With a new set entering the Standard environment, that means a lot of you are going to have to change decks, or at least change/add cards into your current Standard deck. For some people, this can be a huge problem. Magic can be an extremely expensive game, and keeping up with rotating formats can be difficult.
A good way to mitigate cost is to select your decks based off how much use you’ll get out of the cards elsewhere. For example, last year, about a month before GP Atlanta, I was looking at Magic Online decks for both Standard and Extended. I settled on R/G Valakut, not because it was my deck of choice, but because I could get two decks for the price of one. I purchased the cards for the Standard version, and if memory serves me correctly, I needed to buy 3 Prismatic Omen, 4 Scapeshift, and a handful of inexpensive sideboard cards in order to have an Extended deck too.
A lot of the time, doing this involves making sacrifices to save money, and I consider it a necessary evil. While I didn’t get to play the deck I really wanted to play in either format, I did get to play two different formats for slightly more than the price of one. If you’re willing to do this, then you can get a lot more for your money. The main focus of this article is going to be on Standard decks, but some cards will cross over into other formats.
I’ve been reading over the other articles posted on StarCityGames.com, and there are a lot of interesting decks that are being posted, some of which can be very pricey. I’m going to reference some of those decks and take a look at how much those decks cost and how much future use you’ll be able to get out of the cards you need to acquire.
Up first is U/W Delver, featured by Patrick Chapin. This deck is likely to be extremely relevant since it’s already been a dominating force in Standard for the past few months.
Creatures (14)
Lands (20)
Spells (26)
If you wanted to buy this deck from scratch, it would cost you just under $450. That’s a lot of dough! Now, if you did purchase this deck, how much use would you get out of your cards?
Lands, more specifically, Seachrome Coast — $15.99
I’ve never had a problem with buying/trading for lands. You get so much use out of them across a lot of different formats that they’ll always pay for themselves in the long run, especially since Block is kind of a real format again. The only land in this deck that is particularly expensive is Seachrome Coast. Normally that would be a pretty big drawback, but Seachrome Coast is played in a ton of different decks these days, so it’s likely you’ll get a lot of use from this investment even when you’re done with this particular deck.
Snapcaster Mage — $29.99
If you don’t already own four Snapcaster Mages, your deck selection is going to be very limited in almost any format. This card is a good investment—period. It will be a very good and highly played card for the foreseeable future. I can’t see this card going below $20 while it’s in Standard.
Geist of Saint Traft — $24.99
This card, too, is seeing play in almost every format; however, Dark Ascension can affect this card’s price a lot. Personally, I feel like Geist will drop around the $20 range in coming months. So if you don’t already own Geist, then this deck might not be the best investment for you. There is a lot of hype for a B/W Token deck right now (which I’ll get to later in this article), and it has a lot of cards that race with, trade with, and mitigate the damage that makes Geist so powerful. If this proves to be true, then it’s likely that Geist will drop in price. In addition to this, Geist is still being drafted and will continue to be put into circulation for the next three months.
Sword of War and Peace — $29.99
A recurring theme with a majority of decks that other writers are talking about recently is that they’re white-based. As long as this remains a fact, Sword of War and Peace will continue to hold value. There isn’t really a substitute for this card, and it has the potential to see play in other formats as well. If you don’t already own these Swords, then they’re probably a fine investment. Sword’s price is also helped by the fact that they’re from a set that is no longer being drafted and didn’t get drafted for very much time.
Overall, while this deck is pretty expensive, I feel that it’s a very safe deck to go with from a financial viewpoint. Snapcaster Mage and Geist will be in Standard for over a year and are likely to maintain a reasonably high price tag, while the other expensive cards (Sword and Seachrome Coast) are seeing a lot of play right now, meaning most Tier 1 decks will require them, and you’ll be able to get some use out of them in other formats as well.
Next on the list is W/u Humans. This deck, too, was featured in Patrick Chapin article on 1/30/12.
