Weekly Winners (25)

We saw a massive amount of movement in Modern cards this week. A lot of cards have spiked, even cards that should see only fringe play right now. Just like last week, everything in this week's article will be about Modern.

So, once again,  I present you the cards that will be the talk of the town tonight

 

Modern Market Musings

A lot has been said about Modern card prices this week. Many writers took up their pen and wrote about their views on the reasons and the implications of the recent card spikes. And this caused a lot of discussion in the Magic community. And a lot of this discussion was focused on format sustainability and speculators. For your convenience I have tried to summarize: 

Modern Season just started, isn't it normal for cards to gain value?

The short answer: yes. But, this doesn't explain the sheer amount of cards gaining a lot of value overnight. Prices tend to rise in the Modern season, but please compare the price jumps of this year with those of last year. The Modern PTQ season started on june 7th.  Just check with every spike you see (for a card that saw Modern play in 2014) if it spiked in/ around june 2014. Most did not. Some gained value, but not in the way they do this year. 

Is it all just speculators?

The short answer: no. Not all cards that spike or gain in value are caused by those "anonymous speculators that ruin magic". But the popular opinion is that speculators are to blame. I do know for sure that behind every spike there are people making a profit. But not every card spike is caused by speculators that buy 300 copies of a card. 

I do think that some things have changed in Magic over the past years. As a writer for MTGStocks I can tell you that A LOT of people check out card prices daily, keeping track of their collections and looking for deals. Not just 'professional' speculators, but everyone that plays magic is interested in card value. This has always been the case (remember those sweet prices indexes in The Duelist ?). But in a world with TCGPlayer, Tix and many, many articles about the 'magic economy', reprint policy, expected value calculations and the like, it is no big surprise that players have money on their mind when playing magic. 


Getting a good deal is fun!

Getting a great deal is fun. It gives you a rush. You beat the curve. You outsmarted everyone. And everyone want to get these great deals. The downside: for every winner, there are many others that are confronted with overpriced cards they really need to play on a competitive level. And paying $25 for a playset Lantern of Insight makes you feel like a loser. This hurts magic. 

So to conclude, it is not just speculators causing these spikes. It is also our own fear of being outsmarted by others. The fear of others getting ahead and the pleasure of being ahead causes a huge bandwagon effect. Just like a bank run. 

 

 #1 Nourishing Shoal +2432% ($13.42) 

Nourishing Shoal is probably the biggest spike I have ever seen. And caused by a good tournament result on the Grand Prix Charlotte. Zach Jesse piloted his deck into the top 4 of the Grand Prix using a build with Nourishing Shoal. 

The idea of running Nourishing Shoal is not new. But this is the first time a deck using it netted a great result like this. It's use is pretty straightforward. You can combo hard with this card if you have a Griselbrand in play. Just pitch one of the six green creatures to Nourishing Shoal and you have some more life to spend. You can also safe your own life with it. Reanimator is a pretty aggressive deck and you lose life quickly. Nourishing Shoal could grant you the extra turn you need to win.

 

#2 Lantern of Insight +2140% ($6.72) 

 Just yesterday the card was $0.36. And today you can get your foils copies for $100 a piece (and I am not kidding). 

Lantern of Insight is a piece in the new Latern Control deck, piloted by Zac Elsik on the Grand Prix in Charlotte. Starcity Games made a decktech video on the deck. Check it out.

For those that lack the luxury of watching videos while working, this is how the deck works. It  is a control/ prison deck that drops Ensnaring Bridge early and with cards like Lantern of Insight you get information on what your opponent will be drawing next turn. And you can try to prevent that from happening, and keep your opponent from winning. And how do you win: just by slowmilling them.

When a new deck pops up in an Eternal format that's always a huge thing. If you are early in, you can play a deck that is fairly cheap. But today Lantern of Insight is already a $6+ card. 

 

#3 Ancient Stirrings +303% ($3.99) 

Ancient Stirrings was also in Zac Elsik's Lantern Control deck. So it spiked as well. Don't expect the price to stick. 

 

Other modern spikes

There were more buyouts/ spikes on modern cards this week. I have listed them below. It seems that the fact that the cards see play in Modern and were not reprinted in MM2 were reason enough to warrant a spike or buyout.

Terminate

 

Nettle Sentinel

 

Ezuri, Renegade Leader

 

 Chromatic Star

 

Through the Breach

 

Disrupting Shoal

 

Goryo's Vengeance

 

 Glimmervoid

 

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