By: Jared Yost

With rotation upon us, everyone is expecting the newest tech from Khans to totally alter the Standard landscape. With all the wedge combinations, in addition to the various two color decks that should also see play, there will be plenty of opportunity for brewing and creating amazing new decks.

I see rotation in a different light. In order to get the best deals on Magic cards that I can, I’ve come to understand that the block rotation is the best time of year to get in on cards that were previously twice as expensive or more. However, you shouldn’t be too hasty. The best time to start looking for these deals is about two to three months after the latest set has been released in order for the prices from the old rotating sets to really dive. At this point, a good amount of Standard only players will have liquidated most of their holdings. Eventually the rest will follow and the market will have a large amount of staples from the previous Standard set that are now only eternal legal.

In the past, I’ve done these set reviews for Innistrad block when it rotated from Standard. See here and here. I will identify cards I’m looking at and then indicate which formats of Magic I believe their future price will be driven by. The structure will be as follows:

Sets

• Return to Ravnica
• Gatecrash
• Dragon’s Maze
• M14

Order of Rarity for Sets

• Mythic
• Rare
• Uncommon (if applicable)
• Common (if applicable)

 

Foil vs Nonfoil – Mentioned per card if applicable. I will only mention foil if the card has ubiquitous Commander or Eternal appeal.

Today I will start with Return to Ravnica and Gatecrash, then next week I will cover Dragon’s Maze and M14.

Return to Ravnica

MYTHIC

Sphinx’s Revelation

FORMAT – Modern, Commander

Sphinx’s Revelation is currently the most expensive mythic from Return to Ravnica averaging $8 retail and a TCG Low of about $6.50. While the card is pretty decent in Commander I think the future of Sphinx’s Rev lies in its use for Modern. It is usually played as one or two copies in the current meta’s UWx lists that are either control or combo control based.

Does this eternal demand mean that Sphinx’s Rev will always be around $8 moving forward? I think not. There is still room to drop since the main demand for the card comes from Standard. Outside of UWx lists Sphinx’s Rev does not see any other eternal demand. While I don’t think we’ll see this mythic dropping to $3 or less I do believe there is plenty of room to drop and I think it will land somewhere between $4 and $6. Definitely pick up a few if you play Modern or for an EDH deck though don’t go too deep on this one. The demand isn’t quite there yet and this card is generic enough that it could see a reprint in a supplemental product.

 

Worldspine Wurm

FORMAT – Commander, Casual

Believe it or not, this mythic is up there among the top 5 most expensive mythics from RTR at about $3 retail and a TCGLow of $2. This demand is all is casual here. It is definitely nice in green Commander decks and casuals are driving the price towards a stable $2.50.

I think now is the time to buy in on these for future growth. Since the demand is casual driven, I could see it rising in price over time similar to Ghostly Prison or other cards that don’t really see eternal play but still are popular with the casual crowd. I don’t think the Wurm will ever go below $2.

 

 

Vraska the Unseen & Jace, Architect of Thought

FORMAT – Commander, Casual

Planeswalkers are generally good pickups as long as they aren’t Tibalt. Jace and Vraska could see eternal play yet I don’t think they’re quite powerful enough for Modern or other eternal formats. Planeswalkers always sell and trade well so if you can pick either of these up for $3 or less in trade I would do it. Even though they have a duel deck printing I still think in the future casual players will want them for collections.

 

Trostani, Selesnya’s Voice

FORMAT – Commander, Casual

I like foils of Trostani for future gains. They are currently only around $8 retail and I think that is a good pickup price for her. Players will want to use her as a general for Commander decks in the future so I think the foil versions hold the most potential here.

You can pick up nonfoils of Trostani for less than $1 in some places and that could be good for a year or two down the road. I wouldn’t try to pick up nonfoils though as the profit margins are slim and there is a chance for a reprint in the coming years.

 

Angel of Serenity

FORMAT – Commander, Casual

Casuals love their angels and the foil price of this card reflects that demand. The foil multiplier for Angel of Serenity is 0.149 – that is a nonfoil is worth about 15% of the price of a foil. That gap is huge! I can only see it increasing in the coming years due to angel collectors and the demand from Commander (Kaalia players, I’m thinking of you) so picking up foils after rotation will ensure you get her at a good price.

