All posts by Corbin Hosler

Corbin Hosler is a Magic and Esports enthusiast from the gaming hotbed that is Oklahoma. He began playing the game in Shadowmoor and thought Faerie Trickery was broken because "no one plays Faeries." Corbin works as a coverage reporter for Wizards of the Coast and is a co-host of the Brainstorm Brewery podcast.
Corbin Hosler, ProTrader, Unlocked ProTrader

UNLOCKED PROTRADER: Why I Love Casual Magic, and Why You Should, Too

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Tell me, what do you consider the best spec right now?

Is it Rattleclaw Mystic? After all, the little thing could go nuts if Birds of Paradise isn’t reprinted.

Is it Abrupt Decay? It’s safe from Modern Masters 2015 and could easily go to $20 by this time next summer thanks to incoming product.

What about Flooded Strand or Polluted Delta? Both are great fetch lands, and will be around forever. Staying with Khans of Tarkir, what about Siege Rhino? Surely it’s bottomed.

All of those are good answers, and all of those are varying degrees of good specs. But they’re not the answer I came up with.

My money is on Phenax, God of Deception. Or Kruphix, God of Horizons.

kruphixgodofhorizons

In a Magic world full of Spikes, it’s Johnny that holds my heart.

The Table… You Know Which One

The mythical kitchen table. The place where epic battles are fought and technically terrible games of Magic are played. The place where no one cares about the latest tournament results or that Ulamog costs a million mana, because they will cast him, darn it.

If you’re reading this, chances are you’re on the spikier side. By that, I mean you’ve played Friday Night Magic. You may have even played in a larger tournament, or at least watched the coverage of one. You know the value of your cards and you keep them carefully sleeved.

But the truth is, we are the minority. The majority of players who spend money on this game are more interested in the cards their buddy is playing against them at home than they are in what LSV is sleeving up at the latest major event. People come into my store all the time who have never played outside of their homes. They have no interest in showing up to a tournament—all they want to do is crush their friend’s angel deck at home.

But don’t make the mistake of equating “casual” with “cheap,” because that’s just not the case. In fact, I sell more cards to these “casuals” than I ever do to tournament players.

It’s no surprise, then, that I say I love casual Magic. And so should you.

Casual What?

Before we any further, what exactly defines a “casual” card?

There is no hard-and-fast answer to this question, to be honest. A lot of times people conflate “Commander card” with “casual card.” And while the reality is very different and so are the market ramifications, the truth is they behave similarly pricewise. They’re dirt-cheap when they’re in Standard and typically grow from there, following the opposite path of most newly printed cards. So while I’m not calling them the same thing in theory, the truth is there’s not much difference in reality, at least when it comes to our strategy on them. That said, I’ll let Jason’s series fill you in on the Commander targets, and I’ll take care of the casuals.

Keep in mind everything can be a “casual” card, from the gods I mentioned earlier (I like all of these in the long-term, but especially the two I mentioned since they’re from small sets and are cheap right now) to the random lifegain cards that pop up from time to time. But I’ve done what I can do present at least some general guidelines.

Mill

Archive Trap is nearly $5 and still rising, while Glimpse the Unthinkable is the poster child here at $25. Hell, even Memory Sluice, a random trash common, is 50 cents. These cards are played in zero competitive decks, but still hold their value.

The reason? People love their mill, man. It’s a terrible strategy, but it never goes away. I (gently) tried to explain to a player at FNM last week who tried to convince me that playing one copy of Mind Sculpt in his Magic 2015 flashback Sealed deck was a good idea because, hey, you could mill their good cards!

It doesn’t make sense, but whatever. Just roll with it, and grab those Increasing Confusions as throw-ins or out of bulk piles while you still can. The card has languished for the last two years but has shown a little growth this year, and history tells us it will be $4 to $5 eventually. Obviously you’re looking at a long-term mover here, but it costs you nothing to hoard some of these and forget about them in the spec box.

