Tag Archives: Standard

Uncategorized

PROTRADER: Looking to Standard Rotation – Dragons of Tarkir and Magic Origins

4 Comments

My interest in Standard is usually very fleeting. When I’m covering a Standard event, I get pretty deep into it. I know the decks, I know the pilots and designers, I know the strategies. Then a few months will go by without me covering a Standard tournament, and I’ll gradually lose interest and track of the format. Coupled with the fact my Friday Night Magic is Draft instead of Standard, it means my connection with Standard is tenuous at best most of the time.

Except.

Except at Rotation, that is.

That’s where we’re at now, or at least heading up on it. Previews are coming fast and furious — not to mention in some pretty incredibly awesome ways — and we’re quickly getting ready to depart pre-Sarkhan-meddling Tarkir (the Dragons will be sticking around). That means the fetch lands are going away. Gone is Siege Rhino. Mantis Rider is no more. We won’t be cruising or digging through time any more, nor will we be dashing any Kolaghans.

siegerhino

I love Rotation. It’s a time of unbridled creativity for deckbuilders, and as much as I enjoy writing finance and coverage, the truth is I like to play a little Magic too. In truth, I actually play quite a bit. While I’ll leave the Grinder Finance to Jim since I’m rarely ever to play in big tournaments anymore thanks to doing coverage at them, I spend a lot of time playing in several tournaments a week at home, and I play a good deal of Magic Online.

My favorite format to brew in is Modern, and I’ve had a fair amount of success doing so. Obviously Merfolk is the deck most people associate with me, and I’ve done a lot of work over the years to help shape it into its current beautiful form. But I’m constantly brewing up other decks as well, and while I’m not sure I had anything to do with it I was streaming Flagstones of Trokair – Boom/Bust for a week before they spiked.

Anyway, I won’t bore you further with my exploits, other than to say I enjoy Rotation for the same reasons. It makes Standard new and exciting, and often times more fun.

It also brings with it financial opportunities. It’s those that I’ll be exploring today.

The Future of Standard

Honestly, I feel like a lot of post-Rotation decks will be heavily based in Dragons of Tarkir and Magic Origins unless Shadows over Innistrad just blows it out of the water (which is certainly possible). But take, for example, this Jeskai Dragons deck that Top 8’ed the Star City Games event two weeks ago. Outside of the mana base, which will adjust for all decks, only nine(!) cards rotate from the maindeck, and some of those are fairly easily replaceable with cards from Magic Origins or newer sets. The Dragonlords themselves are all still very powerful, and Thunderbreak Regent and Draconic Roar isn’t getting any worse.

Thunderbreak Regent

It’s not the only deck in this position – the Bant Company deck that won that event has only some fetch lands and a pair of Wingmate Roc rotating out. In many ways, we’re already living in the future.

So what opportunities does this present financially?

The rest of this content is only visible to ProTrader members.

To learn how ProTrader can benefit YOU, click here to watch our short video.

expensive cards

ProTrader: Magic doesn’t have to be expensive.

Jim Casale

Grinder Finance – Preparing for the Rotation

4 Comments

So Shadows over Innistrad Preview Weeks haven’t officially started but we’ve already got some tasty tidbits flowing in from last weekend’s Grands Prix.  Aaron Forsythe basically stated that the Eldrazi will be put into a more reasonably place (although not abolished) in April.  All Modern fans rejoice in unison!

But let’s talk about Standard.  How do I prepare for the upcoming rotation?  Analyze the new cards and the leaving cards and make some playability predictions.

Oath of the Gatewatch

Right now with mana being so unreasonably good a lot of cards are being pushed to the sidelines because they’re just not better than playing a 4 color deck.  There will probably be a bigger emphasis on two color decks which is a big boon for double-casting cost cards.  My Oath of the Gatewatch picks are:

Linvala

Right now most decks can’t get to turn 6 reasonably but this card is primed to be a house.  It has a relevant tribal creature type for Innistrad and with the rotation of a lot of it’s biggest enemies gives Linvala, the Preserver a chance to spread her wings.  At under $3 per copy, I can’t see a world where you have much to lose.  Linvala also holds a good amount of casual value being a giant mythic angel.  I foresee the rotation of Abzan Charm, Crackling Doom, and Murderous Cut as a big reason more expensive threats will become better.

hissingquagmirewanderingfumaroleneedlespires

With the rotation of the best lands in the game, our fixing gets a lot less and people will likely need to play a lot more copies of newer duals.  With all 3 of these lands comfortably under $3, I think it’s a pretty great pickup now because the best ones will get very expensive very quickly.

sylvanadvocate

This guy I think will be one of the sleepers of the new standard.  It has a reasonably priced body with a good defensive ability.  It incidentally pumps the creature lands (that are likely to get more popular) while providing some flood insurance. At a few bucks this one may not really move in price but it’s already proven to be solid.

