UW Miracles is the most popular control deck in Legacy over the last month and it is putting up the most Top 8 results to back up this popularity. It is doing 33% better than Canadian Threshold, 50% better than Death and Taxes, and 67% to 83% better than the rest of the field.

One card that sticks out to me right away is Counterbalance, the focal point of the deck. Outside of Dark Depths and Zur the Enchanter, Counterbalance is the third most expensive card from Coldsnap sitting at around $9 retail. Sensei’s Divining Top, the other piece to the lockdown, is priced around $28 retail. How can Counterbalance be a $9 card when Top is more than triple its price? Clearly, Counterbalance only has demand in competitive eternal formats but what if one day Wizards decides to unban Top from Modern? Counterbalance could possibly be a real force in Modern in addition to the Legacy play it sees. Even outside this potential unbanning (which is really just a pipe dream at this point) I feel that it being a key piece to the deck means that we should be keeping a close eye on the card.

The next cards that stick out to me are the namesake of the deck, Terminus and Entreat the Angels. Terminus probably has the most growth potential as it clearly is a good sweeper in casual formats like Commander in addition to being included in Miracles lists as three or four copies. Non-foils are currently priced at $4 which I believe is lower than the demand it is seeing. Foils are $25 and even though this is a high entry point I also think foils are a good pick up right now. Terminus has a good chance of seeing another price increase within the next year.

Entreat the Angels has already jumped up in price earlier this year, doubling from around $5.50 retail to its current price of $11 retail. This makes me less hesitant to go after it like I would Terminus, yet the potential for another price increase isn’t out of the question as Avacyn Restored ages like a fine wine.

While this card is not as awesome as Terminus in casual formats and is included in fewer copies than Terminus in UW Miracles (mostly two copies per deck is the norm), I still would keep a close watch on Entreat the Angels for any further movement. Casuals do love angels, so maybe I am even underestimating the casual appeal of the card. Foils are around $40 which aren’t moving downward any time soon – if you want your foil copies get them before they go up even more.

In addition to the key elements of the deck, I think the following cards should be watched closely moving forward:

Jace, the Mind Sculptor – The deck usually includes three copies and this is the best planeswalker ever printed. The FTV hype has died down a bit, and I remember before FTV:20 was released he was around $125 retail. I would expect non-foil WWK copies to go up again to this price and eventually surpass it.

Flooded Strand – Until a reprint, this fetchland could trend up and match Polluted Delta’s price of around $120 retail. It is currently sitting at $95 retail. Not a lot of growth and very risky considering the imminent reprint of fetchlands to make Modern more accessible, however for a short term flip it could be possible to make a profit if Miracles keeps seeing a ton of success.

Vendilion Clique – Along with its popularity in Modern, Clique has a good chance of going up in price during the summer. It may already be too late yet if you haven’t I would suggest picking up your copies of Clique if you want to play UW Miracles. Modern will only continue to drive the demand for this card moving forward.

Rest in Peace – Both foils and non-foils of this card will continue to be in demand as time goes on. Though it is a very reprintable effect, I can still see this going up in time until that reprint happens. Pick up foils if you want a card that will keep its value over many years.

Wear // Tear Foils – These are hovering around $9 right now. Fuse cards are extremely hard to reprint, so getting in on foils of these will be especially good for your portfolio a year or two down the line. Between Modern and Legacy this is a very widely played sideboard card so I foresee it continuing to be in demand. Even non-foils of this card under $1 are a good pickup in my opinion.

Canadian Threshold

A Legacy classic. Canadian Threshold has been around in some form or another in Legacy ever since Nimble Mongoose was printed and Threshold became a mechanic. It has gone through various changes over the years however the backbone of the deck is still the same – an aggro tempo deck that utilizes cheap spells to manipulate the library and out-tempo the opponent.

Unfortunately, since it has been around in Legacy so long there aren’t many financial opportunities within the deck. Many of the cards are commons or uncommons, and their foil prices are already outrageously expensive. Let me give you a breakdown of these common and uncommon foil prices:

Delver of Secrets – $16
Nimble Mongoose – $55
Daze – $124
Lightning Bolt (M11) – $9
Brainstorm (FNM) – $125
Ponder (M12) – $19
Spell Pierce – $47
Spell Snare (MM) – $13
Gitaxian Probe (FNM) – $12
Fire / Ice – $8.50

Not a lot of opportunity there considering Bolt and Ponder both have several printings in foil. Delver of Secrets foils, however, have room to grow. $16 is rather cheap compared to the rest of the foils in the deck and I can only see them getting more valuable as time goes on. Being a double faced card means that it will be harder to reprint than other cards which makes it even more awesome to pick up your foil Delvers sooner rather than later.