Angels/Dragons

Without a doubt, these are the two biggest tribes when it comes to casual players. I’ve had people come in and literally say, “I want to buy every angel you have.” In fact, his buddy was with him and then said, “I want all your dragons.” If I didn’t see these two guys with my own eyes, I would never have believed this type of person existed.

But we need look no further than Dragons of Tarkir to the proof of this. Dragons from all over have gone crazy this year, from Scion of the Ur-Dragon to seemingly-random stuff like Utvara Hellkite and Scourge of Valkas. If it’s a dragon, it rose in price this year, and that’s not an accident, nor is it a coincidence that Wizards always includes one or two of these in each set.

There’s a big dropoff after that, but vampires and hydras have also done well historically. Captivating Vampire is $7 despite being in an Intro Deck.

captivatingvampire

There’s one other tribe I have to mention: the little green men. It’s not at all surprising that Wizards stuffed the mono-green Commander deck last year full of elves like Immaculate Magistrate and Imperious Perfect. Even the thrice-printed Elvish Promenade is worth a few bucks. People like their elves.

Lords/Tribal Cards

As much as I wish I was talking about Lord of Atlantis, I’m only doing so in the general sense.

People like to build linear decks at the kitchen table, and often that means tribal. I’m no different: I have a sweet Tribal Treefolk deck that I bust out for 60-card casual rarely, and I love my $4 Dauntless Dourbarks and $8 Timber Protectors.

The reason cards like Timber Protector and Elvish Champion ($4 despite numerous printings) and the aforementioned Captivating Vampire speak to this phenomenon. I’m not saying stock up on Rageblood Shaman (remember when people thought this was a good idea? Ew), but I am saying that stuff like Sliver Hivelord and Sliver Hive are good bets to steadily rise long-term. And I’m absolutely in love with Haven of the Spirit Dragon once it settles down a bit in Standard and falls to $2 or so.

Okay… but Why?

I’ve named a lot of good casual specs so far in this article, but the more important question is… why? What makes them better than speculating on a Standard or Modern card? After all, when those go, they tend to go big.

A few reasons.

Safety

Like I said before, these are almost always cheap at some point. They offer a super low buy-in point, and as such if they go nowhere or are reprinted into oblivion, you’re not losing much. On the other hand, they typically represent very steady gains every year. I know people refer to original duals as the “blue chip stocks” of Magic, but solid casual specs fill that role just as well while also having the advantage of starting out as penny stocks.

Predictability

Casual cards aren’t subject to the whims of the tournament crowd. We’ve all made lots of solid spec calls on competitive cards that never panned out for whatever reason (yes, this is where you remind me of my 94 Splinterfrights). Rattleclaw Mystic, for instance, could be a great spec heading into rotation. On the other hand, if Birds of Paradise is reprinted in Magic: Origins, then the Mystic isn’t going anywhere.

Casual cards don’t behave like that. Haven of the Spirit Dragon isn’t going to be made obsolete any time soon. And even if something similar and maybe better did come along, people are likely just to play both. After all, they can play as many cards as they want in their decks, so why stop at 60 if you have more sweet cards?

Ease of acquisition

As I spoke to above, these cards are not hard to find. Tournament players literally give away these cards or leave them on draft tables. If you want to be the guy grabbing all the Increasing Confusions at your store, no one is going to stop you. You can get these as throw-ins all day long, and no one will care.

And this even works with the obvious ones. I was all over Chromatic Lantern the minute it was printed, and despite it being such an obvious call at $2 people still threw these at me all day long. As we know, Lantern is at an all-time high of nearly $7 and is showing no signs of slowing. And I have a giant stack of these acquired solely through trades. This is not a humble brag: it’s proof of concept. Even when these things seem “obvious” to those of who care about finance, the truth is most players just don’t care.

Buylist Value

This may be a bit more anecdotal, but some of my best experiences buylisting cards comes when those cards are casual ones. Outside of the flavor-of-the-week Standard card, dealers usually have plenty of stock of something. They don’t need another Siege Rhino from you right now, no matter how busted the card is.

But they may need those Timber Protectors or Chromatic Lanterns. After all, the most common way for dealers to buy cards is from players at tournaments, which by default usually means tournament players. Those same players who threw all the Lanterns at me years ago and who don’t have any now.

