Why isn't Siege Rhino more expensive?

Economics forum

Posted on Aug. 23, 2015, 11:32 a.m. by canterlotguardian

It would seem to me that Siege Rhino should be a lot more than it is. In both Standard and Modern, every Junk deck it seems runs it as a 4-of auto-include. It's the Junk Treasure Cruise. Lol

And yet it's barely hovering under $4. Why? You see Tasigur, the Golden Fang in less builds than you see Rhino Boy, and Taz is almost twice as expensive.

Can someone help clarify this for me?

-Fulcrum says... #2

Tasigur sees play in Standard, Modern, Legacy, and EDH, and in more than one archetype in each format. Also, KTK was opened a lot more than FRF, so that may be part of it.

August 23, 2015 11:38 a.m.

Caught myself getting ninja'd this time!

Basically what Vault said.

August 23, 2015 11:39 a.m.

vishnarg says... #4

Asking why something is worth something is a meaningless gesture. Everything has value based on what the buyer values it at. If you really think Siege Rhino is worth more than $4, then go out and buy 100 of them and wait until it goes up. If you think Tasigur is worth less than $8, don't buy any.

In short, the answer you're looking for is supply and demand. Many magic cards that see 10 times less play than another are worth ten times as much (not that Tas sees less play than Rhino, just giving an example). This is because of three main reasons, a. Supply factors (Fate Reformed is a far less opened set than Khans, so Tasigur is a rarer Magic card in general). b. Speculation from people like you and I. I personally believe Tasigur is a better creature than Rhino, has more playability in multiple different formats and I expect his price to increase in the future based on this. For that reason, I see $8 for Tasigur as a good deal. On the other hand, I see Siege Rhino as a simple beater creature that can only be played in Abzan decks, so his $4 price tag is more reasonable. And c. Artificial inflation from buyouts and big companies like SCG, which I'm not going to venture into at this time, but you get the idea.

I hope this helps you whenever you're wondering why a card is worth what it is.

August 23, 2015 11:43 a.m. Edited.

As an extension of what vault said:

Tasigur can be put in any deck running and/or . The Rhino is restricted to Junk builds or janky four/five-colour decks.

Tasigur reqires an initial investment of 1 mana, whereas Rhino requires 4.

Tasigur is everything grindy control decks want (get your good spells back and block beaters as well as a cheap alt wincon) and is somewhat what grindy aggressive decks want (a one mana 4/5 beater), Rhino is just a beater.

August 23, 2015 11:48 a.m.

Hmm. Those are some really good points vishnarg. Thanks for your comment! That really clarified things for me.

August 23, 2015 11:54 a.m.

CuteSnail says... #7

Not to mention there are 3 variants of siege Rhino.

August 23, 2015 12:18 p.m.

VampireArmy says... #8

Tasigur is currently seen in any deck containing black. This includes but not limited to Grixis (delver, twin, and control), Basic GB, jund, and abzan. Being less colors affords it that flexibility. Now that wouldn't be such a deciding thing if it wasn't for the fact that Jund itself has become the more popular BGx deck again anyways.

August 23, 2015 12:39 p.m.

AdmiralAbzan says... #9

Fate was opened way less than khans.

Tasigur is played in pretty much every format. Yes I've heard of him in vintage.

Rhino was printed in a duel deck.

Tasigur has less color constrictions.

August 23, 2015 1:43 p.m.

Didgeridooda says... #10

Tasigur is also able to be run as a commander in EDH. He is in the strongest colors (BUG) for EDH. Sure there are other commanders in bug, but he is still pretty good.

August 24, 2015 9:30 a.m.

This discussion has been closed