2011 just hit MTGO, and with this exciting new core set comes a whole new set of power cards, staples and pricing schema. While some of the old guard retained some of its value, the new cards are really taking the spotlight. Today I want to look at a few of the cards that were most impacted by the set’s release, and discuss how to value them.
The former queen of the skies has lost a lot of ground to Sun Titan lately. Baneslayer’s finally got competition and it’s reflected in her price. Priced at 22 tix, she is certainly down from her lofty prior cost. This seems mostly correct, as the fact that she is now twice as available and half as useful points to a decrease. She still has a lot of appeal, and hasn’t been totally replaced in Standard decks yet, so this price might just be an over-reaction, but I would not consider buying in at 22.
It’s nice to see this priced correctly online, since it was certainly not correctly priced offline when it made its paper debut. Around 3 tix is correct for this card, although it has the potential to see 5. I base this on weird science. Actually, I base that on the fact that it may see heavy competitive play as the lynchpin of the TitanForce decks that seem to be all the rage. Even so, most of its popularity is priced in already and I wouldn’t expect it to go much higher until a major Standard event comes around.
The Core Set Dual Lands
They are a key card in Standard right now, but are worth very little. The ones that are worth the least are worth such because they are not seeing play at all. For example, Drowned Catacombs is not seeing any play in the Tier 1 decks, so it’s barely worth 1 tix. Dragonskull Summit is a key card in Jund, so it holds its value much better. They lost a lot when they got reprinted, as is to be expected, but they will slowly creep up again. Another reprinting will totally demolish their value, but now’s a fine time to get them for any Standard events you may queue up for.
The scariest of the Tribal Lords that Elves have access to, pricing this at $0.4 is criminal. Even when it was borderline unplayable it cost 1 tix! I’m not preparing for Amsterdam, but it seems like an Elf Jund deck in post rotation Extended has the potential to be very, very good. Archdruid is the card that takes the archetype from fair to ridiculous, so I’d have a keen eye on the price of this tribal lord. Reprinting him did what it always does; approximately halved his price, but because I posit that he was undervalued to begin with, it might be a good opportunity to buy in at a low.
Rumors of this card being the real deal have been confirmed. It seems like another Lotus Cobra type card, insofar as the Shaman is both an efficient, easy-to-cast creature that generates game-winning plays if it’s allowed to live. Don’t think what Fauna Shaman can do when it lives. Consider how it makes your opponent play. Don’t have a Bolt? You dead. They have to save their bolts for Shamans, so your Cobras can run rampant. And of course, there’s all that everyone’s said about Vengevines. If Survival/Vine is good enough in Legacy, I’ll go out on a limb and say that Shaman/Vine is good enough for Standard. The $10 price tag is correct and really merits no changes at this juncture.
Here’s’ a card I wish I could have pre-ordered on MTGO. While we were all dogging Frost Titan for being the suck-assiest Titan, we failed to realize just how good he is after a Destructive Force. Combined with the fact that he helps win Titan mirrors, he may just be the best “worst” Titan yet! The current prices have him set around $5, which is better than it was before. Had it debuted with the Paper release, they could have been had for much, much less. Regardless, there may still be a play on them at $5, so consider a playset now if Standard is your ballgame.
I’m on the fence about this one. I’ve yet to see a Grave Titan deck that does what I want it to do, and remain unimpressed with the card. Primeval, Sun and even Frost have found homes, but Grave Titan has not. I’m not comfortable paying 15 tix for one right now, since that is mainly speculation of its potential power. Clearly, if it finds a home, it’s a 20+ tix Mythic, but I really despite paying up for Mythics when I have no idea how they are to be used. I’m selling Grave Titan at this point. There’s too much risk and not enough reward.
Another card that my colleagues encouraged me to take a second look at, along with Frost Titan, I should have known better than to write this off as a bulk rare. It’s only selling for .25 right now, but it’s got massive implications in Scars of Mirrodin. Just using it to fetch a random utility artifact – of which there ought to be one or two – is great, since it’s a tutor attached to a Red Air Elemental. The color of the card is its main drawback, but I can see this being another piece of a TitanForce deck, fetching up mana acceleration for post-Force, or just a Sword of Something or Another. The bottom line is, you’re a fool to ignore a tutor effect, even if it comes with a dragon attached. You’re probably a fool to ignore a dragon, period, but that’s not really my place to say…
These have been selling like crazy in my store, but that’s in Paper magic. I can imagine the frenzy has carried over to MTGO, and for good reason. The card is amazingly versatile, and has appeal across the spectrum of Magic players. Pricing it at 4 tix is about right, because Paper copies are going for $5. Since MTGO cards tend to be much less expensive, 4 tix is even a bit high, but that represents some of the hype that came along with the Ivory Mask leyline. I’m not sure if this is a buy or a hold, but it mainly depends on your goals. It’s not a moneymaker at its current price, but its not a bad time to get some if you plan to use them. Don’t be surprised if Tier 1 decks aren’t using them in Standard, and prepare for the fact that they’ll lose some value in that circumstance.
There are plenty of cards in M11 that I haven’t mentioned, but those are a few of the ones that catch my eye. I really like the look of Hoarding Dragon once Shards block leaves the format, but it’s certainly a high-risk investment. At 1 tix per playset, I can’t exactly complain if I go bust, so I’ll probably back up the truck and load up on them. I don’t expect to make money on them but it will be a nice early X-mas present if I do.
sorry, just wanted to ask where you got your prices from?
What do you think of promo condemns and mana leaks? At what price would they be worth getting/selling?
i was just talking about hoarding dragon with some friends yesterday and i thought it did seem like it had potential. Thanks for basically adding to that opinion.
Grave Titan does seem like ‘just another finisher’, while Green Titan and Blue Titan both bring a special benefit to the table. In most decks, Abyssal Persecutor is what you’d want to replace with Grave Titan, but thing is…no one played Persecutor. Bad sign for ol’ zombie bones there.
Nice article, agree with most of the speculation
I totally agree on all cards.
Promo Condemn and Mana Leak sadly don’t have a lot of market. They sell but not for much and not very often (unless you have a playset). I have mine in my trade binder and every always flips right past them as if they didn’t exsist. I’m appauled by it but such is life. I suppose I’ll just play with them in my almost all promo Pyromancer’s Ascension deck (Bolt, mana leak, pyroclasm, burst, etc etc)
Grave Titan has been sell for me since I saw it. Sure it is a highly effective win condition but all the Titans really are. The others have decks they fit in better. Heck Inferno Titan can kill faster than Grave Titan if you just need a heavy hitter. I’d say Inferno Titan is the least valuable Titan and will see the least play standard but it’s easily the best red finisher in standard. Arc Lightning is extremely punishing when it comes with a 6/6 firebreathing monster. (I love killing jaces with his ETB trigger).