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Browse > Home / Strategy / Articles / Weekly Update (Mar 29): Getting Started on Magic Online in 2020

Weekly Update (Mar 29): Getting Started on Magic Online in 2020



Getting Started on Magic Online (2020 Edition)


Interested in Magic Online as a way to play Magic: the Gathering from home but don't know where to start? Today, we'll walk you through the entire process from start to finish!Read more


Budget Magic: Butts and Taxes (Pioneer)


This week, we channel our inner Tina Belcher and Sir Mix-A-Lot and put our toughness to the test with the help of Huatli and Assault Formation in Pioneer!Read more


Finance Update w/ Saffron Olive


Notion Thief Spirebluff Canal Windswept Heath

This week, the biggest winner in the Magic market seems to be coronavirus. Between both Modern and Pioneer, the card to post the biggest%age gain was Notion Thief at 9% with the $1.40 rare moving to about $1.60, which isn't especially notable. What is notable is how coronavirus has more or less paralyzed the Magic market, with local game stores and big vendors putting operations on pause in response to the virus. Even Wizards is feeling the impact, with Ikoria's paper releasing being delayed a month outside of Asia-Pacific. During a typical week we have at least some (and often several cards) that double (or more) in price. This week, there really aren't winners to talk about. 

If there's good news, it's that we haven't seen a massive decline in paper card prices. At least not yet. While staples in formats like Pioneer and Modern are trending down, it's hard to figure out how much of this is directly related to the coronavirus and how much of it is tied to seasonal trends. While having the Pioneer Players Tour finals canceled certainly doesn't help prices of Pioneer staples, are declining prices evidence of people selling their collections or just a general lack of demand since there isn't a place for most people to play paper Magic at the moment? At this point, it's too early to really say, but it will be worth tracking over coming weeks. Sharper or more sustained declines could suggest that a meaningful number of people are trying to sell off their collections.

On the other hand, the digital market is booming. After declining sharply this past fall with the announcement of Pioneer, the Magic Online Modern Index has climbed from a low of 871 tix to 1,156 tix (putting the value of Modern staples on Magic Online at their highest point since 2018 when Arena officially released into wide beta). Perhaps the cleanest example comes from the manabase, where fetchlands are up across the board this week on Magic Online, with shocklands and fastlands also showing solid gains. While people are pretty clearly not buying many paper cards at the moment, and some may even be selling their collections, people are pretty clearly buying into older formats on Magic Online, perhaps as a way to get their eternal fix and pass the time while stuck at home. If you're interested in checking out Magic Online, I made a tutorial this week that will help you get started.


Much Abrew: Naru Meha Combo (Pioneer)


How many copies of Naru Meha does it take to win the game on Turn 4 in Pioneer? Let's see!Read more

Historic 101: Fishtoric!

This Week in Legacy: The Niche Deck Spotlight

Is Merrow Reejery the missing piece to push Merfolk above the other tribes in Historic? Read more

Joe shines a light on some of the more lesser known niche decks in Legacy! Read more


Against the Odds: The Wanderer (Standard)


What are the odds of winning with The Wanderer (and Syr Konrad, the Grim and Command the Dreadhorde) in Standard? Let's find out!Read more

Vintage 101: The Cult of Mishra

Pioneer Peak: Nayayaya Aggro

Joe Dyer gets initiated into the Cult of Mishra! Mishra's... Workshop that is! Read more

Crim takes a shot at playing a deck without blue or black in Pioneer. What time line is this?! Read more

Magic Arena: Historic Pauper Decklists

The Fish Tank: Sweet Viewer-Submitted Decks (March 22-29, 2020)

Need some Historic Pauper decklists? TheAsianAvenger has got a few for you! Read more

What interesting decks did viewers submit this week? Let's find out! Read more

Modern Mayhem: Mardu Pyromaniacs

Podcast 269: MagicFest Online and Magic in the Near Future

Crim dusts off the Pyromancers and takes them into a Modern league! Read more

The crew discusses Magic moving more and more into digital in response to COVID-19 and answers #MTGFishmail. Read more


Instant Deck Techs


Each day we'll be posting a short, three minute deck tech featuring some of the coolest decks that come across the site. The most popular deck will be made into videos the following week based on your views, likes and comments in the videos. Here's this week's Instant Deck Techs:



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