Other than foils the deck doesn’t really have anything that stands out to me. The rest of the deck’s components will continue to be affected by the popularity of the Legacy. Legacy has been very popular over the past several years, and I foresee it continuing to be popular for quite a while yet.

Death & Taxes

Death and Taxes has been talked about quite a bit before but there is still opportunity. It is the second most popular aggro deck in Legacy behind UR Delver and has already had a substantial impact on prices in the Legacy format. Cards like Rishadan Port, Karakas, Wasteland, and Stoneforge Mystic have all seen incredible price increases due to the popularity of this deck (Wasteland and Stoneforge also being bolstered by their general utility in Legacy).

The card that sticks out the most to me in this deck is Phyrexian Revoker. Its currently around $3.50 retail and foils are going for about $22. For now, I don’t think there is much opportunity with foil copies though regular copies will most likely see a bump in price soon. It is an important component to the deck that you can cast off of colorless lands and allows the D&T player to shut down many important activated abilities in the format.

Outside of Revoker, I see that Spirit of the Labyrinth has become an important component to the deck at least at the Bazaar of Moxen tournament where two D&T decks placed in the Top 8 running copies. Regular copies aren’t moving in price for a long time, since she is in Standard and not that great in that format, but foils are currently sitting at $15 which is pretty appetizing to me. At Bazaar of Moxen, one D&T player had four Spirits in their deck – a clear sign that it could become a staple in Legacy’s future.

Eventide Flickerwisp foils are $10 each, which is a pretty decent price for a card that is played as usually three copies in the deck. Leonin Arbiter made a showing as a playset in one D&T player’s main deck. In addition to his popularity in Modern Hatebears, for $3 nonfoil and $13 foil it could be a good pick up either way. There were three Serra Avengers in the winning deck at SCG: Cincinnati and at $1.30 retail for M13 copies and only $13 for Time Spiral foils this could also be a juicy pickup.

Other cards to watch from D&T include:

Aether Vial – Since this is already at $25 non-foil and $40 foil, I don’t think there is much room for growth. It does see marginal Modern play in about 7% of the decks yet I’m not sure if this is enough to make it spike during the Summer PTQ season. Picking these up in trade is always good but I would be hesitant to go too deep on them.

Thalia, Guardian of Thraben – I still think Thalia will continue to go up in the long term. She has already doubled in price since January, though without a reprint this year I think she could go higher still. Don’t buy these in cash; I feel that similar to Aether Vial they are good trade targets. Foils are already at $40, which is rather high but I wouldn’t want to be that guy who wished he would have bought the foils one year from now at this time.

The Field Outside the Top 3

In this section, I want to talk about outlier decks that you can see in the bar chart above that put two copies in the past month’s Top 8’s to see if there is potential for a card to see a substantial price increase.

Painter – This deck put two people into the Top 8 of SCG: Knoxville. One version opted for Imperial Recruiter while the other opted for only Goblin Welder and Painter’s Servant and instead went for the Intuition package win.

First off, Imperial Recruiter will have a hard time going up any more in price. The judge foil is already approaching $200 so unless you’re Rich Uncle Pennybags this “investment” is best avoided. Imperial Recruiter will continue to go up in price due to sheer collectability, especially the P3K version, but judge foils are mainly impacted by the popularity of Legacy. Only pick this up if you are seriously considering playing Painter. You won’t make too much money sitting on these for a year and there is the slight chance it could be reprinted in a supplemental product.

On the other hand, Painter’s Servant, Goblin Welder, and Intuition could all go up in price suddenly over the next year. They are sitting at $12, $9, and $35 respectively at retail value. If the non-Imperial Recruiter version of Painter becomes popular due to its recent success than all three of these cards could see a substantial bump. However, I would caution that this is more a pet deck than a really popular deck at this point. It may be hard to offload the cards at the new price if there isn’t a surge in popularity of the deck.

