I can see it easily hitting $3 as pack crackers flood the market with low-value mythics trying to recoup some cash.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Emiel the Blessed

On the day of being spoiled this card was $8 and was a mythic rare from Jumpstart. Despite the love Unicorns and Horses have from the casual community, this card will drop below $3 in no time.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Disciple of the Ring

I honestly have no idea why this card was reprinted at all, let alone at mythic. It was a bulk mythic basically its entire existence. Disciple is even worthy of falling as low as $0.25-$0.50.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Muldrotha, the Gravetide

Despite being the 12th most popular Commander on EDHREC.com, this reprint so recently followed the Commander Legends etched foil that it likely drops down to a $2 card.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Hellkite Overlord

Even considering the love for Dragons that so many casual players have, the fact that this card was already sitting at under $3 before being spoiled means it will definitely be one of the bulkiest of bulk mythics you can open in this set. I expect a price of $0.25-$0.50 long term.

Double Your Money

I expect that Double Masters 2022 will be a runaway success based on the choice of a lot of highly desirable mythic rares, not to mention the desirable rare reprints. However, I also predict that success will be a double-edged sword and many of the cards will lose a lot of their value.

It is important to note that WoTC has stated previously that Masters sets are one-and-done print runs; however, it would be foolish of WoTC to not print a ton of this set given that it will generate a massive windfall of cash for the company.

For those looking to buy singles, I would hold off for at least 3 weeks before buying up any speculation targets and I be cautious about what sorts of returns I would expect. The Secret Lair series from Wizards has shown that they aren't afraid of reprinting desirable cards in quick succession (see Bloom Tender). For people just looking to add some of these cards to their collection, though, Double Masters 2022 will be a smash success.

Magical Creatures: Atogs and More from Antiquities

Posted on by Francesco Spagnol

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In the last article, we introduced the matter of this new series, which is going to deal with those creature types that are unique to the Magic: The Gathering franchise. Today, we’ll really get into it! As this is meant as a journey throughout the history of Magic expansions, we’ll proceed in chronological order.

The first set introducing a creature type invented especially for Magic is Antiquities, which in fact introduced two. Let’s take a closer look at this set, just to have an overview of the context in which some unique creatures were born.

Antiquities

Released on March 4, 1994, Antiquities is among the first expansion sets of Magic, second only to Arabian Nights. It’s the first Magic set to put an emphasis on artifacts. This would happen several other times in the future, but none of the following sets would feature such a strong presence of artifacts. Think of Urza’s Saga (1998), Mirrodin (2003), Scars of Mirrodin (2010), and Kaladesh (2016). All of them gave importance to artifacts, but Antiquities was on another level entirely, as every single card either was an artifact or mentioned artifacts.

Considering that, it's unsurprising that both creature types invented for this set have something to do with artifacts. Those creatures are Atog and Tetravite. They are not the only two creature types that were added to the game with Antiquities, of course. In fact, half of the creature types present in this set were new at the time. For instance, we had the first example of Druid, and a few other types that would be changed later (Archaeologist, Gremlin and so on). However, only Atog and Tetravite are species unique to this game, and this is why we’ll dissect them as part of this series.

The Origins of Atogs

The first creature with the type Atog appeared in Antiquities, and it was then reprinted in a few core sets and in Mirrodin. It was simply called Atog, probably because at first, they weren’t planning to create more. Over the following years, however, additional flavors of Atog were printed, and today we have no less than twelve! So what exactly is an atog?

Four more atogs

Well, first of all, the story goes that the word “atog” was invented as an anagram of the word “goat”. The joke is that atogs, just as goats, would eat almost anything. Magic is no stranger to cracking these sorts of jokes: see Phelddagrif (Garfield PhD) and Pemmin's Aura (I am Superman).

Atogs' Shape and Habits

As for their appearance, atogs have humanoid shapes and reptilian vibes. They also have enormous mouths with scary teeth, signalling that insatiable hunger is their most peculiar trait. In fact, when you look at the text box, every Atog ever printed has an ability that demands some sort of feeding. And so does the flavor text, which always refers to meals and the action of eating.

After the original Atog from Antiquities, four more were added in the next couple of years. With Mirage came Foratog, with Visions came Chronatog, with Weatherlight came Necratog, and finally, with Tempest came Auratog. So, by the end of 1997, five Atogs existed, one for each color. They all shared some similarities: the mana value was always 2 or 3, their stats were all 1/2, and they each had an activated ability to pump themselves.

The Evolution of Atog

But that’s not all: remember, we have twelve Atogs. Odyssey (2001) contained no fewer than six new ones. And they were all multicolored! It looks like the original five Atogs have been breeding, as the new five resemble their parents… but what about the sixth?

That's the Atogatog, a very special sort of lord which feasts on its own kind. “It relishes old-fashioned family meals,” as the flavor text goes.

Atogs from Odyssey onwards

Last but not least, let’s fast-forward to Mirrodin (2003), where the final Atog was printed. The balance of colors was just perfect, until Megatog came out, shifting the balance toward red. After all, we are now on one of the most heavily artifact-based sets ever, so why not creating an evolved (and gigantic) relative of Atog?

Megatog also has the power to sacrifice artifacts for gaining pump, but in this case it gets +3/+3 and trample. To quote another great flavor text, "In an ironic bit of evolution, the megatog's dozens of teeth are mainly ornamental. It prefers swallowing things whole."

And don't forget of Chronatog Totem! It's not really an Atog (in fact, it's not even a creature), but an artifact whose ability allows it to turn into Chronatog until the end of turn. Ah, Time Spiral.

Tetravites and the Like

Enough with atogs: it's time to move to the second unique creature type that was introduced with Antiquities via Tetravite. This time, it's a weird type, as it only appears on tokens. Not only that, it also appears on token created by a very specific creature, called Tetravus. Tetravus was created a simple artifact creature, with no type, but later got the type construct. Nothing special here: as we saw in the last installment, Magic developers have been trying to streamline creature types for quite a while.

Tetravus and its cousins

There is not much to be said about Tetravus, except for the fact that it was called back to twice in the course of Magic's history. In 2003, with Mirrodin, a card called Pentavus was printed. Its name, which contains the number "five" just as Tetravus contained the number "four," is a clear reference to the construct from Antiquities. And so is its ability to create tokens, or Pentavites.

In 2006, with Time Spiral, a third construct with a similar ability arrived: Triskelavus and its own tokens, this time called Triskelavites. Again, there's a number in the name of the card (three), but this time the reference is double, as it also recalls Triskelion.

A Pattern of -Avus and -Avites

All of these three creatures are constructs which enter the battlefield with a number of +1/+1 counters. At the beginning of your upkeep, pilots may remove any number of counters and create that many 1/1 tokens. They may also exile any number of tokens created this way and put back that many counters on the original creature. Only Triskelavus is a bit different. It allows players to sacrifice the tokens and deal damage, but not to put counters back onto their construct.

None of these three creature types appear on any printed creature, then. They can only be created as tokens. However, they are still creature types, which means Mistform Ultimus, as well as any creature with the ability Changeling, will also be Tetravite, Pentavite, and Triskelavite.

Flavor and Rules

In the course of this installment, we began analyzing some creatures unique to the Magic franchise. As far as I'm concerned, they all show interesting designs, especially as they combine new concepts of creatures with sensible abilities. It's hard to say whether designers had the rules in mind and then created suitable concepts, or the other way around. Anyway, it worked very well, particularly with atogs!

Stay tuned for the next piece, where we'll move on to the third Magic expansion, Legends. What new creatures did this set offer? Did you know that it contains a creature that would only become famous thirteen years later? Let me know what you think in the comments. And while we're at it... team Atog, or team Tetravite?

Adam Plays Magic: Explorer UW Control

Posted on by Adam Cohen

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This week on Adam Plays Magic, we're diving into one of my favorite archetypes, UW Control. Between a plethora of counterspells, premium and versatile spot removal and board wipes, and plenty of card draw effects, control decks let you keep the board neat and tidy as you win at your own pace. There's something deeply satisfying in prolonging a sure-fire win over half a dozen turns, slowly encroaching upon a helpless opponent until it's finally lights out.

This particular build is courtesy of @GavinBennettMTG, a friend, phenomenal deck builder, and control superstar. Gavin is an excellent Magic player and if you're not following him, what are you waiting for? Now onto the breakdown:

What I Like

First and foremost, I love that this deck gets to take full advantage of Yorion, Sky Nomad as a companion. Control strategies are often able to stabilize, but run into the issue of being unable to find a win condition. Always having access to an evasive 4/5 creature guarantees a method of closing out the game.

Additionally, the extra slots afforded by an 80-card deck offer the opportunity to play Omen of the Sea. The option to hold up either Jwari Disruption or an instant-speed cantrip punishes any opponent that chooses to play on curve as well as those that doesn't. Omen even sticks around either to cantrip with Yorion, or utilize unspent mana in the opponent's end step.

Another key element that holds the deck together is The Wandering Emperor. Typically, control players need to weigh the cost of tapping out for a threat like Teferi, Hero of Dominaria or whether they should hold up disruption. Emperor is the best of both worlds. Flash lets this threat deploy on an opponent's turn as a removal spell, a combat trick, or a value engine. It singlehandedly revolutionized how control shells are structured, and lower-power formats are not especially well-equipped to handle it. Above all, when blinked with Yorion, Emperor gets an additional activation during the end step.

What I Don't Like

It's sometimes difficult for me to be objective while discussing the faults of a deck that I love as much as UW Control. However, there's the perennial issue of the curve being fairly high. Between high-cost planeswalkers, wrath effects like Depopulate, and clunky three-mana counters like Absorb, the deck is unlikely to be able to cast multiple spells in a turn. When the plan is to one-for-one answer opposing threats, opponents that deploy multiple low-cost game pieces in a single turn can get under control's defenses and snowball.

With a reactive deck, it's hard to be prepared for everything in the metagame. Deck configuration matters a ton, and can shift from week to week, and sometimes even day to day. Packing too many board wipes against a creature-light opponent is a disaster. Opposing planeswalkers laugh at March of Otherworldly Light, and heaven forbid something like Hullbreaker Horror or Chandra, Awakened Inferno come out to play.

The biggest take away is just to always come prepared, although that's easier said than done.

The Deck

Explorer UW Control (Yorion)

Companion

1 Yorion, Sky Nomad

Planeswalkers

2 Narset, Parter of Veils
4 The Wandering Emperor
4 Teferi, Hero of Dominaria

Spells

4 March of Otherworldly Light
3 Dovin's Veto
3 Jwari Disruption
3 Fateful Absence
4 Absorb
3 Memory Deluge
2 Shatter the Sky
1 Depopulate
1 Farewell

Artifacts

4 Portable Hole

Enchantments

4 Omen of the Sea
4 Shark Typhoon

Lands

3 Island
3 Plains
4 Glacial Fortress
2 Field of Ruin
1 Castle Ardenvale
1 Castle Vantress
4 Hengegate Pathway
2 Hall of Storm Giants
2 Deserted Beach
4 Hallowed Fountain
4 Irrigated Farmland
1 Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire
1 Otawara, Soaring City
1 Raugrin Triome
1 Spara's Headquarters

Sideboard

1 Hullbreaker Horror
1 Dovin's Veto
3 Aether Gust
2 Rest in Peace
2 Mystical Dispute
1 Narset's Reversal
1 Dream Trawler
2 Sunset Revelry
1 Depopulate

End Step

I'm thrilled to have the chance to showcase the strength of UW Control. This archetype has been a consistent player in non-rotating formats for well over a decade and the tools from the last few years have added a ton of firepower. This build from Gavin was able to decisively snag a 5-0 record in Mythic, which further underscores its potency.

If you're a fan of this week's video, make sure to like, comment, and subscribe via the QuietSpeculation Youtube page. For more content by me, you can find all of my previous work here, or head over to Twitter and shoot me a message @AdamECohen to let me know your thoughts, talk shop, or make suggestions for a future video. I'll see you all next time, and remember, kids: just say "no!"

MTGO Summer Testing #3: Legacies Revived

Posted on by David Ernenwein

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It's the final week of June and the end of this testing mini-series. Primarily because the event that enabled it to happen in the first place will end the day after this article is published. It's been fun and I do see why so many streamers are able to keep their sanity playing MTGO day after day. You never know what you'll hit and that keeps the experience engaging. It also makes me wish that the rental services were half as efficient as Mythic Event Tokens.

While I'm only going to discuss five decks total during this series, I did play a lot more. The ones I've left aside are either too mainstream for the premise of the article, sufficiently bad in a way that's neither surprising nor interesting to discuss, or I'm saving them. The Regional Qualifiers start in July and I've been working on decks for the Modern ones. I don't want to tip my hand too early.

