Rishadan Pawnshop #16 – Why Baneslayer Flies So High
Riki has been suggesting I write an article about Baneslayer Angel for a while. I always thought that it was in interesting card and definitely worth a mention, but not a whole article. I mean what would I really say?
“Baneslayer is worth a lot.
The end.”
Not good enough? Ya, I didn’t think so either. So I guess we can talk a little bit about why it’s worth so much. Is that something you might be interested in?
“Supply and demand.
The end.”
Not good enough yet? Geez, what does it take to satisfy you people? I guess supply and demand, though a correct answer, doesn’t sufficiently explain why.
Let’s go back. Way back. Back into time… M10 released over the summer to a ton of hype. Everyone was talking about how good the new duals were. Great Sable Stag, the faerie killer, and Silence, Orim’s Chant reincarnate, were the huge hype cards of the time. Open the Vaults and Time Warp fueled a brand new combo deck. Ball Lightning, Darksteel Colossus and the full cycle of Lorwyn planeswalkers were back. All of the hype and buzz that surrounded these cards left one card a bit in the shadows. A 5/5 flying, lifelinked, first striker with protection from both demons and dragons. What’s not to like?
Well, it’s still just a dude. And it’s a white card. And it just seems really gimmicky. Seriously, the only reason it’s worth anything now is because it’s an angel and it’s mythic. I’ll worry about picking them up later if they start to go up. Whether it be due to buzz surrounding other cards or doubts about how good Baneslayer really was, initial demand for the card was low. Because demand was low initially, it was flying well below the “hype radar” for a while.
In the months following, M10 should have flooded the market so all the hyped cards would “stabilize” and reach their correct price. However, as we all remember, there was a drought over the summer.
As it turns out, this was a calculated stroke by Wizards of the Coast. Starting with M10, WoTC would be much more miserly with their new set allocations. Wonder why Zendikar seemed shorted too? Ya, that’s why. Gone are the days when internet re-sellers could order off of WoTC on “credit”, quick flip their boxes on eBay and pay their debt back with a cool profit in pocket. Preference would now be given to brick and mortar stores, especially stores that paid cash up front. Shortening the initial supply and cutting out the internet resellers would allow the local mom and pop stores to sell their product at full MSRP. In addition, WoTC would now have a better forecast on how much of a new set they should actually print in the months following, since they get to see how large (or small) the demand is. Gone also are the days when WoTC is stuck with large supplies of product in their warehouses (*ahem* Coldsnap *ahem* Alara Reborn).
What do these shortages have to do with Baneslayer Angel? Normally this new allocation strategy from WoTC wouldn’t be a big deal with a Core Set. But this time it was. Why? Because M10 wasn’t like the old Core Sets. M10 had new cards and Baneslayer Angel was one of them. In the past, shorting a Core Set would not have been a problem because players would be able to just pick up the reprinted card from an older version and still be fine. But because Baneslayer Angel was new, you could only get it from M10. The problem was that, for several months, M10 was extremely difficult to get. The initial supply of Baneslayer Angels was low. And despite the “low” initial demand, prices began to rise.
Eventually, the shortages wore off and there was light at the end of the tunnel. The rising Baneslayer began to level off toward the end of September and middle of October. Superstars/ Channelfireball even had a sale on Baneslayer. $25! What a steal! This point in time coincided with another event that marked the last time you would ever see a “cheap” Baneslayer Angel, probably for a long time. That event was the release of Zendikar.
The moment Zendikar officially released, M10 became a complete afterthought. Fetchlands. Lotus Cobra. Priceless treasures. I want them all! The price began to rise once again, but this time at a bit more rapid pace. While Baneslayer increased only a few dollars from September to October (from around $22 to 25) the price soared more than $15 from the beginning of October to today (from around $25 to a current price pushing $40). What happened?
The steady stream of M10 rares that began to flow into the market after the initial shortage had been almost completely cut off. No one wanted to purchase or rip M10, let alone draft it. M10 had been replaced. The initial short supply, which started to fill out with the normal influx of product, had been completely halted. Zendikar was the new girl and M10 was Jennifer Aniston.
