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Magic Online Musings – This Week on MTGO #46

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This week’s foray into the digital realm sees blisterguy take a stroll through the gardens of Planar Chaos. What are the hot electronic cards you should buy by the dozen? There’s also the Premier Event Top 8 data for both Standard and Extended, and the card price analysis that we’ve all come to know and love…

(This week is brought to you by numbers and figures, pulling puzzles apart)

For some reason I have Tool songs on the brain, probably because I have been listening to more intricate music recently than usual. I say “numbers and figures” because there will be a lot of them this week, as we check in with not only the Standard and Extended Premier Events results, but also the prices of the more notable Standard Rares. To take the emphasis off the numbers somewhat, we’ll also take a look at some of the rares from Planar Chaos that I suspect could end up being the ones to look out for, and maybe one or two that I have a sneaky suspicion are going to be overrated.

The first card is one I had the fortune to have in my Two-Headed Giant deck at the prerelease. Usually, Dave and I are frankly God-awful at Two-Headed Giant. We always team up, usually after one of us has 5-0’d a flight or something, and proceed to lose a round or two of sanctioned multiplayer before heading home. We figured this week would be no exception, and we would be soon heading home to continue leveling or World of Warcraft characters from 60 to 70.

(Yeah, yeah, I’m one of the guilty many.)

It was a sound plan with just two small problems. The first being the following card.

Crovax, Ascendant Hero – 4WW
Legendary creature – Human Lord (R)
Other white creatures get +1/+1
Nonwhite creatures get -1/-1
Pay 2 life: Return Crovax, Ascendant Hero to its owner’s hand.
4/4

I remembered the other Crovax being pretty good in Limited – the Black one from way back when – so I figured this guy would be pretty good too. Then I read the last line and fell out of my chair, sustaining a head injury in the process. When I came too, our first round opponents had just played a second Wrath effect and were still scratching their heads trying to figure out a way to deal with Crovax, Ascendant Hero.

While administering repeated beatings with Mr. Ascendant Hero, it struck me that he wasn’t particularly bad value in terms of Constructed. There have been White-based control decks in and out of Standard Top 8s over the last few months, and an unkillable 4/4 that happens to murder small non-White animals could be a very sturdy win condition indeed. As far as the drawback of inflating opposing armies of the White Man, we only need to take a look at this to see what Boros is up to these days.

Standard Premier Events Top 8 Recap

17 (11) Dimir Control (Blue/Black Control, also known as Dralnu de Louvre!)
13 (16) MGA (Mono Green Aggro, now sometimes splashing Blood Moon out of the side)
11 (8) Simic Aggro Control (Blue/Green)
10 (5) Dragonstorm Combo (Blue/Red/Black Combo)
9 (0) Golgari Dredge (Green/Black Aggro Control Dredge Reanimator type thing)
6 (10) Trisketron (White/Blue Urzatron Control)
5 (4) Angel Control (Blue/Red/White Control)
3 (6) Mono Blue Morph Control (Fed by Fathom Seer and Vesuvan Shapeshifter)
3 (2) Solar Flare (Blue/Black/White Control)
3 (1) Mono Black Aggro (Small Black men and Bad Moon!)
3 (0) Control Zoo (Green/White/Red Aggro Control. Like, Hierarchs and stuff)
2 (7) Boros Deck Wins (Red/White Aggro)
2 (2) Izzetron (Blue/Red Urzatron Control)
2 (1) Gruul Aggro (Red/Green Aggro)
2 (0) Rakdos Aggro (Red/Black Aggro, woo Shadow Guildmage)
1 (3) Unknown (Knock, knock… who’s there? I dunno either)
1 (2) Panda Connection (Black/White Aggro with hand disruption)
1 (1) Goblin Combo (Seething Song and Rite of Flame and Empty the Warrens)
1 (0) Hierarch Control (Green/White/Black Control)
1 (0) Selesnya Blink (Green/White/Blue Aggro Control with Momentary Blink)
1 (0) Azorius Aggro (White/Blue Aggro, trading Burn for Counterspell)
0 (4) Orzhov Control (Black/White Control)
0 (3) Red/White/Blue Blink (Momentary Blink Aggro Control)
0 (2) Simictron (Blue/Green Urzatron Control)
0 (1) Selesnya Aggro Control (Green/White Aggro Control. Yes, sometimes with Glare)
0 (1) White/Red/Black Angel Control (Trading the Compulsive Researches for Phyrexian Arena and Castigate)
0 (1) Reanimator (Blue/Red/Black cheat fatties into play)
0 (1) Magnivore (Blue/Red Land Denial Control)

Not very much, it seems; the number of small White men who would benefit from Crovax’s presence dwindles by the day. The only risk I would think would be Loxodon Hierarch, or a return of the Boros decks (obviously). Either way, Wrathing away a board and replaying Crovax is a very solid play.

