Welcome back to The Modern Series.
In this collection of articles, I will be covering each Modern-legal set in the history of Magic. (If you missed the latest, Darksteel, you can check it
out here.) Some of these sets are almost a decade old, so it’s
worth re-examining them based on today’s popular formats and current market trends. Remember: the two most important formats for all of these cards, Modern
and Commander, didn’t even exist when Fifth Dawn was printed.
No other series I’ve done has led to as many people seeking me out in person and letting me know how much practical use they’ve gotten out of my writing.
The Modern Series has helped people pick through their bulk, make smarter trades, brew cool new combo decks, and go back into their collection in search of
a card that was $1 last year but can be sold for $10 today.
The Modern Series also helps people stay ahead of the Magic finance curve. Last week, there was a lengthy Twitter discussion about how the price of Sword
of Fire and Ice has risen in recent months with very little fanfare. Those of you who read my Darksteel overview had plenty of time to pick up your swords
before the other speculators caught on.
Fifth Dawn is one of my favorite sets, and it’s chock full of casual value. Ready to dig in?
Fifth Dawn at a Glance
Fifth Dawn, released in June of 2004, is the third set in the original Mirrodin block. While it continues the artifact theme established by Mirrodin and
Darksteel, the set’s major mechanic is based around incentivizing players to use all five colors of mana at once. Sunburst was the splashy new casual
ability, and it put either +1/+1 or charge counters on a permanent based on how many different colors of mana were used to play it.
Fifth Dawn also introduced a splashy cycle of bringers. These elementals cost nine mana to summon…unless you could pay WUBRG, which would allow you to
cast them for just five mana. At the time, Prismatic was the ‘competitive casual’ format of choice, similar to how Commander is played today but on a
smaller scale. Seeing 250-card five-color casual decks being played between rounds at FNM was not an uncommon sight. The bringers, understandably, were
popular among the fans of this format.
Constructed players mostly ignored Sunburst (Etched Oracle was the best of these cards in Standard), but Fifth Dawn also introduced scry to the world. Scry
is one of the most beloved mechanics in the history of the game among tournament players, and their love affair with the keyword was fairly immediate.
Condescend and Serum Visions were both heavily played for the two years they were legal in Standard, as was Magma Jet.
Fifth Dawn is not a great Limited set on its own, but it played really well in draft as a third pack expansion. Many players stayed as colorless as
possible during the first two packs before jumping into prismatic near the end of the draft. Five-color green was another popular Limited choice once Fifth
Dawn entered the format.
Fifth Dawn was about as close as we ever came to a sanctioned ‘combo’ set. While Fifth Dawn didn’t contain the raw artifact power of a set like Urza’s
Saga, the expansion’s flavor was all about assembling machines. There were cogs, clockwork things, and a cycle of colorless stations that made an infinite
combo together when they were all in play at once. The development team here did an excellent job keeping these combos fun and balanced without being
oppressive or boring.
Fifth Dawn booster boxes currently sell for $200 here on StarCityGames, fat packs go for $100, and individual booster packs book for $7 each. Much like
Darksteel and the other small sets, people mostly buy these for cracking packs, not for drafting. Fifth Dawn boxes are likely to be undervalued as long as
Serum Visions–a small set common–retails for $7 each. Boxes are sold out at $200 right now, and I doubt they’ll be restocked at that price.
Crucible of Worlds – $30
Crucible of Worlds has the reputation of a heavily played constructed card, but that hasn’t been true in recent months. It shows up as a one-of in Modern
UWR and Tron variants occasionally, but for the most part Crucible isn’t played that much in tournaments. Lands runs one or two of these in Legacy, and Pox
sometimes runs a couple as well. For the most part, though, Crucible of Worlds is limited to Commander.