Creatures (23)
- 4 Mirran Crusader
- 4 Hero of Bladehold
- 1 Gideon's Lawkeeper
- 2 Fiend Hunter
- 4 Champion of the Parish
- 4 Doomed Traveler
- 4 Loyal Cathar
Lands (24)
Spells (13)
This deck is considered to have a power level similar to U/W Delver but at about 50% of the cost. This deck costs a little over $200 to build. Anyone who has been playing Magic over the past few years should know that $200 for a Tier 1 deck is amazing. However, there is a catch. These decks didn’t have sideboards listed, and it’s very likely that this deck will have at least 2 Sword of War and Peace. That increases the cost of the deck by at least another $50. Still very reasonable though.
The majority of the price difference is coming from the fact that you don’t have to buy Geist and Snapcaster Mage; you’ll instead need to purchase Mirran Crusader, Hero of Bladehold, and Champion of the Parish. You save about $120 taking this route, but I feel like it’s a worse investment in terms of value.
Hero of Bladehold — $17.99 (or $14.99 for the promos)
This is where the bulk of your money is being spent on this deck. If Standard is the only format you play and you want to get the most out of your money, then Hero is a worse buy, strictly for the fact that it will be legal in your format of choice for less time than Snapcaster and Geist. I also believe that Hero is much more likely to drop in value after it has rotated from Standard.
Mirran Crusader and Champion of the Parish are both around $5 each; that shouldn’t be a limiting factor if you want to play competitive Magic. These are on the cheaper side, which means you’ll be able to borrow or trade for them more easily. You’re not getting a ton of use from those cards in other formats unfortunately. Crusader might be popping up in Modern decks on occasion but nowhere near as much as Snapcaster/Geist.
On the bright side, if you’re torn between these two decks, you only have to get about $120 more worth of cards to own Humans if you’ve got the cards for U/W Delver.
Next up is Todd Anderson Looting Control Deck.
Creatures (9)
Lands (25)
Spells (26)
This deck cost a little under $250, which is still pretty reasonable.
Lands
Seachrome Coast — We’re not escaping this fate. They will go down after they rotate out of Standard, but like I said, so many decks are playing them right now that you almost just have to break down and get them.
Clifftop Retreat ($2.99) and Sulfur Falls ($5.99) — If you’ll remember back to this time last year, Seachrome Coast was $5. I don’t think Retreat or Falls will be $15 this time next year, but I do think they’ll go up over the year. A lot of their value will also depend on which lands are printed in Magic 2013 and the next big block. If we don’t get anything too exciting in the mana-producing department from those sets, then I would expect these lands to at least double in price by this time next year. With that in mind, I think it’s a good idea to pick up any Innistrad lands your Standard decks might require.
Ratchet Bomb — $7.99
I’m not too excited about having to buy this card right now. It’s almost tripled in price over the past month, and these token decks will have to really catch on in order to make this card continue to rise. On the flip side of this, if you want to play any sort of control deck, you’ll need to have these. You’ll get some use out of them in other formats, but they’re likely to drop in price after their time in Standard.
Sun Titan – $5.99 and Inferno Titan – $4.99
Thankfully these cards aren’t really driving up the price of the deck too much. I don’t really consider $5 cards expensive or restrictive. In addition to the use you’ll get from them during their remaining time in Standard, they’re great casual cards and could see some Modern play as well. Don’t let these cards stop you from playing the deck you want to play.
Phantasmal Image – $9.99
This is another card that I wouldn’t be too excited to buy right now. I feel like it will slightly decrease over the next few months, but only by a couple of dollars. This card spiked when Illusions was seeing a lot of play, and now that Illusions has run its course, Phantasmal Image’s price should decrease accordingly. It also has been played with any Sun Titan deck, but Illusions was like 40% of the field for a few events, and that definitely contributed to its price jump. As far as its playability in other formats, I believe Phyrexian Metamorph is the Clone of choice in other formats. That really hurts the chances of Phantasmal Image continuing to be a $10 card, especially after it rotates. In short, I’d only buy Phantasmal Images if you’re playing Sun Titan and really need them.
