By: Ian Shore

One of the most important things in this game is learning to read the tea leaves. Watching tournament reports, learning to evaluate cards, and knowing basic archetype strengths and weaknesses can help you evaluate data and start to learn to predict player and price behavior. The same is true of watching WotC’s behavior. MaRo’s blog, their two-year development cycle, their seven year “plan” cycles – watching how they work over the years can give you insights into where we’re going next, and might help you make and/or save some money along the way. We’ve had a lot going on over the last month or so, and I believe it’s telling us that we may be entering some new territory over the next few months. As always, this could be totally off. But that’s not going to stop me from introducing potential future #1:

1. Standard may be changing.

A weekend or two ago it was announced that all four PTs in 2015 would be featuring the Standard format.  When asked why Modern was not being featured, the response was that Modern was stale and not “dynamic,” didn’t feature the newest MTG release, and that they didn’t want to have to resort to bans in order to get a fresh format every year. Standard certainly makes sense, in terms of featuring the newest release, but the last two years of Sphinx’s Revelation certainly do not bring the words “dynamic” to mind. The last few sets have only had a marginal shake-up of the format.  The best decks usually have enough good tools to continue being good, and often end up getting even more tools to work with.

And WotC knows this. Which makes the decision to go mono-Standard a bit more puzzling, in that the “change” they desire doesn’t seem to be something that regularly occurs in the format. On the most recent godbook survey, players were asked how they felt about the length of time that cards spent in Standard.  However, Aaron Forsythe recently ruled out a possible three-year extension to Standard, as it would keep problem cards in the format for far too long.

What, then, could be the change? The only other alternative solution would appear to be a move to an “eight set” rotation, rather than the two most recent blocks.  Much like seven-set Extended, when a new set was released, it would simply knock the oldest set out of the format.  This would most definitely create the “dynamism” that WotC is looking for on the Pro Tour, as each event would have cards exiting AND entering the format simultaneously, keeping the format churning month to month.  This would also extend the length of time that 2nd/3rd sets are relevant in Standard, eliminating the “seasonal” cycle we’ve seen with PTQ seasons, rotation, and the concurrent ebb and flow of prices.  It would also almost certainly increase sales for WotC, now that all sets would be in Standard for approximately two years.

And most importantly, it would “solve” most of the issues they have been fighting against with the format in regards to tournament exposure.  Moving to an all-Standard PT set with the current Standard setup would likely start to result in more bans over the long run. Culling MTGO results doesn’t seem to have accomplished much in this regard, as the very large data set provided by SCG, TCGP, and WotC Organized Play results in metagames being very quickly established.  We know they (and we) have been frustrated by their inability to make open-ended, interesting format.  #SaitoWayfinder, Pat Chapin, and many others do their very best to try and both troll the world and open up the format, but the relentless tyranny of Sphinx’s Revelation or Thoughtseize decks ends up quickly stamping out the fun for people.

A change to Standard would be a radical change, but they’ve been making a number of those over the last 5-6 years. This would simply be another one, and it’d be one they could easily revert if, after the next year, it didn’t test very well. It’s a risky proposition, but one that could pay off huge for them.  Speaking of things that are going to pay off huge…

8/13 edit: Apparently, I am not alone, as Chapin himself suggested a six-set rotating structure in a recent SCG article. I do think, however, that this would be too problematic, regarding both manabases and sets not being in Standard long enough, and that eight sets would keep things in a much happier place for most players.

2. Modern Masters 2 is likely releasing on 5/29. The North Amercan “TBD” GP location is Vegas.

Many of us have assumed that MM2 was coming this year, given the massive success of MM1, and the two – year Dev cycle that WotC works on. We’ve been getting indirect confirmation of this over the past few weeks. The first indication was at the SDCC panel. The small “bridge” set for Khans block is being released in January, a month earlier than normal. The large Spring set is coming out in March, one or two months earlier than normal. On the PT schedule, the Summer PT isn’t occurring until August. Meaning that there is now a 4-month gap between the Spring PT in early April, and the Summer PT in early fall.

And what could possibly be located, smack dab in the center of those? 3 “Location TBD” GP tournaments happening simultaneously on the last weekend in May. (notably, NOT Memorial day.)  An unprecedented occurrence, one that we were told to “mark our calendars” for by Rich Hagon on the final day of the PT broadcast. The locations clearly aren’t “TBD” – they work too far out in advance for them to be undecided. So why hide them? Because announcing Vegas would give away what’s about to occur.

