Recently I was conversing with a friend of mine on Standard. My opinion on Standard used to be: absolutely not. I couldn’t imagine spending $500 on something that was going to rotate out in a year. My argument was that Standard changes too much to try to keep up. On the other hand, Legacy seemed like a way better investment. Sure it was $2,000 or $3,000, but it only required one initial investment. Over a period of time, though, I’ve discovered that through smart trading, I can almost make Standard pay for itself.

My friend was telling me that he didn’t have the money to do it. I started to ask about his bulk and it turns out there’s quite a bit of it. If there is one thing that I can do, it’s grind value out of some bulk. He knows that I do this and quickly put in that he wasn’t about to spend hours finding five and ten cent cards just to pay for his Standard deck. Like many of us, he had the means, he just didn’t want to work hard enough.

I know it’s been said before that five cent cards aren’t worth pulling out, they are just a time and money waster. It costs way too much to ship them. I agree with this. Who says we have to ship them though? Why not just unload them at an event or to a local store? I do this through a process that I have been told is called “ogreing.” Ryan Bushard wrote a great article about it, so check it out. This saves both time and money.

How do I do it efficiently? Personally I use Trader Tools. It costs money, but for me, it more than pays for itself. Most people look up each card individually, which is a time waster. Don’t most of the collections that we get, including our own, stem from only a few blocks? The reason I love Trader Tools so much is I can pull up the set of Lorwyn, for example, as a whole and see what commons and uncommons are worth pulling.

Now all I have to do is to figure out which sets I have and ta-da, I know what to pull from each. If I have a ton of Eventide and Lorwyn, all I do is write down or print off the names of the cards I need to pull and I can quickly and efficiently ogre out my collection. If it is more than a couple of blocks, this isn’t nearly as efficient, but most of the time, it’s just fine.

What if I’m not going to an event in the near future? Number one, go to an event. Just do it. If that isn’t an option, though, find a local dealer. You can ask Carter Hatfield how many Tuesdays I have brought him 1,000 count boxes stuffed with low dollar stuff for him to look through. These guys are around just about every populace. If you don’t know any, look on Craigslist for MTG and someone will have a post that reads, “Looking to buy all Magic: The Gathering Cards” or “Paying top dollar for Magic cards.” Hit them up.

Talk to your LGS (Local Game Store). I talk to a few in the area that don’t even have a buylist. Some of the time they look through and want nothing unless they are paying bulk. That’s okay, just hold the small stuff until your next event. You’d be surprised at how often they have just taken the whole box off of me, though. It doesn’t cost anything to ask the owner and you’re going to be there anyway.

Be willing to put in the work. For some people, dealing with larger quantities of ten-cent cards might not be worth it. For some of us, though, they are. I will say that it takes a lot of work to get “L.U.C.K.y,” but unless you happen to have fifty grand just laying around waiting to be invested into the cardboard industry, it’s going to take some work.

Sure you may have put five hours in only to make twenty bucks, but you can turn that twenty into forty, forty into eighty, and slowly, painfully, get there. But you can get there. What were you doing with that time anyway? Some people spend it with family and it robs that time, I know. But many are just watching whatever is on TV, or trolling on Facebook, or something else irrelevant. When you are reading memes, you are making exactly zero dollars—why not make five bucks instead? Is Peter Dinklage any less witty when you have cards in your hand?

I realize that we all need down time. I’m not saying don’t spend time with the family. I’m not saying we can all be sorting machines anytime we aren’t at work. What I am saying is that money’s there for anyone willing to grind. If you are willing to grind, you too can get “L.U.C.K.y.”

Question: How little value is too low for you to grind? At what point do you just consider it a waste of time?

You see, I’m a bit of a cynic.   While many if not most players believe that Wizards has been looking for the proverbial, “Sweet Spot,” with the banning and un-banning process in Modern, I believe that what is and will continue to actually happen is that Wizards will ban and un-ban cards as they see fit in order to keep the format fresh. Why, you ask? You see whenever a format is “solved” players begin to lose interest.  Wizards becomes pressured to print newer, more powerful cards, in order to maintain players’ interest. They then have to introduce these new cards, with the power level to change the face of Modern, through Standard. This is not an ideal world for Wizards because not every new set can contain the next [card]Deathrite Shaman[/card] or Standard becomes incredibly one-dimensional, and “solved” infinitely quicker. So how does Wizards accomplish keeping Modern exciting for the foreseeable future without being forced to inject new cards into the Modern format through Standard?
They ban the crap out of the current most powerful thing, or unban something, or just ban island and see what happens for the season and then un-ban it for the next. You see, as long as Wizards keeps Modern fresh, they can continue to sell you more premium product, (think Modern Masters), which they can continue to print, because unlike Vinatge, Modern has no restricted list. With this model, Modern can continue to be a revenue generator for Wizards, and players will feel safer with their larger investment on their decks because Wizards can chose to ban or un-ban cards at a pace so that players don’t lose confidence in their investment, but still nuke enough decks per season that the format still generates a sizable revenue for Wizards of the Coast. I live in this cynical world and my mindset toward cards whose value is largely propped up by the Modern format is that they are and will continue to be the most financially-volatile assets in your collection. Treat them as such.

While Modern cards have been volatile in anticipation of Modern season, a number of cards that have already returned to earth([card]Bitterblossom[/card]) as the Modern format has started to shake out again following last weekend’s Pro Tour.  While many speculators continue to try and capitalize on the Modern format, perhaps the safer, if not better money can be found elsewhere.  There are undoubtedly fortunes to be made on the price volatility of cards played heavily in the format; however, as a speculator, Modern can be a rather risky endeavor.  Wizards can and will reprint any card on a whim.  I think many were somewhat blindsided by Wizard’s willingness to throw [card]Remand[/card] into a Duel deck.  But Wizard’s ability to reprint Modern staples will inevitably be a double-edged sword.  After all, this is one of the underlying rationales that Modern players will point to when supporting the long term viability of the format.  Meanwhile, holding on to original dual lands continues to be a lucrative, and more importantly, safer long-term choice.  As a speculator, it is important to remember these aspects of card values when trading.

