Monthly Archives: November 2014

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Legacy Hero #2

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Legacy Hero #2

Wow. Just wow.

I would like to thank everyone for such great start. You crushed my expectations!
The results are in! I tried to wait as long as possible before calling a winning deck(I was really hoping for 12 Post) but it became pretty clear early on that Stoneblade was the winner. With over 650 total votes, Stoneblade has 14% of the vote. Here are the top 5 results.

  1. Stoneblade – 94 votes (14%)
  1. Miracles – 86 votes (13%)
  1. Delver (UWR/RUG/BUG) – 68 votes (10%)
  1. Shardless BUG – 56 votes (8%)
  1. Show and tell – 52 votes (8%)

This is a great opportunity to explain how similar most of these decks are. Lets look at the staples (other than the dual lands) that these decks have in common.

Force of Will, Brainstorm, Ponder, Spell Pierce, Jace the Mindsculptor, Polluted Delta, Flooded Strand, Misty Rainforest and Scalding Tarn.

We can then compare the cards the Delver variants have in common, then Stoneblade and Miracles. What you’re going to notice is that you can assemble a couple different decks once you get the core together, excluding dual lands. The core is what we’re building our legacy collection around. Force of Will, Dual Lands, Wasteland, Jace, the Mind Sculptor, Fetchlands, etc. These cards are the barrier of entry. I can’t speak for everyone but I know how important they are for people who haven’t had them before. It is a reward in itself to get those cards.

When your focus is on the finance part of Magic, it’s easy to lose perspective. I’m reminded of that every time I trade one of those beat up dual lands that aren’t in any condition to sell outright to someone who just wants a dual land to have one or to maybe build an EDH deck around. Recreating that experience is going to be tough but ultimately rewarding.

The core of the top four decks are very much alike.

 

Stoneblade:

Polluted Delta

Flooded Strand

Marsh Flats

Underground Sea

Wasteland

Tundra

Stoneforge Mystic

Deathrite Shaman

Vendilion Clique

Brainstorm

Force of Will

Swords to Plowshares

Ponder

Treasure Cruise

Thoughtseize

Spell Pierce

Jace, the Mind Sculptor

 

Miracles:

Scalding Tarn

Flooded Strand

Tundra

Plains

Volcanic Island

Vendilion Clique

Brainstorm

Force of Will

Swords to Plowshares

Spell Pierce

Jace, the Mind Sculptor

 

RUG Delver:

Wasteland

Scalding Tarn

Tropical Island

Volcanic Island

Polluted Delta

Flooded Strand

Force of Will

Brainstorm

Tarmogoyf

Treasure Cruise

Ponder

Spell Pierce
Shardless:

Polluted Delta

Underground Sea

Tropical Island

Misty Rainforest

Wasteland

Tarmogoyf

Deathrite Shaman

Brainstorm

Force of Will

Thoughtseize

Jace, the Mind Sculptor

 

By identifying the staples, it allows us to branch out into different decks at a later point. For example, the core of Esper Deathblade will work well enough to make Patriot Delver. Here is a copy of a stock Deathblade list (SCG Worcester Ben Glancy).

4 Polluted Delta

4 Flooded Strand

3 Marsh Flats

3 Underground Sea

2 Wasteland

2 Tundra

1 Tropical Island

1 Scrubland

1 Karakas

4 Stoneforge Mystic

4 Deathrite Shaman

2 True-Name Nemesis

1 Vendilion Clique

4 Brainstorm

4 Force of Will

4 Swords to Plowshares

4 Ponder

3 Treasure Cruise

3 Thoughtseize

3 Spell Pierce

 

SIDEBOARD

1 Vendilion Clique

1 Liliana of the Veil

1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor

1 Supreme Verdict

2 Zealous Persecution

1 Relic of Progenitus

1 Surgical Extraction

1 Flusterstorm

2 Meddling Mage

1 Sword of Feast and Famine

1 Grafdigger’s Cage

1 Pithing Needle

1 Thoughtseize

A quick look through the deck tells me that there’s a handful of cheap cards that I’ll be able to snag easily. Spell Pierce, Ponder, Brainstorm, Treasure Cruise, Swords to Plowshares, Grafdigger’s Cage, Pithing Needle, Zealous Persecution, and Relic of Progenitus are all under a couple of bucks but we need to focus on the main deck cards here. Spell Pierce, Brainstorm, Treasure Cruise, and Swords to Plowshares. I can pick most of them up as throw-ins for trades.

