An Open Letter

By: Travis Allen

Did you ever tell a family member – any family member at all – that you were at all interested in art of some sort when you were younger? Painting or drawing perhaps? It’s pretty common for kids to be drawn to art early on, even if very few stick with it. It’s a creative outlet and a way to produce a lasting piece of work that they can feel good about days or weeks later.

If you ever mentioned enjoying artwork to an aunt, an uncle, or a grandparent, you know what came next for the following ten years. Art supplies. Every single year. Except they were crummy and unusable every single time. It’s sort of a catch-22. Anyone willing to spend enough money on you to buy you high quality pens or paint supplies would know you well enough that they would know better than to waste their money that way. And yet like clockwork, every Birthday and Christmas, some ten dollar set of markers would show up on the doorstep for you to toss into a box with other unused gifts while you went back to playing Super Nintendo.

While we may have considered this a complete loss of value when we were younger, time has provided us a perspective on the situation a bit more sympathetic with those relatives. To their credit, they were using their limited knowledge of our passing whims as best as they could to provide gifts they thought would be appreciated. If you’re somehow still bitter about this, ask yourself what you really know of the passions of your nieces and nephews, or hell, even your siblings. Providing someone with a meaningful gift that they will truly appreciate is damn difficult, even for those you are closest to.

In order to see what this has to do with us, just replace the word “art” with “Magic” and “paintbrushes” with “Magic cards.” When you’re a child, getting booster packs of cards is thrilling and exciting. I fondly remember cherishing every booster pack of X-Men trading cards I received back then, and getting an entire sealed box for my birthday is one of the few memories I have of early birthday gifts. These days however, gifts including Magic cards are far less special. The issue is that there’s no longer mystery or excitement in the gift of Magic cards. The veil has been pulled back, and as you sit there reading this article, you’re fully capable of going out and purchasing them for yourself. In the next ten minutes you could have any Magic card or sealed product you wish rushing towards your door. It may not be a financially prudent decision, of course, but still, the option is available to you. It’s sort of like ice cream cake. The age at which you can just go buy an ice cream cake for no reason whatsoever except that you want to eat one is exactly the age when you realize it is a terrible idea to do so.

And so we find ourselves the recipients of Intro Decks and booster packs from last year’s core set from well meaning relatives who know little more of our hobbies other than “that card game.” We say thank you, hug the relative, and tell them that it’s so great they provided such a thoughtful gift. Meanwhile you’re staring at that Celestial Archon in the front of the packaging wondering if Target will give you store credit for the intro deck without a receipt.

We feel bad. We really do. They obviously are trying. They mean well. They just…don’t quite get it. It’s like listening to your mom try and describe what you do for a living. How can you be upset when they mean well? It’s in everyone’s best interest if the Magic gifts cease though. They’ll stop spending money on something that’s going to be immediately returned or collect dust in a closet, and you won’t have to feign appreciation for something that is entirely wasted on you. That way you can all get back to giving and receiving the best of gifts: socks. (That’s not a joke).

Today I provide you with a tool. A letter. It is an open letter to friends and family that attempts to gently persuade them that their love can be better channeled. If you’re the non-confrontational (read: passive aggressive) type, just link it on your Facebook wall. For a more direct route, print it out and stick it in the envelope with a thank you card you most certainly haven’t already sent for the last gift they gave you. I’ve provided multiple selections on certain sentences to provide for the most personal touch possible. Feel free to edit and tweak as necessary.

 

 

Dear [Friend/Aunt/Uncle/Grandma/Parole Officer],

I hope this letter finds you well. I know we haven’t spoken in awhile, but my [mother/father/dog] tells me you are doing [great/terribly/cocaine]. That is [wonderful/a shame] to hear. I’d ask you what the weather is like there in ___________, but given that I have internet access, it feels a bit silly to ask. It’s funny how the medium of communication dictates how much and what is acceptable small talk.

