By James Chillcott (@MTGCritic)

7 Winners of the Week

A month after the release of Modern Masters 2015 we find ourselves in one of the most frenzied periods of MTGFinance in recent memory. Despite the perception that MM2 was intended to reduce the cost of Modern cards, the true end result was to spike a plethora of cards that weren’t included in the set. 

1. Lantern of Insight (Fifth Dawn, Uncommon): $2.00 to $4.99 (+150%)

The Lantern of Insight deck came out of nowhere to Top 16 GP Charlotte, was immediately dismissed as random, and then gave everyone pause as top pros started chiming in that it seemed to be a legitimate Tier 2 contender in Modern. Without an Ensnaring Bridge on the table, the deck doesn’t do much, but it actually wins games by locking opponents out of their win conditions via top deck control. The deck needs another top table appearance to earn another spike, and it’s pretty unlikely many of us were sitting on copies in anticipation, but it might be worth a trip to your bulk bins anyway to mine a few free dollars.

Verdict: Sell/Trade

Format(s): Modern

2. Nettle Sentinel (Eventide, Common): $3.18 to $1.64 (+94%)

Elves just won GP Charlotte, and put another copy in the Top 4. The long time Legacy contender is freshly sexy in Modern on the back of Collected Company helping it to overwhelm or combo out opponents. As a key 4-of common from an older set, it’s no surprise that Nettle Sentinel is seeing some growth. If you have some lying around, feel free to out them as $4-5 is likely the peak price for the time being.

Format(s): Modern/Legacy

Verdict: Sell

3. Nourishing Shoal (Betrayers of Kamigawa, Rare): $7.99 to $15.48  (+94%)

Another fresh twist on an existing deck is the most recent Goryo’s Vengeance/Through the Breach/Griselbrand combo iteration. In this version the pilot discards a Worldspine Wurm or a Borborygmos to add further fuel to the Griselbrand engine and keep drawing cards. To be clear this brings the total spike up to about 3000% since this card was 50 cents up until just lately. Another great reason to check back stock but otherwise I’d steer clear for now.

Format(s): Modern

Verdict: Sell/Trade

4. Ancient Stirrings (ROE, Uncommon): $2.00 to $3.49 (+75%)

Red-Green Tron is another recent Modern tournament winner, so it follows that this 4-of would be enjoying a spike. The various tron decks have demonstrated time and again that they are one of the most consistent ramp strategies in the format, but I wouldn’t expect this banner uncommon to go much past $5 since it has no other home in the format.

Format(s): Modern

Verdict: Sell/Trade

5. Dictate of Erebos (M15, Rare): $.89 to $1.40 (+57%)

I’ve got a few sets of Japanese foils of this card tucked away from when it’s base price inevitably hits $4-5. It has the slimmest of chances of finding a home in some random Modern deck down the road, but mostly this is an outsider play on it’s casual/EDH playability. It found a home in a winning MTGO deck lately as a 1-2 of in Black/Green, but I don’t expect to see it rise much more before it rotates out, when it should be back in the $.50 to $1 range.

Format(s): Modern

Verdict: Hold/Trade

6. Glimmervoid (Mirrodin, Rare): $12.49 to $18.99

Affinity continues to be the Tier 1 Modern deck that never seems to win a tournament. With Glimmervoid and Arcbound Ravager last printed in Modern Masters 2013, and the deck still performing adequately, it figures that both of these archetype staples would be gaining. I figure this card has at least another $5 to gain, so I’m not in a hurry to out mine just yet.

Format(s): Modern

Verdict: Hold

7. Melira, Sylvok Outcast (New Phyrexia, Rare): $2.39 to $3.52 (+47%)

When Birthing Pod was banned, this combo enabler’s price took a nosedive, but with Collected Company reinvigorating the toolbox style of creature combo decks, she’s seeing a resurgence. With continued use, she can see further gains, so I intend to hold until $5-6 at least.

 

3 Top Losers of the Week

1. Shorecrasher Elemental (DTK, Mythic): $2.82 to $2.38 (-16%)

Those hoping for a resurgence of the blue devotion strategy in Standard have been disappointed as mid-range strategies revolving around Den Protector and Deathmist Raptor dominate the metagame. I’ve already got a few sets tucked away and will likely acquire more if it drops below $2, a fairly tasty price for a mythic rare with potential in casual and an outside chance at Modern down the road.