But that’s not all. Three Modern GPs are scheduled immediately following this event, one in the US, one in Asia, and one in Europe.  I can’t tell you what to sell, or when, but I would strongly suggest moving Liliana of the Veil, a card that’s near-guaranteed to be reprinted in the set, or in a near-future core set like M16. Also, something we’ll also likely see? The Eldrazi legends. Why?

3. We are going back to Zendikar for at least part of the next block. Oh, and Delve is in Khans

In case you hadn’t been following Mark Rosewater’s Tumblr, Blogatog, he answers a lot of questions there. He likes being able to get the direct feedback, and contrast it with his market research, as well as to just get quick feedback regarding product direction and mechanics that he can’t otherwise get.

About a year ago, he suddenly started asking players a lot about Zendikar a. What would they expect of a return to the plane? What mechanics? Did they like annihilator? Would they expect the OG Eldrazi legends? And 3-4 months later, suddenly, we started to have answers. Annhilator was “likely” not returning when the Eldrazi did. The next time we see the Eldrazi legends, they would “likely” have new cards.  You read MaRo’s tea leaves by noticing which questions he’s choosing to answer. This question in particular reads a lot more interestingly now than it did a few weeks ago: http://markrosewater.tumblr.com/post/57332759132/do-you-think-that-theres-enough-space-in-colorless-vs

In a similar vein – Mark’s brought up Delve a lot in the past month, and he’s previously emphasized it needed to NOT be in a GY-focused set, since it eats up graveyards and promotes non-interaction with them. Given this uptick in mentions, alongside the description of the mechanic at the SDCC panel, it’s almost certainly the BUG mechanic for Khans.

But, going back to Zendikar – we can also look at the most recent Planeswalker Guide on the WotC website, where there’s a very strong focus on the Planeswalkers who surround the storyline of the original Zendikar block.  By itself, it means little. But in conjunction with Maro’s blog, the M15 usage of Zendikar, and all sorts of other factors, the constellation being formed points in a single direction.

So we know that Zendikar is coming up soon, seven years after the original block. Oh, and the original Zendikar block came up seven years after Onslaught block.  Huh. What did those two sets have in common? Oh right.

4. The fetchlands are coming.

Aaron, Mark, and the other members of OP and R&D were shocked at the reaction to the Standard PT and PPTQ announcements, particularly as it related to the Modern format. From our outside point of view, it shouldn’t be surprising at all. But why was theirs different? Because they were aware of many things we weren’t.  Modern Masters 2 is one of them. But simply printing Modern Masters 2 wouldn’t really do much to address the larger issues with manabases in the format being hyper-expensive, the biggest barrier to entry problem that the format has.  So in order to get players into the format, you need to reduce those costs and make the manabases accessible. That means reprinting the biggest chokepoint in the format, and doing it through Standard.

That means Fetchlands.

Now, it’s been six years since we last saw Enemy Fetchlands, and thirteen since we last saw allied ones. We’re at the point where they’d naturally be reprinted anyway. Zendikar II (Reign of the Eldrazi?) is coming up in Fall 2015, and would be a natural fit for them. But in a year in which they are going to be making a massive push for Modern in May, that’s actually too late for them to assist, especially when trying to bump turnout at an event like GP Charlotte, run by none other than SCG, TO for the record-setting GP: Richmond.

This means that an appearance in Khans block by the OG Onslaught Fetchlands is actually quite likely. Especially given that we’re time-travelling in the block to an “Earlier Era” where dragons are everywhere. This would allow for the Enemy Fetchlands to be shelved for later, or simply reprinted in Zendikar block.

It is very unlikely, btw, that these lands show up in Modern Masters 2. They’re well aware of the barrier to entry problem that they present, and reprinting them in MM2 simply wouldn’t do enough to ease the supply issues on the basic lands. If we do get a land cycle in there, the Shadowmoor/Eventide Filterlands would be a much more appropriate set to use, given that they seemed to let people play a little too fast and loose with mana while they were in Standard. The allied manlands are another potential option, but given that putting the Enemy ones in Zendikar II would be an easy call, I suspect we may end up seeing those allied ones show up in a core set some day soon, given the need to reprint Colonnade.

And with four reasonable predictions out of the way, I’ll end with a crazy guess.

5. Tarkir is Dominaria

Morph, Arcanis in the Duel Deck (Onslaught), the first wedge cycles (Apocalypse), time travel (Time Spiral), a dragon Set (Scourge.)  Where else could Tarkir be taking place but Magic’s home? 😛 Yeah, I’m probably wrong on this, but conspiracy theories are fun!

Obviously, only the folks over at WotC know the future, but that doesn’t prevent us from being able to profit off of it. If you can figure out what’s coming next, you can figure out what to do right now.

