All posts by James Chillcott

MTG Growth Stocks: 5 Magic Cards You Should Be Buying Right Now

By: James Chillcott (@MTGCritic)

In my ongoing series Digging For Dollars, I try to identify Magic: The Gathering cards in the weeks leading up to the release of each new set that may be undervalued versus their true potential. Most of the time, this prognostication falls short of reality, but occasionally we throw up an early flag on a Tasigur or an Ojutai. DFD is a fun exercise aimed at helping the community think outside the box, but given the long-shot nature of the critique, it’s definitely not the best option if we’re looking to lock in a basket of profitable specs for reliable growth.

By contrast, this new series will attempt to call out a more reliable set of opportunities for our readers interested in generating a consistent and profitable return on their MTG finance activities.

In the stock market world, we talk often about blue-chip stocks, the companies that represent the most reliable combination of profits, longevity, and market leadership that signal a safe harbor for investors seeking reliable long-term growth. Companies like Apple, Microsoft, and IBM all fall into this category. The equivalent in the Magic world is cards like Black Lotus, Mishra’s Workshop, and Time Walk: the best cards of all time that are bound to offer modest but reliable annual returns so long as the game continues to grow.

As a relatively young investor with a high risk tolerance, I’m not holding a lot of blue-chip stocks in my stock portfolio. Rather, I tend to focus on growth stocks, or the companies that are growing revenues, earnings, and/or market share the fastest relative to the market at large. These companies tend to be younger and they carry more risk because they haven’t yet proven their long-term value to the market. When they get there, though, they tend to do so in a big way, providing 20- to 100-percent returns in just six to 24 months. Companies such as Tesla, Facebook, and GoPro would be reasonable recent examples of companies that have demonstrated this profile in recent years.

If you’re looking to invest a significant amount of money and kick back for a few years before bothering to check up on the results, blue-chip cards may be for you. If, on the other hand, you want to yield returns above comparable investments in stocks or real estate (with an average of roughly 10-percent annual returns), you may want to consider MTG growth stocks. In past years, cards such as Zendikar fetch lands, Liliana of the Veil, and Snapcaster Mage all represented such opportunities in the Magic community. In identifying cards in this category, we’re generally looking for the following qualities:

  • Multi-format all-star beyond Standard: Playable in at least two or three of Modern/Legacy/Vintage/EDH/casual.
  • Played as a three- or four-of: Multiple copies useful in hand or in play.
  • Played in multiple decks: Often due to being easily splashable and by offering flexible lines of play and a generally high power level.

So what are we hoping to get out of these MTG growth stocks?

Well, typically, I’m looking at this class of cards to provide 25- to 50-percent returns per annum, within a six- to 24-month time horizon. This also implies a focus on raw dollars versus a percentage increase in consideration of the value of our time as measured by the range of our hourly wages (e.g., a 100-percent return on $1 is generally much worse than a 50-percent return on a $30 card when you consider time spent and selling costs).

With all that on the table, here are the five cards I believe you should be buying right now instead of trying to jump on the latest spike:

  1. Jace, Vrynn’s Prodigy (Foil): $50 (Target $80+)

  

In my Magic Origins Digging for Dollars article, I dismissed the youngest Jace as an overpriced card that needed to find a deck in a hurry to hold its price, but boy did it prove its value! Apparently, a Merfolk Looter with upsides that offer sweet synergies with fetch lands, sorcery-speed spells, and graveyard creature recursion is good enough all the way back to Legacy.

Remember, this is an iconic, mythic planeswalker from a summer set with limited sales, often played as a two- to four-of, viable in Standard, Modern, Legacy, and EDH/casual. The non-foils are going for $35 to $40 or so, and what foils I could find are available around $50, representing a significant discount versus the typical multiplier of two for English foils. Did I mention that there seem to be less than 50 foils available anywhere online and MTG Origins is pretty close to reaching peak supply? I see foil Jace hitting $80 to $100 within the year, and there’s a decent chance this is the next foil Liliana of the Veil. Get if while you can.

Note: In the day it has taken me to write this article, this card is already signalling a strong move upward, with copies under $60 now very rare indeed.