Format(s): Modern/Tiny Leaders/Casual

Verdict: Buy below $2

2. Dragonlord Silumgar (DTK, Mythic): $10.63 to $9.32 (-12%)

Silumgar has hit peak supply and as a card usually only played as a 1-2 of in a single deck, it’s slipping a bit along with other Standard staples. Price oscillation is likely to be within a fairly tight range so hold or trade/sell out as your needs require.

Verdict: Hold

3. Den Protector: $9.07 to $8.08 (-11%)

Make no mistake. This price shift has nothing to do with card power or play levels, and everything to do with the usual summer doldrums for Standard cards and the intense focus on the Modern format lately.  If it manages to fall below $5 there may be an opportunity, but otherwise, look to trade out during peaking interest this fall.

Verdict: Hold

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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By James Chillcott (@MTGCritic)
One of the most common misconceptions about folks involved in MTGFinance is that we are constantly manipulating the market and feeding players misinformation to help fuel achievement of our personal goals.It has occurred to us at MTGPrice that though we dole out a good deal of advice, most of you ultimately have very little insight into when and why our writing team actually puts our money where our collective mouths are pointing. As such running this weekly series breaking down what we’ve been buying and selling each week and why. These lists are meant to be both complete and transparent, leaving off only cards we bought for personal use without hope of profit. We’ll also try to provide some insight into our thinking behind the specs, and whether we are aiming for a short (<1 month), mid (1-12 month), or long (1 year+) term flip. Here’s what we we’ve been up to this week:

Buying Period: June 15th – June 21st, 2015

Note: All cards NM unless otherwise noted. All sell prices are net of fees unless noted.

James Chillcott (@MTGCritic)

BOUGHT

• Iroas, God of Victory (Japanese) @ $2.30
• 4x Merrow Reejerey @ $5.00/per
• 14x Darksteel Relic @ $.80/per

Another pretty quiet week for purchasing on my end, as I’m gearing up to purchase a very large collection.  The Iroas pick up is consistent with my approach to purchase most of the Theros block gods at or around their lows as a long term holds. Merfolk made up 2 of the top 4 decks at GP Copenhagen this weekend, so picking up some staples from the deck seemed prudent. Darksteel Relic is an outsider spec based on a reported deck with Ensoul Artifact in Modern from Japan.

SOLD (Pucatrade)

• Command Tower (foil) @ $35.29 ($21 cost)
• Goblin Guide @ $29.31 (pack opened)
• Academy Ruins @ $11.16 (pack opened)
• Cavern of Souls @ $40.84 (pack opened)
• Meddling Mage @ $6.54 ($3 cost/per)
• 4x Razorverge Thicket @ $6.47 ($3 cost/per)
• 3x Sword of Feast & Famine @ $16.86 ($6.50 cost/per)
• 4x Sulfur Falls @ $9.28 ($4.50 cost/per)
• Sower of Temptation @ $25.84 (pack opened)
• 2x Magus of the Moon @ $17.86 ($4 cost/per)
• 2x Descent of the Dragons @ $2.10 ($2.50 cost/per)
• 2x Aven Mindcensor @ $10.37 (pack opened)

The recent modern spikes have been very kind to those of us already holding deep portfolios of staples. As you can see above, I’ve been able to continuously unload small clusters of cards from my collection through the use of the Pucatrade economy. Some of these cards (Sulfur Falls, Thicket, Academy Ruins) have some room to run, but I’m happy to lock in profits now in my pursuit of a larger deal. I’m now up to $1500 in Pucapoints and looking to complete a major transaction shortly.

 

Corbin Hosler (@Chosler88)

BOUGHT

• 20x Nettle Sentinels @ .90 apiece

 

Editor’s Note: This was a play on the popularity of the Elves deck in Modern.

Guo Heng Chin (@theguoheng)

• 3 x Risen Executioner @ $1.87 per
• 1 x Painter’s Servant @ $8.83
• 1 x Pact of Negation @$18.45
• 1 x Pact of Negation @ $16.05

Guo says:

“Risen Executioner was the pick of the week in a Brainstorm Brewery episode a while back. The Brew Crew thought the zombie lord was a good pick at its current price as the card has long-term growth potential from casual demand. The recurring zombie lord is also found in the sideboard of Esper Dragons as a hard to deal with threat brought in for grindy matches and the acquisition was also for my own use when I get back to playing Esper Dragons in Standard once the Modern PPTQ season ends.