RARE

 

Abrupt Decay & Deathrite Shaman

FORMAT – Legacy

The first rares on the list are Abrupt Decay and Deathrite Shaman, two of Legacy’s biggest stars since their debut. Abrupt Decay is the most expensive card from Return to Ravnica at $13 retail, and Deathrite Shaman is #5 at $9.40 retail. Deathrite has dropped from his average of $12-$15 before his Modern ban to below $10 now. I think that rotation is a great time to pick up more Deathrite copies in anticipation of future Legacy play. I could easily see him going back to $12-$15 in a year without a reprint. He will trade easily to both hardcore Legacy players and casual players, and will always be wanted on buylists.

Abrupt Decay I believe has peaked for a while. I don’t think the profit margins a year from now are worth it for non-foil copies at $13. I don’t think it could ever reach $25+ in only a year especially since it could reprinted in the upcoming Modern Masters two or another product.

Foils of both are a decent investment, even now at $90 & $75 respectively. The foil copies only stand to gain in the future since both are played quite extensively in Legacy and players in that format love to foil out there decks.

 

Shocklands (All 10 of Them)

FORMAT – Modern, Commander

Next of course are the Shocklands from RTR & GTC.

Advice for those who haven’t gotten their shocklands yet:

Personally I would focus on picking up the blue lands (Steam Vents, Hallowed Fountain, Watery Grave, and Breeding Pool) however you can’t go wrong diversifying and picking up whatever shocks you can get your hands on. They will be played in Modern extensively, and with the addition of the Onslaught fetchlands being added to Modern the demand for these lands will only continue to go up. I predict that decks we haven’t seen before will start to surface due to the allied fetchlands being added to the card pool and that these decks will be more focused on two color strategies since additional mana fixing options have now opened up. Due to this, even the non-blue lands could see play if a new two color archetype emerges in Modern.

Advice for those looking at these as real estate for future value:

Don’t expect extreme gains from shocklands because Wizards did their due diligence and printed an abundance of these things. At this point, I would only pick up lands that you need for decks you might play. Don’t pick up these lands expecting to make a killing off them, because these aren’t spiking up in price for quite some time. They should be pretty stable, with small gains here and there, in the foreseeable future.

Foils of shocklands are pricy but worth it. These should gain more in a shorter amount of time since Modern players will be looking to start foiling out decks eventually. Once RTR & GTC are out of print foil lands will be even harder to come by. Pick these up as you can and you won’t be disappointed in the future.

 

Chromatic Lantern

FORMAT – Commander

Both foils and nonfoils alike of Chromatic Lantern will be good targets. This artifact quickly became one of the most ubiquitous cards in Commander decks since it allows three color Commander decks to have amazing mana fixing in addition to being a mana rock for any color. Pick up as many of these as you can, especially foils, because they are sure to go up.

 

Cyclonic Rift

FORMAT – Commander

Any deck that plays blue will play Cyclonic Rift because it is so backbreaking in Commander if you are on the receiving end of one. Like Chromatic Lantern, foils will be an especially nice acquisition for the future.

 

Pack Rat

FORMAT – Modern, Casual

I’ve seen some grindy Modern lists out there floating around that include Pack Rat as a way to get through all the removal that seems to exist in the format. Once RTR rotates, I think Pack Rat is going to take a huge dive. If it goes below $2 I would try to pick up some copies for Modern. You never know if it will become the feature card in a breakout deck.

Also, rats are a creature type that some casual players have a fascination with. I’m not sure why, but it couldn’t hurt to pick up some copies to satiate that demand since Pack Rat is sure to be an include in the Relentless Rats deck.

 

Rest in Peace

FORMAT – Modern, Legacy

One of the best graveyard hate cards printed, Rest in Peace is extremely good at shutting down graveyard based strategies. I really like foils here as Rest in Peace is played a ton in Legacy and transition well into Modern if more graveyard themed decks start popping up.

 

Collective Blessing

FORMAT – Commander, Casual

I really like this card as a target for casual players. It is pretty much at bulk rare status, so if you can get them as throw ins for trades I think that would be a good opportunity. This feels like the set’s Parallel Lives so I expect this card will eventually be in the $2-$3 range some time after RTR is out of print.