2. Hangarback Walker (Foil): $30 (Target $50-60)

Here’s another tier-one card that almost everyone missed on the first pass. Hangarback has already demonstrated value as a multi-copy slot in a variety of Standard decks from UR Artifacts to Abzan to Jeskai and is likely to be a staple heading into the fall metagame. More importantly, it showed up in top decks all the way back to Vintage at Eternal Weekend last week, having been featured on camera in an innovative Shops/Robots deck. Not that you care, but I’m also testing it with Bitterblossom, Lingering Souls, Evolutionary Leap, and Siege Rhino in Modern, and I suspect it will find plenty of homes in Modern within the year.

As a colorless creature with a flexible mana cost, resiliancy to non-exiling kill spells, synergy with +1/+1 counters, artifacts, sacrifice effects, and creature buffs, Hangarback Walker now looks like the very definition of a card set up to be a long-term multi-format staple. And as a rare from a Magic Origins, a low-supply summer set, chances are good that it can beat average returns and grow in a big way as more and more decks are uncovered that want to use it. Also in it’s favor is the fact that, like Snapcaster Mage, the card is powerful without being utterly broken, making deflation through banning(s) a low-risk scenario. There are very few foil Hangarback Walkers left available online at $30, and supply is dwindling. I fully expect this card to hit $50 to $60 before the end of the year.

3. Kolaghan’s Command (Foil): $18 (Target: $30+)

Initially dismissed as a middling card at first reveal, Kolaghan’s Command quickly caught the attention of Jund and Grixis players in Modern earlier this summer, and is now seen as one of the defining spells in the format and a lynch-pin of decks looking to abuse the extreme flexibility of the card’s four (!) relevant modes. Consider that this card has the ability to perform any two of the following tricks for three mana:

  • Knocking key permission spells out of opponent’s hands.
  • Returning a Jace, Vrynn’s Prodigy from your graveyard.
  • Killing an early attacker.
  • Slowing down Affinity’s explosive starts.

With that kind of power, this spell has quickly risen to become one of the top 15 spells by play rate in Modern. Dragons of Tarkir is almost certainly at peak supply by this point, there are only about 50 to 60 easily available foil copies out there under $20, and heading into Modern season in the spring of 2016, I would find it hard to believe that this hard-to-replace instant won’t top $30 as more and more players gravitate towards the powerful synergies of the Grixis builds.

4. Thoughtseize: $20 (Target: $30+)

Thoughtseize is quite simply one of the best discard spells of all time, and a key one-mana play in formats all the way back to Legacy. The card ranks at number seven of the most-played spells in Modern (and number 16 in Legacy) with 35 percent of Modern decks playing the card with an average of two copies being played in the main deck. Also of note is the fact that Theros, despite being a high-sales fall set, lacks key eternal-playable lands that will weigh down the non-land rares and mythics. With the gods and other targets from the set likely to take a couple of years to rise, there is very little preventing Thoughtseize from regaining a $30 t o $40 price tag as supply of Theros dries up over the next year.

Note: Foils around $50 are likely also a solid pickup.

5. Evolutionary Leap (Foil): $10 (Target: $25)

Evolutionary Leap is one of the more unproven picks on this list, but I see a card whose true potential is still under the radar. With a low casting cost, easy splashability, and the ability to contribute to both combo and grindy, value strategies seems to balance well against its lack of immediate board impact. At the GP Charlotte Modern tournament last weekend, Chris VanMeter started off 6-0 with his G/B Elves combo deck before fading from contention. The deck was running four copies of Leap and amply demonstrated the ability for this card to lead to big plays. As I mentioned above, I’m currently testing the card as a way to trade tokens for reliably powerful creatures like Siege Rhino in Modern, but I have confidence that a better player will find even more exciting reasons to be running this subtle enchantment as new cards appear on the horizon. At present, there are over 150 copies available online around $10 or $11, so the entry point on foils is attractive if you agree that this is a future pillar in at least one good Modern or Legacy deck. I’m targeting a three- to 12-month window for this one to top $20.

Honorable Mentions

This is a four-of in Modern Merfolk, a deck that recently won a Modern GP. As yet another Magic Origins rare that will see Modern play and has some degree of casual appeal, this has a decent shot of doubling up within the next two years.