In addition to the card’s mentioned above, Grindstone could also take off if Painter rises in popularity. Its price history has fluctuated and it currently stands at $18. The demand of the card waxes and wanes with the popularity of Painter. With the resurgence of Painter, though, it could see the $25+ highs that it was at two years ago.

One caution against this is that Grindstone is not on the reserved list, so it could be reprinted in a supplementary product at some point. However, Intuition is on the reserved list and is played in more decks.

Shardless BUG – Shardless BUG has been talked about a lot, but I want to mention that the deck’s namesake Shardless Agent is sitting around $15 retail right now. That price could easily go up past $20 if the deck becomes more popular. Liliana of the Veil and Toxic Deluge should be watched for any price changes – I can see these going up more and more as time goes on as they are both great Legacy cards.

Also, don’t forget about Deathrite Shaman and Abrupt Decay – the popularity of these two cards can’t be stated enough. Like Stoneforge Mystic, I feel that once Deathrite and Abrupt Decay rotate out of Standard and become harder to find their price will only continue to creep upwards.

Elves – Elves is another deck where I expect cards in the deck to rise. Glimpse of Nature, Natural Order, Wirewood Symbiote, Heritage Druid, and Green Sun’s Zenith are all on an upward mobility path in regards to price. I’ve already talked about elves before so refer back to my other article to understand why I feel this way.

Community Input

I’ve harped plenty in this article on Legacy staples I’m focusing on – which ones are you focusing on and why? Are you looking to pick up foil or non-foil versions of cards? Let me know in the comments.

People say that Legacy is dying. These prices seem to say otherwise. I’m looking forward to the exciting future that is in store for Legacy, both through cards released in Standard sets and supplementary products. Will Dack Fayden become the next big thing?

Uncategorized

Weekend Update for 5/17/14

May 17, 2014

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. Shirei, Shizo’s Caretaker
$2.82 to $3.20 (13.5%)

Lately the Magic Finance community has been going bananas for Commanders. The legendary creatures from Commander and Planechase decks have been making their rounds.

It is possible that now interesting legends from Kamigawa are getting some attention.

Shirei has been a pet favorite card of mine for a while. The possibilities of getting back small creatures like Bone Shredder or Fume Spitter over and over again are a lot of fun.

It is exactly the kind of challenge Commander players love to find and build around.

However there is a new 1 power black creature in town. Shadowborn Apostle turns this commander from interesting to degenerate.

Imagine getting a new beefy demon every single turn.

Shirei makes paying upkeep costs like Abhorrent Overlord’s or Xathrid Demon’s into a value proposition.

Lord of the Void and Rune-Scarred Demon are all cheap and fun to play with.

He only has one printing and given his name he will be tough to reprint outside of supplemental products.

I agree that his time has come. I expect him to continue to climb.

9. Cephalid Coliseum (From the Vault: Realms)
$2.34 to $2.68 (14.5%)

Cephalid Coliseum plays in Legacy Dredge. It does fantastic things in that deck like stocking your hand and graveyard at a reasonable price.

The problem is that is it an uncommon from Odyssey and it was reprinted in From the Vault: Realms.

It was nearly $4 before dipping back down to $2. It looks like it is on its way back up. You should be able to pick up a play set fairly cheaply and sit on them.

8. Tendo Ice Bridge
$3.50 to $4.05 (15.7%)

Tendo Ice Bridge comes into play untapped and provides you with any color that you want.

The drawback is that it can only do this once.

The Modern Amulet of Vigor deck has found a way around this. It runs so many Ravnica bouncelands that it can rebuy the charge counter over and over again. Azusa, Lost but Seeking even helps you replay and reuse the same bridge on the same turn.

It is a rare from Betrayers of Kamigawa so there is not a large supply. The deck uses three of them.

The buy in is cheap and I do not believe it is done growing. The deck is still on the fringe but it has seen some 3-1s on MODO Modern dailies. I would trade for any that you see.

7. Oubliette
$7.97 to $9.35 (17.3%)

This common comes to us all the way from Arabian Nights.

It is a black Oblivion Ring that returns auras and counters. That makes it a template that Wizards will never want to reprint again. It is also in a color that no longer gets this effect.

Why exile a creature when you can Murder them for the exact same price?

It is not on the reserved list but it might as well be. I don’t think we will ever see any more copies of this card in existence.

It is used in Mono-Black Control Pauper decks but the Pauper format.

Unfortunately Pauper is not really a supported format in paper Magic.