My reason for sending this letter today is a tad delicate. I should preface the content with sincere thanks for all you have provided me over the years as a loving [relative/friend/parole officer]. I cherish the time we have spent together in the past and look forward to many more lovely [hours/outstanding arrest warrants] in the future.

This past [birthday/Christmas/President’s Day/Tuesday] you gave to me a heartfelt gift that included Magic: The Gathering cards. I was touched to see that you cared enough to purchase a meaningful, personal gift for me. Your love and affection shone brilliantly through your action.

It is this particular gift that I wish to speak about today. While the meaning and thought behind the gift were fully and truly appreciated, the actual content did not quite achieve the [excitement/sexual arousal] you may have hoped it would.

Magic cards behave as a commodity, just as gas, silver, and corn do. While silver and gold [and corn] make for some truly remarkable gifts, a simple few ounces of gold without form or function makes for a much less special treat. It is unlikely you would give someone gasoline as a gift, and Magic cards are not much different. Commodities make the world go round, but any particular instance of such is not particularly special or endearing.

One piece of silver lacks distinction from another until it has been crafted into a piece of jewelry. Similarly, there is nothing unique about this Magic card compared to another of the same name. Nothing exists to distinguish it as my Magic card. The result is that cards change hands often, and a card gifted today could be traded away to peers for something more immediately useful only days later. Furthermore, market shifts can and do happen in the world of Magic just as they do on the real commodities markets. A box of cards you spend $10 on today may be worth less than half of that by the time I actually receive it. The only person who wins on that day is the retailer.

This is not to say you should never purchase any Magic cards ever again. A single booster pack, retail $3-$4, is a pleasing trinket or accessory to another package. (Be sure to ask the retailer for the most recent set!) If you travel abroad, foreign booster packs of cards are much appreciated, not only due to their exotic nature, but as a token of a journey you wish to share. (Russian and Japanese especially so!) In general though, I ask for both our sakes that you mostly refrain from choosing Magic cards as gifts. While I know full well that you mean only the best, at the end of the day they lack the ability to strengthen emotional bonds in a way that many other gestures are capable.

My message today is not one of annoyance or complaint, but rather one of honesty and compassion. I look forward to spending many more enjoyable [holidays/nights in jail cells] with you.

[Love/Sincerely/Dictated but not read by],

_____________________________

Hype Train Standard

By: Jared Yost

Xenagos, the Reveler

By the time this article is published, I predict that it will be hard to find Xenagos, the Reveler for less than $15. I commented on this version of Xengos in my Theros review back in September last year as a passive pickup, which meant that I recognized his power level but realized that it would take a paradigm shift in Standard in order for his abilities to really shine. When I identify passive pickups in my set reviews, I recommend that you pick them up when you have extra cards to trade or when the price becomes low enough that even if they don’t pan out in Standard they will still stabilize in price to due to casual or other demand. Xenagos was close to $7-$8 for a long time in Standard – for the past six months you could have gotten your copies fairly cheap if you picked them up slowly over time.

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Usually, when a Standard card is bought out at this particular time in the season there is a good reason. Master of Waves and Thassa, God of the Sea were bought out last year during Pro Tour Theros due to the breakout of the Mono-Blue Devotion deck. Yes, you could have made money on them if you had prestocked your cart on TCGPlayer and then executed the purchase as soon as they saw decent screen time from the live coverage. However, in the long run their prices dropped considerably because more Theros was opened and people were able to pick them up much easier once more copies were in the market. Mono-Blue Devotion turned out to be one of the most dominating decks and yet the prices still went since that time last year.

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image01The hype from Pro Tour Theros was mainly driven by a lack of supply. This is not the case for Xenagos, the Reveler because we’ve been opening Theros for an entire year. The majority of the copies that will exist for the next Standard are already out there. Based on Twitter postings from Friday, there was a rumor that the buyout was coordinated.

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Then we had a first hand account of Nick Becvar stating that he decided to buy in on as many Xenagos as he could at GenCon.