Hollow One Won't Die

It seems like an impossibly distant time now, but there was a moment when Hollow One looked like it was going to take over Modern. The deck was everywhere for the first few months of 2018 before rapidly falling off.

Part of that was that players got used to the gameplay and were better prepared. Part was also that alternative decks emerged which did something similar but more reliably. First it was RB Vengevine, which exploded on PT 25th Anniversary before disappearing. Then came Arclight Phoenix. The nail in the coffin was Faithless Looting eating a well-deserved ban.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Hollow One

However, over the years, adherents have refused to give up on their beloved artifact monster. I watched as various players tried to make the deck continue to work with just Burning Inquiry in both Hollow One and Vengevine shells. There were plenty of players that gave up on Hollow One and went all-in on Vengevine alongside mill card to recapture the glory. And it never worked. However, I was curious about their persistence, and went looking for a deck to try out.

The Deck

A confession: Hollow One was one of the first decks I decided to test when I undertook this series. I just had a harder time finding a deck to actually test than I thought. I spot the odd Hollowvine or Millvine deck in the data every month, but they've been around long enough that there's nothing new there. Both just lose to graveyard hate and their own inconsistency. Yawn.

Fortunately, I got some help. Evart Moughon, better known as aspiringspike, had an idea for an updated version with his (then-) pet card Ledger Shredder. It looked sufficiently good, interesting, and not tried-and-failed to me to warrant a closer look.

Shreddervine, Evart Moughon (test deck)

Creatures

4 Asmoranomardicadaistinaculdacar
4 Blazing Rootwalla
4 Flameblade Adept
4 Hollow One
4 Insolent Neonate
4 Ledger Shredder
2 Ox of Agonas
4 Street Wraith
4 Vengevine
1 Wonder

Sorceries

4 Burning Inquiry

Artifact

4 The Underworld Cookbook

Land

4 Arid Mesa
3 Mountain
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Steam Vents
2 Stomping Ground

Sideboard

4 Ancient Grudge
4 Fury
4 Leyline of the Void
3 Magus of the Moon

It was such a beautiful mess that I played the unaltered 75.

Initial Impression

As I said in the previous line, this deck is a mess. But it is a beautiful one. It's trying to be Hollowvine and also Hell's Kitchen. It has Shredder because of course it does. With only 17 lands it will have to mulligan a lot but it would need to anyway to have a chance of doing anything. And I do love the singleton Wonder.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Burning Inquiry

Whether it will actually work is another question. Between Inquiry, The Underworld Cookbook, and Insolent Neonate, there are plenty of ways to discard the Vengevines and make Hollow One a reasonable price. However, beyond that it doesn't look great. The old decks only worked thanks to their ability to vomit more power onto the board than removal could handle. With better removal available, I was skeptical that I'd get those good starts often and worried I'd have to rely on grinding out games with Shredder.

My Experience

This deck is a blast to play. It's not that good, but it is fun. You do have to get used to the chaos of it all, though. Over June, I've played 32 matches with this deck, far more than any other I've tried. Part of that is that matches with this deck tend to be over quickly, one way or another. The other is that I'm just having fun tooling around with it. My record stands at 13-19, so this deck is unlikely to take Modern by storm or have any measurable impact at all really.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Vengevine

There was no pattern to my wins or losses. I beat very good decks and lost to very bad ones. It all comes down to how the wheel spins.

Sometimes Inquiry is effectively Hymn to Tourach that enables Vengevine and Hollow One to start crushing on turn 1. Sometimes it makes the opponent's marginal hand amazing and ruins yours. Sometimes you cycle a lot of cards into nothing. Sometimes Asmoran... (I'm just leaving the name there from now on, thanks) is amazing and dominates the board; sometimes it just dies to Bolt. Games never feel similar, and past experience does not guarantee future payoff. It's all random.

What Happened?

This deck is an amalgamation of two plans which are similar , but do not synergize. There's the Hollow One plan and the Shredder plan. The former requires early Inquiry and/or dumping the hand in order to deploy as many 3+ power creatures as possible. The later requires holding cards to trigger Shredder repeatedly and make food for Asmoran to control the board and grow a massive threat. Trying to switch between plans doesn't work because if you start with the former you run out of fuel for the latter. Start with the latter and the former loses most of its punch. A 4/4 is phenomenal on turns 1-2 and pretty mediocre thereafter.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Ledger Shredder

You have to choose one plan based on your opening hand. Then, it's just trusting to luck. Inquiry is the only way to disrupt the opponent's gameplan game 1 and, again, there's no way to know how that will go. Hollow One is easier to remove today than in 2018, and so you're really just hoping for the opponent to run poorly and/or exhaust their removal.

The only card advantage is Asmoran for her Cookbook and Ox of Agonas, so you can run out of fuel and struggle to trigger Vengevine late. It's very all-or-nothing. For the record, the all-in plan won me more games than the Shredder plan, but either way it's easy for the deck to fall apart.

Deck Observations

As always, here are the additional thoughts I've had while playing this deck:

  1. I know that Evart designed the sideboard this way, but you almost never actually board anything in. I don't know if that's a good thing.
  2. Shredder is definitely underpowered here. It's hard to trigger connive yourself more than twice in a game.
  3. That 1-in-10 time you do trigger multiple Vengevines on turn one is the greatest feeling ever.
  4. I'm mostly just watching my opponent do their thing and hoping it's not enough.
  5. It's really lucky that Inquiry is sweet against combo; we could never race them otherwise.
  6. I'm not favored or unfavored in any matchup. Every match feels decided more by chance than actual play.
  7. I'm very soft to interaction. Doesn't matter what kind.
  8. Flameblade Adept didn't do much. Not sure if that was thanks to how I played or if it's a feature of the deck, but I didn't swing with it for much very often.
  9. Wonder is mostly useless, but wins the odd game here and there.

My Verdict

Don't play this deck if you're serious about winning. It definitely isn't serious about winning. However, if you're looking for a laugh and/or to be the center of attention at FNM, this is very much for you. Your fellow players may or may not appreciate the randomness element, but it will definitely turn heads and get people talking. If you can embrace the chaos and just want to have fun, this is a great deck and great experience. Just manage your expectations.

The Newcomer

For the final deck, I initially started testing this deck seriously as a possible Qualifier deck. I moved on, which is why I'm writing about it, though that fact makes me rather sad. I really like this deck, it's just not a deck I want to take a risk on due to metagame considerations.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Vendilion Clique

I first learned of Mono-Blue Tempo while looking up the Dreamhack Dallas 10k and saw Jason Kenyon's deck getting attention despite his poor performance. I later learned that the deck came from MHayashi and he'd first posted about it a few days earlier. It started getting more attention on twitter and put up some more results, so I used that as an excuse to test it.

The Deck

I know that I got this specific maindeck from somewhere. I don't remember where and if I wrote it down, I've forgotten what became of it. If this is your deck, then give yourself a pat on the back. And definitely drop a comment!

Mono-Blue Tempo, test deck

Creatures

4 Brazen Borrower
4 Subtlety
4 Svyelun of Sea and Sky
4 Vendilion Clique

Instants

4 Counterspell
4 Dismember
4 Force of Negation

Artifacts

4 Chalice of the Void

Enchantments

4 Spreading Seas

Lands

4 Faerie Conclave
4 Blast Zone
3 Hall of the Storm Giants
1 Minamo, School at Water's Edge
1 Oboro, Palace in the Clouds
2 Otawara, Soaring City
9 Island

Sideboard

4 Tide Shaper
2 Hurkyl's Recall
2 Relic of Progenitus
2 Unlicensed Hearse
2 Torpor Orb
3 Ratchet Bomb

I did some work on the sideboard over the course of testing and this was my end point.

Initial Impression

I know that I said I had an excuse to test this deck, but that's not totally true. This deck is exactly my jam. Long-time readers know that I started off as a Merfolk stalwart and took Spirits to tournaments before it was cool. I've played blue tempo in every Standard I can and currently play Mono-Blue Spirits in Pioneer. If I could afford Volcanic Island, I'd be a full-time Delver player. I was all about this deck the moment I saw it.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Svyelun of Sea and Sky

Which is the problem. I've tried to make similar decks work in the past and gotten severely burned. I had to take a step back and stop getting my hopes too high on bad blue decks in Modern years ago and forced myself to be realistic about my decks. Which actually didn't bode well for this deck, as it ticked a lot of the boxes of my previous bad-deck obsession. Vendillion Clique, Faerie Conclave, and Spreading Seas have headlined so many terrible decks in my past that I didn't have high hopes this time. But other players having success outweighed my self-imposed limits and I got to playing.

My Experience

I love this deck. It is everything I hoped to achieve with my previous disaster decks and more. Even better, I did quite well. I ended testing at 13-7. In matchups against UR Murktide and 4-Color Blink the deck felt great, with the right disruption to really put the screws to the opponent.

Once it transitions to attacking, Svyelun of Sea and Sky is surprisingly hard to kill, and Clique lives up to its potential. Spreading Seas was a huge beating in many matchups and Chalice of the Void could be devastating.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Spreading Seas

This was balanced by the deck being very poor against faster decks. Ideally, this deck faces nothing but midrange or slower decks because Dismember is essential, but awful when under pressure. I was very dependent on the Chalices being good, and being on the draw against a fast deck could be a death sentence. Subtlety can buy time, but I end up throwing away a lot of cards to buy the time to get something going. This doesn't matter against slower decks but in fast matchups the deck can run out of gas.

What Happened?

In short: take everything I said about Wishshift, apply it here, and then amplify it. The deck is very strong against the slow decks at the top of Tier 1 but isn't built to have a good aggro matchup. The only time I beat Burn was thanks to Chalice on 1 and 2, plus they didn't have any creatures. In the match I lost, I got the lock one game but they had Monastery Swiftspear out and killed me with Rift Bolt and prowess triggers. And a full three of my losses were to decks that simply ran out creatures on turns 1-3.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Blast Zone

The worst part is that unlike with Wishshift, this isn't a choice. That deck had chosen to weaken its creature matchups to be better against midrange. With Tempo, I was playing almost as many anti-creature cards as I could and it didn't help.

There are only so many anti-creature cards that a mono-blue deck can play in the first place, and the ones I'm not playing like Vedalken Shackles or Witness Protection make Ratchet Bomb and Dismember look like speedy all-stars in comparison. I did try both at some point, by the way. It didn't go well.

Deck Observations

In addition to the above problems, here are some more niche observations.

  1. Turn 1 Ragavan is really hard for this deck to beat.
  2. I thought the Tron matchup would be bad game 1. It's not, and Tide Shaper almost makes it a bye post sideboard.
  3. I definitely get some win percentage from players focusing on the wrong parts of this deck. The free spells are most common.
  4. Chalice is a reason to keep a hand.
  5. I run out of cards really easily. I feel like it needs Archmage's Charm, but that would throw off the threat/answer package too much.
  6. Blast Zone doesn't kill everything I need it too often enough. For a tempo deck, I have to give a lot of tempo up to keep up sometimes.
  7. Svyelun is really good and makes me want to pick up Merfolk again.
  8. Ratchet Bomb is pretty bad, but there really aren't better options.

Final Verdict

If I knew that I'd face nothing but 4-Color and Murktide decks in a tournament, I'd heartily recommend this deck. However, random creatures in quantity appear to be this deck's Achillies Heel. Not even true Zoo decks but general creature decks. The more chance to hit those kinds of decks, the worse this deck gets.

Ending the Series

And with that, June comes to a close. Next week will be the metagame update and then it's time to look towards the next qualifying season. See everyone then!

Drafting Double Masters 2022 for Fun and Profit

Posted on by Robert Genuario

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The release of a new Magic: the Gathering Masters set is always a reason for excitement. Sure, Wizards of the Coast reprints some of its most sought-after cards, but the draft formats are not to be overlooked. Sets like Modern Masters are frequently considered among the greatest of all time. We don't get many shots to play them, so this time around, if you have the opportunity, make sure you have a plan.

The gimmick with Double Masters sets like this is that each pack is seeded with a second rare or mythic slot. Double the rares! Double Masters sets also have a unique draft procedure. For the first pick of each pack in the draft, each player selects two cards for their first pick, not just one. The draft then proceeds normally from there. As we will see, this first-pick procedure changes our approach to the draft.

Pack 1 Pick 1 (2 Cards):

Double Masters 2022 has ten supported three-color archetypes. The five wedges and five shards are all bound by overlapping themes. Each archetype has cards that will elevate that specific deck in a big way. There are also individually strong cards like Path to Exile, Mulldrifter, and Lightning Bolt that are good options to start your draft. However, they're not the first cards I'll be looking for in each of my packs.