Your opinion of Crucible in Commander depends on your definition of ‘casual play.’ The card is great with fetchlands, of course, but it’s downright broken
when paired with Strip Mine. There probably isn’t a more hated lock in the format, especially in two-player games. I’ve seen players scoop to this on sight
before going on rants about how these two cards ruin fun in the format. For a certain type of Johnny/Spike player, though, Crucible/Strip Mine actually is
the height of fun in Magic. For the most part, these are the players that have driven the price of this card up to $30.
Any old rare that sees play in Modern, Legacy, and the ‘perfect’ Commander deck is going to be valuable. Short term, though, $30 is probably the limit for
this. I can’t see WotC printing another land that will make this card more playable in Modern or Legacy, and I bet that a Crucible reprint will come before
another overall market adjustment occurs and drives the price of everything even higher. Feel free to hold these if you want, but trading them away at $30
is totally fine.
Staff of Domination – $15
Staff is a fringe player in Legacy, where it shows up in big artifact mana Welder and MUD decks. It was a very good card in Standard when it was legal, and
it was so good in Commander that it was banned for a while. It is unbanned now–something that caused the price to double–and so far, the unbanning
hasn’t caused much trouble. Part of that is because the format has become more overpowered, and part of it is simply because many people don’t know about
this card because it hasn’t been reprinted in ten years and was banned for a long time.
If this is your first time seeing Staff of Domination, take a moment and revel in its versatility. Having access to all of these things at once is amazing,
and decks that like to play with flash/instant speed effects (I’m looking at you, Simic) can take the biggest advantage of this. I doubt Staff will show up
in Standard again, and I don’t think it’s quite good enough to make a bigger splash in Eternal formats, but I certainly think it could break $20 or $25
based on casual demand. The real question is whether WotC will put this in a supplemental product, which would hurt the value. The fact that it was banned
at one point might dissuade them, at least for a while, but I bet it’ll show up at some point. It’s totally fine to trade for these at retail in the
interim–just watch out when Commander 2015 is revealed.
Auriok Champion – $15
Auriok Champion spiked from $5 to $15 at the very end of 2012. At the time, it was seeing play in Modern (mostly out of the sideboard) in B/W Tokens and
Soul Sisters builds. Decks that wanted Soul Wardens nine through twelve played these in the main, but they mostly came out of the board whenever the
protection ability was relevant.
This card is mostly a Modern metagame call, and right now it’s not a very good one. It’s an important card whenever Soul Sisters is good and red burn/tempo
decks are also good. I don’t know if or when that’s going to happen again, so I can’t recommend buying these unless you’re planning to run them. The price
has been steady at $15 for a couple of years now, so I doubt you’ll lose out, but there isn’t any upside here unless Modern changes a lot.
Vedalken Shackles – $13
Many cards reprinted in Modern Masters have started to rebound a little, but not this one. Don’t forget: Shackles was printed at mythic rare in Modern
Masters, which didn’t lower the price of other cards like Dark Confidant, Tarmogoyf, Sword of Fire and Ice, or even casual favorites like Yosei, the
Morning Star.
Vedalken Shackles needs a lot of Islands to be good. Luckily, so does Cryptic Command, which is one of the best cards in the format. Shackles is pretty
versatile, too, showing up in UR, UR Faeries, RUG, Delver variants, and Blue Moon lists. Based on the amount of play this is currently seeing and the
rarity of the card, Shackles should be priced closer to $20 than $10. I’d expect the price to rise during some future tournament weekend when a blue-based
control deck dominates and all the speculators flock to this. It’s a very solid buy at $13 that is also fairly resistant to reprints.
Vedalken Orrery – $12
Constructed players can’t waste four mana and a card on this, even though many of them would love this ability if it were available at a cheaper cost. In
Legacy, many players mostly just run instants in their decks anyway. The Orrery really shines in Commander, especially in multiplayer, where the difference
between playing something on your turn and waiting until just before your next turn can mean dodging several board sweepers.