So long as Splinter Twin doesn’t end up banned (and so far signals are good it won’t be), the rare should easily rebound above $20 next year. The one warning ping in the back of my mind is that Modern Masters 2016 might be a thing (25-percent chance?), which would threaten all Modern staples that might be reprinted into the ground. Assuming that doesn’t happen, the fact that the Twin combo just jumped the wall into Legacy bodes well for future demand.

Heading into a landfall-based Battle for Zendikar set, and with the news that we won’t see the ZEN fetch lands until at least February 2016, there is a decent window for the KTK fetch lands to show solid gains this October and November as a supply crunch driven by vendor hoarding meets increasing demand. The best play here was actually picking up Delta and Strand below $12 at peak supply last winter, but Mire and Heath could easily end up pushing $20 or more if the metagame shakes out right. Keep in mind that ZEN fetches in the winter set could knock back the value of fetches across the board, so the window may be brief or even non-existent, depending on how much Standard actually needs the fetches once we’ve seen the new land template at rare.

Closing Window

Tasigur is likely to be a one- or two-of in Modern, Legacy, and even Vintage decks for a long time to come. It’s recently jumped from $25 to $30 to having very few copies available anywhere under $45. As a small set rare already past peak supply, Tasigur should easily hold a $40 to $50 price tag in foil with the potential to top $75 if it ends up in a strong deck in Modern or Legacy that runs three or four copies instead of the usual one or two. That being said, I think the window has mostly closed here for reliable returns.

Full disclosure: I am holding copies of most of the cards on this list.

James Chillcott is the CEO of ShelfLife.net, The Future of Collecting, Senior Partner at Advoca, a designer, adventurer, toy fanatic and an avid Magic player and collector since 1994.

ADVERTISEMENT: Get the Cube Starter Bundle with the 3rd Edition Grimoire Deck Box, the brand new Grimoire Deck Box designed specifically for the red mage in you.

MTGFinance: What We’re Buying & Selling This Week (Aug 24/15)

By James Chillcott (@MTGCritic)

One of the most common misconceptions about folks involved in MTGFinance is that we are constantly manipulating the market and feeding players misinformation to help fuel achievement of our personal goals.

It has occurred to us at MTGPrice that though we dole out a good deal of advice, most of you ultimately have very little insight into when and why our writing team actually puts our money where our collective mouths are pointing. As such running this weekly series breaking down what we’ve been buying and selling each week and why. These lists are meant to be both complete and transparent, leaving off only cards we bought for personal use without hope of profit. We’ll also try to provide some insight into our thinking behind the specs, and whether we are aiming for a short (<1 month), mid (1-12 month), or long (1 year+) term flip. Here’s what we we’ve been up to this week:

Buying Period: Aug 11th – Aug 20th, 2015

Note: All cards NM unless otherwise noted. All sell prices are net of fees unless noted.

James Chillcott (@MTGCritic)

Coming off of my tour of lovely Bulgaria and Turkey I haven’t been in buying mode, but I did pick up a few things here and there.

BOUGHT

  • 1x Hangarback Walker (Foil) @ $25
  • 1x Russian Magic Origins Booster Box @ $109

Hangarback Walker expanded its horizons this weekend at Eternal Weekend showing up in the finals of the Vintage Championships in a Workshop deck. The card has now demonstrated viability in almost every relevant format and I’m happy to pick up more foils anywhere under $25 since Origins will ultimately have lower sales than a major fall set and the card is often a 4-of wherever it pops up. I see this is as a mid to long term hold with a $40+ target.

The Russian Origins box is my vote of confidence that Origins may actually end up producing more than a few Modern and Eternal relevant cards (Hangarback Walker, Dark Petition, Jace, Vrynn’s Prodigy, Evolutionary Leap, etc) that may be highly desirable in Russian foil down the road. This is a long term hold, targeting $200+.

I’ll be posting my report on Magic in Bulgaria and Turkey later this week, so watch for that.

Travis Allen (@WizardBumpin)

BOUGHT

  • 35x Dragon Whisperer @ $2/per
  • 9x Shaman of the Forgotten Ways @ $2.25/per
  • 23x Tasigur, the Golden Fang (foil) @ $30/per
  • 8x Whisperwood Elemental @ $5.50/per
  • 14x Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker @ $4/per
  • 30x Wingmate Roc @ $1.50/per
  • 8x Woodland Bellower @ $4/per

“Dragon Whisperer is an extremely cheap mythic red two-drop from a third set. Power level is high. She’s only made a splash so far, but red is saturated right now. Come rotation she could easily be the best red two in the format.”