Pack One, Pick One: Sorry, Not Sorry

When cracking a premium set, don't be ashamed to recoup value when you see it. These sets are pricey and you're only going to get to see them for a limited time. These booster packs are designed like lottery tickets. Don't be afraid to cash in when you see the opportunity. With the ability to take two cards for our first pick, we have the opportunity to hedge when both rares in the pack are not valuable and take a solid Limited playable as well as the money. This allows players to grab something with real blue-book value, while still putting their flag in the sand when it comes to deck-building.

Post-Business Decision Drafting

Once I take a money card (if I'm lucky enough to see one), I need to return to the draft in earnest. Early on I'm looking for a card that is either:

  • Useful in any deck that can play it. These will be cards like Skinrender, Prophetic Bolt, Eternal Witness, or Mulldrifter. Some of these cards play stronger in certain archetypes, but all will play well in any deck that can reliably cast them.
  • Engine cards for a specific archetype. These are cards that optimize specific decks. Cards like Blood Artist in Mardu (BWR) Sacrifice or Travel Preparation in Abzan (GWB) +1/+1 Counters.

Single-colored cards are still going to be valuable as they keep you open to reading the table. However, we need to know which archetypes we actively want to be in. What are the critical cards to get there? With such a short lifespan, we won't have a chance to map out the landscape as carefully as we did in Streets of New Cappena (SNC) where we heavily hedged towards Brokers (GWU).

Abzan Counters (GWB)

We Want To Pump *Clap* You Up

The Magic homepage lists this as an Abzan (GWB) archetype, but the biggest inclusions all seem to fall inside of the Selesnya (GW) colors. If the wedge is open, I might try to streamline the mana and make this a two-color deck. Travel Preparations is a card I remember most fondly from Innistrad draft, as it was pure gas for any aggressive deck. Being able to strategically place two counters on two separate creatures, two times for two mana a pop was hard for opponents to play around.

Even though the flashback sorcery was up-shifted to uncommon, critical cards for the archetype have been down-shifted to common. Having access to multiple copies of Experiment One provides a legitimate early threat. This is especially important because cards like Chronicler of Heroes and Relief Captain want a big board presence.

The outlast cards, specifically Abzan Falconer and Ainok Bond-kin, should be priorities. Having a two-drop generate first strike for your team, or airlifting the squad for lethal with Falconer is devastating.

I will also prioritize cards like Mentor of the Meek and Militia Bugler in this archetype if my creature count is high enough. A board full of small creatures increases the flexibility of your +1/+1 counters, and effects like Thrive or Biogenic Upgrade become game-ending on a big board.

Mardu Aristocrats (RWB)

Sacrifice synergies are often present in draft formats, but in Masters sets, players get access to a larger range of possibilities.

All The Classics

There are no Act of Treason variants in this format. Generating sacrifice fodder might be a bottleneck for this deck. There are some rares that do this exceptionally well like Bitterblossom and Seasoned Pyromancer, but at lower rarities, you'll have to work harder. Doomed Traveler does work here, as will Call to the Feast. However, I am concerned about the lack of disposable creatures.

The good news is that all of the pay-offs are here. Blood Artist is the face of the franchise, and I would love to have multiple. Hissing Iguanar does a reasonable impression. Seeing these late will be a sign you're in the right archetype. The freshly down-shifted Dark-Dweller Oracle and the surprisingly powerful Cartel Aristocrat are also viable sacrifice outlets, as is Bloodflow Connoisseur.

Honestly, this is an archetype where I'd consider the possibility of splashing a Spider Spawning to generate bodies. Being able to send a fresh batch of reinforcements to extract value from your sacrifice engines and death synergies is what this deck is lacking. A slight green splash can fix that in a big way, providing instant kills and ending the game in a hurry.

Flicker (UWB)

The Flicker archetype in Esper (UWB) utilizes the "enters the battlefield" (ETB) abilities of creatures. It aims to play high-value creatures and reuse their ETB effects.

Entering and Reentering the Battlefield

This archetype has a high upside. Using an early Momentary Blink on a turn-five, evoked Mulldrifter or Aethersnipe will be game-breaking. However, those cards will be coveted by all players in your colors. There is a big difference between flickering Skeleton Archer and Skinrender. If the colors are open, this archetype should be extremely powerful, but even when contested the archetype presents opportunities.

Blue and Black offer control tools like Agony Warp and Deep Analysis. A signpost for this archetype is the common removal spell Settle Beyond Reality. Pairing these types of cards with high-end finishers like Psychic Symbiont or Vampire Sovereign can be a good way to finish your opponent.

While this sounds like a great archetype, my biggest concern with this deck is its early game plan. Once you start snowballing card advantage you should be fine, but the aggressive decks in this format look like they'll be able to get under you. Unsurprisingly, Wall of Omens looks like a crucial piece to the success of this deck.

Sidenote: Unburial Rites does a reasonable job reactivating potent ETBs. The flashback sorcery is a sneaky Flicker card.

Jeskai Prowess (URW)

Making Blocking A Nightmare Since 2014

Excited drafters will look for any excuse to splash an off-color bomb. Fortunately, we have the tools to punish that greed. The prowess deck looks to play aggressive low-costed creatures and leverage well-timed spells to finish them off.

This deck relies on tempo to win the game, so I think cutting a color is an option to streamline this deck. Often times when we build decks like this, we're looking for any cheap instant to activate prowess with flexibility. This set offers great options in Lightning Bolt, Lightning Helix, and Path to Exile for turns where removing a blocker while double-spelling will lead to a win. However, like the high-powered cards in the Flicker archetype, those cards will be high-picks for many players at the table.

When it comes to spells, efficiency is the name of the game. As I mentioned in a previous article though, expensive removal can be fine in aggressive shells. The top-end interaction for this deck is really exciting. Domestication and Prophetic Bolt are powerful ways to trigger prowess. These cards might not kill your opponent on the spot, but they set up multi-turn kills quite well.

Heroic "Aggro" (RGW)

I am far more excited about the Prowess version of the aggro deck than the Heroic one. The Jeskai (URW) version has better interaction and is harder to interact with. While some of the cards overlap, the Heroic archetypes often risk "putting all their eggs in one basket".

The Hero We Deserve?

If you're able to end up with multiple copies of Experiment One, Tenth District Legionnaire, or Monastery Swiftspear, I can see the aggressive plan working well. However, if your plan is to build a Wingsteed Rider into an Archangel, I'm far more skeptical. This deck wants to be explosive, so it needs to be pressuring opponents. I do see another option here though.

I'm curious about cards like Labyrinth Champion and Gnarlback Rhino. These cards generate more value when they are targeted than the other heroic cards. A Centaur Battlemaster can grow huge, but this set has removal to deal with a single big threat. If I find myself in this archetype, I'd like to try and use the blink spells to protect my value engines, rather than use pump spells to push through lethal. As a result, I'm prioritizing Hyena Umbra and Ambuscade over more traditional tricks like Might of Old Krosa and Battlefield Promotion.

The heroic mechanic is temperamental. You're not just collecting"good heroic cards". You need to build a deck with a plan. There are a lot of upsides here, but the pitfalls are also very real. Heroic is the last archetype with clear defining features. The remaining five archetypes feature more overlap and utilize less overt synergy.

Graveyard Value UBR and UBG

Graveyard Value Control Piles

There are opportunities to self-mill in Dimir (UB). Similarly, Dimir offers a few options as to how to use the graveyard. The blue zombies from Innistrad are undercosted but require some fodder in the graveyard. Thought Scour, Seekers' Squire, and Deranged Assistant can help you generate value from Advanced Stitchwing, Makeshift Mauler and the suite of Flashback spells the format offers. Spider Spawning is a major payoff for being green.

Wizards would have you believe that there are two fundamentally different archetypes here. I am skeptical. Both decks are Dimir-based and use the graveyard as a resource to grind out their opponents. In theory, Grixis (UBR) is more of a midrange approach and Sultai (UBG) is ramping into a bigger endgame. In actuality, Grixis seems to be an unsupported archetype. The Izzet components are very spell-heavy, but black does little to support that initiative.

It's difficult to identify exactly what red brings to the archetype. Pirate's Pillage, Living Lightning, and Surreal Memoir all seem fine, but I'd rather showcase those cards in one of the more spell-centric archetypes. Conversely, Unburial Rites can be a strong splash while you're filling your graveyard.

Still, this game plan is a reasonable one. Using the graveyard as a resource can help win longer games. Because it lacks synergy, you will need to rely on stronger cards. Thankfully, the format's removal and card advantage can make that possible.

Ramp (GWU and GRU)

The Green-Blue Identity Crisis Strikes Again

Both of these decks build off of the green tools for ramping. Rampant Growth and Elvish Rejuvenator do a lot of work for both of these decks. As a result, I imagine these decks will often just be piles of good cards. If you do get the ramp tools and the payoffs, leaning into this theme can be quite powerful. Webweaver Changeling and Eternal Witness both thrive in longer games, but I wonder how the flicker effects will spike in value once you're building in this direction.

Similarly, Bear's Companion looks the part of a good ramp card, but wouldn't you also just rather be flickering it? The only real payoffs for ramp at common are Annoyed Altisaur and maybe Dreamshaper Shaman. Both of these need more high-costed creatures waiting at the top of your deck.

If I see a bunch of threats at higher rarity then this shell could be an effective one. If I open a Hydroid Krasis and get passed a Ruric Thar, the Unbowed, I can imagine myself aggressively looking for the ramp pieces. In general, though, I'm going to be looking for powerful cards or inroads to another more synergistic archetype.

Jund 'Em Out (BRG)

So, Jund is... Jund?

Jund. Whatever you call it, this archetype is the least defined of the archetypes in Double Masters 2022. The deck is essentially just playing the good cards in these colors. Strong creatures backed by powerful removal spells. It's a simple recipe, although I do think the previous four archetypes use a similar blueprint.

Typically, Jund wants a lot of two-for-ones. Cards like Brindle Shoat, Seekers' Squire and Staggershock can provide that value. You don't need to be particularly aggressive if you have access to premium removal, which this set offers these colors.

Good creatures, good removal, and good card advantage make this deck tick. Jund is the epitome of overlooking synergy, though that isn't to say none exists. You can build sacrifice synergies with Brindle Shoat and Severed Strands. Furthermore, you can add ramp elements if you opened a payoff. Jund uses the best tools to make a solid deck and it usually works fine.

If the people want rankings without a single piece of data, that's exactly what I will give them!

My Archetype Rankings

  1. Jeskai Prowess - Aggressive, with a ton of options at the top end. Proactive with great interaction. This is where I want to be.
  2. Abzan Counters - This deck scales with the game and seems very well-supported at common. It may struggle with bombs.
  3. Esper Flicker - This deck might just be Bant more often than not. If it can solve its late-game issues, I think this is the most dangerous deck in the format.
  4. Jund - Good ol' rock. It probably has the best tools of the ramp decks and a deep arsenal of removal. I want high-quality threats in this deck, but if I have them, this becomes a great home.
  5. Mardu Aristocrats - Though I'm not convinced this deck has all of the pieces to get there, I'm excited about the upside. If you can either snag aggressive early pressure or a reliable way to make more bodies, I think this can be powerful.
  6. Graveyard Value Decks - I don't love the design space here, but playing a grindy control deck in a format where you have access to high-powered cards still is exciting to me.
  7. Ramp Decks - Assuming we have something to ramp into? Otherwise, these colors just have reasonably strong cards to play a midrange game plan.
  8. Heroic Decks - I want to like these, but I've been hurt before.

To paraphrase Jim Nance, the Masters are an experience unlike any other. Cracking these boxes is a ton of fun, but the draft format will likely be deep and challenging. Take your money cards, then put your game face on and win a few free packs. Let me know what has you most excited about in this draft format in the comments.

Examining Double Masters 2022

Posted on by Sigmund Ausfresser

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A great deal of hype has accumulated over the past couple of weeks as Double Masters 2022 spoilers rolled in. When folks got their first glance at Imperial Seal, my Twitter erupted—I’m pretty sure that card single-handedly bolstered preorder prices for booster boxes. When chase cards like Cavern of Souls, Mana Vault, and Dockside Extortionist followed, it became readily apparent this set will be a hit.

Right now booster boxes are hovering in the $380 range. Is that a reasonable price? Is FOMO taking the Magic community by storm? Where will prices settle? Most importantly, what will the impact be on the broader secondary market?

These are some of the questions flying through my mind lately in anticipation of the July 8th release date. By no means do I claim to have all the answers, but this week I’m going to take a stab at making some predictions surrounding this hot-selling set.

