How to Defeat the Hype of Banefire
February 12, 2009 by Mark Ian
Filed under Magic The Gathering
I have been observing the prices of Conflux since it was released and I was a bit overwhelmed with the prices. They are so freaking expensive. The top Conflux cards based on the prices are Nicol Bolas Planeswalker, Noble Hierarch, Banefire and Maelstrom Archangel. The elder dragon got the highest price, ranging around 20 dollars a piece. (Wtf!) Banefire also experienced the hype with a price of 10 to 11 dollars, equivalent to around 500 pesos here in my area. I’d rather take my chances in buying booster packs instead.
I don’t know the real reason why they cost at such a high price but I’m certain that it was the hype. Because of that, I decided to write this topic. To be honest, Banefire is my favorite card in the set. Its really good if you got six or more mana to play it. That doesn’t mean that the price will be that much. The uncounterable and unpreventable spell is awesome but you can always find ways to deal with it. Here are my suggestions.
Discard – Blightning, Esper Charm and Thoughtseize will come in handy on this. Vendilion Clique can also be considered. You just have to observe if you’re opponent is going for a Banefire finish. Perfect timing is the key.
Redirection – This covers all the target changing spells in the current Standard (Swerve, Shunt, Wild Ricochet, etc.). This is perfect especially if both of you are in low life. Just imagine the look in your opponent’s face as his Banefire kills himself.
Play Fatties – Banefire will be commonly used as a game ender, dealing the final damage to your face. What if you play a threat? A fatty creature, a Colossus for example. He would probably aim the sorcery at it. That is what I noticed when I play against red burn. Diverting their attention to your threat instead of your face is a good strategy.
Mana Disruption – This would probably mean going into land destruction mode and prevent them from reaching six mana. The bad side is that this strategy is lame and ineffective in the current metagame. You can stick with Manabarbs and Mistbind Clique though.
Runed Halo – Just name “Banefire” and it will do all the job for you. An all-in-one package deal.
This is so far what I can think of and suggest. I’m hoping these can be convincing enough to put the price of Banefire in a normal and acceptable level. We’ll see if it will happen. (crossing fingers)
Honestly I think the best thing about Banefire is how badass Sarkhan Vol looks while casting it.
While I agree that that price is a little steep. I’ve felt that a lot of cards in shards have been overpriced. I got Banefire in my first conflux booster pack and I also got some other choice rares in following packs. I’m planning on grabbing a box of conflux and getting most of the desired cards I need.
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Just to comment here like I mentioned on Twitter, Fireball-type spells usually do pretty well in Standard. Demonfire used to be worth $10 or more when it was in Standard as well, and it’s inferior to Banefire in just about every way (Demonfire removes the creature, only plus side to it). Anything that can negate counterspells usually has a shot at being pretty good. Split Second was and still is pretty good because of this.
I haven’t been super active in Standard recently so I don’t quite know whether Banefire will be that great or not, but even if it won’t be, it’s still in the “hype” phase; first couple weeks after these spells come out. It’s tough to judge prices then. After people figure out when it’s good or not is when the price will settle to what it “should” be.
But yeah, Runed Halo and Wild Richochet seem like pretty sweet tech against it and other things in Standard right now.
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@Norman: Yes, other cards are overpriced too. Volcanic Fallout & Path to Exile to be specific.
@Ben: I just hope Banefire would be 2 dollars lesser than the current price.
Thanks for sharing your opinion guys!