Battle for Zendikar

Sunken Hollowshamblingvent

Sunken Hollow and friends are due for their “first printing” tick up as fetches leave and 2 Sunken Hollow is no longer enough for your blue/black deck.  There is no guarantee we get a new or a reprint dual land cycle in Shadows over Innistrad so I would recommend buying into the ones we know are good.  They last for another 12 months so spending about $60 to get a playset of all of 5 is an easy investment.  The creature lands here are the same as above.

obnixilisreignited2

I am still amazed at how cheap this planeswalker is.  A standard legal planeswalker that isn’t a joke (you know, like Tibalt, the Fiend-Blooded) is only $6 is a real shame.  I could see him tag teaming with Chandra, Flamecaller to form a good barrier against big and little creatures (similar to Jace, Architect of Thought and Tamiyo, the Moon Sage did a few years ago).

dranaliberatorofmalakir

Another black mythic that can be played as a 4 of is a paltry $7.50 on TCGPlayer.   She has a relevant tribal creature type and is aggressively costed.  With it’s brick wall nemesis, Mantis Rider leaving Standard, she is primed to shine.

Dragons of Tarkir and Magic Origins

These sets have less time in Standard but I will focus quickly on some cards that could become format staples for the next 6 months.

Deathmist Raptorden protector

These guys have seen a little resurgence lately in the Bant Collected Company deck but you might remember when Deathmist Raptor  commanded a premium price tag for mythics.  Their abilities have good synergies with self mill (an important theme in the previous Innistrad block) and discard.  At $7 I think it’s a good time to get Deathmist Raptor and Den Protector if that’s your jam.

cmds

With the rotation of the most powerful gold cards in Standard, these extremely versatile instants will need to pick up more slack. Ojutai’s Command and Kolaghan’s Command synergize well with graveyard strategies which can’t be understated.

thingintheiceawokenhorror

Amusingly enough, Ojutai’s Command can return this “thing” people are really excited about.  It’s already up to a $12 pre-order on SCG in it’s first day so I have to assume this card is 100% hype.  It is a lot of investment for something that at the end of the day can get Reflector Mage‘d.

Jacerisenexecutioner1

I want to quickly talk about these two.  I wouldn’t advocate buying into them now if you’re not totally sure you’re going to play them.  Risen Executioner has already seen a sizable jump from his bulk mythic price after a “good” mythic zombie was spoiled.  Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy is very close to closing on the Jace, the Mind Sculptor levels of pricey.  I don’t think he will be banned but I also am not sure how much longer he can sustain such enormous prices.  Theoretically Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy will hit his peak at Pro Tour Shadows over Innistrad as Standard cards tend to peak approximately 6 months before rotating. Where will he go? I’m not sure but this 7 year old photoshop might be relevant again.

100 jace

Standard on a Budget

I will take a quick second to discuss some spoilers and probably not the most exciting ones.

ravenousbloodseekerheiroffalkenrathincorrigibleyouths

These three cards tell me there will probably be a pretty powerful and very budget friendly deck available to newer Standard players.  These cards remind me a lot of these few from 15 years ago.

wild mongrelaquamoebaarrogant wurm

These cards were part of the insanely inexpensive U/G Madness deck.  While it’s unlikely to be nearly as competitive (due to the nature of powerful Mythic Rares), it is sufficient to beat down at your local FNM.  My suggestion if you’re short some cash is to invest in Smoldering Marsh, Avaricious Dragon, Exquisite Firecraft, Zurgo Bellstriker, and Thunderbreak Regent.  There is probably a deck somewhere in there and all of the cards are cheap now.

Accumulated Knowledge

PROTRADER: Playing Better, Part 2: Tournaments

1 Comment

There is something strange going on right now, and I don’t mean the variable quality episodes of the new X-Files mini-series. Turnout for Magic tournaments in the last few years has gone up tremendously, and opportunities for organized play have grown in response. In this week’s edition of “Playing Better” (Part One can be found here), we are going to approach Magic Finance from the perspective of Tournament Finance, to make sure that you aren’t losing money just by showing up. Oh, and we will be going over the homework later, so leave it out on your desks.

And in the interests of full disclosure- I HAVE written on this subject in the past, but things have since changed significantly enough that I feel it’s worth addressing.

The rest of this content is only visible to ProTrader members.

To learn how ProTrader can benefit YOU, click here to watch our short video.

expensive cards

ProTrader: Magic doesn’t have to be expensive.

Jim Casale

Grinder Finance – Weathering the Eldrazi Winter with Standard

10 Comments
cardart_OGW_World-Breaker
World Breaker by Jaime Jones

Yeah I don’t know if I agree with that idea.  Eldrazi are like a cold front that rolled in for a month or two and will probably roll out when Shadows over Innistrad comes out in April.  But in the mean time, you can play this sweet Standard format, right?

Standard hasn’t been a featured format on weekend coverage for 3 weeks so not much head way has been made in the largely Rally dominated format.  That being said, there are still plenty of things we can do to prepare for the next format.

Generally at the start of Standard formats (ie right after a new set has come out) decks will add new cards to an already existing archetype until someone comes along with a completely new look at the format.  We can take a look at some of the most popular standard decks right now and see which largely survive rotation as those will be ready to go out of the box.