$12 is a lot for this, but for some decks it’s essential. In my mind, though, the spec play isn’t Orrery–it’s Leyline of Anticipation, a similar card
from Magic 2011 that is still just $3. If you’re looking for a nice casual spec, that’s a card I could easily see doubling over the next year.
Mycosynth Golem – $12
Mycosynth Golem has been $12 for years. In the days before smartphones and Magic finance, this was my favorite card to pick out of dealers’ bulk boxes
because very few people knew that this card was anything more than a bulk rare. It’s not a competitive card or even really a Commander card, though. It’s a
kitchen table rare that has a tiny but rabid fan base. That’s why the price hasn’t grown in years.
This is one of those cards that could tank if it was ever reprinted, but I doubt it will be. Even still, these are mostly just good for buylisting, because
the kinds of players who want these rarely show up at organized events.
Engineered Explosives – $10
Engineered Explosives is played all over Modern. It’s in Jund, Twin, Kiki-Pod, Miracles, Delver, UR Control, UWR Control, Naya Deathblade, and more. It’s a
Legacy card, too.
So why is the price so low? Well, it’s a sideboard card for the most part, and very few decks run more than one or two copies even then. It was also
reprinted at rare in Modern Masters, which brought the price down a little.
Engineered Explosives has almost always been in the $10-$20 range, so it will probably grow slowly in value over the next year or two. It’s fine to pick
these up in trade at retail, because it’s very safe at $10, but it’s not a great spec because it’s very unlikely that it will ever be more than just really
solid sideboard tech.
Doubling Cube – $8
Doubling Cube requires the right casual deck to be good, but if you’re planning to ramp pretty hard, this is a colorless Cabal Coffers a lot of the time.
The 10th Edition reprint happened a while ago now, so the supply of these is very small. This is one of those cards that always gets cut in the
first draft of my Commander decks, but some players absolutely swear by it, especially in decks that don’t run green and are split between two or more
colors, making cards like Gauntlet of Power and Caged Sun poor choices.
Doubling Cube seems primed for a core set reprint, much like Gilded Lotus in M12, so I wouldn’t invest heavily in these. If it isn’t reprinted, though, it
will keep inching up in value due to solid Commander interest.
Serum Visions – $7
This price is shocking to me, but it really shouldn’t be. Outside of an expensive Arena foil, Serum Visions has never been reprinted. Once Ponder and
Preordain were banned in Modern, this became the go-to for blue card filtering, something that many decks rely on. Serum Visions wouldn’t see any play if
the better filtering spells were legal, but for now it’s a format cornerstone.
Serum Visions could rise above $10 on the floor during Modern season, and you should trade away all your extras this summer if you can. Modern Masters II
should happen next summer, and if it does, this will be a common in that set. That should bring the price back down to $1 or so.
Silent Arbiter – $6
If your Commander metagame is full of token generation and Zerg swarms, this guy makes for a pretty solid answer. Even if it isn’t, this card is fantastic
in casual decks that like to assemble a Voltron to smash with, making him a must play in Uril, some Omnath builds, and ramp decks that try to win with
Ulamog and Kozilek. The decks that this is good against tend to be removal-light, too.
Silent Arbiter’s value has been on a slow and steady rise for years, and much like the rest of these casual rares, the story is in supply and demand. If
there’s no reprint, it’ll keep going up. If there is, it’ll drop fast and far.
Helm of Kaldra – $6
Helm is the most expensive Kaldra piece, probably because less Fifth Dawn was opened than either Mirrodin or Darksteel. The Kaldra cycle is very
reprint-resistant, but it has also been fairly well outclassed in recent years and it has had the price tempered by the fact that all of these pieces were
prerelease cards. It wouldn’t shock me if the entire set ends up at $10 at some point simply due to coolness and rarity, but in terms of actual play value,
these guys have fallen out of favor among the causal crowd.
Fist of Suns – $6
Fist of Suns was another card that spiked thanks to Travis Woo hype–it was $2 until a couple of months ago, when it jumped to $10 overnight. His brew
attempted to use this to cast giant things like Emrakul, and it’s another one of his decks that are majorly cool but not at all competitive. As such, the
card has started to drop back toward the $4-$5 range, which is where it should stabilize.