It’s not that no one opened any M10 at all. Don’t be ridiculous. I’m sure a few packs were opened since Zendikar came out… I mean, how many did you open? None? Hmm… Ya, me neither.
In the meantime, as always happens when new sets drop, people began to build decks. While Jund quickly became the deck of choice, players ramping into Baneslayer Angel or choosing her as their finisher of choice in some random control style build were not far behind. Then a few weeks later, some guy named Brian Kibler apparently won an Extended Pro Tour rocking Baneslayers in the maindeck. Go figure.
As would be expected, the demand for Baneslayers began to increase. People needed them not just for Standard, but for Extended as well. All of this happened on a much quicker, more extreme scale on Magic Online (read this article for the relevance). Once Zendikar was released, players quit drafting M10. Prices for fetchlands on MTGO dropped significantly over the following weeks while in less than two weeks, Baneslayer more than doubled in price from around 20 tickets to now almost 50.
A low initial supply that suddenly got cut off. A low initial demand that suddenly increased. And that is how Baneslayer Angel crept up from a card that started off less than $15 and is now pushing $40.
“Baneslayer Angel – Luis says it’s good, so who am I to argue? Hahaha, but seriously, Baneslayer Angel is a very solid card with great abilities and a bargain mana cost. The fact that it’s mythic will definitely push the price up, but if it found a competitive deck for a home, then I could see her flying high past $15 (they are currently $12-13).”
From July 9, 2009. Now I’d hate to say I told you so, but Luis might not. The question now is, if you need Baneslayers, what can you do? *shaking Magic 8-ball* … Outlook not so good. Yikes.
I don’t see any reasons in the foreseeable future why Baneslayer Angel would go down in price. Why? If supply and demand is the reason why the price got this way in the first place, there must be a change in supply, demand, or something that affects the supply/demand curves in order for the price to change, right? Right.
If thousands and thousands of people all of a sudden read this article and decide to change their minds and switch from Zendikar draft to M10 draft and buy M10 product instead of Zendikar product, we could do a little to change the supply. In addition, Wizards deciding to release Baneslayer Angel as a wide release promo card for something like FNM or “States” (or whatever they’re calling it nowadays) would help on the supply side. However, we all know neither of those are likely to happen. So count supply out.
If all of a sudden, everyone said, “Let’s boycott Baneslayer Angel and play Sphinx of Jwar Isle instead!” then that would definitely change the demand (and given the amount of Jund around, that might not be the worst idea!) That could happen, but I wouldn’t count on it just yet. On a side note, you may want to pick up Sphinx of Jwar Isle just in case. For now though, count demand out too.
Shifts in the demand or supply curves would take at least two class sessions in Econ 102 to explain, but for the sake of the article we can say the following. A shift in the demand curve resulting in a lower priced Baneslayer would happen if there was demand for a comparable card at a lower price (ie. The effect of a substitute) or the deck that ran Baneslayer was all of a sudden horrible (ie. The effect of complements). The problem is, Baneslayer trumps all substitutes (Sphinx, Broodmate, etc.) Also, “the deck” won’t make Baneslayer bad because Baneslayer is what makes “the deck” good. Whether it be that Naya Lotus Angel deck, Kibler Zoo, or random W/x/x Baneslayer control, Baneslayer is the heart of the deck. A shift in the supply curve would be the result of all dealers across the globe being able to purchase Baneslayer at an equally low price. If somehow, magically (pun intended), WoTC had a supply of Baneslayers and sold them to stores for $5 each, the stores’ costs would be lower and a shift in supply would occur.
Long story short, it doesn’t look like there is any reason Baneslayer Angel would be coming down in price any time soon. If the worst case scenario of your investment is that you break even in the end and the best case scenario is you gain a significant percentage, I would say invest. That means you should probably get your Baneslayers now unless you are willing to risk paying the higher price later (which seems very likely). If you don’t need or don’t want Baneslayers now, pray you don’t need them down the road (or pray that Baneslayer 2.0 comes out in Worldwake).