In Commander and Cubes it gives black an ability that cannot be found on other cards unless you look at creatures like Faceless Butcher.

The past few months have seen it go from $2 to $4 to $14. It went back down to $7 and is now on the rise again. I think this is premature.

I would move these.

6. Chandra Nalaar (Duel Decks: Chandra versus Jace)
$7.51 to $8.99 (19.7%)

Chandra Nalaar is one of the Lorwyn five. As one of the original planeswalkers she will always have some casual appeal.

She also makes some appearances on the competitive front.

There is a Modern Boros Lockdown deck that ties up the opponent’s board with Ghostly Prison and Ensnaring Bridge.

Chandra Nalaar can pick off small creatures or creates a clock for the opponent.

The big finisher is Assemble the Legion.

Turn after turn an army of 1/1 soldiers with haste provide chump blockers and eventually an overwhelming offense.

Chandra is used as a 2 of in the deck.

It is notable that this price is for the Duel Deck: Chandra versus Jace version. It has unique artwork and was only found in limited supplies.

I don’t see her rising in price too much more. She has already been printed four times and she could theoretically be reprinted in any core set that needed her.

5. Orzhov Pontiff
$2.07 to $2.48 (19.8%)

Orzhov Pontiff is a rare from Guildpact. It has not been reprinted and its flavor makes it difficult to reprint outside of Return to Return to Ravnica or a supplemental product.

I think even those are long shots as Wizards has expressed regret with the Haunt mechanic.

It does some wonderful work in Melira Pod acting as removal and additional value when you sacrifice creatures.

It is only played as a one of in the deck. This has helped push the card from bulk rare to $2.50.

Melira Pod is very strong in the metagame but does not dominate which will help it avoid the ban hammer.

In the most recent GP in Minneapolis there were two Melira Pod decks in the Top 8 and a total of five in the Top 16.

So long as the deck continues to show such strong results I expect this card to continue to grow in value.

4. Temple of Malady
$6.07 to $7.49 (23.4%)

The scrylands from Journey Into Nyx will have the lowest supply of any of the scrylands. Journey is a third set so far less will be opened in drafts and sealed pools.

Drafters will also be treated to Conspiracy in a couple weeks. It will be interesting to see how this effects Theros block drafts.

Even before Journey the Golgari Dredge deck has been turning heads as a fun alternative to Esper Control or variations on Blue Devotion.

In block Temple of Malady is also played in BUG Control and Jund.

This will see the highest prices of any of the scrylands.

The big question is what dual lands will be available in M15 or the fall set. I see the potential for these to continue to grow to $10 or to fall back down to around $5.

I think growth is more likely. I would happily trade for them but don’t go crazy. A couple play sets should do you.

3. Necropotence
$6.64 to $8.53 (28.5%)

Vintage Masters.

Vintage Masters is the talk of the town. Magic Online will have a draftable set that allows them to play with broken cards that banned in every format but Vintage and casual kitchen tops.

More people will get to experience playing with this card. It is difficult to reprint. Wizards of the Coast has banned this in Legacy so it goes without saying that they do not want to see this in Modern or Standard.

Planechase, Archenemy and Commander products are all usually multicolor decks that would not play well with the greedy mana cost that Necropotence demands.

It has already been printed in a From the Vaults product so I don’t think any more will appear until they are announced as a promo.

This is a solid investment that I believe will continue to rise in the short and long term. Vintage Masters will not be redeemable but it will increase interest.

I would trade for them.

2. Shivan Reef
$5.52 to $7.99 (44.8%)

Shivan Reef is used in Modern Izzet decks like Storm or Kiki Twin. It helps fix mana without losing tempo.

The UR Storm deck has been getting 3-1s on Modern MODO dailies and has been piloted by pros like Jon Finkel.

The deck runs three Reefs to help fix mana but they are not essential to the deck. Steam Vents, Cascade Bluffs and Scalding Tarns all work to help the mana flow.

A deck like Storm requires finesse and skill to pilot. A lot of people are trying to build it because it is relatively light on the budget and powerful.

I think that this card will continue to increase in value slowly but with three printings I think it will have difficulty getting much higher than ten dollars.

1. Urza’s Miter
$2.73 to $4.87 (78.4%)

Urza’s Miter is a rare from Antiquities and is on the reserved list.

There will never be any more copies of the Miter than there currently are.