It’s great that they reprinted fetch lands in Kahns. It levels the playing field and lowers the barrier of entry. Let’s look at the price of a Polluted Delta

Look at the price difference between the two. The original Delta was $75+ for well over a year. The Khans Delta has been trending down for a while, making it an easy pickup. I’m big on picking up blue fetches as a long term spec, but I would suggest to anyone wanting to play Eternal formats to pick up a playset of each fetch while they’re low. If you’ve ever looked at the trajectory of shock land prices, it makes sense. Getting them now will – obviously – save you money in the future.

What about the card that defines Legacy – Force of Will. I would like to quote Drew Levin; “Force of Will is the glue that holds Legacy together. Any outlaw can roll up to a tournament with Lion’s Eye Diamond, Show and Tell, Reanimate, or Glimpse of Nature, so it’s up to the sheriffs and their Force of Wills to hold combo maniacs at bay. Force of Will is a weak card on its face, but it is the only reliable counterspell that can be cast on your opponent’s first turn. In a format that is filled with a huge range of powerful spells, Force of Will is your catchall answer. No tempo or control deck is viable without Force of Will.”

Financially speaking, Force of Will isn’t on the reserved list. It could very well be reprinted eventually, other than the judge promo. Trading for them is hard – people that have them keep them. Buying them from a store is non-optional if you’re trying to get out cheap. Floor traders are a good option for gently used (sleeve playable) cards. We can move the stuff that will rot in the trade binder to them for a card that is more in the acceptable price range.

Finally, we have the mana base. The most expensive part of the deck.

3 Underground Sea

3 Tundra

1 Tropical Island

1 Scrubland

1 Wasteland

1 Karakas

4 Polluted Delta

4 Flooded Strand
3 Marsh Flats

That totals over $1700! Fortunately, the prices of the dual lands are, for the most part, consistent. They’ll creep up in price, but you can always find a deal if you’re flexible on things like condition or you’re paying cash. You can always find someone that will trade you a Tundra for your standard and modern staples, but they’re, “trading down,” so they ask for additional, “value,” for doing it. That idea makes me sick to my stomach. I shouldn’t feel like I’m financing a damn 1994 Windsor Woody Wagon from a, “NO CREDIT NO PROBLEM,” car dealer when I’m buying my cards. I’d much rather search and work harder to find someone more amicable than to deal with a loan shark. That relationship with a better trader will pay off in spades over time. Speaking of which… find a reliable trading source!

It’s going to take a lot of work to get dual lands together.

As of right now, my trade binder doesn’t have nearly enough value. It is like Oliver Twist asking for more porridge. I’m going to be attending a local shop’s, “Duel for Duals,” which is self-explanatory, later this month. These kind of local-ish events are great. Not only do I have a chance at winning expensive cards but it showcases my binders to people that I don’t normally get to interact with. It is a great way to move the midrange casual cards that my locals have already pawed through. I will grind these kind of events whenever possible. The equity that it could add to my trade binder makes the travel well worth it.

How can we make our current resources work for us? Playing a different standard deck is a good start. I was watching the SCG Oakland coverage over the weekend when I noticed that sick Jeskai Heroic Combo deck. I priced it out against my current deck (Jeskai Aggrohttp://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/04-11-14-pRo-jeskai-aggro/ )and it looks like I can add about $200 to my binder by switching things up. Maximizing available resources is huge!

Now that I know that the people have spoken and Stoneblade is the choice, I will be able to go to FNM this coming week and trade with purpose. I’ll also be uploading the contents of my trade binder to mtgprice.com so everyone can learn, see changes, trades and my current value.

I want to thank everyone that is along for the adventure so far, and I hope to see you in the coming months.

You can email me at mtglegacyhero@gmail.com and follow me on twitter @somethingsays #legacyhero and of course comment on the article. Don’t forget to pass along any sick deals.

I want to give a shoutout to hipstersofthecoast.com for the pingback.

Here is a link to Drew Levin’s intro into Legacy.

http://www.starcitygames.com/article/27449_How-To-Get-Into-Legacy-Part-1.html

http://www.starcitygames.com/article/27493_How-To-Get-Into-Legacy–Part-2.html

 

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Hunting for Commander Foils: Artifact Part I

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By: Guo Heng Chin

Commander 2014 is dawning upon us in just a few days, and it is exciting times for Commander players. While the new Commander cards have been discussed extensively, Commander is a deep format and there are a treasure trove of potentially undervalued cards in the format. Welcome to the first article in the Hunting for Commander Foils series. The series will comb through some of the most popular Commander cards to discover undervalued Commander foils.

