By: James Chillcott (@MTGCritic)

Hey folks. I know what you’re here for, so let me cut out most of the preamble and share some of my most recent targets for reasonable gains as of early August, 2018.

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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. He is also co-host of MTGFastFinance, our weekly MTGFinance podcast.

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Hey guys,

This is a new series I’m going to be running every so often, where I give you just the basic info you need to make some money, so that you can get in on what is likely to be a limited time opportunity once the word gets out.

So long story short, it turns out that EDH focused Masterpiece cards from Kaladesh are significantly cheaper in Europe via MagicCardmarket.eu, likely because the EDH scene is significantly weaker in several of the EU countries. The other factor is that the EU has fallen against the USD and is now a mere 1.05 to the dollar.

Specifically I suggest taking a hard look at the following cards:

• Sol Ring
• Mana Crypt
• Chromatic Lantern
• Rings of Brighthearth

Each of these cards is likely to make you $20-40/copy within the year, with more upside if their stock runs low in North America. Amazingly, most of these were even lower last month, but so it goes.

Here’s how it all breaks down:

• Sol Ring
  • TCG NM around $120 (30 copies left)
  • MCM NM $70
  • Upside: $40+/copy after fees/shipping
• Mana Crypt
  • TCG NM around $115 (30 copies left)
  • MCM NM $75
  • Upside: $35+/copy after fees/shipping
• Chromatic Lantern
  • TCG NM around $60 (42 copies left)
  • MCM NM $30
  • Upside: $25+/copy after fees/shipping
• Rings of Brighthearth
  • TCG NM around $45 (27 copies left)
  • MCM NM $25
  • Upside: $15+/copy after fees/shipping

What I love about this is that there is solid arbitrage on the table, and the declining inventory on TCG suggest that holding these cards will provide further upside once the focus is on Aether Revolt and Amonkhet (which could admittedly shift the focus as folks chase those cards, but it also cuts off the supply.)

Here’s what you need to do to make the play:

1. Live in Europe, because MCM only allows shipping to EU addresses
2. If you don’t live in Europe find a friend or make a contact via social media and arrange for them to order the cards for you in exchange for future favors. For instance, you could suggest that they order a few extra copies for themselves so that they can send them along with your own copies and have you sell them and send them back the cash net fees via Paypal. Alternatively, a cash fee, future favors trading or profit sharing arrangement may work. Yes, this is the tricky part, but you will want this contact later.
3. Ask your trading partner to focus on sellers with good sales records and multiple copies of your target in stock. Shipping is significantly more expensive via MCM, with each shipment to your trading partner likely to end up between 2e and 8e. Clearly this means you want to be placing larger orders to reduce drag but the arbitrage is good enough here to make your play worthwhile so long as you’re diligent about the shipping costs.
4. It costs your partner more to pay via Paypal, so try to find a partner who is already set up to pay MCM via online bank transfer and they won’t have to pass those fees on to you as well.
5. Send the partner cash to cover the order via Paypal, and make clear in the notes what you are expecting in return.
6. Most of these picks can make you money right away, but I think they’ll be even better in 6 months, so consider building up a stack with your trading partner to reduce overall shipping costs overseas per card when you eventually take possession.

If you’re too slow on the draw here, remember, something similar is likely to happen with EDH focused Masterpieces in the rest of the sets this year so keep an eye on the charts.

Cheers, hope it works out for you!

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.