It is not that powerful or interesting so I don’t think the Magic world at large would miss it if every copy in existence suddenly disappeared. It is lower in power level than Viridian Revel which does not require three mana for every activation.

It looks at your artifacts but cannot benefit you if you sacrificed the artifact.

It is clunky and tough to build around.

It has seen a sudden surge in popularity. It jumped from $2.50 to $4 and right back down to $2.50. It is currently making its way back to $5.

There is no real justification for this outside of someone buying the cheap copies to artificially raise the price. This is still a bad spec.

That does not mean that there is no opportunity here. If anyone has one they are probably not aware of the inexplicable price increase.

One store on MTGPrice has a buylist of $2.51 on it.

You could trade this straight for cash. I would do so before this vendor corrects its buylist.

5 Big Losers of the Week

5. Lightning Bolt (Magic Players Reward Card)
$55.95 to $49.48 (-11.6%)

This just baffles me. There has never been a format where this card was legal and it was not one of the best removal spells played. It is always seen as a play set for the sole reason that you cannot play forty of them in your deck.

This card belongs in almost every Modern and Legacy deck that has access to red mana. It belongs in every Cube and many casual decks.

I don’t need to defend Lightning Bolt. I just need to point out that this is probably the cheapest you will see this premium version.

4. Damia, Sage of Stone
$12.55 to $11.00 (-12.4%)

I mentioned before that everyone has been going crazy for Commanders.

She had been steadily growing from $4 to $7 when people starting noticing generals disappearing. There were several buyouts and she got all the way to $14 before everyone decided she was good but maybe not that good.

She has taken a little dive but I expect her to level out around $10 and continue slowly growing. I would watch for the opportunity to grab her when she does.

She even sees play in BUG Nic Fit in Legacy. The deck has not posted serious results but if someone can find a way to use it then expect her to shoot up along with the rest of the deck.

Reviewing the deck made me realize that Thragtusk is now sitting at under $2.50. I think that is a steal. I believe his price will go up if he gets reprinted in a core set and everyone needs their play sets to play with again.

I just hope they do not reprint Restoration Angel in that Standard environment.

3. Ephara, God of the Polis
$5.77 to $5.05 (-12.5%)

The gods have lost some of their luster. I would use this as a chance to get them. Once Return to Ravnica rotates there will be a shakeup in decks. A card that can guarantee card advantage will be well positioned.

The casual and commander crowds will make sure that these insanely efficient creatures never dip down too low. I look at Karametra as the floor. I don’t think any god should ever be less than $3. I am waiting for something in Huey or M15 to come out that will make her outstanding.

Ephara actually sees play in competitive Standard decks so she should not get lower than $5. If you want to play with her get in now.

2. Domri Rade
$24.29 to $20.85 (-14.2%)

Standard is diversifying. Domri Rade is being used in variants on Jund, Naya and Gruul decks.

It is also being used in Modern in Zoo.

It is a shame that all of those decks are failing to make impressive results.

His price is slipping. You can even find him for almost $15 in some locations.

I would trade mine away unless you want to play with him. The fact that he is used in Modern means his price won’t drop too much come rotation, but it will be a bumpy ride until then.

Liquidate now and pick it up right after rotation if you want to use him in Modern.

1. Lotus Petal (From the Vault: Exiled)
$33.91 to $27.48 (-18.7%)

I still love this card. It is used in a number of Legacy decks that are getting results. If we just look at the most recent SCG Open we see the following decks that feature three to four Petals.

ANT and Imperial Painter were both in the Top 8.

Belcher represented two spots in the Top 16.

Any way you slice it a quarter of the decks that were placing ran almost the full compliment of the artifact.

There is no way it stays this low for too much longer.

Casual Fridays

Judge Foils I’d Like to See

May 16, 2014 Cliff Daigle

By: Cliff Daigle

With the recent spoiling of some special-edition judge foils, it became clear to me that there are more judge foils that need to be released.

I leave it to others to speculate on the price of the promo Force of Will (ALL THE DOLLARS) and instead I’m thinking of my experiences buying foils that are given out in judge packs at high-level events for a while. Judge foils usually follow a pattern of being at a very high price on their release, and that price slowly comes down over the duration of the card being given out.

For example, a friend of mine bought a Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed when it was first printed as a promo for the price of $120. Eight months later, it could be had for $60.