Elesh Norn: The Grandest of all the Cenobites – $19.99
I originally wanted to compare Elesh Norn to Iona, Shield of Emeria, but after I thought about it, it’s not a fair comparison at all. Iona was never $20, ever. They both have equal casual appeal and similar playability in other formats; however, Elesh Norn was from a much smaller set with a lot less circulation. I feel like Elesh Norn will maintain its value or continue to rise. I would have no problem picking up Elesh Norns if I were you. You’ll get use out of them now, and they’ll be worth money for a long time to come. This is of course barring any weird reprinting that might occur. They’d likely take a nosedive right into frown town if that happened.
To recap with Looting Control:
You’ll have to buy Ratchet Bombs for almost any control deck—so that’s fine.
You’re buying lands that you will continue to get use from.
You have to buy Titans and Phantasmal Image, which I’m not crazy about, but I wouldn’t let $35 in cards stop me from playing a deck.
And you’ll have to buy some Lady Gaga, Grand Cenobites—which is fine; they’re likely to be worth money for a while.
If you want to go a control route, you need to pick your deck and make sure it’s what you want. If you built this deck and decided U/B Control was really what you’d rather be playing, it would cost you quite a bit of money to switch decks. You don’t get the flexibility from building a deck like this as you do from building a core white aggressive deck.
I’m saving the best for last here. This is the deck I’m personally most excited about, and I have the most interest in playing a deck similar to this. This is Patrick Chapin B/W Token deck.
Creatures (14)
Planeswalkers (4)
Lands (24)
Spells (18)
This deck would cost you a little over $400 right now.
Over 50% of this deck’s cost is from one card—that’s right, you guessed it! Sorin, Lord of Innistrad, raining on deckbuilding parades since 2012. I’ve already discussed Hero of Bladehold and Champion of the Parish, so I won’t go over those again. The only other semi-expensive card is Isolated Chapel, and I’ve made my opinion very clear on lands as well. I feel like you’re always fine to buy lands; you’ll get tons of use out of them, and they usually keep their value pretty well—until they’re reprinted three times, at which point you’ve already gotten a lot of use out of them.
Now, back to Sorin.
I really like Sorin. I feel like he’s a great card. He’s bound to see play in multiple formats and will likely become very popular during its time in Standard. With all of that in mind, I do not believe it will maintain its $60 price tag. As a matter of fact, it will probably have dropped by the time this article is published. I feel like a more realistic price for Sorin right now is between $30-$40, and I believe it will settle between that range over the next few months. Once Avacyn Restored comes out, it will probably continue to drop down to the $20-$30 range.
I was really excited when Sorin was first spoiled, but after seeing the rest of the cards, I’m less confident in its ability to remain as high as it is currently priced. If/when Sorin hits the $30-$40 range, I would consider it a lot safer to buy. You’re still running the risk of losing money if it continues to drop, but you’re getting so much play value from him if you continue to use him that it makes up for it.
So which deck is right for you?
If you’re just looking for a quick and easy introduction to Standard, then I would suggest starting with U/W Humans and pick up Snapcaster Mages and Geist when you have the opportunity so you can work your way towards another popular deck.
If your budget isn’t that restricted, then I’d go ahead and splurge on the U/W Delver deck. You’re buying cards that you’ll get tons of use out of, and it starts to build your collection for other formats as well.
I hope you gained an idea of how to approach deckbuilding when you’re restricted by your card pool. You need to take a look at what you’re getting and how much use you’ll be getting from those cards. It’s a bit harder to predict when cards will go up and down, but you should easily be able to figure out whether you’ll need certain cards in other formats based off your normal deck preferences.
Thanks for reading!
-Wesley David Wise
@wdwise on Twitter