First and Foremost: Preorders are a No-No

Pre-ordering singles from a new set is almost always the incorrect choice if you’re strictly playing by Magic finance rules. Rather than purchasing copies of a card when supply is artificially scarce (as it is during the pre-order season), you are far better off waiting for the set to be out for a few weeks to purchase the cards you need during peak supply.

As a most egregious example, consider Imperial Seal, a card that up until recently sold for over $1500 because it was a Commander playable card printed in just one set: Portal: Three Kingdoms.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Imperial Seal

When first spoiled, I saw people attempting to sell Double Masters 2022 non-foil copies on TCGplayer for nearly $1000. Fast forward a couple of weeks, and TCG low is $337.95, about one-third of its initial price. That number is likely to tumble even further once the set is released and readily available. The most valuable card in the original Double Masters is Mana Crypt, which sells for about $170.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Mana Crypt

Should Imperial Seal remain the most valuable card from Double Masters 2022, I have little reason to believe it would maintain a price point much higher than that of Mana Crypt as the dust settles. By the way, Card Kingdom’s preorder price for Imperial Seal is $299.99, already 10% below TCG low.

Imperial Seal is a bit of a unique case, though, since it’s a reprint of an extremely rare and valuable card. Let’s talk more broadly about the other hot spoilers from the set.

Here is a list of the other top five most expensive (non-foil, regular printing) reprints from Double Masters 2022 according to Card Kingdom’s site:

  • Warrior's Oath: $99.99
  • Cavern of Souls: $64.99
  • Wrenn and Six: $64.99
  • Mana Vault: $59.99

Honestly, I’m surprised these are as low as they are already—I hadn’t researched these numbers before I started this article, and the values I'm seeing now seem more reasonable than they must have been a week ago. Then again, Card Kingdom’s numbers seem consistently at parity with or lower than TCGplayer’s, which supports my theory that preorder prices were at one point a good bit higher.

Warrior's Oath is $144.99 on TCGplayer, for example. Maybe it’s just the novel reprints that started way too high during the preorder season? Cards that have been printed or reprinted more recently are closer to a reasonable price—this makes sense since there’s plenty of data out there to indicate around where these card prices will settle. Pricing a card that was printed only once over 20 years ago, however, can be difficult. Naturally, sellers are going to start high and then drop their prices as time goes forward.

My advice remains the same: hold off on pre-ordering singles unless you need them for some urgent event. If Imperial Seal is crucial to your 60-card deck for some reason, then thank your lucky stars there’s now an alternative out there that isn’t $1500. But if you can afford to wait a couple more weeks, I think you’ll find better prices.

What About Sealed Product?

This question is not as trivial. It’s well known at this point that pre-ordering singles can be a waste of money. And I want to say that preordering sealed booster boxes of Double Masters 2022 will yield the same consequence. As new cards have been spoiled, sealed boxes of this set have climbed in price.

According to eBay’s completed listings, the first boxes of Double Masters 2022 sold for around $250-$260 back in early June. From there, boxes actually dropped in price, selling for as low as $233 on June 16th. Since then boxes have rebounded to their current price point of around $375. That’s already a significant gain for folks who got in near the low!

It would be easy for me to declare that preordering boxes at this new, higher price point would be a waste of money much like the singles. That very well may still be the case. However, I looked up prices for booster boxes of the first Double Masters set, and found the below:

At $680 for a booster box, that leaves some significant upside for Double Masters 2022 boxes if we assume they follow the same trajectory. Of course, it’s not a foregone conclusion that these boxes will follow the same path that the original Double Masters boxes did. That being said, I wouldn’t be surprised to see these selling for north of $500 in a couple of years.

Long term, these seem like find products to hold. The big question is when to purchase them. I suppose if you bought boxes now for $375 and held for a few years and sold for $500-$600, you’d make some money. However, I wonder if box prices will drop between now and then before resuming their climb higher? It’s possible. One of my Magic finance Twitter friends seems confident that this will be the case, and that boxes will drop once the product is officially launched and more readily available in stores.

I’m inclined to agree, and this is why I recommend holding off on preordering booster boxes at this point. If you didn’t buy before spoiler season began, you missed the first chance at cheap boxes. But you should get another chance in the coming months—monitor the market closely, and you should find a better price point.

The Rest of the Secondary Market

One last thing I wanted to touch on is the boon this set may be for the rest of the secondary market. Every time people are opening $100+ cards from booster packs, it gives them an opportunity to trade their recent windfalls for other staples. Think about it: a playset of Imperial Seals could be used to trade for an Underground Sea. A smattering of mythic rares opened from a booster box could be used to trade for a Mox Diamond.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Mox Diamond

I think you get the point. Every time a new set comes out with a good deal of fanfare and hype, it infuses more cash into the Magic market. As the old adage goes, a rising tide lifts all ships. I wonder if this will transpire again with Double Masters 2022? If it does, it’ll probably take some number of months before we see the effects. With the backdrop of a contracting economy and rampant inflation, it may not happen at all. That said, the healthy pricing of this set so far gives me hope that the market remains healthy and robust despite a less-than-optimal economic backdrop.

What About The Reserved List?

Though this article is mostly about Double Masters 2022 cards and prices, I'd be remiss to not mention Reserved List cards when talking about the greater Magic market. Lately, I've been watching Reserved List prices fade.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Tropical Island

A successful reprint set like Double Masters 2022 could be the ideal catalyst to rekindle interest in Magic’s oldest, most sought-after cards, and could propel prices to new highs in 2023. Some of the lesser Four Horsemen Reserved List cards have pulled back more significantly and may offer attractive entry price points if you’ve been holding out on purchasing them.

I’m not screaming to buy Dual Lands from the rooftops, mind you. I’m just speculating that, with Reserved List prices ebbing and flowing in waves, we could be due for another wave of buying sometime over the next twelve to eighteen months, and a successful reprint set like Double Masters 2022 could help provide the liquidity needed in the market to drive that wave of buying.

The key takeaway is that there’s no urgency here. I’m just mindful of this set’s success (so far) and it gives me optimism for a healthy secondary market.

Wrapping It Up

Reprint sets have historically been a huge success for Wizards of the Coast, so it’s no surprise to see yet another coming out this summer. Considering how expensive the first Double Masters set has become, combined with an impressive array of valuable reprints, it stands to reason that Double Masters 2022 will follow suit and be equally successful.

This makes me very happy—a successful premium set like Double Masters 2022 will be a boon for everyone involved with the Magic market. People will scoop up this product left and right, which bodes very well for retailers and brick-and-mortar stores selling the product. Naturally, this means heftier profits for Wizards of the Coast and their parent company, Hasbro.

Most importantly (from my vantage point), a healthy, successful set release means a cash infusion for the secondary market, bolstering confidence in the game’s health. As long as the game remains healthy and strong, singles will maintain their price points. This means older, more collectible cards will also have an opportunity for further growth. This last part doesn’t happen quickly, mind you, but I hope to see some effects by Spring 2023.

In the meantime, hold off on ordering any Double Masters 2022 product for now. Prices will come down a bit as we approach peak supply post-release. That’ll be your chance at acquiring Commander staples like Phyrexian Altar as well as booster boxes near their lows.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Phyrexian Altar

While you’re at it, have a shopping list ready for older, Reserved List cards you’ve been wanting. They’ve been dropping in price lately, and this may be a good chance to pick them up before the tide rises once again, sending prices of Dual Lands and the like even higher.

The cycle continues, and we rinse and repeat once more.

Generational Magic: 5 More Tips on How to Share Magic with a New Player

Posted on by Anthony Willier

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There are many ways to introduce someone to Magic: the Gathering, but not all ways are beneficial or productive. How you approach or instruct someone can greatly influence their desire to join in the fun. I shared some tips on this prospect in a previous article. This week I want to share a few more that can help you help new players on their Magic journey.

1. Event Behavior

Is That a Lightning Bolt?

A player's behavior at an event is just as important as their preparation before the event. Try to enlighten your new player on the appropriate ground rules for behavior. Being respectful of others is always important. This is especially true in how one approaches other players, particularly while they are playing. If you want to hang around and watch a match, most players won’t mind. It still doesn’t hurt to ask them, especially if no one else is around, just to be sure.

Advise your new player when watching a match to not talk about the cards in the players’ hands or about plays they are making. Not only can it be rude and disruptive, but it could also provide outside information to those players and influence the match. If your new player has a question or wants to talk about the match, move out of earshot so they can talk to you without disrupting the players.

If you or your new player do notice something, like a rules issue, misplay, or (God forbid) cheating, you can locate the judge and let them know. You can ask the players to pause the game and then locate a judge If you feel comfortable doing so. Note in either case you aren’t required to, just so your new player understands.

No, You Shouldn’t Flip the Table

Along with respect for others is respect for oneself. Assist your new player to remember that if they start to have a bad game or a bad day, that there are right and wrong ways to express those feelings. Let them know before you head out what they should do if they start getting upset. We've all had our "bad beats" stories, and they might only need to get it out of their system. Other times it might be best to take them away from the situation and allow them to relax before heading into another game.

There may also be times you'll have to just leave the event. Be watchful of how your new player deals with stress and know beforehand how to work through it. They will also emulate your attitude. If you’re unhappy, that will affect the overall experience, so be aware of how you are coming across. How you and the new player approach each event will play a big part in the enjoyability of the event.

2. What Format to Start With?

So Many Formats...

As I mentioned in my previous tips article, there are a ton of different ways to play Magic. The Wizards of the Coast website has explanations for a few of the most popular formats, and there are even more that you can read about here. Overall, there are two general types: constructed and limited. Within each of these umbrellas reside a multitude of formats.

Constructed

Constructed is just that. You construct a deck from cards you have access to. Most constructed formats run 60 or 100 card decks. I don't have the numbers, but I believe the majority of players begin their Magic journey with a constructed deck of some kind, whether borrowed, preconstructed, or built by the player. Deckbuilding is only limited by your imagination and the rules of the format.

Limited

Limited formats only use cards provided to players at the start of the event to create their decks. No outside cards are permitted except for basic lands. These are typically provided by the event organizer but players are free to use their own basics if they've brought them. Limited formats include Sealed and Draft.

In Sealed, players receive a certain number of packs and build their decks from whatever they open in those packs. In a draft, players pass packs around a table, known as a draft pod, taking one card from each pack and passing the rest on to the other players. Sealed puts everyone on a similar footing and is a popular format for beginners and experts alike. Prerelease events are typically sealed for this reason. Draft, on the other hand, has a learning curve, and can be more skill-intensive.

Both are a lot of fun, but if you have a newer and younger player I’d suggest starting with sealed before draft. In most sealed events you play every round whether you win or lose, but many drafts are single-elimination, so novice players end up with less playtime.

Hybrid/Special Formats

There are even a few formats that combine elements of Constructed and Limited. Cube draft is one such format. In Cube, you construct a collection of cards (usually 360, but it can be more), randomize them, and then draft them. The creator of the Cube generally follows a specific theme or interest. A great example is the Invasion Set Cube built by my fellow QS creator Paul. Cube is excellent because you can repeatedly shuffle up and redraft it, and have a completely different experience each time.

3. Your Friendly Neighborhood LGS

My eldest's first experience with Magic was drafting, mainly because I enjoy drafting. He drafted, put a deck together, played two games, lost both, and his event was over. He was quite disappointed. Not so much with losing—he expected that—but with how fast event finished. The next time I took him to play Magic was to his first pre-release, which was Sealed. he still lost most of his games, but he had a full day of play, enjoying it the whole time. Make sure to think about what best fits everyone's play style, ability, and interests. Doing so may allow your new player to get all they can out of playing.

Speaking of your Local Game Store, the local community is what it's all about. Whether it’s a close group of friends, online groups, or an LGS, how a new player is supported can make or break any interest they have in the game. Getting used to a new environment isn’t easy for everyone, especially younger players.

When my boys started to attend local events, they were excited. They were also somewhat nervous around the different people they would encounter. Everyone was generally friendly, but it took time for the boys to get comfortable. My oldest, Chase, would always hang back from everyone and only socialize occasionally. My youngest, Jarod, was the opposite. He easily familiarized himself with the other players and wanted to interact more often.

When bringing someone new into the shop for an event, try talking to the owner and/or the event organizer ahead of time. This is especially important if you have someone with special needs or something specific to their situation. Ask if you can assist your new player. If it’s a limited format, you could request to assist them in deck building or being able to sit closer to them while they play. Of course, it would be at the discretion of the LGS, but it never hurts to ask. If you're familiar enough with the other players, you can ask them to help keep an eye out for your new player as well.