To get the cards the casual players want to buy from them, stores often pay more on casual staples than they do random competitive cards. This is my experience and is not based on any empirical data, but it’s also how I operate when I buy cards. I have much more confidence in paying a good price for an Asceticism ($7 retail) than I do for a $7 Standard card that may or may not sell and may or may not stay $7 for long.

Keep It Casual

I love casual Magic. You should, too. And before I go, I have a few casual cards I haven’t yet called attention to.

  • Akroma’s Memorial. The Magic 2013 version is at an all-time high of $12, and this was a $20 card before the reprint. It’s going to get there again.
  • Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker is on a tear, and is almost $9. Again, we have what was a $20 card before a reprint. This has seen a lot of growth already this year so it’s not quite as attractive, but this is going to continue to climb.
  • Door of Destinies is at an all-time high of $3.50, and this will continue to climb back toward the $8 it was before the reprint.
  • Rise of the Dark Realms sits at $4.50 after some momentum, and as a mythic this one should rise at a faster clip than the others.
  • Gilded Lotus is also at an all-time high of $6.50 (noticing a theme of “casual reprints in core sets?”) and will be $10 within in a year.
  • Looking further ahead, Darksteel Forge has three printings and hasn’t shown much momentum this year, but it fits the exact same mold as Gilded Lotus, and Darksteel versions of this used to be $12.
  • Dragon Tempest and Dragonlord’s Servant are both on their way to bottoming out, and once they hit near-bulk status they become very good long-term players.
  • Adaptive Automaton is showing some steady progress over the past three months, and is likely due for a correction upward within the next year.

That’s a lot of picks, and truth be told I could go on. But then again, I love casual Magic.

 

Thanks for reading,

Corbin Hosler

@Chosler88 on Twitter

Corbin Hosler, ProTrader

Editor’s Note: Announcing exclusive content for ProTraders!

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Hello!

If you’re reading this, I’m sure you’ve noticed that we’ve been quite busy around here.

Put simply, it’s an exciting time for MTGPrice. We’ve been working hard to increase our content offerings for you. I’m sure you’ve noticed we’ve been running more great content from the best authors in the business (If you haven’t, I suggest you take some time to look over the work our authors have created, it’s truly top-of-the-line). We’re working hard to make sure we’re ahead of the finance game and get that information to you as quickly as possible. We’ve got big plans for more content and features to come, and if you stick with us you’ll see the fruit of those labors over the coming months.

With that in mind, I have an exciting announcement for our ProTrader subscribers. We have an all-star staff of writers here, most of whom have many years of experience in the business and have seen it all when it comes to the financial side of the game. Beginning this week, we are making some of that content available exclusively to our ProTrader subscribers. Whether you’re a longtime member or just giving us a try as part of the Kickstarter, we’re excited to offer this to you.

Our lineup of ProTrader-exclusive articles comes from the most respected names in the business, a group of experienced traders and dealers who have time and again proven why they’re the best there is to offer.

Moving forward, this is the content that will be available exclusively to ProTraders.

Monday: Sigmund Ausfresser

Tuesday: Danny Brown

Wednesday: Jason Alt and Travis Allen

Thursday: Corbin Hosler and Guo Heng Chin

Friday: Ross Lennon

Saturday: Guo Heng Chin and James Chillcot

 

That’s six full days of the best Magic finance writing on the planet. In addition to that lineup, ProTraders have access to the buzzing MTGPrice forums (for all your truly up-to-the-second financial needs), early access to the industry-leading Brainstorm Brewery podcast, advanced tools for tracking your collection’s value over time, and access to raw inventory data from individual stores to track just how much a particular card is moving.

That’s a lot of value for your $4.99 monthly subscription, and if this sounds interesting to you, I hope you consider becoming a ProTrader today.

But if that’s not for you, fear not; MTGPrice will always have some free content as well. Our authors writing for the free side are quite capable, and I’m sure you’ll enjoy reading these guys every week.