The second problem was mana problems on the other side of the table, so more often than not it felt like a two-on-one drubbing. We eventually headed home after going 4-0, taking a box for our efforts.

Voidstone Gargoyle – 3WW
Creature – Gargoyle (R)
Flying
As Voidstone Gargoyle comes into play, name a nonland card.

The named card can’t be played.
Activated abilities of permanents with that name can’t be played.
Activated abilities of cards with that name that aren’t in play can’t be played.
3/3

I’m sure you first impression is the same as mine, that this is too small and too pricey to be any good, but the more I think about it, the more I suspect that this guy’s ability will be so strong that he’ll be worth it.

Porphyry Nodes — W
Enchantment (R)
At the beginning of your upkeep, destroy the creature with the least power. It can’t be regenerated. If two or more creatures are tied for least power, you choose one.
When there are no creatures in play, sacrifice Porphyry Nodes.

I’m thinking this will be pretty good… there’s no way it can’t be. The best way to kill people is, more often than not, via creatures, and this really slows that plan down. But really, this is a gimme on it being worth something, thanks to it being a functional reprint of the classic Drop of Honey.

Dichotomancy – 7UU
Sorcery (R)
For each tapped nonland permanent target opponent controls, search that player’s library for a card with the same name as that permanent and put it into play under your control. Then that player shuffles his or her library.
Suspend 3 – 1UU

It never gets you anything more than your opponent has, but getting exactly (or at least close to) what they have is probably good enough to neutralize whatever it is they have in the first place. If they have three guys, you now get three guys for one card, so that’s pretty good. The price seems a little steep, but seven colorless mana is exactly Urzatron mana, so it’s almost like we’re being pointed in a certain direction. The suspend cost is pretty reasonable too, and should discourage anyone from over-committing to the table too much, which is every Blue mage’s dream scenario.

Magus of the Bazaar – 1U
Creature – Human Wizard (R)
{T}: Draw two cards, then discard three cards.
0/1

The first time we saw the Golgari Dredge deck that has skyrocketed in popularity in the last week, it was splashing Blue for card drawing from Thought Courier because in the end if was just more food for the flashbacked Dread Return. This guy seems like he would facilitate a healthier graveyard quicker than most.

Extirpate — B
Instant (R)
Split Second
Choose target card in a graveyard other than a basic land. Search its owner’s graveyard, hand and library for all cards with the same name and remove them from the game.

I honestly think this has been overrated quite a bit. Every now and again, it might destroy someone, but more often than not it’s going to turn out to be a blank, a card that does pretty much nothing to the current board situation. You can’t headshot someone with this like you can with Cranial Extraction, but you may manage a cute “omg in response to your X I nerf your Y” play. Either way, it’s not as nasty as people are making it out to be.

Imp’s Mischief – 1B
Instant (R)
Change the target of target spell with a single target. You lose life equal to that spell’s converted mana cost.

This is a very powerful ability to have in Black. It can act as a Counterspell for actual Counterspells, and a good ol’ Deflection for anything else. The life cost shouldn’t be too high, as most spells played in Constructed are usually on the affordable side.

Temporal Extortion — BBBB
Sorcery (R)
When you play Temporal Extortion, any player may pay half his or her life, rounded up. If a player does, counter Temporal Extortion.
Take an extra turn after this one.

I’m pretty sure this bad, but I included it simply because people will be looking to buy it thanks to those certain seven beautiful words at the end.

Damnation – 2BB
Sorcery (R)
Destroy all creatures. They can’t be regenerated.

The money shot. The card that will be worth the most in the set, and everyone knows why. It’s only really a question of how high. With cards like Wrath of God being close to 17 tickets already, it wouldn’t surprise me if it became the most expensive card in Standard.

For the sake of comparison and general all-round “I promised to post them” -ness, here are the card prices as they stand now. I now use infobot to gather this information, and it seems that more and more stores are buying in to offer their information. Here are the prices for the last month or so. For more information of the ticket fractions, see my column from a few weeks ago.

