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PROTRADER: The Meta Report – Don’t Break Your Bank for This Weekend’s WMCQ

By: Guo Heng

It’s that time of the year again: the first of the three World Magic Cup Qualifiers kicks off this weekend all around the world. The format is Standard. If you are competing this weekend like I am, chances are that you will want to play the best deck in the format to give yourself the best shot at winning one of your country’s World Magic Cup spots. However, if like me, you do not own a playset of Hangarback Walker and are unwilling to make a $76 splurge purchase to get them for this weekend (or you are more than willing but, alas, the supply of Hangarbacks at your local stores has dried up), playing the best deck may be a problem.

The first wave of WMCQs this weekend is in an inconvenient spot as far as MTG finance is concerned. Redemption for Magic Origins goes live after downtime next Wednesday (August 26) and within a week or two ,we would start to see a large dip in the Magic Origins index as redeemed singles begin to hit the market. Now is literally the worst time to buy into chase staples from the set.

Today’s The Meta Report is going to take a look at the options available for this weekend that do not require you to spend a hefty sum on Hangarback Walker, Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy, or other Magic Origins chase staples.

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Corbin Hosler, ProTrader

PROTRADER: Rotation Pickups – Theros Edition

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I guess it’s that time again. By “that time,” of course, I don’t mean it’s rotation, because we’re still a bit away from that, but I mean it is time to look ahead to the phasing out of Theros block!

You may wonder why I’ve been talking so much about rotation, and it’s because at this point of the year, the most important thing isn’t what new cards are dominating Standard (hello, Hangarback Walker) or what players are competing at the World Championship (which takes place next week at PAX Prime and is going to be awesome). Rather, it’s about looking ahead. There are a lot of people worrying about current events, and a lot fewer people worrying about what the landscape is going to look like two months from now.

And where others are looking away, we’re looing deeper. I’ve written in-depth over the past month or so about the way I see things progressing over the next few weeks and months in Standard, and considering that’s the place to put most of your money right now, I feel that’s justified.

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ProTrader: Magic doesn’t have to be expensive.

Jason Alt, ProTrader

PROTRADER: Angel Armada

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Magic Origins has become a bit of a dry well lately. There are only so many good cards in a set. I am sure we can find some more stuff poised to move later on, but right now we don’t have any Battle for Zendikar spoilers really worth discussing. Besides, there is something else I would rather discuss:

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Boom. Angels. For all you angelphiles out there, you’re already fully aware that angels are hot right now, so pipe down while I school the rest of these nerds.

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ProTrader: Magic doesn’t have to be expensive.

City of Traders, ProTrader

PROTRADER: Big Boy Bets

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By: Travis Allen

If you’re the type of individual that checks in weekly to read some words written by some guy about how much children’s playing cards cost, you may have noticed I was absent last week. I was off at the Finger Lakes, enjoying copious amounts of wine and lounging about on inner tubes. You could have read Jason’s article about boats or whatever it is he writes about these days instead, I guess.

I started a new job this Monday—the first adult job I’ve had in over two years (I’ve been goofing off as a research assistant while earning my master’s degree since). As I begrudgingly head back into the 9-to-5 world, at least for the time being, my engagement with Magic finance is going to change. With a real job comes an increase in liquid funds and a decrease in time available to monkey around with big volume and small prices. One of the downsides to our hobby is that Magic doesn’t scale especially well when compared to something like the actual factual stock market. Buying 100,000 shares at $0.01 each and then selling them for $0.10 is just as easy and profitable as buying and selling a single giant share. Buying and selling 100,000 Magic cards, though, is a task best left to the folks at SCG, CFB, and the like. That means that as funds and time head off in different directions, so too does one’s methodology need to evolve.

With a new stream of income and the calendar halfway through August, now is the time to make big plays. It’s well-understood by now that this is the time of the year when cards are generally at their lowest price point they will ever be, especially those that will be surviving the coming rotation. That positions a large slew of Standard cards to be potentially valuable buys. As you browse lists of Khans of Tarkir, Fate Reforged, and Dragons of Tarkir, know that at least a handful of the card names you read will triple or quadruple in value, and several cards of currently reasonable value will find themselves with double digit price tags. Typically, we’re left trying to find the omens and figure out which flips could buy us a new Legacy deck, but my goal today is to mostly sidestep that process.

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ProTrader: Magic doesn’t have to be expensive.

MAGIC: THE GATHERING FINANCE ARTICLES AND COMMUNITY