The Painter’s Servant was for a fun Tron build I’ve been itching to try out for a while. Check out this funky Tron/Through the Breach build by Tani Chiharu which top 4ed a 43-player Modern event in Tokyo: http://www.mtgtop8.com/event?e=9272&d=253286&f=MO. Ugin and Painter’s Servant do a good impression of Obliterate, except that I would be left with a mighty planeswalker. I’m still looking for a couple of pieces myself, so I have yet to try it out, but I think it’s probably going to be a fun deck rather than a deck I would bring to events.

The Pact of Negations were for the sideboard of the deck I am running at FNMs and PPTQs and Grand Prix Singapore next week. Take a wild guess what deck it is. The second Pact was slightly cheaper courtesy of a friend.”

Note: The rest of the guys were quiet this week.

So there you have it. Now what were you guys buying and selling this week and why?

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.

ADVERTISEMENT: Get the Cube Starter Bundle with the 3rd Edition Grimoire Deck Box, the brand new Grimoire Deck Box designed specifically for the red mage in you.

 

By James Chillcott (@MTGCritic)

One of the most common misconceptions about folks involved in MTGFinance is that we are constantly manipulating the market and feeding players misinformation to help fuel achievement of our personal goals.

It has occurred to us at MTGPrice that though we dole out a good deal of advice, most of you ultimately have very little insight into when and why our writing team actually puts our money where our collective mouths are pointing. As such running this weekly series breaking down what we’ve been buying and selling each week and why. These lists are meant to be both complete and transparent, leaving off only cards we bought for personal use without hope of profit. We’ll also try to provide some insight into our thinking behind the specs, and whether we are aiming for a short (<1 month), mid (1-12 month), or long (1 year+) term flip. Here’s what we we’ve been up to this week:

Buying Period: June 7th – June 14th, 2015

Note: All cards NM unless otherwise noted. All sell prices are net of fees unless noted.

James Chillcott (@MTGCritic)

BOUGHT

Modern Mid-Term Plays

• 4x Dark Confidant @ $40/per
• 2x Modern Masters Booster Boxes @ $180

Quite a quiet week for me, as I was pretty busy with work and was on the road. Dark Confidant is one of the only Jund cards that hasn’t popped yet, and just reasserted itself as Top 8 worth with an appearance at the top tables of GPCharlotte. As such, Dark Confidant should easily regain $60 before the end of the year, so long as the deck keeps doing well or it finds a home elsewhere. In a meta where card advantage and low casting costs spells can get the job done,  you can’t ever count Bob out of contention.

Dealers got to order one last whopping order of MM2015 last Friday, and now the product is officially OOP (Out of Print). Many dealers have overstock at present, and with a baseline cost of around $145-150, they may be willing to slide you a box under $190 if you don’t make a lot of noise about it. From here on out these boxes should start to regain ground slowly towards MSRP, and I fully expect them to be minor wins by Christmas. 2016 will also be a solid time to be selling them but only if we don’t see a MM2016 announcement around the end of the year (I’m betting we won’t.)

 

Corbin Hosler

BOUGHT

• 8x Night of Souls’ Betrayal @ $3
• 12x Eternal Witness @ $3
• 12x Glistener Elf @ $.30

SOLD

• 4x Serum Visions (PucaTrade)
• 4x Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver @ $12
• 2x Sylvan Caryatid @ $8
• 5x Courser of Kruphix @ $7

Corbin says:

“Just clearing out some rotating Theros stock and some excess Serum Visions to lock in profits. Night of Souls’ Betrayal is making moves in Jund, and Witness and Elf are both steady risers.”

 

Note: The rest of the guys were quiet this week.

Bonus Tips:

• Despite all the prices increases lately, there are a bevy of great cards from MM2015 that are still available at attractive prices including Leyline of Sanctity, Splinter Twin and Spellskite. I expect all of these staples to regain lost ground by end of year.

So there you have it. Now what were you guys buying and selling this week and why?

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.

ADVERTISEMENT: Get the Cube Starter Bundle with the 3rd Edition Grimoire Deck Box, the brand new Grimoire Deck Box designed specifically for the red mage in you.