Standard

SCG Open Atlanta Decklists

Grand Prix Melbourne 2014 Decklists

And Mono-Black devotion wins again.   Seriously?  This week Mono-black devotion managed to win both of the major events of the week.  What is of note is that both decklists have shifted what removal they are utilizing, both trimming copies of [card]Bile Blight[/card].  People over-hyped the versatility of this card as a removal option and the meta-game has also shifted.  The increasing popularity and winning ways of Red/Green and Jund strategies typically have four targets for [card]Bile Blight[/card] in [card]Elvish Mystic[/card] and that’s about it.  What is bothersome, is that in order to put its foot back on the format’s throat, all Mono-black had to do was change its removal suite.

The moment I saw Naya Hexproof pop up on stream this weekend I knew I had to mention it in my article.  Sporting quite the greedy mana base, this deck capitalizes on some of the tools that the past iteration of Hexproof decks ran.  Maybe it’s just a flash-in-the-pan, but this deck seems pretty explosive. I wish there were more to say from a financial standpoint, but outside of perhaps [card]Mizzium Mortars[/card] its hard to be bullish on any particular card in the deck.  The life gain that this deck is capable of gives it a lot of game against another strategy that I think might be poised for a resurgence.

Mono-Red managed a Top 8 at the Open this weekend.  I think that this type of strategy is due to spike a tournament simply due to the existence of [card]Burning Earth[/card] while it is counter-intuitive to be talking about this card while so many Mono-X devotion decks are running around, but with the prevalence of [card]Mutavault[/card] and scry lands, every other match-up seems to get infinitely better with this card coming in from the board.  Even Blue White control strategies are running extra scry lands in place of basic lands for the extra utility.  Red Green monsters has added black for [card]Rakdos’s Return[/card], which is coincidentally not a bad acquisition right now, either.

Legacy

SCG Atlanta Legacy Open

Tom Ross has been fine tuning his Infect list for Legacy for a little while now, and even wrote about it here.  I really like this list from a financial aspect because [card]Inkmoth Nexus[/card] hasn’t made any drastic financial gains lately.  This new decklist may push the card to the front of people’s minds.

Another card that shows up in the Tom Ross list this week was [card]Mutagenic Growth[/card]  I think we’re reaching the end of the timeframe where, [card]Mutagenic Growth[/card], [card]Gitaxian Probe[/card], [card]Dismember[/card], can be swooped up by the arm load for virtually nothing.  Target foil copies and FNM promos in trades.  You can probably still get non-foil copies as throw-ins.

BBD ran a pretty sweet UWR Miracles list.  Unfortunately almost every card in the deck is already priced according to the high levels of play seen in similar decks.  Two cards in the list that I would target in trades would be [card]Terminus[/card] and [card]Sword of the Meek[/card].  Yes the latter is an uncommon, but it has only been printed once, in Future Sight. the combo with [card]Thopter foundry[/card] is just cute enough to drive players of all types to seek this card out giving you an [card]opportunity[/card] to trade up in value.

Despite my cynical mindset toward Wizards swinging their “ban-hammer” around.  If I am right, then a few things should follow.  Modern should remain a healthy and fresh format for years to come; by doing so will generate Wizards an additional revenue stream as they provide product to the Modern player base, this also allows for the Modern player base to grow, which means that Modern will be yet another reason why Magic the Gathering will continue on a path of success for the foreseeable future.

True Cost:
The lowest amount of real cash needed to acquire a card.

Let me know your thoughts at [email protected]
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All Magic Has a Price focuses on Magic: The Gathering finance from the player’s point of view. AMHaP discusses the true cost of playing Magic: The Gathering by reviewing strategies to acquire a playable collection of cards for Standard as a returning player, a new player, or a continuing player, and by discussing potential investment opportunities in older formats. AMHaP targets those of us that play casually and competitively on a local level, and AMHaP is written for casually-competitive players by a casually-competitive player. If one would like further explanation of the viewpoint and scope, please read: All Magic Has a Price Issue #1.

If you would like more information on determining true-cost value, please read: All Magic Has a Price Issue #3 – Accounting for MTG.

Visit my eBay Auctions.

I have divorced my third wife. I know, I know—I think my picker is broken. It is tax season, and I am working at least 50 hours a week. I have two intensive writing classes and I have this article. What little extra time I have will be devoted to getting out and to meeting people.

MTG has taken a back seat to other needs, but I enjoy this game very much. I continue to read articles on brainstormbrewery.com and gatheringmagic.com, to study the top decks on tcgplayer.com, and to play the occasional game online or with a friend.

Knowing I would no longer be playing competitively, I began to wonder if I should get out of Standard. When is the best time to get out of Standard to retain the most true-cost value? The answer: a month ago.

That answer is simple: Limited. Draft is [arguably] the most fun, competitive, and compelling format of Magic: The Gathering. Sitting around the table and passing packs makes for a truly fun evening. Talking smack as one builds his or her deck and laughing at folks for passing a shock land is fantastic. In a past article, Limited Finances, I calculated the numbers and showed that Draft is an ideal method of receiving additional true-cost value while playing this beloved game. On a recent episode of Brainstorm Brewery, Marcel said he was going to focus on Modern and Legacy. As someone looking to sell out of Standard, Modern may be worth looking into.