Monday: Jared Yost and James Chillcot

Tuesday: Guo Heng Chin

Wednesday: Derek Madlem

Thursday: Douglas Johnson

Friday: Cliff Daigle and Houston Whitehead

 

Magic has made some huge leaps over the past few years, and it’s truly an exciting time to be around the game. We’re going to continue to work hard here at MTGPrice to make sure you’re able to keep up, and we like to think it’s an exciting time around here as well. Spend some time around our site, and I think you’ll agree.

 

– Corbin Hosler

Corbin Hosler

Quitting

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For me, it’s my Merfolk.

That’s the one thing I’ll never sell, unless it becomes a matter of absolute necessity for my family.

I’ve loved my Merfolk deck ever since I borrowed one to play in my first-ever Legacy tournament at a SCG Open and ended up splitting the finals of the event. From there I decided to build it myself, and these days I sling foil Fish in Modern every chance I get. Sometimes, I even do well enough to have a tournament report to write.

I’ll sell my dual lands. I’ll sell my binders, my bulk, my box of full-art lands, my Bazaar of Baghdad. Hell, if it came to it, I’d even sell my Mishra’s Toy Workshops that I received as a gift. It can all go—everything I treasure in a binder or a box in my office.

mishrastoyworkshop

But I’ll never sell my Merfolk.

The reason? Because there’s plenty of wrong ways to do it but only a few right ways.

To quit.

…

If you’re reading this, consider yourself one of the lucky ones. You’ve never felt what it’s like to have to give up the game you love—to watch someone else coldly take what you worked years to build and carelessly dump it into a box. You’ve never given up a piece of yourself for reasons beyond your control.

Or maybe you have.

I’ve seen people quit this game for all number of reasons. They can’t afford it. They don’t have as many friends who play. They need the money. They ragequit after the latest tournament. But by far the most common reason is that they don’t have the time, something that encompasses many reasons. Sometimes it’s work; sometimes it’s a new baby or other family issues.

I’ve been there myself. When I graduated from college, I began to work as a sportswriter, and that meant lots of Friday-night games and weekend tournaments. Save for a few weeks in the summer, FNM was suddenly not a part of my life anymore.

And that sucked, there’s no way around it. I’m nearing a point in my life where career opportunities will allow me to work a schedule more amenable to Magic, and I’m looking forward to getting back in the game. But after college, I took the job I could get, and while I do enjoy it, being so disconnected from Magic still came as a huge shock.

But I didn’t quit.

Instead, my experience with quitting comes on the other side: the backend of a dealer booth. I’m the guy sorting your beloved cards into piles of money, though I try my best to not be cold while I’m doing it. Because I buy and sell cards out of an LGS, I have a large number of what you would call “walk-ins.” That is, people who have Magic cards to sell but aren’t store regulars. They probably Googled “sell Magic cards” and ended up with me.

I hear a lot of stories this way. People sell me cards for any number of reasons, and that’s fine. I always strike up a friendly conversation as I’m sorting through cards: Why are you getting out of the game? Why are you selling all your cards? It is both a curse and a blessing that Magic cards are valuable. The same thing that makes it tough to break into the game makes it easy to get out—there’s always someone willing to pay you for your cards. But the more people I’ve worked with, the more I’ve seen this same story come and go.

“Well, I played Magic ten years ago, and I sold everything when I quit eight years ago. I can’t believe how expensive it’s gotten since then! Anyway, I got back into over the last year but it’s not going to work for [INSERT REASON HERE], so I’m selling my stuff again.”

This is a common story: a player who quit and came back later, only to quit again. I’ve heard a lot of stories from players as they quit, and I’ve heard a lot of stories from players who have come back. If you want to quit, I would advise against you making a clean break, but if that’s what you need to do, here’s some advice.

stopthat

Know What You’re Selling

Turning your cards into money is great. You never know what unexpected expenses are going to come up, and unlike a lot of hobbies, Magic is very easy to convert back into cash when you need it, whether that’s for an emergency or simply a gift. I was able to sell enough cards to buy an engagement ring for my now-wife, and I’m proud of the fact that I did it with Magic cards.