Why Foils You Say?

I mean everyone. Including that kitchen table kid who have never once ventured out.
I mean everyone. Including that kitchen table kid who have never once ventured out.

Besides, foils provide an extra layer of insulation against reprints. Take Solemn Simulacrum for example: the artifact incarnate of Jens Thorén was printed three times but the original Mirrodin foil with Jens Thorén’s face on it still demands a hefty $26.78, while the faceless art foil from M12 is currently at $15.15.

Most popular Commander cards are at risk of being reprinted in the now annual Commander preconstructed decks. The Commander preconstructed decks will not contain any foils, so your foil Solemn Simulacrums have a better likelihood of retaining their value compared with their non-foil versions.

Artifact Power

I for one am excited for the red deck from Commander 2014, Built from Scratch. It is the most artifact-centric deck of all five Commander 2014 precons and I have an affinity for artifacts due to the nostalgia they evoke: I first picked up Magic during Urza’s Block, the era when artifacts were broken. That was the time of Kai Budde’s explosive Mono Red Artifact Wildfire deck that exploits the likes of Grim Monolith and Voltaic Key to generate insane amount of mana before locking out your opponent’s lands with Wildfire and Mishra’s Helix. A bit selfish, I know. But hey, there can only be one winner in every game of Magic. Oh, the deck beats its opponent to death with a dragon as well.  It couldn’t get any sweeter than that.

The following year featured two Mono Blue Artifact Tinker decks in an epic World Championship finals showdown between Jon Finkel and Bob Maher. Their decks ran a similar artifact acceleration package and land disruption as per Kai Budde’s Mono Red Artifact Wildfire, except they win via Tinkering for Phyrexian Colossus or 19/19 Phyrexian Processor tokens.

While I started kitchen table Magic during Urza’s Block, my foray into Magic beyond the kitchen table began during Mirrodin. I have fond memories of splurging out my hand on turn one with Affinity. I never won much though; mirror matches were particularly difficult for a newbie like me. Its complicated board states and mind-boggling combat math with Disciple of the Vaults, artifact lands and Atogs were just too much to handle. And there were a lot of Affinity mirror matches. However, playing aggro never felt better than the few months Skullclamp was legal. Fair enough, the Affinity era was not the epitome of a healthy competitive metagame, but it sure ranks as one of the most overpowered meta in Magic’s history.

Wizards has gotten better with their balancing act these days but artifacts still evoke a sense of forlorn in me, as a subset of cards that used to possess so much power, but is now powered down, nullified in the modern era of Magic. Nevertheless artifacts still play a crucial role in Magic’s most popular casual format, Commander. By virtue of their colorlessness, artifacts fit into any Commander decks, providing a slew of off-color abilities like ramp, card selection, life gain, sacrifice outlets and now even taking extra turns to decks that usually do not have access to them.

Today’s article will discuss the financial potential of some of the most popular artifacts played in Commander. MTGSalvation.com EDH Primer Committee member scoeri have been running a pretty nifty script which trawls the site for user-posted Commander decklists and breaks down most played cards in various configurations. scoeri shared the list under the forum post Statistical Breakdown of the Commander Metagame (highly recommended for anyone interested in Commander stats). The database covers decks from the previous twelve months and is updated monthly, with the last count taking place on 31 October 2014. The database currently contains 3023 decks from 1473 users (decks posted or updated from 31 October 2013 – 31 October 2014). Shout-out to scoeri for the awesome database.

Here’s a snapshot of the top 50 colorless cards most played in Commander.

50 shades of colorless.
50 shades of colorless by scoeri, as seen on mtgsalvation.com.

I chose the colorless list rather than the artifacts list as the colorless one includes artifact creatures. The list is exhaustive and for the sake of space and brevity, this article will cherry pick cards which financial relevancy could be discussed. While Sol Ring tops the list, there is not much to say about it as Sol Ring was reprinted to death in every single Commander decks Wizards release. Gilded Lotus and Darksteel Ingot are both in the top 10, but they are relatively cheap and stagnant over the years for the same reasons. The cards discussed are also preferably legal in both Multiplayer Commander and Duel Commander so there is a larger market for the foil version of the card, but exceptions could be made for extremely popular cards in either format.

