MTGGoldfish is supported by its audience. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn a commission.
Browse > Home / Strategy / Articles / Weekly Update (May 02): How We'd Fix the Commander Banlist

Weekly Update (May 02): How We'd Fix the Commander Banlist



Commander Clash Podcast 006: How We'd Fix the Banlist


The crew gives their takes on the official Commander ban list, including the RC's reasoning behind them. Then we discuss what additional ...Read more


Budget Magic: $58 / 10 Rares | UW Magecraft (Standard)


Clever Lumimancer is a messed-up Magic card, but is it messed up enough to power a $58 / 10-rare deck in Strixhaven Standard? Let's see!Read more


Finance Update w/ Saffron Olive


Beacon of Creation Scrap Mastery Dragon's Approach

This week in the world of finance most of the bigger winners are cards that have newfound popularity thanks to the impact of Strixhaven and Commander 2021 on the Commander format. Beacon of Creation jumped from $7 to $28 thanks to the token theme of Quandrix. The card has never seen heavy play in Commander, with the relatively unpopular Baru, Fist of Krosa being the only deck where it could be considered a staple, but now it is showing up in a lot of Ruxa, Patient Professor, Blex, Vexing Pest, and Esix, Fractal Bloom decks. Considering that Beacon of Creation has only been printed once, back in 2003 in Fifth Dawn, this new demand is enough to send the price skyrocketing. If you have copies sitting around that you aren't using, I'd consider selling or trading them now. Once Beacon of Creation is reprinted it should fall towards bulk. Its current price is more a product of the card's low supply than its high demand.

Meanwhile, Commander 2014's Scrap Mastery spiked from around $2 to $15 over the past few days for many of the same reasons as Beacon of Creation. The Living Death works really well in Osgir, the Reconstructor and Alibou, Ancient Witness decks - two of the most popular new legends from Commander 2021 - while also showing up in older artifact-based decks like Daretti, Scrap Savant and Bosh, Iron Golem. It might be worth keeping an eye on other older Commander precon cards. Commander is massively more popular today than it was even 5 years ago, and as the player base continues to grow, it wouldn't be a surprise to see more of these cards start to increase in price.

Finally, an expected value update. A couple of weeks ago Strixhaven Collector Boosters offered a ton of value, with the average box containing over $600 in cards. Well, things have started to normalize and the expected value of a box is now down to $325, which is still solid, but not earth-shattering considering the high cost of a box. Foil and etched foil Japanese Mystical Archives are still holding their value, otherwise, prices have dropped more or less across the board. The good news is you can pick up some really powerful cards from the main set on the cheap, with most of the mythics down under $5 and every non-Wandering Archaic rare $3 or less.

Punt or Bluff? | Commander Clash Moment #14

This Week in Legacy: The Legacy Round Table - Strixhaven Edition

Tomer can't be that bad at Magic. Or ... can he? Read more

Joe Dyer assembles the Round Table for the first time in 2021! Read more


Single Scoop: Lorehold Aggro (Standard, Magic Arena)


Does Lorehold have what it takes to survive the best of one ladder?Read more

10 Upgrades For Silverquill Statement Precon | $20 | Breena | Politics | Counters | Commander 2021

Historic 101: Selesnya Hatebears

Tomer analyzes the precon, highlights its strengths and weaknesses, and uses that information to give you 10 optimized and impactful card upgrades! Read more

Remember when everyone joked about Mana Tithe? Well now we have access to it and Crim is going to try it out in a Selesnya Hatebears shell! Read more


Against the Odds: Pest Stadium (Standard)


What are the odds of winning with Strixhaven Stadium in Standard, backed by a pseudo-combo and a bunch of Pests? Let's find out!Read more

Vintage 101: 2021 Season One Showcase Qualifier

Much Abrew: Naya Vesperlark Reanimator (Modern)

Joe Dyer covers the Vintage Showcase Qualifier event for Season 1! Read more

Can Vesperlark and some of the most expensive one-powered creatures in Magic make for a Naya Reanimator deck in Modern? Let's play a league and find out! Read more


Commander Clash: Strixhaven Commanders | S10 E13


The crew tests out the new commanders from Strixhaven!Read more

Meme or Dream? No Dragons Approach (Standard)

The Fish Tank: Strixhaven Edition (April 25 - May 1, 2021)

Dragon's Approach without any Dragons? Let's give one of the least logical decks I've ever seen a try and then upgrade it into something sweet! Read more

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

Historic 101: Ponza

Podcast 326: Andrew Cuneo Talks MPL and Organized Play

Historic has been long overdue for some land destruction and now it might actually be decent! Read more

Special guest Andrew Cuneo joins the crew to discusses organized play and the MPL. Read more


Tournament Center




More in this Series

Show more ...


More on MTGGoldfish ...

Image for Single Scoop: Jeskai Gnomes and Constructs single scoop
Single Scoop: Jeskai Gnomes and Constructs

Simulacrum Synthesizer has taken the world by storm so we take a poke at a Jeskai Artifacts deck that can poop out constructs and gnomes!

May 7 | by TheAsianAvenger
Image for Commander Clash Podcast 146: Hot Takes, But We're Not Sure commander clash podcast
Commander Clash Podcast 146: Hot Takes, But We're Not Sure

Takes so hot that we're not even sure ourselves!

May 7 | by mtggoldfish
Image for Podcast 483: New Tarmogoyf, and It's So Bad podcast
Podcast 483: New Tarmogoyf, and It's So Bad

The crew talks a ton of Modern Horizons 3 spoilers, a $3 million Black Lotus and a Comic Sans Secret Lair drop.

May 6 | by mtggoldfish
Image for Budget Magic: $30 Rise of the Varmints (Standard) budget magic
Budget Magic: $30 Rise of the Varmints (Standard)

How many varmints does it take to win a game of Outlaws of Thunder Junction Standard? Let's find out!

May 6 | by SaffronOlive

Layout Footer

Never miss important MTG news again!

All emails include an unsubscribe link. You may opt-out at any time. See our privacy policy.

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Twitch
  • Instagram
  • Tumblr
  • RSS
  • Email
  • Discord
  • YouTube

Price Preference

Default Price Switcher