First of all, two cycles:

Sword of War and Peace & Sword of Body and Mind (old frame) – We’ve gotten three of the five swords in the old frame, and Wizards knows we like our cycles. Expect these as a when, not an if. WaP and BaM are the weakest of the Swords, and would probably end up in the $30 range.

The other Praetors in Phyrexian – Again, this is a cycle begging to be printed. The Phyrexian Elesh Norn is sick, and I’d love to have this same effect applied to the other four colors. Since the other four see less play and are arguably weaker, their prices will be low too, probably down to $20.

Kozilek, Butcher of Truth – There are three Legendary Eldrazi, and Ulamog and Emrakul have each had a special edition. Set foil Kozilek is surprisingly expensive, and the judge foil wouldn’t make it any lower than $60, I’d say.

Iona, Shield of Emeria – As a reanimation target, Iona is super-popular for her ability to shut out an entire color. She’s popular in Cubes for this reason, and there are polite disagreements about her use in EDH, when a reanimation/Kaalia/Bribery can put her in play early and lock out some players. A judge version of her would be around $30 once the initial demand was met.

Mana Drain – If Force can finally make it, this is the other one that Eternal players are eager for. It’s enormously powerful, a card that hearkens back to the days when counterspells we not only undercosted, they gave significant advantages. I suspect that this would be a limited edition as Force is said to be, and therefore I’ll say the price here would be around $600.

Vigor – This would be an attempt to goose the supply of Vigor for casual players. It’s a really great effect for a wide range of decks and players, something I try to put in as many decks as I can. It dates back to right before Magic started to explode, and would be welcome in lots of formats. It’s never seen much Constructed play, so I’d expect these foils to be around $25.

Yavimaya Elder – Hear me out. This is a card that isn’t worth much in nonfoil, but there’s only been one foil printing. This could use the superior Matt Cavotta art, and be a very pretty upgrade in nearly every green deck ever. It would carry a price around $15-$20, and I would be delighted to pick those up.

Mikaeus, the Unhallowed – This is a card that frankly people in casual formats don’t play enough. It’s not only Wrath insurance, you’ll also get a re-use of all the sweet enters-the-battlefield effects on the creatures you play with anyway! this would not be a high-value card, but it would be a lot of fun. $15.

Sensei’s Divining Top – It was a mainstay of so many decks that it’s banned in Modern due to sheer logistics. It’s an old uncommon, it was in FTV: Exiled, and it doesn’t matter because so many decks like having this effect. Judge foils on this would never be below $50.

I imagine that I left out some fun ones. (Remember, judge foils can no longer be from the reserved list, despite the presence of Survival of the Fittest and Thawing Glaciers promos) and I’d like to hear what you want to have. I’m excited that Terese Nielsen’s Hanna, Ship’s Navigator will be available, and more Commander-only cards are sure to be printed too! Let me know what should be here, in the comments or on Twitter @WordOfCommander

Think Twice

Knowledge as Power

May 15, 2014 Camden Clark

By: Camden Clark

As financiers, we gain the power that we have from communication.

Communication is social media.

Communication is Twitch streams.

Communication is talking to Magic players like you and me.

But above all, communication provides you with the information to make wise decisions.

Kind of like organization, communication is an abstract concept in Magic finance. We all have personal expectations for what it means and how we utilize it. However, most of us fail to see deeper. We fail to analyze whether the information we are gathering is useful and where it is produced from. Even more dangerous is receiving information and archive it but never use it.

What does this even mean?

It means we have to analyze the sources of our information.

The first level (and the most basic) is the finance level.

Twitter – Finance

If you are not on Twitter, sign up for an account now. It is almost no hassle to install on your smartphone and just follow the people who are very established and know what they are doing.

Chas Andres
Corbin
Sigmund
Jason
Travis
Also you can follow me – http://twitter.com/CamdenClarkMTG

The #mtgfinance hashtag is also an extremely valuable source of information. It can give you an ear to the ground on how people in the finance community are feeling. There are few other places where you can get random blips like this that you may have not been aware of.

I use Twitter because it is an easy and time-efficient way to interact in the MTGFinance community. There are millions of people who have accounts on this website for a reason. It provides really easy blurbs from people that are well respected.

