Another week stacked with reserved list spikes. Not a lot is changing in the meta of the various formats, since everyone is basically waiting for the release of Zendikar Rising. However, this doesn't mean the Magic finance is dead, but rather seems to be shifting to more safe investments. I've tried to not necessarily pick the cards that have gained the most value, but rather tried to pick the more interesting reserved list cards or cards not on the reserved list.

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!

 

#1 Apocalypse Chime $14.50 (+1.833%)

 

This card now has the dubious honor of being the most expensive card in Homelands! Beating Didgeridoo from the top position! Now you may ask yourself why a card like Apocalypse Chime would spike. It doesn't see any play anywhere, it isn't particular good, and it is from Homelands, one of the most reprinted sets with barely any decent cards.

It is on the reserved list and spiked with over 1.800%. It's a prime example of a buyout and follows a similar pattern as a card I didn't discuss in last week's article, because I didn't find it that interesting: Golgothian Sylex. Another card that mentions a specific expansion set and spiked. We also saw City in a Bottle spike. It seems like people noticed these two and decided to look for other cards mentioning a specific expansion and buy it out. The difference is that of these last two cards, the print run is way smaller than Homelands'.

When taking the average price of every card in Homelands you will get $94.69. This means that the inflated price of Apocalypse Chime makes up over 15% of this. Please don't pay $15 for Apocalypse Chime!

 

Apocalypse Chime	CardKingdom $0.99	TCGPlayer $14.50
Didgeridoo	CardKingdom $8.49	TCGPlayer $9.79
Golgothian Sylex	CardKingdom $32.99	TCGPlayer $149.95
City in a Bottle	CardKingdom $379.99	TCGPlayer $368.74

 

#2 Gilt-Leaf Archdruid $18.98 (+204%)

 

Lets discuss a card which is not on the reserved list. Gilt-Leaf Archdruid is a rare from Morningtide, a set where relatively little packs were opened from. Obviously this means fewer of this card are in circulation and since it has never been reprinted it holds a higher value.

If you have sufficient druids in your deck, and on the battlefield, you can gain control of target player's lands. That's a really powerful ability which you can use the moment Gilt-Leaf Archdruid hits the battlefield. It sees some EDH play and as long as it isn't reprinted it may only go up. However, as soon as a reprint hits, the price may crash just as hard.

When looking at the recent prices, however, we noticed that the low and market price have barely moved. When looking at TCGplayer, it does seem a lightly played version could only be bought for $19. As of writing, CardKingdom still has one available for $8.79.

 

Gilt-Leaf Archdruid
Morningtide	CardKingdom $10.99	TCGPlayer $18.98

 

#3 Yavimaya Hollow $85.00 (+62.2%)

 

This land, that can regenerate your creatures, is on the reserved list and actually isn't one of the largest spikes this week. It is one of the spikes that sparked a lot of conversation and discussion. Yesterday the card was in the top 3 daily interests and thus showed up in our daily tweet:

Yavimaya Hollow (UDS) $96.00 (▲66.99%)

The discussion comes down to why the reserved list exists, and it results in people being priced out of the market while they want to play with the cards. Keep in mind that these prices are based on TCGplayer mid and will easily spike for cards that get bought out and re-listed. When buying this kind of cards, always do your own research about the prices and always also take the market price into consideration. Also notice that after a spike like this, it will also come down. Today it dropped 11.5% compared to yesterday.

 

Yavimaya Hollow
Urza's Destiny	CardKingdom $79.99	TCGPlayer $85.00

 

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.

 

Azusa, Lost but Seeking $7.99 - Record low and stable

 

Oblivion Stone $2.99 - Record low and stable

 

Engineered Explosives $4.00 - Record low and stable

 

Ashiok, Nightmare Muse $5.14 - Record low and trending down

 

Ashiok, Nightmare Muse	CardKingdom $4.99	TCGPlayer $5.14
Azusa, Lost but Seeking	CardKingdom $8.99	TCGPlayer $7.99
Engineered Explosives	CardKingdom $4.49	TCGPlayer $4.00
Oblivion Stone	CardKingdom $4.49	TCGPlayer $2.99