“Shaman plays well with the coming Eldrazi, and is a third-set mythic. Could break $10.”

“Re: Tasigur, a while ago I noticed that foil Abrupt Decays were about $30. The nonfoils were around $7 – $10 at the time. My suspicion was that $30 was too cheap, especially for how much eternal play they saw. I picked up two extra playsets. Within two weeks, they had spiked to $80, and I was wishing I had bought more. With Tasigur’s ubiquity across formats, I’m not making the same mistake again. He’s possibly the best black creature in Standard, Modern, and Legacy. While a non-foil reprint would harm his price, foils are going to be quite safe. I’m looking for this one to at least double by the spring of 2016.”

“Whisperwood Elemental was $15 not that long ago, and all the cards that make him good (Den Protector, Deathmist Raptor, and Mastery of the Unseen) are all sticking around through rotation. I’d like to buy more if he ends up under $4.”

“Sarkhan is a $4 Planeswalker with a solid power level. He’s mostly been pushed out of Standard by Stormbreath Dragon, but that guy is leaving us soon.”

“Wingmate Roc used to be $15-$20. He’s at bulk mythic pricing now, and could certainly be a major Standard player again later this year.”

“Woodland Bellower demonstrated notable power during the Pro Tour. With no price movement so far, a breakout performance could send this skyrocketing.”

Jim Casale (@Phrost_)

BOUGHT

  • 4x Anafenza, the Foremost @ $3.50/per
  • 4x Tragic Arrogance (foil) @ $3.00/per
  • 4x Abrupt Decay @ $8.00/per

Jim says:

Anafenza, the Foremost is down to $3.50 from $7.00 before the release of Dragons of Tarkir. It’s also 12 tickets on MTGO which is usually a good indicator of play. There are some other factors at work (mythics command a larger portion of a set’s price due to redemption online) but I think this card is going to be one of the few cards to rebound during BFZ. 

Tragic Arrogance is the real deal in standard and it is also quite powerful in EDH. I decided to grab foil copies to play with as they will likely retain more of their value as time goes on. The spread on foil and non-foil copies is closing pretty quickly so this may even see a price correction in the near future.

Regarding Abrupt Decay, I found a player that wanted to sell some cards for quick cash. I offered him more than local buylist and he accepted. Hard to pass up this kind of deal.

BOUGHT (PucaTrade)

  • 4x Ghostfire Blade @ 175 Pucapoints/per

Jim says:

“The Eldrazi will probably all be “colorless” despite costing colored mana. Ghostfire Blade was pretty good with thopters so I can’t see it getting worse with more colorless creatures.”

SOLD

  • 3x Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy @ $30/per
  • 1x Creeping Tarpit (foil) @ $30/per

Jim says:

“Jace was sold to a local player looking to play the Majors/Cuneo mill deck this week. The price included no fees so its hard to pass up a deal this good. I think I will likely be able to buy them back in a month or two for $20 or less.”

“Creeping Tarpit was sold to a player (so no additional fees) and I’m pretty sure the manlands will be reprinted sometime in the next year or two and there is no real reason to keep this.”

SOLD (Puca)

  • 8x ghostfire blade @ 112 pucapoints/copy

Danny Brown (@dbro37)

BOUGHT

  • 20x Narset, Enlightened Tutor $1.24/per
  • 4x Sarkhan, the Dragon Speaker @ $5.40/per
  • 8x Dragon Whisperer $2.25/per
  • 1x Daretti, Scrap Savant $3.44/per
  • 1x Outpost Siege $1.08/per

Danny says:

“I discussed Narset in my article this week, and all 20 copies I requested were sent pretty quickly. I also discussed Sarkhan and wasn’t sold at that time, but I pulled the trigger on a playset and will probably try for another couple.”

Dragon Whisperer is a mythic that may be forced to step up if mono red continues to be a thing in Standard. I think this has enough casual appeal that it could be a slow gainer in the long term, as well. It reminds me of Kargan Dragonlord in many ways, which is $7, so I think the risk is low. One copy will probably go in my cube.”