UNCOMMONS

 

 

Golgari Charm & Izzet Charm

FORMAT – Modern, Legacy

I think that Golgari Charm and Izzet Charm are the best charms from RTR for eternal formats. Izzet Charm is played in several Modern decks and Golgari Charm is a great sideboard card in Soltai (BUG) decks to take care of True-Name Nemesis in addition to providing other great utility. I would target foils of Golgari Charm over Izzet Charm, since Izzet Charm had an FNM promo foil which will stabilize the price of the pack foil Izzet Charm.

Gatecrash

MYTHIC

 

Domri Rade

FORMAT – Modern, Casual

Domri might have potential for Modern play yet I think the majority of his value will come from casual players that like to collect planeswalkers. I think nonfoil Domri has some room to drop after rotation. If he ever goes below $7 that will be the time to pick him up. Foils at $30 are pricy but a good pickup for the long term.

He will always trade / sell well due to being a planeswalker, so you can’t go wrong picking up some Domri’s after rotation.

 

Aurelia, the Warleader

FORMAT – Commander, Casual

Similar to Angel of Serenity, Aurelia will be another angel that players gravitate towards for Kaalia and Aurelia Commander decks. She will always have casual appeal for Commander players. Foils will be good for future gains however I also think nonfoils have room to grow until a reprint.

 

 

Master Biomancer & Prime Speaker Zegana

FORMAT – Commander, Casual

Both Simic mythics are powerful from Gatecrash and I think both will be great pickups upon rotation.

Cards that provide lord effects (that is, add +1/+1 counters to creatures or provide a +1/+1 bump) usually do well financially as casual players gravitate towards these types of effects. Master Biomancer, while not a normal lord, provides a different yet similar effect. I think the mythic rare status will enable it to do well in the future.

Prime Speaker Zegana is an awesome commander and I think that alone will allow her to maintain value because she is so powerful in the Commander format. I would target foils here though nonfoils could also do well over time.

 

 

Gideon, Champion of Justice & Hellkite Tyrant

FORMAT – Commander, Casual

Gideon and Hellkite Tyrant are awesome for casual, Commander environments. Gideon like all planeswalkers should trade / sell well while foils of Hellkite Tyrant will gain the most in the future.

 

 

Obzedat, Ghost Council & Lazav, Dimir Mastermind

FORMAT – Commander

Pick up foils of these guys for Commander since they make great generals and are popular in in the format.

 

Enter the Infinite

FORMAT – Legacy, Commander

Omni-Show exists in Legacy and uses Enter the Infinite to combo off. It has put up results from time to time but is currently a pet deck rather than an established archetype. Still, for under $1 I think Enter the Infinite is a good pickup. Especially since it also has Commander appeal for those of us that like to build instant win combo decks in the format.

RARE

 

Shocklands (All 10 of Them)

FORMAT – Modern, Commander

I’ve talked about these previously in this article, refer to the RTR shocklands for more specifics.

 

  

Boros Reckoner, Mind Grind & Consuming Aberration

FORMAT – Casual

I believe these three cards are the best casual rares from the set. All three represent cool cards that casual players salivate over. I don’t think they can lose much value and will only gain in the future.

 

  

Thespian’s Stage, Merciless Eviction, & Crypt Ghast

FORMAT – Commander

Outside of the Primordials, these three cards I believe represent the undervalued Commander rares from the set. All three are really awesome in Commander and their value will derive from that. They will all be good pickups for the future.

 

Primordials (all the non-banned ones)

FORMAT – Commander

Speaking of Primordials, all the Primordials (barring Sylvan due the Commander ban) will be good pickups for Commander. If they are reprinted in the latest C14 decks, the price will stabilize for a time. However, these things can get quite degenerate in Commander if left unchecked. I think even if they are reprinted they can’t get much cheaper than they are now which is around $0.30 retail. Stock up on these and a few years down the road trade them away once they reach $2 or more.

UNCOMMON

 

Boros Charm

FORMAT – Modern, Casual

Clearly the best charm from Gatecrash, Boros Charm is starting to make waves in Modern on the back of burn decks that have become popular in the format over the last few months (with a burn deck even taking down GP Kobe). In addition to tournament play, Boros Charm is an amazingly popular casual card and will maintain a ton of value from that crowd. Foils and non-foils are both good targets.