Looking at the price-history curve on MTGprice.com, focusing on cards from Innistrad block and Magic 2013 before rotation, assisted in determining the answer to that question.

MTGprice.com allows one to see the historical pricing of Magic: The Gathering cards for up to two years. Several options for prices exist on MTGprice. However, knowing the true-cost system, one can imagine eBay pricing is preferred. The prices from Channel Fireball may help to smooth out times when the eBay prices are erratic. Mining data is not easy, and it is not concise.

The obvious start to a conversation about Return to Ravnica Standard is [card]Thragtusk[/card].

On December 2, 2012, I purchased Thragtusk x4 for $75.02 or 18.80 per card.

I bought the pieces for Bant Control, and the deck was almost immediately no longer tier-one. The Thragtusks were sold on February 28, 2013, for $46.99 plus 1.75 shipping (I offer free shipping now), equaling $48.74, or $12.18 per card. With PayPal fees, $47.02 was left. After eBay fees of 9%, I was left with a total of $42.79. Shipping was $0.66, lowering the final total to $42.13, or $10.53 per card.

Because eBay is the best way to unload cards (see All Magic Has a Price Issue #3 – Accounting for MtG), the eBay and PayPal fees become less relevant to the current conversation. In all situations, one would prefer to trade the cards for cards that will maintain true-cost value. Unfortunately, time to trade is not available, so eBay was utilized.

The first thing one might notice is the almost exact prices on the mtgprice.com chart. Looking at the chart for December 2, 2012, [card]Thragtusk[/card]s were selling at roughly $17 to $19, and looking at the chart at approximately February 2, 2013, they were selling at roughly $10 to $12. This verifies the accuracy of mtgprice.com. MTGgoldfish.com had similar results.

Using the full cost method, 44% true-cost value was lost in the [card]Thragtusk[/card] experiment. Between August 2013 and October 2013, [card]Thragtusk[/card]s would have only sold for $3 to $5 per card, raising the losses to 74% to 85%.

Magic 2013. Viewing most of the currently top-selling cards from M13, the Thragtusk curve was obvious. From [card]Thundermaw Hellkite[/card] to [card]Sublime Archangel[/card], each of the cards in M13 had the same curve as Thragtusk.

Innistrad. In Innistrad, several cards break this curve. [card]Lilliana of the Veil[/card] began a steep rise in October of 2013, and has since continued her incline. [card]Snapcaster Mage[/card] has held value and is likely to see further play in Modern and Legacy. [card]Geist of Saint Taft[/card] saw the same decease as the M13 cards, but due to its recent Modern activity, Geist has begun to rise again. Other than these three cards, the rest of Innistrad follows the Thragtusk curve.

Dark Ascension. [card]Huntmaster of the Fells[/card], along with all other Dark Ascension cards, followed the Thragtusk curve.

Avacyn Restored. From Avacyn Restored, [card]Griselbrand[/card] and [card]Avacyn, Angel of Hope[/card] are increasing in value currently, but had very little-true cost value during their time in Standard. [card]Cavern of Souls[/card] did follow the Thragtusk curve, but is currently realizing a slight uptick. [card]Cavern of Souls[/card] was a pick by Jason on a recent episode of Brainstorm Brewery. CoS is an awesome pickup. Beginning with [card]Tamiyo, the Moon Sage[/card], the Thragtusk curve reappears.

Join Marcel and trade Return to Ravnica block and M14 cards for Modern, Legacy, or future Standard cards. Play Limited. With there being a total of six cards from M13, Innistrad, Dark Ascension, and Avacyn Restored that gained or maintained true-cost value after January of 2013,  this analyst has determined that the time to sell the cards rotating from Standard in October 2014 is: a month ago.

Visit my eBay Auctions.

The great Jason of the Brainstorm Brewery Podcast has bestowed, pun intended, a nickname upon me.

I have enjoyed my time writing for www.brainstormbrewery.com, and I hope to continue the success I have found to date. I appreciate each and every one of the readers for taking time out of the day to read the amazing articles on www.brainstormbrewery.com. It is humbling and appreciated.

@CalebGothberg (check out Caleb’s – Getting L.U.C.K.Y. on www.brainstormbrewery.com) tweeted his appreciation for drafts.in. I am glad I was able to help you prepare for the prerelease, Caleb. Let us know how you did.

@sushihipster and I had a great discussion about Born of the Gods prerelease targets. Although I need to read the cards better, he and I did determine the targets would be [card]Spirit of the Labyrinth[/card] and [card]Brimaz, King of Oreskos[/card]. I still believe those are the only two cards worth targeting from the set. Born of the Gods does offer a nice selection of $3 to $7 playable rares that may be worth picking up in a month.

Once again, Nick pulls through, leaving a fantastic comment. Nick reminded me to talk about the Judge Joe Bono Limited Resources podcast. The Judge Joe Bono Rules podcast is usually the week before the set review. Listening to this podcast is very important to a successful prerelease weekend. Because I listened to this podcast before the Dragon’s Maze prerelease, I knew the rule surrounding [card]Runner’s Bane[/card]. I corrected a judge’s decision at the prerelease. He was appreciative, of course.

Thanks for the feedback guys.

Theros has been out for a while now, and prices have begun to stabilize. Now is the time to be picking up playable cards from Theros that can be sold or traded next January.

[card]Hero’s Downfall[/card] will be played in Standard after rotation in October. At its highest price, Hero’s Downfall was selling at 13 dollars. Currently, they are selling for five to six dollars. Hero’s Downfall is a great pick up right now.

What cards from Theros are you targeting right now?

Please guys, I need more feedback. I want to learn stuff, too. In a past article, I discussed how my mother would be a mad bro if I was not a success. Without your help this week, my mother is going to be one seriously mad and disappointed bro.