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Nick is a well respected member of the MTG finance community so when a card catches his eye I tend to pay close attention. By the time of his Twitter post, all of the cheap copies of Xenagos were gone on TCGPlayer and the mid price was about $16. However, I was able to snag a few foil copies that were still lingering around $19 that weren’t updated to reflect the non-foil price. Goes to show that even if you think you may have missed an opportunity, always make sure to check for other versions of the card including foil versions. The window is small but there are sometimes opportunities to get these deals.

The the reason why Xenagos spiked was the coverage he received during Pro Tour M15. He was in two Jund decks that placed in the Top 8 of the tournament, which was the most anticipated tournament of the summer. He received plenty of coverage from live streaming two weeks ago and players have been picking up their copies since then. Once vendors started running low and realized that people weren’t trading the ones they had back in, they readjusted the prices to reflect this demand.

 What Else Besides Xenagos Should You Be Watching?

In terms of Standard I would focus on lands and current non-rotating staples. The scrylands are all great options, since the block supplementing Theros standard is a Wedge set. There is plenty of opportunity for any of the lands to be featured in a breakout deck so I wouldn’t focus heavily on any particular land barring Mana Confluence. Mana Confluence is a nice role filler for multicolored aggro decks, so I can see it becoming important in Mardu (RWB) builds in addition to any other Wedge or two color aggro build that pops up and does well during the fall. It is also from Journey Into Nyx, so the 6:2:1 ratio will also have an effect on the price after rotation.

Speaking of aggro, Soldier of the Pantheon is another of my top targets. Ever since the fall set was announced to be Wedge based I started picking up this card en masse. This is a short term play – if the card goes up substantially in price during the fall I will also be looking to get out then. It will have a tougher time sustaining a high price once the control decks become more established. 

You should also be stocking up on any extra copies of Thoughtseize and Hero’s Downfall that you can find. These have the highest chance of being the premium black cards of Standard in the fall. I would focus more on Thoughtseize than Downfall, even though it has a higher buy in price. Thoughtseize is an eternal playable that might have a higher chance of the elusive double spike once the newly announced Modern Pro Tour taking place in February 2015 occurs. Downfall is riskier because a better removal spell could be reprinted in Khans.

Elspeth, Sun’s Champion is the strongest white card right now in sheer power. Her nemesis is Scuttling Doom Engine, which Wizards created to help stave off any potential Elspeth domination of Standard. I’m still not sure which card will see more play. I tend to think Scuttling Doom Engine (SCD) since it is both colorless and a rare, which means that it can fit into multiple archetypes that can support it and it will be cheaper for players to acquire initially so more are apt to brew with SCD.

On the other hand, Elspeth is just so strong especially in control builds. Of course, my line of thinking could be completely changed once Khans comes out but for now I tend to favor SCD as the card that will see the biggest gains percentage wise.I feel like Elspeth has peaked somewhat. She costs six mana, which means that players have fewer copies of her in decks, and she is already at around $20. I can’t see her going up much more from there based on an average two copies per deck. I doubt that SCD will reach Thragtusk level of dominance but there always seems to be a rare from a core set that reaches a really high price…

Lastly, I want to mention slivers. Here my advice is to wait until rotation and pick up any foil copies of M14/M15 slivers that seem to be popular. I think this is the best call for the short and long term. Even if there is a breakout sliver deck it will only be around for about another month. I’m going to bide my time, wait for rotation, and then a few months afterwards try to scoop up any popular M14/M15 slivers for value in the long run.

Weekend Update for 8/16/14

By: Jim Marsh

Every week, some cards from Magic the Gathering increase and decease in value based upon a number of factors.

Let’s take a look at some of the cards whose values have changed the most and the factors behind why those changes have occurred.

10 Big Winners of the Week

10. Fauna Shaman (M11)
From $7.01 to $8.01 (15.55%)

Fauna Shaman is in an interesting place. It is a powerful effect but it is just too slow to be playable in several decks.