I hope this little lesson in history/ economics was useful. Next week we will take a glance at some more Standard results and see what decks can give you the most bang for your buck! Thanks for stopping by the shop!
Peace
Jeremy Fuentes
I once owned 5 Baneslayer Angels and sold them all at $15 each over the summer expecting their price to drop to about $10 or so.
Yes, I still cry myself to sleep every night.
Comment by BSondag — November 4, 2009 @ 9:40 pm
I don’t know if your reasoning is totally sound. True, the angel might remain sky high in price for a long time, due to a short in supply. But the nature of the role the angel plays seems too volatile to assume that its position of metagame dominance will assure its continued meteoric rise in price.
Part of the reason that even seasoned players like initially underestimated it (thinking it would cap at 15 dollars) is because people didn’t immediately grasp how dominant it was in terms the current metagame.
However, like you said, angel 2.0 or angel-negation 1.0 could easily change its position of dominance. It’s not über-utility card like the ‘goyf; it is an extremely efficient game-ender, but it is still a glass cannon, and while no dragons or demons are going to be taking it down anytime soon, Wizards are just sadistic enough to release something that makes your $160 playset suddenly a $60 playset. It wouldn’t take much. I’d proceed a bit more cautiously, if I were you.
Comment by R — November 4, 2009 @ 9:54 pm
Once prices started to rise I was surprised no one jumped on this band wagon earlier.
got my playset for 90 Australian
heh.
Comment by Blyder — November 4, 2009 @ 10:05 pm
I’m pretty sure if Baneslayer is not reprinted in M11, its price will drop like a rock. Yes, it sees play in Extended, but it also has a lot of viable competition for the finisher slot in that format. Especially from things like Goyf, which is also just a dude, but an even more efficient dude.
Which is to say, spending upwards of $40 per card is probably a bad choice for a card that might only be in Standard for another 8-ish months, and is, as mentioned above, completely dependent on metagame choices. Really, supply and demand is probably the ONLY reason it’s so expensive, and not because of its power levels on a Goyf or Bitterblossom level. Baneslayer is, I think, a card that is completely optional to have unless you’re making a living playing the game. Although I suppose that could be applied to any high-dollar card…
Comment by Rick — November 4, 2009 @ 10:06 pm
One thing that would be really good advice would be whether a current buy can be suggested based on the value it could be sold for based on its success in extended. In other words, it would be great if we had a tool or model for knowing how much prices change based on being a chase card in standard and a chase card in the follow extended season once it has left standard. I bet you could do the math on a bunch of sales figures and provide advice based on past correlations between standard highs and extended highs. We all know Goyf worked out but how often do other cards do it?
Comment by Michael — November 4, 2009 @ 10:09 pm
This is true. Baneslayer does see play in constructed AND extended. What next? Vintage? Maybe. Who knows. It has always been a solid card with plenty of icing. What might irk people is that it costs 5 mana, doesn’t have protection from Red or Black, and is vulnerable to kill/removal/counter spells. With the latter dying out Baneslayer has less to worry about when it comes to it being wiped off the board. Plus, all this mana ramping, exalted, and whatnot in-between extended strategies, it comes out a lot faster than expected. It’s so good that it, mind me, has to be protected like a queen; insert LSV reference here. Once it’s out your opponent has to do something about it.
Why is it worth almost $50? Well, yeah, it is a bit striking to see it go for that much. There will always be a little bit of resentment for the card being that pricey. This is due to people wanting it so much at an affordable price. And for one, it’s a true Mythic. If people dislike it so much, then play another kind of deck that doesn’t use it. It’s not like this is the only card in Magic history to shoot sky high. See Power 9 and all other goodies on most restricted/banned lists. The true question is this: will Baneslayer be the new restricted card? The way it’s going now, no way.
Better cards will come, and when in doubt - Extract.
Comment by j. — November 4, 2009 @ 10:40 pm
but now the really business in mtgo is play m10, i mean, you know all the prices of the cards? honor of the pure 3, great sable 3, earthquake 2, garruk 13, liliana 5, ajani 8, jace 7, time warp 9, baneslayer 50 !!!!