Daretti is a great pick-up right now and people seem to know. I think I had 16 on my list and only one got sent.”

“The Outpost Siege is for my cube, though it’s likely starting in the on-deck binder until/if I decide to expand or switch up some strategies. Some Standard play and a spike could turn this into a (very) minor spec, though.”

 

Jared Yost

Here is my buying for this week:

  • 10x Polluted Delta @ $21.00/per
  • 10x Flooded Strand @ $15.78/per
  • 10x Bloodstained Mire @ $18.71/per

“I found some great deals through Amazon, and using some of my Amazon points that I’ve been accumulating I thought I would put them to use by picking up some much needed Fetchlands for my portfolio. I really needed Strands and Deltas, as I’ve been steadily trading for Heaths, Foothills, and Mires over the summer to build up a nice stockpile.”

So there you have it. Now what were you guys buying and selling this week and why?

James Chillcott is the CEO of ShelfLife.net, The Future of Collecting, Senior Partner at Advoca, a designer, adventurer, toy fanatic and an avid Magic player and collector since 1994.

ADVERTISEMENT: Get the Cube Starter Bundle with the 3rd Edition Grimoire Deck Box, the brand new Grimoire Deck Box designed specifically for the red mage in you.

MTGFinance: What We’re Buying & Selling This Week (Aug 10/15)

By James Chillcott (@MTGCritic)

One of the most common misconceptions about folks involved in MTGFinance is that we are constantly manipulating the market and feeding players misinformation to help fuel achievement of our personal goals.

It has occurred to us at MTGPrice that though we dole out a good deal of advice, most of you ultimately have very little insight into when and why our writing team actually puts our money where our collective mouths are pointing. As such running this weekly series breaking down what we’ve been buying and selling each week and why. These lists are meant to be both complete and transparent, leaving off only cards we bought for personal use without hope of profit. We’ll also try to provide some insight into our thinking behind the specs, and whether we are aiming for a short (<1 month), mid (1-12 month), or long (1 year+) term flip. Here’s what we we’ve been up to this week:

Buying Period: Aug 2nd – Aug 10th, 2015

Note: All cards NM unless otherwise noted. All sell prices are net of fees unless noted.

James Chillcott (@MTGCritic)

This week I’m touring Bulgaria and getting kicked out of Turkey for making too much sense, but I’m still working on my deal to sell the Super Collection, and I’ve bought a few more copies of some cards that represented good short and mid term opportunities.

BOUGHT

  • 5x Evolutionary Leap @ $11/per
  • 2x Scalding Tarn @ $50/per
  • 4x Verdant Catacombs @ $35/per

SOLD (Pucatrade) 

  • 2x Scalding Tarn @ $80.92
  • 1x Verdant Catacombs @ $62.14

Leap is still on my mid-term acquisitions list because, as I’ve mentioned before, I see it getting busted eventually and winning something in Modern. The ZEN fetches were a common flip for MTGFinance folks that were paying attention last week as the news came out on the Mark Rosewater blog that we would not see them in Battle for Zendikar. I was able to out a few already via Pucatrade and would ship more if I wasn’t already holding 1000+ points that need to get traded for a juicy high end target before I restock. I expect these to float lower gradually on the perception that their reappearance is only delayed rather than cancelled and that they will be $10 cards by summer 2016.

I’ll be visiting one of the only MTG stores in Bulgaria next week, so watch for that report.

Douglas Johnson (@RoseofThorns)

“Bought on Wednesday at around 4PM at a nearby LGS, hours after the announcement of the reprint delay. I’m actively working on flipping these out asap:”

5x Misty Rainforest @34 each
9x Verdant Catacombs @37 each
7x Marsh Flats @25 each
6x Scalding Tarn @50 each

 

Jim Casale (@Phrost_)

BOUGHT

  • Foil windswept heath @ 4787 pucapoints
  • 2x foil fulminator mage @ 3494 pucapoints /per
  • 12x ghostfire blade @ 52 pucapoints /per
  • 2x foil dispel (rtr) @ 525 pucapoints /per

SOLD

  • 4x demonic pact @ $15/per

SOLD (Puca)

  • 8x ghostfire blade @ 112 pucapoints/copy

Jim says:

“The weekend flip of ghostfire blade has been my biggest success.  Moving cards for smaller margins on puca has worked out well for me thus far because of the minimal overhead (read: no fees) for doing the transactions.  It has been a great place for me to trade stamps for foil fetchlands basically.”