Some Modern Kiki-Pod decks experiment with it. I am sure Combo Elves variants in Modern and Legacy are constantly brewing with it.

That is not to say that it does not have its home.

Commander and Cube players often make good use of the Shaman.

This card will continue to grow slowly and steadily for a long time to come until someone does finally break the card and everyone starts scrambling for a play set.

9. Michiko Konda, Truth Seeker
From $4.10 to $4.91 (19.76%)

Michiko is an interesting white commander. She just looks at you with her warning smile daring anyone to come attack you. She is the right color for all kinds of life gain to offset any life lost.

She is from a third set that was released a decade ago. There is little supply with a unique and powerful effect.  I would trade for her and let the value continue to grow. She is so tied into the flavor of a plane we are certain not to revisit that I would be surprised if she ever saw a reprint.

8. Porphyry Nodes (Planar Chaos)
From $4.19 to $5.35

Porphyry Nodes is potential repeatable removal. It makes a very potent sideboard card. It keeps aggressive decks in check and can get around hexproof, shroud and protection.

It is sometimes seen in WUR (Jeskai) Control and Delver decks.

I would trade for these at $4 and hold onto them. The last time they got attention on camera during a major tournament prices spiked to $8.

7. Legion Loyalist (Gatecrash)
From $3.59 to $4.62 (28.695)

Rabble Red and Boss Sligh have given the Loyalist a big last hurrah before rotation.

The deck does well on MTGO dailies but so far has not seen any success in person beyond Top 16s.

Everyone wants to put this deck together and try it out at FNM.

I think the hype will settle and people will soon be looking to get out while there is still some value to be had.

I would trade these now and not look back.

6. Pithing Needle (Saviors of Kamigawa)
From $2.63 to $3.40 (29.28%)

Pithing Needle is a singleton is roughly half of legacy sideboards. It is also used in some modern and standard sideboards.

It has been printed four times. Saviors of Kamigawa was a third set in a block. Tenth Edition and M10 were core sets.

The most recent printing was in Return to Ravnica which was one of the most opened large sets ever. It was an incredible draft environment with many modern and legacy staples.

There are a lot of copies out there now.

Standard players will no longer need it and will be looking to unload it on a market that already picked up the copies they needed a long time ago.

The price is going back to around $2 in a month. Move these if you can.

5. Ad Nauseam (Shards of Alara)
From $3.26 to $4.30 (31.90%)

Ad Nauseam is a powerful way to draw your deck and finish off your opponent on their end step.

It is used in Modern Ad Nauseam and Legacy ANT and TES.

The SCG Legacy open on 8/10/2014 in Syracuse has an Ad Nauseam deck place in the Top 16. It is a fringe deck but can pop up unexpectedly depending on the metagame.

I like trading for these at $3 since the price is low and it sees play in eternal formats.

Other pieces of the deck can be pretty cheap as well. You can buy Phyrexian Unlife for as low as $0.26 and sell them for up to $0.51.

4. Enduring Ideal (Saviors of Kamigawa)
From $2.59 to $3.49 (34.75%)

Theros block recently introduced several powerful enchantments including gods. This always gets casual players pulling out their copies of Enduring Ideal and Sigil of the Empty Throne.

People are brewing with the Ideal of Modern success but nothing has gained any traction.

The deck needs powerful finishers. Assemble the Legions and Form of the Dragon are not quick enough.

I would trade them if someone if looking for them.

3. Kataki, War’s Wage (Saviors of Kamigawa)
From $2.28 to $3.46 (51.75%)

Ensoul Artifact has a lot of players looking at Affinity. When affinity gets attention then anti artifact cards get added to sideboards.

Kataki fits in several Modern deck archetypes including BW tokens, Melira Pod, Kiki-Pod, Soul Sisters, GW Hatesbears and more.

It even gets played in some vintage sideboards. The problem is that it has been reprinted so much recently. It was in Modern Masters and the Modern Event Deck.

I doubt it will be able to keep up the price.