Email me [email protected]. Follow me on the Twitter machine @jwgravesFL and then tweet at me. If you would like to leave a comment on this article, all you need is a name and an email address. Love me, hate me…let me know!

Welcome back, brewers. This week, you’re getting a slightly different article. Considering that this is Brainstorm Brewery, I wanted to write a finance-related piece for once. Fair warning: I’m a player first and a financier second, but I thought it might be interesting to see how a player takes a look at finance. I also want to write generally and in doing so there will be exceptions to what I say (as is always the case with finance).

I’ve had my fair share of victories and defeats when it comes to the monetary side of MTG. When it comes to MTG finance, I think there are many different and successful paths one can take. I think it’s difficult for someone to talk about finance when not actually participating, and as such, I want to talk about two different approaches that I have taken and the outcome of each.

As players, we have a distinct advantage to finance: we (should) have a better ability to evaluate cards. Being able to determine the power level of a card when it is released can lead to understanding how often and where the card will be played. Understanding that the card will be a four-of in the most popular deck should lead to a higher price than if the card is a one-of in a sideboard. Understanding that a card will need a specific format to work in, or knowing that a card isn’t very good when other people are going gaga for it, can lead to gains. When we understand how the card will be used, we will win.

One approach is to take a look at cards from a new set and figure out which ones are really popular that no one is talking about. This is the approach that I took when Dragon’s Maze came out. I saw cards like [card]Voice of Resurgence[/card] (people were talking about this one) and [card]Advent of the Wurm[/card] and thought that the power level of these cards was very high. I started brewing decks, mixing these new cards with existing ones. I thought of how the metagame would exist with them. I built decks and played with them. I playtested and everything was going great. I saw [card]Scion of Vitu-Ghazi[/card] and the deck was complete. (Betcha thought you could make it through one of my articles without me mentioning GW Aggro, huh?) I was beating everything. I bought in.

I was still fairly new to the speculation side of MTG finance, but I was hooked. I knew the power level of these new cards and no one else did.  I thought it was a slam dunk. I bought playsets of Voices for $25 to $30. I bought a playset of foils for $50 a piece. I bought [card]Advent of the Wurm[/card] at $5, convinced that it would be the next [card]Boros Reckoner[/card]-like spike. I bought plenty of [card]Loxodon Smiter[/card]s for $2. I bought Trostani. I bought [card]Armada Wurm[/card]. I bought foils of everything, convinced I broke the format.

I took the deck to FNM and I won. I tweaked it and I won more. I have never done so well with a deck before, let alone one that no one else was playing. I wasn’t even playing [card]Thragtusk[/card]! I was and still am convinced that Scion is just better. I played the deck at a classic and made top eight. The problem? No one else was playing it. I was speculating on cards that were definitely good, but no one was playing.  A lot of the green-white cards never really went up at all.

When trying to make money on a card, it doesn’t matter if you think it is good if no one else does. 

Another technique I like to use is to check the price differences between MTGO and paper. As many of you know, prices fluctuate very quickly online. People are able to buy very quickly and then sell just as quickly. Oftentimes, looking at MTGO discrepancies is a way to see what the card in paper will do. Other times, cards in real life and MTGO just behave differently. But I still like to look at the MTGO market and try to figure out what will happen in paper.

I don’t claim to be an MTGO finance expert. In fact, I don’t often speculate online because of the fickle nature of the economy. But understanding how a card is behaving online will help greatly in understanding its paper prospects. Constructed players can see what decks are doing best online and relate that knowledge to paper events. We can see how different decks are set up. How many of each card is played. We can anticipate shifts in the metagame and which cards will benefit. This is a great tool to know because people who play online tend to favor aggressive decks which skews the format. Each shift is an opportunity to make money.

One of the easier ways I have found to use MTGO as a tool is to see which cards are overpriced compared to their paper brethren. MTGO tends to have less expensive cards in general, so when I see a digital card that has a much higher price than the paper version, I tend to take notice. Then I try to understand why the card is worth more.

• Were fewer printings available online?
• Is it being used in a deck online that is more popular than real life?
• Has the metagame adjusted online but not quite in real life yet?
• Did it see a spike or steady rise online but not in paper?
• What recent changes could have caused this card to move?

If I find a suitable card I will look closer.

• Do I think this card is good?
• Do other people think this card is good?
• Is the deck good?
• Is it seeing play in the maindeck or sideboard?
• How many copies are seeing play?
• Do I think this deck will catch on?
• Is this the best at what it does?
• What is this card good against?
• Does the deck that plays this do well against my perceived meta?

And on and on, but you get the idea.

Let’s take a look at some recent examples of cards that this technique recently worked for.

Several months ago, when Theros was just released, there was a little card named [card]Threads of Disloyalty[/card] that hit my radar. Modern decks were playing it as a way to take the best creatures in the format. Nothing was safe from the blue mage (at least with a mana cost of two or less). That Tarmogoyf is mine! That Dark Confidant is mine! Basically all the best creatures in the format could be stolen away. At the same time, blue decks seemed to be gaining in popularity. The card was around 18 tix online, but in real life, copies could still be purchased for around $5. I remembered playing against it back when it was Standard legal and it was annoying then. The card seemed to be the real deal—a good answer. I assumed that no one was paying attention to Modern at the time and associated that with the price discrepancy. I decided to pick up a few playsets, even though no one was talking about them at the time. The card caught on in a big way.

A more recent example was influenced by the latest bannings and unbannings in Modern. I missed the boat on the more obvious specs, deciding to sleep that night instead of waiting up and buying in. I waited a few days, watching all the blue/black stuff go up in price, and elected to try my luck with the tier-two specs: cards that would be affected if tier-one cards got big. I checked the prices online for a few cards and noticed a large discrepancy between the 20 tix that MTGO was requesting for [card]Thundermaw Hellkite[/card] and the $8 to $10 real-world price tag.