Comment by Chilperic0 — November 4, 2009 @ 10:42 pm
M11 will negatively impact the price of BS Angel. If it is reprinted, supply will increase. If isn’t, demand will decline. That said, will it be driven above $50 in the next 5-6 months? Probably pretty close to it.
Apparently, Baneslayer has shown up in Legacy as well…
Comment by Bogey — November 4, 2009 @ 11:27 pm
Note to self: Never trade a card away if it is worth $16 at the time. I did this with Goyf and with Baneslayer. I want to kill myself (not really, but wtf Wizards knows that card should not have been Mythic…fuck “angels,” the card SHOULD BE PLAYED IN EVERY SINGLE DECK THAT CAN CAST IT)
Comment by Blind Fremen — November 5, 2009 @ 12:40 am
Am I the only one who agrees that Jar Jar Sphinx will probably go up?
Comment by Akrolsmir — November 5, 2009 @ 12:50 am
Two things are interesting to me about Baneslayer. (And you mentioned neither of them Jeremy, but that’s ok.
)
First, as Rick touched on is the issue of whether it will be printed in M11. (Though you are mistaken Rick, there’s 11 months left in M10 because cores rotate with blocks now.) If it gets reprinted, prices will come down but still this card will remain expensive and potentially dominate Standard for another year. But if it doesn’t, that makes this $$$ card very short-lived and thus a painful investment. I feel like either way Wizards wins and the players … not so much.
The other thing that interests me is that now the online price is potentially pushing higher than the paper price. At the very least they are neck-and-neck at 48-49. Now the two prices are attached because of redemption, and that sucked a lot of them out of MTGO too. But still it was a couple bucks cheaper in digital form for most of it’s life, as is usually the case. If the price order reverses that will make those redemptions look foolish, and may serve as disincentive to future redemptions.
Comment by Amarsir — November 5, 2009 @ 1:11 am
It went under my radar because i thought its not much better than the lifeling angel with exalted from alara
ouch
Silence is such an obvious bad card, i still lough about the people who hyped it.
Comment by True Magic — November 5, 2009 @ 1:53 am
I’m pretty sure M10 will be type 2 for two years, since they changed the rules - so maybe I’m missing something, but I don’t see why it should drop so much when M11 is released.
I still think Baneslayer is slightly overrated, since most of the time you trade it (and 5 mana) for something that costs 3 at best - but it is of course dominant to the point it warps decks to have white or black for answers.
The Battlegrace Angel was actually constructed worthy, even though people never noticed - but the Cascade Blast didn’t make her life easy.
Comment by Will — November 5, 2009 @ 3:47 am
Even if jwar jwar does start getting played everywhere, that’ll possibly still drive baneslayer upwards.. If everybody’s playing 5/5’s for 6 without first strike then playing a 5/5 for 5 with first strike becomes better, surely.
Comment by StealthBadger — November 5, 2009 @ 3:52 am
The big question here is about M11. Nobody knows how many cards of the set will be M10 reprints, and few wrong choices can lead to a sales failure. I think M11 has to contain at least 80% of M10, with a higher rate considering rares and mythics. Lots of people complain about spending big money to build a deck that will last for “just 2 years”, imagine if the most important card lives for a single year, not just talking about the angel here, but also the planeswalkers and dual lands. I know an almost reprint set wouldn´t be much appealing, but a set with no credibility would be even worse, targeted only by hardcore players who must have all the cards for tournaments, not the players a Core Set should be designed for.
Comment by ArnaldoQ — November 5, 2009 @ 4:41 am
I won an FNM draft and got first pick of the rares… foil foerign Baneslayer A(and a Garruk).
Traded that and a few old fetches for my playset. Yay me.
Comment by Someguy — November 5, 2009 @ 5:01 am
Whoops… totally forgot core rotates with blocks! I think my point still stands, though. And I think its application past Extended is pretty limited. Who hardcasts 5cc creatures in Legacy/Vintage? And if you cheat it into play, there are better cards for that purpose.
