Expensive Walkers

Today's post will be on the expenses that all players should be aware of before they get too far down the rabbit hole.  Magic is not a cheap game and to play competitively outside of drafts it gets pretty darn expensive pretty fast. Take for example the decks that are winning FNM's, National Qualifiers, and Game Day competitions right now.  The four most competitive decks out there today (using the previous qualifiers) are Jund, UWR, UW, and Mythic.
Of those decks Jund is easily the least expensive coming in around $150 see this link here to go to my most current Jund build (note my lack of Malestrom pulses which easily brings this deck into the $200 dollar range).  And the most expensive is the new UWR Planeswalker control which can run from $700-900 (my UWR that I am most fond of can be found here.)  Note my lack of Elspeth and a full complement of Scalding Tarns which drops the price into the more "reasonable" $500 price range but is still incredibly playable.  UW control and Mythic fit somewhere in the middle.

Note that (with the exception of most Jund decks) all of these decks run planeswalkers and most run at least 3 copies of Jace, the Mind Sculptor which explains it's designation as the most expensive card in Standard. The introduction of planeswalkers that happened a few sets ago started slowly, but has since ramped up to alter the MTG gameplay dramatically.  As players have come to recognize the power of these "helpers" in the standard arena their value and subsequently price will continue to rise. (It could be argued that the format has devolved into who can stick and keep a Jace around for 2+ turns, but I think I will cover that in another article.)  Now that planeswalkers are getting the power recognition they deserve they are getting incredibly expensive because of their Mythic Rare status. This all leads to me ask the question; will Wizards ever print a non-Mythic Rare planeswalker and if yes what would it look like?

A couple thoughts I will leave you with on this note...
A non-mythic rare planeswalker would have a lower cost and could be used more widely, thus allowing many more casual+ players the opportunity to play competitive magic for less of a monetary investment. This would make the scene much more competitive, bring more people to the game, and balance the meta game slightly from those who have serious money to spend and those who do not.      
Obviously the storyline is important and preserving Planeswalkers rarity is important, but putting out a few planeswalkers that are either less versatile, less powerful, have less abilities, or who lack an "ultimate" would bring an interesting dynamic to Standard and allow more players to have the fun of playing with a walker.

I still remember my first experience playing with one of the walkers...it was amazing and made MTG a lot more interesting and fun than I remember. Now I will admit there is nothing better than sticking a turn four Jace, the Mind Sculptor behind a Wall of Omens when I know an Ajani or Gideon will be following soon. But I would also enjoy playing a slightly less powerful walker, while treasuring the fact that I didn't have to spend $700 to enjoy my deck.

As always comments are welcome and if you also think a non-mythic rare walker would be a good addition to liven up the game of MTG then perhaps hit Wizards up with an email or comment in the forums and let's get the ball rolling.