So there you have it. Now what were you guys buying and selling this week and why?

James Chillcott is the CEO of ShelfLife.net, The Future of Collecting, Senior Partner at Advoca, a designer, adventurer, toy fanatic and an avid Magic player and collector since 1994.

ADVERTISEMENT: Get the Cube Starter Bundle with the 3rd Edition Grimoire Deck Box, the brand new Grimoire Deck Box designed specifically for the red mage in you.

MTGFinance: What We’re Buying & Selling This Week (Aug 3/15)

By James Chillcott (@MTGCritic)

One of the most common misconceptions about folks involved in MTGFinance is that we are constantly manipulating the market and feeding players misinformation to help fuel achievement of our personal goals.

It has occurred to us at MTGPrice that though we dole out a good deal of advice, most of you ultimately have very little insight into when and why our writing team actually puts our money where our collective mouths are pointing. As such running this weekly series breaking down what we’ve been buying and selling each week and why. These lists are meant to be both complete and transparent, leaving off only cards we bought for personal use without hope of profit. We’ll also try to provide some insight into our thinking behind the specs, and whether we are aiming for a short (<1 month), mid (1-12 month), or long (1 year+) term flip. Here’s what we we’ve been up to this week:

Buying Period: July 24th – Aug 1st, 2015

Note: All cards NM unless otherwise noted. All sell prices are net of fees unless noted.

James Chillcott (@MTGCritic)

This week I’m mostly working on my deal to sell the Super Collection, but I’ve also started in on some select singles that I see as good opportunities.

BOUGHT

  • 10x Evolutionary Leap (Foil) @ $10.25/per
  • 10x Return to the Ranks (Foil) @ $2/per
  • 13x Return to the Ranks (Jap Foil) @ $1.50/per
  • 16x Rally the Ancestors @ $2/per
  • 4x Demonic Pact @ $5.45

This set of buys is mostly about cards I think have a future in Modern with a dash of hot Standard action. I’m convinced that both Leap and Return to the Ranks have what it takes to assemble compelling combo scenarios in Modern. Not only are decks already floating to the surface of the metagame, but these are precisely the kinds of cards that get better as more combo pieces get printed to align with their build around benefits. Frank Karsten posted a fairly compelling set of videos with a Ranks deck last week but I think this is just the tip of the iceberg vs. what’s possible down the road. Likewise, Evolutionary Leap is being underestimated in a world where you can set up shop with Bitterblossom or Lingering Souls and then dig for whatever limited set of value creatures you need to run your game. Siege Rhino? A 187 creature? Somebody will figure it out and it will be beautiful.

Rally the Ancestors didn’t make the Top 8 in Standard at Pro Tour Origins this weekend, but the deck may still find itself in a good position later this season, so I was willing to snap up a few sets at the low end of the spectrum, aiming to unload them around $4-5 in trade at a future peak. If it doesn’t get anywhere in Standard it’s just as likely to cause trouble in Modern as Return to the Ranks. See the Sam Black Rally in Modern video if you don’t believe me.  Demonic Pact was on my Digging For Dollars: MTG Origins list and as predicted, it showed up in a few different builds that ran deep into Day 2 at the Pro Tour. The deck may need some work to stay in the metagame, but the Sultai version that Toronto local Daniel Fournier was running looked fun as hell so I picked up a set to fool around with.