By: Jim Marsh

Every week, some cards from Magic the Gathering increase and decease in value based upon a number of factors.

Let’s take a look at some of the cards whose values have changed the most and the factors behind why those changes have occurred.

10 Big Winners of the Week

10. Slaughter Pact (Modern Masters)
From $5.87 to $6.83 (16.35%)

Slaughter Pack is a modern darling. This past weekend was an excellent example of that.

The SCG Modern tournament in Dallas on 8/3/2014 winner was a Golgari Midrange deck that ran two copies of Slaughter Pact in the main deck.

Six of the Top 8 decks had Slaughter Pact either in the main deck or sideboard. There were a total of nine copies played in those six decks so most were using one or two. That still means that a sizeable chunk of the metagame wants a have a few copies handy.

This can take the form of Jund, Pack Rat Black, and Junk (Abzan) decks that utilize it.

The reprint in Modern Masters made it take a hit last year but I see these continuing to rise over the long term. Free removal is something we do not see very often after all.

9. Avenger of Zendikar (Worldwake)
From $5.42 to $6.37 (17.53%)

Avenger of Zendikar was around $10 before it was reprinted in the Jund Power Hungry Commander 2013 decks.

It is a casual favorite that creates a swarm of chump blockers that turn into game ending threats fairly quickly.

It is starting to creep back up but the recent flood of copies in a deck you can still pick up at a local Target or Walmart near you makes me think this has a ceiling of around $8. It will take a long time to recover if it ever does.

If you just want to move them, you can purchase these as low as $4.01 and sell them for $4.39.

8. Fauna Shaman (M11)
From $6.86 to $8.07 (17.64%)

Fauna Shaman is a fixture of Commander decks, Cubes and casual decks that run forests and creatures. There are an endless supply of creatures to tutor or reanimate.

It sees some play in Modern Kiki-Pod variants and has a nearly unique effect. It is certainly easier to pick up a few shamans than a few copies of Survival of the Fittest.

I see this one continuing to grow over the long term.

7. Porphyry Nodes (Planar Chaos)
From $4.24 to $5.35 (26.18%)

It is still astounding that only six months ago this was a bulk rare.

Control decks use it to keep a leash on Zoo and other aggressive decks. If it kills a single creature it has paid for itself.

Modern UWR (Jeskai) Control and UWR Delver both have a pair in the sideboard. The deck consistently appears in Top 8s.

However a sideboard card out of a single deck is no place to park your money.

I would trade for Keranos, God of Storms out of the same deck. You can buy them for $5.00 and sell them for $5.23.

There is also the possibility that UWR or RUG (Temur) standard decks will be using them soon.

6. Pithing Needle (Saviors of Kamigawa)
From $2.50 to $3.48 (39.20%)

You may recognize Pithing Needle from half the sideboards in legacy.

Just this last week at the SCG Legacy Open in Dallas half the Top 8 had a copy in their seventy five.

That may sound like a ringing endorsement but it is a trap. There have been four printings of the card. The most recent version was Return to Ravnica. In a few months all of the standard players that have held onto a few copies to use in their sideboards will be unloading them. Most decks only need a single copy.

I would get out before the market gets flooded.

You can still buy these as low as $1.79 and sell them for up to $2.25.

5. Legion Loyalist (Gatecrash)
From $2.92 to $4.18 (43.15%)

Rabble Red received quite a bit of attention this past week. It was a quick and aggressive deck which is usually a pretty safe game plan right after a shakeup in the metagame.

It got a lot of attention on day 1 but failed to Top 8 on day two. Twenty two of the cards in the deck are rotating soon.

The amount of buzz will cause other players to want to put this deck together and try it out. I would take this price bump and run.

4. Galerider Sliver (M14)
From $2.92 to $4.94 (69.18%)

Speaking of rotating rare cards next we have Galerider Sliver. This is sometimes used as a flying one drop in Mono-Blue Devotion but that is it so far as the competitive scene goes.

Modern Slivers still does not appear to be a thing and standard slivers is now definitely not a thing.

Get out. Sell your Galerider Sliver and buy Galerider Sliver.

The regular copies are $4.94 but the foils are only $5.31.

You can even find the foils for as low as $4.94!

These are the copies that people will want in their sliver commander decks so I say upgrade to foil and wait for slow steady growth.

3. Flames of the Blood Hand (Betrayers of Kamigawa)
From $2.44 to $4.11 (68.44%)

Flames of the Blood Hand is played in every flavor of modern Burn decks.

Boros Burn has become popular as well as Rakdos Burn which recently got in the Top 16 in the 8/3/2014 SCG Modern tournament.

I do not think that an uncommon is going to get much higher than $4. I think it is time to cash out of them.