 

Gift of Orzhova

FORMAT – Casual

Gift of Orzhova is a pretty bad card in all constructed environments. Even in Commander and casual formats it’s not that good. Why do I mention it? Foils are currently $5 retail for this card while normal copies are only going for bulk. There is demand for this card’s foil but not for the normal reasons.

The reason for demand is that everyone is crazy about the artwork for the card. Players aren’t getting foils for the playability, yet rather for the art which is timeless. I don’t think foils of this are going down since it clearly doesn’t see play anywhere and is still $5. Who knows, maybe we’ll start having a larger portion of the community start collecting cards for artwork. All I know is that this card’s art in particular seemed to strike a chord with Magic players and that foils are in demand. If you want one, get it upon rotation.

Summary

There are plenty of cards that should trend upwards in price after rotation from Return to Ravnica and Gatecrash once they hit their bottoms. Depending on where your collection is lacking, rotation is the perfect time to pick up any missing pieces for your collection, decks, or cubes. You can even pick up some cards in hopes of trading or buylisting them in the future once they trend upwards from their bottom. Check in again next week for my Dragon’s Maze and M14 rotation picks.

Jared is on vacation this week, so in the meantime enjoy this piece he originally wrote on March 3rd, 2014.

By: Jared Yost

This one goes out to you casual players. You’re the heart of the game and the reason why Wizards has continued to become more and more successful as the years go on.

Let’s face it, without casual demand like players buying individual booster packs Wizards would close their doors sooner rather than later. The demand for the game and its cards cannot be sustained by the singles market alone. Sure, more financially minded players realize that it is a losing game to keep cracking packs in the hope that you’ll score at least three Brimaz, but for many players the act of opening a pack, smelling the cards, and going through each one and even sometimes being surprised by a valuable card in the pack can’t be understated. There is a reason that Magic’s de facto comic strip is called Cardboard Crack. We can all be severely addicted to our hobbies and Magic doesn’t escape this phenomenon.

One of the ways I learned to save money playing Magic was to stop cracking packs since it is one of the most inefficient ways to acquire valuable cards for your collection. As a casual player though, finance is the last thing on your mind. One of the main reasons that you play the game is to crack packs. Cracking packs is so awesome that they created the Limited format based on around it, because even binder grinders and highly competitive players need a way to crack packs other than to just open them. Not you. You’re just fine with crackin‘ ‘em open, and the more the better. What I’m now going to tell you is that there is a way for you to still satiate your addiction while not throwing value out the window, but it isn’t for the faint of heart.

As players, we can capitalize on our own addiction by setting aside a booster box from each set we want to purchase and then later sell them down the road at a profit as sealed product. Now, I realize that the temptation of opening that booster box may be too much for some of you, yet a very clear pattern that has emerged from sealed product is that it is bound to go up in value over the years.

Getting Value from Booster Boxes

Sealed product has a proven history of going up in value and booster boxes are the prime example of this. Setting aside a booster box from each set you want to buy is a great way to pay your way forward in Magic. If you’re going to buy two booster boxes when a set comes out and maybe even get a deal then, why not set one aside in your closet and sell it a few years later when it has doubled or more in value? A lot of people even purchase cases though this is too rich for my blood. Why not set aside two booster boxes, even three booster boxes from a case?

Let’s do the math for Innistrad, which is a fairly recent set and follows this trend. These were the preorder prices for Innistrad before it came out September 30th, 2011:

If we bought a case:

$519.95 + ~$20 shipping = $539.95 total

$539.95 / 6 boxes = $89.99 per box

If we bought two boxes (closer to an actual causal purchase):

($89.75 * 2) + ~$8 shipping = $187.5

• This purchase is more expensive per box (~$93.75 per box) but cheaper overall.

It’s now the current day and we loved drafting Innistrad. We want to do a few triple Innistrad flashback drafts of the set. (None of that Dark Ascension nonsense, we’re pure Innistrad only!)

Now that we know how much this would have cost us when preordering, let’s find out how much it would cost us now:

Holy moly what a difference!

Case:

$1067 per case (which is the only seller, it could easily jump up in price again.)

