All posts by Travis Allen

Travis Allen has been playing Magic on and off since 1994, and got sucked into the financial side of the game after he started playing competitively during Zendikar. You can find his daily Magic chat on Twitter at @wizardbumpin. He currently resides in upstate NY, where he is a graduate student in applied ontology.
MTG Fast Finance

MTG Fast Finance Episode 13

5 Comments

by Travis Allen (@wizardbumpin) & James Chillcott (@mtgcritic)

MTG Fast Finance is a weekly podcast that tries to break down the flurry of financial activity in the world of Magic: The Gathering into a fast, fun and useful thirty minute format. Follow along with our seasoned hosts as they walk you through this week’s big price movements, their picks of the week, metagame analysis and a rotating weekly topic.

Show Notes: April 15th

Segment 1: Top Movers of the Week

Secure the Wastes  (Dragons of Tarkir)
Start: $5.50
Finish: $10.00
Gain: +$4.50 (+80%)

Gifts Ungiven (Modern Masters)
Start: $12.00
Finish: $24.00
Gain: +$12.00 (+100%)

Undiscovered Paradise (Visions)
Start: $4.50
Finish: $10.50
Gain: +$6.00 (+133%)

Knight of the White Orchid  (Magic Origins)
Start: $2.00
Finish: $5.00
Gain: +$3.00 (+150%)

Kytheon, Hero of Akros (Magic Origins)
Start: $5.50
Finish: $14.00
Gain: +$8.50 (+155%)

Tireless Tracker (Shadows Over Innistrad)
Start: $2.00
Finish: $7.00
Gain: +$5.00 (+250%)

Pyromancer’s Goggles (Magic Origins)
Start: $2.00
Finish: $8.00
Gain: +$6.00 (+300%)

 

Segment 2: Cards to Watch

James’ Picks:

  1. Masterwork of Ingenuity Commander 2014, Confidence Level 7: $1 to $5 (+400%, 0-6 months)
  2. Erayo, Soratami Ascendant Saviors of kamigawa, Confidence Level 6: $5 to $10 (+100%, 0-12 months)
  3. Oath of the Gatewatch Booster Crate, $100

Travis’ Picks:

  1. Languish, Magic Origins, Confidence Level 6: $3 to $7 (+133%, 0-6 months)
  2. Radiant Flames Battle for Zendikar, Confidence Level 5: $.25 to $1.50 (+500%, 0-6 months)
  3. Alhammarret’s Archive Magic Origins, Confidence Level 7: $4 to $10 (+150%, 0-12+ months)

Disclosure: Travis and James may own speculative copies of the above cards.

Segment 3: SCG Baltimore Standard Open and Modern Classic

Starcitygames was in Baltimore this weekend, and it brought our first look at  both Shadows Over Innistrad Standard and Post-Eldrazi, Post-Ancestral Vision, Post-Thopter Foundry Modern. What showed up? What didn’t? What can we learn from these results?

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.

City of Traders

PROTRADER: No Fetching Allowed

6 Comments

By: Travis Allen
@wizardbumpin

Don’t miss this week’s installment of MTG Fast Finance! An on-topic, no-nonsense tour through the week’s most important Magic economy changes.

With the first event of the new Standard in the books, there’s finally a Magic format that doesn’t involve fetching. It’s the wild west out there, and gone are the days of Sultai Red or Jeskai purple. In fact, did you hear how many humans made the elimination rounds?

Eight.

200

There were also five Humans decks. The top eight was rounded out with singleton lists of Bant Company, W/B Eldrazi (a suspect name indeed), and U/R Control, aka Goggles, aka They Do Nothing.

Let’s start with the state of the format: it’s whiter than wearing your Sperrys to lunch at Panera. In fact, only 11/64 decks in the top eight weren’t playing white, with only 3 of those 11 in the T32. That means that a whopping 83 percent of the T64 was playing white. 83 percent! My kingdom for a Gloom.

Here’s the full day two metagame breakdown, via SCG:

W/U Humans – 23
W/B Midrange – 15
Bant Company – 13
G/R Eldrazi – 11
W/B Eldrazi – 10
Esper Dragons – 7
W/G Humans – 7
R/W Eldrazi – 6
G/W Tokens – 5
Mono-Red Eldrazi – 4
G/B Tokens – 3
W/G Midrange – 3
G/B Delirium – 3
U/R Prowess – 2
B/G Company – 2
Mono-White Eldrazi – 2
Naya Midrange – 2
Jund Company – 2
Mono-White Humans – 2
U/R Control – 1
Esper Control – 1
W/U Tokens – 1
Abzan Midrange – 1
G/U Surge – 1
Jund Midrange – 1
G/B Midrange – 1
Atarka Red – 1
G/B Elves – 1
B/R Control – 1
Esper Demonic Pact – 1
Sultai Delirium – 1

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MTG Fast Finance

MTG Fast Finance Episode 12

2 Comments

by Travis Allen (@wizardbumpin) & James Chillcott (@mtgcritic)

MTG Fast Finance is a weekly podcast that tries to break down the flurry of financial activity in the world of Magic: The Gathering into a fast, fun and useful thirty minute format. Follow along with our seasoned hosts as they walk you through this week’s big price movements, their picks of the week, metagame analysis and a rotating weekly topic.