This card is fun, and it does get better each time WotC prints something absurd and expensive, but WUBRG isn’t easy to generate, and you don’t want to be
stuck with a handful of giant things when you don’t draw this or it gets disenchanted. It’s a fine novelty in the $5 range, but I can’t see it breaking
through in a ‘real’ deck unless WotC prints, like, Super Emrakul or Fat Griselbrand or something.
Beacon of Immortality – $6
Doubling one’s life total was fairly useless until Commander came along, at which point this card became fairly attractive. In a casual deck that runs
things like Felidar Sovereign, Storm Herd, and other life gain shenanigans, this is a must-play. It’s also worth remembering that ‘doubling’ and ‘life
total’ are two words that new players love, leaving you with no shortage of trade partners for this card. Beacon of Immortality is fine to pick up at
retail in trade–I’ve never had a problem finding an interested partner.
Mephidross Vampire – $5
Mephidross Vampire is the spiritual opposite of Beacon of Immortality. It’s fairly useless on its own, and very few people are ever interested in trading
for it. It used to be one of the most expensive rares in the set, thanks to its infinite combo with Triskelion, but it has fallen out of favor in recent
years. When 60-card casual decks were popular, this was an attractive combo for kitchen table mages to build around. The variance of Commander kind of
spoiled it, though, and for the past few years interest in the card has dwindled along with the price. These days, Mephidross Vampire is a good card to
buylist but not much else.
Steelshaper’s Gift – $4
I am floored that this card is still just $4. Sure, it’s an uncommon that isn’t good enough for tournaments, but so many Commander decks run equipment
toolboxes these days. Should this be at least in the $6-$7 range by now?
Steelshaper’s Gift has never been reprinted, and it’s only getting better as more equipment is being released. Showing up in a Commander precon would hurt
its value, but otherwise there is only upside here. I’m happy to pick these up in trade at $4 each all day long.
Beacon of Unrest – $4
There are only a few spells in Magic that offer unconditional reanimation, and this is one of them. Because of that, it is going to find its way into most
Commander decks looking to drag a large creature back from the graveyard. 60-card casual decks are probably going to opt for something cheaper, like
Animate Dead, or more something more powerful, like Unburial Rites.
The fact that this hits artifacts as well as creatures is intriguing, and some people really like the shuffle effect. Again, this is a purely casual card,
but it’s one that I’ve found trades pretty well. There’s also a little bit of additional upside here, at least until WotC prints a few other, better
reanimation spells.
Beacon of Tomorrows – $4
There aren’t all that many Time Walks out there, which is why this card still has value at all. Beacon of Tomorrows is probably the fifth best one after
actual Time Walk, casual favorite Time Warp, and its P3K and Portal variants, but three of those spells are only available for big bucks. It has also only
been printed once, having missed the M10 reprint that a couple of the other beacons were given.
Beacon of Tomorrows has very narrow applications, but the casual players who want it aren’t going to have anywhere else to turn. As I stated in an article
a few months back, this card certainly feels susceptible to a buyout, but I doubt it can sustain a value higher than the $8-$10 range. It’s ok to trade for
these at retail if you want, but it’s a casual-only play.
Eternal Witness – $3.50
Much like Mirrodin’s Isochron Scepter, Eternal Witness was a chase uncommon from the very start. It pre-sold for $5, and no one who opened one at the
prerelease seemed willing to trade it. In the years since, Eternal Witness has proven itself as a powerful and unique card. At this point, she is probably
one of the top five or ten iconic green cards.
Eternal Witness’s price is low because she has been reprinted several times in supplemental products, including Modern Masters last summer. WotC knows what
they have in Eternal Witness–a powerful, exciting, and fair card–and I would be shocked if we don’t see her printed again at some point soon. Even
still, Witness usually settles in the $4-$5 range, and you can still pick up Modern Masters versions for $3 right now. If you need a couple for Modern or
Commander, now is a fine time to pick them up.
