Since Edge of Eternities was officially released at the start of August, MTG players have been watching Standard closely. Thanks to rotation, it was a given that the format was going to see a significant shake-up. While we did see a bunch of new and emergent decks for a time, we’ve reached a point where the Standard metagame has seemingly stabilized.
Sadly, Standard stabilizing isn’t exactly a good thing, as it looks like there’s a new tier zero deck running amok. At the moment, Vivi Cauldron decks are nigh unbeatable and are everywhere at the top of competitive events. While there are a few sets on the horizon, Standard is in a sorry state until the November bans happen.
Despite this massively concerning problem, Standard is still flourishing. Well, that appears to be the case, looking at the MTG markets at least. Recently, one of the format’s best lands has been steadily creeping up in price, showing players aren’t scared to invest right now.
Soulstone Sanctuary
Originally released as part of MTG Foundations, Soulstone Sanctuary has only been around for a year or so. In that time, the card hasn’t been colossally popular, but it is one of Standard’s better creature lands. While it can only produce colorless mana, entering untapped and becoming a 3/3 with Vigilance makes it surprisingly versatile.
On top of being a useful damage outlet if you have extra mana, Soulstone Sanctuary also has every creature type. This has caused the card to be fairly popular in Commander, especially within Typal decks. While Standard doesn’t have a lot of uses for this specific niche, it’s still a versatile and useful tool.
By virtue of being a difficult-to-remove body and a source of extra damage, Soulstone Sanctuary has steadily seen more and more play since rotation. Now that the format has slowed down after the June bans, Soulstone has time to stick around and be useful. This has led to it seeing play within the vast majority of tier one decks in the format.
Izzet Cauldron, Dimir Midrange, Mono-Red Aggro, Mono Black Demons, and more are all running Soulstone Sanctuary at the moment. While few of these decks are running a full playset, the sheer volume of decks that are playing this card is immense. Due to this, it’s no wonder that demand for Soulstone has been steadily increasing, along with its price.
The Spike
While demand for Soulstone Sanctuary has been fairly consistent since the recent bans, there has been a notable uptick in sales post-rotation. Now, around 30 near-mint copies of Soulstone are being sold each day, which used to be considered a peak before. As usual, this increased demand has steadily sapped supply, which in turn has caused prices to increase.
In the middle of July, copies of Soulstone Sanctuary were selling for around $1.35 on average. Notably, this price does mark a low point over the card’s lifespan, as it has fluctuated quite a lot. Between December and May, the average price hovered around $3 on average, so it’s never been particularly expensive.
Technically, the same is true at the moment. Currently, the listed median price for a copy of Soulstone Sanctuary is $5 exactly. Not only are prices steadily climbing across the board, but recent TCGplayer Direct sales are going for $6.99.
Sadly, if you’re in the market for a copy of Soulstone Sanctuary, you’ll have to spend at least $4 right now. While a few near-mint copies are available for this price, the majority of cheaper copies are foils. While not outright forbidden, these cards certainly aren’t preferred for tournament play due to potential issues.
Notably, despite being a rare, there aren’t any other variants of Soulstone Sanctuary, outside of a prerelease promo card. This means the supply for Soulstone is surprisingly limited, especially for nonfoil copies. In theory, this could mean that the price spike Soulstone is currently seeing might just be beginning.
The Future and the Past
Looking ahead, it seems like Soulstone Sanctuary has now solidified its place within Standard. Since the format has slowed down, there’s enough time in games for this card to be a true staple. That being said, just because it’s suitable now doesn’t mean that it will always be. With two Standard legal sets yet to be released this year, the metagame could easily shift.
While the power level of the MTG Spider-Man set does appear to be lower, Avatar: The Last Airbender is a big question mark. This set could easily contain a few constructed gems that flip the metagame on its head. On top of this, it seems inevitable that we’ll be getting new bans in November to curb Vivi Ornitier’s dominance.
If, or rather when, this happens, the Standard metagame will once again be thrown into a state of flux. That said, banning Vivi should slow things down, allowing Soulstone Sanctuary to remain viable. Whether or not this will actually happen, however, remains to be seen.
Notably, this isn’t the first time that Soulstone Sanctuary has spiked in price. Back in December, Soulstone spiked from $1.17 to $4.37, which was also a 270% price spike. Obviously, this spike didn’t last forever, as prices eventually fell back to $1.35. Potentially, this could well happen again in the coming months.
Admittedly, while Soulstone Sanctuary has fluctuated in price several times, the current Standard metagame does seem more stable. In theory, this should similarly keep the price of Soulstone stable, but we’ll have to wait and see about that.
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