Even if the deck itself does not remain relevant post-Pro Tour, the artifact creature still has a chance at squeezing into an array of other builds. The fact Hangarback is the cheaper of the two rares makes little sense to me – this is my favorite target coming out of the new U/W Control deck. Hangarback Walker gives so much more value and doesn’t depend on artifacts to work. Moving forward, I definitely prefer Hangarback Walker over Thopter Spy Network. The blue sorcery could be devastating to token-based strategies, but if it remains only in sideboards then its price potential isn’t too great. He did include two copies of Displacement Wave in the sideboard, which I will definitely be keeping my eye on going forward. Hoogland’s deck ran a few other Origins cards, but only Commons and Uncommons in the main deck. Not only did he set me straight on Thopter Spy Network, he also expressed overlapping sentiment on Hangarback Walker.

I was one click away before pulling the trigger on buying a set when I decided to consult with a trustworthy source, MTG Price’s own Jim Casale. The card enables card draw – something control decks thrive on – and it even combos well with Darksteel Citadel (useful artifact land in the deck) and Hangarback Walker, which leaves behind even more flying thopter dudes when it dies. Jeff Hoogland’s creative use of the blue enchantment is likely a significant catalyst to this movement. But over the last couple days we saw the price tag jump from $1 to over $3. He also included two copies of Thopter Spy Network to work in cooperation along with Hangarback Walker.Īgain we have a card that was deemed as virtual bulk when it began its life at a buck. Hangarback Walker wasn’t the only Origins card that made Hoogland’s deck new and exciting. Being from Origins, if this card shows any mainstay then it’ll have a shot at maintaining that $10 price tag in a couple months. If it gets even more successful camera time today, I could easily see this hitting $10 for a day, then settling in the $5-$7 range in the short term. With these qualities, I’m certainly going to be keeping a close watch on this card. Hangarback Walker also fits into numerous builds because of its colorless casting cost – potential breakout Standard cards are often the cards that work in multiple archetypes. I really like Jeff’s comment that this card can be a relevant 2-drop. Putting little at stake, I grabbed a playset to have on hand in case this card really breaks out. But after watching Hoogland’s deck tech, I slowly warmed up to the card. Artifacts with XX in their casting cost haven’t been good since Chalice of the Void. After yesterday’s appearance throughout SCG Chicago live coverage, Hangarback Walker bumped up a tad more, solidifying its status as non-bulk…at least for now. But it didn’t take long for the artifact creature to move higher. When this rare began trading on TCG Player, it was immediately condemned to near-bulk status preselling in the $1.50 range. Consider the only creature in the deck, for starters: Hangarback Walker. What sparked the most interest to me in this deck were the Origins cards that played a significant role in its strategy. He was even called upon to do a well-deserved deck tech. Jeff Hoogland’s innovative U/W Control deck received decent camera time on Saturday. With this context in mind, I want to touch on a few observations I’ve made so far along with my recommendations and cautions. I had the pleasure of watching a couple games on camera throughout Saturday, and I look forward to watching more later today (being Sunday). This can lead to some pretty crazy price movements. After all, Origins has only been available for a week now and supply of any singles from the set are dangerously thin. It always seems like a handful of cards get all the attention, inevitably leading to sudden price spikes.

Watching the first large Standard tournament after a new set’s release can cause a lot of early hype for cards getting camera time. On center stage we could watch players battle with updated decks at the Chicago Star City Games Open. The first weekend of any new set’s legality in Standard is always an exciting one and Origins was no exception. Magic Origins is upon us, and last weekend we had the opportunity to watch the new cards in action.

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