I really liked this card for four reasons:

1)      It was a very powerful standard card.

2)      Mythic

3)      It is a card that can be used against faeries

4)      I had previously seen a Jund deck that played this and [card]Lotus Cobra[/card]. Since Jund just lost [card]Deathrite Shaman[/card], it would be looking for a new shell to play with and I thought that this could be a good way to adapt.

I ended up getting several playsets locally for around $8. I also cashed in some online store credit, picking up nine more copies. Shortly after, the card started to move. It didn’t spike, but it has made slow gains and is currently up to about $15 TCGplayer mid. We will have to see what the Modern format has in store to see what happens next for [card]Thundermaw Hellkite[/card].

Using this system, let’s take a look and see if we can find a new spec target. I browsed and I saw a large price difference between [card]Geist of Saint Traft[/card] on MTGO (at about 28 tix) and real world at about $18 [Ed. note: at the time of this writing. Geist spiked to $18 over PT weekend]. Taking a look at the potential for Geist, we see:

1)      The card was a powerhouse in Standard.

2)      Mythic, usually played as a three- or four-of.

3)      The card already sees some play in the UWR decks.

4)      The card is affected by the bannings as well and could be played in some versions of Zoo.

5)      The card appears to have bottomed out, but is already starting to rise.

The time may have passed to buy in deep, but this is a prime target for trading.

[card]Past in Flames[/card] is another card that could see a large increase in price for paper. The card is:

1)    Mythic.

2)    Played in Modern.

3)    Played sometimes in Legacy.

4)    Very good against Zoo.

The MTGO version is creeping up to 12 tix and the paper version is at $3.50.

So there you go: two very different approaches that a competitive player can use to help determine which cards could go up. I think both can be successful. Use your skills at evaluating good cards for Constructed and apply them to the finance game. Seeing as this is my first finance article, feel free to leave some comments or criticism below. Thanks for reading. I will be back next time with a look at GW in the new standard. Can we survive even with Karametra as our god? Find out next time.

Just like everyone else, I have been busy trying to craft a Modern deck reflecting the DCI Banned & Restricted List changes that you are all likely aware of by now. Previously,  I had been playing with a Naya-plus-[card]Deathrite Shaman[/card] build (a la Brian Kibler) that I liked very much, but with this update I decided it was time to build a deck on my own.

I decided that I needed to either get on the [card]Wild Nacatl[/card] train, or stick with my guns and run a [card]Noble Hierarch[/card] deck similar to what I was running before the B&R update. I felt that the one-drop I chose here defined the style of deck I would end up with. After hours of deckbuilding, theorycrafting, and playtesting, it became clear that my hypothesis of 4/4 creatures being brick walls against Nacatl and company held true. I felt that a lot of the field would try to employ the big cat (not to be confused with [card]Brimaz, King of Oreskos[/card]), making the midrange route even better.  I had a GPT to play in, so this deck came about between the time of the (un)bannings and the Saturday that followed. The deck performed better than expected, and helped me to what should have been a 5-1 finish, but ended up being a 4-2 finish for 14^th place. This list takes full advantage of diverse threats that the current metagame just isn’t prepared to deal with efficiently, and the deck is also proactive as possible. I’ll walk through the significant card choices and how they performed. Although nothing here is revolutionary, I feel it is well positioned for your next Modern tournament!

[Deck title=Naya Midrange by Jordan Levitan]
[creatures]
4 Noble Hierarch
2 Birds of Paradise
2 Qasali Pridemage
2 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
3 Tarmogoyf
3 Voice of Resurgence
2 Scavenging Ooze
1 Kitchen Finks
4 Loxodon Smiter
4 Knight of the Reliquary
1 Thundermaw Hellkite
[/creatures]
[Spells]
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Path to Exile
3 Domri Rade
[/spells]
[Lands]
3 Forest
1 Plains
4 Arid Mesa
4 Verdant Catacombs
2 Misty Rainforest
2 Temple Garden
2 Stomping Ground
1 Sacred Foundry
1 Kessig Wolf-Run
1 Horizon Canopy
1 Stirring Wildwood
[/lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Choke
1 Qasali Pridemage
2 Ajani Vengeant
2 Blood Moon
2 Aven Mindcensor
2 Linvala, Keeper of Silence
2 Stony Silence
2 Bonfire of the Damned
[/sideboard]
[/deck]

Overperformers

[card]Stomping Ground[/card], [card]Voice of Resurgence[/card], [card]Loxodon Smiter[/card]

It may seem odd to put [card]Stomping Ground[/card] in this category, but it really does a lot for you. When you fetch on turn one, you almost always want it because of your turn-one green requirement on top of [card]Lightning Bolt[/card]. You are likely to have a [card]Noble Hierarch[/card] if you have a one-drop, so we don’t need to worry about [card]Path to Exile[/card] mana since Hierarch produces white (but not red). This may also be a sign we need more copies of [card]Birds of Paradise[/card] and potentially fewer [card]Noble Hierarch[/card]s.

[card]Voice of Resurgence[/card] lived up to its $30 price tag all day. I played against a fair assortment of the expected metagame in the tournament, with the exception of Tron (which isn’t that good anymore, anyway). Against my blue opponents, Voice caused their counterspells and instant speed interaction to be extremely inefficient, especially [card]Remand[/card]. I did play against one UWR opponent, but he wasn’t packing any [card]Pillar of Flame[/card]. This was fortunate for me, since I feel it is the best answer to Voice would run some sideboard copies myself if the card were more popular.