+ ~$20 shipping = $1,087 total

$1,087 / 6 boxes = $181.17 per box

Two Boxes:

($169.99 * 2) + ~$8 shipping = $347.98

If you could afford the initial purchase up front back in 2011 two booster boxes of Innistrad today was worth 64% of a case if preordered when the set came out! If you could restrain yourself and set aside three booster boxes, you would have recouped 94% of what you originally spent. Not too shabby for basically doing nothing and still cracking three or four booster boxes.

If you bought two booster boxes of Innistrad back in 2011 and then set one aside in a closet until now you could sell it and reclaim 91% of your initial purchase in 2011. The second booster box has practically paid for the first one.

For the more financially minded, this probably seems pretty obvious. “Duh, the set is out of print, of course I can sell boxes at a premium.” What most people don’t realize however is that this is one of the safest ways to make money from Magic. That’s right, even sealed product like booster boxes isn’t off the table when it comes to picking things that gain value. It might take you a while to find a buyer but this is probably the lowest risk call you can make as a speculator that will guarantee you a return. It’s basically the index fund of the Magic world.

Let’s look at Return to Ravnica, which I’m sure most of you are definitely familiar with and see if the trend holds for more recent sets. Here are prices from September 2012:

Back in September 2012, you could preorder Return to Ravnica for basically the same cost as Innistrad (though cases seem to be pricier). I note this because sometimes Wizards will increase their pack price MSRP. The last increase was when packs went from $3.25 to $3.99 MSRP when Time Spiral was released in 2006. Thankfully this has not happened in quite a while, though it makes me feel like they may increase their pack price soon.

Anyways back to the math:

Case:

$535.99 per case + ~$20 shipping = $555.99 total

$555.99 / 6 boxes = $92.67 per box

Two Boxes:

($89.94 * 2) + ~$8 shipping = $187.88 ($93.94 per box)

Again, boxes are slightly more expensive when bought individually because sellers will charge more for shipping individual boxes.

These are the current prices today:

Hmm, they haven’t gone up in value too much. If we go by the lows:

Case:

$565.00 per case + ~$20 shipping = $585.00 total

$585.00 / 6 boxes = $97.50 per box

Two Boxes:

($92.49 * 2)  + ~$8 shipping = $192.98 ($96.49 per box)

From these calculations for Return to Ravnica then and now we can see:

1. It seems like the price has remained stagnant for Return to Ravnica boxes so far since it only went up $3, unlike Innistrad which doubled.

2. Buying Return to Ravnica in case form today is noticeably more expensive than buying it per box if you were to just buy six boxes. Usually individual boxes are more expensive compared to box price per case. I’m predicting this is because the set is currently in a state of flux, where vendors may have lowered their box prices to get them out the door to make room for future product. We can see this with Cataclysm Games, where if you buy six boxes (($92.95 * 6) + ~$10 shipping = $567.7) versus a case ($569.95 + $10 shipping = $579.95) you’re actually saving $12.25.

3. If we preordered a case and saved three boxes, or preordered two boxes and saved one, we have yet to see a significant return on that investment 1 year, 5 months later. We only gained ~$5 per box if we ordered by the caseload and only ~$2.50 per box if we bought individual boxes. This leads me to believe that there is a lot of Return to Ravnica product out there.

We seem to have conflicting evidence. On the one hand Innistrad has gained significant value but on the other hand Return to Ravnica has not. Am I missing something here? Was Innistrad that much more popular than Return to Ravnica? (Well, I do think that triple Innistrad draft is still a popular format at this point and is more popular than triple Return to Ravnica draft (Pack Rat!)). Was Innistrad printed significantly less than Return to Ravnica? Is that two year birthday for a set that important? Maybe a little of all these reasons is why Return to Ravnica sealed product has stagnated.

One reason I’d venture to guess that Innistrad has climbed up in price so quickly is that it has valuable eternal staples like Liliana, Geist, and Snapcaster. Return to Ravnica currently does not contain as many valuable eternal staples.

My best guess though? Not enough time has passed. Given enough time Return to Ravnica will go up in value. If we use the index funds example, you’re looking just to outperform the market, not become the next penny stock mega winner. (That is, pick up a random $0.20 rare and hope that it spikes to $10+.) There is no doubt in my mind that Return to Ravnica is a very popular set and I am sure in time this will become evident as the price of RtR sealed product goes up. It just looks like hitting that 2nd birthday is the important defining characteristic of the price bump for booster boxes.