But remember this: sometimes selling everything isn’t the best option. Sell your Standard cards. Sell your Modern cards. Sell your casual cards. Sell your bulk. Maybe even move your nonland Legacy staples if you have them and you don’t think you’re coming back to the game. Because even if you do, that fancy finisher you have now may be outclassed by something by the time you get back, and that card is now worth less than it was when you quit.

But don’t sell your dual lands unless you have to. If you’re lucky enough to have any of the Power Nine, don’t sell them. These cards have only gone one direction since Magic was created, and while past performance is no guarantee of future returns, it’s also completely plausible that these cards will continue to climb. It’s a really crappy feeling for those of you who have come back in the last five years only to see the dual lands you sold a decade ago for gas money are often exceeding $200 now. Even if you’re out of the game, stashing these away in the back of your closet is simply a prudent financial move.

Take the Time to Do It Right

I see people decide to quit, and they take their stuff, unsorted, to Star City Games or even their local LGS to get rid of it all at once. I’ve found so many expensives rares in boxes of what I was told was common and uncommon bulk. If you take the time to go through your cards one last time and set these aside, you’ll be able to get real buylist values on these rather than losing them in the junk.

It’s really easy to dump your cards onto one dealer’s table and simply be rid of them all, but it’s almost always worth your time to break it down to a few different buyers or to sell your big-ticket items to another player, whether in person or through eBay.

One more thing—the most important thing—don’t sell your Merfolk.

merfolkofthedepths

Don’t Sell Your Merfolk

As I explained, there’s not much that could happen to make me sell my Merfolk. The day might come I have to sell all of my Magic cards. Despite our best plans, life has a funny way of happening, and I don’t know what might come up down the road.

But I’ll never sell my Merfolk.

This is the single best piece of advice I have. I literally cannot count the times I’ve talked to someone who’s recently come back into the game and has nothing. They have such fond memories of their favorite deck “from back in the day,” even though it’s probably terrible by today’s standards. But it’s precisely those memories that brought them back to Magic in the first place, and no matter what they may go on to build or accomplish in their second (or third or more) stint, it won’t replace that first love for their own personal Merfolk.

You’ll Be Back

No matter how far you distance yourself from the game, it’s hard to make it disappear completely. You’ll be surfing Facebook or Twitch a few years from now and see it pop up, and you’ll get that familiar twinge.

It’s only a matter of time until you give in. If you’ve played this game for any length of time, it’s impossible to get away forever. Most players know exactly how many times they’ve quit and come back, and they wear it like a badge of honor. That’s fine, but maybe try not to cost yourself some long-term money in the process.

With that in mind, here’s a short list of things you’re going to store away in the closet, even if you have to quit for a time.

Binders

Sure, your binder may be empty now after you unload all your rares from it, but when you come back, you’re going to need one again. Good ones runs upwards of $20 today, and will probably be even more expensive when you come back. I have a ton of extra binders I’ve gotten from people selling me collections, and they just rot away in a box in my home. You might as well let them rot away in a box in yours to save yourself some cash down the road.

Lands

This depends on your level of play in the game, but it’s worth noting. Sure, maybe you want to sell your expensive Standard or even Modern lands, but if you’re a more casual player who isn’t worried about the latest tournament decks, maybe just keep back some of the more simple stuff. Khans of Tarkir trilands, for instance, are commonplace to those of us in tournaments, but absolute gold for a new players trying to build casual or EDH decks. That could be you if you decide to return in a few years.

Deckboxes/Sleeves/Dice

Along the same lines, these are something you’ll eventually need again, even if you have no use for them now. A pack of sleeves may not seem very important when you’re up in the middle of the night with your baby son, but trust me, you’re going to wish you had them when that kid is spilling his drink on your cards when you teach him to play years down the road.

What If I’m Wrong?

I’ve written this article with everything predicated on the belief that you may return to the game someday. If you do, these things can make that transition back in easier.

