WotC shocks players

MTG Madness news

Spice is the flavor of life and apparently, Magic players want more variety because they aren't sick of Universes Beyond cards. Game designer Mark Rosewater was asked about product fatigue earlier this week, specifically regarding Secret Lair drops and Universes Beyond sets like Doctor Who and Lord of the Rings. 

The biggest problem most fans have isn't with the Universes Beyond cards but with Wizard of the Coast selling out of products everyone wants, causing prices to soar on the secondary market for individual cards and sets. Starting with the D&D Secret Lair 50-year celebration drops, WotC will extend the purchase power to players by removing the "limited time" from sales. This doesn't solve the bigger problem but does relieve some pressure from players who might need to wait a week or two before having the funds to get the cards they want. 

Oof, my bad

Fixing mistakes made was a popular theme from WotC this past week as the team admitted to design flaws within cards like Nadu, Winged Wisdom, which was banned from the Modern format on Aug. 26. The team also owned up to ignoring organized play schedules when determining Banned and Restricted announcements. The schedule was originally designed around set releases but ignored when seasons began for organized play. Many Modern players wanted a ban for Nadu, Winged Wisdom at the beginning of August because of the start of the Modern RCQ season. 

New cards alert

Are you comfortable with the Bloomburrow Standard meta or are you still tinkering with builds? The meta has settled and most of the best decks have proven their worth through multiple tournaments, while a couple of new builds are trying to gain traction. But don't get comfortable because Duskmourn House of Horror spoilers start on Aug. 31 through a panel at PAX West instead of through the normal preview stream on YouTube and Twitch. You can't find live coverage of the panel, which is why I will be covering the event. So feel free to join me on Saturday, Aug. 31 for most of the biggest Duskmourn spoilers as WotC attempts to hype up the Standard set.  

Spike or dive

I've been busy crushing WoW: The War Within guides with the Dot Esports team this week and honestly didn't have any time to play MTG. So instead of talking about my gameplay experiences from this past week, I figured I'd share some card prices. Here are the biggest winners and losers from the past week. 

Losers of the week

• Beza, the Bounding Spring dropped over $1 to around $12.50.

• Grief dropped after the Banned and Restricted announcement, with its borderless version from MH2 pricing out around $11.75.

• Maha, It's Feather Night dropped nearly 10 percent to around $12.75.

• Ygra, Eater of All from BLB dropped almost 10 percent to around $13.75.

• Aclazotz, Deepest Betrayal from LCI fell over 10 percent to around $16.50.

• Urabrask's Forge from ONE fell over 10 percent to around $9.50 and under $10 for the first time.

Winners of the week

• Faerie Mastermind from MOM spiked over 10 percent this week to around $12. Other variants also rose in price. The price spike might be tied to the Banned and Restricted announcement or possibly seeing an increase in play in Commander. 

• Bristlebud Farmer from OTJ Big Score had its borderless variant spike over 20 percent to around $8.50.

• Breach decks saw a boost in popularity following the ban of Nadu in Modern, causing Through the Breach from Ultimate Masters to jump around 38 percent in price to roughly $13.50.

• Nylea, God of the Hunt from The List rose to around $27 as the card has seen an increase in play through the Commander format.

• Plague of the Vermin from Shadowmoor reached almost $40, over $20 in the past month, thanks to play in Commander through Wick the Whorled Mind.

• The Shire from LTR spiked around 50 percent to just shy of $5 after seeing an uptick in play through formats like Modern and Commander.

And that's a wrap for MTG Madness this week. Buckle up for next week, though, because we're going to have a lot to talk about thanks to Duskmourn spoilers and organized play as we get closer to the World Championship in October.