And now I come to what ended up being the most powerful card in the deck: [card]Loxodon Smiter[/card]. Each and every time I cast this monster, he evoked a long, drawn-out sigh from my opponents. Perfect. In each matchup, the card performed beyond expectations. My control opponents who commonly held up counterspell mana for my follow up to a Bird or Hierarch were sorely disappointed when Mr. Cannot-Be-Countered came down. He requires a [card]Path to Exile[/card], getting you a two-for-one. The rate on Smiter is incredible because blue decks rely on card advantage to win. Not to mention that this is all a huge tempo swing, which is also very important element against blue decks. When matched against Jund, Smiter shined when [card]Liliana of the Veil[/card] came down, or when fighting early [card]Tarmogoyf[/card]s, [card]Dark Confidant[/card]s, and [card]Wild Nacatl[/card]s (Yes, I played against Nacatl Jund).

It seems obvious that having the largest creature on the board is favorable, but it remains a relatively unpopular strategy. The combo matchup is much more reliant on your opponent’s draw, but Elephant Man still does his job, which is serving as a five-turn clock that comes down on turn two or three. Really, it’s more like a four-turn clock if left unchecked, since we often Bolt ourselves with our lands in Modern. It also helps that you have the rest of your hand putting pressure on them. Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, we absolutely trounced any form of Zoo that let us untap with [card]Loxodon Smiter[/card]. Being able to play another formidable blocker or a removal spell lets you take over the board, and with it, the game. It turns out a 4/4 for three is very good right now. I was proud of myself for predicting this as a deck builder and as a player. Small victories, right?

Underperformers

[card]Domri Rade[/card], [card]Tarmogoyf[/card], [card]Kessig Wolf Run[/card]

It’s kind of surprising that in a deck with nearly 30 creatures, [card]Domri Rade[/card] just did not shine. I have some theories on why. If my board is developed enough to use Domri’s -2 ability, then I already have my opponent in “[card]The Abyss[/card]” anyway. These [card]unexpected results[/card] could also be a product of well…my results. Domri often got countered or immediately [card]Abrupt Decay[/card]ed. I don’t really think he is a bad card in this deck, but I would like to try him again to be sure.

[card]Tarmogoyf[/card] underperforming has a mostly straightforward explanation. What am I putting in my graveyard besides lands and the occasional instant? [card]Tarmogoyf[/card] was often only a 1/2 or a 2/3. While not bad, we can surely do better in Naya colors. There are two main reasons [card]Tarmogoyf[/card] is so dominant in Jund. The big reason is that it is an attrition deck, so it is trading cards one for one, and this means lots of cards in the graveyard. Often overlooked but still important is that Jund has sorcery spells that it wants to cast proactively. This Naya deck does neither of those things. It is possible that there is another card we want instead of this particular lhurgoyf.

[card]Kessig Wolf Run[/card] was in the deck to take advantage of [card]Knight of the Reliquary[/card]. Knight had new life breathed into it with the banning of [card]Deathrite Shaman[/card], so I figured he was worthy of the role I gave him in the deck as a four-of. Wolf Run never ended up making an appearance. The fact is that you are usually dumping more than enough lands in the graveyard through fetches and activating the Knight’s ability is often a tempo loss you cannot afford. While it is possible Wolf Run is necessary to win board stalls or mirror matches, it is definitely a possibility that we want another utility land or one that produces colors. If we did go with more mana dorks, we could easily play a [card]Gavony Township[/card] or two.

Next time, I’ll go over the changes I am considering making to the deck, as well as a discussion of sideboard strategy and possible changes. Suggestions and questions are always welcome, so feel free to comment below, or you can contact me on Facebook or Twitter @InkwellLevitan. Hope I could help!

JL

This time on C+C Magic Factory, we’ll be reviewing the Commander 2013 deck, Evasive Maneuvers.

Here’s a review of the grading system we’ll be using.  The first grade for each card is a Cube grade, the second, a Commander grade.

Cube:

[A+]: First-pick card on power level alone or tier 1 for associated archetype(s).

[A]: High powered alone or in the context of 2 or more archetypes.

[B]: High powered in the context of one archetype.

[C]: Role-filler in a niche archetype or mid-powered utility card.

[D]: Might see play in large or restricted lists (e.g. peasant)

[F]: Not playable in cube.

Commander:

[A+]: Best in Class.  These cards are at the top of the list for any deck wanting the effect.

[A]:  Excellent card according to two or more of: power level, size-of-effect, card interaction, or politics.

[B]:  Excellent card according to one of: power level, size-of-effect, card interaction, or politics.

[C]:  Solid role-filler or theme supporter.

[D]:  Playable, but better options exist.

[F]:  A knife at a gun fight.

Bant Deck: Evasive Maneuvers

Commanders: [card]Derevi, Empyrial Tactician[/card] [F]/[B], [card]Roon of the Hidden Realm[/card] [B]/[A-], [card]Rubinia Soulsinger[/card] [F]/[B-]

Alter by Cardkitty

Similar to Mind Seize, Evasive Maneuvers offers a very solid trio of commanders.  While Rubinia may be the least exciting of the bunch, she is still a very well-selected Legends reprint that can woman the helm of a goodstuff deck, since the ability to take the best creature at the table will always be relevant.  The other two generals present some fun themes for the EDH deck builder to exploit.  Roon has two modes: beat your face with commander damage or slide guys for value.  He is aggressively costed, has a nice rhino-sized body and his rules text sings with synergy.  While most players in my groups have built Roon to grind value with [card]Reveillark[/card] and friends, one has gone the Voltron route and made the swap with [card]Rafiq of the Many[/card] as his Bant commander.  Though he doesn’t threaten as much damage, Roon still loves a [card]Finest Hour[/card].  EDH isn’t the only place where Roon is tagging in for Rafiq, either. In my cube, Roon is getting a shot at my lonely Bant slot since blink.dec is a very real archetype in most rare cubes.  I like my shard cards to be high-impact, though in cubes that just want the best, Roon may not compete with [card]Bant Charm[/card] for the top slot.