Lastly, the foils discussed are still within affordable range for most players to acquire: Sensei’s Divining Top is the fourth most-played artifact, but a foil Champions of Kamigawa copy has a price tag of $118 and a From the Vaults: Exiled foil sets you back $53. There is not much point expounding the virtues of a foil that only a small segment of readers could afford.

The Top Dogs

I solemnly swear to be in each and every one of your Commander decks.
I solemnly swear to be in each and every one of your Commander decks.

Mirrodin Foil: $26.78

M12 Foil: $15.15

No. of Foil Printings: 2

The second most popular artifact in the list, lagging behind only Sol Ring. While the foil price for the original Mirrodin version have been stagnant, the foil M12 copy have been slowly trending up in price since the start of 2014. Originally a blue-green card, Solemn Simulacrum gives decks access to two important abilities which are almost universally desired by any Commander decks: blue’s cantripping, and green’s mana ramp and color fixing. It comes with no surprise that Solemn Simulacrum is played in 32% of the Commander decks tallied by scoeri.

Verdict: $15 is a bit steep as a spec target. However I would like to get my own foil copy or copies at $15. I personally would not get the $27 Mirrodin copy, but I am sure there are some diehard pimpers out there who would prefer the original art.

For lightning speed kicks.
For lightning speed kicks.

Mirrodin Foil: $19.41

FNM Foil: $17.99

No. of Foil Printings: 2

Third down the list, being played in 31% of the decks counted, Lightning Greaves is a staple in Commander decks built around a Commander that attacks, have an activated ability that requires tapping or is a combo piece.

Verdict: I do not like like Lightning Greaves as a spec or acquisition at $18. Lightning Greaves would be hard pressed to see another foil printing as Wizards is replacing shroud with hexproof. Furthermore, players unwilling to splash $18 – $20 for a pair of shoes might just opt for a pair of $5 foil Swiftfoot Boots.

Used to be +1/+2.
Was supposed to be +1/+2.

Darksteel Foil: $16.76

From the Vault: Exiled Foil: $14.98

No. of Foil Printings: 2

Skullclamp is one of the reasons why I love my Purphoros, God the Tokens and Prossh, Kobold Babymaker Commander decks. One mana, sacrifice a token, draw two cards ranks as one of the best guilty pleasures of running a tokens deck. While not nearly as ubiquitous as Solemn Simulacrum, Skullclamp is played in 25% of the Commander decks counted.

Verdict: $15 is a steep entry for a spec, but unlike Solemn Simulacrum foils, we are unlikely to see another printing of foil Skullclamp. Skullclamp was a mistake and is extremely unlikely to see another reprint outside the Commander decks, which contains no foils. Darksteel’s print run is likely to be significantly lower than the current print run of Standard sets, and FTV:Exiled is a limited edition product.

Also unlike foil Lightning Greaves, there is no other card that achieves the same effect (or even close to) as Skullclamp. If you can get any copies at $15 now, go get it.

Select your expedition! Adventure guaranteed, survival no so much.
Select your expedition! Adventure guaranteed, survival no so much.

Zendikar Foil: $13.35

No. of Foil Printings: 1

Expedition Map grants the power to search for any lands to any deck. And its pretty cheap to activate. Most Commander decks run utility lands, be it Cavern of Souls to make your Commander uncounterable, or Academy Ruins to recur incessant artifacts. Expedition Map is a $13 foil common, a price also buoyed by Modern Tron.

Verdict: Unlike the other cards discussed above, the price of foil Expedition Map is at risk of being tanked by a reprint. It is a common, which means a reprint will see a larger influx of foil copies than the cards discussed above. Lightning Greaves and Skullclamp are uncommons but their ability makes unlikely to be reprinted, while Expedition Map’s ability could fit anywhere. Its status as a Modern Tron staple is double edged: while it keeps the price high, it also means that foils of the card could be reprinted en masse not just in normal sets, but also in Modern Masters II.

We are just scraping the tip of the list, stay tuned next week for the second part of Hunting for Commander Foils: Artifacts.

 

The Gilded Goblin

Are You Cuban?