Raksha Golden Cub – $3
In a vacuum, Raksha is awful. If he weren’t a legendary creature, he would probably be a fifty cent rare. Instead, he makes for a fun, build-around-me
Commander that encourages people to play equipment (awesome) and cats (even more awesome). Khemba is going to be the better general most of the time, but
Raksha is a solid number two choice. Raksha is not good enough for the price to ever go up too much more, but Kemba is only $0.50 and foils are only $3.
That’s the better spec opportunity right now.
Paradise Mantle – $3
Mantle was up to $10(!) for a few months before Modern Masters came out, mostly due to its combo applications with Blistercoil Weird. That deck can go off
as early as Turn 2 in Modern, but it’s very hard to do and is beyond a fringe metagame call. Modern Masters increased the supply by a ton, and since very
few people actually needed the card, the price dropped like a rock.
Like most Modern Masters cards, buying in now is fine–it’s doubtful the price can drop any further. I don’t think the combo will ever be more than fringe
playable, though, and actual demand for this card has always felt softer to me than the price would indicate.
Magma Jet – $3
This price is misleading. No one is paying $3 for a Fifth Dawn Magma Jet right now when you can snag a Theros copy for just a buck. Older cards command a
premium, sure, but on the trade tables, people are going to want these for close to the Theros price or they’ll move on.
Keep the $3 price in mind, though, because Magma Jet will likely start to rise again once Theros goes out of print. I doubt it’ll get this high again
unless the player base keeps growing, but if you’re looking for a long term ceiling, this is it.
Cranial Plating – $3
Cranial Plating is absurd, and it’s one of the engines that makes Affinity tick in both Modern and Legacy. I talked a lot about this deck when I covered
Darksteel a few weeks ago, but the bottom line is this: all of these cards will keep slowly growing as long as Affinity remains the best aggro deck in
Modern. However, there isn’t much speculation upside here, because it is unlikely that Affinity can get any better without risking a ban. Buy these if you
need them; trade them away if you don’t.
Bringer of the Blue Dawn – $3
Back when Fifth Dawn was Standard legal, the blue bringer was considered one of the unplayable ones; Black, White, and Red actually showed up from time to
time in real decks. Now that these have been relegated to the casual pile, though, the blue bringer has become the most desirable one. Who doesn’t want to
Ancestral Recall every draw phase?
Unfortunately, very few causal decks can actually play this, and there are loads of better options in Commander these days anyway. I doubt Bringer of the
Blue Dawn can go any lower than $3, but trading these away above bulk is going to be hard.
Blasting Station – $3
Acting as something of a reverse Goblin Sharpshooter, Blasting Station combos with a large token generation spell to machine gun your opponent or their
board. That isn’t a good enough interaction for the Eternal formats, but it’s a ton of fun in casual Magic. Blasting Station seems like an awesome
Commander reprint, so I doubt this will keep its value for long. Even still, it’s fine to pick one up if this is your first time hearing about the card and
you have a token deck that you want to jam it in.
Beacon of Creation – $3
Looking for a friend for Blasting Station? Here you go! This was one of my all-time favorite Standard decks, and for months back in ’04-’05, I ran this in
a snake tribal package that generally went 2-2 at FNM but which was amazing whenever it worked. Beacon of Creation suffers these days because most of the
causal token decks run just as much white as green, making the Beacon a bad deal. It’s probably not going to be reprinted soon, though–most casual
pre-cons are two or three colors, and I don’t know if WotC will re-introduce these to Standard. $3 is fine if you want one, but otherwise it’s buylist
fodder.
Relentless Rats – $2.50
Relentless Rats has been reprinted at uncommon in three different core sets as well as Fifth Dawn. It is still a $2 uncommon, mostly because the people who
want these need, like, 90 of them. Relentless Rats drops as low as $0.75 or $1 when it is in print, and it can rise as high as $3 when it isn’t.