But maybe that never happens. You leave the game and never look back. You save some of this stuff and it’s lost in your garage for years. Maybe you’ll dig it up and find out that the cards you saved have appreciated nicely in your absence from the game. Or maybe your now-teenaged kid will find it and make fun of you for being such a nerd. Either way, it’s worth it.

Thanks for reading,

Corbin Hosler

@Chosler88 on Twitter

Corbin Hosler

The Myth of Making Money

8 Comments

A few weeks ago, I was lucky enough to have a weekend away from work, and I decided to spend it at SCG Dallas with a few friends. We headed down on Saturday afternoon, and while we had vague plans of playing in the Modern 5k on Sunday, we all knew the trip was mostly just to hang out and have a good time.

And good times were had, no doubt. But that’s not the point of this story. While we did spend some time on the floor, it was mostly to trade. Specifically, I was on a mission: to find the last two foils I needed for my Modern Merfolk deck: a foil Oboro, Palace in the Clouds and a foil Mikokoro, Center of the Sea. They may not look like much, but they’re lands that make blue mana that don’t die to Choke… At least that’s what I thought. As you may have noticed, Mikokoro doesn’t actually make blue mana, and it turns out the card I needed all along was Minamo, School at Water’s Edge. Somehow I got confused and mixed myself up and missed out on a chance to trade for one.

Anyway, I did manage to find an Oboro, and trading was had, with the usual rifling through each other’s binders and making small talk while we did so. My trade partner made a stop on a particular page of my binder, the one filled with a dozen or so Scourge of the Throne.

scourgeofthethrone

“That must be nice to have those, huh?” he prodded, referring of course to the small spike that Scourges went through a month or so ago.

“I guess so,” I replied.

And on paper, it is nice. I bought mine at $7 or so to fill a few orders at the LGS where I sell cards, and I grabbed a handful of extras in anticipation of Dragons of Tarkir. And it worked out great! After all, the card moved from $7 to $14 after I bought them. Must be nice, huh?

Today, those Scourges buylist for around $8. If I were to sell them, I would make about 75 cents a copy after shipping charges.

Not exactly paying the rent with that.

The Conversation That Started It All

“Marianne: So how did it go?

Me: It was okay. I went 3-1 playing, but I made like $30 trading!

Marianne: Great, so are you taking me out to dinner tomorrow night? Or are you going to buy me shiny things?

Me: Well, it’s more like “theoretical money.”

Marianne: So macaroni and cereal again?

Me: (sigh) Yeah, but I really like those!”

That’s what I wrote on December 22, 2010, when I was a dirt-poor sophomore in college just trying to put together some cards to play FNM (writing this makes me feel old). I’ve contributed a few things to the realm of “MTG finance” writing, but I consider the articulation of this concept the most important thing I’ve ever done in the field. Remember that in those halcyon days of 2010, smartphones weren’t a thing, trading was a great way to make value, Marianne and I weren’t yet married, and I loved eating macaroni and cereal (one of those four things still hasn’t changed, and I can report that we’re approaching our third wedding anniversary).

Another thing hasn’t changed. Then, like now, everyone wants to brag about their successful spec. “I just knew this card was going up!” people constantly shouted. Then when you see their binders full of the newly-expensive card (probably some garbage like Consuming Vapors, which was all the rage back then) and showing it off in the store. They would be so proud of themselves for getting in on the hot spec beforehand, and they would revel in all the money they made.

Twelve months later, I’d see that exact same binder when they came to sell to me, their Consuming Vapors now bulk again.

Tell me, did they really make any money?

The Myth of Making Money

Nothing, I repeat, nothing matters until you out a card. Whether that’s to a buylist or eBay for cash, or to another player in a trade, there is a hell of a lot more to making money on Magic cards than simply the price you acquire it for (your “in” price).

Your “out” price (the number you ultimately move it for) is even more vital. The difference between those two numbers (after shipping/fees of course) is the money you made on those cards. That’s it. It doesn’t matter how high or low the price went in the interim. If you didn’t move it when the price was higher, your $8 Consuming Vapors may as well have been $100 for all the good it did you.

