MTG Salvation

Quote from steve_man »

Asylum Visitor is now below $2 TCG mid.

Falkenrath Gorger is currently sitting at $2.08 TCG mid, should fall soon.

I got foils of both those cards for around $5, so fairly cheap to pimp out too.

Cheers,
rant

Thanks for the heads up, I'll add Asylum Visitor and keep an eye out for Falkenrath Gorger. Unfortunately, Tireless Tracker is well over $6 now, so that ship has sailed if you didn't get it for cheap early on.

Unfortunately, I've also had to trim quite a few cards from the list for going well over $2 recently. Allied pain lands, Lightning Bolt, Day of Judgment, Dismember, and a few other cheap eternal/modern staples have crept up over the past few months. However, Conspiracy 2 and Eternal Masters should bring some cheap reprints in a few months.

Falkenrath Gorger is now on the list!

Needs Farseek, Explore, Rampant Growth

Thanks for pointing this out. I hadn't noticed this before because I don't run them in my own cube (maybe I should be?), but Farseek and Rampant Growth are in the Cube Tutor 360 Average cube list, so that qualifies them for inclusion. Explore doesn't make the CT average lists until 720, I haven't seen it on many lists besides the MTGO lists, and my experiences with Explore in other formats have shown it to be unreliable, so I'm much more hesitant to include it on a list of cube staples.

Some of the cards in this list were starting to look a little dated, so I'm trimming the following cards that seem to be included on few, if any MTGS users lists, or even Cube Tutor Average 360:

Soltari Monk
Soltari Priest
Jazal Goldmane

Sphinx of Jwar Isle
Capsize

Bone Shredder
Consuming Vapors
Diabolic Servitude

Keldon Vandals
Devil's Play

Boon Satyr

Mortify
Sagu Mauler
Simic Sky Swallower

None of these cards are bad, in fact many of them were cube staples for quite some time. I'd even still recommend some of them as really solid budget placeholders (particularly Sphinx of Jwar Isle, Jazal Goldmane, and Diabolic Servitude), or they might very well work for your cube if you're going particularly deep on certain archetypes. However, it looks like most of the cube community has found better cards to replace these cards in their cubes, so I can't recommend them as cube staples that will remain in anyone's cube over the long haul.

Also, I've had to cut Duskwatch Recruiter because the price has spiked to over $2.50. Looks like it's this set's Young Pyromancer.
Llanowar Wastes is also over $2 now. I suspect that once C matters cards rotate out of Standard, they'll come back down again, and I still think that pain lands are the best budget fixing available, but for now it is too expensive for this list.


I do have a few additions, cards that I'd previously overlooked on CTA 360:

Tragic Slip
Murderous Cut
Harmonize

Finally, thanks to everyone who's been coming up with suggestions to add to this project. Not every suggestion can necessarily fit this list, but keeping track of prices and popularity of every cheap cube card is a big job. I really appreciate the help I've gotten from the rest of the community in keeping this list varied and fresh.

Welcome to the cheap seats, Zurgo Bellstriker!

Keep up the good work Spike Rogue! This is so useful !!! Thanks!

Sin Prodder is now under $2 (£1.50 in UK).

If I check the list against UK prices would you put it in the main post? No worries if you don't feel its necessary, the thread is a great resource without it.

2 Dollars = 1.39 Pounds, just for reference.

The thread is super usefull but US and UK pricing doesn't always line up so a budget card in the US mightn't be strictly budget in the UK.

For simplicity and clarity's sake, I'm going by the standard of TCG mid $2USD or less. Right now it's at $2.03 for Sin Prodder, it's one of a few cards I'm keeping my eye on that I expect to make the list any day now, and I'm sure you can find it cheaper than $2 somewhere. Your post is certainly welcome, though. This is the only active thread going about budget cubing, so it's a fine place to discuss deals and budget wonders, and there's no way I could keep track of all these cards and prices without help from the rest of the community.

As expected, Sin Prodder has dipped below the $2 mark. This little devil's sweet, so if you don't already have one for your cube get one before it finds a home in Standard!

Here are some new additions based on the recent update to Cube Tutor Average 360:

Whip of Erebos
Goblin Welder
Guttersnipe

They're not auto-includes for every cube, but each of these cards does help support certain archetypes very well.

I was hoping to have a more extensive update to this list based on Eternal Masters reprints, and EMA reprints have brought down the prices on a lot of cards, but the only commonly cubed card it's brought below $2 TCG mid is Braids, Cabal Minion.

It got reprinted in Eternal Masters as well. It didn't drop the price too much though.
$ 2.42 is the lowest at the moment.

That's a nice bunch of additions, I'll add them to the list as soon as I'm at a PC.

After double checking all of Steveman's suggestions against TCGPlayer Market Price (which is the standard I'll use now that it's effectively replaced TCG Mid) I am adding all of the following:

• Wharf Infiltrator
  
• Kessig Prowler
  
• Noose Constrictor
  
• Imprisoned in the Moon
  
• Abbot of Keral Keep
  
• Pia and Kiran Nalaar
  
• Lightning Bolt

Hanweir Garrison is at $2.01, so I'll check up on it again in the next few days to see if it qualifies.

Also, since the pricing standard I've used has changed, I'll go through the whole list when I have time in the new few weeks or so to make sure everything that's on the list still qualifies. It's probably a good idea for me to check up on this every so often anyways.

Noted and added. Monastery Swiftspear wasn't on my radar for cards about to go below $2, so thanks for the heads up on that steve_man!

Now that Conspiracy 2 has been mostly spoiled, I've checked up on the cube staples that have been reprinted, and it doesn't look like any current staples will come below $2. However, some prices have come down quite a bit. Phyrexian Arena, Inquisition of Kozilek, Birds of Paradise, and particularly Serum Visions will be at their lowest in years once CN2 is release.

As for new CN2 cards, I'll have to wait until after the set's been released to not only see what prices turn out to be, but also what kind of consensus forms around their viability in cube. We'll probably get some budget powerhouses from this set, even if they might not fit everyone's design goals.

I'm adding Serum Visions and Beast Within, being reprinted in CN2 as uncommons has absolutely tanked their price. I also feel confident enough about Arcane Savant's long-term viability for cubes that want this effect to add it now. I'm waiting for testing results on Subterranean Tremors, Grenzo, Havoc Raiser, the Conspiracies, and Monarch cards but all of these cards are well under the $2 mark, so you don't have much to lose by testing them now.

The Conspiracy 2 reprint of Phyrexian Arena is at $2.40 TCG Market price now. I'd be shocked if it goes much lower, so if you've been wanting to pick it up now's the time.

Nice finds! Looks like Hangarback's exactly $1.99, but I don't see that going back up with rotation right around the corner. Added along with Duskwatch Recruiter, Swords to Plowshares, Daze, Fiery Confluence, and Anguished Unmaking.

Some additions based on prices coming down:

Sarcomancy
Fiery Confluence

Some additions based on additions to Cubetutor Average 360:

Secure the Wastes
Blood Artist
Negate

It's not all good news, though. Here are some recent cuts based on prices that have risen:

Greater Gargadon - This used to be $0.50, but it's going for over $9 now. When the heck did that happen?!?
Ophiomancer