MTGGoldfish is supported by its audience. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn a commission.

Weekly Update (Sep 15): Throne of Eldraine Previews

by mtggoldfish // Sep 16, 2019

Throne of Eldraine Previews

Throne of Eldraine previews continue, with power at an all-time high on Eldraine. Lots of cards will shape Standard, and even Modern and older formats. Check out mtgpreviews.com for all the cards and complete decklists, and check out the important highlights of the set directly from SaffronOlive:

Budget Magic: $105 (26 tix) Soul-meria (Modern, Magic Online)

Can Soulherder power up an Emeria, the Sky Ruin deck overflowing with value creature to blink and reanimate in Modern on a budget?Read more

Finance Update w/ Saffron Olive

Oddly, the biggest finance news of the week is the Brawl preconstructed decks releasing alongside Throne of Eldraine. It seems that Wizards massively underestimated the demand for these decks in paper (perhaps not surprising, considering Brawl isn't exactly a popular paper format) and only gave local game stores a tiny amount to sell. While a second printing of the decks was announced this week, for the short term there is a real risk of the decks selling out, which has caused the retail price of the decks to shoot up to Commander precon levels (in the $40 to $45 range, after being as low as $15 or $20 in some places) and the prices of chase cards like Arcane Signet (currently $35) to follow suit. If you want the decks immediately, there's little choice but to preorder at the higher price point. Otherwise, there's a chance that Wizards will overprint the decks during the second printing, which could lower the price in the future, but it could take a while for the increased supply to make it to local game stores.

Meanwhile, while Standard prices are mostly stable heading towards rotation, with rotating cards dropping and new Throne of Eldraine cards finding their presales footing, Throne of Eldraine is having a big impact on casual formats. This week, the biggest winners are Knight Tribal Commander cards, which gets a new leader in Syr Gwyn, Hero of Ashvale. Haakon, Stromgald (em>Scourge</em) increased 27% to just under $14, Knight Exemplar continued its rise for the second straight week going up 31% to almost $12, and Kinsbaile Cavalier spiked 76% to $4.62. I'd expect that, barring a surprising breakout of Knights in Modern, these cards should start trending back down soon. War of the Spark caused many planeswalker support cards to spike over the short term, but most have dropped meaningfully (although not all the way back to their pre-spike price) over the last six months. If you just can't wait to build Knights in Commander, you'll have to pay the new, higher price. Otherwise, waiting a few months until the next hot thing is previewed and steals away everyone attention will likely save you a few dollars on your Knight Tribal pieces.

Finally, in the "ignore" category we have Drafna's Restoration, a little known Antiquities card that (sort of) works with the artifact subtheme of Throne of Eldraine. While not on the Reserved List, the sorcery increased almost 24,000% on the week from about $1 to $300, and is mostly sold out from major vendors. I'm not sure why anyone needs a copy of Drafna's Restoration to begin with, but if you do, the $300 price tag is deceptive. You can find several copies on Ebay in the $10 range, while the TCG mid price is inflated by one of the four vendors who have copies for sale (as of this morning) listing theirs at $999.94. From the outside this looks to be a finance-driven buyout of an old, low-supply card. You probably didn't know Drafna's Restoration existed before you saw the price spike, and the smart financial move is to keep pretending like it doesn't exist (unless you randomly have copies to try to sell at the new, inflated price). It should quickly trend back down towards $5 or less; it's hard to imagine there is much organic demand for the card.

Does Wizards Want Historic to Succeed on Magic Arena?

Historic is coming to Arena shortly, but based on some of the choices regarding the format, it seems fair to question whether Wizards actually wants it to succeed.Read more

Much Abrew: Bant Snowblade	Budget Oathbreaker: Servo Overload

Is going with flashy, evasive threats backed by some light snow synergies the right way to build around Stoneforge Mystic in Standard? Let's find out! Read more	These are the servos you are looking for. SumNeuron shows how to manufacturer infinite servos for Oathbreaker on a budget. Read more

Against the Odds: Worst Fears Combo (Modern, Magic Online)

What are the odds of controlling all of our opponent's turns with Worst Fears in Modern? Let's find out!Read more

Modern Mayhem: Esper Hate-Ninjas (Modern, Magic Online)	Single Scoop: Azorius Palcatraz (Standard, Magic Arena)

Hate Bears with Ninjas and Teferi? Lets make it happen captain! Read more	Teferi, Hero of Dominaria hasn't rotated yet so let's try a control/prison deck! Read more

Vintage 101: The Oncoming Storm	Mirrormade: Exclusive Throne of Eldraine Preview

Joe Dyer analyzes post restriction Vintage and the effect that Paradoxical Storm has had on the early metagame. Read more	Wizards knows about Seth's love of Blood Moon and Panharmoncion, so they hooked him up with a preview card that can be either! Read more

Commander Clash: MagicFest Las Vegas Spectacular - Oathbreaker (Teferi, Time Raveler vs. Venser, the Sojourner vs. Liliana, Death's Majesty)

What is the Oathbreaker format all about? The crew finds out with a special live match filmed at MagicFest Las Vegas!Read more

Brawl Bash: Knight's Charge (Syr Gwyn, Hero of Ashvale, Magic Arena)	Brawl Bash: Savage Hunter (Korvold, Fae-Cursed King, Magic Arena)

The Knight's Charge Brawl deck has gotten some bad press. Does it deserve its reputation as the worst of the series? Let's find out! Read more	TheAsianAvenger pilots the Jund Dragon commander through a few games of Brawl! Lets see how this aristocrats style deck performs. Read more