Wizards has just announced the Modern unbanning of both Jace, the Mind Sculptor and Bloodbraid Elf. Normally, we update prices once a day, but for this occasion we do a flash update, and give you the current price of both cards in all their printings.
Totally unexpected, Wizards decided to unban Jace, the Mind Sculptor. Earlier we learned that Jace, the Mind Sculptor will be in the new, Masters 25 set. As usual when a card is unbanned, players tend to buy into a unbanned staple, hoping to be able to snatch a few decent priced cards before the price spikes. All percentages are based of the price of yesterday.
Worldwake printing ($190) +115%
Price earlier today: $88.34
Price before unban speculation: $70
Eternal Masters Printing ($147.50) +75%
Price earlier today: $84.45
Price before unban speculation: $65
FTV: Twenty Printing ($137) +102% Foil only
Price earlier today: $85.45
Price before unban speculation: $69
Pre-unbanning speculation, did people know?
As the graphs show there was an uptick in price before the unbanning announcement. This happens more often with cards on the banlist. People take the gamble and buy into a certain staple, hoping to make a quick buck when the price spikes. But the interesting thing with Jace, the Mind Sculptor is that nobody expected an unban of the card, but the price of the card (in all printings) did tick significantly up in the past 5 days. Something that didn't happen during previous B&R announcements, at least not on this scale. Jace, the Mind Sculptor gained $16 dollars in value.
Which warrants an important question: did people know in advance and did they use this knowlegde to make money? Sadly it is a question I cannot answer as easily as I can ask it. Even if people knew, it is technically not illegal to trade magic cards with foreknowlegde, but if it does happen it is not very ethical either.
The unbanning of Bloodbraid Elf was much more expected than the Jace unbanning. Bloodbraid Elf was already a weekly winner last week, just because of the fact people were already speculating on a possible unban.
Alara Reborn Printing ($15) +114%
Price earlier today: $7,-
Price before unban speculation: $2.60
Commander 2016 Printing ($14.98) +156%
Price earlier today: $5.86
Price before unban speculation: $2.90
Eternal Masters Printing ($12) +78%
Price earlier today: $5.86
Price before unban speculation: $2.99
Planechase 2012 Printing ($14.90) +11%
Price earlier today: $14.99
Price before unban speculation: $4.99
Planechase Anthology Printing ($13.60) +8.9%
Price earlier today: $12.98
Price before unban speculation: $3.60
What to expect in the future
It is really hard to say where the prices for both cards are going in the near future. Chances are that Bloodbraid Elf will keep a lot of its value gained over the past and coming weeks. The card has been reprinted in the uncommon rarity quite a lot, and it just might be in the Masters 25 set as well. A lot also depends on the impact of Bloodbraid Elf on the current Modern meta. But expect it to be played a lot. And that always warrants a higher price tag, especially because the card sees fringe play in Legacy as well.
Predicting what Jace, the Mind Sculptor is going to do is even harder. We simply have no idea how big (or small) the print run of Masters 25 is going to be. When the print run is going to be the same as earlier Master Sets, expect a high to very high price tag on Jace, the Mind Sculptor. With a small print run, card availability won't be able to keep up with the demand (and need) of the card in Modern. Jace, the Mind Sculptor is so incredibly good that you will have to run it, or at least consider running it when you play a control deck. Just like Force of Will is an auto-add in any Legacy deck that runs blue.
Wizards will only be able to keep Jace, the Mind Sculptor at an affordable price when the card is going to be printed widely, especially because it is in a mythic rare slot in Masters 25. In the B&R announcement Wizards did explicitly state that the release of Masters 25 will make the card available for players. I really hope this means a large print run. Now that is unbanned, we will know for sure that the set will be bought and opened a lot. And maybe, just maybe Wizards will add more, really, really classic (and expensive) cards in Masters 25, making both Modern, Legacy and Vintage more affordable.
It is more realistic to expect a masters set like we have seen before: a limited print run and a limited amount of reprints of expensive staples. Which will mean a stable, high price tag for Jace, the Mind Sculptor. Lets all hope it turns out differently.
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