Getting Value from Other Casual Products

Another way you can tell that casual players are so important is because Wizards has been releasing new products on a more consistent schedule than ever before in their history. Back in the day, we were lucky to get a core set once every two years (which everyone hated because it only consisted of reprints) and the three block sets of the year (one big set in the fall, and two smaller sets spaced out through winter). This lead to a lot of stagnant Magic. It was easy to get bored. This created cycles of people leaving the game then coming back later once more unpopular sets rotated from Standard.

These days more people are coming back to the game than ever and they’re staying. Combine this with the addition of all the brand new players per year and you have a recipe for success. Let’s go over some of the ways that Wizards has catered to the casual crowd:

Commander Decks (Commander 2011, Commander 2013)

Here were the price of Commander Decks in 2011 about six months after they came out:

Here are what they are today:

(Heavenly Inferno is currently ending on auctions at anywhere from $90 for non-English versions to up to $200 for English versions)

Very obvious upward trend in prices. Even if you bought the unpopular commander decks at the time (that is, the decks without Legacy staples in them) you still made out like a bandit if you waited to sell. They were all selling for about MSRP even six months after their release.

This is why a lot of Magic financiers recommended for Commander 2013 to even buy the non-Mind Seize decks. Even though the rest of the decks didn’t seem to have much to offer Constructed formats, casuals don’t give two craps about constructed potential. They just want to attack you with their angels, demons, and dragons as fast as possible. I see no reason why the current batch of commander decks won’t also follow this pattern as they age.

Planechase / Archenemy / Duel Decks (essentially, all the products that MSRP’ed for $19.99)

Archenemy – June 2010 MSRP $19.99

Today’s prices:

Planechase 2009 – MSRP $19.99

 Today’s prices:

Planechase 2012 – MSRP $19.99

 Today’s prices:

 

Duel Decks

Planechase / Archenemy / Duel Decks Price Analysis

Popular casual products are the single-deck sealed products which are Commander, Planechase, and Archenemy. These products offered more than just decks because Planechase and Archenemy have oversized cards (which also have value if you try to sell them individually) and Commander added brand new cards to the existing card pool. On the other hand, Duel Decks seem to be hit or miss. I think this is because they only consist of reprints and that Wizards seems to have been watering down the most recent ones by not including more powerful spells like the ones found in Divine vs. Demonic or Jace vs. Chandra.

In other words, you shouldn’t pick up extra Duel Decks unless there is something special in them (Demonic Tutor and Counterspell with Jace art are good examples). They take the longest to go up in value and the gains factored in with the time it takes are too long for the profits to matter.

If you’re interested in holding on to extra sealed product for value you want to be looking at picking up Commander, Planechase, and Archenemy (if they do Archenemy again) products. All of these products have evidence showing they go up in value over time.

Casual Players Are Important

Without casual players we would have no one to crack individual packs. Without cracking packs booster boxes would never become valuable. We would also have no one to buy other sealed products that Wizards releases because they look cool or add new aspects to the game in a non-competitive fashion. This would make buying the sealed products Wizards releases a complete waste of money if you’re trying to hold them for value. This clearly isn’t the case. We’re lucky to have such an amazing fanbase behind Magic because without them the game would surely go away. From a numbers perspective, we can see that all it takes to capitalize on Magic’s fanbase is to hold onto a few extra sealed products here or there.

Casual players, you may not realize it but buying these products is itself an investment in the game. Even if you are just buying the products to play with, with no intention of wanting to buy extra to sit on them or make money, my advice to you is to buy what you want as soon as you can afford it. Sealed products are never going to be cheaper than when they first come out, no matter if you’re eyeing something like a booster case or even just considering picking up a duel deck. If you ever have the inclination to help your hobby pay for itself, pick up a few extra sealed products and sit on them. Eventually you can cash them out to cover the costs of buying in even if that is a few years down the road. I believe the evidence that I’ve presented in this article has more than proved that in all cases.

The upcoming Conspiracy set is one of the reasons I’m writing this article. I would definitely be looking to pick up as much Conspiracy as I can and holding whatever I choose not to open. It looks like it is going to be another huge casual hit that will certainly go up in value over time.