2. Boom // Bust (Planar Chaos)
From $1.25 to $2.16 (72.80%)

This card is essentially a bulk rare.

It does see play in a fringe Modern Restore Balance deck as a play set in the sideboard but that is about it.

I really cannot find much reason to recommend it but you can buy these as low as $0.66 and sell them for up to $1.10.

That should make someone happy.

1. Goblin Rabblemaster (M15)
From $0.94 to $3.41 (262.77%)

Here is the biggest swing this week. Everyone was talking about Rabble Red but it did not put up the results to justify its spike.

A lot of standard players are going to want to get their hands on it to brew and I say let them have it. M15 is still being drafted and so move them as quickly as you can.

You can buy them for as little as $0.89 and sell them for up to $1.01. If you were able to get a lot of them cheaply then I say now is your time to strike.

5 Big Losers of the Week

5. Blood Baron of Vizkopa (Dragon’s Maze)
From $5.11 to $4.37 (-14.48%)

Standard Orzhov Control performed admirably at Pro Tour Magic 2015. Two of the Top 8 decks were Orzhov Control.

That is the only thing keeping this about $3 right now. It will be $2 come September.

Rotation is looming and no other format cares for the Blood Baron. You may have a friend who wants one for their commander deck or lifegain deck but that will be it.

Get these out of your bind and trade them while someone still wants them.

4. Commandeer (Coldsnap)
From $3.26 to $2.74 (-15.95%)

90% of the time Commandeer is just a much worse Misdirection. It is legal but not playable in modern. Most spells you want to redirect probably have a single target.

This used to be the budget card you played in Commander because you did not want to spend $20 on Misdirection.

Now you can pick one up for $5 thanks for Conspiracy so who needs Commandeer?

3. Extirpate (Modern Masters)
From $3.69 to $3.08 (-16.53%)

Extirpate is a sideboard card in several fringe legacy and vintage decks.

It is not the kind of effect that most casual players are interested in.

The reprint in Modern Masters increased the supply but the demand remained stale. This is a recipe for price deflation.

You can still turn this around if you are stuck with a few copies.

Vendors are selling them for $1.46 and some are buying them for $1.82. That is probably the best deal you are going to.

2. Battlefield Forge (10^th Edition)
From $5.06 to $4.06 (-19.76%)

Battlefield Forge is going to be used a lot over the next year. Any Boros, Naya, WUR (Jeskai) or RWB (Mardu) decks will want to run a few copies.

It has been reprinted a lot though so I expect these to drop over the next few months while triple M15 is the draft format of choice. I would trade away or sell any you get in the short term.

You should be able to pick them up even cheaper right before rotation hits.

1. Spirit Mantle
From $2.56 to $2.00 (-21.88%)

I really enjoy Modern Bogles but it is in a strange spot. It has a strong presence in online dailies but not in paper tournaments. You never see it even make Top 16.

Without results the prices are not going to have much movement.

If you are tired of sitting on Spirit Mantle you can still sell them for $1.50.

The Planechase 2012 version is even better. It was printed in smaller quantities for you can purchase them for $1.50 and sell them for $1.80.

By: Jim Marsh

Every week, some cards from Magic the Gathering increase and decease in value based upon a number of factors.

Let’s take a look at some of the cards whose values have changed the most and the factors behind why those changes have occurred.

10 Big Winners of the Week

10. Dictate of Kruphix (Journey into Nyx)
From $0.89 to $0.98 (10.11%)

Dictate of Kruphix has seen a little bit of play in block but standard does not quite have enough pieces to put together a competitive Turbo Fog deck at the moment.

Its true home is with casual players. Who does not love a Howling Mine with flash? I think this will be a casual staple for years to come and at under a dollar the opportunity cost is minimal.

Keep in mind that Journey into Nyx sales were cannibalized by Conspiracy.

I like these as long term holds with the possibility of short term gains if they see adoption post rotation.

9. Slaughter Pact (Future Sight)
From $5.39 to $5.96 (10.64%)

Every competitive deck wants to run the best removal available to it. It is no wonder that Slaughter Pact is run in nearly every Modern deck with access to black mana.

In the SCG Modern tournaments on both 7/25 and 7/27 the winning decks ran two copies of Slaughter Pact main deck. One of them even had another copy in the sideboard.

Slaughter pact is used in several competitive and fringe modern decks including the Rock, Golgari Midrange, Melira Pod, Junk (Abzan,) Jund, Ad Nauseam and Amulet of Vigor.

It is even used in Omnishow in Legacy.

This card took a hit when it was reprinted in Modern Masters last year but it is on its way back. I think these are great pickups as they continue to recover.

