If you thought there were a lot of reserved list buyouts last week, this week will make you sick. I’m going to try and avoid talking about most of the unplayable cards this week, other than one of my favorite Legends. Let’s try to push through all these movements, this week in Magic!
I just had to mention my girl, Gwendlyn Di Corci. She and I have a long, long history together so it’s only right that she comes first on the list. I’ve played this in constructed and she was the card that got me to start collecting dual lands. Additionally, I’ve made several Commander decks with her at the helm. Before we had Nekusar, the Mindrazer I used her. This is of course part of the reserved list buyouts, but she’s special, so we get to talk about her.
I had to dig deep in the tank to find something cool, and I found this monster. Dragonlord Dromoka has been seeing random play in big green/amulet Modern decks, and really how can you not love the stats. Granted 6 mana is a bunch to pay, but for green decks it’s a drop in the bucket. For many players, myself included, this gives a flashback to Standard. You know, back when dragons ruled the world…
With wizards tribal comes wizards spikes. Voidmage Prodigy is actually a very efficient creature. You can morph it for the tricks, or just cast it and start flinging your wizards at spells (shouldn’t spells be flung by wizards, not the opposite?) I am actually very excited to see what players brew with these new Commander 2017 cards!
Yet another awesome wizard spiked this week in Sigil Tracer. It’s also a Merfolk, so if you hate blue tribal, you have two reasons to avoid this. Being able to tap two creatures and two mana to copy a spell is terrific value, and like most wizards, you don’t have to tap it to use the ability. I’m curious just how many people are actually building these decks and how many are just speculating in order to make money.
Hey look at that, a vampire has made the list this week! The flip side of Bloodline Keeper is one of the best lords that exist for the vampire clan, but the front side also pukes out vampires like it’s going out of style. Innistrad is already an expensive pack to open, so this is a pricey rare and will be hard to find in the future.
Foils of the Week!
Kicking this week off is foil Phyresis. It is usually played with Nekusar, but there are many ways to use this obnoxious enchantment. Unfortunately the foils of the week isn’t immune to the reserved list hype. Foil Weatherseed Treefolk and foil Replenish have made massive gains. However, if you want a foil spike that makes you smile, look no further than Door to Nothingness, one of my favorite cards in Commander. Finally, foil Transguild Courier spiked and I’m tickled that it has. It basically does nothing, but it’s a pretty golem!
Cheap pickups of the Week!
Nissa, Worldwaker didn’t see as much play as people thought, and she is dirt cheap. She works great for Commander decks, but probably won’t see too much competitive play in the future. It’s hard to believe how cheap Spellskite has become now that Infect is dead in Modern. Voltron Commanders have fallen out of favor, but they are still very good. The best Voltron Commander, Uril, the Miststalker is affordable now, so head out there and build your new Commander deck!
MTGStocks mystery chart of the Week!
Last week was on the simple side, as most people quickly guessed Expedition Map. This week, a notch more difficult.
Conversation of the Week!
I think Wizards has taken some serious steps in the recent past to try and fix the major formats of Magic. Standard, Modern and Legacy are arguably the most healthy they have ever been, regardless of how a few people feel. Death’s Shadow both is and isn’t the best deck in Modern, and there’s no clear best deck in Standard or Legacy. Commander has become very diverse and it seems that Magic is firing on all cylinders at the moment. We’ll have to see what Iconic Masters has in store, as 2017 is shaping up to be one of the better years in Magic.
The best Commander card you’re not playing!
The best Commander card you’re not playing is a reader. Ice Cauldron may take a couple passes to actually figure out what it does, but it’s very fun. You can still cast the spells exiled with Ice Cauldron even after it leaves the battlefield, so your opponents will have a constant stream of cards thrown at them. Hopefully.
