Weekly Winners 2019 - 13

29 Mar

by Peter

Another very interesting week in the world of Magic prices. Modern, Legacy and EDH are causing cards to increase in price. Speculation on what's going to be in Moden Horizons might push an old time Magic Classic to a three year record high.

#1 Bottled Cloister $4.95 (+142.65%)

This card was a bulk rare that was only seen in Casual decks that had built a strategy around it. But Bottled Cloister has found its way into modern (mostly as a 1-off) and it seems it has found its way to the hearts of Magic players as well this week. Several players have netted interesting results last week. Both in paper tournaments and on MTGO.

On March 10th a deck running Bottled Cloister ended up in fourth place at the SCG Regionals in New Jersey. Check out the decklist here.

Bottled Cloister
Ravnica	Buy on CardKingdom $4.99

#2 It That Betrays $13.92 (+64.93%)

This is one of the weirdest spikes of the past few months! Normally, when a card increases in AVG price, card stores will update their buylist prices. Those are the prices the stores are willing to pay for a certain card. With It That Betrays, Card Kingdom first increased their buylist price and the AVG price spiked afterwards. The other way around!

Speculators got wind of It That Betrays's new buylist price. And since their buylist price ($10) was a (few) buck(s) above the selling price ($8-9) of other stores, this created an instant opportunity to make some money. And some speculators did use this moment and the price of It That Betrays spiked as a consequence.

But why would a store suddenly increase their buylist prices? Well it is a matter of keeping a balance between the number for cards the store acquires and the number they sell. Some stores (and it seems that Card Kingdom does this) update their prices when they see their inventory getting low. And that is logical: a card might have a $14 price tag, but if you don't have a single copy you won't be able to sell a card. By raising the buylist price, stores restock their cards and keep the sales going. Normally this does not cause a spike, and It That Betrays's spike seems like an incident.

The buylist update was probably caused by the increase of organic demand after a Kozilek deck was featured on The Command zone. And before that, It That Betrays saw a decent amount of play in EDH already.

It That Betrays
Rise of the Eldrazi	Buy on CardKingdom $14.99

#3 Fetch Lands

There is a steady trend going on concerning cards that are both Legacy and Modern staples. I have told you about JTMS already, but other cards are on the rise as well. Check out our weekly interests list and sort on new card price instead of the default percentage point sorting. And you will see that quite some staples are gaining in price. And I can tell you, not only this week, but for the past weeks as well. Don't tell me I did not warn you!

With the exception of Scalding Tarn, there was not (yet) a lot of movement visible on Fetch Lands. But as of this week the some popular fetchlands are increasing in price. And when looking at the movement of other (non-land) staples that see play in both Modern and Legacy, the Fetches gaining in price might be the start of their own upward trend.

Scalding Tarn $109.99 (+6.29%)

Bloodstained Mire $48.25 (+7.39%)

Wooded Foothills $36.54 (+13.09%) - Biggest Winner

Wooded Foothills $29.99 (+12.91%)

Flooded Strand $26.99 (+8%)

Polluted Delta $26.99 (+6.42%)

Bloodstained Mire	Buy on CardKingdom $49.99
Wooded Foothills	Buy on CardKingdom $44.99
Flooded Strand	Buy on CardKingdom $24.99
Polluted Delta	Buy on CardKingdom $29.99
Wooded Foothills	Buy on CardKingdom $34.99
Scalding Tarn	Buy on CardKingdom $99.99

Cheap Pickups

Please note: for our 'record low' we consider the price of the card over the past 7 years. Many cards have been even cheaper (a) decade(s) ago.

Leovold, Emissary of Trest $8.64 - Record low and bottoming out

Fulminator Mage $7.94 - Record low and bottoming out

Ral, Izzet Viceroy $5.04 - Record low and going down

Guilds of Ravnica Shocklands

Several shocklands from Guilds of Ravnica seem to have reached their low point (at least the non-blue generating lands). May be a good opportunity to complete your playsets.

Leovold, Emissary of Trest	Buy on CardKingdom $7.99
Overgrown Tomb	Buy on CardKingdom $6.99
Ral, Izzet Viceroy	Buy on CardKingdom $5.49
Sacred Foundry	Buy on CardKingdom $7.99
Steam Vents	Buy on CardKingdom $14.99
Temple Garden	Buy on CardKingdom $5.99
Watery Grave	Buy on CardKingdom $12.99
Leovold, Emissary of Trest	Buy on CardKingdom $8.99
Fulminator Mage	Buy on CardKingdom $6.99