 

SOLD (PucaTrade)

  • 2x Chord of Calling @ $8.02 ($3.50 cost)
  • 1x Academy Ruins @ $12.39 (pack opened)
  • 1x Mikokoro, Center of the Sea @ $10.44 (pack opened)
  • 1x Minamo, School at Water’s Edge @ $19.80 ($8 cost)
  • 1x Horizon Canopy @ $57.32 ($22 cost)
  • 3x Flooded Grove @ $23.56 ($10 cost/per)
  • 1x Grove of the Burnwillows @ $57.12 (pack opened)
  • 1x Chalice of the Void @ $16.42 (pack opened)
  • 1x Ghostly Prison @ $6.97 ($2 cost)
  • 1x Sword of Feast and Famine @ $17.44 ($6 cost)
  • 1x Liliana of the Veil @ $101.75 ($55 cost)

Having recently acquired a Mishra’s Workshop through Pucatrade, I am now emboldened to seek out additional opportunities to trade up into big ticket cards. As such I’m rebuilding the account quickly to about $1400 worth of Pucapoints, with a focus on unloading specs that are peaking or pack opened cards that I had laying around in my collection without purpose in my decks. If you’ve got something special worth more than $500 that you’d like to turn into Pucapoints, look me up ’cause I’m on the hunt.

Houston Whitehead (@TNSGingerAle)

BOUGHT

  • 12x Surrak, the Hunter @$1 per,
  • 12x Eidolon of Blossoms @ .50 per
  • 12x Stratus Dancers @.50 per

Jim Casale (@Phrost_)

BOUGHT (PucaTrade_

  • 5x Abbot of Keral Keep
  • 4x Demonic Pact
  • 3x Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
  • 1x Flooded Strand (foil)
  • 2x Pyromancer’s Goggles

Jim says:

“I feel like any mythic rare under $5 in MTG Origins could possibly spike and I wanted to insulate myself if I needed to play the cards next weekend.”

Jason Alt (@jasonealt)

BOUGHT

  • 7x Night of Souls’ Betrayal @ 4.85
  • 3x Night of Soul’s Betrayal (SP) @ 4.05

 

Guo Heng Chin (@theguoheng)

BOUGHT

  • 4x Starfield of Nyx @ $5.75/per (from LGS)
  • 4x Herald of the Pantheon @ $1.67/per (from LGS)
  • 4x Sigil of the Empty Throne @ $1/per (from LGS)
  • 3x Disciple of the Ring @ $1.83/per (from LGS)
  • 2x Foil Starfield of Nyx @ $15.70/per (from LGS)

Guo says:

“I tested John Taylor’s Abzan Constellation list which top 8ed SCG Richmond last weekend and I was super impressed with it. Starfield of Nyx was a lot better than I expected. I grabbed a playset of the key components from Magic Origins the next day to make sure I can play the deck if it breaks out at the Pro Tour. And with the WMCQ season coming (and Game Day next weekend. Foil full art Languish!), I thought it prudent to have access to at least a few archetypes.

Right after making the purchase, I received a text from the other LGS I frequent that they’ve now got Starfield and Demonic Pact (yay!) in stock after new stock of Magic Origins arrived in the middle of the week. Oh wait, the Starfield is foil. Fine I’ll take it. Tyler Jacobsen’s rendition of Nyx’s starfield looks like one of those art that would look gorgeous in foil. Plus a foil copy would be nice for EDH purposes.

When I arrived at the LGS for FNM yesterday, it turns out that they have not one but two foil Starfields. Fine, I’ll take both. Savings are overrated anyway.

It turned out that the foil isolation on the art wasn’t as good as I expected. Whoever did the foil isolation for Starfield of Nyx should be ashamed of him or herself. It was one of those lazily done foil isolation (let’s foil the whole artwork! Re: Dragonlord Ojutai foil) that ruined an artwork that could otherwise be gorgeously rendered in foil. Oh well, I’m sure financially it wouldn’t matter at all, and they are for personal keeps anyway (I’ll be selling my non-foils now). Now could someone please break Starfield of Nyx in Modern so my shiny Starfields are worth $60? Hint: Omniscience. Hint, hint: Gifts for Starfield, Obzedat’s Aid, Snapcaster, and Omniscience? Regardless, I do think Starfield of Nyx foils have good long-term potential due to its uniqueness. That card is begging to be broken in EDH.”
Note: The rest of the guys were quiet this week.

So there you have it. Now what were you guys buying and selling this week and why?

James Chillcott is the CEO of ShelfLife.net, The Future of Collecting, Senior Partner at Advoca, a designer, adventurer, toy fanatic and an avid Magic player and collector since 1994.

ADVERTISEMENT: Get the Cube Starter Bundle with the 3rd Edition Grimoire Deck Box, the brand new Grimoire Deck Box designed specifically for the red mage in you.