4. We All Make Mistakes

Reassure your player when they make a mistake and help them learn from those mistakes and improve. They’ll pick the wrong card in a draft, they’ll miss attacks, not understand timing, and so on. Magic can be a complicated game. When they do make mistakes, help them (and yourself) to channel the learning process appropriately. If necessary, take the extra time to step back, assess the situation, and rectify it.

When your new player makes mistakes and learns through them, be sure to keep yourself in the right attitude as well. It can be easy to get frustrated when you’re right in the middle of a tense game, your match is on the line, and your new player comes over and starts going on about whatever. Staying self-aware will help how you react in these situations, and prevent any potential complications from either of you. Allow both of you to learn from each other's mistakes or misunderstandings. Build the relationship and both of you will grow.

5. Have Fun!

Most of all, have fun! Yes, I know, it's a direct repeat of what I said in the first tip in my previous article, but it bears repeating At the beginning, middle, and end of the event, enjoy yourselves. While you and your new player are playing, remember that Magic: the Gathering is many things to many people, but at its heart, it's a game. Be serious enough to want things to go right, but not so serious that if they don't, you and your new player can't adjust and continue having a blast.

What Are You Waiting For?

Again, I hope these tips give you some food for thought and help you and your new player to have a great time. Don't let uncertainty dissuade you; if you're thinking of inviting someone new to the game or converting a friend who isn't sure, take the chance to share the joy of gaming. Look to have fun no matter where you've started from. What's one piece of advice you have for helping new players get into Magic? Share with us in the comments or on Twitter.

Sizing Up The Baldur’s Gate Commander Decks: Are They Worth Buying?

Posted on by Joe Mauri

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I'm a big fan of precons for a variety of reasons. I've written about some of them here and here. Now the disclaimer because I feel it's important: Ever since Wizards released the Baldur's Gate decklists I've been dying to get my hands on the Mind Flayarrrs and Party Time decks. More boat-based cards are always intriguing to me,Nalia de'Arnise fits my deathtouch deck perfectly, and, Black Market Connections just looks like a great card. Given that I was already going to purchase these two decks I was sort of pot-committed to get all four. The question is, should you the reader? Yes. No. Maybe? But first, an extremely brief overview of each deck.

Horror Pirates Tribal - Mind Flayarrrs

An interesting Dimir deck, Mind Flayarrs seeks to put out Horrors and then lead the team with Captain N'ghathrod to mill opponents and steal their creatures. The deck showcases Horrors from throughout Magic's history along with some multiplayer-friendly spells. I'm struck by the lack of countermagic but there's at least one on the Horror body of Overcharged Amalgam.

Changeling Party Beatdown - Party Time

The various changeling effects help Party Time to achieve full party status and go off generally in every attack. With a full party, there's a massive amount of value to every turn and your creatures will quickly balloon out of control. At the same time, you're drawing a pile of cards from every manner of card draw effect including even Skullclamp.

I Hear You Like Goad - Draconic Dissent

Super Dragons and mass amounts of goad effects lead to a crazy experience. Draconic Dissent is not lacking in huge spells, huge creatures, or big board state shakeups. This is really tuned for multiplayer where it shines and has some fun and engaging cards like Chaos Dragon. It can play either aggressive or controlling strategies. This can be accomplished pregame by swapping commanders or in-game by casting a variety of auras on creatures you control or do *not* control; it's quite versatile.

Faldorn Has Left The Building - Exit From Exile

Where to begin? Exit From Exile picked a theme and stuck with it. Hard. You are going to cast things from exile, and, you're going to like it! When I first played this deck I wondered why Faldorn, Dread Wolf Herald was used over Durnan of the Yawning Portal and Passionate Archaeologist but after playing if many times it's a lot more obvious. I believe this is the "sleeper" deck of the four and is a lot more powerful than at first glance.

In Favor Of Purchasing

Right out of the box you're getting a fairly good deal. Each deck is loaded with a mixture of both highly playable rares and some powerful cards. How powerful? These are some of the most powerful precons that Wizards has ever rolled out and that is not just my opinion. According to EDREC the deck with the least cards from the top 100 list is Party Time with only five. The most? Exit From Exile with ten. This is worth highlighting.

The "XYZ Precon" With a Few Upgrades Phenomenon

Purchasing a precon and upgrading it somewhat is extremely common. Whether it's for budget, power, or other reasons, a slightly upgraded precon just makes the most sense for many players. Now you have the option of purchasing an off-the-shelf precon that, in my opinion, already has an "upgrade" from the factory.

Replay Factor

While most precons include a second potential commander the Baldur's Gate decks are unique because of the Background mechanic. There really is a large difference between playing Exit From Exile utilizing Faldorn instead of Durnan and Passionate Archaeologist. Draconic Dissent is even more unique for the fact that it includes partnered Planeswalkers as one of your *three* different potential commander packages. Frankly, Party Time begs the question of why a changeling is not the commander in the first place but it effectively gives you that option. I can't imagine Mind Flayarrrs without the Captain as it simply gives the deck a lot more character but you can pivot into a mill first and attack second sort of strategy. All in all, each deck does the thing it aims to do and with a simple commander swap, you can change the details of your game plan but not the game plan itself. All of this adds up to good replay value for all the decks.

Why Wouldn't You Get These Decks?

There's value and then there's value. Each deck technically breaks down into positive net value, at the moment, but what about the future? There are a lot of reprints in each of these precons and the value of all of those cards is trending down, not up. It remains to be seen if some of the singularly more popular cards can bolster the financial value of any of the decks.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Black Market Connections
There was an error retrieving a chart for deep gnome terramancer

These two valuable cards from the Baldur's Gate decks are following the same downward trend. While I think both cards are good and deserve to see play in many decks they don't appear to be stand-out cards like Deflecting Swat or Fierce Guardianship which sold entire precons on their value alone. Financially these decks are not a good investment in the short or medium term. Long term? Well, my favorite Yogi Berra quote is "It's tough to make predictions, especially about the future." In short, it's just cheaper to buy the handful of cards you may want and not invest extra money on reprints that are losing value.

Keep It Simple

More so than any other precons, these four decks are complicated. Now, that might sound like a good reason for hardcore, veteran players to get them but there are simply more casual and new players. I play with new and/or newer players often and I can share some of their feedback here. The most complicated deck of the four is Exit From Exile without a doubt. Venture Forth says "Suspend 3 -1G" without any rules text. So too does Greater Gargadon. To a player who has never seen the Suspend mechanic before it can be intimidating and confusing.

Consider also, that there are multiple kinds of exile effects in this deck. That includes "Exile this thing," "Exile this thing until the end of turn," and "Exile this thing until the end of next turn," effects all in the same deck. Now you are essentially creating THREE different Exile zones. This doesn't even take into account the Adventure, Rebound, Foretell, and Hideaway cards in the deck. How many effectively different Exile zones are there? How do you explain the differences to a newer player? Did I mention that Exit From Exile also has a flashback card so the graveyard is not entirely out of play either? While Exit is the absolute most egregious of the four precons in terms of complexity, each deck has a significant number of moving pieces beyond many of the previous precons.

The Complexity Trap

Exit From Exile is a truly interesting preconstructed deck. Its design feels fairly organic, as though a human being saw how many cards said "Exile a thing" and decided to put them together in a pile. It blends many mechanics through many sets. In my opinion, the only things missing to round out the theme were Madness cards or Riftsweeper.

I think it's an excellent deck for players like me who know all the mechanics and how they work. The problem, is I am not your typical Magic player. My biggest criticism of Exit From Exile is the lack of rules inserts to explain all the keywords and mechanics in this deck to newer players. Hell, even longtime players might need a refresher on some of these keywords and mechanics. Speaking of keywords and mechanics...

Take The Initiative

To drive the point home, there's a new ability featured across the precons. The Initiative is a brand spanking new mechanic in Commander Legends: Battle For Baldur's Gate. Even veteran players have something to learn. Thing is, new players do not get a choice to use this or not, it's baked into the cake. In the case of this new mechanic, at least, they do give you a card that shows you how The Initiative works, and that acts as a marker for who has it. Even still, it's noteworthy that a format supposedly intended for casual players is forcing an increasingly complex baseline of rules knowledge through its product offerings.

Verdict? Well, They Got MY Money

But should they get yours? If you're a Commander fanatic, you've already bought one or all of the decks. If you're a casual player sitting on the fence and still trying to figure out if it's worth your money? All I can say is that these precons are way beyond the usual offerings. If you stick with Mind Flayarrrs you probably cannot go wrong no matter the player or scenario. Really love multiplayer and chaos? Get Draconic Dissent. In the mood for something highly synergistic, value-driven, and with tremendous consistency? Exit From Exile is your deck. Just want something spicy that ranges from good to better? It's Party Time. Really all of the decks are good here and it just comes down to taste. Get out there and start having fun!

What's your favorite precon from Baldur's Gate? Let me know in the comments.

Clawed Our Way Up: The ’22 Counter-Cat Reboot, Pt. 2

Posted on by Jordan Boisvert

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Welcome to the second of a pair of articles detailing my misadventures retuning Counter-Cat for a Modern flipped turned upside-down. If you missed Part 1, click here to get up to speed. Today, we'll examine the deck's draw and removal suites, its manabase, and the sideboard. And yes, there is a decklist! Who among you bears the mental fortitude required to keep from immediately scrolling down?

To Draw Another Breath

On to the card draw that isn't stapled to creatures.

We are lighter on air than Murktide, since we'd rather affect the board and game texture than spend our precious mana sculpting. But we still need our Channelers to be good. That's where Bauble comes in. The all-star cantrip is also sick alongside Iteration (freebie), Wrenn (repeated fetchland scrying) and Shredder (immediate connives). It was great with Lurrus too, but that ship has unfortunately sailed. (You should have seen my online record! Granted, I have won quite a few games with good ol' Jegantha.)

One ship that hasn't sailed (at least, not in Modern) is the aforementioned Cruise-light, Expressive Iteration. This is the only draw spell we're spending mana on, and for good reason: it provides both filtering and card advantage.

Something that rubbed me wrong about my last build of Counter-Cat was how bad my card draw was with the gotcha cards.

Right after MH2 was spoiled, I went to town with Abundant Harvest and Light Up the Stage, which gave me great goldfishes (14 lands, all action, no problem) but couldn't add up to wins in real games. That's because Pierce and Muta remained our most impactful cards for the mana, but became so much worse once opponents had seen them. Iteration keeps them hidden while doing a great job of digging them up, giving the sorcery heaps of value here.

I'd argue that EI is even better in a low-to-the-ground shell like ours than in Murktide, as we can more reliably cast one or both cards peeled off the top in the same turn cycle and have more obvious cards to bottom since our cheaper spells are also more niche in application.

In for the Kill

As hinted at, our removal suite is a good deal more robust than UR Murktide's, and every spell costs just one mana.

For starters, we are maxing Bolt. Counter-Cat is aggressive enough that Bolt is a real win condition. Maybe my age is showing, but honestly, trimming Bolt in any aggro-control deck strikes me as a bit psycho, and not in a good way (unlike, say, shoehorning Wild Nacatl into the format's premier UR deck).

Unholy Heat is the removal spell thresh decks have always wanted. But we're still not maxing it. For one, we are maxing Bolt, and the two do have similar coverage. I also wanted to make room for the white removal spells, which I think earn their place here.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Run Afoul

Path to Exile is among the only one-mana ways to deal with Murktide Regent. And man, is it ever good at dealing with Murktide Regent! I kid you not when I say people are actually playing 3 Run Afoul in their sideboards to remove this creature. Now read Path to Exile again. Now read Run Afoul.

Prismatic Ending is a card I immediately called as being a format-defining removal spell upon spoiling, and promptly addd four of to my Counter-Cat decks. As time wore on, though, I simply didn't have space for it anymore. One still makes the mainboard, as we can dig for it with our many card selection tools and randomly beat stuff like Solidarity game 1. Two more copies call their home the sideboard, where they replace more narrow permanent answers like Ancient Grudge and also come in to help out in creature matchups.

Greed... Is Good

The manabase has always been an important part of Counter-Cat, and something casual onlookers have always questioned. Read on for a window into how to craft an extremely greedy manabase that's also consistent and resilient.

Early in the deck's story, I liked having two "shock pairs" which together could produce all four colors of mana and fully grow Nacatl. It was also valuable for the deck's most represented colors to be split between both lands. For instance, when the deck was mostly blue and green cards, Breeding Pool wasn't a great option for a shock pair, since we couldn't reliably cast Nacatl and Pierce in the same turn cycle. However, since it cast the most spells in the deck, I still ran one (without Foundry, which cast only Bolt and Path) as an optimal "third shock" to compliment a shock pair.