Witness the End by Igor Kieryluk
Witness the End by Igor Kieryluk

Dead

If you play 4 Color Rally, Mardu Green, Jeskai Black, or any flavor of Abzan your deck will likely not survive in its current form.  Without the powerful 3 color cards and Khans of Tarkir fetch lands it’s hard to see any world where they could.  If you want to avoid the Eldrazi Winter in Modern I don’t suggest building these decks unless you already largely own the deck.  Personally, I decided to play Rally since I owned all of the cards for the deck except for Rally the Ancestors and Grim Haruspex.

Devour in Flames by Svetlin Velinov
Devour in Flames by Svetlin Velinov

On Life Support

Atarka Red is a deck that is losing a lot of its support for “go wide” strategies and its combo kill.  Monastery Swiftspear, Hordeling Outburst, Become Immense, Temur Battle Rage, Wild Slash, and their heavy fetch mana base are leaving.  While most of those cards are not particularly expensive the deck will need to find a way to replace those token makers or give it a lot of raw power to keep competing.  I won’t say the deck is dead but I wouldn’t invest a ton into it expecting it to be a player in the next Standard.

BR Dragons is a deck that while is only two colors has some pretty heavy color requirements.  Grasp of Darkness and the double red creatures are not very easy to cast with only 2 lands for fixing.  This deck is definitely going to be more alive than Atarka Red due to the raw power of it’s cards but it may be a misstep to play a deck without any of the manlands next Standard.

Bant Collected Company decks might seem like a weird deck to put here. Its heavy reliance on a fetch and battle land mana base to support it’s 3 colors makes me question how easy it will be to cast Deathmist Raptor along side Reflector Mage in April.  This deck might morph (no pun intended) into a deck closer to a G/X deck with a light splash.  I wouldn’t be surprised if it dropped most of the white spells in favor of being the only Jace and Collected Company deck.  With that in mind, I’m not super interested in buying into the Deathmist Raptor part of the deck.  If there are very strong graveyard decks it is likely that there will also be very strong graveyard removal cards (which we currently don’t have).  On the flip side, if we get more cards like Satyr Wayfinder again, it makes Deathmist Raptor a lot better.  I think you should go with your gut in this instance because I’m not sure which is right.

Best Value

cardart_OGW_Ruin-In-Their-Wake
Ruin in their Wake by Jason Felix

Standard in April will have 4 sets from the current Standard.  Two of them (Dragons of Tarkir and Magic Origins) will rotate out in September with the release of the unnamed next block.  The other two sets (Battle for Zendikar and Oath of the Gatewatch) will survive until the following April.  There is one deck that is reasonably good in Standard now that is largely made up of cards from the most recent block.

G/x Eldrazi ramp decks ill be good in some flavor.  Maybe they will be Red and play Chandra, Flamecaller and Kozilek’s Return.  Maybe they will be green and colorless using Wastes to power out Ruin in their Wake.  Either way the bulk of the core of the deck survives for some time.  The exception to this, being Nissa’s Pilgrimage and Explosive Vegetation which leave in September.  This deck is pretty heavy on Mythic rares which means it could become VERY expensive if it is a clear leader in the next Standard.  World Breaker is a very affordable $7 on TCG Player right now and will likely be a key part of anything Eldrazi.  If going a little bit bigger is more of your thing, Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger can be found for $19, Oblivion Sowers are under $5, and Kozilek, the Great Distortion is a surprisingly low $7.50.  Now that I think about it, I’m almost interested picking up Kozilek at $5 cash purely to hang onto for a few years.

As far as rares, it seems like the base of Sanctum of Ugin and Shrine of the Forsaken Gods will be good for 15 months.  I’m finding it hard to figure out a better way to spend $8 than to buy those two sets of lands.  The worst case scenario is you lose $8 but we can see from battle lands and manlands (like Shambling Vent) that Battle for Zendikar rare lands can support a higher price tag.

Oath of Nissa by Wesley Burt
Oath of Nissa by Wesley Burt

 

Oath of Nissa is another card that might be poised for a big up tick in play.  It’s legendary which means the 2nd one you play puts an enchantment into your graveyard.  This is relevant for the new Delirium cards.  The other thing it does is make it a lot easier to cast Planeswalkers.  Right now mana is really good so that doesn’t matter that much but when our mana gets much worse it may be relevant.  All 7 of the Standard legal planeswalkers from Dragons of Tarkir, Battle for Zendikar, and Oath of the Gatewatch have 2 colored mana symbols (with 3 of them being different colors).  While I won’t say you should buy out your local shop of Oath of Nissa, I would advise getting a personal playset before they get too expensive.

Final Thoughts

  • Drana, Liberator of Malakir and Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet are two cards we might see an uptick in use come rotation.  They have relevant creature types for Innistrad.  Last time we got lords like Stromkirk Captain.  I wouldn’t rule anything out for them.
  • While there are not many Zombies in the last year, Risen Executioner and Sidisi, Undead Vizier are two cards I would look at if there are Zombie tribal themes coming out of Shadows over Innistrad spoilers.
  • If I was a betting man, I would say we will see Eldrazi Temple on the Modern banned list in April.