It is simply used in too many decks to not continue to increase over time.

8. Aetherling (Dragon’s Maze)
From $0.93 to $1.03 (10.75%)

Aetherling has been the finisher of choice for control decks in every variation.

We have seen Azorius, Esper, Bant and Jeskai (WUR) Control deck bide their time until this evasive and difficult creature was able to close out the game.

Its time in standard is nearly at an end though.

You really should have traded these away a long time ago. They are already near bulk and within a few months that is exactly what they will be.

Aetherling has not seen any adoption in any other format.

Get rid of them while you can.

7. Brain Maggot (Journey into Nyx)
From $0.82 to $0.91 (10.98%)

Brain Maggot is part of standard and block Golgari and Junk (Abzan) Constellation decks. This is a good indicator that the deck can be good enough to pick up steam at rotation.

Unfortunately Back to Nature was reprinted in M15. This would seem to put a wrench in things. I have yet to see any copies of the hoser in any sideboards so this may not be a bad thing.

This makes me cautiously optimistic for the deck. You could probably get these as toss-ins on a trade.

6. Demonic Tutor (Unlimited)
From $20.34 to $22.85 (12.34%)

You may recognize Demonic Tutor from pretty much every vintage deck that has any access to black mana.

It is also used in every black commander deck by anyone that owns a copy.

It is one of the most powerful tutors ever printed.

It is also being reprinted as part of the Divine vs. Demonic Duel Deck later this year.

It is not often that you see a negative spread on a vintage staple but you can buy them for as low as $17.89 and sell them for $18.91.

There may be a price dip later this year after the Duel Decks are re-released. We still do not have a lot of information on them but I think this will be the high price for next couple years.

5. In the Web of War (Betrayers of Kamigawa)
From $1.93 to $2.18 (12.95%)

This rare from Betrayers of Kamigawa is a little pricey at five mana.

I’d rather run Ogre Battledriver in pretty much every case. It is cheaper and gives you an extra body.

I do like that you can buy them for a little as $1.09 and sell them for up to $1.35.

4. Oona’s Prowler (Lorwyn)
From $2.07 to $2.38 (14.98%)

I see the price bump but I cannot find anything to attribute it to.

It is a rare from Lorwyn and part of the powerful faeries tribe. I cannot find any results indicating even fringe modern play.

Maybe someone is trying to make Waste Not work?

If you have any buylists are now offering $1.50 for them so I say take the money and run.

3. Crystalline Sliver (Friday Night Magic)
From $8.45 to $9.93 (17.51%)

The new slivers have yet to have any impact in standard but they are always popular in casual games.

Sliver Hivelord is a great new commander for slivers. There are only so many ways do deal with indestructible slivers and Crystalline Sliver makes it even tougher.

If you are going all out on a sliver commander deck you will want the nicest version which is why the Friday Night Magic copy is the one that is growing the most.

There are still some vendors selling them for as little as $3.49 and you can sell them for as much as $4.32.

2. Terra Stomper (Zendikar)
From $1.41 to $1.66 (17.73%)

Terra Stomper is legal in standard thanks to the green planeswalker deck that is used to demonstrate the game newer players.

This means old Zendikar copies of the uncounterable fattie are now getting some attention. It practically calls out for Monogreen Devotion to give it a try.

The most interesting thing is that the M15 version of the Stomper is valued at $3.46. This is odd since the deck it comes in is free. It is also included in the M15 Deckbuilder’s Toolkit. It is scarce enough though that it is virtually a mythic rare.

I would trade them while you can. You can even help out some new players by offering a replacement Terra Stomper along with other cards they need to build their collection for their M15 copies.

1. Ensoul Artifact (M15 Foil)
From $5.68 to $20.78 (265.85%)

There really is no competition for the biggest winner of the week.

Early testing with Ensoul Artifact in Modern Affinity has been promising.

Sure you can make your Darksteel Citadel an indestructible 5/5 but why stop there?

How about Inkmoth Nexus? Either they have an answer or they are on a two turn clock. It would even dodge Creeping Corrosion or Supreme Verdict. Unlike Steel Overseer Ensoul Artifact does not force you into overextending.

Vault Skirge and Ornithopter are also impressive with the aura.

That does not even take into account flexibility to turn a creatureless battlefield into a slaughter when you enchant a Mox Opal or Springleaf Drum into a 5/5 with virtual haste after mass removal.

It does not matter whether you think this is good enough or not. What is important is that other people do. These people play eternal formats and want the foils.

Keep your eyes open. You will have a chance to trade some Standard playable cards into the hottest new thing in Modern. I just would not let them rot in my binder too long.