Twitter is good for what it is but there are some inherent limitations. The 140 character limit prevents extended analysis of picks. Moreover, most of the information is not very relevant to speculation. There are simply so many people here that it becomes hard to distill valuable content from just some guy on his iPhone. Another issue with Twitter is the community centric aspect. With so many people posting it is difficult to have one tweet to have a major effect.

My advice for using Twitter is as follows: watch, but take everything with a grain of salt. It is a fun and easy way to keep an ear to the ground but following the mtgfinance people exclusively is dangerous.

Twitter – Players

The Twitter Magic community is quite similar to the Magic finance community. There are major moguls who constantly post about their records at major tournaments and talk about specific cards and decks.

There is even more information than in the Magic finance community so it becomes hard to discern what is useful and what is not. Most posts from ordinary people should have no bearing on your financial decisions or learning. In contrast, the tweets from professional players and major people in the community should have a major impact on how you think about certain cards.

A couple of pitfalls to avoid is that pros sometimes joke about certain cards or decks. There are also some professional players who tweet nothing but their records at a tournament and provide little value for finance.

/r/mtgfinance

This subreddit has a lot of potential. Recently, the community became a dung-throwing festival where posters accused the moderators of being in cahoots with content writers on a few different sites. However, I find these accusations to be untrue and most of the community feels the same way. It seemed to be a very vocal minority who believed that /r/mtgfinance was only trying to shill certain websites.

Nevertheless, after that situation the subreddit picked up steam again and seems to be back in working order.

The good things about Reddit are similar and magnified. The voting system allows content that the community feels is valuable to get more airtime while content that is not so good gets voted down. Everything in this subreddit is submitted by community members and it is extremely transparent who is submitting the content and what they hope to achieve. Discussion is amplified because each post usually gets at least three commenters who have good and unlimited analysis.

The downfall of Reddit lies in the voting system as well. Opinions outside the majority may get voted down in controversial topics, resulting in certain people’s thoughts being given little visibility. However, adopting a holistic view on reading comments and even reading those that have been downvoted will dissuade this. Another issue with this community lies in the “pump and dump” mentality of many of its users. They often post a discussion or “speculation” thread and attempt to create a buyout for the card they open a discussion post for.

The best way to use this community is similar to Twitter. It is a valuable source of legitimate discussion and can foster very good debates. The posting system creates a pseudo-filter to get rid of garbage content. Still, take everything with a grain of salt and make sure that you are making educated decisions by doing your own research

Moreover, use Reddit to ask questions and create decent dialogue. That is where you can get the most value out of this subreddit. People there have experience and you can get a variety of opinions on whatever you post. I highly recommend utilizing this subreddit not only for reading but also contributing. You will learn a lot.

/r/spikes

The subreddit for people who grind PTQs is also a great resource for determining good investments. These are the people who spend hilarious prices to buy the cards they need for their deck that they want to take to their PTQ. It is literally like being in the mind of the people that you are trying to predict.

Tournament results that get a major nod here are probably significant. They should provide you with the foundation for determining what decks are likely going to become more popular. As we approach Modern PTQ season this gets more and more important. I always talk about how open Modern still is. There is a lot of potential for specific cards and even overlooked staples to rise in major levels.

I have no doubt that if you pay some attention to /r/spikes you will be able to profit a little bit. You will also be able to pick up staples for Modern before they skyrocket if you just want to play in PTQs. This is even relevant if you don’t want to invest but just want to play Magic and not have to spend as much money.

Content Sites

There are a whole host of websites out there that push content of varying quality. A lot of it is valuable. Some of it is not. That is the double edged sword of content: it is top-down.

However, if you are reading content by people who know what they are doing it will be quite obvious. Many of the people above who are major personalities on Twitter also have corresponding content on websites. That makes them automatically very good people to track and at the very least skim through their content.

Analyzing the utility of such content is a different story. There are very useful articles posted that go over fundamentals and examine merits of different investments. Many also examine the history of the writer’s picks or recommendations and does a self-evaluation.

These are the best type of articles in my opinion. When we go back and examine what we did and our decisionmaking process we learn new things that we wouldn’t have learned had we chosen not to examine.

I have gone over the content that comes from the financial sector. Although it is very valuable to read content and be a part of the MTGFinance community, most picks are gone by the time MTGFinance people get turned onto them.

This is why it is also useful to follow the players’ communities as well. They are the ones who buy the cards. They are the ones who build the decks that the speculators end up speculating on.

How has knowledge meant power in your experience? Leave it in the comments.

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