Show Notes: April 7th

Segment 1: Top Movers of the Week

Declaration in Stone  (Shadows Over Innistrad)
Start: $3.50
Finish: $9.00
Gain: +$5.50(+150%)

Ancestral Vision (Time Spiral)
Start: $20.00
Finish: $40.00
Gain: +$20.00(+100%)

Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas (Mirrodin Besieged)
Start: $15.00
Finish: $40.00
Gain: +$25.00(+166%)

Ulvenwald Hydra  (Shadows Over Innistrad)
Start: $3.50
Finish: $10.00
Gain: +$6.50(+185%)

Archangel of Tithes (Magic Origins)
Start: $6.00
Finish: $18.00
Gain: +$12.00(+200%)

Always Watching (Shadows Over Innistrad)
Start: $1.00
Finish: $4.00
Gain: +$3.00 (+300%)

Time Sieve (Alara Reborn)
Start: $3.00
Finish: $12.00
Gain: +$9.00(+300%)

Sword of the Meek (Future Sight)
Start: $5.00
Finish: $20.00
Gain: +$15.00(+300%)

Squandered Resources (Visions)
Start: $.75
Finish: $5.50
Gain: +$4.75(+633%)

Thopter Foundry (Alara Reborn)
Start: $.50
Finish: $10.00
Gain: +$9.50(+1900%)

Segment 2: Cards to Watch

James Picks:

  1. Secluded Glen Lorwyn, Confidence Level 7: $5 to $10 (+100%, 0-6 months)
  2. Bitterblossom Modern Masters 2, Confidence Level 6: $25 to $35 (+40%, 0-6 months)
  3. Jeskai Ascendancy Khans of Tarkir, Confidence Level 6: $.5 to $5+ (+900%, 12+ months
  4. Eye of Ugin Expeditions, Confidence Level 8: $70 to $150 (+115%, 12+ months)

Travis Picks:

  1. Spell Snare, Modern Masters, Confidence Level 7: $7 to $15 (+115%, 6-12 months)
  2. Darkslick Shores Scars of Mirrodin, Confidence Level 7: $8 to $15+ (+88%, 6-12 months)
  3. Krark-Clan Ironworks Fifth Dawn, Confidence Level 5: $4 to $15 (+275%, 12+ months)

Disclosure: Travis and James may own speculative copies of the above cards.

Segment 3: Modern Banned and Restricted List Update

Modern’s Banned and Restricted List was updated for Shadows Over Innistrad, and it was a doozy! Eye of Ugin departs as we welcome Ancestral Vision and Sword of the Meek. What do these changes have in store for Modern?

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.

City of Traders

PROTRADER: A New Modern

12 Comments

By: Travis Allen
@wizardbumpin

Banlist update

This is hands down the most surprising and unprecedented Banned & Restricted list update that Modern has seen since the format began five years ago. (Has it only been five years? It feels so much longer than that.)

Everyone knew part of Eldrazi was going; it was simply a matter of Eye of Ugin or Eldrazi Temple. Frankly I’m surprised they chose Eye. I think it’s the less consistent card and comes with greater drawbacks relative to Temple, a land which carries no penalty aside from making only colorless mana. You can’t turn-two Thought-Knot Seers with Eye, but you sure can with Temple! Whatever. What’s done is done.

No, the Eldrazi ban isn’t surprising. What’s surprising is the unbans of Ancestral Vision and Sword of the Meek. We haven’t seen a shake up this profound in Modern ever before, and it’s possible that reading between the lines will give us even more information. (Credit to @kirblar024 for initially bringing this to my attention.)

Wizards has typically held changes to Modern’s ban list until just before the Pro Tour, in order to give the top level pros a new format to take a crack at. We all get to watch exciting new decks, and pros have the ability to leverage their deck building and format exploration skills. However, seeing two unbans at this point in the year, and alongside a major ban to boot, may mean that we’re not getting another Modern Pro Tour. Without a Pro Tour to hold changes for, there’s no reason not to fire of the unbans as soon as they’re appropriate. While there was a tremendous outcry at the removal of the Modern Pro Tour initially, that was before they announced the change to the block structure. Now that we know about that change, many of us have walked back our comments about needing a non-Standard Tour. Wizards has listened in the past, and they may have again.

Ok, back on track. Eldrazi gone, Visions and Sword here. Let’s do the Eldrazi real quick.

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