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Browse > Home / Strategy / Articles / Weekly Update (Oct 04): Uro Banned in Standard

Weekly Update (Oct 04): Uro Banned in Standard



Banned and Restricted Update, September 28, 2020: Uro Banned in Standard


Uro is finally banned in Standard!Read more


Budget Magic: Scute-tate (Standard)


What's better than making a board full of Scute Swarms? Making a board full of Scute Swarms mutated together with things like Auspicious Starrix and Migratory Greathorn!Read more


Finance Update w/ Saffron Olive


Rick, Steadfast Leader Glenn, the Voice of Calm Thieves' Guild Enforcer

This week, by far the biggest finance news in Magic was the announcement and previewing of a Secret Lair drop featuring brand new mechanically unique cards of characters from The Walking Dead. Financially, the big concern is new cards being released in a time-limited (and thereby supply limited) manner through Secret Lair drops. There's currently almost no precedent to know what this means as far as card prices and the market, with the closest comparisons being similar, but far from perfect comparisons (recently discontinued unique Buy a Box promos and book/convention promos from 20 years ago). While Wizards has mentioned that they can sort of reprint the cards in a weird, roundabout way (by printing Magic versions of the cards and then changing the rules/oracle text to make The Walking Dead version and Magic version the same card according to the rules, even though they will have different names) just how likely this is to happen in practice remains to be seen. The Secret Lair drop itself costs $50 and features five brand new legendary creatures that are legal in Vintage, Legacy, and Commander, along with some tokens. Rick, Steadfast Leader seems to be the most playable of the bunch and might show up in Legacy/Vintage Humans, which are real (although admittedly fringe-ish) decks, along with being a strong addition to any Human tribal Commander deck. 

Further complicating matters is the fact that the community has reacted extremely negatively to the product, with many players (and even financial groups and speculators) vowing not to purchase the product to send a message of their displeasure to Wizards of the Coast and Hasbro. While the message is an important one, unless Wizards changes corse and decides The Walking Dead cards aren't tournament legal (which seems very unlikely at this point, with Wizards recently doubling down on the product during a recent live stream), this could further limit supply, which would increase the potential for a card like Rick, Steadfast Leader or to a lesser extent Glenn, the Voice of Calm ending up extremely scarce and expensive down the road. 

The end result is a confounding conundrum for players: do you buy The Walking Dead Secret Lair drop because there are fairly good odds that it will end up being worth way more than the $50 you pay for it down the road, or do you avoid it because you believe that time-limited releases of unique cards has a potential to be problematic long term? This is a decision that everyone has to make for themselves. Personally, I won't be buying the Secret Lair drop, even though I'm convinced that it is a slam dunk from a value perspective. Even discounting the potential negative impact to the game and focusing solely on the financial aspects of the product, there's an argument that over the long run you'll make more money by sending a clear message to Wizards that this type of release isn't acceptable.

Meanwhile in Standard, the big news is the format adjusting to the Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath banning on Monday, with the biggest early winners being Rogues. Thieves' Guild Enforcer nearly tripled this week to $5 while Rankle, Master of Pranks, Brazen Borrower, Drown in the Loch and Agadeem's Awakening (all primarily played in Rogues) also populate our list of the ten biggest winners in Standard. If Rogues does end up being top-tier moving forward, these prices will likely stick and potentially continue to increase. However, there is still some concern that the Uro banning wasn't enough that that Omnath, Locus of Creation will continue to dominate the format, relegating Rogues to a second- or third-tier option. We should know more after next weekend's Grand Finals tournament, which will set the stage for the next months of Standard, either by showing that Omnath, Locus of Creation and friends need a banning, or that Standard is in a healthy place with Rogues being a key part of the format.

This Week In Legacy: Om Nom Nom!

$100 Omnath, Locus of Creation | Commander Abridged Gameplay | 4C Landfall

Joe Dyer looks at the impact of Omnath in Legacy! Read more

Crash your lands on to the battlefield and drown your opponents with VALUE! 4C Omnath Landfall! Read more

Single Scoop: Gruul Vortex Burn (Standard)

Rough Drafts: Zendikar Rising

It's time to take burn to standard! TheAsianAvenger attempts to make burn happen relying on cheap enchantments. Read more

Zendikar Rising Standard got off to a rough start, but how does the set play in limited? Let's jump into a draft on MTG Arena and find out! Read more


Against the Odds: Confoundamonicon (Modern)


What are the odds of making our Modern opponents bounce all of their lands with the help of Confounding Conundrum and Panharmonicon? Let's find out!Read more

Vintage 101: Modal Magic

Commander Clash S9 E12: Party Brawl | Akiri vs. Anowon vs. Kaza vs. Orah

Joe Dyer dives into the impact that Modal DFCs are already having on Vintage! Read more

The crew build tribal decks around each party member: Clerics, Rogues, Warriors(?), and Wizards! Read more


Budget Kicker 2-for-1: Hallar and Verazol ($65) | Budget Commander


Tomer shows you how to build two distinct decks that share an overlapping core! Has science gone too far?!Read more

Much Abrew: Naya Landfall Zoo (Modern)

Historic 101: Mono Brown

Can some new Zendikar Rising cards like Akoum Hellhound and Brushfire Elemental make for an aggressive landfall zoo deck in Modern? Let's see! Read more

TheAsianAvenger pilots a deck that is Devoid of colored mana source and embraces his inner Cloudpost & Tron player for Historic! Read more

If You Are Not Happy with the State of Magic, Stop Giving Wizards Your Money

The Fish Tank: Sweet and Spicy User Decks (September 27-October 3, 2020)

Magic players love to complain, but complaining isn't an effective message to a big corporation like Hasbro or Wizards of the Coast because they speak a different language: money. Read more

What sweet decks did users submit this week? Let's find out on The Fish Tank! Read more

Single Scoop: Rakdos Graveyard Bash (Standard, Magic Arena)

Podcast 296: A Sad Day For Standard

It was a Rakdos party and it was a graveyard bash! TheAsianAvenger gets ready for his favorite month and has a Halloween themed deck! Up first is an aggressive graveyard deck! Read more

The crew discusses another round of bannings in Standard, the Walking Dead Secret Lair drop and answers #MTGFishmail Read more


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