The MTG card High Noon has soared in price lately. It really started to pick up at the end of April, a few weeks after Tarkir Dragonstorm. Back then it cost just $0.60, according to MTG Goldfish, but now it’s up to $4 and still apparently rising.
Released in the Magic: The Gathering set Outlaws of Thunder Junction last year, High Noon is a ‘Rule of Law’ type enchantment that stops players casting more than one spell each turn. Unlike Rule of Law, however, there’s a built-in method for turning off the effect. You can pay five mana to sacrifice the card and fire off five damage at your opponent in the process.
This card’s price has been pretty bumpy, which makes perfect sense for a spell that’s main place is in the sideboard, and is therefore very dependent on what else is strong across the various metas. Last year we saw it jump from $1 to $4 as it became a key card for combatting Ruby Storm and Izzet Phoenix, but it soon slunk back down below its old price point.
Now it’s rising thanks to Standard play, as the Izzet Prowess deck, powered by the Tarkir card Cori-Steel Cutter, has taken over that format. This deck relies on playing multiple non-creature spells a turn in order to buff up your board of Prowess creatures for an enormous game-ending hit. If High Noon is on the field, it becomes very difficult for that deck to win.
While it’s one of the greatest weapons against this deck, High Noon isn’t an unbeatable silver bullet. It just needs to find one copy of Into the Floodmaw to bounce the enchantment, and then it can go off for a turn.
Still, the enchantment is still a major speed bump for a very fast deck. Pretty much every MTG Arena deck with white in its color identity, from Domain Overlords to Jeskai Oculus, has this card in its sideboard, regardless of whether they’re running Red.
Naturally, the spike is only likely to last as long as the Izzet deck is good. If a better answer to Prowess comes along or the meta shifts so that High Noon isn’t needed again, it’s likely to drop in value once more.
How do you feel about Standard right now? Is it in a healthy place or are MTG banlist changes needed – come join the conversation in our Discord! Meanwhile for more great reads, take a look at our list of the best MTG commanders or give the Magic: The Gathering release schedule a read.
Source: Wargamer
