During the preorder season for Fate Reforged (which ran up through January 23rd) a number of cards stood out as the chase cards for the set.
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Top 10 'M:TG--Fate Reforged' Cards by Dollar Volume [Preview Season thru Prerelease] |
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$ Vol. Rank |
Card Name |
Average Price |
|
1 |
Ugin, the Spirit Dragon |
$26.52 |
|
2 |
Monastery Mentor |
$25.80 |
|
3 |
Soulfire Grand Master |
$19.39 |
|
4 |
Whisperwood Elemental |
$5.39 |
|
5 |
Crux of Fate |
$2.60 |
|
6 |
Brutal Hordechief |
$8.45 |
|
7 |
Shaman of the Great Hunt |
$7.51 |
|
8 |
Tasigur, the Golden Fang |
$2.82 |
|
9 |
Flamewake Phoenix |
$3.75 |
|
10 |
Torrent Elemental |
$3.77 |
The most obvious factor is that seven of the top ten cards are mythics, several of which have been spoken about at length by Magic writers and personalities, specifically cards like Ugin, the Spirit Dragon (#1), Monastery Mentor (#2), Soulfire Grand Master (#3), and Brutal Hordechief (#6). One of the most notable rare cards on the list was Crux of Fate, a card that black control decks have been begging for, which sits at the #5 spot on the list.
After players had a chance to play with some of these cards at the Prerelease and some of the first events where they were allowed to try them out in their own Constructed decks, several of the cards shifted position despite retaining their presence on the list.
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Top 10 'M:TG--Fate Reforged' Cards by Dollar Volume [After Prerelease] |
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$ Vol. Rank |
Card Name |
Average Price |
|
1 |
Monastery Mentor |
$24.56 |
|
2 |
Ugin, the Spirit Dragon |
$29.57 |
|
3 |
Soulfire Grand Master |
$17.86 |
|
4 |
Brutal Hordechief |
$8.00 |
|
5 |
Crux of Fate |
$5.67 |
|
6 |
Tasigur, the Golden Fang |
$4.18 |
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7 |
Flamewake Phoenix |
$3.54 |
|
8 |
Shaman of the Great Hunt |
$8.19 |
|
9 |
Whisperwood Elemental |
$8.93 |
|
10 |
Warden of the First Tree |
$7.44 |
The most notable difference is that Ugin, the Spirit Dragon and Monastery Mentor simply switched positions. The fact that the two cards still remain at the top is indicative of their perceived (and actual) power levels.
Soulfire Grand Master retained its spot at number three but Whisperwood Elemental, the previous number four, dropped all the way down to ninth place. While this is quite the drop, we have to remember that remaining on the list at all is an impressive feat as only ten cards are worthy of the honor. The card that took its place was Brutal Hordechief, rising from sixth to fourth, while Crux of Fate held firm at fifth place.
Three of the remaining four cards remained the same with Tasigur, the Golden Fang, Flamewake Phoenix, and Shaman of the Great Hunt merely exchanged places with one another. The last card, Torrent Elemental, departed from the list while Warden of the First Tree stepped in.
With the entire Standard format looking somewhat rejuvenated with Fate Reforged, these trends give us a great idea of what cards players are considering for their upcoming events. We’ve seen many of the cards on this list appear in competitive decklists already, so the information found on TCGplayer.com has proven to be an incredible barometer at predicting what brand new cards are going to fare the best in updated formats.
--Frank Lepore is the editor of Magic.TCGPlayer.com. TCGPlayer.com is the largest collectible card marketplace on the web, with hundreds of brick and mortar sellers listed.
The opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff of ICv2.com.