The changes around the Commander format are really having an interesting effect on the market. Fortunately, Pioneer and Modern are also making sure that things are moving.
Like every week, just in time for FNM, I'll tell you about the Magic: the Gathering cards that'll be the talk of the town tonight! Come discuss this week's price movements with us on Discord.
If you want to receive an e-mail in your inbox when a new article is published, you can enable it in your e-mail preferences and/or join the Discord.
Ok, I'll admit that the price in the title is a little bit (or a lot) misleading. Copies of Armageddon can still be bought for between $8 and $10, but the Starter 1999 version spiked a lot when we look at the average listing price. Since the market price hasn't spiked yet, it probably means that the cards were either taken offline and relisted or the cards that were still reasonable priced have been bought out. The only question that remains is why.
A lot has been going on in the Commander format. Last week in the Weekly Winners we talked about the "Losers of the Week," where we discussed the crashes of the cards that were banned in the format. But this past week the Commander Rules Committee announced that it was dissolving and giving management of the Commander format to the game design team of Wizards of the Coast. To read the full statement, refer to the Wizards of the Coast website, where they not only gave the reasons for the management being given to Wizards, but also mentioned that Wizards intends to reevaluate the current banned list.
That last part has sent prices of currently banned Commander upwards. Cards like Hullbreacher, Primeval Titan, and Coalition Victory have been spiking, and even some of the cards that were banned last week are already back up to the pre-ban price. But the interesting thing is that Armageddon is not banned in Commander. You could call it "soft-banned" because it's a card that people generally don't want to be playing against and is often Rule-Zeroed out. The reason came from the Weekly MTG podcast on YouTube where Blake Rasmussen, Gavin Verhey, and Aaron Forsythe got into the how and why Wizards has taken over management of Commander. They also talked about a "bracket system." In this system Armageddon was specifically mentioned as "tier 4," meaning that Wizards may be telling you which card belongs in which bracket, making a "Rule Zero" conversation different. This has led some people to think that Armageddon will come off the "soft-ban" list and already pick up some copies of the more rare versions. I feel this is all a little bit too farfetched to make this assumption, but supply and demand isn't always logical.
This Eye is one of the mythics from the Duskmourn: House of Horror set. A 5/5 flyer for only three mana that makes 2/2s seems pretty good! But you still have to exile six cards from your graveyard first. People are trying this creature out in several formats, like Modern and Pioneer. The only downside is that you can only play it in the mid- or even late-game because of the additional cost.
In Modern we see it appear alongside Murktide Regent which isn't too dissimilar. Get your graveyard filled up and churn out those big flyers! But besides that, there are probably sufficient ways to cheat out Abhorrent Oculus early. Because unlike Murktide, the mana value of the Eye is low, which means that cards like Aether Vial or Neoform can easily put it into play without having the exiling restriction.
Check your bulk boxes! High Noon is on the rise from about $0.50 to $3. This enchantment from Outlaws of Thunder Junction is a better version of Rule of Law and makes sure players are restricted to only a single spell each turn. And, if needed, it could potentially deal some damage.
It seems that this card is being played in Pioneer as sideboard tech against Izzet Phoenix spells. Since this archetype dodged bans in the last Banned and Restricted announcement of August 26th, it remains very popular and apparently needs to be taken down a notch. That's why other decks have been including High Noon in their sideboards and sometimes even in their mainboards.
This weekend the Pioneer Regional Championship will take place in Washington D.C. and it has been driving up the prices of Pioneer staples. High Noon is one of the cards that's been going up because of it, since people are getting their copies in and getting geared up for the event.
Please note: for our 'record low' we consider the price of the card over the past seven years. Many cards were even cheaper (a) decade(s) ago. Also note: some cards are still going down, and might be even cheaper pickups next week.
Desynchronization has been identified by the MTGStocks Premium Penny Stocks feature as a card that has reached its bottom and is starting a consistent uptrend.
Arjen has been playing Magic since Ice Age and has mostly played the Legacy format. Ten years ago he founded MTGStocks because he and his friends wanted to buy Magic singles at the right time to play with.
