Weekly Winners 2020 - 19
This week looks a lot like last week: the winners we see are the safe, evergreen cards of Magic. This week's article looks a lot different though, giving you a short update on the state of the market and the 5 biggest winners!
Like every week, just in time for (digital) FNM, I'll now tell you about the cards that will be the talk of the (digital) town tonight!
The State of the Market
This week, I have chosen to take a bit of a different angle in the Weekly Winners. Just like last week, we see plenty of cards moving up in price, but it seems that all of this movement is caused by the same reasons. Just listing the regular three winners with the same explanations is nothing short of dull. That's why this article starts with a short State of the Market to give you some updates about what's happening to the prices of Magic cards, weeks into an almost global lockdown.
Digging for gold
When economies are in turmoil, investors are tempted to sell their stocks and re-invest in gold. On January 1st, an ounce of gold was priced at $1100. This week that same ounce would have costed you $1600. That price development moves almost as quickly as some Magic cards do, which are part of new brews and decks.
Magic has its own equivalent of gold as well. First and foremost we have the Reserved List. But those are not the only Gold Cards around! Outside the Reserved list, there are many other cards that are safe to 'invest' in. There is a slim chance these cards get reprinted in a regular set, even when they are not on the reserved list. There are many cards in Magic history that would simply be too powerful to get added to Standard, Modern or Pioneer.
Outside those, I see some more members of what I would like to call 'Gold List' cards. These are the cards that are not necessarily very powerful, could theoretically get a reprint and have very unique abilities that are rarely (or not at all) seen on other cards. Add into the mix that those cards are from older sets and the card can be put on the Gold List. Other members include multi-format (evergreen) staples and cards with alternative wins.
Over the past weeks Reserved List and 'Gold List' cards are in demand. Actually, it seems those are the only type of cards really going up. The top list we show below features the biggest winners, and all are these types of cards.
Stimulus Spending and/or trade flow difficulties
There is quite some discussion and speculation on the reason why those particular cards go up in price and other don't. Some say that people spend their stimulus checks on Magic cards, and where would you put that money without taking too much risk? Right, in the Reserved or Gold list!
Others speculate that these cards pop up in our in interests because people can't buylist (sell) their cards at local game stores and that trade is coming to a halt. This might be true for local, brick gamestores in the US, but the big online cards stores do allow buylisting and people keep doing that.
Still no market crash
As the first countries went into lockdown, quite some Magic players seemed to be completely sure: the Magic market will totally crash; people will panic sell their collections, most LGS's will go under, the end is nigh!. At first, I was sure of the complete opposite: that nothing much would happen. Nothing much has happened, but I'm less convinced about that statement now, compared to 6 weeks ago. Unemployment in the US is so high, this is bound to have an effect on the money people have available to spend on cardboard. I'm not so sure anymore that Magic card prices will stay largely unaffected by the pandemic and a possible reception.
On the other hand, the market has not crashed (yet).
Fewer Cheap Pickups
Not only is the market not (yet) crashing. We have fewer cheap pickups than in regular weeks. One would expect cards to go down and with that, a portion of the cards would be at an all time low. Well, that's not the case! It was hard to select a few good cheap pickups this week!
This week's winners
Below I will list the top 5 winners of this week, both in percentage and in absolute dollar value, with a short explanation why.
#1 Final Fortune $5.50 (+154.63%)
#2 Gaea's Cradle $449.23 (+12.31%)
One of the most expensive and one of the best lands ever printed.
#3 Sylvan Library $69.97 (+74.97%)
A perfect example of a 'Gold List' card: a unique ability (for green), plenty of competitive play and a low print run. In a market where people are looking for safe places to park their cash, its no wonder that
#4 Mystical Tutor $22.50 (+73.21%)
#5 Tropical Island $350 (+17.45%)
$280 at the end of April, and $350 today,
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. Also note: some cards are still going down, and might be even cheaper pickups next week.
Ashiok, Nightmare Muse $6.75 - Record low, bottoming out
Rankle, Master of Pranks $5.56 - Record low and going down slowly
Thalia, Guardian of Thraben $5.18 - Record low and going down hard
| Thalia, Guardian of Thraben | CardKingdom $7.99 | TCGPlayer $6.53 |
| Rankle, Master of Pranks | CardKingdom $7.99 | TCGPlayer $5.58 |
| Ashiok, Nightmare Muse | CardKingdom $5.99 | TCGPlayer $6.71 |
