A couple weeks ago, I wrote up a different perspective from my normal box report articles. This week, let’s jump back to that article and see what’s happened since the Pro Tour.

Now normally, I open a case of each set and break down the value per box so you guys get a sense of exactly what can lie behind the plastic packaging of the box and wrappers. Let’s just start out with my best box and then go from there. Here’s what was in the box, updated with cards that are newly relevant as well.

Hour of Devastation Box Report

Valuable Cards of Note

• Nicol Bolas, God-Pharaoh $19
• The Scorpion God $4.5
• Uncage the Menagerie $2
• 2 Earthshaker Kenhara $5
• Champion of Wits $4
• God-Pharaoh's Gift $2
• Solemnity $4
• 2 Fraying Sanity $2.5
• Nimble Obstructionist $2.5
• Ammit Eternal $1.5
• Torrent of Hailfire $2
• Hour of Devastation $6
• Hour of Promise $2
• Rhonas's Last Stand Bulk
• Mirage Mirror $3
• Foil Ramunap Hydra $1.50
• Supreme Will $1
• Abrade $2
• Claim // Fame $1

Previous Box Total: $58
New Box Total: $73

I was hoping that by adding Earthshaker Kenhara, Champion of Wits and God-Pharaoh's Gift that they would have increased the total box value considerably, but they only ended adding an additional $15 overall due to the adjusting prices. Bumping the box up to $73 helps quite a bit, but it still leaves us losing money by opening it.

What have your experiences been with these boxes? Have they been as low value as this one? Or did I just get unlucky with my boxes as well as those others I’ve seen? Let me know in the comments.

So Where Does That Leave Us?

Well, even though my box was still underwhelming, I have some other real-time info for you guys about price increases this week. Let’s take a look at the ones I mentioned last time, see where they are at and then jump into the recent developments.

First up, we have Nicol Bolas. He didn’t do so well at the Pro Tour, but his price stayed virtually the same. I think this Grixis planeswalker will stick around the $15 to $20 range for a while. If you’ve played against this guy, you know he’s a force to be reckoned with and worth building your deck around.

Tons of strategies are adopting Champion of Wits because of the filter effect, the body and the second use once you hit seven mana. The embalm is incredible in a format with few ways to gain card advantage.

Unsurprisingly to me, Dreamstealer has dropped further in price. I’d guess this was the worst card from the deck a couple weeks ago. A 1/2 for three mana just won’t cut it these days in Standard. Even though it has menace and eternalize on top of his sweet ability, he’s just not good enough. He should stay bulk because that’s where he belongs.

Mono Red saw a ton of camera time at this event also, and the fun new card from Hour this deck picked up was Earthshaker Kenhenra. This efficient threat is no longer a bulk rare, so I hope you got yours when I recommended it a couple weeks ago. It should retain its value in the $3 to $5 range, because it will most likely see play for its duration in Standard.

I also mentioned the strong uncommon from the set, Abrade and Supreme Will. Both are amazing and seeing tons of play. I still think Supreme Will is great for Modern and Abrade may also be good enough as well. For prices, Supreme Will may have stayed the same at $1, but Abrade doubled up to $2. With how many decks are playing Abrade, I think it could climb even higher than that as well. The full-art promo for Game Day might hold it back a bit, though.

There were a couple other cards that have increased since I wrote my last article, and Crested Sunmare is one of them. My main complaint with Sunmare was never that it wasn’t good enough, but rather that there were no enablers. We need something like Soul Warden in order to turn it on. Well, budget players have figured out a way to do it: just use lifelink creatures. That is not quite as good as Soul Warden, but what is? You can make a Horse by attacking with Lone Rider or another card further down this list. That seems okay, and so does the price bump up to $6.50.

Okay, I actually thought we were past the it’s-a-mill-card-so-it’s-worth-money era, but apparently not. This may be old news, but this is a thing apparently. More notable than the $4 regular price is the $8 foil price.

I’m not sure relying on a seven-mana artifact is a great idea in a format with Abrade, but players at the Pro Tour still sleeved up God-Pharaoh's Gift and went to battle with it. I don’t think this $2 price will sustain itself, but it doesn’t have much lower to drop. I’ll unload the ones I have quickly to ride the hype train.

The first non-Hour card on my list is Angel of Invention. The Blue-White Monument decks picked up this piece of tech to replace Cloudblazer and add a more aggressive line to their decks. If you get behind against Oketra's Monument, you’re in trouble, especially if they follow up with Angel of Invention. I’ve always thought this card was very playable, so the $6 price makes a lot of sense to me. I think it should stick around that number for a while, and there’s a lot of potential for this card for many seasons as well.

Lastly today, it was a nice surprise to see Chandra, Torch of Defiance bump up this week. There’s been a lot of bold comparisons toting her as the red Jace, the Mindsculptor, and she’s finally gaining some traction in Standard. I’ve been playing her since she was released, because yes, she is that good. Not Mind Sculptor good, but the next step down. To be fair, no one is Mind Sculptor good – but this Chandra at $33 is believable because of the impact she’s having right now across the format.

Alright, well that’s all for me today. I hope you enjoyed this article looping back around to my box report and keeping you informed about what’s happening with some prices in Standard. What do you think: will this red deck stick around, or will it get hated out of the format now that everyone knows about it? Let me know in the comments.

Until next time,
Unleash the Force!

Mike Lanigan
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