High Noon is all over the Pioneer format. If you’re planning on playing in the Regional Championship series, that is currently underway, you’re likely already aware of this card. While High Noon only accomplishes two things, the first of those things is absolutely crucial in Pioneer right now.
Everyone Wants to Dump Their Hand
- Mana Value: 1W
- Rarity: Rare
- Card Type: Enchantment
- Sets: Outlaws of Thunder Junction
- Card Text: Each player can’t cast more than one spell each turn. 4R: Sacrifice High Noon: It deals 5 damage to any target.
So many different Pioneer decks want to cast multiple spells in a turn. Whether you’re playing Izzet Phoenix, any of the aggressive Leyline of Resonance decks, or Hidden Strings, casting multiple spells in a turn is crucial to the game plan of many top-tier decks. This is not the case for UW Control, which is considered by many to be one of, if not, the best deck in the Pioneer format. Since High Noon counteracts so many different decks, the card is now seeing maindeck play in the decks that can afford to play around its symmetrical effect, including UW Control.
Hidden Strings and Izzet Phoenix both depend on casting a large chain of spells to win the game, which means that High Noon basically locks them out until it’s dealt with. While Leyline of Resonance decks can still deal heavy damage with High Noon in play, it significantly slows down their clock. This is usually enough time for decks that play High Noon to stabilize.
Because High Noon significantly slows down the clock for aggressive decks in the Pioneer format, the card is even seeing sideboard play in the very archetypes that it screws over. Because High Noon can be removed with its own ability, decks that need to win without this card on the board have a clean way of getting rid of it when High Noon is no longer needed.
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The Spike
Last Month, High Noon wasn’t even worth 40 cents. For all intents and purposes, this was a bulk rare from Outlaws of Thunder Junction. After picking up a ton of steam in the Pioneer format, the card is now commonly selling for between $2 and $3. The highest the card has sold for since the beginning of October is $9.
Of course, because we are in Regional Championship season, the demand for High Noon is likely inflated. There are a lot of Pioneer players who want to bring some number of copies of this card to events and a number more that may be speculating on this card because of how popular it has become.
Even outside of Pioneer, High Noon is a capable card. As unfun as this card may be for your Commander table, if you only want to cast one spell per turn, or want to counter your opponent’s spells, High Noon is a good card. If a problematic threat manages to break through, you can get rid of High Noon to deal with it. The card is also Standard legal, and sees some experimentation there, as well.
Whether or not High Noon’s price spike continues almost exclusively depends on how it performs in the Regional Championship series. Regional Championship Washington, DC is this weekend as is likely the biggest event of the season. So if High Noon performs well this weekend, it could see another surge in price.
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