Yeah, it’s a good card, but there’s no way it will retain its value over the long term, and I’d only buy it in the short term if I absolutely needed it. Or if I found it super cheap, and then flipped it for profit.
Comment by Rick — November 5, 2009 @ 6:04 am
So, an asset has shot way up in price, everybody wants it, and buyers and the “media” are saying that it is a sure thing that it won’t go down.
Where have I heard this before?
Comment by GyantSpyder — November 5, 2009 @ 6:29 am
I’m sure they’ll put Baneslayer in M11. It was a very popular card, and not everyone got to play with it because of the shortage. I just hope that it doesn’t feel so busted by then.
Comment by Andy — November 5, 2009 @ 7:13 am
I cast a 7 mana dude in Legacy all the time (Eternal Dragon). Baneslayer could easily see play in White Stax or Landstill. It’s certainly not commonplace at the moment, but it has the potential to make the transition, possibly as a sideboard card.
Comment by RogueMTG — November 5, 2009 @ 7:14 am
that’s exactly why it’s a cash cow. pretty soon everyone will be eating baneslayer steak for dinner. Wotc will come up with a creature that will specifically kill angels and then the playing field will be level once again. “they stab it with their steely knives, but they just can’t kill the beast”
Comment by Dman — November 5, 2009 @ 7:31 am
Lol, a demon that specifically kills angels you mean? gg on that one. And the housing crash comment I had to laugh at, nice one lol.
I have 3 baneslayers, If I run a deck with them I’ll either have to borrow the 4th or eat it and only run 3, 50$ is an insane price for any “normal” magic player.
Comment by Jonathan — November 5, 2009 @ 7:33 am
What’s funny is no matter how good she is, I really do prefer Jar Jar Sphynx over her. To me the shroud is more important.
All across the Hawaii PT people were looking, scrambling, panting, & stressed cuz they needed something with shroud. Uril, the Miststalker was hardly found anywhere. “Protection from X” bears were played, Ethersworn Shieldmage, found an awesome home in Kiblers Esper Stoneblade deck, Wall of Denial, and even Lavalanche saw fair play.
Now players are facing the same dilemma. Tons of targeted removal, DoJ (which I think is amazing & other people apparently think is a dog atm), Essence Scatters, Walls and even first strikers are grazing to the top of players decks. And I’d gladly play Jar Jar over BSA just on the lone fact my opponents “crads” will bottleneck in their grip.
Comment by amos c — November 5, 2009 @ 7:36 am
i jumped on this bandwagon at 80 per playset and now im looking at a 140% return on my investment - i think if my luck streak holds i might just sell my magic collection and start prospecting currency or something, get really really rich and buy it back lol
Comment by cgriff19 — November 5, 2009 @ 9:25 am
Loving the comments.. I never said that this was an investment that will never drop in price though. It is indeed extremely risky considering all the circumstances (rotation, new sets, etc) but if you need them in your deck, the substitutes aren’t that great (except maybe maybe the Sphinx) and that is why I said I don’t see the price dropping soon.
It is also true that Baneslayer has shown her face in Legacy. This could help argument of justifying that its worth the investment (ie. “It’s like Tarmogoyf”)
I think that’s what you really have to think about in the end.. There is no question that the price will drop when it rotates out of Standard. But will it rebound like Tarmogoyf and to some extent Jitte? Or will it stay down after it drops like many other power rares through history?
@ Michael: That is a very interesting topic, especially since there are cards that come out in new sets that are useless in Std but are tier one in Ext (Hexmage for example). I guess they make better long term investments, but will have less upside? I’m definitely gonna work on this one….
@ Gyantspider: Good one though.. *shuddering at the fact that someone called me “media”* =/
Comment by Jeremy Fuentes — November 5, 2009 @ 9:48 am
When talking about investment and Magic it always comes to the card’s climax of awesomeness. Right now it’s Baneslayer Angel. People are going to try and make big bucks off of it, but what does the Magic player gain? He/she gains a really powerful card that will last until something better comes along. Not to say that there might be an equivalent counter-creature or an even bigger angel with better stats, this may happen in due time, but I’m pretty sure that all the marketers and Wizards themselves are happy as a pig in mud to see Baneslayer become this popular.