It’s a lesson I learned the hard way in 2011, when I decided to speculate on Primeval Titan after the banning of Jace and Stoneforge Mystic in Standard. With the Caw-Blade menace leaving the format, things seemed wide open for the decks abusing Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle to return with force to the forefront. And I was quick to the party, getting my copies before the price predictably rose.

The only problem? I was racing the clock. A known reprint was coming in Magic 2012, and I was late in getting my copies listed and shipped. In the end I lost about $20 despite being “ahead” of the curve when the price spiked.

The Myth of Making Money™ strikes again.

It’s a lesson that people new to the finance scene seem to have to learn the hard way. Travis Allen went through the same experience last year (and made out better than I did), and wrote a great article about the experience.

The Myth of Making Money™. It strikes us all.

But it only has to strike once. Or, for those of you reading this today, hopefully not at all.

Avoiding the Trap

There are definitely a few ways to mitigate the risks that cost Travis and I so much.

Temper Your Expectations

First, have realistic expectations. If you see an $8 card and believe it can push $11 or $12, think twice before you buy into it. Using Scourge of the Throne as an example, it took the card nearly doubling up for me to break even on a buylist. And the truth is, if you’re speculating on a card to resell, buylists are likely going to be your best option if you bought more than a playset or two. Know that whatever you buy, you need to reasonably expect a double-up before you can expect to get your money back after shipping.

Trading

Trading for cards is a good way to eliminate some of the upfront costs, given that the “true value” of your $8 retail card is closer to $4 or $5 in cash. If you can use that card to pick up the $8 card you want to spec on, you’re getting yourself a much better deal than buying in it for actual dollars.

Go Deep

If you feel strongly enough about a card to move in on it, do it for enough copies to make it worth it. Having a playset of a card you knew was going to strike it big is great, and you’ll have those to play with, but if you do feel strongly, don’t be afraid to go deep. You have to risk it to get the biscuit, after all.

Account for All Costs

When I mention the costs here, I’m sure the first thing that came to your mind was postage. And it’s true, that is a major cost. But it’s far from the only one and, I would argue, not even the most important.

Your time is a cost, and your time is worth money. Spending time researching and buying a spec, or trading into it, is time you aren’t spending playing Magic or hanging out with your girlfriend or delivering pizzas for some extra cash. If you’re going to look toward this as a way to make a little money, you must absolutely account for the cost of your time.

Do It for the Story

I have one other piece of advice when it comes to speculating.

I’ve explained the Myth of Making Money™ today, and I hope it helps you understand that making money on “MTG finance” is not anywhere near as easy as some people paint it. It’s work, and it can be hard work with little reward. In almost all cases, your time is better spent delivering pizzas if you’re looking for some extra money.

But Magic can give you something that Pizza Hut can’t.

The memories.

Nobody is retiring off of money they made flipping some Magic cards over the weekend. But you may be able to foil out pieces of your Commander deck by doing so. And when someone comments on your cool signed foil Fifth Dawn Eternal Witness, what’s a better story: that you made enough money to get them from your out-of-right-field spec on Death’s Shadows, or that you delivered some pepperonis to buy it?

One of my favorite pieces to ever write was the story of how I sold my fetch lands that I had spent years acquiring through trade. In the end, I sold them for about $25 apiece, far from the heights they would later reach. But I don’t regret the decision. It was the completion of a story a long time in the making, and it’s one I remember vividly today. Hell, even stories where things go wrong (like my 94 Splinterfrights) are worth it for the story later. I keep that pile on my desk as a reminder that we can all screw up, no matter how long we’ve been doing this. Sure, I lost some money on that spec, but it’s a fun story anyway.

The Myth of Making Money™ is a vital concept for anyone getting into Magic finance to understand, and you won’t ever truly succeed in this field until you do. If you believe in a card and want to try your hand at speculating, don’t be afraid to do it. But make sure you give yourself a chance to succeed. And, for your own sake, enjoy it.

You may make some cash, or you may not make any money at all. Just make sure you make some memories along the way.

Thanks for reading,

Corbin Hosler

@Chosler88 on Twitter