5 Big Losers of the Week

5. Satyr Firedancer (Born of the Gods)
From $1.52 to $1.33 (-12.50%)

This does not feel like a $1 card to me. It has not had the impact that Eidolon of the Great Revel had but it is still being used in multiple formats.

Modern and standard are using it in Boros Burn and Red Deck Wins variants.

Even Legacy Burn decks sometimes run it.

If you are bullish on this card then I would sit on at least a play set. It is as low as it is going to get.

If you are bearish on it you can still make a little money.

You can buy these for as little as $0.35 and sell them for $0.75.

That should make everybody happy.

4. Hokori, Dust Drinker (Betrayers of Kamigawa)
From $2.33 to $2.02 (-13.30%)

Hokori, Dust Drinker is used in Modern GW Hatebears.

It is also one of the most trollish commanders imaginable. It is a Rising Waters on legs.

I expect we will see more Hatebears with the recent printing of Hushwing Gryff.

Hokori is a pretty safe pick up. You can get him for as little as $0.99 and sell him for $1.07.

3. Battlefield Forge (9^th Edition)
From $5.59 to $4.70 (-15.92%)

Standard Boros Burn,  Boros Midrange and Naya Aggro all want Forges to help fix their mana.

We now have confirmation Khans will include wedges so I expect these will also see play in Mardu (RWB) and Jeskai (WUR) decks.

However the multiple printings of the painlands and the amount flooding the market from M15 will drive all of their prices down.

I would move these quickly.

2. Elbrus, the Binding Blade (Dark Ascension)
From $2.68 to $2.25 (-16.04%)

I really enjoy the flavor of this card. It is a double sided legendary equipment that turns into a 13/13 demon.

It is not going to be reprinted any time soon if ever. It has a lot of casual appeal but outside of commander it is pretty unrealistic.

I like it as a long term spec just due to sheer novelty but realistically your Magic dollars are probably better served elsewhere.

1. Flames of the Blood Hand (Betrayers of Kamigawa)
From $3.00 to $2.34 (-22.00%)

Burn has been getting a lot of attention in Modern recently.

You have Kitchen Finks, Spike Feeders and Daybreak Coronets pushing players out of burn range.

That is part of why Flames of the Blood Hand is essential in those matchups. It keeps the game plan progressing while shutting off escape routes.

Monored Burn, Boros Burn and even Rakdos Burn have been appearing in Top 8s and Top 16s. I would look at this as a fire sale (pun intended) on Flames of the Bloodhand and pick some up.

By: Travis Allen

San Diego Comic-Con carried with it a slew of new Magic information as well as the return of the mixed-reception black-on-black Planeswalkers. Today we’re going to look at what came out of the event and see what we can piece together about the near future.

Jared spoke at length about this Monday, so I’ll keep this short. Wizards stepped it up a bit this year, as it comes with six walkers instead of five (due to multicolor Garruk’s presence). They even tossed in a Nerf Garruk’s Axe as well. Last year these promos mostly flew under the radar until it started leaking from the con floor that nearly all had been sold on Friday and that they may be unavailable Saturday and Sunday. Prices doubled and tripled on eBay within a few hours. This time around the set of walkers was a known quantity though, and the market was prepared. Sets hit eBay for $500-$700 initially in an attempt to cash in on the fervor of last year. The prices have since settled and it looks like they’re finishing under $400 right now on eBay. I’d expect we’ll see the floor on these within one to three weeks before a very gradual rise. If you want a set(s), start keeping an eye on completed eBay listings now. Like most of this type of product, it will be guaranteed to rise over the long term, but I can’t promise there aren’t faster ways to make money. I’ll personally probably grab a set so that I have it, but that may be about it. It is worth considering that this year’s crop of Planeswalkers is much better than last years. Liliana Vess has had strong casual demand for years, Nissa and to a lesser extent Jace could end up being Standard playable, and Garruk will definitely be popular in the long term.

Originally Liliana of the Veil was slated for M15, but they pulled her for power level concerns. Can you imagine what the SDCC version of that would have gone for in a few years?

The Magic panel was mostly about Khans of Tarkir and its prerelease, with additional info FTV:Annihilation, a new Duel Decks anthology, the Speed vs Cunning Duel deck, and Commander 2014. Let’s start small.

FTV:Annihilation is confirmed to have Armageddon, Wrath of God, Living Death, Rolling Earthquake and Cataclysm. Armageddon, Wrath and Living Death are mostly uninteresting. This will be the first foil printing of Cataclysm, so it should do pretty well. It may end up being the 2nd or 3rd most valuable card in the box.