Introducing multicolored cards skews the math a bit, as it's important that our pairs can cast every multicolored card. In this build, we run both RG cards (Kavu and Wrenn) and UR ones (Iteration). The only shock pair that can cast both is Pool-Foundry. So rather than running two different shock pairs, I've elected to run two of each of those lands.

Pool-Foundry is also a great shock pair for us since the deck now has considerably more red than it did in the past, so Foundry itself is no longer dead weight. Indeed, the deck has so much red that both of my chosen third shocks (Vents and Ground) also produce the color, and we'll fetch up one of those ASAP after establishing our pair. Vents is more important since it lets us do Iteration-Pierce in a turn cycle, but there are spots where we've got plenty of green stuff to sling, especially post-board when Veil of Summer shows up, and Ground is the better third.

I've also been testing Blood Crypt in its slot, which lets Kavu out-grow a delirious Heat via Mutagenic Growth and further dominate the battlefield. But so far it seems like giving up Ground's utility for that benefit when we're on just two Kavus isn't worth it.

Finally, I like to run a basic to hedge against Field of Ruin, Path, and the like. While I've experimented with Mountain in this build, Forest still gets my vote. Fetching that up lets us cast everything under Blood Moon except for EI, Pierce, and Shredder, and Ragavan can always dash in to turn those spells back on. Forest is especially good against the Ponza decks that used to hassle this deck, as it keeps Wrenn and Six highly accessible. Opening Forest also doesn't hurt as much as, say, Island would, since we can use the green land to cast Wrenn, retrieve our fetchland, and then go for the shock pair.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Wooded Foothills

Fetchland splits are the easiest. With all of the above figured out, choosing which fetches to run is a matter of drawing up a table and figuring out which ones get the most lands. In this build, Wooded Foothills is our best fetch, grabbing everything in the deck. I like Scalding Tarn next; it grabs every shock. Last up is Windswept Heath, which whiffs on Steam Vents but ups our access to basic Forest. (I would rather run a fetch that only whiffs on Stomping Ground instead, but there isn't one.) Critically, every fetch in the deck grabs Pool-Foundry, making our opening mana very consistent.

With a Side of Hate

While I'm pouring out my heart, we might as well run through the sideboard, which I've spent quite a while tuning.

  • Jegantha, the Wellspring: It's no Lurrus, but Jegantha still poses a solid backup plan and an out to board stalls and topdeck wars alike.
  • Snapcaster Mage: Comes in almost everywhere. Extra copies of our best spells for the matchup.
  • Alpine Moon: For Saga decks but also Tron, Valakut, etc.
  • Life Goes On: My Burn hate of choice. It's not rare for us to go down to 7 just from fetching when we're the aggressor. Taking it slow is a must against Burn, but often a piece of hate is needed to seal the deal against them if we don't have find Pierces.
  • Mystical Dispute: Great where it's good, which is all over the place. But it's clearly not widely applicable enough for the mainboard. Especially killer against Murktide and Omnath.
  • Veil of Summer: Same story, but this card may be overkill against black-based decks, which we trounce anyway. Great fun to cast though.
  • Prismatic Ending: More copies for when they're good. Lets us avoid running more narrow permanent hate.
  • Pyroclasm: My all-time favorite sideboard card, Clasm continues to win me tons of games out of nowhere. It's impossible to respect and incredibly easy to set up.
There was an error retrieving a chart for Pyroclasm

At Long Last, a List!

It's writing Magic articles 101 and a refrain I harp on when editing other creators. Make sure you include decklists! People love decklists! Most people won't even read it, they'll just scroll to the decklist! I do believe it, too. And I usually lead out with the decklist. But I had so much to say about this deck, which has undergone oodles of changes over the past couple years, that I wanted to do things a little differently this time.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Stop That

Seriously, this guy is still talking? Just drop the freaking decklist already!

Counter-Cat '22, by Jordan Boisvert

Threats (19)

4 Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer
4 Dragon's Rage Channeler
4 Wild Nacatl
2 Territorial Kavu
2 Ledger Shredder
3 Wrenn and Six

Gotcha! (6)

3 Mutagenic Growth
3 Spell Pierce

Draw (8)

4 Mishra's Bauble
4 Expressive Iteration

Removal (9)

4 Lightning Bolt
2 Unholy Heat
2 Path to Exile
1 Prismatic Ending

Lands (18)

4 Wooded Foothills
4 Scalding Tarn
3 Windswept Heath
2 Sacred Foundry
2 Breeding Pool
1 Steam Vents
1 Stomping Ground
1 Forest

Sideboard (15)

1 Engineered Explosives
1 Snapcaster Mage
1 Jegantha, the Wellspring
1 Alpine Moon
2 Veil of Summer
1 Surgical Extraction
2 Life Goes On
2 Mystical Dispute
2 Pyroclasm
2 Prismatic Ending

Naughty Jungle of Love

Modern is the average enfranchised player’s format of choice precisely because it so deeply rewards players for identifying their preferences and going all-in on a pet deck. The format doesn’t have to be about always jamming the new hotness or whatever latest broken interaction; there’s plenty of fun to be had getting creative within the confines of the format and figuring out ways to hold your own with the cast you’ve always wanted.

Is this deck necessarily better than UR Murktide? Of course not. Are the trade-offs worth it to get sling the spells I most enjoy? Absolutely!

There was an error retrieving a chart for Wild Nacatl

Thanks for riding along for this in-depth brewing exposé. Full of my favorite cards and marked by a personal brewing history now spanning close to a decade, Counter-Cat is my labor of love. What’s yours? Drop me a line in the comments. Until then, may you keep the pressure on… and get ‘em good!

Simply Eclipsed: MTGO Summer Testing #2

Posted on by David Ernenwein

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In this week's installment of my foray into Modern's fringe decks, I'm looking at fair decks. It isn't only combo decks that are fringe, after all. Fair decks can be fringe too. Even now when fairer decks are ruling the metagame.

Being weird and wonky isn't the only reason a deck can be fringe. Decks can also get pushed out due to niche competition and shifting card pools. It may also be a case that a deck was never that popular in the first place, and players have just forgotten it. Figuring out whether that can change is the purpose of this mini-series.

The Return of Scapeshift

I'll begin with a deck that is less fringy than the others I'm testing. Wishshift made MTGO Tier 3 in the last metagame update, though I've seen it hanging around results for some time. This was a little surprising the first time, as I thought this deck was dead.

Years ago, Titanshift was a major force in the metagame. However, starting in 2018, it began to decline, and once Dryad of the Ilysian Grove arrived, Titanshift was finished. Amulet Titan used Dryad to facilitate the signature Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle kill, and obviated Scapeshift, pushing out other ramp decks.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle

While I've seen the odd Titanshift deck from time to time in the years since, the strategy never fully recovered, and Scapeshift disappeared from the metagame. Within the past few months, though, a new version has emerged. Well... I say new version, but really, it's not. It's remarkably close to the old version, except for the addition of a wishboard. Literally. The deck is now running four copies of Wish to find Scapeshift and bullets.

The Deck

There haven't been many Wishshift decks, but based on what I've seen, there is a standardized maindeck emerging. There remains a lot of variation between decks, but enough remains consistent between them that I decided to just focus in on the common cards. As for the sideboard, there is a general-purpose Wish package alongside additional cards that are actually meant to be brought in.

Wishshift, Test Deck

Creatures

4 Sakura-Tribe Elder
4 Dryad of the Ilysian Grove
4 Primeval Titan

Planeswalkers

4 Wrenn and Six

Sorceries

4 Explore
4 Wish
4 Search for Tomorrow

Instants

4 Lightning Bolt

Lands

4 Wooded Foothills
3 Arid Mesa
3 Scalding Tarn
3 Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All
5 Mountain
3 Stomping Ground
2 Sheltered Thicket
2 Dwarven Mine
1 Cinder Glade
1 Forest

Sideboard

3 Chalice of the Void
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
3 Veil of Summer
1 Pithing Needle
1 Tormod's Crypt
1 Anger of the Gods
1 Tireless Tracker
2 Force of Vigor
1 Scapeshift

As with all the decks I'm testing, I mostly copied other lists. The only change unique to me was Anger of the Gods. That card is underplayed in a metagame filled with recursive threats and I also wanted another answer to Dredge. In retrospect, I feel that two Forces were wrong, and playing a cheaper Naturalize effect would be better, but it was never relevant.

Initial Impression

I have a long history of playing decks that lost to Titanshift, so I wasn't going in completely blind. However, this deck looked really weird to me. The older decks played a lot more ramp to get to five Mountains, and usually ran sweepers maindeck, specifically Sweltering Suns. As such, this deck looked really slow and weak to aggro. However, I am an outsider coming in at the end of enthusiasts grinding away with their pet deck. Safe to assume they know much I don't.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Wish

The wishboard also looked a little weird, but the weird parts were also near-universal. Pithing Needle and Tormod's Crypt are usually part of a Karnboard, leading me to think that Wishshift used to be Karnshift, but I can't remember seeing such a deck. They're still good Wish options, but did strike me as seeming out of place.

My Experience

I was pleasantly surprised by Wishshift. Over the past week, I played 16 matches with this deck, winning 10. These were not just wins against weak decks, misplays, and mistakes. In my two matches against UR Murktide, I felt invincible. The only game I dropped was an unanswered Ragavan's fault. I also felt heavily advantaged in the one match against 4-Color Blink. They couldn't meaningfully interact with Valakut and Dryad into Wished-for Scapeshift kills even if Omnath had gone wild. And I had Bolt for their Magus of the Moon.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Primeval Titan

Every match I lost was to a faster deck. As I expected, this deck is a huge dog to aggro game one. With four Bolts and blockers as my only interaction, I was effectively powerless against Hammertime and go-wide aggro. The deck's goldfish is slower than I remember and not as consistent, making racing very hard. In addition, the only way to fight combo is Chalice of the Void, which is good but not enough usually. Fortunately, true combo is rather rare. The match against Tron was a bad time. I vaguely recall this always being the case though.

What Happened?

Simply put, I was very well positioned against Tier 1 decks. Their interaction revolves around counterspells and creature removal while hurting themselves with their mana base. What are they going to do against a deck that just keeps playing lands and getting value from them? 4-Color in particular is not prepared for this type of attack. At least Murktide can race, though Bolt is a solid answer to that plan.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Veil of Summer

That's also the deck's weakness. It can win just by playing lands every turn, but that's not a fast process. Metaphorically, this was not an avalanche-type deck, just burying the opponent quickly. It's like a mud-slide: powerful and inexorable, yet plodding and avoidable. Indeed, I'd argue that in almost every matchup, I held inevitability. The problem is that any deck that could race or just dodge me would win quite easily.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Force of Vigor

Wish provides this deck with tremendous flexibility, but the mana cost is prohibitive. If it put the spell into the hand it'd be one thing, but as is, it could be clunky. However, that is made up for with all the ramp and the late-game power it brings.

Deck Observations

Once again, most of my notes taken while playing the deck constitute the earlier paragraphs. Here are a few more that seem relevant:

  1. If you're going to side in Veil, bring them all in. Wishing for Veil really isn't going to happen. Also, Veil is a very strong sideboard card.
  2. Bring in one Force, and leave one as a Wish target. The odds are a bit better of hitting Force that way.
  3. Having another, cheaper Wish target against artifacts would be good.
  4. Wish for Valakut is surprisingly strong.
  5. This deck runs out of stuff to do really quickly. Cycling Sheltered Thicket repeatedly with Wrenn and Six seems like more of a Plan A than anticipated.
  6. This deck is really slow. Even with a good draw. It's upper-level plodding.
  7. I never Wished for Tireless Tracker. I'm not sure when I was supposed to.
  8. Knowing what to Wish for and when is hard.

My Verdict

This is a very solid deck. However, I feel that it's only really good in a fairly slow metagame. As long as the deliberate pace of UR Murktide and 4-Color Blink defines the metagame, Wishshift is a very strong option. However, if the metagame gets any faster, this deck falls behind very fast.

The fact that two Wishshifts were in the MOCS this weekend and one pilot, XWhale, won the event would seem to back up that sentiment. As currently built, this is a metagame buster. In a more open field, Amulet Titan is just better. It's fast enough to beat the aggro decks and has more tools against the slow decks.

Throwing Down the Musical Gauntlet

For my other deck, I decided to look into a deck that has never actually made the tier list, but I've seen at least one list in the data every month. Which was actually quite hard, because Showdown of the Skalds is the only consistent element linking these Boros midrange decks. Some have tended towards prison decks; some went more aggressive. One was closer to a Superfriends deck. Building around Showdown seemed to be the main appeal, and there were consistent elements between all of them. So, I simply ran the only deck that made the MTGO data this month. So far.