These don’t trade well unless you have a ‘rat guy’ at your local FNM who is currently trying to get as many of these as he can. If not, I’d stay away
unless the price drops back toward the dollar range. It will be reprinted again, possibly as soon as M15.
Quick Thoughts on Cards Selling for $1-$2
For the most part, if a card can’t break $2 in ten years, it probably isn’t going to do anything in the future, either. Even still, it’s worth taking a
brief look at Fifth Dawn’s fringe players in search of possible upside.
Summoner’s Egg – $2 –
Travis Woo brewed with this card a few weeks back. It was a fun deck, but not particularly good. If you want to build it, though, now is a reasonable time
to buy in–the pieces had spiked, but now it is available at a fair value once again.
Night’s Whisper – $2 –
This is a solid Commander card. The life loss is pretty close to irrelevant in that format.
Joiner Adept – $2 –
This is my favorite card in Fifth Dawn. I traded so many things for a foil Adept at one point. People like their mana elves to tap for mana themselves
these days, so Joiner Adept is usually passed over for better and more efficient fixing. She’s still useful in five-color Commander decks, though.
Grafted Wargear – $2 –
There’s better and splashier equipment out there, but this is still one of the best aggro cards out there in Cube. That’s why the price is above bulk.
Bringer of the Black Dawn – $2 –
Like nearly all ten year old creatures, the bringers have mostly been outclassed at this point. Black has always been my favorite of them, though, and it
does have its uses in five-color Commander.
Acquire – $2 –
I’ve been beating the Acquire drum for years. This card is Bribery for artifacts, and against most decks, this will always pluck out something juicy.
Acquire is an underrated casual gem that should rise in price.
Bringer of the White Dawn – $1.50 –
This seems like the worst bringer by far until you realize that it creates an infinite loop with Mindslaver. That’s not a competitive combo, of course, but
it’s a solid causal one.
Bringer of the Red Dawn – $1.50 –
Nostalgia and kitchen table purposes are keeping the value of these over bulk. That isn’t enough to make any of them a decent spec.
Bringer of the Green Dawn – $1.50 –
If you really want to build a bringer deck, check out Grozoth. He tutors for all of them at once, and transmutes for any of them.
Plunge into Darkness – $1 –
This kind of does something in a B/W tokens deck, I guess. It’s usually going to be either a win-more or a not-good-enough, though.
Myr Servitor – $1 –
Can someone explain to me why this common costs $1? It is unplayable in Commander. It certainly isn’t good enough for Modern or Legacy. I guess some
kitchen table players want to run a million of these? At any rate, pull this from your bulk.
Krark-Clan Ironworks – $1 –
This card was part of a very good Standard combo deck for a couple of months. It never made the carryover to Eternal play, though.
Energy Chamber – $1 –
Energy Chamber is useful in Commander and may someday combo with a good charge counter artifact. Not bad for a $1 uncommon.
Door to Nothingness – $1 –
I love slamming the door on people, and this card is in my Cube to the chagrin of pretty much everyone who plays it. I doubt this card will ever be worth
more than a couple of bucks, but novelty alternate win-cons will always have their value.
Clearwater Goblet – $1 –
This card gains an absurd amount of life very quickly and is solid in kitchen table and Commander Magic. Clearwater Goblet is a lost casual gem in the
right build.
Beacon of Destruction – $1 –
Believe it or not, this card saw some competitive play. It’s easily the worst beacon for casual play, though, so there’s not much upside here.
Artificer’s Intuition – $1 –
This card is very, very narrow, but it’s also the sort of thing that can be broken at some point. Keep an eye on it.
All Sun’s Dawn – $1 –
This card is absurd in five-color Commander decks. There just aren’t enough of those to warrant this rising in price too high. At some point, though, time
will catch up to it and it’ll rise another $2-$3.