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By: Jared Yost

The first time I brought my girlfriend Em over to my friend Nic’s house to introduce her to Magic beyond the realm of our own kitchen table, my other friend Matt had brought his cube and we were ready to play with it. I’ve fondly named it the “Matt’s Greatest Hits” cube since there isn’t any goal or overarching theme with the cube (at least that I can see). It is simply his personal favorite cards along with solid roleplayers to create archetypes to play with. Anyways, we’re trying to get people involved to get some awesome cube action going and he’s asking everyone “Are you cubin’? Are you cubin’?” clearly leaving off that oh so important ‘g’ at the end of the verb ‘cubing’. When Em was asked this question she responded “From the country of Cuba?” fully believing his question was “Are you Cuban?” We all had a good laugh, and after I explained this misinterpretation we were soon underway.

Besides the “Matt’s Greatest Hits” cube, Matt also has put together an Innistrad cube and a Return to Ravnica cube. These are definitely more theme and goal oriented, as he is focusing on specific limited environments for these cubes in addition to trying to foil out as many cards as he can. These cubes also better reflect the draft environments of the sets because he includes multiple copies of commons and usually two of every uncommon from the sets.

Drawing inspiration from my friend’s ventures into the cubing world, I’ve made it a goal to refine my own cube. I’ve had a “Jared’s Greatest Hits” cube for quite a long time myself, which I created for something to do with my brother when I go back home to PA and we want to play Magic together. However, I’m thinking about upgrading it and making it deeper and more interactive. I currently modify it here and there but I feel like it could use more cohesiveness.

Of course, being a financier I want to know approximately how much it is going to cost me to create an updated cube. I’ll be looking at cubes that span the financial spectrums, from the ones that include Moxes to the peasant cubes that are much more limiting in the cards you can include. I will even show you some price quotes that include proxying anything $50 or more. For the calculations, I’m going to assume I’m starting from scratch with zero cards so that others who may want to build a cube for the first time know the cost of all cards.

In order to help with this effort, I am drawing upon the power of Cube Tutor and their average cubes list to get the best picture about the costs of a cube. The website’s average cubes use the most popular cube cards. Odds are that players are going to want to include most cards on the list with slight modifications based on personal preference. I think this is a good starting point for determining approximate cube values because the Cube Tutor website draws these averages from all the cubes posted on the site.

Budgeting for a Cube

The average cubes tracked are:

Briefly looking over the cubes, they range in size from small to large according to your budget or tastes. For example, even though you might have the budget to get almost anything you want, maybe you don’t have a very large group that you cube with so you only need the bare minimum 360 cards to have a well rounded cube.

One aspect of the lower card count cubes that I noticed right away was that they did not contain cards like the Power 9, Mana Crypt, Mana Drain, Yawgmoth’s Will, Aether Vial, etc. The lower cube counts opted to play more straightforward cards since cubes with lower card counts will be more linear in their strategies. This leads to the super powerful cards like Black Lotus becoming unbeatable powerhouses. To avoid this, the cube average aggregator decided not to include them in the smaller cube lists. Expensive cards are still in the smaller cubes, like Revised dual lands, Karn Liberated, Cryptic Command, and Jace, the Mind Sculptor – it’s just that the extremely broken cards like Black Lotus tend to only be balanced out by including a majority of the old broken cards. This will greatly affect the overall price of the smaller cubes if we can expect extremely rare cards like Black Lotus to be absent from them.

Pricing the various cubes, we arrive at the approximate values without proxies:

No Proxies

Cube Price
Cube Tutor 360 $4,502.14
Cube Tutor 360 Peasant $191.75
Cube Tutor 360 Pauper $121.71
Cube Tutor 450 $5,008.29
Cube Tutor 450 Peasant $236.13
Cube Tutor 450 Pauper $142.19
Cube Tutor 720 $18,316.41
Cube Tutor 720 Peasant $396.97
Cube Tutor 720 Pauper $229.77

*TCG Mid

Well, if we’re talking about a 720 card cube with Black Lotus and Moxen in it, that $18,000 price tag doesn’t really surprise me. It certainly is a ton a money to invest in a cube, and if you have a cube like this more power to you. Just please get insurance. We all hate seeing those reddit posts saying that someone “forgot” to hand back in all their cards when cube drafting…

For more reasonable options, the Peasant and Pauper cubes for 720 cards are much more affordable. If you’re looking to build a large cube on a budget that can accommodate lots of players and a plethora of archetypes I think it would be a good idea to start with a Peasant or Pauper cube and modify it from there.