The Deck

Nothing special here, I ran Icteridae's deck from the June 8 Preliminary card for card.

Boros Showdown, Icteridae (Prelim 3-1)

Creatures

4 Esper Sentinel
4 Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer
4 Seasoned Pyromancer
4 Fury
4 Solitude

Sorceries

4 Prismatic Ending

Instants

2 Ephemerate
4 Brought Back

Enchantments

2 Blood Moon
4 Fable of the Mirror-Breaker
2 Showdown of the Skalds

Lands (22)

4 Arid Mesa
3 Flooded Strand
4 Marsh Flats
4 Sacred Foundry
2 Snow-Covered Mountain
5 Snow-Covered Plains

Sideboard

3 Chalice of the Void
2 Drannith Magistrate
2 Rest in Peace
2 Sanctifier en-Vec
2 Stony Silence
2 Magus of the Moon
2 Wear // Tear

Initial Impression

This looked like a Boros Blink deck more than anything, but I do see what this deck intends. Play all the good red and white creatures, make lots of treasure to boost Prismatic Ending, and cycle through your deck with all the filtering. Just playing more cards than the opponent should flood the board sufficiently to win a good amount of the time. Or potentially lock them out with Blood Moon.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Brought Back

The Brought Backs were weird to me. The card requires very specific conditions to do anything. I guess that cracking two fetchlands and then Bringing Them Back is decent ramp turn two, but what am I ramping into? Everything except Showdown is really cheap. Am I expecting to lose multiple permanents every turn? Trying to set it up to get value via the elementals or Pyromancer seemed like a lot of work for little gain.

My Experience

I had a very bad time playing this deck. I played nine matches, only won two, and then rage quit. I was extremely unimpressed. I assume that either Icteridae got very lucky or has some special insight into this deck to make it in the Preliminary. Primarily, they must have some particular plan for the Brought Backs because they were the most singularly disappointing card in the deck and never did what I wanted. Again, I'm coming in blind so I could have played the deck very wrong there, but there were other problems that can't be explained that way.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Showdown of the Skalds

The overwhelming problem I had with this deck was the infuriatingly anemic clock. The only threat with some impact to it is Fury. Everything else is a dinky 1 or 2 toughness dork. I was never able to get a massive enough board to overwhelm anyone, and while copying elementals or Pyromancer with Reflection of Kiki-Jiki could be game-winning, actually getting through Fable of the Mirror Breaker and untapping with Reflection took too long too often. There were a lot of best-case scenarios in this deck that never came together for me.

What Happened?

The best example of my problem with this deck was against Lotus Field Jeskai control. I locked their mana hard with Blood Moon and proceeded to lose the game because they Fury'd away all my creatures, and by the time I had a reasonable clock again they'd gained four turns and found the Plains they needed to unlock March of Otherworldly Light and just crush me. I had all the time in the world to do something, but I had nothing meaningful to do.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Seasoned Pyromancer

This deck can burn through its hand with incredible speed. However, it struggles to actually gain card advantage without Pyromancer and Brought Back, both of which can be hard to set up. Burning through cards isn't a bad thing, but they have to be meaningful and do something to impact the board. Frequently, I would jump out to an early lead and watch as it slipped away as my opponent played better cards than I had. I manipulated a lot of cardboard, but it didn't mean anything.

Deck Observations

To pile on some more to my rant:

  1. Showdown of the Skalds is a surprisingly good card. It's definitely Modern playable, but it needs a better shell around it. I rarely got more than two cards off it.
  2. I made a lot of treasure in a lot of games. It usually just sat around unused.
  3. I cleared a lot of boards very early in many games. I struggled to turn that into a win consistently.
  4. Evoking Solitude and Fury and Bringing Them Back can wipe a board quite easily. Shame the Brought Back was countered.
  5. The sideboard assumes that Fury is all that's needed against aggressive creatures. I found this to not be the case.
  6. Brought Back sat in my hand a lot. Its main job was to be discarded because I never had a good use for it.
  7. Stealing Omnath was great, I finally had a real threat on the board. Shame that I never noticed Glimpse of Tomorrow affects all owned permanents, not controlled ones.

Final Verdict

There is a Showdown of the Skalds deck somewhere in Modern. This was not it. Unless I was really off about how I'm supposed to be playing the deck, this particular deck was great at spinning its wheels and little else. However, even if I wasn't wrong about Brought Back, why bother with that card? Simply playing more Ephemerates seems like a better and more mana-efficient plan.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Ephemerate

Moreover, this deck is anemic and underpowered compared to any other Blink deck I've seen, either Omnath or just Bant. Blinking Sentinel and Ragavan isn't great and there are plenty of scenarios where blinking Pyromancer is undesirable. I'd rather have more value creatures and drop the Brought Back plan, so I'd rather just be an Ephemerate-value deck.

There is a Reason

Wishshift is a good deck that in an open field is going to have a rough time compared to Amulet Titan. That deck fills the Valakut niche well enough while also being quite fast, which makes 'shift's clock look glacial. Meanwhile, there are much better uses for Showdown of the Skalds than the deck I tried. If you want to go that route, Blink is so much more straightforward to play. There's a reason that Wishshift did well at the invitational event and why Brought Back doesn't see widespread play.

Modern Deck Spotlight: Grixis Shadow

Posted on by Adam Cohen

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The tales of Grixis Shadow's demise following the banning of Lurrus of the Dream-Den have been greatly exaggerated. In recent weeks, Shadow has reemerged as a key player in the Modern metagame thanks to the Streets of New Capenna multi-format all-star, Ledger Shredder.

Not only did @kanister_mtg take down a Magic Online Modern Challenge with the deck earlier this month, Soichiro Kohara and Tom White both chose the deck for the Modern portion of the Magic Online Championship Showcase this weekend (with Tom making it to the finals of the event). I also took the deck a second place finish of a local $1k this weekend, losing to the higher seed mirror in the finals.

It's clear that Shadow is back, and in a big way.

Key Pieces

What Does It Do?

The Grixis Shadow deck pairs low-cost threats like Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer and Dragon's Rage Channeler with disruption such as Unholy Heat and Thoughtseize to snowball card and mana advantage as early as turn one.

These low-cost spells naturally pair well with Shredder, often creating opportunities to play the Bird and connive in the same turn. Doing so creates a 2/4 evasive, Bolt-resistant, quasi-Rule of Law creature that needs to be removed quickly lest it grow even bigger.

Between Seize and a fetchland mana base, life totals can drop quickly. This is where the titular Death's Shadow comes in. Shadow is a cheap beater that will outsize just about every creature in the format, often threatening lethal in a mere one or two attacks.

Other notable spells utilized by this archetype are Expressive Iteration, which is simply the most efficient draw spell in the format, and Drown in the Loch, a versatile removal spell or counterspell.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Death's Shadow

What I Like

Grixis Shadow is a deck that "just plays the good cards." It has some of the best creatures, the best draw spells, and the best interaction. Everything is efficient, powerful, and purposeful. Even without Lurrus providing late-game card advantage and inevitability, the resources this deck already has access to are strong enough to dismantle most opposing game plans.

I'm a big advocate for Ragavan (and Channeler) in the current metagame. These creatures are one-mana must-answer threats. Even if they trade immediately with a one-mana removal spell, it's done at card and mana parity. If an opponent uses Counterspell or March of Otherwordly Light as their answer, they've spent twice as much mana to answer the threat as it costs. That opens up the opportunities to cast multiple spells in the same turn while the opponent's shields are down.

Notably, the four-color Omnath, Locus of Creation decks which sit at the top of the metagame predominantly rely on sorcery-speed answers like Wrenn and Six and Prismatic Ending to deal with cheap creatures. A dashed Ragavan is exceptionally hard to answer and can ultimately accumulate multiple cards and treasure tokens before being dealt with.

As a cheap haste threat, Ragavan also offers the ability to "revenge kill" a down-ticked Wrenn or Teferi, Time Raveler without going down on cards. Commonly, these decks often need to two-for-one themselves with Solitude just to answer the monkey nuisance. Post-sideboard, this matchup improves considerably thanks to Tourach, Dread Cantor. Protection from white might as well be hexproof given that it dodges Teferi, Solitude, Ending, and March.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Ledger Shredder

Another element I like about the new builds of Shadow are the different axes its creatures fight on. Dragon's Rage Channeler and Kroxa, Titan of Death's Hunger are graveyard-reliant threats, which can be mostly neutralized by hate pieces like Endurance and Rest in Peace. However, those answers prove ineffective against Shredder and Shadow. Chalice of the Void can deal with one-drops, but not with Shredder or Kroxa. There's no singular silver bullet that beats this deck's suite of threats.

While something of an afterthought, if given the opportunity to play a companion without heavily hindering your strategy, players should do so. This deck gets to play Jegantha, the Wellspring because the best set of 74 other cards are incidentally compliant. It's hard to complain about a free 5/5 that both hedges against mana flood and incidentally outs Blood Moon.

What I Don't Like

One of the major reasons Grixis Shadow fell off the map once Lurrus was banned was the presence of Solitude. Since Shadow's power and toughness are equal to the amount of life you are at below 13, Solitude exiling a Shadow will always set your life total back to 13. With multiple Shadows out, the first will be exiled and the rest will die to state-based actions from having zero toughness.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Solitude

A potentially free and instant-speed Plague Wind from the opponent is enough to steer anyone in the opposite direction. This is partially why Shadow itself has dropped down to three copies instead of the full four, and why Shredder is such an important pivot.

Fortunately, with Omnath so prevalent, aggressive decks like Burn have dropped in popularity. That development grants much more agency over your life total by playing untapped shocks and Seize without fear of getting Lightning Bolted out of the game. However, Shadow's return opens the doors for Burn to make a resurgence. That matchup is highly skill-intensive, and preferably avoided by most Shadow players. Eidolon of the Great Revels and Deflecting Palm are especially concerning, and I personally do not want to see them near the top tables.

What's in the Box?

Grixis Shadow

Companion

1 Jegantha, the Wellspring

Artifacts

4 Mishra's Bauble

Creatures

3 Death's Shadow
4 Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer
4 Dragon's Rage Channeler
4 Ledger Shredder
2 Kroxa, Titan of Death's Hunger

Spells

1 Fatal Push
4 Thoughtseize
1 Lightning Bolt
4 Unholy Heat
4 Drown in the Loch
4 Expressive Iteration
2 Terminate

Lands

2 Blood Crypt
2 Watery Grave
2 Steam Vents
1 Mountain
1 Swamp
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Polluted Delta
3 Scalding Tarn

Sideboard

1 Flusterstorm
2 Spell Pierce
2 Dress Down
1 Mystical Dispute
2 Tourach, Dread Cantor
1 Alpine Moon
2 Kolaghan's Command
1 Engineered Explosives
2 Unlicensed Hearse

What Else?

Reflecting on the deck, I think Grixis Shadow an incredibly potent player in the current metagame. The removal suite is phenomenal against creature decks like Hammer, Yawgmoth, and Amulet Titan. Much of the spell suite is identical to UR Murktide's, but with the added benefits of Thoughtseize, unconditional removal, and sideboard Tourach. There is plenty of room to innovate and adjust in this archetype, and I look forward to seeing how it performs going forward.

If you have any questions about the deck or want to keep up with me, drop a follow and reach out on Twitter at @AdamECohen. Catch you all next time!

’90s Magic and the Power of Nostalgia

Posted on by Sigmund Ausfresser

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A fond memory:

It’s 3:00 in the afternoon on a lazy Saturday. My best friend is over at my house and he, my younger brother, and I have been playing games of Magic most of the day. Then my mother abruptly steps in and laments that we’ve done nothing but sit inside all day, letting the gorgeous weather go to waste. As far as she was concerned, our gameplay for the day had ended—she declared we must all go to the local park and play outside for a while.

My brother, friend, and I packed up our cards, begrudgingly hopped into the car, and my mother drove us to the park…

where we proceed to play Magic at the park’s picnic table for the rest of the afternoon.

Not only did we have a fantastic time playing Magic at the park (despite the constant wind threatening to blow our cards around every few minutes), but we also had one of the most epic games of my childhood. It was one of those games where each player was clogging up the ground with Craw Wurms and Scaled Wurms so that no one could make a profitable attack without leaving themselves vulnerable to the third player.

As they say, it was Magic the way Garfield had intended the game to be enjoyed.

The Power of Nostalgia

For those who have been playing Magic for many years, do you have a nostalgic memory you’re particularly fond of? I suspect many experienced players will have some story or another. Perhaps for one, it's an epic game that took hours to complete. For another, it might be a strange location where you and a friend played to pass the time. For someone else, it was the realization of a combination of cards that led to an unexpected game state no player at the table had experienced before.

