Set: Magic 2015
Release Date: June, 2014
Set Info: Big, Summer, Core set
Where it Sees Play: Everywhere in Standard, in a few places in Modern and Legacy (more on this in a minute).
Price: $13.50. Up from $1 post M15 release. Down from $19.80 October 8.
Spread: 43 percent.
By now, we all know that Rabblemaster is good in standard, and it currently has a price tag that back this up. Thing is, we are getting closing in on the time of year when Standard cards peak and start their decline to rotation (and Rabblemaster may have peaked already). Mutavault, the most expensive rare in Magic 2014, peaked on January 21 last year at $36.50, hung around $35 for about a month, before starting to decline by the end of February. Today, Mutavault is $13.
Now, of course, Mutavault to Rabblemaster is not a perfect comparison. While Rabblemaster has proved to be perhaps equally powerful, Mutavault, being both a land and colorless, fits in so many decks, it’s not fair to simply say “because X happened to Mutavault, X will happen to Rabblemaster.”
At the same time, people are testing out Rabblemaster in both Modern and Legacy, which is a good thing for the goblins price post-rotation. In Modern, it took down a MTGO daily as a 3-of out of the board in Burn while in Legacy it has been a one of in various red stompy deck along with some random build of Sneak and Show and Jund.
Admittedly, this if fringe play. By the numbers, Rabblemaster sees about one-tenth of Mutavault’s play in Legacy and one-twentieth in Modern. This doesn’t mean that these numbers won’t go up in the future – not every cards can be a Deathrite Shaman that immediately breaks eternal formats. Some cards take the Stongeforge Mystic path, being obviously powerful, but missing something (for Stoneforge, Batterskull).
Given that the power is there (evidence by the fact that people are playing it), the question is, what could make Rabblemaster into a Stoneforge? The first thing that came to my mind is the unbanning of Bloodbraid Elf in Modern. Cascading into Rabblemaster seems almost as good as cascading into Liliana, and maybe even better in an aggressive build.
It’s also possible that a resurgence in Legacy Goblin could help Rabblemaster, but I’m not really sure the deck wants it (although it hard to tell at this point because no one is playing Goblin’s at the moment – you know when Cedric puts down the deck that it’s really in a bad place.)
For now, I’m treating Rabblemaster as a Standard staple with a bit of post-rotaiton potential, but it’s not a card that I feel comfortable holding through rotation, it just doesn’t see enough play, plus it’s a rare. I will, however, be keeping and eye on eternal deck lists, because the potential is there for Rabblemaster. Maybe not as a format staple, but as a player.
Finally, it’s worth noting that foil Rabblemasters are pretty inexpensive at the moment, having a foil multiplier of somewhere about 1.25. While this is likely a result of the Buy-A-Box promo, it’s still a bit strange, because normal foils version of other playable BOB promos including Surgical Extraction, Restoration Angel, Supreme Verdict, and Eidolon of Blossems all have a low-but-typical multiplier between 1.8 and 3. While $20 is still a lot to pay for a card that should be reaching it peak in a month or so (if it has not peaked already), it’s something else to keep an eye on, because eternal players love their foils.
Anyway, what’s your opinion of Rabblemasters post-rotation prospects? What else could happen to increase its level of play in Modern and Legacy? Let me know in the comments or on Twitter.
Saffron Olive's Magic Blog 