This Week’s Trends
The Modern Event decklist was announced last week. Let’s unpack the value and see what we’ve got according to current Star City value:
–Sword of Feast and Famine x1 – $25
–Isolated Chapel x4 – $20
–Windbrisk Heights x4 – $20
–Elspeth, Knight-Errant x1 – $17.50
–Path to Exile x3 – $15
–Caves of Koilos x4 – $12
–Inquisition of Kozilek x2 – $12
–City of Brass x2 – $10
–Spectral Procession x4 – $8
–Kataki, War’s Wage x3 – $7.50
–Honor of the Pure x3 – $4.50
–Intangible Virtue – $3
–Dismember x2 – $3
–Lingering Souls x4 – $3
–Relic of Progenitus x3 – $3
–Zealous Persecution x3 – $3
–Ghost Quarter x2 – $2
–Soul Warden x2 – $1.50
–Tidehollow Sculler x3 – $1.50
–Vault of the Archangel x1 – $1
–Burrenton Forge-Tender x2 – $1
–Raise the Alarm x4 – $1
–Vault of the Archangel x1 – $1
–Duress x3 – $0.75
–Shrine of Loyal Legions x2 – $0.50
Before the decklist was announced, this pile would have cost you upwards of $250 at Star City retail prices. Thanks to this deck, you can now pick these
cards up piecemeal for $176.75. MSRP for the deck is $75, so even if you just want the high end cards, picking up one of these boxes at retail makes a lot
of sense.
What if you just want to speculate, though? Should you still pick up a set at MSRP?
Well, you probably won’t lose any money, but I don’t think you’ll make much, either. These will be fairly limited releases, so the prices probably won’t
continue to drop too much, meaning that you can be reasonably assured with getting about $150 in value for your $75. In order to double your money, you’ll
have to find a way to sell or trade all of these cards at SCG retail prices, and unless you happen to be running Star City Games, that is not going to
happen. I’d rather keep my money in cash or invest it in something that is easier to profit from.
Most speculators and people with large Modern collections seem to agree with me here, which has led to a lot of disappointment among people who hoped that
this deck might have introduced a bunch of cheap Marsh Flats and Bitterblossoms into circulation. Instead, we have a decklist that is very attractive to
its core audience–brand new Modern players–without being overly attractive to experienced players and speculators.
That $175 in value for just $75 that’s not quite attractive enough for Joe Speculator? It’s awesome value for someone who actually wants to play with this
deck at a small, local Modern event. A shrewd trader can buy this deck, play with it as long as they want, and then trade or sell most of the pieces for
about what they put into it. That’s an awesome deal for the people who are the most interested in a product like this.
The best additions to this deck are Marsh Flats, Hero of Bladehold, Brimaz, King of Oreskos, Fetid Heath, Godless Shrine, Thoughtseize, and potentially
Bitterblossom. Tons of people are going to be buying this deck and looking to upgrade it, so all of those cards have the potential to grow in price. Keep
your binder well-stocked with those cards if possible, and feel free to trade for them at current retail.
We also finally have an answer on the value of the judge foil Force of Will. Star City has these in stock at $1000, and I’ve seen them selling for as low
as $730. I’ve talked to several higher level judges who have received full playsets of these, so they probably won’t be quite as limited as some have
feared. My guess now is that the secondary market cash value will settle somewhere between $500 and $700.
Looking for an interesting Standard card to speculate on? How about Eidolon of the Great Revel? The card was a four-of in Tyler Winn’s R/W Burn deck that won SCG Knoxville last week, and it’s still just
$2.50. I wouldn’t be shocked if this sees play in Modern at some point, so buying a playset for $10 seems totally fine.
Scapeshift just won Grand Prix Minneapolis, and that is the latest card to jump in price in that format–up about 30% since last week. This is probably
not a sea change for the format; the deck has been solid for a while now, and it just needed a good finish behind it.