Myself, I only need the 360 card cube. I think I’m going to start with the 360 Peasant and modify it to my tastes from there.

Hooray for Proxies

If you’re a person that just has to play all those powerful cards and don’t care if you have real copies, then proxying everything over a certain price point makes sense. This way you can have the best of both worlds and also have a goal to work towards – to one day own a cube that has all the real copies of the cards you want in it. When accounting for proxies of cards that are $50 or more, these are the updated cube prices for the regular cubes. I didn’t bother with the Peasant and Pauper options because they are already heavily discounted.

Proxies ($50 or more)

Cube Price
Cube Tutor 720 $4,939.03
Cube Tutor 450 $2,221.65
Cube Tutor 360 $1,803.95


As would be expected, the price with proxies drops considerably. It didn’t drop as much as I thought it would, however you could always lower the limit to $30, $20, or even $10 as the threshold for proxying. Your startup costs will keep decreasing with the limit you set yourself until you can build something that is affordable and work up from there.

Since I set the proxy limit at $50 or more, the prices show that there are still plenty of $30-$45 cards that can be included with a cube to bolster the price. Even the lower cards that range from $5-$15 can add up quickly.

Oooh, Shiny!

Just for fun, let’s see how much these cubes are on average are if your goal is to ultimately foil them out.

FOIL Cubes

Cube Price
Cube Tutor 360 $9,738.61
Cube Tutor 360 Peasant $1,045.71
Cube Tutor 360 Pauper $789.90
Cube Tutor 450 $10,847.83
Cube Tutor 450 Peasant $1,230.37
Cube Tutor 450 Pauper $928.39
Cube Tutor 720 $26,303.03
Cube Tutor 720 Peasant $1,794.67
Cube Tutor 720 Pauper $1,210.16

 

So if I wanted a foil 360 card Peasant cube, I could expect to pay around $1,000 for it. This is about what I expected in terms of pricing for foils. Clearly the the 720 card powered cube was going to be absurdly expensive, there is not denying that – if your goal is to foil out a powered cube it is quite a lofty goal.

Time to Play

Once you’ve decided where your budget lies and how big you want to make your cube, all I can say is go for it! Know that I too will be working on my cube now that I have a goal in mind and know where I want it to fall on my budget. Even if I have to proxy a few cards initially and then pick them up over time, I at least have a starting point for how much it will cost me – especially if I want to foil out my cube down the road.

Some final thoughts:

What have you guys spent on creating your cubes? Do the averages match what you think you’ve spent?

Do you procure expensive proxies to fill the slots of Black Lotus, the Moxen, Time Walk, and other powerful old cards that are hard to find? This can be a good compromise to purchasing the real card, in addition to having a fully foiled cube if the proxy is foil. I’m curious to know how much it costs to create these premium proxy cards for those who play with them.

Also, do you like to build cubes on a budget and add some spicy bulk/cheaper rares when the urge strikes you? Are you picking up multiple copies of cards to make set themed or more linear cubes? It would be good to know if Cube Tutor is hits or misses the mark in terms of what a typical player’s cube looks like.

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WEEKEND PRICE UPDATE: NOV 1ST/14

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By James Chillcott (@MTGCritic)

Here’s your weekly update on what’s been shifting around in price in the world of paper Magic: The Gathering this week. This week, the story continues to be about the deflation of Khans of Tarkir prices.

5 Winners of the Week

1.  Chained to the Rocks (Theros, Rare): $0.81 to $1.14 (+41%)

Format(s): Standard

Chained to the Rocks is seeing play in a couple of different Standard decks and this is pulling it up a bit from it’s bottom line. As one of the strongest possible removal spells in the format, it’s possible metagame shifts could result in more upside here, though the top line is likely in the $3 range. The fact that this is our biggest gainer of the week is indicative of as strong downtrend overall in the market as the Khans cards settle to their natural lows and the lack of focus on other formats keeps prices depressed for a while longer. (One bright spot likely to cause spikes is GP: NJ Nov 14-16th which as one of the largest Legacy format tournaments of all time, should inevitably boost some trending Legacy staples short-term).

Verdict: Hold

2.  Drown in Sorrow (Born of the Gods, Uncommon): $0.82 to $1.10 (+34%)

Format(s): Standard

The uses for this card as main and sideboard tech against token and aggro strategies in this Standard fall metagame are myriad. Scry 1 certainly never hurts either. This isn’t likely to become Stoke the Flames Pt 2, and selling fees are unlikely to make dumping playsets very profitable so there’s not much action here.