You can purchase them for as little as $1.48 and sell them for as much as $2.60.

The Modern Masters copy also has an opportunity for profit. You can buy them for as little as $0.79 and sell them for as much as $1.26.

2. Terra Stomper (Zendikar)
From $2.12 to $3.52 (66.04%)

Terra Stomper is standard legal for the next year thanks to M15 Planeswalker decks and the Deckbuiler’s Toolikit.

The biggest problem it has it that the deck that Monogreen Devotion has so many other powerful options. Arbor Colossus, Hornet Queen, Genesis Hydra and Polukranos are all fighting for the same spot in the deck.

Mistcutter Hydra wants the sideboard space against control.

This leaves Terra Stomper without a home. I would trade these away aggressively.

1. Squelch (Champions of Kamigawa)
From $1.34 to $2.28 (70.15%)

Squelch looks at a modern metagame filled with fetchlands, pod activations and planeswalker abilities and rubs its hands together.

It has only been printed once.

So far only Modern Mono-Blue Tron runs it. I would try to stock up on $1 copies and wait for it to get noticed.

5 Big Losers of the Week

5. Norin the Wary (Time Spiral)
From $4.05 to $3.67 (-9.38%)

I love Norin the Wary. He has provided some great flavor text over the years. Every once in a while someone toys with a crazy rogue deck featuring him.

The most recent flavor was a Boros Soul Sisters that used Purphoros, God of the Forge to deal lots of damage while Norin played peekaboo.

The bump he got in price is coming down as it should.

I would trade for Purphoros though. His buylist and vendor price are both $4.00. He is a powerful commander and he just needs creatures to become good. I think he has a lot of potential.

4. Master of the Feast (Journey into Nyx)
From $3.70 to $3.28 (-11.35%)

Can Mono-Black Devotion survive the rotation of Pack Rat and Desecration Demon? If the answer is yes then Master of the Feast is a prime candidate for replacing the demon.

An upcoming wedge set suggests time to set up mana bases. I think that rotation would be a great opportunity for an aggressive monoblack deck to take charge.

3. Lifebane Zombie (M14)
From $3.86 to $3.25 (-15.80%)

Lifebane Zombie sees play in a variety of standard decks but is having trouble breaking into modern Jund and Golgari Midrange decks.

It will continue to decrease in price over the coming weeks. I would get out now. After rotation these should become bulk rares which you can pick up if you think it is good enough for a modern sideboard.

2. Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth (Planar Chaos)
From $20.66 to $17.05 (-17.47%)

Urborg is taking a beating for being reprinted in M15.

Let us not forget that it is used in Legacy and Modern decks of all varieties. It is going to be an automatic inclusion in every black deck in standard for the next year.

The price will not be done dropping until Khans of Tarkir is released.

You can currently purchase them for as low as $10.99 and sell them for as much as $14.40. f you have been slow to unload then this is your chance.

1. Rebuff the Wicked (Planar Chaos)
From $1.81 to $1.44 (-20.44%)

Rebuff the Wicked is an interesting inclusion in white commander decks.

It is a counterspell for one white mana. It is not a card that people are thinking of playing around. It protects your commander and any other permanents you have.

I love finding these in collections I buy.

I would hold onto them and wait for the price to get back to $2.

If you do not have faith in that happening you can still buylist them for $0.50.

My Long Term Binder

By: Cliff Daigle

I would love to tell you that I am a true financier when it comes to Magic. I wish I could say that I buy hundreds of a card on speculation that it will rise, and cash out handsomely when it does.

If you follow individual writers on Twitter, you’ll see that some of us do indeed carry out this large-scale investing. I admit, I’m jealous sometimes when I see that Travis bought 50 of something or Jim has picked up a stack of sweet Japanese foils.

I’ve got two kids under the age of two, so I simply don’t have the funds for large speculations. If I have gone deep on a card, I’ve traded, laboriously, for every copy of that card.  I make it to FNM as often as I can, but I also do a lot of online trading.

