Watchtower

UNLOCKED PROTRADER: The Watchtower 4/17/17

4 Comments

By: Travis Allen
@wizardbumpin

Don’t miss this week’s installment of the MTG Fast Finance podcast, an on-topic, no-nonsense tour through the week’s most important changes in the Magic economy. And if you enjoy playing Magic, make sure to visit https://scry.land to find PPTQs, SCG Opens, and more events on an interactive map with worldwide coverage. Find Magic near you today.

Now that we’ve got the full Amonkhet spoiler, pros have begun brewing in earnest for the Pro Tour that will just be wrapping up about four weeks from now. Until then, we’re going with articles that get posted by (presumably) non-pros and whatever is happening over on the MTGO beta client. Then this coming weekend will be the first SCG Open with new cards and we’ll get our first true glimpse of Amonkhet Standard.

And then it’s all for naught! Amonkhet’s Banned and Restricted List update is next Monday, seven days from now. Most expect something to go – whether it’s Felidar Guardian, because why is Splinter Twin legal in Standard, or Gideon, Ally of Zendikar, because he was never intended to exist alongside Gideon of the Trials, thanks to the rapid reversion to the two-year rotation cycle. Or even both, perhaps? Heart of Kiran? Will we get Emrakul, the Promise End back? We can’t say for sure, but one thing is for certain. People are expecting change, especially with how rotten Standard has been for awhile now.

Aetherworks Marvel

Krark-Clan Ironworks

Price Today: $3
Possible Price: $10

Remember this guy? It was terrorizing Standard for a brief window, and in parallel, had reached price tags of over $10, sometimes even $20. Vehicles and Copy Cat have since taken over Standard, especially after Aether Revolt, and Marvel has fallen by the wayside as a result.

Our biggest reason for keeping an eye on Marvel is the Banned and Restricted list announcement coming in a week. While it’s been chased out of Standard, the removal of either key Vehicles and/or Copy Cat pieces would blow a massive hole in the format, and I’m sure this would rush in to fill the void, at least temporarily. While Emrakul may be gone, most of the other tools are still there, and newcomer Approach of the Second Sun is weird, cumbersome, and deliciously tempting in a Marvel deck.

This isn’t a call to arms, though. Without a meaningful change in Standard, this set is only going to be more hostile to Marvel with cards like Manglehorn entering the fray. Our real decision point will be Monday morning. Yes, Monday morning – NOT the SCG Open this weekend. Don’t forget that that event fires before the B&R List update.


Mizzix’s Mastery

Krark-Clan Ironworks
Price Today: $4
Possible Price: $12

Mizzix’s Mastery was an early gainer out of Commander 2015, and since has been off the radar, as most Commander-only cards tend to be. “Off the radar” only applies to those looking at the radar though, which is a, well, two-dimensional way of looking at things. For those that track Commander cards long after the initial hype as died down, this has been a Thomas the Tank Engine, gaining slowly and slowly each week.

Supply is finally reaching critical levels, with only six copies left under $7 on TCG. You can score copies closer to $3 and $4 if you start digging, but not many. Once this dries up it will get relisted at $7 to $8, and while it will decline slightly at the start, it won’t take long to start climbing again. Eventually this should sit comfortably at the $9 to $12 range. It could take another year or so to reliably sell at that range, but we don’t invest in Commander because we expect rapid profits.

With reprints extremely limited to future Commander sets and maaaaaybe a Conspiracy-type set, we should have plenty of time to let these mature before overloading TCG with our spare copies.

Travis Allen has  been playing Magic: The Gathering since 1994, mostly in upstate New York. Ever since his first FNM he’s been trying to make playing Magic cheaper, and he first brought his perspective to MTGPrice in 2012. You can find his articles there weekly, as well as on the podcast MTG Fast Finance.

4 thoughts on “UNLOCKED PROTRADER: The Watchtower 4/17/17”

  1. hm. I find these picks fairly questionable tbh. i mean, i don’t think the potential gains are quite as good as you are estimating. Then again… I could be way off.

    1. Hi. Please keep in mind this isn’t just a “pick of the week” article. It’s identifying cards that deserve our attention, for one reason or another, and looking at possible outcomes. In this case, I decided that there’s enough uncertainty in Standard’s future in the next couple of weeks to make it worth looking at Aetherworks Marvel again, and that low supply on an EDH role player should be noted.

      In all honesty, I thought this was one of the better weeks. Aetherworks Marvel alone could conceivably quadruple, depending on how things play out. Thanks for the feedback though.

  2. Hey Travis,

    How come no one ever mentioned foil Orzhov Charm? It seems to have been lost in the shuffle of things after the rise of Death’s Shadow (I can only surmise), and there seems to be some uncertainty on the price of these in the future. Major retailers are sold out but it looks to be $10+ since they are completely sold out across the internet and very sparse on TCGplayer. I was able to pick up the last few copies from Troll and Toad and Cool Stuff for a buck-ish.

    Thoughts?

    Hoping you guys can cover it on the MTGFastFinance Podcast this week.

    Cheers,
    Jonathan

    1. The reason is that I, and others, simply didn’t catch it! That, or people did and chose to remain quiet. In my case, it’s the former.

      If the data is out there to back it up, we’ll definitely discuss on MTGFF, but it sounds like you already know everything you need to about this one.

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