Verdict: Hold

3.  Monastery Swiftspear (KTK, Uncommon): $1.87 to $2.23 (+19%)

Format(s): Standard

It’s a an aggro card of Legacy caliber and will likely be seen all over the room at GP NJ later this month as part of both Burn and U/R Delver strategies. That being said I’m higher on foils long term, picked up around the holidays as max supply after the Legacy GP hype has receded.

Verdict: Hold

4.  Whip of Erebos (Theros, Rare): $2.18 to $1.95 (+12%)

Format(s): Standard + Casual/EDH

Whip strategies in Standard are looking like one of the top 5 options in the format, whether they be GB or Sultai versions. The card could peak around $4-5 if it takes down a few major Standard tourneys through Nov/Dec, and the fact that some decks are running the full four copies of the legendary artifact is encouraging. I’m holding for now, looking to pick up copies next summer at their natural lows for future EDH value.

Verdict: Hold

5.  Battlefield Forge (9th, Rare): $7.41 to $6.66 (+11%)

Format(s): Standard + Modern

With Jeskai tempo, aggro and combo strategies all viable in Standard, it’s no surprise that this is the most desired of the M15 pain-land reprints. This should be close to peak value, so I’m a seller in the $6-8 range, having slurped up copies in the $2 range mid-July.

Verdict: Sell

5 Top Losers of the Week

1. Anafenza, the Foremost (Khans of Tarkir, Mythic): $6.16 to $5.10 (-17%)

Format(s): Standard

With the KTK card slide in full motion now, good cards that aren’t seeing enough play will be the main victims of the downslide. Anafenza, doesn’t have a strong home in the Abzan lists, and may keep trending down into the $3-4 range in the near future. I’m trading my copies as high as possible and looking for a future entry point.

Verdict: Trade/Sell

2.  Siege Rhino (Khans of Tarkir, Rare): $8.67 to $7.67 (-12%)

Format(s): Standard + Modern

Yes, it’s taken a bit of a shave alongside the rest of it’s KTK cousins, but make no mistake, this is an important card and not one you need to be rushing to sell. If you’re holding extra copies from some cracked boxes and Abzan’s not your deck, then go ahead and trade up into some depressed Modern or Legacy staples you might need.

Verdict: Hold

3.  Perilous Vault (M15, Mythic): $8.55 to $7.63 (-11%)

Format(s): Standard

Despite UB Control putting up solid win percentages at multiple big tourneys lately, the hype on this card has receded a bit as players realize it’s often a turn too late to be the sweeper mid-range and control decks need to put Aggro decks to bed. I’ve already outed my copies, and unless you’re playing it I suggest you do the same as it has little upside at this point and not much of a future in other formats outside casual and EDH.

Verdict: Sell/Trade

4.  Dig Through Time (Khans of Tarkir, Rare) 10.29 to 9.29 (-10%)

This card is amazing and the only thing giving me pause in holding multiple copies is the outside possibility that it finds a banning in the next 6 months. My money is on Treasure Cruise being the only banning, but we need to see results from GP Jersey to know for sure which way we’re headed. Regardless, it’s going to be a key blue card, often used as a four-of, for another year and a bit, so there’s no need to be unloading now.

Verdict: Hold

5.  Wurmcoil Engine (Scars of Mirrodin, Mythic) $22.70 to $20.57 (-9%)

It’s in the new Commander 2014 red deck. That will pull the price down even further, likely below $15 and within 30 days. Get out now and scoop up copies at their future low.

Verdict: Sell

Quick Hits:

  • With basically all of the five Commander 2015 decks now revealed, it’s pretty clear that WOTC has taken steps to ensure that none of the decks are as unbalanced value-wise as the True Name Nemesis deck was last year. That being said, the red deck looks like the one to pick up with at least 3 cards (Dualcaster Mage, Feldon of the Third Path, Wurmcoil Engine) representing strong value.
  • It’s worth keeping an eye on MTGO Daily Legacy winners heading into the GP NJ weekend. Trending cards have a good shot at making you some money if you can spot something fresh that’s good at against Treasure Cruise/Delver strategies.
  • Conspiracy Booster boxes can currently be had for around $85 online. This is way too low for a unique draft format, with solid foils, some unique cube cards and Dack Fayden.

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.

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