Lotus Bloom 4.00-4.50 (4.50)
Tormod’s Crypt 2.25 (2.00)
Triskelavus 0.50-0.75 (0.60-0.75)

Dark Confidant 4.75-5.95 (5.00-5.95)

Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir 4.00 (4.00)
Draining Whelk 1.00-1.15 (0.90-1.30)
Psionic Blast 4.75-5.75 (4.50-5.75)
Vesuvan Shapeshifter 3.25 (1.50-2.75)

Giant Solifuge 6.25 (6.00)
Loxodon Hierarch 3.75-4.75 (4.00-4.75)
Ghost Council of Orzhova 1.75 (1.75)
Lightning Angel 2.75 (2.75)

Ohran Viper 10.75-11.00 (9.00)
Birds of Paradise 7.00-7.25 (6.25-7.00)
Spectral Force 3.00 (1.75)
Stonewood Invocation 2.75 (1.75-2.00)
Call of the Herd 6.50-8.25 (8.25)

Demonfire 8.75-10.00 (10.00)
Char 5.00-5.95 (5.95)
Dragonstorm 2.50 (2.50)
Magus of the Scroll 1.50-2.50 (1.15-2.50)
Bogardan Hellkite 4.00 (3.50-4.00)

Wrath of God 16.00-17.00 (16.00-16.50)
Paladin En-Vec 7.25 (7.25)
Proclamation of Rebirth 3.00 (2.00-3.00)
Serra Avenger 2.00 (2.00)
Soltari Priest 3.75-4.00 (4.00)

Flagstones of Trokair 2.75-3.50 (3.50)
Gemstone Mine 4.00 (4.00-5.00)
Scrying Sheets 6.00-6.75 (6.25-6.75)

Blood Crypt 12.25-12.50 (11.00-12.00)
Breeding Pool 17.00-19.00 (17.00)
Godless Shrine 13.00-13.75 (12.00-13.00)
Hallowed Fountain 20.75 (20.00)
Overgrown Tomb 7.00-7.25 (7.00)
Sacred Foundry 9.25-9.50 (9.50)
Steam Vents 14.25-17.00 (15.00-17.00)
Stomping Ground 10.00-11.50 (8.25)
Temple Garden 8.50 (8.00)
Watery Grave 12.75-13.50 (9.00)

Adarkar Wastes 6.00-6.95 (6.75-6.95)
Forge[/author]“]Battlefield [author name="Forge"]Forge[/author] 7.75-9.00 (8.50-9.00)
Brushland 4.00-5.00 (4.00-5.00)
Caves of Koilos 5.75-6.50 (5.75-6.50)
Karplusan Forest 4.50 (4.00-4.50)
Llanowar Wastes 3.75-5.00 (3.75)
Shivan Reef 10.75-11.00 (10.75-12.00)
Sulfurous Springs 3.75-4.00 (3.75-4.00)
Underground River 6.00-7.95 (5.00-7.95)
Yavimaya Coast 6.00-6.50 (6.00-6.50)

So that gives us a bit of a midway point in the prices between now and Planar Chaos. And now back to the cards themselves.

Akroma, Angel of Fury – 5RRR
Legendary Creature – Angel (R)
Akroma, Angel of Fury can’t be countered.
Flying, trample, protection from white, protection from blue
{R}: Akroma gets +1/+0 until end of turn.
Morph – 3RRR (You may play this face down as a 2/2 creature for {3}. Turn it face up any time for its morph cost.)
6/6

She’s no Angel of Wrath, but she’s still pretty good nevertheless. The name alone will bump it up in price a little alone.

Detritivore – 2RR
Creature – Lhurgoyf (R)
Detritivore’s power and toughness are equal to the number of nonbasic land cards in your opponents’ graveyards.
Suspend X – X3R. X Can’t be 0.
Whenever a time counter is removed from Detritivore while it’s removed from the game, destroy target nonbasic land.

Uncounterable land destruction for some kind of Urzatron mirror. If that becomes relevant, then this could gain some moderate value.

Torchling – 3RR
Creature – Shapeshifter (R)
{R}: Untap Torchling.
{R}: Target creature blocks Torchling this turn if able.
{R}: Change the target of target spell that targets only Torchling.
{1}: Torchling gets +1/-1 until end of turn.
{1}: Torchling gets -1/+1 until end of turn.
3/3

I don’t think Morphling would be as good now as it once was, and I don’t any of us are under the illusion that Torchling is anywhere as good as it’s Blue cousin. However, that’s not to say that the kids won’t want to buy it, and it’s still probably pretty good in Standard anyway.