Magic was a very different game many years ago—partly because the internet was not as ubiquitous as it is today. The cards were harder to come by. Most people couldn't just order them online and have them shipped. You had to have a local hobby shop near you that carried the game and go there to purchase them. The cards were not as valuable, and it was harder to determine rarity because it wasn't printed on the cards. Trading away an Underground Sea for a Craw Wurm was not unusual. Even looking up card values required either a subscription to a magazine or calling a local hobby shop for their price data. The lack of internet use also meant far less “net-decking.” Because of these “barriers” (features?), Magic gameplay in the early and mid-1990s had a different feel than it does today.

Many older players like myself pine for those “golden years.” We reminisce about the days when you’d open a booster pack of Mirage, find a flashy card inside (you didn’t know what rarity it was), and immediately feel inspired to build an entire deck around that single card. We remember the power of removal spells like Dark Banishing and Rolling Thunder, and we used such cards liberally to crush our opponent’s vanilla 6/4 creatures. Of course, we also remember the thrill of casting Shivan Dragon, Lord of the Pit, and Force of Nature—chase cards that everyone dreamed of one day owning.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Lord of the Pit

This appreciation for nostalgia is a powerful driving force. It motivates older players to pursue facsimiles of these experiences, even if they’re artificial in nature. Importantly, it drives older, enfranchised players to spend significant amounts of money on older product in order to reexperience their childhood.

Example: Mirage Starter Decks

I frequent the Old School Discord, browsing what people are posting for sale as a way of constantly keeping my finger on the pulse of the market. I don’t take advantage of other players’ deals, leaving them for other players who need the cards posted for their decks. It’s my passive way of acknowledging that the Old School community isn’t about grinding value and making a profit, but rather about helping other players find cards they need for their decks (much like it felt in the 1990s).

Every once in a while, though, a post catches my eye. Last week, I thought long and hard about this one in particular:

Discord Sale

Because I started playing in 1997, this post screamed “Sig’s childhood” more than almost any other post I see in the Discord. I distinctly remember seeing these sealed products for sale at my local hobby shop. Especially the Mirage starter decks—those were my favorite back when I first started playing.

It was 1997-1998 when I really started ramping up my involvement in the game. One primary objective back then was simply expanding my collection. When you have to play cards like Krovikan Fetish and Mistfolk just because you have nothing better, purchasing any sealed product almost guarantees you’ll be able to find an upgrade to a deck.

As Tempest block launched, my hobby shop started marking down some of “last year’s” wares. This included Mirage starter decks, which were reduced from $8.95 to $7.50. I quickly did the math: booster packs were $2.95 and gave you one rare. A Mirage starter was $7.50 and included three rares—that’s a discounted price of $2.50 per rare! The basic lands were much needed too, so that was an added benefit.

I purchased as many of these decks as I could—which is to say I bought maybe five or six, as that’s all I had the money for when I was 14. Mirage became my favorite set and I even thought about trying to collect the entire set at one point. I never completed the mission, but I do have 24-year-old proof of the attempt (the starter box isn’t one of my originals, but the card box itself is the original one within which I once collected all of my Mirage cards).

The original box I collected my Mirage cards within, along with an empty Mirage starter

With this attachment to Mirage, my favorite set of all time, it’s no wonder I’d be very tempted to purchase starter decks from that Old School Discord seller at $325 a piece, 43x the price I used to pay but just as exciting.

Soaring Sealed Product

If you think I’m the only one longing for opportunities to crack open product from my childhood, you’d be grossly underestimating nostalgia's power. In fact, I recently watched a number of Star City Games’ auctions close on eBay for sealed product from this same era of Magic. Here are some of the highlights:

Frankly, I was shocked at some of these closing prices. For example, Stronghold is another set I cherished as a kid. I’ll always remember the day I opened a Mox Diamond in the hobby shop and immediately sold it to another kid for $20, thinking I had won the lottery. But nearly $6000 for a booster box? Really?! Even if you open a BGS 9.5 Mox Diamond and Sliver Queen, you’re not going to recoup that cost.

People aren’t paying up for these products to make money. They’re doing so to experience nostalgia. They want the feeling of opening a booster pack, windmill slamming Flame Wave in a draft, and having those epic games of childhood once more. Clearly, the premium for doing this is quite steep. The Fourth Edition booster box especially surprised me--$1000 for a booster box where the most valuable card is around $60 (not to mention white-bordered!) is wild.

There was an error retrieving a chart for Mana Vault

Introduce nostalgia into the equation, however, and suddenly a $1000 price tag to travel back in time with some friends can be an attractive proposition—especially if you’re splitting the cost with those friends.

Keep in mind that the number of times someone can draft these older sets is finite. Every time a booster box of Mirage is cracked, the number of times that it can happen again reduces by one. Over time, quantities will decrease until these become extremely difficult to find. If Magic sticks around for another decade, expect these prices to look attractive relative to where they’ll be in 2032. We’re talking Silver Age of comic book proportions, here.

Wrapping It Up

When I first became interested in sealed product, I viewed it strictly as an investment tool. I once owned an array of sealed booster boxes from Magic’s middle years, sets that launched between 2000 and 2010. Those products have all steadily climbed in price over the years as well. Unfortunately, I lost patience with the products and found myself preferring singles with which I can play games rather than sealed product that sits on a shelf collecting dust. Regretfully, I sold every booster box I had owned.

Today as I consider the utility of an older booster box, I realized that my interest in them lies not in their investment potential, but rather their nostalgia potential. With this new lens, I’m suddenly finding myself wishing for a sealed box of Mirage, Ice Age, and Visions. This wouldn’t be because I want to make money on them, but instead because I’d want that opportunity to sit down at a picnic table and re-live an epic battle from childhood.

This is going to be very difficult to organize, mind you, given that my childhood friend lives a few hundred miles away. I’m also married with two kids, and adulting tends to conflict with attempting to live like I am 14 again. But if I don’t purchase the products now, I’ll only be forced to pay even more years from now. I suspect other people are also latching onto this same sentiment, and that’s why this older sealed product is selling so expensively.

Lastly, I often say that owning Magic cards as an investment is a strong plan as long as the game itself remains healthy and popular. This rule doesn’t fully apply to the older sealed product. Even if paper Magic were to lose support altogether, something tells me there will always be a population of players willing to pay up for the experience of opening a booster box of cards printed in the 1990s. As a result, these products may even transcend the game itself.

All things considered, there are far worse places to park capital—just make sure you know your motivation for purchasing older sealed product: investment or nostalgia. Unlike playing with Old School cards, it’s difficult to have your cake and eat it too when it comes to nostalgic sealed product. You either save them to make a return on your investment or you crack them open to re-live childhood. Unfortunately, you can’t really have both. Choose wisely.

The Glorious History of Cheese in Limited

Posted on by Robert Genuario

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The year was 2011. I was at my local game store excited to play a freshly-drafted Innistrad deck. Bloodline Keeper, Sever the Bloodline, Kessig Cagebreakers, Moan of the Unhallow were the headliners. Additional removal backed up my threats in the form of Dead Weight and multiple copies of Victim of Night. It was a masterpiece. I remember it well.

The first round started uncomfortably as my opponent's first play was Invisible Stalker. While my removal could not interact with the hexproof creature, I was confident I could race it with my late-game power. Unfortunately, his next play was the last card that would matter: Butcher's Cleaver. On turn four I carefully read both pieces of this combo. Much to my dismay, the unblockable, untargetable threat was, in fact, human and did, in fact, receive lifelink. I continued to play as the gap in life totals expanded. As I'm sure you can guess, game two started and ended in an identical fashion.

Even Picard gets cheesed out.

This is a quintessential example of "being cheesed out." You had a good deck but it was irrelevant. An opponent did something that you couldn't interact with and it assured any sequence of draws would be meaningless. Though it is frustrating to lose this way, this tradition has a glorious history and remains present in modern drafts.

Hexproof, Evasion, and Hopefully Not Lifelink

Losing in a Snap in Dominaria

A card as simple as Giant Strength offers a lot to a new player. For the bargain of two mana, you can make your creature the biggest on the board. It's an exciting feeling—until a more experienced player puts both the creature and the aura in the graveyard with a single removal spell. When your well-dressed threat is bounced, it feels even worse. However, Magic: the Gathering's least popular mechanic, hexproof, minimizes this downside.

In the Dominaria limited format, removal was plentiful and the commons were generally weak. Games ended by looping kicker cards like Ghitu Chronicler and Soul Salvage. But no amount of Eviscerate or Vicious Offering could slow down Cold-Water Snapper. The only problem was that it moved pretty slowly on its own. A lumbering turtle could be double-blocked easily. However, give that turtle wings via Arcane Flight and you just made a game plan from two late picks. If you were fortunate enough to grab a copy of On Serra's Wings you made your plan harder to race, as the lifelink quickly buried opponents.

Snapper holds the ground well until you enable the combo. It's a common, as is Arcane Flight, and neither was ever particularly high picks, meaning you could expect to see (or even wheel) these cards. These are the cheesy combos that can put a format on its head.

Cheese Like These

Cheesy combos should usually be seen as a backup plan in the drafting and deck-building phases. Decks need a way to win, and that's what these combinations provide. Invisible Stalker and Butcher's Cleaver are not as desirable as the dominant rares or potent uncommons you might take early and build around. They take up more slots in deck-building and are typically less flexible. These combinations are valuable because they provide a game plan and can generate wins. Sometimes these pieces are good on their own, without the combo, and sometimes they slot nicely into strong archetypes.

Quick and Strong in Ixalan

Ixalan was an incredibly aggressive format. The raid mechanic incentivized attacking and the removal was slow and clunky. You wanted as many two drops as you could find. The most coveted deck was GU Merfolk, an aggressive deck that snowballed its advantage, using combat tricks and evasion. The deck was powerful on its own, but as hamburgers and pizza have taught us, everything is better with cheese.

Flying Fish

Essentially, the games would go back and forth trading damage, but once the Jade Guardian took to flight, the game ended. One with the Wind shot up pick orders because of aggression and the lack of quality removal. In reflection, this set was primed for a cheesy combination like this, though one might imagine the aggressive nature of the format would pressure combos. However, in this instance, both pieces are optimized in an aggressive shell.

The Cheese of Yesteryear - Today!

It is fun to complain about cheesy combos like the ones we've looked at through Magic's past. However, there is value in recognizing their inherent strength. While I don't want to lose to a hexproof creature and an aura, I have no issues winning with them. And while Streets of New Capenna (SNC) doesn't give us as easy of a puzzle to solve, we can find a home for its cheesiest combo in the format's strongest family: the Brokers.

White Cheddar? Blue Cheese?

Illuminator Virtuoso is already great in this format. You want two drops and this one plays very nicely with Backup Agent, Revelation of Power and Majestic Metamorphosis. Security Bypass is a dubious inclusion as its 54% game-in-hand win rate is relatively low for blue cards. However, let's theory-craft a little bit. Assuming optimal conditions, you play the aura, triggering the first instance of connive, making the Virtuoso a 2/2. The subsequent attack threatens five damage on turn three, with another nine on board for turn four (thanks to double-strike). This assumes you are pitching spells to connive. Actual mileage may vary.

Hexproof? Where We're Going, We Won't Need Hexproof

Now, we still face the timeless aura conundrum, as our attacker lacks safety from two-for-one removal spells. Fortunately, SNC lets us build our own with its suite of one mana protection spells. Not only do Boon of Safety and Slip out the back defend our burgeoning rogue, they provide an additional instance of connive, potentially growing our creature further.

Uncheesing Auras?

There Is Something Here

Finally, Sticky Fingers has a lot going for it. It provides (minimal) evasion and generates value each time it makes contact. However, the good people at Wizards of the Coast have really found something in the design here. The fact that this card replaces itself when you would otherwise be two-for-one'd by an opponent's removal spell is wonderful. This is a great design space for auras. It makes them more playable and less swingy. While the memories of "getting there" with a suited-up Wind Drake make for good stories, they aren't beloved fixtures of a good format.

Cheddar Luck Next Time

Building these combinations can help you win games, but you should never aspire toward them. Most often they are a backup plan for when deck-building and drafting go poorly. Every time you put an aura in your deck, there is a risk of ruin. These types of win conditions are famously inconsistent. However, when you know you need something to help you win games, try to play these cards in a shell that will support them.

When you take a look at each new format, keep an eye open for the auras and equipment. They usually go overlooked. But somewhere in that spoiler will be a strong match for it. So what are your best cheese-em-out stories or noteworthy combos? Let me know about them in the comments.

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