One word: eBay.
It’s sad, but Baneslayer will make others gawk and want her as soon as they want to utilize her. Perhaps someone is out there to wants their playset just for aesthetic appeal or sitting on them thinking that they will become economically beneficial in the end. Rather, it will drop about $5-$10 once it rotates. The fact that it remains strong in Extended is what will make it stay as is. Once an approximate of two core sets come and go MAYBE then she’ll drop like a fly. That is to say that there may be a shift on Magic’s focal point.
We’ve seen this with Counterspells being nerfed up the ying-yang, so perhaps this current stretch in Magic formats is emphasizing more on Aggro. Combo will always be subtle in and of itself when it comes to construcing decks and what not. Control might come later, but probably once Cryptic Command cycles out of Extended; seeing that it is one of the best counters to come out in a while, even if it isn’t used a lot. “But that’s an eternity from now!” Possibly, but will there will be a Force of Will-ish card to come out and be just as expensive in a matter of a year? I certainly hope so.
Jar Jar Sphinx over Baneslayer? It might be the poor man’s angel, but I don’t think it will raise in price seeing that there is a better card. Funny thing is that Shroud is much more relevant than Baneslayer’s protections. The fact that it has First strike and Lifelink will make it most prominent in relevant formats. Sphinx will stay as it is, maybe raise about $1.50 max.. but it won’t be as expensive as Baneslayer. Still a good card in ZEN drafts and uprising U/W or U/W/x Control in Standard; it’s not prevalent, yet it’ll bloom if good cards come to support the strategy, ala Baneslayer
As of now, all we can do is brew, brew, brew. It never hurts and no one should be intimidated by Baneslayer. After all, it is a card. One can easily give up on Magic if they wanted to, or continue to do other things with what is out and what will be.
Comment by j, — November 5, 2009 @ 11:01 am
Akrolsmir wrote: “Am I the only one who agrees that Jar Jar Sphinx will probably go up?”
sorry akroslmir, unfortunateley this card does not follow the baneslayer trend, as sphinx of jwar isle is 6 mana, which is a huge difference in playability in extended compared to 5. It is also only rare, and much more zendikar will be opened than M10, which means the market will be flooded with them, not to mention you wouldnt really want to run 4 most of the time, ast least not all decks running it will run 4, unlike baneslayer. It wont save you if you are about to die, its just a win condition. baneslayer is generally good no matter when its played, as it can get you out of most dire situations and get you stabilized if it doesnt get killed, sphinx is harder to kill, but wont save you from an alpha strike . Zendikar is flooded as well, fetchlands have actually dropped in price, so anyone tryign to “invest” in zendikar is pretty out of luck for the time being… wait till it stops being printed and things will probably rise in zendikar..
Comment by Blazeboy — November 5, 2009 @ 11:59 am
i got mine for a garuk.
Comment by bigpapamulls — November 5, 2009 @ 12:55 pm
I can’t wait till they print some relevant counterspells in standard. Then U/W Control will be amazing! Or even some type of U/G/W for mana ramp. If that happens look for the scorned Cobra to be better than everyone thinks! Especially along side Cashslayer. 300$ standard deck anyone?
Comment by Wormmaster — November 5, 2009 @ 1:08 pm
“Baneslayer is worth a lot.
The end.”
laughed a lot.
Comment by Kenseiden — November 5, 2009 @ 1:40 pm
I don’t know where you all got your info on core sets at but Wizards announced that there will be a new Core set every July… has nothing to do with blocks.
“Beginning with the Magic 2010 core set, all Magic core sets will be releasing annually in July instead of biannually. The core set currently scheduled for release in July 2010 will follow the same pattern and will be the Magic 2011 core set.”