Rolling Earthquake is the big ticket item here. English P3K versions are going for $150 at the moment. The printing here will probably pull that down a fair bit. We have two good prior comparisons: Loyal Retainers and Imperial Recruiter. Loyal Retainers used to be nearly $150 just two years ago when Commander’s Arsenal was released. Today, P3K versions can easily be found for $50. Imperial Recruiter hung around $280-$350 prior to the judge printing, and it seems like it’s still in that territory. The judge copy is a bit under $200 right now.

Why did Loyal Retainers drop so much when Imperial Recruiter held most of it’s value? I would guess it’s mostly due to playability. Retainers are only barely played in Legacy and not much elsewhere. Recruiters continue to show up in Legacy, albeit in more fringe lists. I’d also hazard a guess that Retainers show up in EDH and Cube a fair bit more, but that’s purely speculative. Regardless, the demand for Imperial Recruiters has prevented the P3K price from crashing like it did for Recruiters.

The question is whether Rolling Earthquake is an Imperial Recruiter or a Loyal Retainer. My guess is that it will behave much more like Loyal Retainer. The only people looking for Rolling Earthquake are guys with cubes and maybe a few EDH players here and there. Overall, there just aren’t that many people who need the card. This influx of copies won’t completely decimate the price, but I’m guessing that it will drop a fair bit, although it won’t happen overnight. If you’ve got copies you don’t especially need at the moment I’d probably ship them. If the price does drop you can reacquire for much cheaper in a year. If it doesn’t drop, you can just rebuy at the same price you sold it for down the road.

Moving on, we’re getting a Duel Deck Anthology in December. It will be a reprint of the four original Duel Decks: Elves vs Goblins, Jace vs Chandra, Divine vs Demonic and Garruk vs Liliana. This is an overall win for most players and shouldn’t harm holders of the original sealed product much at all. It specifically says the reprints are in new frames, so the original sets will clearly be different. People holding the original sealed product won’t be harmed because those will still be the original run, while these will be a re-release that just won’t be the same. Imagine if they reprinted Superman #1. Even if they printed hundreds of thousands of them, the original’s price wouldn’t be touched. It will be no different here. As far as singles go, it’s hard to say. We don’t know what the distribution on these is going to be. I’d guess it will have a mild impact on the best singles, but it shouldn’t be too severe. I doubt these anthologies are going to be print-on-demand the way the latest Commander batch has been.

Commander 2014 has some exciting new Planeswalkers for us. The one spoiled is Teferi, Temporal Archmage. I’ve long talked/hoped to see old characters reprinted as Planeswalkers in additional product, and it’s great to see it come to fruition. The two big twists for Teferi are that he (and his cycle) can be your commander, and Teferi specifically grants you an emblem that allows Planeswalker abilities to be used as instants. This idea certainly isn’t new. It’s definitely cool to see, although I don’t see it Teferi specifically making a splash in any formats. If he let you use the abilities as instants right out of the box it would be one thing, but given that you only receive that privilege with the emblem, I think Teferi will be relegated to the 99 card realm.

The rest of the product should be nifty, and I’m curious to see who they release as the Planeswalker commanders and the cycle of old legendary creatures that never saw a card. The sealed product itself shouldn’t be brutally expensive, as Wizards has learned their lesson on distribution caps for casual product. However be aware that this release is probably too soon after last year’s Commander product for them to have fixed any True-Name Nemeses.

As for Khans, we got a decent sized dump of information. Khans is indeed the counterpart to Alara, being a shard set with official names for combinations like RUG and BUG. (The new names are not nearly as good as the Alara ones, by the way.) They made a point to say that Khans is a shard set, not a shard block though. If only a single set in the block is a sharded, I’m left wondering if we will see a tri-color land at all. It’s entirely possible we finish the Alara triland cycle at uncommon and see a more normal set of dual lands. I’m thinking that whatever they are, they won’t be come-into-play-tapped (CIPT) lands. The temples already force you to play the land tapped, and if the Khans land cycle does it as well, that has implications for the Standard format. I’d guess we may see something that gives you an option, akin to the Ravnica duals or the M10 checklands. Maybe we’ll finally get part of the Future Sight cycle? A Grove of the Burnwillows cycle would be an interesting complement to the painlands of M15.

Two things I do see this does ruling out is manlands and fetchlands. The manlands because of the CIPT, and the fetchlands because there is simply not going to be enough support for them. Each clan has it’s own mechanic, with morph being the sixth mechanic. (We’ll get to morph in a minute.) The last time we had fetchlands landfall was the predominant mechanic in the set. With five clan-specific mechanics, how are they going to make fetchlands matter as much as they should? The answer is that they can’t. When fetches come back they’re probably going to be alongside landfall, and there simply isn’t enough room for it here.

