Competitive MTG Finance #3 - Premodern and Other Older Formats

Hi folks. This week I’d like to dive into some Premodern results since Land Tax has been banned for a few months now. And shortly after the banning, Sam Black wrote an article regarding what he thinks about the format. So I find it particularly interesting to see where the format is headed. 

Misty Mountain Games hosted a Fall Cup at the end of September with 34 players attending. And the event was won by Ricky Thorson on green Oath Ponza.

Main

4  Terravore

4  Mox Diamond

4  Sphere of Resistance

1  Powder Keg

1  Naturalize

2  Mulch

4  Thermokarst

4  Winter's Grasp

1  Wild Growth

4  Oath of Druids

2  Sylvan Library

1  Dust Bowl

6  Forest (248)

4  Mishra's Factory

4  Rishadan Port

2  Tranquil Thicket

4  Treetop Village

4  Wasteland

4  Windswept Heath

Side

3  Zuran Orb

3  Black Vise

3  Naturalize

3  Cursed Totem

1  Defense Grid

1  Elephant Grass

1  Krosan Reclamation 

At first glance, there are a couple of cards that stick out. The first is Mox Diamond. And the reason I point it out is because that’s the card Sam Black mentioned in his article that he thought is the strongest card in the format now. So I’d be on the lookout for more Mox Diamond decks to pop up as time progresses, since Ricky Thorson’s deck showcases the power of the card.

As for investing in Mox Diamond, it’s a pretty steep investment of around $578 at the time of writing. But it’s on the Reserved List, so it’s pretty safe to say that it’ll just keep going up in price over time. It also still has a pretty strong presence in Legacy and almost always as a four-of. 

The other card I’d like to talk about is Powder Keg, which is also on the Reserved List but not quite as pricey as Mox Diamond. The foil version has been creeping up in price over the years, and I think it still has some room to grow given that it’s a rare. Just take a look at the rares from Urza's Destiny and their foil market prices sorted in descending order for reference.

The non-foil market price is around $12 which also seems like it has a bit of room to grow. However, the one bit of caution is that it’s not usually played as a four-of like Mox Diamond. And it’s often a sideboard card rather than maindeck. But I do like how it’s been popping up in Legacy decks like Death’s Shadow, especially with the power and popularity of Orcish Bowmasters. 

Another interesting card in Ricky’s list is Thermokarst. Its price has really shot up over the past few months, partly due to its popularity in Pauper. And Card Kingdom is buying these for $2 cash. So if you have access to a lot of Ice Age, there’s a good chance you might have a stack of these since it’s an uncommon.

 

It’ll be interesting to see how Premodern continues to grow like some of the other older formats, like Old School and Middle School, as more people start to reminisce and learn about the older days of Magic and play with the original/old border versions of cards. And I think we can see some effects on cards that weren’t really played much before these formats starting to pick up in popularity. Take a look at a card like Overload and its foil printing. Its market foil price has shot up in the past few months. So if you can still find some cheap copies, these are probably worth picking up. 

Take a look at one of the decks that beat Ricky. 

Ponza

Sean Lillibridge/ TiredTracker 

Main

4 Mogg Fanatic

3 Avalanche Riders

3 Dwarven Miner

3 Grim Lavamancer

2 Shard Phoenix

4 Firebolt

4 Pillage

4 Incinerate

4 Lightning Bolt

2 Pyrokinesis

10 Mountain (173)

4 Ghitu Encampment

4 Mishra's Factory

4 Rishadan Port

4 Wasteland

1 Dust Bowl

Side

4 Overload

3 Pyroblast

3 Pyroclasm

3 Tormod's Crypt

2 Nevinyrral's Disk

A lot of the rares from old border sets are already pretty high in price. So if you’re looking for cards with some more room to grow, try looking at the foil uncommons and commons from those sets. I’ve been picking these up over the past few years, and some of them have gone up quite a bit, like Tribal Flames, Recoil, and even Dream Thrush. For example, take a look at the commons from Invasion that have a mana value of 0-1, and then take a look at the foil market prices. 

Aside from Overload, I like foil versions of the non-basic lands, Ancient Spring, Geothermal Crevice, Irrigation Ditch, Sulfur Vent, and Tinder Farm. These have spiked in the past and have come down a bit since. But they’re starting to creep back up. 

If you do this for the other older-border sets, I believe there are still some gems that you can find. And I hope you find some.

Mox Diamond	CardKingdom $599.99	TCGPlayer $600.00
Powder Keg	CardKingdom $10.99	TCGPlayer $11.24
Thermokarst	CardKingdom $6.49	TCGPlayer $4.17
Overload	CardKingdom $0.49	TCGPlayer $0.25
Ancient Spring	CardKingdom $0.35	TCGPlayer $0.25
Geothermal Crevice	CardKingdom $0.35	TCGPlayer $0.24
Irrigation Ditch	CardKingdom $0.35	TCGPlayer $0.24
Sulfur Vent	CardKingdom $0.49	TCGPlayer $0.25
Tinder Farm	CardKingdom $0.49	TCGPlayer $0.25

Respectfully,

Eddie

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