Comment by Javier — November 5, 2009 @ 7:53 pm
Javier:
They will be released in July but will rotate with the fall large blocks, so every summer there will be an overlap when two core sets are legal at the same time. Check it out: http://www.wizards.com/magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/feature/27a
Comment by Rick — November 5, 2009 @ 8:24 pm
Rishadan Pawnshop #16 – Why Baneslayer Flies So High…
Your story has been summoned to the battlefield - Trackback from MTGBattlefield…
Trackback by MTGBattlefield — November 6, 2009 @ 12:57 am
Re: M11, it seems likely that Baneslayer Angel will be reprinted in M11 because Tom LaPille mentioned playing it alongside “Lights” cards in the WotC Future Future League: http://wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/ld/60
M10 rotates out as Lights rotates in so …
Comment by Thomas David Baker — November 7, 2009 @ 5:26 am
The Sphinx v.s Baneslayer agrument is dumb. I play jund people assume there abosultly no way I can deal with Sphinx WRONG! And the only reason Sphinx sees play over baneslayer is cause of jund. Baneslayer decks are pretty common to run into, so what happens when your sphinx runs into baneslayer. You lose thats what happens end of story. Youy neglect her lifegain factor and the jund deck kills you feeling stupd. Thats what keeps happening when I face the Sphinx. plus I run nighthawks which kills sphinx, or causes me to out race sphinx when droped.
Baneslayer is borderline Broken. We don’t think of it as broken, cause broken has always been combo. But she is broken on a creature v.s creature scale, which is what standard is. Yeah she’s dies to removal, so what. I play jund I’ll tell you what I’m not always holding a removal spell its a card game even if it takes you your 3rd baneslayer to get in there if I can’t kill it I lose. That happens more offen now then we’d like to think. Sometimes I draw too many creatures so I can’t kill it. get mana screwed, flood, etc.
The metagame decks have become separated bewteeen who owns the baneslayers and who doesn’t. I hope they print out creatures of each color thats at her level. That would bring down her demand.
Comment by Agrrotactics — November 7, 2009 @ 2:06 pm
Shouldn’t BSA drop in price whether it’s reprinted in M11 or not?
If it rotates out of standard - drop a little.
If M11 doubles the amount of baneslayers floating around - drop a little.
Either way it’s a win.
Comment by Jack — November 7, 2009 @ 5:58 pm
i doubt she will be reprinted. i don’t think wizards likes $50 “barriers” in standard. though bsa would help sell M11 somewhat, having a hugely expensive card in standard will probably turn players off, which will be worse for them in the long run. What’s really nutty is that bsa isn’t even played in the best deck or even half the decks of standard, and even less in ext and legacy. Unlike goyf, which is used 4x everywhere and now costs less than bsa. I’m still trying to figure why she is so in demand… is everyone running rubin zoo all of a sudden?
Comment by rc13 — November 7, 2009 @ 10:13 pm
I’m with you, rc13. So few decks actually seem to run her. I haven’t been able to play a whole lot of Magic lately, but when I have, I rarely see white decks, let alone BSA decks. The chicken/egg argument, though, is whether I’m seeing fewer Angels because white isn’t popular, or am I seeing less white because Angels are so expensive? I’m guessing the first, because when Goyf and Bitterblossom were at that price level, they were still *everywhere*. One could make the global economy argument, but Magic’s doing better now than it has in a long time (maybe ever). So… I think Baneslayer is a good creature, but not dominating. Otherwise we’d see more of it.
Comment by Rick — November 8, 2009 @ 6:36 am
I’d say what you’re really revealing is the nature of Mythic Rares. With Mythic Rares you can get Tarmogoyf level prices without having to have Tarmogoyf level play. Future Sight was a set with 60 rares - every 60 packs would get you a Tarmogoyf. You only get a Baneslayer Angel every 121 packs of M2010. Let’s hope we never see a Mythic Rare Tarmogoyf-equivalent.
Also, although Tarmogoyf was a better Spike card, Baneslayer is a Timmy card as well as a Spike card, so demand will be somewhat higher for that reason.
Comment by JonathanW — November 8, 2009 @ 11:08 pm