Derevi is perhaps the new commander I’m most excited to brew with, but her puzzle is not one that’s easily solved.  The precon clearly emphasizes untapping token generators for Fibonacci-esque value with inclusions like [card]Kazandu Tuskcaller[/card] and [card]Presence of Gond[/card], but the fun does not stop there.  Other applications include generating stupid amounts of combat step-mana, trying to go infinite with her alternate cost and a sacrifice outlet (seems difficult), or simply being annoying and tapping down lands and blockers in a multiplayer game.  However, what got the attention of my inner griefer was the idea of pairing her with [card]Winter Orb[/card] and [card]Stasis[/card] to get all the zero-sum fun.  While currently much less popular than Roon, I feel Derevi may have a longer shelf life and inspire much more variety. (Since the first writing of this section, Derevi has been banned in 1v1 French Commander.)

New Cards

[card]Angel of Finality[/card] [D-]/[C+]

With [card]Bojuka Bog[/card] being one of the most played cards in EDH, any card with the same rider must be taken seriously.  The C+ may seem low, but I feel this is the highest grade that can be given for a piece of disruption.  [card]Bojuka Bog[/card], [card]Nihil Spellbomb[/card], and [card]Relic of Progenitus[/card] are all basically free; [card]Angel of Finality[/card] costs a card but the 3/4 flyer is free.  Decks that want this either can’t deal with exiling their own ‘yard, can reuse the effect, or come close to wanting a 3/4 flyer for 4 mana.  How important this card is for you comes down to your meta and how many Karador/Mimeoplasm/Sheoldred shenanigans you can expect to see.

Angel of Finality just shows how awesome [card]Restoration Angel[/card] is in cube, since Resto is always a high pick while [card]Angel of Finality[/card] would be a sideboard card at best.

[card]Bane of Progress[/card] [F+]/[A]

I have a [card]Yosei, the Morning Star[/card] artifact deck that folds to [card]Akroma’s Vengeance[/card] or [card]Austere Command[/card].  I can now add [card]Bane of Progress[/card] to that list of foils.  Six-mana mass [card]Naturalize[/card]s are already quite playable in EDH and this is perhaps the best yet, being stapled to a creature and being in the best color to ramp it out without bemoaning the effect.  With a base-two power, it even comes back with [card]Reveillark[/card]!  That Bane will usually represent an on-curve green fatty once the dust settles is gravy.  This card has excellent casual appeal and is the sort of card that can find a home in multiple decks, especially now that [card]Sylvan Primordial[/card] got sent packing.

The closest comparison in cube is to cards like [card]Acidic Slime[/card] or [card]Mold Shambler[/card].  Even though the effect is desirable, the cheaper options will get played because Bane will so rarely hit more than on target and can’t destroy planeswalkers or land.

[card]Curse of the Forsaken[/card] [F]/[D]

See Eternal Bargain review.

[card]Curse of Inertia[/card] [F]/[D-]

See Mind Seize review.

[card]Curse of Predation[/card] [A]/[C]

See Power Hungry review.

[card]Darksteel Mutation[/card] [D]/[C]

See Eternal Bargain review.

[card]Diviner Spirit[/card] [F]/[D]

See Mind Seize review.

[card]Djinn of Infinite Deceits[/card] [F]/[C]

Djinn seems custom-tailored to this deck as packaged, synergizing with Derevi and all the token-producers.  With Roon, you can even takesy-backsies the gifted creature!  The effect is fun, powerful, and primed for abuse, but sits on a slow and expensive body.  [card]Gilded Drake[/card] is more powerful, especially in Cube, but Djinn is repeatable all on his own and is easier on the wallet.

[card]Restore[/card] [F]/[C+]

See Power Hungry review.

[card]Surveyor’s Scope[/card] [F]/[C]

If [card]Surveyor’s Scope[/card] was a guaranteed [card]Rampant Growth[/card] for two in 1v1, it would be a very good card, since Cube decks love mana rocks and many EDH decks run green to gain access to the effect.  Sadly, the behind-by-two-lands clause makes this unplayable in Cube and asks something of your deck construction in EDH.  Between bounce lands, borderposts, and activating the scope with a fetch on the stack, it is fairly easy to get your card back and in multiplayer games the best case is ridiculous.  However, you really want to be playing multiplayer to run this in your deck, since signets are much more reliable when it comes to ramping for 1.

[card]Tempt with Glory[/card] [F]/[D-]

Easily the worst Tempting Offer card, Tempt with Glory has a prohibitive mana cost in addition to being narrow in application.  As such, it will be staying out of cubes whether or not they support token strategies.  Costing twice [card]Curse of Predation[/card], you would really have to want redundancy of anthems to include this offer, at which point it will never get accepted.

[card]Unexpectedly Absent[/card] [A-]/[C+]

While only a utility card, [card]Unexpectedly Absent[/card] is about as good as it gets.  In Commander, the value comes from being able to tuck a problematic commander or strategic lynchpin.  While the versatility is great, the card only shines if you can pay a large enough X to get rid of the problem for real or catch your opponent with a shuffle trigger on the stack, since the tempo matters less.  In Cube or 1v1, this card is excellent.  Usually X will be 0, which is fine, since this card is all about the tempo blowouts by being able to hit an equipment or extra blocker mid-combat or reset a near-ultimate planeswalker with no card disadvantage.  Even though [card]Unexpectedly Absent[/card] has not yet been adopted in Legacy, this card is the third most powerful single card in Commander 2013 after [card]True-Name Nemesis[/card] and [card]Toxic Deluge[/card].  Since the rest of the deck has good value, look to pick these up in trade as they may be relatively undervalued.