For example: when Jace, Architect of Thought was $8, I traded for four. When it spiked last winter, I turned those into four Cavern of Souls and three Abrupt Decay. I’ve traded those Decays for six Hero’s Downfall plus a little, and two Caverns for five Thassa, God of the Sea. When those go up, I’ll trade for things I want for EDH decks, or more value in the future.

Today, I want to walk you through my long-term binder, and hopefully you get a sense of how to grow your collection’s value over time.

If you’re a regular reader of mine, some of these will sound familiar. I practice what I preach.

36 Prophet of Kruphix
Acquired at: $2
Target price: $5
Expected timeframe: One year or more

Yavimaya Coast being in Magic 2015 and Khans being about enemy wedges means that blue-green is a viable choice for colors this fall. If Riku or Animar are reprinted, expect Prophet to take off with either of those cards. Prophet is redundant in multiples, but this is one of the best things you could be doing in EDH, until it gets banned. It hasn’t yet, so I’m optimistic.

 

27 Thespian’s Stage
Acquired at: sub-$1
Target price: $3 or more
Expected timeframe: Years

This went up to $2 when the combo with Dark Depths was revealed, but it remains one of the best things you can be doing in Commander games. This is a cheap pickup and has good potential, as long as I can be patient.

8 Soldier of the Pantheon
Acquired at: $1.50
Target price: $3
Expected timeframe: less than a year

I think this would have a higher price if Selesnya Charm could target it. There will always be a white aggro deck, and this is two power for one mana with upside. I’m not expecting this to go crazy, just enough to make it worth trading away. It’s so low-risk anyway, even a modest gain will pay off nicely.

 

10 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
Acquired at: $5-$10
Target price:$10-$15
Expected timeframe: winter

This is a card I’m expecting to trade away at the height and then trade for a few at rotation in a year. I really like the long-term prospects on this, considering how good is is in casual formats. If devotion is a thing, it’ll need several of these and I’ll be happy to trade these away at an increased price.

 

8 Aurelia, the Warleader
Acquired at: $4
Target price:$8-$10
Expected timeframe:a year or more

I traded for these before we knew what Iroas, God of Victory did. Her price went up just a little, but she’s a mythic angel that does ridiculous things in the two most aggressive colors. I don’t see this sinking much when she rotates in October, and going on a slow upward climb. If you haven’t seen this used as a Commander, you haven’t lived!

 

7 Rise of the Dark Realms
Acquired at: $2
Target price: $5+
Expected timeframe: years

There’s not a lot else you want to do with nine mana. This being a mythic means that there’s a lot less as compared to In Garruk’s Wake, which is only a rare. I’m sitting on these for a long time. There’s a combo currently legal in Standard, this and the Wake. Kill them all, and then take it all.

 

8 Thassa, God of the Sea
Acquired at: $6
Target price: $10-$20
Expected timeframe: winter

This is a card I’ve been going for as a short-term target. It hasn’t showed up in Modern much, but it’s really powerful in heavy-blue decks. It sees some play now but that was when this was in print, and it will only take one strong finish for these to go through the roof.

 

10 Hero’s Downfall
Acquired at: $5
Target price: $10
Expected timeframe: winter

Another short-term target, this has got some great potential as this is an answer to lots of problems. It’s been $10 before as a card that was still being opened, and it won’t take much to get back to where is was, or higher

 

4 Foil Boros Charm
Acquired at: $8
Target price: $20
Expected timeframe: whenever Boros Burn wins a Pro Tour

I am sitting on a playset of these, because the foil price is so much higher. The charm is a great EDH and Cube card, and is a key Burn card. I’ve got a playset and a couple more in Commander decks, and I have no trouble seeing this get to a high price when something happens and it blows up. The nonfoil has already had an extra printing in an Event deck, so I’ve focused on foils.

That’s my Hold binder. Are there things I should add to it? What and for how long?

MAGIC: THE GATHERING FINANCE ARTICLES AND COMMUNITY