Speaking of mechanics, what are we getting? First of all, morph is confirmed to be returning. That’s a bit surprising, as I get the impression morph wasn’t all that popular the first time around. I’ve heard tales of how much Zombie Cutthroat ruined draft, so don’t expect any free morphing to show up. Most of the morph cards from days past are tribal, as a good majority of them showed up in Onslaught block. That limits how many reprints we’ll see. Flipping through all cards with morph, there are two that catch my eye.

The first, and potentially more lucrative reprint, is Birchlore Ranger. It’s a relatively unassuming common elf. A 1/1 for one that gives you a mana if you tap two elves. Seems unimpressive, right? The hook here is that Modern elves would kill for this card. Having access to Birchlore Ranger means Modern elves can play things like Beck without bending over backwards to accommodate it with mana. It also gives them access to all sorts of important off-color spells that will fill holes from other missing Legacy cards. If Birchlore is reprinted, expect Modern elves to become a lot more relevant. In this scenario Beck is a good choice, but we can go deeper. Cloudstone Curio may be what we want, perhaps Craterhoof Behemoth, or quite possibly something I’m not even aware of. In the event that Birchlore shows up again, start watching Modern elves lists like a hawk.

A second, less exciting reprint would be Exalted Angel. Exalted Angel won a Pro Tour I believe, and even if she didn’t, she definitely made her mark on Standard back in the day. A reprint would jack up the pack foil for sure, and possibly the judge foil if the art is different this time around.

What else will we see out of Khans mechanics? Delve is a reasonable safe bet. According to this tweet from the panel, the Sultai (BUG) is a resource manipulation mechanic. That can mean a lot of things, but one of them is certainly delve. There are only three cards in Magic’s history with the keyword already, and only one relevant one: Tombstalker. If Tombstalker is reprinted, does he rocket in value?

Not necessarily. The Modern Masters edition would certainly take a hit, as the any new printing will have the same border. Only the Future Sight edition would stand to gain. It may jump a bit if he’s spoiled, but I’m not convinced he’ll make enough of a mark on Standard to matter. He’s already legal in Modern and sees no play there, so the only place this reprint will matter is Standard. Once Ravnica rotates we are not going to have much left in the way of graveyard support. Sure he can be a 2 mana 5/5, but does that matter enough on turn six or seven? It’s possible that the rest of the Sultai cards will have some graveyard support, but I’m hesitant to say that Tombstalker will be strong enough. Considering the FUT foils are $20+ already, this seems easy to stay away from.

Another Khans piece of info is that the prerelease will not have five promos, but forty. Each color will have eight options. For example, if you’re playing green at the prerelease, you get to choose between Overcosted Hydra, Weak Hydra, Situationally Relevant Hydra, Giant Growth Hydra, and four other hydras. Assuming distribution is similar to past prerelease promos, this will serve to suppress the price on forty different rares instead of five. There were fifty-three rares in Theros, which means only about thirteen Khans rares will be potentially financially relevant. This doesn’t feel like too much of a departure from the norm, but now the cards we should care about are much more clear. If 75% of the rares in the set are promos, only 25% have a chance to really climb.

What’s most interesting about this is if this is a plan they intend to continue implementing. Born of the Gods and Journey Into Nyx only have thirty-five rares. Are they adding five rares to the small sets to keep up with the forty promos? Does that mean every rare will have a promo? They can’t all have alternate art, right? This will be pretty important down the road, but for now we simply don’t have much info.

One point that sort of slipped under the radar of most coverage is that the winter and spring set’s release dates have been moved. Apparently, the winter set will hit in January and the spring set will be releasing in March. For reference, Journey into Nyx was released May 2nd. Even if “Louie” hits the last Friday in March, the 27th, it’s still a solid five weeks earlier than JOU, and there will only be six or seven weeks between the winter and spring sets. That’s a rather breakneck release schedule after the first of the year. My guess is that the reasoning behind this is to put a little room between the “Louie” and a large announcement next summer; possibly Modern Masters 2. There was only a month between the original Modern Masters and Dragon’s Maze. MM stole most of DGM’s thunder, especially since the Modern reprints were so much more exciting than most of what DGM had in store. I’m not exactly sure what impact this will have on Khans block singles at this point. We’ll figure that out at a later date.

Moving the spring set back a month and a half really sets up a big product in early summer. If it’s not another Modern Masters, it’s sure to be something exciting.

There certainly was a lot to cover this year, and I don’t doubt that I missed parts of it too. If I missed something you want to discuss, plop it in the comments.