Notable Reprints

[card]Azami, Lady of Scrolls[/card] [F]/[B-]

Unplayable in Cube for a variety of reasons, Azami is the go-to commander for mono-blue control decks, though [card]Thassa, God of the Sea[/card] gives players another solid option.  Prior to this reprint, Azami was a few dollars, so seeing her here adds a little more value to this precon.  Despite being a card players hate to see across the table, there are a couple Azami decks in my groups. The allure of draw-go-draw-draw is too sweet to ignore for some.

[card]Basalt Monolith[/card] [B-]/[C+]

While ramping to seven mana on turn four is not as broken as the six on turn three that Basalt’s grim brother provides, [card]Basalt Monolith[/card] still powers some broken plays in both 40 and 100-card formats.  In addition to ramping, Monolith goes infinite with [card]Wake Thrasher[/card], an interaction featured in the MTGO cube.  The only strike against Basalt Monolith is that it’s worse at ramping than [card]Sol Ring[/card], [card]Mana Vault[/card], [card]Grim Monolith[/card], [card]Worn Powerstone[/card], and [card]Thran Dynamo[/card]. That said, all of those cards have availability issues within my groups, so the presence of a budget option is welcome.

[card]Control Magic[/card] [B-]/[B]

The OG “take your guy” spell is back, with a black border and new art, something some cube owners care about.  [card]Control Magic[/card] is still in my 630-card unpowered cube and is doing a better job earning its stay of execution than [card]Clone[/card] by virtue of being undercosted compared to modern options.  What sells CM for EDH is that it fills the role of spot removal sans card disadvantage and snatching an opposing commander is one of the better ways of dealing with it.  If your group runs a lot of enchantment removal or bounce, it gets worse, so plan accordingly.

[card]Dungeon Geists[/card] [C]/[C-]

[card]Dungeon Geists[/card] is on the cusp of inclusion for medium-to-large sized cubes due to competition in blue.  As a very-good-but-fair value card, it’s card advantage until it’s not, which is less of a drawback in EDH than one might expect, since Geist and whatever it’s locking down are both likely dying to the same sweeper.  What keeps it from seeing more play in 100-card decks is that the 3/3 body just doesn’t do enough on its own.

[card]Flickerwisp[/card] [C]/[D]

Flickering is a popular effect in both EDH and Cube, but in Commander, the effects must be repeatable to really make the cut.  For example, [card]Flickerwisp[/card]’s 3/1 evasive body can close out a game when players start at 20 life, but in EDH, the one-shot trigger isn’t breaking any game states and a 3/1 won’t get there.  If the plan is to abuse ETB triggers, either go cheap ([card]Cloudshift[/card]) or go big ([card]Deadeye Navigator[/card]).

[card]Karmic Guide[/card] [B+]/[A+]

Proxy by theProxyGuy

Welcome to valuetown!  Another inclusion with significant appeal for Cube, Commander, and collectors, [card]Karmic Guide[/card] is excellent in some decks and quite good in others, justifying its pre-reprint $12 price tag.  Together with [card]Reveillark[/card], it is the glue that holds together the blink archetype in Cube by having one of the best and most aggressively costed ETB triggers for casual formats.  Though not as abstractly powerful as [card]Reanimate[/card], [card]Karmic Guide[/card] is a better version of the effect for Commander by being abusive, bringing value to the table, and arriving at a point in the game when opponents may be out of answers.

[card]Lu Xun, Scholar General[/card] [D+]/[C]

Though I don’t run the Scholar in my cube, the effect is cube-worthy, as can be seen by the inclusion of [card]Thieving Magpie[/card] in the MTGO cube.  Lu Xun is better than Magpie but worse than [card]Shadowmage Infiltrator[/card], since horsemanship is basically unblockable but not worth the extra mana.  In Commander, Lu Xun is a perfectly reasonable four-drop, since he’ll always get through and the scratch is unlikely to incur the wrath of your opponents until he starts scratching with a sword.  While there are better ways to keep the gas flowing, Lu Xun is a welcome inclusion here and will never be a brick in any deck running him.

[card]Mirror Entity[/card] [B]/[B]

[card]Mirror Entity[/card]’s primary use is to threaten lethal damage from a small cohort of creatures.  In Commander, the cohort must be significantly larger, relegating the Entity mostly to weenie and token builds.  Nevertheless, [card]Mirror Entity[/card] is a high-impact three-drop that has many synergies with cards throughout Magic’s history, including part of an infinite combo (that sadly requires too many pieces for Cube).

Overall – Value:[A]/Playability:[C]

Though lacking a top-tier commander like Prossh (unless you count a banned Derevi) or an eternal card à la True-Name, Evasive Maneuvers is deep in playables.  It has the most incentivizing rares, a great set of generals, high-caliber reprints, and a potential eternal staple in [card]Unexpectedly Absent[/card].  The list is deep enough that there are notable cards like [card]Murkfiend Liege[/card] and [card]Thousand-Year Elixir[/card] that I left out of this review.  Even one of its commanders is seeing play in Cube.

However, the deck suffers from the same difficulty that most of these precons do: the themes presented by the new commanders are too divergent.  Half the deck is all about untapping for value and the other half wants to abuse ETB triggers, with only the commanders crossing themes.  The best use of Evasive Maneuvers is to put it in your cube or turn it into two separate Bant builds, and luckily this precon offers a solid start to all of these options.

Next time, we’ll review the final Commander 2013 deck,  Nature of the Beast.

Contact:

Email: djkensai at gmail dot com

Twitter: @djkensai