M11 is a core set, so we are happy to welcome (back) a lot of known faces, some of which we have been missing for quite some time:
So our all-time favorite angel is back, blue gets something that can actually qualify as a counterspell, and after 16 years, we got back Fork. Broken! (And no! Twincast this is not.). But although these are good news, I mean hell, we weren’t expecting that much, after all M11 is a core set, this time it’s not all about reprints. Let’s have a look at the brand-new stuff, 50% of the set are made of.
A. The Titans
I guess the five cards that people were most excited about, were a bunch of fatties, also known as the “Cycle of Titans”. Here are the five four M11 heroes:
Note that I’m gently omitting Frost Titan, because I cannot see how he would ever see play. For 6 mana you expect to get some serious finisher, and although we might never get back the best blue monster of all times, there are better things to spend 6 mana on.
But the other four titans do justice to their names by not only being heavy beaters, but also bringing in some nice CIP ETB-effects. Right after it was spoiled, Primeval Titan was
Luis Scott-Vargas over at Channelfireball rated the Titans in the following order:
- Grave Titan (because 3 bodies and 10 power for 6 mana is always good)
- Primeval Titan (close, but a ramp effect for 6 mana is somewhat expensive)
- Inferno Titan (well it’s Arc Lightning on a stick)
- Sun Titan
- Frost Titan (way down)
But let’s have a look what the expert traders say. Ben Bleiweiss at Starcitygames (premium content) gives the following prices and predictions:
- Primeval Titan ($30, going up)
- Grave Titan ($18, going up)
- Sun Titan ($10, going down)
- Inferno Titan ($5, going up)
- Frost Titan ($4, going down)
So, we see that the predictions at the two biggest Magic sites in the US do differ in some points although the key message is clear: Primeval Titan and Grave Titan rock, whereas Frost Titan will probably never see play.
Let’s see how the Titans did at MKM:
What we can see at a first glance, is that Frost Titan isn’t even a card. It was traded on 3 days only and doesn’t even offer enough data to see any trend. That’s what we would have expected.
Inferno Titan has started as a 3 Euro card and has never left that mark although it was traded in big enough quantities over the entire prerelease period. This is somehow astonishing, as we would expect more from this modern times Shivan Dragon (ok, it doesn’t fly, but it simply kills everthing in its way). But we see a stable 3 Euro “bulk Mythic”.
When analyzing the price evolution of Sun Titan, we can clearly see the effect that has the Prerelease printing on card prices. It started as a 10 Euro card, which is a reasonable price, as it’s a solid Mythic rare, but after people realized they’d get it for free at the Prerelease, the price dropped. By sunday, july 11th, no more Sun Titans were sold on MKM. I guess that by that time, everybody had their prerelease card in hand. This is the sad destiny of Prerelease cards. They can only keep their value if their power-level is absurd (hello, Figure of Destiny).
Primeval Titan and Grave Titan are up to their expectations, as they are the top-runners of this cycle. However, a lot can be told from the evolution of these cards sale: Primeval Titan was by far the most hyped card before the complete spoiler was out, hitting prices over 20 euros. However, after the release of the full spoiler and the Prerelease tournaments, the price started to drop quickly as people figured out, that maybe there isn’t too much you could want to accelerate into once you got to 6 mana already. Grave Titan on the other hand has jumped 50% up in price after the prerelease, and if this trend continues should pass Primeval Titan in the days to come. After all this card says “6 Mana, 10 Power in black creatures (goodbye Doom Blade), and two more zombies every turn if it’s not answered”. So if that trend continues, it might be the right time to pick up your playset of Grave Titans now.
Ok, so far for a quite in-depth analysis of the Titan’s financial value. I hope, it wasn’t too boring, but it’s by combining the expert’s advice (player and trader) and looking at the numbers, that one can get the best feeling for how the market it likely to evolve in the near future.
B. The others
As the above analysis was quite extensive, I won’t be long on the other cards from M11, but I’ll give some quick thoughts:
Two other hyped cards in the beginning of M11 were Fauna Shaman and Time Reversal:
Both know only one direction: down, and so we can see again, what we already knew: Survival of the Fittest and Timetwister these are not!
So, instead of speculating on the power of new cards, let’s stick to those we already know and fear for their strength:
- Baneslayer Angel at 30 euros AVERAGE PRICE?? This is an illusion and prices will go up, when people realize that 2x Mythic still is more than 3 times more rare than Rare. BUY!
- Reverberate = Fork! This card would be AWESOME, if they were any good sorceries to copy. Unfortunately, you can’t copy a planeswalker, so it’s no surprise, this card is currently selling at 2,50 apiece.
- Nantuko Shade: We get back one of the best creatures from Odyssey block. The problem is that nowadays, creatures tend to be way more powerful than when he was printed for the first time. Still I believe that he will do some serious damage when he teams up with the Unspeakable One or Juzam 2.0. Get yours now!
C. Insider Bonus
Ben Bleiweiss at Starcitygames.com (still premium content, sorry) announced that the first card from “Scars of Mirrodin” has already been spoiled and its called Sword of Life and Death (sounds like Sword of Fire and Ice, only for green and black, don’t you think?). So now Wizards is bringing back the most powerful equipment series ever printed? Great news.
But think a step further: Powerful Equipment in Standard. What about Stoneforge Mystic?
I’d say, get ‘em while they’re still at 4 euros apiece.
OK, that’s all for today. I hope you enjoyed this in-depth discussion about the new Titans.
Awaiting your comments,
Matthias
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