Boom / Bust – 1R / 5R
Sorcery (R)
Destroy target land you control and target land you don’t control.
//
Destroy all lands.

Everyone will be clamoring over this card to get at the Armageddon effect, despite the fact that it costs a whole bunch more and that it is Red. The real beauty is that it’s the other side that will bring the Extended and Standard enthusiasts wander over for a sniff.

Magus of the Library — GG
Creature – Human Wizard (R)
{T}: Add {1} to your mana pool.
{T}: Draw a card. Play this ability only if you have exactly seven cards in hand.
1/1

I think this guy will be overrated too. It’s a powerful effect, for sure, but I would think it’s seldom something that a Green player will ever actually get to activate between playing out cards and opposing removal.

Timbermare – 3G
Creature – Elemental (R)
Haste
Echo – 5G
When Timbermare comes into play, tap all other creatures.
5/5

In case you missed it, Scryb Ranger brings this horse to life. It will probably have value based on the Wakefield connection alone.

Groundbreaker — GGG
Creature – Elemental (R)
Trample, haste
At end of turn, sacrifice Groundbreaker.
6/1

And this one I am undecided on. Does Mono Green Aggro need it? Is it just a waste of time and resources? Either way, it will still sell relatively well, especially at the start. I think people will love the functional reprints like this one and Porphyry Nodes regardless of whether or not they end up being any good.

That’s enough Planar Chaos rare spotting, here is the…

Extended Premier Events Top 8 Recap

8 (2) CAL (Life from the Loam Control)
6 (7) Azorius Urzatron (Blue/White Urzatron)
6 (6) Boros Deck Wins (Red/White Aggro, sometimes with splashes)
5 (1) Simic Aggro Control (Blue/Green Opposition Aggro Control)
4 (3) Destructive Flow Aggro (Green/Red/Black Aggro with Destructive Flow)
4 (1) Scepter Chant (Blue/White/Red Control)
3 (7) Tendrils Combo (Extended’s Seething Song, Rite of Flame Combo deck)
3 (5) Affinity (The dreaded Artifact deck)
3 (3) Counterbalance Aggro Control (Nassif’s Blue/White/Red Trinket Mage deck)
2 (0) Goblin Combo (Rite of Flame Goblin Aggro)
2 (0) Psychatog (Blue/Black Control with Mr. Grin)
1 (1) Loam Aggro Control (Green/Red/White or Black Life from the Loam Aggro Control)
1 (1) Four to Five Color Gifts Rock (Green/Black/White Control with Blue and Red for goodies)
1 (1) Orzhov Aggro Control (Dark Confidant, Savannah Lions, Exalted Angel and Vindicate)
1 (1) Green/White/Red Astral Slide Control (Eternal Witness targeting Orim’s Chant…)
1 (1) Selesnya Aggro (Green Beats backed up by White Hatery Goodness)
1 (0) Five Color Wake (Five Color Mirari’s Wake Control)
1 (0) Mono Blue Control
1 (0) Unknown (*FelixLeong has joined the game, FelixLeong has conceded the match*)
1 (0) Mono Black Aggro (Rats and Phyrexian Ragers and Dark Confidant and so on)
1 (0) Five Color Zoo (With Tribal Flames and the like)
0 (1) Hierarch Aggro Control (Green/Black/White Aggro Control, just like the Standard version but with Wild Mongrel and stuff)
0 (1) Orzhov Control with Blue Splash (Phyrexian Totem beatdown!)
0 (1) Enduring Ideal Combo (Tendrils Combo deck base with Ideal finish)
0 (1) Dimir Counterbalance Control (Blue/Black control with Counterbalance, Dark Confidant and Sensei’s Divining Top)
0 (2) Gruul Aggro (Green/Red Aggro)
0 (2) Green/X Tooth and Nail (Insert additional color for large spells here)

The CAL is leaping out in front like it’s 2005 all over again. New archetypes seem to be appearing in the field as well, but mostly because they have shown up in the PTQ Top 8 results hidden somewhere on MagictheGathering.com first.

But enough of this banter and numbery, it’s time I wandered off to bed again (2:53am here, oh no) and time you got back to your work or whatever it was you were doing when I so rudely interrupted you. Until next week, take care, and floss between those teeth.

(blisterguy)

{e}